WWE ROYAL RUMBLE SUN JAN 27 | CENA WINS THE RUMBLE | ROCK DEFEATS PUNK TO WIN WWE TITLE

PLVN said:
Morning Madness said:
wrestling sucks
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Good point.

Close it down guys.
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Flair doesn't wrestle today in Japan

Ric Flair's first match in a year scheduled for today in the main event for All Japan Pro Wrestling didn't happen as before the show Flair announced he was unable to wrestle due to doctor's orders.  Flair apologized at the onset of the show and anounced his son Reid would take his place.

Flair was taken to the emergency room before the show due to a sudden health issue and the doctor there told him there was no way he could wrestle.  Those backstage said his left leg was badly swollen.

Flair did end up at ringside during the match, which ended up being Seiya Sanada & Tatsumi Fujinami beating Keiji Muto & Reid Flair when Sanada pinned Reid Flair.  Flair did interfere in the match throwing a chop to Sanada.

The show had sold out two days in advance and according to two sources in the building, it was because people thought it was their last chance to see Flair wrestle.  Many fans were in the building talking about wanting refunds and were upset nothing was offered.

As written here a few days ago, Jun Akiyama, Go Shiozaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Kotaro Suzuki and Atsushi Aoki made an apperance at the show and announced they were joining All Japan.  With the newcomers, All Japan announced a 3/17 show at Sumo Hall, although the Funaki vs. Akiyama match will be held off as Funaki defends against Suwama on that show.  Akiyama & Shiozaki will first face Takao Omori & Manabu Soya for the All Japan world tag team titles.

The main event saw Masakatsu Funaki beat Akebono to retain the Triple Crown.
 

2012 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards

"CATEGORY A" AWARDS – WINNERS
​
DETERMINED BY POINTS ON A 5-3-2 BASIS.​
FIRST PLACE VOTES IN PARENTHESIS​
LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (419) 3,328

2. C.M. Punk (294) 2,325

3. Kazuchika Okada (75) 1,221

4. John Cena (31) 857

5. Daniel Bryan (5) 204

6. Austin Aries (2) 157

7. Bobby Roode (10) 130

8. Cima (3) 101

9. Sheamus (4) 69

10. The Rock (2) 37

Hiroshi Tanahashi, 36, won his second straight Lou Thesz/Ric Flair award in a year where three of the top four finishers repeated.

With two straight wins, Tanahashi puts himself in very select company. Only Ric Flair, Harley Race, Kenta Kobashi and Chris Jericho have won two years in a row. It’s also a hell of a Hall of Fame argument for Tanahashi, who has strengthened his candidacy since last summer between continuing to have classic world title matches headlining the big shows, and anchoring New Japan’s biggest Tokyo Dome success in years, as well as making them the first company to turn iPPV into a significant revenue stream. Everyone who has won this award except Mistico (not yet eligible) and Tanahashi are already in the Hall of Fame.

Going in, it looked to be a four person race, with Tanahashi, C.M. Punk, Kazuchika Okada and John Cena. Unlike last year, where Tanahashi won by virtue of being the best traditional world champion while holding the IWGP title virtually the entire year (he won it January 4, 2011, and held it the rest of last year), there was an argument whether being the top guy in what was in comparison a secondary promotion trumped being the most talked about wrestler in the world’s top company. Last year the voting was close, with Tanahashi finishing with 2,718 points to 2,102 for Punk.

Tanahashi widened the gap this year even though Punk, as far as the complete year, was a stronger candidate due to being WWE champion the entire year and having consistently good-to-great title matches.

Tanahashi wasn’t champion all year, but he was clearly New Japan’s top star, and the company increased its popularity significantly, to the point that for the first time in years, there seems to be light when it has come to a consistently declining industry. Really, since the decline of CMLL and AAA in Mexico, this past year was the first that any pro wrestling company aside from WWE was showing genuine signs of being a hot group. It’s not all the way there as compared to historical strong points in Japan, and with the nature of television, it’s very unlikely to ever be like that again. But New Japan had a great year both in the ring and in popularity growth with Tanahashi as the point man.

Still, Punk (Phillip Brooks) was the first wrestler to hold the WWE title for an entire calender year since Hulk Hogan in 1987. Under normal circumstances, a guy who held the world title for the top promotion, and had a lot of great title matches and was arguably the best promo guy the business has seen in years would almost be a lock to win.

The big difference is that Punk was not in the main event on most PPV shows, Cena was, and Tanahashi was in most PPV main events for his company, including both the shows, against Minoru Suzuki and Yujiro Takahashi, that did the record-breaking numbers.

While the length of holding the belt is impressive, and perhaps in the future will look more impressive, it was Cena, not Punk, who was really the main guy this year in WWE. Punk only main evented this year on PPV when he either worked with Cena, or when Cena was hurt and missed one show.

In that sense, Cena really still being the guy who was in the final spot on most Raws and almost every PPV, could be argued was really the stronger candidate for an MVP type award than Punk. It’s an argument I’d make, but the voters went with the full year title run, even though he was not positioned the way a true world champion would be during most of that run. But they did a great job late in the year of making the duration of the run into a major point, something New Japan didn’t really do in 2011 with Tanahashi. Tanahashi, on the other hand, when he was champion, was always in the big show main events except when it came to the IWGP tournament, which was done to get him a Tokyo Dome opponent.

Cena ended up in fourth place, behind Kazuchika Okada. What’s notable is that in Japan, both the reporters and fan major awards for MVP went to Okada this year, and not Tanahashi. Part of that is in Japan there is the idea that if someone won it last year, if there is a strong candidate, you shouldn’t repeat. Okada, who spent 2011 as a nobody, almost never used and when used treated as a masked joke, with TNA, emerged this year as the biggest rising star of the industry.

Cena was the main player in a WWE year that included doing better than expected business against John Laurinaitis, plus he headlined the biggest money pro wrestling show in history against The Rock, and also had what was really the company’s biggest singles match aside from that when he faced Brock Lesnar. The Rock match was very good, and Rock hadn’t done a long singles match in years. The Lesnar match was a completely different style match than the company usually does, and is generally considered either its best or second best match of the year.

Okada won the IWGP title from Tanahashi, which seemed a very questionable move at the time. He had a strong title win over Tanahashi on February 12 in Osaka, and if there was any question as to whether he belonged on top given his lack of tenure in main events and young age, it was answered on March 4 at Korakuen Hall in an amazing title match with Tetsuya Naito. There is a very good argument that the title was taken from him too early, on June 16, also in Osaka. Tanahashi was always the guy who would have won it back since he was clearly the promotion’s biggest star, but Okada could have easily held it through G-1 or longer. Okada was also the person who single-handedly got the American Money in the Bank briefcase idea over in Japan, and actually made it more important. Okada said the briefcase he won in August from taking the G-1 tournament would be cashed in at the Tokyo Dome, but it was ruled that in every singles match he had, the briefcase was at stake. It ended up being a great gimmick that kept him in featured singles matches during the period Tanahashi was champion.

All four would be expected to remain as the full-time big two in their companies in 2013. So we could easily have a third year in a row with the same people under consideration for the big award.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Harley Race; 1981 - Harley Race; 1982 - Ric Flair; 1983 - Ric Flair; 1984 - Ric Flair; 1985 - Ric Flair; 1986 - Ric Flair; 1987 - Riki Choshu; 1988 - Akira Maeda; 1989 - Ric Flair; 1990 - Ric Flair; 1991 - Jumbo Tsuruta; 1992 - Ric Flair; 1993 - Vader; 1994 - Toshiaki Kawada; 1995 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1996 - Kenta Kobashi; 1997 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1998 - Steve Austin; 1999 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 2000 - HHH; 2001 - Keiji Muto; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Kenta Kobashi; 2004 - Kenta Kobashi; 2005 - Kenta Kobashi; 2006 - Mistico; 2007 - John Cena; 2008 - Chris Jericho; 2009 - Chris Jericho; 2010 - John Cena; 2011 - Hiroshi Tanahashi

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE

1. ANDERSON SILVA (387) 3,096

2. Jon Jones (142) 1.986

3. Ronda Rousey (149) 1,638

4. Georges St-Pierre (75) 998

5. Chael Sonnen (51) 692

6. Benson Henderson (7) 147

7. Junior Dos Santos (11) 115

Even though Anderson Silva, 37, is now widely recognized as the greatest MMA fighter of all-time, this was the first time he has won this award.

It was a four person race, because unlike Most Outstanding, there are a limited number of truly top drawing cards. And while Chael Sonnen is a draw, as the other half of the year’s big rivalry with Silva, he only went 1-1 for the year.

Silva won over Sonnen on the year’s biggest show, and also saved a show in Brazil by agreeing to take a fight with Stephan Bonnar with little notice, that did better than most expectations were from it going in.

Jones, who took second for the second straight year, would have likely won the award had he not pulled out of UFC 151, causing the cancellation of the show. To me, just based on that, and the amount of money that cost UFC and how he hurt his own career when it came to endorsements and reputation, I couldn’t even consider him. The argument is that during the time frame, he went 3-0, submitting a very legitimate contender in Lyoto Machida, winning a one-sided decision over Rashad Evans, and finishing Vitor Belfort. All three shows topped 450,000 buys with the Evans fight hitting 700,000. But trumpeting those numbers while ignoring that in the end, much of the value of those numbers were offset in costs at UFC 151 in a situation that, for better or worse, every other UFC headline fighter historically has not pulled out of. He had the legal right to do so, but in doing so, he’s not the Most Valuable fighter of the year.

Ronda Rousey was the most influential fighter. She went 2-0, winning both fights by armbar in the first round. She beat the world champion at her weight, and then beat the legitimate No. 1 contender. No other fighter this year had first round stoppages of both the champion and then the top contender. The argument is the depth and skill level of her opponents isn’t at the level of men in the various weight classes, which would be correct.

She was not a draw at the level of a Jones or a Silva, not even close. She proved to have legitimate ratings drawing power, but had proved little at the box office other than her fight with Miesha Tate was Strikeforce’s best live attendance for the year.

But it was her success that opened the UFC up to having women fighters. Without her, when Strikeforce died, the women would be left with Invicta and smaller shows. With her, there is a chance that she and some of the women can become name fighters this year. The argument may be that until the women are actually established as past a novelty and she does draw by UFC standards, she shouldn’t win MVP.

Georges St-Pierre, who placed fourth, is still the biggest drawing card in the sport, but he only fought once this year.

New category in 2007. Highest place winner from MMA in previous Thesz/Flair award balloting:  1994 - Royce Gracie; 1995 - Ken Shamrock; 1996 - Mark Coleman; 1997 - Maurice Smith; 1998 - Frank Shamrock; 1999 - Frank Shamrock; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2001 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2002 - Bob Sapp; 2003 - Randy Couture; 2004 - Wanderlei Silva; 2005 - Kid Yamamoto; 2006 - Tito Ortiz

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  2007 - Randy Couture; 2008 - Brock Lesnar; 2009 - Brock Lesnar; 2010 - Brock Lesnar; 2011 - Georges St-Pierre

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (394) 2,695

2. Kazuchika Okada (114) 1,326

3. Daniel Bryan (153) 1,273

4. El Generico (55) 515

5. C.M. Punk (34) 469

6. Austin Aries (20) 358

7. Davey Richards (18) 317

8. Dolph Ziggler (2) 244

9. Daisuke Sekimoto (5) 197

10. Tetsuya Naito (1) 161

HONORABLE MENTION:  Michael Elgin 155, Prince Devitt 129, Kenny Omega 116, Dr. Wagner Jr. 110, Kota Ibushi 108, Yuji Nagata 97, A.J. Styles 84, Akira Tozawa 72, Kurt Angle 70

Tanahashi became the first Japanese wrestler since Mitsuharu Misawa in 1999 to win an award that the Japanese dominated during the 90s.

