IT'S HERE AGAIN!
For those of you just tuning in, these are the rec.sport.pro-wrestling.*
Year-End Achievement Awards. They celebrate the excellence, as well as
the....opposite thereof, of the past year in professional wrestling.
The Awards are decided by the readers of r.s.p-w, voting for a 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd place in nearly fifty categories. Believe it or not, this is our
FOURTEENTH year for the Awards.
This year we received 133 ballots. Scott Keith managed to sneak in a
mention of the awards in his blog, so big sarcastic thanks to him for
rubing it up. Despite that, given the interest level in pro wrestling in
2003, this is actually a pretty good number of ballots.
Thanks to my employer, XO Communications, for giving me so little to do
that I could tally votes.
Thanks to radiok.org, BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix and ESPN Radio for
providing the soundtrack.
Thanks to Kim...just 'cause. :)
Finally, I thank the readers of rec.sport.pro-wrestling.* who are always at
the heart of these awards and make them what they are. Thanks for
representing the community, and see you next year!
The following pages provided invaluable assistance with research.
Bookmark them ALL right now:
With my site on semi-permanent hiatus, The Cubs Fan's site is the place
to go to find all the dates and times of WWE matchups in 2003
The Wrestling Supercards & Tournaments Web Page
The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo
Rev. Ray's Page of 1,000 Holds
rspw.org - for all sorts of links, including links the 1990-2002 awards
as well as many versions of the r.s.p-w FAQ - a textfile version of these
awards will be linked here very soon
I can be reached by emailing crz@rspw.org.
Without further ado, HEEEEEEEEEEEERE WE GO!!!!
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This entire document copyright 2003 by Christopher Robin Zimmerman.
Portions of this document are copyright 1990-1995 by Herb Kunze and used
with his kind permission.
Visit the r.s.p-w Awards links page at .
First, a few general comments...
JASON KREITZER: The fact that so much of the worst stuff this year
involved the McMahons says it all.
NADZILLA 333: Overall, a pretty piss-poor year to be a wrestling fan.
HACK-MAN: I can't believe I didn't vote for HHH in any of the "worst"
categories.
C FRARACCI: This past year has been a really bad one for the WWE. If it
wasn't for certain stars (Cena, Angle, Guerrero, Jericho, Christian, the
divas) I'd have given up on it and just watched TNA. TNA has had bad
things this year as well, but the WWE is supposed to be the leader and
they've made a lot of fans upset this year. With Triple H constantly
running things on RAW the show has no chance to improve. Guys are held
down and prevented from shining. RVD, Jericho, Booker, etc should be moved
up and given a chance to show what they can do. If Vince doesn't start
cultivating and utilizing his young talent he could see a mass exodus of
young stars in 2004. If TNA can fix their biggest problems, Jarrett as
champ and no TV deal, TNA could become the big challenger for the WWE and
could steal some big names in the new year. I hope TNA can land that TV
deal and challenge Vince, maybe with competition WWE could finally be
enjoyable again. This year I've had a hell of a time just watching the
shows, I usually have to do other stuff just to stay awake. I find myself
drifting back to the computer or changing channels and watching
picture-in-picture till something good happens. 2004 is going to be a make
or break year not just for WWE but wrestling in general.
JON RICHARDSON: I left a number of categories blank because there just
wasn't an awful lot that was either good or bad this year. I suppose
that's what I get for not watching wrestling from Mexico or Japan. Or TNA
for that matter. The WWE had so many ideas that were good in premise but
absolutely horrible in execution this year. Maybe next year will be
better. Or maybe next year I'll learn to just stop watching......
CRIMEFIGHTER: This is my second year filling out this entire ballot, and
my first year commenting on all the votes. Turn out last year was under
100, and I had decided to forward the nomination calls to various message
boards of wrestling sites in a bid to increase overall turnout. That has
yielded some nominations from indies, but I do not feel any one of them
will "steal" an award. We shall see. Considering that the WWE is the
only game in town on a national level, the only way to see anything
different these days is live in a town that airs one of the indy
promotions, or watch matches delivered through streaming video on the
Internet. I personally have been reviewing matches I've found available
through the net that are free to watch, though outside of Toryumon I
haven't seen much that really set the world on fire yet. I figured the
best way to vote is start with #45 and work my way up to #1.
DAN: The main problem plaguing the WWE is the pointless continuation of
the "brand extension". It didn't work from a creative or business
standpoint and their main event properties (Raw/Smackdown) suffer from a
watered down product with simply not enough wrestling.
A-MOL: The main problem for me with this ballot is that, as a UK viewer,
my only reference for top class wrestling is the WWE. This means that all
my votes are based on WWE wrestlers and shows.
CHRIS BIRD: Hoo boy. This was a hell of a year - the worst year for
wrestling since 1999 in terms of content, except now all the
mouth-breathing idiots who were vigorously stroking themselves when Road
Dogg yelled at them or when they booked the "This Is Your Life" segment
have since moved on to actual porn or possibly SlamBall, so the WWE is
bleeding money. Great news, really. Anyway, I'm just taking a moment to
address something that didn't make any of my Best or Worst lists - the
brand split by the WWE. It didn't make any of my Worst lists because the
basic idea is an excellent one: in the absence of a viable second
promotion to allow talent to circulate and new stars to be created, create
that viable second promotion yourself and reap all the benefits of
competition while in reality having a monopoly. However, it didn't make
any of my Best lists because while the idea is excellent, the execution
has been poor, as the number of main-event wrestlers has somehow dropped
despite there being more potential main-eventers than ever AND in a year
where the two biggest, Steve Austin and the Rock, more or less dropped out
of wrestling full-time to be occasional attractions. So instead of there
being one major federation with a stagnant top tier, there's two. Truly a
bumbling clusterfuck of the highest nature, which just shows that there is
no idea that is good - hiring Goldberg, buying WCW, et cetera - that the
WWE braintrust cannot screw up royally. And that is depressing. Other than
that, this was also the year where NWA TNA really started to make its bid
as a serious competitor. It's not there yet - maybe in two years' time -
but right now NWA TNA is where ECW was in 1995, for better or for worse.
MICHAEL FISCHER: Just a general comment, it cannot be a good sign for the
wrestling business when I can think of more than enough for every worst
category while I have to struggle to come up with any bests.
EDDIE BURKETT: No one had a truly stand out/break out year, so it was hard
to pick for a lot of the best of categories. Even the stuff that was bad
(aside from some of the angles) wasn't bad so much as it was bland.
Having attended several Ring Of Honor shows live during the year, and
watching primarily Raw has biased my voting. I didn't feel right voting
on the major shows since I didn't see much of what was eligible. Nor did
I feel right voting for the tv shows since I mostly watched just the WWE.
And while I'm sure there are terrible organizations out there, I didn't
see them myself, so I didn't feel like voting for them. And I couldn't
think of any wrestling move that anyone does that is patently offensive to
me this year. Overall, it was a rather mediocre year, but I think the
stage is being set for next year to be exciting.
MH GARDNER: Another fine year of sportz entertainment! I'm a fan of TNA,
but I've never seen an eppy, so I relinquish the right to vote on anything
TNA related. Otherwise AJ Styles, Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett, AMW, among
others would be on my lists.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: The year 2003, ironically was both one of the worst
for wrestling and yet had some of the better matches in years. WWE
continued its downward slide but churned out some great matches like
Benoit/Angle, HBK/Jericho, Eddie/Tajiri v.s. Team Angle, and Lesnar/Angle.
NWA-TNA had a peak with a lot of very good wrestling and a couple
memorable angles, but quickly went down the toilet at the end of the
voting period. Several prominent indies were raided by TNA and WWE. A
real bright spot was OVW which put on some of the best TV of the year.
In general, no national company had any great storylines or feuds to place
around the matches. That, coupled with poor booking and a lack of long-
term planned made this a frustating year for wrestling fans.
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Best Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year.
This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,
interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award
was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In
1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: Curt Hennig
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: Bret Hart
1994: (NA) Sabu
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
**2003**: Kurt Angle
133 first place votes
132 second place votes
132 third place votes
58 33 9 407 Kurt Angle
23 16 20 203 Chris Jericho
18 23 15 189 Eddie Guerrero
6 15 16 107 Chris Benoit
5 6 22 87 Brock Lesnar
6 4 9 60 AJ Styles
2 7 4 39 Shawn Michaels
4 0 0 20 Kenta Kobashi
2 1 0 13 Hiroyoshi Tenzan
0 1 5 13 Raven
0 2 3 12 John Cena
1 2 0 11 Shocker
0 3 1 11 Trish Stratus
0 3 1 11 Triple H
0 1 3 9 Matt Hardy
0 2 1 8 Homicide
1 0 1 7 Ultimo Guerrero
1 0 1 7 Kory Twist
1 0 1 7 Christopher Daniels
1 0 1 7 Chris Hero
0 2 0 6 Jeremy Lightfoot
0 0 3 6 Rey Mysterio
1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe
1 0 0 5 Mammoth Sasaki
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal
0 1 1 5 Yoshihiro Takayama
0 1 1 5 Rey Bucanero
0 1 0 3 Yuji Nagata
0 1 0 3 Tajiri
0 1 0 3 Stevie Richards
0 1 0 3 Rock
0 1 0 3 Rob van Dam
0 1 0 3 Mr. Gannosuke
0 1 0 3 Mad Mikey
0 1 0 3 Koji Kanemoto
0 1 0 3 KENTA
0 0 1 2 Vince McMahon
0 0 1 2 Undertaker
0 0 1 2 Steve Corino
0 0 1 2 Ric Flair
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Michael Shane
0 0 1 2 Kintaro Kanemura
0 0 1 2 Kane
0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan
0 0 1 2 Hiroshi Tanahashi
0 0 1 2 Goldberg
0 0 1 2 Dr. Wagner Jr.
0 0 1 2 Bryan Danielson
0 0 1 2 Ace Steel
PAUL ZOROVICH: Oh Lordy, here we go again. Just like last year, Kurt
Angle and Eddy Guerrero will be all over my ballot -- and we start with
the very first category.
PAUL FONTAINE: I am certainly not a Triple H fan, but something has to be
said for holding the belt for the greater part of the year, and keeping us
believing that he could(and should) lose it at any time. I shudder to
think what the internet comments would've been back in the 80's with Flair
constantly keeping his belt against the flavour de jour.
JON RICHARDSON: The best wrestler is the one that puts on the best matches
while delivering the most entertaining promos. This year that can only be
Kurt Angle. Even while missing 2 months with neck surgery he busted his
ass night in and night out. Second and Third go to Benoit and Eddie
Guerrero, though ranking one above the other is near impossible. I
finally chose Benoit because he was consistently booked with worse
opponents (2 months of A-Train for instance) and carried them all to
decent matches, while Eddie had a slightly easier time for most of the
year.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Kurt Angle liked or hated, puts on the best matches.
Chris Benoit close second.
YNAE316: I give Jericho the nod as he was consistently the top performer
for the entire year. He may be smothered by Triple H on Raw, but he
consistently had the best matches and promos. Angle comes in second
because he was out part of the year, otherwise I would have given it to
him. Eddie Guerrero rounds out my picks due to his stellar year.
CHRIS BIRD: Kurt Angle is so far ahead of everybody else in this category
that I'm not sure who's ever going to be able to contend with him for the
next few years, barring a major injury. Maybe if Brock Lesnar ever becomes
a real draw. Maybe.
TEXAS KELLY: Chris Jericho - the only true candidate.
SCOTT CHRIST: It was a tough pick this year, because I'm an American
wrestling fan, and there hasn't really been a standout MVP in WWE. So I
did something I'm still having trouble with - I voted for AJ Styles. I
simply think that during the timeframe, he has been the most important
wrestler to an American company. He made their belt seem worthy, which
they desperately needed, and it didn't hurt that neither of WWE's seemed
all that important during the year. My #2 was Kurt Angle, who is a
superior everything to Styles, but his time spent off with an injury drops
him down a notch. Brock Lesnar at #3, he had a year that cemented him as
the future of the company.
AERO: WWE finally gave Eddie Guerrero a push and he delivered, hopefully
the recent influx of roid monsters won't keep Eddie back because he proved
he can be a top level guy in 2003.
JOHN DONALDSON: Forget Brock Lesnar, A.J. Styles is "The Next Big Thing"
in wrestling. Turning down Vince McMahon may have been a great career
move. In terms of trying to beat the odds of lacking size, he's the next
generation's Shawn Michaels.
ED BRANSCOMB: I've got to give this to Kenta Kobashi who is so good just
facing and teaming with him seems to have raised Tamon Honda's game to the
point where his matches are worth watching. Kobashi had several classics
this year vs. Misawa, Nagata, Chono, etc.
RICK SCAIA: Brock Lesnar was the most important performer on WWE's
stronger roster. It's that simple. There was no point during the voting
year in which Lesnar was not entrenched in the WWE Title picture. Along
the way, he put on a bunch of solid matches (including at least three
surprising outings against the presumably lost cause that was the Big
Show), and also matured into a very capable heel performer. Eddie
Guerrero gets big points for a breakthrough year: he excelled in singles
and tag settings, and proved to be so strong a fan favorite that a WWE
attempt to turn him heel failed. Chris Jericho rounds out the list by
being the indisputable MVP of RAW: he held any number of storylines
together (including the late year campaign against Austin, a killer feud
with Shawn Michaels, and more) as a bankable heel, and could always be
counted on for top shelf mic work and matches.
RYAN FAULCONER: Kenta Kobashi has been so great this year. He brought so
much charisma just by wrestling. Shocker is still the man in CMLL but the
tapes were harder to get so he gets second. Eddy Guerrero is the complete
sports entertainment package - even the limiting gimmick couldn't hold him
back in 2003.
BUNK: 3rd: Ric Flair - who put over more people in constructive matches
this year?
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Best Tag Team
Award Description:
To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year.
This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,
interviews, charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In
1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American,
and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1991: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1992: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
1993: The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin
1994: (overall/non-NA) The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1994: (NA) Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine
1995: (overall/NA) Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge
1995: (non-NA) Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
1996: (overall/NA) Harlem Heat: Booker T & Stevie Ray
1996: (non-NA) Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
1997: (overall/NA) The Eliminators: John Kronus & Perry Saturn
1997: (non-NA) NWO: Masahiro Chono & Great Muta
1998: New Age Outlaws: Road Dogg Jesse James & Badd Ass Billy Gunn
1999: Hardy Boyz: Matt & Jeff
2000: Edge & Christian
2001: Edge & Christian
2002: Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit
**2003**: Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team - Shelton Benjamin &
Charlie Haas (Team Angle)
132 first place votes
130 second place votes
129 third place votes
42 34 20 352 Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team - Shelton Benjamin &
Charlie Haas (Team Angle)
33 36 16 305 Los Guerreros - Eddie & Chavo
16 15 16 157 America's Most Wanted - Chris Harris & James Storm
8 8 8 80 Dudley Boyz - Bubba Ray & D-Von
2 6 16 60 Chris Jericho & Christian
4 5 9 53 Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit
3 4 4 35 Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri
5 1 0 28 Guerreros del Infierno - Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero
2 3 3 25 Triple X - Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper
2 3 1 21 Kane & Rob van Dam
2 2 2 20 Booker T & Goldust
3 0 1 17 Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal
3 0 0 15 Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto
2 1 0 13 KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji
1 0 4 13 Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger
0 0 5 10 Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman
1 0 2 9 Trish Stratus & Lita
0 1 2 7 Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito
0 1 2 7 Briscoe Brothers - Jay & Mark
0 0 3 6 Matt Hardy & Shannon Moore
1 0 0 5 Timid & Pizon
1 0 0 5 Irish Drinking Team - Ian Knoxx & Chris Stylz
1 0 0 5 GOEMON & Onryo
0 1 1 5 La Resistance - Sylvain Grenier & Rene Dupre & Rob Conway
0 0 2 4 Basham Brothers - Doug & Danny
0 1 0 3 Yutaka Yoshie & Hiroshi Tanahashi
0 1 0 3 Samoan Island Tribe - Samu & Ekmo
0 1 0 3 Mr. Gannosuke & Kintaro Kanemura
0 1 0 3 Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade
0 1 0 3 Koji Kanemoto & Jushin Liger
0 1 0 3 Habana Brothers - Rocky Romero & Bobby Quance & Puma Kid
0 1 0 3 Gail Kim & Trish Stratus
0 1 0 3 Diabolic Khaos
0 1 0 3 Backseat Boyz - Johnny Kashmere & Trent Acid
0 0 1 2 Ultimo Dragon & Funaki
0 0 1 2 Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero
0 0 1 2 Molly Holly & Gail Kim
0 0 1 2 Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Osamu Nishimura
0 0 1 2 Hirotaka Yokoi & Kohei Sato
0 0 1 2 Hellfire Club - Machine & Botch (Gravediggers)
0 0 1 2 Goldust & Lance Storm
0 0 1 2 Christopher Street Connection - Buff-E & Mase Mendoza
0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit & Rhyno
0 0 1 2 APA - Faarooq & Bradshaw
0 0 1 2 AJ Styles & Amazing Red
0 0 1 2 A-Train & Big Show
C FRARACCI: Can Haas and Benjamin get any better? These two have dominated
since debuting and always put on a killer match, why they're not tag
champs is insane. Watching AMW is like the Hart Foundation in their prime,
I can see them being a dominant team for a long time. Simon and Swinger is
just a personal pick, they're two vastly underrated guys who can put on a
great show and do quality interviews.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Lita & Trish only tagged a couple of times, but they showed
pretty good chemistry and were better than most of the other tag teams I
saw. The Dudleyz ruled otherwise.
CRIMEFIGHTER: The two best wrestlers make up the best tag team. AMW is
the best regular tag team.
YNAE316: Harris and Storm are just THE best tag team out there today. It's
too bad that they don't have a wider platform to show what they got.
Eddie and Chavo are WWE's best team right now. They got the skills in the
ring and their "Cheat To Win" antics are always entertaining to watch.
Dudleyz round out my picks by default. They're stale, but they still got
the goods.
CHRIS BIRD: Chris Harris and James Storm aren't flashy like past winners
of this award, but America's Most Wanted is just one of the most solid
teams to come along in years - young, talented brawlers with good
storytelling skills and a lot of willingness to go the extra mile. And
they've got the match of the year under their belts, too. TNA was smart to
snap them up to an extended contract - these guys are the next Road
Warriors, mark my words.
SCOTT CHRIST: Went with Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas this year. They
just FELT like a tag team, which is getting increasingly rare this year.
Los Guerreros as the runner-up, and probably would have been my pick if
not for Chavo's time on the shelf. Third spot to America's Most Wanted,
who I think are a little overrated but good, and they've become part of
TNA's foundation.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: AMW exemplifies what WWE seems to have forgotten (but
fortunately, is slowly rediscovering): the "team" part of "tag team." Too
many other tag teams feel like two singles guys who just happen to be in
the ring together.
AERO: Smackdown had a great tag scene for most of the year led by the
Guerreros and Team Angle. The recent addition of Paul London and Spanky
will hopefully bring the tag scene back into focus.
JOHN DONALDSON: AMW is the most consistent tag team of 2003, Haas and
Benjamin would have warranted my vote here, but injury to Benjamin cost
them. Molly and Gail get a mention here because they had a stretch of
about a month where they were the best tag team on RAW. I'll give them
credit for that despite the fact they never faced any men. They could
give La Resistance a run for their money.
THE CUBS FAN: Even though they did less this year as compared to last, Rey
and Ultimo were still the tag team I'd pick to watch above all others.
RICK SCAIA: This one's a coin flip. Both Los Guerreros and Charlie
Haas/Shelton Benjamin were involved in about the same number of incredible
tag matches over the year, and were integral to the SD! brand tag title
picture. I give Eddie and Chavo the nod mostly because they always
brought great promos/mic work to the table, whereas Haas and Benjamin took
a bit of time after losing the "Team Angle" gimmick to find their own
voices. TNA's America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris and James Storm) are an
easy choice for #3; they exhibit exceptional tag team synergy in their
well-worked matches, are over with audiences, and are certainly the
standard bearers for TNA when it comes to tag work.
RYAN FAULCONER: Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito had too many good matches in
2003 to be considered anything but the best team this year.
BUNK: 3rd: The Basham Brothers - seriously - the gimmick is cheesy, but
they are entertaining workers
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Best Heel
Award Description:
To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This
person should bring out the fans' wrath. Match quality is not paramount
here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ted DiBiase
1991: Cactus Jack Manson
1992: Jake Roberts
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: Bob Backlund
1995: Big Van Vader
1996: Steve Austin (Ring Master)
1997: Shawn Michaels
1998: Mr. McMahon (Vince McMahon)
1999: Triple H
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
**2003**: Chris Jericho
133 first place votes
132 second place votes
130 third place votes
39 25 14 298 Chris Jericho
7 11 20 109 John Cena
12 8 7 98 Triple H
9 7 15 96 Rock
10 9 9 95 Brock Lesnar
8 7 11 83 Matt Hardy
7 8 5 69 Vince McMahon
10 4 0 62 Kurt Angle
5 6 2 47 CM Punk
4 3 3 35 Eddie Guerrero
2 2 9 34 Kane
1 7 3 32 Christian
3 4 1 29 Randy Orton
1 4 3 23 Tajiri
1 4 1 19 Steve Corino
1 3 2 18 Jonathan Coachman
1 2 3 17 Christopher Daniels
1 1 3 14 Big Show
1 2 1 13 Ric Flair
0 2 2 10 Teddy Long
1 0 2 9 Victoria
1 1 0 8 Tadao Yasuda
0 2 1 8 Katsushi Takemura
1 0 1 7 Kazunari Murakami
0 1 2 7 Eric Bischoff
1 0 0 5 Test
1 0 0 5 Slim J
1 0 0 5 Nikki Strychnine
1 0 0 5 Mr. Gannosuke
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
1 0 0 5 Dr. Wagner Jr.
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal
0 1 1 5 Satanico
0 1 1 5 Paul Heyman
0 0 2 4 Don Callis
0 1 0 3 Trent Acid
0 1 0 3 Stevie Richards
0 1 0 3 Shaniqua
0 1 0 3 Koji Kanemoto
0 1 0 3 Kintaro Kanemura
0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Butcher
0 0 1 2 Molly Holly
0 0 1 2 Messiah
0 0 1 2 Mat Maniac
0 0 1 2 Jushin Liger
0 0 1 2 Doug Basham
0 0 1 2 Agent Steele (IPW Florida)
C FRARACCI: No one can get a crowd going quite like Cena and his raps are
hilarious and the highlight of Smackdown. Matt Hardy, who knew he'd be the
star of the team. Jeff had the moves but Matt has the personality. I love
the Mattitude gimmick, deserves a lot more credit then he gets. Christian
is another who can garner heat without even trying.
PAUL ZOROVICH: John Cena's gimmick change has helped him tremendously.
He's the most over heel in WWE right now. HHH plays the part so well that
it's hard to think of him any other way now.
JON RICHARDSON: Best Heel this year was easily Chris Jericho. When the
crowd wanted to cheer him, he went out of his way to get hated. When he
was already hated, he went over the top to be even more hated. He quickly
made the Highlight Reel the most entertaining part of Raw, all be being an
ass.
CRIMEFIGHTER: John Cena's raps are things you love to hate.
YNAE316: Vince McMahon wins best heel by default because, sadly, he's the
one person who has the biggest push. As far as real wrestlers go, Jericho
turned in the best heel performance this year. Triple H was booked the
stronger heel so I give him third place, but I found Jericho's act way
better that Trips.
JOSH MANN: The fact that the Rock's heel run only lasted from February to
April and he STILL would get consideration as best heel of 2003 speaks
volumes over what a magnificent heel run it truly was. Had he stuck around
al year, it would have been no contest. He turned every catchphrase he
ever used on its ear, he made it a point to make sure that he would play
the heel at all times and was the most dominating presence every time he
was around, as opposed to a HHH, who needs to be a dominant presence by
push and force of will, as opposed to Rocky doing it without having to
work all that hard to do it.
MATTHEW HOCKING: How sad is it that the best heel on Smackdown is Vince
McMahon? It's not the booker's fault either. Brock Lesner is just not
convincing as a face or a heel when he's left alone, and Kurt Angle is too
popular to be a heel, but not that interesting as a face. The two best
heels on Smackdown this year (outside McMahon) were John Cena and Eddie
Guererro, who were also the show's top faces at the time. Big Show made a
run at the list, but Jericho and HHH have been the most convincing heels
for the longest amount of time in the voting period, so they get the nod.
SCOTT CHRIST: Well the real vote here is Vince McMahon, since he is out of
this world, but I like to stick to wrestlers for wrestler awards. No one
was in Lesnar's league as a heel this year. The brutal annihilations of
Spanky and Zach Gowen, and his turn itself, were pulled off wonderfully.
He works well on either side, but was a show-saving heel this year for the
SmackDown side. If his turn hadn't panned out, they were really stuck.
Second place to Tajiri, third to John Cena.
JOHN DONALDSON: As much as I despise non-wrestlers or part-time wrestlers
taking the spotlight away from the everyday wrestlers, they've done a
better job at being heels than those that wrestle all the time. If
there's one thing that Vince is good at, it's coming across evil on the
camera.
THE CUBS FAN: Rock's problem is that he's so entertaining of a heel that
he ends up turning face before long (and he's not as good at being a face
except for being the Rock.) Which doesn't help a lot in this category.
RICK SCAIA: Chris Jericho continues to astound me with his ability to say
and to do clever things, but then press the right buttons to keep fans
booing him. The creation of "The Highlight Reel" provided him the perfect
outlet to flex those heel muscles this year, and he's head and shoulders
above all others. The "Real" Brock Lesnar developed really well after his
mid-year heel turn, and seemed very comfortable and convincing in his
diatribes; an altogether more effective heel package than his mute "Next
Big Thing" gimmick in 2002. I don't care that he was only here for 3
months, The Rock gets my #3 vote; as annoying as he was as a fan favorite
in 2002, he was pure gold as a heel in this run, and made everybody around
him better for it.
RYAN FAULCONER: CM Punk is such a great heel. The talent he has cannot be
taught. You need to be born with it so he gets first. Steve Corino can
work the ROH crowd so that is good enough for second. Kazunari Murakami
is still a maniac and gets third.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Babyface
Award Description:
To be given to the person who best portrayed the hero this past year. This
person should get lots of fan support. Match quality is not paramount
here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan
1991: Brian Pillman
1992: Sting
1993: Bret Hart
1994: Bret Hart
1995: Shawn Michaels
1996: Shawn Michaels
1997: Steve Austin
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999: The Rock
2000: The Rock
2001: The Rock
2002: Booker T
**2003**: Kurt Angle
133 first place votes
129 second place votes
128 third place votes
28 7 10 181 Kurt Angle
20 19 11 179 Eddie Guerrero
16 14 10 142 Booker T
7 16 13 109 Shawn Michaels
7 15 10 100 Rey Mysterio
6 12 12 90 Rob van Dam
9 7 8 82 Steve Austin
8 4 5 62 Goldberg
7 5 5 60 Raven
3 4 10 47 Trish Stratus
2 3 9 37 Hurricane
3 2 6 33 Spanky
2 4 2 26 Chris Benoit
2 2 0 16 Paul London
1 1 4 16 Hulk Hogan
2 0 0 10 Hijo del Santo
0 2 1 8 Goldust
1 0 1 7 Brock Lesnar
0 2 0 6 Maven
0 2 0 6 Kory Twist
0 0 3 6 Super Porky
1 0 0 5 Shocker
1 0 0 5 Nate Webb
1 0 0 5 Mammoth Sasaki
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 Kenny Campbell
1 0 0 5 John Cena
1 0 0 5 Jeremy Lightfoot
1 0 0 5 Hiroshi Tanahashi
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
0 1 1 5 Rock
0 1 0 3 Shinsuke Nakamura
0 1 0 3 Satanico
0 1 0 3 Onryo
0 1 0 3 Norman Smiley
0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono
0 1 0 3 Lita
0 1 0 3 Edge
0 0 1 2 Yutaka Yoshie
0 0 1 2 Shane McMahon
0 0 1 2 Rikishi
0 0 1 2 Matt Sydal
0 0 1 2 Jerry Lynn
0 0 1 2 Dragon Kid
0 0 1 2 AJ Styles
C FRARACCI: Trish Stratus as I said before is the MVP of RAW, she makes
the show. It's not just her looks, but her athletism, her personality and
just the way she acts. She's come a long way from T&A to star of RAW (how
long till she gets attack by Triple H). Eddie Guerrero is just amazing,
I've been a fan of his since his WCW days. The man knows how to play the
crowd and puts on a helluva match every week. Why he had to drop both
belts to poor athletes like Show and Basham is just sad. Hurricane is just
to funny, from the facial expressions, the Hurrisense, etc. His matches
are great and hell he made Rosey entertaining, who knew?
PAUL ZOROVICH: Eddy 'n' Kurt make their second appearance on my ballot.
Booker T is the only face on the RAW roster that I find credible recently.
JON RICHARDSON: Booker T as best babyface? Why Not? He was a face all
year, the crowd absolutely loved him and he gave them exactly what they
wanted to see. He didn't act heelish, he didn't act wacky, he just went
out and entertained the crowd. Steve Austin is #2 because nobody can pop
a crowd like he does, Eddie Guerrero gets #3 for being so insanely over
the the WWE had to keep turning him face, despite their best efforts to
make him a heel.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Spanky really made you root for the underdog. Everyone
wants to see the spineroonie. And everyone goes R-V-D.
MICHAEL: Eddie Guerrero. Yes, I also put him in the Best Heel category.
He just brings a great presence and ability in whatever role he¹s cast in.
3rd: Super Porky. I'm telling you, put The Big Show in the same outfit,
have him come out to the same music and do the same dance and it's money
in the bank, baby!
YNAE316: I'm going with Booker T for top face this year. He consistently
performed as a Top Babyface this year and in my opinion should have gotten
a stronger push than the half-ass push he got going into Mania. Yes, he
should have gone over Triple H. I give Angle second place only because he
worked heel for the first half of the year, otherwise he was the
no-brainer pick for best face. I give Van Dam third place for much the
same reasons as Booker. He's another buried star who COULD have done sooo
much more (but was made Kane's bitch instead).
SCOTT CHRIST: I actually thought kind of hard about this, and I went with
Raven, with my reasoning being that I think he could walk into Nashville
and fart and 500 people would chant his name. For as much ridiculously
lame garbage as Raven came up with this year (Clockwork Orange House of
Fun? Dream Blood Gallows of Retribution?), the TNA fans just went with
him. Even the Shane Douglas feud, which was absolutely awful, was easy to
accept because the two had so much heat on it. I might have gone with
Shawn Michaels, who is my #2, if the Survivor Series '03 match had been in
the timeframe. Michaels is incredible as a neo-traditional babyface. Kurt
Angle third.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Eddie certainly isn’t the traditional babyface, but he
really got the crowd behind with his lie, cheat and steal persona, and
when they tried to turn him, they wouldn’t have it.
RICK SCAIA: An interesting dilemma this year. Guys like Austin, Hogan,
and Angle did not work full slates, although they probably are the three
who get the most reaction by doing the least. So I'm going to do
something odd and give Shawn Michaels my #1 Babyface vote. He did it all
year long, and was probably RAW's only really bankable babyface in that
span. Also, due to the vagaries of the voting year, he was a babyface
World Champ during the year. I think the case for HBK is strong. Of the
"all year long" performers on SD!, I'm going with Eddie Guerrero for #2;
his face turn pretty much coincided with the start of the voting year, and
he was so popular that fans would not let him turn heel. And of the
partial qualifiers, I'm pulling out Steve Austin for the #3 slot.
Because even if he was an active wrestler for only 3 months of the year,
the fact is that he was a weekly performer, and ALWAYS did a great job
firing up the audiences. If I could vote for Heyman as a top heel last
year, I don't feel bad at all about voting for Austin as a top babyface
this year.
RYAN FAULCONER: How can you boo someone like Spanky? You can't. He gets
first place. Paul London was a great underdog in ROH and gets second.
WWE crowds will dig him soon enough. Its hard to not get behind Dragon Kid
whenever he wrestles so he gets third.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Worker
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate. In 1994,
this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and
overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ric Flair / Randy Savage (tie)
1991: Jushin Liger
1992: Jushin Liger
1993: Bret Hart
1994: (overall/NA) Sabu
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (overall/NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr.
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mick Foley)
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Chris Benoit
2001: Chris Benoit
2002: Kurt Angle
**2003**: Kurt Angle
132 first place votes
129 second place votes
127 third place votes
54 26 13 374 Kurt Angle
27 30 20 265 Chris Benoit
14 23 24 187 Eddie Guerrero
6 12 13 92 Chris Jericho
4 1 8 39 AJ Styles
4 3 2 33 American Dragon
1 4 8 33 Shawn Michaels
0 4 6 24 Brock Lesnar
2 3 2 23 Christopher Daniels
3 1 0 18 Homicide
2 1 1 15 Matt Hardy
2 1 1 15 Chris Hero
2 0 2 14 Kenta Kobashi
1 1 3 14 Rob van Dam
2 0 0 10 Hiroshi Tanahashi
0 2 2 10 Low Ki
0 1 3 9 Tajiri
0 1 3 9 Rey Mysterio
1 1 0 8 Shocker
1 0 1 7 Ultimo Guerrero
0 2 0 6 Yuji Nagata
0 2 0 6 Kory Twist
0 2 0 6 Jerry Lynn
1 0 0 5 Toshiaki Kawada
1 0 0 5 Raven
1 0 0 5 Mr. Gannosuke
1 0 0 5 Lance Storm
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal
0 1 1 5 Rey Bucanero
0 1 1 5 Christian
0 1 0 3 Tiger Mask
0 1 0 3 Slim J
0 1 0 3 Mammoth Sasaki
0 1 0 3 KENTA
0 1 0 3 Jushin Liger
0 1 0 3 Hurricane
0 0 1 2 Shelton Benjamin
0 0 1 2 Ric Flair
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Nunzio
0 0 1 2 Koji Kanemoto
0 0 1 2 Jun Akiyama
0 0 1 2 John Walters
0 0 1 2 Jimmy Yang
0 0 1 2 Jeremy Lightfoot
0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett
0 0 1 2 Dr. Wagner Jr.
