-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
JANUARY WRASSLIN' |OT| ALL EYES ON TOKYO / / LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE
- Thread starter Brian_FETO
- Start date
- Status
Work visa issues are absolutely killing that relationship for them. The OWE locker room has so many talents.
I've been waiting ages for Gao Jingjia , Monk Zhao Yilong and Mr Cool to show up. Also kinda want to see Achilles Ben take QT Marshalls apple and crush it with his bicep flex since he does that all the time.
Jeff Jarrett saved New Japan Pro Wrestling, thank you Bullet Club member Jeff Jarrett
At least CIMA, Lindaman and T-Hawk are working all over the US so I don't think its a visa issue. AEW just doesn't seem to have faith that US fans are going to tune in for wrestlers from the US or Mexico except for the Lucha Bros.
She will not no-show that Oz ticket sales event in Gunma!
She's advertised for a ticket selling event with OZ on the same day, so it doesn't seem likely at this point.
Edit: Also, if she was coming in for anything other than a one-off match, I couldn't see her playing 2nd to Giulia. It would have to be her leading the faction.
The Lapsed Fan being part of the collective is something I didn't expect. They're doing a live show Friday at noon
I think rightly they're focusing on getting the people they have under contract over first with their TV time. I think you'll see some different folks in once they need some fresh match-ups.
What I really want is a suzukigun track suit. But he doesn't make many of them per year, and by the time I get a proxy to make the order they're already sold out.
The one he had the year they took out okada in new years dash was the best
The one he had the year they took out okada in new years dash was the best
Winged Eagle is for nerds, now Superb Owl? there's a belt hook
I like it. Very 90s.
Can't unhear
So what's his maverick name, Stardust....badger? damn I can't fully finish this until NJPW succumb to weird animal nicknames like in the WWE
Never forget WILDCAT KOFI KINGSTON
They are coming to Denver so some sort of lucha shindy that I will be going to. Watching Lindaman live will be a treat.
Well, I was not expecting to see the best frog splash of today's wrestling world. My knees started to hurt for some reason...
So Danhausen got signed or no? Haven't heard any news specifically mentioning his ROH signing being a signing.
If he has signed with them, I'd imagine he won't be starting full time until post-Mania, as he has other commitments Mania weekend (the WrestleVania show with WARHORSE).
Yeah, makes sense why it would be quiet. Pretty sure he signed. Would hope he'd be a package deal with WARHORSE as they're just completely delightful.
Yeah moving from ace to subordinate of a 2nd year rookie would be pretty shocking. Super curious to find out where Saori ends up.
Shingo and Ospreay probably at the RoH show too. Wonder who else from NJPW is also coming. Maybe ZSJ? Juice and Finlay seem like a lock.
I think there is enough people at WM weekend for both shows to do fine, even if RoH card ens up being bad. As far as I remember, RoH always draws good that week.
Have they said they are doing takeover that weekend yet? I normally wouldn't question it but if they do still have it Saturday when do they do the Hall of fame stuff since Smaclown would be Friday and Raw Monday. Thursday? 5 big events in a row is a bit much.
Praying that Kagetsu puts it on her retirement card as a proper retirement for Hazuki.
Thanks again to everyone for voting in the 2019 Carny Awards. We reached a record 160 responses this year! Once again, we have shown that our community represents the breadth and depth of conflict play appreciation. The Carny Awards rely on the community to nominate and to vote, so we could not have done this without you.
For historical purposes, here are the 2018 Carny Awards results posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
And here are the 2017 Carny Awards results posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Here are the Carny Awards Results, Part 1; the other parts will be up later today. I'm splitting them up to avoid overloading anyone with gifs.
Male WWE Superstar of the Year
WINNER:
Adam Cole: 34.7%
Kofi Kingston: 26%
Daniel Bryan: 19.3%
WALTER: 7.3%
Keith Lee: 6.7%
Bray Wyatt: 6%
Once again, an NXT wrestler dominates the Male WWE Superstar of the Year category. After not even getting on the ballot last year, Adam Cole wins the category by having showcase main event matches in this year's TakeOvers:
vs. Johnny Gargano, TakeOver: New York
vs. Johnny Gargano, TakeOver: XXV
vs. Johnny Gargano, TakeOver: Toronto
Men's WarGames match, TakeOver: WarGames 2019
Add to that, you also have his TV matches against Finn Balor, Pete Dunne, Daniel Bryan, Matt Riddle, Akira Tozawa, AR Fox, and Ricochet this year, and you can see that he got the spotlight and held on to it throughout the year. I saw how the crowd loved him at TakeOver: New York because he's become the cool tweener champion in NXT, and he is, if nothing else, a very giffable presence.
