It’s
the most wonderful time of the year you know? According to some at least! The
only time of the year that you get to stuff your face with rubbish that really
isn’t good for you, drink more than your own body weight in alcohol and shout
obscenities at passing strangers that you don’t even know whilst they smile
merrily and carry on their merry way. Unless you live in Liverpool that is,
then its Christmas all year around and you probably don’t get that warm,
sentimental festive feeling the rest of us have when Christmas descends upon us
every year. Which is a shame; because Christmas is meant to be the one time of
the year we can wind down everything that has gone on during the year and
forget our troubles.
Let’s
be honest, we all work bloody hard at doing something or other during the year,
we deserve a little break with loved ones even if it does mean listening to
Christmas songs for the thousandth time whilst unwrapping a truly hideous
jumper that Stevie Wonder wouldn’t wear. That is what Christmas is about my
minions and this year has been a particularly tough year for us all. Whether
you have tons of money, just enough money to keep you ticking over or nothing
at all we’ve all had to make sacrifices in 2014 and I truly hope that 2015 is a
better year for us all. And yes, my festive friends, that does include World
Wrestling Entertainment.
Whilst
I don’t want to go into too much detail about wrestling in this particular
post, because it’s Christmas and we have the end of year awards coming up below
so they’ll be enough included in that, I will say that WWE has taken remarkable
steps towards change in 2014 without actually getting any further than they
were when January 1st rolled around. True, they have laid foundations for
wrestlers such as Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dolph Ziggler and
Rusev to pave their way in the New Year but just when it seemed the promotion
were getting on the band wagon of a youth movement, John Cena reared his ugly
head and Vince McMahon lacked the balls to pull the trigger and anyone’s push.
Had he done so, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt would all be main
event stars by now whilst Dolph Ziggler would be in prime position to fight for
the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
So,
let’s take a look at what’s occurred this year in a very brief year in review. The
Undertaker’s unforgettable streak finally came to a close when he lost a
forgettable match to Brock Lesnar and WrestleMania XXX. Though it lacked that
magical element an Undertaker bout usually carries, it was still a moment in
history to witness and one no one who saw it will ever forget. After a few
years back under WWE’s wing, Brock Lesnar finally captured the WWE World
Heavyweight Championship in the main event of SummerSlam in a truly dazzling
performance against John Cena, who deserves all the credit in the world for
agreeing to be beaten so comprehensively. The Shield split in the most dramatic
of consequences whilst Daniel Bryan joined Roman Reigns on the injured list
just as both of their pushes were beginning to get off of the ground; now that
is what you call bad luck. Talking of Daniel Bryan, after months and months of
torture at the hands of The Authority, he finally accomplished his dream by
winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX in a
tremendous triple threat match against Randy Orton and Batista. It was another
moment which will live long in the memory.
Then
there were the unlucky ones who will prefer to forget 2014 ever existed.
Alberto Del Rio who was released from WWE for responding to a racist comment
made to him by a WWE employee. Rather than firing the person who made the
comment, WWE decided that it would put Del Rio out of his misery and a
cavalcade of firings followed including Ricardo Rodriguez who felt the brunt of
Del Rio’s justified actions. Bray Wyatt, whilst not fired from the company must
have thought all his Christmases had come at once when he was given John Cena
as an opponent in the WrestleMania season but soon found that it was a curse rather
than a blessing when he was forced to almost completely rebuild his career
after WWE lacked the guts to put him over. Now with The Wyatt Family no more,
Bray will have to make 2015 on his own or fail trying. It’s the only way that
he’ll become a star now. Paige and A.J Lee together redefined the Divas
division with some excellent matches and performances only to see all their
hard work undone by The Bella Twins. That’s gratitude for you.
