They're baaaaaack! After having no awards in 2010, the RSPW Awards have returned for 2011, with a new surveyor. Following in the footsteps of Herb Kunze and Christopher Robin Zimmerman, I, Justin Henry (http://www.twitter.com/cynicjrh) have taken the reins. I was happy to have voted in the 2002-2009 awards, and was quite saddened to see the awards fade away last year. After somebody raised the issue on Scott Keith's blog in December, I took the liberty of bringing the awards back with an exhaustive search for voters. In all, 40 ballots were cast (mine included) among a cross-section of longtime and younger fans. Unlike previous years, in which the eligibility period for nominations stretched from November to November, this one encompassed all of 2011, with voting beginning early in January 2012. The awards weren't perfect, and the process of campaigning for voters was tedious and exhausting at times (Facebook made me fill out a damn captcha every time I linked somebody). But it was all worth it. The awards are now back, and I intend to run this again a year from now as well. Almost no one left general comments this year, so I left a little analysis after each award to bring some perspective to the winners and other top placers. Thanks to those who participated, and a special thanks to Steven "Crimefighter" Lucas for helping start a drive to increase participation. He, like me, is an RSPW veteran, and I couldn't have achieved this without him. Lucas had this to say CRIMEFIGHTER: Congrats to Justin Henry for reviving the RSPW Awards on a spur of the moment...hopefully next year with promotion through social networking sites like Facebook and Google+ there will be a lot more participation next year! Did not really have time to comment on the awards as I'm excessively busy with http://stlwrestling.livejournal.com http://stlwc.blip.tv and http://centralillinoisprowrestling.com Hope you enjoy! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year. This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one. Previous Winners: 1990: Curt Hennig 1991: Ric Flair 1992: Ric Flair 1993: Big Van Vader 1994: Bret Hart 1994: (NA) Sabu 1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit 1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels 1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit 1996: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels 1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger 1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels 1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku 1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1999: Chris Benoit 2000: Triple H 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin 2002: Kurt Angle 2003: Kurt Angle 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Samoa Joe 2007: John Cena 2008: Chris Jericho 2009: Chris Jericho 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 31 5 0 170 CM Punk 2 4 3 28 Dolph Ziggler 1 4 3 23 Daniel Bryan 0 3 4 17 Cody Rhodes 1 1 4 16 Robert Roode 0 4 2 16 Alberto Del Rio 0 1 4 13 John Cena 0 4 0 12 Randy Orton 0 3 1 11 Christian 0 2 2 10 Davey Richards 0 2 2 10 Austin Aries 1 1 0 8 Sheamus 1 0 1 7 Mark Henry 1 0 1 7 Edge 0 1 2 7 James Storm 0 1 2 7 Zack Ryder 1 0 0 5 Hiroshi Tanahashi 1 0 0 5 Kevin Steen 0 1 1 5 AJ Styles 0 1 1 5 Kurt Angle 0 0 2 4 Sara Del Ray 0 1 0 3 Eddie Kingston 0 1 0 3 John Morrison 0 0 1 2 Johnny Gargano 0 0 1 2 Madison Eagles 0 0 1 2 Wade Barrett 0 0 1 2 Evan Bourne ANALYSIS: What a total runaway. 36 out of 40 voters selected Punk in their top three, while Dolph Ziggler came in "second", appearing on 9 ballots out of a possible 40. It was a year where Punk was the clear favorite, but choosing the other top finishers was much more subjective. Researching the 1996 Awards, Shawn Michaels took home Best Wrestler and, out of a possible 100 or so ballots, scrounged up only 160 pts. Punk got 170 on 40 ballots. Talk about disparity in sentiment among the candidates. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Tag Team Award Description: To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year. This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews, charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one. Previous Winners: 1990: The Steiners: Rick & Scott 1991: The Steiners: Rick & Scott 1992: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams 1993: The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin 1994: (overall/non-NA) The Steiners: Rick & Scott 1994: (NA) Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine 1995: (overall/NA) Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge 1995: (non-NA) Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi 1996: (overall/NA) Harlem Heat: Booker T & Stevie Ray 1996: (non-NA) Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat 1997: (overall/NA) The Eliminators: John Kronus & Perry Saturn 1997: (non-NA) NWO: Masahiro Chono & Great Muta 1998: New Age Outlaws: Road Dogg Jesse James & Badd Ass Billy Gunn 1999: Hardy Boyz: Matt & Jeff 2000: Edge & Christian 2001: Edge & Christian 2002: Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit 2003: Self-Proclaimed World's Greatest Tag Team: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas 2004: America's Most Wanted: Chris Harris & James Storm 2005: America's Most Wanted: Chris Harris & James Storm 2006: A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels 2007: Paul London & Brian Kendrick 2008: John Morrison & The Miz 2009: Chris Jericho and Big Show 2010: N/A **2011**: Beer Money - James Storm and Robert Roode 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 10 7 4 79 Beer Money - James Storm and Robert Roode 7 3 6 56 Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team - Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin 5 5 8 56 Air Boom - Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne 4 5 3 41 Awesome Truth - The Miz and R-Truth 5 4 1 39 Kings of Wrestling - Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli 3 3 2 28 Pin-Up Strong - Beth Phoenix and Natalya 0 7 2 25 Briscoe Brothers - Jay and Mark 2 1 5 23 Motor City Machine Guns - Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin 2 0 1 12 All Night Express - Rhett Titus and Kenny King 1 1 1 10 Young Bucks - Max and Jeremy 0 2 0 6 Mexican America - Hernandez and Anarquia 1 0 0 5 Bad Intentions - Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson 0 1 1 5 Epico and Primo 0 0 2 4 The Usos - Jimmy and Jey 0 0 1 2 Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger 0 0 1 2 Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano 0 0 1 2 Matt Morgan and Crimson ANALYSIS: Awesome Truth's showing on 12 ballots is either proof that WWE dropped the ball on their team (partly due to Truth's suspension), or there was a lot of spite toward some of the lackluster, non-main event caliber teams that were the top candidates. The Kings of Wrestling had an early lead, but Beer Money wound up soaring ahead. Only Air Boom came close to them in the latter stages, but they ended up tying Haas and Benjamin, who had a late surge. With Storm and Roode having a great ten months as a duo, they seemed to be a no-brainer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Heel Award Description: To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This person should bring out the fans' wrath. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in the past year. Previous Winners: 1990: Ted DiBiase 1991: Cactus Jack Manson 1992: Jake Roberts 1993: Big Van Vader 1994: Bob Backlund 1995: Big Van Vader 1996: Steve Austin (Ring Master) 1997: Shawn Michaels 1998: Mr. McMahon (Vince McMahon) 1999: Triple H 2000: Triple H 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin 2002: Kurt Angle 2003: Chris Jericho 2004: Triple H 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Edge 2007: Edge 2008: Chris Jericho 2009: Chris Jericho 2010: N/A **2011**: Dolph Ziggler 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 6 2 6 48 Dolph Ziggler 4 4 7 46 Bully Ray 4 5 2 39 John Laurinaitis 3 3 7 38 Cody Rhodes 5 2 3 37 Mark Henry 4 5 1 37 The Miz 5 1 1 30 R-Truth 1 7 1 28 Vickie Guerrero 3 0 5 25 Michael Cole 1 4 3 23 Wade Barrett 2 1 0 13 Christian 0 2 2 10 CM Punk 0 2 1 8 Robert Roode 1 0 0 5 Alberto Del Rio 1 0 0 5 Young Bucks - Max and Jeremy 0 1 1 5 Kurt Angle 0 1 0 3 Karen Jarrett ANALYSIS: There were so many lead changes in this one down the stretch. Until the last day of voting, Bully Ray looked to have had it won, holding off a late charge by Laurinaitis. That was until Dolph got a couple first place votes from some WWE-heavy ballots, sealing his victory. It seems clear that WWE has a number of heels that are effective and fans buy into, whereas TNA has Bully Ray, and not much else, as evidenced by Robert Roode, Kurt Angle, and Karen Jarrett scoring six votes combined. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Babyface Award Description: To be given to the person who best portrayed the hero this past year. This person should get lots of fan support. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in the past year. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan 1991: Brian Pillman 1992: Sting 1993: Bret Hart 1994: Bret Hart 1995: Shawn Michaels 1996: Shawn Michaels 1997: Steve Austin 1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1999: The Rock 2000: The Rock 2001: The Rock 2002: Booker T 2003: Kurt Angle 2004: Eddie Guerrero 2005: Batista 2006: Rob van Dam / Rey Mysterio (tie) 2007: CM Punk / John Cena (tie) 2008: Jeff Hardy 2009: Jeff Hardy 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 40 third place votes 23 5 3 138 CM Punk 5 9 7 66 Zack Ryder 1 6 4 31 Sheamus 3 2 3 27 John Cena 2 2 3 22 Randy Orton 1 4 3 22 Edge 1 3 2 18 Daniel Bryan 2 0 1 12 Santino Marella 0 3 1 11 AJ Styles 0 2 1 8 James Storm 0 2 1 8 Evan Bourne 0 0 3 6 Sting 1 0 0 5 Jeff Hardy 1 0 0 5 Robert Roode 0 1 0 3 The Colony 0 0 1 2 The Rock 0 0 1 2 Mickie James 0 0 1 2 Cheerleader Melissa 0 0 1 2 Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 0 1 2 Jim Ross 0 0 1 2 Kofi Kingston 0 0 1 2 Jerry Lawler 0 0 1 2 El Mesias ANALYSIS: This was actually very close at one point, with Punk and Ryder neck and neck at junctures. However, with Ryder looking like a goof through January as Kane's personal stalking victim, some voters may have veered away from him. Again, with such a wide cross-section of fans voting, it's amazing how Punk's honesty and unique appeal seem to resonate better with fans than some of Vince's "favorites". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Worker Award Description: To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one. Previous Winners: 1990: Ric Flair / Randy Savage (tie) 1991: Jushin Liger 1992: Jushin Liger 1993: Bret Hart 1994: (overall/NA) Sabu 1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit 1995: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels 1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit 1996: (overall/NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr. 1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger 1997: (overall/NA) Shawn Michaels 1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku 1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mick Foley) 1999: Chris Benoit 2000: Chris Benoit 2001: Chris Benoit 2002: Kurt Angle 2003: Kurt Angle 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Chris Benoit 2006: Samoa Joe 2007: Bryan Danielson 2008: Chris Jericho 2009: Chris Jericho 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 20 5 5 135 CM Punk 7 6 5 63 Dolph Ziggler 4 11 4 61 Daniel Bryan 2 5 5 35 AJ Styles 2 2 4 24 Davey Richards 2 3 1 21 Alberto Del Rio 1 1 3 14 Christian 1 1 1 10 Austin Aries 0 3 0 9 Randy Orton 1 0 0 5 Hiroshi Tanahashi 0 1 1 5 Cody Rhodes 0 0 2 4 James Storm 0 1 0 3 Gail Kim 0 1 0 3 John Cena 0 0 1 2 Chris Hero 0 0 1 2 Low Ki 0 0 1 2 Antonio Cesario 0 0 1 2 Robert Roode 0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels 0 0 1 2 El Generico 0 0 1 2 Shinsuke Nakamura 0 0 1 2 Kurt Angle 0 0 1 2 Seth Rollins ANALYSIS: It's interesting how "workrate" is a more subjective term these days. Since WWE is more heavily scripted, guys like Orton and Ziggler and others developed through their system are considered good "workers" by maximizing the quality of their work in a sometimes-stifling environment. Regardless, once again, Punk dominated just by being a breath of fresh air. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Flyer Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying maneuvers throughout the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American. In 1998, it was recombined. Previous Winners: 1991: Jushin Liger 1992: Jushin Liger 1993: 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid) 1994: (NA) 1-2-3 Kid 1994: (non-NA) Jushin Liger 1995: (NA) Sabu 1995: (non-NA) Jushin Liger 1996: (NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr. 1996: (non-NA) Jushin Liger 1997: (NA) Rey Mysterio, Jr. 1997: (non-NA) Taka Michinoku 1998: (Billy) Kidman 1999: Jeff Hardy 2000: Jeff Hardy 2001: Rob van Dam 2002: Rey Mysterio 2003: Rey Mysterio 2004: Rey Mysterio 2005: A.J. Styles 2006: A.J. Styles 2007: Paul London 2008: Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal) 2009: Evan Bourne 2010: N/A **2011**: John Morrison 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 13 4 5 87 John Morrison 7 6 7 67 Evan Bourne 5 7 1 48 AJ Styles 3 4 3 33 Sin Cara 1 4 7 31 Kofi Kingston 3 1 2 22 Justin Gabriel 1 1 6 20 Zema Ion 3 1 0 18 Jack Evans 1 1 1 10 PAC 0 2 2 10 Hunico 0 2 2 10 Amazing Red 0 3 0 9 Christopher Daniels 1 0 0 5 Kota Ibushi 1 0 0 5 Ricochet 1 0 0 5 El Generico 0 1 1 5 Shelton Benjamin 0 1 1 5 Jay Lethal 0 1 0 3 Brian Kendrick 0 1 0 3 Rich Swann 0 0 1 2 Kazarian ANALYSIS: A bit of an upset here, as Morrison surged to victory, in spite of 2011 being largely a 'down year' to his career. Perhaps Bourne's latest suspension steered voters away? By the way, this may be the first voting year since the Herb Kunze years in which Rey Mysterio did not receive one single vote. And Rey had a pretty good year until his August injury, too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Technical Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1998, it was recombined into one. Previous Winners: 1991: Bret Hart 1992: Bret Hart 1993: Bret Hart 1994: (overall/NA) Bret Hart 1994: (non-NA) Chris Benoit 1995: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko 1995: (non-NA) Chris Benoit 1996: (sweep) Dean Malenko 1997: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko 1997: (non-NA) Jushin Liger 1998: Dean Malenko 1999: Chris Benoit 2000: Chris Benoit 2001: Chris Benoit 2002: Chris Benoit 2003: Rey Mysterio 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Chris Benoit 2006: Kurt Angle 2007: Kurt Angle 2008: Kurt Angle 2009: Kurt Angle 2010: N/A **2011**: Daniel Bryan 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 22 6 1 130 Daniel Bryan 5 10 4 63 CM Punk 1 4 6 29 Dolph Ziggler 2 3 4 27 Davey Richards 2 1 5 23 Kurt Angle 3 0 3 21 Austin Aries 1 2 3 17 William Regal 1 2 2 15 Samoa Joe 1 1 2 12 Cody Rhodes 1 0 2 9 Jack Swagger 0 2 0 6 Douglas Williams 0 2 0 6 Dean Ambrose 1 0 0 5 The Undertaker 0 1 1 5 Shelton Benjamin 0 1 0 3 Robert Roode 0 1 0 3 Seth Rollins 0 1 0 3 Christian 0 1 0 3 Triple H 0 1 0 3 Ted Dibiase 0 1 0 3 Eddie Edwards 0 0 1 2 AJ Styles 0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels 0 0 1 2 Tyson Kidd 0 0 1 2 Mike Quackenbush 0 0 1 2 Alberto Del Rio 0 0 1 2 John Cena 0 0 1 2 Randy Orton ANALYSIS: Angle's stronghold on the title since 2006 is no more, as the fading Olympian with the hypnotoad stare received just 1/5 of the possible votes. Hard to believe that, for his rep as an indy sensation, this is the first year "AmDrag" wins this category. I guess WWE can slowly siphon away his dignity, but fans still know who the most proficient technician is. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Brawler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year most convincingly. This award would go to Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish if he were still around. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American. In 1998, it was recombined. Previous Winners: 1991: Stan Hansen 1992: Cactus Jack 1993: Big Van Vader 1994: (NA) Cactus Jack 1994: (non-NA) Stan Hansen 1995: (NA) Cactus Jack 1995: (non-NA) Stan Hansen 1996: (NA) Mankind (Cactus Jack) 1996: (non-NA) Terry Funk 1997: (NA) Mankind 1997: (non-NA) Stan Hansen 1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Mick Foley / Dude Love) 1999: Mankind 2000: Mick Foley (Cactus Jack / Mankind) 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin 2002: Brock Lesnar 2003: Brock Lesnar 2004: Batista 2005: Batista / Samoa Joe (tie) 2006: Samoa Joe 2007: Samoa Joe 2008: Awesome Kong 2009: Undertaker 2010: N/A **2011**: Sheamus 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 10 4 3 68 Sheamus 6 4 7 56 Bully Ray 5 6 1 43 Mark Henry 2 4 4 30 Wade Barrett 3 2 3 27 John Cena 3 2 2 25 Big Show 1 4 2 21 Randy Orton 1 3 2 18 James Storm 0 2 4 14 Abyss 2 0 1 13 Kevin Steen 1 2 1 13 Crimson 2 0 1 12 Matt Morgan 1 2 0 11 CM Punk 1 0 1 7 Scott Steiner 0 2 0 6 Mr. Anderson 1 0 0 5 The Undertaker 1 0 0 5 Eddie Kingston 0 0 2 4 Hernandez 0 1 0 3 Rob Van Dam 0 1 0 3 Sami Callihan 0 1 0 3 Triple H 0 0 1 2 Homicide 0 0 1 2 Tomasso Ciampa 0 0 1 2 Steve Corino 0 0 1 2 Briscoe Brothers - Mark and Jay 0 0 1 2 Michael Elgin ANALYSIS: This seemed to be a hard category to find consensus on, since the days of garbage brawls (on the mainstream level) and Mick Foley's hey-day have since passed. Like "Best Heel", Bully Ray had this one won thanks to his tremendous work in TNA, but since WWE gets the most viewers, and Sheamus' brawling style, such as it is, stands out, he takes home Best Brawler. Pity for Bully. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Favorite Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason. Previous Winners: 1991: Ric Flair 1992: Ric Flair 1993: Ric Flair 1994: Ric Flair 1995: Shawn Michaels 1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1998: Mankind (Cactus Jack / Dude Love / Mick Foley) 1999: Chris Jericho 2000: Triple H 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin 2002: Kurt Angle 2003: Kurt Angle 2004: Chris Benoit 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Kurt Angle 2007: Samoa Joe / CM Punk (tie) 2008: Chris Jericho 2009: Chris Jericho 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 22 5 2 129 CM Punk 4 7 1 43 Daniel Bryan 1 3 4 22 Zack Ryder 1 3 3 21 Dolph Ziggler 1 2 3 17 Edge 1 3 1 16 Christian 0 2 5 16 Sheamus 2 0 2 14 Robert Roode 1 1 3 14 Cody Rhodes 1 1 2 12 Wade Barrett 0 3 1 11 AJ Styles 1 1 0 8 John Cena 1 0 0 5 R-Truth 1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe 1 0 0 5 Madison Rayne 1 0 0 5 Matt Cross 1 0 0 5 Santino Marella 0 1 1 5 Alberto Del Rio 0 1 1 5 Randy Orton 0 1 1 5 Evan Bourne 0 0 2 4 Beth Phoenix 0 0 2 4 Austin Aries 0 1 0 3 Seth Rollins 0 1 0 3 James Storm 0 1 0 3 Brian Kendrick 0 1 0 3 Prince Devitt 0 1 0 3 Eric Young 0 1 0 3 LA Park 0 0 1 2 Kurt Angle 0 0 1 2 Davey Richards 0 0 1 2 Johnny Gargano 0 0 1 2 Kevin Steen 0 0 1 2 Jinder Mahal ANALYSIS: If you didn't see this coming.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Improved Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself in all facets of the sport in the past year. Previous Winners: 1990: Lex Luger 1991: Ron Simmons 1992: Steve Austin 1993: Marcus Alexander Bagwell 1994: Diesel 1995: Johnny B. Badd 1996: Wildman Marc Mero (Johnny B. Badd) 1997: Ken Shamrock 1998: The Rock 1999: Hardcore Holly 2000: Triple H 2001: Rob van Dam 2002: Trish Stratus 2003: John Cena 2004: Batista 2005: Batista 2006: Johnny Nitro 2007: MVP 2008: The Miz 2009: The Miz 2010: N/A **2011**: Zack Ryder 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 8 8 5 74 Zack Ryder 8 6 4 66 Dolph Ziggler 10 2 3 62 Mark Henry 3 5 5 41 Cody Rhodes 3 3 3 30 Wade Barrett 2 4 4 30 R-Truth 1 1 5 18 Robert Roode 1 0 3 11 Brodus Clay 2 0 0 10 Bully Ray 1 0 1 7 Drew McIntyre 0 2 0 6 Zema Ion 0 2 0 6 Eve Torres 1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan 0 1 1 5 Chris Masters 0 1 0 3 Kelly Kelly 0 1 0 3 Alberto Del Rio 0 1 0 3 Sugar Dunkerton 0 1 0 3 Alex Riley 0 1 0 3 James Storm 0 0 1 2 Ted Dibiase 0 0 1 2 Tursas 0 0 1 2 Jesse Sorensen 0 0 1 2 Sheamus 0 0 1 2 Brooke Tessmacher ANALYSIS: The three horse race at the top was fun to watch play out as the voting came to a close. Ziggler and Ryder were swapping the lead while Henry accumulated first place votes. And why not? Dolph became a credible main eventer, Ryder worked up to his newfound crowd support, and Henry, frankly, stunned us all. Brodus Clay's votes were from the votes being in January, I'm sure. FUNKASAURUS~! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Overrated Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved a wrestler's push is. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan 1991: Hulk Hogan 1992: Ultimate Warrior 1993: Hulk Hogan 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: Hulk Hogan 1997: Hulk Hogan 1998: Hollywood Hogan 1999: Hulk Hogan 2000: Goldberg 2001: The Undertaker 2002: Triple H 2003: Triple H 2004: Triple H 2005: John Cena 2006: Jeff Jarrett / Randy Orton (tie) 2007: The Great Khali 2008: John Bradshaw Layfield 2009: Triple H 2010: N/A **2011**: John Cena 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 8 4 2 56 John Cena 3 5 4 38 Kelly Kelly 3 3 1 26 Randy Orton 5 0 0 25 Zack Ryder 3 1 1 20 Sin Cara 2 2 1 18 Gunner 1 0 6 17 Jeff Hardy 0 2 5 16 Mason Ryan 3 0 0 15 Hornswoggle 2 0 1 12 Garrett Bischoff 2 0 1 12 Mike Bennett 0 2 3 12 Alicia Fox 0 3 1 11 Bella Twins 1 1 1 10 The Rock 0 2 2 10 David Otunga 1 1 0 8 Cody Rhodes 0 2 1 8 Mr. Anderson 0 2 0 6 Michelle McCool 0 2 0 6 Rob Van Dam 0 0 3 6 Davey Richards 1 0 0 5 Kane 1 0 0 5 Triple H 1 0 0 5 Ezekiel Jackson 1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle 1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe 1 0 0 5 Daniel Bryan 0 1 1 5 Jinder Mahal 0 1 1 5 Alberto Del Rio 0 1 0 3 The Miz 0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett 0 1 0 3 Eric Young 0 1 0 3 Crimson 0 1 0 3 Bully Ray 0 1 0 3 Sheamus 0 0 1 2 John Morrison 0 0 1 2 Jack Swagger 0 0 1 2 Santino Marella 0 0 1 2 CM Punk ANALYSIS: Hard to believe that, for the IWC loathing Cena since 2005, this is only his second time winning this category. Of course, Cena's good for four to six great matches a year, at least, so there's a grudging respect there. Responses to this category varied expectedly, and I guess after seven years of being WWE's top banana, Cena's status as the polar opposite of "new and exciting" shines even clearer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestling Gimmick Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the past year. Previous Winners: 1991: The Undertaker 1992: The Undertaker 1993: The Undertaker 1994: Bob Backlund as the real WWF champ 1995: Goldust 1996: NWO 1997: Mick Foley's multiple personalities 1998: Lionheart Chris Jericho as a Paragon of Virtue 1999: Hardcore Holly as The Big Shot and a Superheavyweight 2000: Edge & Christian, for the benefit of those with flash photography 2001: His name is Steve Austin - WWF Champion - he does not deserve this 2002: Matt Hardy's Mattitude 2003: John Cena as the Minister of Thuganomics 2004: Trish Stratus as an insincere meddler 2005: Mr. Kennedy handling his own ring introductions 2006: Booker T, after winning King of the Ring, becomes King of the World 2007: Black Machismo Jay Lethal 2008: How you say...Santino Marella 2009: CM Punk as a Straight Edge savior 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk: The Voice of the Voiceless 40 first place votes 38 second place votes 39 third place votes 13 8 5 99 CM Punk: The Voice of the Voiceless 9 9 3 78 Zack Ryder: WWWYKI! 8 6 3 64 R-Truth as a conspiracy theorist with a loose screw 2 4 6 34 Mark Henry indiscriminately adds victims to his Hall of Pain 2 1 1 15 Kevin Steen, invading outsider 0 0 7 14 Austin Aries: Self-absorbed X-Division ruler 1 1 2 12 Mr. Anderson, the alpha asshole 0 2 3 12 Robert Roode: the selfish champion 1 1 1 10 Cody Rhodes' goes from Dashing to deranged 1 0 1 7 AJ, nerdy girl-next-door 0 1 2 7 Wade Barrett's "Barrett Barrage" 0 2 0 6 Vickie Guerrero as a shrill cougar 0 0 3 6 Bully Ray, loudmouth from Hell's Kitchen 1 0 0 5 Daniel Bryan, the nerd who can wrestle 1 0 0 5 Winter, mystical sorceress 1 0 0 5 The Rock, still "The People's Champ" 0 1 0 3 Sting as The Joker 0 1 0 3 Christian wants ONE! MORE! MATCH! 