FanPost

A Mid-Year look at the potential year-end Observer Awards

With six months in the books, I thought I'd do a post on what my Observer ballot would look like if the year ended today. The criteria for awards that are not completely intuitive on their face is posted below the listings. Would love to hear everyone's takes on these selections for the awards and/or your own choices at this point in the year in the comment section.

LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR):

1. AJ Styles

2. John Cena

3. Sasha Banks

Honorable Mentions: Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Kota Ibushi

Criteria: "This is open to pro wrestlers, for a combination of everything, being both important and influential this year in a positive manner from a business perspective, combining both box office impact as well as strong match quality in worked matches."

AJ Styles at the top of the list seems like a pretty easy choice this year. His singles in-ring work has been consistently outstanding both in Japan and Stateside and his trios team with The Young Bucks has been a huge highlight for the Ring of Honor product. Additionally, he's the leader of Bullet Club, a hugely important cog to New Japan reaching the American market (and all the T-Shirt sales that the Bullet Club produces), and draws anywhere he goes, from being a huge drawing card for indies throughout the states, internationally with RPW in England, where he's now the champion, and of course ROH and New Japan where he's a headlining act for both, including being the reigning IWGP Champion. Seems fitting that on the year when TNA is crumbling that their most misused performer is the easy choice for Wrestler of the Year.

John Cena has really made a massive push over the past few months. His feud with Rusev made it seem like he'd have no chance for the list, but he's come on incredibly strong since then between the United States Open Challenge and his feud against Kevin Owens. Obviously Cena is always going to be strong in the box office metrics, and that continues apace this year. He and Kevin Owens are embroiled in the one feud that people are watching in WWE at the moment judging by the ratings. And on the match quality side, his feud with Rusev was a letdown, but he still has four WWE MOTYCs thus far, and a bunch of other strong matches on Raw in the Open Challenge, and even the first two Rusev matches were at least good to very good.

Sasha Banks is a little more speculative from a business standpoint as NXT is still a side product for WWE at best, but I look at the criteria, and the piece about being important and influential is something that hasn't been fully realized yet for WWE, but Sasha's performance this year is pushing them hard in that direction. If the women's division is ever going to become something that doesn't spew viewers and is taken seriously, Sasha Banks is going to be at the forefront of that. More than Paige and Emma and Charlotte, Sasha Banks has shown the world at large just how great women can be at this. She's consistently been placed in big spots for NXT's touring brand, including headlining the first Philly show, and stole the show out from under the esteemed NXT Champion at both Takeover specials thus far this year. Between the work and the character, if this were purely performer of the year, she'd be number one, but given that its work and effects on business, that pushes her down to three. If she's able to actually affect change on the main roster this year, I could see her moving up to number one.

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER

  1. Roderick Strong
  2. AJ Styles
  3. Brock Lesnar

Honorable Mentions: Sasha Banks, John Cena, Kota Ibushi, Roman Reigns

Criteria: "This is based on working ability in the ring only. Simply, the best workers in the world on a consistent basis over the past year. Drawing power, charisma and push shouldn't be considered."

Roderick Strong - Strong is simply having an absolutely outstanding year in the ring. He was the absolute star of the WOTW/Global Wars co-promotes, hugely impressing New Japan officials with outstanding matches against Tanahashi, KUSHIDA, and Nakamura, had a great effort at Best in the World this past month, and at least three more 4.25+ matches between ROH and RPW in another bout against Nakamura. And this is coming without even seeing any of his PWG run thus far this year which has received major praise against guys like O'Reilly and Sabre Jr. as the PWG champion.

AJ Styles - As discussed in his Wrestler of the Year post, he has been killing it in the ring. His match with Naito at Wrestle Kingdom, match with Tanahashi at New Beginning, and with Ibushi at Invasion Attack were all four star affairs, he had a great match with Cole at WOTW Night 1, a bunch of very good matches with guys like Bobby Fish and Mark Briscoe and four absolutely outstanding Trios Matches with the affectionately named Bullet Club Wolfpac. AJ's singles work doesn't have quite the height of Roddy Strong, but his consistency is otherworldly.

Brock Lesnar - I know, I know. It's two matches. But... it's two matches that should really belong in anyone's top 5 for the year across any and all wrestling promotions in the entire world. The Triple Threat at the Royal Rumble is one of the all-time great Triple Threat matches ever, up there with the likes of Benoit/HHH/HBK and Styles/Joe/Daniels. And the match at the Mania is in my estimation either the best or second best behind Rock and Austin at X7 Main Event match in Wrestlemania history. It's two matches, but those are two pretty damned good matches.

