From the Desk of Mr. V #106
January 27, 2011
By: Anthony J. Valvo of Wrestleview.com
** Columnist’s Note: These columns (and the other three that I will be typing in the upcoming days) are not going to have any Honor Rolls, Detentions, Gold Stars, or anything else. The next few columns will be dedicated to my end of the year awards. If disappointed, my apologies. Mr. V, the Wrestleview teacher will be back for column #107. Until then, please be entertained by Mr. V, the host of the Second Annual Golden Yardstick Awards! **
Well my Wrestleview Students, 2010 has finally ended. And since I do not do Year-End awards in December, it is finally time to hand out awards of what I deemed were the best (and worst) of professional wrestling in this Three or Four-Part Series.
With that I say WELCOME TO THE FINAL PART OF THE 2ND ANNUAL GOLDEN YARDSTICK AWARDS!
Again, I thank Grash for the fantastic logo for this year’s ceremony!
Just look at the Goldies! They look remarkable! At least the look much better than the first year’s awards.
Well, in case some of you are new to this year-end column here is how I pick my winners and losers:
– First off, all biasness goes out the window. So even though I am always a Pittsburgh-area mark, don’t expect to see Kurt Angle, Shane Douglas, or Sterling James Keenan winning any Yardsticks this year.
– I am only picking out wrestlers from World Wrestling Entertainment, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and Ring of Honor Wrestling, as they are the only shows I watch every week.
– There will be 21 Golden Yardstick Awards featuring various categories (including the prestigious Wrestler of the Year).
– The Golden Yardstick for Best Guest Host and Best Newcomer has been retired.
– There will be 9 Rotten Apples to hand out as well.
– I added two NEW Rotties. One goes to the Most Disappointing Wrestler. The other will be Worst Wrestler of the Year (but the Most Overrated will still be handed out).
Before I begin with this second installment, let’s review the first recipients of the 2010 Goldies (short for “Golden Yardsticks”):
Best Gimmick – CM Punk (WWE)
Best Finisher – Randy Orton’s RKO (WWE)
Best Weekly TV Show – Monday Night Raw (WWE)
Best Television Commentator – Josh Mathews (WWE)
Most Hated – The Miz (WWE)
Most Popular – Rey Mysterio (WWE)
Match of the Year – WM XXVI’s The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (WWE)
Most Underrated – Yoshi Tatsu (WWE)
Best High Flyer – Kofi Kingston (WWE)
Best Brawler – Sheamus (WWE)
Best Technical Wrestler – Daniel Bryan (WWE)
Most Charismatic – John Cena (WWE)
Best on the Mic – The Miz (WWE)
Most Improved – Drew McIntyre (WWE)
Comeback of the Year – Rob Van Dam (TNA)
Feud of the Year – El Generico vs. Kevin Steen (ROH)
Also, I went over what was the Worst of Professional Wrestling in 2010. These were the “winners” of the 2010 Rotten Apples.
Worst Gimmick – Orlando “The Wild Card” Jordan (TNA)
Worst Feud – Orlando Jordan vs. Rob Terry (TNA)
Most Appalling Storyline/Moment – The Mr. Anderson Concussion Storyline (TNA)
Worst Commentator – Mike Tenay (TNA)
Worst Women’s Wrestler – Alicia Fox (WWE)
Worst Match – The Steel Asylum Match on the 1/4/2010 episode of TNA Impact (TNA)
Most Overrated – Rob Terry (TNA)
Most Disappointing – Ted DiBiase, Jr. (WWE)
Worst Wrestler of the Year – Rob Terry (TNA)
This week, I will go over what, I deem, is the most important Golden Yardsticks to own. There are only going to be Five Golden Yardsticks, but they are the most prestigious. This week, the final awards will be for the following categories.
The Wrestleview Golden Yardstick Lifetime Achievement Award (2009 Winner: Paul Nemer)
Women’s Wrestler of the Year (2009 Winner: MsChif)
Tag Team of the Year (2009 Winner: The American Wolves)
Most Outstanding Wrestler (2009 Winner: Christian)
The Wrestler of the Year (2009 Winner: Randy Orton)
Before you continue to read I want to thank you, The Wrestleview readers, for spending your time and going over each and every single topic for the past month. I know some of you are just waiting for my regular columns to arrive once again. The Gold Stars, Detentions, News, Honor Rolls, and so much more will be back next week. I have a long list of detentions, so next week could be fun.
Anyways, I am still in awards mode. The tuxedo that I rented is due tomorrow so I while I type this final part I feel a lot more “professional”.
