Wrestling Observer Year End Awards

[Dylan Waco]

1. LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD - I might send Meltzer a "column" for the site where I argue for None of the Above in this category. I honestly don't think there is anyone who has enough major positives to really feel like a "wrestler of the year" type guy. It's possible I'll vote for someone in this category, but I really don't feel strongly about it and there are any number of ways I could go because I don't think there is anyone close to being a transcendent star. Cena is the default pick because of the success of the show with The Rock, Punk will have his supporters because of the year long title run that spans the entire voting period, Tanahashi will likely win because he's the ace of the number two promotion in the world and is thought of by many as being a great worker. A part of me wants to vote for Aries just because he had a career year in the hardest promotion in wrestling history to have a career year in, but he meant absolutely nothing for business. I'm open to suggestions.

 

2. MMA MOST VALUABLE FIGHTER: Won't vote here as I haven't followed closely.

 

3. MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER: This is really tough as you have guys who had really good "chunks" of the year, but because of availability/guys missing time/guys being put in situations where it's harder to stand out, it doesn't feel like there is any one candidate who has an overwhelming case. I am tempted to vote Derrick King number one, but he doesn't have any match I would call a MOTYC. Finlay's indy tour was the best thing in wrestling while it lasted and it lasted for about half the year, but that's half a year. Bryan had some great stuff, but then he got lost and while he still performers strongly when given the chances, the chances don't come as often. Casas has some excellent stand out performances and always stands out in trios, but the footage on him is very spotty. Villano IV showed up less than a half dozen times, was awesome every time and had the single best performance of the year, but he showed up less than a half dozen times. Not as much high end Navarro or Terry as in recent years. Punk's best stuff was great, but there is a lot of "eh" stuff compared to last year. Virus is another guy that is awesome when he shows up, but I'm not sure he has the one big match that jumps out. Panther and Santo have a couple of those matches that really pop out, but again the amount of footage is not overwhelming (particularly in the case of Santo). Callihan was on pace to have a case and then didn't do anything for what seemed like months. Aries had an incredible year considering he works in TNA, but off hand he still only has four matches that really stand out (though they REALLY stand out). Okada or Tanahashi will win, but I don't think either guy is all that good (in the case of Tanahashi I'm being generous). As of this moment I THINK I'm going Casas, Finlay and King in that order.

 

4. MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER: Won't vote here as I haven't followed closely.

 

5. BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW - I kind of hate this award and don't care enough to research it. It feels wrong to give The Rock the top spot, but I guess I will. Cena kind of has to be two. After that? Maybe Punk...I guess?

 

6. FEUD OF THE YEAR - Compelling storyline plus great matches? I don't know that Finlay v. Callihan is a feud. I don't speak Spanish and have no clue what the intricacies of the storyline are one could make the case for Casas v. Panther and El Hijo Del Santo v. El Hijo Del Solitario. I wouldn't fault anyone for voting Cena v. Punk or Punk v. Bryan. I don't really know the history but Frankie Tucker v. Derrick King brought me great joy. Aries v. Roode was better than I would have guessed and delivered one of the better "moments" of the year. This is a tough category because there are things that have elements of what you would look for, but nothing that has a complete picture. It's likely I will go Casas v. Panther, Santo v. Solitario and Aries v. Roode in that order, but I could be convinced to go a different route fairly easily.

 

7. TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR - The award says best working and most valuable, but I don't know that there is any team that is really that valuable. I'll go with Chip Day and Corey Hollis up top. Really good indy team that works all sorts of indies and styles. The Colon's were good every time they were given a chance. Prime Time Players are an act I really like and a team I enjoy so they'll round out the top three. Tempted to vote for Villano IV/El Hijo Del Santo and El Hijo Del Solitario/Angel Blanco Jr one and two but that feels like cheating.

 

8. MOST IMPROVED - Rush used to suck and now he's pretty damn good so he's number one. For the two slot I'm going Aries. Yes we all knew he was talented and he's had other good runs but this was a guy who seemed lost in obscurity and had a real breakout year. Third I'll have David Otunga who has tapered off a lot on the back end of the year but for a while was an entertaining character and his in ring performance drastically improved in Dec of last year carrying through the first half or so of this year.

