Smark Out Moment

Welcome to the AEW portion of the 15th annual SMARK OUT MOMENT AWARDS (aka the Smarkies)!

These awards focus not just on applauding the best things from the year, but also calling out the worst.

Starting things off is our look at this year in All Elite Wrestling. What were the best and worst parts of AEW 2024?

Make sure you let us know in the comments what your choices are for the best and the worst of each award in all of the divisions (Technical Skills, Writing, and Performers)!

Without further ado, let's start reviewing this year in AEW!

[TECHNICAL SKILLS AWARDS]

ENTRANCE

Explanation: This award should take into account everything including pyro, lighting, music, what the wrestlers do during their entrances, and so on. Your choices can be a singular entrance in particular or someone's standard entrance that happens every time he/she comes to the ring.

[BEST]: Sting's Final Match

Honorable Mentions:

• Adam Cole
• Bryan Danielson "Final Countdown"
  
• Swerve Strickland / All In
  

[WORST]: Mercedes Moné CEO! CEO!

Honorable Mentions:

• Hangman Adam Page's new theme
• Didn't Max Caster mess up some Acclaimed raps this year?
  

CLOTHING / ATTIRE

Explanation: Who has the best and worst outfits, whether it's just what they wear during their entrance or if it's their normal ring gear?

[BEST]: One of the following three choices...

Honorable Mentions:

• Swerve Strickland (Black Panther Golden Jaguar Habit from AEW Dynasty)
• Bryan Danielson's dragon scale robe (All In)
• Hologram
  

[WORST]: The Young Bucks

Honorable Mentions:

• Jack Perry's Scapegoat head
• Action Andretti's and Lio Rush's jackets
  
• Kyle O'Reilly and everyone who just wears generic stuff
  

SIGNATURE MANEUVER

Explanation: What is your favorite and least favorite regularly seen wrestling move was that had been featured multiple times as something on a wrestler's repertoire. Typically, these are finishers (such as the One-Winged Angel) but it could also be a signature setup (such as Orange Cassidy's shin kicks) or something along those lines.

[BEST]: Will Ospreay's Hidden Blade

Honorable Mentions:

• Samoa Joe's Muscle Buster

[WORST]: Eddie Kingston's uraken spinning back fist

Honorable Mentions:

• Judas Effect
• Mercedes Moné's Moné Maker
  

SPOT / BOTCH

Explanation: What was the most entertaining spot and what was the biggest disaster of a botch that happened this year?

[BEST / COOLEST SPOT]: Darby Allin does a swanton off a ladder in the ring, crashing through a plate of glass between 4 chairs on the outside @ Revolution

Honorable Mentions:

• Takeshita's rolling German suplex to Darby Allin on the ramp (Dynamite 1/3; won't win, but it was the first thing for me to write down so early in the year)
• Billie Starkz fake neck injury at ROH Supercard of Honor against Queen Aminata
• Most of everything in the Anarchy in the Arena match (possibly the Darby Allin winch upside down elements, or the flamethrower?)

[WORST / BIGGEST BOTCH]: Adam Page and Kip Sabian get their timing off

Honorable Mentions:

• Adam Copeland breaking his foot
  
• Sting's speech being cut off midway through at the end of Revolution
• All In footage shown on Dynamite
• October - referee puts Harley Cameron's shoulder down so Anna Jay can pin her
  

RECOGNITION

Explanation: Perception is everything, so which wrestler deserved more credit this year than they received and which wrestler was unworthy of all the praise he or she received?

[MOST UNDERRATED]: Shelton Benjamin

Honorable Mentions:

• Johnny TV
  
• Sammy Guevara
• (I think most people are rated about as well as they should be)
  

[MOST OVERRATED]: Mercedes Moné

Honorable Mentions:

• Deonna Purrazzo
• Jay White
• Rush
• Thunder Rosa
  
• Toni Storm
• Pretty much the entire women's division if someone doesn't admit that it's struggling incredibly
  

IMPROVEMENT IN A WRESTLER

Explanation: Which wrestler improved their work and saw the biggest upgrade and who saw the biggest downgrade in terms of a regression of their performance, spot on the roster, quality of value and so forth?

[BIGGEST UPGRADE]: Kyle Fletcher

Honorable Mentions:

• Jack Perry
• PAC
  
• Private Party
• Swerve Strickland
  

[BIGGEST DOWNGRADE]: Ricky Starks

Honorable Mentions:

• Hikaru Shida
• Lucha Bros
  
• Saraya
• Wardlow
  

RING WORK

Explanation: Which two wrestlers were the best and the worst when performing in the ring?

