For more than three decades, Dave Meltzer has polled friends and colleagues to arrive at what we now know as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Awards.
The 2015 edition hit the (virtual) stands yesterday, and we've got the results for you - along with insight and analysis from from one of Cagesider's most respected critics. Vidence shared his choices with us last month, and now he's here to talk results.
You're highly encouraged to keep up with the action throughout the year by subscribing to the Observer. For now, let's talk about the awards!
(Note for those new to Meltzer and the Observer, the kayfabe world of pro wrestling is covered side-by-side with shoot fighting like mixed martial arts under the combat sports umbrella, so you'll see UFC guys and gals appear in these results)
LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)
1. A.J. STYLES (299) 2,507
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (160) 1,674
3. Kazuchika Okada (136) 1,532
4. Shinsuke Nakamura (190) 1,481
5. John Cena (55) 976
6. Brock Lesnar (79) 668
7. Seth Rollins (51) 580
8. Sasha Banks (80) 519
9. La Sombra (35) 228
10. Jay Lethal (21) 214
Vidence's take: Definitely a very well deserved winner of Wrestler of the Year. His performances throughout the year all over the world were top notch from Japan to Europe to the Americas and he was the one man in five years that was tasked with main eventing a show for New Japan Pro Wrestling for the IWGP title without either Okada or Tanahashi in the match. He took over for Finn Balor seamlessly as the leader of Bullet Club and was an important traveling performer for companies the world over. His signing with WWE is a major shot to both New Japan and independent wrestling in general.
Tanahashi is something of a strange choice at number 2 for me, given that much of the first half was spent tussling with Yano in an enjoyable but decidedly midcard feud, but he came on strong in the second half of the year which kept him fresh in the mind of the voters.
John Cena finishing behind the entire New Japan big 4 is something of a surprise given how well regarded his work was this year and his position as the only major draw in 2015 professional wrestling.
Deserving of a special shoutout is Sasha Banks, whose transformational impact on the way women's wrestling is viewed in America on a broader scale was rewarded with 8th place in the voting, the first woman to finish in the top 10 of the Observer Awards since Manami Toyota finished 4th in 1996.
MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
1. A.J. STYLES (334) 2,631
2. Shinsuke Nakamura (149) 1,254
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (134) 1,146
4. Kazuchika Okada (72) 870
5. Roderick Strong (82) 712
6. Seth Rollins (60) 640
7. Kota Ibushi (46) 425
8. Chris Hero (49) 364
9. Tomohiro Ishii (34) 343
10. Cesaro (7) 324
Vidence's take: Yet again, hard to argue with another major award for AJ Styles. To me, he didn't have quite the peak matches for a clear number one spot, but what he lacked in peak, he made up for in consistency and volume. Out of all the matches I rated this year, no one was even close to Styles on four star matches. He's a guy who gives max effort in every single match whether it's the Tokyo Dome or some Rec Center in Mississippi.
Thrilled for Roderick Strong finishing fifth, a well deserved honor for someone who raised his game in a massive way this year. Also great to see Chris Hero make the top 10 as a guy who's gone somewhat overlooked in his major career resurgence in PWG, NOAH, and Evolve this year.
FEUD OF THE YEAR
1. CONOR MCGREGOR VS. JOSE ALDO (342) 1,995
2. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks (216) 1,684
3. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens (45) 684
4. Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitachi (90) 645
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (72) 624
6. Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker (25) 554
7. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (17) 491
8. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma (44) 417
9. Suzuki-gun vs. NOAH (41) 371
10. Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia (41) 345
Vidence's take: Given the vote differentials, there's really only 2 choices worth talking about this year, which both finished over 1000 votes ahead of anything else. The key difference here was first place votes, which are worth 5 pts. and were a major edge for the UFC feud.
This is UFC's second straight win, with Cormier/Jones defeating Bryan/Authority last year. UFC's voting was much more centralized, whereas wrestling is more diffuse, so while Bayley/Banks was behind by over 100 first place votes, it was only behind by around 300 total pts.
