wrestling / Columns
411’s 2006 Year End Wrestling Awards (PART 1)
Hello all! This is the 411 Year End Wrestling Awards. I’m your host, JT, one half of THE most positive duo on the internet and co-author of Hidden Highlights, here to bring you the best and worst from 2006! In a year that saw Mysterio crowned World Champion, the return of ECW, Kenta Kobashi diagnosed with cancer, TNA go primetime, and much, much more, our staff got together, voted, and wrote about all the craziness from this year. With that said, we have a plateful, so let’s get to it!
Little bit of a different format this year; that means it’s time for Fun With Bullet Points!
Michael Bauer – Michael took over the ECW Recapping duties, and because of that, made Csonka’s Christmas card list.
Ari Berenstein – 411’s Ring of Honor beast (made his way to us via the Music Zone), who brings you Column Of Honor (make sure you check out all four) every week. Honestly, this man’s passion for ROH is the reason I started following it.
Samuel Berman – Sam is also a new writer here, and he keeps his eyes on the indies, looking to tell you who the next great superstar might be in his Independent Mid-Card column.
Theo Fraser – Theo owns a Wii… that’s all I got. Just kidding, Theo is helping the recently re-started Game Zones get bigger and better with his column, Nintendophiles.
Steve Cook – Author of Ask 411, New’s From Cook’s Corner, consummate ladies man and 411’s resident alcoholic.
Matthew Sforcina – Another Wrestling Zone writer who has grown famous for his Evolution Schematics. They are always a good read, and come JT recommended!
Larry Csonka – Ashish’s left hand man, runner of the wrestling zone, and author of seventy three articles per week.
Stuart Carapola – Stuart …well… lately, Stuart has done a little bit of everything for us. Be it recapping a show or busting out his regular column or filling in for someone else, he’s good peeps. His most recent body of work is from his Friendly Competition columns. Oh, and he’s the fucking man. Because I said so.
John Meehan – Hidden Highlights ally in positivity, Meehan brings the goodness each week with MeeThinks. He’s straight edge as well, so all you female CM Punk fans feel free to form that second net-crush now.
Arnold Furious – Newly crowned RAW recapper, Arnold also gets Furious on things, and is prone to Furious Flashbacks
Scott Slimmer – One half of the most meaningless feud ever to grace the weekend columns, Slimmer recap’s Heat. Don’t worry, Scott. Just remember, I started with ByteThis…
Daniel Wilcox – Daniel started with 411 by dropping in on some of Jeff Small’s columns. Within no time however, he quickly outshined him and was given his own column where he discusses Schmozzes and Screwjobs. (just kidding Small!) Keep in mind he’s from the UK, that’s why all of his shit is spelled wrong. He’s O’Sullivan’s apprentice, the bastard. Fuck the dark side.
James “JT” Thomlison – Yours truly, and if you aren’t privy to who I am, then shame on you!
Honorable Mention: Mike Quackenbush (3), Joey Styles (17), Dave Prazak (20)
3rd Place: Mike Tenay – 25 points – Was the voice of TNA for another year.
2nd Place: Jim Ross – 47 points – After a brief hiatus, once again made himself a staple on RAW.
And your winner is: John Bradshaw Layfield – 91 points
John Meehan: As 2006 opened, John Bradshaw Layfield found his wrestling career in a bit of a holding pattern. After having jobbed out to every top-level Smackdown! performer in 2005, JBL seemed destined for midcard wheel-spinning while fresher acts like King Booker, Bobby Lashley, Rey Mysterio and (who knew!?) Finlay made their way to the top of the blue brand’s talent heap. An ill-fated pairing with Jillian Hall did little to inspire confidence, and one back injury later and the self-proclaimed “Wrestling God” appeared to be all but done with his WWE tenure. But — as fate would have it — JBL’s injury-induced hiatus just *also* happened to coincide with the “rebirth” of ECW, and that meant that longtime Smackdown! color-commentator Tazz would be departing the show for an announcing gig alongside Joey Styles as the co-voices of Extreme. In a pinch, WWE brass turned to Layfield as their default “stick-man-of-the-moment,” and WHAM — both JBL’s career and Smackdown’s future were salvaged in an instant. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Since taking the helm beside Michael Cole at the Smackdown! broadcast table, JBL has been nothing short of exceptional as he provides an insight, analysis, and in-depth knowledge of the “sport” that only a true ring veteran could offer. Putting EVERYBODY on the roster (not named “The Miz”) over in the process, JBL has carved out a tremendous niche for himself as the new voice of the blue brand.
Arnold Furious: When JBL first moved over onto commentary to replace ECW bound Tazz it came as a surprise. Initially I didn’t really buy into JBL but then he slowly started to stamp his authority onto the position. Soon he was firing off verbal attacks at an assortment of deserving targets. The Miz has come in for some tremendous abuse from JBL this year. At Miz’s birthday celebrations JBL requested he drop dead. Sylvan has come in for a few barbs too. Every time he says something in French JBL happily translates it. My favourite being “he just surrendered”. He’s French, he’s Canadian, JBL double hates him. Totally devoid of any political correctness JBL has been a breath of fresh air on Smackdown. Meanwhile Tazz, a former favourite of mine, looks disinterested over on ECW and his contract is up in March. What JBL’s arrival has also done has actually created a heel/face commentary team for the first time in ages on WWE programming. I can’t stand commentary teams that get along. Tazz and Cole had become buddies, which didn’t make it as cutting edge as it was to start with. JR & Lawler have been friendly since 2000 so there’s no danger of anything exciting in terms of banter happening there. The last time I really enjoyed a commentary team for its heel/face set up was when Paul Heyman worked with Jim Ross on RAW in 2001. That’s the kind of dynamic they’ve gained by having JBL work with Cole. Because Cole doesn’t like JBL he’ll happily abuse him at every turn. Pointing out how he waxes his eyebrows, lost various matches and so on. JBL doesn’t go any easier on Cole than anyone in the ring calling him gay at every opportunity. JBL has had a great year in his change of profession and is the best announcer of 2006.