Tanahashi had ****+ big show main events every time he headlined, in two matches with Okada, as well as the match of the year winner with Minoru Suzuki, his G-1 singles matches and his match with Yujiro Takahashi where he had to make people believe a guy who nobody saw as championship material could beat him.

The real battle was for second between Okada and Bryan. Bryan had some great matches with C.M. Punk and a strong match with Sheamus, and delivered in every situation. But if you look at Okada’s two matches with Tanahashi, as well as matches with Hirooki Goto, two matches with Karl Anderson and his bout with Tetsuya Naito, you have a stronger resume this year. Bryan had the advantage of being American and on WWE television. Okada had the advantage of being put into situations where he was going to have great singles matches, where Bryan was mostly in a comedy tag team role the last several months. Bryan is at this stage probably the more talented worker overall, but given Okada’s matches this year, the gap may not be that big between them at this point. Bryan, under his real name of Bryan Danielson, had previously won the award from 2006 to 2010, and also placed third last year.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1986 - Ric Flair; 1987 - Ric Flair; 1988 - Tatsumi Fujinami; 1989 - Ric Flair; 1990 - Jushin Liger; 1991 - Jushin Liger; 1992 - Jushin Liger; 1993 - Kenta Kobashi; 1994 - Kenta Kobashi; 1995 - Manami Toyota; 1996 - Rey Misterio Jr.; 1997 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1998 - Koji Kanemoto; 1999 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 2000 - Chris Benoit; 2001 - Kurt Angle; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Kurt Angle; 2004 - Chris Benoit; 2005 - Samoa Joe; 2006 - Bryan Danielson; 2007 - Bryan Danielson; 2008 - Bryan Danielson; 2009 - Bryan Danielson; 2010 - Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson); 2011 - Davey Richards

MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

1. ANDERSON SILVA (224) 2,216

2. Jon Jones (216) 1,871

3. Ronda Rousey (183) 1,540

4. Johny Hendricks (67) 1,035

5. Benson Henderson (65) 569

6. Georges St-Pierre (40) 392

7. Junior Dos Santos (2) 117

8. Renan Barao (3) 101

9. Jose Aldo Jr. (6) 95

10. Cain Velasquez 31

This is purely what one did in the ring. All of the top five have very strong arguments.

Silva was 2-0, finishing Chael Sonnen early in the second round and Stephan Bonnar in the first round. But he did lose a round to Sonnen, but looked absolutely spectacular in the second, and on a different planet with Bonnar.

Jones went 3-0, submitting experienced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belts in Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. He lost one round by Machida. He didn’t look out worldly like Silva at any point, but only had a blip of trouble with Belfort (although a serious blip) and dominated Rashad Evans.

Rousey went 2-0, with two first round armbar submissions. Unlike the other two, she could not have possibly been more impressive. She was never in trouble, and from a ranking standpoint, fought the two best in her weight.

Hendricks went 3-0, knocking out both Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann, both top tier contenders, in less than one minute. In his other fight, he won a close decision of Josh Koscheck. He could not have possibly looked better against Fitch, who hadn’t been stopped in years, and Kampmann. But while his two wins were the quickest and most impressive of anyone in the sport this year considering the nature and the opposition, neither Silva, Jones nor Rousey had a fight as competitive as the Koscheck bout.

Benson Henderson went 3-0, with three decision wins, two over Frankie Edgar and one over Nate Diaz. However, most felt he actually lost the second Edgar fight. Some thought he lost the first one. He won the title this year and defended it twice. He received a number of fighter of the year awards based on that, but I can’t put him above the four ahead of him because he really lost one fight, and those above him all had great finishes and he didn’t.

Georges St-Pierre, Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Jose Aldo Jr. all only went 1-0 during the time frame, and that’s simply not enough to win this award. Renan Barao was 2-0, a first round submission over Brad Pickett and a dominant decision over Urijah Faber to become interim bantamweight champion. He can be in the argument.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1997 - Maurice Smith; 1998 - Frank Shamrock; 1999 - Frank Shamrock; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2001 - Wanderlei Silva; 2002 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira; 2003 - Randy Couture; 2004 - Wanderlei Silva; 2005 - Fedor Emelianenko; 2006 - Mirko Cro Cop; 2007 - Quinton Jackson; 2008 - Georges St. Pierre; 2009 - Georges St. Pierre; 2010 - Georges St. Pierre; 2011 - Jon Jones

BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW

1. THE ROCK (422) 2,620

2. John Cena (92) 1,564

3. Brock Lesnar (123) 1,309

4. Anderson Silva (55) 733

5. Georges St-Pierre (26) 565

6. Chael Sonnen (9) 317

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi (22) 245

8. Jon Jones (2) 212

9. C.M. Punk (4) 121

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, 40, headlined WrestleMania against John Cena and it was the biggest money drawing show of the year. It was also his only match of the year.

While he wasn’t the top draw at Mania, Cena was half of the main event and also worked a full-time schedule during the year, once again leading the year when it came to drawing at the house shows.

Lesnar was a PPV mover for WWE, not at the level he was in UFC, but he was a difference maker in his shows in a manner that none of the full-timers were.

Anderson Silva headlined the most successful North American PPV show of the year, with help from Chael Sonnen, which also was the second biggest live gate in UFC history.

Georges St-Pierre is UFC’s biggest singular draw, but he only fought once, and it was against an opponent that didn’t have much in the way of marquee value.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1997 - Hulk Hogan; 1998 - Steve Austin; 1999 - Steve Austin; 2000 - The Rock; 2001 - Kazushi Sakuraba; 2002 - Bob Sapp; 2003 - Bob Sapp; 2004 - Kenta Kobashi; 2005 - Kenta Kobashi; 2006 - Mistico; 2007 - John Cena; 2008 - Brock Lesnar; 2009 - Brock Lesnar; 2010 - Brock Lesnar; 2011 - The Rock

BEST BABYFACE PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS:  1980 - Dusty Rhodes; 1981 - Tommy Rich; 1982 - Hulk Hogan; 1983 - Hulk Hogan; 1984 - Hulk Hogan; 1985 - Hulk Hogan; 1986 - Hulk Hogan; 1987 - Hulk Hogan; 1988 - Hulk Hogan; 1989 - Hulk Hogan; 1990 - Hulk Hogan; 1991 - Hulk Hogan; 1992 - Sting; 1993 - Atsushi Onita; 1994 - Atsushi Onita; 1995 - Perro Aguayo Sr.; 1996 - Shawn Michaels

BEST HEEL PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS:  1980 - Larry Zbyszko; 1981 - Don Muraco; 1982 - Buzz Sawyer; 1983 - Michael Hayes; 1984 - Roddy Piper; 1985 - Roddy Piper; 1986 - Michael Hayes; 1987 - Ted DiBiase; 1988 - Ted DiBiase; 1989 - Terry Funk; 1990 - Ric Flair; 1991 - The Undertaker; 1992 - Rick Rude; 1993 - Vader; 1994 - Love Machine (Art Barr); 1995 - Masahiro Chono; 1996 - Steve Austin

FEUD OF THE YEAR

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (275) 1,753

2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (238) 1,689

3. The Rock vs. John Cena (121) 1,136

4. C.M. Punk vs. Daniel Bryan (49) 512

5. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate (15) 371

6. John Cena vs. C.M. Punk (16) 291

7. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas (25) 271

8. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (7) 235

9. Yuji Nagata vs. Stack of Arms (8) 214

10. Bobby Roode vs. James Storm (22) 203

HONORABLE MENTION:  Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans 197, Chris Jericho vs. C.M. Punk 176, Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards 119, Austin Aries vs. Bobby Roode 117, A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels 90, Sheamus vs. Big Show 71, Undertaker vs. HHH

A close race in a battle between arguably No. 1 and No. 2 in the world inside the field of battle, against the biggest grudge match of the year.

Ironically, it’s the pro wrestling feud that was No. 1 vs. No. 2, and MMA that had the grudge. I’d flip flop. There was simply too much attention and interest in Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen to rank it behind two guys who did draw a great television rating and sold out medium-sized buildings. Really, as brilliant as Tanahashi vs. Okada was in ring, and that’s enough for a top three, it’s hard, given what this category is about, to put it above Rock vs. Cena, which did deliver a good match and also garnered far more than a usual level of interest.

C.M. Punk vs. Daniel Bryan was very good, but it was still a short-term program that was mostly the No. 2 bout on the cards it was on. I can see it winning in a year weak on big-time feuds, but this wasn’t that year.

Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate was important because it really kicked off a rebirth of women’s MMA being able to headline shows. I don’t see this as a winner. It was only one match. The grudge was excellent and really made both women into stars. Of all the feuds, this is one where both ended from a star standpoint multiple times bigger than they were coming in, so it does deserve a high placing.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko; 1981 - Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan; 1982 - Ted DiBiase vs. Junkyard Dog; 1983 - Freebirds vs. Von Erichs; 1984 - Freebirds vs. Von Erichs; 1985 - Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan; 1986 - Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff; 1987 - Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol & Tommy Rich; 1988 - Midnight Express vs. Fantastics; 1989 - Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk; 1990 - Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Mitsuharu Misawa; 1991 - Jumbo Tsuruta & company vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & company; 1992 - Moondogs vs. Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett; 1993 - Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler; 1994 - Los Gringos Locos vs. Mexican AAA; 1995 - Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero; 1996 - WCW vs. NWO; 1997 - Steve Austin vs. Hart Foundation; 1998 - Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon; 1999 - Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon; 2000 - HHH vs. Mick Foley; 2001 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Wanderlei Silva; 2002 - Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz; 2003 - Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle; 2004 - HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit; 2005 - Batista vs. HHH; 2006 - Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock; 2007 - Undertaker vs. Batista ; 2008 - Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels; 2009 - C.M. Punk vs. Jeff Hardy; 2010 - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico; 2011 - John Cena vs. C.M. Punk

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

1. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & KAZARIAN (373) 2,248

2. Kane & Daniel Bryan (124) 1,219

3. Young Bucks (78) 1,071

4. Mark & Jay Briscoe (43) 805

5. Takao Omori & Manabu Soya (73) 612

6. Super Smash Brother (61) 579

7. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (51) 539

8. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan (8) 347

9. Katsuyori Shibata & Kazushi Sakuraba (2) 184

10. Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow (3) 161

HONORABLE MENTION:Darren Young & Titus O’Neil 154, Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin 119

It was a landslide win for TNA’s team of Bad Influence. Christopher Daniels (Daniel Covell, 42) and Frankie Kazarian (Frank Gerdelman, 35) were longtime TNA regulars who were together in the Fortune group, and ended up in a weird storyline of blackmailing A.J. Styles.

Originally, Kazarian was portrayed as being a heel only because he was blackmailed by Daniels. Later that became he didn’t want to be a heel, but was protecting Styles by heeling on him, as confusing as that sounds. Eventually, he was just a heel, just like Daniels. The two ended up having great chemistry on interviews, and both have always been strong in the ring. But in many ways, this has really been the peak as far as personalities go, of each man’s career.

It figured to be a two team race with the WWE’s Team Hell No, but Daniels & Kazarian got almost exactly triple the number of first place votes and ran away with it. Bryan & Kane did a comedy oriented act, complete with constant arguing and screaming “Yes” and “No” at each other, building at the house shows to hugging segments. The team revitalized Kane’s career in many ways, completely revamping his act. For Bryan, the “Yes” stuff in the feud with Sheamus really established him as someone who, despite his lack of size, was over to the point he could headline. The team kept him in a role where he was continually featured on TV, but also took him out of the singles title picture, even though he’s as talented in the ring as anyone in the company.

