411’s 2007 Year End Wrestling Awards: Part 4

Welcome to Part 4 of the 411wrestling.com 2007 Year End Wrestling Awards. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out Part 1, 2, and 3!

REVIEW: Before we get to it, let’s take a look at the winners we’ve already announced to this point:

Announcer of the Year: John Bradshaw Layfield – WWE SmackDown! (99 points)

Rookie of the Year: Santino Marella – WWE RAW (67)

Breakout of the Year: Montel Vontavious Porter – WWE SmackDown! (89)

Comeback Wrestler of the Year: Shawn Michaels – WWE RAW (49)

Disappointment of the Year: Samoa Joe fails to win the TNA World Championship despite multiple builds (66)

Best Indy Show of the Year: ROH Good Times, Great Memories – 04.28.07 (58)

Free TV Match of the Year: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels – 56 Minute match – WWE RAW 04.23.07 (138)

Story/Surprise of the Year: ROH makes the jump to Pay-Per-View starting with Respect is Earned (98)

Worst Story/Surprise of the Year: The Chris Benoit Tragedy (140)

Feud/Storyline of the Year: The Briscoes vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen – ROH (66)

Worst Feud/Storyline of the Year: The Mr. McMahon Saga – WWE (88)

Worst Fed of the Year: Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (96)

Worst Promo of the Year: Junior Fat buries Robert Roode & the TNA Fight For Your Right Tourney – TNA iMPACT! 10.25.07 (69)

Worst Worst Pay-Per-View of the Year: TNA Hard Justice – 08.12.07 (85)

Worst Match of the Year: “Donald Trump” vs. “Rosie O’Donnell” – WWE RAW 01.08.07 (75)

Worst Manager of the Year: Christy Hemme – TNA (98)

Worst Tag Team of the Year: Team Pacman: Ron Killings and Adam “Pacman” Jones – TNA (114)

Worst Women’s Wrestler of the Year: Kelly Kelly – WWE (74.5)

Worst Wrestler of the Year: Adam “Pacman” Jones – TNA (53)

Fed of the Year: Ring of Honor (87)

And now that we have that out of the way…

Honorable Mentions:

3rd Place: Team 3D vs. The Steiner Brothers (TNA iMPACT! – 05.24.07) – 34.5 points – Awesome to see these two teams in the ring together; granted it would have been sweeter eight years ago, but I’ll take it nonetheless.

2nd Place: Team 3D vs. The Steiner Brothers – Scott returns from nearly dying (TNA iMPACT! 07.26.07) – 39.5 points – Ditto as before only better the second time around.

And your winner is…:

Ric Flair buries Carlito for being lazy and lacking passion (WWE RAW – 02.05.07) – 69 points

Theo Fraser: I’m sure the ‘casual’ WWE fan would see otherwise, but for insiders and loyal IWC members, this was the true ‘mark out’ moment of the year that set the wrestling boards on fire. For months, we had seen Carlito deliver lazy performances in the ring, so the very second that Ric Flair started laying into him in a backstage segment, fans sat up and took notice. Yes, there were the ‘shoot’ connotations, but the fact of the matter is that this was actually a perfectly constructed promo. Ric Flair was the ONLY guy who could have possibly given it, as he is the one guy in the business who pretty much embodies the word “passion” and has given 110% for the entire duration of his career that spans 35 years. After 35 years of pouring blood, sweat and tears on a near daily basis, here is a guy that has started slacking considerably within 2 or 3 years on the scene…that has got to be downright insulting to a man of the Nature Boy’s stature. So Flair cuts this promo on Carlito, hoping to light a fire under his ass, ripping into him about his lack of respect and lack of passion for the business. Sure, it’s a completely one-sided affair, as Carlito doesn’t get a chance to respond, but I don’t think it adversely affected him; if anything, it gave him a reason to step up and reassert himself in the eyes of the fans. Whether he did that or not is another matter, but the fact remains that this was just tremendously entertaining, as Flair said everything we had wanted to say for the past few months, and on live TV at that. This promo was a prime example of why Ric Flair is still the man, and he can sure bring it when he wants to.

John Meehan: Remember the craptacular Rikishi promo that won “worst of the year” honors not so long ago? Well, take each of the points that made that one such a stinker, flip ’em a hundred and eighty degrees… and you’ve got a surefire recipe for promo of the year. Though both promos “buried” the opponent, Fatu buried Roode and made him look insignificant — so much so that the guy couldn’t even be bothered to remember his opponent’s name. This time around, however, Flair buried Carlito for resting on his laurels, basically throwing down the gauntlet and daring his younger counterpart to step up to the plate and prove him wrong. The veteran called out the young buck, put over the importance of the company’s highest title in the process, and we got a decent (if not particularly earth-shattering) and extended feud between the two men for a few months thereafter (as opposed to Rikishi, who was out the door within a week of making Bobby Roode AND the “Fight For Your Right” tourney look like total chumps). Brilliant work by The Nature Boy on this one, and a perfect real-life-meets-wrestling blend (as so many of the greatest promos are) that absolutely fired on all cylinders. YouTube this one for the archives, folks — it rarely gets much better.

Samuel Berman: In all honesty, this promo was not my pick for the best of the year. I believe that it falls far short of a number of moments from both Jimmy Jacobs and Eddie Kingston amongst others. That said, in this wrestling environment, where storylines and segments tend to be forgettable week-to-week, that a WWE promo can remain a leading candidate for Promo of the Year for nearly ten months is impressive in itself. The best thing about this promo, in my mind, is Ric Flair’s return to form as one of the best in the business with a microphone in his hand. Flair has been, and remains, one of those men capable of using his unique charisma and fire to elevate a match, feud or moment. Though we are now clearly seeing the twilight of Flair’s career, it’s always nice to get a reminder of his greatness and his place in the pantheon of wrestling legends.

