Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
Dave Meltzer has recently announced the winners of the annual WON awards. The WON awards tend to look more at wrestling as a whole, including promotions outside the United States. Primarily, the PWI awards tend to be focused mostly on American companies. On one hand, the WON awards can give some fans a more all around idea of some talents that are out there. At the same time, there are often names on Meltzer's list that a lot of American fans have never heard of.
Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year): Winner - Hiroshi Tanahashi
Thoughts - Dave Meltzer is a well known huge mark for Japanese wrestling. Not that there's anything wrong with that, don't get me wrong there. I just find it extremely difficult to see how CM Punk shouldn't have gotten this. Punk had an amazing year that saw him emerge as a main event level star, engage in great feuds & matches and keep interest high in the Raw main event picture.
MMA Most Valuable Fighter: Winner - Georges St-Pierre
Thoughts - I can't really say much on this one way or the other. I'm not really a big fan of MMA and usually just watch it if I happen to be flipping through the channels and catch it when there's nothing else on. Even I know, however, that St-Pierre has had a huge year and has remained one of MMA's biggest stars. He's been the UFC Welterweight Champion for almost 4 years now.
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Winner - Davey Richards
Thoughts - Current ROH World Champion Davey Richards breaks the 5 year streak for Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson. I'm not really surprised and I have no real problems with this. Richards is incredibly talented inside the ring but since I've only recently had the opportunity to start watching ROH, I can't really say too much as I'm still not overly familiar with Richards as a whole.
Best Box Office Draw: Winner - The Rock
Thoughts - I was a little surprised to see The Rock get this as it's been given to MMA fighters for the past several years. In overall ppvs buys, UFC does beat the WWE but The Rock's presence at WM 27 did help the event garner more than 1.2 million ppv buys. While I do think some people do try to give The Rock too much credit, there's no doubt that him being part of WM did lead to some significant buy numbers.
Feud of the Year: Winner - John Cena vs. CM Punk
Thoughts - No surprise here and I don't think anyone could reasonably deny that this was the feud of the year. It got a lot of people more excited than they've been in years when it comes to just about any program you could name.
Tag Team of the Year: Winner - Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson)
Thoughts - I'm not really surprised about this. I'm sure lots of people were expecting either Beer Money or WGTT or KOW or a few other names here. Anderson & Bernard, formerly known as Prince Albert to WWE fans, held the IWGP Tag Team Championship for 564 days, which is the longest in the title's history, and only dropped them about 3 weeks ago. TNA's tag team picture has steadily dwindled over the course of 2011, WWE's tag scene has been showing life for the first time in a while but they've still got lots of work to do and I'm guessing that none of the ROH tag teams have been as dominant as Bad Intentions.
Most Improved: Winner - Dolph Ziggler
Thoughts - Ziggler has definitely improved and is one of the best young guys on the WWE roster. That said, Mark Henry should have gotten this. Henry literally went from a mediocre, 400 pound waste of space to being one of the best things in wrestling in 6 months. His matches are much more interesting to watch, his promos have been great and he's delivered a degree of believability to a heel role that hasn't been seen in wrestling for a long while. As much as I like Ziggler, Henry should've gone over here.
Best on Interviews: Winner - CM Punk
Thoughts - Hard to argue with that. Punk has been one of the best in wrestling for the past few years when it comes to mic work. His feud with Jeff Hardy showcased that he was damn good on the stick. In 2011, his worked shoot promo was easily the promo of the year. It alone generated tremendous buzz & debate and delivered a degree of unpredictability that even had hardcore wrestling smarks and journalists scratching their heads and wondering what was going to come of it.
Most Charismatic: Winner - The Rock
Thoughts - Not surprised about this and while I'm sure people could make good arguments for CM Punk getting this, I think Rock does deserve it. The Rock's first appearance on Raw last year will be looked at as a classic WWE moment. He had the entire crowd eating out of his hand just like it was still 1999. He was every bit as charismatic as he'd ever been despite not having set foot in a WWE ring for the better part of a decade. His subsequent appearances were also memorable and he consistently had everyone hanging on his every word and movement.
