The polls have officially closed for this year's PWI Achievement Awards. As the person tasked with determining the winners, as selected by our devoted readers, one thing really surprised me this year:

In a majority of the categories, there wasn't a clear, runaway favorite.

I don't just mean that the voting was close near the top, although it often was. I mean that this year, we saw far more individual votes for a wider array of wrestlers—with a growing list of nominees netting only a single vote!

In multiple categories, nearly half the votes were cast for options other than the winner and three runners-up. So, you might see a winner with 19% of the votes, but the total field of non-runners-up garnering 40%. While this might be common for other fan-chosen awards, for PWI, it's far from the norm.

Chalk that up to the rise of AEW, as well as the ease with which fans can now sample the products of many other promotions the world over. Whether it's through streaming services like New Japan World, High Spots Network, and IWTV, or social media hubs like YouTube and Twitch, it's now easier than ever to keep up with whatever you'd like to see.

As in other forms of sports and entertainment, the sheer magnitude of wrestling options can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Yes, fans are exposed to more wrestlers and wrestling companies. But, since we're not all watching the same programming every week, it's become a little more challenging to agree on which wrestlers, feuds, and bouts are the best. Thus, the divided electorate in this year's PWI Awards.

But rest assured: While it was a close campaign, we were very careful in tallying up the votes. No recounts will be needed! —Kevin McElvaney