Smark Out Moment

WWE has the Slammy Awards, but here at Smark Out Moment, we like to take an even closer look at what happened throughout the year. Not only do we award the best of many more categories, we also point out the worst that we've seen in the past 12 months of what World Wrestling Entertainment had to offer.

Welcome to the WWE half of the 15th annual Smark Out Moment Awards, aka The Smarkies!

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 these divisions (Technical Skill Awards, Writing Awards and Performer Awards)!

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

[TECHNICAL SKILLS AWARDS]

ENTRANCE

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

[BEST]: Roman Reigns (WrestleMania XL)

Honorable Mentions:

• Chase University
• Cody Rhodes
  
• Jey Uso
• Joe Hendry
  
• Ludwig Kaiser (bobbing his head to his theme)
• Oba Femi
  
• Trick Williams
  
• The Wyatt Sicks
  

[WORST]: Natalya (Main Event, April 4)

Honorable Mentions:

• AJ Styles (WrestleMania XL) - debut of a new theme that sucks and he just goes straight to fighting LA Knight immediately to undercut it as well
• Awesome Truth - The Miz is never on the beat
• Bayley
  
• Carlito
• Eddy Thorpe
  
• Ilja Dragunov (Animaniacs)
  
• Iyo Sky (too silly)
• Jimmy Uso
  
• Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
• Naomi's new theme
• Natalya (Main Event, April 4 - kid with sensory headphones on doesn't want her glasses and then refuses to give her a high-five)

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]: Jade Cargill (overall)

Honorable Mentions =

• Zelina Vega [Royal Rumble]
• Lyra Valkyria [NXT Stand & Deliver]
• Carmelo Hayes [NXT Stand & Deliver, Black Panther Golden Jaguar Habit]
• Rey Mysterio [WrestleMania, Eagles]
• Giulia
• Jacy Jayne
• Jade Cargill
• Karmen Petrovic
• Maxxine Dupri
• Rhea Ripley (almost anything; WarGames mask)
• Scarlett Bordeaux (Raw, December 9)
  
• Shinsuke Nakamura
• Stephanie Vaquer

[WORST]: Uncle Howdy

Honorable Mentions:

• Andre Chase
• Brooks Jensen
• Charlie Dempsey
  
• Kevin Owens
• Lexis King's beard

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 superstar's repertoire. Typically, these are finishers (such as the Attitude Adjustment) but it could also be a signature setup (such as the Five Knuckle Shuffle) or something along those lines.

[BEST]: Sol Ruca's Sol Snatcher

Honorable Mentions:

• Anyone's good ol' fashioned powerbomb (Oba Femi and such)
• Bianca Belair's KOD
• Bron Breakker's spear
• Bronson Reed's tsunami splash
• Damian Priest's South of Heaven
  
• Nia Jax's Annihilator
• Stephanie Vaquer's thing where she slams someone's head on the mat while bouncing her butt up and down

[WORST]: Bayley's Rose Plant (face smash DDT thing)

Honorable Mentions:

• All the forgettable ones
• When Brutus Creed misses the Brutus Ball
  

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]: The ending of Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns

Honorable Mentions:

• Joaquin Wilde's assisted springboard from NXT New Year's Evil (link; won't win, but it was cool)
  
• Kairi Sane temporarily saving herself from elimination at Royal Rumble by holding onto the ring apron
• Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman brawl / car spot
• Chelsea Green falls backward off ladder onto 2 tables on the outside at MITB
• Kevin Owens gives Randy Orton a piledriver
  

[WORST / BIGGEST BOTCH]: Randy Orton's shoulder is up at King & Queen of the Ring

Honorable Mentions:

• LA Knight swallows his gum on SmackDown prior to WrestleMania
• Bron Breakker gets his head caught on the ropes when running at NXT Stand & Deliver
• Randy Orton's shoulder is way up for Gunther's pinfall at King & Queen of the Ring (and they even try to use another camera angle to hide it in the recap, only for that one to also show it, and Corey Graves says he'd like to get another angle of it)
• "Why would LA want to face you?" - Carmelo Hayes forgets Logan Paul's name while talking to LA Knight
• Odyssey Jones finally shows up and then gets fired 2-3 weeks later
• Tonga Loa fails to low-blow Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank
• Damian Priest doesn't kick out at Money in the Bank
• "Women's Tag Team Champions - Talent Name" graphic for Cody Rhodes at Clash at the Castle 
• Damian Priest gets foot caught in ropes against Drew McIntyre at Clash at the Castle
• RKO / Je'Von Evans
• LA Knight drops US title before dropping it to Shinsuke Nakamura at Survivor Series

