WON Awards for 2011

[KrisZ]

"CATEGORY A" AWARDS - WINNERS

 

DETERMINED BY POINTS ON A 5-3-2 BASIS.

 

FIRST PLACE VOTES IN PARENTHESIS

 

LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)

 

1. JOHN CENA (242)1,451

 

2. Takashi Sugiura (106)802

 

3. Masato Yoshino (70)754

 

4. Prince Devitt (58)634

 

5. Chris Jericho (44)551

 

6. Davey Richards (58)473

 

7. Shinsuke Nakamura (35)394

 

8. The Miz (26)383

 

9. Kurt Angle (22)340

 

10. Mistico (10)322

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Daniel Bryan 281, Rey Mysterio 278, Satoshi Kojima 268, Randy Orton 266, Daisuke Sekimoto 240, Naomichi Marufuji 178, Dr. Wagner Jr. 164, Naruki Doi 142, L.A. Park 115, Tyler Black 113, Chris Hero 101, Shawn Michaels 100, Sheamus 96, Hiroshi Tanahashi 95, Yamato 86, BxB Hulk 72

 

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE

 

1. BROCK LESNAR (452)2,951

 

2. Georges St. Pierre (292)2,609

 

3. Cain Velasquez (16)543

 

4. Quinton Jackson 274

 

5. Anderson Silva 242

 

6. Jose Aldo Jr.196

 

7. Alistair Overeem (5)134

 

8. Chael Sonnen119

 

Urijah Faber119

 

10. Frankie Edgar90

 

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER

 

1. DANIEL BRYAN (269)2,037

 

2. Davey Richards (197)1,835

 

3. Prince Devitt (158)1,525

 

4. Naomichi Marufuji (84)758

 

5. Shingo Takagi (10)515

 

6. Chris Hero (8)509

 

7. Kurt Angle (26)448

 

8. Yamato (4) 209

 

9. Chris Jericho (2)190

 

10. A.J. Styles (3)158

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Shinsuke Nakamura 125, Daisuke Sekimoto 115, Rey Mysterio 87

 

MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

 

1. GEORGE ST. PIERRE (279)1,789

 

2. Jose Aldo Jr. (147)1,736

 

3. Cain Velasquez (118)1,428

 

4. Frankie Edgar (19)514

 

5. Anderson Silva (35)411

 

6. Alistair Overeem (38)244

 

7. Ben Henderson (3)90

 

8. Nick Diaz (2)72

 

9. Dominick Cruz (1)57

 

10. Urijah Faber48

 

BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW

 

1. BROCK LESNAR (735)3,813

 

2. Georges St. Pierre (6)1,667

 

3. John Cena (74)1,542

 

4. Mistico (3)348

 

5. Quinton Jackson (2)199

 

6. Chael Sonnen (1)155

 

7. B.J. Penn151

 

8. Rey Mysterio (2)136

 

9. Josh Koscheck35

 

10. Urijah Faber30

 

FEUD OF THE YEAR

 

1. KEVIN STEEN VS. EL GENERICO (299)2,004

 

2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (107)1,036

 

3. Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans (125)972

 

4. Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck (53)713

 

5. Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (63)681

 

6. John Cena vs. Nexus (52)643

 

7. BxB Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi (11)402

 

8. Beer Money vs. Motor City Machine Guns (23)373

 

9. Rey Mysterio vs. C.M. Punk (13)309

 

10. L.A. Park vs. La Parka (31)255

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji 210, Mistico vs. Volador Jr. 187, New Japan vs. NOAH 127, Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mark & Jay Briscoe 116, Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz 87, John Cena vs. Batista 86

 

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

 

1. CHRIS HERO & CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI (403)2,506

 

2. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (225)1,948

 

3. Robert Roode & James Storm (29)780

 

4. Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi (65)733

 

5. Mark & Jay Briscoe (2)396

 

6. Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson (9)375

 

7. Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi (12)343

 

8. Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards (2)214

 

9. Shingo Takagi & Yamato (3)153

 

10. David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd86

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Generation Me 75

 

MOST IMPROVED

 

1. SHEAMUS (130)1,053

 

2. The Miz (123)976

 

3. Dolph Ziggler (88)822

 

4. Eddie Edwards (81)520

 

