2007 Wrestling Observer Awards

[floyd]

Just got the Observer in the mail here's the results. Forgive any mispellings, I can't type very well..:

 

Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year):

 

1. John Cena (437 #1 votes) - 2,459 pts

2. Bryan Danielson (77) - 928

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (42) - 728

4. Shawn Michaels (32) - 579

5. Takeshi Morishima (41) - 565

6. Mistico (6) - 510

7. Mitsuharu Misawa (33)

8. Cibernetico (28) - 290

9. Kurt Angle (7) - 202

10.Edge (16) - 196

 

 

MMA MVP

 

1. Randy Couture (334) - 2,254

2. Quinton Jackson (105) - 1,446

3. Chuck Lidell (116) - 1,209

4. Frank Shamrock (3) - 353

5. Anderson Silva

6. Geirge St. Pierre

7. Kid Yamamoto

8. Forrest Griffin

9. Yoshihiro Akiyama

10. Masato

 

Most Outstanding Wrestler

 

1. Bryan Danielson (434) - 2,646

2. Shawn Michaels (46) - 468

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (62) - 642

4. Naomichi Marufuji

5. Nigel McGuiness

6. Samoa Joe

7. KENTA

8. Takeshi Morishima

9. Edge

10. John Cena

 

Most Oustanding MMA Fighter

 

1. Quinton Jackson (157) - 1,554

2. Anderson Silva (151) - 1,508

3. Randy Couture (131) - 1,235

4. Urijah Faber

5. Tyson Griffin

6. Clay Guida

7. George St. Pierre

8. Fedor Emelianenko

9. Matt Serra

10. Kid Yamamote

 

 

Best Box office Draw

 

1. John Cena (331) - 2,299

2. Chuck Lidell (267) - 2,192

3. Mistico (133) - 1,603

4. Randy Couture

5. Quinton Jackson

6. Tito Ortiz

7. Cibernetico

8. Kid Yamanoto

9. Perro Aguayo jr.

10. HHH

 

 

Feud of the Year

 

1. Undertaker Vs. Batista (148) -1,160

2. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (89) - 1,119

3. Briscoes Vs. Steen & El Generico (121) - 1,045

4. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels

5. Matt Hardy Vs. MVP

6. Frank Shamrock Vs. Phil Baroni

7. Matt Hughes Vs. Matt Serra

8. Tito rotiz Vs. Chuck Lidell

9. Gran Apache Vs. Billy Boy

10. Vince McMahon Vs. Donald Trump

 

 

Tag Team of the year

 

1. Mark & Jay briscoe (474) - 2,641

2. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelly (58) - 1,132

3. Kevin Steen & El Generico (0) - 690

4. Giant bernard & Travis Tomko

5. Matt & Jeff Hardy

6. Paul London & Brian Kendrick

7. Lance Cade & trevor Murdoch

8. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Dio

9. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori

10. Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzaki

 

 

Most Improved

 

1. MVP (305) - 1,966

2. Claudio Castagnoli (34) - 564

3. Tomko

4. Takeshi Morishiam

5. Candice Michelle

6. Jeff Hardy

7. Umaga

8. John Cena

9. Hirooki Goto

10. Batista

 

 

Best on Interviews

 

1. John Cena (151) - 1,243

2. Santino Marella (133) - 1,208

3. Edge

4. Quinton jackson

5. Larry Sweeny

6. Christian Cage

7. Frank Shamrock

8. Tito Ortiz

9. Mr. kennedy

10. Ric Flair

 

 

Most Charismatic

 

1. John Cena (358) - 2,447

2. Quinton Jacklson (158) - 1,491

3. Ciberetico

4. Randy Couture

5. Shawn Michaels

6. Tito Ortiz

7. Mistico

8. Edge

9. Jeff hardy

10. Forrest Griffin

 

 

best Technical Wrestler

 

1. Bryan Danielson (529) - 2,928

2. Nigel McGuiness (15) - 784

3. Yuji Nagata

4. Fit Finlay

5. KENTA

6. Kurt Angle

7. Naomichi Marufuji

8. Mike Quackenbush

9. Shawn Michaels

10. Samoa Joe

 

 

Brusier Brody Best Brawler Award

 