Regardless, an incredible achievement by those two getting second in feud of the year for a developmental promotion over every feud in wrestling, and extremely well-deserved. The feud really was one of the best wrestling feuds in a long time. Consistently delivered huge in the ring, stealing the show at Takeover: Brooklyn and delivering an incredible main event at Takeover: Respect, and was a classic archetypal feud showcased clearest with Sasha's Escalade entrance in Brooklyn against the beloved underdog, with the added layer of Sasha being at "The Show" while Bayley was still stuck in NXT, and of course the meta narrative of both of them wanting to do this since they were little girls.
It's going to be hard for a wrestling feud to beat UFC unless it really unifies all the wrestling voters judging by these results.
TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
1. YOUNG BUCKS (382) 3,284
2. Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly (229) 2,204
3. New Day (167) 1,691
4. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi (86) 835
5. Naruki Doi & Yamato (70) 637
6. Jason Jordan & Chad Gable (33) 537
7. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro (2) 189
8. Michael Bennett & Matt Taven (6) 172
9. Matt Sydal & Ricochet (16) 156
10. Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta (7) 125
Vidence's take: Unsurprising that Dave's adopted nephews the Young Bucks took down this award, but obviously a bit disappointing as this really felt like New Day's year.
I think the difference is that since Cesaro and Kidd went down, they haven't really consistently had great matches, while, even if not my taste for the most part, people that vote for these awards love the high paced Jr. tag matches.
Special shoutout to Gable and Jordan for finishing in the top 6 with probably about that many TV matches on their resume. They seem poised to finish near the top next year if their growth as a team continues like it did in 2015.
MOST IMPROVED
1. BAYLEY (116) 1,397
2. Moose (94) 793
3. Sasha Banks (81) 654
4. Roman Reigns (75) 649
5. Baron Corbin (63) 617
6. Michael Elgin (55) 477
7. Jason Jordan (19) 387
8. Chad Gable (65) 349
9. Tetsuya Naito (23) 226
10.Nikki Bella (22) 223
Vidence's take: I pretty much want to hug these choices from top to bottom. Pun shockingly not intended.
Basically everyone here is very deserving of their placement on this list. Bayley finishing first feels well deserved, especially seeing as the voting came on the heels of her all-time level carry in London opposite Nia Jax after having two really strong TV feuds in November and December. She's settled amazingly well into role as the female Ace of NXT and they keep putting more and more responsibility on her with these greener women, and she keeps rising to the occasion.
Moose really exploded in his growth this year even if his booking hasn't been the best. Sasha Banks probably had already started her ascent last year, but she definitely took it to the next level at this year's Takeover events. Roman Reigns' growth in the ring was also massive this year even if his character still hasn't fully connected.
Corbin, Elgin, and Nikki Bella all really made major strides in the ring this year as well. Gable is the one strange choice on the list given that as a rookie, what was there really to improve from? But his tag team partner definitely improved in a big way by getting better in the ring, but also really developing his character.
And when it comes to developing a character, no one can touch Tetsuya Naito. His Los Ingobernables character was an absolute revelation which saw him playing the role even better than the founders of the stable.
BEST ON INTERVIEWS
1. CONOR MCGREGOR (524) 3,285
2. Paul Heyman (193)` 1,839
3. Kevin Owens (73) 1,109
4. New Day (23) 369
5. Jay Lethal (27) 360
6. John Cena (15) 359
7. Jay Briscoe (16) 235
8. Ronda Rousey (9) 176
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi (16) 159
10. Rush 127
Vidence's take: Hard to argue against Conor McGregor in this spot. The Irish firebrand consistently sold fights like no one else, and at its core, that's what promos are all about: getting people into the building.