5. Bobby Fish (70)432

 

6. Alberto Del Rio (49)404

 

7. Akira Tozawa (31)279

 

8. Wade Barrett (10)277

 

9. Ricochet (9)242

 

10. Jack Swagger (23)207

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Rhett Titus 150, Magnus 147, Cody Rhodes 118, Hiroshi Yamato 90, Claudio Castagnoli 81, Kenny Omega 74

 

BEST ON INTERVIEWS

 

1. CHAEL SONNEN (473)2,783

 

2. The Miz (108)1,036

 

3. C.M. Punk (85)920

 

4. Chris Jericho (61)690

 

5. Kevin Steen (82)614

 

6. Ric Flair (39)478

 

7. Jon Moxley (62)454

 

8. Wade Barrett (17)275

 

9. Josh Koscheck (3)215

 

10. John Cena (5)164

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Batista 96, Alberto Del Rio 90, Frank Mir 72

 

MOST CHARISMATIC

 

1. JOHN CENA (262)1,959

 

2. Brock Lesnar (137)1,162

 

3. The Miz (73)763

 

4. Alberto Del Rio (46)370

 

5. Yamato (4)367

 

6. Georges St. Pierre (16)319

 

7. Josh Koscheck (18)253

 

8. Hiroshi Tanahashi (31)245

 

9. C.M. Punk (15)208

 

10. Chael Sonnen (11)167

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Ric Flair 159, Jeff Hardy 142, Batista 119, Wade Barrett 83

 

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER

 

1. DANIEL BRYAN (370)2,765

 

2. Davey Richards (151)1,719

 

3. Prince Devitt (89)1,205

 

4. Kurt Angle (45)874

 

5. Naomichi Marufuji (6)148

 

6. Douglas Williams (2)96

 

7. A.J. Styles (3)87

 

8. Mike Quackenbush (7)84

 

9. Eddie Edwards (1)72

 

10. Chris Jericho (8)69

 

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)

 

1. KEVIN STEEN (152) 1,174

 

2. Jon Moxley (82) 918

 

3. Togi Makabe (88)647

 

4. Masato Tanaka (17)467

 

5. Necro Butcher (46)453

 

6. Samoa Joe (44)388

 

7. Brodie Lee (5)334

 

8. Sheamus (58)300

 

9. Abyss (22)298

 

10. Jimmy Jacobs (18)220

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Yuji Nagata 211, Daisuke Sekimoto 188, El Generico 150, Shingo Takagi 125, Steve Corino 88ev C 918

 

BEST FLYING WRESTLER

 

1. KOTA IBUSHI (221)1,903

 

2. Ricochet (161)1,591

 

3. Pac (120)1,149

 

4. Mascara Dorada (81)1,093

 

5. Evan Bourne (103)994

 

6. Prince Devitt (83)767

 

7. Dragon Kid (7)398

 

8. Rey Mysterio (11)292

 

9. Jack Evans (19)215

 

10. La Sombra (28)187

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Aero Star 184, El Generico 175, A.J. Styles 147, BxB Hulk 124, Volador Jr. 91, Masato Yoshino 78

 

MOST OVERRATED

 

1. KANE (222)1,596

 

2. Randy Orton (80)677

 

3. Abyss (44)402

 

4. Rob Van Dam (29)338

 

5. Drew McIntyre (43)318

 

6. Matt Morgan (26)301

 

7. Mr. Anderson (16)299

 

8. Jeff Hardy (27)289

 

9. Big Show (20)206

 

10. Tommy Dreamer (32)205

 

HONORABLE MENTION: David Otunga 199, Rob Terry 150, John Cena 139, Michelle McCool 99, Team 3-D 81, The Miz 75, Kevin Nash 75

 

MOST UNDERRATED

 

1. KAVAL (122)786

 

2. Christian (53)683

 

3. Evan Bourne (62)607

 

4. Yoshi Tatsu (59)542

 

5. Jack Swagger (70)418

 

6. Desmond Wolfe (21)306

 

7. Samoa Joe (27)258

 

8. Tyson Kidd (6)255

 

9. Daniel Bryan (26)229

 

