One last look at 2008
To start the next 100 for this column, I’m finally wrapping up 2008, with the awards for last year going first. The best matches will follow later in the week. Enjoy
NOTE: These awards are based on things I’ve SEEN. Also, the voting period was December 1, 2007 to December 1, 2008
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Shawn Michaels (WWE)
2nd Place: Kurt Angle (TNA)
3rd Place: Nigel McGuinness (ROH)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: A.J. Styles
2006: Bryan Danielson
2007: John Cena
If Michaels is in fact riding off into the sunset next year, he can always say that he was at the top of his game in the ring until the end, 2008 was proof of that. Being involved in the biggest angle and best feud of the year not to mention both producing good results in the ring, not to mention how he got some good stuff in several PPV matches with Batista shows that Michaels still has the versatility to get great matches out of any kind of opponent. Angle bounced back in a big, big way after a disappointing 2007 with several near-classics against Christian Cage, a show stealing match with Yuji Nagata at the Tokyo Dome, his matches with Joe & A.J. all added up to another great year from a guy who we expect it from. Nigel used his first full year as ROH champ to have a title reign that will rival Danielson’s when all is said and done as his matches against Danielson and Aries and many others including a big surprise with his title defense against NOAH’s Go Shiozaki.
TAG-TEAM OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (TNA)
2nd Place: Masato Yoshino & Naroki Doi (Dragon Gate)
3rd Place: The Briscoe Brothers (ROH)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA
2006: Ikuto Hidaka & Minoru Fujita
2007: The Briscoe Brothers
This one should’ve been a no-brainer as no team in all of wrestling (any country, any promotion) had the moveset, speed, and put on a better show than Sabin & Shelley. Doi & Yoshino come close and it wasn’t a surprise that their match with the guns was one of the best T.V. matches of the year as was it not a surprise that the guns’ rematch with The Briscoes (a match I was at live) was a match of the year candidate. In the end, Sabin & Shelley managed to entertain and showup every team they faced while jobbing to most of them. However the few moments (the World X Cup being an example) where they were allowed to shine reminded you that these two were the best in tag team wrestling on the planet.
BEST 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
2007: Bryan Danielson
Not much of a surprise as Angle picked up his mat game again, but not enough to surpass Danielson, who seems to be able to pick up this honor without much effort anymore. Such is the greatness of this guy and the attention to detail that allows Danielson to say he’s the best wrestler in the world and people will believe it more than when most people in The E say it.
BEST LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
WINNER: Katsuhiko Nakajima (Kensuke Office)
2nd Place: Kota Ibushi (DDT)
3rd Place: A.J. Styles (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: KENTA
2006: KENTA
2007: Rysuke Taguchi
No light heavyweight anywhere on the planet did more to up his game and stand out on his own than Katsuhiko Nakajima who I believe fully moved out of the shadow of his mentor Kensuke Sasaki and has become his own man in the wrestling world. In other words, Nakajima isn’t just Sasaki’s protégé anymore, he’s a new face on the scene destined for big things. Ibushi could point at ’08 as his breakout year as well with a stint in ROH going very well as was his appearance in the NTV Cup tag tourney teaming with Nakajima. Despite Joe holding the best, A.J. retook the position as ace for TNA inside the ring with a great year that saw him pull his weight and turn his feud with Angle into one that couldn’t miss inside the ring.
BEST BRAWLER
WINNER: Masato Tanaka (Zero-One MAX)
2nd Place: Necro Butcher (ROH)
3rd Place: Samoa Joe (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Abyss
2006: Samoa Joe
2007: Takeshi Morishima
The fact that this guy is only known for his matches with Awesome is criminal; granted those were great matches. However, just about everything Tanaka has touched since his appearance at One Night Stand 2005 has turned to gold and 2008 was no exception. He is the sole reason that the New Japan/Zero-One MAX feud had so much intensity inside the ring as his matches with Kanemoto, Nagata, Makabe, and Nakanishi (a big surprise) helped make the feud the best in Japan. Add to that his matches within Zero-One MAX against Sekimoto, Sai, and Sato and there isn’t too much you can give me to take him off the top spot. Necro Butcher probably had the year of his career in ’08 and Joe did his best with his world title run, and while Necro was a lot crazier and Joe was more versatile, Tanaka still has the nod for doing more with a somewhat limited moveset against several people with less than that.