Best Technical Wrestler: Winner - Daniel Bryan
Thoughts - Since Meltzer gae the Most Outstanding Wrestler award to Davey Richards, I was a little surprised to see Bryan win this for the 7th year in a row. Bryan is an amazing technical wrestler, no doubt and is definitely doing his part to challenge the perception of smaller guys among some fans. We haven't seen all that Bryan is capable of in WWE as far as his technical ability goes, but he's certainly very crisp and knowledgable.
Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler): Winner - Kevin Steen
Thoughts - This makes the 2nd year in a row for Kevin Steen with this award. Steen is a guy that I'm also not overly familiar with. Overall, I can't say I care much on this award one way or the other as I'm not a big fan of hardcore wrestling. It can be fun to watch every so often but, in this day and age, it just seems outdated.
Best Flying Wrestler: Winner - Ricochet
Thoughts - For the most part, this is basically given to Meltzer's favorite spot monkey of the year. I'm not overly familiar with Ricochet but based on what I've read and have been told about him, he's just another spot monkey in a mask.
Most Overrated: Winner - Crimson
Thoughts - I pretty much agree with this one. Crimson is a guy that's gotten lots of love via the internet and I just don't see it. He has a good look and is athletic for a guy his size, but he's just not nearly as good as some fans tout him to be. The whole thing with the undefeated streak is pretty lackluster and nobody is really rallying behind it. His "intensity" that fans & commentators continuously hype usually consists of him little more than making some sort of weird faces while he's walking towards the ring or while he's in the ring.
Most Underrated: Winner - Dolph Ziggler
Thoughts - Again, as much as I like Ziggler, I just don't see that here. Ziggler had a great run as United States Champion, during which he worked a lot of his promo skills and developing himself overall as a character, and has been consistently featured while feuding with CM Punk for the past couple of months for the WWE Championship. He's now able to generate great heat on his own, he carries himself well and has shown vast improvements on the mic. I'd have gone with Drew McIntyre here. McIntyre is someone that improved a lot overall in 2011 in terms of both in-ring ability, body language, facial expressions and storytelling inside the ring and was definitely "paying dues" through much of the year.
Promotion of the Year: Winner - UFC
Thoughts - Not at all surprised to see UFC get this for the 6th year in a row. As I said, I'm just not really a fan of MMA. Most of the time, it bores me quite frankly because most of the fighters just come off as the same. Most of them have zero charisma, no real personality and are just kind of bland in my view. It also doesn't seem quite fair in some ways as UFC consists of real fighting with 100% real competition. That gives it something that pro wrestling simply can't have, which is just one of the qualities that separates the two genres.
Best Weekly Television Show: Winner - WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
Thoughts - I agree with this overall. For the most part, I think that SD! is a show that has found a really good formula that combines quality wrestling with quality promo segments. Several guys went to SD! in 2011 and got their careers back on track such as Sheamus, Wade Barrett & Daniel Bryan. SD! also revitalized the careers of some such as Randy Orton, Christian, Big Show & Mark Henry. Since it's generally thought of as the B Show, I don't think there's as much pressure on SD! to draw attention from the mainstream media that we see on Raw sometimes.
Most Outstanding Fighter (formerly Shootfighter of the Year): Winner - Jon Jones
Thoughts - Don't know anything about the guy. As I said, not really an MMA fan so I can't say I'm overly interested in this.
Worked Match of the Year: Winner - John Cena vs. CM Punk @ MITB 2011
Thoughts - No surprise here and definitely the right match to get this. Everything that can be said about the Cena vs. Punk match at MITB has already been said thousands of times in hundreds of forums dotted all over the internet. From an overall perspective, it was just simply the best match of 2011.
Fight of the Year: Winner - Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua
Thoughts - See comments from Most Outstanding Fighter
Rookie of the Year: Winner - Daichi Hashimoto
Thoughts - Don't know a thing about the guy
Best Non-Wrestler: Winner - Ricardo Rodriguez
Thoughts - Ricardo did a great job as the personal ring announcer of Alberto Del Rio. He seemed like a good toady but he wasn't an overly sniveling one. That said, I'd have still gone with Vickie Guerrero. Vickie is great in her role and has shown, yet again, that if you want a heel to get over, all you have to do is pair him with Vickie Guerrero and she'll help get him over.
