2021 Pro Wrestling Year End Awards

2021 Pro Wrestling Year End Awards
April 11, 2022

By Ryan Porzl

Another year gone which means it's time for me to do my year end awards for pro wrestling. As is usually the case, these are my opinions and mine alone. Keep in mind, like last year, my Japanese awards are based off what I saw and I wasn't able to find much New Japan or many companies.

American Wrestling

Wrestler of the Year: Kenny Omega (AEW)- I know 2021 has been very tribal for American wrestling fans especially when it comes to wrestler of the year as some insist it's down to either Kenny Omega or Roman Reigns. For me, it's a no brainer out of the two given what a joke it is to give the award to Reigns. Don't worry Reigns' fans, I got a special award for him later. Anyway, even though I side with Omega, I do want to bring up that I'm not a huge Omega fanboy. I enjoy most his matches but I don't think I consider him the best wrestler in the world and honestly, I found his matches with Kazuchika Okada to be overrated. That said, I do think he was the wrestler of the year in America for 2021. As a talent, Omega had largely one great match after another and not just in one promotion but for two as he made frequent appearances for Impact during the year making him highly in demand. He's also got good charisma and can cut a good promo making him someone with a good package. He also shown he can hang with just about any style from wrestling high flyers to wrestlers to brawlers and also continued to put on good work as he worked injured towards the end of the year. From a storyline standpoint, Omega held both the AEW World Championship and the Impact World Championship.

Woman Wrestler of the Year: Deonna Purrazzo (Impact)- For the second year in a row, The Virtuosa takes the prize. In my opinion, Deonna is one of the few women to fire on all cylinders. She's better in every way than the likes of Charlotte, Bayley, Bianca, and Sasha. She also shines as a confident heel as opposed to Becky Lynch who has been floundering since returning. She's a better in-ring performer than Britt Baker. To me, Purrazzo was head and shoulders above the other top women as she's a great in-ring wrestler who can go hold for hold with the best. She presents herself well as a character and someone with confidence and an air of her believing she's better than everyone. She also has been a great face for the knockouts division having many good to great matches in 2021 from Taya Valkyrie to Rosemary to Jazz to Tenille Dashwood to Havok to Thunder Rosa to Mickie James. Also, like Bryan Danielson, I love how she has multiple finishers and can finish an opponent multiple ways. From a storyline standpoint, she held the Impact Knockouts Championship, entered the year as champion, and held it for the first ten months.

Tag Team of the Year: The Good Brothers (Impact)- I will admit. I'm not the biggest Good Brothers fan but I thought they had a pretty good year and I wasn't blown away by the options. The Young Bucks don't do it for me that much while I think teams like The Usos and New Day are awful. There were some good female teams like Fire n' Flava and Decay but Good Brothers achieved more and Fire n' Flava imploded during the second half of the year. The Good Brothers were entertaining this year and had their share of good matches be it tags with the Elite in AEW or six tags with Omega or their regular tag matches against FinJuice, Swann and Mack, and variations of Bullet Club. Along with their success in Impact, they were highly in demand as they made appearances for AEW and NJPW Strong where they achieved success. From a storyline standpoint, they entered the year as Impact World Tag Team Champions and regained the championships for the second time while also winning NJPW Strong's Tag Team Turbulence tournament.

Best Fan Favorite: Josh Alexander (Impact)- It's ironic that Alexander is Canadian because he definitely reminded me of a modern day Bret Hart in 2021. He's not the flashiest or the most white meat but he did a great job as a Bret Hart quality babyface as a guy who will face any and everybody all the while defending his X Division Championship against all comers and saying no to no one. He also became a sympathetic babyface after Bound for Glory when he got screwed out of the Impact World Championship to the point where you wanted him to come back and regain the championship.