CARD OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Wrestlemania XXIV
2nd Place: NOAH 3/2/08 Budokan show
3rd Place: ROH sixth anniversary show
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Wrestlemania 21
2006: ROH Supercard of Honor
2007: ROH Good Times, Great Memories
The fact that I was in Orlando for Mania does add to this decision a bit, but it was exactly the kind of show that Mania is supposed to be: it had the celebrity presence as well as the freakshow element with Mayweather, the historical significance with Flair’s retirement match, a great main-event with Taker/Edge, and an inoffensive undercard equals the most enjoyable show of the year as well as the one with something for everyone. The anniversary show for ROH featured two **** matches and NOAH’s first Budokan show featured Morishima’s title win and a six-man with Kobashi that you have to see to believe. So the choice wasn’t an easy one if that makes anyone who disagreed with it feel better.
BEST FEUD
WINNER: Shawn Michaels Vs. Chris Jericho
2nd Place: New Japan Vs. Zero-One MAX
3rd Place: NOAH Vs. Kensuke Office
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Batista Vs. HHH
2006: Samoa Joe Vs. A.J. Styles Vs. Christopher Daniels
2007: The Briscoes Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
Literally until around late-August, the feud from Japan was all but handed this honor from me (it had been that good of a feud). However, once Michaels & Jericho put their feud into overdrive both in the ring and on the mic, it was able to snatch the best feud honor right out from under the feud in Japan’s nose. I would’ve given a slight edge to the feud from Japan, but those final two months with Michaels & Jericho practically foaming at the mouth every time they had a mic near them as well as two match of the year candidates to finish the feud with the finale being many people’s pick for match of the year. Michaels/Jericho had a better ending and made up for whatever they lacked in intensity to begin the feud by out intensifying an inter-promotional feud. That’s why they win here.
BEST ANGLE
WINNER: Konnan steals Antonio Pena’s ashes
2nd Place: Ric Flair’s retirement when he loses
3rd Place: John Cena makes surprise return at Royal Rumble
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Yuji Nagata turns heel and forms Team JAPAN
2006: Homicide/Jim Cornette double turn after Cage of Death
2007: Chris Jericho’s return hyped by viral messages on WWE programming
Normally I wouldn’t have even liked this angle, and did feel a bit dirty because I liked this angle. However, the level of commitment to the angle as well as the execution and the almost hysteria it incited in the fans in Mexico have to put this one above all other angles in 2008. I loved the Flair angle and it was done basically perfect the whole way, including the retirement ceremony, but the fact that in this day, a wrestling angle could still be perceived as 100% real (the way this one was) means that all involved must be doing something right. From death threats, mainstream media coverage in Mexico, to just about everyone believing that the angle was real, how much better of a reaction could you be looking for from an angle?
BEST PROMOTION
WINNER: World Wrestling Entertainment
2nd Place: New Japan Pro Wrestling
3rd Place: Ring of Honor
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Pro Wrestling NOAH
2006: UFC
2007: Ring of Honor
This shouldn’t be much of a surprise as for one of the few times in its history, The E took a noticeable step to prepare for their future in 2008. C.M. Punk was given a quick title reign that ensured his main-event status, Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase Jr. were both put alongside Randy Orton in a three-man stable that made Rhodes & Dibiase a fixture on RAW in almost record time. Take those things along with debuts of Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger, as well as the noticeable in-ring improvements of Jeff Hardy, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, and all the other areas where The E reigned supreme this year (overall profits, PPV buys, quality of shows, house show attendance, merchandise, etc.) and it should be no surprise that this promotion did more to help themselves and their product than any other promotion on earth in ’08. Plus the fact that it was The E who was doing all of this (pushing new and young talent, long T.V. matches, etc.) made it all the more easy to make my pick in this category.
