The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has published its reader-voted awards for the period between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019, and our very own Chris Jericho won the big one!
Coming in a whopping 562 points above second-placed Kazuchika Okada saw Jericho win the coveted Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award for Wrestler Of The Year for a third time, having previously won in 2008 and 2009. The only other wrestlers to have won the award three or more times are Kenta Kobashi, Mitsuharu Misawa, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Ric Flair, which puts Jericho in esteemed company.
The full history of the award since inception can be seen below.
1980 – Harley Race; 1981 – Harley Race; 1982 – Ric Flair; 1983 – Ric Flair; 1984 – Ric Flair; 1985 – Ric Flair; 1986 – Ric Flair; 1987 – Riki Choshu; 1988 – Akira Maeda; 1989 – Ric Flair; 1990 – Ric Flair; 1991 – Jumbo Tsuruta; 1992 – Ric Flair; 1993 – Vader; 1994 – Toshiaki Kawada; 1995 – Mitsuharu Misawa; 1996 – Kenta Kobashi; 1997 – Mitsuharu Misawa; 1998 – Steve Austin; 1999 – Mitsuharu Misawa; 2000 – HHH; 2001 – Keiji Muto; 2002 – Kurt Angle; 2003 – Kenta Kobashi; 2004 – Kenta Kobashi; 2005 – Kenta Kobashi; 2006 – Mistico; 2007 – John Cena; 2008 – Chris Jericho; 2009 – Chris Jericho; 2010 – John Cena; 2011 – Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2012 – Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2013 – Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2014 – Shinsuke Nakamura; 2015 – A.J. Styles; 2016 – A.J. Styles; 2017 – Kazuchika Okada; 2018 – Kenny Omega
Jericho would also win Best On Interviews for the fourth time with his previous wins in 2003, 2008, and 2009. In addition, he won the United States/Canada MVP, Best Box Office Draw, and Most Charismatic.
In other notable awards Tag Team of the Year went to Pentagon Jr and Rey Fenix, Promotion of the Year went to New Japan, Best Weekly Show was won by Dynamite, Match Of The Year was Will Ospreay vs. Shingo Takagi from NJPW Best Of The Super Junior XXVI, Most Overrated By King Corbin, Most Underrated by Shorty G, Rookie of the Year by Jungle Boy, and Best Gimmick by The Fiend.
To read the full awards, you can subscribe to the excellent Wrestling Observer Newsletter here.
