2022 WWE Awards

It’s that time of the year where I talk about the best WWE Superstars of 2022. We have 5 categories with 10 nominees/contenders in each. The categories are: Male Superstar of the Year, Female Superstar of the Year, Breakout Star of the Year, Tag Team/Faction of the Year and Return of the Year. Let’s start with the Male Superstar of the Year.

Male Superstar of the Year Nominees:

Seth “Freakin” Rollins

We start this list with the “Visionary”, Seth “Freakin” Rollins. In my 30 best matches of 2022, Seth Rollins was in 5 of them which is pretty impressive. Seth started the year with a great feud and match with Roman Reigns before he went into a great feud with Cody Rhodes which he eventually lost 3-0. Seth also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match before he went into a blood feud with Matt Riddle that included an amazing match in Cardiff, Wales. In October, Seth Rollins finally won back singles gold after beating Bobby Lashley to become the new United States Champion. Overall, it’s been a brilliant year for Seth “Freakin” Rollins.

Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens has had a crazy year. In my 30 best matches of 2022, KO appeared in 2 of them. He started the year fighting for the WWE Championship before he formed a tag team with his “best friend” Seth Rollins. What we then got was a ridiculous storyline between Kevin Owens and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin which saw KO main event the show with one of the greatest of all time. KO dressing up as Austin a few weeks before was definetly one of the best segments of the year. KO was then being hilarious during his feud with Ezekiel before he returned to the “Prizefighter” character, his old NXT gimmick. He has since played both a face and a heel and he continues to prove why he deserved to main event WrestleMania.

Sheamus

Sheamus has been on a different level these past few years. Sheamus appeared twice in my 30 best matches of 2022. He started the year with his newly formed “Brawling Brutes” faction and he picked up a WrestleMania victory over the New Day. He has also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match and he has had competed in multiple “Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook matches”. He then entered a feud with Gunther and arguably had the match of the year at Clash at the Castle before he stood toe to toe with Roman Reigns and the Bloodline in War Games. Sheamus really does put on “Banger after Banger”.

Sami Zayn

The Honorary Uce has definetly had the best year of his career. Over the course of the year, Sami Zayn appeared in 2 of the 30 best matches of the year. Sami Zayn won the Intercontinental Championship off of Shinsuke Nakamura in February before he lost just 2 weeks later. He then had a brilliant feud with Johnny Knoxville which ended with one of the most entertaining wrestling matches in history. Sami Zayn also competed in the MITB ladder match before he crossed paths with the Bloodline. He has since been involved in the best storyline in wrestling and was the key man in the Bloodline’s victory at Survivor Series: War Games. What a crazy year!

Bron Breakker

For all the criticism this man gets, he has had a hell of a year. Bron competed in 4 of my top 30 matches of the year and has had multiple standout moments. At NXT New Year’s Evil, Bron took the NXT Championship off of Tomasso Ciampa. He then had a long storyline with Dolph Ziggler which resulted in him battling him in the main event of Stand and Deliver before he won the belt on the Raw after Mania. He then went through a good rivalry with Joe Gacy before he unified the NXT and the NXT UK Championships at NXT World’s Collide. He has also retained his championship in a triple threat match with JD McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov (one of the matches of the year). A great year for Bron and I expect him to “officially” be a part of the main roster at some point next year.

Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley has been brilliant this year. Bobby dominated Brock Lesnar in the Fatal 5-Way match for the WWE Championship at Day 1 (his only match in my top 30) before he beat Brock at the Royal Rumble to become the brand new WWE Championship. He also gave Omos his first ever defeat (at WrestleMania) before he beat Theory at Money in the Bank to become the brand new United States Championship. He retained the belt multiple times including at Summerslam and in a Steel Cage match (vs The Miz) before he got into another feud with Brock Lesnar after the Beast cost him his United States Championship. Like with Sheamus, the All Mighty is operating on a whole different level than a few years ago.

