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AEW has a long list of accolades to be proud of in 2020. From their new television contract to their one-year anniversary of Dynamite to the way they handled the pandemic era of wrestling, All Elite Wrestling had a stellar year on many levels. Probably above all else, the company excelled in the ring with some truly exceptional matches.
AEW Dynamite featured many classic bouts from Cody and Wardlow's epic inside a steel cage to the first encounter between Orange Cassidy and Chris Jericho. On pay-per-view, the promotion consistently delivered with at least one great match on every single major event.
With the past 12 months in the rearview mirror, compiling the very best in-ring contests can be a challenging endeavor. In this article, let's take a closer look at the five best AEW matches of 2020.
Honorable mentions:
- Hangman Page & Kenny Omega vs. Lucha Brothers (AEW Dynamite 2/19)
- FTR & The Young Bucks vs. The Butcher, The Blade & Lucha Brothers (AEW Fyter Fest Night 2)
- Brodie Lee vs. Cody Rhodes - Dog Collar Match (AEW Dynamite 10/7)
#5 Best Friends vs. Santana & Ortiz - Parking Lot Fight (AEW Dynamite 9/16)
In a blowoff to their underrated rivalry this year, Trent and Chuckie T of Best Friends faced Santana and Ortiz of Proud N Powerful in a Parking Lot Fight on the September 16th episode of AEW Dynamite. This physically intense brawl concluded a feud that started with the Inner Circle duo destroying Trent's mom's minivan.
Their series of in-ring matches did not prepare anyone for the insane lengths that these two teams were willing to take in an effort to inflict pain on one another. This was a brutal war that featured some of the craziest bumps of the year, including Trent taking a back first bump into the windshield of a vehicle.
There was blood, broken glass and a certain grittiness to this encounter that was not matched by any other bout for AEW or across the wrestling landscape this year. The conclusion saw Best Friends getting the victory after Trent hit the Crunchie on the back of a pickup truck on a wooden table.
The Parking Lot Fight received almost universal praise, from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newslette,r giving the match a five-star rating, to Mick Foley making a video calling it "one of the best street fights he has ever seen." Best Friends and Proud N Powerful are two of the best teams in AEW and put on great matches throughout 2020, but this was unquestionably the best from either team.
#4 The Elite & Matt Hardy vs. The Inner Circle - Stadium Stampede Match (AEW Double Or Nothing 2020)
During the pandemic, AEW was put into a difficult situation. The week after the global situation directly impacted wrestling by taking away social gatherings, The Elite was supposed to take on The Inner Circle in a Blood and Guts Match in front of a sold out crowd in Newark, New Jersey.
This would be the culmination of the faction war between the two stables that started on the premiere episode of Dynamite. However, with the adjustments made, the match was put on hold. At AEW Double Or Nothing, fans would witness the blowoff to the rivalry, but it would now be in a match called Stadium Stampede.
The Elite would be joined by Matt Hardy to face the members of The Inner Circle in a five-on-five encounter inside TIAA Bank Field. This turned into the most fun match anywhere in professional wrestling at the time. The cinematic spectacle had just enough comedy, action and suspense to keep fans captivated throughout the 34-minute duration.
It was spectacular in every way possible with all 10 men coming together to create something completely unique from anything seen in AEW or in the wrestling business. Fans saw Hangman Page riding a horse, Chris Jericho giving a mascot the Judas Effect and Matt Jackson deliver a moonsault off a goalpost. This was so creatively rich that it became the talk of the industry afterward.
The absolute insanity ended with Kenny Omega hitting the One Winged Angel off the stands on Sammy Guevara to get the win for The Elite and Matt Hardy. This was among the best cinematic matches in all of professional wrestling and a crucial entry on any AEW best of 2020 list.
#3 Kenny Omega vs. PAC - Iron Man Match (AEW Dynamite 2/26)
Another first-ever match for AEW this year came on the February 26th episode of Dynamite when Kenny Omega met PAC in a 30-minute Iron Man Match. These two men had traded two previous meetings over the months prior with this encounter being made to finally settle the score. The fans in Kansas City were greeted with a bona fide instant classic.
