WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

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cero2k
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WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by cero2k » Jun 27th, '17, 23:47

Submit one winner and one runner up. You may use a tag team for all individual awards aside from Wrestler of the Year, Worker of the Year, best on the Mic.

Judging period from Jan 1st to June 30th (sorry NJPW Long Beach and Slammiversary)


Match of the Year:

Wrestler of the Year (best overall):

Worker of the Year (best matches):

Tag Team of the Year:

Stable of the Year:

Woman of the Year:

Woman’s match of the Year:

Best Non-wrestler of the Year:

Storyline of the Year:

Worst Storyline of the Year:

Feud of the Year:

Worst Feud of the Year (this should be between guys who are on a least the upper mid-card- something the company really wanted to be a big deal, but totally failed):

Promotion of the Year:

Worst Promotion of the Year:

Best Individual Show of the Year (must be a single event. If you want to nominate an episode of a TV program, you must give the date):

Worst Major Show of the Year (must be a PPV or indy show, no episodes of TV shows):

Best TV Show of the Year:

Worst TV Show of the Year:

Best on the Mic (overall best promos):

Promo of the Year (single best promo):

Booker of the Year (if you don't know who is booking the promotion in question, just put down the name of the promotion):

Worst Booker of the Year:

Rookie of the Year (Less than a year in major promotion):

Comeback of the year (either a comeback from injury or retirement, or a revitalization of someone's career):

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year:

Best debut (or return to a promotion) of the year:

Announcer of the Year:

Worst Announcer of the Year:

Best Babyface of the Year:

Best Heel of the Year:

Best Turn of the Year:

Breakout Star of the Year:

Worst Waste of Talent in a promotion:

YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year:

In-ring Spot of the Year:

Most Shocking Moment of the Year:

Non-kayfabe News Story of the Year:

I Can't Believe That Worked! Award (the thing you thought fans would crap on, but instead it got over):

Get Off My TV! Award:

Throw The Remote Award (most facepalmingly or infuriatingly awful booking decision):

**COMPLETE SPECULATION AWARDS**
Whose star will shine brightest in 2017:
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Re: WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by cero2k » Jun 29th, '17, 14:06

Match of the Year: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada @ NJPW Dominion 6.11
RU: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada @ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
(first time ever a match and rematch take the best matches?)

Wrestler of the Year (best overall): Kazuchika Okada
RU: Kenny Omega

Worker of the Year (best matches): Kazuchika Okada
RU: Hiromu Takahashi

Tag Team of the Year: The Young Bucks
RU: House Hardy/Hardy Boyz (low pick really)

Stable of the Year: Los Ingobernables de Japon
RU: British Strong Style

Woman of the Year: Io Shirai
RU: Asuka

Woman’s match of the Year: Io Shirai vs Kairi Hojo @ Stardom The Highest 2017 (3/20/17)
RU: Jinny vs Toni Storm vs Laura Di Matteo @ PROGRESS 49 Night 2

Best Non-wrestler of the Year: Dario Cueto (Lucha Underground)
RU: Vampiro (Lucha Underground)

Storyline of the Year: Can Omega defeat Okada?
RU: KUSHIDA's losses and rise to redemption

Worst Storyline of the Year: Alexa Bliss brings up all of Bayley's weaknesses.
RU: The Noam Dar/Cedric/Swann/FAAAUUUXXX storyline.

Feud of the Year: Omega vs Okada
RU: Best Friends vs LDRS (PWG)

Worst Feud of the Year: Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt
RU: Bayley vs Alexa Bliss

Promotion of the Year: NJPW
RU: PROGRESS

Worst Promotion of the Year: WWE
RU: Ring of Honor

Best Individual Show of the Year: NJPW DOMINION 6.11
RU: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
(pretty unfair for the PWGs and RevPros)

Worst Major Show of the Year: WWE Fastlane 2017
RU: WWE Money In The Bank 2017

Best TV Show of the Year: Lucha Underground
RU: Impact Wrestling

Worst TV Show of the Year: ROHtv
RU: 205Live

Best on the Mic: Fuck It! LOW KI
RU: Kenny Omega

Promo of the Year : Low Ki Pre-X-Division match with Sonjay Dutt
RU: Katey Harvey "That is not PROGRESS" promo

