10 Best Wrestlers Of 2022 (So Far)

by Andy H Murray

1. Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley
AEW

Wrestler of the Year 2022, so far, has been a one-horse race, with Jon Moxley close to lapping the competition thanks to a career-best six-month run.

The Interim AEW World Champion has been almost frighteningly prolific since returning happy, healthy, and with renewed vigour after undergoing an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation program. A pitch-perfect, from-the-heart comeback promo set the tone for a man so determined to make up for lost time, he had wrestled three matches for three different promotions by the end of that week.

A February tag team bout with CM Punk vs. FTR and Revolution's uncompromising Bryan Danielson bout established Mox as 2022's frontrunner. From there, he has delivered Match of the Year-calibre singles bouts with opponents as diverse as Biff Busick, Wheeler Yuta, and Will Ospreay, played a leading role in another (Anarchy in the Arena), continually been the most reliably excellent babyface promo on American television, and helped form a stable with unmatched headlining and elevatory potential in the Blackpool Combat Club.

Defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in a sought-after Forbidden Door bout re-positioned Moxley as 'The Guy' in AEW in CM Punk's absence. Nobody is better equipped to steer the ship while the injured World Champion is away. Now, having carried AEW through its first period of great hardship (the COVID-19 pandemic's first year), Moxley has strapped the promotion to his back during another in 2022.

Provided his standards don't nosedive (and why would they?), Moxley is on course to score one of the most lopsided Wrestler of the Year victories in decades. Given the circumstances - and the battles he fought to get back to this level - it's impossible not to feel good about that.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.