Also, I need some professional music, don’t I? Mike Tedesco (Smackdown recapper) gets credit for this. So I will play some “Scatman”
RIP Scatman John. If any of you want to complain, too bad.
2010 Wrestleview Lifetime Achievement Golden Yardstick
This award goes to a member of Wrestleview that had devoted so much for the cause. This is not a “Mr. V Hall of Fame” or anything of that sort (though I may conduct one over the summer). The award goes to an individual who has suffered the highs and lows on the website. There were a lot of members that arrives to the site and those that sadly departed. I still miss all the peers that were a part of the family, but as the old saying goes “the show must go on.”
However, one guy really was caught in the middle of everything. He was the central of controversy regardless of what he states on the Internet. But also, he is one of the few that hired me on as a columnist back in 2009 and now co-hosting The Teacher’s Lounge on the Wrestleview Radio Network (alongside the talented David Stephens). No one knows this, but the recipient of this award was the first one to actually allow me on as a guest to one of the WV Radio shows (The Friday Fishbowl). I was a nervous wreck when I made my debut (I know, very hard to believe but it is factual). But this individual kept me under his wing and I was truly grateful for that. This is not by any means “sucking up”, but this is more of a thank you because the little things do help a person and I appreciate everything that has been handed to me.
I went from a very inexperienced columnist and now look at what I have done with everyone’s help and support. But this one man was the first to really give me a shot with the ROH recaps for over a year, co-hosting a popular weekend radio show on Wrestleview, and among other things that no one would truly understand. So this year, and I hope that he accepts this Golden Yardstick, I am going to award the Lifetime Achievement Golden Yardstick to…Editor-in-Chief Adam Martin!
And now, exclusive to my readers, a thank you note from Golden Yardstick recipient Adam Martin:
“From the Desk of Mr. Martin”
“First of all, I would like to thank “Mr. V” Anthony Valvo. David Stephens calls you the hardest working columnist among the wrestling media today and it’s true. The attention to detail that Mr. V provides each week is both impressive and unique to Wrestleview.com. As I start my 10th year with Wrestleview and 14th year covering pro wrestling on the internet in 2011, I can now put on my mantle the Golden Yardstick Lifetime Achievement Award. And just so you know Mr. V, I will be shining this award every Monday night and Thursday night during Wrestleview Radio and laughing at both Hunter Golden and Doug Lackey since they don’t have one. Thank you and we appreciate all the support you the readers provide us here on Wrestleview.com.”
Like the round of applause? I think we all should clap, because Futurama’s Bender demands us to!
Lifetime Achievement Award: Adam Martin of Wrestleview
Next year, someone else will win the award from the Wrestleview staff. I don’t know who it will be, but we will see in next year’s ceremony.
Women’s Wrestler of the Year
Though some companies are interested in the looks of a woman, others are interested in their wrestling ability. As we all know, I am interested in their wrestling ability with a little hint of out of ring presence. The three women that I mentioned as nominees I thought had a great overall 2010 campaign. The three represent what pro wrestling is all about.
Last year, I awarded ROH star MsChif the 2009 Golden Yardstick for this category. However, I did not see much of her work in ROH (actually I think she wrestled once for HDNet in the past year, if any) and I sadly could not nominate her this year. However, when it comes to intelligence no one can question MsChif, as she is a real-life microbiologist. If any of my readers have not checked this out, she did a piece about her life for PBS.
Here are the nominees for 2010 Women’s Wrestler of the Year.
Madison Rayne – I am as surprised as anyone. Last year, she was not even considered in my top twenty and she was mainly an afterthought with The Beautiful People. Despite what many would say about TNA, Madison Rayne truly broke out in the Knockout’s Division and ended up becoming her own personality. She dropped Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich, joined with Tara, and developed a strong mean streak with surprisingly good mic skills. With this new-found mean streak, she won the TNA Knockout’s Championship three times in 2010 (totaling almost 200 days) and is the face of the Knockout’s Division.
Michelle McCool – She was a part of the Divas’ faction known as “LayCool”, but she was the more successful diva (even though Layla has improved drastically). McCool demonstrated not just a strong kick, but she has an improved ground game. She might be one of the few, if any, divas in the company that can successfully wear down an opponent. Though the jokes get old and redundant about mocking someone’s weight or appearance, the wrestling of McCool has gotten better. McCool’s skills helped her earn a couple reigns as champion, and was the winning “pro” (along with Layla) on NXT Season 2.
