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All Elite Wrestling had their first full year of the week to week television with Dynamite as well as four major pay-per-views. Over the past 12 months, the promotion has provided fans with engaging feuds between some of their top stars. AEW has filled 2020 with a bunch of memorable moments and matches with those key rivalries.
The characters featured on AEW Dynamite have interacted with one another to deliver compelling storylines that have captivated their fanbase. From friends developing animosity between one another to competitors feuding over the top championships, this has been quite the eventful year that has produced entertaining feuds in 2020.
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After long-term narratives crafted over the past year, the assortment of rivalries to be considered the best is definitely plentiful. In this article, we will highlight the top five best AEW feuds of 2020.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article belong to the writer and doesn't necessarily represent Sportskeeda's stand.
#5 Chris Jericho vs. Jon Moxley - Eye On The Prize (AEW)
Coming into 2020, Chris Jericho was riding high as the AEW World Champion. With the Inner Circle by his side, "Le Champion" made the perfect top heel for the promotion. However, a determined Jon Moxley made it clear that his next goal in the company was to become the champion.
Jericho decided that he rather have Moxley by his side than against him, so he offered "The Purveyor of Violence" a spot in his stable. "The Demo God" even went as far as to give him the keys to a new car, but Moxley refused and declined spectacularly, cracking a Little Bit of The Bubbly over the AEW World Champion's head.
Over the weeks after this, Inner Circle attacked Moxley, blinding him in one eye by using a spike from Jericho's jacket. Mox gained revenge by blinding Santana with the same keys to the car given to him by Jericho. This all led to a highly anticipated showdown in the main event of AEW Revolution for the title.
At the pay-per-view, Jon Moxley overcame interference from the Inner Circle and removed the patch over his eye to reveal to Jericho that he was healed. He then hit the Paradigm Shift to win the AEW World Championship. This was a pitch-perfect chase and culmination of the story of Moxley's quest to become the champ. The main event of Revolution delivered to give the fans a happy ending to the show as well as the storyline with the two top stars in the promotion.
#4 The Elite vs. The Inner Circle - Stadium Stampede Finale (AEW)
Since the premiere episode of AEW Dynamite and the formation of the group, The Inner Circle has been the top heel stable in the promotion. Beating down the members of The Elite quickly established Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz, and Jake Hager as a force to be reckoned with. This year brought more altercations between the two warring factions.
On the March 25th episode of Dynamite in Newark, New Jersey, AEW announced that there would be a clash between the two groups inside of a two-ring steel cage called "Blood and Guts". However, the COVID-19 pandemic put a snag in those plans. Although the encounter was delayed, the battle between The Inner Circle and The Elite waged on.
The debut of Matt Hardy brought an additional factor to side with The Elite despite their own in-fighting against Jericho's band of rule breakers. On the May 6th episode of Dynamite, Hardy teamed with Kenny Omega to meet Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara in a Street Fight that went all over Jacksonville's Daily's Place. The now-iconic golf cart rundown of Guevara was the highlight, but The Inner Circle pulled out the win.
All this set the stage for a dramatic conclusion, which took place at AEW Double Or Nothing in the Stadium Stampede Match. An insane stadium-wide spectacle took place with both stables fighting throughout. This bout featured Hangman riding in on a horse, a ring in the center of the football field, a Judas Effect on a Mascot, and a One Winged Angel off the top of the bleachers.
This was a crazy five-on-five cinematic epic that has been critically acclaimed by both fans and analysts. With the months of buildup between the two teams, this was a fitting end to what was AEW's first major faction warfare.
#3 Cody Rhodes vs. MJF - 10 Lashes of a Mentor (AEW)
No feud in wrestling brought more compelling television in the first half of 2020 quite like Cody Rhodes vs. MJF on AEW.
Following MJF's betrayal of his former mentor at Full Gear 2019, Cody had been trying to fight his way to a singles bout against the self-proclaimed Face of AEW. At the start of the year, the quest to this anticipated battle was set up.