1. Takeshi Morishima (157) - 1,464

2. Umaga (101) - 1,199

3. Samoa Joe (115) - 1,129

4. Fit Finlay

5. Necro Butcher

6. Togi Makabe

7. John Cena

8. Abyss

9. Undertaker

10. Rhyno

 

 

Best Flying Wrestler

 

1. Mistico (162) - 1,394

2. Ricky Marvin

3. jack Evans

4. AJ Styles

5. Pac

6. Matt Sydal

7. Jeff Hardy

8. Matt Cross

9. Dragon Kid

10. Rey Mysterio jr.

 

 

Most Overrated

 

1. Giant Khali (187) - 1,210

2. Mr. Kennedy (80) - 586

3. HHH

4. Bobby Lashley

5. Batista

6. Big Daddy V

7. Randy Orton

8. Kurt Angle

9. Kevin Nash

10. Mistuharu Misawa

 

 

Most Underrated

 

1. Shelton Benjamin (98) - 735

2. Jamie Noble

3. Paul London

4. Alex Shelly

5. William Regal

6. Brian Kendrick

7. Matt Hardy

8. Go Shiozaki

9. AJ Styles

10. Christopher Daniels

 

 

Promotion of the Year

 

1. UFC (280) - 2,479

2. ROH

3. WWE

4. NOAH

5. AAA

6. CMLL

7. New Japan

8. Dragon Gate

9. Strikeforce

10. TNA

 

 

Best Weekly TV Show

 

1. The Ultimate Fighter (390) - 2,463

2. WWE RAW

3. WWE Smackdown

4. AAA

5. CMLL

6. Wrestling Society X

7. NOAH

8. Inside MMA

9 & 10. Bodog Fight Costa Rica & TNA Impact (tie)

 

 

Worked Match of the year

 

1. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (8/25) (118) - 1,199

2. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori Vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi marufuji (7/15) (131) - 1,108

3. Bryan Danielson Vs. Nigel McGuiness (6/9) - (146) - 1,061

4. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (4/23)

5. John Cena Vs. Umaga (1/28)

6. Briscoes Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (9/15)

7. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels Vs. Edge Vs. Randy Orton (4/29)

8. Cima, Shingo Takagi & Susuma Mochizuki Vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki (No Date given, ROH match?)

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Hirooki Goto (11/11)

10. Hiroshi Tanahasi Vs. Yuji Nagata (4/13)

 

 

Shoot Match of the year

 

1. Randy Couture Vs. Tim Silvia (3/3) (202) - 1,453

2. Nick Diaz Vs. Takanori Gomi (2/24)

3. Tyson Griffin Vs. Clay Guida (6/16)

4. Frank Shamrock Vs. Phil Baroni (6/22)

5. Frank Edgar Vs. Tyson Griffin (2/3)

6. Chris Horodecki Vs. Shad Lierley (6/1)

7. Forrest Griffin Vs. Maruricio Rua (9/22)

8. Quinton Jackson Vs. Chuck Lidell (5/26)

9. Quinton Jackson Vs. Dan Henderson (9/8)

10. Steve berger Vs. Piotr Jackacynski (No date Given, Costa Rica)

 

 

Rookie of the year

 

1. Eric Stevens (106) - 756

2. Joe Doering (88) - 752

3. Tim Donst

4. La Sombra

5. Cyber Kong

6. Ted DiBiase Jr.

7. Ted McNailer

8. Lince Dorado

9. Seiya Sanada

10. Bobby Dempsey

 

 

Best Non-Wrestler

 

1. Larry Sweeney (382) - 2,269

2. Vince mcMahon (97) - 847

3. Jim Cornette

4. Jim Mitchell

5. William Regal

6. Sharmell

7. Karen Angle

8. Lacey

9. Armando Estrada

10. Generalissimo Takada

 

 

Best Television Announcer

 

1. Jim Ross (325) - 2,257

2. JBL (184) - 1,609

3. Joe Rogan

4. Mauro Ranallo

5. Mike Goldberg

6. Dave Prazak

7. Frank Mir

8. Mike Teney

9. Joey Styles

10. Kenny Bolin

 

 

Worst Television Announcer

 

