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The
Second Annual Christopher J. Garcia Awards
For Outstanding Achievement in the Field of
Wrestling Excellence...
12-30-03
This year
has been up and down for the wrestling business. The business
as a whole, in the US, Japan, and Mexico, has been shaky,
with signs of a recovery never fully materializing. There
were more deaths this year than any other I can think of,
with the last of the major 1950s names passing away, as well
as players in the last days of the territories of the 1980s,
and of the WWF explosion.
Then again,
this year we saw the WWE bring a higher level of wrestling
to the national spotlight than ever before. Brock Lesnar and
Kurt Angle had several incredible bouts, and Brock did the
same with Rey Mysterio, Benoit, and even dragged a couple
of good matches out of Big Show. Kurt was no slouch either,
even after his surgery following WrestleMania. Aside from
the Brock classics, he had great matches with Benoit, one
of which is an early favorite for Match of the Year.
Falls
Count Anywhere seldom mentions NWA-TNA, which is more due
to the fact that I just can't watch it on my system. They've
provided some fine high flying from the likes of Amazing Red,
Chris Daniels, and AJ Styles, and have several feuds that
have been very good. Just as they seemed ready to bust their
biggest coup ever by signing Hulk Hogan, he gets injured,
or backs out, and they have to call off the big show.
I should
also mention that there have been some highly significant
passings this year. The last remaining huge stars of the 1950s,
Blassie, The Sheik, Dick Hutton, and Stu Hart, all passed
away. From the 1980s boom period we lost Hennig, Miss Elizabeth,
and Road Warrior Hawk. We lost Crash Holly, Larry Booker,
Pitbull #2, and The Wall. With the exception of the old timers,
none of the above were natural deaths. Perhaps the WWE and
others will realize what's going on.
Enough
of that, let's go to the Awards.
Best
on Interviews- Ric Flair. If the awards had been around
in the 1980s, Flair would have a ton of these. He's been great
all year long, doing fantastic interviews to get Evolution
over. HHH was smart to bring Flair into the group, learning
from the Freebirds that an older guy who can talk will help
you get over. Second goes to Paul Heyman, who has done some
great interviews, but was gone a good deal of the year, and
Kurt Angle.
Woman
of the Year (Last Year's Winner: Trish Stratus)-
Trish Stratus. Molly came back to prominence, Victoria cooled
down, and Lita returned, but Trish was solid all year long.
Fit Finley has been training all the girls, and Trish took
to it, came up with some good matches and a few great moments
on the show. Her angle with Jericho was fun, and she more
than carried her own in the Battle of the Sexes matches. Molly
is second for coming back strong, and Lillian Garcia is third
for stealing my heart.
Tag
Team of the Year (Last Year's Winners: Los Guerreros)-
Los Guerreros. While last year was a huge year for tag team
feuds, this year saw Los Guerreros work some great matches
until Chavo got hurt and they started Eddy's singles push.
Even when they've been pushing them as at odds and on the
verge of breaking up, they've still given great matches. The
World's Greatest Tag Team is second, and KENTA and Marafuji
of Pro Wrestling Noah, who should try and get dates working
in the US as they would steal every show they were on, is
third.
Lou
Thesz Award for Good Wrestling (Last Year's Winner:
Eddy Guerrero)- Tie: Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit. Brock
had some classics, even if he botched the Shooting Star at
Mania, and Benoit had some classics, even if he had far fewer
of them at the top of the card. They both carried large lumps
of crap for extended periods to matches that were watchable,
Brock doing it for Big Show and Benoit with A-Train. Their
match on SmackDown! a couple of weeks ago was great. Really
can't see one over the other. Kurt Angle is in second, and
Kenta Kobashi of Pro Wrestling Noah is third.
Best
Match (Last Year's Winner: Shawn Michaels vs. HHH
at SummerSlam)- Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa from
Pro Wrestling Noah. This match, more than any other that happened
in 2003, will be talked about for years to come. It was the
final match in a friendly rivalry that goes back the better
part of a decade. Misawa, the elder statesman. Kobashi, the
injured wrestler returning for another run at the top. Both
have been going downhill due to the combined effects of the
years of great work, and they pulled out a match that most
would have thought was impossible for them to do at this stage.
Tiger Driver from the Apron to the floor alone will make you
go "Whoa", but there is so much in this match. Drama,
emotion, psychology, it's all there. Second goes to Angle
vs. Brock from WrestleMania. Third goes to Brock vs. Benoit
from San Jose. Honorable mentions to the Ironman match and
Kurt vs. Benoit from February.
Feud
of the Year- Kurt vs. Brock. How could it not be?
They built it up over months, delivered at WrestleMania, then
again on free TV. They had some great matches and this one
will go on as one of those rivalries that just keeps coming
up. There are no two workers in the business who are better
suited to each other than Brock and Kurt. Raven vs. CM Punk
from Ring of Honor gets second as it was the best little seen
feud of 2003. Michaels vs. Evolution gets third.
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Wrestler
of the Year.
Look at his overall package.
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Wrestler
of the Year (Last Year's Winner: Kurt Angle)-
The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. Looking at the year, you
had Brock and Angle having great matches with each other,
but neither of them really rose above the other in the feud.
Brock has been a good champion, and so was Angle. HHH has
been spotty, though he had some very good matches. SmackDown!
was a strong show, mostly due to Brock, Angle, Benoit, and
Eddy, though none of them can take sole credit for it. That
leaves RAW, which was weak for much of the year. Jericho was
really good, as was Flair, but Michaels worked his ass off,
gave great TV segments and PPV matches, built feuds with fantastic
mic work, proved that he has learned his lesson on doing jobs,
and just had a fantastic year, even if he was part time.
His overall
package was better than anyone else this year. His work was
always top notch. His interviews were always right there.
You can't find a chink in the armor. He wasn't on the top
of the card much, but the crowd treated him like he was. Second
goes to Brock. Third to Kenta Kobashi.
Reader
Awards (From FanboyPlanet.com readers, members
of my mailing list, and Tribe.net)
Best
Babyface: Goldberg. 30% voted for Goldberg, which
surprised me quite a bit. He easily overtook Kurt Angle, Rey
Mysterio, and Shawn Michaels. Oddly, Jericho and Flair both
got votes.
Best
Heel:
HHH. Brock Lesnar came within 2 votes of taking it, but HHH
gets the win. And it's deserved as he had a really good year
as the villain, both in and out of the ring. The only others
getting votes were Jericho and Kane.
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This is
what happens to those who don't vote for Brock.
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FanboyPlanet's
Favorite Wrestler:
Brock Lesnar. Brock was way ahead for the first few weeks,
and Eddy came up with the votes towards the end to end up
in second by 3 votes. Brock had a big year, and is the cornerstone
of the what the WWE will be trying to do over the next several
years. One voter said "Brock is awesome." That sums
it up for most folks. HHH held strong, as did Kurt, and Jericho
also got votes.
That's
another year of awards. Come back next year when I'll still
be doing the exact same stuff, only, um...more 2004-y.
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