The Reality of Wrestling: Awards 2007
By Phil Clark
Late, but still great
With the Royal Rumble and New Japan’s Tokyo Dome show, 2008 has truly begun. However, I would be amiss if I didn’t give you my best of the year that was. Enjoy.
MOMENT OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Homicide wins ROH Title (ROH Final Battle 2006)
2nd Place: Kenta Kobashi returns after battling cancer (NOAH, 12/2)
3rd Place: Mutoh & Chono pay tribute to Hashimoto (NJPW 1/4 Tokyo Dome show)
4th Place: The Age of the Fall is born (Project 161) (ROH Man Up)
5th Place: Quinton Jackson unifies PRIDE & UFC Lt. Heavyweight titles (UFC 75)
6th Place: Cena chokes Umaga out with a noose (Royal Rumble)
7th Place: Undertaker wins one more world title (WM 23)
8th Place: Randy Couture wins UFC Heavyweight title at age 43 (UFC 68)
9th Place: Remembering Mrs. Jarrett (Slammiversary)
10th Place: SUWA goes out in style (1/21 NOAH Budokan show)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Elix Skipper’s tightrope walk on top of a steel cage
2006: Yoshihiro Takayama returns to wrestling two years after suffering a stroke
Kobashi coming back any other year would’ve been #1 and quite frankly it should’ve been #1. Mutoh & Chono’s tribute was a beautiful moment at the end of the biggest show in Japanese wrestling and being there live to see the Age of the Fall’s birth was incredible. However, Homicide’s title win did represent everything that is right in wrestling today. Yeah, I might be overhyping it, but who cares? Think about it: a six month chase that began with my 2006 angle of the year and ended with a title change filled with more emotion than just about anything the Big Two can put out there. This is an example of why I watch wrestling.
STORY OF THE YEAR
WINNER: The Chris Benoit Tragedy
2nd Place: Fertitta Brothers buy PRIDE
3rd Place: Ring of Honor debuts on PPV
4th Place: Hogan/Lawler fiasco in Memphis
5th Place: ROH title match headlines NOAH Budokan Hall card, ROH invades Japan
6th Place: Injuries run rampant in The E
7th Place: Upsets run rampant through MMA world (Cro Cop, Sylvia, Silva, St. Pierre)
8th Place: Kurt Angle all over Japan (IGF, NJPW, AJPW)
9th Place: Samoa Joe challenges for GHC Title, main-events 10/27 NOAH Budokan show
10th Place: New Japan starts “feud†with TNA
Previous Winner(s)
2005: The Lita/Edge/Matt Hardy love triangle
2006: Yakuza crackdown causes Pride and any DSE related product to be taken off of Fuji TV
Sadly, this had to be #1. Nobody saw it coming and the sting is going to take plenty of time to wear off. While the Hogan/Lawler fiasco had everything a great and surreal story in wrestling needed and the Fertitta brothers purchase of Pride marked the death of a once great promotion, all of these seem irrelevant compared to a very real tragedy in a very fake business. Not only that, but the ramifications of the events of that final weekend in June are still being felt: the Benoit family implosion, the steroid controversy in wrestling, TNA adopting a wellness policy and The E continuing its futile attempt at one. As I said, how could this not be #1?
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: John Cena (WWE)
2nd Place: Nigel McGuinness (ROH)
3rd Place: Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: A.J. Styles
2006: Bryan Danielson
I wouldn’t have thought for a minute that Cena would win wrestler of the year when 2007 began. But let me tell you, I’m glad he did. Cena seemed to be another example of wasted potential due to an early push, but Cena finally was able to master his style of brawling instead of bridging the gap between brawler and technical wrestler and the result was the best year of his career in The E (minus OVW). The classics with HBK, making his first world title match with Orton count, the four-way at Backlash withstanding, it was Cena’s ability to get the most out of otherwise unreliable wrestlers (The Great Khali, Umaga, Bobby Lashley) is why he deserves wrestler of the year. McGuinness had plenty of great matches this year and Tanahashi had the best year of his career, but the master of the five-knuckle shuffle takes home the big prize this year.
