2022 is fast approaching, so now seems the fitting time to look back on the year that was 2021. It's been another rollercoaster of a year for many, as the on-going pandemic seemed to ease off a little but might be back in full swing thanks to the new variant. Thankfully, wrestling has still remained a great escape with 2021 going down as landmark year for the business. There has been some tremendous wrestling and we are going to honour it with the 1st Annual - Golden Huggies - End of Year Awards! This new prestigious award allows us to celebrate the best (and some of the worst…) in wrestling from 2021. Highlighting the stand out talent, teams, matches, shows and everything in-between.
Come join us for a special live edition of Wednesday Night Paw as we present the first ever Huggies to the much deserving winners. Date and time still to be confirmed, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled on the social media channels. Until then, we have a total of 25 categories to announce with a whopping 125 nominees. Check them all out down below and be sure to let us know who you think is deserving of a Golden Huggies.
Male Wrestler of the Year
Kenny Omega
Hangman Adam Page
Roman Reigns
Bryan Danielson
Big E
Female Wrestler of the Year
Britt Baker, D.M.D.
Thunder Rosa
Bianca Belair
Becky Lynch
Meiko Satomura
Tag Team of the Year
The Young Buck
The Lucha Bros
Pretty Deadly
RK-Bro
FTR
Faction of the Year
The Elite
The Bloodline
The Inner Circle
Contra Unit
The Diamond Mine
Non-Wrestling Personality of the Year
Paul Heyman
Malcolm Bivens
Dan Lambert
Bad Bunny
Don Callis
Commentator of the Year
Excalibur
Tony Schivonie
Pat McAfee
Nigel McGuiness
Corey Graves
Debut/Return of the Year
CM Punk
Malakai Black
John Cena
Bryan Danielson
Adam Cole
"Holy Shit" Moment of the Year
CM Punk Returns to Wrestling
Matt Cardona - King of the Deathmatch?!
Cody & Andrade Flaming Table
Big E Cashes In
Britt Baker B.L.D.
Show of the Year
NXT TakeOver 36
All Out
Full Gear
Royal Rumble
Dominion NJPW
Match of the Year
Britt Baker, D.M.D vs Thunder Rosa – Lights Out Match - Dynmaite: St Patrick's Day Slam
Walter vs Ilja Dragunov II – TakeOver 36
Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson – Dynamite: Grand Slam
Will Osprey Vs Shingo Takagi - Wrestling Dontaku
Lucha Bros vs The Young Bucks - Steel Cage - All Out
Storyline of the Year
CM Punk Return Speech
Edge - "My Terms"
CM Punk and Eddie Kingston
Moxley and Kingston’s Last Words for the Young Bucks
CM Punk and MJF
Best Entrance of the Year
Chris Jericho - No music, Fans Singing Judas
CM Punk - Welcome Home - An Epic Return Pop
Edge - Wrestlemania 37
“Hangman” Adam Page & The Dark Order - What Makes a Cowboy? - Fight for the Fallen
Luchas Bros - All Out
The Golden Hug of Humanity Award
This special award goes out to a wrestler or wrestling personality that goes above and beyond outside the ring delivering a genuine act of human kindness. Celebrating everything from charity work to just doing a very decent gesture, this award aims to celebrate heart-warming moments of humanity.
This year’s award goes to Malakai Black for showing a tremendous amount of generosity to a young fan. After getting lost trying to find his way into a convention, Black bumped into a young fan and his mother who showed him the way. As a token of his appreciation, when they reached the front desk Malakai said they could have VIP passes and he would foot the bill, totalling $370 each. Black went above and beyond to make a young wrestling fans day even more epic and as such he is more than deserving of picking up the Golden Hug of Humanity Award.
The Redemption Award
This award is for a wrestler who truly managed to prove themselves. Either they successfully reinvented their character, overhauled their gimmick or proved their star power in another company. This one goes out to those that were underutilised and proved the doubters wrong.
Ruby Soho
Malakai Black
Andrade El Idolo
The IInspiration
Christian Cage
One to Watch Award
This award is aimed at spotlighting a talent that is shaping up to have a huge amount of success in the near future. They have already created a lot of hype these last few years, especially in 2021, but 2022 and beyond is looking very bright for them.
Danhausen
Jungle Boy
Bron Breakker
Jacob Fatu
Zack Sabre Jr
The Best Hair Award
Orange Cassidy
Brock Lesnar
Roman Reigns
Sasha Banks
Jungle Boy
Wrestling Figure of the Year
Danhausen - Faces & Heels Series 2
Tetsuya Naito – NJPW Series 2
Kushida – Elite Series 88
The Goon – Elite Series 89
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin – Ultimate Edition Series 9
Weekly Programme of the Year
Dynamite
Fusion
Impact!
Rampage
Smackdown
Best Documentary of the Year
Dark Side of the Ring Season 3
Visa Versa: Chyna
You Cannot Kill David Arquette
WWE Icons - Yokozuna
Ruthless Aggression Season 2
Laugh Out Loud - Moment of the Year
Reigns Runs Over Owens in a Golf Cart
Storms Delay Night 1 of Wrestlemania
Fan Throws Cody’s Weight Belt Back
Nia Jax “My Hole!”
Arn Has Got a Gun!
Dickhead of the Year Award
WWE
The Blood Hunter
Ric Flair
Marty Scrull
Travis Banks
Disgusting Moment of the Year
WWE Releasing Talent & Staff, Despite Claining Record Profits
ROH Releasing All of it's Talent
WWE Using Talent Releases to Draw Cheap Heat
CWA Booking Marty Scurll
WWEs Allegedly Leaking False or Misleading Stories
Disappointment of the Year
Progress Wrestling
Tommy Dreamer - Dark Side of the Ring Comments
Karrion Kross on the Main Roster
Keith Lee on the Main Roster
NXT 2.0
Deserved Better Award
Award for a wrestler that deserved better but was constantly hindered by bad/poor booking decisions.
Keith Lee
Karrion Kross
Cesaro
Hit Row
Bray Wyatt
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