Austin Theory

Austin Theory’s year has shown why he is the future of WWE. Austin started the year being Mr. McMahon’s protégé before he went into a brilliant feud with Pat McAfee which included one of the matches of the year at WrestleMania. He also performed one of the greatest sells ever for Stone Cold’s Stunner before he became the Youngest Ever United States Champion just a few weeks later. He proved himself as a brilliant heel after beating Mustafa Ali in Ali’s hometown of Chicago and when he lost the United States Championship at Money in the Bank, he went on to win the ladder match meaning he was now the youngest Mr. MITB in WWE history. He was screwed out of his Money in the Bank cash-in multiple times but he recovered by winning the United States Championship for a second time in a triple threat match against Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley at Survivor Series. As it says in Theory’s theme song, “ the future’s right now”.

Carmelo Hayes

Carmelo Hayes really is the “A Champion”. Carmelo was involved in 20% of the matches in my top 30 matches of the year, the most of anyone. Hayes beat Rodrick Strong at NXT New Year’s Evil to unify the NXT North American and NXT Cruiserweight Championships before he participated in one of the matches of the year at NXT Stand and Deliver (he lost). Melo was then able to recapture his championship at NXT In Your House before he retained against NXT’s best (Grayson Waller, Tony D’Angelo, Giovanni Vinci). He even defeated Ricochet at NXT Worlds Collide in an incredible match. Melo ended up losing his championship in an unsanctioned match before he put in more sensational performances including at NXT Deadline. The sky is the limit for the guy who “don’t miss”.

Gunther

Gunther was involved in 2 of my top 30 matches of the year which seems harsh as this has arguably been “the year of the Ring General”. Walter’s last ever match on NXT UK was a brilliant battle with Nathan Frazer before he came over to NXT and beat the mega babyface LA Knight at NXT Stand and Deliver. After suffering a defeat to Bron Breakker on the first NXT after WrestleMania, Gunther debuted on the main roster and made SmackDown his own. He beat Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship on June the 10th before he won out in a fantastic encounter with Shinsuke Nakamura. He then entered a feud with the Celtic Warrior Sheamus and he managed to beat him at Clash at the Castle in a match that a lot of fans are calling the “Match of the Year”. He has since picked up big wins against Rey Mysterio and Ricochet to take his championship reign to over 6 months. There was a reason why the Ring General was NXT United Kingdom Champion for 870 days, it’s cause he’s bloody awesome.

Roman Reigns

We end the nominees for “Male Superstar of the Year” with the biggest guy in the company, Roman Reigns. In my 30 best matches of 2022, Roman appeared in 4 of them. Reigns started the year off by missing Day 1 due to testing positive for Covid before he came back and told a brilliant story with Seth “Freakin” Rollins. In the main event of WrestleMania 38, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in “the biggest WrestleMania match of all time” to become the brand new, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Roman then became more dominant before he battled Brock Lesnar in a ridiculous last man standing match at Summerslam to retain his Championship. Roman then went into Drew McIntyre’s Island, but by the end of Clash at the Castle, Reigns was still standing tall as Champion. Roman also then came out on top in War Games at Survivor Series. Reigns calls himself the greatest of all time, I certainly can’t argue with that statement.

My 2022 Male Superstar of the Year: Seth “Freakin” Rollins

Female Superstar of the Year Nominees:

Becky Lynch

2022 has been a “big time” year for Becky Lynch. She started the year with matches against Doudrop and Lita before she lost her Raw Women’s Championship to Bianca Belair on the first night of WrestleMania 38. Lynch failed to win back the belt in both a triple threat match at Hell in a Cell (Asuka was the other opponent) and at Summerslam. She then missed nearly four months of action with a separated shoulder before she returned as “the Man” and got the winning pin in War Games. Becky’s a star, it’s as simple as that.

