wrestling / Columns

The 2009 411 Year End Wrestling Awards (Part 2)

January 5, 2010 | Posted by Michael Bauer

Welcome to Part 2 of the 411Mania.com 2009 Year End Wrestling Awards. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Part 1!

REVIEW: Before we get to it, let’s take a look at the winners we’ve already announced to this point:

Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker (WWE)

Rookie of the Year: Frightmare (CHIKARA)

Breakout of the Year: Kofi Kingston (WWE)

Comeback Wrestler of the Year: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (WWE)

Disappointment of the Year: The Overall Lackluster Wrestlemania XXV(WWE)

Best Indy Show of the Year: PWG Threemendous III

And now that we have that out of the way…

2009 411 YEAR END WRESTLING AWARDS! (Part 2)

FREE TV MATCH OF THE YEAR

Honorable Mentions:
Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black (ROH on HDNet: 7.25.09) – 13 Points
Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio (WWE Smackdown: 7.10.09) – 4 Points
CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE Smackdown: 8.28.2009) – 10 Points
Evan Bourne vs. John Morrison (ECW: 4.14.09) – 3 Points
Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black (ROH on HDNet: 6.6.09) – 5 Points

3rd Place: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE Raw: 1.12.2009) – 19 points

2nd Place: Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles (TNA Impact: 10.15.09) – 27 points

And your winner is…:

Rey Mysterio vs. John Morrison (WWE Smackdown: 9.4.09) – 35 points

Samuel Berman: With Smackdown experiencing a revival of sorts over the Summer, a number of excellent matches made their way onto fans’ television screens, but perhaps none was more excellent or exciting than Rey Mysterio’s match with John Morrison from early September. Mysterio’s 2009 was perhaps the most unexpected in the sport, with tremendous performances against Chris Jericho highlighting his first half of the year and a series of great matches on free TV punctuating the latter half of his Summer before a wellness violation sidelined him for an extended period. Morrison’s year may have been nearly as surprising, as he matured into a confident fan-favorite, able to put on show-stealing matches week-in and week-out. Other matches have legitimate claims at this throne, but Mysterio vs. Morrison was something truly special.

Theo Fraser: Others will argue for some of the spectacular ROH on HDNet matches, such as Danielson vs Black, the Danielson/Strong/Kenta vs Wolves & Chris Hero six-man and Danielson’s final TV appearance against Strong, all of which provided magnificent TV main events. However, in terms of mainstream wrestling, there is little doubt that the Mysterio/Morrison classic on Smackdown this September is worthy of such a prestigious award. When Mysterio’s Wellness Policy test results came back negative, it was a foregone conclusion that the then-Intercontinental Champion would have to drop the belt, but little did we know we were in store for such a competitive and thrilling encounter. Mysterio clearly wanted to go out with a bang, and Morrison needed to show off his stuff to prove that he would be a worthy champion and wasn’t content with simply receiving the title by default. Morrison has had many a star-making performance this year, but this match certainly ranks right up there as a turning point for him, proving he could hang with the main event crowd. Shame the booking failed to capitalise on his momentum coming off of this big win, but that’s a separate issue. Back to the match at hand, Morrison was treated as a star in the making the whole time, which made the result that much sweeter, as there was no chance of it looking like a fluke win. Morrison was treated as Mysterio’s equal, countering much of his offense and kicking out of many of Rey’s signature manoeuvres, not to mention being given the chance to shine in the high-flying department, which is saying something when you’re in the ring with Rey Mysterio. By the time the bell rung at the end of the match, signalling a new champion, John Morrison looked like a million bucks and his stock went soaring. A fantastic match that should make any Best of 2009 compilation.

Aaron Hubbard: I watched this match again before writing about it. And I noticed something: one, it wasn’t nearly as spotty or as fast-paced as I remembered it being, and two, it had more storytelling than I remembered it having. However, make no doubts about it; this match won this award because it was so different from your typical WWE match that it stood out. Smackdown! had a great run of fantastic free TV matches from the Draft up until Jeff Hardy left (and I think that’s a big part of the reason, as without their top draw there Vince McMahon has become more interested in it), and this was one of the best, between two of the best. Morrison was one of the most consistently entertaining in-ring workers of the year, and Rey Mysterio has had a career renaissance of sorts, providing higher quality matches than he has since 2002. In this match, Mysterio showed us that he is still one of the best high-flyers in the business, and busted out moves he hadn’t done in years with all the precision of his younger days, and he even showed rare heel tendencies that made this one of his best performances. Morrison delivered on his end of the bargain, taking all of Mysterio’s best offense and unleashing his own. The match proved that WWE can deliver the kind of matches that TNA and ROH provide when they want too, and served as a symbolic passing of the torch between a high-flying legend and a man who has yet to become a true legend yet. My only knock on this match is that there were commercials, and I want to see a PPV rematch as soon as possible. Wrestlemania perhaps?