Stuart Carapola: Say what you will about John Layfield the person and how he acts backstage and who’s ass he has his head up, the guy is just flat out an entertaining announcer. I find his rants to be entertaining, especially when he’s going off on people he legitimately doesn’t like. I don’t have any issue with that, what makes him the best announcer around today is the fact that, by doing stuff like that, he is different. He’s different that the vanilla style that everybody else in the company is forced to work within. Whether it’s because he’s up Vince’s ass or what, he’s allowed to be entertaining, and so he is. I actually consider him more entertaining than he ever was when he was in the ring. He’s like a modern day Jesse Ventura, political views and all.
Daniel Wilcox: When JBL lost to Rey Mysterio back in May, he was forced to retire from wrestling. In non-kayfabe, JBL wanted time out of the ring to heel up a few injuries and focus on some of his other commitments, and at the time, it was uncertain if JBL would remain with WWE. But in June, JBL joined the Smackdown announce team, replacing Tazz (who had just gone to ECW) as colour commentator. Ever since, JBL has been one of the main reasons Smackdown has got so good. He puts over the Superstars like no other announcer, calls all the action, and has worked up a fantastically funny partnership with Michael Cole. He puts over new stars (London/Kendrik & Kennedy), brutality of matches (Inferno), and underutilised superstars (Helms/Hardy) like no other and makes Smackdown seem like the best wrestling show in the world! No doubt, this year, JBL has been “on like Donkey Kong!”
Honorable Mention: Mickie James (9), Chris Hero (7), Davey Richards (10)
3rd Place: Claudio Castagnoli – 15 points – Has ripped it up for ROH and CZW all year, and currently one half of the hottest tag team in the indies.
2nd Place: Ken Doane (Kenny) – 25 points – Was the obvious potential in the Spirit Squad, has now broken off on his own.
And your winner is: CM Punk – 94 points
Theo Fraser: One of the biggest mark-out moments for me this year was when the ECW cameras opened up backstage with a shot of a Pepsi tattoo. I may or may not have screamed like a little girl. I am a self-confessed ROHbot, and so by default I automatically have a man-crush on CM Punk. Even when the ECW TV shows sucked, Punk made it worth watching, despite only being in the ring for a maximum of 4 minutes. Instead of hampering the Punker with a stupid gimmick, the creative team let him be himself. Straight Edge (Yes, Joey Styles, we get it- no drugs, no alcohol and no tobacco), determined to succeed, and looking for the best competition. It’s evidently a winning formula, as Punk was quick to get over with the ECW faithful. This was no doubt in part due to the terrific ovation he received from the Hammerstein Ballroom for his debut, where many fans were already familiar with him thanks to his ROH tenure. Punk’s MMA-lite style, intense promos and his undefeated streak catapulted him through the ranks of other ECW ‘noobs’ and by November, he was involved in the high-profile Team DX vs Team Rated RKO Elimination match at Survivor Series, where his ovation was noted by Triple H, who even got CM Punk to say the immortal line, “Are you ready?” And in a strange kind of way, those three words may well be a premonition of things to come. 2006 is the year that Punk landed on our screens, but ‘are you ready’ for 2007, when Punk takes the wrestling world by storm?
Arnold Furious: Technically not a rookie, Punk (aka Phil Brooks) has been wrestling since 1999. He’s been considered an Indy standout for much of that time having great matches all over America for several top Indy companies in the process. Hell, he’s even wrestled for TNA as part of the Gathering, which was a group that followed Raven around. It was in Ring of Honor that he achieved his biggest accolades particularly in a series of matches with then ROH champion Samoa Joe. Mick Foley, who had been working with ROH, was so impressed he passed the tapes on to the WWE’s higher brass. Punk’s commitment, skill, knowledge, martial arts experience and charisma aided him in signing for the WWE. I’ve been watching Punk wrestle for years so it’s odd to think of him as a rookie but in ECW he’s been just that. He’s changed his demeanor, wrestling style, persona and even his hair colour in attempt to reinvent himself. The Indy CM Punk was entertaining but now exposed to a larger audience the emphasis has been put more on his lifestyle. The straightedge guy covered in tattoos. It wasn’t long before the crowd at ECW shows bought into Punk in a big way. Hell, when he debuted at the Hammerstein Ballroom the roof nearly came off the place. The old ECW faithful immediately accepted Punk and soon his popularity among the larger audience grew. In a year where ECW’s comeback has been much maligned and so much they’ve attempted has failed CM Punk stands out as a shining light. A star they created with the right booking. Punk is head and shoulders above any other WWE newcomer this year. Such as Kenny Dykstra. While Kenny has main evented on RAW against some of their top stars Punk has main evented an ECW PPV. And he was the most popular guy in the match. Hell, at Survivor Series he got a bigger reaction than DX and the Hardy Boyz. You can’t argue with success when it comes to crowd reaction and Punk is getting reactions. Big ones. 2006 was one hell of a first year on national television for the Punker.
Daniel Wilcox: While CM Punk was already a legend on the Indy circuit and in the IWC, when Punk debuted for ECW back in July, he was relatively unknown. However, after the fans saw his impressive arsenal of moves, his straight-edge attitude and six month undefeated streak, CM Punk became one of WWE’s most popular Superstars. At Survivor Series, fans were even chanting Punk’s name during DX’s famous introduction. If Punk is booked right, this time next year Punk could win the 411 Wrestler of the Year award, never mind Rookie.
Honorable Mention: Umaga (12), Ric Flair (3), King Booker (27)
3rd Place: Sting – 30 points – Finally made his return to wrestling, eliminated Jeff Jarrett from TNA, and won the NWA World Title.
2nd Place: Jeff Hardy – 35 points Cleaned himself up, got himself over again with the fans and McMahonagement, and brought back one of the best tag teams in history when not working on his single’s push.
