The 2011 411 Wrestling Year End Awards Part One: Breakout Star, Top Announcer, Biggest Disappointment, More

Posted by Scott Rutherford on 01.09.2012

Was the Rock the comeback wrestler of 2011? Was CM Punk the year's biggest breakout star? Was anyone worse than Michael Cole at the announcing booth? The 411 staff begins their look at 2011 with part one of the 411 Wrestling Year End Awards!

Welcome to the 411mania.com Year End Wrestling Awards. I am your host, Scott Rutherford, here to bring you the best and worst from 2011! In a year that saw, and much, much more, our staff got together, voted, and wrote about all the craziness from this year! With that said, we have a several platefuls, so let's get to it!

Voting went as follows. Staff could vote for three places per category; 5 points awarded for 1st place vote, 3 points for 2nd place vote, 1 point for 3rd place vote.

Before anything else, let me thank everyone who voted and participated in this year's Awards. And in no order, here they are:

ARI BERENSTEIN
STEPHEN RANDLE
AARON FRAME
WES KIRK
T.J. HAWKE
KEVIN FORD
ROBERT S. LEIGHTY Jr
JACK STEVENSON
RYAN BYERS
DIMITRI DORLIS
JEREMY THOMAS
CHAD NEVETT
STEVE COOK
JACK BRAMMA
COLIN RINEHART

So without further ado here's your…

411MANIA'S WRESTLING YEAR END AWARDS 2011!
Part One

WINNER: Jim Ross – 50 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: Excalibur – 22 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: William Regal – 19 Votes

ARI BERENSTEIN
It's almost as if Jim Ross won this year out of default. He was present off-and-on in the commentary booth throughout the past year, but even in that part-time role and trying his best to rise above the constant ribbing and bullying still managed to demonstrate that he is the best professional wrestling commentator of the modern era. The paucity of quality commentators being used by WWE helped his case. Whenever Ross showed up, it was a breath of fresh air. His appearance and work at Wrestlemania 27 was a welcome relief and a guarantee that the rest of the show would be called with the proper respect due to such an event (especially given some of the awful announcing at Wrestlemania XXVI and other Pay Per Views by Cole, Lawler and Matt Stryker). "Welcome Relief" does get at the core of Jim Ross's appearances in the booth on Raw, especially with Michael Cole's act wearing extremely thin. WWE clearly wanted Michael Cole to be the voice of the promotion and with him on almost every show this year it is difficult to say that didn't happen. Yet, Ross took back that moniker every time he returned, not because WWE wanted it, but because the fans knew he was so much better than anyone else they had. He took everyone in the booth to school and reminded us that IS possible to talk about the match in the ring and it IS possible to get over the wrestlers and the product as a whole. That WWE has ignored the benefits of having their lead announcer and show pitchman being someone with those qualities doesn't mean those of us at 411Mania have followed likewise.

Mention should be given to both Excalibur and William Regal, who have become the entertaining and educating backbone of the respective programs for which they commentate (PWG DVDs and FCW television). In particular, Excalibur has come such a long ways over the years by cutting down on the meandering, Mystery Science Theatre 3K style of commentating from earlier years. He is still great at improvisational talking and half the fun is listening to his freewheeling rapport with his rotating broadcast partners, but he is also extremely talented at getting over the wrestlers and explaining the programs in the promotion at the same time. He was my choice for announcer of the year…and "THIS….IS…SERIOUS!" As for Regal, he is incredibly gifted at wrestling gab, putting over his immense respect and awe at the talented young wrestlers on the FCW show while explaining the ongoing strategy of the match in using certain moves at certain times

JEREMY THOMAS
I hate to say it, but I agree with Ari that good ol' JR kind of wins this one by default. Announcing and commentating hit a low point for me in 2011 and we'll get into that in more detail in another category, but it does say a lot when our Announcer of the Year didn't actually announce for eight and a half months out of the year. However, that time away from the booth just made us appreciate him that much more. I did JR's 411 Hall of Fame induction last year and I have no hesitation in saying that he is my all-time favorite announcer. Sure, his work in 2011 wasn't his greatest, partially because of who and what he had to work with, but it brought an instant rise to the quality of the announcing on Raw and forced Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler to step up their games, to both positive and negative effect. It's a simple fact: the second the Sooner theme song played and that cowboy hat-wearing man made his way down toward the booth, you knew that things were about to get better at the announcing table and there is pretty much no one else that guaranteed quality in 2011, with the possible exception of William Regal. This award is JR's all the way.