Chad Nevett: This match could have been forgettable given the circumstances. With Mysterio about to go on a one-month suspension for violating the company’s wellness policy, the Intercontinental Championship was being passed to John Morrison. Not a great situation for either man, but instead of doing the job and nothing else, they took this situation as a chance to prove themselves. Mysterio to prove that when he came back, they had better remember how good he is, and Morrison to prove that he deserved this title despite the poor circumstances. This year was a great year for both competitors as they delivered some of their best in-ring work on Smackdown with CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Edge, and Chris Jericho, and this match acts as a culmination of those efforts – and, sadly, as, perhaps, the last great Smackdown match of the year. This match was two of the most athletic and energetic guys in the WWE putting on a show to prove to everyone just how good they are despite the bad circumstances surrounding the match. And they succeeded.

STORY/SURPRISE OF THE YEAR (NON-KAYFABE)

Honorable Mentions:
Bryan Danielson, goes on stellar Final Countdown Tour. (ROH) – 4 Points
Nigel McGuinness signs with TNA after agreeing in principle to signing with WWE. (TNA) – 11 Points

3rd Place: Dragon Gate USA Forms. (DG USA) – 12 points

2nd Place: Hulk Hogan Signs with TNA (TNA) – 59 points

And your winner is…:

Shane McMahon resigns from the WWE. (WWE) – 60 points

Len Archibald: …So, who saw this one coming? Hands? Anyone? Horsemen of the Apocalypse? No? Okay. When 2009 began, Shane McMahon was throwing the girliest punches since the Cowardly Lion at Randy Orton and involved himself in (at the time) the biggest storyline the ‘E had to offer with Randy Orton vs. The McMahon Family (special guest appearance by Triple H.) So, to see the Boy Wonder go from that to just…up and leaving – was a bit of a shocker. Sure, it’s possible that he went to follow his mother’s senate run and will return – but there’s that other *small* chance that he’s looking to strike out for himself with an MMA promotion. Shane has always been considered the guy who actually has a mind for the “sports entertainment” business, moreso than Stephanie – or even his father at some moments – so to see him decide that he wants to face the world on his own morals is something that sent shockwaves through the industry. It won’t be until we’re into 2010 that we will see how deep those shockwaves will go.

Theo Fraser: 2009 has been quite a news-worthy year in the wrestling world, what with Hulk Hogan signing with TNA, Nigel McGuinness’ signing with TNA instead of WWE, and Bryan Danielson’s WWE signing, but none came close to the shock reaction that was caused by the news that Shane McMahon had resigned from World Wrestling Entertainment. Upon first seeing the news, the majority reaction was ‘WTF?!’ Shane McMahon, the CEO’s very own son…resigned to explore pastures new? A couple of years ago, Shane distanced himself from the product, staying off the air for quite some time and sticking to his public relations duties, but nobody would ever have expected him to actually leave the family company. I certainly didn’t know what to think. Rumors abound that Shane wants to enter the MMA industry in some form, while others believe he merely wants to support Linda in her political campaign. Whatever the case, Shane has his sights set on something, specifically stating his intentions to ‘pursue outside ventures’. Given a few months off for a well-earned rest, I imagine we’ll be hearing something exciting from the Shane O’ Mac camp in the near future.