The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Massie) from PWG and the Briscoes (Mark & Jay Pugh) from ROH were battling for the third spot, with the California team winning based on significantly more first place votes.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Freebirds (Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts); 1981 - Terry Gordy & Jimmy Snuka; 1982 - Stan Hansen & Ole Anderson; 1983 - Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood; 1984 - Road Warriors; 1985 - British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith); 1986 - Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey & Bobby Eaton); 1987 - Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane); 1988 - Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane); 1989 - The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty); 1990 - Rick & Scott Steiner; 1991 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada; 1992 - Miracle Violence Combination (Steve Williams & Terry Gordy); 1993 - Hollywood Blondes (Brian Pillman & Steve Austin); 1994 - Los Gringos Locos (Love Machine Art Barr & Eddie Guerrero); 1995 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi; 1996 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama; 1997 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama; 1998 - Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa; 1999 - Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama; 2000 - Edge & Christian; 2001 - TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima); 2002 - Eddie & Chavo Guerrero; 2003 - KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji; 2004 - KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji; 2005 - America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm); 2006 - LAX (Homicide & Hernandez); 2007 - Mark & Jay Briscoe; 2008 - The Miz & John Morrison; 2009 - Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards; 2010 - Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli; 2011 - Giant Bernard (Tensai) & Karl Anderson

MOST IMPROVED

1. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (517) 2,948

2. Michael Elgin (52) 887

3. Rush (64) 576

4. Damien Sandow (33) 552

5. Bully Ray (25) 344

6. Adam Cole (14) 322

7. Karl Anderson (1) 253

8. Titus O’Neil (9) 194

9. Dolph Ziggler (20) 178

10. Frankie Kazarian (18) 173

HONORABLE MENTION:  Austin Aries 158, Magnus 155, Kushida 113, Sheamus 110, Fenix 71

Kazuchika Okada, who just turned 25, was probably as much of a guaranteed lock pick to win as anyone in any category. Okada went from being O-Kato in TNA, rarely wrestling and when he did being nobody of significance, to being the world champion of the No. 2 promotion in the business, and having some of the best matches of the year.

If you look at the winners of this award, you’d have to go back to Brock Lesnar in 2002 for anyone who has shown as much improvement both as far as in-ring and as far as star power during the course of a year. While in both cases, they were brought in to be stars, it’s very rare someone with no experience at the top can deliver at the level both men did, and really, inside the ring, Okada is well ahead of where Lesnar was in 2002.

Elgin (Aaron Frobel) was just a guy on the roster in the House of Truth who impressed people with some power spots in his matches. He was established in a title loss to Davey Richards that was right near the top of the list of best matches this year.

In the case of Damien Sandow (Aaron Haddad), he really didn’t improve inside the ring, but has come on great in a gimmick he had been doing in FCW. But he’s always been a good talker and personality, and always been average at best in the ring. But in the tag team with Cody Rhodes, he’s worked out well because Rhodes can be the workhorse inside the ring, and the sidekick on the mic outside.

Bully Ray (Mark LoMonco), is the unique case of a 41-year-old veteran whose career seemed on the downside, after a run of Bubba Ray Dudley and Brother Ray of 3-D. He dropped a ton of weight, really more tweaked than changed his character, but in doing so established himself as a bonafide main event singles player. He ended 2012 as one of the best all-around performers in the industry.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Larry Zbyszko; 1981 - Adrian Adonis; 1982 - Jim Duggan; 1983 - Curt Hennig; 1984 - The Cobra (George Takano); 1985 - Steve Williams; 1986 - Rick Steiner; 1987 - Big Bubba Rogers (Ray Traylor); 1988 - Sting; 1989 - Lex Luger; 1990 - Kenta Kobashi; 1991 - Dustin Rhodes; 1992 - El Samurai; 1993 - Tracy Smothers; 1994 - Diesel (Kevin Nash); 1995 - Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero); 1996 - Diamond Dallas Page; 1997 - Tatsuhito Takaiwa; 1998 - The Rock; 1999 - Vader; 2000 - Kurt Angle; 2001 - Keiji Muto; 2002 - Brock Lesnar; 2003 - Brock Lesnar; 2004 - Randy Orton; 2005 - Roderick Strong; 2006 - Takeshi Morishima; 2007 - MVP; 2008 - The Miz; 2009 - The Miz ; 2010 - Sheamus; 2011 - Dolph Ziggler

BEST ON INTERVIEWS

1. C.M. PUNK (365) 2,668

2. Chael Sonnen (145) 1,557

3. The Rock (129) 1,131

4. Paul Heyman (37) 608

5. Christopher Daniels (12) 299

6. Kevin Steen (14) 291

7. Bully Ray (22) 284

8. Daniel Bryan (14) 272

9. Big Show (2) 176

10. Austin Aries (8) 167

HONORABLE MENTION:  Dean Ambrose 77

C.M. Punk (Phillip Brooks), 34, repeated as the winner by a significant margin over Chael Sonnen. Probably most impressive is winning so handily in a year when The Rock was featured in the WrestleMania main event program.

Punk won in a year where he started as the No. 2 babyface in the company, but ultimately, there was very little chance he could ever be No. 1. So he switched to being No. 1 heel, and shined in the role, particularly on the mic. What really sets Punk apart is that he has a style all his own, talking directly and sharply with no comedy or levity in the presentation. Sonnen, on the other hand, is more about tweaking old pro wrestling interviews from people like Superstar Billy Graham, which haven’t been seen in 35 years, and using them in an MMA setting. While The Rock’s interviews are a combination of high school trash talk and put downs, with comedy, and a delivery like no other.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1981 - Lou Albano and Roddy Piper (tied); 1982 - Roddy Piper; 1983 - Roddy Piper; 1984 - Jimmy Hart; 1985 - Jim Cornette; 1986 - Jim Cornette; 1987 - Jim Cornette; 1988 - Jim Cornette; 1989 - Terry Funk; 1990 - Arn Anderson; 1991 - Ric Flair; 1992 - Ric Flair; 1993 - Jim Cornette; 1994 - Ric Flair; 1995 - Cactus Jack (Mick Foley); 1996 - Steve Austin; 1997 - Steve Austin; 1998 - Steve Austin; 1999 - The Rock; 2000 - The Rock; 2001 - Steve Austin; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Chris Jericho; 2004 - Mick Foley; 2005 - Eddie Guerrero; 2006 - Mick Foley; 2007 - John Cena; 2008 - Chris Jericho; 2009 - Chris Jericho; 2010 - Chael Sonnen; 2011 - C.M. Punk

MOST CHARISMATIC

1. THE ROCK (298) 2,077

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (74) 1,275

3. John Cena (69) 1,067

4. C.M. Punk (107) 1,032

5. Daniel Bryan (67) 539

6. Chael Sonnen (28) 378

7. Brock Lesnar (6) 281

8. Georges St-Pierre (3) 199

9. Shinsuke Nakamura (2) 124

10. Austin Aries (1) 117

HONORABLE MENTION:  Rey Mysterio 72

Even though he’s not around most of the year, when it comes to pure charisma, The Rock is not only the best of this year, but he’s on the very short list of all-time best. He ruled the category during his active career, which was no mean feat being a contemporary of Steve Austin, and then came back and won last year as a part-timer. It’s the sixth time he’s won the award, tying the all-time record in the category held by Hulk Hogan. The thing with The Rock is, it’s almost impossible to even entertain him not winning the award as long as he’s got any kind of a performing role on television in the business. If he comes back next year, most likely everyone battles for a distant second.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Ric Flair; 1981 - Michael Hayes; 1982 - Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair (tied); 1983 - Ric Flair; 1984 - Ric Flair; 1985 - Hulk Hogan; 1986 - Hulk Hogan; 1987 - Hulk Hogan; 1988 - Sting; 1989 - Hulk Hogan; 1990 - Hulk Hogan; 1991 - Hulk Hogan; 1992 - Sting; 1993 - Ric Flair; 1994 - Atsushi Onita; 1995 - Shawn Michaels; 1996 - Shawn Michaels; 1997 - Steve Austin; 1998 - Steve Austin; 1999 - The Rock; 2000 - The Rock; 2001 - The Rock; 2002 - The Rock; 2003 - Bob Sapp; 2004 - Eddie Guerrero; 2005 - Eddie Guerrero; 2006 - John Cena; 2007 - John Cena; 2008 - John Cena; 2009 - John Cena; 2010 - John Cena; 2011 - The Rock

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER

1. DANIEL BRYAN (391) 2,513

2. Prince Devitt (122) 1,030

3. Davey Richards (43) 969

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi (77) 774

5. Zack Sabre Jr. (52) 536

6. Yuji Nagata (41) 369

7. Austin Aries (13) 273

8. Daisuke Sekimoto (2) 144

9. Negro Casas (5) 134

10. Eddie Edwards (3) 119

HONORABLE MENTION:  Antonio Cesaro 113, Dolph Ziggler 96

Bryan (Bryan Danielson), 31, won this award for the eight straight year. Nobody in the history of the awards has ever done this, with the old record being seven straight years by Jim Cornette for Manager of the Year and six straight years for Jim Ross as Announcer of the Year.

This year he may have won more based on reputation. When he wrestled and was put in a match situation that led to technical wrestling, he was as good as there is. But really that wasn’t all that often. It’s just that he has become this automatic no-brainer first place pick, but if you look at Prince Devitt and even Davey Richards, as far as doing technical matches, that’s what they do and they are good at it, maybe Devitt at a level above Richards. Actually, when it comes to putting together the great technical matches, Tanahashi really shined above everyone this year. He was put in the position to do so, but that’s part of the game. Could Daniel Bryan have done incredible technical matches with a consistent 30 minutes on every PPV? Of course. Would they have always gotten over huge? Maybe. But it really didn’t happen this year, at least to the extent of several of the names on this list.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Bob Backlund; 1981 - Ted DiBiase; 1982 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama); 1983 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama); 1984 - Dynamite Kid and Masa Saito (tied); 1985 - Tatsumi Fujinami; 1986 - Tatsumi Fujinami; 1987 - Nobuhiko Takada; 1988 - Tatsumi Fujinami; 1989 - Jushin Liger; 1990 - Jushin Liger; 1991 - Jushin Liger; 1992 - Jushin Liger; 1993 - Hiroshi Hase; 1994 - Chris Benoit; 1995 - Chris Benoit; 1996 - Dean Malenko; 1997 - Dean Malenko; 1998 - Kiyoshi Tamura; 1999 - Shinjiro Otani; 2000 - Chris Benoit; 2001 - Minoru Tanaka; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Chris Benoit; 2004 - Chris Benoit; 2005 - Bryan Danielson; 2006 - Bryan Danielson; 2007 - Bryan Danielson; 2008 - Bryan Danielson; 2009 - Bryan Danielson; 2010 - Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson); 2011 - Daniel Bryan

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)

1. KEVIN STEEN (368) 2,457

2. Togi Makabe (49) 755

3. Bully Ray (71) 726

4. Sheamus (31) 716

5. Brock Lesnar (69) 466

6. Sami Callihan (27) 404

7. Michael Elgin (3) 231

8. Big Show (26) 221

9. Minoru Suzuki (29) 203

10. L.A. Park (11) 176

HONORABLE MENTION:  Mark & Jay Briscoe 161, Yuji Nagata 117, Samoa Joe 106, Jun Akiyama 86, James Storm 79

Kevin Steen, 28, the Quebec native who spent most of the year as ROH champion and top star, won this award for the third straight year.