MJF set the stipulations with Cody not being able to touch him until their clash at AEW Revolution, having to face Wardlow inside a steel cage, and had to receive 10 lashes with a leather strap. The 10 lashes of Rhodes was one of the better received and emotionally driven segments in Dynamite history. The scars left by the belt was jarring and elevated the perception of the vile Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
The steel cage showdown between Cody and Wardlow has to be considered one of the best main events of 2020 for Dynamite. In Wardlow's AEW in-ring debut, he showed poise and stellar timing for a relative rookie. Cody's comeback and moonsault off the cage finale were some of the most exceptional babyface efforts from anyone in the business.
The blowoff at Revolution was an old school based babyface vs heel contest. The use of the outside figures in Wardlow, Brandi Rhodes, and Arn Anderson added some extra juice to this battle. In the end, it was MJF, using his Dynamite Diamond ring, who gained the win. This was a classic feud that AEW can hang their hat on as a success.
#2 Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston - Best Friends, Bitter Enemies (AEW)
Jon Moxley's AEW World Championship reign may have been the best in all of wrestling. His fearless, fighting champion character made every rivalry that he was involved in different from the other. His amazing promo work and in-ring efforts elevated every challenger that he faced. However, his most impressive feud has to be against Eddie Kingston.
Kingston was a competitor who was not even supposed to be in All Elite Wrestling. Due to his sheer brilliance on the mic and in a stirring performance against Cody for the TNT Championship in the summer, Kingston received a contract with the company. He quickly moved into a feud against his former friend, Jon Moxley, for the AEW World Championship.
Despite losing in his first attempt at the gold, Eddie Kingston would talk his way into another opportunity after disputing that he never quit due to Moxley winning via referee stoppage. This led to AEW announce that their rematch at Full Gear 2020 would be an I Quit Match.
The superb promos between both men made this an exciting contest that every fan was looking forward to. Kingston's excellence in his words and conviction led many to believe that it was his time to become the AEW World Champion. The title bout at Full Gear was a brutal, hard-hitting affair that paid off on all the bitterness expressed by both men.
The gruesome ending with Moxley using barbwire wire around his arm to put on the Bulldog Choke on his opponent, which made Kingston shed tears in his quiet "I Quit" was a thing of beauty. Moxley won the contest and retained the AEW World Championship, but Kingston elevated himself and the importance of the title in the buildup as well as this main event clash.
#1 Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page - An Elite Saga (AEW)
Storylines in professional wrestling tend to unfold at a rapid pace and lack subtlety. However, the narrative behind the split in the Elite was a multi-layered feud that has slowly been crafted into a long-term saga. From torn friendships to inner turmoil, this has been one of the most fascinating stories ever crafted in AEW and possibly by a wrestling promotion in history.
Hangman Page came into 2020, feeling dissociated from his friends due to his many failures. On the other hand, Kenny Omega started the year trying to live up to his lofty expectations from his legendary run in NJPW after failing to beat Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho the year prior. The two men united in an effort to turn their fortunes around and quickly gained AEW World Tag Team Titles in the process.
Their classics against The Young Bucks and Lucha Brothers helped to elevate the gold to a status on par with the AEW World Championship. However, through their many successes, the underlining difference in philosophies between both men was there for everyone to see. While Omega was a loyal member of The Elite, Hangman Page had developed into a beer-drinking, millennial cowboy who wanted to stand on his own.
In his efforts to prove himself as his own man, Page was manipulated by FTR in their mind games to further the rift in The Elite and get closer to the AEW World Tag Team Titles. This manipulation paid off with Page being ousted from the group, and Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler defeating Hangman Page and Kenny Omega to become the new champions.
Although Hangman wanted to go back after the gold, Omega wanted to leave the tag team division in his rearview and go after the singles glory that was long foretold for him. Both men would then enter the World Title Eliminator tournament, which led to an inevitable battle between the former partners at Full Gear 2020.
The former AEW World Tag Team Champions put an absolute banger of an opener that was filled with high octane action and tremendous pacing. Omega pulled out the victory with the One Winged Angel to become the No. 1 Contender for the AEW World Championship, which he then won at "Winter Is Coming" weeks later. This storyline and rivalry consisted of stunning moments and classic matches over the course of the past 12 months.
The fact that these two men only met once in singles competition has left the door open for more encounters between the two and left fans wanting more. That is the hallmark of a successful story in wrestling. That is also why Hangman Page vs. Kenny Omega was the best AEW feud of 2020.
