2017 Year End Awards Thread

mrken12

mrken12

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
80,804
Reputation
20,880
Daps
300,345
Reppin
Maryland
The Spare Room: 2017 Year-End Awards | Fightful Wrestling

Stop me if you've heard this one before, but... this year really flew by, didn't it?

I vividly remember watching New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom 11 and the Royal Rumble, and it seems like they were only about two months ago. Matt and Jeff Hardy returned to WWE almost nine whole months ago?!?

With another year coming to a rapid end, it's time to look back at the last 12 months and discuss some of my absolute favorite things to take place in the world of professional wrestling. Like last year, I will be handing out a total of ten "awards". Some of them will include honorable mentions, while others will not, mostly due to time and space restraints.

These are my own personal choices, based on the wrestling I watched during the 2017 calendar year. Maybe your own selections differ from my picks. That's fine. Entertainment, subjective, blah blah blah. I do look forward to hearing from everyone, though, and to get some discussion started on the year that was.

Tag Team Of The Year: Matt & Jeff Hardy

It was a close race between the Brothers Hardy and the Young Bucks, but at the end of the day, whether it's fair or not, the Hardys saw success on a bigger stage, and that was my deciding factor.

When 2017 began, they were the reigning Impact Tag Team Champions, and they vacated the titles when they left the company. From there, they made their way to Ring Of Honor, winning the company's Tag Titles and holding them for a month before making their return to WWE at WrestleMania... where they won Tag Team Titles again. It was their eighth reign together as some sort of tag champs as members of the WWE roster, and their 20th overall reign since beginning their careers.

To be able to land titles for three different televised promotions in the span of one month is incredible, and isn't likely to be duplicated any time in the near future. Perhaps their overall run with WWE hasn't gone the way many had imagined it would, but it doesn't take away from their accomplishments. Their future is surrounded by mystery and intrigue now that Jeff is on the shelf with an injury, allowing for his brother to become "Woken". Time will tell what their 2018 holds, but their 2017 was successful on a historic level.

Honorable Mentions: Young Bucks, Usos, War Machine, Cesaro & Sheamus, New Day, Authors Of Pain

Promotion Of The Year: New Japan

While WWE is bigger around the world, putting more eyeballs on their product than anyone else by a very wide margin, it's New Japan that continues to put on an incredible (and consistent) string of shows.

New Japan's style isn't for everyone, of course, but what company's style is? They don't always focus on the storylines and promos like a lot of other promotions do, but they don't have to. Their in-ring work delivers on a first class level, and that's what does the talking for them.

2017 saw their in-ring work reach new levels, as far as the infamous "star rating" scales are concerned. For decades, Dave Meltzer has rated matches on a 1-to-5 scale, with not a lot of variation on the concept. This year, New Japan was so good and so impressive, that Meltzer altered his scale, giving four matches a score higher than five stars. WWF/WWE in their prime couldn't do that. NWA/WCW in their prime couldn't do it, either.

That helped to build the overall profile of the company. Their buzz continued to grow, and they had a handful of their wrestlers land autograph deals with trading card company Leaf, leading to autographed cards hitting the market. Adding Chris Jericho to end the year, building to a huge match with Kenny Omega at the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom 12 event, only made their buzz increase some more. From January to December, they stayed hot and delivered night in and night out, making their outlook for 2018 incredibly bright.

Honorable Mentions: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, EVOLVE, Ring Of Honor, PROGRESS

Promo Of The Year: Mojo Rawley Telling Zack Ryder He Has "Two Days"

For the last eight months, I've had one promo winning this award, but out of nowhere, like a thief in the night, Mojo Rawley stepped in and stole it away.

