Why Kenny Omega Is NOT The 2021 Wrestler Of The Year
AEW
Bryan Danielson was making an argument for wrestler of the year before he'd even gone back to working with that ring name.
Nobody felt more deserving of the Royal Rumble victory (again), and WWE themselves seemed to realise this when he was inserted into the WrestleMania main event alongside actual winner Edge and our aforementioned Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The triple threat was one of the best contests of the year across any company, and it was bettered by the SmackDown singles match with Reigns that ended up writing the 'YES! Man' out of the company forever.
His AEW tenure thus far has been an immediate revelation for everybody that had never seen him before WWE. An entire run rooted in him believing that he's better than everybody else on the show has seen him smash through every opponent with gusto. Winning almost every match with something different, he's positioned himself as the complete professional wrestler, deftly walking the babyface/heel tightrope until he was able to confirm his turn in the first chapter of his story with new Champion Hangman Page.
He also had the one Kenny Omega match in AEW history that put the 'Best Bout Machine' back on par with the form that justified the nickname in the first place...
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
