List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

This is a list of both active and inactive Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll between Meltzer and his friends and others he corresponded with on the subject of professional wrestling at the time. After starting the Wrestling Observer in 1982, the awards took on a greater life, with an increasing number of awards given out every year.^[1]

The awards were created to recognize the individual achievements of a select few wrestlers who exemplified a specified criterion. The awards are given every year in various categories such as Wrestler of the Year,^[2] Most Outstanding Wrestler, Tag Team of the Year, Most Improved, Pro Wrestling Match of the Year, etc.; there are also a handful of awards to recognize the dubious distinctions in the business during that year such as Most Overrated and Worst Match. There are currently forty-five categories that are actively assessed every year and twenty that are no longer active. The awards are voted for by the newsletter's paying readership, primarily wrestling fans, although it is claimed that some industry workers also vote.

The awards are organized into two categories. For "Category A" awards, voters indicate their top three choices. First choices are awarded five points, second places three points, and third places two points. The choice with the most points overall wins. For "Category B" awards, voters simply indicate their top choice. For the "Category B" Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award, the recipients are chosen by a committee headed by Meltzer.

Over the years, various MMA promotions or individual mixed martial artists were deemed eligible to win some awards when it seemed as though they were more deserving to win than the conventional wrestler or wrestling promotion. This led to, in 1997, the creation of Shootfighter of the Year and Shoot Match of the Year to recognize MMA achievement specifically. Still, some primarily professional wrestling-focused awards remained intact for MMA promotions/fighters to win, due to the similar business aspect between both sports (i.e. Best Box Office Draw and Promotion of the Year). In the December 3, 2007 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was announced that from that year onwards, mixed martial artists are no longer eligible for the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award, thus reserving it for professional wrestlers only. Shootfighter of the Year was renamed to Most Outstanding Fighter and Shoot Match of the Year was renamed to MMA Match of the Year to match a new award called Mixed Martial Arts Most Valuable, which is similar to the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award except it is for mixed martial artists.

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Harley Race	National Wrestling Alliance
1981
1982	Ric Flair
1983
1984
1985		Jim Crockett Promotions
1986
1987	Riki Choshu	New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling
1988	Akira Maeda	Universal Wrestling Federation
1989	Ric Flair	World Championship Wrestling
1990
1991	Jumbo Tsuruta	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1992	Ric Flair	World Wrestling Federation
1993	Big Van Vader	World Championship Wrestling
1994	Toshiaki Kawada	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1995	Mitsuharu Misawa
1996	Kenta Kobashi
1997	Mitsuharu Misawa
1998	Stone Cold Steve Austin	World Wrestling Federation
1999	Mitsuharu Misawa	All Japan Pro Wrestling
2000	Triple H	World Wrestling Federation
2001	Keiji Muto	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2002	Kurt Angle	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	Kenta Kobashi	Pro Wrestling Noah
2004
2005
2006	Místico	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
2007	John Cena	World Wrestling Entertainment
2008	Chris Jericho
2009
2010	John Cena
2011	Hiroshi Tanahashi	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2012
2013
2014	Shinsuke Nakamura
2015	A.J. Styles	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor
2016		WWE
2017	Kazuchika Okada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018	Kenny Omega	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor
2019	Chris Jericho	New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Elite Wrestling
2020	Jon Moxley
2021	Kenny Omega	All Elite Wrestling Impact Wrestling
2022	Jon Moxley	All Elite Wrestling
2023	Will Ospreay	New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Year	Fighter	Promotion(s)
2007	Randy Couture	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2008	Brock Lesnar
2009
2010
2011	Georges St-Pierre
2012	Anderson Silva
2013	Georges St-Pierre
2014	Ronda Rousey
2015
2016	Conor McGregor
2017	Georges St-Pierre
2018	Conor McGregor
2019	Jorge Masvidal
2020	Khabib Nurmagomedov
2021	Kamaru Usman
2022	Israel Adesanya
2023	Jon Jones

Year	Wrestler	Promotion
1986	Ric Flair	Jim Crockett Promotions
1987
1988	Tatsumi Fujinami	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1989	Ric Flair	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Jushin Thunder Liger	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1991		New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1992
1993	Kenta Kobashi	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1994
1995	Manami Toyota	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
1996	Rey Misterio Jr.	Extreme Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1997	Mitsuharu Misawa	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1998	Koji Kanemoto	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1999	Mitsuharu Misawa	All Japan Pro Wrestling
2000	Chris Benoit	World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
2001	Kurt Angle	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002
2003
2004	Chris Benoit
2005	Samoa Joe	Ring of Honor Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2006	Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan	Ring of Honor
2007
2008
2009		Dragon Gate USA Ring of Honor
2010		Chikara Dragon Gate USA Evolve World Wrestling Entertainment
2011	Davey Richards	Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Ring of Honor
2012	Hiroshi Tanahashi	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2013
2014	A.J. Styles	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor
2015
2016		WWE
2017	Kazuchika Okada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018	Kenny Omega
2019	Will Ospreay
2020	Kenny Omega	All Elite Wrestling Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2021	Shingo Takagi	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2022	Will Ospreay
2023

Note: Was known as "Shootfighter of the Year" until 2008.

Year	Fighter	Promotion(s)
1997	Maurice Smith	Ultimate Fighting Championship
1998	Frank Shamrock
1999
2000	Kazushi Sakuraba	Pride Fighting Championships
2001	Wanderlei Silva
2002	Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
2003	Randy Couture	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2004	Wanderlei Silva	Pride Fighting Championships
2005	Fedor Emelianenko
2006	Mirko Filipović
2007	Quinton Jackson	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2008	Georges St-Pierre
2009
2010
2011	Jon Jones
2012	Anderson Silva
2013	Cain Velasquez
2014	Ronda Rousey
2015	Conor McGregor
2016
2017	Demetrious Johnson
2018	Daniel Cormier
2019	Israel Adesanya
2020
2021	Kamaru Usman
2022	Alexander Volkanovski
2023	Islam Makhachev

Year	Tag Team	Promotion(s)
1980	The Fabulous Freebirds (Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts)	Mid-South Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling
1981	Jimmy Snuka and Terry Gordy	All Japan Pro Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance
1982	Stan Hansen and Ole Anderson	National Wrestling Alliance
1983	Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood	Jim Crockett Promotions
1984	The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)	American Wrestling Association National Wrestling Alliance
1985	The British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith)	World Wrestling Federation All Japan Pro Wrestling Stampede Wrestling
1986	The Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton)	Universal Wrestling Federation
1987	The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane)	Universal Wrestling Federation Jim Crockett Promotions
1988		Jim Crockett Promotions
1989	The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty)	World Wrestling Federation
1990	The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner)	World Championship Wrestling
1991	Mitsuharu Misawa and Toshiaki Kawada	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1992	The Miracle Violence Connection (Terry Gordy and Steve Williams)	All Japan Pro Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1993	The Hollywood Blonds (Steve Austin and Brian Pillman)	World Championship Wrestling
1994	La Pareja del Terror (Eddy Guerrero and Art Barr)	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
1995	Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1996	Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama
1997
1998	Shinjiro Otani and Tatsuhito Takaiwa	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1999	Kenta Kobashi and Jun Akiyama	All Japan Pro Wrestling
2000	Edge and Christian	World Wrestling Federation
2001	Tencozy (Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2002	Los Guerreros (Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero)	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2003	Kenta and Naomichi Marufuji	Pro Wrestling Noah
2004
2005	America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm)	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2006	The Latin American Exchange (Homicide and Hernandez)
2007	The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe)	Ring of Honor
2008	John Morrison and The Miz	World Wrestling Entertainment
2009	The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards)	Ring of Honor
2010	The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli)
2011	Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2012	Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian)	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2013	The Shield (Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns)	WWE
2014	The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Ring of Honor
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019	Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix)	All Elite Wrestling Impact Wrestling Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2020	The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)	All Elite Wrestling
2021
2022	FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood)	All Elite Wrestling Ring of Honor
2023

Year	Performer	Promotion(s)
1981	Lou Albano	World Wrestling Federation
	Roddy Piper	National Wrestling Alliance
1982
1983
1984	Jimmy Hart	Continental Wrestling Association
1985	Jim Cornette	Mid-South Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling
1986		Jim Crockett Promotions
1987
1988
1989	Terry Funk	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Arn Anderson
1991	Ric Flair
1992		World Wrestling Federation
1993	Jim Cornette	Smoky Mountain Wrestling
1994	Ric Flair	World Championship Wrestling
1995	Cactus Jack	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1996	Stone Cold Steve Austin	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
1997
1998
1999	The Rock
2000
2001	Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002	Kurt Angle
2003	Chris Jericho
2004	Mick Foley	World Wrestling Entertainment Hustle Ring of Honor
2005	Eddie Guerrero	World Wrestling Entertainment
2006	Mick Foley
2007	John Cena
2008	Chris Jericho
2009
2010	Chael Sonnen	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2011	CM Punk	WWE
2012
2013	Paul Heyman
2014
2015	Conor McGregor	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2016
2017
2018	Daniel Bryan	WWE
2019	Chris Jericho	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2020	Eddie Kingston	All Elite Wrestling
2021	MJF
2022
2023	Eddie Kingston