He won by a landslide, and deservedly so. Even when I’m watching his matches and uncomfortable with the amount of legitimate damage he puts himself through, at the end of the day, the matches are mostly incredible spectacles. When it comes to a brawler who is innovative and delivers, and builds the excitement, he’s the best of this year.

Spots two through four were very close. Togi Makabe is New Japan’s best brawler, although in a sense I preferred Katsuyori Shibata because he was able to put a sense of realism into his brawls more than anyone else. But Makabe was Shibata’s best opponent and the two had great chemistry in being able to make pro wrestling vs. MMA work in a big way.

Sheamus is very good at the WWE style fight and babyface brawling character. Bully Ray has the aura because people think of tables whenever they see him, so he can build to a big pop in almost any match by bringing tables into play.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Bruiser Brody; 1981 - Bruiser Brody; 1982 - Bruiser Brody; 1983 - Bruiser Brody; 1984 - Bruiser Brody; 1985 - Stan Hansen; 1986 - Terry Gordy; 1987 - Bruiser Brody; 1988 - Bruiser Brody; 1989 - Terry Funk; 1990 - Stan Hansen; 1991 - Cactus Jack (Mick Foley); 1992 - Cactus Jack; 1993 - Cactus Jack; 1994 - Cactus Jack; 1995 - Cactus Jack; 1996 - Mankind (Mick Foley); 1997 - Mankind; 1998 - Mankind; 1999 - Mick Foley; 2000 - Mick Foley; 2001 - Steve Austin; 2002 - Yoshihiro Takayama; 2003 - Brock Lesnar; 2004 - Chris Benoit; 2005 - Samoa Joe; 2006 - Samoa Joe; 2007 - Takeshi Morishima; 2008 - Necro Butcher; 2009 - Necro Butcher; 2010 - Kevin Steen; 2011 - Kevin Steen

BEST FLYING WRESTLER

1. KOTA IBUSHI (285) 1,857

2. Ricochet (111) 1,229

3. Pac (88) 1,108

4. El Generico (87) 722

5. A.R. Fox (46) 540

6. La Sombra (17) 415

7. Samuray del Sol (46) 412

8. Prince Devitt (9) 300

9. Mascara Dorada (26) 271

10. Kenny Omega (22) 241

HONORABLE MENTION:  A.J. Styles 217, Sin Cara 190, ACH 155, Titan 120, Kofi Kingston 118, Low Ki 95, Justin Gabriel 87, Rey Mysterio 82, Aero Star 72, Dragon Kid 70

Kota Ibushi, 30, the star of the DDT promotion, who was featured in many New Japan big shows in the junior heavyweight division, won this for the third time in the last four years. Last year, Ibushi took second to Ricochet, but had more first place votes. He would have almost surely won in 2011 except he was out of action for several months due to shoulder surgery.

What will be interesting next year is how Pac, now Adrian Neville in NXT, fares with his move to WWE. He’ll have greater exposure, but he’ll always be working a style, a schedule, and more and with people who aren’t a good fit toward being the world’s greatest flyer the way Japanese and Mexican promotions are.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1981 - Jimmy Snuka; 1982 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama); 1983 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama); 1984 - Dynamite Kid; 1985 - Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa); 1986 - Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa); 1987 - Owen Hart; 1988 - Owen Hart; 1989 - Jushin Liger; 1990 - Jushin Liger; 1991 - Jushin Liger; 1992 - Jushin Liger; 1993 - Jushin Liger; 1994 - Great Sasuke; 1995 - Rey Misterio Jr.; 1996 - Rey Misterio Jr.; 1997 - Rey Misterio Jr.; 1998 - Juventud Guerrera; 1999 - Juventud Guerrera; 2000 - Jeff Hardy; 2001 - Dragon Kid; 2002 - Rey Mysterio; 2003 - Rey Mysterio; 2004 - Rey Mysterio; 2005 - A.J. Styles; 2006 - Mistico; 2007 - Mistico; 2008 - Evan Bourne; 2009 - Kota Ibushi; 2010 - Kota Ibushi; 2011 - Ricochet

MOST OVERRATED

1. RYBACK (148) 1,028

2. The Miz (88) 825

3. Garett Bischoff (55) 405

4. Randy Orton (21) 299

5. Ken Anderson (9) 295

6. Sheamus (13) 286

7. Matt Morgan (21) 240

8. Big Show (2) 195`

9. Rob Van Dam (14) 142

10. Brodus Clay (1) 134

HONORABLE MENTION:  Devon 128, Kevin Steen 124, C.M. Punk 117, John Cena 99, A.J. 78

Ryback (Ryan Reeves), 31, is one of the year’s more unlikely stars. He had been in and out of developmental since 2004, was brought up doing a cowboy gimmick that fit him badly, and then was repackaged into a modern version of a Bill Goldberg/Nikita Koloff/Ultimate Warrior muscle guy who works short matches, and sells very little.

As far as his push as compared to skill level, yes there is a big discrepancy. He did get over, but has also lost steam and it’s really just people liking to repeat his catch-phrase. But it can’t be denied that in his first main event, at Hell in a Cell against C.M. Punk, he did surprisingly big business.

Miz isn’t really overrated or over pushed. He’s probably in the exact position he deserves to be in. He’s just so annoying as a babyface, and either needs to tweak the character if he’s going to stay a face, or just get ready to turn back.

Garett Bischoff got chances that nobody who wasn’t the bosses son would get. He does have a good look and did improve this year. But even so, he’d be on nobody’s main roster this year without his last name.

Randy Orton is a funny one. Most wrestlers rave about him as a worker. Personally, I think he’s got his character, plays it great, and is very good in the ring. If anything, he’s more over than his push, but a lot of that is his fault because his rep and drug test failures have made the company give people like Sheamus the spot that he used to be in, and that if he hadn’t been trouble, would still be in.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Mr. Wrestling II (Johnny Walker); 1981 - Pedro Morales; 1982 - Pedro Morales; 1983 - Bob Backlund; 1984 - John Studd; 1985 - Hulk Hogan; 1986 - Hulk Hogan; 1987 - Dusty Rhodes; 1988 - Dusty Rhodes; 1989 - Ultimate Warrior; 1990 - Ultimate Warrior; 1991 - Ultimate Warrior; 1992 - Erik Watts; 1993 - Sid Vicious; 1994 - Hulk Hogan; 1995 - Hulk Hogan; 1996 - Hulk Hogan; 1997 - Hulk Hogan; 1998 - Hulk Hogan; 1999 - Kevin Nash; 2000 - Kevin Nash; 2001 - The Undertaker; 2002 - HHH; 2003 - HHH; 2004 - HHH; 2005 - Jeff Jarrett; 2006 - Batista; 2007 - Great Khali; 2008 - Vladimir Kozlov; 2009 - HHH; 2010 - Kane; 2011 - Crimson

MOST UNDERRATED

1. TYSON KIDD (286) 1,629

2. Dolph Ziggler (85) 718

3. Daniel Bryan (56) 357

4. Kassius Ohno (32) 293

5. Jack Swagger (9) 260

6. Drew McIntyre (19) 251

7. Sin Cara (18) 209

8. Satoshi Ishii (15) 183

9. Hunico (6) 172

10. Justin Gabriel 139

HONORABLE MENTION:  Primo 136, Usos 108

Tyson Kidd (Theodore James Wilson), 32, started wrestling independents in Calgary at 15, and had his first WWF match, an opening match on a house show in Calgary, at the age of 16 back in 1996.

Kidd grew up around the Hart family, and was practically a family member. He’s genuinely one of the most talented workers in the U.S. business, and is hurt somewhat by size, and also because he’s not that great on the mic. He’s got people in his corner in WWE based off his next feud with Michael McGillicutty, which landed him a spot in a tag team with Justin Gabriel. But whatever momentum he was getting was thwarted since he had major knee reconstructive surgery this past week.

As far as the rest, Dolph Ziggler is main eventing against John Cena at house shows. Granted, he always loses, but that’s the role for his kind of heel. He’s almost surely getting the world title in the next few months, and with A.J., is being put in the Randy Savage role to go along with the fact everyone compares him to Curt Hennig.

Daniel Bryan has done better than anyone could have expected in WWE. The funny thing is, it’s not his ability that has done it, although that has certainly helped, but his promo work.

Kassius Ohno is still in developmental, so yeah, he’s way underrated. Jack Swagger has been forgotten, and he’s been effective in the past, so yeah. Drew McIntyre has had reams written about what went wrong with him, but he’s big, is good and fits what they like. They just screwed up with him by over pushing him, and now he’s stuck in the Chris Masters role. I don’t know that Sin Cara is underrated. I do know that he has the potential to be a big star to kids, and was already there, but they cut him off because he still wasn’t ready to work the style. He’s roundly considered a flop these days. Satoshi Ishii is the guy in New Japan who is just a guy on the undercard with no push, but always gives you great action.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Iron Sheik; 1981 - Buzz Sawyer; 1982 - Adrian Adonis; 1983 - Dynamite Kid; 1984 - Brian Blair; 1985 - Bobby Eaton; 1986 - Bobby Eaton; 1987 - Brad Armstrong; 1988 - Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa); 1989 - Dan Kroffat (Phil LaFon); 1990 - Bobby Eaton; 1991 - Terry Taylor; 1992 - Terry Taylor; 1993 - Bobby Eaton; 1994 - Brian Pillman; 1995 - Skip (Chris Candito); 1996 - Leif Cassidy (Al Snow); 1997 - Flash Funk (Too Cold Scorpio); 1998 - Chris Benoit; 1999 - Chris Jericho; 2000 - Chris Jericho; 2001 - Lance Storm; 2002 - Booker T; 2003 - Ultimo Dragon; 2004 - Paul London; 2005 - Shelton Benjamin; 2006 - Shelton Benjamin; 2007 - Shelton Benjamin; 2008 - MVP; 2009 - Evan Bourne; 2010 - Kaval (Low Ki); 2011 - Dolph Ziggler

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (497) 3,452

2. Ultimate Fighting Championships (91) 1,388

3. World Wrestling Entertainment (85) 1,357

4. Dragon Gate (33) 477

5. CHIKARA Pro (19) 344

6. Total Nonstop Action (18) 324

7. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (3) 308

8. IWRG (5) 255

9. AAA (12) 253

10. ROH 133

HONORABLE MENTION:  DDT 99, Bellator 84

New Japan Pro Wrestling ended the run of six straight years of winning this award by the UFC.

New Japan was great inside the ring, had the best and most logical booking, their matches usually built to the best finishes, did the best job of making a new superstar and improved its popularity. It’s biggest problem is there is probably a ceiling on how big in a worldwide market they can be, based on the limitations of being in Japan, and the difference in the television business in that country.

UFC and WWE battled for second. It’s basically a pick your taste. WWE increased on PPV. UFC did on average. WWE TV ratings dropped a little. UFC’s dropped a lot. UFC got killed with injuries and suspensions, thwarting all kind of plans. Not every UFC show was good, but for a shoot sport, most of the shows were. Both are producing too much television for anyone but their most ardent fan to keep up with.

