After a one-year sabbatical, one of Scott Keith's intrepid readers resurrected the RSPW Awards. And here are your winners, with the full list here:
Best Wrestler: CM Punk Best Tag Team: Beer Money - James Storm and Robert Roode Best Heel: Dolph Ziggler Best Babyface: CM Punk Best Worker: CM Punk Best Flyer: John Morrison Best Technical Wrestler: Daniel Bryan Best Brawler: Sheamus Most Favorite Wrestler: CM Punk Most Improved Wrestler: Zack Ryder Most Overrated Wrestler: John Cena Best Wrestling Gimmick: CM Punk: The Voice of the Voiceless Best Wrestling Move: Sheamus' Brogue Kick pump kick / Randy Orton's RKO (tie) Best Match: 07/17/11 - John Cena vs. CM Punk (WWE Title) Best Feud: CM Punk vs. John Cena Worst Wrestler: Kelly Kelly Worst Tag Team: David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty Worst Heel: Matt Hardy Worst Babyface: John Cena Worst Worker: The Great Khali Least Favorite Wrestler: Kelly Kelly Most Deteriorated Wrestler: Hulk Hogan Most Underrated Wrestler: Samoa Joe Worst Wrestling Gimmick: Michael Cole, the Voice of the WWE Universe Worst Wrestling Move: Kelly Kelly's screaming headscissors Worst Match: 03/13/11 - Sting vs. Jeff Hardy (TNA World) Worst Feud: Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole Most Disappointing News Item: Death of Macho Man Randy Savage Most Obnoxious Personality: Michael Cole Best Second: Vickie Guerrero Best Announcer: Jim Ross Best Color Commentator: William Regal Best Interviewee: CM Punk Best Angle: CM Punk shoots on WWE, beginning "The Summer of Punk" Best Organization: WWE Best TV Show: WWE Raw Best Major Show: 07/17/11: WWE Money in the Bank Best Promotional Move: WWE allows smaller, internet-popular talents to reign (CM Punk, Daniel Bryan) Worst Second: Michael Cole Worst Announcer: Michael Cole Worst Color Commentator: Taz Worst Interviewee: Michael McGillicutty Worst Angle: Michael Cole endlessly mocks Jim Ross without any kind of payoff Worst Organization: Juggalo Championship Wrestling Worst TV Show: WWE NXT Worst Major Show: 03/13/11: TNA Victory Road Worst Promotional Move: TNA allows Jeff Hardy to perform in impaired state at Victory Road
So people like CM Punk and hate Michael Cole. This is not news.
What's news to me is just HOW MUCH us internet schmucks hate John Cena. I think putting him down as overrated was a little much (I voted for Kelly, personally), just because Cena's put on such a consistently good main event.
I've heard bits and pieces of Regal on NXT. I fully endorse his Best Color Commentator win. I want HIM on SmackDown! In a perfect world, they'd switch him with Booker.
Not much else to say here, other than the Brogue Kick tying for Best Move somewhat baffles me.
Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeAw man, I went looking for a resurrected RSPW Awards last year around November and didn't see any sign of 'em. I always enjoyed voted for these...
Has Taz(z) really fallen to Worst Color Commentator in the biz over on Impact?
Pretty much agree on everything on this list. I also don't know how much dislike people have for Cena when he was voted for Match of the year. Granted, a lot of that is for Punk, but to me that award is something everyone involved in the match earned. I am ok with him being worst babyface something even the WWE sees that is why we are getting the Embrace the Hate storyline. Overrated, I don't think so, Kelly Kelly deserves that award. Booker is worse than Taz and I like both guys, but man,wow, are they bad at times.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.
Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
If you mean why Cena is considered overrated. The argument can be made that for all the PPV main events, story angles that revolve around him and the fact he is the face of the WWE even according to WWE on camera, he is not that good. He doesn't bring in the cash which is a lie. According to WWE, he brought in $101 million dollars, I have no idea of that is merchandise sales alone or coupled with all the PPV and attendance figures. Still, the WWE views him as valuable, very very valuable. If we are going by wrestling skill as the Best in the World then yes, he is bit overrated. He can work a match fine, but the Cena no selling and the bizarre way he loses matches to protect him is annoying. He really hasn't change much in the ring either, when is the last time we see him bust out a new move? In that area, he is not as good as the WWE PR would have us believe.
Now, I disagree with some of that argument. He is a good wrestler and every main event wrestler develops the Hulk Hogan immunity to pain as well as gets a bit lazy in the ring ie Bret's Five Moves of Doom. Still, he is not even close to being as overrated as Kelly Kelly is. Who is someone I don't believe brings the amount of money in to justify her push and her workrate is well...what workrate?
If you meant who said Cena is overrated, well the voters. All what 50 of them?
(edited by lotjx on 27.1.12 0840) The Wee Baby Sheamus.
Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeAw man, I went looking for a resurrected RSPW Awards last year around November and didn't see any sign of 'em. I always enjoyed voted for these...
Has Taz(z) really fallen to Worst Color Commentator in the biz over on Impact?
I was going to look this year and didn't I just fugured they were dead.
Hogan as most deteriorated seems redundant at this point. I might have gone Booker T.
I don't agree with Punk as Best Face, Best Tweener maybe. Best Face seems more like a Rey award.
Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeAw man, I went looking for a resurrected RSPW Awards last year around November and didn't see any sign of 'em. I always enjoyed voted for these...
Has Taz(z) really fallen to Worst Color Commentator in the biz over on Impact?
I was going to look this year and didn't I just fugured they were dead.
Hogan as most deteriorated seems redundant at this point. I might have gone Booker T.
Any idea on how many votes were cast?