Year	Promotion
1983	Jim Crockett Promotions
1984	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1985	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1986	Mid-South Wrestling/Universal Wrestling Federation
1987	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1988
1989	Universal Wrestling Federation
1990	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991
1992	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1993	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1994	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
1995	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1996
1997
1998
1999	World Wrestling Federation
2000
2001	Pride Fighting Championships
2002
2003
2004	Pro Wrestling Noah
2005
2006	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020	All Elite Wrestling
2021
2022
2023	WWE

Year	Program	Promotion
1983	World Pro-Wrestling	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1984
1985	Mid-South Wrestling	Mid-South Wrestling
1986	Universal Wrestling Federation	Universal Wrestling Federation
1987	90 Minute Memphis Live Wrestling	Continental Wrestling Association
1988	World Pro-Wrestling	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1989	All Japan Pro Wrestling	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994	Hardcore TV	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1995
1996
1997	World Pro Wrestling	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1998	Raw is War	World Wrestling Federation
1999
2000
2001	World Pro-Wrestling	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2002	SmackDown!	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	Power Hours	Pro Wrestling Noah
2004	Monday Night Raw	World Wrestling Entertainment
2005	The Ultimate Fighter	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2006
2007
2008
2009	Friday Night SmackDown	World Wrestling Entertainment
2010	Ring of Honor Wrestling	Ring of Honor
2011	Friday Night SmackDown	WWE
2012	Impact Wrestling	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2013	NXT	WWE
2014
2015
2016	New Japan Pro-Wrestling on AXS	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2017
2018	NXT	WWE
2019	Dynamite	All Elite Wrestling
2020
2021
2022
2023

Year	Match	Promotion	Venue Information
1980	Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera Texas Death Match	World Wrestling Federation	WWF on MSG Network New York, New York May 19
1981	Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter Alley Fight		WWF on MSG Network New York, New York May 4
1982	Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	Summer Fight Series II Night 19 Tokyo, Japan August 5
1983	Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood vs. Sgt. Slaughter and Don Kernodle Steel Cage match	Jim Crockett Promotions	The Final Conflict Greensboro, North Carolina March 12
1984	The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs Anything Goes Match	World Class Championship Wrestling	Independence Day Star Wars Fort Worth, Texas July 4
1985	Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi	All Japan Pro Wrestling	AJPW Special Wars in Budokan Tokyo, Japan June 21
1986	Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham	Championship Wrestling from Florida	Battle of the Belts II Orlando, Florida February 14
1987	Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. Randy "Macho Man" Savage	World Wrestling Federation	WrestleMania III Pontiac, Michigan March 29
1988	Sting vs. Ric Flair	Jim Crockett Promotions	Clash of the Champions I Greensboro, North Carolina March 27
1989	Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair Two out of Three Falls match	World Championship Wrestling	Clash of the Champions VI New Orleans, Louisiana April 2
1990	Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Naoki Sano	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	New Spring Gold Series Osaka, Japan January 31
1991	Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Steiner Brothers	New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling	Starrcade in Tokyo Dome Tokyo, Japan March 21
1992	Kenta Kobashi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat	All Japan Pro Wrestling	Super Power Series Night 8 Sendai, Japan May 25
1993	Manami Toyota and Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	Dream Slam II Osaka, Japan April 11
1994	Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels Ladder match	World Wrestling Federation	WrestleMania X New York, New York March 20
1995	Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling	G*Top 2nd Tokyo, Japan May 7
1996	Mitsuharu Misawa and Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams and Johnny Ace	All Japan Pro Wrestling	Super Power Series Night 15 Tokyo, Japan June 7
1997	Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin Submission match	World Wrestling Federation	WrestleMania 13 Rosemont, Illinois March 23
1998	Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa	All Japan Pro Wrestling	October Giant Series Night 18 Tokyo, Japan October 31
1999			Super Power Series Night 14 Tokyo, Japan June 11
2000	Atlantis vs. Villano III	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre	Juicio Final Mexico City, Mexico March 17
2001	Keiji Mutoh vs. Genichiro Tenryu	All Japan Pro Wrestling	Super Power in Budokan Tokyo, Japan June 8
2002	Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio	World Wrestling Entertainment	No Mercy North Little Rock, Arkansas October 20
2003	Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa	Pro Wrestling Noah	Navigate for Evolution Night 9 Tokyo, Japan March 1
2004	Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama		Departure Tokyo, Japan July 10
2005	Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe	Ring of Honor	Joe vs. Kobashi Manhattan, New York October 1
2006	Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi vs. Cima, Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi		Supercard of Honor Chicago Ridge, Illinois March 31
2007	Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson		Manhattan Mayhem II Manhattan, New York August 25
2008	Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels Ladder match	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE	No Mercy Portland, Oregon October 5
2009	The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels		WrestleMania XXV Houston, Texas April 5
2010			WrestleMania XXVI Glendale, Arizona March 28
2011	CM Punk vs. John Cena		Money in the Bank Rosemont, Illinois July 17
2012	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	King of Pro-Wrestling Tokyo, Japan October 8
2013	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada		Invasion Attack Tokyo, Japan April 7
2014	A.J. Styles vs. Minoru Suzuki		G1 Climax 24 Night 7 Tokyo, Japan August 1
2015	Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi		Wrestle Kingdom 9 Tokyo, Japan January 4
2016	Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi		Wrestle Kingdom 10 Tokyo, Japan January 4
2017	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega		Wrestle Kingdom 11 Tokyo, Japan January 4
2018	Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada Two out of three falls match		Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall Osaka, Japan June 9
2019	Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi		Best of the Super Juniors 26 Final Tokyo, Japan June 5
2020	Kenny Omega and Adam Page vs. The Young Bucks	All Elite Wrestling	Revolution Chicago, Illinois February 29
2021	The Young Bucks vs. Lucha Brothers Steel Cage match		All Out Chicago, Illinois September 5
2022	Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	G1 Climax 32 Final Tokyo, Japan August 18
2023	Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay		Wrestle Kingdom 17 Tokyo, Japan January 4

Note: Was previously known as the "Shoot Match of the Year" and is sometimes referred to as "Fight of the Year".

Year	Fight	Promotion	Venue Information
1997	Maurice Smith vs. Mark Coleman	Ultimate Fighting Championship	UFC 14 Birmingham, Alabama July 27
1998	Jerry Bohlander vs. Kevin Jackson		UFC 16 New Orleans, Louisiana March 13
1999	Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz		UFC 22 Lake Charles, Louisiana September 24
2000	Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie	Pride Fighting Championships	Grand Prix 2000 Finals Tokyo Dome May 1
2001	Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo	Ultimate Fighting Championship	UFC 31 Atlantic City, New Jersey May 4
2002	Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama	Pride Fighting Championships	Pride 21 Saitama, Japan June 23
2003	Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida		Final Conflict Tokyo, Japan November 9
2004	Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson		Pride 28 Saitama, Japan October 31
2005	Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar	Ultimate Fighting Championship	The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale Las Vegas, Nevada April 9
2006	Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan		Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Parisyan Las Vegas, Nevada August 17
2007	Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia		UFC 68 Columbus, Ohio March 3
2008	Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson		UFC 86 Las Vegas, Nevada July 5
2009	Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida		The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale Las Vegas, Nevada June 20
2010	Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung	World Extreme Cagefighting	WEC 48 Sacramento, California April 24
2011	Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua	Ultimate Fighting Championship	UFC 139 San Jose, California November 19
2012	Chan Sung Jung vs. Dustin Poirier		UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier Fairfax, Virginia May 15
2013	Gilbert Melendez vs. Diego Sanchez		UFC 166 Houston, Texas October 19
2014	Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler		UFC 171 Dallas, Texas March 15
2015	Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald		UFC 189 Las Vegas, Nevada July 11
2016	Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit		UFC 195 Las Vegas, Nevada January 2
2017	Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi		UFC 206 Toronto, Ontario December 10, 2016
2018	Dustin Poirier vs. Justin Gaethje		UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje Glendale, Arizona April 14
2019	Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum		UFC 236 Atlanta, Georgia April 13
2020	Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jędrzejczyk		UFC 248 Las Vegas, Nevada March 7
2021	Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler		UFC 268 New York City, New York November 6
2022	Jiří Procházka vs. Glover Teixeira		UFC 275 Kallang, Singapore June 11
2023	Alexander Volkanovski vs. Islam Makhachev		UFC 284 Perth, Australia February 12

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	AJ Styles	WWE
2019	Chris Jericho	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2020	Jon Moxley
2021	Kenny Omega	All Elite Wrestling
2022	Jon Moxley	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2023	Cody Rhodes	WWE

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	Kenny Omega	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2019	Kazuchika Okada
2020	Tetsuya Naito
2021	Shingo Takagi
2022	Kazuchika Okada
2023	Will Ospreay

