Before I start, I've tried my best to find a YouTube link (where necessary) however if I couldn't find one I'll have left a DailyMotion link (or other safe video website- I don't want your computers to end up with more viruses than the Bellas) and you lot can either skim read through this or read it all, either way I'd appreciate feedback- at the end of the day this is an opinion blog so there will naturally be some things you lot either agree or disagree with, but I'm right and you're wrong. Also note this is purely WWE based, and I'll acknowledge the whole Wrestling World in my "2014 Review" which (I don't really plan stuff) I plan to have up either on New Years Eve, or New Years Eve, Eve.
Lets start with one of my favourite categories (personally)- The Video Package Award. This is the award that recognises one of/the most overlooked aspects of the WWE Product. The video packages WWE produce can be sublime, and this is the award that recognises them.
Nominations:
Daniel Bryan "Monster" Wrestlemania 30
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We now move on to the award every WWE Diva wants- The Least Irrelevant Diva award. I thought given the current state of the WWE Diva division anything along the lines of "Diva of the Year" would imply they actually achieved something of note, and made a significant impact on the product.
Nominations:
Paige
A.J. Lee
Nikki Bella
Winner: Paige. This was the ultimate picking the best of a bad bunch, however in terms of impact on the product- and general relevance Paige trumps A.J. in my opinion. Nikki's on the list because she's gotten the belt- and is just one of three to do so this calendar year. Although I've excluded NXT Divas on the basis that their belt is the "Womens Championship" You can't ignore Paige's performances dating back to February on NXT Arrival when she put on (at that stage) the best Womens match of the year with Emma. She then went on to debut to a huge ovation winning the Divas Title on her first night, and went on to win the Belt again later in the year.
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Now in the spirit of Kevin Dunn, lets forget about the Divas and get on with some real wrasslin!The I'm Dumb as Fuck (formerly the Mike Adamle) Award is here to commemorate specific moments of absolute stupidity to the point they deserve special recognition.
Nominations:
Batista wins the Royal Rumble
Brock Lesnar ends The Streak
Cameron forgets how Pin
Winner: Brock Lesnar ends the Streak. Despite the undoubted stupidity of the other two moments, they were retrievable with actions, Brock ending the Streak was something that should have happened- and its likely we'll never see a streak like Takers again. Ending the streak would be one thing, ending it at the hands of someone who it looks like they won't even be in the Company come this time next year (although he hardly is anyway) was borderline business suicide.
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The Promo of the Year Award is a award to recognise individual promos that were outstanding, no matter the person who delivered it- although its safe to say Khali won't be one of the nominations.
Nominations:
Paul Heyman tells the story of CM Punk (3rd March)
http://tune.pk/video/3721905/paul-heyman-talks-about-cm-punk-pipe-bomb-raw-332014-chicago
Bray Wyatt Promo on Cena Legacy (17th March)
Winner: Paul Heyman tells the story of CM Punk. This was sublime, whilst the other two nominations were great- this was the closest thing to a near perfect promo I've seen in an incredibly long time. Heyman took the Chicago crowd who were primed to "Hijack RAW" and took the crowd in the palm of his hand and manipulated them like a puppet master.
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The Funniest Moment of the Year award is exactly what it says on the tin, as such lets get right down to business.
Nominations:
Bad News Barretts Hall of Fame Speech
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1n7mcx_bad-news-barrett-at-hall-of-fame-2014_sport
Bo Dallas Runs over El Torito
Mizdow slingshots himself into the Dusts
Winner: Bad News Barretts HOF Speech. I may be biased, this moment wasn't inherently funny in what he said- but the setting, and the shock value of the whole thing made it great. The fact all of the wrestlers were loving it especially Cody Rhodes made the moment even better.
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The Stepping Out Award is awarded to the Superstar who has taken the extra step this year, and has translated into crowd reaction and feuds.
Nominations:
Bad News Barrett- Inexplicably a gimmick that was apparently a rib on the part of Cody Rhodes has turned Barrett into a legitimate superstar, who on more than one occasion has been one of/the most over guy on the card. He started the year on his Podium- which I thought was hilarious, and went from strength to strength- and who's to say where he'd have been had he not been injured.
