2016 Mid Year Awards

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2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 27th, '16, 08:50

Now that ROH Best in the World is in the books, I think we're past all major shows that could have potentially given us something to talk about. SOooooooo....you know the drill

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.

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:

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 the rest of the year:
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 27th, '16, 14:21

REVISED: June 30

Match of the Year: Marty Scurll vs Will Ospreay @ RevPro High Stakes 2016
RU: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada @ NJPW Wrestle Kingdom X

Wrestler of the Year (best overall): AJ Styles
RU: Zack Sabre Jr

Worker of the Year (best matches): AJ Styles
RU: Will Ospreay

Tag Team of the Year: Ricochet & Matt Sydal
RU: American Alpha

Stable of the Year: Los Ingobernables de Japon (NJPW)
RU: World Wide Underworld

Woman of the Year: Taya
RU: Asuka

Woman’s match of the Year: Mariposa vs Sexy Star, No Mas Match @ Lucha Underground
RU: Asuka vs Bayley @ NXT Takeover DALLAS

Best Non-wrestler of the Year: Dario Cueto
RU: Vampiro

Storyline of the Year: Naito's disrespect of the IWGP World Title
RU: Muertes and Catrina reign The Temple

Worst Storyline of the Year: Shane McMahon's return
RU: Flairs vs (Neid)Harts

Feud of the Year: Finn Balor vs Samoa Joe
RU: Roderick Strong vs Zack Sabre Jr

Worst Feud of the Year : Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker/Vince McMahon
RU: Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose

Promotion of the Year: NJPW
RU: Lucha Underground

Worst Promotion of the Year: CMLL
RU: ROH

Best Individual Show of the Year: PWG All Star Weekend 12 Night 1
RU: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom X

Worst Major Show of the Year: Impact Wrestling LIVE
RU: ROH 14th Anniversary Show

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

Worst TV Show of the Year: WWE RAW
RU: ROHtv

Best on the Mic: Kevin Owens
RU: Maria Kanellis

Promo of the Year: Nakamura's "I need to beat.....you" promo from NXT

Booker of the Year: Gedo for NJPW
RU: Chris DeJoseph for Lucha Underground

Worst Booker of the Year: WWE RAW Team
RU: Delirious for ROH

Rookie of the Year: Chad Gable
RU: Jay White

Comeback of the year: Seth Rollins
RU: Rey Mysterio

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year: EVIL
RU: The Revival

Best debut (or return to a promotion) of the year: Shinsuke Nakamura for NXT
RU: AJ Styles for WWE

Announcer of the Year: Mauro Ranallo
RU: Vampiro

Worst Announcer of the Year: Pope/Matthews
RU: JBL/Cole

Best Babyface of the Year: Drew Galloway
RU: Bayley

Best Heel of the Year: Samoa Joe
RU: Matt Hardy

Best Turn of the Year: ECIII
RU: Lashley

Breakout Star of the Year: Will Ospreay
RU: Rey Horus/Dragon Azteca Jr

Worst Waste of Talent in a promotion: Will Ospreay in TNA
RU: Hijo del Fantasma in AAA

YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Lucha Underground Season 2 Episode 1 (all of it)
RU: Dario Cueto's Return to the Temple

In-ring Spot of the Year: Pentagon breaks Mil Muerte's arm
RU: Ospreay's no-hand handspring selling his hurt arms

Most Shocking Moment of the Year: Roman Reigns is NOT last eliminated at the Rumble
RU: Adam Cole and O'Reilly's return to PWG

Non-kayfabe News Story of the Year: Nakamura, Styles, Gallows, and Anderson all jump to WWE
RU: WWE announces new brand split

I Can't Believe That Worked! Award : Everything from #MattHardyBrand to BROTHER NERO!
RU: 'The Monster' Matanza Cueto (expectations were really really high)

Get Off My TV! Award: No Way Jose
RU: The Drifter Elias Sampson

Throw The Remote Award: Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles in their first match for free on RAW
RU: Everyone kicks out of the Styles Clash

**COMPLETE SPECULATION AWARDS**
Whose star will shine brightest in the rest of the year: Finn Balor
RU: Will Ospreay
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 27th, '16, 14:23

How dare you jump the gun on this thread, sir! The year is not yet half over! Stuff could still happen on Raw or LU or NXT or Impact or even Smackdown (okay... maybe not Smackdown. And probably not Impact). And if you think I'm being ridiculous, if this was 2011, you would have posted this thread... and then a few hours later you would have looked silly because Punk cut his big promo. It is a shame and disgrace to this board that you have opened us up to such a possibility, sir, and I, for one, will not stand for it! I demand that protocol be adhered to and this thread be deleted and then re-posted no earlier than 12:00 am UTC on July 1st!