In case you missed it (like I did initially), this was the promo Mojo tweeted two days before Clash Of Champions. He wasn't the overly excited frat boy that he portrays on television. No, in this promo, he appeared to be filming himself on his cell phone from his home, and he was cool and calculated with the things he was saying. He was believable. He came across as a legitimate menace, telling Zack Ryder that he was going to injure him because of Ryder's lack of "killer instinct". He made reference to Ryder winning the Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania, only to lose it the following night. He mentioned that Ryder "did nothing" after Maryse slapped Zack's father in the face, essentially saying that if Maryse had slapped his (Mojo) father, she wouldn't have a husband anymore because he would be dead. Every word meant something.

The entire promo clocked in at just under two minutes long, but it was the best promo work I've seen by anyone in wrestling all year. Normally, I'd say that tells you how bad promo work was in the business this year, because I'm not exactly fond of Mojo's work. In this instance, though, it says everything about how much he stepped his game up. It says everything about how poor WWE does when it comes to scripting promos for their wrestlers on television. They need to allow the talent to add their own flavor to their characters. They might even be able to come up with some more unexpected gems like this one.

Honorable Mention: Roman Reigns' "Silent" Promo The Night After WrestleMania, John Cena & Roman Reigns Promo Battle On The September 11th Raw (The Drug Test Promo), John Cena On Miz TV (Smackdown - March 28th), The Miz "Shoots" On Enzo Amore (Raw - September 11th)
 
mrken12

mrken12

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
80,804
Reputation
20,880
Daps
300,345
Reppin
Maryland
Most Underrated Wrestler: Roman Reigns

When you look at the word "underrated" here, it could go in one of two ways. On one hand, you have the wrestlers who are underrated by the promotion(s) they work for. The people who can have good-to-great matches with anyone, but who aren't pushed like it.

On the other hand, you have wrestlers who are viewed a certain way by fans, and the views of those fans are very far from the truth. With Roman Reigns, that's where the problem is. He certainly isn't hurting for a push by WWE and Vince McMahon. He's had just about every accolade there is to have over the last few years. However, the fans still tell him that he sucks. They still tell him that he can't wrestle.

That simply isn't true.

While Reigns isn't William Regal in his prime, he gets the job done. Every night. Every opponent. Every scenario. Whether he's facing off against Samoa Joe, Brock Lesnar, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Luke Gallows, Kevin Owens, or anyone in between, Reigns has continued to show that he can be involved in entertaining matches. Forget all that "carried" nonsense that his detractors like to use. Forget the "he only wrestles great workers" excuse, too. If that was the case, every match those guys wrestle would be a five-star classic. News flash... they aren't all five-star classics.

Reigns knows what he's doing when he steps between those ring ropes. The things he does garners a reaction, whether he's on offense, selling, transitioning, or even making facial expressions. There are folks who could wrestle circles around him that would kill for even a fraction of the crowd reactions he gets. That counts, folks. That counts.

Now, do I feel Reigns should be theeeee top guy for WWE? That's a different argument for a different day, but here, I will give Reigns the credit he deserves for what he does in the ring.

Honorable Mentions: The Miz, Braun Strowman, Juice Robinson

Most Overrated Wrestler: Shinsuke Nakamura

Normally, you'd prefer things like this to be as positive as you can, but if you're going to discuss underrated, you have to discuss overrated, too.

If you know me at all, you know that it physically pained me to give this to Nakamura. He's one of my all-time favorite performers, but even I'll admit to you that he hasn't exactly shined since making his main roster debut. Now, how much of that is his fault and how much of it is on the WWE Creative Team is up to you to decide. What I think we can all agree on, though, is that he's been underwhelming just about every step of the way. He has yet to have a match that was as good as some of the stuff he was putting out during his time with NXT. For many fans, his time on the main roster is their only interaction with his work, and those people simply don't understand what the hubbub was about.

There is still plenty of time to save the day. His entrance is still guaranteed to get live crowds going crazy. He still remains over. The WWE Universe still wants to cheer for him. They just need to be given something they can sink their teeth into. There's a certain 30-man match coming up here soon that he could win, but hey, we'll talk about that one another time.

Honorable Mentions: Jinder Mahal, Bray Wyatt, Cody, Finn Balor

Segment/Moment Of The Year: D.I.Y. Breaks Up

It's not often that you can watch a segment of any kind in wrestling and say that it was done perfectly.