Liv Morgan

2022 will be the year that Liv finally won Championship gold. Liv Morgan kicked off her year by facing off against Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at Day 1. Liv also competed in Saudi Arabia (Elimination Chamber match) before she teamed up with Rhea Ripley to battle for the Women’s Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania. At Hell in a Cell, Morgan teamed up with AJ Styles and Finn Balor to take on the Judgement Day and at Money in the Bank, she did the impossible by winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. It then got even better for her as she cashed in on Ronda Rousey later on in the night to become the SmackDown Women’s Champion. She has since retained the gold in big arena’s such as Nissan Stadium (Tennessee, Summerslam) and the Principality Stadium (Cardiff, Clash at the Castle). She did end up losing her title to Ronda Rousey at Extreme Rules however. Overall, what a big year for Liv. The amount of PLE events that she has been in is amazing really.

Raquel Rodriguez

Raquel has shown this year that she can be a big star on the main roster. She kicked off the year by failing to recapture the NXT Women’s Championship at New Year’s Evil before she teamed up with Cora Jade in the Women’s Dusty Cup (lost in the semi’s). Gonzalez then teamed up with her old buddy Dakota Kai to take on Toxic Attraction at NXT Stand and Deliver and they won meaning they were the first ever 2 time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions. They then lost the belt on the next NXT before Raquel was called up to the main roster. Raquel looked good in battles against Ronda Rousey and she also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match. She then teamed up with Aliyah in the Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament and they won which was a massive shock. They lost the belts just 14 days later but she has since been performed well with her friend Shotzi. Two tag team championship reigns in one year, most people would take that (ignore the amount of days held).

Cora Jade

In 2022, Cora Jade showed why she is one the brightest stars in all of WWE. Cora started the year by battling Mandy Rose and Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women’s Championship at New Year’s Evil and she also competed on WrestleMania weekend in a Fatal 4-Way for the NXT Women’s title. At the Great American Bash, Jade finally won championship gold when she became NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions with her best friend Roxanne Perez. In July, Jade attacked Perez and cost her the NXT Women’s Championship. She then through the tag team championship in the trash before she went into a proper feud with Roxanne Perez. She won out at Heatwave, but came out on the losing end of the match at NXT Halloween Havoc. If Cora continues her development, we really could be in for “the Generation of Jade”.

Rhea Ripley

This is the year where Rhea Ripley showed just how good she is. Rhea made it onto her 3rd consecutive WrestleMania when she teamed up with Liv Morgan in a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. A few weeks later, she turned heel on Liv Morgan and at WrestleMania BackLash, she aligned herself with the Judgement Day. She competed in a six-person tag team match at Hell in a Cell and she won a number 1 contenders match to face Belair (she ended up missing the title match due to injury). Since then, she has attacked lots of male superstars including Edge, Rey Mysterio and AJ Styles and she even hit the con-chair-to onto Beth Phoenix at Extreme Rules. Ripley hasn’t wrestled too often this year but her character work has been superb. Definetly the right one to take the belt off of Belair.

Dakota Kai

Early on in the year, Dakota Kai teamed up with Wendy Choo in the Women’s Dusty Cup and they ended up losing in the finals to Io Sharai and Kay Lee Ray. Dakota Kai then managed to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships with Raquel Gonzalez at NXT Stand and Deliver. She then lost the belt just a few days later before she lost to Mandy Rose in an NXT Women’s Championship match. Kai’s WWE career then looked to be over as on the 29th of April, Dakota was released. However, she then made her shock return at Summerslam to align herself with Bayley and Iyo Sky. Dakota then lost in the final of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament before she was on the winning team at Clash at the Castle. Less than 2 weeks later, Damage CTRL became Women’s Tag Team Champions after beating Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah. They ended up losing the belts to Alexa Bliss and Asuka but they quickly won them back in Saudi Arabia (Crown Jewel). Dakota was also the MVP in the women’s War Games match. King Kota is the master of women’s tag team wrestling.

