To Smash Wrestling Staff and Readers, It’s the end of 2009, it was a fun year and to this date it was the strongest in the rivalry between TNA and the WWE. Unfortunately, TNA seems content with driving their company into the ground under their new guidance from Hulk Hogan. Further more, Jeff Jarrett has gone from being on world wide television to literally crawling back to TNA on his hands and knees, because he began a relationship with the Ex-wife of Kurt Angle.
Dixie Carter is a remarkable woman, and a strong businesswoman, but she is coming off to this wrestling fan as someone who is still very green when it comes to pro wrestling, and how to deal with its superstars. The above examples of management (Hogan and Jarrett) are why I think that the efforts made by TNA in 2009 will not be reciprocated in 2010, but it does warrant them some (IMO) Smash Wrestling accolades for this year. So, in some cases that were highly contested between WWE and TNA, here are my submissions for the highly coveted, and prestigious Smash Wrestling End of the Year Awards.
1) Wrestler of the Year
- Nominees: Sting, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton
This award could easily go to any of the above superstars, but before I name my pick, I want to say why I didn't pick the other four on this list starting from the least to most deserving.
Randy Orton started this year out with the most heat that I've ever seen a superstar have in a long time. With Legacy he had a great Rumble victory and an interesting feud with Shane McMahon. In my opinion Orton lost big points in his redundant feud with HHH, weak loss of the WWE title to Batista at Extreme Rules and his less than fruit bearing "just to keep him busy" end of the year feud with Kofi Kingston in my opinion knocked him out of the running for this award.
A.J. Styles wins his nomination out of attrition because he went from jobbing to some very undeserving people, to winning the TNA World Title from Kurt Angle in a Four Way between Morgan, Angle, Styles and Sting. He also gave Sting a classic farewell match at Bound For Glory. Essentially Styles stuck it out when guys like him were playing second fiddle to TNA's "Main Event Mafia", and earned his way to once again being the face of the company. Such a feat is more than deserving of this nomination.
Chris Jericho easily had some of the best matches of the year, including his very exciting IC title feud with Rey Mysterio, and most importantly his matches with Ricky Steamboat at WM 25 and Backlash showed why he is one of the best in the world of professional wrestling. Still, why he had some of the best matches of the year, probably more than any other star on this list, he didn't once carry the responsibility of a world title this year.
Personally I feel that the superstar of the year should be someone who at one point carried their company's flag, and while in pro wrestling it’s unfair to keep someone off the list who didn't have the belt, with all due respect, it should be a deciding factor in who wins this award.
Sting was TNA's main event “go to” guy for this year. When they brought in Mick Foley and needed someone for him to feud with at Lock Down, they went to Sting. When AJ Styles won his belt from Kurt Angle, it was in a match with Sting. I can go on for quite a few more lines but my point is, whether as a co- or main event star, Sting was always involved in the TNA title/main event picture, either as a jobber or the star, which in my opinion warrants nomination for this award.
Where Sting falls short I think is that in all these matches, none of them (with the exception of Sting vs Styles at Bound for Glory) were match of the year material. Superstar of the year isn't just a "go to guy" he should also be the best performer in the industry and that was not Sting this year.
Winner: Jeff Hardy (WWE)
He was the WWE champion, the World Champion, competed in the Smack Down Elimination Chamber Match, openly accepted criticism for his past misdeeds, and he was the Superstar of the Year. Jeff Hardy this year earns that title because of the dedication and courage that he showed to the fans and his peers inside of the ring.
In the ring he faced his peers in multiple high-risk matches, including four pay per view ladder type matches. Jeff not only had to contend with the high risk matches, he also never once tried to hide the troubles of his personal life from the industry and even allowed his past to be ammunition for opponents like Matt Hardy, Edge and CM Punk.
Being a troubled soul outside of the ring is not necessarily a superstar quality but the ability to face those demons in front of one's peers and a world wide audience is, especially when one also is carrying a World title on their shoulder. Like the late Eddie Guerrero, Jeff Hardy said in his matches that while he's not perfect, if he was given the chance he would more than earn a title on his shoulder and he did just that. Whether or not Jeff Hardy ever returns is to competition up in the air, but whenever I think of 2009, I will always think of Jeff Hardy.
2) Fan Favourite of the Year
Far too many people qualify for this to name nominees and further more, I don't think any concrete facts exist to support just one superstar winning this award, so I will award it to two.
Winner: DX (HHH and Shawn Michaels) (WWE)
On the episode of Raw hosted by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, DX came out during the opening skit and told the other superstars in the ring that they were killing the air time and that DX was going to make the save. A truer statement was never said about DX and their contributions as fan favourites to pro wrestling. It could be an hour and forty-five minutes of dead air, and all DX has to do is come out and cut one promo to instantly add a redeemable memory to the show that they are on.
DX is fun, very interactive with live audiences and puts out some of the best merchandise. I personally own a DX cowboy hat, why, because it’s fun to be DX.
3) Heel of the year
- Nominees: Matt Hardy, Randy Orton, and Chris Jericho,
Basically, the nominees for this category were determined by which superstars did the most disposable, underhanded deeds to get ahead then of the nominees, who was the most convincing heel. Matt Hardy claimed to have burned his brother Jeff Hardy's house down just to get inside his head. Randy Orton did a DDT on Stephanie McMahon in front of a hand cuffed HHH then kissed her while she was unconscious. Chris Jericho dressed up as a Rey Mysterio fan than jumped him while his back was turned, and he unmasked Rey at there Extreme Rules match.
One might notice that no TNA stars were nominated here, that’s because part of being a heel is being exceptionally evil, and aside from the same tired run ins and double crosses, TNA heels did not show innovative qualities. Of the nominees listed, I think clearly that for the most part, Randy Orton was the man to hate in 2009, and justly wins this award.