John Meehan: Growing up a pro wrestling fan in the North Eastern United States, there was always one big company in town, and that company (regardless of the name it bore) always belonged to a family by the name of McMahon. Needless to say, wrestling fans like myself practically came to take it for granted that this World Wrestling whatever-ya-wanna’-call-it was, is, and would forever be controlled by a McMahon family heir. Now technically, in 2009, this fact didn’t change in the least — as Vince Jr. still owned majority share in the company while his daughter, Stephanie, continued to dictate most of the onscreen content. But behind the scenes, the McMahon family stranglehold on the World Wrestling Entertainment brand loosened considerably in the past 365 days nonetheless. First, Vince’s wife, Linda, parted ways with the company in hopes to nab a seat in the United States Senate. And then — out of NOWHERE — Vince’s own son, Shane McMahon, announced that he, too, would be leaving his family’s promotion in hopes to pursue interests outside of the professional wrestling arena. This is the same Shane McMahon who, of course, helped found the onetime World Wrestling Federation’s online presence and subsequently created the entirety of WWE.com as we know it today. This is also the same Shane McMahon who so famously “purchased” World Championship Wrestling and stood toe-to-toe with his own father in a WWF ring not so many years ago. And this also just so happens to be the very same Shane McMahon who most “insiders” had pegged to inherit a sizable chunk of the WWE empire once its current Chairman eventually stepped down from his duties. Wrestlers and contracted talent come and go so frequently these days that any one firing or departure rarely seems to merit more than a passing blip on the radar. But a McMAHON family member parting ways with World Wrestling Entertainment? Quite literally, it has only ONCE before happened in any a modern day wrestling fan’s lifetime — and even then, it was only under the most extreme of circumstances, and some three decades ago, to boot. In a phrase, nobody saw it coming. And that makes it an easy choice for the real-life surprise of the past year of professional wrestling.

Stephen Randle: If there was a scenario that absolutely nobody could have ever predicted, it would be that one of Vince’s children, who were born, raised, and bred to be a part of WWE, would suddenly leave the company to pursue other interests. However, that’s exactly what happened, as Shane McMahon, just months after making yet another return to television as part of the Triple H-McMahon Family vs Randy Orton feud, announced that he would be cutting ties with the promotion that put food on his family’s table and clothes on his back for his entire life, in order to…well, we don’t know yet. And that’s the real story: what will Shane McMahon, the man who is credited by many for forcing WWE and his father to change the age-old format, leading to the incredibly lucrative Attitude Era, as well as the man who has been in charge of expanding WWE into a global phenomenon, do now that he’s left the shelter of the only business he’s really known? Rumours have been flying ever since, ranging from helping his mother’s Senate campaign, to buying into UFC, to starting his own independent wrestling organization (unlikely), but for now, the former Boy Wonder is currently laying low. Where will he resurface? Nobody but Shane McMahon seems to know, but it’s almost certain that he will make an impact when he returns to the public eye.

WORST STORY/SURPRISE OF THE YEAR (NON-KAYFABE)

Honorable Mentions:
Former WWE stars continue to die at alarmingly early ages. (WWE) – 4 Points
Mr. Kennedy returns from injury, released a week later. (WWE) – 3 Points

3rd Place: Jeff Jarrett is forced out of TNA due to his relationship with Karen Angle. (TNA) – 13 points

2nd Place: Jeff Hardy declines to renew his WWE contract and is soon arrested for drug possession. (WWE) – 34 points

And your winner is…:

Mitsuhara Misawa dies in the ring. (NOAH) – 66 points

Ryan Byers: Sometimes, I wonder if the enjoyment that I derive from professional wrestling is worth the havoc that it wreaks on the lives of some of the wrestlers themselves. I have never felt that emotion as strongly as I did in 2007, when Chris Benoit killed his wife and child and it was later revealed that a possible contributing factor to that tragedy was the brain trauma Benoit suffered throughout his wrestling career. Though it is nowhere near the same level of tragedy, the in-ring death of Mitsuharu Misawa brought back the feeling that my enjoyment of professional wrestling was destroying people’s lives, and it brought it back up to a level that it had not reached since the Benoit story broke. Yes, you can try to write off the legendary Japanese wrestler’s death as a freak accident that could never be replicated, but the fact of the matter is that it would never have happened if not for the years of in-ring abuse that Misawa had taken by working one of the most physical styles in the history of professional wrestling. The man’s body was softened up to the point that a simple belly-to-back suplex, not even close to the level of the most brutal head-drops that he had taken during his career, severed his brainstem from the rest of his gray matter, killing him almost instantly. Even though his matches from the early 1990’s are widely considered among the best that the sport has every seen and even though they made Misawa into one of the biggest draws in the history of professional wrestling, his death made me and every person with a heart consider whether the continued existence of the professional wrestling industry is worth tragedies like this happening on a seemingly ever-increasing basis.

