Cody Rhodes’ “finish the story” WWE championship win at WrestleMania was the feel-good story of the year.

Rhodes hanging onto the title for the rest of the year makes him an easy choice for 2024 Male Wrestler of the Year.

Bouncing back from a loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, Rhodes won his second straight Royal Rumble to earn another bite at the apple.

Only Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin have won consecutive Royal Rumbles.

Cody came through at WrestleMania 40 and captured the WWE championship from Roman Reigns, winning the title that papa Dusty Rhodes never won.

He followed up with wins over AJ Styles, Solo Sikoa, and Kevin Owens. Rhodes even defeated Gunther to win the Crown Jewel title in Saudi Arabia.

RUNNER-UP: JON MOXLEY

Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, and Bryan Danielson held the AEW World title this year, but nobody had the influence of current champion Jon Moxley.

Taking over the Blackpool Combat Club, Moxley molded the team into his own take-no-prisoners image. He also tried to do the same for AEW as a whole.

Moxley’s Death Riders attacked Private Party and challenged them to get tough. Zay & Quen responded by winning the AEW tag team title.

Daniel Garcia also took a beating, and he went on to win the TNT title. Moxley’s crew of Claudio Castagnoli, Pac & Wheeler Yuta won the Trios championship.

Moxley is going into 2025 with a trail of bodies in his wake and his record-setting fourth AEW World title around his waist.

Well, he actually keeps it in a briefcase. Why? We’ll just have to find out.