Also... I still need time to finish up the last EVOLVE show and also to watch All-Star Weekend 12: Night 2, and the ROH shows in Columbus and Milwaukee at least. So... you know... give me a few days.
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 27th, '16, 14:34

cero2k wrote: Throw The Remote Award: Chris Jericho defeats AJ Styles in their first match for free on RAW
I'm like 99.9% sure that AJ beat Jericho totally clean in their first match.
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 27th, '16, 14:42

Big Red Machine wrote:How dare you jump the gun on this thread, sir! The year is not yet half over! Stuff could still happen on Raw or LU or NXT or Impact or even Smackdown (okay... maybe not Smackdown. And probably not Impact). And if you think I'm being ridiculous, if this was 2011, you would have posted this thread... and then a few hours later you would have looked silly because Punk cut his big promo. It is a shame and disgrace to this board that you have opened us up to such a possibility, sir, and I, for one, will not stand for it! I demand that protocol be adhered to and this thread be deleted and then re-posted no earlier than 12:00 am UTC on July 1st!



Also... I still need time to finish up the last EVOLVE show and also to watch All-Star Weekend 12: Night 2, and the ROH shows in Columbus and Milwaukee at least. So... you know... give me a few days.
I had been waiting to make this topic all month already, but fair enough, Lucha Underground is pending and indeed it is the 5th anniversary of the pipebomb.

I'm actually leaving mine for revision, can't think of any 'promo of the years' yet

I'm also missing Sabre vs Roddy from PWG ASW12, but i doubt it is a MOTY
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 27th, '16, 15:18

cero2k wrote: I'm also missing Sabre vs Roddy from PWG ASW12, but i doubt it is a MOTY
After they had TWO MOTYCs last year, you don't think they can put on another one?
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 27th, '16, 16:24

Big Red Machine wrote:
cero2k wrote: I'm also missing Sabre vs Roddy from PWG ASW12, but i doubt it is a MOTY
After they had TWO MOTYCs last year, you don't think they can put on another one?
i think they can definitely, but i don't think they'll out do the two 'best matches' that i already have
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 28th, '16, 10:07

Anyone else finding that pretty much everyone at the top of their list for Worker of the Year this year is either a Jr. Heavyweight or someone who probably could be billed as such like AJ?
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 28th, '16, 10:50

Big Red Machine wrote:Anyone else finding that pretty much everyone at the top of their list for Worker of the Year this year is either a Jr. Heavyweight or someone who probably could be billed as such like AJ?
yeap, Cena, Rollins, and Tanahashi have been out pretty much all year, Lesnar only had like two matches this year, Naito, Joe, Nakamura have all been great, but not amazing, and that's pretty much it. Roddy, Ricochet, Lethal have all been great too, but surely they're 'junior'

The only one that i could think is Okada, but I feel that his matches with Naito haven't been all that legendary
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 29th, '16, 00:36

cero2k wrote:
I'm also missing Sabre vs Roddy from PWG ASW12, but i doubt it is a MOTY
Dude... you were SOOOO wrong. 9.75/10
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 29th, '16, 09:08