And your winner is: Fit Finlay – 101 points
Matthew Sforcina: It’ll never work. A 40+ Irishman with one sole WCW TV reign to his name? An old technical war horse, a European Style brawler? No-one wants to see that. No-one will buy that he can go, it’ll never work, he should stick to screwing around with the Women’s Division where he’s out of the way. That was the view, apparently, of some in the WWE, and possibly a few elsewhere. It was certainly an odd move. Sure, the hardcore WCW fans, the few who remembered the Finlay/Booker/Benoit wars were thinking this was a good thing, but for the most part, this seemed like a disaster in the making. And then a wonderful think happened. Finlay kicked ass. Everything he did was so precise yet unique, all of it weaving this giant tapestry that was an experience pissed off veteran. From the moment he caught Matt Hardy in the ring apron and wailed away on him, magic happened. So what did some people do? Try to derail him. Let’s make him comedic. Let’s give him a Leprechaun. After all, he’s Irish, right? So give him one. And they did. And then, you know what? HE GOT IT OVER. Think about it. A fricking Leprechaun is one of the most over guys on the Smackdown Roster. Today, Finlay is firmly cemented in the #2 heel position on Smackdown just after Booker, a US title to his name, and World Champ Finlay is actually one of the most likely prospects for the new year. So, raise your Gunniess, and here’s to Fit Finlay, proof that talent always rises. And that there is such a thing as Irish Luck.
Larry Csonka: While some consider the year 2006 as the year of handicap matches and man ass, in the Smackdown world you could make a strong argument for Finlay. He loves to fight and does it well. Many thought it would be a bad idea to bring Finlay back into the fold as a performer, but I thought it would be a great plan. A man like Finlay is the kind of guy that you can send on the road and have work with people you want to elevate (Lashley) and in the end you would see the results and we did. And then you have the fact that when called upon on PPV, he had spectacular matches. A man in his 40’s, with limited use of his left leg due to nerve damage stepped into the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania, headlined PPV in a World Title match, helped Batista to try and regain his mojo, and flat out delivered. He has had an amazing year for anyone, let alone a man in his 40’s, with limited use of his left leg due to nerve damage. This was the year of Finlay and I for one am glad he returned.
Stuart Carapola: I’ll be honest here, the guy never impressed me until he returned to action this year. I never saw what was so great about him in WCW, and I always thought that if he was going to be a part of WWE, backstage was the best place for him. But when he made his return to action and had some of those stiff matches with guys like Benoit, Lashley, and Regal, I changed my tune on him. While I don’t ever expect to see him make a serious run at the World Title, he did have a short but respectable US Title run and has now also been in the main event of a PPV. While he could be (correctly) used as a guy to get in the ring for no other reason than to help the young guys learn how to work, he has not only done that but also gotten a major push in his own right. If it weren’t for the fact that they are all retired due to injury, I would hold out hope that some of the other agents (or producers, or whatever) would get back in the ring and get pushed, too.
Theo Fraser: I don’t know about you, but when I first saw the video promo hyping Finlay’s Smackdown debut, I rolled my eyes, figuring he’d be another useless old-timer taking up precious air time with sloppy matches. I knew Finlay’s background of course, but there was no way a 48 year old would be worthy of being on our screens after a 5 year hiatus from the ring…right? Fortunately, I was wrong. I was overwhelmingly wrong. The “I love to fight” gimmick is perfect for him, and he has kicked ass inside the squared circle all year long. In his debut match on January 20th, Finlay faced Matt Hardy; a man respected by all WWE fans, despite being stuck in mid-card limbo since returning to the Smackdown brand in 2005. Finlay beat him up pretty good, and it was quickly made known that Finlay meant business. Later aligning himself with King Booker, Finlay solidified himself in the Smackdown main event as one of the King’s henchmen, even winning the United States Championship. The Fighting Irish Bastard achieved a hell of a lot in one year, and Smackdown’s in-ring work rate has benefited immensely thanks to his presence.
But Finlay’s in-ring work is not all we have to thank him for. His feud with Bobby Lashley helped to mould the greener wrestler into quite the solid performer, ultimately leading the big man to be ready for championship gold when it came to him by the end of the year. So in just 12 months, he’s managed to put on terrific matches, win WWE gold AND help establish and put over new stars…THAT is a comeback, my friends.
Honorable Mention: Triple H/Edge/Cena after WM 22 (13), Cornette vs CZW (6), Colt Cabana challenges Bryan Danielson (3)
3rd Place: Cryme Tyme Skits/Promos – 18 points – While most of us will agree they need to wrestle more, that doesn’t make their backstage stuff any less funny. They were definitely a sleeper pick here and have seemed to have gotten themselves quite over.
2nd Place: Foley vs. Flair face to face promos – 38 points – Nobody expected this to ever happen, but once it did, it was fire, as these two put on one of the hottest feuds of the year considering the short amount of time they were given.
And your winner is: Joey Styles shoots on WWE as he quits RAW – May 1, 2006 – 53 points
For those who didn’t see it or need their memory refreshed, it went like so:
“You want to apologize? Like nothing happened. Like you didn’t knock me on my ass in front of millions of people worldwide, and I’m gonna come down there and work with you. I’m not coming back, and now thanks to the magic of live television I’m gonna show the whole world, why for seven years in ECW I was the unscripted, uncensored, loose cannon of commentary. Six months ago, WWE called me, I didn’t call this company because I was looking for a job. I didn’t need a job. WWE called me because they had humiliated and fired…again, Jim Ross. So I get JR’s spot, and from week one, week after week I’ve got an ongoing lecture about the differences in professional wrestling and sports entertainment. I’m not allowed to say ‘pro wrestling’, I’m not allowed to say ‘wrestler’. I have to say ‘sports entertainment’ and refer to the wrestlers as ‘superstars’. I’m told to deliberately ignore the moves and the holds during the matches so I can tell stories. Well ignoring the moves and the holds is damn insulting to the athletes, the ‘wrestlers’, not the entertainers, who leave their families three hundred days a year to ply their craft in that ring. Here’s the best part, because I’m not a sports entertainment storyteller I get pulled from Wrestlemania, and the reason I’m given is, is because I don’t sound like Jim Ross who’s the guy they fired in the first place. That makes sense, right? So I swallow the bitter pill, I’m a company guy. I get bumped from Wrestlemania. Then I get bumped from Backlash? I’m not good enough to call Backlash!? In ECW, I called live pay-per-views on my own, solo, no color commentators dragging me down. Wasn’t done before me, hasn’t been done since. But I’m not good enough to call Backlash because I’m not a sports entertainment storyteller. Well you know what? I am sick of sports entertainment. I am sick of male cheerleaders. I am sick of boogers and bathroom humor and semen and I am sick of our chairman. Who likes to talk about his own semen, he mocks God… he mocks God!!!!! And makes out with the divas all to feed his own insatiable ego. I am sick of sports entertainment, and most of all I am sick of you fans who actually buy into that crap! This sports entertainment circus! I never needed this job, and I don’t want this job anymore.”