I can sit here with full sincerity and say that the split of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa was done perfectly. Everyone involved played their role exactly as it should be played. Gargano was the perfect babyface to feel sorry for, with his facial expressions ranging from confusion to pure heartbreak. Ciampa looked like a million bucks as a psychopath who was hell bent on destroying the man he used to call his best friend. The NXT production team looked great as they focused on the build and the dread we were all feeling, taking us all on a roller coaster that we thought was over when the NXT closing graphic appeared in the corner of the screen. The Chicago crowd was as loud as they always are, selling everything and showing that what was happening was a really big deal.

We knew the team would split up at some point. We just didn't want it to happen. Our palms would get clammy whenever they would lose a match as we assumed this would be it, but we were spared time and time again. Just when we thought we might be in the clear once again, we were punched in the gut and left to suffer. That's tremendous, compelling television.

Now, we anxiously await the time when Ciampa is able to return from his injury to continue the feud.

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Owens Attacks Vince McMahon, Sami Zayn Saves Kevin Owens At Hell In A Cell, The Hardys Return At WrestleMania, "Woken" Matt Hardy Debuts On Raw, Samoa Joe Debuts On Raw, Samoa Joe Chokes Paul Heyman Out, Braun Strowman Flips An Ambulance Over While Roman Reigns Is Inside, The Festival Of Friendship, Chris Jericho Arrives In New Japan To Attack Kenny Omega, Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins Fist Bump To Officially Reunite, The Undertaker's Post-Match "Retirement" At WrestleMania

Angle/Storyline Of The Year: Braun Strowman's Rise To Main Event Status

If you think back, it wasn't all that long ago that Braun was getting no reactions from live crowds. Sure, he was a massive human being, but that was it. There was no reason for fans to care about him or anything he did.

Somewhere along the way, a switch was flipped. WWE decided to let the "Monster Among Men" be just that... a monster. He was a one-person demolition team, destroying any and everything he could get his hands on, whether it was tables, walls, stage equipment, ambulances, people, and so on. He became one of the acts that you simply had to watch, no matter what he was scheduled to do, because you never knew when he was going to do something incredible or meme-worthy. He threw a computer chair at Roman Reigns and it nearly killed Twitter. He threw a job guy over the top rope like a javelin during a three-on-one squash match and it blew Corey Graves' mind. He hit Big Show with a Superplex so hard that it broke the ring and sent a WWE referee to an early grave. Rest In Peace.

Sometimes, less really is more. That's the case with Strowman. He's a character that doesn't need a long, complex story. He doesn't need to cut wordy promos where he breaks down all the terrible things he will do to any opponent that stands in his way. All he needs to do is stomp to the ring when his music hits, endanger the lives of people in the ring and at ringside, and then stomp to the back when it's all said and done. He's been doing it, and it has been fascinating to watch.

Honorable Mentions: Chris Jericho Returns To New Japan To Face Kenny Omega, Asuka's Undefeated Streak, The Shield Reunion

Real Story Of The Year: Bobby Heenan's Death

Obviously, this is for the stories that took place outside the ring, and outside the lovely world of kayfabe.

The passing of Bobby Heenan was an easy choice for me. He was added to the list of my childhood favorites who are no longer with us on this mortal coil. Even at a young age, where I was loving the good guys and hating the bad guys, I still found "The Brain" to be a funny guy. As I got older, I appreciated his sense of humor more and more, whether he was a manager at ringside or doing color commentary.

It was sad to watch his health deteriorate in his later years, but hey, he's at peace now, and we'll always have our memories and the WWE Network to let us relive the good times.

Honorable Mentions: FloSlam's Kinda Sorta Rise & Inevitable Crash, Jimmy Snuka's Death, Dave Meltzer Changing His Star Rating Scale, Ric Flair's Health Issues, All The Drama Surrounding Paige

Match Of The Year: Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega - Wrestle Kingdom 11

When I look back at the entire year, I do see a lot of negatives in a bunch of places. There was a lot to be upset about. With that said, though, it was an epic year for in-ring work. Before I really began to whittle it down, my Match Of The Year list had nearly 40 candidates on it.

