Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i Pro Wrestling Illustrated

BY THE TIME you read this, 2020 will officially be in the rearview mirror. This was a difficult year for wrestling. Government-mandated shutdowns led promotions around the world to shutter their doors … some never to reopen. Economic concerns forced reliable venues to close, as well as some journeyman independent grapplers to hang up their boots for good. With independent wrestling events shut down worldwide, the #SpeakingOut movement offered survivors of abuse and assault a receptive audience to share their stories. While the movement was inspiring, the alleged conditions that led to it were, of course, anything but. WWE and AEW continued to operate, running shows throughout the pandemic. Each company was impacted at various points by COVID—not only because of lost revenue, but by talent and crew who either…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYEstrnYwa8 IT HAS BEEN said that with great opportunity comes great expectation. And, indeed, the wrestling highway is littered with the memories of sons who failed to break down doors that their famous last names may have opened for them. Imagine, then, the expectation that comes with not only being the son of a successful wrestler, but the son of perhaps the greatest high-flyer in wrestling history. Thankfully for Dominik Mysterio, the 23-year-old not only lived up to those expectations during his maiden year in the ring, but was impressive enough for our readers to overwhelmingly select him as Rookie of the Year. Some cynical eyes may have rolled when Dominik began appearing on WWE television without so much as a stint in NXT. But even the harshest of critics…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSNiLPTkxO8 A DECADE REMOVED from his first run with WWE, MVP returned and proved rather quickly that time had not slowed him physically, nor eroded any of his Machiavellian tendencies. While he’s enjoyed some success when stepping into the ring—notably scoring victories over Apollo Crews in singles action, and in tag team matches alongside Bobby Lashley against The Viking Raiders—it was in a managerial role that MVP truly shined in 2020. As confident a public speaker as you’re likely to find in WWE, the former United States champion was able to talk Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander into joining Lashley and himself in The Hurt Business faction, which turned out to be a shrewd move on their part as it changed the fortunes of both men virtually overnight. While Lashley,…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ7gH7wbr0o AFTER NOT EVEN even making the “Votes for Others” section in this category a year ago, Orange Cassidy takes home the top prize for Most Popular Wrestler in what turned out to be one of our most closely contested awards this year. To some, Cassidy’s strong showing here may come as a surprise. But, to anyone who has followed him or AEW for the last year, it won’t. Simply put, there is no one quite like Orange Cassidy in wrestling. And this uniqueness, more than anything, gives him an undeniable connection with fans. As much as people enjoy the aloof, slacker demeanor Cassidy regularly displays, it may not fully be responsible for the uptick in votes he received this year. In 2020, fans got to see different shades of…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVHxZz4wQkc FOR THE FIRST time in the history of this publication, our readers have selected a pair of women to take home the awards for Feud of the Year and Tag Team of the Year. This incredible feat proves just how good Bayley and Sasha Banks were in 2020—be it together or apart—and underscores their strong placing in our “Women’s 100” ranking and our inaugural “Tag Team 50” list. After beating Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross to become the WWE Women’s tag team champs in May, Smackdown’s Bayley and Banks took their gold to all three WWE brands and defeated anyone who stepped up to them, including Shotzi Blackheart & Tegan Nox on NXT and The Iiconics and Kabuki Warriors on Raw. While tension may have simmered under the surface,…

AAA TITLE CHANGES 1Title held since February 16, 2019 2Title held since June 16, 2019 1Title held since August 3, 2019 4Title held since September 15, 2019 5Title held since October 19, 2019 ALL ELITE WRESTLING 1Beat Lance Archer in the finals of a tournament to crown the first champion 2Awarded to Brian Cage by Taz ALL JAPAN PRO WRESTLING TITLE CHANGES 1Won the vacant title CMLL TITLE CHANGES 1Title held since June 10, 2017 2Title held since September 28, 2018 3Title held since October 16, 2018 4Title held since November 1, 2019 DRAGON GATE TITLE CHANGES 1Beat Ben-K & YAMAMOTO in the finals of a tournament to fill the vacant title 2Beat Naruki Doi, Punch Tominaga, & Ryotsu Shimizu to win the vacant title 3Beat Kota Minoura & YAMATO…

