Dylan Waco Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 I thought we had a thread for this year already, but it looks like we don't. Because of the Observer timeline the "year" for the purposes of those Awards is already three quarters over and I think this is an interesting year because I'm not sure what the consensus is even within that universe. For example normally I would figure Okada and Tanahashi as the leading contenders for Wrestler of The Year, but since Bryan is a messianic figure to such a huge cross section of smart fans it feels like he has to be the favorite for that award...maybe? Also MOTY feels wide open with several NJPW matches, plus the best couple of WWE matches likely to spread the vote out a ton. I think it will be interesting to see if the NJPW fans coalesce around certain candidates for those categories and others, or if they end up splitting the vote so heavily that a bunch of WWE stuff jumps ahead in the voting. Anyhow I'd love to hear peoples thoughts on the various front runners, who they will be voting for, criticisms, et. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 I think Bryan being Bryan plus his monster push this year makes him a strong favourite for WOTY. He'd have to get absolutely slaughtered by booking in the next couple months to fumble from here. MOTY is also interesting because as you say, there's no easy pick and a lot of similarly strong matches from both big companies. The two Summerslam matches will split the WWE vote, but the NJPW vote will also be split between Invasion Attack, Ishii/Shibata, Ishii/Tana, I've even seen multiple people still going for things like Tana/Anderson at #1. So there's certainly no obvious winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 This is going to be fun. Maybe later today I'll look at it from a full ballot perspective but a couple quick thoughts for now. WOTY -- I don't know if anyone is drawing enough in Mexico to make a difference as far as WOTY goes, but it seems like you've basically got Cena, Bryan (last quarter could put him over the top) and Tanahashi. I'm a big fan of Okada but at this point he feels more like someone having great matches holding Tanahashi's belt while getting his seasoning. But everyone understands who the top draw is. Most Outstanding -- Bryan & Tanahashi are my 1-2. Tanahashi has more top-shelf big matches, but I give Bryan the edge for quantity based on putting out great matches almost every week whereas Tana was able to save his for the monthly PPs plus G1. MOTY -- Incredibly tough this year. The best I've seen stateside were the 2 Summerslam main events. My favorites in Japan were Nakamura/Sakuraba from the Tokyo Dome, the Tanahashi/Okada title change, as well as Tanahashi/Ishii and Nakamura/Ibushi from the G1. LA Park vs. Dr. Wagner also belongs in the conversation. Shout out to the Shield, as a few of those TV 6 mans probably rose to MOTYC level, but simply aren't going to get that kind of love when there are at least clearly 2 superior matches in the promotion this year. But for a few months they were killing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 Seems like Okada/Tanahashi is a pretty safe bet for MOTY. Which is a shame because this is a year with quite a few really great high end MOTYCs and that isn't one of them. From what I've seen online even the more "casual" NJPW fans buy that as a classic and I assume they make up a very significant chunk of WON voters. If I had to bet I'd probably say Okada as WOTY because that just seems to be the zeitgeist with those guys. Bryan has a good shot though due to the megapush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 MOTY - Shibata/Ishii Best Wrestler(Whatever the one is that doesn't count drawing) - Antonio Cesaro - He carried people like Kane and Khali to good matches while also saving Jack Swagger's butt. Rookie of the Year - Summer Rae Show of the Year - G1 Day 4 Best TV Show - NXT Tag Team of the Year - Bad Influence Worst Match of the Year - Masada vs Jun Kasai from CZW Worst Wrestler - The Great Khali, also a nod to Matt Morgan Promotion of the Year - WWE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 I think with the way Dave is pushing NJPW that Okada winning has a much bigger chance than Bryan because by the time voting begins, Bryan's storyline won't be finished to the point where people will be "satisfied." There's plenty of Okada matches that are highly-regarded and he ruled the roost as soon as he took the belt from Tanahashi so well that his ascension to the new Ace of the promotion will outweigh the Bryan stuff, which is A) Much better and Still highly criticized because Bryan isn't a golden god at this point. Punk/Lesnar should win match of the year but the Okada title win will probably win. I'm also partial to Regal/Ohno. Bryan will run away with Most Outstanding Wrestler, but Cesaro SHOULD win it, as (and Dylan will point it out quicker than I) the enormity of his great stuff really does show up better even than the high points that Bryan has (the gauntlet, six man tags, Cena match). Go back and watch Cesaro in 2013 and he absolutely rules in almost every singles match he's in. In the end, it comes down to Bryan having the best of the high end stuff, but it being more peaks and high valleys whereas Cesaro is between those