It was fantastic to be a wrestling fan in 2017. It was the year of the best bout machines. No matter which promotion or promotions you follow, stars across the globe raised the bar more than ever this year putting on some of the greatest matches the world has ever seen.
From Kenny Omega versus Kazuchika Okada in NJPW to John Cena and A.J. Styles burning the house down in the WWE, to The Young Bucks taking on Best Friends and War Machine in Ring of Honor, to Pete Dunn and Tyler Bate putting on a wrestling clinic in NXT, the wrestling world was on fire with so many incredible matches by incredible once-in-a-lifetime superstars.
As we do every year, the SLAM! Wrestling brain trust has teamed up to present their best and worst of the year. Agree? Disagree? There is no denying though that 2017 elevated the art form beyond anyone’s expectations.
2017 Honours: Overall Awards
Best Male Wrestler of the Year
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Kenny Omega. Photo Courtesy: New Japan Pro Wrestling. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Winner: The Rainmaker, Kazuchika Okada. Homeboy goes out and has probably two of the better singles matches I’ve ever seen, and just one of those was against Kenny Omega. Take into account he’s still in his 20’s and this is a no-brainer.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: AJ Styles. He had some stellar matches in 2017 and even managed to pull out a pretty good bit against Shane McMahon at WrestleMania.
- Honourable Mentions: Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Kenny Omega. He didn’t wrestle as much as other top talent but every match he worked was face-paced and had great story-telling.
- Honourable Mentions: AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: This one is tough because both AJ Styles and Kevin Owens had some great matches, high-profile feuds and overall were the most compelling people to watch on TV this year. I’ll give the edge to AJ but this is really a coin toss.
- Honourable Mentions: Kevin Owens.
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: Minoru Suzuki and Kenny Omega. Why two? Easy, while Omega was the best wrestler last year, Suzuki was by far and away the best character. Suzuki and his antics as the leader of Suzuki-gun have elevated him to one of the greatest wrestling heels of all time. He takes pure delight in playing the character and it shows.
- Honourable Mentions: Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Neville and A.J. Styles.
Best Female Wrestler of the Year
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Alexa Bliss. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Winner: Asuka.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Asuka. It’s got to be Asuka who has continued to have great matches throughout 2017.
- Honourable Mentions: Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Asuka. She had great matches in NXT and her transition to the WWE was great.
- Honourable Mentions: Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss and Natalya.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Notwithstanding the horrible “This is Your Life” segment with Bayley, Alexa Bliss had an ouststanding year overall. On the mic there’s no woman better and in the ring, she’s a lot of fun too.
- Honourable Mentions: Charlotte Flair.
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Alexa Bliss. It was a stand-out year for The Goddess on every level.
- Honourable Mentions: Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Ember Moon, Nikki Cross and Natalya.
Best Canadian Wrestler of the Year (Male)
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Kenny Omega winning the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Photo Courtesy: NJPW. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Winner: Kenny by-God Omega. I had only briefly heard of him before this year. Then Wrestle Kingdom 11 happens and I hear the hype. I see him and have been hooked on the newest leader of the Bullet Club since then as that match exceeded my expectations even after all the hype.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens easily wins this as even though he’s been stuck with some inferior storylines by WWE Creative he’s managed to continue to capture everyone’s attention and have great matches.
- Honourable Mentions: Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal (He’s Canadian WWE!).
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Kenny Omega.
- Honourable Mentions: Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Roode’s matches in NXT were great. Unfortunately, his transition into the WWE hasn’t been good.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Kevin Owens for the same reasons he was my runner-up for Wrestler of the Year.
- Honourable Mentions: Kenny Omega.
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Kenny Omega. 2017 was another banner year for The Cleaner who continues to set the bar for in-ring performances.
- Honourable Mentions: Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Bobby Roode.
Best Canadian Wrestler of the Year (female)
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Natalya is a hard act to follow. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Taya Valkyrie.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Natalya. Natalya has had a resurgent 2017 and put on some of the best matches of her WWE career and seeing her win the WWE Smackdown Women’s Title in 2017 was a highlight of the year.
- Honourable Mentions: Nicole Matthews and KC Spinelli.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Natalya. Natalya’s matches always had a great story-telling component to them.
- Honourable Mentions: K.C. Spinlli is an amazing heel and can get the fans very worked up.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Rosemary is one of the best characters in TNA/Impact/GFW this year, male or female
- Honourable Mentions: Natalya.
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Natalya. Already a top star, Natalya had one of the best years of her career turning in some fantastic matches and performances.
- Honourable Mentions: Gail Kim and Rosemary.
