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Pro Wrestling

RDTWorldofSport 2017 Wrestling Awards

RDTWorldofSport 2017 Wrestling Awards 

I don’t have a real basis for this to be perfectly honest. It’s mostly my opinion with some searching around to see what some respected wrestling forums and writers think. Also this will mostly be WWE (but not all), basically because that’s what I watched 99% of the time. But if something else catches my eye, it could make the awards. With that being said, here goes. (Yes, I wrote the same thing last year).

Moment of the Year

Winner: The Undertaker Loses to Roman Reigns and Gets a Standing Ovation

 

Can’t say he retired, because we don’t know that yet, but it was one heck of a moment after he lost to Reigns. He sure looked like he was retiring, that’s for sure.

Second Place: The Festival of Friendship – Kevin Owens Turns on Chris Jericho

Third Place: Kurt Angle returns as RAW GM

Fourth Place: Chris Jericho challenges Kenny Omega for Wrestle Kingdom 12

Fifth Place: The Hardy Boyz return at Wrestlemania 33

Debut of the Year

Winner: Samoa Joe in WWE

 

WWE has already seemingly screwed up some NXT talent debuts, but one they haven’t messed up at all has been Samoa Joe. He came in as Triple H’s heavy to take out Seth Rollins, and has been near the top of the card ever since. He could be that big match killer that Brock Lesnar is sooner than later.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE

Third Place: Tye Dillinger in WWE

Fourth Place: Aleister Black in NXT

Fifth Place: Asuka in WWE

Return of the Year

Winner: Kurt Angle on RAW

 

It feels so right to see Kurt Angle back in WWE. He got an insane reaction when announced as Raw GM. His in-ring return was I guess a bit underwhelming, but it was also refreshing to see him come back in the flow as opposed to a massive big built match. He also was pretty good in the TLC match. It’s great to see Kurt home.

Second Place: Chris Jericho to NJPW to challenge Kenny Omega

Third Place: The Hardyz at Wrestlemania

Fourth Place: Paige in WWE

Fifth Place: Drew McIntyre in NXT

Match of the Year

Winner: WWE Championship: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena – WWE Royal Rumble 2017

I didn’t watch any NJPW, so I can’t speak on anything Okada and Omega did, but there still was a strong WWE selection. It may have been weaker than the Summerslam 2016 match, but AJ and Cena delivered once again it what seemed to almost be a greatest hits version of their match. Those were some pretty great hits.

Second Place: Brock Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles – Survivor Series 2017

Third Place: WWE U.K. Championship: Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate – NXT Takeover Chicago

Fourth Place: War Games: Undisputed Era vs. Sanity vs. Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong – NXT Takeover War Games

Fifth Place: WWE Championship – Elimination Chamber: John Cena vs. A.J. Styles vs. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin

Feud of the Year

Winner: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

 

Say what you want about Roman, him and Strowman had some great matches and this feud elevated Strowman into a top guy. The Last Man Standing match at Great Balls of Fire almost made my top five. It also gave us an edge to Roman’s character that’s been missing since he was elevated to top guy status. Great stuff all around.

Second Place: Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens

Third Place: The Usos vs. The New Day

Fourth Place: Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens

Fifth Place: Asuka vs. Ember Moon

Biggest Disappointment of the Year

Winner: Former NXT Talents Get Buried

 

Man where to start. Finn Balor went from the first ever Universal Champion to doing a whole lot of nothing. After his feud with Bray Wyatt eroded into a joke, he was saved with a great match with A.J. Styles at TLC only to just get jobbed out the next night to Kane. Word is Vince doesn’t see what’s so special about him. I mean come on. He even has a marketable Demon gimmick and everything! We had fans booing Bayley at one point, which is incredible really. Talk about a lost year. Shinsuke Nakamura debuted on Smackdown during a Miz promo and that ended up being the highlight of his entire run in 2017. Too bad he couldn’t just feud with Miz. Feud with Ziggler was okay at best. Wrestling Jinder for the WWE Championship and not winning it only hurt him. Bobby Roode has also done a whole lot of nothing since debuting on Smackdown and also had an okay feud with Ziggler. There’s already worry about Asuka’s booking. At least Samoa Joe looked great I suppose.

