The 2005 Year End Awards - Pro Wrestling

[orderandlaw]

Better late than never is my motto...

Please vote using the template below.
Rate the choices on a scale of 1-3, 3 being the best and 1 being the lowest. For the Match of the Year, rate it on a scale of 1-7. 7 would of course be the highest. For Story of the Year, vote on a 1-4 scale.



And, thanks to everyone who participates. :)


Turn of the Year
Batista (Heel to Face)
Eddie Guerrero (Face to Heel)
America's Most Wanted (Face To Heel)

Feud of the Year
Triple H vs. Batista
Edge vs. Matt Hardy
Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels

Saleman of the Year
Ric Flair
Shawn Michaels
Shelton Benjamin

Breakout Wrestler of the Year
Samoa Joe
Rey Mysterio
Batista

Rookie of the Year
Ken Kennedy
Samoa Joe
Bobby Lashley

The "Why Am I Being Pushed" Award
Chris Masters
Jeff Jarrett
Road Warrior Animal

The "Why Aren't I Being Pushed" Award
Shelton Benjamin
Christian (Cage)
The X Division

Worst Wrestler
Chris Masters
Tyson Tomko
John Cena

Worst PPV
No Mercy
Judgement Day
Lockdown

Worst Storyline
JR Gets Fired
Coach/Goldust/Funaki/Batista/Vader: Vader jobs to gravity
Rey/Eddie/Dominic

Worst Segment
Mick Foley in Piper's Pit
Coach, Golddust, and Vader
Dr. Heinie

Story of the Year
ECW Lives!
Wrestling loses Eddie Guerrero
TNA makes major strides to compete w/ WWE
Two Guys, a Girl and a Wrestling Ring

Best Segment
HBK-"BROTHER!"
Ric Flair, blood faucet.
Paul Heyman "shoots" at ONS

Pay-Per-View of the Year
ECW: One Night Stand
WrestleMania XXI
Taboo Tuesday

Female of the Year
Lita
Trish Stratus
Melina

Tag Team of the Year
MNM
Cade & Murdoch
The Naturals

Wrestler of the Year
AJ Styles
Shawn Micheals
Kurt Angle

Match of the Year
*RAW: Benjamin v. Michaels
*TNA Impact! Special: Styles/Dutt/Aries v. Daniels/Joe/Shelly
*Kurt Angle vs "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Micheals (Wrestlemania 21)
*Samoa Joe vs "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels vs. "The Phenominal" A.J. Styles (Unbreakable)
*Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Wrestlemania 21)
*Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome (ONS)
*Shane Douglas vs. Sabu vs. Terry Funk (Hardcore Homecoming)

[orderandlaw]

An example of how to vote:

Batista (Heel to Face) - 2
Eddie Guerrero (Face to Heel) - 3
America's Most Wanted (Face To Heel) - 1

[cactusoly]

Is this your list? Lockdown for worst PPV? No TNA feuds for fued of the year (how about Joe vs Daniels vs Styles, or Dudly's vs AMW? No TNA PPVs ? AMW and Dudleys not contenders for Tag team of the year but MNM abd Cade & Murdoch are? Sorry no votes here

[dadaluholla]

In regards to the Story of the Year category:

What is "Two Guys, a Girl and a Wrestling Ring"?

[dancinns]

In regards to the Story of the Year category:

What is "Two Guys, a Girl and a Wrestling Ring"?
My guess is Edge/Hardy/Lita...

[fujishig]

Cade and Murdoch is especially puzzling, since they've already broken up and are relegated to Velocity/Heat. Sure, they held the tag belts a little, and might be under consideration for rookie tag team, but they weren't even over enough to get a storyline about why they broke up!

I'll play along, though. I'll just put them in order, the top is the best, since I know the 1-3 thing is going to confuse people (3 is best, guys).

Turn of the Year
Batista (Heel to Face)
Eddie Guerrero (Face to Heel)
America's Most Wanted (Face To Heel)

I'll give Batista the nod because it was a slow buildup, and he elevated himself to the top very well. Guerrero I knock down a notch because of the ridiculous storyline (though he played his part well). AMW, well, they get knocked down just because I wasn't familiar enough with them at the time to see it as a huge deal.

Feud of the Year
Triple H vs. Batista
Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels
Edge vs. Matt Hardy

Hmm... I'd definitely pick some other fueds over this one, especially some TNA ones like Daniels/AJ or Daniels/AJ/Joe. But Trips/Batista did a good job of elevating Batista. Hogan/Michaels was good because of Michaels, but he still did the job. Incredible how he went from heel to face the next night, though... that should be a nomination for turn of the year. Edge/Hardy had an excellent premise, but failed to live up to the hype because of the poor booking and fizzled out.