two points and is more consistent. Brock should win best Box Office Draw. $5 million contract or not, that guy sells PPVs. Shouldn't be questioned at this point. Feud of the Year will be interesting because if this Bryan stuff keeps going forward and turns into something by say, Survivor Series, it's fresh enough in people's minds that it will win. Punk/Heyman should get some votes, and the purists will throw Okada/Tanahashi up there again. The Shield should win Tag Team of the year. Most Improved...wow. Okada was an easy choice last year. This year, it's hard for me to figure one out. Maybe Big E.? Bray? Does AJ Lee count? I'd like to hear other people's opinions. Best on Interviews is easy for me with Bray, but I'm willing to hear others. The Shield had some good ones, Punk had a few good ones but wasn't nearly as great as he was the last two years. Most Charismatic for me would actually be Bryan. I can't think of anyone who made a better connection with the fanbase than Bryan this year, even with Rocky's match with Cena. Best Technical Wrestler, I like Bryan here but Cesaro has a HUGE case here, too. Kevin Steen seems to be a great brawler, but holy shit, has nobody seen Lesnar this year? Kota will most likely win Best Flying Wrestler, but Adrian Neville has been pretty fantastic this year. Most Overrated will be Triple H. Again. However, I'm totally down to see if someone will vote for Tanahashi. Cesaro will be the Most Underrated. Shouldn't be close. I think WWE has won back Promotion of the Year. Much tighter stories, an influx of new talent, a renewed look at the youth through NXT...NJPW will give it a run, but I think WWE should take it back here. NXT is the best weekly TV show by a country mile. Haven't seen enough of the rookies. Paul Heyman should be the best non-wrestler again. Best TV announcer for me is JBL or Regal, although Cole hasn't outright sucked this year. NXT announcer Tony Dawson is pretty terrible. He's still my reason for me thinking about trying out for NXT at some point. SummerSlam is the show of the year. Everyone will go G-1 Climax Day 4, but as I've said before, SummerSlam smokes it. Worst Major Show is probably TNA Lockdown. That AJ/Big E vs. Natalya/Khali tag where they missed the finish was probably the worst match I saw this year. Best Move this year shouldn't be the Rainmaker, I'll tell you that. I think Neville's Red Arrow (Corkscrew SSP) is still the best highspot in wrestling today. Always hits it cleanly. Someone else will come up with the disgusting promotional tactic, but it will probably be Punk playing off Paul Bearer's death. I think Impact has regained the title for worst weekly TV show. Worst Feud is whatever The Bella Twins were doing this year for Total Divas. TNA for worst promotion is a shoe in. Who was booking NXT? Naylor? Got to give it to them. Although I can see Vince as the winner for the trickle down effect. Gedo and Jado do book NJPW well, too. Does Vince take the title from Dana this year for best promoter? I saw this as a down year for UFC. Daniel Bryan should win for Best Gimmick. Either him or Bray Wyatt. Aces & Eights should have it locked up for Worst Gimmick again. Didn't read too many great books this year on the wrestling kick, although I've heard good things about the Montreal book. Best DVD for this year probably goes to the Crockett DVD from Highspots. Or Will's ECW set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm funk Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 I think Dave's choice would be between Tanahashi and Okada as he seems really high on both of them and on NJPW.....his opinion might sway the vote in that direction. I'd vote for Daniel Bryan....and there's a good chance he'll win. I think he definitely takes "most outstanding" NJPW will win for best promotion Bryan should win best babyface Most hated will probably be someone like Miz, lol Best show will be interesting because a lot of people love NXT and Main Event, and Saturday Morning Slam was great.....but RAW will probably win like it does most years "Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic" is always one of the most interesting. I can't recall any angle I saw this year that disgusted me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic has to be either CMLL doing a new Pierroth and putting a 40+ year old guy under the mask who's awful or WWC being main evented by Invader vs Carlos Colon in 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted September 2, 2013 Report Share Posted September 2, 2013 Wrestler of the Year: Hiroshi Tanahashi Most Outstanding Wrestler: Hiroshi Tanahashi Feud of The Year: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada Tag Team of the Year: Junior All-Stars (Koji Kanemoto/Minoru Tanaka) Most Improved: Davey Boy Smith Jr. Best on Interviews: CM Punk Most Charismatic: Hiroshi Tanahashi Best Technical Wrestler: Daniel Bryan Best Brawler: Togi Makabe Best Flying Wrestler: La Sombra Most Overrated: Triple H Most Underrated: Antonio Cesaro Promotion of the Year: NJPW Best Weekly Television Show: NJPW Match of the Year: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Karl Anderson, NJPW New Beginning 2/10/13 Rookie of the Year: n/a Best Non-Wrestler: Paul Heyman Best Television Announcer: Shinpei Nogami Worst Television Announcer: Taz Best