Yes! It's my yearly spam to the newsfroup!
For those of you just tuning in, these are the rec.sport.pro-wrestling.*
Year-End Achievement Awards. They celebrate the excellence, as well as
the....opposite thereof, of the past year in professional wrestling.
The Awards are decided by the readers of r.s.p-w, voting for a 1st, 2nd,
and 3rd place in nearly fifty categories. Believe it or not, this is our
big SIXTEENTH year for the Awards.
Participation was down again - only forty ballots received. I attribute
this to less interest in the product here on r.s.p-w as well as a successful
campaign by me to keep certain people outside r.s.p-w from publicizing
the awards to their readership and/or fanboybase. As a result, while
there are far less votes than in the past, I believe we've returned to a
set of results which truly represent the feelings of the "smart" fans - or
at least a snapshot of our fans' sentiments as of November, 2005. Most
voters were repeat voters - a few even still post on r.s.p-w! - and there
was also a block of fans from Korea who really seem to like The Undertaker.
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:
With my site on semi-permanent hiatus, The Cubs Fan's site is the place
to go to find all the dates and times of WWE matchups during the voting
period
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 fifteen years of awards!
It's Google. Nuff said.
I can be reached by emailing crz{at}rspw{dot}org, amongst other ways.
Without further ado, HEEEEEEEEEEEERE WE GO!!!!
--
Christopher Robin Zimmerman | moderator, rec.sport.pro-wrestling.info
WWW: CRZ.net | AIM: SeeOurZed | co-moderator, rec.sport.pro-wrestling.moderated
-- | archivist, www.rspw.org
©2005 CRZ[tm]
First up are the general comments...
RYAN PIKE: This past year has been one of high peaks and low valleys, and
it seems as if there's much more to choose from in the "Worst" cateogories
than in the "Best". The best example of this is WrestleMania this year: a
4-hour show that would've been a great 3-hour one, but instead ended up
with an hour of shit (The Sumo Match, the Women's Title Match) tacked on
and main event title matches that paled in comparison wrestling-wise to
XX's title bouts, or even 95% of 21's undercard. This year, for every
awesome Eddie Guerrero heel turn/promo, we end up getting the Boogeyman,
legends, midgets, bestiality, moles and Masterpieces. As the only big
promotion left, WWE has the ability to collect the best wrestlers in the
world and put them on their shows: it just seems like they have no clue
what to do with them.
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: Wow, the first time I'd ever voted on these. It's been
a pretty poor past year for wrestling, and I've really found my interest
waning. So, I'll admit that I'm not familiar with most of the nominees
for particular categories. But I went with what I know, and that's how it
goes. (I could make some kind of socially-relevent comment about an
uninformed electorate here, but why bother - it's just wrestling.)
JOSEPH COLLINS: This was probably the worst year for me, personally, that
I've voted in. I was not excited much about what has gone on this year in
the ring... I loved Eddie's work in his angle with Rey, but the angle
itself (once it turned to Eddie fathering Rey's kid) became such shit. The
WWE has become way to stale, but I think this year I have a lot more to
look forward to, with TNA really picking up the pace in it's weekly TV,
monthly specials and pay-per-views. Checking out Samona Joe's recent work
has been like a breath of fresh air, I hope to see more of him. TNA should
push him to the MOON.
JUNG: This is my second time doing the RSPW awards. and of course, best
wrestler of the 2005 would go to Batista. because he's a always great
brawl wrestler. Great year for Batista. also, i think Shawn Michaels and
Undertaker are the good legends in wwe. especsially, wrestlemania 21th
greatest ppv of all time.
TORREY M. SPEARS: The state of professional wrestling clearly revolves
around World Wrestling Entertainment in 2005 ... which has all but ruined
the "sport entertainment" genre almost beyond repair. I'm excited at the
possibly of some competition with NWA-TNA, but they don't seem to be
offering up a challenge. Like most monopolies, the World Wrestling
Entertainment spent most if not all of 2005 spoon-feeding it's fans week
after week, month after month, of unbelievable crap on television and Pay
Per View. Their decision-making policies, the backstage moves, the 'glass
cieling', and the lack of elevating fresh new talent continues to keep the
WWE the laughing stock of fans around the world. The wrestling world still
revolves around Triple H, who I remember praising in 2000 as the future of
wrestling. Little did I know ... the future would be SO bleak! The
Undertaker terrorism angle... the whole Muhammed Hassan thing... McMahon's
"Jim Ross" surgery... Kerwin White...Randy Orton... Snitsky... mistake,
after mistake, after mistake. Monday Night Raw has become a weekly invite
to laugh at the absurd, to shake our collective heads in shame at what our
beloved sport has become. I long for the good ol' days ... ... ... and I'm
hoping that TNA can develop into a viable sport entertainment option, and
push the WWE to produce higher quality shows, better Pay Per Views, angles
that make sense, and put new talent into the limelight. If not... the
sport may be stuck in a free-fall forever.
ADALBERTO LOPEZ: WWE's slump continues. Samoa Joe and CM Punk will be
stars. Eddie Guerrero is my favorite wrestler. Cheat to win!!! RIP Eddie
CRIMEFIGHTER: Despite so many indy feds in the country numbering in the
hundreds, just not much of a representation of them in the nominees.
It's mostly WWE and TNA. I'm glad TNA got television on Spike TV. This
either indicates that most fans aren't reading RSPW these days or else
interest continues to drop overall. What's a common theme throughout the
year is that WWE continues to spiral downward, though viewership has
dropped as far as it's gonna drop, for the simple reason is that the WWE
is still the most prevalent fed around with TNA being a distant second. It
will be interesting to see how much TNA progresses in becoming a major
competitor to WWE in 2006. WWE though seems to be trying to shut down
competitors with all these lawsuit threats being thrown about. I still
maintain that the categories for best and worst manager should be
reinstated because there are enough people available to nominate.
HEE SEOK: My name is Hee Seok. This is my first time doing the RSPW
awards. I think that the best wrestler of the 2005 would go to Batista.
Because he is won the Royalrumble 2005, and he defeatded Triple H at the
WrestleManin 21. and he is retain the World Heavyweight Title to now. and
good wrestler of the 2005 are John Cena, The Undertaker, Randy Orton.
DA SIGNALBRAT: WWE needs to make 2006 a better year. Start by getting
rid of Bischoff and Coach. Then keep the McMahons to a mimial role.
Then bring back JR for one last time at Wrestlemania. How can TNA do
better? Get rid of Jarrett. Give the title to someone other than Planet
Jarrett for longer than a day or two. Styles or Raven would be best.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: It has been a very interesting year for year for
wrestling, and overall, a good one. Despite the implosion of World
Wrestling Entertainment, they still put on some excellent wrestling
matches. TNA and ROH have put on very good shows for most of the year,
and OVW has had two strong runs with Jim Cornette and Paul Heyman both
proving that they're still the two best minds in the business.
KEVIN SNELL: First time I've participated in the survey. I figure the
number of voters must be down because the product is so bad lately and
people are leaving in droves (including my roommates), so I'm hoping to
help counteract that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
40 second place votes
39 third place votes
7 7 2 60 Eddie Guerrero
5 9 3 58 Kurt Angle
8 2 3 52 Shawn Michaels
2 4 11 44 AJ Styles
6 0 2 34 Samoa Joe
4 1 1 25 Batista
3 1 2 22 Chris Benoit
1 2 1 13 CM Punk
1 1 2 12 Christian
1 1 0 8 Kenta Kobashi
0 2 1 8 Undertaker
0 2 1 8 John Cena
0 2 1 8 Christopher Daniels
1 0 0 5 Rico
1 0 0 5 Perro Aguayo Jr.
0 1 1 5 Shelton Benjamin
0 0 2 4 Rey Mysterio
0 1 0 3 KENTA
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs
0 1 0 3 James Gibson
0 1 0 3 Chris Jericho
0 1 0 3 Bryan Danielson
0 0 1 2 Slim J
0 0 1 2 Satoshi Kojima
0 0 1 2 Roderick Strong
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Dr. Wagner Jr.
0 0 1 2 Austin Aries
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: If I had to pick one guy to focus a show around, I would
pick Batista.
CHRIS HOLSKI: Seriously, how can this award NOT go to Shawn Michaels? He's
consistantly put on the best matches, been a huge draw, been gold on the
mic and carried the biggest main event in wrestling this year. I may not
be a huge fan of the guy, but his skill cannot be denied. HBK has come
alllll the way back.
JUNG: what more can i say? #1. Batista.
NATRBOY72: I voted for Angle over Kobashi figuring that Angle is a bigger
deal in Japan than Kobashi is here while giving credit for Kobashi coming
here, putting on strong matches & selling DVDs for ROH. Kojima who gets
third possibly whould have been the winner had he been in a stronger
promotion.
SHAKE: shawn michaels was awesome for 2005. great technical & flyer &
entertain.
JOSH MANN: I could say this for the duration of the ballot, but I'll just
put it here one time: even though I did mark him down in spots I thought
it was deserving, I felt awkward voting for Eddie Guererro for anything.
Especially here, since I had half-decided making him my #1 choice in this
category for being the best rounded performer in the business this year
before what took place. So in spite of my awkwardness, I can honestly say
it's not a memorial vote. Angle was just fantastic to watch at times in
spite of the obvious maladies and Rey Mysterio has gotten so good in the
last year that it's uncanny.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Well we can't vote Eddie Guerrero passing away for most
disappointing news item yet, so we'll vote for him as best wrestler as a
tribute. Jimmy Jacobs gets my second for gathering his own triple crown
of titles, holding the titles of IWA-MS World Champion, NWA Indiana
Champion, and ROH Tag Team Champion at the same time. AJ Styles for
third.
HEE SEOK: Batista won the RoyalRumble 2005 and WrestleMania 21. And he is
retain the WorldHeavyweight Title to now. John Cena is WWE Champion. he
defeated JBL at WreatleMania 21 and he won the WWE Championship. The
Undertaker is legend. And My favorite wrestler is The Undertaker with Bret
"The hitman" Hart, Owen "The King Of Hart" Hart and British Bulldog. The
Undertaker have feuded Randy "The Legend Killer" Orton to now. Their feud
is very exiting. My best feud of 2005 is The Undertaker and Randy Orton.
SMART APE: What can you say about Kurt Angle that hasn't ben said before?
Week in and week out Kurt gives his all, and wrestles his heart out in
solid matches. Nobody deserves this award more than Kurt in 2005.
YNAE316: Overall I'd have to say Eddie Guerrero had the best year out of
all the roster this year. The matches, the promos, the backstage segments
were all gold. Perhaps the angles were a bit silly ("fathering Dominic")
but through sheer personality and work rate Eddie made stupid angles
great. We'll definitely miss you Latino Heat. Jericho and AJ take 2 & 3
in my book. Jericho definitely carried Raw this year and AJ carries TNA.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Samoa Joe is clearly the best wrestler of the year.
As much as I'd like to give a vote to Eddie Guerrero, his last year wasn't
his best.
THECUBSFAN: There's not a definite choice this year, so I've gone with
Perro Aguayo Jr. He's been the biggest heat magnet in CMLL, making a feud
versus Universo 2000 and his brothers far more interesting than when
Pierroth had his spot, and with the handicap of them not actually
interested in doing the blowoff match and not hiding that fact too well.
Perro was the biggest star on the show of every show he worked, and he was
good at it, so why not vote for him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
39 second place votes
35 third place votes
18 7 3 117 America's Most Wanted - Chris Harris & James Storm
10 8 7 88 MNM - Joey Mercury & Johnny Nitro
4 0 2 24 Mexicools - Juventud & Psicosis & Super Crazy
1 4 2 21 Team 3-D - Brother Ray & Brother D-Von (Dudley Boys)
0 2 3 12 Team Canada - Bobby Roode & Eric Young
0 2 3 12 Naturals - Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas
0 2 3 12 Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
2 0 0 10 Los Guerreros del Infierno - Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero
1 1 1 10 Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer
0 2 2 10 Roderick Strong & Jack Evans
1 1 0 8 XXX - Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper
1 0 1 7 Big Show & Kane
0 1 2 7 Rob Van Dam & Rey Mysterio
0 2 0 6 Havana Pitbulls - Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero
1 0 0 5 Muhammad Haasan & Daivari
1 0 0 5 KENTA & Marufuji
0 1 1 5 Hurricane & Rosey
0 1 1 5 Heart Throbs - Antonio & Romeo
0 0 2 4 Hardcore Holly & Charlie Haas
0 1 0 3 William Regal & Tajiri
0 1 0 3 Paul London & Brian Kendrick
0 1 0 3 Mephisto & Averno
0 1 0 3 Gado & Jedo
0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio
0 0 1 2 William Regal & Eugene
0 0 1 2 Marufuji & Minoru Suzuki
GREG PARKS: Tough year for tag teams. Either there weren't enough or none
stayed together long enough. AMW put on some decent matches AND lasted
the entire year. MNM stormed on the scene and livened up WWE's tag
division. And Regal and Eugene are sentimental favorites, if only for the
pop the received when they won the titles.
NATRBOY72: I suppose AMW is the overwhelming favorite having always been
together and having a number of great matches. I even like their new
redneck horsemen kliq with Jarrett. However, as they were always more
carried by better teams to those great matches, so I have to vote 1. XXX
2. Team Canada of Roode/Young 3. AMW
CRIMEFIGHTER: Best tag team is still AMW in TNA, as WWE has let its tag
division go to crap.
DA SIGNALBRAT: How could you say WWE has a good tag team base? It
doesn't. AMW has been solid, even if in the past few months they made the
mistake of aligning with Planet Jarrett.
YNAE316: AMW is still the best team in the industry by default. The moves
and tag work are crisp and the heel turn is definitely refreshing. Team
3-D, boy does time away make you fresh. The Dudleyz had a great run at
One Night Stand and are now reborn on TNA fresh and new with new teams to
work with. MNM takes #3. A much needed and refreshing add to Smackdown's
tag ranks.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Jim Cornette produced two very strong tag team
gimmicks this year in OVW, and they're both magical. I had to give the
Heart Throbs my first place vote as they have greatly improved in the ring
and were the best comedy team in wrestling since Stevie Richards and the
Blue Meanie in OVW. MNM gets #2 for their amazing work in OVW, and the
watered-down work in WWE where Mercury and Nitro are mutes. AMW continues
to do solid work, and their cage match with XXX, which will surely be
overlooked in this year's voting was incredible.
THECUBSFAN: Not a good year for tag teams. I think MNM wins this based on
their first month in the WWE many people saw, and their longer stint of
awesome in OVW, which fewer people saw. Speaking of few people, I've
actually enjoyed the Heart Throbs in their perpetual Heat appearances, but
I think I may be alone there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
40 second place votes
40 third place votes
11 4 4 75 Eddie Guerrero
6 7 4 59 John Bradshaw Layfield
3 7 5 46 Kurt Angle
5 4 1 39 Edge
4 0 4 28 Christian
2 3 1 21 CM Punk
2 1 4 21 Shawn Michaels
0 2 5 16 Carlito
1 2 2 15 Triple H
0 3 2 13 Trish Stratus
1 1 0 8 Muhammad Hassan
1 0 1 7 Randy Orton
1 0 1 7 Perro Aguayo Jr.
