updated 31.3.97 - CRZ Copyright This document is compilation copyright (c) 1996 by Christopher Robin Zimmerman. It may be freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety as long as this copyright notice is not removed. It may not be sold for profit or incorporated into commercial products without the editor's written permission. [Compilation copyright means that you can freely use individual sections of this document, but any significant collection of sections is subject to the copyright.] If you *do* use results from these awards in your magazine/sheet, let me know (email:chris@aimnet.com) and optionally, send me a free copy 1/2 ;-). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The prologue: I'm happy to say just over a hundred ballots were received this year, making this almost maybe the highest turnout in awards history (ok, I didn't really check Herb's awards...his server was so *slow!*). Sadly, I had to reject a lot of votes for various reasons, but most got through ok. I did throw out one entire ballot, which seemed to serve the sole purpose of allowing the voter to get his character over on r.s.p-w, which conflicts with the purpose of running this vote: namely, to find out r.s.p-w's picks for the year. I also got one ballot in binhex, which I didn't bother to convert (because hey, I can't be bothered. I did send two requests for an unencoded version to be sent to me but I don't think I got it). Several people voted for the same person or organization more than once in a category, I caught most (I hope) of those and rejected them. Most of the other rejections were put in a nice little pile called REJECTIONS at the bottom of the individual category results. And with all that out of the way, it's time for the results! Big thank yous to Pete Stein, Rick Scaia and Cal Jewell (in advance). Thanks also to Kevin Larkin, Mike Lorefice, and Chuck Lipsig for providing post-production proofreading and adding dates. And a whopping big thank you to Herb Kunze, not only for providing invaluable advice on administration, but for having lots of dates, names, and data on his Wrestling web site for me to blatantly steal from. I now fully appreciate the Herculean task he took on for six years, and hope my efforts can come close to his. For those of you just tuning in, these are the 7th Annual Rec.Sport.Pro-Wrestling Year-end Achievement Awards - r.s.p-w's look at the best and the worst of the previous year (11/2/95-11/1/96). A two month nomination and voting process is distilled down to the results below. Any typos are mine and mine alone, please point them out and I can correct them for later releases. A HTML-ized version of these awards is in the works, if you have pictures or other files associated with the winners, let me know and I can put you in touch with the Web designers. Finally, remember that these awards are based solely on the principle of MODO (tm me, yes, me, dammit!). Your Own Damn Opinion is the only one that really counts. Here we go! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler of the year. This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews, charisma, value to his/her promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. Previous Winners: 1990: Curt Hennig 1991: Ric Flair 1992: Ric Flair 1993: Big Van Vader 1994: Bret Hart 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Shawn Michaels 98 first place votes 97 second place votes 97 third place votes 22 10 10 160 Shawn Michaels 13 15 9 128 Steve Austin 12 6 10 98 Chris Benoit 8 7 14 89 Rey Mysterio Jr. 8 10 7 84 Bret Hart 5 9 8 68 Dean Malenko 7 3 1 46 Kenta Kobashi 5 4 4 45 Marc Mero 4 2 4 34 Jushin Liger 2 6 3 34 Sabu 1 2 3 17 Mitsuhara Misawa 1 2 2 15 Ric Flair 1 2 2 15 Eddie Guerrero 0 2 4 14 Manami Toyota 1 2 1 13 Shinjiro Otani 1 1 2 12 Great Sasuke 1 2 0 11 Kevin Nash 1 1 0 8 Shane Douglas 1 0 1 7 Undertaker 1 0 1 7 Juventud Guerrera 0 2 0 6 Ultimo Dragon 0 2 0 6 Rob Van Dam 1 0 0 5 Steven Regal 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness 1 0 0 5 Hayabusa 0 1 1 5 Taz 0 1 1 5 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 1 5 Giant 0 0 2 4 Sycho Sid 0 0 2 4 Sting 0 1 0 3 Shiro Koshinaka 0 1 0 3 Scott Hall 0 1 0 3 Psychosis 0 1 0 3 Ahmed Johnson 0 0 1 2 Vader 0 0 1 2 Keiji Mutoh 0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn 0 0 1 2 Aja Kong MIKE LOREFICE: Kobashi has been the best worker in All Japan for five years. This year he was finally rewarded with the Triple Crown. Toyota carries the aging All Japan Women company on her back. She is always on top and her matches are consistently great. Liger regained the IWGP Jr title for a while. He continues to be the benchmark for all the jrs. His unselfishness and great booking of the New Japan jrs. got him the nod. WOJO: Shawn Michels faced every tough challenge and won, even defeating Bret Hart for the title. Steve Austin has gotten a big push in little time. Rey Mysterio Jr. is unbelievable in the ring. BO WHITE: Benoit can wrestle every style - best in ring wrestler today. Flair can still carry a great match. HERB KUNZE: Nobody compares to Kenta Kobashi; he excels at the toughest style in the world to work. Mitsuhara Misawa gets second rather easily. Third goes to Shawn Michaels. Maybe I just haven't seen enough. All Japan Women this year to put the women into the mix, but what I have seen was definitely a notch below what they were doing a couple of years ago. OLIVER POSTLETHWAITE: Jushin Liger had a phenomenal year both in the ring and outside in New Japan. He had what I consider the best match of the year against Shinjiro Ohtani (3/96) as well as a number of other "must see" matches such as the Top of the Super Jr. final against Black Tiger (Eddie Guerrero). His outside the ring work as booker of the New Japan junior heavyweight division was just as good with the Skydiving J show in June and the historical J-Crown single elimination tournament that unified 8 junior heavyweight titles. All of this would be enough without the added burden of coming back from a major leg injury that had him miss a good part of 1995 and surgery in August to remove a brain tumour. These are the reasons I've chosen him as the best wrestler of 1996. RICK SCAIA: In my mind, there are three performers who are a step above all the rest in the sport today. Sabu is the most amazing, innovative flyer/risk taker in the business. Chris Benoit is the tightest, most crisp technical wrestler gracing the ring. Both have a unique brand of charisma that does not take the form of great interviews or smarmy catch-phrases. And then there is Shawn Michaels, the nearly-perfect combination of high-flying bumpmeister, competent technical wrestler, and incredibly proficient interviewer/heat machine. For as much as his in-ring character has begun to grate on my nerves, it can't be denied that he generates a genuine spark of interest from the fans with his overwhelmingcharisma. And in voting for this award, that's the only thing I can think of that puts Michaels over the top as the #1 vote; I'll go with Sabu at #2, and Benoit at #3. But on any given day, those three could swap position... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestler (North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Sabu 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Shawn Michaels 92 first place votes 91 second place votes 91 third place votes 23 9 11 164 Shawn Michaels 12 16 11 130 Steve Austin 15 9 11 124 Rey Mysterio Jr. 11 13 10 114 Chris Benoit 9 8 8 85 Bret Hart 6 8 10 74 Dean Malenko 5 4 5 47 Marc Mero 2 6 2 32 Sabu 2 3 3 25 Eddie Guerrero 1 2 2 15 2 Cold Scorpio 1 1 3 14 Ric Flair 1 1 3 14 Giant 1 1 0 8 Owen Hart 1 1 0 8 Kevin Nash 0 2 0 6 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 0 3 6 Sting 1 0 0 5 Rob Van Dam 1 0 0 5 Juventud Guerrera 0 1 1 5 Taz 0 1 1 5 Shane Douglas 0 0 2 4 Ultimo Dragon 0 1 0 3 Scott Hall 0 1 0 3 Psychosis 0 1 0 3 Mankind 0 1 0 3 Jushin Liger 0 1 0 3 Ahmed Johnson 0 0 1 2 Undertaker 0 0 1 2 Sycho Sid 0 0 1 2 Miguel Perez Jr. 0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn 0 0 1 2 Al Snow MIKE LOREFICE: Rey Misterio Jr. is clearly the best of all the regulars in North America. While he's not pushed to the top in WCW, he has proven that a sub 150 pound wrestler can make it in the states. 2 Cold has to be the most unappreciated wrestler in North America. Despite his lack of a major title, he consistently had the best matches in ECW. Chris Benoit proved that you can get over with intensity even if you lack charisma or interview skills. HERB KUNZE: Shawn Michaels is the best in North America, partly because of the position he's been given. The remaining candidates for this award are, in many ways, better than Michaels, but Michaels is the total package. Chris Benoit takes second and seems to be heading for the top spot as he's finally showing some personality to go with his unbelievable ability. Eddie Guerrero takes third. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestler (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Chris Benoit 1995: Chris Benoit **1996** : Jushin Liger 63 first place votes 58 second place votes 54 third place votes 9 10 8 91 Jushin Liger 12 4 2 76 Kenta Kobashi 12 1 1 65 Rey Misterio Jr. 8 3 4 57 Chris Benoit 5 4 5 47 Great Muta (Keiji Mutoh) 2 5 5 35 Ultimo Dragon 2 5 4 33 Manami Toyota 2 5 3 31 Great Sasuke 2 3 2 23 Shinjiro Otani 2 3 0 19 Sabu 0 5 2 19 Mitsuhara Misawa 0 3 1 11 Psicosis 0 1 4 11 Toshiaki Kawada 0 0 4 8 Juventud Guerrera 1 0 0 5 Yoji Anjo 1 0 0 5 Super Calo 1 0 0 5 Stan Hansen 1 0 0 5 Hayabusa 0 1 1 5 Nobuhiko Takada 0 0 2 4 Kyoko Inoue 0 0 2 4 Kensuke Sasaki 0 1 0 3 Super Crazy 0 1 0 3 Shiro Koshinaka 0 1 0 3 Riki Choshu 0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono 0 1 0 3 Aja Kong 0 0 1 2 Shinya Hashimoto 0 0 1 2 Meyumi Kudoh 0 0 1 2 Hakushi 0 0 1 2 Eddie Guerrero REJECTED VOTES 1 0 0 Loch Ness 1 0 0 British Bulldog 1 0 0 Bret Hart MIKE LOREFICE: Since no one in North America is booked into a spot to challenge my puroresu top three there is no need to make any changes. HERB KUNZE: The top is Kenta Kobashi, followed by Mitsuahara Misawa. There are several thoughts for third, but I want to go with Shinjiro Otani because he always puts on great matches regardless of the style that he's working. He is the best of the young crop (followed closely by Jun Akiyama). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Tag Team Award Description: To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of the year This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate, technical ability, interviews, charisma, hot team moves, value to their promotion, etc. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. Previous Winners: 1990: The Steiners: Rick & Scott 1991: The Steiners: Rick & Scott 1992: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams 1993: The Hollywood Blonds: Brian Pillman & Steve Austin 1994: The Steiners: Rick & Scott 1995: Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge **1996**: Harlem Heat: Booker T & Stevie Ray 96 first place votes 94 second place votes 87 third place votes 24 15 14 193 Harlem Heat - Booker T & Stevie Ray 20 13 4 147 Eliminators - Perry Saturn & John Kronos 5 9 16 84 Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith 9 9 3 78 Outsiders - Hall & Nash 7 11 5 78 Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat 9 1 2 52 Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama 3 5 6 42 Public Enemy - Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge 2 3 6 31 Steiner Brothers - Rick & Scott 2 4 2 26 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda 2 3 3 25 Smoking Gunns - Billy & Bart 3 3 0 24 Sting & Lex Luger 0 5 3 21 Faces of Fear - Meng & Barbarian 2 1 3 19 Double Inoues - Kyoko & Takako 2 1 2 17 Gangstas - New Jack & Mustafa Saed 2 0 3 16 New and Improved Rockers - Marty Jannetty & Leif Cassidy 0 1 3 9 Steve Williams & Johnny Ace 1 1 0 8 Tekno Team 2000 - Travis & Troy 0 2 1 8 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 1 0 1 7 Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal 0 2 0 6 Stevie Richards & Blue Meanie 0 2 0 6 Pit Bulls 1 0 0 5 Doc and Gordy 1 0 0 5 Chono & Tenzan 0 0 2 4 Sabu & Rob Van Dam 0 1 0 3 Jushin Liger & El Samurai 0 1 0 3 Grimm Twins - Jared & Jason 0 1 0 3 Amazing French Canadiens - Jacques Rougeau & Carl Oulette 0 0 1 2 Wildo & Ingus Jynx 0 0 1 2 Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki 0 0 1 2 Rough and Ready - Mike Enos & Dick Slater 0 0 1 2 Nasty Boys - Brian Nobs & Jerry Sags 0 0 1 2 Jerry Estrada & Juventud Guerrera 0 0 1 2 Jado & Gedo 0 0 1 2 Godwinns - Henry O. & Phineas I. 0 0 1 2 Bluebloods - Steve Regal & David Taylor & Robert Eaton ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": Hard to choose a tag team. Haven't seen Furnas/??? so I can't comment there. Should choose the Gunns but that would simply be pandering to Sunny. :-) MIKE LOREFICE: Pretty weak year for tag teams. Only one top notch team in North America for the whole year. The best teams are always in Japan, but those teams don't fight consistently in tag. I go with Misawa & Akiyama because they were champs and had consistenly great matches. Toyota & Shimoda and Double Inoues are the two best teams in AJW. I had the Eliminators in here, but the combination of seeing Toyota & Shimoda vs. Inoue's in a great match at Wrestlemarinpiad and seeing those horrible Eliminators vs. Gangstas matches spelled their doom. WOJO: Harlem Heat are not just big bad dudes, these guys can wrestle and perform a show. Smoking Guns are very entertaining, even though they're underrated. Owen and Bulldog: Two good singles wrestlers with plenty of tag experienc. HERB KUNZE: The only promotion with truly great tag teams, IMO, is All Japan. The North American promotions definitly don't compare. First goes to Misawa & Akiyama, second to Kawada & Taue, and third to Williams & Ace, although Kroffat & Furnas have been great every time I've seen them. Kroffat deserves mention for the intricate finishes that he books, something that sadly seems to be lacking at the beginning of his WWF stint. RICK SCAIA: It's rare that somebody can call themselves "the best" at anything, and have it actually mean something. Usually, it's just lame boasting that nobody takes serious. In the case of Bret Hart, it's a mantra that stopped meaning anything long ago and is now just a catch phrase. In the case of the Eliminators, it's the damn truth when Joey Styles says they're "the best tag team in the world." They are a team whose skills could earn them a place wrestling in Japan, but with a look that ensures they could be stars in any American promotion. And they are able to adapt to nearly any style; there aren't many teams I can think of that could have very good matches both against a team like Mikey Whipwreck and Sabu, and also against the Gangstas. The Elims did both this year. Amazing. ROD MORROW: It's such a shame that tag team wrestling is dead in the US. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Tag Team (North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Eddy Guerrero & Love Machine 1995: Public Enemy: Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge **1996**: Harlem Heat: Booker T & Stevie Ray 88 first place votes 85 second place votes 81 third place votes 22 18 14 192 Harlem Heat - Booker T & Stevie Ray 26 12 3 172 Eliminators - Perry Saturn & John Kronos 7 9 16 94 Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith 9 5 5 70 Outsiders - Hall & Nash 4 9 3 53 Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat 3 7 4 44 Public Enemy - Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge 3 3 7 38 Smoking Gunns - Billy & Bart 2 4 4 30 Steiner Brothers - Rick & Scott 3 3 0 24 Sting & Lex Luger 3 1 3 24 New & Improved Rockers - Marty Jannetty & Leif Cassidy 2 2 2 20 Gangstas 1 2 2 15 Faces of Fear - Meng & Barbarian 1 1 3 14 Sabu & Rob Van Dam 1 2 1 13 Tekno Team 2000 - Travis & Troy 0 2 1 8 Stevie Richards & Blue Meanie 0 2 1 8 Pit Bulls 1 0 1 7 Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal 0 1 2 7 Los Cowboys - Silver King & El Texano 0 0 3 6 Jerry Estrada & Juventud Guerrera 0 0 2 4 Nasty Boys - Brian Nobs & Jerry Sags 0 1 0 3 Steve Williams & Johnny Ace 0 1 0 3 Grimm Twins - Jared & Jason 0 0 1 2 Psicosis & Juventud Guerrera 0 0 1 2 Headhunters 0 0 1 2 Godwinns - Henry O. & Phineas I. 0 0 1 2 Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano JAMES FABIANO: The Eliminators are definitely the best team I've seen regularly this year, and they pretty much went unopposed for top honors. Kroffat and Furnas impressed me in the few times I've seen them compete in ECW, and hopefully Vince will not waste his chance with them (like he did with Hakushi). Sabu and Van Dam show promise, and hopefully they'll team regularly now that Van Dam "finally showed Sabu respect." Gee, it sure says something about the tag team situation in North America when I've only seen two of my choices in action together once or twice. MIKE LOREFICE: Eliminators are worlds above any team that consistently competed in NA this year. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas are better than the Eliminators, but they weren't in the country for the first half of the period. Despite being buried for no reason in WCW, Psicosis & Juventud did hold the Mexican tag titles. HERB KUNZE: I would put Kroffat & Furnas first just for their Survivor Series and RAW appearances, but those dates are outside of the voting period window, so they don't qualify. That either tells you how good they are or how bad the North American scene is. The ECW teams are far too sloppy to be included, IMO: for example, the American Males are a far better team than the Eliminators. This is sort of the "best of nothing special," IMO. The Smoking Gunns take first, Harlem Heat take second, and third seems up in the air. I'll cheat a bit and go with Akira Hokuto & Bull Nakano, who appeared on the 11/27/95 Nitro. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Tag Team (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Steiner Brothers 1995: Mitsuhara Misawa & Kenta Kobashi **1996**: Doug Furnas & Don Kroffat 45 first place votes 38 second place votes 34 third place votes 20 6 1 120 Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat 13 0 0 65 Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama 0 5 7 29 Steve Williams & Johnny Ace 3 3 1 26 Steiner Brothers - Rick & Scott 3 1 3 24 Double Inoues - Kyoko & Takako 2 3 1 21 Kenta Kobashi & Mitsuhara Misawa 1 2 4 19 Hawk & Kensuke Sasake 0 4 3 18 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda 1 3 1 16 Headhunters 1 1 2 12 Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan 0 3 1 11 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 0 1 2 7 Great Sasuke & Super Delfin 0 1 1 5 Steve Williams & Terry Gordy 0 1 1 5 Jushin Liger & El Samurai 0 1 0 3 Sabu & Rob Van Dam 0 1 0 3 Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera 0 1 0 3 Kenta Kobashi & Patroit 0 1 0 3 Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace 0 0 1 2 Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki 0 0 1 2 Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal 0 0 1 2 Kaintei - Dick Togo & Men's Teoh & Shiryu 0 0 1 2 Jado & Gedo 0 0 1 2 El Samaurai & Ultimo Dragon REJECTED 1 0 0 Kenta Kobashi 0 0 1 Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Heel Award Description: To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This person should bring out the fans' wrath. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in the past year. Previous Winners: 1990: Ted DiBiase 1991: Cactus Jack 1992: Jake Roberts 1993: Big Van Vader 1994: Bob Backlund 1995: Big Van Vader **1996**: Stone Cold Steve Austin (Ring Master) 101 first place votes 99 second place votes 98 third place votes 42 14 6 264 Steve Austin 15 4 5 97 Shane Douglas 8 12 10 96 Kevin Nash 11 4 9 85 Hulk Hogan 7 11 7 82 Goldust 5 12 6 73 Mankind 1 9 8 48 Brian Pillman 2 1 7 27 Vader 2 2 4 24 Raven 0 6 3 24 Taz 2 3 2 23 Masahiro Chono 0 5 4 23 Ric Flair 0 3 6 21 Scott Hall 0 1 7 17 Diamond Dallas Page 1 3 1 16 Jerry Lawler 1 2 1 13 Yoji Anjoh 0 3 1 11 Giant 1 0 2 9 Owen Hart 1 1 0 8 Steven Regal 1 0 1 7 Stevie Richards 1 0 1 7 Chris Benoit 0 2 0 6 Billy Gunn 0 0 2 4 Dean Malenko 0 1 0 3 Mr. Perfect 0 0 1 2 Pierroth Jr. 0 0 1 2 Hiroyoshi Tenzan 0 0 1 2 Hiromuchi Fuyuki 0 0 1 2 Crush 0 0 1 2 Bill Dundee ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": Hard not to like the Hollywood Blondes, now in different roles. Something about Brian Pillman, not just as the loosecannon, but as the personality. And Stunning/Superstar/Stone Cold Steve Austin is even better on the stick. Haven't seen Pillman in the ring in quite a while, but if he's got anything at all left, both can at least hold their own in the ring. JAMES FABIANO: Shane Douglas does the asshole gimmick so well, and it really "got to shine" in the Pitbull feud. Fans just loathe him. Taz is a great badass who gets applauded for his skills, but once he rips on the fans, they turn around and chant "F*** you Taz" in a heartbeat. And the angle with Nash in his last WWF months was well done, and it got the Diesel character over more to me than when he was a face. MIKE LOREFICE: Douglas has turned into a super heel. He is the best interview in the business and is great at drawing heat. Mankind is still an effective heel although he was better when he talked more. Chono, as much as I hate him and think he sucks, really works the crowd well. His psychology is so great that he has intense heated matches despite really only doing 2 moves (STF and Yakuzu kick). WOJO: Steve Austin makes a great heel. The kick butt attitude is perfect for him. Easy choice. Diamond Dallas is great playing his role as a rich (and poor) wrestler. You got to hate Owen for being a crybaby all these years. BO WHITE: The great thing about Pillman is that he created his heel character own his on, with no help from WCW (probably why), and everybody hated him. Lawler might be the greatest ever. HERB KUNZE: The best heel used to be the most hated wrestler, but not any more. That makes this award confusing. If somebody is cast as a heel, but gets cheered a lot, is he a good heel? Now isn't the time for discussion. I'll go with Chris Benoit first, Steve Austin second, and Dean Malenko third. These are all guys that have gotten over because they work damn hard; all of them also aren't above doing something dirty, so I'll call them heels. RICK SCAIA: Steve Austin perfected the art of the asshole heel interview... sorry Taz. And I don't know if it's just because there is nothing about the guy that I like, or because his character has been so well booked, but Shane Douglas is probably the one wrestler I really dislike. That earns him a spot on this list. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Babyface Award Description: To be given to the person who best portrayed the hero this past year. This person should get lots of fan support. Match quality is not paramount here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in the past year. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan 1991: Brian Pillman 1992: Sting 1993: Bret Hart 1994: Bret Hart 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Shawn Michaels 101 first place votes 95 second place votes 91 third place votes 32 12 7 210 Shawn Michaels 17 13 10 144 Bret Hart 10 15 5 105 Marc Mero 6 11 11 85 Sting 1 9 10 52 Undertaker 3 2 6 33 Sycho Sid 1 7 3 32 Chris Jericho 5 2 0 31 Mikey Whipwreck 3 2 4 29 Randy Savage 3 2 1 23 Perro Aguayo 2 3 2 23 Manami Toyota 2 0 4 18 Sandman 1 3 2 18 Jushin Liger 3 0 1 17 Eddie Guerrero 1 3 1 16 Lex Luger 0 2 5 16 Tommy Dreamer 2 0 1 12 Alex Wright 1 1 2 12 Barry Horowitz 1 1 1 10 Mitsuhara Misawa 0 2 2 10 Rey Mysterio Jr. 1 0 2 9 Jeff Jarrett 1 0 1 7 Shinya Hashimoto 1 0 1 7 Ahmed Johnson 1 0 0 5 Vader (a FACE? - CRZ) 1 0 0 5 Sabu 1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi 1 0 0 5 Hector Garza 0 0 2 4 Diesel 0 1 0 3 Shinjiro Otani 0 1 0 3 Louie Spicolli 0 1 0 3 Horace The Psychopath 0 1 0 3 Hayabusa 0 1 0 3 Great Sasuke 0 0 1 2 Ultimate Warrior 0 0 1 2 Savio Vega 0 0 1 2 Riki Choshu 0 0 1 2 Ric Flair 0 0 1 2 Nobuhiko Takada 0 0 1 2 Eddie Guererro 0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit MIKE LOREFICE: This is my least favorite award because you have to recognize dinosaurs. Perro Aguayo is still super over and a top draw even though his style went out with Beta VCR's. Toyota is kind of a biased pick, but it has been proven all year that the fans certainly aren't going out to see the Rie Tamada'a of the world. If you have any doubt about Choshu's popularity watch the G-1 Climax. WOJO: I still like him. Undertaker gets into the big matches and kicks butt. Marc Mero got up to second with his postings in rspw. Diesal was also a good favorite after he lost the WWF title. HERB KUNZE: Kenta Kobashi first, Mitsuhara Misawa second, and Jushin Liger third. I wanted to put a North American wrestler in there somewhere, but none of the top guys come close to getting the response *and* drawing the crowds that many guys in Japan do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Worker Award Description: To be given to the wrestler with, on average, the best workrate. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. Previous Winners: 1990: Ric Flair / Randy Savage (tie) 1991: Jushin Liger 1992: Jushin Liger 1993: Bret Hart 1994: Sabu 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Rey Mysterio, Jr. 98 first place votes 96 second place votes 94 third place votes 17 6 9 121 Rey Mysterio Jr. 10 12 16 118 Chris Benoit 12 11 8 109 Shawn Michaels 8 16 7 102 Dean Malenko 10 4 3 68 Bret Hart 4 7 2 45 Steve Austin 6 0 2 34 Jushin Liger 3 2 5 31 Marc Mero 3 3 3 30 Sabu 3 2 3 27 Kenta Kobashi 1 6 2 27 Mankind 1 4 3 23 Eddie Guerrero 2 2 2 20 Shinjiro Otani 3 0 1 17 Arn Anderson 2 2 0 16 2 Cold Scorpio 1 3 1 16 Diamond Dallas Page 2 0 2 14 Juventud Guerrera 1 3 0 14 Manami Toyota 0 3 1 11 Owen Hart 2 0 0 10 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 1 1 1 10 Great Sasuke 0 1 3 9 Mitsuhara Misawa 1 1 0 8 Rob Van Dam 1 1 0 8 Psychosis 0 0 4 8 Ric Flair 0 1 2 7 Vader 0 1 2 7 Goldust 1 0 0 5 Steven Regal 1 0 0 5 Leif Cassidy 1 0 0 5 Ahmed Johnson 0 1 1 5 Sting 0 0 2 4 Ultimo Dragon 0 0 2 4 Savio Vega 0 1 0 3 Undertaker 0 1 0 3 Hayabusa 0 1 0 3 Chris Candido 0 0 1 2 Tommy Dreamer 0 0 1 2 Randy Savage 0 0 1 2 Kyoko Inoue 0 0 1 2 Giant 0 0 1 2 Chris Jericho 0 0 1 2 Booker T 0 0 1 2 Alex Wright REJECTED 1 0 0 Curt Hennig (did not wrestle) MIKE LOREFICE: The most important award on the list. Liger doesn't fly like he used to, but his technical skills, psychology, matwork, and transitions are all better than they were when he was a daredevil. Toyota is consistent as hell. I've only seen one Toyota match that I didn't think was 3 stars or better. Toyota goes long as good as anyone in the sport and it is more impressive to work great matches that are 20 minutes or more than great matches that are 10-15 minutes. Otani is the most well rounded worker in the sport. He can work any style well and always works to the strengths. He was one of the two best (Nagata) NJ wrestlers in the UWF-I feud. He evcn carried green Kitao Dojo shooter Masaaki Mochizuki to a very good match that contained high spots without compromising Mochizuki's gimmick. It was hard to scratch Misterio. Note that these three work a different match every night while the likes of Flair and Bret Hart redo the same spots every night. WOJO: I don't think Shown Michaels had a bad match all year. Mankind was great vs. Michaels, and others were also okay. Chris Benoit performs the best in WCW with small and large opponents. HERB KUNZE: Tough category. Chris Benoit takes first because he's just more incredible than anybody else. Shinjiro Otani takes second. Both of these guys can work amazing matches in several different styles. Third goes to Rey Misterio Jr. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Worker (North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Sabu 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Rey Mysterio, Jr. 90 first place votes 89 second place votes 88 third place votes 22 6 8 144 Rey Mysterio Jr. 12 15 15 135 Chris Benoit 11 14 7 111 Dean Malenko 9 9 12 96 Shawn Michaels 11 2 2 65 Bret Hart 4 9 3 53 Steve Austin 4 2 9 44 Marc Mero 2 5 5 35 Eddie Guerrero 1 6 3 29 Mankind 3 2 2 25 Sabu 1 4 3 23 Juventud Guerrera 2 2 2 20 2 Cold Scorpio 1 3 0 14 Diamond Dallas Page 2 0 1 12 Arn Anderson 1 1 1 10 Psychosis 0 3 0 9 Owen Hart 0 0 4 8 Ric Flair 1 0 1 7 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 1 0 1 7 Chris Candido (Skip) 0 2 0 6 Sting 1 0 0 5 Ahmed Johnson 0 1 1 5 Shane Douglas 0 1 1 5 Goldust 0 0 2 4 Vader 0 1 0 3 Tommy Dreamer 0 1 0 3 Leif Cassidy 0 0 1 2 Savio Vega 0 0 1 2 Randy Savage 0 0 1 2 Giant 0 0 1 2 Dan Kroffat 0 0 1 2 Booker T. REJECTED 1 0 0 Curt Hennig (did not wrestle) HERB KUNZE: Chris Benoit first and Rey Misterio Jr. second. Third could go to numerous people, but I have to credit Shawn Michaels for being a fantastic worker with excellent psychology and stunts. He's more well-rounded than most of the nominees. JAMES FABIANO: Shawn and Eddy can keep up with - and in many instances even carry - an opponent and have a good match. Benoit just kicks ass, plain and simple. MIKE LOREFICE: Rey, Juventud, and Benoit were all held back by WCW's bad booking. Rey and Juventud were awesome in Mexico and ECW. Juventud is only slighty worse than Rey. The most impressive thing about Rey and Juventud is the fluidness of their work. They do some of the hardest spots ever with pinpoint accuracy. Juventud's selling is very underrated. I guess people don't realize that a good move is only as good as the opponent you're doing it to. If they can't take the bump and sell it correctly even a super move can become a dud. Benoit could work a 4 star match with a broomstick in New Japan, but in WCW it just doesn't happen. I still think he is slightly better than Juventud, but we are taking into account what you did not what you are capable of. Anyone who votes for Sabu in this category deserves a lobotomy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Worker (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Chris Benoit 1995: Chris Benoit **1996**: Jushin Liger 50 first place votes 50 second place votes 47 third place votes 9 6 4 71 Jushin Liger 9 2 4 59 Chris Benoit 5 8 4 57 Sabu 4 5 4 43 Manami Toyota 6 3 0 39 Rey Misterio Jr. 5 1 5 38 Kenta Kobashi 3 4 2 31 Great Muta 1 5 3 26 Ultimo Dragon 2 2 4 24 Shinjiro Otani 1 2 5 21 Great Sasuke 0 3 2 13 Mitsuhara Misawa 1 1 1 10 Psicosis 1 0 1 7 Juventud Guerrera 0 2 0 6 Kyoko Inoue 1 0 0 5 Hayabusa 1 0 0 5 Doug Furnas 0 1 1 5 Toshiaki Kawada 0 0 2 4 Shinya Hashimoto 0 1 0 3 Terry Funk 0 1 0 3 Takao Omori 0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono 0 1 0 3 Hakushi 0 1 0 3 Dean Malenko 0 0 1 2 Shiro Koshinaka 0 0 1 2 Kensuke Sasaki 0 0 1 2 Kanemoto 0 0 1 2 Eddy Guerrero REJECTED 1 0 0 Bret Hart 0 0 1 Owen Hart (and I probably should have rejected some others) MIKE LOREFICE: You could make a good case for Kobashi, Misawa, Kyoko, Akiyama, Koshinaka, and Ultimo, but I will stick with Liger, Toyota, and Otani HERB KUNZE: Chris Benoit first and Shinjiro Otani second. Third goes to Kenta Kobashi, the best non-Jr.-heavyweight worker in the world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Jobber Award Description: To be given to the Professional Loser that does an incredible job of putting his name opponent over. Maybe the bumps that this person takes are just that much more spectacular than other PLs. After seeing a match with this person, you feel sorry about the punishment he/she took and realize how good it made his/her name opponent look. Previous Winners: 1990: Barry Horowitz 1991: Rip Rogers 1992: Barry Horowitz 1993: Barry Horowitz 1994: Barry Horowitz 1995: Barry Horowitz **1996**: Barry Horowitz 92 first place votes 82 second place votes 78 third place votes 30 15 9 213 Barry Horowitz 17 12 7 135 Billy Kidman 4 10 7 64 Gambler 6 1 3 39 Disco Inferno 3 6 1 35 El Puerto Ricano 3 1 6 30 Alex Wright 2 4 3 28 Aldo Montoya 4 1 2 27 Buck Quartermaine 1 3 6 26 Bobby Walker 2 3 2 23 Bob Holly 1 3 2 18 Leif Cassidy 1 2 2 15 J.L. 1 2 2 15 Alex Porteau 2 0 1 12 Randy Savage 2 0 0 10 Vader 1 1 1 10 Devon Storm 1 1 0 8 Freddie Joe Floyd 0 2 1 8 Skip 0 2 1 8 Ron Studd 1 0 1 7 Reggie B. Fine 1 0 1 7 Marty Jannetty 1 0 1 7 Hugh Morrus 0 1 2 7 High Voltage 0 2 0 6 Mark Starr 1 0 0 5 Tony Williams 1 0 0 5 Savio Vega 1 0 0 5 Salvatore Sincere 1 0 0 5 Prince Iaukeia 1 0 0 5 Pez Whatley 1 0 0 5 David Tyler Morton Jericho 1 0 0 5 Brad Armstrong 1 0 0 5 Blue Meanie 0 0 2 4 Renegade 0 1 0 3 T.L. Hopper 0 1 0 3 Sultan 0 1 0 3 Psychosis 0 1 0 3 Pat Tanaka 0 1 0 3 Manny Fernandez 0 1 0 3 Jim Powers 0 1 0 3 Jack Boot 0 1 0 3 Goon 0 1 0 3 Brian Walsh 0 1 0 3 Barry Hardy 0 0 1 2 Super Nova 0 0 1 2 Steve Lombardi 0 0 1 2 Steve Armstrong 0 0 1 2 Stalker 0 0 1 2 Spiders 0 0 1 2 Shark Attack Kid 0 0 1 2 Public Enemy 0 0 1 2 Mikey Whipwreck 0 0 1 2 Mike Wenner 0 0 1 2 Lou Marconi 0 0 1 2 Justin Bradshaw 0 0 1 2 J.T. Smith 0 0 1 2 Iron Mike Sharpe 0 0 1 2 Hack Meyers 0 0 1 2 Brooklyn Brawler (Practically everyone on this list should be rejected, technically - my God, Horowitz was on a PPV this year ['95 Survivor Series] yet he's the top vote getter! And to my knowledge, the Sultan is UNDEFEATED - yet he gets a vote here. I've decided to include the results as is, but this category either needs to disappear or have it's scope broadened, I'm leaning towards the former. Had I strictly enforced the rules, the Gambler would have taken first, followed by El Puerto Ricano and Quartermaine. Randy Savage? Vader? Gimme a break! - CRZ) MIKE LOREFICE: J.L. is one of the best in WCW, yet he never wins. I wish he would get a full time job in Japan because at least they respect his talent there. How a guy with Horowitz's talent could still be jobbing is beyond me. One of the few things I miss about Global is seeing Horowitz with a role. Although they are supposed to be stars, I consider Cassidy a jobbers because he never wins. Cassidy is a testament to the suckiness of WWF. This guy was having matches in MTW two years ago that could be match of the year in WWF, yet he is rewarded with bad gimmicks and no push. BO WHITE: Hopefully Kidman won't be for long. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Flyer (North American) Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who did the most and the best high-flying maneuvers throughout the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American. Previous Winners: 1991: Jushin Liger 1992: Jushin Liger 1993: 1-2-3 Kid (Lightning Kid) 1994: 1-2-3 Kid 1995: Sabu **1996**: Rey Mysterio, Jr. 97 first place votes 93 second place votes 89 third place votes 60 8 5 334 Rey Mysterio Jr. 14 9 11 119 Sabu 9 10 13 101 Marc Mero 4 11 10 73 2 Cold Scorpio 0 19 7 71 Juventud Guerrera 2 5 4 33 Billy Kidman 1 5 5 30 Psychosis 4 1 3 29 Shawn Michaels 1 4 5 27 Eddie Guerrero 0 4 4 20 Syxx 0 3 3 15 Jushin Liger 1 1 3 14 Chris Jericho 0 4 0 12 Chris Benoit 0 0 5 10 Rob Van Dam 0 3 0 9 Ultimo Dragon 1 0 0 5 Giant 0 1 1 5 Mascarita Sagrada Jr. 0 0 2 4 Randy Savage 0 0 2 4 Alex Wright 0 1 0 3 Vader 0 1 0 3 Super Calo 0 1 0 3 Scott Hall 0 1 0 3 Owen Hart 0 1 0 3 Leif Cassidy 0 0 1 2 Venum 0 0 1 2 Sting 0 0 1 2 Hunter Hearst Healmsley 0 0 1 2 Dean Malenko 0 0 1 2 Chris Candido 0 0 1 2 Aldo Montoya ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": Rey Jr. cements his standing with some big matches in AAA and on WCW. Good that WCW has pushed him and some of the other AAA guys. Juventud is also very good, but where did Mero learn the Shooting Star Press?! MIKE LOREFICE: When you talk about the great innovators of wrestling 2 names should come to mind. In the 1980's we had the legendary Satoru Sayama and in the 1990's we have Rey Misterio Jr. Rey is constantly inventing and changing up brilliant aerial moves. His execution of these moves and the way he works them into a match are excellent. 2 Cold is another great innovator. He doesn't fly as much as some of the others, but when he goes to the top you know he is going to do something special. Juventud ranks above the others due to near flawless exectution. Rey and Juventud make flying an art form. Sabu misses way to many moves for inclusion. HERB KUNZE: A sweep for the Mexican wrestlers: Rey Misterio Jr. first, Juventud Guerrera second, and Psicosis third. WOJO: Rey does moves I have never seen before. Eddy is also up there. Sabu is just Sabu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Flyer (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Jushin Liger 1995: Jushin Liger **1996**: Jushin Liger 59 first place votes 53 second place votes 48 third place votes 12 8 7 98 Jushin Liger 16 5 1 97 Rey Misterio Jr. 12 5 2 79 Great Sasuke 9 3 5 64 Sabu 1 9 10 52 Ultimo Dragon 2 5 0 25 Chapparita Asari 2 3 3 25 Hayabusa 1 5 0 20 Great Muta 0 4 3 18 Juventud Guerrera 1 0 6 17 Psicosis 0 1 6 15 Taka Michinoku 1 1 1 10 Manami Toyota 0 2 0 6 Tiger Mask 1 0 0 5 Hakushi 0 1 0 3 Shinjiro Otani 0 1 0 3 Nobuhiko Takada 0 0 1 2 Jinsei Shinzaki 0 0 1 2 Honaga 0 0 1 2 2 Cold Scorpio (?) REJECTED 1 0 0 Loch Ness 0 0 1 Aldo Montoya MIKE LOREFICE: Sasuke continues to set the standard in the Orient for flying. I hope he isn't in this spot next year because all these Rider Kicks will have him out of wrestling by the year 2000. TAKA should be the man to unseat Sasuke. He is the most athletic wrestler I have ever seen (slightly above Rey and Kendo). Ultimo is at #3 because he has better transitions and works the moves into the match better. For sheer aerial moves Hayabusa is better, but he has no transitions. The best should be the person who combines all aspects of flying, not just the one that has the best spots. Honorable mention to Chapparita ASARI, Tiger Mask#4, and Hayato Nanjyo. HERB KUNZE: I haven't seen much of the Mexican guys in Japan, so I'll stick with the Japanese: Great Sasuke first for being too insane for words, Tiger Mask second, and Jushin Liger third. Tiger Mask was just wonderful the few times I've seen him. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Technical Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. Previous Winners: 1991: Bret Hart 1992: Bret Hart 1993: Bret Hart 1994: Bret Hart 1995: Dean Malenko **1996**: Dean Malenko 98 first place votes 95 second place votes 89 third place votes 41 20 8 281 Dean Malenko 18 12 8 142 Bret Hart 7 14 16 109 Chris Benoit 5 12 12 85 Steve Austin 3 9 10 62 Steven Regal 5 4 4 45 Taz 6 0 3 36 Jushin Liger 3 0 5 25 Arn Anderson 2 5 0 25 Shinjiro Otani 1 3 0 14 Shawn Michaels 1 1 3 14 Ken Shamrock 1 0 4 13 Eddie Guerrero 2 0 1 12 Mitsuhara Misawa 1 1 1 10 Owen Hart 0 3 0 9 Shane Douglas 0 3 0 9 Ric Flair 0 2 1 8 Masakatsu Funaki 0 0 4 8 Kenta Kobashi 1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio Jr. 1 0 0 5 Nobuhiko Takada 0 1 1 5 Marc Mero 0 0 2 4 Jun Akiyama 0 1 0 3 Psychosis 0 1 0 3 Mr. Bob Backlund 0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan 0 1 0 3 Eddie Guererro 0 1 0 3 Alex Porteau 0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner 0 0 1 2 J.L. (Jerry Lynn) 0 0 1 2 Diamond Dallas Page 0 0 1 2 Crush 0 0 1 2 Alex Wright REJECTED 0 0 1 Mr. Perfect (did not wrestle) MIKE LOREFICE: Liger remains the best technical wrestler in the sport. He continues to improve in this aspect. His work in the UWF-I feud was superb. He is so talented in this area that he was able to work high spots in without losing believability. Funaki is the best in the sense that in a real situation he would shread Liger. I prefer a worker on top because the worker needs more than just his skill to reign supreme here (see Dan Severn). Funaki is a great technician in and out of the ring (he trains all the natives) and he makes Pancrase the best technical league in the world. Shamrock is an awesome submission fighter. He was able to dominate UFC pretty well (with the exception of the obvious Severn debacle), but with only 4 Pancrase matches you can't put him any higher. WOJO: Steve Austin beat out Steve Regal because he's less boring. To be victorious in UFC, you have to be technical. HERB KUNZE: Shinjiro Otani has to get first; he is incredible on moves. Dean Malenko, who will likely take first with most voters, takes second with me. And Jun Akiyama deserves third. I should mention that I ignore shootfighting in the awards, so great wrestlers like Ken Shamrock or Dan Severn don't count here in my book. RICK SCAIA: Taz, in my mind, has redefined what it is to be a "technical wrestler." It used to be a couple of go-behinds and reversals made you a good technical wrestler. Now, in the age of "shootfighting" and other combat techniques becoming popular on PPV, we're seeing a welcome influx of submission type moves worked into the mat wrestling of the sport. And Taz is the best at it. Bret Hart and Chris Benoit remain the best of the "old guard" of technical wrestling. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Technical Wrestler (North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Bret Hart 1995: Dean Malenko **1996**: Dean Malenko 87 first place votes 84 second place votes 79 third place votes 42 17 9 279 Dean Malenko 19 13 9 152 Bret Hart 7 15 17 114 Chris Benoit 5 11 10 78 Steve Austin 4 4 5 42 Taz 1 8 6 41 Lord Steven Regal 1 2 5 21 Eddie Guerrero 3 1 1 20 Ken Shamrock 1 0 4 13 Arn Anderson 2 0 1 12 Jushin Liger 1 0 3 11 Marc Mero 0 3 1 11 Shawn Michaels 1 1 0 8 Rey Mysterio Jr. 0 2 1 8 Ric Flair 0 1 1 5 Alex Porteau 0 1 0 3 Shane Douglas 0 1 0 3 Psychosis 0 1 0 3 Mr. Bob Backlund 0 1 0 3 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan 0 1 0 3 Doug Furnas 0 0 1 2 Scott Steiner 0 0 1 2 Owen Hart 0 0 1 2 Diamond Dallas Page 0 0 1 2 Chris Candido (Skip) 0 0 1 2 Blue Panther REJECTED 0 0 1 Mr. Perfect (did not wrestle) JAMES FABIANO: "The Man of 1,000 Holds" is not just a gimmick or name. Malenko really is a technical specialist. Taz has gotten even better since working in the ECW wrestling school. And Regal is pretty damn good when put in there with the right opponent. MIKE LOREFICE: Malenko is one of the best Japanese stylists to ever work in the U.S. Unfortunately the announcers have no clue of what he is doing and talk Huckster and NWO everytime he hits the mat. Dean needs to educate WCW's horrible group of announcers (if that's possible) to his moves so they can relay them to the layman. Benoit is as technically skilled as they come. He certainly isn't going to blow anything he does. Regal is one of the few traditional wrestlers that has translated his talents to the current style. All he needs is someone decent to work with. Al Snow was good enough to make the list, but Leif isn't of the same calibre. Who the hell nominated Van Dam? I like the guy, but his lack of technical ability is what keeps him from getting over in Japan. ECW barely contains any technical wrestling these days. Michaels has no mat skills. Lawler and Hogan? If you are going to nominate those two you may as well put Loch Ness on the list. Blue Panther would be a good choice, but I can't say I've seen much PROMELL. HERB KUNZE: Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero are the best. Bret Hart doesn't even crack the top five for me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Technical Wrestler (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Chris Benoit 1995: Chris Benoit **1996**: Dean Malenko 50 first place votes 44 second place votes 39 third place votes 15 2 4 89 Dean Malenko 10 1 2 57 Jushin Liger 2 12 5 56 Chris Benoit 4 5 4 43 Shinjiro Otani 4 0 3 26 Kenta Kobashi 2 2 4 24 Mitsuhara Misawa 2 3 1 21 Great Muta 3 1 0 18 Lord Steven Regal (well, okay) 2 1 2 17 Ken Shamrock 0 4 2 16 Masakatsu Funaki 0 2 4 14 Eddy Guerrero 2 0 1 12 Shinya Hashimoto 1 0 0 5 Nobuhiko Takada 1 0 0 5 Jerry Lynn 0 1 1 5 Kensuke Sasaki 0 1 0 3 Tatsumi Fujinami 0 1 0 3 Rey Misterio Jr. 0 1 0 3 Manami Toyota 0 1 0 3 Kojima 0 1 0 3 Keiji Muto 0 1 0 3 Jun Akiyama 0 1 0 3 El Samurai 0 1 0 3 Antonio Inoki 0 0 1 2 Yugi Nagata 0 0 1 2 Ultimo Dragon 0 0 1 2 Toshiaki Kawada 0 0 1 2 Masahiro Chono 0 0 1 2 Kazuo Yamazaki 0 0 1 2 Akira Taue REJECTED 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness 1 0 0 5 Bret Hart 0 1 0 3 Squire David Taylor (that's not what we mean by Non-NA) 0 1 0 3 Owen Hart (This is one where it's detrimental that I'm so ignorant of what goes on over there. F'rinstance, did Dean Malenko really wrestle over there during the year? I dunno. So many people voted for him I guess he must have, right? -CRZ) MIKE LOREFICE: Liger & Otani remain. Shamrock, Benoit, Malenko didn't fight enough in Japan to be considered. Although there are better workers on this list, for sheer technical skill I'm going with Yugi Nagata. Nagata was awesome against the UWF-I workers. He showed them up at their own game and was able to have good matches against even the green workers. Otani was tough to leave off. Why were Muta and Inoki nominated. Muta is horrible on the mat. His work against UWF-I sucked. Inoki never works and he is bad when he does. HERB KUNZE: Shinjiro Otani, Jun Akiyama, and Mitsuhara Misawa. This is a very tough category to pick for because Japan has so many great technical wrestlers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Brawler (North American) Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who brawled his/her way through the year most convincingly. This award would go to Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish if he were still around. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American. Previous Winners: 1991: Stan Hansen 1992: Cactus Jack 1993: Big Van Vader 1994: Cactus Jack 1995: Cactus Jack **1996**: Mankind (Cactus Jack) 98 first place votes 94 second place votes 90 third place votes 47 15 6 292 Mankind (Cactus Jack) 5 12 11 83 Vader 7 8 8 75 Sandman 5 8 9 67 Tommy Dreamer 8 6 4 66 Kevin Nash (Diesel) 4 8 7 58 Undertaker 5 6 5 53 Chris Benoit 5 6 4 51 Steve Austin 2 4 3 28 Raven 2 1 5 23 Public Enemy 1 5 1 22 New Jack 2 0 1 12 Sycho Sid 2 0 1 12 Sabu 0 2 3 12 Justin Bradshaw 0 2 1 8 Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) 0 0 4 8 Brian Lee 1 0 1 7 Crush 0 1 2 7 Steve Williams 0 1 2 7 Goldust 0 2 0 6 Terry Funk 1 0 0 5 Pitbull 2 1 0 0 5 Belfast Bruiser 0 1 1 5 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 0 1 1 5 Diamond Dallas Page 0 1 1 5 Axl Rotten 0 0 2 4 Headhunter A 0 1 0 3 Kevin Sullivan 0 1 0 3 Headhunter B 0 1 0 3 Giant 0 1 0 3 Booker T 0 0 1 2 Yokozuna 0 0 1 2 Terry Gordy 0 0 1 2 Stevie Ray 0 0 1 2 Randy Savage 0 0 1 2 Mustafa Saed 0 0 1 2 Jacques Rougeau 0 0 1 2 Gangstas (I should have more careful about teams as opposed to single members of teams, but fortunately this wouldn't have affected the top vote getters. - CRZ) WOJO: I'm shocked that a wrestler like Benoit can brawl so well. Mankind is great, and with his moves, he gets second. MIKE LOREFICE: Cactus isn't the same in WWF, but he is one of the few who combine psychology with brawling. D-Von Dudley can pick up a chair and potato you, but without the psychology there is no purpose to it. Steve Austin has really improved in this department. I like the new edge he has. Vader remains in the top three, but he is falling fast due to misuse and lack of an opponent that will take his bumps. HERB KUNZE: Mankind has to take first for all of the insane but realistic bumps he's taken this past year. Chris Benoit has to get recognition for his match with Kevin Sullivan, another insane but realistic match. Vader takes third. I can't vote for any ECW guys here with a clear conscience: their brawling is far too unrealistic for me, RICK SCAIA: It's hard to put Mankind on this list and leave of the Undertaker, but as much as UT has improved, I think we all know who really carried those memorable brawls. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Brawler (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: Stan Hansen 1995: Stan Hansen **1996**: Terry Funk 45 first place votes 38 second place votes 36 third place votes 8 9 3 73 Terry Funk 7 4 2 51 Cactus Jack 6 3 5 49 Stan Hansen 6 2 6 48 Mr. Pogo 6 1 3 39 Shoji Nakamaki 2 4 4 30 Aja Kong 1 2 3 17 Dynamite Kansai 1 1 4 16 Steve Williams 0 5 0 15 Wing (Yukihiro) Kanemura 2 0 1 12 Lord Steven Regal 0 2 0 6 Kensuke Sasaki 1 0 0 5 Genchiro Tenryu 0 1 0 3 Tiger Jeet Sing 0 1 0 3 Nobuhiko Takada 0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono 0 0 1 2 Masato Tanaka 0 0 1 2 Kitao 0 0 1 2 Jushin Liger 0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit REJECTED 1 0 0 Yokuzona 1 0 0 Sandman 1 0 0 Loch Ness 1 0 0 Fatu 1 0 0 Any IWA grappler (a little too general) 0 1 0 Raven 0 1 0 Atsushi Onita (didn't wrestle during year?) 0 0 1 Undertaker MIKE LOREFICE: There were 5 legit contenders for this award. Nakamaki is the sickest wrestler I have ever seen. You got an insane bump this guy will take it. W*ING is actually a good worker, but apparently he enjoys the craziness more. He wasn't powerbombed into fire this year, instead he had spider nets to deal with. Dynamite Kansai continues to kick the hell out of JWP opponents. Aja is practically her equal in brawling, but I prefer Dynamite. Funk doesn't work enough and his actions against Pogo were reprehensible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Favourite Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler you like the most, regardless of the reason. Previous Winners: 1991: Ric Flair 1992: Ric Flair 1993: Ric Flair 1994: Ric Flair 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Stone Cold Steve Austin 99 first place votes 98 second place votes 97 third place votes 16 9 8 123 Steve Austin 13 8 4 97 Bret Hart 7 7 5 66 Chris Benoit 4 12 5 66 Rey Mysterio Jr. 8 3 4 57 Shawn Michaels 6 4 3 48 Dean Malenko 5 2 5 41 Jushin Liger 4 3 5 39 Ric Flair 2 3 8 35 Kevin Nash 4 2 3 32 Marc Mero 4 2 0 26 Undertaker 2 4 1 24 Sabu 1 3 4 22 Brian Pillman 2 2 2 20 Raven 2 0 3 16 Disco Inferno 1 3 1 16 Stevie Richards 1 3 1 16 Owen Hart 2 1 1 15 Manami Toyota 1 1 2 12 Sting 1 2 0 11 Great Sasuke 1 2 0 11 Goldust 1 1 1 10 Sycho Sid 1 1 1 10 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 2 2 10 Roddy Piper 1 1 0 8 Chris Jericho 1 0 1 7 Randy Savage 1 0 1 7 Diamond Dallas Page 1 0 1 7 Arn Anderson 0 1 2 7 Mankind 0 2 0 6 Kyoko Inoue 0 2 0 6 2 Cold Scorpio 1 0 0 5 Stan Hansen 1 0 0 5 Shinjiro Otani 1 0 0 5 Sandman 1 0 0 5 Marcus Alexander Bagwell 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness 1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi 0 1 1 5 Ultimo Dragon 0 1 1 5 Eddie Guerrero 0 1 1 5 Chris Candido 0 0 2 4 Juventud Guerrera 0 1 0 3 Toshiaki Kawada 0 1 0 3 Taka Michinoku 0 1 0 3 Shane Douglas 0 1 0 3 M. Wallstreet 0 1 0 3 Lex Luger 0 1 0 3 Jerry Lynn 0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett 0 1 0 3 Billy Gunn 0 1 0 3 Alex Wright 0 0 1 2 Wildo & Ingus Jynx 0 0 1 2 Vader 0 0 1 2 Taz 0 0 1 2 Steven Regal 0 0 1 2 Scott Hall 0 0 1 2 Psychosis 0 0 1 2 Mikey Whipwreck 0 0 1 2 Leif Cassidy 0 0 1 2 La Parka 0 0 1 2 Justin Bradshaw 0 0 1 2 Jerry Lawler 0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan 0 0 1 2 Hayabusa 0 0 1 2 Great Muta 0 0 1 2 Davey Boy Smith 0 0 1 2 Crush 0 0 1 2 Chapparita Asari 0 0 1 2 Ahmed Johnson BO WHITE: Flair is still the most entertaining wrestler of all time - man I love this guy! RICK SCAIA: What kind of intelligent, useful comment can you make about an award as subjective as "Most Favorite Wrestler"? Unless, of course, I wanted to make the comment that now that an American is running these awards, I'd really prefer to see the American spelling of "favorite" used! :) Steve Austin is my most favorite, because he does two things nobody else today is really doing: in the same interview, he makes me chuckle, while at the same time convincing me he really does want to go out there and whoop the other guy's ass. And when he gets in the ring, he's good enough to justify the interest we give him. Sabu and Michaels also get votes in this category, because they are unique in their ability to make almost any match a good match. WOJO: I like these wrestlers because: 1. They can interview 2. They get big victories because they deserve it. and 3. They can wrestle. (Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Steve Austin). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Improved Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who most improved himself/herself in all facets of the sport in the past year. Previous Winners: 1990: Lex Luger 1991: Ron Simmons 1992: Steve Austin 1993: Marcus Alexander Bagwell 1994: Diesel 1995: Johnny B. Badd **1996**: Wildman Marc Mero (Johnny B. Badd) 99 first place votes 92 second place votes 88 third place votes 25 10 10 175 Marc Mero 24 13 6 171 Diamond Dallas Page 8 10 9 88 Giant 5 6 4 51 Steve Austin 3 6 4 41 Undertaker 1 4 9 35 Ahmed Johnson 3 1 5 28 Billy Gunn 4 1 1 25 Shinjiro Otani 2 2 2 20 Louie Spicolli 3 0 2 19 Pit Bull #2 2 3 0 19 Yugi Nagata 2 3 0 19 Savio Vega 1 2 3 17 Taz 1 2 3 17 Barbarian 1 2 2 15 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 1 2 1 13 Chris Jericho 1 2 1 13 Chapparita Asari 1 0 3 11 Steve McMichael 1 1 1 10 Taka Michinoku 1 1 1 10 Kevin Nash 1 1 1 10 Alex Wright 0 2 2 10 Disco Inferno 0 3 0 9 Chris Benoit 1 1 0 8 Brian Pillman 1 0 1 7 Jun Akiyama 0 2 0 6 Marcus Alexander Bagwell 0 2 0 6 Diesel #2 1 0 0 5 Syxx 1 0 0 5 Sting 1 0 0 5 Steven Regal 1 0 0 5 Raven 1 0 0 5 Dean Malenko 1 0 0 5 Billy Kidman 0 1 1 5 Sycho Sid 0 1 1 5 Stevie Richards 0 0 2 4 Shawn Michaels 0 0 2 4 Hayato Nanjyo 0 0 2 4 Goldust 0 1 0 3 Smoking Gunns 0 1 0 3 Rob Van Dam 0 1 0 3 Randy Savage 0 1 0 3 Owen Hart 0 1 0 3 Masato Tanaka 0 1 0 3 Marty Janetty 0 1 0 3 Jesse Jammes 0 1 0 3 Chavo Guerrero Jr. 0 0 1 2 Scott Hall 0 0 1 2 Satoshi Kojima 0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio Jr. 0 0 1 2 Masahito Kakihara 0 0 1 2 Jim Powers 0 0 1 2 Ice Train 0 0 1 2 Eliminators 0 0 1 2 Chris Candido 0 0 1 2 Bob Holly JAMES FABIANO: Mero keeps getting better each year, IMO. This year, he added a lot of nice aerial stuff. Undertaker has downplayed his gimmick somewhat in his ringwork, and it's helped. And the Giant has become more than just a bad gimmick. MIKE LOREFICE: Yugi Nagata really came into his own this year. A year ago I would have said he was only average, now aside from Koshinaka he is the best heavyweight in New Japan. If only they would give him Sasaki's spot. Shinjiro Otani has been a super worker for quite some time now, but you can see him get better by the match. I made a top ten workers list a month ago and he was 7. Now he belongs in the top 5. TAKA finally got away from Delfin's clowing and improved his already great work. With Otani & Michinoku, I am obviously putting going from great to super over going from pretty good to very good. ASARI, Pitbull 2, DDP, Skip, and Spicolli were all viable candidates. RICK SCAIA: Marc Mero has been steadily improving for over 2 years now... probably even longer than that, but damn, I hated the "Johnny B. Badd" gimmick so much that I wouldn't allow myself to make that observation until after he reached a certain point of ability in early '95. And then this year, after he comes to the WWF, he innovates with the "MeroSault." And brings the Shooting Star Press to prominence on this continent with the "Wild Thing." Man alive, if he keeps this up, Mero could win "Most Improved Wrestler" for the next five years! I don't care what anyone else says, Undertaker went from having passable, but predictable matches to having very good, exciting matches this year. And it wasn't all the caliber of his opponents... UT even had a very good match again Kevin "Diesel" Nash this year. Maybe the gimmick was holding him back, but right now, the UT is probably the most talented big man in the sport, combining a super gimmick/look with some actual technical wrestling skill and a knack for brawling. WOJO: If Raven was once a manager in the WWF, and became a champion in ECW, then I'll give him the nod. Giant is getting better every time I see him. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: I actually look forwarded to seeing matches with the Giant now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Overrated Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has a large place in the spotlight nonetheless. This is a measure of how undeserved a wrestler's push is. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan 1991: Hulk Hogan 1992: Ultimate Warrior 1993: Hulk Hogan 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: Hulk Hogan 100 first place votes 96 second place votes 96 third place votes 44 6 7 252 Hulk Hogan 5 11 7 72 Sycho Sid 6 8 7 68 Lex Luger 3 8 6 51 Ultimate Warrior 3 5 3 36 Konan 5 2 1 33 Vader 4 2 3 32 Shawn Michaels 2 3 4 27 Ahmed Johnson 0 5 5 25 Randy Savage 2 1 4 21 Savio Vega 2 2 2 20 Ric Flair 2 2 2 20 Glacier 1 3 3 20 Tommy Dreamer 2 1 3 19 Undertaker 3 1 0 18 Sandman 1 3 2 18 Raven 1 3 2 18 Kevin Nash 1 2 3 17 Sting 2 0 2 14 Chris Benoit 0 4 1 14 Booty Man 1 2 1 13 Bret Hart 0 3 1 11 Giant 2 0 0 10 Chris Jericho 1 1 1 10 Jeff Jarrett 0 2 2 10 Jerry Lawler 1 1 0 8 Shane Douglas 0 2 1 8 Syxx 0 2 1 8 Eddie Guerrero 1 0 1 7 Scott Hall 0 2 0 6 Davey Boy Smith 0 0 3 6 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 1 0 0 5 Steve McMichaels 1 0 0 5 Kenta Kobashi 1 0 0 5 Jake Roberts 1 0 0 5 Genichiru Tenryu 1 0 0 5 Diamond Dallas Page 0 1 1 5 Taz 0 1 1 5 Roddy Piper 0 1 1 5 Rey Mysterio Jr. 0 1 0 3 Tony Arce 0 1 0 3 Steve Austin 0 1 0 3 Perro Aguayo 0 1 0 3 Bob Holly 0 1 0 3 Bart Gunn 0 1 0 3 Barry Windham 0 0 1 2 Yokozuna 0 0 1 2 Riki Choshu 0 0 1 2 Psychosis 0 0 1 2 Outsiders 0 0 1 2 Mark Henry 0 0 1 2 Mankind 0 0 1 2 Koji Kitao 0 0 1 2 Goldust 0 0 1 2 Dudley Family 0 0 1 2 Dean Malenko 0 0 1 2 Curt Hennig 0 0 1 2 Cien Caras 0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn 0 0 1 2 Big Bubba Rogers 0 0 1 2 Arn Anderson JAMES FABIANO: Heel or face, That HH Guy is still The Man ;-) Glacier was NOT worth those six months of promos. And the Dudleys took up too much time on ECW shows, even though fans were bored with their gimmick/angle. MIKE LOREFICE: There are so many viable candidates here how do you choose. Hogan will win because he is in charge of overrating himself. Sid can't even take a bump, yet he is pushed to the top. How many times does Luger have to prove he can't draw flies? Savage and Dreamer were extremely hard to leave off. HERB KUNZE: I have to pick three wrestlers that were each in the main event spotlight in their respective promotions, even though between the three of them they have less ability than most jobbers. I give the awards in order of increasing ability: first goes to Sandman, second to Sid, and third to Hulk Hogan. WOJO: Flair, Duggan and Hogan are past their prime and can't wrestle too good. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Ultimate Warrior actually managed to prove he deserves my vote this year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestling Gimmick Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who had the best character gimmick in the past year. Previous Winners: 1991: The Undertaker 1992: The Undertaker 1993: The Undertaker 1994: Bob Backlund as the real WWF champ 1995: Goldust **1996**: NWO 95 first place votes 91 second place votes 83 third place votes 22 9 3 143 NWO 12 15 12 129 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin 9 8 11 91 Goldust 10 8 6 86 Stevie Richards & Blue Meanie as anybody 5 8 13 75 Brian Pillman as WCW's Loose Cannon / WWF's Time Bomb 6 9 8 73 Mankind 5 5 4 48 Undertaker 5 0 4 33 The Undertaker 3 5 1 32 Disco Inferno 2 4 1 24 Damian 1 3 5 24 New Rockers take a trip through the 70's - and stay there! 2 1 1 15 Heel Hollywood Hulk Hogan 2 1 1 15 Hall and Nash as the "Outsiders" 1 2 2 15 Jim Ross as the anti-McMahon 2 0 0 10 Jushin Liger 2 0 0 10 Diesel 2 0 0 10 "The Franchise" Shane Douglas 1 1 1 10 Halloween 1 0 2 9 Sandman 1 1 0 8 Flash Funk 1 1 0 8 Dudleys 1 0 1 7 The Sandman 1 0 1 7 The Man They Call Vader 1 0 1 7 The Goon 1 0 1 7 Taz - "Human Crime Spree" 0 2 0 6 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 1 0 0 5 The Great Sasuke 1 0 0 5 Raven 1 0 0 5 Glen Jacobs as the fake Diesel 0 1 1 5 The FBI 0 0 2 4 La Parka 0 1 0 3 The Gangstas 0 1 0 3 Sunny 0 1 0 3 Sting As The Crow 0 1 0 3 Salvatore Sincere 0 1 0 3 Hayabusa 0 1 0 3 Faarooq 0 1 0 3 Dungeon of Doom 0 0 1 2 Super Delfin 0 0 1 2 Sable 0 0 1 2 Razor Ramon 0 0 1 2 Lord Steven Regal 0 0 1 2 Dean Malenko 0 0 1 2 Booty Babe (Well, it wasn't a "wrestler," but I concur: the NWO is the best gimmick. - CRZ) JAMES FABIANO: Anyone who can watch a Stevie/Meanie spot and not ROTFL has a serious problem, I think. MIKE LOREFICE: Damian rules. His in ring comedy and immitations are worlds above anyone else's. Richards and Meanie are hilarious. No matter who the impersonate they are great. Halloween was always my favorite holiday back when I trick-or-treated. How can you beat watching the Great Pumpkin do a Liger dive? BO WHITE: Once again, Pillman's shoot was just what his career needed, and is anybody funnier that Richards and Meanie? RICK SCAIA: As I said before, the "Stone Cold" gimmick for Steve Austin is perfect, and Austin made it fly by perfecting the art of the asshole heel interview. I can't think of a more convincing gimmick for a guy to have in a sport where the goal should *always* be to whoop some ass. WOJO: NWO easily. Mankind gets a surprising second because noone mentions his Cactus Jack name. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Wrestling Move Award Description: To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen this past year. This should probably be a "finishing" move or something really spectacular. Previous Winners: 1990: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner 1991: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner 1992: Jushin Liger's moonsault off the second ropes to floor 1993: Big Van Vader's moonsault 1994: Vader's moonsault 1995: Hakushi's Space Flying Tiger Drop **1996**: Wildman Marc Mero's Wild Thing shooting star press 93 first place votes 88 second place votes 88 third place votes 18 9 7 131 Marc Mero's Wild Thing Shooting Star Press 11 10 7 99 Rey Mysterio's hurricarana off top rope to floor 4 4 1 34 Sabu's Triple Jump Moonsault 4 2 4 34 Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner 4 2 3 32 Dean Malenko's Gutbuster 5 1 1 30 Chapparita Asari's Sky Twister Press 1 3 6 26 Vader's Moonsault 2 2 4 24 2 Cold Scorpio's Tumbleweed Legdrop 3 0 4 23 Bret Hart's Sharpshooter leglock 3 2 0 21 Taka Michinoku's double springboard plancha 1 3 3 20 Great Sasuke's Sasuke Special space flying tiger drop 1 3 3 20 Diamond Dallas Page's Diamond Cutter 3 0 2 19 Public Enemy's flip over top rope through table 0 4 3 18 Giant's Chokeslam 1 4 0 17 Chris Benoit's Powerbomb 2 2 0 16 Kevin Nash's Jackknife Powerbomb 2 1 1 15 Dean Malenko's Texas Cloverleaf 1 1 1 10 Hunter Hearst Helmsley's Pedigree 1 1 1 10 Great Sasuke's Rider Kick 1 1 1 10 Billy Kidman's Shooting Star Press 1 0 2 9 Louie Spicolli's Death Valley Driver 1 1 0 8 Jushin Liger's Fishermanbuster 0 2 1 8 Eddie Guerrero's plancha 1 0 1 7 Hector Garza's Spin Plancha 1 0 1 7 Great Sasuke's Tope Con Hilo 0 1 2 7 Chris Benoit's Dragon Suplex 0 1 2 7 2 Cold Scorpio's Scorpio Splash 0 2 0 6 Razor Ramon's Razor's Edge crucifix slam 0 2 0 6 Chris Benoit's diving top rope headbutt 0 0 3 6 Sabu's springboard plancha into DDT through table 1 0 0 5 The Eliminators' Total Elimination 1 0 0 5 Steven Regal's "Regal Stretch" 1 0 0 5 Steve Williams' Backdrop Driver 1 0 0 5 Sling shot spring board 1 0 0 5 Rob Van Dam's Guillotene Leg Drop 1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio's Franksteiner/Pinning Combo 1 0 0 5 Juventud Guerrera's Flip Splash 1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan's Legdrop 1 0 0 5 Eddie Guerrero's Frog Splash 0 1 1 5 Smoking Gunns' Sidewinder legdrop 0 1 1 5 Mankind's Mandible Claw 0 1 1 5 Hugh Morrus' No Laughing Matter moonsault 0 1 1 5 Hayabusa's Phoenix Splash somersault off the top rope 0 0 2 4 Mascarita Sagrada Jr's corkscrew dive 0 1 0 3 Vader's Vaderbomb 0 1 0 3 Taz's Tazplex 0 1 0 3 Sycho Sid's Chokeslam 0 1 0 3 Shinjiro Otani's swandive DDT 0 1 0 3 Salvatore Sincere's "Sincerely Yours" 0 1 0 3 Sabu's Spinning DDT 0 1 0 3 Sabu's Arabian Facebuster 0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero's Swinging DDT 0 1 0 3 Doctorbomb 0 1 0 3 Ahmed Johnson's Pearl River Plunge Powerbomb 0 0 1 2 Super Bomb 0 0 1 2 Stevie Richard's Superkick 0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music superkick 0 0 1 2 Sabu's Moonsault Flip 0 0 1 2 Rob Van Dam's split-legged moonsault 0 0 1 2 Ohtani's swandive spin kick 0 0 1 2 Marc Mero's Merosault 0 0 1 2 Jinsei Shinzaki's Space Flying Tiger Drop 0 0 1 2 Hayabusa's Shooting Star Press 0 0 1 2 Chris Candido's power bomb off the top rope 0 0 1 2 Arn Anderson's DDT REJECTED - no wrestler named 3 1 0 Shooting Star Press 2 2 1 Moonsault 1 2 1 Figure Four leglock 2 0 1 Powerbomb 1 0 0 Tumbleweed 1 0 0 Top-rope Frankensteiner 1 0 0 Sidewalk Slam 1 0 0 Lariat 0 1 1 Piledriver 0 1 1 Frankensteiner 0 1 0 hurracanrana from top to apron to floor 0 1 0 Space Flying Tiger Drop 0 1 0 Fisherman Suplex 0 0 1 Superplex 0 0 1 DDT JAMES FABIANO: Total Elimination is the best tag team finisher since the days of the Midnight Express' many innovative finishers. MIKE LOREFICE: TAKA took the springboard plancha to a new level. When I saw the double springboard plancha at the Skydiving J I was going nuts. They may be better looking moves, but I can't think of a move that combines difficulty and timing like the double springboard plancha. Rey's huracanrana off the top to the floor (opponent on apron) is a fantastic move. The only problem is that in ECW and Tijuana the security rail is really to close for him to do the move properly. Sasuke's Rider Kick is a very magestic albeit psychotic move. It's not difficult, but it is very graceful. Despite listing it in the top 3, there wouldn't be a happier person in the world if he stopped doing it. Honorable mention goes to ASARI's sky twister which is the best move that I've ever seen in the ring, Sasuke's Sasuke Special, Hayabusa's phoenix splash, Hayabusa's shooting star press, Hayabusa's falcon arrow, Garza's spin plancha, Juventud's hiro con plancha, and Nanjyo's screw quebrada. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Match Award Description: To be given to the best wrestling match you've seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible. In 1994, this award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall. Previous Winners: 1990: 04/22/90: Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Marty Janetty & Shawn Michaels (SNME) 1991: 03/21/91: Steiners vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Hiroshi Hase (Tokyo, aired on taped PPV) 1992: 01/18/92: Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble) 1993: 10/24/93: Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader (Halloween Havoc) 1994: 03/20/94: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania) 1995: 08/27/95: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam) **1996**: 03/31/96: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 91 first place votes 87 second place votes 83 third place votes 14 10 9 118 03/31/96 Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels 8 8 11 86 09/22/96 Shawn Michaels v. Mankind 8 9 2 71 04/28/96 Shawn Michaels v. Diesel 7 2 2 45 03/09/96 Rey Misterio Jr. v. Juventud Guerrera (2/3 falls) 5 2 3 37 12/17/95 Bret Hart v. British Bulldog 5 2 2 35 07/07/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Psychosis 4 3 3 35 07/13/96 Shane Douglas v. Pitbull #2 v. Chris Jericho v. 2 Cold Scorpio 4 3 3 35 07/08/96 Dean Malenko v. Rey Mysterio Jr. 3 4 3 33 06/16/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Dean Malenko 5 1 2 32 11/19/95 Bret Hart v. Diesel 2 3 1 21 05/11/96 Sabu v. Rob Van Dam 2 3 0 19 03/17/96 Jushin Liger v. Shinjiro Otani 1 2 2 15 02/12/96 Arn Anderson v. Hulk Hogan 1 1 3 14 02/23/96 2 Cold Scorpio v. Sabu 2 0 1 12 12/10/95 Rey Misterio Jr. v. Psicosis, Tokyo 1 1 2 12 06/07/96 Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama v. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace 0 1 4 11 03/31/96 Roddy Piper v. Goldust 1 1 1 10 05/11/96 2 Cold Scorpio v. Shane Douglas 0 2 2 10 06/23/96 Steve Austin v. Marc Mero 1 0 2 9 08/04/96 Ultimo Dragon v. Shinjiro Otani 1 0 2 9 03/31/96 Manami Toyota v. Kyoko Inoue 0 3 0 9 05/23/96 Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama v. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 1 1 0 8 08/18/96 Undertaker v. Mankind 1 1 0 8 08/10/96 Outsiders v. Lex Luger & Sting & Randy Savage 1 1 0 8 08/10/96 Dean Malenko v. Chris Benoit 0 2 1 8 06/16/96 Chris Benoit v. Kevin Sullivan 0 2 1 8 04/29/96 Belfast Bruiser v. Lord Steven Regal (Parking Lot Match) 1 0 1 7 08/14/96 Ric Flair v. Hulk Hogan 1 0 1 7 06/23/96 Shawn Michaels v. Davey Boy Smith 0 2 0 6 10/21/96 Marc Mero v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 0 3 6 04/29/96 Shawn Michaels v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 1 0 0 5 07/07/96 Disco Inferno v. Dean Malenko 1 0 0 5 06/23/96 BodyDonnas v. New Rockers 1 0 0 5 05/28/96 Savio Vega v. Steve Austin 1 0 0 5 03/28/96 Steiners v. Road Warriors 1 0 0 5 03/16/96 Goldust v. Savio Vega 1 0 0 5 03/01/96 Johnny Gunn v. Corporal Punishment 1 0 0 5 01/21/96 Bret Hart v. Undertaker 1 0 0 5 RAW Austin v. Michaels 0 1 1 5 Sabu & Rob Van Dam v. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas 0 1 1 5 12/13/95 Wild Pegasus v. Lion Heart 0 1 1 5 10/27/95 Dean Malenko v. Rey Mysterio Jr. 0 1 1 5 07/01/96 Shawn Michaels v. Marty Jannetty 0 1 1 5 03/31/96 Diesel v. Undertaker 0 0 2 4 07/07/96 Outsiders v. Lex Luger & Sting & Randy Savage 0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels v. Goldust, Toronto (Ladder Match) 0 1 0 3 10/20/96 Undertaker v. Mankind 0 1 0 3 10/20/96 Steve Austin v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 09/16/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Juventud Guerrera 0 1 0 3 08/10/96 Rey Mysterio v. Ultimo Dragon 0 1 0 3 08/03/96 Sabu v. Rob Van Dam 0 1 0 3 06/17/96 Taka Michinoku v. Super Delfin 0 1 0 3 06/12/96 Jushin Liger v. Black Tiger 0 1 0 3 02/18/96 Bret Hart v. Diesel 0 1 0 3 01/04/96 Antonio Inoki v. Big Van Vader 0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit v. Craig Pittman 0 0 1 2 11/23/95 Taka Michinoku v. Tiger Mask #4, Iwate 0 0 1 2 10/10/96 Shiryu & Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki v. Tiger Mask 4 & Masato Yakushiji & Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada, Tokyo 0 0 1 2 09/28/96 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v. Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida 0 0 1 2 09/22/96 Smoking Gunns v. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith 0 0 1 2 09/15/96 Hulk Hogan & Scott Hall & Kevin Nash & NWO Sting v. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Sting 0 0 1 2 08/05/96 Ultimo Dragon v. Great Sasuke 0 0 1 2 06/23/96 Undertaker v. Mankind REJECTED (not in timeframe) 1 2 0 11/17/96 Bret Hart v. Steve Austin 2 0 0 08/ /95 Shawn Michaels v. Razor Ramon, Ladder Match 0 0 1 08/ /95 Barry Horowitz v. Skip 0 0 1 06/23/96 Undertaker v. Mankind MIKE LOREFICE: I rated more matches 4 3/4 stars this year than ever before. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera had it all. It was just a special match where both men came out fired up and did one awesome spot after another. I don't think I ever saw a match that combined level of difficulty and lightning fast pacing like that one. Liger vs. Otani was another masterpiece. Aside from the obviously brilliant work, Otani really shined in that one as his charism was awesome. Toyota vs. Kyoko slips to three this year. The 60:00 draw was so good how could they top it? I guess March was a good month because all 3 of my matches came from it. HERB KUNZE: First goes to Rey Misterio Jr. vs, Psicosis from Bash at the Beach, easily the best North American match this year. Second and third go to the tag title matches of Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama, first to them winning the titles on 05/24/96 and then to them losing the titles on 06/07/96. RICK SCAIA: We probably had more "good or better" matches on TV from the Big Two this year than ever before. With Michaels making sure every WWF show ended on a high note, and with WCW delivering quality cruiserweight action on their undercards, there was good wrestling everywhere you looked! Except on the top half of WCW pay-per-views. Har! The best example of Michaels topping a show off in amazing fashion was at the "Mind Games" PPV. With the right opponent, Michaels is magic, and he showed it here, working an incredible brawl against Mankind. The way the match built to the finish was fantastic, and makes this my favorite match of the year. A close second was Bret Hart's hard-fought and bloody win over Davey Boy Smith at the December "In Your House." I couldn't find a single fault with that match... finally, we cannot forget that ECW delivered some excellent big matches this year, too. Perhaps my favorite of all gets my #3 vote here: the four corners match for the ECW TV Title (Douglas vs. Pitbull #2 vs. Scorpio vs. Jericho) was superb. A terrific blend of wrestling, brawling, and angles made this one a definite video keeper, and worthy of a vote here. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Although many will vote for Shawn Michaels v. Mankind because it's fresh in their minds, the Hart v. Smith match from 12/95 was so much better. And although it didn't make my top 3, I'd like to say that one of the Steiners/Road Warriors matches on Nitro was the ONLY (*the **only***) tag team matchup I seriously enjoyed this year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Match (North American) Previous Winners: 1994: 03/20/94: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (WrestleMania) 1995: 08/27/95: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (SummerSlam) **1996**: 03/31/96: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (WrestleMania) 39 first place votes 39 second place votes 39 third place votes 7 4 9 65 03/31/96 Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels 8 1 3 49 03/09/96 Juventud Guerrera v. Rey Misterio Jr, Philadelphia (2/3) 4 3 5 39 09/22/96 Shawn Michaels v. Mankind 4 6 0 38 04/28/96 Shawn Michaels v. Diesel 2 3 1 21 06/16/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Dean Malenko 2 1 4 21 12/17/95 Bret Hart v. British Bulldog 0 2 7 20 02/17/96 2 Cold Scorpio v. Sabu 2 2 1 18 07/13/96 Shane Douglas v. Pitbull #2 v. Chris Jericho v. 2 Cold Scorpio 1 3 1 16 03/16/96 Rey Misterio Jr. v. Juventud Guerrera, Tijuana 2 0 1 12 11/19/95 Bret Hart v. Diesel 1 1 1 10 07/07/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Psychosis 0 2 2 10 03/31/96 Goldust v. Roddy Piper 0 2 0 6 08/03/96 2 Cold Scorpio v. Chris Jericho, Philadelphia 1 0 0 5 RAW Steve Austin v. Shawn Michaels 1 0 0 5 07/08/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Dean Malenko 1 0 0 5 06/23/96 Shawn Michaels v. Davey Boy Smith 1 0 0 5 05/11/96 2 Cold Scorpio v. Shane Douglas 0 1 1 5 06/16/96 Kevin Sullivan v. Chris Benoit 0 1 0 3 Sabu & Rob Van Dam v. Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas 0 1 0 3 Dean Malenko v. Chris Benoit 0 1 0 3 10/20/96 Steve Austin v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 09/16/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Juventud Guerrera 0 1 0 3 08/18/96 Undertaker v. Mankind 0 1 0 3 08/10/96 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Ultimo Dragon 0 1 0 3 08/03/96 Sabu v. Rob Van Dam 0 0 1 2 Chris Benoit v. Craig Pittman 0 0 1 2 07/01/96 Shawn Michaels v. Marty Jannetty 0 0 1 2 05/11/96 Sabu v. Rob Van Dam (Respect Match) REJECTED (not in timeframe) 1 1 0 8 11/17/96 Bret Hart v. Steve Austin 1 0 0 5 08/ /95 Shawn Michaels v. Razor Ramon (Ladder Match) (A lot of people put "See above" in their ballot, but since my parser divided up ballots by category...fortunately, I caught most of those before I fed the raw data to the parser - still, the lack of participation in this split strongly points to a recombining of these awards next year...see 15b to see what I mean - CRZ) MIKE LOREFICE: Rey vs. Juventud twice in a week, but two different matches. The way they change their style and work the best style for the crowd should be noted. 2 Cold vs. Sabu was awesome. I was at that show and it was the only saving grace on an otherwise horrible evening. Scorpio can hide Sabu's weaknesses as good as anyone in the U.S. I liked Scorpio vs. Jericho a lot because it had so many creative spots. Futuristic matches rule! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Match (Non-North American) Previous Winners: 1994: 04/16/94: Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup) 1995: 11/20/94: Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota (AJW V*TOP Tourney) **1996**: 03/17/96: Jushin Liger vs. Shinjiro Otani 15 first place votes 13 second place votes 13 third place votes 3 2 1 23 03/17/96 Jushin Liger v. Shinjiro Otani 1 2 2 15 08/04/96 Ultimo Dragon v. Shinjiro Otani 2 1 0 13 03/31/96 Manami Toyota v. Kyoko Inoue 2 0 1 12 12/13/95 Jushin Liger v. Ultimo Dragon 1 1 0 8 12/13/95 Wild Pegasus v. Lion Heart 1 1 0 8 06/12/96 Jushin Liger v. Black Tiger 1 1 0 8 05/23/96 Mistuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama v. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue 1 0 1 7 01/04/96 Antonio Inoki v. Big Van Vader 0 2 0 6 06/07/96 Mitsuhara Misawa & Jun Akiyama v. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace 1 0 0 5 12/13/95 Rey Misterio Jr v. Psicosis 1 0 0 5 11/23/95 Taka Michinoku v. Tiger Mask #4 Iwate 1 0 0 5 01/04/96 Nobuhiko Takada v. Shinya Hashimoto 0 0 2 4 10/10/96 Shiryu & Dick Togo & Mens Teoh & Taka Michinoku & Shoichi Funaki v. Tiger Mask 4 & Masato Yakushiji & Super Delfin & Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada, Tokyo 0 0 2 4 09/28/96 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v. Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida 0 1 0 3 06/22/96 Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda v. The Inoues 0 1 0 3 06/17/96 Taka Michinoku v. Super Delfin 0 1 0 3 04/05/96 Taka Michinoky & Shinjiro Otani & Koji Kanemoto v. Jushin Liger & El Samurai & El Gran Hamada 0 0 1 2 Great Sasuke v. Ultimo Dragon 0 0 1 2 Great Sasuke v Jinsei Shinzaki 0 0 1 2 Eddie Guerrero v. Shinjiro Otani 0 0 1 2 01/04/96 Jushin Liger v. Koji Kanemoto (Gee, I'm REALLY glad I included the split in this category. Yes, that's sarcasm. - CRZ) MIKE LOREFICE: Liger vs. Otani and Toyota vs. Kyoko remain. Those two matches are basically equally good and I could watch them again next week and change my mind as to which is better. I just saw the Michinoku 10 man, so I may be overrating or underrating it. It definately blew me away. Otani vs. Ultimo and Misawa & Kobashi vs. Kawada & Taue were extremely hard to leave off. The later was definately the best match of the year as far as psychology is concerned. TAKA vs. Tiger Mask 4 had superb flying, but was short. Among others Kobashi, Misawa, & Akiyama vs. Kawada, Albright, & Taue and TAKA, Otani, & Kanemoto vs. Liger, Samurai, & Hamada were also hard to leave off. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Feud (North American) Award Description: To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best wrestling match(es) of the year. In 1994, this award was split into two: North American and Non-North American. In 1996, it was re-combined. Previous Winners: 1990: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Horsemen: Arn Anderson & Barry Windham 1991: Doom: Ron Simmons & Butch Reed vs. Steiners 1992: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage 1993: Big Van Vader vs. Cactus Jack 1994: (NA) Cactus Jack & partner vs. Nasty Boys 1994: (non-NA) All Japan Women vs. JWP (& other outside women) 1995: (NA) Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero 1995: (non-NA) Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota **1996**: NWO vs. WCW 97 first place votes 92 second place votes 90 third place votes 31 14 6 209 NWO v. WCW 10 12 6 98 Undertaker v. Mankind 7 4 7 61 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Dean Malenko 5 3 5 44 Chris Benoit v. Kevin Sullivan 3 5 7 44 Steve Austin v. Bret Hart 6 2 1 38 Rey Misterio Jr. v. Juventud Guerrera 6 1 0 33 Sabu v. Rob van Dam 2 3 6 31 Shane Douglas v. Pitbulls 3 3 3 30 Shawn Michaels v. Diesel 1 5 4 28 Ric Flair v. Randy Savage 2 4 2 26 Mitsuhara Misawa & co. v. Toshiaka Kawada & co. 0 4 6 24 Rob van Dam v. Sabu 2 1 4 21 Gangstas v. Eliminators 1 1 5 18 Goldust v. Razor Ramon 1 3 1 16 Diesel v. Undertaker 1 1 4 16 Raven & gang v. Tommy Dreamer & Sandman 3 0 0 15 Sandman v. Raven 2 0 1 12 Eric Bischoff v. Vince McMahon 2 0 1 12 Brian Pillman v. Steve Austin 1 2 0 11 WWF v. WCW 0 3 1 11 Rey Mysterio Jr. v. Psychosis 2 0 0 10 NJPW v. UWFi 0 2 2 10 Marc Mero v. Steve Austin 0 2 2 10 Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels 0 3 0 9 Shawn Michaels v. Vader 1 1 0 8 Tommy Dreamer v. Brian Lee 0 2 1 8 Jerry Lawler v. Jake Roberts 0 1 2 7 Goldust v. Ahmed Johnson 0 2 0 6 Jim Ross v. Vince McMahon 1 0 0 5 Wolfie D v. Bill Dundee 1 0 0 5 Shawn Michaels v. Camp Cornette 1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio Jr v. Psychosis 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness v. Giant 1 0 0 5 Bret Hart v. Diesel 0 1 1 5 Dungeon of Doom 0 1 1 5 Diamond Dallas Page v. Guerrero Family 0 1 0 3 The Eliminators v. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy 0 1 0 3 Steve Austin v. Marc Mero 0 1 0 3 Savio Vega v. Steve Austin 0 1 0 3 Marc Mero v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 Jeff Jarrett v. Razor Ramon 0 0 1 2 WWF v. ECW 0 0 1 2 Steven Regal v. Belfast Bruiser 0 0 1 2 Sabu v. Taz 0 0 1 2 Randy Savage v. Horsemen 0 0 1 2 Pitbulls v. Eliminators 0 0 1 2 Nasty Boys v. Public Enemy 0 0 1 2 Kevin Sullivan v. Chris Benoit 0 0 1 2 Four Horsemen v. Dungeon of Doom 0 0 1 2 Diesel v. the WWF 0 0 1 2 Diesel v. Goldust 0 0 1 2 Bret Hart v. Davey Boy Smith REJECTED 0 1 1 Raw v. Nitro JAMES FABIANO: Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam is my idea of a great feud: No stupid angles like alimony money or who's been sleeping with whose wife, just great matches with a believable storyline. (i.e. Each man wants respect from the other) Plus having Taz and Fonzie "tell Rob about Sabu's injury" helps to add heat to the Sabu/Van Dam feud, as well as for Sabu/Taz. MIKE LOREFICE: Rey vs. Juventud dominated two contries from the quality standpoint. Misawa & Co. vs. Kawada & Co. was getting stale last year, but Akiyama gave it renewed life. Douglas vs. Pitbulls was great from a storyline standpoint. Shane's interviews made it rise above the rest. BO WHITE: Nobody has given better matches consistently than Malenko and Misterio, Jr. HERB KUNZE: First to Misawa & co. vs. Kawada & co. as usual; these guys deliver the best matches every year. Rey Jr. vs. Dean Malenko has delivered several excellent matches in WCW. And even though it only built to the one match, the build-up for Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels was so great, it deserves third. WOJO: The NWO invasion was hot as hell, even before Hogan came in to get it ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the name athlete who was the worst overall wrestler in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, and the charisma of a rock should describe this person. Previous Winners: 1990: Junkyard Dog 1991: Andre The Giant 1992: Nailz 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: Hulk Hogan 98 first place votes 92 second place votes 92 third place votes 38 14 5 242 Hulk Hogan 18 6 6 120 Loch Ness 5 15 13 96 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 6 4 7 56 Ultimate Warrior 4 5 1 37 Booty Man 3 2 5 31 Sycho Sid 3 2 5 31 Steve McMichael 2 2 4 24 Glacier 0 4 5 22 John Tenta 3 1 1 20 Savio Vega 1 1 6 20 Jake Roberts 0 4 4 20 Mark Henry 1 3 0 14 Lex Luger 2 1 0 13 Goon 1 0 4 13 Z Gangsta 0 2 3 12 Renegade 2 0 0 10 Shawn Michaels 1 1 1 10 Ahmed Johnson 1 0 2 9 Kevin Sullivan 0 3 0 9 Giant 1 1 0 8 Road Block 0 2 1 8 Randy Savage 1 0 1 7 Inferno 0 2 0 6 Jerry Lawler 0 2 0 6 Giant Baba 0 2 0 6 Faarooq 1 0 0 5 T.L. Hopper 1 0 0 5 Mankind 1 0 0 5 Goldust 1 0 0 5 D-Von Dudley 1 0 0 5 Al Snow 0 1 1 5 Undertaker 0 1 1 5 Ron Studd 0 1 1 5 Jim Powers 0 1 1 5 Eddie Guerrero 0 1 1 5 Big Bubba 0 0 2 4 Phinneas Godwinn 0 1 0 3 Yokozuna 0 1 0 3 Ultimate Solution 0 1 0 3 T.L.Hopper 0 1 0 3 Sultan 0 1 0 3 Mabel 0 1 0 3 Kamala 0 1 0 3 Joe Gomez 0 1 0 3 Ice Train 0 1 0 3 Diamond Dallas Page 0 1 0 3 Barry Horowitz 0 0 1 2 Zebekiah 0 0 1 2 Tito Santana 0 0 1 2 Syxx 0 0 1 2 Sandman 0 0 1 2 Maxx 0 0 1 2 Marcus Bagwell 0 0 1 2 Haruka Eigen 0 0 1 2 Disco Inferno 0 0 1 2 Bunkhouse Buck 0 0 1 2 Buh Buh Ray Dudley 0 0 1 2 Aldo Montoya 0 0 1 2 Abdullah The Butcher JAMES FABIANO: Hogan still sucks, plain and simple, but even he seemed awfully pleasing compared to Loch Ness. And Duggan just gets worse and worse. MIKE LOREFICE: This is always a tough category because there are so many wrestlers that are only worthy of this category. Loch Ness is the worst I've ever seen. Statues have more mobility. He takes a step and he's already blown up. You wonder what will happen first, he will do the boot to the gut and the elbow drop or he will have a heart attack. Sid is a joke. He isn't capable of having a match. Anyone who relegates stars into jobbers because they can't take bumps will be low on my list. Phinneas blows spots left and right. He has no ring presence and I really wonder why because he didn't seen half as bad in WCW. T.L. Hopper is extemely bad, but he has no spot so his matches are too short to draw that many negative stars. Eigen, R.Kimura, D-Von, Z Gangsta, Renegade, and Mustafa aren't far behind. ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": It's not only that Hogan is a bad wrestler. He's still probably the most prominent North American wrestler! Ugh. There are others that follow, but having this one is distasteful enough. RICK SCAIA: I'm not gonna harp on my "worst of" awards voting, but sufFICE: to say that Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, and the abominable brain fart known as "Loch Ness" will show up in the voting for many of these categories. They all suck, and suck badly. I hate them, and wish they would go away... hey wait, "Loch Ness" is already gone! Maybe there is hope! WOJO: Loch Ness is a fat slob who couldn't do shit. McMichael is better, but not horseman material. Henry needs some work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Tag Team Award Description: To be given to the name tag team who were the worst overall wrestlers in the past year. Minimal technical ability, lousy interviews, non-existent workrate, the charisma of a rock, and lousy team moves should describe this pair. Previous Winners: 1990: Rhythm & Blues: Greg Valentine & Honky Tonk Man 1991: The Patriots: Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip 1992: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller 1993: The Colossal Kongs: Awesome Kong & King Kong 1994: Bushwhackers: Luke Williams & Butch Miller 1995: Tekno Team 2000: Travis & Troy **1996**: Godwinns: Henry O. & Phineas I. 97 first place votes 90 second place votes 88 third place votes 23 15 6 172 Godwinn Family - Henry O. & Phineas I. 12 10 12 114 Bushwhackers - Butch & Luke 10 7 9 89 High Voltage (WCW) - Rage & Chaos 9 4 10 77 American Males - Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs 8 4 4 60 Nasty Boys - Nobbs & Sags 4 8 8 60 Tekno Team 2000 - Travis & Troy 1 6 4 31 Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater 1 4 6 29 Rough & Ready - Mike Enos & Dick Slater 2 5 1 27 New and Improved Rockers - Marty Jannetty & Leif Cassidy 2 3 4 27 Smoking Gunns - Billy & Bart 3 2 1 23 Shawn Michaels & Jose Lothario 3 2 1 23 Gangstas - New Jack & Mustafa Saed 2 3 2 23 Barrio Brothers - Ricky Santana & Fidel Sierra 1 3 3 20 Men at Work - Mark Starr & Kris Kanyon & Mike Wenner 2 1 2 17 Blue Bloods - Steven Regal & David Taylor & Robert Eaton 3 0 0 15 Samoan Gangsta Party 2 1 1 15 Public Enemy - Flyboy Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge 2 1 1 15 BodyDonnas - Skip & Zip 0 4 1 14 Rock & Roll Express - Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson 2 0 0 10 High Voltage (CWA-Dallas) - Devon Michaels & Bo Vegas 1 1 1 10 Sting & Lex Luger 0 2 1 8 Grimm Twins - Jared & Jason 1 0 1 7 Faces of Fear - Meng & Barbarian 1 0 0 5 Tommy Rich & Greg Valentine 1 0 0 5 Outsiders - Hall & Nash 1 0 0 5 Eddie & Chavo Guerrero 0 1 1 5 Armstrongs 0 0 2 4 Road Warriors - Hawk & Animal 0 0 2 4 Big Bubba & Hugh Morrus 0 1 0 3 Owen Hart & Yokozuna 0 1 0 3 Fantastics 0 0 1 2 Steve McMichael & Chris Benoit 0 0 1 2 Harlem Heat - Booker T & Stevie Ray 0 0 1 2 Erotic Experience 0 0 1 2 Bad Crew REJECTED 0 1 0 Quebecers (ineligible) JAMES FABIANO Giving the Pigs the WWF tag team titles shows how pathetic the tag team scene is there. MIKE LOREFICE: Godwinn's are bad at every aspect. The rate the mess up at is almost disgraceful. It really says a lot for WWF to have those guys as former champs. Gangstas make me sick. They totally suck. I think my grandmother who uses a walker could do more moves than Mustafa. These guys are sloppy and blow a lot of spots. The are devoid of all ability. There workrate is so bad that even the Eliminators can't have a decent match with them. What talent does it take to use a chair? They can't even brawl with any psychology. Mustafa can't even speak. Aside from that they are jailbirds. They are a complete disgrace to the sport. Bushwhackers are so bad that they can't really get worse. They would be higher if they had a spot and were on more. RICK SCAIA: I have yet to meet a single person who likes the Bushwhackers. Yet they are still around. What they hell is the conspiracy here? They are awfully boring in their WWF roles; I just don't get how they can continue to get such a reaction from the crowd. For complely different reasons, I think the American Males are dreadful. I'd sleep quite well at night if I knew I'd never have to hear that entrance music or see them prancing around again. And for the simple fact that they are pathetically deteriorated from the dominating tag team I remember from years ago, I gotta vote for the Road Warriors here. Every time I see them these days, a little of their amazing legacy dies... that pisses me off. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Heel Award Description: To be given to the person whose casting as a bad guy just didn't work well. Maybe there was just no heel heat drawn or maybe the fans actually cheered this person, but for whatever reason the heel image just didn't get over. Previous Winners: 1990: Rick Martel 1991: The Mountie Jacques Rougeau 1992: Razor Ramon 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Bastion Booger 1995: Zodiac (The Butcher/The Man With No Name/Brother Bruti/Brutus Beefcake) **1996**: Hulk Hogan 92 first place votes 86 second place votes 80 third place votes 15 2 5 91 Hulk Hogan 9 9 7 86 Steve McMichael 10 4 5 72 Braun the Leprechaun 10 4 4 70 Elizabeth 6 4 7 56 T.L. Hopper 3 5 7 44 Sultan 2 6 3 34 M. (V.K.) Wallstreet 4 1 4 31 Dungeon of Doom 2 4 3 28 Big Bubba Rogers 0 6 4 26 Kevin Sullivan 2 2 3 22 Syxx 3 1 1 20 NWO 1 2 4 19 Marty Jannetty 3 1 0 18 Kevin Nash (Diesel) 2 2 1 18 Faarooq 1 3 2 18 Maxx (Muscle) 3 0 1 17 Konan 2 2 0 16 Davey Boy Smith 2 1 1 15 Jerry Lawler 2 1 1 15 Brian Pillman 2 1 0 13 Goldust 1 1 1 10 Razor Ramon #2 1 1 1 10 NWO Sting 0 2 2 10 Salvatore Sincere 0 3 0 9 Scott Hall 1 1 0 8 Bart Gunn 1 0 1 7 Giant 0 1 2 7 Vincent 0 1 2 7 Vader 0 2 0 6 Greg Valentine 0 2 0 6 Disco Inferno 1 0 0 5 Owen Hart 1 0 0 5 New Rockers 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness 1 0 0 5 Isaac Yankem DDS 1 0 0 5 Bob Orton Jr. 0 1 1 5 Leif Cassidy 0 1 1 5 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 Sonny Onoo 0 1 0 3 Raven 0 1 0 3 Nick Patrick 0 1 0 3 Meng 0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono 0 1 0 3 Killer 0 1 0 3 Jean-Pierre Lafitte 0 1 0 3 Eric Bishoff 0 1 0 3 Col. Rob Parker 0 1 0 3 Alan Scharp 0 0 1 2 Zodiac 0 0 1 2 Smoking Gunns 0 0 1 2 Road Block 0 0 1 2 Mankind 0 0 1 2 Diesel #2 0 0 1 2 D-Von Dudley 0 0 1 2 Clarence Mason JAMES FABIANO: Oh sure, we're really supposed to accept a plumber as a badass. I don't think so. Wallstreet was a perfect foil to old Hacksaw becuase no one gave a damn about him. And Roadblock just sucks and got no reaction. MIKE LOREFICE: The idea of a heel is to be booed and draw heat. Nash and Hall are cheered and despite bringing bats and powerbombing a top executive through a table draw no heat. The defeat there own purpose. Elizabeth gets third because she has no presence. I can't tell if she is a face or a heel, so she isn't doing her job. When WCW gave her a good heel spot she couldn't get the handcuffs on and it was a complete disgrace. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Babyface Award Description: To be given to the person whose casting as a good guy just didn't work well. Maybe there was just no face heat drawn or maybe the fans actually booed this person, but for whatever reason the face image just didn't get over. Previous Winners: 1990: Dusty Rhodes 1991: P.N. News 1992: Sid Justice 1993: Lex Luger 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: John Tenta (Shark) 93 first place votes 86 second place votes 80 third place votes 9 7 4 74 John Tenta 7 6 8 69 Lex Luger 10 4 2 66 Hulk Hogan 8 4 7 66 Booty Man 5 5 5 50 Sycho Sid 8 1 2 47 Shawn Michaels 6 5 1 47 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 5 4 3 43 Glacier 1 8 6 41 Renegade 4 2 3 32 Ahmed Johnson 3 4 2 31 Savio Vega 2 2 4 24 Stalker 3 0 3 21 Jeff Jarrett 3 1 1 20 BodyDonnas 0 4 2 16 American Males 1 2 2 15 Bob Holly 1 2 1 13 Mark Henry 1 2 1 13 Freddie Joe Floyd 0 4 0 12 Undertaker 1 1 1 10 Jim Powers 1 0 2 9 Ice Train 0 3 0 9 Chris Jericho 1 1 0 8 Yokozuna 1 1 0 8 Aldo Montoya 1 0 1 7 Marcus Alexander Bagwell 1 0 1 7 Giant 1 0 1 7 Eddie Guerrero 1 0 1 7 Duke Droese 0 1 2 7 Phineas I. Godwinn 0 2 0 6 Joe Gomez 0 2 0 6 Bret Hart 1 0 0 5 Public Enemy 1 0 0 5 Marc Mero 1 0 0 5 Madusa 1 0 0 5 Godwinns 1 0 0 5 Billy Gunn 1 0 0 5 Alex Porteau 0 1 1 5 Scotty Riggs 0 1 1 5 Jake Roberts 0 1 1 5 Barry Windham 0 0 2 4 Zip 0 1 0 3 Sgt. Slaughter 0 1 0 3 Ric Flair 0 1 0 3 Chris Candido 0 1 0 3 Bobby Eaton 0 1 0 3 1-2-3 Kid 0 0 1 2 Sting 0 0 1 2 Sandman 0 0 1 2 Rocco Rock 0 0 1 2 Justin Hawk Bradshaw 0 0 1 2 Henry O. Godwinn 0 0 1 2 Big Bubba 0 0 1 2 Bart Gunn 0 0 1 2 Amhed Johnson 0 0 1 2 Alex Wright REJECTED 1 0 0 WCW (I can see where you're going, but too general) 1 0 0 Anyone in the Mighty Teddy Long Stable (funny, but too general) MIKE LOREFICE: John Tenta gets no reaction. There is total apathy even when he is getting half his beard shaved. American Males are hated by every guy. I don't think that dreadful theme song helps them any. Renegade is just a bad Ultimate Warrior immitation gone awry. BO WHITE: Booty Man as a face - what face? (sorry, kind of cruel) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Worker Award Description: To be given to the name wrestler whose workrate is so low it's barely measureable. Previous Winners: 1990: Junkyard Dog 1991: Andre The Giant 1992: Nailz 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: Hulk Hogan 93 first place votes 89 second place votes 85 third place votes 30 16 12 222 Hulk Hogan 18 2 1 98 Loch Ness 10 7 11 93 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 8 9 12 91 Ultimate Warrior 6 12 8 82 Sycho Sid 3 7 3 42 Yokozuna 3 2 3 27 Lex Luger 4 2 0 26 Steve McMichael 2 2 3 22 Jerry Lawler 1 4 2 21 Mark Henry 1 2 3 17 Big Bubba Rogers 0 3 3 15 Renegade 0 3 2 13 Giant 1 2 0 11 John Tenta 1 1 1 10 Jake Roberts 1 0 2 9 Kevin Sullivan 0 2 0 6 Savio Vega 0 2 0 6 Ron Studd 0 2 0 6 D-Von Dudley 0 0 3 6 Phineas I. Godwinn 0 0 3 6 Joe Gomez 1 0 0 5 Undertaker 1 0 0 5 Scott Norton 1 0 0 5 Jeff Jarrett 1 0 0 5 Godwinn Family 0 1 1 5 T.L. Hopper 0 1 1 5 Sandman 0 1 0 3 Ric Flair 0 1 0 3 Razor Ramon #2 0 1 0 3 Masahiro Chono 0 1 0 3 Kevin Nash 0 1 0 3 Booty Man 0 1 0 3 Bob Holly 0 1 0 3 Aldo Montoya 0 0 1 2 Vincent 0 0 1 2 Vader 0 0 1 2 Stalker 0 0 1 2 Roddy Piper 0 0 1 2 Road Block 0 0 1 2 Randy Savage 0 0 1 2 Mustafa Saed 0 0 1 2 Jim Powers 0 0 1 2 Goon 0 0 1 2 Goldust 0 0 1 2 Giant Baba 0 0 1 2 Faarooq MIKE LOREFICE: Loch Ness is just the worst plain and simple. Sid doesn't even work. He doesn't take bumps or sell. He barely even moves. His opponent has to run into his arm so he can do a clothesline. He is a complete joke. He was 1000 times better as Lord Humungous than he is now and he was greeen and bad then. Giant Baba is completely disgracing himself. He can work against three of the elite in Kobashi, Misawa, and Akiyama and still look worse than horrible. BO WHITE: The Warrior has no energy to work once he is in the ring. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Least Favourite Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the wrestler you like the least, regardless of the reason. Previous Winners: 1991: Hulk Hogan 1992: Hulk Hogan 1993: Hulk Hogan 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: Hulk Hogan 95 first place votes 91 second place votes 85 third place votes 39 17 6 258 Hulk Hogan 7 13 5 84 Jim Duggan 4 9 2 51 Ultimate Warrior 5 4 0 37 Savio Vega 3 2 8 37 Steve McMichael 3 4 1 29 Sycho Sid 2 3 5 29 Kevin Sullivan 4 1 2 27 Glacier 2 3 4 27 Lex Luger 3 2 1 23 Shawn Michaels 1 3 4 22 Undertaker 1 4 1 19 Faarooq 1 1 4 16 John Tenta 2 0 2 14 Shane Douglas 1 2 1 13 Jerry Lawler 2 0 1 12 Bret Hart 1 1 2 12 Diamond Dallas Page 1 2 0 11 American Males 1 1 1 10 Ric Flair 1 1 1 10 Godwinn Family 1 0 2 9 Yokozuna 1 0 2 9 Marcus Alexander Bagwell 1 0 2 9 Loch Ness 1 0 2 9 Goldust 0 1 3 9 Renegade 1 1 0 8 Mankind 1 0 1 7 M. (V.K.) Wallstreet 0 1 2 7 Bob Holly 0 2 0 6 Eddie Guerrero 1 0 0 5 Tommy Dreamer 1 0 0 5 Steve Austin 1 0 0 5 Justin Bradshaw 1 0 0 5 Jim Powers 1 0 0 5 Aldo Montoya 0 1 1 5 Randy Savage 0 1 1 5 Marc Mero 0 1 1 5 Ice Train 0 0 2 4 Marty Jannetty 0 1 0 3 Vincent 0 1 0 3 New Jack 0 1 0 3 Mark Henry 0 1 0 3 Kevin Nash 0 1 0 3 Giant 0 1 0 3 Dungeon of Doom 0 1 0 3 Craig Pittman 0 1 0 3 Booty Man 0 1 0 3 Blacktop Bully 0 1 0 3 Barbarian 0 0 1 2 Steven Regal 0 0 1 2 Stalker 0 0 1 2 Scotty Riggs 0 0 1 2 Scott Hall 0 0 1 2 Sandman 0 0 1 2 Rey Mysterio Jr. 0 0 1 2 Razor Ramon #2 0 0 1 2 Raven 0 0 1 2 Owen Hart 0 0 1 2 Meng 0 0 1 2 Joe Gomez 0 0 1 2 Jim Duggan 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett 0 0 1 2 Brad Armstrong 0 0 1 2 Big Bubba 0 0 1 2 Arn Anderson BO WHITE: Flair is my favorite, so obviously, I HATE HOGAN! I would hate him even if there was no Flair. And Hogan can take Ed Leslie, because I can not stand that guy either. What would Leslie be doing if he wasn't kissing Hogan's butt? CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: I think if Hogan wins, next year I'll name this the "Hulk Hogan Least Favourite Wrestler Award..." or maybe not. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Deteriorated Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the person whose skill has deteriorated the most over the past year. This person should be a shadow of his/her former self. Previous Winners: 1990: Dusty Rhodes 1991: Hulk Hogan 1992: Hulk Hogan 1993: Hulk Hogan 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: Hulk Hogan 92 first place votes 88 second place votes 83 third place votes 17 10 6 127 Hulk Hogan 13 13 4 112 Jake Roberts 13 8 6 101 Ric Flair 9 4 5 67 Vader 5 5 5 50 Stalker (Barry Windham) 5 4 2 41 Randy Savage 5 2 2 35 Booty Man 3 4 4 35 Ultimate Warrior 3 3 2 28 Sycho Sid 2 4 3 28 Lex Luger 1 5 4 28 Greg Valentine 0 5 2 19 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 2 1 2 17 Marty Jannetty 0 3 4 17 Public Enemy 3 0 0 15 Yokozuna 2 1 1 15 Brian Pillman 1 2 2 15 M. (V.K.) Wallstreet 2 0 1 12 Faarooq (Ron Simmons) 0 1 4 11 Road Warriors 0 3 0 9 Syxx (1-2-3 Kid) 0 1 3 9 Bobby Eaton 1 0 1 7 Stan Hansen 1 0 1 7 Norio Honaga 1 0 1 7 Jerry Lawler 1 0 1 7 Hercules 0 0 3 6 Tommy Rich 1 0 0 5 Tito Santana 1 0 0 5 Leif Cassidy (Al Snow/Avatar/Shinobi) 0 1 1 5 Roddy Piper 0 0 2 4 Sting 0 0 2 4 Scott Hall 0 0 2 4 Kevin Sullivan 0 0 2 4 Arn Anderson 0 1 0 3 Road Warrior Hawk 0 1 0 3 Kevin Nash 0 1 0 3 J.L. (Jerry Lynn) 0 1 0 3 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero 0 1 0 3 Big Bubba 0 1 0 3 Al Snow 0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels 0 0 1 2 Rock & Roll Express 0 0 1 2 Jushin Liger 0 0 1 2 Alex Wright REJECTED 0 1 1 AWF wrestlers (a little too general) JAMES FABIANO: Jake Roberts seems to have caught the Randy Savage Syndrome. His only modus operandi is to get his ass kicked the whole match, throw a few weak punches, then hit the DDT for the win. MIKE LOREFICE: I used to be a huge Norio Honaga fan and he used to be one of the best. Now he is all injured up and even Liger, who was his best opponent, is hard pressed to have a good match with him. Sid was always horrible, but he is setting new standards for awful. Public Enemy were the great myth of 1995. I never thought Grunge was any good, but I did thing Rocco was decent. I knew they would be bad in WCW because all their weaknesses would be exposed. Despite there limitations they did have a lot of good matches in 1995, but really none this year. I thought Hansen was crap last year, so he didn't get that much worse. I don't see how you can vote for Dynamite because he didn't wrestle last year and only worked one match this year. He was too great a wrestler to be disgraced by this award. Barry Windham was the best working big man in America at one point. Now he not only looks like his father, but he works like his father. I didn't vote for him because like Dynamite he wasn't active in 95. BRIAN LUTZ: I avoided the "most deteriorated" category, because in some of the cases (read Dynamite Kid), I feel terrible pointing that fact out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Underrated Wrestler Award Description: To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this award should have the most ability with least push. Previous Winners: 1990: Terry Taylor 1991: Cactus Jack 1992: Owen Hart 1993: Chris Benoit 1994: 1-2-3 Kid 1995: Barry Horowitz **1996**: Owen Hart 96 first place votes 91 second place votes 91 third place votes 5 8 3 55 Owen Hart 7 3 5 54 Billy Kidman 4 6 5 48 Diamond Dallas Page 6 3 3 45 Leif Cassidy 3 1 8 34 Hunter Hearst Helmsley 2 6 3 34 Jerry Lynn 6 1 0 33 Dean Malenko 4 3 2 33 Marc Mero 4 1 2 27 Justin Bradshaw 2 3 4 27 Chris Candido 2 4 2 26 Savio Vega 2 4 2 26 Hugh Morrus 4 1 1 25 Arn Anderson 3 1 3 24 Juventud Guerrera 3 1 1 20 Billy Gunn 2 2 2 20 Chris Jericho 2 3 0 19 Davey Boy Smith 2 1 3 19 Lord Steven Regal 3 1 0 18 Disco Inferno 3 1 0 18 Barbarian 2 1 2 17 Alex Wright 2 1 1 15 Eddie Guerrero 0 3 3 15 Salvatore Sincere 0 3 3 15 Chris Benoit 0 4 0 12 Stevie Richards 1 2 0 11 Ahmed Johnson 2 0 0 10 Yugi Nagata 2 0 0 10 Shane Douglas 1 1 1 10 Mikey Whipwreck 1 1 1 10 2 Cold Scorpio 0 2 2 10 Bob Holly 1 0 2 9 Marty Jannetty 1 1 0 8 Psychosis 0 2 1 8 Steve Austin 0 2 1 8 Sgt. Craig Pittman 1 0 1 7 Steve McMichael 1 0 1 7 Louie Spicolli 1 0 1 7 Lex Luger 1 0 1 7 Jeff Jarrett 1 0 1 7 Dan Kroffat 0 1 2 7 Rob Van Dam 1 0 0 5 Undertaker 1 0 0 5 Skip 1 0 0 5 Rey Mysterio Jr. 1 0 0 5 Mike Enos 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness 1 0 0 5 Kevin Nash 1 0 0 5 Goldust 1 0 0 5 Faces of Fear 1 0 0 5 Brian Christopher 0 1 1 5 Perry Saturn 0 1 1 5 Devon Storm 0 1 1 5 Bobby Walker 0 0 2 4 Masahito Kakihara 0 0 2 4 Diesel #2 0 1 0 3 Yuji Yasuraoka 0 1 0 3 Shinjiro Otani 0 1 0 3 Koji Kanemoto 0 1 0 3 Hikari Fukuoka 0 1 0 3 Hakushi 0 1 0 3 Goon 0 1 0 3 Fatu 0 1 0 3 Brad Armstrong 0 1 0 3 Bobby Eaton 0 1 0 3 Alex Porteau 0 0 1 2 Taka Michinoku 0 0 1 2 Sting 0 0 1 2 Squire David Taylor 0 0 1 2 Sabu 0 0 1 2 Public Enemy 0 0 1 2 Pitbull #2 0 0 1 2 Marcus Alexander Bagwell 0 0 1 2 Konan 0 0 1 2 Jun Akiyama 0 0 1 2 Hayabusa 0 0 1 2 Duke Droese ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": Where *did* Mero learn the Shooting Star?! MIKE LOREFICE: Dan Kroffat is a perenial on this list. He is one of the great workers, yet he has less push than last year. He was wasted in AJ then jobbed out. Any promotion would be improved if they let him write their finishes. J.L. has been really good for quite some time, but another year has gone by without a U.S. promoter realizing it. Masahito Kakihara should have become a superstar this year. He certainly has the ability. His kicks are among the fastest anywhere. He has super charisma. Unfortunately that conceited piece of shit Choshu decided to feed his ego and kill all Kakihara's credibility in one fail swoop. If anyone was deserving of a shoot kick Choshu was during that match. No selling for a shooter, what a joke! RICK SCAIA: I cannot imagine that there is -- anywhere in the world -- a wrestler as completely underrated and underutilized as Lief Cassidy. As Al Snow, he was an indie circuit phenomenon, wowing the tough ECW Arena crowd (and providing me with the best pure wrestling match I ever witness live and in person vs. Chris Benoit), and then getting major league heat with his interviews and charisma from the totally different crowd down in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. And now in the WWF, he neither shines as a performer, nor as a character; if they'd review the tape from 1995, Titan would discover they've got a gold mine on their hands. And I think it's about damn time they started prospecting. Lief Cassidy may or may not be the gimmick that makes him a mega-star, but Al Snow is gonna amount to more than one half of a mid-card jobber tag team if there is *any* justice in the world. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Hugh Morrus rules! And hopefully, I won't have to vote for Leif Cassidy next year in this category. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Wrestling Gimmick Award Description: To be given to the wrestler who had the worst character gimmick in the past year. Previous Winners: 1991: Mike Rotundo as Irwin R. Shyster 1992: Papa Shango's voodoo 1993: Doink the Clown 1994: Doink the Clown 1995: Dungeon of Doom **1996**: The Leprechaun 93 first place votes 92 second place votes 87 third place votes 14 13 5 119 Braun the Leprechaun 15 8 3 105 Cloudy 6 11 7 77 T.L. Hopper 9 5 4 68 Glacier 6 4 3 48 Diesel #2 & Razor Ramon #2 4 4 7 46 Booty Man 4 5 5 45 Konan as an East LA gang member 3 2 5 31 Faarooq Asaad 2 1 9 31 Yeti 3 4 0 27 Goldust 2 4 2 26 Xanta Klauz 4 0 1 22 Dudleys 2 2 3 22 Dungeon of Doom 0 4 3 18 Stalker 2 1 2 17 Mankind 1 2 2 15 Who 0 3 3 15 NWO Sting 1 2 0 11 American Males 2 0 0 10 Undertaker 2 0 0 10 Hulk Hogan 2 0 0 10 Doink 1 1 1 10 Sultan 0 2 2 10 Goon 1 0 2 9 Godwinn Family 1 1 0 8 V.K. Wallstreet 0 2 0 6 Bob Holly 0 0 3 6 Salvatore Sincere 1 0 0 5 Syxx 1 0 0 5 Sunny 1 0 0 5 Sting as the Crow 1 0 0 5 NWO 1 0 0 5 Loch Ness Monster 1 0 0 5 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 0 1 1 5 Leif Cassidy / New Rockers as Dorks 0 1 1 5 Freddie Joe Floyd 0 1 1 5 Final Solution 0 1 0 3 Lex Luger 0 1 0 3 Kevin Kelly 0 1 0 3 Kevin Greene wrestling 0 1 0 3 Jimmy Grafitti 0 1 0 3 Duke Droese 0 1 0 3 Double J Jesse Jammes 0 1 0 3 Bill Alfonso 0 1 0 3 Aldo Montoya 0 0 1 2 Stevie Richards 0 0 1 2 Steve McMichael as a horseman 0 0 1 2 Shiek 0 0 1 2 Road Block 0 0 1 2 Ring Master 0 0 1 2 My Flowers 0 0 1 2 Jack Boot 0 0 1 2 Issac Yankem DDS 0 0 1 2 Hardwork Bobby Walker 0 0 1 2 Disco Inferno 0 0 1 2 Big Bubba the Harley Rider REJECTED (out of timeframe) 0 0 1 Pillman-Austin Shoot-out JAMES FABIANO: Congratulations, Vince, your hard work paid off! MIKE LOREFICE: Another category chock full of scrubs to choose from. Cloudy certainly makes you embarrased to be a wrestling fan. Buddy Lee Parker proved he had no self respect with the Leprechaun. My Flowers has to stay on my list from reputation despite the fact I haven't seen it this year. He is certainly worse than Goldust because at least Goldust's buns are covered. Yetti is Prince Kharis with a Gobbledy Gooker debut, but not quite bad enough. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Wrestling Move Award Description: To be given to the move that is the worst thing you've seen this year. This shouldn't be given to a move that was flubbed by a wrestler - the move was performed correctly, but was just too stupid for words. This move should probably be a "finishing" move or something that was meant to be spectacular. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1991: Hulk Hogan's leg drop 1992: Crush's Compactor head-vise 1993: Crush's Compactor head-vise 1994: Hulk Hogan's leg-drop 1995: Hulk Hogan's leg-drop **1996**: Hacksaw Jim Duggan's taped fist 88 first place votes 84 second place votes 81 third place votes 19 15 13 166 Hacksaw Jim Duggan's Taped Fist 23 8 12 163 Hulk Hogan's Legdrop 5 7 6 58 Bushwackers' Battering Ram 7 5 2 54 Mankind's Mandible Claw 4 6 8 54 Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music superkick 3 2 8 37 Kevin Sullivan's Double Stomp 5 2 2 35 Crush's Heart Punch 0 7 3 27 Hacksaw Jim Duggan's Three Point Stance clothesline 3 1 2 22 Goldust's Curtain Call 2 1 2 17 Godwinns' Slop Drop 2 0 2 14 Vader's Vaderbomb second rope splash 1 2 1 13 Goon's Cross Check 1 2 1 13 Blacktop Bully's Breaker 1-9 armbar 1 1 1 10 Kevin Sullivan's Tree of Woe 1 1 0 8 Sycho Sid's Chokeslam 1 1 0 8 Shawn Michaels' Skinning the Cat 1 1 0 8 Booty Man's High Knee 0 2 0 6 Loch Ness' Elbow Drop 1 0 0 5 Randy Savage's double axehandle from the top rope to the floor 1 0 0 5 Jesse Jammes' crotch slam 1 0 0 5 Hunter Hearst Helmsley's pedigree 1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan's Figure Four leglock 0 1 1 5 Steve McMichael's Bodyslam 0 1 1 5 Eddie Guerrero's Jackknife Frog Splash 0 0 2 4 Sultan's Camel Clutch 0 0 2 4 Standing Side Headlock 0 1 0 3 Yokozuna's Banzai drop 0 1 0 3 Ultimate Warrior's Gorilla Press 0 1 0 3 Ultimate Warrior's Flying Shoulder Tackle 0 1 0 3 Sycho Sid's Powerbomb 0 1 0 3 Randy Savage's Elbowdrop 0 1 0 3 Madusa's German suplex 0 1 0 3 M. Wallstreet's Stock Market Crash Samoan drop 0 1 0 3 Justin Bradshaw's Lariat 0 1 0 3 Jake Roberts' DDT 0 1 0 3 Hulk Hogan's Lariat 0 0 1 2 Shark's Shark Attack 0 0 1 2 Shane Douglas' belly to belly suplex 0 0 1 2 Savio Vega's Super-Kwang Spinning Wheel Kick 0 0 1 2 Lex Luger's Torture Rack 0 0 1 2 Johnny B. Badd's Tutti Frutti punch to the face 0 0 1 2 Hacksaw Jim Duggan's Shoulderblock 0 0 1 2 Ahmed Johnson's Pearl River Plunge powerbomb REJECTED (No wrestler named) 2 1 1 Choke 1 1 1 Chokeslam 1 0 2 Camel Clutch 0 2 0 Powerbomb 1 0 0 Spinning Toehold 1 0 0 Hurracanrana 1 0 0 Atomic Legdrop 0 1 0 anything by Steve McMichaels (OK, no MOVE named then) 0 1 0 Power Slam 0 1 0 Gorilla Press Slam 0 1 0 Flying elbowdrop 0 1 0 Eye Gouge 0 1 0 Double Dropkick 0 1 0 Armbar 0 0 1 Vertical suplex 0 0 1 Super Kick 0 0 1 Sleeperhold 0 0 1 Body Slam (It's very unfortunate that people couldn't put a wrestler's name with these generic moves...especialy with the vote so close in this category - CRZ) ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": Now I have to watch Cactus Jack stick his middle finger at me? I know he loves it, but I don't really have to watch this, do I? MIKE LOREFICE: Duggan's taped fist is so stupid. Tape makes no difference on the effect of the blow, so the gimmick is senseless. Bushwhackers battering ram severly lacks in credibility as well. Hogan's leg drop isn't the worst move, but the fact that he breaks everyone's finisher and then one leg drop and you are done warrants it's inclusion. BO WHITE: I think anything Jim Duggan does should be the winner of this category. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: I was really happy to see Crush back in the WWF so I would be able to once again vote for the heart punch. Too bad he lost out to the dreaded taped fist. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Match Award Description: To be given to the worst wrestling match you've seen this year, either live, on TV, PPV, or in an arena, or on tape. If it took place in the past year, it is eligible. Previous Winners: 1990: 06/13/90: Ric Flair vs. Junkyard Dog (CoC XI) 1991: 05/19/91: El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious (SuperBrawl) 1992: 01/18/92: Beverly Brothers vs. Bushwhackers (Royal Rumble) 1993: 04/04/93: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna (WrestleMania IX) 1994: 09/18/94: Jim Duggan vs. Steve Austin, Fall Brawl 1995: 03/19/95: Hulk Hogan vs. Vader (Uncensored) **1996**: 03/24/96: Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Kevin Sullivan & Meng & Barbarian & Ze Gangsta & Ultimate Solution (Doomsday Triple Cage of Doom Match) 82 first place votes 73 second place votes 68 third place votes 23 6 2 137 03/24/96 Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage v. Arn Anderson & Ric Flair & Lex Luger & Meng & Barbarian & Kevin Sullivan & Z Gangsta & Ultimate Solution (Doomsday Triple Cage of Doom Match) 9 5 4 68 07/07/96 Big Bubba v. John Tenta (Carson City Silver Dollar Match) 4 5 5 45 09/22/96 Jim Cornette v. Jose Lothario 4 8 0 44 03/31/96 Ultimate Warrior v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 6 1 5 43 02/18/96 Razor Ramon v. 1-2-3 Kid (Cry Baby Match) 2 7 3 37 04/28/96 Goldust v. Ultimate Warrior 2 2 7 30 08/10/96 Giant v. Hulk Hogan 2 2 3 22 09/ /96 Syxx v. Jim Duggan 1 3 4 22 03/24/96 Giant v. Loch Ness 3 2 0 21 10/27/96 Hulk Hogan v. Randy Savage 2 3 1 21 08/10/96 Big Bubba v. John Tenta 2 1 3 19 08/15/96 Hulk Hogan v. Ric Flair 3 0 1 17 03/31/96 Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels 2 0 0 10 Zebekiah v. Freddie Joe Floyd (Floyd wins 3 falls) 2 0 0 10 08/18/96 Jerry Lawler v. Jake Roberts 1 1 0 8 01/10/96 One Man Gang v. Super Giant Ninja 0 2 0 6 06/23/96 Ultimate Warrior v. Jerry Lawler 1 0 0 5 Undertaker v. Mankind 1 0 0 5 Steve Austin v. Savio Vega strap match 1 0 0 5 Aldo Montoya v. anyone 1 0 0 5 09/22/96 Mark Henry v. Jerry Lawler 1 0 0 5 08/18/96 Undertaker v. Mankind (Boiler Room Brawl) 1 0 0 5 08/10/96 Sting & Lex Luger v. Outsiders 1 0 0 5 07/22/96 Jim Powers & Alex Wright & Joe Gomez & Renegade v. Kevin Sullivan & Hugh Morrus & Barbarian & Leprechaun 0 1 1 5 10/20/96 Sycho Sid v. Vader 0 1 1 5 09/28/96 Hercules v. Charlie Norris 0 1 1 5 05/26/96 Shawn Michaels v. Davey Boy Smith 0 0 2 4 Jim Duggan v. Diamond Dallas Page (Taped Fist Match) 0 0 2 4 Ice Train v. Scott Norton 0 0 2 4 08/18/96 Godwinn Family v. New Rockers v. Smoking Gunns v. New & Improved Rockers 0 1 0 3 Brian Pillman v. Kevin Sullivan 0 1 0 3 11/27/95 Sixty man battle royal 0 1 0 3 10/20/96 Undertaker v. Mankind (Buried Alive Match) 0 1 0 3 09/15/96 Ric Flair & Arn Anderson & Lex Luger & Sting v. Hulk Hogan & Scott Hall & Kevin Nash & NWO Sting (War Games) 0 1 0 3 08/18/96 Godwinns v. New Rockers 0 1 0 3 08/15/96 Eddie Guerrero v. Diamond Dallas Page 0 1 0 3 07/07/96 Steve McMichaels v. Joe Gomez 0 1 0 3 07/07/96 Ric Flair v. Konnan 0 1 0 3 07/07/96 Nasty Boys v. Public Enemy 0 1 0 3 05/26/96 Vader v. Yokozuna 0 1 0 3 05/26/96 Smoking Gunns v. Godwinns 0 1 0 3 01/22/96 One Man Gang v. Hulk Hogan 0 0 1 2 Raven v. Terry Gordy 0 0 1 2 Raven v. Sandman - CyberSlam 0 0 1 2 RAW Vader v. Yokozuna 0 0 1 2 Pro Renegade v. Gambler 0 0 1 2 MainEven Glacier v. Gambler 0 0 1 2 Jake Roberts v. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 0 1 2 Goldust v. Savio Vega 0 0 1 2 Giant v. Shark 0 0 1 2 Giant v. Lex Luger 0 0 1 2 Col. Parker v. Medusa 0 0 1 2 08/15/96 Chris Benoit v. Giant 0 0 1 2 06/23/96 Vader v. Jake Roberts 0 0 1 2 06/09/96 El Gato v. Kurasawa 0 0 1 2 06/01/96 Chris Benoit v. Alex Wright 0 0 1 2 05/28/96 Vader v. Yokozuna 0 0 1 2 05/28/96 Steve Austin v. Savio Vega strap match 0 0 1 2 04/29/96 Ultimate Warrior v. Isaac Yankem DDS 0 0 1 2 03/31/96 Godwinns v. BodyDonnas 0 0 1 2 02/11/96 Brian Pillman v. Kevin Sullivan (Respect Match) REJECTED 3 2 0 Any Hulk Hogan match 1 4 1 Any Jim Duggan v. V.K. Wallstreet match 1 0 1 Any Jim Duggan match 0 2 0 Big Bubba v. John Tenta (which one?) 1 0 0 Any Carribean Strap Match with Savio Vega 1 0 0 Any Big Bubba v. Hacksaw Duggan match 0 1 0 Ahmed Johnson v. Bret Hart (nonexistent match?) 0 1 0 Any Steve McMichaels match (Well, I blew it on the nominations - I had Loch Ness in the Triple Cage of Doom match, when he wasn't - he was facing the Giant that night [and I had THAT match as a Nitro match! No wonder no one knew the date on it. ;-)] I have since found that I probably meant to say "Kevin Sullivan" along with all the people that made it the winner. Also, the fifth place winner might not have received all those votes - I gave a couple of "Giant v. Hogan" votes to that one even though they may have meant the SuperBrawl cage match...but I doubt anyone remembered that one [except for the Loch Ness run in of course]- CRZ) BO WHITE: The triple cage match of doom was arguably the worst match ever - totally unrealistic, with mostly horrible wrestlers, while pushing two washed up losers. RICK SCAIA: Can there be any doubt that there has never been an idea any more ill-conceived or poorly executed in the history of wrestling than the "Doomsday Triple Cage Match" that pitted Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage against 8 other guys? It still amazes me to this day that this match was even proposed, much less actually placed as a main event to a PPV. It also amazes how poor the actual match itself was. If there was a "Worst Match of the Century," this might get my #1 vote. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: It's really too bad I forgot to nominate my number one choice, because I think more people would have voted for it. The Nitro 8-man between Jim Powers, Joe Gomez, Alex Wright and Renegade vs. Sullivan, Hugh Morrus, Barbarian and the debuting Leprechaun just has so many things wrong with it - it's a great example of how bad WCW can be. From the dreadful video package of the four 'young studs' which served absolutely NO purpose, to the break in the action to show us Hall & Nash walking around, to the lame no-finish. Whew, I need to see it again. Who's got it on tape? Also, I really wish I'd seen Gambler v. Glacier so I could vote for it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Feud Award Description: To be given to the feud that nobody cared about at all this year. When they were pushing the feud on TV, you'd go to the fridge for a snack. Previous Winners: 1990: Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake 1991: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter 1992: Ultimate Warrior vs. Papa Shango 1993: The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez 1994: Doink vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 1995: Hulk Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom **1996**: Big Bubba vs. John Tenta 87 first place votes 82 second place votes 80 third place votes 15 10 7 119 Big Bubba v. John Tenta 7 9 6 74 Hacksaw Jim Duggan v. V.K. Wallstreet 10 2 3 62 Hulk Hogan v. Dungeon of Doom 7 1 4 46 Sunny v. Cloudy 6 4 0 42 NWO v. WCW 2 7 4 39 Col. Robert Parker v. Madusa 3 3 4 32 Jerry Lawler v. Jake Roberts 3 2 4 29 Jim Cornette v. Jose Lothario 2 4 2 26 Savio Vega v. Steve Austin 2 2 4 24 Ice Train v. Scott Norton 2 2 3 22 Godwinns v. Sunny 1 4 1 19 Dungeon of Doom v. Four Horsemen 2 2 1 18 Freddie Joe Floyd v. Justin Bradshaw & Zebekiah 2 1 1 15 Vince McMahon v. Eric Bischoff 1 2 2 15 Shawn Michaels v. Davey Boy Smith 2 0 1 12 Undertaker v. Mankind 0 2 3 12 Loch Ness v. Giant 1 0 3 11 WWF Tag Team Division 1 1 1 10 Savio Vega v. Justin Bradshaw 1 1 1 10 Disco Inferno v. Dean Malenko 0 2 2 10 Diamond Dallas Page v. Guerreros 0 3 0 9 Jerry Lawler v. Mark Henry 0 1 3 9 T.L. Hopper v. Duke Droese 1 1 0 8 Shawn Michaels v. Vader 1 1 0 8 Godwinn Family v. Smoking Gunns 1 0 1 7 John Tenta v. Dungeon of Doom 1 0 1 7 Hacksaw Jim Duggan v. Anyone 1 0 1 7 Dudleys v. D-Von Dudley 0 1 2 7 Vader v. Yokozuna 0 1 2 7 Nick Patrick v. Teddy Long 0 2 0 6 Goldust v. Undertaker 1 0 0 5 Ultimate Warrior v. Vader 1 0 0 5 Ric Flair v. Konnan 1 0 0 5 Randy Savage v. Hulk Hogan 1 0 0 5 NWO v. Elizabeth 1 0 0 5 Kevin Sullivan v. Chris Benoit 1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan v. Roddy Piper 1 0 0 5 Goldust v. Stalker 1 0 0 5 Goldust v. Roddy Piper 1 0 0 5 Goldust v. Razor Ramon 1 0 0 5 Four Horsemen v. Lex Luger 1 0 0 5 Camp Cornette v. Shawn Michaels 1 0 0 5 Any WWF feud of the past year 0 1 1 5 Hulk Hogan v. Randy Savage 0 0 2 4 Hulk Hogan v. Giant 0 1 0 3 Sycho Sid v. Vader 0 1 0 3 Steven Regal v. Belfast Bruiser 0 1 0 3 Steve Austin v. Brian Pillman 0 1 0 3 Sandman v. Raven 0 1 0 3 Road Warriors v. Lex Luger & Sting 0 1 0 3 Mandkind v. Undertaker 0 1 0 3 Madusa v. Bull Nakano 0 1 0 3 Jose Lothario v. Jim Cornette 0 1 0 3 Goldust v. Ahmed Johnson 0 1 0 3 Diamond Dallas Page v. Johnny B. Badd 0 0 1 2 Ultimate Warrior v. Jerry Lawler 0 0 1 2 Taz v. Paul Varelans 0 0 1 2 Public Enemy v. Nasty Boys 0 0 1 2 One Man Gang v. Konan 0 0 1 2 New Japan v. UWFi 0 0 1 2 Jim Cornette v. Shawn Michaels 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett v. Giant 0 0 1 2 Gangstas v. Samoan Gangsta Party 0 0 1 2 Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels 0 0 1 2 Ahmed Johnson v. Jeff Jarrett JAMES FABIANO: Show me someone who cares about Bubba vs. Tenta or Wallstreet vs. Duggan and I'll show you a moron. And Roberts vs. Lawler produced NO watchable matches, but did produce an unfunny angle about alcoholism. MIKE LOREFICE: Thankfully Sunny vs. Cloudy was nipped in the bud. Tenta vs. Bubba got no reaction because no one cared about either. NJ vs. UWF-I will be disputed because it did great at the box ofFICE:. I vote for it because it killed UWF-I. It ruined UWF-I's credibility and their drawing power. They couldn't draw flies after this and were basically a joke. Now it looks like they are gone for good. Success is a matter of opinion and 2 Tokyo Dome sellouts don't make up for a ruined promotion in my book. BO WHITE: If I see one more Ice Train and Norton match I am going to scream! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Disappointing News item Award Description: To be given to the wrestling news item that most disappointed you when heard of it. When you first learned of this news story, you couldn't believe that it was true, and when you learned that it was, you were bummed out for a while. Previous Winners: 1991: Scott Steiner gets injured 1992: Legion of Doom: Hawk & Animal split up 1993: WWF brings Hulk Hogan back and gives him the title 1994: WCW signs Hulk Hogan and makes him World champion 1995: Death of Eddie Gilbert **1996**: Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash leave WWF and/or join WCW 92 first place votes 85 second place votes 85 third place votes 16 11 6 125 Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash leave WWF and/or join WCW 15 3 3 90 Jushin Liger has brain tumor 7 6 8 69 Brian Pillman involved in car accident 7 3 5 54 Hulk Hogan re-signs with WCW 5 5 3 46 Hall & Nash don't return to WWF / "New" Razor Ramon & Diesel introduced / Jim Ross strains credibility 6 3 1 41 Death of Dick Murdoch 4 5 1 37 Bret Hart takes long hiatus 3 4 3 33 Hulk Hogan wins WCW title 3 1 7 32 Ahmed Johnson injured 3 1 2 22 Ultimate Warrior suspended by WWF 0 6 2 22 Great Sasuke injured with cracked skull 2 3 1 21 Outsider #3 is Hulk Hogan 1 2 5 21 Ultimate Warrior returns to WWF 0 3 6 21 SMW folds 2 2 2 20 Roddy Piper joins WCW 1 4 1 19 Nitro beats Raw consistently in ratings 2 2 1 18 Mr. Perfect going to WCW 1 3 0 14 Death of Ray Stevens 2 0 1 12 Sunny stops managing 0 2 3 12 Ric Flair injured 1 1 1 10 Antonio Pena takes Baja California territory away from Konnan 1 0 2 9 Scott Steiner undergoes surgery 1 0 0 5 WWF holds up Sean Waltman's contract 1 0 0 5 WCW signs Hall and Nash 1 0 0 5 Riots in ECW 1 0 0 5 Prime Network pulls ECW from broadcast schedule 1 0 0 5 One Man Gang returns 1 0 0 5 Jeff Jarrett is injured 1 0 0 5 Death of Big John Studd 1 0 0 5 Brian Pillman signed by WWF 1 0 0 5 Bret Hart loses WWF Title 1 0 0 5 Bret Hart is coming back 0 1 1 5 ECW "crucifies" Sandman 0 1 1 5 Death of Sapphire 0 1 0 3 WWF attendance down after an upswing 0 1 0 3 WWF allows Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to retain their WWF personalities 0 1 0 3 Sabu fired by WCW 0 1 0 3 Sabu doesn't appear at Royal Rumble 0 1 0 3 Randy Savage may jump to WWF 0 1 0 3 Public Enemy leave ECW for WCW 0 1 0 3 Portland bans wrestling 0 1 0 3 John Tenta Gets Pushed 0 1 0 3 Hogan might go to WWF 0 1 0 3 Eric Bischoff turning 0 1 0 3 ECW doesn't go national 0 1 0 3 ECW bans the blade 0 1 0 3 2 Cold Scorpio to become Flash Funk in WWF 0 0 1 2 WWF goes "extreme" 0 0 1 2 Virgil joins NWO as "Vincent" 0 0 1 2 Vader debuts and does absolutely nothing for a year in WWF 0 0 1 2 Ultimate Warrior refuses to job/sell 0 0 1 2 Steve McMichael joining the Four Horsemen 0 0 1 2 Sid returns to WWF 0 0 1 2 Shawn Michaels comes back 0 0 1 2 Sakie Hasegawa retires 0 0 1 2 Raw doesn't go to 2 hours despite rumors 0 0 1 2 Pitbull #2's neck injury 0 0 1 2 No nude pictures of Kimona 0 0 1 2 No followup on ECW/WWF agreement 0 0 1 2 IWA Japan suspends operations 0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan still lives 0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan refuses to job to Randy Savage 0 0 1 2 Federal Trade Commission yet to hear charges of monopolistic practices by Ted Turner 0 0 1 2 ECW loses Public Enemy and Cactus Jack 0 0 1 2 Dean Douglass leaves WWF 0 0 1 2 Brian Pillman not returning until '97 MIKE LOREFICE: Liger getting a brain tumor had me depressed like no other sports story. Sasuke cracking his skull was also horrible. I don't want him to compromise his style, but it would be wise. Hasegawa retiring really sucked. She is still so young and was still very good. It was ever worse because AJW had no one capable of replacing her. Hasegawa was an awesome talent and she should be greatly missed. BO WHITE: When Hogan resigned with WCW, I applied for WWF mark membership. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most Obnoxious Personality Award Description: To be given to the person who just rubs you the wrong way. This could be anybody involved in the wrestling biz. Previous Winners: 1991: Dusty Rhodes 1992: Vince McMahon 1993: Vince McMahon 1994: Hulk Hogan 1995: Eric Bischoff **1996**: Eric Bischoff 95 first place votes 91 second place votes 89 third place votes 20 15 6 157 Eric Bischoff 18 15 9 153 Hulk Hogan 10 12 8 102 Gene Okerlund 7 7 5 66 Dusty Rhodes 4 8 3 50 Jerry Lawler 1 6 10 43 Todd Pettengill 4 4 1 34 Jim Cornette 6 0 0 30 Sonny Onoo 4 2 2 30 Bill Alphonso 2 4 4 30 Vince McMahon 1 4 3 23 Steve McMichael 1 3 4 22 Shawn Michaels 1 2 2 15 Shane Douglas 2 0 2 14 Dok Hendrix 1 1 3 14 Paul Bearer 2 0 0 10 Bret Hart 1 1 1 10 Gorilla Monsoon 1 0 1 7 Goldust 1 0 1 7 Brian Pillman 0 0 3 6 Mr. Perfect 1 0 0 5 Ultimate Warrior 1 0 0 5 Sunny 1 0 0 5 Sandman 1 0 0 5 Ric Flair 1 0 0 5 Lex Luger 1 0 0 5 Lance Wright 1 0 0 5 Bobby Heenan 1 0 0 5 Bob Holly 0 1 1 5 Clarence Mason 0 0 2 4 Lord Steven Regal 0 1 0 3 Vincent (Virgil) 0 1 0 3 Raven 0 1 0 3 Randy Savage 0 1 0 3 Lee Murphy (Marshall?) 0 1 0 3 Larry Zybyzsko 0 1 0 3 Eddie Guerrero 0 0 1 2 Tony Schiavone 0 0 1 2 Stevie Richards 0 0 1 2 Ricco Suave 0 0 1 2 Mike Tenay 0 0 1 2 Mark Henry 0 0 1 2 Marc Madden 0 0 1 2 Lord Alfred Hayes 0 0 1 2 Lee Marshall 0 0 1 2 Kevin Kelly 0 0 1 2 Joey Styles 0 0 1 2 Joel Gertner 0 0 1 2 Jimmy Hart 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett 0 0 1 2 Giant 0 0 1 2 Disco Inferno 0 0 1 2 Bob Backlund 0 0 1 2 Big Bubba Rogers 0 0 1 2 Alan Scharp MIKE LOREFICE: Onno or anyone else with the xeno gimmick makes me want to puke. There is no place for that garbage in wrestling. It certainly doesn't help any of the wrestlers get over. Dusty should be detounged. He dislikes everyone that is talented and purposely doesn't get them over. Todd "It was the greatest PPV of all-time" Pettingill overhypes everything to the max. Can anyone take anything he says ever remotely seriously? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Manager Award Description: To be given to the manager who outperformed his peers at ringside and behind the microphone in interviews. Previous Winners: 1990: Jim Cornette 1991: Bobby Heenan 1992: Mr. Perfect 1993: Jim Cornette 1994: Jim Cornette 1995: Jim Cornette **1996**: Sunny 92 first place votes 88 second place votes 84 third place votes 36 14 17 256 Sunny 26 19 8 203 Jim Cornette 5 6 8 59 Ted DiBiase 3 5 10 50 Woman 6 1 2 37 Francine 2 3 9 37 Clarence Mason 3 4 4 35 Paul E. Dangerously 4 4 1 34 Bill Alphonso 3 5 1 32 Mr. Perfect 0 5 4 23 Sable 0 5 4 23 Marlena 1 5 1 22 Stevie Richards 0 6 1 20 Jimmy Hart 0 2 4 14 Bobby Heenan 0 2 2 10 Ricco Suave 1 0 2 9 Kimona Wanalaya 1 0 1 7 Sonny Onoo 1 0 0 5 Miss Elizabeth 0 1 1 5 Colonel Robert Parker 0 0 2 4 Beulah McGillicuddy 0 1 0 3 Sister Sherri 0 0 1 2 Paul Bearer 0 0 1 2 Booty Babe (Yes, I KNOW technically valets aren't managers. If it makes you feel any better, *I* didn't vote for any valets. - CRZ) ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": *sigh* I'm only a man... (Sunny, Sable, Francine) JAMES FABIANO: Francine can draw heat (as a heel) and take some unbelievable bumps. Fonzie can get fans riled with that f***ing whistle. And Corny is still great in his own right. MIKE LOREFICE: Total lack of quality in this award. Francine takes great bumps, so she gets the nod. Richards is really good at everything, but he isn't really a manager. Still there is no regular manager that is better than Stevie, so he gets 2nd. Sunny based on what she is capable of. She can give a great interview and work the crowd, but WWF would rather use her as a sex symbol. BO WHITE: Cornette has consistently got his wrestlers title shots, and titles, while still remaining a very colorful character. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Ricco Suave has studied Bobby Heenan so well, he's damn near become the *only* reason to watch AWF television. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Announcer Award Description: To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most insightful and entertaining comments while pushing his product. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced. Previous Winners: 1990: Jesse Ventura 1991: Jesse Ventura 1992: Jim Ross 1993: Jim Ross 1994: Jim Ross 1995: Jim Ross **1996**: Jim Ross 93 first place votes 84 second place votes 75 third place votes 31 21 16 250 Jim Ross 28 10 4 178 Joey Styles 11 12 17 125 Mike Tenay 5 9 13 79 Tony Schiavone 4 8 8 60 Kevin Kelly 3 7 5 46 Vince McMahon 4 2 2 30 Gordon Solie (Did he announce? - CRZ) 2 3 1 21 Howard Finkel 0 6 0 18 Bruce Beck 2 1 0 13 Joel Gertner 1 1 1 10 Michael Buffer 1 1 1 10 Eric Bischoff 1 0 1 7 Lance Russell 1 0 0 5 Gene Okerlund 0 0 2 4 Jerry Lawler 0 0 1 2 Lee Marshall REJECTED 0 1 1 Outsiders (more than one guy) 0 1 1 Bobby Heenan (colour) 0 1 0 Mr. Perfect (colour) 0 1 0 Larry Zybyszko (colour) 0 0 1 Those Mexican guys in the WWF who keep getting their table broken (funny...but more than one guy) 0 0 1 Gorilla Monsoon (Didn't announce) (Well, *I* don't think ring announcers qualify...but I left them in anyway - CRZ) MIKE LOREFICE: 1st should be Styles via unanimous vote. He is the best ever. He knows the holds, has great delivery, is exciting, get the wrestlers over, gets the moves over, gets the angles over, etc. He makes even the worst ECW matches such as anything involving the Dudleys watchable. Bruce Beck is the most versatile announcer. He seems to do every sport and is good at all of them. He is one of the main reasons for UFC's popularity. Third by default goes to Jim Ross because everyone else is horrible. Ross isn't what he was and doesn't even do play by play often, but when he does he's still pretty good. If someone can explain to me why Michael Buffer was nominated please do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Colour Commentator Award Description: To be given to the colour commentator who provides the most insightful and entertaining comments. Previous Winners: 1991: Bobby Heenan 1992: Bobby Heenan 1993: Jesse Ventura 1994: Bobby Heenan 1995: Bobby Heenan **1996**: Bobby Heenan 93 first place votes 88 second place votes 80 third place votes 36 12 10 236 Bobby Heenan 17 15 10 150 Jerry Lawler 7 5 10 70 Jim Ross 4 9 11 69 Mr. Perfect 11 3 1 66 Joey Styles 5 5 5 50 Larry Zbyszko 4 4 6 44 Kevin Nash 3 7 2 40 Mike Tenay 3 5 2 34 Steve Austin 3 3 4 32 Owen Hart 0 6 0 18 John Peretti 0 2 5 16 Brian Pillman 0 3 3 15 Dusty Rhodes 0 2 2 10 Jim Cornette 0 1 2 7 Scott Hall 0 2 0 6 Dok Hendrix 0 2 0 6 Bob Backlund 0 1 1 5 Kevin Kelly 0 0 2 4 Jeff Blatnick 0 0 2 4 Don Wilson 0 1 0 3 Lord Alfred Hayes 0 0 1 2 Ken Shamrock REJECTED 0 0 1 Gene Oklerlund MIKE LOREFICE: Styles does it all and is still the best here. I like Peretti a lot because he offers good insight and knows the holds. He is good at explaining things like how the fighter could escape from this situation. Falsifying records of the fighters has to do with his promoting not his announcing. Blatnick is good for basically the same reasons as Peretti. BO WHITE: I voted for Heenan, Lawler, and Perfect - heels make so much better color men. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Interviewee Award Description: To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager. Previous Winners: 1990: Ric Flair 1991: Ric Flair 1992: Ric Flair 1993: Ric Flair 1994: Ric Flair 1995: Shawn Michaels **1996**: Stone Cold Steve Austin 94 first place votes 92 second place votes 90 third place votes 32 10 12 214 Steve Austin 13 10 6 107 Ric Flair 5 12 11 83 Kevin Nash (Diesel) 7 7 7 70 Mankind (Cactus Jack) 2 11 8 59 Arn Anderson 5 5 9 58 Brian Pillman 7 1 4 46 Shane Douglas 5 3 3 40 Stevie Richards 4 4 1 34 Shawn Michaels 1 3 6 26 Bret Hart 1 3 2 18 Jim Cornette 1 3 1 16 Goldust 2 1 1 15 Undertaker 1 2 1 13 Jerry Lawler 0 3 1 11 Sunny 0 3 1 11 Hulk Hogan 2 0 0 10 Steven Regal 1 1 0 8 Raven 0 2 1 8 Joey Styles 1 0 1 7 New Jack 0 2 0 6 Perry Saturn 0 2 0 6 Bob Backlund 1 0 0 5 Randy Savage 1 0 0 5 Outsiders 1 0 0 5 Lord Steven Regal 0 1 1 5 Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) 0 0 2 4 Taz 0 0 2 4 Diamond Dallas Page 0 1 0 3 Leif Cassidy 0 1 0 3 Chris Benoit 0 0 1 2 Syxx 0 0 1 2 Sting 0 0 1 2 Rowdy Roddy Piper 0 0 1 2 Mr. Perfect 1 0 0 2 Loch Ness 0 0 1 2 Jim Ross 0 0 1 2 Disco Inferno 0 0 1 2 Blue Meanie 0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn 0 0 1 2 Bill Alphonso REJECTED 1 0 0 Dok Hendrix (ummm....I meant INTERVIEW, not INTERVIEWER) 0 1 0 Mean Gene Okerlund (ditto) ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": From Bang Bang to Have A Nice Day, he's still the best. Flair showed some of his old form late in the year and this may just be sentimental choice, but Razor Hall delivers, chico. MIKE LOREFICE: Douglas' delivery is supreme and his interviews are well thought out. He talks a long time and always has something interesting to say. He is better at giving his lines than 65% of Hollywood actors. Styles is constantly doing monolouges that are great, so that's good enough for me. Styles gets over the angles of the promotion with these monolouges better than anyone else could. Bischoff and McMahon could spend a whole hour and not do 1/4 the job that Styles does. Cactus was the best until WWF converted him to fodder. Perrry Saturn would also be a good choice. BO WHITE: This category should be retired in honor of Ric Flair. I put Douglas number 2 because of his unbelievable interview toward the ECW smart marks and Pitbull 1. Mankind was three because those interviews made the character. ROD MORROW: Austins' interviews greatly improved after DiBiase left. Now, I can't wait for my daily reading from "Austin 3:16". Jim Cornette finally got some mike time with the demise of SMW and the King is still the King. He's great. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Angle Award Description: To be given to the best angle you've seen in the sport this year. Previous Winners: 1990: Horsemen turn heel 1991: "Real World Champion" Ric Flair challenges Hulk Hogan 1992: Ric Flair "knew Elizabeth first" 1993: WWF brings in Sean Waltman as 1-2-3 Kid 1994: Shane Douglas forfeits NWA title moments after winning it 1995: Barry Horowitz finally wins on WWF television **1996**: NWO forms and attempts takeover of WCW 94 first place votes 82 second place votes 84 third place votes 41 5 4 228 NWO is formed to take over WCW 6 10 5 70 Shawn Michaels collapses on live Raw 9 5 1 62 Heel Hulk Hogan is third Outsider 5 8 6 61 Jim Ross turns on Vince McMahon 2 9 5 47 Brian Pillman "shoots" on Kevin Sullivan on Nitro, PPV 5 4 4 45 ECW workers appear on live WWF programs 1 7 5 36 Perfect Deception nabs Hunter Hearst Helmsley Intercontinental title 4 0 7 34 Steve Richards & Blue Meanie immitate other wrestlers 3 1 3 24 Raven brings in Sandman's child on his side 1 3 5 24 Vader suspended after destroying Savio Vega, referee & Gorilla Monsoon 1 2 6 23 Scott Hall interrupts live Nitro 0 4 4 20 Steve Austin quotes Austin 3:16 0 2 7 20 Diesel turns on Vince McMahon and "the corporate suits" 1 3 2 18 Madusa puts WWF Ladies' title in a trashcan 2 1 1 15 Goldust has fantasies involving Razor Ramon 1 2 2 15 The "Outsiders" debut in WCW 1 2 1 13 Steve Austin calls out Bret Hart 1 1 2 12 Shane Douglas injures Pitbull #1 1 0 3 11 Goldust gives Ahmed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 1 1 1 10 Sting announces he is a free agent 1 0 1 7 Steve Austin forfeits to jobbers so he doesn't have to wrestle them 1 0 0 5 WCW vs. New Japan 1 0 0 5 Sabu vs. Rob van Dam 1 0 0 5 Sabu fears Taz 1 0 0 5 Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels 1 0 0 5 Beulah's pregnant 0 1 1 5 WWF runs Billionaire Ted skits, stages Nacho Man/Huckster match 0 0 2 4 NWO Sting turns out to be fake 0 1 0 3 Steven Regal feuds with Belfast Bruiser 0 1 0 3 Scott Hall makes his debut in WCW 0 1 0 3 Paul Bearer turns on Undertaker 0 1 0 3 Mankind vs. Undertaker 0 1 0 3 Is Marlena interested in Sable? 