The pacing of this match was incredible with Omega and PAC not holding anything back from the opening minutes of the contest. Their superb chemistry was on full display and featured awe-inspiring counters and sequences. This bout marked the first ever disqualification in AEW history when "The Bastard" used a steel chair across the skull of Omega in an attempt to gain the next fall in the time limit.
With the two competitors tied at one fall a piece, the action only got more fast-paced and intense. PAC hit a shooting star press from the top rope to the floor on Omega who laid across a table. He then locked his opponent in the Brutalizer inside the ring with just minutes to go. Omega held on without submitting before the time limit ran out.
The referee decided that the match go into sudden death where Omega came out hot with a head-rocking V-Trigger. "The Cleaner" finally got the deciding fall with the One Winged Angel after 32-minutes of high-octane action. This was a tremendous contest that has to be considered one of, if not the best AEW Dynamite match in the show's history.
#2 FTR vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships (AEW Full Gear 2020)
Before AEW was even thought of, the wrestling world have talked about the potential dream match between The Young Bucks and FTR. FTR represent the old school, cut-your-opponent-off tag team wrestling of the 80s, while The Young Bucks represent the new-school, car-crash tag team wrestling popularized in the 90s. That all came to a head at AEW Full Gear 2020.
Although the buildup to this AEW Full Gear contest was disjointed and heavily criticized even by FTR themselves, all of that did not matter once the bell rang. This became a beautiful love letter to tag team wrestling with the two teams giving a history lesson of the journeys they took to this encounter.
FTR pulled out the finishers of the Steiner Brothers and Hart Foundation. Young Bucks delivered the finishing moves of the Dudleys and Hardys. Fans even witnessed FTR calling back to their main WWE rivals of #DIY during this one.
The psychology was marvelous, with FTR working over the injured leg of Matt Jackson, preventing him from executing his high-flying offense. On the other side, Young Bucks worked over the hand of Dax Harwood, preventing him from throwing punches. These four men delivered a fantastic match that told an engaging story that had so many intricate details over 28 minutes of action.
In the end of this battle of ideologies, Cash Wheeler of FTR went against their own mantra of "No Flips, Just Fists" and pulled out a springboard 450 splash in an attempt to beat The Young Bucks at their own game. This backfired with Wheeler missing; Matt Jackson then connected with a superkick for the win and the Young Bucks became AEW World Tag Team Champions.
This match received a five and a quarter star rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and garnered universal praise across the wrestling world. FTR vs. The Young Bucks had lofty expectations, but found a way to exceed them all in an amazing AEW World Tag Team Titles bout.
#1 Kenny Omega & Hangman Page vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships (AEW Revolution)
The saga of The Elite brought the creation of AEW and also brought us the 2020 Match of the Year. At Revolution, the inner turmoil between Hangman Page, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks imploded in an engrossing battle over the AEW World Tag Team Championships.
Following his loss against Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship at All Out 2019, Hangman Page felt like he did not belong in The Elite. In his efforts to disassociate himself from the group and his friends' denial of that, it birthed resentment. When Page and Omega bonded over mutual failure in the singles division, they created a formidable team that won the AEW World Tag Team Championship.
The Young Bucks also faced failure in their attempts to win gold in the promotion they helped create. With their friends gaining the success they were fighting for, more dissension came to the surface. This all came to a head in an absolute barnburner at AEW Revolution. This multi-layered narrative was told across 30-minutes in explosive fashion.
The four men came together and crafted an encounter that combined outstanding action, superb storytelling and fabulous character moments in front of hot crowd in Chicago. Some of the reactions were goosebump-inducing with Omega's kickoff of The Young Bucks using the Golden Lovers' Golden Trigger finisher being the loudest of the contest.
This magnificent bout received a six-star rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which is the highest rating for a tag team match in the history of the publication. Dave Meltzer and many pundits called it "the greatest tag team match in wrestling history". This magical encounter was well deserving of this praise and was the best AEW match of 2020.