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	L.A. Park	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2019	Rey Fénix	All Elite Wrestling Impact Wrestling Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2020		All Elite Wrestling Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2021	El Hijo del Vikingo	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2022
2023	Místico	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	Walter	Over the Top Wrestling Progress Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling
2019		WWE
2020
2021	Will Ospreay	Revolution Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2022
2023

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	Will Ospreay	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Progress Wrestling Revolution Pro Wrestling Ring of Honor
2019
2020	Hiromu Takahashi	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2021	Darby Allin	All Elite Wrestling
2022	El Hijo del Vikingo	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2023

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	Becky Lynch	WWE
2019
2020	Bayley
2021	Utami Hayashishita	World Wonder Ring Stardom
2022	Syuri
2023	Rhea Ripley	WWE

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
2018	Amanda Nunes	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2019
2020
2021	Rose Namajunas
2022	Zhang Weili
2023	Alexa Grasso

Year	Performer	Promotion(s)
1997	Hollywood Hogan	World Championship Wrestling
1998	Stone Cold Steve Austin	World Wrestling Federation
1999
2000	The Rock
2001	Kazushi Sakuraba	Pride Fighting Championships
2002	Bob Sapp	K-1 Pride Fighting Championships New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2003
2004	Kenta Kobashi	Pro Wrestling Noah
2005
2006	Místico	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
2007	John Cena	World Wrestling Entertainment
2008	Brock Lesnar	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2009
2010
2011	The Rock	WWE
2012
2013	Georges St-Pierre	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2014	Ronda Rousey
2015
2016	Conor McGregor
2017
2018
2019	Chris Jericho	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2020	Conor McGregor	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2021	MMA: Conor McGregor
	Pro Wrestling: CM Punk	All Elite Wrestling
2022	MMA: Israel Adesanya	Ultimate Fighting Championship
	Pro Wrestling: Roman Reigns	WWE
2023	MMA: Jon Jones	Ultimate Fighting Championship
	Pro Wrestling: Roman Reigns	WWE

Year	Feud	Promotion(s)
1980	Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko	World Wrestling Federation
1981	André the Giant vs. Killer Khan
1982	Ted DiBiase vs. Junkyard Dog	Mid-South Wrestling
1983	The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs	World Class Championship Wrestling
1984		World Class Championship Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance
1985	Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan	Mid-South Wrestling
1986	Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff	World Wrestling Federation
1987	Austin Idol & Tommy Rich vs. Jerry Lawler	Continental Wrestling Association
1988	The Fantastics vs. The Midnight Express	Jim Crockett Promotions
1989	Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991	Mitsuharu Misawa and company vs. Jumbo Tsuruta and company
1992	Jeff Jarrett & Jerry Lawler vs. The Moondogs	United States Wrestling Association
1993	Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler	World Wrestling Federation
1994	Los Gringos Locos vs. Asistencia Asesoría y Administración	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
1995	Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1996	New World Order vs. World Championship Wrestling	World Championship Wrestling
1997	Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Hart Foundation	World Wrestling Federation
1998	Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon
1999
2000	Mick Foley vs. Triple H
2001	Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva	Pride Fighting Championships
2002	Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2003	Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar	World Wrestling Entertainment
2004	Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H
2005	Batista vs. Triple H
2006	Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2007	Batista vs. The Undertaker	World Wrestling Entertainment
2008	Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
2009	Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk
2010	El Generico vs. Kevin Steen	Ring of Honor
2011	John Cena vs. CM Punk	World Wrestling Entertainment
2012	Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2013
2014	Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2015	José Aldo vs. Conor McGregor
2016	Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz
2017	Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018	Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa	WWE
2019	Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano
2020	Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston	All Elite Wrestling
2021	Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page
2022	FTR vs. The Briscoes	Ring of Honor
2023	Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. The Bloodline	WWE

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Larry Zbyszko	World Wrestling Federation
1981	Adrian Adonis	American Wrestling Association
1982	Jim Duggan	Mid-South Wrestling
1983	Curt Hennig	American Wrestling Association Pacific Northwest Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1984	The Cobra	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Stampede Wrestling
1985	Steve Williams	Mid-South Wrestling
1986	Rick Steiner
1987	Big Bubba Rogers	Universal Wrestling Federation
1988	Sting	Jim Crockett Promotions
1989	Lex Luger	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Kenta Kobashi	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991	Dustin Rhodes	World Championship Wrestling
1992	El Samurai	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1993	Tracy Smothers	Smoky Mountain Wrestling
1994	Diesel	World Wrestling Federation
1995	Johnny B. Badd	World Championship Wrestling
1996	Diamond Dallas Page
1997	Tatsuhito Takaiwa	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1998	The Rock	World Wrestling Federation
1999	Vader	All Japan Pro Wrestling
2000	Kurt Angle	World Wrestling Federation
2001	Keiji Mutoh	New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling
2002	Brock Lesnar	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003
2004	Randy Orton
2005	Roderick Strong	Ring of Honor
2006	Takeshi Morishima	Pro Wrestling Noah
2007	Montel Vontavious Porter	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2008	The Miz
2009
2010	Sheamus
2011	Dolph Ziggler
2012	Kazuchika Okada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2013	Roman Reigns	WWE
2014	Rusev
2015	Bayley
2016	Matt Riddle	Evolve Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2017	Braun Strowman	WWE
2018	Adam Page	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor
2019	Lance Archer	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2020	Britt Baker	All Elite Wrestling
2021	Tay Conti
2022	The Acclaimed
2023	Julia Hart

Year	Performer	Promotion(s)
1980	Ric Flair	National Wrestling Alliance
1981	Michael Hayes	World Class Championship Wrestling
1982	Ric Flair	National Wrestling Alliance
	Dusty Rhodes
1983	Ric Flair
1984
1985	Hulk Hogan	World Wrestling Federation
1986
1987
1988	Sting	World Championship Wrestling
1989	Hulk Hogan	World Wrestling Federation
1990
1991
1992	Sting	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Ric Flair	World Wrestling Federation World Championship Wrestling
1994	Atsushi Onita	Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
1995	Shawn Michaels	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
1996
1997	Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998
1999	The Rock
2000
2001
2002
2003	Bob Sapp	New Japan Pro-Wrestling K-1
2004	Eddie Guerrero	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2005
2006	John Cena
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011	The Rock
2012
2013	Hiroshi Tanahashi	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2014	Shinsuke Nakamura
2015
2016	Conor McGregor	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2017	Tetsuya Naito	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018
2019	Chris Jericho	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2020	MJF	All Elite Wrestling
2021	CM Punk
2022	MJF
2023

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Bob Backlund	World Wrestling Federation
1981	Ted DiBiase	Mid-South Wrestling
1982	Tiger Mask	New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1983
1984	Dynamite Kid	Stampede Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
	Masa Saito	American Wrestling Association New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1985	Tatsumi Fujinami	New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1986
1987	Nobuhiko Takada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1988	Tatsumi Fujinami
1989	Jushin Liger/Jushin Thunder Liger
1990
1991		New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1992
1993	Hiroshi Hase	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1994	Chris Benoit	Extreme Championship Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1995		Extreme Championship Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1996	Dean Malenko	New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1997
1998	Kiyoshi Tamura	Fighting Network Rings
1999	Shinjiro Otani	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2000	Chris Benoit	World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
2001	Minoru Tanaka	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2002	Kurt Angle	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	Chris Benoit
2004
2005	Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan	Ring of Honor
2006
2007
2008
2009		Dragon Gate USA Ring of Honor
2010		Chikara Dragon Gate USA Evolve World Wrestling Entertainment
2011		WWE
2012
2013
2014	Zack Sabre Jr.	Progress Wrestling Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Pro Wrestling Noah Westside Xtreme Wrestling
2015
2016		Progress Wrestling Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Revolution Pro Wrestling Westside Xtreme Wrestling WWE
2017		New Japan Pro-Wrestling Progress Wrestling Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Revolution Pro Wrestling
2018
2019		New Japan Pro-Wrestling Revolution Pro Wrestling
2020		New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2021	Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson	WWE All Elite Wrestling
2022		All Elite Wrestling
2023

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Bruiser Brody	All Japan Pro Wrestling World Wrestling Council/Capitol Sports Promotions National Wrestling Association
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985	Stan Hansen	All Japan Pro Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance
1986	Terry Gordy	All Japan Pro Wrestling Universal Wrestling Federation
1987	Bruiser Brody	World Wrestling Council World Class Championship Wrestling
1988
1989	Terry Funk	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Stan Hansen	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991	Cactus Jack/Dude Love/Mankind/Mick Foley	World Championship Wrestling
1992
1993		World Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling
1994		Extreme Championship Wrestling International Wrestling Association of Japan
1995
1996		World Wrestling Federation
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001	Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002	Yoshihiro Takayama	Pro Wrestling Noah
2003	Brock Lesnar	World Wrestling Entertainment
2004	Chris Benoit
2005	Samoa Joe	Ring of Honor Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2006
2007	Takeshi Morishima	Ring of Honor Pro Wrestling Noah
2008	Necro Butcher	Ring of Honor Combat Zone Wrestling
2009
2010	Kevin Steen	Ring of Honor Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2011		Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2012		Ring of Honor Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2013	Katsuyori Shibata	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2014	Tomohiro Ishii
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020	Jon Moxley	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2021
2022
2023