TAG-TEAM OF THE YEAR
WINNER: The Briscoe Brothers (ROH)
2nd Place: Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (TNA)
3rd Place: Jado & Gedo (NJPW)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA
2006: Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita
Was there any doubt here? While Jado & Gedo had plenty of good matches and Sabin & Shelley seem to be the best thing in tag-wrestling between the Big Two, it’s the boys from Delaware that get my pick here. The feud with Steen & Generico would’ve been enough to win, but a series of great performances in NOAH not to mention being able to get a great match out of any team—including a series of makeshift teams—only furthers my point that these guys are indeed the standard in tag wrestling. Oh yeah, and they had that great one with Sabin & Shelley. Trust me, it was worth the hype.
TECHNICAL WRESTLER
WINNER: Bryan Danielson (ROH)
2nd Place: Kurt Angle (TNA)
3rd Place: Nigel McGuinness (ROH)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Kurt Angle
2006: Bryan Danielson
Had it not been for the shoulder injury, Danielson would’ve likely won a second straight wrestler of the year. Unbelievable that a guy could miss five months, come back, and not miss a beat. The classics with Morishima, McGuinness, the best-of-three with Aries are just more examples of how Danielson can help put together a classic with guys in different ways than you’re used to seeing out of those he’s faced.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
WINNER: Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW)
2nd Place: Minoru (NJPW)
3rd Place: Katsuhiko Nakajima (AJPW)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: KENTA
2006: KENTA
KENTA’s reign of terror on the light heavyweight division seems to be over as light heavyweights the world over seemed to have been rejuvenated in 2007 with Ryusuke Taguchi being the best example of it. I didn’t even know who Taguchi was at the end of last year, but I sure as hell do now. The series with Minoru and his overall improvement during the course of the year highlighted by a great showing in New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tourney making him a close winner in a very tight race this year. I’m hoping the glory days of light heavyweight wrestling are returning.
BRAWLER
WINNER: Takeshi Morishima (NOAH)
2nd Place: John Cena (WWE)
3rd Place: Togi Makabe (NJPW)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Abyss
2006: Samoa Joe
As I said above, Cena did finally become a great brawler this year and Makabe did enjoy a star making year, but it was Morishima—thanks to his ROH title reign—that was the best brawler in wrestling this year bar none. With the help of the big man/little man formula, Morishima was able to pull off wrestling’s best world title reign of 2007 with a series of incredible matches against a wide range of opponents and styles. The fact that Morishima did a lot with a limited moveset only furthers my belief that he did find his spark as a brawler. Goddamn were some of those matches stiff.
CARD OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Good Times, Great Memories (ROH, 4/28)
2nd Place: Wrestlemania XXIII
3rd Place: Supercard of Honor II (ROH, 3/31)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Wrestlemania 21
2006: Supercard of Honor
While Wrestlemania was easily The E’s best card and Supercard of Honor II featured three matches passing **** stars, I couldn’t say no to this Chicago show from last April. Think about it: a ***** tag title match, Colt Cobana’s farewell, four matches at *** or above (three bordering on ****) and Christopher Daniels giving the promo of the year in his ROH farewell? I think I’ve made my point.
BEST FEUD
WINNER: The Briscoes Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
2nd Place: Matt Sydal Vs. Delirious
3rd Place: Christian Cage Vs. Kurt Angle Vs. Samoa Joe
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Batista Vs. HHH
2006: Samoa Joe Vs. A.J. Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels
The Cage/Angle/Joe world title triangle was the best feud to come out of the Big Two this year, but ROH again takes top honors here. I was tempted to give the award to Sydal/Delirious simply because it was designed to be a comedy feud, but because of the quality of their matches it became a serious and very good one. But when it comes to creativity, excitement, hatred (all necessary aspects of a great feud), no feud in wrestling matched The Briscoes and Steen & Generico killing each other for about half of the year.
BEST ANGLE
WINNER: Chris Jericho’s return hyped by viral messages on WWE programming
2nd Place: Project 161 revealed as The Age of the Fall
3rd Place: TNA starts a REAL women’s division
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Yuji Nagata turns heel and forms Team JAPAN
2006: Homicide/Jim Cornette double turn after Cage of Death
While The Internet killed the moment for me, the angle was ingenious as Jericho’s return was widely known, but still intriguing with some creative stuff. While the angle did have a lot in common with Project 161, I have to throw a bone to The E as they did show some real effort here.
