Ranking the Top 10 WWE and AEW Stars so Far in 2020

Outsiders may sneer at the soap-opera shenanigans and pantomime punches and kicks. But pro wrestling is hard to do well and even more difficult to master.

This isn't your grandfather's business, where overweight guys in tights take turns bodyslamming each other in smoky National Guard armories. There's a lot that goes into being a top professional wrestler, especially in 2020. 

You have to be an elite athlete, a capable actor, hardened to the cantankerous cries of the critics and resilient enough to push through an endless succession of aches, pains and bruises. The best wrestlers are part LeBron James, part Kevin James, a unique combination of skill sets that few are capable of combining.

Ranking wrestlers, of course, is a fool's task. It's entirely subjective for starters, a task almost certain to leave some fans upset at their favorites exclusion or placement.

I'm doing it anyway, using a formula that incorporates in-ring ability, current storylines, ability to rock the mic and response from the fans. This is very much a list grounded in the present. For example, Daniel Bryan and Edge don't get to use their Hall of Fame resumes to push their way into this esteemed company. 

This is about 2020 and the wrestlers performing at an elite level in the here and now. Have a list of your own? Let us know about it in the comments.

Honorable Mentions

Photo courtesy of AEW

Name: "Hangman" Adam Page

Promotion: All Elite Wrestling

Role: Confused midcarder

Analysis: Page has been a revelation this year, perfectly depicting an athlete's struggle to make it in a cutthroat business where friends can quickly become enemies. This is some of the best character work in the entire industry, and I expect him to vault into the top 10 sooner rather than later.

Name: Roman Reigns

Promotion: WWE

Role: Main event babyface

Analysis: I enjoy Roman Reigns. He's better than he gets credit for, both inside the ring and on the microphone. But you can't ignore the fact fans continue to reject him as a leading man. Working with the despicable Baron Corbin guarantees he'll get the bulk of the cheers, but it also leaves him ice cold heading into WrestleMania 36. 

Name: Charlotte Flair

Promotion: WWE

Role: Main event heel

Analysis: Charlotte is in a similar situation as Reigns. She's been WWE's choice as the flagship woman wrestler, but fans have chosen Becky Lynch instead. Winning the Royal Rumble should have been more of a boost. Instead, it was a disappointment for a WWE Universe looking to find new stars on the horizon.

Name: Randy Orton

Promotion: WWE

Role: Midcard heel

Analysis: Orton has survived the years as a top player in the industry in part by knowing when to sink into the background. When he emerges to do something meaningful, like feud with his old partner, Edge, it's like seeing an old friend again for the first time in ages. I expect an angle that includes an invested Orton will end up catapulting both men into the top 10 by the time it culminates.

Name: Kenny Omega

Promotion: AEW

Role: Midcard babyface

Analysis: Many, myself included, expected Omega to be AEW's standard-bearer. His matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling with Kazuchika Okada set new in-ring standards for work, and he'd been the hottest free agent in the business for ages. Instead, AEW has centered around Chris Jericho as a heel champion and both Cody Rhodes and Jon Moxley have vaulted past Omega as the lead babyfaces, leaving one of the sport's most compelling presences stranded in the middle of card.

Name: "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt

Promotion: WWE

Role: Universal champion

Analysis: It's hard to know what to make of The Fiend. Is he a babyface? A heel? He's a character that defies being placed in an easily labeled box. Sometimes that kind of nuance is a good thing. But when you're trying to build stories that make people care, some clarity is required.

10. MJF

Photo courtesy of AEW

Name: Maxwell Jacob Friedman

Promotion: AEW

Role: Main event heel

Partner/Faction: Wardlow

2020 Record: 2-0

Highlight: I sat front row in Huntsville to watch him give 10 lashes to his hated rival, Cody. It was an angle fans will still be talking about in 10 years as an example of a time professional wrestling was able to successfully make a cynical fanbase care.

Analysis: Friedman is the most promising young wrestler in the world. He's an old-school heel trapped in the modern age, a weirdly unsettling phenomenon that stands out in an environment that mostly eschews actual bad guys in favor of chanting "both these guys" at two interchangeable performers exchanging holds.

Sure, on the surface, his act is a little on the nose. But last week's lashing of Cody showed that MJF is capable of some subtlety. His face ran the gamut, from arrogant glee, to concern, to a mix of determination and remorse. You actually believe he believes he's right. And a man who believes his vile acts are righteous is truly the scariest player in the game.