1. Don West (269) - 2,204

2. Micheal Cole (116) - 1,130

3. Johnathan Coachman

4. Todd Grisham

5. Mike Teney

6. Jerry Lawler

7. Col. Bob Sheridan

8. Joey Styles

9. Taz

10. Leticia Cline

 

 

Best Major Wrestling Show

 

1. ROH Man Up (188) - 1,296

2. WWE Wrestlemania (133) - 1,138

3. Pride 2nd Coming

4. ROH Driven

5. Pride Otoko Matsuri

6. Strikeforce/EXC Judgement Day

7. WWE Backlash

8. UFC 68

9. UFC 66

10. UFC 76

 

 

*****************

 

I'll post the rest soon (unless someone beats me to it). Cause I type sloooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww..

 

If I'm breaking any rules by reporting the winners cause it's from the Observer, please let me know.

[floyd]

Worst Major Wrestling Show

 

1. WWE/ECW December to Disremember (12/3/06) - 298 pts.

2. TNA Lockdown

3. WWE Unforgiven

4. TNA Hard Justice

5. UFC 78

6. TNA Victory Road

7. TNA Final Resolution

8. WWE Jugement Day

 

 

Best Wrestling Maneuver

 

1. KENTA's Go To Sleep - 98 pts.

2. Randy Orton's running soccer kick

3. Petey Williams Canadian Destroyer

4. Bryan Danielson's Cattle Mutilation

5. Matt Sydal's shooting Star press

6. Bryan Danielson's elbows

7. Samoa Joe's muscle buster

8. Takeshi Morishima's backdrop driver

9. CM Punks Go To Sleep

10. Shawn Michaels' superkick

 

 

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic

 

1. TNA Signing Pacman Jones/Making it Rain - 317 pts.

2. Vince mcMahon's death

3. WWE's entire handling of post-benoit re: Steriods

4. Hornswoggle as Vince's illegitament son

5. Giant Khali as World Champion

6. WWE doing Benoit tribute show

 

 

Worst Television Show

 

1. TNA Impact - 476 pts

2. WWE/ECW - 122

3. WWE RAW

4. Wrestling Society X

5. WWE Heat

6. IFL Battleground

 

 

Worst Feud of the Year

 

1. Kane Vs. Big Daddy V - 204 pts

2. VKM Vs. Christy Hemme - 121

3. Eric Young Vs. Robert Roode

4. Batista Vs. Giant Khali

5. Vince McMahon Vs. Bobby Lashley

6. Layla Vs. Kelly kelly

7. Kane Vs. Giant Khali

8. Cody Rhodes Vs. Bob Holly

9. Abyss Vs. Black Reign

10. WWE Vs. Honesty & John Cena Vs. Giant Khali (TIE)

 

 

Worst Match of the Year

 

1. Chris Harris Vs. James Storm (Blindfold match - 4/15) - 149 pts

2. Fake Donald Trump Vs. Fake Rosie O'Donell (1/8) - 119

3. Giant Khali Vs. Kane (4/1)

4. Giant Khali Vs. Horsnwoggle (11/17)

5. Layla Vs. Kelly Kelly (11/27)

6. Monsters Battle Royal Kane Vs. Giant Khali Vs. Mark henry (10/30)

7. Big Daddy V. Vs. Boogyman (9/18)

8. Kane Vs. Mark henry (6/3)

9. Chrsity Hemme Vs. Fat Oily Guy (2/11)

10. Giant Khali Vs. Batista (10/7)

 

 

Worst Promotion of the year

 

1. TNA - 520 pts

2. WWE - 42 pts

3. IFL

4. All-Japan

5. AAA

6. IWA Puerto Rico

 

 

Best Booker

 

1. Gabe Sapolsky - 495 pts.

2. Joe Silva - 128

3. Riki Choshu

4. Michael Hayes

5. Dorian Roidan

6. Vince McMahon

 

 

Promoter of the year

 

1. Dana White - 412 pts

2. Vince mcMahon - 113

3. Cary Siikin

4. Joachim Roldan

5. Paco Alonso

 

 

Best Gimmick

 

1. Santino Marella - 344 pts.

2. Black Machismo Jay Lethal - 52

3. MVP

4. Fetus

5. Takeshi Morishima

6. Matt Classic

7. Delirious

8. King Booker

9. Chris Hero

10. Awesome Kong

 