Sara Del Rey – In Ring of Honor, she is deemed “The Queen of Wrestling”. No one really can question that, as she is arguably the best women’s wrestler outside of the WWE and TNA. She had quite a few matches in ROH on HDNet and defeated women like Portia Perez, Jamilia Craft, Rachel Summerlyn, and had a feud with Daizee Haze. She also appears in many independent federations. Her highlights were retaining the Women’s Champion for Jersey All Pro Wrestling and became a member of The Bruderschaft des Kreuzes faction for Chikara. She is surprisingly technical and demonstrates a lot of power. Her best match in 2010 may be from the ROH Final Battle 2010 iPPV when Del Rey and Serena Deeb defeated Haze and Amazing Kong.
In a year where women’s wrestling was a “joke” to some, there were truly some amazing women out there. These three were easily nominated, however since the three women actively wrestle in different companies it was a very hard decision to make. I switched between all three of them as the best, but this year I will give the award for Women’s Wrestler of the Year to…Sara Del Rey!
In the final two days, I had it down to Del Rey and Rayne, and while Rayne was very good Del Rey embodied women’s wrestling to its highest. She was not afraid to mix it up with male counterparts and she even took some offense from some of the well-known names in ROH. Del Rey also had a very successful 2010, and should be rewarded with the award this year.
When it came to success among the larger wrestling companies, it was hands-down Rayne and McCool. Rayne branched out of nowhere, but it was one of those surprises that I enjoyed watching. Rayne developed a strong character and improved vastly inside the ring. In my opinion, if anyone thought Rayne was not the best in her division in TNA they were delusional. McCool was easily the best diva, but there were times where she did not participate in matches for a lengthy period of time. However, when in the ring McCool demonstrated a very strong presence. If McCool continues, she is the favorite to win the Goldie next year.
2010 Golden Yardstick for Women’s Wrestler of the Year: Sara Del Rey (ROH/SHIMMER)
First Runner-Up: Madison Rayne (TNA)
Second Runner-Up: Michelle McCool (WWE)
Others women wrestlers that were considered, but did not make the cut: Angelina Love; Eve Torres; Mickie James; AJ Lee; Natalya; Naomi; and Velvet Sky.
Tag Team of the Year
Throughout 2010 we have seen many tag teams try, yet fail to be the best tag team in professional wrestling. Creative teams and bookers tried to blend together what they thought would be the saviors of their Tag Team division. Though these three teams may not remind us of the Road Warriors, The Fabulous Freebirds, or The Hart Foundation, these three teams performed far more superior than the other tag teams in professional wrestling today.
Last year, Ring of Honor’s The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) won the award. Since then, both guys were very successful. However, there were not in the tag team division. Edwards was the first ROH Television Champion and held it for a very long time. Richards, who considered retirement at one point, ended up being in the mix for the ROH World Championship. Though they will not “hunt” tag team gold, they have their minds set on other belts.
Here are the nominees for Tag Team of the Year.
The Briscoe Bros. – This team is not your grandfathers or fathers Briscos, but Ring of Honor’s most decorated tag team in their history. Jay and Mark Briscoe got the job done more effective as a tag team and either held onto or fought hard to get the tag titles back from The Kings of Wrestling. The team has so many ways to take down their opposition. Mostly, they use power and speed, but they can strike with anyone. Mark is known for his “Redneck Kung-Fu” and Jay for the Big Boots along the corners. As a team, they wear down teams with the Three-Point Stance Shoulder Tackle and various combinations that are simply impressive. In 2010, their primary finisher was The Doomsday Device and it was done well every time they connected with it.
The Kings of Wrestling – After a long absence, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli reunited in late 2009 and have been on a roll every since. Even though they took their talents overseas to Japan, Peru, and other locations; they were spending most of their time as a team in Ring of Honor. Unlike the previous nominees, The Kings use a slow, methodical pace to wear down opponents. Hero did a good job taking opponents down with various cravats and elbow strikes. Castagnoli uses his power and European Uppercuts to gain an advantage. When they know an opponent is done, The Kings would finish off with either a Big Swing (Castagnoli spins the opponent around for a long time and Hero connects with a Flash Kick to the head) or the KRS One (Both flip over an opponent and destroys them with a sit-out scoop piledriver). These tactics helped The King reign supreme among the Ring of Honor Tag Teams with a Tag Team Championship that they have retained since April of 2010.