9. Drew McIntyre

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Name: Drew McIntyre

Promotion: WWE

Role: Midcard babyface

Team/Faction: None

2020 Record: 5-0-1

Highlight: Winning the 2020 Royal Rumble, a sure sign he's been tapped by the WWE brass as a star. A win of this magnitude removes McIntyre from the annals of wrestlers with "potential" and places him on the list of performers expected to start delivering immediately at a main event level.

Analysis: Minute Maid Park exploded with joy when McIntyre eliminated Brock Lesnar from the Royal Rumble, then breathed a sigh of relief when he eventually dumped Roman Reigns to earn a title shot at WrestleMania 36. That was smart booking on WWE's part. Beating The Beast Incarnate made the Scot look like a really big deal. 

Being paired with the controversial Reigns? That insured he'd be cheered rather than booed as he began his first foray to the tippy-top of the card. 

It's too early to say whether the audience will accept McIntyre as a main event star, but he's off to a good start.

8. Becky Lynch

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Name: Becky Lynch

Promotion: WWE

Role: Raw women's champion

Partner/Faction: None

2020 Record: 2-0

Highlight: Finally getting vengeance on the last woman to best her in the ring, the formidable Asuka.

Analysis: WWE struck gold with Becky Lynch's "The Man" character. It was the kind of organic, grassroots rise to the top that no one in the business seems completely capable of orchestrating. The fans did this and she has done her best to be worthy of their trust.

But the year since she forced her way into the top spot has seen the company struggle to find compelling stories and matchups for its latest superstar. Most recently, former NXT champion Shayna Baszler came for Lynch's neck, biting her and drawing blood. 

What Lynch needs more than anything is a rival worthy of her. Will this be the feud that finally registers and helps her hold on to glory that's starting to feel fleeting? Baszler has the talent to be the Frazier to her Ali.

Unfortunately, first impressions can sink or swim a main event push, and The Queen of Spades may be drowning right out of the gate.

7. Seth Rollins

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Name: Seth Rollins

Promotion: WWE

Role: Main event heel

Team/Faction: Monday Night Messiah + Disciples

2020 Record: 3-2

Highlight: Winning the tag team championship with Buddy Murphy.

Analysis: Rollins was floundering as a babyface, despite the kind of mega-push usually reserved for genre-defining stars like John Cena or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

But that kind of storytelling only works if the audience believes in the hero. That wasn't the case for Rollins, and it left the company with no choice but to ride with the wave and let him unleash his dark side.

The resulting "Monday Night Messiah" character showcases Rollins at his best. He looks refreshed and energized, no longer forced to worry about how to win over fickle fans. Now, when they boo, at least that's what they're supposed to be doing. 

6. Adam Cole

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Name: Adam Cole

Promotion: NXT

Role: NXT champion

Team/Faction: Undisputed Era

2020 Record: 0-2

Highlight: Standing toe-to-toe with the enormous WALTER and living to fight another day at Worlds Collide.

Analysis: Things haven't gotten off to the best start in 2020, in a kayfabe sense, for NXT champion Adam Cole. The Undisputed Era is under fire, with threats to its supremacy lurking all over the locker room. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown—so it has been in pro wrestling and so it shall always be.  

But despite falling short in these multi-man matches, Cole remains champion, one of the most compelling in NXT history. Despite being a theoretical heel, the crowd can't help but chant along with his entrance and pay tribute to a fighting champion, no matter how questionable his antics. 

Cole has taken on all-comers since winning the belt from Johnny Gargano last June. At Sunday's NXT Takeover: Portland, he'll face Tomasso Ciampa in what should be another classic to add to his growing resume of elite performances.

5. Jon Moxley

Photo courtesy of AEW

Name: Jon Moxley

Promotion: AEW

Role: Anti-hero main eventer/ New Japan United States champion

Team/Faction: None

2020 Record: 7-0

Highlight: His extended courtship by and ultimate rejection of Chris Jericho's Inner Circle was pro wrestling at its madcap best.

Analysis: Wrestlers don't get much hotter than the 2020 version of Jon Moxley. In AEW, he's main-eventing the next pay-per-view in a title match with Jericho after months of escalating tensions and violence.

Across the Pacific, he's elevating the United States Championship into something more than an undercard title in New Japan, bringing a unique flavor and style to a Japanese audience used to a more technical brand of wrestling.

Somewhere under the eye patch, Dean Ambrose still lurks. That's the power of the WWE's marketing. But, as time goes by, it's harder and harder to think of him as anyone but Jon Moxley. That's a testament to his own creativity and charisma, a force even more substantial than big wrestling's corporate machine.

