Professional wrestling gave us a lot to be thankful for in 2024. WWE continued to deliver “cinema” with engaging storytelling, while AEW has masterfully provided action inside of the squared circle.
We saw Cody Rhodes finally finish the story at WrestleMania 40, the stunning in-ring return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, multiple entertaining feuds and a new champion emerge with Gunther in the WWE. In AEW, Bryan Danielson’s storied career ended, Swerve Strickland cemented himself as a certified star and Will Ospreay turned in arguably the best in-ring year in the history of the business.
With so much to chew on this year, deciding the best performers and performances of 2024 was no easy task. The competition was fierce across the board with few clear-cut winners. Has anyone done enough to usurp MJF from his perch as the best promo artist in the industry? Rhodes may have finished the story, but Ospreay and Gunther made compelling cases to be crowned as men’s wrestler of the year. Rhea Ripley spent much of the year on the shelf with an injury, leaving room for a new woman to be crowned as wrestler of the year. And while Ospreay has proved himself as a generational talent, the match of the year category was jam-packed with worthy competition from the brutal Hell in a Cell match…