[BEST]: Will Ospreay

Honorable Mentions:

• Bryan Danielson
• Claudio Castagnoli
• Jack Perry
• Konosuke Takeshita
• Orange Cassidy
• PAC
• Roderick Strong

[WORST]: Saraya

Honorable Mentions:

• ROH talent?
• Hardy Boyz
  
• Parker Boudreaux
• Satnam Singh
  

MIC WORK

Explanation: Who had the best and worst promo skills, charisma, and performing as an entertaining character with all of the verbal aspects of AEW.

[BEST]: Christian Cage

Honorable Mentions:

• Don Callis
• Mark Briscoe
  

[WORST]: Mercedes Moné

Honorable Mentions:

• Ricochet
  
• Saraya
• Most people are meh at best
  

MATCH OF THE YEAR

Explanation: Matches can be from any show, including AEW Collision, AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage as well as pay-per-views.

[BEST]: I'd have to go back and rewatch the following, but I'd go with one of these...

Honorable Mentions:

• Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita — AEW Revolution
• Will Ospreay vs. Bryan Danielson — AEW Dynasty
• Ladder Match for the Vacated AEW World Tag Team Championship: Young Bucks vs. FTR — AEW Dynasty
• Anarchy in the Arena — AEW Double or Nothing
• Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson — AEW All In

[WORST]: I honestly don't know; this is something I haven't tracked in the chaos of 2024

Honorable Mentions:

• Take your pick from this list?
  

[WRITING AWARDS]

CATCH PHRASE or SLOGAN

Explanation: This includes any kind of regularly mentioned slogan, taunt, catch phrase, signature sign-off or any verbal sayings of those sorts.

[BEST]: "Thanks guys!" from Chris Jericho (just obnoxious enough for me to like it)

Honorable Mentions:

• "I'm Orange Cassidy, and I don't need a catch phrase."
• "Bitch" - Kazuchika Okada
• Who's house? Swerve's house
  

[WORST]: "CEO!" / "There's a price to pay when you mess with Mercedes Moné"

Honorable Mentions:

• Meat (it's a Big E thing, not an AEW thing!!! Stop biting off WWE stuff and create your own!)
  

GIMMICK

Explanation: Which wrestlers portrayed the best and the worst characters this year?

[BEST]: Orange Cassidy

Honorable Mentions:

• Chris Jericho in general, Lionheart and Educator/Learning Tree and more
• MxM Collection
• Christian Cage / Patriarchy
• Hologram
• Harley Cameron
  
• There aren't many gimmicks in AEW
  

[WORST]: Mercedes Moné

Honorable Mentions:

• Conglomeration (random as hell; no cohesion)
• Iron Savages
• Scapegoat Jack Perry
  

TITLE REIGN

Explanation: Who had the most meaningful time with a championship to their name, where the matches were good, the feuds were interesting, and you were enjoying their reign, as well as who failed to meet those expectations and perhaps had a boring, uneventful, bad run with a belt.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: all of the title reigns on this list for AEW and this list for ROH

[BEST]: I don't think I could pick any this year as they all blurred together as just fine

[WORST]: ^ repeat

MOST SHOCKING MOMENT

Explanation: What was the absolute biggest surprise you had this entire year that you didn't see coming?

[MOST SHOCKING MOMENT]: Hypodermic needle spot

Honorable Mentions:

• Billie Starkz fake neck injury at ROH Supercard of Honor against Queen Aminata
• Nigel McGuinness wrestles at AEW All In
• Tony Khan attacked by The Elite
• All In footage shown
  

SMARK OUT MOMENTS

Explanation: What did you consider to be the overall best and worst things to have happened this year? What was the coolest thing to make you happy as a fan and which moment was so horrible that it made you the most disappointed with AEW?

[BEST]: Sting's retirement

Honorable Mentions:

• Nigel McGuinness wrestles at AEW All In
• Bryan Danielson wins AEW World Championship
  
• Hook retires FTW Championship
  

[WORST]: Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe and Kyle O'Reilly drop $7k in change on Chris Jericho's Bentley

Honorable Mentions:

• Adam Copeland rah rah speech
• Ric Flair
  
• All In footage shown on Dynamite

STORYLINE

Explanation: What were the most interesting, well-executed storylines of the year and which feuds were the least interesting, terrible ones to watch?

