Falls Count Anywhere:
The 2009 Christopher J Garcia Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Wrestling Excellence

12/30/2009

Heed my wisdom.

There’s also the way TNA ended up playing out. While every year gets pushed as the year when TNA finally breaks through, 2009 was the year when it looked like they’d really make a play for it, but not until 2010 when they would bring in Hulk Hogan as their savior and go head-to-head with RAW on Monday, January 4th.

There’s also the entire Guest Host thing, giving each episode a sort of on-off switch. No matter what happens one week, the next everything is erased because there’s a new GM for the night. It does make wrestling more episodic, I guess.

There were fewer deaths than just about any other year recently, tough there were a couple of high-profile deaths, notably Umaga and Test for the US market. A lot of indy guys seemed to pass away. Easily the two biggest names internationally were Mitsuharu Misawa and Abisma Negro. Misawa was one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling, a massive star in All Japan Wrestling and then going on to become the head of Pro Wrestling NOAH. He drew more sellouts in Tokyo than any other wrestler in history. Negro was a big star, mostly as a part of teams, but one of the great Rudos in Mexico who showed up in the US once in a while. Interestingly, the passing of Britney Murphy had ties to wrestling, as she knew at least a few wrestlers (including Andrew Test Martin, if rumors are to be believed) and her last film is The Expendables, which also featured Steve Austin and Randy Couture.

There was a lot about drugs. Umaga was fired, and likely drugs played a part in his death. Jeff Hardy had some trouble with drugs which got him suspended and then he was arrested on a variety of drug charges including trafficking. That’s bad news, though it looks like he’ll probably not get the most serious of charges. There were releases from the WWE due to drugs (some say that Mr. Kennedy might be one of them) and there’s Kurt Angle who has had his issues. There’s a lot of that.

TNA had ups, such as great matches from guys like Angle, Styles, Sting, Samoa Joe and the X-division, and serious downs, like almost all the booking and the problems like the Jarrett-Angle troubles which led to Jarrett being sent home. The Hogan thing may turn out to either be the big hit that makes TNA turn the corner or the reason for the company’s failure.

WWE had some good stuff, like the fact that WrestleMania was the biggest one-day money event in history, and then there was the fact that a lot of the PPVs went down in numbers. There were drug issues, there were a lot of firings. There were huge problems with talent and there’s been some serious booking issues. Shane McMahon left, and while we know he’s met with UFC, no one’s sure what he’s doing next.

Other promotions have had mixed results. Ring of Honor has been paying the bills and putting on great shows. They also lost their two biggest, and arguably best, stars: Bryan Danielson to the WWE, and Nigel McGuinness, who is now Desmond Wolfe in TnA. Dragon Gate came over from Japan to the US and has done some of the best PPVs with some of the best matches in years. They’re doing OK numbers for the level they’re at, but they’re not a big deal yet.

The Australian tour headlined by Hogan vs. Flair was nowhere near as successful as they thought it would be, but it did give some interesting shows and makes the possibility of a regular touring group with Hogan into an unexpected scenario.

Here are this year’s awards, some of which were very hard to come up with!

Two in a row... will she make three?

The Trish Stratus Award for Woman of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Gina Carano)
Gina Carano

The biggest night of fights of 2009 was easily the Strikeforce show with Carano vs. Cris Cyborg, which Carano lost, but it was obviously Carano that made the show into a huge ratings winner. Carano, who is currently making a movie with Steven Soderberg, is a big star and is likely to draw big the next time she gets on a Strikeforce show.

Second is Dixie Carter. As the GM of TNA, she stepped up her appearances and did those weird promos on her locker room that got everyone talking. She’s also made some big moves, which may just make TNA into a real player.

Third- Mickie James, not Piggy James. It’s odd because she sorta got lost in the shuffle but came back recently, which is also weird because she’s probably leaving shortly to start her Country Music career.

Tag Team of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Beer Money)
JeriShow

Chris Jericho and The Big Show are both guys who came into WCW about the same time (well, Jericho about a year after Big Show, but still…) and came to the WWE and made some big impacts. They both came back to the WWE after some time away and while Jericho was the biggest thing in 2008 in WWE, Big Show’s return was bigger, and when they put them together, they really hit it off.

Number 2 is obviously 2volution…I mean Legacy. They’re doing good stuff and they’ve had pushes pulled out from under them a few times, which is a shame. Sadly, the feud they had with DX, who are easily number three, was fouled up in the booking.

Best on Interviews
(Last Year’s Winner: Santino Morella)
Chris Jericho

I’ll admit it, I’ve thought that Jericho’s mic skills were over-rated at times because he’s been a good promo when hardly anyone else was even decent on stick. He’s legitimately the best promo, even with some good promos happening. I really think the guy is a massive star and Hall of Fame material.

Santino, who won two years in a row is second, and he was great in the skits, especially the one with Bob Barker. And we’ll follow him up with John Cena, who’s doing great, and the promo he did after losing to Seamus was a great interview.

He's going to TAKE better...

Most Misused Wrestler
(Last Year’s Winner- MVP)
Shelton Benjamin

He won this a couple of times in the past, and he deserved it this year more than anyone else. He had the highlight of the TLC PPV and had a bunch of other great matches. He’s a wonderful worker, and he’s a guy like Bobby Eaton who deserves better.

I’m going with Christian for second. Yes, Christian is the champion of the third brand, but he proved in TNA that he was first rung talent. The Hart Dynasty is third, because they could be huge if they were given a chance.

The Lou Thesz Award for Good Wrestling
(Last Year’s Winner- Bryan Danielson)
Kurt Angle

Kurt has had great matches with all sorts of workers, including Matt Morgan, which was easily the best match on that PPV and the one that I consider to be Morgan’s best. He had a great match just last month with Wolfe, who is a great worker. Kurt is Hall of Fame and a star and if he ends up back in the WWE, he’ll probably have a good run, which could be his last.

