From the Desk of Mr. V #49
January 7, 2010
By: Anthony J. Valvo of WrestleView.com
Good evening students of the classroom. We are now at part two of four for the 2009 Golden Yardstick Awards. I once again am your WrestleView Resident Teacher Anthony J. Valvo and today I am trying something new.
Just a couple days ago, Mr. V bought himself a speech recognition software package. I think this would be much easier for many reasons. First, it would help me locate my errors and fix them much more quickly than it is to type them all out. Second, it would save me a whole lot of time so I can be more focus on other parts of the column. I?ll be able to answer e-mails much quicker thanks to this software. In other words, doing columns on a record basis would be much simpler. Well, enough chit-chat. Let us begin the second part of the 2009 Golden Yardstick awards.
So please students, take a seat and perhaps enjoy cup of coffee as we begin part two of the Yardies.
Match of the Year
This year, I can be the first to let everybody know that I?ve watched every single match on television. Whether it be from World Wrestling Entertainment, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or Ring of Honor I got the chance to catch every single show and every single match of 2009. Though I only saw a few pay-per-views during this year I feel that my nominations for this category are pretty accurate. We?ve seen so much featuring the best talents in the world of professional wrestling. Out of the hundreds of matches that I?ve witnessed in 2009 from the privacy of my own home I?ve come up with the top nominations for 2009 Match of the Year.
My first nomination for best match goes to Samoa Joe vs. Daniels vs. AJ Styles for the TNA World Championship at Turning Point. This was perhaps a rematch to their sure men this battle in 2005. All three men put on another special match that many considered equally as good as their first. AJ Styles ended up winning this match, but Daniels and Samoa Joe Fox graciously and possibly their best match in quite some time.
The second match that I would like to nominate only few people witnessed this match either on computer or on HDNet. This match involved four, at the time, best talents in Ring of Honor today?. featuring champion Jerry Lynn, Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black, and Austin Aries. In my opinion this match had it all. It had highflying moves, submission holds, close pinfalls, and great chemistry surrounding the four wrestlers. No need to go on who won the match as Jerry Lynn did find a way to win this match by pinfall despite the fact that the fans turned on him that night.
And finally who could forget WrestleMania 25 top match? Look, we all knew that The Undertaker would end up winning this match over Shawn Michaels. However no one suspected this match to be so great. In the 30 minutes of these two men were in the ring we saw a very classic match. We saw something that was a match for the ages. Heck, we seen some moves in this match that both men haven?t accomplished in quite some time. In the end The Undertaker did beat Shawn Michaels via the Tombstone Piledriver improving his WrestleMania record to an unprecedented 17 wins and zero losses. This match quite arguably is the best match of the year according to many wrestling fans around the world. But did this epic match win the Golden yardstick?
Well after a little bit of consideration, it was no doubt the Match of the Year for 2009 and winner of the Golden Yardstick for Best Match goes to?The Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25.
This match to me was a no-brainer. Every year WWE tries to make their big Wrestlemania moments. HBK vs. taker was that Wrestlemania moment that will stick into the minds of professional wrestling fans for a very long time. That is why this match was an easy choice to earn a ?Yardie?.
Winner of the 2009 Golden Yardstick for Best Match: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25.
First-Runner Up: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels at Turning Point
Second Runner-Up: Lynn vs. Danielson vs. Black vs. Aries on HDNet
Most Underrated
According to Webster’s dictionary the term underrated means to rates or evaluate too low. It also means underestimate. All wrestling promotions underestimate one wrestling talent over the course of their careers. After analyzing over hundreds of wrestlers that have competed in a North American ring, I?ve come up with three wrestlers that I considered underrated. And they are?
My first nomination is Evan Bourne. Earlier in the year, Bourne was able to go through many wrestlers on the ECW roster. However in the summer, he was traded to the RAW roster. Since then he’s been having a difficult time to win his fair share of matches. Once considered in ECW Champion, he has been relegated to fighting in the low to mid-card level on Monday Night Raw.
My second nomination goes to Daniels. He started the year wrestling as Suicide (because Kazarian was in fact injured). He then came back to TNA with the help of Jeff Jarrett and had a pretty good match against Kurt Angle, in which angle won the contest. Daniels then fought, to some success, in TNA’s X Division. However he did not win a championship. In the end of 2009 he became a main event talent, but he was never able to reach any type of championship since his return as a Fallen Angel.
My final nomination goes to Chris Sabin. Now many of you might be surprised about this nomination. However when I did my 2009 Ultimate Power Rankings, Sabin was able to get a lot of points. But what may surprise you would be how many losses Chris Sabin recorded this year. Sure, he was in the mix for the X Division championship and the Tag Team championship but he did not acquire any TNA championship in 2009.