Larry Csonka: For those who wonder why Flair is still regarded as THE MAN…it isn’t just because he can still have a good night in the ring from time to time, it is because of the fact that he is still one of if not THE best on the mic. The things he said are basically the same things I have been complaining about Carlito for a while now, him being lazy, and I loved hearing Flair lay it to him verbally. A wild and crazy Flair cutting promos on the young guys that don’t do shit is going to be awesome. This may have been the greatest promo I hear all time, all my life. But really, it isn’t about the fact that I dislike Carlito or the fact that I love Flair. It is this: Ric Flair goes out there, you give him the gist; Bury Carlito, and he does the rest. He tells the story, he has the timing, the pacing, the voice inflection and the passion. Ric Flair has the fucking passion in his voice and you know he believes what he is saying, and by proxy you believe that, and that is what makes any promo great. While I LOVED some of the promo work by Scott Steiner, and admit that there was good stuff on the Indies this year, this one I have no problem with taking the award.

Honorable Mentions: TNA Bound for Glory (10.14.07 – 13), WWE Royal Rumble (01.28.07 – 16), WWE Great American Bash (07.22.07 – 2)

3rd Place: ROH Man Up (09.15.07) – 27 points

2nd Place: TIE! WWE WrestleMania 23 and WWE Backlash (04.01.07 and 04.29.07 respectively) – 48 points

And your winner is…:

ROH Driven (06.23.07) – 92 points

Larry Csonka: While one could easily argue for MAN UP, also from ROH as the PPV of the year, there’s nothing wrong with Driven representing the promotion. With the timing of the awards voting and the PPV, I think some of the voting may have gotten split. As for the PPV, I scored it a 9.25 out of 10. At the time I think I had only given 2-4 reviews a 9 or above in my nearly 4-years in reviewing stuff here at 411. And at the time I said that, “This is without a doubt your PPV of the year.” Respect is Earned was an excellent debut on PPV, and if there was a bit of a drop off that could be understood; it was a hell of a show. But ROH was not only able to follow it up with a show comparable to that, they actually left it in the dust. Outside of the squashes, which had their purpose but were squashes, every thing was very good to excellent. There is just a quality on this show that you aren’t getting from WWE and or TNA PPV in 2007, especially when you consider the offerings like Hard Justice, Summerslam and Unforgiven around the same time frame. No DQ’s in the title matches, no swerves for the sake of swerves, no ones wife involved; just solid and simplistic angles leading to good matches in the end. That is what a wrestling company should be, and all too many times it isn’t. As long as you can get past the cosmetic hang ups a lot of long time WWE fans have, and what I mean is that this is not WrestleMania. These are not huge buildings; these are not “name stars.” But it delivers as if it was. If you are constantly complaining about the WWE and or TNA, if you just want wrestling that will deliver and not insult your intelligence, then Ring of Honor is for you. MANY BUYS for Driven and a damn fine show.

Randy Harrison: The recipe for the perfect pay-per-view: Take one talented roster full of athletically gifted and supremely entertaining in-ring performers. Add one four-star opening bout with six of ROH’s up-and-coming stars busting their asses to put on a crisp, fast-paced, innovative and exciting match-up. Stir in a pinch of Castagnoli/Sydal to follow in a rugged, athletic WRESTLING match that if given five more minutes would have been four stars in its own right, but even then almost made it with the time it had. Sprinkle liberally with Sweet and Sour Inc., for my money the most entertaining faction out of any of the numerous factions in ROH, simply because of Larry Sweeney coming across like a million dollars. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil before adding the first match in the feud of the year between The Briscoes and El Generico/Kevin Steen, a tag classic that brought out the best in both teams, more specifically Kevin Steen, who had underwhelmed me up to this point in terms of his persona, but after this match proved to me that he had both the athletic ability and the entertainment X-factor to be a big time player in Ring of Honor. The fact that the matches and feud would actually become more heated and more violent than this laed to this particular match being overlooked, but the fact of the matter is that every great feud has to have a great starting point and with the attack on The Briscoes at Respect Is Earned, followed by this match, this feud was off to a tremendous start. This alone would make for a tasty treat and a fantastic pay-per-view, but we’re nowhere near done yet. The main ingredient is yet to come. For my money, THE match of the year in ROH as well as THE match of the year in professional wrestling between Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness. I can’t even put into words how much I enjoyed this match and I strongly urge every single wrestling fan reading this to make finding this match and watching it the one New Year’s resolution that you actually keep. Great ring work from two of the best in the world, great psychology throughout the match, the ability of both guys to work stiff and yet still protect each other, the ability of both guys to chain wrestle, brawl, use MMA-type tactics and come back to more wrestling all while making it look seamless and effortless. I’ve seen the Steamboat/Flair trilogy, I’ve seen classics from Japan, I’ve seen a lot in my twenty-plus years as a wrestling fan and this was possibly the best pure wrestling match that I have ever seen from bell to bell. Now take all of this and serve it up to the paying wrestling fan at a fraction of the cost of what WWE and TNA offer up on their pay-per-view offerings and you have the pinnacle of pay-per-view wrestling.

