2020 Year End Awards

2020 was one of the most exciting years in EWA history. Despite entering our 20th year of operation, somehow EWA continues to reinvent itself and provide a litany of incredible moments. This year's awards were voted on by as many participants as any year in EWA's long history, proving that despite all the bumps and bruises this e-fed has taken through the years, we're still alive and thriving as well as ever. Everyone who was nominated, as well as everyone who contributed even just a little bit to the E-Wrestling Alliance this year should be proud of yourselves. We've worked hard, had fun and produced good results. On a personal note, EWA has been a passion project for many years and to see so many great handlers, characters and people come through here gives me great joy. 2020 was a rough year in the real world, but was truly enjoyable here in the EWA in a way I will never forget. Thank you all for your hard work and I hope you will continue to be a part of this for many years to come!





This was a category that was fairly hotly contested, with votes spread out across a ton of different wrestlers. The eventual winner was Jeremy Wyatt, the only man to hold two different singles championships this year and who captained the winning SuperBrawl team. Wyatt's accomplishments can't be denied, although you could argue that the runner up in this category achieved more. Jamie Noble managed to win Civil War and the EWA World Championship on two occasions, but his accolades were spread out more throughout the year, which may have been a factor in why he just missed that top spot. Coming in third is Daizee Haze, who came into the federation early in 2020 and remained a central focus throughout the year. There's no denying that Haze was at times the heart and soul of the women's division and the voters recognized that.




We like to pay homage to characters who seem to come out of nowhere and make a big impact with this award. 2020 saw a lot of unique individuals make a quick impact. From the bizarre antics of Abdullah the Butcher to the up and coming perseverance of Adam Page, this year was full of breakouts. Ultimately the voters decided that Eddie Kingston, the Mad King, was the most unexpected superstar of the year. Kingston is no stranger to EWA, but his return this year and subsequent success as National Champion made him stand out amongst the rest. The 2020 King of the Ring, Santos Escobar was a narrow second and having never lost a singles match certainly proved himself worthy. One-Eye Lorcan gets third place honors but may have ranked higher had he not had a hiatus between his TV Title run and his reappearance at SuperBrawl XX.




We saw a lot of returns this year including the three wrestlers who topped this list. Although all three had been active in 2019, they took extended absences that made fans certain their careers were over. Third place finish Hacksaw Jim Duggan had teamed with Bradley in 2019 but after a long layoff returned to action and managed to win the National Title briefly. Runner Up, Sasha Banks retired for a bit due to an injury and trained an apprentice before ultimately returning to the ring in a big way and leaving the year as EWA Women's Champion. The eventual winner, Pete Dunne, a former EWA World Champion, did not manage to secure the gold in any of his return ventures in 2020, but he did leave a mark on any who crossed his path and had memorable moments sprinkled throughout the year.




Typically in a calendar year we see a smattering of stipulation matches that make this year end list. In 2020, we saw around the same number as usual, but the stipulations varied wildly, from more humorous moments to absolute bloodbaths. This year's winner won by a large margin and it is likely the first time a women's match has taken this top honor. The Six Woman Monster's Ball bout was a war from start to finish with all the women giving it their all. The fact that this was the central conclusion to much of the Daizee Haze/Coven storyline probably didn't hurt in why this wild match took top honors. Second place went to the unique stipulation of the New Mexico Bloodbath, which saw the Butcher and Blade take on the New Freebirds as part of their long rivalry. Bringing up the rear was the surprisingly intense Judy Bagwell & Mandy Rose on a Forklift match, which on paper looks rather comical but helped kickstart Buff Bagwell's run to the EWA World Championship.




For the second year in a row, Santino Marella has managed to be in the singles match of the year. Marella is often overlooked because of his humorous wrestling style, but in 2020 he put it all on the line heading into King of the Ring with intent to win. Although Marella came up just short, his battle with Santos Escobar to become King of the Ring was undoubtedly a match to remember. Runner up was the World Championship bout between MJF and Jamie Noble that saw the Redneck Messiah finally claim the gold after months of back and forth with Maxwell Jacob Friedman. And a very close third place was Adam Page and Kenny Omega's battle on SLAM. A single vote separated all three of these bouts, proof that some of the best action we see in the EWA is during our weekly SLAM broadcasts and not just on pay-per-view.