Second is Danielson, who has had some great matches, and third is Shawn Michaels, who has won this one before, and would probably have won it if he’d been around all year.

Wrestling Move of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Go2Sleep)
Evan Bourne’s Shooting Star Press

He’s a great flyer, and the Shooting Star Press that he’s been using is as good as any of the ones that Jushin Thunder Liger ever used back in the day. Too bad he’s been hurt so often this year, but he’s back and he’s awesome!

Gotta go with the Cattle Mutilation from Bryan Danielson as my second pick, because it’s an awesome submission, and the third goes to my favourite triangle choke submission from The Undertaker. He’s the first to really make it into a submission that people get. Sadly, the Go2Sleep has lost a lot of heat over the year, largely because of how CM Punk has been lowered in the eyes of just about everybody, sadly.

MMA Show of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- The October EliteXC Show)
UFC 100

No question, this was the biggest night in the history of Mixed Martial Arts was UFC 100. Some good fights, a domination or two and that was the night that Brock Lesnar was officially made into the biggest star in MMA history. It was a big show, made huge money, and will be talked about for years.

The debut of Strikeforce on CBS is third, and it had some of the best fights of the year and made a star or two at the same time. The fact that Fedor proved he’s no fluke and drew a decent, though not spectacular number was a big deal . The Showtime Strikeforce show from August with Carano vs. Cyborg comes very close. The Ultimate Fighter show where Kimbo got it handed to him is also right up there.

...and the WWE agreed.

Major Show of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- WrestleMania 24)
WrestleMania 25

No question that this was the winner. A match of the year, a big bit of history and a show that kept the attention of an audience that was 4 hours long is a rarity. This makes it three years in a row that a WrestleMania won the award. Maybe it’s the fact that WrestleMania just has a certain patina about it that makes it easier to be a big deal.

I’m going with the Mitsuharu Misawa tribute show (and it’s an awesome DVD if you can find it at a Japanese grocery or bookstore) and the wonderful second Dragons Gate PPV pulls up third.

MMA Match of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le)
Cung Le vs. Scott Smith

These two had to follow Gilbert Melendez (who is my second cousin, apparently) against Josh Thompson, which was the second best fight of the year and so very close. There was nothing but action, and I thought that Le had the match won at least three times before Smith knocked him down and finished him. It’s what I wish every MMA fight would be and there wasn’t a single UFC match in the last two years that comes close. In many ways, I feel like Strikeforce is where ECW was in 1997.

I’m putting Carano vs. Cyborg as the next, a big step below those two, but also want to mention Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir and BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez as the best of UFC.

Pro Wrestling Match of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Michaels vs. Flair)
Michaels vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania

First off, I’m getting the runners-up out of the way. Desmond Wolfe vs. Kurt Angle and Joe vs. Daniels vs. Styles at Turning Point and the Sting vs. AJ Styles match at Breaking Point are right up there. They all had drama, great work and told a good story. Edge vs. Jeff Hardy at Royal Rumble was another one. Sadly, I didn’t see nearly as much Ring of Honor as I’d have liked, nor as much Dragons Gate, but I’m told that there’s a lot of great stuff there.

Now, Michaels vs. Undertaker. Michaels is the guy who most deserves the title Mr. WrestleMania. He’s had more great matches at Mania than anyone. To name just five: Flair, Undertaker, Angle, Benoit-HHH and Austin. All of them were great matches, and three of them have won Match of the Year. This one wasn’t nearly as good as the Angle match, nor as dramatic as the Flair match, but there was immense amounts of power in the way that it was worked. Very smart and the heat was big and the show was ideal. There was the great spot where the Undertaker swatted down Michaels when he went for the moonsault to the outside. It was just awesome. Easily the best match of the year.

Feud of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Jericho vs. Michaels)
Randy Orton vs. John Cena

Orton vs. Cena. I’d love to say it was the most heated feud of the year, though it wasn’t, and I’d love to say it was the best worked feud of the year, though it wasn’t, but it was consistently good and drew decent money all year. There were some really strong matches and you always knew there’d be something strong going on in it.

Sorry for the spoiler... but it's Angle's year!

There was a great Jarrett vs. Angle match, a few great interviews, and a real-life feud that changed the way that TNA operated. The behind-the-scenes stuff made for interesting reading every week.

Flair vs. Hogan is third. They had a simple angle and that got international mainstream attention. That’s the sign of a good feud. I was amazed at it.

MMA Fighter of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Antonio The Spider Silva)
Brock Lesnar

"He may never fight again." That’s probably not true, as there are reports that he may well be back this summer, but he’s been so sick the last few months that he didn’t get to prove what a powerhouse he is completely. Then again, they say that he’s been sick for more than a year and that means that the beatings he gave to Mir and Couture were on less than full strength. He was the biggest draw and the most dominant fighter, without question.

Second would have to be Georges St. Pierre. I really don’t like him, but he’s a damn fine fighter and rightly one of the top stars in all of MMA. Gina Carano is next. Even though she lost her big fight, it was a really strong fight and she draws big money. No question she should be on the list, as should Cris Cyborg.

Wrestler of the Year
(Last Year’s Winner- Jeff Hardy)
Kurt Angle

No one had better matches than Kurt. He was the top guy in TNA, even when he was out of the title hunt. He had great matches and was a big star. It was close, as John Cena drew more money, and Jeff Hardy had a ton of awesome, but Kurt was so consistent over the entire year and he was a great worker. Heck, even Shawn Michaels came close and he was gone for much of the year. See, this year was something of a holding pattern, but Angle was a good thing in it.

Chris Garcia