For the fifth straight year, I’m proud to present the Wrestling Omakase Year End Awards.
Introduced at the end of 2017, the Omakase awards are a closed poll open to all the Wrestling Omakase guests who appeared on the show in the calendar year. All guests from the beginning of January through the end of 2021 were invited to participate. This should give our panel a decent cross-section (though obviously with a strong puro bias) of some of the most hardcore wrestling fans out there, featuring both VOW contributors and other followers of wrestling as well. The awards are set up to be very similar in format to the Wrestling Observer year-end awards.
Please see below for a list of all who participated, separated into VOW contributors and those from outside the website and in the order of their first appearance on the show this past year.
VOW Contributors: Harley Duncan, Suit Williams, Gerard di Trolio, Jon Hernandez, Chris Samsa, JoJo Remy, Sean Sedor, Paul Volsch, Matt Francis, Jeri Evagood, Griffin Peltier, Neil David, Kevin Chiat, Liam Jones, Kelly Harrass, Andrew Rich
Outside VOW: Mongo Ebooks, TJ (Aspir), Liam McCann, Smoldoink, Joey Bay, Bryan Quinlan, Devin, Jamie O’Doherty
2021 didn’t suck quite as much as 2020 did, but here’s hoping 2022 can still be a lot better for all of us, worldwide.
CATEGORY A AWARDS
Voters chose a top 3 for every Category A award, with points awarded on a 5-3-2 basis.
In cases of ties, the number of first-place votes was used as a tiebreaker, when applicable. First-place votes are listed next to the point total.
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
Also known as the Flair-Thesz.
Criteria based on a mix of in-ring, drawing power, star power, importance to the home promotion (“MVP” quality), and other intangible factors.
2017 Top 3 (Point Total): Kazuchika Okada (80), Tetsuya Naito (73), Kenny Omega (28)
2018 Top 3: Masashi Takeda (58), Hiroshi Tanahashi (54), LA Park (50)
2019 Top 3: Will Ospreay (63), Kazuchika Okada (60), Kento Miyahara (44)
2020 Top 3: Go Shiozaki (78), Jon Moxley (66), Tetsuya Naito (63)
1. Kenny Omega- 59 (9)
2. Shingo Takagi- 56 (6)
3. Bryan Danielson- 34 (2)
4. Katsuhiko Nakajima- 17 (3)
5. Utami Hayashishita- 15 (2)
6. CM Punk- 12 (1)
7. Keiji Mutoh- 10 (1)
8. Miyu Yamashita- 9
9. Konosuke Takeshita- 6
10. Jon Moxley- 5 (1)
MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
The best wrestler of the year from an in-ring, bell-to-bell standpoint only, with no other factors considered.
2017 Top 3: Kazuchika Okada (44), Kenny Omega (29), Tetsuya Naito (28)
2018 Top 3: Will Ospreay (64), WALTER (48), Kota Ibushi (43)
2019 Top 3: Will Ospreay (116), Shingo Takagi (51), Tomohiro Ishii (25)
2020 Top 3: Hiromu Takahashi (61), Kenny Omega (52), Go Shiozaki (42)
1. Shingo Takagi- 56 (10)
2. Bryan Danielson- 56 (6)
3. Kenny Omega- 25 (2)
4. Katsuhiko Nakajima- 19 (2)
5. Will Ospreay- 14 (1)
6. Zack Sabre Jr.- 7 (1)
6. Shun Skywalker- 7 (1)
8. Fenix- 7
8. Utami Hayashishita- 7
10. Yuki Ueno- 5 (1)
10. Keita Yano- 5 (1)
Honorable Mention: Konosuke Takeshita (5)
TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
The best tag team of the year for 2021.
