wrestling / Columns
The 2008 411 Year End Wrestling Awards (Part 1)
Hello again all! Welcome to the 411wrestling.com Year End Wrestling Awards. I am once again your host, JT, here to bring you the best and worst from 2008! In a year that saw the Hardy Boyz both win the big one, Gabe Sapolsky leave ROH, the return of Jeff Jarrett and much, much more, our staff got together, voted, and wrote about all the craziness from this year! With that said, we have a several platefuls, so let’s get to it!
We’re going to use the same format as last year, but just in case some of you didn’t see it, let’s have some Fun With Bullet Points!
Honorable Mentions: (These are writers who voted but are not participating in this column; thanks to them for their votes) – Special thanks also to Christy Csonka for not only voting, but for hooking me up with the SICK banners you will see before you.
Michael Bauer – Bauer multi-tasks around here, bringing you 411’s Buy or Sell, the new Wrestling’s Top 5, and Live ECW Coverage!
Ari Berenstein – Throws together the ROH Roundtables and most recently the final 2008 installment of Column of Honor.
Samuel Berman – Berman’s lazy ass hasn’t done shit since October, so no plugs. Although, you can feel free to go yell at him in the weekly Wrestler of the Week column!
Ryan Byers – Ryan does a little bit of everything around here, so I’m sure you’re familiar!
James Craig – James is a relative newcomer to the Movies Zone, and also issues a warning to the people working on Robotech in his East Coast Musings.
Larry Csonka – Here, here, here, here, here, here, so on and so forth…
Theo Fraser – Theo, I have just one question about this week’s Nintendophiles. Sadness? Really? Again???
Randy Harrison – Randy also helps out wherever he can, but his regular routine is to bring you the TNA iMPACT Report, and his Bell to Bell News Report. For the record, Harrison is not Canadian.
Mike Minotti Aaron Hubbard –
Joseph Martinez – Another 411 rookie, Joseph dove right into the deep end with his Wrestling Déjà vu and connects with the readers in a way few can: Dancin’ Lance Storm!
Michael O – Michael brings you the Dope on SmackDown as well as his amazingly original column, Cheers ‘n Jeers of Wrestling!
Sat – He & Uncletrunx debate the current RAW World Championship scene in this weeks High Road/Low Road.
Mathew Sforcina – Mathew took over Ask 411 Wrestling temporarily, still covers Evolution Schematic, and occasionally gives us a Not an Evolution Schematic; in this particular installment, he tells you about all the exciting promo work you can expect this year!
Stephen Randle – Randle, as always, brings the goods with his Wrestling News Experience. RANDLE BROCK LESNAR IZ NOT A WR3STLER OMGZ! NO CREDIBILITARY!
Jeremy Thomas – Jeremy recently grabbed the reigns of our most …”interesting” column, the aforementioned Wrestler of the Week. Also, he reviews the hell out of things for the Movie Zone.
W.S. Thomason – The Wrestling Doctor takes a peek into his crystal stethoscope to give us a health update for the wrestling world for 2009!
Jarrod Westerfeld – Jarrod has been kind of bouncing around the last couple of months, so go here and check out all he’s done!
And I am your host, James “JT” Thomlison!
There were a few categories that we kept track of during the year, and despite the fact we couldn’t find room to devote time to them with blurbs and pictures and stuff, we still wanted to let you guys know what we decided upon and give it some recognition. So, before the awards start today and continue through the week, we will present one DARK MATCH AWARD!
Today’s Dark Match Award:
Worst Announcer of the Year: Mike Adamle (ECW) – 57 points
Honorable Mentions: Jerry Lawler (WWE – 8 points), Dave Prazak (SHIMMER/FIP – 10 points), Michael Z (IWA-MS – 3 points)
3rd Place: Tazz (ECW/SmackDown!) – 17 points
2nd Place: Matt Striker (ECW) – 54 points
And your winner is…:
Jim Ross (WWE RAW/SmackDown!) – 57 points
Mathew Sforcina: There’s a lot an announcer needs to do in a wrestling broadcast. He has to, as the WWE insists, tell the story, be it the short 30 second one about why one wrestler in the ring can’t escape the submission hold of the other one, through to the multi-month fued between 3 rival groups and the owner of the company all in another 30 seconds. He also, as WWE refuses to acknowledge, treat what’s going on in the ring as an athletic contest and call it as such, he needs to balance the story and the athletic. He has to be entertaining without being overbearing, an integral part of the show without being notable, and be ready to make that needed classic call when the occasion arises. And this year, the workhorse shone through. Jim Ross has been calling wrestling longer than most of us writing these blurbs have been alive (well… certainly longer than a lot of you reading this at least) and he had a stellar 2008. Although his work with King was it’s usual high, if somewhat predictable quality, when JR was transferred to SD (against his will), he and Mick and more importantly Tazz showed that the chemistry they showed in the few times they have worked together was totally viable and workable, and JR has if anything stepped up since going blue. Other announce teams may have made better double acts, but JR worked extremely well with anyone he was in there with. WWE keeps trying to replace him, but they keep going back since no-one sounds like JR, and right now, no-one’s as good.
