A little late, but better late then never. Here are the Ruthless Roundtable’s 2011 Year End Wrestling Awards!
We actually have a huge panel of people giving their picks for 2011’s wrestling awards.
In my opinion this was a hot and cold year, from the lukewarm beginning to the fiery hot summer to the cold end, with some sprinkles of hope with Punk, Bryan and Ryder as our new champions; along with Rhodes, Kingston & Bourne, Beth Phoenix. All of these fresh faces at the top makes most of us feel good about the future of professional wrestling.
Anyway, here are the generic topics that most of us will be talking about; same as last year:
Match of the Year:
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:
Feud of the Year:
Worst Feud of the Year:
Tag Team of the Year:
Most Improved:
Rookie of the Year:
Most Overrated:
Most Underrated:
Best Gimmick:
Worst Gimmick:
Best Babyface:
Best Heel:
Worst Tag Team:
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:
Best Return:
Some of our panel (myself (Cos), Mother Brain, Ato, Chosen 1, Smark Central, JJJ, and Justice added their own to this list. Also, it is quite refreshing seeing that this list doesn’t just have WWE on it, but TNA/Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor. I am happy to admit that it feels good to see more than just WWE on this list.
Let us know what you think and if you agree or disagree. Leave your 2011 Year End Wrestling Awards below!
Cos’ Year End Wrestling Awards
Match of the Year: CM Punk vs John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank
This one was obvious from the build to the match to the fact that, Punk, not only won the match but walked out of the WWE afterward. We all cheered when he hit the Go To Sleep on Cena, won and then literally walked out of the arena.
I will say, I’ve always felt as if they should have allowed Punk to have wandered around with the WWE Championship for a little bit longer than 3 weeks. They should have allowed Rey Mysterio (even though I’m not a fan of his) to have had a much lengthier reign then an hour! They could have built up SummerSlam around the fact that Cena and Mysterio have never faced each other and then have Punk come out at the very end. That would have gotten a lot of people talking about watching Raw the next night.
But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. And I for one still think Punk vs Cena and Money in the Bank was the match of the year.
Runner Up: John Morrison vs The Miz for the WWE Championship on the first Raw of 2011
Most Outstanding Wrestler: CM Punk
Punk did a complete 180 from being the leader of the failed New Nexus to the Agent of Change from this past summer. I for one think that he is the face of the company as it stands right now and they need to let him ride for a bit.
He needs to be built up big time. And I for one will back him up 100%. I still want his t-shirt!
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler: Beth Phoenix
If Kharma had remained, this probably would have been her. Women’s wrestling has being sorely lacking in both WWE and TNA/Impact Wrestling. Beth Phoenix is the stand out of the year.
Feud of the Year: Summer of Punk (CM Punk vs John Cena/WWE/Triple H/Kevin Nash)
I can’t, 100% , say that Punk vs Cena was the feud of the year. But anything involving Punk has been entertaining. Which is why I added all of the above to the “Summer of Punk†(also known as, Summer of Punk 2—part 1 took place in Ring of Honor). I would have even enjoyed seeing Nash vs Punk at Night of Champions…
Worst Feud of the Year: Fall of “H†(Triple H vs CM Punk/WWE/John Laurenitis/Kevin Nash)
I figured if the summer feud was called “Summer of Punk†then right around when Triple H carjacked the entire thing became what I call the “Fall of Hâ€. Triple H took what was the most interesting and compelling storyline with CM Punk and spearheaded it into a ladder match with Kevin Nash.
We no longer hear about any conspiracies. Triple H no longer wants to fight John Laurinaitis. No one is even questioning who Laurinaitis is texting. The appeal was completely gone!
Tag Team of the Year: Awesome Truth
The Tag Team division started out with a decent little resurgence and then came Awesome Truth, which I assumed would have gone on longer had R-Truth not been busted for a wellness violation. But in the few months that they a team they were fantastic!
Probably the best make-shift tag team in a long time in the WWE. I had actually wanted to do a Roundtable about the best make-shift tag teams around the time that Awesome Truth broke up. Didn’t pan out, it was at the wrong time I guess, holiday season. But I’ll post my top five right here; mind you, I’ve been a fan of wrestling since late 1998, so this is my list. I’m sure there are a bunch of people that would disagree. But, again, my blog, my opinion.