2017 Top 3: The Usos (62), Young Bucks (20), Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (19)
2018 Top 3: The Young Bucks (62), Golden☆Lovers (42), Lucha Bros (31)
2019 Top 3: AXIZ 54, Lucha Bros 52, Violent Giants 26
2020 Top 3: Dangerous Tekkers (85), Kenny Omega & Adam Page (69), Young Bucks (51)
1. Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)- 74 (11)
2. Lucha Bros (Pentagon & Fenix)- 48 (4)
3. Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr)- 40 (3)
4. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi- 12 (2)
5. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI- 9 (1)
6. NEO Biishiki-gun (Sakisama & Mei Saint-Michel)- 8
7. Darby Allin & Sting- 7 (1)
8. Best Bros (Baliyan Akki & Mei Suruga)- 5 (1)
8. T-Hawk & El Lindaman- 5 (1)
8. Konosuke Takeshita & MAO- 5 (1)
MATCH OF THE YEAR
The best match to occur in 2021.
2017 Top 3: Okada vs. Shibata 4/9 Tokyo (55), Okada vs. Omega 1/4 Tokyo (25), Naito vs. Omega 8/13 Tokyo (20)
2018 Top 3: Okada vs. Omega 6/9 Osaka (63), Tanahashi vs. Ibushi 8/12 Tokyo (47), Almas vs. Gargano 1/27 Philadelphia (36)
2019 Top 3: Ospreay vs. Takagi 6/5 Tokyo (71), Omega vs. Tanahashi 1/4 Tokyo (22), Naito vs. Takagi 8/4 Osaka (20)
2020 Top 3: Naito vs. Okada 1/5 Tokyo (81), Omega & Page vs. Young Bucks 2/29 Chicago (41), Shiozaki vs. Sugiura 12/6 Tokyo (34)
1. The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Bros, AEW 9/5 Chicago- 34 (5)
2. Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White, NJPW 1/5 Tokyo- 23 (4)
3. Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson, AEW 9/22 Queens- 22 (1)
4. Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi, NJPW 5/4 Fukuoka- 20 (3)
5. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenoh, NOAH 11/28 Tokyo- 12 (1)
6. Hangman Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson, AEW 12/15 Garland- 11 (1)
7. Shun Skywalker vs. YAMATO, DG 8/1 Kobe- 10 (2)
7. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenoh, NOAH 10/3 Tokyo- 10 (2)
9. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi, NJPW 1/4 Tokyo- 10
10. Shingo Takagi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, NJPW 1/30 Nagoya- 9
10. Utami Hayashishita vs. Syuri, STARDOM 6/12 Tokyo- 9
Honorable Mention: Giulia vs. Tam Nakano STARDOM 3/3 Tokyo (8), Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay NJPW 1/4 Tokyo (7), Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii NJPW 9/18 Osaka (7)
BEST FEUD
The best feud of the year, either strictly in-ring or also weighing other factors like angles & interviews at the voters’ discretion.
2017 Top 3: Okada vs. Omega (59), Naito vs. Tanahashi (39), New Day vs. Usos (34)
2018 Top 3: LA Park vs. Rush (51), Mustache Mountain/BSS vs. Undisputed Era (29), Miyahara vs. Zeus (25)
2019 Top 3: Devlin vs. Starr (54), Naito vs. Ibushi (41), Suzuki vs. Liger (20)
2020 Top 3: Moxley vs. Kingston (55), Ishida vs. Okuda (46), Shiozaki vs. Nakajima (42)
1. CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston, AEW- 43 (6)
2. Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Adam Page, AEW- 29 (5)
3. Hangman Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson, AEW- 14 (2)
4. LIJ (Tetsuya Naito & SANADA) vs. Dangerous Tekkers, NJPW- 12
5. Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa, AEW- 11 (1)
6. Utami Hayashishita vs. Syuri, STARDOM- 7 (1)
7. United Empire (Will Ospreay & Great-O-Khan) vs. TenKoji, NJPW- 7
8. Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb, NJPW- 6
8. Chris Jericho vs. MJF, AEW- 6
8. Nick Gage vs. Matt Cardona, GCW- 6
BEST PROMOTION
The best wrestling promotion of the year for 2021. Business considerations are allowed but not required for this category.
New for 2021, sub-brands like Tokyo Joshi or NXT can now be voted on separately from their parent company.
