2007 Observer Awards.

gimmick

Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year):

1. John Cena (437 #1 votes) - 2,459 pts
2. Bryan Danielson (77) - 928
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (42) - 728
4. Shawn Michaels (32) - 579
5. Takeshi Morishima (41) - 565
6. Mistico (6) - 510
7. Mitsuharu Misawa (33)
8. Cibernetico (28) - 290
9. Kurt Angle (7) - 202
10.Edge (16) - 196


MMA MVP

1. Randy Couture (334) - 2,254
2. Quinton Jackson (105) - 1,446
3. Chuck Lidell (116) - 1,209
4. Frank Shamrock (3) - 353
5. Anderson Silva
6. Geirge St. Pierre
7. Kid Yamamoto
8. Forrest Griffin
9. Yoshihiro Akiyama
10. Masato

Most Outstanding Wrestler

1. Bryan Danielson (434) - 2,646
2. Shawn Michaels (46) - 468
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (62) - 642
4. Naomichi Marufuji
5. Nigel McGuiness
6. Samoa Joe
7. KENTA
8. Takeshi Morishima
9. Edge
10. John Cena

Most Oustanding MMA Fighter

1. Quinton Jackson (157) - 1,554
2. Anderson Silva (151) - 1,508
3. Randy Couture (131) - 1,235
4. Urijah Faber
5. Tyson Griffin
6. Clay Guida
7. George St. Pierre
8. Fedor Emelianenko
9. Matt Serra
10. Kid Yamamote



Best Box office Draw

1. John Cena (331) - 2,299
2. Chuck Lidell (267) - 2,192
3. Mistico (133) - 1,603
4. Randy Couture
5. Quinton Jackson
6. Tito Ortiz
7. Cibernetico
8. Kid Yamanoto
9. Perro Aguayo jr.
10. HHH


Feud of the Year

1. Undertaker Vs. Batista (148) -1,160
2. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (89) - 1,119
3. Briscoes Vs. Steen & El Generico (121) - 1,045
4. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels
5. Matt Hardy Vs. MVP
6. Frank Shamrock Vs. Phil Baroni
7. Matt Hughes Vs. Matt Serra
8. Tito rotiz Vs. Chuck Lidell
9. Gran Apache Vs. Billy Boy
10. Vince McMahon Vs. Donald Trump


Tag Team of the year

1. Mark & Jay briscoe (474) - 2,641
2. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelly (58) - 1,132
3. Kevin Steen & El Generico (0) - 690
4. Giant bernard & Travis Tomko
5. Matt & Jeff Hardy
6. Paul London & Brian Kendrick
7. Lance Cade & trevor Murdoch
8. Masato Yoshino & Naruki Dio
9. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori
10. Ricky Marvin & Kotaro Suzaki


Most Improved

1. MVP (305) - 1,966
2. Claudio Castagnoli (34) - 564
3. Tomko
4. Takeshi Morishiam
5. Candice Michelle
6. Jeff Hardy
7. Umaga
8. John Cena
9. Hirooki Goto
10. Batista


Best on Interviews

1. John Cena (151) - 1,243
2. Santino Marella (133) - 1,208
3. Edge
4. Quinton jackson
5. Larry Sweeny
6. Christian Cage
7. Frank Shamrock
8. Tito Ortiz
9. Mr. kennedy
10. Ric Flair


Most Charismatic

1. John Cena (358) - 2,447
2. Quinton Jacklson (158) - 1,491
3. Ciberetico
4. Randy Couture
5. Shawn Michaels
6. Tito Ortiz
7. Mistico
8. Edge
9. Jeff hardy
10. Forrest Griffin


best Technical Wrestler

1. Bryan Danielson (529) - 2,928
2. Nigel McGuiness (15) - 784
3. Yuji Nagata
4. Fit Finlay
5. KENTA
6. Kurt Angle
7. Naomichi Marufuji
8. Mike Quackenbush
9. Shawn Michaels
10. Samoa Joe