Cesaro- Once again he started the year in a bit of a rough patch, stuck in a nothing team as part of the Real Americans- but then everything started coming up Cesaro. He had a brief, but memorable stint in the Rumble- and then he beat Dolph in order to get into the Elimination Chamber, and the rest as they say is history. We had Cesaro going over on the WWEWHC Champion on Smackdown- and on the following RAW we had a potential Match of the Year candidate with John Cena, and this momentum carried through until Wrestlemania when he won the Andre Battle Royal. Although he has cooled off in recent months this year is definitely a year to remember for Cesaro.
Bray Wyatt- Bray came into the year, in my opinion as the best character in the company. He started off the year by feuding with Daniel Bryan, and provided another Match of the Year candidate at the Royal Rumble, and then his character went into overdrive. A Character thats been on the Main Roster for less than a year getting Cena (at this stage) at Wrestlemania was almost unheard of- but Bray is special. As talked about in the Video Package award, the character of Bray was written perfectly during his feud with Cena and some of the Promos were unreal. In One Calendar Year a relative newcomer has had feuds with Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho and Dean Ambrose.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
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The Debut of the Year award, this is the category which recognises great debuts, despite what may have happened after the debut- the debut itself is what matters in this category.
Nominations:
Who cares, to quote Highlander "there can be only one"
Winner: Sting (Survivor Series)
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The 9.99 Award is awarded to individual moments that were worth paying the much touted 9.99 price tag.
Nominations:
The End of the Streak
Daniel Bryan wins the WWEWHC at Wrestlemania
The Shield clean sweep against Evolution
Seth Rollins turns on The Shield
Stings Debut at Survivor Series (48:56 onward)
Winner: Sting debut at Survivor Series. Although all of these moments were notable in their own way, The Sting debut was years in the making- as was the end of the streak, but the Sting debut wasn't a moment of monumental stupidity.
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The Feud of the Year award recognises the great feuds of 2014, the criteria is the blowoff (or at least what I perceived to be the blowoff) of the feud came in 2014- not necessarily the start of the feud.
Nominations:
Daniel Bryan v Bray Wyatt- One of The Reasons this won't win is because it was mainly in 2013, however the blowoff match was in 2014 at the Rumble so I'm counting it. The feud was one of the first major ones Bray had; the reason it doesn't rank higher at least in my opinion is because everyone wanted so much more for Bryan.
Daniel Bryan v The Authority- Once again this feud was for the most part in 2013, however in my opinion the main blowoff (despite the Kane match) came at Mania with Bryan winning the Title, and if you are to take the Triple H & Main Event Mania Matches as the culmination of the feud you have to say it was great storytelling and the payoff was (eventually) worth the wait.
Brock Lesnar v John Cena- This isn't as much of a reflection on Lesnar as much as it is on Heyman and Cena. The storytelling going into the matches they had was top notch, and the way Heyman sold the match and the way Heyman and Cena worked off of each other during promos made this storyline worth it, despite the way the matches went down.
Dean Ambrose v Seth Rollins- It seems as though this feud is over (for now) and what we got was a very well told story from the moment Rollins turned on the Shield, with Ambrose being written off of TV in an effective way to film his movie- and coming back even hotter than he was before. The car crash (in a good way) at Hell In a Cell was a good way to end the current incarnation of the feud, however don't think for one second this was the final chapter.
CM Punk v Everyone- The nuke that was CM Punk telling his story on the Art of Wrestling which came out just over a week ago left nobody safe. He ripped into everyone under the sun, and after the podcast was over, if he had heat before; it was nuclear now.
Winner: Daniel Bryan v The Authority
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The Wrestler of the Year award, is exactly what you think it is; this is basically the same as "Superstar of the Year" except it isn't a huge egotrip for Cena.
Nominations:
Daniel Bryan- I was seriously considering leaving Bryan out of this list because he's been on the shelf for the lions share of the year. However in the 5 Months Bryan was active he's made more than enough of a case to be on this list. The "Yes Movement" was as strong as ever going into the New Year after "that" Ascension Ceremony where the crowd hijacked the show. He won the title, had one successful defence- but due to the nature of how he got over I don't have any fears over his status when he does come back.
