Match of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – Will Ospreay vs. Orange Cassidy – Forbidden Door
Yes, I am an Orange Cassidy Mark. No, that does not take away from how great of a story this is. Honourable mentions this year would go to the Men’s WarGames match from Survivor Series and FTR vs. Briscoes from Supercard of Honor. I just personally feel this was a pivotal moment in how the industry saw Orange Cassidy and Ospreay showed the reactions that matched that of the entire industry watching.

Neil – Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins – Hell in a Cell
To get this match in the ring was a surprise in itself. Not only did it get in the ring, but a classic was also delivered. Hats off to Cody and Seth.

Adam – Stone Cold vs Kevin Owens – WrestleMania
I’m going off the board here but it was awesome seeing Stone Cold in the ring again. What? I said it was awesome seeing Stone Cold in the ring again. And KO carried Mr.316 to an entertaining match. It was perfect for what it was.

Andre – FTR vs. The Briscoes – Supercard of Honor XV
Long time coming and left no stones unturned.

Ricardo – Men – FTR vs. Briscoes – Supercard of Honor XV
This was a 30-minute plus slobberknockin’ poetry! It was a war. So intense. Everybody in the area on the edge of their seats.
Women – Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch – Wrestlemania
The 2 best women in the business IMO collided and the result was one heck of a match.

Fan Pick Results:

42% – Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins – Hell in a Cell
29% – FTR vs. The Briscoes – Supercard of Honor XV
13% – Orange Cassidy vs. Will Ospreay – Forbidden Door
09% – Josh Alexander vs. Mike Bailey – Impact on AXS TV
07% – Gunther vs. Sheamus – Clash at the Castle

PPV of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – ROH Death Before Dishonor
There are a LOT of PPVs this year that have some REALLY amazing matches on them but at the same time, those same shows also have some filler and some garbage on them. This is the only PPV that I can think of this year where every match delivered and some that delivered unexpectedly. AEW PPVs in 2022 sadly are lessened, in my eyes, by CM Punk’s situation.

Neil – Wrestlemania Night 1
2 huge returns (Cody and Stone Cold) pushed this one over the top for me. Bianca and Becky had an excellent match and a new star was born in Logan Paul.

Adam – Wrestlemania 38
The granddaddy of them all delivered again

Andre – Wrestlemania
The Grand Daddy put on a two-night feast that had many great spots.

Ricardo – AEW Forbidden Door
Every single match was great. The AEW/NJPW connection worked great.

Fan Pick Results:

76% – AEW Forbidden Door
15% – WWE WrestleMania 38
09% – ROH Death Before Dishonor

Brand of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – AEW
Numbers don’t lie. From watching the different posts on the page and reactions, comments, and views for each post, I can see AEW outhits each and every other promotion. I enjoy it and each of their PPVs is an event in my household. Can’t say that about WWE, Impact, or NJPW for me.

Neil – WWE
With Vince gone and the product improving coupled with AEW’s inability to keep their top stars active for months or more at a time (MJF, Punk, Elite), AEW lost this one rather than the WWE winning it.

Adam – WWE
And it’s not even close.

Andre – AEW
Hands down. Once they partnered with NJPW it was over. Impact a close second.

Ricardo – Impact Wrestling
Not receiving the recognition they deserved but they put on an awesome show each and every week

Fan Pick Results:

68% – All Elite Wrestling
19% – WWE
12% – Impact Wrestling
01% – Major League Wrestling

Favourite Wrestler of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – Orange Cassidy
I’m a mark for Orange Cassidy. This is not news and this has not changed over 2022. He has only got better with the addition of gold in his backpack. More and more people each year come around to his gimmick and realize it is the smartest gimmick in wrestling.

Neil – MJF
Continues to blur the lines of Kayfabe better than anyone. He’s been a bullied Jewish boy, an anti-hero (see the memorable Tony’s a mark promo), and the devil himself. His title win is the cherry on top.

Adam – Cody Rhodes
I actually couldn’t stand this guy in AEW. But my man Neil was right – WWE has presented him as the star he always was.