Best Villain: MJF (AEW)- MJF returns to the winners circle regarding this award after previously winning in 2019. This is one of those awards where I must ask, what can I say that hasn't already been said. MJF is a great talker and showman who knows how to get booed out of buildings and fans to serenate him with "shut the fuck up" chants. He proves that even though just about everyone knows wrestling is worked that you can still get heat from the audiences so long as you're talented.

Best Match of the Year: Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker (AEW, 3/17)- This match gets the award for many reasons. First is that this was a "lights out" match so it had a tall task to be violent and personal to justify the stipulation and they delivered. These two also clearly have great chemistry and showed in this match. Third was this was a fun, bloody war to the point that you don't normally see from female wrestlers but they took bumps that were brutal and Britt, to her credit, bled as well as anyone. It was believable as you believed these two didn't like each other and it also elevated both women's stock.

Best Brawler: Eddie Kingston (AEW)

Best Flyer: Dante Martin (AEW)

Best Talker: MJF (AEW)- Pretty hard to go against MJF. Like being a heel, MJF is a natural on the mic and someone you can listen to all day. He's great at advancing rivalries and riling up fans. At times, he can be more entertaining cutting a promo than some have matches.

Most Improved: Josh Alexander (Impact), Miro (AEW), and Mandy Rose (NXT) (tie)- I couldn't pick just one or two, so I picked three and each from a different promotion. When it comes to Alexander, he's really stepped up following the implosion of The North as he was already a great talent but he's someone who must be in the running for best in the world as he's capable of having great matches with just about everyone and can carry anybody to a solid match. He's also stepped up on the mic and can cut a great fiery babyface type promo that the fans can get behind. There's a reason why Impact has positioned him as one of their faces of the promotion this past year. He's definitely positioned for a big 2022.

I have to admit, I haven't always been a Miro fan. In fact, he never blew me away as Rusev or when he first popped up in AEW as Kip Sabian's "best man". However, when he became the TNT Champion and "God's Favorite Champion", he caught fire and was easily putting on some of his best work be it in the ring or on the mic all the while looking like a wrecking ball. He also put on some strong performances especially against smaller opponents from his title win over Allin to the Fuego Del Sol stuff to Sammy Guevara. Sadly, he ended the year with an injury and has been off TV ever since but hopefully he'll have another good year in 2022.

I'm not the biggest fan of NXT but Mandy Rose has been one of highlights of NXT. Mandy has always been someone with a lot of potential as I found her for years underrated as a talent be it in the ring, personality, and on the mic but upon moving back to NXT, she's shined. As mentioned, she's easily one of the best in the ring or on the mic on NXT and she carries herself as a star. I also give her credit for reinventing herself be it her character as well as look. She's easily been one of the better champions in WWE/NXT. I only hope that she can eventually enjoy the same success on the main roster one day as a potential successor to the current top talent.

Comeback of the Year: Mickie James (NWA/Impact)- Mickie didn't wrestle much in 2021 but I still give her this award as she clearly was on the comeback trail by year's end. From 2016 to 2021, Mickie worked for the WWE for a second run but due to a combination of reasons be it booking and injuries never saw her recapture her success during the 2000s. In recent years, it looked like she didn't have much of a future in the ring but after getting released from WWE, she's been making quite the comeback. Along with making appearances for NWA, she's returned to Impact Wrestling where she was quickly put in a rivalry with Deonna Purrazzo over the Knockouts World Championship which she ended up winning at Bound For Glory 2021. Also, despite being in her 40s and had some bad injuries, Mickie still looks good in the ring and hasn't lost a step. She made quite the transition to being in the WWE wilderness to Impact champion by the end of the year.

Debut/Return of the Year: CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole (all AEW) (tie)- All three get this award and for the same reason as all three were big signings for AEW. Punk was basically the white whale for years and AEW was able to lure him out of a seven year retirement while Danielson and Cole were top stars in WWE or NXT. All three have definitely added to AEW's roster as they've consistently put on great work but have given AEW more credibility especially as an option for other wrestlers to go since Punk had no other big reason to come back while Danielson and Cole were chugging along nicely in WWE/NXT so it was a pretty big deal for AEW to get them.