BEST PROMOTION
WINNER: Ring of Honor
2nd Place: New Japan Pro Wrestling
3rd Place: UFC
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Pro Wrestling NOAH
2006: UFC
This one was a no-brainer. ROH had the best wrestling in 2007 and they did a multitude of things to improve their standing as a promotion—getting onto Pay-Per-View, touring Japan for the first time, engaging in a talent exchange with NOAH, having their title main-event a Budokan Hall show. While New Japan has a rejuvenating year full of good angles and good wrestling, it wasn’t quite enough.
BEST T.V. SHOW
WINNER: RAW
2nd Place: iMPACT!
3rd Place: SmackDown!
Previous Winner(s)
2005: iMPACT!
2006: iMPACT!
I’ll keep this short and quick: The McMahon death angle, the T.V. match of the year, and the Benoit show. No contest.
BEST PROMOTIONAL MOVE
WINNER: ROH gets on Pay-Per-View
2nd Place: TNA gets second hour for iMPACT!
3rd Place: Fertitta brothers buy Pride
Previous Winner(s)
2005: TNA signs with Spike TV
2006: TNA gets prime time T.V. slot on Spike TV
For an Indy fed to get a PPV deal is a monumental step in its overall development as a promotion. Plus, it’s Ring of Honor, the fact that their product got onto PPV automatically was a good thing. TNA getting another hour was inevitable and UFC buying Pride was a great move for the promotion as it ended up adding much variety to their cards, but they let a lot of the big names get away. In ROH’s case, PPV was the next step and they got it.
BEST BOOKER
WINNER: Gabe Sapolsky (ROH)
2nd Place: Riki Choshu (NJPW)
3rd Place: Vince McMahon (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Mitsuharu Misawa
2006: Gabe Sapolsky
Again, it’s the man in charge at ROH that provides the most creative, effective, and consistent booking in the business. Despite the fact that Choshu proved this year that he’s still got the stuff when it comes to booking a promotion, Sapolsky has too much to show for this year not to be named best booker: Morishima’s title reign, Project 161, the return of Austin Aries, the unexpectedly great feuds, Misawa in ROH, the “one time use†of the ladder match, the list goes on. I already said that ROH had the best wrestling in the world this year, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they had the best booking too.
BEST FACE
WINNER: John Cena (WWE)
2nd Place: Shawn Michaels (WWE)
3rd Place: Bryan Danielson (ROH)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: John Cena
2006: Rey Mysterio
Say what you will about John Cena, but he knows how to get the fans involved with his matches emotionally. Any time Cena is in a big match or on the mic, the fans make the noise and in 2007 that was a good thing instead of him being booed out of places in ’06. While Michaels and Danielson were good faces they had shortcomings that prevented them from being the best faces in the business. Danielson’s shortcoming was that he’s always been a tweener and a loner in ROH and that’s more of a good thing. With Michaels he wasn’t on the air enough this year due to injury to make a bigger case for the award and while he was gone Cena became the #1 face in The E and with few faces getting even within reach of the heat Cena was able to get last year, it was another easy call.
BEST HEEL
WINNER: The Voodoo Murderers (AJPW)
2nd Place: Minoru Suzuki (AJPW)
3rd Place: Christian Cage (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Jeff Jarrett
2006: Jeff Jarrett
While Jarrett’s heel act bordered on the frustrating when he had the NWA title, The Voodoo Murderers have put the fun back in being a heel incorporating U.S. heel elements (chairs, interference, messing with people for the fun of it, the whole group attacking one guy) into Japan and became overwhelmingly cool and hated by All Japan fans. They were cool because they were different and hated because they went against universal traditions in Japanese pro wrestling. But they helped their face opponents gain heat whenever they faced them and were able to be strictly heel in the eyes of the fans—something that is more difficult to do in Japan than in the U.S.