Jeremy Thomas: 2008 was a year that saw a lot of changes in the once-stable world behind the announcer’s desk. While Don West and Mike Tenay stayed stable in TNA (for better or worse), we had Joey Styles taken away from the ECW table to become the Director of Digital Media Content and the terrible experiment of Mike Adamle in his place. Then, Adamle was pulled in favor of Todd Grisham, only two weeks before Matt Striker took over in place of Tazz, who switched SmackDown to replace the departing Mick Foley, who had himself replaced the the Coach, who had replaced the 2007 Announcer of the Year JBL. The biggest surprise of all, however, came during the WWE Draft, where Jim Ross and Michael Cole switched shows. JR had been the voice of Raw for years, and many attempts to replace him had been failures. No one expected this to happen, but it did, and while Cole moved to Raw where he proceeded to suck on a major scale, JR made his move and made the best of it. His brief time spent with Foley behind the desk resulted in some amazing announcing, and when Tazz moved in it got even better. Imagine Jeff Hardy’s quest to obtain the WWE Title without J.R.’s voice selling the excitement week after week. Think about how poorly Vladimir Kozlov would have gotten over with anyone else talking him up. There’s not much surprise that, with Ross away from Monday nights, Friday night is more often then not the place that we find “Must See TV” for the WWE anymore. It’s very, very clear that while no one can fill the black Stetson for long beyond the man who owns it, which is why J.R. is the 411 Announcer of the Year for 2008.
Randy Harrison: WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross is a broadcasting legend in the sport of professional wrestling. That is one of the few things in the business that can’t be disputed. His passion for the business is endless and his career has seen him call some of the biggest matches in wrestling history. However, the past few years have seen people call for Ross to resign as an announcer as he had seemingly seen his best days pass him by in his rear view mirror. He’d seem lost on occasion, mis-call moves and forget names or mix them up wrestlers. This year, after what had seemingly been a lifetime of work on Raw, Jim Ross was moved over to Smackdown during the WWE Draft. While he seemed shocked and disheartened by the move during the live broadcast, he has obviously buckled down and pressed on, rededicating himself to his profession and coming out much better because of it. The move has reinvigorated JR and he’s been at the best that he’s been in years. Working with Tazz allows him to avoid some of the idiocy that he dealt with during these past few years as Jerry Lawler has devolved into a cariacature of his former self and gives him someone to play off of that people still have a little respect for. This is definitely a situation where Ross took the lemons of being dealt to the WWE’s “B” show and turned them into the lemonade of a career rejuvenation and an Announcer of the Year award.
Stephen Randle: What more can be said about Good Ol’ JR that hasn’t already been said? He is, without a doubt, the irreplaceable voice of WWE and has been for many years. Jim Ross simply offers the best, most consistent work at such a high level of quality that we have come to accept it as commonplace. In addition, although he may have bridled initially, a move to Smackdown and partnership with Tazz seem to have revitalized the big Oklahoma native. While newcomers to the booth like Matt Striker and Mike Adamle (just kidding) have offered a fresh voice and perspective that has been embraced by viewers, you still cannot overlook Ross’s contributions. I think this is best reflected by Jeff Hardy’s big title win at Armageddon, where the announce booth was ordered to remain silent in order to let Hardy’s celebration speak for itself, and more than one person was heard to complain that the event was somehow incomplete without Jim Ross’ trademark celebratory commentary.
Honorable Mentions: Ted DiBiase (WWE RAW – 2 points), Brie Bella (WWE – 4 points), Shark Girl (SHIMMER – 1 point)
3rd Place: Karen Angle (TNA) – 16 points
2nd Place: Ezekiel Jackson (WWE SmackDown!) – 27 points
And your winner is…:
The Osirian Portal (Ophidian & Amasis) (CHIKARA) – 38 points
Samuel Berman: In a company that has made its reputation on developing new stars, The Osirian Portal of Amasis & Ophidian stand out as two of CHIKARA’s best projects. Unlike many of the “rookies” in the modern wrestling landscape, the Portal members legitimately debuted in the past year-and-a-half and have quickly become two of CHIKARA’s steadiest workers, going so far as to win the company’s prestigious Campeonatos de Parejas. CHIKARA’s 2008 season may be over, but “The Funky Pharaoh” and his serpentine partner are poised to make even more waves as the 2009 campaign rolls around.
Jarrod Westerfeld: Very few people break into this business and instantly make a name for themselves in their first year of working actual matches and very few can do this without having daddy or mommy with a historic name to help lend them a better future. Ophidian starting up in July, while the ever charismatic Amasis began his career in September of 2007 have gone through Mike Quackenbush’s CHIKARA Wrestle Factory and have grown into talents that have truly branched out beyond the realm of Philadelphia. Their first big note to be added to their names came at the CHIKARA King of Trios tournament, one of the bigger events out of the CHIKARA promotion. It would be from that point on that the Osirian Portal would catch on, actually getting dates to work with ROH and becoming the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas by defeating The Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Player Dos).
The door is practically wide open for this tandem with bigger and better opportunities awaiting them around every corner. Amasis demonstrates a smooth way of delivering his talking points while coming off as coy and arrogant as The Rock was renowned for while Ophidian plays his silent character flawlessly through his body movement. Both are athletic and understand what keeps a wrestling match together is the selling so are truly stars in the making. Only time will tell what stories of achievement we’ll be talking about, but at least they got a great start on their careers thanks to CHIKARA.