And
then there are those who burst onto the scene in 2014 and who are now permanent
fixtures of the industry. Paige, as mentioned was one of the highlights of 2014
and indeed WWE’s stale Divas division. When she captured the WWE Divas
Championship the night after WrestleMania XXX it was a moment in history. Since
then she’s been valiantly battling to keep her spot on the card whilst her
matches with A.J Lee have to be the best female matches of the year in WWE at
least. Rusev has come on in leaps and bounds in 2014. Firstly he was given
nothing enhancement talent to run through in a scene reminiscent of Ryback in
2013 but flourished when he was fed bigger and better stars to devour. Showing
the world he had more talent than WWE were allowing him to show, Rusev had
stunning matches with Big E. and respectable outings with Jack Swagger. His
United States Championship victory over Sheamus was a decent effort though his
battles against Big Show and Mark Henry were tiresome. In 2015, he will
undoubtedly be undone by John Cena but must bounce back if he’s ever going to
hold the biggest prize in sports entertainment.
There
is more. Tons of it in fact, but this blog is going to be long enough as it is.
Let’s just say that WWE have flourished in 2014 but must build on the strides
they’ve made in 2015 if business is going to take a turn for the better. I
would touch upon the WWE Network but I think enough has been said about that in
the past year so I’ll leave it alone. Now though, instead of the usual 2015
predictions which never come true anyway, let’s delve into the ‘1st Annual Wrestling
God Awards’ for which you have been voting in your droves and I thank you for
that. When I first set up the poll and had the idea I wasn’t sure you were as
keen but there were a plethora of viewers voting.
Before
we delve into who you voted the winner of each category, let’s explain how the
voting works and how I calculated them into percentages. When you voted, the
blog didn’t split the percentage like it normally would so it’s not out of a
solid one hundred percent vote. So for example, instead of calculating it in a
one hundred percent category so one gets sixty percent, another gets ten and so
on to add it up to one hundred percent, the voting has done it according the
number of people who voted for one option. You could vote for multiple options
which meant on occasion you’ll see a 100% vote for the winner whilst those
underneath have 50%, 25% and so on. If you’re confused then you’ll get the hang
of it as we go along. Without further ado, I present to you the ‘1st Annual
Wrestling God Awards’.
Wrestler of the Year:
Dolph Ziggler (45%)
Though
Dolph Ziggler wasn’t a landslide winner, he did receive more than anyone else
in a surprising result which your Wrestling God though would go to Daniel Bryan
or Bray Wyatt who came runner up as you can see below. However, Dolph Ziggler
has been the highlight and the hardest working wrestler of the last year so I
will concur that he deserves the victory you have handed to him. At the
beginning of the year, Ziggler was looking for something more than the lower-card
spot he was being given and though wasn’t in WWE’s plans for anything major
during the year had the support of the fans.
Every
time you switched on WWE programming, Dolph Ziggler’s name was being chanted.
The message from fans was clear and that was WWE needed to harness his talent
because it’s what we wanted to see. Since WrestleMania XXX, Dolph Ziggler has
risen rapidly through WWE’s ranks even holding the Intercontinental
Championship twice in a bizarre set of circumstances with The Miz which never
should have been. The first real instance of WWE taking him seriously as a
higher card talent was the 2014 Survivor Series when Dolph Ziggler may have
been overshadowed by the appearance of Sting but was still the sole survivor
for Team Cena in a Shawn Michaels inspired performance.
As
2014 comes to its conclusion and 2015 dawns on the horizon, things are
beginning to look up for Dolph Ziggler once again, locked in a thrilling feud
with Luke Harper over the Intercontinental Championship. It’s been a good year
for Dolph Ziggler and hopefully it will only get better. The only thing which
could scupper his rise now is the return of Roman Reigns who will have returned
by the time you read this. If WWE can simultaneously push both men then 2015
will be a rich year for new talent indeed.
