Nominations for the 2018 Carny Awards close tomorrow, so here is one more snapshot of who has been nominated so far for each category. These lists are in no particular order. As always, if there's someone/something that you would want to vote for in the 2018 Carny Awards, the person/move/show/match/gif/whatever needs to be nominated through the
Google Form.
To narrow down the nominations to 5, I'll go with a combination of how many times it has been nominated and how compelling the poster's case was.
The lists are now ordered in the likelihood that they will be included in the final poll. For your convenience, I've italicized the ones who are leading the way to be nominated in each category. I generally keep to 5, but I'm willing to go to 6 for some categories. If you truly believe that a nomination, especially in the really crowded categories, should be considered for the award, post it in the thread to my attention.
Male WWE Superstar of the Year:
Johnny Gargano
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Pete Dunne
Roderick Strong
Velveteen Dream
Seth Rollins
AJ Styles
Tommaso Ciampa
Daniel Bryan
Buddy Murphy
Tyler Bate
Samoa Joe
Akira Tozawa
Female WWE Superstar of the Year:
Becky Lynch
Charlotte
Ronda Rousey
Kairi Sane
Shayna Baszler
Toni Storm
Asuka
Ruby Riott
Io Shirai
Bayley
Best Male Non-WWE Wrestler of the Year:
Will Ospreay
Zack Sabre Jr.
Fenix
Kenny Omega
Kota Ibushi
Kazuchika Okada
Masashi Takeda
Darby Allin
Mike Bailey
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Daisuke Sekimoto
Kento Miyahara
Zeus
WALTER
Tomohiro Ishii
Hiromu Takahashi
Pentagon Jr.
Joey Janela
MAO
Best Female Non-WWE Wrestler of the Year: (
ed. this category in particular could use some help.)
Meiko Satomura
Kagetsu
Miyu Yamashita
Maki Itoh
Mayu Iwatani
Kay Lee Ray
Momo Watanabe
Chihiro Hashimoto
Jungle Kyona
Hazuki
Viper
Madison Eagles
Tessa Blanchard
Hana Kimura
AZM
Jordynne Grace
Millie McKenzie
Misaki Ohata
Best Tag Team of the Year:
The Undisputed Era
Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix)
LAX
Flamita & Bandido
Moustache Mountain
Ringkampf (WALTER & Timothy Thatcher)
The Young Bucks
Roppongi 3K
The Rascalz
Kagetsu & Hazuki
Aussie Open
Violent Giants
Team Jungle
EVIL & SANADA
Magirabbi/Magical Sugar Rabbits (Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki)
Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi
CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham)
El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan
Los Guerreros Laguneros
Nueva Generacion Dinamitas
Boss to MAMMY (Yumi Ohka & Momono)
The Usos
Natsu & Session Moth Martina
Heavy Machinery
"The Drizzling Shits" Award for Worst On-Screen Performer:
Baron Corbin
Brie Bella
Lanny Poffo
Tamina
Atlantis
The Undertaker
Triple H
Stephanie McMahon
Tommy Dreamer
Bully Ray
Vanessa Bourne
Kona Reeves
Shane McMahon
Nia Jax
Tama Tonga
Cody Rhodes
Momo Watanabe
Flip Gordon
Michael Elgin
Charlotte
Johnny Gargano
Kenny Omega
Brock Lesnar
Roman Reigns
"The Rusev" Award for Most Underutilized Performer:
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Rusev
Sasha Banks
Akira Tozawa
Daniel Makabe
The Revival
Ember Moon
Keisuke Ishii
Finn Balor
KUDO
Authors of Pain
Kassius Ohno
Jungle Kyona
Mika Iwata
Shingo Takagi
Bayley (ed. spelled Bailey, but I'm assuming it's not Mike Bailey)
Hazuki
Mike Bailey
Hechihero
Konami
Oney Lorcan
Jungle Kyona
Mike Iwata
Daniel Bryan
Asuka
Sami Zayn
"The Hot Take" Most Overrated Wrestler of the Year:
PCO
Cody
Kenny Omega
Chris Jericho
Seth Rollins
Nia Jax
Brock Lesnar
Johnny Gargano
Tegan Nox
Trent Seven
Jay White
The Undertaker
Shinsuke Nakamura
Tommaso Ciampa
WALTER
Io Shirai
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Momo Watanabe
AJ Styles
Flip Gordon
Kevin Owens
Finn Balor
Roman Reigns
Marty Scurll
Jay Lethal
Joey Janela
Volador Jr.