Big Red Machine wrote:
cero2k wrote:
I'm also missing Sabre vs Roddy from PWG ASW12, but i doubt it is a MOTY
Dude... you were SOOOO wrong. 9.75/10
but you already gave out like 3 or 4 perfect 10s this year, I knew it was gonna be good, but not MOTY itself. i'll try to watch it this afternoon, i'm just missing that one and the Bucks' match
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jun 29th, '16, 10:38

cero2k wrote:
Big Red Machine wrote:
cero2k wrote:
I'm also missing Sabre vs Roddy from PWG ASW12, but i doubt it is a MOTY
Dude... you were SOOOO wrong. 9.75/10
but you already gave out like 3 or 4 perfect 10s this year, I knew it was gonna be good, but not MOTY itself. i'll try to watch it this afternoon, i'm just missing that one and the Bucks' match
Yes. Granted, nothing will beat Scurll vs. Ospreay, but this would have been better than Zayn vs. Nakamura and at least approaching Tanahashi vs. Okada levels (probably might have if I was spoiler-free) if not for that one stupid sock spot.
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jun 29th, '16, 10:47

now that i think about it, the if you gave it that rating, the PWG biase may push me to the 10. Especially since this has been built for a whole year
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 16th, '16, 23:48

Finally finished my ballot, although I still want to get around to watching one or two more matches (there is a Hero vs. Scurll match in Progress that goes, like, half an hour. It'd be pretty hard for that not to be amazing, and I probably owe it to Okada to at least watch all of his PPV matches).


Match of the Year: Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll- RPW High Stakes 2016
RU: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada- NJPW Wrestle Kingdom X

Wrestler of the Year (best overall): AJ Styles
RU: Kevin Owens

Worker of the Year (best matches): Will Ospreay
RU: Zack Sabre Jr.

Tag Team of the Year: Sydal & Ricochet
RU: Young Bucks

Stable of the Year: Catchpoint
RU: AJ, Gallows, & Anderson

Woman of the Year: Charlotte (mostly because she has been given the most opportunity to put on great matches)
RU: Let's give it to Nattie for her in-ring work, which has been horribly hampered by how she has been booked

Woman’s match of the Year: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch- WWE WrestleMania XXXII
RU: Charlotte vs. Natalya- WWE Roadblock

Best Non-wrestler of the Year: Dario Cueto
RU: Maria Kanellis

Storyline of the Year: The redemption of Ethan Page
RU: Drew Galloway dislikes WWE's involvement with EVOLVE

Worst Storyline of the Year: Formation of Golden Truth
RU: WWE Shane vs. Steph Power Struggle

Feud of the Year: Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
RU: Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle

Worst Feud of the Year: BJ Whitmer vs. Adam Page
RU: Al Snow vs. Mahabali Shera & Grado

Promotion of the Year: EVOLVE
RU: LU
(with New Japan close behind)

Worst Promotion of the Year: CHIKARA
RU: TNA

Best Individual Show of the Year: PWG All-Star Weekend XII: Night 1
RU: NJPW Dominion 6.19

Worst Major Show of the Year: TNA Slammiversary 2016
RU: ROH Best in the World 2016
(I really want to say “Ultima Lucha II: Week 1,” but I’m not sure if it should count as a separate show)

Best TV Show of the Year: Lucha Underground
RU: NXT
(it's close between ROH and NXT, but NXT has been better)

Worst TV Show of the Year: Smackdown
RU: Impact
(Impact just beats out ROH because ROH is more of me being disappointed than it is things being bad. The major strike against them is the lack of "new" content, but the real issue with the Japan shows were that there was so much padding, which is one of my major complaints about Impact, and there is an argument that the Lethal & Cabana hype specials let them preserve VOD sales for SCOH. As for Impact, on the whole the matches are worse than ROH, the storylines are on both are bad in different ways [TNA's are just bad while ROH's are good stories being told very poorly], but the main strike against Impact is that there is SOOOOO much padding that the show is a horror to sit through. Raw is also in the mix somewhere, but is rarely harder to sit through than Impact. Raw can sometimes be a pain in the ass and super-annoying, but also will actually give us better top matches than any show other than NXT and LU).