Best Tag Team of the Year
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It isn’t paranoia. It is the Usos. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Tex Furgeson and Chadd 2 Badd from Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: The Bar. Sheamus and Cesaro have simply become the best tag-team in the WWE. Their matches are compelling, hard hitting and they make their opponents look great in the ring while being fun to watch.
- Honourable Mentions: The Usos and Ambrose, Rollins.
- DON DAVIES: Winners: The Young Bucks. Few tag teams can match the Bucks athleticism and gracefulness combined with their ridiculous antics. They had the best selling shirt at Hot Topic.
- Honourable Mentions: The Usos and The Bar.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: A year ago, I never would have thought that the highlight of a TV show would be an Uso promo but here we are. The way they’ve reinvented themselves simply by being themselves on the mic, the team has become far more interesting and relevant than before. They seem to have upped their in-ring game, too.
- Honourable Mentions: The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro).
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: War Machine. From almost obscurity the team has risen to become THE hottest team in the business today.
- Honourable Mentions: The Young Bucks, The Bar, The Hardy Boyz, The Uso Brothers, The Briscoe Brothers, The Authors of Pain, Sanity, Guerrillas of Destiny.
Best Announcer of the Year
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Corey Graves is still on top. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Corey Graves.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Corey Graves. Corey Graves is arguably the best WWE colour commenter since Jesse Ventura and he continues to improve year after year.
- Honourable Mentions: Mauro Ranallo who is still WWE’s best play-by-play announcer.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Mauro Ranallo. Mauro Ranallo has wit and logic. In the sports entertainment world, Ranallo’s play-by-play makes you feel that you are watching a professional sporting event.
- Honourable Mentions: Cory Graves.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: He’s super-annoying at times, particularly with his fake laughter, but Michael Cole truly has become the voice of WWE.
- Honourable Mentions: Jim Ross – even though he’s lost a step, JR at his worst is still better than most at their best.
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Corey Graves. Although he has slipped a tad this year Graves remains as the voice of the WWE, no matter what Michael Cole says.
- Honourable Mentions: Kevin Kelly, Mauro Ranallo and Nigel McGuinness.
Best Faction – Stable of the Year
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Los Ingobernables de Japon in all of their glory. Photo Courtesy: New Japan Pro Wrestling. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Los Ingobernables de Japon. I think this is the lone faction that doesn’t have one weak link as everyone’s held various NJPW belts this year. With EVIL, Sanada and Bushii as the NEVER 6-Man champs, Tetsuya Naito vying for the IWGP heavyweight title and Hiromu Takahashi vying for the IWGP junior heavyweight titles at Wrestle Kingdom 12, there’s a chance they could all end the show with straps.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winners: The Miz and The Miztourage. It wasn’t that strong a year for factions surprisingly since they are normally such a big part of the show. The ones talked about the most were The Bullet Club and The Shield but neither of them really did anything too memorable in 2017. So instead I’ll go with the one I enjoyed the most which was The Miz and The Miztourage which were always fun to watch.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- DON DAVIES: Winners: The Bullet Club. This year factions were not strong. The Bullet Club is not as strong as it was a few years ago. However, The Bullet Club dominated New Japan Pro Wrestling for the whole year.
- Honourable Mentions: The Shield who hasn’t done much this year but may surpass The Bullet Club next year.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: While I’m not a big fan it’s hard to argue the Bullet Club’s impact in wrestling this year.
- Honourable Mentions: The Shield.
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: Suzuki-gun and Los Ingobernables de Japon. Ever since invading NJPW during New Year’s Dash Suzuki-gun has turned the entire federation upside down. Los Ingobernables de Japon has improved and improved all year long.
- Honourable Mentions: The Bullet Club, The Latin American Xchange / LAX and The Undisputed Era.
Best Non-Wrestler of the Year
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Zayn is not impressed by Shane-O-Mac. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Daryl from LIJ. I don’t care what you think, seeing Bad Luck Fale tear him up and then seeing Takahashi bringing him back with a band-aid during the G1 Final Night was awesome.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Shane McMahon. I’ve got to with Shane McMahon who put his body on the line in several matches and took some crazy bumps in 2017.
- Honourable Mentions: Paul Heyman, Stephanie McMahon and Daniel Bryan.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Paul Heyman. Paul Heyman consistently has one of the best promos of the night and makes you want to watch Brock Lesnar’s next match.
- Honourable Mentions: Shane and Stephanie McMahon.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Shane McMahon had a big year, with a couple of high-profile matches, and a couple of incredible Shane-O-Mac high spots.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan. Both General Managers are truly the best the WWE has ever “hired”. They are not just figureheads. They are characters who the fans care about, respect and cheer for. Both have done brilliantly in their new roles outside of the ring, better than anyone ever has.