Major Show: NJPW Dominion 6/22/13 Worst Major Wrestling Show: TNA One Night Only Joker's Wild 5/3/13 Best Wrestling Maneuver: Antonio Cesaro's uppercuts Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Nobuo Shiraishi's presidency of AJPW Worst Television Show: TNA Impact Worst Worked Match of the Year: Bray Wyatt vs. Kane, WWE Summerslam 8/18/13 Worst Feud of the Year: Aces & Eights vs. TNA Worst Promotion of the Year: TNA Best Booker: Gedo/Jado (NJPW) Promoter of the Year: Naoki Sugibayashi (NJPW) Best Gimmick: "Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada Worst Gimmick: Aces & Eights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Can someone explain to me why Tanahashi would be a better candidate for WOTY this year than Okada? From where I sit this feels like Okada's year much more than it does Tanahashi's in terms of how the booking has gone, but maybe I'm not following right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Best I can do is that its felt like an even more dramatic version of Punk/Cena when Punk had the belt -- Cena was closing out most TV's and PPV, and while Okada was closing out most before the G1, Tanahashi's matches always felt bigger and seem to be the bigger draw. The guy's the ace over there right now and while they've booked Okada as though he belongs on that level (before some questionable, if predictable calls in the G1), he's just not there yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Was the 9K Okada v. Ibushi did for DDT considered a good house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 They've normally claimed about 9k since they started running Sumo Hall, for what it's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 They've normally claimed about 9k since they started running Sumo Hall, for what it's worth. Exactly. Didn't look back on their prior shows when it came out, because it didn't sound markedly different from their regularly reported numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 2009 - 8,865 (Sasuke and Chono appearances, Ibushi/Harashima main) 2010 - 8,800 (Tajiri/Dick Togo, Marufuji/Omega, Dino vs. Hard Gay/Real Gay, Harashima/Sekimoto main) 2011 - 8,660 (Ibushi/Devitt, Sapp/Dino, Kudo/Shuji Ishikawa) 2012 - 10,124 (Fujinami appearance, Minoru Suzuki/Takagi, Makabe/Harashima vs. Ito/Ishikawa, Ibushi/Omega main) 2013 - 8,500 (No special appearances, a lot of 6-mans, Dino/Ibushi main) and 9,000 (Akebono, Kensuke and Nakajima appearances, Okada/Ibushi, Irie/Harashima main) Might as well call 2013 17,500 drawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puropotsy Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Wrestler of the Year 1) Daniel Bryan 2) Kazuchika Okada 3) Hiroshi Tanahashi I think the top three will be comprised of these guys, the ordering is hard to pick. I do think Tanahashi and Okada may split the NJPW votes leaving Bryan with a strong lead. This is much like supposedly happened in PWI in 1987 when Hogan and Savage split the Most Popular votes leaving Dusty to win it with only a small payment to PWI> Tag Team of the Year: 1) Alex Kozlov and Rocky Romero 2) Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. I go with Kozlov and Romero based on success in three promotions and just being awesome. The Shield is great as well of course and the two teams could easily be interchanged. Other picks would be Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr and The Young Bucks. I have a number of matches of Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls that I am set to watch and they could be sleeper picks to place high. Match Of The Year: 1) Tomohiro Ishii vs. Katsuyori Shibata 8/4 2) Dr Wagner Jr vs. La Par-k TXT 5/11 3) Daniel Bryan vs John Cena WWE 8/18 This year has had tons of good matches but these are the ones that are at the head of the pack for me. Most Outstanding Wrestler: 1) Daniel Bryan 2) Antonio Cesaro 3) Negro Casas Best Box Office Draw: I'm not sure but would think Lesnar, Cena, The Rock or Tanahashi. Feud of the Year: 1) Negro Casas vs Rush 2) Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada. 3) Sami Callihan vs Drake Younger Daniel Bryan vs the corporate structure of WWE is kind of hard to define right now but if the Orton feud plays out well it could top the list, although Casas vs Rush is hard to beat. Averno vs Blue Panther is also playing out well. Most Improved: 1) Roman Reigns 2) Silas Young 3) Drake Younger Reigns went from dead weight in NXT to an integral part of an awesome act. Young went from an ok indy guy to someone I think is about to break out. And Younger has learned to captivate the PWG crowd and he was not exactly the prototype for that crowd. Best on Interviews: 1) Daniel Bryan 2) Bray Wyatt 3) Dean Ambrose I enjoy Bray Wyatt's stuff but have not seen it go beyond gimmick/character work into something that would draw as of yet whereas Bryan's character and mic work ALONG with his in-ring work has made him a star. Most Charismatic: 1) Daniel Bryan 2) Rush 3) Dean Ambrose Best Technical Wrestler 1) Daniel Bryan 2) Antonio Cesaro 3) Alberto Del Rio Love all these guys, Bryan has been amazing this year Best Brawler: 1) Kevin Steen 2) Sami Callihan 3) Drake Younger Steen is the perennial favorite for this but continues to earn it in my eyes Best Flyer: 1) Ricochet 2) AR Fox 