Bray
Wyatt (30%)
Daniel
Bryan (10%)
Luke
Harper (10%)
Triple
H (10%)
Dean
Ambrose (10%)
Cesaro (10%)
Alberto Del Rio (10%)
Other
(10%)
Seth
Rollins (0%)
Randy
Orton (0%)
Roman
Reigns (0%)
Brock
Lesnar (0%)
Sheamus
(0%)
Worst Wrestler of the
Year: The Great Khali (55%)
Genuinely
the worst wrestler WWE had employed in a long time, The Great Khali was a
physical wreck when the company gave him his marching orders in mid-2014. His
knees were all but useless and even walking to the ring caused him a great deal
of pain which he put himself through on a nightly occurrence for nothing at
all. No one enjoyed The Great Khali as a wrestler and without a doubt, 2014 was
his worst year yet. Putting in only a handful of appearances, Khali should have
made sure to make the most of them whilst they lasted. He didn’t and produced
some of the most boring and grotesque bouts we’ve seen.
I
don’t know anyone who will shed a tear over Khali’s disappearance from
wrestling. His spot could be used much more beneficially for younger stars who
need a break. What he does now is anyone’s guess but anything is better than
wrestling for him. In fact, after seeing him literally bomb in the WWE, I can’t
image there will be a plethora of promotion’s queuing up to attract his
signature. It’s time for The Great Khali to do himself and everyone else a
favour and find a new line of work.
John
Cena (33%)
Big
Show (22%)
Chris
Jericho (22%)
Hornswoggle
(22%)
Ryback
(22%)
Mark
Henry (11%)
Adam
Rose (11%)
Heath
Slater (11%)
Alex
Riley (11%)
Damien
Sandow (11%)
Fandango
(11%)
R-Truth
(11%)
Titus
O’Neil (11%)
Brodus
Clay (11%)
Xavier
Woods (11%)
Jinder
Mahal (11%)
Batista
(0%)
Curtis
Axel (0%)
Darren
Young (0%)
El
Torito (0%)
Female Wrestler of the
Year: Paige (62%)
Without
a doubt, Paige has been the very best female performers in WWE this year. When
A.J Lee left the company to marry C.M Punk and take some time out of her career
to enjoy life, Paige was ready and willing to step into the breach even though
she had absolutely no main stage experience with the company. It would have
been easy for her to back away, citing that she wasn’t ready for the spotlight
which awaited her but she didn’t. Sensing that she was lucky to get this
chance, Paige grabbed the opportunity with both hands and ran with it,
contesting some gripping matches with Alicia Fox and Naomi on the way to her
unforgettable series with A.J Lee which set the division on fire as both women
swapped the Divas Championship in rapid fire switches.
Paige
has been an anchor for the Divas Division throughout the year and fully
deserves her victory even though WWE have dropped her into a smaller role which
doesn’t suit her character. Going from novice to stalwart, face to heel surely
2015 can only get better for Paige as WWE introduce more and better female
talent to their main roster. She doesn’t need a title around her waist to
shine, Paige does it anyway necessary and she now has to already be the
greatest female British wrestler the industry has ever seen. I hate to break it
to the American readers, but Norwich girls are awesome.
Brie Bella (25%)
A.J Lee (12%)
Tamina (12%)
Naomi (12%)
Nikki Bella (0%)
Alicia Fox (0%)
Cameron (0%)
Emma (0%)
Eva Marie (0%)
Layla (0%)
Natalya (0%)
Rosa Mendez (0%)
Summer Rae (0%)
Aksana (0%)
Match of the Year:
The Shield vs The Wyatt Family (Elimination Chamber, February 23rd) (70%)
It
was one of those moments in time when everything came together perfectly to
showcase what the future of the industry and the future of this company could
do when given ample time and sensible booking decisions. The Shield were on
fire when they entered the 2014 Elimination Chamber and The Wyatt Family were
just coming into their own as a team with Bray Wyatt breaking away from Harper
and Rowan as a talent all on his own. With one eye on Roman Reigns as the next
big star of the company, all six men did battle in a truly thrilling encounter which
will live long in the memory.