Second Place: Bray Wyatt

Third Place: Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion

Fourth Place: Survivor Series 2017 Main Event

Fifth Place: Jason Jordan as Kurt Angle’s son

Best Show of the Year

Winner: NXT Takeover: War Games

Everything ranged from good to great here. Lars Sullivan vs. Kassius Ohno? Good start for Sullivan. Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream told a great story in their match and could be near the top of some match of the year lists. The four way for the vacant NXT Women’s title was solid. Drew McIntyre and Andrade Almas had a surprisingly good match with a shocking outcome. War Games is 4th on my match of the year and really put over the Undisputed Era as an up and coming great faction.

Second Place: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III

Third Place: NXT Takeover: Orlando

Fourth Place: NXT Takeover: Chicago

Fifth Place: WWE Royal Rumble 2017

Non-Wrestler of the Year

Winner: Paul Heyman, Manager

Got to give it to Heyman. He made every match against Lesnar this year a really special feel. From the Goldberg match to the Samoa Joe match to even the A.J. Styles match, he put over everyone. He even put over Finn Balor. All while Brock ran through all of them.

Second Place: Daniel Bryan, Smackdown GM

Third Place: Kurt Angle, RAW GM

Fourth Place: Shane McMahon, Smackdown Commissioner

Fifth Place: William Regal, NXT Commissioner

Best Surprisingly Good Angle

Winner: The Festival of Friendship

Sometimes those type angle miss (see “This is Your Life” for Bayley this year) and sometimes they hit. I guess when Chris Jericho is doing it, it hits. There was a painting, a Gillberg, a new list…and a truly great heel turn. I think Owens vs. Jericho should have been the Universal title match at Mania, to be honest.

Second Place: Enzo Amore becomes the face of 205 Live

Third Place: Aliester Black vs. Velveteen Dream

Woman of the Year

Winner: Asuka (NXT/WWE)

Asuka carried the NXT Women’s division in the post Charlotte-Becky-Bayley-Sasha world. She had great matches with Ember Moon, and has yet to be screwed up in WWE yet, although the start hasn’t been all great either. After the “women’s revolution”, it hasn’t been a super strong year for women. Asuka at least had a strong year.

Second Place: Alexa Bliss (WWE)

Third Place: Sasha Banks (WWE)

Fourth Place: Charlotte (WWE)

Fifth Place: Ember Moon (NXT)

Tag Team of the Year

Winner: The Bar (WWE)

 

What amazing chemistry Cesaro and Sheamus have! What began as a best of 7 series between two guys who had nothing to do turned into an amazing tag team that complement one another well. They had good matches with the Hardyz this year and also were a good team to put together with the Miz in the feud with the Shield.

Second Place: The Usos (WWE)

Third Place: Authors of Pain (NXT)

Fourth Place: The New Day (WWE)

Fifth Place: The Hardy Boyz (IMPACT/ROH/WWE)

Wrestler of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles (WWE)

 

How can it not be Styles? I asked that last year. He came in as WWE Champ. Participated in my 2017 Match of the Year at the Royal Rumble and another contender for it at Elimination Chamber. Carried Shane McMahon to the best or second best match at Wrestlemania. Had a good, if not too long feud with Kevin Owens over the US Title in the summer. Surprisingly won the US Title at a MSG house show. Had to save the TLC show and Finn Balor’s early career by replacing Bray Wyatt and having a great match. Even Vince realized he was too good to not be WWE Champ, so the Jinder experiment ended with AJ winning another WWE Title. As a result he saved Survivor Series and had a Match of the Year contender with Brock Lesnar. Pretty good year for AJ. That’s 2/2 when it comes to WWE years too. Hope he main events Wrestlemania.