It was really good to see Kevin Owens manage to get within 700 votes of Paul Heyman, and hopefully he continues to close that gap after a really strong year on the microphone. It would certainly by nice to see those two fellows shooting off at each other in a few days after the Royal Rumble...
MOST CHARISMATIC
1. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (418) 3,147
2. Conor McGregor (314) 2,293
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (64) 966
4. Bayley (45) 387
5. Ronda Rousey (61) 378
6. Rush (48) 367
7. Brock Lesnar (33) 340
8. Dalton Castle (17) 310
9. John Cena (5) 302
10. Pentagon Jr. (4) 242
Vidence's take: Was there ever any doubt? Shinsuke wins this award pretty much every year, and should win this award pretty much every year. He's a magnetic presence like no one else in professional wrestling or mixed martial arts. Hopefully his magnetism is allowed to flourish in WWE, and if so I see him continuing to win this award for years to come.
Incredible finish for Bayley managing to make the top 5 and beating out Ronda Rousey. Watching the back half of NXT this year, it's hard to argue. She's an unbelievably likable performer and connects with an audience like few other people in the business right now.
I was also very happy to see a strong finish for Dalton Castle and Pentagon Jr., two major breakout stars this year. The way they've captivated their respective audiences so quickly has been very impressive to witness.
BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER
1. ZACK SABRE JR. (346) 2,411
2. Kyle O’Reilly (130) 1,099
3. Timothy Thatcher (77) 841
4. Roderick Strong (40) 356
5. Shinsuke Nakamura (56) 279
6. Cesaro (33) 255
7. Hiroshi Tanahashi (7) 215
8. Chad Gable (28) 196
9. Seth Rollins (8) 179
10. A.J. Styles (7) 160
Vidence's take: Hey! Looks like people are starting to get how this category is supposed to work. While I'm partial to Timothy Thatcher's grittier brand of grappling, it's hard to argue against the flash and style of Zack Sabre Jr., the technical marvel from the United Kingdom.
Chad Gable's high finish in yet another award is really nice to see for one of NXT's biggest male breakout stars of 2015. He definitely seems like he'll be an Observer Awards favorite if he keeps coming along like this.
BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)
1. TOMOHIRO ISHII (426) 2,994
2. Katsuyori Shibata (72) 1,051
3. Kevin Owens (133) 1,006
4. Brock Lesnar (111) 828
5. Tomoaki Honma (24) 532
6. Pentagon Jr. (50) 527
7. Dean Ambrose (15) 344
8. Daisuke Sekimoto (32) 313
9. Chris Hero (22) 255
10. Drew Galloway (13) 253
Vidence's take: Even though the calendar ended before their slugfest on January 4th, it still feels fitting that Ishii and Shibata finished first and second in this category. Overall, this seems like a strong top 10 to me with basically everyone deserving their slot.
I'd question Ambrose on recent form, but sometimes, like the Golden Glove awards voters aren't always as reactive.
BEST FLYING WRESTLER
1. RICOCHET (583) 3,708
2. Kota Ibushi (144) 1,327
3. Will Ospreay (109) 847
4. Matt Sydal (24) 737
5. Neville (37) 618
6. Fenix (16) 593
7. Angelico (40) 508
8. Flamita (18) 328
9. Kushida (8) 223
10. Aero Star (23) 218
Vidence's take: An unsurprising blowout for the man also known as Prince Puma, still the gold standard in flippy stuff. Very happy to see Matt Sydal finish top four as he was one of my absolute favorite wrestlers to watch this year. Angelico's iconic dive in Lucha Underground vaulted him into 7th place.
MOST OVERRATED
1. KANE (211) 1,775
2. Roman Reigns (186) 1,121
3. Sheamus (85) 755
4 .Big Show (46) 702
5. Charlotte (58) 466
6. Bray Wyatt (21) 353
7. Eva Marie (41) 309
8. Braun Strowman (27) 265
9. Ryback (3) 243
10. Alberto Del Rio (20) 226
Vidence's take: Hard to go wrong with Kane this year after he had a nearly six month long on and off feud with the WWE Champion in 2015. Even though I had the fifth place finisher in the top spot (who thankfully with this heel turn should be nowhere near this list next year after abandoning her abysmal babyface character) I certainly can't complain about Kane finishing number two. Sincerest apologies to the General for these little dorks voting Eva Marie 7th.