Kingston had the storyline leading to hsi championship win over Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania this year. I'll be honest; it's hard to write about any of these other guys because I haven't watched more than 10 hours of WWE programming in 2019; I want to know who the nine voters for Bray Wyatt were and why they voted for him. At least Keith Lee is cool.
Female WWE Superstar of the Year
WINNER:
Io Shirai: 31.6%
Becky Lynch: 30.3%
Asuka: 15.1%
Rhea Ripley: 11.2%
Shayna Baszler: 9.9%
Bianca Belair: 2%
After a landslide victory for Becky Lynch in 2018, Lynch loses to Io Shirai by 2 votes for the 2019 Carny for Best Female WWE Superstar. Io Shirai's heel turn gave her a spark; even as the nominal face of NXT and Stardom, there was always something heelish about her, and the NXT heel turn really unleashed it. Unfortunately, her heel turn came during Shayna Baszler's reign of terror, so she hasn't been able to harness the energy from this heel turn into a championship run yet.
Becky Lynch capped her rise with a victory in the main event at WrestleMania 35 and immediately used that momentum to go into a feud with...Lacey Evans. Asuka, meanwhile, is splitting time between being a tag team champion and running her YouTube channel. Ripley got over her "heated gaming moment" to end Baszler's reign of terror. Bianca Belair started the year with a championship match against Baszler at TakeOver: Phoenix, but her momentum really seemed to stall for the rest of the year.
Best Male Non-WWE Wrestler of the Year
WINNER:
Will Ospreay: 34.6%
Kazuchika Okada: 21%
Jon Moxley: 16.7%
Chris Jericho: 11.1%
Cody: 6.8%
David Starr: 5.6%
Konosuke Takeshita: 4.3%
Will Ospreay did the impossible this year: he won a Twitter feud. He also won the Best of the Super Juniors in 2019, had a decent showing in the G1 as a junior (even if he didn't get many victories during his debut G1 run), and he found the time to work in RevPro, World of Sport, Fight Club Pro, PROGRESS, White Wolf Wrestling, APC, ATTACK!, and MCW this year. All in all, he worked 124 matches in 2019 around the world, and the quality of his matches was consistently high, particularly if you enjoy his brand of flippy wrestling. But let 2019 be remembered as the year that WIll Ospreay won a Twitter feud over Seth Rollins. Let's hope that he continues to stay on the good side of social media in 2020.
Okada, meanwhile, had his normally good year. His IWGP title reign had some good matches, and he had a good set of matches in the G1. The argument for Okada is that he's underrated because e's consistently good, so it's only notable when he's not good or when he's exceptionally good. Moxley resurrected his drawing appeal this year with his escape from WWE and reminded everyone why people were excited about him. We're still waiting for his post-WWE matches against Nick Gage, SHLAK, and John Zandig, but we did get a deathmatch in the main event of a major American company's PPV in 2019 thanks to Moxley, the purveyor of violence. The inaugural AEW Champion, Chris Jericho worked hard to overcome his physical limitations to carry the company's main event through his promos and charisma. Cody, meanwhile, is the company's nominal top babyface, gets by on his charisma and the fact that he's the face of the company over his consistently good but never great in-ring work. David Starr was the top independent wrestler of the year, working every promotion that would be willing to book him to a total of 139 matches in 2019. Konosuke Takeshita continues to toil in relative obscurity in DDT, which is a damned shame because he is one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Best Non-WWE Female Wrestler of the Year
WINNER:
Tessa Blanchard: 35.6%
Kris Statlander: 23.7%
Riho: 18.7%
Jungle Kyona: 10%
Sareee: 6.9%
Jamie Hayter: 5%
The 57 voters for Tessa Blanchard are officially canceled for giving her the 2019 Carny Award for Best Female Non-WWE Wrestler of the Year this year. Until we were reminded what a dubious person she is, she was getting by on her family name and her hard work in obscurity in Impact Wrestling, where she started the year feuding with Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts Championship. From there, she feuded with Gail Kim and faced Glenn GIlbertti, finishing the year in a feud with Sami Callihan and the rest of OVE. She was also a face of WOW Women of Wrestling this year. Kris Statlander overcame her awful alien gimmick to rocket up to prominence in the North American independent women's wrestling scene, ending the year by signing with AEW. Riho became the anchor of the AEW women's division after working in Gatoh Move and Stardom, and her energy and entrance theme are absolutely delightful. Jungle Kyona is probably benefiting more from Hana Kimura's appearances on Terrace House than even Hana is. Sareee is arguably the workate workhorse of the group, and now she'll get her talents squandered if she really does sign with WWE. Jamie Hayter is great, but her talents weren't enough to garner more than eight votes of support.