10. Dolph Ziggler (10)186

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Zack Ryder 159, John Morrison 145, William Regal 123, Primo 116, Katsuhiko Nakajima 115, Goldust 114, Trent Barreta 99, MVP 96,

 

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

 

1. ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS (506)2,713

 

2. Dragon Gate (105)1,293

 

3. New Japan Pro Wrestling (73)1,089

 

4. Ring of Honor (62)1,080

 

5. World Wrestling Entertainment (30)851

 

6. World Extreme Cagefighting (74)766

 

7. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (3)268

 

8. Consejo Mundial Lucha Libre (21)161

 

9. Pro Wrestling NOAH (17)143

 

10. CHIKARA (2)117

 

HONORABLE MENTION: DDT 97, Big Japan Pro Wrestling 88

 

BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW

 

1. RING OF HONOR (249)2,129

 

2. UFC Ultimate Fighter (129)1,422

 

3. WWE Monday Night Raw (70)1,119

 

4. Dragon Gate Infinity (127)867

 

5. WWE Smackdown (52)634

 

6. Bellator Fighting (45)489

 

7. New Japan Pro Wrestling (14)223

 

8. WWE Superstars (6)206

 

9. AAA (11)162

 

10. CMLL (7)125

 

HONORABLE MENTION: TNA Impact 108

 

WORKED MATCH OF THE YEAR

 

1. UNDERTAKER VS. SHAWN MICHAELS 3/28 PHOENIX (238)1,885

 

2. Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards 6/19 Toronto (211)1,711

 

3. Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi 7/24 Philadelphia (124)1,099

 

4. BxB Hulk vs. Shingo Takagi 7/11 Kobe (64)695

 

5. Chris Hero vs. Akira Tozawa 9/5 Reseda (86)566

 

6. Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji 6/19 Osaka (15)365

 

7. Koji Kanemoto vs. Fujita Junior Hayato 12/20/09 Tokyo (19)321

 

8. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas 9/11 New York (23)282

 

9. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Robert Roode & James Storm 8/12 Orlando (25)277

 

10. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler 10/24 Minneapolis (16)189

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega 10/11 Tokyo 182, Prince Devitt vs. Naomichi Marufuji 1/20 Tokyo 178, Kurt Angle vs. Mr. Anderson 4/18 St. Charles 165, Naomichi Marufuji vs. Koji Kanemoto 3/5 Tokyo 145, Volador Jr. vs. La Sombra 8/30 Mexico City 122, La Parka vs. L.A. Park 6/6 Mexico City 94, BxB Hulk & Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi vs. Gamma & Cima & Dragon Kid 3/27 Phoenix 87, Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi 6/13 Sapporo 83, Naruki Doi vs. Masato Yoshino 3/22 Tokyo 70

 

SHOOT MATCH OF THE YEAR

 

1. LEONARD GARCIA VS. CHAN SUNG JUNG 4/24 SACRAMENTO (227)1,834

 

2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 8/7 Oakland (195)1,794

 

3. Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama 7/3 Las Vegas (124)1,302

 

4. Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin 7/3 Las Vegas (53)847

 

5. Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez 12/19/09 San Jose (33)736

 

6. Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki 8/22 Tokyo (61)463

 

7. Michael Zambidis vs. Chahid 10/3 Seoul (52)365

 

8. Yves Jabouin vs. Mark Hominick 6/20 Edmonton (16)205

 

9. Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez 10/23 Anaheim (2)182

 

10. Shane Roller vs. Anthony Pettis 8/18 Las Vegas (9) 91

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Jose Aldo Jr. vs. Urijah Faber 4/24 Sacramento 72

 

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

 

1. ADAM COLE (288)2,189

 

2. Green Ant (94)989

 

3. Rich Swann (29)805

 

4. Kazuki Hashimoto (92)703

 

5. Tama Tonga (75)694

 

6. Percy Watson (41)388

 

7. Usos (34)271

 

8. Naomi (26)173

 

9. King Fale (2)149

 

10. Christina Von Eerie (3)139

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Kyosuke Mikami 120, Hiromu Takahashi 108, Tamina 77

 

BEST NON-WRESTLER

 

1. VICKIE GUERRERO (296)1,935

 

2. Jim Cornette (76)1,072

 

3. Ricardo Rodriguez (60)698

 