- Honourable Mentions: Paul Heyman, Maryse and Shane McMahon.
Best Major Promotion of the Year
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Photo Courtesy: NJPW. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Lucha Underground.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: WWE. WWE, though honestly it was not the strongest year for them.
- Honourable Mentions: All Japan Pro Wrestling.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: New Japan Pro Wrestling. It has slowly built to Wrestle Kingdom 12 with logical booking. Kazuchika Okada has carried the promotion for all of 2017 as the IWGP heavyweight champion.
- Honourable Mentions: The WWE hot shots storylines but they are still very entertaining and dominant at the global level.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: WWE.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: NJPW. The best promotion on the planet has delivered time and time again this year.
- Honourable Mentions: NXT, Smackdown Live.
Best Indie Promotion of the Year
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Photo Courtesy: Smash Wrestling. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: N/A
- MATTHEW BYER: Winners: All Star Wrestling and ECCW. I know it’s a cheat but this year my vote is a tie between All Star Wrestling and ECCW. One of the great benefits of living in British Columbia is we have a very strong independent wrestling scene.
- Honourable Mentions: Vancouver Island Pro Wrestling and Canadian Wrestling’s Elite.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Smash Wrestling. Smash Wrestling has grown in leaps and bounds this year from running shows a couple times a month in small venues to running multiple shows at bigger venues nearly each week and airing on The Fight Network.
- Honourable Mentions: Destiny Wrestling from Mississauga, Ontario and Canadian Wrestling’s Elite from Winnipeg, Manitoba.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Smash Wrestling.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Smash Wrestling.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
Best Wrestling Event – PPV of the year
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Styles and Owens battle. Photo Courtesy of: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: NXT Takeover Chicago. Pete Dunn and Tyler Bate stole the damn show with that UK title match and the main event heartache of DIY breaking up was perfect.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winners: SummerSlam and No Mercy. Normally in this spot I would pick WrestleMania but the 2017 edition was honestly disappointing. So this year’s choice is a tie between SummerSlam and No Mercy.
- Honourable Mentions: Royal Rumble.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Survivor Series. Survivor Series was a great show until the main event, which featured Team Raw against Team Smackdown. The main event was long and drawn out. However, each match on the undercard highly delivered.
- Honourable Mentions: Honourable mentions go to Wrestlemania and Summerslam.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Nothing really jumps out to me as being an epic PPV that I’ll talk about for years to come. Survivor Series was fun, I guess, as was SummerSlam. Honestly, though, the best “special events” for me were the NXT specials.
- Honourable Mentions: Wrestlemania and Summerslam.
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: WrestleMania 33 and Survivor Series. It was almost too much of a good thing but WrestleMania was a mind-blowing event and Survivor Series was on the level of a WrestleMania show.
- Honourable Mentions: Wrestle Kingdom 11, NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, NXT TakeOver: WarGames, NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling, NJPW Dominion, WWE Extreme Rules and WWE Royal Rumble.
Best Weekly TV Show of the Year
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- MATTHEW ASHER: N/A.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: NXT. NXT continues to be the best show for WWE.
- Honourable Mentions: Smackdown Live.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: NXT. NXT has logical booking with a slow build of the storylines each week.
- Honourable Mentions: Smackdown, which has some of the greatest wrestlers in the business.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: RAW.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: NXT. Even though it has taken a couple of steps back, NXT still cleverly entertains week after week introducing new stars to fans everywhere.
- Honourable Mentions: Smackdown Live and Ring of Honor.
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (Male)
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Through hard work and dedication, Velveteen Dream has become a main eventer. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Juice Robinson, NJPW. He got a great push in the G1 Tournament and didn’t disappoint.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: John Cena. This is somewhat of a weird choice but I have to go with John Cena. Even though he’s in the latter stages of his career he continues to improve in the ring and in the last few years has been putting over more and more of his opponents.
- Honourable Mentions: The Miz.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Velveteen Dream. Velveteen Dream has grown into his character and understands how to tell a great in-ring story
- Honourable Mentions: Juice Robinson and Will Ospreay who are young stars that are able to slow down and work a logical wrestling match.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Say what you will, there’s no denying that Jinder Mahal is much better than he was during his first WWE stint.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Velveteen Dream. Anyone who watched Tough Enough could see that Patrick Clark Jr. had the drive and the passion to be a WWE superstar. In such a short period of time, Clark Jr. has grown in leaps and bounds culminating in a main event level performance in his match against Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver. Just outstanding.
- Honourable Mentions: Elias, Drew Gulak, Lars Sullivan.
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (Female):
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The Empress of Tomorrow. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: N/A
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Natalya. As I said earlier 2017 has been a resurgent year for Natalya and so she’s my pick for this category too.