PREVIOUS WINNERS - 1983 - Jim Crockett Promotions; 1984 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1985 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1986 - Mid South Wrestling; 1987 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1988 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1989 - Universal Wrestling Federation Japan; 1990 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1991 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1992 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1993 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1994 - AAA; 1995 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1996 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1997 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1998 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 1999 - World Wrestling Federation; 2000 - World Wrestling Federation; 2001 - Pride Fighting Championships; 2002 - Pride Fighting Championships; 2003 - Pride Fighting Championships; 2004 - Pro Wrestling NOAH; 2005 - Pro Wrestling NOAH; 2006 - Ultimate Fighting Championships; 2007 - Ultimate Fighting Championships; 2008 - Ultimate Fighting Championships; 2009 - Ultimate Fighting Championships; 2010 - Ultimate Fighting Championship; 2011 - Ultimate Fighting Championships

BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW

1. TNA IMPACT (122) 1,043

2. Ring of Honor (73) 926

3. WWE NXT (61) 869

4. WWE Monday Night Raw (76) 828

5. WWE Main Event (85) 819

6. Dragon Gate Infinity (65) 781

7. WWE Smackdown (28) 591

8. Bellator (60) 433

9. New Japan World Pro Wrestling (62) 401

10. Fight Factory (36) 289

HONORABLE MENTION:  CMLL 277, IWRG 258, AAA 253, WWE Saturday Morning Slam 241, Ultimate Fighter 193, All Japan Banquet 107

TNA Impact went from winning worst TV show for five straight years, finally got rid of Vince Russo, and now won best TV show. Part of the reason is the WWE votes were divided among five different shows. Raw’s move to three hours may have been why it didn’t win. Smackdown remained a solid show every week, but with all of its stars on Raw, it became a secondary show. Still, ratings held up decently well since it’s been a fixture on Friday nights for years.

The most notable thing was Fight Factory finishing 10th. Fight Factory was a reality show on Nuvo TV, a station that almost nobody gets, and people who do probably have no idea they do. It was based on the antics at American Kickboxing Academy and it was easily the best MMA reality show I’ve seen, in the sense it comes across as completely real. It was the one show I saw this year that when the show was over, I couldn’t wait for the next episode. This speaks volumes about 60 minute shows and compelling stories. There’s no word if the show will be renewed, but it was this year’s best kept television secret.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1983 - New Japan World Pro Wrestling; 1984 - New Japan World Pro Wrestling; 1985 - Mid South Wrestling; 1986 - Universal Wrestling Federation (Mid South Wrestling: 1987 - CWA 90 Minute Memphis live show; 1988 - New Japan World Pro Wrestling; 1989 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1990 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1991 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1992 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1993 - All Japan Pro Wrestling; 1994 - Extreme Championship Wrestling; 1995 - Extreme Championship Wrestling; 1996 - Extreme Championship Wrestling; 1997 - New Japan World Pro Wrestling; 1998 - WWF Raw is War; 1999 - WWF Raw is War; 2000 - WWF Raw is War; 2001 - New Japan World Pro Wrestling; 2002 - WWE Smackdown; 2003 - Pro Wrestling NOAH; 2004 - WWE Raw; 2005 - UFC Ultimate Fighter; 2006 - UFC Ultimate Fighter; 2007 - UFC Ultimate Fighter; 2008 - UFC Ultimate Fighter; 2009 - WWE Smackdown; 2010 - Ring of Honor; 2011 - WWE Smackdown

PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. TANAHASHI VS. SUZUKI 10/8 TOKYO (277) 2,014

2. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar 4/29 Chicago(87) 1,202

3. Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin 3/31 Ft. Lauderdale (146) 1,185

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 6/16 Osaka (121) 1,057

5. Undertaker vs. HHH 4/1 Miami (77) 859

6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito 3/4 Tokyo (68) 661

7. Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi 8/18 Tokyo (35) 204

8. C.M. Punk vs. Daniel Bryan 5/20 Raleigh (4) 180

9. The Rock vs. John Cena 4/1 Miami (18) 135

10. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas 3/2 Mexico City (2) 121

HONORABLE MENTION:  Kazuchika Okada vs. Hirooki Goto 5/3 Fukuoka 105, A.J. Styles & Kurt Angle vs. Christopher Daniels & Kazarian 6/10 Arlington, TX 97, Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen 10/13 Mississauga 96

What made the IWGP title match with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki stand out is Tanahashi had to work a style completely out of his normal game plan. Suzuki does a realistic style with an unbelievable level of crowd psychology. He has the sense to do things exactly when people aren’t expecting them and in a way they don’t. He makes it appear he’s not cooperating, which takes matches to a different dimension, all the while being a master worker. Tanahashi doing traditional pro wrestling mixed well with him. They did a main event with zero near falls, based on storyline body parts, that was one of the best matches in years.

Cena vs. Lesnar was also completely different from a normal pro wrestling match. Lesnar’s UFC background, combined with the ultra-stiffness and hard way juice put this on a different mental plane than any WWE match this year. You could argue that HHH vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania, which really was a masterpiece of a match in its own way, was better. But Cena vs. Lesnar by the end of the year came off as more memorable.

Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin was an unbelievably good match. Even more, Elgin, in challenging for the title and losing, ended up becoming respected at a significantly higher level by the fans coming off the match. There can be legit criticism that some of the momentum was lost by how Elgin was booked and portrayed. But this match and Okada vs. Tanahashi I both accomplished something in one match taking a guy to a new level.

It really speaks volumes for the year that HHH vs. Undertaker only finished fifth, because a classic match at WrestleMania always has a big edge in this kind of voting. But the matches above it were all unique and special.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera 5/19 New York Madison Square Garden; 1981 - Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter 4/21 New York Madison Square Garden; 1982 - Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama) vs. Dynamite Kid 8/5 Tokyo; 1983 - Ric Flair vs. Harley Race 11/24 Greensboro; 1984 - Freebirds vs. Von Erichs 7/4 Fort Worth; 1985 - Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi 6/12 Tokyo; 1986 - Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham 2/14 Orlando; 1987 - Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage 3/29 Pontiac; 1988 - Ric Flair vs. Sting 3/27 Greensboro; 1989 - Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat 4/2 New Orleans; 1990 - Jushin Liger vs. Naoki Sano (Takuma Sano) 1/31 Osaka; 1991 - Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki 3/21 Tokyo; 1992 - Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 5/25 Sendai; 1993 - Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki 4/21 Osaka; 1994 - Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) 3/20 New York Madison Square Garden; 1995 - Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue 5/7 Tokyo; 1996 - Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace 6/7 Tokyo; 1997 - Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin 3/23 Chicago; 1998 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 10/31 Tokyo; 1999 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 6/11 Tokyo; 2000 - Atlantis vs. Villano III 3/17 Mexico City; 2001 - Keiji Muto vs. Genichiro Tenryu 6/8 Tokyo; 2002 - Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio 10/20 Little Rock; 2003 - Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi 3/1 Tokyo; 2004 - Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama 7/10 Tokyo Dome; 2005 - Kenta Kobashi vs. Samoa Joe 10/1 New York; 2006 - Dragon Kid & Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. Cima & Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino 3/31 Chicago; 2007 - Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima 8/25 New York; 2008 - Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho 10/5 Portland, OR; 2009 - Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels 4/5 Houston; 2010 - Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels 3/28 Phoenix; 2011 - John Cena vs. C.M. Punk 7/17 Chicago

MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. CHAN SUNG JUNG VS. DUSTIN POIRIER 5/15 FAIRFAX(352)2,107

2. Benson Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar 2/26 Saitama (129) 1,298

3. Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit 11/17 Montreal (154) 1,212

4. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate 3/3 Columbus (16) 911

5. Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie 8/18 San Diego (95) 846

6. Joe Lauzon vs. Jamie Varner 8/4 Los Angeles (24) 625

7. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen 7/7 Las Vegas (29) 310

8. Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson 5/19 San Jose (3) 272

9. Jon Fitch vs. Erick Silva 10/13 Rio de Janeiro (2) 228

10. Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 12/10/11 Rio (25) 226

HONORABLE MENTION:  Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez 2/15 Omaha 204, Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva 5/26 Las Vegas 142, Mauricio Shogun Rua vs. Brandon Vera 8/4 Los Angeles 117, Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis 3/3 Columbus, OH 116, Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall 6/8 Sunrise, FL 106

I almost think these results actually speak quite well for our voters, since the MMA World Awards, which is a fan voting, had Lauzon vs. Varner, a great fight to be sure, but they won because they were on FOX. Our voters were able to, by big margins, vote No. 1 a match that was on Fuel TV and only viewed by 200,000 or so people live, but it was the best action fight of the year. Perhaps even more impressive was No. 5, Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie. That really was one of the best fights of the year, but it aired on Showtime Extreme which would have even less viewers than Fuel. As compared with Tate vs. Rousey, for example, Tate vs. Rousey was on far more ballots since so many more people saw it live and on tape, but look at the difference in first place votes. Granted, every fight on the list came from UFC or Strikeforce, but this really was a great cross-section of fights in the top ten.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1997 - Maurice Smith vs. Mark Coleman 7/27 Birmingham; 1998 - Jerry Bohlander vs. Kevin Jackson 3/13 New Orleans; 1999 - Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz 9/24 Lake Charles; 2000 - Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie 5/1 Tokyo Dome; 2001 - Randy Couture vs. Pedro Rizzo 5/4 Atlantic City; 2002 - Don Frye vs. Yoshihiro Takayama 6/23 Saitama; 2003 - Wanderlei Silva vs. Hidehiko Yoshida 11/9 Tokyo Dome; 2004 - Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva 10/31 Saitama; 2005 - Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar 4/9 Las Vegas; 2006 - Diego Sanchez vs. Karo Parisyan 8/17 Las Vegas; 2007 - Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia 3/3 Columbus; 2008 - Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson 7/5 Las Vegas; 2009 - Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida 6/20 Las Vegas; 2010 - Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung 4/24 Sacramento; 2011 - Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Shogun Rua 11/19 San Jose

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

1. DINASTIA (199) 1,530

2. Mr. Touchdown (214) 1,496

3. Eita Kobayashi (106) 755

4. ACH (5) 519

5. Saturyne (31) 341

6. Tadarius Thomas (40) 291

7. Ross & Marshall Von Erich (1) 110

One of the closest races of the year, Mark Angelosetti, Mr. Touchdown of CHIKARA had the most first place votes, but fell just short of AAA’s Dinastia in the battle of people who first came on the radar this year.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1980 - Barry Windham; 1981 - Brad Armstrong and Brad Rheingans (tied); 1982 - Steve Williams; 1983 - Road Warriors; 1984 - Tom Zenk and Keiichi Yamada (Jushin Liger) (tied); 1985 - Jack Victory; 1986 - Bam Bam Bigelow; 1987 - Brian Pillman; 1988 - Gary Albright; 1989 - Dustin Rhodes; 1990 - Steve Austin; 1991 - Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero); 1992 - Rey Misterio Jr.;1993 - Jun Akiyama; 1994 - Mikey Whipwreck; 1995 - Perro Aguayo Jr.; 1996 - The Giant (Paul "Big Show" Wight); 1997 - Mr. Aguila; 1998 - Bill Goldberg; 1999 - Blitzkrieg; 2000 - Sean O'Haire; 2001 - El Hombre sin Nombre (Rayman); 2002 - Bob Sapp; 2003 - Chris Sabin; 2004 - Petey Williams; 2005 - Shingo Takagi; 2006 - Atsushi Aoki; 2007 - Erick Stevens; 2008 - Kai; 2009 - Frightmare; 2010 - Adam Cole; 2011 - Daichi Hashimoto

BEST NON-WRESTLER

1. PAUL HEYMAN (479) 2,747

2. Ricardo Rodriguez (97) 1,291

3. Vickie Guerrero (24) 722

4. A.J. (22) 464

5. Gedo (25) 404

6. John Laurinaitis (3) 172

7. Truth Martini (4) 157

8. Vince McMahon (2) 153

9. Nigel McGuinness (8) 129

10. Jim Cornette 99

Paul Heyman, 47, appeared to be long gone from pro wrestling. He had his own production company, and a few years ago appeared to be destined to end up working in a creative capacity with Strikeforce. The last place anyone would have expected for him to return was WWE, where he left in 2006 on bad terms with Vince and Stephanie McMahon after one of the worst PPV shows in company history with everyone blaming everyone.

