Wrestling Observer Awards Mega Recap: 2018 UPDATE!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > Wrestling Observer Awards Mega Recap: 2018 UPDATE!

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

So hey, you probably remember this thread I made about a year ago, detailing the overall voting results for every major WON award. The thread has since fallen into archives, which is why I'm making a new one instead of reviving that (though you should probably just buy archives anyway as we try to keep Lowtax alive and financially solvent).

Anyway, here's a quick recap of the project I started many moons ago

quote:

I thought it'd be interesting to tally up voting results for the biggest individual WON categories by year, and see how people rank on an all-time scale. To keep this simple, I only included the Top 10 listed in issues (sorry honorable mentions) and used a basic reverse scoring system -- 10 points to first place, 9 points to second, 8 to third, etc. The early awards issues only listed Top 5 by category, so I went 10 points for first, 8 points for second, 6 for third, and so on.

Obviously, trying to do this by looking up individual issues in the archive is a gigantic pain in the rear end. Thankfully, there's a helpful resource site that lists them all in one page right here. So if you feel I missed something or had an oversight, feel free to point it out.

Obvious disclaimer: I'm only going through the categories still active in 2018, which excludes a lot of fluff from the newsletter's early days.. Even Dave will probably admit that short-lived categories like "Most Washed Up Wrestler" and "Hardest Worker" were bad ideas.

My goal all along was to update the lists when the 2018 awards come in and see how things changed/observe new trends, and now that the results are finally official let's get right into it!

You can find full 2018 results in the latest newsletter.

WRESTLER OF THE YEAR

Full list here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1St5XRdcIjRbQ5YbNjvGRZXsAWHHDvXP4u3LXPgFeCvg/edit#gid=401751409

Top 20

code:

Ric Flair	125
Kenta Kobashi	84
Hiroshi Tanahashi	78
Mitsuharu Misawa	69
John Cena	59
Kazuchika Okada	56
Shawn Michaels	47
Keiji Mutoh	42
AJ Styles	42
Kurt Angle	39
Toshiaki Kawada	36
Steve Austin	36
Daniel Bryan	36
The Rock	33
Hulk Hogan	30
Chris Jericho	30
CM Punk	28
Bret Hart	27
Akira Maeda	26
Kenny Omega	26

Biggest risers: Kenny Omega (35th to 20th), LA Park (79th to 43rd)
2018 newcomers: Becky Lynch, Johnny Gargano, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi, Ronda Rousey

-- Omega jumps into the top 20 with his first WOTY win. In a normal world he'd likely be a strong contender again in 2019, but AEW has thrown a completely different wrinkle into the wrestling world. Now essentially being paid to sit at home until the promotion launches, Omega won't have a big time match until his rematch with Jericho (who I'm surprised didn't make the top 10 last year) in May.

-- Tanahashi jumps Misawa for third all-time and has a good shot at passing Kobashi this year, depending on how his creaky old man body holds up.

-- Okada didn't make any movement despite another great year, but he'll almost certainly jump Cena soon and still has *checks notes* like 10 years of prime wrestling left :stare:

-- At fifth place, Becky is not only the highest-ranked WWE wrestler of the year, she's the highest-ranked woman since Manami Toyota finished 3rd in 1995. Sasha Banks (8th in 2015), Bull Nakano (5th in 1991), Kaoru Ito (10th in 2001), and Ronda Rousey (10th in 2018) are the only other women to make the WOTY top 10.

-- LA Park wasn't ever going to win this (he lost his frontrunner status when the Rush match fell through), but it's still a great showing for probably the biggest year of his career.

-- Anyone else shocked that this is the first year Ibushi made the WOTY cut?

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTELR

Full list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1St5XRdcIjRbQ5YbNjvGRZXsAWHHDvXP4u3LXPgFeCvg/edit#gid=1318151733

Top 20

code:

Kenta Kobashi	100
Daniel Bryan	85
Chris Benoit	81
Hiroshi Tanahashi	60
AJ Styles	58
Kazuchika Okada	57
Ric Flair	53
Kurt Angle	52
Shawn Michaels	50
Jushin Thunder Liger	46
Mitsuharu Misawa	42
Manami Toyota	39
KENTA	39
Eddie Guerrero	38
Toshiaki Kawada	36
Davey Richards	32
Rey Mysterio	31
Shinjiro Otani	29
Samoa Joe	29
Tomohiro Ishii	28

Biggest risers: Kenny Omega (29th to 21st), Kota Ibushi (42nd to 29th), Will Ospreay (43rd to 34th), Zack Sabre Jr. (79th to 52nd)
2018 newcomers: Johnny Gargano, WALTER, Kento Miyahara

Thoughts

-- The NFL award voters have this weird habit of giving the best QB both MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. So it is with WON voters, who have given both WOTY and Most Outstanding to the same wrestler for four straight years. Omega was just the latest to double-dip.