This list does not include Awesome Truth, but was inspired by them:
- Rock and Sock Connection-The Rock and Mankind
- Rated RKO- Edge and Randy Orton
- Kane and X-pac
- The Two Man Power Trip- Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H
- Jerishow- Chris Jericho and The Big Show
Let me know what your favorite makeshift tag team.
Also, I can only hope for a revival of Awesome Truth sometime in 2012.
Most Improved: Wade Barrett
At the end of 2010, Wade Barrett was on the beating side of a tables match with John Cena. He would be banished to Raw where he would put together the group known as The Corre (that’s right, with two “R’s†) which ended up failing big time. And we all figured that was it with Barrett. Then came the Barrett Barrage, and he has been tearing it up on Smackdown ever since. I see big things for Barrett in the new year.
Rookie of the Year: Zack Ryder
Zack Ryder stands out to me this year because he started the year off with nothing and ended up becoming the United States Champion simply by sheer perseverance. He created a youtube show that has garnered a lot of followers, so much so that for months people would chant for Zack Ryder at WWE shows.
Maybe Rookie of the Year is a bit harsh for someone who has been wrestling for years, but this is his breakout year and for that I give him the title Rookie of the Year.
Most Overrated: Alberto Del Rio
Last year I was very high on Alberto Del Rio. I thought that after weeks of video packages about him, he was going to fall flat on his face, like Kizarny; or any other video packaged superstar. He ended up being entertaining. But this year has been a lot of misses for Del Rio. He won the Royal Rumble only to lose at Wrestlemania in what would become Edge’s final match and he would win the Money in the Bank ladder match and cash in on CM Punk at SummerSlam, only to lose the Championship a month later to Cena. He would win it back at Hell in a Cell only to lose it to Punk at Survivor Series. For all the wins he has had in what should be a great year, Del Rio has been very bland. What appealed to me at first, his old school style bad guy feel, I’ve grown weary of and now I’m simply bored by his Mexican JBL type of character.
Come to think of it, I would love to see what John “Bradshaw†Layfield would do in a (dream) match against Alberto Del Rio. Book it!
Most Underrated: Daniel Bryan
I feel as if the WWE needs to back up who they place as champion in order for the audience to be able to back them up. They haven’t been doing that with Daniel Bryan. He needs to get the type of treatment that every other champion that was worthy of holding a world championship has earned. He’s made it to the top and they need to give him a good reign.
Best Gimmick: Cody Rhodes
Here is someone who has had three different character changes or evolutions in the past year. He went from being Dashing to the slow talking, masked Cody Rhodes to now being a combination of the two of them. He has become a very entertaining character. One I can see becoming a world champion this year.
If you would have told me that during the time in Legacy, that Cody Rhodes would be the one to come out with a better gimmick then Ted DiBiasi I would have laughed at you.
Worst Gimmick: Ezekiel Jackson
Runner up: Mason Ryan
Best Babyface: Alex Riley
While he was still being pushed. They could have totally made a new superstar out of him.
Best Heel: Â R-Truth
If you had told me that R-Truth would have made himself entertaining a year ago, I would have laughed in your face. With the exception of the fact that he has returned and he is now a baby face, I enjoyed watching Truth as a heel. Especially when he was paired up with The Miz.
Runner up: Mark Henry I know, not the person to put on here, I’ve never spoken highly of Mark Henry, but I’ve always thought he could be (and should only be) a heel. This was his year to shine. They gave him a “Kane” reign with the World Heavyweight Championship. Let’s see what happens from here.
Worst Tag Team: David Otunga and Michael McGullicutty
Seriously, these two were tag team champions from May 23rd to August 22nd. No wonder no one really cares about tag team wrestling. If there was ever a time where the championships were put on someone just so they could disappear, it was while they were on these two.
Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Sin Cara
I wanted to really like Sin Cara, but I spent most of my time watching it, cringing that he wouldn’t botch his next move. I was at Surivivor Series at The Garden when he did his move that would ultimately put him out of action for the remainder of the year and so far we don’t know if he’ll ever come back.
Runner up: Crimson from TNA/Impact Wrestling
Best Return: The Rock
Seriously, this thing had a lot of people talking. Even a friend of mine who is not a wrestling fan was asking me about it when The Rock returned.