Brusier Brody Best Brawler Award

1. Takeshi Morishima (157) - 1,464
2. Umaga (101) - 1,199
3. Samoa Joe (115) - 1,129
4. Fit Finlay
5. Necro Butcher
6. Togi Makabe
7. John Cena
8. Abyss
9. Undertaker
10. Rhyno


Best Flying Wrestler

1. Mistico (162) - 1,394
2. Ricky Marvin
3. jack Evans
4. AJ Styles
5. Pac
6. Matt Sydal
7. Jeff Hardy
8. Matt Cross
9. Dragon Kid
10. Rey Mysterio jr.


Most Overrated

1. Giant Khali (187) - 1,210
2. Mr. Kennedy (80) - 586
3. HHH
4. Bobby Lashley
5. Batista
6. Big Daddy V
7. Randy Orton
8. Kurt Angle
9. Kevin Nash
10. Mistuharu Misawa


Most Underrated

1. Shelton Benjamin (98) - 735
2. Jamie Noble
3. Paul London
4. Alex Shelly
5. William Regal
6. Brian Kendrick
7. Matt Hardy
8. Go Shiozaki
9. AJ Styles
10. Christopher Daniels


Promotion of the Year

1. UFC (280) - 2,479
2. ROH
3. WWE
4. NOAH
5. AAA
6. CMLL
7. New Japan
8. Dragon Gate
9. Strikeforce
10. TNA


Best Weekly TV Show

1. The Ultimate Fighter (390) - 2,463
2. WWE RAW
3. WWE Smackdown
4. AAA
5. CMLL
6. Wrestling Society X
7. NOAH
8. Inside MMA
9 & 10. Bodog Fight Costa Rica & TNA Impact (tie)


Worked Match of the year

1. Bryan Danielson Vs. Takeshi Morishima (8/25) (118) - 1,199
2. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori Vs. Kota Ibushi & Naomichi marufuji (7/15) (131) - 1,108
3. Bryan Danielson Vs. Nigel McGuiness (6/9) - (146) - 1,061
4. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels (4/23)
5. John Cena Vs. Umaga (1/28)
6. Briscoes Vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico (9/15)
7. John Cena Vs. Shawn Michaels Vs. Edge Vs. Randy Orton (4/29)
8. Cima, Shingo Takagi & Susuma Mochizuki Vs. Dragon Kid, Ryo Saito & Masaaki Mochizuki (No Date given, ROH match?)
9. Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Hirooki Goto (11/11)
10. Hiroshi Tanahasi Vs. Yuji Nagata (4/13)


Shoot Match of the year

1. Randy Couture Vs. Tim Silvia (3/3) (202) - 1,453
2. Nick Diaz Vs. Takanori Gomi (2/24)
3. Tyson Griffin Vs. Clay Guida (6/16)
4. Frank Shamrock Vs. Phil Baroni (6/22)
5. Frank Edgar Vs. Tyson Griffin (2/3)
6. Chris Horodecki Vs. Shad Lierley (6/1)
7. Forrest Griffin Vs. Maruricio Rua (9/22)
8. Quinton Jackson Vs. Chuck Lidell (5/26)
9. Quinton Jackson Vs. Dan Henderson (9/8)
10. Steve berger Vs. Piotr Jackacynski (No date Given, Costa Rica)


Rookie of the year

1. Eric Stevens (106) - 756
2. Joe Doering (88) - 752
3. Tim Donst
4. La Sombra
5. Cyber Kong
6. Ted DiBiase Jr.
7. Ted McNailer
8. Lince Dorado
9. Seiya Sanada
10. Bobby Dempsey

Worst Promotion:
1. TNA

Best Non-Wrestler

1. Larry Sweeney (382) - 2,269
2. Vince mcMahon (97) - 847
3. Jim Cornette
4. Jim Mitchell
5. William Regal
6. Sharmell
7. Karen Angle
8. Lacey
9. Armando Estrada
10. Generalissimo Takada