Best Tag Team of the Year
WINNER:
The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix): 43.8%
The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly): 22.5%
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson): 12.5%
Proud -N- Powerful (Santana & Ortiz): 11.9%
Magical Sugar Rabbits (Mizuki & Yuka Sakazaki): 7.5%
Bear Country (Bear Bronson & Bear Beefcake): 1.9%
The Lucha Brothers are, quite simply, one of the best tag teams in the world. Their feuds with LAX (Santana & Ortiz) in Impact Wrestling and AAW, the Young Bucks in AAA and AEW, and a low key feud with Jack Evans across a variety of promotions highlighted the year were highlights in their respective promotions. The Undisputed Era carries on in NXT. Other, more knowledgeable folks can tell you more about Magical Sugar Rabbits, but suffice it to say that they energetic and a joy to watch. Bear Country is the independent hoss team in this poll; I don't love their work, but I want to see them grow as a team. We need more hoss teams out there.
"The Drizzling Shits" Award for Worst On-Screen Performer
"WINNER":
Baron Corbin: 28.1%
Brandi Rhodes: 23.1%
Lacey Evans: 18.1%
Josh Bodom: 11.9%
Seth Rollins: 11.3%
Leva Bates: 7.5%
Jesus, save us from Baron Corbin, who went from looking like he was late for his shift at TGI Fridays (and wrestled like he would have been better off working there). His match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania was awful. His King Corbin gimmick and feud with Roman Reigns has been awful. Other than a match against Chad Gable, his in-ring work has been awful. Brandi Rhodes's year was capped by the ongoing terrible Nightmare Collective gimmick. Lacey Evans was a poor first feud for Becky Lynch after Lynch won both women's championships in WWE; then again, she would have been a poor second, third, fourth, or tenth feud for Lynch or pretty much anyone. Josh Bodom is a mediocre wrestler at best, and he's a bullying piece of shit; Flammable D's dream of seeing Josh Bodom win this category is dead because it faced the stiff combination from Corbin, Rhodes, and Evans. Seth Rollins is at least saved by his (overrated) in-ring work. Leva Bates is one of the early missteps in AEW's series of missteps in 2019.
"The Rusev" Award for Most Underutilized Performer
WINNER:
Sami Zayn: 27.5%
Aleister Black: 18.8%
Cesaro: 18.8%
Orange Cassidy: 15.6%
Luchasaurus: 11.2%
Hazuki: 8.1%
Outside of NXT, Sami Zayn has been consistently underutilized by WWE, so it's no surprise that he continues to be underutilized. At least he's getting fairly consistent on screen time as Shinsuke Nakamura's mouthpiece; I don't think anyone could have predicted this fate after their match together at TakeOver: Dallas years ago. Aleister Black was also hit with the main roster promotion problem, where he would be stuck in a closet cutting spooky promos for months. We may need to rename the award for Cesaro, who has never risen above the tag team scene. Orange Cassidy should be more than a meme in AEW; he has a bizarre charisma, and he can actually wrestle. Same goes for Luchasaurus, who at least has a fairly hot faction and time on his side. Hazuki was, indeed, so underrated that she remained underrated even after retirement.
"The Hot Take" Most Overrated Wrestler of the Year
"WINNER":
Charlotte: 42.9%
Kenny Omega: 13.6%
Jay White: 13.6%
Cody: 12.3%
Chris Jericho: 9.1%
Will Ospreay: 8.4%
Having not watched much WWE programming this year, I have no idea what Charlotte did to earn this award this year. I'll just have to take your collective word for it. The others are the ones that you'd expect because they get prominently pushed by their companies. Kenny Omega has taken a step back from shining in ring to focus on developing the AEW women's division; honestly, he should take even more time to improve it. Jay White is a divisive wrestler because he has the full heel gimmick under Gedo's booking, where he has constant interference in his matches by other members of his faction and drags the match quality down. Not giving the audience what they want is certainly one way to get heel heat, but it can become the wrong kind of heat. Jericho is entertaining on the mic, but his choices in podcast guests leaves a lot to be desired. Cody is the face of AEW, and he's the kind of making the most of his limitations. It also means that he feels overpushed. Ospreay will always get votes in this category, even when he's retired.