Saleman of the Year

Not sure what this category means exactly, so I won't vote

Breakout Wrestler of the Year
Samoa Joe
Batista
Rey Mysterio

Well, Joe went from being off my radar to being one of my favorite wrestler, so that's some breakout. Batista elevated from mid card to top of the card nicely. Mysterio was kinda stuck in that fued with Eddy for what seemed like 5 years, and his rumble win came this year.

Rookie of the Year
Samoa Joe
Ken Kennedy
Bobby Lashley

Joe wins, hands down, if we consider him a TNA rookie. Kennedy did well enough on the mic to get over, though his injury hurt him. Lashley hasn't fought anybody yet, and doesn't seem to have any mic skills.


The "Why Am I Being Pushed" Award
Road Warrior Animal
Jeff Jarrett
Chris Masters

Animal... tag champ? Really? Jarrett will always have that conflict of interest thing going against him, and the crowd has already turned on him. Masters has improved a bit, and has charisma as well as the look, so I can see why he's being pushed.

The "Why Aren't I Being Pushed" Award
The X Division
Christian (Cage)
Shelton Benjamin

Tough one. X-division needs to be pushed in TNA the most, though, since that's what makes their product stand out, and right now they're like the lightweight division. The top three are great, but the rest have had no chance to stand out. Christian I put over Benjamin because he's been around longer, and has the mic skills as well. Good to see the change of venue did some good.


Worst Wrestler

Ah, hard to judge this. pure technical skills, or overall?

Worst PPV

I honestly can't remember which PPV is which these days, if it's not one of the big 4, and I rarely watch them.

Worst Storyline
JR Gets Fired
Rey/Eddie/Dominic
Coach/Goldust/Funaki/Batista/Vader: Vader jobs to gravity

Rey/Eddie/Dominic was the worst... not only did it make no sense whatsoever, but it crossed all kinds of boundaries, was utterly predictable, and dragged on for far too long. At least it had decent wrestling, and it was kind of an old-school drawn out fued, but still...
The JR gets fired storyline not only had that horrific segment, but also didn't culminate in the expected match as Stone Cold walked out.

Worst Segment
Dr. Heinie
Mick Foley in Piper's Pit
Coach, Golddust, and Vader

Ugh.

Story of the Year
Wrestling loses Eddie Guerrero
TNA makes major strides to compete w/ WWE
Two Guys, a Girl and a Wrestling Ring
ECW Lives!


Best Segment
HBK-"BROTHER!"
Ric Flair, blood faucet.
Paul Heyman "shoots" at ONS

Pay-Per-View of the Year

Female of the Year
Melina
Trish Stratus
Lita



Tag Team of the Year
MNM
The Naturals
Cade & Murdoch

With these choices, MNM wins hands down, though they get jobbed to the singles wrestlers. I guess if you look at their early fued with AMW, the Naturals were good, but they got buried soon after, and if they're here, I'd have to give AMW credit. Cade and Murdoch? I'm not sure who else to put here... Dudleys have been pretty predictable, and the WWE tag division has suffered a lot.

Wrestler of the Year
AJ Styles
Shawn Micheals
Kurt Angle

I guess Styles, though Joe should get equal consideration. Michaels carried the Raw brand by himself for a while, something I didn't think he could do any longer. Angle's been great, but is still stained by that whole BookerT/Charmelle storyline. Ugh. And Davairi as manager.

[Shagrath]

No love for ROH either? I'd watch any of their opening matches over the main event of any WWE Pay-Per-View. Their low-to-mid card wrestlers can outwrestle pretty much anyone in WWE, with maybe the exception of Angle.

[Rypro 525]

I might be in the dark, but what is the deal with ROH, that many wrestling sites put up? does anyone know of a dvd that has like a best of ROH?

[Tarantino]

There were a few ROH DVD's out, not sure what the titles are though. I have one.

= J

[Nesbit]

Turn of the Year
Batista (Heel to Face) 3 – Great turn
Eddie Guerrero (Face to Heel) 2 – Ridiculous turn barely pulled off by Eddie Guerrero
America's Most Wanted (Face To Heel) 1 – Didn’t see it happen.

Feud of the Year
Triple H vs. Batista 3 – Made Batista a main eventer
Edge vs. Matt Hardy 1 – I’m still waiting for chapter 2 Matt….
Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels 2 – Shawn carried this feud and the match well

Saleman of the Year
Ric Flair 2 – Flair is one of the best sellers ever
Shawn Michaels 3 - He made Hogan’s offense look good. If he only wrestled that one match this year he deserves it.
Shelton Benjamin 1 – Shelton is nothing special on the selling side. I don’t know why he is included here.