HARRY BURKETT [SENIOR WRITER] Brutality, vengeful pride, and misplaced loyalties brought to a boil a stew already simmering with selfishness and resentment. That was Roman Reigns’ contribution to WWE in 2020. His association with special counsel Paul Heyman and his Brock Lesnar-style dominance of Smackdown and the Universal championship was almost an afterthought. Relatives such as Jimmy Uso and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson criticized Reigns’ treatment of cousin Jey Uso, but mostly from the sidelines. And there’s one image that remains with me: Sika and Afa Anoa‘i presenting Roman with a lei, recognizing him as the “Tribal Chief” following his ruthless treatment of Jey inside Hell in a Cell. Families are complicated. BRIAN SOLOMON [CONTRIBUTING WRITER] Thirty years is a long time. In fact, it’s the longest any active competitor…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQyZvFNbMuA TO SAY THAT someone has “improved” carries the implication that the person in question may not have been so great to begin with. But, in the case of this year’s award winner, it’s more of a confirmation that they had a year where they finally achieved what many believed to be their destiny. When Drew McIntyre first arrived in WWE, an authority no less than Vince McMahon himself proclaimed the Scot to be “The Chosen One.” And while that proclamation seemed ridiculous a few years later as he was gyrating around as a member of Three Man Band, the Drew McIntyre who reemerged in NXT in 2017 after a three-year stint away from WWE was a different beast than the one who had been fired in 2014. Darker, disciplined,…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih4TQjHNZo0 THE HEADBANGING INDIE star didn’t let COVID-19 restrictions slow down his momentum, as he wrestled matches anywhere and everywhere it was safe to do so—including successful defenses of his IWTV Independent Wrestling championship against the likes of “Speedball” Mike Bailey, Effy, and Rickey Shane Page. WARHORSE also scored wins over Joey Janela on a Warrior Wrestling card and Joshua Bishop on a Black Label Pro event. His “Warhausen” tandem with Danhausen proved successful, despite their divergent opinions on whether or not it’s okay to swear. On July 29, WARHORSE rode into AEW and challenged Cody Rhodes for the TNT championship. And even though he came up short, the appearance and his efforts no doubt raised his profile (and that of the indies) just a little bit more. At the…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd5GoBA65Wc ONCE UPON A time, it was easy for wrestlers to get fans to hate them, if that was what they desired. Not so much anymore. With the advent of social media, fans can now get access to a wrestler’s most personal moments outside of the ring, showing us the likable human beings behind the detestable on-screen personas. Credit, then, must go to Seth Rollins who, despite all of this, was so reprehensible during his appearances on WWE television that our readers saw fit to crown him as the Most Hated Wrestler. Such wicked work did Rollins do as the “Monday Night Messiah” that it’s easy to forget that just two years ago, he was the top runner-up in our Most Popular Wrestler category. A quick examination of his year,…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBLtRv_TjQ8 PROOF THAT LANDING the number one spot on the PWI “500” wasn’t a misstep by our staff—the readers have spoken … and agreed that no one in wrestling had a better year than Jon Moxley. Heralded as a major player from the moment he arrived in AEW, Mox began the year by besting PAC to earn himself a shot at Chris Jericho’s AEW World championship before heading to Japan to successfully defend his IWGP Intercontinental title against Minoru Suzuki. At AEW’s Revolution PPV on February 29, Moxley downed Jericho to lift the AEW World championship and set about establishing himself as the most fighting champion in the business. A quick look at the names Moxley defeated in 2020 reads like a who’s who of AEW players: Jake Hager, Brodie…

PURE GENIUS AWARD: ROH Brings Back Pure Championship —Matthew Rooy MAURO RANALLO “MAMMA MIA” MOMENT: The Return of Ember Moon —Jennifer Stevens 2020 ENTER SANDMAN AWARD: Chris Jericho’s Theme “Judas” —Robert Lindynut DESERVES WORLD TITLE STATUS: NWA Heavyweight Title —Steve Russell WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? IT’S HIS NAME!: Evil betrays Tetsuya Naito —Eric Geores RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: Brock Lesnar’s Face After Working the First Half of the Royal Rumble —Jennifer Stevens MOST UNDERRATED PROMOTION: Major League Wrestling —Harry Pawlik BEST TALK SHOW: KO Show —John Koenig FOOT-IN-MOUTH AWARD: Sammy Guevara —Cedrick Ramsey NOT AGAIN: Nia Jax Puts Lana Through a Table Eight Times —Jay Querubin AEW DARK MVP: Ricky Starks —Brandon Laliberte SOON TO BE OUT OF STYLE: AJ Styles —Ronald Carrington SOMEHOW, IT ONLY MADE HER CREEPIER: Su Yung Becomes “Susie” —Eric…

