AEW Dominates 2021 PWI Awards, WWE Nearly Shut Out

They have earned it. There are only a handful of awards for wrestlers to win, which makes them that much more prestigious. It makes for some interesting discussions year to year, as fans are always going to debate the best at any given point. Some wrestlers are going to stand out more than others, and this time around, the fans have been allowed to give their input on the best around.

Pro Wrestling Illustrated has released its annual awards issue, looking at the Best Of 2021. AEW dominated the major awards, sweeping almost everything from WWE. These awards are fan voted, The only award that WWE won was the Inspirational Wrestler of the Year, which went to Edge. Here are the major winners, along with some comments from the biggest winner

Wrestler of the Year – Kenny Omega
Tag Team of the Year – Young Bucks
Match of the Year – Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa – St. Patrick’s Day Slam
Feud of the Year – Chris Jericho vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Most Popular Wrestler of the Year – CM Punk
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year – Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Comeback of the Year – CM Punk
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year – Britt Baker
Inspirational Wrestler of the Year – Edge
Rookie of the Year – Jade Cargill

D??M??D?? pic.twitter.com/qLNxnzRzcG

— Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (@RealBrittBaker) January 12, 2022

Oh… and I’m a dentist. ? https://t.co/YMdv8zIUp4

— Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (@RealBrittBaker) January 12, 2022

Eternally thankful for these two guys. The first independent wrestling t-shirt I bought as a fan was a Kenny one. Pretty cool to now call him both a mentor and a friend. Tony has never doubted me, even when it felt like most of the world did! Without these two there’s no DMD. ?? pic.twitter.com/GG9Bd98ZVc

— Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (@RealBrittBaker) January 12, 2022

Last one, I promise! Having Jerry as my coach has been one of my favorite parts of 2021. Jerry is truly one of AEW’s secret weapons and he’s probably had a hand in most of your favorite matches. I owe so much of my growth as a wrestler to @itsjerrylynn.

New??F’n??Show?? pic.twitter.com/Zp0qYMa2DT

— Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (@RealBrittBaker) January 12, 2022

There are some major wins in there. Check out some of the winners in action:

Opinion: It’s hard to argue against some of these, though the lack of some WWE moments is a bit surprising. That being said, AEW completely dominated these awards and have certainly made an impact in the fans’ eyes. That is a great accomplishment for them as the PWI Awards still mean something in the wrestling world. Good for AEW, and it seems that WWE has some major competition in at least one area.

What do you think of the winners? Who would you have picked? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 60,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 6,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books

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