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Wrestling Today's Date:

The Year In Wrestling

12-24-02

Chris Garcia plans a New Year's Eve run-in on Michael Goodson. Don't tell anybody.

The year isn't quite over yet, but traditionally, the last week of the year is a glide and nothing much happens. So, here are my choices for the Christopher J. Garcia Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Wrestling Excellence.

Announcer of the Year: JR
Never any contest there. Supposedly, some of the Japanese announcers are supposed to be pretty good, but I've never bothered to learn the language of our corporate masters. Mike Tenay is second.

Lou Thesz Memorial Award for Good Wrestlers
This was a tough one. Chris Benoit is always in the running, as is Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Misterio and Jerry Lynn, but this year's best in-ring wrestler had to be Eddy Guererro.

Yeah, I am a huge Eddy mark, but he has produced some of the best matches of the year with guys like Edge, Rey, Angle, and of course, the ladder match with RVD that may have been the best ladder match since the Shawn Michaels heyday. Eddy's team with Chavo also made huge strides.

Woman of the Year: Trish Stratus
What! Trish? Yep, no woman since Chyna left has gotten the solid directed push that Trish had for much of the year. With Lita out, there were no real challengers for the crown, and even in the feud with Victoria, Trish is still portrayed as the focus.

She has more than carried her matches with the occasionally sloppy, but oh so hot, Victoria. Also in the running were Chyna, for her work in Japan, and Victoria, for having decent matches with Trish.

Move of the Year
Tough. The F5 deserves credit for getting over with the crowd in a very short amount of time. The Lasso from El Paso may be my favorite, but I've got to go with the 619. A great, simple, and way over move by a great, flashy and way over wrestler.

Tag-Team of the Year
Los Guererros in a landslide. Edge and Rey are great, as were Angle and Benoit, but you can't argue that the Guererros were always solid, setting the tone and tempo for every match they were featured in. With the splitting of the Hardys (leading to Jeff's decline), there hasn't been a team that looked as crisp or exciting in any fed.

Match of the Year
Shawn Michaels vs. HHH, Summerslam.
This is how wrestling should work: you take a storyline that has been playing for a while, make a dream match and then deliver in the ring.

The Armageddon match may have been wilder, and the Elimination Chamber may have been more groundshaking, but the way they told the story at Summerslam, the way they built Shawn's return and the match they had definitely had drama the likes of which we rarely see in the days of the two week feud. I'd say my second top match would go to the Ladder Match between RVD and Eddy, followed by SummerSlam's Benoit vs. Angle match.

Wrestler of the Year
KURT ANGLE! No question. Eddy may have been better in the ring overall, but Kurt provided the great matches needed and got great heat for weird things, like extended mat sequences and his huge suplexes. He worked hurt, and had great matches. He worked with different styles, and had great matches.

There was nothing that stopped Kurt from putting on a fantastic show, and getting terrific heat along the way. The end of the year angle may have been botched, but the idea was there, and as they build to Angle/Lesner for Mania, I think it is only going to get better. Close second to Brock Lesnar, who would have won it had he been around all year, and third to Jeff Jarrett, who has given some prestige to the NWA belt after all these years.

Chris Garcia

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