Professional Wrestling of the 2020s

Professional Wrestling
2000-2009 | 2010-2019 | 2020-present

Wrestlers and Other Individuals

• Akebono: Passed away on April 11, 2024.
• Nick Aldis: Became a WWE producer in 2023.
• Muhammad Ali: Announced as a posthumous 2024 inductee of the WWE Hall of Fame.
• Mustafa Ali: One of many wrestlers released by WWE after its 2023 merger with the UFC.
• Darby Allin
• Andrade (El Ídolo): Began the decade in WWE; released in 2021. Made an appearance in AAA shortly thereafter, and soon signed with AEW, performing in both promotions as Andrade El Ídolo. Tag-teamed with his father-in-law Ric Flair in the latter's "Last Match" in 2022. Left AEW at the end of 2023 and returned to WWE as Andrade in late January 2024.
• Asuka: Became WWE's second female Grand Slam Champion in May 2020.
• "Stone Cold" Steve Austin: Came out of retirement in 2022 for a one-off match against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38.
• Bad Bunny: Became an occasional wrestler starting in 2021, scored two eliminations in the 2022 men's Royal Rumble, and defeated fellow Puerto Rican Damian Priest in a street fight at Backlash 2023 in Puerto Rico's capital of San Juan.
• Bad Luck Fale
• Britt Baker: Took a Level in Badass after a heel turn in 2020, winning the AEW women's title the next year.
• Finn Bálor: Became a Grand Slam Champion in 2023.
• Sasha Banks/Mercedes Moné: Became the third female Grand Slam Champion in September 2020. Left WWE in 2022 and joined NJPW's sister promotion Stardom in January 2023 as Mercedes Moné, claiming NJPW's women's title a month later.
• Travis Banks: Blackballed from the industry in 2020 after being ousted for his unethical backstage and personal antics.
• Shayna Baszler: Joined the WWE main roster in 2020.
• Bayley: Became the first year-long SmackDown Women's Champion and the most prolific women's champion in WWE history in 2020^*excepting the morally controversial and politically inflated ten thousand plus day reign of The Fabulous Moolah.
• Bianca Belair: Joined the main WWE roster in 2020, became won the Royal Rumble and became WWE Smackdown Women's Champion in 2021, joining Sasha Banks in the first WrestleMania main event to feature two black women wrestlers. After losing her title to Becky Lynch, she would reclaim it at WrestleMania 2022.
• Shelton Benjamin: Another 2023 post-merger release by WWE.
• Mike Bennett: Released by WWE in 2020 and returned to ROH once his non-compete expired until the end of 2021. Joined Impact Wrestling in 2022 as part of Honor No More. Won the Impact Tag Team Championship with Matt Taven, before losing to Heath and Rhino. Currently competing for AEW and ROH as part of the Undisputed Kingdom; he and Taven (as The Kingdom) claimed the ROH tag team championship in late December 2023.
• Big E: Finally wins the WWE Championship in September 2021.
• Big Show/Paul Wight: Joined AEW as a commentator in 2021 under his real name of Paul Wight, thereby averting the trope of which he was one of the namers.
• Eric Bischoff: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
• Aleister/Malakai Black: Released by WWE in 2021 and signed with AEW as Malakai Black once his non-compete expired. Formed the House of Black in 2022.
• Black Rose
• Tessa Blanchard: Became the first-ever Impact Wrestling female World Champion, though quickly became Overshadowed by Controversy by her backstage problems becoming public. Left later that year after refusing to film segments leading up to a title match.
• Alexa Bliss: Underwent a Gimmick Retool in 2020.
• Booker T: Participated in the 2023 Royal Rumble, and announced his in-ring retirement soon after. Currently on the NXT commentary team.
• Scarlett Bordeaux: Released by WWE in 2021. Returned to WWE in August 2022.
• Dana Brooke
• Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson: Left WWE when his contract expired in May 2021 and signed with AEW that September, performing under his real name once again. Got inducted in the inaugural Ring of Honor Hall of Fame, Class of 2022.
• Elijah Burke: Began the decade wrestling for NWA.
• Colt Cabana
• Christian (Cage): Came out of retirement in 2021, first making a cameo at WWE's Royal Rumble, then soon after joining AEW as Christian Cage. Later that year, took the Impact World Championship off Kenny Omega, and in 2023 claimed the AEW TNT Championship.
• Sami Callihan
• Don Callis
• Matt Cardona: Started this decade working the indies, with a brief stop in AEW in 2020, and going from there to Impact and the NWA in 2021. Won the NWA world title and the Impact Digital Media title in 2022, and in May of that year also held four championship belts in three indy promotions as well as his self-proclaimed "Internet Championship". By the next month, he dropped said belts (except the Internet one) due to a legit injury.
• Carmella
• Orange Cassidy: Became AEW's breakout star in 2020, and won his first belt with the promotion, the All-Atlantic Championship, in 2022, holding that belt through its 2023 renaming as the International Championship and defending it 31 times in all before dropping it to Jon Moxley at All Out that September. He soon reclaimed the belt, later dropping it at Revolution in 2024.
• Cesaro/Claudio Castagnoli: Left WWE when his contract expired in 2022, showing up in AEW under his real name at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door that June. Won the ROH World Championship the next month.
• Dalton Castle
• Tommaso Ciampa
• Adam Cole: Left WWE once his NXT contract expired in 2021, moving to AEW that September. Added the ROH World Tag Team Championship to his résumé alongside MJF at All In 2023, also making him an ROH Triple Crown winner. Turned heel at Worlds End later in 2023, revealing himself as the "Devil" who had been tormenting MJF for months.