Theo Fraser: I fail to see how anyone could be less than impressed with ROH’s pay-per-view efforts this year. The debut, Respect is Earned was a terrific starting point, but Driven absolutely blew it out of the water. Perfect pacing from start to finish meant that the show never dragged, and I can honestly say this was the most fun 2 hours of wrestling I have watched in a looooong time. The opening 6-man instantly hooked you in with incredible action, and did a tremendous job at showcasing the newer guys like Stevens and Matt Cross. This match MADE Cross and no doubt went a long way in solidifying his spot on the roster. We had the hot return of Austin Aries, and I think even new fans could sense that this was a big deal and something to get excited about. Then we went on to the slick affair that was Claudio Castagnoli vs Matt Sydal. In my mind, they could not have had a better match. They just gelled like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and had such a smooth and crisp match, which ended on a high note with one of the most beautifully constructed finishing sequences of the year. Marufuji/Whitmer was a solid midcard affair, and showed some great continuation from the last PPV, with Whitmer’s losses playing a key part in his eventual affiliation with the Hangmen 3. The two squash matches served the purpose of portraying the winner as a dominant player; in Albright’s case, he was shown to be the powerhouse of the roster, and in Morishima’s case, we saw the champion ploughing through another challenger, thus raising the question of “Who can possibly beat this guy?” And when you garner interest like that, you sell DVDs. Simple. The Briscoes/Steenerico feud continued to heat up, and these four guys put on a terrific showcase, as we’ve come to expect from them. Really great stuff, and provided the hook for the third PPV, teasing the Ladder War with Kevin Steen’s ladder attack after the bell. Finally, we get to the main event, and this is going to be extremely hard for me to write without getting overly excited. Put simply, this is quite possibly my favourite match in ROH history. Last year at Unified, Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness had an absolutely outstanding match against each other, which became my then-favourite match in ROH history, so it really says something about these two guys that they could go out there and top that on such a level. The MMA strikes and holds in the early portion of the Driven encounter were groundbreaking stuff for American pay-per-view; I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like that in offerings from WWE or TNA. Nigel busted out his best offence, including a sweet dive from the top rope over the crowd barrier to Danielson on the floor below, which is seemingly a new addition to his repertoire. Ultimately, we came to the ferocious finishing sequence, in which the two competitors traded sickening headbutts, leading up to the Cattle Mutilation in the centre of the ring, and Nigel was forced to tap out. Simply an exceptional contest, a match for the ages to be sure, and a tremendous way to cap off the event. It really was a no-brainer this time around; ROH Driven was head and shoulders above the rest the best pay per view of the year.

Samuel Berman: Though the main event took place two weeks earlier in Philadelphia, having witnessed the majority of the Driven taping live, I can tell you that it is without a doubt one of the most crisp wrestling events you could hope to see. Ring of Honor’s move to Pay-Per-View has been met with some gripes, but primarily with astonishment from new fans who have been captivated by the company’s accessible storylines and immensely talented performers. This show, which provided great showcases for Claudio Castagnoli, the Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico feud, and the world-class abilities of “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, is most certainly amongst the best two hours of wrestling anywhere on the globe in 2007, and at less than half the price of a normal WWE or TNA Pay-Per-View event, by far the best dollar value of any premium show this year. In fact, the only shows that approach Driven are Ring of Honor’s two other Pay-Per-View ventures, Respect is Earned and Man Up.

Honorable Mentions: Batista vs. Undertaker (WrestleMania 23 – 04.01.07 0 – 10), Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Title Match 3 – 1) Sting vs. Kurt Angle (TNA Bound for Glory – 10.14.07 – 5), BONUS: Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Briscoes (ROH Good Times, Great memories – 04.28.07 – 19)

3rd Place: Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena (WWE RAW – 04.23.07) – 31 points – Our staff has already done this match justice in part 1.

2nd Place: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Driven – 06.09.07) – 52 points – Unbelievable match, simply unbelievable 30 minute match that the crowd loved every minute of.

And your winner is…:

John Cena vs. Umaga – Last Man Standing Match (WWE Royal Rumble – 01.28.07) – 53 points

Randy Harrison: I’d be lying if I said that I was surprised that a John Cena match was named the match of the year for 2007. He had a handful of superb matches and this one in particular was no exception. Last Man Standing matches, like most gimmick matches in the WWE, have been done to death over the past few years and we’ve seen every variation on violence and about every finish you could possibly think of for them. At least until this match where they started out slowly, built well to the violence throughout the match, did things that no one had ever seen before (Umaga’s triple table dash), and managed to come up with a fresh ending in a match that is seemingly booked into a corner when it comes to how the match will end. Cena came in injured and sucked it up to deliver one of his best performances to date in this match, and Umaga stepped it up to another level in his first big main event program, actually getting the fans to believe that he could be the man that would unseat John Cena and force him to take the 10 count and lose his title. The finish was something that was original and inventive and played well off of Umaga’s savagery, in that it took him being choked unconscious with a piece of the ring before he could be counted down, as well as staying true to Cena’s willingness to do anything and everything to remain WWE Champion as he desperately choked the life out of Umaga with the turnbuckle. Most championship matches at the Royal Rumble are rather dull, or have the writing on the wall in regards to who is coming out on top. This match had me thinking at least a couple of times that Umaga might just become WWE Champion and had me at the edge of my seat the entire time. If taking a tired stipulation, two workers who aren’t exactly known for setting the world on fire in the ring, stealing the show from the biggest and best gimmick match the WWE has ever produced (yes, I still consider the Royal Rumble to be a gimmick match), and giving us a finish that will be shown for years and years to come isn’t enough to gain Match Of The Year honors, I’d love to know what else could be expected or needed to win.