Jasper Gerretsen: Sadly, wrestlers dying young is becoming more and more common, but I think the death of Mitsuhara Misawa is easily the most tragic since the death of Chris Benoit. Where most wrestlers that die young die as a result of drug abuse, Misawa was one of the few to die in the ring. What made the death even more tragic is that the death wasn’t the result of some botched move, but years and years of high impact moves that have become the staple of the Japanese style. While the toll of this high impact style has long been known, with many wrestlers suffering from severe long term injuries, seeing a legend like Misawa die in the ring is just shocking. I myself had the chance to see Misawa in action live once, during Noah’s European Navigation show in June of 2008. In the main event I saw Misawa rekindle his legendary rivalry with Kenta Kobashi, as they teamed up with young stars Go Shiozaki and Naomichi Marafuji in a brilliant tag match that lasted nearly 30 minutes. Although Misawa had slowed down considerably in his later years due to the aforementioned injuries, he still left it all in the ring that night and I feel privileged to have seen him in action.

John Meehan: I’m no puro-junkie, and so I am probably well out of my depth to comment on the sheer significance of Mitsuhara Misawa’s career and/or his legacy to the “sport” of professional wrestling throughout the Japanese culture and abroad. What I *can* offer, however, is an analogy that is sure to hammer home the significance of the man’s passing — even if it’s only being felt or heard of second-and-third-hand by North American professional wrestling audiences who may never have had the opportunity to see Misawa perform live in a professional wrestling ring. Ready? Here goes: Imagine a guy like Ric Flair — circa five years ago, or so. Clearly past the out-and-out “prime” of his career, but still a certifiable legend and an active performer who’s more than capable of busting out a four-plus-star encounter when paired against the right opponent. Still with me? Right. Now let’s imagine that Ric Flair — living legend, wrestling pioneer, and certifiable celebrity — ends up taking one false move while inside the confines of the squared circle, and that one false move ends up costing him his very life. Right in the middle of the ring, no less — as thousands of his lifelong fans cannot help but watch in horror and dismay. Sounds like something right out of a Darren Aronofsky film, no? Sadly, such was precisely the case in 2009, when Japanese wrestling legend Mitsuhara Misawa’s career and life were cut short in a fashion both spectacular and tragic, as the puroreso juggernaut was killed in the very center of a professional wrestling ring. An absolutely devastating blow to the Japanese wrestling industry, and a wholly unthinkable tragedy to his many fans, friends, and devotees all across the globe.

Jeremy Thomas: Every year there seems to be some sort of tragedy that shakes professional wrestling. For the sake of sparing the comments section, I won’t discuss past ones in detail, but this year was no less tragic for the fact that it was (more or less) a simple accident in the ring with fatal consequences. On June 13th, Mitsuhara Misawa was in a tag team match against Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith at the Hiroshima Green Arena. He took a belly-to-back suplex from Saito and immediately lost consciousness. Upon being rushed to the hospital, he was pronounced dead as a result of internal decapitation. Misawa’s death was a huge blow to anyone who’s ever followed Japanese wrestling, where the man was an icon and is largely considered one of the best professional wrestlers of all-time. As Ryan said, it was kind of hard to be a wrestling fan for a little while after that. The one, single consolation is that Misawa’s death is, much like another, more infamous death of the last few years, bringing about positive changes as NOAH, AJPW and NJPW considered establishing industry-wide regulations designed to limit the deaths in the industry and creating a retirement system and health maintenance organizations. It doesn’t take the sting at Misawa’s death away, but it does bring a silver lining to an otherwise jet-black cloud.

FEUD/STORYLINE OF THE YEAR

Honorable Mentions:
American Wolves vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (ROH) – 9 Points
Degeneration X vs. Legacy (WWE) – 2 Points
The Rise and Fall of the Main Event Mafia (TNA) – 4 Points

3rd Place: Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE) – 29 points

2nd Place: Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho (WWE) – 36 points

And your winner is…:

Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk (WWE) – 60 points

Len Archibald: When CM Punk cashed in Money in the Bank to defeat newly crowned World Heavyweight Champ Jeff Hardy after his ladder match with Edge, most could see the writing on the wall; this was the seed planted to create a slow burn with Punk going full blown heel. What I didn’t expect was that the ‘E was going to go full tilt on Jeff’s – uh – “mistakes” and have Punk call him out for it. This is the CM Punk that most of us have been begging to see – the smarmy, self-righteous prick who uses the fact he has no vices (except one…it’s kind of like an anaconda…) as a tool to turn the crowd against him. Their back and forth over the summer was pretty much golden, establishing each as a main event threat and characters that had a well-defined justification. Of course, CM Punk will tout that he doesn’t need alcohol, pills or recreational drugs to get by and he gets BOOED for it, but that is neither here nor there. At the end of the day, both guys busted their asses for the audience, Jeff made right by being a good sport before he left and made Punk a legitimate star and the fans were thouroughly entertained.