[At this point Joey pulls the WWE collar off the microphone and tosses it away.]
“I quit!”
Michael Bauer: The ECW, believe it or not, was considered to be nothing more than a once a year reunion, with no thought of it ever being fully revived in the WWE. But here we stand at the end of 2006 and the WWE has extended its brands even further with the rebirth of the ECW. And it all started with this promo following Backlash where Joey Styles went off on Jerry Lawler and the WWE. The great part of this promo was not just how it was delivered, but the fact that everything Joey Styles said was 100% true. Joey Styles was sick of everything that the fans were sick of. We were sick of male cheerleaders, sick of feuds with God, and really sick of man ass. This promo was the best of the year and it was the light under the fire of the ECW.
John Meehan: Though Kevin Nash and The Paparazzi Productions’ sketches gave this one a run for its money in the sheer “entertainment” value, and Flair and Foley probably offered up the year’s most heartfelt and historically resonant promos in their vain attempt to lend some much-needed “mark” credibility to a longstanding real-life rivalry, perhaps no single promo of the year better captured the pure intensity, full-on “mark-out factor” and uninhibited, raw emotion of Joey Style’s “farewell to sportz entertainment” promo just prior to joining ECW. For many fans, jaw-dropping though “The Voice of Extreme’s” words might have been, even MORE shocking was the simple fact that Vince McMahon and company decided to give the man a free microphone to run down the company and speak his mind on LIVE television. After all, who in their right mind would have thought a “sportz entertainment sucks!” speech would have EVER made it to the air on WWE television? The promo clicked on every level, and it moved all eyes to WWE’s “third brand alternative” promotion as fans turned out in record numbers to see if the “New Breed Unleashed” could live up to the hype. Sadly, many a fan soon found themselves disappointed in the weeks that followed… but for one shining moment? Joey Styles and ECW truly did redefine the word “extreme.”
Ari Berenstein: Joey Styles looks like your average geeky white guy, with his glasses and his oversized looking suit. This means that he is far closer to the average wrestling fan than most anyone else in the WWE with the exception of Todd “what’s wrestling?” Grisham. Styles is, like the WWE fans, very passionate about wrestling. He wants to see wrestling be the best it can be, not its worst. So when Joey Styles took the microphone and “shot” on the sorry state of the WWE wrestling and “sports entertainment” in general, it was perhaps one of the greatest cathartic moments on wrestling programming. As a frustrated wrestling fan, I felt he was speaking for me, voicing my concerns, and that for this moment, this one time no one could stop him from saying what I had always wanted to say to Vince McMahon—that he should cut the crap out and focus on what really matters–WRESTLING. Remember when Vince “fired” the fans that one time on Raw? Well, I consider this promo my response to that action. Styles “QUIT”—he wasn’t fired like many would speculate would happen to him at the time (since Vince was reportedly not happy with his work on commentary). This promo would eventually lead to the formation of ECW, but whether this promo had any real lasting effects on Vince McMahon’s idea of what WWE programming should be about, well, that’s doubtful.
Theo Fraser: First of all, major props to the segment that went right before this. Jerry Lawler tried to get Joey to show some spirit, saying “If this was ECW, you’d be showing that spirit. I can hear it now…*mocking* OH MY GOD!” Styles replied with one of the best lines all year; “If this was ECW, I wouldn’t be working with a hack like you!” The promo itself was a brilliant amalgamation of a work and a shoot. It was one of those promos where you knew it was scripted, but part of you couldn’t help but think “Was he really supposed to say that?” The best part came at the end of the promo. Styles says, “I never wanted this job, I never needed this job!” and as he does so, he pulls the WWE logo off of the microphone and tosses it over his shoulder, before screaming “I QUIT!” It was a fantastic image, a big ol’ SCREW YOU to corporate management and sports entertainment, and mirrored exactly what the majority of the IWC were thinking at the time. WE were tired of seeing stupid gimmicks, WE were tired of seeing Vince McMahon taking up precious air time by mocking God, all the while guys like Shelton Benjamin were stuck in limbo on Heat. Joey’s promo echoed our sentiments, and it was glorious to hear it from an ‘insider,’ regardless of it being a worked-shoot.
Honorable Mention: Nitro Press Conference/Hardy watches paint dry (17), Cornette on WrestleMania sucking (1), ECW Diva Strip Poker (5)
3rd Place: Randy Orton says Eddie is in Hell – 20 points – Not much to say. It was completely out of line – even for WWE programming, especially less than a half a year later.
2nd Place: VKM mocks DX and ‘invades’ WWE – 27 points – If they truly want to be an alternative, they need to stop talking about the other alternative.
And your winner is: Vince and Shane McMahon go to church – 32 points
Michael Bauer: And on the other side of Joey Styles, we have this. During the whole Vince and Shane declaring war of God, they took a trip to church to understand Shawn Michaels’ most powerful ally. What looked like it might be an entertaining skit turned into complete and utter blasphemy (no pun intended). Vince taking holy water and making himself into Triple H, trying to donate to the poor box with a credit card, and reading the gospel according to Vincent Kennedy McMahon. As much as I was entertained by it at first, the more you look at that skit, the more you realize why we got sick of the McMahon’s on our television set.