TONY ACERO
With Jim Ross being on top this year, yet only announcing a handful of times, there's really only two conclusions one can come to: Jim Ross is the be all, end all of all announcers, past and present OR 2011 was quite possibly one of the worst years for announcers. I tend to lean towards the latter. In 2011, we saw Striker, a guy who was growing as an announcer and had a unique perspective on the product, turn into a caricature of himself and Mr. Hyperbole. In 2011, we saw Michael Cole come from the announcer that all of us wondered why he had a job to the announcer that all of us want to kill. In 2011, we saw Booker T try his hand at announcing and pretty much do a terrible job, with the only saving grace being that he is a likable guy who was noticeably trying. Oh yes, in 2011 we had some crap behind the booth and Cole really takes the cake. With this as the basis of the awards, then it's really no surprise that Jim Ross, the only man on the list of announcers that tended to get the product and what the JOB of an announcer is, takes the award. I will not shy away from giving Regal credit, however, for if you watched NXT (all 11 of you, as I like to always say) then you saw he commentated the matches just as he would wrestle them, meticulously and with bloody detail! While Regal may be having his last days in the ring, I do feel he'd make an excellent guy behind the table. Jim Ross, I won't say you didn't deserve this title this year, but I feel that it's only because you were the best of the worst this year.

WES KIRK
Although he's been mocked, made fun of, humiliated, and beaten bloody on national television by the company that employs him, Jim Ross was able to make a career out of being the top play-by-play announcer for the WWE. One of the reasons he kept being brought back was due to the other announcers not having the passion and unique phrasing Ross uses to keep matches interesting and fans watching, rather than tuning out and hitting the mute button. Injuries, sicknesses, and WWE's own poor treatment of Ross hasn't stopped him from showing up and immediately becoming the best announcer at the seat whenever he arrives. I don't know Excalibur, unfortunately, but I am familiar with William Regal and know that he's put forward a terrific performance unlike most ex-wrestlers at the booth and he's an entertaining commentator although he also knows enough to relate his experiences to the action in the ring.

++++


WINNER: Michael Cole – 59 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: Booker T. – 28 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: Jerry Lawler – 19 Votes

JEREMY THOMAS
Man, as I stated elsewhere did I hate the state of announcing in 2011, particularly in WWE. Don't get me wrong, TNA had their problems as did many of the smaller feds that ran televised shows, but they were all at least consistent with years past in this respect. WWE's commentator booth fell into a sinkhole in 2011 and it rarely if ever climbed out of it. Both Raw and Smackdown saw some truly painful announcing; Booker T came in as a color commentator and promptly embarrassed himself by babbling on about nonsense half the time and being thoroughly unable to decide whether he was a face or a heel. Here's a little hint, Booker: tweeners are tricky enough to pull off right in the ring. At the booth, it's nearly impossible. Meanwhile Jerry Lawler's lack of giving a rat's ass about his job went to new levels as he put his mouth on autopilot. King just doesn't care anymore so he paints the WWE's roster in such broad strokes that they all look the same through the King's eyes: Hot Babyface Diva, Hot Heel Diva, Unattractive Heel Diva, Upstanding Babyface, Nefarious Heel and John Cena. There is by and large no variation from him on this and I'm surprised that he even remembers the names of who he's talking about from segment to segment.

Thus, as much as I hate those men, you can imagine how much more I hate Cole's announcing that I pretty much agree with him at #1. I personally hated Lawler more but at least Lawler just didn't care and let apathy reign when he opened his mouth. Michael Cole took the character of an annoying, cocky-yet-chickenshit heel and drove it so far down our throats that we were ready to gag on it. I realize that Cole only has partial responsibility here; he didn't push himself, Vince McMahon did. However, Cole came up with the character's mannerisms and style of telling us not to give a shit about the people in the ring. That's what he does on a constant basis; look at how he buried NXT. I am of the firm belief that, quality of the show notwithstanding, a wide margin of why people stopped caring about NXT had to do with the fact that Cole kept crapping on it. If you tell your fans not to like your product, even through the villain, they will not like your product. I don't care how much Vince was bellowing into Cole's ear, he's come up with at least a good portion of his shtick on his own, largely creating the man who's been shoved down our throats. For that, he earns this "award" with ease.

CHAD NEVETT
I wish that this could be given to the worst announce team of the year, because Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler would get my vote. Both make good candidates for the worst announcer for almost opposite reasons: Cole works hard at a character that's grating, annoying, and entirely inappropriate for his role as play-by-play man/'Voice of the WWE;' and Lawler is loved by all and doesn't even try anymore. For me, the latter is the worse of the two. I'd rather see a guy giving 100% behind a character/direction that's flat out awful than someone who's just collecting a paycheck. Together, though, those two make Monday Night Raw almost impossible to watch with the sound on. Cole winning this isn't all on him. As I've said, he works hard and, given what's he told to do, he does it well. What he's told to do is flat out stupid 99.9% of the time. It's a baffling move to have the so-called 'Voice of the WWE' trashing wrestlers you want to put over and annoy people to the point where it's not uncommon for viewers to mute their TV sets so they can enjoy matches in peace. Cole's current character taints everything he touches and part of that responsibility falls on Lawler's shoulders. Maybe if he gave a fuck, the two could develop a strong face/heel relationship at the announce desk. Instead, I'm wishing we could give this award to both men, because they are the worst announcers in wrestling right now.