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1981	Jimmy Snuka	World Wrestling Federation
1982	Tiger Mask	New Japan Pro-Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance World Wrestling Federation
1983
1984	Dynamite Kid
1985	Tiger Mask II	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1986
1987	Owen Hart	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Stampede Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1988
1989	Jushin Liger/Jushin Thunder Liger	New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Star Wrestling BWF
1990
1991
1992		New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1993
1994	The Great Sasuke	Michinoku Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1995	Rey Misterio Jr.	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración Extreme Championship Wrestling
1996		Extreme Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling
1997		World Championship Wrestling
1998	Juventud Guerrera	World Championship Wrestling AAA
1999
2000	Jeff Hardy	World Wrestling Federation
2001	Dragon Kid	Toryumon Japan
2002	Rey Mysterio	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003
2004
2005	A.J. Styles	Ring of Honor Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2006	Místico	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
2007
2008	Evan Bourne	World Wrestling Entertainment
2009	Kota Ibushi	DDT Pro-Wrestling
2010
2011	Ricochet	Dragon Gate Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2012	Kota Ibushi	DDT Pro-Wrestling
2013		DDT Pro-Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2014	Ricochet	Dragon Gate Lucha Underground Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2015
2016	Will Ospreay	Progress Wrestling Revolution Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor
2017
2018
2019		New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2020	Rey Fénix	All Elite Wrestling Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2021		All Elite Wrestling
2022	El Hijo del Vikingo	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2023

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Mr. Wrestling II	National Wrestling Alliance
1981	Pedro Morales	World Wrestling Federation
1982
1983	Bob Backlund
1984	Big John Studd
1985	Hulk Hogan
1986
1987	Dusty Rhodes	Jim Crockett Promotions
1988
1989	The Ultimate Warrior	World Wrestling Federation
1990
1991
1992	Erik Watts	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Sid Vicious
1994	Hulk/Hollywood Hogan
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999	Kevin Nash
2000
2001	The Undertaker	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002	Triple H
2003
2004
2005	Jeff Jarrett	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2006	Batista	World Wrestling Entertainment
2007	The Great Khali
2008	Vladimir Kozlov
2009	Triple H
2010	Kane
2011	Crimson	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2012	Ryback	WWE
2013	Randy Orton
2014	Kane
2015
2016	Roman Reigns
2017	Jinder Mahal
2018	Baron Corbin/King Corbin
2019
2020	Bray Wyatt
2021	Evil	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2022	Ronda Rousey	WWE
2023	Sanada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Hossein Arab	National Wrestling Alliance World Wrestling Federation
1981	Buzz Sawyer	National Wrestling Alliance
1982	Adrian Adonis	American Wrestling Association
1983	Dynamite Kid	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Stampede Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1984	B. Brian Blair	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Bobby Eaton	Jim Crockett Promotions
1986
1987	Brad Armstrong
1988	Tiger Mask II	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1989	Dan Kroffat
1990	Bobby Eaton	World Championship Wrestling
1991	Terry Taylor
1992
1993	Bobby Eaton
1994	Brian Pillman
1995	Skip	World Wrestling Federation
1996	Leif Cassidy
1997	Flash Funk
1998	Chris Benoit	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Chris Jericho	World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
2000		World Wrestling Federation
2001	Lance Storm	World Wrestling Federation World Championship Wrestling
2002	Booker T	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2003	Último Dragón
2004	Paul London
2005	Shelton Benjamin
2006
2007
2008	Montel Vontavious Porter
2009	Evan Bourne
2010	Kaval
2011	Dolph Ziggler
2012	Tyson Kidd
2013	(Antonio) Cesaro
2014
2015
2016
2017	Rusev
2018	Finn Bálor
2019	Shorty G
2020	Ricochet
2021
2022	Konosuke Takeshita	All Elite Wrestling DDT Pro Wrestling
2023	Chad Gable	WWE

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Barry Windham	National Wrestling Alliance
1981	Brad Armstrong
	Brad Rheingans
1982	Steve Williams
1983	The Road Warriors
1984	Tom Zenk	AWA
	Keiichi Yamada	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1985	Jack Victory	National Wrestling Alliance
1986	Bam Bam Bigelow	Continental Wrestling Association
1987	Brian Pillman	Stampede Wrestling
1988	Gary Albright
1989	Dustin Rhodes	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Steve Austin	United States Wrestling Association
1991	Johnny B. Badd	World Championship Wrestling
1992	Rey Misterio Jr.	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
1993	Jun Akiyama	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1994	Mikey Whipwreck	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1995	Perro Aguayo Jr.	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
1996	The Giant	World Championship Wrestling
1997	Mr. Águila	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
1998	Goldberg	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Blitzkrieg
2000	Sean O'Haire
2001	El Hombre Sin Nombre	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
2002	Bob Sapp	K-1
2003	Chris Sabin	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Ring of Honor Pro Wrestling Zero-One Max
2004	Petey Williams	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2005	Shingo Takagi	Dragon Gate
2006	Atsushi Aoki	Pro Wrestling Noah
2007	Erick Stevens	Ring of Honor
2008	Kai	All Japan Pro Wrestling
2009	Frightmare	Chikara
2010	Adam Cole	Ring of Honor Combat Zone Wrestling
2011	Daichi Hashimoto	Pro Wrestling Zero1
2012	Dinastía	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2013	Yohei Komatsu	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2014	Dragon Lee	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
2015	Chad Gable	WWE
2016	Matt Riddle	Evolve Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2017	Katsuya Kitamura	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018	Ronda Rousey	WWE
2019	Jungle Boy	All Elite Wrestling
2020	Pat McAfee	WWE
2021	Jade Cargill	All Elite Wrestling
2022	Bron Breakker	WWE
2023	Yuma Anzai	All Japan Pro Wrestling

Year	Performer	Promotion(s)
1999	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2000
2001	Paul Heyman
2002
2003	Stone Cold Steve Austin
2004	Paul Heyman
2005	Eric Bischoff
2006	Jim Cornette	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Ring of Honor
2007	Larry Sweeney	Ring of Honor
2008
2009	Vickie Guerrero	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2010
2011	Ricardo Rodriguez
2012	Paul Heyman
2013
2014
2015	Dario Cueto	Lucha Underground
2016
2017	Daniel Bryan	WWE
2018	Paul Heyman
2019
2020	Taz	All Elite Wrestling
2021	Paul Heyman	WWE
2022
2023	Don Callis	All Elite Wrestling

Year	Announcer	Promotion(s)
1981	Gordon Solie	National Wrestling Alliance
1982
1983
1984	Lance Russell	Continental Wrestling Association
1985
1986
1987
1988	Jim Ross	World Championship Wrestling
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993		World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1994	Joey Styles	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1995
1996
1997	Mike Tenay	World Championship Wrestling
1998	Jim Ross	World Wrestling Federation
1999
2000
2001
2002	Mike Tenay	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2003
2004
2005
2006	Jim Ross	World Wrestling Entertainment
2007
2008	Matt Striker
2009	Jim Ross
2010	Joe Rogan	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2011
2012	Jim Ross	WWE
2013	William Regal
2014
2015	Mauro Ranallo	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2016		New Japan Pro-Wrestling WWE
2017		WWE Bellator MMA
2018	Kevin Kelly	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2019
2020	Excalibur	All Elite Wrestling
2021
2022	Kevin Kelly	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2023	Excalibur	All Elite Wrestling

Year	Announcer	Promotion(s)
1984	Angelo Mosca	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Gorilla Monsoon
1986	David Crockett	Jim Crockett Promotions
1987
1988
1989	Ed Whalen	Stampede Wrestling
1990	Herb Abrams	Universal Wrestling Federation
1991	Gorilla Monsoon	World Wrestling Federation
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996	Steve McMichael	World Championship Wrestling
1997	Dusty Rhodes
1998	Lee Marshall
1999	Tony Schiavone
2000
2001	Michael Cole	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002	Jerry Lawler
2003	Jonathan Coachman
2004	Todd Grisham
2005	Jonathan Coachman
2006	Todd Grisham
2007	Don West	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2008	Mike Adamle	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2009	Michael Cole
2010
2011
2012
2013	Taz	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2014	John "Bradshaw" Layfield	WWE
2015
2016	David Otunga
2017	Booker T
2018	Jonathan Coachman
2019	Corey Graves
2020	Michael Cole
2021	Corey Graves
2022
2023	Booker T