2017 Top 3: NJPW (88), DDT (34), AJPW (20)
2018 Top 3: NJPW (131), DDT (77), NOAH (41)
2019 Top 3: NJPW (126), AEW (49), DDT (42)
2020 Top 3: AEW (89), NOAH (74), NJPW (62)
1. AEW- 96 (16)
2. NJPW- 36 (2)
3. NOAH- 35 (5)
4. STARDOM- 20
5. Dragongate- 16
6. Tokyo Joshi- 13 (2)
7. GCW- 12
8. DDT- 8
9. Gatoh Move- 3
9. FREEDOMS- 3
BEST MAJOR SHOW
Anything other than a standard weekly TV episode is eligible for this award; “special” weekly TV episodes (i.e. shows with titles clearly built up and presented as major events) are eligible.
2017 Top 3: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 1/4 Tokyo (69), NJPW Dominion 6/11 Osaka (32), DDT Judgment 3/20 Saitama (18)
2018 Top 3: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 1/4 Tokyo (94), NJPW Dominion 6/9 Osaka (87), DDT Peter Pan 10/21 Tokyo (33)
2019 Top 3: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 1/4 Tokyo (46), AEW Double or Nothing 5/25 Las Vegas (42), NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night 15 (Finals) 6/5 Tokyo (40)
2020 Top 3: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2 1/5 Tokyo (51), NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1 1/4 Tokyo (50), AEW Revolution 2/29 Chicago (38)
1. AEW All Out, 9/5 Chicago- 79 (12)
2. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 2, 1/5 Tokyo- 31 (3)
3. DDT/NOAH/TJP CyberFight Festival, 6/6 Tokyo- 25 (4)
4. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 Night 1, 1/4 Tokyo- 15
5. AEW Full Gear, 11/13 Minneapolis- 13
6. NOAH Destination Back to Budokan, 2/12 Tokyo- 10 (2)
7. STARDOM 10th Anniversary All Star Dream Cinderella, 3/3 Tokyo- 9
8. DG Speed Star Final, 8/1 Kobe- 8 (1)
9. AEW Double or Nothing, 5/30 Jacksonville- 7 (1)
10. NOAH N-1 Victory Finals, 10/3 Tokyo- 6
10. NJPW Power Struggle, 11/6 Osaka- 6
Honorable Mention: Hana Kimura Memorial Produce Matane 5/23 Tokyo (5), DDT D-Ou Grand Prix in Ota-Ku 11/3 Tokyo (5)
CATEGORY B AWARDS
For these awards, voters only chose 1 winner per category and I generally just listed whatever finished with more than 1 vote. We added a lot of Category B awards in 2018 if you’re wondering why a bunch of these don’t have 2017 listed.
BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW
Anything that aired weekly during 2021 was eligible, even if it was internet-only or limited run.
2018 Top 3 (Number of Votes): DDT Maji Manji (17), WWE 205 Live (9), MLW Fusion (4)
2019 Top 3: AEW Dynamite (25), Beyond Uncharted Territory (3), NWA Powerrr (3)
2020 Top 3: AEW Dynamite (21), AEW Dark (5), DDT TV Show (4)
1. AEW Dynamite- 19
2. NJPW Strong- 3
3. AEW Rampage- 2
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
The Worst Match of 2021.
2018 Top 3: Kenny Omega vs. Cody 7/7 San Francisco (3), Carmella vs. Asuka 7/15 Pittsburgh (3), Triple H vs. The Undertaker 10/6 Melbourne (3)
2019 Top 3: Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend Bray Wyatt 10/6 Sacramento (14), Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz 12/15 Minneapolis (3), Tracy Smothers vs. Su Yung 4/5 NYC (2)
2020 Top 3: Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho AEW 9/5 Jacksonville (4), Randy Orton vs. Edge 3/26 Orlando (3), John Cena vs. The Fiend Bray Wyatt 3/26 Orlando (3)
1. Alexa Bliss vs. Randy Orton, WWE 3/21 St. Petersburg- 2
1. Toru Yano vs. EVIL, NJPW 4/28 Kagoshima- 2
1. Inner Circle vs. Men of the Year/American Top Team, AEW 11/13 Minneapolis- 2
WORST FEUD
Again voters were encouraged to consider in-ring as well as other factors like interviews and angles if they so desired.