0 2 0 6 Ken Kennedy
0 2 0 6 Hector Garza
1 0 0 5 SUWA
1 0 0 5 Johnny Jeter
1 0 0 5 Daivari
0 1 1 5 Jimmy Rave
0 0 2 4 Christopher Daniels
0 0 2 4 Chris Jericho
0 1 0 3 Minoru Suzuki
0 0 1 2 Chris Hero
HACK-MAN: This is the first year in a long time where there has been a
nice list of strong, over heels in WWE to choose from, instead of having
to pick from people that were pushed as heels and only made small
advancements. I went with Daivari, Carlito, and Eddie Guerrero, who were
all great on the mic and easily got all the plebes to hate them with
passion. Angle, Jericho, Christian, and Edge did fine jobs as well.
NATRBOY72: This year the best heels (Josh Koscheck, Bobby Southworth, Matt
Hughes) and faces (Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Nate Quarry) were in
MMA rather than pro wrestling. Of the pros, even though crowds often
didnt take to Eddy as the heel as planned, I've been a big Eddy fan for
years and I wanted to see someone beat his ass after the evil stunts he
pulled on Rey Jr. Angle was a distant second as the rabid pit bull, and
Carlito the best of the rest of the pack with this smarminess.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Edge is a heel in AND out of the ring, and his behavior
resulted in people losing their jobs.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Edge would have won but Eddie played "I'm Your Papi" to
perfection. Too bad we can't vote for Lita. Oh wait, we can. JBL is
more convincing of a heel than Lita was.
SMART APE: Christian was such a great heel in the past 12 months that he
got over despite no push. The same could be said about Trish Stratus and
Eddie Guerrero. Trish was the most effective female heel I have seen in a
LONG time, and Eddie (the character) is just a rat bastard who you could
not help but boo (but a "good" boo). He was so cool, even as he wanted to
steal away Dominic from Rey.
MATT HOCKING: Of all the people whose heel runs went through almost the
whole year, Edge was the most consistantly active and entertaining. He
might not have been the "best" best but in a world of lukewarm heels, his
gimmick, interviews and ring skills meshed extremely well, to the point
where even as a seemingly passive party in their conflict, he carried Matt
Hardy during their feud. 2nd place goes to Muhammed Hassan, who despite
his inactivity was the only guy who could really draw anger from a crowd,
and where he have stuck to wrestling, had the mic skills to be a big star.
Third place goes to Shawn Michaels who was on an absolute month long tear
as a heel run leading up to Summerslam. It's too bad he had to dump the
gimmick too, because he was probably the best heel in the whole country in
just those few short weeks.
YNAE316: Edge is my #1 heel for the year. He's had a banner year since
last year's Taboo Tuesday and maintained great heat in feuds with Michaels
and the others on the Raw Roster. The entire Lita-Matt Hardy fiasco in
real life only catapulted his heel status. Regardless of Adam Copeland
may be in real life, he was definitely the best heel of 2005. Angle and
Christian, two other awesome, consistent heels in the ring and on the mic
take #2 and #3.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
40 second place votes
39 third place votes
10 6 1 70 Batista
6 5 10 65 AJ Styles
6 7 2 55 Rey Mysterio
6 1 4 41 Shawn Michaels
1 7 2 30 Chris Benoit
2 3 4 27 John Cena
2 2 5 26 Matt Hardy
2 3 2 23 Ric Flair
1 1 3 14 Eddie Guerrero
2 1 0 13 Undertaker
2 0 1 12 Mistico
0 2 1 8 Colt Cabana
0 0 2 4 Samoa Joe
0 1 0 3 Rob Van Dam
0 1 0 3 Booker T
0 0 1 2 Monty Brown
0 0 1 2 Dr. Wagner Jr.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Matt Hardy gets best babyface for the fact he was fired
because EDGE was engaging in adultery with Lita against his own wife.
SMART APE: Batista deserves this as he got so over that he placed himself
in the maim event of WrestleMania, and continues to have an 8 month +
World title reign, when it simply was not in the cards. He might not have
the best mic skills, or the charisma of the Rock, but he managed with the
little he has, to get over with memorable moments ("You talkin' to me?"
and the thumbs down when he officially turned face).
YNAE316: No people epitomized the "hero" more than Batista, Rey Rey and
Matt Hardy this year. In the case of Rey and Hardy, they definitely had
the "victim" roles down. Awesome matches and promos make all 3 a lock-in
as "Best Babyfaces" for the year.
THECUBSFAN: Mistico, so tiny that he can barely wear the belt he holds
around his waist, stood up to the bullies and cheaters of the CMLL world
this year, and beat them all. He was the world's smallest Superman, with
the powers of flight and indestructibility coming in especially handy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
38 first place votes
38 second place votes
38 third place votes
7 6 7 67 Chris Benoit
6 7 5 61 Kurt Angle
7 5 0 50 Shawn Michaels
2 5 7 39 Eddie Guerrero
4 3 4 37 AJ Styles
4 1 4 31 Samoa Joe
1 1 2 12 Christopher Daniels
0 3 0 9 Bryan Danielson
1 1 0 8 Rey Mysterio
1 1 0 8 Chris Sabin
1 0 1 7 Shelton Benjamin
1 0 1 7 Paul London
0 1 2 7 Triple H
0 2 0 6 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 Ultimo Guerrero
1 0 0 5 Christian
1 0 0 5 CM Punk
0 1 1 5 Petey Williams
0 1 1 5 James Gibson
0 0 1 2 Mike Quackenbush
0 0 1 2 KENTA
0 0 1 2 Charlie Haas
YNAE316: No one carried people to better matches than Michaels, Angle and
Benoit this year. Hats in off in particular to Michaels and Angle who
consistently had awesome matches in high profile with everyone in this
year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
38 first place votes
37 second place votes
35 third place votes
10 9 6 89 AJ Styles
8 6 5 68 Rey Mysterio
7 3 8 60 Paul London
3 3 3 30 Sonjay Dutt
4 3 0 29 Jack Evans
3 3 0 24 Mistico
0 3 2 13 Chris Sabin
0 2 2 10 Matt Sydal
0 2 2 10 Christopher Daniels
1 1 0 8 Jerrelle Clark
0 1 2 7 Austin Aries
1 0 0 5 Ricky Marvin
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Yang
0 0 2 4 Elix Skipper
0 1 0 3 Chavo Guerrero
0 0 1 2 Teddy Hart
0 0 1 2 Slim J
0 0 1 2 Matthew Bentley (Michael Shane)
HACK-MAN: I went with three different feds for Best Flyer. Jimmy Yang as
Akio was by far the best flyer in WWE (above Rey, Spanky, Daivari, and
London). Sonjay Dutt was the best flyer in TNA (above AJ, Jerrelle Clark,
Lo Ki, and Daniels). Slim J (though he never was as good as he was before
injuries) was the best of the indies (above Jimmy Rave, Azrael, Garbiel,
Altar Boy Luke).
JOSH MANN: Because of the nature of the X Division guys like Sabin and
Styles (and others, natch) got more of a chance to show off than the more
ground-styled WWE. But something like that also makes the guys in the WWE
who are good and trusted arielists like Mysterio stand out, as opposed to
the diving board matches that take place in the X Division sometimes, but
Styles and Sabin are good at what they do, hence their placement as 2 and
3. Shelton Benjamin would have been here had he not gotten a bad case of
the yips this summer. But he was the absolute king of spots until about
June.
YNAE316: London had an awesome year up until he pissed off Vince and got
jobbed out. His series with Akio was awesome shit and he's an easy in for
#1. While everyone knows about Rey Rey and AJ Styles, my pick for #2 is
TNA's Chris Sabin who consistently has awesome matches with everyone on
the TNA roster and pulls off some cool shit. Hopefully Sabin lands a
solid push in '06 instead of playing JTTS. Rey Rey takes #3 by default.
THECUBSFAN: I don't know how Mistico's going to hold up, with stunts like
his dive out of the ring into an armdrag, or missing corkscrew planchas to
the floor. But while he's still able to do it, I'm going to give him
credit for succeeding as much as he does. It's not just the desire to try
high risk moves, it's the ability to pull them off nearly all the time
which always amazes me about Mistico.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
38 first place votes
37 second place votes
37 third place votes
21 9 2 136 Chris Benoit
8 12 2 80 Kurt Angle
5 1 1 30 Bryan Danielson
0 3 10 29 Eddie Guerrero
1 2 4 19 Samoa Joe
2 1 2 17 Christopher Daniels
1 1 2 12 AJ Styles
0 2 3 12 Alex Shelley
0 0 5 10 William Regal
0 1 2 7 Shawn Michaels
0 0 3 6 Shelton Benjamin
0 1 1 5 Triple H
0 1 0 3 Ultimo Guerrero
0 1 0 3 Ric Flair
0 1 0 3 Osamu Nishimura
0 1 0 3 Austin Aries
YNAE316: Benoit, Angle and Eddie - who else???
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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**: Samoa Joe / Batista (tie)
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
38 third place votes
6 5 4 53 Samoa Joe
6 5 4 53 Batista
6 0 6 42 John Bradshaw Layfield
1 8 5 39 Abyss
3 5 4 38 Triple H
4 3 2 33 Chris Benoit
3 1 1 20 Undertaker
1 4 2 21 Homicide
1 1 3 14 John Cena
0 2 4 14 Raven
1 2 0 11 Kurt Angle
1 0 1 7 Perro Aguayo Jr.
1 0 0 5 Necro Butcher
1 0 0 5 Matt Hardy
1 0 0 5 Lance Hoyt
1 0 0 5 Jun Akiyama
1 0 0 5 Jeff Jarrett
1 0 0 5 Booker T
0 1 0 3 Lashley
0 1 0 3 CM Punk
0 0 1 2 Masato Tanaka
0 0 1 2 Low Ki
JUNG: Undertaker still the best classic brawler in WWE.
SHAKE: Undertaker best classic brawler in wwe
HEE SEOK: Undertaker still the best classic brawler in WWE. also, Triple H
is best Heel in WWE History With Gorgeous George, Million Dallar Man, Ric
Flair. And Samoa Joe is very imprssive wrestler. He have the nick name
"Submission Machine".
DA SIGNALBRAT: Can you imagine a triple threat match between Abyss, Taker
and Batista. I sure could imagine one hell of a fight.
YNAE316: Batista definitely lives up to "The Animal" billing he's getting
and at such a high profile takes my #1 pick. Coming in at #2 is newcomer
Bobby Lashley who just TOTALLY blew me away and took the Smackdown roster
by storm late in the year. To me Vince should just forget about Lesnar
and PUSH LASHLEY as the new legit monster. TNA's Abyss takes #3.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
40 second place votes
40 third place votes
4 4 4 40 Eddie Guerrero
3 5 3 36 Kurt Angle
3 3 5 34 Chris Benoit
4 2 3 32 Christian
4 1 3 29 Chris Jericho
1 4 1 19 Ric Flair
1 2 4 19 AJ Styles
2 2 1 18 Samoa Joe
1 2 3 17 Shawn Michaels
3 0 0 15 Undertaker
2 1 0 13 CM Punk
0 2 3 12 Matt Hardy
0 2 3 12 Batista
1 0 2 9 Shelton Benjamin
1 1 0 8 Trish Stratus
1 1 0 8 Raven
0 2 1 8 Ken Kennedy
1 0 0 5 Rico
1 0 0 5 Ric Converse
1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio
1 0 0 5 Rey Bucanero
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi
1 0 0 5 John Cena
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Yang
1 0 0 5 Booker T
1 0 0 5 Big Show
0 1 0 3 Ultimo Guerrero
0 1 0 3 Slim J
0 1 0 3 Randy Orton
0 1 0 3 Kevin Nash
0 1 0 3 KENTA
0 1 0 3 Colt Cabana
0 0 1 2 Molly Holly
0 0 1 2 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 0 1 2 Eugene
0 0 1 2 Carlito
YNAE316: What do Jericho, Christian and Hardy all have in common?
Tremendous talents totally underutilized who can bring the goods in the
ring and on the mic (less so Hardy on the mic). I've always been big
proponents for all 3 and always will be.
THECUBSFAN: I don't know what it's going to take, because I hope for this
every year and it never actually happens, but at some point, Rey Bucanero
will no longer have to play second banana to someone else and we'll get to
see what he's capable of on his own.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
39 second place votes
36 third place votes
11 3 8 80 Batista
6 3 2 43 John Bradshaw Layfield
4 2 2 30 Christian
3 3 3 30 Shelton Benjamin
4 0 0 20 Roderick Strong
3 1 1 20 Petey Williams
0 6 1 20 Edge
0 2 4 14 Lance Hoyt
1 2 1 13 Samoa Joe
1 2 1 13 Randy Orton
0 3 2 13 John Cena
0 2 1 8 Johnny Nitro
0 2 1 8 Carlito
0 1 2 7 Sonjay Dutt
1 0 0 5 Monty Brown
1 0 0 5 Mistico
1 0 0 5 Matthew Bentley (Michael Shane)
1 0 0 5 Johnny Jeter
1 0 0 5 Joey Matthews
1 0 0 5 Bobby Roode
0 1 1 5 Jimmy Rave
0 0 2 4 Ron Killings
0 1 0 3 Krazy K
0 1 0 3 Jack Evans
0 1 0 3 Doug Basham
0 1 0 3 Colt Cabana
0 1 0 3 Chuck Palumbo
0 1 0 3 Abyss
0 0 1 2 Matt Morgan
0 0 1 2 Hardcore Holly
0 0 1 2 Chris Candido
0 0 1 2 Austin Aries
HACK-MAN: Wow. I had trouble finding *anyone* that was really any better
than they were last year.
GREG PARKS: As much as he was rushed to the main event scene to quickly,
JBL often hung in matches with his opponents, providing they were decent
to start with (Angle, Eddy). That's a step-up from his APA days. Edge
gets second, which should be an honor, because I'm not a big fan. And
Batista is third, for many of the same reasons I put for JBL. Travelling
with The Game didn't hurt either.
NATRBOY72: Bobby Roode is improving to where he could be put in the
Styles-Daniels-Sabin-Williams X Division shuffle as a single soon. Krazy
K (Kirby Mack) shined in a talented field winning a tournament for the AWA
lightheavy belt and does a lot of unique moves. Chris Candido was having
a great comeback until tragedy struck.
JOSH MANN: Somewhere between the time he came back full-time and now, Edge
dropped the muscle he had put on after being out with the neck injury and
as soon as he did, THEN he shook off his ring rust and actually got even
better. That's in part to working with guys like Chris Benoit and Shawn
Michaels, but also he found a better grasp on how to work solo heel as the
year went on. But Joe managed to step up his game big-time, mostly by
making the things he already did well even deadlier-looking.
CRIMEFIGHTER: JBL had some better rated matches this year, which means he
improved a bit.
