2020 NXT Year-End Award Winners Announced

NXT wraps up 2020 with its annual awards tradition.

by Andrew Pollard
Finn Balor NXT Year-End Awards 2020
WWE.com

As NXT last night aired its final show of 2020, the black and gold brand announced the fan-voted winners of its annual Year-End Awards.

A tradition that’s now in its sixth year, the nominees and winners of the 2020 NXT Year-End Awards are as follows:

Breakout Star of the Year Award

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Nominees: Pat McAfee, Damian Priest, Shotzi Blackheart, Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis, Timothy Thatcher, Raquel Gonzalez, Santos Escobar, Ilja Dragunov

Winner: Shotzi Blackheart

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Rivalry of the Year Award

Nominees: Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee, Candice LeRai vs. Io Shirai, Damian Priest vs. Johnny Gargano, Shotzi Blackheart vs. Robert Stone, Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Gonzalez, WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov, Kay Lee Ray vs. Piper Niven

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Winner: Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee

Tag Team of the Year Award

Nominees: Undisputed Era, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, Breezango, Imperium, Gallus, Legado Del Fantasma

Winner: Undisputed Era

Male Competitor of the Year Award

Nominees: Finn Bálor, Adam Cole, Johnny Gargano, Keith Lee, WALTER, Tommaso Ciampa

Winner: Adam Cole

Female Competitor of the Year Award

Nominees: Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Kay Lee Ray, Tegan Nox

Winner: Io Shirai

Overall Competitor of the Year Award

Nominees: Adam Cole, Io Shirai

Winner: Io Shirai

Event of the Year Award

Nominees: TakeOver: Blackpool 2, TakeOver: Portland, TakeOver: In Your House, Great American Bash, TakeOver: XXX, TakeOver 31, Halloween Havoc, TakeOver: WarGames

Winner: TakeOver: WarGames

Future Star of NXT Award

Nominees: Austin Theory, Jake Atlas, Leon Ruff, Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter, Indi Hartwell, Xia Li, A-Kid, Aoife Valkyrie, Pretty Deadly

Winner: Austin Theory

Match of the Year Award

Nominees: Fatal 4-Way Iron Man Match – Finn Balor vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano (Super Tuesday), Adam Cole vs. Finn Balor NXT Title Match (Super Tuesday II), Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa – (One Final Beat), Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly NXT Title Match (TakeOver 31), Keith Lee vs. Adam Cole (Great American Bash), Ladder Match for North American Championship (Takeover XXX), Io Shirai vs. Candice LeRae TLS Women’s Championship Match (Halloween Havoc), Ilja Dragunov vs. WALTER NXT UK Title Match (NXT UK TV), Men’s WarGames Match, Women’s WarGames Match, Rhea Ripley vs. Io Shirai vs. Charlotte (TakeOver: In Your House), Gallus vs. Imperium vs. GYV vs. Andrews/Webster Ladder Match (TakeOver: Blackpool 2), Tyler Bate vs. Jordan Devlin (TakeOver: Blackpool 2), Bronson Reed vs. Roderick Strong vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT TV), Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher (Fight Pit)

Winner: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly NXT Title Match (TakeOver 31)

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.