MOST UNDERRATED
1. CESARO (477) 2,643
2. Neville (39) 527
3. Luke Harper (22) 407
4. Sasha Banks (39) 337
5. Mascara Dorada (15) 271
6. Kevin Owens (17) 211
7. Samoa Joe (16) 189
8. Dean Ambrose (6) 185
9. Katsuyori Shibata (9) 182
10. Tama Tonga (7) 172
Vidence's take: Third straight year for Cesaro sitting on top of the underrated heap. Gets hugely over whenever he gets some run, and they do nothing with it every time. Impressive that WWE managed to have so many people in both underrated and overrated, which says something about how the Observer readers view WWE's booking choices.
Mascara Dorada was the highest non-WWE performer in the category for his continual lack of use in New Japan while on loan from CMLL. He managed to get one junior title shot and delivered big, but was then stuck in six or eight man tags for the rest of the year. It was also great to see Tama Tonga, one of my NJPW favorites make the top 10 after another year of being largely ignored.
PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
1. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (354) 3,290
2. UFC (383) 2,286
3. Ring of Honor (55) 1,137
4. Lucha Underground (56) 880
5. Dragon Gate (79) 798
6. PWG (17) 439
7. WWE (19) 392
8. DDT (9) 246
9. Progress Wrestling (20) 154
10. Evolve 96
Vidence's take: New Japan wins yet again but this seems like something of an apathy pick. While the very disappointing Wrestle Kingdom sales did not occur during the calendar, the cracks were already starting to show after disappointing G1 sales figures and failure to hit targets on their over the top streaming service.
UFC had its strongest year in a while with the ascendance of Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey to super draw levels.
NXT not being a separate promotion definitely made the category more difficult as no promotion grew the way the NXT brand expanded, but the albatross of WWE's ratings woes kept WWE in only the 7th slot. Good to see Evolve finish top 10 after really finding and owning its style of wrestling and also becoming WWE's new unofficial feeder system.
BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW
1. WWE NXT (347) 3,148
2. Lucha Underground (410) 3,112
3. New Japan World Pro Wrestling (197) 1,803
4. Ring of Honor (73) 918
5. WWE Monday Night Raw (4) 97
6. Ultimate Fighter Faber vs. McGregor 60
7. Dragon Gate Infinity 48
Vidence's take: Incredibly tight vote between NXT and Lucha Underground here, and deservedly so I think. Both have strong arguments for their placement in the top spot.
Lucha Underground's match quality week to week is much higher than NXT's and its storytelling is largely better, but NXT has two major edges.
One is that its booking is tremendous. It's a show that consistently creates stars that fans want to see at an almost alarming rate. Oh, Sasha Banks and Kevin Owens are gone? No worries, we'll just reinvigorate Samoa Joe, keep building Finn Balor, find our new anchor for the TV in Bayley, and create a new sensation in Asuka. And that churn also keeps the television feeling fresh.
Secondly, NXT is able to be more focused, because it's always building to live specials, so always has a clear direction of where things are going. Both shows are really enjoyable television and either would be a worthy winner. Also, thank heavens that repurposed PPV matches from years ago with English announcing didn't beat out new television.
PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. KOTA IBUSHI 1/4 TOKYO (319)2,429
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 8/16 Tokyo (207) 1,519
3. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks 8/22 Brooklyn (107) 1,173
4. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 1/4 Tokyo (90) 939
5.Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins 1/25 Philadelphia (57) 619
6. Shingo Takagi vs. Masaaki Mochizuki 11/1 Osaka (64) 588
7. Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville 12/11/14 Winter Park (27) 407
8. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma 2/14 Sendai (25) 391
9. Minoru Suzuki vs. Takashi Sugiura 9/19 Osaka (29) 287
10. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. A.J. Styles 8/14 Tokyo (11) 229
Vidence's take: Said it in my own piece and I'm glad to see it bared out here. I thought the MOTY race ended on January 4th, and it turns out that it did. Nakamura/Ibushi is a genuine instant classic and it's hard for me to see anything else in the top slot.
The most noteworthy result, as Dave pointed out, is that the highest rated U.S. match this year was a woman's match in a developmental promotion. Truly an outstanding feat for Sasha Banks and Bayley.
The other top American matches were the revered Royal Rumble Triple Threat match, and because of the calendar peculiarities, Sami Zayn v. Adrian Neville from Takeover R: Evolution, the best men's match in NXT history.
The rest of the list was heavy on Japan (mostly New Japan, but also one from NOAH and one from Dragon Gate), as is to be expected. It's both a very strong in-ring product and a very popular one among Observer Readers.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
1. CHAD GABLE (539) 3,299
2. Jay White (159) 2,395
3. Dana Brooke (51) 1,357
4. Kazusada Higuchi (48) 671
5. Cody Hall (33) 431
6. Takehiro Yamamura (23) 311
7. Shotaro Ashino (4) 216
8. Matt Riddle (15) 213
9. Kaito Ishida 119
10. Nia Jax (1) 114
Vidence's take: Not much to say here, the top 3 is incredibly well deserving, and the winner most definitely is. Few people have burst onto the scene in professional wrestling as a rookie like Chad Gable in NXT. And it's great to see the head-patting Total Diva get her due with a top 3 finish.
BEST NON-WRESTLER
1. DARIO CUETO (362) 2,394
2. Paul Heyman (358) 2,373
3. Xavier Woods (61) 736
4. William Regal (56) 547
5. Stephanie McMahon (13) 343
6. Truth Martini (12) 338
7. Maria Kanellis (9) 314
8. Lana (7) 220
9. Katrina (2) 181
10. Gedo (4) 128
Vidence's take: I'm absolutely thrilled at this result. I had really thought that Paul Heyman would win yet again after not really doing a lot this year, but I was a fool to doubt El Jefe. Cueto is the completely and totally deserving winner of this award, just a tremendous performance and made everyone around him better, in addition to completely reinventing the authority figure character and making Vince McMahon's appearances on Raw feel even more stale and dated in comparison.
BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER
1. MAURO RANALLO (625) 3,751
2. Corey Graves (57) 819
3. Shimpei Nogami (96) 774
4. Josh Barnett (3) 676
5. Kevin Kelly (74) 572
6. Joe Rogan (36) 537
7. Steve Corino (19) 485
8. Brian Stann (40) 391
9. Jim Ross (25) 391
10. Lenny Leonard (21) 284
Vidence's take: Smackdown viewers have recently found out what NJPW on AXS viewers have known for a while and that is that Mauro Ranallo is a truly excellent announcer and greatly improves the products he calls. It was also great to see Corey Graves finish in the top 2, hopefully WWE takes notice because until Mauro arrived, he was by far the best commentator in WWE.
WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER
1. JOHN LAYFIELD (225) 2,016
2. Michael Cole (107) 1,179
3. Jerry Lawler (127) 1,117
4. Byron Saxton (101) 1,005
5. Josh Matthews (93) 815
6. Matt Striker (82) 809
7. The Pope (48) 408
8. Booker T (32) 373
9. Vampiro (1) 117
10. Corey Graves 49
Vidence's take: For the second year in a row, the blowhard Texan, JBL, was named Worst Television Announcer, but really, any main roster WWE announcer is a worthwhile choice. JBL is probably the most frustrating of all because he can be so good at times and yet so unbelievably terrible at others, just burying performers from behind the desk.
