It's that time of year again. We've got 18 categories (though if someone has a good one worth adding I'll throw it in) and nominations are open until the end of the year. Let us know what you would pick for the following categories. You can list more than one pick for each award and I'll pick the top handful of each for the official nominees. Polls open January 2.
1. Wrestler of the Year
2. Promo of the Year
3. Worst Wrestler of the Year
4. Surprise of the Year
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year
6. Match of the Year
7. Moment of the Year
8. Best Angle of the Year
9. Most Improved Wrestler of the Year
10. Rookie of the Year
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year
12. Worst Angle of the Year
13. News Story of the Year
14. Title Reign of the Year
15. Worst Match of the Year
16. Feud of the Year
17. Best Major Show of the Year
18. Worst Major Show of the Year
1. Wrestler of the Year
No shock to anyone that's seen me around, but my pick has to go to Kenny Omega. The only person even in contention would be AJ Styles (and MAYBE Chris Hero), but a lackluster second half of the year (the stale, never ending feud with Ambrose combined with the 0-3 record against James Ellsworth) pushes him away from the spot.
Omega, on the other hand, has solidly lived up to his "Best Bout Machine" moniker, putting on MOTYC after MOTYC after MOTYC. He picked up the IWGP Intercontinental title, NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag titles twice, and became the first foreigner to win the G1 Climax under its current name and format (A 25 year period), capping the year off with a solid build to his (likely) first IWGP Heavyweight title win on January 4th.
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year
Difficult pick for me. Tag team wrestling has been among the greatest it's been for a long time. Classic matches like #DIY vs The Revival at Takeover Toronto, or The Young Bucks vs The Addiction vs MCMG in the Ladder War at All-Star Extravaganza. New Day's record breaking reign. The brilliance of Broken Matt and Brother Nero.
Ultimately though, I think I have to go with The Young Bucks. While other teams have put on great matches, their overall accomplishments over the year have been limited. And as impressive as New Day's record breaking title reign was, it did become stale, and they never really put on as high a quality of match as some of the other teams did (not to mention their overall title reign is soured somewhat by the rumors of Vince only having them break the record to push Demolition out of the record books).
6. Match of the Year Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito - G1 Climax Day 18. Nothing else really to say. Tanahashi vs Okada at Wrestle Kingdom was great, but it was nothing new. Styles vs Nakamura was also great, but it never drew any major "mark out" moments from me that Omega vs Naito had an abundance of. Omega vs Naito just had it all. A top notch match from the two biggest heels in the company, complete with masterful story telling, and a very unexpected ending (As much of an Omega mark as I am, I did not believe he would walk away with the G1 win until about two days AFTER the G1 ended).
12. Worst Angle of the Year James Freakin' Ellsworth. Now, by no means do I have a problem with the guy as a person. But his time in WWE is a prime example of the company taking a gag way too far at the expense of your top guys. He comes in, gets squashed by Strowman. Okay, good so far. Comes back, ends up beating Styles. Ehh. Not great, but sure, give the illusion that anyone can beat anyone else on any given day. Beats Styles again, okay now this is getting dumb. Beats Styles once more, yup we're done here. And now he's interfering in championship matches because "Oh, I've never lost against AJ Styles, I should totally be the one to take the title from him" aaaand vomit. I dont even watch WWE and even I'm sick of the TV time he takes up and WWE's stupid logic in constantly pushing him over their champion.
14. Title Reign of the Year
I know I gave it some flack earlier, but New Day's 483 day Tag Title reign. Even though it went kind of stale by the end, and even if the rumors of it only being that long was meant as a "Fuck You" by WWE to Demolition, a year and a half title run is no small feat. Even if the less casual fan was bored of it by the end, they managed to continue to be over with the more casual fanbase throughout the entire thing, and even managed to get someone like me who stopped watching the company years ago to actively make it a point for a while to click on a youtube video that had their face on it.
17. Best Major Show of the Year Wrestle Kingdom 10. A top-tier show with only one lackluster match on the undercard, and an otherwise solid to excellent card throughout.
1. Wrestler of the Year
A large handful of worthy candidates, but my own pick is Kevin Owens. I know we can nominate more than one, but my other picks will be nominated, certainly.
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year New Day
6. Match of the Year
Man, I don't know if I was ever more edge of my seat than I was during Revival vs Gargano and Ciampa, 2/3 Falls. Their first encounter was virtually perfect, but this somehow surpassed it.
8. Best Angle of the Year Randy Orton joins the Wyatt Family. Still in it's infancy, yes, but unlike every angle with an obvious and inevitable betrayal, the creative team is presenting this as if Orton is in it for the long hall, and I'm compelled each step so far.