- Honourable Mentions: Charlotte Flair, Asuka and Alexa Bliss.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Alexa Bliss. Alexa Bliss has evolved as a great heel this year. Bliss is more believable in all aspects of her work at the end of 2017 than she was at the beginning of 2017.
- Honourable Mentions: Asuka who was great the whole year and continues to improve.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: While Natalya could always deliver in the ring, her title program gave her character some direction that made her more interesting.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Lacey Evans. Before and after the Mae Young Classic Evans has risen to become a true dependable talent.
- Honourable Mentions: Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.
Most Improved Wrestlers of the Year (Tag Team)
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War Machine. Photo Courtesy: NJPW. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: N/A
- MATTHEW BYER: Winners: The Bar. It’s been The Bar’s year and hopefully Sheamus and Cesaro will continue in 2018 to build on their momentum.
- Honourable Mentions: The Usos.
- DON DAVIES: Winners: The Guerrilas of Destiny. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa started teaming in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2016. During 2017 The Guerrilas of Destiny were having exciting matches and improved working together as a team.
- Honourable Mentions: The Usos with their exciting and fast-paced matches this year.
- BOB KAPUR: Winners: The Usos, for reasons outlined above.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: War Machine. They have taken the wrestling world by storm and they deserve all the success coming their way.
- Honourable Mentions: The Guerrilas of Destiny, The Street Profits, Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss, Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Trent Barreta).
Match of the Year – Male
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Two of the best battling it out. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata at Sakura Genesis. Yes, the aftermath of the match sucks as that was very likely Shibata’s final match ever. But the pacing and the slow build was amazing. And because I did get a little emotional hearing Shibata’s music and seeing him to return at the G1 to simply say he’s alive kind of made this a done deal.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: John Cena versus AJ Styles at the 2017 Royal Rumble. It was an excellent match from start to finish and was historic as it allowed Cena to tie Ric Flair’s 16 championship reigns. While I don’t think Cena can be considered the greatest of all time because he tied Flair – sorry WWE – he has certainly developed into a great wrestler and best of his era.
- Honourable Mentions: Brock Lesnar versus AJ Styles at the 2017 Survivor Series.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet from NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors Day 2. It was a unique match that pushes the boundaries of athleticism in any sport.
- Honourable Mentions: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega from NJPW Dominion, and their match at Wrestle Kingdom 11, and Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate from NXT TakeOver: Chicago.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: John Cena vs. AJ Styles – Royal Rumble.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Kazuchika Okada Vs Kenny Omega – Dominion 6.11. Just when you think they couldn’t achieve greater success both men took themselves and pro wrestling to another level.
- Honourable Mentions: Kazuchika Okada Vs Kenny Omega – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom XI, Tetsuya Naito Vs Kenny Omega – NJPW G1 Climax 2017, Dragon Lee Vs Hiromu Takahashi – JPW Best Of The Super Juniors 2017, Pete Dunne Vs Tyler Bate – NXT TakeOver: Chicago, Will Ospreay Vs Ricochet – NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors 2017, John Cena Vs AJ Styles – Royal Rumble.
Match of the Year (Female)
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Asuka and Ember Moon had some classic battles in 2017. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Asuka vs. Ember Moon at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III. I still think Moon should have won that match, but it was great.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Alexa Bliss versus Bayley, Emma, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks from No Mercy. It was an extremely well done fatal five-way match which showed off the skills of all the competitors.
- Honourable Mentions: Natalya versus Naomi from SummerSlam and almost every Asuka match from 2017.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Asuka versus Ember Moon from NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 3. This match took place just before Asuka debuted on the WWE main roster. Many people thought that Asuka would lose her title in this match which fed into great in-ring story-telling.
- Honourable Mentions: Asuka versus Ember Moon from NXT TakeOver: Orlando.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Alexa Bliss versus every other woman on the SD roster – WrestleMania
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Tamina — Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. A bad ass match with bad ass women doing bad ass things.
- Honourable Mentions: Asuka Vs Ember Moon – NXT Takeover Brooklyn 3.
Match of the Year (Tag Team)
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The New Day and The Usos in their Hell in a Cell classic Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: The Authors of Pain vs. The Revival vs. DIY. My god. If you don’t like this match you simply don’t like good tag team wrestling.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson versus The Bar versus Enzo Amore and Big Cass versus The Hardy Boyz in the RAW Tag-Team Ladder Match from WrestleMania. This was easily the best match on the card and contained the feel good moment of the night when the Hardy Boyz returned to WWE.
