The Haters Dozen: The 12 (+1) Biggest Haters of the Year

As 2024 comes to a close, it’s time to reflect on another great year of pro-wrestling. This year brought us some top notch matches, some record breaking numbers and memorable moments we’ll never forget. This list is about literally none of things. Here at Black Girl Wrestling we truly value, above all, the careful craft of hatred. A criminally undervalued art form, being a true hater is all about the ability to get under the skin of your opps, to dedicate yourself to their downfall and to be the source of their suffering every waking moment. These twelve wrestlers (and one honorable mention) were on their worst behavior this year, solidifying them as the best in the game at spreading pure, unadulterated hatred.

Hater of the Year : “Hangman” Adam Page

Hangman page had a truly unhinged year. From January first onwards, he never let his foot off the gas in the race for hater of the year. He lost the plot early on and never regained control of himself in his undying pursuit of destroying Swerve Strickland’s life. Their arc as enemies goes back to 2023, when Swerve, insistent that Hangman had been handed his spot at the top of the card in AEW, took things to the next level by invading Hangman’s home and taunting his family. Since that moment, Hangman has been singularly focused on ruining Swerve’s life. Last year, their bloody texas death match had everything; staple guns, children’s drawings and cinderblocks.

Hangman has become so consumed by his hatred of Swerve ever since, dropping matches due to his lack of focus and making enemies of everyone who stands in between him and the former AEW men’s world champion.

Earlier this year, Page took his loathing to another, unparalleled level. When Strickland signed his new AEW deal in September, he announced that for his first major purchase, he bought his own childhood home. In the midst of a sentimental moment, all viewers who tune in on a weekly basis immediately feared the worst, Swerve had made a mistake, broadcasting a vulnerability to the world, but more crucially, to Hangman. Then, in a show of pure hostility and detestation, Page paid a visit to the house, pulled a recliner chair onto the front lawn, cracked open a beer, and then waited and relished in the sounds and smells of his enemy’s childhood home burning to the ground.

Beyond normalizing arson, Hangman has been taking every opportunity he can, on the mic, backstage, and even in interviews to berate and terrorize his enemy. When asked about his fans by Garrett Martin from paste magazine, hangman said “ …But unless they’re willing to attack Swerve in the parking lot, unless they’re willing to call out what he did, for what is is and not acknowledge him at all as champion, then I do not want their support.” Calling on your fans to jump your enemy is unprecedented levels of hatred, and we commend him for his devotion to the detestation.

Hangman Page wins hater of the year for an undying dedication to destroying Swerve’s life, relishing in committing arson, inciting even more violence and beating down everybody that does so much as look at him wrong. Though the two seem to be separated at the moment, this feud festers in the background, and you truly get the feeling that as long as the cowboy has breath in his body, these two will never know peace. That’s real, unbridled hatred.

02. Drew McIntyre

Drew McIntyre lived in the hate he felt for CM Punk for months. A feud that started with friendship bracelets ended in scenes of blood and gore very rarely seen in modern day WWE. The two got off on a bad foot, back in January in the relatively early days of Punk’s WWE return. McIntyre took offense to the way the Chicago native was welcomed back to the company, and reminisced on the way Punk treated him when they crossed paths a decade ago. Then, Punk eliminated McIntyre from the royal rumble, and things got ugly quickly.

Following Punk’s tricep injury, McIntyre continued to air out his frustrations, proclaiming on Monday Night Raw that he “prayed for this and it happened,” taunting audiences with fake entrances and posting pictures with some of Pepsi Phil’s biggest opps, including Jack Perry. Two weeks for mania, during their promo battles, Drew McIntyre pointed out that the shirt he was wearing had a checklist, the first item on the to do list was “injure CM Punk.” He hated him and he wore it proudly on his chest.

Later, CM Punk went on to cost McIntyre the title at Clash at the Castle, and then once again costing him the championship when he spoiled scottish man’s money in the bank cash in at the Royal Rumble. McIntyre appears on this list instead of his opponent, because he lived the hate, signing autographs with heated messages for Punk fans, and loudly proclaiming that he wants Punk’s “head on a spike.”