Year	Show	Promotion
1989	The Great American Bash	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Wrestling Summit	World Wrestling Federation/New Japan Pro-Wrestling/All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991	WrestleWar	World Championship Wrestling
1992	Wrestlemarinpiad	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
1993	Dream Slam I
1994	Super J-Cup	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1995	Bridge of Dreams[3]	Weekly Pro Wrestling
1996	Super J-Cup: 2nd Stage	Wrestle Association R
1997	In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede	World Wrestling Federation
1998	Heat Wave	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1999	Anarchy Rulz
2000	Juicio Final	Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
2001	WrestleMania X-Seven	World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment
2002	SummerSlam
2003	Final Conflict	Pride Fighting Championships
2004	Departure	Pro Wrestling Noah
2005	Destiny
2006	Glory By Honor V: Night 2	Ring of Honor
2007	Man Up
2008	WrestleMania XXIV	World Wrestling Entertainment
2009	Open the Historic Gate	Dragon Gate USA
2010	UFC 116	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2011	Money in the Bank	WWE
2012	King of Pro-Wrestling	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2013	G1 Climax 23: Day 4
2014	G1 Climax 24: Day 7
2015	Wrestle Kingdom 9
2016	Wrestle Kingdom 10
2017	Wrestle Kingdom 11
2018	Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall
2019	Double or Nothing	All Elite Wrestling
2020	Revolution
2021	All Out
2022	Forbidden Door	All Elite Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2023	Revolution	All Elite Wrestling

Year	Show	Promotion
1989	WrestleMania V	World Wrestling Federation
1990	Clash of the Champions XII	World Championship Wrestling
1991	The Great American Bash
1992	Halloween Havoc
1993	Fall Brawl
1994	Blackjack Brawl	Universal Wrestling Federation
1995	Uncensored	World Championship Wrestling
1996	Uncensored
1997	nWo Souled Out
1998	Fall Brawl
1999	Heroes of Wrestling	Heroes of Wrestling
2000	Halloween Havoc	World Championship Wrestling
2001	Unleashed	Women of Wrestling
2002	King of the Ring	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	Backlash
2004	The Great American Bash
2005	The Great American Bash
2006	UFC 61	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2007	December To Dismember	World Wrestling Entertainment
2008	Survivor Series
2009	Victory Road	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2010	Hardcore Justice
2011	Victory Road
2012	UFC 149	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2013	Battleground	WWE
2014	Battleground
2015	Triplemanía XXIII	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2016	WrestleMania 32	WWE
2017	Battleground
2018	Crown Jewel
2019	Super Showdown
2020	Super Showdown
2021	Survivor Series
2022	Royal Rumble
2023	Crown Jewel

Year	Wrestler	Maneuver	Promotion(s)
1981	Jimmy Snuka	Superfly splash (Diving Splash)	World Wrestling Federation
1982	Super Destroyer	Superplex	National Wrestling Alliance
1983	Jimmy Snuka	Superfly splash	World Wrestling Federation
1984	British Bulldogs	Military press followed by a missile dropkick
1985	Tiger Mask II	Tope con Giro	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1986	Chavo Guerrero	Moonsault block	World Wrestling Association
1987	Keiichi Yamada	Shooting star press	Stampede Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Star Promotions
1988
1989	Scott Steiner	Frankensteiner	World Championship Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1990
1991	Masao Orihara	Moonsault to the outside of the ring	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1992	2 Cold Scorpio	450° splash	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Vader	Moonsault
1994	The Great Sasuke	Sasuke Special	Michinoku Pro Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1995	Rey Misterio Jr.	Flip dive into a frankensteiner on the floor	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1996	Último Dragón	Running Liger bomb (Running Sitout Powerbomb)	World Championship Wrestling Wrestle Association R
1997	Diamond Dallas Page	Diamond Cutter (Jumping Cutter)	World Championship Wrestling
1998	Kenta Kobashi	Burning Hammer (Inverted Death Valley Bomb)	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1999	Dragon Kid	Dragonrana (Somersault Hurricanrana)	Toryumon Japan
2000
2001	Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta	Shining Wizard/Sensou Yojutsu	New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling
2002	Brock Lesnar	F-5 (Fireman's Carry Facebuster)	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	A.J. Styles	Styles Clash (Belly-to-back inverted mat slam)	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Ring of Honor
2004	Petey Williams	Canadian Destroyer (Flip Piledriver)	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2005
2006	Kenta	Go 2 Sleep	Pro Wrestling Noah Ring of Honor
2007
2008	Evan Bourne	Air Bourne (Shooting star press)	World Wrestling Entertainment
2009	The Young Bucks	More Bang for Your Buck (Rolling Fireman's Carry slam followed by a 450° splash followed by a moonsault)	Chikara Dragon Gate USA Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Ring of Honor Total Nonstop Action
2010	Ricochet	Double rotation moonsault	Dragon Gate USA Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
2011
2012	Kazuchika Okada	Rainmaker (Short-arm lariat)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2013
2014	The Young Bucks	Meltzer Driver (Springboard Somersault Senton Spike Kneeling Belly-to-belly piledriver)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Ring of Honor
2015	A.J. Styles	Styles Clash	New Japan Pro-Wrestling Ring of Honor
2016	Kenny Omega	One-Winged Angel (One-handed Electric Chair Driver)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2017
2018
2019	Will Ospreay	Storm Breaker (Double Underhook Canadian Backbreaker Rack followed by a modified Corkscrew Neckbreaker)
2020	Kenny Omega	One Winged Angel	All Elite Wrestling Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
2021	"Hangman" Adam Page	Buckshot Lariat (Slingshot flipping lariat)	All Elite Wrestling
2022	Will Ospreay	Hidden Blade (Running high impact swinging back elbow to the back of a kneeling opponent's head)	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2023

Year	Promotional Tactic	Promotion(s)
1981	Monster character (Tony Hernandez)	LeBelle Promotions
1982	Bob Backlund as WWF Champion	World Wrestling Federation
1983	Eddie Gilbert re-breaking his neck in an angle after having done so legitimately
1984	Blackjack Mulligan fake heart attack	Championship Wrestling from Florida
1985	Usage of Mike Von Erich's near-death to sell tickets	World Class Championship Wrestling
1986	Comparing Chris Adams' blindness angle with the death of Gino Hernandez
1987	Exploitation of the death of Mike Von Erich
1988	Fritz Von Erich's fake heart attack
1989	José González babyface push one year after Bruiser Brody stabbing case	World Wrestling Council/Capitol Sports Promotions
1990	Atsushi Onita stabbed by José González two years after Bruiser Brody stabbing case	Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
1991	Exploiting the Persian Gulf War (Sgt. Slaughter Iraqi sympathizer angle)	World Wrestling Federation
1992	Pushing Erik Watts	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Cactus Jack gets amnesia
1994	Ric Flair retirement angle
1995	Gene Okerlund's 900 hotline advertisements
1996	Fake Diesel and Razor Ramon	World Wrestling Federation
1997	Melanie Pillman interview on Raw the day after Brian Pillman's death
1998	Exploiting Scott Hall's alcoholism	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Over the Edge pay-per-view continuing after the death of Owen Hart	World Wrestling Federation
2000	David Arquette wins the WCW World Heavyweight Championship	World Championship Wrestling
2001	Stephanie McMahon comparing her father's indictment to September 11 attacks	World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment
2002	Triple H accusing Kane of murder and necrophilia (Katie Vick)
2003	McMahons all over the product
2004	Kane and Lita pregnancy/wedding/miscarriage angle
2005	Not editing out a terrorist angle (Muhammad Hassan attacking The Undertaker) for air on day of London bombings
2006	Exploitation of the death of Eddie Guerrero
2007	Signing of Adam "Pacman" Jones and having him "Make It Rain" on television when his doing so in a strip club led to the paralysis of a wrestler	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2008	Teasing a Jeff Hardy drug overdose to garner late interest in a PPV show	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2009	Mickie James' "Piggy James" angle making fun of her weight
2010	Stand Up For WWE campaign launched in conjunction with Linda McMahon's US Senate run
2011	Promoting an anti-bullying campaign despite blatant mistreatment of Jim Ross
2012	CM Punk and Paul Heyman exploiting Jerry Lawler's real-life heart attack, playing footage of him near death
2013	Exploitation of the death of Bill Moody (Paul Bearer)
2014	Insulting fans who purchased PPVs
2015	Using Reid Fliehr's death in an angle
2016	Kimbo vs. Dada 5000 fight	Bellator MMA
2017	Promoting Jimmy Snuka as a hero in death not long after his trial over the death of Nancy Argentino	WWE
2018	Relationship with Saudi Arabia
2019
2020	Firing people during a global pandemic while setting profit records
2021
2022	Vince McMahon appearing on television for a crowd pop after sexual misconduct allegations came out
2023	WWE enabling Vince McMahon and him being back in power, and TKO keeping him in a position of power

Year	Program	Promotion
1984	All-Star Wrestling	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Championship Wrestling from Florida	Championship Wrestling from Florida
1986	California Championship Wrestling	California Championship Wrestling
1987	World Class Championship Wrestling	World Class Championship Wrestling
1988	Championship Wrestling	American Wrestling Association
1989	ICW Wrestling	International Championship Wrestling
1990	Championship Wrestling	American Wrestling Association
1991	Fury Hour	Universal Wrestling Federation
1992	Global Wrestling Federation on ESPN	Global Wrestling Federation
1993
1994	Saturday Night	World Championship Wrestling
1995
1996	Warriors of Wrestling	American Wrestling Federation
1997	United States Wrestling Association	United States Wrestling Association
1998	Monday Nitro	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Thunder
2000
2001	Excess	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002	Monday Night Raw
2003
2004	Friday Night SmackDown!
2005
2006	Monday Night Raw
2007	Impact!/Impact Wrestling	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012	Monday Night Raw	WWE
2013	Impact Wrestling	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2014	Monday Night Raw	WWE
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023	NWA Powerrr	National Wrestling Alliance

Note: Named "Worst Worked Match of the Year" until 2018.