Theo Fraser: John Cena, a guy that is promiscuously slated as a ‘poor wrestler’ or as having the ‘5 Moves of Doom’…and here he is in the Match of the Year, as voted for by the majority of the 411mania staff. In a year that has seen a terrific Batista/Undertaker feud, numerous MOTYC offerings from the Briscoes and Kevin Steen & El Generico, the Danielson-Morishima trilogy, and some quality junior-heavyweight action over in NOAH, it is no mean feat for John Cena and Umaga to walk away with the award this year. But that’s not to take anything away from these two; Cena and Umaga were involved in a really well booked feud up until that point, and this was the blow-off. Aside from the Rumble itself, this was the marquee attraction for the event, and boy did it deliver. The hate was there from the get-go, and these guys just went all out, taking the necessary risks to make it a worthwhile affair and ensure that it would be remembered for a long while to come. Judging by its placement here, I’m guessing they succeeded in that aspect. WWE have put on a tremendous succession of Last Man Standing matches this year, and this was the first of them, setting the bar for which all others would be judged. Cena walked in with a kayfabe rib injury, and there were actually some reports floating around the net that said Umaga could very well be taking the title for a short run. That really added to the drama of the match, as every time Umaga gained the upper hand, fans expected an imminent title change. The match was structured and paced exceptionally effectively, starting with Umaga’s deliberate focus on the ribs, building to some early weapon usage, gradually getting more and more violent with some creative hardcore spots before reaching the hot finishing stretch. The finish was extremely innovative, which was particularly refreshing in light of the usual non-finishes that had plagued recent pay-per-view main events. The top rope was completely detached, with Umaga hoping to use the turnbuckle as a weapon, but Cena creatively tied it round Umaga’s neck like a noose and then proceeded to lock in a modified version of the STFU, which led to a great visual of Cena looking like he had absolutely snapped, and Umaga slowly but surely losing consciousness.
Above all else, both guys maintained their momentum heading into the match; Umaga didn’t look bad in taking defeat, as it took Cena literally demolishing the ring to put him away for the 10 count. That is a testament to how well the feud was booked, and how effectively this match was put together. Kudos to all involved.

Daniel Wilcox: While WWE has probably done the Last Man Standing match to death in 2007, it’s popular for a reason and this shows just how good they can be. Until this point, Umaga had been limited in what he’d done but had had a good little match with Cena earlier in the month. Here, Umaga really stepped up and Cena was as good as I’ve ever seen him in this encounter, and the result was a classic match. Instead of going through all the typical hardcore main event style WWE spots, they really got innovative here and I think that’s part of the reason why this match has been voted MOTY. Umaga running across three announce tables in an attempt to flatten Cena was just tremendous. My favourite aspect of the match is the way Umaga was put over in a losing effort. Nothing Cena could hit him with (and he hit him with a lot of stuff) could put the Bulldozer down, so Cena resorted to choking Umaga out in the STFU and even used the turnbuckle to do it in one of the coolest visuals of the year. This is still far and away Umaga’s best match and one of Cena’s best too. What made this better is that a match this good really wasn’t expected as Cena probably hadn’t hit his peak yet and as mentioned before, Umaga had shown only limited potential but it was this match that put him over as a true monster and he’s been riding that wave to this day. Hopefully these two will lock up again soon and deliver more goodness, but if they don’t, then this is certainly an amazing match to remember their short-lived rivalry by.

Michael Bauer: It seems so long ago, but I still remember watching this match and being in complete awe of it, knowing that there would be a very good chance of this being the Match of the Year, despite how early in the year it was. The whole background was that Umaga was chosen as Cena’s #1 contender and after a title defense at New Year’s Revolution, this was the rematch that Umaga wanted. What transpired was nothing short of non stop, balls to the walls intensity. John Cena clearly was the underdog in this matchup and it showed for a good part of the match, with Umaga taking huge advantage of the “rib injuries” of one John Cena. But Cena, like every time before him, did nothing but defy the odds again. The visuals for this match were also just outstanding. Just watching Umaga run across not one, not two, but three announcer’s tables to attempt to splash John Cena through hell was out of this world, especially more so for him missing. But the one thing we all remember is the ending. Umaga and Estrada tried to undo a turnbuckle pad as a weapon. When that backfired, John Cena used to his advantage to lock in a STFU using the damn unattached ring rope. Cena thought he had the big guy down and out, but he got the fuck back up! The look on Cena’s face was freaking golden, allowing Umaga to stay strong because the man would not just die. So Cena did the only logical thing and did it again. This time it was enough to keep the Samoan down and John Cena had earned this title defense more than any other he had done to that date. This match was innovative, intriguing, and just plain fun to watch and that is why it is the Match of the Year.

Honorable Mentions: Queen Sharmell (WWE/TNA – 8), Lacey (ROH – 21), Candice LeRae (PWG – 3)

3rd Place: Matt Striker (WWE ECW) – 23 points – If there is one thing going for Matt Striker, it is his ability to talk; made perfect sense to slap a suit on him and let him do it for someone else.

2nd Place: Konnan (TNA/AAA) – 52 points – Konnan had a big time scare this year, but he successfully recovered from a kidney transplant, and went back to work in Mexico (having parted ways with LAX and TNA).