MOST UNDERRATED WRESTLER
WINNER: Shelton Benjamin (WWE)
2nd Place: Alex Shelley (TNA)
3rd Place: Claudio Castagnoli (ROH)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Alex Shelley
2006: William Regal
Castagnoli & Shelley are underrated in that they are talented, but they’re not the most underrated because they are in promotions where the glass ceiling is at least occupied by capable wrestlers. In Benjamin’s case, he’s still got the talent and a bit more charisma than his Team Angle days, yet he was pretty much nowhere to be found except jobbing in 2007. The fact that he isn’t out there every week having ***-**** matches with Punk and Chavo is proof that not only is he underrated, he’s undervalued.
BEST INTERVIEW
WINNER: Christian Cage (TNA)
2nd Place: Edge (WWE)
3rd Place: John Cena (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Ric Flair
While Cena and Edge are good at riling up a crowd, in terms of interviews and emotion in promos, Christian Cage easily had the best year in wrestling on the mic. Cage became the #1 heel in the U.S. mainly for his work on the mic as a pompous, arrogant jerk who always bossed around his partner, a guy who’s bigger than him; if that isn’t a heel, then the term must have been redefined. Yes there is the badass heel going around shitkicking everyone, but Cage was the other kind of heel: the “me, me, me†kind of heel. And on the mic that’s usually the best kind of heel. Look at Flair’s interviews in the 80’s for proof of that.
WORST WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: The Great Khali (WWE)
2nd Place: Big Daddy V (WWE)
3rd Place: The Boogeyman (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Gene Snitsky
2006: The Boogeyman
He’s over seven feet tall, is slow as molasses, and only has two or three moves in his arsenal. Do I need to say anymore?
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Sting Vs. Abyss (Last Rites Match), TNA, 3/11
2nd Place: Fake Rosie O’Donnell Vs. Fake Donald Trump, WWE, 1/8
3rd Place: Christy Hemme Vs. Big Fat Oily Guy, TNA, 2/11
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Monty Brown Vs. Trytan
2006: The Sandman Vs. A Zombie
A coffin coming down from the ceiling? Are you kidding me? This one killed what could’ve been a good feud, killed any momentum Abyss had left and is an example of why Sting retiring soon is more of a good thing than a bad thing. Hearing those fans chant “Fire Russo†during this sealed this as the winner early. Fake Rosie/Fake Donald was done strictly for laughs, this was supposed to be taken seriously, hence it winning.
WORST ANGLE OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Mr. McMahon dies in limo explosion
2nd Place: Karen Angle turns heel during Joe/Angle match for every TNA belt
3rd Place: The James Gang becomes Voodoo Kin Mafia as a goof on Vince McMahon
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Kurt Angle getting “Jungle Fever†for Booker T’s wife
2006: Vince McMahon Vs. God
We’ll never know the full extent of this angle because of the Benoit tragedy, but it’s probably better that way because actually killing off a character in a wrestling show is fodder for Wrestlecrap (see Al Wilson). Since nobody actually thought Vince was dead (I hope not), it really wasn’t much of an angle to begin with and since the most likely finale would’ve been either Vince having a match with the attempted murderer or two guys fighting for/against Vince, I’m glad it ended prematurely.
WORST FEUD
WINNER: Sting Vs. Christopher Daniels
2nd Place: Vince McMahon Vs. Donald Trump
3rd Place: Sting Vs. Abyss
Previous Winner(s)
2006: Kevin Nash Vs. The X-Division
Most people would think that McMahon/Trump should win giving the worst three, but Daniels/Sting (like Nash/X-Division beating DX/Spirit Squad last year) was more frustrating. The feud had the right beginning and the makings of something good, but it not only ended abruptly, but also ended in a Sting squash at the anniversary show. What was the point? At least McMahon/Trump had a goal in mind, and by the way, they delivered on that goal.
WORST PROMOTIONAL MOVE
WINNER: TNA signs, pushes Adam “Pacman†Jones
2nd Place: K-1 hosts first U.S. MMA show at L.A. Coliseum
3rd Place: TNA fails to give Samoa Joe world title reign
Previous Winner(s)
2005: WWE’s borderline racist/prejudicial portrayal of the Muhammad Hassan, Kerwin White, and Mexicools characters
2006: NJPW pushing Brock Lesnar as an unbeatable monster
This one was just plain bullshit as TNA looked to get the wrong kind of media attention and didn’t really even get that. And to give him one half of the tag belts when he wasn’t allowed to even wrestle signaled the death of that division for a while.