BEST T.V. SHOW
WINNER: RAW
2nd Place: SmackDown!
3rd Place: iMPACT!
Previous Winner(s)
2005: iMPACT!
2006: iMPACT!
2007: RAW
Again not much of a surprise as iMPACT! went almost bottom-up in ’08 as far as quality was concerned and while SmackDown! nearly snatched the best T.V. show honor with a late run, RAW gets the nod again. The Michaels/Jericho feud, another Vince McMahon is taken off T.V. with a crazy event (rigged stage collapse), the whole Flair retirement angle, C.M. Punk’s title win, the formation of Legacy, and the best parts of the women’s division all took place on RAW last year. While SmackDown! had the better in-ring product for a good chunk of the year—including most of the final quarter of the year—it still wasn’t enough as almost all of the major angles and feuds were showcased on Monday nights.
BEST PROMOTIONAL MOVE
WINNER: WWE turns Chris Jericho heel
2nd Place: WWE makes C.M. Punk world champ
3rd Place: WWE signs Floyd Mayweather Jr. for Wrestlemania
Previous Winner(s)
2005: TNA signs with Spike TV
2006: TNA gets prime time T.V. slot on Spike TV
2007: Ring of Honor gets on Pay-Per-View
While Mayweather did help Mania get mainstream attention and probably helped the final buy number somewhat, and Punk’s title win and title reign did make him a new main-event addition, it was Jericho’s heel turn that gave The E something they sorely needed: a fresh main-event heel. Orton had been a heel since ’05 and there were no heel turns in recent time that had given The E or its fans a heel that they could really hate and really feel hatred for. However, Jericho turning on HBK and the fans was the perfect remedy for this because Jericho had only been a heel against HBK since ’03 (unless you count the Cena feud in ’05) and because HBK is basically a lifetime face now, it was perfect. It created drama at every point of the feud that ensued, especially inside the ring. A feud whose matches were so great and so anticipated (because people knew what they’d be getting) that they had a main-event presence all by themselves and could be placed anywhere on the card and they would be treated as if they were the main-event. That is something that The E needed and surely appreciated, at least they showed their appreciation for Michaels anyway.
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
2007: Gabe Sapolsky
While Gabe won’t be able to go for a fourth straight, he will at least get the three-peat as being fired late in the year would not deny him this honor once again. The Age of the Fall/Austin Aries feud along with the McGuinness/Danielson feud were the two biggest parts of ROH through ’08 as they spanned basically the whole year and even went to Japan as both feuds were focused to a degree in ROH’s two Japan shows this year. It was Gabe who added some unpredictability to the tag division by having the Briscoes drop the belts on the final show of ’07 (within the voting period here) and had Steenerico finally win the belts this year as well. And Nigel’s title reign was loaded with challengers aside from Danielson. But also there was more Dragon Gate and NOAH participation adding match quality and interest to cards just by those moves. In the end, it was a third year in a row of consistently well booked shows and angles that give Gabe another year as the best booker in wrestling. While he won’t win this one again next year, it does look like Adam Pearce has learned a lot from Gabe as he is basically doing what Gabe would’ve done for the most part, the only difference being that he has seemed to slow it down a tad, which is not only what ROH was looking for when they made the change, but might also be a good thing in the long run.
BEST FACE
WINNER: Shawn Michaels (WWE)
2nd Place: Christian Cage (TNA)
3rd Place: A.J. Styles (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: John Cena
2006: Rey Mysterio
2007: John Cena
You can give Jericho part of the credit for this one, but there really was nobody in wrestling who could work a crowd and keep the crowd on their side as much as Michaels. Proof of this lies in the fact that the reason Jericho turned heel (Michaels can do good or bad and the fans will not care) was absolutely right, but Michaels was still able to be the good guy, especially with Jericho turning into an exceptionally good heel. And while Cage and Styles provided the two best faces TNA had—especially with the poor booking of Joe’s title reign—Michaels simply has the best hold on the crowd as there is basically zero chance that he will be booed for anything. To put that into perspective, John Cena is just as good a face, but the chances range from 70/30 to 50/50 that the crowd will boo him for whatever reason that night.
