Welcome to the first annual BRASS RING POST awards!
That’s right, sports fans – we’re getting into the year-end awards game, and 2020 (THANK GOD) has finally ended… So, let’s dish out some awards!
For our inaugural edition, we’ll be separating our picks based on promotion. Sort of. As you can already see, we’ve got this post for All Elite Wrestling, and there’ll be another one for World Wrestling Entertainment. Additionally, we’ll have presentations for New Japan Pro Wrestling –and– one final collection of awards for all things “indie,” which will include everything from Game Changer Wrestling to Impact to Ring of Honor to anything available on Highspots / IWTV as possible contenders. Make sense? Good!
Some notes on the categories & whatnot
How did we decide the winners?
Our writers picked ’em, with an assist from our Discord peeps when tie-breakers were needed.
What is POP/BOTCH of the Year? What about MVP?
“POP” of the Year refers to the best moment of the year. Not the literal volume of the audience. “BOTCH” is the worst moment and not necessarily a failed attempt at a move. “MVP” is greatest overall contribution to the organization, be it on-camera, behind the scenes, etc.
Now, let’s get on with the show. Up first is AEW, the best t-shirt with a weekly TV deal!
Wrestler of the Year
“Hangman” Adam Page
(RUNNER UP: Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley)
Alison: Of all the AEW faces, “Hangman” Adam Page is perhaps the one whose 2020 feels the most relatable to us smarky old wrestling fans. His journey has been our journey.
Back at the start of the year, only a month or two into their unlikely partnership, Adam Page and Kenny Omega won the tag team championship from SCU! Sure, Page was enjoying his bourbon perhaps a little too much at the time, but his teetotalling bud was helping to keeping him balanced, and the future looked bright as the duo netted some convincing wins.
Then came the virus. COVID struck to the heart of our anxious millenial cowboy, and he retreated to the hills to take stock. After a few months questioning his place in the world, he returned to save his friends at Stadium Stampede. Just a month later, FTR arrived from WWE, and they quickly identified and exploited his insecurities. It all fell apart when Page and Omega lost the championship at All Out.
And, when the belts were gone, Page and Omega’s friendship fell apart too. The former friends’ rivalry increased through the AEW world title eliminator tournament, and by the Omega went on to take the title in December, Page felt abandoned and alone. It’s only in the last few weeks of the year that he started to find joy again, reluctantly celebrating the holidays with former cult turned friendship group the Dark Order.
The year didn’t bring Page a happy ending, but it didn’t bring any of us a happy ending. It was tough. There were ups and downs. There were triumphs and betrayals. Of course he’s wrestler of the year. Who else could it be?
Jesse: This anxious millennial cowboy had many ups and downs this year. Almost like he was…RIDING A BUCKING BRONCO!
Page is the full package as a wrestler and that definitely contributed to his Wrestler of the Year title. He tells a great story in the ring showing desperation and urgency and pathos with every strike and step. But his character work is a notch above. How often in wrestling do we see the “Losing faith in himself” angle play out, let alone this convincingly? We saw him at his highs winning the tag belts with Omega, and the slow erosion into drinking and despondence as Kenny felt he could do better without him. As Omega spun this into his latest dalliance as AEW Champion, Hangman has been plain spun out. Now as we see the Dark Order closing in on this man at his most vulnerable, it makes me so excited to see where the story (and the character) go from here.
Credit to Page for the great work, and extra credit to AEW for allowing this kind of long term storytelling without dragging it out forever OR replaying the same notes week after work. Accept the Darkness Page. Let it consume you…
Phil: I was the one managing the actual polling for the AEW voting, so I saw the votes tally in real time. The results for this category surprised me the most. Not because I don’t think Hangman deserves our coveted WOTY award (he totally does), but because his character’s arc in 2020 was so subtle that I assumed it would be lost on most viewers.
I’m very happy to be wrong, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised as AEW has done an amazing job at building an audience that appreciates storytelling that spans genre, media platforms, wrestling promotions that technically don’t have working relationships, and even time & space now thanks to Matt Hardy.
Everything Hangman gave us in 2020 was great. His in-ring work was top notch. His reaction to COVID on BTE was relatable. His encounters with Dark Order on BTE has so much range and nearly all of it works exactly as it is intended to. 2020 was the year that proves that Hangman Page doesn’t need the big gold belt to be the best in the company.
Tag Team of the Year
Kenny Omega & Adam Page
(RUNNER UP: Best Friends, FTR)
Phil: AEW and tag-team wrestling go together like peanut butter and jelly, man. I’ve always been an appreciator of a great tag-team match, but I never really thought of it as a division that could headline shows. Not consistently, at least. These guys were serious when they said they were going to take this shit seriously, and in 2020 they showed their work and turned in *multiple* Match of the Year contenders.
