2024 was a banner year for some of pro wrestling's brightest and most promising stars, thanks to renewed pushes, first-time opportunities, championship victories, and WrestleMania main events.

It was the breeding ground for stars of the future and greats of today, with phenomenal in-ring performances and stellar character work fueling them to their finest year to date.

Looking back on all that the year in WWE and AEW gifted fans, these are stars who had their finest years in 2024, with plenty of potential to build on it moving forward, listed in no particular order.

Swerve Strickland

Swerve Strickland entered 2024, riding momentum following an emphatic close to 2023 and a star-making performance against "Hangman" Adam Page at Full Gear.

To build on it, he feuded with Samoa Joe, beat him for the AEW World Championship, overcame the manipulative and conniving Christian Cage, and headlined the biggest event of the year, All In, against Bryan Danielson.

Along the way he had Match of the Year candidates with Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada, and wrote the latest (final?) chapter in his rivalry with Page in an unforgettable Lights Out Steel Cage Match at All Out.

Strickland signed one of the biggest contracts in AEW history and firmly established himself as one of the company's top stars, wrapping up his career year and setting the bar extremely high for 2025.

Drew McIntyre

It seems rather difficult to argue that Drew McIntyre had his best year in 2024 when, four years earlier, he won the Royal Rumble, captured the WWE Championship on two different occasions, and was the face of Monday Night Raw.

Still, The Scottish Warrior bested even that run in 2024 as the WWE Universe was introduced to a new side of him.

Still bitter over being screwed out of the WWE title two years earlier in Scotland, he lashed out against Jey Uso and Sami Zayn for making that happen. He injured CM Punk and trolled him online for months. Then, when Punk reacted and cost him the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, then again at Clash at the Castle in Scotland, he unleashed furious vengeance on The Best in the World.

Their rivalry was the best of the year, bringing an old-school intensity and what felt like, at times, a genuine dislike, to the product. Its culmination, inside Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood in October, was arguably the best match of the year from any promotion, too.

As the year winds down, McIntyre is poised to remain a main event player in WWE and one of its most engaging performers, thanks to his willingness to be the bad guy both on camera and across social media, where his troll level has hit a solid 11.

Toni Storm

Toni Storm proved "Timeless" was more than just a nickname in 2024.

She immersed herself in her character, a delusional throwback to classic Hollywood while taking on a protege in Mariah May. She conquered the competition as the AEW women's world champion and had some superb matches along the way, including successful title defenses against Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, Mina Shirakawa, Deonna Purrazzo, and Hikaru Shida.

It was in that storyline with May, and the underling's shocking betrayal of Storm, that her year went from strong to extraordinary. The image of a bloodied Storm crying in shock and agony as May attacked her with a shoe, her apparent break after dropping the title to The Glamour at All In, and her return under her previous rockstar persona as if nothing had ever happened, was all character work that captivated fans beyond her ability to thrive as an in-ring worker.

Storm evolved as a storyteller in 2024 and should have plenty of fans excited about where this latest twist is headed.

Damian Priest

Damian Priest cashed in Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 40 to win his first World Heavyweight Championship and never looked back.

In the months after, The Archer of Infamy evolved into a babyface, broke free of Judgment Day, feuded with his old teammates, formed the Terror Twins with Rhea Ripley, and became one of the most popular stars on WWE Raw.

A central figure and legitimate main eventer on the flagship show, he was at the heart of top rivalries, and championship matches, and headlined premium live events. A talented big man who gained confidence while earning management's trust and gaining the fans' support over the last 12 months, he is now set up to be one of the foundational pieces of WWE's creative plans for 2025.

Not bad for a guy who previously thought he was a candidate for his release, as he revealed in his WWE Peacock documentary, which was also released in 2024.

Kyle Fletcher

Kyle Fletcher emerged from the tag team of Aussie Open, stepped out of the shadow of Will Ospreay, and became his own man this year. The result is a performer with the tools and raw ability to be one of the faces of AEW's future and a world champion in waiting.

The reigning ROH TV champion at the start of the year, Fletcher shined early in the year in an AEW World Title Eliminator Match against Strickland and never looked back.

From there, he joined the Don Callis Family, had another stellar match with MJF for the AEW American Championship, stole the show with Okada, betrayed Ospreay, and defeated The Aerial Assassin at Full Gear in his biggest match to date.

If all of that was not enough, he put an exclamation point on his year with consistently great performances in the Continental Classic, continuing to build on the reputation and standard he set for himself over the previous 12 months. A star in the making, he is burning as brightly as ever as 2025 approaches.

Liv Morgan

Liv Morgan may be the best success story in 2024.

Always a performer who had that "it" factor to be a bigger star than she was, she had flirted with the top of the women's division in 2022 before dropping her title back to Ronda Rousey and seeing her singles run flame out.

Fast-forward and you had Morgan returning from injury, caused by Rhea Ripley, and promising to enact the "Liv Morgan Revenge Tour," and did she ever.

The New Jersey native injured Ripley, cost her the women's world title by forfeit, defeated Becky Lynch to win the title, stole Mami's boy toy Dominik Mysterio, beat her at SummerSlam, and reigned over the Raw women's division for the majority of the year.

Along the way, she became one of the brand's cornerstones, a featured star who competed in main events and top-level storylines and enjoyed the most television exposure of her career. She had the greatest year of her career, was more over with crowds than ever before, and thrived under the immense spotlight directed at her by management, proving she is here to stay as a headliner.

Cody Rhodes

Much was made of Cody Rhodes finishing his story in 2024, something he did by winning the Royal Rumble, proving is connection with fans was greater than any late-game plans to introduce The Rock into the WrestleMania 40 main event, and defeating Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship in one of the most emotional moments in modern wrestling history.

That is not where his year ended, though.

Rhodes proceeded to have a Match of the Year candidate against AJ Styles at Backlash, beat him again at Clash at the Castle, successfully retained against Logan Paul and Solo Sikoa along the way, dealt Gunther just his second main roster defeat at Crown Jewel, and successfully retained against Kevin Owens not once, but twice.

All while being the face of WWE in media, marketing, and promotional settings.

He embodied what it meant to be a champion, put in the work between the ropes, and lived the life of a QB1, as he likes to put it, paying off a long journey to the top of the mountain in professional wrestling.

Given how great some of the years he had leading up to it were, it was rather difficult to imagine a scenario where he would eclipse them and live up to the expectations that came along with his defining moment in Philly.

He did just that.