DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu - 2005 Year-End Awards + 2005 WWE Report Card
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 at 2:12 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #156

Welcome one and all to the 156th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

I hope you all had a great Christmas & Santa Claus treated you well when it came to handing out the presents.

Wow... Another year has passed us by. How time does indeed fly when you are having fun! I wonder if the WWE creative department & management also feel that this year flew by? In the 'dessert' section of today's column, I will take a look at how I felt the WWE did this year. Did they pass or did they fail? Did they improve or take a step back? But first, it will be my annual year-end awards.

With the long 'main' section today, there will be no 'appetizers'. On with the show.....


MAIN - 2005 Awards

Nothing out of the ordinary here folks. 15 awards & 15 winners. A short comment which, if I deem necessary, will include any runners-up. Please note that these are WWE exclusive awards, as I have hardly seen NWA-TNA this year. Just for memories & comparisons, I will include my 2002, 2003 & 2004 award winners at the end of each award in brackets.

MALE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Shawn Michaels - Arguably one of the easiest awards to present this year. HBK was pretty much at the top of his game right from the beginning of 2005. An above average opener against Edge at The Royal Rumble, was followed up by a tremendous feud & match against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21. The 2 then improved on that bout at Vengeance! Also scattered throughout the year was a television match against Shelton Benjamin that was a match of the year contender, a dream team with Hulk Hogan, a feud with Hulk Hogan, as well as carrying Chris Masters to his best match yet. Despite no major title reign, Michaels genuinely deserves this award this year. (2004 winner: Chris Benoit. 2003 winner: Shawn Michaels. 2002 winner: Kurt Angle.)

FEMALE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Trish Stratus - In a year where the women's division took a number of hits, I thought Trish was clearly a standout for the 3rd straight year. While the quality of her wrestling reduced a little due to a number of injuries, she once more proved how adaptable she was in dealing with a number of inexperienced opponents. She also handled her face turn well. (2004 winner: Trish Stratus. 2003 winner: Trish Stratus. 2002 winner: Victoria)

OVERALL PERFORMER OF THE YEAR: Shawn Michaels - This award adds to the wrestling aspect, by including all other WWE segments. Past winners Guerrero & Angle are heavily favored in this category due to their entertainment prowess during backstage & in-the-ring sports entertainment segments. While I thought of giving this award to Eddie for the 3rd straight year due to the handling of his heel turn & subsequent return as a face, I had to put emotions aside & go with HBK. I've already explained that he fairly clearly won the wrestler of the year award, so when you add to that my funniest moment of the year, there really was no question. That funniest moment by the way, was the hilarious Larry King - Hulk Hogan sketch segment on an episode of Raw. (2004 winner: Eddie Guerrero. 2003 winner: Eddie Guerrero. 2002 winner: Kurt Angle)

TAG-TEAM OF THE YEAR: MnM - Easy choice & a very deserved win. These two not only have shown great staying power in a division where there is no such thing, but have actually worked their way up the card to be practically main-eventers when the occasion calls for it. Showed that a title loss to LOD'05 didn't set them back, when they concentrated on improving themselves while away from the limelight. This paid off with an eventual regaining of their titles & climb up the card. I'm almost certain they will bounce back once more from their latest title loss, as these guys just continue to improve. (2004 winners: Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam. 2003 winners: Los Guerreros. 2002 winners: Billy & Chuck)

MOST IMPROVED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Batista - Last year, I caused some controversy by awarding this award to Shelton Benjamin & not Batista, as many felt the big fella was the clear-cut winner. Despite probably not improving as much throughout 2005 as he did in 2004, Batista comes up trumps this year due to no-one else really standing out in this category. And that's not taking anything away from big Dave, as he definitely showed further improvement & maturity during 2005. His longish feud with Triple H undoubtedly helped, although that did seem to be negated by an ordinary match against JBL at 'The Great American Bash'. However, he learnt from his mistakes by improving in the SummerSlam rematch & then playing a good role in a difficult assignment with & opposite Eddie Guerrero. If anything, Batista deserves this award due to his improvement over the past 2 years. (2004 winner: Shelton Benjamin. 2003 winner: John Cena. 2002 winner: Edge)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ken Kennedy - As detailed a month or so back in my 'rookie rankings' column, Kennedy has been awarded my rookie of the year award, as he is the 2005 newcomer that I have placed the least question marks on. He edges out Lashley & Masters, and I am quite confident that he can overcome his recent injury & be a mainstay in the WWE for many years to come. (2004 winner: Carlito. 2003 winner: Charlie Haas. 2002 winner: Brock Lesnar)