BEST HEEL
WINNER: Randy Orton (WWE)
2nd Place: Chris Jericho (WWE)
3rd Place: Edge (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Jeff Jarrett
2006: Jeff Jarrett
2007: The Voodoo Murderers
The formation of legacy and the soccer kick as an alternate finisher helped Orton find his groove again as a heel, the fact that he was able to help make the Rumble match with Jeff Hardy into the most anticipated match on the card should be a signal. Once the most effective in The E, Orton was able to retain that form as a heel this past year more on the mic than in the ring, evident by how effective his mic time was even during his injury. The reason Jericho doesn’t win this one is because he turned heel too late in the year, as Orton was a yearlong heel and Jericho turned in late May/early June. To be fair, I loved Edge this past year and think he probably had the best heel work overall as his promos before Summerslam (including the beatdown of Foley) were some of the best if not the best promos of Edge’s career up to this point. However, the Vickie Guerrero angle and too much assistance from his “family†(Orton was the superior with only two lackeys and Jericho basically worked alone) killed his chances.
MOST UNDERRATED WRESTLER
WINNER: MVP (WWE)
2nd Place: Shelton Benjamin (WWE)
3rd Place: Alex Shelley (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Alex Shelley
2006: William Regal
2007: Shelton Benjamin
This only makes me bitterer that they gave him the losing streak angle. I don’t believe there is any wrestler with less than three years in The E that has improved so much. Comparing MVP in 2007 and MVP in 2008 is like night and day. In ’07, the Benoit feud was what gave MVP his first really good matches in The E and the Matt Hardy angle helped him get good on the mic and at sports entertainment. However, MVP in ’08 saw his swagger become complete and his promos kept on being good, but more importantly he improved incredibly in the ring as his T.V. matches with both Hardys as well as Shelton Benjamin and others proved that on T.V. at least MVP was the MVP for SmackDown! when he was in the ring. Plus it didn’t hurt that the majority of his matches on T.V. or PPV were given at least 12 minutes and sometimes as long as 20, so he is a good example of why giving good workers time will pay dividends.
BEST INTERVIEW
WINNER: Chris Jericho
2nd Place: Kurt Angle
3rd Place (tie): Ric Flair & Alex Shelley
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Eddie Guerrero
2006: Ric Flair
2007: Christian Cage
As much as Michaels’ interviews were spectacular during their feud, Jericho’s entire heel turn was gold on the mic; it didn’t even matter that he said the same thing many, many times. The wording was always different, the bashing of the fans always fun and got the desired heat. Plus this was the first time that Jericho really got to go full heel on the mic without being made to look like a fool. For the first time in The E, Jericho was allowed to go out there and be a loner, self-obsessed, and hateful heel. And wouldn’t you know it, it went off like a hitch and turned Michaels/Jericho into the main-event even on shows where it wasn’t, as even Michaels’ phony retirement ceremony probably drew a fair share of buys for Summerslam. The point here is that while Angle was an effective and crazy heel on the mic, Jericho gets it because of how little he’d been allowed to work as a heel in the past, and because of how underwhelming his return had been up until that point.
WORST WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
WINNER: The Great Khali (WWE)
2nd Place: Kip James (TNA)
3rd Place: Dustin Rhodes (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Gene Snitsky
2006: The Boogeyman
2007: The Great Khali
Not the kind of repeat one would be looking for, but since he’s been doing the kiss cam angle and hasn’t been in the ring for more than a minute or two at a time, I’m not too worried about him pulling a three-peat in this category. Still, as much as people praised HHH for his work with Khali, it was all a waist of time, as was an instance of him in the ring against somebody he isn’t going to be done with in a minute or so.
