It almost goes without saying, but this was an incredibly weird year for professional wrestling. Fans were suddenly unable to go to shows due to COVID-19 restrictions, and shows are only just starting to get very limited pockets of fans in attendance, with arenas being mostly barren. Despite this, we would see two of the best champion reigns in modern history. Jon Moxley held the AEW World Championship, and Drew McIntyre the WWE Championship. Now that both their first reigns with the titles are through, which reign was better?
Drew McIntyre Slayed The Beast, The Almighty, A Messiah, The Viper and…Dolph Ziggler?
Coming into 2020, Drew McIntyre was quickly gaining steam and fan support as a top babyface in WWE. He was a favorite coming into the Royal Rumble, and would be the man to win it all by the end of the night, and even was the one to kick Brock Lesnar out of the ring. Going into Wrestlemania, he just got more and more steam, and was set to slay The Beast on the biggest stage of them all. Instead, he’d beat Lesnar in the middle of the WWE Performance Center with no fans to celebrate the coronation.
That would kill most reigns, but McIntyre was the man to carry WWE on his back through the next few months, and he rose to the occasion. He’d get great matches against Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and Dolph Ziggler before settling into a high level feud with Randy Orton. While some have argued this feud bogged down his reign, McIntyre & Orton had three incredible matches over this reign, and filled the time between with equally great promos.
It merely suffered from the fact that this year has been one of the longest for most in years due to lockdown, 2020 actually being eight years stacked on top of each other in a trench coat, but will be remembered as a great feud. It ended with Orton winning the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell, before losing back to McIntyre to start his second reign, which is still ongoing. His first reign cemented him as a main event player for years to come, and hopefully his second can see the return of live fans.
Jon Moxley Proved He Was The Ace Of Professional Wrestling
On the other side of the coin, 2020 was the year Jon Moxley showed that he belongs on top. In 2019 he made sure everyone remembered that he was more than the Lunatic Fringe WWE showed, with a great run in NJPW before settling into AEW. He would quickly become the #1 contender for the AEW World Championship, beat Chris Jericho at AEW Revolution and was set for a huge run. Then lockdown started, and AEW had to think on their feet.
Even without fans cheering him on, Moxley would prove that he belongs as World Champion. He’d take on a who’s who of AEW over his 277 day reign, taking out Jake Hager, Mr. Brodie Lee, Brian Cage, Darby Allin, MJF, Eddie Kingston, Lance Archer and even The Butcher in thrilling title matches. Every match felt like it could go either way, but Moxley would be able to outsmart or simply out wrestle his opponents. He showed grit, determination, and a never say die attitude.
His reign would end when he came face to face with Kenny Omega again, who had rekindled his fire that made him known as The Best Bout Machine. They’d meet in the biggest main event in AEW history, and Omega was forced to cheat with the help of Don Callis to beat him. When the self proclaimed best wrestler in the world needs to cheat to drop you, that’s when you know you’re the ace. He’s not expected to win the belt back in a hurry, but rest assured fans will be treated to another reign from Jon Moxley in due time.
What reign did you prefer? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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