0 1 0 3 Elizabeth and Ric Flair spend Randy Savage's money 0 1 0 3 Beulah-Kimona-Tommy Dreamer 0 0 1 2 Sycho Sid replaces ultimate Warrior in In Your House main event 0 0 1 2 Ratings wars 0 0 1 2 Pillman pulls a gun on Austin 0 0 1 2 Pillman in ECW 0 0 1 2 Bret Hart - will he retire? 0 0 1 2 Bill Dundee seeks revenge on Wolfie D REJECTED 2 4 0 Brian Pillman tries to shoot Austin (not in timeframe) ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": Did Brian Pillman really call Kevin Sullivan "Booker Man?!" And they really aired this? Wow. BO WHITE: I repeat, the shoot on Nitro by Pillman and his subsequent character totally revitalized his career. OTTO HEUER: It was hard to knock this down to eight, let alone three. It's been a hell of a year for angles! For what it's worth, here's the eight I had to choose from (in no particular order): Brian Pillman "shoots" on Nitro & PPV, Madusa puts WWF Ladies' title in a trashcan, NWO is formed to take over WCW, Hulk Hogan is the third Outsider, Jim Ross turns on Vince McMahon, Kimona sleeping with Beulah, Raven brings Sandman's child on his side, Scott Hall interrupts live Nitro CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Why did the WWF run so many "if only..." angles (angles that were cut off just when they were getting good) this year? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Organization Award Description: To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product. This is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can't miss. Previous Winners: 1990: NWA 1991: WWF 1992: WCW 1993: SMW 1994: ECW 1995: WWF **1996**: WWF 93 first place votes 88 second place votes 81 third place votes 38 17 15 271 WWF 19 24 22 211 ECW 19 23 17 198 WCW / NWO 9 9 5 82 New Japan 3 3 5 34 All Japann 2 4 1 24 Michinoku Pro 2 2 3 22 All Japan Women 0 2 5 16 AAA 1 0 3 11 USWA 0 1 3 9 AWF 0 1 0 3 IWA Hardcore 0 0 1 2 FMW REJECTED 0 2 0 6 NWO (already voted for WCW in 1st) 0 0 1 2 Those crazy Mexicans (ummm...right) JAMES FABIANO: A lot of people only see ECW for its violence. But for every Dreamer vs. Raven brawl, there's a Sabu vs. Van Dam. For every Gangstas train wreck, there's a Scorpio vs. Shane or Taz vs. Johnny Smith. I find ECW appealing because while being "hardcore" may come first, they make an effort to present something for everyone. BO WHITE: I like the ECW the best not only because of the matches, but because of the way the matches are set up with great interviews, like the USWA has always done (I put them second). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best TV Show Award Description: To be given to what is on average the best wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape) 1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble 1993: WWF Monday Night RAW 1994: WWF Monday Night RAW 1995: WWF Monday Night RAW **1996**: WWF Monday Night RAW 94 first place votes 90 second place votes 82 third place votes 33 28 13 275 WWF Monday Night Raw 27 26 19 251 WCW Monday Nitro 17 18 8 155 ECW Weekly TV 1 4 16 49 WWF Superstars 5 4 4 45 WWF LiveWire 7 0 1 37 Champ Forum 1 5 4 28 All Japan 0 1 12 27 WCW Saturday Night 2 1 1 15 AAA 0 2 2 10 New Japan 1 0 0 5 USWA TV 0 0 2 4 AWF Warriors of Wrestling 0 1 0 3 Lucha Libre BO WHITE: I am partial to the live USWA Saturday morning show because I grew up on it, but the angles, interviews, live crowd close to the ring make it a still great show. RICK SCAIA: ECW Weekly TV is -- week in and week out -- supremely entertaining. Because they only have one hour of TV per week, everything going on in the promotion has to be squeezed in, which makes for a very eventful hour, and easily the most entertaining wrestling show each and every week. WWF Monday Night RAW was the first Monday Night show, and it's still the best; with the exception of the month-long stretch over the summer when everything Nitro did was so very hot, RAW has consistently provided the more entertaining program. In my own damned (and biased) opinion. And I don't care what Eric Bischoff says, there *are* some fans who like to talk wrestling, and for that reason, I give the new "LiveWire" a conditional vote here; some weeks it's on, some weeks it's off. But when "Live Wire" has been "on," it's been one of the most interesting wrestling shows ever put on TV. If they could figure out the proper mix for the hosting team (hint: it does not involve Todd Pettingill or Dok Hendrix), and filter in some good callers, they'd have something special. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Major Show Award Description: To be given to the best major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 03/21/91: WCW & New Japan Supershow (aired on tape) 1992: 01/18/92: WWF Royal Rumble 1993: WWF Monday Night RAW weekly TV 1994: 03/20/94: WWF WrestleMania X 1995: 08/27/95: WWF SummerSlam **1996** 03/31/96: WWF WrestleMania XII 79 first place votes 72 second place votes 69 third place votes 16 19 8 153 03/31/96 WWF WrestleMania XII 6 14 8 88 07/07/96 WCW Bash at the Beach 12 4 2 76 01/21/96 WWF Royal Rumble 10 4 5 72 06/16/96 WCW Great American Bash 9 2 2 55 12/10/95 WAR Super J Cup 6 4 4 50 09/22/96 WWF In Your House - Mind Games 3 7 4 44 04/28/96 WWF In Your House - Good Friends, Better Enemies 5 1 0 28 ECW Matter of Respect 1 1 8 24 06/23/96 WWF King of the Ring 1 5 0 20 06/17/96 NJPW Skydiving J 2 1 2 17 12/17/95 WWF In Your House V 1 2 2 15 11/19/95 Survivor Series 0 2 4 14 08/18/96 WWF SummerSlam 1 1 2 12 ECW Heatwave '96 1 1 2 12 09/15/96 WCW Fall Brawl 0 0 6 12 03/31/96 All Japan Women Wrestling Queendom '96 0 1 3 9 10/27/96 WCW Halloween Havoc 1 1 0 8 06/01/96 World Wrestling Peace Festival 1 0 1 7 12/27/95 WCW Starrcade 1 0 1 7 10/20/96 WWF In Your House - Buried Alive 1 0 0 5 ECW November to Remember 0 1 0 3 10/10/96 Michinoku Pro 0 0 1 2 Natural Born Killerz 0 0 1 2 09/07/96 Pancrase, Tokyo 0 0 1 2 05/28/96 WWF In Your House - Beware of Dog 2 0 0 1 2 01/04/96 New Japan Show REJECTED (TV shows) 1 0 0 RAW 0 1 0 Nitro 0 0 1 WCWSN RICK SCAIA: The World Wrestling Federation still does pay-per-view the best of anyone... they slip occassionally, but they always get up and deliver the next time. This year, I thought the "farewell" show for Diesel and Razor Ramon was the best major show any promotion put on. From flat-out great wrestling with guys like Mero and the 1-2-3 Kid to a superb contest of power moves between Vader and Ramon to an appearnace by the human heat machine, the Ultimate Warrior, to an incredible brawl with an "oh my god" finish between Michaels and Diesel, this show simply didn't let up. I really enjoyed it. The same basic comments apply to the December '95 In Your House, which had some great wrestling, some great angles, and an all-around good feel to it. It could easily have gotten the #1 slot here, but the memory of "Good Friends, Better Enemies" is still fresher. As the #3 big show of the year, I'm gonna go with "Mind Games" over "Wrestle Mania 12." Maybe it's the way expectations work, but I went into WM expecting something special and getting something only very good. I went into "Mind Games" not expecting much, and got an cool ECW angle, and a super main event to go with quality mid-card action. It's a tough call to leave WM off the list, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. ROD MORROW: This year was dreath a bad major shows in the US. The WAR Super J Cup by far the best of any major show put on by any promotion in the world. Lots of great action, I don't think I saw a match below 3 1/2 stars on that card. Wrestlemania XII was saved by two matches, The Hart-Michaels Iron Man Match, although I didn't care for the screwy ending, and Diesel-Undertaker, in which both probably worked the best match either one has been in for a long time. Third goes to WCW Bash At The Beach, not for any of the matches, just for the Angle of The Century- Hulk Hogan Turning Heel. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: The 12/95 IYH had so many great moments - Jeff Jarrett returning, the incredible main event, Buddy Landel's debut (well, how was I to know I'd never see him OR Dean Douglass again? Come to think of it, Jarrett didn't last too long either...) that I have to give it the nod over Good Friends, Better Enemies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best Promotional Move Award Description: To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature. Previous Winners: 1991: WWF signs Ric Flair 1992: WCW signs Jake Roberts 1993: WWF works with SMW & USWA 1994: WWF pushes Bret Hart as champion again 1995: WCW signs Sabu, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko **1996**: WCW signs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ted DiBiase & Syxx 91 first place votes 88 second place votes 85 third place votes 15 11 7 122 WCW signs Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash (Ted DiBiase, Sean Waltman) 16 4 9 110 WCW creates NWO 8 8 7 78 WCW establishes / promotes Cruiserweight division 9 5 7 74 WCW turns Hulk Hogan heel 6 6 7 62 WCW works with AAA talent 5 6 4 51 WWF re-signs Bret Hart 3 7 7 50 WWF signs one or more of Pillman, Austin, Mero, Vader 3 6 3 39 ECW & WWF agreement 3 5 4 38 WCW Monday Nitro expands to two hours 3 3 0 24 WWF pushes Steve Austin / Steve Austin wins King of the Ring 4 0 1 22 WAR promotes Super J Cup 1 3 1 16 All Japan gives Triple Crown to Kenta Kobashi 2 0 1 12 Jim Ross turns on Vince McMahon 1 1 2 12 Sabu returns to ECW 1 0 3 11 WWF runs Billionaire Ted skits 1 0 2 9 WWF re-signs Ultimate Warrior 1 1 0 8 Eric Bischoff regularly appears on online chats 1 1 0 8 ECW broadcasts on Prime Networks 0 2 0 6 WWF creates LiveWire TV program 1 0 0 5 WWF makes Jake Roberts a booker 1 0 0 5 WWF gives title to Shawn Michaels 1 0 0 5 WCW lets Okerlund leave 1 0 0 5 WCW fires One Man Gang 1 0 0 5 WCW brings back Miss Elizabeth 1 0 0 5 The Return of Mr. Perfect 1 0 0 5 Shawn Michaels collapses opposite Sting vs. Hogan 1 0 0 5 ECW gives North American exposure to Chris Jericho, Johnny Smith, and Dan Kroffat 0 1 1 5 WWF suspends Ultimate Warrior 0 1 1 5 WWF brings back Mr. Perfect as commentator 0 1 1 5 WCW signs Roddy Piper 0 1 1 5 WCW establishes Internet (WWW) presence 0 1 1 5 Jushin Liger promotes J Crown Tourney 0 0 2 4 WWF signs Mankind 0 1 0 3 WWF tones down the stupid gimmicks 0 1 0 3 WWF runs more face v. face / heel v. heel matches 0 1 0 3 WWF makes Hart v. Michaels match at WrestleMania 13 a 1-hour Ironman match 0 1 0 3 WWF creates the Perfect Alliance 0 1 0 3 WWF creates RAW Magazine 0 1 0 3 WWF buys local cable ads for Raw during Nitro 0 1 0 3 WCW sponsors racecars 0 1 0 3 WCW runs "Third Outsider" angle 0 1 0 3 WCW loads up Nitro against Raw 0 1 0 3 WCW continues to buy up talent 0 1 0 3 WCW brings in J.J. Dillon 0 1 0 3 Shawn Michals appears in Playgirl magazine 0 1 0 3 FMW signs Victor Quinones 0 1 0 3 Camp Cornette 0 0 1 2 WWF signs Mark Henry 0 0 1 2 WWF replaces J.J. Dillon with Jim Ross 0 0 1 2 WWF hires 2 Cold Scoirpio 0 0 1 2 WWF gets rid of Todd Pettingil 0 0 1 2 WWF begins signing wrestlers to five year deals 0 0 1 2 WWF & WCW target older audiences 0 0 1 2 WCW sets up Roddy Piper vs. Hulk Hogan match 0 0 1 2 WCW runs Nitro ads in USA today 0 0 1 2 WCW adds Women's division 0 0 1 2 Eric Bishcoff takes powerbomb through a stage 0 0 1 2 ECW promotes "crucifixion" angle 0 0 1 2 Antonio Inoki puts together World Wrestling Peace Festival 0 0 1 2 AWF secures syndication rights blanketing the country BO WHITE: The WCW propbably saved a lot of hardcore fans from going elsewhere both by bringing in AAA and setting up cruiserweight title. ROD MORROW: These are all obvious. With WCW working with AAA it gave them some top junior heavyweight talent (Psicosis, Rey Misterio, Jr., Juventued Guerrra) to help stock their Cruiserweight division which is the best thing in the company. With the WWF signng so much misused WCW Talent (Austin, Merro, Vader, Pillman, etc.) It finally gave McMahon some fresh faces to use. Austin and Vader went on to Become the top heels in the company, deservedly so, and he gave Merro a good run as the I-C champ. Finally, Hall & Nash were huge aquistions for WCW to set it's mega-angle, the NWO. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Manager Award Description: To be given to the manager whose presence at ringside and during interviews is really unnecessary. This person does little to enhance the matches in which his/her wrestler(s) participates. Previous Winners: 1990: Mr. Fuji 1991: Coach John Tolos 1992: Harvey Wippleman 1993: Harvey Wippleman 1994: Harvey Wippleman 1995: Harvey Wippleman **1996**: Teddy Long 86 first place votes 84 second place votes 84 third place votes 17 8 14 137 Teddy Long 19 5 3 116 Cloudy 10 10 8 96 Col. Robert Parker 10 6 4 76 Sonny Onoo 4 8 7 58 Jose Lothario 4 5 5 45 Clarence Mason 4 5 4 43 Jimmy Hart 3 3 8 40 Elizabeth 2 3 7 33 Hillbilly Jim 2 2 3 22 Zebekiah 1 5 0 20 Mr. Fuji 1 4 1 19 Sable 2 1 1 15 Diana Smith 1 2 2 15 Paul Bearer 1 2 2 15 Kevin Sullivan 0 4 1 14 Bill Alfonso 1 2 1 13 Damien Kane 2 0 1 12 Jim Cornette 0 3 1 11 Sister Sherri 1 0 2 9 Woman 1 0 2 9 Ricco Suave 0 0 3 6 Ted DiBiase 0 1 1 5 Iron Sheik 0 1 0 3 Sunny 0 1 0 3 Mr. Perfect 0 1 0 3 Harvey Wippleman 0 1 0 3 Bugaloo Brown 0 1 0 3 Bob Backlund 0 0 1 2 Missy Hyatt 0 0 1 2 Miss Patricia 0 0 1 2 Angel Baby ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Announcer Award Description: To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comments while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the TV when he/she is announcing. As of 1992, the difference between this and colour commentator will be enforced. Previous Winners: 1990: Vince McMahon 1991: Vince McMahon 1992: Vince McMahon 1993: Vince McMahon 1994: Eric Bischoff 1995: Eric Bischoff **1996**: Eric Bischoff 91 first place votes 79 second place votes 69 third place votes 35 17 10 246 Eric Bischoff 18 17 8 157 Vince McMahon 9 13 9 102 Lee Marshall 8 5 10 75 Chris Cruise 5 4 7 51 Tony Schiavone 3 6 8 49 Mick Karch 2 7 8 47 Kevin Kelly 2 2 1 18 Mike Tenay 2 1 0 13 Joey Styles 1 0 0 5 Mean Gene Okerlund 1 0 0 5 Jim Ross 1 0 0 5 Giant 1 0 0 5 Dok Hendrix 0 0 2 4 Todd Pettengill 0 1 0 3 Lance Wright 0 1 0 3 Cuthbert 0 0 1 2 Mark Madden 0 0 1 2 Ken Resnick 0 0 1 2 Chris Collins REJECTED 2 3 2 Dusty Rhodes (colour) 1 1 0 Steve McMichael (colour) 0 1 1 Gorilla Monsoon (did not announce) BO WHITE: Schiavone used to be my favorite, but his constant praise faces, degrade heel talent, what I believe to be taking it to the extreme, has totally turned me against Tony. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Colour Commentator Award Description: To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the dumbest comment while pushing his product. This person probably gets you to turn down the TV when he/she is announcing. Previous Winners: 1991: Dusty Rhodes 1992: Lord Alfred Hayes 1993: Randy Savage 1994: Dusty Rhodes 1995: Steve McMichael **1996**: Dusty Rhodes 88 first place votes 76 second place votes 64 third place votes 44 14 10 282 Dusty Rhodes 14 20 10 150 Steve McMichael 10 10 7 94 Lord Alfred Hayes 5 8 7 63 Sonny Onoo 2 6 9 46 Larry Zbyzsko 3 5 6 42 Jerry Lawler 1 3 2 18 Bobby Heenan 3 0 0 15 Mark Henry 2 0 1 12 Joey Styles 1 1 1 10 Mike Tenay 0 2 1 8 Dok Hendrix 0 0 2 4 Sunny 0 0 2 4 Brian Pillman 0 0 1 2 Todd Pettengill 0 0 1 2 Mr. Perfect 0 0 1 2 Doc Roberts 0 0 1 2 Clarence Mason REJECTED (not colour announcers) 1 2 0 Eric Bischoff 1 1 1 Gorilla Monsoon (did not announce) 1 0 1 Kevin Kelly 0 2 0 Lee Marshall 0 1 0 Vince McMahon 0 1 0 Tony Schiavone JAMES FABIANO: Dusty is an incoherent moron. Larry is a coherent moron. And Lawler seems to get his material from a joke book in a high school library. BO WHITE: I still voted for Dusty, even though he does actually amuse me sometimes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Interviewee Award Description: To be given to the person who gives the worst interview in the biz. This could be a wrestler or a manager. Previous Winners: 1990: Ultimate Warrior 1991: El Gigante 1992: Ultimate Warrior 1993: Giant Gonzalez 1994: Yokozuna 1995: Hulk Hogan **1996**: Ahmed Johnson 88 first place votes 83 second place votes 83 third place votes 20 8 8 140 Ahmed Johnson 12 3 4 77 Hulk Hogan 8 6 3 64 Hacksaw Jim Duggan 8 5 2 59 Elizabeth 2 5 6 37 Jose Lothario 4 5 0 35 Juventud Guerrera 1 6 4 31 Dean Malenko 1 7 1 28 Sycho Sid 3 1 4 26 Chris Benoit 3 2 2 25 Syxx (1-2-3 Kid) 2 2 4 24 Lex Luger 2 3 2 23 Steve McMichael 2 3 1 21 Bart Gunn 2 1 4 21 Randy Savage 2 2 2 20 Sonny Onoo 3 1 0 18 Renegade 2 1 2 17 Ultimate Warrior 1 2 1 13 Ice Train 1 1 2 12 Yokozuna 2 0 0 10 Shawn Michaels 0 2 2 10 Mark Henry 1 1 0 8 Scott Steiner 0 1 2 7 John Tenta 0 2 0 6 Giant 0 0 3 6 Mustafa Saed 1 0 0 5 Savio Vega 1 0 0 5 Mikey Whipwreck 1 0 0 5 Marc Mero 1 0 0 5 Kurasawa 1 0 0 5 Iron Shiek 1 0 0 5 Godwinns 0 1 1 5 Rey Mysterio Jr. 0 1 1 5 Konan 0 1 1 5 Alex Wright 0 0 2 4 Undertaker 0 0 2 4 Taz 0 0 2 4 Sultan 0 1 0 3 Woman 0 1 0 3 Steven Regal 0 1 0 3 NWO 0 1 0 3 M. (V.K.) Wallstreet 0 1 0 3 Kevin Sullivan 0 1 0 3 Deborah McMichael 0 1 0 3 Davey Boy Smith 0 1 0 3 Bubba Ray Dudley 0 1 0 3 Brian Pillman 0 1 0 3 Brian Lee 0 0 1 2 Scott Norton 0 0 1 2 Razor Ramon #2 0 0 1 2 Paul Bearer 0 0 1 2 Owen Hart 0 0 1 2 Meng 0 0 1 2 Jimmy Hart 0 0 1 2 Jim Cornette 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett 0 0 1 2 Glacier 0 0 1 2 Faces of Fear 0 0 1 2 Faarooq 0 0 1 2 Eddie Guerrero 0 0 1 2 Chris Jehrico 0 0 1 2 Bret Hart 0 0 1 2 Billy Gunn JAMES FABIANO: "Hulk Hogan, you're a great technical wrestler" and the story about finding the Battlebowl ring in the bathroom were enough to take it for old Hacksaw. BO WHITE: Excuse me, Ahmed, could repeat that? My dog could act better than Elizabeth. ROD MORROW: "Hulkster, Your A Great Technichal Wrestler," Those six words alone ought to be enough to get that moron Duggan the award. Jim do us a favor- RETIRE!!!!!!!! CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: I have a lot of fun imitating Ahmed Johnson. I hope he doesn't kill me when he hears about this. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Angle Award Description: To be given to the worst angle you've seen in the sport this year. It may be the worst because of taste or because of execution. Previous Winners: 1990: Earthquake breaks Hulk's ribs & get well card drive / Black Scorpion (tie) 1991: WWF exploits the Gulf war 1992: Papa Shango curses the Ultimate Warrior 1993: WCW's Cactus Jack gets amnesia; search leads to Cleveland 1994: WCW gives Hulk Hogan the WCW Title 1995: WCW bills Giant as Andre the Giant's alleged son **1996**: Jim Ross announces return of Razor Ramon and Diesel to WWF 85 first place votes 82 second place votes 74 third place votes 10 6 7 82 The "Return" of Razor Ramon and Diesel to WWF 7 1 6 50 BodyDonnas instigate postcard campaign for manager, end up with Cloudy 6 5 2 49 Elizabeth still has feelings for Savage - or does she? 6 4 1 44 WCW vs New Japan - Sonny Onoo & "The Evil Japs" 2 8 5 44 Diana Smith charges sexual harassment against Shawn Michaels 6 1 3 39 Zodiac was a spy all along - returns as Booty Man 2 6 2 32 Dungeon of Doom 5 1 0 28 Hulk Hogan turns heel, creates the NWO 4 2 0 26 Our world is about to change - Blood Runs Cold - Glacier 1 4 4 25 Jim Duggan's family has a history of taped fist champions 2 3 2 23 Goldust 2 2 1 18 NWO repeatedly does the same thing on Nitro 1 3 2 18 Big Bubba shaves half of John Tenta's head 1 4 0 17 Braun the Leprechaun joins Dungeon of Doom 1 2 3 17 Psychic Gary Spivey convinces Paul Orndorff he IS Mr. Wonderful 2 1 1 15 John Tenta comes to the realisation that he is not a fish 1 1 3 14 Phineas Godwinn is in love with Sunny 1 1 3 14 Kevin Sullivan forms Alliance to end Hulkamania 1 1 3 14 Col. Robert Parker and Sister Sherri's wedding 1 2 0 11 NWO mistreats Elizabeth 1 2 0 11 Dungeon of Doom takes in Z Gangsta and Final Solution for Uncensored main event 1 0 3 11 Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid have Crybaby Match 2 0 0 10 Mankind starts endless feud with Undertaker on day of his debut 2 0 0 10 Lex Luger & Sting steal police car - and get away with it 1 1 1 10 Sandman is crucified at ECW Arena 1 1 1 10 Goldust gives Ahmed Johnson mouth-to-mouth resuscitation 1 1 1 10 Giant joins NWO almost immediately after dropping title to Hulk Hogan 1 1 0 8 Ron Simmons wants the world to call him Faarooq 1 1 0 8 Nick Patrick's objectivity as a referee in question 1 1 0 8 Goldust has fantasies involving Razor Ramon 0 2 1 8 Whose side is Lex Luger on? 0 1 2 7 Virgil brought into NWO as "Vincent" 0 2 0 6 Undertaker is brought back from the dead 0 2 0 6 Diamond Dallas Page wins Lord of the Ring but doesn't get title shot 1 0 0 5 Shawn Michaels beats Bret Hart for World title 1 0 0 5 Scott Norton turns on Ice Train 1 0 0 5 Pitbulls superbomb Francine 1 0 0 5 Paul Bearer turns on Undertaker 1 0 0 5 Brian Pillman in ECW 0 1 1 5 Shawn Michaels collapses on live Raw 0 1 1 5 Jerry Lawler accuses Jake Roberts of falling off the wagon 0 1 1 5 Four Horsemen live off Randy Savage's money 0 1 0 3 Savio Vega retires Ted DiBiase from the WWF 0 1 0 3 Savage goes on massive losing streak, being squashed at every turn 0 1 0 3 Raven turns Sandman's family against him 0 1 0 3 NWO brings in Sting lookalike and fools everyone in WCW 0 1 0 3 Mankind calls Goldust "Mommy" 0 1 0 3 Giant turns on Loch Ness 0 1 0 3 Four Horseman take on Lex Luger 0 1 0 3 Bob Orton stripped of AWF Title 0 1 0 3 Beulah is pregnant 0 0 1 2 Teddy Long argues with Nick Patrick 0 0 1 2 Sting announces he is a Free Agent 0 0 1 2 Steve McMichael turns on Kevin Greene, joins the Four Horsemen 0 0 1 2 Police ofFICE:rs threaten to shoot Hall & Nash on Monday Nitro 0 0 1 2 Johnny B. Badd 'wins' Kimberly, the Diamond Doll 0 0 1 2 Jeff Jarrett comes to WCW to save it from NWO 0 0 1 2 Hulk Hogan takes on entire Dungeon of Doom and Four Horsemen at once 0 0 1 2 Dudley Family has dispute 0 0 1 2 Col. Robert Parker and Sister Sherri screw up Harlem Heat with their bickering 0 0 1 2 Bob Orton fakes leg injury and attacks Tito Santana 0 0 1 2 Bob Backlund & The Iron Sheik introduce the Sultan 0 0 1 2 Beulah and Kimona kiss in the ring REJECTED (not in timeframe) 10 5 4 Giant falls off roof - and survives! 