James Craig: Nothing about the year this duo has had says anything but bigger and better things are on the horizon. It is one thing to debut and actually be viable within a promotion, but to achieve the level of success this team has obtained is nearly unheard of. Quickly rising to the upper echelon of CHIKARA, these two are setting themselves apart as not only talented rookies but also as being an example of how to make an impact in the business that will get others to notice. Couple their in ring skills with the look the team has cultivated and I think that with some slight refining and it could be something that could be marketable to the right mainstream promotion. The success these two have had in 2008, winning the Campeonatos de Parejas, is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the very bright futures these two have and I would say that these are two to keep your eye on as they won’t be professional wrestling best kept secret (to the casual fan) for very long.
Ryan Byers: There are many different criterion that one can consider when attempting to determine whether a candidate qualifies for Rookie of the Year. You could vote for the rookie who had the most worldwide exposure. You could vote for the rookie who had the biggest accomplishment in kayfabe terms. You could vote for the rookie who, despite his level of experience, has the most talent in the ring. In 2008, not that many rookies put big accomplishments under their belts or gained widespread notoriety, so by default we were almost required to vote for the rookies who were the most talented in-ring performers. When that is the primary consideration, there is not even an argument that can be made that anybody other than CHIKARA’s Osirian Portal – comprised of Amasis and Ophidian – deserves the award. Though, like any rookies, they still have room in which they can grow, they have displayed talent between the ropes which is significantly greater than what one would anticipate given their less than two years of experience. The two were plugged almost immediately in to the main event mix in CHIKARA, a wrestling environment in which flashy highspots, old school lucha libre, and irreverent comedy are regularly combined within the same match. The talent on that roster has to be proficient in many different styles of wrestling, which is a distinction that some grapplers with decades of experience cannot lay claim to. Both Amasis and Ophidian have taken those multiple styles and excelled in them, completely changing my perception of what a “rookie” in professional wrestling can be. While some wrestlers trained by the multi-million dollar WWE’s developmental system are barely capable of putting together two minute, three move matches without falling on their faces, these two fellows from the tiny CHIKARA Wrestle Factory are busting out maneuvers and structuring matches that would make some veteran luchadores jealous. The fluidity of their movement in the ring and their skills at pacing a match are near-unprecedented given the number of bouts in which they have participated, and, though their size may prevent them from ever setting foot in to a WWE ring, they have everything it takes to be mainstays on the indy circuit for years. With CHIKARA’s Tag Team Titles already around their waists and an ROH tryout being earned in recent months, the duo has all of the momentum necessary to become the world’s next Steenerico-esque breakout tag team.
Honorable Mentions: Matt Hardy (WWE – 2.5 points), Kofi Kingston (WWE – 11 points), Rhett Titus (ROH – 6 points)
3rd Place: CM Punk (WWE) – 23 points
2nd Place: Evan Bourne (ECW) – 25 points
And your winner is…:
Tyler Black (ROH/FIP) – 38 points
Ari Berenstein: Readers might think it would be easy to be a “breakout” when you’re wrestling with the likes of quality talent on the independent scene such as Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness and Austin Aries. Yet ROH and independent fans are a picky bunch and they will sniff out someone who isn’t the real deal quickly. Tyler Black not only had to hold his own and keep pace with these guys, but he had to be more than good. Black had to excel in the things that wrestling fans look for—the in ring work, the charisma and the “look” that combine to form the “it” factor of a wrestling star. Black showed he had all three this year.
Black’s rise to the main event level of ROH began with he and Jimmy Jacobs as tag team champions and being highlighted under The Age of the Fall stable. The added attention also gave him more opportunities in the singles division, beginning with a breakout match against Bryan Danielson that made fans take notice. He slapped Danielson right in the face—repeatedly. You just don’t do that to Danielson (the character he plays anyways) and so for Black to step right up and basically say he didn’t respect Danielson and wasn’t impressed by his resume, well, it got everyone intrigued. Black followed it up with the real true break through, his PPV main event against Nigel McGuinness at Take No Prisoners. As the line in Gladiator goes, “win the crowd, you win your freedom”. Well, Black won the crowd that night, and the freedom he won was the freedom to wrestle in the upper card and main event level for the rest of the year.
In addition to main events in the tag scene teaming with Jacobs against the likes of The Motor City Machine Guns, Danielson & Aries, The Briscoes and the team of Steen & Generico, one of Black’s personal highlights this year was getting to be the guy who wrestled Samoa Joe, who was returning to ROH after all this time. You don’t just get picked to fight one of the most important stars in ROH history by being average. You have to be good enough to live up to the moment. Black was more than good enough on that night; he was great.
Black was so over in New York City in August that a crowd of 1,800 rabid New Yorkers in the Hammerstein Ballroom was desperately willing him on to defeat McGuinness for the ROH World Title. It was a sign that the fans wanted Black as champion, and his recent face turn at the Final Battle 2008 event confirms that those behind the scenes in ROH know the fans believe in him enough to support him to that level.
