It's really thin pickings this year. Nothing of note has happened during the year except for the death of the WWF and the constant decline of WWE.
The Best Worker of the Year is Kurt Angle. He has had the best matches on average and has been the most consistently entertaining worker out there this year.
Best Wrestler of the Year is another story. In that category, you must factor in the overall impact the winner has had on the business. You must factor in kayfabe.
The Wrestler of the Year is probably a sign of everything that has been going on, but I can only come to the conclusion that it's a toss-up between Triple H and Brock Lesnar.
Triple H returned to a hot debut in MSG, then proceeded to basically fuck up everything as he raped, pillaged and plundered the WWE. Hell, they even made up a new World Title and gave it to him. He's been in quite a few main events this year and shows no signs of slowing down.
Brock Lesnar made his debut in April and now he's the WWE Champion. He's destroyed everyone in his path and has given consistantly impressive performances in the ring despite being green. He's had quite a year for a guy who really hasn't even found his niche in this business yet.
Those are the only two logical choices when determining Wrestler of the Year. Man, wrestling sucks these days.
Furry, the award is for who had the best OVERALL year, in terms of not just character success, but also in terms of impact on the promotion, and the product they produced. Eddy for instance was I think the most dependable heel character they had all year this year, had an insane amount of **** matches, and worked very well in the top of the card. Brock had a monster year in terms of success, but thus far he has been carried, rather than carrying the promotion. His biggest profile match was due to Rock more than to him. If I were voting a top 5, I might put Lesnar at 5, but he didn't have as good an overall year IMHO as the guys I voted for. Rest assured, Mr. Lesnar if he stays healthy will become a major player in this category for years to come, I just don't think THIS year was his yet.
I look at Best Wrestler different then "Your fav" and "best worker". I put Best wrestler as overall the best. Which includes in ring, interviews, getting stories and opponents over. Pretty much the MVP of the company.
One person comes to mind and that's Kurt Angle. He's done everything that is needed for the good of the company. By being a LEGIT heel, By helping put Edge over strong, week in week out putting on great matches, being entertaining as hell with comedy and athleticism. The only thing that was missing was a world title run or even being in the picture. But seeing how most of the world champs have fallen on their face and were pretty awful this year it's hard to give it to the HHH, Hogans, Taker, heck even Jericho.
I think I might slip Lesner in the #2 spot. It's really hard to because he wasn't even around in the first half of the voting period. But his last half was so solid it's hard not to give it to him
The #3 spot is so wide open. I could give it to Edge, yes he was in there with a lot of quality guys but he stepped up as well with the Angle's and Eddie's. And earlier this year he had a good feud with Regal... You can go with RVD, early on in the split he & Trish were the only consistent good thing on Raw and was doing great until he hit "the brick wall" .. Eddie's a good choice but again wasn't' around first half so that might work against him.. Jericho was world champ the first third of the year and was doing great until he hit "the brick wall" mid year was a disaster but had some highlights with Hogan (why did they stop that feud so fast so Hogan can bore us with HHH) and Jericho seemed to have stepped back up lately
(edited by Net Hack Slasher on 8.11.02 1729) About a hundred views with no props *sigh*
Originally posted by spf2119Furry, the award is for who had the best OVERALL year, in terms of not just character success, but also in terms of impact on the promotion, and the product they produced. Eddy for instance was I think the most dependable heel character they had all year this year, had an insane amount of **** matches, and worked very well in the top of the card. Brock had a monster year in terms of success, but thus far he has been carried, rather than carrying the promotion. His biggest profile match was due to Rock more than to him. If I were voting a top 5, I might put Lesnar at 5, but he didn't have as good an overall year IMHO as the guys I voted for. Rest assured, Mr. Lesnar if he stays healthy will become a major player in this category for years to come, I just don't think THIS year was his yet.
The problem for Eddy is that for the first three months of the year he was working spot shows for the WWA. Had Eddy been available the full year, I could see him as a legitimate wrestler of the year. But, having very little for the first quarter of the year hurts him. And, except for those who watched OVW, that hurts Lesnar as well.
I want you to know, I agree with everything I've just said.
I would consider Kurt Angle Wrestler of the Year. The guy is all around, the whole friggin' show in the WWE. When Brock was feuding with the Rock over the title, Angle and Edge stole the show two PPV's in a row. (Maybe not around the same time)
I won't complain on how matches are booked, but I personally don't enjoy these one-dimensional 'let the guy get in some offense and then I win because I'm undefeated' matches. They do absolutely nothing for me. So, I'm going with Kurt Angle.
My vote for most improved wrestler, since someone bought it up, thanks in part of this new persona they have given him is Matt Hardy. I liked him as a wrestler before, but I give him props for toning down the baby fat (that I didn't REALLY have a problem with), added a few moves to his set, and just genuinely enjoys the character they have for him.