FEUD OF THE YEAR

  1. Kevin Owens vs. John Cena
  2. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
  3. Mil Muertes vs. Fenix

Honorable Mentions: Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe, Ethan Carter III vs. Rockstar Spud, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Toru Yano

Owens vs. Cena - While it doesn't quite have the depth and nuance of Zayn vs. Owens, the match quality has been substantially higher (no slight to Zayn, they weren't designed to be competitive matches), they're doing it on the biggest stage there is in wrestling, and this one is no slouch from a storytelling standpoint with Kevin Owens' concerns about his son seeing Cena as a role model more than him and his struggles with the entire idea of John Cena, because Kevin Owens always viewed himself as the John Cena in his former life on the indies.

Owens vs. Zayn - There's really nothing to be said about this one that hasn't been said, just an outstanding effort from both guys. The contract signing with Owens and Zayn is one of the best segments of the year, some of their back and forth mic battles have just been outstanding, the matches did what they were supposed to do, and the emotion and depth and nuance to this feud with the portrayals by both guys and the elegant use of their history has been on a level above most that we've seen from WWE.

Muertes vs. Fenix - The defining feud of Lucha Underground has really delivered in a huge way with great performances by both guys (and of course, the Femme Fatale in the middle, Catrina), twists and turns, a ‘death' and resurrection, amazing images and moments, and two great matches, including a top tier Match of the Year candidate with Grave Consequences. Everything about the feud made sense, was always interesting and really produced growth and change and evolution for the characters with the man of 1,000 deaths being placed into a casket but reborn stronger than ever. Never has a loss done more to make someone seem even more imposing than that one, and Muertes came back with a vengeance, highlighted by the infamous powerbomb through the office on Fenix in their Death Match.

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

  1. Brass Ring Club
  2. The Young Bucks
  3. The Briscoes

Honorable Mentions: New Day, The Kingdom

Brass Ring Club - Unfortunately their greatness was short-lived with Tyson's injury, but they were a sensational act before that. One of the most enjoyable in-ring teams in WWE in ages, their characters were entertaining (especially when Cesaro would go full Steiner on promos) and it was just a really fun duo (and Nattie added to the act greatly as well).

The Young Bucks - I haven't entirely loved their tag match output this year, but the gimmick remains one of my absolute favorites anywhere in wrestling, and their trios matches with AJ have been consistently sensational.

The Briscoes - They don't team up enough to occupy the number one slot, but when they are together they remain my favorite tag team in wrestling. Their characterwork is sensational, they're both great talkers in very different ways, the gimmick works so well, and they just work together so well in the ring. When they team up, it's just an awesome roughneck face tag team where everything looks strong and painful in their offense. Their feud with the Kingdom was also great and produced a few really good tag team matches throughout the year.

MOST IMPROVED

  1. Roman Reigns
  2. Becky Lynch
  3. Moose

Honorable Mentions: Roderick Strong

Roman Reigns - The level of improvement he's shown in the ring from where he was at last year and even through the Rumble to what he's doing now has just been explosive. He's become one of the best workers on the roster at this point and has passed both his former Shield mates.

Becky Lynch - You could see the signs early on, but given all of Becky's time off, she had to shake off a lot of rust and this year has really been a big revelation for those not familiar with her time as Rebecca Knox. In a sense she's just getting back to where she was years ago, though.

Moose - What a difference a year makes! Last year at Best in the World, Moose debuted with a wooden promo and didn't really show much in his first few matches either. Now with this year's Best in the World in the rear view mirror, he looks like he'll be ready to be the top guy by Final Battle at the end of the year.

BEST ON INTERVIEWS

  1. Jay Briscoe
  2. Kevin Owens
  3. Paul Heyman

Honorable Mentions: Nick Gage, Stephanie McMahon, Maria Kanellis, Ethan Carter III, Enzo Amore

Jay Briscoe - Jay Briscoe is one of the few guys in the business today that I'd still consider able to cut a ‘money promo.' He's the kind of guy that can give that hard sell and really talk you into a building. His promo from the farm before Best in the World was just sensational.

Kevin Owens - Pretty much goes without saying, he's been killing it all year on the mic and from behind the desk on commentary.

Paul Heyman - He hasn't had the most to work with this year, but his delivery and execution are still completely top notch, and his highs have been very high.

MOST OVERRATED

  1. Kane
  2. Michael Elgin
  3. Big Show

Criteria: "The wrestler who gets the biggest push, despite lacking ring ability or charisma"

I think all-told, Big Show is worse in a vacuum than Kane, but Kane has spent way too much time in the central angle on the show and the focal point of multiple PPV main events, and spent way too much time talking to the WWE Champion like he's an insolent child.

Michael Elgin is awful, and him going to the G1 is a travesty, that is all.

