10 Best Wrestling Matches Of 2020

7. The Young Bucks & FTR Vs. The Lucha Bros. & The Butcher And The Blade - AEW Fyter Fest

Daniel Bryan AJ Styles
AEW

A scintillating multi-man spot-fest that never stops peaking is the hardest pro wrestling match to put together. More respect should be paid to it.

This was a scintillating multi-man spot-fest that never stopped peaking, and it served a wider storyline purpose immaculately. Doubling as a thread to develop the long-term FTR Vs. Young Bucks rivalry, they teamed together here in phase one of FTR's plan to shatter the Elite from within. This match - a level beyond exhilarating - also furthered the idea, in the grand philosophical saga, that FTR's old-school approach was the key to gold. Assessing what came next - who took the fall, and who went on to defeat Kenny Omega and Hangman Page for the Tag Team Titles? - makes this supposed spot-fest even more narratively rich in retrospect.

Great spot-fests are phenomenal achievements. This wasn't that.

This was an insane mind-melting endorphin rush by big picture design. When Nick Jackson and Fénix danced all over the ropes - in a bid to spike the other from a more dangerous height, which made sense as well as being deliriously awesome - it didn't make anywhere near enough sense for Dax Harwood. He grew exasperated on the apron. But only for a moment. There was a plan to develop, and he developed it by cooperating with Matt Jackson to double-team the heels - subtly flexing his style in the process.

Capped off with the single-greatest Canadian Destroyer spot in history - drawing a guffaw and a splutter as much of a pop, for its outrageous audacity - this, if you were willing to pay attention, was as much a storytelling classic as it was a banger.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!