WES KIRK
How Michael Cole is still employed is absolutely unknown to me. This is an announcer who is much the same useless nimrod that was hired fourteen years ago to help with Monday Night RAW except now he's got a douche bag personality to make him even more annoying. In addition to his inability to call a scoop powerslam correctly Michael Cole buries the talent that compete in the ring, rags on his partners, goes into rants about himself and his beliefs during a wrestling match, and quite often gets more in-ring time and on-air time than half the wrestlers. The very reason the MUTE button was invented was the rantings of this jackass. Then there's his Smackdown sidekick, Booker T. Booker has found himself in a world of trouble trying to become a commentator with some of the most inane, stupid clichés and half-witted statements I've ever heard. From his seemingly endless Fav 5 list to his trademark cries of "OHHHHHH MY GOOOOODNESS" or "WHAT THE HEYULL?" the man is the very epitome of hamming it up and most of the time, he has no clue what the hell he is saying. At one point he got so frazzled at commentary he coined the ridiculous phrase of "sucky ducky quack quack" of which only he apparently knows the meaning, and listening to him is like watching a car wreck taking place in that it is a horrible thing but you are mesmerized with watching it happen. Lawler is a pathetic shell of what he used to be in the 1980's and 1990's with his now butter knife sharp wit and reused one-liners that were old when the Dead Sea was only sick...see what I mean?

RYAN BYERS
WWE's announcing has consistently been my least favorite part of their product in 2011. There are several reasons for that and several people on their team who I never want to see around a microphone again, but the biggest offender, far and away, has been Michael Cole. Don't get me wrong, though. Michael Cole has been instructed to play a heel character, and, when it comes to playing that heel character, he's actually pretty good at it. The problem isn't that Michael Cole is bad at playing heel. The problem is that your lead play-by-play announcer should NEVER be playing heel. Heel color guy who is the sidekick to a straight-shooting face announcer? Fine. But in the entire history of professional wrestling, the lead announcer - whether it's Gordon Solie, Jim Ross, Lance Russell, or even somebody not quite as good - has always been and should always be the voice of the company. He's the guy who is supposed to take how the promoters want fans to feel about a particular piece of talent or a particular angle and plant that message in viewers' brains. Jim Ross would tell you Steve Austin was the toughest son of a bitch on the planet and you had to buy Summerslam to see him get his revenge against the Undertaker, and you would believe it and pay over your money accordingly. Lance Russell tells you that you need to get over to the MidSouth Coliseum to see the King vie for his championship in an important match? You're going to buy your ticket. Basically, the play-by-play guy is the promotion's number one salesman, and what he's selling is the company line. So, what happens when you take the traditional lead announcer role and hand it over to heel Michael Cole? He goes on tirades and calls guys like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and Zack Ryder total geeks and then the promotion sits there scratching its head when segments featuring Bryan, Punk, and Ryder lose viewers in quarter-hour television ratings because the guy who is supposed to give out the company line has established that the company line is that these guys don't matter. He tries to promote a pay per view by telling people that it'll be a show worth watching, but, the rest of the time he's on television, he's a lying heel . . . so nobody believes him regarding the quality of the upcoming PPV, nobody buys, and buyrates drop. Thus, even though Michael Cole is a good heel and is doing exactly what he's told, the concept of Michael Cole as conceived by WWE is so counterproductive to what wrestling is supposed to accomplish that I have to tag him as the Worst Announcer of 2011.

++++


WINNER: Obariyon – 27 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: Jakob Hammermeier – 15 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: Daichi Hashimoto – 13 Votes


RYAN BYERS
In an interesting statistic, the CHIKARA Wrestle Factory has now produced 411mania's "true" rookie of the year in three of the last four years. In 2008, the tag team of the Osirian Portal took home the prize. In 2009, it went to the diminutive demon Frightmare. Now, after WWE took the award home in 2010 thanks to Percy Watson (Whatever happened to him, anyway?), the honor returns to CHIKARA this year with Obariyon. Obariyon is one third of the Batiri, a trio who first appeared during the summer of 2010 under the guidance of Sinn "Kizarny" Bodhi. The entire group of Batiri, which includes fellow rookies Kodama and Kobald, has developed into a hell of a unit in CHIKARA. All three of the wrestlers display a ring presence and a sense of timing that is well beyond their years in the business, but, of the group, Obariyon has emerged as the clear-cut leader in terms of development as a wrestler. During their short run in professional wrestling, the Batiri have had matches against the likes of the Super Smash Brothers, the Osirian Portal, Incoherence, and even a title match with then-CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw. Though Obariyon and his partners haven't come out on the winning end of the majority of these bouts, the fact remains that most of them have been significantly better than they had any right to be in terms of quality, and that speaks a lot to how far these guys have come along in a short period of time. CHIKARA is currently on hiatus for the winter months, but, when they return to action in 2012, I can only imagine that Obariyon will have a much more significant role in the new "season," and he may even be in championship contention.