Samuel Berman: Even back in 2005, Tyler Black was pegged for greatness. At that year’s Ted Petty Invitational, Black was supposed to face defending champion AJ Styles in the first round. Things didn’t go quite as planned, but the writing was on the wall that Black seemed ready to take a big step forward if only he were given a chance. After years of dedicated work for companies like IWA Mid-South and All-American Wrestling, Black finally debuted for the Independent scene’s flagship promotion, Ring of Honor, in late-2007. It took a few months to get his bearings, but 2008 saw Black truly break out of the pack as the future for ROH, earning pinfall victories over company mainstays like Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson. Many have predicted that Black will win the ROH World Title in 2009, and while it is not a certainty, one would have to consider him the odds-on favorite to eventually unseat Nigel McGuinness for the crown.
Michael Bauer: It’s quite simple really. Tyler Black was not known to many people before Ring of Honor went to Pay Per View. But for anyone who watched Ring of Honor’s showings, the one consistency has been Tyler Black’s rise up the ladder on those shows. He has put on classics with Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson, the two top guys in the company, and both matches made Tyler Black into the star he is now. But I think what proves his rise up to the top of the charts so quickly is simply the reactions he has been getting at the Ring of Honor shows. Before 2008, Tyler Black was just another 21 year old guy who the fans didn’t pay enough attention. Now, being at Final Battle and hearing it first hand, Tyler Black has turned into a mega-over 22 year old wrestler who has chants of “next World Champ” echoing through Hammerstein. This year also saw him finally capture singles gold in the form of the FIP World Heavyweight Title and have two runs as Tag Team Champion with his now former Age of the Fall team mate in Jimmy Jacobs. There is no doubt Tyler Black will wear the Ring of Honor World Title. The question now is just a matter of when.
Jarrod Westerfeld: Often or not, a wrestler will achieve so much in a year that they start to get noticed. Whether they’ve been honing their craft for years, getting better with every new year they tackle, and have had a loyal following with them through the good and bad, or they’ve just now gotten down the basic tools to finally shed off the distinction of being a hack. To be a breakout star is to finally get everything together that you now have turned heads your way – fans that once ignored you or were unaware of what you were capable of in bigger spots are now turning to you and singing your praise, and that’s what Tyler Black has done this year.
It wasn’t that long ago that Tyler Black was quietly building up a reputation in the Mid-South territories, busting his hump to earn himself a name and some fan recognition. Eventually his work would land him into ROH alongside Jimmy Jacobs and the two would form a tag team that would impress the crowds with their fast paced, high octane offense that would parallel with the Briscoe’s style of tag team wrestling. A lot of praise began to fall at his feet as Black finally stood out over the Chuck Taylor’s and the SeXXXy Eddie’s of the Mid-South region. No longer was Black just another generic, lean worker just going through the motions of a good wrestling match, he was finally standing out and looking like a talented individual with ideas on what made a match good.
What really allowed Tyler to shine wasn’t even his tag team work alongside Jimmy Jacobs; the multiple reigns as ROH World Tag Team Champions didn’t do much to stand Black out as a big star in the making. It took something as simple as selling to stand Tyler head and shoulders above the pack he was fighting so hard to differentiate himself from. The pay-per-view Take No Prisoners saw Black become a star over night and all he had to do was bump for the ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. A heel character, Black stood up against the pinnacle of hatred in the company and managed to gain the crowd’s sympathy as he took bump after bump, literally looking like he was arriving at death’s door with every blow he would sustain from the domineering champion. It was this event that led the company to look at Tyler as an actual star that fans would pay to see, and they would take advantage of it by further placing emphasis upon his single matches for the remainder of the year.
Capping off the year with the FIP World title victory over Go Shiozaki, Black now stands on the cusp of becoming a baby face who has just be outcast from his own family, a brotherhood with Jimmy Jacobs. The world is opening up for Black and at least now more fans know of him and the tremendous future that awaits him. Doors are opening up for this once unknown kid from Iowa. With a strong look, a distinct personality, a good, clear head on his shoulders for this business and a true understanding of what this business is about, ROH isn’t the only land of opportunity for Black and only time will tell how long before someone from the WWE snatches him up much like they snatched up the former ROH breakout star from the Mid-South territories in CM Punk.
Honorable Mentions: Keiji Muto (Japan – 8 points), THE Brian Kendrick (WWE SmackDown! – 1 point), Sting (TNA – 3 points)
3rd Place: John Cena (WWE RAW) – 10 points
2nd Place: Jerry Lynn (Indys) – 14 points
And your winner is…:
Chris Jericho (WWE RAW) – 86 points
Jeremy Thomas: If someone had told me that Chris Jericho would be the comeback of the year in January, two months after his November return, I would have laughed at them. Admit it people…as much as we all love Y2J, he was floundering in the beginning of the year. After his very brief feud with Randy Orton ended up with the Legend-Killer on top, he moved on to a pretty terrible feud with JBL, who had just returned to the ring himself. Jericho was unable to pull very good matches out of the 2007 Announcer of the Year, and he then lost in the Elimination Chamber match before he won the Intercontinental Title by virtue of Jeff Hardy fucking up yet again and getting suspended for Wellness. At this point, Jericho’s much-hyped and anticipated return seemed pretty well relegated to the midcard. It wasn’t until post-WrestleMania that we saw signs that there might be more to hope for. Jericho inserted himself into the feud between Batista and Shawn Michaels, and before long Batista was off to SmackDown and Jericho vs. Michaels was kicked into high gear. Jericho tossed Shawn into the Jeri-Tron 3000, a beautiful nod to Shawn’s infamous superkick of Marty Janetty, and from there he shot through the roof. He would “injure” Shawn even worse at the Great American Bash and, while Shawn was off-screen selling the injury, carried the feud on the back of his incredible promos.