Andre – Men – Roman Reigns
I’m not a favorite wrestler type of person, but he deserves the kudos. He’s SMASHED everyone, have people do his dirty work, and took time to be with his family. Somehow has remained relevant.
Women – Jordynne Grace
Put the Impact Ladies division on her broad back and carried them through the year. Ask Matt Cardona how things went.

Ricardo – Men – Josh Alexander
In 2022 he definitely climbed to the “best wrestlers in the world” league
Women – Bianca Belair
2022 was definitely Bianca’s year. She always puts on great matches. And this year she had a lot of those;

Fan Pick Results:

38% – MJF
22% – Cody Rhodes
17% – Roman Reigns
12% – Josh Alexander
11% – Orange Cassidy

Favourite Tag Team of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – FTR
Even without wrestling on Television every week or defending the one of THREE championships they currently hold, they are the talk of the industry. Also, not to steal a gimmick, but they are literally setting the bar for Tag Team wrestling in 2022.

Neil – The Acclaimed
I can’t really relate to their desire to scissor their daddy ass, but it’s clear that everyone loves the acclaimed myself included. Great matches with Swerve in our Glory and FTR this year to cap off an awesome year.

Adam – RKBRO
They had a better run in 2021 but it still continued into the early parts of 2022. Broooo.

Andre – FTR
Wrecked everyone in three or four promotions. Held almost every belt they went for and were not afraid to fight no one. Got mad because they weren’t getting used. Top Guys yes!

Ricardo – Men – A tie between The Usos and FTR
Can’t pick one!
Women – Toxic Attraction
You can criticize me but they were the most dominant female team this year!

Fan Pick Results:

66% – FTR
15% – The Acclaimed
07% – The Usos
07% – RKBro
05% – MCMG

Must-Watch Weekly Show of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – Dynamite
There is no other show that will make me want to go out of my way to watch it after avoiding spoilers of it.

Neil – Dynamite
Raw is disqualified for being a 3-hour slog that even die-hard wrestling fans struggle to get through. Dynamite gets the nod due to having a larger collection of stars that I enjoy watching over Smackdown.

Adam – Smackdown
While I’ll admit my days of week-over-week wrestling viewing are probably over, the show that kept me the most interested this year was WWE Smackdown

Andre – Dynamite
You’ll never who’s going to pop up. You’ll get to see matches between people you could only dream of.

Ricardo – Impact Wrestling
As I said previously, they’re not receiving the recognition they deserved but they put on an awesome show each and every week

Fan Pick Results:

63% – AEW Dynamite
24% – WWE Smackdown
09% – Impact on AXS TV
04% – WWE NXT

Breakout Wrestler of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – Sami Zayn
There is no one wrestler who has come out of nowhere to be the talk of the industry this past year like Sami Zayn has. He is literally getting people to watch Smackdown each week while Roman has yet to lose a championship in multiple years now.

Neil – Sami Zayn
Weird to name a guy with a company for over a decade a breakout star, but one cannot deny that going from getting beat while stuck inside a giant mouse trap to a hot angle involving the tribal chief is quite the turnaround.

Adam – Logan Paul
He’s probably a terrible human being and if you’re older than 13 and like him, there’s probably something wrong with you but I was actually tempted to make him my wrestler of the year. Y’all weren’t quite ready for that yet though. I’m comfortable placing him here. Both his matches had me thoroughly sports-entertained.

Andre – Men – Wheeler Yuta
Yuta was fledging along until he ventured out on his own and got his act together.
Women – Bianca Belair
Bianca took losing her belt to find another gear and ran through the division until Mania and got her belt back. Her mania made her legit.

Ricardo – Men – Bron Breakker
Being a rookie, he carried NXT on his back the entire year and put in 5-star performances. Impressive!
Women – Jamie Hayter
She became the most over woman in AEW. And truly deserved. She is great. Need to improve his mic skills a bit but in the ring, she reached a high level;

Fan Pick Results:

54% – Jamie Hayter
20% – Sami Zayn
13% – Wheeler Yuta
13% – Logan Paul

Breakout Tag Team of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – The Acclaimed
Everyone loves The Acclaimed. There is no doubt they are Tag Team of the Year. No one has had the year that they have had with such a quick, well-deserved rise.