Roxanne Perez

Roxanne Perez wasn’t even in WWE at the start of this year, she was ROH Women’s World Champion! After she joined NXT, she became the inaugural winner of the NXT Women’s Breakout tournament and at the Great American Bash, she became a tag team champion with her best friend Cora Jade. Roxanne then battled Mandy Rose for the NXT Women’s Championship, but she was screwed over by Cora Jade. Roxanne then made the decision to relinquish the tag titles after Jade made it clear that she didn’t want the belt anymore. Perez then went into a big feud with Cora Jade which resulted in her picking up the big win at NXT Halloween Havoc. She then became the first ever person to compete on SmackDown younger than the show itself. At NXT Deadline, she became the inaugural Iron Survivor and just 3 days later, Roxanne ended Mandy Rose’s reign to become the brand new NXT Women’s Champion. What else can you say about this girl other than the fact that she is only 21!

Bianca Belair

The EST has had another successful year. She won the Elimination Chamber match in Saudi Arabia to earn herself a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship and at WrestleMania, she beat Becky Lynch to become champion. She then retained the belt in a triple threat match at Hell in a Cell (Lynch and Asuka) before she once again beat Becky at Summerslam. Belair ended up coming out on the losing end to Damage CTRL at Clash at the Castle but she made up for it by defeating Bayley at both Extreme Rules and Crown Jewel. Belair then captained her team at Survivor Series: War Games in a matchup that her team came up on top. Even though I’m ready to see Belair lose her title, there’s no getting around just how good Belair’s year has been.

Mandy Rose

What a crazy year for Mandy Rose! She started the year by retaining her NXT Women’s Championship in a triple threat match against Cora Jade and Raquel Gonzalez at NXT New Year’s Evil before she picked up the biggest win of her career by beating Jade, Io Sharai and Kay Lee Ray at Stand and Deliver (Mania weekend). Rose also went on to defend her belt against the likes of Dakota Kai, Wendy Choo and Zoey Stark and when we got to Worlds Collide, Mandy beat both Meiko Satomura and Blair Davenport to unify the NXT and NXT UK Women’s Championships. Rose also retained against Alba Fyre twice before she finally lost her championship to Roxanne Perez, ending her 413 day reign. Even though she has now been released, Mandy Rose still deserves “some respect on her name”.

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey made her return to WWE by winning the Women’s Royal Rumble. She then went to WrestleMania and ended up suffering her first ever singles loss (that match was in my top 30 matches of the year). A month later at WrestleMania BackLash, Rousey finally won the belt after making Charlotte Flair say “I quit”. Ronda retained her championship at Money in the Bank before she lost the belt due to Liv Morgan cashing in her MITB briefcase. Rousey fell short in her rematch at Summerslam but after she earnt herself another opportunity, she beat Liv at Extreme Rules to become a 2x SmackDown Women’s Championship. In terms of accolades, Ronda Rousey has had a pretty good year.

My 2022 Female Superstar of the Year: Bianca Belair

Breakout Star(s) of the Year Nominees:

Roxanne Perez

As I’ve already spoken about Roxanne Perez, all I’ll say is she won the NXT and NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships this year. Also, she won the breakout tournament!

Axiom

The former A-Kid returned to NXT now named Axiom. Overall, Axiom was involved in 4 of my top 30 matches. Axiom took part in a best of 3 series with Nathan Frazer and it was absolutely brilliant (two of the 3 matches got in my top 30). He then had another great match with JD McDonagh before he took part in the Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline. This guy could be around for a long time to come.

Madcap Moss

Madcap Moss kicked off his year by taking on Drew McIntyre at WWE Day 1. He went on to eliminate AJ Styles in the Royal Rumble before he took on McIntyre again at the Elimination Chamber PLE in Saudi Arabia. On WrestleMania SmackDown, Madcap managed to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by eliminating the United States Champion Finn Balor. Madcap and Happy Corbin then entered a feud and Moss was able to pick up the win at WrestleMania BackLash. Moss also went on to beat Corbin at Hell in a Cell before he went 3-0 against his former buddy. Madcap also competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match and he also picked up the win in a Kickoff match at Clash at the Castle. Overall, it’s been a pretty good year for Madcap. He will be looking to get on tv more next year.

