wrestling / Columns
The 411 Wrestling Year-End Awards: Part One – The Biggest Disappointments of 2015
Welcome back to the Wrestling Top 5, year-end awards edition! What we are going to is take a topic, and all the writers here on 411 will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, and the end, based on where all of these topics rank on people’s list, we will create an overall Top 5 list. It looks a little like this…
1st – 5
2nd – 4
3rd – 3
4th – 2
5th – 1
It’s similar to how we do the WOTW voting. At the end we tally the scores and get our overall top 5! It’s highly non-official and final, like WWE’s old power rankings. From some of the best and worst, the 411 staff is ready to break down the awards! Thanks for joining us, and lets get down to work.
5. The GFW invasion of TNA
4. Daniel Bryan’s health
3. #DivasRevolution
2. TNA bombing on Destination America
1. The WWE’s creative apocalypse – Ratings are tanking and there’s no mystery why: the WWE has been wretched in 2015. It’s been undercutting almost everyone on the roster while pushing a Roman Reigns story that simply isn’t connecting with a large enough audience. How a company can take this much talent and churn out turd television boggles the mind. The divas revolution was a brilliant idea that’s been ruined by terrible execution. Apparently women are the most hateful creatures on earth. The baffling creative decisions never stopped: Seth Rollins getting his balls cut off on a regular basis, the instant irrelevance of the League of Nations, Kane being one of 2015’s main storylines, the Rusev-Lana-Dolph-Summer Rae love rectangle, getting Damien Mizdow over and then burying him, the throwaway Shield reunion, and what the fuck are they doing with Bray Wyatt? Yet the best example of the WWE being a creative cesspool is the uninspired return of Alberto Del Rio. He was outstanding in Lucha Underground and AAA. Crowds were molten for him. He got that kind of reaction with his surprise return to the WWE at Hell in a Cell and then it all went dead. Returning to the WWE was like getting heat removal surgery. The WWE isn’t fun, dramatic or edgy. Raw and Smackdown are the worst shows on television. The WWE had a miserable 2014 and then somehow got worse in 2015.
5. GFW being DOA
4. Sheamus wins Money in the Bank
3. TNA continues their downward spiral
2. Daniel Bryan being sidelined shortly after return
1. WWE (lack of) Creative – This could have been broken into 5 sub-categories pretty easily, but that would take away from our other contenders. I mean in reality I suppose this should be more of what we should anticipate, but never the less it is still the biggest disappointment for me. The thing that makes things the most frustrating is that the quality of matches and PPVs have actually been quite good this year, but the writing leading up to them has been mostly lazy and sub par. Heading into this years Mania I was not looking forward to a lot and found the TV pretty bad, however it ended up being one of the 6 best WrestleMania’s in history. The booking since SummerSlam was largely frustrating since SummerSlam, and with the exception of Lesnar vs. Taker nothing was really making for compelling television.
5. TNA being TNA – then, now, forever
4. Sting’s status entering 2016
3. Alex Riley’s “return” fizzling
2. WWE plagued by injuries
1. WWE causes me to finally cut the cord – RAW is still three hours. Despite whatever extra money they receive, it is not worth the damage being done. I said this from day one, and it finally reared its’ ugly head in 2015. My solution was to make Raw two hours again, and then use that extra hour on USA Network for Tough Enough during the week. Yeah, it is an unfair trade off, but USA wins, WWE wins, and everybody is still (somewhat) happy. Add on USA Network now ALSO getting Smackdown? Geez, just make RAW two hours again. Speaking of Smackdown, this was the year I threw in the towel. Read my columns for the past 8 years. I would routinely stick up for the Blue Brand and mention how it was absolutely worth watching, even though most would say the opposite. In early 2015, that was it for me. Nothing was happening, and the $200 bill each month was no longer worth it once I moved into a new condo. I cut the cord, watch everything the next day on Hulu for $8 a month and couldn’t be happier. Just too bad the WWE product did not convince me otherwise…
5. Sheamus cashes in Money in the Bank at Survivor Series
4. Wade Barrett’s King of the Ring win leads to no push
3. Bray Wyatt remains a directionless JTTS
2. The Royal Rumble match flops
1. Daniel Bryan out of action – The biggest disappointment of 2014 saw Daniel Bryan go down to injury only one month removed from winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 30. It’s particularly sad to see a similar progression this year—Bryan returning to the mid-card, Bryan establishing a top spot in the mid-card by winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31, and Bryan promptly needing to forfeit another title and go on the disabled list for the rest of the year. On the bright side, Bryan’s absence from WWE afforded more room for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to succeed in top face spots, and John Cena did very well as the United States Champion. Just the same, when it comes to overall in-ring performance on the main roster, no one really broaches Bryan’s level of excellence and it was tough to see him missing for more than half the year again.