Best Television Announcer: Winner - Joe Rogan
Thoughts - The guy that hosted Fear Factor wins this for the 2nd year in a row. Rogan is good at his job though, sometimes his commentary has been the most entertaining aspect of some of the UFC fights I've caught on tv.
Worst Television Announcer : Winner - Michael Cole
Thoughts - I don't agree with this. This should go to Booker T, Mike Tenay or Taz rather than Cole. Cole has been great as a heel commentator in my view. A little over the top sometimes, but he's such an annoying heel that you just wanna slap the piss out of him.
Best Major Show: Winner - Money in the Bank 2011
Thoughts - Great show from top to bottom that delivered. In many ways, the show was an internet fan's dream with a couple of IWC darlings, namely Punk & Bryan, going over in a big & unexpected way.
Worst Major Wrestling Show: Winner - TNA Victory Road 2011
Thoughts - There can't be any legit argument against this. This makes the 3rd year in a row TNA has gotten this and you can truly see why for Victory Road. Everything that can be said about it, particularly the main event, has been said thousands of times.
Best Wrestling Maneuver: Winner - Ricochet for the Double Rotation Moonsault
Thoughts - He won the same award using the same move last year. It is an impressive looking move.
Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Winner - WWE anti-bullying campaign & treatment of Jim Ross
Thoughts - I'm not quite sure what it is but Meltzer seems to hate anything WWE does to promote itself as more than just another wrestling company. He did it last year with the Stand Up for WWE thing and he's done it again. Personally, the most disgusting tactic for me was involving the Angle & Jarrett children on camera as part of the Angle vs. Jarrett feud. In 2010, Meltzer gave this "award" to Stand Up for WWE rather than Tommy Dreamer blading himself and bleeding profusely while barely a foot away from his young daughters at Hardcore Justice. Personally, I find using kids that are 5-10 yeas old in wrestling angles and unprotected chairshots to the head a little more offensive..
Worst Television Show: Winner - TNA Impact/Impact Wrestling
Thoughts - TNA has really improved itself over the course of the past 5 months or so, but the first 6 or 7 months of the show last year was still pretty horrible. As a result, I'm not surprised to see IW get this for the 5th straight year.
Worst Worked Match of the Year: Winner - Sting vs. Jeff Hardy @ Victory Road 2011
Thoughts - No argument here. TNA will be feeling the backlash of this for years to come and the never ending criticism of Jeff Hardy and TNA's decision to put Hardy in the TNA WHC spot with all the legal & personal stuff hanging over his head is justified. This was easily the most embarassing moment in all of wrestling for this past decade alone.
Worst Feud of the Year: Winner - Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Thoughts - I completely disagree with this. All in all, this was a decent feud that wasn't made the focal point of Raw nor did it eat up television time unnecessarily. They had a decent build up towards what was honestly a pretty good ladder match. When I think of the worst feuds of the year, some that spring to mind are Devon vs. Pope and Angle vs. Jarrett. Devon vs. Pope dragged on forever. It would be featured for a while, then go away for a month or so, then brought back as if nothing had happened with all of it revolving around the tired cliche` of Devon's kids turning on him. Angle vs. Jarrett also just dragged on to me and was just a situation that we'd seen several times already. Plus, the invovlement of the Angle & Jarrett children turned me off.
Worst Promotion of the Year: Winner - TNA
Thoughts - Again, up until probably about the last 4 to 5 months of 2011, TNA was damn near unwatchable in my opinion with the same repetetive faction wars/corporate takeover main storyline, every other angle being irrelevant unless it was branched off from the faction wars, the X Division meant nothing, the tag team picture steadily dwindled to near nothing, Hogan & Bischoff were featured in just about every other segment, the TNA WHC picture was completely uninteresting, the BFG Series failing to produce really anything memorable in the way of matches, etc. There just really wasn't much of anything going on until TNA finally made some needed changes.