3) Samuray Del Sol Ibushi is always good but I find the above guys to consistently be more original while Ibushi has been doing the same stuff. Most Overrated This is the Triple H award Most Underrated: 1) Antonio Cesaro 2) Willie Mack 3) Kassius Ohno Promotion of the Year. 1) WWE 2) NJPW 3) PWG Best TV Show: 1) NXT 2) Ring Of Honor 3) Raw Rookies: I want to review footage of a lot of guys but here are some guys from a list I've done based on guys who've started since September 1, 2012. Sho Tanaka (NJPW), Yohei Komatsu (NJPW), Hitoshi Kimano (NOAH), Konosuke Takeshita (DDT), Ryotsu Shimizu (Dragon Gate), Hiroki Maruse (WNC), Rionne McAvoy (WNC), Katsumi Oribe (K-Dojo/Osaka Pro), Taiyo Yoneda (K-Dojo/Osaka Pro), Tank Nagai (K-Dojo/Osaka Pro) NXT- Anya, Angelo Dawkins, Baron Corbin, Cal Bishop, Charlotte, Enzo Amore, Eva Marie, Memo Montenegro, Sawyer Fulton, Travis Tyler Best Non-Wrestler: Paul Heyman Best TV announcer Excalibur would be my vote, different platform from others but he excels in it. Show of the Year. 1) G-1 Climax Day 4 2) Summerslam 3) PWG Ten Worst Major Show Would have to think on this Worst Match Would have to think on this Best Move: Antonio Cesaro's uppercut AR Fox's springboard reverse cannonball to the floor (or whatever you call it) is awesome) Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Jose Gonzales being booked for a Legends Fan Fest in New Jersey, although in all fairness I doubt anyone gets that upset with Jimmy Snuka. Best Booker: Gedo and Jado Best Promoter: Vice McMahone Best Gimmick: The Shield Best Book: Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs (Montreal History) by Pat Laprade and Bertrand Hebert. Also gotta note that Heroes and Icons by Greg Oliver, Steve Johnson and Mike Mooneyham is awesome and makes this a tough call. Best DVD: Barbed Wire City Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Rookie of the Year - Summer Rae I despise the Rookie award and its rules with a fucking passion. You need like triple confirmation on eligibility. Is Summer Rae actually actually eligible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookeighana Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Rookie of the Year - Summer Rae I despise the Rookie award and its rules with a fucking passion. You need like triple confirmation on eligibility. Is Summer Rae actually actually eligible? Yeah - it's really a relic from the days where someone could break into a territory. Now, just seems archaic to apply such a strict standard. I'd rather it was something more like "Biggest Breakout/ Emerging Wrestler" which went to the person who achieved first prominence within a major company (you can get super technical about how you want to define that - CHIKARA? ROH? CZW? DDT? BIG JAPAN? NXT?) in the eligible year. I know that's not a perfect definition, but you probably get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2013 I was actually going to resist filling out a ballot at this point since a lot can still change, but why not? Wrestler of the Year 1) John Cena 2) Daniel Bryan 3) Kazuchika Okada This is likely to change, but at this point in the year Cena has still been the biggest star in wrestling by a wide margin and was in the headline match at the biggest grossing show in wrestling history. It's not likely going to hold up to be his year, but it seems crazy for him not to be in consideration for the top spot at this point, especially when he had some truly excellent matches in the relevant time frame. Bryan has been the most over guy in wrestling, is one of the top four workers on the planet an is obviously having the "career year" you sort of look for in the days where drawing power is a more complicated matter than in the past. I can see arguments for both Okada and Tanahashi, but for now it really comes across to me as being more of Okada's year and I prefer him as a worker even if neither guy is a favorite of mine. If Casas v. Rush happens sometime before the end of Nov and does any kind of business I could see a case for one or both of them cracking into the top three. Tag Team of the Year: 1) Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins 2) Rampage Brown and Robbie Dynamite 3) Thunder and Lightning There are actually a lot of tag teams I currently enjoy on some level, though the vast majority of them are indie teams that very few people are familiar with. I have The Shield guys at number one now because they are a tag team that is part of a main even or near main event level act and have had good matches. The knock against them is that by far their best matches have been as a trio and when they are defending their belts it seems like a secondary matter at best. The best working team in the world that I've seen this year is Brown/Dynamite though they haven't appeared as a unit a ton either. WWC has had some shows that have done very well this year (all things considered of course) and Thunder and Lightning are an extremely charismatic team, that feels like they have been a big part of what that promotion has been doing right. Tons of teams that I could see as honorable mentions here including The Untouchables (Drew Haskins/Jeremiah Plunkett), The Usos (who have gotten over against all odds), Brian Rivers/Casey Cage and of course Daniel Bryan/Kane if for no other reason how over they