Wrestling Elite Forum - Where Big Cal Is On The Jazz

_________________

Wrestling Elite's End of Year Awards 2008

Welcome to the WE End of Year Awards 2008! Below is a list of the different categories, and the winners and runners up of each. Please remember that this list is based on the opinions of WE and nobody else.

Male wrestler of the year

Shawn Michaels

HBK has been through one hell of a year in 2008. He started the year off with a bang, having the first ever WWE match in HD on Raw with Mr Kennedy. From there, he had a memorable run in the Royal Rumble match, when he and The Undertaker were numbers 1 and 2, following last year's Rumble match where they were the last 2 in the ring. He then went to WrestleMania and wrestled the legendary "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and retired him. He would then transition into a feud with Batista, putting on a couple of good matches with "The Animal", then moved into one of the better feuds in recent memory with Chris Jericho. Their Judgment Day match and Ladder Match were both extremely good contests, and were both contenders for MOTY. Not only has he been on fire in these big feuds, having great PPV matches, but he has also had numerous good TV matches, including the previously mentioned match with Mr Kennedy, as well as a match against Jeff Hardy, DX tag matches, and a handicap steel cage match on Smackdown.

Runner Up - The Undertaker



Female wrestler of the year

Beth Pheoenix

Honestly, there really weren't that many options for me to chose between. I don't see much of TNA, and I have never seen a female match from Japan, or the US Indy scenes, so I am rather limited when it comes to female wrestling. So with WWE being my "main source" so to speak, of female wrestling, there really hasn't been much to go with for the past couple of years in all honesty. Beth Phoenix has been champion for the majority of the year, and has been dominating in most of her matches. Plus her pairing with Santino has made for a few laughs on Raw.

Runner Up - Mickie James



Match of the year

The Undertaker Vs Edge - WrestleMania 24

Wow. After the performance The Undertaker got out of Batista last year, I had high expectations for his match with Edge, who (no offense to Batista) is a better worker. Boy oh boy did the match deliver. It started off slow, building up to a quicker pace the longer the match went, and had Edge seemingly have The Undertaker's "number" by anticipating, and avoiding, everything he could throw at him. The match worked extremely well IMO, from the slow build, to how Edge was perceived in the match. While in the back of my mind I kinda knew The Undertaker would win and keep his streak alive, the match did a great job of making me believe (for a few moments), that Edge was going to win. Both men did an awesome job, and IMO cannot be touched by any other match I have seen from this year.

Runner Up - The Undertaker Vs Edge - SummerSlam HIAC



PPV of the year

WrestleMania 24

This event truly had it all. The main event is the WE MOTY, and 2 other matches (MITB and Flair/HBK) were serious contenders for MOTY. We got numerous really good matches, and a lot of entertaining and surprising matches too. Not only is this the PPV of the year, it is also one of the best PPV's I have seen, and the third greatest WrestleMania of all time IMO.

Runner Up - No Mercy



Promo of the year

Mick Foley & Edge - Cutting Edge Segment - Smackdown August 1st

This was during the build up to the Edge/Undertaker HIAC match at SummerSlam. Edge surprised everyone, including Foley, when he announced that Mick Foley was his special guest on the Cutting Edge. Edge wanted Foley to help him prepare for his upcoming match, since Foley had been inside the cell with The Undertaker in the past. Mick Foley cut an incredibly passionate and excellent promo (something he is known for, especially as the greatest promo guy of all time IMO), telling Edge that he needs to be ruthless again, otherwise he will get torn apart. Edge stated he understood, and turned into a crazed lunatic, beating down Foley. The promo was delivered unbelievably well from both Foley and Edge, and really helped get the Edge/Undertaker feud back on track, as it had become a little stale at this point. It was a turning point in the Edge character too, even if it did only last a couple of weeks.

Runner Up - Edge - Raw June 30th



Moment of the year

Ric Flair's Retirement - Raw March 31st

The night before, at WrestleMania 24, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair's legendary career came to an end. The very next night on Raw, he was given a retirement "segment". He came out to the ring and talked about how great his life has been thanks to wrestling, and wanted to thanks the fans and the wrestlers for getting him where he has been. Then dozens of wrestlers from Flair's past all came into the ring to pay tribute to him, including HBK, HHH, The Four Horsemen, Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, Greg Valentine, and the entire WWE roster. Even his family came out, as Flair stood in the ring in tears, as he appreciated everyone coming out to thank him and to wish him well. Then as Raw went off the air, the cameras kept running, as Vince McMahon came out to pay his respects too. One other person that was missing from all of this was The Undertaker, who came out last. He made his usual entrance, with the WWE roster making way for him to come down the ramp in a "parting of the seas" way. He got into the ring, then proceeded to do his signature pose in the ring, and hugged Flair. It was great to see The Undertaker out of character for the first time in a very long time, even if it was just for a few minutes. I guess it goes to show how much respect people have for Flair.