4. Michael Cole (94)679

 

5. Mike Briscoe (14)342

 

6. Ric Flair (30)285

 

7. Eric Bischoff (12)273

 

8. Paul Bearer (2)198

 

9. Truth Martini (3)`160

 

10. Teddy Long (1)156

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Hulk Hogan 147, Dana White 135, Vince McMahon 84

 

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

 

1. JOE ROGAN (306)1,912

 

2. Michael Schiavello (79)784

 

3. C.M. Punk (59)525

 

4. Mike Goldberg (34)480

 

5. Josh Matthews (9)477

 

6. Mike Hogewood (44)442

 

7. Taz (18)313

 

8. Michael Cole (24)302

 

9. Dave Prazak (6)279

 

10. Stephan Bonnar (6)270

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Mike Tenay 217, Jimmy Smith 158, Kevin Kelly 142, Dr. Alfonso Morales 120, Mauro Ranallo 115, Matt Striker 100, Jim Cornette 96, Jerry Lawler 75

 

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

 

1. MICHAEL COLE (310)2,167

 

2. Matt Striker (159)1,645

 

3. Todd Grisham (43)726

 

4. Jerry Lawler (8)448

 

5. Mike Tenay (11)313

 

6. Mike Hogewood (19)292

 

7. Taz (8)185

 

8. Dave Prazak (7)157

 

9. Josh Matthews (4)106

 

10. Mauro Ranallo99

 

BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

 

1. UFC 116 7/3 LAS VEGAS (153)1,312

 

2. ROH Death Before Dishonor 6/19 Toronto (154)1,264

 

3. WWE WrestleMania 3/28 Phoenix (87)762

 

4. PWG 7 7/30 Reseda (70)626

 

5. New Japan 10/11 Tokyo (97)624

 

6. Dragon Gate USA Enter the Dragon 7/24 Philadelphia(13)536

 

7. WEC 48 4/24 Sacramento (56)533

 

8. Strikeforce 12/19/09 San Jose (8)294

 

9. New Japan 1/04 Tokyo Dome (10)291

 

10. WWE Money in the Bank 7/18 Kansas City (12)267

 

"CATEGORY B" AWARDS - WINNER

 

DETERMINED BY FIRST PLACE VOTES

 

WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

 

1. TNA HARDCORE JUSTICE 8/8 ORLANDO172

 

2. TNA Turning Point 11/7 Orlando126

 

3. WWE Bragging Rights 10/24 Minneapolis72

 

4. WWE Survivor Series 11/21 Miami37

 

5. TNA Destination X 3/21 Orlando33

 

6. WWE Over the Limit 5/23 Detroit18

 

7. TNA Bound for Glory 10/10 Daytona Beach17

 

Strikeforce on CBS 4/17 Nashville17

 

9. TNA Sacrifice 5/16 Orlando15

 

10. Impact Fighting Championships 7/18 Sydney14

 

HONORABLE MENTION: TNA Against All Odds 2/14 Orlando 11

 

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

 

1. RICOCHET DOUBLE ROTATION MOONSAULT178

 

2. Daniel Bryan LeBell lock117

 

3. Justin Gabriel 450 splash57

 

4. Prince Devitt Bloody Sunday DDT56

 

5. Kota Ibushi Golden star press40

 

6. Shinsuke Nakamura bom a ye39

 

7. Randy Orton DDT37

 

8. Naomichi Marufuji Tiger frosien27

 

9. Evan Bourne shooting star press24

 

10. Pac 360 shooting star press20

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Generation Me More Bang for Your Buck 19, Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli KRS-1 17, Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley Skull & Bones 15

 

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC

 

1. STAND UP FOR WWE CAMPAIGN168

 

2. Rob Terry chair shot75

 

3. Tommy Dreamer bloodbath in front of his young daughters57

 

4. John Cena firing angle46

 

5. Vickie Guerrero constantly promoted as fat and ugly39

 

6. Eric Young concussion angle comedy19

 

7. TNA making Jeff Hardy world champion while indicted17

 

WORST TELEVISION SHOW

 

1. TNA IMPACT402

 

2. WWE NXT184

 

3. WWE Smackdown25

 

4. WWE Raw22

 

5. AAA18

 

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

 