MATT HOCKING: In the past year, nobody's really stepped up better than
Batista. He's certainly had a few missteps along the way, but for what
it's worth, the WWE put him in a situation to make himself a huge star,
and he made it happen. Edge finally broke out of his rut of being a
boring. pretty face who was bound to have a Sting-like career as a World
Title bridesmaid, and made himself into one of the sharpest heels on the
roster who, if not for a side trip feud with Matt Hardy, would likely be
solidly in the main event by now. Matt Morgan was one of those guys who
got called up the first time when he was just too green, and then when he
came back from OVW he really showed a sharpness he didn't have before. His
gimmick limited him, but he showed a charisma and work ethic that bore
signs of bigger things to come. Until he got fired, of course.
YNAE316: Batista totally stepped it up this year and earns my #1. He's
improved in the ring and on the mic and is deserving of the top spot on
Smackdown. Hopefully Vince doesn't burn him out. Edge also totally
stepped up his game this year both in the ring, on the mic and as a
character and takes my #2. Shelton Benjamin, though pretty much buried at
the end of the year showed remarkable improvement in all facets of the
game as well. HOPEFULLY creative can get him something good to do in '06
as such a talented hand SHOULD NOT be floundering as he is in mid-card
hell.
KEVIN SNELL: Batista wins it by default, but very few workers have
"improved" at all this year. Why bother, to such an anemic reaction?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
36 third place votes
9 3 1 56 John Cena
7 3 0 44 Triple H
3 5 3 36 Jeff Jarrett
0 7 4 29 Chris Masters
3 2 0 21 AJ Styles
3 1 0 18 Undertaker
2 2 1 18 Kurt Angle
1 3 2 18 Batista
2 1 2 17 John Bradshaw Layfield
2 1 1 15 Monty Brown
1 0 2 9 Heidenreich
0 3 0 9 Edge
1 0 1 7 Muhammad Hassan
0 0 3 6 Rob Conway
0 0 3 6 Booker T
1 0 0 5 Shelton Benjamin
1 0 0 5 Randy Orton
1 0 0 5 Jonathan Coachman
1 0 0 5 Christian
1 0 0 5 Black Warrior
0 0 2 4 Raven
0 0 2 4 Gene Snitsky
0 1 0 3 Val Venis
0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels
0 1 0 3 Matt Hardy
0 1 0 3 Lance Hoyt
0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit
0 1 0 3 Carlito
0 1 0 3 Abyss
0 0 1 2 William Regal
0 0 1 2 Viscera
0 0 1 2 Victoria
0 0 1 2 Road Warrior Animal
0 0 1 2 Rhino
0 0 1 2 Kevin Nash
0 0 1 2 Jeff Hardy
0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels
0 0 1 2 Chris Sabin
HACK-MAN: This was hard to cut down to three, but I went with JJJ, Taker,
and JBL.
GREG PARKS: It's odd- Christian gets first because many in the online
community love his gimmick so much, they can't see past his only okay
wrestling skill. On the other hand, Cena is (for the most part) disliked
online because of his wrestling ability, but the fans in the arena are the
ones over-rating him. If those explanations make sense.
NATRBOY72: Mohammad Hassan had absolutely nothing. All his matches were
horrible except for the matches with Benoit that were merely bad. Edge
had disappointing matches feuding with HBK, and I don't think he'd have
any heat without Lita at his side. (Note to WWE: Should have dropped him,
kept Hardy & Christian). For third, an old favorite, Kevin Nash got a ppv
world title shot barely putting out the effort to phone it in.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Jeff Jerrett is still overpushed, even more than Triple H
this year. Chris Masters and Rob Conway are thrust upon us too much.
MATT HOCKING: While he's inexplicably popular in the "Impact Zone," Monty
Brown is not by any stretch of the imagination anything close to being a
main event type wrestler. Terrible wrestling, cringe-worthy promos, and
maybe the most boring finisher in TNA, and everywhere you go, he's praised
as NWA Champion material. I think he even topped my list last year too.
AJ Styles is a great spot worker, but he's soooooo bland, but he's the
face of TNA, which isn't any good for them. I used to smile whenever I'd
see Booker T, because, especially at the end of WCW, his enthusiasm and
quickness would usually carry him to a good match. Now, however, he's a
step slower, and while many people still comment about how Booker is a
good worker, I don't think I've seen a truely "good" match out of him in a
year that wasn't against Benoit.
YNAE316: Orton, ehhh...I just don't think much of the guy. He's getting
better of course, but just doesn't click for me in the ring or on the mic.
Chris Masters takes #2 but he's still young and has a LOT of room to grow.
He's not that bad given his experience but as has been the case is
probably being pushed at more than he's really ready for. 'A' for effort
though for the Masterpiece.
THECUBSFAN: Black Warrior does one thing especially well, and isn't very
consistent on doing anything else.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
40 second place votes
39 third place votes
6 11 3 69 Ken Kennedy introducing his own matches
8 2 5 56 Christian as Captain Charisma
5 3 7 48 Carlito Caribbean Cool
1 6 3 29 Matt Hardy as crazed invader/ROH worker
1 2 7 25 Maria as the world's dumbest announcer
3 1 2 22 Trish Stratus as an insincere bitch
2 2 2 20 MNM as Hollywood socialites
3 0 0 15 Undertaker
3 0 0 15 CM Punk as WWE Signee/Heel Champion
2 1 0 13 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 3 1 11 Eddie Guerrero as Batista's Best Friend
1 1 0 8 Viscera as the world's largest love machine
1 0 1 7 Heartbreakers as ambigiously gay strippers in OVW
1 0 0 5 Team Canada in TNA
1 0 0 5 Mistico
1 0 0 5 Mexicools
1 0 0 5 Delirious - wild mumblings & ring antics
0 1 1 5 Phenomenal AJ Styles
0 1 1 5 Eugene
0 0 2 4 Jimmy Rave as the Crown Jewel of the Embassy
0 0 2 4 Colt Cabana as the coolest guy around
0 1 0 3 Monty Brown as The Alpha Male
0 1 0 3 John Cena
0 1 0 3 Gene Snitsky as a foot fetishist
0 1 0 3 El Hijo del Santo
0 1 0 3 Edge as Mr. Money in the Bank
0 1 0 3 Christopher Daniels as the Fallen Angel
0 0 1 2 Genichiro Tenryu as The Grumpy Old Man
0 0 1 2 Eddie Guerrero's secret about Rey Mysterio
HACK-MAN: This was the first year where there were some really good
gimmicks to choose from.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Delirious on the NWA Midwest circuit has quite the funny
gimmick and heh, and delivered 50 clotheslines in rapid succession.
Maria is such a ditz at least they played to her “strengths” as a
personality. I’d like to know how Christian got Captain Charisma
trademarked for TNA when someone else forced WWE to drop it.
DA SIGNALBRAT: How can you not love Maria?
YNAE316: Mr. Kennedy was just the BEST thing they've come up with all
year. Hilarious as well as innovative!!! Matt Hardy's "crazed avenger"
bit was good stuff as well. Christian's always entertaining "Captain
Charisma" takes #3. Despite a lackluster push he ALWAYS brought the goods
on the mic.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
39 second place votes
39 third place votes
12 7 2 85 Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver
5 4 2 41 Samoa Joe's musclebuster
4 5 2 39 Kurt Angle's anklelock with leg grapevine
3 3 3 30 Chris Benoit's Crippler Crossface
3 1 1 20 Ken Kennedy's second rope forward roll fireman's carry slam
3 1 0 18 Undertaker's tombstone piledriver
1 2 2 15 Victoria's Widow's Peak
2 1 0 13 CM Punk's Pepsi Plunge
1 1 2 12 Christopher Daniels' Angels Wings
0 2 2 10 Batista's Batistabomb sitdown powerbomb
1 0 2 9 Ric Flair's testicle grab
0 2 1 8 Chris Sabin's Cradle Shock
0 2 1 8 AJ Styles' Styles Clash
1 0 1 7 Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music superkick
0 1 2 7 MNM's Snapshot
0 1 2 7 Eddie Guerrero's Three Amigos rolling vertical suplexes
1 0 0 5 Mistico's La Mistica tornado armbar
1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer
1 0 0 5 Big Show's chokeslam
0 1 1 5 Jerelle Clark's 630 splash
0 0 2 4 Sonjay Dutt's whirlwind headscissors
0 0 2 4 Monty Brown's Pounce shoulderblock
0 0 2 4 Eddie Guerrero's frog splash
0 0 2 4 Chris Benoit's rolling German suplexes
0 1 0 3 Super Dragon's Curbstomp
0 1 0 3 Paul London's London Calling shooting star press
0 1 0 3 Mistico's plancha suicida into an armdrag
0 1 0 3 KENTA's Go 2 Sleep
0 1 0 3 Alex Shelley's Shellshock
0 0 1 2 Ultimo Guerrero's Guerrero Special Reverse Superplex
0 0 1 2 Trish Stratus' Whirlybird Spinning Handstand/Headscissors
0 0 1 2 Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner
0 0 1 2 Samoa Joe's Kokina Clutch
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton's RKO
HACK-MAN: For Best Wrestling Move, I went with Petey Williams' Canadian
Destroyer flip piledriver (even though his matches and wrestling are
sub-par, he has a cool finisher and promoters will tell you that if you
finish off strong--*that* is what fans will remember), Jerelle Clark's 630
splash (his matches are about average, but that finisher is still cool as
hell even after a few years), and Sonjay Dutt's whirlwind headscissors
(the best wrestler of the three, but the other two have one better move
each).
GREG PARKS: Victoria's matches several of my "best move" qualities:
doesn't need help from opponent, looks devestating but shouldn't really
hurt and is original. Angle's ankle-lock because it has proven to be
deadly. And I broke one (or two) of my rules to put Petey's move on
there; in the end, it was too cool looking to leave off. I mean,
imagining non-fans' reactions when they see that. It's good for business.
CRIMEFIGHTER: The Canadian destroyer is still something to behold.
YNAE316: Mr. Kennedy's top rope forward fireman's carry roll was just
AWESOME shit, much like Petey William's Canadian Destroyer last year.
Monty Brown's Pouuuuuunnnncceee - PERIOD!!! takes #3.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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)
38 first place votes
36 second place votes
36 third place votes
15 3 3 90 04/03/05 Shawn Michaels v. Kurt Angle
4 7 4 49 04/03/05 Edge v. Christian v. Chris Benoit v. Chris Jericho v.
Kane v. Shelton Benjamin ("Money in the Bank" ladder)
5 2 0 31 09/11/05 Christopher Daniels (X) v. AJ Styles v. Samoa Joe
2 1 5 23 05/02/05 Shawn Michaels v. Shelton Benjamin (RAW)
2 2 3 22 12/05/04 America's Most Wanted v. Triple X (cage)
2 2 1 18 01/16/05 Petey Williams v. AJ Styles v. Chris Sabin (ultimate X)
0 3 2 13 06/26/05 Kurt Angle v. Shawn Michaels
1 1 1 10 12/04/04 Samoa Joe (World) v. CM Punk
1 1 1 10 05/22/05 John Cena (WWE) v. John Bradshaw Layfield (I Quit)
1 1 0 8 10/01/05 Samoa Joe v. Kenta Kobashi
0 2 1 8 11/01/05 Triple H v. Ric Flair (steel cage)
0 2 0 6 08/21/05 Rey Mysterio v. Eddie Guerrero (ladder)
1 0 0 5 09/24/05 Nate Webb & Puma & El Generico & Brandon Thomaselli v.
Super Dragon & Claudio Castagnoli & Joey Ryan & Alex
Shelley
1 0 0 5 07/18/05 Kenta Kobashi v. Kensuke Sasaki
1 0 0 5 06/27/05 Ric Flair v. Kurt Angle (RAW)
1 0 0 5 05/14/05 CM Punk v. Jimmy Rave (cage)
1 0 0 5 04/14/05 Kurt Angle v. Eddie Guerrero (SmackDown!)
0 1 1 5 10/03/05 Shawn Michaels v. Kurt Angle (RAW ironman)
0 1 1 5 06/12/05 Mike Awesome v. Masato Tanaka
0 1 1 5 02/13/05 AJ Styles (X) v. Christopher Daniels (ironman)
0 0 2 4 03/17/05 Kurt Angle v. Marty Jannetty (SmackDown!)
0 0 2 4 02/16/05 Toshiaki Kawada v. Satoshi Kojima
0 1 0 3 09/18/05 KENTA v. SUWA
0 1 0 3 06/26/05 Batista (World) v. Triple H (Hell in a Cell
0 1 0 3 06/23/05 Eddie Guerrero v. Rey Mysterio (SmackDown!)
0 1 0 3 06/18/05 Austin Aries (World) v. CM Punk
0 1 0 3 05/13/05 Perro Aguayo Jr. v. Mistico
0 1 0 3 01/09/05 Triple H v. Randy Orton v. Batista v. Chris Jericho v.
Chris Benoit v. Edge (elimination chamber)
0 0 1 2 08/21/05 Hulk Hogan v. Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 08/13/05 CM Punk v. Colt Cabana (2/3)
0 0 1 2 06/12/05 Tommy Dreamer & Sandman v. Dudley Boyz
0 0 1 2 06/11/05 Samoa Joe v. Necro Butcher
0 0 1 2 05/22/05 Rey Mysterio v. Eddie Guerrero
0 0 1 2 02/28/05 Shawn Michaels v. Edge (RAW)
0 0 1 2 02/25/05 Ultimo Guerrero v. Mistico
0 0 1 2 02/10/05 Kurt Angle v. Rey Mysterio
HACK-MAN: For Best Match, I went back and looked at all matches I gave at
least $10 to at the time that I saw them. 1st place went to Petey Williams
v. AJ Styles v. Chris Sabin (ultimate X) which I gave a whopping $18.75 to
in January. 2nd place was Mania's Shawn Michaels v. Kurt Angle which I
rated at $13.80. 3rd place was Edge v. Christian v. Benoit v. Jericho v.
Kane v. Benjamin ("Money in the Bank" ladder) also from Mania which just
reached $10.
CHRIS HOLSKI: It looks like Chris Benoit's streak of four straight MOTY's
has come to an end. "Money in the Bank" was good, but it was juuuuust
below the Michaels/Angle masterpiece. Come on, Chris: pick it up next
year!
CRIMEFIGHTER: Match of the year candidates are hard to come by from the
WWE, I don't think there was one five-star match this year. All my picks
hit ****1/2.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Since I didn't see more than highlights of
Joe/Kobashi, I didn't place it in my voting. I have the AJ/Daniels/Joe
3-way, Angle/Michaels from WM, and AMW v.s. XXX as my top three matches of
the year. A close fourth was Johnny Jeter v.s. Matt Cappotelli from OVW
TV just before the deadline.