Second Place: Brock Lesnar (WWE)

Third Place: The Miz (WWE)

Fourth Place: Samoa Joe (WWE)

Fifth Place: Kevin Owens (WWE)

Pro Wrestling

Wrestlemania XXXIII Preview

It is the biggest show of the year. Unfortunately, WWE treats it that way. Now you may say “isn’t that a good thing” but in this case it’s not. WWE manufactured every single “moment” at Wrestlemania XXXII, somehow failing to realize that the best part about Wrestlemania moments are when they are organically created. I mean The Rock basically came out with a neon sign that said “Wrestlemania moment coming now”.  It was a terrible show.

Has WWE learned from that? Wrestlemania XXXI was basically the opposite, with fans not entirely being excited about the card and instead getting an amazing show filled with great moments (The DX and NWO run-ins and Seth Rollins’ shocking title win, for two examples). What Wrestlemania will we get tonight? Let’s go through each match, pre-show and all, and throw in some potential appearances that could turn into real, organic moments.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville© vs. Austin Aries

Should be a really fun match on the pre-show and definitely the highest profile match for the division possible without Brian Kendrick. I expect Neville to retain the title though, he hasn’t held it long enough for the credible reign he needs. Potential moment? Some crazy high flying move from Neville probably.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

It’s kind of a shame that this is on the pre-show. Last year it was moved to the main card and rumors ran rampant that John Cena was going to win it…only for that move to mean Shaq was in it. Baron Corbin winning was pretty good though and WWE did capitalize it. Braun Strowman seems like the obvious winner, but I kinda think they are going to give it to Big Show again as a token of appreciation, especially with the Shaq match falling apart. Moment potential is Show’s win if it turns out to be his last match, or perhaps someone slamming him out like Cesaro back at Mania XXX.

Smackdown’s Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss © vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natayla vs. Naomi vs. Mickie James vs. Carmella

I was a bit surprised to find that Naomi made her return on Smackdown and was announced for the match. That could have been a cool Wrestlemania moment unless WWE thought she would be a disappointing surprise entrant. Also, I’m not sure if other Women can still be in this match or if it’s an official six-pack challenge. I’m not sure who’s winning here, but I am guessing the title will go back to Naomi here.

Raw World Tag Team Title: Gallows and Anderson © vs. Enzo and Cass vs. Cesaro and Sheamus

Throwing a ladder into the mix seemingly made this match feel more important. It should be a bit of a real old school ladder match though, as there isn’t a high flyer in this thing and that’ll be interesting. Seems about the right time for Enzo and Cass to win the titles, which would be a moment in itself.

Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose © vs. Baron Corbin

It’s been a rough year for Ambrose. He finally got a crack at the top and was completely exposed at that level. Now he’s in the IC title picture and should be dropping the title to Corbin. And I think he will. Not sure what moments can come from this really other than Corbin’s win. Making Corbin a clutch Wrestlemania type guy (he won the Andre Battle Royal last year) would be a great thing for him.

WWE Hall Of Fame

 

I don’t really know when this is going to happen on the card. But seeing Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania would be something. Maybe Angle will get involved in something?

John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

Kudos to The Miz to getting himself into a high profile match at Wrestlemania. It’s a shame he’s not winning but really it’s what WWE does with Miz over the next year that really matters. The potential moment here is obvious, John Cena proposing to Nikki Bella. Get ready for that wedding at Summerslam.

United States Title: Chris Jericho © vs. Kevin Owens

JERIKO EXPLODES. It’s a bit of a shame this isn’t for the Universal title, but it should be a good one nonetheless. I also have a sneaky suspicion Chris Jericho is going over here, only for him to lose to Owens at Extreme Rules or whatever the next PPV is. Moment here could be something involving Jericho emotionally being upset about their Friendship being destroyed.

