2018 Year End Awards

This has been one interesting year in professional wrestling. Some of those interesting things were very good others were in very bad ways. WWE had a very mixed year. They bet big on Ronda Rousey move to wrestling and for the most part it worked out. Daniel Bryan returned giving the company a much needed talent that can do it all. Tomaso Ciampa reminded us all why he’s one of the best heel in wrestling. They also kept the god damn Universal Title on Lesnar most of the year, treated the WWE title like the old European Championship and keep pushing Nia Jax. Impact Wrestling go some much needed stability in management and put on two of there best PPV’s ever. Sami Callahan turned everything he touched to pure heel heat, long time performers like Eddie Edwards, Moose, and Allie got new life with new gimmicks. There was also sadly more problem with finding a strong TV home, some good talent did depart and the whole Aries thing.

Cody and The Young Bucks held the largest indy event ever in September and the Elite’s on going web series shows you may not need the “machine” behind you anymore in modern wrestling. Lucha Underground returned and well killed everyone. ROH was kind of there most year. New Japan crowned a new IWGP champion it also keeps pushing The Bullet club OG’s for some reason. So let’s look at all. The good the bad the ugly. With 2018 year end awards. So some things to keep in mind. If you are new reader this are my awards I don’t hold a vote and I follow the status quo of other sites. A number of awards are done year and some are created or brought back from time to time.

Wrestler of the Year Sami Callahan- So this award is not solely about in ring work. Its about mixing all the elements that make a great pro wrestler. Now Sami is actually a very good wrestler but when mix in all the elements his selling, his ability to connect with fans during a match, his promo ability, his working of a gimmick that really puts him far over the top. Now I am sure critics will bash Sami for the bat spot that injured Eddie Edwards. But in wrestling especially modern hardcore wrestling stuff like that is bound to happen. Along with that Sami took this awful moment and used it to get over. Instead of coming out and apologizing or expressing regret Sami kayfabed it and went heel hard. By showing no remorse he drew tons of heat and interest into the feud with Edwards. Working with Callahan breathed some new life back into Eddie Edwards whose crazy man gimmick could come in repose to working with someone like Sami.

But the Draw’s best work this year came with Pentagon. The two engaged in a bloody violent feud that started in the spring and stretchered into the fall. There match at Slammiversy was easily the best hardcore/death match I have seen in year. Finally he ended they year with some good work vs. Brian Cage. It wasn’t just his work with Impact that won him this award. He work in Lucha Underground was a highlight and he was a big part of various independent companies as well.

Also in the running

Kenny Omega- A strong year winning the IWGP title putting on great matches as usual. Good stories with his reunion with Ibushi and feud with Cody.

Pentagon- The best part of Lucha Underground also became a key part of Impact while being a big draw for just about every other company out there.

Fenix- The other Lucha Bro pushed the limits of gravity itself why keeping the logic and work rate to be more than just a “spot monkey”

Jay White- It was clear New Japan saw great potential in this young man putting in featured matches and feuds all year. He kept rising to challenge and has already become one of top names for NJPW.

Austin Aries- The belt collector was a great idea and a fun way to get Aries’ career going again. Having great matches in Impact Aries reminded us all why he the A Double Level.

Tag Team of the Year The Young Bucks Matt and Nick Jackson- Much like wrestler of the year it’s not just about having the best match. But also about impact over all in the business, promo skill etc. Opening the year winning there seventh IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship they later moved up to heavyweight and by beating EVIL and Sanada joined No Limit as the only teams to win both the Heavyweight and Junior versions of the belts. And why they didn’t hold the ROH tag belts at all this year they easily remained the top team for that company. Regularly main eventing show for the company and taking mid level shows to a higher level and often being the best match on cards. For many years a knock on the Bucks has been “They are just spot monkeys they don’t use physiology.”

This year the Bucks addressed that using a “back injury” to Matt as recurring theme in there matches often building to a hot tag to Nick. Another big reason behind the win of this award is all the work the Young Bucks have done outside of the ring. For years the facts were to be a mega star you had to work for the WWE. If you wanted to t-shirts sold nationally work for Vince, want a toy deal work for Vince. The Bucks have shown that is no longer the case. And of course All In the biggest show of the year was there (and Cody’s) creation.

Also in the Running

The Latin American Xchange Santana and Ortiz- The top team in Impact Wrestling for the last two years plus. They started the year with a fantastic Barbwire Massacre with OVE, than moving into feuds with teams like Z and E and OG’s.

