This might be a bit unorthodox, but I'm going to list a few people for each catagory. Some of the options are obvious, and it's no doubt who will win the award. But others are closer than some might think, and I want to make sure everyone who deserves to be nominated, is. Besides, I'm not actually casting my vote yet, just nominating people to be voted upon... So nowhere does it say I have to pick just ONE person at this time.
Female of the Year: Beth Phoenix, Mickie James, and Kelly Kelly are the obvious choices in my opinion. Velvet Sky deserves some recognition for improvement, as does Layla. Although she was taken out of commission for the majority of 2011, she still made a huge impact with LayCool early on, and their break-up was great and led to a great match. It's really up to you, but in my book that at least merits the OPTION to vote for her. Karen Jarrett = super effective heel.
Best Angle of the Year: Kurt?
Are we defining "angle" as a short-term incident that took a feud in a different direction? It's a rather loose wrestling term, and I just want to make sure we're all in agreement on what it means. Have to give it up for the Bobby Roode heel turn, if that be the case.
Worst Angle of the Year: Mason Ryan...now you see him, now you don't. Either that or CM Punk abusing the New Nexus members as initiation, only for it to be ambiguously glossed over, and eventually forgotten... Great build, zero follow-through. Possibly the whole ROH Kevin Steen thing. No idea what happened there...
News Story of the Year: Matt Hardy's arrests...all of them
Best Match of the Year: HHH/Taker & Punk/Cena MITB are the two that will stand out in most people's minds. However,
Miz/Morrison from the first episode of Raw in 2011 is up there, and
Ziggler/Edge from the Rumble may very well be my favorite. Last week's 4-way w/
Ziggler, Rhodes, Ryder, and Bryan should be up there, as should
Ziggler/Punk from two weeks ago. Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards would take this if ROH meant anything to the forums... Lots to choose from, plus the whole
Orton/Christian rivalry, if you can pick one single match from that... I would include all of those as options, for the sake of having great variety.
Worst Match of the Year: I honestly can't single any out... There's so many poor matches they all blend together. $15 says it was a divas match included Kelly Kelly or Alicia Fox though.
Feud/Rivalry of the Year: Orton/Christian, Angle/Jarrett, Cena/Rock, Punk/Establishment, and Punk/Orton should make for some good debate.
Title Reign of the Year: Mark Henry as World Heavyweight champion, obviously. Cody Rhodes as Intercontinental champion, for sheer longevity and brining in a new, sexy belt. Miz as WWE Champion should be a possibility as he beat Cena at WrestleMania to retain the belt. I would say Ziggler, but his work outside of the title picture has been much better than his actual champion-related material. It's a possibility though... Honestly, nobody from TNA sticks out to me. MAYBE Beer Money or MCMG as tag team champions. Maybe.
Surprise of the Year: The return of the Rock. CM Punk's shoot promo. Kharma's debut. Kane's return. Edge's retirement.
Best Wrestler of the Year: Everyone is going to throw out there choices for CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, and Mark Henry from WWE, and probably Bobby Roode and Kurt Angle from TNA. And they should, those are all amazing choices for people that had GREAT years in pro wrestling. It's truly amazing how many people had great careers in 2011, but there are a couple of under-dog choices that I think I want to throw out there, in hopes they get nominated. Mainly R-Truth. Slow start to the year for sure, but he worked his way into a WWE title shot at a PPV, had the best heel turn of the year, re-invented his entire character, and found a way to truly connect with the audience. Went from being my least favorite to my most favorite. If he's not nominated for Wrestler of the Year, there needs to be a "most improved" award so he can win it... Bully Ray and the Miz deserve credit to, as does Christian. I wouldn't mind a huge list of candidates for this category. I doubt that there's much indie support here, but if we truly voted for "best wrestler of the year" Davey Richards would win this hands down.
Worst Wrestler of the Year: Always (always always) the Great Khali. Rosa Mendes and Mason Ryan need to be in the running. I'd say Hornswoggle, and he'll probably get the vote because he did compete in a few matches, but at least he was (mildly) entertaining. More so than usual anyways...
Best Show of the Year: I'm not sure if you're asking for Raw, Smackdown, Impact, ect. or specific episodes or PPVs. If that's the case: WWE Slammy Awards, WWE Money in the Bank, Edge's retirement Smackdown, TNA Bound for Glory, WWE Raw in Chicago before WrestleMania (I think it was 3/28?), and...Honor Takes Center Stage, hands down.
Worst Show of the Year: TNA Victory Road? Don't know...they all blend together.
Moment of the Year: Rock returns, Punk shoots, Kane returns, Hogan's Bound for Glory turn, Punk wins the WWE title at Money in the Bank, ADR wins the Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels returning to Raw (again...3/28?), Edge's retirement.
Tag Team/Stable of the Year: Wow...what a terrible year for tag team wrestling in the WWE and TNA. Just awful. Beer Money and MCMG should be up there for their early work in 2011. Ink Inc wasn't terrible...that's how bad a year it was. Love the Usos, but they never once did ANYTHING. Immortal was a terrible faction, but Fortune was pretty great, especially with Flair a part of the ensemble. If Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas are not nominated, I will be slightly upset... Tag team wrestling is so dead in mainstream wrestling, so this award should go to a company that still considers it a focus.
Promo of the Year: Punk's shoot. The Rock's return promo. Triple H's promo on being able to beat the Undertaker. Edge's retirement speech. Anything R-Truth said...
I hope that gives you enough to work with... I have some ideas for categories that were not on your list too!
Rookie of the Year - Which noob reigned supreme?
Break-Out Star - Who came out of NOWHERE to have a killer year?
Most Improved - They used to suck...now they don't...ish
Best-Used Gimmick Match - Hell in a Cell? Money in the Bank? The Rumble? TLC?
Best Wrestling Company - WWE? TNA? ROH? Chikara? Show your support! Who had the best year!?
Most Extreme Wrestler - Who had you saying "OH MY GOD!"
Best Mic Worker - You have best promo, but why not best promo guy?