Io Shirai and the Undisputed Era win big at the NXT Year-End Awards 2020
The annual NXT Year-End Awards have come and gone and some familiar names won awards across multiple categories. Among the night's big winners were the Undisputed Era and Io Shirai as well as Shotzi Blackheart who won the Breakout Star of the Year award. The categories and winners were announced throughout tonight's NXT.
Categories showcased current and future stars of NXT
"Breakout Star of the Year" was the first category announced and it was also one with almost 10 nominees. Included in the group were Shotzi Blackheart, Pat McAfee, Damian Priest, Cameron Grimes, Dexter Lumis, Timothy Thatcher, Raquel Gonzalez, Ilya Drauginov, and Santos Escobar.
It could be argued that almost anyone from Escobar to McAfee to Priest could have won the prestigious. When all was said and done, it was Blackheart who took home the award. She was extremely honored and thankful for receiving the accolade.
"Future Star of the Year" was a strange category but provided a glimpse of which Superstars could be in for a big push in 2021.
The likes of Austin Theory, Jake Atlas, Leon Ruff, Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter, and Indi Hartwell were nominees. Also vying for the award were Xia Li, A-Kid, Aoife Valkyrie, and the NXT UK duo, Pretty Deadly. A few names stood out in this category but Theory took home the win in the end.
"Rivalry of the Year" and "Event of the Year" were simply announced with Adam Cole/Pat McAfee and TakeOver: WarGames winning those respective awards.
Undisputed Era continued to rack up the accolades on NXT
"Tag Team of the Year" featured several worthy teams including Gallus, the Undisputed Era, Legado del Fantasma, Oney Lorcan, and Danny Burch, Imperium, and Breezango. When all was said and done, however, it was a familiar team winning as The Undisputed Era bagged the accolage for the third year in a row.
"Male Competitor of the Year" also had several worthy nominees with a field including Walter, Keith Lee, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Adam Cole, and Finn Balor. However, it was The Panama City Playboy who added another trophy to his group's collection, picking up the award for the second straight year.
"Match of the Year" was filled with candidates again featuring members of The Undisputed Era. Nominees included the Fatal Four Way Iron Man match featuring Gargano, Balor, Ciampa, and Cole, Balor vs. O'Reilly from TakeOver 31, and the Men's WarGames match. Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Io Shirai and Walter vs. Ilya Drauginov were also in the mix.
O'Reilly capped off the impressive night for Undisputed Era by bagging the award alongside the current NXT Champion.
Io Shirai finishes off 2020 in style
NXT GM William Regal announced "Female Competitor of the Year" and "Male Competitor of the Year" back to back. The women nominated were Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, Kay Lee Ray, and Tegan Nox. It wasn't much of a shock as the reigning NXT Women's Champ, Shirai, took home the honor. It wouldn't be her only win of the night.
The Genius of the Sky also took home "Overall Competitor of the Year" as she bested Adam Cole for the award. The NXT Universe voted for her to receive the honor over the Undisputed Era member. The majority of stars that took home wins were Superstars that have carried the brand in one of the toughest years in history.
So here's the entire roundup of the winners from tonight.
Event of the Year: NXT TakeOver: WarGames
Rivalry of the Year: Adam Cole vs. Pat McAfee
Breakout Star of the Year: Shotzi Blackheart
Tag Team of the Year: Undisputed Era.
Female Competitor of the Year: Io Shirai
Male Competitor of the Year: Adam Cole
Match of the Year: Finn Balor vs. Kyle O'Reilly, NXT TakeOver 31
Future Star of the Year: Austin Theory
Overall Competitor of the Year: Io Shirai