Samuel Berman: Former 411 and The Cool Kids’ Table writer Brad Garoon will verify that I have long thought that had Eddie Guerrero not passed away just as CM Punk had signed with World Wrestling Entertainment, that the two could have had a legendary feud built on Punk and his straight edge philosophy taking potshots at Guerrero’s history of drug and alcohol abuse. When WWE pulled the trigger on that very angle (with Jeff Hardy subbing for the dearly departed Guerrero), needless to say I was very excited to see what would happen. What we found out was that Punk’s natural charisma and incredible heel edge translated more than well from his time in Ring of Honor to his new role as World Heavyweight Champion. The slow burn on this feud, which saw Punk go from a man simply following his beliefs to a self-righteous windbag, went all the way from an opportunistic Punk unseating Hardy for his belt to ultimately retiring him in a fabulous Cage Match on free TV. Perhaps this feud rang a bit too true to life, as within weeks of his “retirement”, Hardy found himself in legitimate legal trouble as a result of his pharmaceutical adventures. Perhaps Punk was right after all…

Stephen Randle: This was a feud that, quite honestly, many people thought would not happen. It relied on too many things. It needed Jeff Hardy and CM Punk to be main event talents, and carry the Smackdown brand without any of the other main eventers WWE has relied on for some many years. It also needed WWE to publicly acknowledge and talk about Jeff Hardy’s drug issues, something that they would normally shy away from in this new, Wellness-dominated wrestling world. It also needed to walk a very fine line, where WWE had to be clear that CM Punk was not a bad person for promoting a drug, alcohol, and tobacco-free lifestyle, but that he was bad for trying to dictate everyone else’s personal beliefs and generally being a dick. It was a feud that could have been a disaster, but it succeeded beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. Both men put everything they could into the story, and Jeff”s willingness to allow his personal life to become fodder for his professional career allowed the feud to have a personal, “real-life” vibe that drew the fans in nearly instantly. These two men carried the main event of Smackdown over the summer, elevating each other to instant credibility in the eyes of the fans and (more importantly) those in charge, and in addition to the excellent promo work, they tore the house down with the eventual PPV matches, including a TLC match that was a strong contender for Match of the Year. Indeed, this feud had everything: money promos, classic moments, excellent matches, and, most importantly, it had a definitive ending, where Jeff Hardy put CM Punk over, clean as a sheet, on his way out of the promotion, cementing Punk as a star in WWE.

Mathew Sforcina: OK, you can argue the morality of this feud, in that WWE got lucky no overly touchy watchdog group started complaining that WWE was condoning drug use. But you cannot argue that this, once you get past that hurdle, was a flawlessly run angle. CM Punk goes from a beloved, morally-centred young man to a despised, morally skew-whiff but deluded young World Champion. From the moment he won the World Title to the Epic Troll he did on the WWE Universe, Punk became the most hated man in the company, and Jeff Hardy gave his all to help him there. The eye injury, the moral justification (and he didn’t just think he was right, he WAS right!), and of course, those words actually being said on WWE TV, this was done perfectly.

WORST FEUD/STORYLINE OF THE YEAR

Honorable Mentions:
Main Event Mafia vs. TNA babyfaces (TNA) – 9 Points
Randy Orton vs. John Cena (WWE) – 11 Points
Santino Marella vs. The Guerreros (WWE) – 8 Points

3rd Place: Donald Trump Buys Raw (WWE) – 13 points

2nd Place: Randy Orton vs. Triple H/McMahons (WWE) – 38 points

And your winner is…:

Hornswoggle vs. Chavo Guerrero (WWE) – 52 points

Chad Nevett: I’m not sure the words exist to properly describe why this was the worst feud/storyline of the year, but I’ll give it a shot. On one side, we had a member of one of the most important and prestigious wrestling families, a multiple-title holder, one of the Smackdown Six, and one of the best in-ring workers in the WWE. On the other, we had a leprechaun. A leprechaun that, week after week, humiliated and bullied this once proud wrestler in matches set up to do nothing but make Chavo look foolish and stupid for no reason other than some inane idea that it would be funny. On rare occasions, it was, but, most of the time, it was just lame. And, for those of us who remember exactly how good Chavo is in the ring, it was frustrating to watch. You want to know how bad this was? It made me long for earlier in the year when Chavo was Vickie’s assistant. Those were the good ol’ days by comparison.

