10 Best Wrestlers Of 2021
Honourable Mentions...
Listed in no specific order, the following wrestlers came close to cracking this year's top ten.
In WWE, Bobby Lashley had a career-best year, as the company finally cracked a dominant formula for main event success. With her Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 37 wins and matches with Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair's highs were stunning, though she spent too much of 2021 in a booking mire for further consideration. Edge delivered age and body-defying big-match performances in various feuds, though risible week-to-week overacting prevents his placement.
Britt Baker remains amongst AEW's strongest characters but lacks the in-ring body of work for contention. Darby Allin came close, having made even Billy Gunn look good this year. A special case is CM Punk, who has only been back since August but dominated the wrestling conversation in summer and fall and peaked when positioned opposite Allin and Eddie Kingston. Rey Fenix was his usual dazzling self too, with his Kenny Omega and best tag work prominent on many a Match of the Year rundown. Promo-wise, MJF demonstrated himself as one of the best in the business week after week, and his in-ring résumé is catching up as well.
For his work on the indies (particularly in Limitless, where he was an excellent heel champion) and AEW, Daniel Garcia came mighty close. His time on lists like this will assuredly come.
In Japan, Utami Hayashishita continues to prove her mettle as Stardom's new figurehead while company ace Mayu Iwatani had another great year, albeit not as spectacular as her 2021, owing to her positioning. Yuki Ueno continued his DDT ascent as one of the world's most promising high-flyers and babyfaces. That company's ace, Konosuke Takeshita, was remarkably consistent, as was the legendary Jun Akiyama with and without the KO-D Openweight Championship. NJPW had a tough year creatively, but Zack Sabre Jr. transcended much of it, particularly in the G1 Climax.
Tsukasa Fujimoto had one of the year's best title reigns atop Ice Ribbon, while Suzu Suzuki's rise to deathmatch credibility was as compelling as anything else in Japan. NOAH's Katsuhiko Nakajima, meanwhile, finally came of age as a top champion, having built the aura to match his prodigious skillset.
Anywhere, here's the wrestler of the year...