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Wrestler Of The Year...???


Dylan Waco

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I'm talking about picture sense here with drawing power, in ring, getting over angles, overall character, et. being taken into consideration.

 

Offhand I really can't think of anyone. Can't think of anyone from Japan. Mexico doesn't appear to have any obvious candidate like they did last year with LA Park. Maybe Kris or Eric can bring me up to speed there as I watch a lot of Lucha but don't totally get who is getting a huge push. Maybe Averno is a contender but he really doesn't feel like it.

 

WWE really doesn't feel like they have a strong contender either. Cena is the biggest star but hasn't really done anything of note business wise and while he's had his best in ring year since 07 he's still not been the best guy in the company. Punk is probably the best worker in the States (Virus and Blue Panther may be ahead of him in the picture) and got a lot of interest for himself for a month there but it didnt' sustain itself and the buyrates were disappointing (particularly SummerSlam). Mark Henry is the guy making the most out of his push, is arguably the best promo in the business, has had the best put together push and has had an awful lot of quality matches over the last couple of months, but he was off the radar for the first half of the year for the most part. Rey was great in the ring all year but didn't have a push that fit the bill and is done. Del Rio has been booked up and down, though he has improved in the ring a great deal.

 

This will sound crazy to some people, but Jerry Lawler is someone I could see making a case for. He's been good both in the WWE and on the indy circuit. I don't know what sort of ratings and buyrates he drew when he was a big part of the shows, but the angle with Miz and Cole were consistently compelling and excluding the Mania match (which was arguably the most well built match on the show) all of the in ring stuff that came out of it was pretty good. He also probably drew the indy crowd of the year v. Dundee in Nashville and appears to have done good business on top in Louisville v. Dundee a couple of days later along with the return match with Brian v. The Dundees. I'd be interested to see what the Dreamer Cage Match and Funk match drew for NECW as those were clearly the most well promoted matches for those shows. Also of note that the angle he did with Henry worked really well and when they needed someone to get over the walkout concept they went to Jerry as the go to guy. Not saying he would be my pick, but I think it is kind of telling how weak the candidate list is when Lawler has a legit claim.

 

The Rock helped figures a great deal IIRC in the build to Mania and if he works at Survivor Series and pops a buyrate you could almost argue that he deserves the Observer Award for Wrestler of The Year just based on that.

 

I'm not about to make a case for anyone in TNA though I have found Bully Ray entertaining all year for whatever that is worth.

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Really hard to choose a Dec/Jan-Oct spanning great body of work.

 

This may initially shock but I would have to go with Randy Orton due to having interesting matches with different opponents.

 

Sadly I havent followed up on his return to Dragon Gate but I wanted to have Tozawa's babies in the spring during his US tour.

 

 

I don't follow Japan very closely, but New Japan seems fairly stable, why doesn't Tanahashi merit consideration?

Japanese wrestling is teh suck seems to be a near uniform opinion here.

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Bully Ray has had some really good matches this year. I wouldn't have him as my Wrestler of the Year but I find it interesting that he's reinvented himself so late in his career and seems to have finally found himself as a singles worker.

 

I would just say Cena. His PPV matches have been pretty good and he's a draw. I know that's boring but I haven't seen any of Tanahashi's matches this year so I can't really get behind him as a candidate.

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Really hard to choose a Dec/Jan-Oct spanning great body of work.

 

This may initially shock but I would have to go with Randy Orton due to having interesting matches with different opponents.

 

Sadly I havent followed up on his return to Dragon Gate but I wanted to have Tozawa's babies in the spring during his US tour.

 

 

I don't follow Japan very closely, but New Japan seems fairly stable, why doesn't Tanahashi merit consideration?

Japanese wrestling is teh suck seems to be a near uniform opinion here.

 

If someone could show me that any of the Japanese big names are draws of some magnitude or value I would have zero problem flying their flag even if I think they suck in the ring.

 

Orton has had three good series with three very different opponents (Punk, Christian and Henry) but he also has the misfortune of being the "ace" of a brand that is drawing sub-TNA attendance figures.

 

Cena is the default for a lot of people but he seems particularly stale this year and I'm not terribly sure that he is a draw in any meaningful sense when buyrates continue to shit the bed with him on top, ratings are going South, et.

