Professional wrestling gave us a lot to be thankful for in 2024. WWE continued to deliver “cinema” with engaging storytelling, while AEW has masterfully provided action inside of the squared circle.
We saw Cody Rhodes finally finish the story at WrestleMania 40, the stunning in-ring return of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, multiple entertaining feuds and a new champion emerge with Gunther in the WWE. In AEW, Bryan Danielson’s storied career ended, Swerve Strickland cemented himself as a certified star and Will Ospreay turned in arguably the best in-ring year in the history of the business.
With so much to chew on this year, deciding the best performers and performances of 2024 was no easy task. The competition was fierce across the board with few clear-cut winners. Has anyone done enough to usurp MJF from his perch as the best promo artist in the industry? Rhodes may have finished the story, but Ospreay and Gunther made compelling cases to be crowned as men’s wrestler of the year. Rhea Ripley spent much of the year on the shelf with an injury, leaving room for a new woman to be crowned as wrestler of the year. And while Ospreay has proved himself as a generational talent, the match of the year category was jam-packed with worthy competition from the brutal Hell in a Cell match involving CM Punk and Drew McIntyre and Hangman Page’s ultraviolent unsanctioned lights-out steel cage match with Strickland.
We gathered 13 marks to crown the winners of ESPN’s 2024 pro wrestling awards. Andreas Hale, Arda Ocal and Brandon Caldwell provide analysis on each winner.
Women’s wrestler of the year: Roxanne Perez and Toni Storm (tie)
NXT has the most diverse women’s roster in North American wrestling, and Roxanne Perez is its anchor. Her Raw debut, the night after WrestleMania 40, showcased how bright her future is, but in 2024, she reminded NXT who’s the final boss of the women’s division. “The Prodigy” welcomed all challengers after regaining the NXT women’s championship at NXT Stand & Deliver vs. Lyra Valkyria. Perez faced newcomers Giulia and TNA star Jordynne Grace and potential future champions Lola Vice and Jaida Parker.
Why she shares this honor with AEW’s Toni Storm is quite clear. Storm and Perez represent top-level talent, putting a division on their backs and carrying it to new heights. Storm’s “Timeless” gimmick helped elevate the Aussie wrestler to another level. Her record-tying third reign as AEW women’s champion was her best, perfectly capturing the essence of a paranoid yet hilarious Golden Age Hollywood-era starlet with interesting feuds and matches. Storm raised the profiles of everyone around her, including former understudy and current AEW women’s champion Mariah May. 2025 will be an opportunity for both to evolve, for Perez to face a new challenge perhaps and for Storm to see a new wrinkle in the feud with May. — Caldwell
Men’s wrestler of the year: Gunther
Gunther’s rise in 2024 went exactly how WWE fans would have drawn it up. He finally lost the Intercontinental title, but soon became the world heavyweight champion. His match against Sami Zayn was one of the best at WrestleMania 40, then four months later, “The Ring General” raised gold again at SummerSlam after defeating Damian Priest.
Gunther has spent over half of his WWE career holding a championship. Recently, though, some fans have asked for a more enticing wrinkle in his persona or an interesting storyline to dive into. (Will Ludwig Kaiser be the one to challenge him at WrestleMania 41?) The Austrian sensation is a fan favorite, and many fans believe he’s the one active wrestler who could succeed in any era. If Gunther keeps the world heavyweight title throughout the year, he could win this award again in 2025. — Ocal
Tag team of the year: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer and Axiom)
Tag team wrestling was in a strange place in 2024. There were many title changes across every promotion and the overall feeling was that tag teams were deemphasized for yet another year. Still, the one pair that remained consistent was the unlikely duo of Nathan Frazer and Axiom, who held the NXT tag team title for much of the year.
After capturing the championship in April, the two have navigated chemistry issues while making several successful title defenses with their high-flying attack. They briefly dropped the title in July but reclaimed it 19 days later and have held on while keeping viewers engaged with their never-ending inner turmoil. The highlight of their current title reign was a superb showdown with Myles Borne and Tavion Heights. The match exceeded expectations as the duo again overcame what appeared to be self-destruction to remain champions. Few fans would have expected Fraxiom to be the most entertaining tag team entering 2024. Between their grip on the title and their storyline drama, they’ll enter 2025 as one of the most intriguing stories in NXT. — Hale
Debut wrestler of the year: Jacob Fatu
Solo Sikoa‘s Bloodline 2.0 was on the verge of becoming a legit faction by adding the Guerillas of Destiny, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, weeks after WrestleMania 40. Fatu’s arrival on SmackDown on June 21, destroying Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens by himself, solidified him as a legitimate star.
