Best Of 2020: Rookie/Newcomer Of The Year
This is one that always requires a bit of an explanation and that’s perfectly understandable. When I say rookie/newcomer, I mean someone who made their debut on a show rather than someone who has only just started wrestling. You’re only going to see so many actual rookies on major shows so this makes things a little more interesting with some different variables included. Let’s get to it.
As usual, in no particular order until the winner at the end.
Timothy Thatcher
His gimmick is that he’s an old school wrestler and believer it or not, he got it over. This is one of those things that will always have a place on any roster because it is something that you can have on any wrestling show. Thatcher has a good look and does all of the holds well, with the Thatch As Thatch Can being a great way to show how completely ruthless he really could be with all of his students and underlings. He’s a bit older, but he fit in really well and should be around for a long time.
Bianca Belair
Belair debuted on Raw just after Wrestlemania and, after a rather lengthy period of nothing, she became one of the more entertaining women on the roster. The natural athleticism is as easy of a drawing card as there is and she has completely won me over in recent months. Who would have thought she would be much better as a face despite having what should be the most natural heel gimmick around?
Ben Carter
You knew he would make the list because he came from absolutely nowhere and turned into one of the more sought after wrestlers around. Carter was a steal for WWE from AEW, though I can’t imagine AEW knew what they had on their hands when he was on Dark. He went from a guy in bad shorts to a total gem and wound up being one of the more compelling newcomers in wrestling this year. I’m looking forward to seeing where he goes from here in NXT UK and beyond, which isn’t something you see very often out of a total newcomer.
Eddie Kingston
Kingston is an interesting case as he has been around for the better part of ever but has only had a cup of coffee in a big promotion. That makes this year all the more frustrating because he turned into one of the best promos in wrestling for most of the summer, tearing into Jon Moxley every chance he could. Kingston was the highlight of AEW most weeks for me and I have yet to get tired of listening to him talk. He comes off like he believes every word he’s saying and that makes him worth every second.
But come on. Like this could be ANYONE else.
Pat McAfee
I’m sorry but what? Who in the world just drops into wrestling and becomes the absolute best heel in the business the second they start talking? I vaguely knew of McAfee when he showed up and wasn’t expecting anything from another ex-football player but WOW was I wrong. McAfee was incredible and put almost every other seasoned veteran to shame on the mic. He then went on to have two pretty great in-ring performances and made me want to see more. Not bad at all for a non-wrestler and completely amazing for a pure rookie.
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