Comeback of the Year
WINNER:
Jon Moxley: 52.8%
KENTA: 16.6%
Dustin Rhodes: 9.8%
Roman Reigns: 8%
Arisa Hoshiki: 6.7%
Katsuyori Shibata: 6.1%
It's amazing what leaving WWE can apparently do for you if you're motivated. Moxley went from a house show feud with Seth Rollins to a househow feud with EC3 to a heatless feud with Drew McIntyre to that last run with the Shield gimmick where WWE tried to wring a few last dollars out of the Shield. After that, he had one of the best announcement videos of the year, beat the shit out of Shota Umino and inspired a wave of Jon + Shota + Renee memes, worked the G1 and had some killer matches against the likes of Tomohiro Ishii, and joined AEW, where he brought ultraviolence to the masses with that Lights Out match against Omega at AEW Full Gear that I still can't believe happened. KENTA also left WWE and had a similar turnaround, joining NJPW for a G1 run, turning heel and joining the Bullet Club, getting his ass beat by Shibata, and finding a bit of the old Pro Wrestling NOAH KENTA again. Dustin Rhodes also left WWE and had a great match against his brother; he's not a great commentator, but at least he tries in and out of the ring. Arisa Hoshiki came back to wrestling after years in the MMA wilderness and didn't look like she missed a beat. Katsuyori Shibata delivered said beating to KENTA, but he couldn't complete his comeback by getting in the ring. If he had been able to get cleared for a match, he would have definitely challenged Moxley for this award. Nonetheless, judging by how the American young lions are doing, particularly Karl Fredericks, he's doing well as the American dojo trainer.
"The King Kong Bundy WrestleMania 2 to 3" Fall from Grace Award
"WINNER":
ROH Wrestling: 40.7%
Kenny Omega: 24.7%
Seth Rollins: 21%
Phil "CM Punk" Brooks: 8.6%
Rusev: 3.7%
Aleister Black: 1.2%
You said it, Tama Tonga. Let's review ROH's 2019:
-Declining attendance
-Desperation to garner attention by posting to YouTube for free one of the biggest shows of their year, Final Battle, less than a month after it aired on PPV
-A disastrous run by Matt Taven that no amount of meme-making can convince anyone that it was good
-A heatless championship reign by Rush
-Putting their relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling at risk by booking Enzo Amore and Big Cass without telling them and having them run a worked shoot angle at the end of the IWGP (and ROH) World Tag Team Championship match at NJPW's most important show of the year, the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden.
-Firing their women's championship, Kelly Klein, while she was injured
-Joey Mercury's ongoing Twitter shoot about the ways that ROH is mismanaged
It's been a long time since Peak ROH or even the second peak in the HDNet era, but this was a particularly bad year for ROH.
Kenny Omega's decision to take a step back so he can focus on building AEW and its women's division look especially damning when you think about how much oxygen Brandi Rhodes's Nightmare Collective has taken from a division in its infancy. Even if he won AAA's Mega Championship, he's gone from the Best Bout Machine to Worst Booking Machine. Seth Rollins lost a Twitter feud to Will Ospreay and was so unlikable that they had to turn him heel. CM Punk can insist all he wants that he's getting paid by Fox, but he is in the end once again associated with a WWE product. Rusev's on-screen life went full cuckoldry. Aleister Black wrapped up his NXT run with a great tag team championship match with Ricochet against the War Raiders/Viking Experience/whatever they're named; are they still employed by WWE, and then he disappeared for months after on the main roster.
Most Improved Wrestler
WINNER:
Adam Page: 52.1%
The Up Up Girls: 18.5%
The OJMO: 9.6%
Kamiyu: 8.9%
Naoya Nomura: 8.2%
Chuck Mambo: 2.7%
I guess the voters like them some Cowboy Shit since they overwhelmingly voted for "Hangman" Adam Page for Most Improved this year. I took a slight risk in stocking this category this year with people who are up and coming in the hopes that people would advocate for their favorites, but the voters went with the most familiar name of the group in the end. My personal favorite was Naoya Nomura, and I'll leave it to others to describe why someone other than Adam Page should have won Most Improved this year.
"The Big Show" Award for Please Retire
"WINNER":
The Undertaker: 38.3%
Jim Ross: 27.8%
Bad Luck Fale: 13.6%
Dolph Ziggler: 12.3%
Christopher Daniels: 6.8%
Tomoaki Honma: 1.2%
I had to implement the "No Vince McMahon" rule here, since he would dominate this category until he dies.
