Note: These awards cover the period from December 1, 2005 to December 1, 2006
J.D.’s Worst of 2006
WORST WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Big Vis (WWE)
2nd Place: Mark Henry (WWE)
3rd Place: Boogeyman (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Gene Snitsky (WWE)
No real surprise here, Big Vis is slow, big, and limited to his ability in the ring. At least Mark Henry can throw guys around and Boogeyman can wrestle a little bit. Aside from Big Vis’ wrestling ability, his usage in WWE has to be another reason why he is the worst wrestler of the year, I mean come on, him feuding with Charlie Haas was basically the only story line he was put into this year. And I can’t make Mark Henry or Boogeyman number one because they have actually been pushed in WWE, much to the demise of many fans, so hands down Big Vis wins worst wrestler of the year.
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR: The Sandman Vs. A Zombie, ECW, 6/13
2nd Place: Fight for the Right Battle Royal, TNA, 10/26
3rd Place: Booker T vs Boogeyman, WWE Smackdown, 4/2
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Scott Hall Vs. Jeff Hardy, TNA, 1/16
What can you say about this match, well how about this, it was a two-minute squash that saw the Sandman cane a Zombie into a pin, not the most ideal match a fan wants to see. The positive aspect of this match was the pre-match promo the Zombie cut in which he just grunted for about a minute. Thank you WWE for trying to persuade the Sci-Fi channel to keep the ECW brand running on television by using Sci-Fi characters, sarcasm welcomed here.
WORST ANGLE: Vince McMahon vs God (WWE)
2nd Place: X-Divisison uses mediocre Jackass antics (TNA)
3rd Place: Big Vis and Charlei Haas fight over Lillian Garcia (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Eddie is Dominic’s real “Papi†(WWE)
Can’t even comment on how bad this angle was. All I can say is that this angle brought out the REAL Vince McMahon, a crazy, old man who will do anything for ratings. And that’s all I have to say about that.
WORST FEUD: The Spirit Squad and the McMahons vs D-X (WWE)
2nd Place: Jeff Jarret Vs. Sting (TNA)
3rd Place: Kevin Nash Vs. TNA’s X-Division (TNA)
In a word, this feud was “ridiculous.†With this feud you saw a new faction of gay cheerleaders vs an overused faction in Degeneration X. While this feud did have its comedic moments, it ran way past its time over the course of the year and was merciful to for fans to see over and over again.
WORST PROMOTIONAL MOVE: TNA hiring Vince Russo (TNA)
2nd Place: The Spirit Squad’s push into the main event (WWE)
3rd Place: Matt Hardy getting resigned to WWE (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Muhammad Hassan, the storyline, not the wrestler
When I heard that TNA signed Vince Russo as the head booker, I had to ask the question
WHY? Not only has Vince Russo been universally known as a crazy booker who ran
WCW into the ground, but his relationship with the head of TNA, James Cornette, has
also been widely spread as a hate-hate relationship. This move might be the downfall of
TNA if Vince doesn’t get fired soon and, therefore, is the reason why it is the worst
promotional move of the year.
WORST BOOKER: Jeff Jarrett/Vince Russo (TNA)
2nd Place: Keiji Mutoh (AJPW)
3rd Place: Riki Choshu (NJPW)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Vince McMahon (WWE)
To me, even though Russo has been with TNA for only a few short months, his booking combined with Jeff Jarrett had to be the number one worst booker of the year. Ever since Vince Russo came into TNA the common fan could tell that the booking has gone down hill. What Russo has created in his short time with TNA is bad booking decisions such as, weekly title changes, short feuds that don’t make any sense with the direction TNA has been going over the past few months, and bad booking decisions as to wrestlers winning certain matches and nothing comes of it afterwards. All I can say is Russo needs to shape up in 2007 or he should be fired from TNA and never heard of again in the wrestling industry.