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year
It still pains me that I can't nominate him for Wrestler OTY, but this goes to Daniel Bryan. The alleged acting lessons have really shown since his announcing as Smackdown GM, and underscore this with his hosting of Talking Smack and work as commentator for the CWC, he gets my nod.
I'd also like to nominate Dario Cueto, for his continued on screen brilliance and refusal by LU to not start every show with 20 minute authority promos.
12. Worst Angle of the Year
Man, Rolins' face turn might have been the worst turn ever. Long after the betrayal by Triple H, Rollins continues to behave like a petulant child who's out of mom and dad's good graces. Terrible turn.
13. News Story of the Year
I can't remember if this was January 2016 or December 2015, but I don't think there's been a story that caught every wrestling fans attention than WWE signing AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Regardless of whether your a fan of those talents or not, or a fan of WWE or not, everyone was curious about this one.
14. Title Reign of the Year Miz's Never Ending Intercontinental World Tour
16. Feud of the Year
The feud that we never thought we'd see, John Cena vs AJ Styles, followed closely by Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens. The latter over stayed it's welcome, but I believed every minute of hatred between those two.
On paper, an incredible year. If you woke me from the coma I fell into on January 1st and for some reason you thought the most important thing to tell me about was who the champions were in WWE, I'd have a hard time believing the show largely varied from boring to unwatchable. To transcribe the conversation I had with myself on the moon, and embellish it somewhat:
Wrestler:
Charlotte Flair
AJ Styles
The Revival
Samoa Joe
Matt Hardy
Promo:
"Why are you still here?" - AJ Styles/John Cena, some Raw I think
"Bring me Nakamura, or hand me my title!" - Samoa Joe, NXT
"To them, you're immortal. To me? Dead" - Charlotte, Raw
"Brother Nero, I knew you'd come!" - Matt Hardy, TNA
"You're last!" - Bill Goldberg, Raw
"Why don't you quit and go to the bingo halls?" - The Miz, Talking Smack
Worst Wrestler
Baron Corbin
Dean Ambrose
Surprise:
Goldberg squashes Lesnar
Goldberg returns
Seth Rollins returns
Seth Rollins defeats Reigns
Dean Ambrose defeats Rollins
James Ellsworth hits AJ Styles with no chin music
Tag Team:
The Revival
#DIY
The Young Bucks
The Addiction
The New Day
American Alpha
Match:
The Revival vs. American Alpha, TakeOver Dallas
The Revival vs. DIY, TakeOver Brooklyn II
The Revival vs. DIY, TakeOver Toronto
The Royal Rumble Match, Royal Rumble
Men's Raw vs. SmackDown Traditional Survivor Series Match, Survivor Series
12. Worst Angle of the Year James Freakin' Ellsworth. Now, by no means do I have a problem with the guy as a person. But his time in WWE is a prime example of the company taking a gag way too far at the expense of your top guys. He comes in, gets squashed by Strowman. Okay, good so far. Comes back, ends up beating Styles. Ehh. Not great, but sure, give the illusion that anyone can beat anyone else on any given day. Beats Styles again, okay now this is getting dumb. Beats Styles once more, yup we're done here. And now he's interfering in championship matches because "Oh, I've never lost against AJ Styles, I should totally be the one to take the title from him" aaaand vomit. I dont even watch WWE and even I'm sick of the TV time he takes up and WWE's stupid logic in constantly pushing him over their champion.
Since you said you haven't watched WWE - Ellsworth did not win cleanly in any of those matches. AJ would beat the crap out of him until Ambrose did something. I'm not sure Ellsworth has even done an offensive move yet. I don't like the angle either (thought it should have ended a few weeks ago) but it is not like a jobber literally beat the world champ. Ellsworth saying he can beat AJ is portrayed as being completely delusional. The angle is probably going to end once AJ's ankle heals and AJ kills Ellsworth since Ambrose will not help him anymore.
14. Title Reign of the Year
I know I gave it some flack earlier, but New Day's 483 day Tag Title reign. Even though it went kind of stale by the end, and even if the rumors of it only being that long was meant as a "Fuck You" by WWE to Demolition, a year and a half title run is no small feat. Even if the less casual fan was bored of it by the end, they managed to continue to be over with the more casual fanbase throughout the entire thing, and even managed to get someone like me who stopped watching the company years ago to actively make it a point for a while to click on a youtube video that had their face on it.
