The inclusion of MMA is just dumb.

I actually don't have a problem with Kane over Reigns there.

Reigns was in still in The Shield for almost half of the year and was perfectly fine in that role. Plus we was out of action for another month and a half.

This still leaves 4 or 5 months of overexposure, but Kane was unnecessarily inserted into pretty much every top feud throughout the whole year.

Got the definition of that award that makes more sense now. It goes to the guy the company overrates the most. I guess it could be Kane. I do remember last Monday that people in the viewing thread were laughing that he was on screen over 45 minutes. meh.

They should really change the name of those awards to "most overexposed" and "most underexposed" (or something like that). That's clearly the intent.

It is interesting that Santino won best gimmick in a landslide a couple of times but Mizdow didn't even win. Thought they would be rated more similarly.

The company overrates Reigns the most, but since he was injured much of the year I can see how Kane can win. About 10% of Kane's feuds have been good in his career and he might be the all time leader in aids angles. Yet he's almost 50 and is still defiling main angles.

Ibushi deserves better for the first two awards. I get the impression his style would translate pretty well to the audience that doesn't watch Japanese wrestling currently.

Fun fact: Kane has won "Worst Feud of the Year" SEVEN times. Pretty amazing when you think about it.

My thoughts on just a few awards:

Wrestler of the Year: I'd have given this to AJ instead of Nakamura. Nice to see Bryan got the most American votes.
Most Outstanding Wrester: AJ definitely deserves this for his run in NJPW as champ and in the G-1 tourney. Ishii was also worthy because the guy is just as consistent as can be and also had 3 of the top 10 matches of the year.
Most Charismatic: Nobody comes anywhere close to Nakamura for this. He oozes charisma. I'd have gone Nakamura, Bryan, Tanahashi, Lesnar for top 4.
Best Flying Wrestler: Ricochet deserves it. Ibushi was also close to him, more than the votes indicate. They had a tremendous match on 6/21. I think Meltzer rated it ****3/4.
Match of the Year: I'd probably have Wyatts vs Shield #1, followed by, Nakamura vs Okada, Zayn vs Cesaro, (insert a bunch of G-1 matches here)
Best Wrestling Show: Shocked that the December NXT event isn't in the top 10 even though UFC 168 is.
Promoter of the Year: NJPW's president got 30x the vote of Vinny Mac LOLZ.

How is Summerslam 10th?

Outside of the Dean/Seth lumberjack match and SUPLEXREPEAT, I recall that being a pretty meh event.

Matt Striker getting the 8th best and 7th worst announcer is hilarious.

If the voting for politicians was done like this, we would eventually have somebody getting best and worst politician in the same year.

Bump because apparently the 2015 awards are either released or about to be soon.

Google brings up the winners of the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair award (Wrestler of the Year):

1. AJ Styles
2. Tanahashi
3. Okada
4. Shinsuke

Amazing that the big 4 of NJPW are 1-4 and 2 of them are gone.

.

edit: Two amazing achievements for the 'E

Tbf, the second one kind of makes sense since they run the most angles with all of their programming.

I think the styles clash is a terrible finisher

I also don't like the Style Clash. Looks really awkward to me how the guy taking it has to hold AJ's legs.

I still think it's stupid he includes MMA.

Found the top five for most categories posted elsewhere.

LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD - WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
1. AJ STYLES (299) 2,507
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (160) 1,674
3. Kazuchika Okada (136) 1,532
4. Shinsuke Nakamura (190) 1,481
5. John Cena (55) 976

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
1. AJ STYLES (334) 2,631
2. Shinsuke Nakamura (149) 1,254
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (134) 1,146
4. Kazuchika Okada (72) 870
5. Roderick Strong (82) 712

BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW
1. RONDA ROUSEY (758) 4,671
2. Conor McGregor (147) 2,677
3. Brock Lesnar (19) 953
4. John Cena (5) 596
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi (3) 226

FEUD OF THE YEAR
1. CONOR MCGREGOR VS. JOSE ALDO (342) 1,995
2. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (216) 1,684
3. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens (45) 684
4. Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi (90) 645
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (72) 624

