ROCKAMANIAC’S 2008 YEAR END AWARDS

Wrestler of the Year: Triple H – Not much needs to be said here as Trips was back on top as the man this year, he moved over to Smackdown and not only made smackdown better, but proved how big of a star he is as Raw suffered a bit without him.

 

Tag Team of the Year: Miz/Morrison – 2008 was yet another sub par year for the tag team division but The Miz and John Morrison did provide a bright light at the end of what has been a long tunnel for the WWE tag division over the last few years.

 

Female Wrestler/Knockout of the Year: Awesome Kong – TNA’s Knockouts outshone WWE’s Divas eventhough the Divas stepped up their games. Awesome Kong reigned on top of the Knockouts for most of the year, and easily warrants the vote.

 

Best Match of the Year: Joe/Angle – Lockdown – I have made it no secret over the years that i am a mark for Samoa Joe, and a bigger mark for Joe vs Angle matches. It was a dream match when Angle jumped ship, and for me the pair have been able to deliver every time they have gotten together in the ring. Many chose Flair and HBK, and although the match was good, I didn’t enjoy it to the point where I would find myself marking out for the enjoyment of the match, perhaps because the actual HBK/Flair match was a sideshow to the retirement, which dominated the hall of fame ceremony as well as Raw the next night. Meanwhile when I watched Joe and Angle I was into it from beginning to end, adding in a MMA style to the match was intruiging and ultimately my pick for match of the year.

 

Worst Match of the Year: Chris Harris (Braden Walker) / Armando Estrada – ECW TV – Chris Harris made the decision to jump to the WWE this year after being frustrated with his spot in TNA. His first match would be on ECW TV, and would take on Armando Estrada, in a tight white singlet he looked out of shape, and went on to have the worst match ive seen on TV in years. Perhaps partially to blame because of Estrada’s limited in ring experience, but nonetheless it was that damn bad, and probably led to Vince McMahon having no problem sending Harris on his way out the door.

 

Feud of the Year: Michaels/Jericho – It was probably the most prominent storyline in the WWE this year, and the fact that it was slightly based on reality automatically makes me a mark for it. The fact that no matter what Michaels does he is cheered being acknowledged was genius and provided for some great heat between the two men as well as a series of matches that despite a couple of questionable finishes, delievered and entertained.

 

Rookie Award: Kofi Kingston – 2008 did provide for more qualified candidates for Rookie of the year compared to 07. Dibiase Jr has major potential in the long term, but didn’t necessarily do enough this year to warrant the award in my opinion. Evan Bourne is an uber close second to my actual choice, as Kofi Kingston, debuted on ECW, was immediately over with the crowd, added an arm action gimmick, moved over to Raw, and won both the IC and Tag Team titles, a bright future lies ahead for Kingston.

 

Jobber of the Year: Kane – The jobber of the year category can be taken many different ways, some would say MVP because he lost a bunch of matches, but that was part storyline. Meanwhile others would say something like Shark Boy as he did nothing but his Stone Cold impersonation while barely wrestling. Colin Delaney nearly took my vote for jobber of the year for his Zach Gowen Push followed up by the horribly executed heel turn on Tommy Dreamer which saw him back on the indy scene only weeks later. However one of the final editions of Raw in 2008 secured Kane as the jobber of the year for me. 2008 was yet another year of Kane being used as filler, a guy who many have called for and predicted to be a top guy or champion for years, but ultimately he had one of the worst years i can remember him having. Sure Katie Vick was disgusting and all, but at least that storyline made some sense, this year however, he had an utterly confusing run with Rey Misterio and now at the end of the year was starting another one with Kelly Kelly. The creative team is running out of gas when it comes to ideas for Kane, and its unfortunate that his final years are being spent like this.

 

DVD Package of the Year: Iron Sheik Roast – What can i say, Im a huge mark for the Iron Sheik, and when i heard he was going to be roasted I thought it was a genius idea, as it turned out it was not only a great show, but provided for the latest fall of Scott Hall, and the slap that was years in the making as Sheiky Baby cracked Brian Blair right across the face!

 

Main Event Radio Interview of the year : Sid Vicious – It needs to be said that i base my vote for interview of the year as the interview which garners the most attention for the show is by default the interview of the year, and with Ryan and I covering the press conference where Sid announced he planned to return to the wrestling business, websites around the world including WWE.com picked up on it, and the influx was crazy. Meanwhile others will be more memorable such as Marella, Maria and Punk, either way it was a year of big names on the main event.

 

Quebec Wrestling Categories:

 

Wrestler of the Year: Kevin Steen – returned home to the quebec wrestling scene full time this year, while continuing to be a top star in ROH its no doubt that Steen deserves the vote, meanwhile El Generico his tag partner was along for the ride in ROH as well as embarking on a trek around the world, he is worthy as is the likes of Dan Paysan, but I can only vote for one, therefore Steen gets the nod.

 

Tag Team of the Year: Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno / Stupefied) – Became Chikara tag champs, and also held IWS tag gold this year, they had a huge year and are worthy of the vote

 

Match of the Year: IWS UnFnSanctioned Tag Team Ladder Match - Up in Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) vs. The Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno and Stupefied) vs. The Untouchables (Dan Paysan and Jimmy Stone)