The Lucha Bros Pentagon and Fenix- Used mostly to fill and build to singles matches in Impact they still had many great matches, There real best came in AAA, CMLL, and various Indies such as MLW. A perfect contrast. Pentagon the brawler and power why Fenix is the flyer.

The Golden Lovers Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi- Reuniting earlier in the year the former DDT standouts showed the old magic was still there. Having changed there styles since there last time it still offended appeared like they hadn’t missed any time together.

Match Of the Year Pentagon vs. Sami Callahan Mask vs. Hair Impact Wrestling- Now to win this award the match must be good, it must feel special. Often having a story line and feud will help to push it over the top. Some matches are just special. Now these two guys could have a great match on any night but on this night in July they were beyond there very best. This was brutality in a beautiful way. Far to often in big grudge matches there is no real sense of hate. This match made you think these men wanted to kill each other. The angle built strongly from Sami going after Fenix this causing big brother Pentagon to come to the rescue. Sami stealing one of Pentagon’s masks. And there very idea both men were fighting to preserve there identity. For Pentagon the loss of his mask would mean the loss of his aura. And fans were desperate to finally see Sami Callahan humbled. It all helped to set the perfect stage before the bell rang.

Many times a death or hardcore match is to much about getting to the next weapon shot or the next crazy bump someone is going to take. These two instead built to it. You got fantastic stuff like the chop exchange and Sami removing his vest daring Pentagon to hit him harder. Each man grabbing a spike and stabbing the other in the head. Yet refusing to back up at all. Both mean missing chops and hitting the steel because they were blinded by hate. A duel with steel chair. Yet through all this crazy stuff they still went back to wrestling moves. Giving the fans a chance to absorb truly what they were seeing. By the time Pentagon hit one final fear factor the best of the year had bee locked up.

Also in the running

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi G1 Climax A dramatic affair to crown the G1 climax tournament champion. Could the Ace return to the top or would the Golden Star Raise?

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega IWGP Championship NJPW Dominion 6.9 To end of Okada’s title record setting title reign something was required. Having to go over an hour they called on there past matches and own histories.

Nick Aldis vs. Cody NWA World Heavyweight Championship ALL IN- A flashback to the glory days of the ten pounds of gold. Cody paid tribute to his father in the best way having a great wrestling match

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa NXT TakeOver New Orleans- This match was a brilliant battle of two former partners turned rivals. With the story being Gargano needed to win be return to NXT. Sadly WWE got lazy and instead of leaving this a classic feud ended they kept doing rematch after rematch

The Golden Loves Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Osprey NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome- This might be a victim of the moment situation as this match just happened. Meant to hype the opening match and main event of Wrestle Kingdom instead we closed the year with a instant classic.

Event of The Year ALL IN- To win this award the event needs to be fantastic the type of event where every match feels like it should be in the match of the year debate at the very least have main evented a lesser show. ALL IN had all that and more. It also had something for everyone. You wanted a hard core match you had Hangman Page vs. Joey Janela. You wanted a workrate match you got Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon. You wanted crazy high flying the six man tag main event. You wanted a classic old school match Aldis vs. Cody. There laughs with Joey Ryan and his Dick Droids along with Jay Lethal bringing back the Black Machismo gimmick. Even what most view as the “worst” match on the show wasn’t that bad. It was a night where everyone brought there A game.

But there was so much more. Not just work rate or in ring action. There was so many high emotion moments. The pay off of Flip Gordon finally getting booked after months of being told no by Cody. The arrival of Lanny Poffo giving him approval to Lethal’s tribute to his brother. Joey Ryan’s return from the dead. The story of Marty Scrull trying to prove himself vs. Okada. Than finally you had the things that really locked up the award for ALL IN. Cody and The Young Bucks bet on themselves what started as “Can ROH fill 10,000 seats?” Turned into a sold out self financed, self booked, self promoted event for the three. They not only got on PPV even got on cable TV. This became the event everyone wanted to be a part of.

The trio might very well have rewriting the very rules of wrestling in doing this event. It showed that you don’t need the WWE or Impact, or ROH or New Japan. It showed fans are ready for something different. It might very well been the start of All Elite Wrestling.

Also in the running

Impact Wrestling Redemption- It had been rough few years for Impact Wrestling. This the first PPV under the new D’Amore and Callis regime. It was a great return to form and showed change was in the air.