And your winner is…:

“Sweet n’ Sour” Larry Sweeney (Ring of Honor) – 92 points

Larry Csonka: This a man born 25-years too late, a man that is the Bobby Hennan of the year 2007, a man that is building a corporation that will rule wrestling, this man is SWEET AND SOUR LARRY FN SWEENEY! I find it absolutely amazing that TNA or WWE have not picked him up and used him as a manager yet. This man is a new age Bobby Heenan. He has the look, the mannerisms, the gift of gab; he has the whole package. There is money is Larry Sweeney and WWE and TNA are missing out on it because, especially in WWE, manager is a dirty word. This guy is money to me, he entertains me and I constantly am tracking down anything he does on the Indy scene. So to me Larry Sweeney is NOT ONLY the hottest act on the Indy’s, but is the easy choice this year for Manager of the Year. SWEET AND SOUR REPRESENT~!

John Meehan: Pop quiz, wrestling fans. Can you name so many as a half dozen managers currently active in either WWE or TNA? Sure, “Father” James Mitchell comes to mind, and *maybe* a guy the likes of Matt Striker trailing along a while behind… but aside from those two? Pretty hard-pressed, if I do say so myself. See, it seems as if for as much talk is spent these days bemoaning the loss of tag team wrestling and cruiserweight action (in the “big two,” at least) — the fine skill of MANAGERS in professional wrestling is likewise becoming something of a lost art. Well, except in the indies, of course — as it appears that somebody most definitely forgot to inform Ring Of Honor (and CHIKARA) standout Larry Sweeney that the heyday of the slimy heel manager has long since come and gone. Part Bobby Heenan (the wit), part Jimmy Hart (the “mouth”), part Freddie Blassie (the style alone!) and a healthy dose of Sweet ‘n Sour thrown in on top — Larry Sweeney is as good as it gets in the U.S. professional wrestling industry in 2007. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure to see him wheel and deal his heelish glory to perfection, I simply cannot recommend checking out your next ROH show highly enough. It’s a phrase that’s used far too often these days… but this guy truly is golden.

Ari Berenstein: He’s charismatic. He’s entertaining. He’s funny. He has a great look for his character, he is exceedingly talented on the stick and he has great interaction with the crowd. He’s a genius on commentary (as seen in his work with CHIKARA). He’s got a bad ass belly laugh and a killer seventies business suit. He’s got the strut down pat. Oh yeah, he can even get in the ring and wrestle very well. He’s sweet. He’s sour, he’s “Sweet & Sour” Larry Sweeney and don’t you forget it!

In an era where there are so few male managers, anyone can stand out from the pack. Larry Sweeney not only stands out, but he blows by everyone else, male or female, doing the managerial gig. Larry Sweeney has surpassed all expectations in becoming Ring of Honor’s sleazy but oh so charismatic sports agent. His consortium in ROH began with the acquisition of Chris Hero in December of 2006 and it has grown by leaps in bounds throughout last year. Sweet & Sour Inc. now houses the main event talent of Chris Hero, fitness expert Tank Toland, SHIMMER women’s champion and a fine wrestler in Sara Del Rey and trainee / hanger on Bobby Dempsey. Sweeney took on Matt Sydal as a hot property and in a little under three months got him into the WWE with a great deal (and took a cut of the contract in the process). That’s service!

Sweeney’s got a terrific rap with his clientèle and you can see how he wheels and deals on ROH shows. He has a cell phone or Bluetooth wireless to conduct business while simultaneously making sure Hero and company are at the top of their game. Furthermore Sweeney ensures that hero is treated first class by ROH, including getting his own locker room and ensuring high tech fitness equipment and fruit baskets are waiting and ready at every ROH venue. This man works hard for the money, has worked hard to be the best manager on the independent scene and for that I’m giving him this “Twelve, large, brother!” salute to him being manager of the year.

Matthew Sforcina: Larry Sweeney. You either love him or hate him. Or possibly have no idea who he is. Or are ambivalent towards him. Or you think he’s ok at times but annoying most of the time. Or…

Larry Sweeney is pretty much a modern day Bobby Heenan, in every sense of the term. He’s charismatic, has a stable, occasionally overshadows his clients but above all is an entertaining man. And he forces you to get into his matches, which is always a good thing. He’s pretty much single-handedly keeping the manager without tits spot in wrestling alive, which is enough almost to give him the award then and there. But most of all… He’s damm fun to watch. What more do you want?

Honorable Mentions: Rated RKO (WWE RAW – 3), Tomko & Giant Bernard (NJPW – 14), LAX (TNA – 14), BONUS: TIE! Hardyz & Cade/Murdoch (WWE – 21)

3rd Place: El Generico & Kevin Steen (ROH/PWG) – 28 points – One of the hottest tag teams this year and also involved in the hottest feud; they are the current Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Tag Team Champions.

2nd Place: Motor City Machine Guns (Shelley/Sabin) (TNA/ROH/PWG/CHIKARA/UWA) – 31 points – Is there anywhere these guys haven’t rocked the house this year??? They are the current All American Wrestling Tag Team Champions as well as the ZERO-1 MAX International Lightweight Tag Team Champions, have been running through the indys, and are trying to help restore the TNA Tag Division to where it was 18 or so months ago.

And your winner is…:

The Briscoe Brothers – Jay & Mark (Ring Of Honor) – 83 points

Larry Csonka: The Briscoes are a team that people either love or hate. I filly admit that a few years ago I had no love for them as I thought they were nothing but spot monkey team with good athletics, but no ring sense. Some will still say that this is the case, but I feel differently. Thankfully for the Briscoe’s they have the talent, they have learned, the have evolved and they are in a company that let’s them do their thing. If you want to know how good they are, I am sure that people could give you a long list of matches from ROH shows that I didn’t see and that’s fine. But I will sit three matches, three matches from PPV and to me THAT is where you prove yourself:

(ROH MAN UP) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE LADDER WAR: The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico ****½

(ROH Respect is Earned) ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Mark and Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal and Claudio Castagnoli ****¼

(ROH Driven) ROH TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico ****

Three tag team title matches on PPV, three wins on PPV and three show stealing performances on PPV. That is performing, that is stepping up, that is MANNING UP and that is why the Briscoe Brothers have gotten the accolades that they have and why they have taken the Tag Team of the Year Award this year, and deservedly so.

