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The
Fourth Annual Christopher J. Garcia Awards
For Outstanding Achievement in the Field of
Wrestling Excellence...Page 2
01-03-06
(page 1)
Best
on Interviews (Last Year’s Winner - John
Bradshaw Layfield)- Jim Mitchell.
This year was a tough one. There were a lot of folks doing
great interviews, but the ones that could always be counted
on were often put in strange segments that made little sense
(Guerrero, Layfield and Angle) while Mitchell was allowed
to be an old-school heel manager doing all the talking for
Abyss. I really do credit him for a lot of Abyss’
success and he’s done the best talking this year.
It’s a miracle that the former Sinister Minister never
made to the WWE.
Second
is Edge, who gave some incredible interviews during and
after the Matt Hardy angles, and HHH, who basically built
Batista with his interviews leading up to WrestleMania.
Woman
of the Year (Last Three Years' Winner: Trish
Stratus) - Trish Stratus
No question that Trish is the best American Woman’s
Wrestler of the Modern era (with Victoria up there too).
She’s often side-lined and when she comes back, she
still blows everyone away. She belongs in the Women’s
Wrestling Hall of Fame. Even now, working in the weak angle
with Mickie James and Victoria, she still manages to shine.
Lita, in her new heel role with Edge, comes in a close second,
and third is the lovely Melina. Of the Indy wrestlers, Cheerleader
Melissa comes in at the top.
Tag
Team of the Year (Last Year: NOAH’s KENTA
and Marafuji)- Team Canada.
Despite not holding any titles, and being a rag-tag team
with many combinations, Team Canada has been head and shoulders
above the regular tag teams in TNA. The Naturals, my second
choice, and America’s Most Wanted, a close third,
are all far better than the closest WWE team, MNM (which
is probably ranked behind even 3 Live Cru). Team Canada
really does benefit from having Scott D’Amore and
Petey Williams on the team.
The
Lou Thesz Award For Good Wrestling (Last Year:
AJ Styles) Shawn Michaels and Christopher Daniels
Wow, this one was a five way race and it was re-watching
those tapes that made my change my mind. Styles, my second,
and Samoa Joe, my third, were both right up there, along
with Michaels (who managed to carry Hulk Hogan to a 3 ½
Star match) and Kurt Angle (who had 4 ½ Star matches
with Shawn and a bunch of really great matches with guys
like Shelton) were easily in spitting distance of the top.
The difference? Daniels looked better in his worst matches
(and there weren’t many) than any of the others, while
you can’t argue that Michaels had great matches with
Kurt, Hogan and Shelton (all of which were in my Top Ten
Matches). Daniels had amazing matches with Styles and Joe,
who were both right at the top of the list. Michaels put
on incredible shows with guys who were below his level better
than Daniels did, so I couldn’t choose between the
two of them.
Show
of the Year- ECW- One Night Only
This year was a year with great shows, so I figure this
would be a good add. WrestleMania wasn’t up to the
standards that they set last year (featuring the Match of
the Year as well as the great Angle vs. Eddie match), but
One Night Stand was a fantastic show and one that folks
are still talking about. Even with the noted mistakes, they
still put on a great show. Mania is third, though, behind
the best Indy Show in ages: Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi
for Ring of Honor on October 1st.
Match
of the Year (Last Year’s Winner: Chris Benoit
vs. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania) Shawn Michaels
vs. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania.
You could make a strong case for any of the following: both
the Michaels-Angle matches, Joe-Styles-Daniels, Joe-Styles,
Michaels-Hogan, Daniels-Styles Marathon, Shelton-Michaels
or Kobashi-Joe from Ring of Honor, but if you look at everything,
you have to give it to Michaels vs. Angle for the combination
of perfection of style, heat, intelligent layout and just
plain rewatchability.
I saw
each of those matches above at least three times and there’s
no question that any of them would be great winners and
will be long remembered, but overall, it’s the Mania
match. Second goes to Kobashi vs. Joe, which was a slap
fest and a match that was very different from anything we’ve
even seen in the US, and third is the recent Joe vs. Styles
match which was an Americanized variation of an old UWFi
match. Stiff and brilliantly paced.
Move
of the Year- Michaels Superkicks Benjamin as he comes off
the Top Rope in their RAW match.
If you missed it, trade for it! I brought back this award
just because of that move. While there are flashier and
more dangerous moves that happened last year, nothing brought
things so perfectly to a close as Shelton coming off a springboard
right into Shawn’s Superkick. Amazing timing and beautiful
execution. The SteamRoller from Ken Kennedy takes second
and the Samoa Joe MuscleBuster takes third. Submission of
the Year? The Kokina Clutch by Samoa Joe or Cena’s
STF which somehow got over in just one match!
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| Michaels
has just been informed of his Fanboy Planet win. |
Wrestler
of the Year (Last Year: Chris Benoit)-
Shawn Michaels
Though he wasn’t around all year and didn’t
hold the belt, Michaels put on great matches, held the WWE’s
RAW brand together and got more heat than anyone else who
was a regular.
Why
not AJ Styles, who runs a very close second? The SummerSlam
Match with Hogan. A memorable match, Michaels brought the
house down with a great match when Hogan gave almost nothing.
That popped a great buy-rate, which Hogan’s previous
appearance had not done. Michaels was good on interviews,
had wonderful TV matches, did the brief turn that put asses
in seats and had three Match of the Year quality matches
on big shows. After Styles, you have Samoa Joe and in Japan,
Kenta Kobashi…AGAIN!
FanboyPlanet
Poll
I was late getting the word out, so I only got fifty-six
votes, almost all of which were from my mailing list, Tribe
and MySpace. Still, there was a lot of variance and I’m
really shocked to see the way the voting went.
Best
Babyface (last year: Eddie Guerrero)-
Eddie Guerrero.
Despite playing heel for much of the year, Eddie won all
but five votes. His death certainly added to the number
of votes. Despite the feud with Rey, he would have had a
shot at Best Face anyhow because he was always beloved.
The only others getting votes were John Cena (two) and one
each for Flair, Styles and Rob Van Dam, which must have
been for his ECW appearance.
Best
Heel (Last Year: Kane)- HHH
So close as to be razor-thin. HHH beat out Christopher Daniels
21-19. Daniels got support from folks who are long-time
list members, while most others voted for HHH. Last year,
JBL lost to Kane by two votes with HHH being 7 behind. Others
getting votes included Kurt Angle (7), Samoa Joe (3), Randy
Orton(3), Eddie Guerrero (2) and Ken Kennedy got one.
FanboyPlanet’s
Favorite Wrestler (Last Year: Eddie Guerrero)-
AJ Styles
This was a close decision and one which I worried would
end in a tie. Styles had 13, so it was hardly resounding,
while Samoa Joe got 10. Michaels got 9. Angle got four.
Eddie got four too. Triple H got himself three votes. John
Cena got two, the same as Flair, Christopher Daniels, and
Batista. One each for Jeff Jarrett, Christy Hemme (I’m
actually kinda surprised she didn’t get more with
that Playboy spread), Hulk Hogan, Shelton Benjamin and Chris
Benoit.
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