The reign did drag at the end but it was not meant as a "Fuck You" at all. I'm confused as to why you even think that. The reign should have ended around 2 or so months ago but since they were already so close, they decided to let them break it first. I'm guessing the thought was it would be hard for anyone to get this close to the record again and it is cool to have active guys hold records. New Day's reign wasn't boring, they just ran out of new challengers at the end of it. If there were two or so more over heel tag teams, I feel like it would have been received better.
My list is going to be WWE heavy as that is the only promotion I watch.
Wrestler of the Year
AJ Styles. I cannot believe I'm saying this as I prefer entertainment over wrestling and have never really found AJ to be good on the entertainment side. This year changed my mind. It took a little for him to get going but once he did, he was great. Started with a decent feud with Jericho (though it did have odd booking decisions). Then pulled off two straight great matches with Roman Reigns. Had a tremendous feud with Cena. Got the title. The feud with Ambrose is dragging but he is still putting on quality matches. This has been a great year for AJ. Ambrose, Jericho and The Miz follow. Ambrose's strong points this year were really good. Some of his stuff fell flat however and recently has devolved a bit too much into a silly character. Jericho's face run was weak. His feud with Ambrose was underwhelming. Otherwise he has had a very good year. The Miz has been gold on the mic and put on some good performances this year. Miz has been so good, I want to see another Miz WWE title reign.
Worst Wrestler of the Year
Dolph Ziggler. I thought he was a rising star at one point. Thought he was going to be one of the greats. Somewhere along the way, he stopped getting better and started regressing. His character is awful. He whines and tries to put emotion into things by yelling because YELLING ALWAYS ADDS SO MUCH EMOTION. Ziggler is annoying.
Surprise of the Year
Goldberg beating Brock in under 2 minutes. Shane McMahon's return is second.
Group/Tag Team of the Year
New Day. No one else comes close.
Match of the Year
I'm really torn on this one. Cena vs AJ I and II were great. The fourway IC title match at Extreme Rules (Cesaro vs Mis vs Owens vs Zayn) was great. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Zayn at NXT Takeover Dallas was great. I'll have to go with AJ vs Cena II over I solely due to it being a clean finish. Otherwise both matches are great. Honorable mentions: AJ vs Roman Reigns I and II. Raw vs SD Survivor Series main eventers elimination match.
Moment of the Year
Shane jumping off the Cell. That was scary but awesome to watch. Second is Ambrose cashing in and winning. Third is AJ entering the Rumble complete with the odd choice to zoom in on confused Roman rather than shoot the entrance.
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year/Comeback Wrestler of the Year
The Miz. Miz finally rebounded back to his old self. After Mania 27, he went downhill until this year.
Best Major Show of the Year
MITB. I can be swayed to some of the Takeovers though.
Worst Major Show of the Year
Though this was not completely the WWE's fault (injuries really did not help them), Wrestlemania 32. Way too long. Not very good. It was an okay show which makes it a horrible Wrestlemania.
1. Wrestler of the Year- AJ Styles
-Kenny Omega- first gaijin to win the G1, filling the shoes of AJ/Shinsuke when they left, multiple MOTY candidates, main eventing Tokyo Dome next month
-Kazuchika Okada- multiple MOTY candidates, main evented Tokyo Dome in 2016 in one of the best matches of all-time, multiple IWGP Heavyweight title reigns
-Tetsuya Naito- becoming a main eventer after the exodus of top talent, making Los Ingobernables a household, worldwide brand, rivaling that of the Bullet Club
2. Promo of the Year- Goldberg's "You're last", Samoa Joe's "Bring me Nakamura"
3. Worst Wrestler of the Year- Rhett Titus wins this category until he retires
-Honorable mention: Alicia Fox
4. Surprise of the Year- Goldberg squashing Lesnar, Omega winning the G1, AJ debuting at the Rumble
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year- Los Ingobernables de Japon- Largely thanks to Tetsuya Naito
-Young Bucks
-The Revival
6. Match of the Year- Omega vs. Naito- G1 semifinals
-Okada vs. Tanahashi- Wrestle Kingdom 10
- The Revival vs. DIY- Takeover:Toronto
-Zayn vs. Nakamura- Takeover: Dallas
7. Moment of the Year- Omega wins the G1
- Okada defeats Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom
-AJ wins the WWE WHC
8. Best Angle of the Year- Jericho getting a clipboard over
9. Most Improved Wrestler of the Year- Braun Strowman, Baron Corbin, Alexa Bliss
10. Rookie of the Year- Lio Rush
- Authors of Pain
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year- Renee Young- she's pretty much flawless in everything she does, which was quite a lot this year
-Corey Graves
-Dario Cueto
12. Worst Angle of the Year- Roman/Rusev/Lana stuff
-Sheamus/Cesaro
- Kenny King, Rhett Titus, Caprice Coleman "The Cabinet"- ROH
13. News Story of the Year- AJ & Nakamura to WWE
-Goldberg returns
14. Title Reign of the Year- Asuka- NXT Women's Champion
-Kazuchika Okada- IWGP Heavyweight Champion
-Miz- IC Champion
- The Revival- NXT Tag Champions
15. Worst Match of the Year- anything with Rhett Titus
-Lesnar vs. Ambrose at Mania
16. Feud of the Year- Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada- NJPW
-Samoa Joe vs. Nakamura- NXT
- Revival vs. DIY- NXT
- Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly- ROH- though the payoff was lackluster, the feud was good
17. Best Major Show of the Year- Wrestle Kingdom 10
-NXT Takeover: Toronto
- ROH Final Battle
- NXT Takeover: Dallas
18. Worst Major Show of the Year- TNA
- WWE TLC
- WWE Roadblock End of the Line
I'm probably the biggest layman on the forum when it comes to prowrestling potential, but here's a list of the first ideas that came to mind.
