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 (AEW) and WWE, instead held events behind closed doors. Other promotions began to follow suit as the year progressed. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) 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 NameAbbreviationNotesAll Elite Wrestling AEWAll Japan Pro Wrestling AJPWConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre CMLLCyberFight CFFounded in July by CyberAgent, CyberFight is an umbrella brand that oversees and promotes four individual promotions: DDT Pro-Wrestling (DDT), Ganbare☆Pro-Wrestling (GanPro), Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH), and Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW).DDT Pro-Wrestling DDTThe "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 Wrestling Impact IWRGLucha Libre AAA Worldwide AAAThe "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 Wrestling MLWNational Wrestling Alliance NWANew Japan Pro-Wrestling NJPWPro Wrestling Noah NOAHIn January, the promotion was purchased by CyberAgent. NOAH then became part of a new umbrella brand titled CyberFight in July.Ring of Honor ROHWorld Wonder Ring Stardom StardomWWE —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.

Calendar of notable shows January DatePromotion(s)EventLocationMain EventNotes 1 AEW Homecoming Jacksonville, Florida The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) defeated Death Triangle (Pac, Pentagón Jr., and Rey Fénix) in a six-man tag team match Aired as a special episode of Dynamite. CMLLSin Piedad Mexico City, Mexico Dulce Gardenia defeated Kawato-San in a two out of three falls Lucha de Apuestas (hair versus hair) IWRGCinco Luchas en Jaula Naucalpan, State of Mexico, Mexico Demonio Infernal defeated Fuerza Guerrera Nueva Generacion, Pasion Cristal, Ave Rex, Emperador Azteca, El Hijo del Alebrije in a Steel cage match for the "Briefcase of Glory" and the vacant IWRG Intercontinental Middleweight Championship 4CMLLEl Ultimo Vuelo del Rey del GuaguancoMexico City, MexicoÁngel de Oro, Atlantis Jr., Niebla Roja, and Shocker defeated El Felino, Gran Guerrero, Mephisto, and Rey Bucanero in a Best two-out-of-three falls eight-man tag team match The first of two Mr. Niebla tribute shows held by CMLL.NJPWWrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo DomeTokyo, Japan Night 1: Kazuchika Okada (c) defeated Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight ChampionshipFirst Tokyo Dome Show to take place over two nights. The second night (January 5) featured the retirement match for Jushin Thunder Liger. 5 Night 2: Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Champion) defeated Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Heavyweight Champion) in a Double Gold Dash match for both titles 6 NJPW New Year Dash!! Tokyo, Japan Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito and Sanada) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White and Kenta) in a tag team match This event featured the retirement ceremony of Jushin Thunder Liger. 10 Impact Bash at the Brewery 2 San Antonio, Texas, United States Ohio Versus Everything (Dave Crist, Jake Crist, Madman Fulton, and Sami Callihan) defeated Brian Cage, Rich Swann, Tessa Blanchard, and Willie Mack in an Eight-person Tag team Elimination match CMLLNJPWFantastica Mania Japan January 20: Carístico (c) defeated Bárbaro Cavernario to retain the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship 11 MLW Zero Hour North Richland Hills, Texas, United States Mance Warner defeated Jimmy Havoc in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Match 12 Impact Hard To Kill Dallas, Texas, United States Tessa Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan (c) to win the Impact World Championship With her win, Blanchard became the first woman to hold a men's world championship. ROH Honor Reigns Supreme Concord, North Carolina, United States La Facción Ingobernable (Dragon Lee, Kenny King, and Rush) defeated Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, Brody King, and PCO) in a six-man tag team match WWE: TakeOver: Blackpool II Blackpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom Walter (c) defeated Joe Coffey by submission to retain the WWE United Kingdom ChampionshipOn January 17, the WWE United Kingdom Championship was renamed to NXT United Kingdom Championship. 15 AEW Bash at the Beach Coral Gables, Florida, United States Pac defeated Darby Allin in a singles match Aired as a special episode of Dynamite.Bash at the Beach was previously a World Championship Wrestling event that was acquired by WWE, who let the trademark expire in 2005. AEW Executive Vice President Cody then trademarked the name in March 2019. 19 Stardom Stardom 9th Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan Mayu Iwatani (c) defeated Momo Watanabe to retain the World of Stardom Championship 20–24 AEW Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea Part Deux: Second Wave Miami, Florida, United States to Nassau, Bahamas January 21: Jon Moxley defeated Pac to earn an AEW World Championship match at Revolution Matches from the event on January 21 were taped and aired as an episode of Dynamite on January 22. 24 CMLL La Noche de Mr. Niebla Mexico City, MexicoEl Felino, Último Guerrero, and Diamante Azul defeated Carístico, Bárbaro Cavernario and Valiente by disqualification in a Relevos increíbles six-man tag team matchThe second Mr. Niebla tribute show held by CMLL. NWA Hard Times Atlanta, Georgia, United States Ricky Starks defeated Trevor Murdoch in a tournament final match to become the new NWA World Television Champion 25 WWE: Worlds Collide Houston, Texas, United States Imperium (Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel, and Alexander Wolfe) defeated The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong) in an eight-man tag team match 26 WWE: Royal Rumble Houston, Texas, United States Drew McIntyre won the 30-man Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Roman Reigns to earn a world championship match at WrestleMania 36 Charlotte Flair won the women's Royal Rumble match and chose to challenge Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship at WrestleMania 36 (first time an NXT title was chosen by the Rumble winner).Drew McIntyre chose to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 36. 27 WWE: Edge Appreciation Night San Antonio, Texas, United States Erick Rowan defeated Branden Vice in a singles match Aired as a special episode of Raw, celebrating Edge's surprise return at the Royal Rumble the night before.(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

