NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:
ANTONIO CESARO
Awarded to the wrestler who had the most impressive debut in
the WWE or TNA.
Cesaro won his first match in WWE on April 27, defeating
Tyson Kidd in a tryout match on Smackdown.
He quickly went on to win his first Championship on the Summerslam
preshow, defeating Santino Marella for the United States Championship. He successfully defended the title on major
pay-per-view during the rest of 2012 against
Zack Rider and R-Truth. Winning a
major title in his first year in the WWE and being dominant in defense of that
title earns Antonio Cessaro the Newcomer of the Year award.
2008 Winner: PRIMO COLON
2009 Winner: SHEAMUS
2010 Winner: DANIEL
BRYAN
2011 Winner: MICHAEL
COLE
MOST IMPROVED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: SHEAMUS
Prior to 2012 I
considered Sheamus a terrible wrester and his WWE Championship reigns a
fluke. I even created the “What A
Sheamus” award for the ‘Event That Should Never Have Happened” after his 2009
win over John Cena to become the WWE Champion.
But in 2012, Sheamus became one of the most dominant wrestlers in the
WWE. He won the Royal Rumble, an
impressive feat in and of itself. Then Sheamus
went on to Wrestlemania and became the World Heavyweight Champion in a record
setting 18 seconds. Sheamus was a
dominant Champion, holding the title until December 16 when he lost it to the
Big Show. It was an impressive title
reign that made him a top contender for ‘Wrestler of the Year’ and this year’s
“Most Improved Wrestler’.
2008 Winner: CODY
RHODES
2009 Winner: KOFI KINGSTON
2010 Winner: KANE
2011 Winner: DOLPH
ZIGGLER
WOMAN OF THE YEAR: A.J. LEE
A.J. Lee skipped her way to the center of major storylines
on Raw for almost all of 2012. First she cost Daniel Bryan the World
Heavyweight Championship with an ill-timed kiss at Wrestlemania. Then she became involved in a love triangle with Daniel Bryan and CM
Punk. She left both Punk and Bryan in
the dust to become the General Manager of Raw.
While she was GM, AJ started to romance John Cena, only to betray him and align
herself with Dolph Ziggler. It seemed like you could not turn on Raw in 2012
without seeing A.J. involved in a major storyline in one way or another.
2008 Winner: BETH PHOENIX
2009 Winner: SANTINA
MARELLA
2010 Winner: NATALYA
NEIDHART
2011 Winner: VICKIE
GUERRERO
FEUD OF THE YEAR: CM PUNK VS. DANIEL BRYAN
On the surface, this
feud was about these two men vying for the affection of AJ Lee. But when these two wrestlers got away from
the soap opera aspect of the story and faced each other in the ring, the feud
became about two of the best wrestlers in the world today facing off to show
who the better in- ring technician was.
Punk and Bryan displayed their skills in a memorable ‘No
Disqualification’ match at the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View. Watching two exceptional wrestlers face off
in the ring made this my favorite feud of the year.
2008 Winner: RANDY
ORTON vs. ALMOST THE ENTIRE RAW ROSTER
2009 Winner: JOHN CENA
vs. RANDY ORTON
2010 Winner: MOTOR
CITY MACHINE GUNS VS. BEER MONEY, INC.
2011 Winner: RANDY
ORTON vs. CM PUNK
“LOVE TO HATE” WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: BROCK LESNER
Brock Lesner used
the WWE as a stepping stone to what he thought was going to be ‘greener
pastures’. After stinking up his
Wrestlemania match in 2004, Lesner left professional wrestling to play in the
NFL. He was cut in preseason by the
Minnesota Vikings. He then went on to
try his hand at Ultimate Fighting, where he did find success until he was
forced out of competition due to diverticulitis. With his career in UFC ended, Lesner returned
to the WWE in 2012 and demanded to be the ‘face’ of the company that he wanted
nothing to do with eight years prior.
For being a giant bully and a hypocrite for acting like he owned the WWE
in 2012 when he could hardly wait to leave the company in 2004, made Brock
Lesner my most hated wrestler of the year.
2008 Winner: RANDY
ORTON
2009 Winner: RANDY
ORTON
2010 Winner: WADE
BARRETT
2011 Winner: THE ROCK
FAVORITE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: JOHN CENA
2012 was not a very good year for John Cena inside of the
ring. He lost to the Rock at WrestleMania
in the biggest match of his career. He
became the first wrestler to fail to successfully cash in the Money in the Bank
contract. He failed on several occasions
to win the WWE Championship from CM Punk.