Ah, the Undertaker. It's been time for this (allegedly) racist piece of trash to hang it up for years, but we saw how washed up he is in 2019. Of course, that won't stop him from getting his bit of blood money in 2020. Jim Ross actively makes AEW Dynamite worse than it should be every week that he provides commentary, and I wish AEW would let him go. Bad Luck Fale is a physical wreck, but NJPW isn't the type of company to actively push someone out the door when they have a valuable asset like a training school that provides them with a pipeline of talent. Dolph Ziggler could disappear and only be missed because we would miss his awfulness. Christopher Daniels radiates dad energy, and he's absolutely cringeworthy in SCU. Tomoaki Honma hasn't been the same since his serious injury, and I wish he would stop wrestling before he hurts himself again.
Later today: part 2!
For historical purposes, here are the 2018 Carny Awards results posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
And here are the 2017 Carny Awards results posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Here are the Carny Awards Results, Part 1; the other parts will be up later today. I'm splitting them up to avoid overloading anyone with gifs.
Male WWE Superstar of the Year
WINNER:
Adam Cole: 34.7%
Kofi Kingston: 26%
Daniel Bryan: 19.3%
WALTER: 7.3%
Keith Lee: 6.7%
Bray Wyatt: 6%
Once again, an NXT wrestler dominates the Male WWE Superstar of the Year category. After not even getting on the ballot last year, Adam Cole wins the category by having showcase main event matches in this year's TakeOvers:
vs. Johnny Gargano, TakeOver: New York
vs. Johnny Gargano, TakeOver: XXV
vs. Johnny Gargano, TakeOver: Toronto
Men's WarGames match, TakeOver: WarGames 2019
Add to that, you also have his TV matches against Finn Balor, Pete Dunne, Daniel Bryan, Matt Riddle, Akira Tozawa, AR Fox, and Ricochet this year, and you can see that he got the spotlight and held on to it throughout the year. I saw how the crowd loved him at TakeOver: New York because he's become the cool tweener champion in NXT, and he is, if nothing else, a very giffable presence.
Kingston had the storyline leading to hsi championship win over Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania this year. I'll be honest; it's hard to write about any of these other guys because I haven't watched more than 10 hours of WWE programming in 2019; I want to know who the nine voters for Bray Wyatt were and why they voted for him. At least Keith Lee is cool.
Female WWE Superstar of the Year
WINNER:
Io Shirai: 31.6%
Becky Lynch: 30.3%
Asuka: 15.1%
Rhea Ripley: 11.2%
Shayna Baszler: 9.9%
Bianca Belair: 2%
After a landslide victory for Becky Lynch in 2018, Lynch loses to Io Shirai by 2 votes for the 2019 Carny for Best Female WWE Superstar. Io Shirai's heel turn gave her a spark; even as the nominal face of NXT and Stardom, there was always something heelish about her, and the NXT heel turn really unleashed it. Unfortunately, her heel turn came during Shayna Baszler's reign of terror, so she hasn't been able to harness the energy from this heel turn into a championship run yet.
Becky Lynch capped her rise with a victory in the main event at WrestleMania 35 and immediately used that momentum to go into a feud with...Lacey Evans. Asuka, meanwhile, is splitting time between being a tag team champion and running her YouTube channel. Ripley got over her "heated gaming moment" to end Baszler's reign of terror. Bianca Belair started the year with a championship match against Baszler at TakeOver: Phoenix, but her momentum really seemed to stall for the rest of the year.
Best Male Non-WWE Wrestler of the Year
WINNER:
Will Ospreay: 34.6%
Kazuchika Okada: 21%
Jon Moxley: 16.7%
Chris Jericho: 11.1%
Cody: 6.8%
David Starr: 5.6%
Konosuke Takeshita: 4.3%
Will Ospreay did the impossible this year: he won a Twitter feud. He also won the Best of the Super Juniors in 2019, had a decent showing in the G1 as a junior (even if he didn't get many victories during his debut G1 run), and he found the time to work in RevPro, World of Sport, Fight Club Pro, PROGRESS, White Wolf Wrestling, APC, ATTACK!, and MCW this year. All in all, he worked 124 matches in 2019 around the world, and the quality of his matches was consistently high, particularly if you enjoy his brand of flippy wrestling. But let 2019 be remembered as the year that WIll Ospreay won a Twitter feud over Seth Rollins. Let's hope that he continues to stay on the good side of social media in 2020.