Best Booker: Winner - Jado & Gedo
Thoughts - No idea who these two are, just that they've been booking for New Japan Pro Wrestling and have obviously done a lot of things that've made Meltzer spray his shorts.
Promoter of the Year: Winner - Dana White
Thoughts - Meltzer is a huge MMA fan and it's no surprise that UFC President Dana White got this one for the 7th straight year.
Best Gimmick: Winner - CM Punk as the anti-corporate rebel
Thoughts - Punk's portrayal as this guy that's basically a rebel fighting the system has been accepted by just about everyone. It's logical for Punk, it's believable and it's able to get fans behind him. Austin did the same thing in the late 90s and Punk is and has been doing it for much of the second half of 2011. Everybody loves to hate a big corporation, so getting them behind someone that's fighting against said corporation is pretty easy as long as the guy has the ability to keep the people behind him.
Worst Gimmick: Winner - Michael Cole as a heel announcer
Thoughts - It's no secret that Meltzer hates Cole but, again, I completely disagree with this. There's everyone from Jinder Mahal to Eric Young to Robbie E to Hornswoggle and then some that are far, far worse than Cole. To me, Cole has done a great job as a heel announcer. You're supposed to dislike Cole, he's supposed to be an annoying shit you'd love to run over with your car.
Best Pro Wrestling Book: Winner - Chris Jericho: Undisputed
Thoughts - I haven't had a chance to read this yet, though I'm sure it'll be an excellent read.
Best Pro Wrestling DVD: Winner - Greatest Rivarlies: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
Thoughts - This was unique departure for a WWE compilation DVD. It centered completely around the personal history & rivalry between the two WWE Hall of Famers featuring interviews with both of them today along with the stories & great matches.
Final Thoughts - As would be expected, I think most people will find these awards to be a mixed bag. They usually are as everyone no doubt has someone in mind that they would have given an award to. Also, as expected, Meltzer definitely let some of his inner smark show when it came to some of these awards. Some of the winners are going to be unfamiliar, some of the winners just flat out seem wrong. All in all, the WON awards are still something interesting to discuss if nothing else.
Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year): Winner - Hiroshi Tanahashi
Thoughts - Dave Meltzer is a well known huge mark for Japanese wrestling. Not that there's anything wrong with that, don't get me wrong there. I just find it extremely difficult to see how CM Punk shouldn't have gotten this. Punk had an amazing year that saw him emerge as a main event level star, engage in great feuds & matches and keep interest high in the Raw main event picture.
MMA Most Valuable Fighter: Winner - Georges St-Pierre
Thoughts - I can't really say much on this one way or the other. I'm not really a big fan of MMA and usually just watch it if I happen to be flipping through the channels and catch it when there's nothing else on. Even I know, however, that St-Pierre has had a huge year and has remained one of MMA's biggest stars. He's been the UFC Welterweight Champion for almost 4 years now.
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Winner - Davey Richards
Thoughts - Current ROH World Champion Davey Richards breaks the 5 year streak for Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson. I'm not really surprised and I have no real problems with this. Richards is incredibly talented inside the ring but since I've only recently had the opportunity to start watching ROH, I can't really say too much as I'm still not overly familiar with Richards as a whole.
Best Box Office Draw: Winner - The Rock
Thoughts - I was a little surprised to see The Rock get this as it's been given to MMA fighters for the past several years. In overall ppvs buys, UFC does beat the WWE but The Rock's presence at WM 27 did help the event garner more than 1.2 million ppv buys. While I do think some people do try to give The Rock too much credit, there's no doubt that him being part of WM did lead to some significant buy numbers.
Feud of the Year: Winner - John Cena vs. CM Punk
Thoughts - No surprise here and I don't think anyone could reasonably deny that this was the feud of the year. It got a lot of people more excited than they've been in years when it comes to just about any program you could name.