- Honourable Mentions: The Bar versus Rollins, Ambrose.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Adam Cole vs. Killian Dain, Alexander Wolf, Eric Young vs. Roderick Strong, Rezar, and Akam from NXT TakeOver: WarGames. It was a great hardcore match with the WarGames format.
- Honourable Mentions: The Hardy Boyz vs. The Bar vs. Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in the fatal-4-way tag team ladder match at Wrestlemania 33.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: The Bar vs. The Hardy Boyz, 30-minute Iron Man match – Great Balls of Fire
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: War Games Match – NXT TakeOver: WarGames. Amazing mayhem from teams that gave everything they had and more that night.
- Honourable Mentions: The Authors of Pain vs. #DIY Versus The Revival — NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Roppongi Vice Versus Young Bucks – NJPW G1 Special in USA Night Two, Cesaro and Sheamus Vs The Hardy Boyz – Great Balls of Fire, The Young Bucks Vs The Hardys – Supercard of Honor XI, The Hardy Boyz Vs Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, Enzo Amore and Big Cass – WrestleMania, The Young Bucks Vs RPG Vice Vs The Hardy Boys – ROH 15th Anniversary, Dragon Lee, Titan Vs Bushi and Hiromu Takahashi – NJPW Road To Power Struggle 2017.
Feud of the Year (Male)
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Braun Strowman sends Roman Reigns for a ride.Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Omega vs. Okada. This is a no-brainer. I’m just a little bummed we have to wait at least until next year for these two to face off in their fourth singles match.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Cena versus AJ Styles. Was there really a dominant feud in 2017? In a lot of ways the fact that one doesn’t spring foremost to mind as being particularly memorable kind of demonstrates what a poor job WWE Creative did this year doesn’t it? It seems like the feud that has been continuing the longest and is still getting a prominent spotlight is Kevin Owens versus Shane McMahon, but is that really a great feud? I give Owens full credit for keeping it interesting but he should be challenging for the WWE Title and not stuck in this storyline. So I’ll go with Cena versus AJ Styles, which ended fairly early in 2017 and was really a continuation of their program from 2016.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- DON DAVIES: Winner: There wasn’t a strong feud this year between anyone. Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg were great together with Paul Heyman doing a great job promoting the matches between the two. The matches were short but they delivered and did not expose Goldberg.
- Honourable Mentions: An honourable mention goes to the Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon feud, which provided some entertaining segments and the Hell in a Cell match.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: N/A
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Roman Reigns Vs Braun Strowman. Just insane but in all the right ways like the Attitude Era was.
- Honourable Mentions: Kevin Owens Vs Chris Jericho, Tetsuya Naito Vs Kazuchika Okada, Kazuchika Okada Vs Kenny Omega, John Cena Vs. Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens Vs Shane McMahon, Kenny Omega Vs Chris Jericho.
Feud of the Year (Female)
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Nobody is ready for Asuka? Moon responds: Oh, really? Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Asuka vs. Ember Moon.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Alexa Bliss versus the women’s rosters. For this one I’m going to go with Alexa Bliss versus the women’s rosters on both Smackdown and RAW. 2017 Bliss was seemingly at odds with multiple opponents which clearly demonstrates how strong a competitor she’s been this year.
- Honourable Mentions: Natalya versus Charlotte Flair.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Asuka and Ember Moon. It was the best thing on NXT. The matches also delivered which made the feud more intense.
- Honourable Mentions: Natalya versus Charlotte Flair, which got both women over as athletic and entertaining wrestlers.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: N/A
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Asuka Vs Ember Moon. The brought out the very best in each other every time they met.
- Honourable Mentions: Natalya Vs Charlotte Flair.
Feud of the Year (Tag Team)
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The Bar got it going on. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Authors of Pain vs. The Revival vs. DIY. It only really lasted a few months, but man was that match they had as the blowoff a killer one.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: The Bar versus Rollins, Ambrose
- Honourable Mentions: The Usos versus The New Day.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: The Usos vs. The New Day. It had a series of great matches and a compelling story line.
- Honourable Mentions: The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice since they had a series of great matches.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: N/A
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: The Usos Vs The New Day. You couldn’t ask for more from two of the best teams in the world today.
- Honourable Mentions: The Bar Vs Ambrose, Seth Rollins.
2017 Dishonours
Worst Match of the Year (Male)
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Orton and Bray was a mess from start to finish. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt. Take your pick Take your pick because the ‘Mania match, for the WWE Championship, was terrible and the House of Horrors was just so stupid.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Any cruiserweight match involving Enzo Amore.