HEAVYWEIGHT 1 KENNY OMEGA 203, Winnipeg, MB (–) AEW & AAA champion 2 TETSUYA NAITO 225, Tokyo, Japan (2) IWGP/Intercontinental champion 3 ROMAN REIGNS 265, Pensacola, FL (3) WWE Universal champion 4 DREW McINTYRE (6) 265, Ayr, Scotland (2) #1 contender WWE title 5 RICH SWANN 200, Baltimore, MD (7) Impact heavyweight champion 6 FINN BALOR 190, Bray, Ireland (5) NXT heavyweight champion 7 JACOB FATU 300, Samoa (–) MLW heavyweight champion 8 SHUN SKYWALKER 183, Gifu, Japan (–) Dragon Gate champion 9 BOBBY LASHLEY 273, Junction City, KS (10) WWE U.S. champion 10 DARBY ALLIN 180, Seattle, WA (–) AEW TNT champion WOMEN 1 SASHA BANKS 115, Fairfield, CA (1) Smackdown Women’s champion 2 UTAMI HAYASHISHITA 142, Kagoshima, Japan (–) World of Stardom champion 3 ASUKA 137, Osaka, Japan (3) Raw Women’s champion 4 SERENA DEEB 130, Fairfax, VA (6) NWA Women’s champion…

ONLY ON ONE occasion has our Editors’ Award for Lifetime Achievement been given out twice in a single year. In 1988, we chose to honor Adrian Adonis and Bruiser Brody—both of whom had been tragically killed in their prime. This year, we are once again choosing to honor two recipients. Thankfully, both of them are very much alive and well! The reason for the change is simple: There are just so many deserving individuals who deserve to be recognized for their contributions to the wrestling industry. And, just as Hall of Fame classes in sports and entertainment usually consist of several inductees, we thought it made sense to honor at least two people in a given year. Apart from dual Stanley Weston Awards, longtime readers will notice a few other…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTyA012hwQ AT 2:15 A.M. on May 20, lifeguards responded to reports of a body seen along the Venice Beach shoreline in Los Angeles. A short time later, authorities were able to confirm the news that many had feared was coming: The body was that of former WWE wrestler Shad Gaspard. Gaspard had gone swimming with his 10-year-old son the previous Sunday when a sudden riptide pulled them out to sea. Lifeguards managed to briefly speak to Gaspard, who instructed them to save his son first. Just moments later, a wave crashed over him, and he disappeared underwater. In the ensuing days, search parties frantically looked for Gaspard to no avail. Then, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the tragic news came through that he had drowned. Gaspard was 39…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfcC-EL0ZVE IT HAS BEEN said before in wrestling that good friends often make better enemies. When it comes to Bayley and Sasha Banks, our readers wholeheartedly agreed, as they overwhelmingly recognized the duo as having had the Feud of the Year. Personal connections are what make a feud special, and the connection these two ladies shared couldn’t get much more personal. Tracing back to their early days in NXT, Bayley and Sasha were almost always linked together in some fashion. And anyone who saw their barn-burning matches together on WWE’s third brand knew that if they got the chance to do the same on the main roster, the results would likely be similar. As it turned out, 2020 was the year we got to see the long-awaited encore. After a…

WAS THIS THE best tag team match in wrestling history? That may be debatable, but what’s not up for debate is that almost a quarter of our total votes for match of the year went to this AEW instant classic from February’s Revolution PPV. Since its inception, AEW has done a superb job of making its tag team division one of the crown-jewel pieces of its product. And, with this championship match, it was easy to see why as the Elite members tore into each other for thirty straight minutes and, in the process, dispelled any notion that modern tag team wrestling can’t tell a compelling story. The match weaved many elements into it: Matt Jackson’s injured back; Omega’s less-than-100% shoulder; Page’s blatant disrespect toward the Bucks and Omega’s attempt…

MADUSA MICELI IN THE PROCESS of putting together this section, we confided in longtime PWI cornerstone Bill Apter that we would be honoring Madusa Miceli with this year’s Stanley Weston Award for Lifetime Achievement. His response? “It’s about time.” Indeed, Miceli—known to fans as both Madusa and, in WWE, as Alundra Blayze—has left a significant mark on the wrestling industry, while helping to pave the way for generations of women wrestlers to thrive. Raised in the Minneapolis foster system, Miceli’s career began, appropriately enough, in Minnesota’s AWA. It was there she began to establish a name for herself … and earned the distinction of being named PWI’s first-ever female Rookie of the Year (1988). Now, more than three decades later, she’s received our magazine’s most coveted award. “Is this a…