Tag Team of the Year: Winner - Bad Intentions (Giant Bernard & Karl Anderson)
Thoughts - I'm not really surprised about this. I'm sure lots of people were expecting either Beer Money or WGTT or KOW or a few other names here. Anderson & Bernard, formerly known as Prince Albert to WWE fans, held the IWGP Tag Team Championship for 564 days, which is the longest in the title's history, and only dropped them about 3 weeks ago. TNA's tag team picture has steadily dwindled over the course of 2011, WWE's tag scene has been showing life for the first time in a while but they've still got lots of work to do and I'm guessing that none of the ROH tag teams have been as dominant as Bad Intentions.
Most Improved: Winner - Dolph Ziggler
Thoughts - Ziggler has definitely improved and is one of the best young guys on the WWE roster. That said, Mark Henry should have gotten this. Henry literally went from a mediocre, 400 pound waste of space to being one of the best things in wrestling in 6 months. His matches are much more interesting to watch, his promos have been great and he's delivered a degree of believability to a heel role that hasn't been seen in wrestling for a long while. As much as I like Ziggler, Henry should've gone over here.
Best on Interviews: Winner - CM Punk
Thoughts - Hard to argue with that. Punk has been one of the best in wrestling for the past few years when it comes to mic work. His feud with Jeff Hardy showcased that he was damn good on the stick. In 2011, his worked shoot promo was easily the promo of the year. It alone generated tremendous buzz & debate and delivered a degree of unpredictability that even had hardcore wrestling smarks and journalists scratching their heads and wondering what was going to come of it.
Most Charismatic: Winner - The Rock
Thoughts - Not surprised about this and while I'm sure people could make good arguments for CM Punk getting this, I think Rock does deserve it. The Rock's first appearance on Raw last year will be looked at as a classic WWE moment. He had the entire crowd eating out of his hand just like it was still 1999. He was every bit as charismatic as he'd ever been despite not having set foot in a WWE ring for the better part of a decade. His subsequent appearances were also memorable and he consistently had everyone hanging on his every word and movement.
Best Technical Wrestler: Winner - Daniel Bryan
Thoughts - Since Meltzer gae the Most Outstanding Wrestler award to Davey Richards, I was a little surprised to see Bryan win this for the 7th year in a row. Bryan is an amazing technical wrestler, no doubt and is definitely doing his part to challenge the perception of smaller guys among some fans. We haven't seen all that Bryan is capable of in WWE as far as his technical ability goes, but he's certainly very crisp and knowledgable.
Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler): Winner - Kevin Steen
Thoughts - This makes the 2nd year in a row for Kevin Steen with this award. Steen is a guy that I'm also not overly familiar with. Overall, I can't say I care much on this award one way or the other as I'm not a big fan of hardcore wrestling. It can be fun to watch every so often but, in this day and age, it just seems outdated.
Best Flying Wrestler: Winner - Ricochet
Thoughts - For the most part, this is basically given to Meltzer's favorite spot monkey of the year. I'm not overly familiar with Ricochet but based on what I've read and have been told about him, he's just another spot monkey in a mask.
Most Overrated: Winner - Crimson
Thoughts - I pretty much agree with this one. Crimson is a guy that's gotten lots of love via the internet and I just don't see it. He has a good look and is athletic for a guy his size, but he's just not nearly as good as some fans tout him to be. The whole thing with the undefeated streak is pretty lackluster and nobody is really rallying behind it. His "intensity" that fans & commentators continuously hype usually consists of him little more than making some sort of weird faces while he's walking towards the ring or while he's in the ring.
Most Underrated: Winner - Dolph Ziggler
Thoughts - Again, as much as I like Ziggler, I just don't see that here. Ziggler had a great run as United States Champion, during which he worked a lot of his promo skills and developing himself overall as a character, and has been consistently featured while feuding with CM Punk for the past couple of months for the WWE Championship. He's now able to generate great heat on his own, he carries himself well and has shown vast improvements on the mic. I'd have gone with Drew McIntyre here. McIntyre is someone that improved a lot overall in 2011 in terms of both in-ring ability, body language, facial expressions and storytelling inside the ring and was definitely "paying dues" through much of the year.