AARON FRAME
This was a bit of an interesting result here. Well, then again, there wasn't much in terms of new guys coming in to the business. But along come Batiri, the team of Kodama, Kobald, and your 411 Mania rookie of the year, Obariyon, straight from CHIKARA's own dojo I do believe. And they've had a decent year as a group, but Obariyon has been the stand out of the three. Batiri has had matches against the great teams of CHIKARA such as Osirian Portal, Super Smash Bros, and Quackenbush and Jigsaw. An impressive resume for the three. While Batiri didn't get many victories, they did showcase the skills that they have, mostly Obariyon. I think he's been the most impressive and improved. When I first saw Obariyon, I believe it was Young Lions Cup '10 as he scored victories over Dustin Rayz and Mike Sydal but came up short in the 6-way elimination. But this was mid 2010, so I'd look to his match with Frightmare from Creatures From the Tar Swamp for the Young Lions Cup and against Jigsaw at Small But Mighty. He has easily proven that he has the talent to make it on his own, but right now I think he fits perfectly in the team dynamic and I'm excited to see what comes from Obariyon and Batiri in 2012.

KEVIN FORD
I am thrilled to see Obariyon win this award. Obariyon made his debut, shrouded in mystery at the 2010 Young Lions Cup tournament. Over the course of the weekend he pinned Midwest standout Dustin Rayz, ROH/CZW golden boy Adam Cole, BattlArts' Keita Yano, and Matt Sydal, brother of WWE superstar Evan Bourne. To say that Obariyon made a mark in his debut weekend would be understatement. Just a few weeks later, Kodama hit the scene and began teaming with Obariyon. It was clear from their debut as a team that while Kodama had potential, Obariyon was the clear stand out of the two. One does not need to look any further than Obariyon & Kodama's match against the Super Smash Bros. at "The Dark Ciberknetico" to see how truly talented this team is. In Obariyon's fifth match in CHIKARA, he stole the show with that very match. Who else can you say that about in any company ever? Little known fact: Obariyon is the only person in CHIKARA history to be in King of Trios and get a shot at both the Young Lions Cup and Campeonatos de Parejas all in their debut year. To me, that statistic in itself speaks volumes of how valued Obariyon has become to CHIKARA overall. Although The Batiri have not shared some of the limelight at the top of CHIKARA's cards, they remain consistent in terms of both match quality and entertainment. 2012 seems like a year for Obariyon and the rest of the Batiri to begin climbing the ladder to reach their ultimate potential.

++++


WINNER: Tony Nese – 17 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: Tomassa Ciampa – 16 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: Rosita – 12 Votes


KEVIN FORD
I am thrilled to see Obariyon win this award. Obariyon made his debut, shrouded in mystery at the 2010 Young Lions Cup tournament. Over the course of the weekend he pinned Midwest standout Dustin Rayz, ROH/CZW golden boy Adam Cole, BattlArts' Keita Yano, and Matt Sydal, brother of WWE superstar Evan Bourne. To say that Obariyon made a mark in his debut weekend would be understatement. Just a few weeks later, Kodama hit the scene and began teaming with Obariyon. It was clear from their debut as a team that while Kodama had potential, Obariyon was the clear stand out of the two. One does not need to look any further than Obariyon & Kodama's match against the Super Smash Bros. at "The Dark Ciberknetico" to see how truly talented this team is. In Obariyon's fifth match in CHIKARA, he stole the show with that very match. Who else can you say that about in any company ever? Little known fact: Obariyon is the only person in CHIKARA history to be in King of Trios and get a shot at both the Young Lions Cup and Campeonatos de Parejas all in their debut year. To me, that statistic in itself speaks volumes of how valued Obariyon has become to CHIKARA overall. Although The Batiri have not shared some of the limelight at the top of CHIKARA's cards, they remain consistent in terms of both match quality and entertainment. 2012 seems like a year for Obariyon and the rest of the Batiri to begin climbing the ladder to reach their ultimate potential.