Then, when you thought he couldn’t possibly get more over as a heel, he punched Shawn’s wife Rebecca. Sure, it was accidental in the storyline, but he never apologized. Not only did he not apologize, he BLAMED SHAWN! I actually know people who stopped watching Raw because they hated Jericho so much for that. Not real-life “I don’t like that they’re hitting women” type hate, but actual heat. He had gotten so over at this point that by the time Unforgiven came around, even though he lost to Shawn in the unsanctioned match, he snuck into the Championship Scrabble match after Punk was taken out and won the World Heavyweight Title. This was a move no one saw coming, and even better, he would proceed to hold the title (minus a one-week Batista reign) until Survivor Series. For a guy who was looking so mired in the midcard to hang so strongly in the main event scene clearly earns Chris the Comeback of the Year.
Mathew Sforcina: This shouldn’t be a huge surprise to anyone. After all, while the start of Jericho’s return was a bit wobbly, and the whole Savoiur thing kinda fizzled to a stop the moment JBL got involved, as soon as Jericho made Marty Janettey a very happy man and tossed HBK into the All New Obscenely Expensive Jeritron-6000 (now in HD), Chris was well on his way to becoming a contender for this award. But a funny thing happened. Jericho has been lots of things in his career, but a serious bad guy had eluded him. Even when he was Undisputed Champion, he never really got into the groove of being a truly despicable, ‘main event’ heel. He was always slightly too cute, always slightly too funny. But this time, he was ON. Utterly self-assure, totally serious, willing to do anything to prove himself, Chris Jericho didn’t just return, he surpassed everything he had done before and then some. Chris Jericho was everything we’d truly wanted him to be, and while he may not have been treated as well as he should have (somewhat like the guy he kinda won the belt off of), the fact remains that Y2J finally showed us all what we’d hoped was inside of him. Hey, if this could happen to all of the IWC beloved then I support holidays for all of them…
Daniel Wilcox: There wasn’t too much competition for this award, but even if there had been, Jericho would walk it. Jericho’s comeback was one of the most anticipated in wrestling history. I was one of those sad bastards who spent far too much time and energy trying to break the code in a desperate attempt to convince myself that it was indeed Chris Jericho who was returning to “save us.” Once I’d done that, I began counting down the days until his return. The night of his return was one of the most memorable moments of 2007, but as a result, Jericho would have to do something spectacular in 2008 for his return to live up to the hype. It’s a true testament to the man’s ability that he not only managed to meet those expectations, but easily surpass them.
Stephen Randle: I think it’s safe to say that everyone was pumped for the return of Chris Jericho in late 2007. Hell, even when they dragged the return “mystery” out too long everyone was still pretty happy to see Jericho back in the ring. Unfortunately, a one-shot main event against Randy Orton followed by sliding into a feud with the suddenly un-retired JBL later, and Jericho’s return seemed destined to fall into the “wasted opportunity” bin. Jericho went on and won the Intercontinental title, but it would be more accurate to say that Jeff Hardy lost the belt and Jericho was his opponent that night. However, shortly after, Jericho would start to insinuate himself into an ongoing storyline between Shawn Michaels and Batista, and from there, his rise was positively meteoric. After a shocking attack on HBK that was replayed on WWE TV for weeks, Jericho spent the year perfecting his heel character, progressing through a red-hot blood feud with Michaels during the summer, and being rewarded for his work with not just one, but two separate World title reigns. Since his relatively disappointing initial return, Jericho has firmly entrenched his position in the top of WWE ranks through hard work, excellent storytelling, and a truly complete heel character, with a very bright future ahead of him.
Honorable Mentions: John Cena/Batista feud occurs with very little build on the undercard of a stacked SummerSlam (WWE RAW – 12 points), Takeshi Morishima’s push fades out in favor of Kensuke Sasaki (NOAH – 1 point), TNA treats Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura as afterthoughts when they visit the company (TNA – 5 points)
3rd Place: Samoa Joe’s TNA Title reign is a letdown from both a business and entertainment standpoint as TNA treats him like a complete joke (TNA) – 37 points
2nd Place: CM Punk’s World Heavyweight Championship reign proves to be short, uneventful, and disappointing in general; was badly booked and exposed the fact they never meant to give it to him in the first place (WWE RAW) – 42 points
And your winner is…:
Jeff Hardy fails his second wellness test, loses the Intercontinental Championship, gets pulled from WrestleMania 24, and screws up his major push (WWE) – 50 points
Michael O: I don’t know about you, but I was feelin’ it. Coming off the heels of a strong, albeit brief feud with then WWE champion Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy had never been hotter and his world championship prospects had never been brighter. Many were expecting him to win No Way Out’s elimination chamber and when that didn’t happen, most everyone had him as a lock to win Money in the Bank before he’d even qualified to participate in it. Hell, there was plenty of speculation that Jeff might just cash in that night and leave Wrestlemania 24 as a world champion. And then the other shoe dropped.