• Michael Cole
• Carlito Colón
• Baron Corbin
• Jim Cornette: Mostly retired (he last appeared on a wrestling show in 2019), but hosts the two most listened to wrestling podcasts on the internet, consisting mainly of reviews of current wrestling shows and talk about the territory days.
• Nikki Cross: Adopted the divisive "Nikki A.S.H." persona in 2021, and became WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Rhea Ripley under that name.
• Danhausen: Joined AEW in 2022.
• Christopher Daniels
• Solo Darling
• Tenille Dashwood: Became Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion for the first time with Madison Rayne in 2022. Returned to WWE in October of the same year.
• Delirious
• Sonya Deville: Betrayed her ally Mandy Rose in 2020. Left TV to deal with a personal legal issue, and returned as an on-screen official.
• Dick the Bruiser: Posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
• EC3: Released from ROH when it went on hiatus at the end of 2021; later announced the establishment of the new (and short-lived) CYN promotion in 2022 alongside Adam Scherr (the former Braun Strowman). Joined the National Wrestling Alliance in late 2022, and started another new promotion, Exodus Pro, in August 2023. Later that month, he won the Worlds Heavyweight Championship at the NWA 75th Anniversary Show against Tyrus, and that October announced that Exodus Pro would become the first member of the NWA's revived territory system.
• Edge/Adam Copeland: Came out of retirement in 2020 at the Royal Rumble, and won the 2021 Royal Rumble match, becoming the first wrestler to do so after entering the WWE Hall of Fame. After his WWE contract expired in 2023, moved to AEW, using his real name. Won the AEW TNT Championship at Worlds End in 2023, only to lose it minutes later to Christian Cage. He took the belt off Cage in March 2024.
• Eddie Edwards: Turned heel at Impact Wrestling's No Surrender 2022, revealing himself as the leader of Honor No More.
• Nelson Erazo/Homicide
• Eva Marie: Briefly returned to the WWE in 2021.
• Lacey Evans
• EVIL: Betrayed Los Ingobernables de Japón in 2020 to join Bullet Club, winning the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental belts soon after.
• Fandango/Dirty Dango: Released by WWE in June 2021 and then changed his ring name to Dirty Dango. Worked the indies until his WWE noncompete expired, moving first to the NWA and then Impact/TNA.
• Fénix
• Bobby Fish: Released by WWE in August 2021, joining AEW that October.
• Charlotte Flair: Became the first female Royal Rumble winner of the decade, and later the fourth female Grand Slam Champion on December 2020. Outside the ring, married Andrade El Ídolo in 2022.
• Ric Flair: Ended a decade-long retirement to work his "final" match at the Starrcast fan convention in Nashville on July 31, 2022. Made a non-wrestling appearance in AEW in October 2023, and signed a non-wrestling deal with the promotion soon after.
• Terry Funk: Passed away on August 23, 2023.
• Chad Gable
• Nick Gage
• Johnny Gargano
• "Superstar" Billy Graham: Passed away on May 17, 2023.
• Corey Graves
• The Great Khali: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
• Vickie Guerrero: Signed with AEW as a manager in 2020, shortly after being released by WWE.
• Sammy Guevara
• Billy Gunn: Has spent the decade so far in AEW. Won the AEW trios title alongside The Acclaimed at All In 2023.
• Jake Hager
• Scott Hall: Passed away on March 14, 2022.
• Jeff Hardy: Released by WWE in December 2021 and joined AEW in March 2022.
• Matt Hardy: Defected to AEW in March 2020.
• Paul Walter Hauser: Made his wrestling debut in late 2023, working occasional indy dates.
• Mark Henry: Signed with AEW as an analyst and coach^*the AEW term for what WWE calls a "producer" in May 2021.
• Paul Heyman: Headliner of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024.
• Molly Holly: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
• Hook: Debuted in 2021.
• Kota Ibushi: The NJPW mainstay won and dropped the IWGP Tag Team belts in 2020, and won the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles later that year. In 2021, he unified the two belts, becoming the first holder of the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. After the NJPW contract ended in late 2023, moved to partner promotion AEW.
• Antonio Inoki: Passed away on October 1, 2022.
• The Iron Sheik: Passed away on June 7, 2023.
• Mickie James: Released by WWE in April 2021 and returned to Impact shortly afterwards. Notably, she entered the 2022 Women's Royal Rumble as the reigning Impact Knockouts Champion.
• Joey Janela
• Jeff Jarrett: Left WWE in 2021 and was all over the place in 2022—appearing in GCW, AAA, and the NWA before a brief return to WWE, during which he also took the pinfall in Ric Flair's "Last Match". By the end of the year, he had joined AEW as its director of business development.
• Nia Jax
• Jazz
• Chris Jericho: Began the decade as the inaugural AEW world champion, dropping the title to Jon Moxley a couple of months in. Established AEW's first power stable, the Inner Circle, later retooling it into the Jericho Appreciation Society. Became ROH World Champion in September 2022.
• Kamala: Passed away on August 9, 2020 (though he had worked his last match in 2010).
• Kane: Incumbent mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Headlined the 2021 induction class of the WWE Hall of Fame.
• Andy Kaufman: Posthumously inducted in the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023.
• Allysin Kay
• Billie Kay: Released by WWE in April 2021. Joined Impact in October the same year.
