2021 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, with many promotions presenting shows behind closed doors. Some events were canceled while others were rescheduled to occur in 2021. All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling reintroduced a limited number of live fans in the second half of 2020, while WWE had live fans at WrestleMania 37 in April 2021. The majority of promotions continued to present empty arena shows or shows with limited capacity, while AEW and WWE resumed live touring with full capacity crowds in July.
List of notable promotions These promotions held notable events throughout 2021.
Promotion NameAbbreviationNotesActive Advance Pro Wrestling 2AWAll Elite Wrestling AEWAll Japan Pro Wrestling AJPWBig Japan Pro Wrestling BJWCyberFight CFCyberFight 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).Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre CMLLDDT Pro-Wrestling DDTDragon Gate —Game Changer Wrestling GCWGleat —Gleat promoted shows under the G Prowrestling and Lidet UWF sub-brands. FMW-E Formerly known as Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and Chō Sentō Puroresu FMW (FMW), in June 2021, the company became FMW-E and began to focus on promoting exploding death matches.Impact Wrestling ImpactLucha 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 MLWMichinoku Pro Wrestling M-ProNational Wrestling Alliance NWANew Japan Pro-Wrestling NJPWPro Wrestling Zero1 Zero1Ring 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 EventNotes1 WWE: New Year's SmackDownSt. Petersburg, Florida Kevin Owens defeated Jey Uso Aired as a special episode of SmackDown.4 WWE: Legends Night Drew McIntyre (c) defeated Keith Lee to retain the WWE Championship Aired as a special episode of Raw. Final appearances of Big Show and Mark Henry in WWE.NJPWWrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo DomeTokyo, Japan Night 1: Kota Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito (c) to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental ChampionshipDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event had a limited attendance capacity of 20,000 for both nights; the Tokyo Dome has a total maximum capacity of 57,000. 5 Night 2: Kota Ibushi (c) defeated Jay White to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship6 New Year Dash!! Los Ingobernables de Japón (Sanada, Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, and Bushi) defeated Golden Ace (Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi), Roppongi 3K (Rocky Romero and Sho), and Master WatoMLWKings of ColosseumOrlando, Florida Alexander Hammerstone (c) vs. Mads Krügger for the MLW National Openweight Championship ended in a double countout WWE: New Year's Evil Orlando, Florida Finn Bálor (c) defeated Kyle O'Reilly to retain the NXT Championship Aired as a special episode of NXT."New Year's Evil" was previously a title of a special episode of WCW Monday Nitro that aired on December 27, 1999.AEWNew Year's SmashJacksonville, Florida Night 1: Kenny Omega (c) defeated Rey Fénix to retain the AEW World ChampionshipAired as a two-part special of Dynamite.Night 1 was originally scheduled to air on December 30, 2020, with Night 2 on January 6, but the two-week event was delayed as AEW held a tribute show for Mr. Brodie Lee following his passing on December 26. Night 1 aired live while Night 2 was pre-recorded on January 7 and aired on January 13. 7 Night 2 (aired January 13): Darby Allin (c) defeated Brian Cage to retain the AEW TNT Championship. 9Impact GenesisNashville, Tennessee Willie Mack defeated Moose in an "I quit" match 16 Hard To Kill Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) defeated Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Moose 17 Stardom Stardom 10th Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan Utami Hayashishita (c) defeated Maika to retain the World of Stardom Championship 22 WWE: Superstar Spectacle St. Petersburg, Florida Drew McIntyre and The Indus Sher (Rinku and Saurav) defeated Jinder Mahal and The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh) Aired on tape delay on January 26 as a television special for Indian Republic Day. NJPW Lion's Break Contender Port Hueneme, California, United States Week 1: Ren Narita defeated Bateman Two-week event, promoted as part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America's weekly TV show, NJPW Strong. 29 Week 2: Lio Rush, TJP, and Fred Rosser defeated Bullet Club (El Phantasmo, Hikuleo, and Kenta) ROH The Experience Baltimore, Maryland Jonathan Gresham (c) defeated Joe Keys to retain the ROH Pure Championship Match took place on December 19, 2020, but aired on tape delay on January 29. Aired as a special episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling. 30 NJPW The New Beginning in Nagoya Nagoya, Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Shingo Takagi (c) to win the NEVER Openweight Championship 31 WWE: Royal Rumble St. Petersburg, Florida Edge won the 30-man Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Randy Orton to earn a world championship match at WrestleMania 37 Bianca Belair won the women's Royal Rumble match and chose to challenge for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 37.With Edge's win, he became the first wrestler to win a Royal Rumble match after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame; he chose to challenge for the Universal Championship. Last appearance of Christian in WWE,(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
February DatePromotion(s)EventLocationMain EventNotes 3 AEW Beach Break Jacksonville, Florida Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) defeated Jon Moxley and Death Triangle (Pac and Rey Fénix) Aired as a special episode of Dynamite. 4 AJPW NJPW BJW Giant Baba Anniversary Show Tokyo, Japan Keiji Mutoh, Satoshi Kojima, and Suwama defeated Kaz Hayashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Masayuki Kono 10NJPWThe New Beginning in HiroshimaHiroshima, Japan Night 1: Hiromu Takahashi (c) defeated Sho to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 11 Night 2: Kota Ibushi (c) defeated Sanada to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship CF: Destination: Back to Budokan Tokyo, Japan Keiji Mutoh defeated Go Shiozaki (c) to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship 13 Impact No Surrender Nashville, Tennessee Rich Swann (c) defeated Tommy Dreamer to retain the Impact World Championship GCW Bloodsport 4 Los Angeles, California Jeff Cobb defeated Chris Dickinson Aired on tape delay on February 20 14 CF: Kawasaki Strong Kawasaki, Japan Jun Akiyama defeated Tetsuya Endo (c) to win the KO-D Openweight Championship WWE: TakeOver: Vengeance Day Orlando, Florida Finn Bálor (c) defeated Pete Dunne to retain the NXT Championship First Vengeance event since 2011. 17 MLW Filthy Island Kauai, Hawaii Low Ki defeated King Mo Lawal in a No Holds Barred match 19 NJPW The New Beginning USA Port Hueneme, California El Phantasmo defeated Lio Rush The first part of a two-week event, promoted as part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America's weekly TV show, NJPW Strong. 20 GCW Bloodsport 5 Los Angeles, California Jon Moxley defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr. 21 WWE: Elimination Chamber St. Petersburg, Florida Drew McIntyre (c) defeated AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, and Sheamus in an Elimination Chamber match to retain the WWE Championship, then The Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated McIntyre (c) to win the WWE Championship Final WWE PPV to air on the standalone version of the WWE Network in the United States before its merger under Peacock on March 18. 26NJPW The New Beginning USA Port Hueneme, California Jon Moxley (c) defeated Kenta to retain the IWGP United States Championship The second part of a two-week event, promoted as part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America's weekly TV show, NJPW Strong. 27Castle AttackOsaka, Japan Night 1: Kazuchika Okada defeated Evil 28 Night 2: Kota Ibushi (c) defeated Tetsuya Naito to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship CF: Into The Fight 2021 Tokyo, Japan Shunma Katsumata (c) defeated Mao to retain the DDT Extreme Championship(c) – denotes defending champion(s)
March