were. This is a really fluid category to me and could completely change between now and when ballots are due. Match Of The Year: 1) Charles Lucero vs. Rey Hechicero, Monterrey 8/4 2) William Regal vs. Kassius Ohno, NXT 3/21 3) Antonio Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan, WWE 7/22 One and two I am pretty solid on at this point. Three? Fuck there are probably close to twenty matches I could put in that slot and wouldn't feel bad about it. Ranking matches is always way harder to me than ranking wrestlers. In any case if this were going down now I'd cast my lot with a great match between the two best workers in the WWE if not the entire world this year. But in all honesty I think that match is lateral with a couple of dozen others (hell if someone argued it wasn't even a top three Cesaro match this year I wouldn't think it was a strange claim). Doing a top 100 matches is going to be WAY harder than a top 500 wrestlers. Most Outstanding Wrestler: 1) Antonio Cesaro 2) Negro Casas 3) Daniel Bryan This is going to be at least a four way race (Virus is in the five hole and with one or two big performances could burst into the top tier) with these three guys and Rush probably right to the bell. There is a part of me that will want to shut Bryan out at the end of the day as he gets the benefit of every doubt anyhow and won't need my vote anyway, but the reality is he's having a hell of a year and it is going to be hard to leave him out of a top three. I have Casas above him now because I think when both guys have been cast in the role of "out of control trios worker, who works with intensity turned to ten" Casas has been more interesting and dynamic then Bryan was (not a knock on Bryan, I loved his Mark Briscoe routine, but you pretty much knew, spot for spot what you were getting every time), but I do think Casas needs at least one more big time singles match this year to finish ahead of Bryan assuming Bryan keeps pace. If it's against Rush hair v. hair that might jump both guys ahead of Bryan. Cesaro probably runs the greatest risk of falling out of the top three because of the chances he is likely to get (not that many relative to others), but the guy has been so god damned great in every setting he's been thrown in, against such a hugely diverse array of workers (including a murder's row of boring, green an shit workers earlier in the year) it's hard not to see him up there. I have him number one right now because unlike Casas and Bryan he has no disappointing performances and because of Main Event and NXT giving him multiple chances to work lengthy matches, he's actually probably had as broad a spectrum of quality matches as anyone in recent memory. Again this category could flip all around pretty easily. Best Box Office Draw: 1) John Cena 2) The Rock 3) Brock Lesnar I haven't looked closely enough at this to feel super strongly about the guys I have rated, but I think The Rock's non-Mania numbers were less great than would have been expected, so I feel justified in giving Cena the top spot. Open to persuasion here. Feud of the Year: 1) Negro Casas vs Rush 2) Rey Hechicero v. Charles Lucero 3) Antonio Cesaro v. Sami Zayn I can't imagine any scenario in which my number one would change as the violence, intensity and spectacle of the trios involving those guys has been the most viscerally exciting thing in wrestling this year by a wide margin. Hechicero v. Lucero produced the best 1,2,3 punch series of matches this year if you count the trios on the front end of the singles matches. Cesaro and Zayn have had the best and most well developed WWE feud of the year (especially since Cena/Henry was a one off) and produced great matches, including a final match that played off of the entire history of the feud in one match which is something you don't often see these days. It feels wrong to leave Park v. Wagner out of this category, but it hasn't been documented in a linear/episodic way. Could probably be convinced Team Hell No v. The Shield belongs, but overcoming my Kanephobic stance is not easy. It feels like I'm missing something obvious but I'm not sure what. Most Improved: 1) Roman Reigns 2) Seth Rollins 3) Antonio Cesaro Disagree with Tim and most everyone else as I thought Rush was the easy pick last year. Guy went from one of the worst guys on a massive roster, to one of the best couple of guys on the same roster. Anyway I could go either way on Reigns and Rollins for one and two. The important thing is that I used to hate Tyler Black and he's quite in the WWE. Reigns was feared to be the albatross on The Shield and in some ways has come across as the key piece. Both seem like logical one and two picks to the point where the order doesn't really matter. Cesaro is kind of a controversial pick, especially because he started to heat up around this time last year. Still I was not high on him for the bulk of his indie run and would have never believed I would rate him as the best guy on the planet. He's come into his own as a worker in the WWE. I could see Ishii getting some votes here, but I don't think he's improved so much as he's just getting the chances now Best on Interviews: 1) Mark Henry 2) John Cena 3) Bully Ryback This is a tough category because there are a lot of guys who I enjoy as promos on some level, but I don't think they are