The Piledriver Report 09.09.09: Wrestling’s Most Valuable Performer in 2009, So Far

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 09.09.2009

With the third quarter of 2009 coming to a close, it is time to start looking at the contenders for who will be named “Wrestler of the Year.” The battle has come down to two men. The choices may surprise you, as neither would be considered for the title in 2008. “The Piledriver Report” takes a look at the two men who are battling for the rights to be called 2009’s Wrestler of the Year.

As the Major League Baseball season starts to wind down, and the battle for playoff positioning becomes clearer, it's time to start thinking about baseball's individual awards. In the sports entertainment community, there is still four months until the end of the year. With three quarters of the year quickly coming to a close, it's not too soon to think about who will take home the top awards in wrestling.

Whether you are talking about the WWE's end of the year awards, the "Wrestling Observer" awards, or even 411's year-end awards, the time has come to start thinking about which wrestlers deserve to get some "Best Of" hardware. While there are numerous "End of the Year" categories that garner the interest of the fans, the top individual award would be "Wrestler of the Year."

A TWO MAN RACE




This year, there are many worthy contenders for the 2009 Wrestler of the Year award. Chris Jericho has continued to maintain the excellent standards that he set in 2008. Jeff Hardy gave an MVP level performance this year with his high quality matches, and rise as the top babyface in the WWE. Randy Orton has been the company's top heel for most of the first eight months of the year. For me, the "Wrestler of the Year" award will be a two-man race.

THE BEST LITTLE MAN IN THE WORLD TODAY



The first wrestler in the race is someone who would be considered a dark horse. This wrestler is Rey Mysterio, Jr. More then any other wrestler in the industry today, Mysterio has probably been the best in-ring performer. It seems like every week, you hear "Rey Mysterio" and "best match" in the same sentence together. First, Rey had a phenomenal feud with Chris Jericho. Every account that I read stated that Rey/Jericho had the best matches on their house show circuit during their feud. Each match they fought each other on pay per view was easily the best match that evening. The streak of great matches continued when Mysterio started his Intercontinental title feud against Dolph Ziggler. This past Friday night, Rey Mysterio, Jr. had arguably the best television match of the year against John Morrison. Rey Mysterio, Jr. has been a wrestling machine in 2009. Unfortunately, what may prevent Rey from winning the "Wrestler of the Year" award is his thirty-day suspension. It's not that he was taking "performance enhancers" that will ruin his chances. After all, this is not professional baseball. It's because he will lose thirty days of valuable storyline and television time to our other top contender.

THE MOST EXCITING PERFORMER IN THE BUSINESS TODAY



After winning the Money in the Bank briefcase, the World Heavyweight title and World Tag Team titles in 2008, CM Punk added more accolades in 2009. On January 19th, CM Punk won the WWE Intercontinental Championship to become the 19th Triple Crown champion. At WrestleMania XXV, Punk became the first person to win the Money in the Bank ladder match on two separate occasions. He cashed the briefcase in at the Extreme Rules pay per view, where he defeated Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight title. CM Punk would go on to lose the belt back to Hardy, only to regain the belt at Summer Slam.

Despite holding all of the accolades that have fallen upon CM Punk this year, these title belts are not the reason he is one of the clear cut favorites for the "Wrestler of the Year" award this year. The reason why Punk should be considered for 2009's Wrestler of the Year is because he did something that few performers in the WWE have success in doing. CM Punk was able to break through the WWE's glass ceiling, and become one of the top main event performers in the industry.

Looking back at wrestlers that busted through to find superstardom, there was always one event that helped sky rocket them to the top. For Hulk Hogan, it was January 23rd, 1984. On that day, the "Hulkster" was awarded the WWF World championship. For Steve Austin, his star exploded following his King of the Ring induction speech where he mentioned, "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass." Following his WrestleMania 13 contest against Bret Hart, there was no looking back for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The Rock was a boring babyface, who wasn't going anywhere in the WWF. However, when the WWF turned Rocky Maivia heel, and had him join the Nation of Domination, the "it" factor started to click inside The Rock. At the 1998 Survivor Series, The Rock captured his first WWF World title after joining Mr. McMahon's Corporation. It was this move that turned The Rock into THE ROCK!

Last year, CM Punk won his first World Championship. However, the title reign did nothing to elevate the "straight edge superstar." What was the big factor that helped turn CM Punk into the man who can help carry the SmackDown! brand while Edge is nursing his injury at home? The answer is simple. CM Punk was turned into a heel.

The second the WWF started Punk's slow heel turn, something inside him ignited. It seemed like CM Punk was just coasting over the past few years due to his popularity with the fans. However, once he was turned into a villain, Punk was re-energized. He seems more at home as a heel, and it shows in his performance. By preaching about living a straight edge lifestyle, CM Punk has become a cooler, more modern version of Kurt Angle's "three I's" that we saw earlier this decade.

What makes a great heel is that he needs to truly believe in what he is talking about. By playing off of his straight edge lifestyle, Punk's promos have felt like something that he is saying from his heart. His heel promos do not feel like the usual scripted WWE promos. You can actually hear the passion in his voice when he talks about saying no to drugs and alcohol. These promos were especially effective during Punk's feud against Jeff Hardy. Jeff Hardy played the sympathetic face, who has to live with his past mistakes. CM Punk "just says no," and won't let Jeff forget about his lifestyle as an addict. It was a perfect clash of personalities, and helped turn Punk into a main event heel.

While the year still has four months to go, it appears that the 2009 Wrestler of the Year can be announced with full confidence today. Unless someone has an outstanding Fall Season, the choice is obvious. CM Punk will be wrestling's MVP in 2009.