MOST UNDERRATED

  1. Katsuyori Shibata
  2. Tomoaki Honma
  3. Cesaro

Honorable Mentions: Luke Harper, Mark Briscoe, Pentagon Jr., Natalya

Criteria: "The wrestler with the most ability, who, for whatever reason, doesn't get a push commensurate with their ability."

Katsuyori Shibata - He finally got to hold some gold for a minute at Wrestle Kingdom in a tag team with Goto, his first in New Japan, but then lost to Bullet Club at New Beginning only one month after picking up the belts and since then has been embroiled in a feud with Kazushi Sakuraba who is definitely lower on the card than Shibata should really be. New Japan has been reluctant to give him a strong push up the card, probably largely due to his exit from New Japan in the early aughts to pursue mixed martial arts, but he's been back for three years now, is hugely over, and is one of the best in-ring wrestlers in New Japan, one of the few active performers, along with Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Jun Akiyama, and Samoa Joe with multiple five star matches to his name.

Tomoaki Honma - Incredibly over in Japan, a great performer, but NJPW never wants to pull the trigger on him in any way at all. The biggest thing putting Honma on the list is his match at New Beginning in Sendai, one of the best of the year, where he filled in for the sick Togi Makabe, and proceeded to put in a totally fantastic performance, but as always, lost the match, gave the title back to Ishii, who just lost it back to Makabe once again anyway. Why not just put the NEVER belt on him, and have Honma lose it to Makabe rather than Ishii once again, after he already did that at Wrestle Kingdom anyway? No one knows, except Gedo.

Cesaro - The Brass Ring Club was a great act that finally put Cesaro in the spotlight again after the botched Paul Heyman Guy run, but with his talent and the ease to which he gets over with the crowd, he really should have been pushed aggressively in Tyson's absence and should have been pushed before the BRC started. The match with Cena was a good start, but it needs to build to something.

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

  1. Ring of Honor
  2. New Japan Pro Wrestling
  3. AAA/Lucha Underground

Criteria: "Should be based on which group put together the best live and television product on a consistent basis, and secondarily, the ability to sell that product at a high level. This means box office and marketing combined with product quality."

Ring of Honor - On pretty much every metric it seems like ROH is the strong contender for promotion of the year right now. From a quality standpoint, the promotion has finally fully recovered from the Cornette Era with a really strong television product and the match quality has been outstanding, including a bunch of high end MOTYCs. From a business standpoint, their relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling has continued to blossom with NJPW being very happy with ROH's performers and the relationship in general, they're drawing 1000+ to every show, and they have a new television deal with Destination America that is getting their product out there to a bunch more eyes.

New Japan Pro Wrestling - Always a safe, boring choice, but it's consistently near the top for good reason. The most successful promotion in Japan from a business standpoint, a continuing push overseas, especially in America with their first appearance on PPV and their growing business relationship with Ring of Honor all speak to the business, and the match quality in New Japan is always at the highest level.

AAA/Lucha Underground - Putting AAA over WWE is probably putting a little too much emphasis on quality over business, given the growth of NXT as a touring brand and the positive gains for the Network, but the main roster product is just so abysmal, and I can justify it to myself given WWE's dismal ratings lately, not to mention problems with the depth of NXT that is going to make continuing that growth more difficult. When it comes to Lucha Underground, the ratings have not been there, but the quality of the product is just so incredibly high. It's really going to depend on what happens with Season Two of Lucha Underground to see where this ends up at year's end.

BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW

  1. Lucha Underground
  2. Ring of Honor Wrestling
  3. WWE NXT

Lucha Underground - Here is where the LU fans get their well deserved first place presence. I think this is one of the easiest categories on the list, as good as ROH has been. Lucha Underground has three of the four best episodes of televised wrestling this year with "Grave Consequences", "Trios Championship" (when Awkward Squad/Team Dysfunction won the championships and Angelico had the spot of the year with "just" a crossbody) and my personal favorite, "Fight to the Death" (Aerostar/Mundo, Hernandez/Puma, and the Fenix/Muertes Death Match, and of course the ending with Dario Cueto's most brutal move yet).

Ring of Honor Wrestling - Really great match quality on a regular basis, Corino and Kelly are the best English speaking announce team today, and the show has been home to some strong feuds such as the Briscoes vs. the Kingdom, Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal, and ACH vs. Adam Page throughout the year. Some of the shows, such as the one last week featuring AJ Styles and the Young Bucks vs. Kazuchika Okada and Roppongi Vice and Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura have been some of the best television episodes of the year.