The criteria here needs to be clarified. I don’t think winning on TV can be an indicator of success. Shawn Michaels is undefeated in 2002, isn’t he? Also, Brock has had many advantages. He is big, bottom line. Vince’s only criteria for pushing someone is their size. All “Uncle” Dave Bautista has proved is that he can brutally injure someone with so simple a move as a clothesline, but he gets pushed like he’s the future of pro wrestling. I can’t understand why big men are so much worse typically than smaller men in the ring, and almost always have less impressive personalities. I mean, outside of Hogan and Rock, when I think of wrestlers with off-the-charts charisma, I think of Flair, Michaels, Austin, Angle, Guerrero. Small to medium guys.
My wrestler of the year is also my most improved, and that’s Edge. This was the year he proved he could hang with the hot dogs on the next level, and while arguments about his having been carried have been made, his matches with Angle and Guerrero, and the tag match at the last PPV have been the best of the year. 5 of the years’ best matches have had Edge in them. That’s got to stand for something. He’s received something of a personality amputation as of late, but gotta hand it to him. He’s stepping up.
#2- Kurt is awesome, but he has been made to look like a moron this year. If Brock can be credited for winning worked tournaments as reasons he’s having the best year, Kurt can be discredited for losing practically every worked major match he’s been in, wearing that goofy hairpiece, and so on. Is he best, in-ring, on the roster? I think so. But his crybaby personality does not work on the main event level. Bret and Shawn both did that character at certain points, but never so cartoonishly. For Kurt, he’s got to tighten up on the character and be more of a smart-ass. I recall during the Steph/Hunter/Kurt storyline, when Hunter caught Steph hugging Kurt, later, when Kurt and Hunter were made to team up, Kurt asked Hunter if he needed a hug. Just to rub salt in the wound. I remember thinking how I’d pop him in the jaw if he did that to me, and that’s the kind of heel Kurt needs to be. He won’t be wrestler of the year till he starts to act like it. I realize these aren’t necessarily his decisions, but he has to have some input, and I can only judge by what I see on my television.
Eddy is tied with Hogan for comeback of the year. While we know Eddy’s story, Hogan’s return to WWE as his father’s dying wish and his subsequent elevation by the fans and the fans alone deserves honourable mention. He was father to our fandom and we let him know we don’t forget it.
Rookie of the year: Rico. No, kidding, Brock Lesnar. Obviously.
Most Sportsmanlike Player: Chris Jericho. If they had ass-fucked me professionally, as they have Y2J this last year, I would have thrown a fit. Jericho hasn’t complained, and when he has, he’s been good enough to take it out on us instead of the people he works with. All his shadow-pushes and glass ceiling collisions have seemed to do is inspire him to be a better wrestler.
Disappointment of the year: Rob Van Dam. With the kind of fan support this man has, it’s hard to believe he’s nowhere right now. Sure, Trips politicked him a couple months ago, but Bong-Boy stopped trying to improve long before that. I don’t see the spark anymore, and this guy should have been huge.
Who pissed in your cornflakes? Oh, wait. It was me. My apologies.
I had a tough tough time deciding between 1&2. Sure Brock has killed pretty much everyone he's faced, but Kurt puts on a clinic every time he goes out there. Plus you have to remember that he is the only man EVER to make Hogan tap out. Brock comes in at a close second because he's been incredible in his ROOKIE YEAR. Jesus. Edge was third because this guy was elevated by everyone out there this year and he rose to the occasion. He is the future of the WWE.
Well, if the award really is for best-booked wrestler then the winner is Paul Heyman. He's 2-0 this year. Seriously speaking however, the winner (in my eyes) is Kurt Angle. I assume longevity plays a part in the award and (under my assumption that the voting period is Nov.2001 thru Nov.2002--feel free to yell at me if I'm wrong) other than Edge and RVD, he's the only candidate that was around for the whole year. He never seems to complain about jobbing, has no problem making anyone look good, doesn't mind looking like an ass and consistently has good-to-great matches with everyone he faces (save perhaps Mark Henry but I'm not sure even Flair in the 80s could've dragged a good match out of him). Not to mention he's all-around brilliant--name the last bad Angle skit or promo you heard? As for HMD's point of big guys lacking charisma, perhaps since they're big they feel they (generally) don't have to work on their charisma since they know they'll likely get pushed based on their size anyway? It does beg the question why there don't seem to be more big guys that are naturally charismatic. I find UT to be charismatic most of the time but maybe that's just me.
There just aren't a lot of six and half foot guys in the world. They are probably lucky to find as many talented ones as they do. The small guys generally have to be really good just to get in.