Best on the Mic (overall best promos): Kevin Owens
RU: Maria Kanellis

Promo of the Year (single best promo): Alex Riley, NXT January 27
RU: Seth Rollins Return promo (Raw 5/23)

Booker of the Year: Gabe Sapolsky
RU: Gedo

Worst Booker of the Year: Vince/Steph/WWE Main Roster Crew
RU: Delirious

Rookie of the Year: Matt Riddle
RU: Lio Rush

Comeback of the year: Maryse
RU: Sanada

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year: Nia Jax
RU: Alexa Bliss (mostly for her technical work. I wish I could split this between Alexa for in-ring improvement and Lashley out-of-ring improvement)

Best debut (or return to a promotion) of the year: Matanza in LU
RU: AJ Styles in WWE

Announcer of the Year: Mauro Ranallo
RU: Corey Graves

Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker
RU: Kevin Kelly

Best Babyface of the Year: Sami Zayn
RU: AJ Styles

Best Heel of the Year: Kevin Owens
RU: The Dudley Boyz

Best Turn of the Year: Drew Galloway in EVOLVE
RU: AJ Styles get kicked out of the Bullet Club

Breakout Star of the Year: Will Ospreay
RU: Fred Yehi

Worst Waste of Talent in a promotion: Cody Rhodes in WWE
RU: Sylvester Lefort in both WWE and TNA

YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Matt Riddle loses!
RU: SHAQ vs. BIG SHOW!

In-ring Spot of the Year: KUSHIDA counters an O’Reilly running dropkick off the apron into a cross armbreaker
RU: Ospreay's no-hand handspring selling his injured arms in the first KUSHIDA match

Most Shocking Moment of the Year: EC III shows up in EVOLVE and goes nuts on EVOLVE and WWE
RU: Shane McMahon Returns

Non-kayfabe News Story of the Year: WWE Brand Split/Smackdown live on Tuesdays announcement
RU: NJPW guys jump to WWE

I Can't Believe That Worked! Award: Matanza finishing people off in just one move
RU: Undercover cops in Lucha Underground

Get Off My TV! Award: Social Outcasts
RU: New Day

Throw The Remote Award: ROH Bullet Club invasion at Global Wars 2016
RU: WWE's clumsily gives Shane McMahon control of Raw in complete and total contradiction of WrestleMania stips
(Dishonorable mention: Dwayne squashing the Wyatt Family)

**COMPLETE SPECULATION AWARDS**
Whose star will shine brightest in the rest of the year: Will Ospreay
RU: Matt Riddle
(honorable mentions to Kevin Owens and Bobby Lashley)
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jul 18th, '16, 10:12

Big Red Machine wrote: Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker
RU: Kevin Kelly
really? Kelly over Pope/Matthews/JBL ?

YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Matt Riddle loses!
RU: SHAQ vs. BIG SHOW!
I thought you were being sarcastic on the other topic. I see that this is real now
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 18th, '16, 12:50

cero2k wrote:
Big Red Machine wrote: Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker
RU: Kevin Kelly
really? Kelly over Pope/Matthews/JBL ?

Pope is inoffensive, Mathews is often just as good as he is bad, and JBL was probably my #3 in this category, but a lot of his bad is either clearly toeing the line that Vince wants him to (for which I kind of can't blame him) or by just spouting off irrelevant sh*t. The thing with both Striker and Kelly (especially Striker) is that are actually provided a lot of good (or in Kelly's case at least decent) storyline material to work with, but have to go out of their way to say sh*t that is either moronic (Striker) or confusing/frustrating (Kelly). With JBL, Pope, and especially Mathews, I don't think I would enjoy the match any more or less without the commentary. With Kelly and Striker, I often find myself feeling that I would enjoy the match (or, in Kelly's case, more-so the overall stories) if the commentary were turned off.
One of my general rules about commentary is that "the more they stick to calling the moves and analyzing the match in front of them, the better it is" and that's because it means there is less opportunity for them to say something idiotic.


YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Matt Riddle loses!
RU: SHAQ vs. BIG SHOW!
I thought you were being sarcastic on the other topic. I see that this is real now
http://54.88.31.224/thewrestlingrevolut ... =8&t=17128

How can you not want to see Big Show vs. Shaq? In terms of a "spectacle," that's been my dream match for a while, and it only intensified after hearing Big Show talk about it when he was on Jericho's podcast last summer. If I remember correctly, he said that the only reason Shaq hasn't don't it already is because he is one of those guys who, if he does it, wants to do it "right" and he has just never had enough time where he could learn/practice/whatever. Figure in Show's record of pulling good stuff out of non-wrestler athletes (Mayweather is the first one that jumps to find, but I'm sure there are others), and I think this match could be a really cool, really fun eight minutes that will definitely feel WrestleMania-worthy.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jul 18th, '16, 13:11

Big Red Machine wrote: Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker
RU: Kevin Kelly
really? Kelly over Pope/Matthews/JBL ?