Runner Up - CM Punk cashes in MITB and wins the WHC



Most promising male wrestler of the year

Jack Swagger

A new member to the ECW roster, following time in FCW (where he was the FCW champion for a while), Swagger has been impressing me since day 1. He has a good look (built well, not as generic as a lot of new guys tend to be), and can go in the ring. His matches have all been solid, with his first real "stand out" match being an ECW Rules match against Tommy Dreamer, which is one of the most fun matches of the year for me. Not only has he been getting recognition from a lot of fans, but according to backstage reports (not 100% reliable though), Arn Anderson has apparently taking an interest in him, and is helping him out with matches and the business in general. For a man like Arn to see something in someone is a great compliment, so I am hoping that the reports are true, because it could very well mean BIG things for Swagger in the future!

Runner Up - Evan Bourne



Most promising female wrestler of the year

*Due to my lack of female wrestling viewing over the last year, I have no contenders for this award*



Storyline/Feud of the year

Chris Jericho Vs Shawn Michaels

You know, I find it quite funny that I chose this as the winner, because I feel it is one of the most overrated things in wrestling for 2008. I didn't think the promos were as good as everyone made out, and I didn't think their matches were anything special, bar 2 (Judgement Day, and No Mercy ladder match). So if I didn't think it was all that good, why am I picking it? Because there really wasn't anything better. Flair/HBK sucked. Edge/Undertaker, outside of 1 promo was boring as hell except when they were in the ring together. Rey/Kane was laughable, Jericho/Cena was poorly done, and don't even get me started on what TNA has been doing this year...

Runner Up - Edge Vs The Undertaker



Non-wrestling personality of the year

Mike Adamle

Yes, I am serious! Sure, he messed up his lines, and sucked on commentary, but you know what? I was entertained by him! He made me laugh, even if that wasn't what he was supposed to do. He made me interested to see ECW for more than just the wrestling; I wanted to listen closely to the commentary to hear him screw up and get a good laugh from it. He created a lot of controversy among the fans, and we all know what controversy creates. IMO he added something extra to the live Raw show, something that really hasn't been there for some years now. Unpredictability. You didn't know what he was going to say next, because he probably didn't know half the time either . So I say screw the haters, Adamle was good for Raw! How can you hate someone that made you laugh and entertained you? I know for a fact that the majority of the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) found his screw ups funny as hell, so what's wrong? Just because he didn't cut any Mick Foley quality promos doesn't mean that he should have been fired instantly from the company and replaced with a wrestling guy. Like I said, he brought something different to the show, and these days, we need something different more and more, as a lot of things are becoming stale, predictable, and dull.

Runner Up - Matt Striker

_________________

Wrestling Elite's End of Year Awards 2009

The awards have changed this year compared to last year, with some categories removed and changed around. Here are the 2009 WE End of Year Awards:

Wrestler of the Year:

Rey Mysterio

Why Rey? Because the guy has been nothing short of awesome for virtually the entire year. Even his one month suspension didn't slow the guy down (and neither did his bad knees for that matter).

He started the year off well in the Royal Rumble match (not the stand out performer in the match, but still good). At No Way Out, he helped turn the Raw Elimination Chamber match into a fantastic match. WrestleMania, well, he didn't exactly steal the show, but he was involved in JBL's retirement match, and beat him in a few seconds to win the IC title, so that was something, right?

And that's when his year REALLY started to pick up. The Intercontinental Championship had lost all its pristige over the years, and along with the likes of Jericho, Morrison, Ziggler and other SD talent, Rey helped bring back the importance of the IC belt, while providing us with classic matches, and a pretty awesome feud with Jericho too.

Runners up: Chris Jericho, Christian


Match of the year:

The Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 25

Its a match many people have been wanting to see ever since HBK returned in 2002, and hell, ever since 1998 after their casket match. The build up was epic. Shawn was incredible, and 'Taker was finally given some mic time, which is always a huge positive.