1. KAITLYN VS. MAXINE 10/19 EDMONTON223

 

2. Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart 3/28 Phoenix197

 

3. Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia 4/10 Abu Dhabi53

 

4. Undertaker vs. Kane Hell in a Cell 10/3 Dallas51

 

5. Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz 8/28 Boston32

 

6. Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop 9/25 Indianapolis26

 

7. Konnan vs. Cibernetico 3/12 Aguascalientes10

 

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

 

1. EDGE VS. KANE296

 

2. Undertaker vs. Kane113

 

3. Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff vs. Dixie Carter62

 

4. EV 2 vs. Fortune55

 

5. John Cena vs. Nexus41

 

6. Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes25

 

7. Team 3-D vs. Nasty Boys19

 

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

 

1. TNA562

 

2. IWA Mid South38

 

3. WWE25

 

4. AAA18

 

5. Strikeforce11

 

BEST BOOKER

 

1. JOE SILVA298

 

2. Gedo & Jado161

 

3. Mike Quackenbush119

 

4. Gabe Sapolsky67

 

5. Adam Pearce58

 

6. Sean Shelby49

 

7. Konnan36

 

8. Hunter Johnston31

 

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

 

1. DANA WHITE709

 

2. Sanshiro Takagi49

 

3. Cary Silkin27

 

4. Vince McMahon12

 

BEST GIMMICK

 

1. ALBERTO DEL RIO259

 

2. Nexus79

 

3. C.M. Punk Straight Edge Society47

 

4. Santino Marella29

 

5. Batista25

 

6. Dashing Cody Rhodes21

 

7. Pope D’Angelo Dinero18

 

8. Chael Sonnen12

 

WORST GIMMICK

 

1. ORLANDO JORDAN148

 

2. Mystery General Manager55

 

3. Eric Young concussion angle52

 

4. Robbie E51

 

5. Abyss49

 

6. Michael Cole32

 

7. Winter30

 

8. Hornswoggle26

 

9. Jeff Hardy heel16

 

10. EV 215

 

BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK

 

1. COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN BY MICK FOLEY286

 

2. The World According to Dutch by Dutch Mantel23

 

3. Heart for the fight by Brian Stann19

 

4. 101 Strangest matches by Oliver Hurley16

 

BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD

 

1. CHRIS JERICHO BREAKING THE CODE274

 

2. Ricky Steamboat Life Story of the Dragon75

 

3. Hart Family Anthology62

 

4. Shawn Michaels My Journey43

 

5. Best of Raw 1993 & 199432

[jdw]

Wow... I saw the #5 match of the year live. I'm trying to figure out what that means.

 

John

[Log]

I usually get annoyed when, at the end of the year, the various "best albums" lists come out, and people bitch about the selections. You know Pitchfork is going to skew a certain way, that Rolling Stone will, that Spin will, that The Pazz and Jop poll will, etc. Who gives a shit? It's each publication's audience/writers, and you really shouldn't be too surprised.

 

That said...this sucks. Dragon Gate is the best pro-wrestling promotion in the world? Alright-y.

[Eduardo]

Have K-1 fights always been eligible for "Shoot Match of the Year"?

[Bix]

The Sonnen victories make me want to claw my eyes out after chopping off the hands and tongues of every person who voted for him.

[Sean Liska]

The fact that Sugiura is #2 for wrestler of the year says so much about the state of wrestling. I think I may start crying.

[EricR]

I didn't realize that many people liked Michael Schiavello. I find him unbearable.

 

In the write up for MOTY Meltz hilariously sticks up for Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards, saying that even though HBK/Taker won, that Black/Richards won "the moral victory", because it did well to get the number of votes it did since more people saw the Mania match. Nevermind that the Mania match had way bigger expectations since it was the rematch of last year's WON MOTY and more eyes and expectations equals more scrutiny.

 

And Jimmy Jacobs is *alllllmost* as good a brawler as Abyss. Nice to see Moxley get #2 though.

 

And what is technical wrestling? Because judging by the top 10 I clearly have no idea what it is.

[Ditch]

Wow... I saw the #5 match of the year live. I'm trying to figure out what that means.

That you're a lucky SOB. I liked it best of what I've seen of the year. How'd you like it?