With
spot-on performances from all six men, high flying, technical brilliance, fans
were left breathless by near falls and false finishes including a brilliant
Seth Rollins Dropkick reversal from Luke Harper’s stunning Hangman Chokehold as
the bout built to a big fight finish. As Luke Harper nailed a perfect top rope
German Suplex which Seth Rollins countered by landing on his feet before
immediately nailing a suicide dive, fans were emotionally drained before Bray
Wyatt dropped Roman Reigns with Sister Abigail for a popular and stature
enhancing victory where all six men were the winners as were the capacity
crowd.
The
Shield vs Evolution (Payback, June 1st) (42%)
The
Shield vs Evolution (Extreme Rules, May 4th) (28%)
WWE
World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber Match (Elimination Chamber,
February 23rd) (28%)
Daniel
Bryan vs Triple H (WrestleMania XXX, April 6th) (28%)
Sami
Zayne vs Cesaro (NXT Arrival, February 27th) (28%)
Daniel
Bryan vs Randy Orton (WrestleMania XXX, April 6th) (14%)
Bray
Wyatt vs John Cena (Payback, June 1st) (14%)
Brock
Lesnar vs John Cena (SummerSlam, August 17th) (14%)
Adrian
Neville vs Bo Dallas (NXT Arrival, February 27th) (14%)
Cesaro
vs John Cena (Raw, February 17th) (14%)
C.M
Punk vs Dean Ambrose (Raw, December 9th 2013) (14%)
Bray
Wyatt vs Daniel Bryan (Royal Rumble, January 26th) (14%)
Randy
Orton vs Cesaro (Smackdown, February 14th) (14%)
Cody
Rhodes and Goldust vs The Shield (Battleground, October 6th 2013) (14%)
Daniel
Bryan vs Randy Orton (Raw, February 3rd) (14%)
John
Cena vs Randy Orton (TLC, December 15th 2013) (0%)
Alberto
Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam (Battleground, October 6th 2013) (0%)
Rusev
vs Big E. (Money in the Bank, June 29th) (0%)
A.J
Lee vs Paige (SummerSlam, August 17th) (0%)
The
Shield and The Wyatt Family vs The Usos, C.M Punk and Cody Rhodes (Raw,
November 18th) (0%)
Rusev
vs Big E. (Payback, June 1st) (0%)
The
Usos vs Rybaxel vs Los Matadores vs Cody Rhodes and Goldust (WrestleMania XXX,
April 6th) (0%)
Bad
News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler (Raw, June 23rd) (0%)
Natalya
vs Charlotte (NXT Takeover, May 29th) (0%)
Daniel
Bryan vs The Wyatt Family (TLC, December 15th 2013) (0%)
Cesaro
vs Alberto Del Rio vs Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus (Raw, March 24th) (0%)
Cesaro
vs Sheamus (Payback, June 1st) (0%)
Paige
vs Emma (NXT Arrival, February 27th) (0%)
Daniel
Bryan vs Kane (Extreme Rules, May 4th) (0%)
The
Shield vs The Wyatt Family (Raw, March 3rd) (0%)
The
Shield vs The Usos vs Cody Rhodes and Goldust (Hell in a Cell, October 27th
2013) (0%)
John
Cena vs Damien Sandow (Raw, October 28th) (0%)
Most Improved Wrestler
of the Year: Roman Reigns (45%)
I
really thought that Dean Ambrose would take this category, especially since
Roman Reigns had been out of the picture for a while and Ambrose has taken his
spot and made it his own. But, you’re unpredictable if nothing else and have
voted Roman Reigns as your Most Improved Wrestler of 2014. It was visible when
The Shield were a cohesive unit that Roman Reigns was beginning to break away
from Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. WWE preferred him to the other two to the
point where it was Reigns who scored the pinfall against Batista to send The
Shield home with a victory at Payback. But Roman Reign’s ascension goes back
further than 2014 as his height and his build made sure he was treated as a
star.