[BEST]: Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland

Honorable Mentions:

• Bryan Danielson's injuries
  

[WORST]: TBD

Honorable Mentions:

• Adam Cole vs MJF
• Conglomeration vs Learning Tree
• The Elite takeover
• Ric Flair's part of Sting's retirement
  

PAY-PER-VIEW or SPECIAL EVENT

Explanation: What were your favorite and least favorite pay-per-views or special events from the year?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All pay-per-views and special events are indicated on this list

[BEST]: Every event feels exactly the same to me, to the point that I cannot distinguish them

[WORST]: ^ repeat

[PERFORMER AWARDS]

MANAGER or VALET

Explanation: This includes anybody who regularly accompanies someone down to the ring in some capacity, but is not their tag team partner in the ring.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All managers and valets on the roster are indicated on this list

[BEST]: Don Callis

Honorable Mentions:

• MVP
  
• Prince Nana
  
• Stokely Hathaway
  

[WORST]: CJ Perry / Ric Flair

Honorable Mentions:

• Is Jake Roberts really helping out LFI?
• Jose the Assistant wasn't much of an assistant this year, was he?
  

COMMENTATOR

Explanation: This includes all members of the commentary teams on all brands, including the foreign commentators.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: Caprice Coleman, Chris Jericho, Excalibur, Ian Riccaboni, Jim Ross, Matt Menard, Nigel McGuinness, Taz, Tony Schiavone + anyone else I might be forgetting

[BEST]: Excalibur

Honorable Mentions:

• Tony Schiavone
  

[WORST]: Jim Ross

NEWCOMER

Explanation: The Best/Worst Newcomer award applies to anybody who either made their debut, or were repackaged into a completely different gimmick with a different name.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All newcomers to the roster are indicated amongst the wrestlers on this list

[BEST]: Will Ospreay

Honorable Mentions:

• The Beast Mortos
• The Hurt Syndicate
• Kazuchika Okada

[WORST]: Kamille / Zak Knight

Honorable Mentions:

• Mercedes Moné
  

TAG TEAM or STABLE

Explanation: Which tag team or stable did you like and hate the most?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All tag teams can be found on this list

[BEST]: The Don Callis Family

Honorable Mentions:

• Hurt Syndicate
• Learning Tree
  
• MxM Collection
  

[WORST]: Best Friends

Honorable Mentions:

• Dalton Castle and The Boys
• The Hardy Boyz
  
• The Undisputed Kingdom
  
• ** Conglomeration
  
• Random pretty meaningless teams = Beef & JD Drake / Outcasts / Premier Athletes / Spanish Announce Project
  

HEEL

Explanation: Who was the most hated villain and which wrestler failed the most to get the crowd to boo them?

[BEST]: Jon Moxley

Honorable Mentions:

• Adam Page
• Christian Cage
• Don Callis / Konosuke Takeshita / Kyle Fletcher
• I wish I could put MJF down here, but I can't
  

[WORST]: Mercedes Moné

Honorable Mentions:

• Aaron Solo and the miscellaneous do-nothing jobbers
• Chris Jericho (when it works, I like him, when it doesn't, I'm just bored)
• House of Black
  
• Lio Rush / Action Andretti?
  
• LFI
• Parker Boudreaux
• Saraya
  

BABYFACE

Explanation: Who was the best fan-favorite hero and which wrestler wasn't able to pull off being a babyface?

[BEST]: Darby Allin

Honorable Mentions:

• Bryan Danielson
  
• Orange Cassidy
• Mark Briscoe
  
• Swerve Strickland
• Will Ospreay
• Willow Nightingale
  

[WORST]: The Hardy Boyz

Honorable Mentions:

• Britt Baker
• Anyone who I can't even keep track of that I'm supposed to care about, but they're just "a wrestler" and garners no reaction
  

FEMALE WRESTLER

Explanation: Which female wrestlers were the cream of the crop and the bottom of the barrel?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All wrestlers who were in AEW this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: Willow Nightingale

Honorable Mentions:

• Kris Statlander
  

[WORST]: Kamille

Honorable Mentions:

• Abadon
• Deonna Purrazzo
• Saraya
• No opinions = Diamante, Kiera Hogan, Marina Shafir and such
  

MALE WRESTLER

Explanation: Which male wrestlers were the cream of the crop and the bottom of the barrel?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All wrestlers who were in AEW this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: Will Ospreay

Honorable Mentions:

• Bryan Danielson
• Darby Allin
• Jon Moxley
  
• Orange Cassidy
• Swerve Strickland
  

[WORST]: Take your pick

Honorable Mentions:

• Aaron Solo
• Hardy Boyz
• Wardlow
• Zak Knight?
  

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

Explanation: Judging as a co-ed award out of both the men and women wrestlers who were in the company at some point, who was the absolute best and worst in the company this year?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All wrestlers who were in AEW this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: Will Ospreay

Honorable Mentions:

• Bryan Danielson
• Darby Allin
• Jon Moxley
  
• Orange Cassidy
• Swerve Strickland

[WORST]: Kamille or Saraya

Honorable Mentions:

• Mercedes Moné
• Wardlow
• Zak Knight?
  
• The indifference collective of people I can't even remember or couldn't care about
  

LET US KNOW YOUR PICKS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!