[AWARDS] Best Wrestler [02/48]
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year.
This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,
interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award
was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In
1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: Curt Hennig
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: Bret Hart
1994: (NA) Sabu
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Kurt Angle
2004: Chris Benoit
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Samoa Joe
2007: John Cena
**2008**: Chris Jericho
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
27 third place votes
9 5 1 62 Chris Jericho
6 4 3 48 Shawn Michaels
3 5 3 36 Edge
2 2 2 20 Kurt Angle
0 4 2 16 AJ Styles
2 0 0 10 Undertaker
0 2 2 10 CM Punk
1 0 2 9 Bryan Danielson
1 1 0 8 John Morrison
1 1 0 8 John Cena
0 0 4 8 Nigel McGuinness
1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong
1 0 0 5 Ric Flair
0 1 1 5 Triple H
0 0 2 4 Samoa Joe
0 1 0 3 Evan Bourne
0 1 0 3 Christian Cage
0 0 1 2 The Brian Kendrick
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Kevin Nash
0 0 1 2 Batista
0 0 1 2 Awesome Kong
SHANE SPEAR: Since joining the WWF back in 1999, Chris Jericho had never
had a feud the likes of the one he had enjoyed with Dean Malenko. Sure he
had Chris Benoit, but that was more of an Undertaker/Kane deal with all
the switching of sides. This year, Chris Jericho found his best
arch-enemy possible when he rediscovered Shawn Michaels. His promos were
fresh and kind of reset the standard with getting his word out there
without the face rebuttals you expect to see. After he would run down
Shawn Michaels and the fans without one hint of a joke, they would
immediately hit to commercial, making his interviews hateful and jarring.
Also, there's his wrestling which is way awesome too. That BASH! match he
just beat the loving shit out of Michaels was something that almost never
happens. Especially to HBK. AND especially for Jericho. In short, Chris
Jericho is nearly perfect... ...aaand he's the second best wrestler
because RIC FLAIR ALWAYS LEAVES ON TOP!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
CRIMEFIGHTER: John Cena love him or hate him, is the best one going today.
--
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
©2008 CRZ[tm]
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
This document is copyright 2008 by Christopher Robin Zimmerman.
All rights reserved. Portions of this document are copyright
1990-1995 Herb Kunze and used with his kind permission.
Visit the r.s.p-w Awards links page at <http://rspw.org/awards.html>.
First, some general comments...
CHILE: morrison .. he is perfect. most entertaining. undertaker
versus edge was great feud and match and draw. in my opinion , i
think undertaker is steady seller. awesome.
PERSUS: I love chris jericho. one of best heel of all time.
BRIAN HENKE: 2008 will be remembered as the year wrestling attempted to
get its feet back after the Benoit tragedy. However, with a lack of new
stars, a slumping economy and a lot of other things (ie, I couldn't watch
Raw Sept. 15 due to a devastating windstorm that hit the area the day
before) happening, Raw's ratings are down, Smackdown is down (albeit it
moved to MyNetworkTV), PPV buyrates are down, WWE stock is down - but WWE
still is part of many people's lives.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Well my advice as to increase participation in these awards
by posting this on Myspace has not been heeded. People will spend hours
filling out surveys on what's stuck between their teeth or toothpaste they
use but someone doesn't want to spend the time posting a simple Myspace
bulletin encouraging people to fill out THIS survey...and we wonder why
there's less than 25 people doing this thing. Critics of these awards say
RSPW is completely irrelevent, people use message boards and not
newsgroups, and therefore the RSPW awards are considered has-beens.
Sadly there's no general public voting on any of the wrestling news site
awards that are done, this is it, and no one seems to care. So why are
these awards still being held if no one cares to participate and the
people holding it don't do anything to promote it? As for the wrestling
product, TNA is stagnant and has had no ratings growth at all for an
entire year despite the increase to two hours. PPV sales hasn't improved
much either averaging 27,500 buys a show. Vinnie Mac fears ANY competition
coming from anywhere even if it has no chance of being a threat. WWE
hasn't really gotten any more entertaining, in fact the first half of this
year I had believed the TV product was at an all time low. The shakeup in
the title holders after Wrestlemania such as CM Punk and Kofi Kingston
winning titles helped get some interest back though at this time the usual
suspects are holding the belts again. WWE remains in the position of the
"Microsoft of Wrestling" but they don't care if the TV product is crap
more than half the time.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person who best portrayed the hero this past year. This
person should get lots of fan support. Match quality is not paramount
here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan
1991: Brian Pillman
1992: Sting
1993: Bret Hart
1994: Bret Hart
1995: Shawn Michaels
1996: Shawn Michaels
1997: Steve Austin
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999: The Rock
2000: The Rock
2001: The Rock
2002: Booker T
2003: Kurt Angle
2004: Eddie Guerrero
2005: Batista
2006: Rob van Dam / Rey Mysterio (tie)
2007: CM Punk / John Cena (tie)
**2008**: Jeff Hardy
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
26 third place votes
7 3 2 48 Jeff Hardy
4 3 3 35 Shawn Michaels
2 3 5 29 CM Punk
2 4 1 24 John Cena
2 1 3 19 Ric Flair
2 2 1 18 Undertaker
1 3 0 14 AJ Styles
2 0 1 12 Mickie James
0 2 3 12 Batista
1 1 1 10 Rey Mysterio
1 0 1 7 Triple H
0 2 0 6 Matt Hardy
1 0 0 5 El Generico
1 0 0 5 Chris Jericho
0 1 1 5 Bryan Danielson
0 1 0 3 Evan Bourne
0 0 1 2 Nikki Roxx
0 0 1 2 Eric Young
0 0 1 2 Delerious
0 0 1 2 Cibernetico
HACK-MAN: I wanted to vote for Gail Kim and Jimmy Wang Yang for Best
Babyface, but they didn't quite outshine Mickie James, Evan Bourne, and CM
Punk.
SHANE SPEAR: Shawn Michaels is still best good guy around. It was really
good to see him in a nice feud without being bogged down by the comedy
black hole currently residing on Smackdown.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year.
This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability,
interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award
was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In
1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: Curt Hennig
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: Bret Hart
1994: (NA) Sabu
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Kurt Angle
2004: Chris Benoit
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Samoa Joe
2007: John Cena
**2008**: Chris Jericho
25 first place votes
25 second place votes
24 third place votes
10 4 1 64 Chris Jericho
5 8 4 57 Edge
2 3 2 23 Santino Marella
3 0 3 21 Randy Orton
2 2 2 20 Kurt Angle
3 0 2 19 Vickie Guerrero
1 2 0 11 Nigel McGuinness
0 2 1 8 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 1 2 7 John Morrison
0 0 2 4 William Regal
0 0 2 4 Larry Sweeney
0 0 2 4 Chris Hero
0 1 0 3 Vladimir Kozlov
0 1 0 3 Sara Del Rey
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs
0 1 0 3 James Mitchell
0 0 1 2 Mr. Kennedy
0 0 1 2 Angelina Love
SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho is a good heel because he's all grown up now.
Nigel McGuinness is a good heel because of his year long domination in
ROH. Santino Marella is a good heel because I tried to squeeze him in
wherever I legally could.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
Previous Winners:
**2008**: John Morrison & The Miz
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
25 third place votes
15 5 1 92 John Morrison & Miz
3 1 4 26 Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin
2 2 1 18 LAX - Homicide & Hernandez
2 1 0 13 Age of the Fall - Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black
0 3 2 13 Evan Bourne & Rey Mysterio
0 3 2 13 Beer Money - James Storm & Robert Roode
1 1 2 12 D-Generation X - Triple H & Shawn Michaels
0 2 3 12 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
0 2 2 10 Hardyz - Matt & Jeff
1 1 1 10 Briscoe Brothers - Jay & Mark
1 0 2 9 Beautiful People - Angelina Love & Velvet Sky
0 2 0 6 El Generico & Kevin Steen
1 0 0 5 Phoenix Twins - Tweek & Dash
1 0 0 5 Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries
0 1 1 5 Paul London & Brian Kendrick
0 1 0 3 Skullkrushers - Rasche Brown & Keith Walker
0 1 0 3 Hart Foundation 2.0 - Teddy Hart & Jack Evans
0 1 0 3 Carlito & Primo Colon
0 0 1 2 Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix
0 0 1 2 Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka
0 0 1 2 Jesse & Festus
0 0 1 2 AJ Styles & Tomko
SHANE SPEAR: I'm filling out this ballot on November 30th. This reason I
bring this up is that Miz and Morrision have had two possible career
defining matches in the last two weeks. HOWEVER, since I'm being honest
in evaluating 2008 in the Nov-Oct timeframe given, The Age of the Fall had
a better period. Miz and Morrison are the clear future it seems though.
JIM CARSON: I don't know whether or not Teddy Hart is making a fool of
himself behind the scenes in Mexico, but he and Jack Evans are tearing it
up in AAA, teaming with Konnan and the others in Legion Extranjera. I
can't quite put them at #1 past Miz & Morrison, but Hart Foundation Dos is
a good enough reason to get Galavision.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate. In 1994,
this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and
overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ric Flair / Randy Savage (tie)
1991: Jushin Liger
1992: Jushin Liger
1993: Bret Hart
1994: (overall/NA) Sabu
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (overall/NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr.
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mick Foley)
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Chris Benoit
2001: Chris Benoit
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Kurt Angle
2004: Chris Benoit
2005: Chris Benoit
2006: Samoa Joe
2007: Bryan Danielson
**2008**: Chris Jericho
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
25 third place votes
5 5 4 48 Chris Jericho
5 3 2 38 Shawn Michaels
5 2 2 35 Bryan Danielson
4 2 0 26 Kurt Angle
1 1 0 8 John Cena
1 1 0 8 Evan Bourne
1 1 0 8 CM Punk
0 2 1 8 Shelton Benjamin
0 2 1 8 AJ Styles
1 0 1 7 Jeff Hardy
1 0 1 7 Edge
0 1 2 7 Undertaker
0 1 2 7 John Morrison
1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe
1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong
0 0 2 4 Nigel McGuinness
0 0 2 4 Delirious
0 1 0 3 William Reagal
0 1 0 3 Tyler Black
0 1 0 3 The Brian Kendrick
0 1 0 3 Ric Flair
0 1 0 3 Awesome Kong
0 0 1 2 Wesna Busic
0 0 1 2 Triple H
0 0 1 2 Hernandez
0 0 1 2 Chris Sabin
0 0 1 2 Austin Aires
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen this
past year. This should probably be a "finishing" move or something really
spectacular.
Previous Winners:
1990: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
1991: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner
1992: Jushin Liger's moonsault off the second ropes to floor
1993: Big Van Vader's moonsault
1994: Vader's moonsault
1995: Hakushi's Space Flying Tiger Drop
1996: Wildman Marc Mero's Wild Thing shooting star press
1997: Bret Hart's figure four leglock around the ringpost
1998: Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop
1999: Jeff Hardy's senton bomb
2000: Jeff Hardy's swantonbomb senton
2001: Rob van Damn's Five Star frog splash
2002: Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker
2003: Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker
2004: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver
2005: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver
2006: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver
2007: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver / Homicide's
Gringo Killer back to back double underhook piledriver (tie)
**2008**: Evan Bourne's shooting star press
27 first place votes
26 second place votes
26 third place votes
5 2 7 45 Evan Bourne's shooting star press
2 4 1 24 John Morrison's corkscrew flip
4 1 0 23 Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver
3 0 0 15 Jeff Hardy's swantonbomb
2 1 1 15 Beth Phoenix's Glam Slam chickenwing facebuster
2 1 0 13 Randy Orton's RKO
1 1 1 10 AJ Styles' Pele kick
1 1 0 8 Bryan Danielson's Cattle Mutilation
0 2 1 8 Chris Jericho's Codebreaker
0 1 2 7 Jeff Hardy's Whisper in the Wind
0 1 2 7 CM Punk's Go To Sleep fireman's carry into knees
0 2 0 6 Nigel McGuinness' Jawbreaker lariat
1 0 0 5 Vladimir Kozlov's Headbutt
1 0 0 5 Undertaker's Tombstone
1 0 0 5 Santino Marella's Second Rope Diving Salute headbutt
1 0 0 5 Mr. Kennedy's Green Bay Plunge
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle's Ankle Lock
1 0 0 5 Cheerleader Melissa's Kudo Driver
1 0 0 5 Booker T's Spinarooni
0 1 1 5 Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho
0 0 2 4 Great Khali's Giant chop
0 1 0 3 Triple H's Pedigree
0 1 0 3 The Brian Kendrick's The Kendrick shiranui
0 1 0 3 Samoa Joe's musclebuster
0 1 0 3 Michelle McCool's Wings of Love
0 1 0 3 Kurt Angle's Angle Slam
0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen's Package Piledriver
0 1 0 3 AJ Styles' springboard reverse DDT
0 0 1 2 Victoria's Widow's Peak finisher
0 0 1 2 Tyler Black's Small Package Driver
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels' Superkick
0 0 1 2 Sara Del Rey's Royal Butterfly
0 0 1 2 Mickie James's standing tornado DDT
0 0 1 2 John Cena's FU
0 0 1 2 Homicide's Gringo Killa driver
0 0 1 2 El Generico's Barry White Driver
0 0 1 2 Awesome Kong's implant buster
SHANE SPEAR: The Salute Headbutt is the new Jerry Lawler Fist Drop. The
trumpet celebration is just icing.