Booker of the Year: Jim Smallman for PROGRESS
RU: Gabe for EVOLVE

Worst Booker of the Year: Delirious for ROH
RU: Dorian Roldan for AAA (Pre-DeJoseph)

Rookie of the Year: Kitamura for NJPW (talk about rookie)
RU: Soberano for CMLL

Comeback of the year: Low Ki for Impact Wrestling
RU: LAX for Impact Wrestling

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year: Matt Riddle
RU: Lio Rush

Best debut of the year: Hiromu Takahashi for NJPW
RU: Aleister Black for NXT

Announcer of the Year: Mauro Ranallo
RU: Nigel McGuinness

Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Stryker
RU: JBL

Best Babyface of the Year: Matt Riddle
RU: KUSHIDA

Best Heel of the Year: British Strong Style
RU: Johnny Mundo (and the WWU)

Best Turn of the Year: Zack Sabre Jr for PWG
RU: Tommaso Ciampa for NXT

Breakout Star of the Year: Travis Banks
RU: Tyler Bate

Worst Waste of Talent in a promotion: The whole Cruiserweight Division by WWE (especially Gran Metallik)
RU: Bayley and Sami Zayn for WWE

YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Travis Banks defeats Tyler Bate to win SSS16.
RU: Jyushin Liger defeats Taichi

In-ring Spot of the Year: Okada misses a Rainmaker as Omega is too weak to stand by himself to take it (NJPW DOMINION 6.11)

Most Shocking Moment of the Year: House Hardy appear in ROH
RU: Young Bucks finally lose the PWG titles

Non-kayfabe News Story of the Year: JBL's bullying.
RU: Shibata's forced retirement.

I Can't Believe That Worked! Award: "Hot Mess" Van Ness
RU: Jinder Mahal kinda....

Get Off My TV! Award: NXT Fans....jk, Enzo and Cass
RU: Bruce Prichard

Throw The Remote Award: Styles and Shane to fight at WM
RU: i'd give it to Bayley's booking, but I can't pinpoint exactly one thing

**COMPLETE SPECULATION AWARDS**
Whose star will shine brightest in the second half of 2017: Aleister Black
RU: Kairi Hojo
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Re: WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 29th, '17, 14:48

cero2k wrote: Jun 29th, '17, 14:06 Match of the Year: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada @ NJPW Dominion 6.11
RU: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada @ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
(first time ever a match and rematch take the best matches?)
I don't know if I've ever done it, but I could definitely see people having done so for any two of the three Joe vs. Punk matches in 2004, the two Hunter vs. Foley matches in 2001, Dragon & Ki in 2001 (Super 8 finals and King of the Indies finals), the two HBK vs. HHH vs. Benoit matches in 2004, the two HBK vs. Angle PPV matches in 2005, Dragon and Nigel's two ROH World Title singles matches in 2008, any combination of the three or four Flair vs. Steamboat matches (I still haven't gotten around to watching that house show match from Landover that Dave supposed gave over ***** to) and the two Flair vs. Funk matches in 1989. Also, Tanahashi and Okada's two matches in 2013 (Invasion Attack and KOPW) got this sort of buzz. There is also the three Tyler vs. Davey matches in ROH in 2010, (although I don't quite remember how well the second one was received).

Also, if you count years like Dave does with December counting for the next year, Aries' two ROH World Title challenges against Nigel. All of these are matches that most people seem to have somewhere between ****1/2 and *****.