5. TNA on Destination America
4. Bray Wyatt losing more big matches
3. WWE Creative
2. The massive injury bug of 2015
1. #DivasRevolution – I was very close to putting the injury bug ahead of this since it affected so many people (Itami, Zayn, Rollins, Cesaro, Styles, Ibushi, etc.) but injuries, as unfortunate as they are, kind of come with the job. The handling of the #DivasRevolution is inexcusable. After the minds down in NXT, as well as Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley, Emma, Paige and Becky Lynch, made women’s wrestling important. They handled the women correctly and made them legit. When they main evented or co-main evented shows, it wasn’t just because “we want to put women in the spotlight”, it was because it was earned. On a fateful night in Atlanta, the WWE brought Becky, Sasha and Charlotte to the main roster at once. There were things wrong with this instantly. First, it’s hard to establish three new girls at once. Second, they were split into separate teams of three, meaning the Divas Title wasn’t the focal point like the NXT Women’s Title was. Lastly, they had Stephanie McMahon involved and seemingly taking credit for this “wonderful idea of hers”. There was still hope but the next few months saw them fumble the ball massively. While Sasha and Bayley were putting on classies in August and October, the Divas division was handled so poorly. Charlotte was a kind of a copy of her dad, them sympathetic babyface, then an exact copy of her dad. Paige was turning heel, then still teaming with her partners, then officially turning heel, then kind of the face because Charlotte turned heel. Becky was turned into Charlotte’s hotter friend and nothing more. Sasha was paired with girls nowhere near her talent level, was mostly irrelevant to the division and then became a cheap New Day knockoff. Nikki Bella was alright as champion but turned heel and face with no rhyme or reason multiple times. Even when Charlotte won the belt, she didn’t stop Nikki from breaking the record, which was pretty much what everything was booked around so it felt like a let down. Charlotte and Paige were randomly given the closing segment of a Raw in a feud that didn’t earn that slot and it was horrible. Considering my high praise for the NXT women’s division (their title felt more important than every other WWE Title in 2015 outside of the US Title), seeing this travesty happen with the main roster is highly disappointing.
5. The Divas Revolution being little more than a hashtag
4. Bray Wyatt continuing to be wasted
3. WWE’s awful creative team
2. Daniel Bryan getting injured and missing most of the year (again)
1. Lucha Underground’s uncertain future – While the announcement that a second season of Lucha Underground was coming in January of 2016 was absolutely one of the highlights of my year, the fact that what is easily the best wrestling promotion in North America was even in doubt of getting a second season just highlights how difficult it is to survive if you’re not WWE. In a just world, Lucha Underground would have networks like USA and SPIKE fighting over the promotion, instead of them having to make budgetary cuts just to make a second season a reality. If you haven’t watched LU yet, and you’re skeptical about my assessment of it, ask yourself if you like the following things: storylines that actually make sense and elevate the talent involved, fast-paced matches that combine technical prowess with realistic striking and high-flying that you won’t see in WWE or TNA, a heel authority character who actually works, storylines that aren’t afraid to stretch the boundaries of realism and have an emphasis on the supernatural, and booking that actually reacts to the responses of the fans. If you said yes to any of those things, then you owe it to yourself to seek Lucha Underground out and at least give it a try. Because if I have to write about its death in this spot next year, I’ll probably also be looking at a prolonged break from professional wrestling.
5. GFW is DOA
4. NOAH Largely Fizzles Under New Japan Control
3. Daniel Bryan Loses Almost Another Whole Year Due to Injury Issues
2. The Diva’s Revolution is Nothing More Than an Ego Boost For Stephanie McMahon
1. TNA’s Continued TV Woes Will Lead to Another Rebuilding Year – I am a fan of all wrestling, and while I have been critical of TNA’s business practices and feel that they have blown a number of great opportunities, the biggest disappointment for me this year was the fact that this year was a complete wash. The Destination America Deal helped to keep them alive, but did nothing to help the brand’s value, and may have hurt it. They had to stop paying some top names and let them go, and it just became a mess in the second half of the year with the doom and gloom of the TV deal. I am pulling for them because I want more quality wrestling to watch and feel that it is good for the business. TNA has to rebuild again, and it sucks, but I wish them luck.
