Damien Barling: WWE Year End Awards
MOST IMPACTFUL DEBUT - It's hard not to give this to Shinsuke Nakamura. The Dallas crowd was so into his debut against Sami Zayn. The match was beautiful. The reaction was incredible and the responses only got louder as the year went on. While there is no performer as charismatic as the King of Strong Style, no debut was more impactful the AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble all the way back in January. AJ Styles will be a theme throughout these awards.
THIS YEAR WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU AWARD - Easy. Chris Jericho. In the ultimate heel move, dude wore a scarf with no shirt. You wanted to hate him just for that. Then he created The List. Jericho and the list are a highlight of weekly programming. If ranked the top most "over" entities in the WWE… Chris Jericho, the scarf, and the list would all be ranked top 5.
LIKE IT OR NOT - ITS HAPPENING AWARD - In recent years this award would be handed out to the Roman Reigns title push. In 2016, something far more deadly and dangerous has taken over this category and its never been more apparent then in recent weeks - Braun Strohman is coming to a main event near you. You don't like it, I don't like it, but Vince McMahon loves it, and if history has shown us anything, he's the only opinion that matters.
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING AWARD - The New Day was a tremendous act all year. Perhaps the most consistently entertaining group in the company. There in lays the problem. Everyone knew that. So week after week the New Day was marched on to your TV set for long, sometimes, brutally long talking segements. Some were great, some were embarrassing, some made you long for the final days of WCW Nitro.
THE 'WTF' AWARD - Goldberg returns to the WWE after a 12 year absence and beats Brock Lesnar in 82 seconds. Brock Lesnar hadn't been pinned in 3 years. It got people talking, so I get it. But I still don't understand it.
THE NO WAY! AWARD - Here comes the money!!!! Most returns you know are coming. You read about on Twitter or in the Wrestling Observer. If not flat out stated their at least hinted. Shane McMahon's return came out of no where. And it was AWESOME!
THE UNDERVALUED MVP - The Miz. The diva Miz with the hot blonde wife he flaunts is the perfect heel. Few in the company have his mic skills and his in ring work is very good. His match at the Golden One Center against Dolph Ziggler ranks as one of the best the company produced in 2016.
THIS IS TOO REAL AWARD - Daniel Bryans retirement was real difficult to watch. Head injuries are a big deal. The WWE forced his hand. He didn't want to do it. He's very young. They weren't gonna let him wrestle. That speech and that segment were the best, and most real thing, on WWE television this year.
MATCH OF THE YEAR - What makes a great match?
The backstory helps.
A solid pace.
Believability.
A lively crowd.
An emotional reaction.
Believing ever 2 count will be a 3 and being surprised every time it isn't.
AJ Styles and John Cena checked all these boxes at SummerSlam in Brooklyn. I reacted to this match in a very similar way I did to Undertaker and Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25 (the greatest match I've ever seen). Before we're too quick to give AJ all the praise, John Cena has had an incredible 2 year stretch of phenomenal (no pun intended) in ring work. There may not be a better ring psychologist in the company. The near falls, the facial expressions, the pace, the chants, the crowd… it was all perfect.
MVP - AJ Styles. It's not close. No superstar, not Kevin Owens, not Seth Rollins, not Roman Reigns, not Chris Jericho - has been booked in a way that has made him look like the absolute best in the company. AJ has and deservedly so. His mic work and his ring work are as good as anything we've seen since Shawn Michaels. Taking into account, AJ Styles made his name in TNA and had a very successful career in Japan, the WWE actually pushed a guy who wasn't their own straight to the top. No superstar has benefited more from the brand split then AJ has. The fact the Smackdown approaches the same amount of viewers as the "flagship" Raw program and the fact that Smackdown is a far superior program - is all a testament to how great AJ Styles is.