WORST CARD: WWE Great American Bash
2nd Place: WWE No Mercy
3rd Place: WWE Survivor Series
Previous Winner(s)
2005: WWE Great American Bash
Pretty simple explanation here, ever since WWE has brought back the Great American Bash name, the pay-per-view has sucked year in and year out. This year was no exception as it was a pay-per-view that turned out no match over 3 and a half stars. It is obvious that this pay-per-view is probably going to be the worst for years to come and it’s for two different reasons. One, Great American Bash is Smackdown’s last pay-per-view before Summerslam so they don’t put their best matches on the card, and two, the name of the Great American Bash comes from WCW and Vince McMahon will run everything that has to do with WCW into the ground so that it dies out with the company.
MOST OVERRATED WRESTLER: Big Show (WWE)
2nd Place: John Cena (WWE)
3rd Place: Chris Master (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: John Cena (WWE)
I had to put Big Show at number one for a few reasons. The major problem I saw with the Big Show this year is that he was the first wrestler in history to hold all three major titles, and there is no way that should have happened. There are countless wrestlers that deserved that prestigious honor. Reason number two is that after all these years the WWE is pushing Show as an unstoppable giant, when in reality Big Show is slow, wore down, wrestler who was past his prime in 1999. Don’t get me wrong, Big Show is still the big man to ever move around a ring in years, but still, he’s past his prime. My last reason for choosing Show over Cena as the most overrated wrestler of the year was that before Show went to ECW he was a mid-carder on Raw and had just ended a run with the tag titles with Kane. Then, all of a sudden, he becomes the ECW champion less than a month into ECW’s new life as a company. Now I know that they needed to get the title off of RVD, but still, you had Kurt Angle and you could’ve given him the title. Instead they give to the Big Show and he had one of the longest title runs in ECW history. All in all Big Show is, without a doubt, the most overrated wrestler in 2006.
P.C.’s Worst of 2006
WORST WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: The Boogeyman (WWE)
2nd Place: Mark Henry (WWE)
3rd Place: The Great Khali (WWE)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Gene Snitsky (WWE)
This may be out of bitterness on my part, but I have to give The Boogeyman my pick for worst wrestler of the year. Even though he didn’t hurt anyone (something Henry can’t dispute), this guy was given not one, but two pushes based on nothing. He made the simplest moves look hard, and just seemed to have no concept of what to do while in the ring. While all three of the men who placed for this award exhibited these traits, Boogeyman was easily the most annoying and frustrating to me as a fan, so he gets this little piece of futility.
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR: The Sandman Vs. A Zombie, ECW, 6/13
2nd Place: JBL Vs. The Boogeyman, WWE, 1/29
3rd Place: Fight for the Right Battle Royal, TNA, 10/26
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Monty Brown Vs. Trytan, TNA, 3/13
The match that proved ECW was dead. Killing a new brand after the first match on the brand’s returning T.V. show has to be a record, but that was the sentiment from everyone after the debut of ECW on Sci-Fi. The fact that they got renewed is amazing on my part (backdoor deal?), but this match was the sign that ECW’s time has passed. Boogeyman/JBL was excruciating as the one move done right in that match was a lariat and the Fight for the Right Battle Royal showed that Vince Russo hasn’t changed in the least, but Sandman/Zombie showed that shittiness knows no bounds.
WORST ANGLE: Vince McMahon Vs. God
2nd Place: Cryme Time vignettes
3rd Place: X Division turns into Jackass
Previous Winner(s)
2005: Kurt Angle getting “Jungle Fever†for Booker T’s wife
This one some people probably saw coming. I didn’t quite think that Vince would go this far with his god-like belief in himself, but that just shows how little we know about the man (anybody else hear about the proposed incest angle?). This angle was a lot more demeaning to those involved than any that I’ve seen in a long time and showed that no McMahonâ€â€not even Shaneâ€â€has any business being on T.V. Cryme Time has turned out to be really nothing so far, so I can’t stay too pissed at that angle as ESPN did plenty of that and at least the TNA fans turned on the Jackass angle; The E’s fans seemed to be in a proverbial coma during this one heat-wise. Either they didn’t know what to make of it or they really will accept anything that Vince gives them. Oh well, at least this answered a question I’ve had for quite sometime and wouldn’t you know it, God really can’t draw.