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
WINNER: B.G. James Vs. Kip James, TNA, 4/13
2nd Place: Jay Lethal Vs. Sonjay Dutt (Black Tie & Chain), TNA, Hard Justice
3rd Place: Chavo Guerrero Vs. Kane (ECW Title), WWE, 3/30
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Monty Brown Vs. Trytan, TNA
2006: The Sandman Vs. A Zombie, ECW
2007: Sting Vs. Abyss, TNA
While Lethal/Dutt was pretty bad, their great ladder match a month later proved that stipulation was the probably and not the wrestlers, the same can’t be said for the New Age Outlaws implosion, which best described the match itself. Chavo/Kane went only eight seconds, but since it was for a title and at Mania it gets at least noted on here. However, B.G./Kip was excruciatingly bad as the moves sucked, the movement from the two guys involved sucked, everything sucked about this match. And the fact that it was on the same card as the Angle/Joe title match showed the extremes TNA could go in as far as in-ring product goes in 2008.
WORST ANGLE OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Edge seduces Vickie Guerrero
2nd Place: “Is he alive or is he dead?â€
3rd Place: The feast or fired briefcases
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Kurt Angle getting “Jungle Fever†for Booker T’s wife
2006: Vince McMahon Vs. God
2007: Mr. McMahon “dies†in limo explosion
Maybe it’s because I’m a fan of Eddie’s, but I did find this angle morally reprehensible and would’ve stopped watching SmackDown! because of it had it not been for the show’s overall good product in the ring, and if it weren’t for Edge shining so much more in segments without Vickie than the ones with her. I’m not going to go much farther than that as giving it the award was enough. As for feast or fired, these were up there because it really seemed that Russo had no idea where he was going with the title shots and pink slip inside the cases. And the reason Kane’s angle didn’t win (other than my moral disgust at the winning angle) was that the original plan as I understood it was to bring in James Mitchell to manage Kane, something I would’ve been all for.
WORST FEUD
WINNER: Kaz Vs. Dustin Rhodes
2nd Place: B.G. James Vs. Kip James
3rd Place: Finlay & Hornswoggle Vs. Vince McMahon
Previous Winner(s)
2006: Kevin Nash Vs. The X-Division
2007: Sting Vs. Christopher Daniels
Wow, was this one a shitty idea. I mean even Russo topped himself with this one as there was no point, no longterm gain for anyone, no possibility of something good happening in the ring, but it still happened; and it was all for a rat! Kaz hates rats, but Dustin has one for a pet, so they’re going to fight over it? Yeah, doesn’t make much sense either. This feud even taking place took away basically any momentum Kaz had left and started his path towards Suicide (the character, not the act) and allowed TNA at least one incredibly sucky and crowd deflating match per card. God bless Russo, huh?
WORST PROMOTIONAL MOVE
WINNER: WWE gives MVP losing streak gimmick
2nd Place: WWE hires Mike Adamle
3rd Place: TNA pushes old wrestlers over young wrestlers
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
2007: TNA signs, pushes Adam “Pacman†Jones
I spoke on this one earlier, but I do believe it was the worst promotional move for a few reasons: (1) it involved a younger wrestler in the midst of a push, (2) it was worse than anything a shitty G.M. can do on screen (like Adamle), and (3) TNA had just started their disastrous campaign of reverse elevation at the end of this voting period and it will likely win this award for ’09.
WORST BOOKER
WINNER: Vince Russo (TNA)
2nd Place: Keiji Mutoh (AJPW)
3rd Place: Vince McMahon (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: New Japan Booking Committee
2006: Jeff Jarrett & Vince Russo
2007: Vince Russo
And what a surprise, guess who gets to exemplify the worst aspects of booking in pro wrestling for another year? My old pal Vinnie Roo who proves yet again that even a deep roster isn’t immune to shitty booking. From Petey Williams getting hazed by Scott Steiner to Joe’s title reign becoming an afterthought (see Benoit in ’04) to the devaluing of the X-Division, to the devaluing of the women’s division, almost everything Vince Russo worked on turned to complete shit in ’08 while the bad moves made by other bookers either were par the course for the product they book (i.e. Mutoh and Vince both book sports entertainment), but even they have been able to effectively push and elevate new stars, something Russo is at this point incapable of doing or even knowing how to do it (I’m 100% sure of this).