• Stacy Keibler: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2023.
• KENTA: Currently wrestling in New Japan.
• Low Ki
• R-Truth
• Gail Kim: Returned in September 2023 for a one-off appearance as part of a 10-woman tag team match at Impact 1000, the 1000th episode of Impact!
• Hana Kimura: Passed away on May 23, 2020 via suicide, leaving a big impact in wrestling, not just in Japan but worldwide.
• Holidead
• Eddie Kingston: Started the decade in the NWA, moving to AEW later that year. Started making appearances for AEW partner NJPW in 2021. "Left" AEW in 2023 to return full-time to sister promotion ROH, while continuing to work in NJPW Strong, that promotion's US branch. However, he would later split his time between the three promotions, and at Worlds End in 2023 became the first AEW Continental Champion, adding it to the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship he already held and also becoming the first (and ultimately only) American Triple Crown Champion. The Triple Crown concept was ditched in March 2024 when Kingston dropped the Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada.
• Kofi Kingston
• LA Knight: Rejoined WWE in 2021 as part of NXT.
• Johnny Knoxville: Appeared in the men's Royal Rumble and WrestleMania 38 in 2022.
• Killer/Karrion Kross: Joined WWE in 2020 as part of NXT, becoming NXT champion. Moved to the main roster in July 2021 and released that November after experiencing some of the worst booking of modern times. Returned to WWE in August 2022 after Triple H took over WWE creative.
• L.A. Park: With his son El Hijo de L.A. Park, held the MLW tag team belts for most of 2021. Both were released by MLW in 2022.
• Bobby Lashley: Finally won the WWE Championship in March 2021, making him the second wrestler in history after Rob Van Dam to win the WWE, ECW, and Impact Wrestling World Championships.
• Jerry Lawler: Occasional commentator for WWE in this decade, and worked the odd indy show, most recently against Scott Steiner in 2022. Suffered a stroke in February 2023.
• Tom Lawlor
• John Layfield: Member of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020 (though that year's induction would be delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19).
• Gene LeBell: Passed away on August 9, 2022.
• Candice LeRae
• Brodie Lee: Defected to AEW in March 2020. He suddenly passed away on December 26, 2020, shocking the wrestling community.
• Keith Lee: Became NXT Champion and North American Champion simultaneously in 2020, and left for the main roster soon after. Released in November 2021 and joined AEW once his noncompete expired. Won the AEW tag team belts in 2022 along with Swerve Strickland.
• Kimber Lee: Joined Impact in 2020, leaving by the end of 2021.
• Mandy Leon
• Brock Lesnar: Left WWE in 2020, but came back a year later.
• Jay Lethal: Started the decade in ROH; joined AEW in November 2021 after being released by ROH soon before that promotion's hiatus. Teamed with Jeff Jarrett to oppose Ric Flair and Andrade El Ídolo in Flair's "Last Match" in 2022.
• Jushin Thunder Liger: Had his retirement match on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 5, 2020, with a retirement ceremony the next night during New Year Dash!! Also a member of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020.
• Lita: Came out of retirement in 2022. Teamed with Becky Lynch to claim the WWE women's tag team belts in 2023.
• Angelina Love: Began the decade with ROH until she left during its hiatus in 2022, eventually joining NWA.
• Becky Lynch: Relinquished the Raw Women's Championship in May 2020 and went on hiatus due to her real-life pregnancy. She gave birth to a baby girl in December that same year, and married her longtime partner Seth Rollins in June 2021. Returned to in-ring action in August 2021. Added two titles to her résumé in 2023, first the WWE women's tag team title and then the NXT women's title.
• Maryse
• Michelle McCool: Like in 2018, she made sporadic appearances, competing in the Woman's Royal Rumble match in 2022 and 2023.
• Nigel McGuinness
• Drew McIntyre: Finally reached main event status by winning the first Royal Rumble of the decade and winning the WWE Championship twice in the same year.
• Shane McMahon: Returned to WWE in 2022, making sporadic appearances (most recently at WrestleMania 39).
• Stephanie McMahon: Resigned from her WWE executive position shortly after her father un-retired in 2023.
• Vince McMahon: Retired from WWE under pressure in 2022 amid a sex scandal, but un-retired in January 2023, reportedly to facilitate the sale of the company that took full effect that September. Re-retired, again under pressure, in January 2024 after a separate sex scandal.
• Melina
• Mercedes Martinez: Released by WWE in 2021, had a short stint in Impact Wrestling once her non-compete expired and later joined AEW in the same year. Won the ROH World Women's Championship against Deonna Purrazzo.
• Shawn Michaels: Started the decade as a writer and producer for NXT under his longtime friend Triple H. After Trip had a serious cardiac issue in 2021, Michaels took over NXT creative, and continued in that role even after Trip recovered.
• Father James Mitchell: Returned to the business after a brief hiatus in 2021 with a one-off non-wrestling appearance in AEW. Soon moved to the NWA as manager of Judas. Single-handedly torched the NWA's planned TV deal with The CW by simulating cocaine use in a segment during NWA Samhain in 2023, which earned him a Gooker Award.
• The Miz
• MJF: Won the AEW World Title in 2022, becoming its youngest champion to date. Added the ROH World Tag Team Championship alongside Adam Cole in 2023 after a face turn, but dropped both of the belts just before the end of 2023.
• Ember Moon/Athena: Released by WWE in 2021 and joined AEW once her non-compete expired.