JIM CARSON: I voted for three serious wrestling moves, but does anyone
else notice the resthold used by Jillian Hall? What's worse than Ken
Patera's old swinging full nelson? Jillian's fantastic Singing Full
Nelson!
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the past
year.
Previous Winners:
1991: The Undertaker
1992: The Undertaker
1993: The Undertaker
1994: Bob Backlund as the real WWF champ
1995: Goldust
1996: NWO
1997: Mick Foley's multiple personalities
1998: Lionheart Chris Jericho as a Paragon of Virtue
1999: Hardcore Holly as The Big Shot and a Superheavyweight
2000: Edge & Christian, for the benefit of those with flash photography
2001: His name is Steve Austin - WWF Champion - he does not deserve this
2002: Matt Hardy's Mattitude
2003: John Cena as the Minister of Thuganomics
2004: Trish Stratus as an insincere meddler
2005: Mr. Kennedy handling his own ring introductions
2006: Booker T, after winning King of the Ring, becomes King of the World
2007: Black Machismo Jay Lethal
**2008**: How you say...Santino Marella
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
27 third place votes
7 5 7 64 Santino Marella as Santino Marella
9 1 0 48 Chris Jericho as the last honest man
3 0 3 21 Charlie Haas as The Man of 1,000 Gimmicks
2 1 4 21 Undertaker
1 2 2 15 Morrison & Miz
1 3 0 14 Edge as The Joker
0 4 1 14 The Brian Kendrick
1 1 2 12 MVP
1 1 0 8 Festus
0 2 1 8 James Storm as a boozehound
0 2 0 6 Awesome Kong as unstoppable monster
1 0 0 5 Trevor Murdoch as a country singer
1 0 0 5 Sara Del Rey betrayed by the SHIMMER fans, turns fully evil.
0 1 1 5 Vladimir Kozlov
0 1 1 5 Cryme Tyme
0 1 0 3 John Morrison
0 1 0 3 Delerious
0 1 0 3 Black Machismo
0 0 1 2 Stone Cold Shark Boy
0 0 1 2 Rhett Titus
0 0 1 2 Eric Young as Super Eric
0 0 1 2 Curry Man
0 0 1 2 Chris Hero becoming "That Young Knockout Kid"
SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho, an actual legit celebrity now, being an actual
heel in a company of tweeners in this age is a great gimmick in itself.
The execution has been flawless as well.
JIM CARSON: I have to rank the gimmicks of MVP, Morrison & James Storm,
but I hope Deuce 'n Domino get more "best gimmick" votes than "worst
gimmick" votes. They weren't much in the ring and only Domino could talk
at all, but their gimmick was fantastic as it berated whoever the
opponents were, and it was complete with the right theme music.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the best wrestling match you've seen this year, either
live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past
year, it is eligible. In 1994, this award was split into three: North
American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1997, due to lack of
participation on both the NA and non-NA sides, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1990: 04/22/90: Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Marty Janetty & Shawn
Michaels (SNME)
1991: 03/21/91: Steiners vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase (Tokyo, aired
on taped PPV)
1992: 01/18/92: Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble)
1993: 10/24/93: Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (Halloween Havoc)
1994: (overall/NA) 03/20/94: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania)
1994: (non-NA) 04/16/94: Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup)
1995: (overall/NA) 08/27/95: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam)
1995: (non-NA) 11/20/94: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (AJW V*TOP Tourney)
1996: (overall/NA) 03/31/96: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania)
1996: (non-NA) 03/17/96: Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani
1997: 10/05/97: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Hell in the Cell cage)
1998: 06/28/98: Undertaker vs. Mankind (Hell in the Cell cage)
1999: 10/17/99: Brood (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. Edge & Christian (ladder)
2000: 08/27/00: Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz (tag TLC)
2001: 05/21/01: Steve Austin & Triple H (tag) vs. Chris Benoit & Chris
Jericho (RAW)
2002: 10/20/02: Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (WWE
tag final) (No Mercy)
2003: 01/19/03: Kurt Angle (WWE) vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble)
2004: 03/14/04: Triple H (World) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels
(WrestleMania)
2005: 04/03/05: Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania)
2006: 03/31/06: Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA &
Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH Supercard of Honor)
2007: 04/23/07: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (RAW)
**2008**: 03/30/08: Ric Flair (career) vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania)
25 first place votes
24 second place votes
20 third place votes
7 3 5 54 03/30/08 Ric Flair v. Shawn Michaels
5 3 1 36 10/05/08 Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels (ladder)
2 3 2 23 08/17/08 Undertaker v. Edge
4 1 1 25 09/07/08 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
2 2 2 20 03/30/08 CM Punk v. Chris Jericho v. MVP v. Mr. Kennedy v.
John Morrison v. Carlito v. Shelton Benjamin (Money
in the Bank ladder)
3 0 0 15 03/16/08 Nigel McGuinness (ROH World) v. Tyler Black
0 2 1 8 07/20/08 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
0 2 1 8 03/30/08 Edge (World) v. Undertaker
0 2 0 6 04/13/08 Kurt Angle v. Samoa Joe (six sides of steel)
1 0 0 5 04/26/08 Roderick Strong (FIP) v. Erick Stevens (last man
standing)
1 0 0 5 02/17/08 Shawn Michaels v. John Bradshaw Layfield v. Chris
Jericho v. Jeff Hardy v. Umaga v. Triple H
(elimination chamber)
0 1 1 5 06/08/08 Kurt Angle v. AJ Styles
0 1 1 5 01/04/08 Kurt Angle (IWGP Third) v. Yuji Nagata
0 1 0 3 11/??/07 Briscoes v. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ladder)
0 1 0 3 12/29/07 Nigel McGuinness (ROH World) v. Austin Aries
0 1 0 3 04/26/08 Wesna Busic v. Awesome Kong
0 1 0 3 02/10/08 Kurt Angle v. Christian Cage
0 0 1 2 07/??/08 Roderick Strong v. Delerious
0 0 1 2 10/12/08 Kurt Angle v. Jeff Jarrett
0 0 1 2 07/25/08 Bryan Danielson v. Tyler Black
0 0 1 2 09/07/08 Mark Henry (ECW) v. Chavo Guerrero v. Matt Hardy
v. Finlay v. Miz (scramble)
0 0 1 2 06/30/08 CM Punk v. Edge
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year most
convincingly. This award would go to Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish if he
were still around. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American
and Non-North American. In 1998, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1991: Stan Hansen
1992: Cactus Jack
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: (NA) Cactus Jack
1994: (non-NA) Stan Hansen
1995: (NA) Cactus Jack
1995: (non-NA) Stan Hansen
1996: (NA) Mankind (Cactus Jack)
1996: (non-NA) Terry Funk
1997: (NA) Mankind
1997: (non-NA) Stan Hansen
1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Mick Foley / Dude Love)
1999: Mankind
2000: Mick Foley (Cactus Jack / Mankind)
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Brock Lesnar
2003: Brock Lesnar
2004: Batista
2005: Batista / Samoa Joe (tie)
2006: Samoa Joe
2007: Samoa Joe
**2008**: Awesome Kong
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
27 third place votes
4 3 3 35 Awesome Kong
5 2 1 33 Undertaker
3 3 0 24 Finlay
2 2 1 18 Umaga
2 2 1 18 Samoa Joe
2 2 1 18 Necro Butcher
0 3 2 13 Vladimir Kozlov
2 0 1 12 Shawn Michaels
1 1 2 12 John Cena
1 2 0 11 William Regal
0 1 4 11 John Bradshaw Layfield
1 0 1 7 Beth Phoenix
0 1 2 7 Chris Jericho
1 0 0 5 Lufisto
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle
1 0 0 5 Edge
1 0 0 5 Abyss
0 1 1 5 Triple H
0 0 2 4 Festus
0 0 2 4 Batista
0 1 0 3 Nigel McGuinness
0 1 0 3 Kane
0 1 0 3 Jeff Hardy
0 1 0 3 Hernandez
0 0 1 2 El Mesias
0 0 1 2 Cheerleader Melissa
0 0 1 2 Big Show
HACK-MAN: Abyss and Dreamer had some good brawls in 2008, but for Best
Brawler they came in behind Necro Butcher, Finlay, and Festus.
THAT DON GUY: Best Brawler still means "someone who just punishes the
opposition from the opening bell, and there are no moves in their moveset
that don't register on the Richter (n.Wendi) scale", right?
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself in all
facets of the sport in the past year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Lex Luger
1991: Ron Simmons
1992: Steve Austin
1993: Marcus Alexander Bagwell
1994: Diesel
1995: Johnny B. Badd
1996: Wildman Marc Mero (Johnny B. Badd)
1997: Ken Shamrock
1998: The Rock
1999: Hardcore Holly
2000: Triple H
2001: Rob van Dam
2002: Trish Stratus
2003: John Cena
2004: Batista
2005: Batista
2006: Johnny Nitro
2007: MVP
**2008**: The Miz
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
25 third place votes
9 3 4 62 Miz
1 3 4 22 John Morrison
1 3 2 18 Santino Marella
2 1 1 15 Vladimir Kozlov
1 2 2 15 Mark Henry
1 2 2 15 Kelly Kelly
1 2 2 15 Cody Rhodes
2 1 0 13 Tyler Black
1 2 0 11 Jeff Hardy
1 0 2 9 Evan Bourne
1 1 0 8 Chris Jericho
1 1 0 8 Candice Michelle
1 0 0 5 Tomko
1 0 0 5 The Brian Kendrick
1 0 0 5 Mike Knox
1 0 0 5 James Storm
1 0 0 5 Erick Stevens
0 1 1 5 Melina
0 1 1 5 Davey Richards
0 1 0 3 Nigel McGuinness
0 1 0 3 Kenny King
0 1 0 3 Gail Kim
0 1 0 3 Brent Albright
0 0 1 2 Robert Roode
0 0 1 2 Rhett Titus
0 0 1 2 Festus
0 0 1 2 Ariel
HACK-MAN: Gail Kim and Elijah Burke were both way ahead of what they had
shown in 2007, but for Most Improved Wrestler, I had to vote in Candice
Michelle (who was having an amazing year before the injuries), Kelly
Kelly, and Miz. Whoever is training these five guys needs a raise.
SHANE SPEAR: Miz has become a vastly improved wrestler within the last two
years. Looking back who would've penciled Miz as the next Marty Janetty
(without the problems.)
JIM CARSON: Mike Mizanin ought to win this one in a landslide. Teaming
with Morrison made him relevant and helped his in-ring work tremendously,
and the Dirt Sheet gave him a personality.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason.
Previous Winners:
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Ric Flair
1994: Ric Flair
1995: Shawn Michaels
1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mick Foley)
1999: Chris Jericho
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Kurt Angle
2004: Chris Benoit
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Kurt Angle
2007: Samoa Joe / CM Punk (tie)
**2008**: Chris Jericho
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
25 third place votes
7 8 2 63 Chris Jericho
4 2 2 30 CM Punk
3 0 5 25 Ric Flair
2 2 2 20 Santino Marella
1 2 1 13 John Morrison
1 2 0 11 Shawn Michaels
2 0 0 10 Mickie James
1 1 1 10 Jeff Hardy
0 3 0 9 AJ Styles
1 1 0 8 Kurt Angle
1 0 1 7 Edge
0 0 3 6 Matt Hardy
1 0 0 5 Sting
1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong
1 0 0 5 Mr. Kennedy
1 0 0 5 Bryan Danielson
0 1 1 5 Undertaker
0 1 1 5 Evan Bourne
0 1 0 3 William Regal
0 1 0 3 Wesna Busic
0 1 0 3 Rey Mysterio
0 1 0 3 Nigel McGuinness
0 0 1 2 The Brian Kendrick
0 0 1 2 Samoa Joe
0 0 1 2 El Zorro
0 0 1 2 Curry Man
0 0 1 2 Booker T
0 0 1 2 Awesome Kong
--
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying
maneuvers throughout the year. In 1994, this award was split into two:
North
American and Non-North American. In 1998, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1991: Jushin Liger
1992: Jushin Liger
1993: 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid)
1994: (NA) 1-2-3 Kid
1994: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1995: (NA) Sabu
1995: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1996: (NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr.
1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1997: (NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr.