0 0 1 2 Chad Collyer
0 0 1 2 Bob Sapp
C FRARACCI: AJ makes the TNA PPV worthwhile, no matter the opponent he's
the kind of guy to build the federation around. Should still be NWA
champion, not Jarrett. Kurt Angle can pull of great matches with anyone,
even A-Train and Big Show, if that's not talent what is? Guerrero, what
more can I say but more talent then the entire male RAW roster combined.
No matter who he faces he gives 100 percent and always makes the match
seem important.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Guess who? Yep, it's the Kurt 'n' Eddy Show, back in town
for a third appearance.
JON RICHARDSON: Best worker this year goes to Eddie Guerrero. He made
matches that should have been bad watchable, and made average matches
great. He brought up the ability of whoever he was facing and produced
consistent quality matches, even against stiffs like Big Show. Benoit &
Angle are 2nd and 3rd respectively, but have just as strong an argument
for #1.
YNAE316: Clearly, Angle, Benoit and Guerrero are the cream of the WWE's
crop.
SCOTT CHRIST: I love Kurt Angle and Eddy Guerrero and all kinds of people,
and it isn't a knock at anyone, but I still just don't think that anyone
in America has quite reached Chris Benoit's level as a worker. He's
unbelievable with everything he does. Everything looks meaningful and
violent. Benoit hits violently, he bumps violently, and he gets up from a
bump violently. Every motion has some sort of purpose, and that's
something I just don't think anyone else is quite there with. Angle is
second, followed by Eddy, who both had truly outstanding years, but I
think Benoit is still king.
VANILLASKY: Best Worker should have included Brock Lesnar. His ability to
make people look good by his insane selling had him ranked 2nd in my
opinion.
RYAN FAULCONER: I think its hard to say that anyone had better in ring
years in 2003 than Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama and KENTA.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Jobber
Award Description:
To be given to the Professional Loser that does an incredible job of
putting his name opponent over. Maybe the bumps that this person takes are
just that much more spectacular than other PLs. After seeing a match with
this person, you feel sorry about the punishment he/she took and realize
how good it made his/her name opponent look. In 2000, this category was
removed.
Previous Winners:
1990: Barry Horowitz
1991: Rip Rogers
1992: Barry Horowitz
1993: Barry Horowitz
1994: Barry Horowitz
1995: Barry Horowitz
1996: Barry Horowitz
1997: Spike Dudley
1998: Lenny Lane
1999: Bad Barry Horowitz
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Jobber to the Stars
To be given to the "Superstar" who has no problem defeating "real"
jobbers, but for some reason can't score the victory when facing
comparable opposition. This award should recognise performers who manage
to look good both in victory AND defeat, as well as helping their
opponents look good while jobbing, and may or may not represent a wrestler
deserving of a push (that is better reflected in the "Most Underrated"
category). In 2000, this category was removed.
1998: Chris Benoit
1999: Al Snow
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Flyer
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying
maneuvers throughout the year. In 1994, this award was split into two:
North American and Non-North American. In 1998, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1991: Jushin Liger
1992: Jushin Liger
1993: 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
1994: (NA) 1-2-3 Kid
1994: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1995: (NA) Sabu
1995: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1996: (NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr.
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr.
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: (Billy) Kidman
1999: Jeff Hardy
2000: Jeff Hardy
2001: Rob van Dam
2002: Rey Mysterio
**2003**: Rey Mysterio
129 first place votes
126 second place votes
125 third place votes
65 24 7 411 Rey Mysterio
8 18 10 114 Rob van Dam
12 8 11 106 AJ Styles
6 9 10 77 Paul London
8 7 6 73 Amazing Red
1 14 9 65 Spanky
2 7 5 41 Eddie Guerrero
5 1 6 40 Teddy Hart
2 5 1 27 Ultimo Dragon
1 3 6 26 Chris Sabin
1 3 6 26 Billy Kidman
2 1 3 19 Sonjay Dutt
1 4 1 19 Juventud Guerrera
0 1 6 15 Shannon Moore
1 1 3 14 Ricky Marvin
2 1 0 13 Dragon Kid
0 3 2 13 Michael Shane
2 0 1 12 Frankie Kazarian
0 0 5 10 Zach Gowen
0 2 1 8 Jody Fleisch
0 0 4 8 Tajiri
1 0 1 7 Matt Hardy
1 0 1 7 Jimmy Yang
1 0 1 7 Delirious
0 1 2 7 Christopher Daniels
0 1 2 7 Chris Jericho
0 2 0 6 Naomichi Marufuji
0 0 3 6 Lance Storm
1 0 0 5 Volador Jr.
1 0 0 5 Slim J
1 0 0 5 Onryo
1 0 0 5 Mascarita Sagarda Jr.
1 0 0 5 Lil Joe
1 0 0 5 KENTA
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
0 1 1 5 Matt Sydal
0 0 2 4 Hurricane
0 1 0 3 Undertaker
0 1 0 3 Spanish Red
0 1 0 3 Octagoncito
0 1 0 3 Nunzio
0 1 0 3 Kory Twist
0 1 0 3 Jamie Noble
0 1 0 3 Garuda
0 1 0 3 Curry Man
0 1 0 3 Bobby Quance
0 0 1 2 Ultimo Guerrero
0 0 1 2 Shane McMahon
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Low Ki
0 0 1 2 Justice (IPW Florida)
0 0 1 2 Jack Evans
0 0 1 2 CM Punk
0 0 1 2 Black Warrior
0 0 1 2 Billy McNeil
YNAE316: I give Mysterio the nod here. I've seen his act for years, but
he's still amazing to watch. Ditto with RVD. I'm giving Lance Storm
third place. While his "Dancing Fun Guy" gimmick sucks shit, at least it's
given him an opportunity to showcase a lot of the cool flying and
technical moves he couldn't as a heel, case in point, his Owen Hart like
springboards with obligatory Owen Hart "Woooo."
CHRIS BIRD: Jimmy Yang does things in the air that simply should not be.
SCOTT CHRIST: A.J. Styles gets my vote here, followed by Rey Misterio Jr.
and Chris Sabin. Most of these guys do a lot of the same stuff, so it's
hard to really pick, but I thought they were the three best. My order
could change depending on my mood, probably.
JOHN DONALDSON: Get your hands on a tape of the NWA-TNA Super X Cup show
or any event that matter that has a Teddy Hart match and you'll see why he
is the best flyer of 2003 hands down.
RYAN FAULCONER: I should really start using Dragon Kid, Naomichi Marufuji
and Ricky Marvin instead of the post office. They delivered it better
than anyone else by air in 2003.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Technical Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number
of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the
moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994,
this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and
overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1991: Bret Hart
1992: Bret Hart
1993: Bret Hart
1994: (overall/NA) Bret Hart
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (sweep) Dean Malenko
1997: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko
1997: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1998: Dean Malenko
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Chris Benoit
2001: Chris Benoit
2002: Chris Benoit
**2003**: Kurt Angle
133 first place votes
130 second place votes
129 third place votes
49 49 15 422 Kurt Angle
54 27 15 381 Chris Benoit
6 11 21 105 Eddie Guerrero
7 5 7 64 American Dragon
2 10 7 54 Brock Lesnar
1 3 14 42 Charlie Haas
1 1 11 30 Chris Jericho
0 3 8 25 Shelton Benjamin
3 0 1 17 Osamu Nishimura
2 1 2 17 Chris Hero
0 2 5 16 Tajiri
2 1 1 15 Yuji Nagata
1 1 1 10 Hijo del Santo
0 2 2 10 Chad Collyer
0 0 4 8 Lance Storm
0 2 0 6 Jeff Jarrett
0 2 0 6 Christopher Daniels
0 0 3 6 Low Ki
1 0 0 5 Ultimo Guerrero
1 0 0 5 Mr. Gannosuke
1 0 0 5 John Walters
1 0 0 5 Jeremy Lightfoot
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
0 1 1 5 Shinsuke Nakamura
0 1 1 5 Jerry Lynn
0 0 2 4 Ric Flair
0 1 0 3 YOSSINO
0 1 0 3 Nunzio
0 1 0 3 Matt Stryker
0 1 0 3 Hiroshi Tanahashi
0 1 0 3 GOEMON
0 1 0 3 Doug Williams
0 1 0 3 Diamond Back Dingo
0 1 0 3 Blue Panther
0 0 1 2 Ultimo Dragon
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Milano Collection AT
0 0 1 2 Jamie Noble
0 0 1 2 Homicide
0 0 1 2 Dr. Wagner Jr.
0 0 1 2 AJ Styles
PAUL ZOROVICH: Kurt and his two protegees, Charlie Haas and Shelton
Benjamin, get the nod here. Sure, Brock Lesnar was a college champ too,
but he's developed into more of a brawler in WWE.
YNAE316: Again, Angle, Benoit and Guerrero are the cream of the WWE's
crop.
SCOTT CHRIST: I don't think Angle is a better technical pro wrestler than
Chris Benoit, and I also think that's saying a ton, because Angle is
fantastic. Benoit and Angle are my 1-2, followed by Low Ki.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Brawler
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year most
convincingly. This award would go to Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish if he
were still around. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American
and Non-North American. In 1998, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1991: Stan Hansen
1992: Cactus Jack
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: (NA) Cactus Jack
1994: (non-NA) Stan Hansen
1995: (NA) Cactus Jack
1995: (non-NA) Stan Hansen
1996: (NA) Mankind (Cactus Jack)
1996: (non-NA) Terry Funk
1997: (NA) Mankind
1997: (non-NA) Stan Hansen
1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Mick Foley / Dude Love)
1999: Mankind
2000: Mick Foley (Cactus Jack / Mankind)
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Brock Lesnar
**2003**: Brock Lesnar
131 first place votes
124 second place votes
120 third place votes
32 16 12 232 Brock Lesnar
21 13 14 172 Raven
16 20 16 172 Undertaker
8 10 12 94 Kane
7 8 7 73 Triple H
9 3 2 58 Chris Benoit
4 5 5 45 Kurt Angle
3 5 1 32 Bradshaw
3 3 1 26 Yoshihiro Takayama
4 1 1 25 Homicide
2 3 2 23 Goldberg
2 2 2 20 Eddie Guerrero
0 6 1 20 John Cena
1 2 2 15 Steve Corino
1 2 2 15 Samoa Joe
2 0 1 12 Satanico
1 1 2 12 Vince McMahon
1 1 2 12 Steve Austin
2 0 0 10 Steve Williams
2 0 0 10 Diamond Back Dingo
0 2 2 10 Matt Hardy
0 2 2 10 A-Train
0 1 3 9 Goldust
0 1 3 9 Bubba Ray Dudley
0 1 3 9 Big Show
1 1 0 8 Tommy Dreamer
1 1 0 8 Dr. Wagner Jr.
1 0 1 7 Shane McMahon
1 0 1 7 Kintaro Kanemura
0 0 3 6 CM Punk
1 0 0 5 Victoria
1 0 0 5 Necro Butcher
1 0 0 5 Kazunari Murakami
1 0 0 5 Josh Barnett
1 0 0 5 Hiroyoshi Tenzan
1 0 0 5 Corey Edsel
0 1 1 5 Rock
0 1 1 5 D-Von Dudley
0 1 1 5 Batista
0 0 2 4 James Storm
0 1 0 3 Yutaka Yoshie
0 1 0 3 Terry Funk
0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels
0 1 0 3 Pete Madden
0 1 0 3 Mr. Gannosuke
0 1 0 3 Katsushi Takemura
0 1 0 3 JC Bailey
0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan
0 1 0 3 Chris Harris
0 1 0 3 Booker T
0 1 0 3 Bart Sawyer
0 0 1 2 Ultimo Guerrero
0 0 1 2 Test
0 0 1 2 Shocker
0 0 1 2 Sandman
0 0 1 2 Mammoth Sasaki
0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett
0 0 1 2 Ian Rotten
0 0 1 2 Chuck Palumbo
0 0 1 2 Chris Jericho
0 0 1 2 Brooklyn Brawler
0 0 1 2 Blue Wolf
0 0 1 2 Beast
C FRARACCI: Call me a mark but I like Bradshaw, ever since he came in the
WWE as Justin I thought he was cool. That and I think he could
legitimately kick most other wrestlers asses. Raven is just immense to
watch him in the ring, he was best in ECW mid 90's but he can still brawl
with anyone. Kane is just a monster with mass power and can destroy anyone
he's in the ring with.
PAUL ZOROVICH: This is where Brock Lesnar fits.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Torrie Wilson nominated as best brawler??? Are you freakin'
kidding me? The Undertaker remains the best brawler in the business,
Bradshaw second. It's tough to pick #3.
JOSH MANN: Raven isn't really doing anything different that what he was
doing in ECW, WCW or the WWF/E, but the difference is that he's able to do
it at the highest level of TNA, and it's letting him show how good at it
he really is. He lays out plans well, bumps well and knows how to time his
comebacks to maximum efficiency. Not bad for a guy who was left for dead
by the buisness.
MICHAEL FISCHER: It never gets old voting Brooklyn Brawler as the #3 Best
Brawler. Or maybe it's just me.
SCOTT CHRIST: I usually like to vote for guys who are at least mainly
brawlers, but I had to go with Benoit again, but I kind of feel like there
was no real choice. Guys like Foley and Austin and Rock could make a
straight brawl tremendously exciting, and there's no one left that does
that on a consistent basis. So just on how convincing I find the brawling,
I'll go with Benoit. Undertaker at #2 because sometimes it's just really
hard, as an MMA fan, to buy his schtick, but I also appreciate the idea
behind it, and well, I like Undertaker. Lesnar third.
RYAN FAULCONER: Homicide had a number of very good matches this year with
most of them probably being classified as brawls. He deserves some
recogniton regardless and if the shoe fits...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Favourite Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason.
Previous Winners:
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Ric Flair
1994: Ric Flair
1995: Shawn Michaels
1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mick Foley)
1999: Chris Jericho
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
**2003**: Kurt Angle
133 first place votes
132 second place votes
131 third place votes
26 24 9 220 Kurt Angle
28 14 14 210 Chris Jericho
11 12 8 107 Eddie Guerrero
11 7 12 100 Chris Benoit
2 12 17 80 John Cena
5 7 4 54 Matt Hardy
4 5 1 37 Rob van Dam
4 2 4 34 Shawn Michaels
3 0 5 25 AJ Styles
2 3 2 23 Raven
2 4 0 22 Booker T
2 1 4 21 Trish Stratus
1 3 2 18 Tajiri
1 3 2 18 Spanky
1 1 5 18 Ric Flair
2 1 2 17 Low Ki
1 3 1 16 Rock
0 4 1 14 Brock Lesnar
2 1 0 13 Colt Cabana
2 0 1 12 Rey Mysterio
1 2 0 11 Hulk Hogan
0 3 1 11 Goldberg
2 0 0 10 Undertaker
2 0 0 10 Triple H
2 0 0 10 Big Show
1 0 2 9 Christopher Daniels
1 1 0 8 Shinsuke Nakamura
1 1 0 8 La Parka
1 1 0 8 Kory Twist
1 1 0 8 Kane
1 1 0 8 CM Punk
0 2 1 8 Ultimo Dragon
1 0 1 7 Steve Austin
1 0 1 7 Hijo del Santo
0 1 2 7 Molly Holly
1 0 0 5 X-Cal
1 0 0 5 Sonjay Dutt
1 0 0 5 Slim J
1 0 0 5 Mr. Gannosuke
1 0 0 5 Koji Kanemoto
1 0 0 5 John Walters
1 0 0 5 Hiroshi Tanahashi
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
0 1 1 5 Jushin Liger
0 1 1 5 Homicide
0 1 1 5 Bryan Danielson
0 0 2 4 Rey Bucanero
0 0 2 4 Lance Storm
0 0 2 4 Christian
0 1 0 3 Vince McMahon
0 1 0 3 Ultimo Guerrero
0 1 0 3 Shocker
0 1 0 3 Pete Madden
0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono
0 1 0 3 Mammoth Sasaki
0 1 0 3 Jeff Hardy
0 1 0 3 Dr. Wagner Jr.
0 1 0 3 Caprice Coleman
0 0 1 2 Victoria
0 0 1 2 Stevie Richards
0 0 1 2 Shane McMahon
0 0 1 2 Samoa Joe
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Nikki Strychnine
0 0 1 2 Nick Gage
0 0 1 2 Matt Sydal
0 0 1 2 Manabu Nakanishi
0 0 1 2 Kintaro Kanemura
0 0 1 2 Kid Kash
0 0 1 2 Kenta Kobashi
0 0 1 2 Josh Barnett
0 0 1 2 Ivory
0 0 1 2 Hurricane
0 0 1 2 Ebessan
0 0 1 2 Diamond Back Dingo
0 0 1 2 Chris Sabin
0 0 1 2 Chavo Guerrero
C FRARACCI: The MVP's of each show, AJ for TNA, Matt for SD and Trish for
RAW. My favorite reasons to watch each show.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Eddy Guerrero, hands down. He's the one I stay tuned for
no matter what. Kurt Angle comes in second by a nose, and on the RAW
side, Chris Jericho is Da Man.
MICHAEL: Ultimo Dragon. Damn you, Vince.
SCOTT CHRIST: Exactly the same as my technical wrestler list: Benoit,
Angle, Low Ki.
STEFAN TORNGREN: I don’t see how Jericho can’t get the #1 vote from me in
this category. Eddie was great this year, and not too far behind.
VANILLASKY: Brock was not listed in the "Most Favourite Wrestler"? Come on!
He's my un-official third instead of Cena.
JOHN DONALDSON: Whether he's goofing on the rap skills of John Cena by
trying his hand at it or he's dead serious staring you eye to eye, Kurt
Angle and his many layers shine through time and time again. I enjoy the
gimmick of John Cena, I just hope hip hop music doesn't leave pop culture.
If it does, it may just kill his character. Sabin is growing on me like a
fungus, a psychedelic fungus that's tripping me out with his raw ability
and ring savvy.
THE CUBS FAN: Matt Hardy is a great example that creativity, hard work,
and determination gets you the same midcard slot you had from the first
day you jumped to SmackDown. But at least he was fun to watch.
RICK SCAIA: Angle. Tajiri. Jericho. Those are my three picks using the
"if I could only watch tapes of three wrestlers" heuristic. They do it
all, and very well.
RYAN FAULCONER: Homicide really won me over this year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Improved Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself in all
facets of the sport in the past year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Lex Luger
1991: Ron Simmons
1992: Steve Austin
1993: Marcus Alexander Bagwell
1994: Diesel
1995: Johnny B. Badd
1996: Wildman Marc Mero (Johnny B. Badd)
1997: Ken Shamrock
1998: The Rock
1999: Hardcore Holly
2000: Triple H
2001: Rob van Dam
2002: Trish Stratus
**2003**: John Cena
129 first place votes
126 second place votes
122 third place votes
47 19 11 314 John Cena
15 13 7 128 Matt Hardy
13 9 8 108 Big Show
4 13 13 85 Randy Orton
6 9 8 73 Trish Stratus
7 7 7 70 Brock Lesnar
3 7 10 56 AJ Styles
3 6 5 43 Charlie Haas
5 3 4 42 Test
2 3 8 35 Victoria
2 3 1 21 Maven
2 2 2 20 Elix Skipper
2 0 5 20 Mark Henry
2 2 0 16 Shelton Benjamin
1 3 1 16 Shawn Michaels
1 1 3 14 Goldberg
1 1 3 14 Christian
0 2 3 12 Rosey
1 2 0 11 A-Train
0 3 1 11 Raven
2 0 0 10 Tamon Honda
2 0 0 10 Shinsuke Nakamura
1 1 1 10 Undertaker
1 0 1 7 Kane
1 0 1 7 Eddie Guerrero
1 0 1 7 CM Punk
0 2 0 6 Tajiri
1 0 0 5 Steven Kennedy
1 0 0 5 Sonjay Dutt
1 0 0 5 Mammoth Sasaki
1 0 0 5 Lil Joe
0 1 1 5 Chavo Guerrero
0 1 1 5 Alex Shelley
0 0 2 4 Shannon Moore
0 0 2 4 Lita
0 1 0 3 Rico
0 1 0 3 Nidia
0 1 0 3 Kid Kash
0 1 0 3 Juventud Guerrera
0 1 0 3 Jushin Liger
0 1 0 3 Josh Barnett
0 1 0 3 Homicide
0 1 0 3 Goldust
0 1 0 3 Garuda
0 1 0 3 Dan Maff (Mafia)
0 1 0 3 Daizee Haze
0 1 0 3 Christopher Daniels
0 1 0 3 Abyss
0 0 1 2 Zach Gowen
0 0 1 2 Triple H
0 0 1 2 Ryusuke Taguchi
0 0 1 2 Rob Conway
0 0 1 2 MsChif
0 0 1 2 Mikey Whipwreck
0 0 1 2 Michael Shane
0 0 1 2 Matt Morgan
0 0 1 2 Katsuyori Shibata
0 0 1 2 John Walters
0 0 1 2 Ikeda-kun
0 0 1 2 Hiroshi Tanahashi
C FRARACCI: Tough pick here as a lot the guys improved (Big Show
excluded), but Matt went from tag team star to singles superstar with more
charisma then I thought he had. Besides anyone who can make Gowan look
good is impressive to me. Victoria for two reasons, from Godfather's ho to
accomplished star and the most vicious finisher of all time. Trish just
because I think she's just amazing, she may not have done a not of
improving but she gets better with every match. Who knoes maybe in 2004
she'll start incorporating high flying moves in her repertoire.
PAUL ZOROVICH: John Cena. As I said above, the gimmick change did
wonders for him. Considering where he was until only recently, Shawn
Michaels gets second. It took a while to shake off some rust but he's
eminently watchable now.
BIGDADDYLOCO: Big Show may have had some great people to work with, but he
kept up with them and even looked like a legit title holder/contender.
JON RICHARDSON: Most improved this year goes to John Cena. Last year at
this time he was still a bland white guy with adequate skills and the
ability to be carried. A year later he's got a great gimmick, big crowd
pops and doesn't need to be carried. He still has room to improve but
with a sustained push should hit the top. 2nd and 3rd go the Benjamin and
Haas because the two of them came up green, but rapidly became the best
tag team in the WWE.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Shocking as it sounds, Big Show had better matches this
year than the last couple years and a WWE Heavyweight Title reign to boot,
so he gets the nod. AJ Styles won a world title as well, and John Cena
has improved over the year.
DAVID POWELL: One comment on the most improved wrestler category. I have
to put in Christian, even though he was not on the list. Between his ring
work and his character skills he has really come into his own as a singles
competitor as well as a tag team wrestler, and really impressed me this
year. His IC belt matches, stint and skits with Chris Jericho and others
have been pure gold. All around, an excellent performer, (reeking of
awesomeness, dare I say) and one who has really shown the fans a lot to
mark out for this year.
YNAE316: Again, like last year, I'm going with Trish Stratus. Her
committment to improvement just amazes me. Her developing of the "Matrix"
move and "Turnbuckle Hurracanrana" are great testaments to her
improvement. She has developed herself into an awesome performer and a
legitimate top women's worker. More power to her!!! John Cena's also
someone I've been impressed with this year. The "Thugonomics" character
is easily one of the best characters developed this past year and his
rapping promos are among the best promo of ANY type in the business.
He's also clearly stepped up his in-ring game. I'm looking for Cena to be
a huge breakout star in 2004. Orton's another name who's stepped up to
the plate this past year looking to justify his huge push.
SCOTT CHRIST: John Cena took a goofy mid-card gimmick, worked it, worked
it, and worked it some more, and eventually the crowd truly believed it,
and that's a huge part of success. He also got consistently better in the
ring throughout the year, going from that weak WWE title match at Backlash
with Lesnar to a really good capper on his voting year with Angle at No
Mercy. I myself became a Cena fan over the course of the year just because
he kept getting so hard to dislike. I went with Test at #2, which was hard
because I really hated Test for three years. But he's finally developed
something of a personality, and his work is acceptable at this point.
Third place to Randy Orton, just because he is better than he was last
year, and there aren't a ton of people to vote for in this category.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: Yes, Shawn Michaels for most improved. Anyone who can go
from "career over" to "occasional attraction" to keeping a semi-regular
schedule has definitely improved, and he's actually contributing to the
show. On the other hand, this isn't a completely positive development --
it also means that a lot of injured older wrestlers will be following in
his footsteps and working partial schedules, hogging TV time and leaving
house show drudgery to others (I'm looking at you, Mr. Austin).
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: I put Cena in the top spot because he's been so
awesome on the stick this year. Trish Stratus continues to improve and
expand her moveset every week, which is something most wrestlers don't do.
Michaels really started to round back into his mid-nineties form towards
the end of the voting period, both on the mic and in the ring. Really
amazing for someone we didn't think would ever wrestle again.
RICK SCAIA: Since there is no category for "Most Re-Motivated," I think
this is the most appropriate place to eat my crow and pay my dues to the
Big Show. A worthless sack of crap, if you believed my 2002 awards
ballot, Big Show had a tremendous year in 2003. The right booking? The
right opponent (almost exclusively Brock Lesnar)? Or learning how to work
a style that is befitting a "giant," but also not boring? Probably a
combination of factors, but the end result is Big Show went from
channel-flip-inducing to a valuable contributor in the last year. John
Cena is #2 on the list; not only did he find a personality that worked for
him, but his ringwork reflected an increased attention to detail and doing
the little things that draw an audience into a match. Last year, Cena
probably knew how to do all the moves he knows today, it's just that now,
he's much better at making them mean something to the audience.
RYAN FAULCONER: Tamon Honda went from craptacular to competent in 2003.
I never saw that one coming. Alex Shelley needs special mention here
since he has only been wrestling for just over a year. He will be in
contention for best worker by this time next year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Overrated Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large
place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved a
wrestler's push is.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Ultimate Warrior
1993: Hulk Hogan
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Goldberg
2001: The Undertaker
2002: Triple H
**2003**: Triple H
132 first place votes
132 second place votes
127 third place votes
28 12 10 196 Triple H
12 9 5 97 Goldberg
7 7 7 70 Randy Orton
7 7 6 68 Jeff Jarrett
7 3 5 54 Booker T
4 7 4 49 Kevin Nash
5 2 6 43 Shane McMahon
1 10 4 43 Zach Gowen
1 8 4 37 Big Show
4 2 5 36 Undertaker
4 2 4 34 Rob van Dam
4 2 4 34 Bradshaw
3 3 4 32 Rhyno
2 2 7 30 Vince McMahon
5 0 2 29 Chris Benoit
2 6 0 28 Hulk Hogan
4 1 2 27 Nathan Jones
1 4 4 25 Kane
3 2 1 23 Brock Lesnar
2 1 4 21 Scott Steiner
1 4 2 21 A-Train
2 2 2 20 Stephanie McMahon
2 2 1 18 Mark Henry
2 1 2 17 Test
2 1 1 15 D'Lo Brown
0 2 4 14 Jeff Hardy
1 2 1 13 Chris Jericho
0 3 2 13 Rodney Mack
2 0 1 12 Kurt Angle
2 0 1 12 Glen Gilberti
1 0 3 11 AJ Styles
1 0 2 9 Christopher Daniels
0 3 0 9 Trish Stratus
0 3 0 9 Low Ki
1 1 0 8 Tamon Honda
0 2 1 8 Steve Austin
1 0 1 7 Homicide
1 0 1 7 CM Punk
1 0 1 7 Batista
1 0 1 7 Amazing Red
0 1 2 7 Xavier
0 2 0 6 Raven
1 0 0 5 Shinya Hashimoto
1 0 0 5 Michael Shane
1 0 0 5 Matt Sydal
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 Edge
0 1 1 5 Gedo
0 1 1 5 Chavo Guerrero
0 0 2 4 Jazz
0 1 0 3 Torrie Wilson
0 1 0 3 Tajiri
0 1 0 3 Steve Corino
0 1 0 3 Shinjiro Otani
0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels
0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio
0 1 0 3 Jun Akiyama
0 1 0 3 Garrison Cade
0 1 0 3 Bill DeMott
0 0 1 2 Sean O'Haire
0 0 1 2 Masato Tanaka
0 0 1 2 Lita
0 0 1 2 Jado
0 0 1 2 Bison Smith
REJECTED
0 1 1 Duplicated votes
0 1 0 Dudley Boyz (not one person)
HACK-MAN: For Most Overrated Wrestler I really wanted to include Vince
McMahon (since he takes up so much time not only on TV but on PPV) but I
couldn't in good conscious bump Undertaker, Steve Austin, or Rodney Mack
off my top three list. Honorable mention to Hulk Hogan, Jazz, A-Train,
Big Show, Bradshaw, Nathan Jones, HHH, Glen Gilberti, Jeff Jarrett, and
Vince Russo (who wasn't even nominated!)
C FRARACCI: Easy choices here, Triple H gets too much airtime, title
reigns and power. Sadly it'll get worse in 2004 now he's a McMahon. He
gets the belt back, he'll never drop it. Big Show is just pathetic. Why
does he get the US title? He's fat, slow, lazy and untalented. Yes he was
cool in WCW when he was motivated but now he's just a shell of himself.
Zach was pushed to much to fast and didn't deserve it, he's a one-trick
pony and now it's time to turn him into glue. I feel for Matt Hardy having
to lose to him.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Like the dark doppelgangers of Kurt 'n' Eddy, Test and
Scott Steiner will be making several appearances on this ballot. Here's
the first one.
STEVE BEVERDIGE: Not fair! So many to pick and only 3 slots. Not fair at
all. I went with picking one McMahon to represent all of them. One
Poochie to represent all of them. And one "only in the WWE or some crummy
indie would you see this guy" type gimmick wrestler.
JON RICHARDSON: Okay Randy Orton. We know you're cocky. Unfortunately
you don't put on good matches, have incredibly bland promos, and have done
nothing to distinguish yourself from the rest of the Raw crew. Wait,
that's not true. You get injured a bunch. He's got the potential to be
good but I'm still failing to see "next superstar" in this guy.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Triple H still is highly overrated on a roster that's all
in all been effectively depushed and buried. Only by completely shuffling
both rosters will this be corrected. Hulk Hogan still thinks he's the
best in the business, no. And of course "Little Porker Punk" was thought
to be so great before he blew up in his first match.
MICHAEL: 1st: Triple H, aka God¹s Gift to Grappling, the Game, aka
HHHubby. 2nd: Randy Orton. Get a date with a laser tattoo removal
machine. 3rd: Vince, Shane, & Stephanie McMahon. Though I give Shane a
lot of credit for the high-risk stuff he does.
YNAE316: Vince, Shane and Stephanie McMahon are my three picks. They are
NOT wrestlers but I'm glad they were nominated. It amazes me that a
"wrestling" program features these non-wrestlers so prominently.
Clearly, while they may be the owners, they are NOT deserving of the huge
push they give themselves at the expense of the talent.
MATTHEW HOCKING: I'm with the WWE on these. Rhyno has a nice look, but
nothing to compliment it. His promos consist of him rambling and
breathing heavily, and his moveset only looks really good against small
guys. Jeff Jarrett wasn't even good when he was the WCW champion, and now
he's being asked to carry his entire company to cable TV. And I've
watched Sean O'Haire in WCW AND WWE, and I've really never thought he was
anything special. He's got a good look, a somewhat varied moveset, but
that's it. He's about as interesting as a pile of rocks and the rocks
could cut a better live promo, all O'Haire's best work has been taped and
edited.
SCOTT CHRIST: Jeff Jarrett's position in TNA is easily explained and
obviously predictable, but that doesn't make it less annoying. Those
crowds weren't clamoring for Jarrett. They wanted Styles and Raven and
America's Most Wanted and Chris Sabin and hell, even D'Lo Brown. And the
product went back in the can once Jarrett was again the #1 star of the
show. Second place to Zach Gowen. The first time the visual was fun, after
that he's just a guy with one leg and I don't care. Third to Shane
McMahon.
JOHN DONALDSON: If I could give a tie for any award in this list, it
would be this one. Both Nathan Jones and Mark Henry equally are overhyped
by the WWE announcers. I try to hold back my gag reflexes every time they
are shoved down my throat.
RYAN FAULCONER: Kurt Angle still isn't even the best wrestler in his
promotion yet he still gets the "best wrestler in the world" tag. Raven
is a smart man in a relatively stupid business which makes him sound
greater than he actually is. He wrestles like he is parodying smart
wrestling, not demonstrating it. CIMA's expiration date was sometime in
2001. For some reason people are still eating his stuff up like it was
fresh.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Wrestling Gimmick
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the past
year.