4. Rhea Ripley

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Name: Rhea Ripley

Promotion: NXT

Role: NXT champion

Team/Faction: None

2020 Record: 2-0

Highlight: Standing across the ring from Charlotte Flair on Raw and absolutely looking like she belonged.

Analysis: In theory, the NXT champion should be slotted a notch or two below her WWE counterparts. While no longer a developmental company, it is the smallest of the three WWE brands, just trying to find its way on the USA Network. 

But Bleacher Report isn't the Wall Street Journal and drawing power only matters so much in our analysis. What happens inside the squared circle counts for quite a lot. After all, it says wrestling on the marquee. And the truth is, when it comes to wrestling, NXT has the top women's division in the entire sport. It's been that way for a long, long time. 

Ripley has an energy, look and the in-ring ability to become one of the biggest acts in the industry—something she's had the chance to show the wider world with appearances on Raw and an invasion of NXT by WWE stalwart Flair.

When given the opportunity, Ripley has delivered in a major way. I can't wait to see what's next.

3. Brock Lesnar

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Name: Brock Lesnar

Promotion: WWE

Role: WWE champion

Team/Faction: Raw

2020 Record: 0-0

Highlight: Lesnar's performance in the Royal Rumble is among the most memorable in the event's long history. 

Analysis: Lesnar may be the most divisive wrestler in modern wrestling history, but even his most devoted haters couldn't help but give him credit for an epic performance at the 2020 Royal Rumble. For almost a half an hour, he was the singular focus of one of the biggest matches of the entire year. 

One after another, WWE Superstars strutted or sprinted to the ring, only to be summarily dismissed by The Beast Incarnate. It was a brilliant, subtle performance, as Lesnar greeted each man with a unique energy.

Then, just as fans started to grow restless and fear the match would continue this way until all 29 other competitors had been eliminated, it happened. Drew McIntyre, with an assist from Ricochet, sent the champion hurtling over the top rope with a Claymore kick. 

Just like that, a new star was born. Lesnar may not have won the Rumble but he created both a moment and a new WrestleMania rival. Not bad for a night's work.

2. Chris Jericho

Photo courtesy of AEW

Name: Chris Jericho

Promotion: AEW

Role: AEW heavyweight champion

Team/Faction: The Inner Circle

2020 Record: 3-0

Highlight: Slowly sauntering to the ring on a cruise ship as the entire crowd sang aloud to his iconic theme song.

Analysis: Jericho is the top dog in AEW and currently involved in a blood feud with another former WWE superstar Jon Moxley. The two have carried multiple main event segments for the promotion and it's the new group's first really hot title program.

On the mic, no one in the sport is better than Jericho, who has invented more clever catchphrases in a single year with AEW than even the best wrestlers manage in an entire career. He can entertain without totally turning the crowd in his favor, a rare skill in the era of the cool heel.

At 49, Jericho isn't the same wrestler he was at the height of the Monday Night Wars. In many ways, he is—believe it or not—a better, smarter performer, more willing to rein in his work and stick to things he can do well.

His match with Hiroshi Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome on January 5 was a masterclass; a smart, elegant performance between two legends capable of making you forget for a moment that athletics is a young man's game. 

1. Cody

Photo courtesy of AEW

Name: Cody

Promotion: AEW

Role: Babyface ace

Team/Faction: The Elite

2020 Record: 3-0

Highlight: Standing tall in the ring and accepting MJF's stipulations, willing to face both pain and humiliation for the opportunity to get his hands on his rival, Cody made it clear MJF isn't the protagonist—he's just another chapter in the story of Cody.

Analysis: Last year, Cody had an opportunity to win AEW gold. Instead, his protege MJF betrayed him, throwing in the towel and attacking the family jewels. Now Cody wants revenge.

That's a simple story at its core. But it's one being artfully told, both on the microphone and in brutal old-school segments like the 10 lashes MJF delivered last week on Dynamite.

Like his famous father, Cody has become the best babyface promo in the entire business, but he hasn't done it as a slavish copycat. In fact, there's little you can accuse him of lifting from the Rhodes' playback. Instead, he's created his own ethos, built on an authenticity that has really resonated.

Right now, there is no one in the sport capable of pulling heart strings the way he does. The AEW audience loves almost all the performers in the company. It's a crowd that wants to cheer and get into the action. But no one moves them quite like Cody, who, at times, exudes the energy of an old-fashioned cult leader.