Tag team action always has an ebb and flow in the EWA and this past year saw two major teams control the action as champions with Santino Marella and the Honky Tonk Man as champions for around half the year and the New Freebirds as champions for around the same amount of time. So it's no surprise that both of those teams found themselves in many of the top ranked tag matches. Ultimately though it was the New Freebirds title defense against the Butcher & the Blade that got third place, while second went to the wild Final Four tag team war for the gold... But first place wasn't a traditional two on two tag team bout but rather the incredible six-man tag that was one of the marquee matches for King of the Ring. Kevin Owens shined as did Adam Page while Bagwell showed what had made him a champion. The Glorious Bs were tough backup for Jeremy Wyatt and served as a good preview for Wyatt's eventual accomplishment of captaining a team to victory in SuperBrawl XX.




There was a lot of great storytelling throughout the year and voting reflected that with almost every storyline getting a couple of votes. In the end the women headlined this category once more as Bayley found herself getting top honors for the second year in a row. Daizee Haze's long running feud with the Coven saw her eventually falling victim to their witching ways, before being saved by her friends. But as we saw later in the year, those friendships weren't meant to last forever. Speaking of friendships, Honky Tonk Man's close friendship with Jerry Lawler and lack of one with his partner Santino Marella was a close second storyline as it made for a lot of comical hi-jinx and also some rather nasty altercations. And the third place finish came to Sasha Banks who surprised a lot of people with her return from injury and subsequent title victories.




It should be no surprise that the "Feud of the Year" top merit also goes to Daizee Haze versus the Coven as it was a storyline that involved months of build, exciting twists and turns and a ton of different characters. Perhaps no other feud connected so many dots and continues to have ramifications in the women's division today. A close second was the lengthy feud between perennial spoiled rich kid MJF and down on his luck blue collar redneck, Jamie Noble. This story was simple but effective and had many bumps along the way that seemed to indicate trouble between Nidia and Noble. Lastly a rare tag team feud that rose to prominence with a series of brutal attacks and couple of equally as brutal matches as the New Freebirds and their challengers captured the minds of the voters.




Every faction that was up for this honor received a few votes, but it was the Boujee Brand who far and away took the top honors here with the most votes by a large margin. This stable has had several different members and at times was more of a movement than a traditional group, but it left a mark in 2020 without a doubt. It's also the first time that a female led faction has received this honor in the entire history of the EWA! In second was the on again, off again religious Glorious Bs, who didn't necessarily achieve a lot of success in the ring, but definitely were a thorn in many wrestler's sides. In the third spot was the New Freebirds who used their tag team skills to expand beyond just the boundaries of a normal team.




There were plenty of surprise moments throughout the year and many caught the the fans and voters off guard. This year's winner wasn't so much a single moment, but the culmination of several. Jeremy Wyatt entered the EWA without much fanfare and not a huge reputation (beyond in his own mind) but quickly proved to be quite a bit more cunning and capable than those who had dismissed him originally thought. His title victories and eventual SuperBrawl XX win left many shocked and took him the top honors in this category. Buff Bagwell's rise to the top and World Title win offered a similar story, but since Buff has spent many years in the EWA and has always done better than expected, it wasn't quite as shocking that he achieved such success. Bringing up the rear was the surprise SuperBrawl team. Every year we see some surprise returns at SuperBrawl, but this was the first year that an entire team was a surprise and it included some heavy hitters to really make the 20th SuperBrawl feel special.