DEBUT OF THE YEAR: Super Crazy - This award is predominantly used for newcomers from other established wrestling organizations, as opposed to rookies. And strangely, there were quite a few of these wrestlers this year, especially with the WWE running an ECW pay-per-view. I have gone for Super Crazy here, as he has caught on rather well with the crowd & added some great entertainment to practically every match he has been involved in on SmackDown. Now it's just a matter of how the WWE use him. Let's hope they see some midcard potential, rather than just another cruiserweight. (2004 winner: Nick 'Eugene' Dinsmore. 2003 winner: Bill Goldberg. 2002 winner: Rey Mysterio)

MOST UNDER-USED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Shelton Benjamin - I suppose that if I were to be consistent, I would have to award this to Doug Basham for the 2nd year running, as he was hardly on television this year. But I've decided to go the more obvious wrestler this year & give Shelton Benjamin this award which nobody wants to receive. No-one doubted that Benjamin still had a fair bit to learn, but after having a terrific 2004 & beginning this year with a few great matches against the likes of Chris Jericho & Shawn Michaels, Benjamin became a nothing pretty swiftly. An InterContinental Title loss to Carlito snowballed into an average feud which Shelton did not come out of looking strong at all. And then... It got even worse. I still can't believe that Benjamin was on Heat for a number of weeks wrestling, and sometimes losing to, rookie Matt Striker. It just doesn't make sense, as he actually could have been main-eventing! Here's hoping that a heel turn will not only refresh Benjamin, but the way the WWE use him. Another contender for this award this year was Christian. Seeing he is no longer with the company, he probably felt that he was entitled to this award in 2005! (2004 winner: Doug Basham. 2003 winner: Chris Benoit. 2002 winner: Tajiri)

MOST OVER-USED WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Orlando Jordan - I'm not as hard on Orlando as most people, but even I admit that giving him a 5 month US Title reign was a stupid booking decision by the WWE. It almost ruined the title & even for those few times where he actually defended the title, Jordan looked pretty ordinary. It was almost a statement made when Benoit won the title in 25 seconds at SummerSlam, as many felt that's about as long as Jordan deserved to be in the ring with him. 5 months after winning the title, I had to agree. The fact that Jordan was often in main-event matches (even if it was tag-teaming with JBL) was a joke. And it pretty much defines the word 'over-used'. (2004 winner: John Heidenreich. 2003 winner: Kevin Nash. 2002 winner: Ric Flair)

WORST WRESTLER OF THE YEAR: Viscera - Wow! This award has been easy to pick over the past 3 years, but no-one stands out in 2005. Unfortunately, I have to pick somebody & big Vis is the man I have decided upon. His frame doesn't actually allow him to do things most wrestlers can do, and in the past he has been able to get by with usual big man moves combined with 2 or 3 agile moves that are decently performed. But his repertoire took a turn for the worst in 2005 when he humped an opponent one night & the WWE noticed that it drew a reaction from the crowd. Since then, this has actually been his #1 move, and that alone means that he deserves this award! (2004 winner: Kenzo Suzuki. 2003 winner: Rodney Mack. 2002 winner: Jackie Gayda)

MATCH OF THE YEAR: Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle (Vengeance) - In a year, where I rated no match a perfect 10 out of 10, there simply was no obvious winner. Furthermore, there were quite a few great matches which I rated approximately a 9 out of 10 (I'm not going to list them all here), and that made the decision all the more difficult. But I've personally chosen the rematch from the HBK vs Kurt Angle feud that took place at Vengeance in July. A classic wrestling match in all ways, I felt this told a better story than their WrestleMania 21 match, while both men were close to being at the top of their games. (2004 winner: Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels vs Triple H from WrestleMania 20. 2003 winner: Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit from Royal Rumble. 2002 winner: Shawn Michaels vs Triple H from SummerSlam)

FEUD OF THE YEAR: Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio - I admit that I have chopped & changed a little on this award, with Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle coming an unlucky second. I will also admit that Eddie Guerrero's death may have emotionally tipped the scales to favor this feud. But that's not taking anything away from this tremendous feud which practically lasted 6 months & contained some excellent matches (if no classic 10 out of 10 that I was looking for). While the booking did get a little out of hand towards the end of the feud, it was held together by both performers, who came out of the feud better wrestlers. Rey mastered the art of storytelling from this feud, while Eddie pulled off an incredibly difficult heel turn. Neither of those facts can be ignored. Other feuds to be considered were Triple H vs Batista, Matt Hardy vs Edge & Randy Orton vs The Undertaker. (2004 winner: Eddie Guerrero vs Kurt Angle. 2003 winner: Brock Lesnar vs Kurt Angle. 2002 winner: Vince McMahon vs Ric Flair)