 

9. BEST ON INTERVIEWS - I actually don't think anyone had an extraordinary year this year as a promo. No standout run of promos like Punk last year or consistent quality like Henry. The one guy who comes the closest to me is Aries because I fucking hate TNA and he made me care about TNA angles/storylines more than once and not just with his ring work. I guess on some level that is as impressive a "stand out" run as someone can have. I don't think Daniel Bryan's promos have been out of this world, but he had some really good ones in December and early this year, plus the comedic stuff with Kane is actually fairly funny even if I think it's a misuse of his talents. Punk is probably the guy with the highest average of decent-to-good promos after those guys so I guess my ballot will be Aries, Bryan, Punk in that order. That's not a ballot line I ever would have expected to see.

 

10. MOST CHARISMATIC - I suppose The Rock has to win. I'll go with Daniel Bryan in the second spot as he's really incredibly over everywhere he goes and no matter what he does. Austin Aries is a guy who's charisma shined through in TNA of all places so that has to count for something, though I feel bad leaving Santino off the ballot.

 

11. BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER - I literally don't know what "technical wrestler" means and the description Dave provides really isn't that helpful. If it means "guy who does lots of moves smoothly" I would probably go Blue Panther, Negro Navarro and Virus in that order.

 

12. BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD - Villano IV, Sami Callihan, Derrick King. IV only showed up a few times, but every time was a great brawling performance and one of them was one of the best brawling performances I've ever seen. Callihan is great at the super indy style of brawling and King is great at Southern brawling. This is actually a category where there are a lot of decent contenders, but I can't see leaving any of those guys off the ballot.

 

13. BEST FLYING WRESTLER - ACH, Freelance, AR Fox

 

14. MOST OVERRATED - Davey Richards is employed and was employed in a high profile way for a while so he has to be one. I feel like I should include Eddie Edwards too, but he gets a pass because I can't remember much of anything he did this year. Chris Jericho will be my number two. He was badly exposed during this run. Not sure about third. Maybe Shane Douglas actually.

 

15. MOST UNDERRATED - Derrick King will get my number one vote since I think he's one of the best wrestlers in the world and he has virtually no visibility. Will likely vote Drew McIntyre second as he's easily the best wrestler in the WWE who gets no real time to do anything. Not sure about third, but I might toss a vote to Andrew Alexander who is another Southern indy guy no one has heard of.

 

16. PROMOTION OF THE YEAR - It will be interesting to see if New Japan beats out UFC this year. I think there is a chance of that because Dave is such a big fan of NJPW at this point. I don't like Chikara enough to vote for it here, even though I think it gets the most out of what it does relatively speaking and it feels really odd to vote WWE one here. For that reason I'll probably go CMLL, WWE and Chikara in that order. Wait, when was Ring Ka King taped?

 

17. BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW - WWE Main Event, Smackdown, NXT. I am tempted to vote for CMLL tv here, but I have no clue what show is what as I don't speak a lick of Spanish and just consume whatever gets put up on youtube.

 

18. PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR - I'm really torn between Cena/Lesnar from Extreme Rules and the Santo/Villano IV v. Solitario/Blanco Jr tag for number one. Those will be my number one and two for sure, just not sure of the order. I'll probably rate Blue Panther v. Negro Casas hair v. hair third.

 

19. MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR - I'll likely leave this blank as I haven't followed MMA all that closely in the last couple of years. It is tempting to vote CM Punk v. Random fan though.

 

20. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Apparently some people are arguing ACH should be in the running. I don't see how, but if he qualifies for some weird reason I could see an argument for him. I'll vote Dinastia number one and if ACH isn't eligible I won't vote for a 2 or 3.

 

21. BEST NON-WRESTLER PERFORMER - I assume Heyman will win this and it will be interesting to see how many votes AJ pulls as she is so polarizing. For my part I see no one worth voting for and certainly don't see three people worth voting for.

 

22. BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER - William Regal, Jim Ross, Nigel. Regal is easily the best. Nigel is kind of a sympathy vote, although I do think he can be pretty good calling matches, which is saying something since I don't even like the promotion he works for.

 

23. WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER - Kevin Kelly, Tazz, Mike Tenay. Lots to choose from in this category. I don't hate Cole as much as others and I've grown to really hate Kelly.