Yeah Hogan is a Weird choice considering he's been deterioited for a Long time. RVd would be my choice.
I don't think RVD's deteriorated this year, I think he just doesn't give a shit. Hogan's not a bad choice, as even though he's been falling apart for years those back surgeries last year resulted in him not even being able work a match without a flatback bump being considered a highspot.
I think I'd have gone for Henry as Best Heel, really.
I think I'd have gone for Henry as Best Heel, really.
Yeah, I figured that was a slam dunk. He was probably the best heel in a few years, let alone this year. Ziggler was your basic chickenshit heel who lucks into wins, the same kind of heel that makes up 3/4 of the rest of the roster. At least Henry stood out in that regard.
(edited by geemoney on 27.1.12 1108) @gregmparks - live Tweeting of Raw and Impact, wrestling thoughts and other slices of life.
I think I'd have gone for Henry as Best Heel, really.
Yeah, I figured that was a slam dunk. He was probably the best heel in a few years, let alone this year. Ziggler was your basic chickenshit heel who lucks into wins, the same kind of heel that makes up 3/4 of the rest of the roster. At least Henry stood out in that regard.
(edited by geemoney on 27.1.12 1108)
See, I think that this is an example of people saying "well, I gave this guy an award so I'll give this other guy a different award". Ziggler should have been awarded for most improved: as much as I like Ryder, I don't think he's really improved that much in the ring. At least, I've never said I have to watch him perform in a match like I'm doing with Ziggler. He's gotten so much better as a performer in the last year, IMO. I just think he got best heel as a way for making up losing most improved.
As for what really surprised me the most? The Kelly Kelly hate. I mean, I know she's not a good wrestler at all. But I didn't realize how much people hated seeing her in the ring. Maybe it's more of a reaction to not using the divas people want to see wrestle more (Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Kharma) but it's telling when you 'win' three of the 'worst' awards.
Originally posted by supersalvadoranAs for what really surprised me the most? The Kelly Kelly hate. I mean, I know she's not a good wrestler at all. But I didn't realize how much people hated seeing her in the ring. Maybe it's more of a reaction to not using the divas people want to see wrestle more (Beth Phoenix, Natalya, Kharma) but it's telling when you 'win' three of the 'worst' awards.
I actually voted for Kelly on many of the Worst categories, so I'll attempt to explain it. Personally, it's a combination of her being shoved down our throats, the constant fluke victories (that narrative got old REALLY fast), the fact that she had a really tough act to follow (which isn't entirely her fault) after Trish and Lita, and of course, her atrocious moveset.
Her matches with the Bellas set the division back 10 years. Her matches with Beth were entertaining, but they overplayed the plucky underdog card with her more than they ever did with Rey. Her few weeks in the main event spotlight with Edge and Vickie demonstrated, once again, that she can't act her way out of a paper bag. And did I mention her moves are terrible? I actually wanted to vote for Kelly's stinkface as Worst Wrestling Move. The entire premise of Rikishi using that move was that he was a really fat guy wearing a thong and he was rubbing his ass in your face. Yeah, it was incredibly stupid, but at least it made a semblance of sense. What exactly is Kelly rubbing her bony posterior in her opponent's face supposed to accomplish? How is that effective in the least?
I ranted on this a lot more than I expected. I guess to sum it up, Kelly's hate is not entirely unexpected when you think about it. The E is somewhat expecting us to buy Kelly as a successor to Trish and Lita, yet she's shown very little improvement in the 5+ years that she's been with the company.
Originally posted by Spiraling_ShapeAw man, I went looking for a resurrected RSPW Awards last year around November and didn't see any sign of 'em. I always enjoyed voted for these...
I shouldn't have been so quick to assume that people would find the link on their own. I'll definitely post the link for voting time if Justin Henry does it again next year.
Sorry, but you really can't call them the "RSPW Awards" when you didn't make a single post to rec.sport.pro-wrestling about them. (Well...you CAN do it, but you shouldn't try to do it with a straight face. Or swindle Scott Keith into a plug. Or two plugs.)
I mean, I'm not going to send him a cease and desist or anything, but at the same time I think it's fair that you shouldn't expect to see this set of results added to the rspw.org Awards page, either.
I think Cena is exactly where he needs to be, so I wouldn't consider him overrated. Just the fact that they're addressing the "Cena hate" and teasing a turn on-air is a sign that they're self-conscious enough about it. Not sure who is most overrated overall, maybe The Miz. I don't think he should have gone over at WrestleMania like he did.
I think CM Punk deserves Best Babyface. He was, I think reluctantly, turned into a babyface due to his rant going out all over the place and, despite several wrong turns, he's still maintained a high profile and has always put things back on track when he's been derailed due to his excellent mic skills. To still be on top of your game despite being popularized is a feat few can accomplish, even Steve Austin had a hard time with it.
Originally posted by CRZSorry, but you really can't call them the "RSPW Awards" when you didn't make a single post to rec.sport.pro-wrestling about them. (Well...you CAN do it, but you shouldn't try to do it with a straight face. Or swindle Scott Keith into a plug. Or two plugs.)
I mean, I'm not going to send him a cease and desist or anything, but at the same time I think it's fair that you shouldn't expect to see this set of results added to the rspw.org Awards page, either.
Nobody cares about this semantic argument but me.
It's where I would have gone to look for the link, so I wouldn't have found it anyways.
I like the format staying alive, but it is different if it is a whole new group of voters ... Now if CRZ would do The W awards...
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I wonder if they came into possession of any of the WCW concept art? I remember watching some documentary... might have been a bit on 20/20 or 60 Minutes or some such, where they showed the original concept designs for El Gigante.