I present to you the fourth annual SMARK OUT MOMENT AWARDS - 2013 EDITION!
Keeping with the tradition of adding awards, there were 6 new categories added this year: 1) Spot vs Botch, 2) Future Endeavors, 3) Heel or Face Turn, 4) Improvement in a Division, 5) Recurring Joke, 6) Manager or Valet.
Make sure you let us know in the comments what your choices are for the best and the worst of each award in the Technical Awards, Writing Awards and Performer Awards sections.
2013 SMARK OUT MOMENT AWARDS
TECHNICAL AWARDS
ENTRANCE
Who had the best and the worst entrance, factoring in pyro, music, taunts, etc?
BEST: Fandango
Honorable mention to Bray Wyatt and naturally, the lifetime achievement award goes to The Undertaker on this one, but Fandango deserves this spot this year in my opinion. He has a song that people like to get involved with, a valet that backs up his gimmick and is good eye candy, the stage is decorated for him and he even has pyro in the shape of him!
WORST: Ryback
Does he do a taunt anymore? Does he even have lyrics? Does anything matter? Am I supposed to cheer when I know he's going to lose? Am I supposed to boo when he comes out when he does nothing to make me boo? Plus, he's gotten into this habit of kind of stumbling to the ring like he's doing a half-assed Vince McMahon impression.
SIGNATURE MANEUVER
Who had the best and the worst entrance, factoring in pyro, music, taunts, etc?
BEST: Cesaro Swing
It's simple and it doesn't work as a finisher, but that doesn't mean it has to. It's entertaining as hell, fun to watch him do on a small person because he can swing them around like crazy, and cool to see him do on a bigger guy because it then becomes an even bigger feat of strength.
WORST: Curtis Axel's finisher
What the fuck is this? As bad as the Zig Zag is, it at least looks like there's a movement that you can follow. As bad as Miz's Figure Four can be from time to time, he at least locks it on and it's supposed to make sense. But what in the blue fuck is Curtis Axel's finisher? He looks like he misses doing a neckbreaker and then just pins you and you're okay with it.
SPOT VS BOTCH
What was the best spot of the year and what was the worst botch?
BEST SPOT: CM Punk hits piledriver on John Cena
I loved both of Kofi Kingston's ways of avoiding elimination at the Royal Rumble and on the 8/12/2013 edition of Raw, but I marked out hardcore when Punk hit that piledriver. I NEVER saw that coming in a million years and it brought me back instantly to the days of my childhood when this was a regular move that looked so brutal.
WORST BOTCH: Natalya making AJ submit to the sharpshooter twice botch on Raw 8-12-2013
I had three choices down as a tie, but I'll factor those two for Battleground in later on. Instead, let's give attention to this horrible botch that actually inspired the creation of this award. The referee paid no attention and messed up the entire finish of the match. Even when Natalya was trying to tell the ref what happened, he was still oblivious! This was just so awkward and terrible.
RING SKILLS
Who is the best in the ring and who is the worst?
BEST: Dolph Ziggler
Daniel Bryan may be who most people will vote here and it's tough to disagree with that, but I think Ziggler is better overall. He tends to not have a bad match with many people and can carry a lot of subpar ones to an entertaining match.
WORST: Khali
Do I need to explain? Khali hasn't been able to barely even walk the entire time he's been in WWE. I'm more athletic than he is, and I can't do shit without my asthma kicking in.
MIC SKILLS
Who has the best and the worst skills cutting promos?
BEST: Damien Sandow
While people like CM Punk sometimes phone in their performance and you can tell that they're not super into it, Sandow's been entertaining every time I've heard him speak.
WORST: Khali
Do I need to explain? Khali sure does, cause I can't understand what the fuck he's saying.
MOST UNDERRATED AND OVERRATED
Who is the most underrated talent that is not given enough credit and who is the most overrated talent that is given way too much credit?
MOST UNDERRATED: Wade Barrett
At one point in this year, I had Cody Rhodes down. At another point, I had Alex Riley. But damn it, Wade Barrett really isn't getting his just cause. This guy should have been given the World Heavyweight Championship instead of Alberto Del Rio one of those times as a test run. Now, he's probably never going to get it, and it's not because he's not good enough in comparison to the people that have won it multiple times.