I personally would have had Saxton number one though, because even Mauro and a reinvigorated Lawler (who I don't see finishing top 10 next year) can't make him seem competent. Nor can the more relaxed NXT announcing booth. Nor can anything really.
BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
1. NEW JAPAN WRESTLE KINGDOM 9 1/4 TOKYO (614) 3,663
2. UFC 189 7/11 Las Vegas (104) 1,039
3. WWE WrestleMania 31 3/29 Santa Clara (89) 953
4. NXT Takeover Brooklyn 8/22 (67) 797
5. New Japan Dominion 7/5 Osaka (11) 604
6. NXT Takeover R Evolution 12/11/14 Winter Park (32) 375
7. Lucha Underground Ultima Lucha 4/19 Los Angeles (14) 362
8. New Japan G-1 Climax finals 8/16 Tokyo (8) 311
9. PWG Battle of Los Angeles 8/29 Reseda day two (28) 263
10. NXT Takeover Respect 10/7 Winter Park (9) 192
Vidence's take: New Japan's flagship event managed to win Best Major Show largely on the back of its extremely highly regarded closing matches, including the Match of the Year. I had it 4th or 5th personally because I felt like it had more valleys than a couple other shows, but there's no question its peaks were incredibly high.
Also worth noting is that three separate NXT Takeover events managed to make the top 10, including Brooklyn and the show that was #NotAsGoodAsBrooklyn, tying New Japan Pro Wrestling for most shows in the top 10.
WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
1. AAA TRIPLEMANIA 8/9 MEXICO CITY 483
2. WWE Royal Rumble 1/25 Philadelphia 79
3. WWE TLC 12/14/14 Cleveland 74
4. WWE Survivor Series 11/22 Atlanta 58
5. TNA Bound for Glory 10/4 Concord, NC 48
6. WWE Payback 5/17 Baltimore 38
7. WWE Elimination Chamber 5/31 Corpus Christi 31
8. WWE Extreme Rules 4/26 Chicago 18
9. UFC 186 4/25 Montreal 9
10. TNA Slammiverary 6/28 Orlando 9
Vidence's take: There was really no other result here, TripleMania was an absolute disaster from a content standpoint but also from a production standpoint with audio and picture errors running rampant.
Even though it had the fifth best match of the year, the Royal Rumble still finished second overall with an absolutely abysmal Royal Rumble match lacking in fun, suspense and drama and managing to set up no storylines and get no one over, even including its winner.
Exploding. Television. That really sums up the third place finishing TLC.
BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER
1. A.J. STYLES STYLES CLASH 137
2. Young Bucks Meltzer Driver 131
3. Kazuchika Okada rainmaker 93
4. Neville red arrow 86
5. Ricochet & Matt Sydal double shooting star press 45
6. Kevin Owens pop up power bomb 41
7. Shinsuke Nakamura flying armbar 32
8. Angelico dropkick off the stage into the ring 22
9. Tomoaki Honma kokeshi spear 20
10. Ricochet 630 17
Vidence's take: Not too much to say here, there weren't a ton of particularly interesting choices this year. The Styles Clash winning was probably largely due to it taking on a Rainmaker level of protection in New Japan Pro Wrestling, being seen as a move that no one ever kicks out of.
Sadly, the Bellahammer did not make the top 10 because the Observer voters are philistines. Out of the top 10 that we did have, I'd probably give the nod to Kevin Owens' Pop-Up Powerbomb.
MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
1. WWE USING REID FLEIHR’S DEATH IN AN ANGLE 618
2. WWE Divas Revolution 26
3. TNA having James Storm push Mickie James onto the train tracks 24
4. WWE changing Ultimate Warrior’s words and meaning in giving Connor Michalek the Warrior Award 17
5. Lucha Underground and indie men vs. women matches 15
6. WWE having Michael Cole do a broken neck angle right after Perro Aguayo Jr. died from a broken neck 10
7. WWE getting rid of Hulk Hogan while Lionizing Ultimate Warrior who said things as bad or worse in public 9
Vidence's take: As if there was any other choice. The Charlotte/Paige ill-advised Reid Fleihr invocation absolutely ran away with this one taking upwards of 80% of the vote. Finishing second was the ill-advised deployment of an angle that had so much promise in the Diva Revolution. Hopefully this Charlotte and Becky Lynch feud is what the division needs to turn the corner.
WORST TELEVISION SHOW
1. WWE RAW 470
2. TNA Impact 169
3. WWE Smackdown 66
4. Lucha Underground 9
Vidence's take: Another pretty easy choice here. TNA wasn't great, but was largely inoffensive whereas Raw was actively terrible for most of the year. With guys like Bryan gone and The Shield split up, the match quality went way down and there were virtually no compelling angles making people tune in. Oh, and it's three hours of that.
Kinda shocking to see LU get any votes for worst TV show, but it's something of a particular style that might not be for everyone I guess.
WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
1. PSYCHO CIRCUS VS. VILLANOS 8/9 MEXICO CITY 396
2. Royal Rumble 1/25 Philadelphia 137
3. Big Show vs. Erick Rowan stairs match 12/14/14 Cleveland 60
4. Ryback vs. Sheamus vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Mark Henry vs. King Barrett Elimination Chamber 5/31 Corpus Christi 57
5. TNA Gauntlet for the Gold 10/4 Concord, NC 32
6. Eva Marie vs. Carmella 8/22 Brooklyn 31
7. John Cena vs. Rusev chain match 4/26 Chicago 13
8. Mahabali Shera vs. Crazy Steve TNA title tournament 11
Vidence's take: A match that Dave Meltzer called the worst he'd ever seen was going to be hard to beat for the top slot here. Just an abysmal match.
The Royal Rumble match finishing second made me happy as it was my personal choice, because in addition to being terrible generally, it was just a complete failure in every aspect. Did nothing for anyone, was an hour long, the crowd turned on it fifteen minutes in, and it had absolutely no suspense once Bryan was eliminated.
WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR
1. TEAM PCB VS. TEAM BAD VS. TEAM BELLA 221
2. Seth Rollins vs. Kane 111
3. Dolph Ziggler & Lana vs. Rusev & Summer Rae 110
4. Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt 72
5. Kingdom vs. Bullet Club 43
6. James Storm vs. Magnus 23
7. R-Truth vs. King Barrett 20
8. Charlotte vs. Paige 19
9. TNA vs. GFW 16
10. Ultimo Guerrero vs. Thunder 15
Vidence's take: What a terrible feud that was. As swiftly as NXT made women's wrestling popular in 2015, that ill-advised disaster seemed to kill it dead twice as fast. It was a feud at its core about who started a revolution that didn't even exist and no one cared about filled with poorly sketched out characters, nonsensical ping ponging alignments, and terrible matches.
The love quadrangle finishing third is unsurprising because even if you found it to be fun camp rather than terrible camp, the feud ending with a whimper because of the Rusev/Lana engagement news getting out really killed any shot for it to not finish in the top 5.
WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
1. TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION 423
2. World Wrestling Entertainment 151
3. AAA 37
Vidence's take: Three very worthy choices, but TNA has to take the top spot after losing yet another TV deal and seeing many of its guys leave the company and become stars elsewhere. A poorly managed promotion with an outdated approach on every level. WWE, while the network was successful and NXT exploded in popularity still saw a massive decline in ratings, failed to create any new stars to captivate the audience after the loss of Daniel Bryan, and failed to sell out multiple PPVs this year. AAA after its abysmal attempt to make an impact across the border with TripleMania is also an easy choice.