Stephen Randle: Hey, you know, there are worse things for Chavo Guerrero than being the guy who wrestles a midget in wacky gimmick matches every week for four months. The matches are generally quick, with minimal chance of injury, and at least he’s getting regular TV time on WWE’s flagship show. The problem is, I’m not Chavo Guerrero. I’m the guy watching television who wants to see things that entertain me. And when a good fifteen to twenty minutes of Raw is eaten up by this insipid feud which served no purpose other than to make Chavo Guerrero into an incompetent jackass and make a three-foot tall leprechaun one of the focal points of the show, well, it makes me just a little bit perturbed. The most basic reason for any feud is to elevate at least one person in the eyes of the fans. Did this feud do that? Well, I guess it elevated Hornswoggle, but he’s not going to be winning any major titles, or even wrestling on the next PPV, for that matter, so why would anyone bother with starting this insane feud in the first place?

Mathew Sforcina: This makes me cry. I mean, I’m sure Chavo is happy enough, getting paid a lot for easy comedy matches, even if the part of him that likes performing is probably hating himself. But this feud, this damm thing just never, ever ended. Chavo never got anything resembling a win, thus furthering the dragging, the matches were dull and uninteresting, and it elevated Hornswoggle, which is a phrase that should never be said. And of course, the worst thing is, Vince probably loved every second of this ‘ha-ha’ thing. But hey, at least it’s over now, and Hornswoggle is… In the main event… Ugh.

Jeremy Thomas: This is a “winner” that is near and dear to my heart, because few on-screen developments drew my ire more than the constant subjection we got to Chavo Guerrero’s repeated and unsuccessful attempts to get one over on Hornswoggle. Listen, I know that this particular feud had its fans who considered it the height of comedy. They’re welcome to it and I won’t judge…hey, some people think Meet the Spartans and The Love Guru are classic comedy. I very strongly suspect that those people are the same people that laughed at Chavo having to wear a cow outfit in a Texas Bullrope Match. This would have been bad but inoffensive in the long run had it run for one week. Or two weeks…hell, maybe even three. The Hornswaggle/Chavo Guerrero angle ran almost nonstop from July to December…fully half of the year. That goes beyond ridiculous. During that time we had Chavo get defeated in a Tuxedo Match, while wearing a blindfold, a Boxing Exhibition, the aforementioned Texas Bullrope match…it was almost as if the Raw Creative team had gone through the closet of gimmick matches and tried to find a wacky way to embarrass Chavo week after week. It ran well past the point that any amount of humor was possible to be found, and the damage to Chavo’s credibility was complete. This is a man who was ECW Champion, and he’s continually losing to a midget. He got beat by a Super-Soaker one week, for Christ’s sake. It’s a disgrace of a storyline that took way too much time on WWE television…and as a result, we were treated to two and a half to three minute matches as a norm. That’s perhaps the biggest problem of all with the whole mess.

WORST FED OF THE YEAR

Honorable Mentions:
Combat Zone Wrestling – 14 Points
Ring of Honor – 3 Points
World Wrestling Entertainment – 1 point

3rd Place: Hulkamania 17 points

2nd Place: IWA: Mid South 22 points

And your winner is…:

Total Non-Stop Action43 points

Aaron Hubbard: I think TNA suffers in this category of its television deal. Think about it: when only three companies are on television in the U.S. and only two of them are on a decent network. So, if one of those companies is the most financially successful wrestling company in the world (regardless of RAW’s horrible run this year), then the other company is going to suffer simply by being the most well known fed. I actually think TNA has taken great strides this year, especially in the last half with AJ Styles on top of the company as its champion. With AJ as Champion, Joe and Daniels as challengers, and Angle and Desmond Wolfe feuding beneath them, TNA has delivered in the ring. However, TNA still has issues. For one, there are WAY too many angles for me to even remember them, and I can never keep track of what is going on in the company. Second of all, the X-Division has been largely forgotten about. TNA is better than it was in 2008, but it still has a ways to go before I’ll call it one of the best federations. TNA is in too big of a position to still be making the mistakes that it makes. Compare this to CZW, a fed which was utterly atrocious this year, but nobody even cares enough about it to call it worst of the year.