1. Wrestler of the Year
I have to go with AJ Styles. In my memory; nobody made as huge a splash as AJ did when he debuted at the Royal Rumble. I don't think a debut has had that much impact on the pro-wrestling world since Ric Flair was signed to the WWF back in 1991, even then Ric was announced many times prior to that debut. Everyone else has their accolades and their history making moments this year, but AJ Styles turned the heads of everyone who considers themselves to be a prowrestling fan. Without AJ mixing things up in the WWE, they'd be a very stale project today. I give the nod to someone who could rejuvenate a pro-wrestling company that caters to fans from every end of the globe.
2. Promo of the Year
I haven't seen this one mentioned yet, so it's probably a longshot that it'll be considered for contention; I have to go with James Ellsworth's debut promo before he was flattened by Braun Strowman. Because I'm too lazy to type out everything that was said; here's a vid of the promo:
[youtube]2aML1dORFSM[/youtube]
Now, I'm sure most of us know how insane that situation would be for any average person. The cameras are rolling, Braun's music is playing and he's stomping to the ring with his stink stare, and you have a doofus like Byron Saxton asking you for a comprehensive thought regarding what's going on right at that moment. Most people would have muttered out some generic nonsense or insulted a local sports team, but James came up with a fucking awesome plug for himself on the spot. James was apparently getting pats on the back from ring vets like Edge and even Vince himself regarding his promo, and I'm with them in saying that he absolutely owned that moment.
3. Worst Wrestler of the Year
Obviously my awareness of the pro-wrestling world is pretty limited, so don't bite my head off for whom I'm about to name for this category. I have to go with Eva Marie. I don't buy into the nonsense that something's not really bad if it was trying to be bad, or whatever. She's bad, her wrestling in NXT was terrible and the silliness of her gimmick hasn't endeared her to me.
4. Surprise of the Year
I'm not one of you big brainy experts, so I'm going to limit my choice of each category to one thing so I don't have to think so hard. I was most surprised when -- during Survivor Series -- The Shield buried the hatchet so they could perform a triple power bomb on AJ Styles. That, to me, was the biggest moment of the entire PPV. Dean storming off, and his cohorts confront him like "Where the Hell are you going!? Let's finish this!" The Shield briefly reuniting was the biggest surprise in my book.
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year
I have to go with New Day here. I'm not even a very big fan of New Day, but they didn't just sit on an uneventful tag team title reign. I remember their match against Y2AJ that was the definition of epic, and they truly made something out of nothing with their gimmick. Nobody else comes close to them.
6. Match of the Year
I'm going with my gut on this one, so no apologies. My favorite match of the year was Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa in the first round of the CWC. In my opinion, it was the greatest match of that entire tournament and should be considered a reason for why the tournament did as well as it did. They set the bar high early on, and it was amazing.
7. Moment of the Year
Moment is a pretty vague term, so I'm going to potentially betray the notion that I understand its intended meaning by suggesting The New Day beating Demolition's tag team title reign record. It wasn't something that just happened on its own, the WWE actually hyped the significance of that achievement by having New Day survive two matches in one night where they didn't even need to be pinned to lose their belts. It had been anticipated all year, and it happened consecutive to a huge push for the New Day members.