AARON FRAME
Nese was definitely my first choice for this category. He's done some damn good things over on Impact Wrestling. I'm a huge fan of Tony Nese. He's a damn good worker and I'm excited to see him do his thing in the X-Division. I remember watching the three-way match between him, Jesse Sorensen, and Jack Evans. That match showcased all three men extremely well. And I remember watching that match being excited to see more of all three men. And now I've been watching Nese go head to head against Zema Ion and these matches are showcasing Nese so much better. I happen to root for Nese over Ion mostly because I'm not a big fan of Ion's "pretty" thing. Nese is a legit looking kicker of ass, for lack of better term. Granted he has that generic cookie cutter look as opposed to Ion's flamboyant look, but I think that works in favor of Nese. His look doesn't catch the eye, but it's not distracting. I see big things in the future of Tony Nese. Definitely a future X-Division Champion.

++++



WINNER: Mark Henry – 41 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: C.M. Punk – 35 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: Bully Ray – 16 Votes


WES KIRK
A lot of people probably would never have picked Bully Ray to up his game and compete in individual matches that earned respectable ratings as well as buzz about a potential world championship but the former tag team mainstay did just that this year. With his conversion into a bully character, Ray has upped his mic skills and performed better in the ring as well as putting over his competition and not burying them, following the Dory Funk Jr. style of promo. Ray has consistently been putting on good matches and achieving success as a singles wrestler, which is something probably none of us thought would ever happen when Team 3D split up! CM Punk is the man who truly should be the breakout star of the year as he has it all: Skills on the microphone, skills in the ring, the ability to think for himself and help others get over, and his endless love for the WWE ice cream bars! Punk is a breath of fresh air to a stale and bloated main event scene devoid of charisma and originality and has single-handedly been putting on clinics with wrestlers all year long in addition to becoming the WWE champion over John Cena of all people! Punk's popularity and his consistent performances finally were rewarded in 2011 with his push as the third top face of the company next to Cena and Orton. And as for the "winner" of this supposedly prestigious award? Putting this fat slob over CM Punk is quite possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever seen, but whatever. Mark Henry is a big man who can't work a microphone very well and who has a highly limited offense, but despite his many limitations he was given a monster heel push and allowed to become World Champion. His matches continue to suck, his promos continued to suck, but there is no denying for one reason or another management was suddenly high on Henry and gave him the push of a lifetime in 2011.

GREG DEMARCO
It's so rare that the Breakout of the Year category be dominated by veterans. Yet, the top three vote getters in this category bring a combined 49 years of experience (16 for Mark Henry, 12 for CM Punk, and 21 for Bully Ray). But in their own way, each had a break out year in 2011. The split of Team 3D left many wondering what could actually be accomplished by both men—and they both provided different answers. Devon's performance since the split likely has people either wanting the team to reunite, or for Devon to work backstage as an agent/trainer. Bully Ray, on the other hand, has delivered a performance so strong that famed booker Gabe Sapolsky said he'd recommend TNA put their World Championship around the bully's waist. CM Punk was a darling of the internet for years—even before he entered the WWE. But in 2011 he became a man of the people—the voice of the voiceless. And he became a high profile, top tier guy for the company.

But in 16 years in the business, few had accomplished less with more than Mark Henry. The former Olympian held a grand total of two championships during his first 15 years in wrestling—the European and the WWE-reincarnated ECW. However, during his 16th year he became the World Heavyweight Champion—and had the people calling for it when it happened. Henry finally found himself as the director of the Hall of Pain, and was put in a position to grow and develop into a world championship worthy performer. When Henry finally lost the title, it wasn't really to The Big Show or Daniel Bryan. It was to injury, one that ended a reign many of us wanted to see extend through WrestleMania. I have a feeling Henry, if healthy, will still play a very prominent role in the biggest show of 2012.

JEREMY THOMAS
Very few people can be the Breakout of the Year fifteen years into their career. You have to have a tremendous amount of potential in some capacity that has just never been utilized in a decade and a half, plus a company that hasn't lost complete hope in you giving you one last try. Everything has to align just perfectly for such an opportunity to arise, and that's what happened for Mark Henry in 2011. Henry has toiled for years in the WWF/E and for a long time he was considered one of the company's biggest blunders, signed to a ten-year contract in 1996 and brought in well before he was ready. Since his debut, Mark has been part of what are the stupidest storylines this side of Kane. Sexual Chocolate, Mae Young and the hand, the transvestite and sex addiction storylines and more. I frankly didn't expect to see him again after he was sent down to OVW way back in 2000, but he came back and the company again failed to use him properly. Henry's been without direction until the company seemed to have something with the Silverback Gorilla angle, but they didn't go full-bore with it and his reign as ECW champion was left as "Wow, Mark almost showed us something there."