RECOGNITION

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

[MOST UNDERRATED]: Ethan Page

Honorable Mentions:

• Damian Priest
• Fallon Henley
• Jacy Jayne
• Karrion Kross
  
• Thea Hail
• Xavier Woods
• Zelina Vega
  

[MOST OVERRATED]: Bayley

Honorable Mentions:

• Finn Balor
• The Wyatt Sicks
  
• Anyone who gets "stanned" by crazy people online

IMPROVEMENT IN A SUPERSTAR

Explanation: Which superstar 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]: Nia Jax

Honorable Mentions:

• Axiom and Nathan Frazer
• Chelsea Green
  
• Ethan Page (*newcomer, but based on his spot in AEW)
  
• Lash Legend
• Liv Morgan
  
• Lyra Valkyria
• Oba Femi
  

[BIGGEST DOWNGRADE]: Von Wagner

Honorable Mentions:

• Bobby Lashley
• Drew Gulak
• Giovanni Vinci
  
• Nikkita Lyons
  

RING WORK

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

[BEST]: Seth Rollins

Honorable Mentions:

• Bianca Belair
• Bron Breakker
• Carmelo Hayes
  
• Chad Gable
• Gunther
  
• Sami Zayn
  
• Sol Ruca
  
• Stephanie Vaquer

[WORST]: I'm not sure I can pick between the following options...

Honorable Mentions:

• B-Fab
• Elektra Lopez
• Maxxine Dupri
• Nikkita Lyons?
• Tonga Loa
  
• Valhalla

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 WWE.

[BEST]: CM Punk / Dominik Mysterio

Honorable Mentions:

• Chelsea Green
• CM Punk
• Cody Rhodes
• Dominik Mysterio
• Ethan Page
• Grayson Waller
• Kevin Owens
  
• Ludwig Kaiser
  
• R-Truth
• Roman Reigns
  
• Seth Rollins
• Tony D'Angelo
  

[WORST]: Roxanne Perez

Honorable Mentions:

• Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn
• Ilja Dragunov
• Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
• Pete Dunne
• Scrypts
• Tyler Bate
• + the people who don't speak English, naturally
  

MATCH OF THE YEAR

Explanation: Matches can be from any show, including Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Main Event, NXT Level Up, pay-per-views and special events.

[BEST]: Bloodline Rules Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes — WrestleMania XL

Honorable Mentions:

• Six-Pack Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship — WrestleMania XL
• Triple Threat for the United States Championship — WrestleMania XL
• CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre — Hell in a Cell at WWE Bad Blood
• There are probably so many others that I've just lost track of.

[WORST]: Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso — WrestleMania XL (maybe not the technically worst, but it had the most hype for what would be the worst overall value)

Honorable Mentions:

• Ivy Nile vs. Valhalla — Monday Night Raw (January 22)
• There are probably so many others that I've just lost track of.

[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]: "I love you, Solo!!" - Jacob Fatu

Honorable Mentions:

• Give me a C-H-A-S-E-U, what's that spell? Chase U!
  
• It's Tiffy Time / Tiffany epiphany
• Say his name and he appears, I believe in Joe Hendry (clap clap)
• With everybody sayin' LA Knight, yeah!
  
• Yeet
• Whoop that trick / what / yeah / uh huh / I like it / oh yeah man / oh yeah man / oh yeah man / that's Trick
  

[WORST]: Bron Breakker - "The Unpredictable Badass"

Honorable Mentions:

• Finish the story (when used by other people instead of Cody Rhodes)
• (blank) returns to Raw/SmackDown (when they were there 2 weeks prior like The Rock being on Feb 16th and advertised as "returning" on March 1st)
• The Judgment Day runs Monday Night Raw
  
• Pure Fusion Collective has a slogan, right?
  

