With the 2015 WWE Slammy Awards coming up on Monday's edition of Raw, I've decided to join the club and present my picks for this year's winners.
Here we go...
Superstar of the Year
All superstars eligible
Roman Reigns
Out of all of the categories this year, this one is definitely the toughest one to definitively decide. After weighing the options (and there were quite a few), I've gotta give my nod to Reigns. His in-ring improvement has been drastic since this point last year, and his uphill battle since that disastrous Royal Rumble has been a thrill to watch aside from some really bad promos. Also, his WrestleMania match against Brock Lesnar was a true classic and one of the show's best main events. Fast-forward to last week's programming, and Reigns had us eating out of the palm of his hand at the end of TLC when he was in "kill everything" mode. On the next night, he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to universal cheers from the same crowd who booed him out of the building nearly a year ago. Not many people can say that they accomplished that.
Note: I was VERY close to picking Seth Rollins as the Superstar of the Year, but his run of subpar matches between WrestleMania and SummerSlam as well as his weekly Triple H channeling made me give the slight nod to Reigns.
Diva of the Year
Nikki Bella
Naomi
Paige
Sasha Banks
Charlotte
Now I do realize that the Slammy Awards are for main roster accomplishments, but I cannot overlook Sasha Banks' NXT work here. Sasha has had one of the best years of any woman in wrestling history, and she has proven these accolades many times over. This year alone, she was involved in FOUR matches in NXT that were leaps-and-bounds over anything that the main roster has produced. The Fatal-4-Way at Takeover: Rival was a chaotic and well-done christening for Sasha as NXT Women's Champion. Her match against Becky Lynch at Takeover: Unstoppable was an absolute clinic in limb psychology and was the best women's match I've ever witnessed...until Brooklyn. Sasha's match against Bayley at Takeover: Brooklyn isn't just the best women's match I've seen. It's one of the best matches I've seen PERIOD. The Iron Man match that followed at Takeover: Respect was another absolute classic that was an amazing swan song for Sasha's run in NXT.
For being a 23 year old woman, Sasha Banks has cemented herself as one of the best female performers in wrestling history.
Breakout Star of the Year
Kevin Owens
Neville
Charlotte
Tyler Breeze
Braun Strowman
Easiest pick for me. When you make your main roster debut by walking out to the ring, owning John Cena in a promo battle, and beating him clean in your first main-roster match, is there really any argument? Despite Owens eventually losing the feud, he has remained one of the most strongly-booked performers on the main roster, and the majority of his matches are so fun to watch because of his top-notch banter. Hell, he even makes the backstage interview segments a joy to watch.
Tag Team of the Year
The New Day
The Usos
The Prime Time Players
Tyson Kidd & Cesaro
The Lucha Dragons
Despite facing a bit of overexposure lately, this trio is still one of the most entertaining acts in the company. Their creative acts are still a legitimate joy to watch, and their in-ring work has been pretty fun as well. That said, NEW DAY ROCKS!!!
I still miss The Brass Ring Club.
Match of the Year
John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (Royal Rumble)
Sting vs. Triple H (WrestleMania 31)
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens (Elimination Chamber)
Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Alberto Del Rio (Raw)
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker (Hell in a Cell)
Easy pick here. This match was an absolute war with all three men beating each other silly. There was no single star of the match as all three men did an excellent job in playing their roles. Rollins proved that he was an in-ring psychopath by landing that elbow drop on Lesnar through an announce table. Then then HOLY FREAKING PHOENIX SPLASH!!!
Rivalry of the Year
Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
John Cena vs. Rusev
Team Bella vs. Team BAD vs. PCB
Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
Easy. We knew this feud was going to happen, and none of us were excited for it. However, the E did do a pretty good job at trying to make us care about it with some great backstory and some good matches. Also, there was DAT BRAWL.
WWE Network Show of the Year
Breaking Ground
Table for 3
Stone Cold Podcast
WWE 24
Swerved
With the exception of one episode, I've watched every Table for 3 and was thoroughly entertained by all of them. The stories told were always entertaining, and you could tell that the participants has themselves a genuinely good time sharing these stories. The show felt extremely natural and unforced as well, which made it that much better.
Double-Cross of the Year
Jon Stewart attacks John Cena
Randy Orton turns on The Authority
Paige attacks Charlotte and Becky Lynch
Stardust betrays Goldust
Damien Mizdow eliminates The Miz
Ugh. You're better off reaching into a hat to pick a nominee for this category. I'm picking Paige's turn just because of her great heel promo against Charlotte and Becky after Night of Champions. Everything else after that was bad.