KEVIN SNELL: TNA Prime Time: The 6-man on November 3rd would've been my
number one choice, but was two days after the cutoff date. AJ Styles,
Austin Aries, & Sonjay Dutt v. Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels & Alex
Shelley.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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**: Matty Hardy vs. Edge
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
37third place votes
7 2 9 59 Matt Hardy v. Edge
5 7 4 54 Shawn Michaels v. Kurt Angle
8 4 2 56 Rey Mysterio v. Eddie Guerrero
3 5 5 40 Batista v. Triple H
2 5 4 33 AJ Styles v. Christopher Daniels
4 2 1 28 Shawn Michaels v. Hulk Hogan
2 1 1 15 CM Punk v. ROH
2 1 0 13 Undertaker v. Randy Orton
0 3 1 11 Triple H v. Ric Flair
0 2 2 10 WWE v. ECW
1 0 2 9 John Cena v. Christian
1 1 0 8 CM Punk v. Jimmy Rave
1 0 0 5 Ric Flair v. Carlito
1 0 0 5 KENTA v. SUWA
1 0 0 5 Johnny Jeter v. Matt Cappotelli
1 0 0 5 Bryan Danielson v. Homicide
0 1 1 5 Shawn Michaels v. Edge
0 1 1 5 Lita v. Trish Stratus
0 1 0 3 Mistico v. Ultimo Guerrero
0 1 0 3 America's Most Wanted v. Naturals
0 0 1 2 Mr. Kennedy v. Tony Chimel
0 0 1 2 Kenta Kobashi v. Tenyru
0 0 1 2 Embassy v. Generation Next
0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit v. Orlando Jordan
REJECTED - duplicate votes
0 1 0 CM Punk v. ROH
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: This is the feud that really "made" Batista into the
star he is today. It's also the reason I watched for much of the early
part of the year. The Matt/Edge feud kept me tuned-in for most of the
late summer.
GREG PARKS: Despite being relegated to mid-card, Hardy and Edges feud for
all its on-screen as well as off-screen drama takes MY #1 pick for feud of
'06. Rey vs. Eddie, in all its incarnations (good and bad) was really the
REAL top feud of '06 (as it ran near year long) but takes my personal #2
ranking. AJ Styles vs. the Fallen Angel Christopher Daniels was my
favorite feud in TNA for '06 with awesome promos and matches so it takes
#3.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: I can't pimp the Johnny Jeter v.s. Matt Cappotelli
feud, starting in July and ending in November. Simply put, it's pure
genius from Paul Heyman and one of the best feuds in wrestling in a long
time.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
38 third place votes
5 7 3 52 Heidenreich
6 5 3 51 Chris Masters
5 4 5 47 Gene Snitsky
4 1 2 27 Viscera
4 0 1 22 Ashley
0 3 4 17 Orlando Jordan
0 4 1 14 Kip James
2 1 0 13 Kenzo Suzuki
2 1 0 13 Jeff Jarrett
1 1 2 12 Tyson Tomko
1 1 2 12 John Cena
1 1 1 10 Jonathan Coachman
1 1 1 10 Hulk Hogan
1 0 2 9 Trytan
1 1 0 8 Triple H
0 2 1 8 John Bradshaw Layfield
1 0 1 7 Carlito
0 1 2 7 Road Warrior Animal
0 2 0 6 Undertaker
1 0 0 5 Rhyno
1 0 0 5 Muhammad Hassan
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle
1 0 0 5 Bob Holly
0 0 2 4 Sylvan (Sylvain Grenier)
0 1 0 3 Cena
0 1 0 3 Batista
0 0 1 2 Rene Dupree
0 0 1 2 Randy Savage (eligible?)
0 0 1 2 Konnan
0 0 1 2 Hardcore Holly
0 0 1 2 Christy Hemme
HACK-MAN: For Worst Wrestler, I was tempted to write in "Vader" after his
recent showing, but figured I should rate the wrestlers that have been
stinking it up in the ring on my TV for the entire year--not just one
night. To that end, I went with Jeff Jarrett, Undertaker, and Viscera.
JOSH MANN: First off, the Diva winners who are basically doing on-the-job
training shouldn't be voted over people who've been at this for longer and
haven't gotten any better IMO. I know that the consensus is that
Snitsky/Heidenreich are the twin tin standard, but if nothing else,
Heidenreich has this almost Sid-like thing where I know he's not good, but
I can't bring myself to hate him regardless. Snitsky OTOH is just a
backne'd lug who hasn't brought anything to the table in about a year.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Ashley alas gets the worst wrestler vote, being that she has
had no wrestling training prior to her first ever match. And geez, why
were they so desperate to get her in the ring?
DA SIGNALBRAT: Coach barely beats out Planet Jarrett because at least
Double J can win a match or two often. Coach can't. Ashley just sucks.
SMART APE: I like Carlito. He has good mic skills, but dammit, he has no
ring presence, a horrible moveset (if any!) and is literally unwatchable
in the ring. At least with guys like Snitsky and Heidenreich, you can
watch the match and wait for all the botched moves, but Carlito is just
horrible. He's so bad.
YNAE316: My votes go to Tomko, Snitsky and Sylvan - all bland. I was big
on Snitsky last year but they did crap with him this year. Amazing these
guys still got jobs while more talented workers like Haas, Akio and Matt
Morgan got the pink slip. WTF???
THECUBSFAN: Kenzo Suzuki wasn't just bad, he was bad on four continents.
That takes special effort.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
36 first place votes
35 second place votes
35 third place votes
15 4 3 93 Legion of Doom - Road Warrior Animal & Heidenreich
3 3 5 34 Heart Throbs - Antonio & Romeo
2 6 1 30 Phi Delta Slam - Bruno Sassi & Big Tilly
2 4 4 30 Simon Dean & Maven
0 6 6 30 Torrie Wilson & Candice Michelle
3 1 4 26 Val Venis & Viscera
3 2 2 25 Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
3 0 3 21 3Live Kru - Ron Killings & Konnan & BG James
2 1 2 17 Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki
2 1 1 15 BG James & Jeff Hammond
0 2 3 12 Hurricane & Rosey
0 2 0 6 Big Show & Kane
1 0 0 5 America's Most Wanted - James Storm & Chris Harris
0 1 1 5 Carnage Crew - HC Loc & Tony Devito
0 1 0 3 Naturals - Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas
0 1 0 3 Basham Brothers - Doug & Danny
HACK-MAN: How did La Rez not even get *nominated*?
CRIMEFIGHTER: Well World League Wrestling sent up a bust in Trevor
Rhodes...errr Murdoch. First match they had was against Hurricane & Rosey
and boy it sucked. They already split up the team. The two divas at #2
can't wrestle.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Cade and Murdoch win outright the worst impersonation award
of the greatest tag team of my early years as a fan. They insult the
legacy of Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch, the famous Texas Outlaws, which
is all these two nimrods are based on. Rhodes ought to come out one night
and beat the living crap out of both of them. Heart Throbs? More like
Snack Chasers. Torrie and Candice deserve better....like pink slips.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
39 second place votes
37 third place votes
10 3 6 71 Linda McMahon
5 3 5 44 Jeff Jarrett
4 4 2 36 Chris Masters
3 1 2 22 Muhammad Hassan
0 6 2 22 Orlando Jordan
3 2 0 21 Triple H
3 1 0 18 Boogeyman
1 2 3 17 Candice Michelle
1 3 1 16 Simon Dean
2 1 0 13 Trytan
1 2 1 13 Heidenreich
1 2 1 13 Bob Holly
2 0 0 10 Shawn Michaels
1 1 1 10 Vince McMahon
0 2 2 10 Gene Snitsky
0 0 5 10 Sylvan (Sylvain Grenier)
0 2 1 8 Monty Brown
0 2 1 8 Erik Watts
1 0 0 5 Torrie Wilson
1 0 0 5 Eddie Guerrero
0 1 1 5 Kane
0 1 0 3 Lita
0 0 1 2 Rob Conway
0 0 1 2 Mark Jindrak
0 0 1 2 Jonathan Coachman
GREG PARKS: Jarrett is the worst heel because he is booed for all the
wrong reasons. If you go by just straight boos, he's the best. But he
gets them because people don't want to see him, which means his heel act
is overdone or overexposed. Snitsky is second because people want to
cheer somebody that loves feet, Heidenreich's poems and kicking babies
into the crowd. And Linda is third because she doesn't have the
expressiveness to be a heel.
CRIMEFIGHTER: The Boogeyman is coming to SUCK and BLOW! Simon Dean went
nowhere with his gimmick didn’t he?
YNAE316: Boogeyman is just STUPID. It can be funny at times but the
concept is just silly. The Masterpiece has great potential, but again it
may be "too much, too soon."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
36 second place votes
36 third place votes
7 5 2 53 Randy Orton
7 1 5 48 Heidenreich
5 4 4 46 John Cena
3 2 4 29 Viscera
2 4 0 22 Kevin Nash
2 2 2 20 Eugene
2 2 1 18 Lita
1 2 2 15 Hardcore Holly
2 0 2 14 Randy Savage
1 1 3 14 Jeff Hardy
0 2 3 12 Konnan
0 3 0 9 Undertaker
1 1 0 8 Kane
1 1 0 8 Bob Holly
1 0 1 7 Road Warrior Animal
1 0 1 7 Hulk Hogan
1 0 0 5 Scotty 2 Hotty
1 0 0 5 Mushiking Terry
1 0 0 5 Jim Ross
0 1 1 5 Mark Jindrak
0 1 0 3 Victoria
0 1 0 3 Shelton Benjamin
0 1 0 3 Rosey
0 1 0 3 Blue Meanie
0 1 0 3 Big Show
0 0 1 2 Tajiri
0 0 1 2 Shocker
0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio
0 0 1 2 Lancy Hoyt
0 0 1 2 BG James
GREG PARKS: How can a guy constantly hurting wrestlers for real be a face?
Viscera is second because he dumped Lillian and became a face? Wrestling
fans are sick. Thirs is Heidenreich because he went from what looked like
raping Michael Cole to shaking kids hands and asking them to "be his
friend." That's kinda sick.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Kane as a sympathic rapist, doesn't make a good babyface.
Lita was jeered heavily for cheating on Matt Hardy...and yeah forced to
marry Kane, cheats with Edge...you do the math.
SMART APE: Randy Orton was a colossal failure. His face run was horrible,
granted it wasn't all his fault. One day into his title reign, he's turned
into a face after a red-hot streak as a heel and he gets his legs cut up
under him by HHH. He had everything handed to him, and yet he simply could
not get over with the fans. Because of that, Vince had to change long-term
plans and boot Randy out of the WrestleMania main event and give it to the
guy who was never supposed to be anything more than an I-C Championship
contender. My second choice is Kane. Why are we supposed to cheer for a
guy, who had impregnated a woman and forced her to marry him, over the
woman herself??
YNAE316: I'm a Cena fan but I swear he is just having a HARD time with
"fan acceptance." The kids and chicks dig 'em but the rest of us "homeys"
are calling him out. Can't be the Top Babyface with a strong audience
backlash like this.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Road Warrior Animal. This
could be the worst workers in WCW circa 2000, but it's WWE and TNA in
2005!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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**: Kevin Nash / Gene Snitsky / Chris Masters (tie)
39 first place votes
39 second place votes
38 third place votes
5 4 2 41 Kevin Nash
5 4 2 41 Gene Snitsky
3 6 4 41 Chris Masters
4 4 0 32 Heidenreich
2 3 4 27 John Cena
3 1 3 24 Viscera
2 2 1 18 Ashley
1 3 2 18 Road Warrior Animal
2 1 2 17 Hulk Hogan
1 2 2 15 Trytan
2 0 1 12 Vader
2 0 1 12 Carlito
1 1 2 12 Tyson Tomko
2 0 0 10 Triple H
1 1 1 10 Monty Brown
1 1 1 10 Konnan
1 0 1 7 Randy Orton
0 1 2 7 Big Show
1 0 0 5 Torrie Wilson
0 1 1 5 Undertaker
0 1 1 5 Jackie Gayda
0 1 0 3 Sylvan (Sylvain Grenier)
0 1 0 3 Randy Savage
0 1 0 3 Batista
0 0 1 2 Muhammad Hassan
0 0 1 2 Lance Hoyt
0 0 1 2 Jonathan Coachman
0 0 1 2 Boogeyman
0 0 1 2 Bob Orton
CRIMEFIGHTER: Sorry to say but Ashley shouldn't had been put in matches
fresh off her winning the diva search before she was adequately trained to
wrestle. Chris Masters did all those masterlock challenges to hide the
fact that he can’t wrestle very good. And Boogeyman has a match and
hyperextends BOTH his knees? They want this guy in WWE for the character,
not the wrestling.
YNAE316: Orton and Cena, while they are the future of the company, are
having some problems bringing the goods in the ring in comparison to other
top level babyfaces. For such high profile guys this is NOT a good thing.
The Masterpiece takes #3. Hopefully all three make improvements in the
year to come as at a young age we are stuck with them for the long haul.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
39 second place votes
38 third place votes
7 2 4 49 Triple H
4 7 3 47 Jeff Jarrett
5 2 5 41 Chris Masters
5 3 1 36 John Cena
2 3 4 27 Heidenreich
3 0 4 23 Hardcore Holly
1 2 5 21 Randy Orton
2 1 1 15 Viscera
2 1 1 15 Jeff Hardy
1 2 1 13 Undertaker
1 2 0 11 Nigel McGuinness
2 0 0 10 Monty Brown
0 2 2 10 Orlando Jordan
0 2 2 10 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 2 1 8 Road Warrior Animal
1 0 0 5 Simon Dean
1 0 0 5 Scotty 2 Hotty
1 0 0 5 Mascara Ano 2000
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle
1 0 0 5 Edge
0 1 0 3 Trevor Murdoch
0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio
0 1 0 3 Pierroth
0 1 0 3 Muhammad Hassan
0 1 0 3 Kevin Nash
0 1 0 3 Kane
0 1 0 3 Eugene
0 1 0 3 Christopher Daniels
0 0 1 2 Sylvan
0 0 1 2 Gene Snitsky
0 0 1 2 Canek
0 0 1 2 Batista
GREG PARKS: Again, I have a big problem with Holly, but honestly, the
root of it is when he attacked a kid that grew up near where I did, Matt
Cappotelli. So yeah, it's a geographical thing. Jarrett and Triple H are
2nd and 3rd for pretty much the same reasons. Too much TV time, boring,
yada yada yada.
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: I just don't understand Jeff Hardy. Enough with the
paint already!
CRIMEFIGHTER: Least favorite wrestlers...Masters, Heindreich, Snitsky.
Just a big crop of guys to choose from.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Chris Masters gets third in my book because I can express
what I think of a two cent piece of ____ very easily every time he comes
on the TV.
