We made it! Start crying...NOW 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. This is our astonishing NINETEENTH year of Awards! Participation was down a little bit more from last year, with 28 ballots cast - and 27 counted after I figured out that one joker sent in two ballots. As I usually weasel out of taking responsibility for trying to jack up participation given the deadness of Usenet in general, I will say that I hope that the QUALITY of the response makes up for the lower quantity. As is always the case, I think we have some surprises in the results, but pleasantly so. If you disagree - hell, you should have voted! Thanks to everyone on r.s.p-w who participated, readers and lurkers alike! The following pages provided invaluable assistance with research. Bookmark them ALL right now: The Wrestling Supercards & Tournaments Web Page is THE place to get dates and results of every major card of the past year - and earlier For better of worse, THE website of r.s.p-w.* - basically I threw a bunch of links on a page but it's the quickest way to access full versions of ALL nineteen years of awards! Wikipedia has quickly become a great resource for looking up all sorts of obscure minutiae, and pro wrestling is no exception! It's Google. Nuff said. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I can be reached by emailing crz{at}rspw{dot}org, amongst other ways. Without further ado, cue the complaints about spam by the usual idiot, because HEEEEEEEEEEEERE WE GO!!!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This document is copyright 2008 by Christopher Robin Zimmerman. All rights reserved. Portions of this document are copyright 1990-1995 Herb Kunze and used with his kind permission. Visit the r.s.p-w Awards links page at . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- First, some general comments... BDL: A down year for wrestling with an overall lack of originality and creativity all around. It wouldn't surprise me to see HBK/Y2J walk away with a good portion of the awards this year which really was the best thing going on in American Wrestling this year. I also enjoyed the Edge/Vickie partnership that broke up too soon, as well as Miz and Morrison keeping the tag team division alive. Also a shout out to CRZ for keeping this alive. CHILE: morrison .. he is perfect. most entertaining.  undertaker versus edge was great feud and match and draw.  in my opinion , i think undertaker is steady seller. awesome. PERSUS: I love chris jericho. one of best heel of all time. BRIAN HENKE: 2008 will be remembered as the year wrestling attempted to get its feet back after the Benoit tragedy. However, with a lack of new stars, a slumping economy and a lot of other things (ie, I couldn't watch Raw Sept. 15 due to a devastating windstorm that hit the area the day before) happening, Raw's ratings are down, Smackdown is down (albeit it moved to MyNetworkTV), PPV buyrates are down, WWE stock is down - but WWE still is part of many people's lives. CRIMEFIGHTER: Well my advice as to increase participation in these awards by posting this on Myspace has not been heeded. People will spend hours filling out surveys on what's stuck between their teeth or toothpaste they use but someone doesn't want to spend the time posting a simple Myspace bulletin encouraging people to fill out THIS survey...and we wonder why there's less than 25 people doing this thing. Critics of these awards say RSPW is completely irrelevent, people use message boards and not newsgroups, and therefore the RSPW awards are considered has-beens. Sadly there's no general public voting on any of the wrestling news site awards that are done, this is it, and no one seems to care. So why are these awards still being held if no one cares to participate and the people holding it don't do anything to promote it? As for the wrestling product, TNA is stagnant and has had no ratings growth at all for an entire year despite the increase to two hours. PPV sales hasn't improved much either averaging 27,500 buys a show. Vinnie Mac fears ANY competition coming from anywhere even if it has no chance of being a threat. WWE hasn't really gotten any more entertaining, in fact the first half of this year I had believed the TV product was at an all time low. The shakeup in the title holders after Wrestlemania such as CM Punk and Kofi Kingston winning titles helped get some interest back though at this time the usual suspects are holding the belts again. WWE remains in the position of the "Microsoft of Wrestling" but they don't care if the TV product is crap more than half the time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Samoa Joe 2007: John Cena **2008**: Chris Jericho 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 27 third place votes 9 5 1 62 Chris Jericho 6 4 3 48 Shawn Michaels 3 5 3 36 Edge 2 2 2 20 Kurt Angle 0 4 2 16 AJ Styles 2 0 0 10 Undertaker 0 2 2 10 CM Punk 1 0 2 9 Bryan Danielson 1 1 0 8 John Morrison 1 1 0 8 John Cena 0 0 4 8 Nigel McGuinness 1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong 1 0 0 5 Ric Flair 0 1 1 5 Triple H 0 0 2 4 Samoa Joe 0 1 0 3 Evan Bourne 0 1 0 3 Christian Cage 0 0 1 2 The Brian Kendrick 0 0 1 2 Randy Orton 0 0 1 2 Kevin Nash 0 0 1 2 Batista 0 0 1 2 Awesome Kong EBRANSC: The three best feuds of the year IMO for the combination of story and in-ring all involved HBK - vs. Flair, vs. Batista, & vs. Jericho so he gets the gold. Kurt Angle dominated TNA in and out of the ring, also doing a great match with Nagata in New Japan for the silver. Nigel McGuiness put on a ton of great matches as the champ and elevated young talent in ROH such as Tyler Black to earn the bronze. SHANE SPEAR: Since joining the WWF back in 1999, Chris Jericho had never had a feud the likes of the one he had enjoyed with Dean Malenko. Sure he had Chris Benoit, but that was more of an Undertaker/Kane deal with all the switching of sides. This year, Chris Jericho found his best arch-enemy possible when he rediscovered Shawn Michaels. His promos were fresh and kind of reset the standard with getting his word out there without the face rebuttals you expect to see. After he would run down Shawn Michaels and the fans without one hint of a joke, they would immediately hit to commercial, making his interviews hateful and jarring. Also, there's his wrestling which is way awesome too. That BASH! match he just beat the loving shit out of Michaels was something that almost never happens. Especially to HBK. AND especially for Jericho. In short, Chris Jericho is nearly perfect... ...aaand he's the second best wrestler because RIC FLAIR ALWAYS LEAVES ON TOP! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! CRIMEFIGHTER: John Cena love him or hate him, is the best one going today. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: America's Most Wanted: Chris Harris & James Storm 2005: America's Most Wanted: Chris Harris & James Storm 2006: A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels 2007: Paul London & Brian Kendrick **2008**: John Morrison & The Miz 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 25 third place votes 15 5 1 92 John Morrison & Miz 3 1 4 26 Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin 2 2 1 18 LAX - Homicide & Hernandez 2 1 0 13 Age of the Fall - Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black 0 3 2 13 Evan Bourne & Rey Mysterio 0 3 2 13 Beer Money - James Storm & Robert Roode 1 1 2 12 D-Generation X - Triple H & Shawn Michaels 0 2 3 12 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase 0 2 2 10 Hardyz - Matt & Jeff 1 1 1 10 Briscoe Brothers - Jay & Mark 1 0 2 9 Beautiful People - Angelina Love & Velvet Sky 0 2 0 6 El Generico & Kevin Steen 1 0 0 5 Phoenix Twins - Tweek & Dash 1 0 0 5 Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries 0 1 1 5 Paul London & Brian Kendrick 0 1 0 3 Skullkrushers - Rasche Brown & Keith Walker 0 1 0 3 Hart Foundation 2.0 - Teddy Hart & Jack Evans 0 1 0 3 Carlito & Primo Colon 0 0 1 2 Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix 0 0 1 2 Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka 0 0 1 2 Jesse & Festus 0 0 1 2 AJ Styles & Tomko BDL: I love how the WWE comes out with a tag-team themed game when tag-team wrestling has become a lost art form on their own shows. Miz and Morrison should run away with this award, they've become great heels, and have really improved together. I voted the Hardyz number two, because they always seem to up their game when they are together. AJ/Tomko got third, I just enjoyed watching them. SHANE SPEAR: I'm filling out this ballot on November 30th. This reason I bring this up is that Miz and Morrision have had two possible career defining matches in the last two weeks. HOWEVER, since I'm being honest in evaluating 2008 in the Nov-Oct timeframe given, The Age of the Fall had a better period. Miz and Morrison are the clear future it seems though. JIM CARSON: I don't know whether or not Teddy Hart is making a fool of himself behind the scenes in Mexico, but he and Jack Evans are tearing it up in AAA, teaming with Konnan and the others in Legion Extranjera. I can't quite put them at #1 past Miz & Morrison, but Hart Foundation Dos is a good enough reason to get Galavision. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Triple H 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Edge 2007: Edge **2008**: Chris Jericho 25 first place votes 25 second place votes 24 third place votes 10 4 1 64 Chris Jericho 5 8 4 57 Edge 2 3 2 23 Santino Marella 3 0 3 21 Randy Orton 2 2 2 20 Kurt Angle 3 0 2 19 Vickie Guerrero 1 2 0 11 Nigel McGuinness 0 2 1 8 John Bradshaw Layfield 0 1 2 7 John Morrison 0 0 2 4 William Regal 0 0 2 4 Larry Sweeney 0 0 2 4 Chris Hero 0 1 0 3 Vladimir Kozlov 0 1 0 3 Sara Del Rey 0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs 0 1 0 3 James Mitchell 0 0 1 2 Mr. Kennedy 0 0 1 2 Angelina Love BDL: I voted Vickie over Edge and Jericho. Her work this year was top notch. SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho is a good heel because he's all grown up now. Nigel McGuinness is a good heel because of his year long domination in ROH. Santino Marella is a good heel because I tried to squeeze him in wherever I legally could. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Eddie Guerrero 2005: Batista 2006: Rob van Dam / Rey Mysterio (tie) 2007: CM Punk / John Cena (tie) **2008**: Jeff Hardy 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 26 third place votes 7 3 2 48 Jeff Hardy 4 3 3 35 Shawn Michaels 2 3 5 29 CM Punk 2 4 1 24 John Cena 2 1 3 19 Ric Flair 2 2 1 18 Undertaker 1 3 0 14 AJ Styles 2 0 1 12 Mickie James 0 2 3 12 Batista 1 1 1 10 Rey Mysterio 1 0 1 7 Triple H 0 2 0 6 Matt Hardy 1 0 0 5 El Generico 1 0 0 5 Chris Jericho 0 1 1 5 Bryan Danielson 0 1 0 3 Evan Bourne 0 0 1 2 Nikki Roxx 0 0 1 2 Eric Young 0 0 1 2 Delerious 0 0 1 2 Cibernetico HACK-MAN: I wanted to vote for Gail Kim and Jimmy Wang Yang for Best Babyface, but they didn't quite outshine Mickie James, Evan Bourne, and CM Punk. BDL: Jeff Hardy. There's not clear cut winner here, but the people love him. SHANE SPEAR: Shawn Michaels is still best good guy around. It was really good to see him in a nice feud without being bogged down by the comedy black hole currently residing on Smackdown. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Chris Benoit 2006: Samoa Joe 2007: Bryan Danielson **2008**: Chris Jericho 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 25 third place votes 5 5 4 48 Chris Jericho 5 3 2 38 Shawn Michaels 5 2 2 35 Bryan Danielson 4 2 0 26 Kurt Angle 1 1 0 8 John Cena 1 1 0 8 Evan Bourne 1 1 0 8 CM Punk 0 2 1 8 Shelton Benjamin 0 2 1 8 AJ Styles 1 0 1 7 Jeff Hardy 1 0 1 7 Edge 0 1 2 7 Undertaker 0 1 2 7 John Morrison 1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe 1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong 0 0 2 4 Nigel McGuinness 0 0 2 4 Delirious 0 1 0 3 William Reagal 0 1 0 3 Tyler Black 0 1 0 3 The Brian Kendrick 0 1 0 3 Ric Flair 0 1 0 3 Awesome Kong 0 0 1 2 Wesna Busic 0 0 1 2 Triple H 0 0 1 2 Hernandez 0 0 1 2 Chris Sabin 0 0 1 2 Austin Aires ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Rey Mysterio 2005: A.J. Styles 2006: A.J. Styles 2007: Paul London **2008**: Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal) 25 first place votes 25 second place votes 24 third place votes 19 2 1 103 Evan Bourne 0 7 3 27 Rey Mysterio 2 2 0 16 Jack Evans 1 3 1 16 John Morrison 1 1 4 16 Jeff Hardy 1 2 2 15 AJ Styles 1 1 0 8 Shelton Benjamin 0 2 1 8 Sonjay Dutt 0 2 1 8 Jimmy Yang 0 1 2 7 Kofi Kingston 0 1 1 5 Delirious 0 0 2 4 The Brian Kendrick 0 1 0 3 Ruckus 0 0 1 2 Tyler Black 0 0 1 2 Teddy Hart 0 0 1 2 Senshi 0 0 1 2 Paul London 0 0 1 2 Jerelle Clark 0 0 1 2 Curry Man HACK-MAN: It was hard not to vote for Yang, Morrison, and Kofi for Best Flyer, but I couldn't leave out Evan Bourne's amazing WWE freshman year, Jack Evans' amazing WSX showing, and Sonjay Dutt's body of work in TNA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Rey Mysterio 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Chris Benoit 2006: Kurt Angle 2007: Kurt Angle **2008**: Kurt Angle 26 first place votes 25 second place votes 24 third place votes 8 7 0 61 Kurt Angle 7 1 1 40 Bryan Danielson 4 4 1 34 Chris Jericho 1 5 5 30 William Regal 1 1 3 14 Shelton Benjamin 1 1 2 12 Shawn Michaels 1 1 2 12 Samoa Joe 1 2 0 11 CM Punk 0 0 3 6 Austin Aries 1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong 1 0 0 5 Jerry Lynn 0 1 1 5 Ric Flair 0 1 1 5 John Morrison 0 0 2 4 Nigel McGuinness 0 0 2 4 Finlay 0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen 0 0 1 2 Davey Richards ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Batista 2005: Batista / Samoa Joe (tie) 2006: Samoa Joe 2007: Samoa Joe **2008**: Awesome Kong 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 27 third place votes 4 3 3 35 Awesome Kong 5 2 1 33 Undertaker 3 3 0 24 Finlay 2 2 1 18 Umaga 2 2 1 18 Samoa Joe 2 2 1 18 Necro Butcher 0 3 2 13 Vladimir Kozlov 2 0 1 12 Shawn Michaels 1 1 2 12 John Cena 1 2 0 11 William Regal 0 1 4 11 John Bradshaw Layfield 1 0 1 7 Beth Phoenix 0 1 2 7 Chris Jericho 1 0 0 5 Lufisto 1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle 1 0 0 5 Edge 1 0 0 5 Abyss 0 1 1 5 Triple H 0 0 2 4 Festus 0 0 2 4 Batista 0 1 0 3 Nigel McGuinness 0 1 0 3 Kane 0 1 0 3 Jeff Hardy 0 1 0 3 Hernandez 0 0 1 2 El Mesias 0 0 1 2 Cheerleader Melissa 0 0 1 2 Big Show HACK-MAN: Abyss and Dreamer had some good brawls in 2008, but for Best Brawler they came in behind Necro Butcher, Finlay, and Festus. THAT DON GUY: Best Brawler still means "someone who just punishes the opposition from the opening bell, and there are no moves in their moveset that don't register on the Richter (n.Wendi) scale", right? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Kurt Angle 2007: Samoa Joe / CM Punk (tie) **2008**: Chris Jericho 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 25 third place votes 7 8 2 63 Chris Jericho 4 2 2 30 CM Punk 3 0 5 25 Ric Flair 2 2 2 20 Santino Marella 1 2 1 13 John Morrison 1 2 0 11 Shawn Michaels 2 0 0 10 Mickie James 1 1 1 10 Jeff Hardy 0 3 0 9 AJ Styles 1 1 0 8 Kurt Angle 1 0 1 7 Edge 0 0 3 6 Matt Hardy 1 0 0 5 Sting 1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong 1 0 0 5 Mr. Kennedy 1 0 0 5 Bryan Danielson 0 1 1 5 Undertaker 0 1 1 5 Evan Bourne 0 1 0 3 William Regal 0 1 0 3 Wesna Busic 0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio 0 1 0 3 Nigel McGuinness 0 0 1 2 The Brian Kendrick 0 0 1 2 Samoa Joe 0 0 1 2 El Zorro 0 0 1 2 Curry Man 0 0 1 2 Booker T 0 0 1 2 Awesome Kong BDL: Wow, for the record Cena didn't even get nominated here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Batista 2005: Batista 2006: Johnny Nitro 2007: MVP **2008**: The Miz 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 25 third place votes 9 3 4 62 Miz 1 3 4 22 John Morrison 1 3 2 18 Santino Marella 2 1 1 15 Vladimir Kozlov 1 2 2 15 Mark Henry 1 2 2 15 Kelly Kelly 1 2 2 15 Cody Rhodes 2 1 0 13 Tyler Black 1 2 0 11 Jeff Hardy 1 0 2 9 Evan Bourne 1 1 0 8 Chris Jericho 1 1 0 8 Candice Michelle 1 0 0 5 Tomko 1 0 0 5 The Brian Kendrick 1 0 0 5 Mike Knox 1 0 0 5 James Storm 1 0 0 5 Erick Stevens 0 1 1 5 Melina 0 1 1 5 Davey Richards 0 1 0 3 Nigel McGuinness 0 1 0 3 Kenny King 0 1 0 3 Gail Kim 0 1 0 3 Brent Albright 0 0 1 2 Robert Roode 0 0 1 2 Rhett Titus 0 0 1 2 Festus 0 0 1 2 Ariel HACK-MAN: Gail Kim and Elijah Burke were both way ahead of what they had shown in 2007, but for Most Improved Wrestler, I had to vote in Candice Michelle (who was having an amazing year before the injuries), Kelly Kelly, and Miz. Whoever is training these five guys needs a raise. BDL: The Miz has gone from goofy joke to legitimate tag team wrestler, as well as great heel. Cody Rhodes is coming along, but he's still missing something. SHANE SPEAR: Miz has become a vastly improved wrestler within the last two years. Looking back who would've penciled Miz as the next Marty Janetty (without the problems.) JIM CARSON: Mike Mizanin ought to win this one in a landslide. Teaming with Morrison made him relevant and helped his in-ring work tremendously, and the Dirt Sheet gave him a personality. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Triple H 2005: John Cena 2006: Jeff Jarrett / Randy Orton (tie) 2007: The Great Khali **2008**: John Bradshaw Layfield 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 27 third place votes 7 3 1 46 John Bradshaw Layfield 6 1 2 37 Triple H 3 4 0 27 Batista 3 1 0 18 John Cena 1 3 1 16 Mark Henry 0 3 2 13 Kane 1 0 2 9 Hornswoggle 1 1 0 8 CM Punk 1 0 1 7 Samoa Joe 1 0 1 7 Rey Mysterio 1 0 1 7 Great Khali 1 0 1 7 Claudio Castagnoli 0 2 0 6 Vladimir Kozlov 1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan 0 1 1 5 Umaga 0 1 1 5 Dustin Rhodes 0 0 2 4 Big Daddy V 0 1 0 3 Paul London 0 1 0 3 Matt Hardy 0 1 0 3 La Parka 0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs 0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett 0 1 0 3 Daniel Puder 0 1 0 3 Beth Phoenix 0 0 1 2 Sonjay Dutt 0 0 1 2 Roxxi 0 0 1 2 Rhino 0 0 1 2 Randy Orton 0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher 0 0 1 2 Mike Knox 0 0 1 2 Kevin Nash 0 0 1 2 Hardcore Holly 0 0 1 2 Finlay 0 0 1 2 Erick Stevens 0 0 1 2 Edge HACK-MAN: For Most Overrated Wrestler, I felt bad leaving out Big Daddy V, Bryan Danielson, Holly, Hornswoggle, JJJ, Orton, and Roode, but based just on how high they were on the card in relation to how low their wrestling skill and other abilities were, I had to go with Great Khali, Batista, and Roxxi. BDL: JBL is no longer a main eventer. He still cuts a fine promo, but should really be behind an announce booth or running a stable. This is where the WWE misses the boat on the young guys. Who wouldn't want to see a young guy like MVP get a push in this spot over JBL? Kane is another one and gets my 2nd place vote, that ship has sailed. SHANE SPEAR: There's no logical reason I can see that I should still be hearing about Daniel Puder. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Trish Stratus as an insincere meddler 2005: Mr. Kennedy handling his own ring introductions 2006: Booker T, after winning King of the Ring, becomes King of the World 2007: Black Machismo Jay Lethal **2008**: How you say...Santino Marella 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 27 third place votes 7 5 7 64 Santino Marella as Santino Marella 9 1 0 48 Chris Jericho as the last honest man 3 0 3 21 Charlie Haas as The Man of 1,000 Gimmicks 2 1 4 21 Undertaker 1 2 2 15 Morrison & Miz 1 3 0 14 Edge as The Joker 0 4 1 14 The Brian Kendrick 1 1 2 12 MVP 1 1 0 8 Festus 0 2 1 8 James Storm as a boozehound 0 2 0 6 Awesome Kong as unstoppable monster 1 0 0 5 Trevor Murdoch as a country singer 1 0 0 5 Sara Del Rey betrayed by the SHIMMER fans, turns fully evil. 0 1 1 5 Vladimir Kozlov 0 1 1 5 Cryme Tyme 0 1 0 3 John Morrison 0 1 0 3 Delerious 0 1 0 3 Black Machismo 0 0 1 2 Stone Cold Shark Boy 0 0 1 2 Rhett Titus 0 0 1 2 Eric Young as Super Eric 0 0 1 2 Curry Man 0 0 1 2 Chris Hero becoming "That Young Knockout Kid" SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho, an actual legit celebrity now, being an actual heel in a company of tweeners in this age is a great gimmick in itself. The execution has been flawless as well. JIM CARSON: I have to rank the gimmicks of MVP, Morrison & James Storm, but I hope Deuce 'n Domino get more "best gimmick" votes than "worst gimmick" votes. They weren't much in the ring and only Domino could talk at all, but their gimmick was fantastic as it berated whoever the opponents were, and it was complete with the right theme music. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 2005: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 2006: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 2007: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver / Homicide's Gringo Killer back to back double underhook piledriver (tie) **2008**: Evan Bourne's shooting star press 27 first place votes 26 second place votes 26 third place votes 5 2 7 45 Evan Bourne's shooting star press 2 4 1 24 John Morrison's corkscrew flip 4 1 0 23 Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 3 0 0 15 Jeff Hardy's swantonbomb 2 1 1 15 Beth Phoenix's Glam Slam chickenwing facebuster 2 1 0 13 Randy Orton's RKO 1 1 1 10 AJ Styles' Pele kick 1 1 0 8 Bryan Danielson's Cattle Mutilation 0 2 1 8 Chris Jericho's Codebreaker 0 1 2 7 Jeff Hardy's Whisper in the Wind 0 1 2 7 CM Punk's Go To Sleep fireman's carry into knees 0 2 0 6 Nigel McGuinness' Jawbreaker lariat 1 0 0 5 Vladimir Kozlov's Headbutt 1 0 0 5 Undertaker's Tombstone 1 0 0 5 Santino Marella's Second Rope Diving Salute headbutt 1 0 0 5 Mr. Kennedy's Green Bay Plunge 1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle's Ankle Lock 1 0 0 5 Cheerleader Melissa's Kudo Driver 1 0 0 5 Booker T's Spinarooni 0 1 1 5 Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho 0 0 2 4 Great Khali's Giant chop 0 1 0 3 Triple H's Pedigree 0 1 0 3 The Brian Kendrick's The Kendrick shiranui 0 1 0 3 Samoa Joe's musclebuster 0 1 0 3 Michelle McCool's Wings of Love 0 1 0 3 Kurt Angle's Angle Slam 0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen's Package Piledriver 0 1 0 3 AJ Styles' springboard reverse DDT 0 0 1 2 Victoria's Widow's Peak finisher 0 0 1 2 Tyler Black's Small Package Driver 0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels' Superkick 0 0 1 2 Sara Del Rey's Royal Butterfly 0 0 1 2 Mickie James's standing tornado DDT 0 0 1 2 John Cena's FU 0 0 1 2 Homicide's Gringo Killa driver 0 0 1 2 El Generico's Barry White Driver 0 0 1 2 Awesome Kong's implant buster SHANE SPEAR: The Salute Headbutt is the new Jerry Lawler Fist Drop. The trumpet celebration is just icing. JIM CARSON: I voted for three serious wrestling moves, but does anyone else notice the resthold used by Jillian Hall? What's worse than Ken Patera's old swinging full nelson? Jillian's fantastic Singing Full Nelson! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (WWE tag final) (No Mercy) 2003: 01/19/03: Kurt Angle (WWE) vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble) 2004: 03/14/04: Triple H (World) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 2005: 04/03/05: Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania) 2006: 03/31/06: Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH Supercard of Honor) 2007: 04/23/07: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (RAW) **2008**: 03/30/08: Ric Flair (career) vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 25 first place votes 24 second place votes 20 third place votes 7 3 5 54 03/30/08 Ric Flair v. Shawn Michaels 5 3 1 36 10/05/08 Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels (ladder) 2 3 2 23 08/17/08 Undertaker v. Edge 4 1 1 25 09/07/08 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho 2 2 2 20 03/30/08 CM Punk v. Chris Jericho v. MVP v. Mr. Kennedy v. John Morrison v. Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin (Money in the Bank ladder) 3 0 0 15 03/16/08 Nigel McGuinness (ROH World) v. Tyler Black 0 2 1 8 07/20/08 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho 0 2 1 8 03/30/08 Edge (World) v. Undertaker 0 2 0 6 04/13/08 Kurt Angle v. Samoa Joe (six sides of steel) 1 0 0 5 04/26/08 Roderick Strong (FIP) v. Erick Stevens (last man standing) 1 0 0 5 02/17/08 Shawn Michaels v. John Bradshaw Layfield v. Chris Jericho v. Jeff Hardy v. Umaga v. Triple H (elimination chamber) 0 1 1 5 06/08/08 Kurt Angle v. AJ Styles 0 1 1 5 01/04/08 Kurt Angle (IWGP Third) v. Yuji Nagata 0 1 0 3 11/??/07 Briscoes v. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ladder) 0 1 0 3 12/29/07 Nigel McGuinness (ROH World) v. Austin Aries 0 1 0 3 04/26/08 Wesna Busic v. Awesome Kong 0 1 0 3 02/10/08 Kurt Angle v. Christian Cage 0 0 1 2 07/??/08 Roderick Strong v. Delerious 0 0 1 2 10/12/08 Kurt Angle v. Jeff Jarrett 0 0 1 2 07/25/08 Bryan Danielson v. Tyler Black 0 0 1 2 09/07/08 Mark Henry (ECW) v. Chavo Guerrero v. Matt Hardy v. Finlay v. Miz (scramble) 0 0 1 2 06/30/08 CM Punk v. Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley 2005: Matt Hardy vs. Edge 2006: John Cena vs. Edge 2007: Matt Hardy vs. MVP **2008**: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 23 third place votes 19 0 1 97 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho 3 7 2 40 Undertaker v. Edge (& Vickie Guerrero) 1 4 3 23 Shawn Michaels v. Ric Flair 1 3 2 18 Kurt Angle v. Samoa Joe 0 3 2 13 Jeff Hardy v. Randy Orton 0 3 1 11 Matt Hardy v. MVP 1 0 2 9 CM Punk v. John Morrison 0 1 3 9 Gail Kim v. Awesome Kong 0 2 1 7 Shawn Michaels v. Batista 1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong v. Erick Stevens 0 1 1 5 Santino Marella v. Steve Austin 0 1 1 5 Jeff Hardy v. Triple H 0 1 0 3 John Cena v. John Bradshaw Layfield 0 0 1 2 Sonjay Dutt v. Jay Lethal 0 0 1 2 Sara Del Rey v. Serena Deeb 0 0 1 2 CM Punk v. John Bradshaw Layfield 0 0 1 2 Age of the Fall v. Briscoes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Heidenreich 2005: Heidenreich 2006: The Great Khali 2007: The Great Khali **2008**: The Great Khali 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 25 third place votes 6 4 1 44 Great Khali 4 4 0 32 Big Daddy V 3 1 1 20 Black Reign 2 1 2 17 Kevin Nash 1 2 1 13 Braden Walker 1 1 3 14 Boogeyman 1 1 1 10 John Bradshaw Layfield 0 2 2 10 Vladimir Kozlov 0 1 3 9 Snitsky 0 2 1 8 Kip James 1 0 1 7 Michelle McCool 1 0 1 7 Jillian Hall 0 1 2 7 Mike Knox 1 0 0 5 Triple H 1 0 0 5 Mark Henry 1 0 0 5 Layla 1 0 0 5 Kelly Kelly 1 0 0 5 John Cena 1 0 0 5 Festus 0 1 1 5 Hornswoggle 0 1 1 5 Batista 0 1 0 3 Ricky Ortiz 0 1 0 3 Lance Cade 0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs 0 1 0 3 Colin Delaney 0 0 1 2 Maryse 0 0 1 2 Kenny Dykstra 0 0 1 2 Hardcore Holly 0 0 1 2 Chuck Palumbo BDL: Black Reign gets the nod here. Just a total disaster lousy in the ring and the promos were even weak. Kip James is just as bad if not worse, but I didn't see him as often so he gets the #2 slot. SHANE SPEAR: There are two wrestling figures in 2008 whose WWE careers were ruined by the mutant strain of IWC found on YouTube. The first, Mike Adamle, really wasn't at fault. Adamle was simply a deceptively young-looking old man that was doing a job that made even a hardcore legend tap out. The other, however, is an entirely different matter. The story of Chris Harris, or Braden Walker if you prefer, was a short one. It consisted of a man getting the biggest shot of his life, and then pissing all over it. His promos were lacking. His wrestling was poor. His belly was full. Before you could say Knock Knock he was back on the Indy scene talking about how he never received a fair chance. Chris Harris is far and away 2008's worst wrestler. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Rossey & Jamal / La Resistance: Sylvain Grenier & Rene Dupree & Rob Conway (tie) 2004: Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn 2005: Legion of Doom: Road Warrior Animal & Heidenreich 2006: Dicks: Chad & James 2007: Team Pacman: Ron Killings & Adam Jones **2008**: Black Reign & Rellik 26 first place votes 25 second place votes 23 third place votes 7 1 3 44 Black Reign & Rellik 5 2 1 33 Cryme Tyme - Shad Gaspard & JTG 2 5 1 27 Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder 2 2 5 26 Voodoo Kin Mafia - BG & Kip James 2 3 2 23 Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes 1 3 3 20 Highlanders - Robbie & Rory McAllister 0 3 3 15 Deuce 'n' Domino 1 2 1 13 Finlay & Hornswoggle 2 0 1 12 Rock & Rave Infection - Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave 1 1 1 10 Team 3D - Brother Ray & Brother Devon 1 1 0 8 Jesse & Festus 1 0 0 5 John Morrison & Miz 1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black 0 1 0 3 Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch 0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher 0 0 1 2 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase 0 0 1 2 Ashley Lane & Neveah BDL: Black Reign & Rellik ... this is the best James Mitchell could do? This is on par with Jimmy Hart's teams of Jerry Flynn and Hugh Morris. SHANE SPEAR: I demand the names of the people that voted for Jesse and Festus. NAMES! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Jeff Jarrett 2005: Linda McMahon 2006: Vickie Guerrero 2007: Vickie Guerrero **2008**: Colin Delaney / Sting (tie) 27 first place votes 25 second place votes 23 third place votes 5 3 0 34 Colin Delaney 5 1 3 34 Sting 2 3 0 19 Paul Burchill 3 1 0 18 Mr. Kennedy 2 2 0 16 Big Show 1 1 2 12 Chuck Palumbo 2 0 0 10 Lance Cade 1 1 1 10 Black Reign 1 1 0 8 Umaga 0 2 1 8 Zack Ryder 1 0 1 7 Kevin Nash 1 0 1 7 Great Khali 1 0 1 7 Curt Hawkins 0 1 2 7 AJ Styles 1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs 1 0 0 5 Cody Rhodes 0 1 1 5 John Bradshaw Layfield 0 1 1 5 Jillian Hall 0 0 2 4 Kenny Dykstra 0 0 2 4 Armando Estrada 0 1 0 3 Santino Marella 0 1 0 3 Randy Orton 0 1 0 3 Kane 0 1 0 3 Deuce 0 1 0 3 Daniel Puder 0 1 0 3 Boogeyman 0 1 0 3 Big Daddy V 0 0 1 2 Tony Atlas 0 0 1 2 Mike Knox 0 0 1 2 Domino 0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli 0 0 1 2 Beth Phoenix THAT DON GUY: Playing the heel for laughs just doesn't work out; that's why I put Santino Marella #2. The only reason he's not #1 is, there are just some people who I can never see going over as heels, and Sting is one of them. It's like the time the Road Warriors turned heel so they could win the NWA belts - they could get away with murder against the faces, but the crowd loved them anyway, and nobody took their heel promos seriously, which made things worse. SHANE SPEAR: A cardboard cut out of Lance Cade would've served just as much purpose as the living breathing version did in the Jericho - Michaels feud. Also, people don't want to boo The Big Show! WE LIKE BIG SHOW! Please let him be. CRIMEFIGHTER: The Big Show couldn't decide whether he was a face or heel, he kept switching alignment every week in the lead up to Wrestlemania against Floyd Meryweather. Make up your mind! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) 2004: Hardcore Holly 2005: Randy Orton 2006: John Cena 2007: Santino Marella **2008**: Triple H 26 first place votes 25 second place votes 23 third place votes 5 2 0 31 Triple H 1 4 2 21 Boogeyman 3 0 1 17 Braden Walker 2 1 2 17 Hardcore Holly 2 1 1 15 Rhino 2 1 1 15 Colin Delaney 1 2 0 11 Ricky Ortiz 1 2 0 11 Abyss 1 0 3 11 Batista 0 2 2 10 Ashley Massaro 1 0 2 9 John Cena 1 1 0 8 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 1 0 1 7 Festus 1 0 1 7 Candice Michelle 0 1 2 7 Trevor Murdoch 0 1 2 7 Hornswoggle 0 2 0 6 Chuck Palumbo 1 0 0 5 Michelle McCool 1 0 0 5 Kelly Kelly 1 0 0 5 Finlay 1 0 0 5 Dolph Ziggler 0 1 0 3 R-Truth 0 1 0 3 Roxxi 0 1 0 3 Matt Morgan 0 1 0 3 Kofi Kingston 0 1 0 3 Kane 0 0 1 2 Paul London 0 0 1 2 Christian Cage 0 0 1 2 Chris Hero HACK-MAN: Worst Babyface is always a hard one for me to narrow down to three, as there are always so many horrid guys being pushed as faces. I had to leave Palumbo, Duggan, Holly, Ortiz, and Teddy Long off the list in order to vote for the (even worse!) Rhino, Roxxi, and Big Dave. BDL: The Finlay babyface run needs to stop. He's probably making great money these days coming out with blow up toys and plastic hats and dancing midgets, but it's painful to watch. He's the Irish Doink. EBRANSC: Colin Delaney was less over than the ringpost. SHANE SPEAR: Knock Knock. Who's There? Fed Ex aaaand you're fired. Also, I voted for R-Truth here because I hate R-ap and I am R-acist. Just kidding. I hate Cena too (sorta.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Heidenreich 2005: Gene Snitsky / Kevin Nash / Chris Masters (tie) 2006: The Great Khali 2007: The Great Khali **2008**: The Great Khali 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 24 third place votes 11 3 1 66 Great Khali 0 4 4 20 Snitsky 2 1 2 17 Boogeyman 1 4 0 17 Big Daddy V 2 2 0 16 Ashley Massaro 2 1 1 15 Braden Walker 0 3 2 13 Kip James 2 0 0 10 Black Reign 1 1 1 10 Kevin Nash 1 1 1 10 Batista 1 0 1 7 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 0 1 2 7 John Bradshaw Layfield 0 2 0 6 Ricky Ortiz 1 0 0 5 Triple H 1 0 0 5 Jeff Hardy 1 0 0 5 Festus 0 1 1 5 Mike Knox 0 1 0 3 Necro Butcher 0 1 0 3 Armando Estrada 0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner 0 0 1 2 Randy Orton 0 0 1 2 Maryse 0 0 1 2 Mark Henry 0 0 1 2 Kevin Thorn 0 0 1 2 Kelly Kelly 0 0 1 2 Jim Duggan 0 0 1 2 Hornswoggle BDL: I'm not sure if enough people watched TNA this year to truely enjoy just how bad Dustin Reynolds has become. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Triple H 2005: Triple H 2006: Jeff Jarrett 2007: The Great Khali **2008**: Triple H 27 first place votes 26 second place votes 26 third place votes 3 4 1 29 Triple H 4 2 1 28 John Bradshaw Layfield 3 3 0 24 Great Khali 2 1 5 23 Hornswoggle 3 1 0 18 John Cena 2 1 2 17 Kevin Nash 1 1 1 10 Scott Steiner 1 1 0 8 Big Daddy V 0 2 1 8 Batista 1 0 0 5 Scott Hall 1 0 0 5 Ryan Braddock 1 0 0 5 Mark Henry 1 0 0 5 Jeff Jarrett 1 0 0 5 Hardcore Holly 1 0 0 5 Festus 1 0 0 5 CM Punk 1 0 0 5 Boogeyman 0 1 1 5 Michelle McCool 0 1 1 5 Kane 0 1 0 3 Umaga 0 1 0 3 Scotty Goldman 0 1 0 3 Robert Roode 0 1 0 3 Lance Cade 0 1 0 3 Kaz 0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs 0 1 0 3 Deuce 0 1 0 3 Candice Michelle 0 0 1 2 Snitsky 0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels 0 0 1 2 R-Truth 0 0 1 2 Roxxi 0 0 1 2 Randy Orton 0 0 1 2 Psycho Circus 0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher 0 0 1 2 Matt Morgan 0 0 1 2 Kung Fu Naki 0 0 1 2 Kenny Dykstra 0 0 1 2 Domino 0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli 0 0 1 2 Ashley Massaro SHANE SPEAR: I feel kind of bad voting for Hornswoggle here, because it's been too long since he was banished to ECW and off my radar to really continue to hate him. On the other hand he did steal an entire year off of Finley when he really doesn't have many more to piss away. C'mon Fit. Time to get back to ass kicking. Remember ass kicking? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Jeff Hardy 2005: Vader 2006: Raven 2007: Ric Flair **2008**: Dustin Rhodes (Black Reign) 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 23 third place votes 4 2 2 30 Dustin Rhodes (Black Reign) 4 1 1 25 Scott Hall 4 1 1 25 Ric Flair 3 2 2 25 Jake Roberts 0 5 2 19 John Bradshaw Layfield 2 1 2 17 Tommy Dreamer 2 2 0 16 Triple H 0 3 1 11 Kevin Nash 1 1 1 10 Mr. Kennedy 1 1 0 8 Braden Walker 1 0 1 7 Scott Steiner 1 0 1 7 Rey Mysterio 1 0 1 7 Kurt Angle 0 1 2 7 Kip James 0 2 0 6 Sting 0 0 3 6 Booker T 1 0 0 5 Konnan 1 0 0 5 Abyss 0 1 1 5 Undertaker 0 1 0 3 Kane 0 1 0 3 Eric Young 0 1 0 3 CM Punk 0 0 1 2 John Morrison 0 0 1 2 El Apache HACK-MAN: The Most Deteriorated Wrestler category always seems to be mis-voted on by people just voting for someone with no workrate, instead of voting on how poor the workrate is compared to the previous year. This is why I shake my head at Hogan winning so many years in a row. Did he really slide that much each and every year compared to the year before? I probably am guilty of a few Hogan votes myself over the years. So this year, I'll leave off the easy candidates like Duggan, Khali, Kip James, et.al. to vote for Rey Mysterio (a shell of his former awesome self), CM Punk (whose moveset has been neutered), and John Morrison (also told never to use his eye-catching moves to outshine people doing the WWE "punch, kick, rest hold" style). SHANE SPEAR: I am convinced that Ken Kennedy has the same condition that Samuel L. Jackson had in Unbreakable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Paul London 2005: Shelton Benjamin 2006: Shelton Benjamin 2007: Alex Shelley **2008**: Shelton Benjamin 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 25 third place votes 4 2 0 26 Shelton Benjamin 3 0 4 23 John Morrison 2 2 1 18 Miz 3 0 1 17 Paul London 2 1 2 17 Christopher Daniels 1 2 2 15 CM Punk 2 1 0 13 D-Lo Brown 1 2 1 13 Charlie Haas 1 1 1 10 The Brian Kendrick 0 2 2 10 Scotty Goldman 1 0 2 9 Jamie Noble 1 1 0 8 Santino Marella 1 1 0 8 Elijah Burke 0 1 2 7 Jimmy Wang Yang 1 0 0 5 Sonjay Dutt 1 0 0 5 Sara Del Rey 1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong 1 0 0 5 Alex Shelley 0 1 1 5 Ron Killings 0 1 1 5 Katie Lea 0 1 1 5 Jay Lethal 0 1 0 3 William Regal 0 1 0 3 Senshi 0 1 0 3 Nikki Roxx 0 1 0 3 MVP 0 1 0 3 Lance Cade 0 1 0 3 Kenny Dykstra 0 1 0 3 Evan Bourne 0 0 1 2 Trevor Murdoch 0 0 1 2 Super Crazy 0 0 1 2 Sarah Stock 0 0 1 2 Mark Henry BRIAN HENKE: London did nothing after he and Kendrick broke up. Dykstra hardly wasn't on TV much. No surprise they got released. SHANE SPEAR: The Shelton Benjamin Award goes to....not Shelton Benjamin. The Miz has been on a steady incline over the course of the year. Unlike his sufficiently rated partner, Miz is still carrying some of his reality show stigma around. He's been more than serviceable in the ring, and he's one half of the new Edge and Christian. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: La Resistance as French sympathizers 2004: Heidenreich as a tortured poet 2005: Jillian Hall as a "fixer" with a giant growth on her face 2006: The Impostor Kane 2007: D-Generation X as middle-aged teenagers **2008**: Hornswoggle, the leprechaun son of Finlay 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 25 third place votes 5 0 0 25 Hornswoggle 2 2 2 20 Big Daddy V wrestles topless 2 0 4 18 Stone Cold Shark Boy 2 1 2 17 Mike Adamle 1 3 1 16 Kizarny 1 2 2 15 Braden Walker 1 2 1 13 Dolph Ziggler 1 2 1 13 Black Reign 1 1 2 12 Paul Burchill & his overly affectionate sister Katie Lea 1 2 0 11 Cryme Tyme 2 0 0 10 Sheik Abdul Bashir 1 0 2 9 Dustin Rhodes as Black Reign 1 1 0 8 Super Eric 1 0 1 7 Festus' Pavlovian response to ring bell 0 1 2 7 Trevor Murdoch, country music singer 0 2 0 6 Snitsky 1 0 0 5 Triple H as always better than Jeff Hardy 1 0 0 5 Rellik is Killer spelled backwards 1 0 0 5 Raisha Saed 1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan as clueless authority figure 1 0 0 5 Boogeyman 0 1 1 5 Ricky Ortiz 0 1 0 3 Moose Knuckles 0 1 0 3 Kofi Kingston 0 1 0 3 Jay Lethal as Black Machismo 0 1 0 3 Hurricane's Hurrapop 0 1 0 3 Highlanders 0 1 0 3 Armando Estrada 0 1 0 3 Age of the Fall 0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher as pissed off family man 0 0 1 2 Mick Foley, savior of TNA 0 0 1 2 Kurt Hawkins & Zack Ryder as Edge's Disciples 0 0 1 2 Booker T's new accent BDL: I like Kofi Kingston the wrestler, I hate the gimmick they gave him though. SHANE SPEAR: Dolph Ziggler's hair alone should've earned him a suspension. I also wish I had remembered to nominate Kenny Dykstra in this category because he suuuuucks. I want to vote for him as much as possible. I should go back and see if he's nominated anywhere else and change my vote... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle fistdrop / Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm chop (tie) 2005: Viscera's Visagra rear mount 2006: The Great Khali's skull chop 2007: The Great Khali's skull chop **2008**: The Great Khali's skull chop 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 22 third place votes 6 3 3 45 Great Khali's chop 4 1 2 27 John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle fist drop 2 3 1 21 Candice Michelle's Candy Wrapper 1 3 0 14 Umaga's Samoan Spike 1 2 1 13 Mr. Kennedy's Mic Check 1 1 2 12 John Bradshaw Layfield's Clothesline from Hell 1 1 2 12 Boogeyman's pumphandle slam 2 0 0 10 Kevin Nash's jackknife powerbomb 1 1 1 10 Randy Orton's kick to the head 1 1 0 8 John Cena's STFU 1 1 0 8 Batista's Batista Bomb 1 0 1 7 Jeff Jarrett's Stroke 0 2 0 6 Jeff Jarrett's guitar to the head 0 2 0 6 Great Khali's Side Headbutt 0 0 3 6 Batista's spinebuster 1 0 0 5 Vladimir Kozlov's inverted DDT 1 0 0 5 Vladimir Kozlov's Headbutt 1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs' spike to the head 1 0 0 5 CM Punk's Go To Sleep 0 1 1 5 Big Daddy V's splash 0 0 2 4 Shark Boy's stunner 0 1 0 3 Triple H's Pedigree 0 1 0 3 Ricky Ortiz's splash 0 1 0 3 Paul Birchill's Curb Stomp 0 1 0 3 Christian Cage's Unprettier 0 0 1 2 ODB's Dirty Dozen 0 0 1 2 Miz' Reality Check 0 0 1 2 Chris Hero's Roaring Elbow BDL: Vladimir Koslov's Headbutt of Doom somehow was nominated, but it's not going to work as a main event finisher. SHANE SPEAR: I dunno. I kind of dig Khali's side headbutt. It also seems like a lot of nominees for this category are just excuses to get an unpopular internet wrestling into a "worst" section. Kennedy's Mic Check, Miz's Reality Check, and Christian's Unprettier Check are all moved that are way long for finisher, complicated, and easy to counter. The unprettier is probably the easiest move to counter ever. Just push him away! JIM CARSON: Kozlov's ripoff Scorpion Death Drop is a joke. Armando Estrada did a version of the same move, and when a manager/general manager does something 20 times better than a monster heel, it's time for the monster heel to go back to headbutts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Award Description: 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) vs. 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) vs. Scott Steiner (Royal Rumble) 2004: 03/14/04: Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg (WrestleMania) 2005: 04/18/05: Jim Ross vs. Triple H (no DQ) (RAW) 2006: 06/26/06: Kane vs. Impostor Kane (Vengeance) 2007: 01/08/07: "Donald Trump" vs. "Rosie O'Donnell" (RAW) **2008**: 03/30/08: Chavo Guerrero (ECW) vs. Kane (WrestleMania) 23 first place votes 20 second place votes 17 third place votes 5 2 3 37 03/30/08 Chavo Guerrero (ECW) v. Kane 3 1 2 22 04/27/08 Big Show v. Great Khali 2 2 2 20 01/14/08 Hornswoggle v. Mini Kennedy v. Mini Mankind v. Mini Batista v. Mini Kane (Mini Rumble) 2 3 0 19 07/28/08 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase v. Jerry Lawler & Michael Cole 2 2 0 16 11/27/07 Kelly Kelly v. Layla 1 3 0 14 04/13/08 BG James v. Kip James 2 1 0 13 03/17/08 Ric Flair v. Vince McMahon (Street Fight) (RAW) 1 2 1 13 09/07/08 Michelle McCool v. Maryse 1 0 2 9 06/29/08 Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes (World tag) v. Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes 1 0 2 9 03/30/08 Maria & Ashley v. Beth Phoenix & Melina 0 1 3 9 08/11/08 Jay Lethal v. Sonjay Dutt (black tie & chain match) 1 0 1 7 08/17/08 Mark Henry v. Matt Hardy 1 0 1 7 01/27/08 John Bradshaw Layfield v. Chris Jericho 1 0 0 5 04/21/08 "Barack Obama" v. "Hillary Clinton" 0 1 0 3 11/17/07 Mickie James & Torrie Wilson & Michelle McCool & Kelly Kelly & Maria v. Melina & Beth Phoenix & Jillian Hall & Victoria & Layla 0 1 0 3 10/26/08 Santino Marella v. Honky Tonk Man 0 1 0 3 06/20/08 Edge (World) v. CM Punk THAT DON GUY: Wasn't there a man vs. woman no DQ match on RAW in 2008 (I want to say Santino Marella was in it) that ended with the divas running in and covering the man? I wanted to vote for this one, but couldn't find the details on it. BRIAN HENKE: I put Kane and Punk's victories at #1 and #2 because they only lasted around six seconds. The Obama-Clinton wasn't as bad as Trump-Rosie, but it was bad nonetheless. CRIMEFIGHTER: Kelly Kelly vs. Layla is the perfect illustration why you don't put two fashion models in a ring without any training. The Diva Search keeps giving us bad women wrestlers, and thankfully TNA's Knockouts Division is forcing WWE's hand in getting credible wrestlers in the ring. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Chavo Guerrero vs. Jacqueline 2005: McMahon Family vs. Jim Ross 2006: Mr. McMahon (& Shane McMahon) vs. D-generation X 2007: Mr. McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley / Voodoo Kin Mafia vs. Christy Hemme (tie) **2008**: Kane vs. Rey Mysterio 25 first place votes 25 second place votes 23 third place votes 4 5 0 35 Rey Mysterio v. Kane 5 0 4 33 Finlay & Hornswoggle v. Mr. McMahon 2 4 2 26 Tommy Dreamer v. Colin Delaney 3 2 2 25 Hornswoggle v. Great Khali 2 2 2 20 Kelly Kelly v. Layla 2 2 1 18 Team 3-D & Johnny Devine v. Jay Lethal & X-Division 1 2 3 17 BG James v. Kip James 1 2 1 13 Triple H v. Great Khali 2 0 1 12 Jay Lethal v. Sonjay Dutt 0 2 1 8 Finlay v. John Bradshaw Layfield 0 2 1 8 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Jerry Lawler 1 0 1 7 Kaz v. Dustin Rhodes 1 0 0 5 Triple H v. Jeff Hardy 1 0 0 5 CM Punk v. John Bradshaw Layfield 0 1 1 5 Abyss v. James Mitchell & Judas Mesias 0 1 0 3 Austin Aries v. Jimmy Jacobs 0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher v. Age of the Fall 0 0 1 2 Colin Delaney v. Armando Estrada 0 0 1 2 Chris Jericho v. John Bradshaw Layfield BDL: What do you get when you take two wrestlers with gimmicks that have become way past stale and predictable and throw them together almost at random in a feud that doesn't totally make sense ... Kane vs Rey 2008. SHANE SPEAR: Remember when ECW was a much simpler show? Before all these n00bs like Jack Swagger, Ricky Ortiz, and DJ Whatever were all over the place? Remember when there were only two men that mattered in ECW. Tommy. And Colin. Tommy took young Colin under his wing and proceeded to make him some new Mikey Whipwreck. Well you Sir Colin are no Mikey Whipwreck. And you ECW are no ECW. I rest my case. ...Oh and they fought like one time and it stunk. CRIMEFIGHTER: One of the main reasons the yearly WWE Diva search has been horrible for wrestling is that they put these girls in the ring when their ring skills are no better than backyard wrestlers...and thus you had horrible matches between Kelly Kelly and Layla. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Brock Lesnar leaves WWE to try out for the NFL 2005: Death of Chris Candido 2006: Death of Eddie Guerrero 2007: Chris Benoit commits double murder/suicide **2008**: WWE hires Mike Adamle 25 first place votes 25 second place votes 24 third place votes 3 4 1 29 WWE hires Mike Adamle 3 1 2 22 Joey Styles replaced as ECW commentator by Mike Adamle 3 1 1 20 Ric Flair retires 2 2 2 20 Death of Fabulous Moolah 2 0 2 14 WWE suspends Jeff Hardy 1 2 1 13 Annoyed Mick Foley doesn't re-sign as WWE color commentator 0 3 2 13 WWE Smackdown changes networks to MyNetwork TV 1 2 0 11 WWE programming aims for tamer "TV-PG" rating 2 0 0 10 WWE tries to buy viewers with $1,000,000/week giveaway 1 1 1 10 ROH fires Gabe Sapolsky 1 1 0 8 TNA continues to push old farts instead of X Division 1 0 1 7 WWE suspends William Regal shortly after starting major push 0 1 2 7 TNA crew member killed in scaffolding accident 0 2 0 6 WWE drops Ohio Valley Wrestling 0 2 0 6 Chris Harris blows up & gets horrible package 1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, John Cena injured, out of action 1 0 0 5 Nick Hogan involved in car accident 1 0 0 5 Jake Roberts has personal issues in indy ring 1 0 0 5 FCW has startup issues: building, talent in trouble with law 1 0 0 5 Death of Gary Hart 0 0 2 4 Melina injured, misses half the year 0 1 0 3 Lacey retiring 0 1 0 3 Human Tornado suffers major knee injury 0 1 0 3 Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute & Museum flooded 0 0 1 2 WWE lets Cruiserweight championship go inactive 0 0 1 2 TNA's move to 2 hours had no effect, ratings flat all year 0 0 1 2 TNA doesn't get a Monday live TV slot 0 0 1 2 Matt Hardy suffers appendecitis, which derails major push 0 0 1 2 Lacey leaves ROH 0 0 1 2 Death of Killer Kowalski 0 0 1 2 Bobby Lashley quits WWE SHANE SPEAR: I'll tell you that it's kind of refreshing not to see a double digit list of dead superstars to choose from. Here's hoping THAT trend continues. Onto the subject. Ric Flair retiring is the saddest thing that happened. Also, if he comes back I promise to vote for that for 2009's disappointing item. The Sapolsky dismissal is not a good sign to me. Others are more optimistic. Last is a personal pick for me. Matt Hardy seemed to be in line for the place that Jeff Hardy is currently in. That was an incredibly unfortunate situation timing-wise for him. CRIMEFIGHTER: Looking back it's remarkable how issues that would normally hit a small independent wrestling company or a newbie promoter that has no clue what he's doing would hit WWE's lone developemental terrority. It's incredible WWE management thought throwing out a perfectly good well-oiled machine for a lemon was a wise move...and thus far it has backfired big time. The second item has been a big deal in this region as the 2008 floods have been a major problem all year round, and the Dan Grable wrestling museum was hit hard. A lot of artifacts were lost forever and it took a long time to clean up the mess. Lastly the accident at TNA. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Jerry Lawler 2005: Stephanie McMahon 2006: Don West 2007: Mr. McMahon **2008**: Hornswoggle 27 first place votes 27 second place votes 27 third place votes 5 2 1 33 Hornswoggle 2 4 3 28 Triple H 3 4 0 27 Vickie Guerrero 3 2 3 27 John Bradshaw Layfield 1 5 1 22 Don West 2 1 3 19 Stephanie McMahon 2 1 1 15 Mike Adamle 1 2 0 11 Michael Cole 1 0 3 11 Jerry Lawler 1 0 2 9 Jillian Hall 1 1 0 8 Kevin Nash 1 0 1 7 Mick Foley 0 1 2 7 Jonathan Coachman 0 2 0 6 Kenny Dykstra 1 0 0 5 William Regal 1 0 0 5 Shane McMahon 1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs 1 0 0 5 Braden Walker 0 1 0 3 R-Truth 0 1 0 3 Miz 0 0 1 2 Tazz 0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner 0 0 1 2 Ricky Ortiz 0 0 1 2 Karen Angle 0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli 0 0 1 2 Chuck Palumbo 0 0 1 2 Armando Estrada HACK-MAN: Don West was the easy choice for #1 Most Obnoxious Personality, but I had a hard time narrowing down #2 & #3 with Armando, Jillian, Coach, Tazz, and Vickie Guerrero. I ended up voting the color commentators, since they annoy the entire show long instead of just one segment. BDL: Mick Foley what have you become? SHANE SPEAR: Every year that passes I get a little more annoyed with Mick Foley. It's a horrible thing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 and reinstated in 2006. 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 2006: Armando Alejandro Estrada (Osama Rodriguez Alejandro) 2007: James Mitchell **2008**: Santino Marella 26 first place votes 25 second place votes 22 third place votes 6 4 3 48 Santino Marella 5 5 1 42 Vickie Guerrero 5 1 0 28 Larry Sweeney 2 4 2 26 Katie Lea 0 2 6 18 Ezekiel Jackson 2 1 1 15 Tony Atlas 1 2 2 15 Ranjin Singh 1 2 1 13 Matt Striker 1 2 0 11 Hector Guerrero 1 0 2 9 Karen Angle 1 0 0 5 Salinas 1 0 0 5 Hornswoggle 0 1 1 5 Raisha Saeed 0 1 1 5 Layla 0 0 1 2 So Cal Val 0 0 1 2 Allison Wonderland SEAN FLYNN: Larry Sweeney has just been incredible this year. He is the best manager since the Heenan/Cornette heydays. SHANE SPEAR: This was the only place I could justify sticking an Ezekial Jackson vote this year. But let the record state that within two years he will be a top tier superstar. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Jim Ross 2005: Joey Styles 2006: Joey Styles 2007: Jim Ross **2008**: Jim Ross 27 first place votes 23 second place votes 20 third place votes 16 5 1 97 Jim Ross 5 7 5 56 Joey Styles 2 6 3 34 Mike Tenay 1 5 4 28 Todd Grisham 2 0 3 16 Michael Cole 1 0 4 13 Dave Prazak HACK-MAN: This was one of the easiest categories to answer. Todd Grisham just edged out Joey Styles for the top spot with the amazing chemistry he's had with Striker. Third place goes to Dave Prazak. Sorry JR, but you've fallen to #4. I miss Schiavone and WCW-era Tenay, but not nearly as much as I miss Gordon Solie. SHANE SPEAR: Todd Grisham isn't too far way from being what Michael Cole was in those 2002-2004 days. Give him another year or ten with Matt Striker. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Tazz 2005: Tazz 2006: John Bradshaw Layfield 2007: John Bradshaw Layfield **2008**: Matt Striker 27 first place votes 26 second place votes 23 third place votes 10 8 1 76 Matt Striker 5 5 6 52 Mick Foley 4 6 4 46 John Bradshaw Layfield 4 4 4 40 Tazz 2 1 5 23 Jerry Lawler 1 1 1 10 Don West 1 0 0 5 Chris Jericho 0 1 0 3 Bubba 3-D 0 0 1 2 Lenny Leonard 0 0 1 2 Arturo Rivera HACK-MAN: This was one of the easiest categories to answer. Matt Striker was far and away the best color man in the business this year. He combined knowledge and history with a genuine love of the business. I'm surprised McMahon hasn't yelled at him to stop it yet. Mick Foley gets the second spot for fitting in so quickly as the color commentator on Smackdown. He combined comedy with a desire to explain why wrestlers did the things they did from a storyline standpoint. Pity McMahon hates good color commentators. Third goes to John Bradshaw Layfield, who never should have left the announcing position. He blows in the ring, but was a natural for putting over the heels and (when warranted) the faces as well. Tazz and Lawler should both be fired. Don West should leave the sport forever. No one will ever come close to Jesse Ventura, but this year Striker, Foley, and JBL were a lot closer than anyone we've had to vote for in the last ten years. SHANE SPEAR: Had to vote for JBL here, even if it was only for a few months in this eligible timeframe. Also, Jerry Lawler has been way more tolerable these last two years or so. I think that even though Michael Cole seems to have declined, he and Lawler make a pretty good team overall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Chris Jericho 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Mick Foley 2007: Edge **2008**: Chris Jericho 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 26 third place votes 8 11 1 75 Chris Jericho 6 4 4 50 Santino Marella 3 1 5 28 Ric Flair 1 1 5 18 Shawn Michaels 2 2 0 16 Mr. Kennedy 2 1 1 15 John Cena 1 1 1 10 John Morrison 1 0 1 7 Christian Cage 1 0 0 5 Larry Sweeney 1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle 0 1 1 5 Edge 0 0 2 4 Undertaker 0 1 0 3 Randy Orton 0 1 0 3 ODB 0 1 0 3 John Bradshaw Layfield 0 1 0 3 Delerious 0 0 1 2 Triple H 0 0 1 2 Nigel McGuinness 0 0 1 2 James Mitchell 0 0 1 2 Booker T 0 0 1 2 Adam Pierce SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho is the man you turn to for storyline backbone. John Cena is the man you turn to for an impassioned speech to fire up the crowd. Santino Marella is the man you call on for comedy. Three great talkers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: Paul