The Creed Brothers

What a year the Creed Brothers have had. At NXT Vengeance Day, the Creed Brothers defeated MSK to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic whilst also earning themselves a shot at the NXT Tag Team Titles. They fell short in a triple threat tag team match at NXT Stand and Deliver (vs Imperium and MSK) which made it into my top 30 matches of the year. However, they were finally able to capture the gold at NXT In Your House after defeating Pretty Deadly. Exactly 3 months later, The Creed’s lost their belts to PD due to interference from Damon Kemp. Julius beat Damon in an Ambulance match at Halloween Havoc. Julius and Brutus are more than ready for a spot on the main roster.

Joe Gacy

Joe Gacy has improved massively compared to last year. In my top 30 matches of the year, Joe appeared in two of them. Gacy entered a feud with NXT Champion Bron Breakker but he failed to capture the gold at both Spring Breakin’ and NXT In Your House. The second match was a breakout moment for Gacy, he told a brilliant story. Joe Gacy then went on to debut a new faction known as the Schism (Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid) before he feuded with Cameron Grimes. Ava Raine was then revealed as the fourth member of the Schism and Gacy was able to pick up the big win over Cameron Grimes on NXT. Joe then competed in the NXT Iron Survivor Challenge and even though he came out on the losing side, he once again performed superbly. I fully believe that Joe Gacy can lead the Schism and turn them into the biggest act on NXT in 2023.

Nathan Frazer

Nathan Frazer started the year by putting in a hell of a shift against the Ring General Walter (Walter’s last match in NXT UK) before he battled Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship. He then made his debut in NXT by defeating Grayson Waller at NXT Spring Breakin’ and just a few months later, he fought Carmelo Hayes for the North American Championship. He then went on to beat Axiom 2-1 in a best of 3 series that was so worth watching and he then put in a brilliant performance in the NXT North American Championship Ladder match at Halloween Havoc. Overall, Nathan had 3 matches this year that made my top 30. At the start of the year, I’d never heard of Nathan Frazer. Now, he’s one of my favourite wrestlers on NXT because he’s so, so good.

Pretty Deadly

Pretty Deadly have proven themselves to be one of the best tag teams in the world. On the first NXT after Stand and Deliver, Kit Wilson and Elton Prince revealed themselves as the Creed Brothers attackers and just a week later, they won the NXT Tag Team Championships in a Gauntlet match. They did end up losing their belts to the Creed Brothers at In Your House but then, at NXT Worlds Collide, Pretty Deadly defeated the Creed’s, Gallus and Josh Briggs + Brooks Jensen to unify the NXT and NXT UK Tag Team Championships. Pretty Deadly then entered a fun feud with the New Day that saw them come out on the losing side at NXT Deadline. What a great year, “Yes Boys”!

Cora Jade

Like Roxanne, I’ve already spoken about Jade. The one thing I will say about Cora is she has broken out this year as a top heel; she’s much better in that role than a face.

JD McDonagh

Jordan Devlin battled Ilja Dragunov in a loser leaves NXT UK Match for the NXT UK Championship. Devlin lost and about a month later, videos aired on NXT showcasing that JD McDonagh is coming soon. After the Main Event of NXT Great American Bash, McDonagh debuted by putting NXT Champion Bron Breakker through a table. McDonagh ended up falling short against Breakker at NXT Heatwave before he battled in a triple threat match against rivals Bron and Ilja at NXT Halloween Havoc. That match was definetly a contender for match of the year. JD has since shown just how brilliant his character is and he was also my MVP in the men’s Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline. JD is 100% the most improved superstar of 2022. This guy doesn’t have a bad match and his character is so interesting. The craziest part of all of this is I wasn’t particually pleased to see him debut in NXT!

