All Elite Wrestling launched in 2019 but had its first full year as a major wrestling promotion, including broadcasting a weekly television show to the masses, in 2020. The year saw a number of veterans from WWE and elsewhere in the wrestling world revitalize themselves and reach a wider audience via the AEW platform. There were less known stars who emerged as a big deal from the company as well.

Related: 5 Ways WWE Were Better Than AEW in 2020 (& 5 Ways AEW Were Better)

While Jon Moxley reigned as AEW World Champion for most of the year, there were plenty of other stars in the mix. From champions to talents who put on great matches or enjoyed landmark years from a creative perspective, these are the wrestlers who defined AEW this year.

10 Veteran: Sting

Sting AEW

It was only in the late stages of 2020 that Sting debuted f0r AEW. Given his relatively advanced age (sixty-one) and the injuries that ended his brief in-ring career in WWE, it seems unlikely he’ll ever wrestle a proper match for the company. Nonetheless, The Icon accomplished the unlikely in becoming arguably the most buzzworthy act in wrestling one more time, twenty-plus years after his heyday.

Related: Why Sting Joining AEW Is Good (& Why It's A Mistake)

Sting made an impact by showing up unannounced on AEW Dynamite to come to the aid of Darby Allin, and Cody and Dustin Rhodes. AEW already has a proven track record in using legends like Jake Roberts, Arn Anderson, and Tazz in compelling ways as managers and mouthpieces. There’s every reason to think that Sting can have one more very good run in him in this environment, in a non-traditional role.

9 Young Star: Orange Cassidy

Orange Cassidy gives a thumbs up

After a lengthy career working for Chikara and other small promotions, Orange Cassidy was among those talents who got a huge boost when he signed with AEW. 2020 proved to be a breakout year for him as he advanced from a respected hand and cult favorite to one of the most popular acts in the wrestling world.

Cassidy’s signature laidback style can be polarizing but only underscores his marked talent when gets fired up. While it’s still too soon to tell if he’ll ever be a legitimate main eventer, his work in 2020—not least of all hanging with, and even picking up wins over Chris Jericho—was promising.

8 Veteran: Brodie Lee

Brodie Lee AEW

In the role of Luke Harper, the wrestler now known as Brodie Lee presented a conundrum. He was a big man with a lot of talent, and yet WWE never pulled the trigger on him as more than a mid-card act, tag team wrestler, or Bray Wyatt’s sidekick. AEW flipped the script, casting Lee as the head of The Dark Order faction.

As The Exalted One, Lee has gotten to show off another side of his personality with keen promo abilities. Moreover, he has been able to exercise his considerable in ring ability more liberally in AEW with longer, better featured matches against a fresh slate of opponents, including an instant classic, brutal dog collar match with Cody Rhodes.

7 Young Star: Darby Allin

Darby Allin

Darby Allin is nothing if not unique, between his face paint, his passion for skateboarding, and his unconventional offense in his ring. Allin’s tenure in AEW has been a terrific example of a symbiotic relationship in wrestling. AEW is a company that is cutting edge enough to let Allin be Allin without an effort to make him fit any mold. Meanwhile, Allin’s unique personality as a performer has been an asset in distinguishing the AEW product.

Allin won the TNT Championship this fall in a major career milestone that seems to point to big things for his future in AEW, and possibly beyond.

6 Veteran: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho AEW

At the launch of AEW, Chris Jericho was arguably the company’s most credible star. He was a decorated main event level star from WWE who could still go in the ring and cut great promos. In WWE, Jericho had done about all he could, and though he kept finding ways to be relevant, he also repeatedly felt on the cusp of losing fans’ interest.

Between his work in Japan and AEW, Jericho has had a remarkably successful post-WWE run.  He became AEW's first world champion in 2019 and carried the title into 2020. Jericho beat the odds in not only staying relevant after he passed the championship torch, but arguably becoming even more relevant for major feuds opposite young talents like Orange Cassidy and MJF that stole the show.

5 Young Star: Jungle Boy

Jungle Boy

It would be easy to dismiss Jungle Boy. He’s the son of actor Luke Perry and has spent his time in the spotlight allied with an eccentric faction known as Jurassic Express. He’s small by wrestling standards and doesn’t exactly look like a tough guy.

For all of the reasons hardcore wrestling fans might balk at Jungle Boy, he works because he has heart and charisma. 2020 demonstrated that he had the potential to be a player on the national level, particularly given that he's among those bright talents who haven't yet celebrated their twenty-fifth birthday. With storylines including his pursuit of the TNT Championship and facing off with MJF, Jungle Boy could be a major star before long.

4 Veteran: Eddie Kingston

Eddie Kingston AEW

Mainstream wrestling fans may not have recognized Eddie Kingston when he debuted for AEW. After all, he has never been signed to WWE and started wrestling post-WCW. With those qualifiers, Kingston has had an objectively noteworthy career, including stints with Impact Wrestling, ROH, and a wide variety of smaller promotions over the last two decades.

So it was that Kingston offered an interesting combination of factors as a new star for AEW. He was a highly-skilled veteran with a buy-in from the hardcore fan base. Still, he was a fresh face for a lot of more casual fans and enjoyed a breakout year challenging for the TNT Championship against Cody Rhodes, and the World Championship held by Jon Moxley.

3 Young Star: MJF

MJF

MJF has had a great deal of buzz about him in recent years and was established as an upper-level new talent upon the launch of AEW. He had his successes in 2019 but really got rolling in 2020.

In his arrogant heel persona, MJF posed one of the biggest threats to Jon Moxley’s AEW World Championship reign. Moreover, he found a new gear as a frenemy to Chris Jericho in the fall, reaffirming his ability to hang with big names and his emergence as a bonafide star in his own right.

2 Veteran: Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy AEW

In between WWE stints from 2010 until 2017, Matt Hardy totally reinvented himself. After a few false starts, he settled on his polarizing and unique Broken persona that drew huge reactions. Back in WWE, he returned to his more normal self, before slipping into a watered-down “Woken” take on his eccentric gimmick.

Related: Every Version Of Matt Hardy, Ranked From Worst To Best

WWE never seemed quite sure what to do with Hardy outside of a tag team with his brother and by his final stretch of matches in WWE, he was essentially used as an enhancement talent. Hardy found new life when he debuted for AEW, immediately getting involved in a top tier program with Chris Jericho and The Inner Circle. Hardy is past his physical prime but looks to ride out his career in AEW where he has creative license and big match opportunities.

1 Young Star: Wardlow

Wardlow posing in AEW

AEW may be best known as a stage for exceptional in-ring talents to ply their trade, but in early media statements, Cody Rhodes didn’t shy away from the company also wanting to attract the kind of big bodies who made pro wrestling a spectacle. Wardlow fits that profile as a musclebound specimen. He’s not a bad in-ring performer, but only has about five years of wrestling under his belt.

AEW put young Wardlow in a position to succeed as the muscle behind MJF. The two heels have helped each other look good in this partnership. The jury’s still out on how Wardlow might do as a true singles act, but there’s a high ceiling on his potential based on what fans have seen so far.

Next: 5 Reasons AEW Should Get A Second TNT Show (& 5 Reasons To Avoid It)