0 1 0 Pillman/Austin angle "explodes" on Raw [Oh boy, my one big blunder for this year - allowing a nomination to take second place that was invalid - the Cobo Hall incident took place at Halloween Havoc '95 - 10/29/95, three days before the "year" started (11/2/95) - sorry 'bout that - CRZ] ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": I'll say it again, ECW doesn't need to abuse a woman (Francine) on every card. Superbombing her through a table was graphic and yes, extreme, but un-necessary. JAMES FABIANO: Last year we had Dave Sullivan and the Diamond Doll, this year it's Phineas and Sunny. When will some people learn that love and wrestling don't mix? That entire evil Japanese angle in WCW is a racist piece of crap. You'd have to have an IQ in negative numbers to not be insulted with that. And Jake vs. Lawler fighting over Jake's past with alcoholism was too much for my tastes (no pun intended) ROD MORROW: For months, we were subjected to these great looking promos and when it came time for the actual product, all it was was shitty karate guy wrestling under blue geled lights. The Fake Diesel & Fake Razor Showed just how desperate Vince became. And who really gives a rat's ass if Jim Duggan came from line of taped fist fighters, maybe that explains why he can't wrestle to save his life. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Let me get this straight - the Bootybootybootybootybooty man wasted a YEAR of his life in the Dungeon of Doom for Hulk Hogan, painting himself black and white, moussing his hair in the God-awful way, chanting "Yes! No!" like a mantra, and managing to restrain the Giant? Next year, I expect Hogan will come out in red and yellow one day and say the NWO was only a dream. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Organization Award Description: To be given to the organization/promotion that has the worst product. This is the organization whose TV and house shows you wouldn't even think of attending. Probably not even as a freebie. Previous Winners: 1990: WWF / AWA (tie) 1991: WCW 1992: WWF 1993: WCW 1994: WCW 1995: WCW **1996**: AWF 75 first place votes 51 second place votes 42 third place votes 48 9 7 281 AWF 16 5 8 111 WCW 1 14 8 63 USWA 4 9 2 51 WWF 2 4 5 32 ECW 4 1 4 31 CWA-Dallas 0 3 1 11 NAASW (Ozark Mountain) 0 1 3 9 AAA 0 2 1 8 SMW 0 1 2 7 IWA Japan 0 1 0 3 Universal Superstars of America 0 1 0 3 IPW 0 0 1 2 NWA (Someone tried to vote for WCW in all three spots - hey, buddy, you're stealing MY trick! I also threw out a couple NWO votes because those people had already voted for WCW elsewhere on their ballot - CRZ) RICK SCAIA: There can be no doubt... the American Wrestling Federation (AWF) is the absolute worst thing on TV today. There are no redeeming qualities to it at this point. Their roster is a mix of old WWF/NWA mid-carders over age 40 and young no-names who aren't half as good as the indie stars that ECW cultivates. They announce crew is jinxed by having the god-awful Alfred Hayes on color. I have yet to see an episode of "Warriors of Wrestling" that I didn't laugh out loud at. I almost feel bad having to put any other organization in this category at #2, because no matter how bad they are, they not anywhere near being in the same league as the AWF. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: I think it's sad that this could quite possibly be my only chance to vote for the AWF. HOW can they possibly make enough/any money to be around next year? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst TV Show Award Description: To be given to what is on average the worst wrestling TV show. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash 1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas 1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX 1994: WCW World Wide 1995: WWF Mania **1996**: AWF Warriors of Wrestling 83 first place votes 75 second place votes 72 third place votes 25 5 9 158 AWF Warriors of Wrestling 10 12 11 108 WCW Pro 10 9 4 85 WCW Worldwide 6 8 12 78 WWF Mania 6 12 5 76 WCW Main Event 5 6 7 57 WWF LiveWire 5 6 5 53 WWF Blastoff 7 4 2 51 WCW Prime 1 4 5 27 WWF Challenge 1 4 5 27 WWF Action Zone 1 3 2 18 WCW Saturday Night 2 0 2 14 WCW Monday Nitro 2 0 0 10 WWF Monday Night RAW 1 0 1 7 WWF Really RAW (UK) 1 0 0 5 ECW Weekly TV 0 1 1 5 WWF Superstars 0 1 0 3 (WWF?) Canadian Challenge 0 0 1 2 USWA Weekly TV MIKE LOREFICE: AWF is so out of date it's campy. The matches are horrible, but the announcing is worse. Watching that junk is like traveling back to 1985 in a time machine except everyone is 11 years older and a lot worse. Mania is bad because it has Pettingill. It's a waste of time to watch repeats and he just promotes everything to the point of nausea. Live Wire is a joke because it's so obviously rigged. If they actually talked about issues it would be decent. Forcing the hosts to do the show in character only makes it worse. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: Watching AWF gives me some perverse pleasure. I can't even get THAT watching WCW on Prime...especially now that Dusty doesn't "moo" anymore. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Major Show Award Description: To be given to the worst major event. This could be a pay-per-view, a TV special, or any big arena event. In 1994, TV shows and major shows were given separate award categories. Previous Winners: 1991: 07/07/91: WCW Great American Bash 1992: 12/03/91: WWF This Tuesday In Texas 1993: 04/04/93: WWF WrestleMania IX 1994: 06/19/94: WWF King of the Ring 1995: 03/19/95: WCW Uncensored **1996**: 03/24/96: WCW Uncensored 68 first place votes 63 second place votes 59 third place votes 36 11 3 219 03/24/96 WCW Uncensored 6 9 12 81 05/26/96 WWF In Your House - Beware of Dog 5 11 5 68 05/19/96 WCW Slamboree 4 4 5 42 08/10/96 WCW Hog Wild 2 4 5 32 06/23/96 WWF King of the Ring 1 3 6 26 08/18/96 WWF SummerSlam 0 6 3 24 11/26/95 WCW World War 3 1 1 7 22 07/21/96 WWF In Your House - International Incident 2 1 3 19 07/07/96 WCW Bash at the Beach 3 1 0 18 09/15/96 WCW Fall Brawl 1 3 2 18 10/20/96 WWF In Your House - Buried Alive 2 1 2 17 10/27/96 WCW Halloween Havoc 1 2 2 15 02/18/96 WWF In Your House VI 1 1 0 8 08/15/96 WCW Clash of the Champions XXXIII 0 2 1 8 01/21/96 WWF Royal Rumble 1 0 1 7 02/11/96 WCW SuperBrawl 0 1 1 5 12/27/95 WCW Starrcade 0 1 0 3 01/23/96 WCW Clash of the Champions XXXII 0 0 1 2 ECW Fight the Power REJECTED 1 1 0 8 WWF In Your House (which one?) 1 0 0 5 WCW Main Event (TV show) BO WHITE: I was at Uncensored, but still voted it the worst, mainly because of that awful triple cage match. ROD MORROW: Uncensored was even worse than last year's pathetic show. Who can remember a main event where one of the participants forgot to make the pin. And I'm not even gonna comment on the scene of Hogan, Savage & Leslie hovering on the mat over the misterious white powder. Superbrawl made no sense, and Summerslam just sucked. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: It's not fair to vote for Beware of Dog because of the power outages - but who said life was fair? Uncensored was actually pretty good but dragged to the depths of the bottom of the lowest chasm by that God-awful main event. And hey, I've got an idea! We'll have a Lord of the Ring tourney, and then we'll ignore the winner! That'll sell! Plus, Slamboree didn't even add to the Hall of Fame... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Worst Promotional Move Award Description: To be given to the worst move made by a promotion this past year. This could include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring someone, or anything of a promotional nature. Previous Winners: 1991: WCW loses Ric Flair 1992: WCW bans off the top rope moves under Bill Watts 1993: WCW tapes 13 weeks of TV at one time in Orlando, Fla. 1994: WCW lets Hulk Hogan control his scenarios 1995: WCW gives Hulk Hogan too much control **1996**: WWF lets Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash go 82 first place votes 78 second place votes 75 third place votes 10 3 5 69 WWF lets Scott Hall and/or Kevin Nash go 7 3 8 60 WCW runs seemingly endless series of Glacier promos 7 6 3 59 WCW overexposes NWO angle 5 4 6 49 WCW allows Hogan to be champ despite a dearth of title matches 2 8 5 44 WWF jobs Vader 4 4 4 40 WWF brings back Ultimate Warrior 4 3 3 35 WWF introduces Razor Ramon #2 and Diesel #2 1 5 3 26 WWF signs Mark Henry for ten years 2 3 1 21 WCW exposes WWF Raw results on Nitro 1 3 3 20 WCW gives Dusty Rhodes lots of commentary time 3 1 0 18 WCW re-signs Hulk Hogan 2 2 1 18 WWF runs Billionaire Ted skits 2 1 2 17 AWF roster has very high median age 2 2 0 16 AWF pays stations to air their programs 2 0 2 14 WWF puts taped Raw against live Nitro 2 1 0 13 Shawn Michaels wins WWF title 2 1 0 13 AWF pays fans $50 to attend their tapings 2 0 1 12 WCW gives US Title to One Man Gang 2 0 1 12 Hulk Hogan takes over NWO 0 3 1 11 WWF re-signs / pushes Sycho Sid 0 3 1 11 WCW books improbable Savage/Hogan win in Doomsday cage match 1 0 1 7 WWF fails to have cruiserweight division 1 0 1 7 WWF airs "Raw Bowl" 1 0 1 7 WCW has Sonny Onoo manage every Japanese wrestler 0 1 2 7 WCW puts down 80% of their workers by saying NWO will take over with the "stars" in Japan 0 1 2 7 WCW introduces Steve McMichael as full-time wrestler 0 2 0 6 WCW fires Johnny B. Badd 1 0 0 5 WWF runs Billionaire Ted Skits 1 0 0 5 WWF not buying out Perfect's insurance 1 0 0 5 WWF hires Kevin Kelly to spell Vince McMahon as play-by-play announcer 1 0 0 5 WWF guts syndication 1 0 0 5 WWF fails to go live every Monday with Raw 1 0 0 5 WWF doesn't open checkbook to keep top talent 1 0 0 5 WWF continues with a saturated PPV schedule 1 0 0 5 WWF brings in Cactus Jack as "Mankind" 1 0 0 5 WCW jobs Chris Jericho and makes him a cheesy babyface 1 0 0 5 WCW fails to push Rick & Scott Steiner 1 0 0 5 WCW attacks WWF on the air 1 0 0 5 Sunny is promoted as a sex symbol 1 0 0 5 IWA Japan gets rid of Victor Quinones and most foreign talent 1 0 0 5 Hulk Hogan brutalizes Elizabeth on Nitro 1 0 0 5 Hall & Nash attack WCW superstars with baseball bats 1 0 0 5 Giant turns to NWO soon after losing title to Hulk Hogan 1 0 0 5 ECW runs crucifixion angle 0 1 1 5 WWF fails to push Leif Cassidy (Avatar/Shinobi) 0 1 1 5 WWF buries Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0 1 0 3 WWF runs Karate Fighters Holiday Tournament 0 1 0 3 WWF jobs out Hakushi 0 1 0 3 WWF hires Brian Pillman 0 1 0 3 WCW shows pay per view footage on TV 0 1 0 3 WCW re-signs Gene Okerlund 0 1 0 3 WCW pushes old timers (Hogan,Flair,Savage) 0 1 0 3 WCW makes Nick Patrick a heel 0 1 0 3 WCW loses Brian Pillman to WWF 0 1 0 3 WCW loads up Nitro's competing hour and serves leftovers the other hour 0 1 0 3 WCW lets Jim Duggan stay 0 1 0 3 WCW continuously jobs cruiserweights to non-cruiserweights 0 1 0 3 WCW brings in Loch Ness 0 1 0 3 WCW airs Col. Parker/Sherri marriage 0 1 0 3 Shawn Michaels adds Jose Lothario to his corner 0 1 0 3 Public Enemy leave ECW for WCW 0 1 0 3 Giant loses WCW title 0 0 1 2 WWF shoves Shawn Michaels down our throats as #1 babyface 0 0 1 2 WWF runs tasteless Lawler/Roberts alcoholism angle 0 0 1 2 WWF loses J.J. Dillon to WCW 0 0 1 2 WWF jobs Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw 0 0 1 2 WWF introduces LiveWire with more talk than wrestling 0 0 1 2 WWF fails to have Japanese or Mexican talent 0 0 1 2 WWF cuts short Marlena/Sable angle 0 0 1 2 WWF allows Jim Cornette and Jose Lothario to wrestle 0 0 1 2 WCW signs Syxx 0 0 1 2 WCW misuses Sting 0 0 1 2 WCW brings in Z Gangsta & Final Solution, who last exactly one match 0 0 1 2 WCW Signs Roddy Piper 0 0 1 2 WCW Monday Nitro expands to two hours 0 0 1 2 Ultimate Warrior fails to appear and is suspended by WWF 0 0 1 2 Jim Ross turns on Vince McMahon 0 0 1 2 Increasing commercialization of the WWF JAMES FABIANO: It's a shame to see how WCW has treated Chris Jericho. And if you think that's bad, try the WWF's treatment of Hakushi. One of the best aerialists in the sport jobbing to Justin Hawk Bradshaw.......what's wrong with this picture? MIKE LOREFICE: AWF dominates in bad promotional moves. Paying for syndication everywhere is terrible for the sport because it turns wrestling into a payed program. From the stations point of view, why should they pay another league when AWF is willing to pay them? AWF paying fans to attend is stupid. They could actually make money if they sold tickets, what a concept. Instead they pay fans to cheer the dinosaur faces and boo the gerital using heels. It all comes off as being so contrived and does no good anyway. WCW announcing the takeover because the "stars" were in Japan is the height of their stupidity. They could have used the show to get over the other talent, but instead they make them out to be jobbers. Then they wonder why no one cares about these guys. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- General comments: JOE PETROW: Professional wrestling has truly turned into "A Flair For The Old" ELLIOTT "IRON FOOT": It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... We have some very good wrestling on a regular basis on WCW with the influx of New Japan and AAA talent. I'm particularly a fan of Chris Benoit's and enjoy his push as a Horseman, but don't like the promotion burying Eddie Guerrero. And while I think the promotion has been trying to give all these guys their due (and tv time), the fans just aren't going for it. If this was Japan, we'd have the makings of a Super J Cup or something similar to it. On the WWF side, we had Hart and then Michaels on top and they've provided some very good matches. But it gets pretty thin underneath. Cactus is pretty good in his role as Mankind and he still delivers killer interviews but who does he work with? UT? And towards year-end, Steve Austin has been terrific, as has been Mark Mero. Speaking of whom, I don't think I've seen the Shooting Star Press in a couple of years and in a matter of two weeks, both Mero and 2 Cold Scorpio debut this awesome move. I'd like to see someone bring the Flying Space Tiger Drop back to North America. Say what you will about ECW, you could love 'em or hate 'em, but they have provided the Big Two with some very good talent. I know, they were "known" before ECW, but that one-town promotion gave wrestlers like Benoit, Malenko, Guerrero, and maybe even Rey Jr. and Juventud the critical mass that they needed to break through in WCW. And maybe the layover in ECW helped Brian Pillman and Steve Austin. I know that Shane Douglas didn't quite work out, but it looks like Cactus is doing fairly well. Other changes? How can we not talk about Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. But half a year later, it's not nearly as interesting... at least to me. I don't care for Hulk Hogan creating NWO. Having Hall and Nash and even Waltman and Dibiase would be a purer play on the invasion angle. Instead, we get more Hogan self-promotion. It's the worst of times. The next year looks busy and I don't think I'll be able to keep up 3 hours of wrestling every Monday night, an hour of ECW later in the week (if I can get someone to tape it for me), and some NJ/AJ when I get that stuff sent to me. I think the key will be selective viewing and I'll be more reliant on the vcr and the FF button. It's been a good enough year for wrestling and I look forward to another one. CHRIS GOODYER: I've learnt quite how much I liked Steve Austin, Owen Hart, and disliked WCW! CHRIS QUINN: What does it say about wrestling when the hardest choices to make are the worst gimmick and worst angle categories? There are SO MANY to choose from - Cloudy, the fake Razor and Diesel, the Goon, the Sultan, Farooq .... KEVIN JAMES PODSIADLIK: Some of these votes I'm not proud of... CHRIS SPICER: There you go. I only get WWF, WCW, AAA, AWF and some cheap fed I never bother watching so as you can see some of my votes where limited. I do get to see the occasional ECW which is amazing. If I could see it more often I would have probably put more from there. For example I hear New Jack does an amazing interview but I have only heard him once. Well that's enough blabbering for today until next time.... MASA PANIC: This was the year that Shiniro Otani realized that he was the greatest wrestler in the world, nearing the levels only previously seen by Kobashi. He has all of the tools to move beyond junior status and beyond (ala Takada and Hase). If you saw his matches (expecially with Casas) at J Crown, you saw a crowd fully behind someone who could not only generate heat but work his ass off. In his few American appearances, he showed he had the ability to work as a heel as well. The biggest story of next year is already happening as Konnan leads lucha into a new century. American wrestling saw the near coma into death of the WWF and WCW either running hot (early NWO, cruisers) and cold (later NWO). The improvements of the year included Juventud Guerrera, showing he will be a superstar one day and the Faces of Fear, who everyone hates but no one realizes are trying new moves and styles in EVERY match. This is also the year I gave up on ECW, with the loss of its luchas, jobbing workers out on their last night instead of giving respect, and fans who only care about putting themselves over. Add in an undelivered promised PPV and maniacal defense by RSPW and ECW became as annoying as WWF to me. If it wasn't for Michinoku Pro, AAA, and old Universal tapes, I'd hate wrestling. This was also the year I started working more in the ring...and actually getting noticed, particularly for July 11, 1995 baseball bat death match for Steel City Wrestling. Other than the NWO, this year sucked. No great tag teams, no memorable feuds, only good lucha and Shiro Koshinaka busting his ASS at G1 saved the day. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN ZIMMERMAN: It seems (at least, looking at the nominations) that people can't remember before Memorial Day. To be sure, seeing Scott Hall interrupt Nitro was memorable, but there were lots of other things to like before then, too. In fact, one of them involves Scott Hall. Razor Ramon and Goldust could have been feud of the year if Hall hadn't been suspended (note that Hall was the first of many to use the word "ass" on Monday Night Raw), Pillman should have been a boffo pickup for the WWF, stealing him away from WCW in mid-angle; instead, he's just been idly swearing on occasion and unable to work due to his injuries. Maybe WCW knew something the WWF didn't? Ultimate Warrior came and went, and no one seems to miss him. All in all, not a spectacular year; despite a very high high point, the rest of the year didn't seem to hold up compared to some of the highs of years past; and it seems every fed had a chance to find new lows to sink to. Things do seem to be picking up for the WWF with better people on top in the mix (Hart and Austin coming on strong, not that Bulldog/Michaels wasn't bad, but they killed THAT angle...hey, whatever happened to that woman behind the big dot? And why did Marty Jannetty stop telling us about Shawn's exploits alluvasudden?)...WCW, well, they will find a way to make everyone stop caring about the WCW vs. NWO angle really soon now, but they still have a dynamite Jr. division and they still haven't buried THAT yet. In fact, if it stays hot, wouldn't it be something if the WWF started up their own Light Heavyweight division? Hey, they could take that belt off of Ultimo Dragon and...ok, I'm back in fantasyland. ;-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- And finally...the RSPWer awards... BEST BUMPS OF THE YEAR - Tommy Dreamer goes through four tables - Sabu goes through table in the crowd after the triple jump senton in his ECW Con match with 2 Cold (the "Oh my god, he's dead" bump) - El Puerto Ricano is double backdropped by Bad Crew over the top rope and onto the floor - Shawn Michaels is flipped over the turnbuckles at Wrestlemania BEST 5 SINGLE INTERVIEWS of 1996 - Jim Ross disavows his loyalty to the WWF - Stevie and Blue Meanie as Public Enemy - Steve Austin creates Austin 3:16 at King of the Ring - Hulk Hogan's first heel interview at Bash at the beach - New Jack's shoot interview about Brian Pillman RSPW HEEL OF THE YEAR - Jayrock/Anthony Braider/UIC Guy HE SHOWS POTENTIAL AS A BOOKER ;-) - The guy who posted on RSPW saying that they should give Braun the Leprechaun a gimmick where he draws his power from a box of Lucky Charms, and loses his strength when they are taken or eaten. Either that or Fit Finley should return as a drunk Irish guy who claims to see the Leprechaun. (Hey, I laughed when I first read that post! :-)) Best moment in a match 1st:Diesel Jacknifing the Undertaker twice then leaning on ring ropes Worst move for UK fans 1st:Going 1 week behind with RAWs 2nd:Cutting all the action out 3rd:Not showing PPVs live or even uncut 4th:Showing Blastoff and Challenge but not even a recorded Livewire 5th:SKY and Titan not telling us what's going on 6th:No WCW shows (other than a 1 hour version of Nitro) in English Best 'I'm in front of an exciting door' interviewer 1st:Dok Hendrix 2nd:Kevin Kelly Best Wrestling Awards 1st:The RSPW Awards 2nd:My chosen list above 3rd:The Slammys (No way! *I'M* bigger than the Slammys?!? - CRZ) RSPW Awards Coordinator/Dicator of the Year: Mr. C.R. Zimmerman (Aw, shucks - CRZ) Most Improved Promotion: GAEA Best Ring Entrances: The Great Muta vs. Ginsei Shinzaki (4/29/96) RSPW newcomer of the year: Dean Rasmussen Best wrestling web page: Hisa's Puroresu Page Broadcast Journalist Award: Kevin James Podsialiak Bump of the Year: Tommy Dreamer chokeslammed through three tables by Brian Lee Best "Miracle" Match of the Year: Masato Tanaka vs. W*ING Kanemura (8/1/96) Slice 'Em Dice 'Em Match of the Year: Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka vs. Mr. Pogo & Terry Funk (5/5/96) Best wrestler vs. announcer feud of the year: Masa Chono vs. New Japan announcer (Tsuchi?) Most Undeserved Title Shot: Disco Inferno gets shot at WCW cruiserweight title on PPV against Dean Malenko. Worst Title Reign: Lex Luger's WCW TV Title reign. LINE OF THE YEAR 1st: Steve Austin, "Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass!" 2nd: Jim Ross, "[Vince McMahon] brought me into his office, and he fired my ass!" MOST SURPRISING EVENT 1st: Undertaker appears from under the ring at February In Your House 2nd: Hulk Hogan turns heel BEST ACQUISITION (WWF) 1st: Marc Mero 2nd: Steve Austin 3rd: Brian Pillman BEST ACQUISITION (WCW) 1st: Rey Mysterio, Jr. 2nd: Psicosis 3rd: Kevin Nash "RSPW JUST DOESN'T GET IT" AWARD 1st: Shawn Michaels loses support from RSPW just because he gets extended reign as WWF champion 2nd: RSPW views Jim Ross angle in WWF as rip-off of WCW's NWO angle 3rd: RSPW thinks Hart/Michaels Ironman match not as good as Flair/Sting or Flair/Steamboat 4th: RSPW doesn't see new Razor Ramon wrestles better than Scott Hall BEST SINGLE INTERVIEW OF THE YEAR 1st: Jim Ross (turns on Vince McMahon, introduces new Razor Ramon) 2nd: Steve Austin's coronation speech at King of the Ring Coolest Mask: 1. Hayabusa 2. Jushin Liger 3. Ultimo Dragon Craziest Wrestler: 1. Psicosis 2. Sabu 3. The Great Sasuke