MOST OVERRATED: Alberto Del Rio
I thought I would give this to RVD, but they thankfully didn't make him the total true focal point as much as I had expected them to. I could also potentially give this to Curtis Axel, as he sucked and they still gave him a prime spot. But my God, Alberto Del Rio is by far above and beyond the most overrated person in WWE at the moment. He's nowhere near as good as what WWE books him to be and they continue to ignore it. It doesn't matter if the fans don't care and if he never puts on a fantastic match with anybody, even someone like Dolph Ziggler. He still ends up being someone that they are obsessed with putting in the main event. Why?!?
IMPROVEMENT IN A SUPERSTAR
Which superstar improved the most from last year and which one suffered the biggest downgrade in comparison to last year?
MOST IMPROVED: Fandango
Who was talking about Johnny Curtis last year? Now, people know who Fandango is. He went from someone that needed to be released to someone who is arguably not being used as well as he should.
LEAST IMPROVED: Ryback
Last year, Ryback was on the upswing and was almost assured a title reign. People expected him to win the Royal Rumble and get a huge championship victory at WrestleMania. Then, they started making him lose every single match. It's gotten to the point where he was the biggest thing in the company in the fall of 2012 and a complete joke in the fall of 2013.
FUTURE ENDEAVORS
Which release are you the happiest about that you feel was a good decision WWE made and which release do you think was a bad move and you're disappointed to see happen? choose between the names listed here: http://www.smarkoutmoment.com/2013/09/list-of-wwe-stars-released-in-2013.html
BEST: Sakamoto
Why is this a good decision? Because Sakamoto was never going to be much in WWE. Was he ever really going to make it to the main roster? And even then, if he had that chance, would he have been a character that got over with the crowd even to the point of being a midcarder? No. He was brought on as a manager that didn't really do anything but stand next to Tensai and not get him over. Then, WWE tried him out as a wrestler, and he clearly must not have had what it takes. Better gone and working somewhere else than taking up a spot that someone else could use.
WORST: Jim Ross
This was a horrible decision, as Jim Ross gave credibility to so much that WWE does. Not only did they lose him on the commentary table, but we can't even utilize his talents on DVD interviews or anything like that. He was a great resource for hosting roundtable discussions and he seems like he was probably an unimaginable help for talent scouting. All that is gone.
TITLE REIGN
Who had the best title reign of the year and who had the worst? Choose between:
WWE = CM Punk > Rock > John Cena > Daniel Bryan > Randy Orton > Daniel Bryan > vacated > Randy Orton
WHC = Big Show (only held it for 8 days in January) > Alberto Del Rio > Dolph Ziggler > Alberto Del Rio > John Cena
US = Antonio Cesaro > Kofi Kingston > Dean Ambrose
IC = Wade Barrett > The Miz > Wade Barrett > Curtis Axel > Big E Langston
TAG = Team Hell No > The Shield > Cody Rhodes & Goldust
DIVAS = Eve Torres > Kaitlyn > AJ Lee
NXT = Big E Langston > Bo Dallas
NXT Tag = British Ambition > Wyatt Family > Adrian Neville & Corey Graves > The Ascension
NXT Women's = Paige
BEST: The Shield (Tag Team Championship)
The tag team division is awesome right now. Team Hell No bumped it up to the next level and The Shield not only kept up their end of the bargain, but amped it up even more. Honorable mention goes to AJ Lee for her Divas Championship reign so far.
WORST: [TIE] Kaitlyn (Divas Championship) / Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Championship)
By default, I removed all the choices that were too short, like The Miz's Intercontinental title reign, Daniel Bryan's WWE title reign, and so forth. So out of everyone who actually had some length to try out a title reign and no excuses for why it wasn't entertaining, there's a tie. Kaitlyn's run with the Divas Championship was completely and utterly forgettable. She barely existed because of how pointless it was to showcase. On the contrary, Alberto Del Rio's was shoved in our faces constantly DESPITE how bad it was. Both fail for being terrible and exhibiting that in different ways.
MATCH OF THE YEAR
What were the best and worst matches of the year?