 

Worst Gimmick

 

1. Black Reign - 203 pts

2. Horswoggle McMahon - 88

3. Pacman Jones

4. Big Daddy V

5. Jillian Hall singing

6. VKM

7. Abyss

8. Fat Oiley Guy

9. Boogyman

10. HG & Giant Khali (TIE)

 

 

Best Pro Wrestling Book

 

1. Hitman by Bret Hart - 266 pts

2. A Lion's Tale by Chris Jericho - 237

3. Brody Vs. Larry Matysik

4. Hardcore Diaries by Mick Foley

5. NWA by Tim Hornbacker

6. Lucha Loco by Malcom Venville

7. Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels by Oliver/Johnson

 

 

Best Pro Wrestling DVD

 

1. Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen - 332 pts

2. History of the AWA - 73

3. The Ladder matches

4. Shawn Michaels: heartbreak & Triumph

5. The New and Improved DX

 

Whewwwh that's all of 'em..

[Tim Evans]

Shelton most underrated? UFC winning Promotion of the year? Eh whatever.

 

And how the hell did Shamrock/Baroni beat Apache/Billy Boy? Fucking scabs.

[Loss]

The fact that Shelton Benjamin is still considered underrated shows me that HHH sure did a hell of a job laying out one particular match a few years back.

 

Most of the results are spot-on.

[MikeCampbell]

Shelton won underrated, and Sapolsky won best booker.

 

Who are you going to hurt, Bix?

[sek69]

Man Up was a pretty good show, but better than Wrestlemania? Really? Other than that, I'm in agreement with the rest of the winners. I'm sure there will be some outrage over Cena getting recognized for his drawing ability, but people are going to have to stop making all these ridiculously bullshit excuses for continuing to believe Cena isn't a very good professional wrestler.

[Cox]

How the hell did Samoa Joe place 10th for best technical wrestler? Is that supposed to be a rib or something? Also, I echo the sentiments about how ridiculous it is that Benjamin won Most Underrated (has anybody actually watched him work the last three years?) and Sapolsky winning Best Booker (I went to almost every NY/NJ/Philly ROH show this year and I've never been more bored with ROH). I'll throw in that Tenay not winning Worst Announcer is amazing, I mean, did Grisham or Coach even announce anything during the awards period? Are they really worthy of Worst Announcer votes over their performance on Internet Heat? Don West is the bright spot on the Impact announce team, not the worst announcer of 2007.

[Resident Evil]

The fact that Shelton Benjamin is still considered underrated shows me that HHH sure did a hell of a job laying out one particular match a few years back.

 

Most of the results are spot-on.

If you look to Benjamin's match past as a reason for his popularity than you have to remember that the fans are going to be fond of the million fantastic matches he had as part of the WGTT. The single matches against Edge, Jericho on Raw, the excellent Michales match, Christian, Benoit and so on. All better matches imo and in many fans' opinoins than the one he had against HHH. That's why people have a fond memory of him and I would assume why he gets the underrated award so much. The guy's been involved in a lot of great stuff.

 

Benjamin does have some strong attributes in the ring. When he's booked properly and put in matches that highlight those attributes than he is an awesome wrestler. However last time I looked he was not put in matches that featured his strenghts. If I was booking Benjamin I would have him a superstar and everybody would be proclaiming how great a wrestler he is.

[Resident Evil]

Man Up was a pretty good show, but better than Wrestlemania? Really? Other than that, I'm in agreement with the rest of the winners. I'm sure there will be some outrage over Cena getting recognized for his drawing ability, but people are going to have to stop making all these ridiculously bullshit excuses for continuing to believe Cena isn't a very good professional wrestler.

It boils down to this just like it does with a lot of wrestlers out there. The people who think Cena is a very good professional wrestler think he is believable enough in what he does. There's no problem there. The ones who don't think he is a very good professional wrestler don't believe in what he does. There's a problem there. Once that believability is strong enough for an individual than they will always think that wrestler is a very good professional wrestler. If they don't think he is believable enough in what he does than they will never think he is a very good professional wrestler. That's why as of now there are people on both sides of the fence on Cena's wrestling ability. It's why they will never cross over to the other side of the fence no matter what the other people on the other side of the fence are saying. Only if Cena changes will you see the possiblity of people fence jumping.