Previous Winners:
1991: The Undertaker
1992: The Undertaker
1993: The Undertaker
1994: Bob Backlund as the real WWF champ
1995: Goldust
1996: NWO
1997: Mick Foley's multiple personalities
1998: Lionheart Chris Jericho as a Paragon of Virtue
1999: Hardcore Holly as The Big Shot and a Superheavyweight
2000: Edge & Christian, for the benefit of those with flash photography
2001: His name is Steve Austin - WWF Champion - he does not deserve this
2002: Matt Hardy's Mattitude
**2003**: John Cena as the Minister of Thuganomics
131 first place votes
129 second place votes
127 third place votes
44 18 7 288 John Cena as minister of thuganomics
12 24 16 164 Matt Hardy Version 1
6 17 12 105 Los Guerreros - lie, cheat, steal
10 7 8 87 Chris Jericho as host of the Highlight Reel
5 9 13 78 Rock as a Hollywood sellout
6 8 3 60 CM Punk, straight edge and better than you
7 5 3 56 Randy Orton as legend killer
5 3 10 54 Sean O'Haire as Devil's Advocate
6 5 4 53 Kane, unmasked and deranged
5 2 5 41 Hurricane
2 2 10 36 Team Angle
1 5 5 30 Steven Richards names himself Heat GM, creates "Stevie Night Heat"
1 3 3 20 Victoria
1 3 1 16 Eric Bischoff as the sleaziest man on TV
2 1 1 15 Bob Sapp as the Beast
1 2 2 15 Christopher Nowinski as a Harvard graduate
1 1 2 12 Father Mitchell's New Church
1 2 0 11 Jimmy Jacobs as the barbaric berzerker
1 1 1 10 Teddy Long - Black Rights Activist (Playas' Club)
1 0 2 9 Rob van Dam as stoner
1 1 0 8 Spanky with new mask/name/costume every week
1 1 0 8 Rosey as Super Hero In Training
0 0 4 8 Jamie Noble as white trash
1 0 1 7 Ric Flair, crazy psychotic manager determined to help Triple H win
1 0 1 7 Full Blooded Italians
1 0 1 7 "Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels
1 0 0 5 Steve Austin
1 0 0 5 Osamu Nishimura's "old-style revival"
1 0 0 5 Onryo
1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan as Mr. America
1 0 0 5 Garrison Cade
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal as Girlfriend Stealing Teen Idol
1 0 0 5 Army of Darkness (MLW)
1 0 0 5 3 Live Kru
0 1 1 5 Rodney Mack's Five Minute White Boy Challenge
0 1 1 5 "City Slicker" Don Callis (Don Callis, MBA)
0 0 2 4 Dunn & Marcos - 80's Rock Fans
0 1 0 3 Steve Corino as King Of Old School
0 1 0 3 Kurt Angle
0 1 0 3 Goldust
0 1 0 3 Goldberg
0 1 0 3 Garuda
0 1 0 3 Elimination Chamber
0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero's Latino Heat
0 0 1 2 Special K Raver gimmick
0 0 1 2 Shinsuke Nakamura's "Super-Rookie" / "Supernova"
0 0 1 2 Shane McMahon being able to beat Kane
0 0 1 2 Julius Smokes as Homicide's cornerman
0 0 1 2 Flying Elvises
0 0 1 2 Christopher Street Connection
0 0 1 2 Butcher
0 0 1 2 "Boring" Lance Storm
C FRARACCI: The gimmick that died to fast, Sean O' Haire's gimmick was
cool and different. His little vignettes on Smackdown were awesome and he
looked the part, why did it get killed so fast? Now he's the Velocity boy?
Matt's gimmick is hilarious and he's great to watch in the ring. Father
Mitchell's New Church is a great gimmick with cool music and some great
talent.
PAUL ZOROVICH: John Cena, again. (Maybe I should start calling it the
"Cena, Kurt, & Eddy Show?") Mattitude gets the nod for second.
YNAE316: Cena's "Eminen" gimmick was the most entertaining thing the whole
year. Los Guerrero's "Lie, Cheat and Steal" gimmick also made for creative
matches in the ring this year. Didn't care too much for their Latino
stereotype vignettes though. Here's hoping 2004 see's a renewed big push
for Mattitude. Mattitude's a solid gimmick that I love but it's too bad
he got buried a little this year.
JOSH MANN: Compared to the very vanilla personality Cena was given coming
into the WWE and the very lukewarm response he got when the gimmick was
introduced, it's a testament to Cena's ability to play the part and MAKE
that gimmick (as opposed to the other way around) that he's on the cusp of
main event status a year later. John Cena would probably be on Velocity
right now. But John Cena: Dean of Thuganomics is the biggest rising star
in the WWE right now. And it's because it's perfect for him. We just
didn't realize it at the time.
TEXAS KELLY: Funny how three years ago we all bashed Road Dogg & K-Kwik's
rap gimmick to pieces - and now John Cena gets best gimmick from me for
being a rapper. Wonder what changed between then and now.
SCOTT CHRIST: Los Guerreros really ran away with this category. It was
just hard to boo them, even though everything they said was wrong and
mean-spirited. Second place to Cena, who, again, took a goofy idea and
made himself a player with it. Third place to Rock the movie star, because
he was brilliant in the role, but it just didn't last long enough.
STEFAN TORNGREN: CM Punk brought something new to the table and does
excellent promos, Cena tried something that has failed before but actually
got it over, and the Guerreros did a great job of incorporationg their
lie, cheat and steal philosophy into their ring work.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: Aw c'mon, Spanky's ever-changing gimmick gimmick was
infinitely better than the "eager but wimpy rookie" gimmick he got tagged
with when he made the brief jump from Velocity to Smackdown. And it was
hilarious in the good way, the way that amuses the audience without
turning the wrestler into a joke (unlike, say, Rosey the S.H.I.T.).
JOHN DONALDSON: If it wasn't for the lowriders and the Oscar winning
performances of Los Guerreros during the summer where they got away with
cheating constantly, John Cena would have gotten 1st from me here.
O'Haire's gimmick got great buildup, but it just went flat because the
bookers didn't care about it once Piper left.
RICK SCAIA: It took balls to do, and I think it paid off: Rock's return as
a "Hollywood" heel is something I thought he'd be hesitant to do because
of the affect it might have on his mainstream/box office appeal.
Instead, he did it 100%, and the results were that Rock was the most
entertaining man on RAW for 2 months earlier this year. I love the
Guerrero's "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" gimmick, and think it deserves #2 on
this list because of how expertly they wove it into countless convoluted
and hilariously devious match finishes. I'm still not sold on Randy Orton,
but I gotta admit that the "Legend Killer" gimmick is perfect for him; it
gives his otherwise vacuous persona some much needed direction, and is,
more than Orton's performance, responsible for keeping him barely-viable
as an upper-mid-carder.
RYAN FAULCONER: CM Punk as a straight edge saviour for the wrestling fans
is such a great gimmick, simultaneously achieving high and low art status.
Jimmy Jacobs as the barbaric berzerker is just the kind of ridiculousness
that I like in my wrestling so he gets second place. Julius Smokes is
just about the greatest manager in pro wrestling right now. When he
rambles on as Homicide's cornerman it just makes me smile for some reason.
He would be the Best Second but here he places third.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Wrestling Move
Award Description:
To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen this
past year. This should probably be a "finishing" move or something really
spectacular.
Previous Winners:
1990: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
1991: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
1992: Jushin Liger's moonsault off the second ropes to floor
1993: Big Van Vader's moonsault
1994: Vader's moonsault
1995: Hakushi's Space Flying Tiger Drop
1996: Wildman Marc Mero's Wild Thing shooting star press
1997: Bret Hart's figure four leglock around the ringpost
1998: Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop
1999: Jeff Hardy's senton bomb
2000: Jeff Hardy's swantonbomb senton
2001: Rob van Damn's Five Star frog splash
2002: Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker
**2003**: Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker
127 first place votes
125 second place votes
122 third place votes
17 10 11 137 Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker
10 8 10 94 Victoria's Widow's Peak Gory Special into neckbreaker
8 8 7 78 Kurt Angle's running belly-to-belly superplex
8 7 6 73 AJ Styles' Styles Clash tarantula into facefirst drop
6 2 6 48 Rey Mysterio's 619 swingout kick
3 5 8 46 Charlie Haas' Haas of Pain leglock
5 5 2 44 Eddie Guerrero's rolling vertical suplexes
3 8 1 41 Chris Benoit's triple German suplex
4 4 2 36 Spanky's Sliced Bread #2 shiranui
4 3 3 35 Sonjay Dutt's Hindu Press
2 5 3 31 Ultimo Dragon's Asai DDT
3 5 0 30 John Cena's F-U death valley driver
4 1 0 23 America's Most Wanted's Death Sentence cradle guillotine
legdrop
3 2 1 23 Chris Benoit's Crippler crossface
2 4 0 22 Rob van Dam's Five Star frog splash
1 3 4 22 Rey Mysterio's West Coast Pop springboard huracanrana
2 0 5 20 Triple H's Pedigree
1 4 1 19 Molly Holly's Molly-Go-Round somersault press
2 2 1 18 Spanish Announce Team's Spanish Fly double backflip superplex
2 2 1 18 Billy Kidman's shooting star press
3 0 1 17 Jimmy Yang's Yang Time sky twister press
1 1 4 16 Trish Stratus' Matrix
0 1 6 15 Tajiri's Kick
1 2 1 13 Randy Orton's RKO
1 2 1 13 Christopher Daniels' Angel's Wings sitout face-first piledriver
1 0 3 11 Christian's Unprettier DDT
1 1 1 10 Kurt Angle's anklelock
0 3 0 9 Eddie Guerrero's armdrag-leg scissors combo
0 1 3 9 Kurt Angle's Angle slam
1 1 0 8 Frankie Kazarian's Wave of the Future
1 0 1 7 Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner
1 0 1 7 Keiji Muto's Shining Wizard knee
1 0 1 7 Hiroyoshi Tenzan's Anaconda Vice
1 0 1 7 Big Show's chokeslam
0 2 0 6 Raven's Evenflow DDT
1 0 0 5 YOSSINO's From Jungle headscissors into facelock
1 0 0 5 Ultimo Guerrero's Guerrero Special top rope inverted superplex
1 0 0 5 Trish Stratus' Chick kick
1 0 0 5 Sting's Stinger Splash
1 0 0 5 Steven Richards' Steviekick superkick
1 0 0 5 Steve Williams' Doctorbomb
1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe's MuscleBuster off the top rope
1 0 0 5 Randy Orton's Orthodox backbreaker
1 0 0 5 Mammoth Sasaki's Mammoth Home Run
1 0 0 5 Kazunari Murakami's double foot stomp to the face
1 0 0 5 Josh Barnett's Captured Buster
1 0 0 5 Jay Briscoe's Jay-Driller double underhook piledriver
1 0 0 5 Jason Cross's Crossfire shooting star legdrop
1 0 0 5 Homicide's Cop Killa
1 0 0 5 Haas & Benjamin's top rope choke & leapfrog
1 0 0 5 Goldberg's Jackhammer
1 0 0 5 Elix Skipper's Play of the Day
1 0 0 5 Dudley Boyz' Dudley Death Drop
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal's Cherry Popper
1 0 0 5 Amazing Red's Code Red sunset flip bomb
0 1 1 5 Chris Jericho's Lionsault quebrada
0 1 1 5 Chris Benoit's top rope headbutt
0 1 1 5 Amazing Red's Infrared corkscrew moonsault
0 0 2 4 Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music superkick
0 0 2 4 Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho boston crab
0 1 0 3 Ultimo Dragon's inverted ace crusher
0 1 0 3 Slim J's springboard corkscrew Asai moonsault
0 1 0 3 Shinsuke Nakamura's Shining Triangle
0 1 0 3 Rock's Rock Bottom uranage
0 1 0 3 Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop
0 1 0 3 Mutoh & Arashi's Shining Impact
0 1 0 3 Mr. Gannosuke's Fire Thunder
0 1 0 3 Matt Sydal's springboard 450
0 1 0 3 Hurricane's Shining Wizard kick
0 1 0 3 Frankie Kazarian's Flux Compacitor
0 1 0 3 Elix Skipper's rope walk huracanrana
0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero's frog splash
0 1 0 3 Dragon Kid's Deja Vu multiple spin headscissors
0 1 0 3 Diamond Back Dingo's Dingo Driver
0 1 0 3 Curt Hennig's Hennigplex fisherman suplex
0 1 0 3 Chris Jericho's Flashback
0 1 0 3 Bradshaw's Clothesline From Hell lariat
0 1 0 3 Adam Booker's Bookdaddy flapjack
0 0 1 2 Yuji Nagata's Nagata Lock III
0 0 1 2 X's Package Piledriver
0 0 1 2 Tajiri's Tarantula
0 0 1 2 Shelton Benjamin's superkick
0 0 1 2 Shawn Davari's Flying Carpet
0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner's belly to belly suplex
0 0 1 2 Scorpio's Tumbleweed
0 0 1 2 Rob van Dam's Van Terminator dropkick
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton's crossbody
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton's across the back neckbreaker
0 0 1 2 Mr. Gannosuke's Gannosuke Clutch
0 0 1 2 Hurricane's Eye of the Storm
0 0 1 2 Delirious' Shadows Over Hell splash
0 0 1 2 Chris Hero's Hangman's Clutch STF
0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit's 270 degree release German suplex
0 0 1 2 Billy McNeil's Trigger Effect
0 0 1 2 American Dragon's Cattle Mutilation
REJECTED - no performer named
1 0 0 630 Splash
1 0 0 stardust press
1 0 0 release german suplex
1 0 0 headlock
0 1 0 vertical suplex
0 1 0 Booker T's Spinarooni (not a wrestling move)
0 0 1 flying elbow
0 0 1 dropkick
CRIMEFIGHTER: The shooting star is still the most thrilling move in
wrestling. Sliced Bread #2 proved effective for an unknown to break out
and everyone likes the 619.
YNAE316: The 619 is still fun to watch. Victoria's "Widow's Peak" gets my
second place vote as it just looks incredibly painful. Trish's "Matrix"
move, while a defensive maneuver is just beautiful to watch.
SCOTT CHRIST: I voted for Sting's Stinger Splash because that's my
gimmick. Usually I just vote for moves that get me to pop, so second to
Benoit's triple German suplex, third to Michaels' superkick.
RYAN FAULCONER: YOSSINO's spinning headscissors into an armbar is
simultaneously preposterous and fluid and that makes it the year's best
move. Dragon Kid's Deja Vu headscissors still impresses after all these
years. Its even better now that he rarely botches it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Match
Award Description:
To be given to the best wrestling match you've seen this year, either
live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past
year, it is eligible. In 1994, this award was split into three: North
American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1997, due to lack of
participation on both the NA and non-NA sides, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1990: 04/22/90: Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Marty Janetty & Shawn
Michaels (SNME)
1991: 03/21/91: Steiners vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase (Tokyo, aired
on taped PPV)
1992: 01/18/92: Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble)
1993: 10/24/93: Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (Halloween Havoc)
1994: (overall/NA) 03/20/94: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania)
1994: (non-NA) 04/16/94: Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup)
1995: (overall/NA) 08/27/95: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam)
1995: (non-NA) 11/20/94: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (AJW V*TOP Tourney)
1996: (overall/NA) 03/31/96: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania)
1996: (non-NA) 03/17/96: Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani
1997: 10/05/97: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Hell in the Cell cage)
1998: 06/28/98: Undertaker vs. Mankind (Hell in the Cell cage)
1999: 10/17/99: Brood (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. Edge & Christian (ladder)
2000: 08/27/00: Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz (tag TLC)
2001: 05/21/01: Steve Austin & Triple H (tag) vs. Chris Benoit & Chris
Jericho (RAW)
2002: 10/20/02: Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle v. Edge & Rey Mysterio (WWE
tag final) (No Mercy)
**2003**: 01/19/03: Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble)
129 first place votes
121 second place votes
118 third place votes
49 22 6 323 01/19/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Chris Benoit
22 25 13 211 03/30/03 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
9 8 14 97 09/18/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Brock Lesnar (ironman Smackdown)
7 8 14 87 06/25/03 Triple X (tag) v. America's Most Wanted (cage)
7 8 8 75 03/30/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Brock Lesnar
3 7 3 42 11/17/02 Triple H (world) v. Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
v. Rob van Dam v. Kane v. Booker T (elimination
chamber)
1 3 11 36 09/29/03 Christian (IC) v. Rob van Dam (ladder RAW)
1 4 9 35 07/27/03 Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero (US final)
5 3 0 34 03/01/03 Mitsuharu Misawa (GHC) v. Kenta Kobashi
3 4 2 31 04/12/03 Bryan Danielson v. Paul London (2/3)
1 4 6 29 07/27/03 World's Greatest Tag Team (WWE Tag) v. Rey Mysterio
& Billy Kidman
3 3 1 26 08/24/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Brock Lesnar
0 3 5 19 09/11/03 Eddie Guerrero v. John Cena (parking lot brawl)
3 0 0 15 12/15/02 Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero
2 0 1 12 02/07/03 CM Punk (IWA) v. Chris Hero (2/3)
0 1 4 11 08/20/03 Chris Sabin (X) v. Michael Shane v. Frankie Kazarian
(ultimate X)
1 1 0 8 06/30/03 Seven woman battle royal (Women's RAW)
1 0 1 7 05/19/03 Triple H (world) v. Ric Flair (RAW)
1 0 1 7 02/14/03 Zumbido v. Ricky Marvin (hair)
0 2 0 6 03/09/03 Yuji Nagata v. Manabu Nakanishi
0 2 0 6 02/08/03 Low Ki v. AJ Styles v. Paul London
1 0 0 5 05/16/03 Kory Twist v. Jeremy Lightfoot
1 0 0 5 12/14/02 Shocker v. Ultimo Guerrero
1 0 0 5 12/12/02 Mammoth Sasaki v. Tetsuhiro Kuroda
1 0 0 5 11/17/02 Brock Lesnar (world) v. Big Show
1 0 0 5 10/27/03 Rob van Dam (IC) v. Chris Jericho (RAW)
1 0 0 5 10/19/03 Tyler Bateman v. Kenny Campbell
1 0 0 5 09/03/03 Juventud Guerrera v. Chris Sabin
1 0 0 5 08/17/03 Hiroyoshi Tenzan v. Jun Akiyama
1 0 0 5 07/09/03 Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yutaka Yoshie v. Makai #4 &
Makai #5
1 0 0 5 05/18/03 Team Angle (tag) v. Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri (ladder)
0 1 1 5 03/30/03 Steve Austin v. Rock
0 0 2 4 02/14/03 Shocker v. Ultimo Guerrero
0 1 0 3 08/13/03 AJ Styles (NWA) v. Low Ki
0 1 0 3 08/01/03 Chris Hero v. Homicide (IWA MS KOTDM Night 1)
0 1 0 3 09/12/03 Kenta Kobashi v. Yuji Nagata
0 1 0 3 08/08/03 Havana Brothers v Volador Jr. & Virus & Ricky Marvin
0 1 0 3 07/04/03 Heat v. Dr. Wagner Jr.
0 1 0 3 06/11/03 Jeff Jarrett (NWA) v. AJ Styles v. Raven (triangle)
0 1 0 3 06/06/03 Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda v. Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi
Saito
0 1 0 3 04/30/03 Jeff Jarrett v. Raven
0 1 0 3 04/11/03 Mammoth Sasaki v. Masato Tanaka
0 1 0 3 03/29/03 Jerry Lynn v. Billy McNeil
0 0 1 2 10/11/03 Sonjay Dutt v. Alex Shelley v. Jimmy Jacobs v. Trent
Acid
0 0 1 2 12/05/02 Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero v. Kurt Angle v. Edge
(#1 contender elimination Smackdown)
0 0 1 2 09/22/03 Kintaro Kanemura & Mr. Gannosuke & Tetsuhiro Kuroda
v. Masato Tanaka & Hideki Hosaka & Yoshihito Sasaki
0 0 1 2 09/04/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Undertaker
0 0 1 2 08/27/03 Chris Sabin v. Juventud Guerrera
0 0 1 2 08/16/03 Steve Corino v. Homicide
0 0 1 2 07/16/03 Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama v. KENTA & Naomichi
Marufuji
0 0 1 2 06/15/03 Shawn Michaels v. Ric Flair
0 0 1 2 05/25/03 Chris Sabin (NWA TNA X) v. Jerry Lynn (WWA Cruiser)
v. Johnny Swinger v. Frankie Kazarian
0 0 1 2 05/18/03 Brock Lesnar (WWE) v. Big Show (stretcher)
0 0 1 2 03/23/03 Koji Kanemoto v. AKIRA
0 0 1 2 02/09/03 Kenta & Kotaro Suzuki v. Mikami & Kudo
0 0 1 2 01/26/03 Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto v. Yoshinobu Kanemaru &
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
0 0 1 2 ??/??/03 Jerry Lynn v. Homicide (07/26/03 or 08/22/03)
REJECTED
0 0 2 11/16/03 Team Bischoff v. Team Austin
0 1 0 Angle - Brock Survivor Series (?)
0 1 0 11/24/03 Hurricane v. Rosey (Catch the Midget RAW)
BIGDADDYLOCO: Did AMA vs XXX in a cage not get nominated or am I missing
it? The best cage match not named Hell in a Cell in years.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Angle vs. Benoit at ****¾ is your MOTY. XXX vs. AMW cage
at ****½ and Shane/Kazarian/Sabin Ultimate X at ****¼ are your runners up.
Yeah there may have been others at ****½ but since the WWE will get the
bulk of the votes I'm throwing the NWA TNA stuff in.
YNAE316: Anytime you put Angle and Benoit together you're bound for a
thing of beauty so their match at the Rumble gets my vote. I also LOVED
Y2J and HBK at Mania. Unfortunately the WRONG GUY went over in the match
so that's why it's only number 2 here.
MATTHEW HOCKING: I understand that I'm "supposed" to vote for the Iron
Man Match, but quite frankly, it wasn't the best Iron Man match the
company's done, and it wasn't even the best match that Kurt and Brock have
had. It didn't feel like it should have lasted nearly an hour, and
niether guy looks any stronger now than they did before because of it.
My vote goes for Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho at WrestleMania, as it was a
far superior match, and while Jericho wasn't exactly elevated because of
it, it put him in the spotlight long enough for him to get a foothold into
all the other things he's involved with now.
SCOTT CHRIST: The only WWE PPV this year that I missed was the Rumble, so
I wouldn't feel right voting for Angle/Benoit, although I assume it would
be my favorite match of the year. With that limitation, my match of the
year is Michaels/Jericho from Wrestlemania. It was a fantastic match, told
a great story, and was really hot, partly because it was one of the few
storylines the company got over all year long. Second place to the first
elimination chamber from Survivor Series '02. Actually both of those
matches are helped in large part by the tremendous heat Michaels put on
both of them. You know, if Michaels was a full-time wrestler, he'd have
been the wrestler of the year again. The pop for the finish in the EC
match is unreal. Third place to Angle/Lesnar iron man, because I think of
their three matches, none of which were really distinguishably better than
the others, it was the most important.
EMMA: Honourable Mention for the Eddie Guerrero/John Cena Parking Lot
Brawl. That would have been my #1 choice for "Best Brawl".
VANILLASKY: A match that was omitted was Ric Flair v. Triple H from RAW on
5/20/03 (don't hold me to that date) in which the Nature Boy, in front of
a completely insane crowd, proved that he could still go with the best of
them, and almost upset HHH. This match was every bit as emotional as any
you will see.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: Back in January everyone online, including me, was
saying, "Gee, Benoit and Angle put on a MOTYC, but it'll never win because
no one will remember it; there'll be so much good stuff between now and
November." Well, so much for THAT idea, huh?
AERO: Slim pickins this year, a couple of really good matches early on
with Benoit/Angle at the Rumble and HBK/Jericho at Wrestlemania. NWA put
out some good matches but aside from the big Cage match there was nothing
too memorable. Still haven't seen London vs. Am Dragon so can't comment on
that, although it's likely the Indy match of the year.
JOHN DONALDSON: Angle and Benoit from the Rumble was a classic. I was
there in attendance in Boston and I loved every minute of it. Both guys
deserved the ovations they received.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Angle v.s. Benoit is simply the best match I've seen
in years, and even better looking back on it. Despite having the crowd
numbed by a Worst MOTY candidate in Steiner/HHH, these two worked a dead
"sports entertainment" crowd into a frenzy. Benoit got a a standing
ovation in a losing effort. The match had such an impact Benoit was
getting standing ovations after his matches for the next month or so.
It's really a perfect, five-star match. I don't see how anyone can vote
Misawa/Kobashi as #1 over that when they litterally Hulk- Up after
dropping each other on their head, but it was the #2 match of the year in
my eyes. Not even close to their earlier work, and most people who vote
for this didn't even bother to watch Benoit/Angle before rating it from
reading DVDVR. AMW v.s. XXX was an awesome spotfest in TNA. Honorable
Mention must be made to Jericho/Michaels from WM XIX as a match that
really was better on second viewing as well.
THE CUBS FAN: The Shocker/Ultimo stuff was as good internal story telling
as you're going to get. Havana's/CMLL Teen Idols was spot-tastic, which
you can get quite a bit.
RYAN FAULCONER: Danielson vs London at Epic Encounter was the most fun
I've had watching wrestling in a long time. The then-original fan
participation made the match even more memorable. Second place goes Misawa
vs Kobashi which was as epic a spotfest as you will ever see. Punk and
Hero going for 93 minutes was really great as well and those two are the
true freaks of the industry. I caught myself clapping with the crowd when
I watched it at home. Its not exactly the kind of match you can enjoy
over and over due to its length and that's why it places third.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Feud
Award Description:
To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling
match(es) of the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North
American and Non-North American. In 1996, due to lack of participation on
the non-NA side, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1990: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Horsemen: Arn Anderson & Barry
Windham
1991: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Steiners
1992: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage
1993: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack
1994: (NA) Cactus Jack & partner vs. Nasty Boys
1994: (non-NA) All Japan Women vs. JWP (& other outside women)
1995: (NA) Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero
1995: (non-NA) Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota
1996: NWO vs. WCW
1997: Bret Hart / Hart Foundation vs. Steve Austin
1998: Mr. McMahon vs. Steve Austin
1999: Mankind vs. Rock
2000: Triple H vs. Mankind / Cactus Jack
2001: Rock vs. Chris Jericho
2002: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
**2003**: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
127 first place votes
125 second place votes
118 third place votes
35 30 12 289 Kurt Angle v. Brock Lesnar
24 25 12 219 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
6 11 12 87 Kurt Angle v. Chris Benoit
5 4 17 71 Los Guerreros v. World's Greatest Tag Team
6 9 5 67 Raven v. CM Punk
6 8 4 62 Steve Austin v. Chris Jericho
5 3 5 44 Brock Lesnar v. Big Show
6 1 5 43 Raven v. New Church (& Shane Douglas)
5 1 3 34 Kurt Angle v. John Cena
1 5 7 34 America's Most Wanted v. Triple X
2 4 5 32 Trish Stratus v. Victoria
1 6 2 27 Eddie Guerrero v. John Cena
5 0 0 25 Raven v. Jeff Jarrett
2 0 3 16 Shane McMahon v. Kane
3 0 0 15 Jimmy Jacobs v. Alex Shelley
1 2 2 15 Shocker v. Ultimo Guerrero
1 2 1 13 Jerry Lynn v. AJ Styles
1 0 3 11 Hulk Hogan v. Vince McMahon
0 3 1 11 Steve Austin v. Eric Bischoff
1 1 0 8 NJPW juniors v. NOAH juniors
1 0 1 7 Zumbido v. Ricky Marvin
1 0 1 7 Triple H v. Goldberg
0 2 0 6 Steve Corino v. Homicide
1 0 0 5 Yoshihiro Takayama v. Masahiro Chono
1 0 0 5 Randy Orton v. WWE Legends
1 0 0 5 New Japan v. Takayama
1 0 0 5 Lil Joe v. Cade Sydal
1 0 0 5 John Zandig v. Hi V
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim v. Trish Stratus
1 0 0 5 Evolution v. Goldberg
1 0 0 5 Doug Basham v. Damaja
1 0 0 5 Apache Army v. Zero One
0 1 1 5 Molly Holly & Gail Kim v. Trish Stratus & Lita
0 0 2 4 Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri v. Team Angle
0 0 2 4 AJ Styles v. Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 WMF v. Brand Double Cross
0 1 0 3 Undertaker v. Brock Lesnar
0 1 0 3 Trent Acid v. Homicide
0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio v. Tajiri
0 1 0 3 M2K v. DoFIXER
0 1 0 3 Liger Jr. Army v. Tiger Mask Jr. Army
0 1 0 3 Havana Brothers v. Volador Jr. & Virus & Ricky Marvin
0 0 1 2 Undertaker v. John Cena
0 0 1 2 Takashi Iizuka v. Mitsuya Nagai
0 0 1 2 Steve Austin v. Rock
0 0 1 2 Satoshi Kojima v. Shinjiro Ohtani
0 0 1 2 Rock v. Goldberg
0 0 1 2 Masahiro Chono v. Yoshihiro Takayama
0 0 1 2 Goldberg v. Triple H
0 0 1 2 Funkin Army v. Extreme Horsemen
0 0 1 2 Dudley Boyz v. La Resistance
0 0 1 2 Booker T v. Triple H
0 0 1 2 4th Reich v. GCW
REJECTED
0 0 1 "Anyone v. ..." votes
CRIMEFIGHTER: Angle vs. Lesnar was the biggest feud in all 2003. AMW vs.
XXX gave us a few MOTY candidates.
YNAE316: This year certainly seemed to have a focus more on the
"Entertainment" part of "Sports Entertainment" with so many non-wrestling
feuds. Soooo, my only two picks for best feuds, while not the highlights
of the year in terms of "percentage of on-screen programming" are Angle
vs. Benoit and Los Guerreros vs. WGTT. Both delivered solid goods in the
ring and on the mic.
SCOTT CHRIST: Angle and Lesnar had the feud of the year, a great series of
matches that put Angle up a notch historically and solidified Lesnar as a
superstar. The nice and refreshing thing that it was based around their
wrestling matches, with minimal extra curricular crap. Second place to
Michaels and Jericho, third to Raven against the New Church and Shane
Douglas, because while largely sucking when it got into the ring, it was
over with the crowd and booked well.
STEFAN TORNGREN: This was a tough category. Austin vs Jericho had some
great moments, but since we don’t know what it will lead to, it’s
difficult to really say how good the feud was. Still my #1. CM Punk’s
character was something new and Raven was an excellent choice for him to
feud with. Michaels vs Jericho had some fantastic moments, but just like
with Jericho vs Austin, it doesn’t feel settled so it’s tough to tell how
good it really was. The fact that Michaels went over at Mania drags it
down for me.
VANILLASKY: Brock v. Big Show is listed twice. I chose this as my
favorite feud because not only did they provide us with some extremely
memorable matches (the stretcher match, the ring-breaking match), but this
feud really helped Brock and Big Show get over. Brock was shown as a true
monster, being able to toss around Show at will and Show was shown as the
only one who could effectively take down Brock. This was a great feud and
I hope to see more of them in the future.
JOHN DONALDSON: Raven and James Mitchell made what should have been a
lackluster secondary feud in NWA-TNA into months of hardcore hijinx and
sheer insanity that entertained even the most casual fan in the TNA
Asylum. If the WWE had booked Raven like TNA has done so, he'd still be
in the WWE. They really missed the boat with him and D-Lo Brown.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: In a year with no standout feuds on a national level,
I have to give my vote to this year's feud between Doug Basham and Damaja
in OVW. A great backstory, great wrestling, masterful booking by Cornette
and one of the best and most satisfying blowoffs I've seen in a long time
make this my #1. Benoit/Angle was awesome for sheer workrate, and
Eddy/Tajiri v.s. Team angle rounds out my list.
RICK SCAIA: This is the first of the categories where it's #1, and then
everybody else trailing far behind. Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar was just
outstanding in every facet, from storytelling (Heyman screwing Lesnar only
to show up as Angle's "agent," to Angle and Lesnar's mutual respect, to
their second falling out) to ringwork (3 of the top 10 matches of the year
were Angle vs. Lesnar... and they only faced each other one-on-one three
times!). Over on RAW, Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho spanned
essentially the entire year: it was just getting started last November and
is still being referenced this November, and in between, the two cut great
promos on each other and had a handful of super matches. Brock Lesnar's
value this year is underscored by his involvement in my choice for #3 Feud
of the Year, this time against Big Show. Show stepped it up, and Lesnar
was more than game, as they two had surprising matches, and even delivered
one of the year's unforgettable Holy Shit moments (the superplex-ring
collapse on SD!).
RYAN FAULCONER: Believe the HUSS~! Alex Shelley vs Jimmy Jacobs was my
favourite feud of the year. M2K vs DoFIXER was the best puroresu feud of
2003 and gets second place here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the name athlete who was the worst overall wrestler in the
past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent
workrate, and the charisma of a rock should describe this person.
Previous Winners:
1990: Junkyard Dog
1991: Andre The Giant
1992: Nailz
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Hulk Hogan
2001: Buff Bagwell
2002: Jackie Gayda
**2003**: Nathan Jones
130 first place votes
130 second place votes
128 third place votes
26 19 9 205 Nathan Jones
11 18 11 131 Kevin Nash
12 11 11 115 A-Train
11 7 10 96 Mark Henry
12 4 5 82 Triple H
7 8 6 71 Scott Steiner
4 5 7 49 Stephanie McMahon
3 7 5 46 Big Show
5 2 5 41 Zach Gowen
3 5 4 38 Rodney Mack
5 2 2 35 Bradshaw
2 4 6 34 Roddy Piper
2 4 4 30 Hulk Hogan
2 2 5 26 Gail Kim
2 0 7 24 Vince McMahon
1 5 2 24 Dusty Rhodes
1 2 3 17 Rosey
2 2 0 16 Undertaker
1 1 3 14 Test
1 2 1 13 Bill DeMott
1 1 2 12 Goldberg
1 2 0 11 Shane McMahon
0 2 2 10 Shaniqua
1 0 2 9 Jon Heidenreich
1 1 0 8 Sandman
1 1 0 8 Randy Orton
0 2 1 8 Sylvan Grenier
1 0 0 5 Teddy Hart
1 0 0 5 Takeshi Rikio
1 0 0 5 Spike Dudley
1 0 0 5 OG Stevie B
1 0 0 5 Kane
1 0 0 5 Gran Markus Jr.