With all that in the past, I don't think many people, if anyone, expected Henry to find the level of success that he did in 2011. Mizark turned heel at the 2011 draft and attacked John Cena and Christian, which surprised people but the immediate thought was "it won't go anywhere." As it turned out we were wrong, as Henry went on to put several people on the shelf storyline-wise and have his strongest run ever as he coined the term "Hall of Pain" and rode that phrase all the way to a dominant run with the World Heavyweight Title. It was an incredible bit of booking that saw Henry used perfectly in matches that played to his strengths and hid his weaknesses while really putting him over as the monster of the brand. I expected him to be flattened by Big Show on Show's return and he came out ahead more often than not; even when he lost the World Title he got his heat back by destroying Show and costing him the belt. This was a very good year for Mark Henry and one hopes that 2012 is equally good.

RYAN BYERS
If you look back at the history of the 411 Year End Awards, the category of "Breakout of the Year" has usually gone to a young, up-and-coming wrestler, whether it was Christian Cage getting attention for his TNA run in 2005, MVP gaining his first momentum in 2007, Tyler Black going on a big run in Ring of Honor in 2008, or Kofi Kingston and the Miz making significant strides in WWE in 2009 and 2010, respectively. This year, however, we're giving the award to a guy who has been a part of the WWE roster for the past fifteen years, which at first seems a little bit counter-intuitive. How can a guy "break out" if he's been in the same place for a decade and a half? Well, if it's possible it all, Mark Henry is most certainly the guy to have done it. Prior to 2011, Henry had always been a bit of an underachiever in professional wrestling, never really living up to the multi-million dollar, ten year long contract that the WWF signed him to after he competed in power lifting in the 1996 Olympic Games. Initially he was pretty bland as a babyface and not skilled enough to be a convincing heel. When he finally did develop the chops to be a good heel, the company had already branded him as somebody who wasn't worth pushing and the only place he could go with his new talent for a while was a role as champion of ECW, the red-headed stepchild of WWE's brands. Another face turn lead to his career feeling even more stagnant than it had before, and it looked like Henry's lengthy WWE stint was going to go out not with a bang but with a whimper. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, somebody in the WWE hierarchy this year decided that they were going to turn Mark Henry heel and that they were going to push him to the moon . . . and it WORKED. Henry took all of the skills that he had previewed for fans during his run on ECW, and he unleashed them on the entirety of the WWE fanbase instead of being limited to a small minority of the audience. Perhaps even more importantly, the booking team got behind him, and he went on an extended undefeated streak that solidified him as a superstar in the fans' eyes. Want proof that Henry is perceived as a superstar? Take a look at Smackdown's ratings. Since the time that the World's Strongest Man became World Heavyweight Champion, the ratings for Smackdown on the SciFi Network have steadily increased to record highs. Granted, it's possible that Mark Henry is only part of the reason that this is occurring, but the increase coinciding so well with his title reign makes it near impossible to believe that the two aren't somehow connected. So, that doesn't just mean that Mark Henry became a much more entertaining wrestler in 2011. That means he became a legitimate DRAW. That's more than enough to justify handing the "Breakout" award over to him.

++++



WINNER: The Rock – 48 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: Sean Waltman – 21 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: Triple H – 11 Votes


RYAN BYERS
I honestly don't know how you could consider anybody other than the Rock to be the Comeback Wrestler of the Year. Granted, he didn't show up in WWE for anything remotely resembling a full-time schedule, but he was a huge difference maker in that: 1) every time he did something, it immediately made major headlines and 2) he's one of the few people in professional wrestling this year that you can point to as objectively being a drawing card that significantly added to the business that the promotion he's with would otherwise do. House show numbers and TV ratings both increased between his return and his Wrestlemania match, and the 'Mania PPV itself did very well, with those business indicators leveling off when he was no longer part of the WWE mix. Plus, even beyond the business aspects of his return, Rock is deserving of this award because of just how damn good he's been at everything since his comeback. Every promo that he's cut has been absolute gold, he's maintained an awesome "look" for professional wrestling, and he's not had any apparent ring rust when he's been called upon to get physical, especially in his return match at Survivor Series against R-Truth and the Miz. Frankly, Rock's been so good that, even despite his limited schedule; he was high on my own personal ballot for the overall Wrestler of the Year Category that tops off these awards. Given that fact, calling him the Comeback Wrestler of the Year is a no-brainer.