In the end, I had to go with the match that kicked the year off and set things in motion for just about everything else we saw. By now, what hasn't been said about the first Okada/Omega match? It's going to go down as an all-time classic, and was the beginning of the greatest match trilogy in the history of the business. The drama was off the charts, from questions about Omega moving up from the Junior Heavyweight division to the build playing up that Omega's finisher, One-Winged Angel, is a deadly move that would finish anyone if it hits just once.

Going into the match, I don't recall seeing many predictions that Omega would win. Even his biggest fans felt he would be there to have a great match and look good in the process, but would ultimately be defeated and possibly even go back to the Junior Heavy division. By the end, though, he had made believers of everyone. He did belong at the top of the card.

This match featured two of the absolute best (probably the best) in the world putting on a clinic for nearly 50 minutes, and it set the stage for their two rematches months later.

Honorable Mentions: Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega - Dominion, Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne - NXT Takeover Chicago, Kazuchika Okada vs Katsuyori Shibata - Sakura Genesis, John Cena vs AJ Styles - Royal Rumble, Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega - G1 Climax Day 18, WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov - wXw 16 Carat Gold Tournament Final, Kenny Omega vs Tetsuya Naito - G1 Climax Day 19, Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns - SummerSlam, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kota Ibushi - Power Struggle, Authors Of Pain vs D.I.Y. - NXT Takeover Chicago, Authors Of Pain vs The Revival vs D.I.Y. - NXT Takeover Orlando, Jeff Cobb & Matthew Riddle vs Keith Lee & Donovan Dijak - Battle Of Los Angeles Stage 1, Keith Lee vs Donovan Dijak - Battle Of Los Angeles Stage 3, Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles - Survivor Series, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito - G1 Climax Day 17

Wrestler Of The Year: Kenny Omega

If you've been paying attention, this shouldn't come as a surprise to you at all. He was a participant in my Match Of The Year, and also participated in three of the Honorable Mentions. He was featured in a whopping 15 matches that I personally rated at four stars or higher during the year.

Read that last sentence again.

If a WWE wrestler had about half that many four star matches in a single calendar year, we would be calling it one of the greatest years of all-time, and rightfully so. If a WWE wrestler had 15 of them in a single year, the world might implode. Ric Flair's 1989 is about as legendary as it gets within the business. I have nine Flair matches from 1989 rated at four stars or higher. 2001 was a masterful year for a few WWF workers. If I were grading 2001 for four star or higher matches, I would give that score to eight matches each (many involving each other) to Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. Those numbers still pale in comparison to having 15 of them in one year.

2017 was the year that Kenny Omega placed himself squarely on the map, staying red hot and in demand for the entire 12 months, and by starting his 2018 off with a heavily hyped match against Chris Jericho, he doesn't appear to be slowing down at any point in the near future.

Honorable Mentions: Kazuchika Okada, Keith Lee, AJ Styles, Tetsuya Naito, Brock Lesnar, Cody, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Asuka, Ricochet, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Neville, Roman Reigns
 
mrken12

mrken12

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
80,804
Reputation
20,880
Daps
300,345
Reppin
Maryland
Views From The Turnbuckle: 2017 Wrestling Awards; Wrestler Of The Year, Match Of The Year And More - WrestlingInc.com

Welcome to the most prestigious award show of the year, the fifth annual release of The Viewies®! The Viewies® are when I hand out my awards, from best match to wrestler of the year, to worst television announcer. Just a heads up that if you hate NJPW you probably shouldn't read past this first introductory paragraph. Don't say I didn't warn ya!