Most Underrated: Jake Something (Impact)- Normally, I'm one of Impact's biggest defenders but this is one where they dropped the ball. Prior to his arrival, Jake Something was considered someone who was a future prospect and someone who could go far. When Impact signed him, he became Cousin Jake and was paired with Cody Deaner for the first year or two but after the two went their own ways, Something reverted back to his Jake Something in early 2021 and it looked like big things would happen. Unfortunately, Impact never fully got behind Something as he feuded with Eric Young's Violent By Design group only to be dropped from it and then just floated around in the midcard. Even a great X Division Championship match against Josh Alexander did nothing for his stock. Sadly, as of writing, Something has since left Impact in early 2022 after failing to come to terms on a new contract. Maybe one day Something will get another opportunity with Impact but for now, Impact dropped the ball.

Best Announcer: Excalibur (AEW)- Excalibur threepeats this award. There were some good announcers this year such as Matt Striker and D'Lo Brown in Impact, Vic Joseph and Wade Barrett in NXT, and Ian Riccaboni in ROH but Excalibur walks away with the prize. Excalibur is an awesome announcer as he does his homework, he knows all the moves, and at times can carry a broadcast. There's a reason he does most of AEW's shows because he is that good. He's also not over the top to the point where he's annoying and other than wearing his mask (which to be fair is his trademark), he basically carries himself like a professional.

Best Non-Wrestler: Don Callis (Impact/AEW)- Don Callis has always been an underrated personality and he showed that during his brief WWF run from 1997-1999 as The Jackyl, towards the end of ECW in 2000/2001, and the early years of Impact like 2003/2004 and he's showed it again this past year. Callis is a great talker, he gets reactions, he has great chemistry with Kenny Omega and they bounce off each other very well, and overall, he plays a manipulative, sneaky weasel very well that knows how to pull the strings for the most part. While he's been off camera following Omega going on the shelf due to injury, I look forward to his return down the road.

Best Gimmick: Penta El 0 Miedo/Ninja Luchador (AEW)- There wasn't any real new gimmicks this year that blew me away so I'll go with a favorite. Again, a ninja luchador is an awesome combination.

Best Promotion: AEW- While I probably still probably prefer Impact over AEW, it's hard to pick against AEW for the second year in a row. AEW continues to make pretty good stride in 2021 as they made some big signing in Punk, Danielson, and Cole while adding a second TV show on television in Rampage. They also got some good moments including the show at Arthur Ashe stadium and occasionally coming close, if not, occasionally beating WWE in the 18-49 demo. They're PPVs continue to get critical acclaim as well and most would argue they're the hottest promotion right now. They also made some good strides in pushing new stars with Darby Allin entering the year as TNT Champion and Hikaru Shida entered the year as Women's Champion while Adam "Hangman" Page, Britt Baker, and Sammy Guevara winning titles. Meanwhile, they also set up other talents like MJF, Wardlow, The Jurassic Express, Jade Cargill, etc. for big things in 2022 and beyond. However, despite making a lot of progress, AEW is hardly perfect and makes mistakes I think they need to work on as these mistakes are the same ones WWE has/had done including hoarding talent and signing everyone regardless of whether they have plans for them as well as running too many shows as they do four shows a week all the while Rampage has four announcers and their quarterly PPVs go four hours not counting their buy-in pre-shows. Like WWE, they seem to think quantity over quality. 

Worst Wrestler of the Year: Goldberg (WWE)- I know Goldberg barely wrestles these days but if he continues to go out there with a limited set and barely works then he'll be hard to beat for this award. What can I say that hasn't already been said? Goldberg was never considered on of the greatest to ever step foot in a wrestling ring but he just can't go anymore as he's very limited and he seems at times to lack stamina. Even though some of his matches went a little longer than previous years, he still didn't look better. It's hard for wrestlers to still be in top form in their 50s and Goldberg will never be one of those guys. He should just call it a career.