February DatePromotion(s)EventLocationMain EventNotes1 MLW Fightland Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Davey Boy Smith Jr., The Von Erichs (Ross and Marshall Von Erich), and Killer Kross defeated Team Filthy (Tom Lawlor, Dominic Garrini, Erick Stevens, and Kit Osbourne) in an eight-man tag team matchNJPWThe New Beginning in SapporoSapporo, Japan Shingo Takagi defeated Hirooki Goto (c) to win the NEVER Openweight Championship 2 Kazuchika Okada defeated Taichi in a singles match 8 Stardom Stardom The Way To Major League Tokyo, Japan Takumi Iroha defeated Mayu Iwatani9 ROH Free Enterprise Baltimore, Maryland, United States Villain Enterprises (PCO and Marty Scurll) defeated Rush and Nick Aldis in a tag team match NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka Osaka, Japan Tetsuya Naito (c) defeated Kenta to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship 16 WWE: TakeOver: Portland Portland, Oregon, United States Adam Cole (c) defeated Tommaso Ciampa to retain the NXT Championship 22 Impact Sacrifice Louisville, Kentucky, United States Tessa Blanchard (Impact World Champion) defeated Ace Austin (Impact X Division Champion) in a Champion vs. Champion non-title singles match23DDT Into The Fight Tokyo, Japan Masato Tanaka (c) defeated Mao to retain the KO-D Openweight Championship 27 WWE: Super ShowDown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Goldberg defeated "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (c) to win the WWE Universal Championship First time a women's championship (the SmackDown Women's Championship) was defended in the country.With Goldberg's win, he became the first wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.28 WWE: John Cena Appreciation Night Boston, Massachusetts, United States The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defeated The Miz and John Morrison in a tag team match Aired as a special episode of SmackDown.ROH Bound By Honor Nashville, Tennessee, United States PCO (c) defeated Dragon Lee to retain the ROH World Championship 29 Gateway to Honor St. Charles, Missouri, United States Rush defeated PCO (c) and Mark Haskins to win the ROH World Championship AEW Revolution Chicago, Illinois, United States Jon Moxley defeated Chris Jericho (c) to win the AEW World Championship(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

March DatePromotion(s)EventLocationMain EventNotes 8 WWE: Elimination Chamber Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Shayna Baszler defeated Natalya, Liv Morgan, Asuka, Ruby Riott, and Sarah Logan in an Elimination Chamber match to earn a WWE Raw Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 36 13 AAAMLW AAA vs MLW Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico La Familia Real (L.A. Park, El Hijo de L.A. Park, and L.A. Park Jr.) defeated Psycho Clown, Nicho el Millonario, and Niño Hamburguesa in a No Disqualification trios match AAA and MLW's first co-promoted event. 16 WWE: 3:16 Day Orlando, Florida, United States Rey Mysterio defeated Andrade in a singles match Aired as a special episode of Raw, celebrating 3:16 Day for Stone Cold Steve Austin.This show was originally scheduled to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but had to be moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 20DDTJudgement 2020: DDT 23rd AnniversaryTokyo, JapanMasato Tanaka (c) defeated Konosuke Takeshita to retain the KO-D Openweight Championship 23 WWE: Raw 1400 Orlando, Florida, United States Aleister Black defeated Leon Ruff in a singles match Aired as a special episode of Raw, marking the 1400th episode of Raw.This show was originally scheduled to be held in Fort Worth, Texas, but had to be moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 24 Stardom Stardom Cinderella Tournament 2020 Tokyo, Japan Giulia defeated Natsuko Tora in the 2020 Cinderella Tournament finals 25WWE:WrestleMania 36Orlando, Florida, United States Part 1 (aired April 4): The Undertaker defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard matchThis event was originally scheduled to take place in Tampa, Florida, solely on April 5 and to air live, but it was moved to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The date of the event was also moved up and it aired on tape delay on April 4 and 5.This was the first WrestleMania to be done over two nights, the first to be held without a live audience, the first to air on tape delay, and the first to promote the NXT brand, subsequently also being the first in which an NXT championship (the NXT Women's Championship) was defended at the event. The event also featured The Undertaker's final match.26Part 2 (aired April 5): Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar (c) to win the WWE Championship(c) – denotes defending champion(s)

April