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The
Year In Wrestling
12-24-02
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Chris
Garcia plans a New Year's Eve run-in on Michael Goodson.
Don't tell anybody.
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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.
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