Omega/Page showed us that they weren’t just two random singles guys thrown together for no reason by diving head first into the tag game, and – get this – taking it seriously. They had a string of killer matches as champs, and they tore the house down with the Young Bucks in what’s almost universally recognized as the best tag-team match of all time. Not bad, eh?
Let’s be honest, though… AEW was still holding back in 2020. Just wait until we put together our awards for 2021 in a year when we’ll surely get FTR vs. Young Bucks WITH AN AUDIENCE. Yeah. That’s gonna happen.
Alison: I already wrote a lot about Page and Omega in my wrestler of the year blurb (above). Their friendship and break-up was one of the best-told stories of the year. I would have happily watched the duo continue as tag champions without FTR interrupting, but that loss led to Omega’s fantastic heel turn, so it’s hard to complain. Perhaps this was a team always destined to burn out, having shone so brightly?
I have to also tip my hat to Best Friends as runners up. Most people will remember the Parking Lot Fight as their big 2020 highlight, but the Friends have also been mainstays on AEW Dark where they have given up-and-comers a chance to hone their skills. Notably, they faced The Acclaimed back in October, in the heel duo’s soft debut as a team. Chuck Taylor and Trent have been solid, consistent and entertaining from bell to bell.
Jesse: Damn, I already blew my wad on this with the Page entry. Just go look at that.
Okay, fine.
It’s hard not to give the Best Tag Team nod to these two, when we’re still feeling the repercussions every week. In a company lauded for it’s dedication to tag-team wrestling, they’re actually a little light when it comes to stories in the division. Most times we’ll get a standard, “X attacked Y after a match last week, so they’re duking it out this week, the winner of which will most likely end up being attacked next week by Z, thereby setting up…” thing forever.
With Omega and Page, we got the full meltdown of Page’s character (see above) and a continuation of Omega having boundary issues and having too intimate feelings for tag team partners. While many purists would prefer an actual long term tag team as opposed to two singles-stars, you can’t do much better than two of the best singles wrestlers with the best promo and acting chops to (cowboy) boot.
Match of the Year
Omega & Page vs. Young Bucks
(RUNNER UP: Stadium Stampede)
Alison: I’ll let you in on a secret – I don’t have any memory of this Page and Omega versus Young Bucks match. Looking over the card from that PPV, I barely remember any of the matches, or even the angles leading up to them. For me, 2020 in wrestling was defined by the lack of crowds, and the creativity that was born from that. Our runner up for match of the year, Stadium Stampede, took the limitations and made limitationade.
Stadium Stampede came at the perfect time, as many of us were struggling with lockdown blues. The lockdown abruptly canceled a much-anticipated Blood and Guts Match – AEW’s take on WarGames – and dampened Matt Hardy’s big debut. After a couple months of social distancing, The Elite and Inner Circle finally got their big battle, in this epic cinematic clash! There were countless memorable moments, from Hangman arriving on a horse, to Sammy Guevara getting suplexed across the entire field by Matt Jackson, to a barroom brawl featuring the tag champs sipping whiskey and milk. Runner up? Nah nah nah not listening!
Jesse: I would’ve gone with Stadium Stampede honestly. It made the best of a bad situation, threw everything and the kitchen sink and made it work. I’d really like to see more character work with the Young Bucks this year. I just feel like I’ve seen everything they’re capable of in-character and wrestling style, and they’ve just been on shuffle playing the hits ever since.
Phil: Alison doesn’t remember this match and her and Jesse would have picked the football stadium Hardyverse match. I have an MFA in Film and I think The Godfather Part II is boring. Sometimes experts can still be wrong, I guess. 😉
Personally, I’ll forever remember this match if only for the awesome light-up wristbands the audience was wearing. Let’s do that again when 10,000+ size crowds are back, please.
Oh yeah, it’s also being touted as the best tag match ever by Uncle Dave, so that may explain why it got so many votes in our poll.
Feud of the Year
Best Friends vs. Proud & Powerful
(RUNNER UP: Kingston vs. Mox)
Alison: The Best Friends versus Proud and Powerful feud was perfect. They didn’t stretch it out too long. They didn’t try to throw in everything and the kitchen sink. The build was good, it had some “behind the scenes” stuff on Twitter but you didn’t need to be on Twitter to understand was going on, it expertly blurred kayfabe by pulling in Trent’s mom Sue… then the payoff happened in one of the best matches of the year! Brilliantly executed, and a testament to the professionalism of both teams.
Jesse: You don’t mess with BF’s. You EXTRA don’t mess with BF’s and their mamas.