1 0 0 5 Crusher Klein
1 0 0 5 Crash
1 0 0 5 Cien Caras
1 0 0 5 Christian Hartley
1 0 0 5 Chris Benoit
1 0 0 5 Arashi
0 1 1 5 Shane Douglas
0 1 1 5 Pierroth
0 1 1 5 Orlando Jordan
0 0 2 4 Shinya Hashimoto
0 1 0 3 Yoshinari Ogawa
0 1 0 3 Scotty 2 Hotty
0 1 0 3 Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
0 1 0 3 Naoya Ogawa
0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Frankie Kazarian
0 1 0 3 DJ Hyde
0 0 1 2 Sadam
0 0 1 2 Rob van Dam
0 0 1 2 Mark Jindrak
0 0 1 2 Lita
0 0 1 2 Jun Izumida
0 0 1 2 Erik Watts
0 0 1 2 Eric Bischoff
0 0 1 2 Enson Inoue
REJECTED
0 0 2 Duplicated votes
0 1 0 Dudley Boyz
HACK-MAN: For Worst Wrestler I again wanted to include Vince McMahon
(since he takes up so much time not only on TV but on PPV) but I couldn't
in good conscious bump Undertaker, Shaniqua, and A-Train off my top three
list. Honorable mention to Hulk Hogan, Big Show, Rodney Mack, Bradshaw,
Nathan Jones, Jeff Jarrett, Shane Douglas, Roddy Piper, and Vince Russo.
C FRARACCI: Triple H was my favorite wrestler until his injury in 2001,
ever since he came back he's been a one-dimensional wrestler getting by on
his power backstage. He should've dropped the title to Booker T at
Wrestlemania, but he didn't and he consistently holds down the talent
(RVD, Booker, Kane, etc). How long till he turns face so he can bury Orton
or Batista before the get to popular? Gail Kim was brought in with tons of
hype and has failed to live up to it. She's too green and sloppy to be
pushed on the big shows, give her a year in the minors then see what
happens. Besides giving her the title in her debut was a big mistake, but
hopefully she can turn things around and become a star. Look at Rocky
Maivia, came in pushed to the moon and everybody hated him, now he's a
movie star.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Oh, my. So many choices, so little space. Let's go with
A-Train, Big Show, and Rodney Mack here.
JON RICHARDSON: I didn't think it was possible but it happened. Kevin
Nash got worse. He didn't cut a single entertaining promo, didn't have a
single match that was even watchable, then kept getting injured. Vince
must be couting the days till this contract is over.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Hands down, "Little Porker Punk" Scott Steiner who along
with Triple H put forth two WMOTY candidates.
MICHAEL: 1st: The Big Show, aka Brazo de Show. It¹s really too bad he
can¹t keep his weight down, since he¹d be better in the ring. That¹s why
he tops the list for me.
YNAE316: Not a big Bradshaw fan. He's alright in the ring but I think he
gets waaay more screen time than he should. Ditto for A-Train. Gail Kim
rounds out my list. She was pushed too hard too soon. Loved to see her
high spots but she was getting to Jeff Hardy territory for a bit. Glad to
see she's slowing down and working more on the ground now. She should be
pretty decent a year from now. She's not a lost cause yet.
CHRIS BIRD: Scott Steiner. Two words, yet they convey so much raw suck
that God Himself trembles before the Freaky Peaks or whatever the fuck
Steiner calls his distended arms these days. Amazing that a man with so
much muscle gets tired after a couple of overhead suplexes, but there you
go.
SCOTT CHRIST: And so starts the multiple appearances of Kevin Nash on my
ballot, amazing considering he really only worked three months of the
year. Nash was a waste of space and a complete dog as a main event
babyface. Even Scott Steiner eventually became perfectly useful in the
midcard, and got over after the initial vomit reaction to his in-ring
performances against HHH. Steiner gets second nonetheless, third place to
Mark Henry. It's been seven years, guys, he's not going to work out. I
really wanted to give Douglas a vote here, but he was a good heel and kept
himself over despite completely sucking.
RYAN FAULCONER: Kevin Nash really outdid himself this year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Tag Team
Award Description:
To be given to the name tag team who were the worst overall wrestlers in
the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent
workrate, the charisma of a rock, and lousy team moves should describe
this pair.
Previous Winners:
1990: Rhythm & Blues: Greg Valentine & Honky Tonk Man
1991: The Patriots: Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip
1992: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller
1993: The Colossal Kongs: Awesome Kong & King Kong
1994: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller
1995: Tekno Team 2000: Travis & Troy
1996: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I.
1997: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I.
1998: Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno
1999: Ministry of Darkness: Mideon & Viscera
2000: Harris Brothers: Big Ron & Heavy D
2001: Kronik: Brian Adams & Bryan Clarke
2002: Rosey & Jamal
**2003**: 3 Minute Warning - Rosey & Jamal / La Resistance - Sylvan Grenier &
Rene Dupree (tie)
127 first place votes
123 second place votes
117 third place votes
29 10 10 195 3 Minute Warning - Rosey & Jamal
24 21 6 195 La Resistance - Sylvan Grenier & Rene Dupree
14 7 15 121 Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler
8 7 7 75 Big Show & A-Train
6 7 9 69 Rodney Mack & Mark Henry
4 7 12 65 APA - Bradshaw & Faarooq
4 8 10 64 Undertaker & Nathan Jones
4 10 4 58 Zach Gowen & Stephanie McMahon
8 5 1 57 Dudley Boyz - Bubba Ray & D-Von
5 3 9 52 Basham Brothers - Doug & Danny
5 6 4 51 Scott Steiner & Test
2 4 4 30 Roddy Piper & Sean O'Haire
0 6 4 26 Christopher Nowinski & Rodney Mack
0 5 2 19 Jonathan Coachman & Al Snow
1 3 0 14 Hurricane & Rosey
1 2 1 13 FBI - Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli
0 2 3 12 Kane & Rob van Dam
2 0 0 10 Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri
2 0 0 10 3 Live Kru - Ron Killings & Konnan & BG James
1 0 2 9 William Regal & Lance Storm
0 1 3 9 Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade
1 0 0 5 Timid & Pizon
1 0 0 5 Redshirt Security - Kevin Northcutt & Ryan Wilson
1 0 0 5 Michael Modest & Donovan Morgan
1 0 0 5 Mean & Hard - Mitch Page & Rollin Hard
1 0 0 5 Foreign Exchange
1 0 0 5 David Young & Tracy
1 0 0 5 2 Hotty & Rakishi
0 1 1 5 Test & Scott Steiner
0 1 1 5 Hurricane & Kane
0 1 1 5 Billy Gunn & Jamie Noble
0 1 0 3 Takeshi Morishima & Takeshi Rikio
0 1 0 3 New Church - Slash & Sinn
0 1 0 3 Mr. Pogo & Shadow WX
0 1 0 3 Los Hermanos Dinamitas - Cien Caras & Mascaro Ano 2000 &
Universo 2000
0 1 0 3 Lance Storm & Goldust
0 1 0 3 French Connection
0 0 1 2 Tadao Yasuda & Kazunari Murakami
0 0 1 2 Steve Williams & Sandman
0 0 1 2 Spanish Announce Team - Jose & Joel Maximo
0 0 1 2 Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger
0 0 1 2 Shinjiro Otani & Masato Tanaka
0 0 1 2 Mad Man Pondo & 2 Tuff Tony
0 0 1 2 Jado & Gedo
0 0 1 2 Harris Boys - Don & Ron
HACK-MAN: For Worst Tag Team I'll be surprised if Big Show & A-Train don't
win outright with La Resistance - Sylvain Grenier & Rene Dupre easily
taking second place. There are a ton of teams that could slip in as #3:
Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler, Zach Gowen & Stephanie McMahon, Undertaker &
Nathan Jones, and 3 Minute Warning - Rosey & Jamal. Most of the other
nominees were bad as a tag team, but not "worst" because there was usually
one decent member paired with a total slug.
PAUL ZOROVICH: 3 Minute Warning din't even last long enough for a cup of
coffee -- let's call it an espresso instead. Undertaker and Nathan Jones
were bad on so many levels I can't even begin to go into it all. And the
less said about Coach and Al Snow the better.
JON RICHARDSON: 3-Minute Warning were simply unredeemable. Horrible,
horrible matches. La R=E9sistance were almost as bad but at least showed
some improvement the more they wrestled. Undertaker & Nathan Jones get
3rd only because Jones was so bad he wasn't even allowed to wrestle, and
that's just too funny not to mention.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Week after week, those two Samoan punks ran out of the
crowd to murder women, grandmothers, legends, and heck they were gonna do
the same to Freddie Blassie. I was waiting FOREVER for someone to come
out and punish these bastards severely, it never happened. Jamal ended up
getting fired, Rosey is doing this cuss word gimmick. Both announce teams
had no business in the ring and produced a WMOTY candidate.
YNAE316: La Resistance was a good concept in my opinion. Great for cheap
heat but they just couldn't BELIEVABLY back it in the ring. Basham
Brothers, while good wrestlers individually were just heat vacuums. I've
always loved the "Twin Double-Switch" bit but it's just too
one-dimensional and is basically a kiss of death in my opinion. Hope to
see those two talented men repackaged soon. Ross & Lawler and Coach &
Snow are here for obvious reasons.
SCOTT CHRIST: The APA went from a mildly entertaining couple of bruisers
with cute backstage segments to just being awful. The overdone patriotic
act, Faarooq being really old, Bradshaw's hair - nothing went well for APA
in their comeback. Second to La Resistance, third to the bizarre and
stupid pairing of Christopher Nowinski and Rodney Mack.
JOHN DONALDSON: Jim Ross should never be in this very ring wrestling ever.
RYAN FAULCONER: Mean & Hard broke the ropes with their sucktitude. They
were that bad. The Dudleys are more dull and boring than outright bad but
this is the only category they really fit in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Heel
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose casting as a bad guy just didn't work
well. Maybe there was just no heel heat drawn or maybe the fans actually
cheered this person, but for whatever reason the heel image just didn't
get over.
Previous Winners:
1990: Rick Martel
1991: The Mountie Jacques Rougeau
1992: Razor Ramon
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Bastion Booger
1995: Zodiac (The Butcher/Brutus Beefcake)
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Ahmed Johnson
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Sting
2000: Goldberg
2001: Rob van Dam
2002: Triple H
**2003**: Triple H
127 first place votes
122 second place votes
118 third place votes
20 7 5 131 Triple H
11 11 11 110 A-Train
10 9 5 87 Sable
9 6 8 79 Mark Henry
7 8 3 65 Vince McMahon
8 6 3 64 Jonathan Coachman
6 7 4 59 Vince Russo
6 3 7 53 Rico
5 4 6 49 Gail Kim
3 7 3 42 Rodney Mack
3 6 4 41 Test
3 6 3 39 Randy Orton
2 5 7 39 Al Snow
4 1 6 35 Eddie Guerrero
2 5 4 33 Roddy Piper
3 1 5 28 Dawn Marie
4 1 1 25 Rock
2 3 3 25 Big Show
2 3 2 23 Kane
1 4 3 23 Shaniqua
2 3 1 21 Brock Lesnar
3 0 0 15 Steven Richards
1 1 2 12 Shane Douglas
0 2 2 10 Nathan Jones
1 0 2 9 AJ Styles
1 1 0 8 Xavier
1 1 0 8 Ric Flair
0 2 1 8 Sean O'Haire
0 0 4 8 Batista
1 0 1 7 Matt Taylor
1 0 1 7 Jeff Jarrett
1 0 1 7 Bill DeMott
0 2 0 6 La Resistance
1 0 0 5 Yoshinari Ogawa
1 0 0 5 Tajiri
1 0 0 5 B-Boy
0 1 0 3 Vampiro
0 1 0 3 Steve Corino
0 1 0 3 Stephanie McMahon
0 1 0 3 Scott Steiner
0 1 0 3 Rob Conway
0 1 0 3 Jamie Noble
0 0 1 2 Val Fuego Roacho
0 0 1 2 Sylvan Grenier
0 0 1 2 Shannon Moore
0 0 1 2 Ricky Marvin
0 0 1 2 Paul Heyman
0 0 1 2 Johnny Stamboli
0 0 1 2 Jerry Lawler
0 0 1 2 Glen Gilberti
0 0 1 2 Eric Bischoff
0 0 1 2 Barry Windham
REJECTED
1 1 0 Duplicated votes
HACK-MAN: The three Worst Heels are Vince Russo, Sable, and Roddy Piper
(since no one had "go away" heat like these three. Honorable mention to
Vince McMahon, and Nathan Jones (who wasn't even nominated!)
C FRARACCI: Eddie is just too funny and charismatic to be booed. Sean
O'Haire had a cool gimmick that was intriguing and I thought he deserved a
big push. The gimmick was to good to be a bad guy. Al Snow is too
respected for a cheap heel turn for no reason.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Eddy Guerrero just does not work as a heel.
JON RICHARDSON: Randy Orton again. One of these days he's actually going
to have to do something heelish besides just standing behind Triple-H with
a smirk on his face. Test and Mark Henry play the same characters as they
did as faces. In fact, was Test a face or a heel for the bulk of the
year? I was never sure.....
CRIMEFIGHTER: Once again, Triple H bores us to tears. What were they
thinking making the Coach a heel? And Test is boring.
YNAE316: My sole pick is Eddie Guerrero. He performed the heel role well,
but he turned himself face in the process, always the sign of a "bad"
heel.
MATTHEW HOCKING: I really do like AJ Styles, but when your world champion
is as bland as he is he deserves the Worst Heel award.
SCOTT CHRIST: I know Al Snow *can* be a great heel, but who really wants
to boo the super nice guy that starred on Tough Enough for three seasons?
It didn't work out so well. Second to A-Train, who tries, God bless him,
but he's just not ever going to do anything. Third to Rico, though not
really his fault.
STEFAN TORNGREN: I enjoyed both The Rock’s and Eddie’s heel work very
much, but since they weren’t able to get heel heat (Rock was at first, but
then there was the Goldberg feud), I gave them #1 & #2. Piper wasn’t
convincing either.
JOHN DONALDSON: Steven Richards couldn't get a reaction even if he was
getting stung by a hive of bumblebees.
RYAN FAULCONER: Brock Lesnar sounds like his name was Ox in college and he
protected the chess club from the football team. That doesn't really make
him much of a heel though. Kane is far too silly a gimmick to be a good
heel. Piper doesn't really make a good anything any more let alone a good
heel so he gets third.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Babyface
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose casting as a good guy just didn't work
well. Maybe there was just no face heat drawn or maybe the fans actually
booed this person, but for whatever reason the face image just didn't get
over.
Previous Winners:
1990: Dusty Rhodes
1991: P.N. News
1992: Sid Justice
1993: Lex Luger
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: John Tenta
1997: Rocky Maivia
1998: Warrior
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Hulk Hogan
2001: "The One" Billy Gunn
2002: Triple H
**2003**: Stephanie McMahon / Scott Steiner (tie)
129 first place votes
126 second place votes
119 third place votes
19 13 10 154 Stephanie McMahon
18 16 8 154 Scott Steiner
18 6 9 126 Billy Gunn
13 13 11 126 Kevin Nash
9 6 6 75 Jeff Jarrett
8 7 7 75 Nathan Jones
9 4 2 61 Brock Lesnar
4 8 6 56 Shane McMahon
6 3 5 49 Zach Gowen
2 8 6 46 Gail Kim
5 1 4 36 Goldberg
2 5 4 33 Bradshaw
3 2 5 31 Test
1 6 2 27 Rikishi
2 3 2 23 Rhyno
1 2 6 23 Linda McMahon
2 2 3 22 Lance Storm
1 3 0 14 Kurt Angle
1 1 2 12 Mr. America (Hulk Hogan)
0 0 6 12 Undertaker
1 2 0 11 Maven
1 1 1 10 Jamie Noble
0 1 3 9 Rosey
1 0 1 7 Shawn Michaels
1 0 1 7 Kid Lightning
1 0 0 5 Gran Markus Jr.
0 1 1 5 Val Venis
0 1 1 5 Rey Mysterio
0 1 1 5 Billy Kidman
0 1 0 3 Steve Austin
0 1 0 3 Stacey Keibler
0 1 0 3 Roddy Piper
0 1 0 3 Raven
0 1 0 3 Mat Maniac
0 1 0 3 Mark Madison
0 1 0 3 Erik Watts
0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit
0 0 1 2 Tajiri
0 0 1 2 Sable
0 0 1 2 Orlando Jordan
0 0 1 2 John Cena
0 0 1 2 Homicide
0 0 1 2 Dusty Rhodes
REJECTED - tag teams are ineligible for this award
0 1 0 Dudley Boyz
0 1 0 America's Most Wanted
HACK-MAN: While it would be tempting to list three random McMahons as
Worst Babyfaces, I went with Jeff Jarrett, Stephanie McMahon, and
Undertaker.
C FRARACCI: Billy Gunn has been given to many chances, face facts he
sucks. The man should not even have a job at this point. His best years
were with Road Dogg. Good guy Billy was boring and hopefully he doesn't
come back. Rhyno and Tajiri are much better as heels, they're both vicious
and tough and should be ass kickers.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Yet another category where there are too many to choose
from. Let's go with Nathan Jones here, as I can't bring myself to care
about him.
JON RICHARDSON: Scott Steiner is the only person I've ever seen trying to
get over as a babyface by threatening females and the elderly. He somehow
managed to be a completely despicable person that did nothing to pop the
crowd, but was pushed as a face for almost the entire year. Weird.
Kevin nash and Stephanie McMahon made it a close 3-way race, as both of
them seem to have completely forgotten how to be a face.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Everyone booed Steiner, cause he sucked so bad in the ring.
Gail Kim was a failed experiment, they should had put her in longer
matches so she could improve in the ring instead of these three minute
spotfests. Nathan Jones, never got to see him wrestle a match, WHY?
YNAE316: Nash and Steiner, both well past their primes, just sucked as the
"top faces." It amazes me that BOTH men headlined two consecutive PPVs at
the expense of more deserving wrestlers such as Booker T and RVD (who are
now both damaged goods). I'm rounding out my list here with Gail Kim who
appeared out of nowhere and got pushed to the moon and consequently as a
result failed to get over. Hopefully she's not too damaged beyond repair
yet.
CHRIS BIRD: Remember how they brought in Scott Steiner as Trip's big face
opponent with hordes of fanfare? Remember the "bidding war" for his
services between RAW and Smackdown? Remember the pushup contest? The
armwrestling contest? The posedown? The five thousand other things
designed to disguise the fact that Steiner could no longer wrestle for
more than five minutes without collapsing in a puddle of his own sweat?
Remember how the fans didn't buy it and booed the living shit out of him
at two straight PPV main events? Hey, who says there's nothing good to
remember about 2003?
MICHAEL FISCHER: This has to be the greatest year in the history of the
"Worst Babyface" category. The WWE wanted to push Steiner and Nash as main
event faces and as soon as they got in the ring, the crowd started to boo
them like crazy. Jarrett actually has to have someone instruct the crowd
not to boo him. This category is so deep that Goldberg, who was also booed
mightily while being pushed as a #1 face can't even make the top three.
Incredible.
SCOTT CHRIST: Jarrett was a terrible "number one" babyface for TNA. Nash
and Steiner as runners-up.
JOHN DONALDSON: Rhyno is better off as a heel with that nasty Gore.
Storm lacks the personality to be a good face. Billy Gunn can't get
cheers on his own with having someone else by his side.
RYAN FAULCONER: There was no real reason to get behind Raven in his feud
with the heel CM Punk. Raven seemed much more like the heel to me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Worker
Award Description:
To be given to the name wrestler whose workrate is so low it's barely
measureable.
Previous Winners:
1990: Junkyard Dog
1991: Andre The Giant
1992: Nailz
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Kevin Nash
2001: Buff Bagwell
2002: Jackie Gayda
**2003**: Nathan Jones
129 first place votes
125 second place votes
125 third place votes
32 13 6 211 Nathan Jones
14 13 14 137 Kevin Nash
9 10 5 85 Mark Henry
4 12 11 78 Scott Steiner
9 3 8 70 A-Train
8 5 4 63 Jim Ross
7 4 4 55 Triple H
5 6 5 53 Hulk Hogan
4 3 11 51 Stephanie McMahon
3 8 5 49 Big Show
3 4 4 35 Sylvan Grenier
1 5 7 34 Jon Heidenreich
1 5 2 24 Bradshaw
0 4 5 22 Rodney Mack
3 1 1 20 Shane Douglas
3 0 2 19 Undertaker
0 4 2 16 Dusty Rhodes
0 3 3 15 Roddy Piper
1 2 1 13 Batista
0 2 3 12 Shane McMahon
1 1 1 10 Vince McMahon
1 1 1 10 Bill DeMott
0 1 3 9 Goldberg
1 1 0 8 Steve Corino
1 1 0 8 Big Daddy
1 0 1 7 Rock
1 0 1 7 Jackie Gayda
0 1 2 7 Rosey
1 0 0 5 Yoshinari Ogawa
1 0 0 5 Teddy Hart
1 0 0 5 Shaniqua
1 0 0 5 Sean O'Haire
1 0 0 5 Rikishi
1 0 0 5 OG Stevie B
1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan
1 0 0 5 Kane
1 0 0 5 Iceberg
1 0 0 5 Gran Markus Jr.
1 0 0 5 Garrison Cade
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
1 0 0 5 Freebird Buddy Rose (WV)
1 0 0 5 Enson Inoue
1 0 0 5 Cien Caras
1 0 0 5 Chris Benoit
0 1 1 5 Zach Gowen
0 1 0 3 Test
0 1 0 3 Takeshi Rikio
0 1 0 3 Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
0 1 0 3 Mitsuharu Misawa
0 1 0 3 Mad Man Pondo
0 1 0 3 Erik Watts
0 1 0 3 Edward Chastain
0 1 0 3 Billy Gunn
0 1 0 3 Abdullah the Butcher
0 1 0 3 AJ Styles
0 0 1 2 Shocker
0 0 1 2 Shinya Hashimoto
0 0 1 2 Scotty 2 Hotty
0 0 1 2 Pierroth Jr.
0 0 1 2 Mat Maniac
0 0 1 2 Keiji Mutoh
0 0 1 2 Jun Izumida
0 0 1 2 Jazz
0 0 1 2 Jamal
0 0 1 2 Faarooq
0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels
0 0 1 2 Booker T
REJECTED
0 1 0 Duplicated votes
DON DEL GRANDE: Is it fair to include non-wrestlers? Do you expect Jim
Ross to have a high workrate?
HACK-MAN: For Worst Worker, I had to leave out a lot of regular bad
workers (Albert, Big Show, Nathan Jones, Undertaker, Nash) in favor of
people who wrestled very few matches, but were far worse than the bottom
of the barrel of regular workers: Jim Ross, Roddy Piper, and Stephanie
McMahon.
C FRARACCI: Big Show is over pushed and has no talent, release the slob.
He's never going to improve and be watchable. He had one good moment in
WWE/F surfing on his father casket, otherwise he's been a bust since his
WWF debut. Scott Steiner was so cool back in the late 80's-early ninties,
then the steroids hit. Now he's a boring, plodding big man with no
abilities anymore. Triple H is in the same boat as Steiner, had tons of
talent and promise, but took the roids and the power instead of the talent
to the top. It's sad to see these three now a days as they all had promise
before getting lazy. Kevin Nash is just pathetic and I can't even bother
to vote for him. He's done nothing since returning with the NWO last year.
PAUL ZOROVICH: A-Train. A-Train. A-Train. Oh, I can't vote for the same
guy three times? OK. A-Train, Big Show, and Jim Ross.
JON RICHARDSON: Kevin Nash, come on down. Wait. Don't. You'd probably
break a hip.
CRIMEFIGHTER: This guy won't win, but this imposter Freebird Buddy Rose
stole the identity of Playboy Buddy Rose and promotes himself as a member
of the Freebirds and as the former AWA tag champ. He only has two moves, a
headlock and a thumb to the throat. He put on one of the worst matches of
the year at an IWF show in Springfield, IL thus he gets my vote. Little
Porker Punk and a non-wrestler Jim Ross who shouldn't be in the ring
period get the runners up.
YNAE316: Triple H is my top pick. He's okay in the ring still, but NOT at
the level that the champion should be. I'm glad he deigned to drop the
strap for a bit but he obviously has only his own interests in mind.
Mark Henry and Nash round out my list for obvious reasons.
SCOTT CHRIST: Hogan and Nash at 2 and 3, but Shane Douglas stole the show
as far as bad work goes this year. For one thing, he doesn't have quite
the excuses that Hogan and Nash do. For another thing, he puked during a
match.
BUNK: 3rd: Goldberg - This vote may be exagerating, but the champ should
know how to work better than he does
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Least Favourite Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler you like the least, regardless of the reason.
Previous Winners:
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Hulk Hogan
1993: Hulk Hogan
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Hulk Hogan
2001: Buff Bagwell
2002: Triple H
**2003**: Triple H
130 first place votes
127 second place votes
124 third place votes
37 9 3 218 Triple H
10 13 10 109 A-Train
8 8 8 80 Kevin Nash
6 4 9 60 Bradshaw
8 2 5 56 Goldberg
5 3 9 52 Mark Henry
5 4 5 47 Nathan Jones
2 8 5 44 Undertaker
2 8 4 42 Scott Steiner
4 4 4 40 Stephanie McMahon
2 5 6 37 Shane McMahon
4 3 2 33 Jeff Jarrett
2 5 3 31 Big Show
3 3 3 30 Test
1 3 6 26 Vince McMahon
3 3 0 24 Bill DeMott
2 1 4 21 Hulk Hogan
3 1 1 20 Randy Orton
2 2 0 16 Rico
1 2 1 13 Shane Douglas
1 2 1 13 Rhyno
2 0 0 10 Homicide
2 0 0 10 Batista
1 1 1 10 Kurt Angle
1 1 1 10 Kane
0 2 2 10 Bubba Ray Dudley
0 1 3 9 Rob van Dam
0 2 1 8 Zach Gowen
0 2 1 8 Sandman
0 2 1 8 Rayo de Jalisco Jr.
1 0 1 7 AJ Styles
0 1 2 7 Tadao Yasuda
0 1 2 7 Shawn Michaels
0 1 2 7 Rikishi
0 1 2 7 Billy Gunn
0 2 0 6 Yoshinari Ogawa
0 2 0 6 Rodney Mack
0 2 0 6 Low Ki
1 0 0 5 Teddy Hart
1 0 0 5 Spike Dudley
1 0 0 5 Rock
1 0 0 5 Pierroth Jr.
1 0 0 5 Naoya Ogawa
1 0 0 5 Lex Luger
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 Jazz
1 0 0 5 Dusty Rhodes
1 0 0 5 Cien Caras
1 0 0 5 Booker T
1 0 0 5 Big Daddy
0 1 1 5 Val Venis
0 1 1 5 Rob Conway
0 1 0 3 Trish Stratus
0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio
0 1 0 3 Lita
0 1 0 3 Kensuke Sasaki
0 1 0 3 Gran Markus Jr.
0 1 0 3 Genichiro Tenryu
0 1 0 3 Erik Watts
0 1 0 3 Arashi
0 1 0 3 Ace Steel
0 0 1 2 Vampiro
0 0 1 2 Takeshi Rikio
0 0 1 2 Sylvan Grenier
0 0 1 2 Shinya Hashimoto
0 0 1 2 Shannon Moore
0 0 1 2 Pizon
0 0 1 2 Orlando Jordan
0 0 1 2 Jaqueline
0 0 1 2 Jackal
0 0 1 2 Gail Kim
0 0 1 2 Don Harris
0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels
0 0 1 2 CM Punk
0 0 1 2 Amazing Red
REJECTED - tag teams are ineligible for this award
0 1 0 Spanish Announce Team
0 1 0 Dudley Boyz
DON DEL GRANDE: Is there a correlation between "least favorite wrestler"
and "worst wrestling gimmick"? The main reason for my #1 is the whole
"Mr. America" thing.
PAUL ZOROVICH: A-Train. A-Train. A-Train. Dammit, I STILL can't vote
for the same guy three times? OK. A-Train, Big Show, Scott Steiner.
JON RICHARDSON: Kevin Nash again. There's just something about bad
matches, bad promos, yet always being at the top of the card that kust
makes you so unlikeable.
CRIMEFIGHTER: So many guys we just don't care about, but Triple H just
won't go away, Test sucks, Little Porker Punk sucks.
YNAE316: Triple H, Shane, Vince and Stephanie. Is it any coincidence that
they all happen to receive the largest pushes despite all being
non-wrestlers (with Triple H as the exception).
SCOTT CHRIST: Jarrett, Douglas, Shane McMahon. I don't like ANY of them.
RICK SCAIA: Mark Henry. Billy Gunn. Rikishi. The three winners using
the "most likely to induce channel flipping" sweepstakes. There are other
channel-flip inducing wrestlers, but these three went above and beyond the
call to annoy me this year. Henry: by still having a job while D'Lo Brown
is wasting away in TNA. Gunn: by reviving his Ass Man gimmick and doing a
lame girlfriend swapping angle with Torrie, Noble, and Nidia. Rikishi: by
not realizing the fat-man-sticking-his-ass-in-people's-asses stopped being
entertaining at least 2 years ago.
RYAN FAULCONER: Triple H was an easy choice for number one. Putting
Yoshinari Ogawa and Tadao Yasuda at 2 and 3 was much harder.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Deteriorated Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose skill has deteriorated the most over the
past year. This person should be a shadow of his/her former self.
Previous Winners:
1990: Dusty Rhodes
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Hulk Hogan
1993: Hulk Hogan
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Roddy Piper
1998: British Bulldog
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Undertaker
2001: Undertaker
2002: Triple H
**2003**: Scott Steiner
128 first place votes
123 second place votes
120 third place votes
19 19 13 178 Scott Steiner
20 17 11 173 Kevin Nash
23 9 11 164 Triple H
20 12 10 156 Jeff Hardy
4 15 10 85 Roddy Piper
6 7 6 63 Steve Austin
5 2 7 45 Hulk Hogan
2 6 6 40 Undertaker
3 6 3 39 Shane Douglas
4 2 3 32 Rob van Dam
3 3 4 32 Dusty Rhodes
3 1 1 20 Kurt Angle
1 2 3 17 Chris Benoit
1 1 4 16 William Regal
1 2 2 15 Lance Storm
1 2 1 13 Bubba Ray Dudley
1 2 0 11 Jeff Jarrett
1 0 3 11 Vince McMahon
1 1 1 10 D-Von Dudley
1 0 2 9 Sabu
1 0 1 7 Shinya Hashimoto
1 0 1 7 Ric Flair
1 0 1 7 Derek Davis
1 0 1 7 Bradshaw
0 2 0 6 Mitsuharu Misawa
1 0 0 5 Sting
1 0 0 5 Road Warrior Animal
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 Big Show
0 1 1 5 Vader
0 1 1 5 Rhyno
0 1 1 5 Masahiro Chono
0 1 1 5 Lex Luger
0 1 0 3 Zach Gowen
0 1 0 3 Scotty 2 Hotty
0 1 0 3 Sandman
0 1 0 3 Rosey
0 1 0 3 Road Warrior Hawk
0 1 0 3 Mike Awesome
0 1 0 3 Low Ki
0 1 0 3 Keiji Mutoh
0 0 1 2 Trish Stratus
0 0 1 2 Tommy Dreamer
0 0 1 2 Test
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 Monsta Mack
0 0 1 2 Konnan
0 0 1 2 Kid Kash
0 0 1 2 Kanyon
0 0 1 2 Hurricane
0 0 1 2 Goldberg
0 0 1 2 Gedo
DON DEL GRANDE: I was going to toss a coin, similar to what they did in a
WCW house show in San Francisco in 1988 (they were the last two in the
ring in a Bunkhouse Stampede), but it seemed to be in poor taste to rate
the recently-deceased Hawk as "most deteriorated"... however, after their
last appearance on RAW, how could I not vote for these two shadows of
their former selves?
HACK-MAN: For Most Deteriorated Wrestler, I naturally want to put
Undertaker, HHH, and Hogan, but all three of those were really bad last
year and haven't really got any worse this year. I went with Roddy Piper,
Kevin Nash, and Kid Kash since they all were just shadows of their former
selves.
C FRARACCI: Kevin Nash is just sad now. He can barely walk without getting
hurt, he had a limited moveset to begin with, but is worse then ever now.
He needs to just retire now and live off the glory of Diesel, when he was
awesome. Shane Douglas has just fallen apart over the years. Undertaker
looks his age and I think the man should retire in 2004 before he becomes
a joke like Hogan, Piper and Nash. I'd rather remember Taker as the man
who can kick ass, then the man who looks like he's in pain after every
match.
PAUL ZOROVICH: It's hard to picture Scott Steiner as someone who used to
be actually mobile and exciting. Steve Austin is a caricature now, and if
Jeff Hardy can still walk as I write this it's a miracle.
BIGDADDYLOCO: A lot of those guys have been declining for years, but
nobody has fallen off the map faster than Shane Douglas. Not to mention
the man is wrestling in a shirt to cover up what we really don't want to
see, but know is there.