Year	Match	Promotion	Venue Information
1984	Wendi Richter vs. The Fabulous Moolah	World Wrestling Federation	The Brawl to End It All New York, New York July 23
1985	Freddie Blassie vs. Lou Albano Steel cage match		WWF House Show Uniondale, New York September 20
1986	Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper Boxing match		WrestleMania 2 Uniondale, New York April 7
1987	Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant		WrestleMania III Pontiac, Michigan March 29
1988	Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tom Magee	All Japan Pro Wrestling	Champion Carnival Kawasaki, Japan April 21
1989	André the Giant vs. The Ultimate Warrior	World Wrestling Federation	Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV Topeka, Kansas October 31
1990	Sid Vicious vs. The Nightstalker	World Championship Wrestling	Clash of the Champions XIII Jacksonville, Florida November 20
1991	Bobby Eaton and P. N. News vs. Terrance Taylor and Steve Austin Capture the Flag scaffold match		The Great American Bash Baltimore, Maryland July 14
1992	Rick Rude vs. Masahiro Chono		Halloween Havoc Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 25
1993	The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission vs. Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger, and The Headshrinkers	World Wrestling Federation	Survivor Series Boston, Massachusetts November 24
1994	The Royal Court vs. Clowns R' Us		Survivor Series San Antonio, Texas November 23
1995	Sting vs. Tony Palmora	New Japan Pro-Wrestling	Battle 7 Tokyo, Japan January 4
1996	Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Meng, The Barbarian, Lex Luger, Kevin Sullivan, Z-Gangsta and The Ultimate Solution Tower of Doom match	World Championship Wrestling	Uncensored Tupelo, Mississippi March 24
1997	Hollywood Hogan vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper		SuperBrawl Daly City, California February 23
1998	Hollywood Hogan vs. The Warrior		Halloween Havoc Las Vegas, Nevada October 25
1999	Al Snow vs. The Big Boss Man Kennel from Hell Match	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment	Unforgiven Charlotte, North Carolina September 26
2000	Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco Hardcore Evening Gown Match		King of the Ring Boston, Massachusetts June 25
2001	The Brothers of Destruction vs. KroniK		Unforgiven Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania September 23
2002	Bradshaw and Trish Stratus vs. Christopher Nowinski and Jackie Gayda		Monday Night Raw Philadelphia, Pennsylvania July 8
2003	Triple H vs. Scott Steiner		Royal Rumble Boston, Massachusetts January 19
2004	Tyson Tomko vs. Stevie Richards		Unforgiven Portland, Oregon September 12
2005	Eric Bischoff vs. Theodore Long		Survivor Series Detroit, Michigan November 27
2006	Reverse Battle Royal	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling	Impact! Orlando, Florida October 26
2007	James Storm vs. Chris Harris Six Sides of Steel Blindfold match		Lockdown St. Louis, Missouri April 15
2008	Edge vs. Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov	World Wrestling Entertainment	Survivor Series Boston, Massachusetts November 23
2009	Jenna Morasca vs. Sharmell	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling	Victory Road Orlando, Florida July 19
2010	Kaitlyn vs. Maxine	World Wrestling Entertainment	NXT Edmonton, Alberta, Canada October 19
2011	Sting vs. Jeff Hardy	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling	Victory Road Orlando, Florida March 13
2012	John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis No Disqualification match	WWE	Over the Limit Raleigh, North Carolina May 20
2013	Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Eva Marie, and JoJo vs. AJ Lee, Tamina Snuka, Kaitlyn, Alicia Fox, Aksana, Rosa Mendes, and Summer Rae		Survivor Series Boston, Massachusetts November 24
2014	John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt Steel Cage match		Extreme Rules East Rutherford, New Jersey May 4
2015	Los Psycho Circus (Monster Clown, Murder Clown and Psycho Clown) vs. Los Villanos (Villano III, Villano IV and Villano V)	Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide	Triplemanía XXIII Mexico City, Mexico August 9
2016	Shelly Martinez vs. Rebel	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling	One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown Orlando, Florida March 17
2017	Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton	WWE	WrestleMania 33 Orlando, Florida April 2
2018	D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction		Crown Jewel Riyadh, Saudi Arabia November 2
2019	Seth Rollins vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt Hell in a Cell match		Hell in a Cell Sacramento, California October 6
2020	Braun Strowman vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt Wyatt Swamp Fight		The Horror Show at Extreme Rules Orlando, Florida July 19
2021	The Miz vs. Damian Priest Lumberjack match		WrestleMania Backlash Tampa, Florida May 16
2022	Pat McAfee vs. Mr. McMahon		Wrestlemania 38 Night 2 Arlington, Texas April 3
2023	Bray Wyatt vs. LA Knight Mountain Dew Pitch Black match		Royal Rumble San Antonio, Texas January 28

Year	Feud	Promotion
1984	André the Giant vs. Big John Studd	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Sgt. Slaughter vs. Boris Zhukov	American Wrestling Association
1986	The Machines vs. King Kong Bundy and John Studd	World Wrestling Federation
1987	George Steele vs. Danny Davis
1988	The Midnight Rider vs. Tully Blanchard	Jim Crockett Promotions
1989	André the Giant vs. The Ultimate Warrior	World Wrestling Federation
1990	Ric Flair vs. The Junkyard Dog	World Championship Wrestling
1991	Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter	World Wrestling Federation
1992	The Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango
1993	The Undertaker vs. Giant González
1994	Jerry Lawler vs. Doink the Clown
1995	Hulk Hogan vs. The Dungeon of Doom	World Championship Wrestling
1996	Big Bubba vs. John Tenta
1997	The D.O.A. vs. Los Boricuas	World Wrestling Federation
1998	Hollywood Hogan vs. The Warrior	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Big Boss Man vs. Big Show	World Wrestling Federation
2000	Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Kidman	World Championship Wrestling
2001	WWF vs. The Alliance The Invasion storyline	World Wrestling Federation/​Entertainment/​WWE
2002	Triple H vs. Kane
2003	Kane vs. Shane McMahon
2004	Kane vs. Matt Hardy and Lita
2005	McMahon Family vs. Jim Ross
2006	McMahon Family vs. D-Generation X
2007	Kane vs. Big Daddy V
2008	Kane vs. Rey Mysterio
2009	Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero
2010	Edge vs. Kane
2011	Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
2012	John Cena vs. Kane
2013	Big Show vs. The Authority
2014	Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella
2015	Team PCB vs. Team B.A.D. vs. Team Bella
2016	Titus O'Neil vs. Darren Young
2017	Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton
2018	Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
2019	Seth Rollins vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
2020	Braun Strowman vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
2021	Randy Orton vs. The Fiend & Alexa Bliss
2022	The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis
2023	MJF vs. The Devil	All Elite Wrestling

Year	Promotion
1986	American Wrestling Association
1987	World Class Championship Wrestling
1988	American Wrestling Association
1989
1990
1991	Universal Wrestling Federation
1992	Global Wrestling Federation
1993	World Championship Wrestling
1994
1995
1996	American Wrestling Federation
1997	United States Wrestling Association
1998	World Championship Wrestling
1999
2000
2001
2002	Xtreme Pro Wrestling
2003	Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling
2004	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2005
2006	World Wrestling Entertainment
2007	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling/Impact Wrestling
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018	WWE
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023	National Wrestling Alliance

Year	Booker	Promotion(s)
1986	Dusty Rhodes	Jim Crockett Promotions
1987	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1988	Eddie Gilbert	Continental Wrestling Federation
1989	Shohei Baba	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1990
1991
1992	Riki Choshu	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1993	Jim Cornette	Smoky Mountain Wrestling
1994	Paul Heyman	Extreme Championship Wrestling
1995
1996
1997
1998	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1999
2000
2001	Jim Cornette	Ohio Valley Wrestling
2002	Paul Heyman	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	Jim Cornette	Ohio Valley Wrestling
2004	Gabe Sapolsky	Ring of Honor Full Impact Pro
2005
2006
2007
2008	Joe Silva	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2009
2010
2011	Gedo and Jado	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2012
2013
2014
2015	Paul Levesque and Ryan Ward	WWE (NXT)
2016	Gedo	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2017
2018
2019
2020	Tony Khan	All Elite Wrestling
2021
2022
2023	Paul Levesque	WWE