-- Oh hey, Okada is already sixth all-time and he just turned 30. I think he might be good at this.

-- Miyahara has twice finished 5th in WOTY yet this is his first time showing up on Most Outstanding, just barely edging out Daniel Bryan for the last spot. Not sure what this says about All Japan's buzzometer, but it's an interesting note.

-- Speaking of Bryan, he's back! Will Kobashi finally be dethroned on this list? Probably a long shot (Bryan will be 38 soon and the neck/concussion history always makes him a year-to-year proposition), but I wouldn't be surprised if he gives it a go.

I'll be releasing more updates throughout the night and weekend.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 02:16

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# ? May 5, 2024 16:37

Chris James 2: Aug 9, 2012

Congrats to TNA for no longer being the reigning defending Worst Promotion for the first time since 2006

# ? Mar 15, 2019 02:17

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

I legitimately did not believe at first that this was the first time Ibushi ever made the Wrestler of the Year cut. Holy poo poo.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 02:32

SatoshiMiwa: May 6, 2007

Okada's body of work feels like he should be 36 or 38 not 30

# ? Mar 15, 2019 02:52

Jerusalem: May 20, 2004; Would you be my new best friends?

Yeah, dude just came off arguably the best title reign in a generation and I think he was still technically in his 20s during it.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 02:54

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

BEST ON INTERVIEWS

Full list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1St5XRdcIjRbQ5YbNjvGRZXsAWHHDvXP4u3LXPgFeCvg/edit#gid=1495495982

Top 20

code:

Ric Flair	183
Chris Jericho	111
Jim Cornette	106
Paul Heyman	104
The Rock	76
Mick Foley	72
CM Punk	67
Steve Austin	60
Roddy Piper	49
Arn Anderson	45
John Cena	45
Conor McGregor	44
Jerry Lawler	40
Kevin Steen/Owens	39
Shane Douglas	33
Kurt Angle	33
Chael Sonnen	33
The Miz	30
Shawn Michaels	29
Edge	27

Biggest risers: Daniel Bryan (38th to 23rd), Samoa Joe (72nd to 35th)
2018 newcomers: Becky Lynch, Juice Robinson, Zack Sabre Jr., Tommaso Ciampa

Thoughts

-- What more can be said about Jericho at this point? After yet another yer of reinventing himself, staying fresh, and delivering next-level promo material, he moves past Cornette for second all-time. And given his early stuff in the build to Double Or Nothing, he has a good shot at placing high yet again next year.

-- Remember a time when people thought Daniel Bryan "couldn't talk?" Yeah, it was a thing. Anyway, after smashing into the glass ceiling known as "WWE Babyface," Bryan took matters into his own hands with a heel turn and character shift into "your old college friend who just discovered Leftist Twitter and while he means well, you kinda wish he'd shut up and pass the bong already." Either way, it was good enough for him to end Conor McGregor's three-year winning streak.

-- Speaking of Conor, he finished 4th in a year where he flew off the rails and turned off a lot of people, so I guess racism and dolly bus attacks are still big draws, brother.

-- Naito continues to be underrated in this category despite New Japan promos being more accessible than ever. I thought for sure he'd finish higher than 10th once more people started to really appreciate what a gifted talker he is (and he backed it up with some tremendous promos in the Jericho program). Ah well.

-- Honestly, Joe should've won just for being given a "try to cuck AJ or kidnap his child or whatever the gently caress that feud was about" story and still managing to come off as a legit badass.

Most Charismatic

Full list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1St5XRdcIjRbQ5YbNjvGRZXsAWHHDvXP4u3LXPgFeCvg/edit#gid=1109870950

Top 20

code:

Ric Flair	137
Hulk Hogan	116
John Cena	111
The Rock	95
Hiroshi Tanahashi	72
Chris Jericho	70
Sting	56
Shawn Michaels	55
Steve Austin	55
Atsushi Onita	44
Shinsuke Nakamura	43
Conor McGregor	42
Brock Lesnar	41
Riki Choshu	28
Eddie Guerrero	28
Tetsuya Naito	28
CM Punk	26
Perro Aguayo	25
Bob Sapp	23
Michael P.S. Hayes	22

Biggest riser: Tetsuya Naito (28th to 16th)
2018 newcomers: Becky Lynch, Velveteen Dream

Thoughts

-- Naito cleans up for a second straight year, but this vote was close, with Becky only 42 behind. Tana and Jericho held steady in their respective spots.