JON RICHARDSON: Jeff Hardy wins for managing to go from "innovator of
offense" to "drugged up and almost killing himself in the ring" in the
space of a few months. Undertaker gets #2 because he can barely even be
carried anymore, while Nash gets #3. Nash would be higher, but there just
isn't that much left to deteriorate anymore.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Good lord, what happened to Scott Steiner? He's a LONG way
from best years as tag champ with Rick, his foot and bad back prevents him
from doing a Frankensteiner ever again. It seems he traded in his
wrestling ability for extreme muscles. And the decline began as soon as
he joined the NWO and it's NEVER recovered. Little Porker Punk had
incredible ring rust in those matches against Triple H. Roddy Piper
should stay retired, Kevin Nash SHOULD retire.
YNAE316: Scott Steiner. It's hard to believe that he was at one time one
of the most innovative and respected workers in the world. Triple H makes
my list. He can still go in the ring, but like I said, not at the level
that a champion should. Jeff Hardy makes my list for old-times sake.
JOSH MANN: I think it's safe to say that now we know who the talent of the
Hardy Boyz was...Jeff was very well protected in that he had Matt to cover
for his deficiencies and was able to work to the big spots. On his
own...whether it's a combination of him being exposed, whatever he's on or
him just not caring, he's fallen the farthest as opposed to the bigger
guys who usually win this category who weren't very good to begin with.
SCOTT CHRIST: It's been said a billion times for many years, but it's so
hard to believe Scott Steiner is the same guy as the Scott Steiner from
the early 90s. Shane Douglas PUKED IN A MATCH. I saw Sabu a few times this
year and he is just awful, which is sad.
STEFAN TORNGREN: I feel a little unfair putting Austin here, seeing as one
of his matches was a ***1/2 affair against The Rock. However, he is not
half as entertaining as he once was, so he is my #1. Steiner is a solid
#2, and Vince got #3, not based on his work in the ring, but on his
character.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: RVD may not be physically deteriorated, but he surely
has deteriorated in other ways.
RICK SCAIA: Roddy Piper leads the pack. Seeing him wrestle was
(predictably) a bit of a chore, but what hurt the most was that, outside
of one scintillating exchange with Vince McMahon, his mic work was
struggling to even reach mediocre. Jeff Hardy and Sabu also make the
list, both as shadow's of their former show-stealing selves (albeit with
different things taking their tolls on their bodies and performances).
RYAN FAULCONER: I know its probably not Chris Benoit's fault but he
deserves mention here anyway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Underrated Wrestler
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the
person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this
award should have the most ability with least push.
Previous Winners:
1990: Terry Taylor
1991: Cactus Jack Manson
1992: Owen Hart
1993: Chris Benoit
1994: 1-2-3 Kid
1995: Barry Horowitz
1996: Owen Hart
1997: Chris Benoit
1998: Chris Benoit
1999: D'Lo Brown
2000: Al Snow
2001: Lance Storm
2002: D'Lo Brown
**2003**: Matt Hardy
133 first place votes
126 second place votes
125 third place votes
14 4 6 94 Matt Hardy
7 10 3 71 Lance Storm
10 3 5 69 Sean O'Haire
6 7 9 69 Spanky
7 3 10 64 Ultimo Dragon
8 4 5 62 Christian
9 4 1 59 Kanyon
7 4 2 51 Goldust
4 6 6 50 Stevie Richards
4 5 6 47 Hurricane
6 4 1 44 Chris Benoit
4 4 5 42 Chris Jericho
5 4 2 41 Rob van Dam
4 4 2 36 Tajiri
3 3 3 30 Chavo Guerrero
3 3 3 30 Booker T
1 1 9 26 Shannon Moore
1 3 4 22 Molly Holly
2 3 1 21 Raven
2 3 1 21 Jamie Noble
1 5 0 20 Nunzio
3 0 1 17 Chris Hero
1 2 3 17 Eddie Guerrero
2 2 0 16 Rico
0 2 3 12 D'Lo Brown
0 2 3 12 A-Train
2 0 0 10 John Walters
1 1 1 10 Victoria
1 1 1 10 Ric Flair
1 0 1 7 John Cena
1 0 1 7 Jeremy Lightfoot
0 1 2 7 Test
0 2 0 6 Val Venis
0 2 0 6 Mike Quackenbush
0 2 0 6 Kory Twist
0 2 0 6 Charlie Haas
0 0 3 6 Undertaker
1 0 0 5 Tigre Blanco
1 0 0 5 Shinsuke Nakamura
1 0 0 5 Rhyno
1 0 0 5 Rey Bucanero
1 0 0 5 Reckless Youth Tom Carter
1 0 0 5 Maven
1 0 0 5 Mammoth Sasaki
1 0 0 5 Kane
1 0 0 5 Goldberg
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal
1 0 0 5 Brock Lesnar
1 0 0 5 AKIRA
0 1 1 5 Jerry Lynn
0 1 1 5 Garrison Cade
0 1 1 5 Averno
0 0 2 4 Paul London
0 1 0 3 Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
0 1 0 3 Tommy Dreamer
0 1 0 3 Takashi Iizuka
0 1 0 3 Ron Killings
0 1 0 3 Rob Conway
0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio
0 1 0 3 Nick Dinsmore
0 1 0 3 Mr. Gannosuke
0 1 0 3 Mike Saunders
0 1 0 3 Michael Shane
0 1 0 3 Mephisto
0 1 0 3 Mana (MLW)
0 1 0 3 KENTA
0 1 0 3 Chris Harris
0 1 0 3 CM Punk
0 1 0 3 Bryan Danielson
0 1 0 3 Ace Steel
0 0 1 2 Triple H
0 0 1 2 Steven Kennedy
0 0 1 2 Slyk Wagner Brown
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Onryo
0 0 1 2 Nick Gage
0 0 1 2 Katsushi Takemura
0 0 1 2 Johnathan Coachman
0 0 1 2 Jerry Lawler
0 0 1 2 James Storm
0 0 1 2 Jacqueline
0 0 1 2 Hotstuff Hernandez
0 0 1 2 Glen Gilberti
0 0 1 2 Funaki
0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels
0 0 1 2 Big Show
0 0 1 2 Batista
C FRARACCI: Matt Hardy has the crowd always erupting for him, his Matt
Facts are classic and he works a great match. Chris Jericho went from
Undisputed champion to hosting a show? Why? This is the man who should be
World Champion, not Oldberg or Cripple H. Chris can fire up a crowd with
his entrance, can cut killer promos, and work with anyone in the ring. The
man is the biggest star on RAW but is consistantly screwed over. Ultimo
Dragon was brought in to huge promos, announcements and fanfare. Now where
is he? He's been on Smackdown maybe twice in the last four months. He
should be feuding with Tajiri and Rey Rey.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Even though he's held the Tag title, and probably others as
well, I can't help but wonder where Chavo Guerrero's big push is.
BIGDADDYLOCO: Can a man put out as many quality matches on a B show
(Heat) and still have fun doing it? Stevie Richards sure can.
JON RICHARDSON: The whole of the WWE seems to enjoy pushing Christian
just cut his legs out from under him. He, Goldust and Lance Storm have
the ability to put on kick-ass matches and consistently deliver
entertaining promos, yet still flounder in the midcard. Life just ain't
fair sometimes...
CRIMEFIGHTER: Chris Kanyon, by far, the most underrated wrestler of the
year. Why is the WWE jobbing him week after week? If the best jobber to
the stars category still existed, this man would win hands down. After
that Spanky and Shannon Moore deserve better than they've gotten from WWE.
MICHAEL: 1st: Chris Jericho. 2nd: Chris Benoit. 3rd: Eddie Guerrero.
All three guys are interchangeable and tie for this award IMHO. Why Vince
hasn¹t moved any one of them up to top-tier is mind-boggling.
YNAE316: Booker T, like RVD, is someone they missed the boat on I believe.
RVD did not make my list this year because I feel he's totally damaged
beyond repair. Both men should have been battling for the Heavyweight
Title in long programs this year, if not outright given it. Lance Storm
and Matt Hardy round out my list as two guys who should be getting big
pushes in the new year. In the case of Storm, I give the WWE 5 points for
pushing the guy but I minus 10 for the lame gimmick they gave him. In the
case of Matt Hardy, here's hoping Mattitude gets upgraded to V2 in the New
Year.
SCOTT CHRIST: I have an idea. Let's bother giving money and promotion to
an international superstar, then put him on Velocity and make him look
like a jobber. Good job with Ultimo Dragon, WWE. Jericho doesn't get
nearly the due he deserves on Raw, and Matt Hardy went from rising star to
jobbing to a guy with one leg.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Spanky could be so over if they just gave him a chance.
Benoit is NOT a midcarder, and Kanyon deserves better than to be on
Velocity, not that there’s anything wrong with that show.
AERO: Chavo Guerrero stepped up and hanged with his Uncle in their tags,
pretty impressive.
JOHN DONALDSON: Kanyon should be on SmackDown on a regular basis. Give
him a gimmick please.
THE CUBS FAN: Rey Bucanero is desperately in need of a singles program,
just so he can show people what he can do without having to fight for
attention against his tag team partner. Averno is the my favorite of a
dozen CMLL undercard guys who stand a chance of being really interesting
if they were actually given time. Shannon Moore improved a bunch hanging
with Matt Hardy, though one would bet against him getting a chance to show
it.
RICK SCAIA: For about 2 years, I've been of the opinion that the entire
women's division in WWE has not been getting the respect it should. This
year, that lack of respect coalesces into Molly Holly getting my #1 Most
Underrated Vote. In a division where Trish or Lita are thought of as the
MVPs because they are fan favorites combining hotness and talent, and
where even a heel like Victoria (who has a more over-the-top persona) is
over with audiences, it's actually Molly who does most of the grunt work.
And in the second half of the year, she did it in spectacular fashion,
orchestrating rivalries against both Trish and Lita that seemed very
despicable while continuing to have the same quality matches she could
already be counted on to deliver. Jamie Noble is #2 on my list; he's a
cruiserweight who is thought of as more gimmick than performer, which
sadly results in lame bullshit like the Billy Gunn/orgy thing, but it's a
personality that can also be very entertaining and which should not
overshadow his in-ring credentials. No one on the WWE roster is being
more criminally under-utilized than Ultimo Dragon; even if he's only half
his former self, he's still amazingly talented and is an easy choice for
#3 on this list.
RYAN FAULCONER: Chris Hero definitely deserves more recognition for his
excellent work in 2003.
BUNK: 1st: Kanyon 2nd: Nunzio - Give these guys some usable gimmicks
damnit!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Wrestling Gimmick
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who had the worst character gimmick in the
past year.
Previous Winners:
1991: Mike Rotundo as Irwin R. Shyster
1992: Papa Shango's voodoo
1993: Doink the Clown
1994: Doink the Clown
1995: Dungeon of Doom
1996: The Leprechaun
1997: Glacier / Blood Runs Cold
1998: Warrior appears in "strange mist" / forms One Warrior Nation
1999: Beaver Cleavage (Chaz)
2000: That 70's Guy / Not a Mullet / Fat Chick Thriller / Career Killer
Mike Awesome
2001: Diamond Dallas Page as Sara's Stalker
2002: WWE's necrophilia
**2003**: Sylvan Grenier, Rene Dupree and Rob Conway as French sympathizers
128 first place votes
124 second place votes
121 third place votes
15 14 12 141 La Resistance, the evil Frenchmen
13 6 7 97 Mr. America
11 6 5 83 Bill DeMott as a "tough guy" who beats up cruiserweights
7 7 8 72 Kane becomes an insane pyromaniac
6 8 7 68 Rosey as a Super Hero In Training
5 10 6 67 Lance Storm, dancing fun guy
7 6 6 65 Zach Gowen, one-legged wrestler
7 4 8 63 Bradshaw as an American patriot
6 6 5 58 Rico as Exotic Adrian Street clone
5 7 6 58 Bull Buchanan as John Cena's buddy B2
3 7 4 44 Nathan Jones as Undertaker's protege
5 3 3 40 Basham Brothers as perverts
4 4 4 40 Vince McMahon as generic evil Vince
2 6 4 36 Test-icles
0 4 8 28 Rodney Mack, destroyer of white boys
3 2 2 25 A-Train
3 2 1 23 Shawn Michaels, down with Jesus
1 5 1 22 Mark Henry, World's Strongest Man
2 1 2 17 Undertaker as Tough Biker
2 0 3 16 Val Venis
3 0 0 15 Goldust gets Tourette's Syndrome
0 3 3 15 Randy Orton as a Legend Killer
1 2 1 13 Steve Austin as "good" GM
2 0 0 10 Lee Miller plays himself, Boris Shylov - with no change in
appearance
2 0 0 10 Cletus the Foetus
1 1 0 8 Sadam
1 0 1 7 Special K as kids who go to raves and take drugs
1 0 1 7 Hardcore Homo Angel
1 0 1 7 Dexter Poindexter as a nerdy kid
0 1 2 7 Mad Mikey
1 0 0 5 Triple H
1 0 0 5 Sylvan Grenier as evil referee
1 0 0 5 Stephanie as a "face"
1 0 0 5 Shane McMahon, Invincible
1 0 0 5 Rikishi
1 0 0 5 RO&D (AJPW stable of ex-WWE/WCWers)
1 0 0 5 Mr. Ass
1 0 0 5 Jon Heidenreich and his Little Johnny
1 0 0 5 French Connection
0 1 1 5 Scott Steiner as Big Poppa Pump
0 1 1 5 Full Blooded Italians
0 1 0 3 Stacy Keibler - Test's Property
0 1 0 3 Spanky
0 1 0 3 Roddy Piper
0 1 0 3 Pepsi Boy
0 1 0 3 Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade
0 1 0 3 Kappa Kouza
0 1 0 3 Good Ol' JR
0 0 1 2 Sports Entertainment eXtreme
0 0 1 2 Sable is hot for Stephanie
0 0 1 2 Molly Holly, fat ass (eligible?)
0 0 1 2 Kurt Angle as a geek
0 0 1 2 Jonathan Coachman
0 0 1 2 Glen Gilberti, Brooklyn tough guy
0 0 1 2 Eric Bischoff as "evil" GM
REJECTED
0 0 1 Duplicated votes
HACK-MAN: For Worst Wrestling Gimmick I had to pass by Mr America, Basham
perverts, DeMott as tough guy, B2, PyroKane, Dancing Lance, Rico,
WhiteBoyChallenge, S.H.I.T., Jesus Michaels, "Good GM" Austin, and
Test-icles to vote for three choices that were *even worse*: Bradshaw as
an American patriot, Undertaker as Tough Biker, La Resistance, the evil
Frenchmen.
C FRARACCI: Zach is not a very impressive wrestler and WWE needs to cut
their losses. I'm not saying a handicapped person should not be a wrestler
but he got pushed to far too fast. The WWE needs to send him to the minors
and then when he comes back focus on his matches not his missing leg. I
think Vince used him to try and get publicity and it failed. Bad use of a
young kid, who with time might be a star. Mr America, Hogan, mask, enough
said. Rodney Mack looks good in the ring, but the gimmick is stupid and
lame. Although Teddy Long is hilarious, The Heartbreak Cracker, classic
moment!
PAUL ZOROVICH: I'm sorry, but Lance Storm did NOT need to be pushed as a
fun happy-go-lucky guy -- the boring persona fit quite nicely, thank you.
Rico "Suave" doesn't work at all. And the S. H. I. T. thing had
potential, but wasn't handled well at all.
BIGDADDYLOCO: The Val Venus gimmick is pure crap. It's amazing they
pulled it out for one more go-round. Poor Morley's "Chief" gimmick was
starting to catch on too.
PAUL FONTAINE: No Disrespect to the late Micheal Lockwood, but I thought
his character in TNA was utterly stupid and unrealistic. Showing him "at
work" getting frustrated with his computer and throwing it away? Isn't
wrestling his job? Doesn't make sense, and it was dumb.
JON RICHARDSON: N'ailliez Pas Peur. Jusque parce que nous sommes des
stereotypes des personnages fran=E7ais ne veut pas dire qu'on est des
personnes horrible. Evil foreigners died back in the 80s Vince. Putting
horrifically green wrestlers into a horrible gimmick and then pushing them
to the top doesn't make the gimmick any better. Finally, if Randy Orton
is a "legend-killer", hadn't he better actually get a clean win over a
"legend" sometime?
CRIMEFIGHTER: Gonna have to go indy on this one, since I don't like any
of the WWE candidates. RCW IL has Lee Miller playing himself as booker
and playing his "evil twin" interchangably. I don't know HOW you can get
away with playing two characters without any change in physical appearance
and expect the crowd to think they are two different people. Pepsi Boy is
an ACW guy in CT, a stupid gimmick from Japan complete with mask and Pepsi
logo on his ring attire. You can see for yourself here:
http://www.assaultwrestling.com/media-tv/highspeed/tv07192003.asf And Mr.
America was indictative of a worst feud candidate.
MICHAEL: 1st: Kane as an evil bald pyromaniac. Just pull the plug and
give him back his dental degree for God¹s sake. 2nd: La Resistance.
American hating French guys. And that¹s about it. And they haven¹t really
added anything to it. Except an American sympathizer. Whoopee. 3rd:
Randy Orton as a Legend Killer. Kill those tattoos first!
YNAE316: I'm a huge Lance Storm mark so I was glad when they started
pushing him. However, I was utterly stupefied at the lame ass gimmick he
got saddled with. What a horrible gimmick to give to such a talented
worker. Dancing White Guy??? At least they gave Too Cool the hip hop
clothes and taught them to dance. Poor Lance looks like a jack ass with
his same ring gear and totally horrible dance moves. Bull Bachanan as
Cena's posse and La Resistance round out my list for obvious reasons.
CHRIS BIRD: La Resistance was just so disappointing as a gimmick. I mean,
evil Frenchmen! Come on! Who couldn't come up with ten thousand terrific
cheesy jokes involving evil Frenchmen? But no, they had to be tough and
scary evil Frenchmen in the standard "bad foreigner" mode. God, the
Camembert jokes alone could have filled four epiodes of RAW...
SCOTT CHRIST: I get it. The French are jerks. At least they sucked, unlike
the Bashams, who I just felt sorry for with that stupid ass gimmick they
got. Lance Storm's gimmick was just useless. Why bother making him stupid
as well as pointless?
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: Hey, remember B2? Neither did I until I rewatched this
year's Rumble. All he did was stand around and leech off Cena's heat.
AERO: Bill DeMott's bully gimmick was bad, the evil Frenchmen was worse.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: I'm sick of faux patriotism and flag-waving in
general, so La Resistance really annoyed me as a gimmick. I love Rico and
he plays the part well but the gimmick he's been given isn't going to draw
any heat today.
THE CUBS FAN: CMLL is an odd place where you're debating between "Sadam,
the gas masked wrestler" and "the Taliban" and yet you're still okay with
the promotion. Good wrestling makes you overlook a lot.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Wrestling Move
Award Description:
To be given to the move that is the worst thing you've seen this year.
This shouldn't be given to a move that was flubbed by a wrestler - the
move was performed correctly, but was just too stupid for words. This move
should probably be a "finishing" move or something that was meant to be
spectacular.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1991: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1992: Crush's Compactor head-vise
1993: Crush's Compactor head-vise
1994: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1995: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1996: Hacksaw Jim Duggan's taped fist
1997: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1998: Hollywood Hogan's legdrop
1999: Hulk Hogan's legdrop
2000: Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm chop
2001: Chyna's handspring elbow
2002: Rikishi's stinkface
**2003**: Jim Ross' Stone Cold Stunner
124 first place votes
114 second place votes
108 third place votes
18 7 6 123 Jim Ross' Stone Cold Stunner
12 8 5 94 Hulk Hogan's legdrop
8 11 10 93 Rikishi's stinkface
8 10 9 88 Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm karate chop
8 6 6 70 Nathan Jones' boot
7 4 1 49 Bradshaw's Clothesline from Hell lariat
6 2 4 44 Dudley Boyz' Wazzup headbutt
2 7 4 39 Mark Henry's big splash
4 2 4 34 Shane McMahon's Air McMahon dropkick into chair
3 5 2 34 Rock's People's Elbow
5 0 2 29 Triple H's Pedigree
2 3 5 29 Rob van Dam's punches
3 1 2 22 Dusty Rhodes' Bionic elbow
2 2 1 18 Mark Henry's World's Strongest Slam
1 4 0 17 Kevin Nash's Jackknife powerbomb
1 2 3 17 Rob van Dam's shoulderblocks with backflip
1 2 1 13 Kevin Nash's Snake Eyes
1 2 1 13 John Cena's F-U death valley driver
1 2 1 13 Bubba Ray Dudley's Bionic elbow
1 1 2 12 Rodney Mack's Black Out
1 2 0 11 Randy Orton's RKO
1 0 3 11 Chris Jericho's bulldog
2 0 0 10 Trish Stratus' Matrix
2 0 0 10 Shane Douglas' belly-to-belly suplex
1 1 1 10 Lita's Twist of Fate neckbreaker
1 1 1 10 Brock Lesnar's shooting star press
0 2 2 10 Maven's swinging DDT
1 0 2 9 Zach Gowen's moonsault
1 1 0 8 Kevin Nash's big boot
1 1 0 8 CIMA's Mad Splash
1 1 0 8 Booker T's Spinarooni
0 2 1 8 Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner
0 2 1 8 Billy Gunn's One and Only cobra clutch slam
1 0 1 7 Bubba Ray Dudley's Bubbabomb full nelson sitdown powerbomb
1 0 1 7 Booker T's Harlem sidekick
0 2 0 6 Tajiri's Tarantula
0 2 0 6 Batista's sitdown powerbomb
0 2 0 6 A-Train's Derailer
1 0 0 5 Undertaker's triangle choke
1 0 0 5 Trish Stratus' Stratusphere bulldog off the ropes
1 0 0 5 Trish Stratus' Chick kick
1 0 0 5 Shinsuke Nakamura's Shining Triangle
1 0 0 5 Rob van Dam's European uppercut
1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio's West Coast Pop huracanrana
1 0 0 5 Raven's Mr. Wrestling II kneelift
1 0 0 5 Nathan Jones' jumping high kick
1 0 0 5 Mark Jindrak & Garrison Cade's high dropkick
1 0 0 5 Lita's punches
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle's anklelock
1 0 0 5 Kane's Chokeslam to Hell chokeslam
1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan's boot to the face
1 0 0 5 Christian Hartley's frog splash
1 0 0 5 Big Show's spinny leg drop
0 1 1 5 Scott Steiner's Steiner Recliner
0 0 2 4 Rosey's legdrop
0 0 2 4 Kane's flying lariat
0 0 2 4 Archadia's nipple pinch
0 1 0 3 Undertaker's Taker Care of Business dragon sleeper
0 1 0 3 Test's Big Boot
0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music superkick
0 1 0 3 Rob van Dam's Five Star frog splash
0 1 0 3 Ric Flair's double axehandle off the top rope
0 1 0 3 Low Ki's Ki Krusher
0 1 0 3 Keiji Mutoh's Shining Wizard knee
0 1 0 3 Gail Kim's huracanrana
0 1 0 3 Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho boston crab
0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit's triple German suplex
0 1 0 3 Arashi's frog splash
0 0 1 2 Triple H's sleeper
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels' punches
0 0 1 2 Rob van Dam's jumping side kick off the top rope
0 0 1 2 Raven's Raven Effect DDT
0 0 1 2 Lita's moonsault
0 0 1 2 Lance Storm's half boston crab
0 0 1 2 Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer
0 0 1 2 Jonathan Coachman's elbow drop
0 0 1 2 John Heidenriech's move (?)
0 0 1 2 Glen Gilberti's Chartbuster
0 0 1 2 Brock Lesnar's F-5
0 0 1 2 Brian Christopher's Tennessee Jam legdrop
0 0 1 2 Booker T's scissor kick
0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn's punch
0 0 1 2 AJ Styles' Styles Clash
0 0 1 2 A-Train's Train Wreck
REJECTED - no performer named
1 0 0 chokeslam
0 1 0 big boot
0 1 0 diving headbutt
0 0 1 powerbomb
0 0 1 sleeper hold
0 0 1 hiring the Cat
C FRARACCI: Riskishi's stinkface makes me embarrassed to be a wrestling
fan. That has no place in wrestling, it's pathetic and sad to see someone
have to sell that move and Rikishi should be embarrassed to have to do it.
Hogan's legdrop is out of place in this day and age, it was cool in the
80's but so was the superplex and sleeperhold.
CRIMEFIGHTER: I've seen a number of botched moves on the indy scene, but
I don't nominate them cause hardly anyone else has seen them. That said,
the WWE had no business putting Jim Ross in the ring, his stunner a good
reason why. The stinkface, while funny, does no real damage. The worm is
also easily avoided.
MICHAEL: 3rd: Rosk¹s People¹s Elbow. Only because they use it as a
finisher.
YNAE316: J.R. and Stunner. Nuff said.
CHRIS BIRD: Although not quit as bad as Nathan Jones' pathetic jumping
high kick (Steve Blackman, somewhere, is shaking his head in disapproval
at you, sir), Jim Ross' Stone Cold Stunner deserves special mention just
because A) it was utterly terrible and B) it was Jim Ross using it to get
a pinfall. Fuck you, Jim Ross.
SCOTT CHRIST: Shane Douglas' belly-to-belly suplex has sucked hard for
what, 10 years or so? And he STILL does it. And commentators STILL see the
need to shit their pants over this HORRIBLE move. Trish Stratus' matrix
move is usually pretty terribly mistimed, and Zach Gowen's moonsault is
stupid as a finisher because who buys that?
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: I hate the Tarantula, even though I like Tajiri
otherwise, because it makes no sense to put on a hold that you know you're
going to have to break in five seconds -- and despite that, he just has to
work it into every damn match. Ditto the Wassup Drop, which is both dated
and requires truly superhuman blindness on the part of the ref to miss.
AERO: The Whazzzzzup headbutt has surpassed the Worm and the Stinkface in
the pantheon of lame moves.
JOHN DONALDSON: Does D-Von actually enjoy giving that move? Does anyone
actually enjoy getting the Stinkface?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Match
Award Description:
To be given to the worst wrestling match you've seen this year, either
live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past
year, it is eligible.
Previous Winners:
1990: 06/13/90: Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog (CoC XI)
1991: 05/19/91: El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious (SuperBrawl)
1992: 01/18/92: Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers (Royal Rumble)
1993: 04/04/93: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX)
1994: 09/18/94: Jim Duggan vs. Steve Austin (Fall Brawl)
1995: 03/19/95: Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Uncensored)
1996: 03/24/96: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson &
Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Meng & Barbarian & Ze Gangsta
& Ultimate Solution (Uncensored)
1997: 10/26/97: Hulk Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper (cage) (Halloween Havoc)
1998: 10/25/98: Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior (Halloween Havoc)
1999: 09/26/99: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man (Kennel from Hell) (Unforgiven)
2000: 06/25/00: Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco (hardcore evening gown)
2001: 07/02/01: Booker T (WCW) v. Buff Bagwell (RAW)
2002: 07/08/02: Jackie Gayda & Christopher Nowinski vs. Trish Stratus
& Bradshaw (mixed tag RAW)
**2003**: 01/19/03: Triple H (world) v. Scott Steiner (Royal Rumble)
116 first place votes
114 second place votes
110 third place votes
42 19 6 279 01/19/03 Triple H (world) v. Scott Steiner
20 11 13 159 09/21/03 Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler v. Jonathan Coachman & Al Snow
9 11 10 98 10/19/03 Stephanie McMahon v. Vince McMahon (I Quit)
7 9 10 82 05/19/03 Triple H (world) v. Kevin Nash
3 13 9 72 05/19/03 Mr. America v. Roddy Piper
4 7 12 65 01/19/03 Torrie Wilson v. Dawn Marie
2 10 8 56 02/23/03 Triple H (world) v. Scott Steiner
5 4 3 43 06/15/03 Triple H (world) v. Kevin Nash (hell in the cell)
4 4 4 40 08/24/03 Shane McMahon v. Eric Bischoff
5 0 5 35 09/15/03 Fabulous Moolah v. Victoria (RAW)
1 3 6 26 03/30/03 Undertaker v. Big Show & A-Train
1 4 0 17 07/27/03 Zach Gowen v. Vince McMahon
1 2 3 17 03/30/03 Vince McMahon v. Hulk Hogan
1 2 1 13 06/23/03 La Resistance (world tag) v. Hurricane & Sergeant
Slaughter (RAW)
0 2 1 8 07/03/03 Big Show v. Zach Gowen & Stephanie McMahon (Smackdown)
0 0 4 8 06/15/03 Eric Bischoff v. Steve Austin (Redneck Triathlon)
1 0 1 7 09/18/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Brock Lesnar (ironman Smackdown)
1 0 1 7 09/29/03 Jim Ross v. Jonathan Coachman (strap RAW)
1 0 1 7 02/23/03 Hulk Hogan v. Rock
1 0 0 5 09/21/03 Test v. Scott Steiner
1 0 0 5 08/14/03 Stephanie McMahon v. A-Train (Smackdown)
1 0 0 5 06/30/03 Seven woman battle royal (Women's RAW)
1 0 0 5 05/28/03 Kid Kash v. Trinity
1 0 0 5 03/30/03 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
1 0 0 5 03/21/03 Gran Markus Jr. v. Pierroth Jr. (hair/hair)
1 0 0 5 02/23/03 Great Muta (TC) v. Shinya Hashimoto
0 1 1 5 07/27/03 APA Invitational Barroom Brawl
0 1 1 5 03/30/03 Triple H (world) v. Booker T
0 1 0 3 10/09/03 Brock Lesnar (WWE) v. Paul London (Smackdown)
0 1 0 3 10/06/03 Goldberg v. Mark Henry (RAW)
0 1 0 3 08/24/03 Triple H (world) v. Goldberg
0 1 0 3 08/20/03 Chris Sabin (X) v. Michael Shane v. Frankie Kazarian
(ultimate X)
0 1 0 3 06/20/03 Cien Caras v. Pierroth Jr. (hair)
0 1 0 3 04/27/03 Sean O'Haire v. Rikishi
0 1 0 3 04/27/03 Rey Mysterio v. Big Show
0 1 0 3 03/28/03 Rik Lesnar v. TNT
0 1 0 3 02/19/03 Disgraceland v. Shark Boy
0 0 1 2 Undertaker v. Orlando Jordan(?)
0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio v. A-Train(?)
0 0 1 2 12/15/02 Kane v. Batista
0 0 1 2 12/07/02 Gran Markus Jr. v. Pierroth Jr.
0 0 1 2 10/19/03 Zach Gowen v. Matt Hardy
0 0 1 2 10/19/03 Brock Lesnar (WWE) v. Undertaker
0 0 1 2 08/24/03 La Resistance (world tag) v. Dudley Boyz
0 0 1 2 06/12/03 Mr. America v. Vince McMahon (arm wrestling Smackdown)
0 0 1 2 02/19/03 Mike Sanders v. Jonah
0 0 1 2 01/19/03 Kurt Angle (WWE) v. Chris Benoit
REJECTED - ineligible time
1 0 0 11/24/03 Rob van Dam v. Test & Scott Steiner (Kendo Stick
Handicap RAW)
0 1 0 11/16/03 Undertaker v. Vince McMahon (buried alive)
0 1 0 11/16/03 Kane v. Shane McMahon (ambulance)
C FRARACCI: Announcers should stick to announcing not wrestling. If it had
been Lawler and Snow one on one it might have been ok, but Coach and JR
have no place in the ring. Steiner is just a joke and sticking him with
Cripple H proved it, hope he's gone by the new year. Same with Nash,
Triple H can put on a good match, as long as he's in their with a talented
guy (Jericho), but with a slug it exposes both as being out of shape for
main eventing a PPV.
CRIMEFIGHTER: A LOT OF NEGATIVE STAR BOUTS THIS YEAR, though not all the
noms on this list deserved it. Thankfully I can look to Scott Keith's
ratings to determine who gets the nod. The first HHH vs. Steiner got
-**½ so the WWE books it again for the next PPV and it's just as bad.
I'm voting for a variety though, so Hogan vs. Piper at -** and Ross/Lawler
vs. Coach/Snow at -**. 04/27/03 O'Haire vs. Rikishi though not nominated
should had been at -*½.
DAVID POWELL: I was forced to put Vince McMahon vs. Hulk Hogan, not so
much to slight Hogan or the concept of Vince vs, Hogan, which was
brilliant, but the incredible job that WWE did in botching the buildup and
development of what could have been easily one of the best feuds - and
promotional moves - of all time.
YNAE316: Shane vs. Bischoff, J.R. & King vs. Coach & Snow, Steph vs.
Vince. It's not a coincidence that these top billed matches all involve
NON-WRESTLERS (or active wrestlers in the case of King and Snow).
JOSH MANN: As we all know now, there's a reason Scott Stiener didn't
acutally WRESTLE before the Royal Rumble. But the fact that he was THAT
bad and THAT gassed during a match that could have swung the fortune of
what the PPV buyrates were doing at the time, it was the wrong match to
have suck ass.
CHRIS BIRD: They gave the shitty comedy match between Jim Ross/Jerry
Lawler and Jonathan Coachman/Al Snow ten minutes. Ten minutes of three
nonwrestlers and one real wrestler who had to spend most of it on the mat
so he wouldn't completely outclass everybody else. Pathetic. Nearly as
pathetic, the pair of Triple H/Scott Steiner world title matches earlier
this year, which made Steiner a total afterthought for the rest of the
year and completely exposed both HHH and Steiner as useless cripples.