Promotion of the Year: Winner - UFC
Thoughts - Not at all surprised to see UFC get this for the 6th year in a row. As I said, I'm just not really a fan of MMA. Most of the time, it bores me quite frankly because most of the fighters just come off as the same. Most of them have zero charisma, no real personality and are just kind of bland in my view. It also doesn't seem quite fair in some ways as UFC consists of real fighting with 100% real competition. That gives it something that pro wrestling simply can't have, which is just one of the qualities that separates the two genres.
Best Weekly Television Show: Winner - WWE Friday Night SmackDown!
Thoughts - I agree with this overall. For the most part, I think that SD! is a show that has found a really good formula that combines quality wrestling with quality promo segments. Several guys went to SD! in 2011 and got their careers back on track such as Sheamus, Wade Barrett & Daniel Bryan. SD! also revitalized the careers of some such as Randy Orton, Christian, Big Show & Mark Henry. Since it's generally thought of as the B Show, I don't think there's as much pressure on SD! to draw attention from the mainstream media that we see on Raw sometimes.
Most Outstanding Fighter (formerly Shootfighter of the Year): Winner - Jon Jones
Thoughts - Don't know anything about the guy. As I said, not really an MMA fan so I can't say I'm overly interested in this.
Worked Match of the Year: Winner - John Cena vs. CM Punk @ MITB 2011
Thoughts - No surprise here and definitely the right match to get this. Everything that can be said about the Cena vs. Punk match at MITB has already been said thousands of times in hundreds of forums dotted all over the internet. From an overall perspective, it was just simply the best match of 2011.
Fight of the Year: Winner - Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua
Thoughts - See comments from Most Outstanding Fighter
Rookie of the Year: Winner - Daichi Hashimoto
Thoughts - Don't know a thing about the guy
Best Non-Wrestler: Winner - Ricardo Rodriguez
Thoughts - Ricardo did a great job as the personal ring announcer of Alberto Del Rio. He seemed like a good toady but he wasn't an overly sniveling one. That said, I'd have still gone with Vickie Guerrero. Vickie is great in her role and has shown, yet again, that if you want a heel to get over, all you have to do is pair him with Vickie Guerrero and she'll help get him over.
Best Television Announcer: Winner - Joe Rogan
Thoughts - The guy that hosted Fear Factor wins this for the 2nd year in a row. Rogan is good at his job though, sometimes his commentary has been the most entertaining aspect of some of the UFC fights I've caught on tv.
Worst Television Announcer : Winner - Michael Cole
Thoughts - I don't agree with this. This should go to Booker T, Mike Tenay or Taz rather than Cole. Cole has been great as a heel commentator in my view. A little over the top sometimes, but he's such an annoying heel that you just wanna slap the piss out of him.
Best Major Show: Winner - Money in the Bank 2011
Thoughts - Great show from top to bottom that delivered. In many ways, the show was an internet fan's dream with a couple of IWC darlings, namely Punk & Bryan, going over in a big & unexpected way.
Worst Major Wrestling Show: Winner - TNA Victory Road 2011
Thoughts - There can't be any legit argument against this. This makes the 3rd year in a row TNA has gotten this and you can truly see why for Victory Road. Everything that can be said about it, particularly the main event, has been said thousands of times.
Best Wrestling Maneuver: Winner - Ricochet for the Double Rotation Moonsault
Thoughts - He won the same award using the same move last year. It is an impressive looking move.
Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Winner - WWE anti-bullying campaign & treatment of Jim Ross
Thoughts - I'm not quite sure what it is but Meltzer seems to hate anything WWE does to promote itself as more than just another wrestling company. He did it last year with the Stand Up for WWE thing and he's done it again. Personally, the most disgusting tactic for me was involving the Angle & Jarrett children on camera as part of the Angle vs. Jarrett feud. In 2010, Meltzer gave this "award" to Stand Up for WWE rather than Tommy Dreamer blading himself and bleeding profusely while barely a foot away from his young daughters at Hardcore Justice. Personally, I find using kids that are 5-10 yeas old in wrestling angles and unprotected chairshots to the head a little more offensive..
Worst Television Show: Winner - TNA Impact/Impact Wrestling
Thoughts - TNA has really improved itself over the course of the past 5 months or so, but the first 6 or 7 months of the show last year was still pretty horrible. As a result, I'm not surprised to see IW get this for the 5th straight year.