Best Television Announcer

1. Jim Ross (325) - 2,257
2. JBL (184) - 1,609
3. Joe Rogan
4. Mauro Ranallo
5. Mike Goldberg
6. Dave Prazak
7. Frank Mir
8. Mike Teney
9. Joey Styles
10. Kenny Bolin


Worst Television Announcer

1. Don West (269) - 2,204
2. Micheal Cole (116) - 1,130
3. Johnathan Coachman
4. Todd Grisham
5. Mike Teney
6. Jerry Lawler
7. Col. Bob Sheridan
8. Joey Styles
9. Taz
10. Leticia Cline


Best Major Wrestling Show

1. ROH Man Up (188) - 1,296
2. WWE Wrestlemania (133) - 1,138
3. Pride 2nd Coming
4. ROH Driven
5. Pride Otoko Matsuri
6. Strikeforce/EXC Judgement Day
7. WWE Backlash
8. UFC 68
9. UFC 66
10. UFC 76

Worst Major Wrestling Show

1. WWE/ECW December to Disremember (12/3/06) - 298 pts.
2. TNA Lockdown
3. WWE Unforgiven
4. TNA Hard Justice
5. UFC 78
6. TNA Victory Road
7. TNA Final Resolution
8. WWE Jugement Day


Best Wrestling Maneuver

1. KENTA's Go To Sleep - 98 pts.
2. Randy Orton's running soccer kick
3. Petey Williams Canadian Destroyer
4. Bryan Danielson's Cattle Mutilation
5. Matt Sydal's shooting Star press
6. Bryan Danielson's elbows
7. Samoa Joe's muscle buster
8. Takeshi Morishima's backdrop driver
9. CM Punks Go To Sleep
10. Shawn Michaels' superkick


Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic

1. TNA Signing Pacman Jones/Making it Rain - 317 pts.
2. Vince mcMahon's death
3. WWE's entire handling of post-benoit re: Steriods
4. Hornswoggle as Vince's illegitament son
5. Giant Khali as World Champion
6. WWE doing Benoit tribute show


Worst Television Show

1. TNA Impact - 476 pts
2. WWE/ECW - 122
3. WWE RAW
4. Wrestling Society X
5. WWE Heat
6. IFL Battleground


Worst Feud of the Year

1. Kane Vs. Big Daddy V - 204 pts
2. VKM Vs. Christy Hemme - 121
3. Eric Young Vs. Robert Roode
4. Batista Vs. Giant Khali
5. Vince McMahon Vs. Bobby Lashley
6. Layla Vs. Kelly kelly
7. Kane Vs. Giant Khali
8. Cody Rhodes Vs. Bob Holly
9. Abyss Vs. Black Reign
10. WWE Vs. Honesty & John Cena Vs. Giant Khali (TIE)


Worst Match of the Year

1. Chris Harris Vs. James Storm (Blindfold match - 4/15) - 149 pts
2. Fake Donald Trump Vs. Fake Rosie O'Donell (1/8) - 119
3. Giant Khali Vs. Kane (4/1)
4. Giant Khali Vs. Horsnwoggle (11/17)
5. Layla Vs. Kelly Kelly (11/27)
6. Monsters Battle Royal Kane Vs. Giant Khali Vs. Mark henry (10/30)
7. Big Daddy V. Vs. Boogyman (9/18)
8. Kane Vs. Mark henry (6/3)
9. Chrsity Hemme Vs. Fat Oily Guy (2/11)
10. Giant Khali Vs. Batista (10/7)