• Liv Morgan: Won the 2022 Women's Money in the Bank and became SmackDown Women's Champion later that same night. The following year, she was able to win the Women's Tag Titles.
• John Morrison: Released by WWE in November 2021; signed with AAA as Johnny Superstar once his noncompete expired in 2022. Later changed his AAA name to Johnny Caballero, and started appearing in GCW under that name and AEW as Johnny TV.
• Jon Moxley: Became an AEW mainstay, holding their world title for most of 2020. Took time off in 2021 for alcohol rehab, coming back to claim the interim AEW title in 2022 during CM Punk's legit injury and successfully reunifying the title later that year. Also in 2022, signed a new deal with AEW that added coaching to his role with the company. He won the AEW World Title twice on the same year, becoming the company's first multiple world champion. Added the AEW International Championship to his résumé in 2023, becoming the first AEW men's performer to have won more than one of the company's singles belts.
• Keiji Mutoh/The Great Muta: Shut down his Wrestle-1 promotion in 2020 and signed with Pro Wrestling Noah. Also made sporadic appearances in NJPW and AEW in the decade. Retired from in-ring competition in February 2023, the same year in which was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame.
• Dominik Mysterio: Sone of the legendary Rey Mysterio. Briefly held the SmackDown tag team belts with his father in 2021. Turned heel and joined The Judgment Day in 2022, and began feuding with his father.
• Rey Mysterio: Headliner of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2023. Briefly held the SmackDown tag team belts alongside real-life son Dominik in 2021, before Dominik turned heel and feuded with his dad.
• Yuji Nagata
• Tetsuya Naito
• Shinsuke Nakamura
• Bull Nakano: Member of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024.
• Natalya
• New Jack: Passed away on May 14, 2021.
• Shaquille O'Neal: Made appearances in AEW in 2020 and 2021.
• Kyle O'Reilly
• Quinn Ojinnaka/Moose
• Kazuchika Okada: Continued his success in NJPW during this decade, claiming the (new) IWGP World Heavyweight Championship twice and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship once, as well as winning G1 Climax twice. Left New Japan when his contract ran out in January 2024; signed with AEW and made his debut there that March, taking the Continental Championship off Eddie Kingston that same month.
• Kenny Omega: Started the decade as AAA Mega Champion. Added the AEW World Championship in 2020, holding that belt for nearly a year before dropping it to Adam Page. During this time, he also became Impact World Champion in 2021. Drew a suspension from AEW in 2022 due to his involvement in the backstage fight that followed CM Punk's AEW title win at All Out and returned a few months later.
• Randy Orton
• Ozzy Osbourne: Inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
• Will Ospreay: Finally reached main event status by winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in 2021. Added the IWGP United States Championship to his résumé the next year, having won it twice to date. In 2023, appeared a couple of times for TNA/Impact before signing with AEW.
• Kevin Owens: Became a Grand Slam Champion in 2023.
• PAC: Became the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion in 2022. Later that year, also won the AEW World Trios Championship along with the Lucha Brothers.
• Adam Page: Became a main-eventer in AEW, taking their world title off Kenny Omega in 2021.
• Paige/Saraya: Came out of retirement to sign with AEW as Saraya in 2022. Won the AEW Women's Championship in her homeland at All In 2023 in London.
• Pat Patterson: Passed away on December 2, 2020.
• Logan Paul: Tag-teamed with The Miz at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, and later that year at Crown Jewel had an impressive performance in an unsuccessful bid to take the WWE Universal Championship off Roman Reigns. Signed full-time with WWE in 2023, and claimed the United States Championship at that year's Crown Jewel.
• Pentagón Jr.
• Beth Phoenix
• Lanny Poffo: Passed away on February 2, 2023.
• Montel Vontavious Porter/MVP: Returned to WWE in 2020, becoming Bobby Lashley's manager.
• CM Punk: Returned to the ring in 2021 in AEW, winning their world championship two different times in 2022. However, his remarks in a post-event media scrum after the second title win at All Out led to a real backstage fight that also involved Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, with Punk soon stripped of the title and suspended, coinciding with a torn triceps tendon that put him on the shelf until June 2023, when he returned to AEW. That August, he was involved in another backstage confrontation, this time with Jack Perry at All In, and was fired soon after. In November 2023, he would make a shocking return to WWE at the end of Survivor Series: WarGames in Chicago. This was his first WWE appearance since 2014. Was inducted in the inaugural Ring of Honor Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
• Madison Rayne: Announced a 10-Minute Retirement in 2021, then returned and became Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion alongside Tenille Dashwood. Joined AEW in 2022.
• William Regal: Started the decade as the on-screen general manager of WWE NXT, also serving behind the scenes as a trainer and recruiter. Left WWE in January 2022 and joined AEW as a manager and coach that March, soon becoming the manager of the Blackpool Combat Club. Returned to WWE in December 2022 in a backstage role.
• Roman Reigns: Rejuvenated his career by a critically-acclaimed Face–Heel Turn in August 2020.
• Cody Rhodes: Left AEW in February 2022, rejoined WWE in April of the same year. Won both the 2023 and 2024 Men's Royal Rumble. Won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania XL, accomplishing his goal of "Finishing the Story" and also becoming (at the time) WWE's newest Triple Crown Champion.
• Dustin Rhodes
• Ricochet
• Matt Riddle: Started the decade in NXT and briefly held that brand's tag team belts before joining the main WWE roster in late 2020. Went on to win the WWE United States Championship once and the Raw Tag Team Championship twice with Randy Orton before leaving the company in 2023. Moved to MLW after his noncompete expired, and later signed with NJPW, winning its World Television Championship in 2024.
