Being in the middle of 2021, it gives us the perfect view to see which wrestlers are the favorites on the wrestler of the year award. While there’s several contenders for the title of wrestler of the year, no one comes close to the year both Shingo Takagi (NJPW) and Kenny Omega (AEW) are having.
These next 6 months will determine between Omega and Takagi who has the better claim for WOTY.
Shingo Takagi
The current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion has had an incredible year. In term of matches, no one comes close to him. Takagi is the wrestler with the most matches awarded 5 stars in 2021 by Dave Meltzer with 4 (tied with Will Ospreay).
Shingo Takagi was also part of the match that most likely win the Match of The Year award against Will Ospreay (Wrestling Dontaku Night 2). His matches against Cobb and Tanahashi should also be mentioned as contenders for MOTY.
The G1 is coming up soon and Shingo Takagi will have a great G1 and that will help his case big time when all is set and done.
Kenny Omega
The current AAA Mega Champion, IMPACT World Champion and AEW World Champion has had quite the year despite COVID-19. Kenny Omega’s current run as the belt collector has several shades of Ric Flair as a travelling world champion and helping putting people over and Nick Bockwinkel in the way he adapts to his opponents style.
Ratings can be a boring subject, especially with how annoying the discussion was after the Wednesday Night Wars, but it can’t be denied that Omega is an draw on all metrics. The biggest feather on his cap has to be drawing the PPV number for IMPACT since the days of Spike.
Omega has also delivered big time on the match side of things. From his awesome TV main event match against Rey Fenix (Awarded 5 stars by Dave Meltzer) to the match that helped Jungle Boy establish himself as a future star for AEW.
What helps Omega’s case for WOTY is the fact he has wrestled phenomenally on different promotions and has become a travelling champion. Omega has a lot of things that could help his case like being part of the hottest feud in wrestling with Adam Page; His upcoming TripleMania match against Andrade for the AAA Mega Championship and whatever comes next with Jay White on IMPACT.
With the world slowly coming back to normal, maybe we’ll see Takagi and Omega face each other in a match to determine the WOTY, especially considering that the forbidden door is open and anything is possible in the world of pro-wrestling.