Okada, meanwhile, had his normally good year. His IWGP title reign had some good matches, and he had a good set of matches in the G1. The argument for Okada is that he's underrated because e's consistently good, so it's only notable when he's not good or when he's exceptionally good. Moxley resurrected his drawing appeal this year with his escape from WWE and reminded everyone why people were excited about him. We're still waiting for his post-WWE matches against Nick Gage, SHLAK, and John Zandig, but we did get a deathmatch in the main event of a major American company's PPV in 2019 thanks to Moxley, the purveyor of violence. The inaugural AEW Champion, Chris Jericho worked hard to overcome his physical limitations to carry the company's main event through his promos and charisma. Cody, meanwhile, is the company's nominal top babyface, gets by on his charisma and the fact that he's the face of the company over his consistently good but never great in-ring work. David Starr was the top independent wrestler of the year, working every promotion that would be willing to book him to a total of 139 matches in 2019. Konosuke Takeshita continues to toil in relative obscurity in DDT, which is a damned shame because he is one of the best wrestlers in the world.
Best Non-WWE Female Wrestler of the Year
WINNER:
Tessa Blanchard: 35.6%
Kris Statlander: 23.7%
Riho: 18.7%
Jungle Kyona: 10%
Sareee: 6.9%
Jamie Hayter: 5%
The 57 voters for Tessa Blanchard are officially canceled for giving her the 2019 Carny Award for Best Female Non-WWE Wrestler of the Year this year. Until we were reminded what a dubious person she is, she was getting by on her family name and her hard work in obscurity in Impact Wrestling, where she started the year feuding with Taya Valkyrie for the Knockouts Championship. From there, she feuded with Gail Kim and faced Glenn GIlbertti, finishing the year in a feud with Sami Callihan and the rest of OVE. She was also a face of WOW Women of Wrestling this year. Kris Statlander overcame her awful alien gimmick to rocket up to prominence in the North American independent women's wrestling scene, ending the year by signing with AEW. Riho became the anchor of the AEW women's division after working in Gatoh Move and Stardom, and her energy and entrance theme are absolutely delightful. Jungle Kyona is probably benefiting more from Hana Kimura's appearances on Terrace House than even Hana is. Sareee is arguably the workate workhorse of the group, and now she'll get her talents squandered if she really does sign with WWE. Jamie Hayter is great, but her talents weren't enough to garner more than eight votes of support.
Best Tag Team of the Year
WINNER:
The Lucha Brothers (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix): 43.8%
The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly): 22.5%
The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson): 12.5%
Proud -N- Powerful (Santana & Ortiz): 11.9%
Magical Sugar Rabbits (Mizuki & Yuka Sakazaki): 7.5%
Bear Country (Bear Bronson & Bear Beefcake): 1.9%
The Lucha Brothers are, quite simply, one of the best tag teams in the world. Their feuds with LAX (Santana & Ortiz) in Impact Wrestling and AAW, the Young Bucks in AAA and AEW, and a low key feud with Jack Evans across a variety of promotions highlighted the year were highlights in their respective promotions. The Undisputed Era carries on in NXT. Other, more knowledgeable folks can tell you more about Magical Sugar Rabbits, but suffice it to say that they energetic and a joy to watch. Bear Country is the independent hoss team in this poll; I don't love their work, but I want to see them grow as a team. We need more hoss teams out there.
"The Drizzling Shits" Award for Worst On-Screen Performer
"WINNER":
Baron Corbin: 28.1%
Brandi Rhodes: 23.1%
Lacey Evans: 18.1%
Josh Bodom: 11.9%
Seth Rollins: 11.3%
Leva Bates: 7.5%
Jesus, save us from Baron Corbin, who went from looking like he was late for his shift at TGI Fridays (and wrestled like he would have been better off working there). His match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania was awful. His King Corbin gimmick and feud with Roman Reigns has been awful. Other than a match against Chad Gable, his in-ring work has been awful. Brandi Rhodes's year was capped by the ongoing terrible Nightmare Collective gimmick. Lacey Evans was a poor first feud for Becky Lynch after Lynch won both women's championships in WWE; then again, she would have been a poor second, third, fourth, or tenth feud for Lynch or pretty much anyone. Josh Bodom is a mediocre wrestler at best, and he's a bullying piece of shit; Flammable D's dream of seeing Josh Bodom win this category is dead because it faced the stiff combination from Corbin, Rhodes, and Evans. Seth Rollins is at least saved by his (overrated) in-ring work. Leva Bates is one of the early missteps in AEW's series of missteps in 2019.