[kjh]

The fact that Sugiura is #2 for wrestler of the year says so much about the state of wrestling. I think I may start crying.

I think that also says a lot about voters using outdated templates for what a "Wrestler Of The Year" is.

[Log]

Is this the first time the same two dudes have won MOTY back-to-back years?

[Eduardo]

Is this the first time the same two dudes have won MOTY back-to-back years?

Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa in 1998 and 1999.

[Dylan Waco]

In some ways this is better than expected. For example there are 4 legitimately good matches in the top ten matches. Granted none of them would make my top fifty from last year (eh, number ten might), but in some ways I expected this to be worse, especially since the majority of the voters probably didn't watch IWRG handhelds or Superstars (not that them watching is likely to have made much of a difference but still). Also while the Beer Money v. MCMG match in the top ten wasn't even as good as the 50th best Superstars match from last year, it was probably a top five TNA match so if you are a fan of tokenism that is not as horrible as it could have been.

 

Having said that the best in ring category really illustrates how massive the divide is between the average Observer award voter and a rather large segment of the internet wrestling universe:

 

1. DANIEL BRYAN (269)2,037

 

2. Davey Richards (197)1,835

 

3. Prince Devitt (158)1,525

 

4. Naomichi Marufuji (84)758

 

5. Shingo Takagi (10)515

 

6. Chris Hero (8)509

 

7. Kurt Angle (26)448

 

8. Yamato (4) 209

 

9. Chris Jericho (2)190

 

10. A.J. Styles (3)158

 

HONORABLE MENTION: Shinsuke Nakamura 125, Daisuke Sekimoto 115, Rey Mysterio 87

 

Of the guys in the top ten I only thought two of them had good years (Bryan and Hero both of whom have a chance of being in my top ten for WKO balloting here in another month or so). Two or three of the guys in the top five, would be in my bottom ten, if not bottom five (Marufuji, Devitt and Richards, with Maru maybe being my absolute WORST wrestler on Earth). you get the feeling that Jericho is effectively the "high" vote getter for the WWE as Bryan's totals probably had a lot to do with his indie tour - I don't even think Jericho was a top forty WWE wrestler last year, and I'm actually fairly mystified as to how anyone would have him in a top ten overall (seriously my little brothers are huge Jericho fans, and when we did our WWE rankings over the holidays, he finished 24 or one of their lists and 30 on the other. What did Jericho do that would merit being this high?). Furthermore there are two TNA wrestlers in the top ten - TNA had maybe five matches I would call good all year long (and I watched a good bit of TNA last year sadly). Styles and Angle were not in any of those matches. I generally like Styles and the and Angle v. Anderson matches were passable especially considering who was involved, but I don't know that either of those guys would make my top two hundred (actually I'm sure Angle wouldn't). The idea that they were both better than every WWE wrestler other than Bryan and Jericho of all people is utterly bizarre to me. I do think Nakamura had some pretty strong performances and Rey at least getting the token honorable mention is semi-surprising, but the gap between what the voters think is good wrestling and what I think is good wrestling is even bigger than I would have guessed.

[cm funk]

The Sonnen victories make me want to claw my eyes out after chopping off the hands and tongues of every person who voted for him.

I wouldn't go that far, but I did roll my eyes when I saw that he won best promo

 

The awards as a whole just speak to the sad state of pro-wrestling around the world, and it's been that way for a while.

 

I really wish Dave would separate the MMA awards and pro-wrestling awards completely, because a lot of this just looks ridiculous

[KrisZ]

The thing about the MMA portion is that he talks about the big boxing matches in the other MMA section in the WON but never says that boxing is eligible in the awards voting. I think that could affect the MMA awards greatly if they were made eligible.

[Resident Evil]

I didn't realize that many people liked Michael Schiavello. I find him unbearable.

 

In the write up for MOTY Meltz hilariously sticks up for Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards, saying that even though HBK/Taker won, that Black/Richards won "the moral victory", because it did well to get the number of votes it did since more people saw the Mania match. Nevermind that the Mania match had way bigger expectations since it was the rematch of last year's WON MOTY and more eyes and expectations equals more scrutiny.

 

And Jimmy Jacobs is *alllllmost* as good a brawler as Abyss. Nice to see Moxley get #2 though.