Steve Cook: I have to agree with the point that Mr. Hubbard made…while promotions like IWA Mid-South & Pro Wrestling Unscripted can wallow in obscurity and not really bother anybody with their horrendous business practices and sketchy at best shows, TNA’s warts are visible for the majority of the country to see every week on Spike TV. Don’t get me wrong, TNA has some very good things going for it…a great talent roster that seems to get better by the day and a diehard fan base that’s very loyal to their product…whether you like “TNA Fan” or not, you can’t deny their passion. But, there are also a lot of bad things about the product. Too many angles going nowhere, misusage of most of their great talent, house shows being poorly promoted and drawing flies as a result, the presence of Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara…these are all things that my colleagues and many others don’t like. And since TNA is in the best position of any wrestling promotion to somehow compete with WWE someday, they receive a lot more criticism for their screw-ups than smaller promotions do. You’re going to be more angry if your state’s governor screws something up than if the mayor of a city on the other side of the state screws something up.

Stephen Randle: Let’s face it, TNA is not that bad. In a world where indy feds substitute brutal and gory hardcore brawls for actual wrestling, TNA is actually pretty darned good. However, there is one thing that constantly works against TNA and results in them earning this award on a regular basis. The problem is that TNA seems to have this innate ability to shoot themselves, repeatedly, in the foot. Every time TNA starts a hot angle, or debuts a new character, or goes in a new direction, they pique the interest of wrestling fans, and this past year, they even hit new ratings highs for Impact. The problem is, within a month, or two months, or maybe even a couple weeks (due to the bi-weekly taping cycle), TNA begins acting like a small child with ADHD, taking everything that was working about their new hot streak and turning it on its ear in as many ways as possible. They blow off feuds within two weeks of them starting. They over-use gimmick matches on free TV, then have them end in under five minutes. They forget about people that they were pushing the previous show, or just stick them in placeholder feuds because of the logjam they created at the top of the card with the Main Event Mafia. The most disappointing part of it all is that TNA has, undeniably, a roster full of some of the most talented wrestlers in the world, and if they could only keep the ship on an even keel for months at a time, they might be able to maintain those high ratings instead of sliding right back down to the usual baseline, or draw more paying fans to their house shows and PPVs. And here we are again in 2010, with TNA’s latest attempt to take on WWE, signing Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, and planning a three-hour Monday night Impact to go up against Raw on January 4th. And while TNA will undoubtedly pull out all the stops for that night, they can’t lose sight of the fact that they have to continue to do that night in and night out, month after month, if they ever want to be considered anything less than a second-tier organization, and a constant disappointment to wrestling fans.

Mathew Sforcina: Yet again, I must point this out: This is more about failed achievement than actual crappyness. I can guarantee you that, if you live in a populated area of the world, within driving distance of you is a small indy/backyard fed that had some shows and probably never broke 2 stars and was just a chore to sit through. By pure comparison, TNA doesn’t belong here. But it gets the award not due to the level of it’s suck, since it actually had a somewhat OK year, overall. But TNA shouldn’t be doing OK. TNA should be, while not on par, a serious, legit threat to WWE. They have all the talent needed to put on superb shows every damm time. But they don’t, and so once again, we ‘award’ TNA’s failure to get itself together. But hey, maybe next year we might not have any crap to hang on them and we might give this award to an actually BAD fed…

WORST PROMO OF THE YEAR

Honorable Mentions:
D-Generation X’s Birthday Present to Mr. McMahon. (WWE Raw: 8.24.09) – 6 Points
Dolph Ziggler cuts a stand-up routine on Pat Patterson and completely kills the crowd. (WWE Breaking Point: 9.13.09) – 9 Points
Sgt. Slaughter pisses on the live Canadian audience for no discernible reason other than offending a sizeable portion of the non-US fan base. (WWE Raw: 8.10.09) – 7 Points
Vince McMahon confronts “E. Stanley Kroenke” (WWE Raw: 5.29.09) – 14 Points