Year	Promoter	Promotion(s)
1988	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1989	Akira Maeda	Universal Wrestling Federation
1990	Shohei Baba	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995	Riki Choshu	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1996
1997
1998	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1999
2000
2001	Antonio Inoki	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2002	Kazuyoshi Ishii	K-1
2003	Nobuyuki Sakakibara	Pride Fighting Championships
2004
2005	Dana White	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014	Takaaki Kidani	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2015	Dana White	Ultimate Fighting Championship
2016
2017	Takaaki Kidani	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018
2019	Tony Khan	All Elite Wrestling
2020
2021
2022
2023	Nick Khan	WWE

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1986	Adrian Street	Continental Championship Wrestling
1987	Ted DiBiase	World Wrestling Federation
1988	Rick Steiner	Jim Crockett Promotions
1989	Jushin Liger	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1990	The Undertaker	World Wrestling Federation
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995	Disco Inferno	World Championship Wrestling
1996	nWo
1997	Stone Cold Steve Austin	World Wrestling Federation/​World Wrestling Entertainment
1998
1999	The Rock
2000	Kurt Angle
2001	The Hurricane
2002	Matt Hardy
2003	John Cena
2004	John "Bradshaw" Layfield
2005	Mr. Kennedy
2006	The Latin American Xchange	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2007	Santino Marella	World Wrestling Entertainment/​WWE
2008
2009	CM Punk
2010	Alberto Del Rio
2011	CM Punk
2012	Joseph Park	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2013	The Wyatt Family	WWE
2014	Rusev and Lana
2015	The New Day
2016	"Broken" Matt Hardy	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2017	Los Ingobernables de Japón	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2018	Velveteen Dream	WWE
2019	"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
2020	Orange Cassidy	All Elite Wrestling
2021	Roman Reigns	WWE
2022	Sami Zayn
2023	"Timeless" Toni Storm	All Elite Wrestling

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1986	Adrian Adonis	World Wrestling Federation
1987
1988	Midnight Rider	Jim Crockett Promotions
1989	The Ding Dongs	World Championship Wrestling
1990	The Gobbledy Gooker	World Wrestling Federation
1991	Oz	World Championship Wrestling
1992	Papa Shango	World Wrestling Federation
1993	The Shockmaster	World Championship Wrestling
1994	Dave Sullivan
1995	Goldust	World Wrestling Federation
1996	Fake Diesel Fake Razor Ramon The Real Double J
1997	The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust
1998	The Oddities
1999	The Powers That Be	World Championship Wrestling
2000	Mike Awesome
2001	Diamond Dallas Page	World Wrestling Federation
2002	The Johnsons	NWA: Total Nonstop Action
2003	Rico Constantino	World Wrestling Entertainment
2004	Mordecai
2005	Jillian Hall
2006	Vito
2007	Black Reign	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2008	The Great Khali	World Wrestling Entertainment
2009	Hornswoggle
2010	Orlando Jordan	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2011	Michael Cole	WWE
2012	Aces & Eights	Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
2013
2014	Adam Rose	WWE
2015	Stardust
2016	Bone Soldier	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2017	Bray Wyatt/Sister Abigail	WWE
2018	Constable Corbin
2019	Shorty G
2020	"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
2021	Alexa Bliss
2022	Maximum Male Models
2023	The Devil	All Elite Wrestling

Year	Book	Author(s)
2005	The Death of WCW	Bryan Alvarez and R.D. Reynolds
2006	Tangled Ropes	"Superstar" Billy Graham and Keith Elliot Greenberg
2007	Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling	Bret Hart
2008	Gorgeous George: The Bad Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture	John Capouya
2009	Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook	Jim Cornette
2010	Countdown to Lockdown	Mick Foley
2011	Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps	Chris Jericho
2012	Shooters: The Toughest Men in Professional Wrestling	Jonathan Snowden
2013	Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs: The Untold Story of How Montreal Shaped the World of Wrestling	Pat Laprade and Bertrand Hébert
2014	The Death of WCW – 10th Anniversary Edition	Bryan Alvarez and R.D. Reynolds
2015	Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania	Daniel Bryan and Craig Tello
2016	Ali vs. Inoki	Josh Gross
2017	Crazy Like a Fox: The Definitive Chronicle of Brian Pillman 20 Years Later	Liam O'Rourke
2018	Eggshells: Pro Wrestling in the Tokyo Dome	Chris Charlton
2019	100 Things a WWE Fan Should Know & Do Before They Die	Bryan Alvarez
2020	Killing the Business	The Young Bucks
2021	Mox	Jon Moxley
2022	Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik	Brian Solomon
2023	The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair	Tim Hornbaker

Note: Was previously known simply as the "Best Pro Wrestling DVD" award.

Year	DVD/Streaming Documentary	Publisher(s)
2005	The Rise and Fall of ECW	World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE
2006	Bret "Hit Man" Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be
2007	Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen
2008	"Nature Boy" Ric Flair: The Definitive Collection
2009	Macho Madness: The Randy Savage Ultimate Collection
2010	Breaking the Code: Behind the Walls of Chris Jericho
2011	Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart: WWE's Greatest Rivalries
2012	CM Punk: Best in the World
2013	Jim Crockett Promotions: The Good Old Days	EllBow Productions Highspots.com
2014	Ladies and Gentlemen, My Name Is Paul Heyman	WWE
2015	Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes! Yes! Yes!
2016	WWE 24: Seth Rollins (Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim)
2017	30 for 30: Nature Boy	ESPN
2018	André the Giant	HBO
2019	Dark Side of the Ring	Viceland
2020	Dark Side of the Ring: Owen Hart
2021	Dark Side of the Ring: Brian Pillman
2022	Tales From the Territories: Lawler/Kaufman
2023	Dark Side of the Ring: Chris and Tammy

Note: This award is given to participants in professional wrestling and mixed martial arts who make contributions outside the ring for the betterment of society.

Year	Recipient(s)	Contribution(s)
2020[4]	Shad Gaspard	Sacrificed himself to save his son's life after being swept out to sea
	Ettore Ewen Big E	Contributed to racial justice during the Black Lives Matter movement and following the murder of George Floyd
	Rami Sebei Sami Zayn	Runs Sami for Syria, a medical relief organization assisting ill and injured people during the Syrian civil war
	Tracy Smothers	Assisted young independent wrestlers
	Margaret Stalvey	Assisted the Huber family during Jon Huber's illness and after his death
	Megha Parekh
2021[5]	Jonathan Good Jon Moxley	Chose to step away from professional wrestling to enter into a rehabilitation program for alcoholism
	Thaddeus Bullard Titus O'Neil	The child of a rape victim, O'Neil went on to help underprivileged children through his charitable work, especially in his hometown of Tampa, Florida
2022[6]	Dustin Poirier	Through his Good Fight Foundation, Poirier provided assistance to underserved and vulnerable communities in South Louisiana
2023[7]	Steve McMichael	McMichael, who has been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis since 2021, has provided inspiration to those battling illnesses due to his continued determination to attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony after being elected to the hall
	Pugh family	The family showed class and resiliency after the death of Jamin Pugh in a car accident; despite the driver of the other car being at fault for the accident, they publicly asked people to stop attacking them on social media and fundraised for the driver's family
	Valerie Coleman	The widow of late Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Famer "Superstar" Billy Graham, Coleman is credited with saving Graham's life on multiple occasions

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Ken Patera	World Wrestling Federation
1981	Don Muraco
1982	Tiger Mask	New Japan Pro-Wrestling World Wrestling Federation Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre
1983	Dynamite Kid	Stampede Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance
1984		Stampede Wrestling New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling
1985		World Wrestling Federation All Japan Pro Wrestling

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Baron Scicluna	World Wrestling Federation
1981	Peter Maivia	National Wrestling Alliance
1982	"Superstar" Billy Graham	World Wrestling Federation New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1983	Chief Jay Strongbow	World Wrestling Federation
1984	Jimmy Snuka
1985	Sgt. Slaughter	American Wrestling Association

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1981	Tony Atlas	World Wrestling Federation National Wrestling Alliance
1982	Ken Patera	World Wrestling Federation
1983	Hulk Hogan	American Wrestling Association New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1984	Butch Reed	Mid-South Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance
1985	Road Warrior Animal	American Wrestling Association National Wrestling Alliance All Japan Pro Wrestling
1986
1987	Steve Williams	Jim Crockett Promotions Universal Wrestling Federation
1988		Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling
1989
1990		All Japan Pro Wrestling

Year	Team	Promotion(s)
1983	The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts)	World Class Championship Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1984	Jimmy Snuka	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Sgt. Slaughter	American Wrestling Association
1986	Bob Orton	World Wrestling Federation
1987	Butch Reed
1988	Bam Bam Bigelow
1989	Jim Duggan
1990	Sting	World Championship Wrestling
1991	Davey Boy Smith	World Wrestling Federation
1992	Randy Savage
1993	Rick Rude	World Championship Wrestling
1994	Hulk Hogan[8]
1995

Year	Performer	Promotion(s)
1981	Gene LeBell	National Wrestling Alliance
1982	David Crockett
1983	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1984
1985
1986
1987	David Crockett	Jim Crockett Promotions
1988	Dusty Rhodes
1989		World Championship Wrestling
1990	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1991	Herb Abrams	Universal Wrestling Federation
1992	Bill Watts	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Vince McMahon	World Wrestling Federation
1994	Hulk Hogan	World Championship Wrestling
1995

