PWInsider.com Year-End Awards!

And now, we begin our wrapping-up-the-year thing with my votes in the PWInsider.com poll for their year-end awards…my movie column will be arriving soon.

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: A.J. Styles

Little contest on this one. No wrestler was more consistently involved with better matches, no wrestler consistently got more out of his opponents regardless of their skill level, no wrestler has inspired more of my friends to give wrestling a second look than A.J. Styles. From the Ultimate X, to the two Ironman matches, to the Unbreakable 3-way, to the classic match vs. Joe to close the year, A.J. has been THE reason to watch wrestling all year long. If Samoa Joe had been introduced earlier in the year, he may be in this slot, but for this category I look for who did the most year-round…and for this one, A.J. is, no doubt, the man.

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR: America’s Most Wanted

MNM were great over on SmackDown, but consistently undercut by nonsensical title switches, and didn’t really have a break-out, blow-the-doors-off match to put them over the top. AMW came into the year off of one of the best matches in TNA history - the cage match vs. Triple X - and continued to bring the goodness year-round. They were the champs most of the year, feuded with the Naturals, turned heel effectively, and sprouted funny personalities, too. They’re the team to watch in ‘06.

MATCH OF THE YEAR: A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels - Unbreakable, 9/11/05

Lots of good stuff this year: Michaels/Angle from WrestleMania will probably win the vote, since it was WrestleMania and more people saw it. A.J./Joe from Turning Point had a better story and more drama. But this three-way from September has done more to get more people re-invigorated about wrestling than any other match I’ve shown in years. And I’ve watched it time and time again, and I gotta say, it’s as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen a match since the Flair/Steamboat classics. I mean, no blown spots or flubs, just flat-out awesomeness from bell to bell. And the brilliance of the booking protected all three men and has set up the continuing awesomeness we’ve gotten all fall. The other two are excellent choices, but in my mind, no match from this year will stick in my memory longer than this one.

ANNOUNCER OF THE YEAR: Mike Tenay

Joey Styles is one of the best announcers ever, but he’s still growing into his new role on Raw. Jim Ross, ditto, but he’d kinda gone downhill as of late before he got canned. But Tenay has blossomed into one of the best announcers around, striking just the right balance of expertise, analysis, enthusiasm and emotion. He never takes a match off.

COLOR COMMENTATOR OF THE YEAR: Tazz

Little contest on this one. Lawler annoys the cr@p out of me. Coachman is worse. Don West has improved by leaps and bounds, but he’s still not great. That leaves Tazz, who’s consistently the most enjoyable and insightful color man in the business. And more or less the best reason to keep watching SmackDown.

HOTTIE OF THE YEAR: Trish Stratus

First and foremost, I didn’t name this category, I promise. :) That said, Melina is a great manager and a great personality over on SmackDown, but really hasn’t shown all her cards…yet. Meanwhile, Trish was champ the whole year, consistently one of the most entertaining personalities on Raw, whether she was playing face or heel, and has carried basically the entire women’s division, even though she was on the shelf for months with a back injury. No contest.

FEUD OF THE YEAR: A.J. Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe

Angle/Michaels delivered some great matches, but was fairly short and self-contained. Eddie/Rey delivered awesome matches, but the storyline itself was groaningly horrible. Edge/Matt Hardy was the most talked about, but was botched from start to finish by creative. But this three-way war over the X-Division title had lead to no end of incredible matches all fall, helped establish Samoa Joe as wrestling’s brightest new star, and sets up more incredible things for ‘06.

FLYER OF THE YEAR: Rey Mysterio

See, I don’t really consider A.J. a “flyer” per se…he’s just awesome all-around in the ring. Christopher Daniels is more of a tactician with the ability to fly. But Rey Mysterio has been consistently setting the bar against which high-flying wrestling is judged, and this year, with awesome matches against Eddie and others, he’s proven his value to WWE as, probably, their 3rd biggest baby face.

BRAWLER OF THE YEAR: Abyss

While Samoa Joe will probably win the vote, he’s too good at every aspect of his game to be considered just a “brawler”. But Abyss, who started the year as little more than a blend of Mankind and Kane, ends it having established his own niche and identity, as well as putting on the most entertaining brawls against such varying opponents as A.J., Jeff Hardy and Sabu. You’ll see this big man’s name again before I’m done.

TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR: Samoa Joe

While Kurt Angle (current leader) is indeed one of the best ever, Joe gets my vote here for his efforts to re-define what technical wrestling and psychology is. Not just “pick one body part and hit it,” but using moves in combination, taking advantage of every opportunity to apply another variation of a hold. Watching Joe work is like a revelation of what wrestling moves can really be, and no one will have more of an impact on the future of the business than him. Mark my words.

SHOW OF THE YEAR: TNA Unbreakable (9/11/05)

WrestleMania is WrestleMania, and draws more buys than any other simply because of its history, but it was overall kinda mediocre and had Triple H in the main event. ECW One Night Stand was an incredible event that offered fans a chance to relive a wonderful time of history, but was on and off in terms of actual match quality and had the terrible addition of the Raw/Smack Down “Invasion” storyline. But Unbreakable was THE best wrestling show this year, top to bottom. No match was a clunker, everyone worked their butts off, and the whole shebang was capped with the match of the year. And no Jeff Jarrett.

BEST INTERVIEWS OF THE YEAR: Christian Cage

Captain Charisma established himself as a major player with his mike skills in ‘05, and somehow no one in WWE noticed. Their loss, as he headed to TNA and has continued to be the most continuously entertaining talker in the game. Expect big things from this one this year.

MOVE OF THE YEAR: Samoa Joe’s Muscle Buster

The Canadian Destroyer is amazing to behold, but the Muscle Buster looks just as devastating, and has been a major part of the reason Joe has gotten over to the degree he has. You can believe that if he hits you with that, you’re not getting up.

COMEBACK OF THE YEAR: Sabu

No contest - the man started the year confined to a bed and having benefit shows held in his honor. A year later, he’s having awesome matches with Abyss in the feud that established the big man as a player, and somehow has regained his old form as one of the best in the game. ECW may get the sympathy vote from fans who miss the promotion, but that “comeback” was short-lived. Sabu, on the other hand, is one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen, and in some way, a testament to the human spirit.

ANGLE/STORYLINE OF THE YEAR: Samoa Joe disrespects TNA’s X Division, remains undefeated

Joe’s status as a rebel who is dominating an entire division sets him up as an amazing heel for ‘06, and also has already contributed to a great match - A.J. vs. Joe at Turning Point.

CHARACTER OF THE YEAR: Carlito

If you can judge this one best based upon how the average person reacts to them, Carlito wins it hands down. Steph, who’s barely watched wrestling lately, immediately reacted to and loved Carlito from the moment she first saw him. Other friends have followed suit. He’s just mastered a truly fascinating and entertaining persona that is instantly readable, and gets my vote on that basis alone.

MOST IMPROVED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Abyss

A major progression for the big man, from mid-card dweller to true monster heel. And whereas before he had few great performances to his name, he now has the cage match with A.J. and the awesome Sabu feud on his resume. Bravo, dude.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Samoa Joe

No, he’s not a true newcomer, but he’s new to millions and millions of folks via TNA and Spike TV, ergo, he’s my winner here.

NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR: TNA gets on Spike TV

(Note: PWInsider has omitted deaths from consideration in this category, otherwise Eddie would be the obvious vote.)

TNA hasn’t broken through to the mainstream yet, but they have gotten on the map. (To the point where they’re actually leading the voting for the following award so far.) Another wrestling company is on national TV, and drawing steady and strong ratings in a late night timeslot. Edge/Lita/Hardy may have drawn more intrigue, but this is by far the more important story to the business as a whole.

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR: TNA

They made it onto the radar. They put on awesome shows. They established new stars and brought in great talent that the opposition deemed unnecessary. All these moves, WWF did back in the day when WCW was falling apart. And now, they are doing a damn good job of playing WCW. The stars of TNA, by and large, are young, they’re hungry, they’re working their butts off to make the best show possible. It’s time for a new breed, my friends, and this is it. TNA is the easy winner this year.

STUPIDEST THING ABOUT WRESTLING THIS YEAR: WWE Creative

Bar none. When I cannot even watch a WWE show even ONCE without snorting incredulously at something either ridiculous, repetitive, or both, that’s bad. When even I, a longtime wrestling fan from 1988, find myself detesting the very company I’ve supported all that time, it’s worse. And as long as Daddy’s Girl stays at the top of the creative reign of power, and Vince keeps using WWE for little more than an excuse for his own amusement (that’s no storyline, that’s reality), this will keep on like this. Sigh.