John Meehan: Yes, the Voodoo Kin Mafia skits were ineffective. Sure, the Serotonin hype vignettes were laughable. And you’re right, watching Johnny Nitro’s unending “press conference” was precisely the sort of thing that guaranteed a quarter-hour-ratings-blip for the kind folks over at ESPN’s Monday Night Football. But of ALL the “worst of the worst” behind a microphone in 2006, the ill-conceived “Vince McMahon vs. God” storyline CLEARLY took the cake in terms of all-out WrestleCrap — and *not* in that “so bad it’s good” sort of way. Vince vs. “God” seemed innocent (if tasteless) enough, as the Chairman let his infamous ego get the best of him to the point where he even had the audacity to call out The Big Man Upstairs himself… but the storyline quickly went south in a hurry when Vinny Mac and The Boy Wonder took their sacrilege to a whole new level as they desecrated a House of Worship in their all-out affront to The Almighty. Sure, Shane O’s reactions through the bit were perfect (in an “oh shit, we’ve gone too far” sort of way) — but in the end, NOBODY was put over in the course of the vignettes, and EVERYONE from Shawn to Shane to Vince to, yes, even “God” himself, walked out of the promos looking all-the-less “must-watch” come PPV-time then they had prior to them. Just a bad, BAD idea all around, and one that never should have made it off of the WWE’s cutting room floor.
Steve Cook: Whoever thought this was a good idea should be drug out into the street and shot. All it accomplished was making a whole lot of people not want to purchase Backlash because they didn’t like the God stuff. Look at the buyrates, Backlash did a much lower buyrate than any other Raw PPV this year, and the only thing separating that show from the rest was the God stuff. I rest my case. There were a lot of bad promos and skits in WWE this year, but this one took the cake.
Theo Fraser: Eric Bischoff reckons controversy creates cash, right? I’m guessing Vince McMahon was reading the first draft of Bischoff’s book earlier in the year, as he produced probably the most controversial promo since Katie Vick. Despite being a religious man myself, I guess I’ve been conditioned to take everything I see on WWE TV lightly, and so I didn’t really get my panties in a twist. Nevertheless, there is no question that it was extremely bad taste and completely unnecessary. And just like the Dr Heiney segment from Vince last year, it went waaay too long. And at the end of it, what exactly did it achieve? Currently, TNA viewers are tearing their hair out over the pointless VKM skits, and that fits exactly in this category too. Nothing is gained, no one is put over, it isn’t exciting or interesting TV, and ultimately it will put people off of the product.
Honorable Mention: Christian Cage wins the NWA World Title (6, okay, this one was a little biased), Rey wins the World Heavyweight Championship (15), ROH runs shows in Chicago WrestleMania weekend (1)
3rd Place: Bret Hart inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame – 16 points – Indeed a shocker, but something I’m glad both sides were able to play nice with at least long enough to make it happen.
2nd Place: The revival of ECW – 18 points – While it was certainly a surprise and a pretty big story, it hasn’t turned out nearly as well as they’d hoped.
And your winner is: Kurt Angle jumped to TNA – 104 points
John Meehan: Sting signing with TNA in 2005 was news, alright — but the Stinger had already dabbled in the company a few years earlier, and he’d made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the “sex and violence” storylines of rival promotion WWE, so his tenure with TNA was almost a natural fit. Christian Cage’s departure from WWE and jump to TNA was a shocker, alright, but Cage was merely an underpushed (though fan accepted) “jobber to the stars” by the end of his Smackdown! tenure, and so the immediate impact of his move to TNA wouldn’t be felt quite as largely as what was to come but a few months thereafter. But when Kurt Angle, former World Champion and hand-picked cornerstone to lead WWE’s “New Breed Unleashed” decided to walk away from the WWE schedule (and payday) and make the jump to TNA? NOBODY in their right mind would have ever seen it coming. Angle worked his fans to perfection, teasing shoot-fight interests and the possibility for a WWE return in short order. For their part, TNA did what many thought was the impossible in the net-friendly “information age” as they managed to keep the Angle acquisition secret until the precise moment they (and they alone) decided to let the cat out of the bag, and TNA fans (and WWE watchers) the world over couldn’t help but take notice of what was once dismissed as nothing more than a “small, regional promotion” once The Wrestling Machine jumped onboard. Since debuting, the show’s numbers (and PPV buyrates) have been steadily on the rise, and by the looks of things, iMPACT! could well secure a second hour of weekly broadcast in 2007 — largely as a result of the media frenzy and marketing potential brought to the company by none other than one Olympic Gold Medalist himself, Mr. Kurt Angle. Oh it’s real, it’s DAMN real!
Stuart Carapola: This story actually is two big stories lumped into one. The first is, of course, that WWE was willing to let a top name like Kurt Angle go in the first place. Being that WWE has often been thought to have been keeping Paul Heyman under contract for fear of him going to TNA and booking a better product than WWE has, it speaks volumes about the problem they felt they had on their hands by keeping Kurt Angle around. It’s no secret that Angle has been physically falling apart over the last few years, but from the statements Angle has made since leaving WWE, it would seem that his mental state was questionable as well. Was he fired, or did he quit? Did he seriously think he was being held back in WWE? Did he ever really give serious consideration to going to the UFC? We may never know the answers to these questions, but just the fact that they were being asked really makes you wonder about Angle. The second big part of the story is that TNA was able to get Angle under contract showed that they are a force to be reckoned in the wrestling business. With all due respect, guys like Rhino, Christian Cage, VKM, and others who have made the jump were midcard guys who would have never gotten any kind of main event push EVER in WWE. Even Sting is way past his prime and didn’t draw any additional viewers or pop any huge buyrates with his return, and now he’s just another face in the crowd and a transitional champion. Angle came right in and the first thing he did was feud with TNA’s top guy, Samoa Joe, and end his undefeated streak. The feud with Joe continues, and with a guy who can both work and talk the way Angle can, could he possibly be what people think he is – the guy to lead TNA to at least equal footing with WWE?
