Wrestling Observer awards for 2013

[Stopspot]

And the winners are


LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD (WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (348) 3.488

2. Kazuchika Okada (153) 2,168

3. Daniel Bryan (139) 1,444

4. John Cena (58) 925

5. C.M. Punk (31) 520

6. KENTA (13) 133

7. Shinsuke Nakamura (2) 51

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS MOST VALUABLE

1. GEORGES ST-PIERRE (569) 3,215

2. Ronda Rousey (110) 1,414

3. Jon Jones (48) 1,211

4. Cain Velasquez (41) 861

5. Anderson Silva (12) 732

6. Chris Weidman (3) 85

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (470) 3,237

2. Daniel Bryan (205) 1,894

3. Kazuchika Okada (126) 1,760

4. C.M. Punk (10) 374

5. Negro Casas (18) 275

6. Shinsuke Nakamura (22) 245

7. Antonio Cesaro (16) 163

8. Katsuyori Shibata (11) 137

9. Prince Devitt (3) 133

10. Tomohiro Ishii (1) 132

MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR

1. CAIN VELASQUEZ (354) 2,062

2. Jon Jones (70) 878

3. Johny Hendricks (45) 512

4. Chris Weidman (23) 502

5. Georges St-Pierre (51) 488

6. Vitor Belfort (34) 449

7. Demetrious Johnson (41) 447

8. Anthony Pettis (3) 373

9. Urijah Faber (26) 282

10. Ronda Rousey (29) 281

BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW

1. GEORGES ST-PIERRE (351) 2,699

2. The Rock (220) 1,915

3. John Cena (115) 1,533

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi (35) 562

5. Brock Lesnar (15) 309

6. Ronda Rousey (34) 305

7. Anderson Silva (2) 155

8. Daniel Bryan (1) 63

FEUD OF THE YEAR

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (534) 3,259

2. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate (106) 875

3. Hirooki Goto vs. Katsuyori Shibata (1) 634

4. C.M. Punk vs. Brock Lesnar (23) 623

5. C.M. Punk vs. Paul Heyman (82) 535

6. Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz (38) 447

7. The Shield vs. Kane & Daniel Bryan (44) 358

8. Negro Casas vs. Rush (52) 334

9. La Sombra vs. Volador Jr. (2) 171

10. C.M. Punk vs. The Rock (6) 142

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

1. SETH ROLLINS & ROMAN REIGNS (440) 2,723

2. Goldust & Cody Rhodes (72) 1,152

3. Young Bucks (94) 1,035

4. Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer (47) 705

5. Rocky Romero & Alex Koslov (10) 312

6. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian (7) 258

7. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (26) 247

8. Jack Evans & Angelico (12) 205

9. Koji Kanemoto & Minoru Tanaka (11) 204

10. Jimmy & Jey Uso (2) 196

MOST IMPROVED

1. ROMAN REIGNS (323) 2,013

2. Tomohiro Ishii (51) 757

3. Goldust (89) 577

4. Lance Archer (19) 439

5. Adam Cole (35) 425

6. Davey Boy Smith Jr. (46) 285

7. Magnus (29) 272

8. Big E Langston (10) 213

9. Cody Rhodes (9) 203

10. Taryn Terrell (19) 199

BEST ON INTERVIEWS

1. PAUL HEYMAN (310) 2,150

2. C.M. Punk (206) 2,054

3. The Rock (55) 573

4. Mark Henry (24) 472

5. Chael Sonnen (39) 354

6. John Cena (19) 311

7. Bray Wyatt (23) 273

8. Bully Ray (13) 254

9. Daniel Bryan (31) 229

10. Dean Ambrose (2) 207

MOST CHARISMATIC

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (181) 1,425

2. The Rock (236) 1,382

3. John Cena (76) 1,078

4. Daniel Bryan (134) 1,025

5. Shinsuke Nakamura (82) 925

6. C.M. Punk (13) 482

7. Brock Lesnar (2) 129

8. Minoru Suzuki (8) 122

9. Negro Casas (16) 115

10. Chael Sonnen (2) 98

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER

1. DANIEL BRYAN (362) 2,269

2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (157) 1,314

3. Antonio Cesaro (34) 787

4. Blue Panther (58) 517

5. Zack Sabre Jr. (47) 443

6. Kazuchika Okada (2) 425

7. Shinsuke Nakamura (62) 363

8. Prince Devitt (36) 352

9. Davey Richards (4) 163

10. KENTA (10) 135

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD (BEST BRAWLER)