BEST: CM Punk vs John Cena @ Raw 2-25-2013
Honorable mention to Daniel Bryan's gauntlet match on the 7-22 edition of Raw, CM Punk versus Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, and CM Punk versus Undertaker at WrestleMania. I almost gave this to Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena from Raw 1-7, which was the first match that I wrote down as a potential winner for this award, but in the end, I had to give the edge to Punk and Cena. Most of the reason for that is because it has a slight upgrade from having two main-eventers in a match that had a lot of weight to it, as the winner would face The Rock. This also features the awesome piledriver from CM Punk. Just watch all the nearfalls of this match and see how crazy the crowd pops for each one. Even though we all knew Cena had to win, they still made this incredibly entertaining.
WORST: Kaitlyn vs Tamina @ Elimination Chamber
This was the only match that I felt the need to write down throughout the entire year. Because of that, I didn't even bother rewatching it to make sure it was that awful. I'm sure it was.
WRITING AWARDS
CATCH PHRASE OR SLOGAN
Which catch phrase is the best and which is the worst?
BEST: [TIE] "Yes/No" by Daniel Bryan / "Best for Business" by The Authority
These two work hand in hand with each other, so I couldn't decide which should win. They're two opposite sides of the same coin and they're both over with the crowd for different reasons that coincide with the other one also being as good.
WORST: [TIE] Antonio Cesaro's yodel / 1-800-FELLA
Making Cesaro yodel was basically like punishing the guy for some reason. That was an embarrassment, not a legitimate gimmick to saddle him with. I don't know if 1-800-FELLA was supposed to be a joke that WWE thought would be funny or if they did it as a joke because someone dared them to think of something that stupid and they successfully pulled it off, but that was so incredibly pointless and dumb that it still makes me question why the people that think that shit up consider themselves worthy of an entire network that they need to fill with programming.
GIMMICK
Who had the best gimmick and who had the worst?
BEST: Bray Wyatt
They're trying something different and it's been quite cool so far. Even his music is different from the norm. Wyatt's gimmick is good enough that it is sustaining two other characters in a stable that have no personality whatsoever other than being associated with Wyatt and in the same team.
WORST: Rufus "Pancake" Patterson & Leon "Bonecrusher" Baker
I hate it when WWE does this stuff. It's just not my sense of humor at all. This wasn't funny, this was stupefying. Honorable mention goes to "the Mexican hero that everyone is supposed to boo cause he couldn't get over as an actual heroic Mexican babyface but for some reason still carries a flag to the ring" with Alberto Del Rio.
HEEL OR FACE TURN
Pick the best and the worst out of the following character turns: Alberto Del Rio (turned face), Alberto Del Rio (turned heel), Big Show (turned face), Big E Langston (turned face), Brodus Clay (turned heel), CM Punk (turned face), Cody Rhodes (turned face), Dolph Ziggler (turned face), Kane (turned heel), Layla El (turned heel), Mark Henry (turned face), Prime Time Players (turned face), Randy Orton (turned heel), Ryback (turned heel), The Miz (turned heel), Triple H (turned heel)
BEST: [Cody Rhodes turning face]
Cody was able to turn face because of the fans supporting him immensely in the Money in the Bank match. Since then, he's gone from being a background guy in the tag team division that wasn't getting much of a reaction to being a star of the tag team division that has a good chance of breaking out and being a top star for next year.
WORST: [Layla turns heel]
Does anyone even remember that she turned heel? Was there ever given a reason for her turning heel? Utterly pointless.
RETRO COMEBACK
Which WWE legend had the best appearance this year and who had the worst?
BEST: Goldust
Honorable mentions go to The Godfather at the Royal Rumble and the New Age Outlaws, but man, Goldust has just killed it. He had a great match with Randy Orton to kick off his comeback and he's been looking fantastic ever since then. He puts people half his age to shame and that's both a compliment to him and a wake-up call to the others.
WORST: Mae Young @ Old School Raw
Any time Mae Young pops up, it's horrible. I'm sorry, but I have never been entertained when she has been on my screen. I've just been uncomfortable. She's too frail and fragile and I don't find the sex jokes funny, I find them creepy that people keep going to that well. It's not my sense of humor and it's always just unnerving to watch her shake on camera.