Theo Fraser: 2007 has been heralded as the Year of the Briscoes, and their track record this past year shows that that is no misnomer. The general consensus seems to be that Jay & Mark are the MVPs of ROH right now, and when Bryan Danielson was out due to injury, that went uncontested. The sheer number of outstanding matches these two have been involved in over the past 12 months is just bewildering. Aside from the slight setback in April when Mark was out with a concussion, both men have been at the top of their game all year, and that is no exaggeration. They debuted their “Two straight falls” gimmick in January, beating former long-term ROH tag team champions Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in a 2 out of 3 Falls match, and then went on to pick up two straight falls over the Kings of Wrestling, the team of Claudio Castagnoli & Matt Sydal, and Kevin Steen & El Generico at various points throughout the year. That is no mean feat right there. The Briscoes have been ROH World Tag Team Champions since March 30th, and are well on their way to becoming the longest reigning tag champs in ROH history. Add to that the long line of exceptional matches against competition such as the Dragon Gate contingent of Naruki Doi & SHINGO, the Murder City Machine Guns, each and every encounter during the Steen-erico feud, and of course, the highly thought of contest in which the brothers faced each other during the UK tour back in March. They’ve been involved in two of the hottest angles in the entire wrestling world this year (against Steen & Generico, and the Age of the Fall respectively), and werefeatured in high profile matches in all three of ROH’s PPV offerings. Evidently these guys are the standard bearer for the company right now. But let’s not ignore their achievements in other promotions this year. FIP saw a horrifically violent match which increased interest in the company tenfold, pitting the Briscoes against Necro Butcher and Mad Man Pondo, whilst PWG saw athletic tag team competition at its finest with the ‘Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament’ in which the Briscoes reached the finals, having superb matches at every level. The Briscoes were the stars of ROH in 2007, but clearly their success is not limited to that one promotion. The entire tag team world has been put on notice; you better MAN UP if you want to knock the Briscoes off their perch!

Michael Bauer: Now is the part of the awards where we MAN UP! Jay and Mark Briscoe as Tag Team of the Year should come as no surprise to anyone who has a pulse on the wrestling scene because quite frankly, they are the best damn team in wrestling today. No grouping of two people from the WWE or TNA have put on countless top notches matches all year, nor has any tag team been pushed to main event level status like the Briscoes have in 2007. The Briscoes started the year under the radar, but then won the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Titles during the Fifth Year Festival, just to lose them the next weekend and win them back in late March. They haven’t lost the belts since. The only titles they have lost were in the PWG, when they no showed for whatever reason and the FIP Tag Titles, which had to happen sooner or later anyway, because they are simply well above those titles. During the title reign, they embarked on a major league feud with Kevin Steen and El Generico, tearing the house down for nearly six weeks with them in August and September, including the first ever Ladder War in Ring of Honor history. Now, they are in the middle of a bigger feud against the growing force of The Age of the Fall, led by Jimmy Jacobs with his crew of Tyler Black, Necro Butcher, and the amazingly hot goth Lacey. And while The Briscoes may still be the spot monkeys they were in the past and whlie they still show the ability to brawl with the very best inside the ring and out, they added some amazing wrestling ability over the past year. Looking at the Briscoes, the biggest accomplishment has to be the eight straight falls they have won in two of out three fall matches. That is four straight sweeps they have earned against teams like the Kings of Wrestling and Steen and Generico. Now whether they are still champions or not when this getsput up is questionable, since this is being written before Final Battle Weekend. But I will say this. Normally, teams this young have nowhere to go but up. The Briscoes can not, because going much higher means they in the big leagues, and that might not be in the cards for 2008. But for The Briscoes, even coming close to matching what they did this year will means that this award will stay with them next year.

Samuel Berman: From their stellar outing with the Motor City Machine Guns to their career-defining Ladder Match against Kevin Steen & El Generico to their nearly 8-month ROH World Tag Team Title reign, no team on the planet was on as big of a roll in 2007 as Jay & Mark Briscoe. The year started with the Briscoes winning Pro Wrestling NOAH’s GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles and continued when they won the ROH World Tag Team Titles for the first time since returning to Ring of Honor in 2006. Though they would briefly lose the belts early in the year, all would be forgiven as the duo found time to shoehorn a superb one-on-one match against each other into their schedule before regaining the straps mere weeks later. Since regaining the titles, the Briscoes have run through a veritable who’s-who of Independent talent, including an impressive victory over the super-team of “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness. This year has seen the Briscoe Brothers cement themselves as the top of the food chain in ROH and elsewhere, as Jay & Mark are now considered amongst the most reliable talent in North America, capable of putting on a state-of-the-art tag team contest with all comers. The only question that remains is whether the Briscoes can continue to improve on their already elevated abilities.

Honorable Mentions: Candice Michelle (WWE – 15), Victoria (WWE – 5), Mickie James (WWE – 12)

3rd Place: Gail Kim (TNA) – 56 points – Has been a crucial part of the foundation that is the TNA Women’s Division, and is also TNA first ever TNA Women’s Champion.

