My end of year WWE Awards.

Feel free to add your own:

CM Punk might have won the Superstar of the Year award, but in truth I think there are a few other people who deserve a mention for what they have done over the past 12 months:



1. Mark Henry for the “Finally live up to your potential” award – God knows it took long enough, but I think that this year Mark Henry finally stepped up to the plate and showed what he can do. Since his heel turn and monster push I think he’s been absolutely excellent. He’s cut good, convincing promos, he’s had excellent matches, and he’s looked good doing both. He’s thoroughly deserved his run with the world title, and whereas I might once have groaned when he comes on, I’m now quite interested in seeing him.



2. Cody Rhodes for the “Find a gimmick that works for you” award – lets face it, Cody Rhodes was as dull as ditchwater a year ago. A bland nowhere lower mid-card heel with not a trace of the personality and charisma that his old man had. But the “destroyed face” mask gimmick and now narcissistic borderline psycho heel has been a revelation for him, and its catapulted him forward in my eyes. He’s matured so much on the microphone over the last year, and his ring work has improved greatly as well. He puts together some really nice combinations in the ring, and he’s learned the art of selling everything he does on offence as well as defence. A year ago I couldn’t have cared less about him, but he’s been genius of late. And bringing back the classic IC belt for him was a masterstroke.



3. Dolph Ziggler for the “Number 1 with a bullet most improved award” – Much like Rhodes, Ziggler was languishing in the middle of the pack at the start of the year in a 2^nd rate Mr perfect gimmick which wasn’t really going anywhere. But much like Rhodes, when the WWE needed people to step up and fill the void, he responded. Ziggler has consistently had top quality matches on PPV, stealing the show on numerous occasions, and has refined his gimmick into being the perfect 21^st century cocky heel. #heel is a perfect gimmick for him. He’s now absolutely ready to go into the main event scene, and if he doesn’t get a run as WWE/WH champ in 2012, there is no justice.



4. Zack Ryder for the “Now that’s how you get over award” – How can you not love and admire Zack Ryder. Quite outside his loveable goof gimmick, here was a guy that the WWE had nothing for, didn’t even bother to book. So many wrestlers have been in this position, including massive internet darlings, and they have bitched and moaned and whined and then left the company in a huff. But Zack didn’t. He didn’t wait for the company to do something for him. He did it himself. He looked around and saw a gap the WWE wasn’t exploiting, and he worked his ass off to exploit it himself. The Youtube videos, the online petitions, the twitter pages, its worked massively well and its got him massively over. He’s created a gimmick from nothing, and you have to admire him for that. What’s more, I think he’s changed the business. I think the WWE’s constant pushing of Twitter and social media owes a lot to Ryder’s success.



5. Sin Cara and The Rock for the “Well, you weren’t worth the money” award. Maybe a little unfair to the Rock this, in that the real pay-off for his involvement can’t be judged until Wrestlemania 28 rolls around and he faces Cena, but his involvement in WM27 was extremely lacklustre, and did nothing to lift a decidedly average show. He promos have really grown steadily worse since his return, and I the buzz around him being “back” went away pretty quick when it became obvious he wasn’t “back” really, he was just popping in between filming. As far as Sin Cara goes, you can’t really overstate what a colossal clusterfuck he has been for WWE. The guy cannot work WWE style in a WWE ring. He botches his moves, he gets injured, he botches further moves to the point where WWE need to hire another wrestler to play the character, he then has a short and mildly entertaining feud, and as they look reayd to finally do something with him, he gets injured again. He’s a liability, and the sooner they let him go the better.



6. Matt Hardy for the “crash and burn” award – I don’t need to explain this, surely?



7. Kharma for the “bad timing” award – couldn’t you have had a headache for a bit longer love?

I just wrote up a post basically agreeing with all you said but I lost it thanks to this stupid board, haha.

This run from Henry has been even better than the great monster heel one he had in ECW (that nobody saw) before they ruined it and made him a smiley babyface. He's a great, old school badass and I like that.

Ziggler is particularly fantastic when they let him free of his scripted leash. He's snarky and witty, as you'll see in his old segments on Ryder's show, and deserves a chance to show how good he is on the mic as well as in the ring.

After the first few promos he's done, Rocky's bored the crap out of me. Same old same old with him, and it's a shame because people are obviously interested in seeing him but he's brought very little new to the table.

Punk deserves that award if you ask me. This was an amazing year for him and he showed the rest of the roster that if you be yourself, eventually it'll pay off.

As far as the "Wasn't worth the Money" award, I agree wholeheartedly with Sin Cara, but would like to replace Rock with Kevin Nash.

Honestly, I disagree quite a bit with the sentiment about Rock above, for I think that Rock, for the faults of his pre-taped segments have provided, I have to say that I am still immensely entertained by him since returning, and I think his dedication to get back into ring shape after 7 years is nothing short of astounding.