There is also the two Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA matches last year, the two Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong matches in 2011, and the two Briscoes vs. KoW matches in 2010 that are also up in that same level of quality, but I think got overshadowed by other stuff that year. I either haven't seen them or don't remember off the top of my head, but I also think that Briscoes vs. Steenerico in 2007 and Strong vs. Stevens in 2008 could be up there was well (well Ladder War wasn't overshadowed, but the other stuff kind of was).
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by cero2k » Jun 30th, '17, 11:35

my immediate thought when i wrote that was Punk vs Joe and Flair vs Steamboat. Punk vs Joe didn't win MOTY that year, and I don't know how the other Flair/Steamboat matches did that year. but looking at the observer awards, I have to imagine that some of the Four Pillars of Heaven matches HAD to be 1 and 2 on the rankings
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Re: WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 30th, '17, 12:52

cero2k wrote: Jun 30th, '17, 11:35 my immediate thought when i wrote that was Punk vs Joe and Flair vs Steamboat. Punk vs Joe didn't win MOTY that year, and I don't know how the other Flair/Steamboat matches did that year. but looking at the observer awards, I have to imagine that some of the Four Pillars of Heaven matches HAD to be 1 and 2 on the rankings
Oh. You were talking about actual WON wins rather than matches that got talk like that.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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Re: WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 7th, '17, 10:33

cero2k wrote: Jun 29th, '17, 14:06
RU: i'd give it to Bayley's booking, but I can't pinpoint exactly one thing
That awful segment right after she won the title with Sasha, Charlotte, Steph, and Foley, where she said that she wasn't a deserving champion but she was going to keep the belt anyway.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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Re: WR's 2017 Mid-Year Best Of Awards (Jan 1st - June 30th)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 11th, '17, 19:20

Match of the Year: Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata- NJPW Sakura: Genesis 2017
RU: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega- NJPW Dominion 6.11

Wrestler of the Year: Kazuchika Okada
RU: Kenny Omega

Worker of the Year: Kazuchika Okada
RU: Kenny Omega

Tag Team of the Year: DIY
RU: Hardys Boyz
(A grudging honorable mention the Young Bucks)


Stable of the Year: Catchpoint
RU: Bullet Club
(Honorable mention to SAnitY)

Woman of the Year: Asuka
RU: Alexa Bliss!
(I’m giving it to Asuka due to match quality, but if we had a separate award for best female worker I would have given that to Asuka and given Alexa the top spot here. She has basically carried every brand she has been on. So has Asuka, but Asuka’s angles and promos haven’t been as good and she hasn’t been wrestling very regularly on TV).

Woman’s match of the Year: Nikki Cross vs. Asuka- Last Woman Standing
RU: Women’s MITB from the 6/27 Smackdown
(Admittedly I haven’t watched anything non-WWE or TNA)

Best Non-wrestler of the Year: Stokely Hathaway
RU: Paul Heyman

Storyline of the Year: Who has been attacking Enzo & Cass?
RU: Drew Galloway hates EVOLVE and the WWN

(I realize these are very low bars, but the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that we haven’t had many good stories in the first half of this year. There have been good feuds, but not good stories. There is a lot of stuff underway that I think will be great by the end of the year, but as of June 30, there really weren’t many good stories that had played out to any sort of major degree.)

Worst Storyline of the Year: The Botching of Bayley, Part II: Bayley tries to win her title back, only to be exposed as a pathetic loser
RU: The interminable Dar/Fox/Cedric love triangle
Honorable mention to The Botching of Bayley, Part I: Bayley is a completely unworthy champion who is a babyface that doesn’t even care that she can’t win by herself.

Feud of the Year: Alpha Kevin & Melanie Gray vs. Marius van Beethoven & Alpha Female (wXw)
RU: I guess I’ll go with Sami Callihan vs. Lucha Libre from AAW for now because Omega vs. Okada's two singles matches isn’t quite enough for a feud, although I’m sure it will be one by the end of the year. I reserve the right to go back and change this to Best Friends vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Marty Scurll once I see the three PWG shows from this year that I haven’t yet seen.