TEXAS KELLY: The World title matches at Royal Rumble, No Way Out &
Judgment Day. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out the
common thread between the three. Hmmm, wonder if that's the reason they
all sucked?
SCOTT CHRIST: Again, I didn't see the Rumble, so I can't vote for
HHH/Steiner. Therefore, I'll go with HHH/Nash at Judgment Day, which was
super shitty and worthless with the non-finish, and the promise of ANOTHER
month of Kevin Nash on top was about as welcome as turd soup for dinner.
Shane McMahon and Bischoff at Summerslam was all-around retarded, from the
(non-)rape angle that led to it to the Coach's stupid turn, to Shane
winning anyway because Austin helped him out. Rock and Hogan couldn't
capture a fiftieth of the magic they had at Wrestlemania X8 and therefore
all we got was the shitty match and screwjob ending.
JOHN DONALDSON: So it was Moolah's birthday, bake her a bunt cake, give
her a reading lamp, you don't have to let her beat Victoria. Any match
Jim Ross was involved in this year was pretty bad, he makes David Arquette
look good.
THE CUBS FAN: Please please let Pierroth disappear for six years ASAP. And
take everyone he's feuding with him; I'll sacrifice Violencia if it gets
me rid of everyone else.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Feud
Award Description:
To be given to the feud that nobody cared about at all this year. When
they were pushing the feud on TV, you'd go to the fridge for a snack.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake
1991: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
1992: Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango
1993: The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez
1994: Doink vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
1995: Hulk Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom
1996: Big Bubba vs. John Tenta
1997: Nation of Domination vs. Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas
1998: Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan
1999: No Limit Soldiers vs. West Texas Rednecks
2000: Big Show vs. Big Boss Man
2001: Undertaker vs. Diamond Dallas Page
2002: Triple H vs. Kane
**2003**: Stephanie McMahon vs. Vince McMahon
127 first place votes
123 second place votes
120 third place votes
23 15 12 184 Stephanie McMahon v. Vince McMahon (& Sable)
11 14 10 117 Shane McMahon v. Kane
13 9 11 114 Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler v. Jonathan Coachman & Al Snow
14 9 7 111 Scott Steiner v. Triple H
11 8 16 111 Torrie Wilson v. Dawn Marie
9 9 6 84 Scott Steiner v. Test
11 6 4 81 Hulk Hogan (Mr. America) v. Vince McMahon
4 9 9 65 Kevin Nash v. Triple H
4 8 3 50 Dudley Boyz v. La Resistance
2 7 7 45 Zach Gowen v. Vince McMahon
6 3 1 41 Booker T v. Triple H
2 3 4 27 Scott Steiner v. Christopher Nowinski
2 4 1 24 Kane v. Triple H
0 2 7 20 Rikishi v. Roddy Piper
2 1 3 19 Eddie Guerrero v. Big Show
0 3 2 13 Jim Ross v. Kane
1 0 3 11 Matt Hardy v. Zach Gowen
2 0 0 10 Pierroth v. Gran Markus Jr.
1 1 1 10 Chris Benoit v. Rhyno
1 1 0 8 Undertaker v. Vince McMahon
0 2 1 8 Undertaker & Nathan Jones v. Big Show & A-Train
0 2 0 6 Chief Morley v. Dudley Boyz
0 2 0 6 Booker T v. Christian
1 0 0 5 Zach Gowen v. Brock Lesnar
1 0 0 5 Sasuke v. Onita
1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio v. Big Show
1 0 0 5 Raven v. Jeff Jarrett
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle v. Brock Lesnar
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi v. Yoshinari Ogawa
1 0 0 5 Goldberg v. Rock
1 0 0 5 Eric Bischoff v. Jim Ross
0 1 1 5 A-Train v. Chris Benoit
0 0 2 4 Undertaker v. FBI
0 1 0 3 Shane McMahon v. Eric Bischoff
0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett v. Vince Russo
0 1 0 3 Dusty Rhodes v. Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Brock Lesnar v. John Cena
0 0 1 2 Steve Austin v. Eric Bischoff
0 0 1 2 Steve Austin v. Chris Jericho
0 0 1 2 Sonny Rogers v. Butcher
0 0 1 2 Mr. America v. Roddy Piper
0 0 1 2 Los Guerreros v. Basham Brothers
0 0 1 2 Lita v. Eric Bischoff
0 0 1 2 Krakow Konnection v. Sal Sincere & Biggie Biggs
0 0 1 2 Goldberg v. Triple H
0 0 1 2 Eddie Guerrero v. Chavo Guerrero
DON DEL GRANDE: #2 should be Stephanie v. Vince & Sable & Zach Gowen & Mr.
America, but I didn't think that would fit. I don't consider Vince v. Mr.
America a "separate" feud as Stephanie was an integral part of it.
C FRARACCI: Steiner and Test had the feud that never ended. If Test had
not been injured they'd still be feuding. Announcers should not wrestle,
end of it. Eddie vs Big Show, way to bury your most over guy to a big
sloth that no one has cared about for a long time. If I was looking for a
conspiracy I'd swear Triple H had something to do with this. Eddie was too
over so Triple H wanted him squashed? Just my opinion.
PAUL ZOROVICH: I can't care about Zach Gowen, so why should I care about
him feuding with Vince? Shane vs. Kane also doesn't bring the happy for
me, probably because Shane ISN'T A WRESTLER! Torrie vs. Dawn Marie was
just stupid.
BIGDADDYLOCO: Kane vs Triple H, "The Katie Vick Feud", a new low for
wrestling?
JON RICHARDSON: No contest. Any feud involving repeated near-death
experiences, testicles being shocked and a series of progressively
ludricrous promos is easily the worst feud. Racist feuds get #2, so there
slots Booker T-HHH. Feuds that involve eveery conceivable way of getting
2 people to square off but doesn't involve wrestling (cause they both suck
as wrestlers) gets #3, so there's HHH-Scott Steiner.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Boy this one is tough, so MANY bad feuds out there. But I
pick Triple H vs. Steiner, cause it bore out two of the worst matches of
the year. Ross/Lawler vs. Coach/Snow was a glaring example of why pushing
the announcers above the talent was a horrible promotional move. The rest
ugh, just for diversity I'll say Wilson vs. Marie was a boring, worthless
feud that did nothing for anyone. Test vs. Steiner was equally as
horrible, that feud would NEVER end.
MICHAEL: 1st: Booker T v. Triple H. Started out with the outcome obvious
as being a title change. The HHHubby decided he didn¹t want to drop the
title and (HORROS!) elevate another wrestler. 2nd: Stephanie McMahon vs.
Vince McMahon (& Sable). THIS was pushed as a Main Event fued?!?!?! 3rd:
Shane McMahon vs. Kane. So a part-time (at best) wrestler is the ONLY man
who can give Kane a run for his money?
YNAE316: J.R. & King's feud with Coach and Snow was just about as bad a
feud as their was this year. While the "rival announcers" bit would be a
cool thing to play on the side they made the feud front and center on Raw
devoting tons of promo time and match time to it. A telling thing here:
my wife and I couldn't quite believe when we saw the PPV promo graphic
with J.R. & King & Coach & Snow all trying to look menacing. Quite
frankly we burst out with laughter at the thought of J.R. or Coach trying
to look like they could kick someone's ass. The steph and Vince feud, a
huge highlight of Smackdown's year, was a nice storyline in theory, right
up there with Bischoff vs. Austin. Unfortunately there was a huge logic
hole (as in why Vince couldn't just fire her) PLUS it subjected us to more
"Lecherous Vince" scenes with Sable which NO one in there right mind wants
to see. The mind-numbingly dumb antics of the Shane vs. Kane feud speak
for themselves (jump starting testicles anyone?)
CHRIS BIRD: The unstoppable monster Kane, the UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER who
walked through any wrestler in his path - fought to a standstill by a
shrimpy McMahon. Truly, one of the most moronic
should-have-been-a-slaughter feuds of all time. And let us not forget that
this was in a year with Triple H and Scott Steiner bringing us multiple
shitburger main events and gay pushup challenges, and in a year with the
War of the RAW Announcers.
SCOTT CHRIST: Kane-Shane McMahon is one of the worst feuds in recent
memory. Stephanie-Vince isn't far behind. The RAW commentary feud, well,
jeez. You know, in most other years, something like Dudleys-La Resistance
would make my top three, but there's just so much stupid non-wrestler shit
this year.
STEFAN TORNGREN: I would have been ok with the horrendous announcers match
at Unforgiven, if it had actually lead to something new. Since it didn’t,
if was just a huge waste of time. Nash vs Triple H was horrible since
their friendship wasn’t established on tv.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: You know it's been a bad year for feuds when the Dudleyz
vs. La Resistance feud, which I hated with the fire of a thousand burning
nuns, still wasn't hateful enough to make the list. J.R./Coach and
Torrie/Dawn Marie make it for filling up lots of TV time with people who
can't wrestle (well, except Dawn Marie, sorta), and Test/Steiner gets in
on the strength of never, never, never ending despite not drawing a
calorie of heat.
JOHN DONALDSON: Rhyno vs Benoit? What feud? There was a feud, you fooled
me. Vince McMahon gave the same spiel every single week about how he knew
Hogan was under the mask, it got stale really quick. They could have done
so much better with that feud, by putting other people under the mask and
what not. Steiner and Nowinski, horrible feud lowlighted by a silly
political debate which saw more of Steiner's spit than intelligent banter.
RICK SCAIA: Another category where there is a giant divide between the
winner and everybody else. Torrie Wilson vs. Dawn Marie sucked so badly
and on so many levels that, almost a year later, I still can't believe it
was allowed to happen. I don't want to say any more about it, it was just
that bad. A distant second: I vote for the Feud That Would Not End
between Test and Scott Steiner. It seemed a simple enough project, with a
clear enough outcome, but it wound up taking the Fed about 9 months to
start, execute, and pay off on the feud, severely reducing the impact that
it had. Kane vs. Shane McMahon earns the three spot on the "strength" of
its many retarded stunts, sometimes even more retarded dialogue, and my
general belief that WWE leapt before they looked in the matter of the
Unmasking of Kane.
RYAN FAULCONER: A clean sweep for the WWE here with Shane vs Kane,
Stephanie vs Vince and Triple H vs Kevin Nash taking all three spots.
WWE really had the market cornered on the bad and tasteless feuds in 2003
and I could have listed ten more.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Disappointing News item
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestling news item that most disappointed you when
heard of it. When you first learned of this news story, you couldn't
believe that it was true, and when you learned that it was, you were
bummed out for a while.
Previous Winners:
1991: Scott Steiner gets injured
1992: Legion of Doom: Hawk & Animal split up
1993: WWF brings Hulk Hogan back and gives him the title
1994: WCW signs Hulk Hogan and makes him World champion
1995: Death of Eddie Gilbert
1996: Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash leave WWF and/or join WCW
1997: Death of Brian Pillman
1998: Death of Louie Spicolli
1999: Death of Owen Hart
2000: David Arquette wins WCW World heavyweight championship
2001: Chris Benoit out for the year after neck surgery
2002: Steve Austin leaves WWE in frustration over creative direction
**2003**: Death of Curt Hennig
127 first place votes
125 second place votes
121 third place votes
34 13 11 231 Death of Curt Hennig
12 13 12 123 Death of Miss Elizabeth
9 14 6 99 Kurt Angle needs neck surgery
9 8 10 89 Death of Road Warrior Hawk
9 11 4 86 Death of Stu Hart
7 7 13 82 Paul Heyman removed from Smackdown creative team
10 4 6 74 Edge out for year after neck surgery
2 8 5 44 Triple H holds world heavyweight title most of year
3 4 7 41 Steve Austin retires from active wrestling
4 4 2 36 Still no viable second US promotion to give WWE competition
3 4 4 35 Stephanie McMahon still in charge of WWE Creative
2 4 6 34 Vince v. Stephanie match sold as pay per view main event
1 2 7 25 WWE signs Goldberg, then ruins him
1 3 3 20 Vince McMahon asks wrestlers to make matches more boring
to save their necks
1 3 2 18 Sable returns to WWE
0 3 3 15 Death of Freddie Blassie
1 1 2 12 TNA continues to push Russo, Jarrett every week
0 3 1 11 TNA doesn't get national cable deal
2 0 0 10 Roddy Piper returns to WWE
2 0 0 10 Death of Kodo Fuyuki
1 0 2 9 Televisa/Galavision shorten CMLL air time to show more AAA
0 1 3 9 Chris Benoit still doesn't get WWE title
1 1 0 8 WWE signs Zach Gowen
1 1 0 8 Marriage of Triple H and Stephanie
1 0 1 7 No new talent elevated on RAW or Smackdown
1 0 1 7 Hulk Hogan leaves WWE
0 2 0 6 Rock spends most of the year filming movies
1 0 0 5 Vale Tudo fights at major New Japan shows
1 0 0 5 TNA staying in business
1 0 0 5 NJPW breaks off relations with PRIDE
1 0 0 5 Cat's coming to Smackdown
0 1 1 5 WWE releases Jeff Hardy
0 1 0 3 Vince Russo still with TNA
0 1 0 3 TNA Signs Hulk Hogan
0 1 0 3 Shinya Hashimoto vacates Triple Crown before match with
Toshiaki Kawada
0 1 0 3 Paul Heyman returns to Smackdown creative team
0 1 0 3 Goldberg wins world heavyweight title
0 0 1 2 Vince McMahon throws cane, hits fans
0 0 1 2 Taiyo Kea blows out knee, misses entire year
0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan Signs With NWA TNA
0 0 1 2 Hogan v. Vince announced as top match for Wrestlemania
0 0 1 2 Alexander Otsuka retires due to injury
REJECTED
3 3 3 Death of Mike Lockwood (too late to be eligible)
2 0 0 Many deaths (too general)
1 0 0 Many, many wrestlers fall prey to injury (too general)
0 1 0 Death of British Bulldog (2002)
0 1 0 Death of Animal (didn't happen yet as far as I know)
0 0 1 Goldust's contract not renewed (didn't happen yet)
HACK-MAN: While the various deaths were disappointing, I had to vote the
three Most Disappointing News items as Paul Heyman removed from Smackdown
creative team, Still no viable second US promotion to give WWE
competition, and TNA continues to push Russo, Jarrett every week.
C FRARACCI: Not to gloss over the death this year, but I couldn't decide
which was sadder, so I exempted all of them. The biggest problem with the
WWE right now got my 1 and 2 votes. No new Raw talent promoted, this is
just bad, what happens if Goldberg and Triple H are injured, the WWE has
no one to put on top. They've ruined so many guys, Jericho, Christian,
Booker, RVD, Kane, etc. None of them can ever be pushed believably at this
point. Triple H holding the title most of the year is the reason. He's so
paranoid of losing his spot that he buries everyone. I don't want to see
the title change hands all the time, but giving some young talent a chance
would be cool. Smackdown was so good while Paul was on the creative end,
now it's almost as bad as RAW. The WWE needs to wake up and make changes
or it will lose more fans again.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Miss Elizabeth was a major part of my fantasy life in the
'80s, so hearing that she had died was a huge blow.
JON RICHARDSON: I can't possibly rank one death as being worse than
another, so I chose to leave them out of consideration. Instead, the
constant injuries being suffered by top WWE talent gets my votes, with
Kurt Angle's neck problems (that will liekly lead to a shortened career)
getting #1, Steve Austin being forced to retire due to injuries being #2,
and Edge's surgery being #3. Edge was just underneath the top card when
he went down. Hopefully he'll be back there when he comes back.
CRIMEFIGHTER: With the deaths of so many major figures in the business
this year, I'd had made a blanket vote for all of them if it were
possible. But since I cannot, my pick is Vince telling the talent to slow
it down (read: make it more BORING) which in the face of declining ratings
couldn't had come at a worse time. Vince vs. Steph as a PPV main event
drew one of the lowest buyrates ever, and Paul Heyman is SORELY missed
from creative. Heyman's back now, but he's not on the creative team yet.
MICHAEL: 1st: Stephanie McMahon still in charge of WWE Creative. I¹m
convinced that the WWE¹s slide in the ratings coincides with her taking
over Creative. 2nd: Paul Heyman removed from Smackdown creative team.
At least he was getting more decent air time for the undercard guys. 3rd:
Televisa/Galavision shortens CMLL air time to show more AAA. ŒNuff said.
YNAE316: Despite the bad neck injuries this year to guys like Angle & Edge
(which would normally get my top votes) I can't express how horrible it
was seeing the amount of early deaths in the wrestling world this year.
As a near 20 year fan of the sport I can't express how sad I was to see
several of my childhood heroes: Mr. Perfect, Miss Elizabeth and Road
Warrior Hawk all pass away prematurely this year.
CHRIS BIRD: This year really slammed home the fact that early death is a
plague upon the wrestling industry, and these deaths deserve to be
acknowledged. Simple as that.
SCOTT CHRIST: Austin's retirement was the end of an era for one of the
honest to god legends of pro wrestling. Austin was the best all-around
performer since Ric Flair. I don't usually like to consider deaths
"disappointing," but Stu Hart's is #2 on my list because I have a boner
for the Harts. Third to the signing and ruining of Goldberg.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Very tough to compare who’s death is a more sad news
item. And to compare deaths with other sad news items. However, I picked
Hennig and Elizabeth because they have given me some of the fondest
memories. Edge being out for a year was sad, since he had had such a great
year prior to it.
THE CUBS FAN: It'd take ten seconds of planning for Galavision to decide
on a plan to get rid of the three month lag they have on lucha tapes - yet
no.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most Obnoxious Personality
Award Description:
To be given to the person who just rubs you the wrong way. This could be
anybody involved in the wrestling biz.
Previous Winners:
1991: Dusty Rhodes
1992: Vince McMahon
1993: Vince McMahon
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Eric Bischoff
1996: Eric Bischoff
1997: Eric Bischoff
1998: Eric Bischoff
1999: Eric Bischoff
2000: Vince Russo
2001: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
2002: Jerry Lawler
**2003**: Stephanie McMahon
126 first place votes
120 second place votes
119 third place votes
22 23 10 199 Stephanie McMahon
14 20 18 166 Vince McMahon
19 9 13 148 Triple H
16 14 11 144 Jerry Lawler
7 7 7 70 Bradshaw
4 7 5 51 Jim Ross
5 3 3 40 Eric Bischoff
2 2 8 32 Sable
2 4 4 30 Shane McMahon
4 1 0 23 Don West
2 3 2 23 Zach Gowen
0 3 7 23 Randy Orton
2 2 2 20 Vince Russo
2 1 2 17 Kevin Nash
1 1 4 16 Scott Steiner
2 1 1 15 Rob Black
2 0 2 14 Teddy Hart
2 0 2 14 Antonio Inoki
2 1 0 13 Jonathan Coachman
1 2 1 13 Steve Austin
0 3 2 13 Undertaker
1 2 0 11 Rico
2 0 0 10 Chris Jericho
1 1 1 10 Bubba Ray Dudley
1 0 1 7 Rock
1 0 1 7 Rob van Dam
1 0 1 7 Payton Scott
1 0 1 7 Nathan Jones
0 2 0 6 Josh Matthews
0 2 0 6 A-Train
1 0 0 5 Yoshinari Ogawa
1 0 0 5 Paul Heyman
1 0 0 5 Molly Holly
1 0 0 5 Mat Maniac
1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan
1 0 0 5 Homicide
1 0 0 5 Goldberg
0 1 1 5 Glen Gilberti
0 0 2 4 Terri
0 0 2 4 Rene Dupre
0 1 0 3 Sylvan Grenier
0 1 0 3 Mark Henry
0 1 0 3 Mad Mikey
0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Chris Nowinski
0 0 1 2 Valentina
0 0 1 2 Randy Savage
0 0 1 2 Michael Shane
0 0 1 2 Kurt Angle
0 0 1 2 Ace Steel
DON DEL GRANDE: In Bischoff's case, he's supposed to be somewhat
obnoxious; that's part of the gimmick. Then again, maybe this means
there's a problem with the gimmick.
HACK-MAN: For Most Obnoxious Personality I can't believe I forgot to
nominate Vince Russo, Steve Austin, and Shane Douglas. Since there would
be zero chance of a non-nominated person winning, I decided to go with
Bradshaw, Undertaker, and Sable (all of whom are actually even more
annoying than Vince McMahon, Steph, and Linda).
PAUL ZOROVICH: Jim Ross should give up the broadcast booth and stick to
the back office. Jerry Lawler should give up the broadcast booth and run
for Mayor again. Vince is just annoying.
JON RICHARDSON: I dunno. All the McMahons are obnoxious as hell.
Stephanie is #1 only because I change the channel whenever she's on.
CRIMEFIGHTER: I DESPISE Eric Bischoff, I wish someone would give him
multiple piledrivers on the concrete floor so we'd be rid of this @$$hole.
Vince won't shut up either, even though NO ONE wants him on the air. And
Triple H who's supposed to be on several months leave keeps coming back to
run his mouth some more.
MICHAEL: 1st: Vince McMahon. For pushing himself and his young¹uns as
telent above the other talent, let alone even trying to create new stars.
2nd: Stephanie McMahon. For hiring some consultants to validate what
she¹s done these past three years. 3rd: Antonio Inoki. He just doesn¹t
get it that his obsession with combining pro wrestling with MMA is killing
New Japan.
YNAE316: Triple H and Vince just irk me when I see them on screen. They
play (or just are) the asshole really convincingly. Lawler irks me for
other reasons. In the case of Lawler it's just sad. I recently watched
some mid-90s matches on tape and Lawler really did know his game back
then. It actually felt weird listening to him actually competently call
matches and NOT say the word "puppy" once.
THE CUBS FAN: Bradshaw's just going assume everyone reading such things on
the Internet is a moron, doesn't know the first thing about wrestling even
though they act they do, and will wrongfully vote for him here (after they
vote for Triple H.) I try to make dreams come true.
RICK SCAIA: If it were allowed, I'd vote for Jerry Lawler three times.
Much the same way Lawler finds some juvenile or counter-productive concept
and then proceeds to repeat it, ad nauseum, until I really wish I could
punch him in the eyeball. The time has come for WWE to take a chance and
ditch Lawler and the cheap pop he can be counted on to generate and the
"comfort factor" that having him at the table for the start of his 10th
year... and replace him with somebody who might not be instantly
accepted, but who can have a positive effect on the end product. Some
might say "Al Snow," but I wouldn't mind if somebody blurted out "Dallas
Page." Anything's worth a try. But not Josh Matthews. He's #2 on my list.
And Vince is third, mostly because it frustrates me that he can be such a
good heel, but then he ruins it by turning segments into channel flippers
by over-acting and over-staying his welcome; if we halved our Vince
Content, I'd be considering him for a spot as "Best Heel" instead of "Most
Obnoxious,"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Second
Award Description:
To be given to the manager who outperformed their peers at ringside and behind
the microphone in interviews. This award was discontinued after the 2001
awards.
Previous Winners:
1990: Jim Cornette
1991: Bobby Heenan
1992: Mr. Perfect
1993: Jim Cornette
1994: Jim Cornette
1995: Jim Cornette
1996: Sunny
1997: Chyna
1998: Chyna
1999: Dawn Marie
2000: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
2001: Stacy Keibler
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Best Announcer
Award Description:
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most insightful and
entertaining comments while pushing his product. "Ring announcers" don't
qualify here. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour
commentator will be enforced.
Previous Winners:
1990: Jesse Ventura
1991: Jesse Ventura
1992: Jim Ross
1993: Jim Ross
1994: Jim Ross
1995: Jim Ross
1996: Jim Ross
1997: Jim Ross
1998: Jim Ross
1999: Jim Ross
2000: Jim Ross
2001: Jim Ross
2002: Michael Cole
**2003**: Michael Cole
123 first place votes
115 second place votes
96 third place votes
39 37 13 332 Michael Cole
32 27 12 265 Mike Tenay
18 18 21 186 Jim Ross
6 8 29 112 Josh Matthews
8 10 4 78 Joey Styles
7 6 9 71 Jonathan Coachman
3 1 1 20 Dave Prazak
2 0 2 14 Dan Wilson
2 1 0 13 Jim Cornette
1 1 0 8 Eric Garguilo
1 0 1 7 Dr. Alphonso Morales
1 0 0 5 Steve-O
1 0 0 5 Steve Murphy
0 1 0 3 Steven Prazak
0 1 0 3 Scott Hudson
0 1 0 3 Grand Poobah
0 1 0 3 Arturo Rivera
0 1 0 3 Aaron Royal
0 0 1 2 Ron Niemi
0 0 1 2 Mike Johnson
REJECTED - not play-by-play announcers
2 1 0 Tazz
0 0 1 Some guy voted for his brother
0 0 1 Duplicated votes
HACK-MAN: Since Jim Ross finally didn't win Best Announcer last year, and
the fact that he's gone downhill a lot in the last 12 months, I'm guessing
he won't win this year either. I fully expect Cole to win for his second
year in a row. But the three announcers who are head and shoulders above
anyone in WWE are Dan "The Dragon" Wilson (NWA Wildside), Steven Prazak
(usually on color, but has done play by play in Wildside), and Mike Tenay
(who is a shadow of his WCW self now that he has to be the one to hype
things other than what's going on in the ring).
PAUL ZOROVICH: God help me, I'm voting for Cole two years in a row.
MICHAEL: 1st: Joey Styles. MLW¹s Halloween television show was a riot
with Styles donning a different luchadore mask for each time he was
camera. 2nd: Jim Ross. Considering the crap he¹s had to call this year,
not to mention three angles to get him off television, it amazing that
he¹s even still placing here. 3rd: Michael Cole. I thoguht about placing
him 2nd until I remembered ³pound and ground².
MATTHEW HOCKING: Cole is getting better but he's still too bland. Tenay
knows his stuff but he's really annoying. I gave my number 1 vote to Jim
Ross, who despite an off year and a poor partner, is still the best big
match announcer in wrestling. There is nobody I'd rather hear announcing
a main-event. Coachman almost made the list, but he needs to learn more
emotions that "really excited" and "really bitter".
SCOTT CHRIST: Michael Cole got pretty good somewhere along the way. I'd
give Mike Tenay #1, but his senseless company lines and shills and well,
the faces he makes keep him at #2. Jim Ross at #3 because when he's up for
it, he still calls a big match like no one else can.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Josh Matthews didn’t make it into my top 3, but I think
he has done an excellent job on Velocity. Could be #1 in a few years.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Jim Cornette's the best wrestling announcer going
today... always informative, putting over the product and the wrestlers,
highly exciting and entertaining, and yet retaining credibility and not
overshilling.
THE CUBS FAN: While I'm sure I wouldn't want him to be doing the same act
on a show that has meaningful, Josh Matthews does his job as well as any
other announcer I watch does their job.
RICK SCAIA: The changing of the guard has happened. Michael Cole can now
be counted on to perform more consistently than Jim Ross, and is my
Announcer of the Year. Again, Cole is assisted greatly by the hands-down
most valuable commentator on any wrestling show, Tazz, but that doesn't
diminish the fact that Cole has found his voice, his role, and the right
chemistry with his partner. Ross, saddled with an often embarrassing
partner and also forced throughout the year to deviate from calling the
action to become a performer and character in his own right, simply had
too many off weeks to have any shot at retaining this title in 2003. So
shoot me, I still like Mike Tenay in small doses, which is about all there
is to have of him; he's #3.
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Best Colour Commentator
Award Description:
To be given to the colour commentator who provides the most insightful and
entertaining comments.
Previous Winners:
1991: Bobby Heenan
1992: Bobby Heenan
1993: Jesse Ventura
1994: Bobby Heenan
1995: Bobby Heenan
1996: Bobby Heenan
1997: Jerry Lawler
1998: Jerry Lawler
1999: Jerry Lawler
2000: Jerry Lawler
2001: Paul Heyman
2002: Tazz
**2003**: Tazz
122 first place votes
106 second place votes
80 third place votes
99 13 3 540 Tazz
3 44 18 183 Al Snow
4 18 15 104 Jerry Lawler
2 12 13 72 Don West
3 4 2 31 CM Punk
1 3 4 22 Chris Jericho
2 1 1 15 Bas Rutten
0 2 4 14 Ernest Miller
1 2 1 13 Steven Prazak
0 1 5 13 Dutch Mantell
2 0 0 10 Butch Fletcher
1 0 0 5 Ron Niemi
1 0 0 5 Leobardo Magadan
1 0 0 5 John House
1 0 0 5 Hayabusa
1 0 0 5 Ace Steel
0 1 1 5 Dan Wilson
0 0 2 4 Tommy Jeans
0 0 2 4 Lita
0 0 2 4 Bill DeMott
0 1 0 3 Vince McMahon
0 1 0 3 Konnan
0 1 0 3 Glen Gilberti
0 1 0 3 Frankie Capone
0 1 0 3 Dr. Harvard Cornell
0 0 1 2 Johnny Parks
0 0 1 2 Ian Rotten
0 0 1 2 Eric Bischoff
0 0 1 2 Don Callis
0 0 1 2 Dean Hill
0 0 1 2 Dale Spear
REJECTED
0 0 1 Some guy voted for his brother
PAUL ZOROVICH: Tazz has really grown into the color role -- could he be
the new Jesse Ventura?
CRIMEFIGHTER: Hands down, Tazz. Though not nominated, Ernest Miller
wasn't bad either. I'm stumped as to who's third.
DAVID POWELL: Tazz literally takes it by a nose. He and Al Snow are two of
the best in the business, by far.
MICHAEL: 2nd: Jerry Lawler. Yes, the ³puppies!² stuff is old, but he
still sometimes pulls off a good performance.
SCOTT CHRIST: Color commentary is really at a low point when you think
back to the greatness of Heenan, Ventura and Lawler before it was all
about tits with him. Tazz is the best of the bunch, and he gets pretty
awful at times. Don West at #2 because I feel like he's really trying and
wants to be as good as he can be. Al Snow at #3 because he was pretty good
before the heel turn, and since then he's been sort of (really) annoying.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: OVW color commentator and ring announcer Dean Hill
was simply awful when he started on OVW TV, but after working a year or so
with Jim Cornette, he has improved by leaps and bounds.
RICK SCAIA: As alluded to in the previous category, Tazz is simply the
most important commentator in the business right now. So many of SD!'s
great matches this past year were enhanced by the work that the announcers
did, and that started in every case with Tazz's ability to explain what
was happening in the ring from a technical/expert perspective. He's the
right man for the job on a roster that includes Angle, Benoit, Lesnar, and
so many other technically proficient (but not always flashy) grapplers.
Plus, when the time is right, he's damned funny; which makes two things
that he does better than Lawler. Al Snow is the RAW brand's best right
now, without a doubt, and gets points for being able to bounce between
Coach's foil and Coach's best buddy over the course of the year; those two
(once Coach finds a way to reconcile his heel personality with the need to
do a competent job of announcing) could be the Tazz/Cole team of 2006.
There is such a dearth of actually good color commentators that I use my
#3 vote on Chris Jericho, whose work on the September 29 edition of RAW
was exquisite: he did more in one 6 minute segment to get the product over
than Lawler does on most 2 hour shows, and also cracked me up with a
Tito-Santana-based non sequitur. Kudos!
RYAN FAULCONER: For some reason no promotion can do colour commentary like
IWA Mid-South can. Ace Steel, CM Punk and Ian Rotten are really the best
that there is in this field. Ace Steel is the best of the bunch but
really everyone apart from AJ Styles has been better than any other colour
commentator in the business this year. ROH is letting Punk do commentary
now and that can only serve to make their product better.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Interviewee
Award Description:
To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz. This
could be a wrestler or a manager.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ric Flair
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Ric Flair
1994: Ric Flair
1995: Shawn Michaels
1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998: Mankind (Dude Love / Cactus Jack / Mick Foley)
1999: Mankind
2000: The Rock
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
**2003**: Chris Jericho
124 first place votes
120 second place votes
118 third place votes
27 31 11 250 Chris Jericho
16 14 21 164 John Cena
16 16 16 160 Kurt Angle
20 11 9 151 Rock
13 12 12 125 Ric Flair
3 7 6 48 Paul Heyman
4 3 3 35 Raven
2 3 6 31 Theodore Long
4 1 2 27 CM Punk
3 2 3 27 Mick Foley
1 3 5 24 Eddie Guerrero
3 1 1 20 Father James Mitchell
1 1 3 14 Steve Austin
1 0 4 13 Goldust
1 2 0 11 Josh Matthews
1 1 1 10 Randy Orton
1 1 1 10 Jonathan Coachman
0 2 1 8 Bob Sapp
1 0 1 7 Triple H
1 0 1 7 Christopher Daniels
1 0 0 5 Scott Hudson
1 0 0 5 Matt Taylor
1 0 0 5 Kintaro Kanemura
1 0 0 5 Jim Ross
1 0 0 5 Cade Sydal
0 0 2 4 Sean O'Haire
0 0 2 4 Hurricane
0 1 0 3 Undertaker
0 1 0 3 Steve Corino
0 1 0 3 Mr. Gannosuke
0 1 0 3 Matt Hardy
0 1 0 3 Jack Adonis
0 1 0 3 Gail Kim
0 1 0 3 Dr. Harvard Cornell
0 1 0 3 Christian
0 1 0 3 Bart Sawyer
0 0 1 2 Terry Funk
0 0 1 2 Terri
0 0 1 2 Mat Maniac
0 0 1 2 Goldylocks
0 0 1 2 Dusty Rhodes
0 0 1 2 Booker T
0 0 1 2 Atsushi Onita
HACK-MAN: I expect Teddy Long to run away with Best Interviewee this year,
but my three picks are John Cena, Raven, and Sean O'Haire. Honorable
mention to Kurt, Eddie, Heyman, and Goldust.