8. Best Angle of the Year
One angle stood out to me this year, and that's the contentious friendship between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. These two are better than gold, they make platinum look cheap by comparison. They can work this angle with a wet blanket like Roman Reigns, and keep us focused on what's occurring. Something as simple as Seth implying that Kevin Owens might be on the list is a thrill to watch.
9. Most Improved Wrestler of the Year
Dana Brooke, all the way. She's the only person who I thought I hated near the beginning of the year and have grown to love as she paid her dues. Everyone else has been exactly what I'd expect.
10. Rookie of the Year
Jack Gallagher, a thousand times over. He seems way too experienced to only be 26(!) years old. He's got a character that works amazingly well on tv, and his ring game is phenomenal.
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year
Dario Cueto, he has the type of magic that very few non-wrestling heels can capture. I watch Lucha Underground here and there when I can, and he seems to be the only person really bringing something fresh to each show. Every other character is great in the ring, but that's all you get out of them. Dario is on Gary Hart's level when it comes to being able to get the crowd emotionally involved in a match.
12. Worst Angle of the Year
The most painful moment for me this year was watching those god awful Gallows and Anderson promos against New Day. It was like listening to an annoying person telling an hour long version of the "why did the chicken cross the road?" joke. In one case the joke was that Big E took a crotch bump on the turnbuckle, so Gallows and Anderson spent a good ten minutes of airtime pretending to be doctors so they could adlib some useless garbage and hold a jar of pickled eggs. Then there was... this...
13. News Story of the Year
Hulk Hogan suing Gawker Media over the sex tape. As we know today, this seemed sensational enough on its own at first. Then it came out that Hogan's legal battle was being financed by PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, and Gawker fired back in a huge way by releasing a portion of the tape to the public where Hogan had made racist comments.
14. Title Reign of the Year
AJ Styles. I didn't expect AJ to get the kind of push he received, I was shocked that within a few months of his debut he was already competing for the world title. He's honestly the only current male singles champion I take seriously while I'm getting used to the latest version of the roster split where the amount of belts floating around nearly doubled. He made a huge statement when he called Kevin Owens a paper champion, and he's been damn humble by being willing to put over James Ellsworth. He's a five star match machine, and I think he's making the belt look better by holding it.
15. Worst Match of the Year
Damn I wish that CM Punk's UFC debut could count for this. A match that really messed with my head was Naom Dar vs Ho Ho Lun. Noam is a likeable guy, but he needs direction to put on a great match. Ho Ho Lun however should not be doing this. He wrestled like a guy who was pulled out of the audience with no notice. I understand that there's a language barrier, but I think the WWE was desperate to push one of their Chinese talents. It was a major letdown for what should have been an amazing set of first round matches to hype the CWC. They really should have paired Ho Ho Lun up with Brian Kendrick or Kota Ibushi.
16. Feud of the Year
I'm going with the majority on this one, and I'll say AJ Styles and John Cena. This wasn't any ordinary feud between two guys who disliked each other, this feud had AJ Styles getting some crazy "OH!" faces out of the audience when said that John Cena buries guys like AJ Styles. It was damn powerful and really got us glued to their matches.
17. Best Major Show of the Year
Going with my heart, I was unexpectedly enthralled with Survivor Series. They (somewhat) went back to basics with the format, and there were fun surprises all night long. I give bonus points to the show where I expected very little and got a whole lot instead.
18. Worst Major Show of the Year
Oh shit, look at that. A few other people didn't like Roadblock. I'm referring to Roadblock from March of this year, where I suggested that it was stupid back then and a certain somebody called me to the carpet for doing so. I hated it, the matches were stupid and inconsequential and it distracted from WrestleMania even though WrestleMania needed all the help it could get this year. It was only justified to me as a fun incentive for subscribing to the network, and I don't think it even lived up to that standard. I can't emphasize this stongly enough; Roadblock is so stupid.
19. Best Chant of the Year
Cero Miedo, I fucking love this chant. Pentagon Jr. really is an anomaly in Lucha Underground, he stands out among a cast of other colorful characters. This chant is to Lucha Underground what the Daniel Bryan chants were to the WWE. The crowd is letting the creative team know that they want to see Pentagon Jr. run the show.
20. Best Gimmick of the Year
Pentagon Jr., he just compels you to watch with his style. He has a sort of Darth Vader esque badassery that makes you cheer for him when he's doing heel things. While I don't really get into his ring game because of how silly some of those moves are (a somersault piledriver... really?), the charisma of his character is undeniable.