Solo Sikoa

Over the course of the year, Solo Sikoa has appeared in 2 of my top 30 matches. Solo started the year by feuding with Boa. I still remember their falls count anywhere match, Sikoa got the win after hitting the Flying Solo through a table on the outside. Sikoa also performed excellently in the NXT North American Championship ladder match at Stand and Deliver and at Clash at the Castle, Solo Sikoa made his shocking debut to cost Drew McIntyre the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Just 10 days later, Sikoa appeared on the 1-Year anniversary show of NXT 2.0 and defeated Carmelo Hayes to become the brand new NXT North American Champion. He then went on to become the first man to ever defend the NA Championship on SmackDown before he was forced to relinquish the championship a week later. Solo then made an awesome appearance at Crown Jewel before he showed his worth to the Bloodline in War Games. He has also gone on to destroy Matt Riddle. Overall, Solo has definetly had one of the best main roster debuts in a very long time. He showed this year that he is a superstar that is going to be around for a long time to come.

My 2022 Breakout Star of the Year: Roxanne Perez

2022 Tag Team/Faction of the Year Nominees:

The New Day

The New Day were hurt massively when Big E suffered a broken neck. They have since had to go back to a two man group which saw them up come up short in their attempts to win Tag Team Gold VS The Usos. However, they shocked the WWE Universe by appearing on NXT and 4 days later, at NXT Deadline, the New Day beat Pretty Deadly to become the brand-new NXT Tag Team Champions. Why? Because “New Day Rock”.

The Street Profits

The Street Profits spent most of this year trying to become Tag Team Champions. They fell short against RK-Bro in a battle for the Raw Tag Team Titles at WWE Day 1 and they also failed to capture the gold at WrestleMania in a triple threat which included the Alpha Academy. The Street Profits then failed to capture the Undisputed Tag Team Championships against the Usos at both Money in the Bank and Summerslam but they did pick up a win in Cardiff when they teamed up with Madcap Moss to take Mr. MITB Austin Theory and the Alpha Academy. Overall, even though the Profits haven’t been as successful as usual, both Ford and Dawkins have shown that they can go inside the squared circle.

The Brawling Brutes

The very first match of the year in WWE saw Sheamus and Ridge Holland team up to take on Ricochet and Cesaro. In that match, Ridge Holland broke his nose but despite this, the Brutes still managed to pick up the win. In March, the Brutes began a feud with the New Day and introduced Buch to the fold (formerly Pete Dunne). Unfortunately, Ridge Holland missed timed his suplex and Big E landed on his neck. This meant that at WrestleMania, the match would be changed to a normal tag team match that Sheamus and Holland were able to win. The Brawling Brutes then battled The Usos in the best WWE tag team match of 2022 (in my opinion) before they went on to feud with Imperium. They put in a great performance in a six-man tag at Extreme Rules before they once again battled the Usos, this time at Crown Jewel. The Brutes then ended their great year by battling the Bloodline inside War Games. Not a bad first year for this group.

The Creed Brothers

Like I said earlier on, the Creed’s have been amazing this year and are clearly going to be stars for a long time to come.

Damage CTRL

After the Becky Lynch VS Bianca Belair match at Summerslam, Bayley made her shocking return but the even bigger shock was the fact that she wasn’t alone. Out came Dakota Kai (was released 3 months ago) and Iyo Sky (formerly Io Sharai) and all of a sudden, the group known as Damage Control was formed. In their first major match as a group, Damage CTRL picked up the victory in Cardiff, Wales after pinning the Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. Less than 10 days later, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky captured the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships after beating former rival Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah. When it comes to Bayley, she wasn’t able to capture singles gold but Damage CTRL became two time women’s tag team champions after recapturing the gold from Alexa Bliss and Asuka in Saudi Arabia. All three women also took part in this years War Games match and both Kai and Sky have defended their titles a few times now. If a few more things click for this group, they could become one of the best things in all of professional wrestling.