My favorite parking lot match I’ve ever seen ever. Also the first time I really got into Santana and Ortiz as they got to slip the shadow of Inner Circle and shine on their own.
Phil: Chuck. Trent. Trent’s mom. Trent’s mom’s van. Trent’s mom flipping the bird on a t-shirt. One of the best parking lot matches to ever exist outside of a video game… So, like, basically every positive thing about 2020 all came from this feud. Loved it. All of it.
Now let Chuck say the s-word on TNT, you cowards.
Faction of the Year
Dark Order
(RUNNER UP: None)
Alison: Dark Order’s win in this category was unanimous, even before the passing of leader Brodie Lee.
Dark Order really came together in 2020, which opened with an angle hyping the imminent arrival of The Exalted One. Lee took the faction’s ominously cultish gimmick and tweaked it into a self-help program for turning pitiful losers into slightly less pitiful lackeys. Somewhere along the way – mostly outside of TNT television and in the wild west of YouTube – they became a lovable bunch of buffed dudes (and one chick!) who just like to hang out and be buff together.
Despite their fan favorite status online, on television they remain fearsome contenders, using overwhelming numbers to defeat more honorable opponents. They only had a flirtation with the gold during Lee’s brief run as TNT Champion, but their impact was felt across the promotion.
Jesse: Cults have been kinda done to death in wrestling. It’s been such a breath of fresh-air to see Dark Order reinvent the trope with a new take and a touch of management hell added. Their numbers have grown, they’re going after high-tier acquisitions like Hangman.
The real life illness and death of the Exalted One has definitely (in storyline) put a bump in the road and a little bit of babyface shine of the Dark ones. Here’s hoping they continue to build under a new leader, perhaps the long suffering Evil Uno. I can’t wait to see what they have in store next.
Phil: As Alison pointed out, our first round of internal polling for this award went to Dark Order with 100% of the vote. They stole our hearts and won this award a few weeks before we heard the tragic news about the untimely passing of their leader, Mr. Brodie Lee.
The stellar tribute show edition of AEW Dynamite was one more chance for us to share an unexpectedly wide array of emotions with the paper-throwing goofballs. Who knows what lies ahead for these weirdos in a world without Mr. Brodie, but I’ve got a feeling that we haven’t seen the best of them just yet.
Breakout Star of the Year
Orange Cassidy
(RUNNER UP: Ricky Starks, Thunder Rosa)
Jesse: The SINGLE biggest victim of the pandemic (aside from…you know…the dead people) may have been Orange Cassidy. While still the breakout star of the year, I feel his character may have suffered the worst from the lack of live crowd reactions. Back in February, crowds were going BANANA for the guy and he genuinely seemed like he might be the first AEW homegrown to burst onto the mainstream consciousness.
Despite these setbacks, he’s continued putting on great matches at every opportunity and evolving his in-ring style as his spotlight has grown brighter. When crowds come back in 2021, OC is getting a rocket strapped to his ass.
I daresay, don’t be surprised if Orange Cassidy ends up as breakout star 2021 as well. He’s rising high and only going higher!
Alison: My favorite Orange Cassidy match of 2020 was watching him defeat Will “Glass Jaw” Hobbs on the big East Palo Altan’s debut. It took 13 seconds. Thankfully, Hobbs recovered and is now a certified Powerhouse. Such is the power of the touch of Orange.
Phil: I thought about writing four paragraphs about Orange Cassidy winning BOSOTY… but then I realized how antithetical that would be to him being the winner. So, I’ll just say this: good job 👍.
POP of the Year
Dinner Debonair
(RUNNER UP: Sting debuts on Dynamite, Brodie Lee tribute show)
Alison: The only wrestling bit I have sent to my Broadway-loving friends. ‘Nuff said.
Jesse: A great bit of mainstream exposure for AEW, praised by no less than the (failing) New York Times! I’m a sucker for musicals, and two characters with their heads stuck way up their own asses were just the guys to try something so weird and over the top. Moreover, let us not forget the true revelation of this segment: In MJF vs. rock band singer Jericho, MJF can carry a tune WAY better than Y2J.
Phil: This was the most ridiculous thing I saw on a wrestling show all year. Maybe ever. And I mean that in a good way. I also say that being a person who has seen every minute of Broken Matt Hardy doing car pranks with his CKY friends in Cameron.
I loved it. I also hope they never do it again.
BOTCH of the Year
Matt Hardy is (Literally) Broken
(RUNNER UP: None)
Phil: Maybe I’m crazy, but when I watch the replays of this, it doesn’t look like Hardy hits his head on the concrete. If he did, I don’t understand how there wasn’t a huge pool of blood. Whether or not he had a concussion, though, it was evident that Hardy was rattled by the botch. Something wasn’t right, and the match should have been called off.