Wrestler of the Year: Kazuchika Okada

This is about as easy of an award to give out. What hasn't Okada done in 2017? He has held the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the entire year, while being part of some of the best matches in the history of the industry. It's amazing how every wrestler seems to have the best matches of his career when he is working with Okada, isn't it? More importantly, Okada has been the face of the company while NJPW enjoyed a banner year domestically and achieved more success internationally than at any other time in their history. If you need an example of Okada's brilliance, check out his match a few weeks ago in Australian against a local wrestler. Okada comes into Melbourne and is treated like a total superstar by the Australians and he has a very good match that makes the local wrestler, Slex, look like a top star. It is very reminiscent of the days of Ric Flair and the NWA when the world champion would come into a local territory and make the local wrestler look like a major star.

Honorable Mention: AJ Styles, Masaaki Mochizuki, Kento Miyahara, Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito

Best Babyface(s): The Bullet Club

While technically heels in Japan, The Bullet Club have been the biggest difference makers in the United States wrestling market. While they will never have the platform that WWE's biggest stars have, The Bullet Club, now in their third incarnation, have been the most impactful stars when it comes to selling tickets. When Ring of Honor normally goes to Chicago, they typically sell around 800 tickets. The Bullet Club and Kenny Omega were announced for their iPPV in Chicago earlier this year and suddenly they sold upwards of 2,400 tickets. No other stars are making that kind of an impact on ticket sales in the world, not to mention the amount of merchandise that they sell at those shows.

Honorable Mention: AJ Styles, Kento Miyahara, Kazuchika Okada, Brock Lesnar, Volador Jr.

Best Heel: The Miz

This was a difficult award to give out to the shades of gray that so many of the top stars occupy today. If we are going by a traditional definition, Roman Reigns is the top heel in wrestling, because he is the biggest star that generates the most heat from the fans. However, since he isn't really positioned as a heel in storyline, it's hard to give him the award. The Miz succeeds in his role as a the smarmy, obnoxious star better than anyone. He is often not given the best material to work with, but whether he was working with John Cena, or LaVar Ball, he has tried his best to make every segment he is in entertaining.

Honorable Mention: Kevin Owens, Andrade Almas w/Zelina Vega, Rush

Best Technical Wrestler: Zack Sabre Jr.

A true independent wrestler, Sabre has turned down offers from WWE and appears all over the world wrestling his unique style. Generations ago there were hundreds of wrestlers practicing the smooth, intelligent, British-style, but today Sabre is one of only and handful of practitioners. Sabre's knowledge of wrestling holds and flexibility is unmatched, but what is most impressive about his wrestling style is how he gets the most out of the smallest facets of a match. A rest hold for most wrestlers could be the climax of a Sabre Jr. match.

Honorable Mention: Marty Scurll, Tetsuya Naito, AJ Styles, Roderick Strong, YAMATO, Kenny Omega, Minoru Suzuki, Ricochet

Best Brawler: Tomohiro Ishii

Really competitive year with a lot of good talent having the best years of their career; but I'd have to give the award to the old standby, Tomohiro Ishii. What Ishii lacks in physical gifts he makes up for in intelligence and toughness. Top matches against Naito, Omega, Tanahashi, Keith Lee, Sabre Jr. Ishii wasn't even pegged to have a lot of success in NJPW and lost most of his matches, but the reliability of his forearm shots and impenetrable toughness still make him a crowd favorite.

Honorable Mention: WALTER, Masaaki Mochizuki, Suwama, Samoa Joe, Katsuhiko Nakajima

Best High Flyer: Will Ospreay

Maybe a handful of wrestlers are better at their peak than Ospreay, but I'm not there was a more consistently great performer than Ospreay. As he gets older he will take more of his smaller matches off, but for the most part in 2017, Ospreay was going to give you the spectacular whether it was in front of 200 fans in the UK, or in front of 10,000 fans in Japan. Ospreay's athleticism has been coupled with consistent improvements year-to-year on his selling, pacing and charisma. One can only expect great things from the 24 year old in 2018.