Alpha Academy

We knew the Alpha Academy were good but we didn’t know just how good they were until 2022. At the start of the year, the Alpha Academy managed to beat RK-Bro to become the brand new Raw Tag Team Champions. They then participated in a great feud with RK-Bro which resulted in multiple different challenges that were really funny. Since then, the Academy have wrestled nearly every week in WWE and they continue to put on solid to good matches. Otis is fantastic whilst Chad Gable has genuinely hilarious. If you don’t agree with me, you can “Shoosh”, a “Thankyou”!

The Judgement Day

“Rise to the Judgement Day”. Edge took on AJ Styles at WrestleMania 38 and he was helped to victory by the arrival of Damian Priest. At WrestleMania BackLash, Edge was able to pick up another victory over the Phenomenal One after interference from Rhea Ripley. The Judgement Day then picked up a big win over AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Liv Morgan at Hell in a Cell but then, on the next night, everything changed. Finn Balor was introduced as the newest member off the Judgement Day and then all of a sudden, Priest wrecked Edge to signal he was no longer apart of this group. The Judgement Day came up short against the Mysterio’s at Summerslam due to Edge’ interference and at Clash at the Castle, they lost against Rey and Edge but earnt a new member as Dominik turned on his father. The Judgement Day then showed just how sadistic they are after Finn managed to beat Edge in an “I Quit” match at Extreme Rules and at Crown Jewel, the Judgement Day picked up another good win, this time against the O.C (Styles, Gallows and Anderson). Rhea competed in War Games and just two days later, the Judgement Day picked up another win over the O.C to end their feud. Everyone in this group works so well, that’s why it works as well as it does.

Toxic Attraction

Toxic Attraction is the Attraction on Tuesday Nights. Mandy Rose started the year defending her NXT Women’s Championship whilst Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne were retaining their NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. At Stand and Deliver, Toxic A lost their tag titles to Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai but just a few days later, they were able to win them back. Dolin and Jayne lost the belts for a second time at the Great American Bash whilst Mandy Rose was still in possession of the NXT Women’s title. Gigi and Jacy then picked up a big win on SmackDown (vs Natalya and Deville) in the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship tournament but unfortunately, Dolin picked up an injury so they had to miss out on their semi final matchup. Unfortunately, Mandy has since lost her title and also been released so for the foreseeable future, it’s just going to be a 2 girl act. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Toxic Attraction has run the NXT Women’s Division for the past 12 months.

Pretty Deadly

Pretty Deadly are a fantastic team with all the charisma and talent in the world. Definetly strong contenders for this award.

The Usos

The Usos have the WWE Tag Team Division on lock. The Usos kicked off WrestleMania by retaining their SmackDown Tag Team titles against Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs before they teamed up with Roman Reigns to take on RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania BackLash (they won). The Usos were then able to defeat RK-Bro to become the brand new, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions. The Usos then went on a run of beating the Street Profits at both the Money in the Bank and Summerslam Premium Live Event before they managed to beat the Brawling Brutes in Saudi Arabia. On the 11th of November, the Usos retained their gold over the New Day meaning they were going to break the record for the most days as tag team champions. The Usos were also apart of the winning team at Survivor Series. There has been a lot of good tag teams this year but if we’re really being honest, none of them were able to reach the levels that the Usos reached in 2022. Are they the greatest tag team of all time? They’re certainly the best team that I’ve ever seen.

My 2022 Tag Team/Faction of the Year: The Usos

2022 Return of the Year Nominees:

Cody Rhodes (WrestleMania 38)

Seth “Freakin” Rollins was told by Mr. McMahon that he had found him an opponent for WrestleMania 38. When that opponent was revealed to be Cody Rhodes, the crowd went into a frenzy. To have the man who built AEW up show up at WrestleMania to take on one of WWE’s biggest superstars was insane. If you include the match which takes place afterwards, this was basically perfect.