 

24. BEST MAJOR SHOW - Extreme Rules, Evolve 5/11, CMLL Anniversary show. I was surprised by how few contenders I saw for this. Extreme Rules is a pretty easy number one for me, but after that it was tough. That Evolve show had four matches I really liked and while the CMLL show only has one match I loved, there was fun stuff filling out the card. There were actually TNA shows I would have considered with one or two more quality matches.

 

"CATEGORY B" AWARDS. PICK ONE IN EACH CATEGORY. WINNER CHOSEN ON THE BASIS OF FIRST PLACE VOTES.

 

1. WORST MAJOR SHOW OF THE YEAR - Nothing stands out here, perhaps because I tend to ignore companies that I hate. If forced to pick I guess the first Extreme Rising event was the sort of cumulative disaster that deserves mention.

 

2. BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER - Vince McMahon's slip'n'slide tope suicida over the announce table.

 

3. MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC - Balls/New Jack "worked-shoot" angle to set up another RF booking they needed for drug money.

 

4. WORST TELEVISION SHOW - ROH TV comes on twice a week in my market and I almost never watch it because it bores me to tears when I do.

 

5. WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR - Unless someone can point to something truly horrid, I will likely vote Elgin v. Richards. It's probable I saw matches this year I thought were worse, but I don't remember them and none were as long and soul draining.

 

6. WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR - There are feuds that have produced matches I have liked less, but offhand I kind of want to vote for Orton v. Del Rio which has been boring as piss from the jump, feels like it has gone on forever and both guys seem worse for having been in the feud.

 

7. WORST PROMOTION - ROH.

 

8. BEST BOOKER - I need confirmation on this, but I think Rob Naylor and Dusty are basically co-booking NXT. Whoever is booking NXT gets my vote. It's not even that it is THAT great, but stuff makes sense and they use what they have better than any other promotion I can think of.

 

9. PROMOTER OF THE YEAR - I would have voted Quackenbush last year and I probably will vote for him this year. In a time when all the other super indies appear to be leveling off or in decline, Chikara has been able to expand. No, they aren't doing huge business, but it's smart business and they now run shows in the Deep South, The Carolinas, the Midwest and Canada. KOT remains the biggest indy event of the year and they have a loyal base of fans that actually buy their DVD's/shows online. I don't even like Chikara and obviously no one is getting rich off of there model, but in terms of weighing positives against the negatives I think Quack deserves this award.

 

10. BEST GIMMICK - I saw Sandow on a house show in Dec of last year and it was about as great a "gimmicked" performance as I've seen in several years. I have not been as enamored with him on tv, though I still can't think of a better gimmick in current wrestling.

 

11. WORST GIMMICK - Davey Richards as "Bandit"/homeless man's Maeda.

 

12. BEST WRESTLING BOOK - I actually think this is the hardest category this year as both Shooters and Heroes and Icons were extremely enjoyable books that I learned a lot from. Shooters obviously has a better narrative and the most interesting things in it were more interesting than anything in Heroes and Icons. On the other hand I was pretty ambivalent about the Brock stuff in Shooters. I know why it was in there and it made sense for it to be in there but it still was probably the least interesting part of either book to me. I thought the latest Hornbacker book was pretty disappointing and while I enjoyed the JYD book more than most, I don't think it's close to either of these two. I haven't read the Robinson or Booker T books yet and I can't remember if the Duggan book was from this year (I did read that and it was better than expected, but nothing special). Still undecided between Shooters and Heroes and Icons at the moment and both would be in my upper tier of wrestling books ever written.

 

13. BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD - I will try and watch the NWO DVD before the vote because I've heard good things about it. As of now I would go with the Punk DVD, though I would note that the marathon SMV shoot with Kevin Steen was shockingly interesting and made me start to like a guy I was previously pretty "eh" on.

[FLIK]

8. MOST IMPROVED - Rush used to suck and now he's pretty damn good so he's number one. For the two slot I'm going Aries. Yes we all knew he was talented and he's had other good runs but this was a guy who seemed lost in obscurity and had a real breakout year. Third I'll have David Otunga who has tapered off a lot on the back end of the year but for a while was an entertaining character and his in ring performance drastically improved in Dec of last year carrying through the first half or so of this year.

Don't know if ppl know enough about him to realise how far he's come but Okada would be my pick with maybe Prime Time Players 2nd.