2nd Place: Sara Del Rey (ROH/SHIMMER) – 72 points – Has had another fantastic year. In singles matches, she has less than TEN losses this year, two of which were to MEN. She is also the current Canadian Wrestling Revolution (CWR) Women’s Champion, and the first ever and current SHIMMER Women’s Athletes Champion.

And your winner is…:

The Amazing/Awesome Kong (TNA/SHIMMER) – 73 points

Larry Csonka: To me there was a pretty strong field for this award this year, but when it comes down to it I have no problem awarding Amazing/Awesome Kong women’s wrestler of the year. She’s busy in Japan being a dominant force, the 2007 version of Aja Kong and or Bull Nakano. She has then made her mark big time in the SHIMMER promotion, working there and putting on some of the best women’s matches of the year. If you haven’t seen any of Kong in SHIMMER then you need to treat yourself to some SHIMMER DVD’s and do so, you’ll thank me. On top of this she has been picked up by TNA Wrestling, and has been a dominant force with many victories of TV. Her feud with Gail Kim has been (even though it hasn’t lasted that long) one of the very besting wrestling all year, and in the top two feuds for TNA this year. Their Turning Point match was awesome stuff with a tremendous effort, seeing Kong kill MANY people; it was glorious. 2007 was a great year for her, and I would expect 2008 to be even better for her. LONG LIVE KONG~!

Ryan Byers: On April 7 of this year, I was privileged to be one of approximately 250 wrestling fans crammed in to a small Eagles’ Club in suburban Chicago. On that night, I witnessed perhaps the single most exciting live match that I’ve seen in almost twenty years as a wrestling fan. It featured St. Louis-based independent wrestler MsChif taking on the winner of our Female Wrestler of the Year award: The Amazing Kong. Kong has been active in professional wrestling since 2002, when she finished rigorous training in Japan. It was not until 2006 that she would make her first major impact on the United States independent scene, debuting for SHIMMER: Women Athletes. Her pair of matches for the promotion in ’06 certainly turned some heads, though it would not be until 2007 that she truly broke from the pack and had a year better than any other female wrestler in the country. It all began with the aforementioned April 7 match, which can be seen on Volume 9 of SHIMMER’s DVD series. The very same night, Kong would go on to have another high quality encounter for SHIMMER, beating Daizee Haze in a match taped for Volume 10. The rest of her time in the promotion saw battles against Nikki Roxx (Volume 14), Cheerleader Melissa (Volume 16), and a shot at the SHIMMER Title against champion Sara Del Rey (Volume 15). I’ve seen four of these five matches, and all four rank among the best women’s matches that I’ve ever seen. Based solely on that fact, Kong probably would’ve wound up somewhere on my ballot for this award. However, that is not the only thing that she’s done in 2007. She also toured many other prime indy groups, showing up in ROH, FIP, FSM, and NWA Midwest. To top it all off, the Amazing Kong made her national television debut in the United States late in 2007, signing a deal with TNA. She immediately became one of the highlights of the promotion, engaging in a feud with Gail Kim that is one of the few reasons for bothering to tune in to TNA Impact. Her matches have continued to be top notch, and the ferocity with which she plays her unstoppable monster character is unparalleled on today’s wrestling scene. For the many reasons listed above and for many more reasons that have fallen by the wayside due to space constraints, Kong is an easy choice for Female Wrestler of the Year.

Ari Berenstein: Kong is the female equivalent to Vader in the ring with a meteoric rise in national attention equivalent to Samoa Joe. Kong, like Vader and like Joe, is the kind of wrestler that makes you take a step back and go “man, I know this stuff is fake, but he / she really scares me.” She is an intimidating and imposing character and that along with her in ring talent is what helped sell Kong as a top flight wrestler this year. Kong has been around for six years or so but 2007 was her year in the United States wrestling scene. She dominated SHIMMER wrestling action. Of course she would be built up as a Giant knocking down all the smaller wrestlers, but Kong had the presence, the moves, the psychology of wrestling and the in ring ability to execute a match that made her that much more impressive as a “Giant” character. She had terrific matches in SHIMMER against MsChif, Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey. Her arrival in TNA was incredible, as was the fact that TNA has managed to get the booking for her just about right. Kong is someone you want to watch wrestle and it doesn’t matter who she fights, you just know you are in for a show.

Matthew Sforcina: Remember the general consensus about Kelly Kelly in Worst? It’s not her fault, it’s the companies, it’s every aspect being wrong. Well this is the flip side. Everything TNA has done with Kong has been 100% right, with maybe a quibble about her lack of gold. Her in-ring work has been spot on, and TNA have booked her as a huge f’ing monster, and she’s pulled it off. The fact that she didn’t beat Gail is minor, given that she lost by DQ and thus Gail just survived, she didn’t beat her, and next time, Gail is in all aspects pretty much screwed. Amazing Kong is a TNA Success story in a dwindling list, and will probably start 2008 with a new title around her…over her shoulder. And she damm well deserves it.

Honorable Mentions: Nigel McGuinness (ROH – 10), Samoa Joe (TNA – 9), The Undertaker (WWE – 10), “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush (ROH/CHIKARA/IWA:MS – 6), MARK BONUS!: Christian Cage (TNA – 24)

3rd Place: Shawn Michaels (WWE RAW) – 27 points – Our staff has already done this man justice in part 1.

2nd Place: “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson (ROH/PWG) – 39 points – One of the key points that may be overlooked when people talk about two amazing comebacks this year is that he has been just as good, which is why he is for the second straight year voted 2nd in our Year End Awards. He’s had a great feud with Nigel McGuinness this year, and is the current Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Heavyweight Champion.