Candice LeRae (Monday Night Raw 26/09)

Nikki Cross was ready to compete in a singles match on Monday Night Raw and from out of nowhere, Candice LeRae’s music hit. The Poison Pixie made her official main roster debut and won pretty quickly. Candice returning was a massive surprise as she’d only had her kid 7 months before her return but overall, this was a cool return.

The Good Brothers (Monday Night Raw 10/10)

AJ Styles came out to the Judgement Day and as it looked like AJ was about to join the group, he told Finn that he’s got some friends back and all of a sudden, the Good Brothers music hit. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came out to a big pop before they stood tall with AJ. As a return goes, this was pretty solid. It was done well, it was a surprise and the crowd popped.

Mia Yim (Monday Night Raw 07/11)

Despite having the Good Brothers back, AJ Styles and the OC were still outnumber 4-3 and they kept getting screwed over by the Nightmare Rhea Ripley. However, Rhea was all of a sudden attacked by a girl in a hood and that person revealed themselves to be Mia Yim. This was another good surprise even if the crowd didn’t react to it too much.

Karrion Kross and Scarlett (Friday Night SmackDown 05/12)

Drew McIntyre was on the entrance ramp and as he was coming closer to Roman Reigns, the titantron in the background turn to black. All of a sudden, Scarlett was on the entrance ramp and Karrion Kross attacked Drew McIntyre before Scarlett put an hour glass into the ring, signalling that Roman’s title reign was coming to an end soon. I don’t think WWE could have done this better if they tried. Karrion Kross inserted himself in the biggest storyline in the company. If that doesn’t make him a star, nothing else would. Also, he had hair!

Tegan Nox (Friday Night SmackDown 02/12)

Liv Morgan came down to defend the SmackDown Women’s locker room but she was quickly on the receiving end of a beatdown from Damage CTRL. All of a sudden, Tegan Nox’s music hit and she came down to make the save. She also hit the Shiniest Wizard onto the Bayley. This was a really cool moment, particually given everything that has happened with Nox in the past. Lady Kane came across as a true babyface in this segment.

Dexter Lumis (Monday Night Raw 08/08)

Throughout the night, chaos had been occurring backstage in the arena. In the main event, AJ Styles took on The Miz and after the match, you could see security guards taking away someone in a hood. This person then looked up and you could see that it was none other than Dexter Lumis. This was fantastic, everything that happened earlier on in the night tied in with this plus, it was shot in a way that you couldn’t tell if it was real or not (until you saw it was Lumis). Very, very well done.

Bayley, Dakota Kai and Io Sharai (Summerslam)

After the Raw Women’s Championship match between Bianca Belair and Becky Lynch, Bayley made her return to WWE and she didn’t come alone. Dakota Kai also made her return, 3 months after her release whilst Io Sharai returned for the first time since WrestleMania weekend. I went absolutely mental during this segment, it was awesome.

Johnny Gargano (Monday Night Raw 22/08)

We came back from an ad break and all of a sudden, Rebel Heart started to play. All of a sudden, the word “Gargano” came on the titantron before Johnny Wrestling came out to a massive ovation. He talked about what he has been up too during his 9 months away before he was interrupted by his kayfabe son, Austin Theory. Theory’s reaction to this was excellent and after some references to the Way, Johnny superkicked Austin to another big cheer. If I was to be biased, Johnny is 100% winning this award. His return was a massive shock and the whole segment was awesome. I loved all of it!

Bray Wyatt (Extreme Rules)

After the Main Event of Extreme Rules, the lights went off and the arena starting to sing “He’s got the whole wide world in his hands”. Then all of a sudden, life sized puppets appeared, the same puppets that were seen in the Firefly Fun House before we cut to the abandoned Fun House set. We then went back into the arena and a man walked out of a door with a new mask on. He took the mask off to reveal himself as Bray Wyatt for one of the biggest pops I have ever heard. Everything about this was perfect.

My 2022 Return of the Year: Bray Wyatt

Please put who you would have given the awards to down in the comments