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
1. THE YOUNG BUCKS (382) 3,284
2. Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly (229) 2,204
3. New Day (167) 1,691
4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (86) 835
5. Naruki Doi & YAMATO (70) 637

MOST IMPROVED
1. BAYLEY (116) 1,397
2. Moose (94) 793
3. Sasha Banks (81) 654
4. Roman Reigns (75) 649
5. Baron Corbin (63) 617

BEST ON INTERVIEWS
1. CONOR MCGREGOR (524) 3,285
2. Paul Heyman (193) 1,839
3. Kevin Owens (73) 1,109
4. New Day (23) 369
5. Jay Lethal (27) 360

MOST CHARISMATIC
1. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (418) 3,147
2. Conor McGregor (314) 2,293
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (64) 966
4. Bayley (45) 387
5. Ronda Rousey (61) 378

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER
1. ZACK SABRE, JR. (346) 2,411
2. Kyle O'Reilly (130) 1,099
3. Timothy Thatcher (77) 841
4. Roderick Strong (40) 356
5. Shinsuke Nakamura (56) 279

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD - BEST BRAWLER
1. TOMOHIRO ISHII (426) 2,994
2. Katsuyori Shibata (72) 1,051
3. Kevin Owens (133) 1,006
4. Brock Lesnar (111) 828
5. Tomoaki Honma (24) 532

BEST FLYING WRESTLER
1. RICOCHET (583) 3,708
2. Kota Ibushi (144) 1,327
3. Will Ospreay (109) 847
4. Matt Sydal (24) 737
5. Neville (37) 618

MOST OVERRATED
1. KANE (211) 1,775
2. Roman Reigns (186) 1,121
3. Sheamus (85) 755
4. Big Show (46) 702
5. Charlotte (58) 466

MOST UNDERRATED
1. CESARO (477) 2,643
2. Neville (39) 527
3. Luke Harper (22) 407
4. Sasha Banks (39) 337
5. Mascara Dorada (15) 271

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
1. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (354) 3,290
2. UFC (383) 2,286
3. Ring of Honor (55) 1,137
4. Lucha Underground (56) 880
5. Dragon Gate (79) 798

BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW
1. WWE NXT (347) 3,148
2. Lucha Underground (410) 3,112
3. New Japan World Pro Wrestling (197) 1,803
4. Ring of Honor (73) 918
5. WWE Monday Night RAW (4) 97

PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. KOTA IBUSHI 1/4 TOKYO (319) 2,429
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 8/16 Tokyo (207) 1,519
3. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks 8/22 Brooklyn (107) 1,173
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 1/4 Tokyo (90) 939
5. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins 1/25 Philadelphia (57) 619

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
1. CHAD GABLE (539) 3,299
2. Jay White (159) 2,395
3. Dana Brooke (51) 1,357
4. Kazusada Higuchi (48) 671
5. Cody Hall (33) 431

BEST NON-WRESTLER
1. DARIO CUETO (362) 2,394
2. Paul Heyman (358) 2,373
3. Xavier Woods (61) 736
4. William Regal (56) 547
5. Stephanie McMahon (13) 343

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER
1. MAURO RANALLO (625) 3,751
2. Corey Graves (57) 819
3. Shimpei Nogami (96) 774
4. Josh Barnett (3) 676
5. Kevin Kelly (74) 572

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER
1. JOHN LAYFIELD (225) 2,016
2. Michael Cole (107) 1,179
3. Jerry Lawler (127) 1,117
4. Byron Saxton (101) 1,005
5. Josh Matthews (93) 815

BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
1. NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 9 1/4 TOKYO (614) 3,663
2. UFC 189 7/11 Las Vegas (104) 1,039
3. WWE WrestleMania 31 3/29 Santa Clara (89) 953
4. NXT Takeover Brooklyn 8/22 (67) 797
5. New Japan Dominion 7/5 Osaka (11) 604