And your winner is…:

John Cena (WWE RAW) – 100 points

Larry Csonka: Even with the injury to John Cena, you would be hard pressed to argue the issue of him winning the wrestler of the year award. John Cena was on fire the whole time he was active, and as I said many times was the best of both worlds for WWE. There was a large group, mostly men that hated Cena, and a large group of people (women and children) that loved Cena. So either way people paid to see him, either win or lose, they made a TON of money off of John Cena, he was the champion, the top draw and that is what a wrestler of the year does. Let’s check out some of the best PPV matches of the year; that he was a part of:

(WWE Royal Rumble) LAST MAN STANDING WWE TITLE MATCH: Cena vs. Umaga ****¼

(WWE Backlash) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge ****¼

(WWE WM XXIII) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels ****

(WWE Summerslam) WWE TITLE MATCH: John Cena vs. Randy Orton ***¾

And not only was he a part of these great matches, but he drug good matches out of Khali on PPV. Not MOTY matches, but not the shit we were used to seeing from Khali. He had a good match with the still green Lashley at the Bash as well. Cena constantly stepped up, and showed that he wasn’t all hype, that he was a good wrestler and overall performer. It’s just a shame that his year got cut short, because 2007 was certainly his year and he deserved the consideration for WOTY based off of that, and while I voted slightly differently, I have no problem with John Cena winning the award. Get well soon John.

Randy Harrison: The job of the top guy in the company is generally to get a reaction, and be it good or bad, no one can draw a reaction like John Cena does week in and week out. He’s the guy that people love, or the guy that they love to hate depending on which week it is, who he’s fighting and whether he’s done something funny or not. He’s also been a lightning rod for criticism recently in terms of being a stale character that had a set list of moves that couldn’t be deviated from, leading to formulaic matches that were very paint-by-numbers. This year John Cena silenced the critics of his in-ring work as he matured as a performer and used that newfound maturity to put on great matches with Shawn Michaels, Edge, Randy Orton, Umaga, and just about anyone he faced in the ring. His promo work, while sometimes cliched, has always been top-notch and now he has the chops to get it done in the squared circle as well. Now instead of being the guy that needed a little help from his opponent to turn in a good match, he was the guy that was doing the helping in his matches against guys like Khali and Lashley who both definitely needed some spoonfeeding to put together decent matches with. The fact that he has grown enough as a performer to be able to bring guys that aren’t at his level workrate-wise up to his level, and to up his game when he faced guys a level above him like Michaels, speaks to his abilities as a wrestler. As a draw for the company he’s second-to-none as he moves a ton of merchandise, sells a ton of tickets, he starred in a successful movie backed by WWE Films, has a ton of mainstream crossover potential and looks to be the star that the company is going to be built off of for years and years to come. Sadly, he ended up injured towards the tail end of 2007 and will end up missing a portion of 2008 as well, but for being the top star and champion on the top show for the top brand in the top wrestling promotion in the world for most of the year before the injury, John Cena is hands-down the Wrestler of the Year for 2007.

Theo Fraser: Whilst there are still a good portion of haters out there, John Cena managed to silence the majority of his detractors this year, thanks to a slew of strong feuds and stellar matches. Cena’s most recent title reign was a joy to watch, from the series of matches against Shawn Michaels (which included one of the greatest pure wrestling matches in Raw history back in April in London, England) to the surprisingly great title defence against Bobby Lashley at the Great American Bash to the intense warfare waged against Randy Orton in the late summer. Heck, Cena deserves a ton of credit for pulling a decent match out of The Great Khali, as their One Night Stand main event wasn’t nearly as bad as one might have thought it would be on paper. It’s Cena’s work ethic that also contributes to the proceedings. I can’t remember the last time this guy gave anything less than 110%, whether it be on the mic, in the ring, or even at fan interaction events. John Cena lives and breathes for the wrestling industry, and his determination to be at the top of his game and be the best there is has evidently paid off. It’s no wonder he’s headlined back-to-back pay-per-views during the course of the year; John Cena is the ‘company guy’, and he embodies everything the WWE looks for in a worker. Yes, his entertaining feuds and classic matches have made him Wrestler of the Year for 2007, but it’s his stellar attitude and insatiable will to give his all that will take him a step closer to being remembered as one of the greatest wrestlers of this era.

Daniel Wilcox: One of the criteria to be considered a great champion (at least in my book) is to have the ability to put on a great match with a variety of opponents. Until this year, Cena had worked with very capable guys like Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Triple H and Edge and had some great matches with all of them. This year, he stepped up and had amazing matches with the likes of Umaga and a very green Bobby Lashley while also managing to get not one, but two good matches out of one of the worst wrestlers of the year in The Great Khali. Add to that his collection of classics with Shawn Michaels and a very good feud with Randy Orton and you have a very, very good candidate for wrestler of the year. However, the thing that makes Cena’s 2007 that much better is the fact that he did it all against the controversy, the bullshit opinions that he can’t wrestle, the backlash from thousands of fans in the arenas, and the fact that he was asked to carry the company for a whole year in a time when long titles reigns (especially involving a “superman face” like Cena) are not the most popular thing in the world. Cena’s managed to win most people round with what he does in the ring. It was a shame therefore, when Cena was added to the long list of WWE main-eventers who suffered serious injuries in 2007. Not only was his promising program with Orton cut short, but also one of the best runs in modern-day wrestling history. However, when John Cena does make a recovery and returns, we can all expect many more great matches from a man who seems to be able to pull great matches out of nowhere. This was the year that John Cena proved he deserves his place in the company.

Thanks for joining us for the 2007 411wrestling.com Year End Wrestling Awards!