Starlight Kid
Ronda Rousey
Comeback of the Year:
Gran Metalik
David Arquette
Barbaro Cavernario
PCO
Tommaso Ciampa
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Daniel Bryan
Yuji Okabayashi
Chris Jericho
Saki Kashim
Trish Stratus
The Great Sasuke
Becky Lynch
Drew McIntyre
Arisa Hoshiki
Saki Kashima
"The King Kong Bundy WrestleMania 2 to 3" Fall from Grace Award:
Asuka
John Cena
Andrade "Cien" Almas
Kenny Omega
Tetsuya Naito
PROGRESS Wrestling
The Miz
Shinsuke Nakamura
Minoru Suzuki
Dean Ambrose
The Revival
AJ Styles
Most Improved Wrestler:
Jordan Devlin
Jay White
Ronda Rousey
Naoya Nomura
Soberano Jr.
Katsuhiko Nakajima
Juice Robinson
Hangman Page
DJZ
Tam Nakano
Shiki Shibusawa
Taichi
Hikari
Jamie Hayter
Hyper Misao
El Phantasmo
Drew McIntyre
Elias Samson
Sumire Natsu
Maki Itoh
JD Drake
El Audaz
Hazuki
Maki Itoh
Zack Sabre Jr.
"The Big Show" Award for Please Retire:
Vince McMahon
The Undertaker
Kane
Triple H
Bully Ray
Tommy Dreamer
Atlantis
Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Chris Jericho
Nia Jax
Shane McMahon
Brock Lesnar
Hiroshi Tanahashi
Best Gimmick:
Becky Lynch
Velveteen Dream
Maki Itoh
Nick Gage
Andre the Giant Panda
TAKA Michinoku & Zack Sabre Jr.
PCO
Orange Cassidy
Katsuhiko Nakajima's mustache
Nodoka Oneesan
Hyper Hinano
Natsu Sumire
Elias Samson
Hyper Misao
Kyle O'Reilly
Allie/Rosemary
Kazuchika Okada
Kona Reeves
"The Bray Wyatt Is Sister Abigail" Award for Worst Gimmick:
Drake "water play fanatic" Maverick
Nia "#Facebreaker" Jax
Sami Callihan
Dean Ambrose
OG Bullet Club
Bully Ray
Constable Baron Corbin
Lacey Evans
Stephanie McMahon
Danshoku Dieno
PCO
Flip Gordon
Dolph Ziggler
Kenny Omega
The Bludgeon Brothers
Chris Jericho
Shigehiro Irie
Nodoka Tenma
Yumehito Imanari
Asuka
Kona Reeves
"What a Maneuver!" Award for Coolest Move/Dive:
Bandido's Rebound German Suplex
Zack Sabre Jr.'s Orienteering with Napalm Death
Teddy Hart & Davey Boy Smith Jr.'s Destroyer Device
Kota Ibushi's knee-sault
Ricochet's 630 senton
Hyper Misao rides a bike down the Korakuen Hall steps
PAC's 2nd rope Phoenix Splash
Hiromu Takahashi's sunset bomb
Dragon Bane's step-up tornillo quebrada
Soberano Jr.'s corkscrew dive
Tetsuya Endo's turnbuckle dive
Barbaro Cavernario's turnbuckle dive
Mayu's backwards rolls down the Korakuen Hall steps
Takumi Iroha's running crucifix bomb
Hazuki's triangle jump plancha to the outside
Sakura Hirota's rope walk
El Hechciero's El Conjuro
Stuka Jr.'s torpedo plancha dive
Mistico's tijeras
Kota Ibushi punches Tomohiro Ishii in the throat
Deep armdrag
Best Theme Music of the Year:
STRONGHEARTS theme song
Rhea Ripley's "Final Straw"
Zack Sabre Jr.'s "Mother," by Idles
Oedo Tai's theme
Jay White's "Switchblade"
Tommaso Ciampa's "No One Will Survive"
Shayna Baszler's "Loyalty Is Everything"
Johnny Gargano's "Rebel Heart"
Shane Strickland's "Ain't Nobody"
Mike Bailey's royalty free theme
Minoru Suzuki's "Kaze ni nare"
Rika Tatsumi's "Love and Revolution"
Hanan's theme
Natural Vibes' theme
W-FIX/RIOT CROWN theme
Yuka Sakazaki's theme
Zack Sabre Jr.'s New Japan theme
Chief Deputy Dunne/The Anti-Fun Police's theme
Bandido's "Roundtable Rival"
Arisa Hoshiki's "Unlimited Dream Navigator – SHiNiNG STAR"
Aleister Black's "Root of All Evil"
WWE Match of the Year:
Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Johnny Gargano @ NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia
Adam Cole vs. Ricochet @ NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa @ NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte @ Evolution
