So, it's the end of the year already and that means it's time to review 2010 and all that it brought to our television screens in terms of pro-wrestling.
Match Of The Year
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels; Wrestlemania.Was it ever going to be any other match? I was expecting this match to be a let-down to be quite honest, as I was of the belief that it couldn't possibly reach the dazzling heights of the previous year's sublime encounter -- but how wrong I was. This was the highlight of this past year's Mania (and arguably the only one).
Feud Of The Year
El Generico and Kevin Steen; ROH
Best example of a feud between a former face-heel tandem since MVP and Matt Hardy's heated and entertaining rivalry a few years back. Only better. Exemplary of some of the fantastic wrestling that ROH consistently produced this year, despite losing the services of Brian Danielson before 2010 began in earnest.
They not only set the bar this year -- they took the bar, and bludgeoned each other with it.
Honourable mentions include Shawn Michaels-Undertaker, The Miz-Brian Danielson, and CM Punk-Rey Mysterio.
Promo Of The Year
CM Punk singing Happy Birthday to Mysterio's daughter; Smackdown
This was pure gold. I don't know anyoe who saw this promo that didn't love it. Now that Punk is recovering from his injury, I hope to see plenty more like it.
The Miz's post-match promo following his MITB victory definitely deserves an honourable mention, of course.
Show Of The Year
ROH on HDNet
WWE Monday Night Raw had its ups and downs, Smackdown became very stale, while TNA iMPACT just got plain wacky with the arrival of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff on January 4. ROH, meanwhile, rolled out some awesome wrestling on their new show on HDNet. Probably the best match they aired during 2010 was the tag team street fight between Colt Cobana & El Generico and Kevin Steen & Steve Corino. This bout was of PPV quality, but the nice folks at ROH have more than enough quality to go around for HDNet. Hopefully Delirious, as a booker, can help the company prosper in 2011.
PPV Of The Year
Money In The Bank
The standard answer for this award year in, year out is WrestleMania, with Royal Rumble as a close runner-up. This year's Mania, however, was the pits. It really set the standard for the year, and the only standout PPV in 2010 was MITB, which saw The Miz break the glass ceiling, Jack Swagger holding his own against Rey Mysterio, and Kane's turn on Mysterio and subsequent cash-in of his MITB briefcase. Certainly more entertaining than some of the other tripe that WWE and TNA have produced in 2010. ROH's Glory By Honor and Final Battle also deserve honourable mentions, of course.
Superstar Of The Year
The Miz
While WWE gave the corresponding Slammy to John Cena, I don't think anyone had a better year than The Miz. Entered the year as US Champion, became the first superstar ever to hold both the US and Tag Titles at the same time, was the most entertaining Pro on NXT and helped put Rookie Daniel Bryan over big time, won the MITB Ladder match and cashed it in just a few short weeks ago against Randy Orton on Raw, where he won his first WWE Championship. No one, and I mean NO ONE would have predicted such a stellar year for the former reality TV star. At the very least, nobody even believed he would surpass his former tag-team partner John Morrison in such a short space of time.
I would also attribute a tiny part of Miz's success to the departure of Dave Batista in May. Batista was by far the best heel character up until that point, and Mizanin may not have received his opportunity so soon had there not been a void in that main event spot. I expect Miz to excel in the coming year But we all know about pro-wrestling and expectations. . .
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