WORST FEUD: Kevin Nash Vs. The X-Division
2nd Place: The Spirit Squad Vs. DX
3rd Place: Jeff Jarrett Vs. Sting
Don’t care what anyone says, the Nash/X Division angle had a lot more destructive consequences than any other feud this year. All Jarrett/Sting did was bring shitty matches and showed that TNA is not immune from politics. All DX/Spirit Squad did was likely kill the careers of four of the five male cheerleaders involved and I’m not talking about HBK or HHH; in the case of the four young careers that may have been killed, I have no sympathy there because they could’ve gone the CM Punk route and just said no. What Nash’s feud did was kill any credibility the X Division had of being something more than just a sideshow and the wrestlers in the division of being taken more seriously than they were. This whole Paparazzi thing may have just been an act of contrition on Nash’s part; that’s just my theory.
WORST PROMOTIONAL MOVE: NJPW pushing Brock Lesnar as an unbeatable monster
2nd Place: TNA hiring Vince Russo
3rd Place: The Spirit Squad’s push
Previous Winner(s)
2005: WWE’s borderline racist/prejudicial portrayal of the Muhammad Hassan, Kerwin White, and Mexicools characters
One thing that has killed New Japan Pro Wrestling since the turn of the century has been the following: putting faith in overpaid foreign wrestlers who don’t bring the goods, and MMA. The Lesnar situation put both of these things back in to the spotlight. Since arrivingâ€â€and capturing their world title in his first matchâ€â€Lesnar has shown that he has little or no motivation to put on classics in the ring like he did in The E. When Lesnar announced that he had aspirations for MMA, the belt should’ve been taken off of him right then. Instead, the Inoki’s stayed willfully ignorant and helped their company get burned once again before a big event.
WORST BOOKER: Jeff Jarrett/Vince Russo (TNA)
2nd Place: Keiji Mutoh (AJPW)
3rd Place: Riki Choshu (NJPW)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: New Japan Booking Committee (NJPW)
Once Jeff Jarrett took back the book at the beginning of 2006, shit began to hit the fan. Screwjob finishes, angles with no payoff, angles on the air for weeks with no ending, no stand out PPV’s, Christian Cage’s title reign all are examples of Jarrett’s shitty booking this year. Then there’s Russo: ending Joe’s unbeaten streak without elevating someone with the win, LAX getting stripped of the tag belts for no reason and then forgetting about it, Angle’s refusal and subsequent accepting of a rematch within days, Sting trying to convert Abyss, and the Fight for the Right Battle Royal. Mutoh and Choshu started out the year shitty (real shitty), but were able to pick things up in the summer and both men have turned in a complete 180 since the summer. Sadly, the same couldn’t be found in Orlando.
WORST CARD: WWE Great American Bash
2nd Place: WWE No Mercy
3rd Place: TNA Victory Road
Previous Winner(s)
2005: WWE Great American Bash
Once again The Bash turns out the biggest pile of shit in wrestling. It’s quite said the new legacy this show is creating for itself, but my theory of “nothing is dead until Vince kills it†remains true when talking about The Bash. While it did have Rey/Booker and a great tag title match opener, even that couldn’t save it. Even Finlay/Regal couldn’t save it. While this PPV was marred by the first test of the wellness policy (something I wrote an article on), it’s still the worst.
MOST OVERRATED WRESTLER: Rob Van Dam (WWE)
2nd Place: John Cena (WWE)
3rd Place: Jeff Jarrett (TNA)
Previous Winner(s)
2005: John Cena (WWE)
To put it simply, this was Van Dam’s year to seal his legacy and he blew it. That’s why he’s the most overrated. This is the guy who was given two world titles to defend at once and blew it. And I’m not even talking about the pot bust, I’m talking about three years of being an unmotivated lazy individual in the ring finally took its toll on Van Dam who couldn’t turn anything into the classics that was supposed to accompany Van Dam’s elevation to the top. In this case, it was an unfulfilling of hype and promise.