And he failed to win the Smackdown Money in the Bank contract from Dolph
Ziggler. John Cena is not used to
failure in the ring. But he never
compromised on his principles. He did
not get frustrated and become a ‘heel’.
He stayed true to his principles of ‘Hustle! Loyalty! Respect!” And that made me root for him even more than
when he is achieving success in the ring.
Outside of the ring, John Cena continued his work with the
Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2012, Cena granted his 300th wish to a
sick child. That alone makes John Cena someone
worth rooting for both in and out of
the ring.
2008 Winner: C.M.
PUNK
2009 Winner: JOHN
CENA
2010 Winner: JOHN
CENA
2011 Winner: MICHAEL
COLE
MATCH OF THE YEAR: CM PUNK (WWE CHAMPION) VS DANIEL BRYAN FOR
THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP IN A NO DUSQUALIFICATION MATCH AT MONEY IN THE BANK
In this one match, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan proved that they
are arguably the two best wrestlers in the world today. Their in ring arsenal of moves already make
for an exciting match whenever they hook up, as evidenced at Over The
Limit. But this match also had a no
disqualification stipulation, and Punk and Bryan proved that they could brawl
with the best of them. The combination
of the two wrestlers’ technical abilities and the ‘hardcore’ elements of the
match made this the most exciting match of the year. I was so enthralled in the show these two men
were putting on that I did not want the match to end. It was pure excitement from beginning to
end.
2008 Winner: Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship: Edge
(CHAMPION) vs. Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy (Armageddon 2008 Pay-Per-View)
2009 Winner: THE
UNDERTAKER VS. SHAWN MICHAELS (WRESTLEMANIA 26)
2010 Winner: THE
UNDERTAKER VS. SHAWN MICHAELS (WREASTLEMANAI 27)-THE STREAK VS. CAREER
2011 Winner: John
Cena (WWE CHAMPION) vs. CM PUNK for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank
TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR:
KOFI KINGSTON & R-TRUTH
2012 saw a resurgence of tag team wrestling in the WWE. Primo and Epico, The Prime Time Players, Kane
and Daniel Bryan, and Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger all became legitimate
threats to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.
But from April 30 until September 16, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth were
dominate tag team champions. For almost
half a year they successfully defended their titles against the top teams in
WWE. Sadly, Kingston and R-Truth broke
up after losing to The Prime Time Players in a tournament to determine the
number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship. Their time together was too short, but they
were an exciting team to watch while they help the tag titles.
2008 Winner: JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ
2009 Winner: DX:
TRIPLE H & SHAWN MICHAELS
2010 Winner: THE MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS (ALEX SHELLEY AND
CHRIS SABIN)
2011 Winner: BEER
MONEY, INC. (JAMES STORM and ROBERT ROODE)
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR:
CM PUNK
CM Punk was the WWE Champion for all of 2012. He was a fighting Champion for most of the
year, until he aligned himself with Paul Heyman and started using The Shield
and corrupt referees to retain the title.
Still, it was an impressive year.
No one has been able to hold onto the WWE Championship for one full year
in the time that I have been doing these awards. And with the fierce competition in today’s
WWE, it is unlikely that this feat will be repeated anytime soon.
2008 Winner: C.M.
PUNK
2009 Winner: JOHN
CENA
2010 Winner: THE MIZ
2011 Winner: ALBERTO
DEL RIO
“NOW THAT…THAT’S COOL” AWARD
This award is for my favorite moment of the
year.
RAW CELEBRATES IT’S 1000 EPISODE
On July 23, WWE Raw aired it’s 1000 episode. That is a landmark achievement in television
history. Ever since it debuted, Raw has
been my stress reliever of the week. I
look forward to Monday night. No matter
how bad of a week I had, I know that I can forget about everything and enjoy a
night of fun wrestling action. Raw had
been there for me for so long that the wrestlers are almost like ‘old friends’. One example of how important the
personalities on Raw have become to me occurred on the September 10
episode. Jerry Lawler suffered a heart
attack on the air. I am not even a fan
of Jerry Lawler. But the thought of someone who has been there for
me every Monday night for such a long time fighting for his life made me feel
saddened and concerned for his well-being.
Thankfully, Jerry Lawler survived and even returned to his familiar
position at the announce table. For
being there for me every Monday night for 1000 episodes, I would like to give
everyone involved in Monday Night Raw a big ‘THANK YOU!’ Here’s to 1000 more!