PAUL ZOROVICH: John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Ric Flair are head and
shoulders above everyone else now that Rock is virtually gone.
DAVID POWELL: I had to put in Christian. Sorry brah. Ditto Question 33.
YNAE316: Hands down Cena's given the best and most innovative promos this
whole year. Jericho and Angle, as always, shine on the mic as well.
MATTHEW HOCKING: Jericho, Long and Cena have been the most consistantly
entertaining people on the mic over the last year, and honestly with the
exception of Rock, Austin and Angle, over the past several years.
SCOTT CHRIST: Ric Flair is still the best promo in the business. He
manages to turn every single thing he talks about into trying to put over
someone else, even when it's Batista, which just reminds me of him and Arn
Anderson watching a Meng video package and Flair shitting his pants about
Meng. Kurt Angle at #2 because when he's not being goofy he's very
effective. Dusty Rhodes at #3, he had some great stuff with TNA this year
that outshined most everything everyone else had been doing on TV this
year.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Probably the toughest one. There was about ten people I
wanted to vote for. Jericho & Rock stand out though, and CM Punk is a
natural.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Angle
Award Description:
To be given to the best angle you've seen in the sport this year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Horsemen turn heel
1991: "Real World Champion" Ric Flair challenges Hulk Hogan
1992: Ric Flair "knew Elizabeth first"
1993: WWF brings in Sean Waltman as 1-2-3 Kid
1994: Shane Douglas forfeits NWA title moments after winning it
1995: Barry Horowitz finally wins on WWF television
1996: NWO forms and attempts takeover of WCW
1997: Bret Hart turns on USA, reforms Hart Foundation
1998: Mr. McMahon offers Steve Austin the easy way - or the hard way
1999: "Countdown to the Millennium" ends with Chris Jericho's WWF debut
2000: Triple H, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, Kurt Angle love triangle
2001: ECW joins WCW, forms alliance
2002: Goldust, Booker T turn "At the Movies" gig into friendship
**2003**: Kurt Angle presented with Team Angle by Paul Heyman
125 first place votes
118 second place votes
109 third place votes
17 24 7 171 Kurt Angle presented with Team Angle by Paul Heyman
19 6 11 135 Chris Jericho attempts to get Steve Austin removed as RAW co-GM
14 10 12 124 Rock sings, plays guitar, argues with Hurricane
11 14 7 111 Kane unmasks, turns heel
6 9 9 75 Matt Hardy slims down to win Cruiserweight title
7 4 2 51 Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar form friendship
4 5 8 51 John Cena, Spanky engage in rap-off
3 8 5 49 Steve Austin named RAW co-GM, splitting power with Eric
Bischoff
4 6 2 42 Raven vows to win NWA title despite New Church
1 5 9 38 Triple H places bounty on Goldberg
3 3 5 34 Vince McMahon attempts to unmask Mr. America as Hulk Hogan
5 1 2 32 Rock brings back Gillberg to dance a jig and humiliate Goldberg
2 5 0 25 Chris Jericho idolizes, then despises Shawn Michaels
2 1 4 21 Hurricane names Rosey Super Hero in Training
2 2 2 20 Chris Jericho flirts with Trish Stratus
2 0 1 12 Mick Foley returns to referee Hell in the Cell match
0 3 1 11 Goldberg interrupts Rock Concert II
2 0 0 10 Tommy Dreamer saves Raven, then Raven & Dreamer force CM
Punk to drink beer for the first time
1 1 1 10 Paul Heyman Screws Lesnar, Introduced as Big Show's "Agent"
1 1 0 8 Chris Hammrick fakes knee injury during match against CM Punk
1 0 1 7 Shawn Michaels gives Ric Flair a pep talk, Flair cries
1 0 1 7 Lita comes back after over a year off from neck surgery
1 0 1 7 Eddie Guerrero Cheats 2 Win
1 0 1 7 Christian does it for the peeps
1 0 1 7 Cade Sydal knows nothing about other races
1 0 1 7 Brock Lesnar, Big Show Collapse Ring with Superplex
0 2 0 6 Triple H, Ric Flair form Evolution
1 0 0 5 Rodney Mack destroys white boys
1 0 0 5 Rock has Rock Concert
1 0 0 5 Raven refuses the Flock's help
1 0 0 5 Raven debuts in TNA attacking Jarrett and stealing the belt
1 0 0 5 NJPW's top singles titles both held by outsider Yoshihiro
Takayama
1 0 0 5 Katsushi Takemura joins with Jado & Gedo to form "rudo jr.
army"
1 0 0 5 Kashmere double turn at CZW Night of Infamy 2
1 0 0 5 Jonathan Coachman, Al Snow win RAW announcing jobs
1 0 0 5 Jerry Lynn, Christopher Daniels form Army of Darkness
with Mikey Whipwreck, Sinister Minister
1 0 0 5 Jeff Jarrett sneak attacks Hogan in Japan
1 0 0 5 Gail Kim wins title in first match
1 0 0 5 Apache Army declares war on Zero One
1 0 0 5 Al Wilson marries Dawn Marie
0 1 1 5 Steve Austin proclaims Lance Storm boring
0 1 1 5 Pete Madden, Jack Adonis return to form 4rth Reich with
Nikki Strychnine
0 1 1 5 Kid Kash disrespects legends
0 0 2 4 Vince McMahon Demands the REAL Brock Lesnar
0 1 0 3 WMF & WEW join together
0 1 0 3 Spanky and John Cena have a rap battle
0 1 0 3 NJPW's Makai Club
0 1 0 3 John Cena, Kurt Angle engage in rap-off
0 1 0 3 CM Punk is after Raven because Punk's father was a drunk
0 0 1 2 Terry Funk feuds with Extreme Horsemen
0 0 1 2 Tajiri acquires black-suited flunkies
0 0 1 2 Rock, Steve Austin battle one more time at WrestleMania
0 0 1 2 Rock calls it quits, but Goldberg spears him
0 0 1 2 Paul London confronts AJ Styles over his choice of Red as
tag team partner
0 0 1 2 Just before WrestleMania, Booker T revealed to have served time
0 0 1 2 Goldberg Bounty
0 0 1 2 Faarooq says he's proud that he masturbates
0 0 1 2 Evolution v. Goldberg
0 0 1 2 Bob Sapp & Tsubo Genjin form a team
HACK-MAN: Wow. I didn't realize how bad a year this really was until I
had to vote for "Raven vows to win NWA title despite New Church", "Triple
H places bounty on Goldberg", and "Rock sings, plays guitar, argues with
Hurricane" as the best angles!
PAUL ZOROVICH: There weren't many, but I got a kick out of John Cena and
Spanky doing a rap-off. Special props for getting the ref to act as a
human beatbox.
BIGDADDYLOCO: How can you not love the 'White Boy Challenge'? Well many
of you didn't, but I did!
CRIMEFIGHTER: Man, I can't believe someone actually thinks Al Wilson
marrying Dawn Marie was a BEST angle candidate. YOU IDIOT! The Gillberg
vs. Goldberg angle was something I've longed to see, Spanky vs. Cena was
a show stealer, and Rock putting over Hurricane when HHH won't put over
anyone but himself were the best of the year.
MICHAEL: 2nd: Steve Austin named RAW co-GM, splitting power with Eric
Bischoff. At least we weren¹t subjected to only having the one Evil GM.
3rd: Rock brings back Gillberg to dance a jig and humilate Goldberg. It
added heat eat to their match, kept Rock as a heel, and let us see
Gillberg one more time.
YNAE316: On the Raw side, Austin's year-long rivalry with Bischoff was the
best thing they had going. Austin can't go in the ring anymore but his
rivalry with Bischoff was as entertaining as anything else on Raw. The Mr.
America angle was critically blasted but I for one had a blast watching
it. I've always been a fan of those "face gets suspended returns as
masked man" angles (yes, I liked the Midnight Rider). The
Hogan/Zack/Vince segments were the entertainment highlight of Smackdown
for me. Triple H's bounty gimmick on Goldberg was also a solid promo
piece. It allowed Goldberg to smash through tons of guys to help build
him up and it played well to Triple H's character.
SCOTT CHRIST: The whole Flair v. HHH angle on the May 19 Raw was
tremendous, but what really stuck out, for me, was Shawn Michaels giving
Flair a pep talk backstage and Flair crying. It was the sort of real
emotion very few guys can capture anymore, and Flair does it like it's no
big thing. Goldberg's debut on Raw was very well-done. HHH's bounty on
Goldberg was some super fun.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: Okay, the WWE writing staff takes a lot of flak, most of
it deserved, but they should get some kudos on having the courage to try
to reinvent Kane, who's been in a rut since 1999. Sure, there were
stumbles along the way (trying to make Kane look "hideous" with black
smears on his face), but in the end, they've created a strong new villain
for the show. And I'm still looking forward to the Kane/Taker feud next
year.
AERO: Gotta go with the Al Wilson angle, the man had two penii. Honorable
mention to Kane trying to fry Shane's nads.
RYAN FAULCONER: Chris Hamrick's "knee injury" at the Spirit of 76 show
worked better than any other angle in recent memory at creating an
illusion of reality. Ian Rotten went nuts swearing his head off and that
helped sell the angle. The rap battle between Spanky and John Cena was a
lot of fun and also deserves mention. Spanky showed a glimpse of what he
can do as an "entertainer" and John Cena, well, he pretty much did his one
trick and did it well. Brian Hebner was the unsung hero of that angle as
well.
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Best Organization
Award Description:
To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product. This
is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can't miss.
Previous Winners:
1990: NWA
1991: WWF
1992: WCW
1993: SMW
1994: ECW
1995: WWF
1996: WWF
1997: WWF
1998: WWF
1999: WWF
2000: WWF
2001: WWF
2002: WWE (WWF)
**2003**: WWE
115 first place votes
102 second place votes
91 third place votes
63 14 15 387 WWE
14 44 15 232 NWA TNA
13 14 26 159 ROH
4 4 5 42 Pro Wrestling NOAH
1 5 6 32 MLW
3 3 3 30 EMLL
3 1 1 20 New Japan Pro Wrestling
1 2 2 15 NWA Wildside
1 3 0 14 IWA Mid-South
1 2 1 13 CZW
1 2 0 11 Gateway Championship Wrestling
2 0 0 10 OVW
1 1 0 8 Carolina Wrestling Federation
1 0 1 7 A to Z
0 0 3 6 XPW
1 0 0 5 WMF
1 0 0 5 Toryumon
1 0 0 5 New Midwest Wrestling
1 0 0 5 NWA (?)
1 0 0 5 Asylum Championship Wrestling
0 1 1 5 Osaka Pro
0 0 2 4 ZERO-ONE
0 0 2 4 Border City Wrestling
0 1 0 3 TWF
0 1 0 3 SDW
0 1 0 3 IPW Florida
0 1 0 3 HWA
0 1 0 3 Fuyuki Army Promotion
0 1 0 3 Chaotic Wrestling
0 0 1 2 WWA (World Wrestling All-Stars)
0 0 1 2 Rampage Championship Wrestling
0 0 1 2 Prarie Wrestling Association
0 0 1 2 Michinoku Pro
0 0 1 2 MECW
0 0 1 2 Kaiju Big Battel
0 0 1 2 APW
REJECTED - not organisations
1 0 0 RAW
0 0 1 EBYC
PAUL ZOROVICH: WWE. Who's left in the US?
CRIMEFIGHTER: Sorry if I'm partial to my local area fed, but NMW out of
Springfield, IL gets my vote. It was the only place I could go around
here to watch a decent wrestling show with endless crappy WWE matches.
Let's hope NWA TNA continues to do good business, Ring of Honor I wish
would be on free TV somewhere.
DAVID POWELL: Sting wrestled with WWA, before merging with/jumping to NWA
TNA. Also, WWA was the last federation Miss Elizabeth worked for, as I
recall.
MICHAEL: 2nd: MLW. I just hope they survive.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: I know I'm RSPW's resident OVW fan, but they're
clearly my vote for Best Organization. I always enjoy their weekly TV,
where I can always expect at least a solid show that does not insult my
intelligence.
RYAN FAULCONER: Toryumon is the blueprint for how to run a promotion in
this day and age. They have consistently fun shows with good action
top-to-bottom involving the most charismatic roster in the world. Ring of
Honor gets overhyped but the wrestling is darn good every single show so
it gets second.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best TV Show
Award Description:
To be given to what is on average the best wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV
shows and major shows were given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape)
1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble
1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV
1994: WWF Monday Night RAW
1995: WWF Monday Night RAW
1996: WWF Monday Night RAW
1997: WWF Monday Night RAW (WWF RAW is War / WWF RAW / WWF War Zone)
1998: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone)
1999: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone)
2000: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone)
2001: WWF RAW (RAW is War / War Zone / RAW Zone)
2002: WWE SmackDown!
**2003**: WWE Smackdown
123 first place votes
119 second place votes
106 third place votes
49 42 13 397 WWE Smackdown
33 33 14 292 WWE RAW
15 12 20 151 NWA TNA weekly PPV
4 16 21 110 WWE Velocity
2 6 19 66 WWE Confidential
6 1 2 37 CMLL on Galavision
4 0 2 24 NJPW World Pro Wrestling
0 0 8 16 WWE Sunday Night Heat
1 2 1 13 MLW Underground
1 2 0 11 CZW Fake You TV
2 0 0 10 OVW TV
2 0 0 10 Gateway Championship Wrestling weekly TV show
1 1 0 8 CWF Championship Wrestling
1 0 1 7 NWA Wildside
1 0 0 5 WMF on Samurai TV
1 0 0 5 NWA TNA Xplosion
0 1 0 3 New Japan Strong Style eXtreme Wrestling (SXW)
0 1 0 3 Memphis Championship Wrestling
0 1 0 3 IPW Florida
0 1 0 3 Fuyuki Army Promotion on Samurai TV
0 0 1 2 RCW TV
0 0 1 2 Osaka Pro on Yomiuri TV
0 0 1 2 NOAH's Voyage
0 0 1 2 IWA Total Impact (AIW Slams & Jams)
0 0 1 2 Bad Asses of Wrestling (?)
HACK-MAN: For Best TV Show I went with NWA Wildside weekly TV, NWA TNA
weekly PPV, and WWE Velocity. I was tempted to put Confidential in as #3
but Mean Gene is too annoying. Velocity just eeked out over Smackdown for
the third spot. TNA is just so much better than #3 and Wildside makes TNA
look practically unwatchable.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Depending on the week, Smackdown or Raw. Take your pick.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Smackdown consistantly was the best show of the week,
though now it's sucked a lot lately. NWA TNA if it was on free TV would
probably crush WWE in the ratings.
SCOTT CHRIST: Smackdown held the advantage on Raw most of the voting year,
going down just toward the end. Raw comes in at #2 for a few bright spots
in the midst of all the shit, and TNA's PPVs at #3.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Smackdown is the better brand, but RAW is a better tv
show if that makes any sense.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: The best wrestling product on TV has been OVW.
Consistantly solid with some really great shows. Smackdown is #2 for the
Heyman booking era and the fact that the show was still pretty solid for
several months with some good hunks of wrestling thrown out there. I'm
voting for TNA #3 since it got nominated, but I don't really feel
comfortable putting a PPV product as #1.
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Best Major Show
Award Description:
To be given to the best major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV
special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were
given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape)
1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble
1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV
1994: 03/20/94: WWF WrestleMania X
1995: 08/27/95: WWF SummerSlam
1996: 03/31/96: WWF WrestleMania XII
1997: 04/14/97: ECW Barely Legal
1998: 03/24/98: WWF WrestleMania XIV
1999: 08/22/99: WWF SummerSlam
2000: 01/23/00: WWF Royal Rumble
2001: 04/01/01: WWF WrestleMania X-7
2002: 08/25/02: WWE SummerSlam
**2003**: 03/30/03: WWE WrestleMania XIX
111 first place votes
103 second place votes
87 third place votes
53 18 10 339 03/30/03 WWE Wrestlemania XIX
17 12 19 159 07/27/03 WWE Vengeance
11 23 16 156 01/19/03 WWE Royal Rumble
3 14 15 87 11/17/02 WWE Survivor Series
4 6 8 54 09/03/03 NWA TNA Wednesday Bloody Wednesday/Super X Cup
3 3 3 30 08/20/03 NWA TNA Ultimate X
2 3 4 27 04/26/03 ROH Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II
2 3 3 25 08/24/03 WWE SummerSlam
2 1 0 13 03/01/03 NOAH Navigate for Evolution
1 1 0 8 06/06/03 NOAH Budokan Hall
1 1 0 8 05/16/03 GCW Adults F'N Only 17 - Gateway Challenge
1 1 0 8 02/08-09/03 NOAH Differ Cup Scramble Tag Team Tournament
1 0 0 5 12/12/02 WMF
1 0 0 5 10/19/03 ACW
1 0 0 5 09/19/03 MLW War Games
1 0 0 5 08/28/03 NJPW Osaka Dream Night
1 0 0 5 08/10/03 New Japan
1 0 0 5 05/02/03 NJPW Ultimate Crush
0 1 0 3 09/22/03 Fuyuki Army Promotion
0 1 0 3 09/21/03 WWE Unforgiven
0 1 0 3 08/15/03 New Japan
0 1 0 3 06/29/03 Toryumon Kobe World Hall Fifth Anniversary Show
0 1 0 3 06/15/03 WWE Bad Blood
0 1 0 3 05/02/03 ZERO-ONE 01World
0 1 0 3 02/23/03 All Japan Excite Series
0 1 0 3 02/08/03 ROH First Anniversary Show
0 0 1 2 10/19/03 WWE No Mercy
0 0 1 2 10/13/03 New Japan Ultimate Crush II
0 0 1 2 09/10/03 NWA TNA One Cent PPV
0 0 1 2 08/17/03 New Japan G1 Climax Finals
0 0 1 2 06/25/03 NWA TNA
0 0 1 2 05/31/03 KBB Philly Factory Fighto
0 0 1 2 04/22/03 Toryumon El Numero Uno
0 0 1 2 04/11/03 WMF
0 0 1 2 03/09/03 New Japan
REJECTED - these are not "major shows"
3 2 0 Smackdown
1 3 1 WWE Raw
1 0 2 NWA TNA Weekly PPV (too general)
0 0 1 WWE Heat
HACK-MAN: This is the fewest PPVs I've seen since about 1997. For Best
Major Show I voted for 03/30/03 WWE Wrestlemania XIX, 01/19/03 WWE Royal
Rumble, and 09/10/03 NWA TNA one cent PPV (which wasn't nominated, but was
better than anything else remaining on the list).
CRIMEFIGHTER: Dang, hardly any candidates here to vote for, but NWA TNA
has put out a couple of the best PPVs of the year with multiple ****
matches in Ultimate X and Super X. Vengeance had three **** bouts as
well.
SCOTT CHRIST: Wrestlemania XIX proved that even in a truly shitty year,
there's no reason for Wrestlemania to not kick ass in this day and age.
Survivor Series '02 was a solid show top-to-bottom. Vengeance in at third
on the strength of the Benoit-Eddy match and a surprising main event.
JOHN DONALDSON: The Super X Cup had two match of the year candidates.
Teddy Hart and Juventud Guerrera in the semifinals and Guerrera and Chris
Sabin in the finals. Although the first round was a bit rushed and marred
by Don Callis screwing Jerry Lynn's chances at winning, the final three
matches made up for all the shortcomings at the beginning.
RICK SCAIA: Yet another where the category leader just runs away and
hides. July's Vengeance, a SD!-only PPV, was so superior to any other PPV
this year that it's not even funny. You had Benoit and Eddie resurrecting
the US Title, Haas/Benjamin and Rey/Kidman stealing the show, adequate
comedy in a "Bar Room Brawl," a shockingly-competent Sable/Steph match, a
Taker/Cena match that put Cena on the map despite it being a loss, and an
excellent main event in which Kurt Angle regained the WWE Title.
WrestleMania 19 had plenty going for it, too, however, and is #2 on the
strength of entertaining "spectacles" like Hogan/Vince and Austin/Rock and
tremendous wrestling matches like Jericho/Michaels and Angle/Lesnar. My
choice for #3: going back to late '02, I say it's Survivor Series 2002,
which was solid throughout and which climaxed with the first Elimination
Chamber and a surprise title win by Shawn Michaels.
RYAN FAULCONER: NOAH's 6/6 Budokan Hall Show, Toryumon's 6/29 Kobe World
Hall Show and ROH's RRCII were my favourites in a strong year for good
shows from these three promotions.
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Best Promotional Move
Award Description:
To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This
could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone
hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.
Previous Winners:
1991: WWF signs Ric Flair
1992: WCW signs Jake Roberts
1993: WWF works with SMW & USWA
1994: WWF pushes Bret Hart as champion again
1995: WCW signs Sabu, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko away
1996: WCW signs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ted DiBiase & Syxx
1997: ECW uses "working agreement" with WWF
1998: WWF books Vince McMahon into top storyline role
1999: WWF signs Chris Jericho
2000: WWF signs Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn
2001: WWF adds ECW to "invasion" angle
2002: WWE names Paul Heyman head of SmackDown! writing team
**2003**: NWA TNA offers one cent PPV
119 first place votes
114 second place votes
108 third place votes
21 11 8 154 NWA TNA offers one cent PPV
14 16 7 132 WWE pushes John Cena
15 11 9 126 WWE revives intercontinental, US championships
11 11 7 102 WWE signs Goldberg
9 9 8 88 WWE pushes Eddie Guerrero
3 11 7 62 WWE signs Rey Mysterio
5 7 7 60 WWE brings in Mick Foley as Hell in the Cell ref
2 5 7 39 NWA TNA announces Hulk Hogan deal
3 2 6 33 WWE pushes cruiserweights
3 1 4 26 WWE runs separate brand PPVs
2 2 4 24 NWA TNA signs many wrestlers to yearlong contracts
1 5 2 24 WWE signs Ultimo Dragon
4 1 0 23 WWE pushes women's division
1 2 3 17 K-1 gets Bob Sapp on Tonight Show
3 0 0 15 WWE brings back Rock for a few matches
1 2 2 15 NWA TNA names Dutch Mantell booker
2 0 2 14 WWE books Angle v. Lesnar WrestleMania main event
2 0 1 12 NWA TNA hires Raven
0 0 6 12 WWE pushes Tajiri
2 0 0 10 New Japan signs Josh Barnett
2 0 0 10 New Japan borrows Jun Akiyama for the G-1 Tournament
2 0 0 10 GCW Hires Jeremy and Kory Twist
1 1 1 10 WWE lets Hulk Hogan go
1 0 1 7 WWE releases Roddy Piper
0 1 2 7 WWE brings back Steve Austin
0 1 2 7 NJPW puts over Hiroyoshi Tenzan over in G-1 Climax
0 2 0 6 WWE pushes Big Show to main event
1 0 0 5 WWE pushes Spanky
1 0 0 5 WWE fires Crash Holly
1 0 0 5 WWE cracks down on injury-enducing moves
1 0 0 5 WWE books World title loss for Triple H
1 0 0 5 WWE books Jericho/Stratus angle
1 0 0 5 Osaka Pro gets strong financial backer
1 0 0 5 NWA signs Sting
1 0 0 5 NJPW brings in Hulk Hogan
1 0 0 5 Go Ito put in control of Fuyuki Army Promotion
0 1 1 5 NWA TNA signs Sting
0 0 2 4 WWE pushes Chris Benoit
0 1 0 3 ZERO-ONE co-promotes with AJPW
0 1 0 3 WWE turns Kurt Angle face
0 1 0 3 WWE removes Stephanie McMahon from television
0 1 0 3 WWE releases Flair DVD collection
0 1 0 3 WWE pushes Goldberg
0 1 0 3 WWE books ironman match on "free" television
0 1 0 3 WWE begins using vast video tape library to their/our advantage
0 1 0 3 ROH significantly upgrades production values
0 1 0 3 OVW books angle to write out Doug Basham
0 1 0 3 NWA TNA puts world title on AJ Styles
0 1 0 3 NWA TNA brings in D'Lo Brown
0 0 1 2 WWE signs Paul London
0 0 1 2 WWE puts submission moves over as being legit
0 0 1 2 WWE hires Jimmy Yang
0 0 1 2 WWE drops/loses Tough Enough
0 0 1 2 WWE calls up fresh faces from OVW
0 0 1 2 Osaka Pro announces multipromotional involvement in Super-J Cup
0 0 1 2 OVW rekindles Bob Holly/Matt Cappotelli TE3 feud
0 0 1 2 NWA TNA offers monthly PPV rate
0 0 1 2 NOAH promotes final match between Kobashi and Misawa in March
REJECTED - ineligible time
0 1 0 Matt Hardy goes to RAW
HACK-MAN: How bad a year was it when the three best Best Promotional Moves
are "NWA TNA offers one cent PPV", "WWE signs Rey Mysterio", and "WWE
pushes Eddie Guerrero"?
C FRARACCI: Showing that they plan to be around for a while TNA signs
names contact is a good thing. I hope TNA can become number two and get a
TV deal soon. The woman put on the best matches of the night on RAW and
they deserve better then what they get. They should allot 10 minutes for
their matches not 5. At least the IC title and US title are back, that
gives the guys something to strive for. Anyone not named Triple H can have
a belt. Personally the IC title is more prestigious then the Triple H
title anyways.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Who's more deserving of a big push than Eddy? Nobody!
Who's close? John Cena!
CRIMEFIGHTER: NWA TNA offering a one-cent PPV was a great move, too bad I
don't have digital cable to get PPV. The IC title should had never been
eliminated in the first place, and the cruiserweights consistantly put on
better matches than the heavyweights--though Spike Dudley needs to join
them on Smackdown.
DAVID POWELL: I had to go with Hogan, even though "WWE revives
intercontinental, US championships" is pretty sweet, and will likely have
greater impact than many of the other listed choices over the next few
years.
MICHAEL: 1st: WWE signs Bill Goldberg. Too bad egos got in the way and
weakened him right from the start. 2nd: WWE signs Ultimo Dragon. Vince,
you¹ve been blinded by putting youself and big men over. 3rd: New Japan
puts Hiroyoshi Tenzan over in the G-1 Tournament. Dunno if it¹ll help
Tenzan finally break out into a singles star, but at least it¹s an honest
try.
YNAE316: WWE's hiring of Goldberg, reinstating the IC and US belts and
pushing of Eddie were all good moves on their part this year. They kinda
hiccupped on Eddie by jobbing him (and the U.S. and tag belts) out
recently but hopefully things turn around for him soon.
SCOTT CHRIST: Reviving the IC and US belts was, in theory, a good idea. Of
course a few months later, Big Show has the US belt and the IC belt is all
but forgotten on Raw. Oh well, I appreciate the thought. Mick Foley, more
than anything else, sold the HHH/Nash HITC match at Bad Blood, and made it
seem like it meant anything. I think the brand-specific PPVs have actually
been very good for the company because it's allowed them to run their
angles to a point where they can be finished in matches that feel like PPV
matches are supposed to feel, or at least moreso than before.
JOHN DONALDSON: Everyone can afford a PPV for a penny, that was a great
idea. Almost free TV although the first hour outshined the second.
RYAN FAULCONER: Its definitely a plus to have solid financial backing
behind the most underrated and underappreciated promotion in the world,
Osaka Pro. Its great that ROH upgraded their production in April as well.
NOAH promoting the "final" match between Kobashi and Misawa in March
created a great buzz so it gets third.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Second
Award Description:
To be given to the manager whose presence at ringside and during interviews
is really unnecessary. This person does little to enhance the matches in
which his/her wrestler(s) participates. This award was discontinued after
the 2001 awards.
Previous Winners:
1990: Mr. Fuji
1991: Coach John Tolos
1992: Harvey Wippleman
1993: Harvey Wippleman
1994: Harvey Wippleman
1995: Harvey Wippleman
1996: Teddy Long
1997: Uncle Cletus
1998: Eric Bischoff
1999: Curtis Hughes
2000: Mae Young
2001: Sara
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Announcer
Award Description:
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comments
while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the
TV when he/she is announcing. As of 1992, the difference between this and
colour commentator will be enforced.
Previous Winners:
1990: Vince McMahon
1991: Vince McMahon
1992: Vince McMahon
1993: Vince McMahon
1994: Eric Bischoff
1995: Eric Bischoff
1996: Eric Bischoff
1997: Tony Schiavone
1998: Tony Schiavone
1999: Tony Schiavone
2000: Tony Schiavone
2001: Tony Schiavone
2002: Jim Ross
**2003**: Jim Ross
107 first place votes
79 second place votes
55 third place votes
51 12 8 307 Jim Ross
36 25 7 269 Jonathan Coachman
6 19 14 115 Josh Matthews
5 12 3 67 Michael Cole
0 4 4 20 Chris Lovey
0 1 6 15 Joey Styles
2 0 1 12 Marc Loyd
1 1 1 10 Carral Brown
1 1 0 8 Mike Tenay
1 0 1 7 Tony Schiavone (eligible?)
0 1 2 7 RA Brian
0 1 2 7 Damon Perry
1 0 0 5 Paco Zimmer
1 0 0 5 Mario Savoldi
1 0 0 5 Kris Kloss
0 1 0 3 Eric Garguilio
0 0 1 2 Timmy Rivers
0 0 1 2 Les Thatcher
0 0 1 2 Jimmy Rivers
REJECTED - not play-by-play
1 0 1 Jerry Lawler
0 1 0 Duplicated votes
0 0 1 Gary Michael Capetta
0 0 1 Ernest Miller
HACK-MAN: I expect it to be a close race between Ross and Coach for Worst
Announcer.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Jim Ross. How the mighty have fallen.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Easy, the Coach. In the weeks subbing for Jim Ross he did
a lousy job and didn't know the moves.
MICHAEL: 1st: Jonathan Coachman. You¹d think the WWE would¹ve started
coaching him after his first stint as Jim Ross¹ temporary replacement.
CHRIS BIRD: Although Jonathan Coachman is a terrible announcer by any
measure, he really got a good joke in when he started making fun of Jim
Ross's announcing style, because Ross is a pathetic shell of a once-great
announcer who deserves no love.
SCOTT CHRIST: I know no one else has seen him, but AWWL's Paco Zimmer is
really, really bad. Second to Jonathan Coachman, who seems like a nice guy
and all but he sucks. Third to Joey Styles because he can go piss up a
rope for all I care.
EMMA: There's got to be a loophole whereby I can vote for JR for all of
first, second & third!
THE CUBS FAN: The worst part about turning Coach heel, and there are a lot
of bad parts, but the worst part is all Coach can talk about on Heat
nowadays is how everything related to Coach The Heel. It's the kind of
stuff that might be amusing for four minute bits on RAW but gets old quick
when it's done an hour each week. Jim Ross is often not very good but will
get away with it till he decides he no longer wants the job.
RYAN FAULCONER: Jonathan Coachman is up there with the worst announcers of
all time thanks to his work in 2003. JR is such a non-factor in the shows
he announces for that its not funny. Chris Lovey does have inexperience
on his side but he really should be better than he is since he is the
booker of the promtion he announces for. He is getting better though.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Colour Commentator
Award Description:
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comment
while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the
TV when he/she is announcing.
Previous Winners:
1991: Dusty Rhodes
1992: Lord Alfred Hayes
1993: Randy Savage
1994: Dusty Rhodes
1995: Steve McMichael
1996: Dusty Rhodes
1997: Dusty Rhodes
1998: Larry Zbyszko
1999: Jason Hervey
2000: Mark Madden
2001: Mark Madden
2002: Jerry Lawler
**2003**: Jerry Lawler
109 first place votes
88 second place votes
60 third place votes
64 20 8 396 Jerry Lawler
26 33 8 245 Ernest Miller
4 13 15 89 Don West
8 6 8 74 Al Snow
1 2 7 25 AJ Styles
1 5 2 24 Lita
2 0 1 12 Bill DeMott
1 1 2 12 Tazz
0 3 1 11 John House
0 0 3 6 Super Fan Frankie
1 0 0 5 Mat Maniac
1 0 0 5 Elix Skipper
0 1 1 5 Ricky O
0 1 0 3 Raven
0 1 0 3 Mark Madden (eligible?)
0 1 0 3 Ed Ferrara (eligible?)
0 1 0 3 D'Lo Brown
0 0 1 2 Timmy Rivers
0 0 1 2 Stevie Richards
0 0 1 2 Rue
0 0 1 2 Giant
PAUL ZOROVICH: Jerry Lawler, although he didn't have far to fall.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Hardly anyone to vote for now with just the WWE shows.
I'm tempted to vote for the unknowns cause the WWE guys don't deserve the
title.
CHRIS BIRD: I would dearly like to see Jerry Lawler castrated.
THE CUBS FAN: Bill DeMott has me missing the Cat. That's not very healthy.