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER
1. AJ STYLES - STYLES CLASH 137
2. The Young Bucks - Meltzer Driver 131
3. Kazuchika Okada - Rainmaker 93
4. Neville - Red Arrow 86
5. Ricochet & Matt Sydal - Double Shooting Star Press 45

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
1. WWE USING REID FLEIHR'S DEATH IN AN ANGLE 618
2. WWE Divas Revolution 26
3. TNA having James Storm push Mickie James onto the train tracks 24
4. WWE changing Ultimate Warrior's words and meaning in giving the Warrior Award 17
5. Lucha Underground & indie men vs. women matches 15

WORST TELEVISION SHOW
1. WWE RAW 470
2. TNA Impact 169
3. WWE SmackDown 66
4. Lucha Underground 9

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. PSYCHO CIRCUS VS. VILLANOS 8/9 MEXICO CITY 396
2. Royal Rumble 1/25 Philadelphia 137
3. Big Show vs. Erick Rowan Stairs Match 12/14/14 Cleveland 60
4. Intercontinental Elimination Chamber 5/31 Corpus Christi 57
5. TNA Gauntlet for the Gold 10/4 Concord, NC 32

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR
1. TEAM PCB VS. TEAM BAD VS. TEAM BELLA 221
2. Seth Rollins vs. Kane 111
3. Dolph Ziggler & Lana vs. Rusev & Summer Rae 110
4. Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt 72
5. Kingdom vs. Bullet Club 43

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
1. TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION 423
2. World Wrestling Entertainment 151
3. AAA 37

BEST BOOKER
1. PAUL LEVESQUE/RYAN WARD 317
2. Gedo 314
3. Joe Silva 117
4. Chris DeJoseph/Chris Roach 61
5. Dragon Gate team 56

BEST GIMMICK
1. NEW DAY 213
2. Dalton Castle 200
3. Los Ingobernables 129
4. Bayley 71
5. Finn Bálor 44

WORST GIMMICK
1. STARDUST 155
2. Alberto Del Rio Mex-America 85
3. Divas Revolution 54
4. Adam Rose 52
5. The Authority 45

WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
1. AAA TRIPLEMANIA 8/9 MEXICO CITY 483
2. WWE Royal Rumble 1/25 Philadelphia 79
3. WWE TLC 12/14/14 Cleveland 74
4. WWE Survivor Series 11/22 Atlanta 58
5. TNA Bound for Glory 10/4 Concord, NC 48

BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK
1. YES! MY IMPROBABLE JOURNEY TO THE MAIN EVENT OF WRESTLEMANIA (DANIEL BRYAN & CRAIG TELLO)

BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD
1. DANIEL BRYAN: JUST SAY YES! YES! YES!

"WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. PSYCHO CIRCUS VS. VILLANOS 8/9 MEXICO CITY 396"

That seemed to get more votes than everything else put together. Someone's going to have to cliff this for me.

In the discussion of worst match I've ever seen.

Some of the 'worst' categories seem like troll bait. If you were an unknown wrestler in an obscure promotion it'd be tempting to go all-in for one of these awards.

Someone should really change the title of this thread.

And the NJPW thread, for that matter. Almost didn't click on it because I thought it was old.

Wow, that was awful. What were they even trying to accomplish there?


Also, how did Sheamus/Orton not finish in the top 5 worst feuds of the year. I think it was 100x worse than Wyatt/Reigns

Thanks, I think.

Two thoughts:

1) if you put the villanos in a giant bowl and poured milk in, would the milk turn purple?

2) needed more of Chris Jericho wandering in, lighting up a jacket, and leaving.

#1 in this category needs to be Smackdown piping in crowd noise. Had to turn it off last night because of this. A basic chop from a diva receives a bottom of the ninth World Series walk-off grand slam cheer.

Lmao excellent

Vince has been popping in crowd noise like that for over 25 years in a row on taped shows though, so people have become desensitized to it. LKJ pointed out awhile ago the enormous pops Greg Valentine would get as a face, and if you look at the crowd for one of his face matches 99.9% of the people are not cheering or making noise at all.