The match itself was beyond anything I have seen this year. The atmosphere surrounding it was awesome, the storytelling for the match was fantastic, and I loved all the subtle throwbacks to their previous matches/feud. The Undertaker took a sick bump, which ended up IMPROVING the match, which is rare for a "botch" like that to do. The pace was fantastic, and the false finishes and finishing stretch was probably the best example of a "WWE Main Event" style that you will ever see.

A true classic in my eyes, and in many other people's too. It might not be the best WrestleMania match, or best overall match, but its close.

Runners up: Royal Rumble Match, Rey Mysterio Vs Chris Jericho (The Bash)


PPV of the year:

Royal Rumble

Some people might say that Backlash was the best PPV of the year, and while it was great, it featured 2 matches that brought it just below the RR which didn't have a single weakness IMO.

Hardy/Swagger was a solid opener, the divas match was surprisingly good (Beth using Melina's own foot to kick her in the head was awesome), JBL/Cena, with a LOT of help from HBK put on a much better match than I ever expected, Hardy/Edge managed to have their one and only great match together (with the Matt twist too), and the Royal Rumble match was a very close MOTYC.

I don't think I have had more fun watching an entire PPV in years (probably since 2001).

Runners up: Backlash, No Way Out, Survivor Series


Promo of the year:

Triple H & Randy Orton - Raw March 2nd

Its a shame their feud sucked before this promo, and after this promo, and their matches turned out to be pretty horrible, because this promo is epic. Triple H showed that he can still get on the mic and talk the talk just as well as he could in 2000/2001.

Orton's mic work was also pretty fantastic here too, which seems to be rare. When HHH looks to leave and he starts talking about how it felt to RKO Stephanie, it led up to perhaps the best part of the promo IMO, and one of the reasons I remember it so much:

"I'M GONNA BREAK... YOUR... NECK!"

The whole thing was wonderfully done. The emotion was there, the facial expressions were perfect, it was all done RIGHT.

Runners up: Any of the HBK/Undertaker promos leading up to WrestleMania


Moment of the year:

The Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania 25

I know, I know, its a match, but the whole thing was the greatest moment of the year for me. My two all time favourites finally having the match I wanted to see ever since 1998. It was probably my last "dream match" that actually had the chance of happening.

Runners up: Christian returning, CM Punk cashing in MITB for the second year in a row, Nigel McGuinness showing up in TNA and attacking Jurt Angle


Most promising newcomer:

Drew McIntyre

Sheamus may have gotten a bigger push much sooner, but I feel the slower build and the whole "McMahon endorsed" deal with McIntrye will benefit him more than getting a world title shot as early as Sheamus. The guy has in ring skills, pretty decent mic skills, and a pretty decent look considering he came from FCW. Just like I predicted last year with Swagger, I believe that Drew will be holding a belt sometime in the year 2010, I just hope his push isn't ruined by moving to Raw like Swagger's ended up being (should he get moved over there of course lol).

EDIT: Wrote this before TLC PPV, so my prediction for Drew winning a belt came true, and just like last year with Swagger, just a little earlier than the next year as well lol . Also, despite Sheamus winning the WWE Title, I still don't think he deserves the award.

Runners up: Nigel McGuinness in TNA (would have taking the #1 spot, but technically he isn't a new guy, if you know what I mean, and was out for part of the year too), Sheamus


Storyline/Feud of the year:

The Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels

Sure, it didn't last longer than a month, but the build was far better than anything else I have seen this year, and the payoff went above and beyond my expectations.

Runners up: Chris Jericho vs Rey Mysterio, Nigel McGuinnes Vs Kurt Angle


Non-wrestling personality of the year:

Matt Striker

The man is without a doubt the best commentator in WWE (and TNA, ROH and everywhere else I have heard commentary for this year), and I guess is the closest thing to a non-wrestling personality I could come up with . Always entertaining on the mic, and he reminds me a lot of Ventura from back in the day. Plus, the guy is actually somewhat of a HEEL commentator, which is all but dead in WWE these days!

Runners up: Nobody


Tag Team of the year:

JeriShow

There wasn't really much of a choice this year from the wrestling I have seen (almost all WWE). They held the tag titles for a number of months, and had a decent run with them, all things considering (and those things to be considered are the fact that WWE doesn't give a shit about the tag division lol).

Runners up: DX, Beer Money

_________________