21. Best Entrance of the Year
Bobby Roode at NXT Takeover: Toronto, if you haven't seen it then you're missing out on something too big to be described as epic. Ending this list on a high note, behold the most glorious entrance of all time:
1. Wrestler of the Year - The last half of the year has been a little slow but that's not because of anything he's done wrong, guy always puts all his effort behind whatever he's been given. He's gone from surprise debut, to solid feud, to heel turn, to title reign, to beating Cena etc. For me, that kind of composure on a new ground, although he is immensely talented, is very impressive.
It could be that he has benefited from bypassing NXT and is maybe a lesson that WWE could pass on to others in a similar position, not that there are many. He gets my vote. My second vote would go to Charlotte who I think has solidified her spot at the top over some increasingly stiff competition.
2. Promo of the Year - Maybe I was coerced by the fact that the man wasn't noticed from his mic work, but Goldberg's return promo stood out to me the most this year. My honourable mention would go to The Miz's tirade against Bryan on Talking Smack.
3. Worst Wrestler of the Year - For me, everything that Carmella does just falls flat. She excels nowhere and it seems clear now that she was riding the Enzo and Cass coat-tails.
4. Surprise of the Year - Hearkening back to the early portion of the year, Shane McMahon returning was a big shock. Having not been reading the dirt sheets, you can see how much of an impact this left very suddenly by the massive fan response.
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year - New Day have been treading water for a whiiiiiiiile to the point where they're coming round as heels again because they haven't developed. Ever since I discovered Decay having not watched TNA for a while, I have been veritably smitten. However, I will defer to the opinion of others here, having seen scarce little of them, and not having a stand out team from the main shows, I'll give the nod to The Revival.
6. Match of the Year - I've not seen a tremendous amount of matches this year which is why I'll go back a bit and name a name a match which has stayed with me and that I've watched quite a few times since it happened. Zayn vs Nakamura.
7. Moment of the Year - Arguably the same at Shane's return, but for the sake of difference I'll say that minute or so when Goldberg first speared Brock and the ensuing. Runner up maybe being Shane's dive of the HIAC.
8. Best Angle of the Year - The marmite of the wrestling world and I can fully acknowledge why. Whilst I can sometimes be brought to cringe by the whole deal, the rebirth and associated dominance over everything non-WWE that Matt Hardy has executed has been the cream of the crop. The best gimmick shift for, well, years at least.
9. Most Improved Wrestler of the Year - And for the same reason as above I would have to say The Broken One.
10. Rookie of the Year - I suppose it really has to go with Ellsworth. Whilst not a rookie career-wise, he has adapted and become comfortable with his TV position. To the chagrin of many at this point, he did at least snatch that brass ring and do his best to deliver and got himself firmly lodged in a world title picture for the best part of a half year for his efforts. Yes, I suppose it has to be really.
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year - This si the category that makes me think that I really should have been more on top of this year. I can only give it to Daniel Bryan this year, although I don't really feel he can be worthy of such a distinction, because of his kayfabe-walloping chats with various superstars on Talking Smack. I'm still not sure if this is a good thing down the line, but it has produced some entertaining television on numerous occasions so for that, and my belated affection, I'll give it to the Yes Man.
12. Worst Angle of the Year - I can't help but feel that the Ambrose, Styles, Ellsworth saga has draged everyone down with it. It's not anyone's fault per se, just bad booking of the guys involved. Styles beats Cena clean and then gets fucked around and loses to the Crimson no-cin. Ambrose looks like a manipulative guy that can't get the job done when it matters, and Ellsowrth is simply overexposed. Poor programme given where they came from with Styles to begin with.
13. News Story of the Year - Perhaps the Brock Lesnar test failing incident due to it's far reaching implications into 2 different sports.
14. Title Reign of the Year - I know Asuka has really been tested this year and come through it all being viewed in no less a light as she went in as champion so her.
15. Worst Match of the Year - I remember Ambrose and Lesnar being particularly dissappointing. Lesnar against an indestructible opponent and weapons in the fray should have been a recipe for a great match a la Punk at Summerslam a few years back. It was dull and but a bad end to great potential.
16. Feud of the Year - For me, Charlotte and Sasha will be looked at as instrumental as raising the profile of the women's division and they will be viewed as trailblazers of a sort. It hasn't always delivered, but it mostly has and this has been demonstrated by the office's commitment to giving them the first... etc.
17. Best Major Show of the Year - Survivor Series. I think I'm going to go watch it again. A master-class in how contrast can be used. Not every match needs to be 15-20 minutes. An hour long SS match, great tag team contest and then the abrupt ending made for the most memorable and giving PPV for WWE this year.