1. KATSUYORI SHIBATA (306) 2,187

2. Tomohiro Ishii (134) 1,330

3. Kevin Steen (107) 1,099

4. Togi Makabe (59) 767

5. Brock Lesnar (85) 629

6. Bully Ray (56) 575

7. Minoru Suzuki (22) 210

8. L.A. Park (19) 186

9. Roman Reigns (16) 154

10. Masato Tanaka (10) 145

BEST FLYING WRESTLER

1. KOTA IBUSHI (416) 2,777

2. Ricochet (186) 1,788

3. Adrian Neville (96) 1,224

4. La Sombra (88) 890

5. Sami Zayn (9) 404

6. Mascara Dorada (42) 388

7. A.R. Fox (25) 289

8. ACH (22) 246

9. Samuray del Sol (12) 228

10. Rey Cometa (3) 192

MOST OVERRATED

1. RANDY ORTON (164) 1,145

2. Ryback (104) 900

3. HHH (102) 651

4. The Miz (62) 564

5. Big Show (19) 501

6. Alberto Del Rio (28) 425

7. Magnus (31) 304

8. Curtis Axel (14) 177

9. Eva Marie (10) 120

10. Ken Anderson (8) 119

MOST UNDERRATED

1. ANTONIO CESARO (296) 2,027

2. Dolph Ziggler (149) 1,427

3. Tomohiro Ishii (49) 652

4. Chris Hero (32) 521

5. Daniel Bryan (52) 364

6. Tyson Kidd (29) 308

7. Sami Zayn (8) 224

8. Tomoaki Honma (1) 194

9. Yoshi Tatsu (26) 153

10. Austin Aries (20) 128

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING (634) 4,520

2. Ultimate Fighting Championship (110) 1,942

3. World Wrestling Entertainment (14) 1,136

4. Dragon Gate (2) 558

5. PWG (3) 302

6. Ring of Honor (5) 212

7. CMLL (11) 209

8. Glory (11) 60

BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW

1. WWE NXT (172) 1,837

2. WWE Raw (113) 1,210

3. Dragon Gate Infinity (83) 844

4. Ring of Honor (81) 812

5. The Ultimate Fighter (77) 660

6. WWE Total Divas (38) 393

7. WWE Smackdown (31) 372

8. New Japan World Pro Wrestling (46) 297

9. CMLL (15) 272

10. TNA Impact (16) 263

PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. HIROSHI TANAHASHI VS. KAZUCHIKA OKADA 4/7 TOKYO (305)2,002

2. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii 8/4 Osaka (153) 1,497

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 10/14 Tokyo (142) 1,151

4. Brock Lesnar vs. C.M. Punk 8/18 Los Angeles (76) 829

5. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan 8/18 Los Angeles (34) 556

6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii 8/2 Tokyo (14) 451

7. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi 8/4 Osaka (33) 338

8. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada 1/4 Tokyo (39) 252

9. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto 6/22 Osaka (11) 229

10. Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk 4/7 East Rutherford (15) 212

MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. GILBERT MELENDEZ VS. DIEGO SANCHEZ 10/19 Houston (345) 2,298

2. Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 9/21 Toronto (189) 1,835

3. Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann 3/3 Tokyo (82) 723

4. Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler 11/9 Long Beach (1) 629

5. Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks 11/16 Las Vegas (41) 302

6. Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva 7/6 Las Vegas (34) 251

7. Matt Grice vs. Dennis Bermudez 2/23 Anaheim (14) 238

8. Carlos Condit vs. Johny Hendricks 3/16 Montreal (2) 209

9. Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche 2/23 Anaheim (6) 202

10. Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano 4/13 Las Vegas (13) 166