2008 Winner: JEFF HARDY WINS THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
2009 Winner: THE UNDERTAKER’S SUICIDE DIVE AT WRESTLEMANIA
25
2010 Winner: THE MIZ CASHES IN HIS MONEY IN THE BAK
CONTRACT AND BECOMES THE WWE CHAMPION
2011 Winner: HULK HOGAN COMES TO THE AID OF STING AT BOUND
FOR GLORY
The “What a Sheamus” Award: DANIEL BRYAN LOSES THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP IN 18 SECONDS AT WRESTLEMANIA
This award is for an event that should never
have happened.
Daniel Bryan is one of the greatest wrestlers in the world
today. He was a participant in my 2012
‘Match of the Year’. He is capable of
putting on a match of the year caliber match any time he steps foot in the
ring. But he will always be remembered
for losing a match on the biggest stage of all in a record setting 18
seconds. And it was not just an ordinary
match. It was a World Heavyweight
Championship match. That loss will
always make Daniel Bryan look like a joke.
I don’t think there is any way that Daniel Bryan can erase that blemish
from his record. It will taint his
career for the rest of his professional life.
2009 Winner: Sheamus
Defeating John Cena for the WWE Championship at the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs
Pay-Per-View
2010 Winner: JACK
SWAGGER WINNING THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
2011 Winner: ADAM
COPELAND RETIRES
And introducing the TURNBUCKLE
STUFFing HALL of FAME
2012 INDUCTEES: HULK HOGAN and EDGE
Recognizing the
superstars that have made a significant impact on my enjoyment of professional
wrestling.
This year I am inducting into my Hall of Fame my all-time
favorite wrestler and my all-time most hated wrestler. First, my all-time favorite wrestler:
Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan was the reason I started watching professional
wrestling in the first place. He was on
a Saturday morning wrestling show. We
had just seen Rocky 3 in the movie theaters, and when we saw the big wrestler
guy from that movie on TV, my family decided to watch the show. We were hooked. Hulk Hogan instantly became my favorite
wrestler. He always stood up to the bad
guys. His motto of ‘Train, say your
prayers, and eat your vitamins’ resonated with me. He always did the right thing, no matter how
horribly the bad guys treated him. He
was the perpetual hero, and I liked that.
Eventually wrestling fandom seemed to pass Hogan by. The fans wanted edgier anti-heroes and grew
tired Hogan’s ‘do-gooder’ persona. But
not me. Hulk Hogan was always my
favorite. Hulk Hogan realized that he
needed to change his character if he was to remain successful in pro
wrestling. He shocked the world at Bash
at the Beach in 1996, turned heel, and he created the NWO. While I never rooted for NWO Hogan, I sympathized
with him. I knew he was forced to turn
heel because the fans had stopped caring about him. But not me.
I kept hoping for the day when Hogan would return to his Hulkamania
roots and would be a good guy again.
That day finally came at Wrestlemania 18 when he turned away from the
NWO after a match with The Rock. I felt
like a kid again seeing Hulkamania running wild once more. Years after first seeing Hulk Hogan for the
first time on that Saturday morning TV show, Hulkamania still had the power to
make me feel like a kid. I was at a Raw
taping during the summer of 2006. Hogan
was getting reading to face Randy Orton at Summer Slam. I was in the lobby getting a something from
the concession stand when I heard “I am a real American” coming over the
speaker system. Hulk Hogan was making
his way to the ring. I was like a little
kid. I got goose bumps and ran back to
my seat to see my hero. Hulkamania will
always run wild in my life. .
And my all-time most hated wrestler:
Edge
I hated every second of Edge’s wrestling career. I even briefly rooted for the dirtiest player
in the game, Ric Flair, when he feuded against Vader. But I never once rooted for Edge. When he teamed with Christian, I found the
two of them very juvenile and obnoxious.
And I hated every aspect of his Rated-R persona. I had a lot of fun rooting against Edge
during his career, especially in his feud against John Cena. That is one of my all-time favorite feuds and
contained some of my all-time favorite matches.
Every hero needs a villain. And
in Edge, Adam Copeland created the villain that I loved to hate the most.
Hulk Hogan and Edge gave me a lot of memories over the
years. But these two men paid a
tremendous price physically while giving me wrestlers to love and to hate. Edge had to retire due to injuries he
sustained in the wrestling ring. And
Hulk Hogan has had numerous knee and back surgeries. Hogan said recently said that one failed back
surgery left him ‘twisted like the exorcist’.
I am continually amazed at the abuse professional wrestlers put their
bodies through to entertain the fans.
Hulk Hogan and Edge paid a big price with their bodies to give me my
all-time favorite and all-time most hated wrestlers. They deserve to be in my Hall of Fame.
2011 Inductee: RANDY
SAVAGE