Impact Wrestling Slammiversy XVI- Picking up where Redemption left and going further. The Best PPV Impact has done in many years and maybe there best ever.

New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 12- There is just something special about the dome. Featuring easily the best Jericho match in nearly a decade, A strong effort from both Okada and Natio put it in the running.

Women’s Wrestler of the Year Tessa Blanchard- Tessa is spectacular. She is a fantastic in ring worker every move looks good and impactful. Her selling is masterful making her opponent look strong but never making her self look foolish She has amazing charisma even if you don’t know anything about how Tully Blanchard was you get the feeling Tessa is something special. Simply put she is a star she knows and you know it. Having a series of great matches with Madison Rayne, Allie, Su Yung, and than Taya just in Impact alone showed just how talented she is. She also pulls off one of the most difficult roles in wrestling The multi generation star. Often times a second or in Tessa’s case third generation wrestler often there gimmick is they are _____’s kid. Tessa pays tribute to her father, grandfather, and step father but never only becomes Tully’s daughter.

Tessa’s work in Impact alone was enough to make her the front runner for this award but when you add in her work with WSU, The Crash, ALL IN and more it really puts her over the top. Every where she goes fans know to expect a great match. Its very fitting her logo is that of a diamond because she is a crown jewel of wrestling these days.

Also in the running

Su Yung- Carrying the the Knockouts title early on she had good matches with Rosemary, Madison Rayne, and mostly Allie Su had a great year. A gimmick like hers would easy to become to silly but she never goes there instead always inspiring fear.

Becky Lynch- Look part of this award is tied to how someone is pushed and sadly for Becky her push started way to late. Becky carried the Smackdown Women’s division on her back this year. And manged to make Charlotte not totally suck.

Ronda Rousey- The biggest real sports to ever pursue a wrestling career Ronda clearly enjoyed what she is doing. Taking to ring work naturally she can only get better with more time.

Best in Ring Worker Kenny Omega- When your nick name is beat bout machine you put a lot of pressure on yourself. Omega is a guy that can do it all. He can wrestle a guy like Okada in a back and forth match for the IWGP title. Turn around and do battle with a classic strong style beat like Ishii, do a comedy match with Yano, and than go all vs. Kota Ibushi. Omega is the guy that almost never botches a big move. Everyone looks better because of working with him.

Also in the running

Zack Sabre Jr- The ultimate technical wrestler. Sabre moves from submission to mission with ease. He makes every move he does count.

Daniel Bryan- Ring rust? What ring rust? Bryan was right back to amazing worker he’s always been.

Best on the Microphone Sami Callahan- There are some guys when they talk you must pay attention to. Sami is one of the those guys. Every word this guy speaks carries importance to at least seems that way. In the modern world of wrestling he’s done the most difficult thing is to convince people anything is real. People actually have have bought into Sami as the crazy man out to hurt people. Hell go re watch the Thanksgiving show he manged to turn a threat to make Jake Crist eat onions fascinating. The venom he spewed in direction of Eddie Edwards, Pentagon, and Brian Cage. You could easily buy when they would all want to hate him.

Also in the running

Eli Drake- This guy spews charisma every and can make any promo fantastic even when he’s just talking small things. When ever Drake has a microphone fans know they are in for some fun.

Tommaso Ciampa- Returning from injury in early 2018 Ciampa and with every word he spoke in 2018. With each moment Ciampa makes you want to see him finally get what is coming to him.

The Entire Cast of BTE- Just watch the show

Becky Lynch- Is there anything better than hearing Becky tear down Charlotte?

Gimmick of the Year Sami Callahan The Draw- At this point it feels like I’m just repeating myself. Because it’s much the same. Sami comes off as the classic lives his gimmick twenty four seven. Fans are drawn into everything he does. The guy stands out in a world of to many people still trying to be cool heel.

Also in the Running

Becky Lynch The Man- Had her push started just a bit early Becky could have won the award

Eddie Edwards Gone Crazy- Putting so much needed new life into his career and finally letting him cut promo with ease.