Worst Woman Wrestler of the Year: Nia Jax (WWE)- With her WWE release last year, this may be the last time Nia gets this award as hopefully she retires from wrestling as she was clearly not cut out for it. As is the case with previous years, Nia continued to show no talent in the ring or the mic and failed to improve her recklessness. To make matters worse, you got the impression from her that she never seem to show remorse on the talent she hurt. Along with her lack of talent, Nia had no memorable or good matches in 2021 and was never impressive despite having seven years experience by this point. She never showed good mic skills and had no charisma to speak of. Another minus to her is her look as she never came off intimidating despite being depicted as a female monster type wrestler like how Bull Nakano or Aja Kong or Awesome Kong used to come off or how currently Havok or Max the Impaler or Nyla Rose come off. Thankfully, with her recent release, it appears she may be done with wrestling and that would be the best for everyone involved, her included.

Worst Tag Team of the Year: The Usos (WWE)- The Usos are one of those acts I'll never understand for the life of me. There are fans out there who praise The Usos but I don't see it. Maybe at one point, they were ok but they're a terrible act now. As wrestlers, they're bad cosplaying Young Bucks/PWG/AEW type wrestlers who think all they need to do is superkicks and dive. Their matches are terrible and they're some of the most limited wrestlers I've seen in recent years. I think The Great Khali had a more vast arsenal of moves than these two. Along with their lousy indie impressions, they're the least believable gangsters act especially when you got guys like Ortiz and Santana in AEW. They can't cut a good promo and lack charisma. Yet another problem is the act is played out as The Usos have been on the WWE roster for over a decade and are painfully stale. Even if they were great, they have nothing new to offer and haven't for a long time as they ran their course years ago.

Worst Match of the Year: Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton (WWE, Fastlane, 3/21)- I knew from the time I saw this match that this would be my pick for worse though I'm not sure this can count as a match. I'm not sure where to start but I guess I'll start with the fact it had dumb special effects and lighting falling from the ceiling. There was also almost no wrestling to speak of except when The Fiend interfered. It wasn't fun, it wasn't entertaining but it was very stupid. It's also just sad seeing how far Alexa Bliss has fallen. Supernatural stuff can work here and there but when it doesn't, it's a trainwreck which was the case here. This didn't accomplish anything good and further led to the disastrous Wrestlemania match shortly after.

Worst Feud of the Year: Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton (WWE)- This makes the list for a variety of reasons. One is the fact the angle was atrocious as supernatural stuff can be very hit or miss and this was very miss. The matches this rivalry had was awful and the segments were brutal. I already find Randy Orton hard to watch already given how boring I find him but seeing Wyatt and Alexa here was depressing as both have the package and can be great stars but Wyatt has gone downhill in recent years to the point he's been part of some of the worst stuff in the business in the past 2-3 years. Alexa was once one of WWE's best talents male or female and she's barely wrestled and when she does, her quality has gone downhill at break neck speed. This rivalry was the worst we've seen Wyatt and Alexa and possibly even Orton.

Most Overrated: Roman Reigns (WWE)- We're only in 2022 but this might not only win the most overrated of 2021 but it could be most overrated of the decade. Seriously, I can't understand what some people supposedly see in Roman Reigns. I've never been a Reigns fan and him turning heel has not magically made him better regardless of what a lot of people are saying. As a performer, he comes off like a caveman/jock doing poor acting and promo work that comes off either like a bad rap or grunting. He has little to no charisma regardless of what some might say. His matches are amateur levels of garbage as they feature almost no psychology and most just feature finisher spamming and constant run ins and interference. Reportedly, Paul Heyman agents the matches and you can tell as they're usually bad overbooked ECW matches in a terrible attempt to hide Reigns' weaknesses but he's got too many to mask. It doesn't help Reigns has been shoved down our throats worse than ever before as he never loses, not even non title matches, and has had the Universal Championship over a year and a half. The best way to describe Reigns is he's what critics used to think of Lex Luger and The Ultimate Warrior: no charisma, no ring skills, no mic skills, just a body.