Theo Fraser: It was a move that no one saw coming. Angle was WWE, through and through. Whether he was released or quit, it doesn’t really matter. We all thought he’d take a few months to recuperate, and then he’d be back in a WWE (or ECW) ring as normal. But then WWE changed its tune on the Angle release, saying that he was an “emotional wreck.” What caused this adjustment in attitude? We were about to find out a few days later at the TNA No Surrender PPV. In the week leading up to the PPV, TNA revealed that they would be making a major announcement that would change the face of the company for years to come. We knew TNA had been in talks with Spike TV, so it was assumed that the announcement would be a prime time TV slot. Then, we heard reports that Vince Russo had been signed to the creative team. Once our initial reaction of “WTF?” had passed, we surmised that this would be the announcement. But thanks to a combination of brilliant timing and some red herrings thrown in, TNA were able to surprise everybody, even members of their own roster. The video package began to play, and flickers of light illuminated a solitary figure standing in a six-sided ring. “No way! That looks like! But it can’t be! Is it really him?” And as Kurt Angle emerged out of the shadows, uttering the words “It’s real. It’s damn real!” the IWC exploded in a frenzy of joy, disgust, optimism, disapproval…sometimes all at once! It caused quite the stir, and had every wrestling fan in the world talking about TNA.
Scott Slimmer: When WWE implemented its new Talent Wellness Program on February 27th, the IWC began to speculate about whether or not the Program would have any real impact upon the industry. The fact that both our Story / Surprise of the Year and our Worst Story / Surprise of the Year are a direct result of the Wellness Program should help to answer that question. Make no mistake about it; Kurt Angle would still be employed by WWE if not for the Wellness Program. A year ago Vince McMahon would have never thought of releasing Kurt Angle from his contract due to concerns over Angle’s health, but this year he really had no choice. Kurt Angle became the hottest free agent in professional wrestling, and the IWC erupted into a heated debate that began to echo of Montreal. What part of the story was a shoot, and what part of the story was a work? What were McMahon’s real motives? What was next for Kurt Angle? Theories abounded, but that’s all they were. There were no leaks. There were no spoilers. There was just a video at the end of No Surrender that may one day be remembered as being just as important to TNA as those first shots in Lexington and Concord are to the United States of America. The reason that Kurt Angle’s jump from WWE to TNA is so fascinating is that the story is ultimately much more far reaching than just its impact upon Angle and his career. The story really began the day that Eddie Guerrero died. There’s no telling where the story will end, but let me throw out just one possibility. Picture Dixie Carter standing in the middle of the ring on Impact and introducing TNA’s new Management Director… Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Like I said, there’s no telling where this story will end.
Honorable Mention: Continued use of Eddie in storylines (11), Matt Cappotelli retires to battle a brain tumor (14), Wellness butchers SmackDown! (8)
3rd Place: Kenta Kobashi is diagnosed with cancer – 23 points – A truly tragic story for a man age 39. Fortunately, a bright spot in all of this is that he has since successfully removed a cancerous tumor from his kidney.
2nd Place: TNA hires Vince Russo – 28 points – And we’ve all seen the booking since then. “On the fly booking” is probably tattooed on his ass.
And your winner is: RVD and Sabu get stopped and busted during RVD’s title reign (Sabu was cleared) – 52 points
John Meehan: After ECW lost “first draft pick” Kurt Angle to departure from the company (thus shooting the new show’s “wrestling-driven alternative” along the way), ECW’s second chance for redemption came when WWE brass decided to put the brand’s belt around the waist of the one man who embodied “authentic” ECW more than any other, none other than Rob Van Dam. But when Rob Van Dam’s ECW Title reign went “up in smoke” thanks to an untimely run-in with Johnny Law, Mr. 420 pretty well sunk all of the hopes that the “new” ECW would succeed as well as its predecessor in the process. To this day, RVD still refuses to accept full responsibility for his actions and the fallout that ensued as a result (check out the latest WWE Magazine to read RVD talking shit on the arresting officer, of all people), which goes a LONG way in proving just how out-of-touch with reality good old Robbie V. really is. Fact is? The “NEW” ECW was hamstrung once Kurt Angle flaked out. RVD (and, to a lesser extent, Sabu) were THE two remaining “top-level” ECW Originals that could still work a match and pop a crowd (sorry, Sandman and Dreamer… but it’s true), and in one fell swoop? BOTH guys proved their critics and detractors right by giving WWE a massive black eye with the mainstream media to really cut the remaining tendons of the new brand’s Achilles’ Heel just weeks after its relaunch. Taking nothing away from Kenta or Capotelli’s respective illnesses, but the simple fact is that each of their respective promotions have forged on in the wake of those setbacks, while ECW is still reeling from the shitstorm of Van Dam and Sabu to this day. As such? What could have easily been forgotten as yet another in a long line of “so what it’s just pot!” drug busts instead ranks as THE single most influential “worst surprise” of the wrestling year.
Stuart Carapola: This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the newly-revived ECW. The third brand was already in a tough position having Kurt Angle on a thirty day Wellness suspension, but this incident really threw a monkey wrench into the plans. Rob Van Dam, as not just the ECW Champion, but also the WWE Champion, was not somebody they could afford to have get into this kind of trouble. They took both titles off of him immediately and suspended him for thirty days. I honestly believe that Sabu would have gotten the same suspension if that wouldn’t have left zero babyfaces to oppose new ECW Champion Big Show. I felt bad for Van Dam, but at the same time I realize that it was very stupid of him to do something that ended up costing him the biggest push of his career, indeed one that he was lucky to get at all considering his past treatment in WWE. Having blown his big shot, Van Dam has now been back to his usual state of treading water for the rest of the year. Sabu, in the meantime, also seems to have lost his fire after his title feud with the Big Show ended. In the meantime, with the Big Show forced to run as the replacement champion, Show immediately established ECW and the new title by taking on and defeating challengers from both Raw and Smackdown, putting in performances that probably got the title over more than Van Dam may have been able to do if he were in the same position.