2018 Top 3: BULLET CLUB Elite vs. BULLET CLUB OGs (8), Ciampa vs. Gargano (5), Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (5)
2019 Top 2: Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend Bray Wyatt (15), Rusev vs. Lashley (2)
2020 Top 3: Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman (7), Tetsuya Naito vs. EVIL (6), The Fiend Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton (4)
1. Alexa Bliss & The Fiend Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton, WWE- 5
2. Will Ospreay vs. Kota Ibushi, NJPW- 2
2. Alexa Bliss vs. Eva Marie, WWE- 2
2. Inner Circle vs. Men of the Year/American Top Team, AEW- 2
THE WWE MEMORIAL AWARD FOR WORST PROMOTION
Since WWE runs away with this award literally every year, I decided for 2021 to ban them from this award only, hence why it’s now named after them to recognize their dominance. Sub-brands are also eligible for this award now, and I did let people vote for WWE sub-brands if they wanted to.
2017 Top 3: WWE (11), AAA (5), Tie: NOAH/Impact (2 each)
2018 Top 3: WWE (34), ROH (4), NJPW (3)
2019 Top 2: WWE (24), ROH (7)
2020 Top 2: WWE (26), AJPW (5)
1. NXT- 9
2. CMLL- 4
3. IMPACT- 3
4. NWA- 2
4. AJPW- 2
Honorable Mention: Federacion (1), AEW (1), MLW (1), MCW (1)
WORST MAJOR SHOW
Anything other than a standard weekly TV episode is eligible for this award; “special” weekly TV episodes (i.e. shows with titles clearly built up and presented as major events) qualify for this award, same as for Best Weekly TV.
2017 Top 3: WWE WrestleMania 33 4/2 Orlando (7), Tie: NJPW Destruction in Fukushima 9/10, WWE Backlash 5/21 Chicago, WWE Battleground 7/23 Philadelphia (3 each)
2018 Top 3: WWE Crown Jewel 11/2 Riyadh (15), WWE Backlash 5/6 Newark (8), WWE Extreme Rules 7/15 Pittsburgh (7)
2019 Top 3: WWE Hell in a Cell 10/6 Sacramento (7), WWE Crown Jewel 10/31 Riyadh (5), WWE TLC 12/15 Minneapolis (5)
2020 Top 3: WWE WrestleMania 36 Night 2 3/26 Orlando (7), WWE Horror Show at Extreme Rules 7/19 Orlando (5), AEW All Out 9/5 Jacksonville (4)
1. NJPW Castle Attack Night 1, 2/27 Osaka- 4
1. WWE SummerSlam, 8/21 Las Vegas- 4
3. WWE Survivor Series, 11/21 Brooklyn- 3
3. WWE Crown Jewel, 10/21 Riyadh- 3
5. WWE Fastlane, 3/21 St. Petersburg- 2
5. GCW Fight Forever, 1/30 Philadelphia- 2
Honorable Mention: WWE Elimination Chamber 2/21 St. Petersburg (1), AEW Revolution 3/7 Jacksonville (1), NJPW Satsuma no Kuni Night 1 4/28 Kagoshima (1), WWE Wrestlemania Backlash 5/16 Tampa (1), CMLL Aniversario 9/24 Mexico City (1), WWE NXT War Games 12/5 Orlando (1)
WORST WEEKLY TV SHOW
Once again anything that aired weekly during 2021 was eligible, even if it was internet-only or limited run.
2018 Top 3: WWE RAW (32), Being the Elite (7), WWE Smackdown Live! (2)
2019 Top 3: WWE RAW (17), WWE Smackdown (10), NWA Powerrr (4)
2020 Top 3: WWE RAW (25), WWE NXT (4), Tie: IMPACT Wrestling/WWE Friday Night Smackdown (2 each)
1. WWE RAW- 12
2. WWE NXT- 6
3. NWA Powerrrr- 4
4. AEW Dark- 2
5. Beyond Uncharted Territory- 1
Don’t forget to check out our awards episode from last weekend, where we went into all of our individual picks in much more detail. Thanks!