JACK BRAMMA
How many people are capable of stepping away from their art form/sport for 5+ years and still able to stay at the top of their performing abilities, if not get better? Prior to 2011, Rock's last singles match was 2003 and his last tag match was in 2004 for the WWE. For 7 years, fans had fantasy booked Rock's return to wrestling to death. In all of the speculation though, there was the inevitable lingering doubt in the back of everyone's minds: Could The Rock still do it? Could he still "bring it"? On February 14, 2011, The Rock returned to WWE to announce he would be guest host of Wrestlemania and delivered arguably the promo of the year to prove that he still had it on the microphone, indeed that he never lost it. But could he still wrestle? On November 20, 2011 at Survivor Series, Rock again returned to WWE this time in-ring action with John Cena against Awesome Truth and Rock again proved that he is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. What will 2012 bring for the People's Champ? What will he prove and reaffirm at Wrestlemania XXVIII?

AARON FRAME
When Rock made his comeback, I was marking the hell out with everyone else. I still don't know what's so alluring about Rocky, but every time I see him, *in a Michael Cole voice*IT'S ELECTRIC! And I honestly though we would be seeing more of him than we did. But it wasn't to be. But regardless of that, Rock still continues to get the adoration and love from the fans every time he shows up, whether in person or via satellite. The only time Rock wasn't getting verbal fellatio from the crowd was when the crowd was chanting for Ryder during his promo at Survivor Series. Speaking of Survivor Series, after 7 years out of the ring, he showed up and looked like he never left. Hell, I think he looked BETTER! To consider anyone else for Comeback of the Year is just blasphemy.

ARI BERENSTEIN
At first I neglected to consider The Rock for this category, until the simple revelation struck me: The Rock CAME BACK this year. Literally, he came back to WWE and to the world of professional wrestling in 2011. And there it was. It was inconceivable in years' past that The Rock would return to WWE beyond a one-shot, non-wrestling appearance like the Hall of Fame ceremony or a celebratory-recorded video for the Smackdown anniversary show. Yet when The Rock was announced to be the host of Wrestlemania XXVII, it was as more than a former wrestler-turned-celebrity-success story. He wasn't "Dwayne", he was actually "The Rock". He was trash talking and he was threatening to kick asses, specifically those of John Cena and The Miz. And he did, not just getting a little physically involved on Raw, but also at Wrestlemania. He didn't just do a short brawl like the post-Mania Raw tête-à-tête against Wade Barrett and The Corre, but actually wrestling in a match. He teamed with John Cena (and one doesn't have to get into the specifics of why it was stupid for this to happen after building up the tension between the two all year) at Survivor Series to wrestle The Miz and R-Truth. His last match was at Wrestlemania XX in 2004, but it seemed not a day had passed by since then. The Rock hadn't lost a step and in fact looked faster and BETTER than the other three wrestlers in the ring that night. Sure, The Rock picked-and-chose his spots, wrestling only the beginning and the end of the match, but that was smart booking AND no one complained about it, especially since The Rock hit his trademark moves and did them perfectly. The Rock as a professional wrestler came back in 2011 and if anyone should automatically win this category for that fact alone, it is him.

++++


WINNER: C.M. Punks Post Money In The Bank Return – 47 Votes
1st RUNNER-UP: Sin Cara – 20 Votes
2nd RUNNER-UP: Robert Roode Fails To Win The TNA Title At Bound For Glory – 12 Votes

T.J. HAWKE
For one month and one PPV, CM Punk was the hottest roster member the WWE had had in years. Despite being on WWE programming non-stop (for the most part) since the summer of 2006, Punk felt fresh. He felt like a new property with all sorts of creative and financial potential. The Money in the Bank PPV was supposed to be the start of something new and lucrative for the WWE. The PPV was considered to be the best PPV the promotion had produced in years, with a main event that many consider to be one of the best matches in years as well. CM Punk was special, a voice for a new generation of wrestlers and fans, and most importantly he was a legitimate superstar in every sense of the word. 8 days later, Punk became just another guy in another feud. At the next PPV, he lost the WWE Title because he was powerbombed by, of all people, Kevin Nash (Punk never even got a chance to beat Nash in a match as revenge). He loses at the next PPV to semi-retired wrestler, Triple H. Triple H, the symbol of the staleness and corporate cynicism, then became Punk's new best friend to conquer the dastardly duo of The Awesome Truth. They failed when The Awesome Truth pinned CM Punk. CM Punk went from being the hottest act in the last 5 years, to being just another guy. Sure, fans still like Punk, and he is champion again, but it's only every couple of years that the WWE has a chance to make someone a mainstream superstar in the vein of Steve Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, etc. Maybe Punk would have come up short of those legends, but he and all wrestling fans deserved the chance to see him try. CM Punk provided many great moments for wrestling fans in 2011, but the WWE's failure to fully capitalize on him was the biggest wrestling disappointment of the year by a country mile.