Worst Promotion of the year

1. TNA - 520 pts
2. WWE - 42 pts
3. IFL
4. All-Japan
5. AAA
6. IWA Puerto Rico


Best Booker

1. Gabe Sapolsky - 495 pts.
2. Joe Silva - 128
3. Riki Choshu
4. Michael Hayes
5. Dorian Roidan
6. Vince McMahon


Promoter of the year

1. Dana White - 412 pts
2. Vince mcMahon - 113
3. Cary Siikin
4. Joachim Roldan
5. Paco Alonso


Best Gimmick

1. Santino Marella - 344 pts.
2. Black Machismo Jay Lethal - 52
3. MVP
4. Fetus
5. Takeshi Morishima
6. Matt Classic
7. Delirious
8. King Booker
9. Chris Hero
10. Awesome Kong


Worst Gimmick

1. Black Reign - 203 pts
2. Horswoggle McMahon - 88
3. Pacman Jones
4. Big Daddy V
5. Jillian Hall singing
6. VKM
7. Abyss
8. Fat Oiley Guy
9. Boogyman
10. HG & Giant Khali (TIE)


Best Pro Wrestling Book

1. Hitman by Bret Hart - 266 pts
2. A Lion's Tale by Chris Jericho - 237
3. Brody Vs. Larry Matysik
4. Hardcore Diaries by Mick Foley
5. NWA by Tim Hornbacker
6. Lucha Loco by Malcom Venville
7. Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels by Oliver/Johnson


Best Pro Wrestling DVD

1. Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen - 332 pts
2. History of the AWA - 73
3. The Ladder matches
4. Shawn Michaels: heartbreak & Triumph
5. The New and Improved DX

---

Agree with most or all there. The only one I have a problem with is Cena as best interview. I find his promos too childish. I also have a problem with "The New And Improved DX" dvd. Its rubbish

Dean820

John Cena as wrestler of the year? Poor decision. Plus the man was injured for months as well.

Vince135792003

Dean820 wrote: »

John Cena as wrestler of the year? Poor decision. Plus the man was injured for months as well.

You know the criteria for that award?

Dean820

Enlighten me.

Bounty Hunter

lot of contradictions here IMO like Cena is No1 for Wrestler of the year but No10 for most outstanding wrestler or Raw as the 3rd worst television show but 2nd best weekly tv show

Vince135792003

Dean820 wrote: »

Enlighten me.

It's basically MVP for the year.

Bubs101

gimmick wrote: »

2. Randy Orton's running soccer kick

That caught my eye

Incredibly harsh on TNA, Lethal Lockdown as worst PPV of the year is ridiculous. Had 2 terrible matches but some great ones. Also, there is no way that Roode vs. Young was as bad as some of the feuds listed, at least we saw a return of JJ and not in the title picture for once and the Storm vs. Harris was a great feud and is nowhere to be seen in the best feuds. Very harsh.

Having said that good read

Minto

I don't think the MMA and wrestling awards should be mixed. To me, they are apples and oranges.

Fozzy

Minto wrote: »

I don't think the MMA and wrestling awards should be mixed. To me, they are apples and oranges.

I don't think so. MMA is pro-wrestling, apart from the matches being real. And none of these awards mix together the matches. The Wrestling Observer has been an MMA publication too for almost 15 years now anyway. I mean, to me it wouldn't make sense to split up "Most Charismatic" or "Best Feud" into wrestling and MMA sections. Charisma is charisma, no matter if you're fighting for real or not. The highest placed MMA feud was Shamrock vs Baroni, which featured both guys insulting each other for months before the fight. Shamrock even made a video where he had a girl dress up as Baroni and she went to train at Shamrock's gym, making fun of Baroni. My point is that MMA feuds aren't really distinguishable from wrestling feuds. They both have the same aim (to build interest in a fight) and they both go about it in similar ways. So there's no need to separate them

I wouldn't have any major arguments about the results, but a good few things caught my eye. Glad to see Tanahashi got a good showing, but I'm surprised Nagata didn't get much of a look in, considering that they were pretty close in their performances in 2007

Samoa Joe getting so high in Outstanding Wrestler surprises me. The only good stuff he did last year were a few great matches in ROH, some good matches in TNA, and that was about it. I don't doubt that Joe has the ability to get ranked that high, but in 2007 I don't think he did enough to warrant placing higher than Edge or Cena. Cena's very low there too!