RAW Women’s Title: Bayley © vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

I really don’t buy Nia Jax in this match. She’s just not ready. I expect her to get Big Show at Wrestlemania 2000’d and be out quickly after a triple team. From there, it could be anyone and I think it’ll be Charlotte. It’s not like WWE suddenly pulled the plug on making Charlotte important. Potential moment: Sasha gets eliminated 2nd and turns on Bayley, leading to the Charlotte title win.

Shane McMahon vs. A.J. Styles

While I was hoping for a different match for Styles, putting him with a McMahon is still the highest profile match he’s ever had. And if anyone can get an amazing match out of Shane, it’s Styles. I’m pulling expecting some crazy jump from Shane that he’ll miss and AJ will win as a result. That’ll be your moment obviously.

Legends Segment

The Rock? Stone Cold? HBK? Mick Foley? I kinda expect Foley since it would be a shame he’d miss Mania after being around most of the year. As long as it isn’t the mess the Rock did last year it could be entertaining. Maybe Ronda will show up?!

Seth Rollins vs. Triple H

Can’t fault HHH for putting over Reigns then Rollins back to back. This match should be quite good, and frankly I am surprised it isn’t main eventing. It’s the only match other than Styles vs. Shane that guaranteed to be good and has big match appeal. Rollins will then sink or swim as a top guy afterwards. I expect Samoa Joe to be involved…and if somehow HHH wins a Summerslam rematch will take place too. Then again Finn Balor could show up to fight off Joe.

WWE World Title: Bray Wyatt © vs. Randy Orton

I really wanted this story to continue. Orton’s turn came too early for me, and a triple threat with Luke Harper is much more interesting. I really hope we just aren’t going to see Orton pin Wyatt and that’s that, but Vince has reportedly been impressed with Orton, and he kinda owes him one for what Brock did to him at Summerslam. I see the title switch here, unfortunately.

WWE Universal Title: Goldberg © vs. Brock Lesnar

Either there will be tons of smoke and mirrors, or Lesnar is going over in three minutes max. I really hope it’s the latter. The Goldberg thing was interesting for a bit, but the ending needs to be Lesnar squashing him and moving on.

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

This is the rumored main event, which makes me think it’s Undertaker’s last match. Sad to say, but Taker looked pretty bad at the Rumble and Roman’s getting booed out the building. Undertaker deserves better than this if this is the end. I’m sure A.J. could have gotten a great match with him. The right decision is for Roman to go over, sadly.

And that’s Mania. I don’t like how it sounds, but WWE has surpassed the hype before and I hope this is one of those times. Enjoy.

Pro Wrestling

2016 RDTWorldofSport Wrestling Awards

RDTWorldofSport 2016 Wrestling Awards

I don’t have a real basis for this to be perfectly honest. It’s mostly my opinion with some searching around to see what some respected wrestling forums and writers think. Some categories get a Top 5 and some get a Top 3. Why? Because I said so. Also this will mostly be WWE, basically because that’s what I watched 99% of the time. But if something else catches my eye, it could make the awards. With that being said, here goes.

Moment of the Year

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura Wins the NXT Championship

 

Nakamura was on fire in WWE this year and didn’t even need to be on the main roster to do so. Nakamura was pretty much a phenom the moment he set foot in NXT. Winning the NXT Championship showed that NXT could get past the Sami Zayn, Finn Balor era, which honestly wasn’t a guarantee. The entire spectacle of the match is fantastic. Nakamura’s entrance with Lee England Jr. was incredible. The crowd was incredible. And when Nakamura hit Samoa Joe with the Kinshasa and won the title, the crowd erupted.