18. Worst Major Show of the Year - It's just a case of which one I remember least which I suppose goes to the original Roadblock which I don't really remember at all. Dejected to the point that I might not have watched at all in fact. However, this in itself says something. The most utterly water-tread heavy event in all that is a long water treading journey on the Oregon trail. Just pretend that made sense if you could.
19. Worst Gimmick of the Year - Shining stars. No reasoning given.
Can you prove such a blanket statement as that? Without even comprehending why it would be meant as a "Fuck You" from Vince to Demolition in the first place? It would be one thing if you had said "I don't think", but matter of factly stating that "It was not meant as that at all" implies that you have some kind of inside information not available to the rest of the public.
This isn't some crazy theory I pulled out of my ass, it's pretty widespread. Vince has frequently proven himself to be incredibly petty. With Demolition being included in the list of people suing WWE over CTE injuries, it makes perfect sense that Vince wouldn't want them holding the record for longest title reign anymore, and since New Day were the champs, over half the way to the record already, and crazy over at the time, the logical move in Vince's mind was to give them the record instead. The theory becomes even stronger with the inclusion of the fact that literally the first possible televised opportunity they had to take the titles OFF New Day after the record had been broken, it was done.
It was televised, took place in a month that didn't have a PPV, was built and promoted like a PPV, had both a WWE title match AND a Brock Lesnar match, and had a comparable live crowd to several other actual PPVs. The Lesnar match alone makes it a "major show", since anything he competes at is automatically deemed as "a big deal".
Both had arguably a fantastic year. AJ got to fly higher with bigger stars too, such as Roman Reigns, John Cena and Dean Ambrose. While he was doing his shtick, Miz got to surprise us all by himself against every midcard guy. The feud against Dolph Ziggler got really hot, which is a surprise given that those two have been fighting since the medieval era.
Promo Of The Year
The Miz on Talking Smack: "I'm not a Coward"
Nothing comes even close. Just nothing.
Worst Wrestler Of The Year
Brock Lesnar
He really was. Lesnar vs. Ambrose? Letdown. Worst when we think that he actually didn't care about the match and made no effort. Lesnar vs. Orton? Could've been fantastic. It was really a letdown. Lesnar vs. Goldberg? It wasn't a match.
Surprise Of The Year
Goldberg squashes Brock Lesnar
Tag Team Of The Year
The Revival
Match Of The Year
The Miz (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler - Intercontinental Championship - Title vs. Career.
Moment Of The Year
AJ Styles debut in the Royal Rumble - God it was weird.
Best Angle Of The Year
Chris Jericho's List
Matt Hardy creates the "Broken" Universe
Most Improved Wrestler Of The Year
Matt Hardy he single handendly carried Impact Wrestling.
Rookie Of The Year
Alexa Bliss
Authors Of Pain
James Ellsworth
Non-Wrestler Of The Year
Renee Young and it's not even close.
Worst Angle Of The Year
Maria-Bennett-Dixie-Corgan
That stupid power struggle that led nowhere.
News Story Of The Year
AJ Styles in WWE
Goldberg returns
UK Championship Tournament
TNA needs Anthem to pay its debts to Billy Corgan.
Title Reign Of The Year
Asuka as NxT Women Champion
The Miz as InterContinental Champion
Worst Match Of The Year
Brock Lesnar Vs. Ambrose/Orton
Feud Of The Year
The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
AJ Styles Vs. John Cena
Best Major Show Of The Year
Royal Rumble
Survivor Series
Worst Major Show Of The Year
Wrestlemania 32
Roadblock: End of The Line
18. Worst Major Show of the Year - It's just a case of which one I remember least which I suppose goes to the original Roadblock which I don't really remember at all. Dejected to the point that I might not have watched at all in fact. However, this in itself says something. The most utterly water-tread heavy event in all that is a long water treading journey on the Oregon trail. Just pretend that made sense if you could.
The reason the first Roadblock shouldn't count, and I feel like you didn't actually watch the show, is because it was actually pretty good and had several very good matches: The Revival vs. Enzo & Cass, Charlotte vs. Natalya and Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose.