Pope is inoffensive, Mathews is often just as good as he is bad, and JBL was probably my #3 in this category, but a lot of his bad is either clearly toeing the line that Vince wants him to (for which I kind of can't blame him) or by just spouting off irrelevant sh*t. The thing with both Striker and Kelly (especially Striker) is that are actually provided a lot of good (or in Kelly's case at least decent) storyline material to work with, but have to go out of their way to say sh*t that is either moronic (Striker) or confusing/frustrating (Kelly). With JBL, Pope, and especially Mathews, I don't think I would enjoy the match any more or less without the commentary. With Kelly and Striker, I often find myself feeling that I would enjoy the match (or, in Kelly's case, more-so the overall stories) if the commentary were turned off.
One of my general rules about commentary is that "the more they stick to calling the moves and analyzing the match in front of them, the better it is" and that's because it means there is less opportunity for them to say something idiotic.


fair enough, i see your logic now. To me it really bothers that the announcing sounds fake, which is what i personally dislike from Matthews/RAW team, they just sound fake + i find myself constantly saying "WTF are you talking about!?", , but when i hear Striker, i do constantly wonder what the fuck he is talking about, but when he marks out, i can feel it and he makes the show better for me, you can hear the passion in his voice. To me Kelly would have been likely 3rd or 4th, i like him with Nigel, but hate him with Corino for some reason.




YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Matt Riddle loses!
RU: SHAQ vs. BIG SHOW!
I thought you were being sarcastic on the other topic. I see that this is real now

http://54.88.31.224/thewrestlingrevolut ... =8&t=17128

How can you not want to see Big Show vs. Shaq? In terms of a "spectacle," that's been my dream match for a while, and it only intensified after hearing Big Show talk about it when he was on Jericho's podcast last summer. If I remember correctly, he said that the only reason Shaq hasn't don't it already is because he is one of those guys who, if he does it, wants to do it "right" and he has just never had enough time where he could learn/practice/whatever. Figure in Show's record of pulling good stuff out of non-wrestler athletes (Mayweather is the first one that jumps to find, but I'm sure there are others), and I think this match could be a really cool, really fun eight minutes that will definitely feel WrestleMania-worthy.

I'm just not a big fan of celebrities getting involved in wrestling matches like this. I've seen Maywether, Karl Malone, Amell, Arquette, Donald Trump, maria menonus, i have never cared about it, not even Mike Tyson or Ronda, i kinda feel that they make wrestling faker than i'm already suspending my disbelief.
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 18th, '16, 13:53

cero2k wrote:
Big Red Machine wrote: Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker
RU: Kevin Kelly
really? Kelly over Pope/Matthews/JBL ?

Pope is inoffensive, Mathews is often just as good as he is bad, and JBL was probably my #3 in this category, but a lot of his bad is either clearly toeing the line that Vince wants him to (for which I kind of can't blame him) or by just spouting off irrelevant sh*t. The thing with both Striker and Kelly (especially Striker) is that are actually provided a lot of good (or in Kelly's case at least decent) storyline material to work with, but have to go out of their way to say sh*t that is either moronic (Striker) or confusing/frustrating (Kelly). With JBL, Pope, and especially Mathews, I don't think I would enjoy the match any more or less without the commentary. With Kelly and Striker, I often find myself feeling that I would enjoy the match (or, in Kelly's case, more-so the overall stories) if the commentary were turned off.
One of my general rules about commentary is that "the more they stick to calling the moves and analyzing the match in front of them, the better it is" and that's because it means there is less opportunity for them to say something idiotic.


