2020 in professional wrestling


2020 in professional wrestling describes the year's events in the world of professional wrestling.
The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the professional wrestling industry worldwide in 2020. Many promotions cancelled or postponed booked events, with some being rescheduled for 2021. Other promotions, notably All Elite Wrestling and WWE, instead held events behind closed doors. Other promotions began to follow suit as the year progressed. New Japan Pro-Wrestling was one of the first promotions to reintroduce live fans in the second half of the year with a limited capacity, followed by AEW.

List of notable promotions

These promotions held notable events in 2020.
Promotion NameAbbreviationNotes
All Elite WrestlingAEW
All Japan Pro WrestlingAJPW
Consejo Mundial de Lucha LibreCMLL
CyberFightCFFounded in July by CyberAgent, CyberFight is an umbrella brand that oversees and promotes four individual promotions: DDT Pro-Wrestling, Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah, and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling.
DDT Pro-WrestlingDDTThe "DDT Pro-Wrestling" name has been solely used since 2004, but the DDT abbreviation had previously stood for the promotion's original name Dramatic Dream Team. In 2017, the promotion was purchased by CyberAgent. DDT then became part of a new umbrella brand titled CyberFight in July 2020.
Impact WrestlingImpact
IWRG
Lucha Libre AAA WorldwideAAAThe "AAA" abbreviation has been used since the mid-1990s and had previously stood for the promotion's original name Asistencia Asesoría y Administración.
Major League WrestlingMLW
National Wrestling AllianceNWA
New Japan Pro-WrestlingNJPW
Pro Wrestling NoahNOAHIn January, the promotion was purchased by CyberAgent. NOAH then became part of a new umbrella brand titled CyberFight in July.
Ring of HonorROH
World Wonder Ring StardomStardom-
WWE—WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment, which is still the legal name, but the company ceased using the full name in April 2011, with the WWE abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism.
WWE divided its roster into five storyline divisions – referred to as [WWE WWE brand extension|brand extension|brands] where wrestlers exclusively performed on their respective weekly television programs. Raw, SmackDown, and NXT were their three main brands, while NXT UK and 205 Live were specialty brands that were promoted under the NXT banner.

Calendar of notable shows

May

;Notes

Shows affected by COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many promotions canceled or postponed their events. Others, such as WWE and AEW, began presenting empty arena shows. WWE began this with the March 13 episode of SmackDown, airing the show from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Their following episodes of 205 Live and Monday Night Raw were also broadcast from the Performance Center; WrestleMania 36 and subsequent pay-per-views were also held at this venue until August. NXT broadcasts continued to be held at NXT's home base of Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, but also behind closed doors. AEW began this format with the March 18 episode of Dynamite, as well as that day's tapings for Dark, broadcasting from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, though after a couple of weeks at this venue, they moved to The Nightmare Factory, AEW's de facto training facility in Norcross, Georgia, though shows returned to Daily's Place in May. Since AEW's first broadcast under this format, they used their wrestlers and other employees to serve as the live audience in place of fans for matches in which the wrestlers were not performing. WWE similarly began doing this starting with the May 25 broadcast of Raw, using their Performance Center trainees as the live audience; the promotion further expanded this to friends and family members of wrestlers, beginning with the June 15 episode of Raw. Impact Wrestling began doing shows behind closed doors in April.
AEW then invited 60 selected fans to their Fyter Fest event in July, following COVID-19 protocols, becoming the first to have fans, albeit select ones, to attend a professional wrestling event since the start of the pandemic. Beginning with the August 21 episode of SmackDown, WWE changed venues, with all future broadcasts of Raw, SmackDown, 205 Live, and PPVs being held in a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome. WWE had nearly 1,000 LED boards to allow for rows and rows of fans to attend virtually for free—the ThunderDome was initially hosted at Orlando's Amway Center before moving to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, in December. In October, WWE moved NXT's shows, along with 205 Live, to the WWE Performance Center, which was redone as the Capitol Wrestling Center, NXT's version of the ThunderDome, though with a select few live fans also in attendance—the name was also an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. In following COVID-19 guidelines, AEW became the first promotion to sell tickets for shows, but only to a 10–15% capacity of the Daily's Place venue. Fans were required to wear masks for the entirety of the shows with friends and families placed in their own pods distanced from other fans; the fans were also placed in the upper seating area of the open air venue. This began with the August 27 episode of Dynamite.