Seth Rollins- As a Third of the Shield he had become a bit lost in my opinion. With the emergence of Reigns around Wrestlemania season and Ambrose- being Ambrose; there was a danger he could have become the "third wheel". His turn put that concern to bed. He has arguably become the best (full-time) heel in the company, and at the moment you can't really see a situation where Rollins becomes irrelevant.
Dean Ambrose- Similar to Rollins there was a danger he could get lost in the shuffle especially with him staying as a babyface when the Shield split, however whats come- perhaps as a consequence of the Reigns injury, perhaps not is Ambrose has become one of the focal points of every show- and has Main Evented a PPV with Rollins- who as I've previously stated when Lesnar/Heyman aren't around is the number one heel.
Dolph Ziggler- It's been an up and down year for Dolph, however his late surge has qualified him for this list. His performance at Survivor Series was one of the all time best I can remember, that combined with his relatively successful IC Title reign makes Dolph worthy of a spot on the list. The fact the WWE have (it would appear) gotten behind Dolph as of late having people like Cena put Dolph over on Promos and having Dolph be the sole survivor means I have high hopes Dolph'll be on this list come this time next year.
Bray Wyatt- As said with regard to his "Stepping Out" award for a character so in its infancy to have feuds with arguably the 3 Biggest Babyfaces in the company of Cena, Ambrose and Jericho is almost unheard of- this combined with the stellar promo work Bray has always done, and the work he and his family did against The Shield make Bray a very credible candidate.
Winner: Seth Rolli- Wait, What? The winner is John Cena
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Now onto the Main Event of these awards; Match of the Year, this is probably the most subjective category- and I expect a few people to disagree with some of the nominations, as there will also be some matches that everyone agrees with.
Nominations:
Daniel Bryan v Bray Wyatt (Royal Rumble)- This match was the first match of the year that really wowed people, and rightfully so. The storytelling was great- and Bray beat Bryan at this stage of Bryans overness (?) it made Bray look very good in preparation for his feud with Cena which was to follow.
John Cena v Cesaro (RAW, February 17th)- For this match to be on RAW was a welcome treat in the build to the Elimination Chamber. The fact Cesaro had beaten Orton on the prior Smackdown really added to the danger of the match, and with the way the match panned out these two managed to suspend disbelief to the point you honestly thought Cesaro could beat Cena.
Sami Zayn v Cesaro (NXT Arrival)- In the first of two NXT matches on this list, we saw the first match to air live on the Network; and it was an instant classic. It wasn't quite as good as their 2 out of 3 falls match, but not many matches are. However what we got was a great match, that announced NXT to the bigger audience that the Network provided.
The Shield v The Wyatts (Elimination Chamber)- They'd teased this feud the previous November on the UK tour, and any doubts over this match were quickly washed away. This match was true quality, and it was off the top of my head the first time we saw Harper truly fly- which only added to the match. The way the Wyatts picked off Ambrose and then Rollins made them look very dangerous- and it also helped Reigns' character that he didn't immediately succumb to the 3-on-1.
Daniel Bryan v Triple H (Wrestlemania 30)- I feel as though this match is slightly overlooked because of events that happened later on in the night with Taker, and also Bryan. However this match was in my opinion the best on the show- and the best Triple H match since he took on Taker. What we got was a very good technically sound match, which also told a very good story.
Charlotte v Natalya (NXT Takeover)- Who'd a thunk it eh? A Womens match in the Top 10 of the year, of course every list is subjective, but I think this is more than worthy of a spot on the list. This was arguably the best Womens match in WWE history. Everything fell into place as I hadn't been completely sold on Charlotte before this match, but this match for the NXT Womens Title firmly cemented her as a future divas champion.
The Shield v Evolution (Payback)- I spoke earlier on about the "clean sweep" and with three established guys on the receiving end of it, it made the match very significant. However the actual match itself was also very good. By this point Batista had shaken off enough of his ring rust that he could actually put on a decent match with enough respite- which is why this type of match greatly suited him. This combined with the undoubted ability of Orton and HHH on the other side to Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns made this match very good.