- Honourable Mentions: Punjabi Prison Match between Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: The house of horrors match from WWE Payback between Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt was awkward to watch. Unfortunately, the cinematic elements of this match made it very bad. Honourable mention goes to Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal at Backlash since it was a boring match.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton (Punjabi Prison Match) – Battleground
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Bray Wyatt Vs Randy Orton – WrestleMania 33. A crappy finish to a crappy feud. All of those special effects and bug projections were just awful. Honourable mentions to Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal (Punjabi Prison Match) and any Enzo Amore match.
Worst Match of the Year (Female)
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Whack a mole, WWE style. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Anything with Lana in it.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Nothing comes to mind here as being all that bad. There were a couple of matches that didn’t live up to the hype but none that deserve to be singled out.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- DON DAVIES: Winner: The kendo stick on a pole match between Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss from Extreme Rules destroyed Bayley’s character. The moment when Bayley got the kendo stick and refused to use it on Bliss was the moment Bayley character was ruined. Bliss won the match but it did not help Bliss since she beat the weak Bayley. An honourable mention goes to Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax from WWE Raw on April 10. After Jax drops Flair on her head the match quickly turns into an awkward match with both women not being in the correct position for moves and other botches.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: The matches between Asuka and Emma weren’t necessarily bad but they were pointless.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Alexa Bliss Vs Bayley – Extreme Rules 2017. One big dumpster fire.
Worst Feud of the Year (Male)
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Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt. Take your pick because the ‘Mania match was terrible and the House of Horrors was just so stupid.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: The Jinder Mahal versus Randy Orton feud. It should have been so much better than it was.
- Honourable Mentions: Bray Wyatt versus Randy Orton and any cruiserweight feud involving Enzo Amore.
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton had a series of boring matches. There were reports that the WWE was targeting people in Indian to become WWE fans. However, this booking did not come across well for the North American audience. Honourable mention goes to Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt. Wyatt’s consistent use of mind games came across as silly.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor. The build-up to this, with the lame Bray/Sister Abigail videos, the change from Boring Finn to Boring Demon Finn, and then the non-match. This was last-year-of-WCW bad.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: Randy Orton Vs Bray Wyatt, Jindar Mahal Vs Randy Orton. Anything with the robotic Randy Orton just sucked.
- Honourable Mentions: Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor.
Worst Feud of the Year (Female)
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Let’s forget this ever happened. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Pretty much anything with the current WWE female roster (minus Asuka).
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Alexa Bliss versus Bayley. As much as I enjoyed Alexa Bliss in 2017 her feud with Bayley was just painful to watch. I don’t blame either of the competitors though; that I place at the feet of WWE Creative.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- DON DAVIES: Winner: Alexa Bliss and Bayley was poorly booked. Bayley was a likeable babyface before the feud. During the feud Bayley could not pull the trigger to use a kendo stick and was not aggressive. As a result, fans turned on Bayley. Both Bliss and Bayley came out of the feud worst than they entered it.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss. The terrible promos leading up to a forgettable match probably led to the fans turning against Bayley during the year. This did neither woman any favours.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A/li>
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Alicia Fox Vs Sasha Banks. Nobody cared and Banks’ fire has all but gone out.
Worst Feud of the Year (Tag Team)
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Go away, Breezango. Go away. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: N/A
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- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: Nothing really comes to mind that was too atrocious, though, I do hope we’ve seen the last of The Usos versus The New Day for a while.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- DON DAVIES: Winner: N/A. Answer is above.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: N/A
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Breezango against anyone. This comedy act was responsible for one of the worst matches of the year when they took on The Usos at Backlash. Someone end this bad joke, please.
Worst Announcer of the Year
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She should stick to wrestling. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Rocky Romero. He added nothing when he did commentary for NJPW. Just yelled a bunch of stuff.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: JBL. I have to pick JBL here. For anyone who followed what happened allegedly with him and Ranallo it doesn’t pain the former WWE Champion in a very good light.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- Don Davies: Winner: Don Callis on New Japan Pro Wrestling Commentary is hard to listen to. Callis has been away from the wrestling world for several years. He admitted on his podcast that he was not familiar with the New Japan Pro Wrestling product before he took the commentary job and it definitely shows.
- Honourable Mentions: An honourable mention goes to Percy Watson since his commentary does not enhance the matches.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Remember how many great promos Lita cut when she was a wrestler? Right, because there weren’t any. So for the WWE to put her on the mic for the Mae Young Classic was simply baffling.
- Honourable Mentions: Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler, Josh Matthews
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: JBL. Good riddance.
- Honourable Mentions: Byron Saxton, David Otunga and Lita.
Worst Wrestling Event – PPV of the year
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Battleground was garbage. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: WWE Battleground. Dear lord.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: WWE Battleground and a lot of this choice can be traced to the Punjabi Prison Match between Mahal and Orton.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- Don Davies: Winner: WWE Battleground featured a lackluster card that was headlined by Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match for the WWE championship. This PPV was worst than most Smackdown weekly shows.