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

1. YOHEI KOMATSU (58) 906

2. Konosuke Takeshita (118) 902

3. U-T (146) 879

4. Sho Tanaka (86) 769

5. Enzo Amore (47) 361

6. Charlotte (17) 352

7. Mojo Rawley (33) 306

8. Ryotsu Shimizu (4) 301

9. Hitoshi Kumano (22) 185

10. Andrew Everett (11) 112

BEST NON-WRESTLER

1. PAUL HEYMAN (659) 2,730

2. Zeb Colter (44) 1,187

3. Gedo (2) 566

4. Vickie Guerrero (1) 328

5. Brad Maddox (10) 244

6. Ricardo Rodriguez 195

7. Maria Kanellis (9) 144

8. Stephanie McMahon (1) 121

9. Konnan (9) 113

10. Truth Martini 105

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

1. WILLIAM REGAL (173) 1,460

2. Joe Rogan (106) 1,160

3. John Layfield (92) 817

4. Shimpei Nogami (123) 686

5. Kevin Kelly (59) 634

5. Mike Goldberg (61) 428

6. Nigel McGuinness (45) 393

7. Michael Cole (10) 370

8. Jose Manuel Guillen (43) 299

9. Michael Schiavello (25) 274

10. Mike Tenay (19) 198

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

1. TAZ (124) 1,334

2. Jerry Lawler (137) 1,315

3. Michael Cole (121) 992

4. The Miz (98) 725

5. John Layfield (93) 716

6. Tony Dawson (29) 274

7. Alex Riley (3) 118

8. Mike Tenay (8) 117

9. Michael Schiavello (6) 109

10. Kevin Kelly (4) 80

BEST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

1. NEW JAPAN G-1 8/4 OSAKA (334) 2,517

2. New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 1/4 Tokyo Dome (286) 2,251

3. WWE SummerSlam 8/18 Los Angeles (88) 799

4. New Japan Invasion Attack 4/7 Tokyo (36) 438

5. UFC 166 10/19 Houston (37) 422

6. New Japan Dominion 6/22 Osaka (27) 315

7. WWE WrestleMania 4/7 East Rutherford (22) 186

8. Dragon Gate Kobe Festival 7/21 Kobe (25) 178

9. New Japan King of Pro Wrestling 10/14 Tokyo (2) 169

10. New Japan G-1 Climax finals 8/11 Tokyo (1) 135

WORST MAJOR WRESTLING SHOW

1. WWE BATTLEGROUND 10/6 BUFFALO 532

2. WWE Survivor Series 11/24 Boston 134

3. WWE Night of Champions 9/15 Detroit 31

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

1. KAZUCHIKA OKADA RAINMAKER 329

2. Antonio Cesaro Giant Swing 273

3. Daniel Bryan Busaiku Knee 64

4. Adrian Neville Red Arrow (sky twister) 31

5. Shinsuke Nakamura Bom a ye 25

6. Katsuyori Shibata Corner Dropkick 22

7. Daisuke Sekimoto Dead Lift German suplex 18

8. Yujiro Takahashi Tokyo Pimps 17

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi High Fly Flow 13

10. Tommaso Ciampa Project Ciampa 12

Roman Reigns Spear 12

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC

1. WWE EXPLOITING DEATH OF BILL MOODY 183

2. TNA treatment of Jesse Sorensen 180

3. CMLL not delivering Atlantis vs. Guerrero mask match 35

4. WWE false advertising talent 34

5. HHH burying the roster in promos 28

6. Daniel Bryan/HHH/Randy Orton storyline 27

7. Dana White criticizing GSP after his fight 26

8. El Hijo del Santo blaming hurricane for canceling the Wagner vs. Park vs. Santo mask match that was never going to happen 25

9. WWE firing Jim Ross 22

WORST TELEVISION SHOW

1. TNA IMPACT 449

2. WWE Raw 113

3. WWE Smackdown 61

4. WWE Total Divas 29

5. WWE Main Event 18

6. Bellator Rampage 4 Real 10

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. NATALYA & NAOMI & CAMERON & BELLA TWINS & JO JO & EVA MARIE VS. FOX & AKSANA & LEE & SNUKA & MENDES & KAITLYN & SUMMER RAE 11/24 BOSTON 142

2. Randy Orton vs. Big Show 11/24 Boston 126

3. Kane vs. Bray Wyatt 8/18 Los Angeles 118

4. Eva Marie & Jo Jo & Natalya vs. Aksana & Mendes & Fox 10/7 Pittsburgh 19

5. Mark Henry vs. Ryback 11/24 Boston 19

6. Natalya & Naomi & Cameron & Bella Twins & Jo Jo & Eva Marie vs. Fox & Aksana & Lee & Snuka & Mendes & Kaitlyn & Summer Rae 11/25 Uniondale, NY 13