Austin Aries The Belt Collector- Aries put much needed value back on various champions as he traveled the world winning titles. Plus it gave it a touch of a MMA Fighter or Boxer winning various world titles

Feud of the Year Sami Callahan vs. Pentagon Impact Wrestling- It gave us the match of the year and frankly there Mexican Death match on Impact a few weeks later was also very good. The intensity was was there month after month. There segments were much watch TV for months. Sami gave Pentagon a big story after losing the world title, and Pentagon cemented Sami as an upper level guy a true main event level talent. This feud also saw many twists and turns it helped to get other guys such OVE, Fenix, and Cage into it.

Also in the running

Sami Callahan vs. Eddie Edwards- A feud that gave new life to Eddie’s career and started Sami down his path to the top.

Worst Wrestler of the year Tama Tonga- As the feud between Kenny Omega and Cody took shape for leader a clear side story was building with Bullet Club original Tama Tonga clearly waiting for his chance to pounce. New Japan was ready to give him the biggest push of his career and he proceeded to have bad match after bad match in the G1. Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Zack Saber Jr, Natio, everyone in the B block had there worst match in the tournament vs. Tama. Any and all speculation on a main event push ended and New Japan brought in Jay White to carry the Bullet Club. Simply but Tama Tonga isn't’ good in the ring. Every match is the same. He chokes he hits some clubs and eventually does the Gun Stun. He barley sells never making anyone he is working with look better. To counter of his lack of skills Tama tries to be “bad ass.” But Tama think bad ass means just swear and flip the bird.

When Tama is given microphone times he worries to much about cool. He doesn’t add to his own ongoing angles. There isn’t a single time when he’s on the microphone that sells the story because he’s awful on the microphone more worried about swearing and being “cool”. Now Tama Tonga and his defenders will claim “he is rebelling against the five star mindset.” The problem is that seems to be an excuse to just him have bad matches. I honestly believe had Tama done better in the G1 he could have been put in title match against Omega later in the year. Instead he with the biggest chance of his life and he flopped.

Also in the Running

Shinsuke Nakamura- He’s supposed to be the King of Strong Style his striking looks soft he submissions have enough space you can drive a truck through. Promos are bad. But hey he’s the king of the making goofy faces.

Velveteen Dream- His matches are awful. The gimmick is stupid and it’s not cutting edge its things people like Adrian Street have done for years much better. Just because he plays dress up people doesn’t make him a legend or even entertaining.

Brock Lenard- For Brock it’s the same old same old he barley shows up. His matches are nothing but sloppy supple.

Randy Orton- Watching an Orton match always feels like a chore. Every single match is far to slow when it comes to face. Its only gotten worse since he turned heel. To try and generate heat he’s tried to do “Shocking” moment IE the stuff with Hardy’s ear or pulling Rey’s mask off. Exepts any shock quickly wears off and it’s turns monotonous.

Braun Strowman- Braun yells, Braun hit club, Braun throw something onto someone, Braun throw someone into something. There I have recapped every single Braun Strowman match ever. Why is this guy getting pushed as top guy with a roster that includes Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and that is just the guys on Raw.

Worst Tag Team of the Year The Briscoe Brother Jay and Mark Briscoe- Sadly there many many many options to give this award. But the Briscoes are just so bad at everything they wound up taking it. There matches are awful I would call them spot monkeys but they don’t even do the spots well. They come off like really bad back yard wrestlers. There promos are terrible they yell hit the same crappy lines over and over again. There looks are some how only getting worse. Again for two guys that are hyped as being “All time greats” but some fools they look like two hard core wrestlers in a crappy gym with less than ten people.

In another year where they dominated the ROH tag title scene it left the whole division feeling stagnate. Hell it says a lot that even without the belts the Bucks main evented more shows and were presented as the top team. No one ever gets more over or gets a rub from Jay or Mark. If anything the drag everyone down.

Also in the Running

The Gurellas of Destiny Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa- Everything I said about Tama Tonga goes for his brother. There matches are simply bad. The rely to much on “American” heel stuff to tell stories.

The New Day Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods- It doesn’t matter what pairing they are in the New Days matches are simply annoying. They make a bunch of noise trying to be funny they aren’t. There promos are extended runs of unfunny bad jokes. And extra points to Big E who in every match has to dome some wipe out spot to draw a minor pop.

The Bar Sheamus and Cesaro- Two guys that used to be able to have good matches no matter the situation have simply given up.

The Usos- A poorly done street tough gimmick that doesn’t given sense of actually being tough. Lousy boring promos and pain by numbers matches.

The B-Team Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas- It was a bad unfunny joke with two career long jobbers. The matches were bad and the only good news was the team didn’t get pushed that long.