I guess in hindsight, and, well, even at the time, really, it wasn’t so surprising that Jeff Hardy failed a wellness test. He had before, and many had joked at the time of his re-hiring that he wouldn’t be long for the newly wellness-ized WWE given his storied history of drug abuse. It was the timing, which couldn’t have been worse, that caught many of us off guard. Jeff had to fork over his Intercontintal championship and would go on to miss out on not only Wrestlemania, but 2 months worth of work that may have cost him enough to land him in a lower annual tax bracket than usual.
I’d be the last person in the world to sit here and hammer Jeff over “letting me down”, ’cause frankly, I don’t care. It’s Jeff’s life, and I knew he’d be back. But I was looking forward to seeing him attempt to steal the biggest show of the year in that Money In The Bank match. It worked out well for CM Punk, and I guess in the end, for Hardy as well. But at the time, Jeff’s suspension and subsequent removal from the show was a major disappointment.
Jeremy Thomas: Things seemed so bright for Jeff Hardy at the beginning of the year. He had been the Intercontinental Champion since September and was just coming off a friendly rivalry against Triple H, one he had been rare enough to get the better hand—and even rarer, a clean pin—over. That pin put him in his first-ever pay-per-view main event for a World Title, facing Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble. While he failed to win then, he moved on to the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out and very nearly won that as well. Along the way he was getting big wins against the likes of Umaga and Shawn Michaels, and was the first person to win a spot in the Money of the Bank match. The WWE was gripped in Jeff Hardy fever, an amazing feat for a man who five years earlier had been fired for failing a drug test and refusing rehab.
Unfortunately, the shadow of that low point five years ago reared its ugly head. On the March 10th Raw, Jeff lost the Intercontinental Title to Chris Jericho, seemingly out of nowhere. The next day, Hardy was suspended for sixty days due to a Wellness Violation, his second in two years. This meant that he had lost out on his Intercontinental Title, the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania—a match he was believed to have been in line to win—and his push was severely derailed. To make matters even worse for the man, his house burned down three days later, destroying everything Hardy owned and killing his dog. Make no mistake about it, that week had to be the worst in the Rainbow Warrior’s life.
It’s almost funny to say that fans were disappointed at that point—clearly, we should have all known better. Jeff’s “personal demons” as we like to call them are very well-documented, and for all his talent he has a history of screwing things up just when it’s all looking good for him. Still, as wrestling fans we’re all people who want to believe in redemption and underdogs; that’s part of why we cheer the little guys like Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and yes, Jeff Hardy. That’s part of why we loved the Eddie Guerrero story so much, because it was a man who had escaped his demons. So there’s really no need to question why we were pulling for Jeff so strongly, and why it was so disappointing when he fell off the wagon and screwed it all up.
Of course, these days he’s back on top, having fought his way back into the ‘E’s good graces, and he finally has that World Title around his waist. Many of us are watching with amazement and with baited breath, happy to see Jeff’s redemption but wondering if he’ll make it another year. This is, of course, his last shot, and we know what the pressure of being World Champion has done to a lot of wrestling’s greats. If Jeff can survive this year, then we might just be calling Jeff the Comeback of the Year next year, as opposed to the Disappointment he was in 2008.
Stephen Randle: While Jeff Hardy’s Armageddon title win would seem to mitigate the disappointment, the fact remains that as hot as Hardy is as champion right now, he was even hotter when 2008 began. At the end of 2007, Hardy had managed both to be a survivor in the marquee match (read: the one Triple H was in) at Survivor Series, and even managed a clean pinfall victory over The Game at Armageddon. Hardy would continue to rack up the big moments in early 2008, with highlight reel leaps off steel cages and parts of the Raw set, his first ever PPV World title match at the Royal Rumble, and even a pinfall victory over Shawn Michaels. Make no mistake, Jeff Hardy was hot and the fans were behind him all the way. All signs pointed to Jeff winning the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania, then finally earning that first World title.
Then, suddenly, Jeff was pinned cleanly to lose the Intercontinental title two weeks before WrestleMania, and was subsequently removed from the Money in the Bank match. It would soon be revealed that Jeff had failed a Wellness test, his second, and would be out of action for sixty days. To say that fans were disappointed is an understatement, especially given Hardy’s well-known problems with drug abuse in the past, and the fear that he would relapse back into a spiral of self-destruction. Also, many pointed out, a man who was one strike away from unemployment is hardly the person you’d want to make the face of your company and give the World title to, is it?
Fortunately, it seems for Jeff Hardy that even if he may be on his last chance, he’s still being given a chance, and this award for 2008’s biggest disappointment may in fact result in one of the greatest redemption stories in pro wrestling. Still, one can’t help but wonder what might have been.
Sat: Not surprisingly the biggest disappointment of the year was Jeff Hardy failing his second wellness test. This was a big disappointment because he was favored to win the Money in the Bank ladder match and cash in the title shot to become a world champion later in the year. But, his failed wellness test changed all of that because he lost his intercontinental title, was pulled from WrestleMania and it was believed that he would never get a chance at holding a world title. And to make matters worse, a few days later his house burned down and his dog was killed in the fire. Jeff Hardy did manage to win the WWE title at Armageddon, but the fact remains that he managed to ruin the biggest run of his career by failing his second wellness test. And while Jeff Hardy did manage to win a world title, I think that Jeff Hardy failing his second wellness test still has to be considered the biggest disappointment of the year.