1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku
1998: (Billy) Kidman
1999: Jeff Hardy
2000: Jeff Hardy
2001: Rob van Dam
2002: Rey Mysterio
2003: Rey Mysterio
2004: Rey Mysterio
2005: A.J. Styles
2006: A.J. Styles
2007: Paul London
**2008**: Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal)
25 first place votes
25 second place votes
24 third place votes
19 2 1 103 Evan Bourne
0 7 3 27 Rey Mysterio
2 2 0 16 Jack Evans
1 3 1 16 John Morrison
1 1 4 16 Jeff Hardy
1 2 2 15 AJ Styles
1 1 0 8 Shelton Benjamin
0 2 1 8 Sonjay Dutt
0 2 1 8 Jimmy Yang
0 1 2 7 Kofi Kingston
0 1 1 5 Delirious
0 0 2 4 The Brian Kendrick
0 1 0 3 Ruckus
0 0 1 2 Tyler Black
0 0 1 2 Teddy Hart
0 0 1 2 Senshi
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Jerelle Clark
0 0 1 2 Curry Man
HACK-MAN: It was hard not to vote for Yang, Morrison, and Kofi for Best
Flyer, but I couldn't leave out Evan Bourne's amazing WWE freshman year,
Jack Evans' amazing WSX showing, and Sonjay Dutt's body of work in TNA.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number
of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the
moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994,
this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and
overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1991: Bret Hart
1992: Bret Hart
1993: Bret Hart
1994: (overall/NA) Bret Hart
1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1995: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko
1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit
1996: (sweep) Dean Malenko
1997: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko
1997: (non-NA) Jushin Liger
1998: Dean Malenko
1999: Chris Benoit
2000: Chris Benoit
2001: Chris Benoit
2002: Chris Benoit
2003: Rey Mysterio
2004: Chris Benoit
2005: Chris Benoit
2006: Kurt Angle
2007: Kurt Angle
**2008**: Kurt Angle
26 first place votes
25 second place votes
24 third place votes
8 7 0 61 Kurt Angle
7 1 1 40 Bryan Danielson
4 4 1 34 Chris Jericho
1 5 5 30 William Regal
1 1 3 14 Shelton Benjamin
1 1 2 12 Shawn Michaels
1 1 2 12 Samoa Joe
1 2 0 11 CM Punk
0 0 3 6 Austin Aries
1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong
1 0 0 5 Jerry Lynn
0 1 1 5 Ric Flair
0 1 1 5 John Morrison
0 0 2 4 Nigel McGuinness
0 0 2 4 Finlay
0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen
0 0 1 2 Davey Richards
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large
place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved a
wrestler's push is.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Ultimate Warrior
1993: Hulk Hogan
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Goldberg
2001: The Undertaker
2002: Triple H
2003: Triple H
2004: Triple H
2005: John Cena
2006: Jeff Jarrett / Randy Orton (tie)
2007: The Great Khali
**2008**: John Bradshaw Layfield
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
27 third place votes
7 3 1 46 John Bradshaw Layfield
6 1 2 37 Triple H
3 4 0 27 Batista
3 1 0 18 John Cena
1 3 1 16 Mark Henry
0 3 2 13 Kane
1 0 2 9 Hornswoggle
1 1 0 8 CM Punk
1 0 1 7 Samoa Joe
1 0 1 7 Rey Mysterio
1 0 1 7 Great Khali
1 0 1 7 Claudio Castagnoli
0 2 0 6 Vladimir Kozlov
1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan
0 1 1 5 Umaga
0 1 1 5 Dustin Rhodes
0 0 2 4 Big Daddy V
0 1 0 3 Paul London
0 1 0 3 Matt Hardy
0 1 0 3 La Parka
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs
0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett
0 1 0 3 Daniel Puder
0 1 0 3 Beth Phoenix
0 0 1 2 Sonjay Dutt
0 0 1 2 Roxxi
0 0 1 2 Rhino
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher
0 0 1 2 Mike Knox
0 0 1 2 Kevin Nash
0 0 1 2 Hardcore Holly
0 0 1 2 Finlay
0 0 1 2 Erick Stevens
0 0 1 2 Edge
HACK-MAN: For Most Overrated Wrestler, I felt bad leaving out Big Daddy V,
Bryan Danielson, Holly, Hornswoggle, JJJ, Orton, and Roode, but based just
on how high they were on the card in relation to how low their wrestling
skill and other abilities were, I had to go with Great Khali, Batista, and
Roxxi.
SHANE SPEAR: There's no logical reason I can see that I should still be
hearing about Daniel Puder.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling
match(es) of the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North
American and Non-North American. In 1996, due to lack of participation on
the non-NA side, it was recombined.
Previous Winners:
1990: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Horsemen: Arn Anderson & Barry
Windham
1991: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Steiners
1992: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage
1993: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack
1994: (NA) Cactus Jack & partner vs. Nasty Boys
1994: (non-NA) All Japan Women vs. JWP (& other outside women)
1995: (NA) Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero
1995: (non-NA) Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota
1996: NWO vs. WCW
1997: Bret Hart / Hart Foundation vs. Steve Austin
1998: Mr. McMahon vs. Steve Austin
1999: Mankind vs. Rock
2000: Triple H vs. Mankind / Cactus Jack
2001: Rock vs. Chris Jericho
2002: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
2003: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar
2004: Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley
2005: Matt Hardy vs. Edge
2006: John Cena vs. Edge
2007: Matt Hardy vs. MVP
**2008**: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
23 third place votes
19 0 1 97 Shawn Michaels v. Chris Jericho
3 7 2 40 Undertaker v. Edge (& Vickie Guerrero)
1 4 3 23 Shawn Michaels v. Ric Flair
1 3 2 18 Kurt Angle v. Samoa Joe
0 3 2 13 Jeff Hardy v. Randy Orton
0 3 1 11 Matt Hardy v. MVP
1 0 2 9 CM Punk v. John Morrison
0 1 3 9 Gail Kim v. Awesome Kong
0 2 1 7 Shawn Michaels v. Batista
1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong v. Erick Stevens
0 1 1 5 Santino Marella v. Steve Austin
0 1 1 5 Jeff Hardy v. Triple H
0 1 0 3 John Cena v. John Bradshaw Layfield
0 0 1 2 Sonjay Dutt v. Jay Lethal
0 0 1 2 Sara Del Rey v. Serena Deeb
0 0 1 2 CM Punk v. John Bradshaw Layfield
0 0 1 2 Age of the Fall v. Briscoes
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose skill has deteriorated the most over the
past year. This person should be a shadow of his/her former self.
Previous Winners:
1990: Dusty Rhodes
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Hulk Hogan
1993: Hulk Hogan
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Roddy Piper
1998: British Bulldog
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Undertaker
2001: Undertaker
2002: Triple H
2003: Scott Steiner
2004: Jeff Hardy
2005: Vader
2006: Raven
2007: Ric Flair
**2008**: Ric Flair / Scott Hall / Jake Roberts (tie)
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
23 third place votes
4 1 1 25 Scott Hall
4 1 1 25 Ric Flair
3 2 2 25 Jake Roberts
0 5 2 19 John Bradshaw Layfield
2 2 1 18 Black Reign
2 1 2 17 Tommy Dreamer
2 2 0 16 Triple H
2 0 1 12 Dustin Rhodes
0 3 1 11 Kevin Nash
1 1 1 10 Mr. Kennedy
1 1 0 8 Braden Walker
1 0 1 7 Scott Steiner
1 0 1 7 Rey Mysterio
1 0 1 7 Kurt Angle
0 1 2 7 Kip James
0 2 0 6 Sting
0 0 3 6 Booker T
1 0 0 5 Konnan
1 0 0 5 Abyss
0 1 1 5 Undertaker
0 1 0 3 Kane
0 1 0 3 Eric Young
0 1 0 3 CM Punk
0 0 1 2 John Morrison
0 0 1 2 El Apache
HACK-MAN: The Most Deteriorated Wrestler category always seems to be
mis-voted on by people just voting for someone with no workrate, instead
of voting on how poor the workrate is compared to the previous year.
This is why I shake my head at Hogan winning so many years in a row. Did
he really slide that much each and every year compared to the year before?
I probably am guilty of a few Hogan votes myself over the years. So this
year, I'll leave off the easy candidates like Duggan, Khali, Kip James,
et.al. to vote for Rey Mysterio (a shell of his former awesome self), CM
Punk (whose moveset has been neutered), and John Morrison (also told never
to use his eye-catching moves to outshine people doing the WWE "punch,
kick, rest hold" style).
SHANE SPEAR: I am convinced that Ken Kennedy has the same condition that
Samuel L. Jackson had in Unbreakable.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose casting as a good guy just didn't work
well. Maybe there was just no face heat drawn or maybe the fans actually
booed this person, but for whatever reason the face image just didn't get
over.
Previous Winners:
1990: Dusty Rhodes
1991: P.N. News
1992: Sid Justice
1993: Lex Luger
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: John Tenta
1997: Rocky Maivia
1998: Warrior
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Hulk Hogan
2001: "The One" Billy Gunn
2002: Triple H
2003: Stephanie McMahon / Scott Steiner (tie)
2004: Hardcore Holly
2005: Randy Orton
2006: John Cena
2007: Santino Marella
**2008**: Triple H
26 first place votes
25 second place votes
23 third place votes
5 2 0 31 Triple H
1 4 2 21 Boogeyman
3 0 1 17 Braden Walker
2 1 2 17 Hardcore Holly
2 1 1 15 Rhino
2 1 1 15 Colin Delaney
1 2 0 11 Ricky Ortiz
1 2 0 11 Abyss
1 0 3 11 Batista
0 2 2 10 Ashley Massaro
1 0 2 9 John Cena
1 1 0 8 Hacksaw Jim Duggan
1 0 1 7 Festus
1 0 1 7 Candice Michelle
0 1 2 7 Trevor Murdoch
0 1 2 7 Hornswoggle
0 2 0 6 Chuck Palumbo
1 0 0 5 Michelle McCool
1 0 0 5 Kelly Kelly
1 0 0 5 Finlay
1 0 0 5 Dolph Ziggler
0 1 0 3 R-Truth
0 1 0 3 Roxxi
0 1 0 3 Matt Morgan
0 1 0 3 Kofi Kingston
0 1 0 3 Kane
0 0 1 2 Paul London
0 0 1 2 Christian Cage
0 0 1 2 Chris Hero
HACK-MAN: Worst Babyface is always a hard one for me to narrow down to
three, as there are always so many horrid guys being pushed as faces. I
had to leave Palumbo, Duggan, Holly, Ortiz, and Teddy Long off the list in
order to vote for the (even worse!) Rhino, Roxxi, and Big Dave.
SHANE SPEAR: Knock Knock. Who's There? Fed Ex aaaand you're fired.
Also, I voted for R-Truth here because I hate R-ap and I am R-acist.
Just kidding. I hate Cena too (sorta.)
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the move that is the worst thing you've seen this year.
This shouldn't be given to a move that was flubbed by a wrestler - the
move was performed correctly, but was just too stupid for words. This move
should probably be a "finishing" move or something that was meant to be
spectacular.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1991: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1992: Crush's Compactor head-vise
1993: Crush's Compactor head-vise
1994: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1995: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1996: Hacksaw Jim Duggan's taped fist
1997: Hulk Hogan's leg drop
1998: Hollywood Hogan's legdrop
1999: Hulk Hogan's legdrop
2000: Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm chop
2001: Chyna's handspring elbow
2002: Rikishi's stinkface
2003: Jim Ross' Stone Cold Stunner
2004: John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle fistdrop / Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm
chop (tie)
2005: Viscera's Visagra rear mount
2006: The Great Khali's skull chop
2007: The Great Khali's skull chop
**2008**: The Great Khali's skull chop
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
22 third place votes
6 3 3 45 Great Khali's chop
4 1 2 27 John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle fist drop
2 3 1 21 Candice Michelle's Candy Wrapper
1 3 0 14 Umaga's Samoan Spike
1 2 1 13 Mr. Kennedy's Mic Check
1 1 2 12 John Bradshaw Layfield's Clothesline from Hell
1 1 2 12 Boogeyman's pumphandle slam
2 0 0 10 Kevin Nash's jackknife powerbomb
1 1 1 10 Randy Orton's kick to the head
1 1 0 8 John Cena's STFU
1 1 0 8 Batista's Batista Bomb
1 0 1 7 Jeff Jarrett's Stroke
0 2 0 6 Jeff Jarrett's guitar to the head
0 2 0 6 Great Khali's Side Headbutt
0 0 3 6 Batista's spinebuster
1 0 0 5 Vladimir Kozlov's inverted DDT
1 0 0 5 Vladimir Kozlov's Headbutt
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs' spike to the head
1 0 0 5 CM Punk's Go To Sleep
0 1 1 5 Big Daddy V's splash
0 0 2 4 Shark Boy's stunner
0 1 0 3 Triple H's Pedigree
0 1 0 3 Ricky Ortiz's splash
0 1 0 3 Paul Birchill's Curb Stomp
0 1 0 3 Christian Cage's Unprettier
0 0 1 2 ODB's Dirty Dozen
0 0 1 2 Miz' Reality Check
0 0 1 2 Chris Hero's Roaring Elbow
SHANE SPEAR: I dunno. I kind of dig Khali's side headbutt. It also seems
like a lot of nominees for this category are just excuses to get an
unpopular internet wrestling into a "worst" section. Kennedy's Mic Check,
Miz's Reality Check, and Christian's Unprettier Check are all moved that
are way long for finisher, complicated, and easy to counter. The
unprettier is probably the easiest move to counter ever. Just push him
away!
JIM CARSON: Kozlov's ripoff Scorpion Death Drop is a joke. Armando Estrada
did a version of the same move, and when a manager/general manager does
something 20 times better than a monster heel, it's time for the monster
heel to go back to headbutts.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose casting as a bad guy just didn't work
well. Maybe there was just no heel heat drawn or maybe the fans actually
cheered this person, but for whatever reason the heel image just didn't
get over.