CHAD NEVETT
It's the expectations that kill you every time. And, in wrestling, how many great angles have we seen begin strongly only to die from bad booking, rushed storytelling, or short-term decision making based on spiking ratings? The 'Fall of Punk' contained a lot of that. When he won the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank and walked away, none of us knew what was coming next. It was genuinely thrilling to watch the WWE at the time. They'd done something we didn't expect, something that we didn't think they were even capable of doing, and they followed it up with bad booking, rushed storytelling, and short-term decision masking based on spiking the ratings. The following couple of months are a blur of status quo changes that seemed to happen on a weekly basis and, before they could even explore the potential of a change, another one would take place. Remember Triple H as the COO? I barely do. What bugs me most is that they didn't need to rush. They set up a fantastic potential SummerSlam main event in John Cena/Rey Mysterio for the WWE Championship -- it could have been Hogan/Warrior for this generation of kids... and they gave it away on Raw with no hype. People talk about the need to bring Punk back right away and it wasn't there. The WWE had something special and instead of taking their time like they had until that point, they put their foot on the gas and took an amazing angle and made it average -- made it mediocre. Yeah, I'd call that a pretty big disappointment.

TONY ACERO
It was the hottest story of the year, nay, of the past few years! With one promo, CM Punk turned the wrestling world on its head and made it cool again. People everywhere were asking me, the "wrestling fan" what was going on and who is CM Punk and when is RAW? Idiots. Point being, WWE and wrestling weren't dirty words anymore! We could proudly rejoice in our fandom all due to the 6-minute promo by Punk that lit a fire under the ass of the WWE. Then, he won the title at Money in the Bank. They pulled the trigger on the win and Punk left with the belt. This was to be the trying time, the moment of truth and boy did they ever fuck that up. Summerslam is becoming the Wrestlemania of Los Angeles, and although I appreciate that fully, it truly sucks that they ruined what could have been a great storyline for the entirety of the year to sell a PPV that was, in all reality, already sold. Punk did a round of media and really sold the product and his character as well as what he was doing and why. All the while, the WWE was fucking it all up. With a dash of HHH, a splash of McMahon and a pinch of Nash, the recipe for success turned into a disaster, one that I feel they have yet to recover from. Punk still does his "shocking" promo every now and again, but really...we know they're more for show than anything. Nash, HHH and McMahon are nowhere to be seen (and perhaps that's for the best). The storyline that sucked in so many extra eyes, so many NEW extra eyes, resorted to 'same ol same ol' in a matter of weeks and probably lost all of those eyes for the foreseeable future. It's a damn shamed, too, because they were well on their way to something magical.

WES KIRK
Well, it was supposed to be the summer of Punk but the generation of mediocrity ended up continuing despite the fact the people clearly wanted Punk as their number one WWE competitor. Punk came into Money in the Bank with everybody behind him in Chicago and put on a very good match with John Cena, taking the title and starting the intrigue about what happens now that the champion is not signed with the company? Unfortunately, they brought him back eight days later against the "new" WWE champion and unified the titles a couple of weeks later at SummerSlam, when Punk won the match and then Alberto Del Rio cashed in his briefcase after a Kevin Nash assault and won the title, essentially destroying Punk before he even got started. Despite winning the title again and putting on fantastic promos, CM Punk is still given the shaft when it comes to HHH, Nash, Orton, Cena, and any of the other "safe" guys in the WWE and because of that, we'll always wonder what could have been. Speaking of what could have been, look at Sin Cara! Here, the guy was given the top tier treatment from day one as HHH's first international signing and given promo after promo before being put on RAW to debut and wrestle regularly. Complaints emerged about him going to the top of the roster so fast, and those complaints were validated when Cara began botching moves so horribly that they had to shove him off to Smackdown to give him time to learn how to work only he didn't! In the midst of this, he was caught violating Wellness and then first thing gave an interview to a Mexican magazine about the incident and objecting to the use of his real name on WWE.COM for it. After bringing in his arch-nemesis from Mexico to become Sin Cara, the original Cara returned and began a lame Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara storyline that ended predictably with the original winning. Afterwards, Cara tore his knee trying to prepare for an over the top rope plancha at Survivor Series and he's been placed on the injury list for at least six months. To say he's a disappointment is an understatement! A lot of people were dumbfounded at the decision for Robert Roode to become the big new face of TNA and then lose in the title match won from a brand new tournament known as the Bound For Glory Series. After all Roode had accomplished, it appeared as if he had his career taken off at the knees until he became a heel and won the championship shortly thereafter, becoming even more over as a heel than he was as a generic babyface. In retrospect, although it was disappointing he didn't win the title at Bound For Glory it was actually a good thing as the new leader of the selfish generation Robert Roode is a lot better of a character than his humble do-gooder self was.

++++

COME BACK TOMORROW FOR PART TWO OF THE WRESTLING YEAR END AWARDS!!