Mother Brain’s 2011 Wrestling Awards
By Mother Brain
Match of the Year: John Cena vs. CM Punk for WWE Championship @ Money in the Bank
While the early part of the year was driven by the announcement of Cena vs. Rock match for Wrestlemania 28, no one could imagine that the most talked about matchup would take place on a 2nd tier PPV. The title match between Cena and Punk was originally part of Cena’s cliched runs with monster heel superstars and Punk was on his way out from the company. But the historic shoot-style promo which took place a few weeks before the event helped to make to most realistic wrestling story angle in years. As for the match itself, it truly did feel controversial with Punk having the hometown advantage over Cena and the suspense hanging around our heads as to whether or not Punk would truly leave WWE with the championship. Also to give credit, it was without a doubt one of Cena’s better in-ring performances.
Most Outstanding Wrestler: CM Punk
I can’t say much that I’ve already said. Punk made wrestling relevant again and brought a new edge to a stale product. Although many will argue he’s regressed as a character since that time, he’s still the man who can run with the ball no matter what he’s handed to him (i.e. Straight Edge Society, New Nexus, NXT commentator, etc).
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler: Beth Phoenix
Had the year gone differently, this award would have belonged to Kharma. But impending motherhood put her out of action. So I’ll have to go with Beth on default since the rest of the Divas division (except Natalya) is crap.
Feud of the Year: John Cena vs. CM Punk
It was truly Superman vs. Batman. Nuff said.
Worst Feud of the Year: Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
This had the potential to work… in 2003. Let’s face it folks. This feud was born out of a conspiracy angle with no structure and went absolutely nowhere. It was inconsistent due to Nash’s sporadic appearances on television. By the time the match went down at TLC, I completely forgot the match was even booked. Nash is as done as his quads and the Game is an office manager.
Tag Team of the Year: Air Boom
There was some brief hope of the tag team division making a comeback in 2011. It didn’t exactly return to the glory days but it was a little bit better than the last couple of years and it only makes sense that the team with the longer title reign this year should get this award.
Most Improved: Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler had always been talented. Problem was he couldn’t generate a crowd reaction. Pairing him with Vickie Gurrerro helped out a lot; however, Ziggler proved how much of a beast he can be not only in the ring but also on the mic this year. He’s now more like Mr. Perfect than Mr. Perfect’s own son. I guarantee he’ll be a main eventer in 2012.
Rookie of the Year: Kharma
Her stint on TV was short as I mentioned above. But there really were not that many rookies who made a big impact in wrestling period. The fact is Kharma was built up the right way with the old school video packages and she got over from the very moment she stepped into a WWE ring to squash multiple divas. I hope her character doesn’t get butchered when she returns.
Most Overrated: Randy Orton
I’ve always said Orton worked best as a heel. To be honest, I have a hard time seeing why people like him outside of his rKo finisher. He’s had uninteresting feuds with CM Punk and Wade Barrett, won the World Heavyweight Championship as soon as he got drafted to Smackdown, and he’s still dull on the mic. Don’t even get me started with his issues regarding the Spanish announce table.
Most Underrated: Cody Rhodes
I’d put him in a tie with Dolph Ziggler for most improved. Here’s a guy who toned down his Rick Rude-like gimmick to become more of a disturbing menace. On top of that, he made the Intercontinental Title important again by bringing the old generation era belt back. He’s another superstar ready for a main event push in 2012.
Best Gimmick: Zack Ryder
The fact that WWE never took advantage of his Jersey Shore-like image is beyond me. Ryder got himself over like CM Punk: WITHOUT CREATIVE’S IMPUT. He took it to the public via Twitter and YouTube, causing his fan-base to grow in a matter of months. Today, it has paid off with a US Title run.
Worst Gimmick: The New Nexus
The old Nexus with Wade Barrett crashed and burned by the end of 2010. Then WWE decided to revive it with CM Punk as the leader and splitting the group with Wade Barrett’s The Corre on Smackdown. The whole revival was pointless and didn’t help anyone’s career. It also lacked the initial impact of Nexus’ debut the previous summer and died very quietly when Punk turned babyface.
Best Babyface: Daniel Bryan
I couldn’t name anyone else who was equally hated (Cena) or sort of a tweener (Punk). So I had to go with the guy who I truly believe is the company underdog. For someone who had to defy the obstacles of losing countless matches and condescending comments from Michael Cole, Daniel Bryan is the ultimate babyface. Now can he step up his game in the new year as World Heavyweight Champion?
Best Heel: John Lauranitis
Road Warrior Animal’s skateboard riding, mullet haired brother calls the shots and we all despise him. Period.
Worst Tag Team: David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty
……..
Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Sin Cara
A perfect example of something promising that doesn’t live up to the hype. He a walking botchamania moment with big merchandise sales and that’s it. Blue lights? Sin Cara Negro? Big injuries sustained at 2 PPVs this year? I couldn’t trust this guy if he was mowing my lawn.
Best Return: The Rock
So what if Cena complains about him leaving and returning? It’s the Rock. He has very little left to prove to a mediocre roster in a stale product. Like Punk, Rocky made wrestling interesting again. Who gets the mainstream talking about Wrestlemania more? Exactly my point.
Ato’s year end awards:
Match of the Year:
Cena vs. Punk at MITB
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
CM Punk
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:
Beth Phoenix
Feud of the Year:
WWE Management vs. CM Punk (does that work)
Worst Feud of the Year:
Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole
Most Unnecessary Feud of the Year:
Kevin Nash vs. Triple H
Tag Team of the Year:
Awesome Truth
Most Improved:
R Truth (character wise)
Rookie of the Year:
Nobody
Most Overrated:
John Cena or Triple H (close tie)
Most Underrated:
Satino Marella (they need to stop making him a joke character)
Best Gimmick:
Zack Ryder
Worst Gimmick:
Michael Cole being knighted by the Queen
Best Babyface:
Satino Marella (sure why not)
Best Heel:
Michael Cole
Worst Tag Team:
The Rock and John Cena (it just should never happen, period)
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:
Sin Cara
Best Return:
The Rock
Worst Return:
TIE:
Triple H right after the Undertaker made his return on Raw
Kevin Nash returns (not the Royal Rumble return)
Chosen 1’s Year End Awards:
Match of the Year:
John Cena vs. CM punk Money in the bank Punks lead up to this match was some of the greatest mic work ever and the fact that he took out Super Cena to walk out of his home town with championship and “away” from the WWE was a classic moment in sports entertainment history. The match itself was great and one that didn’t disappoint. I don’t think anybody truly believed Punk would leave the WWE but the fact that Vince allowed him to beat Super Cena and have the opportunity to walk out was classic
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
CM PUNK- The guy just has the whole package. Great mic skills tremendous in ring ability will make anybody look 10 times better then they actually are. And anybody who raises the chances to bring back the WWE Ice cream bars has to shoot strait to the top
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:
Mickie James – A lot of people are going to go strait to Beth Pheonix here but I feel that Mickie did everything the WWE ever asked her to do and then took her talents to Orlando. With a more respected division of female fighters in TNA she still continues to bring it every match. She proves the grass isn’t always greener in the WWE.
Feud of the Year:
Christian vs. Randy Orton these 2 had some of the greatest matches of the year in a feud that lasted the better part of Christian’s 2011. I feel over the last year Randy has grown so incredibly much and I have to think a part of that is thanks to Christian.
Worst Feud of the Year: Big Show vs. Mark Henry – There was absolutely nothing positive I can say about this feud.
Tag Team of the Year:
Awesome Truth- Miz is an absolute beast in this business. He was able to elevate R-truth to a much higher level then I think he deserves to be. But these two had some great tag matches and worked real well with each other on the mic. I have to believe that if Truth doesn’t get suspended they would have carried it strait through next year.
Most Improved:
Cody Rhodes- I really feel that Cody has improved leaps and bounds from his days as the member of Legacy everybody thought was lease likely to succeed. I am looking for him to hit the main event in 2012 for the better part of the year.
Rookie of the Year:
Crimson – Hasn’t lost a match in 2011 came into TNA billed as Amazing Red’s younger brother he blew right past that angle and was a serious power house beating opponent after opponent. He feuded with the likes of Abyss, Samoa Joe, and Kurt Angle. He had a commanding lead in TNA’s Bound for Glory Tourney before being “injured” at the hands of Samoa Joe.
Most Overrated:
John Cena- Even he I believe is starting to lose the hype of himself. Despite being the voice of the WWE (makes all the “major” announcements) during house shows and such he agreed to the WWE to start selling Cena Sucks shirts. We can all just hope that the shelf-life on Super Cena is running out.
Most Underrated:
Michael McGillicutty – One of the top standouts from NXT but not being used at all. He is a great wrestler and with a little practice on the mic could be just as “Perfect” as his dad.
Best Gimmick:
Kharma – They built her up great I was really interested in seeing what her deal was. She should be back soon and hope they can reboot her character.