The Deleters of World Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt- Matt Hardy doing a poor copy of a better gimmick he had done much better else where suddenly gets parried with a man that has been buried nonstop for years. And for some reason I’m supposed to care.

Worst Match of the Year WWE Championship AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura WWE Backlash- Well the whole feud was awful (more on that in a second) but this was the worst of the worst. It was a World Championship match on a major pay per view that ended with each guy kicking each other in the balls like a crappy end of a bad parody of sitcom. To make this clear in case you never saw it or blocked it out. The finish was two men playing a game roshambo. They kicked each other in the balls than “comically” falling over at the same time and not being able to answer the ten count. That isn’t an actual finish that is something someone trying to make fun of wrestling thinks wrestling is like. And this finish didn’t help anyone, it didn’t put more heat on Nakamura, it made AJ look like a total moron, and it didn’t make fans want to see a rematch. And there so many better options to do a non contest and have another final blow off the next PPV.

Now it was the finish that locked up this award for this match. But it wasn’t like this was a great, a good or even an okay match before the dumb finish. The simple fact is rather you are talking Japan or WWE Styles and Nakamura have never had a good match with each other everyone one has been a huge let down. It everything I always talk about with Nakamura bad strikes, bad submission and dumb faces that make everything look fake. Than you have AJ a shell of his former self he can’t do the things that made him phemonial. But again the title that has been held by Rogers, Bruno, Hogan, Hart, Savage, Michaels, Austin, The Rock, Foley, and many more had a finish that was about ball kicks.

Also in the running

Last Man Standing Match for NXT Championship Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Johnny Gargano NXT Takeover Brokenly IV- Why this feud started off great it quickly ran out of steam. Because the first match with these two was so great NXT fell into the quick sequel trap. They kept doing Ciampa vs. Gargano over and over again. Even worse it felt like the two men just repeated the same spots over and over again. Not helping was the dumb finish where Gargano turned into Wiley Coyote.

DX vs. The Brothers of Destruction WWE Crown Jewel- A crappy main event with four guys well past there prime.

NXT Women’s Championship Kari Sane vs Shayna Baszler- A boring affair with a finish everyone saw six miles once we saw Duke and Shafir were at ring side.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki NJPW Destruction in Beppu- Sometimes you have two great wrestlers that for what ever reason. That is a case here. I know many hated there earlier match more but I found this one to be worse.

WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship Carmella (c) vs. Auska Money in the Bank- A flat heel champion with no heat and with a move set of four took a painted clown face who’s only move is ramming her ass into her opponent. What a mess!

Worst Event of the Year WWE Crown Jewel- What else could it be? I mean what else could I even consider. I’ll be fully honest I pretty much gave this award to this event before it even took place. Just like how ALL IN was aided by many outside factor Crown Jewel is dragged down by outside factor. But the simple fact is the event sucked. A lousy tournament with a dumb finish as Shane McMahon wins instead of I don’t anyone full time member of the roster getting a big win and being built up. Brock Lesnar regains the Unversial title after a three minutes match and than goes MIA again. Another boring Bar and New Day match. And that god awful unneeded DX vs. BOD match.

But what really makes this the worst off the year the horrible human rights issues and how hypocritical it makes the WWE look. WWE loves to brag about it Women’s Revolution/Evolution and how they empower women yet none of the women got to wrestle a match on this show due to cultural norms in Saudi Arabia. And for anyone about to say “Well the women got a payday due to the Evolution PPV.” You are wrong since that was to make up for pay they lost on the Greatest Royal Rumble. And the fact still stands this company loves to portray itself as a example of women’s empowerment unless you give them oil money. And speaking of things WWE’s love to wrap itself in the American Flag. They love and support the troops. Anniversary of 9/11 big over the top videos, veterans day same thing. Vince loves to present him as the American Dream come true as he built his “little” family company.

And they ran in a show in Saudi Arabia after the state sponsored murder of James Khashoggi. Now I actually don’t want to get to political and I fully admit the USA has problems. But to kill a member of the press simply because he spoke out against the government is everything the USA is supposed to stand against. It was disgusting cash in show and sadly people are now just giving them a pass for it

Also in The Running

NOTHING! Crown Jewel was that bad.