great promos in the sense that I don't think their talking is going to talk people into a building. Henry had the best promo of the year (by a safe margin my view) so he's number one. Cena is more hit or miss but his marquee promos - post-Mania Raw, the stuff opposite Bryan - really come across as some of the better in ring promos I've seen out of an ace in a long time. Bully Ryback is funny as fuck and I actually think he has rehabbed himself through mic work, which I wouldn't have guessed was possible. Most Charismatic: 1) Daniel Bryan 2) Negro Casas 3) Rush Bryan has to win this at this point, but Casas and Rush are both extremely engaging wrestlers in their own right. Best Technical Wrestler 1) Virus 2) Blue Panther 3) Rey Hechicero I still think this is pretty meaningless, but I operate under the assumption it's the matwork award. If more CJ Banks, Timothy Thatcher or James Mason pop up I could see one or both of them slipping into the top three. Otherwise this is the Lucha award. Best Brawler: 1) LA Park 2) Luke Gallows 3) Brock Lesnar I'm open to other candidates after one, but Park is a guy that can have a great brawl with anyone, in any setting. Completely reckless, psychotic, war machine. Gallows has been really awesome in the few brawls he's been in this year and will probably get more opportunities as the year goes on. Lesnar was really great in the Punk match, but the HHH bore fest from Mania drags him out of contention for the top spot. I know he's out for the rest of the year with injury, but the better Necro brawls from this year were really great also. Best Flyer: 1) Shockercito 2) Andrew Everett 3) ACH Who doesn't like a super fast midget, who has dynamic highspots and is fifty times better than the bigger guy his look is based on? I kind of hate how Everett has been pigeonholed as a flyer, but he is a fresh face on the indie scene doing crazy shit and has had several matches I've enjoyed a good deal. ACH is probably the most charismatic guy doing the the flips and flops in the U.S. though I am kind of 50/50 between him and Rich Swann for that last slot. Most Overrated 1) American Wolves 2) Ken Anderson 3) HHH I can't stand HHH as a rule, but I do think he is at least theoretically good in his current role. He still has to make the top three because he was so awful in the Brock feud. Anderson is complete garbage, to the point where I don't understand how he's employed. The Wolves seem like the definition of overpushed, as even if you are into their shit, they long ago ran out of interesting things to do and their presence at the top of the ROH tag team heap has had the effect of locking fresher and more interesting acts in the undercard. Most Underrated: 1) Antonio Cesaro 2) Luke Gallows 3) William Regal With Regal it's likely he's just at that point in his career where even he doesn't want to work a ton, but the guy is still capable of producing MOTYC and is also underutilized as an announcer, so in my eyes he's the definition of underrated. Gallows was the best guy in TNA when they let him go. Cesaro is the easy winner here though. Tremendously great worker, who can match up with anyone, very good and unique look, serviceable on the mic and the guy had really gotten himself over before they started to tear away at his push. He should be near the main event scene if not in it Promotion of the Year. 1) WWE 2) CMLL 3) NJPW NJPW should probably be second factoring in business stuff, but I would just much rather watch CMLL. There is a part of me that wants to rate DSCW or Empire my favorite Southern indies, but it's hard to make a case for either. Best TV Show: 1) NXT 2) Main Event 3) CMLL I forget which of the CMLL shows has had the best stuff, but I think they lost of the shows anyway. NXT has been the best overall show of the year by a wide margin, including interesting storylines, good promos, fun special appearances, a good look on tv and good matches. Main Event has had some of the better tv matches of the year and is the best pure wrestling show on average. Now that SAW looks to have dumped the awful Nick Nitrus and they are on a bit of a role with solid tv shows, I might throw them a bone and slide them into the top three at the end of the year if one of the other shows slips. Rookies: 1) Charlotte 2) Jimmy Korderas 3) I give Dave credit for doing the research every year on this, but it is an award who's time has passed. I like the idea of voting for Flair's kid because she is athletic and has a good look, but mainly because I think it's kind of funny. Korderas really did work hard in his match for SMASH. I can't even think of a third person I could vote for even for my own amusement. Best Non-Wrestler: 1) Zeb Coulter 2) Paul Heyman 3) Maria No one will agree with this, but I find the guy hilarious, in large part because my dad is such a huge mark for him. I enjoy Heyman a lot of the time, but another part of the time I find his segments embarrassing. Maria is a pretty great second for Mike Bennett. Best TV announcer 1) William Regal 2) JBL 3) Michael Cole William Regal is the only announcer who I feel consistently adds to shows, the others can be fine at times. Worst Announcer 1) Nick Nitrus 2) Taz 3) Mike Tenay Is this a three vote category? No one else watches SAW, but Nitrus is clearly the worst announcer in wrestling