Honorable Mention: Ricochet, Dragon Lee, Volador Jr., Rich Swann, Kota Ibushi, Matt and Nick Jackson

Tag Team of the Year: The Young Bucks

This is similar to naming The Bullet Club as the top babyfaces of 2017; no other team meant more in wrestling in 2017. WWE has a lot of good tag teams right now but none of them impact attendance or sell merchandise the way the Young Bucks do. Outside of WWE The Young Bucks are the most popular act by leaps and bounds in the United States, and their ability to market themselves and constantly remain in demand is second to none. In addition, they continue to have excellent matches wrestled at a frenetic pace that no other team can match on a consistent basis.

Honorable Mention: The New Day, The Usos, reDRagon, CIMA and Dragon Kid, Sheamus and Cesaro,

Woman Wrestler of the Year: Asuka

Asuka has done a lot of things in WWE that I didn't think I would see; most importantly getting over with a majority of the audience without really uttering a word. Asuka's reputation as a killer is not based on her physical size, but in her high-quality work and her deadly kicks. There are still some questions about how WWE is going to book her going forward, but on the strength of her NXT run alone, she deserves this award.

Honorable Mention: Io Shirai, Toni Storm, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte, Kairi Sane

Match of the Year: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11

This was the match that kicked off what a lot of fans feel like has been the best year in the history of the industry for high-quality matches. The first major encounter between Omega and Okada in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 quickly became a legendary match and helped further establish NJPW outside of Japan and established Okada and Omega as names that even casual fans were aware of. You could really pick any match from their trilogy, but historically the first one feels the most important; part of the reason the second and third matches were so great were because of the story that was told in their first match.

Honorable Mention: Omega vs Okada II, Omega vs Okada III, Tetsuya Naito vs Kota Ibushi at G1 Climax Day One, Pete Dunne vs Tyler Bate at NXT TakeOver, Will Ospreay vs KUSHIDA, Best of the Super Jrs. Final.

Worst Match of the Year: Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton at Battleground

What Randy Orton should win this award? Should it be the Punjabi Prison Match, or the House of Horrors Match at Payback? Granted the shortcomings in both matches cannot really be blamed on Orton, but I think they were easily the two worst major matches I have seen in 2017. I think the House of Horrors Match is conceptually worse since it just didn't seem like a real wrestling match and came off as corny, but considering the Punjabi Prison Match was for the WWE Championship and was in the main event of a PPV, I think it is a bigger failure. Hopefully in 2018 Orton will stay away from matches with bizzare stipulations.

Honorable Mention: Orton vs Wyatt-Chamber of Horrors, Bill Goldberg vs Kevin Owens

Best on Interviews: Chris Jericho

Jericho doubles as the most charismatic wrestler as well as the best talker in wrestling. Whether it was coining several catchphrases, working as a snivelling heel or turning babyface, Jericho can do it all as a character thanks to his charisma and tireless efforts to reinvent himself. Jericho's promos during his feud with Kevin Owens during the early months of 2017 were strong enough on their own to win this award, but he has topped himself in recent weeks with his work against Kenny Omega.

Honorable Mention: John Cena, The Miz, Paul Heyman, Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens

Most Charismatic: Chris Jericho

See above.

Honorable Mention: John Cena, Tetsuya Naito, Marty Scurll, Dalton Castle, Ultimo Guerrero, Chuck Taylor

Most Overrated: Alexa Bliss

The definition I'm using for most overrated is for the wrestler who seems to be valued greatly by the fans, who I just don't see as being talented enough to warrant that evaluation. I don't hate Alexa Bliss; I think she is good in her role and does a solid job on promos. I don't think she is a very good worker, and other women in WWE, such as Sasha Banks, Bayley, Charlotte and Asuka, have more charisma and stronger characters if they are booked correctly. When they have been shuffling the Women's Championship around like a hot potato, I don't really see why Bliss is the one who has warranted a lengthy title reign.

Honorable Mention: Matt Riddle, Adam Cole, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt

Most Underrated: Masaaki Mochizuki

I wrote two weeks ago about Mochizuki being the most underrated wrestler in the world, so I won't take up more time writing about him here. Just know that he is really freakin' good.