I think the crowd have been absolutely reacting positively to him since day one, and will even forgive him for the via-satalite segments, especially when it comes to show that I think in between his filming, he's been also working double duty to get back into ring shape. And that is what I think impresses me, along with his desire to give back to the place that made him.

Fact is, Rock did not need the money to come back to WWE. He's more than swimming in it already. Rock is set for life, really so he's absolutely not hurting for exposure. . Even a bad movie like Tooth Fairy, simply by association with Disney has him swimming in dough, because even a box office flop still makes him a quarter mil. He could totally be a Goldberg at this point, sitting back and saying "I made my merch sales and residuals squirreled away into my bank account, setting me for life, so I don't have to be part of that stupid wrestling shit anymore". But if anything, Rock is simply wanting to not be that guy.

When it comes to WWE, obviously Rock is back because he and Vince thought it was a good idea, and he wants to be there. And the crowd have been thunderously behind Rock everytime he says so much as a single word, whether on a titantron screen or not. So I honestly don't get how that can be "not be worth the money", when fans are reacting hugely for him and everything that WWE wanted to accomplish with his return is working out exactly how they wanted it to, (aside from Cena getting booed out of the building more than before and them trying to make Cena look like he has something at stake now, and having to find a way for him to be still relevant in the angle.)

Rock is also singlehandedly saving this Rock/Cena feud, the way I see it, because for as much as Rock has been popping in here and there rarely, he's still done far more for this feud than Cena, who, despite being there day in and day out, still isn't very compelling or interesting in the slightest.

The fact that Rock has overshadowed Cena so much in so quick a time in this fued has been the very reason that the Cena hate, that is usually ignored, has forced it's way into kayfabe story, in a desperate attempt to make Cena look, in the fans eyes, that he has any real stake in this.

Kevin Nash on the other hand....

....has provided nothing to the WWE since his major return aside from eye rolling. I don't think anyone cares about his involvement, and his feud with Triple H is duller than shit and entirely unnecessary. I already couldn't care less about Triple H and Kevin Nash or their petty little on-screen troubles.

More than that Nash exemplifies the kind of person who really is there to undermine any involvement of anything else, and attempt to put himself over, even though he's simply not a draw, and isn't even getting much of a reaction, positive or negative.

Personally though, I always have disliked stories that require backstage knowledge of past events that stretch back to vague personal histories from the 90's that a good quarter of an audience is clueless too without cliffnotes from WWE.com to help explain it. i.e: The kind of shit that ruins TNA.

To me, Nash's presence is starting to feel like a bit of an "invasion" of the TNA brand of egotistical incompetence, that type of convoluted, unwelcome story that confuses half the people that don't know what's going on and makes those that do roll their eyes clear out of their heads.

Nash is about 5 times the bore that Rock is right now, and even after seven years, Rock can still work the rare appearance or match, vastly better than Nash has ever worked, for about 70% of his lazy, egocentric, slapdash career. Especially now when he's way past the point of Nash's name drawing a penny.

I really do think CM Punk had it best with his cell phone jab: "Kevin Nash LOL thought he was dead." He might as well be for as much as he's bringing to this.

Right now, I'm much more interested in Rock/Cena, soley due to Rock's involvement, than I could give two shits about a petty fight between two guys who pretty much made careers out of putting themselves over at the expense of everyone else around them, despite what the audience might think.

I'm just left with this feeling of "This is basically, the Kilq's business, so why the fuck should I care?" Then, I remember it's Nash and HHH being buddies, trying to help each other get over on TV even if they have to trod on everyone else, even if no one is reacting or cares.

Oh by the way, the fact that Snooki was nominated for anything, and won.... Especially over the Muppets makes me want to puke.

I hate this fucking Jersey Shore trash. Anything Justin Bieber, Kardashians and Jersey Shore related don't deserve to be nominated for a years-review of ANYTHING except the Darwin Awards.


Also, I'd like to present a "Who?" award.

Simply, an award for the WWE worker this year that makes you go "Who?". The Superstar that has made so least of an impact that their name prompts you to ask yourself for a second "who is this guy again?"

Personally, I would say either Tyler Reks, Epico, Curt Hawkins, Johnny Curtis, Akansa or Trent Barreta. Any of them.

Although I want to pick Andy Levine to win. A rage so silent, you'll never even remember it.

Well, firstly, I’d agree that Nash has been a waste of money for the company as far as employing him as a long-term in-ring talent is concerned. A one night pop at the Rumble was a good idea, a Hall of Fame induction would be fine, and even hiring him as a short-term interim General Manager for one of the shows would have been fine. But Nash has never really done his best work when he’s actually been wrestling, and these days as he’s dropped weight and lost mobility (not that he had much to begin with!) he doesn’t look convincing out there.