BEST STORYLINE/ANGLE OF THE YEAR: Batista's Face Turn & World HeavyWeight Title Feud - I've decided to choose this as the award-winner over the Edge-Lita-Matt Hardy scandal, the HBK vs Angle feud & the semi-heel turn of HBK against Hulk Hogan. I just felt that this was one of those times where the long-term booking of the WWE hit a home run. While the actual feud wasn't perfect (average WrestleMania match & too long of a feud), it was actually built up to perfectly. Batista's face turn & the eventual disamntling of Evolution actually began last year. It then was solidified with logical & well-booked happenings at the main events of both the New Years Revolution & Royal Rumble pay-per-views. The hint that Batista may have then moved over to SmackDown was perfectly played out & had fans cheering for the Animal even more than previously. His eventual Title win & tremendous Hell In A Cell match at Vengeance were enough to see this entire angle over the line in this category. (2004: Survivor Series Control Of Raw. 2003 winner: Heels getting Stone Cold fired. 2002 winner: Bischoff debuting as Raw's General Manager)

WORST STORYLINE/ANGLE OF THE YEAR: Terrorists accompanying Muhammad Hassan - This is a clear winner in this category. In what was a character that was always going to draw controversy when kept conservative, the WWE did the unthinkable & actually had terrorists accompany Muhammad Hassan & Daivari out to the ring on an episode of SmackDown. Karma very much hit the WWE when only days later (from memory), the London subway network was bombed by terrorists. But that bad timing was no excuse, as the idea should never have made it to air in the first place. To further compound the situation, the talented wrestler portraying Hassan has quit wrestling altogether, and Vince McMahon has laughingly suggested that the character failed due to the individual portraying it. (2004: The Kane & Lita saga. 2003 winner: What occurred following Kane's unmasking. 2002 winner: Jericho's alliance with Stephanie against Triple H)

PAY-PER-VIEW OF THE YEAR: ECW - One Night Stand - This is technically a WWE pay-per-view, so I can't exclude it from this category. One Night Stand has just kept out Vengeance for this award due to a better carrying of the load by the entire card & a terrifically entertaining 3 hours. While I wasn't a fan of the main-event, all other matches were good, with Awesome vs Tanaka a stand-out. Furthermore, there were at least 3 promos or interviews which were excellent & really added to the overall event. There was just a vibe on this night that is hard to explain in words. Undoubtedly, there will be encore in 2006. (2004 winner: Survivor Series. 2003 winner: WrestleMania 19. 2002 winner: SummerSlam)


DESSERT

2005 Report Card

Actually, this won't be so much of a report card, as it will just be some general overall comments on the year that is just about to pass. The main question that I want answered though is: Have the WWE progressed in 2005, or have they taken a step back...??? Well, I'm going to answer immediately, and go against what seems to be the majority opinion floating about the internet, and say that the WWE have improved this year!

That's correct... You heard me right; The WWE have improved this year. Why? Put simply, the quality of matches took a big step up. I really do mean that & feel that most WWE viewers forget the great matches way too easily. It's almost a matter of what have you done for me lately? But the definition of lately is 3 months. Well, it shouldn't be. And if you take a good look over the whole 12 months, the WWE have put on some terrific bouts this year.

Not only were the matches I speak of on pay-per-view, but there were also some great bouts on free television. I would even go on record here & state that 2005 was possibly the best year of quality television matches ever! Michaels vs Benjamin, Angle vs Guerrero, Angle vs Michaels, Edge vs Hardy, Guerrero vs Mysterio are just 5 matches which I would have rated at least an 8 out of 10 if they were on ppv. Yet, the WWE gave them to us on free television. And trust me, I could go on. So please refrain from telling me that there were better television matches this year than those 5. I know there were some other great ones, but they were my top 5.

And how about on pay-per-view? Off the top of their head, people are going to spout out that the WWE had a lame year on pay-per-view. So, for the sake of proof (although my ppv ratings are indeed my opinion when all is said & done), I am going to list out my ppv ratings for each ppv from 2004 (listed first) & 2005 side by side (excluding New Years Revolution which was a first in 2005). Let's see how they compare, shall we.....

Royal Rumble: 58 (2004) & 74 (2005)
No Way Out: 56 & 53
WrestleMania: 65 & 66
Backlash: 63 & 62.5
Judgment Day: 54 & 62
Bad Blood / One Night Stand: 63 & 76
Great American Bash: 49 & 54
Vengeance: 61 & 74
SummerSlam: 68 & 71
Unforgiven: 51 & 62
No Mercy: 66 & 64
Taboo Tuesday: 51 & 60
Survivor Series: 69 & 67
Armageddon: 48 & 64

Do I need to prove the improvement even more after those ratings have been compared like that? I really do think it is clear that the WWE also improved the quality of their pay-per-views this past year. Of the 14 events to take place both years, only 4 of them had a better rating in 2004. Those 4 were all by slender margins (3 rating points being the maximum). Furthermore, the average ppv rating in 2004 was 58.7. That compares to an average ppv rating of 65.0 in 2005!!! That's a whopping difference of 6.3 per ppv. I think that's actually a significant improvement... and that's just on pay-per-view. I've already mentioned how good that I felt the quality of television bouts were this year.