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New Japan drew a 42,000 for the Dome this year which was their highest number in 6 years. New Japan as a whole has been drawing better but that's more a product of getting rid of Inoki and booking their shows better than any particular wrestler. I think Tanahashi is a draw to a degree but I don't think there's anything you can point to that's he's done to draw.

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New Japan drew a 42,000 for the Dome this year which was their highest number in 6 years. New Japan as a whole has been drawing better but that's more a product of getting rid of Inoki and booking their shows better than any particular wrestler. I think Tanahashi is a draw to a degree but I don't think there's anything you can point to that's he's done to draw.

Pro Wrestling History says the Dome this year only drew 18,000.

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Heh, no clue who would be the choice for WOTY this year.

 

Wow, thinking about it this year i've watched less current wrestling then probably any other time in my life.

 

For 2011 i've only seen 3 WWE shows Rumble, Elimination Chamber (live) and MITB. Nothing from TNA except a few random matches, nothing from the US indies except a hand full of local shows i've gone to, less then 5 lucha matches, 1 or 2 puro shows and 2 or 3 joshi shows.

 

Think I may have watched more 1970's wrestling this year then I have 2011 stuff :)

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The best worker to me is either Virus, Blue Panther or Punk.

Once footage of Finlays entire 2011 Indy run is out, he's going to be a serious contender for Most Outstanding.

 

I don't read a lot of dirtsheets anymore, but I've heard Punk has been a merchandise machine this year..and that his stuff is selling bigger than even Cenas. Any truth to it or is it Internet bullshit?

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New Japan drew a 42,000 for the Dome this year which was their highest number in 6 years. New Japan as a whole has been drawing better but that's more a product of getting rid of Inoki and booking their shows better than any particular wrestler. I think Tanahashi is a draw to a degree but I don't think there's anything you can point to that's he's done to draw.

Pro Wrestling History says the Dome this year only drew 18,000.

 

I might have seen their worked number then.

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I think you can. He has been the year's biggest draw. House show numbers even increased after his return because many casual fans assumed he was part of the touring roster again. In any other year of course he would not really be a serious candidate, but this year (from a North American perspective) has offered up no real strong contenders, at least as far as putting up slam dunk numbers goes. And voting for a Cena, Christian, Punk, etc. feels like yet another "default" choice, much like the last two winners (Jericho,Cena) were in my opinion. If I had to pick a "regular" wrestler, I guess Cena should win again, because if he wasn't on the roster WWE business would totally be in the tank, like at 95-97 levels or worse.

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I really think the days of being a draw as criteria should be a thing of the past. It just doesn't matter like it used to. The days of the territories are gone. PPV numbers are down all over. Ratings are down. Shit, there's not a draw anywhere in all of wrestling, so why are we still holding it against people?

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I really think the days of being a draw as criteria should be a thing of the past. It just doesn't matter like it used to. The days of the territories are gone. PPV numbers are down all over. Ratings are down. Shit, there's not a draw anywhere in all of wrestling, so why are we still holding it against people?

Because it's the only metric we have to use that is concrete.

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I really think the days of being a draw as criteria should be a thing of the past. It just doesn't matter like it used to. The days of the territories are gone. PPV numbers are down all over. Ratings are down. Shit, there's not a draw anywhere in all of wrestling, so why are we still holding it against people?

Because no matter how bad things are, if the right person comes along at the right time in the right place, they can make a difference. We've seen a lot of guys who can't draw, but eventually, another will come along who can.

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Also, while he has had an underwhelming year, I still think Cena is the best pick.

I can't really argue against this BUT if we have given him credit for years for holding steady essentially, with business seemingly trending down across the board should that note be held against him? Cena is the "default" answer in a way, but I find it hard to build a compelling case for him.

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Well I just don't think being a draw should factor in to determining who is the best in a worked industry as determined by the fans. Nor do I think WWE should change their writing based on week-to-week rating numbers in 2011, but what the Hell do I know?

 

No one is going to say that Hogan was better in '89 because he made more money than Savage. I feel like it would be like losing Iron Chef because of plating. It's just ridiculous.

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