Since
the split of The Shield, Roman Reigns has had the best of the feuds, against
Randy Orton but unfortunately suffered an injury which set him back a few
months which will be regained in 2015. He’s upped and adapted his game and
surely deserves what’s coming to him next year. But the big question is whether
WWE will see it through to the biter end. We know how they are with new talent.
Cesaro
(33%)
Dean
Ambrose (33%)
John
Cena (16%)
Rusev
(16%)
Bad
News Barrett (16%)
Kofi
Kingston (16%)
Sin
Cara (16%)
Batista
(0%)
Eric
Rowan (0%)
Big
E. (0%)
Goldust
(0%)
Justin
Gabriel (0%)
The
Miz (0%)
Breakthrough Star of
the Year: Dean Ambrose (75%)
I
would fully concur and since Dean Ambrose and Paige were the only names you
voted for, Ambrose won by a landslide. It looked bleak for Dean Ambrose when
The Shield split up, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins were handpicked to shine and
it seemed like he would be left in the shadows. Maybe the best thing for Dean
Ambrose was Roman Reigns suffering an injury. It certainly allowed him to break
free of the third wheel shackle and move on with his career because I really
couldn’t see where he was going when it seemed Roman Reigns was going to battle
Seth Rollins. What could he have possibly done and who could have taken up arms
against?
For
me, and I’ve said this before, I would be quite happy to see Dean Ambrose carry
on his semi-main event run ahead of Roman Reigns. It’s not that I don’t like
Reigns because I do, but it would be a great injustice after everything Dean
Ambrose has done with Seth Rollins if he was suddenly dropped from the picture
to be replaced by the man he stepped in for. Without Dean Ambrose, WWE would
have been truly lost for a programme for Seth Rollins in the summer and
therefore Roman Reigns should wait for his turn which will come and WWE should
reward Dean Ambrose for the extraordinary work he’s done.
Paige
(25%)
Roman
Reigns (0%)
Seth
Rollins (0%)
Cody
Rhodes (0%)
Tyson
Kidd (0%)
Justin
Gabriel (0%)
Bad
News Barrett (0%)
Alicia
Fox (0%)
Jack
Swagger (0%)
Bo
Dallas (0%)
Rusev
(0%)
Big
E. (0%)
Brand of the Year:
NXT (75%)
Takeover,
Arrival and everything that came before and after, NXT has excelled at trumping
Raw and Smackdown, let alone the inferior Superstars and Main Event. With some
of the greatest stars of tomorrow including Kevin Steen, Adrian Neville, Sami
Zayne and the artist formerly known as Prince Devitt this is what WWE’s regular
programming should be. In the last year, NXT has produced some of the very best
stars including Paige and Rusev and looks to carry on that tradition because in
2015 Sami Zayne, Adrian Neville and several others including Charlotte should
make their transition to the main roster.
For
those who haven’t seen any of NXT’s pay-per view events must search them out,
they’re stunning displays of what is possible if you give youth their head and
allow them to flourish. Some of their main events on pay-per view and
television are the very best of the year and trump anything WWE have done on
their main shows. In short, NXT won this by a landslide and probably will again
next year. It’s fresh, different and vibrant and it’s what we want. All that I
yearn WWE to do now is bring out the NXT events on DVD; they’d sell like hot
cakes.
Raw
(25%)
Smackdown
(25%)
Superstars
(0%)
Main
Event (0%)
Media Release of the
Year: Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman (100%)
Without
a shadow of a doubt, Paul Heyman’s first and last release was the very best DVD
and Blu-ray WWE put out in 2014. When it was announced at the beginning of the
year I was unsure about it, having flashes of what WWE to Bobby Heenan’s
release a few years ago. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Exciting, tragic,
funny and touching all at the same time, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul
Heyman’ was WWE’s fastest selling release of the year surpassing WrestleMania
XXX and earned them a small fortune. It was so popular that shops ran out of
copies and WWEDVD.co.uk had to put it on pre-order shortly after its release
because even they couldn’t keep up with the demand.
