We have reached the end of 2020 and boy has it been a weird ride. We have seen a lot transpire in Professional Wrestling this year. But since 2020 is bidding us adieu, I have taken on the very tricky job of narrowing the best matches of the year down to 10. Yes, only 10. It was a tough task but I have done it. A disclaimer is in order here: These are my top 10 matches of the year. There is bound to be a difference in opinion and everyone will have a different list than mine. Some of you might agree while some of you might not. I’ll be listing down the reasons why the following matches made the list. So just sit back and enjoy this article and so will I as I’m bombarded with criticism on my opinions after people are done reading this. Also, to the dismay of many of you, I’m not including cinematic matches because those are for another list. Before we get into it, here are some honorable mentions:
- Edge vs Orton at Backlash
- Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles in the IC Championship tournament finals
- Pac vs Omega Iron Man Match
- Go Shiozaki vs Takashi Sugiura
- Ibushi vs Ishii at the G1
- Roman Reigns vs Jey Uso at Clash of Champions
- Ibushi vs SANADA in the G1 Finals.
10 – Kenny Omega v Jon Moxley – AEW Dynamite (December 2)
This is a match that is still in recent memory. It was very highly anticipated and drew almost a million viewers at one point. Two of the biggest stars in professional wrestling were colliding for the AEW World Championship. The match was packed with spots that popped the capped capacity crowd with a feeling of uncertainty as to who was going to come out of it as the victor. There was an amazing moment where both sat on chairs in the middle of the ring just slapping each other right before we saw the actual return of ‘The Cleaner’. Omega turned heel in the match and was busting out V-Triggers like it was 2018 and he was in Japan. The post-match angle added to the match as Don Callis took Kenny and announced that they were appearing on Impact. Right now, people might not realize how significant this match was but down the line, people will probably be remembering this match as the beginning of something very special.
9 – Finn Balor vs Kyle O’ Reilly – NXT Takeover 31 (October 4)
NXT had been sitting on Kyle O’ Reilly as a singles wrestler for quite some time but they saw an opportunity to display their hidden gem and they did. When the match was announced people were confident that Balor would be winning it, but as the match drew closer and closer, doubt started to creep in. The build was done in such a way to show O’ Reilly as the wildcard that he is and was shown as a proper star. The build was perfect and the match even more. O’ Reilly busted out with his technical striking style as the match started and we saw Balor adapt to it. Kyle was stiff during this match, but Balor didn’t hold back either in this action-packed match. The ‘stiffness’ obviously had its repercussions with both wrestlers being out of the ring for multiple weeks but it established O’ Reilly as someone who could hang with the main event players and made the Undisputed Era even stronger. It is definitely one of the WWE Match of The Year Contenders.