Previous Winners:
1990: Rick Martel
1991: The Mountie Jacques Rougeau
1992: Razor Ramon
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Bastion Booger
1995: Zodiac (The Butcher/Brutus Beefcake)
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Ahmed Johnson
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Sting
2000: Goldberg
2001: Rob van Dam
2002: Triple H
2003: Triple H
2004: Jeff Jarrett
2005: Linda McMahon
2006: Vickie Guerrero
2007: Vickie Guerrero
**2008**: Colin Delaney
27 first place votes
25 second place votes
23 third place votes
5 3 0 34 Colin Delaney
5 1 3 34 Sting
2 3 0 19 Paul Burchill
3 1 0 18 Mr. Kennedy
2 2 0 16 Big Show
1 1 2 12 Chuck Palumbo
2 0 0 10 Lance Cade
1 1 1 10 Black Reign
1 1 0 8 Umaga
0 2 1 8 Zack Ryder
1 0 1 7 Kevin Nash
1 0 1 7 Great Khali
1 0 1 7 Curt Hawkins
0 1 2 7 AJ Styles
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs
1 0 0 5 Cody Rhodes
0 1 1 5 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 1 1 5 Jillian Hall
0 0 2 4 Kenny Dykstra
0 0 2 4 Armando Estrada
0 1 0 3 Santino Marella
0 1 0 3 Randy Orton
0 1 0 3 Kane
0 1 0 3 Deuce
0 1 0 3 Daniel Puder
0 1 0 3 Boogeyman
0 1 0 3 Big Daddy V
0 0 1 2 Tony Atlas
0 0 1 2 Mike Knox
0 0 1 2 Domino
0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli
0 0 1 2 Beth Phoenix
THAT DON GUY: Playing the heel for laughs just doesn't work out; that's
why I put Santino Marella #2. The only reason he's not #1 is, there are
just some people who I can never see going over as heels, and Sting is one
of them. It's like the time the Road Warriors turned heel so they could
win the NWA belts - they could get away with murder against the faces, but
the crowd loved them anyway, and nobody took their heel promos seriously,
which made things worse.
SHANE SPEAR: A cardboard cut out of Lance Cade would've served just as
much purpose as the living breathing version did in the Jericho - Michaels
feud. Also, people don't want to boo The Big Show! WE LIKE BIG SHOW!
Please let him be.
CRIMEFIGHTER: The Big Show couldn't decide whether he was a face or heel,
he kept switching alignment every week in the lead up to Wrestlemania
against Floyd Meryweather. Make up your mind!
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the
person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this
award should have the most ability with least push.
Previous Winners:
1990: Terry Taylor
1991: Cactus Jack Manson
1992: Owen Hart
1993: Chris Benoit
1994: 1-2-3 Kid
1995: Barry Horowitz
1996: Owen Hart
1997: Chris Benoit
1998: Chris Benoit
1999: D'Lo Brown
2000: Al Snow
2001: Lance Storm
2002: D'Lo Brown
2003: Matt Hardy
2004: Paul London
2005: Shelton Benjamin
2006: Shelton Benjamin
2007: Alex Shelley
**2008**: Shelton Benjamin
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
25 third place votes
4 2 0 26 Shelton Benjamin
3 0 4 23 John Morrison
2 2 1 18 Miz
3 0 1 17 Paul London
2 1 2 17 Christopher Daniels
1 2 2 15 CM Punk
2 1 0 13 D-Lo Brown
1 2 1 13 Charlie Haas
1 1 1 10 The Brian Kendrick
0 2 2 10 Scotty Goldman
1 0 2 9 Jamie Noble
1 1 0 8 Santino Marella
1 1 0 8 Elijah Burke
0 1 2 7 Jimmy Wang Yang
1 0 0 5 Sonjay Dutt
1 0 0 5 Sara Del Rey
1 0 0 5 Roderick Strong
1 0 0 5 Alex Shelley
0 1 1 5 Ron Killings
0 1 1 5 Katie Lea
0 1 1 5 Jay Lethal
0 1 0 3 William Regal
0 1 0 3 Senshi
0 1 0 3 Nikki Roxx
0 1 0 3 MVP
0 1 0 3 Lance Cade
0 1 0 3 Kenny Dykstra
0 1 0 3 Evan Bourne
0 0 1 2 Trevor Murdoch
0 0 1 2 Super Crazy
0 0 1 2 Sarah Stock
0 0 1 2 Mark Henry
BRIAN HENKE: London did nothing after he and Kendrick broke up. Dykstra
hardly wasn't on TV much. No surprise they got released.
SHANE SPEAR: The Shelton Benjamin Award goes to....not Shelton Benjamin.
The Miz has been on a steady incline over the course of the year. Unlike
his sufficiently rated partner, Miz is still carrying some of his reality
show stigma around. He's been more than serviceable in the ring, and he's
one half of the new Edge and Christian.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the name athlete who was the worst overall wrestler in the
past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent
workrate, and the charisma of a rock should describe this person.
Previous Winners:
1990: Junkyard Dog
1991: Andre The Giant
1992: Nailz
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Hulk Hogan
2001: Buff Bagwell
2002: Jackie Gayda
2003: Nathan Jones
2004: Heidenreich
2005: Heidenreich
2006: The Great Khali
2007: The Great Khali
**2008**: The Great Khali
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
25 third place votes
6 4 1 44 Great Khali
4 4 0 32 Big Daddy V
3 1 1 20 Black Reign
2 1 2 17 Kevin Nash
1 2 1 13 Braden Walker
1 1 3 14 Boogeyman
1 1 1 10 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 2 2 10 Vladimir Kozlov
0 1 3 9 Snitsky
0 2 1 8 Kip James
1 0 1 7 Michelle McCool
1 0 1 7 Jillian Hall
0 1 2 7 Mike Knox
1 0 0 5 Triple H
1 0 0 5 Mark Henry
1 0 0 5 Layla
1 0 0 5 Kelly Kelly
1 0 0 5 John Cena
1 0 0 5 Festus
0 1 1 5 Hornswoggle
0 1 1 5 Batista
0 1 0 3 Ricky Ortiz
0 1 0 3 Lance Cade
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs
0 1 0 3 Colin Delaney
0 0 1 2 Maryse
0 0 1 2 Kenny Dykstra
0 0 1 2 Hardcore Holly
0 0 1 2 Chuck Palumbo
SHANE SPEAR: There are two wrestling figures in 2008 whose WWE careers
were ruined by the mutant strain of IWC found on YouTube. The first, Mike
Adamle, really wasn't at fault. Adamle was simply a deceptively
young-looking old man that was doing a job that made even a hardcore
legend tap out. The other, however, is an entirely different matter.
The story of Chris Harris, or Braden Walker if you prefer, was a short
one. It consisted of a man getting the biggest shot of his life, and then
pissing all over it. His promos were lacking. His wrestling was poor.
His belly was full. Before you could say Knock Knock he was back on the
Indy scene talking about how he never received a fair chance. Chris
Harris is far and away 2008's worst wrestler.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler who had the worst character gimmick in the
past year.
Previous Winners:
1991: Mike Rotundo as Irwin R. Shyster
1992: Papa Shango's voodoo
1993: Doink the Clown
1994: Doink the Clown
1995: Dungeon of Doom
1996: The Leprechaun
1997: Glacier / Blood Runs Cold
1998: Warrior appears in "strange mist" / forms One Warrior Nation
1999: Beaver Cleavage (Chaz)
2000: That 70's Guy / Not a Mullet / Fat Chick Thriller / Career Killer
Mike Awesome
2001: Diamond Dallas Page as Sara's Stalker
2002: WWE's necrophilia
2003: La Resistance as French sympathizers
2004: Heidenreich as a tortured poet
2005: Jillian Hall as a "fixer" with a giant growth on her face
2006: The Impostor Kane
2007: D-Generation X as middle-aged teenagers
**2008**: Hornswoggle, the leprechaun son of Finlay
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
25 third place votes
5 0 0 25 Hornswoggle
2 2 2 20 Big Daddy V wrestles topless
2 0 4 18 Stone Cold Shark Boy
2 1 2 17 Mike Adamle
1 3 1 16 Kizarny
1 2 2 15 Braden Walker
1 2 1 13 Dolph Ziggler
1 2 1 13 Black Reign
1 1 2 12 Paul Burchill & his overly affectionate sister Katie Lea
1 2 0 11 Cryme Tyme
2 0 0 10 Sheik Abdul Bashir
1 0 2 9 Dustin Rhodes as Black Reign
1 1 0 8 Super Eric
1 0 1 7 Festus' Pavlovian response to ring bell
0 1 2 7 Trevor Murdoch, country music singer
0 2 0 6 Snitsky
1 0 0 5 Triple H as always better than Jeff Hardy
1 0 0 5 Rellik is Killer spelled backwards
1 0 0 5 Raisha Saed
1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan as clueless authority figure
1 0 0 5 Boogeyman
0 1 1 5 Ricky Ortiz
0 1 0 3 Moose Knuckles
0 1 0 3 Kofi Kingston
0 1 0 3 Jay Lethal as Black Machismo
0 1 0 3 Hurricane's Hurrapop
0 1 0 3 Highlanders
0 1 0 3 Armando Estrada
0 1 0 3 Age of the Fall
0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher as pissed off family man
0 0 1 2 Mick Foley, savior of TNA
0 0 1 2 Kurt Hawkins & Zack Ryder as Edge's Disciples
0 0 1 2 Booker T's new accent
SHANE SPEAR: Dolph Ziggler's hair alone should've earned him a suspension.
I also wish I had remembered to nominate Kenny Dykstra in this category
because he suuuuucks. I want to vote for him as much as possible. I
should go back and see if he's nominated anywhere else and change my
vote...
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the name tag team who were the worst overall wrestlers in
the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent
workrate, the charisma of a rock, and lousy team moves should describe
this pair.
Previous Winners:
1990: Rhythm & Blues: Greg Valentine & Honky Tonk Man
1991: The Patriots: Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip
1992: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller
1993: The Colossal Kongs: Awesome Kong & King Kong
1994: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller
1995: Tekno Team 2000: Travis & Troy
1996: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I.
1997: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I.
1998: Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno
1999: Ministry of Darkness: Mideon & Viscera
2000: Harris Brothers: Big Ron & Heavy D
2001: Kronik: Brian Adams & Bryan Clarke
2002: Rosey & Jamal
2003: 3 Minute Warning: Rossey & Jamal / La Resistance: Sylvain Grenier &
Rene Dupree & Rob Conway (tie)
2004: Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn
2005: Legion of Doom: Road Warrior Animal & Heidenreich
2006: Dicks: Chad & James
2007: Team Pacman: Ron Killings & Adam Jones
**2008**: Black Reign & Rellik
26 first place votes
25 second place votes
23 third place votes
7 1 3 44 Black Reign & Rellik
5 2 1 33 Cryme Tyme - Shad Gaspard & JTG
2 5 1 27 Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder
2 2 5 26 Voodoo Kin Mafia - BG & Kip James
2 3 2 23 Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes
1 3 3 20 Highlanders - Robbie & Rory McAllister
0 3 3 15 Deuce 'n' Domino
1 2 1 13 Finlay & Hornswoggle
2 0 1 12 Rock & Rave Infection - Lance Hoyt & Jimmy Rave
1 1 1 10 Team 3D - Brother Ray & Brother Devon
1 1 0 8 Jesse & Festus
1 0 0 5 John Morrison & Miz
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black
0 1 0 3 Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs & Necro Butcher
0 0 1 2 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
0 0 1 2 Ashley Lane & Neveah
SHANE SPEAR: I demand the names of the people that voted for Jesse and
Festus. NAMES!
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestler you like the least, regardless of the reason.
Previous Winners:
1991: Hulk Hogan
1992: Hulk Hogan
1993: Hulk Hogan
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Hulk Hogan
2001: Buff Bagwell
2002: Triple H
2003: Triple H
2004: Triple H
2005: Triple H
2006: Jeff Jarrett
2007: The Great Khali
**2008**: Triple H
27 first place votes
26 second place votes
26 third place votes
3 4 1 29 Triple H
4 2 1 28 John Bradshaw Layfield
3 3 0 24 Great Khali
2 1 5 23 Hornswoggle
3 1 0 18 John Cena
2 1 2 17 Kevin Nash
1 1 1 10 Scott Steiner
1 1 0 8 Big Daddy V
0 2 1 8 Batista
1 0 0 5 Scott Hall
1 0 0 5 Ryan Braddock
1 0 0 5 Mark Henry
1 0 0 5 Jeff Jarrett
1 0 0 5 Hardcore Holly
1 0 0 5 Festus
1 0 0 5 CM Punk
1 0 0 5 Boogeyman
0 1 1 5 Michelle McCool
0 1 1 5 Kane
0 1 0 3 Umaga
0 1 0 3 Scotty Goldman
0 1 0 3 Robert Roode
0 1 0 3 Lance Cade
0 1 0 3 Kaz
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs
0 1 0 3 Deuce
0 1 0 3 Candice Michelle
0 0 1 2 Snitsky
0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels
0 0 1 2 R-Truth
0 0 1 2 Roxxi
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Psycho Circus
0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher
0 0 1 2 Matt Morgan
0 0 1 2 Kung Fu Naki
0 0 1 2 Kenny Dykstra
0 0 1 2 Domino
0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli
0 0 1 2 Ashley Massaro
SHANE SPEAR: I feel kind of bad voting for Hornswoggle here, because it's
been too long since he was banished to ECW and off my radar to really
continue to hate him. On the other hand he did steal an entire year off
of Finley when he really doesn't have many more to piss away. C'mon Fit.
Time to get back to ass kicking. Remember ass kicking?
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the name wrestler whose workrate is so low it's barely
measureable.