STORYLINE
Which storyline was the best and which was the worst?
BEST: Paul Bearer's death
Best for Business would get this spot if they were more consistent with what they were doing. This was a textbook feud. They incorporated Paul Bearer's death in a way that could not have been done any better. The use of the urn, Paul Heyman imitating Paul Bearer, the Undertaker having a fire lit under him by the disrespectful heel challenging him right in time for WrestleMania? Perfect.
WORST: Shield attacks random people that hate them for one ppv at a time
Honorable mentions go to Ryback's feuds with John Cena and Jericho as well as all of the use of fake injuries amongst the real ones.
SHOCKING MOMENT OF THE YEAR
What was the MOST shocking moment and what was the LEAST shocking moment of the year?
MOST SHOCKING: CM Punk hits piledriver on John Cena
If you say you saw that coming, you're a liar. Simple as that. I NEVER would have seen this coming and it absolutely floored me.
LEAST SHOCKING: The Rock vs. CM Punk vs. The Rock vs. John Cena progression
The second that they announced that The Rock would be challenging the champion at Royal Rumble, this entire program was mapped out in front of our eyes. Nothing happened on the contrary of what you could have expected at all.
SMARK OUT MOMENT OF THE YEAR
What was the overall coolest moment that made you happy as a fan and which was the lowest of the low that made you ashamed of WWE?
BEST: Mark Henry's fake retirement on Raw 6-17-2013
I really enjoyed CM Punk's promo on Raw 1-7-2013, so there's an honorable mention. Another honorable mention goes to the Raw 4-8-2013 chants from that crazy crowd. But man, when Mark Henry was faking his retirement, I didn't buy into it and then they convinced me that it was true, so I let my guard down. And WHAM, they hit me with his fakeout. That was so fucking awesome watching that and actually going through the exact emotions that they wanted us to go through.
WORST: [TIE] Del Rio & Ricardo mock Zeb Colter & Jack Swagger + Brad Maddox promo both from Raw 3-11-2013
Honorable mention goes to the Total Divas trash talking segment on Raw 7-1-2013. What makes the 3-11 edition of Raw so bad here is that there were two promos that were just as bad as that one. Del Rio and Ricardo spoofing Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger as well as the Brad Maddox Intercontinental Championship segment were just so, so bad.
IMPROVEMENT IN A DIVISION
Which division saw an upgrade in value and which one struggled the most? Choose between: Legends, Main Event, Midcard, Tag Team, Divas, Jobber, Developmental
BEST: [Tag Team]
Look at how bad our tag team division was for a good portion of 2012 and then look at how fantastic it is going into 2014. This is because of Team Hell No and The Shield leading the way while WWE built up other tag teams like The Usos, Cody Rhodes & Goldust, the Real Americans, and more. There hasn't been a better time to be in a tag team in WWE in such a long time.
WORST: World Heavyweight Championship
This year consisted of a few days worth of a title reign for Big Show, who feuded with Alberto Del Rio, who continued to just stink up the entire year with feuds against Jack Swagger, RVD, and John Cena. The only saving grace would have been Dolph Ziggler, but his concussion messed it all up. It became so bad that WWE finally killed the championship itself! A year of Del Rio was enough to destroy an entire division.
TV SHOW OR PROGRAM
choose between: Raw, Smackdown, Saturday Morning Slam, Main Event, YouTube shows, NXT at Full Sail, Total Divas
BEST: Raw, Total Divas]
I like Total Divas more than I ever thought I would, but really, Raw is the only show that matters and the rest don't stand a chance to win this in comparison.
WORST: Saturday Morning Slam
When you limit the moveset of a roster of people that don't really matter and then make none of it worth a damn to the rest of the product, you end up getting cancelled.
PAY-PER-VIEW OR SPECIAL EVENT
Which pay-per-views were the best and the worst events of the year?
BEST: Money in the Bank
This was a horrible year for pay-per-views, so even though this one wasn't fantastic, it was the most entertaining overall. Pretty much every match had something positive about it. For more information breaking the event down, check out my review here.