fair enough, i see your logic now. To me it really bothers that the announcing sounds fake, which is what i personally dislike from Matthews/RAW team, they just sound fake + i find myself constantly saying "WTF are you talking about!?", , but when i hear Striker, i do constantly wonder what the fuck he is talking about, but when he marks out, i can feel it and he makes the show better for me, you can hear the passion in his voice. To me Kelly would have been likely 3rd or 4th, i like him with Nigel, but hate him with Corino for some reason.
"Fake" is an interesting word. WWE's commentary doesn't sound "fake" to me. It sounds heavy-handed and the announcers (often JBL and Byron) sound can sound like idiots, but it doesn't feel "fake." The commentary that feels the most "fake" to me is Striker, who seems to be trying to make me appreciate how intricate or revolutionary or interesting or or cool whatever this fake world is. When he does sh*t like talks about how progressive they are with the women or points out nuances of the booking, the way he does it makes it feel like "this is the message that I am trying to get across to you." When he tries to point out the "little things" that wrestlers do to get a crowd to react, it feels like he's telling me "look at this guy. He's great at working the crowd. Isn't he such a great worker." When he draws pointless comparisons between LU and "real life" comic book events, it feels like he is saying "see: this is just like a comic book" and comic books are works of fiction.
Pope and Corino come off like they are playing characters, and that's not good, but Kevin Kelly (and maybe the problem here is in the booking and Kevin is only doing his job) comes off as "fake" to me because it feels like he is trying to get across what the angle is supposed to be, but that doesn't match up with what's happening in the ring. I'd rather have the Raw team or Vampiro or Josh, who come across like employees (regardless of competence) doing their jobs within this fictional world I am watching, than guys like Striker or Kelly who seem to be non-fictional observers explaining to me what I am supposed to be appreciating/noticing/getting out of/taking home with me from the fictional play. Josh, Vamp, and the Raw team (and even Pope and Corino) are in the TV, but Striker and Kelly feel like they're in my living room with me.




YOUR Mark Out Moment of the Year: Matt Riddle loses!
RU: SHAQ vs. BIG SHOW!
I thought you were being sarcastic on the other topic. I see that this is real now

http://54.88.31.224/thewrestlingrevolut ... =8&t=17128

How can you not want to see Big Show vs. Shaq? In terms of a "spectacle," that's been my dream match for a while, and it only intensified after hearing Big Show talk about it when he was on Jericho's podcast last summer. If I remember correctly, he said that the only reason Shaq hasn't don't it already is because he is one of those guys who, if he does it, wants to do it "right" and he has just never had enough time where he could learn/practice/whatever. Figure in Show's record of pulling good stuff out of non-wrestler athletes (Mayweather is the first one that jumps to find, but I'm sure there are others), and I think this match could be a really cool, really fun eight minutes that will definitely feel WrestleMania-worthy.

I'm just not a big fan of celebrities getting involved in wrestling matches like this. I've seen Maywether, Karl Malone, Amell, Arquette, Donald Trump, maria menonus, i have never cared about it, not even Mike Tyson or Ronda, i kinda feel that they make wrestling faker than i'm already suspending my disbelief.


1. Trump and Tyson are different from the others because they didn't wrestle. They were outside personalities contributing to the wresting show like Cindy Lauper or Muhammed Ali.

2. The Ronda thing (and also the Tyson thing) were different. That was Ronda Rousey being Ronda Rousey. They didn't have Steph take her down. The only problem with that segment was the fact that it happened in the first place for the reasons I laid out in my WrestleMania XXXI review (cheap plug). It's no different than if they took an Olympic wrestler and stuck him in there with Jack Swagger.

3. I'm not saying Big Show and Shaq should exchange arm drags and chinlocks. I want to see two gigantic dudes hit each other. I can believe that Shaq is a big, strong dude who might be a threat to Big Show, just like I'd believe that Amell is an athletic dude who has maybe had some martial arts training and could maybe cause Cody problems, and just like I'd believe that LT is big and strong and tough enough to knock down Bam Bam Bigelow. I'm not expecting a technical classic. I'm expecting a spectacle, and I think that if built correctly and executed well, those have their place at a show like WrestleMania.

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cero2k
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by cero2k » Jul 18th, '16, 15:00

Big Red Machine wrote: Worst Announcer of the Year: Matt Striker
RU: Kevin Kelly
really? Kelly over Pope/Matthews/JBL ?