Previous Winners:
1990: Junkyard Dog
1991: Andre The Giant
1992: Nailz
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Hulk Hogan
1997: Hulk Hogan
1998: Hollywood Hogan
1999: Hulk Hogan
2000: Kevin Nash
2001: Buff Bagwell
2002: Jackie Gayda
2003: Nathan Jones
2004: Heidenreich
2005: Gene Snitsky / Kevin Nash / Chris Masters (tie)
2006: The Great Khali
2007: The Great Khali
**2008**: The Great Khali
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
24 third place votes
11 3 1 66 Great Khali
0 4 4 20 Snitsky
2 1 2 17 Boogeyman
1 4 0 17 Big Daddy V
2 2 0 16 Ashley Massaro
2 1 1 15 Braden Walker
0 3 2 13 Kip James
2 0 0 10 Black Reign
1 1 1 10 Kevin Nash
1 1 1 10 Batista
1 0 1 7 Hacksaw Jim Duggan
0 1 2 7 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 2 0 6 Ricky Ortiz
1 0 0 5 Triple H
1 0 0 5 Jeff Hardy
1 0 0 5 Festus
0 1 1 5 Mike Knox
0 1 0 3 Necro Butcher
0 1 0 3 Armando Estrada
0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner
0 0 1 2 Randy Orton
0 0 1 2 Maryse
0 0 1 2 Mark Henry
0 0 1 2 Kevin Thorn
0 0 1 2 Kelly Kelly
0 0 1 2 Jim Duggan
0 0 1 2 Hornswoggle
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the best angle you've seen in the sport this year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Horsemen turn heel
1991: "Real World Champion" Ric Flair challenges Hulk Hogan
1992: Ric Flair "knew Elizabeth first"
1993: WWF brings in Sean Waltman as 1-2-3 Kid
1994: Shane Douglas forfeits NWA title moments after winning it
1995: Barry Horowitz finally wins on WWF television
1996: NWO forms and attempts takeover of WCW
1997: Bret Hart turns on USA, reforms Hart Foundation
1998: Mr. McMahon offers Steve Austin the easy way - or the hard way
1999: "Countdown to the Millennium" ends with Chris Jericho's WWF debut
2000: Triple H, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, Kurt Angle love triangle
2001: ECW joins WCW, forms alliance
2002: Goldust, Booker T turn "At the Movies" gig into friendship
2003: Paul Heyman presents Kurt Angle with Team Angle
2004: Chris Benoit's world championship journey ends with WrestleMania win
2005: Matt Hardy returns to WWE to seek revenge on Edge & Lita
2006: Joey Styles quits RAW during live broadcast
2007: Chris Jericho inserts viral messages into WWE programming
**2008**: Chris Jericho forces Shawn Michaels into, out of retirement
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
24 third place votes
12 1 2 67 Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels have a blood feud
5 6 1 45 Ric Flair's retires: Ceremony, Four Horsemen reunion on RAW
4 5 4 45 Santino Marella tracks IC reign with "Honk-a-meter"
3 6 7 45 CM Punk cashes in Money in the Bank to surprise Edge on RAW
0 1 3 9 Floyd Mayweather Jr. potatoes Big Show, then runs
1 1 0 8 Chris Jericho, Batista, Shawn Michaels fight over Flair's exit
1 0 1 7 Mr. McMahon decrees Ric Flair will retire after next loss
0 2 0 6 Santino Marella, Beth Phoenix romance, form Glamarella
0 1 1 5 John Cena makes surprise return at Royal Rumble
0 1 1 5 Charlie Haas mocks John Bradshaw Layfield as "CHL"
0 1 0 3 Faby Apache feuds with sister Mary Apache, then they reunite
0 1 0 3 Ariel moves up the ranks of SHIMMER as never say die babyface
0 0 1 2 Santino Marella steals Jerry Lawler's delicious sandwich
0 0 1 2 Rhett Titus visits Daizee Haze's apartment
0 0 1 2 John Bradshaw Layfield returns to full-time action
0 0 1 2 Edge & Vickie Guerrero get married
0 0 1 2 Brian Kendrick becomes The Brian Kendrick
SHANE SPEAR: I fear that Jericho and Michaels' feud, and Jericho, Batista,
and Shawn Michaels' feud are going to split votes. I'm going to go with
the one without Batista, because this whole thing really lit on fire after
Batista already got done beating the shit out of Michaels. Make no doubt
about it, Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels WERE wrestling in 2008. Hard
to believe I voted for this over Ric Flair's retirement too. But that's
just how good it was.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the worst wrestling match you've seen this year, either
live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past
year, it is eligible. Award Description:
Previous Winners:
1990: 06/13/90: Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog (CoC XI)
1991: 05/19/91: El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious (SuperBrawl)
1992: 01/18/92: Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers (Royal Rumble)
1993: 04/04/93: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX)
1994: 09/18/94: Jim Duggan vs. Steve Austin (Fall Brawl)
1995: 03/19/95: Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Uncensored)
1996: 03/24/96: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson &
Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Meng & Barbarian & Ze Gangsta
& Ultimate Solution (Uncensored)
1997: 10/26/97: Hulk Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper (cage) (Halloween Havoc)
1998: 10/25/98: Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior (Halloween Havoc)
1999: 09/26/99: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man (Kennel from Hell) (Unforgiven)
2000: 06/25/00: Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco (hardcore evening gown)
2001: 07/02/01: Booker T (WCW) vs. Buff Bagwell (RAW)
2002: 07/08/02: Jackie Gayda & Christopher Nowinski vs. Trish Stratus
& Bradshaw (mixed tag RAW)
2003: 01/19/03: Triple H (world) vs. Scott Steiner (Royal Rumble)
2004: 03/14/04: Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg (WrestleMania)
2005: 04/18/05: Jim Ross vs. Triple H (no DQ) (RAW)
2006: 06/26/06: Kane vs. Impostor Kane (Vengeance)
2007: 01/08/07: "Donald Trump" vs. "Rosie O'Donnell" (RAW)
**2008**: 03/30/08: Chavo Guerrero (ECW) vs. Kane (WrestleMania)
23 first place votes
20 second place votes
17 third place votes
5 2 3 37 03/30/08 Chavo Guerrero (ECW) v. Kane
3 1 2 22 04/27/08 Big Show v. Great Khali
2 2 2 20 01/14/08 Hornswoggle v. Mini Kennedy v. Mini Mankind v. Mini
Batista v. Mini Kane (Mini Rumble)
2 3 0 19 07/28/08 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase v. Jerry Lawler & Michael
Cole
2 2 0 16 11/27/07 Kelly Kelly v. Layla
1 3 0 14 04/13/08 BG James v. Kip James
2 1 0 13 03/17/08 Ric Flair v. Vince McMahon (Street Fight) (RAW)
1 2 1 13 09/07/08 Michelle McCool v. Maryse
1 0 2 9 06/29/08 Hardcore Holly & Cody Rhodes (World tag) v. Ted
DiBiase & Cody Rhodes
1 0 2 9 03/30/08 Maria & Ashley v. Beth Phoenix & Melina
0 1 3 9 08/11/08 Jay Lethal v. Sonjay Dutt (black tie & chain match)
1 0 1 7 08/17/08 Mark Henry v. Matt Hardy
1 0 1 7 01/27/08 John Bradshaw Layfield v. Chris Jericho
1 0 0 5 04/21/08 "Barack Obama" v. "Hillary Clinton"
0 1 0 3 11/17/07 Mickie James & Torrie Wilson & Michelle McCool &
Kelly Kelly & Maria v. Melina & Beth Phoenix &
Jillian Hall & Victoria & Layla
0 1 0 3 10/26/08 Santino Marella v. Honky Tonk Man
0 1 0 3 06/20/08 Edge (World) v. CM Punk
THAT DON GUY: Wasn't there a man vs. woman no DQ match on RAW in 2008 (I
want to say Santino Marella was in it) that ended with the divas running
in and covering the man? I wanted to vote for this one, but couldn't find
the details on it.
BRIAN HENKE: I put Kane and Punk's victories at #1 and #2 because they
only lasted around six seconds. The Obama-Clinton wasn't as bad as
Trump-Rosie, but it was bad nonetheless.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Kelly Kelly vs. Layla is the perfect illustration why you
don't put two fashion models in a ring without any training. The Diva
Search keeps giving us bad women wrestlers, and thankfully TNA's Knockouts
Division is forcing WWE's hand in getting credible wrestlers in the ring.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz. This
could be a wrestler or a manager.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ric Flair
1991: Ric Flair
1992: Ric Flair
1993: Ric Flair
1994: Ric Flair
1995: Shawn Michaels
1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998: Mankind (Dude Love / Cactus Jack / Mick Foley)
1999: Mankind
2000: The Rock
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Chris Jericho
2004: Chris Jericho
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Mick Foley
2007: Edge
**2008**: Chris Jericho
26 first place votes
26 second place votes
26 third place votes
8 11 1 75 Chris Jericho
6 4 4 50 Santino Marella
3 1 5 28 Ric Flair
1 1 5 18 Shawn Michaels
2 2 0 16 Mr. Kennedy
2 1 1 15 John Cena
1 1 1 10 John Morrison
1 0 1 7 Christian Cage
1 0 0 5 Larry Sweeney
1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle
0 1 1 5 Edge
0 0 2 4 Undertaker
0 1 0 3 Randy Orton
0 1 0 3 ODB
0 1 0 3 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 1 0 3 Delerious
0 0 1 2 Triple H
0 0 1 2 Nigel McGuinness
0 0 1 2 James Mitchell
0 0 1 2 Booker T
0 0 1 2 Adam Pierce
SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho is the man you turn to for storyline backbone.
John Cena is the man you turn to for an impassioned speech to fire up the
crowd. Santino Marella is the man you call on for comedy. Three great
talkers.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the colour commentator who provides the most insightful and
entertaining comments.
Previous Winners:
1991: Bobby Heenan
1992: Bobby Heenan
1993: Jesse Ventura
1994: Bobby Heenan
1995: Bobby Heenan
1996: Bobby Heenan
1997: Jerry Lawler
1998: Jerry Lawler
1999: Jerry Lawler
2000: Jerry Lawler
2001: Paul Heyman
2002: Tazz
2003: Tazz
2004: Tazz
2005: Tazz
2006: John Bradshaw Layfield
2007: John Bradshaw Layfield
**2008**: Matt Striker
27 first place votes
26 second place votes
23 third place votes
10 8 1 76 Matt Striker
5 5 6 52 Mick Foley
4 6 4 46 John Bradshaw Layfield
4 4 4 40 Tazz
2 1 5 23 Jerry Lawler
1 1 1 10 Don West
1 0 0 5 Chris Jericho
0 1 0 3 Bubba 3-D
0 0 1 2 Lenny Leonard
0 0 1 2 Arturo Rivera
HACK-MAN: This was one of the easiest categories to answer. Matt Striker
was far and away the best color man in the business this year. He
combined knowledge and history with a genuine love of the business. I'm
surprised McMahon hasn't yelled at him to stop it yet. Mick Foley gets
the second spot for fitting in so quickly as the color commentator on
Smackdown. He combined comedy with a desire to explain why wrestlers did
the things they did from a storyline standpoint. Pity McMahon hates good
color commentators. Third goes to John Bradshaw Layfield, who never
should have left the announcing position. He blows in the ring, but was a
natural for putting over the heels and (when warranted) the faces as well.
Tazz and Lawler should both be fired. Don West should leave the sport
forever. No one will ever come close to Jesse Ventura, but this year
Striker, Foley, and JBL were a lot closer than anyone we've had to vote
for in the last ten years.
SHANE SPEAR: Had to vote for JBL here, even if it was only for a few
months in this eligible timeframe. Also, Jerry Lawler has been way more
tolerable these last two years or so. I think that even though Michael
Cole seems to have declined, he and Lawler make a pretty good team
overall.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product. This
is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can't miss.
Previous Winners:
1990: NWA
1991: WWF
1992: WCW
1993: SMW
1994: ECW
1995: WWF
1996: WWF
1997: WWF
1998: WWF
1999: WWF
2000: WWF
2001: WWF
2002: WWE (WWF)
2003: WWE
2004: WWE
2005: TNA
2006: WWE
2007: WWE
**2008**: WWE
25 first place votes
22 second place votes
19 third place votes
17 4 2 101 WWE
4 10 3 56 ROH
3 4 5 37 TNA
1 0 0 5 SHIMMER
0 0 2 4 PWG
0 0 2 4 IWA Mid-South
0 1 0 3 NOAH
0 1 0 3 Next Era Wrestling
0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Wrestling
0 1 0 3 CHIKARA
0 0 1 2 OVW
0 0 1 2 JAPW
0 0 1 2 GEAR
0 0 1 2 Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
0 0 1 2 CWF Mid-Atlantic
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the feud that nobody cared about at all this year. When
they were pushing the feud on TV, you'd go to the fridge for a snack.