7. Naoya Ogawa vs. Kazuyuki Fujita 12/31 Tokyo 12

8. Tyron Woodley vs. Jake Shields 6/15 Winnipeg 9

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

1. BIG SHOW VS. AUTHORITY 145

2. TNA vs. Aces and 8s 98

3. Total Divas vs. WWE Divas 77

4. A.J. Styles vs. Dixie Carter 74

5. Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority 70

6. Brock Lesnar vs. HHH 44

7. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston 37

8. Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton 34

9. Hulk Hogan vs. Bully Ray 23

10. Kane vs. Bray Wyatt 18

WORST PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION 485

2. All Japan Pro Wrestling 158

3. CHIKARA Pro 110

4. Ring of Honor 30

5. World Wrestling Entertainment 29

6. Bellator MMA 11

BEST BOOKER

1. GEDO & JADO 643

2. Joe Silva 142

3. Hunter Johnston 43

BEST GIMMICK

1. THE WYATT FAMILY 307

2. The Bullet Club 141

3. The Shield 139

4. Daniel Bryan 62

5. Shinsuke Nakamura 32

6. Bad Influence 18

7. Aiden English 12

8. Fandango 10
WORST GIMMICK

1. ACES & 8S 129

2. Heel owner Dixie Carter 99

3. Los Matadores 69

4. The Miz as babyface 64

5. The Authority 46

6. C.J. Parker 38

7. Fandango 36

8. Antonio Cesaro yodeling 34

9. Joseph Park 22

10. Bad News Barrett 20

BEST PRO WRESTLING BOOK

1. MAD DOGS, MIDGETS AND SCREWJOBS BY PATRIC LAPRADE & BERTRAND HEBERT 444

2. The Hardcore Truth by Bob Holly & Ross Williams 203

3. The Squared Circle by David Shoemaker 50

4. The 50 Greatest Professional Wrestlers of All-Time by Larry Matysik 41

5. Three Count by Jimmy Korderas 34

BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD

1. JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS: THE GOOD OLD DAYS 227

2. Legends of Mid South Wrestling 215

3. Barbed Wire City 115

4. For All Mankind 85

5. War Games 38

6. HHH: Thy Kingdom Come 32

7. Best of In Your House 25

8. History of the WWE 19

9. Fake It So Real 13

Money in the Bank Anthology 13

Bryan keeps picking up best technician, dude must be close to a full decade soon. Edit: Did a quick look through and this is his 9th straight year.

 

[Pop Tatari]

Cesaro number 3 in technical wrestlers is well deserved, wwe done quite well in this list. Bucks should of won tag team of the year though they amazing in the ring and make me laugh with their antics. Still a well put together list.

 

[Brad.]

Agree with most winners. Good to see WWE's fall/autumn got shat on.

Please can someone explain to me what's so great about Okada's rainmaker - isn't it essentially a clothesline?

 

[Pop Tatari]

Agree with most winners. Good to see WWE's fall/autumn got shat on.

Please can someone explain to me what's so great about Okada's rainmaker - isn't it essentially a clothesline?

Blasphemy!

 

[Bort]

Please can someone explain to me what's so great about Okada's rainmaker - isn't it essentially a clothesline?

I think the ratio is this:

1. It's one of the best booked and most protected finishers in wrestling.
2. It's actually quite impactful, he holds nothing back.
3. The setup is done very well, usually via tombstone piledrivers.
4. The mental element of surprise, he grabs your hand, turns you around and BAM! - the first thing you see is a lariat nailing your head, the shock effect, I guess.
5. The counters to the move are exciting and lead to great finishing stretches when opponents try to avoid it like plague.
6. The move is mega over with crowds.
7. Wrestlers sell it like death.

 

[Farooq]

Interesting lists. Lol at TNA being a "worst" show than Total Divas though.

 

[Stopspot]

Sleeping With Sirens - These Things That I've Done.
Dead By April - Erased.
I'm really addicted to these two at the moment.

wrong thread m8

 

[Butters!]

wrong thread m8

Sorry! Can an admin remove that?

 

[Roi]

Agree with most winners. Good to see WWE's fall/autumn got shat on.

Please can someone explain to me what's so great about Okada's rainmaker - isn't it essentially a clothesline?

 

[Senhor Perfect]

It's no clothesline from hell :jbl:

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

How did Brock not get the Brusier Brody memorial award? fuck that

 

[Trip in the Head]

Lists are funny sometimes. I like how the lists for best and worst announcers bascially has the same names on it. I guess CM Punk is a fueding machine. And the Divas get totally shit on again. Nobody used to talk about them like that in the days of Trish and Lita. At least I don't think they did.

 

[Stopspot]

It's no clothesline from hell :jbl:

Nope. It's better.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

How did Brock not get the Brusier Brody memorial award? fuck that

Nobody can answer me this? No fucking vanilla midget japanese shithead is a better brawler than Brock.

 

[Trip in the Head]

Not a fan of Brock soooooo \_/