Cena and Santino being at the top in Best on Interviews is a little strange. Santino's a funny guy and speaks well, but I wouldn't say that he's great at interviews... Cena's got charisma, but too often his interviews just sucked. That would count against him for me

I'm not sure what Angle and KENTA are doing on the Best Technical Wrestler list! Who overrates Khali? And who underrates Shelton? I've never been a huge fan of his, I just don't think that he's anything special. When was the last time he had a really good performance? Noble's much more underrated than Shelton

The Nagata vs Tanahashi match is a lot higher on my list, but no complaints with the top pick. I only saw that match last week and it was just wonderful. There were definitely better MMA matches than Couture vs Sylvia, but I can understand it getting top spot based on the emotion and the meaning of the match

I'd have put Choshu ahead of Sapolsky in 2007, but there's plenty of arguments either way

Nothing else sticks out majorly, good to see New Japan and Larry Sweeney get a good showing. And for Makabe to get a mention, I love that guy!

Tricity Bendix

I tend to not like giving negative awards. Some of those above are very harsh.

fatal

Minto wrote: »

I don't think the MMA and wrestling awards should be mixed. To me, they are apples and oranges.

Generally if two programmes have virtually the same audience and people from one appearing on the other(Ken shamrock,dan severn,tito ortiz,brock lesnar,sean o haire etc),I think that they should be in the same boat as far as ratings are concerned

Mr.Nice Guy

Joke awards really. The WWE's kayfabe awards had more credibility. They should have named it the ROH fanboy festivities.

Unbelievable bias shown towards ROH as usual.

I'd have more time for Alvarez and Verhei at Figure 4 as I find their views far more sensible and unbiased.

Vince135792003

I don't see any surprises out of the winners in the top 10 categories. These awards could have been alot more interesting had TNA produced consistent tv throughout the year.

Fozzy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Joke awards really. The WWE's kayfabe awards had more credibility. They should have named it the ROH fanboy festivities.

I don't really understand. Have you ever read the Observer? There's tons more coverage of WWE than ROH. Meltzer only watches the big matches from ROH anyway, I don't think he covered a full ROH show in 2007 at all, apart from their PPVs. And why would ROH fans be voting Cena as the Wrestler of the Year ahead of Danielson?!

Double C

If MNG doesn't agree with someones opinion, that opinion doesn't count, remember?

How are these awards judged anyway? Does Meltzer pick them or do the subscribers vote? I would have thought more WWE fans that don't watch ROH would subscribe to the Observer. Still, its hard to disagree with any of the main ones, apart from Randy Orton being in the most overrated section. And I stand by Driven being better than Man Up.

Vince135792003

Double C wrote: »

Does Meltzer pick them or do the subscribers vote?

Subscribers vote. Dave counts them up.

oneofakind32

Bubs101 wrote: »

That caught my eye

Incredibly harsh on TNA, Lethal Lockdown as worst PPV of the year is ridiculous. Had 2 terrible matches but some great ones. Also, there is no way that Roode vs. Young was as bad as some of the feuds listed, at least we saw a return of JJ and not in the title picture for once and the Storm vs. Harris was a great feud and is nowhere to be seen in the best feuds. Very harsh.

Having said that good read

agreed! Lockdown was decent IMO. I remember the match between gail kim and Jackie More, still the best woman's match Iv ever seen and the main event was decent

Fozzy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'd have more time for Alvarez and Verhei at Figure 4 as I find their views far more sensible and unbiased.