The mutual disdain continued for over 10 months, peaking with their heated,messy encounter at Bad Blood, a match actually filled with animosity often missing in modern day WWE. Drew finds himself in second place this year, (and the reason Punk is not on this list) is largely in part due to the friendship bracelet debacle. We love friendship bracelets over here at BGW, and we pass them out at every live show we attend. However,for a feud that had such a gritty, mean-spirited feeling, the over-extended bracelet lore really dampened that sentiment at times. Overall though, we felt that Drew had done more than enough outside of the jewelry debacle.

03. Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley has had a whirlwind of a year in 2024. Just a few months back,he was the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a member of the Blackpool Combat Club, and a sane man. Things change very quickly in the wrestling business however, so the moxley of old is dead and gone. The current AEW world champion ascended to the top of the company once again by betraying former BCC stablemate Bryan Danielson, suffocating him with a plastic bag. Since then, with the deathriders by his side, he’s been terrorizing the rest of the roster with his cryptic riddles and over the top violence and big ass pick up truck. His most recent attempted murder, came against Orange Cassidy just last week, when he poured a chemical substance in OC’s mouth in a title defense at Full Gear. Now, he looks to defend his title likely against hangman, switchblade and christian cage. Eventually, he will inevitably circle back and turn his attention to Darby Allin, who took it upon himself to T-bone the deathrider mobile.

Overall, Mox gets massive style points for the creativity he displays in his atrocities, but he loses points because his hate is directed more towards an ideal rather than an individual wrestler. Ultimately, if he wants to move up this list next year, he should narrow down his list of enemies and focus on building mutual, sustainable hatred.

04. Mariah May

Mariah May played the long game with the women’s world champion Toni Storm. When the glamour first debuted in AEW, she immediately presented herself as the aussie’s biggest fan, and repeatedly confessed her adoration and undying love for Storm. She spent months wearing Storm’s old gear, and appearing as her “understudy.” Eventually though, after winning the Owen Hart foundation tournament, she showed her true colors. May brutally beat the timeless champion with the belt, and gauged her eyes with Storm’s infamous shoe, before smearing her own face in Storm’s blood. Then, she went on to show literally no remorse, and went as far as to slap her own mother in the face at All In London. Mariah May was convincing in her performances, even though we could all see the (heel) turn a mile away, it was still entertaining to see play out. Now, Mariah turns her awful energy to longtime best friend and Club Venus companion Mina Shirakawa, further solidifying she has no plans to slow down her tirade of tyranny.

05. The Elite

Image Rights to AEW (kenny omega GET UP)

In this list, we’ve chosen to consolidate the Elite as a stable, but to be fair, we could have probably given each member of the elite their own spot on this list in 2024. The EVP’s of All Elite Wrestling, Matthew & Nicholas Jackson and Kazuchika Okada alongside Jack Perry had a steady stream of hatred coursing through their veins for a range of different opponents this year.

As a group,they unleashed their wrath on their shared enemy, (the greatest of all time) Kenny Omega, all throughout 2024. When the cleaner returned on a dynamite in May, and came face to face with longtime rival Okada, he was lured into a false sense of security, and then jumped so bad they knocked him off the stretcher. Then, on his birthday, while Omega was still out recovering from his very real life threatening bout with diverticulitis, the elite celebrated him with pouring guts out on a birthday cake on Dynamite.

Additionally, Jack Perry took it upon himself to go the extra mile with his hatred this year, leaning into the boos that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. He made sure he was clear about his less than noble intentions at Windy City Riot in April, bringing out the city of Chicago's flag flanked by swat members & it just escalated from there.

Between his feuds with both Darby Allin and fellow hater of the year nominee Daniel Garcia. In the feud with Allin alone, the man formerly known as Jungle Boy ran his opponent over with a bus, and then had his stablemates hang him by his feet, leaving Allin dangling like a rotisserie chicken.