Worst Announcer: Corey Graves (WWE) and Chris Jericho (AEW) (tie)- I think this one is obvious. It's hard to believe that Graves was a decent announcer in NXT so many years ago given how much he's fallen. As an announcer, I don't think he brings much to the table and he's not entertaining to listen to. At his worst, he's incredibly obnoxious to listen to. At times, he feels the need to argue with Bryon Saxton all the time and it gets tiresome. He's also nails on a chalkboard whenever someone like Miz or Carmella show up. I get with the latter he's almost a cheerleader but he makes you want to mute the TV or laptop.

As for Jericho, he may be a great talker at his best but he's not working as an announcer on Rampage. He shows passion and energy but he brings nothing else to the table as Taz and Ricky Starks provide better analysis than he does while Excalibur is great at play-by-play. He also comes off obnoxious and at times, you want him to shut up. I also don't see what use he has and the times he's not on commentary, the announcing is way better. One of my biggest criticisms in AEW is how bloated it has become and having four announcers is too much and even three can be stretching it. AEW would do itself a favor to drop Jericho as an announcer and let Excalibur, Taz, and even Starks do the show on their own.

Worst Non Wrestler: Paul Heyman (WWE) and Dr. Julius Smokes (MLW) (tie)- It never ceases to amaze me how powerful Paul Heyman's kool-aid truly is. Again, Heyman was once a great manager back from the 1980s to 2006 and he was easily the best manager back in 1992. At his best, Heyman is one of wrestling's best personalities but Heyman's best is long gone. I've long been convinced Heyman has lost his passion for wrestling for years and has been sleepwalking his way for paychecks since his 2012 return. Like Roman Reigns, I just don't get what people see in 2021 Paul Heyman. He comes off unmotivated and lazy and when he doesn't, he's overacting. The guy never figured out subtilty as he's either a statue or acting like he's on a coke binge. In my opinion, he has ZERO chemistry with Reigns and provides absolutely nothing to the act as most of the time, he just stands around like a statue given goofy faces. I fail to see why Heyman is around anymore. He doesn't seem to care, he doesn't add anything to matches and segments as he doesn't bounce off Reigns in segments, and he doesn't take bumps anymore. What's his purpose? It's even worse and insulting to praise his current stuff when you got legends in AEW like Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Jake Roberts who are older, have mileage, and beat up bodies due to injuries and/or past demons but they contribute more.

I haven't seen Julius Smokes in years but I've viewed him as one of the all time worst managers in wrestling history. Returning to the national scene with MLW, Smokes is still as bad as he ever was and as useless as he ever was. The guy is extremely obnoxious and not in a heel way but that you want to get the heaviest thing you can lift and bludgeon him with it. He's loud, he's annoying, and worst of all, he takes away from matches instead of adding to it as he tries to run around ringside, act like an asshole, and becomes very distracting. He's also a bad talker so he's not even good for a mouthpiece so he's everything you don't want as a manager. I also fail to see what he offers in MLW. He's supposed to be a manager of the 5150 team but the team already has Konnan who is a way better talker, doesn't take away from matches, make it about himself, and he's an in-ring legend. So what's the point of Smokes? I don't care if he's friends with Konnan or Court Bauer or whoever, he needs to be dropped and never allowed back in a major wrestling promotion ever again.

Worst Gimmick: Alexa Bliss/Female Fiend or demonic character (WWE)- This one is hard for me because I'm a big Alexa Bliss fan, have been for years, and feel she's one of WWE's best wrestlers male or female for years but 2021 was absolute rock bottom for her. I give Alexa credit for trying something different and trying to freshen up her character but this demonic character was awful with awful segments and worse matches. Demonic characters can work in wrestling but like Bray Wyatt's fiend character, Alexa's started off ok before going off the rails and the engine catching fire. To make matters worse, it felt like she barely has wrestled since starting this gimmick and when she has, she hasn't had one good match this year. I'm hoping in 2022 we see the end of this character and Alexa can get back to being her best but given her recent return, she could win back to back this time next year.