[sek69]

Man Up was a pretty good show, but better than Wrestlemania? Really? Other than that, I'm in agreement with the rest of the winners. I'm sure there will be some outrage over Cena getting recognized for his drawing ability, but people are going to have to stop making all these ridiculously bullshit excuses for continuing to believe Cena isn't a very good professional wrestler.

It boils down to this just like it does with a lot of wrestlers out there. The people who think Cena is a very good professional wrestler think he is believable enough in what he does. There's no problem there. The ones who don't think he is a very good professional wrestler don't believe in what he does. There's a problem there. Once that believability is strong enough for an individual than they will always think that wrestler is a very good professional wrestler. If they don't think he is believable enough in what he does than they will never think he is a very good professional wrestler. That's why as of now there are people on both sides of the fence on Cena's wrestling ability. It's why they will never cross over to the other side of the fence no matter what the other people on the other side of the fence are saying. Only if Cena changes will you see the possiblity of people fence jumping.

 

 

Actually it seems more like they just hate someone who gets over because of personality rather than WORKRATE~! but whatever. The shit said about Cena is exactly the same shit that was said about Hogan when he was outdrawing all the more wrestling-centered territories by himself. People who don't think Cena is an excellent professional wrestler miss the entire point of wrestling itself. People already have their minds made up about Cena, and no amount of factual information will convince them otherwise.

[Loss]

Benjamin has been part of some fairly good stuff, but the knock on him was always that as a singles guy, he had more bad matches than good, and only really had good singles matches against good wrestlers.

[Cox]

The other knock on him is that he didn't have a single good match in 2007, which would seem to make his winning "Most Underrated" quite silly.

 

Actually, I guess that's not true, he had the ladder match with Matt and Jeff Hardy, but I mean, if you can't have a good ladder match with Matt and Jeff Hardy, two of the top five WWE in-ring wrestlers of 2007, in a match where it is almost impossible to have a bad match, then it's time to quit the business. Other than that, where is this great Shelton Benjamin work that should warrant a push?

[S.L.L.]

Actually, I guess that's not true, he had the ladder match with Matt and Jeff Hardy, but I mean, if you can't have a good ladder match with Matt and Jeff Hardy, two of the top five WWE in-ring wrestlers of 2007, in a match where it is almost impossible to have a bad match, then it's time to quit the business. Other than that, where is this great Shelton Benjamin work that should warrant a push?

Not to mention that WGTT were pretty clearly the weak links in that match.

[MikeCampbell]

1. Eric Stevens (106) - 756

2. Joe Doering (88) - 752

3. Tim Donst

4. La Sombra

5. Cyber Kong

6. Ted DiBiase Jr.

7. Ted McNailer

8. Lince Dorado

9. Seiya Sanada

10. Bobby Dempsey

OK, what exactly is Dave's criteria for a rookie? Unless Eric Stevens is different from Erick Stevens in ROH, FIP, etc. Then the 2007 Rookie of the year has been wrestling since 2004.

[tomk]

Not to mention that WGTT were pretty clearly the weak links in that match.

Well also that that match kind of stank.

 

OK, what exactly is Dave's criteria for a rookie? Unless Eric Stevens is different from Erick Stevens in ROH, FIP, etc. Then the 2007 Rookie of the year has been wrestling since 2004.

Wresling full time for a major company starting this year. With ROH being a "major company"for purpose of this award. So Eric Stevens run as TNA jobber getting pounced every week for a couple months doesn't count.

 

I mean even La Sombra has been wrestling for several years.

 

La Sombra who should have won the award and probably would have if Meltzer had pointed him out as candidate (instead he wrote something along the line of "their are no major candidates this year" ) is your 17 year old rookie sensation who is being pushed on top in EMLL. I'm pretty sure he started wrestling in 2002 under other gimmick in smaller market Mexican shows, but started working Arena Mexico/Colliseo etc in 2007.

[sek69]

Its been pretty clear for a while now that for whatever reason Benjamin has pretty much hit the wall when it comes to his development as a wrestler. When Dave went on a mini-rant about WWE taking guys who were gung-ho about wrestling and just sucking the life out of them until they don't care anymore, I kind of assumed he was talking about Benjamin as one of those guys.