Winner: Randy Orton (WWE)
4) Diva/Knockout of the Year
Sadly this was the weakest year yet for women's wrestling across the board. The WWE did very little to push their women's competition, on numerous shows they didn't even push a Women's or Diva title match, and while TNA gets points for creating a Knock Outs Tag Title, the way it’s been defended says that it was done more out of spite to the WWE and not necessarily because they have a strong Knock Out Tag division that warrants a champion team.
I will say that TNA did give some very enjoyable air time this year to the Beautiful People, and even awarded Angelina Love a warranted Knockouts Title run. Based on that, I have to say that if a Diva or Knock out deserved this end of the year award, it would have to be Angelina Love of the Beautiful People.
Winner: Angelina Love (TNA)
5) Tag Team of the Year
Nominees: Jeri-Show, British Invasion, Team 3D, Beer Money Inc
One thing TNA did this year consistently was set the standard for tag team wrestling. The year long the back and forth title swaps between Team 3D, the British Invasion and Beer Money yielded some of the best tag matches in recent years, especially the epic encounter between Team 3D and Beer Money at LockDown.
The work effort and chemistry between Jeri-Show definitely warrants a nod to the WWE in this category, but when choosing a winner, any of the above listed TNA teams could be argued as earning this award. (IMO) I feel that Beer Money is the most deserving team of the year.
Winner: Beer Money Inc (TNA)
6) Authority Figure of the Year
I'm going to keep this one brief, because where the Fan Favorite of the year could be argued for a lot of competitors, the opposite exists in this category, only a slight few even warrant nomination for this award, and in my opinion it should go to Dixie Carter.
This year Dixie Carter debuted as an onscreen authority figure and has carried herself very articulately and with a strong presence. Dixie Carter doesn't need to make threats from a prop wheel chair (ala Vickie Guerrero) in order to command respect or attract attention. Dixie Carter gets respect and attention because whenever she is on camera, it is clear that she is in charge and makes the decisions for TNA.
Winner: Dixie Carter (TNA)
7) Moment of the Year
This year was filled with moments from each side of the spectrum that could earn this next award, but I'm going to have to say that my pick goes to a pair of superstars who despite having the worst feud of the year, made jaws drop at Backlash. When The Big Show picked John Cena up and choke slammed him through a spotlight, causing it to (explode) that was a hell of a moment. The Edge vs John Cena Last Man Standing match for the World Heavy Weight title didn't need any help, but that moment made that match a classic, and it made Backlash a classic.
It’s easy (not necessarily for Jeff Hardy) but from a creative stand point to go, "We need a big moment, lets have Jeff jump off a ladder at somebody," but the Cena through a search light moment was definitely out of the box thinking, it was unique and it was one of those moments that add legitimacy to the statement, "Anything can happen in the WWE".
Winner: John Cena being choke-slammed through a search light at Backlash by Big Show (WWE)
8) Match of the Year
No point in pretending, match of the year was without a doubt, HBK vs The Undertaker at WM 25 if one has seen it then nothing else really needs to be said, and if they haven't seen it, then they should.
Winner: HBK vs Undertaker (WM 25) (WWE)
9) Pay Per View of the Year
Nominees: No Way Out, WM 25, Lockdown, Bound For Glory, Backlash, Extreme Rules, Night of Champions
This year has had its share of crap pay per views from both sides but they also have had some shows that went above and beyond the price of admission.
Ultimately I think when choosing pay per view of the year, it really depends on what one is looking for in a show. Each of the listed nominees brought a unique element to the ring brief examples include: Night of Champions had classic title matches across the board, Extreme Rules was the most hard core show of the year, No Way Out had two awesome chamber matches, WM 25 was the biggest show of the year, Backlash was an excellent follow up to WM 25.
Lets not forget TNA: Lockdown had the riskiest card (Sting vs Foley in the six sides of steel) of the year and they pulled it off, Bound For Glory was the feel good pay per view of the year for TNA fans it was loaded with a strong mix of hard core and traditional wrestling.
So once again, one's tastes depends on what show was the best. Based on tastes alone, I'd have to say that the pay per view of the year was Night of Champions. WM 25 comes in a close second, but the HHH vs Orton main event was extremely disappointing and I feel held it back. Extreme Rules was held back by the lacklustre Orton/Batista cage match and the lame BigShow/Cena "I Quit Match" and as for TNA, it’s just not a strong enough product yet to be considered better than the WWE at pay per views.
Night of Champions had the best overall card of the year; both on paper and in follow through. It was such a breath of fresh air to see Jeff Hardy and CM Punk close the show and do so in a good, well executed wrestling match. Side note, Tommy Dreamer dropping the ECW belt to Christian was definitely one of the year's best "feel good" moments. I'm sure this will be a heavily debated category in the final submissions of the Smash End of the Year Awards Column, but I stand by Night of Champions as my winner for pay per view of the Year.
Winner: Night of Champions (WWE)
10) Company of the Year: WWE
I'm going to pass on a long-winded speech here and go by the numbers, out of nine awards, WWE wins 6, and TNA wins 3 I think that the WWE is clearly and undisputedly the best Wrestling Company. Outside of these awards, the WWE has a stronger TV presence, 4 television programs, two of which are two hours long vs TNA's 1 two hour program, and the WWE has had the better overall pay per views and they have the heaviest touring schedule. TNA has had flashes of greatness, but the WWE IS GREATNESS!
As always I want to thank Smash Wrestling for this opportunity and both the WWE and TNA for giving wrestling fans world wide a hell of a year.
Ryan Owens
Source: http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