Worst Worked Match of the Year: Winner - Sting vs. Jeff Hardy @ Victory Road 2011
Thoughts - No argument here. TNA will be feeling the backlash of this for years to come and the never ending criticism of Jeff Hardy and TNA's decision to put Hardy in the TNA WHC spot with all the legal & personal stuff hanging over his head is justified. This was easily the most embarassing moment in all of wrestling for this past decade alone.
Worst Feud of the Year: Winner - Triple H vs. Kevin Nash
Thoughts - I completely disagree with this. All in all, this was a decent feud that wasn't made the focal point of Raw nor did it eat up television time unnecessarily. They had a decent build up towards what was honestly a pretty good ladder match. When I think of the worst feuds of the year, some that spring to mind are Devon vs. Pope and Angle vs. Jarrett. Devon vs. Pope dragged on forever. It would be featured for a while, then go away for a month or so, then brought back as if nothing had happened with all of it revolving around the tired cliche` of Devon's kids turning on him. Angle vs. Jarrett also just dragged on to me and was just a situation that we'd seen several times already. Plus, the invovlement of the Angle & Jarrett children turned me off.
Worst Promotion of the Year: Winner - TNA
Thoughts - Again, up until probably about the last 4 to 5 months of 2011, TNA was damn near unwatchable in my opinion with the same repetetive faction wars/corporate takeover main storyline, every other angle being irrelevant unless it was branched off from the faction wars, the X Division meant nothing, the tag team picture steadily dwindled to near nothing, Hogan & Bischoff were featured in just about every other segment, the TNA WHC picture was completely uninteresting, the BFG Series failing to produce really anything memorable in the way of matches, etc. There just really wasn't much of anything going on until TNA finally made some needed changes.
Best Booker: Winner - Jado & Gedo
Thoughts - No idea who these two are, just that they've been booking for New Japan Pro Wrestling and have obviously done a lot of things that've made Meltzer spray his shorts.
Promoter of the Year: Winner - Dana White
Thoughts - Meltzer is a huge MMA fan and it's no surprise that UFC President Dana White got this one for the 7th straight year.
Best Gimmick: Winner - CM Punk as the anti-corporate rebel
Thoughts - Punk's portrayal as this guy that's basically a rebel fighting the system has been accepted by just about everyone. It's logical for Punk, it's believable and it's able to get fans behind him. Austin did the same thing in the late 90s and Punk is and has been doing it for much of the second half of 2011. Everybody loves to hate a big corporation, so getting them behind someone that's fighting against said corporation is pretty easy as long as the guy has the ability to keep the people behind him.
Worst Gimmick: Winner - Michael Cole as a heel announcer
Thoughts - It's no secret that Meltzer hates Cole but, again, I completely disagree with this. There's everyone from Jinder Mahal to Eric Young to Robbie E to Hornswoggle and then some that are far, far worse than Cole. To me, Cole has done a great job as a heel announcer. You're supposed to dislike Cole, he's supposed to be an annoying shit you'd love to run over with your car.
Best Pro Wrestling Book: Winner - Chris Jericho: Undisputed
Thoughts - I haven't had a chance to read this yet, though I'm sure it'll be an excellent read.
Best Pro Wrestling DVD: Winner - Greatest Rivarlies: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
Thoughts - This was unique departure for a WWE compilation DVD. It centered completely around the personal history & rivalry between the two WWE Hall of Famers featuring interviews with both of them today along with the stories & great matches.
Final Thoughts - As would be expected, I think most people will find these awards to be a mixed bag. They usually are as everyone no doubt has someone in mind that they would have given an award to. Also, as expected, Meltzer definitely let some of his inner smark show when it came to some of these awards. Some of the winners are going to be unfamiliar, some of the winners just flat out seem wrong. All in all, the WON awards are still something interesting to discuss if nothing else.
. I guess Triple H wasn't on tv enough to make him his "most overrated", so he bashed him for his feud with Nash. Again I didn't think it was a good feud but I dont think it was the worst of the year.