 

Dudes had one of the weirder rises to fame I can remember in a while. He was originally an Ultimo Dragon trainee who spent the first couple years of his career bouncing around Mexico (his debut match was against Negro Navarro in a weird bit of trivia) & US indies. Then he gets picked up by New Japan, flounders around the mid card for a bit, gets sent to TNA whear he's treated as a lower card comedy geek. He then comes back to NJPW, immegiatly gets pushed to the main event, has the title hot shotted onto him & somehow manages to take off & become like the 2nd biggest star in the company.

 

I'd probably have Tanahashi/Okada as feud on the year & Jado/Gedo as best bookers too.

 

I've always been a guy who's liked Japanese indies more then the mainstream companies but right now i'm looking more forward to Oakada/Tanahashi at the dome then I have any match in forever and am actually going out of my way to watch the big New Japan shows as soon as I can of late.

 

15. MOST UNDERRATED

Tensai because when used a certain way he can be awesome & I think he gets unfairly shit on far too much by a lot of ppl. He was doomed from the start with that stupid gimmick though and it's all been down hill since then.

[Dylan Waco]

Okada will win the most improved award because NJPW is in vogue.

[Bix]

I asked your booking question on the WO board for the hell of it. Dunno if it'll get any replies.

[shoe]

20. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR - Apparently some people are arguing ACH should be in the running. I don't see how, but if he qualifies for some weird reason I could see an argument for him. I'll vote Dinastia number one and if ACH isn't eligible I won't vote for a 2 or 3.

 

" on.

 

I've seen ACH working indies in Austin since like 2009. How he is qualifies is nuts.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Ring-Ka-King filmed at the end of last year, but didn't air until the beginning of this, so they might be options for a few categories. For example, Jeff Jarrett: wealthy American businessman, is a gimmick that was a lot of fun.

 

What about Sheamus for most outstanding? He had a whole slew of good-great matches against a variety of opponents, and I don't remember him ever underperforming or disappointing.

[Mad Dog]

Okada will win the most improved award because NJPW is in vogue.

I went from thinking he wasn't IWGP Title worthy to thinking he deserved it when he defended the belt against Naito in March. And I was pissed when they gave the belt to Okada.

[Mad Dog]

I want to like the Primetime Players. Love the characters but Titus O'Neil bugs the shit out of me when he wrestles. You're 6'7'' fucking wrestle like it. I've never seen such a big guy wrestle so small before. It just drives me up the wall.

 

If I had to go with my personal tag team of the year it would probably be Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano.

[NintendoLogic]

Here's the description for the Best Technical Wrestler category:

 

11. BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER - This is for having the ability to use high level technical wrestling moves within the context of building a great worked pro wrestling match. Last year's top three were Daniel Bryan (winning for the seventh straight year), Davey Richards and Prince Devitt.

Is it really that difficult to understand?

[Dylan Waco]

Here's the description for the Best Technical Wrestler category:

 

11. BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER - This is for having the ability to use high level technical wrestling moves within the context of building a great worked pro wrestling match. Last year's top three were Daniel Bryan (winning for the seventh straight year), Davey Richards and Prince Devitt.

Is it really that difficult to understand?

 

Yes. If you disagree please tell me what "technical wrestling" is.

[Mad Dog]

Davey Richards has no business being a best technical wrestler consideration since he can't construct a good match to save his life.

[Slasher]

I understand the idea of best technical wrestler being something that could potentially yield a varied set of different candidates being that the definition falls closer to subjectivity than objectivity, but it would or should be naturally understood what Meltzer in specific and/or the WON awards in general look for when crowning best technical wrestler- that being a worker that puts on more good matches as a wrestler than anyone else, without the crutches of the other frills that a worker is afforded, like charisma, showman skills, audience interaction, so forth. Generally awarded to a guy like Chris Benoit and most recently Bryan Danielson.

[Dylan Waco]

I understand the idea of best technical wrestler being something that could potentially yield a varied set of different candidates being that the definition falls closer to subjectivity than objectivity, but it would or should be naturally understood what Meltzer in specific and/or the WON awards in general look for when crowning best technical wrestler- that being a worker that puts on more good matches as a wrestler than anyone else, without the crutches of the other frills that a worker is afforded, like charisma, showman skills, audience interaction, so forth. Generally awarded to a guy like Chris Benoit and most recently Bryan Danielson.