Dean Ambrose v Seth Rollins (RAW, 18th August)- I was debating whether to put this match, or their Hell in a Cell match on this list, however I settled on this one because PG Cell matches have never really done it for me, as you (perhaps unfairly) compare them to Hell in a Cell matches of yesteryear. As such I've put this match on the list, and what a match it was. This was a completely amazing car crash, it was completely frenetic, which benefitted both guys- and the finish of Rollins basically trying to kill Ambrose gave Ambrose a good way to be written off TV, and also made Rollins look very dangerous.
Cesaro v Tyson Kidd v Dolph Ziggler (Smackdown, 14th November)- This was a match tucked away on a random Smackdown in November on the European Tour. However, it was also an absolute gem of a match. Tyson Kidd is the most underrated guy from a "push" basis on the roster, and his performance in this match proved it. Not to underestimate the contributions of Cesaro & Dolph who both contributed greatly to the match, it also proved when you put three wrestlers in a wrestling match magic can happen.
Team Cena v Team Authority (Survivor Series)- Going into the PPV I didn't have high hopes for this match, I made no bones about that on Twitter going into the match. I wasn't sold on the Sting rumours and I assumed we'd see Part 47 of the Supercena chronicles. What we got instead was fresh, exciting- and seeing as this is what Vince was hung up with on Austins Podcast, they told a great story. The first third of the match was annoying from my perspective- the quick elimination of Ryback had me annoyed after the built to the entire match was centered around his choice of team. However for the first time in absolute ages, Something Big Show did made a match better. Big Show taking out Cena and leaving the match in a 3 v 1 situation with Dolph being the one laid the groundwork to truly "make" a new star. The way he played the underdog in the match was perfect, perhaps because of his size, he made a believable underdog in comparison to Cena who simply doesn't despite WWEs best efforts to push him as such. Then of course, we got one of the moments of the year. Sting, the person who some thought would never be in a WWE ring finally made his debut, Triple H as the heel who was desperate not to lose played his role to perfection, and just as it seemed he had gotten his way everything changed. A Scorpion Death Drop later and the rest as they say is history.
Winner: The Wyatts v The Shield, in my eyes it was a choice between this match, and Team Cena v Team Authority. However I decided to look at match quality as the predominant factor, if you were to fire up the Network (for 9.99) which match would you watch from start to finish; and as I said the first third of the Survivor Series match wasn't that good in my opinion.
Winner: The Wyatts v The Shield, in my eyes it was a choice between this match, and Team Cena v Team Authority. However I decided to look at match quality as the predominant factor, if you were to fire up the Network (for 9.99) which match would you watch from start to finish; and as I said the first third of the Survivor Series match wasn't that good in my opinion.
End Credit Montage of Awards you didn't know existed, and probably shouldn't!
One Liner of the Year- Dean Ambrose- "Uh Oh! They sent the Cruiserweight Division out to get me"
Worst Feud of the Year- Nikki Bella v Brie Bella
Worst Match of the Year- Naomi v Cameron (15th September, RAW)
Shucky Ducky Quack Quack Moment of the Year- A.J. imitates the Funkadactyls
Worst Commentator of the Year- Jerry Lawler
Part-Timer of the Year- Brock Lesnar
Tag Team of the Year- The Wyatt Family
Worst Guest Host of the Year- Kathie Lee & Hoda
Animal of the Year- The Gator
Entrance of the Year- Undertaker at Wrestlemania 30
Advocate of the Year- Paul Heyman
Finisher of the Year- Red Arrow, Adrian Neville
Meme of the Year-
If you're reading this, well done! You made it to the end- your reward is in the mail. As always thanks for reading, as I said this is an accompaniment to the Slammys- and my general awards (otherwise known as an EC3 lovefest) will be coming out later in the month. As always any feedback is appreciated- this is ultimately an opinion based blog so feel free to tell me different on any of the categories involved. Thanks again for reading- and remember the Slammys won't be as good as these awards, so don't get your hopes up only for them to be crushed (not by Rusev).
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