Worst Women’s Wrestler of The Year Nia Jax- She has legtimently hurt people over and over again. Some people work a stiff style but Jax pushes it to the extremes. Her punch thrown at full force injured the hottest act in the company and forced changes to a Pay Per View card. Alexa Bliss’ concussion problems started working why working with Jax and several other has been hurt. And it always comes back to the simple fact Nia Jax is not good in the ring. She doesn’t protect the people she is working with. Than again its not all that shocking given every move she does is sloppy. It rough to watch execute any move of any type. She doesn’t belong on the main roster, she doesn’t even belong on NXT She should still be in a wrestling school some where learning the basics.

And let’s talk about the awful character and gimmick work Jax did this year. Now she started as a bully heel and than was supposed to become a baby face who had been bullied because of her size. Now this idea has some legs and if done well could work. Except Jax played this role so poorly fans had no reason to care. So WWE quickly turned her heel to face off with Rousey but as the many years has proven Jax can’t play heel at all. As I always say they want her to be this intense monster only she comes off like that. She always looking for her friends in the stands. When she tries to be intimidating it actually comes off a more funny than anything else. After the Rousey match she turned face again than turned heel late in the year for another Rousey match. Poor matches, poor promos and poor booking lets just hope WWE is finally wising up.

Also in the running

Brie Bella- Returning this year and she botched and botched some more. Most infamously knocking out Liv Morgan at one point and the week before that landing her head on a dive. Even she wasn’t botching she was doing anything else terribly.

Carmella- When her music hits the fans don’t cheer they don’t boo they just go silent. Awful matches annoying promos and not in a heel way just annoying. But hey she can do a dumb floss dance so push her to the moon.

Charlotte Flair- Her matches has sucked for year her selling is god awful her promos suck big time. The fans finally tiered of her copy her father act so WWE is not just having her copy Becky.

Auksa- A painted clown performer. We are supposed to her as this super serious dangerous monster type. Her strikes are weak she looks confused any time she goes for a submission. Her biggest move is ramming her ass at someone. Now I am sure some will argue “well her problems are because he winning streak ended.” Did you really think would be undefeated forever? If losing a few matches have wrecked her she must not be that good.

Kari Sane- A dumb gimmick awful matches living off a NXT bump.

Alicia Fox- Botch heavy crappy promos and her look just keeps getting worse.

Worst in Ring Worker Nia Jax- When you keep hurting people you are bound to win this award. Sure things happen from time to time. For exampled Cody getting busted open by Omega and Ibushi but for god sake when its always the same person you gotta put the blame on that person. The goal of wrestling is to make it look real but protect each other. Jax doesn’t do that.

Also in the running

Takahi Iizuka- He bites bites and bites some more and there is pretty much every match he’s been in for years.

Shinsuke Nakamura- The guy that called King of Strong Style doesn’t do anything that would acutally be strong style at all.

Brock Lesnar- Lazy lazy lazy. He barley shows up and when he does its for some lazy suplexs.

Charlotte Flair- I keep hearing how great she is. Yet she keeps having bad match after bad match. Her moves look like crap and her selling is bad.

Braun Strowman- He has three moves he does none of the well. If all you can do in match is toss something onto someone you have never had a match.

Worst on the Microphone Shinsuke Nakamura- For anyone about to say “English is a his second language give him a break.” I say he’s now been in the United States long enough he should be able to cut even semi decent promos. Instead mush mouth speaks in gibberish. Most of the time I have no idea what he’s even said. Not help are the goofy faces he always feels the need to make. His promos were never great as a face they have only got worse once he turned heel. I think the idea was supposed to be he was mocking people by claiming he doesn’t speak English only he comes off so dopey it might have been Vince was trying to make it so that he doesn’t speak English.

Other Worst on the Microphone Auska- My awards my rules and Auska is so bad she’s not just in the running he’s a co-winner. Once again for anyone about say its not fair to judge her since English is a her second language I again say she’s been in the United States long enough she should at least have a basic ability to speak. She is not engaging at all. She’s so over the top it just annoying to watch or listen to.

Also in the running

Charlotte Flair- A Charlotte promo is like paint drying just dull. She tries most of the time to be her father but lacks the fire. She tried to be Becky but lacked the passion the defines Becky.

Paige- Paige was never a great interview but after becoming the Smackdown GM and going full on white meat she’s been sleep inducing.

Shane McMahon- Is its just me or does the guys just look nervous? He just seems unsure of every word coming out of his mouth.