YNAE316: It wouldn't be my RSPW Year End Awards if I didn't induct Jeff
Hardy again as my least favorite wrestler. Orton and Triple H join him
this year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
36 third place votes
8 1 4 51 Vader
5 6 3 49 Road Warrior Animal
5 3 4 42 Kevin Nash
4 3 0 29 Randy Savage
3 2 3 27 Mick Foley
2 3 4 27 Hulk Hogan
0 6 2 22 Roddy Piper
3 0 3 21 Undertaker
1 4 0 17 Ric Flair
2 1 1 15 Booker T
1 2 1 13 Jeff Hardy
1 2 0 11 John Cena
0 1 4 11 Scott Hall
1 0 1 7 Billy Kidman
1 0 0 5 Sabu
1 0 0 5 Psychosis
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Rave
0 1 1 5 Diamond Dallas Page
0 1 0 3 Kurt Angle
0 1 0 3 Dustin Rhodes
0 1 0 3 AJ Styles
0 0 1 2 Rob Van Dam
0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio
0 0 1 2 Kane
0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett
0 0 1 2 Axl Rotten
HACK-MAN: For Most Deteriorated Wrestler, many people will put "Hulk
Hogan" or other wrestlers that aren't any good, but haven't really
deteriorated from how bad they were *last* year. I went with Jimmy Rave
(who used to have amazing matches, but never really shined in 2005), AJ
Styles (who, although isn't all that much worse than he was in 2004, isn't
anywhere close to the amazing matches he put on 5 years ago), and Rob Van
Dam (who was out for the entire year, and I hope doesn't come back with as
big a decrease in ability as HHH did after his quad tear).
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: It's bad when people make jokes about how Nash'll injure
himself before he has a match.
MATT HOCKING: Has anybody looked worse in a wrestling ring in the past
several years than Vader? His big comeback, two nights long, and he could
barely keep himself together either night. This from one of the top stars
of his time. Coming off my vote for Booker as one of the most overrated
wrestlers in wrestling, he'll make this list too. It wasn't long ago he
was carrying guys like Steiner to four star matches, now he can barely be
carried himself. Mick Foley's comeback tour this year was somewhat
damaged by the fact that his last few comeback tours were so successful.
If nothing else, if he wants to keep working a few matches a year, he
should get back into a little better ringshape.
YNAE316: Road Warrior Animal? Tag team champ? Holy crap, is it 1986
again??? And booooy did Piper let himself go...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
37 first place votes
37 second place votes
37 third place votes
10 7 1 73 Shelton Benjamin
6 5 0 45 Christian
3 5 4 38 Paul London
2 2 4 24 Matt Hardy
1 1 3 14 Daivari
1 2 1 13 Val Venis
1 2 0 11 John Bradshaw Layfield
1 1 1 10 William Regal
1 1 1 10 Tajiri
0 2 2 10 Spanky
1 0 2 9 Simon Dean
1 0 2 9 Rico
0 2 1 8 Charlie Haas
1 0 1 7 Rob Conway
1 0 1 7 Jimmy Yang (Akio)
1 0 0 5 Rey Bucanero
1 0 0 5 Matthew Bentley (Michael Shane)
1 0 0 5 Kevin Nash
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs
1 0 0 5 Jerrelle Clark
1 0 0 5 Doug Basham
1 0 0 5 Austin Aries
0 1 1 5 Roderick Strong
0 1 1 5 Big Show
0 0 2 4 Gregory Helms
0 1 0 3 Steven Richards
0 1 0 3 Petey Williams
0 1 0 3 Mike Quackenbush
0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Akira Taue
0 0 1 2 Viscera
0 0 1 2 Tyson Tomko
0 0 1 2 Steve Richards
0 0 1 2 Sonjay Dutt
0 0 1 2 Slim J
0 0 1 2 Kid Kash
0 0 1 2 Homicide
0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli
0 0 1 2 Caprice Coleman
HACK-MAN: Although I think about half the wrestlers are "Underrated" (and
the other half "Overrated", I narrowed the underrated to the required
three: Jimmy Yang (the most spectacular guy the WWE has had in the last
five years, so of course they fired him), Paul London (who, despite having
the most originality of anyone currently in WWE is never seen except on
their internet shows), and Slim J (who should be TNA's X-Division champion
for the next 18 months or so)
GREG PARKS: Val Venis is first here if only because he's still on the
roster. He could go 15 minutes and look right at home, I thing. Haas and
Rico are 2nd and 3rd- Haas was a great mat tactician and Rico had a
martial arts background that often came in handy.
NATRBOY72: Jerrelle Clark is an incredible talent, but you'd never know
from watching TNA. I think he could have the potential to be a small guy
draw in the way that Rey Jr. always has had but has never been quite
tapped. Shelton Benjamin should be being built up for a Mania rematch
with HBK, but he'll probably face Simon Dean on the pre-show instead.
Caprice "Ice" Coleman is another largely undiscovered treasure.
JOSH MANN: I'm going to define underrated as underrated and not
underpushed. And JBL has picked up his game in the last year and has
actually gotten better. Which he has gotten credit for, but not nearly
enough. If there was still a JTTS of the Year, Val Venis would win it
going away for how good he makes other people's moves look, which is why
he's still on the WWE payroll. Big Show still seems to be judged by that
period in 2001-2002 when he wasn't very good but since then has improved
by being able to work mega-strong style better and better.
MATT HOCKING: Daivari may be the greatest reactionist on the RAW Roster
(Regal holds that honor for Smackdown). He's got great charisma, he's a
good wrestler, but he's small so he might not get a second look, but he's
got all the skills to go a long time. Stevie Richards is kind of
perpetually on my list. He's completely wasted as a jobber to the
midcard, when he's clearly head and shoulders above most of the main event
prospects on the mic, in the ring, and he's a midsized guy, it seems kind
of criminal his best push came as a F-U to the PTC. Sonjay Dutt is my
favorite nameless, faceless guy in TNA. He's just as flippy as anybody
else, and he seems to REALLY be loving his job. I kind of wish they
bothered to give him a character and not just a nickname.
YNAE316: Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin and Shane Helms. 3 EXTREMELY
talented wrestlers. Matt, through sheer force as fan support, came back
from the dead. Hopefully Vince will actually DO SOMETHING worthwhile with
him. Last year I advocated for Helms to get a big push. They FINALLY
pulled the trigger on a heel turn this year. HOPEFULLY this signals a big
push in '06 but I'm not hopeful as other guys I've advocated for in the
past (Jericho, Christian, etc) didn't get that far. This will probably be
Helm's one and only chance to get over. Good luck Sugar Shane!!! As for
Benjamin, everyone knows he's good in the ring but for some reason
creative has just BURIED him. What a waste of a great talent...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
40 second place votes
40 third place votes
8 6 5 68 Jillian Hall as a fixer with a mole
7 5 0 50 Boogeyman
3 8 3 45 Chavo Guerrero as Kerwin White
4 5 0 35 Muhammad Hassan
4 3 1 31 Chris Masters as the Masterpiece
2 4 1 24 Heidenreich as Road Warrior Hawk's replacement
2 2 3 22 Kurt Angle as a bestial pervert
1 2 4 19 Viscera as the overweight lover
2 0 4 18 John Cena as a rapper
2 0 1 12 Eugene
1 1 1 10 Triple H as the Game
0 2 2 10 Simon Dean
1 0 2 9 Rob Conway as the Con-Man
1 0 2 9 Kane as a sensitive monster
0 1 3 9 Matt Morgan as a stutterer
1 0 0 5 Torrie Wilson, Paris Hilton wannabe
1 0 0 5 McMahon family
0 0 2 4 Sylvan as a male model
0 0 2 4 Jeff Jarrett as King of the Mountain
0 0 2 4 Dicks
0 1 0 3 Trytan
0 0 1 2 Mushiking Terry's Wizard manager
0 0 1 2 Mexicools
HACK-MAN: Damn, it's hard to narrow "Worst Wrestling Gimmick" down to only
three. Jillian Hall as a fixer with a mole *has* to be #1. Matt Morgan
as a stutterer was pretty damn stupid, so I'll go with that as #2. Jeff
Jarrett as King of the Mountain killed half the watchability of TNA, so
I'd feel bad if I didn't include that somewhere. It sucks that I have to
leave out WrestleCrap material like The Boogeyman, Heidenreich as
Hawk-lite, Sensi-Kane, Kurt Angle as a bestial pervert, Simon Dean, and
Viscera as the overweight lover...
GREG PARKS: Hassan is number one because it bombed, pun intended. WWE did
not even get to finish the angles they had started with him, which I
presume was to turn him face in the long-run. And the gimmick became more
of a stereotype than an "I get booed only because I'm Arab." Hell, I
CHEERED him in a dark match! Second is Jillian Hall because there is no
redeeming value whatsoever to that gimmick. None. Kerwin White third
because it's a slap in the face to a great wrestling family.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Sheesh, when a trainee is laughing at the stupidity of the
gimmick and someone gets fired for slapping them for it, it's a BAD
gimmick. Boogeyman is just plain RETARDED.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Masterpiece over Hassan only because Hassan got off the TV.
Masterpiece has been wasting time on RAW every week all year long.
SMART APE: Triple H as the Game wins this one because his gimmick is all
about the World Heavyweight Championship. It revolves around it 95% of the
time, and if he isn't in the title hunt, then something is wrong.
YNAE316: Again, Boogeyman is just STUPID. Jillian Hall? What a HORRIBLE
gimmick to give such a good looking and talented wrestler. Same deal with
Matt Morgan. The sad thing about Morgan - he was getting over but they
cut him off at the knees and fired his ass? What's up with that????
KEVIN SNELL: So many bad gimmicks this year, there wasn't room for me to
vote for Jillian "mole on her face" Hall.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
38 first place votes
37 second place votes
36 third place votes
8 4 1 54 Viscera's Visagra mount
3 9 4 50 John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle fistdrop
6 1 2 37 Hulk Hogan's legdrop
3 4 4 35 Konnan's shoe throw
2 5 4 33 Chris Masters' Masterlock full nelson
2 3 6 31 Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm karate chop
1 2 3 17 Jeff Jarrett's guitar to the head
2 2 0 16 Monty Brown's Pounce shoulderblock
2 0 3 16 John Cena's FU death valley driver
2 0 0 10 Batista's Batistabomb sitout powerbomb
1 1 1 10 Tyson Tomko's big boot
1 1 1 10 Jeff Jarrett's Stroke forward legsweep
1 0 0 5 Randy Orton's RKO
1 0 0 5 Lance Hoyt's punches
1 0 0 5 John Cena's running hip toss
1 0 0 5 Christy Hemme's reverse twist of fate
1 0 0 5 Candice Michelle's magic wand shot
0 1 1 5 Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver
0 1 1 5 Mark Jindrak's left hook punch
0 1 0 3 Undertaker's old school rope walk
0 1 0 3 Jeff Hammond's "Driving" Elbow
0 1 0 3 AJ Styles' Styles Clash
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels' nip up
0 0 1 2 Muhammad Hassan's camel clutch
0 0 1 2 John Bradshaw Layfield's Clothesline from Hell lariat
0 0 1 2 Gene Snitsky's powerslam
0 0 1 2 Chris Jericho's dance & butt drop on the ropes
HACK-MAN: How did I forget to nominate Sonjay Dutt's asinine "sprinkler"
thing?
GREG PARKS: Scotty's worm (the move) is number one, because at least The
Rock and others have a relatively effective end to their showboating.
This is just a slap. Hogan's legdrop is second because it's a transition
move. Third is Jindrak's left hook, because a punch shouldn't be a
finisher (not to mention the closed fist is illegal).
JOSH MANN: This is true for 90% of finishers, but in this case more than
most. The Pounce is only as good as the guy bouncing off it. Plus now that
we've been become innundated with the spear, it almost feels like a
backwards step.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Viscera's dry humping needs a fine tuning....like out to
the Playboy channel.
MATT HOCKING: Ah NWA-TNA, a littany of moves that look even more fake than
usual! Ok, the Pounce is a given. Sometimes it looks like an OK (at
best) version of the Spear, but when it looks bad, it's terrible.
Especially for one of your top guys whose gimmick revolves around the
move. The Styles Clash is terrible in two ways: 1) It requires the
opponent's participation for Style's to wrap his legs around their arms
and 2) They just fall forward a bit. It looks 1,000x less damaging than
most of Style's moves. Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer is basically
just two guys doing a flip together. Visually impressive? Sure. Really
stupid? Absolutely.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: My vote for HBK's Seven Moves of Doom will probably be
disallowed because it's not one move, but it's really starting to get on
my nerves that everydamn match he's in, he has to work in the entire
flying forearm - kip up - atomic drop - clothesline - bodyslam - flying
elbow - superkick sequence.
YNAE316: Visagra? Glad that ain't ME taking that move. Cena's 5-Knuckle
and Scotty's worm, while fun and entertaining just are really believable
offense so they take #2 and #3.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Worst Match
Award Description:
To be given to the worst wrestling match you've seen this year, either
live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past
year, it is eligible.
Previous Winners:
1990: 06/13/90: Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog (CoC XI)
1991: 05/19/91: El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious (SuperBrawl)
1992: 01/18/92: Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers (Royal Rumble)
1993: 04/04/93: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX)
1994: 09/18/94: Jim Duggan vs. Steve Austin (Fall Brawl)
1995: 03/19/95: Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Uncensored)
1996: 03/24/96: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson &
Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Meng & Barbarian & Ze Gangsta
& Ultimate Solution (Uncensored)
1997: 10/26/97: Hulk Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper (cage) (Halloween Havoc)
1998: 10/25/98: Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior (Halloween Havoc)
1999: 09/26/99: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man (Kennel from Hell) (Unforgiven)
2000: 06/25/00: Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco (hardcore evening gown)
2001: 07/02/01: Booker T (WCW) v. Buff Bagwell (RAW)
2002: 07/08/02: Jackie Gayda & Christopher Nowinski vs. Trish Stratus
& Bradshaw (mixed tag RAW)
2003: 01/19/03: Triple H (world) 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)
36 first place votes
36 second place votes
35 third place votes
8 3 4 57 04/18/05 Triple H v. Jim Ross (no DQ)
8 4 2 56 04/03/05 Big Show v. Akebono (sumo)
3 3 1 26 09/05/05 Torrie Wilson v. Ashley
3 2 1 23 01/09/05 Muhammad Hassan v. Jerry Lawler
2 3 1 21 04/03/05 John Bradshaw Layfield (WWE) v. John Cena
1 3 2 18 01/09/05 Shelton Benjamin (IC) v. Maven
2 1 1 15 01/30/05 Heidenreich v. Undertaker
1 1 1 10 05/22/05 Orlando Jordan (US) v. Heidenreich
1 1 1 10 01/09/05 Kane v. Gene Snitsky
0 2 2 10 10/03/05 John Cena (WWE) v. Eric Bischoff
0 2 1 8 07/24/05 Undertaker v. Muhammad Hassan
1 0 1 7 06/29/05 Kriss Spurules v. Cage Tyler
1 0 1 7 02/13/05 BG James & Jeff Hammond v. Michael Shane & Frankie
Kazarian
1 0 1 7 01/17/05 Kane v. Gene Snitsky (no holds barred)
0 1 2 7 05/01/05 Kane v. Viscera
1 0 0 5 07/18/05 John Cena v. Snitsky (RAW lumberjack)
1 0 0 5 03/11/05 Konnan v. Jeff Jarrett v. La Parka Jr. v. Latin
Lover v. Abismo v. Chessman (Rey de Reyes)
1 0 0 5 02/20/05 John Bradshaw Layfield (WWE) v. Big Show (barbed
wire cage)
1 0 0 5 01/04/05 8 Man Ultimate Royal
0 1 1 5 11/01/05 Batista v. Jonathan Coachman
0 1 1 5 07/24/05 Batista (World) v. John Bradshaw Layfield
0 1 1 5 05/19/05 Orlando Jordan v. Heidenreich (SmackDown!)