Worst Promotion: WWE- I hate to sound like a broken record year after year but it's the same issues and some new ones that continue to plague WWE and make it unwatchable. The usual stuff I don't care for were around for another year. Most of the matches and angles are terrible. The promotion is barely building new stars which resulted in pushes for the likes of stale acts and when they try, the booking is either poor or the wrong talent is pushed. Their titles pretty much mean nothing, their tag division is still weak, and the women's divisions continue to decline and it seems WWE has lost interest in their Women's Evolution. The company has also gone through bad PR from their returns to Saudi Arabia to firing wrestlers due to "budget cuts" despite making record profits. The promotion also runs too many shows as they have at least seven hours of TV a week not counting Main Event, 205 Live, and NXT UK all the while running two nights of Wrestlemania thus diluting their biggest show of the year. The promotion feels tired and a chore to get through. Watching this show, you can tell WWE doesn't have a worry in the world regarding money as they lack motivation or a desire to get better because they don't have to as they fail upward.

Japanese Wrestling

Wrestler of the Year: Jake Lee (All Japan)- To me, this came down to Lee, Shingo Takagi of New Japan, and Katsuhiko Nakajima of NOAH but I wasn't able to watch New Japan so I couldn't go with Takagi and Nakajima was great but he didn't really hit his groove till the second half of the year. As a result, I went with Lee was a consistent performer this year and was a top attraction for the entire year. After being one of All Japan's up and comers for years, Lee took the next step as he became the promotion's top heel as the leader of Total Eclipse and finally broke into the main event when he won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the 2021 Champion Carnival. Lee showed he belongs in the main event as he held his own and had good matches with top guys like Kento Miyahara, Suwama, and Shotaro Ashino but also showed he can help elevate young talent like Ryuki Honda. From a storyline standpoint, Lee won the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship and the 2021 Champion Carnival.

Junior Heavyweight Wrestler of the Year: HAYATA (NOAH)- Anybody who follows Pro Wrestling NOAH knows they probably have the best junior heavyweight division in Japan so it's probably no surprise my pick was someone from NOAH. I've been a fan of HAYATA since his arrival to NOAH years ago and he had another great year this where he spent the second half of the year as the promotion's top junior having several very good title matches from YO-HEY to Tadasuke to name some. While HAYATA can have an off night, he's definitely more on than off and very enjoyable to watch. From a storyline standpoint, HAYATA won the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship and the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

Best Gaijin (Foreigner): Zack Sabre Jr. (New Japan)- Like how I awarded Chris Vice this award last year, the same case here. I didn't watch much New Japan but this is more by default. While I didn't watch, I know what a great talent Sabre is so I have no doubt his work was spot on. Not to mention, he was probably the most active gaijin in Japan due to the pandemic and he did enjoy success in his team Dangerous Tekkers with Taichi.

Tag Team of the Year: Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi (All Japan)- The vets of NEXTREAM get the prize this year. Miyahara and Aoyagi gelled well as a tag team in 2021 to the point where they had many great matches and title defenses against the likes of Violent Giants, Koji Doi and Kuma Arashi, Shuji Ishikawa and Kohei Sato, and Runaway Suplex. The team was also a win for both as this team very reminiscent of Jumbo Tsuruta's team with Genichiro Tenryu in the 80s and Mitsuharu Misawa's teams of the 90s with Toshiaki Kawada, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama, and Yoshinari Ogawa with Aoyagi being elevated by teaming with the ace which, in this case, is Miyahara. Meanwhile, Miyahara got freshen up and giving something else to do after dominating the Triple Crown scene for so long. From a storyline standpoint, Miyahara and Aoyagi held the World Tag Team Championship and won their second straight World's Strongest Tag League.