He returned as the mouthpiece for Brock Lesnar. It was the ultimate marriage of convenience. It’s doubtful WWE really wanted him back, but Lesnar signed for limited dates, and they needed someone to “keep him alive” in storylines while he was gone. Heyman was really the only person who could do the role, because he understood how to get Lesnar over.

But eventually, with Lesnar out of the picture until WrestleMania, Heyman was put with C.M. Punk. As a championship duo, the two were reminiscent of the heyday of Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan in the AWA. Bockwinkel was a great talker, and tremendous in-ring performer, who certainly didn’t need a manager. But Heenan augmented Bockwinkel’s strengths, never got in the way and made a strong act something special

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1999 - Vince McMahon; 2000 - Vince McMahon; 2001 - Paul Heyman; 2002 - Paul Heyman; 2003 - Steve Austin; 2004 - Paul Heyman; 2005 - Eric Bischoff; 2006 - Jim Cornette; 2007 - Larry Sweeney; 2008 - Larry Sweeney; 2009 - Vickie Guerrero; 2010 - Vickie Guerrero; 2011 - Ricardo Rodriguez

MANAGER OF THE YEAR PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1983 - Jimmy Hart; 1984 - Jim Cornette; 1985 - Jim Cornette; 1986 - Jim Cornette; 1987 - Jim Cornette; 1988 - Jim Cornette; 1989 - Jim Cornette; 1990 - Jim Cornette; 1991 - Sensational Sherri (Sherri Martel); 1992 - Jim Cornette; 1993 - Jim Cornette; 1994 - Jim Cornette; 1995 - Jim Cornette; 1996 - Jim Cornette

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

1. JIM ROSS (234) 1,902

2. Nigel McGuinness (205) 1,647

3. William Regal (64) 967

4. Joe Rogan (130) 965

5. JBL (47) 777

6. Kevin Kelly (29) 364

7. Mike Tenay (10) 192

8. Michael Schiavello (24) 181

9. Jesse Manuel Guillen (12) 175

10. Mike Goldberg (6) 115

HONORABLE MENTION:  Gompei Nogami 114, Jerry Lawler 79

Jim Ross, 61, was the most unlikely winner of this award in recent memory since he’s essentially been semi-retired by the promotion. It’s a weird case, because it’s almost universally acknowledged, particularly by the WWE performers, that Ross is the best in the business. When he’s been brought back, such as for a few months after Jerry Lawler had his heart attack, it became clear it was just not a reputation from the past, but that the announcing was markedly improved when he was there. Still, it was temporary and was always going to be.

The Ross situation has always been strange. When he was removed in the past, it never made sense, but he’s now at a point in his life where he seems very happy not to be going out every week. His announcing this year, aside from Raw, was usually limited to the main events on FCW, and later, NXT. But since those are developmental shows, and he’s a major part of the developmental system when it comes to ideas, it looks like from this point forward his role will be more to produce the younger announcers and appear even less on the air.

Ironically, McGuinness, who placed a close second, is also no longer announcer, having been replaced by ROH by Caleb Seltzer. He’s been moved to the on-air matchmaker/authority figure. But removing him from the broadcast team was a mistake. One of the reasons Glory by Honor got so many votes for best show was because of the job Kevin Kelly and McGuinness did in calling it. McGuinness was easily the most improved announcer over the course of the year.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1981 - Gordon Solie; 1982 - Gordon Solie; 1983 - Gordon Solie; 1984 - Lance Russell; 1985 - Lance Russell; 1986 - Lance Russell; 1987 - Lance Russell; 1988 - Jim Ross; 1989 - Jim Ross; 1990 - Jim Ross; 1991 - Jim Ross; 1992 - Jim Ross; 1993 - Jim Ross; 1994 - Joey Styles; 1995 - Joey Styles; 1996 - Joey Styles; 1997 - Mike Tenay; 1998 - Jim Ross; 1999 - Jim Ross; 2000 - Jim Ross; 2001 - Jim Ross; 2002 - Mike Tenay; 2003 - Mike Tenay; 2004 - Mike Tenay; 2005 - Mike Tenay; 2006 - Jim Ross; 2007 - Jim Ross; 2008 - Matt Striker; 2009 - Jim Ross; 2010 - Joe Rogan; 2011 - Joe Rogan

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

1. MICHAEL COLE (166) 1,723

2. Taz (117) 1,242

3. Booker T (151) 1,023

4. Jerry Lawler (109) 920

5. Josh Matthews (23) 412

6. The Miz (28) 214

7. Todd Keneley (17) 184

8. Mike Goldberg (10) 135

9. Jesus Zuniga (12) 95

10. Mike Tenay (8) 90

Michael Sean Coulthard, 44, won this for the fourth straight year. Cole is actually good as far as leading a broadcast and getting in all the different things not having to do with matches. He’s also improved on commentary. His heel character was a negative in many ways, but that’s been dropped. Still, the character inconsistency, since Vince McMahon seems to change his mind every few weeks of what kind of persona he wants Cole to be, hurts him. Plus, they still haven’t gotten past the issues with the fake laughing at not funny segments and how that hurts the segments greatly, not helps them.

On the list, at times Taz comes off as being way too cognizant of some of the TNA stupidity. But on the list, the two guys who were bad announcers were Booker T, who is no longer doing it and actually does a great job as General Manger, and The Miz, who is annoying and adds zero insight in his role as the wrestler commentator.

There was sure no sympathy for Jerry Lawler here.

Josh Matthews and Todd Keneley have similarities in that they both know all the holds, know the younger wrestlers, but aren’t very good at getting angles over. For Matthews, it doesn’t matter since JBL is the star announcer on the show, and Matthews’ role is basically to set up JBL, just as Mike Goldberg’s role is to set up Joe Rogan.

PREVIOUS WINNERS  - 1984 - Angelo Mosca; 1985 - Gorilla Monsoon; 1986 - David Crockett; 1987 - David Crockett; 1988 - David Crockett; 1989 - Ed Whalen; 1990 - Herb Abrams; 1991 - Gorilla Monsoon; 1992 - Gorilla Monsoon 1993 - Gorilla Monsoon; 1994 - Gorilla Monsoon; 1995 - Gorilla Monsoon; 1996 - Steve McMichael 1997 - Dusty Rhodes; 1998 - Lee Marshall; 1999 - Tony Schiavone; 2000 - Tony Schiavone; 2001 - Michael Cole; 2002 - Jerry Lawler; 2003 - Jonathan Coachman; 2004 - Todd Grisham; 2005 - Jonathan Coachman; 2006 - Todd Grisham; 2007 - Don West; 2008 - Mike Adamle; 2009 - Michael Cole; 2010 - Michael Cole; 2011 - Michael Cole

BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

1. NEW JAPAN KINGS OF PRO WRESTLING 10/8 TOKYO (425)2,618

2. WWE Extreme Rules 4/29 Chicago (118) 1,348

3. WWE WrestleMania 4/1 Miami (13) 1,033

4. New Japan Dominion 6/16 Osaka (23) 479

5. ROH Glory by Honor 10/13 Mississauga (38) 364

6. All Japan 3/20 Tokyo (2) 323

7. CMLL Anniversary show 9/14 Arena Mexico (29) 257

8. UFC 146 All Heavyweight show 5/26 Las Vegas (13) 213

9. WWE TLC 2011 12/18 Baltimore (17) 185

10. TNA Destination X 7/8 Orlando (2) 184

HONORABLE MENTION:  TNA Slammiversary 6/10 Arlington, TX 157, PWG 7/21 Reseda 112, UFC on FOX 4 8/4 Los Angeles 97, WWE Money in the Bank 7/15 Phoenix 75

New Japan hit a home run on its first international iPPV show. It ran away with show of the year honors in a fairly deep field. The nine-match show was headlined by the Match of the Year in Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki for the IWGP heavyweight title (*****), Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto for the IC title (***3/4), Kazuchika Okada vs. Karl Anderson for the Money in the Bank briefcase (****), Kazushi Sakuraba & Katsuyori Shibata vs. Togi Makabe & Wataru Inoue (***½), Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima for the IWGP tag titles(***½), Low Ki vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Jr. title (****1/4)and Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero vs. Alex Shelley & Kushida for the IWGP jr. tag titles (***½).

WWE Extreme Rules featured its own Match of the Year contender with Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena, plus C.M. Punk vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE title (***½), Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the world title (****) and Randy Orton vs. Kane (***).

The big matches at WrestleMania were Rock vs. Cena (***3/4), Punk vs. Jericho (***3/4) and Undertaker vs. HHH with Shawn Michaels as referee (****3/4).

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1989 - WCW Great American Bash 7/23 Baltimore; 1990 - WWF/New Japan/All Japan U.S. and Japan Wrestling Summit 4/11 Tokyo; 1991 - WCW Wrestle War 2/24 Phoenix; 1992 - All Japan Women Wrestlemarinpiad 4/25 Yokohama; 1993 - All Japan Women Dream Slam I 4/2 Yokohama; 1994 - New Japan Super J Cup 4/16 Tokyo; 1995 - Weekly Pro Wrestling Multi-Promotional show 4/2 Tokyo; 1996 - WAR Super J Cup Second Stage 12/13/95 Tokyo; 1997 - WWF Canadian Stampede 7/16 Calgary; 1998 - ECW Heat Wave 8/2 Dayton; 1999 - ECW Anarchy Rulz 9/19 Chicago; 2000 - EMLL first PPV 3/17 Arena Mexico; 2001 - WWF WrestleMania X-7 4/1 Houston Astrodome; 2002 - WWE SummerSlam 8/25 New York Nassau Coliseum; 2003 - Pride Final Elimination 11/9 Tokyo Dome; 2004 - Pro Wrestling NOAH 7/10 Tokyo Dome; 2005 - Pro Wrestling NOAH Destiny 7/18 Tokyo Dome; 2006 - Ring of Honor Glory By Honor V 9/16 Manhattan Center; 2007 - ROH Man Up 9/15 Chicago; 2008 - WWE WrestleMania 25 3/30 Orlando; 2009 - Dragon Gate USA Open the Historical Gate 7/25 Philadelphia; 2010 - UFC 116 7/3 Las Vegas; 2011 - WWE Money in the Bank 7/17 Chicago
"CATEGORY B" AWARDS - WINNER​
DETERMINED BY FIRST PLACE VOTES​
WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

1. UFC 149 7/21 CALGARY 214

2. Extreme Reunion 4/28 Philadelphia 113

3. WWE No Way Out 5/20 East Rutherford, NJ 94

4. TNA Against All Odds 2/12 Orlando 74

5. TNA Genesis 1/8 Orlando 39

6. WWE Royal Rumble 1/29 St. Louis 32

7. TNA Lockdown 4/15 Nashville 28

8. WWE Hell in a Cell 10/28 Atlanta 27

9. TNA No Surrender 9/9 Orlando 23

10. UFC on FX Maynard vs. Guida 6/22 Atlantic City 19

HONORABLE MENTION:  TNA Sacrifice 5/13 Orlando 18

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1989 - WrestleMania V 4/2 Atlantic City; 1990 - WCW Clash XII 11/20 Jacksonville; 1991 - WCW Great American Bash 7/14 Baltimore; 1992 - WCW Halloween Havoc 10/25 Philadelphia; 1993 - WCW Fall Brawl 9/19 Houston; 1994 - UWF Blackjack Brawl 9/25 Las Vegas; 1995 - WCW Uncensored 3/29 Tupelo; 1996 - WCW Uncensored 3/24 Tupelo; 1997 - WCW/NWO Souled Out 1/25 Cedar Rapids; 1998 - WCW Fall Brawl 9/13 Winston-Salem; 1999 - Heroes of Wrestling 10/10 Bay St. Louis; 2000 - WCW Halloween Havoc 10/29 Las Vegas; 2001 - WCW Unleashed 2/14 Los Angeles; 2002 - WWE King of the Ring 6/23 Columbus, OH; 2003 - WWE Backlash 4/27 Worcester; 2004 - WWE Great American Bash 7/27 Norfolk; 2005 - WWE Great American Bash 7/24 Buffalo; 2006 - UFC 61 7/8 Las Vegas; 2007 - WWE ECW December to Dismember 12/3/06 Augusta; 2008 - WWE Survivor Series 11/23 Boston; 2009 - TNA Victory Road 7/19 Orlando; 2010 - TNA Hardcore Justice 8/8 Orlando; 2011 - TNA Victory Road 3/13 Orlando