Previous Winners:
1990: Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake
1991: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter
1992: Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango
1993: The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez
1994: Doink vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
1995: Hulk Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom
1996: Big Bubba vs. John Tenta
1997: Nation of Domination vs. Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas
1998: Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan
1999: No Limit Soldiers vs. West Texas Rednecks
2000: Big Show vs. Big Boss Man
2001: Undertaker vs. Diamond Dallas Page
2002: Triple H vs. Kane
2003: Stephanie McMahon vs. Vince McMahon
2004: Chavo Guerrero vs. Jacqueline
2005: McMahon Family vs. Jim Ross
2006: Mr. McMahon (& Shane McMahon) vs. D-generation X
2007: Mr. McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley / Voodoo Kin Mafia vs. Christy Hemme
(tie)
**2008**: Kane vs. Rey Mysterio
25 first place votes
25 second place votes
23 third place votes
4 5 0 35 Rey Mysterio v. Kane
5 0 4 33 Finlay & Hornswoggle v. Mr. McMahon
2 4 2 26 Tommy Dreamer v. Colin Delaney
3 2 2 25 Hornswoggle v. Great Khali
2 2 2 20 Kelly Kelly v. Layla
2 2 1 18 Team 3-D & Johnny Devine v. Jay Lethal & X-Division
1 2 3 17 BG James v. Kip James
1 2 1 13 Triple H v. Great Khali
2 0 1 12 Jay Lethal v. Sonjay Dutt
0 2 1 8 Finlay v. John Bradshaw Layfield
0 2 1 8 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase v. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Jerry Lawler
1 0 1 7 Kaz v. Dustin Rhodes
1 0 0 5 Triple H v. Jeff Hardy
1 0 0 5 CM Punk v. John Bradshaw Layfield
0 1 1 5 Abyss v. James Mitchell & Judas Mesias
0 1 0 3 Austin Aries v. Jimmy Jacobs
0 0 1 2 Necro Butcher v. Age of the Fall
0 0 1 2 Colin Delaney v. Armando Estrada
0 0 1 2 Chris Jericho v. John Bradshaw Layfield
SHANE SPEAR: Remember when ECW was a much simpler show? Before all these
n00bs like Jack Swagger, Ricky Ortiz, and DJ Whatever were all over the
place? Remember when there were only two men that mattered in ECW.
Tommy. And Colin. Tommy took young Colin under his wing and proceeded to
make him some new Mikey Whipwreck. Well you Sir Colin are no Mikey
Whipwreck. And you ECW are no ECW. I rest my case. ...Oh and they
fought like one time and it stunk.
CRIMEFIGHTER: One of the main reasons the yearly WWE Diva search has been
horrible for wrestling is that they put these girls in the ring when their
ring skills are no better than backyard wrestlers...and thus you had
horrible matches between Kelly Kelly and Layla.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most insightful and
entertaining comments while pushing his product. "Ring announcers" don't
qualify here. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour
commentator will be enforced.
Previous Winners:
1990: Jesse Ventura
1991: Jesse Ventura
1992: Jim Ross
1993: Jim Ross
1994: Jim Ross
1995: Jim Ross
1996: Jim Ross
1997: Jim Ross
1998: Jim Ross
1999: Jim Ross
2000: Jim Ross
2001: Jim Ross
2002: Michael Cole
2003: Michael Cole
2004: Jim Ross
2005: Joey Styles
2006: Joey Styles
2007: Jim Ross
**2008**: Jim Ross
27 first place votes
23 second place votes
20 third place votes
16 5 1 97 Jim Ross
5 7 5 56 Joey Styles
2 6 3 34 Mike Tenay
1 5 4 28 Todd Grisham
2 0 3 16 Michael Cole
1 0 4 13 Dave Prazak
HACK-MAN: This was one of the easiest categories to answer. Todd Grisham
just edged out Joey Styles for the top spot with the amazing chemistry
he's had with Striker. Third place goes to Dave Prazak. Sorry JR, but
you've fallen to #4. I miss Schiavone and WCW-era Tenay, but not nearly
as much as I miss Gordon Solie.
SHANE SPEAR: Todd Grisham isn't too far way from being what Michael Cole
was in those 2002-2004 days. Give him another year or ten with Matt
Striker.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person who just rubs you the wrong way. This could be
anybody involved in the wrestling biz.
Previous Winners:
1991: Dusty Rhodes
1992: Vince McMahon
1993: Vince McMahon
1994: Hulk Hogan
1995: Eric Bischoff
1996: Eric Bischoff
1997: Eric Bischoff
1998: Eric Bischoff
1999: Eric Bischoff
2000: Vince Russo
2001: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
2002: Jerry Lawler
2003: Stephanie McMahon
2004: Jerry Lawler
2005: Stephanie McMahon
2006: Don West
2007: Mr. McMahon
**2008**: Hornswoggle
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
27 third place votes
5 2 1 33 Hornswoggle
2 4 3 28 Triple H
3 4 0 27 Vickie Guerrero
3 2 3 27 John Bradshaw Layfield
1 5 1 22 Don West
2 1 3 19 Stephanie McMahon
2 1 1 15 Mike Adamle
1 2 0 11 Michael Cole
1 0 3 11 Jerry Lawler
1 0 2 9 Jillian Hall
1 1 0 8 Kevin Nash
1 0 1 7 Mick Foley
0 1 2 7 Jonathan Coachman
0 2 0 6 Kenny Dykstra
1 0 0 5 William Regal
1 0 0 5 Shane McMahon
1 0 0 5 Jimmy Jacobs
1 0 0 5 Braden Walker
0 1 0 3 R-Truth
0 1 0 3 Miz
0 0 1 2 Tazz
0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner
0 0 1 2 Ricky Ortiz
0 0 1 2 Karen Angle
0 0 1 2 Claudio Castagnoli
0 0 1 2 Chuck Palumbo
0 0 1 2 Armando Estrada
HACK-MAN: Don West was the easy choice for #1 Most Obnoxious Personality,
but I had a hard time narrowing down #2 & #3 with Armando, Jillian, Coach,
Tazz, and Vickie Guerrero. I ended up voting the color commentators,
since they annoy the entire show long instead of just one segment.
SHANE SPEAR: Every year that passes I get a little more annoyed with Mick
Foley. It's a horrible thing.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the wrestling news item that most disappointed you when
heard of it. When you first learned of this news story, you couldn't
believe that it was true, and when you learned that it was, you were
bummed out for a while.
Previous Winners:
1991: Scott Steiner gets injured
1992: Legion of Doom: Hawk & Animal split up
1993: WWF brings Hulk Hogan back and gives him the title
1994: WCW signs Hulk Hogan and makes him World champion
1995: Death of Eddie Gilbert
1996: Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash leave WWF and/or join WCW
1997: Death of Brian Pillman
1998: Death of Louie Spicolli
1999: Death of Owen Hart
2000: David Arquette wins WCW World heavyweight championship
2001: Chris Benoit out for the year after neck surgery
2002: Steve Austin leaves WWE in frustration over creative direction
2003: Death of Curt Hennig
2004: Brock Lesnar leaves WWE to try out for the NFL
2005: Death of Chris Candido
2006: Death of Eddie Guerrero
2007: Chris Benoit commits double murder/suicide
**2008**: WWE hires Mike Adamle
25 first place votes
25 second place votes
24 third place votes
3 4 1 29 WWE hires Mike Adamle
3 1 2 22 Joey Styles replaced as ECW commentator by Mike Adamle
3 1 1 20 Ric Flair retires
2 2 2 20 Death of Fabulous Moolah
2 0 2 14 WWE suspends Jeff Hardy
1 2 1 13 Annoyed Mick Foley doesn't re-sign as WWE color commentator
0 3 2 13 WWE Smackdown changes networks to MyNetwork TV
1 2 0 11 WWE programming aims for tamer "TV-PG" rating
2 0 0 10 WWE tries to buy viewers with $1,000,000/week giveaway
1 1 0 8 TNA continues to push old farts instead of X Division
1 0 1 7 WWE suspends William Regal shortly after starting major push
0 1 2 7 TNA crew member killed in scaffolding accident
0 2 0 6 WWE drops Ohio Valley Wrestling
0 2 0 6 Chris Harris blows up & gets horrible package
1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, John Cena injured, out of action
1 0 0 5 Nick Hogan involved in car accident
1 0 0 5 Jake Roberts has personal issues in indy ring
1 0 0 5 Gabe Sapolsky out as ROH booker
1 0 0 5 FCW has startup issues: building, talent in trouble with law
1 0 0 5 Death of Gary Hart
0 1 1 5 ROH fires Gabe Sapolsky
0 0 2 4 Melina injured, misses half the year
0 1 0 3 Lacey retiring
0 1 0 3 Human Tornado suffers major knee injury
0 1 0 3 Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute & Museum flooded
0 0 1 2 WWE lets Cruiserweight championship go inactive
0 0 1 2 TNA's move to 2 hours had no effect, ratings flat all year
0 0 1 2 TNA doesn't get a Monday live TV slot
0 0 1 2 Matt Hardy suffers appendecitis, which derails major push
0 0 1 2 Lacey leaves ROH
0 0 1 2 Death of Killer Kowalski
0 0 1 2 Bobby Lashley quits WWE
SHANE SPEAR: I'll tell you that it's kind of refreshing not to see a
double digit list of dead superstars to choose from. Here's hoping THAT
trend continues. Onto the subject. Ric Flair retiring is the saddest
thing that happened. Also, if he comes back I promise to vote for that
for 2009's disappointing item. The Sapolsky dismissal is not a good sign
to me. Others are more optimistic. Last is a personal pick for me.
Matt Hardy seemed to be in line for the place that Jeff Hardy is currently
in. That was an incredibly unfortunate situation timing-wise for him.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Looking back it's remarkable how issues that would normally
hit a small independent wrestling company or a newbie promoter that has no
clue what he's doing would hit WWE's lone developemental terrority. It's
incredible WWE management thought throwing out a perfectly good well-oiled
machine for a lemon was a wise move...and thus far it has backfired big
time. The second item has been a big deal in this region as the 2008
floods have been a major problem all year round, and the Dan Grable
wrestling museum was hit hard. A lot of artifacts were lost forever and
it took a long time to clean up the mess. Lastly the accident at TNA.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the manager who outperformed their peers at ringside and
behind the microphone in interviews. This award was discontinued after
the 2001 awards and reinstated in 2006.
Previous Winners:
1990: Jim Cornette
1991: Bobby Heenan
1992: Mr. Perfect
1993: Jim Cornette
1994: Jim Cornette
1995: Jim Cornette
1996: Sunny
1997: Chyna
1998: Chyna
1999: Dawn Marie
2000: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley
2001: Stacy Keibler
2006: Armando Alejandro Estrada (Osama Rodriguez Alejandro)
2007: James Mitchell
**2008**: Santino Marella
26 first place votes
25 second place votes
22 third place votes
6 4 3 48 Santino Marella
5 5 1 42 Vickie Guerrero
5 1 0 28 Larry Sweeney
2 4 2 26 Katie Lea
0 2 6 18 Ezekiel Jackson
2 1 1 15 Tony Atlas
1 2 2 15 Ranjin Singh
1 2 1 13 Matt Striker
1 2 0 11 Hector Guerrero
1 0 2 9 Karen Angle
1 0 0 5 Salinas
1 0 0 5 Hornswoggle
0 1 1 5 Raisha Saeed
0 1 1 5 Layla
0 0 1 2 So Cal Val
0 0 1 2 Allison Wonderland
SHANE SPEAR: This was the only place I could justify sticking an Ezekial
Jackson vote this year. But let the record state that within two years he
will be a top tier superstar.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to what is on average the best wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV
shows and major shows were given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape)
1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble
1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV
1994: WWF Monday Night RAW
1995: WWF Monday Night RAW
1996: WWF Monday Night RAW
1997: WWF Monday Night RAW (WWF RAW is War / WWF RAW / WWF War Zone)
1998: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone)
1999: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone)
2000: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone)
2001: WWF RAW (RAW is War / War Zone / RAW Zone)
2002: WWE SmackDown!
2003: WWE Smackdown
2004: WWE RAW (RAW / RAW Zone)
2005: TNA iMPACT! (TNA Wrestling Impact!)
2006: WWE Smackdown
2007: WWE RAW (RAW / RAW Zone) / WWE Smackdown (tie)
**2008**: WWE RAW
27 first place votes
26 second place votes
24 third place votes
15 5 5 100 WWE RAW
4 10 4 58 WWE Smackdown
3 6 5 43 ECW
3 3 4 32 TNA Impact
1 0 1 7 WWE AM RAW
1 0 0 5 Best of ECW (WWE On Demand)
0 1 1 5 OVW TV
0 1 0 3 WCW (1980s WTBS show) (WWE On Demand)
0 0 1 2 WWE MSG Classics
0 0 1 2 NWA Anarchy TV
0 0 1 2 Celebrity Championship Wrestling
0 0 1 2 AWA reruns on ESPN Classic
THAT DON GUY: I assume the regular shows on WWE On Demand count as "TV
Shows"?
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to what is on average the worst wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV
shows and major shows were given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash
1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas
1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX
1994: WCW World Wide
1995: WWF Mania
1996: AWF Warriors of Wrestling
1997: WWF LiveWire
1998: WCW Worldwide
1999: WCW Thunder
2000: WCW Thunder
2001: (tie) WWF Excess / WCW Thunder
2002: WWF Excess
2003: WWE RAW
2004: The WWE Experience
2005: The WWE Experience
2006: WWE RAW
2007: Wrestling Society X
**2008**: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling
25 first place votes
21 second place votes
16 third place votes
10 2 4 64 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling
5 9 1 54 TNA Impact
5 2 5 41 ECW
3 2 2 25 WWE Smackdown
2 4 0 22 WWE AM RAW
0 2 4 14 WWE RAW
BRIAN HENKE: Celebrity Wrestling bombed in the UK, so how could it fail in
the US with Hogan and Bischoff?