Honorable Mentions: FIP Redefined 08 (02.16.08)
3rd Place: TIE – ROH Northern Navigation and ROH 6th Anniversary Show (07.25.08 and 02.23.08 respectively) – 3 points
2nd Place: ROH Death Before Dishonor VI (08.02.08) – 15 points
And your winner is…:
ROH Supercard of Honor III (03.29.08) – 21 points
Ari Berenstein: ROH does attach itself to Wrestlemania weekend, but they always back that up by following through with special cards filled with the best possible match combinations where the wrestlers put forth the best effort of the year. Supercard of Honor III follows the format of giving fans a true Supercard, their equivalent of presenting a show of importance and magnitude ala a Wrestlemania show. From beginning to end this match provided awesome in ring action, including a final flurry of four matches back to back that were high quality and exciting. No, of course nothing is going to compare to Ric Flair’s final match or the drama of Edge vs. The Undertaker in the main event in a stadium. However, matches such as McGuinness vs. Aries, the Dragon Gate Six Man tag and the impressive El Generico & Steen vs. BxB Hulk & SHINGO match combine to form the equivalent of independent pro wrestling’s Wrestlemania. You had different wrestling styles including the grudge brawl between The Briscoes and Age of the Fall, a comedy-action match between Delirious and Go Shiozaki, a hate-filled hardcore massacre between Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong, and of course the spectacle of the Dragon Gate stars and the importance of an ROH World Title match all in one show… and as I’ve written before, when Bushwhacker Luke of all people is in a good match, you know you’re onto something special. I dare any cynics to watch this show from beginning to end and not find themselves enjoying what they see. If I can’t convince you to see this DVD, at least read J.D. Dunn’s review and imagine it in your head.
Samuel Berman: I was at the original Supercard of Honor show in 2006. That show featured not one, but two Match of the Year Candidates. Since then, Ring of Honor has continued to put on blow away shows with every installment of the yearly tradition. This year, at the third such event, ROH once again brought in some of Dragon Gate’s finest talent for another incredible weekend of action. This year’s show saw outstanding matches in so many styles that one has to be amazed by Ring of Honor’s versatility. From the wild brawl between the Briscoes and the Age of the Fall, to Kevin Steen & El Generico’s tag classic with Shingo & BxB Hulk, to the traditional Dragon Gate Six-Man, to Austin Aries’ epic second bid at Nigel McGuinness’ ROH World Title, the show had something for every wrestling fan. It’s not just one of the best Independent shows of the year, it’s one of the best shows of the year, period.
Michael Bauer: This had to be one of the toughest categories to vote for this year, because there were so many good choices to vote for, mostly out of the Ring of Honor productions. But SuperCard of Honor 3 had a lot to live up to after the first two shows were not only huges success, but some of the best shows Ring of Honor had in those respective years. From top to bottom, there was not a truly bad match in this card, possibly excluding the YRR taking on a team that Bushwacker Luke was on. Just look at the lineup first: Go Shiozaki vs. Delirious, Roderick Strong vs. Erick Stevens for the FIP World Title, Jacobs and Black vs. The Briscoes with Relaxed Rules, BxB Hulk and SHINGO vs. Steen and Generico, Nigel vs. Aries for the RoH World Title, and the Dragon Gate six man with the Muscle Outlaws vs. Typhoon. Oustide of Go vs. Delirious, every single match on that card has either been a main event match on another show or could be. Not only that, but every match delievered as it should have. Nigel and Aries was an absolute epic rematch from the Rising Above PPV, which in itself was an epic match. Strong and Stevens were right in the middle of the best feud in Ring of Honor this year. Likewise, The Briscoes were still on the front of the Age of the Fall hitlist. BxB Hulk and SHINGO were facing Steen-erico in what was a Dream Tag Match. In other words, the card had as much hype as Wrestlemania XXIV and it delievered just like that other show did the next day.
Theo Fraser I can start off by saying that this is now my favorite ROH show EVER. I’m no wrestling expert, but I’ve watched a heck of a lot of Ring of Honor since its inception, so I like to think that may at least put some weight behind my assertion. From top to bottom, it’s just a fantastic card. It has everything you want from a wrestling show. Shiozaki & Delirious put on a fun opener to hook you into the proceedings. Erick Stevens vs Roderick Strong brings the violent grudge match that was in my opinion their best encounter in an ROH ring (just a step behind their fantastic match at FIP Redefined). The Briscoes and the Age of the Fall have one of the best matches of their feud in a wild bout that has one of the craziest finishes of the year. Steen & Generico take on Doi & SHINGO in a display of tag team excellence, and Austin Aries & Nigel McGuinness put on an absolute wrestling clinic, aptly following up their insanely good Rising Above encounter. Of course, we had the treat of the annual Dragon Gate spotfest, and it certainly didn’t fail to deliver. Watching the DVD never feels like a chore, and it’s incredibly easy to get through in one sitting as each match is such a joy to experience. I can’t imagine a single indy wrestling fan being disappointed by this show. An automatic must-buy, if you haven’t seen it yet.