WORST: Battleground
Khali counts himself out when he's being pinned. Technical difficulties screw up right before the pay-per-view's main event. None of the matches were really that good and a lot of them were quite bad instead. If you want to see more about why this event sucked, check out my review here.
SMACK TALK AWARDS
FAVORITE "DID YOU KNOW" PARODY OF THE YEAR
The complete list of every Did You Know parody of the year is here: https://apps.facebook.com/forumforpages/119237958113106/1516ca8d-cb7b-475b-8003-8dbcab6e492b/0
My Choice: Episode #68. "We the people find the defendant, Jack Swagger, guilty. Source: Get down on your knees, with your hands behind you"
Honorable mentions go to episodes 61, 65, 78 and 104.
Your Choice (at the time of the poll closing): Episode #61. "If you want the new year to start off with a bang, stand next to AJ Lee for 5 minutes. Source: Slut it up!"
FAVORITE OUTRO SONG OF THE YEAR
The complete list of every Outro song parody of the year is located here: https://apps.facebook.com/forumforpages/119237958113106/77f3b5de-b665-4820-a90d-c7b0a4d9e910/0
My Choice: Episode #73: X-Pac "Make Some Noise" by Mike Paden
Honorable mentions go to "Don't Stop Bolieving" and "Outro Called Sting"
Your Choice (at the time of the poll closing): Episode #105: Don't Stop Bolieving by Mike Paden
FAVORITE SEGMENT
options are: 2012 Awards, Ask Him, Belt or Bury, Best Grand Slam Champion Tournament, Bleacher Report Card, Busted Open, Did You Know, Fantasy Booking, Fantasy League, Finisher vs Finisher, Heel or Face, Hot Tags, Image Captions, IWC Outreach Interviews, Live Fallout Fest, Live Summer Block Party, Monthly Mailbag, One to Watch, Outro, Pay-Per-Viewpoint (predictions/review), Royal Rumble Contest, Sign Me Up, Smark My Words, Superstar Scores, Top Rope List, Wrestling with the Past
My Choice: Monthly Mailbag
I really liked doing the Summer Block Party and I always like cutting interviews with people when I go to events as well as doing the awards, but out of the regular things, the mailbag is my favorite.
Your Choice (at the time of the poll closing): Pay-Per-Viewpoint
Good to know! I'll try to put even more of a focus on those segments in 2014!
FAVORITE RECURRING JOKE
some possible options: The Spirit of Eddie Guerrero, The Eliminator, Bobcore Holly, Thurman Sparky Pluggs, Dr. Hannukahburger, various impressions, stigmata, outro clowns, nerdgasms, Episode 85 vs TNA, Big Show's got a gun, Big E Langston's package, Undertaker's 3 dongs
My Choice: Big Show's got a gun
I think overall, we've had the most amount of jokes about this one, though I love them all.
FAVORITE GUEST HOST OF THE YEAR
options are: Alphonso Mack, Braeden Mayhew, Brandon Liggan, Carlos Covington, Chris Dace, Chris Jester, Chris Urban, Drew White, Graham Matthews, Jeff Croop, Michael Burhan, Miguel Leon, Mike Paden, Paul Hibbard, Shaun Walker, Stephen Wago
My Choice: n/a
I never vote for this award
Your Choice: Shaun Walker
PERFORMER AWARDS
NEWCOMER
This factors in rookies as well as newly repackaged characters with brand new names. Choose between: Big E Langston, Fandango, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Fernando, Diego, El Torito, Xavier Woods
BEST: Big E Langston
People are considering this guy a potential future world champion for a reason. He's got a lot of work to go before he reaches that point, but for only being in the company a year, he's built up a good reputation and has a bright future ahead of him.
WORST: Bo Dallas
Seriously, what was the point? Bo Dallas comes in, looks completely out of place, has a very temporary feud with Wade Barrett, and then disappears for the entire rest of the year. If he ever does make it to the main roster again, they'll act as though he never was shown to us before.