Out of all the Golden yardstick awards I handing out today, this may be one of the more difficult decisions to make. Looking closely I could?ve thought of 20 different wrestlers to put in this category. But in the end became only down to one person. The Golden yardstick for most underrated in 2009 goes to?Daniels!
Again, this could?ve gone any way? But I have to go with somebody who I thought should?ve won a championship but never received one during the course of the year. For the majority the year Daniels was in the title hunt several times, but was never blocked to win a championship this year. Hopefully in 2010, Daniels will win some sort of championship.
2009 Golden Yardstick for Most Underrated: Daniels (TNA)
First Runner-Up: Evan Bourne (WWE)
Second Runner-Up: Chris Sabin (TNA)
Best High Flying Wrestler
Throughout 2009 there were wrestlers who were simply awe-inspiring. They were able to capture the attention to the fans worldwide with their strikes not only in the squared circle, but their abilities to do all this outside the ring as well via the aerial attack. There were many superstars that were able to defeat their opponents by way of defying gravity, but I can only nominate three wrestlers who consistently battled their opponents throughout 2009. Here are the nominations.
My first nomination goes to Kofi Kingston. Kingston started the year being pushed towards one of world wrestling entertainment’s secondary championships. Most people may have realized his full potential in WrestleMania’s Money in the Bank Match. Don?t he did not come out as the winner of the Kingston was able to make a name for himself in 2009. Some of his moves that he used to wear out opponents are Flying Crossbody moves from the top of the turnbuckle, The Boom Drop and, his finisher, Trouble in Paradise. Arguably his best moment occurred when he did The Boom Drop on Randy Orton from a railing onto a table during a Monday night raw at Madison Square Garden.
My second nomination is another up-and-coming superstar (and former Intercontinental Champion) John Morrison. Once he broke up with his tag team partner The Miz in April, Morrison held his own quite nicely on Friday Night Smackdown. He uses a wide variety of aerial assaults including a suicide corkscrew dive onto the floor, The Flying Chuck, and a variety of drop kicks. He finishes off his opponents with a springboard corkscrew moonsault known as Starship Pain.
Finally my final nomination goes to TNA World Champion AJ Styles. Through his attacks on the air AJ Styles able to accomplish what very few people have done in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Throughout the course of 2009, Styles was able to wear down his opponents with many dropkicks, flying forearms, in various suicide dives from the top rope. When in trouble he usually uses the Pele kick. Styles has many finishers, however Styles able to pull out a few finishers from the air including the 450 splash. Thanks to his attacks from the air, Styles were able to claim the world championship in the last half of 2009.
There you have three men professional wrestling able to defy gravity to win championship gold throughout the year. This was a tough decision for this teacher, but my decision is final. The 2009 Golden yardstick for best highflying wrestler goes to?AJ Styles!
Students, this is a very hard decision. The reason why AJ one this award was because he did something that both Kingston and Morrison could not do past year. That was to become the World Champion in his promotion. That was the deciding factor on who was picked for its in earning their first ?Yardie? for 2009.
2009 Golden Yardstick for Best High Flying Wrestler: AJ Styles (TNA)
First Runner-Up: Kofi Kingston (WWE)
Second Runner-Up: John Morrison (WWE)
Best Brawler
?To Brawl? means ?to fight?. The nominees take battles inside the ring and out, and also one must keep their opponent grounded. These next few wrestlers may not be the best when it comes to being high-flying or technical, but these three are men that you don?t want to start a fight with.
My first nomination for this category goes to WWE wrestler The Big Show. Known mostly for his size, The Big Show was able to have a fantastic 2009 wrestling campaign. For the past couple years, The Big Show was able to corner his opponents with various punches, chops, and the ability to keep his opponent grounded with a few submission maneuvers. His tactics helped him become a Main event superstar this year, as well as one half of the Unified Tag Team Champions.
The second nomination for Best Brawler goes to Ring of Honor’s Necro Butcher. I will be honest I have not seen much of his work, however for what he has done on ROH’s TV Show on HDnet, Necro Butcher is one of those guys that is very stiff with his punches, his kicks, and is very good at controlling a match of his brawling abilities. On a side note he did play a part in the movie ?The Wrestler?. Also he is known for bringing in various weapons to help him become victorious is in any of his encounters.
Finally, the third nomination goes to William Regal. Regal did not have as dominant of the year as he thought he would, but nonetheless he continues to consistently ground his opponents with various holds and strikes. Recently, Regal was involved with a feud with Christian and now currently is a member of the Ruthless Roundtable with Ezekiel Jackson.
These three men are men you do not want to meet in a dark alley. But which one earned ?The Yardie? for best brawler of 2009? The decision was very difficult. This year I award the yard he to?The Big Show!
Once again I must reiterate myself this was a very difficult decision. All three men were deserving of this award, but I have to go with the one that was the most successful this year. Like him or not, the big show clearly had a more successful 2009 then the other nominees.