Honorable Mentions: Matt Hardy vs. Finlay w/ Hornswoggle vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz – Fatal Four Way for the ECW #1 Contendership (WWE ECW, 07.22.08 – 10 points), Chris Jericho vs. Batista – Steel Cage Match for the World Heavyweight Championship (WWE RAW, 11..08 – 6 points), Motor City Machine Guns vs. Speed Muscle (TNA Impact, 06.12.08 – 19 points)
3rd Place: Shawn Michaels vs. Jeff Hardy (WWE RAW, 02.11.08) – 27 points
2nd Place: Kurt Angle vs. Yugi Nagata – IWGP 3rd Generation Championship Match (TNA Global Impact, 01.17.08) – 28 points
And your winner is…:
Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga – Steel Cage Match (WWE RAW Roulette, 01.07.08) – 42 points
Daniel Wilcox: Jeff Hardy and Umaga have always had a lot of chemistry with one another and have had numerous top quality matches in the past, notably at Great American Bash 2007. I think these two work together so well because Jeff Hardy is one of the very best at taking a beating, and Umaga is one of the best at giving out a beating. I figured that the Cage would restrict them but it in fact aided them, and they put on the best match that these two have ever had together. Cage matches can be tricky to make work because they’re generally slow and restricting matches, but Hardy and Umaga both put in great performances and managed to keep things exciting, culminating in that memorable Whisper in the Wind from the top of the cage. This match was an integral part in Hardy building momentum going in to his WWE Championship match with Randy Orton, but also served as the best match on TV this year.
Jarrod Westerfeld: Some matches are memorable for the range of emotions they put us through, but this one only had one gear and it was pure excitement the whole way through. The drive here was to escalate the confrontation between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton and it did its job well of placing doubt in Orton’s head about how easy that road at the Rumble with Hardy wasn’t going to be. With Umaga playing the perfect pawn in this story, the focus shifting between Jeff’s mounting offense and fearless nature to commit his body to the need to win and the range of emotions Orton had gone through in his witnessing and aid in the bout.
It’s an oddity how well Umaga and Hardy work out so well especially despite different styles, but their styles remain complimentary to one another. Umaga’s strong style based power game feeds off of Jeff’s ability to act like a rag doll and sell everything to such an extreme that it makes Umaga look that much more dangerous. Jeff’s style of daredevil risk taking works well against the bigger opponents as it proves to be his only means of knocking the big men off of their feet, and with Umaga’s strong balance and great sense of ring positioning he allows himself to be a great cushion for Jeff’s high altitude offense. They have great chemistry and tremendous timing and with the crowd high on the bout from start to finish and feeding off of the presence of Orton and his expressions for this bout it maintained a high energy and proved that the WWE is still capable of delivering a strong, entertaining bout that bends the standard formula of safe-styled matches while still captivating the fans from start to finish.
Randy Harrison: As a rule, I generally hate the Raw Roulette shows. They tend to feature lots of gimmicky stuff with no real meat to anything and it ends up feeling like I’ve wasted two hours by the time all is said and done. That being said, I generally don’t like cage matches in the WWE anymore as they don’t seem to have the same level of violence, bloodshed and hatred that the cage matches of the past used to have as they save all of that for Hell in a Cell nowadays. This time though, I was pleasantly surprised on both fronts as Jeff Hardy and Umaga were able to put together a Raw Roulette steel cage match that stole the show and actually beat out eleven months of other great matches to win the free TV match of the year. As much as everyone remembers the finish with Hardy’s huge Whisper in the Wind, there was more to this match than just a big bump, which was rare to say for Hardy matches at this point. Hardy was at the edge of a slippery slope where if he had gone down he could have ended up almost like a New Jack-type character where he needed to have the big bump because the people were expecting it and would be disappointed if he didn’t give it. He actually gave it to the people this time, but it worked because it made sense in the context of the match, making it all the more impressive. There’s been great chemistry between Hardy and Umaga and it would be fun to see Hardy and Umaga have a little feud with Hardy’s WWE Championship on the line. For now though, we’ll all have to settle for popping in a tape to see Hardy and Umaga in a great new-school cage match.
Theo Fraser: Who would have thought the best free TV match of the year would take place in the very first week of January? The Raw Roulette shows are usually a mixed bag, offering some useless garbage (such as Regal wrestling in Vegas Girl attire) amongst the odd gem, and this was definitely of the latter variety. Many will remember it for the crazy finish as Hardy hit the Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage onto a prone Umaga to pick up the decisive pinfall, but that shouldn’t overshadow what was an extremely competitive bout, and one of the top Cage matches we’ve seen in the WWE in quite some time. The added element of the steel chair (brought in by Randy Orton, who was watching the match on the outside) allowed Umaga and Hardy to keep things hardcore when not utilising the cage itself, and there were some other great spots outside of the finish, such as Hardy catapulting himself off the chair to dropkick Umaga (who was straddled on the top rope) into the cage wall. The repercussions of the match are also significant. This was right before his WWE title match against Orton at the Royal Rumble, and with Hardy being given so much momentum going into the PPV (including this match here, where he looked like a true future champion), many were convinced Jeff was going to pull off the upset at the Rumble. It was this hot streak that likely played a deciding factor in giving him the WWE Championship a few weeks ago at Armage
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