The Motor City Machineguns – Though they started to wrestle together in 2006, 2010 was by far The Guns’ best year to date. In 2010, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were easily the best tag team in TNA Wrestling and it showed thanks in part to an almost six-month reign as the TNA World Tag Team Champions during the year. They may be all speed and high-risk, but it truly is their element and there are not many tag teams, if any, that get as much publicity. They don’t wear down their opposition with holds and takedowns, but with quick kicks and various combinations like the Thunder Express and Bullet Point (a sliding kick when an opponent is tied into a corner). They took out most of their opponents throughout TNA with the Skull and Bones Finisher, a move that is a combination of a Falling Neckbreaker by Sabin and a Splash from the top rope by Shelley).
In a division where the WWE does not truly utilize, it was the perfect opportunity for the other company to showcase their strengths. Even though all three teams are worth the price of admission I must select one team that truly stood out ahead of the other teams. In this category, my selection was pretty simple. The Golden Yardstick winners for Tag Team of the Year go to…The Kings of Wrestling!
This one was a bit challenging, but then I realized one thing that most of my readers probably know. Since The Kings of Wrestling became the ROH Tag Team Champions, they have taken on all sorts of challenges, including the two teams that were nominated. They defeated The Briscoes, The Guns, even the team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. They are dimensional as well, as The Kings are a very balanced team and that made them so fluent in the ring and on the same page. Also, The ROH Tag division was I thought better than TNA’s division based on the emphasis of that style.
The Motor City Machineguns were the best tag team in TNA and truly a team that many wrestling fans enjoyed watching. They were a team for a few years (a feat that is tough in today’s era of wrestling) and finally were rewarded with the championships that they attempted to win for so long. The Briscoes are an entertaining team to watch and they worked so well in the ring as well. However, the Briscoes were 2nd-best in 2010 in the ROH Tag division. All three teams are very engaging to watch and they usually never disappoint, but in 2010 it was the year of the Kings.
2010 Golden Yardstick for Tag Team of the Year: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) (ROH)
First Runner-Up: The Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) (TNA)
Second Runner-Up: The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe) (ROH)
The following teams were in consideration, but did not make the final cut: ShoMiz (The Big Show and The Miz); Beer Money (Robert Roode and James Storm); The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd); and The Team of Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.
Most Outstanding Wrestler (Pound-for-Pound)
In my opinion, there is a difference between the Best Wrestler of the Year and the Best Wrestler Pound for Pound. With the Most Outstanding Wrestler, the award would go to the wrestler who I thought gave his best efforts in every performance that he had. This wrestler would have to be one that took on all comers and for the most part became the winner of that match. Obviously the standards for this award were difficult, but I was able to come up with three names who I thought excelled in the ring regardless of size.
Last Year, the winner was Christian. In 2009, Christian single-handedly was one of the few reasons to watch the ECW show that the WWE produced. His controlled wrestling style was unequal to the other superstars in the WWE. This year, he was considered but did not made the top three because he sadly was inactive due to an injury.
Here are my nominees for Most Outstanding Wrestler.
AJ Styles – No matter how big or small the opponent is, AJ Styles does whatever it takes to make the match good. He is one of those few wrestlers that can adapt his skills to an opponent. As a matter of fact, he started 2010 as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion and was a focal point to the World Title for the first half of the year until he settled in with the Television (aka Global) Championship in July 2010. Despite his size, he had to compete with bigger wrestlers like Abyss, Rob Terry, and Tommy Dreamer and worked around many obstacles to give the fans something to remember. He also goes all out with wrestlers his size, such as Douglas Williams, Jay Lethal, and D’Angelo Dinero. Even though he was involved in some questionable storylines, he was somewhat a leader with Fortune and battled through a lackluster feud against EV 2.0 to maintain his status as a one of the top guys in TNA Wrestling. During the year, he would usually end his matches with The Styles Clash, The Springboard 450 Splash, or even the occasional “cheat” tactic.