DIVA
choose between: AJ Lee, Aksana, Alicia Fox, Bella Twins, Cameron, Eva Marie, Eve Torres, JoJo Offerman, Kaitlyn, Layla El, Naomi, Natalya, Rosa Mendes, Summer Rae, Tamina Snuka, Vickie Guerrero
BEST: AJ Lee
Total Divas may be the focal point, but AJ Lee has been carrying the division on her back for over an entire year. She's perhaps the best performer in the ring, definitely the best on the microphone, and just all-around awesome.
WORST: Rosa Mendes
I almost gave this to Aksana, as she's incredibly useless, but she's managed to up her game a TINY bit, whereas Rosa is equally as useless and still hasn't improved. Rosa serves no function whatsoever in WWE as far as we're being showcased. Maybe there's a different job she does really well, but I haven't seen it. She's clearly not a good wrestler, definitely isn't good on the mic, isn't over with the crowd, doesn't do tons of publicity, is a potential press nightmare waiting to happen if it's true that she's got alcohol problems, etc. Rosa may be attractive, but that seems to be the only quality that she has going for her.
TAG TEAM
choose between: Hell No, Rhodes Scholars, Epico & Primo, The Usos, The Shield, Prime Time Players, 3MB, Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara, Khali/Natalya/Hornswoggle, Team Cobro, Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabriel, Tons of Funk, Dolph Ziggler/AJ Lee/Big E Langston, Real Americans, Wyatt Family, Los Matadores, Cody Rhodes & Goldust, Xavier Woods & R-Truth
BEST: The Shield
Name one thing that the other teams have done this year that compares to what The Shield has done. Exactly. This stable has gone from just being generic dudes with an overrated name (yeah, I'll say it) being used to get WWE out of a hole they dug themselves into, to actually being some of the biggest players on the scene for the entire year. A tag team title reign, a United States title reign, countless main events despite how they're new, and they're over with the crowd massively.
WORST: Khali + Natalya + Hornswoggle
Why was Natalya paired with them when they were also broadcasting the relationship she has with Tyson Kidd? Is she Khali's girlfriend or is it the much more likely story that she's the caretaker handler for Hornswoggle and Khali to make sure that they don't get lost on their way to the ring? This trio awkwardly "dances" to the ring and just makes no sense whatsoever. I have no idea who decided that this was a good idea, but I hope for their sake that they've come to the realization that it is dreadful in every possible way.
MANAGER OR VALET
choose between: Zeb Colter, Paul Heyman, Vickie Guerrero, Fandango's dancer, Summer Rae, El Torito, Hornswoggle, Funkadactyls, Ricardo Rodriguez, Dusty Rhodes
BEST: Paul Heyman
When multiple programs are built entirely around you and people's careers are weighing on the sheer fact that you are standing next to them and their name is associated with you—even if you don't have to do any actual work in the process—you know you're the top manager in the company.
WORST: Hornswoggle
Outside of being a positive for public relations to show that WWE hires little people and possibly having some kind of merchandise connection with kids, what function does Hornswoggle serve? None of his stuff on screen is funny or entertaining and if he's truly an awesome guy backstage, well that doesn't get shown to me, so what good does it do for me? The Funkadactyls dance and provide something for the fans to get along with. Summer Rae does the same. El Torito even tries to be a character, but Hornswoggle's given that up. He's no longer a feisty leprechaun, he's literally been referred to as DYLAN before. He's just Dylan, a chubby diminutive person with a weird haircut who comes to the ring and does nothing. If WWE is ever worried about cost-cutting procedures, adios Dylan.
SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Which people that had other roles in the company were the best and the worst? Some examples include: Booker T, Teddy Long, Vickie Guerrero, Vince McMahon, Dr. Shelby, Brad Maddox, Renee Young, celebrity appearances (Maria Menounos, Raw Country singers, Michael Strahan), Stephanie McMahon, Dr. Michael Kirshenbaum, etc
BEST: Stephanie McMahon
Steph has not only been one of the most influential characters for this year, but she's also been one of those most over with the crowd. She gets exactly the heat she's supposed to be getting and she's entertaining in the process.
WORST: "The Eliminator" on Raw 4-29
Because I need to keep up my trend of giving this to a little kid after I gave it to the Funkateer kids last year.