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

1. KAZUCHIKA OKADA RAINMAKER 201

2. Antonio Cesaro Neutralizer 92

3. Daniel Bryan Yes/No/LeBell lock 82

4. Antonio Cesaro versions of bolo forearm 64

5. Ricochet 630 30

6. Sonjay Dutt moonsault double foot stomp 29

7. Dragon Kid dragon rana 18

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1981 - Jimmy Snuka Superfly splash; 1982 - Super Destroyer (Scott Irwin) superplex; 1983 - Jimmy Snuka Superfly splash; 1984 - Davey Boy Smith power clean in combination with Dynamite Kid dropkick off the top rope; 1985 - Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa) tope con giro; 1986 - Chavo Guerrero Sr. moonsault block; 1987 - Jushin Liger shooting star press; 1988 - Jushin Liger shooting star press; 1989 - Scott Steiner Frankensteiner; 1990 - Scott Steiner Frankensteiner; 1991 - Masao Orihara moonsault off top rope to floor; 1992 - Too Cold Scorpio 450 splash; 1993 - Vader moonsault; 1994 - Great Sasuke Sasuke special; 1995 - Rey Misterio Jr. flip dive into Frankensteiner on floor; 1996 - Ultimo Dragon running Liger bomb; 1997 - Diamond Dallas Page diamond cutter; 1998 - Kenta Kobashi burning hammer; 1999 - Dragon Kid dragonrana; 2000 - Dragon Kid dragonrana; 2001 - Keiji Muto shining wizard; 2002 - Brock Lesnar F-5; 2003 - A.J. Styles clash; 2004 - Petey Williams Canadian Destroyer; 2005 - Petey Williams Canadian Destroyer; 2006 - KENTA Go 2 Sleep; 2007 - KENTA Go 2 Sleep; 2008 - Evan Bourne shooting star press; 2009 - Young Bucks More Bang for Your Buck; 2010 - Ricochet double rotation moonsault; 2011- Ricochet double rotation moonsault

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC

1. WWE’S PRESENTATION OF PAUL HEYMAN AND C.M. PUNK COMING IN DURING JERRY LAWLER’S RETURN, AIRING CLIPS OF HIM WHILE HE WAS DEAD AND BEING REVIVED, AND THE FAKE HEART ATTACK PROMO 493

2. Extreme Rising using Sabu’s overdose/passing out while advertising his return to the promotion 44

3. UFC’s handling of Jeremy Stephens’ arrest, trying to bail him out and still have him fight on the show while he was stuck in jail that afternoon 27

4. Linda McMahon’s senatorial campaign and how WWE handled it 19

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1981 - LeBelle promotions usage of The Monster claiming he was built in a laboratory; 1982 - Bob Backlund as WWF champion; 1983 - WWF pretending Eddie Gilbert had re-broken his neck after original legit injury in an auto accident; 1984 - Blackjack Mulligan fake heart attack by Championship Wrestling from Florida; 1985 - Usage of Mike Von Erich's near fatal illness to sell Cotton Bowl tickets by World Class; 1986 - Equating an angle of Chris Adams' blindness with the real death of Gino Hernandez; 1987 - World Class' handling of the death of Mike Von Erich; 1988 - Fritz Von Erich's fake brush with death; 1989 - Jose Gonzalez's babyface push by WWC; 1990 - Atsushi Onita stabbing angle with Jose Gonzalez; 1991 - WWF exploiting the Persian Gulf war; 1992 - WCW push of Erik Watts; 1993 - WCW Cactus Jack amnesia angle; 1994 - WCW retiring Ric Flair; 1995 - WCW Gene Okerlund 900 line come-ons and lies; 1996 - WWF teases and usage of fake Razor Ramon, Diesel and Double J; 1997 - WWF Melanie Pillman interview on Raw the day after Brian's death; 1998 - WCW exploiting Scott Hall's drinking problems for angles; 1999 - WWF continuing Over the Edge PPV after the death of Owen Hart; 2000 - WCW making David Arquette world champion; 2001 - Stephanie McMahon interview on 9/13 TV equating the bombing of the World Trade Center to her father's steroid trial; 2002 - WWE Katie Vick necrophilia angle; 2003 - McMahon family all over television; 2004 - Kane/Lita pregnancy/wedding/miscarriage angle; 2005 - WWE not editing off the show its terrorists angle the day of bombing in England; 2006 - WWE exploiting the death of Eddy Guerrero; 2007 - TNA signing Pacman Jones and having him do the Making it Rain on television when his doing that at a strip club led to the paralysis of a wrestler; 2008 - WWE teasing a Jeff Hardy drug overdose on the Internet to try and garner late interest in a PPV show; 2009 - WWE Piggy James angle making fun of Mickie James’ weight; 2010 - Stand up for WWE campaign; 2011 - WWE Anti-bullying message when they preach on television exactly what they don’t practice on television

READERS' FAVORITE WRESTLER PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - Ric Flair; 1985 - Ric Flair; 1986 - Ric Flair; 1987 - Ric Flair; 1988 - Ric Flair; 1989 - Ric Flair; 1990 - Ric Flair; 1991 - Ric Flair; 1992 - Ric Flair; 1993 - Ric Flair; 1994 - Sabu; 1995 - Manami Toyota; 1996 - Ric Flair; 1997 - Chris Benoit; 1998 - Mick Foley; 1999 - Chris Jericho; 2000 - Chris Benoit; 2001 - Keiji Muto; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Kurt Angle

READERS LEAST FAVORITE WRESTLER PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - Ivan Putski; 1985 - Hulk Hogan; 1986 - Hulk Hogan; 1987 - Dusty Rhodes; 1988 - Dusty Rhodes; 1989 - Ultimate Warrior; 1990 - Ultimate Warrior; 1991 - Hulk Hogan; 1992 - Erik Watts; 1993 - Sid Vicious; 1994 - Hulk Hogan; 1995 - Hulk Hogan; 1996 - Hulk Hogan; 1997 - Hulk Hogan; 1998 - Hulk Hogan; 1999 - Hulk Hogan; 2000 - Kevin Nash; 2001 - Undertaker; 2002 - HHH; 2003 - HHH

WORST WRESTLER PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - Ivan Putski; 1985 - Uncle Elmer (Stan Frazier); 1986 - Mike Von Erich; 1987 - Junkyard Dog; 1988 - Ultimate Warrior; 1989 - Andre the Giant; 1990 - Junkyard Dog; 1991 - Andre the Giant; 1992 - Andre the Giant; 1993 - Equalizer (Dave Sullivan); 1994 - Dave Sullivan; 1995 - Renegade (Rick Wilson); 1996 - Loch Ness (Giant Haystacks); 1997 - Hulk Hogan; 1998 - Warrior; 1999 - Kevin Nash; 2000 - Kevin Nash; 2001 - Big Show; 2002 - Big Show ; 2003 - Nathan Jones

WORST TAG TEAM PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke; 1985 - Uncle Elmer (Stan Frazier) & Cousin Junior (Lanny Kean); 1986 - Junkyard Dog & George Steele; 1987 - Jimmy Valiant & Bugsy McGraw; 1988 - Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov; 1989 - Warlord & Barbarian; 1990 - Giant Baba & Andre the Giant; 1991 - Giant Baba & Andre the Giant; 1992 - Bushwhackers; 1993 - Colossal Kongs; 1994 - Bushwhackers; 1995 - **** Slater & Bunkhouse Buck (Jimmy Golden); 1996 - Godwinns; 1997 - Godwinns; 1998 - Kurrgan & Golga (John Tenta); 1999 - Mideon & Viscera; 2000 - Kronik; 2001 - Kronik; 2002 - Rosey & Jamal; 2003 - Rene Dupree & Sylvan Grenier

WORST TELEVISION SHOW

1. WWE RAW 319

2. TNA Impact 199

3. Ultimate Fighter: Nelson vs. Carwin 81

4. WWE Smackdown 71

5. Ring of Honor 41

6. CMLL 17

7. Championship Wrestling from Hollywood 16

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - WWF All-Star Wrestling; 1985 - Championship Wrestling from Florida; 1986 - California Championship Wrestling; 1987 - World Class Championship Wrestling; 1988 - AWA on ESPN; 1989 - ICW Wrestling; 1990 - AWA on ESPN; 1991 - Herb Abrams' UWF; 1992 - Global Wrestling Federation on ESPN; 1993 - Global Wrestling Federation on ESPN; 1994 - WCW Saturday Night; 1995 - WCW Saturday Night; 1996 - AWF Warriors of Wrestling; 1997 - USWA; 1998 - WCW Nitro; 1999 - WCW Thunder; 2000 - WCW Thunder; 2001 - WWF Excess; 2002 - WWE Raw; 2003 - WWE Raw; 2004 - WWE Smackdown; 2005 - WWE Smackdown; 2006 - WWE Raw; 2007 - TNA Impact; 2008 - TNA Impact; 2009 - TNA Impact; 2010 - TNA Impact; 2011 - TNA Impact

WORST NON-WRESTLING PERSONALITY PREVIOUS WINNERS:  2000 - Vince Russo; 2001 - Stephanie McMahon; 2002 - Stephanie McMahon; 2003 - Stephanie McMahon

WORST MANAGER PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - Mr. Fuji; 1985 - Mr. Fuji; 1986 - Paul Jones; 1987 - Mr. Fuji; 1988 - Mr. Fuji; 1989 - Mr. Fuji; 1990 - Mr. Fuji; 1991 - Mr. Fuji; 1992 - Mr. Fuji; 1993 - Mr. Fuji; 1994 - Mr. Fuji; 1995 - Mr. Fuji; 1996 - Sonny Onoo; 1997 - Sonny Onoo; 1998 - Sonny Onoo; 1999 - Sonny Onoo

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. JOHN CENA VS. JOHN LAURINAITIS 5/20 RALEIGH 151

2. Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez 6/17 E Rutherford 78

3. Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard 6/22 Atlantic City 48

4. John Cena vs. Kane 1/29 St. Louis 38

Gunner vs. Kris Lewis 8/23 Orlando 38

6. Divas Battle Royal 8/20 Fresno 29

7. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan 4/1 Miami 28

8. Brodus Clay vs. David Otunga 6/17 East Rutherford 25

9. Gunner vs. Garett Bischoff 2/12 Orlando 21

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - Fabulous Moolah vs. Wendi Richter 7/23 New York Madison Square Garden; 1985 - Fred Blassie vs. Lou Albano Nassau Coliseum; 1986 - Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T 4/2 Nassau Coliseum; 1987 - Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant 3/29 Pontiac; 1988 - Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tom Magee 4/21 Kawasaki; 1989 - Andre the Giant vs. Ultimate Warrior 10/31 Topeka; 1990 - Sid Vicious vs. Night Stalker (Bryan Clark) 11/20 Jacksonville; 1991 - P.N. News & Bobby Eaton vs. Terry Taylor & Steve Austin scaffold match 7/14 -Baltimore; 1992 - Rick Rude vs. Masahiro Chono 10/25 Philadelphia; 1993 - Four Doinks (Bushwhackers & Men on a Mission) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Head Shrinkers & Bastion Booger (Mike Shaw); 1994 - Jerry Lawler & Queasy & Sleazy & Cheesy vs. Doink the Clown & Dink & Wink & Pink 11/23 San Antonio; 1995 - Sting vs. Tony Palmore 1/4 Tokyo Dome; 1996 - Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Meng & Barbarian & Kevin Sullivan & Ze Gangsta (Tiny Lister) & Ultimate Solution (Jeep Swenson) & Lex Luger 3/24 Tupelo; 1997 - Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper 10/26 Las Vegas; 1998 - Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior 10/24 Las Vegas; 1999 - Al Snow vs. Big Bossman Kennel from Hell 9/26 Charlotte; 2000 - Pat Patterson vs. Gerald Brisco evening gown match 6/25 Boston; 2001 - Undertaker & Kane vs. Kronik (Brian Adams & Bryan Clark) 9/23 Pittsburgh; 2002 - Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs. Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda 7/8 Philadelphia; 2003 - HHH vs. Scott Steiner 1/19 Boston; 2004 - Steven Richards vs. Tyson Tomko 9/12 Portland; 2005 - Eric Bischoff vs. Teddy Long 11/27 Detroit; 2006 - TNA Reverse Battle Royal 10/24 Orlando; 2007 - Chris Harris vs. James Storm 4/15 St. Charles, MO blindfold match; 2008 - HHH vs. Edge vs. Vladimir Kozlov 11/23 Boston; 2009 - Sharmell vs. Jenna Morasca 7/19 Orlando; 2010 - Kaitlyn vs. Maxine 10/19 Edmonton; 2011 - Sting vs. Jeff Hardy 3/13 Orlando

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

1. JOHN CENA VS. KANE 253

2. TNA vs. Aces and 8s 192

3. John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis 65

4. Kane vs. Zack Ryder 43

5. Vickie Guerrero vs. A.J. Lee 41

6. A.J. Styles vs. Claire Lynch 19

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1984 - Andre the Giant vs. John Studd; 1985 - Sgt. Slaughter vs. Boris Zhukov; 1986 - Machines (Andre the Giant & Bill Eadie) vs. King Kong Bundy & John Studd; 1987 - George Steele vs. Danny Davis; 1988 - Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes) vs. Tully Blanchard; 1989 - Andre the Giant vs. Ultimate Warrior; 1990 - Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog; 1991 - Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter; 1992 - Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango; 1993 - Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez; 1994 - Jerry Lawler vs. Doink the Clown; 1995 - Hulk Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom; 1996 - Big Bossman vs. John Tenta; 1997 - DOA vs. Los Boricuas; 1998 - Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior; 1999 - Big Bossman vs. Big Show; 2000 - Hulk Hogan vs. Billy Kidman; 2001 - WWF vs. The Alliance; 2002 - HHH vs. Kane; 2003 - Shane McMahon vs. Kane; 2004 - Kane vs. Lita & Matt Hardy; 2005 - McMahon Family vs. Jim Ross; 2006 - DX vs. McMahons; 2007 - Kane vs. Big Daddy V; 2008 - Rey Mysterio vs. Kane; 2009 - Chavo Guerrero vs. Hornswoggle; 2010 - Edge vs. Kane; 2011 - HHH vs. Kevin Nash

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION 269

2. Ring of Honor 202

3. World Wrestling Entertainment 80

4. Pro Wrestling NOAH 72

5. Extreme Rising 65

6. Strikeforce 56

7. Bellator 44

8. Inoki Genome Federation 32

9. Championship Wrestling from Hollywood 18

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1986 - AWA; 1987 - World Class Championship Wrestling; 1988 - AWA; 1989 - AWA; 1990 - AWA; 1991 - Herb Abrams UWF; 1992 - Global Wrestling Federation; 1993 - WCW; 1994 - WCW; 1995 - WCW; 1996 - AWF; 1997 - USWA; 1998 - WCW; 1999 - WCW; 2000 - WCW; 2001 - WCW; 2002 - XPW; 2003 - World Japan; 2004 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 2005 - New Japan Pro Wrestling; 2006 - World Wrestling Entertainment; 2007 - Total Nonstop Action; 2008 - Total Nonstop Action; 2009 - Total Nonstop Action; 2010 - Total Nonstop Action; 2011 - Total Nonstop Action

BEST BOOKER

1. GEDO & JADO 592

2. Joe Silva 154

3. Mike Quackenbush 58

4. Vince McMahon 20

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1986 - Dusty Rhodes; 1987 - Vince McMahon; 1988 - Eddie Gilbert; 1989 - Shohei Baba; 1990 - Shohei Baba; 1991 - Shohei Baba; 1992 - Riki Choshu; 1993 - Jim Cornette; 1994 - Paul Heyman; 1995 - Paul Heyman; 1996 - Paul Heyman; 1997 - Paul Heyman; 1998 - Vince McMahon; 1999 - Vince McMahon; 2000 - Vince McMahon; 2001 - Jim Cornette; 2002 - Paul Heyman; 2003 - Jim Cornette; 2004 - Gabe Sapolsky; 2005 - Gabe Sapolsky; 2006 - Gabe Sapolsky; 2007 - Gabe Sapolsky; 2008 - Joe Silva; 2009 - Joe Silva; 2010 - Joe Silva; 2011 - Gedo & Jado

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

1. DANA WHITE 379

2. Takaaki Kidani 289

3. Vince McMahon 171

4. Mike Quackenbush 59

PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1988 - Vince McMahon; 1989 - Akira Maeda; 1990 - Shohei Baba; 1991 - Shohei Baba; 1992 - Shohei Baba; 1993 - Shohei Baba; 1994 - Shohei Baba; 1995 - Riki Choshu; 1996 - Riki Choshu; 1997 - Riki Choshu; 1998 - Vince McMahon; 1999 - Vince McMahon; 2000 - Vince McMahon; 2001 - Antonio Inoki; 2002 - Kazuyoshi Ishii; 2003 - Nobuyuki Sakakibara; 2004 - Nobuyuki Sakakibara; 2005 - Dana White; 2006 - Dana White; 2007 - Dana White; 2008 - Dana White; 2009 - Dana White; 2010 - Dana White; 2011 - Dana White

BEST GIMMICK

1. JOSEPH PARK 154

2. Damien Sandow Savior of the Masses 147

3. Daniel Bryan Yes/No 111

4. Kazuchika Okada Rainmaker 97

5. C.M. Punk all year as champion 58

5. Ryback 53

6. Team Hell No 26

7. Antonio Cesaro 21

8. Bray Wyatt 19

9. Bully Ray 17

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1986 - Exotic Adrian Street; 1987 - Ted DiBiase Million Dollar Man; 1988 - Rick Steiner Varsity Club; 1989 - Jushin Liger; 1990 - The Undertaker; 1991 - The Undertaker; 1992 - The Undertaker; 1993 - The Undertaker; 1994 - The Undertaker; 1995 - Disco Inferno; 1996 - NWO; 1997 - Stone Cold Steve Austin; 1998 - Stone Cold Steve Austin; 1999 - The Rock; 2000 - Kurt Angle; 2001 - Hurricane; 2002 - Mattitude; 2003 - John Cena as a rapper; 2004 - JBL; 2005 - Mr. Kennedy; 2006 - Latin American Exchange; 2007 - Santino Marella; 2008 - Santino Marella; 2009 - C.M. Punk Straight Edge Society; 2010 - Alberto Del Rio; 2011 - C.M. Punk

WORST GIMMICK

1. ACES AND 8S 163

2. Tensai 148

3. Natalya farting 92

4. Claire Lynch 90

5. Brodus Clay 48

6. The Miz 27

7. A.J. as General Manager 21

8. Joseph Park 18

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1986 - Adorable Adrian Adonis; 1987 - Adorable Adrian Adonis; 1988 - Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes); 1989 - Ding Dongs; 1990 - Gobbledy ****er; 1991 - Oz (Kevin Nash); 1992 - Papa Shango; 1993 - Shock Master (Fred Ottman); 1994 - Dave Sullivan; 1995 - Goldust; 1996 - New Razor Ramon, New Diesel and New Double J; 1997 - New Goldust; 1998 - Oddities; 1999 - Powers that Be; 2000 - Mike Awesome That 70s Guy; 2001 - Diamond Dallas Page Bob Patterson gimmick; 2002 - Richard & Rod Johnson as giant penises; 2003 - Rico; 2004 - Mordecai; 2005 - Jillian Hall as Mole Girl; 2006 - Vito as the toughest guy in a dress; 2007 - Black Reign; 2008 - Great Khali kiss cam; 2009 - Hornswoggle; 2010 - Orlando Jordan; 2011 - Michael Cole heel announcer

MOST EMBARRASSING WRESTLER PREVIOUS WINNERS:  1986 - Adrian Adonis; 1987 - George Steele; 1988 - George Steele; 1989 - Andre the Giant; 1990 - Dusty Rhodes; 1991 - Van Hammer; 1992 - Papa Shango; 1993 - Bastion Booger; 1994 - Doink the Clown; 1995 - Hulk Hogan; 1996 - Hulk Hogan; 1997 - New Goldust; 1998 - Hulk Hogan; 1999 - Hulk Hogan; 2000 - Hulk Hogan; 2001 - Buff Bagwell; 2002 - Big Show; 2003 - Nathan Jones

BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK

1. SHOOTERS BY JONATHAN SNOWDEN 137

2. Heroes and Icons by Oliver/Johnson/Mooneyham 72

3. From Prison to Promise by Booker T 49

4. Storm Front by Lance Storm 23

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  2005 - Death of WCW by Bryan Alvarez and R.D. Reynolds; 2006 - Tangled Ropes by Superstar Billy Graham and Keith Greenberg; 2007 - Hitman by Bret Hart and Marcy Engelstein; 2008 - Gorgeous George by John Capouya; 2009 - Midnight Express 25th Anniversary Scrapbook by Jim Cornette; 2010 - Countdown to Lockdown by Mick Foley; 2011 - Undisputed by Chris Jericho

BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD

1. C.M. PUNK BEST IN THE WORLD 548

2. Last of McGuinness 21

3. Such Great Heights: The Jon Fitch Story 19

PREVIOUS WINNERS:  2005 - Rise and Fall of ECW; 2006 - The Bret Hart Story; 2007 - Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen; 2008 - Ric Flair Definitive Collection; 2009 - Macho Madness; 2010 - Chris Jericho Breaking the Code; 2011 - Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
 
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Both surveys done.

Man the Royal Rumble one was tough.

I have Rock winning the WWE title, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Punk retains.

Don't know if anyone is going to pick correctly the entrant # for the eventual Royal Rumble winner.
 
Club, PM me the Rumble card. I'll be working on that tomorrow morning. I have iMovie now..so reading text shouldn't be an issue. **** me..always working.
 
Did anyone else pick Ziggler at the #1 spot to win the Rumble.. match.. this year?



*edit* DAMN, it's been a whole year since I let Peep take my title. :(
 
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From the looks of the roster, it seems there's gonna be a good amount of high flying spots and near eliminations which is always fun.

And next time please don't spoil the surprise entrants, thats the best part.
 
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