10 Best Wrestlers Of 2024
1. Swerve Strickland
Swerve Strickland's 2024 can't be defined simply by what he achieved, but more how he went about achieving it and to just how well his plan for world domination worked.
By the end of 2023, his ascension to the position of AEW World Heavyweight Champion was so undeniable that people stopped panicking he wouldn't make it. Even when the company appeared to miss the golden moment and/or peak of his popularity by not strapping him up at Revolution in three-way with Champion Samoa Joe and his arch rival Hangman Page, they got it done at Dynasty, and Strickland wasn't going to allow the minor setback to be the first of many.
After his first Dynamite and Collision as Champion passed with whimpers rather than roars, he set about immediately making himself a bigger deal than the booking looked like it was about to. Featuring multiple times per episode as opposed to the usual AEW formula, Strickland's presence became more notable than that of anybody else on the show, as every Champion's should be. From there, he tweaked his matches slightly to take on a certain quality more attached to that of a main eventer, and banked killer contests against Will Ospreay, Roderick Strong, Christian Cage and Bryan Danielson to solidify his place as one of the company's best-booked champions in years.
In the meantime, he's continued to be excellent in his best-in-class programme opposite Hangman Page, folding their hatred into Blood & Guts as well as a powerful All Out steel cage showdown. That rivalry may never be over, but Swerve always will be. Whose house?