Ladder Match for the NXT North American Championship @ NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Andrade "Cien" Almas vs. Aleister Black @ NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
Johnny Gargano vs. Aleister Black @ NXT TakeOver: War Games 2
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa @ NXT TakeOver: Chicago II
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream @ NXT TakeOver: War Games 2
Non-WWE Match of the Year:
Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega @ NJPW Dominion 2018
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori @ NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XXV Finals
Darby Allin vs. WALTER @ Evolve 106
Hyper Misao vs. Jun Kasai @ TJP Yes! Wonderland 2018 ~ Break Myself!
Masashi Takeda vs. Isami Kodaka @ BJW June 20, 2018
WALTER vs. Timothy Thatcher @ PROGRESS Chapter 62: Fear No More, Come to Dust
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi @ NJPW G1 Climax 2018 Finals
Leviatham vs. Ciclope vs. Drako vs. Lunatik Extreme vs. Toxico vs. Wotan @ Zona 23 5. Aniversario
Arkangel Divino, Black Destiny & Genio del Aire vs. Black Danger, Mirage, Ultimo Maldito @ April 20, 2018 AAA taping
PCO vs. WALTER @ Joey Janela's Spring Break 2
Oedo Tai vs. Queen's Quest @ Stardom True Fight 2018
Oedo Tai vs. Queen's Quest @ Stardom 7th Anniversary
Miyu Yamashita vs. Rika Tatsumi @ TJP Fan Club Show - Pure Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling 1
Tam Nakano vs Natsuko Tora @ Stardom 5STAR Grand Prix 2018 Night 6
Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii @ NJPW G1 Climax 2018 Day 10
Jamie Hayter vs. Madison Eagles @ EVE SHE1 Night 1
Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita vs. JAN @ Stardom Best of Goddesses
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kota Ibushi @ NJPW G1 Climax 2018 Night 2
Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks @ NJPW Strong Style Evolved
Jay White vs. Juice Robinson @ NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco
Misaki Ohata vs. Arisa Nakajima @ WAVE Valentine WAVE
Chihiro Hashimoto & DASH Chisako vs. Hazuki & Kagetsu @ Sendai Girls November 16, 2018
Matt Riddle vs. Will Osprey @ WWNLive SuperShow: Mercury Rising 2018
Mexablood (Bandido, Rey Horus & Flamita) vs. Stronghearts (CIMA, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) @ PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2018 Night 2
LAX vs. The OGz @ Impact Bound for Glory 2018
"The Jenna Morasco vs. Sharmell" Award for Worst Fucking Match
Triple H vs. The Undertaker @ WWE Super Show-Down
Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman @ WWE Crown Jewel
Carmella vs. Asuka @ WWE Money in the Bank 2018
Eli Drake vs. James Ellsworth @ Impact Bound for Glory 2018
Bully Ray vs. Flip Gordon @ ROH Best in the World 2018
Triple H & Shawn Michael vs. The Undertaker & Kane @ WWE Crown Jewel
L.A. Park vs. Pentagon Jr. @ MLW WarGames
The Clusterfuck Battle Royal @ Joey Janela's Spring Break 2
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns @ WWE WrestleMania 34
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa @ NXT TakeOver: Chicago II
Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa @ NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4
Promotion of the Year: (ed. I'm listing Tokyo Joshi Pro as a separate company promotion from DDT. If you feel strongly about this decision, let me know.)
