BellaOnline Forums Sports Wrestling Best of 2006?

Anyone interested in taking a vote on the best of 2006? Kinda like the "Patty Awards" or something like that. Just a shame we dont have actual trophies to give out to people.

So the way I see it, the categories are (or should be):

Best Face
Best Heel
Best Alliance/Faction/Stable
Best Storyline
Wrestler of the Year
Diva or Knockout of the Year
Match of the Year
PPV of the Year
Feelgood Moment of the Year
Promotion (or Brand) of the Year

Feel free to add any categories

-Martman

I won't even attempt to put my two cents in on these specifically, except for one thing.

Kenta vs. Naomichi Marufuji for Match of the Year.

This was held in Pro-Wrestling NOAH on 10/29/06. You will simply not believe how hard both wrestlers worked in that match. If you watch anything outside of WWE, it simply MUST be this match!

I am keeping it contained to WWE to keep it simple.

Best Face - John Cena: He took a beating from fans, never lost his composure, improved in the ring, stopped being so goofy, proved he can fight any style, and won the fans back. That's plenty for me.

Best Heel - Edge: I really don't like him but he was a great heel. He got so much real heat for most of the year and he still is getting great heat even saddled with Orton (who I give XPac heat to). He is the best heel they had all year on many levels, IMHO.

Best Alliance/Faction/Stable - Uh, um. Hmm. Very few of them in 2006. I am supposed to say DX here but I didn't like the new DX. Was Evolution in 2006? If so, them. Just by default. Anyone care to refresh my memory as to what factions there were?

Best Storyline - Edge messes with Lita and the ensuing fall out: Not a storyline really but fascinating to watch Edge and Lita endure what they did and see Edge use it to beam himself up and Lita let it get to her to the point of leaving the business (Although that wasn't the only reason why she left.) For a while, I was interested in the Trish/Mickie and Mickie's friend from the past storyline but it died. Too bad. I wanted to know who that woman was supposed to be. Whatever happened to Beth Phoenix after the jaw thing anyway? I am probably forgetting a million storylines but none stand out and scream "PICK ME!" at this hour of the morning when I haven't slept yet.

Wrestler of the Year - Tough one. Depends on what that means. Technical? That remains, in my eyes, with Angle. All around entertaining? HBK is always good but probably not the best. Edge moved up several levels on every front. Cena was fun to watch grow but still isn't a great wrestler by any means. Flair will always be the WOTY in my eyes. Paul London impressed me. NOT WOTY year impressed but he has so much potential.

Diva or Knockout of the Year - Tie: Trish and Mickie James. Trish for being Trish and Mickie for being decent in the ring and being so believable as a nut. For being a knockout only I think Maria is probably the hottest woman in WWE today.

Match of the Year - No idea. I will get back to you on that one.

PPV of the Year - Again. Will update when I have slept.

Feelgood Moment of the Year - Trish winning the belt on the way out: She deserved it and I was happy to see WWE do right by her.

Promotion (or Brand) of the Year - It wasn't WWE! I was very disappointed with the shows, all three of them. Raw was probably the best of the three but all were below standards. TNA was doing well until Russo poisoned it but I still think they were stronger in ways than WWE last year. The indies and such, I can't count since I didn't follow them closely.

Most Improved Wrestler - NITRO!! He went from part of tag team to a viable contender and kept the killer abs. I see big things in his future. I also think Carlito showed some growth but has more to go. And Cena certainly improved.

The Fall from Grace Award - Batista. Wildly popular to the point of craziness on Raw, he fizzled on SD. He is still popular but he is nowhere near at the level he was and is totally forgettable in the ring.
Runner up: Chris Masters. From Masterpiece to skinny geek. This is your body on roids. This is your body off roids. Where are you?
Another Runner Up - RVD: On his way to huge things he got pulled over by a cop. He was cocky and not sorry for his transgressions. Although Sabu actually was charged with worse crimes, RVD was punished (again) because he didn't show remorse, RVD has derailed and is just there now when he was riding high with 2 big belts...

Long Overdue to be Fired- KHALI!

Most of my answers will probably be WWE only, simply because I've seen a lot less TNA (and almost nothing from ROH) lately.


Best Face - John Cena: While he might not be compared to Bret Hart anytime soon, he managed to carry the belt for the better part of the year, had bigger matches than any other face in the WWE, and got the biggest reactions of anyone besides DX.

Best Heel - Edge: Unlike Patty, I love him, and he is a great heel, easily the best in the WWE without having to rely on "I'm a monster, grr" that the other heels tend to.

Best Alliance/Faction/Stable - Besides, DX...well, there was King Booker's stable (Royal Court, whatever)...there was the Spirit Squad...so, not so much on the good. Hmph. Heck, I might as well say the DX/Hardys/Punk team from Survivor Series, just because they were the best, just not the longest-lived

Best Storyline - Again, with the not-so-much. I can't think of one that stands out as 'best'. Maybe I'm not the best person to answer this thing, eh?

Wrestler of the Year - From the tiny bit I saw of him in TNA, I do have to say Samoa Joe. Above and beyond any other wrestler, simply because he had the crowd wrapped around his little finger without even saying anything (and I know we are talking about the Orlando crowd, who annoy me muchly, but still...) And he's so much better than you think he would be just by looking at him (sorry Joe). WWE wise? Edge.

Diva or Knockout of the Year - Trish Stratus, because after she won the title, Mickie disappeared - otherwise, it would be Mickie.

Match of the Year - Same as Patty. I've got nothing.

PPV of the Year - I can't say, because I watched two, I think. Wrestlemania and a TNA one that I can't even remember. Sting won, Angle was enforcer, my memory is cheese.

Feelgood Moment of the Year - Trish winning the belt on the way out: I agree completely with Patty. Easily the best.

Promotion (or Brand) of the Year - Pre-Russo I would have said TNA. But not them, and not the WWE.

Most Improved Wrestler - Carlito. I just can't like Nitro (sorry!). But Carlito kept pulling out new moves all the time, so kudos to him.

The Fall from Grace Award - The X-Division on TNA. Through absolutely no fault of their own. Remember the Joe-Daniels-Styles match? When was the last time the X-Division was featured like that - the other talents might not be at that level, but give them something! Although I do agree about Batista - if he focussed on improving his wrestling and character as much as he did on getting jobs for the girls he is dating, maybe people might start caring again.

Long Overdue to be Fired - Russo. Making Jonny Ace look like less of a wanker is an achievement.

Newcomer of the Year - Punk. To be as over as he was in Survivor Series, 'twas awesome.

The reason being is I'm sure much of the Philly fans who went to the show followed his career. Same when the crowd chanted his name in NYC. But it's definitely a great accomplishment no less. Although as we've seen w/ RVD, it doesn't mean great things for a prolonged time.

Although Punk's getting further up the card then I ever expected him to get! Congrats!