 

And what is technical wrestling? Because judging by the top 10 I clearly have no idea what it is.

Da Meltz still knows his wrestling. Good to hear him fighting the good fight for Richards vs Black as the more publicity that match gets the better. What an incredible year for Richads. It's nice to see him get #2 for outstanding wrestler of the year but from what I've seen (and I didn't see everyone so someone could be better) he was the #1 wrestler this year.

[Wahoos Leg]

I didn't realize that many people liked Michael Schiavello. I find him unbearable.

 

In the write up for MOTY Meltz hilariously sticks up for Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards, saying that even though HBK/Taker won, that Black/Richards won "the moral victory", because it did well to get the number of votes it did since more people saw the Mania match. Nevermind that the Mania match had way bigger expectations since it was the rematch of last year's WON MOTY and more eyes and expectations equals more scrutiny.

 

And Jimmy Jacobs is *alllllmost* as good a brawler as Abyss. Nice to see Moxley get #2 though.

 

And what is technical wrestling? Because judging by the top 10 I clearly have no idea what it is.

Da Meltz still knows his wrestling. Good to hear him fighting the good fight for Richards vs Black as the more publicity that match gets the better. What an incredible year for Richads.

 

I picked up the DVD with that match with a ROH gift certificate I got at their Charlotte show. I will have to check it out.

[Cox]

Sonnen somehow finishing 8th for "Best Gimmick" is amusing. Since when is legitimately being an asshole a gimmick? And how did he finish that high for Best Box Office Draw? Didn't the Sonnen/Silva match actually draw fewer fans than Dave and Bryan were predicting based on Sonnen's "gimmick" of being a racist asshole?

[Sean Liska]

I really wish Dave would separate the MMA awards and pro-wrestling awards completely, because a lot of this just looks ridiculous

It's really getting insane when he's critiquing voters for not voting MMA guys high enough in Most Charismatic.

 

To Dylan's point, WWE never gets any credit in these awards. WWE is probably my favorite company to watch from an in-ring perspective because they were smart enough to slow things down a few years ago and make things matter (I haven't seen much IWRG, seems like I should). I would much rather watch an arena full of kids living and dying with Cena's comebacks than watch a Davey Richards match. But we're in the minority on that one with the Observer audience.

 

Cary Silkin got more votes than Vince for promoter of the year. ROH beat WWE for promotion of the year, and I can't see how ROH put out more quality content.

 

Punk getting 3rd for best announcer is pretty awesome, though.

[Bix]

Silkin for promoter of the year is beyond ridiculous. He's a ticket scalper with little substantive influence on the direction of the company, which is not financially successful, albeit enjoyed by its fans and the biggest indy in the country. Vince is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, still making lots of money, is a wrestling genius even if he's lost his mind, and WWE still has plenty of high quality stuff going on.

[cm funk]

I really expected Superstars to finish higher in show of the year. Ultimate Fighter finishing 2nd is ridiculous when it isn't actually a weekly show. It runs for what, 24 weeks out of the year?

 

I did find it funny that WWE is undervoted in a lot of the categories, but in most underrated they dominate with 8/10 and most of the runner ups.

[kjh]

It's really getting insane when he's critiquing voters for not voting MMA guys high enough in Most Charismatic.

More insane was Dave thinking that Evans vs. Jackson was the best built up feud of the Observer years, outside of something like Ali vs. Frazier/Foreman. "It was like I'd never seen pro wrestling before it was so good". I did like knocking Steen vs. Generico for being an indy feud, while putting over the Evans vs. Jackson conference call as something magical.

[Matt D]

Poor Chris Masters didn't even get on that list of 20underrated WWE guys.

[rovert]

I share Keith's view on Dave's comments on Rampage and Evans I thought the hype was awful, low brow (racial) stuff. Im not usually a guy who regularly points to stuff and proclaim it "bad for the sport." But I really did think at the time that this is the exact opposite of what UFC should promote.

[Victator]

MOST OVERRATED

 

1. KANE (222)1,596

Jackasses

[El-P]

Is Kane even worthy of being *rated* to begin with ? It's amazing that this guy is still around. I was dead tired of him and his shitty work by late 98. I heard he worked a lot this year with Edge. Oh, the horror...