5. Suzuki-gun’s total dominance of Pro Wrestling NOAH
4. All Japan departures including Go Shiozaki
3. WWE title tournament missing big names
2. Seth Rollins getting injured
1. #DivasRevolution – The idea of a diva’s revolution was brilliant but the execution was beyond dreadful. To the point where it felt like WWE was actively sabotaging the girls so they would fail. They took a collection of the best women’s wrestlers seen in many, many years (Sasha Banks in particular) and turned them into a side-show attraction on RAW, constantly in the shadow of the Bella sisters, the very characters whose presence had turned the “divas” division into a joke in the first place. The booking was an atrocity and the fans have completely turned on the whole thing. Meanwhile NXT continues to put on far superior women’s wrestling matches despite their division having been plundered. I feel especially bad for Becky Lynch who had finally found herself and gained an awesome steam punk costume only to get turned into a nutbar on the main roster and an overlooked joke.
5. Bray Wyatt’s Booking
4. NXT Women Who Moved Up To The Main Roster
3. Stardust vs. Goldust At Fastlane 2015
2. Injuries, Injuries, And More WWE Injuries
1. The Non-Ending Of The Damien Sandow/Miz Feud – Remember when Damien Sandow was one of the most over babyfaces on the WWE roster? This was a gift handed to creative with virtually no effort from anyone but Sandow and Miz and they screwed it up. What should have happened was that Damien Sandow should have eliminated the Miz at the Royal Rumble, causing a definitive turn by the stunt double. Then, they should’ve had a singles match in which Sandow went over, preferably at WrestleMania. It could’ve happened at a lesser Pay-Per-View, but it no doubt should’ve happened at a Pay-Per-View. Instead, there was an elimination in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania, but Sandow did not win it. If that would’ve been followed up with a singles Pay-Per-View match, then all would’ve been right. But, it never happened and Sandow, despite a Macho Man comedy gig that nobody was asking for, faded into nothingness. There have been a few wrestlers just like him in 2015, performers that the fans were more than willing to except as top stars. But for some reason, WWE did not feel the same way.
5. Daniel Bryan’s Health
4. Wasting of Cesaro
3. HHH goes over Sting in his WWE debut match
2. The Royal Rumble Match
1. WWE World Title Tournament – The WWE had a golden chance to do some great things following Rollins having to forfeit the WWE World Title due to injury. The previous 2 instances where the WWE had a Tournament for their biggest prize take place they hit a homerun in both cases with Mania IV and Survivor Series 1998. Sadly, the WWE screwed this thing up in nearly every way possible. First was the fact they burned through 1st round (I could kind of live with this) and 2nd round (insane they did this) matches on RAW and SmackDown before Survivor Series. WM IV was remembered for Savage having to battle 4 guys in one night and Deadly Game for the overall storyline in the 4 rounds. Having only the semis and finals on the same night killed the drama of one guy fighting 4 in one night and took away any chance of a creative story. Secondly the semis were a foregone conclusion who was winning so everyone was just waiting for the finals and hoping WWE would give us something interesting. As expected it did come down to Reigns and Ambrose, and sadly they had an abbreviated match that didn’t do a damn thing for either guy. Of all the scenarios WWE could have gone with they chose the least interesting one with neither guy turning, Sheamus cashing in, and Reigns looking like a choke artist. Just bad all around and even worse it just so disappointing based on what could have been done.
5. The Royal Rumble match was a complete disaster for the second year in a row, although the backlash against it was so wildly entertaining I hesitate to say I was left ‘disappointed’
4. PWG’s DDT4 Tournament was a bit lacklustre
3. Cesaro ends the year in more or less the exact same position he started it, except with a shoulder injury
2. Daniel Bryan is not really in a fit state to wrestle and continues to languish on the sidelines
1. The Divas’ Revolution, which I will refer to from here on out as ‘The Divas Revolution’ despite considering that name rather unmerited – I found it difficult to come up with five things to put on this list- I only really followed WWE, PWG and EVOLVE this year, and my relationship with the latter two promotions was pleasingly uncomplicated; I enjoyed almost everything they put out in 2015. WWE didn’t have a tremendous year but I’ve been so numbed by years of let downs and false dawns from them that I don’t really react to their many mishaps with active disappointment; it’s more weary resignation, the sad knowledge that they’re going to keep making the same mistakes for the foreseeable future, and I’m going to indulge them by dutifully tuning into Raw every single week. However, there was one angle this year that did leave me feeling genuine disappointment, and it was a disappointment borne from the fact that it wasn’t just WWE making the same old mistakes- they tried to learn from them, but only ended up committing a slew of new ones. And, in fairness, repeated some of the old ones as well. In the summer of 2015, the dominance of Serena Williams on the tennis court and the USWNT on the soccer field forced WWE to look at itself in the mirror and reluctantly admit that it could offer no female role models of their own to challenge those remarkable athletes. What was needed was a Divas Revolution, albeit