Note: "Best Babyface" and "Best Heel" were combined in 1997 to create "Best Box Office Draw"

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Dusty Rhodes	National Wrestling Alliance
1981	Tommy Rich
1982	Hulk Hogan	American Wrestling Association New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1983
1984		World Wrestling Federation
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992	Sting	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Atsushi Onita	Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
1994
1995	Perro Aguayo	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
1996	Shawn Michaels	World Wrestling Federation

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1980	Larry Zbyszko	World Wrestling Federation
1981	Don Muraco
1982	Buzz Sawyer	Georgia Championship Wrestling
1983	Michael Hayes	World Class Championship Wrestling
1984	Roddy Piper	World Wrestling Federation
1985
1986	Michael Hayes	World Class Championship Wrestling
1987	Ted DiBiase	World Wrestling Federation
1988
1989	Terry Funk	World Championship Wrestling
1990	Ric Flair
1991	The Undertaker	World Wrestling Federation
1992	Rick Rude	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Vader
1994	Art Barr	Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
1995	Masahiro Chono	New Japan Pro-Wrestling
1996	Stone Cold Steve Austin	World Wrestling Federation

Year	Event
1981	Tommy Rich winning the NWA World Championship from Harley Race
1982	Otto Wanz winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship
1983	Ric Flair losing the NWA Championship to Harley Race
1984	The death of David Von Erich
1985	WWF getting on network television
1986	Magnum T. A.'s car accident
1987	Jim Crockett Jr. purchasing the Universal Wrestling Federation
1988	The murder of Bruiser Brody
1989	Dusty Rhodes joining the WWF

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1982	Ric Flair	National Wrestling Alliance
1983	Dynamite Kid	Stampede Wrestling National Wrestling Alliance
1984	Ric Flair	National Wrestling Alliance
1985		Jim Crockett Promotions
1986
1987
1988
1989	Terry Funk	World Championship Wrestling

Year	Manager	Promotion(s)
1983	Jimmy Hart	Continental Wrestling Association
1984	Jim Cornette	Mid-South Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling
1985		Jim Crockett Promotions
1986
1987
1988
1989		World Championship Wrestling
1990
1991	Sherri Martel	World Wrestling Federation
1992	Jim Cornette	Smoky Mountain Wrestling
1993
1994
1995		World Wrestling Federation Smoky Mountain Wrestling
1996

Year	Commentator	Promotion(s)
1986	Michael Hayes	Universal Wrestling Federation
1987	Jesse Ventura	World Wrestling Federation
1988
1989
1990
1991	Paul E. Dangerously	World Championship Wrestling
1992	Bobby Heenan	World Wrestling Federation
1993
1994		World Championship Wrestling
1995	Jerry Lawler	World Wrestling Federation
1996

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1984	Ric Flair	Jim Crockett Promotions
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989		World Championship Wrestling
1990
1991		World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
1992		World Wrestling Federation
1993		World Wrestling Federation World Championship Wrestling
1994	Sabu	Extreme Championship Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
1995	Manami Toyota	All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
1996	Ric Flair	World Championship Wrestling
1997	Chris Benoit
1998	Mick Foley	World Wrestling Federation
1999	Chris Jericho	World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
2000	Chris Benoit
2001	Keiji Mutoh	New Japan Pro-Wrestling All Japan Pro Wrestling
2002	Kurt Angle	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1984	Ivan Putski	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Hulk Hogan
1986
1987	Dusty Rhodes	Jim Crockett Promotions
1988
1989	Ultimate Warrior	World Wrestling Federation
1990
1991	Hulk Hogan
1992	Erik Watts	World Championship Wrestling
1993	Sid Vicious
1994	Hulk Hogan
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000	Kevin Nash
2001	The Undertaker	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002	Triple H
2003

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1984	Ivan Putski	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Uncle Elmer
1986	Mike Von Erich	World Class Championship Wrestling
1987	Junkyard Dog	World Wrestling Federation
1988	Ultimate Warrior
1989	André the Giant
1990	Junkyard Dog	World Championship Wrestling
1991	André the Giant	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1992
1993	The Equalizer	World Championship Wrestling
1994	Dave Sullivan
1995	The Renegade
1996	Loch Ness
1997	Hulk Hogan
1998	Warrior
1999	Kevin Nash
2000
2001	Big Show	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002
2003	Nathan Jones

Year	Tag Team	Promotion(s)
1984	The Crusher and Baron von Raschke	American Wrestling Association
1985	The Hillbillies (Uncle Elmer and Cousin Junior)	World Wrestling Federation
1986	George Steele and Junkyard Dog
1987	Jimmy Valiant and Bugsy McGraw	National Wrestling Alliance
1988	The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov)	World Wrestling Federation
1989	The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord)
1990	Giant Baba and André the Giant	All Japan Pro Wrestling
1991
1992	The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller)	World Wrestling Federation
1993	The Colossal Kongs (King Kong and Awesome Kong)	World Championship Wrestling
1994	The Bushwhackers	World Wrestling Federation
1995	Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck	World Championship Wrestling
1996	The Godwinns (Henry Godwinn and Phineas Godwinn)	World Wrestling Federation
1997
1998	The Oddities (Golga and Kurrgan)
1999	The Corporate Ministry (Viscera and Mideon)
2000	KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark)	World Championship Wrestling
2001		World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
2002	3-Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal)	World Wrestling Entertainment
2003	La Résistance (René Duprée and Sylvain Grenier)

Year	Manager	Promotion(s)
1984	Mr. Fuji	World Wrestling Federation
1985
1986	Paul Jones	Jim Crockett Promotions
1987	Mr. Fuji	World Wrestling Federation
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996	Sonny Onoo	World Championship Wrestling
1997
1998
1999

Year	Performer	Promotion(s)
1984	Jimmy Snuka	World Wrestling Federation
1985	Thunderbolt Patterson	National Wrestling Alliance
1986	Mike Von Erich	World Class Championship Wrestling
1987	Bugsy McGraw	Jim Crockett Promotions
1988	Steve Williams
1989	Ultimate Warrior	World Wrestling Federation
1990
1991
1992
1993	Mr. Fuji
1994	Dave Sullivan	World Championship Wrestling
1995	Hulk Hogan
1996	Ahmed Johnson	World Wrestling Federation
1997
1998	Warrior	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Sid Vicious
2000	Vince Russo
2001	Stephanie McMahon	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002
2003

Year	Wrestler	Promotion(s)
1986	Adrian Adonis	World Wrestling Federation
1987	George Steele
1988
1989	André the Giant
1990	Dusty Rhodes
1991	Van Hammer	World Championship Wrestling
1992	Papa Shango	World Wrestling Federation
1993	Bastion Booger
1994	Doink the Clown
1995	Hulk Hogan	World Championship Wrestling
1996
1997	The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust	World Wrestling Federation
1998	Warrior	World Championship Wrestling
1999	Hulk Hogan
2000
2001	Buff Bagwell	World Championship Wrestling World Wrestling Federation
2002	Big Show	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2003	Nathan Jones

Year	Personality	Promotion
2000	Vince Russo	World Championship Wrestling
2001	Stephanie McMahon	World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
2002
2003

• Best Wrestler: Kurt Angle
• Most Outstanding Wrestler: Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan
• Best Box Office Draw: Místico
• Best Tag Team: Rey Bucanero and Último Guerrero
• Best Interviews: Chris Jericho
• Most Charismatic: John Cena
• MMA Most Valuable: Randy Couture^[9]

• Best Wrestler: Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Most Outstanding Wrestler: Kazuchika Okada
• Best Box Office Draw: Brock Lesnar
• Best Tag Team: The Young Bucks
• Best Interviews: Paul Heyman
• Most Charismatic: Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Best Technical Wrestler: Zack Sabre Jr.
• Best Brawler: Tomohiro Ishii
• Best Flyer: Ricochet
• Best Promotion: New Japan Pro-Wrestling
• Best Matches: Kazuchika Okada
• Best Non-Wrestler: Paul Heyman
• Best Television Announcer: Kevin Kelly

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
• List of professional wrestling awards
• List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards
• Slammy Award

• Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2011). "The 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter (5). Campbell, California: 1–40. ISSN 1083-9593. The following are the results of the 31st annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter readership awards, along with a listing of the previous winners in the various categories.
• Meltzer, Dave (January 30, 2012). "Jan 30 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic year-end awards issue, best and worst in all categories plus UFC on FX 1, death of Savannah Jack, ratings, tons and tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 1–29. ISSN 1083-9593.
• Meltzer, Dave (January 23, 2013). "The 2012 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Annual Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 1–52. ISSN 1083-9593.
• Meltzer, Dave (January 27, 2014). "The 2013 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Annual Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 1–36. ISSN 1083-9593.
• Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2015). "2014 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 1–35. ISSN 1083-9593.
• Meltzer, Dave (January 25, 2016). "January 25, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2015 Observer Awards Issue". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 1–49. ISSN 1083-9593.