There’s
something about Paul Heyman that makes you want to sit and listen to him.
Something which captivates you as a listener and reader and this release had
such a great story behind it that people were willing to listen to Paul Heyman
talk and talk and talk. It’s one of the greatest and most popular WWE releases
in the last twenty years and one you really must get your hands on, otherwise
you really are missing something special.
Shawn
Michaels: Mr. WrestleMania (50%)
The
Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection (50%)
Triple
H: They Kingdom Come (0%)
WWE
Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology (0%)
WWE
Best Pay-Per View Matches 2013 (0%)
The
Best of Raw and Smackdown 2013 (0%)
WCW’s
Greatest Pay-Per View Matches Volume 1 (0%)
WrestleMania
XXX (0%)
United
We Slam: The Best of The Great American Bash (0%)
Worst Media Release of
the Year: The John Cena Experience (100%)
It
was dismal wasn’t it? ‘The John Cena Experience’ was a one disc adaptation of
the three disc DVD that had been released complete with matches. Knowing that
fans wouldn’t be willing to watch the same release once again, WWE decided that
we may be willing to watch just the documentary which was a complete let down
as it shied away from his wrestling career and concentrated on his boring
personal life which no one cared about anyway.
Completely
inferior to the excellent ‘John Cena’s Greatest Rivalries’, ‘The John Cena
Experience’ was a release with no backbone, no spine and no substance. It
shouldn’t have been re-released and as I said in my summation of the release in
Review Corner, ‘The John Cena Experience’ was a bad one indeed.
Goldberg:
The Ultimate Collection (50%)
History
of WWE (50%)
WWE
Presents Wrestling’s Greatest Factions (50%)
Raw:
After the Show (0%)
Batista:
The Animal Unleashed (0%)
OMG
the Top 50 Incidents in WCW History (0%)
Brothers
of Destruction (0%)
Announcer of the Year:
JBL (50%)
What
can you say about JBL? One of the most funny commentators on the WWE roster has
been a highlight of both Raw and Smackdown over the last year, providing witty
insight and glorious one liners to keep viewers watching. He’s made the
transition from wrestler to announcer without a problem and is one of the best
things about what are usually dreary Monday nights. Overshadowing Jerry Lawler
and Michael Cole who you didn’t vote for at all, JBL may have his flaws but we
don’t see them on television. I concur with your choice and it should be JBL
who is the voice of WWE, not Michael Cole.
Jerry
Lawler (25%)
William
Regal (25%)
Michael
Cole (0%)
Byron
Saxton (0%)
Josh
Matthews (0%)
Tom
Phillips (0%)
Jason
Albert (0%)
Alex
Riley (0%)
Rich
Brennan (0%)
Worst Storyline / Angle
or Happening of 2014: Fandango’s Love Triangle (75%)
God
it was painful wasn’t it? Just when you thought Fandango couldn’t get anymore
ridiculous or banal, WWE create a storyline for him in which he dumps Summer
Rae over Twitter to take up with Layla. That would have been bad enough for a
WWE storyline but the madness didn’t stop there and after being dumped in a
humiliating and embarrassing situation, Summer Rae made a further spectacle of
herself by trying to win the love rat back. I mean, did WWE give any thought to
what it would do to Fandango or Summer Rae in the long term? It’s bad enough if
someone dumps you and treats you like that to want them back, but when it’s
been done on a worldwide stage, you look like a desperate slapper.
And
that is exactly what Summer Rae looked like when she constantly tried to best
Layla to win back the man who had embarrassed her. There was no dignity about
it, Summer Rae looked like a desperate slut who couldn’t get another man and
wanted the same one. It was painful to watch, I can’t imagine how embarrassing
it was for the trio to act this nonsense out. And in the end, what did it do
for Fandango? And then came silence. The answer is absolutely nothing. He’s
going nowhere in WWE, even he can see that.