With the benefit of hindsight, I think we can all agree that the right call should have been for Sammy to also sell the fall and have the match end in a double 10-count. That would have solved the issue with Hardy putting his career on the line and they could have saved the big fall from the scaffold into the stage for an episode of Dynamite instead. Problem solved. Sadly, we were all forced to grit our teeth and watch Hardy stumble around like a lost grandpa going through the motions of their big finish.
I don’t wanna have to wonder if I’m going to watch a real life death when I watch fake underwear fighting. Let’s avoid that in the future, AEW.
Alison: Here’s another secret – my botch of the year was a write-in vote for Cody Rhodes winning back the TNT Championship from Brodie Lee! That definitely upset me more than this Hardy tumble. Call me heartless, I can take it!
Jesse: Ugh, just…yuck. You ever go back and watch extreme wrestling shit from back in the day and just cringe? Chair shots and botched spots and CZW (oh my). It sure was fun watching NecroButcher mutilate himself during the early 2000s, but now you can’t help but notice the guy looks like he’s 80 years old despite being born in 1973.
Much the same with Hardy here. We’ve seen him hurl his body at danger with no concern for his health for 25 years now. The guy shouldn’t have to “walk off” unconsciousness and brain swelling at 46, he’s more than proved himself at this point. In fact, I wouldn’t even say the “Botch” here is Hardy hurting himself, but the call to allow the match to continue. Thankfully he seems to have recovered fine and toned down his style since then. For 2021, let’s let Hardy continue to help out younger guys and let THEM throw their bodies at concrete for a change.
MVP of AEW
Chris Jericho
(RUNNER UP: None)
Phil: Say what you will about Chris Irvine, the actor that plays “Chris Jericho” on the fictional wrestling show we all watch. I’m liking the dude less and less with every non-wrestling thing he makes the news for. This isn’t a dirt sheet, though, so we won’t focus on who’s on his podcast, who he voted for, or how many times he farts on a snare drum in front of a crowd of maskless Floridians. Gonna force a smile and focus on the wrestlin’.
So, as for the wrestlin’… Well… Jericho’s still got it. Mostly.
The image of Chris Jericho wearing the AEW World Championship around his waist will probably be how that belt is burned into my memory forever. Same with the Winged Eagle™ belt and Hogan, the Big Gold Belt™ with Flair, and the plastic spinning toy belt with Cena. Jericho made that title, and because of that, that title means something in 2021 and beyond.
When Jericho’s reign ended in early 2020, he could have just faded away. But he had other plans. Jericho spent the rest of the year helping boost the stock of guys like Orange Cassidy, MJF, and Sammy Guevara. He also slayed on commentary multiple times in ways that helped make these bizarre pandemic-era shows watchable when they otherwise might not have been. Jericho is the gift that keeps on giving, and even at 50+ years old, he’s still got a lot more to give. Maybe just don’t look to him for advice on politics, science, or botox. 😛
Alison: Although I’d known the name Jericho before he came to AEW, I never really followed him. But his work in 2020 – his work in AEW, period – has been stellar. His Dinner Debonair – heck, his entire feud – with MJF. His program with Orange Cassidy, culminating in the Mimosa Mayhem match. His role in Stadium Stampede.
His cheerful little Bubbly Bunch pandemic promos, and that Flim Flam Challenge that I forwarded to my TikTok-loving, wrestling-averse friends… He celebrated 30 years in the ring by putting over Luther and Serpentico, for goodness’ sake! Jericho is a fabulously generous entertainer who always tries to build younger talent up, and I couldn’t imagine AEW in 2020 without him.
Jesse: Jericho is what every veteran SHOULD be doing: Putting some shine on the guys coming up. As great as MJF is as a character, I can’t imagine a better foil to play off of than his future self every week. EVERY member of the Inner Circle has gotten so much exposure due to their association with Le Champion! (Also, how many ridiculous expressions and titles has this guy gotten over and he’s STILL ADDING TO THEM IN HIS F%#^ING 50S!)
Sammy Guevara, Proud and Powerful, Hager, Orange Cassidy: All these guys have been pushed to a new level of awareness due to working with the living legend. It is hard to imagine AEW anywhere near as successful without his contributions, and it’s hard to imagine any legend that has been as selfless and forward-looking in the wrestling industry.
It’d be great if he could stop being a conspiracy nut, but….dude is 50. Could we maybe nudge him into the inevitable “middle-aged guy obsessed with World War 2” phase a little early? “General Jericho” has a nice ring to it…
And there you have it – the first ever BRASS RING POST awards.
Remember to check back throughout the week to see who takes home the (non existent) trophies for WWE, NJPW, and The Indie Scene™!