Second Place: Goldberg beats Brock Lesnar in 84 seconds

Third Place: Shane McMahon returns to RAW

Fourth Place: A.J. Styles debuts in the Royal Rumble

Fifth Place: Finn Balor wins the new WWE Universal Championship

Debut of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles in WWE

There aren’t many ways the Royal Rumble can surprise us anymore, and even those on the inside knew that A.J. showing up in the Rumble was a possibility (since he has just signed with WWE), but WWE surprised us for sure here. A.J. Styles is pretty much the last major star that WWE had never truly had and for him to show up in the Rumble while the current “face” of WWE, Roman Reigns, awaited him in the ring, was truly epic and it’ll be hard for WWE to top that moment in a Royal Rumble ever again.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura in NXT

Third Place: Bobby Roode in NXT

Fourth Place: Bayley on RAW

Fifth Place: Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania

Return of the Year

Winner: Shane McMahon on RAW

With WWE in need of a marquee match at Wrestlemania, the return of Shane McMahon and a match between him and The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell delivered. The crowd erupted for Shane, who hadn’t been seen in WWE for seven years. To my surprise, Shane stuck around after Wrestlemania and is still working for WWE today (as I thought he was just going for the Mania program and leaving). Watch the crowd reaction, it’s insane.

Second Place: Goldberg returns to RAW

Third Place: Seth Rollins returns at Extreme Rules

Fourth Place: Bayley returns to NXT to challenge Asuka

Fifth Place: Randy Orton returns on the Highlight Reel at Battleground

Match of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena – WWE Summerslam 2016

It’s amazing to me that Styles vs. Cena somehow served as a midcard feud. This was theoretically a dream match, the face of TNA for the last decade against the face of WWE. Of course, Styles vs. Cena pretty much put the rest of the main roster to shame with several five star performances. Notably, the one at Summerslam, which was at the end of the first hour, absolutely stole the show and made Styles into a superstar. John Cena put Styles over clean in 23 minutes of amazing back and forth action with great false finishes.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn – NXT Takeover: Dallas

Third Place: NXT World Tag Team Championship – Two out of Three Falls: The Revival © vs. DIY – NXT Takeover: Toronto

Fourth Place: NXT World Tag Team Championship: The Revival © vs. DIY – NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Fifth Place: WWE Intercontinental Championship – Last Man Standing: Dean Ambrose © vs. Kevin Owens

Feud of the Year

Winner: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

 

This feud was red hot to me all year. Understandable some became sick of the feud as they wrestled about six or seven different times on different events and some had also turned on Charlotte as a performer. The only issue I had with the feud was that WWE seemed to be going out of their way to create an undefeated on PPV streak for Charlotte. But otherwise I liked all of their matches and thought Hell in a Cell and the Iron Woman Match were strong. Starting with their triple threat at Wrestlemania with Becky Lynch, it really did feel like Women’s wrestling was becoming an important part of the show. The matches delivered, Women’s wrestling was elevated, and best yet we have a big heel for Bayley to dethrone…then a story if Sasha Banks turns heel on her. And that all spawns from this feud.

Second Place: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena

Third Place: Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Fourth Place: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe

Fifth Place: Shane McMahon vs. Stephanie McMahon

Biggest Disappointment of the Year

Winner: Brock Lesnar’s 2016

 

Lesnar had dominated and was without a doubt the biggest name in WWE pretty much since he returned, and especially since he beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXX. He had a huge 2014 after that, beating John Cena for the title in dominating fashion and despite barely being there still being the biggest star. In 2015 he was a part of two match of the year candidates (triple threat at the Rumble and vs. Reigns at Mania), a feud of the year candidate (vs. Undertaker) and again seemed like his dominate self. What the heck happened in 2016? He kicked off the year with a disappointing Royal Rumble appearance where a feud with the Wyatts seemed imminent. A feud with Ambrose spawned from a triple threat match at Fastlane and the Wyatt’s deal was quickly dropped after Lesnar beat Luke Harper at Roadblock. Match with Ambrose was one of those that hurt both guys instead of elevating or establishing anyone. Came back to fight and bloody Randy Orton in a match that really didn’t seem like a big deal and there wasn’t any follow up. Survivor Series was the last match for Lesnar where he lost to Goldberg in 84 seconds, although that was probably the most interesting thing he did all year. Nonetheless, the aura took a huge hit this year and I’m not sure the product would be any different if he wasn’t here, which is a vastly different statement than you could make in 2014 or 2015.