Rey Mysterio – No matter who the opponent was, Mysterio is a small guy in the big world that is the WWE. He is always at a disadvantage, as he is a light heavyweight. However, Mysterio had some of the most successful feuds in the WWE this year when he was in programs with CM Punk (which led to CM Punk’s head being shaved) and Alberto Del Rio (a new WWE Superstar who is getting pushed to the moon). Mysterio overcame the odds also to win his second World Heavyweight Championship at the Fatal 4-Way Pay-Per-View. Outside of the main event and championship reign, he had to feud with guys almost twice his size in Kane and Jack Swagger. Mysterio took them all on and despite having a few minor injuries over the course of 2010, he did an amazing job despite the odds. Mysterio is still one of the more popular wrestlers in the WWE, as he had adoring fans from around the world. He uses his quickness to end on the winning side. His more popular moves are the 619 (and follows it with a top rope move either from a turnbuckle or the ropes) and The West Coast Pop. He may not use holds and grapple with his opposition, but his ability to escape and do things no one in the WWE can do helps him become a more popular choice for Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Roderick Strong – Ring of Honor has many talented wrestlers, but Strong stood out the most when the company had to go into a transition because of the departure of Tyler Black. During the first half of the year, he was #1 in the already defunct “Pick 6 Contenders Series” to compete for the ROH World Championship. Despite the fact that Strong was a serious contender, he would be overlooked by guys such as Davey Richards and Tyler Black. One of the best moves that ROH did was align Strong with Truth Martini and form The House of Truth. Under Martini’s management, Strong overcame some serious odds and became the Ring of Honor World Champion at Glory by Honor IX by defeating Tyler Black. He has since retained the championship. Though his opponents are not as tall as the guys TNA and WWE offer, Strong still wrestles any ROH talent well. He is known for his various backbreakers and he wears down opponents with vicious chops. He finishes off opponents with either a Sick Kick (Running Dropkick), Strong Hold (Boston Crab), The Death By Roderick Gutbuster, or (his most popular finisher) The Gibson Driver.
Even when the odds were against these three professional wrestlers, they all succeeded in their respective companies. When I looked down my list, I may not have went with the more popular choices, but I went with those that were the most consistent and overcame the obstacles to become one of the best in professional wrestling. When I cut the list down to three, I had a complicated time picking out a winner. Once again, I made a tough call but the winner for Most Outstanding Wrestler goes to…Rey Mysterio!
Mysterio was the choice because I thought no matter who he faced on Friday Night Smackdown or on the WWE Pay-Per-Views he gave his best. Also, he took a lot more risks having to feud with possibly the best wrestlers in the world today and won his fair share of contests. In the end, I looked at which wrestler had the hardest competition and the WWE is the most demanding. When a wrestler’s opponents are amazing talents like Kane, Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk, and Batista; Mysterio survived the matches and even impressed those whom though “ran out of gas”.
Styles and Strong are both outstanding wrestlers, do not get me wrong. However, both wrestle lighter schedules and faced competition that was not near as what Mysterio had to endure.
Also, it seemed like later on during the year Styles hit a roadblock in his career. In my opinion Styles is a wrestler that should be showcased in TNA, but now it seems like they are focusing more towards talents that are more recognizable such as Kurt Angle, Mr. Anderson, Rob Van Dam, and Jeff Hardy.
Strong has been a solid champion for Ring of Honor, however most of the competition in ROH are at his level. Outside of Castagnoli and possibly the Dark City Fight Club, there is no other wrestler that can dominate a match with power. While it did not hurt Strong, it did not help him either. In the end, one piece of my criteria for this selection was “who overcame the odds despite their size”. Mysterio was the easy choice.
2010 Golden Yardstick for Most Outstanding Wrestler: Rey Mysterio (WWE)
First Runner-Up: AJ Styles (TNA)
Second Runner-Up: Roderick Strong (ROH)
The following were under consideration, but did not make the final cut: Chris Jericho; Kurt Angle; Tyler Black; Christian; Austin Aries; Davey Richards; Eddie Edwards; Daniel Bryan; Douglas Williams; Christopher Daniels; Alberto Del Rio; Jay Lethal; Christian; and Delrious.
The 2010 Wrestler of the Year
Finally, after four weeks of note reading, grading, and much explanation I’ve come down to the Golden Yardstick Award of 2010. Columnists always want to end with your best, and that is what I’m going to do today.
The Wrestler of the Year is a very tough decision. However, and I may disappoint many of my readers but I got to type this right now.
I only had five that I thought were legitimately the best wrestler, and all were in the WWE.
When I look for a Wrestler of the Year, I look for the guy who can match their wrestling skills with other abilities. The wrestler must be one that can draw a crowd, the one that many in an arena pay attention and hangs on to every word. The best wrestler may not have the best “moveset”, but were the ones that can tell a story and back it up in front of a live audience.
Let me start by writing the two wrestlers did NOT make my final three. It was a very tough selection, but these two just barely missed out.
CM Punk (#5) – Punk had a very good 2010. He was involved in a very intense feud with Mysterio and put on some of the best matches in 2010. However, he did spend a few weeks on the WWE Disabled List with an injured hip. Also, he did not win a single championship in 2010 or was rarely in a title picture. Punk was a great storyteller and the wrestling skills were impressive, but 2010 was a bit of a letdown compared to what he did in 2009.