-- Shouts to the voters who remember that Rush and Pentagon are cool as gently caress and keeping them in the downballot race for years on end. Maybe Rush will finally finish high in this category now that ROH is using him.

-- Watching old WCW/WWF stuff has me convinced that Sid should've had way more than 5 points on this list.

Benne fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Mar 15, 2019

# ? Mar 15, 2019 03:17

Benne: Sep 2, 2011; STOP DOING HEROIN

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER

Full list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1St5XRdcIjRbQ5YbNjvGRZXsAWHHDvXP4u3LXPgFeCvg/edit#gid=1839823792

Top 20

code:

Daniel Bryan	125
Chris Benoit	120
Kurt Angle	81
Jushin Thunder Liger	72
Zack Sabre Jr.	67
Yuji Nagata	58
Dean Malenko	50
Tatsumi Fujinami	40
Hiroshi Hase	39
Kenta Kobashi	39
Shinjiro Otani	39
Davey Richards	36
Eddie Guerrero	34
Nigel McGuinness	34
Prince Devitt	33
Minoru Tanaka	30
Kyle O'Reilly	28
Manami Toyota	27
Hiroshi Tanahashi	27
Ric Flair	26

Biggest risers: Hideki Suzuki (59th to 38th), Minoru Suzuki (78th to 54th), Johnny Gargano (98th to 61st)
2018 newcomers: Jonathan Gresham, Kota Ibushi

Thoughts

-- It took a miracle comeback from career-threatening concussions, but Bryan finally got back in the ring and took his rightful place on top in the category named after him.

-- But he wasn't even close to winning this, as ZSJ took his fifth straight award with a staggering 970-37 landslide. It was a fascinating year for Sabre, who was great in the ring as always but also took some big steps forward in character work. Perhaps addressing the criticisms that he was "too bland," he turned up the sarcasm and quick wit to become a delightfully sadistic prick, while TAKA Michinoku gave him some much-needed catchphrases as his hype man. The Sabre/TAKA pairing ended up being a stroke of genius, helping him get over with Japanese crowds as he moves up the card.

-- I'll be perfectly honest when I say Hideki Suzuki is a huge blind spot for me, but he's finished 3rd place for the second straight year so clearly he has a ton of support among voters.

-- MiSu only placing three times in this award is a surprise, but his 6th place is well-earned after an incredible first half of the year.

-- It's still funny to me that enough people voted CM Punk "best technical wrestler" that he managed 10th place in 2011. I know that was his hottest year ever, but still.

Best Brawler

Full list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1St5XRdcIjRbQ5YbNjvGRZXsAWHHDvXP4u3LXPgFeCvg/edit#gid=600451297

Top 20

code:

Mick Foley	98
Bruiser Brody	86
Chris Benoit	76
Samoa Joe	75
Stan Hansen	74
Kevin Steen/Owens	62
Masato Tanaka	59
Tomohiro Ishii	59
Togi Makabe	55
Terry Gordy	52
Terry Funk	47
Katsuyori Shibata	46
Necro Butcher	45
Brock Lesnar	40
Steve Austin	37
Fit Finlay	31
Triple H	31
Tommy Dreamer	30
Atsushi Onita	28
Takeshi Morishima	27

Biggest risers: Minoru Suzuki (33rd to 27th), LA Park (45th to 34th), WALTER (57th to 37th)
2018 newcomers: Chris Jericho, Masashi Takeda, Brody King, PCO

Thoughts

-- Make it five in a row for Ishii, who's up to eighth all-time as his incredible late-career resurgence continues. He's still got a ways to go to catch the legends, but five Best Brawler wins puts him third behind Foley (nine) and Brody (seven).

-- Color me a bit surprised that PCO finished behind his eventual stablemate Brody King, who I still think looks like what happens when Aleister Black stops going to the gym.

-- Takeda's death matches in Big Japan got rave reviews all year and I'm glad he got some downballot love for it. If you haven't seem them, or are squeamish about death match wrestling, I encourage you to check them out. There is way more going on in those mathces than the generic "guys hitting each other with toys" stuff you usually see in the States.

-- Jericho and Park are an inspiration to out-of-shape dads everywhere, and I mean that in the nicest way.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 05:41

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# ? May 5, 2024 16:37

Smoking Crow: Feb 14, 2012; *laughs at u*

Hechicero got robbed in best technical wrestler this year

# ? Mar 16, 2019 03:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > The Hammer House: Stinger Splash Zone > Wrestling Observer Awards Mega Recap: 2018 UPDATE!