0 1 0 3 Ted Dibiase as host of Dibiase Posse tailgate parties 0 0 1 2 Sheamus, "The Great White" 0 0 1 2 Cedric the Hitman ANALYSIS: Much like the Best Babyface category, Punk's Voice gimmick and Ryder's Long Island goofball persona were running a dead heat. Punk pulled away by a wider margin, perhaps because of the recent diminishing of Ryder's cool factor as both Kane's bitch, and as Cena's dorky sidekick. Much of Ryder's lack of votes in the latter voting portion seemed to go to Truth and Henry, who stood out sharply in 2011 in their roles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestling Move Award Description: To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen this past year. This should probably be a "finishing" move or something really spectacular. Previous Winners: 1990: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner 1991: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner 1992: Jushin Liger's moonsault off the second ropes to floor 1993: Big Van Vader's moonsault 1994: Vader's moonsault 1995: Hakushi's Space Flying Tiger Drop 1996: Wildman Marc Mero's Wild Thing shooting star press 1997: Bret Hart's figure four leglock around the ringpost 1998: Rock's People's Elbow elbowdrop 1999: Jeff Hardy's senton bomb 2000: Jeff Hardy's swantonbomb senton 2001: Rob van Damn's Five Star frog splash 2002: Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker 2003: Brock Lesnar's F-5 fireman carry neckbreaker 2004: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 2005: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 2006: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver 2007: Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver / Homicide's Gringo Killer back to back double underhook piledriver (tie) 2008: Evan Bourne's shooting star press 2009: Evan Bourne's Air Bourne shooting star press 2010: N/A **2011**: Sheamus' Brogue Kick pump kick / Randy Orton's RKO (tie) 39 first place votes 38 second place votes 38 third place votes 6 3 3 43 Sheamus' Brogue Kick pump kick 5 2 6 43 Randy Orton's RKO 4 4 1 34 CM Punk's Go to Sleep 4 3 0 27 CM Punk's Anaconda Vice 2 4 1 24 John Morrison's Starship Pain split legged corkscrew 3 2 1 23 Kevin Steen's package piledriver 3 1 2 22 Drew McIntyre's Future Shock double-arm snap DDT 2 2 2 20 Cody Rhodes' Cross-Rhodes rolling cutter 1 4 1 19 Daniel Bryan's guillotine choke 1 1 2 12 Austin Aries' brainbuster 1 0 3 11 El Generico's BRAINBUSTAH!!!!! 1 0 3 11 Dolph Ziggler's Zig Zag reverse bulldog 1 1 1 10 Christopher Daniels' Angels' Wings sitout underhook facebuster 1 1 1 10 Alberto Del Rio's cross armbreaker 1 1 0 8 Evan Bourne's Air Bourne 1 0 0 5 Justin Gabriel's 450 splash 1 0 0 5 Douglas Williams' Chaos Theory rolling German suplex 1 0 0 5 Kota Ibushi's Phoenix Splash 0 1 1 5 Daniel Bryan's Lebell Lock 0 1 1 5 Sheamus' Irish Curse backbreaker 0 1 1 5 Wade Barrett's Winds of Change sidewalk slam 0 0 2 4 Mark Henry's World's Strongest Slam 0 1 0 3 Wade Barrett's Wasteland fireman carry front slam 0 1 0 3 Kofi Kingston's Trouble in Paradise 0 1 0 3 Claudio Castagnoli's Neutralizer stretch muffler 0 1 0 3 Johnny Gargano's Uniquely You full nelson faceplant 0 1 0 3 Samoa Joe's Muscle Buster 0 1 0 3 The Undertaker's Tombstone 0 0 1 2 Matt Cross' shooting star press 0 0 1 2 AJ Styles' Styles Clash 0 0 1 2 Prince Devitt's Bloody Sunday underhook DDT 0 0 1 2 Ric Flair's Figure Four leglock 0 0 1 2 Santino Marella's Cobra throat strike with theatrics 0 0 1 2 AJ Styles' springboard forearm ANALYSIS: I'm a little surprised; I didn't know Sheamus' Brogue Kick was so popular, since it's merely the same pump kick that Steve Blackman and Albert used in years' past. The RKO, and it's many snap-applications, seems a more plausible choice. It's interesting how much "head-drop" moves have started to become passe, especially in the wake of concussion information and awareness taking precedent in sport. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Match Award Description: To be given to the best wrestling match you've seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. In 1997, due to lack of participation on both the NA and non-NA sides, it was recombined. Previous Winners: 1990: 04/22/90: Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Marty Janetty & Shawn Michaels (SNME) 1991: 03/21/91: Steiners vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase (Tokyo, aired on taped PPV) 1992: 01/18/92: Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble) 1993: 10/24/93: Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (Halloween Havoc) 1994: (overall/NA) 03/20/94: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania) 1994: (non-NA) 04/16/94: Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup) 1995: (overall/NA) 08/27/95: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam) 1995: (non-NA) 11/20/94: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (AJW V*TOP Tourney) 1996: (overall/NA) 03/31/96: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 1996: (non-NA) 03/17/96: Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani 1997: 10/05/97: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Hell in the Cell cage) 1998: 06/28/98: Undertaker vs. Mankind (Hell in the Cell cage) 1999: 10/17/99: Brood (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. Edge & Christian (ladder) 2000: 08/27/00: Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz (tag TLC) 2001: 05/21/01: Steve Austin & Triple H (tag) vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho (RAW) 2002: 10/20/02: Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio (WWE tag final) (No Mercy) 2003: 01/19/03: Kurt Angle (WWE) vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble) 2004: 03/14/04: Triple H (World) vs. Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 2005: 04/03/05: Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle (WrestleMania) 2006: 03/31/06: Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA & Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH Supercard of Honor) 2007: 04/23/07: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels (RAW) 2008: 03/30/08: Ric Flair (career) vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 2009: 04/05/09: Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 2010: N/A/ **2011**: 07/17/11 - John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Title) 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 38 third place votes 25 5 2 144 07/17/11 - John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Title) 3 7 3 42 04/03/11 - The Undertaker vs. Triple H 2 2 3 22 07/10/11 - Low Ki vs. Austin Aries vs. Zema Ion vs. Jack Evans 2 3 1 21 06/26/11 - Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards (ROH World) 3 0 2 19 11/21/11 - CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler (WWE Title) 0 1 4 11 08/14/11 - Christian vs. Randy Orton (World Heavyweight) 0 1 4 11 01/30/11 - Royal Rumble Match 0 2 2 10 12/12/11 - Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Zack Ryder 0 3 0 9 04/17/11 - Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett 0 1 3 9 08/14/11 - John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Title Unification) 1 1 0 8 11/13/11 - Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush 1 0 1 7 07/10/11 - AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels 0 2 0 6 05/01/11 - Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight) 1 0 0 5 06/12/11 - AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray 1 0 0 5 06/18/11 - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hiroki Goto 1 0 0 5 04/17/11 - El Generico vs. 123 Kid 0 1 1 5 07/17/11 - Daniel Bryan vs. Kane vs. Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett vs. Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Justin Gabriel 0 1 1 5 07/17/11 - Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison vs. Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger vs. R-Truth vs. Kofi Kingston 0 1 1 5 05/22/11 - Randy Orton vs. Christian (World Heavyweight) 0 1 0 3 09/17/11 - Briscoe Brothers vs. All Night Express 0 1 0 3 11/20/11 - CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio (WWE Title) 0 1 0 3 12/23/11 - Kevin Steen vs. Steve Corino 0 1 0 3 04/03/11 - CM Punk vs. Randy Orton 0 1 0 3 08/11/11 - Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose (FCW 15) 0 1 0 3 11/20/11 - John Cena/The Rock vs. Awesome Truth 0 1 0 3 02/20/11 - Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. Big Show vs. Wade Barrett vs. Drew McIntyre 0 1 0 3 03/26/11 - Mercedes Martinez vs. Britani Knight 0 0 1 2 02/20/11 - John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton vs. R-Truth vs. Sheamus 0 0 1 2 07/10/11 - Kazarian vs. Samoa Joe 0 0 1 2 12/23/11 - Jay Lethal vs. El Generico vs. Mike Bennett 0 0 1 2 08/07/11 - Johnny Gargano vs. Matt Cross vs. Josh Prohibition 0 0 1 2 05/03/11 - Christian vs. Randy Orton (World Heavyweight) 0 0 1 2 11/28/11 - CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio (WWE World) 0 0 1 2 08/14/11 - Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan 0 0 1 2 06/19/11 - CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio 0 0 1 2 01/30/11 - Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler (World Heavyweight) 0 0 1 2 10/10/11 - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito ANALYSIS: Although I try to have no bias when I tabulate the voting, I was rather gleeful when I realized I wasn't the only one that thought Undertaker/Triple H from Mania was a tad overrated. Punk and Cena was WWE's best match since HBK/Taker from WrestleMania XXV, and nothing this year came close to beating it. I counted five TNA matches on this list, and three were from the all X Division PPV. Hmmm.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Feud Award Description: To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling match(es) of the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American. In 1996, due to lack of participation on the non-NA side, it was recombined. Previous Winners: 1990: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Horsemen: Arn Anderson & Barry Windham 1991: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Steiners 1992: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage 1993: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack 1994: (NA) Cactus Jack & partner vs. Nasty Boys 1994: (non-NA) All Japan Women vs. JWP (& other outside women) 1995: (NA) Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero 1995: (non-NA) Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota 1996: NWO vs. WCW 1997: Bret Hart / Hart Foundation vs. Steve Austin 1998: Mr. McMahon vs. Steve Austin 1999: Mankind vs. Rock 2000: Triple H vs. Mankind / Cactus Jack 2001: Rock vs. Chris Jericho 2002: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle 2003: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar 2004: Randy Orton vs. Mick Foley 2005: Matt Hardy vs. Edge 2006: Edge vs. John Cena 2007: Matt Hardy vs. MVP 2008: Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels 2009: CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk vs. John Cena 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 19 7 2 120 CM Punk vs. John Cena 6 4 1 44 CM Punk vs. John Laurinaitis 2 5 9 43 Christian vs. Randy Orton 2 3 5 29 Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder 1 3 6 26 James Storm vs. Robert Roode 3 1 3 24 John Cena vs. The Rock 2 2 1 18 Kevin Steen vs. ROH 2 0 2 14 Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett 1 2 1 13 Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards 0 3 2 13 Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett 0 3 1 11 Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge and Christian 1 1 0 8 John Cena vs. R-Truth 0 0 3 6 Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio 1 0 0 5 CM Punk vs. Vince McMahon 0 1 1 5 Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins 0 1 0 3 James Storm vs. Kurt Angle 0 1 0 3 Briscoe Brothers vs. All Night Express 0 1 0 3 Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio 0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen vs. The Young Bucks 0 1 0 3 Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole 0 0 1 2 Sheamus vs. Christian 0 0 1 2 Briscoe Brothers vs. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team 0 0 1 2 Immortal vs. Fortune ANALYSIS: The hot "Summer of Punk" brought us Cena's most interesting feud in quite some time, and was responsible for making John Laurinaitis into a compelling TV character. Christian/Orton was a tremendous back-and-forth feud which, in the end, only served to turn Christian into a sniveling wuss, despite the fans' wishes. The buyrates may not have shown it, but there were some great feuds this year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the name athlete who was the worst overall wrestler in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, and the charisma of a rock should describe this person. Previous Winners: 1990: Junkyard Dog 1991: Andre The Giant 1992: Nailz 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: Hulk Hogan 1997: Hulk Hogan 1998: Hollywood Hogan 1999: Hulk Hogan 2000: Hulk Hogan 2001: Buff Bagwell 2002: Jackie Gayda 2003: Nathan Jones 2004: Heidenreich 2005: Heidenreich 2006: The Great Khali 2007: The Great Khali 2008: The Great Khali 2009: The Great Khali 2010: N/A **2011**: Kelly Kelly 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 40 third place votes Worst Wrestler 6 9 1 58 Kelly Kelly 6 5 3 51 David Otunga 6 5 2 49 Great Khali 2 4 6 35 Mason Ryan 3 2 1 23 Anarquia 2 1 3 19 Rob Terry 2 1 3 19 Sin Cara 2 1 2 17 Robbie E 2 1 2 17 Ezekiel Jackson 2 0 3 16 Jinder Mahal 1 2 1 13 Jeff Hardy 0 1 4 11 Crimson 1 1 0 8 Santino Marella 1 0 1 7 Mark Henry 1 0 1 7 Alicia Fox 1 0 0 5 Orlando Jordan 1 0 0 5 Alberto Del Rio 1 0 0 5 Rob Van Dam 0 1 1 5 Michael Cole 0 1 1 5 Jesse Neal 0 1 0 3 John Cena 0 1 0 3 Eric Young 0 1 0 3 Hornswoggle 0 1 0 3 Primo 0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner 0 0 1 2 Heath Slater 0 0 1 2 Titus O'Neill 0 0 1 2 Kaitlyn 0 0 1 2 Matt Hardy ANALYSIS: It's been a little difficult to like Kelly Kelly ever since she went from a softcore pissing drink that Johnny Ace discovered to a "respectable" and thus heavily pushed part of WWE programming. But in 2011, when she became Divas' Champion with a pathetic moveset and even heavier push despite the grumblings and jeers from the live crowds, it only made it easier to dislike what she brought to the table. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Tag Team Award Description: To be given to the name tag team who were the worst overall wrestlers in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, the charisma of a rock, and lousy team moves should describe this pair. Previous Winners: 1990: Rhythm & Blues: Greg Valentine & Honky Tonk Man 1991: The Patriots: Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip 1992: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller 1993: The Colossal Kongs: Awesome Kong & King Kong 1994: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller 1995: Tekno Team 2000: Travis & Troy 1996: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I. 1997: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I. 1998: Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno 1999: Ministry of Darkness: Mideon & Viscera 2000: Harris Brothers: Big Ron & Heavy D 2001: Kronik: Brian Adams & Bryan Clarke 2002: Rosey & Jamal 2003: 3 Minute Warning: Rossey & Jamal / La Resistance: Sylvain Grenier & Rene Dupree & Rob Conway (tie) 2004: Hardcore Holly & Billy Gunn 2005: Legion of Doom: Road Warrior Animal & Heidenreich 2006: Dicks: Chad & James 2007: Team Pacman: Ron Killings & Adam Jonse 2008: Black Reign & Rellik 2009: Bella Twins: Brie & Nikki 2010: N/A **2011**: David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 38 third place votes 8 7 7 75 David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty 6 4 15 72 Jinder Mahal and Great Khali 8 8 1 66 Bella Twins 6 4 4 50 Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres 2 2 4 24 Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks 3 2 1 23 Ink Inc - Shannon Moore and Jesse Neal 0 5 0 15 Devon and The Pope 0 3 2 13 Mexican America - Hernandez and Anarquia 1 1 0 8 Mr. Anderson and Abyss 1 0 1 7 Rosita and Sarita 1 0 0 5 The Bravados - Harlem and Lancelot 1 0 0 5 Air Boom - Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne 1 0 0 5 The Usos - Jimmy and Jey 1 0 0 5 Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team - Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin 0 1 0 3 Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater 0 1 0 3 SMOP - Akebono and Ryota Hama 0 1 0 3 Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov 0 0 1 2 House of Truth 0 0 1 2 Gunner and Murphy 0 0 1 2 Awesome Truth - The Miz and R-Truth ANALYSIS: And they say tag team wrestling is dead! */sarcasm* The top four teams listed all lead at different points, with the final three in a real knockdown/drag out affair at the end. Otunga and McGillicutty were, as Jerry Lawler pointed out, boring champions, but doesn't the blame fall on WWE for making them so? Apparently, sticking sunglasses on Carlton and a skull cap on ImPerfect counts as a "gimmick". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Heel Award Description: To be given to the person whose casting as a bad guy just didn't work well. Maybe there was just no heel heat drawn or maybe the fans actually cheered this person, but for whatever reason the heel image just didn't get over. Previous Winners: 1990: Rick Martel 1991: The Mountie Jacques Rougeau 1992: Razor Ramon 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Bastion Booger 1995: Zodiac (The Butcher/Brutus Beefcake) 1996: Hulk Hogan 1997: Ahmed Johnson 1998: Hollywood Hogan 1999: Sting 2000: Goldberg 2001: Rob van Dam 2002: Triple H 2003: Triple H 2004: Jeff Jarrett 2005: Linda McMahon 2006: Vickie Guerrero 2007: Vickie Guerrero 2008: Colin Delaney / Sting (tie) 2009: Mick Foley 2010: N/A **2011**: Matt Hardy 40 first place votes 38 second place votes 38 third place votes 4 5 4 43 Matt Hardy 6 2 1 38 Hulk Hogan 4 3 1 31 Heath Slater 3 4 2 31 Michael McGillicutty 4 1 1 25 Bella Twins 2 2 3 22 Jinder Mahal 2 1 4 21 Darren Young 1 4 2 21 Robbie E 1 2 4 19 David Otunga 1 4 0 17 Gunner 1 1 4 16 Drew McIntyre 2 1 0 13 Madison Rayne 2 1 0 13 Michael Cole 2 1 0 13 Jeff Jarrett 0 2 3 12 Karen Jarrett 1 0 3 11 Anarquia 0 2 2 10 Tyler Reks 0 1 2 7 Eric Bischoff 1 0 0 5 Alberto Del Rio 1 0 0 5 Mark Henry 1 0 0 5 Beth Phoenix 1 0 0 5 Jeff Hardy 0 1 0 3 Kane 0 0 1 2 Angelina Love 0 0 1 2 Jack Swagger ANALYSIS: Phooey that Madison Rayne's lizard-faced screams of "ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?" didn't win. Matt Hardy was such a great heel a decade ago as "Version 1.0", but those days are long faded. Nowadays, wearing your hair in dreadlocks along with a trenchcoat and pajama pants just makes you look like a 37-year-old unemployed stoner trying to live in the past. One final first place vote prevented a tie between Hardy and The Hulkster. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Babyface Award Description: To be given to the person whose casting as a good guy just didn't work well. Maybe there was just no face heat drawn or maybe the fans actually booed this person, but for whatever reason the face image just didn't get over. Previous Winners: 1990: Dusty Rhodes 1991: P.N. News 1992: Sid Justice 1993: Lex Luger 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: John Tenta 1997: Rocky Maivia 1998: Warrior 1999: Hulk Hogan 2000: Hulk Hogan 2001: "The One" Billy Gunn 2002: Triple H 2003: Stephanie McMahon / Scott Steiner (tie) 2004: Hardcore Holly 2005: Randy Orton 2006: John Cena 2007: Santino Marella 2008: Triple H 2009: The Great Khali 2010: N/A **2011**: John Cena 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 11 3 2 68 John Cena 3 5 7 44 Mason Ryan 6 1 1 35 Randy Orton 4 1 3 29 Kelly Kelly 1 4 4 25 Garrett Bischoff 4 1 1 25 Alex Riley 4 0 1 22 Hornswoggle 0 6 1 20 Alicia Fox 2 2 2 20 Eric Young 0 3 3 14 Crimson 0 3 2 13 The Pope 0 2 3 12 Jeff Hardy 1 1 1 10 Titus O'Neill 1 0 1 7 Zack Ryder 1 0 1 7 Brooke Tessmacher 0 2 0 6 Sting 1 0 0 5 Jerry Lawler 0 1 1 5 Ezekiel Jackson 0 1 1 5 John Morrison 0 1 0 3 Mr. Anderson 0 1 0 3 R-Truth 0 1 0 3 Mickie James 0 0 1 2 Eve Torres 0 0 1 2 Sheamus 0 0 1 2 Samoa Joe 0 0 1 2 Ted Dibiase ANALYSIS: Is it a bad sign for WWE when the top four votegetters are performers that received extensive pushes in 2011? Cena's winning marks a discontent with year eight of the Superman push, but letting Ryan drop Ziggler on his head a dozen times, Orton make Christian look like a fool, and Kelly Kelly dominate the Divas shows just how clueless and out-of-touch WWE's creative department can be at times. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Worker Award Description: To be given to the name wrestler whose workrate is so low it's barely measureable. Previous Winners: 1990: Junkyard Dog 1991: Andre The Giant 1992: Nailz 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: Hulk Hogan 1997: Hulk Hogan 1998: Hollywood Hogan 1999: Hulk Hogan 2000: Kevin Nash 2001: Buff Bagwell 2002: Jackie Gayda 2003: Nathan Jones 2004: Heidenreich 2005: Gene Snitsky / Kevin Nash / Chris Masters (tie) 2006: The Great Khali 2007: The Great Khail 2008: The Great Khali 2009: The Great Khali 2010: N/A **2011**: The Great Khali 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 9 3 5 64 Great Khali 6 2 1 38 Alicia Fox 4 2 5 36 Mason Ryan 2 4 5 32 Kelly Kelly 0 8 4 32 Kevin Nash 3 4 2 31 David Otunga 5 0 1 27 Sin Cara 2 2 4 24 Rob Terry 2 3 2 23 Anarquia 2 3 2 23 Jinder Mahal 2 3 1 21 Snooki 2 0 0 10 Eve Torres 0 2 2 10 Bella Twins 1 0 1 7 Mark Henry 0 1 0 3 David Otunga 0 1 0 3 Rob Van Dam 0 1 0 3 Kaitlyn 0 1 0 3 Eric Young 0 0 1 2 Jesse Neal 0 0 1 2 Gunner 0 0 1 2 Crimson 0 0 1 2 Michael Cole 0 0 1 2 Big Show ANALYSIS: If I just pencil Khali's name in for the 2010 award, would anyone mind? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Least Favorite Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler you like the least, regardless of the reason. Previous Winners: 1991: Hulk Hogan 1992: Hulk Hogan 1993: Hulk Hogan 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: Hulk Hogan 1997: Hulk Hogan 1998: Hollywood Hogan 1999: Hulk Hogan 2000: Hulk Hogan 2001: Buff Bagwell 2002: Triple H 2003: Triple H 2004: Triple H 2005: Triple H 2006: Jeff Jarrett 2007: The Great Khali 2008: Triple H 2009: Triple H 2010: N/A **2011**: Kelly Kelly 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 7 2 1 43 Kelly Kelly 5 0 5 35 John Cena 3 3 4 32 Kevin Nash 2 5 3 31 Mason Ryan 3 2 2 25 Heath Slater 1 3 3 20 Alicia Fox 3 1 1 20 Snooki 2 2 1 18 David Otunga 2 2 0 16 Robbie E 2 1 0 13 Randy Orton 0 3 2 13 Jerry Lawler 0 3 1 11 Triple H 0 2 2 10 Bella Twins 2 0 0 10 Zack Ryder 1 1 0 8 Michelle McCool 1 1 0 8 Alex Riley 1 0 1 7 Madison Rayne 1 0 1 7 Orlando Jordan 0 1 2 7 Hornswoggle 0 0 3 6 Big Show 1 0 0 5 Mark Henry 1 0 0 5 Rob Van Dam 1 0 0 5 Daniel Bryan 0 1 1 5 Chavo Guerrero 0 1 1 5 Rey Mysterio 0 1 0 3 Jack Swagger 0 1 0 3 Eric Young 0 1 0 3 Michael McGillicutty 0 1 0 3 Crimson 0 1 0 3 Rob Terry 0 0 1 2 Bully Ray 0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels 0 0 1 2 The Miz 0 0 1 2 Mr. Anderson 0 0 1 2 Pimpinela Escarlata ANALYSIS: Seeing such diverse answers may go a long way in explaining why there's such a wide range of negative feedback in wrestling these days. Then again, I'm sure people have had varied dislikes for years; there's just more chances to be vocal about it now. Kelly becomes only the fourth different person than Hogan or HHH to win the award, while previous winners Hogan, Khali, and Jarrett received no votes. It's a new era. Most Deteriorated Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the person whose skill has deteriorated the most over the past year. This person should be a shadow of his/her former self. Previous Winners: 1990: Dusty Rhodes 1991: Hulk Hogan 1992: Hulk Hogan 1993: Hulk Hogan 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: Hulk Hogan 1997: Roddy Piper 1998: British Bulldog 1999: Hulk Hogan 2000: Undertaker 2001: Undertaker 2002: Triple H 2003: Scott Steiner 2004: Jeff Hardy 2005: Vader 2006: Raven 2007: Ric Flair 2008: Dustin Rhodes (Black Reign) 2009: Kevin Nash 2010: N/A **2011**: Hulk Hogan 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 8 6 6 70 Hulk Hogan 6 6 9 66 Kevin Nash 7 5 6 62 Ric Flair 6 4 3 48 Matt Hardy 2 4 3 28 Sting 2 3 1 21 The Undertaker 2 1 1 15 Triple H 1 1 3 14 Booker T 1 1 1 10 Sin Cara 1 0 2 9 Great Khali 0 3 0 9 Rob Van Dam 0 2 1 8 Chris Harris 1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio 1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe 1 0 0 5 Kurt Angle 1 0 0 5 Scott Steiner 0 1 1 5 Tommy Dreamer 0 1 0 3 Sabu 0 1 0 3 Jeff Hardy 0 1 0 3 Chavo Guerrero 0 0 1 2 Christopher Daniels 0 0 1 2 Jerry Lynn ANALYSIS: Hogan's eighth win in this category; his first since 1999. Those who pine for the days of the "Attitude Era", let the record show that 17 of the 22 men that received votes were in WWF, WCW, or ECW between 1997 and 2001, and that's not even counting part-time jobber Daniels. Sin Cara, with three votes, is the highest votegetter out of the five not majorly active in that time frame. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Underrated Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this award should have the most ability with least push. Previous Winners: 1990: Terry Taylor 1991: Cactus Jack Manson 1992: Owen Hart 1993: Chris Benoit 1994: 1-2-3 Kid 1995: Barry Horowitz 1996: Owen Hart 1997: Chris Benoit 1998: Chris Benoit 1999: D'Lo Brown 2000: Al Snow 2001: Lance Storm 2002: D'Lo Brown 2003: Matt Hardy 2004: Paul London 2005: Shelton Benjamin 2006: Shelton Benjamin 2007: Alex Shelley 2008: Shelton Benjamin 2009: Evan Bourne 2010: N/A **2011**: Samoa Joe 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 6 2 4 44 Samoa Joe 5 3 4 42 Tyson Kidd 2 7 4 39 Natalya 5 2 1 33 Drew McIntyre 1 3 4 22 Jack Swagger 2 1 2 17 AJ Styles 2 1 1 15 Robert Roode 2 0 1 12 Wade Barrett 2 0 0 10 Douglas Williams 1 1 1 10 Zack Ryder 0 2 2 10 Daniel Bryan 1 0 2 9 Austin Aries 1 0 2 9 Antonio Cesario 0 3 0 9 Evan Bourne 1 1 0 8 Kofi Kingston 1 1 0 8 Anthony Nese 0 1 2 7 Curt Hawkins 0 1 2 7 Hunico 0 1 2 7 Ted Dibiase 0 2 0 6 Trent Baretta 1 0 0 5 Shelton Benjamin 1 0 0 5 Jinder Mahal 1 0 0 5 Bully Ray 1 0 0 5 Dolph Ziggler 1 0 0 5 John Morrison 1 0 0 5 Colt Cabana 1 0 0 5 Matt Morgan 1 0 0 5 Chavo Guerrero 0 1 0 3 Madison Rayne 0 1 0 3 R-Truth 0 1 0 3 Brian Kendrick 0 1 0 3 Alberto Del Rio 0 1 0 3 Seth Rollins 0 1 0 3 Steve Corino 0 1 0 3 John Cena 0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen 0 0 1 2 Cody Rhodes 0 0 1 2 Kazarian 0 0 1 2 Derrick Bateman 0 0 1 2 Jigsaw 0 0 1 2 Kelly Kelly ANALYSIS: In a word, wow. Much like the "least favorite" category, the wide range of responses indicates general unhappiness when somebody sees somebody they enjoy lose constantly. This sampling of forty ballots shows there are many different ideas of who should be pushed, as the opinions are very unique. The death of the Hart Dynasty push and the demise of Samoa Joe's steamroller push are clearly still mourned. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Wrestling Gimmick Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who had the worst character gimmick in the past year. Previous Winners: 1991: Mike Rotundo as Irwin R. Shyster 1992: Papa Shango's voodoo 1993: Doink the Clown 1994: Doink the Clown 1995: Dungeon of Doom 1996: The Leprechaun 1997: Glacier / Blood Runs Cold 1998: Warrior appears in "strange mist" / forms One Warrior Nation 1999: Beaver Cleavage (Chaz) 2000: That 70's Guy / Not a Mullet / Fat Chick Thriller / Career Killer Mike Awesome 2001: Diamond Dallas Page as Sara's Stalker 2002: WWE's necrophilia 2003: La Resistance as French sympathizers 2004: Heidenreich as a tortured poet 2005: Jillian Hall as a "fixer" with a giant growth on her face 2006: The Impostor Kane 2007: D-Generation X as middle-aged teenagers 2008: Hornswoggle, leprechaun son of Finlay 2009: Miss WrestleMania Santina Marella, Santino's twin sister 2010: N/A **2011**: Michael Cole, the Voice of the WWE Universe 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 7 3 3 50 Michael Cole, the Voice of WWE 5 2 4 39 Jinder Mahal, Indian millionaire 2 5 3 31 Matt Hardy, "Cold Blood" 3 3 3 30 Orlando Jordan, tacky cross-dresser 4 2 0 26 John Laurinaitis as Raw GM 3 2 1 23 Hunico as a Konnan wannabe 2 4 0 22 Jeff and Karen Jarrett as a power couple 2 3 1 21 Aksana, flirtatious maid 1 4 2 21 Heath Slater, the "One Man Rock Band" 1 0 7 19 Sting as The Joker 0 3 5 19 David Otunga as a lawyer 2 2 1 18 Mexican America 2 0 2 14 Okato, Samoa Joe's sidekick 1 1 2 12 Cody Rhodes, "Undashing" 1 2 0 11 Madison Rayne as a screaming drama queen 2 0 0 10 Eric Young as a totally random weirdo 0 2 2 10 Crimson is unbeatable 1 0 0 5 Dashing Cody Rhodes 1 0 0 5 Beth Phoenix and Natalya try to crush WWE's "Barbies" 0 1 0 3 The Anonymous Raw GM 0 1 0 3 Davey Richards, wannabe MMA fighter 0 0 1 2 The Pope is PIMPIN~! 0 0 1 2 Mark Henry indiscrimiately adds victims to his Hall of Pain 0 0 1 2 Los Psycho Circus ANALYSIS: Jinder Mahal had this won until the last batch of ballots came in, and Cole blew him away. Gimmicks have mutated from "clearly defined occupation with obvious character quirks" to "half-assed nickname, tired and rehashed gimmick that worked years ago, and/or random for the sake of random". The days of Papa Shango and Repo Man are missed. I assume Cole won, strictly because his "gimmick" makes fans change channels. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Wrestling Move Award Description: To be given to the move that is the worst thing you've seen this year. This shouldn't be given to a move that was flubbed by a wrestler - the move was performed correctly, but was just too stupid for words. This move should probably be a "finishing" move or something that was meant to be spectacular. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1991: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1992: Crush's Compactor head-vise 1993: Crush's Compactor head-vise 1994: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1995: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1996: Hacksaw Jim Duggan's taped fist 1997: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1998: Hollywood Hogan's legdrop 1999: Hulk Hogan's legdrop 2000: Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm chop 2001: Chyna's handspring elbow 2002: Rikishi's stinkface 2003: Jim Ross' Stone Cold Stunner 2004: John Cena's Five Knuckle Shuffle fistdrop / Scotty 2 Hotty's Worm chop (tie) 2005: Viscera's Visagra rear mount 2006: The Great Khali's skull chop 2007: The Great Khali's skull chop 2008: The Great Khali's skull chop 2009: Hornswoggle's Tadpole Splash frog splash 2010: N/A **2011**: Kelly Kelly's screaming headscissors 37 first place votes 39 second place votes 34 third place votes 5 7 4 54 Kelly Kelly's screaming headscissors 5 4 3 45 Santino Marella's Cobra 3 4 2 31 Great Khali's brain chop 3 3 2 28 Hornswoggle's Tadpole Splash 4 1 2 27 Brooke Tessmacher's roll-up 2 2 3 22 Hulk Hogan's legdrop 1 3 3 20 Garrett Bischoff's DDT 3 0 0 15 The Miz's Skull Crushing Finale 1 1 2 12 Big Show's WMD right hand 1 1 2 12 Snooki's backflip splash 1 2 0 11 Zack Ryder's Rough Ryder elevated leg drop 1 2 0 11 David Otunga's spinebuster 2 0 0 10 Wade Barrett's Wasteland fireman carry front slam 0 2 2 10 Jeff Jarrett's Stroke 1 1 0 8 Gunner's Mr. Pibb F5 1 0 1 7 Undertaker's Hell's Gate gogoplata 1 0 1 7 Awesome Truth's Little Jimmy Finale Combo double legsweep 1 0 0 5 Alberto Del Rio's cross armbreaker 1 0 0 5 Kelly Kelly's rope-run 0 1 1 5 Kelly Kelly's stinkface 0 1 0 3 John Cena's STF 0 1 0 3 Randy Orton's Thesz Press 0 1 0 3 Mr. Anderson's Mic Check reverse legsweep STO 0 1 0 3 CM Punk's flying elbow smash 0 1 0 3 John Cena's Attitude Adjustment 0 0 1 2 The Rock's People's Elbow 0 0 1 2 Matt Hardy's Ice Pick double underhook bodyscissors 0 0 1 2 Cody Rhodes' Cross Rhodes rolling cutter 0 0 1 2 Mike Bennett's lariat 0 0 1 2 John Cena's Attitude Adjustment 0 0 1 2 Madison Rayne's Rayne Drop reverse overdrive ANALYSIS: The reason there's less first than second place votes is due to some voters listing "Anything by ( )" for their first placer. I thought for sure the Cobra would win, but my pick, Kelly's "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH" headscissors, ended up taking it. Anytime you do a move in which the victim has to do all the work, supporting your body weight while spinning, and you're just screaming, it's a crappy move. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Match Award Description: To be given to the worst wrestling match you've seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible. Previous Winners: 1990: 06/13/90: Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog (CoC XI) 1991: 05/19/91: El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious (SuperBrawl) 1992: 01/18/92: Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers (Royal Rumble) 1993: 04/04/93: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX) 1994: 09/18/94: Jim Duggan vs. Steve Austin (Fall Brawl) 1995: 03/19/95: Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Uncensored) 1996: 03/24/96: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Meng & Barbarian & Ze Gangsta & Ultimate Solution (Uncensored) 1997: 10/26/97: Hulk Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper (cage) (Halloween Havoc) 1998: 10/25/98: Hollywood Hogan vs. Warrior (Halloween Havoc) 1999: 09/26/99: Al Snow vs. Big Boss Man (Kennel from Hell) (Unforgiven) 2000: 06/25/00: Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco (hardcore evening gown) 2001: 07/02/01: Booker T (WCW) vs. Buff Bagwell (RAW) 2002: 07/08/02: Jackie Gayda & Christopher Nowinski vs. Trish Stratus & Bradshaw (mixed tag RAW) 2003: 01/19/03: Triple H (world) vs. Scott Steiner (Royal Rumble) 2004: 03/14/04: Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg (WrestleMania) 2005: 04/18/05: Jim Ross vs. Triple H (no DQ) (RAW) 2006: 06/26/06: Kane vs. Impostor Kane (Vengeance) 2007: 01/08/07: "Donald Trump" vs. "Rosie O'Donnell" (RAW) 2008: 03/30/08: Chavo Guerrero (ECW) vs. Kane (WrestleMania) 2009: 07/19/09: Jenna Morasca vs. Sharmell (Victory Road 09) 2010: N/A **2011**: 03/13/11 - Sting vs. Jeff Hardy (TNA World) 38 first place votes 36 second place votes 36 third place votes 13 4 2 81 03/13/11 - Sting vs. Jeff Hardy (TNA World) 10 3 6 71 04/03/11 - Jerry Lawler vs. Michel Cole 6 2 0 35 07/17/11 - Kelly Kelly vs. Brie Bella (WWE Divas) 2 6 2 32 05/01/11 - Jim Ross/Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole/Jack Swagger 0 1 7 17 10/02/11 - Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara 2 2 0 16 04/03/11 - Trish Stratus/John Morrison/Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler/Laycool 0 4 1 14 12/19/11 - Beth Phoenix vs. Alicia Fox 2 1 0 13 11/20/11 - Mark Henry vs. Big Show (World Heavyweight) 0 2 3 12 11/13/11 - Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett (all three times) 0 2 1 8 03/13/11 - Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan 1 0 1 7 04/03/11 - Big Show/Kane/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston vs. The Corre 1 0 1 7 11/20/11 - John Cena/The Rock vs. Awesome Truth 0 1 2 7 11/13/11 - Crimson vs. Matt Morgan 0 2 0 6 10/16/11 - Sting vs. Hulk Hogan 1 0 0 5 09/18/11 - CM Punk vs. Triple H 0 1 1 5 09/18/11 - Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix (WWE Divas) 0 0 2 4 05/22/11 - Sin Cara vs. Chavo Guerrero 0 0 2 4 03/13/11 - Winter/Angelina Love vs. Rosita/Sarita (TNA Knockouts Tag) 0 1 0 3 12/18/11 - Triple H vs. Kevin Nash 0 1 0 3 01/09/11 - Rob Van Dam vs. Matt Hardy 0 1 0 3 10/23/11 - Mark Henry vs. Big Show (World Heavyweight) 0 1 0 3 01/09/11 - Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle 0 1 0 3 10/02/11 - John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. CM Punk (WWE World) 0 0 1 2 04/03/11 - Triple H vs. The Undertaker 0 0 1 2 05/01/11 - Big Show/Kane vs. The Corre 0 0 1 2 04/17/11 - Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne 0 0 1 2 04/11/11 - Sin Cara vs. Primo 0 0 1 2 04/03/11 - The Miz vs. John Cena (WWE World) ANALYSIS: It's probably not a good sign when five of eight WrestleMania matches received votes, and three of them were in the top (bottom?) eleven. Sting and Hardy had a landslide win for the longest time, but there must have been some Lawler/Cole haters that decided to make a late push. I wonder if I had listed Cole and Jim Ross' rap battle among the nominees if that would have been among the top finishers. I suspect it's possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Feud Award Description: To be given to the feud that nobody cared about at all this year. When they were pushing the feud on TV, you'd go to the fridge for a snack. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake 1991: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter 1992: Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango 1993: The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez 1994: Doink vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 1995: Hulk Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom 1996: Big Bubba vs. John Tenta 1997: Nation of Domination vs. Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas 1998: Warrior vs. Hollywood Hogan 1999: No Limit Soldiers vs. West Texas Rednecks 2000: Big Show vs. Big Boss Man 2001: Undertaker vs. Diamond Dallas Page 2002: Triple H vs. Kane 2003: Stephanie McMahon vs. Vince McMahon 2004: Chavo Guerrero vs. Jacqueline 2005: McMahon Family vs. Jim Ross 2006: Mr. McMahon (& Shane McMahon) vs. D-generation X 2007: Mr. McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley / Voodoo Kin Mafia vs. Christy Hemme (tie) 2008: Kane vs. Rey Mysterio 2009: Chavo Guerrero vs. Hornswoggle 2010: N/A **2011**: Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole 38 first place votes 40 second place votes 38 third place votes 9 10 3 80 Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole 8 9 2 71 Jim Ross vs. Michael Cole 3 3 3 30 Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara 4 0 3 26 Triple H vs. Kevin Nash 2 4 0 24 CM Punk vs. Triple H 2 1 2 17 Hulk Hogan vs. Sting 1 0 5 16 Karen Jarrett vs. The Knockouts 2 1 1 15 Garrett Bischoff vs. Gunner 1 2 2 15 Derrick Bateman vs. Johnny Curtis 1 1 3 14 Eric Young vs. Robbie E 1 1 1 10 John Cena vs. The Rock 0 2 2 10 Mexican America vs. Ink Inc 1 1 0 8 Pin-Up Strong vs. Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres 0 2 1 8 Mr. Anderson vs. Immortal 1 0 1 7 Mark Henry vs. Big Show 1 0 1 7 CM Punk vs. Kevin Nash 1 0 1 7 Jeff Hardy vs. Jeff Jarrett 0 1 2 7 Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase 0 1 0 3 Eric Bischoff vs. Garrett Bischoff 0 1 0 3 Alex Riley vs. The Miz 0 0 1 2 Kelly Kelly vs. Bella Twins 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett vs. Kurt Angle 0 0 1 2 Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards 0 0 1 2 Samoa Joe vs. The Pope 0 0 1 2 Christian vs. Randy Orton ANALYSIS: Again, we had some first place votes that had "Anything with", and they were disqualified. I guess you could say anything in which Michael Cole was an active participant had an anti-Midas touch to it. Of course, you could say the same thing about his commentary.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Disappointing News item Award Description: To be given to the wrestling news item that most disappointed you when heard of it. When you first learned of this news story, you couldn't believe that it was true, and when you learned that it was, you were bummed out for a while. Previous Winners: 1991: Scott Steiner gets injured 1992: Legion of Doom: Hawk & Animal split up 1993: WWF brings Hulk Hogan back and gives him the title 1994: WCW signs Hulk Hogan and makes him World champion 1995: Death of Eddie Gilbert 1996: Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash leave WWF and/or join WCW 1997: Death of Brian Pillman 1998: Death of Louie Spicolli 1999: Death of Owen Hart 2000: David Arquette wins WCW World heavyweight championship 2001: Chris Benoit out for the year after neck surgery 2002: Steve Austin leaves WWE in frustration over creative direction 2003: Death of Curt Hennig 2004: Brock Lesnar leaves WWE to try out for the NFL 2005: Death of Chris Candido 2006: Death of Eddie Guerrero 2007: Chris Benoit commits double murder/suicide 2008: WWE hires Mike Adamle 2009: Death of Mitsuharu Misawa 2010: N/A **2011** Death of Macho Man Randy Savage 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 29 3 4 162 Death of Macho Man Randy Savage 1 14 2 51 Edge retires due to spinal injuries 1 5 3 26 Jeff Hardy shows up at TNA Victory Road completely wasted 2 0 5 20 Christian loses World Heavyweight Title after just two days 1 2 2 15 Matt Hardy's drug problems spiral, cost him job with TNA, get him arrested 0 1 6 15 Kharma takes leave of absence due to pregnancy 1 1 3 14 TNA continues to bury Samoa Joe 1 2 1 13 WWE no longer classifies itself as a wrestling company, instead a media company 0 3 1 11 WWE lets John Morrison walk 1 1 0 8 Death of Larry Sweeney 1 1 0 8 Evan Bourne, R-Truth fail drug tests 1 1 0 8 WWE hires Tough Enough loser Ariane Andrews 0 1 2 7 ESPN's E:60 airs magazine piece on Scott Hall's descent 0 1 1 5 TNA releases Jay Lethal 0 1 1 5 WWE remains PG 0 0 2 4 Ric Flair's fall from grace chronicled in Grantland.com article 0 1 0 3 Film about Chris Benoit in the works 0 1 0 3 Gail Kim quits WWE after self-elimination goes unnoticed backstage 0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan publicly buries Robert Roode 0 0 1 2 Kamala has foot amputated 0 0 1 2 WWE releases Chris Masters 0 0 1 2 Linda McMahon runs for Senate again 0 0 1 2 JCW, Juggalos now classified as a 'gang' by FBI 0 0 1 2 NWA strips The Sheik of World Championship ANALYSIS: I'm not permitted to put any kind of hex on the three individuals who left Savage off their ballot entirely, but I'll just use this space to say that the world misses the Macho Man, as well as Larry Sweeney. As for those deaths that didn't get votes, this space acknowledges Sir Oliver Humperdink, Doctor X, Shawn Osbourne, Patrice O'Neal (former WWE writer turned 'truth-hurts' comic), Bison Smith, JT Lightning, Sal E. Graziano, Scott LeDoux, Donna Christanello, Little Tokyo, Killer Karl Kox, and the others lost during 2011. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Obnoxious Personality Award Description: To be given to the person who just rubs you the wrong way. This could be anybody involved in the wrestling biz. Previous Winners: 1991: Dusty Rhodes 1992: Vince McMahon 1993: Vince McMahon 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Eric Bischoff 1996: Eric Bischoff 1997: Eric Bischoff 1998: Eric Bischoff 1999: Eric Bischoff 2000: Vince Russo 2001: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley 2002: Jerry Lawler 2003: Stephanie McMahon 2004: Jerry Lawler 2005: Stephanie McMahon 2006: Don West 2007: Mr. McMahon 2008: Hornswoggle 2009: Abraham Washington 2010: N/A **2011**: Michael Cole 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 22 4 4 130 Michael Cole 4 3 5 39 Hornswoggle 2 4 4 30 Vickie Guerrero 2 2 5 26 Eric Bischoff 2 2 3 22 Karen Jarrett 1 2 3 17 John Cena 0 4 1 14 Anarquia 1 2 1 13 Robbie E 1 1 2 12 The Miz 1 1 1 10 Snooki 1 1 0 8 Madison Rayne 1 1 0 8 Santino Marella 0 2 1 8 Rey Mysterio 0 2 1 8 Jerry Lawler 1 0 1 7 Eric Young 1 0 1 7 Kelly Kelly 0 1 2 7 Zack Ryder 0 2 0 6 Booker T 0 2 0 6 Mike Tenay 0 2 0 6 John Laurinaitis 0 1 0 3 Alberto Del Rio 0 0 1 2 Mr. Anderson 0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan 0 0 1 2 Taz 0 0 1 2 Ric Flair ANALYSIS: Any doubts? No? Okay, moving on. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Second Award Description: To be given to the manager who outperformed their peers at ringside and behind the microphone in interviews. This award was discontinued after the 2001 awards and reinstated in 2006. Previous Winners: 1990: Jim Cornette 1991: Bobby Heenan 1992: Mr. Perfect 1993: Jim Cornette 1994: Jim Cornette 1995: Jim Cornette 1996: Sunny 1997: Chyna 1998: Chyna 1999: Dawn Marie 2000: Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley 2001: Stacy Keibler 2006: Armando Alejandro Estrada (Osama Rodriguez Alejandro) 2007: James Mitchell 2008: Santino Marella 2009: Natalya 2010: N/A **2011**: Vickie Guerrero 37 first place votes 36 second place votes 32 third place votes 23 4 5 137 Vickie Guerrero 10 14 1 94 Ricardo Rodriguez 1 3 7 28 Alex Riley 1 3 3 20 Truth Martini 1 3 2 18 Cookie 0 3 3 15 Brodus Clay 1 1 2 12 Karen Jarrett 0 0 3 6 Maxine 0 1 1 5 Michael Cole 0 0 2 4 Rosa Mendes 0 1 0 3 Shane Hagadorn 0 1 0 3 Veronica 0 1 0 3 Ric Flair 0 1 0 3 Brutal Bob Evans 0 0 1 2 Prince Nana 0 0 1 2 Chest Flexor 0 0 1 2 Colt Cabunny ANALYSIS: I'll be honest, I never understood Vickie's appeal. Her "EXCUSE ME", which is followed by a negative crowd reaction, I think only gets the reaction because of the shrillness, which makes the fans groan loudly as stimulus response. Beyond that, she's a pretty average performer. Of course, what she does works to an extent, so maybe her victory isn't so justified. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Announcer Award Description: To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most insightful and entertaining comments while pushing his product. "Ring announcers" don't qualify here. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced. Previous Winners: 1990: Jesse Ventura 1991: Jesse Ventura 1992: Jim Ross 1993: Jim Ross 1994: Jim Ross 1995: Jim Ross 1996: Jim Ross 1997: Jim Ross 1998: Jim Ross 1999: Jim Ross 2000: Jim Ross 2001: Jim Ross 2002: Michael Cole 2003: Michael Cole 2004: Jim Ross 2005: Joey Styles 2006: Joey Styles 2007: Jim Ross 2008: Jim Ross 2009: Jim Ross 2010: N/A **2011**: Jim Ross 39 first place votes 38 second place votes 34 third place votes 29 4 4 165 Jim Ross 4 14 7 76 Josh Mathews 3 8 2 43 Mike Tenay 0 4 9 30 Scott Stanford 1 3 4 22 Kevin Kelly 0 1 5 13 Michael Cole 1 0 0 5 Excalibur 1 0 0 5 Mike Hogewood 0 1 1 5 Todd Grisham 0 1 0 3 Rob Naylor 0 1 0 3 Jeremy Borash 0 1 0 3 Bryce Remsburg 0 0 1 2 Joe Dombrowski 0 0 1 2 Matt Striker ANALYSIS: Remind me again why Michael Cole gets to ruin Raw while Jim Ross sits at home? Oh, right, Cole is better at fawning over B-list celebrities and Twitter, my mistake. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Color Commentator Award Description: To be given to the color commentator who provides the most insightful and entertaining comments. Previous Winners: 1991: Bobby Heenan 1992: Bobby Heenan 1993: Jesse Ventura 1994: Bobby Heenan 1995: Bobby Heenan 1996: Bobby Heenan 1997: Jerry Lawler 1998: Jerry Lawler 1999: Jerry Lawler 2000: Jerry Lawler 2001: Paul Heyman 2002: Tazz 2003: Tazz 2004: Tazz 2005: Tazz 2006: John Bradshaw Layfield 2007: John Bradshaw Layfield 2008: Matt Striker 2009: Matt Striker 2010: N/A **2011**: William Regal 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 36 third place votes 10 12 1 88 William Regal 8 9 4 76 Matt Striker 5 4 10 57 Booker T 5 4 4 45 Jerry Lawler 4 3 6 41 Nigel McGuinness 2 4 9 40 Taz 2 0 2 14 Dave Prazak 1 0 0 5 Excalibur 1 0 0 5 UltraMantis Black 1 0 0 5 Michael Cole 0 1 0 3 Josh Mathews 0 1 0 3 Mike Quackenbush 0 1 0 3 CM Punk ANALYSIS: Are there any objections to a Raw commentary team of JR and Regal? No? Regal is much like extra cheese and scented candles: he makes everything better. For his part, Striker was a fine color commentator (as evidenced by previous years of voting), but WWE seems to enjoy burying him on the B shows. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Interviewee Award Description: To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager. Previous Winners: 1990: Ric Flair 1991: Ric Flair 1992: Ric Flair 1993: Ric Flair 1994: Ric Flair 1995: Shawn Michaels 1996: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin 1998: Mankind (Dude Love / Cactus Jack / Mick Foley) 1999: Mankind 2000: The Rock 2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin 2002: Kurt Angle 2003: Chris Jericho 2004: Chris Jericho 2005: Eddie Guerrero 2006: Mick Foley 2007: Edge 2008: Chris Jericho 2009: Chris Jericho 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 25 6 2 147 CM Punk 2 8 1 36 The Miz 2 4 1 26 Santino Marella 1 3 4 22 Sheamus 2 1 4 21 Wade Barrett 2 1 3 19 James Storm 1 3 2 18 Austin Aries 0 2 5 16 Scott Steiner 1 2 1 13 Mark Henry 0 2 3 12 Robert Roode 1 1 1 10 The Rock 0 2 2 10 Zack Ryder 1 1 0 8 Bully Ray 0 1 2 7 Dolph Ziggler 0 2 0 6 Kurt Angle 1 0 0 5 Edge 1 0 0 5 Dean Ambrose 0 1 1 5 R-Truth 0 0 2 4 Daniel Bryan 0 0 2 4 Cody Rhodes 0 0 2 4 Kane 0 1 0 3 Sting 0 0 1 2 The Pope ANALYSIS: It's no surprise that with WWE being so heavily scripted these days, that the man who speaks openly from the heart (while levying many fan criticisms) would win. It is surprising, however, that it took him this long to capture the award for the first time. That's probably because his best mic work clashed with Jericho's golden era a few years back. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Angle Award Description: To be given to the best angle you've seen in the sport this year. Previous Winners: 1990: Horsemen turn heel 1991: "Real World Champion" Ric Flair challenges Hulk Hogan 1992: Ric Flair "knew Elizabeth first" 1993: WWF brings in Sean Waltman as 1-2-3 Kid 1994: Shane Douglas forfeits NWA title moments after winning it 1995: Barry Horowitz finally wins on WWF television 1996: NWO forms and attempts takeover of WCW 1997: Bret Hart turns on USA, reforms Hart Foundation 1998: Mr. McMahon offers Steve Austin the easy way - or the hard way 1999: "Countdown to the Millennium" ends with Chris Jericho's WWF debut 2000: Triple H, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, Kurt Angle love triangle 2001: ECW joins WCW, forms alliance 2002: Goldust, Booker T turn "At the Movies" gig into friendship 2003: Paul Heyman presents Kurt Angle with Team Angle 2004: Chris Benoit's world championship journey ends with WrestleMania win 2005: Matt Hardy returns to WWE to seek revenge on Edge & Lita 2006: Joey Styles quits RAW during live broadcast 2007: Chris Jericho inserts viral messages into WWE programming 2008: Chris Jericho forces Shawn Michaels into, out of retirement 2009: CM Punk wants to rescue us from Jeff Hardy 2010: N/A **2011**: CM Punk shoots on WWE, beginning "The Summer of Punk" 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 40 third place votes 28 2 0 146 CM Punk shoots on WWE, beginning "The Summer of Punk" 5 7 2 50 CM Punk wins WWE title, leaves with the gold 1 5 8 36 R-Truth snaps, becomes demented conspiracy theorist 0 4 9 30 Zack Ryder rides fan support to the top of WWE 1 2 6 23 Mark Henry finally makes World Title run after brutalizing all in his path 0 4 4 20 Kharma attacks random WWE divas 1 3 0 13 Kane returns with mask, restores demonic persona 1 2 1 13 Robert Roode smashes James Storm with beer bottle to fulfill World Title dream 0 4 0 12 Kevin Steen declares war on ROH 1 1 1 10 John Cena, The Rock take turns mocking the other 2 0 0 10 Daniel Bryan cashes in MITB briefcase, wins World Heavyweight Title 0 2 1 8 Cody Rhodes displays insecurity by 'bagging' fans, opponents 0 1 1 5 Robert Roode chases the TNA World Heavyweight Title 0 1 1 5 Eerie disruptions in the form of "1.2.12" videos plague WWE programming 0 1 0 3 TNA institutes Bound For Glory Series to determine #1 contender 0 1 