WWE NXT - Certainly not at the level of 2013 or 2014 NXT, but on the whole it's still been a pretty good television product this year even if it relies a bit too much on Kevin Owens to carry it. The show still develops storylines, the women's division has been one of the highlights of the wrestling world this year, and they've done a good job building up top talents like Owens and Finn while also giving some TV time to smaller characters to flesh them out.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

  1. Hell if I know, the rookie of the year category is impossible to figure out how it works, Meltz has never adequately explained it. I mean, I'd probably intuitively say Dalton Castle, but I have no idea if he's eligible.

PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR

  1. Kota Ibushi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura [Wrestle Kingdom 9]
  2. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar [Wrestlemania 31]
  3. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch [NXT Takeover: Unstoppable]

Ibushi vs. Nakamura - This isn't merely the match of the year, this is one of the best matches of the entire decade. On a year as great as this has been thus far for in-ring work, it's somewhat unfortunate that the MOTY race was already over on January 4th, but here we are. Nakamura on a Dome Show is like no one else on Earth, and the match was a genuine starmaking performance for Kota Ibushi. The way it drew on their prior match at the G1 Climax and showed Ibushi's growth was just outstanding, going from a kid who was fighting way over his head and seemed out of his depth against Nakamura at the G1 to on this night seeming like someone that absolutely belongs in the same ring as the King of Strong Style. This is the match to point to almost as much as the two iconic Bret/Austin matches for absolutely making someone in defeat. Ibushi lost the match, but after this night was a made man.

Reigns vs. Lesnar - I already wrote plenty on this one, so I'll just direct y'all here.

Banks vs. Lynch - Ditto.

BEST NON-WRESTLER

  1. Dario Cueto
  2. Maria Kanellis
  3. Catrina

Honorable Mentions: Paul Heyman (Special honorable mention to Xavier Woods who doesn't count for this, but probably should and would be 3rd if he did)

Dario Cueto - I said LU as Best Weekly Television show was the easiest, but I lied, it's this one. I can't imagine anyone that has ever watched Lucha Underground not putting Cueto at number one this year. Just a completely vibrant and fresh take on the very stale trope of the villainous authority figure. For the most part, I like the world and the storytelling of LU more than getting attached to the individual characters (aside from the Trios Champs), but Dario Cueto is the star of this show, and yet does it in a way where he makes everyone around him better, rather than making things about him. For one of many examples, his performance in Catrina's recent star turn a few weeks back was sensational, but it was a brilliant supporting performance that enabled Catrina to be the star and that's what he does. He enhances every scene he's in without taking away from the regular performers.

Maria Kanellis - No one does in-match managing like Maria in the modern era. Always knows how to be in position for managerial interference, excellent facial expressions, reaction shots, and mannerisms outside the ring, great managerial banter, she really does it all. She makes the Kingdom work. Additionally, she's a pretty great promo, with her "10 Years" promo before the Thirteenth Anniversary being one of the best of the year.

Catrina - Plays the role of Femme Fatale beautifully, and was a crucial part of the success of the Fenix v. Muertes feud. Great talker and a fantastic presence.

MOST CHARISMATIC

  1. Shinsuke Nakamura
  2. Brock Lesnar
  3. Sami Zayn

Honorable Mentions: Sasha Banks, Kevin Owens, John Cena

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER

  1. Timothy Thatcher
  2. Zack Sabre, Jr.
  3. Drew Gulak

Honorable Mentions: Minoru Suzuki, Kyle O'Reilly, Cesaro

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)

  1. Brock Lesnar
  2. Roman Reigns
  3. Tomohiro Ishii

Honorable Mentions: Mil Muertes, Sheamus, Madison Eagles

BEST FLYING WRESTLER

  1. Angelico
  2. Matt Sydal
  3. Barbaro Cavernario

Honorable Mentions: Will Ospreay, Aerostar, Jack Evans

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

  1. Steve Corino
  2. Kevin Kelly
  3. Corey Graves

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

  1. Byron Saxton
  2. Booker T
  3. Jerry Lawler

Honorable Mention: Michael Cole, John Layfield, Alex Riley

Class B Awards, 1 Vote:

BEST WRESTLING SHOW

  1. Ring of Honor - Winter Warriors 2/21

Notable matches on the card and my ratings: Gresham/Hollis v. The Decade (3.5), Matt Sydal v. Delirious (3.75), Roderick Strong v. Kyle O'Reilly (4.25), AJ Styles v. Bobby Fish (3.75), and The Kingdom v. The Briscoes (Tag Team Armageddon) (4.75)

WORST WRESTLING SHOW

  1. TNA Slammiversary

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

  1. Meltzer Driver (The Young Bucks)

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

  1. Royal Rumble Match [Royal Rumble]

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

  1. John Cena vs. Rusev

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. Total Nonstop Action

BEST BOOKER

  1. Hunter Johnson (Ring of Honor)

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.