Pope is inoffensive, Mathews is often just as good as he is bad, and JBL was probably my #3 in this category, but a lot of his bad is either clearly toeing the line that Vince wants him to (for which I kind of can't blame him) or by just spouting off irrelevant sh*t. The thing with both Striker and Kelly (especially Striker) is that are actually provided a lot of good (or in Kelly's case at least decent) storyline material to work with, but have to go out of their way to say sh*t that is either moronic (Striker) or confusing/frustrating (Kelly). With JBL, Pope, and especially Mathews, I don't think I would enjoy the match any more or less without the commentary. With Kelly and Striker, I often find myself feeling that I would enjoy the match (or, in Kelly's case, more-so the overall stories) if the commentary were turned off.
One of my general rules about commentary is that "the more they stick to calling the moves and analyzing the match in front of them, the better it is" and that's because it means there is less opportunity for them to say something idiotic.


fair enough, i see your logic now. To me it really bothers that the announcing sounds fake, which is what i personally dislike from Matthews/RAW team, they just sound fake + i find myself constantly saying "WTF are you talking about!?", , but when i hear Striker, i do constantly wonder what the fuck he is talking about, but when he marks out, i can feel it and he makes the show better for me, you can hear the passion in his voice. To me Kelly would have been likely 3rd or 4th, i like him with Nigel, but hate him with Corino for some reason.
"Fake" is an interesting word. WWE's commentary doesn't sound "fake" to me. It sounds heavy-handed and the announcers (often JBL and Byron) sound can sound like idiots, but it doesn't feel "fake." The commentary that feels the most "fake" to me is Striker, who seems to be trying to make me appreciate how intricate or revolutionary or interesting or or cool whatever this fake world is. When he does sh*t like talks about how progressive they are with the women or points out nuances of the booking, the way he does it makes it feel like "this is the message that I am trying to get across to you." When he tries to point out the "little things" that wrestlers do to get a crowd to react, it feels like he's telling me "look at this guy. He's great at working the crowd. Isn't he such a great worker." When he draws pointless comparisons between LU and "real life" comic book events, it feels like he is saying "see: this is just like a comic book" and comic books are works of fiction.
Pope and Corino come off like they are playing characters, and that's not good, but Kevin Kelly (and maybe the problem here is in the booking and Kevin is only doing his job) comes off as "fake" to me because it feels like he is trying to get across what the angle is supposed to be, but that doesn't match up with what's happening in the ring. I'd rather have the Raw team or Vampiro or Josh, who come across like employees (regardless of competence) doing their jobs within this fictional world I am watching, than guys like Striker or Kelly who seem to be non-fictional observers explaining to me what I am supposed to be appreciating/noticing/getting out of/taking home with me from the fictional play. Josh, Vamp, and the Raw team (and even Pope and Corino) are in the TV, but Striker and Kelly feel like they're in my living room with me.


with 'fake' it was more about them not sounding genuine, like in the sense that Striker marking out, i can legit believe he is marking out at the ring, probably because he feeds off from Vampiro who legit stands up and runs around the temple when he marks out. When i hear RAW guys or Josh get excited (and Kelly too), it sounds fake in the sense that they're faking the excitement and just trying to sell you the product. Corino, Nigel, Graves are other examples when they really get excited, they REALLY get excited and you can hear it in their voice, regardless of the characters that they tend to play, sometimes you hear the fan come out of them and it's those things when i really appreciate them as commentators. Even Lawler who i have for the most part hated all his booth career, i really liked it when he marked out because the Wyatts and the Shield were going to fight for the first time, and that is something that I will never get out from Cole, or Saxton, or Phillips, or Kelly.

I do agree with your sense of 'fake', sometimes Striker is waay to real for this kayfabe world of LU, and that in a sense sounds like he's trying too hard
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Re: 2016 Mid Year Awards

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 18th, '16, 15:50

Striker never comes across to me like he's marking out because he always feels like he's trying too hard. He comes off like Corino does, except less like he's playing a character and more like he is really trying to get me to think he's marking out. His commentary feels like it's all about him. It's him trying to show you how smart he is or how good he is at his job or how much he enjoys what he is doing. Most other commentators always feel like it's about the wrestlers (maybe not Lawler or Pope).
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