Braun Strowman- He doesn’t cut promos he just says catch phrases. Super generic big guy who yells.

The New Day- All three are just fucking god awful. There jokes are unfunny. Yet we get tortured by them having a weekly pre match promo and or including something backstage or them being on commentary.

Worst Gimmick of the Year Woken Matt Hardy- “Matt Hardy should back to WWE he would make the Broken Universe bigger than ever! Impact needs to give Matt the rights to Broke Gimmick back. Everyone knows Matt made it and Impact creative had nothing to with it.” And other bull shit like that was spewed by fans and the IWC bots. So what happened Matt went back to WWE. And Impact made a deal to let WWE used the Broken gimmick. And they ruined it in every way. Broken Matt was the freshest and most cutting edge gimmick wrestling had seen in many years. Woken Matt was a poorly done rerun. Matt’s over the top speaking style using using big words in his promos was turned into just a laugh and going Delete.

The freedom of being willing to try anything from Impact was stuffed back into the usual WWE box with writers over seeing it all, overly edited segments, and well crappy matches. Simply put it just would have been better to just never bring it back. Instead WWE ruined a gimmick that was an amazing at one time.

Also in the Running

Velveteen Dream Cos-player- I mean that is what his gimmick is. He dresses up in various costumes. He basically role plays as prince. And it sucks.

Kari Sane Pirate- I don’t care if she has a history with ships. The gimmick is lame, I thought we all agreed pirate gimmick were bad after Paul Burchill. Its just way to childish.

Bayle and Sasha Banks Friends with Issues- What a terrible idea. These two spent almost the entire year hinting a break up and feud and it never happened.

Worst Feud of the Year AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura WWE- The feud started simply to be a “Dream Match” at WreslteMania. First a dream match is a match that has never happened before or a match that hasn’t happened in so long both men have changed and reached a new level in there careers. This feud was none of those. They had fairly recent match in Japan. Nietehr guy was improved from those days in New Japan in fact both men are a lot worse. The match a WrestleMania was boring and Nakamura’s heel turn did nothing to improve it. Than we moved into lousy “I don’t speak English” promos. A bad match at The Greatest Royal Rumble and the worst match of the year with the double low blow match at Backlash.

Than it came down to a Last Man Standing match at Money at the Bank. Hit a move wait for the count hit a move wait for a count is how you kill that gimmick. You don’t build drama you just pad the match. Think of any real fight you have seen in MMA, Kickboxing, or Boxing guys throw combinations. You might get a Mark Hunt with one shot KO boxer but even hunt will combo up. The hit a move and count stuff just give a match nothing but filler. But hey we learned Nakamura can count. This was supposed to be a story of a two athletes that let things get personal. Instead it was one bad unfunny joke.

The Other Worst Feud of the Year AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe WWE- I don’t want to do many double award winners but given this was AJ followed up his feud with Nakamura it was part of the year long failure he had as champion I am including it. Once again this feud was awful on so many levels. Lets start with the simple fact both men have had much better matches in the past. You want to see them at there best seek out matches at ROH and TNA/Impact Wrestling. Samoa Joe is still a strong hand in the ring but AJ is a shell of himself. They jut didn’t click they used to. But what really makes this feud trash makes it worthy of winning this award was all the bad soap opera crap. You have Joe over and and over again calling AJ a bad dad because AJ is on the road all the time. Well guess what every wrestlers is on the road all the time. Hell most parents feel they don’t spend enough time with there kids because they have to work.

And this isn’t Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe is a brute force ass kicker. He is not a guy going “OH WENDY!” and playing mind games. Joe was at least okay at time doing this feud. But in order for something so soap opera like to work both men must carry it. Sadly talking has always been AJ’s biggest weakness he at least for a time in the than TNA he got to a point where he was decent but in the WWE he has reverted to being truly awful. He is just so wooden in dialog. I remember talking about this feud with two guys who I know are big WWE fans and defend a lot of what they do and even they were asking “Why?”

Also in the running

Carmella vs. Auska WWE- Awful matches with dumb story telling a crappy champion and a challenger that is a painted clown.

Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens WWE- Hey lets make Owens look like a total fool because Vince loves big guys.

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn WWE- It gave us the god awful Lashley’s sister segment enough said.

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman WWE- Bad match done over and over again.

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar- WWE some over pushed Reigns and made him the guy that chokes. And we get more lazy Brock suplexs.