Isn't this basically the same thing as the Most Outstanding Award or am I misreading you?

[Cox]

I guess what Meltzer is trying to get at is that the Best Technical Wrestler would be one who tells the best story using wrestling holds, rather than through brawling (which rewards the best brawler through the Bruiser Brody Award). I'm not saying that's always awarded correctly, as Benoit won this a bunch of times long past the point where he had become a straight brawling-style wrestler, but I think that's what the idea is supposed to be.

[Mad Dog]

So it's like the golden glove award? Not based on merit but based on incestual logic?

[Loss]

I always thought "technical wrestler" was a gimmick. It's kinda like having a "Best Cowboy" category.

[Chess Knight]

I've always thought 'most outstanding' was basically the worker of the year. 'Best technical' is basically 'best mat wrestler' to me. Steve Austin would be the worker of the year for 2001, but wasn't better on the mat/' as technically sound' than someone like Low Ki.

 

I don't really agree with any of it and haven't used 'technical wrestler' to describe anybody for a long time, but that's what my interpretation's of it has been.

[NintendoLogic]

Here's the description for the Best Technical Wrestler category:

 

11. BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER - This is for having the ability to use high level technical wrestling moves within the context of building a great worked pro wrestling match. Last year's top three were Daniel Bryan (winning for the seventh straight year), Davey Richards and Prince Devitt.

Is it really that difficult to understand?

 

Yes. If you disagree please tell me what "technical wrestling" is.

 

Pins, submissions, leverage-based takedowns. Catch-as-catch-can style techniques.

[Dylan Waco]

Pins?

 

Anyway I stated the people I would vote for under what I assumed the implication of the term is.

[NintendoLogic]

Yes, pins. Small packages, back slides, Oklahoma rolls, magistral cradles, stuff like that.

[Slasher]

I understand the idea of best technical wrestler being something that could potentially yield a varied set of different candidates being that the definition falls closer to subjectivity than objectivity, but it would or should be naturally understood what Meltzer in specific and/or the WON awards in general look for when crowning best technical wrestler- that being a worker that puts on more good matches as a wrestler than anyone else, without the crutches of the other frills that a worker is afforded, like charisma, showman skills, audience interaction, so forth. Generally awarded to a guy like Chris Benoit and most recently Bryan Danielson.

Isn't this basically the same thing as the Most Outstanding Award or am I misreading you?

 

Most outstanding would be WITH the frills included. Who has been the best worker in the past year as far as wrestling, connecting with fans, etc. Basically Technical Wrestler would be best WRESTLER whereas Most Outstanding is best WORKER.

[Dylan Waco]

Yes, pins. Small packages, back slides, Oklahoma rolls, magistral cradles, stuff like that.

How about lateral presses?

[NintendoLogic]

The award is for high level techniques. Lateral presses and schoolboys are not high level.

[Dylan Waco]

But small packages are?

[Eduardo]

19. MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR - I'll likely leave this blank as I haven't followed MMA all that closely in the last couple of years. It is tempting to vote CM Punk v. Random fan though.

I haven't subscribed in a few months, will probably subscribe again. Don't know what, if any, thoughts are being shared about this right now amongst WON readers. Fights I think should be in consideration are Frankie Edgar vs Benson Henderson I, Ian McCall vs Demetrious Johnson I, Gilbert Melendez vs Josh Thomson III, The Korean Zombie vs Dustin Poirier, Nate Marquardt vs Tyron Woodley, Diego Sanchez vs Jake Ellenberger. Knowing how much attention Rousey gets, some will probably vote for Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate and maybe Sarah Kaufman vs Alexis Davis (if anyone actually remembers it). My favorite fight in this time frame is Nathan Diaz vs Donald Cerrone, but that's just because it was awesome seeing a one sided, FightMetric record breaking, beatdown by Nathan. So that's not really FOTYC type fight. I would probably rank mine 1. Frankie Edgar vs Benson Henderson I, 2. Gilbert Melendez vs Josh Thomson III, and 3. The Korean Zombie vs Dustin Poirier.

 

Boxing-wise, for me it's totally Mike Alvarado vs Brandon Rios, although I haven't seen Salido-Lopez II.