As the year 2020 comes to a close, IMPACT Wrestling brings us two-holiday specials looking back on the year. This week, IMPACT Wrestling honors the finest athletes of the year in their year-end awards special! The awards up for grabs tonight are Best Wrestler, Best Knockout, Best Tag Team, and X-Division Star Of The Year. So without any further ado, let’s examine these categories one by one. This is Brace For IMPACT for 12/22/20.
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Division Star Of The Year
2020 has been a lively year for the X-Division championship. Ace Austin started the year as champion, eventually racking up a respectable 171-day reign as champion. His reign ended at Rebellion when Willie Mack pinned him for the title. Ace Austin has since moved into the Tag Team division with partner Madman Fulton to notable success. Willie Mack held the title for 101 days before Chris Bey defeated him at Slammiversary. 27 days later, Rohit Raju would pin Chris Bey in his 2nd title defense, a triple threat match also featuring TJP. In the aftermath, Raju issued the Defeat Rohit Challenge, an open challenge for the X-Division Championship. Rohit managed to slither away with the title by hook or by crook. At Final Resolution, Manik ended Rohit’s championship after 120 days. Will one of these noteworthy champions walk away as X-Division star of the year?
Tag Team Of The Year
The first half of 2020 presented a significant challenge for the IMPACT Wrestling Tag Team division. The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic left IMPACT Tag Team Champions The North stuck in Canada and unable to defend their titles. However, this cloud had a silver lining, as it played a major role in Ethan Page and Josh Alexander racking up their record 380-day reign as champions. But things all changed at Slammiversary when The Motor City Machine Guns and The Good Brothers made their debut. In the aftermath, we gained a new top-tier team in Ace Austin & Madman Fulton. The IMPACT Wrestling tag team division is absolutely stacked, and anybody could win the Tag Team of The Year award this Tuesday night on IMPACT Wrestling.
Brace For IMPACT for 12/22/20
Knockout Of The Year
The Knockouts division also suffered a major blow this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jordynne Grace captured the Knockouts Championship from Taya Valkyrie at an IMPACT Wrestling taping in Mexico City back in January. Then, a number of lockdowns came into effect, making travel impossible for many in the division. However, in this time, we saw a number of new signings. Deonna Purrazzo made a statement with her debut in IMPACT, attacking Jordynne Grace and picking a fight for the championship.
The Virtuosa defeated Grace by submission at Slammiversary, ending her reign at 182 days. Purrazzo would take Grace to the limit in their rematch, the first Ironwoman match in IMPACT Wrestling history. Purrazzo would go onto a heated feud with Kylie Rae and Susie, while Jordynne Grace had phenomenal matches with Tenille Dashwood and even competed for the X-Division Championship. But the question remains, of these two stars, who shone the brightest in the Knockouts Division?
Brace For IMPACT for 12/22/20
Wrestler Of The Year
The category of “Wrestler of The Year” is a broad one, which makes it very hard to pick contenders. Theoretically, any of the wrestler’s mentioned above could walk away with the prestigious award. However, in this category, there are a few more names to consider. For example, Moose has had a phenomenal 2020. At Rebellion in April, Moose declared himself TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and he’s only lost 2 matches since. In the whole of 2020, he’s had 4 losses, 2 by DQ. That’s a record most athletes can only dream of. On the other hand, we have reigning IMPACT World Champion Rich Swann. This summer was dominated by the story of the rise, fall, and return of Rich Swann. But is the compelling story enough to net him Wrestler of The Year? Find out on this Tuesday’s IMPACT Wrestling?
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