2009 Golden Yardstick for Best Brawler: The Big Show (WWE)
First Runner-Up: The Necro Butcher (ROH)
Second Runner-Up: William Regal (WWE)
Best Technical Wrestler
What does technical means me? Well, to be technical means that you must be exceptional in all aspects of professional wrestling. To me a technical wrestler is somebody that knows what they are doing, how they do it, and how they execute a hold or a maneuver. Out of all the categories in this awards ceremony this is clearly one of the most difficult. I considered nominating wrestlers such as Randy Orton, Jack Swagger, and even Dolph Ziggler. However when it all came down to it, I came up with the re-nominations that I thought were the best technical wrestlers year-round.
My first domination? A wrestler I followed since he was an amateur in 1996 and that is Kurt Angle. He is arguably the face of TNA Wrestling and even at the age of 40 he continues to be technically sound in the six-sided ring. Some of the things that he’s technically sound in are wrestling takedowns, the way he executes a German Suplex, and the way he wears down his opponents during a match with potential submissions. Angle usually finishes off his opponents with either the Angle Slam or he tries to make the wrestlers submit by applying an Ankle Lock. With the way he worked a match he was able to be the DNA world heavyweight champion at one point in 2009.
My second nomination once wrestled in Ring of Honor and is now coming soon to World Wrestling Entertainment. That man is Bryan Danielson. Called by ROH fans as ?The Best in the World?, Danielson lived up to that name. Every match I?ve seen of Bryan Danielson’s, I saw nothing but the best. It’s very hard to think of a signature move for him because he does almost everything so well. He is known to have many finishers, but probably his most memorable is a Bridging Grounded Double Chickenwing known as ?Cattle Mutilation?. Here’s hoping that the WWE pushes him to the moon.
Finally, my last nomination goes to a man who says that ?he is the best in the world at what he does?. That man is Chris Jericho. Jericho can wear any opponent down by being technically sound in his submission holds, leg strikes, and the occasional high risk maneuver. Though he is known to finish off his opponents in the past with the Walls of Jericho, Jericho now has a new finisher that is simply known as the Code Breaker. Thanks to his abilities to be multidimensional in the ring, Jericho was able to acquire the Intercontinental championship as well as the Unified Tag Team championship this past year.
This category was very difficult yet again. The three men that I put up for nomination is one that if you could book this a three way wrestling match it could very well be the match of the millennium. But which one of these wrestlers earn the yard he for best technical wrestler? Well after much consideration I?ve made a decision. The winner of the Golden Yardstick for Best Technical Wrestler is?Chris Jericho!
Another tough category, but I had to go once again with a wrestler who I deemed the most consistent. Though angle and Danielson both are very worthy of this award, I believe that Chris Jericho earned this based on the fact that he wrestled over 80 matches any still was able to give out his best effort in each contest he was in. However, on a personal note I would love to give this award to Bryan Danielson next year.
2009 Golden Yardstick for Best Technical Wrestler: Chris Jericho (WWE)
First Runner-Up: Kurt Angle (TNA)
Second Runner-Up: Bryan Danielson (ROH now with WWE)
Most Charismatic
On wrestling television we like to watch good wrestling from the greatest wrestlers on the stage today. However there are times where we like to see personalities. These types of personalities make the fans either cheer the wrestler on, completely be against the wrestler, or a specific wrestler that can generate both reactions good or bad. Those are signs of having good charisma in professional wrestling. Here are my nominations for most charismatic.
My first nomination goes to John Cena. Though many consider him overrated, I find him to be one of those wrestlers that you can either be for or against. From my analysis, I see kids, women, and adolescents as huge fans of John Cena. The ones that do not like John Cena usually are in my demographic (men that are aged 20 to 35). As a teacher, I see many kids on dress-down days where John Cena merchandise. Every time you hear him on Monday night raw he gets a huge reaction no matter if it’s cheering her booing. If a superstar can generate 12, then in my opinion he is charismatic.
My second nomination is Christian. Though he is on the ECW roster for WWE, when he appears either on the stage or in the ring Christian usually gets the largest reaction out of anyone on that roster. Besides, how can you have this category without Capt. Charisma? You don?t. Seriously though, Christian does give people something to cheer about on ECW. On the mic, he is usually well spoken and always gets a positive reaction. When he wrestles, usually people are for it. What I mean about this is the fact that the fans do not cross their arms when they?re watching this match. Christian gives the fans something to look forward to.
My third nomination goes to Chris Jericho. Though usually a face wrestler is known as charismatic, Chris Jericho shows that you can be charismatic as a heel. To go into detail, no matter if he’s wrestling that night or not the man does continues to get a pop or he gets heat. I do not think I need to go on about Jericho, as he’s been a nominee in many categories already.