• Ruby Riott/Soho: Released by WWE in 2021 and joined AEW as "Ruby Soho" later that year.
• Rhea Ripley: Joined the main WWE roster in 2021. Won the 2023 Women's Royal Rumble and ultimately the SmackDown Women's Championship, becoming the fifth women's Grand Slam Champion and the youngest Grand Slam Champion in WWE history.
• Jake Roberts: Though retired as a wrestler, began the decade in AEW as a manager.
• Dennis Rodman: Appeared in the corner of The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn at All Out 2023, and gave Satnam Singh a guitar shot during the match.
• Seth Rollins: Married Becky Lynch in June 2021, not long after they became first-time parents.
• Bobby Roode
• Mandy Rose: Entered an on-screen relationship with Otis in 2020. Returned to NXT in 2021 and formed the heel Toxic Attraction stable, holding the NXT Women's Championship for over a year.
• Jim Ross
• Mike Rotunda: Announced as a 2024 inductee of the WWE Hall of Fame, alongside Barry Windham, as part of the U.S. Express.
• Ronda Rousey: Came back to WWE in 2022 after a near three-year absence to win the Women's Royal Rumble, and became a Triple Crown Champion in 2023. Left WWE in late 2023 to join the indies.
• Erick Rowan
• Peyton Royce: Released by WWE in April 2021. Joined Impact that October.
• Rusev/Miro and Lana/CJ Perry: Rusev was released by WWE in April 2020, changed his ring persona to Miro, and signed with AEW that September. Lana was released by WWE in June 2021, and appeared at All Out 2023 under her real name.
• Lio Rush
• Joey Ryan: Blackballed from the industry in 2020 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. Eventually re-personed to a degree, as he appeared on Impact's Sacrifice event in 2023, though he's yet to be hired by any significant promotion.
• Zack Sabre Jr.: Became the inaugural NJPW World Television Champion in January 2023.
• Sabu: Wound down his career in the indies and announced his retirement in November 2021.
• Samoa Joe: Was released by WWE in 2021, but returned soon after as an on-screen official on NXT. Released again in January 2022 and signed with AEW once his noncompete expired, claiming both the AEW TNT Championship and ROH World Television Championship by the end of the year, and becoming AEW World Champion just before the end of 2023. Was inducted in the inaugural Ring of Honor Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
• Tony Schiavone
• Veda Scott
• Marty Scurll: Originally assigned as the new head booker of Ring of Honor, he later got said position revoked and then blackballed from the industry (at least in the United States) in 2020 after being ousted for taking advantage of a drunk 16-year-old girl in a bar in his homeland of the United Kingdom five years ago.
• William Shatner: Inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the 2020 class.
• Sheamus
• Hikaru Shida: Won the AEW Women's World Championship in 2020 and held onto it for over a year, making her the longest reigning AEW Title holder at the time. Won that title two more times in 2023.
• Go Shiozaki
• Io Shirai/IYO SKY: Won the NXY Women's Championship in 2020 and held onto it for nearly a year. She joined WWE's main roster in 2022 under her new name, IYO SKY. The next year, she won the Women's Money in the Bank match and eventually cashed in a month later to become WWE Women's Champion. She also became a Grand Slam Champion in Stardom when that promotion retroactively established its Grand Slam methodology in 2022.
• Velvet Sky: Became commentator for NWA Power in 2021.
• Davey Boy Smith: Posthumously entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the 2020 class.
• Al Snow: While mostly retired from in-ring action, he remains active in the business as co-owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling and operator of its associated wrestling school, and also one of the key figures in the Netflix docuseries Wrestlers. Made a one-off in-ring appearance in OVW in 2022.
• Tamina Snuka
• Kris Statlander: Got a gimmick Retool in 2022, no longer being billed as "The Galaxy's Greatest Alien". Ended Jade Cargill's run of nearly 17 months with the AEW TBS Championship in 2023.
• Scott Steiner: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022 alongside his brother Rick, as The Steiner Brothers. Also works the occasional indy show.
• Aron Stevens: Began the decade in the NWA, and retired from in-ring action in 2022. Remains in the NWA as a producer.
• Kia Stevens: Started the decade in AEW, but soon went on hiatus to film the streaming TV series GLOW. Released in June 2021 and announced her in-ring retirement that August. Entered the Impact Hall of Fame that October, inducted by her long-time rival Gail Kim. However, she returned for a one-off appearance in September 2023 as part of a 10-woman tag match at Impact 1000.
• Sting: Joined AEW in December 2020. Won the AEW tag team belts alongside Darby Allin in February 2024, and went out as a champion a month later at Revolution, retaining the tag team belts against The Young Bucks in his announced last match. (They vacated the titles immediately after.)
• Toni Storm: Left WWE in late 2021 and joined AEW in March 2022 once her noncompete expired. Has since claimed the AEW Women's Championship three times, the most recent coming shortly after adopting a Norma Desmond-expy "Timeless" gimmick in 2023.
• "Exotic" Adrian Street: Passed away on July 24, 2023.
• Swerve Strickland: Released by WWE in 2021 and joined AEW in 2022, taking its world title off Samoa Joe in 2024.