As far as the Rock goes, I’ll pick up a few points.



Firstly, there’s no doubt that he should be praised for his condition, but lets be honest here and say that his conditioning isn’t just down to a WWE return. He’s doing the sort of roles at the moment that demand a fitness and a physique, and especially for GI-Joe he was asked to bulk back up and get ripped. So its not like his body had gone to crap and he’d just decided to go the gym again because of the match with Cena. His motivation is as much about Hollywood as it is about Stamford. But all that said, he has showed up in shape, and he’s shown a willingness to work to eliminate ring rust. For that much he should be praised.



Secondly on the “he doesn’t need to come back to the WWE” this is indeed true. He doesn’t need the money, and doesn’t need to spend his time in a WWE ring. But lets not pretend either that his decision is entirely benevolent. He knows full well, as do the movie studios, that “The Rock” still has a tremendous fan base amongst WWE fans. And both parties also know full well that his presence on a WWE show and at a WWE PPV gift them a whole bundle of free publicity for his latest upcoming movie. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. Vince gets the big star return, Dwayne gets an ego-massage and a 7 figure cheque for 25 minutes work in March, the movie studio saves money from its advertising budget. Everyone wins.



Plus, wrestlers are ego-maniacs. They love being in the spotlight and having the crowd blow smoke up their ass. This is true whether it’s a crowd of 300 at an indy show or a crowd of 50,000 at Mania. Rock is no different. He loves that immediate pop. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying its all selfish. I’m not going to criticise him for the fact he left wrestling to make a living elsewhere, and I’m not going to criticise him now for coming back and having another match. I do genuinely believe that to some degree he is grateful for the fans’ support, and that he does see his partly as wanting to say one last thank you. But there are other motivations going here – its as much business as it is emotional.



Thirdly, I don’t think the fans are reacting thunderously to everything he does. Yes he got great pops initially, and yes he still gets a reaction from the live crowd – of course he does, he’s The Rock. However, I actually do get the impression that more and more of the audience are starting to think that maybe Cena has a point about Team Bring not really bringing it. Certainly when I read forums these days populated by knowledgeable wrestling fans who have been around a long time – the very people that the Rock’s appearances were supposed to appeal to – the feeling seems to be that they were expecting more. Not just in terms of appearances, but much more importantly in terms of actual content.



While it was fun to hear the Rock’s promos in the early days of this feud, I find myself agreeing with Chris that they have gotten stale pretty fast. Its pretty much the same old stuff each and every time, and what’s more it’s the same stuff he was doing 7 years ago. The character, the promos, don’t appear to have moved on. I’m afraid I just don’t get any sense of spontaneity from Rock’s promos – they are just there to repeat his catchphrases ad infinitum.



TBH, I think Cena has really overtaken him in the war of words. While Rocky sticks to his trademark insults and catchphrases, Cena works around them, showing the ability to adapt to situations, work of Rocky’s lines, and actually come up with something fresh. His jibes at The Rock seem to me a lot more pointed and direct than the tired material Dwayne is coming out with.



I COMPLETELY disagree with your anti-Cena sentiments, and completely disagree that the Rock is saving the feud, or that he’s done more for it than Cena. A couple of taped promos does not a feud make. By contrast, Cena has been there week in and week out keeping the angle alive and feeding Rock the chances to get in with his digs. If it wasn’t for Cena setting the pins up, Rocky would have nothing to bowl at.



And the feud with Rocky isn’t the key reason for the crowd’s Cena hate. They were hating him before and will hate him after, and Rock’s done nothing other than jump aboard the bandwagon and hang on to the coattails of a ride that Cena himself is now creating. Cena has been the one stoking the crowd up, deliberately playing to the hatred, and now even teasing a possible turn because of it. Its had sod all to do with Dwayne.



But being worth the money isn’t just about live crowd reactions – its about business revenue at the end of the day. Have RAW’s ratings shown a steep incline since Rock’s return? No. Did Wrestlemania 27 do a much higher buy-rate than Wrestlemania 26? No. Are live gates and PPV buy rates massively up? No. Did Survivor Series do massively better as a PPV because he was on it? No.



As I concede though, it may be too early to full judge his impact. No doubt as we run into Wrestlemania 28 both Cena and the Rock will start going at it hell for leather, they will build their feud, and they will work towards an entertaining blow-off at the end of it. It may pop the buy-rate for Mania 28 and it may create some excellent television. But on the basis of what we have seen so far, I don’t think Rock has really lived up to the hype and expectation, and I don’t think he’s brought anything new to the table during the year. As you say yourself, CM Punk has been far more entertaining this year. And they have probably been paid about the same money.



So, no, I don’t think that SO FAR, Rock has been worth the money.