Honorable Mention: Jurn Simmons, Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong, BxB Hulk, Naomichi Marufuji, Everyone on 205 Live that isn't Enzo

Best Television Announcer: Corey Graves

It was clear pretty early that WWE was high on Graves as an announcer and he has shown why over the last few years by showcasing knowledge in versatility in a variety of roles. Being an announcer in WWE is tough due to the control Vince McMahon exercises over the role and the often forced use of WWE buzzwords. Graves manages to sound natural and enthusiastic in his role and even though he is a heel, he feels the most trustworthy when it comes to describing the product. Although he has only been doing it for a couple years, he is WWE's top color commentator and seems to get every job that is available to him.

Honorable Mention: Excalibur, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Lenny Leonard

Worst Television Announcer: Booker T

Since replacing Byron Saxton on RAW, Booker T has been downright incomprehensible most of the time. He repeats himself, he rambles, it is hard to tell if he is a babyface or a heel, it is really unclear just exactly what role Booker T is supposed to be serving. Having charisma as a performer does not always translate to being a great television announcer, and Booker T is a perfect example of that.

Honorable Mention: Josh Matthews, Michael Cole, JBL

Promotion of the Year: NJPW

This is a slam-dunk easy choice. NJPW constantly turned out the best wrestling matches of 2017, some of the best feuds and storylines, and also increased their business significantly both domestically and abroad. It has been a long time since a wrestling company had as much positive news in one calendar year.

Honorable Mention: Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Ring of Honor, PROGRESS Wrestling

Feud of the Year: Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada

The feud between Okada and Omega is probably the biggest non-WWE feud to take place since perhaps the closure of WCW. Between their three major singles matches throughout the year, each of which told a different story and were wrestled a different style, and Omega's promos and exposure to fans are the world, this will probably go down historically as the most important feud of 2017, even if some feuds, like Lesnar vs Goldberg, were bigger draws.

Honorable Mention: Chris Jericho vs Kevin Owens, KUSHIDA vs Will Ospreay, Cody Rhodes vs Dalton Castle

Here are a bunch of random other awards I'm giving out:

Best Major Show: NJPW Dominion

Worst Major Show: WWE Battleground

Best Finishing Move: Kenny Omega-One Winged Angel

Best Gimmick: Drew Gulak-Powerpoint Presentation/Hatred of Flying

Worst Gimmick: Bray Wyatt-Backwoods Creep

Best Comeback: Joe Doering wins AJPW Triple Crown Championship after beating cancer

Biggest Disappointment: Jinder Mahal beats Shinsuke Nakamura
 
mrken12

mrken12

Veteran
Supporter
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
80,804
Reputation
20,880
Daps
300,345
Reppin
Maryland
TobiOT said:
The house of horrors match was the worst match of the year for me
Click to expand...

The only reason I won't rank it so poorly is because it reminded me of the Roddy Piper vs Goldust Hollywood Backlot Brawl match. It was still entertaining but too overproduced just like most WWE segments.
 
TobiOT

TobiOT

Veteran
Joined
Jan 29, 2017
Messages
31,343
Reputation
3,323
Daps
78,094
Reppin
East London
Starboy52 said:
I was gonna give that one the dishonor, but it at least had the cushion of fukkery to take it from worst to so bad it's almost entertaining. Jinder Vs Orton was a garbage fire come to life.
Click to expand...

mrken12 said:
The only reason I won't rank it so poorly is because it reminded me of the Roddy Piper vs Goldust Hollywood Backlot Brawl match. It was still entertaining but too overproduced just like most WWE segments.
Click to expand...

Yeah can't disagree with that :manny:
Can't wait for the Wrestling Observer Awards....Bryan Alvarez said the voting was done in November..we damn well know Jinder is winning most overrated:laff: & Cesaro will probably win most underrated for the 20th time in a row :martin:I like the the dude but Rusev should win that award
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top