[Guest *FH*]

Who rates Khali???

 

Again, the voters mistake "Most Overrated" for "most untalented guy in a high-up spot in a company."

 

Also, how is Morishima in the running for "best gimmick?" I don't get it. Despite the way he looks, I hope the voters do know he's not working a "fat Japanese girl who beats guys" gimmick, right?

[S.L.L.]

Not to mention that WGTT were pretty clearly the weak links in that match.

Well also that that match kind of stank.

 

Well, yeah, that too. But I kind of specifically remember it stinking because the Hardys were pulling off stuff that was pretty cool, and then WGTT would go on offense, and it really served to illustrate how much worse of a tag team they were.

 

Who rates Khali???

 

Again, the voters mistake "Most Overrated" for "most untalented guy in a high-up spot in a company."

That actually is Meltzer's definition for the award, though. Not that that makes Khali overrated, anyway.

[tomk]

Worst Television Announcer

 

1. Don West (269) - 2,204

2. Micheal Cole (116) - 1,130

3. Johnathan Coachman

4. Todd Grisham

5. Mike Teney

6. Jerry Lawler

7. Col. Bob Sheridan

8. Joey Styles

9. Taz

10. Leticia Cline

 

Ok what exactly is the problem with Michael Cole?

[Bix]

He's a little goatee-wearing bitch!!!!!!!111111111

[Cox]

It's strange, because Tenay was CLEARLY worse than the four guys ahead of him this year, especially since Coach and Grisham didn't do any announcing of note in 2007, but because Meltzer and Tenay are tight, Meltzer won't criticize Tenay the way he would a Cole or a Styles. Since a good portion of these votes are at least influenced by Meltzer (how else do you explain Kane vs. Big Daddy V winning Worst Feud, other than Meltzer stumping for it every week) and with no other alternatives, you have guys like Cole getting votes when they are, at worst, inoffensive these days.

[Jingus]

Ok what exactly is the problem with Michael Cole?

I've never liked him, for a variety of reasons. He always sounded phony and insincere to me (yes, I know, but I mean even by wrestling's standards). His attempts to get over various Announcer Catchphrases came off as even lamer than Ross and Styles doing the same thing. I'd agree that he's gotten better over the years, while Tenay has gotten radically worse. It seems like these awards are often treated more like a Lifetime Achievement deal rather than confining their judgement to solely what has been presented over the past year. Hence the votes for Grisham and Coach, when technically they haven't even been television announcers during the voting period.

 

Who rates Khali???

 

Again, the voters mistake "Most Overrated" for "most untalented guy in a high-up spot in a company."

That actually is Meltzer's definition for the award, though. Not that that makes Khali overrated, anyway.

I'm confused, are you saying that the "low talent, high on the card" definition doesn't fit Khali?

[S.L.L.]

Who rates Khali???

 

Again, the voters mistake "Most Overrated" for "most untalented guy in a high-up spot in a company."

That actually is Meltzer's definition for the award, though. Not that that makes Khali overrated, anyway.

I'm confused, are you saying that the "low talent, high on the card" definition doesn't fit Khali?

 

Yes.

[Jingus]

How so, considering he got a world title run? Unless you want to make the argument that Khali is a talented grappler. I've seen that opinion voiced before, and never once understood it.

[S.L.L.]

How so, considering he got a world title run? Unless you want to make the argument that Khali is a talented grappler. I've seen that opinion voiced before, and never once understood it.

You've seen it voiced before by me. Pretty sure that there's a thread on this very board where we went back and forth on the issue for a while. This really shouldn't be a shocking development to you.

 

EDIT: To clarify, since you've forgotten, I think Khali is a dude who was one of the very worst workers in the world as recently as this time last year, who still won't make you forget El Hijo del Santo, and won't be mistaken for a top ten worker in the company, but has learned to work within his severe limitations and put on entertaining giant freakshow matches. When paired with a superworker like John Cena, he can deliver really high end matches. If you need dynamic offense, a lightning fast pace, or "realism", he's not going to be your cup of tea, but I tend to think that line of thought misses the point of pro wrestling, for whatever that's worth.