Worst Gimmick:
good sin cara vs. evil sin cara- not only a stupid gimmick but it didnt make any sense. The WWE was down on Sin Cara after bringing him in. He botched entrances botched spots suspensions, he was a train wreck so lets bring in another one and have them battle it out to see who the real Sin Cara is… AWFUL
Best Babyface:
Zack Ryder- nobody else in professional wrestling has ever shown his ability to use social media to bring their career to a new highs. He used his fan status to make his character and it has brought him into a new light.
Best Heel:
Christian – He had the best turn of the year. We have seen Christian on both sides many times, but he is such a better heel. He is able to raise the bar every match and will say whatever he has to say to make his character work.
Worst Tag Team:
The Uso’s- Its not even their fault. The WWE takes one of their only teams that consists of an actual team and not two singles wrestlers they just threw together and have them job out of their minds and to do it after such a “bad-ass” war dance…
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:
Sin Cara – Huge disappointment. He was built up so much and then sucked in the ring sucked out of the ring then gets suspended then sucks again then finishes the year out of wrestling with a dislocated knee.
Best Return:
The best return of the year was the Rock followed closely by CM Punk as “The best in the world”. But you gotta give the nod to the Rock. It still makes your spine tingle when its quiet and you start hearing the fans cheer Rocky Rocky Rocky Rocky and then you there it “DO YOU SMELLLLLLL WHAT THE ROCK ….. IS COOKING”
Smark Central’s Year End Awards:
Match of the Year: CM Punk Vs John Cena – MITB
I know there were probably a few matches that were more technically sound, but the excitement, atmosphere, and intrigue of this match blew all the others completely away. We may not get excited about a single match like this again for awhile.
Most Outstanding Wrestler: CM Punk
As if it could be anyone else. Punk broke out this year with his outstanding shoot promo and hasn’t looked back since.
All Hail the new King
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler: Beth Phoenix
She is just amazing. Her and Nataylia continue to carry the weak women’s division on their (very broad) shoulders. It’s just such a shame that despite being the champion she still has to job to the likes of Kelly Kelly and Eve on a weekly basis. Hopefully better things are in store for 2012. A feud with Awesome Kong would probably help.
Feud of the Year: Randy Orton Vs Christian
I was thinking about Punk-Cena, but based on the overall body of work, I thought this one was just a hair better. This feud really lead the way on Smackdown with two pros going at it every week and it rarely disappointed.
Worst Feud of the Year: HHH Vs Kevin Nash
Really WWE? Really? This was the best you could do? A feud between two guys whose combined age is 91? Or is it just another grim sign of how things will run with HHH in charge? I didn’t want to see this feud in 2003, I certainly want nothing to do with it now.
Tag Team of the Year: Awesome Truth
No, they didn’t win the tag titles, they won like one match on RAW(I think), and they were “fired†for a month and YET they were STILL the best team this year. I try not to put too much stock in somebody’s “entertainment valueâ€, but these guys just made for a lot of fun TV. With the exception of their rapping, this team was just plain AWWWWSOOOME!
Most Improved: Zack Ryder
Maybe Ryder didn’t improve much in the ring, but certainly his standing in the company improved dramatically thanks to his youtube show: Z! True Long Island story. I’ve never seen someone go from the brink of a pink slip to U.S. champion in such a short period of time. The Ryder revolution is in full swing and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon.
Rookie of the Year: No one from NXT and no one who came up to the main rosters really showed me anything either so this one’s a wash for 2011.
Most Overrated: Sin Cara
This guy bombed in a hurry. WWE hasn’t has a flop this big in awhile. They rush down to Mexico to sign this guy, he comes to the main roster right away, botches every match he has (thus giving Botchamania another star), within a few months he gets busted for a wellness violation, comes back and has a terrible Good Sin Cara Vs Evil Sin Cara feud, then gets injured and is out for 6 months. In fact, that may be the WORST flop WWE has ever had. It’s going to be tough for anyone (past or present) to top.
and somehow it gets worse
“EEK, A PENIS!â€
Most Underrated: Tyson Kidd
This kid would be the perfect centerpiece for any cruiserweight division. Unfortunately, WWE doesn’t have one. They just have a bunch of small guys with nothing to do except wallow on Superstars which is only shown on WWE.com. Doesn’t get any more underrated than Superstars folks. I know Vince is a size queen, but this guy is too good a hand to be relegated to a show that only gets like 30,000 views a week. I think if he could get a little exposure and some mic time, he could have some great feuds and matches. He just needs a chance. Come on, WWE have a little Hart.