The elite would be higher on this list, but they lost Blood & Guts because they weren’t willing to let Darby Allin light Jack Perry on fire on national television, demonstrating a morsel of humanity. Real haters would have let it play out.

06. Nigel McGuiness

Nigel McGuiness is the most committed hater on this list, and he makes a compelling case for hater of the century.When he returned at AEW All In London, McGuiness had not wrestled in a professional wrestling match in over 4,000 days. Yet, he appeared in the casino gauntlet match, a match that offered the winner a go at the AEW World Champion, who by the end of the night, would be none other than his arch nemesis Bryan Danielson. McGuiness and the American Dragon have a rivalry spanning over two decades, (they’ve had problems since I was literally 3) that extended to AEW even without the former as an active wrestler. He’s been berating Danielson on commentary since he was signed by All Elite Wrestling. Despite not winning the gauntlet match, McGuiness would eventually get his rematch with Danielson , one that he confessed he knew he wouldn’t win, but wanted to cause Bryan Danielson as much physical pain as possible. This is some steadfast, dedicated hatred that can only come with time.

07. Christian Cage

Christian Cage could occupy every single spot on the haters dozen this year. Every time the patriarch opens his mouth to speak, he finds something unprecedented obscenity to spew at whoever is across the ring from him.All things considered, we would actually estimate that Christian Cage had a relatively tame 2024 compared to his crusade of chaos last year. With that being said, Cage’s “tame” is no other human being’s tame. His hatred comes off so effortlessly, though it's usually rooted in research dating back years. Don’t forget that it was just earlier this year that Cage and Copeland had their “I Quit” match in Canada, before which, he noted that Copeland’s father wasn't present,and his mother had passed.

He told juice robinson to “suck a fentanyl lollipop,” talked to DG about his mom, and in true Christian Cage fashion, told Garcia his father was a deadbeat better off dead. He even began to turn his attention to luchasaurus before the dinosaur’s absence (who we are wishing all the best). Christian Cage is one of one, and we salute him for all that he does in the name of hate.

08. Daniel Garcia

Daniel Garcia’s future in AEW was the subject of discourse and speculation all throughout 2024. Ultimately, the young star chose to remain all elite, and went all in as part of the crusade to save the company from Jon Moxley & the death riders. DG squared off against MJF, more than holding his own against the scarf wielding balding former world champion. Garcia took plenty of shots at Maxwell, calling out his failed hair transplant removal, and prompting MJF to “find a woman who could pretend to love him for more than a year” and insinuating he would inevitably have an “ugly ass baby.” Then, in their actual match, DG furthered the disrespect by wiping his bloody snot on his opponent in the early stages of their All Out fight.

After his feud with MJF, Daniel Garcia turned his attention to Jack Perry. This feud escalated quickly, and eventually resulted in DG kidnapping the then TNT champion, tying him up,and holding him against his well before splashing water on him and later deserting him at an undisclosed location.

Overall, it’s easy to see that Daniel Garcia has a long, beautiful, stylish future as a hater, and we look forward to seeing him on this list for a long time to come.

09. Swerve Strickland

As AEW men’s world champion for a good part of 2024, Swerve Strickland had opps up and down the roster. He found himself alone after the mogul embassy turned their back on him, and watching his back 24/7. Nonetheless, Swerve more than held his own with some of the best haters in the game, including the likes of Christian Cage and Samoa Joe. Despite being friends he mollywhopped Ospreay when he felt the billy goat stepped out of line & he took his responsibilities in the Blood & Guts match extremely seriously.

He owns a spot on this list particularly due to his men’s world title feud with Bryan Danielson. Strickland egged Danielson on for months, taunted him with talks of the latter no longer being up to par. When the American dragon announced that he no longer intended to be a full time wrestler to spend more time with his family, Strickland started directing his attention towards them, saying “I got you birdie to Danielson’ daughter” implying her father would be home for good soon. He went on to vow that anywhere and everywhere Danielson might decide to attempt to wrestle again, no matter the location, promotion or audience size, he would show up and beat him down.