There were a ton of votes that were all over the place for this category. While some voted for comedy, others voted for sprawling epics... Ultimately we find that 2/3s of this field was filled with women's wrestlers, which should give you a good indication of how competitive that scene was this past year. Alicia Fox's more serious turn managed to take the third place spot, while Sasha Banks' dye-job earns the silver. Both women proved they had a lot of facets to their character this year. Banks in particular stood out in her RP as she spent time on a lot of dialogue and kept the scene minimal but effective to set the stage for her words. But the winner of this years RP of the year, goes to Buff Bagwell's dual personality conflict in "The Death of Mr. Hyde". This was one of the roleplays that helped put Bagwell over the top and earn him the EWA World Championship in his bout with the Honky Tonk Man. Buff's dynamic with his mother and his better angels and inner demons proved to be a fan favorite and garnered the most votes. There's no doubt that tons of incredible roleplays were written in 2020 and we suggest if you haven't already, go back and re-read some.




A surprising number of people were voted for in this category and truthfully, everyone who roleplayed this past year brought something special to the table. We're not sure what exact element that Cleve did that got him this award, but it's very likely his incredible run with the Honky Tonk Man... Or perhaps his TV Title run with Rhino... Or maybe it was his unlikely run as Prince Albert.... Or the near victory with Marc Mero in the KOTR... Or perhaps it was the return of Kevin Nash... Or maybe it was the fact that Cleve played many characters this past year and had an uncanny ability to make you emotionally invested in their stories even when they weren't characters you'd every thought you'd care about! So many diverse options as "Community Cleve"! Kudos! Runner-up was someone who also played a lot of characters and was able to craft elaborate backstories and auxiliary characters to support his main characters and that's Craig. In 2019 Craig got top honors, and this year he was a close second. Proof that you can continue to do great things year after year in the EWA. But it's not just gristled veterans on this list! Entering the list at a close third and just barely nudging Jon and Dylan is Nat! A newcomer to the EWA at the beginning of the year, Nat's Boujee Brand characters have established themselves through some fantastic storytelling!




SuperBrawl has a tendency to win this category, but it's not always a sure thing. This year the voting was RAZOR thin with a variety of events getting several votes. But the 20th annual SuperBrawl was able to shine on as the biggest and brightest event of the year. The first, second and third place were all separated by one vote, which goes to show you how great the All Hallow's Evil and 8 Miles to Graceland events were. Those were specialized themed events and no doubt stood out for that reason, but also for all the great matches and storytelling that took place as a part of them.




Although there were a lot of great tag teams and tag team matches in 2020, this was once again a tale of two teams. 90% of the votes went to the top two teams with Honky & Santino as well as the New Freebirds taking most of the votes. In the end the Freebird trio edged out the veterans, but not by much. The Shining Colons came in a distant third, but given the amount of competition that were in the tag ranks this year, that in itself is a testament.




The women's division is as strong as it's ever been and that's thanks in large part to the three women on this list. While the voting was tight with lots of women getting votes, these three split the majority of the votes overall. Aliyah managed to come out on top in fairly convincing fashion though, which seems to indicate that a lot of people may despise her attitude, but love to hate her! Sasha Banks came in second after having a tumultuous year of ups and downs. In a close third was Daizee Haze, who as mentioned elsewhere had many memorable feuds, matches and moments as well.




Often this category is dominated by the most recent champion, but in the case of the Honky Tonk Man, his title run ended in October and he hadn't been seen much since (at least until he recently reappeared to complain about SuperBrawl excluding him!). Still there's no denying that Honky was a major factor in the World Title scene as well as the Tag Title scene throughout 2020. His presence was felt all over the card and he managed to get under the skin of lots of wrestlers but into the hearts of lots of voters. Second place goes to Jamie Noble, who spent the early part of the year as World Champion and then had to fight, scratch and claw his way back to the top of the card ending 2020 as World Champion once more. And in a close third is Buff Bagwell who filled the gap between Honky and Noble's runs at the top. But to simply say that would be a discredit to the work Buff has done in 2020 as he was involved in a lot of high profile feuds and whimsical moments no matter if he had the gold or not.