*Disclaimer: This is just a joke. In all seriousness, I love the idea that they did this for these kids. The serious winner of this would probably be the celebrities or Dr. Michael Kirshenbaum. I'm not really that horrible of a person.*
COMMENTATOR
Who were the best and the worst that regularly did commentary this year, as opposed to the wrestlers that popped in for one match here and there? Choices include: JBL, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Scott Stanford, Josh Mathews, Tony Dawson, Carlos Cabrera, Marcelo Rodriguez, Matt Striker, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Alex Riley, Renee Young, Ricardo Rodriguez, William Regal
BEST: JBL
He's always trying to insert character into conversations and keep things fun and entertaining. Plus, unlike Lawler, who has fizzled out over the years, JBL is able to spit out one-liners that are just hilarious.
WORST: [TIE] Carlos Cabrera & Marcelo Rodriguez
Granted, a lot of the people that are the more of the underlings on NXT like Tony Dawson and Ale Riley just feel cookie cutter and I can't distinguish them, but they're not meant to be the main guys out there. Cabrera and Rodriguez are supposed to be the team that voice WWE to everyone who speaks Spanish more so than English. And again, maybe this is lost on me because I don't have that connection, but what I have listened of them just sounds more like yelling than anything else.
ANNOUNCER
choose between: Justin Roberts, Tony Chimel, Lilian Garcia, Ricardo Rodriguez, and anyone on NXT
BEST: Justin Roberts
Poor Ricardo Rodriguez would have gotten this if he wasn't so terrible with RVD. So instead, by default, it goes to the best guy WWE has right now, Justin Roberts. He's the best because he's the most reliable to do the job the way it's supposed to be done and not screw up.
WORST: Any Random Rookie Woman on NXT
They're bad enough that I don't even know a thing about them. Kendall Skye, Lana, whatever. WWE just gives the new women this spot to give them something to do and none of them ever end up actually being good.
HEEL
Who were the best and worst heels of the year?
BEST: The Shield
Despite being looked at as cool, they still get boos more than a lot of heels. That's their job. They fill the spot of the bad guys that work as stooges for The Authority so well and have been the best staple heels to go to for damn near everything over the past 12 months despite being relatively new to the scene.
WORST: Jack Swagger
Don't get me wrong, Alberto Del Rio is pretty bad, but Jack Swagger has done Jack Shit with what he's been given. You've got a gimmick where you're essentially playing a white supremacist, which should be easy heat, and you just stand there like a complete simpleton that can't speak anything other than "we the people", and even then, you can't do it without looking like you were trying desperately not to mess up your lines? The struggle on his face when he is waiting to deliver it is just heartbreaking and even worse, when he has that blank stare as if he's not even conscious, he looks like a cardboard standee rather than a real human being. At this point, WWE might be better off with that instead of Swagger himself. You shouldn't be a better heel in the company behind the scenes due to all of your immature drug use than you are in front of the audience.
BABYFACE
Who were the best and worst babyfaces of the year?
BEST: Daniel Bryan
He successfully plays that underdog character that WWE claims John Cena is and he's massively over with the crowd. He's holding his own on the mic, he's more than holding his own in the ring, and there's really nothing bad about Bryan's performance over this past year to criticize. He's been everything that WWE needs, yet they just don't want him to be, it seems.
WORST: Alberto Del Rio
There are worse wrestlers that were babyfaces and people that weren't as over with the crowd, but they weren't ever meant to be. What makes this such a failure is because WWE really put a ton of stock into him as a babyface. They really desperately wanted him to succeed so badly, yet it didn't work. It flopped. And it flopped because Del Rio just isn't good enough to get the audience to care about him even as a heel, let alone as a babyface, which is harder to do.
SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR
All things considered, who were the best and worst superstars of the year?
BEST: Daniel Bryan
The most over wrestler in the company and overall, the best performer on the mic and in the ring. There's no question that he deserves this. Nobody comes close.
WORST: Yoshi Tatsu
Almost everybody contributed at least something positive to the company, even if you sucked overall like Alberto Del Rio or Great Khali. Hell, I think even JTG had a match or two on Superstars or something. Has Yoshi Tatsu even been losing on NXT?
START MAKING UP YOUR LISTS NOW AND LET US KNOW YOUR CHOICES IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
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