Just days before AEW Revolution, Kenny Omega and PAC battle in a televised 30-minute Iron Man Match.

2020 MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• Introduction & Honorable Mentions: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/25/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-introduction-sadness-village/
• Matches 100-76: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/26/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-100-76/
• Matches 75-51: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/26/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-75-51/
• Matches 50-26: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/27/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-50-26/
• Matches: 25-11: voicesofwrestling.com/2021/01/28/vow-2020-match-of-the-year-25-11/
• Top 10 Audio Reveal & Analysis: patreon.com/voicesofwrestling ($5)

VOICES OF WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR ARCHIVES

• 2019: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2019-match-of-the-year/
• 2018: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2018-match-of-the-year/
• 2017: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2017-match-of-the-year/
• 2016: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2016-match-of-the-year/
• 2015: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2015-match-of-the-year/
• 2014: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2014-match-of-the-year/
• 2013: voicesofwrestling.com/category/vow-latest/columns/2013-match-of-the-year/
• 2012: voicesofwrestling.com/2012/12/20/top-10-matches-of-2012/

#10
Kenny Omega vs. PAC
2/26
AEW

Overall Points: 171
Total Votes: 34
% of Ballots: 20.1%
1 First-Place Vote 

“Marvellous use of the ironman stipulation from these men. Explosive action with insane spots sprinkled throughout (such as PAC’s crazy shooting star press through a table). PAC wrestles with such a meanness with every move that he does and it makes his control periods very engaging. Not to mention that Omega showed some fantastic selling and desperation. The best match on AEW TV so far.” -ScorpioCorp

“Okay, just days before having an all-time tag team match Kenny goes out there with “The Bastard” and puts on one of the best damn television matches you can possibly have. What a wrestling match, two top tier talents putting on a top tier televised performance. Just makes me so mad Covid robbed us of so much PAC in 2020. Robbed us of so much of him. Screw you Covid. Still, we were able to have this amazing affair and we are all better for it.” -Jeri Evans

“One of the best TV matches of all time. PAC and Omega went all out and had one of the must enjoyable ironman matches I’ve seen in years. Omega and PAC had not only a match with awesome moves, but its layout was pretty smart and both at the end of the match looked like stars. This match was also part of Omega’s insane February where he performed weekly high quality matches and setting him as one of the favorites for wrestlers of the year.” -Juan Carlos Reneo

“Best TV Match of the year for me. Just expert story telling and pacing. Easily one of the best Ironman matches in years.” -Christopher Duarte

“If you want proof that Kenny Omega is one of the best wrestlers in the world, just look at the insane schedule he had in the second half of February. He was part of two amazing tag team title bouts against two of the best tag teams in the planet (The Lucha Brothers and The Young Bucks), and in between those two matches, he wrestled PAC in a spectacular 30 Minute Iron Man Match. So much incredible action from start to finish, and while Omega got the win in the end, PAC proved why he’s also one of the best wrestlers in the world today. This was arguably the best match in the history of AEW Dynamite, and maybe even one of the best pro-wrestling TV matches in the last two decades (at least).” -Sean Sedor

““When will we see Kenny Omega from New Japan?” was something early in 2020 we often heard as Kenny was square in the middle of teaming with Hangman Page and reigning as the promotion’s second tag team champions. The deciding match in the first series between Pac and Omega came down to this Ironman match in Kansas City where they had the best Ironman match ever televised, and perhaps the greatest match to air on Turner Network Television. Each man is arguably the other’s best opponent in AEW, and this featured a blistering pace that had me in sheer amazement through the first 14 minutes, and even a novelty DQ that added another layer to the action. Like Hart/Michaels before them, they used the overtime period for the finish, but far exceeded them with the intense compacted action over the 30:58 runtime. You don’t see TV wrestling or many matches in general reach this level.” -Rich Latta

“The greatest AEW Dynamite match ever. 30-plus minutes of rapidly increasing animosity. This was hard hitting, insane pace and spectacular in-ring action. PAC and Omega proved themselves as two of the best wrestlers in the world.” -Sid Pullar III

“Best Ironman match since Sasha/Bayley at Takeover Respect. Well-paced match, 30 minutes a breeze, followed the standard ironman formula but didn’t feel boring at all. Omega with great selling in the 30 minutes to sell the exhaustion of the match.” -Ed Mills

“High energy and tempo, hot crowd, big logical well placed spots, hard hitting and smooth as silk chemistry. Great match structure with PAC working neck to set-up up brutaliser, and a logical use of the chair shot to concede a DQ fall to do more damage to Omega long-term and immediately even things up with a quick pin.” -Gareth Hodgson

“Probably the best Ironman match in the last ten years. Loved every second of it and Kenny has great chemistry with The Bastard.” -James Snelgrove

“The 30-minute Iron Man match format adds such an extra dimension to matches that I wish it was used more frequently. It creates a greater sense of jeopardy knowing a fall could happen at any minute and adds urgency with the clock ticking down. Pac and Omega always bring the goods and this match was non-stop intensity, athleticism and action.” -Joe Towner

“The conclusion of the feud between Omega and PAC took place in a fantastic 30 Minute Iron Man Match. This match had several memorable moments including PAC performing a Shooting Star Press to Omega who was laying on a table outside. PAC was a great despicable heel. He cut every corner possible to get the advantage over Omega. Omega was the valiant babyface who desperately fought back and overcame all of PAC’s antics. There was a lot of drama with the close near falls and the match going into overtime. There was never a dull moment in this match. One of the best TV matches I’ve ever seen.” -Jeremy Donovan

The go-home episode of AEW Dynamite heading into the Revolution PPV opened up with the incredible 30 minute Iron Man Match between Kenny Omega and PAC. The two men battled for the entirety of the match, which even went into sudden death rules in order to determine a winner. One of the best matches that I’ve ever seen on Dynamite.” -Luis Perez

“The best wrestling match to ever air on Turner broadcasting. The Young Bucks being in Kenny’s corner despite their upcoming match against each other just added to the tension of the whole match, as you wondered the whole time if they would get involved. They never did, allowing Omega and PAC to end their months long feud with an excellent ironman match that didn’t outstay its welcome, despite the 30+ minute runtime.” -Suit Williams

“Clinic. Dynamic offense. Kenny’s selling in the second half. Pac’s character work. made 30 minutes fly by. “ – Frank DeJesus

“The drama of this match was through the roof, the wrestling incredible and it was wild to see this as a (fairly certain) uninterrupted opener.” -Bill Bodkin

“This match gets lost in the shuffle because of the tag match later in the week, but on pure workrate this was the best American television match in several years.” -Jarrett Seidler

“This 30 minute Ironman match delivered action only few American wrestling matches could match in 2020, earning its place on my list. The chemistry Kenny Omega and PAC have is quite brilliant, with every time they step in the ring outdoing their last match. Ironman matches can sometimes be contrived, therefore damaging what would have been an amazing straight singles encounter – but this match was the exact opposite, being really enhanced by the Ironman structure. The ring physiology, which played a key part in this match, helped the match gain its special drama and intensity.” -Jamie Johnson

Voices of Wrestling 2020 Match of the Year
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Voices of Wrestling 2020 Match of the Year
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