3rd Place: Kid Rock’s Concert (WWE Wrestlemania XXV) – 24 points

2nd Place: Shane McMahon returns to WWE totally out of shape and leaves Legacy despite punching the air more than half the time. (WWE Raw: 1.26.09) – 25 points

And your winner is…:

The Abraham Washington Show Debut (WWE ECW: 6.30.09) – 35 points

Len Archibald: Holy holy hell, was this bad. I mean…Even now, I’m still trying to figure out exactly what purpose Abraham Washington serves other than to keep Tony Atlas on the payroll (which, btw, he is AWESOME as his interpretation of Ed McMahon.) This was before the “applause” sign, or Atlas’ laugh, or even before Washington showed a sense of comfort with the live crowd. The Bella Twins were terrible, Abraham was fumbling and falling flat on his face with jokes that Bob Sagat would find unfunny and – this was just BAD. At first, I thought the WWE was trying to cash in on the Obama-craze, because it seemed as if Washington was trying to mimick Obama’s tone and cadence, but now we know that was NEVER the case. Shame, WWE Obama probably would have been worlds better.

Ari Berenstein: Take an Arsenio Hall talk show concept and strip away anything likable about it and about its host (and for what it’s worth, in his time Hall did have a charisma and likeability about him that made his show work). Add in a guy WWE hired in part because they thought he looked like Barack Obama and who has a voice as annoying as Steven A. Smith giving a basketball rant on ESPN. Then use jokes that go over like a lead balloon and wouldn’t be funny to a deaf person. Mix in a pair of twins who were feuding then weren’t feuding then were then weren’t…and who had less personality than Moppy. Not like Abraham was asking the best questions—”how long have you two looked alike?” “Who had the best grades in school?” Thrilling stuff. I think Miss America contestants are asked tougher questions. And oh yeah, he manages to reference O.J. Simpson in his very first appearance. Good lord. So there you have it—The Abraham Washington Show. You know, the whole concept wouldn’t have been so bad if they used it like the old Brother Love show in the 1980’s and early 90’s—a segment with an annoying host but whose involvement frequently led to the start of big angles and matches. Instead, many of these segments have no point at all other than to take up time and annoy people with horrible “comedy”. The sole saving grace of this show has been Tony Atlas in the Ed McMahon sidekick role. That has taken this from absolutely horrible to a cult-like level of “so bad you have to watch it to see how bad it can get.” But that’s just it—I can’t watch it. I can’t stand it.

Stephen Randle: Good Lord, this was an awful idea that was poorly executed. The titular host Washington seemed lost out there, he displayed a startling lack of charisma, comedic timing, or interview skills, and he wasn’t at all helped by the fact that his debut guests happened to be the two least interesting personalities on the WWE roster: the Bella Twins! Seriously, who wants to hear an interview segment focussed on Nikki and Brie, whose sole duty these days is to make nice with the guest hosts on Raw every week? This segment ate up an entire fifteen minutes on a show that only gets to run for one hour every week, and it felt like an eternity. And they’re paying both Abraham Washington and Tony Atlas salaries to do this and not participate in anything wrestling-related? The worst part is, people have been so desperate to not feel like this crap is deliberately wasting their time many weeks on ECW, they’re actually trying to say that the Abraham Washington Show is getting better. I personally don’t see it, and while there’s a slim chance that it may well be getting incrementally more tolerable each time they trot it out to die in front of the live crowd, the show’s initial debut sank it into a bottomless pit from which it will most likely never fully escape.

Mathew Sforcina: The ‘Show within a Show’ idea is not new in Pro Wrestling. Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, guys who can talk having these things is not new, and when done well, they are great for furthering angles, getting people over, they are useful. But they all need one thing at the center of them, and that’s someone who can talk, and do so comfortably. Debuting someone in one is questionable. Debuting Mr. Washington this way was just stupid. While it’s very, very slowly improving (Tony Atlas being the exception since that’s a BIG boost), the debut, with The Bella Twins (who are even WORSE speakers than Washington), was painful to sit through, and just plain horrible. Although I suppose WWE should get a mark for sticking with it, I guess….

Be sure to check out Part 1 now, Part 3 tomorrow, and Part 4 on Thursday!

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Michael Bauer

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