WORST CARD OF THE YEAR
WINNER: WWE Cyber Sunday
2nd Place: WWE Night of Champions
3rd Place: TNA Sacrifice
Previous Winner(s)
2005: WWE Great American Bash
2006: WWE Great American Bash
2007: TNA Against All Odds
Unbelievably enough, while TNA had a terrible year, The E managed to put on the worst show. While TNA had plenty of stinkers this year, there was always one match (usually involving Joe or Angle) that saved the show from a fate worse than mediocrity. However, Cyber Sunday had no redeeming factor as the show featured a lot of rematches from No Mercy earlier in the month as well as mix of matches that were either too short, too long, or just too dull. Plus, the main-event saw Batista beat Jericho for the world title with Austin being voted as the guest referee. The fact that Jericho won the belt back eight days later on T.V. shows me that this was a throwaway show and the main-event was strictly to send the fans home happy instead of anything logical or long-term. That’s your worst card of the year as Matt Hardy/Even Bourne being the best match of the night clocking in at around ***, maybe ***1/4 isn’t enough to save it.
MOST OVERRATED WRESTLER
WINNER: Randy Orton (WWE)
2nd Place: Kofi Kingston (WWE)
3rd Place: Batista (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: John Cena
2006: Rob Van Dam
2007: Kurt Angle
While he was the best heel in the business, he’s still a tad disappointing in the ring. At this point, I’m willing to say that Orton is never going to be in the position to carry someone who’s no good to something good. It’s not that he’s terrible in the ring as a lot of his matches are in fact very entertaining, very fun, and yes, very good. However, Orton still hasn’t had that classic singles match that will help define him as being something above normal in the ring and 2008 was his opportunity to have it. Yes, the injury kept him out for a while, but nothing he did in the ring until then was that memorable with the best example being the painfully disappointing title match against Jeff Hardy at the Rumble that came off the heels of one of the best pre-match builds The E has done in a while. When you are put in a position that needs success and you don’t come through, but still get that opportunity again and again, that’s overrated.
MOMENT OF THE YEAR
WINNER: “I’m sorry, and I love you†(3/30)
2nd Place: Kenta Kobashi returns to pro wrestling after battling cancer (12/2/07)
3rd Place: Ric Flair’s retirement ceremony (3/31)
4th Place: Samoa Joe’s shoot promo on Scott Hall (12/2/07)
5th Place: John Cena returns to E as 30th entrant in Royal Rumble (1/27)
6th Place: C.M. Punk cashes in money in the bank title shot, wins World title (6/30)
7th Place: Kensuke Sasaki becomes first to win IWGP, Triple Crown, and GHC titles in a career (9/6)
8th Place: Mike Adamle named RAW GM shocking crowd, takes heat away from Batista/Cena I announcement (7/27)
9th Place: Mexican rock star/celebrity helps Konnan win pivotal cage match nearly causing a riot (10/24)
10th Place: Samoa Joe wins TNA world title (4/13)
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
2007: Homicide wins ROH Title (ROH Final Battle 2006)
It’s hard to vote against a guy coming back from cancer, but being at the Citrus Bowl, at Wrestlemania, is what put Flair’s swan song above Kobashi’s return. That moment is engrained in my soul and will be for the rest of my life as just about anything from that weekend that involved Flair could be a moment of the year just because of the historical significance that surrounded everything he did that weekend. Kobashi’s return was nothing short of incredible and the red hot Budokan crowd as well as Kobashi tag partner Tamon Honda crying on the commentary at various points during the match added to emotional value the return had. Joe’s shoot on Hall is largely forgotten by most people (TNA fans included), but that should’ve been the start of the old/young angle, and that should’ve been the wakeup call to everyone in a high position within TNA, when Scott Hall no-showed again and Joe lost it. I loved this promo and because this was as legit of a shoot as you’ll get in pro wrestling these days, it came through with flying colors. While some in the audience could be heard voicing