Second Place: Roman Reigns’ rise to the top

Third Place: Roman Reigns vs. Triple H – Wrestlemania 32

Fourth Place: Wrestlemania 32

Fifth Place: Bayley’s RAW booking

Best Show of the Year

Winner: NXT Takeover: Dallas

Nakamura’s debut vs. Zayn. Balor vs. Joe. Bayley dropping the title to Asuka. Revival vs. American Alpha. Really kinda hard to beat any way you look at it. This totally beat out the following night’s Wrestlemania, that’s for sure.

Second Place: NXT Takeover: Toronto

Third Place: WWE Royal Rumble

Fourth Place: WWE Money in the Bank

Fifth Place: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

Non-Wrestler of the Year

Winner: Daniel Bryan, Smackdown GM

Bryan as Smackdown’s General Manager has been a fun role for him. He’s helped elevate the Miz back to a level we haven’t seen Miz since 2011. He’s charismatic and a genuine fun part of the show (unlike Mick Foley on RAW somehow, which is baffling considering how great Mick was in this role 16 years ago). Yes, it’s sad that we’ll never see Daniel Bryan wrestle again. But it’s great to see him as authoritative good guy on Smackdown and a big reason that it’s beating RAW out in the ratings.

Second Place: William Regal, NXT GM

Third Place: Paul Heyman, Manager

Fourth Place: Shane McMahon, Smackdown Commissioner

Fifth Place: Stephanie McMahon, RAW Comissioner

Best Surprisingly Good Angle

Winner: Heath Slater gets a Smackdown Contract

Somehow Smackdown put together Heath Slater and Rhyno…RHYNO?!…and that’s become one of the hottest acts in the company. Heath Slater has probably the most underrated guy in the company to be fair as he’s been entertaining in pretty much everything he’s done since getting beat up by the legends in 2013. The entire angle with Slater not getting drafted, to begging for a job on RAW and Smackdown (the Slater-Lesnar segment may have been Lesnar’s best all year, interestingly enough) to finding Rhyno as a partner and winning the Tag titles with him was nothing short of brilliant.

Second Place: Braun Strowman runs through RAW and Sami Zayn

Third Place: Jericho’s List

Fourth Place: Randy Orton joins the Wyatts

Fifth Place: James Ellsworth beats A.J. Styles three times

Woman of the Year

Winner: Sasha Banks (WWE)

Charlotte may be the woman WWE is looking to push as the face to establish the division, and that’s not a bad choice, but the fans have been 100% behind “the Boss” all year and each of her title wins have been met with HUGE reactions. If Sasha Banks can stay healthy, there’s no reason that her and Bayley can’t have a great feud in 2017 (like they did for NXT in 2015) and push the division to even greater heights. With all due respect to Charlotte, that’s where the money is.

Second Place: Charlotte (WWE)

Third Place: Bayley (NXT/WWE)

Fourth Place: Asuka (NXT)

Fifth Place: Alexa Bliss (NXT/WWE)

Tag Team of the Year

Winner: The New Day (WWE)

How could it not be them? While yes, it seems that their star is finally fading, the truth is the New Day is still one of the most over and entertaining acts in WWE. It’s amazing considering just how awful they seemed when they started out in early 2015. They beat Demolition’s title reign record and I hope they can somehow regain some freshness for 2017.

Second Place: The Revival (NXT)

Third Place: DIY (NXT)

Fourth Place: American Alpha (NXT/WWE)

Fifth Place: Health Slater and Rhyno (WWE)

Wrestler of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles (WWE)

 

How can it not be Styles? The Face that Runs the Place stepped into WWE and immediately became a top star…then eventually THE top star. He was so good WWE basically had no choice but to put the WWE World Championship on him nine months into his run. He had great matches with Roman Reigns, John Cena and Dean Ambrose on Pay-Per-View. No one is better than A.J. Styles right now.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT)

Third Place: Samoa Joe (NXT)

Fourth Place: Kevin Owens (WWE)

Fifth Place: Broken Matt Hardy (TNA)