history so he's the easy one. The other guys work for TNA so they are the easy two and three. Kevin Kelly gets off this year out of the kindness of my heart. Show of the Year. 1) Summerslam 2013 2) TLC 2012 3) G1 Day Four Summerslam will probably hold up in the number one slot, but I'm not sure about the rest of this. Money In The Bank was a really fun show, but I can't see rating it ahead of the other three. Still feels like I'm forgetting something and not just that PWS show with the four matches I really liked. Worst Major Show That TNA Hardcore Justice pre-taped show was the least inspired wrestling show I can remember seeing. It's not the worst show I've seen - maybe not even the worst show I've seen this year - but in terms of guys clearly not giving a fuck and just showing up for a check I've never seen anything like it. Worst Match Jay Lethal v. Eddie Edwards from PWG. Too lazy to look up the date now but that's one of the worst matches I've ever seen. Best Move: Lots of stuff I could see a case for here but if we are talking the move that makes me mark out the most the answer is 2 Cold Scorpio's "Dropping The Bomb" Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Nigel McGuinness using his hepatitis "secret" as a big reveal secret to sell his film, which also doubled as a propaganda piece meant to obscure other obvious issues they may have made him unemployable. There is a part of me that wants to vote for Quackenbush working a convoluted promotion self destruction gimmick to cover up his own failings as a businessman and husband, but I'm not sure that's as scummy as Nigel. Worst TV Show: TNA Impact Worst Promotion: TNA Worst Feud of The Year: HHH v. Brock Lesnar This may have helped draw some serious coin, but was a huge waste of Lesnar dates and that Mania match sucked horribly. Worst Gimmick: Aces and Eights Best Booker: Whoever books NXT and it's not close Best Promoter: Vice McMahon Best Gimmick: The Shield Hard to argue with this as for the first six months or so they were around they were as unique and fresh an act as I've seen in the WWE in ages and I also enjoy them in their current role. I do really love Bully Ryback though. Best Book: Mad Dogs, Midgets and Screw Jobs (Montreal History) by Pat Laprade and Bertrand Hebert. Easy pick but I'm biased. Holly's book was very good, but not at this level, particularly if you are interested in detailed historical research. Pretty sure Heroes and Icons was a contender last year and is ineligible. Best DVD: Barbed Wire City Easy pick but I'm biased. 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stomperspc Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 I’ll save actually filling out a ballot for the end of the year but here my thoughts on some categories. Wrestler of the Year This category – like MVP in Major League Baseball – is so poorly defined that I have little interest in voting on it or even debating it. The general definition is that this award should go to the best overall wrestler in the year which is fine if there was a general consensus on what defines success for a wrestler. Dave’s guidance tends to indicate that drawing and popularity are the most important attributes here which is fine, but then I am not sure why we leave something like that (which can be measured objectively) to a subjective vote. My solution would be to select a small committee to select “Wrestler of the Year” with the guidance that drawing/popularity metrics should be the big factor and in-ring ability, interviews, ect. should be used to differentiate between close candidates. It makes no sense to me why you would have people who are not privy to the numbers vote on an award that is based – in good part – on drawing and popularity numbers. Leave “Most Outstanding Wrestler” as the award for the general public to vote on based on performance (in-ring, interviews, ect.). Most Outstanding Wrestler This is a tough category this year because unless you are a big Tanahashi or Okada fan, the front runners are largely guys with a lot of good television matches but not a ton of big match performances in 2013. Bryan is the perfect example of that. He didn’t wrestle a one-on-one singles PPV match until August versus Cena. Besides for that match, his case is made on a few standout single TV matches, some tag matches, and a bunch of good TV matches. Cesaro and Rush are kind of in the same boat. On the other end is Punk who has a few really good PPV matches (vs. Lesnar, vs. Undertaker), some good PPV matches (vs. Rock at Royal Rumble, vs. Jericho) and my favorite TV match of the year versus Cena but not a whole lot in between. Right now my candidates are Bryan, Rush, Negro Casas, Punk, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dean Allmark and Cena. Best Tag Team Rampage Brown & Robbie Dynamite are #1 for me so far. I knew nothing about them coming into this year but have gotten hooked on all of their matches (singles and tags) versus Dean Allmark and company. They have just had an incredibly solid year and have their heel tag team act down pat. I imagine Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov will get a lot of votes because they have had as much exposure as any tag team in the world between NJPW, ROH, PWG, ect. I don’t mind them but they are probably not in my top 5. The Shield lacks