• Braun Strowman/Adam Scherr: Released by WWE in 2021 and moved to the indies under his real name once his noncompete expired. In February 2022, teamed with EC3 to establish the new CYN promotion, which didn't last long. Returned to WWE in September 2022.
• Roderick Strong: Was a founding member of the Diamond Mine stable in 2021. Took the AEW International Championship off Orange Cassidy in 2024.
• AJ Styles: Became the first WWE Grand Slam Champion of the decade in April 2021, making him the second wrestler in history to achieve this feat in both WWE and TNA/Impact after Kurt Angle.
• Minoru Suzuki
• Matt Sydal: Joined AEW in 2020.
• Shingo Takagi
• Hiromu Takahashi
• Hiroshi Tanahashi: Retroactively recognized as one of the first two NJPW Grand Slam Champions in 2021. Became NJPW's president in December 2023.
• Matt Taven: Released by ROH in 2021 after 13 consecutive years with the promotion. Joined Impact Wrestling in 2022 as part of Honor No More. Won the Impact Tag Team Championship with Mike Bennett before losing to Heath and Rhino. Currently competing for AEW.
• Chuck Taylor
• Taz: Began the decade as an AEW commentator, also becoming manager of the Team Taz stable in 2020 before it broke up in 2022. Also introduced ECW's former FTW Championship to AEW in 2020.
• Taryn Terrell: Came out in retirement in 2021 as part of NWA's roster.
• Triple H: Officially announced his in-ring retirement in March 2022, though he had worked his last match in 2019. Took over WWE creative later in 2022 after his father-in-law Vince McMahon's retirement. Though Vince un-retired in 2023, Trip remains in charge of creative.
• Tyrus: Started the decade in the indies and joined the NWA in 2021, winning its world title in late 2022 and dropping the belt with a retirement stipulation in 2023. (Given the history of wrestling "retirements"...) Has been working on the side as a political commentator for Fox News throughout the decade.
• Mike Tyson: Made appearances in AEW in 2020 and 2021.
• The Undertaker: Officially retired on November 22, 2020, exactly thirty years after his debut. Headlined the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame induction class.
• Daffney Unger: Passed away on September 1, 2021.
• Vader: Posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022.
• Rob Van Dam: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. Joined AEW in 2023.
• Zelina Vega: First released from her WWE contract in 2020, she returned one year later and wins the inaugural Queen's Crown tournament.
• Ivelisse Vélez
• The Velveteen Dream: Had a promising career effectively ended by credible and disturbing allegations in 2020.
• Virgil: Passed away on February 28, 2024
• WALTER/GUNTHER: Finally moved from NXT UK to WWE's US-based brands in 2022, taking the new name GUNTHER in the process. Won the Intercontinental Championship in June 2022 after defeating Ricochet, and surpassed The Honky Tonk Man for the longest reign with that belt in September 2023.
• Wardlow
• Katarina Waters
• Jay White: The other wrestler retroactively recognized in 2021 as an NJPW Grand Slam Champion. He later turned on the Guerrillas of Destiny in Impact Wrestling No Surrender 2022, expelling them from Bullet Club so The Good Brothers are reincorporated to the group. Wound up his NJPW run by losing "Loser Leaves Japan" and "Loser Leaves NJPW" matches in February 2023, and signed with AEW that April.
• "Dr. Death" Steve Williams: Posthumously entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the 2020 class.
• Barry Windham: Announced as a 2024 inductee of the WWE Hall of Fame, alongside Mike Rotunda, as part of the U.S. Express.
• Xavier Woods: Became WWE King of the Ring in 2021, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
• Bray Wyatt/The Fiend: Released by WWE in July 2021. Returned to WWE in October 2022 following weeks of online cryptic vignettes. Disappeared from TV in February 2023 due to health issues, and passed away that August 24.
• Toru Yano
• Eric Young: Returned to Impact in 2020 and formed Violent By Design, getting his second World Championship and two more World Tag Team Championships in the process.
• Su Yung
• Sami Zayn
• Dolph Ziggler/Nic Nemeth: Formed the Dirty Dawgs with Robert Roode, becoming Smackdown Tag Team Champions in 2021. He would become NXT Champion in 2022 before losing the title to Bron Breakker 27 days later. Another of WWE's 2023 post-merger releases. Joined NJPW in 2024 as Nic Nemeth, a variant of his real name, and won the IWGP Global Championship in his in-ring debut for the promotion.

Tag Teams and Stables

• 3.0 / 2.0: Started the decade in WWE developmental, working in both NXT and 205 Live, first as 3.0 and then Ever-Rise. Released in June 2021 and signed by AEW as 2.0 once their noncompete expired. Joined the Jericho Appreciation Society in 2022.
• The Acclaimed: Held the AEW World Tag Team Championship from September 2022 to February 2023, and along with Billy Gunn won the AEW World Trios Championship in August 2023.
• Azteca Underground: Formed from the remains of Promociones Dorado in 2021.
• Bella Twins: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the 2020 class.
• Blackpool Combat Club: Formed in 2022.
• The Briscoe Brothers: Returned to Impact Wrestling after ending their tenure with Ring of Honor for two decades. They got inducted in the inaugural Ring of Honor Hall of Fame, Class of 2022. They later returned to ROH at Death Before Dishonor 2022. The tag team met an untimely end with Jay's death in a car crash in January 2023.
• British Strong Style
• Bullet Club
• The Bushwhackers: Butch passed away on April 2, 2023. Luke continues to wrestle to this day.
• CHAOS: Added AEW's Best Friends stable in November 2021 as part of the NJPW–AEW relationship.