BEST BOOKER
1. PAUL LEVESQUE/RYAN WARD 317
2. Gedo 314
3. Joe Silva 117
4. Chris DeJoseph/Chris Roach 61
5. Dragon Gate team 56
6. Hunter Johnston 39
7. Sean Shelby 19
8. Sanshiro Takagi 17
9. Gabe Sapolsky 11
Vidence's take: All hail the King of Kings! As happy as I am for the success of the women of NXT and Dario Cueto, I don't think any result made me quite as happy as this one, largely because of just how thin the margin was here.
Gedo & Jado (now just Gedo, with Jado booking for Pro Wrestling NOAH) had won this award four years straight and I'd been shouting from the rooftops that that reign should come to an end this year and happily it did. So many plots were lost in NJPW (like the Omega/Ibushi tease during Invasion Attack), so many performers were stagnant in their growth, so many title reigns saw the former champions immediately recapture the belts after what were built as statement wins, and New Japan embraced sports entertainment way too much.
On the other hand, NXT told satisfying stories, created stars, built to their specials, and consistently handled those big matches without needing to find the coward's way out. Even if NXT didn't have an A+ show with every Takeover, I can't remember any one that was considered unsatisfying because the shows had satisfying results with clear winners and clear losers, making its two top titles some of the most well booked in wrestling.
PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
1. DANA WHITE 581
2. Takaaki Kidani 177
3. Paul Levesque 121
4. Mark Dallas 18
5. Vince McMahon 15
6. Scott Coker 12
7. Joe Koff 11
Vidence's take: Hard to argue with Dana White winning the award after the major resurgence of UFC this past year. Very happy to see my choice of Mark Dallas finish in the top 5, and also happy to see Paul Levesque recognized again here for doing tremendous work building and expanding NXT as a brand. On that note, Levesque finishing ahead of Vince McMahon is a pretty humorous thing to look at.
BEST GIMMICK
1. NEW DAY 213
2. Dalton Castle 200
3. Los Ingobernables 129
4. Bayley 71
5. Finn Balor 44
6. Pentagon Jr. 39
7. Conor McGregor 23
8. Bullet Club 20
9. Mojo Rawley 18
10. Kevin Owens 15
Vidence's take: Awwwwwwwww Cageside Seats... don't you dare be sowah and clap for your World Famous Best Gimmick, The New Day!
Any of the top three were absolutely worthy choices here and it shows with the vote margin. I had more fun with Los Ingobernables than anything else this year, but Dalton and New Day are both just tremendous as well. Also notable is yet another high finish for Bayley, who really kinda cleaned up here with a win and multiple top 5 finishes in three different categories in addition to her shared success with Banks in MOTY and FOTY.
WORST GIMMICK
1. STARDUST 155
2. Alberto Del Rio Mex-America 85
3. Divas Revolution 54
4. Adam Rose 52
5. The Authority 45
6. King Barrett 27
7. Mojo Rawley 21
8. Mahabali Shera 20
9. The Ascension 17
10. Eva Marie 15
Vidence's take:I went with Mex America just on sheer stupidity grounds, but there is no channel changer for me in WWE like Stardust. Goldust was a gimmick of its time, and Stardust doesn't have anything interesting to say or a reason for existing like Goldust did. It's all just tics and nonsense. WWE may not want Cody Rhodes back, but I certainly do.
Final Thoughts:
The big takeaway from these awards in addition to the continued and expected success of New Japan Pro Wrestling has to be the success of NXT.
It saw its television show win TV show of the year, its booker win Booker of the Year, saw 3 TakeOver Specials finish in the top 10 for Show of the Year, saw its performers winning Most Improved (something good for a developmental program to finish first in), Rookie of the Year (ditto), finishing eighth in Wrestler of the Year, finishing fourth in Most Charismatic, its color commentator finishing second in best announcer, and finally had the highest voted feud in professional wrestling and highest voted match in the United States among many other high awards placements.
With the expanding touring brand in 2016, hopefully Triple H and the many outstanding performers in NXT can keep that going.