CRIMEFIGHTER: If Hogan's CCW lasts more than one season, I'll have to
question heavily why WSX was cancelled because that show's ratings were
WAY HIGHER than anything CCW has gotten thus far.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This
could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone
hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.
Previous Winners:
1991: WWF signs Ric Flair
1992: WCW signs Jake Roberts
1993: WWF works with SMW & USWA
1994: WWF pushes Bret Hart as champion again
1995: WCW signs Sabu, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko away
1996: WCW signs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ted DiBiase & Syxx
1997: ECW uses "working agreement" with WWF
1998: WWF books Vince McMahon into top storyline role
1999: WWF signs Chris Jericho
2000: WWF signs Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn
2001: WWF adds ECW to "invasion" angle
2002: WWE names Paul Heyman head of SmackDown! writing team
2003: NWA TNA offers one cent PPV
2004: WWE books Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero to World, WWE championships
2005: TNA gains Spike TV timeslot
2006: TNA signs Kurt Angle soon after WWE releases him
2007: TNA, Spike TV agree on expanding "iMPACT!" to second hour
**2008**: WWE airs a tribute to Ric Flair the night after WrestleMania
27 first place votes
26 second place votes
25 third place votes
8 6 3 64 WWE holds tribute to Ric Flair night after WrestleMania
7 0 2 39 WWE rehires Chris Jericho
2 3 2 23 WWE turns Chris Jericho heel
3 0 2 19 WWE gets Clinton, McCain, Obama to cut WWE-tailored promos
0 3 5 19 WWE makes CM Punk World champ
2 2 0 16 WWE starts web shows "Dirt Sheet" & "Santino's Casa"
1 1 2 12 WWE backs the comedic stylings of Santino Marella
0 3 1 11 WWE inducts Ric Flair into Hall of Fame as active member
1 1 1 10 WWE makes John Morrison ECW world champ
1 1 1 10 TNA books Samoa Joe to world title win
1 1 1 10 ROH books Nigel McGuinness to year long reign as champion
1 1 0 8 John Cena returns early in Royal Rumble
0 1 2 7 TNA hires Mick Foley
0 1 2 7 Rock performs Hall of Fame induction
0 1 0 3 WWE sues Dale Gagner to drop usage of AWA trademarks
0 1 0 3 WWE loads up Smackdown in draft prior to network change
0 0 1 2 SHIMMER brings back Nikki Roxx
SHANE SPEAR: I doubt that even WWE expected to get this much out of a
returning Chris Jericho. While there was a stutter step in the very
beginning of the return, things have been coming up nothing but pure
wrestling gold. Also, the Web based shows on WWE.com were perfect forums
to get Miz, Morrison, and Santino name branding AND most importantly mic
experience. A really easy way to get people over without the mess of
having to job anybody out to them early on.
CRIMEFIGHTER: TNA putting the world title on Samoa Joe was the right move
to make, but comes a year too late and after Vince Russo ruining his
personna as an unstoppable monster.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comments
while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the
TV when he/she is announcing. As of 1992, the difference between this and
colour commentator will be enforced.
Previous Winners:
1990: Vince McMahon
1991: Vince McMahon
1992: Vince McMahon
1993: Vince McMahon
1994: Eric Bischoff
1995: Eric Bischoff
1996: Eric Bischoff
1997: Tony Schiavone
1998: Tony Schiavone
1999: Tony Schiavone
2000: Tony Schiavone
2001: Tony Schiavone
2002: Jim Ross
2003: Jim Ross
2004: Jonathan Coachman
2005: Jonathan Coachman
2006: Todd Grisham
2007: Mike Tenay
**2008**: Mike Adamle
24 first place votes
22 second place votes
18 third place votes
18 2 0 96 Mike Adamle
3 4 1 29 Michael Cole
1 5 3 26 Mike Tenay
0 6 4 26 Jonathan Coachman
1 2 2 15 Jim Ross
1 1 3 14 Jeremy Borash
0 2 2 10 Todd Grisham
0 0 2 4 Josh Mathews
0 0 1 2 Joey Styles
HACK-MAN: I thought Jim Ross and Michael Cole were bad this year, but
luckily there were even worse choices for Worst Announcer, so they were
spared my voting. They have Mike Adamle, Coach, and Tenay to thank.
BRIAN HENKE: Adamle won the day he debuted with ECW. WW tag team
champions? Ya makin' us crazy.
SHANE SPEAR: I'm so happy to see Jonathan Coachman exactly where he is a
round peg in a round hole. Good on ya Coach!
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the organization/promotion that has the worst product. This
is the organization whose TV and house shows you wouldn't even think of
attending. Probably not even as a freebie.
Previous Winners:
1990: WWF / AWA (tie)
1991: WCW
1992: WWF
1993: WCW
1994: WCW
1995: WCW
1996: AWF
1997: WCW
1998: WCW
1999: WCW
2000: WCW
2001: WCW
2002: XPW
2003: XPW
2004: TNA
2005: WWE
2006: WWE
2007: Wrestling Society X
**2008**: TNA
22 first place votes
19 second place votes
14 third place votes
9 2 3 57 TNA
4 5 2 39 Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling
2 3 1 21 Juggalo Championship Wrestling
3 0 2 19 Florida Championship Wrestling
1 5 0 20 WWE
2 0 2 14 WEW
0 3 2 13 CZW
1 1 1 10 Nu-Wrestling Evolution
0 0 1 2 Wrestling Superstars Live
CRIMEFIGHTER: Worst organization goes to Frathouse Championship Wrestling,
cause that's all it has been ever since WWE dropped OVW so Johnny Ace can
party all the time. Hogan's CCW has had worse ratings than WSX and
everyone voted WSX the worst fed...so I'll be surprised this won't win.
And the last one JCW, after the debacle at the Juggalo Gathering they
garner the kind of attention that they probably don't want.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the manager whose presence at ringside and during
interviews
is really unnecessary. This person does little to enhance the matches in
which his/her wrestler(s) participates. This award was discontinued after
the 2001 awards and reinstated in 2006.
Previous Winners:
1990: Mr. Fuji
1991: Coach John Tolos
1992: Harvey Wippleman
1993: Harvey Wippleman
1994: Harvey Wippleman
1995: Harvey Wippleman
1996: Teddy Long
1997: Uncle Cletus
1998: Eric Bischoff
1999: Curtis Hughes
2000: Mae Young
2001: Sara
2006: Vickie Guerrero
2007: Vickie Guerrero
**2008**: Bam Neely
24 first place votes
22 second place votes
21 third place votes
7 4 5 57 Bam Neely
4 4 3 38 Hornswoggle
5 2 2 35 Rhaka Khan
5 1 2 32 Ranjin Singh
2 1 2 17 Raisha Saeed
1 2 2 15 So Cal Val
0 3 1 11 Sharmell
0 2 2 10 Tony Atlas
0 2 0 6 Matt Striker
0 1 0 3 Raisha Saied
0 0 1 2 Sara Del Ray
0 0 1 2 El Guapito
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the worst angle you've seen in the sport this year. It may
be the worst because of taste or because of execution.
Previous Winners:
1990: Earthquake breaks Hulk's ribs & get well card drive /
Black Scorpion (tie)
1991: WWF exploits the Gulf war
1992: Papa Shango curses the Ultimate Warrior
1993: WCW's Cactus Jack gets amnesia; search leads to Cleveland
1994: WCW gives Hulk Hogan the WCW Title
1995: WCW bills Giant as Andre the Giant's alleged son
1996: Jim Ross announces return of Razor Ramon and Diesel to WWF
1997: Brian Pillman claims paternity of Dakota Runnells
1998: "Mysterious laughter" source revealed as Chucky the doll
1999: Big Show's father stricken with cancer; Big Boss Man exploits it
2000: Mae Young's pregnancy results in birth of hand
2001: Triple H quickly returns from fall inside car dropped from forklift
2002: Triple H reveals Kane's role in a death - and immediately afterwards
2003: Dawn Marie, Al Wilson give new meaning to "'til death do us part"
2004: Kane stalks, then impregnates, then marries Lita
2005: Masked men attack Undertaker after Daivari is "sacrificed" in match
2006: Vickie Guerrero turns on Rey Mysterio
2007: Mr. McMahon presumed dead after limousine explodes
**2008**: JBL reveals that Finlay, not Mr. McMahon, is Hornswoggle's father
27 first place votes
26 second place votes
24 third place votes
5 7 3 52 Who is Hornswoggle's father?
5 1 4 36 Mr. McMahon's Million Dollar Mania
4 1 3 29 John Cena writes "John Bradshaw Layfield is poopy" graffiti
3 1 1 20 Feast or Fired match hands out briefcases, TNA title shots
2 1 1 15 RAW stage collaspes onto Vince McMahon
2 1 1 15 Kaz steals Black Reign's rat "Misty"
1 2 1 13 Predictably, "Barack Obama" v. "Hillary Clinton" angle fails
1 1 2 12 Kurt, Karen Angle have marital trouble, again and again
1 2 0 11 Vince McMahon puts Hornswoggle in Kiss My Ass Club
1 1 0 8 "Drinking Championship" belt created for James Storm
0 1 2 7 Kane carries Rey Mysterio's mask in burlap sack
0 1 2 7 Edge seduces Vickie Guerrero
1 0 0 5 Triple H keeps beating Jeff Hardy
1 0 0 5 RAW GM William Regal cancels matches due to crowd disrespect
0 1 1 5 Preacher accidentally marries Karen Angle, AJ Styles
0 1 0 3 Trevor Murdoch sings badly
0 1 0 3 Jackass stars invade RAW, Smackdown
0 1 0 3 Floyd Mayweather Jr. potatoes Big Show, then runs
0 1 0 3 Deuces Wild tag team tournament on PPV
0 1 0 3 CM Punk loses World Title without wrestling
0 0 1 2 Undertaker sends Edge "to hell"
0 0 1 2 Team 3-D must reduce their weight to 275 lbs. each
0 0 1 2 Karen's Angle Interview Segment
SHANE SPEAR: I almost put Trevor Murdoch's singing over Hornswoggle here.
That would've been like Boise State beating Oklahoma. But if you are
doing a singing gimmick and you only have to sing one chorus of one song,
you think you MIGHT want to learn the correct lyrics Trevor? The only
good think Lance Cade ever did was pop him in the mouth.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Whatta joke, giving away all that money did nothing for
RAW's ratings. And the RAW set was set up to collapse on McMahon...and
they sure made it obvious that it was set up that way. The set collapsing
onto Vince McMahon to put an end to Million Dollar Mania was in really bad
taste, due to the fact that a TNA crew member was killed a few weeks prior
under similiar circumstances. Worst angle, and I didn't think of this
earlier was William Regal going and stopping matches because the crowd
disrespected him. It was so bad I didn't watch RAW for a few weeks cause
I was so angered. That was part of why the TV product was suffering so
bad.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the best major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV
special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were
given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape)
1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble
1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV
1994: 03/20/94: WWF WrestleMania X
1995: 08/27/95: WWF SummerSlam
1996: 03/31/96: WWF WrestleMania XII
1997: 04/14/97: ECW Barely Legal
1998: 03/24/98: WWF WrestleMania XIV
1999: 08/22/99: WWF SummerSlam
2000: 01/23/00: WWF Royal Rumble
2001: 04/01/01: WWF WrestleMania X-7
2002: 08/25/02: WWE SummerSlam
2003: 03/30/03: WWE WrestleMania XIX
2004: 03/14/04: WWE WrestleMania XX
2005: 04/03/05: WWE WrestleMania 21
2006: 04/02/06: WWE WrestleMania 22
2007: 04/01/07: WWE WrestleMania 23
**2008**: 03/30/08: WWE WrestleMania XXIV
23 first place votes
20 second place votes
17 third place votes
9 7 0 66 03/30/08 WWE WrestleMania XXIV
4 1 3 29 01/27/08 WWE Royal Rumble
2 2 2 20 03/16/08 ROH Take No Prisoners
0 5 2 19 10/05/08 WWE No Mercy
1 1 2 12 02/17/08 WWE No Way Out
1 1 1 10 10/12/08 TNA Bound for Glory
1 1 0 8 06/01/08 WWE One Night Stand
1 0 1 7 12/29/07 ROH Rising Above
1 0 1 7 09/07/08 WWE Unforgiven
1 0 0 5 09/14/08 TNA No Surrender
1 0 0 5 08/17/08 WWE Summerslam
1 0 0 5 04/26/08 SHIMMER Vol. 17-18 tapings
0 1 0 3 10/19/08 SHIMMER Vol. 21-22 tapings
0 1 0 3 10/06/07 ROH Undeniable (aired 01/08)
0 0 1 2 07/29/08 WWE Night of Champions
0 0 1 2 06/28/08 ROH Vendetta II
0 0 1 2 06/13/08 AAA TripleMania XVI
0 0 1 2 04/13/08 TNA Lockdown
0 0 1 2 02/10/08 TNA Against All Odds
SHANE SPEAR: Take No Prisoners was an awesome show, with a fantastic main
event.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comment
while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the
TV when he/she is announcing.