Cody
Rhodes Reinventing Himself as Stardust (50%)
Nikki
Bella Turning on Brie Bella (50%)
Brie
Bella Stands in For Daniel Bryan (25%)
Kane’s
Main Event Run (25%)
The
Undertaker’s Streak Ending (25%)
El
Torito and Hornswoggle’s Mini Battle (0%)
|
Jack
Swagger and Rusev Rehashing the Patriot Angle (0%)
|
Alberto
Del Rio’s Release (0%)
|
WWE
Network Launch (0%)
|
The New
Age Outlaws Return (0%)
|
Tensai
Becoming Jason Albert (0%)
|
Hunico
Becoming Sin Cara (0%)
Most Promising NXT Rookie of the Year: Adrian Neville (100%)
Once
again, you clever people are correct about the winner of this category.
Adrian Neville has set the NXT roster alight and although his highlights are
too much to mention you only have to watch one of his matches to see what a
special talent he is. The reigning NXT Champion though that could have
changed by the time you read this, Neville has been one of the only men in
NXT to build on what he was doing in the indies and take it further. An
excellent high flyer, technical wrestler and ring psychologist, the man
formerly known as Pac is going places in NXT but it’s what comes next when
he’s promoted to the WWE roster.
Without
a doubt, Neville has been attempting to bulk up, his physique now is much
larger than it was when he was flying on the indie promotions because he
knows that when he gets to the main WWE roster, he’s going to be buried like
Kaval was before him. It’s not a nice thing to say, but I don’t think Neville
has the interest of the booking committee to push him any further than a
United States Championship spot though I could be wrong and by this time next
year Neville could be WWE World Heavyweight Champion. If worst comes to
worst, WWE could always re-build its Cruiserweight division around Neville;
at least he’ll be able to do what he wants.
Sami
Zayne (70%)
Kevin
Steen (50%)
Everyone
Else (0%)
Pay-Per View Event of the Year: WrestleMania XXX (100%)
Without
a doubt, WrestleMania XXX was the very best event of the year. Of course it
was, it was WrestleMania for crying out loud. Whether it’s good or bad,
WrestleMania is always a special occasion because of the history and the
grandeur but the thirtieth anniversary was something special and will no
doubt be remembered as one of the greatest WrestleMania events in history.
Opening with a stunning collision between Daniel Bryan and Triple H which was
mouth watering as well as the continuation of the Bryan’s fairytale to the
WWE World Heavyweight Championship the action switched to nostalgia mode as
The New Age Outlaws were massacred by The Shield.
John
Cena may have stolen Bray Wyatt’s thunder when he needed a victory the most,
but no one will ever forget Brock Lesnar shocking the world and making
history by ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak before
Daniel Bryan made the world shed a tear by besting Randy Orton and Batista in
a stunning triple threat match for the biggest prize on offer. The final
picture of the entire arena on their feet doing the ‘Yes’ chant with Bryan is
one which will live long in the memory. What a night it was.
Money
in the Bank 2014 (50%)
SummerSlam
2014 (50%)
Battleground
2013 (0%)
Hell in
a Cell 2013 (0%)
Survivor
Series 2013 (0%)
TLC
2013 (0%)
Royal
Rumble 2014 (0%)
Elimination
Chamber 2014 (0%)
Extreme
Rules 2014 (0%)
Payback
2014 (0%)
Battleground
2014 (0%)
Night
of Champions 2014 (0%)
Worst Pay-Per View Event of the Year: Survivor Series 2013 (100%)
You surprise
me my minions, for I thought that you would choose TLC 2013 as the worst
event of the year. Yet a resounding number of you have gone with Survivor
Series and looking back on it, you were right. Of course you were, you always
are. Featuring just one notable bout in which Roman Reigns came out as the
sole survivor, Survivor Series 2013 was a dismal excuse for an event which
never shocked or surprised and failed to live up to the awe factor of the
year previous when The Shield burst onto the scene in shocking fashion.