Worst Feud of the Year: Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
RU: Charlotte vs. the Welcoming Committee

Promotion of the Year: New Japan
RU: EVOLVE
(EVOLVE gets the nod over RevPro because of their efforts to expand and because RevPro occasionally puts on a mostly skippable show)

Worst Promotion of the Year: TNA
RU: ROH
(I’ve been flitting out of both promotions since I stopped reviewing the TV shows- basically watching anything that the general consensus was good on, and I’m giving the top spot to TNA for two reasons:
1. ROH’s matches have been better
2. If ROH was any other promotion in the world, I wouldn’t have given up on them for what they have been doing. It’s a mediocre product that I gave up on not because it was mediocre, but because it was a mediocre version of something ROH shouldn’t be. With TNA they’ve mostly just been bad (unless the world title or occasionally X-Division Title have been involved) and I would have given up on them no matter what promotion they were.
And the saddest part is that I actually almost gave WWE the top slot here. That’s how frustrating large chunks of what WWE has done this year have been.


Best Individual Show of the Year: NJPW Dominion 6.11
RU: RPW Epic Encounter 2017
(Honorable Mention to NXT Takeover: Chicago

Worst Major Show of the Year:

Best TV Show of the Year: Lucha Underground
RU: NXT

Worst TV Show of the Year: I’m really caught between Impact and Smackdown right now


Best on the Mic: Alexa Bliss!
RU: Kevin Owens

Promo of the Year: Paul Heyman “Yeah, but…” (Raw 1/30/2017)
RU: Sami Callihan from AAW Take No Prisoners 2017

Booker of the Year: Gabe Sapolsky (EVOLVE, Style Battle, FIP… well, not so much for FIP)
RU: Whoever does AAW (Danny Daniels, maybe?)

Worst Booker of the Year: Delirious
RU: Whoever was doing TNA before GFW took over

Rookie of the Year: Myron Reed
RU: Tomoyuki Oka


Comeback of the year: Low Ki in TNA and AAW
RU: Goldust

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year: Carmella
RU: Tomohiro Ishii

Best debut (or return to a promotion) of the year: Samoa Joe (main roster WWE)
RU: Hardy Boyz in ROH

Announcer of the Year: Lenny Leonard
RU: Corey Graves
(Honorable mention to Cyrus in NJPW)


Worst Announcer of the Year: JBL
RU: Matt Striker (LU, WCPW)

Best Babyface of the Year: Matt Riddle
RU: KUSHIDA
(Honorable mentions to Will Ospreay and Johnny Gargano)


Best Heel of the Year: Alexa Bliss!
RU: Bobby Roode
(They’re pretty much even, but Alexa gets to be on TV more often so I gave it to her. Kevin Owens isn’t far behind them, either)

Best Turn of the Year: Ciampa turns on Gargano in NXT
RU: Owens turns on Jericho


Breakout Star of the Year: KEITH LEE!
RU: BRAUN STROWMAN!

Worst Waste of Talent in a promotion: The entire WWE Cruiserweight Division aside from Neville and Aries
RU: Mickie James in WWE

YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Suzuki-Gun invades New Japan
RU: The Revival debut on Raw

In-ring Spot of the Year: Chuck Taylor counters Marty Scurll’s attempt to break his fingers by hitting Marty with Sole Food at PWG Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock N’ Roll)
RU: Gargano saves Ciampa from a ladder to the face, taking the blow for his teammate.

Most Shocking Moment of the Year: Hardys show up in ROH earlier than expected
RU: Hiromu Takahashi beats KUSHIDA in five minutes

Non-kayfabe News Story of the Year: WWE does nothing about JBL’s bullying after Mauro story, plus many others start to break
RU: New Japan announces plans to run in the US
(Honorable mentions to the “ROH is a sinking ship” narrative and the new TNA regime)

I Can't Believe That Worked! Award: “Hot Mess” Laurel Van Ness
RU: Roderick Strong cutting babyface promos

Get Off My TV! Award: Bully Ray
RUL Jinder Mahal
(Honorable mentions to Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Mick Foley, Cody Rhodes, Dalton Castle & his Boys, James Ellsworth, the Velveteen Dream, Taichi, Jack Gallagher, all manner of spot monkeys, sh*tty wrestling crowds, and the phrases “suck it” and “too sweet.”)

Throw The Remote Award: There’s too much to name, and the only promotions I have thought about so far have been WWE, TNA, ROH, and New Japan.


**COMPLETE SPECULATION AWARDS**
Whose star will shine brightest in 2017: Kenny Omega
RU: Keith Lee
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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