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AEW certainly had a memorable 2020, the year the company established its residency in Jacksonville.
It started with such amazing moments in front of very rowdy crowds. Then the world changed, and the young company found a way to adapt to Daily’s Place as a long-term home.
2020 was a year filled with shocking debuts, memorable title changes, and some unforgettable moments. Here is hoping AEW can have a strong 2021, and we can all see their events with big live crowds yet again.
As we still try to figure out why MJF is such a good singer, let's try to distract ourselves and present the five most surprising moments in AEW in 2020.
#5 The first "Pandemic Era" AEW show At Daily's Place
2020 has been the most challenging year for the world in at least a generation. AEW got the year off to a great start with a show on the Jericho Cruise and an excellent AEW Revolution pay-per-view in Chicago.
They had six months of loud and passionate AEW fans to start AEW Dynamite, but that all changed after their March 11 show in Salt Lake City. On March 18, 2020, the "Pandemic Era" shows at Daily’s Place began.
The first AEW Dynamite show is incredible in terms of how it was pulled off at the scary start of the pandemic. AEW filmed it in a nearly empty Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
The show started with Cody Rhodes stood in a darkened ring and cutting a great promo. The rest of the Elite arrived before it led to the lights being turned on by Kenny Omega, who explained they were here to entertain the television audience. It was a powerful beginning to a strange new normal.
The show was made less jarring thanks to some solid matches and other wrestlers being used as the show's live crowd. It is a model that has been copied by WWE and other organizations with live audiences.
AEW even pulled off two shocking debuts on this first show. The Dark Order had promised the debut of The Exalted One, and it was surprising to see Brodie Lee make his AEW debut in that role. The late, great Lee would have a tremendous impact on the Dark Order and several storylines for the rest of 2020.
The other debut was a very memorable introduction for “Broken” Matt Hardy. After the Inner Circle defeated the Elite in the main event, Matt Jackson introduced the Elite's newest member. First, we saw a drone land in the ring and cut to the arena's upper deck to provide a memorable debut for Hardy.
The number of surprises and show-changing moments in the first "Pandemic Era" show is quite remarkable.
#4 The AEW TNT Championship
AEW has a massive roster, which is why it was a pleasant surprise to see All Elite Wrestling announce a secondary title during the height of the pandemic this spring. The bigger surprise was how credible this new title has become in just a short period of time in 2020.
The title made its debut with an eight-man tournament that started with some excellent matches filmed at QT Marshall's Gym in Georgia in April. It led to a solid final between Lance Archer and Cody at AEW Double or Nothing. Cody became the inaugural champion, but that wasn't the end of making the newest title significant.
Cody Rhodes held a weekly defense of the TNT Championship on AEW Dynamite. Cody defended the new title and helped some young AEW talents like Jungle Boy, Sonny Kiss, and Marq Quen get valuable screen time.
They even used the title to bring in outside talent like Warhorse, Ricky Starks, and Eddie Kingston. It was the beginning of a great AEW career for the latter two.
Cody Rhodes shockingly lost the title to Brodie Lee on an episode of Saturday Night Dynamite in August. He would regain the title a few weeks later in a brutal Dog Collar Match that proved to be Brodie Lee’s final outing.
However, Cody Rhodes wasn't done elevating the title in 2020, as he then dropped it to Darby Allin at AEW Full Gear.
Seeing a new title debut was surprising enough, but seeing it defended almost weekly with so many memorable moments was even better.
#3 Sting debuts in AEW
The best surprises are the ones you never really see coming, and AEW pulled off a huge shock at AEW Winter is Coming on December 2.
At the end of the Rhodes/Allin vs. Team Taz tag match, everything went black, and then the screen played a lot of winter imagery. Then, Sting's name appeared on the titantron, and he shockingly arrived in All Elite Wrestling.
The minimal AEW crowd's reaction to his debut was easily the loudest of the entire "Pandemic Era". It was also really great to see Tony Schiavone recreate his classic WCW call, as Sting appeared on TNT television for the first time in 20 years. It was a classic surprise that was one of the best in AEW in 2020.
Sting’s motives are still not really known after the weeks that followed his Winter is Coming debut. He has shown some disrespect to Cody Rhodes, stared down Darby Allin, and has even threatened Team Taz with a baseball bat repeatedly.
It is hard to say where the storyline will be going in 2021, but you cannot deny that his AEW debut was memorable.
#2 Le Dinner Debonair on AEW Dynamite
If you had previously said that AEW would put on a major Broadway musical number in 2020, you would have been called crazy by pro-wrestling fans.
Chris Jericho and MJF both were coming off big losses at AEW All Out. What could be the next step for two of the biggest heels in All Elite Wrestling? The solution, it seemed, was bringing them together for comedy gold.
The idea that MJF wanted to join Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle was, and remained, an intriguing one. Matching your best young heel with one of the all-time greats could lead to some wonderful pro-wrestling moments. But how they kicked off their storyline was one of the most shocking and divisive moments in AEW history.
It seemed quite out of character for AEW Dynamite to have a musical number. However, it worked well based on MJF’s excellent singing ability and Chris Jericho’s willingness to commit.
In a year that was missing Broadway completely, it was a pleasant surprise to see two pro-wrestlers pay tribute to music.
If the most important goal of a surprising moment was to be truly memorable, Le Dinner Debonair deserves to be on any list.
#1 Kenny Omega wins the AEW World Championship, appears on IMPACT Wrestling
Kenny Omega began the year as part of the AEW tag team division. He had some excellent tag team defenses against opponents like the Young Bucks, The Best Friends, and FTR alongside Hangman Page.
It was certainly strange to see one of the world's best wrestlers solely being a part of the AEW tag team division. After he and Hangman Page lost the AEW Tag Team Championships at AEW All Out, it was time for a change. It was time for “The Cleaner” once again.
Kenny Omega brought back his cocky persona and squashed some of his opponents in just a few seconds. He changed his entrance to include dancers with brooms and a lot of bragging about his accomplishments.
It paid off with a victory over Hangman Page to earn a world title shot at AEW Winter is Coming on December 2. This led to the most surprising moment in AEW in 2020.
The AEW World Championship match was between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega at the excellent AEW Winter is Coming show. After a 28-minute match, Don Callis of IMPACT Wrestling distracted the referee to allow Omega to cheat and win the AEW World Championship.
It abruptly ended Jon Moxley’s 277-day reign as champion. As Kenny Omega and Don Callis left, they declared they were taking the title to IMPACT Wrestling on Tuesday night. It was the surprising start of a partnership between the two companies that will only build in 2021.
The idea of two pro-wrestling companies working together will have some major repercussions for a long time to come in the industry.
