AEW Dominates 2020 Wrestling Observer Awards, WWE Wins Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic
The 41st annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter readership awards have been announced and AEW took home most of the top honors.
The awards are based on the time period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Each category is voted on by the readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which includes fans an various people in the pro wrestling business.
Not only did AEW have the most winners this year, but they also dominated the lists of top 9 runner-ups in all positive awards. WWE dominated the lists of negative award winners and runner-ups. Some of the positive categories featured none, just one or two WWE nominees.
Below are the 2020 award winners for pro wrestling (excluding MMA winners) announced in today's issue:
LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)
Winner: Jon Moxley
MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
Winner: Current AEW World Champion Kenny Omega
TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
Winners: Current AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks
BEST ON INTERVIEWS
Winner: Eddie Kingston
PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Winner: AEW
BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW
Winner: AEW Dynamite
PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR
Winner: The Young Bucks vs. Adam Page and Kenny Omega at AEW Revolution 2020
UNITED STATES/CANADA MVP
Winner: Jon Moxley
JAPANESE MVP
Winner: Tetsuya Naito
MEXICO MVP
Winner: Rey Fenix
EUROPE MVP
Winner: Current WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER
HODGE AWARD/NON-HEAVYWEIGHT MVP
Winner: Hiromu Takahashi
WOMEN'S WRESTLING MVP
Winner: Bayley
BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW
Winner: Conor McGregor
FEUD OF THE YEAR
Winners: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston
MOST IMPROVED
Winner: Britt Baker
MOST CHARISMATIC
Winner: MJF
BRYAN DANIELSON AWARD (BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER)
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.
BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)
Winner: Jon Moxley
BEST FLYING WRESTLER
Winner: Rey Fenix
MOST OVERRATED
Winner: Bray Wyatt
MOST UNDERRATED
Winner: Ricochet
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Pat McAfee
BEST NON-WRESTLER
Winner: Taz
BEST TV ANNOUNCER
Winner: Excalibur
WORST TV ANNOUNCER
Winner: Michael Cole
BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
Winner: AEW Revolution PPV on February 29 from Chicago
WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
Winner: WWE Super ShowDown on February 27 from Saudi Arabia
BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER
Winner: Kenny Omega's One Winged Angel
MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
Winner: WWE firing people during a pandemic during a year where they were setting profit records
WORST TV SHOW
Winner: WWE RAW
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
Winner: Braun Strowman vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt – Swamp Fight from The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR
Winner: Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman
WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Winner: WWE
BEST BOOKER
Winner: Tony Khan
PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Tony Khan
BEST GIMMICK
Winner: Orange Cassidy
WORST GIMMICK
Winner: "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK
Winner: The Young Bucks: Killing the Business from the Backyards to the Big Leagues
BEST PRO WRESTLING DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Dark Side of the Ring – Owen Hart