0 0 2 4 12/12/04 Mike Mizanin v. Daniel Puder (Dixie Dogfight)
0 0 2 4 04/03/05 Trish Stratus v. Christy Hemme
0 1 0 3 12/05/04 Jeff Hardy & AJ Styles & Randy Savage v. Kevin
Nash & Scott Hall & Jarrett
0 1 0 3 08/21/05 Orlando Jordan (US) v. Chris Benoit
0 1 0 3 05/15/05 Psicosis II v. Nicho
0 1 0 3 04/24/05 Dustin Runnels v. Bobby Roode (cage 2/3 third
fall blindfolded)
0 1 0 3 03/13/05 Kevin Nash v. The Outlaw
0 1 0 3 01/??/05 John Cena (US) v. Kenzo Suzuki (SmackDown!)
(01/13 or 01/27?)
0 1 0 3 01/30/05 Triple H v. Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 09/05/05 John Cena v. Tyson Tomko (RAW)
0 0 1 2 08/21/05 Hulk Hogan v. Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 05/22/05 Carlito v. Big Show
0 0 1 2 05/15/05 Vampiro v. Konnan
0 0 1 2 03/13/05 Phi Delta Slam v. Disciples of Destruction
REJECTED - duplicate votes
0 0 1 04/03/05 Big Show v. Akebono (sumo)
HACK-MAN: If 04/03/05 Big Show v. Akebono (sumo) doesn't win "worst match"
I'm really going to start (start?) worrying about RSPW's mental faculties.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Top vote goes to a match that was seen by only 25 people
live, but surprisingly enough, was distributed widely as a streaming video
download over a number of message boards--mostly for people to mock the
horrible wrestling ability of Cage Tyler & Kriss Scruples of the OPWO in
Great Britain while laughing with the rather funny and well done
commentary track to make the thing watchable. -***** for this one, and
both should be embarrassed they ever stepped in a ring to do this travesty
of a match without doing a sufficient amount of ring training. Second
place goes to HHH vs. Jim Ross--did we really need our time wasted with
another announcer vs. wrestler match as the MAIN EVENT of RAW? -***** for
that one. Lastly, as soon as Ashley won the diva search, they threw her
in a match without hardly any ring training whatsoever. I imagine a lot
of these 20-year veterans that preach their high standards of what a
trained professional is supposed to be versus a backyarder were putting
their fists through their televisions that evening. -*** for the 3 on 2
ladies underwear match.
THECUBSFAN: My vote for worst match was an AAA match. As was my second. As
was my third. If there were more spots on the ballot, and if more AAA had
aired, I'm sure I'd be able to list more. As much as AAA having no global
(or at least internet-wise) presence stops it from getting credit for
doing the kind of business it does, it also benefits from few people
seeing it's awful and often illogical bad matches.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 v. Jacqueline
**2005**: McMahon Family vs. Jim Ross
38 first place votes
38 second place votes
35 third place votes
13 4 3 83 McMahons v. Jim Ross
4 3 1 31 Undertaker v. Muhammmad Hassan
4 2 1 28 Kane v. Edge
2 4 3 28 Akebono v. Big Show
2 2 2 20 Booker T v. Kurt Angle
2 1 1 15 Rey Mysterio v. Eddie Guerrero
1 2 2 15 Torrie Wilson & Candace Michelle & Victoria v. Ashley
0 3 2 13 Stephanie McMahon v. Steve Austin
0 3 2 13 Jeff Jarrett v. Kevin Nash
1 1 2 12 Randy Orton v. Triple H
2 0 0 10 John Cena v. John Bradshaw Layfield
1 1 1 10 Trish Stratus v. Christy Hemme
1 1 1 10 Steve Austin v. Jonathan Coachman
1 0 2 9 Chris Benoit v. Orlando Jordan
1 1 0 8 MNM v. Legion of Doom
0 2 1 8 Undertaker v. Randy Orton
1 0 1 7 Kane v. Gene Snitsky
0 1 2 7 Matt Hardy v. Edge
0 1 2 7 Kane v. Viscera
0 2 0 6 Undertaker v. Heidenreich
1 0 0 5 Psicosis I v. Psicosis II v. Histeria
1 0 0 5 Cena v. Jericho
0 1 1 5 Muhammad Hassan v. Jerry Lawler
0 1 1 5 Jeff Jarrett v. TNA
0 1 0 3 Pierroth v. Universo 2000
0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan v. Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 Vampiro v. Konnan
0 0 1 2 Raven v. DDP v. Erik Watts
0 0 1 2 John Bradshaw Layfield v. Big Show
0 0 1 2 Booker T v. Heidenreich
CRIMEFIGHTER: Ashley vs. Torrie Wilson & Candice Michelle &
Victoria...what a waste of time, and a sad statement on how WWE views
women’s wrestling in general. I'm surprised there's still a women's
title.
SMART APE: Kane and Edge not only produced complete horrible matches week
after week after week after week and was one of the worst written feuds of
all-time, but it just kept going and going and going and.... It's amazing
how much mileage the WWE has gotten from the Kane/Lita/Matt Hardy/Snitsky
feud from 2004. Here hopes it finally ends.
MATT HOCKING: Booker T and Kurt Angle had a feud over Angle's desire to
have bestiality sex with Booker's wife. That's no good. In a feud that
went about three months too long, MNM couldn't beat an old fat man and his
poor partner. It wasn't a bad IDEA for a feud necessarily, but their
stubborness in keeping the belts off the red-hot MNM and on the flailing
LOD was just a bad decision. What should have been one of the best feuds
of the year in Matt Hardy v. Edge, ended up as one of the worst. It went
on far too long for the interest to be maintained, but it flailed a lot
because Matt Hardy came off as a completely unrealistic and almost
unlikeable face, and Edge completely saved what he could of his own
dignity with some very good promos.
YNAE316: The whole Jim Ross firing thing was just STUPID. It was a stupid
business decision and it was a ridiculous angle. WTF is that Vince?
Akebono vs. Show - I have no idea what market they built that toward as
America take a collective bathroom break there...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
40 first place votes
39 second place votes
37 third place votes
8 3 2 53 Death of Chris Candido
5 6 1 45 WWE fires Matt Hardy because Edge, Lita had affair
3 4 3 33 Jim Ross replaced as lead announcer on RAW
3 1 1 20 WWE does nothing with ECW after One Night Stand PPV
3 1 1 20 Brock Lesnar signs with New Japan, declining WWE contract
2 2 1 18 WWE runs another diva search
1 3 2 18 Chris Jericho declines WWE contract renewal
1 2 1 13 McMahons return to TV
1 1 2 12 WWE doing more with Diva Search contestants than wrestlers
1 1 2 12 Shawn Michaels aborts heel turn after Hogan feud
2 0 0 10 Death of Shinya Hashimoto
1 1 1 10 John Cena wins WWE Title
0 2 2 10 UPN moves Smackdown from Thursday to Friday
1 0 2 9 Jeff Jarrett regains NWA heavyweight championship
1 1 0 8 WWE signs CM Punk
1 1 0 8 WWE aggressively protects trademarks
1 1 0 8 NWA Wildside closes
1 0 1 7 WWE releases more than a dozen wrestlers over one week
1 0 1 7 WWE releases Rico, who retires
1 0 1 7 Mick Foley backs out of TNA deal, resigns with WWE
0 1 2 7 WWE releases Charlie Haas
0 2 0 6 WWE releases Akio
0 0 3 6 John Bradshaw Layfield not punished after Blue Meanie incident
1 0 0 5 Linda McMahon turns heel
1 0 0 5 Galavision continues to delay AAA/CMLL episodes
0 1 1 5 WWE releases Molly Holly
0 1 1 5 WWE "invades" ECW PPV
0 1 1 5 Jim Cornette fired by WWE
0 1 1 5 Bob Holly not punished after Rene Dupree incident
0 0 2 4 Christian declines WWE contract renewal
0 1 0 3 Triple H doesn't extend his absence from WWE
0 1 0 3 Dave Nelson tries buying TNA, claims ESPN, iNDEMAND 3WA deals
0 0 1 2 WWE introduces midget wrestling on Smackdown
0 0 1 2 Tammy Sytch has major meltdown at WrestleReunion
HACK-MAN: This is usually my favorite category each year, since I get to
look back and see all the stupid things WWE (mostly) has done wrong. I'm
surprised there's only one "death" of a wrestler I recognize the name of
that was nominated this year. As usual, I have trouble limiting this to
three, but went with NWA Wildside closes (the best promotion of the past 5
years), WWE releases Akio (the best wrestler in WWE of the past 5 years),
and WWE "invades" ECW PPV (the best potential of any WWE PPV in the past 5
years).
GREG PARKS: Jim Ross being removed gets my first place vote, equally
garnering my hatred because he was still the best announcer in the
business and because of the way it was handled. Second was Holly not
being punished for the Dupree incident. My hatred for Holly has been
documented previously. Third is Jim Cornette being fired, because I'm a
mark for him.
NATRBOY72: I hope Shinya Hashimoto isnt forgotten by history as one of the
best with the role of World Champion along with the Flair of the 80s and
the Kobashi of today. Chris Candido's whole career was disappointing due
to his 'demons' keeping him from potenial greatness but his death after
his comeback was more of the same bad news. Other than deaths, the fate
of Jim Ross was the biggest downer.
JOSH MANN: I'll go by the Scott Christ Standard and not overplay one death
from another by not listing any of them.
CRIMEFIGHTER: The WWE taking (more like robbing) former wrestlers of their
names and trying to prevent them from working elsewhere pretty much reeks
of anti-competitive practices. Here's an idea, if you didn't want people
working for the competitive then why didn't you RESIGN THEM??? You let
them go, now let them make a living. And what the heck is Dave Nelson's
problem running around making major claims that he knows are bald-faced
lies? I know another 3WA is suing Nelson over his use of the name 3WA.
And lastly "Sunny" Tammy Sytch has been having trouble following the death
of husband Chris Candido and fans should be worried about her health.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Linda being heel just barely edges out JR being replaced,
only because JR being moved was due to medical reasons. Linda being heel
was just a waste.
YNAE316: First off, the most disappointing news item of '05 is Eddie
Guerrero's sudden death, but as it's not in the eligible time period we'll
save that for next year's Awards. For me, the whole Jim Ross thing (#1)
was just a disappointing news item all around. J.R., like him or not,
senile or not, is THE VOICE OF WWE. He has a clear connection with the
audience and has served admirably well for a very long time. You just
don't amputate the "voice" of the fans and spit over it as the WWE did.
Chris Candido's passing was also a sad news item as, like Eddie, Chris was
such an inspirational story about a guy losing it all but through hard
work and strong faith winning everything back. Candido, like Eddie, was
poised on the verge of great thing's again and his passing was just a sad
event. RIP. As a lifelong Jericho-holic, I was also sad to hear Y2J was
putting wrestling on the backburner. Hurry back soon!!!
KEVIN SNELL: Eddie's death falls only 13 days after the cutoff date, but
nothing will top that as the most disappointing story for next year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
37 first place votes
35 second place votes
35 third place votes
6 3 2 43 Stephanie McMahon
5 2 0 31 Vince McMahon
3 4 2 31 Jerry Lawler
3 3 2 28 Jeff Jarrett
1 5 4 28 Jonathan Coachman
4 1 2 27 John Cena
1 4 2 21 Triple H
3 1 1 20 Don West
2 2 0 16 Christy Hemme
2 1 1 15 Warrior
2 0 1 12 Chris Masters
1 1 2 12 John Bradshaw Layfield
2 0 0 10 Kurt Angle
0 1 3 9 Todd Grisham
1 1 0 8 John Laurinaitis
1 0 0 5 Muhammad Hassan
1 0 0 5 Michael Cole
0 1 1 5 Eric Bischoff
0 0 2 4 Theodore Long
0 0 2 4 Ashley
0 0 2 4 Amy Weber
0 1 0 3 Steve Austin
0 1 0 3 Scott D'Amore
0 1 0 3 Ric Flair
0 1 0 3 Randy Savage
0 1 0 3 Jim Ross
0 1 0 3 Carlito
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 Shane McMahon
0 0 1 2 Palmer Canon
0 0 1 2 Linda McMahon
0 0 1 2 Kane
0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan
0 0 1 2 Dave Nelson
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: When I think "channel-changer", I think "Stephanie".
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
34 third place votes
14 12 3 112 Joey Styles
11 6 3 79 Jim Ross
7 6 12 77 Mike Tenay
2 5 7 39 Michael Cole
3 5 4 38 Josh Mathews
1 1 2 12 Dave Prazak
1 1 0 8 Jim Cornette
0 1 0 3 Dr. Alfonso Morales
0 1 0 3 Dan Wilson
0 0 1 2 Scott Hudson
0 0 1 2 Mike Goldberg
0 0 1 2 Jonathan Coachman
CHRIS HOLSKI: Joey Styles is so far ahead of the pack right now, he only
needed to call three shows this year and STILL wins.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Welcome back Joey Styles.
YNAE316: J.R.'s the best - PERIOD. Joey Styles? Welcome back!!! Welcome
back!!!
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: Man, I miss Cornette's announcing for OVW.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
35 second place votes
32 third place votes
27 2 5 151 Tazz
0 9 11 49 Jerry Lawler
3 5 3 36 Jonathan Coachman
2 6 4 36 Don West
2 6 3 34 Mick Foley
3 3 2 28 CM Punk
1 1 1 10 Leobardo Magadan
0 2 1 8 Dave Prazak
1 0 0 5 Steve Prazak
0 0 2 4 Buck Woodward
0 1 0 3 Scott Hudson
SMART APE: The Coach is by far the best Color man the WWE has had in
years. Sure he couldn't call play-by-play to save his life, he is
entertaining, which is the purpose of a Color commentator. Of course,
maybe I'm only saying this because the King is a shadow of his former self
(altho, he has been so ever since he first started yelling PUPPIES!), Don
West is complete shit and Tazz is meh.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
38 first place votes
36 second place votes
35 third place votes
6 7 4 59 Eddie Guerrero
8 3 1 51 Ric Flair
4 6 5 48 Christian
3 4 6 39 Kurt Angle
3 4 4 35 Chris Jericho
2 4 3 28 John Bradshaw Layfield
3 1 4 26 Shawn Michaels
3 0 2 19 Carlito
2 2 1 18 CM Punk
1 1 2 12 Trish Stratus
1 1 0 8 John Cena
1 0 0 5 Triple H
1 0 0 5 Maria
0 1 0 3 Raven
0 1 0 3 Edge
0 1 0 3 Colt Cabana
0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan
0 0 1 2 Garry Stevens
0 0 1 2 Eugene
GREG PARKS: Flair is best interviewee because when you make comments about
making virgins bleed AND you throw phantom elbowdrops and pretend to go
after fans, you've won me over. Christian is second because he was
creative AND entertaining, which the big man Cena is often neither.