Previous Winners:
1991: Dusty Rhodes
1992: Lord Alfred Hayes
1993: Randy Savage
1994: Dusty Rhodes
1995: Steve McMichael
1996: Dusty Rhodes
1997: Dusty Rhodes
1998: Larry Zbyszko
1999: Jason Hervey
2000: Mark Madden
2001: Mark Madden
2002: Jerry Lawler
2003: Jerry Lawler
2004: Jerry Lawler
2005: Jerry Lawler
2006: Don West
2007: Don West
**2008**: Don West
25 first place votes
20 second place votes
15 third place votes
15 1 2 82 Don West
5 14 2 71 Jonathan Coachman
3 4 7 41 Jerry Lawler
1 1 4 16 Tazz
1 0 0 5 Mick Foley
HACK-MAN: Lawler was spared my vote this year for Worst Color Commentator
due to the horridness that was Don West, Tazz, and Coach.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person who gives the worst interview in the biz. This
could be a wrestler or a manager.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ultimate Warrior
1991: El Gigante
1992: Ultimate Warrior
1993: Giant Gonzalez
1994: Yokozuna
1995: Hulk Hogan
1996: Ahmed Johnson
1997: Ahmed Johnson
1998: Warrior
1999: Sid Vicious
2000: Hardy Boyz
2001: Linda McMahon
2002: Triple H
2003: Al Wilson
2004: Lita
2005: Linda McMahon
2006: The Great Khali
2007: The Great Khali
**2008**: Mike Adamle
26 first place votes
25 second place votes
22 third place votes
7 3 3 50 Mike Adamle
4 5 2 39 Great Khali
3 0 1 17 Triple H
1 3 1 16 Braden Walker
3 0 0 15 Vickie Guerrero
2 1 1 15 Jeff Hardy
1 2 1 13 Hacksaw Jim Duggan
0 0 4 8 Cody Rhodes
1 0 1 7 Scott Steiner
0 1 2 7 Mark Henry
0 2 0 6 R-Truth
0 2 0 6 Batista
0 2 0 6 Abyss
1 0 0 5 ODB
1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan
1 0 0 5 Karen Angle
1 0 0 5 Festus
0 1 1 5 John McCain
0 0 2 4 Kenny Dykstra
0 1 0 3 Mr. Kennedy
0 1 0 3 Matt Hardy
0 1 0 3 Hillary Clinton
0 0 1 2 Ricky Ortiz
0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio
0 0 1 2 Eric Young
CRIMEFIGHTER: The guys in the presidental race are nominations? CRZ what
were you thinking?
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This
person should bring out the fans' wrath. Match quality is not paramount
here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.
Previous Winners:
1990: Ted DiBiase
1991: Cactus Jack Manson
1992: Jake Roberts
1993: Big Van Vader
1994: Bob Backlund
1995: Big Van Vader
1996: Steve Austin (Ring Master)
1997: Shawn Michaels
1998: Mr. McMahon (Vince McMahon)
1999: Triple H
2000: Triple H
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002: Kurt Angle
2003: Chris Jericho
2004: Triple H
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Edge
2007: Edge
**2008**: Chris Jericho
25 first place votes
25 second place votes
24 third place votes
10 4 1 64 Chris Jericho
5 8 4 57 Edge
2 3 2 23 Santino Marella
3 0 3 21 Randy Orton
2 2 2 20 Kurt Angle
3 0 2 19 Vickie Guerrero
1 2 0 11 Nigel McGuinness
0 2 1 8 John Bradshaw Layfield
0 1 2 7 John Morrison
0 0 2 4 William Regal
0 0 2 4 Larry Sweeney
0 0 2 4 Chris Hero
0 1 0 3 Vladimir Kozlov
0 1 0 3 Sara Del Rey
0 1 0 3 Jimmy Jacobs
0 1 0 3 James Mitchell
0 0 1 2 Mr. Kennedy
0 0 1 2 Angelina Love
SHANE SPEAR: Chris Jericho is a good heel because he's all grown up now.
Nigel McGuinness is a good heel because of his year long domination in
ROH. Santino Marella is a good heel because I tried to squeeze him in
wherever I legally could.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This
could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone
hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature.
Previous Winners:
1991: WCW loses Ric Flair
1992: WCW bans off the top rope moves under Bill Watts
1993: WCW tapes 13 weeks of TV at one time in Orlando, Fla.
1994: WCW lets Hulk Hogan control his scenarios
1995: WCW gives Hulk Hogan too much control
1996: WWF lets Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash go
1997: Sting doesn't wrestle for the entire year
1998: WCW sues Ric Flair, causing nearly five month absence from television
1999: (Tie) WCW lets big names go / WCW signs musical acts for Nitro
2000: WCW gives Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, and Saturn requested releases
2001: WWF botches seemingly surefire WWF/WCW "interpromotional" storyline
2002: WWE airs simulated necrophilia in attempt to foster controvery
2003: WWE pushes McMahons, announcers rather then pushing wrestlers
2004: WWE runs Diva Search during multiple segments of many weeks of RAW
2005: WWE airs "terrorist attack" on Undertaker soon after London bombings
2006: WWE repeatedly uses Eddie Guerrero's death as storyline material
2007: TNA books title win for Pacman Jones despite "no contact" clause
**2008**: WWE hires Mike Adamle
26 first place votes
25 second place votes
25 third place votes
4 3 0 29 WWE hires Mike Adamle
4 1 1 25 TNA pushes old farts instead of X Division
2 3 1 21 WWE runs "McMahon's Million Dollar Mania" promotion
0 5 3 21 WWE takes World title off CM Punk, doesn't allow feud with Chris Jericho
3 0 1 17 WWE makes Mike Adamle general manager of RAW
1 2 3 17 WWE lets Triple H squash future contenders in Elimination Chamber
1 2 0 11 WWE drops OVW as a developmental territory in favor of FCW
1 0 3 11 WWE buries MVP
1 0 3 11 TNA books main event with Scott Hall...who no-shows
0 3 0 9 TNA wastes a year of Christopher Daniels' career doing Curry Man
0 2 1 8 WWE replaces Joey Styles as ECW announcer with Mike Adamle
1 0 1 7 WWE pairs Manu with Ted DiBiase Jr. & Cody Rhodes
1 0 1 7 The CW fails to renew WWE Smackdown
1 0 1 7 Chris Jericho "save us" return squandered in upper midcard
0 2 0 6 WWE pushes heatless stiffs
0 0 3 6 WWE orders talent not to mingle with TNA guys during WrestleMania weekend
1 0 0 5 WWE tells Smackdown v. RAW 2009 reviewers not to show Triple H in a losing or defenseless position
1 0 0 5 WWE skips six months work of booking & randomly decides to push CM Punk to the title
1 0 0 5 WWE quietly retires Cruiserweight championship
1 0 0 5 WWE breaks up Vickie/Edge union
1 0 0 5 TNA resigns Kevin Nash
1 0 0 5 ROH fires Gabe Sapolsky
1 0 0 5 Chris Jericho doesn't feud with former champ CM Punk after World title win
0 0 2 4 TNA fails to resign Gail Kim
0 1 0 3 WWE signs Chris Harris, only to rename him Braden Walker
0 1 0 3 WWE invites presidential candidates to RAW
0 1 0 3 WWE assigns Triple H to Smackdown
0 0 1 2 TNA loses Low Ki/Senshi
0 0 1 2 All WWE programming becomes TV-PG
THAT DON GUY: The original reports of the memo telling "Smackdown vs Raw
2009" reviewers to "refrain from showing Triple H in a losing, defeated,
or defenseless position" were before the November 1 deadline.
CRIMEFIGHTER: Really how many retarded dumb@$$ blunders have WWE made this
year? It was really difficult to narrow it down to THREE. Just because I
have to pick three out of them all, dropping OVW was the dumbest mistake
because FCW has pretty much been nothing but a frathouse with lots of
partying, talent getting jailed for criminal mischief and geez, the
building where they base operations wasn't up to code. And the reason why
they cut OVW? Because Johnny Ace likes the party scene in Florida.
That's the ONLY reason. What a disaster. Second worst was replacing Joey
Styles on commentary with Mike Adamle, who wasn't anywhere close to being
up for the job...and whatta surprise, he's no longer with WWE. The last
one was CRIMINAL. It is NONE of the WWE's business what the talent do
during their off-time, as long as they aren't breaking the law. IT IS
NONE OF THEIR F***'IN BUSINESS!!! And these NAZIS at WWE fired people
because they went to watch a TNA taping? They should have their butts
sued off for that, because there is multiple instances of employers trying
to keep their workforce on the clock 24-7...the workforce sued, and the
judges made the employers PAY millions in back wages for unfair labor
practices. WWE best not think they're immune to paying out a judgement,
cause they're not.
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the worst major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV
special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were
given separate award categories.
Previous Winners:
1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash
1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas
1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX
1994: 06/19/94: WWF King of the Ring
1995: 03/19/95: WCW Uncensored
1996: 03/24/96: WCW Uncensored
1997: 01/25/97: NWO Souled Out
1998: 08/08/98: WCW Road Wild
1999: 10/10/99: Heroes of Wrestling
2000: 10/29/00: WCW Halloween Havoc
2001: 01/14/01: WCW Sin
2002: 06/23/02: WWE King of the Ring
2003: 06/15/03: WWE Bad Blood / 05/19/03: WWE Judgment Day (tie)
2004: 06/27/04: WWE Great American Bash
2005: 07/24/05: WWE Great American Bash
2006: 07/23/06: WWE Great American Bash
2007: 12/03/06: ECW December to Dismember
**2008**: 07/29/08: WWE Night of Champions / 05/11/08: TNA Sacrifice (tie)
19 first place votes
18 second place votes
15 third place votes
2 3 1 21 07/29/08 WWE Night of Champions
2 3 1 21 05/11/08 TNA Sacrifice
3 1 1 20 10/26/08 WWE Cyber Sunday
1 3 2 18 06/01/08 WWE One Night Stand
1 2 2 15 03/09/08 TNA Destination X
2 0 2 14 04/27/08 WWE Backlash
1 2 1 13 10/05/08 WWE No Mercy
2 0 1 12 09/07/08 WWE Unforgiven
1 1 2 12 12/02/07 TNA Turning Point
1 1 1 10 01/06/08 TNA Final Resolution
1 1 0 8 05/18/08 WWE Judgment Day
1 0 0 5 10/12/08 TNA Bound for Glory IV
1 0 0 5 08/17/08 WWE SummerSlam
0 1 0 3 06/08/08 TNA Slammiversary
0 0 1 2 04/13/08 TNA Lockdown
--
Christopher Robin Zimmerman
Award Description:
To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year. This
includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews,
charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In 1994, this award
was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In
1998, it was recombined into one.
Previous Winners:
1990: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1991: The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1992: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams
1993: The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin
1994: (overall/non-NA) The Steiners: Rick & Scott
1994: (NA) Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine
1995: (overall/NA) Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge
1995: (non-NA) Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi
1996: (overall/NA) Harlem Heat: Booker T & Stevie Ray
1996: (non-NA) Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat
1997: (overall/NA) The Eliminators: John Kronus & Perry Saturn
1997: (non-NA) NWO: Masahiro Chono & Great Muta
1998: New Age Outlaws: Road Dogg Jesse James & Badd Ass Billy Gunn
1999: Hardy Boyz: Matt & Jeff
2000: Edge & Christian
2001: Edge & Christian
2002: Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit
2003: Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team: Shelton Benjamin &
Charlie Haas
2004: America's Most Wanted: Chris Harris & James Storm
2005: America's Most Wanted: Chris Harris & James Storm
2006: A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels
2007: Paul London & Brian Kendrick
**2008**: John Morrison & The Miz
27 first place votes
27 second place votes
25 third place votes
15 5 1 92 John Morrison & Miz
3 1 4 26 Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin
2 2 1 18 LAX - Homicide & Hernandez
2 1 0 13 Age of the Fall - Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black
0 3 2 13 Evan Bourne & Rey Mysterio
0 3 2 13 Beer Money - James Storm & Robert Roode
1 1 2 12 D-Generation X - Triple H & Shawn Michaels
0 2 3 12 Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
0 2 2 10 Hardyz - Matt & Jeff
1 1 1 10 Briscoe Brothers - Jay & Mark
1 0 2 9 Beautiful People - Angelina Love & Velvet Sky
0 2 0 6 El Generico & Kevin Steen
1 0 0 5 Phoenix Twins - Tweek & Dash
1 0 0 5 Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries
0 1 1 5 Paul London & Brian Kendrick
0 1 0 3 Skullkrushers - Rasche Brown & Keith Walker
0 1 0 3 Hart Foundation 2.0 - Teddy Hart & Jack Evans
0 1 0 3 Carlito & Primo Colon
0 0 1 2 Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix
0 0 1 2 Lexie Fyfe & Malia Hosaka
0 0 1 2 Jesse & Festus
0 0 1 2 AJ Styles & Tomko
SHANE SPEAR: I'm filling out this ballot on November 30th. This reason I
bring this up is that Miz and Morrision have had two possible career
defining matches in the last two weeks. HOWEVER, since I'm being honest
in evaluating 2008 in the Nov-Oct timeframe given, The Age of the Fall had
a better period. Miz and Morrison are the clear future it seems though.
JIM CARSON: I don't know whether or not Teddy Hart is making a fool of
himself behind the scenes in Mexico, but he and Jack Evans are tearing it
up in AAA, teaming with Konnan and the others in Legion Extranjera. I
can't quite put them at #1 past Miz & Morrison, but Hart Foundation Dos is
a good enough reason to get Galavision.