Fatu’s emergence immediately put him in rarefied air as a competitor. He has off-the-charts athleticism and a magnetic persona that make him must-see TV. He’s such a believable talker on the mic — every threat hits with fire and condemnation. Projecting titles and WrestleMania main events for Bloodline 2.0’s enforcer doesn’t feel too early. Fans consistently ask for more of the “Samoan Werewolf” due to his size, intensity and charisma. Solo Sikoa’s most loyal devotee didn’t just become a breakout star in 2024; he became a made man. — Caldwell
Breakthrough wrestler of the year: Swerve Strickland
Strickland leveled up more than any other wrestler this year. He won his first world title, claiming the AEW World Championship in April. And his long-standing feud with Adam Page may be the greatest feud in AEW history. This story has been on point. The hatred burns hot, and each match has gotten better — and more violent — than the last. Both wrestlers have elevated after interacting with each other for such a long time, but Strickland, especially, has become a star. — Ocal
Best promo artist: Drew McIntyre
There was a time when talking on the mic was far from Drew McIntyre’s strength, but after an exceptional heel run in 2024, he emerged as the best promo artist in the business. “The Scottish Psychopath” has reached new heights with a brooding mixture of truth-telling and delusion. His claim to this year’s award was punctuated when he stood toe-to-toe with arguably one of the best to ever touch a microphone, CM Punk. Not only did McIntyre hang with “The Voice of the Voiceless,” he often bested his counterpart in verbal jousting. His seamless ability to blend fiction with reality — along with his diabolical use of social media — has made him must-see TV. If you need further validation, check out McIntyre’s appearance on Sirius XM’s “Busted Open,” where he navigated through several emotions that left fans wondering where the story stopped and reality started. — Hale
Match of the year: Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson, AEW Dynasty
The best wrestler in the world vs. the best wrestler of his generation. Bryan Danielson knew 2024 would be his final year as a full-time wrestler, and he set out to have matches with everyone possible. Each Danielson match has flair, cues and rises, but none were better than his bout with Will Ospreay at AEW Dynasty in April. Ospreay’s first year as a full-time AEW performer will go down as one of the best in-ring years by any wrestler, but for one night in St. Louis, he was the best in the business. For 30 minutes, Ospreay and Danielson threw everything from chain submissions to hard strikes at one another. At one point, the crowd even chanted, “We’re not worthy,” during the match.
The final five minutes of the match felt like a western, with Ospreay beating Danielson to the punch after one final stalemate, delivering a Tiger Driver 97 and one final Hidden Blade to beat “The American Dragon.” A blood feud didn’t bring Danielson and Ospreay together — it was their supreme belief in who was better. Although Danielson is no longer competing full-time, he gave fans one more classic on his way out. — Caldwell
Best PPV/PLE event of the year: WrestleMania 40
For the second straight year, WrestleMania tops this list. The two-night event already has sky-high expectations from wrestling fans every year, but WrestleMania 40 not only delivered, it far exceeded expectations.
Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns became the first pair to main event both nights of the same WrestleMania, which seems poetic given what they’ve meant — and will continue to mean — to the company. The Rock pinning Rhodes to end Night 1 left the door open for a future main event. And Rhodes winning the WWE Undisputed Universal championship on Night 2 to “finish the story” was a cathartic moment for wrestling fans who insisted on having their voices heard when the WWE’s plan seemingly changed. The final five minutes of the match perfectly encapsulated how wrestling can be the ultimate roller coaster of emotions. Drew McIntyre won the world title after a terrific match with Seth Rollins, only to have it ripped away from him after a Money in the Bank cash-in from Damian Priest. Bayley and Iyo Sky tore the house down with their WWE women’s title match. The production quality was some of WWE’s finest work, and that’s saying something. — Ocal
Best feud/storyline of the year: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre
The best feud of 2024 was the one that nobody saw coming. Entering the year, it appeared that CM Punk was on a collision course with Seth Rollins for a highly anticipated feud, expected to culminate at WrestleMania. However, a real-life injury suffered by Punk in the Royal Rumble shuttered those plans. Instead, it led to a vitriolic feud between McIntyre and Punk that was white hot despite their inability to have a match. Scathing disses were exchanged in numerous exchanges, and social media became just as important to their feud as what transpired on television. Although Punk has been known for his brilliance on the microphone, McIntyre more than held his own against the “Best in the World.” After Punk cost McIntyre the world heavyweight championship at WrestleMania 40, the two engaged in a brutal trio of matches. Their Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood was a contender for match of the year. There’s no question that this was the most compelling storyline in professional wrestling. — Hale
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