Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

The Wrestling Observer Awards for 2013

Options
  • 23-01-2014 9:47am
    #1
    rovert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,089 ✭✭✭✭


    The awards are kind of quirky in terms of the terminology used - overrated is really most over pushed and MMA being mixed in for some awards (boo!). However it does provide a decent overview of the business/year based on the votes of fans.
    LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)
    1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (348) 3.488
    2. Kazuchika Okada (153) 2,168
    3. Daniel Bryan (139) 1,444
    4. John Cena (58) 925
    5. C.M. Punk (31) 520
    6. KENTA (13) 133
    7. Shinsuke Nakamura (2) 51

    MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER
    1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (470) 3,237
    2. Daniel Bryan (205) 1,894
    3. Kazuchika Okada (126) 1,760
    4. C.M. Punk (10) 374
    5. Negro Casas (18) 275
    6. Shinsuke Nakamura (22) 245
    7. Antonio Cesaro (16) 163
    8. Katsuyori Shibata (11) 137
    9. Prince Devitt (3) 133
    10. Tomohiro Ishii (1) 132

    BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW
    1. GEORGES ST-PIERRE (351) 2,699
    2. The Rock (220) 1,915
    3. John Cena (115) 1,533
    4. Hiroshi Tanahashi (35) 562
    5. Brock Lesnar (15) 309
    6. Ronda Rousey (34) 305
    7. Anderson Silva (2) 155
    8. Daniel Bryan (1) 63

    FEUD OF THE YEAR
    1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (534) 3,259
    2. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate (106) 875
    3. Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata (1) 634
    4. C.M. Punk vs. Brock Lesnar (23) 623
    5. C.M. Punk vs. Paul Heyman (82) 535
    6. Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz (38) 447
    7. The Shield vs. Kane & Daniel Bryan (44) 358
    8. Negro Casas vs. Rush (52) 334
    9. La Sombra vs. Volador Jr. (2) 171
    10. C.M. Punk vs. The Rock (6) 142

    TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
    1. SETH ROLLINS & ROMAN REIGNS (440) 2,723
    2. Goldust & Cody Rhodes (72) 1,152
    3. Young Bucks (94) 1,035
    4. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer (47) 705
    5. Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov (10) 312
    6. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian (7) 258
    7. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (26) 247
    8. Jack Evans & Angelico (12) 205
    9. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (11) 204
    10. Jimmy & Jey Uso (2) 196

    MOST IMPROVED
    1. ROMAN REIGNS (323) 2,013
    2. Tomohiro Ishii (51) 757
    3. Goldust (89) 577
    4. Lance Archer (19) 439
    5. Adam Cole (35) 425
    6. Davey Boy Smith Jr. (46) 285
    7. Magnus (29) 272
    8. Big E Langston (10) 213
    9. Cody Rhodes (9) 203
    10. Taryn Terrell (19) 199

    BEST ON INTERVIEWS
    1. PAUL HEYMAN (310) 2,150
    2. C.M. Punk (206) 2,054
    3. The Rock (55) 573
    4. Mark Henry (24) 472
    5. Chael Sonnen (39) 354
    6. John Cena (19) 311
    7. Bray Wyatt (23) 273
    8. Bully Ray (13) 254
    9. Daniel Bryan (31) 229
    10. Dean Ambrose (2) 207

    MOST CHARISMATIC
    1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (181) 1,425
    2. The Rock (236) 1,382
    3. John Cena (76) 1,078
    4. Daniel Bryan (134) 1,025
    5. Shinsuke Nakamura (82) 925
    6. C.M. Punk (13) 482
    7. Brock Lesnar (2) 129
    8. Minoru Suzuki (8) 122
    9. Negro Casas (16) 115
    10. Chael Sonnen (2) 98

    BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER
    1. DANIEL BRYAN (362) 2,269
    2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (157) 1,314
    3. Antonio Cesaro (34) 787
    4. Blue Panther (58) 517
    5. Zack Sabre Jr. (47) 443
    6. Kazuchika Okada (2) 425
    7. Shinsuke Nakamura (62) 363
    8. Prince Devitt (36) 352
    9. Davey Richards (4) 163
    10. KENTA (10) 135

    BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)
    1. KATSUYORI SHIBATA (306) 2,187
    2. Tomohiro Ishii (134) 1,330
    3. Kevin Steen (107) 1,099
    4. Togi Makabe (59) 767
    5. Brock Lesnar (85) 629
    6. Bully Ray (56) 575
    7. Minoru Suzuki (22) 210
    8. L.A. Park (19) 186
    9. Roman Reigns (16) 154
    10. Masato Tanaka (10) 145

    BEST FLYING WRESTLER
    1. KOTA IBUSHI (416) 2,777
    2. Ricochet (186) 1,788
    3. Adrian Neville (96) 1,224
    4. La Sombra (88) 890
    5. Sami Zayn (9) 404
    6. Mascara Dorada (42) 388
    7. A.R. Fox (25) 289
    8. ACH (22) 246
    9. Samuray del Sol (12) 228
    10. Rey Cometa (3) 192

    MOST OVERRATED
    1. RANDY ORTON (164) 1,145
    2. Ryback (104) 900
    3. HHH (102) 651
    4. The Miz (62) 564
    5. Big Show (19) 501
    6. Alberto Del Rio (28) 425
    7. Magnus (31) 304
    8. Curtis Axel (14) 177
    9. Eva Marie (10) 120
    10. Ken Anderson (8) 119

    MOST UNDERRATED
    1. ANTONIO CESARO (296) 2,027
    2. Dolph Ziggler (149) 1,427
    3. Tomohiro Ishii (49) 652
    4. Chris Hero (32) 521
    5. Daniel Bryan (52) 364
    6. Tyson Kidd (29) 308
    7. Sami Zayn (8) 224
    8. Tomoaki Honma (1) 194
    9. Yoshi Tatsu (26) 153
    10. Austin Aries (20) 128

    PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
    1. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (634) 4,520
    2. Ultimate Fighting Championship (110) 1,942
    3. World Wrestling Entertainment (14) 1,136
    4. Dragon Gate (2) 558
    5. PWG (3) 302
    6. Ring of Honor (5) 212
    7. CMLL (11) 209
    8. Glory (11) 60

    BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW
    1. WWE NXT (172) 1,837
    2. WWE Raw (113) 1,210
    3. Dragon Gate Infinity (83) 844
    4. Ring of Honor (81) 812
    5. The Ultimate Fighter (77) 660
    6. WWE Total Divas (38) 393
    7. WWE Smackdown (31) 372
    8. New Japan World Pro Wrestling (46) 297
    9. CMLL (15) 272
    10. TNA Impact (16) 263

    PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR
    1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA 4/7 TOKYO (305)2,002
    2. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii 8/4 Osaka (153) 1,497
    3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 10/14 Tokyo (142) 1,151
    4. Brock Lesnar vs. C.M. Punk 8/18 Los Angeles (76) 829
    5. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan 8/18 Los Angeles (34) 556
    6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii 8/2 Tokyo (14) 451
    7. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi 8/4 Osaka (33) 338
    8. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 1/4 Tokyo (39) 252
    9. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto 6/22 Osaka (11) 229
    10. Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk 4/7 East Rutherford (15) 212

    ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
    1. YOHEI KOMATSU (58) 906
    2. Konosuke Takeshyta (118) 902
    3. U-T (146) 879
    4. Sho Tanaka (86) 769
    5. Enzo Amore (47) 361
    6. Charlotte (17) 352
    7. Mojo Rawley (33) 306
    8. Ryotsu Shimizu (4) 301
    9. Hitoshi Kumano (22) 185
    10. Andrew Everett (11) 112

    BEST NON-WRESTLER
    1. PAUL HEYMAN (659) 2,730
    2. Zeb Colter (44) 1,187
    3. Gedo (2) 566
    4. Vickie Guerrero (1) 328
    5. Brad Maddox (10) 244
    6. Ricardo Rodriguez 195
    7. Maria Kanellis (9) 144
    8. Stephanie McMahon (1) 121
    9. Konnan (9) 113
    10. Truth Martini 105

    BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER
    1. WILLIAM REGAL (173) 1,460
    2. Joe Rogan (106) 1,160
    3. John Layfield (92) 817
    4. Shimpei Nogami (123) 686
    5. Kevin Kelly (59) 634
    5. Mike Goldberg (61) 428
    6. Nigel McGuinness (45) 393
    7. Michael Cole (10) 370
    8. Jose Manuel Guillen (43) 299
    9. Michael Schiavello (25) 274
    10. Mike Tenay (19) 198

    WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER
    1. TAZ (124) 1,334
    2. Jerry Lawler (137) 1,315
    3. Michael Cole (121) 992
    4. The Miz (98) 725
    5. John Layfield (93) 716
    6. Tony Dawson (29) 274
    7. Alex Riley (3) 118
    8. Mike Tenay (8) 117
    9. Michael Schiavello (6) 109
    10. Kevin Kelly (4) 80

    BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
    1. NEW JAPAN G-1 8/4 OSAKA (334) 2,517
    2. New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 1/4 Tokyo Dome (286) 2,251
    3. WWE SummerSlam 8/18 Los Angeles (88) 799
    4. New Japan Invasion Attack 4/7 Tokyo (36) 438
    5. UFC 166 10/19 Houston (37) 422
    6. New Japan Dominion 6/22 Osaka (27) 315
    7. WWE WrestleMania 4/7 East Rutherford (22) 186
    8. Dragon Gate Kobe Festival 7/21 Kobe (25) 178
    9. New Japan King of Pro Wrestling 10/14 Tokyo (2) 169
    10. New Japan G-1 Climax finals 8/11 Tokyo (1) 135

    WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW
    1. WWE BATTLEGROUND 10/6 BUFFALO 532
    2. WWE Survivor Series 11/24 Boston 134
    3. WWE Night of Champions 9/15 Detroit 31

    BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER
    1. KAZUCHIKA OKADA RAINMAKER 329
    2. Antonio Cesaro Giant Swing 273
    3. Daniel Bryan Busaiku Knee 64
    4. Adrian Neville Red Arrow (sky twister) 31
    5. Shinsuke Nakamura Bom a ye 25
    6. Katsuyori Shibata Corner Dropkick 22
    7. Daisuke Sekimoto Dead Lift German suplex 18
    8. Yujiro Takahashi Tokyo Pimps 17
    9. Hiroshi Tanahashi High Fly Flow 13
    10. Tommaso Ciampa Project Ciampa 12
    Roman Reigns Spear 12

    MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
    1. WWE EXPLOITING DEATH OF BILL MOODY (Paul Bearer) 183
    2. TNA treatment of Jesse Sorensen 180
    3. CMLL not delivering Atlantis vs. Guerrero mask match 35
    4. WWE false advertising talent 34
    5. HHH burying the roster in promos 28
    6. Daniel Bryan/HHH/Randy Orton storyline 27
    7. Dana White criticizing GSP after his fight 26
    8. El Hijo del Santo blaming hurricane for canceling the Wagner vs. Park vs. Santo mask match that was never going to happen 25
    9. WWE firing Jim Ross 22

    WORST TELEVISION SHOW
    1. TNA IMPACT 449
    2. WWE Raw 113
    3. WWE Smackdown 61
    4. WWE Total Divas 29
    5. WWE Main Event 18
    6. Bellator Rampage 4 Real 10

    WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR
    1. NATALYA & NAOMI & CAMERON & BELLA TWINS & JO JO & EVA MARIE VS. FOX & AKSANA & LEE & SNUKA & MENDES & KAITLYN & SUMMER RAE 11/24 BOSTON 142
    2. Randy Orton vs. Big Show 11/24 Boston 126
    3. Kane vs. Bray Wyatt 8/18 Los Angeles 118
    4. Eva Marie & Jo Jo & Natalya vs. Aksana & Mendes & Fox 10/7 Pittsburgh 19
    5. Mark Henry vs. Ryback 11/24 Boston 19
    6. Natalya & Naomi & Cameron & Bella Twins & Jo Jo & Eva Marie vs. Fox & Aksana & Lee & Snuka & Mendes & Kaitlyn & Summer Rae 11/25 Uniondale, NY 13
    7. Naoya Ogawa vs. Kazuyuki Fujita 12/31 Tokyo 12
    8. Tyron Woodley vs. Jake Shields 6/15 Winnipeg 9

    WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR
    1. BIG SHOW VS. AUTHORITY 145
    2. TNA vs. Aces and 8s 98
    3. Total Divas vs. WWE Divas 77
    4. A.J. Styles vs. Dixie Carter 74
    5. Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority 70
    6. Brock Lesnar vs. HHH 44
    7. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston 37
    8. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton 34
    9. Hulk Hogan vs. Bully Ray 23
    10. Kane vs. Bray Wyatt 18

    WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR
    1. TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION 485
    2. All Japan Pro Wrestling 158
    3. CHIKARA Pro 110
    4. Ring of Honor 30
    5. World Wrestling Entertainment 29
    6. Bellator MMA 11

    BEST BOOKER
    1. GEDO & JADO (NJPW) 643
    2. Joe Silva (UFC) 142
    3. Hunter Johnston (ROH) 43

    PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
    1. DANA WHITE 449
    2. Takaaki Kidani (NJPW) 315
    3. Vince McMahon 98

    BEST GIMMICK
    1. THE WYATT FAMILY 307
    2. The Bullet Club 141
    3. The Shield 139
    4. Daniel Bryan 62
    5. Shinsuke Nakamura 32
    6. Bad Influence 18
    7. Aiden English 12
    8. Fandango 10

    WORST GIMMICK
    1. ACES & 8S 129
    2. Heel owner Dixie Carter 99
    3. Los Matadores 69
    4. The Miz as babyface 64
    5. The Authority 46
    6. C.J. Parker 38
    7. Fandango 36
    8. Antonio Cesaro yodeling 34
    9. Joseph Park 22
    10. Bad News Barrett 20

    BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD
    1. JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS: THE GOOD OLD DAYS 227
    2. Legends of Mid South Wrestling 215
    3. Barbed Wire City 115
    4. For All Mankind 85
    5. War Games 38

    Lots of takeaways. Main ones New Japan obviously dominated after a killer year and TNA Impact falling from #1 last year to #10 this year for Best Show. Impact mainly one last year due to all of WWE's shows splitting votes so it isn't THAT dramatic but still.

    WWE "won" 5 negative awards and TNA "won" 4 negative awards. Displaying a range of familiar issues with both.


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    GTR63
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,469 ✭✭✭✭GTR63


    Anderson Silva fairly low on the Box Office draw list after the buyrate for the 168 card came in recently. The show was v.late in the year though.


  • Options
    #3
    Cianan2
    Registered Users Posts: 1,713 ✭✭✭Cianan2


    Are the brackets after the name where they came last year?


  • Options
    #4
    rovert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,089 ✭✭✭✭rovert


    Cianan2 wrote: »
    Are the brackets after the name where they came last year?

    Sorry I should have clarified that. The numbers in the brackets denote the number of people who gave it their #1 vote.


  • Options
    #5
    Machismo Fan
    Registered Users Posts: 6,943 ✭✭✭Machismo Fan


    rovert wrote: »
    Impact mainly one last year due to all of WWE's shows splitting votes so it isn't THAT dramatic but still.

    That's a little unfair on iMPACT! last year. It was the most consistently good show even with the likes of Aces and 8s. This year not so much (which is why it fell).

    No surprises in the awards really, pretty much all as expected (which isn't a bad thing because they're all much deserved).


  • Options
    #6
    Nody
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,270 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    Machismo Fan wrote: »
    No surprises in the awards really, pretty much all as expected (which isn't a bad thing because they're all much deserved).
    Inclined to agree; you can argue individual items on the list here and there but over all it's a fair representation I'd say; to bad WWE will ignore it :/


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    beakerjoe
    Registered Users Posts: 20,753 ✭✭✭✭beakerjoe


    Thanks Rovert. Great to see the list is more or less accurate.

    Fandango on both best gimmick and worst gimmick is interesting


  • Options
    #8
    GTR63
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,469 ✭✭✭✭GTR63


    Taz and Lawler was very tight for Worst Commentator. Shocked Big Show didn't win the most overrated, how he got a big program and push at the expense of Bryan just shows you how clueless WWE creative are.


  • Options
    #9
    Vision of Disorder
    Registered Users Posts: 645 ✭✭✭Vision of Disorder


    Mark Henry 4th on promos?!?! Wow... I'm staggered (and I actually quite like his heel promos).


  • Options
    #10
    rovert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,089 ✭✭✭✭rovert


    Vision of Disorder wrote: »
    Mark Henry 4th on promos?!?! Wow... I'm staggered (and I actually quite like his heel promos).

    A lot of people rate his fake retirement promo as the single best promo of 2013 in fairness. I'd probably agree.


  • Options
    #11
    GTR63
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10,469 ✭✭✭✭GTR63


    Does he do a MMA Fights/Cards/Fighters of the Year categories?


