AEW cleans up in 41st annual Wrestling Observer awards, Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes comment
AEW Co-Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes and AEW President & CEO Tony Khan took to Twitter this afternoon and reacted to AEW dominating the 41st annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards.
The awards are based on the time period from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Each category is voted on by the readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which includes fans an various people in the pro wrestling business. AEW topped the positive categories of the Observer readership awards, while WWE really came up short for the positive categories, even when it came to runner-ups. You can see the full list of wrestling award (excluding MMA categories) winners below.
Cody congratulated Khan on winning the awards for Booker of the Year and Promoter of the Year. Cody pointed out how Khan beat out WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, and UFC President Dana White.
“Congratulations @TonyKhan – Booker/Promoter of the year in the 41st annual @WONF4W Awards! Beating out both legendary promoters Dana White and Vince McMahon. Amazing,” Cody wrote.
Khan thanked his AEW staff and the readers of the newsletter. Khan pointed to how the only other times one person won both Promoter and Booker of the Year in the same year were Vince in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and the late Giant Baba for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1990 and 1991.
“Thank you to everyone working in @AEW + to the @WONF4W readers who voted me 2020 Booker of the Year + Promoter of the Year! The only other times that anyone won both in the same year were Vince 3x (98-00) & Baba 2x (90-91). I dreamed of this day for decades, thank you all so much,” Khan wrote.
You can see the full list of winners below, plus tweets from Cody and Khan, along with Vince Russo’s interesting response to Cody’s tweet on Khan:
LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)
Winner: Jon Moxley
MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
Winner: Current AEW World Champion Kenny Omega
TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
Winners: Current AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks
BEST ON INTERVIEWS
Winner: Eddie Kingston
PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Winner: AEW
BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW
Winner: AEW Dynamite
PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR
Winner: The Young Bucks vs. Adam Page and Kenny Omega at AEW Revolution 2020
UNITED STATES/CANADA MVP
Winner: Jon Moxley
JAPANESE MVP
Winner: Tetsuya Naito
MEXICO MVP
Winner: Rey Fenix
EUROPE MVP
Winner: Current WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER
HODGE AWARD/NON-HEAVYWEIGHT MVP
Winner: Hiromu Takahashi
WOMEN’S WRESTLING MVP
Winner: Bayley
BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW
Winner: Conor McGregor
FEUD OF THE YEAR
Winners: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston
MOST IMPROVED
Winner: Britt Baker
MOST CHARISMATIC
Winner: MJF
BRYAN DANIELSON AWARD (BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER)
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.
BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)
Winner: Jon Moxley
BEST FLYING WRESTLER
Winner: Rey Fenix
MOST OVERRATED
Winner: Bray Wyatt
MOST UNDERRATED
Winner: Ricochet
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Winner: Pat McAfee
BEST NON-WRESTLER
Winner: Taz
BEST TV ANNOUNCER
Winner: Excalibur
WORST TV ANNOUNCER
Winner: Michael Cole
BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
Winner: AEW Revolution PPV on February 29 from Chicago
WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
Winner: WWE Super ShowDown on February 27 from Saudi Arabia
BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER
Winner: Kenny Omega’s One Winged Angel
MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
Winner: WWE firing people during a pandemic during a year where they were setting profit records
WORST TV SHOW
Winner: WWE RAW
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
Winner: Braun Strowman vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt – Swamp Fight from The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR
Winner: Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman
WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
Winner: WWE
BEST BOOKER
Winner: Tony Khan
PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Tony Khan
BEST GIMMICK
Winner: Orange Cassidy
WORST GIMMICK
Winner: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK
Winner: The Young Bucks: Killing the Business from the Backyards to the Big Leagues
BEST PRO WRESTLING DOCUMENTARY
Winner: Dark Side of the Ring – Owen Hart
Congratulations @TonyKhan – Booker/Promoter of the year in the 41st annual @WONF4W Awards! Beating out both legendary promoters Dana White and Vince McMahon. Amazing. pic.twitter.com/tT6aaoCUsQ
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) February 26, 2021
It's Amazing alright.
— Vince Russo (@THEVinceRusso) February 26, 2021
Thank you to everyone working in @AEW + to the @WONF4W readers who voted me 2020 Booker of the Year + Promoter of the Year! The only other times that anyone won both in the same year were Vince 3x (98-00) & Baba 2x (90-91). I dreamed of this day for decades, thank you all so much
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) February 26, 2021