Steve Cook: Rob Van Dam had finally gotten the chance that a whole hell of a lot of people thought he deserved. He had become the WWE & ECW Champion, he was the top guy in WWE and everybody thought it was very well-deserved. Then he showed everybody why he didn’t deserve to be the top guy. WWE did what they had to do there, you can’t really blame them for taking the titles off RVD and de-pushing both him and Sabu, though it did result in the ECW product becoming worse than it already was at that point. That being said…does this really rate as a surprise? I don’t think so.
Scott Slimmer: Much like Kurt Angle’s jump from WWE to TNA, the repercussions of RVD and Sabu’s drug bust are ultimately a result of the new WWE Talent Wellness Program. RVD and Sabu were both riding high, so to speak, last June. RVD was holding both the WWE Championship and the ECW Championship while Sabu was being pushed as one of the major stars in the new ECW. It looked like RVD and Sabu were finally going to get the kind of recognition and validation that many wrestling fans had thought they deserved for years. And then, as if torn from the lyrics of a missing verse in an Afroman track, it all went to straight to hell. In early July, RVD and Sabu got busted for drug possession during a routine traffic stop. Needless to say, the IWC was less than surprised to find that RVD and Sabu had been packin’ doobage. The real question was how Vince McMahon would respond. A year ago he might have looked the other way. Hell, a year ago he might have used the incident to push RVD, Sabu, and the entire ECW roster as a bunch of delinquent rebels who break all the rules. A year ago, punishing RVD and Sabu for smoking marijuana would have been like punishing Stone Cold Steve Austin for drinking beer. This year, however, Vince McMahon’s options were far more limited. Thanks to the new Wellness Program, RVD and Sabu probably should have been immediately released from their contracts. As it turns out, that may have been more humane. Instead, RVD was jobbed out of both of his titles and suspended for thirty days while Sabu was fined. Both men seem to have lost any chance of ever getting another serious push in WWE. And ECW’s best chances for success are now just another cautionary tale.
Honorable Mention: Lashley vs. Finlay (6), Edge vs. Cena (28), Foley vs. Flair (27), BONUS: Homicide vs. ROH (3)
3rd Place: King Booker – 36 points – Once he won King of the Ring, he took it to heart and the rest is history. He is one of the hottest things on WWE television at the moment.
2nd Place: LAX vs. The Phenomenal Angels – 47 points – An excellent feud that could even extend to LAX vs. TNA. Hot stuff indeed. The Bound For Glory Cage match was one of the best of the year.
And your winner is: ROH vs. CZW – 63 points
Matthew Sforcina: Hey, remember the InVasion? You know, that thing where WWF bought out WCW, then brought back ECW, setting up what should have been the single greastest Year+ in wrestling history that signiled a new era of prosperity for the Undisputed #1 company in the world? Then blew the whole thing in a mess of rushed angles, wrong pushes, no damm pushes, unwillingness to buy out contracts or, failing that (sit down JP), waiting for the big names to be ready or, using the tools they had to their best advantage, and generally making a complete Steph’s, sorry, Pig’s Breakfast of the whole thing? Well then, if you do remember that, then this war should have brought a tear to your eye. THIS is what the InVasion should have been, two companies going head to head, both getting the advantage at times, interwoved storylines, dramtic but well paced turns, big gimmicks, the whole lot. And I don’t even LIKE CZW! But this was the best damm storyline in the year, and more proof that ROH should get a TV deal with someone. Or maybe just invade Orlando…
Stuart Carapola: What was meant to be a one-time appearance by Chris Hero at the first ROH show of 2006 ended up blossoming into the Feud Of The Year. Chris Hero, one of the top names on the independent circuit to have never worked in ROH, made what was supposed to be his only appearance in ROH when he challenged Bryan Danielson for the ROH Title. He lost the match and was presumed to be gone from ROH for good, but soon he and his buddies from CZW began making trouble for ROH, both posting threats on the internet and by showing up at ROH events and taunting ROH wrestlers. ROH finally said that enough was enough and challenged CZW to put up or shut up, and they may have gotten more than they bargained for as a result. The CZW guys regularly defeated and humiliated the ROH wrestlers, even beating ROH in a Six Man War in the main event of The 100th Show. The one man CZW couldn’t seem to beat was Homicide, as Homicide was able to win against CZW each time out. In the end, it was Homicide who won the war for ROH, giving Nate Webb a Cop Killa on a barbed wire board to beat CZW in their own Cage Of Death. The feud had effects lasting beyond its official end, both with Commissioner Jim Cornette turning on Homicide and setting up his eventual title win at Final Battle, as well as setting the stage for the return of Chris Hero later in the year as they stole the ROH World Tag Team Title. It’s amazing that most of the important things to happen in ROH this year sprung from Chris Hero’s only planned ROH date all the way back in January, and it just goes to show that you never know how far you can go when you give the fans what they want.
Ari Berenstein: It must be really hard to do an invasion storyline right, because this was the first to be a complete success since perhaps the original WCW vs, nWo saga in 1996-1997. Ring Of Honor had tried to do an “Honor” vs. “Hardcore” storyline before with Mick Foley and Ricky Steamboat, but it largely fell flat, in part because fans didn’t want to choose sides between Foley and Steamboat (two very beloved figures) and there wasn’t enough manpower and star power in the wrestlers who fought on each side. Those two problems were corrected big time for this feud. It definitely helped that separate independent professional wrestling companies were involved—you could choose a side to support with a passion, whether you were an ROH fan or a CZW fan. There were also some of the best and the brightest independent talent involved, including several wrestlers ROH fans had been requesting to see appear in ROH. Chris Hero, Necro Butcher and Super Dragon all made their ROH appearances throughout this storyline as staunch supporters of CZW. Meanwhile, Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe and later Homicide, Colt Cabana, Ace Steel and Adam Pearce were also involved on ROH’s side. The feud was successful in getting over stars for ROH, in particular giving Adam Pearce a solid direction and putting BJ Whitmer over the top as the never say die, take an ass kicking to give an ass kicking babyface. Of course the pop was through the roof for Homicide’s involvement and his winning the Cage of Death match at “Death Before Dishonor 4”. ROH also succeeded in putting CZW over to a large extent…CZW used the feud in their shows (although perhaps not to the extent they could have done it) and they were allowed to dominate many of the matches, including the win at the 100th show. Hell, they even got to embarrass ROH by vandalizing its property and nearly killing some of its wrestlers at the “Arena Warfare” event. CZW was put over very strongly during the war and there was enough that they could hang its hat on at the end of the issue. Finally, what made this feud work was that it had a clear beginning (Hero’s title match and invasion), middle (“The 100th Show” fight and Claudio Castagnoli’s turn) and end (Cage of Death, where ROH came out the winner and then “War of the Wire II”, where BJ Whitmer scored personal revenge on Necro Butcher). I don’t think you can ask for a better feud than when at the end of it, you are totally satisfied by everything that came before. In no uncertain terms, this was a creative masterpiece.