one not revolutionary enough to do away with the patronizing and shallow ‘Divas’ moniker. The self described Revolution began with Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, NXT stars with a genuine buzz surrounding them, being hurriedly promoted to the main roster and grouped almost at random with established Divas such as the Bella Twins, Naomi and Paige. These makeshift factions were then ordered to fight in various different combinations for almost two and a half months. It was well intentioned, but not very good. The new wrestlers struggled to carve out an identity for themselves while wedged in these arbitrary alliances, and far too little was done to establish why these women had been teamed with whoever they’d been teamed with. This meant that none of the factions had much in the way of personality, and as no one was dominant in the ring, everyone exchanging roughly equal amounts of wins and losses, they all quickly became interchangeable and a bit boring. September saw Charlotte break out from the pack to end Nikki Bella’s lengthy Divas’ Championship reign in a decent match, and with Nikki then taking time out to recover from a nagging neck injury, there seemed a welcome opportunity to make a clean break from the indifferent beginnings of the Divas’ Division, and focus on making Charlotte a strong champion and developing diverse, credible challengers for her. What we instead got was a tiresome, largely inexplicable heel turn by Paige, her third change in face/heel alignment since debuting on the main roster less than two years ago, leading to a lowest common denominator rivalry between her and Charlotte which largely relied on the ‘all women are perpetually consumed with jealousy and secretly hate each other’ style of booking that characterized the Divas’ division pre revolution, as well as some slightly pathetic worked-shoot ramblings from Paige which made her sound like a petulant child. That takes us up to the present day. Have there been any great matches as a result of the Revolution? Not really. Have there been any great angles? Certainly not. Has anyone actually gotten over? Sasha Banks still gets a decent response from crowds that are familiar with her stunning NXT work, and Charlotte and Paige did get a chance to close one episode of Raw with a contract signing (which turned out to be a monumentally dreadful segment), but I don’t think either of those examples count. Team B.A.D have OK chemistry and seem to enjoy performing with one another, while Charlotte’s simmering heel turn seems to have promise, so maybe 2016 will finally see the Divas’ Division obtain something resembling parity with their male counterparts, and ditch the stupid name as well. However, the Revolution has had half a year to make a positive impact on the state of women’s wrestling and hasn’t really done anything- considering the sheer level of talent WWE is squandering while still smugly congratulating themselves on their work and having the nerve to brand it a ‘Revolution,’ you have to consider this the most disappointing thing of the year.
5. GWF Doesn’t Do a Damn Thing of Note
4. The Sad Tale of Daniel Bryan/Injury Bug
3. The Lack of Growth For NOAH
2. TNA’s Continued TV Woes
1. WWE’s Lack of Main Roster Creative Vision – While I firmly believe that there was a TON of great things that happened in the world of wrestling during the year 2015, there were obviously issues during the year. GFW made a lot of claims and promises, but delivered noting but a short run on TNA TV. Daniel Bryan looked primed for a big IC Title run, and has been sidelined by his injury issues. NJPW bought into NOAH and there was a lot of hope for growth, but I felt as if nothing really happened as far as the company growing. TNA scored their deal with Destination America, but the relationship didn’t work out and now they have to start anew on their third network in three years, which puts them in another difficult position. But for me the fact that main roster WWE has largely felt stagnant and lifeless for a lot of the year has been what has disappointed me the most. From Seth Rollins’ great performances overshadowed by shit booking to the fact that Raw and Smackdown feel the same about mostly useless most weeks, the WWE Main Roster shows are a complete chore to watch most of the time. And that is a complete shame, because they have talent both in front of and behind the camera that should allow then to put on good programming. The fact that NXT, which is owned and operated by the same people, have proven that makes it that much worse.
5. WWE Hit Hard By Injuries – 16 points
4. TNA Fails on Destination America – Has to Start Over On a New Network – 17 points
3. The Sad Tale of Daniel Bryan – 24 points
2. #DivasRevolution – 25 points
1. The WWE Main Roster Creative Is Largely Shit – 26 points
THE 2015 411 WRESTLING AWARDS:
* The Biggest Disappointment of The Year: The WWE Main Roster Creative Is Largely Shit – 26 points
* The Best Non-Wrestler: TO BE DETERMINED (January 5th)
* The Best Tag Team of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 6th)
* The Worst PPV/Major Show of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 7th)
* The Best Female Wrestler of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 8th)
* The Best PPV/Major Show of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 11th)
* The Best Promotion of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 12th)
* The Best Match of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 13th)
* The Biggest Story of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 14th)
* The Best Wrestler of The Year: TO BE DETERMINED (January 15th)