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    takamichinoku
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,110 ✭✭✭takamichinoku


    Shame Taz won there, Lawler doesn't get as much criticism as he deserves imo. Can only assume the Miz and Alex Riley are worse though.


  • Options
    #13
    rovert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,089 ✭✭✭✭rovert


    Raging Summer Rae didn't even place in the Best Rookie and/or Most Improved. That is genuinely the biggest omission for me.


  • Options
    #14
    Machismo Fan
    Registered Users Posts: 6,943 ✭✭✭Machismo Fan


    takamichinoku wrote: »
    Shame Taz won there, Lawler doesn't get as much criticism as he deserves imo. Can only assume the Miz and Alex Riley are worse though.

    I think there's a difference between say Alex Riley, who is just a really bad announcer, and Taz, who's not just bad but often destructive and undermining as an announcer.


  • Options
    #15
    beakerjoe
    Registered Users Posts: 20,753 ✭✭✭✭beakerjoe


    Machismo Fan wrote: »
    I think there's a difference between say Alex Riley, who is just a really bad announcer, and Taz, who's not just bad but often destructive and undermining as an announcer.

    In Alex Rileys defense, hes very green in terms of annoucing and has alot to learn. Tazz on the other hand was a natural to announcing when he first started on Smackdown and Heat. He has in recent years gone down hill and grown stale.

    Give Alex Riley a year and then judge him.

    If I was in charge of TNA, Id get rid of Tazz now and give a new guy a shot. Tazz is painful these days and a new annoucer would be a welcome change. Tazz would be on a decent contract id imagine and it could save money too.


  • Options
    #16
    gnfnrhead
    Registered Users Posts: 12,478 ✭✭✭✭gnfnrhead


    The main awards are all more or less right in my eyes. But further down the list I think the "loltna" mentality took over. WWE took most of the spots in worst matches, worst feuds and all the spots on worst PPV's, but TNA runs away with worst promotion? That doesnt add up. I'm guessing most who voted for TNA as the worst dont actually watch since they got so few votes in other catagories.
    MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
    2. TNA treatment of Jesse Sorensen 180
    9. WWE firing Jim Ross 22

    How exactly were they promotional tactic's?
    beakerjoe wrote: »
    In Alex Rileys defense, hes very green in terms of annoucing and has alot to learn. Tazz on the other hand was a natural to announcing when he first started on Smackdown and Heat. He has in recent years gone down hill and grown stale.

    Give Alex Riley a year and then judge him.

    If I was in charge of TNA, Id get rid of Tazz now and give a new guy a shot. Tazz is painful these days and a new annoucer would be a welcome change. Tazz would be on a decent contract id imagine and it could save money too.

    Taz only signed a new contract a few months ago so he is sticking around for another while. Unfortunately.


  • Options
    #17
    rovert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,089 ✭✭✭✭rovert


    If anyone is extremely interested one of my absolute favourite podcasts did a 3 hour! special on the awards. I will warn I wouldn't really recommend listening if you aren't the New Japan bus or simply just watch WWE.
    It was the subject of our first ever podcast and it’s the subject of today’s podcast — the Wrestling Observer Awards! We give our picks, who we voted for and why, discuss who the Wrestling Observer readers voted for, answer a few listener questions. Discussions include Okada’s improvement in the ring, whether Goldust deserves as much praise as he gets, why lucha is unrepresented in these awards and why CHIKARA was our Worst Promotion of the Year.

    http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2014/01/24/2014-wrestling-observer-awards-special/

    gnfnrhead wrote: »
    The main awards are all more or less right in my eyes. But further down the list I think the "loltna" mentality took over. WWE took most of the spots in worst matches, worst feuds and all the spots on worst PPV's, but TNA runs away with worst promotion? That doesnt add up. I'm guessing most who voted for TNA as the worst dont actually watch since they got so few votes in other catagories.

    Not saying the loltna mentality doesn't exist but business wise TNA slid considerably through the year in fairness. The national tour of IMPACT was a a massive flop. You had a lot of failed characters and pushes. The TV build around Hogan instead of creating new stars.

    Re: Most Disgusting
    I am not going to defend some of the Categories and how they are named.

    Lots people always ask about renaming Most Overrated/Underrated and scrapping the Best Office Draw award out right for example. MMA and Wrestling mixed together does my nut in too.


  • Options
    #18
    rovert
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,089 ✭✭✭✭rovert


    The winner of Match of the Year for those interested:



Advertisement