the matches (at least thus far) as a team for me to consider them for the top spot. Feud of the Year WWE hasn’t had many coherent, long lasting feuds in 2013 at least until recently and even those (Punk vs. Heyman and Bryan vs. HHH) are wrestler vs. non-wrestler in nature. I think I might lean towards Rampage Brown & Robbie Dynamite vs. Dean Allmark. They have wrestled all year in a ton of different match variations and the matches are almost always solid or better. Negro Casas vs. Rush is probably my other main candidate right now. Promotion of the Year WWE, New Japan and CMLL have all had good years. If that is not the top 3 in some fashion then I’ll be surprised. I imagine New Japan will win and Meltzer will probably make the case for them as well, but I’d go with WWE after factoring everything in. Best Flyer There are a lot of flyers I’ve liked in 2013 because their flying offense is truly spectacular, they work it their flying stuff into their matches well, or both. Working Dragon Gate isn’t going Ricochet a lot of favors but for pure spectacular ability I like him as well as anyone. AR Fox, Andrew Everett, La Sombra, Kota Ibushi, Rich Swann, and Samuray del Sol all have cases as well. Match of the Year I need to give a bunch of matches that I really liked the first time around a second watch before narrowing it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Just curious: does NXT have a chance in hell of winning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childs Posted September 5, 2013 Report Share Posted September 5, 2013 Finally got around to that Lucero-Hechicero match today and boy was it great. Just an incredible display of skill in the first fall and then a ton of drama in the third, stemming from a batshit insane bump by Hechicero. I'm still catching up on other lucha and Japanese stuff, but it deserves a place right up there with the Summerslam matches, Ohno-Regal, etc. Dylan or others, what are the must-see matches in the Casas-Rush feud? Looks like the 6/28 trios is the peak to date? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted September 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2013 Finally got around to that Lucero-Hechicero match today and boy was it great. Just an incredible display of skill in the first fall and then a ton of drama in the third, stemming from a batshit insane bump by Hechicero. I'm still catching up on other lucha and Japanese stuff, but it deserves a place right up there with the Summerslam matches, Ohno-Regal, etc. Dylan or others, what are the must-see matches in the Casas-Rush feud? Looks like the 6/28 trios is the peak to date? I think that or the Negro Casas, Mr. Aguila & Rey Bucanero vs. Blue Panther, Rush & Maximo 7/14 match are the two best, but really every time they hook up is great. The most recent trios involving them may have had the best single exchange between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eduardo Posted November 7, 2013 Report Share Posted November 7, 2013 This is likely to change, but at this point in the year Cena has still been the biggest star in wrestling by a wide margin and was in the headline match at the biggest grossing show in wrestling history. It's not likely going to hold up to be his year, but it seems crazy for him not to be in consideration for the top spot at this point, especially when he had some truly excellent matches in the relevant time frame. Bryan has been the most over guy in wrestling, is one of the top four workers on the planet an is obviously having the "career year" you sort of look for in the days where drawing power is a more complicated matter than in the past. I can see arguments for both Okada and Tanahashi, but for now it really comes across to me as being more of Okada's year and I prefer him as a worker even if neither guy is a favorite of mine. If Casas v. Rush happens sometime before the end of Nov and does any kind of business I could see a case for one or both of them cracking into the top three. Dylan, has Cena's return strengthened his case for you? Got the biggest ratings in two months in his return to RAW, although that didn't carry over the next week. According to Meltzer, early estimates of the HIAC PPV are up compared to two that preceded it. From a work standpoint, I like that he's added a cross-body block to his repertoire, and has used that in pivotal moments during his matches as of late. At the very least, he's been involved in four good matches since his return. While the six-man tags were a team effort, and Goldust was the MVP of those, Cena had his moments, using a neat hurricarana and also having fun exchanges with Cesaro. Also, now with Bryan stuck with the Wyatts and his screentime being scaled back, I'm thinking Cena's the clear WWE favorite at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 I think Cena is the clear winner at this point both for the reasons you list, the fact that business did go down in his absence and the fact that he rushed back and immediately produced. I am not an Okada fan, but he will be my number too, barring something strange. I am not at all possible who will by my number three. Possibly Bryan, but he's not a particularly strong candidate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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