WORST BOOKER
WINNER: Vince Russo (TNA)
2nd Place: Vince McMahon (WWE)
3rd Place: Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama (NOAH)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: New Japan Booking Committee
2006: Jeff Jarrett & Vince Russo
I’ve said everything I need to say about Russo. After all the disasters within TNA that his booking can be attributed to, nobody even comes close.
WORST CARD OF THE YEAR
WINNER: TNA Against All Odds
2nd Place: WWE Judgment Day
3rd Place: TNA Sacrifice
Previous Winner(s)
2005: WWE Great American Bash
2006: WWE Great American Bash
The Bash finally takes a year off from being persona non grata when it comes to terrible shows. Against All Odds had everything a truly shitty card needed: terrible angles, no Samoa Joe, big fat oily guy and Christy Hemme given a match against each other, Dale Torborg, and Cage/Angle turning from a show saving match into a disaster. Hell, this year the Bash really wasn’t that bad compared to others.
MOST OVERRATED WRESTLER
WINNER: Kurt Angle (TNA)
2nd Place: Bobby Lashley (WWE)
3rd Place: HHH (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: John Cena
2006: Rob Van Dam
People will hate this decision, but let me explain: when you have a standard for yourself and you can’t meet that standard, you are overrated; when you’re name is Kurt Angle and you can’t meet that standard, you are the most overrated wrestler in the world. We are used to seeing Kurt Angle go out and have the best match of the night more times than not, but in ’07, if he wasn’t facing Samoa Joe, it didn’t become a classic and in a lot of cases didn’t even end up really good. Granted, Angle had Russo’s main-event booking going against him, but that’s another reason why Steve Austin was so good and so revered during the Attitude Era: he had to deal with that same kind of booking and he was still able to put on classics. The Nagata match clocked in at **** with others, and me so I’m guessing Kurt won’t repeat in this category. Thank god.
SHOOTFIGHTER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Quinton “Rampage†Jackson (UFC)
2nd Place: Anderson Silva (UFC)
3rd Place: Randy Couture (UFC)
Previous Winner(s)
2006: Mirko Cro Cop
He fought three times in 2007; two of those wins were for titles thus unifying the 205-pound title in MMA. That’s enough of a résumé for fighter of the year, but add to that that his two title wins came against Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson. That clinched it as Quinton proved to be a most versatile fighter beating two great fighters with two completely different styles at their own game both times. Couture’s comeback and Silva’s domination of the 185-pound division proved incredible as well this year, but Rampage has to get the nod.
SHOOT FIGHT OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Takanori Gomi Vs. Nick Diaz, Pride 33
2nd Place: Clay Guida Vs. Tyson Griffin, UFC 72
3rd Place: Dan Henderson Vs. Quinton Jackson, UFC 75
Previous Winner(s)
2006: Kazushi Sakuraba Vs. Kestutis Smirnovas
Forget the NSAC decision; this was a war and was exactly what Pride needed at a Vegas show. Gomi & Diaz went out there and put on the best kind of show: an action packed battle full of emotion and a couple of things rarely seen in MMA. Like boxing, in MMA the lighter fighters are usually the one’s who put on the really good matches and this was a perfect example.
The Reality is…what a year. Like every year it had it’s ups and downs. While a lot of the downs this year were really, really down, there were plenty of ups to balance out the world. For the Benoit tragedy, Pride being bought, and Joe not getting the title again, there was John Cena becoming a good worker again and The Briscoes tearing it up every night and light heavyweights reviving their careers. The year saw plenty of injuries, but also saw new faces emerge on the wrestling horizon. While it wasn’t the funnest year to be a wrestling fan, to say it was the worst of times would be taking away credit from those who did toil and scratch and claw to bring some good in a business that showed its negatives a bit too boldly this past year. You’ve read the best and the worst, now discuss it amongst yourselves because that is the point of awards and reflection in the world of pro wrestling: the debate. You won’t hear that from announcers or wrestlers, but you’ll hear it from me: if you’re still talking about it, you must still be enjoying it on some level.