So, three men in my opinion are the most charismatic in the wrestling business today. From watching television, it’s pretty easy to find out who is in fact the most charismatic wrestler in the business this year. The Golden Yardstick for most charismatic goes to?John Cena!
This category was pretty easy actually. Like him or not, John Cena is able to bring people to what ever showed he appears on. That should be a good enough reason as to why John Cena earned this award.
2009 Golden Yardstick for Most Charismatic: John Cena (WWE)
First Runner-Up: Chris Jericho (WWE)
Second Runner-Up: Christian (WWE)
Best on the Microphone
In professional wrestling today the talents need to know how to use the microphone. Sure, the ability to execute maneuvers and holds are good ways to keep your job. However in order to be a superstar, one must know how to use the mic affectively and efficiently. There are many professional wrestlers that could fit into this mold. But who are the ones that the fans react to? Who are the ones that the fans actually care about? Well there are three people that I decided to nominate who are very good at cutting promos (a.k.a. do exceptional work on the microphone). Here are the nominees for Best on the Microphone.
My first nominee is Chris Jericho. In the art in which professional wrestling needs people to use the microphone affectively, this past year Jericho was able to do it to a science. His mic skills at times were so good, that fans actually littered the wrestling ring with DX glow sticks.
My second nominee was good on the mic not only for one wrestling promotion, but for two wrestling promotions. Some call him Nigel McGuinness, others call him Desmond Wolfe. For this column, let’s call him Nigel McGuinness because he wrestled the majority of the year in Ring of Honor. In a promotion that really focuses on wrestling, McGuinness was able to do something that not many talents on that roster could do. That was to speak well and fuel the fans with his words. When I watched him on HDNet, I thought his best promo was actually his last. The way he left the arena in the way, he presented himself was probably the best way for him to go out. In TMA, he was able to use his skills on the mic very well. Thanks to that, he was able to get into a few with Kurt Angle. Though the results are not there yet on the TNA roster, McGuinness (Desmond Wolfe) continues to be one of the best wrestlers on the microphone today.
My third nominee goes to CM Punk. Until 2009, I never really thought of him as being good on the microphone. However, since his heel turn and a very intense feud with Jeff Hardy it made me think about the potential that CM punk has on the microphone. He came off as this ?I?m better than you? type person. He preached, gloated, and annoyed us with his straight-edged lifestyle. I have no problems personally with straight edge so does not really affect me. If there was a most improved on the mic category CM punk would easily win that award. I can only expect bigger and better things in 2010 from him.
And there you have it, three wrestlers who I?d think were absolutely sure many this on the microphone. Funny enough, all three are heels in the wrestling world today. So, the question I asked myself was who generated the most the most heat with their words? Obviously, I answered my question. The 2009 Golden yardstick for best on a microphone goes to?Chris Jericho!
I think this has to be his 4th Yardstick at this time. However in my views he was absolutely talented at what he did this past year. He was the man to win this award. When there are people that throw objects that you because they hate you so much, that tells viewers something. Throughout 2009, Jericho was the best at what he did for this category.
2009 Golden Yardstick for Best on the Mic: Chris Jericho (WWE)
First Runner-Up: Nigel McGuinness/Desmond Wolfe (ROH/TNA)
Second Runner-Up: CM Punk (WWE)
So there you have it, seven more Golden Yardsticks distributed by Mr. V to the wrestlers from around the world. So that makes Fifteen down, eight to go. Please stay tuned for part three of the Golden Yardstick awards which should be presented later this week.
In my next column, I?ll number 50, I will present the First Annual Rotten Apple Awards. The ?Rotties? as I call it will be presented to what I believed was the worst in professional wrestling in 2009. Some of you probably know who will win these dubious awards, but it should be fun either way. Hopefully sometime during the week I will be able to complete that ceremony (if you even want to call it that).
Mr. V. enjoys the feedback from his students. Please drop me a line at mistervwv@hotmail.com. I am also on Facebook under Anthony J. Valvo. Though I may not click in responding to your e-mails, I read every one of them and I thank you for your continued support throughout my first year on WrestleView.
So, until my 50th column on this site (a.k.a. the 1st Annual Rotten Apple Awards), this is The WrestleView Resident Teacher Anthony J. Valvo telling you to please push your chairs and before you leave. Thank you very much for reading this column and until next time, you are???DISMISSED!!
Later on from the desk of Mr. V.
-More of the Golden Yardsticks
-1st Annual Rotten Apples
-End of the Year 2009 Ultimate Power Rankings
-More work on my other site The Examiner
Check out my recent Examiner page! Heck, you can even subscribe to my articles! Help me earn a little bit more cash by just going to the link, please.
http://www.examiner.com/x-26526-Pittsburgh-Pro-Wrestling-Examiner
If not for the students, there would be no Mr. V. Thanks for Reading.
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