• Contra Unit
• Damage CTRL: Formed in 2022. Initially a trio consisting of Bayley, IYO SKY and Dakota Kai, Kairi Sane and Asuka would join the following year.
• The Dark Order: Had Brodie Lee revealed as their leader in 2020; turned face as a result of Lee's death.
• Enzo and Cass
• Evil Uno and Stu Grayson
• The Four Horsemen: Ole Anderson passed away on February 26, 2024.
• Golden Lovers: Reunited in 2023.
• Guerrillas of Destiny
• House of Black: Teased in 2021; formed in 2022. Won the AEW trios belts in 2023, dropping them to The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn later that year.
• The Hurt Business
• Inner Circle: Disbanded in 2022 in favor of the newly formed Jericho Appreciation Society.
• Jericho Appreciation Society: Formed in 2022, broke up in 2023.
• The Judgment Day: Formed in 2022. Initially led by Edge, recruiting Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley before being supplanted by Finn Balor. Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh later join.
• Los Ingobernables de Japon: Lost EVIL to Bullet Club in 2020 and SANADA to Just 5 Guys in 2022; added Titan in 2022 and Yota Tsuji in 2023.
• Lucha Brothers: Held the AEW tag title for a few months in 2021 and 2022, and along with PAC became the AEW trios champions in 2022.
• Motor City Machine Guns
• The New Day
• New World Order: Headlined the 2020 induction class of the WWE Hall of Fame (ceremony in 2021), with Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Sean Waltman specifically named.
• The Pinnacle: Formed in AEW in March 2021. Lost Wardlow (face turn) and manager Tully Blanchard (fired) in March 2022; the stable soon was reduced to MJF and Shawn Spears when FTR turned face, and fizzled out from there.
• The Revival/FTR: Defected to AEW during mid-2020 and renamed themselves "FTR"; later joined The Pinnacle. Later on, they turned face.
• Promociones Dorado: Disbanded in 2021 after being folded into Azteca Underground. Returned in 2023 after Salina de la Renta's return to MLW.
• reDRagon: Reformed under their original name after reuniting in AEW in 2021.
• The Riott Squad: Reformed as a duo in 2020; disbanded in 2021 after Ruby Riott's release from WWE.
• The Rock 'n' Roll Express: Still working indy dates at the start of the decade. Announced the start of their farewell tour in January 2022.
• Santana and Ortiz
• Suzuki-gun: Split up in 2022, with four of its members forming Just 4 Guys (which became Just 5 Guys when SANADA joined soon after).
• Taguchi Japan
• The Undisputed Era: Split up in 2021, only to reunite in AEW in the same year as a branch of The Elite. Later evolved into the Undisputed Kingdom.
• The United Empire: Formed in NJPW in late 2020.
• The Usos: Split up in August 2023 after thirteen years, becoming the longest WWE Tag Team in its history.
• Von Erich Family: Kevin's sons Marshall and Ross became MLW mainstays, holding the tag team belts for more than a year until dropping them to L.A. Park and his son in January 2021.
• The Young Bucks: Continued to soldier on in AEW, winning the tag belts in both 2021 and 2022. Also became the inaugural AEW World Trios Champions in 2022 at All Out, but were soon stripped of the title and suspended for a couple of months due to their involvement in the fight that followed CM Punk's post-event remarks. Reclaimed the trios championship shortly after their return.

Promotions

• AAA (1992–)
• All Elite Wrestling (2019–)
  • Launched and/or shuttered multiple programs:
    • 2020: Launched the AEW Unrestricted webcast, featuring interviews with AEW talent.
    • 2021: Launched the AEW Dark Elevation webcast and AEW Rampage on TNT.
    • 2022: In January, AEW Dynamite moved from TNT to TBS, and the quarterly Battle of the Belts special began airing on TNT. This was followed by the March purchase of Ring of Honor by AEW CEO Tony Khan.
    • 2023: March saw the launch of AEW All Access, a reality TV program featuring behind-the-scenes footage, on TNT. The show would move to the Max streaming service in early June. A month after All Access launched, the Dark and Elevation webcasts were canceled. Then in late June, AEW Collision began airing on TNT.
  • AEW also created five championships in this decade. The TNT Championship came first in 2020, followed by the TBS Championship in 2021 and the All-Atlantic and World Trios Championships in 2022. The FTW Championship, originally created by Taz in ECW, was revived in 2020 when Taz joined AEW; it's billed as an "unsanctioned" title but is nonetheless defended at AEW shows. The All-Atlantic Championship was renamed the International Championship in March 2023. The AEW Continental Crown Championship was introduced at the Worlds End show in December 2023; see "Triple Crown Champion" for the company's use of that belt.
• CHIKARA (2002–2020): Ceased operations in July 2020 after widespread allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct by co-founder Mike Quackenbush and several other wrestlers.
• CMLL (1933–)
• CZW (1998–)
• Deadlock Pro Wrestling (2021-): Had first event in December 2021.
• DDT Pro-Wrestling (1997–): Merged into CyberFight in 2020, but maintains its separate identity.
• Game Changer Wrestling (1999–2004, 2013–): Became the top independent wrestling promotion in recent times.
• MLW (2002–2004, 2017–)
• National Wrestling Alliance (1948-): Announced in October 2023 that it would return to its roots by establishing a new territorial system.