Heyman presents Kurt Angle with Team Angle 2004: Chris Benoit's world championship journey ends with WrestleMania win 2005: Matt Hardy returns to WWE to seek revenge on Edge & Lita 2006: Joey Styles quits RAW during live broadcast 2007: Chris Jericho inserts viral messages into WWE programming **2008**: Chris Jericho forces Shawn Michaels into, out of retirement 26 first place votes 26 second place votes 24 third place votes 12 1 2 67 Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels have a blood feud 5 6 1 45 Ric Flair's retires: Ceremony, Four Horsemen reunion on RAW 4 5 4 45 Santino Marella tracks IC reign with "Honk-a-meter" 3 6 7 45 CM Punk cashes in Money in the Bank to surprise Edge on RAW 0 1 3 9 Floyd Mayweather Jr. potatoes Big Show, then runs 1 1 0 8 Chris Jericho, Batista, Shawn Michaels fight over Flair's exit 1 0 1 7 Mr. McMahon decrees Ric Flair will retire after next loss 0 2 0 6 Santino Marella, Beth Phoenix romance, form Glamarella 0 1 1 5 John Cena makes surprise return at Royal Rumble 0 1 1 5 Charlie Haas mocks John Bradshaw Layfield as "CHL" 0 1 0 3 Faby Apache feuds with sister Mary Apache, then they reunite 0 1 0 3 Ariel moves up the ranks of SHIMMER as never say die babyface 0 0 1 2 Santino Marella steals Jerry Lawler's delicious sandwich 0 0 1 2 Rhett Titus visits Daizee Haze's apartment 0 0 1 2 John Bradshaw Layfield returns to full-time action 0 0 1 2 Edge & Vickie Guerrero get married 0 0 1 2 Brian Kendrick becomes The Brian Kendrick SHANE SPEAR: I fear that Jericho and Michaels' feud, and Jericho, Batista, and Shawn Michaels' feud are going to split votes. I'm going to go with the one without Batista, because this whole thing really lit on fire after Batista already got done beating the shit out of Michaels. Make no doubt about it, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels WERE wrestling in 2008. Hard to believe I voted for this over Ric Flair's retirement too. But that's just how good it was. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: WWE 2005: TNA 2006: WWE 2007: WWE **2008**: WWE 25 first place votes 22 second place votes 19 third place votes 17 4 2 101 WWE 4 10 3 56 ROH 3 4 5 37 TNA 1 0 0 5 SHIMMER 0 0 2 4 PWG 0 0 2 4 IWA Mid-South 0 1 0 3 NOAH 0 1 0 3 Next Era Wrestling 0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Wrestling 0 1 0 3 CHIKARA 0 0 1 2 OVW 0 0 1 2 JAPW 0 0 1 2 GEAR 0 0 1 2 Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling 0 0 1 2 CWF Mid-Atlantic SEAN FLYNN: SHIMMER is the best group in North America. Yes it is a niche audience, but for logical solid booking and hard work there is no better alternative. Dave Prazak is the best booker in America right now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: WWE RAW (RAW / RAW Zone) 2005: TNA iMPACT! (TNA Wrestling Impact!) 2006: WWE Smackdown 2007: WWE RAW (RAW / RAW Zone) / WWE Smackdown (tie) **2008**: WWE RAW 27 first place votes 26 second place votes 24 third place votes 15 5 5 100 WWE RAW 4 10 4 58 WWE Smackdown 3 6 5 43 ECW 3 3 4 32 TNA Impact 1 0 1 7 WWE AM RAW 1 0 0 5 Best of ECW (WWE On Demand) 0 1 1 5 OVW TV 0 1 0 3 WCW (1980s WTBS show) (WWE On Demand) 0 0 1 2 WWE MSG Classics 0 0 1 2 NWA Anarchy TV 0 0 1 2 Celebrity Championship Wrestling 0 0 1 2 AWA reruns on ESPN Classic THAT DON GUY: I assume the regular shows on WWE On Demand count as "TV Shows"? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: 03/14/04: WWE WrestleMania XX 2005: 04/03/05: WWE WrestleMania 21 2006: 04/02/06: WWE WrestleMania 22 2007: 04/01/07: WWE WrestleMania 23 **2008**: 03/30/08: WWE WrestleMania XXIV 23 first place votes 20 second place votes 17 third place votes 9 7 0 66 03/30/08 WWE WrestleMania XXIV 4 1 3 29 01/27/08 WWE Royal Rumble 2 2 2 20 03/16/08 ROH Take No Prisoners 0 5 2 19 10/05/08 WWE No Mercy 1 1 2 12 02/17/08 WWE No Way Out 1 1 1 10 10/12/08 TNA Bound for Glory 1 1 0 8 06/01/08 WWE One Night Stand 1 0 1 7 12/29/07 ROH Rising Above 1 0 1 7 09/07/08 WWE Unforgiven 1 0 0 5 09/14/08 TNA No Surrender 1 0 0 5 08/17/08 WWE Summerslam 1 0 0 5 04/26/08 SHIMMER Vol. 17-18 tapings 0 1 0 3 10/19/08 SHIMMER Vol. 21-22 tapings 0 1 0 3 10/06/07 ROH Undeniable (aired 01/08) 0 0 1 2 07/29/08 WWE Night of Champions 0 0 1 2 06/28/08 ROH Vendetta II 0 0 1 2 06/13/08 AAA TripleMania XVI 0 0 1 2 04/13/08 TNA Lockdown 0 0 1 2 02/10/08 TNA Against All Odds SHANE SPEAR: Take No Prisoners was an awesome show, with a fantastic main event. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: WWE books Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero to World, WWE championships 2005: TNA gains Spike TV timeslot 2006: TNA signs Kurt Angle soon after WWE releases him 2007: TNA, Spike TV agree on expanding "iMPACT!" to second hour **2008**: WWE airs a tribute to Ric Flair the night after WrestleMania 27 first place votes 26 second place votes 25 third place votes 8 6 3 64 WWE holds tribute to Ric Flair night after WrestleMania 7 0 2 39 WWE rehires Chris Jericho 2 3 2 23 WWE turns Chris Jericho heel 3 0 2 19 WWE gets Clinton, McCain, Obama to cut WWE-tailored promos 0 3 5 19 WWE makes CM Punk World champ 2 2 0 16 WWE starts web shows "Dirt Sheet" & "Santino's Casa" 1 1 2 12 WWE backs the comedic stylings of Santino Marella 0 3 1 11 WWE inducts Ric Flair into Hall of Fame as active member 1 1 1 10 WWE makes John Morrison ECW world champ 1 1 1 10 TNA books Samoa Joe to world title win 1 1 1 10 ROH books Nigel McGuinness to year long reign as champion 1 1 0 8 John Cena returns early in Royal Rumble 0 1 2 7 TNA hires Mick Foley 0 1 2 7 Rock performs Hall of Fame induction 0 1 0 3 WWE sues Dale Gagner to drop usage of AWA trademarks 0 1 0 3 WWE loads up Smackdown in draft prior to network change 0 0 1 2 SHIMMER brings back Nikki Roxx SHANE SPEAR: I doubt that even WWE expected to get this much out of a returning Chris Jericho. While there was a stutter step in the very beginning of the return, things have been coming up nothing but pure wrestling gold. Also, the Web based shows on WWE.com were perfect forums to get Miz, Morrison, and Santino name branding AND most importantly mic experience. A really easy way to get people over without the mess of having to job anybody out to them early on. CRIMEFIGHTER: TNA putting the world title on Samoa Joe was the right move to make, but comes a year too late and after Vince Russo ruining his personna as an unstoppable monster. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 and reinstated in 2006. 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 2006: Vickie Guerrero 2007: Vickie Guerrero **2008**: Bam Neely 24 first place votes 22 second place votes 21 third place votes 7 4 5 57 Bam Neely 4 4 3 38 Hornswoggle 5 2 2 35 Rhaka Khan 5 1 2 32 Ranjin Singh 2 1 2 17 Raisha Saeed 1 2 2 15 So Cal Val 0 3 1 11 Sharmell 0 2 2 10 Tony Atlas 0 2 0 6 Matt Striker 0 1 0 3 Raisha Saied 0 0 1 2 Sara Del Ray 0 0 1 2 El Guapito ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Jonathan Coachman 2005: Jonathan Coachman 2006: Todd Grisham 2007: Mike Tenay **2008**: Mike Adamle 24 first place votes 22 second place votes 18 third place votes 18 2 0 96 Mike Adamle 3 4 1 29 Michael Cole 1 5 3 26 Mike Tenay 0 6 4 26 Jonathan Coachman 1 2 2 15 Jim Ross 1 1 3 14 Jeremy Borash 0 2 2 10 Todd Grisham 0 0 2 4 Josh Mathews 0 0 1 2 Joey Styles HACK-MAN: I thought Jim Ross and Michael Cole were bad this year, but luckily there were even worse choices for Worst Announcer, so they were spared my voting. They have Mike Adamle, Coach, and Tenay to thank. EBRANSC: I've watched wrestling long enough to hear McMahon, Monsoon, Rhodes, McMichael, & Bischoff, but Mike Adamle surely must be 'the worst there was, the worst there is, and the worst there ever will be.?' BRIAN HENKE: Adamle won the day he debuted with ECW. WW tag team champions? Ya makin' us crazy. SHANE SPEAR: I'm so happy to see Jonathan Coachman exactly where he is a round peg in a round hole. Good on ya Coach! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Jerry Lawler 2005: Jerry Lawler 2006: Don West 2007: Don West **2008**: Don West 25 first place votes 20 second place votes 15 third place votes 15 1 2 82 Don West 5 14 2 71 Jonathan Coachman 3 4 7 41 Jerry Lawler 1 1 4 16 Tazz 1 0 0 5 Mick Foley HACK-MAN: Lawler was spared my vote this year for Worst Color Commentator due to the horridness that was Don West, Tazz, and Coach. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: Lita 2005: Linda McMahon 2006: The Great Khali 2007: The Great Khali **2008**: Mike Adamle 26 first place votes 25 second place votes 22 third place votes 7 3 3 50 Mike Adamle 4 5 2 39 Great Khali 3 0 1 17 Triple H 1 3 1 16 Braden Walker 3 0 0 15 Vickie Guerrero 2 1 1 15 Jeff Hardy 1 2 1 13 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 0 0 4 8 Cody Rhodes 1 0 1 7 Scott Steiner 0 1 2 7 Mark Henry 0 2 0 6 R-Truth 0 2 0 6 Batista 0 2 0 6 Abyss 1 0 0 5 ODB 1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan 1 0 0 5 Karen Angle 1 0 0 5 Festus 0 1 1 5 John McCain 0 0 2 4 Kenny Dykstra 0 1 0 3 Mr. Kennedy 0 1 0 3 Matt Hardy 0 1 0 3 Hillary Clinton 0 0 1 2 Ricky Ortiz 0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio 0 0 1 2 Eric Young EBRANSC: I always wondered why WWE never tried to cash in on the potential moneymaking character of a female Stone Cold, then I got to hear ODB on the mike in TNA. What? Abyss needs to become mute again. John McCain embarrassed himself slightly more on Raw than Hillary or Barrack. CRIMEFIGHTER: The guys in the presidental race are nominations? CRZ what were you thinking? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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" 2004: Kane stalks, then impregnates, then marries Lita 2005: Masked men attack Undertaker after Daivari is "sacrificed" in match 2006: Vickie Guerrero turns on Rey Mysterio 2007: Mr. McMahon presumed dead after limousine explodes **2008**: JBL reveals that Finlay, not Mr. McMahon, is Hornswoggle's father 27 first place votes 26 second place votes 24 third place votes 5 7 3 52 Who is Hornswoggle's father? 5 1 4 36 Mr. McMahon's Million Dollar Mania 4 1 3 29 John Cena writes "John Bradshaw Layfield is poopy" graffiti 3 1 1 20 Feast or Fired match hands out briefcases, TNA title shots 2 1 1 15 RAW stage collaspes onto Vince McMahon 2 1 1 15 Kaz steals Black Reign's rat "Misty" 1 2 1 13 Predictably, "Barack Obama" v. "Hillary Clinton" angle fails 1 1 2 12 Kurt, Karen Angle have marital trouble, again and again 1 2 0 11 Vince McMahon puts Hornswoggle in Kiss My Ass Club 1 1 0 8 "Drinking Championship" belt created for James Storm 0 1 2 7 Kane carries Rey Mysterio's mask in burlap sack 0 1 2 7 Edge seduces Vickie Guerrero 1 0 0 5 Triple H keeps beating Jeff Hardy 1 0 0 5 RAW GM William Regal cancels matches due to crowd disrespect 0 1 1 5 Preacher accidentally marries Karen Angle, AJ Styles 0 1 0 3 Trevor Murdoch sings badly 0 1 0 3 Jackass stars invade RAW, Smackdown 0 1 0 3 Floyd Mayweather Jr. potatoes Big Show, then runs 0 1 0 3 Deuces Wild tag team tournament on PPV 0 1 0 3 CM Punk loses World Title without wrestling 0 0 1 2 Undertaker sends Edge "to hell" 0 0 1 2 Team 3-D must reduce their weight to 275 lbs. each 0 0 1 2 Karen's Angle Interview Segment SHANE SPEAR: I almost put Trevor Murdoch's singing over Hornswoggle here. That would've been like Boise State beating Oklahoma. But if you are doing a singing gimmick and you only have to sing one chorus of one song, you think you MIGHT want to learn the correct lyrics Trevor? The only good think Lance Cade ever did was pop him in the mouth. CRIMEFIGHTER: Whatta joke, giving away all that money did nothing for RAW's ratings. And the RAW set was set up to collapse on McMahon...and they sure made it obvious that it was set up that way. The set collapsing onto Vince McMahon to put an end to Million Dollar Mania was in really bad taste, due to the fact that a TNA crew member was killed a few weeks prior under similiar circumstances. Worst angle, and I didn't think of this earlier was William Regal going and stopping matches because the crowd disrespected him. It was so bad I didn't watch RAW for a few weeks cause I was so angered. That was part of why the TV product was suffering so bad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: TNA 2005: WWE 2006: WWE 2007: Wrestling Society X **2008**: TNA 22 first place votes 19 second place votes 14 third place votes 9 2 3 57 TNA 4 5 2 39 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling 2 3 1 21 Juggalo Championship Wrestling 3 0 2 19 Florida Championship Wrestling 1 5 0 20 WWE 2 0 2 14 WEW 0 3 2 13 CZW 1 1 1 10 Nu-Wrestling Evolution 0 0 1 2 Wrestling Superstars Live CRIMEFIGHTER: Worst organization goes to Frathouse Championship Wrestling, cause that's all it has been ever since WWE dropped OVW so Johnny Ace can party all the time. Hogan's CCW has had worse ratings than WSX and everyone voted WSX the worst fed...so I'll be surprised this won't win. And the last one JCW, after the debacle at the Juggalo Gathering they garner the kind of attention that they probably don't want. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 2004: The WWE Experience 2005: The WWE Experience 2006: WWE RAW 2007: Wrestling Society X **2008**: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling 25 first place votes 21 second place votes 16 third place votes 10 2 4 64 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling 5 9 1 54 TNA Impact 5 2 5 41 ECW 3 2 2 25 WWE Smackdown 2 4 0 22 WWE AM RAW 0 2 4 14 WWE RAW BRIAN HENKE: Celebrity Wrestling bombed in the UK, so how could it fail in the US with Hogan and Bischoff? CRIMEFIGHTER: If Hogan's CCW lasts more than one season, I'll have to question heavily why WSX was cancelled because that show's ratings were WAY HIGHER than anything CCW has gotten thus far. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) 2004: 06/27/04: WWE Great American Bash 2005: 07/24/05: WWE Great American Bash 2006: 07/23/06: WWE Great American Bash 2007: 12/03/06: ECW December to Dismember **2008**: 07/29/08: WWE Night of Champions / 05/11/08: TNA Sacrifice (tie) 19 first place votes 18 second place votes 15 third place votes 2 3 1 21 07/29/08 WWE Night of Champions 2 3 1 21 05/11/08 TNA Sacrifice 3 1 1 20 10/26/08 WWE Cyber Sunday 1 3 2 18 06/01/08 WWE One Night Stand 1 2 2 15 03/09/08 TNA Destination X 2 0 2 14 04/27/08 WWE Backlash 1 2 1 13 10/05/08 WWE No Mercy 2 0 1 12 09/07/08 WWE Unforgiven 1 1 2 12 12/02/07 TNA Turning Point 1 1 1 10 01/06/08 TNA Final Resolution 1 1 0 8 05/18/08 WWE Judgment Day 1 0 0 5 10/12/08 TNA Bound for Glory IV 1 0 0 5 08/17/08 WWE SummerSlam 0 1 0 3 06/08/08 TNA Slammiversary 0 0 1 2 04/13/08 TNA Lockdown ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 then pushing wrestlers 2004: WWE runs Diva Search during multiple segments of many weeks of RAW 2005: WWE airs "terrorist attack" on Undertaker soon after London bombings 2006: WWE repeatedly uses Eddie Guerrero's death as storyline material 2007: TNA books title win for Pacman Jones despite "no contact" clause **2008**: WWE hires Mike Adamle 26 first place votes 25 second place votes 25 third place votes 4 3 0 29 WWE hires Mike Adamle 4 1 1 25 TNA pushes old farts instead of X Division 2 3 1 21 WWE runs "McMahon's Million Dollar Mania" promotion 0 5 3 21 WWE takes World title off CM Punk, doesn't allow feud with Chris Jericho 3 0 1 17 WWE makes Mike Adamle general manager of RAW 1 2 3 17 WWE lets Triple H squash future contenders in Elimination Chamber 1 2 0 11 WWE drops OVW as a developmental territory in favor of FCW 1 0 3 11 WWE buries MVP 1 0 3 11 TNA books main event with Scott Hall...who no-shows 0 3 0 9 TNA wastes a year of Christopher Daniels' career doing Curry Man 0 2 1 8 WWE replaces Joey Styles as ECW announcer with Mike Adamle 1 0 1 7 WWE pairs Manu with Ted DiBiase Jr. & Cody Rhodes 1 0 1 7 The CW fails to renew WWE Smackdown 1 0 1 7 Chris Jericho "save us" return squandered in upper midcard 0 2 0 6 WWE pushes heatless stiffs 0 0 3 6 WWE orders talent not to mingle with TNA guys during WrestleMania weekend 1 0 0 5 WWE tells Smackdown v. RAW 2009 reviewers not to show Triple H in a losing or defenseless position 1 0 0 5 WWE skips six months work of booking & randomly decides to push CM Punk to the title 1 0 0 5 WWE quietly retires Cruiserweight championship 1 0 0 5 WWE breaks up Vickie/Edge union 1 0 0 5 TNA resigns Kevin Nash 1 0 0 5 ROH fires Gabe Sapolsky 1 0 0 5 Chris Jericho doesn't feud with former champ CM Punk after World title win 0 0 2 4 TNA fails to resign Gail Kim 0 1 0 3 WWE signs Chris Harris, only to rename him Braden Walker 0 1 0 3 WWE invites presidential candidates to RAW 0 1 0 3 WWE assigns Triple H to Smackdown 0 0 1 2 TNA loses Low Ki/Senshi 0 0 1 2 All WWE programming becomes TV-PG BDL: Why did they break up a winning heel combination so soon and so poorly? THAT DON GUY: The original reports of the memo telling "Smackdown vs Raw 2009" reviewers to "refrain from showing Triple H in a losing, defeated, or defenseless position" were before the November 1 deadline. CRIMEFIGHTER: Really how many retarded dumb@$$ blunders have WWE made this year? It was really difficult to narrow it down to THREE. Just because I have to pick three out of them all, dropping OVW was the dumbest mistake because FCW has pretty much been nothing but a frathouse with lots of partying, talent getting jailed for criminal mischief and geez, the building where they base operations wasn't up to code. And the reason why they cut OVW? Because Johnny Ace likes the party scene in Florida. That's the ONLY reason. What a disaster. Second worst was replacing Joey Styles on commentary with Mike Adamle, who wasn't anywhere close to being up for the job...and whatta surprise, he's no longer with WWE. The last one was CRIMINAL. It is NONE of the WWE's business what the talent do during their off-time, as long as they aren't breaking the law. IT IS NONE OF THEIR F***'IN BUSINESS!!! And these NAZIS at WWE fired people because they went to watch a TNA taping? They should have their butts sued off for that, because there is multiple instances of employers trying to keep their workforce on the clock 24-7...the workforce sued, and the judges made the employers PAY millions in back wages for unfair labor practices. WWE best not think they're immune to paying out a judgement, cause they're not. ----------------------------------------------------------------------