"The Rusev" Award for Most Underutilized Performer
WINNER:
Sami Zayn: 27.5%
Aleister Black: 18.8%
Cesaro: 18.8%
Orange Cassidy: 15.6%
Luchasaurus: 11.2%
Hazuki: 8.1%
Outside of NXT, Sami Zayn has been consistently underutilized by WWE, so it's no surprise that he continues to be underutilized. At least he's getting fairly consistent on screen time as Shinsuke Nakamura's mouthpiece; I don't think anyone could have predicted this fate after their match together at TakeOver: Dallas years ago. Aleister Black was also hit with the main roster promotion problem, where he would be stuck in a closet cutting spooky promos for months. We may need to rename the award for Cesaro, who has never risen above the tag team scene. Orange Cassidy should be more than a meme in AEW; he has a bizarre charisma, and he can actually wrestle. Same goes for Luchasaurus, who at least has a fairly hot faction and time on his side. Hazuki was, indeed, so underrated that she remained underrated even after retirement.
"The Hot Take" Most Overrated Wrestler of the Year
"WINNER":
Charlotte: 42.9%
Kenny Omega: 13.6%
Jay White: 13.6%
Cody: 12.3%
Chris Jericho: 9.1%
Will Ospreay: 8.4%
Having not watched much WWE programming this year, I have no idea what Charlotte did to earn this award this year. I'll just have to take your collective word for it. The others are the ones that you'd expect because they get prominently pushed by their companies. Kenny Omega has taken a step back from shining in ring to focus on developing the AEW women's division; honestly, he should take even more time to improve it. Jay White is a divisive wrestler because he has the full heel gimmick under Gedo's booking, where he has constant interference in his matches by other members of his faction and drags the match quality down. Not giving the audience what they want is certainly one way to get heel heat, but it can become the wrong kind of heat. Jericho is entertaining on the mic, but his choices in podcast guests leaves a lot to be desired. Cody is the face of AEW, and he's the kind of making the most of his limitations. It also means that he feels overpushed. Ospreay will always get votes in this category, even when he's retired.
Comeback of the Year
WINNER:
Jon Moxley: 52.8%
KENTA: 16.6%
Dustin Rhodes: 9.8%
Roman Reigns: 8%
Arisa Hoshiki: 6.7%
Katsuyori Shibata: 6.1%
It's amazing what leaving WWE can apparently do for you if you're motivated. Moxley went from a house show feud with Seth Rollins to a househow feud with EC3 to a heatless feud with Drew McIntyre to that last run with the Shield gimmick where WWE tried to wring a few last dollars out of the Shield. After that, he had one of the best announcement videos of the year, beat the shit out of Shota Umino and inspired a wave of Jon + Shota + Renee memes, worked the G1 and had some killer matches against the likes of Tomohiro Ishii, and joined AEW, where he brought ultraviolence to the masses with that Lights Out match against Omega at AEW Full Gear that I still can't believe happened. KENTA also left WWE and had a similar turnaround, joining NJPW for a G1 run, turning heel and joining the Bullet Club, getting his ass beat by Shibata, and finding a bit of the old Pro Wrestling NOAH KENTA again. Dustin Rhodes also left WWE and had a great match against his brother; he's not a great commentator, but at least he tries in and out of the ring. Arisa Hoshiki came back to wrestling after years in the MMA wilderness and didn't look like she missed a beat. Katsuyori Shibata delivered said beating to KENTA, but he couldn't complete his comeback by getting in the ring. If he had been able to get cleared for a match, he would have definitely challenged Moxley for this award. Nonetheless, judging by how the American young lions are doing, particularly Karl Fredericks, he's doing well as the American dojo trainer.
"The King Kong Bundy WrestleMania 2 to 3" Fall from Grace Award
"WINNER":
ROH Wrestling: 40.7%
Kenny Omega: 24.7%
Seth Rollins: 21%
Phil "CM Punk" Brooks: 8.6%
Rusev: 3.7%
Aleister Black: 1.2%
You said it, Tama Tonga. Let's review ROH's 2019:
-Declining attendance
-Desperation to garner attention by posting to YouTube for free one of the biggest shows of their year, Final Battle, less than a month after it aired on PPV
-A disastrous run by Matt Taven that no amount of meme-making can convince anyone that it was good
-A heatless championship reign by Rush
-Putting their relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling at risk by booking Enzo Amore and Big Cass without telling them and having them run a worked shoot angle at the end of the IWGP (and ROH) World Tag Team Championship match at NJPW's most important show of the year, the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden.