NJPW
DDT
GCW
Stardom
Tokyo Joshi Pro
WWE
OTT
Dragon Gate
1-2-3 Battle!
PWG
Show of the Year:
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans
NJPW Dominion 2018
TJP Yes! Wonderland
PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night 2
All In
AJPW Champion Carnival Finals
NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Finals
DDT Judgement
DDT Peter Pan
NJPW G1 Climax Night 14
PWG Smokey and the Bandido
BJW Death Vegas
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12
Joey Janela's Spring Break 2
Best Angle
Becky Lynch Is The Man
#Stronghearts invades everyone
Nick Gage promises to "Mass Transit" David Arquette and does
Okada loses his smile
Katsuhiko Nakajima being a bastard
David Starr vs. Joey Janela for "who is the ace of Beyond Wrestling"
Golden Lovers reunite
Joey Janela's GCW storyline
L.A. Park, Fenix, and Pentagon Jr. show up at CMLL
Zeus wins the Triple Crown Championship
Jay White joins the Bullet Club
Tam/Oedo Tai split
Itoh Respect Army
Rika vs. Miyu
formation of JAN
Hyper Misao vs. Jun Kasai
LIJ vs. Suzuki-gun
The "WWE Promotes Murderous Dictatorships" Award for Angle That Made You Ashamed To Be A Wrestling Fan
WWE Crown Jewel/Shawn Michaels returns from retirement for a blood money payoff
Using Roman Reigns's leukemia to get HEAT
Drake Maverick pees his pants
Kenny Omega uses Meltzer's match ratings to insult people
Lame Twitter shoot angles
Pushing a white, blonde, TERF, Sandy Hook denialist as the uber wrestler
Stardom including Starlight Kid, who is a teenager, in their bikini book
Using Jim Neidhart's death to get HEAT for Natalya
Bobby Lashley's sisters
Kenny Omega denying that he knows Chasyn Rance, pedophile
The aborted lesbian angle between Sasha Banks and Bayley
Gif of the Year
PCO and WALTER chop and shake hands (http://media.giphy.com/media/KYExhq5jYmqN7On5Ry/giphy.gif)
Stone Cold Becky (https://i.imgur.com/n5kWuJU.gif)
Adam Cole superkicks Ricochet in mid-air (https://78.media.tumblr.com/2146e1ca35add81632d7a075894ba7ed/tumblr_pdq9quHF5w1s05wxzo1_400.gif)
Kazuchika Okada's Rainmaker fails against Kenny Omega (https://66.media.tumblr.com/458f324d73229dafc78764d19fa9559a/tumblr_pa4yf8L7z91s05wxzo1_400.gif)
Bandido's rebound German suplex (https://twitter.com/MrLARIATO/status/1074981128661069825?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1074981128661069825&ref_url=https://s9e.github.io/iframe/2/twitter.min.html#1074981128661069825)
Okada and Tanahashi's handshake
https://thewrestlingcornerblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/freedoms2.gif?w=760 (Deathmatch gif)
https://i.imgur.com/ZSLcIlx.gif (Stardom gif)
https://i.imgur.com/ZHpZLab.gif (Stardom gif)
https://i.imgur.com/Fm8O6lo.gif (Stardom gif)
https://i.imgur.com/4Fh865y.gif (Maki Itoh gif)
https://i.imgur.com/PBB0YA8.gif (Stardom gif)
Nodoka destroys while the Up Up Girls dance in the background (
https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1012003280023638017)
Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks hug (