their opinion that Joe was being whiny, everything Joe said in that promo was absolutely correct and would become even more so a year later when he was jobbing for a third straight month on PPV. Cena returning and Punk winning a world title were both moments that came unexpectedly and both aroused great feelings of joy and excitement when they occurred. Sasaki’s title win over Morishima was historic, but it was one that I was against at the time and am still against today; still, it was historic and thus should be on the list. I really wanted to put Adamle’s debut up higher because it was the most surreal moment on wrestling T.V. this past year with the crowd totally dead after Adamle’s introduction and thus totally dead when Batista/Cena I was announced, something I found ungodly hilarious at the time. Nothing like a near riot to enhance an angle and provide a memorable moment at the same time right? Konnan must’ve thought so because him winning a WarGames-style cage match with the stipulating being Pena’s ashes versus control of AAA, and to have Konnan win was tantamount to Flair’s victory over a Caribbean wrestler in the Caribbean in the 1980’s actually causing a full-scale riot. And of course Joe’s title win was a big deal to me and should’ve been a big deal to TNA, nevertheless it gets to start the top 10.
STORY OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Ric Flair retires from active competition
2nd Place: Gabe Sapolsky fired as ROH booker
3rd Place: Cibernetico leaves AAA, Konnan takes over booking duties for AAA
4th Place: Keiji Mutoh wins IWGP title as himself, Triple Crown as Muta
5th Place: Floyd Mayweather participates in Wrestlemania
6th Place: Samoa Joe finally wins TNA world title in shoot-style cage match against Kurt Angle
7th Place: KENTA/Marufuji on 10/25 first one-hour draw at Budokan Hall in 12 years
8th Place: C.M. Punk cashes in Money in the Bank title shot and wins World Title
9th Place: Mick Foley leaves WWE, goes to TNA
10th Place: CMLL’s attendance woes while Mistico out with injury
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
2007: The Chris Benoit Tragedy
Any time a legend the level of Ric Flair retires in this business, it should be a big story. The fact that it was handled with grace and dignity and both sides went their separate ways without anything embarrassing done to either side makes it the story of the year. Despite the fact that people had been calling for Flair’s retirement for years, the news that he would actually be retiring was still big news. While a booker being fired usually isn’t the next to biggest story of the year, the fact that it happened in a promotion like Ring of Honor to a booker who had been nothing but productive and efficient during his time as booker made it such a big story. Cibernetico’s exit and all of the backstage details that went along with it was the exact opposite of Flair’s exit as both sides were incredibly pissed at the other over money and storylines and all of that, so what resulted was a bitter and somewhat surreal exit for AAA’s biggest star. Mutoh’s two title wins were both unexpected to me as Mutoh did seem to be all done as far as being a world champion wrestler was concerned, but ’08 provided Mutoh with one more opportunity to prove that the label “GENIUS†on his trunks is 100% true. Most of the other stories I’ve already gotten to, but Mistico’s impact on CMLL’s attendance numbers showed that there is still draws out there that can and in this case have to do it all by themselves. With Foley, it was a cool move for him to go to TNA and because the move wasn’t exposed during this voting period, it still makes the list. Finally, the KENTA/Marufuji one-hour match was a big story, but from a symbolic point of view. The last one-hour draw in Budokan Hall before this past October 25 occurred almost twelve years to the day when Kenta Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada went to a one-hour draw for the Triple Crown back in 1996. That was still Baba’s All Japan, something that helped make Budokan Hall what it is in the wrestling world. Taking that into account, the fact that two of NOAH’s (or All Japan pt.2) rising stars did it, shows where NOAH will be heading in upcoming years.