Neil – Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley
A bizarre love story that has elevated both performers. Both performers have been dripping with charisma for months. Uncle Eddie and Mamacita would be really proud.

Adam – The Acclaimed
Gotta go with The Acclaimed here. The scissoring thing is about as cool as the worm was during the attitude era. But I guess it was pretty cool back then.

Andre – The Acclaimed
They managed to rise above mediocrity, find a good gimmick, and started punishing people. They got a good manager.

Ricardo – Men – The Acclaimed
Finally, in 2022 they unleashed all their potential and became the most over tag team in AEW;
Women – Kayden Carter/Katana Chance
Quite underrated but in 2022 they finally got gold;

Fan Pick Results:

84% – The Acclaimed
08% – Chris Bey and Ace Austin
04% – Gunn Club
04% – The Usos

Promo of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – MJF – The Pipebomb
With the exception of Christian Cage, no one gains as much attention from just a promo each week as MJF. He can make you cheer him and boo him while delivering a single sentence and this year his worked-shoot pipebomb promo declaring he was quitting is still one of the most watched videos on AEW’s page.

Neil – Christian Cage – I’m your daddy now
Christian Cage had an incredible run of promos, none better than anointing himself Jungle Boys’ daddy because Luke Perry died. So dark yet so hilarious.

Adam – CM Punk – All Out media scrum
Shoot. Work. Worked Shoot. Shot work? I don’t care. This was hilarious

Andre – MJF and Paul Heyman – all of them
They know how to work the mic for and against the crowd. Slicing and dicing fellow competitors is second nature to them.

Ricardo – MJF – The Pipebomb
The best of 2022 and one of the best ever;

Fan Pick Results:

55% – MJF – The Pipebomb
27% – Sami Zayn – Not Ucey
12% – CM Punk – All Out Media Scrum
06% – Cody Rhodes – Chasing The Dream

Feud of the Year:

Jeff Johnson – FTR vs. The Briscoes
Death Triangle and The Elite can have as many matches as they want but none will top the trio of matches delivered on ROH PPV from FTR and The Briscoes. A great example of how matches can tell the majority of the story with Briscoes never appearing on AEW tv once in the year. They tore the house down and captivated audiences on three different occasions.

Neil – Chris Jericho vs Ring of Honor
I always love open challenge-type stories which lead to surprise and fun matchups which would normally never occur. A recent bump in the road with his title loss and loss to Cinderella on Dynamite. Not worried. Long live the Ocho!

Adam – Rollins vs Rhodes
2 legends in their primes. I’m all for this feud continuing.

Andre – Josh Alexander vs. Moose
This was downright personal on all levels and still is. Moose doing him right in front of his family. Went to his house and accosted his family. The violent matches throughout the year.

Ricardo – Josh Alexander vs. Moose
The buildup for their match at Rebellion was awesome. The rivalry many times felt so real… and that shows how good a feud is.

Fan Pick Results:

51% – Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes
23% – FTR vs. The Briscoes
21% – CM Punk vs. MJF
05% – Chris Jericho vs. ROH

2022 2point0 Award

As many know, last year I picked 2point0 as my Tag Team of the Year. It was a VERY controversial pick. After talking with Neil we came up with the idea to introduce the “2point0 Award” each year where everyone can nominate their “Hot Take” opinion on the top wrestler, worst wrestler, worst show, best show… you name it. We took the nominations and narrowed them down to five nominees. This year’s winner “Jacob Fatu is the most underestimated in Wrestling.”

Results:

37% – “Jacob Fatu is the most underestimated in Wrestling.”
30% – “Bianca Belair isn’t Talented”
18% – “Billy Corgan should sell the NWA”
08% – “CM Punk is Right, Bucks/Omega are Wrong”
07% – “Moxley is a Boring World Champion”