- Honourable Mentions: An honourable mention goes to Money in the Bank, which wasn’t that bad, it was just forgettable and boring.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Battleground.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Money in the Bank 2017, WWE Battleground 2017. Top to bottom garbage.
Worst Male Wrestler of the Year
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Enzo isn’t surprised and neither are we. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Bray Wyatt, simply because he’s being misused, not in terms of his abilities.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: The easy choice would be Enzo Amore since he joined the cruiserweight division but he’s my dishonourable mention. Instead I’ll go with Randy Orton. His going over Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania was a travesty. His program with Mahal was awful. His continuing reluctance to put over his opponents and helping to build new stars is why The Viper is my choice for 2017.
- Honourable Mentions: Enzo Amore.
- Don Davies: Winner: Elias Samson is very dull. Samson was one of the few people not to get over in NXT, yet get brought up to the main roster.
- Honourable Mentions: Honourable mention goes to Curtis Axel who is boring to watch.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: Take your choice of any of the WWE 205 stars. Not that they’re bad, but if nobody cares, does what they do matter?
- Honourable Mentions: Baron Corbin, Titus O’Neil, Curt Hawkins and the Hype Bros.
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Enzo Amore. His in-ring skills are truly embarrassing. Honourable mentions go to Randy Orton (Mister Roboto still no personality at all), Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt.
Worst Female Wrestler of the Year
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Dana go bye-bye? We hope so. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: Lana.
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: No one comes to mind as having a particular terrible 2017.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- Don Davies: Winner: Lana’s matches are hard to watch. Most of her matches are short, which does help her from exposing her inexperience.
- Honourable Mentions: Dana Brooke who many times looks out of position throughout her matches.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: N/A
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- JOHN POWELL: Winner: Lana. An A for effort but F for actual performance…and after all that lead-up too.
- Honourable Mentions: Dana Brooke.
Worst Tag Team of the Year
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Going nowhere fast. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
- MATTHEW ASHER: N/A
- MATTHEW BYER: Winner: No Tag Team was particularly awful enough to name for this category.
- Honourable Mentions: N/A.
- BOB KAPUR: Winner: N/A
- Honourable Mentions: N/A
- Don Davies: Winners: While Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli have great physiques, they are unable to get over as heels. There God-Gifted Athletes gimmick has been done many times.
- Honourable Mentions: Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze). There backstage skits and in-ring work were forgettable.
- JOHN POWELL: Winners: The Ascension, Breezango. (Tie) End the agony and send them packing.
2017 Honours: Federation Awards
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Bobby Roode carried NXt in 2017. Photo Courtesy: WWE. |
MATTHEW ASHER
- Best Impact Wrestler (Male): N/A
- Best Impact Wrestler (Female): N/A
- Best Impact Tag Team: N/A
- Best NJPW Wrestler: Kazuchika Okada is 1. Tetsuya Naito is 1a. Kenny Omega is 1b because he spams that V-Trigger.
- Best NJPW Tag Team: War Machine really impressed me with its athleticism despite both men being around 300 pounds.
- Best NXT Wrestler (Male): Alexander Wolf if we’re talking currently on the roster. Just watch the craziness he does in that WarGames match again.
- Best NXT Wrestler (Female): Asuka during her run in NXT. With all the callups this last month it’s Ember Moon by default.
- Best NXT Tag Team: When they were together it was DIY. But if we’re talking current tag teams then the Authors of Pain.
- Best Lucha Underground Wrestler (Male): Puma. Honorable mentions to Pentagon Dark and Son of Havock
- Best Lucha Underground Wrestler (Female): Taya (Valkyrie). It’s crazy to think we almost had Melina in this spot after the first Ultima Lucha. She’s been great since the year before when I saw her take on (Brian) Cage.
- Best ROH Wrestler: Cody Rhodes. He was criminally underused in WWE. I knew he was talented, but wow.
- Best ROH Tag Team: Motor City Machine Guns.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Male): AJ Styles. Dude cancels his trip in South America to put on a great match with Finn Balor. He also brought out the best in Brock Lesnar in their champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Female): Probably Asuka even though she just was called up.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Tag Team): TTough call between the Usos and New Day.
MATTHEW BYER
- Best Impact Wrestler (Male): N/A
- Best Impact Wrestler (Female): N/A
- Best Impact Tag Team: N/A
- Best NJPW Wrestler: N/A
- Best NJPW Tag Team: N/A
- Best NXT Wrestler (Male): Bobby Roode. Honourable mention goes to Drew McIntyre.
- Best NXT Wrestler (Female): Asuka. Honourable mention goes to Ember Moon..