https://66.media.tumblr.com/a0bd1938a522fc21b2022e1870cc72fb/tumblr_pa247qTmku1u1ljrzo1_500.gif)
Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi hug (
https://66.media.tumblr.com/245de8170456df9063d4830c3a14893c/tumblr_p39emi5HK71u1ljrzo1_500.gif)
ZSJ's middle fingers bridging pin
Bushi pins L.A. Park (
https://twitter.com/Lostinyourears/status/1035735045842104320)
WrassleERA Community MVP Award
BritishMonsoon
Serene
Brian_FETO
excelsiorlef
@Heroman
Armsofsleep
strobogo (FUCKING LOL)
The "I'm Marking Out, Bro" Legit Shook Moment of the Year
Okada and Omega's third fall
#Stronghearts invades DDT
Becky Lynch is bloodied and takes names
Gage vs. Arquette becomes a real deathmatch
Zack Sabre Jr. taps out Hiroshi Tanahashi
Bandido hits the rebound German suplex for the first time
All In is a successful show
PCO in PCO vs. WALTER
Hyper Misao vs. Jun Kasai
PAC is released
Tam wins her first belt
JAN wins the tag titles
L.A Park goes to CMLL to challenge Rush
Zeus wins the Triple Crown Championship
Nodoka beats Miyu in the Tokyo Princess Cup
Rika Tatsumi's "We are the Dragon Bombers!" promo
Rey Mysterio returns at the Royal Rumble
Omega wins the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Velveteen Dream Is Hollywood Hogan
Becky Lynch retains at Evolution
WWE Evolution
"Carny Motherfucker" of the Year
Vince McMahon for everything (collaborating with the Trump administration, WWE's pro-Saudi Arabia propaganda, and bringing back the XFL over NFL players taking a knee to protest police brutality)
Angel o Demonio for throwing a brick at El Cuervo
Low Ki for dropping out of Matt Riddle's Bloodsport, tries to politick MVP into his spot, gets denied by GCW, shows up in NOLA anyway, and throws a tantrum in the hotel lobby when he found out that GCW canceled his hotel room because he backed out of the booking
Shawn Michaels for coming out of retirement for a blood money payment
Stephanie McMahon
WWE
Triple H for convincing people that he's different from Vince
Hulk Hogan for weaseling back in to WWE for a blood money payment
The Young Bucks
Fun 'n' Playful Carnyism of the Year
AAA's TripleMania, but especially Vampiro at TripleMania farting so loudly his microphone picked it up and demanding his music before he would run in from commentary
Abbey Arthur, the wrestling fan who faked cancer for donations and later her own death
Jeff Jarrett somehow returns to lucha libre to shit up AAA with Konnan
Gabe Sapolsky for booking LAX against the Street Profits, for defending WWE's destruction of independent wrestling around the world, and for remarking on Twitter that he was surprised that old ROH DVDs are reselling for so much money
Trevor "Company" Mann's everything, but especially his Twitter "game"
Nanae Takahashi booking herself to win everything repeatedly
Joey Ryan returns at All In with his ghost dicks
CMLL for changing the main event to Aniversario way after tickets had gone on sale
WWE booking rookie celebrities into top spots
Gedo forgetting Naito's last IC title run
Jay White tosses Juice Robinson at the AXS announcing team, pissing off Jim Ross and Josh Barnett