Canceled events

The following events were canceled and not rescheduled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scheduled datePromotionEventLocationNotes
March 13ROH18th Anniversary ShowSunrise Manor, Nevada, United States
March 14ROHPast vs. PresentSunrise Manor, Nevada, United States
March 28ImpactLockdownWindsor, Ontario, Canada
March 29PWGKobeLos Angeles, California, United StatesThe event was scheduled to be held in tribute to NBA star Kobe Bryant, who had died in a helicopter crash on January 26.
March 31NJPWSakura GenesisTokyo, Japan
April 3ImpactTNA: There's No Place Like HomeTampa, Florida, United StatesThis would have been a Total Nonstop Action Wrestling reunion show.
April 4ROHSupercard of Honor XIVLakeland, Florida, United States
April 4WWE:TakeOver: Tampa BayTampa, Florida, United StatesMatches scheduled and planned for the event were moved to weekly episodes of NXT beginning April 1.
April 10–11ROHPure ExcellenceColumbus, Ohio, United StatesOriginally meant to host the ROH Pure Tournament for the reactivated ROH Pure Championship
April 19NWACrockett CupAtlanta, Georgia, United States
April 23ROHBattlestarNew York, New York, United States
April 24ROHQuest For GoldPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United StatesSupposed to host a 16-woman tournament to crown the inaugural ROH Women's World Champion
May 3–4NJPWWrestling DontakuFukuoka, Japan
May 6Dragon GateDead or AliveNagoya, Japan
June 19ROHBest in the WorldBaltimore, Maryland, United States

Notable events

Accomplishments and tournaments

Impact

NJPW

AccomplishmentWinnerDate wonNotes
New Japan CupEvilJuly 11Defeated Kazuchika Okada in the tournament final to win.
NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship tournamentChaos
August 9Defeated Chaos in the tournament final to win the titles.
New Japan Cup USAKentaAugust 21Defeated David Finlay in the tournament final to win.
KOPW tournamentToru YanoAugust 29Defeated Kazuchika Okada, El Desperado and Sanada in a four-way match which acted as the finals of an eight-man tournament to become the first provisional champion.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship tournamentSuzuki-gun
September 11Defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón in the tournament final to win the titles.
Lion's Break CrownClark ConnorsOctober 9Defeated Danny Limelight in the tournament final to win.
G1 ClimaxKota IbushiOctober 18Defeated Sanada in the tournament final to win.
World Tag LeagueGuerrillas of Destiny
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa		December 11Defeated Juice Robinson & David Finlay in the tournament final to win.
Best of the Super JuniorsHiromu TakahashiDecember 11Defeated El Desperado in the tournament final to win.
Super J-CupEl PhantasmoDecember 12Defeated A. C. H. in the tournament final to win.

NWA

AccomplishmentWinnerDate wonNotes
NWA World Television Championship tournamentRicky StarksJanuary 24Defeated Trevor Murdoch in the tournament final to win the revived NWA World Television Championship; the title had been inactive since 2000.

Sendai Girls

AccomplishmentWinnerDate wonNotes
Jaja Uma TournamentMei HoshizukiSeptember 22

Title changes

NWA

WWE

Raw and SmackDown

Raw and SmackDown each have a world championship, a secondary championship, a women's championship, and a male tag team championship.

Unbranded

These titles are not brand exclusive. The colors indicate the home brand of the champions.

Awards and honors

WWE

WWE Hall of Fame

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony was postponed and merged with the 2021 event. The Class of 2020 was inducted alongside the Class of 2021 at the 2021 ceremony. Listed here are the Class of 2020 inductees.
CategoryInductee
IndividualJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield
IndividualThe British Bulldog
IndividualJushin "Thunder" Liger
GroupNew World Order
GroupThe Bella Twins
CelebrityWilliam Shatner
Warrior AwardTitus O'Neil
LegacyRay Stevens
LegacyBrickhouse Brown
LegacySteve Williams
LegacyBaron Michele Leone
LegacyGary Hart

Debuts

Retirements

Deaths