- Best NXT Tag Team: All the teams involved in the recent War Games Match, the Undisputed Era, Sanity, and the Authors of Pain.
- Best Lucha Underground Wrestler (Male): N/A.
- Best ROH Wrestler: N/A
- Best ROH Tag Team: N/A
- Best WWE Wrestler (Male): AJ Styles. Honourable mentions go to Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, and John Cena.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Female): Asuka. Honourable mentions go to Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Charlotte Flair, and Sasha Banks.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Tag Team): The Bar, Sheamus and Cesaro. Honourable mentions go to The Usos, and Ambrose & Rollins.
BOB KAPUR
- Best Impact Wrestler (Male): Eli Drake
- Best Impact Wrestler (Female): Rosemary
- Best Impact Tag Team: N/A
- Best NJPW Wrestler: N/A
- Best NJPW Tag Team: N/A
- Best NXT Wrestler (Male): N/A
- Best NXT Wrestler (Female): N/A
- Best NXT Tag Team: N/A
- Best Lucha Underground Wrestler (Male): N/A.
- Best ROH Wrestler: N/A
- Best ROH Tag Team: N/A
- Best WWE Wrestler (Male): AJ Styles.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Female): Alexa Bliss
- Best WWE Wrestler (Tag Team): The Usos
JOHN POWELL
- Best Impact Wrestler (Male): Bobby Lashley
- Best Impact Wrestler (Female): Rosemary
- Best Impact Tag Team: N/A
- Best NJPW Wrestler: Kenny Omega
- Best NJPW Tag Team: The Young Bucks
- Best NXT Wrestler (Male): Bobby Roode
- Best NXT Wrestler (Female): Asuka
- Best NXT Tag Team: Authors of Pain
- Best Lucha Underground Wrestler (Male): N/A.
- Best ROH Wrestler: Cody (Rhodes)
- Best ROH Tag Team: The Young Bucks
- Best WWE Wrestler (Male): AJ Styles.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Female): Alexa Bliss
- Best WWE Wrestler (Tag Team): The Bar
DON DAVIES
- Best Impact Wrestler (Male): N/A
- Best Impact Wrestler (Female): N/A
- Best Impact Tag Team: N/A
- Best NJPW Wrestler: Kenny Omega had a limited number of matches in NJPW this year but his matches are consistently great. Omega’s series of matches with Kazuchika Okada throughout this year were incredibly athletic and had great ring psychology. Honourable mentions go to Kazuchika Okada for his solid performances against various wrestlers, and Tetsuya Naito for being one of the best characters that NJPW has.
- Best NJPW Tag Team: The Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) had great matches and work with each other like a traditional tag team. Honourable mentions go to Beretta and Chuckie T who are in the NJPW World Tag League and have great matches and promos, and War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) who are great big-man workers.
- Best NXT Wrestler (Male): Pete Dunne’s in-ring work and promo ability are very impressive given how recently he joined NXT. Honourable mentions go to Eric Young since he is always entertaining, and Velveteen Dream who is able to play his character very well.
- Best NXT Wrestler (Female): Ember Moon had a solid year with great matches and great story lines. Honourable mention goes to Kairi Sane who is improving and adapting to the NXT style more each week.
- Best NXT Tag Team: The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) have delivered solid matches weekly and on the NXT TakeOver shows. Paul Ellering as a mouth piece for The Authors of Pain is able to get the team over. Honourable mention goes to Sanity (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain) who also have great matches and promos.
- Best Lucha Underground Wrestler (Male): N/A.
- Best ROH Wrestler: Dalton Castle continues to put on exciting matches, and his character with the boys is unique and fun to watch. Honourable mention goes to Jay Lethal who continues to be a solid hand for ROH.
- Best ROH Tag Team: The Young Bucks have great antics and very athletic matches. Honourable mention goes to the solid team of The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Male): AJ Styles consistently puts on great matches that draw people into buying tickets. Styles has matches where the viewer becomes emotionally invested in the match. Honourable mentions goes to Kevin Owens and Shinsuke Nakamura who also had great matches but are not at the level of an AJ Styles in terms of drawing people into an arena.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Female): Asuka is the best female wrestler in the WWE with her exciting matches and her unbeaten streak giving her character a big push. Honourable mentions go to Alex Bliss and Charlotte Flair who had solid in-ring work and are believable characters.
- Best WWE Wrestler (Tag Team): The Usos have consistently had great matches throughout the year and are able to work with any team. An honourable mention goes to The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) since they have solid matches.
The Undisputed Era, Bobby Fish, Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly, after their victory at NXT TakeOver: Houston War Games on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas. Photo by Bill Otten, B&B Productions.