Surprise Return of the Year
Jericho teams up with Reigns and Ambrose
The Dudley Boyz return to confront The New Day
Sting ambushes Rollins and Triple H
Del Rio answers Cena's US open challenge
Demon Kane prevents Sheamus' Money in the Bank cash-in
Out of this list, there are only two legitimate surprises, so I'm picking the one that was a genuine surprise (Del Rio's return had been rumored for weeks before Hell in a Cell). As lackluster as The Dudley Boyz's return-run has been, I can admit that I marked out when their pyro went off on that Raw after SummerSlam. No one saw that one coming.
Hashtag of the Year
#GiveDivasAChance
#SaveTheTables
#AxelMania
#RKOOUTTANOWHERE
#SuplexCity
#Bitch
Celebrity Moment of the Year
Stephen Amell dives onto Stardust
The cast of Entourage introduces Zack Ryder
Kevin Owens powerbombs Machine Gun Kelly off the stage
Jon Stewart gets on Cena's bad side
Wayne Rooney slaps King Barrett
Machine Gun Kelly makes terrible music. Kevin Owens hates terrible music. Kevin Owens powerbombs terrible music maker off stage. World rejoices.
That said, I will give some props to Stephen Amell as he held his own VERY well in his match. Probably one of the best celebrity match performances in WWE history.
"Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That" Moment of the Year
Ambrose calls Rollins "Justin Bieber"
Rollins calls Johnny Manziel "Johnny Idiot Face"
Lesnar introduces "Suplex City" to the world
Rollins says Kane was just "there" at WrestleMania
Paige spoils Charlotte's Divas title celebration
I own a Suplex City shirt. Need I say more?
Best John Cena US open challenge
Cena vs. Cesaro
Cena vs. Ziggler
Cena vs. Zayn
Cena vs. Ambrose
Cena vs. Neville
Although John Cena vs an injured Sami Zayn was an excellent match despite the circumstances, both of Cena's matches against Cesaro are definite candidates for TV Match of the Year. They were long back-and-forth matches that utilized a huge portion of both men's repertoires. Although he lost both matches, Cesaro proved that he could get over via his in-ring performances. Dammit, I miss Cesaro.
LOL Moment of the Year
Edge and Christian battle New Day
The Bushwhackers Hall of Fame speech
The Miz and Damien Mizdow commercial
The Authority dance with The New Day
R-Truth thinks he's in the Money in the Bank ladder match
Delusional R-Truth was definitely a highlight of 2015 WWE. He was all serious during his promos for both Money in the Bank AND for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament for Survivor Series, and his heartbreak and subsequent embarrassment after learning the brutal truth was always the best part.
"Oh sorry, this is my bad" or however he said is has also become an occasional meme on this site, which is also pretty funny.
"This is Awesome" Moment of the Year
Brock Lesnar destroys J&J Security's car
Randy Orton's RKO to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31
Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks are called up to the main roster
The Shield give Randy Orton a triple powerbomb
The Rock and Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 31
In retrospect, none of these were really awesome except for the triple-powerbomb. We all marked out when it happened, and it brought back times of a great bygone era. Lesnar killing is something we've seen before, the RKO was cool, the women's segment was false hope, and Rock/Rousey was just...there.
"OMG!" Shocking Moment of the Year
Seth Rollins cashes in Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 31
Brock Lesnar destroys everyone
Kalisto hits Salida Del Sol off a ladder through another ladder
Undertaker is abducted by The Wyatt Family
Sheamus cashes in Money in the Bank contract at Survivor Series
Easy one. NO ONE saw this coming at all. We all thought that Roman Reigns was going to beat Brock Lesnar to incite a riot at WrestleMania. All of a sudden...WHAT THE HELL?!? HE'S GONNA CASH IN!!! OMGOMGOMG!!!
Kalisto's SDS at TLC was a close second because Kalisto is a madman. Oh, and Brock Lesnar killing people is just a normal thing...apparently the Slammy Award nomination pickers didn't watch 2002 WWE when a random person was murdered on pretty much every Raw that year
Extreme Moment of the Year
Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker have a pull apart brawl
Dean Ambrose is powerbombed through a ladder at WrestleMania 31 by Luke Harper
Seth Rollins breaks John Cena's nose
Roman Reigns snaps, destroys everyone at TLC
Neville hits a splash off a ladder onto a group of stars
When was the last time we got a really good brawl between two feuding performers? It had been a while, and this one reminded us why they can be so great. Lesnar and Taker wanted to murder each other, and they were determined to do so while taking as many people with them as possible. We were at the edge of our seats as this was going on live, and it made us a bit more excited for SummerSlam (although the apathy was still very prevalent).