GIMMICK

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

[BEST]: Dominik Mysterio

Honorable Mentions:

• Chelsea Green
• Joe Hendry
• R-Truth
  
• Tatum Paxley just wants friends to play with
  
• Tiffany Stratton
• Tony D'Angelo
  

[WORST]: Giovanni Vinci

Honorable Mentions:

• Bron Breakker - "The Unpredictable Badass"
• Eddy Thorpe
  
• Katana Chance & Kayden Carter party girls
• Lexis King's daddy issues
  
• Pete Dunne doesn't like being called Butch
• Scrypts
• The Wyatt Sicks

HEEL or FACE TURN

Explanation: The Best/Worst Heel or Face Turn award asks which character turn (whether it was from heel to face or face to heel doesn't matter) was the most effective and interesting and which one was stupid and a mistake.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: all heel and face turns are on this list

[BEST]: The New Day turns on Big E

Honorable Mentions:

• Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa turn heel on Motor City Machine Guns
• Kevin Owens attacks Cody Rhodes in the parking lot
  
• Roman Reigns helps Cody Rhodes against Solo Sikoa at SummerSlam
  
• Tatum Paxley wants friends / heel and face at various points
  
• The Rock becomes The Final Boss
• Wendy Choo wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and becomes a nightmare
• Wes Lee turns on Zachary Wentz and Trey Miguel
  

[WORST]: Ridge Holland's feud with Shawn Spears, then LWO, then face turn for Chase U, then heel turn again

Honorable Mentions:

• Bayley turns face when overhearing Damage CTRL making fun of her in February
• Bron Breakker can't decide
  
• Candice LeRae bullies Maxxine Dupri over her dead brother (March)
• Carlito turns heel in reveal AFTER WrestleMania
• Lola Vice just randomly starts being a babyface around July
  

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

[BEST]: I'm not entirely sure I can pick between the options below

Honorable Mentions:

• Cody Rhodes (WWE Championship)
  
• Damian Priest (World Heavyweight Championship)
• Oba Femi (NXT North American Championship)
  
• Seth Rollins (World Heavyweight Championship)

[WORST]: All of the WWE Speed Championship runs are so pointless

Honorable Mentions:

• All of the United States Championship runs this year (Logan Paul, LA Knight, Shinsuke Nakamura) 
• Awesome Truth (World Tag Team Championship)
• Bayley (WWE Women's Championship)
• Bron Breakker's first Intercontinental Championship
• Chase U (NXT Tag Team Championship)
• Jey Uso (Intercontinental Championship)
  

TELEVISION SHOW or DIGITAL PROGRAM

Explanation: Out of WWE's programming all across the board on networks, streaming services, and digital platforms, which shows are your favorite and least favorite?

[BEST]: NXT

Honorable Mentions:

• Raw
• The Ultimate Show

[WORST]: Main Event

Honorable Mentions:

• NXT Level Up
• WWE Speed
  
• + extraneous recap type shows
  

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]: WrestleMania XL

Honorable Mentions = ???

[WORST]: The Slammy Awards

Honorable Mentions:

• I have no idea from my memory, but probably one of the special episodes of television.
  

MOST SHOCKING MOMENT

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

[MOST SHOCKING MOMENT]: Vince McMahon's trafficking scandal happening on the same week as Raw announced for Netflix and The Rock joining the TKO Board of Directors

Honorable Mentions:

• Jordynne Grace appears in Royal Rumble
• Damian Priest cashes in Money in the Bank at WrestleMania
• Jordynne Grace fights Roxanne Perez at NXT Battleground
• Ethan Page jumps Trick Williams from behind to make his debut

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 WWE?

[BEST]: Cody Rhodes beats Roman Reigns at WrestleMania

Honorable Mentions:

• R-Truth wants to be tagged in to the Royal Rumble
  
• Cody Rhodes wins Royal Rumble
• Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman Hall of Fame speeches
• Damian Priest cashes in Money in the Bank at WrestleMania
• I am the stoooorm / you're in my way in life / Georgia tech SmackDown promo with Cody and Roman all dramatic and shit

[WORST]: Cody Rhodes gives up his WrestleMania match to The Rock

Honorable Mentions:

• Vince McMahon trafficking
• The overabundance and increase of ads with the PRIME logo on the mat and all

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]: CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre

Honorable Mentions:

• The Downfall of The Bloodline
• Dominik Mysterio / Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley
  

[WORST]: TBD

Honorable Mentions:

• Final Testament / Pride
  
• Final Testament / New Day / Odyssey Jones
• Pete Dunne doesn't like being called Butch
• Final Testament keeps trying to recruit losers
• The Wyatt Sicks
• Eddy Thorpe vs Lexis King
• Lexis King's downfall
• LWO vs Legado Del Fantasma
• The Judgment Day keeps teasing breaking up

[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]: Paul Heyman

Honorable Mentions:

[WORST]: B-Fab

Honorable Mentions = Elektra Lopez, Paul Ellering & Scarlett

COMMENTATOR

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

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: Blake Howard, Booker T, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Jesse Ventura, Joe Tessitore, Kevin Patrick, Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Sudu Shah, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

[BEST]: Michael Cole

Honorable Mentions = Pat McAfee, Vic Joseph

[WORST]: Kevin Patrick

ROSTER NEWCOMER

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

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

[BEST]: Jacob Fatu

Honorable Mentions:

• Ethan Page
• Giulia
  
• Jade Cargill (*technically appeared in 2023, but didn't wrestle until 2024)
  
• Je'Von Evans
  
• Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
• Stephanie Vaquer
  
• Tama Tonga
• Wren Sinclair
• Zaria

[WORST]: Tonga Loa

Honorable Mentions:

• Saquon Shugars had a bad go about in 2024, but that's not his fault
• Why has Hikuleo not shown up yet??
  

MAIN ROSTER CALL-UP

Explanation: Which of the superstars who moved up from NXT or developmental to the main roster have done the best and the worst with their promotion?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All call-ups to the main roster are indicated amongst the superstars on this list

[BEST]: Bron Breakker / Tiffany Stratton

Honorable Mentions:

• Carmelo Hayes
• Lyra Valkyria
  

[WORST]: Blair Davenport

Honorable Mentions:

• Elektra Lopez
• Kiana James
• Tyler Bate
  

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 Bloodline (New / OG)

Honorable Mentions:

• Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill
• The D'Angelo Family
  
• Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
  
• The Wolf Dogs (Baron Corbin & Bron Breakker)
  

[WORST]: Indus Sher

Honorable Mentions:

• Apollo Crews & Baron Corbin
• Final Testament
• Gallus
• Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows
• Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
• Legado del Fantasma
• LWO
• New Catch Republic
  
• Pure Fusion Collective

HEEL

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

[BEST]: Dirty Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan / Drew McIntyre

Honorable Mentions:

• Chelsea Green
• Gunther
• Jacy Jayne
• Ludwig Kaiser
  
• The Rock
• Roman Reigns
  

[WORST]: Giovanni Vinci

Honorable Mentions:

• Blair Davenport
• Gallus
• Indi Hartwell
• Ridge Holland
• Roxanne Perez
• Scrypts
  
• Tegan Nox
  

BABYFACE

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

[BEST]: Cody Rhodes

Honorable Mentions:

• Bianca Belair
• CM Punk
  
• Damian Priest
  
• Je'Von Evans
• Joe Hendry
  
• Kelani Jordan
• LA Knight
• Randy Orton
  
• Rhea Ripley
• Seth Rollins
  
• Tatum Paxley
  

[WORST]: Katana Chance & Kayden Carter

Honorable Mentions:

• Andrade
• Cameron Grimes
• Dante Chen
• Eddy Thorpe
• Natalya
  

FEMALE SUPERSTAR

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

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All superstars who were in WWE this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: Liv Morgan / Rhea Ripley

Honorable Mentions:

• Bianca Belair
• Fallon Henley
• Kelani Jordan
  
• Nia Jax
• Tiffany Stratton
  

[WORST]: Blair Davenport

Honorable Mentions:

• B-Fab
• Elektra Lopez
• Indi Hartwell
• Nikkita Lyons
  
• Tegan Nox
• Valhalla

MALE SUPERSTAR

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

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All superstars who were in WWE this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: Cody Rhodes

Honorable Mentions:

• Damian Priest
• Dominik Mysterio
• Gunther
• Jey Uso
• Roman Reigns
• Seth Rollins

[WORST]: Giovanni Vinci

Honorable Mentions:

• Andrade
• Cameron Grimes
  
• Eddy Thorpe
• Gallus
• Scrypts
  

SUPERSTAR 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 superstars who were in WWE this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: Cody Rhodes

Honorable Mentions:

• Bianca Belair
• Damian Priest
• Dominik Mysterio
• Gunther
• Jey Uso
• Liv Morgan / Rhea Ripley
• Nia Jax
• Roman Reigns
• Seth Rollins
• Tiffany Stratton

[WORST]: Giovanni Vinci

Honorable Mentions:

• Andrade
• Blair Davenport
• Cameron Grimes
  
• Eddy Thorpe
• Elektra Lopez
• Gallus
• Nikkita Lyons
  
• Scrypts
• Valhalla

LET US KNOW YOUR PICKS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!