I was just checking, Bryan didn't do any sort of year in review show or newsletter, but he did call ROH Man Up the best PPV of the year, giving the Danielson vs Morishima match on that show 4 and a half stars. The Danielson vs Morishima match that won Match of the Year was better than that one. On average, he gave ROH PPVs a higher rating than WWE and TNA PPVs. He's a big fan of Larry Sweeney as well, and he's wrestled him a couple of times. I know you didn't like ROH Driven, Alvarez said that "There was nothing even approaching a bad match on this show". I'm just saying that I don't think that Bryan would disagree a whole lot with the results

I'm sure I heard him say that Michaels should win Wrestler of the Year though

Vince135792003

Fozzy wrote: »

I was just checking, Bryan didn't do any sort of year in review show or newsletter, but he did call ROH Man Up the best PPV of the year, giving the Danielson vs Morishima match on that show 4 and a half stars. The Danielson vs Morishima match that won Match of the Year was better than that one. On average, he gave ROH PPVs a higher rating than WWE and TNA PPVs. He's a big fan of Larry Sweeney as well, and he's wrestled him a couple of times. I know you didn't like ROH Driven, Alvarez said that "There was nothing even approaching a bad match on this show". I'm just saying that I don't think that Bryan would disagree a whole lot with the results

I'm sure I heard him say that Michaels should win Wrestler of the Year though

Yeah I've subscribed to www.f4wonline.com since the beginning and ROH has by far gotten better reviews than TNA and WWE over that time. He criticises certain things but on the whole generally always recommends it.

Machismo Fan

They are very quick to criticize but not to complement, Harris and Storms match at Lockdown was dreadful but their Sacrifice match should have been somewhere in the Worked Match of the Year section.

Lockdown was not that bad.Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Rhino, Sting and Jeff Jarrett) defeated Team Cage (Christian Cage, A.J. Styles, Scott Steiner, Abyss, and Tomko) (w/James Mitchell) in a Lethal Lockdown match was awesome and Chris Sabin defeated Jay Lethal (w/Kevin Nash), Sonjay Dutt, Alex Shelley and Shark Boy in an Xscape match to retain the TNA X Division Championship was superb and was the birth of the Motor City Machine Guns in TNA. The womens match was brilliant aswell.

Any awards that put WSX before iMPACT! is a disgrace. iMPACT! is a good WRESTLING show, maybe not a good entertainment show and it is certainly better than WSX which I have watched all of their TV shows and they were very poor.

Where us Sonjay Dutt in the Best Flying Wrestler section. He has been really good this year.

Where is Styles and Tomko in the Tag Team section. Their defences were unbelievable this year.

Right now it is time to address Mike Tenay. The man is without a doubt the best play-by-play announcer in America today. I just finished watching the Global iMPACT! version of Angle/Nagata, which by the way was an absolutely brilliant match, the exchanges between the Angle Lock and Crossface were superb, Tenay gave a brief history of Angles and Nagatas amateur backgrounds, a history of the Tokyo Dome and called the match to perfection. The man is a commentating genius.

callaway92

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Right now it is time to address Mike Tenay. The man is without a doubt the best play-by-play announcer in America today. I just finished watching the Global iMPACT! version of Angle/Nagata, which by the way was an absolutely brilliant match, the exchanges between the Angle Lock and Crossface were superb, Tenay gave a brief history of Angles and Nagatas amateur backgrounds, a history of the Tokyo Dome and called the match to perfection. The man is a commentating genius.

My god i never thought he was good, He is constantly going off topic. Id rather J.R than him anyday,,dare i say id rather Joey Styles than him !!??:eek:

Machismo Fan

callaway92 wrote: »

My god i never thought he was good, He is constantly going off topic. Id rather J.R than him anyday,,dare i say id rather Joey Styles than him !!??:eek:

Joey Styles in his old ECW days, yes, Joey Styles now that he has been converted to a WWE announcer, no.

Vince135792003

Machismo Fan wrote: »

The man is a commentating genius.

And Tenay has been voted best commentator on the Observer awards nearly as many times as Jim Ross has (I think he's won 5 times). But in TNA, they presumably make him commentate in a very overbearing stlye that does him no favors at all.