10 Best Wrestlers Of 2022

4. MJF

MJF AEW World Champion
AEW

Maxwell Jacob Friedman is currently riding high as AEW World Champion and one of the most over wrestlers in North America, though the meat of his Wrestler of the Year case comes from his early 2022 run.

For MJF, this year began with two consecutive Feud of the Year contenders. The CM Punk rivalry will go down as one of the greatest in AEW’s history, the only regret from it being that if Punk hadn’t brawled with The Elite after All Out, allowing MJF to challenge for his World Title at Full Gear, it would have resonated even stronger. Friedman returning from his own summer hiatus to fell the 44-year-old in Newark? George R.R. Martin couldn’t pen a more delicious coronation.

From Punk, MJF transitioned into another excellent rivalry with bodyguard-turned-behemoth Wardlow, who remains fiercely over today (despite often wavering creative) thanks to the strength of his program with Max. Though the conclusion was mired by MJF’s murky contractual status, the Double Or Nothing squash (and the weeks leading up to it) built Wardlow a cache with AEW fans that may never die.

Now skirting the lines between face and heel, MJF has the wrestling world at his feet at 26 years old. His aptitude for performance will turn the Bidding War of 2024 into one of next year’s best storylines, even if he has likely already signed an AEW extension, perhaps mirroring his fallen hero, Punk, as he drifts towards the kayfabe door. Nonetheless, 2022 has made ‘The Devil’ AEW’s biggest, most important star.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.