Best Gimmick: Cody Rhodes – Phantom of the Opera-esque deformed freak
2011 saw some people really tank it badly and some rose to the occasion thus making the future of the WWE a little clearer. We’re starting to see who the future main eventers are and Cody Rhodes is going to be one of them. Yes, this gimmick was over the top, but it worked. I didn’t see Cody as evil, but he had me convinced at times that there was something truly wrong with him. The only thing wrong with it was the overuse of the paper bag gimmick which would have been better as a one off thing, but this is the WWE. If something works, they find a way to beat it into the ground. However, I thought bringing back the classic I.C. title from the mid-90’s was a REAL nice touch. Now if only they’d do something about that awful WWE title.
Worst Gimmick: Ted DiBiase – Generic Smiley Babyface with cutesy name for his fans (all 3 of them)
The sad thing about this is I think he won this award from me last year for doing a horrible impersonation of his father. The guy is a very good wrestler, very well trained, but I’m sorry he has no fucking charisma NONE. I am simply amazed that he came from the Million Dollar Man’s genitals. He, Joe Hennig, and Harry Smith have been major major let downs. It doesn’t help that the WWE has basically given them jack shit to work with, but you can’t fake personality. Some guys have it, some don’t. Teddy is a sinking ship right now and this DiBiase Posse crap is definitely not helping.
Best Return: The Rock
Nothing really needs to be said, but I will say that I was genuinely surprised on February 15th to find out that the Rock had indeed returned after seven years. With the return we got some classic Rock promos and a pretty fun tag match at Survivor Series. Not to mention a Rock-Cena showdown set for WrestleMania XXVIII. Not even a terrible show like WrestleMania XXVII could ruin the Rock’s latest (and possibly final) run with the WWE.
JJJ’s Year End Wrestling Awards:
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
CM Punk
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:
Beth Pheonix
Feud of the Year:
Cena vs Punk
Worst Feud of the Year:
Cole and JR
Tag Team of the Year:
Awesome Truth
Most Improved:
Wade Barrett
Rookie of the Year:
unofficially Daniel Bryan
Most Overrated:
Triple H
Most Underrated:
Dolph Ziggler
Best Gimmick:
Zack Ryder
Worst Gimmick:
Sin Cara / Sin Cara Negro
Best Babyface:
The Rock
Best Heel:
John Lauranitis
Worst Tag Team:
??????????? Too many to name
Most Embarrassing Wrestler:
Sin Cara
Best Return:
Punk on Raw after Cena won the title
honorable mention for best return Cody with the white IC title
Justice’s Year End Awards:
Match of the Year:
Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards ROH Final Battle: Witnessing it in person made me feel a part of something special
Most Outstanding Wrestler:
CM Punk- Really, is there anyone else?
Most Outstanding Female Wrestler:
Beth Phoenix: one of the best in the business
Breakout Star of the Year:
Cody Rhodes- Went from bland to one of the best in a year. One of the only reasons to watch Smackdown.
Feud of the Year:
Christian vs. Randy Orton- Brought out the best in each other
Worst Feud of the Year:
Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara: BORING! And lackluster
Tag Team of the Year:
AirBoom- Redefining the tag team division
Most Improved:
Zack Ryder- From almost future endeavored to a US title run, one of the best stories of the year
Rookie of the Year:
Alex Riley- This is by default. Who else is there? I ,mean he did beat the Miz
Most Overrated:
Mark Henry- same boring guy but now with a World title
Most Underrated:
Dolph Ziggler- How it took him a full year to become a main eventer is way beyond my comprehension (Honorable Mention: Daniel Bryan)
Best Gimmick:
Wade Barrett’s Barrett Barrage- The guy became a bulldozer once the Barrett Barrage got started. It solidified him as a main eventer.
Honorable Mention: All 3 Cody Rhodes gimmicks
Worst Gimmick:
Hunico- He went from a fake Sin Cara to a stereotype. Either way, bad, bad gimmick
Best Babyface:
Daniel Bryan- He’s Vegan, not annoying, a great wrestler and a World Champion. Top face in the company
Best Heel:
Dolph Ziggler/Christian (tie)- Both guys had stellar years and showed how to be a top heel
Worst Tag Team:
David Otunga and Michael McGuillitcutty
Most Embarassing Wrestler:
Eric Young- Every time I see him I feel bad for the poor guy, it actually upsets me
Best Return:
The Rock- Seeing his return to the ring live was simply electrifying