Eddie is third, probably for his past just as much as what he's done this
year (the "who's your daddy" storyline didn't do much for me).
YNAE316: As I mentioned earlier, the great thing about the Rey and Eddie
feud (and all of Eddie's programs this year) was the intensity with which
Eddie told the story on the mic. Having had such high profile programs
all year long, I award Eddie my #1 "Best Interviewee" award for '05.
It's a great testament to Eddie's abilities that had could turn some
far-fetched stories into solid programs. We'll miss you Eddie. Jericho
and Christian - two other solid story tellers on the mic, take #2 and #3
respectively.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
37 first place votes
37 second place votes
36 third place votes
5 7 4 54 Matt Hardy returns to WWE to seek revenge on Edge & Lita
4 3 2 33 Kurt Angle duplicates Shawn Michaels' career in four weeks
4 3 2 33 Batista chooses shot at Triple H's title after winning Rumble
4 1 5 33 Christian calls out John Cena
2 7 1 33 Shawn Michaels shoots on Hulk Hogan
4 0 2 24 CM Punk tries to leave ROH as World Champion
2 3 2 23 ECW invades WWE
1 4 2 21 Eddie Guerrero cannot beat Rey Mysterio
2 1 1 15 Eddie Guerrero changes from nice to psycho to deranged to nice
2 0 2 14 WWE schedules month-long draft lottery
1 0 3 11 Jeff Jarrett & company hold funeral for Team 3D's career
1 1 1 10 Shawn Michaels teases a Bret Hart return in Montreal
1 1 0 8 Johnny Jeter savagely attacks injured partner Matt Cappotelli
1 1 0 8 Edge sleeps with Lita & gets Matt Hardy fired... for a while
1 0 1 7 Chris Jericho loses his passion for wrestling
0 2 0 6 McMahon, Bischoff, & Heyman hold an in-ring history class
1 0 0 5 Triple H turns on Ric Flair
1 0 0 5 Kojima pursues, wins & defends Triple Crown & IWGP titles
0 1 1 5 Marty Jannetty returns to WWE for one week
0 0 2 4 Ric Flair wins the Intercontinental Title
0 0 2 4 Kurt Angle challenges hometown heroes to last three minutes
0 1 0 3 Trish Stratus & Viscera have a romantic dinner
0 1 0 3 Tazz chokes out Kurt Angle after weeks of torment
0 0 1 2 Jimmy Rave steals "Rave Clash" from AJ Styles
0 0 1 2 Hogan/Shawn Michaels ends with legdrop & 1-2-3
0 0 1 2 Chris Candido coaches Naturals to a tag team championship
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: Again, this is what helped to "make" Batista.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Well there wasn't all that much good on WWE TV this year,
but stretching the draft to a month long was a good step in mixing up the
rosters.
YNAE316: Angle's feud with Shawn leading to Mania was hot stuff with Angle
"duplicating" Shawn being awesome TV. Shawn's feud with Hogan also
produced awesome TV. Hardy vs. Edge, while my favorite feud of the year,
wasn't showcased or profiled that high so the TV product lacked a bit of
sizzle so it only takes #3.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: In a year of forgettable angles, Johnny Jeter turning
on his injured partner Matt Cappotelli really stands out. While it may
not be an angle, Matt Hardy getting fired certainly generated the most
heat and interest of anything that happened this year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
37 first place votes
36 second place votes
32 third place votes
13 17 3 122 TNA
14 8 5 104 WWE
5 3 15 64 ROH
2 1 2 17 NOAH
1 2 3 17 OVW
1 2 0 11 CMLL
1 0 0 5 NWA Wildside
0 1 0 3 PWG
0 1 0 3 IWA Mid-South
0 1 0 3 CWF MidAtlantic
0 0 1 2 NWA-MAW (Mid American Wrestling)
0 0 1 2 NMW
0 0 1 2 HWA
0 0 1 2 Chikara
CRIMEFIGHTER: Well TNA gets my vote, cause it's the only thing on TV that
resembles good wrestling. Closer to home, Ian Rotten's IWA Mid-South
showcases some of the top indy stars in the business. And of course I'm
partial to my hometown's New Midwest Wrestling.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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!)
37 first place votes
36 second place votes
34 third place votes
13 6 10 103 TNA iMPACT!
11 12 4 99 WWE RAW
6 7 12 75 WWE Smackdown
2 6 4 36 WWE Velocity
1 3 1 16 OVW weekly TV
1 2 1 13 CMLL weekly TV
1 0 0 5 NWA Wildside weekly TV
1 0 0 5 NOAH Di Colosseo
0 0 1 2 WWE Heat
0 0 1 2 CWF Mid Atlantic weekly TV
REJECTED - ineligible
1 0 0 5 The Ultimate Fighter
CRIMEFIGHTER: I'm glad Impact is on Monday nights, cause I gotta get at
least ONE good wrestling show on Monday.
YNAE316: Believe it or not, while it's the "B" Brand, I actually liked
Smackdown a lot better this year as it had the more talented wrestlers
(Benoit, Eddie, Rey), and introduced better new talent (Mr. Kennedy, MNM,
Mexicools and Bobby Lashley). IMO, it is RAW that's the 'B' show.
JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: OVW's TV was always pretty good. Heyman has taken it
to the next level. TNA Impact has been excellent with the new booking
team. Raw still has its moments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
34 first place votes
34 second place votes
33 third place votes
11 11 3 94 04/03/05 WWE WrestleMania 21
10 5 5 75 06/12/05 ECW One Night Stand
1 1 7 22 06/26/05 WWE Vengeance
1 2 4 19 01/30/05 WWE Royal Rumble
2 1 2 17 10/23/05 TNA Bound for Glory
0 3 4 17 08/21/05 WWE Summerslam
3 0 0 15 05/07/05 ROH Manhattan Mayhem
2 0 2 14 01/16/05 TNA Final Resolution
1 2 0 11 10/03/05 WWE Homecoming
1 1 0 8 05/22/05 WWE Judgment Day
0 1 2 7 09/11/05 TNA Unbreakable
1 0 0 5 07/18/05 NOAH Destiny
1 0 0 5 04/24/05 TNA Lockdown
0 1 1 5 11/07/04 TNA Victory Road
0 0 2 4 10/01/05 ROH Joe v. Kobashi
0 1 0 3 12/04/04 ROH All Star Extravaganza II
0 1 0 3 08/14/05 TNA Sacrifice
0 1 0 3 06/18/05 ROH Death Before Dishonor III
0 1 0 3 06/10/05 Hardcore Homecoming
0 1 0 3 05/14/05 ROH Nowhere to Run
0 1 0 3 04/24/05 NOAH Encountering Navigation Budokan
0 0 1 2 12/05/04 TNA Turning Point
CRIMEFIGHTER: One Night Stand was a shining example of what a room full of
smart marks can do and how terrifying it gets for kayfabe fanatics. It's
too bad it didn't get a higher buyrate than it did.
SMART APE: WrestleMania 21 had two ****+ matches, so that easily wins it,
despite the last two matches being complete shit. Vegeance is pretty much
carried on the strength of Shawn/Kurt 2 and HHH/Batista having a much
better match than their Mania one.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
39 second place votes
37 third place votes
12 6 2 82 Spike TV signs contract for TNA programming
5 6 3 49 WWE continues to make use of video library
5 1 4 36 WWE, Bret Hart reconcile
2 4 2 26 WWE pushes Batista to WM main event, not Randy Orton
3 2 2 25 WWE revives ECW brand
2 2 4 24 TNA hires & pushes Samoa Joe
2 2 2 20 WWE keeps Triple H off TV for a few months
2 0 3 16 WWE runs Smackdown in Iraq
0 4 1 14 WWE moves Heat & Velocity to WWE.com after losing US TV slots
1 2 1 13 OVW names Paul Heyman head booker
0 3 1 11 ROH brings in Kenta Kobashi
2 0 0 10 ROH books CM Punk to World Title win
0 2 2 10 WWE pushes Chris Jericho
0 1 3 9 WWE resigns Matt Hardy
1 1 0 8 NOAH brings in Kawada, Sasaki for Dome show
1 0 1 7 WWE runs more international tours, TV tapings
1 0 1 7 NJPW signs Brock Lesnar, books him to IWGP championship win
0 1 2 7 TNA signs Team 3D
0 1 0 3 TNA signs Christian
0 1 0 3 TNA allows Styles & Daniels to work ROH dates
0 0 1 2 WWE restructures website
0 0 1 2 WWE releases Dudley Boys
0 0 1 2 USA Network signs contract for WWE programming
GREG PARKS: Bret Hart, Vince reconcile is number one. This had to be done
from WWE's end. Putting out an anti-Bret DVD would endear them to no one.
Heat and Velocity moving to WWE.com was second, for so many reasons. The
main one is selecting what you want to watch and getting to watch it
whenever you want. Plus it could be the start of something big in terms
of WWE.com original programming. Third was WWE's Smackdown in Iraq,
because it earns some positive pub for a company that doesn't get much.
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: TNA's cable television deal is the thing that will
either lead to the rise of another national wrestling promotion, or kill
that promotion. Either way, it's good to see them get the opportunity
(even if it's only out of Spike's spite in losing the WW).
CRIMEFIGHTER: Best move goes to TNA for getting on Spike TV. HHH off the
air did a lot of good, as we're tiring of see the show revolve around him.
Showing the video library for 24/7 is probably gonna make WWE the most
money as their current stuff has been crap.
YNAE316: WWE made the right call in aborting Orton and pushing DAVE to the
top and that takes my #1. I shudder to think what it'd be like with Orton
on top right now. WWE continues to impress with it's solid DVD offerings
and 24-7 service. Kudos to Vince and PLEASE keep the DVDs coming. For
TNA, signing with Spike was an AWESOME move as more people know the
Awesome that is the X-Division.
THECUBSFAN: The best move of the year was reviving ECW. Even for One Night
Only, and even without the action not living up to the promise, the ECW
PPV was the one universal happy moment of the year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
38 first place votes
32 second place votes
26 third place votes
21 5 3 126 Jonathan Coachman
6 11 5 73 Todd Grisham
8 6 3 64 Jim Ross
2 5 5 35 Michael Cole
1 3 1 16 Mike Tenay
0 1 2 7 Mark Nulty
0 1 2 7 Dean Hill
0 0 1 2 Josh Mathews
0 0 1 2 Jerry Lawler
0 0 1 2 Jeff Hammond
REJECTED - backstage interviewers are not announcers
0 0 1 Shane Douglas
0 0 1 Maria
CRIMEFIGHTER: Worst play by play is Johnny Coachman, he just doesn't know
the moves very well. Jim Ross shouldn't had been removed from RAW, even
though a lot of people believe his skills have declined. Maria wasn't
nominated but I'm writing her in for her interviewing skills.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Coach needs to go away. Far away. Very far away.
CHRISTOPHER SHEA: I don't know why, but the TNA version of Mike Tenay
annoys me. Maybe he needs Tony Schiavone to look good in comparison to.
YNAE316: Vince - COACH SUCKS!!! Give it up.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
35 first place votes
30 second place votes
23 third place votes
15 6 2 97 Jerry Lawler
9 6 4 71 Jonathan Coachman
3 9 3 48 Steve Romero
5 4 3 43 Don West
2 4 3 28 Al Snow
1 0 3 11 Mick Foley
0 1 4 11 Tazz
0 0 1 2 Dino Kang, Jr.
CRIMEFIGHTER: I still don't care for Don West. Not a lot of candidates
to choose from though.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Coach beats out Lawler because Coach has no idea of
wrestling. Lawler has the knowledge, but focuses on things that bounce
instead of the sport, he focuses on the body part.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
36 first place votes
34 second place votes
34 third place votes
8 4 2 56 Linda McMahon
4 2 4 34 Chris Masters
4 2 3 32 Heidenreich
3 1 4 26 Shelton Benjamin
3 2 1 23 Triple H
2 4 0 22 Jeff Jarrett
2 3 1 21 Matt Hardy
1 4 1 19 Randy Orton
2 1 1 15 Maria
1 1 2 12 Kip James (Billy Gunn)
1 1 2 12 John Cena
1 1 1 10 Monty Brown
1 0 2 9 Lita
0 3 0 9 Gene Snitsky
1 1 0 8 Dominic Mysterio
1 0 0 5 Lashley
1 0 0 5 Ashley
0 0 2 4 Todd Grisham
0 1 0 3 Torrie Wilson
0 1 0 3 Sharmell
0 1 0 3 Kevin Nash
0 1 0 3 Boogeyman
0 0 1 2 Vince McMahon
0 0 1 2 Traci
0 0 1 2 Palmer Canon
0 0 1 2 Juventud
0 0 1 2 Jonathan Coachman
0 0 1 2 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 0 1 2 Dustin Rhodes
0 0 1 2 Big Show
HACK-MAN: Worst Interviewee is Linda McMahon in a landslide. If there's
one McMahon that should never be on TV ever again--it's her.
GREG PARKS: Matt Hardy is number one, soley for his first interview
returning to WWE. Some of it wasn't his fault, but much of it was.
Delivery, tone, etc. just didn't work for me. And he has a history of not
carrying himself well on the stick. Monotone McMahon is second. Shelton
is third, because if he had mic skills, he'd be main-eventing.
JOSH MANN: Matt Hardy had 3 months to come up with a return promo in his
head, and cuts Edge down with "I hope you die in a car wreck!" ince he
gets the chance. Just brutal. Masters got better as the year went on, but
that means he went from "God-awful" to "just plain awful". And Shelton
Benjamin just simply cannot talk with his eyes open, and it was part of
the reason he didn't end up where he could have this year.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Maria gives bad interviews and does bad interviews. Just
too much of a ditz, so the WWE just plays the ditz thing up as her
charm--which is okay. Boogeyman is just too stupid for words. Palmer
Cannon...I don't wanna listen to him talk either.
YNAE316: Easily Maria. So dumb and horrible they made it her GIMMICK!!!