-Firing their women's championship, Kelly Klein, while she was injured
-Joey Mercury's ongoing Twitter shoot about the ways that ROH is mismanaged
It's been a long time since Peak ROH or even the second peak in the HDNet era, but this was a particularly bad year for ROH.
Kenny Omega's decision to take a step back so he can focus on building AEW and its women's division look especially damning when you think about how much oxygen Brandi Rhodes's Nightmare Collective has taken from a division in its infancy. Even if he won AAA's Mega Championship, he's gone from the Best Bout Machine to Worst Booking Machine. Seth Rollins lost a Twitter feud to Will Ospreay and was so unlikable that they had to turn him heel. CM Punk can insist all he wants that he's getting paid by Fox, but he is in the end once again associated with a WWE product. Rusev's on-screen life went full cuckoldry. Aleister Black wrapped up his NXT run with a great tag team championship match with Ricochet against the War Raiders/Viking Experience/whatever they're named; are they still employed by WWE, and then he disappeared for months after on the main roster.
Most Improved Wrestler
WINNER:
Adam Page: 52.1%
The Up Up Girls: 18.5%
The OJMO: 9.6%
Kamiyu: 8.9%
Naoya Nomura: 8.2%
Chuck Mambo: 2.7%
I guess the voters like them some Cowboy Shit since they overwhelmingly voted for "Hangman" Adam Page for Most Improved this year. I took a slight risk in stocking this category this year with people who are up and coming in the hopes that people would advocate for their favorites, but the voters went with the most familiar name of the group in the end. My personal favorite was Naoya Nomura, and I'll leave it to others to describe why someone other than Adam Page should have won Most Improved this year.
"The Big Show" Award for Please Retire
"WINNER":
The Undertaker: 38.3%
Jim Ross: 27.8%
Bad Luck Fale: 13.6%
Dolph Ziggler: 12.3%
Christopher Daniels: 6.8%
Tomoaki Honma: 1.2%
I had to implement the "No Vince McMahon" rule here, since he would dominate this category until he dies.
Ah, the Undertaker. It's been time for this (allegedly) racist piece of trash to hang it up for years, but we saw how washed up he is in 2019. Of course, that won't stop him from getting his bit of blood money in 2020. Jim Ross actively makes AEW Dynamite worse than it should be every week that he provides commentary, and I wish AEW would let him go. Bad Luck Fale is a physical wreck, but NJPW isn't the type of company to actively push someone out the door when they have a valuable asset like a training school that provides them with a pipeline of talent. Dolph Ziggler could disappear and only be missed because we would miss his awfulness. Christopher Daniels radiates dad energy, and he's absolutely cringeworthy in SCU. Tomoaki Honma hasn't been the same since his serious injury, and I wish he would stop wrestling before he hurts himself again.
Later today: part 2!
Last edited:
I'm surprised that Jericho is willing to record anything without a shitlord like Eric Trump or a flat-earther alongside him.
Lol at Charlotte being called overrated in the year she's been on the backburner in WWE
Charlotte derangement syndrome is real.
Charlotte derangement syndrome is real.
Fess up: how many of the 20 votes for Ziggler for Please Retire are actually you?
Not necessarily. I could see AEW voters split among Jericho, Moxley, and Cody for Best Male Non-WWE, but I think Ospreay and Okada got the votes that I would have expected from them. Statlander got pushed by AEW, but it's not like voters were going to vote for Sareee or Jamie Hayter there. Tessa got a lot of votes before yesterday, after all. Lucha Bros. worked everywhere in 2019; they had substantive presences in Impact, MLW, AAW, AAA, and AEW. It would have been hard not to vote for them. The Bucks are a known quantity, so they were a safe choice. You could probably feel it most in Comeback of the Year, but Moxley benefited from the NJPW and AEW crowds. The AEW tilt is in full effect for Most Improved, but that's also not surprising since the other options are European independent wrestlers, joshi, and an AJPW guy. I think we can see how AEW's influence affects the other categories later today.
Last edited:
Friendo, if I'd stuffed the ballot like I seemingly should've, then Charlotte would be absolved of her crimes of simply existing in favour of Jericho main events.
that's how you know I'm in the clear!
I voted for her a couple weeks ago. This was before she showed her ass on the tweeties. I knew about her previous bullying, and how Ricochet was only offered a WWE contract if she went home, for good. But I hadn't known about the rest. That said, her work from a technical perspective is right up there. She is one of the best at wrestling. Not at being a human being. But it also wasn't put out there like that until the other day.Tessa Blanchard: 35.6%
- Status