Swerve is only down here on this list, because in his biggest blood feud with his sworn mortal enemy, he got out hated. Hangman Page had the upper hand this year, and demonstrated an innate ability to dig deeper and tap into even worse parts of himself. We are sure the story between these two is nowhere near finished, so we hope to see both men on this list again soon. We’re sure they’ll think of something.

10. Kyle Fletcher

Kyle Fletcher had a super solid year of hating in 2024. He hit Will Ospreay with a screwdriver at wrestle dream and never looked back. Fletcher felt he was tired of being compared to Ospreay, heralded as the next aerial assassin instead of the next big thing. The protostar insisted that he was nothing like his former United Open stablemate, going as far as to shave his head in a public display of disdain for the comparisons.

His hatred and vitriol towards Ospreay has also driven a wedge between himself & his freshly returned Aussie Open tag partner, Mark Davis.

Fletcher was a late hating bloomer, only turning on Ospreay in October, so consequently, he lost ground to others who started their hating journey earlier in the year. Nonetheless, a perfectly respectable hater in 2024.

11. Stokely Hathaway & Kris Statlander

The fiery,short- lived partnership between Stoke and Stat burned bright and quick. At first, it seemed like Willow, Statlander and Baldielocks had come to not just tolerate one another, but thrive together. Eventually, Kris made the decision to abandon her longtime friend, and partner with Stokely Hathaway (bald). The two worked in tandem, if but briefly to disparage Willow’s character and attempt to convince people that she lived in a fantasy world. All the while Stoke (no hair) proclaimed that Stat had just returned from back to back ACL injuries & that most of these “bitches in the locker room [actually in reference to the men’s one]” would call off if they had a nose bleed. He (follicle deficient) went on to say that Willow's “ugly ass family” would be disappointed with her in short order & taunting her on social media. It’s unfortunate that Statlander seemed to get her wits about her rather quickly, ditching the vertically challenged man and seemingly magically cured of the vitriol she had been displaying. But still, it was fun while it lasted & maybe one day the stars will align & we will revisit this partners in hating dynamic.

12. Mercedes Moné

Soon after debuting at AEW Big Business back in March, when she made it clear she was the CEO of professional wrestling, and the company itself. Though she came in doing all the right things, even shaking hands with pro-wrestling’s darling Riho, it quickly became clear that she had less than pure intentions when she crossed paths with Willow Nightingale, America's princess. Mercedes blamed Willow for her ankle injury, unleashing her wrath on Nightingale and plotting the demise of the dentist. She then, momentarily, seemingly found herself aligned with the Elite, losing all goodwill she might have had with the audience. We would be remiss if we did not mention, her time with Kamille was unnecessary, and certainly hurt her standing on this list. However, now that the two seem to have gone their separate ways, we have more faith in her in 2025 to worsen herself. Mercedes had an up and down year as a hater,and not everything landed, but her heart was always in the right place. And how could we keep her off a list like this, she’s Mercedes Moné.

+1 Deonna Purazzo

Deonna Purazzo and Thunder Rosa had a stealthy extended rivalry that mostly lived on All Elite Wrestling’s Saturday night collision, and Friday night Rampage. It went on for weeks, and included both a no DQ match and a Texas bull rope fight. It all stemmed when Thunder Rosa attempted to save Purazzo from an attack by then AEW women’s world champion Toni Storm and her understudy Mariah May. Purazzo was none too pleased with the assist, and their issues escalated quickly from there.

Purazzo even went as far as to put a hit out on her opponent. This feud went pretty under wraps in the greater wrestling landscape, but Purazzo clearly has the hater gene, and if she refines her verbal jabs a bit and she could be higher than an honorable mention on next year’s list.

Real haters are creatives, visionaries and historians. Those who have it in them, will dig deep, think big and get personal. In a world full of people who take high quality hatred for granted, we commend these performers for going below and beyond. It is truly inspirational to see the lengths to which people will go to see the downfall of their enemies. We, over here at Black Girl Wrestling, want to publicly pledge our commitment to being much, much worse in 2025. Get in the booth bitch.