RYAN FAULCONER: AJ Styles commentating at the Ultra Styles Clash weekend
was just embarrassing. He would have placed higher than third if he had
done more than gig...thank gawd that he didn't. I hope they burned his
microphone afterwards.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Interviewee
Award Description:
To be given to the person who gives the worst interview in the biz. This
could be a wrestler or a manager.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ultimate Warrior
1991: El Gigante
1992: Ultimate Warrior
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Yokozuna
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Ahmed Johnson
1997: Ahmed Johnson
1998: Warrior
1999: Sid Vicious
2000: Hardy Boyz
2001: Linda McMahon
2002: Triple H
**2003**: Al Wilson
122 first place votes
114 second place votes
108 third place votes
29 12 7 195 Al Wilson
12 14 11 124 Linda McMahon
14 6 11 110 Stephanie McMahon
11 7 4 84 Triple H
6 9 7 71 Sable
6 6 10 68 Scott Steiner
2 10 2 44 Goldberg
4 4 3 38 Roddy Piper
2 4 6 34 Rob van Dam
4 3 1 31 Kevin Nash
2 4 3 28 Big Show
1 4 4 25 Bradshaw
2 3 2 23 Kane
0 5 4 23 Billy Kidman
2 1 3 19 Gail Kim
2 2 1 18 Brock Lesnar
1 1 5 18 Randy Orton
3 0 0 15 Terri
2 1 1 15 Lance Storm
0 3 3 15 Shane McMahon
0 3 3 15 La Resistance
1 2 1 13 Nathan Jones
2 0 1 12 Lita
1 1 1 10 A-Train
1 1 0 8 Mark Henry
1 1 0 8 Goldy Locks
1 0 1 7 Test
1 0 1 7 Batista
0 1 2 7 Undertaker
0 2 0 6 Bubba Ray Dudley
1 0 0 5 Zach Gowen
1 0 0 5 Sting
1 0 0 5 Rodney Mack
1 0 0 5 Rico
1 0 0 5 Ric Flair
1 0 0 5 Payton Scott
1 0 0 5 Low Ki
1 0 0 5 Jonathan Coachman
1 0 0 5 Jerry Lynn
0 1 1 5 Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Jazz
0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit
0 1 0 3 AJ Styles
0 0 1 2 Teddy Long
0 0 1 2 Rue
0 0 1 2 Rhyno
0 0 1 2 Maven
0 0 1 2 Marc Loyd
0 0 1 2 Lex Luger
0 0 1 2 Jeff Hardy
0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn
0 0 1 2 Basham Brothers
HACK-MAN: For Worst Interviewee I was torn. Sure there are a lot of
wrestlers who are bad on the stick, but worse yet was when WWE tried to
put non-wrestlers in a speaking role that they are totally unprepared for.
I went with Sable, Linda McMahon, and Al Wilson.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Al Wilson -- who was a stiff even BEFORE he was "dead."
Bill Goldberg still hasn't learned how to give a credible interview, and
Linda McMahon, well, 'nuff said.
JON RICHARDSON: Is Triple-H capable of shutting up after just 5 minutes?
Or just shutting up entirely. Steph is #2 for monopolizing almost as much
time as Hunter, while having as little to say. Test has been there for 5
years and still can't cut a coherant promo.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Al Wilson is the most boring man on the mike, thankfully
he's "dead". Scott Steiner messed up his interviews a lot, somehow they
always were OFF CAMERA though. And of course Triple H still consistantly
bores us to tears.
MICHAEL: 1st: Triple H. unless you like a guy who builds up a match and
cuts the knees out from his opponents at the same time. 3rd: La
Resistance. Rent them a copy of ³French Kiss², sit them in front of it
and tell them to pay CLOSE attention to Kevin Kline for God¹s sake!
CHRIS BIRD: See, it used to be that Linda McMahon was always my top pick
for this one, but nowadays even Linda's total lack of drama is surpassed
when people are willing to give the likes of Al Wilson and Roddy Piper
microphones. Wilson and Piper can't even string together coherent
sentences.
MATTHEW HOCKING. Al Wilson and Billy Kidman are locks, but Linda McMahon
is certainly as deserving of the honor as anybody else. She should never
ever be on TV unless it's to make a HUGE announcement, and even then, keep
it short keep it sweet.
RICK SCAIA: Al Wilson's pro wrestling "career" will end up being about six
months, all told. And yet, there's no doubt that he deserves to win this
"award" for the second year in a row. A trick of the calendar, maybe, but
I don't think we'll EVER see anybody descend to the depths of suck
displayed by Al Wilson.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Angle
Award Description:
To be given to the worst angle you've seen in the sport this year. It may
be the worst because of taste or because of execution.
Previous Winners:
1990: Earthquake breaks Hulk's ribs & get well card drive /
Black Scorpion (tie)
1991: WWF exploits the Gulf war
1992: Papa Shango curses the Ultimate Warrior
1993: WCW's Cactus Jack gets amnesia; search leads to Cleveland
1994: WCW gives Hulk Hogan the WCW Title
1995: WCW bills Giant as Andre the Giant's alleged son
1996: Jim Ross announces return of Razor Ramon and Diesel to WWF
1997: Brian Pillman claims paternity of Dakota Runnells
1998: "Mysterious laughter" source revealed as Chucky the doll
1999: Big Show's father stricken with cancer; Big Boss Man exploits it
2000: Mae Young's pregnancy results in birth of hand
2001: Triple H quickly returns from fall inside car dropped from forklift
2002: Triple H reveals Kane's role in a death - and immediately afterwards
**2003**: Dawn Marie, Al Wilson give new meaning to "'til death do us part"
126 first place votes
121 second place votes
119 third place votes
46 15 11 297 Dawn Marie seduces, marries, screws to death Al Wilson
16 8 12 128 Father/Daughter tensions on Smackdown lead to "I Quit" match
6 14 11 94 Triple H, Scott Steiner feud over who has best body
6 11 7 77 Eddie Guerrero feeds Big Show laxative burrito, sprays with
sewage
7 5 11 72 Eric Bischoff stalks Linda McMahon
4 9 11 69 Steve Austin convinces Lance Storm he is boring
5 11 5 68 Hulk Hogan denies being Mr. America
7 5 8 66 Shane McMahon attempts to kill Kane by totalling a limousine
5 6 4 51 Unmasked, Kane goes pyro/hooks jumper cables to testicles
3 5 7 44 Matt Hardy openly jealous of attention towards Zach Gowen
1 5 5 30 Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler lose RAW announcing gig
3 1 3 24 Triple H goes borderline-racist to get to Booker T
0 5 4 23 Billy Gunn, Torrie Wilson, Nidia, Jamie Noble menage a quatre
2 3 1 21 Faarooq says he's proud that he masturbates
1 2 4 19 Vince Russo turns on someone new every week
2 1 0 13 Triple H uses necrophilia to get at Kane
2 0 1 12 Roddy Piper picks Sean O'Haire as protege
0 2 3 12 Theodore Long issues White Boy Challenge
2 0 0 10 Test owns Stacy Keibler and/or Scott Steiner
2 0 0 10 Sable romantically interested in Torrie Wilson
0 3 0 9 Vince McMahon urges Stephanie to quit as Smackdown GM
0 2 1 8 La Resistance face suddenly patriotic Dudley Boyz
1 0 1 7 All Japan invaded by TAKA's "WWE army"
0 1 2 7 Undertaker mentors Nathan Jones
1 0 0 5 Tajiri replaces injured Chavo Guerrero, wins tag championship
1 0 0 5 S.E.X. vs. NWA
1 0 0 5 Jon Heidenreich keeps talking about "Little Johnny"
1 0 0 5 Dusty Rhodes/AJ Styles pull each other's pants down
1 0 0 5 Cat does anything
0 1 1 5 Zandig hung by hooks
0 1 0 3 Vince/Piper/O'Haire/Brock/Show feud with Stephanie/Mr. America/Zach Gowen
0 1 0 3 Sean O'Haire encourages Spanky to streak
0 1 0 3 Roddy Piper talks
0 1 0 3 Gangstas v. Wrestlers in ROH
0 1 0 3 Buildup for Triple H/Kevin Nash
0 1 0 3 Austin, Bischoff duelling RAW co-GMs
0 0 1 2 Triple H places bounty on Goldberg
0 0 1 2 Superface Jeff Jarrett
0 0 1 2 Steve Austin invents ways of being "physically provoked"
0 0 1 2 Rob van Dam plays buddy-buddy with Kane
0 0 1 2 Eric Bischoff given thirty days to turn RAW around
REJECTED
0 0 1 2 Buried Alive (ineligible time)
DON DEL GRANDE: Make #1 "Hogan denies being Mr. America ON TV, but unmasks
at house shows, but nobody notices until they need a cover story for Hogan
quitting". Also, Austin and the whole "physically provoked" thing might go
over better if there was ever a chance that somebody might attack Austin,
but if you know it's one-sided (because of Austin's neck), it ruins the
angle. (Question: has anybody ever responded to "Worst Angle" with "#1 -
Kurt; #2 - Kurt's brother; #3 - I can't think of any others"?) [Several
years - CRZ]
HACK-MAN:Worst Angle was hard to narrow down to three, but I went with
"Dawn Marie seduces, marries, screws to death Al Wilson", "Vince Russo
turns on someone new every week", and "Steve Austin convinces Lance Storm
he is boring".
C FRARACCI: Roddy Piper picks Sean O'Haire as protege thus ruining the
coolest gimmick of all time. Thank a lot Piper. Zach Gowen gets first
clean pinfall victory over Matt Hardy, thus continuing the disrespect that
Matt always gets. I love Dawn Marie but that was a sick storyline and Al
was boring as hell.
PAUL ZOROVICH: Eric Bischoff stalking Linda McMahon was too creepy for
words. The Dawn Marie/Al Wilson thing was tasteless. And Jamie Noble and
Billy Gunn swapping Nidia and Torrie was stupid.
JON RICHARDSON: Less than 24 hours after Dan Snyder dies from injuries
suffered in a car crash, Vince McMahon runs an angle where Kane may be
"killed" by a crashed limo. It was tasteless beyond belief, showed a
total lack of awareness of the real world, and wasted hundreds of
thousands of dollars. In other words, vintage Vince McMahon.
CRIMEFIGHTER: NOBODY cared about Al Wilson, and surprise surprise, Torrie
Wilson and Dawn Marie aren't mad at each other now even though Dawn
"killed" her dad. Wonder why there was no MURDER investigation? NOBODY
cared about this Mr. America farce, and they kept this crap going week
after week. Eric Bischoff should be in a prison cell for home invasion
and stalking Linda McMahon.
MICHAEL: 1st: Kane unmasks, turns sinister. This whole angle, IMHO,
exemplifies what¹s wrong with the WWE today. First he gets unmasked with
his face away from the camera and we¹re told about hideous scars. Then he
unmasks on camera (after a short-lived attack from Evolution even though
he¹d already lost the match), taking his hair with the mask, even though
it was obviously his hair in the previous unmasking, showing what looked
like smeared black make-up on his face and a half-assed attempt to turn a
regular haircut into the results of scarring. Now he¹s just a bald guy
with an ³I¹m a freak!² psychosis. 2nd: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler lose RAW
announcing gig. The fans didn¹t want Ross gone the FIRST time, yet the
PTB decided to do TWO MORE angles that removed JR and sometimes Lawler,
with only Jonathan Coachman to replace JR. What makes it worse is that
Coachman is terrible at calling matches. You¹d think the WWE¹d get
Coachman some coaching. 3rd: Shane McMahon tries to kill Kane by
totalling a limousine. This pretty much typified this terrible feud
between newly-reestablished-as-a-monster-heel Kane and the only person who
could take it to him, Shane McMahon. It was your basic ³let¹s try and
call this like it¹s real² crap.
YNAE316: The Shane vs. Kane feud saw some pretty dumb things so that ranks
#1 with me. Bischoff seducing Linda takes #2. Out of all the people in
the world to seduce, Linda McMahon WOULD NOT make my list. At the start
of the year, the Torrie, Dawn Marie and Al Wilson was clearly at the top
of the "Worst Angle" list. Oddly enough it seems that everyone, WWE
included, has totally forgotten this as the "relationship" between Torrie
and Dawn seems to be all but forgotten.
CHRIS BIRD: It's things like the Al Wilson angle that just make me wonder
about the WWE creative team. Seriously - everybody knew this was a shitty
angle. The fans hated it right from the start. The wrestlers didn't take
it seriously. The ANNOUNCERS didn't take it seriously. And yet, every
week, we got a new installment in what was quite possibly the worst angle
of all time. Ever. This piece of shit made the Cactus Jack amnesia angle
look like Shakespeare, and what's more, this piece of shit wasn't even
designed to push a wrestler at all, but rather two valets and some guy I
think they pulled off the street at random. So why did it KEEP GOING? It
just wouldn't stop, no matter how bad it was. Did the WWE not understand
how FUCKING BAD this was, even when Michael Cole and Tazz were mocking it
for being idiotic ON THE AIR?
JOHN DONALDSON: That sewage truck brought the respectability of sports
entertainment back ten years. That may have been worse than the
necrophilia angle last year.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: There's way too many bad WWE angles to vote for all
of them.
RICK SCAIA: Dawn Marie's obsession with Torrie Wilson, leading to the
seduction and death-by-fucking of Torrie's dad, Al, is by far the dumbest,
most embarrassing storyline to play out in WWE this past year. As
ill-advised as they were, stunts like Eddie Guerrero spewing sewage onto
Big Show and Kane hooking Shane McMahon's balls up to a car battery were
transient in nature, and are distant numbers 2 and 3 here.
RYAN FAULCONER: The WWE just doesn't get it or understand their audience
very well at all. There was nothing as bad as HHH having sex with a
corpse this year but there were easily five or six solid choices for first
place. The Dawn Marie-Al Wilson-Torrie Wilson mess was one of the worst
things ever aired on television this year and that covers a lot of ground.
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Worst Organization
Award Description:
To be given to the organization/promotion that has the worst product. This
is the organization whose TV and house shows you wouldn't even think of
attending. Probably not even as a freebie.
Previous Winners:
1990: WWF / AWA (tie)
1991: WCW
1992: WWF
1993: WCW
1994: WCW
1995: WCW
1996: AWF
1997: WCW
1998: WCW
1999: WCW
2000: WCW
2001: WCW
2002: XPW
**2003**: XPW
83 first place votes
62 second place votes
55 third place votes
28 15 2 189 XPW
25 9 10 172 WWE
5 9 10 72 CZW
6 7 4 59 NWA TNA
3 3 1 26 AAA (LLL)
2 3 3 25 World Japan
1 5 2 24 MLW
2 0 3 16 Intergalactic Wrestling Federation
1 2 2 15 AJPW
2 0 1 12 WWA
1 1 1 10 Rampage Championship Wrestling
0 2 2 10 ROH
1 0 2 9 Mid-Missouri Championship Wrestling - The Ultimate Wrestling Alliance
0 2 0 6 IWA Mid-South
0 0 3 6 NJPW
1 0 0 5 Pro Wrestling NOAH
1 0 0 5 NWA Rocky Mountains
1 0 0 5 IWA
1 0 0 5 Fighting World of Japan
1 0 0 5 CPW
0 1 1 5 ZERO-ONE
0 1 1 5 Big Japan
0 1 0 3 NWA Main Event
0 1 0 3 ACW - NWA Wisconsin (All Star Championship Wrestling)
0 0 1 2 WRESTLE-1
0 0 1 2 Prime Time Wrestling
0 0 1 2 PCW
0 0 1 2 OVW
0 0 1 2 NWA Midwest
0 0 1 2 3PW
REJECTED - not organizations
1 0 0 Smackdown
0 0 1 RAW
PAUL ZOROVICH: WWE. When it's good, it's really really good. When it's
bad, it's horrid.
CRIMEFIGHTER: I attended a free IWF show at the IL State Fair, which was
covered in this group back in August. It was one of the worst shows I've
ever seen, and so I nominated it. XPW's owners are in major legal trouble
over being associated with a company who was peddling illegal porn, and
may be finished. And of course I have to give WWE worst consideration for
putting on so much crap this year that the indies were the only place to
see actual wrestling again.
MICHAEL: 3rd: WWE. Because they have so much talent and do so terribly
little with it.
CHRIS BIRD: Despite this being one of the most dismal years for the WWE in
the last decade, they can take comfort in one thing - so long as Rob Black
and XPW are still around, they will never be the WORST wrestling company
around, despite their desperate attempts to manage it.
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Worst TV Show
Award Description:
To be given to what is on average the worst wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV
shows and major shows were given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash
1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas
1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX
1994: WCW World Wide
1995: WWF Mania
1996: AWF Warriors of Wrestling
1997: WWF LiveWire
1998: WCW Worldwide
1999: WCW Thunder
2000: WCW Thunder
2001: (tie) WWF Excess / WCW Thunder
2002: WWF Excess
**2003**: WWE RAW
89 first place votes
75 second place votes
66 third place votes
23 10 4 153 WWE RAW
10 13 8 105 WWE The Bottom Line
8 12 13 102 WWE Sunday Night Heat
9 11 7 92 WWE Afterburn
9 4 6 69 XPW PPV specials
5 6 4 51 WWE Smackdown
7 3 2 48 MLW Underground
5 2 7 45 WWE Confidential
4 3 6 41 WWE Velocity
3 1 5 28 NWA TNA weekly PPV
2 2 1 18 South Broadway TV
2 2 1 18 IWA Total Impact (AIW Slams & Jams)
1 2 0 11 RCW TV
0 2 1 8 NWA TNA Xplosion
1 0 0 5 AWWL Big Time Wrestling
0 1 0 3 CZW Fake You TV
0 1 0 3 AJPW on GAORA
0 0 1 2 NJPW SXW
PAUL ZOROVICH: As with the Best Show, RAW or Smackdown, depending on the
week.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Week after week, RAW has been consistantly the worst show
of the week. Recap shows don't interest me at all.
MICHAEL: 1st: WWE RAW. Usually the HHHubby Festival.
CHRIS BIRD: Hey, anybody else remember when RAW was a lock to win the best
weekly show award? Seems like a long way off now, huh?
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Raw was awful during the voting period, even though
it has gotten better in the past month. I put Smackdown at #3 for the
post-Heyman era and the Al Wilson angle, even though I also voted it as
best show.
RYAN FAULCONER: I watched WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown with more a morbid
fascination than with any actual interest in their product. Someone needs
to tell the emperor that he has no clothes before everyone tunes them out
entirely.
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Worst Major Show
Award Description:
To be given to the worst major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV
special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were
given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash
1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas
1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX
1994: 06/19/94: WWF King of the Ring
1995: 03/19/95: WCW Uncensored
1996: 03/24/96: WCW Uncensored
1997: 01/25/97: NWO Souled Out
1998: 08/08/98: WCW Road Wild
1999: 10/10/99: Heroes of Wrestling
2000: 10/29/00: WCW Halloween Havoc
2001: 01/14/01: WCW Sin
2002: 06/23/02: WWE King of the Ring
**2003**: 06/15/03: WWE Bad Blood / 05/19/03 WWE Judgment Day (tie)
78 first place votes
74 second place votes
71 third place votes
19 12 8 147 06/15/03 WWE Bad Blood
18 13 9 147 05/19/03 WWE Judgment Day
12 5 14 103 09/21/03 WWE Unforgiven
10 8 6 86 10/19/03 WWE No Mercy
3 13 16 86 04/27/03 WWE Backlash
4 6 4 46 12/15/02 WWE Armageddon
3 4 4 35 08/24/03 WWE SummerSlam
1 4 1 19 02/23/03 WWE No Way Out
0 2 3 12 01/19/03 WWE Royal Rumble
2 0 0 10 07/27/03 WWE Vengeance
1 0 0 5 07/19/03 AJPW
1 0 0 5 05/02/03 NJPW Ultimate Crush
1 0 0 5 03/30/03 WWE Wrestlemania XIX
1 0 0 5 01/19/03 AJPW Wrestle-1
0 1 1 5 06/18/03 NWA TNA One Year Anniversary
0 1 0 3 11/17/02 WWE Survivor Series
0 1 0 3 10/??/03 NWA TNA October PPV (which one?)
0 1 0 3 07/20/03 WJ MAGMA03
0 1 0 3 07/19/03 ROH Death Before Dishonor
0 1 0 3 01/04/03 NJPW Wrestling World 2003
0 0 1 2 11/16/03 WWE Survivor Series
0 0 1 2 10/13/03 NJPW Ultimate Crush II
0 0 1 2 08/10/03 ZERO-ONE 01World
REJECTED
1 1 1 "Anything by..." votes
1 0 0 WWE RAW (not a major show)
0 0 1 Duplicated votes
CRIMEFIGHTER: With only the WWE around putting on major PPVs we didn't
have much to choose from. Judgement Day was the worst of the year by far.
SCOTT CHRIST: Judgment Day and Backlash were complete turds. Unforgiven
was just totally forgettable.
STEFAN TORNGREN: Redneck triathlon, do I need to say anything else?
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Worst Promotional Move
Award Description:
To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This
could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone
hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.
Previous Winners:
1991: WCW loses Ric Flair
1992: WCW bans off the top rope moves under Bill Watts
1993: WCW tapes 13 weeks of TV at one time in Orlando, Fla.
1994: WCW lets Hulk Hogan control his scenarios
1995: WCW gives Hulk Hogan too much control
1996: WWF lets Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash go
1997: Sting doesn't wrestle for the entire year
1998: WCW sues Ric Flair, causing nearly five month absence from television
1999: (Tie) WCW lets big names go / WCW signs musical acts for Nitro
2000: WCW gives Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, and Saturn requested releases
2001: WWF botches seemingly surefire WWF/WCW "interpromotional" storyline
2002: WWE airs simulated necrophilia in attempt to foster controvery
**2003**: WWE pushes McMahons, announcers rather than push their wrestlers
115 first place votes
112 second place votes
109 third place votes
30 14 9 210 WWE pushes McMahons, announcers above wrestlers
10 8 6 86 WWE keeps Triple H world heavyweight champ most of year
5 9 7 66 WWE jobs Booker T at WrestleMania
5 9 3 58 WWE books McMahon v. McMahon match as No Mercy main event
5 7 4 54 WWE books two consecutive Triple H v. Scott Steiner PPV main
events
4 6 6 50 WWE books two consecutive Triple H v. Kevin Nash PPV main
events
3 5 4 38 WWE brings in, then fires Roddy Piper
3 3 6 36 WWE exploits death of Miss Elizabeth for ratings
1 7 5 36 WWE books Eric Bischoff, Steve Austin in "redneck triathlon"
at Bad Blood
5 2 1 33 WWE books faces who beat up women
2 3 7 33 NWA TNA overly relies on WWE/WCW rejects, "guest legends" like
Dusty Rhodes
4 1 4 31 New Japan runs Vale Tudo fights at major shows
2 4 4 30 WWE fails to make long-term booking plans
5 0 1 27 WWE books 80-year old women into nasty bumps
2 2 5 26 WWE rehires Sable
1 3 5 24 WWE fails to give Chris Benoit top championship
3 2 0 21 WWE books Kane unmasking
1 3 2 18 NWA TNA continues to give Vince Russo too much power
1 1 5 18 WWE announces they will finance a film starring Triple H
1 3 1 16 NWA TNA pursues deal with Hulk Hogan
2 0 1 12 WWE signs, pushes Zach Gowen
2 0 1 12 WWE runs split PPVs
2 0 1 12 NWA TNA bringing in Lex Luger
2 0 0 10 WWE removes Paul Heyman from Smackdown lead writer position
2 0 0 10 RCW hires Lee Miller
2 0 0 10 New Japan books Yoshihiro Takayama to NWF & IWGP Championships
1 1 1 10 WWE signs, then buries Ultimo Dragon
1 0 1 7 PCW (CA) fakes Skitzo Mafioso's death for angle
1 0 1 7 NWA TNA pushes AJ Styles as NWA champion
0 1 2 7 NWA TNA exposes bad main event booking in 2nd half of penny PPV
0 2 0 6 RCW books Matt Taylor phantom tourney win...then, no defenses
1 0 0 5 WWE signs Nathan Jones
1 0 0 5 WWE signs Ernest Miller
1 0 0 5 WWE sidedrains Kane with Shane McMahon feud
1 0 0 5 WWE releases Hulk Hogan
1 0 0 5 Triple H marries Stephanie McMahon
1 0 0 5 AJPW signs WWE/WCW rejects
1 0 0 5 AAA moves to primarily one-fall matches
0 1 1 5 WWE brings back Sable
0 0 2 4 WWE pushes Triple H
0 0 2 4 WWE misuses Goldberg
0 1 0 3 WWE uses cruiserweights as jobbers (or doesn't use them at all)
0 1 0 3 WWE turns Hulk Hogan into Mr. America
0 1 0 3 WWE puts emphasis on Hogan/McMahon for WM19
0 1 0 3 WWE markets La Resistance to capitalize on American patriotism
0 1 0 3 WWE buries wrestlers upon debut
0 1 0 3 WWE buries Matt Hardy
0 1 0 3 WWE brings back Paul Heyman
0 1 0 3 WWE books Trish Stratus title loss weeks after WrestleMania win
0 1 0 3 WWE allows Kurt Angle to return early
0 1 0 3 NWA TNA follows up penny PPV with weak shows, losing momentum
0 1 0 3 Steve Austin stunners Stacy Keibler for not drinking beer
0 1 0 3 NJPW books Tenzan to win in every major tournament
0 1 0 3 Keiji Mutoh's Wrestle-1
0 1 0 3 Antonio Inoki runs a show in Brazil
0 1 0 3 AJPW puts Triple Crown on Shinya Hashimoto
0 0 1 2 WWE splits PPVs amongst RAW, Smackdown brands
0 0 1 2 WWE releases Raven
0 0 1 2 WWE pairs Roddy Piper with Sean O'Haire
0 0 1 2 WWE depushes Sean O'Haire after firing Roddy Piper
0 0 1 2 WWE demotes Paul Heyman
0 0 1 2 WWE books stipulation matches with no intent to enforce them
0 0 1 2 WWE books Kane appearance week after limo runs into truck
0 0 1 2 WWE announces release of Goldust (time ineligible?)
0 0 1 2 RCW forms
0 0 1 2 NWA TNA pushes Jeff Jarrett over everyone else
0 0 1 2 Chaotic Wrestling attempts to trick fans into thinking John
Walters is really paralyzed
DON DEL GRANDE: A strong qualifier, at least in my case, might be "NWA TNA
runs a one cent PPV but forgets to tell Comcast billing about it, and some
Comcast customers have to jump through hoops (and get the condescending
'well, we don't have any record of this being a one-cent PPV, but since
you're such a loyal customer, we'll take your word for it...this time'
message) to keep from being charged $9.95" (and to make things worse, the
PPV got turned off after the first two minutes, and by the time I got
through to Comcast to turn it back on, the first match was half over).
HACK-MAN: I had to narrow down Worst Promotional Move to just "WWE pushes
McMahons, announcers above wrestlers", "WWE fails to give Chris Benoit top
championship", and "WWE rehires Sable".
C FRARACCI: Triple H had way to much power. With four bad PPV's, my number
1 pick 2 Nash/HHH matches and 2 Steiner/HHH matches. The first time for
each match was bad enough, but twice each. That was awful, and keeping the
belt on Triple H. Huge mistake that costs the WWE a lot of fans.
PAUL ZOROVICH: I don't care how willing they are, you should not book
80-year-old women (or men, for that matter) into sick bumps. If you're a
WRESTLING organization, I'd think you'd, I don't know, want to push your
WRESTLERS or something instead of your owners or announce team. And as an
extension of that, if you want to make money, I'd think you'd think
long-term instead of week-to-week. (Didn't that help kill WCW...?)
CRIMEFIGHTER: I know this won't win, but if there's any indy nom that
should "steal" an award, it's THIS ONE. With all the shocking deaths of
major figures dying in their 30s and 40s, in my Rap Sheet Streaming Video
Reviews #4 & #5 I had found a couple bouts where one of the participants
was Skitzo Mafioso. In a search on Google for info on this wrestler, I
found an article that this man was killed in a car crash. A few days
later on PCW's own site, they report that Skitzo had "rose from the dead"
to interfere in a match. Feeling angry about being suckered by bogus info
that I put out (bayareawrestling.com was the first), I put out the
statement in this group just how offensive, inexcusable. disgraceful that
was to all the families of wrestlers that have died. BTW PCW (CA) itself
has not run a show since April. Now for the rest of the slate, the WWE
has made a LOT of promotional blunders over the year, and what stands out
is that the WWE has pushed the McMahons and the announcers above the
talent as main-eventers. NOBODY WANTS TO WATCH THAT! Examples include
the Ross vs. Coach feud, the pointless Vince vs. Steph match, and several
other PPV matches with Vince and Shane (though Shane HAS talent).
Finally, I am offended that the WWE would subject elderly people to nasty
bumps in the ring, a big F-U to Test, Randy Orton, Steve Austin, and those
two punks Rosey & Jamal.
DAVID POWELL: I had to stay the course with Hogan. I am pretty sure that
the votes I put in some of those questions won't do much, but I had to
call 'em that way brah. Thanks again for the ballot and the response.
MICHAEL: 3rd: WWE jobs Booker T at Wrestlemania. Representative of 2003
being the year that the WWE simply refused to even try and put new people
in the top-tier.
YNAE316: WWE's pushing of the McMahon's (and for a time the announcers)
above the talent is BY FAR the worst thing that is wrong in WWE by now.
This is a WRESTLING show. Pushing the McMahon's above the wrestlers only
harms the credibility of the wrestlers. People tune in wanting to see
wrestling and their favorite stars, NOT the McMahons or announcers who
should be STRICTLY supporting characters and NOT the whole show. It amazes
me that with a talent pool as big and diverse and talented as the WWE's
that they are taking backseats to the "McMahon Family Soap Opera."
Jobbing out Booker T to Triple H at Mania is another telling event. As I
mentioned earlier the WWE totally missed the boat with Booker (and RVD).
Instead of pushing new stars to the moon we got the same old, same old.
CHRIS BIRD: The WWE needs to book long term and create new stars. Now.
Undertaker's tank is close to empty, Kurt Angle has a broken neck, Big
Show will never draw and neither will Kane - these are old commodities in
a business which desperately needs fresh blood. Despite that Brock
Lesnar's drawing power isn't what it could have been, they've more or less
managed to do right by him in turing him into a main eventer immediately.
The problem is that they need a half dozen more Brock Lesnars yesterday,
and taking a bunch of big talentless slugs like A-Train and Nathan Jones
and Matt Morgan isn't what I mean - they need to find those stars who
click with the audience naturally and push the shit out of them (and not
give them derivative boring entrance music). And, most importantly, DO NOT
PUSH MCMAHONS AND ANNOUNCERS IN ANGLES. Until such time as they do this,
the WWE will founder. Guaranteed. Incidentally, NWA TNA, you're not doing
badly on the organizational front, but yeesh, Hulk Hogan? Are you crazy?
He's not worth it any more.
TEXAS KELLY: I yearn for the pre-Attitude days when Vince did
play-by-play.
MATTHEW HOCKING: I've just got to say: Why bring Sable back? Why? She
never was that attractive, she adds nothing to the product that anyone
already on staff couldn't provide, and she's still not as eloquent as
Linda McMahon. It's just one decision I'll never understand.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: I single out Booker T's not winning at Mania because
that was the point at which it became screamingly obvious that Triple H's
death grip on the belt was nigh unbreakable. If WWE wouldn't book him to
lose even after he'd thrown racist taunts at the challenger, even at
Wrestlemania, when WOULD they do so?
RICK SCAIA: WWE's unmasking of Kane was, I think, handled very poorly.
Instead of having a plan in place, their treatment of what should have
been a major, watershed moment for the Kane character was as schizophrenic
as they eventually wanted us to believe Kane was. A shitty-looking
hair/make-up treatment didn't work, so then they went to the
"psychological, not physical, scars" idea, and eventually had Kane trying
to assert his monster-ness by beating, almost exclusively, on
non-wrestlers. The net effect was underwhelming, and for the second year
in a row, I think WWE has done a disservice to Glen Jacobs. Second on
this list: TNA's autumn funk, which came after they opened some eyes with
a one-cent gimmick show, resulting in a loss of whatever momentum the
one-cent show might have created. And finally, I don't know if it was the
absence of Paul Heyman or what, but SD!'s own autumn funk saw the show
lose its collective mind and start shoving the wresting to the background
in favor of overwrought Vince/Stephanie storylines and sewage truck
stunts. Boo.
RYAN FAULCONER: New Japan putting pushed talent in legit shoot fights is
so ridiculously shortsighted that it gets first place here. The WWE
pushing all the McMahons to the McMoon makes more sense than that. Not
enough to keep it from placing second.
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And now, the 'netter suggested awards...
Best Managers: Dr. Harvard Cornell 3rd, Butch Fletcher, The Mat Maniac
Best second: Nidia
Hottest diva: Trish Stratus
Biggest prospect for 2004: Michael Shane
Why doesn't he have a tile?: Chris Jericho
Most missed: Curt Hennig
Stu Hart Memorial Award (Best Canadian Athlete): Chris Benoit
Freddy Blassie Memorial Award (Best Manager): Ric Flair
Most Inspiration: Zach Gowen
Most Self-Destructive: Jeff Hardy
Most Disappointing Future: Ultimo Dragon
Most Hit-AND-Miss: Big Show
Gone Forever: Rock
Will Be Missed Most: Austin
Best Entrance
1. Rock's entrance video with Helicopter
2. Matt Hardy's "Streaming Media Video with Matt Facts"
3. Rey Mysterio "pops up" on platform
Most "Politically Oppressed Wrestler"
1. Booker T
2. Rob Van Dam
3. Chris Jericho
Bennifer award for most overexposed couple: HHH and Stephanie McMahon
Hypocrites of the year (tie): Rowdy Roddy Piper and Sable for coming back
to the WWE after denouncing it repeatedly
Comeback of the year: Shawn Michaels
Most shafted because of HHH's politics:
1. Chris Jericho
2. Rob Van Dam
3. Booker T
Most Missed:
1) Edge;
2)William Regal;
3) Chris Nowinski
Most Memorable Moments:
1) Spanky streaks the arena;
2) Brock's SSP attempt at WM
Biggest Wasted Opportunity:
1) All that cruiserweight talent sitting unused! (Or used as squash victims.)
2) Sean O'Haire, "I'm not telling you anything you don't already know."
CRZ SEZ: Whew, that's it! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
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