Breakout Wrestler of the Year
Samoa Joe 3 - Joe is the man.
Rey Mysterio 1 – Rey didn’t really “Break out” in 2005.
Batista 2 – Became a main eventer

Rookie of the Year
Ken Kennedy 2- KENNEDY!
Samoa Joe 3 - not a rookie but if he is on the list he gets my vote
Bobby Lashley 1 – Ehh Black Lesnar doesn’t do much for me.

…..KENNEDY!

The "Why Am I Being Pushed" Award
Chris Masters 1 – Because he has talent and will be a solid main eventer in 2-3 years
Jeff Jarrett 2 – Because he runs TNA?
Road Warrior Animal 3 – To sell a dvd?

The "Why Aren't I Being Pushed" Award
Shelton Benjamin 1 – His time will come.
Christian (Cage) 3 – Cena/Christian could have gone for 3 months and made Christian a big star.
The X Division 2 – I would order TNA PPVs if Jarrett wasn’t the last match on every card.

Worst Wrestler
I have no idea why these three are listed. There are far worse wrestlers both in and out of the ring but I’ll play.

Chris Masters 2 – Great rookie. Bright future ahead of him. He just needs to add to his character a bit and continue to improve in the ring.
Tyson Tomko 3 – Great charisma with Christian. Should have become someone else’s enfourcer after Christian went to Smackdown. He plays the role well.
John Cena 1 – Not a big fan but he was carried to some good matches in 2005.

Worst PPV
I didn’t order any of these.
No Mercy
Judgement Day
Lockdown

Worst Storyline
JR Gets Fired 3 – From this story we got a weakened announce team, more Vince, and a heal turn from Linda that went nowhere.
Coach/Goldust/Funaki/Batista/Vader: Vader jobs to gravity 1 – This wasn’t really a storyline. It was the “Fix” to a storyline that they could not pay off.
Rey/Eddie/Dominic 2 – Tasteless.

Worst Segment
Mick Foley in Piper's Pit 2 - Disappointing
Coach, Golddust, and Vader 1- The greatest segment that Vader has been involved in since leaving the WWE.
Dr. Heinie 3 – How long was that skit anyways?

Story of the Year
ECW Lives! 1
Wrestling loses Eddie Guerrero 4 - RIP
TNA makes major strides to compete w/ WWE 2 – Hopefully they learn to create a good weekly show this year.
Two Guys, a Girl and a Wrestling Ring 3 – If this is the Lita/Matt/Edge thing it was a HUGE story.

Best Segment
HBK-"BROTHER!" 2 – I’m assuming this is the Larry King segment. If it was the interview that HBK gave the previous week it would be my top choice.
Ric Flair, blood faucet. 1 – Kind of cool but repetitive
Paul Heyman "shoots" at ONS 3 – Decent in ring interview from Heyman

Pay-Per-View of the Year
I would pick Vengeance over any one of these. That card had HBK/Angle 2, Cena vs Christian vs Jericho, and Triple H/Batista in a hell in the cell.

ECW: One Night Stand 3
WrestleMania XXI 2
Taboo Tuesday 1

Female of the Year
Lita 2
Trish Stratus 3
Melina 1

Tag Team of the Year
MNM 3
Cade & Murdoch 1
The Naturals 2

Wrestler of the Year

I don’t even like TNA but I would give this to Joe.

AJ Styles 3
Shawn Micheals 1
Kurt Angle 2

Match of the Year
*RAW: Benjamin v. Michaels 5
*TNA Impact! Special: Styles/Dutt/Aries v. Daniels/Joe/Shelly 4
*Kurt Angle vs "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Micheals (Wrestlemania 21) 6
*Samoa Joe vs "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels vs. "The Phenominal" A.J. Styles (Unbreakable) 7
*Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Wrestlemania 21) 3
*Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome (ONS) 2
*Shane Douglas vs. Sabu vs. Terry Funk (Hardcore Homecoming) 1


A+ for effort on creating this but I really question a lot of your choices…

[dadaluholla]

I might be in the dark, but what is the deal with ROH, that many wrestling sites put up? does anyone know of a dvd that has like a best of ROH?

There were a few ROH DVD's out, not sure what the titles are though. I have one.

I think the first 4 ROH shows they did were released as part of some cheapo distribution deal. You can find most of those on ebay for a penny.

Since then ROH has released almost all of their shows on DVD and they are available at their site (rohwrestling.com) or some other online dealers. Check out the ROH online shop. The quantity of quality product is overwhelming! They also have a lot of "Best of" compilations if you want to get a sample of their goods.

They also sell directly on ebay and you can get some good deals. I recommend the CM Punk/Samoa Joe trilogy as a good place to start.
:)

[MovieExchange]

This list easily wins the "worst list of 2005" award. Next time take nominations and give at least 10 selections instead of just taking your preferred 3.

Although the turnout has been poor for a while, here's a great example of how to do a year-end awards post:

http://rspw.org/05awards.txt