KEVIN SNELL: Juventud's debut interview was a marvel to behold.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
39 first place votes
38 second place votes
38 third place votes
15 4 1 89 Terrorists garrote Undertaker on night of London bombings
9 4 2 61 Eddie Guerrero claims he fathered Rey Mysterio's son Dominic
3 7 7 50 Jim Ross fired because Steve Austin Stunnered four McMahons
3 6 4 41 Kurt Angle wants to have animal sex with Sharmell
1 2 5 21 Chavo Guerrero transforms into Kerwin White
1 3 3 20 Heidenreich joins Road Warrior Animal to form new LOD
1 1 3 14 Chris Masters holds weekly Masterlock challenges
2 1 0 13 Charlie Haas, Jackie Gayda, Dawn Marie in love triangle
1 1 2 12 John Cena won't play ball with Eric Bischoff
0 2 3 12 Jeff Jarrett regains NWA heavyweight championship
1 1 0 8 Ortons put Undertaker in casket, light it on fire
1 1 0 8 Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler debate Muhammad Hassan & Daivari
1 1 0 8 Big Show, Akebono show mutual respect by sumo wrestling
0 1 2 7 Monty Brown turns heel to join forces with Jeff Jarrett
0 2 0 6 Amy Weber, Joy Giovanni become focus of main event feud
0 0 2 4 Heidenreich looks for friends
0 1 0 3 John Bradshaw Layfield talks to inflatable dinosaur
0 0 1 2 Viscera has love affair with Lilian Garcia
0 0 1 2 Simon Dean buys airtime to hock nutritional supplements
0 0 1 2 Carlito feeds Big Show a poison apple
0 0 1 2 Abyss is scared of barbed wire
GREG PARKS: JR and King debating Hassan and Daivari was first. Debates
never go over well with live crowds OR TV audience, even if it is
pro-America. Amy and Joy being a main-event feud focus is second, because
a ME feud focus should never be non-wrestlers. I mean, that's wrestling
101. Third was JR's firing, because it was un-called for on so many
levels.
SCREAMINGHEADGUY: These are moments that make you feel stupid for
watching.
JOSH MANN: You could say it was unfortunate timing, but it wasn't a very
good idea regardless and killed any of the subtle context they were going
far as far as Hassan's character was concerned, plus got the WWE a lot of
unnessecary flak. Not well-played all around and there were no winners
here. Monty Brown's heel turn was shock value for the sake of it and 3
months later it was like it never happened. The Austin-JR-McMahon angle
was just a trainwreck all around, fizzled due to Austin's 11th-hour
departure and was the cause of one of WrestleCrap's finer moments in the
Ass Party Sketch. And with no purpose whatsoever once it died.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Even if the London Bombings never happened, what the heck
was the WWE thinking running such a stupid angle with Hassan's thugs
attempting to choke Undertaker to death? And how is Jim Ross responsible
for Steve Austin attacking all four McMahons? And sheesh Kurt Angle
should be embarrassed for his animal sex desires and how he treats women
in general.
DA SIGNALBRAT: Undertaker being terriorized was simply bad TV at a bad
time. A very bad time. Kurt wanting Sharmell is like Nick and Jessica
actually being civil. It won't happen. Kurt would have better luck with
a goat or sheep.
YNAE316: J.R. being fired was just DUMB on ALL levels. Eddie fathering
Dominic was silly but God Bless, he made it work. The "I'm Your Papi"
shirt was priceless!!! Chavo turning into Kerwin was just as silly, but
like Eddie, Chavo made it work.
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Worst Organization
Award Description:
To be given to the organization/promotion that has the worst product. This
is the organization whose TV and house shows you wouldn't even think of
attending. Probably not even as a freebie.
Previous Winners:
1990: WWF / AWA (tie)
1991: WCW
1992: WWF
1993: WCW
1994: WCW
1995: WCW
1996: AWF
1997: WCW
1998: WCW
1999: WCW
2000: WCW
2001: WCW
2002: XPW
2003: XPW
2004: TNA
**2005**: WWE
28 first place votes
21 second place votes
18 third place votes
16 4 1 94 WWE
7 0 4 43 AAA
2 4 0 22 TNA
0 5 2 19 3WA
0 2 4 14 NJPW
0 2 0 6 IWA Mid-South
1 0 0 5 WWA
1 0 0 5 Southern Pro Wrestling
1 0 0 5 Hustle
0 1 1 5 PWU
0 0 2 4 ROH
0 1 0 3 WTF Wresting Outlaws
0 1 0 3 NWA
0 1 0 3 NFW
0 0 1 2 Wrestle-1
0 0 1 2 SSW
0 0 1 2 Capitol City Championship Wrestling
0 0 1 2 3PW
CRIMEFIGHTER: As crappy a product they've put out and all the promotional
mistakes they're making, the WWE SHOULD get the title this year. Looking
back they haven't won it since 1992. Their shows aren't worth the ticket
prices they're charging. Now, second place goes to this 3WA or what was
once known as NWA Ohio. The fed owner Dave Nelson claimed he's trying to
buy TNA, then claimed a PPV deal with television on ESPN2 and all this
crap...bunch of lies from a wannabe major player and he deserves a worst
organization vote. It's no wonder another fed called WWWA has filed suit
against him.
KEVIN SNELL: Can't really offer an opinion as to the worst organization.
Maybe WEW. Haven't heard of most of the choices, and I'd hate to slight
TNA or ROH because of smaller stature.
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Worst TV Show
Award Description:
To be given to what is on average the worst wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV
shows and major shows were given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash
1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas
1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX
1994: WCW World Wide
1995: WWF Mania
1996: AWF Warriors of Wrestling
1997: WWF LiveWire
1998: WCW Worldwide
1999: WCW Thunder
2000: WCW Thunder
2001: (tie) WWF Excess / WCW Thunder
2002: WWF Excess
2003: WWE RAW
2004: The WWE Experience
**2005**: The WWE Experience
29 first place votes
26 second place votes
22 third place votes
9 1 8 64 WWE Experience
6 3 0 39 WWE RAW
6 0 1 32 WWE Afterburn
1 4 6 29 WWE Sunday Night Heat
2 4 3 28 WWE SmackDown!
3 2 1 23 WWE AM Raw
0 7 0 21 WWE The Bottom Line
0 3 1 11 WWE Velocity
2 0 0 10 AAA weekly TV
0 1 2 7 TNA iMPACT!
0 1 0 3 IWA (?)
CRIMEFIGHTER: All three of my votes are to these WWE recap shows. Just
not worth my time.
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Worst Major Show
Award Description:
To be given to the worst major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV
special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were
given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash
1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas
1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX
1994: 06/19/94: WWF King of the Ring
1995: 03/19/95: WCW Uncensored
1996: 03/24/96: WCW Uncensored
1997: 01/25/97: NWO Souled Out
1998: 08/08/98: WCW Road Wild
1999: 10/10/99: Heroes of Wrestling
2000: 10/29/00: WCW Halloween Havoc
2001: 01/14/01: WCW Sin
2002: 06/23/02: WWE King of the Ring
2003: 06/15/03: WWE Bad Blood / 05/19/03: WWE Judgment Day (tie)
2004: 06/27/04: WWE Great American Bash
**2005**: 07/24/05: WWE Great American Bash
31 first place votes
28 second place votes
25 third place votes
15 6 4 101 07/24/05 WWE Great American Bash
3 2 6 33 02/20/05 WWE No Way Out
1 6 3 29 12/12/04 WWE Armageddon
1 6 3 29 01/09/05 WWE New Year's Revolution
4 1 1 25 04/24/05 TNA Lockdown
3 2 2 25 11/01/05 WWE Taboo Tuesday
2 1 1 15 03/13/05 TNA Destination X
1 1 0 8 04/03/05 WWE WrestleMania 21
1 0 0 5 11/14/04 WWE Survivor Series
0 1 1 5 02/13/05 TNA Against All Odds
0 0 2 4 05/22/05 WWE Judgment Day
0 1 0 3 01/30/05 WWE Royal Rumble
0 1 0 3 01/04/05 New Japan Wrestling World 2005
0 0 1 2 08/21/05 WWE SummerSlam
0 0 1 2 04/02/05 ROH Best of American Super Juniors
CRIMEFIGHTER: It seems the WWE had a lot more bad PPVs than good ones.
Thankfully there's TNA to watch. And you wish ECW was gonna be running a
few regularly.
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Worst Promotional Move
Award Description:
To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This
could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone
hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.
Previous Winners:
1991: WCW loses Ric Flair
1992: WCW bans off the top rope moves under Bill Watts
1993: WCW tapes 13 weeks of TV at one time in Orlando, Fla.
1994: WCW lets Hulk Hogan control his scenarios
1995: WCW gives Hulk Hogan too much control
1996: WWF lets Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash go
1997: Sting doesn't wrestle for the entire year
1998: WCW sues Ric Flair, causing nearly five month absence from television
1999: (Tie) WCW lets big names go / WCW signs musical acts for Nitro
2000: WCW gives Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, and Saturn requested releases
2001: WWF botches seemingly surefire WWF/WCW "interpromotional" storyline
2002: WWE airs simulated necrophilia in attempt to foster controvery
2003: WWE pushes McMahons, announcers rather 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
39 first place votes
39 second place votes
36 third place votes
8 4 0 52 WWE airs "terrorist attack" on Undertaker
5 6 4 51 WWE fires Matt Hardy because Edge, Lita had affair
3 5 0 30 WWE books angle replacing Jim Ross as RAW's lead announcer
3 3 3 30 TNA books NWA Heavyweight championship around Jeff Jarrett
2 4 3 29 WWE hires "comedy" writers who know nothing about wrestling
3 1 2 22 WWE employs John Laurinaitis as head of talent relations
3 0 0 15 WWE attempts to lowball talent with contract renewals
1 1 2 12 WWE discourages high spots, encourages more deliberate style
1 0 3 11 WWE lets Chris Jericho leave
0 3 1 11 WWE fails to do anything with ECW brand after pay-per-view
0 2 2 10 WWE lets Christian leave
1 0 1 7 WWE deemphasizes titles & title feuds
1 0 1 7 WWE attempts to hire UFC's Mike Goldberg as RAW announcer
1 0 1 7 TNA pushes Jarrett instead of X-Division
0 1 2 7 TNA rehires Kevin Nash
0 2 0 6 TNA has announcers shout instead of being good announcers
0 2 0 6 Brock Lesnar isn't returning to WWE
1 0 0 5 WWE uses ECW One Night Stand as part of WWE storylines
1 0 0 5 WWE turns down Spike TV contract renewal
1 0 0 5 WWE refuses to give servicemen clean finishes in Iraq shows
1 0 0 5 WWE implies Bret Hart will be at Summerslam
1 0 0 5 WWE books John Cena to WWE championship
1 0 0 5 Vince McMahon shakes hands with Matt Hardy
1 0 0 5 ROH loses CM Punk, James Gibson to WWE
0 1 1 5 WWE doing more with Diva Search contestants than wrestlers
0 1 1 5 WWE returns Steve Austin without real plan for using him
0 0 2 4 TNA books Randy Savage, who leaves before first appearance
0 1 0 3 WWE releases talented wrestlers but hires Diva Search losers
0 1 0 3 WWE promotes midget division on Smackdown
0 1 0 3 OVW's Jim Cornette assaults plant who laughed at Boogeyman
0 0 1 2 WWE releases Charlie Haas
0 0 1 2 WWE releases Akio
0 0 1 2 WWE makes Eugene, Jillian Hall stay in character in public
0 0 1 2 WWE constantly brings back legends
0 0 1 2 TNA switches to "shaky" camera during matches
0 0 1 2 TNA books PPV consisting entirely of cage matches
0 0 1 2 NOAH puts GHC title belt on Rikio
HACK-MAN: Worst Promotional Move is another category that's always hard to
narrow down to three. I went with TNA pushes Jarrett instead of
X-Division, TNA has announcers shout instead of being good announcers, and
WWE releases Akio (but I really wanted to include Brock Lesnar isn't
returning to WWE, TNA continues to employ Don West, TNA continues to
revolve NWA Heavyweight championship around Jeff Jarrett, WWE books Vince
McMahon as on-screen supporter of ECW, WWE continues to employ John
Laurinaitis as head of talent relations, WWE discourages high spots,
encourages more deliberate match style, WWE fails to do anything with ECW
brand after One Night Stand, and WWE lets Molly Holly go)
GREG PARKS: One is WWE laying down the law on highspots, because there is
no creativity and every wrestler from Paul London to Kane to Shawn
Michaels wrestles the same match. Why should I watch that when I can
watch TNA's guys do stuff I've never seen? Second is the terrorist attack
on the Undertaker, which, forgetting that it aired after the London
bombins, was wrong because it cemented Hassan as "just another terrorist"
and his character became one-dimensional. Third is Steve Austin booked to
lose to Coach, because they were going to make a joke out of (one of )
their biggest star ever, and now he might be gone for good.
CRIMEFIGHTER: The WWE has made so many stupid decisions this year that
he's hard to pin it down to a top three. But I'll try. I think the most
fundamental problem with WWE is that they keep hiring people that don't
know anything about the wrestling business, and it shows. Poor match
quality, and no direction. Number two was the WWE pretty much endorsing
adultery by punishing Matt Hardy for the actions of Edge and Lita, that is
most definitely WRONG. Though they caved and rehired Matt the damage was
done. And lastly Johnny Ace, they're paying him a half million a year to
just pretty much be a complete jerk and make the talent DISPISE HIM.
He's also the one pushing all these stupid lawsuits and anti-completive
practices. He needs to be fired.
MATT HOCKING: While TNA went to the wrong well in trying to spice up their
main event by attempting to give the push to Kevin Nash. With tons of
guys trying to get a push, they brought in a used up old wrestler to push
over them, and Jim Cornette pretty much screwed the goose on his whole
career by getting up in the face of one too many people and generally
being a huge jerkass, the worst promotional move this year is Johnny Ace's
run as WWE's personel director. He's scared off more good workers than
Jim Ross ever did, and WWE is scrambling just to keep up with the guys
they've got left. Notables Christian and The Dudley Boyz have indicated
that they probably would have stayed if Ace hadn't tried to hardball them
as much as he has, and now the same thing was rumored to have happened
with Benoit. So while Ace is turning off a lot of the WWE's key
loyalists, what did they get in return? A months long title run for his
brother Animal. Wonderful.
WWE getting rid of J.R. was just a horrible move. Joey Styles is a worthy
replacement and WWE will move on without J.R. and be fine, but it was such
an UNNECESSARY and class move on WWE's part. WWE also releasing talented
hands like Haas and Morgan are mind-boggling while they hired a godzillion
Divas. Can't fathom it.
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And now, the 'Netter suggsted awards...
Honourable mention: After losing his teaching job for taking sick leave
but really going out to perform as a pro wrestler, Matt Striker got just
enough publicity to get a second look by the WWE...and was hired. Since
he's not likely to win any awards this year, he gets the honourable
mention.
TV Match of the Year:
1. Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (Iron Man Match)
2. AJ Styles, Sonjay Dutt and Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels, Samoa
Joe and Alex Shelley
3. Chris Benoit vs. William Regal
Canadian Wrestler of the Year:
1. Edge
2. Chris Benoit
3. Petey Williams
Promo of the Year:
1. Shawn Michaels teases Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan appearences in Montreal
2. Paul Heyman at ECW One Night Stand
3. Ric Flair juices on RAW
DVD of the Year:
1. Wrestlemania 21
2. The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior
3. Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's
Best Second
1. Scott D'More
2. James Mitchell
3. Jimmy Hart
Worst Second
1. Davairi
2. Lita
3. Jillian Hall
Special Recognition: The TNA audience is amazing. They almost count as a
color commentator unto themselves. They boost match quality with their
innovative chants and through-the-roof face pops.
That's it - if you made it this far, THANKS! And I hope you're already
planning your list of nominees and getting ready to vote NEXT year! ;-)
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