Cesaro tries suicide dive, lands on his fucking head - vs Sheamus, Clash of Champions Sasha Banks tries suicide dive, lands on her fucking head - vs Charlotte on Raw "You're gonna hit me, and I'm gonna miss." - Shane McMahon to Undertaker on Raw Table Troubles - Charlotte vs Sasha Banks, Hell In A Cell "What the fuck did Ellsworth just do?" - Mauro Ronallo, AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose, TLC (assuming I heard him correctly) Shane lands HARD, speared by Roman out of the air - Survivor Series Kofi faceplants - New Day vs League of Nations, Roadblock 1
Cesaro tries suicide dive, lands on his fucking head - vs Sheamus, Clash of Champions Sasha Banks tries suicide dive, lands on her fucking head - vs Charlotte on Raw "You're gonna hit me, and I'm gonna miss." - Shane McMahon to Undertaker on Raw Table Troubles - Charlotte vs Sasha Banks, Hell In A Cell "What the fuck did Ellsworth just do?" - Mauro Ronallo, AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose, TLC (assuming I heard him correctly) Shane lands HARD, speared by Roman out of the air - Survivor Series Kofi faceplants - New Day vs League of Nations, Roadblock 1
Cesaro tries suicide dive, lands on his fucking head - vs Sheamus, Clash of Champions Sasha Banks tries suicide dive, lands on her fucking head - vs Charlotte on Raw "You're gonna hit me, and I'm gonna miss." - Shane McMahon to Undertaker on Raw Table Troubles - Charlotte vs Sasha Banks, Hell In A Cell "What the fuck did Ellsworth just do?" - Mauro Ronallo, AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose, TLC (assuming I heard him correctly) Shane lands HARD, speared by Roman out of the air - Survivor Series Kofi faceplants - New Day vs League of Nations, Roadblock 1
Killshot vs Marty Martinez, Weapons of mass destruction match is pretty great. Rey Mysterio vs Prince Puma, save for Stryker's particularly terrible commentary. For sheer fun, Mascarita Sagrada vs Famous B.
AJ Styles. Came in at the Rumble and has put on some of the best matches of the year so far. Presently holding the WWE championship, and is the leader of SD, the best out of the two shows. Honorable mention to Charlotte.
2. Promo of the Year
I'm going with anything that Jericho has done this year. He is stellar on the mic and outshines almost everyone with the exception of the Rock and Heyman. People listen to what he says, and I've yet to hear the "What" chant during any of his promo's.
3. Worst Wrestler of the Year
Without a doubt James Ellsworth. Comedy jobber for life that guy.
4. Surprise of the Year
Goldberg's return.
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year
New Day, they broke the record for holding the tag team titles, and have entertained us all the way along.
6. Match of the Year
I would have to say Cena/Cesaro, Cena/Zayn or Nakamura/Zayn at Takeover Dallas.
7. Moment of the Year
Goldberg squashing Lesnar in a minute at SS.
8. Best Angle of the Year
Cena's US title open challenge.
9. Most Improved Wrestler of the Year
Charlotte by a long shot. She has improved in every aspect and is making the others look like they are going backwards. One of the best heels other than the Miz on the roster right now.
10. Rookie of the Year
Enzo and Cass, don't know two guys that are more over than they are.
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year
Maryse. She should be holding the IC title, she's won most of the Miz's matches for him.
12. Worst Angle of the Year
Anything to do with Ziggler, especially that love triangle.
16. Feud of the Year
Charlotte and Sasha followed closely by Owens/Zayn.
17. Best Major Show of the Year
Mania or Money in the Bank
18. Worst Major Show of the Year
Would have to go with Fastlane or Payback. I don't even remember what happened on those two.
1. Wrestler of the Year
AJ Styles, Charlotte
2. Promo of the Year
"Go Back to the Bingo Halls" "You're Last"
3. Worst Wrestler of the Year
Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler
4. Surprise of the Year
Goldberg/Lesnar SS, Lesnar's UFC Failed Drug Test
5. Group/Tag Team of the Year
New Day, Revivla
6. Match of the Year
Revival vs Gargano and Ciampa, SS Men's Match
7. Moment of the Year
New Day's Record, Ellsworth beats Styles for the first time
8. Best Angle of the Year
Joe destroys NXT, Randy joins the Wyatts
9. Most Improved Wrestler of the Year
Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns
10. Rookie of the Year
Authors of Pain, James Ellsworth
11. Non-Wrestler of the Year
Maryse, Dario Cueto
12. Worst Angle of the Year
Every Rusev Story
13. News Story of the Year
Brock's failed drug test, UK territory
14. Title Reign of the Year
Miz's never ending IC Title reign, New Day Tag Team
15. Worst Match of the Year
Undertaker vs. Shane, Ambrose vs. Brock
16. Feud of the Year
Joe vs. Nak, Sasha vs. Charlotte, KO vs getting a heel reaction
17. Best Major Show of the Year
Royal Rumble, NXT Dallas
18. Worst Major Show of the Year
Wrestlemania
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