2020 was a lousy year for professional wrestling and sports in general. As a result, there were only two sports that maintained constant operation throughout the year. That was Golf and professional wrestling. The NBA, started their season late in December.
This year was a recovery from the pandemic tapings in sports. With MMA and other sports beginning to perform live again, the professional wrestlers return to their regular programming. Here are the five trailblazers in professional wrestling in 2021.
5 – Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy is the Gen Z’s John Cena. He is tired, fed up, and does not care what you think. His character seems like a joke, but Orange Cassidy is a big deal, all thanks to his fantastic match in AEW Revolution 2020, when the king of Soft Style wrestled the main-eventer Pac. After his excellent debut match against Pac, he maintained a winning streak in AEW Dynamite and Dark. He feuded and beat Chris Jericho. Twice.
Cassidy finally became the Number 1 contender and headlined the main event title shot in Double or Nothing more than a year after his debut match with Pac in a three-way match with Kenny Omega. Currently, he is feuding with the legendary Matt Hardy. Orange Cassidy’s intense moveset was all thanks to his Luchador stint in Chikara as the masked wrestler “Fire Ant.”
Orange will have a singles title shot soon since he is constantly the number three contender for the AEW title next to our top pick. It’s either the AEW title or the Impact title, but who knows?
4 – MJF
MJF is a massive name in professional wrestling because he is one of the youngest wrestlers on the AEW roster. In 2019, he had his phenomenal debut in the Casino Battle Royale. The 24-year-old has beaten veterans like Chris Jericho, Dustin Rhodes, Cody Rhodes, and newcomers like Jungle Boy and Brian Pillman Jr.
During his feud with Chris Jericho, MJF is responsible for introducing hardcore legend Nick Gage on mainstream tv for a match against Chris Jericho. After his loss in All Out, he is currently feuding with Darby Allin. Despite his youth, MJF is executing a fantastic job of portraying a unique take on the arrogant “rich bad guy” since Buddy Rogers did. It is effective because, somehow, nearly everything he does gains attention.
3 Darby Allin
CM Punk, Ethan Page, Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Miro, and Taz are just a shortlist of veterans Darby feuded. Every veteran that feuded with Darby Allin in AEW, he proved wrong. Darby Allin strikes differently with the recurring lineup of babyfaces in AEW because of his dark, dare devilish, fearless style.
2 – Danhausen
Danhausen survived as a pro wrestler thanks to the fans of his YouTube channel. In addition, he and Ethan Page constantly have collaborative toy hunt videos. However, the best highlight for the Almighty Danhausen is his guesting for an online appearance in Conan O Brien’s final late-night show before being rescheduled as a variety show.
Danhausen is a breakthrough wrestler because of his signing to the reopening Ring of Honor late last year. However, Danhausen is more known as a comedy wrestler. Also, his Youtube content is full of unboxing videos of Macfarlane DC and Marvel toys and joke skits from his wrestling tours.
1 – Adam “Hangman” Page
Hangman Page had one hell of a ride upon signing with AEW. First, he gained a title shot at AEW’s first show, Double or Nothing, and failed to be the first AEW champion to a losing effort against Chris Jericho. After that, he retained a portion of his credibility by tagging with Kenny Omega. Until today, no one has a more extended tag team title reign than the Elite’s Hangman Page and Kenny Omega.
After losing the tag team titles to FTR, the Elite kicked him out in a storyline because he frequently drank alcohol. Fortunately, he regained friends alongside the Dark Order after getting kicked out. At this writing, he will Challenge for the AEW title for the first time since 2019 against his former tag team partner and Bullet Club stablemate, the one and only Kenny Omega, on November 13th in the AEW pay-per-view, Full Gear.