It was
almost as if WWE were tired in November 2013 and just couldn’t be bothered to
come up with anything decent to put on their show. John Cena predictably went
over Alberto Del Rio whose career was at an end when Cena sabotaged it as
everyone predicted he would and there wasn’t even a satisfactory ending as
Randy Orton defended the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against the Big
Show in a pathetic excuse for a match. At the end of the night, Survivor
Series did more damage to the company than it did good and that’s never a
positive sign. No wonder WWE Network had trouble getting off of the ground
off the back of showings like this.
Battleground
2013 (50%)
TLC
2013 (50%)
Hell in
a Cell 2013 (0%)
Royal
Rumble 2014 (0%)
Elimination
Chamber 2014 (0%)
WrestleMania
XXX
Extreme
Rules 2014 (0%)
Payback
2014 (0%)
Money
in the Bank 2014 (0%)
Battleground
2014 (0%)
SummerSlam
2014 (0%)
Night
of Champions 2014 (0%)
Wrestler You’d Most Like to See in the Main Event
in 2015: Dean
Ambrose (75%)
Dean
Ambrose is the out and out winner of this year’s awards with two triumphs.
Not only have you voted him as the Breakthrough Star of 2014, you have also
voted Dean Ambrose as the man you would like to see most in the main event in
2015, though Dolph Ziggler came a very close second. I do believe I have said
everything I can about Dean Ambrose’s year so I will leave it at that, but
just to add a little side note, Dean Ambrose has been a marvel in the ring on
the level that Daniel Bryan captured our hearts and imaginations. For his
efforts, he deserves a prolonged main event programme even if it goes
nowhere.
Dolph
Ziggler (50%)
Cesaro
(50%)
Rusev
(25%)
Seth
Rollins (25%)
Roman
Reigns (25%)
Bray
Wyatt (0%)
Ryback
(0%)
The Miz
(0%)
Jack
Swagger (0%)
Cody Rhodes
(0%)
What Feature Would You Most Like to See on This
Blog in 2015:
Q&A (75%)
And
finally, the last thing for you to vote on was what you’d like to see added
to this blog in 2015. This one surprised me because for an audience who don’t
follow me on twitter you chose a monthly Question and Answer segment which we
will be trialling in January 2015. You’re welcome to send me wrestling
related questions of any type to my twitter account, just tweet me otherwise
I will be setting up a special hashtag for your questions to find me in the
New Year. If it goes well, I’ll set up a special email account for you to
send your questions too.
Giveaways
(50%)
Fantasy
Warfare (25%)
More
News on Other Wrestling Promotions (0%)
So
that’s it. All she wrote for 2014 but before I go I would just like to take
this moment to once again thank you for sticking with me for the best part of
three years. For the regular readers, you’ll have heard me mention that I was
thinking of closing this blog in 2015 because you weren’t interacting with me
and I felt like I was doing this for nothing. This vote has partially changed
my mind but not completely. I still don’t know how you feel about this blog
even though we’ve hit well over 26,000 viewers which is phenomenal. So
contact me on Twitter, participate in the Q and A in 2015 and help me change
wrestling forever. This is our world and whilst I still may bring this to a
close at some point in 2015, we’re here for the foreseeable future and there
is some great stuff to come beginning on January 3rd as usual.
As well
as the continuation of Review Corner in 2015, which will be bang up to date
thanks to the Christmas break and we will also have some previously untouched
areas of features to bring you, including a very special Review Corner
featuring one of the most hotly anticipated wrestling books in many years and
an interview with its author. Also, we’ll be keeping the pay-per view
previews and begin the Q&A section of this blog. We’re going places my
friends, but before we do, sit back, drink, be merry and listen out for those
sleigh bells on your roof. As we go onwards and upwards, I hope you all
receive exactly want you want this festive season and that 2015 finds you and
find you well.
So I
raise my glass to you all and you have my sincerest thanks and best wishes for the
holiday season. From your Wrestling God, have a very Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.
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