0 3 Kevin Steen turns on Steve Corino 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett uses his marriage with Karen to get to Kurt Angle 0 0 1 2 Jerry Lawler makes improbable run at WWE Championship 0 0 1 2 Christian demands "ONE MORE MATCH!" despite blowing numerous World Title chances 0 0 1 2 TNA's X Division gets their own pay per view 0 0 1 2 The Rock guest hosts WrestleMania 27 0 0 1 2 Tyson Kidd auditions new managers ANALYSIS: June 27, 2011 provided the moment that had the entire wrestling world talking. Despite attempts to water down Punk's rise with Triple H, Kevin Nash, and other needless elements, the fans weren't buying anything but Punk's no-BS character. Other good story points, like Ryder getting his due, Truth going crazy, and Henry starting the "Hall of Pain" were overshadowed in what was obviously Punk's year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Organization Award Description: To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product. This is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can't miss. Previous Winners: 1990: NWA 1991: WWF 1992: WCW 1993: SMW 1994: ECW 1995: WWF 1996: WWF 1997: WWF 1998: WWF 1999: WWF 2000: WWF 2001: WWF 2002: WWE (WWF) 2003: WWE 2004: WWE 2005: TNA 2006: WWE 2007: WWE 2008: WWE 2009: WWE 2010: N/A **2011**: WWE 40 first place votes 38 second place votes 37 third place votes 30 2 3 162 WWE 2 14 9 72 TNA 3 12 10 71 ROH 3 5 5 40 CHIKARA 1 2 0 11 Pro Wrestling Guerrilla 0 1 3 9 SHIMMER 0 1 2 7 Dragon Gate: USA 1 0 0 5 New Japan Pro Wrestling 0 0 2 4 FCW 0 1 0 3 Dreamwave Wrestling 0 0 1 2 Anarchy Championship Wrestling 0 0 1 2 All Japan Pro Wrestling 0 0 1 2 IWA Unlimited ANALYSIS: It's unknown if TNA will ever win the award for a second time, but their fight for second place with ROH was the only real highlight here. WWE, with Punk on top, and an apparent eye for letting the newer talents have their space to reign, finally deserves this award, rather than simply getting it by default. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best TV Show Award Description: To be given to what is on average the best wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape) 1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble 1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV 1994: WWF Monday Night RAW 1995: WWF Monday Night RAW 1996: WWF Monday Night RAW 1997: WWF Monday Night RAW (WWF RAW is War / WWF RAW / WWF War Zone) 1998: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone) 1999: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone) 2000: WWF RAW is WAR (RAW / War Zone) 2001: WWF RAW (RAW is War / War Zone / RAW Zone) 2002: WWE SmackDown! 2003: WWE Smackdown 2004: WWE RAW (RAW / RAW Zone) 2005: TNA iMPACT! (TNA Wrestling Impact!) 2006: WWE Smackdown 2007: WWE RAW (RAW / RAW Zone) / WWE Smackdown (tie) 2008: WWE RAW 2009: WWE Smackdown 2010: N/A **2011** WWE Raw 40 first place votes 36 second place votes 36 third place votes 17 9 6 122 WWE Raw 11 10 6 97 WWE Smackdown 4 6 8 54 TNA Impact Wrestling 3 6 6 46 ROH TV 3 2 5 31 WWE Tough Enough 1 2 1 13 WWE Superstars 1 0 0 5 AAA Sin Limite 0 1 0 3 CMLL TV 0 0 1 2 Pro Wrestling Ohio 0 0 1 2 NWA Hollywood 0 0 1 2 WWE NXT 0 0 1 2 AAPW Collision ANALYSIS: Much of the strong product during the summer months, as well as the great build to WrestleMania had to do with Raw mostly flourishing in 2011. Smackdown remained the viable B show, providing good in-ring action, as well as a showcase for the lesser-used talents. Wonder how long it'll be until ROH overtakes Impact, if ever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Major Show Award Description: To be given to the best major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape) 1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble 1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV 1994: 03/20/94: WWF WrestleMania X 1995: 08/27/95: WWF SummerSlam 1996: 03/31/96: WWF WrestleMania XII 1997: 04/14/97: ECW Barely Legal 1998: 03/24/98: WWF WrestleMania XIV 1999: 08/22/99: WWF SummerSlam 2000: 01/23/00: WWF Royal Rumble 2001: 04/01/01: WWF WrestleMania X-7 2002: 08/25/02: WWE SummerSlam 2003: 03/30/03: WWE WrestleMania XIX 2004: 03/14/04: WWE WrestleMania XX 2005: 04/03/05: WWE WrestleMania 21 2006: 04/02/06: WWE WrestleMania 22 2007: 04/01/07: WWE WrestleMania 23 2008: 03/30/08: WWE WrestleMania XXIV 2009: 04/05/09: WWE WrestleMania 25 2010: N/A **2011**: 07/17/11: WWE Money in the Bank 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 24 5 2 139 07/17/11: WWE Money in the Bank 6 4 3 48 04/03/11: WWE WrestleMania XXVII 3 6 2 37 01/30/11: WWE Royal Rumble 1 5 8 36 08/14/11: WWE Summerslam 1 5 7 34 07/10/11: TNA Destination X 0 7 4 29 12/18/11: WWE TLC 1 1 1 10 10/16/11: TNA Bound For Glory 1 1 1 10 09/17/11: ROH Death Before Dishonor 0 1 2 7 05/01/11: WWE Extreme Rules 0 1 2 7 11/19/11: ROH Glory by Honor 0 0 3 6 02/20/11: WWE Elimination Chamber 1 0 0 5 04/17/11: TNA Lockdown 1 0 0 5 06/18/11: NJPW Dominion 0 1 1 5 11/20/11: WWE Survivor Series 0 1 0 3 06/26/11: ROH Best in the World 0 1 0 3 11/13/11: CHIKARA High Noon 0 0 1 2 04/02/11: ROH Honor Takes Center Stage (Night Two) 0 0 1 2 04/17/11: CHIKARA King of Trios 0 0 1 2 06/18/11: AAA Triplemania XIX ANALYSIS: Wow, I'm surprised. Not that MITB won (as it should have), but because this is usually the award in which WrestleMania wins on a kneejerk vote (see 2008, 2009), despite there being superior shows. Punk's big win, Christian winning (albeit in tainted fashion), and two exciting ladder matches made it the easy vote over a lackluster 'Mania. The Rumble, Summerslam, DesX, and TLC should have been ahead of WrestleMania as well, in my eyes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Promotional Move Award Description: To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature. Previous Winners: 1991: WWF signs Ric Flair 1992: WCW signs Jake Roberts 1993: WWF works with SMW & USWA 1994: WWF pushes Bret Hart as champion again 1995: WCW signs Sabu, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko away 1996: WCW signs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ted DiBiase & Syxx 1997: ECW uses "working agreement" with WWF 1998: WWF books Vince McMahon into top storyline role 1999: WWF signs Chris Jericho 2000: WWF signs Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn 2001: WWF adds ECW to "invasion" angle 2002: WWE names Paul Heyman head of SmackDown! writing team 2003: NWA TNA offers one cent PPV 2004: WWE books Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero to World, WWE championships 2005: TNA gains Spike TV timeslot 2006: TNA signs Kurt Angle soon after WWE releases him 2007: TNA, Spike TV agree on expanding "iMPACT!" to second hour 2008: WWE airs tribute to Ric Flair the night after WrestleMania 2009: WWE books Undertaker vs. Michaels match for WrestleMania 2010: N/A **2011**: WWE allows smaller, internet-popular talents to reign (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan) 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 39 third place votes 11 6 2 77 WWE allows smaller, internet-popular talents to reign (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan) 9 7 1 68 WWE brings back The Rock 4 8 1 46 WWE re-signs CM Punk 3 4 3 33 TNA holds an all X-Division PPV with Destination X 3 0 4 23 Sinclair Broadcasting purchases ROH 3 0 3 21 WWE has CM Punk campaign to bring back ice cream bars 1 3 3 20 WWE releases DVD detailing rivalry between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels 1 2 4 19 WWE re-signs Chris Jericho for 2012 return 2 0 3 16 TNA suspends Jeff Hardy indefinitely 0 2 5 16 TNA releases Matt Hardy 0 3 3 15 WWE announces launch of WWE Network 0 2 2 10 TNA picks up OVW as developmental territory 1 0 1 7 WWE books CM Punk to win WWE title in Chicago 1 0 0 5 TNA begins to push homegrown talent instead of WWE, WCW retreads 1 0 0 5 TNA gives major singles runs to Beer Money after their split 0 0 2 4 WWE brings back the classic Intercontinental Title 0 1 0 3 WWE Raw features Smackdown talent as "Supershow" 0 1 0 3 TNA works to rebuild the X Division 0 1 0 3 WWE builds up Kharma as a destructive force 0 0 1 2 CHIKARA books Eddie Kingston to win Grand Championship 0 0 1 2 WWE uses Snooki to cross-promote for WrestleMania ANALYSIS: Rock provided a jolt of excitement heading into WrestleMania XXVII, but the subsequent three hour Raws in which he "guested" really hurt him from dominating this category, due to the horrible use of a talent of his caliber. Punk, Bryan, Air Boom, Rhodes, Ryder, Ziggler, and others all got the ball this year, and have been the most exciting part of WWE in this maligned "PG" era. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Second Award Description: To be given to the manager whose presence at ringside and during interviews is really unnecessary. This person does little to enhance the matches in which his/her wrestler(s) participates. This award was discontinued after the 2001 awards and reinstated in 2006. Previous Winners: 1990: Mr. Fuji 1991: Coach John Tolos 1992: Harvey Wippleman 1993: Harvey Wippleman 1994: Harvey Wippleman 1995: Harvey Wippleman 1996: Teddy Long 1997: Uncle Cletus 1998: Eric Bischoff 1999: Curtis Hughes 2000: Mae Young 2001: Sara 2006: Vickie Guerrero 2007: Vickie Guerrero 2008: Bam Neely 2009: Jenna Morasca 2010: N/A **2011**: Michael Cole 38 first place votes 38 second place votes 35 third place votes 9 3 2 58 Michael Cole 3 10 5 55 Jinder Mahal 2 7 9 49 Karen Jarrett 6 3 3 45 Ranjin Singh 5 4 1 39 Rosa Mendes 4 2 1 28 Madison Rayne 2 2 4 24 Tamina 3 0 1 17 Vickie Guerrero 0 2 4 14 Camacho 2 1 0 13 Brutal Bob 0 1 3 9 Ric Flair 0 1 2 7 Alex Riley 1 0 0 5 Eric Bischoff 1 0 0 5 Brodus Clay 0 1 0 3 Dan Severn 0 1 0 3 Hornswoggle ANALYSIS: Mahal got four more votes than Cole, yet Cole still ends up winning. Any excuse to vote for the man in negative categories, I suppose. It's notable that Vickie, the best second winner, got four votes here (three first place), whereas Ricardo Rodriguez got no votes in this category at all. Because really, how can a person bring themselves to hate Ricardo? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Announcer Award Description: To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comments while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the TV when he/she is announcing. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced. Previous Winners: 1990: Vince McMahon 1991: Vince McMahon 1992: Vince McMahon 1993: Vince McMahon 1994: Eric Bischoff 1995: Eric Bischoff 1996: Eric Bischoff 1997: Tony Schiavone 1998: Tony Schiavone 1999: Tony Schiavone 2000: Tony Schiavone 2001: Tony Schiavone 2002: Jim Ross 2003: Jim Ross 2004: Jonathan Coachman 2005: Jonathan Coachman 2006: Todd Grisham 2007: Mike Tenay 2008: Mike Adamle 2009: Michael Cole 2010: N/A **2011**: Michael Cole 39 first place votes 38 second place votes 33 third place votes 32 3 0 169 Michael Cole 1 13 7 58 Mike Tenay 3 6 10 53 Todd Grisham 2 5 6 37 Scott Stanford 1 5 6 32 Mike Hogewood 0 4 2 16 Josh Mathews 0 1 1 5 Jim Ross 0 1 0 3 Jack Korpela 0 0 1 2 Kevin Kelly ANALYSIS: The only question I had was who were going to finish second and third. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Color Commentator Award Description: To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comment while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the TV when he/she is announcing. Previous Winners: 1991: Dusty Rhodes 1992: Lord Alfred Hayes 1993: Randy Savage 1994: Dusty Rhodes 1995: Steve McMichael 1996: Dusty Rhodes 1997: Dusty Rhodes 1998: Larry Zbyszko 1999: Jason Hervey 2000: Mark Madden 2001: Mark Madden 2002: Jerry Lawler 2003: Jerry Lawler 2004: Jerry Lawler 2005: Jerry Lawler 2006: Don West 2007: Don West 2008: Don West 2009: Don West 2010: N/A **2011**: Taz 39 first place votes 37 second place votes 32 third place votes 9 6 8 80 Taz 8 7 7 75 Jerry Lawler 10 4 4 70 Booker T 5 14 2 67 Jack Korpela 6 1 7 47 Scott Stanford 0 3 4 17 Nigel McGuinness 1 1 0 8 Matt Striker 0 1 0 3 Michael Cole ANALYSIS: It's staggering how bad color commentary has gotten when the top four choices in this category all had realistic chances of winning. Booker's an acquired taste, but definitely more bad than good. Lawler's just bad and mostly apathetic, whereas Korpela has seemingly never watched wrestling in his life. Taz won out by simply not caring enough to put over a largely-bad product. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Interviewee Award Description: To be given to the person who gives the worst interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager. Previous Winners: 1990: Ultimate Warrior 1991: El Gigante 1992: Ultimate Warrior 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Yokozuna 1995: Hulk Hogan 1996: Ahmed Johnson 1997: Ahmed Johnson 1998: Warrior 1999: Sid Vicious 2000: Hardy Boyz 2001: Linda McMahon 2002: Triple H 2003: Al Wilson 2004: Lita 2005: Linda McMahon 2006: The Great Khali 2007: The Great Khali 2008: Mike Adamle 2009: The Great Khali 2010: N/A **2011**: Michael McGillicutty 38 first place votes 38 second place votes 38 third place votes 5 3 4 42 Michael McGillicutty 2 3 5 30 Anarquia 4 2 0 26 Bella Twins 1 5 3 26 Mason Ryan 1 4 2 21 Heath Slater 4 0 0 20 John Laurinaitis 2 3 1 20 Karen Jarrett 2 1 2 17 David Otunga 3 0 0 15 Madison Rayne 2 1 1 15 Eric Young 1 1 2 12 John Morrison 1 1 2 12 Jinder Mahal 1 1 2 12 Hernandez 1 1 2 12 Randy Orton 2 0 0 10 Kelly Kelly 1 1 1 10 Eve Torres 1 0 1 7 Alberto Del Rio 1 0 1 7 Winter 0 1 2 7 Gunner 0 2 0 6 Vickie Guerrero 1 0 0 5 Davey Richards 1 0 0 5 Mr. Anderson 1 0 0 5 Sheamus 0 1 1 5 Daniel Bryan 0 0 2 4 Jeff Jarrett 0 1 0 3 Roderick Strong 0 1 0 3 Crimson 0 1 0 3 John Cena 0 1 0 3 Alex Riley 0 1 0 3 Tyson Kidd 0 1 0 3 Mark Henry 0 1 0 3 Alicia Fox 0 0 1 2 The Miz 0 0 1 2 Mick Foley 0 0 1 2 Rob Van Dam 0 0 1 2 Jack Swagger ANALYSIS: Amazing that there's such a deep group of performers that annoy portions of the audience one way or another when they talk. There was no clear winner going into this one (my money was on Eve or the Bellas), so I guess the consensus was that the guy who has 1/100th of his dad's charisma (as evidenced on NXT) should get the nod. McGillicutty could make his dad's gum swat boring. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Angle Award Description: To be given to the worst angle you've seen in the sport this year. It may be the worst because of taste or because of execution. Previous Winners: 1990: Earthquake breaks Hulk's ribs & get well card drive / Black Scorpion (tie) 1991: WWF exploits the Gulf war 1992: Papa Shango curses the Ultimate Warrior 1993: WCW's Cactus Jack gets amnesia; search leads to Cleveland 1994: WCW gives Hulk Hogan the WCW Title 1995: WCW bills Giant as Andre the Giant's alleged son 1996: Jim Ross announces return of Razor Ramon and Diesel to WWF 1997: Brian Pillman claims paternity of Dakota Runnells 1998: "Mysterious laughter" source revealed as Chucky the doll 1999: Big Show's father stricken with cancer; Big Boss Man exploits it 2000: Mae Young's pregnancy results in birth of hand 2001: Triple H quickly returns from fall inside car dropped from forklift 2002: Triple H reveals Kane's role in a death - and immediately afterwards 2003: Dawn Marie, Al Wilson give new meaning to "'til death do us part" 2004: Kane stalks, then impregnates, then marries Lita 2005: Masked men attack Undertaker after Daivari is "sacrificed" in match 2006: Vickie Guerrero turns on Rey Mysterio 2007: Mr. McMahon presumed dead after limousine explodes 2008: JBL reveals that Finlay, not Mr. McMahon, is Hornswoggle's father 2009: Thanks to guests hosts, Chavo Guerrero no match for Hornswoggle 2010: N/A **2011**: Michael Cole endlessly mocks Jim Ross without any kind of payoff 40 first place votes 40 second place votes 38 third place votes 15 4 2 91 Michael Cole endlessly mocks Jim Ross without any kind of payoff 5 7 0 46 Michael Cole becomes a Twitter whore 5 4 1 39 Jim Ross, Michael Cole have rap battle 2 3 5 29 WWE roster walks out after voting 'no confidence' in Triple H 1 3 5 24 Aksana seduces Teddy Long 1 3 3 20 The Pope brainwashes Devon's kids against him 1 1 5 18 Hornswoggle learns to talk 2 0 3 17 Jeff Jarrett wins AAA World Title 1 1 4 16 Mick Foley hosts, "John Cena: This is Your Life" 0 2 2 10 Eric Young meanders around as TNA TV Champion 0 2 2 10 Alberto Del Rio sets up Big Show to be run over by Ricardo Rodriguez 1 1 0 8 Undertaker, Triple H have pointless dueling promos to build WrestleMania match 1 1 0 8 Eric Bischoff outs his son Garrett as being a TNA referee 0 2 1 8 John Cena does not need The Rock's help to dismantle The Awesome Truth 1 0 1 7 CM Punk becomes pawn in Triple H/Kevin Nash rift 0 2 0 6 Mr. Anderson constantly joins/leaves Immortal 0 2 0 6 Kevin Nash breaks Triple H's neck with a sledgehammer 1 0 0 5 Michael Cole insults Jerry Lawler's deceased mother 1 0 0 5 Samoa Joe has Okato tape everything The Pope does 1 0 0 5 Michael Cole cheerleads for The Miz 1 0 0 5 Madison Rayne becomes executive VP of the Knockouts 0 1 0 3 Michael Cole kisses Jerry Lawler's foot 0 1 0 3 Teddy Long gives Randy Orton World Title shot solely on stilted fan vote 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett uses his marriage with Karen to get to Kurt Angle 0 0 1 2 Abyss destroys the X Division 0 0 1 2 CM Punk claims the WWE Title "isn't interesting" with Alberto Del Rio as champ 0 0 1 2 Kharma breaks down in the ring crying ANALYSIS: Attention WWE: Michael Cole is booking death. Please adjust your marketing scope to reflect the sentiment of this focus group. Please? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Organization Award Description: To be given to the organization/promotion that has the worst product. This is the organization whose TV and house shows you wouldn't even think of attending. Probably not even as a freebie. Previous Winners: 1990: WWF / AWA (tie) 1991: WCW 1992: WWF 1993: WCW 1994: WCW 1995: WCW 1996: AWF 1997: WCW 1998: WCW 1999: WCW 2000: WCW 2001: WCW 2002: XPW 2003: XPW 2004: TNA 2005: WWE 2006: WWE 2007: Wrestling Society X 2008: TNA 2009: TNA 2010: N/A **2011**: Juggalo Championship Wrestling 39 first place votes 34 second place votes 31 third place votes 11 10 6 97 Juggalo Championship Wrestling 13 0 4 74 TNA 8 9 2 69 CZW 3 5 9 48 Urban Wrestling Federation 1 5 7 34 IWA: Mid South 2 1 1 15 WWE 1 2 0 11 ROH 0 0 2 4 CHIKARA 0 1 0 3 World Wrestling Council 0 1 0 3 FCW ANALYSIS: I have friends that work for CZW that may want a word with me after reading this, but they weren't one of my votes. I thought TNA would take this one out of all the general spite toward the promotion from many. Of course, perhaps it was destiny that the Faygo-lovers would finally win something from a negative category one day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst TV Show Award Description: To be given to what is on average the worst wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash 1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas 1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX 1994: WCW World Wide 1995: WWF Mania 1996: AWF Warriors of Wrestling 1997: WWF LiveWire 1998: WCW Worldwide 1999: WCW Thunder 2000: WCW Thunder 2001: (tie) WWF Excess / WCW Thunder 2002: WWF Excess 2003: WWE RAW 2004: The WWE Experience 2005: The WWE Experience 2006: WWE RAW 2007: Wrestling Society X 2008: Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling 2009: TNA Impact! 2010: N/A **2011**: WWE NXT 37 first place votes 34 second place votes 30 third place votes 14 9 10 118 WWE NXT 8 14 5 94 TNA Xplosion 12 6 3 84 TNA Impact Wrestling 1 2 6 23 WWE Smackdown 0 1 4 11 WWE Raw 1 1 1 10 WWE Superstars 1 1 0 8 ROH TV 0 0 1 2 WWE AM Raw ANALYSIS: NXT's cheesy game show feel and lack of direction made it a lock, in my eyes. This just makes me realize how little wrestling we actually get on TV these days. Is my dream for a major third wrestling promotion (besides ROH) just a vain wish? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Major Show Award Description: To be given to the worst major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash 1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas 1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX 1994: 06/19/94: WWF King of the Ring 1995: 03/19/95: WCW Uncensored 1996: 03/24/96: WCW Uncensored 1997: 01/25/97: NWO Souled Out 1998: 08/08/98: WCW Road Wild 1999: 10/10/99: Heroes of Wrestling 2000: 10/29/00: WCW Halloween Havoc 2001: 01/14/01: WCW Sin 2002: 06/23/02: WWE King of the Ring 2003: 06/15/03: WWE Bad Blood / 05/19/03: WWE Judgment Day (tie) 2004: 06/27/04: WWE Great American Bash 2005: 07/24/05: WWE Great American Bash 2006: 07/23/06: WWE Great American Bash 2007: 12/03/06: ECW December to Dismember 2008: 07/20/08: WWE Night of Champions / 05/11/08: TNA Sacrifice (tie) 2009: 07/19/09: TNA Victory Road 09 2010: N/A **2011** 03/13/11: TNA Victory Road 37 first place votes 34 second place votes 33 third place votes 14 2 3 82 03/13/11: TNA Victory Road 4 1 5 34 12/12/11: WWE Monday Night Raw (The Slammys) 2 7 1 33 06/19/11: WWE Capitol Punishment 3 3 2 28 05/02/11: WWE Monday Night Raw (The Rock's birthday celebration) 0 8 2 28 11/14/11: WWE Monday Night Raw (Raw Gets Rocked) 2 4 2 26 05/22/11: WWE Over the Limit 2 2 4 24 04/03/11: WWE WrestleMania XXVII 2 2 3 22 08/07/11: TNA Hardcore Justice 2 2 2 20 08/13/11: JCW Legends iPPV 2 1 0 13 01/09/11: TNA Genesis 1 0 3 11 09/11/11: TNA No Surrender 0 1 2 7 08/14/11: JCW Bloodymania V 0 0 3 6 06/12/11: TNA Slammiversary 1 0 0 5 08/12/11: JCW Gathering of the Juggalos 1 0 0 5 10/23/11: WWE Vengeance 1 0 0 5 01/30/11: WWE Royal Rumble 0 1 0 3 11/20/11: WWE Survivor Series 0 0 1 2 10/16/11: TNA Bound For Glory ANALYSIS: Victory Road was heavily maligned at the time not just for Jeff Hardy's incapacitated performance, but other bad booking instances (the first blood match, the Knockouts tag team match). Shame that nobody remembers the three good/great matches involving Fortune (the AJ Styles/Matt Hardy match was excellent). Also, it seems that the three hour Raws leave a bad taste in the mouths of many. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Promotional Move Award Description: To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature. Previous Winners: 1991: WCW loses Ric Flair 1992: WCW bans off the top rope moves under Bill Watts 1993: WCW tapes 13 weeks of TV at one time in Orlando, Fla. 1994: WCW lets Hulk Hogan control his scenarios 1995: WCW gives Hulk Hogan too much control 1996: WWF lets Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash go 1997: Sting doesn't wrestle for the entire year 1998: WCW sues Ric Flair, causing nearly five month absence from television 1999: (Tie) WCW lets big names go / WCW signs musical acts for Nitro 2000: WCW gives Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, and Saturn requested releases 2001: WWF botches seemingly surefire WWF/WCW "interpromotional" storyline 2002: WWE airs simulated necrophilia in attempt to foster controvery 2003: WWE pushes McMahons, announcers rather then pushing wrestlers 2004: WWE runs Diva Search during multiple segments of many weeks of RAW 2005: WWE airs "terrorist attack" on Undertaker soon after London bombings 2006: WWE repeatedly uses Eddie Guerrero's death as storyline material 2007: TNA books title win for Pacman Jones despite "no contact" clause 2008: WWE hires Mike Adamle 2009: TNA hires same players that brought about the demise of WCW 2010: N/A **2011**: TNA allows Jeff Hardy to perform in impaired state at Victory Road 40 first place votes 39 second place votes 37 third place votes 19 5 2 104 TNA allows Jeff Hardy to perform in impaired state at Victory Road 6 3 5 54 WWE declares themselves no longer a 'wrestling' company, instead a media company 1 7 6 38 WWE books Christian to lose World Title after two days 2 4 6 34 WWE ignores their Women's Division 2 4 2 26 TNA books "3.3.11" angle to herald Sting's return 2 3 3 24 WWE allows The Rock to say he's never leaving when he's only making cameos 1 5 2 24 WWE fails to create a compelling tag team scene despite promises to do so 0 3 4 17 TNA books 45 minute promo on 10/20/11 Impact 1 0 2 9 TNA books Robert Roode to fall short in first TNA World Title chase 1 1 0 8 TNA books James Storm to beat Kurt Angle for World Title in 2 minutes 1 0 1 7 WWE aligns with "Be a Star" 1 0 0 5 WWE remains a PG company 1 0 0 5 TNA books Jeff Hardy as champion 1 0 0 5 WWE brings Kevin Nash back as a wrestler 1 0 0 5 WWE lets John Morrison walk 0 1 0 3 TNA signs Chyna 0 1 0 3 WWE books Kelly Kelly to repeatedly beat Beth Phoenix 0 1 0 3 WWE scraps Anonymous GM angle without explanation 0 1 0 3 WWE buries many of their heels with constant babyface wins, 50/50 booking 0 0 1 2 WWE books Kiss My Foot match between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler 0 0 1 2 WWE stifles The Rock with oversaturation, general mishandling 0 0 1 2 TNA gives World Title to Sting 0 0 1 2 NWA strips The Sheik of World Championship ANALYSIS: How could TNA not, you know, have Jeff Hardy "get injured" earlier in the night, and just have someone else (Bully Ray? Matt Hardy? Mr. Anderson?) take on Sting instead? That on-screen debacle never had to happen. Many of WWE's top picks here (Christian losing, lack of tag teams, lack of women's action) are weekly concerns that never seem to get addressed, so perhaps our wishing is ultimately futile.