CM Punk and Kenny Omega among the winners as AEW dominates WWE in major wrestling awards
CM Punk and Kenny Omega were among the big winners representing AEW in the annual Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards for 2021. The promotion swept a majority of the categories, beating WWE to the punch for several awards.
Each year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards are voted for by readers of the magazine. It originally started in 1972 with just a handful of categories. But in the 50-year history, many more categories have been added.
To commemorate the landmark year that All Elite Wrestling had in 2021, the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated voted for a number of AEW talents to receive some of the most prestigious awards.
IT'S HERE! The latest issue of PWI features our annual Achievement Awards, as voted by YOU! Plus, the year in review with top news stories, title changes from around the globe, awesome photos, and more.
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Kenny Omega walked away with the "Wrestler Of The Year" award for the first time. The closest he had come to winning the award earlier was in 2018, when AJ Styles edged him out for the top spot.
CM Punk walked away with two awards: The "Comeback Of The Year" and "Most Popular Wrestler Of The Year." The latter of the two is an award that Punk won back in 2011 during his white-hot year as the Voice of the Voiceless in WWE.
AEW's bad guys were acknowledged too as The Young Bucks were awarded "Tag Team Of The Year." The Inner Circle were awarded "Faction Of The Year," with leader Chris Jericho's rivalry with MJF winning "Feud Of The Year." MJF himself was also awarded "Most Hated Wrestler Of The Year."
CM Punk and Kenny Omega weren't the only big winners
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. ❤️ https://t.co/GG9Bd98ZVc
Arguably the most impressive of the lot was AEW Women's Champion Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.. She walked away with the "Rookie Of The Year" award, along with the coveted "Match Of The Year" award for her match against Thunder Rosa on the "St Patrick's Day Slam" edition of AEW Dynamite.
The match between Baker and Rosa is only the second women's match to win the award, the first being the 30-minute Iron Woman match between Sasha Banks and Bayley from NXT TakeOver: Respect in 2015.
For WWE, Edge picked up the "Inspirational Wrestler Of The Year" award, but it was a landslide victory for All Elite Wrestling over WWE.
Will 2022 prove to be just as successful? Keep watching All Elite Wrestling to find out.