Match of the Year: Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenoh (NOAH, 11/28)- Just a fun hour long fight between two talented competitors who aren't afraid to lay it in. Despite it lasting an hour, it never really dragged or got boring. The moves were great, the crowd was into it, and the strikes sounded brutal. The only potential knock is that it did occasionally get repetitive but the match went 60 minutes so that will happen and the fact this was the second time in a little over a year where Kenoh was the defending National Champion going against the Heavyweight Champion in a title vs. title match that ended in a time limit draw but at the same time, I'll take the time limit draw over NOAH pulling New Japan's dumb move of unifying two top titles and creating a brand new world title while trashing the rich history of their past top title. 

Comeback of the Year: Yujiro Takahashi (New Japan)- After being directionless and in the midcard for a long time, Yujiro had one of the best years of his career with some notable success in 2021. For the second year in a row, he returned to the G1 Climax and while he only got 5 points, he got some big moments as he was the only one in his block to beat the runner up Kota Ibushi, he beat former partner Tetsuya Naito (albeit by forfeit), and went a double count out with IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi thus being one of the few in the block not to lose to the champion. He also got another run as NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion, his first title in five years and he made it to the finals of the World Tag League while teaming with one of the promotion's top heels EVIL. I'm not sure how far Yujiro will go in 2022 but 2021 saw his career gain momentum and some new life.

Most Underrated: King Tany (NOAH)- Tany gets this for the second year in a row as his current run in NOAH is one of the few things I don't care for coming from them. I'm probably a bigger fan of Shuhei Taniguchi than most but I do feel, even at 45, he can be a very good asset to NOAH but he's been wasted in a dumb comedy stable and I don't know why. As a fan, it's frustrating to see and it's not just him in the Funky Express but the fact that NOAH always has been hot/cold with Tany. Maybe there's a reason I don't know but it always feels like he's about to take the next step only for the rug to be pulled out from under him. I love to see him hang with NOAH's top stars and he is talented enough to hold his own. Here's hoping in 2022, he finally gets out of this stupid gimmick and gets the chance to shine again.

Best Promotion: Pro Wrestling NOAH- I don't think there is a close second in this category. Most companies put on a great product in 2021 but NOAH is not only one of them but more. The matches we got from NOAH were some of the best this year, including my choice for Japanese Wrestling Match of the Year. The roster is loaded with young and old while their junior heavyweight division continues to be the best. The promotion also made some growth this year when they made their return to the Nippon Budokan for the first time in years which was great to see. I obviously didn't agree with everything they did but for the most part but they still had a great year and hopefully, they continue in 2022.

Worst Wrestler of the Year: Masao Inoue (Freelancer)- Inoue isn't an atrocious wrestler but he was never anything special during his career. Now, at 51, his best days are not only long behind him but he's doing the lame Funky Express stuff in NOAH and most of his stuff is comedy stuff. Watching him wrestle almost reminds you of those 90s All Japan and early 00s NOAH stuff with the old timers like Mitsuo Momota and Haruka Eigen where there isn't much to it and the comedy isn't funny. I suppose he fits as a jobber to take pinfall losses but doesn't have anything else going for him.

Most Overrated: Keiji Mutoh (NOAH)- I respect Mutoh and I'm a fan of his work in his prime but that being said, he's at that point in his career where he shouldn't be getting pushed to the main event given he's pushing 60 and has bad knees. If he hadn't had many world titles and this was a "one last run", that would be one thing but that's not the case. Honestly, I haven't been a fan of Mutoh's main event runs in a long time. I didn't like his IWGP Heavyweight Championship run in 2008 and his Wrestle-1 Championship in 2014. Mutoh was amazing in his prime but now, he's gotten limited due to age and injuries. It's gotten to the point where it almost hurts watching him walk. To his credit, he's not the worst wrestler in the world but I feel, in 2021, he shouldn't be a Heavyweight Champion anymore especially in a company like NOAH who have several good-great options.