And at the end of the day, isn't that what most of us wrestling fans want to see; Good matches from top to bottom...??? I know I do & that's why I predominantly put 2005 down as a year of success for the WWE. And to those that argue that I shouldn't have included 'One Night Stand' in that comparison, I totally disagree. It replaced an existing ppv (Bad Blood), while it simply wouldn't have existed had it not been for the WWE deciding to run it, organize it, promote it, etc, etc, etc...

Does that mean they were perfect throughout the year? Hell no. If you have been reading my columns for even a month, you would know that I am dirty on them for continuing to not give adequate time & resources to the cruiserweight division & some other talented roster members. I was also pretty much in total disagreement as to their robbing of star-power from the SmackDown brand during the draft lottery. And I won't even go into angles such as Muhammad Hassan & Tim White. Needless to say that the WWE still can't get out of some old bad habits.

Other positives throughout 2005 were some good booking in the women's division at the end of the year, some improvements in depth for one of the tag-team divisions, as well as some pretty good rookies making their debut this year. Actually, that's another area where I am going to back up the WWE. Too many people are quick to criticize the WWE on their choice & training of rookies. I say to cut them some slack here. This year, for example, I think we had at least 5 or 6 great rookies make their debut. Are they to everyone's taste? No. Will they all succeed? No. But they have every chance to (well, Burchill may be handcuffed, but that's another story).

Why is it that fans don't get on the backs of NFL & NBA teams the same way? If you were to look at a draft of a particular NFL team or 30 from 3-4 years ago, how many of the players are superstars now? How many are even still with the club? It's not really all that different in the WWE, in my opinion.

Moving on, what do I see as the major problem for the WWE in 2006? Simply put, their main event. The Raw main-event scene simply needs a shake-up & a risk or two. While the SmackDown main-event scene has been continually decimated by the draft lottery (Cena, Angle & The Big Show), injuries (Batista & arguably Kennedy) & even death (Guerrero). When you consider this, SmackDown has done a bloody good job in putting together shows of a decent quality over the past 6 months. Give the WWE some credit for that, instead of rubbishing them without thinking!

In conclusion, 2005 was a very good year for the WWE. I stated at this stage last year, that things were looking good for the WWE. I guess that I sensed it correctly. But I don't quite have that same feeling about 2006. The next year has a lot of uncertainty about it, in my opinion. And yes, some of the errors that were made by the WWE in 2005 cannot be ignored now. If they are, 2006 will be a step backwards. And can you imagine the critics then!?!?!?

Unfortunately, there is no time to spare. Simple questions need to be answered soon... And they need to be answered satisfactorily. For example, these are just 3 off the top of my head with a common theme: (1) Who will Cena feud with between January & March? (2) Who will an injured Batista feud with between January & March? (3) Who will The Undertaker feud with between January & March? As silly as it may seem, the first quarter of next year could very well depend on the booking answers that the WWE have to those 3 questions. I have already given my unlikely answer to the first question. I have no idea what the answers are to questions 2 & 3. And this is a corner that the WWE have admittedly backed themselves into.

I hate to leave such a positive column topic on such a negative tone, so may I remind you that.....

THE WWE HAD A VERY GOOD YEAR IN 2005 & CLEARLY IMPROVED ON THEIR PERFORMANCE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR


Okely dokely, that's it for edition #156 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sure there is something in either my year-end awards or my report card that is right now annoying the hell out of you. Or maybe you think I hit the nail on the head with something I wrote today. Either way, please don't hesitate to send me your thoughts via e-mail. I'm always interested to hear your feedback & ideas. And you know that I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

Or alternately, if you are an LOPForums member, you may also leave feedback by clicking on the following link: http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=4889

I actually wanted to take a week off next Wednesday, but then I realized that the 'New Year's Revolution' pay-per-view was already upon us. Man, I truly wish that event never came to exist. It's just at too awkward a time of year, in my opinion. So I will indeed continue my streak & be back next Wednesday January-4, in the year 2006 with my predictions for New Years Revolution. In addition, I will have some brief feedback to my year-end awards in today's column. So get your feelings & opinions known to me. Apart from that, who knows what else I will pop up with.

In the meantime, I wish all my readers a safe, happy & prosperous new year.

Until next week, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.











*NEW GALLERY* Stacy Keibler Looking Hot as Ever with Her New Boyfriend!

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