The 2021 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Male Wrestler

By Nick Valdez

Much like you will find for many other aspects of entertainment, 2021 was a year of trying to bounce back as strong as possible in order to make up for the time lost due to the coronavirus pandemic. This was especially true for the wrestling entertainment industry as many companies had to go from airing entirely crowd-less shows to trying to meet new standard protocols in the middle with their own makeshift crowds until everything started opening up again in 2021. The return of crowds brought back a huge new wave of energy that was felt by every company and every performer. This year saw some competitors at their career peaks. 

A part of those peaks were big shifts. 2021 was the year of the rebrand. The year saw many younger talents make impressive debuts, but the top of the mountain was dominated my many established talents hitting a new stride with their performances and characters. A lot of the biggest names in male talent gave themselves a total reboot inside and out in their work in promos, work in the ring, and just the way they presented themselves on television. That made the competition for the top of the mountain very competitive, so the ultimate winner is definitely worthy of acknowledgement. 

And the winner of the 2021 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Male Wrestler is...

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...Roman Reigns! 

Roman Reigns has been on such an impressive upwards trajectory since returning during SummerSlam 2020. After claiming the victory and becoming the Universal Champion, 2021 has seen Roman Reigns grow more and more comfortable within his tribal chief role. His long running story with Jey Uso (and eventually Jimmy Uso) was the backbone of the Friday Night SmackDown main events for the better part of the year, and with good reason. The Bloodline became one of the most compelling acts in the WWE, and Reigns evolved into an even more impressive champion. 

2021 was utterly dominated by Roman Reigns. Bobby Lashley and Big E were doing some great things on Monday Night Raw, Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson were putting on technical powerhouse matches every single week on All Elite Wrestling, but Roman Reigns is the male wrestling face of 2021. Utterly dominant in pretty much every facet of WWE Entertainment, you would be hard pressed to find another male wrestler who had a bigger year of growth. Growth that's set to continue in a whole new way through the next year as well, and that's just so exciting. 

Congrats to Roman Reigns on his Golden Issue Awards win!

The nominees for Best Male Wrestler are:

  • Roman Reigns – WINNER
  • Bryan Danielson
  • Big E
  • Bobby Lashley
  • Kenny Omega
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