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1972–)
  • Started the NJPW Strong streaming series, featuring talent from its American dojo, in 2020. Two championships were also created for the Strong brand, the Strong Openweight Championship in 2021 and the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship in 2022. In January 2023, NJPW announced that the Strong brand would be used for all of its future US shows.
  • Unified the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships into a new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in 2021.
  • Created the new IWGP Women's Championship, awarded for the first time at the Historic X-Over joint event with Stardom in November 2022. While the title is contested mainly by talent from Stardom, it's defended exclusively at events promoted (or co-promoted) by NJPW.
  • Created the new NJPW World Television Championship, awarded for the first time at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023.
  • Replaced the IWGP United States Championship with the new IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, awarded for the first time at Wrestle Kingdom 18 exactly one year later.
• Pro Wrestling NOAH (2000–): Merged into CyberFight in 2020, but maintains its separate identity.
• Ring of Honor (2002–): Announced a hiatus at the end of 2021. Purchased by Tony Khan in March 2022, but is being kept as a separate entity from AEW.
• SHIMMER (2005–)
• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–): Began to set PPV buyrate records not seen in nearly a decade after AEW World Champion Kenny Omega appeared on its programming. Returned to its TNA branding after 7 years under the IMPACT Wrestling banner, effective with the company's first PPV of 2024, Hard to Kill.
• World Wonder Ring ST★RDOM (2011–)
  • The joshi puroresu league went worldwide in 2020 thanks to "No People Gate", no-crowd event transmitted for free via YouTube, and the death of Hana Kimura who was Driven to Suicide for the cyberbullying of her character in TV show Terrace House.
  • In 2022, it retroactively established its own Grand Slam Championship, consisting of all of the promotion's titles except the Future of Stardom Championship.
• WWE (1952–): Sold a majority stake to UFC's parent company in 2023.
  • WWE Raw (1993–)
  • WWE SmackDown (1999–)
  • WWE NXT (2010–): Moves from Wednesday to Tuesday, ending the "Wednesday Night Wars" after mostly failing to put a dent in AEW Dynamite. Later, the brand got retooled as NXT 2.0, giving a multicolored Hotter and Sexier "Sports Entertainment" presentation and returning to developmental format.
    • NXT UK (2018–2022): Went on hiatus in September 2022; the brand will be expanded to include all of Europe as NXT Europe. Its planned relaunch in 2023 was put off until 2024 due to the UFC–WWE merger.

Events

• Backlash. Reinstated in 2020 after a one-year hiatus. Renamed WrestleMania Backlash in 2021-2022 before returning to its original name in 2023.
• Elimination Chamber
• The Great American Bash. Reinstated in 2020 and is held as an annual event for WWE's NXT brand.
• Hell in a Cell – Discontinued as an annual event after the 2022 edition, following Triple H taking over WWE creative.
• Money in the Bank – The 2022 edition was originally announced as the first to be held in a stadium^*a venue designed to host field sports, such as various types of football or baseball instead of an indoor arena^*a venue designed for indoor court or rink sports such as basketball or ice hockey, effectively placing MITB on an equal footing with WWE's biggest events. While poor ticket sales led to that edition being moved to an indoor arena in the same city, WWE still treats it as a flagship event.
• New Year's Revolution. Revived in 2020 for a series of WWE Live shows for Raw and SmackDown titled the New Year's Revolution Tour; this tour was not held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• King of the Ring. Held in 2021 so far. It also introduces the female equivalent, the Queen's Crown tournament.
• Royal Rumble
• SummerSlam
• Survivor Series
• WrestleMania
• WWE Fastlane
• WWE Endeavor Era (2023–)
• WWE New Era (2016–2023)
• Vengeance. Returned as a NXT TakeOver event under the name Vengeance Day in 2021. After the TakeOver series discontinued, it became its annual Valentine's Day event in 2022.
• WWE Women's Evolution: A period that saw the rise of WWE's female talents.

Miscellaneous

• Big Gold Belt: Ric Flair wore the original Crumrine version of the belt — which is owned by his son-in-law Conrad Thompson — to the ring for his "last match" in 2022.
• Grand Slam Champion:
  • WWE has crowned five female winners so far in this decade: Asuka, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, and Becky Lynch. On the men's side, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Finn Bálor joined this club.
  • NJPW retroactively established its own version in 2021, with Jay White and Hiroshi Tanahashi having joined in that year.
  • Stardom retroactively established its own version in 2022, with Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani as the first two members.
• The Iron Claw: Biopic of the Von Erich Family (though with certain liberties taken) released in 2023.
• Triple Crown Champion:
  • In WWE, 12 singles wrestlers and two tag teams have so far joined this club in the decade: the WWE Grand Slam Champions mentioned above, plus Drew McIntyre, Big E, Ronda Rousey, Cody Rhodes, The Street Profits, and The New Day.
  • Four wrestlers have joined NJPW's version in the decade: EVIL and Kota Ibushi, followed by the aforementioned NJPW Grand Slam champions.
  • In ROH, Jonathan Gresham, Samoa Joe, and Adam Cole have joined this club in the decade.
  • At the Worlds End show in December 2023, AEW introduced a different take on this concept. The winner of the Continental Classic tournament, Eddie Kingston, claimed the new AEW Continental Crown Championship, adding it to the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship he held at the start of the tournament. While the plan was for all three belts to be defended concurrently as the American Triple Crown Championship, this concept was ditched in March 2024, when Kingston dropped the Continental Championship to Kazuchika Okada in a match where the other belts weren't on the line.