Samuel Berman: I think the best part of the ROH vs. CZW war that lasted for the first seven months of 2006 was how it got its start. The angle was so well planned and so full of nuance that its origin (Bryan Danielson runs his mouth and then has to defeat Chris Hero in a grueling title defense) actually has led indirectly to the Danielson vs. Homicide main event at Final Battle 2006. Danielson started the whole business by pissing off Chris Hero, and then abandoned the fight to focus his attention on defending his title instead of his company. Homicide chose to focus his efforts on fighting for Ring of Honor, which put him in a position to go after Danielson’s title. To put it simply, the ROH vs. CZW angle was SO good that it led to another storyline of the year candidate.
Honorable Mention: Sting vs. Jeff Jarret (18), VKM vs. ..? (15), Kane vs. Fake Kane (17)
3rd Place: DX vs. The Spirit Squad – 19 points – Man was this bad or what? It may have worked, had DX not felt the need to completely dominate them at each and every turn.
2nd Place: Chavo Guerrero vs. anyone to keep the Eddie storyline going – 34 points – As discussed earlier, just bad.
And your winner is: Vince/Shane vs. Shawn Michaels/God – 35 points
Steve Cook: You know, messing with God is just asking for trouble. Even if you do win a feud with him, he will win in the long run because you gotta die one of these days and he decides where you go. I’ll admit that I was slightly amused by the prospect of Vince & Shane taking on HBK & God at Backlash, because I figured there would be some cool special effect and the McMahons would get theirs. But instead we got a lame Spirit Squad run-in and God did nothing. Booooooooo. This was part of process leading to another lame feud that ended up including the return of DX and a lot of lame stuff with the McMahons, the Spirit Squad and a cast of thousands. Sorry I’m using the word “lame” so much, but that word really describes this whole fiasco pretty well.
Arnold Furious: I’m not a religious person. Not even remotely. I also don’t find anything offensive. But when I was watching Vince McMahon do the Triple H water spit thing in the church…in the back of my head I was thinking “this is pretty offensive”. I guess it’s not so much the religious aspect that I found offensive but rather how much TV time the angle absorbed and in the process how many ridiculous and stupid spots on TV I had to sit through. Even worse, I was recapping RAW so I couldn’t turn off to show how much I hated the angle. It seemed Vince was determined to put on a longer segment every week. With no one to tell him the feud simply wasn’t working because it made Shawn look totally lifeless, Vince ploughed on regardless. This is the problem when the owner of a company decides to place himself in a high profile angle. Its fine when it’s Steve Austin and you’re the evil owner trying to make him conform but he’s too badass and blue collar to look like the kind of champion you want to make him. But here there was less of a market in terms of support. Austin represented the fans in 1998 when Austin v McMahon took over WWF TV. Shawn Michaels was representing Christians. While I know a lot of American fans are Christians, how many of them will specifically cheer Shawn Michaels and boo Vince McMahon because of their sides on this delicate religious debate? Not many. More people cheered Shawn Michaels because they liked him regardless. And booed Vince McMahon because they knew this whole debacle was his fault. So all of Vince’s planning was for nothing. The match with God a shambles. The use of pyrotechnics to represent God when they’ve already used them to show the Undertaker’s powers was embarrassing. The long winded Vince McMahon promos were tedious and repetitive. All Vince was doing with this feud was offending the fans to the point where they were switching off. If there has been a bigger reason to switch over to TNA or anything else in the past year I don’t know what that would be. Boo this feud. BOO!
Stuart Carapola: I think this was more along the lines of “ridiculous” rather than “bad” or “offensive”. If you’re getting offended by this angle, then I’m sorry, you’re being way oversensitive. For that matter, if you’re offended by this, then you’d probably do well to just stop watching WWE altogether, because there was much more offensive stuff on there this year alone. Cryme Tyme, anyone? But in any event, Shawn Michaels, being the Super Christian we all know him to be, ended up getting booked with God as his partner against Vince and Shane at Backlash. Unfortunately, God no-showed (which seems to have gotten him suspended indefinitely), so instead Shawn went out and got himself a partner who was even bigger than God (at least since God got off the gas), Triple H. Now the two of them are good to their fellow man by committing vandalism and ramming men’s faces into other men’s asses. Isn’t there something in the Commandments against that sort of thing?
Daniel Wilcox: Ah yes, who could forget this one. This was just ridiculous. Apart from being down-right offensive to some people, this feud had absolutely no point, no aim, other than to give Vince McMahon the chance to create his own religion (McMahonism) and go over God on PPV. This did nothing for anyone involved, other than confirm what we already knew – Vince McMahon shouldn’t put himself on TV for any long period of time. This rivalry dominated Raw for weeks and took valuable time away from superstars who may actually need it to get over. The only good thing to come out of this, was the match itself, which wasn’t half bad, but it still had no point. This feud definetly deserves this award, and I just hope Vince keeps off of our TVs for quite a while longer.
Head over to Part 2 and see what the staff had to say about tag teams, Pay-Per-Views, matches, and of course 411’s Wrestler Of The Year!