Randy Orton (#4) – Orton was my winner for 2009 because he worked many great programs and was featured many times. Orton vs. Cena in 2009 was a pretty solid rivalry, but since then Orton transitioned as a face and despite the reactions from the audience I thought that 2010 was not as good for Orton as it was in 2009. While Orton had some of the best looking RKOs since he started using the finisher, Orton needed something extra and just barely missed out on the top three. Despite that, I think if he stays in the main event picture throughout 2010 he will be in line for The Best Wrestler Golden Yardstick next year. At least he won one already.
Now, here are the three wrestlers that I thought met the demands in order to be “The Best”.
John Cena – The 2010 Most Charismatic Wrestler was pretty successful inside the wrestling ring as well. Cena is the top draw in the WWE, and despite his limitations inside the ring he overcame a lot to still be a top guy in the company. Cena won the WWE World Championship once in 2010, but he did have a good feud going against Batista. What made John Cena valuable this year was the fact that he was the good guy against an evil organization known as The Nexus. Many can argue, but Cena helped put all those members on the map. Inside the ring, he can do anything. However, his most valuable trait is that he will sell a bunch of moves from his opponents (even though he has Superman strength and ends up winning). Cena’s finishers are basic compared to others, but the Attitude Adjustment and the STF are two finishers that 95% of the time ends a match in favor of Cena.
Rey Mysterio – He already is a multiple-award winning wrestler this year (Most Popular and Most Outstanding Wrestler), but regardless of popularity he was one of the main reasons people watched the WWE in 2010. Despite all the transitions with the Smackdown brand, Mysterio kept the audience with the stories he tells inside the squared circle. He kept the crowd interested in his many feuds from the experienced wrestlers (Kane and CM Punk) to the newer talents of the WWE (Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio). What made Mysterio was that he had some of the best matches in the WWE in 2010. His feud with Punk was strong and no matter who he was up against, the match was a little bit better than expected. With his keen quickness and the heart of a legend, Mysterio was able to capture the World Heavyweight Championship once in 2010.
The Miz – Years ago, The Miz debuted in the WWE and 99% of audience (including myself) never gave him a chance. When John Morrison and Miz split up a couple years ago, The Miz was written down as an afterthought. However, arguably no one had a more decorated year than Miz. Already a Golden Yardstick Winner for Most Hated and Best on the Mic, he was involved in some solid feuds and he hyped it up like it was going to be a fantastic contest. His mic skills were unquestioned and his in-ring skills improved, but what makes him a nominee is that during the year he at least held onto one title for most of the year. He was a top heel on Raw and was a reason people watched WWE NXT (his “rookies” are not bad wrestlers either in Daniel Bryan and Alex Riley). In 2010, The Miz I thought backed up everything he said by the way he wrestled in the ring. He would control his opponents with several holds, equalize them with a boot to the head, and finish them off with The Skull-Crushing Finale. If 2010 was a banner year for the Miz, who knows what we will expect in 2011.
So, my Wrestleview Students, this is finally near an end. Over 25 categories, and we come down to the Wrestler of the Year. I want to thank all of you for reading the past four columns and respecting my selections as the best (and worst) of 2010.
Now, please allow me to select the winner of this prestigious award. The Golden Yardstick for Best Wrestler goes to…The Miz!
I will not go all Michael Cole with The Miz, but no one in my opinion had a more successful 2010 in professional wrestling than The Miz! The credentials speak for themselves. He was a Unified Tag Team Champion with The Big Show, held onto the United States Championship on two occasions, won the Money in the Bank briefcase at the MITB PPV, and cashed it in last November to win his first WWE World Championship. In order to be the best in 2010, one must master the mic and the ring. The Miz was able to cut the best promos and proved how much he was hated when kids (aka Angry Miz Girl) and fans voiced their displeasure at the new champion. The Miz was a big ticket, as his segments were always entertaining and the fans ate it up like a USDA choice Prime Rib. I for one hopes that The Miz keeps a hold of the WWE Championship during WrestleMania weekend because I think he is a guy that many fans would pay to see his butt get kicked around.
Cena and Mysterio both had solid years, don’t get me wrong. But Cena was directed toward The Nexus (and long-term that was the best thing the WWE could do) and Mysterio was off camera on a couple occasions (for good reason because you want your top guys happy). However when it all came down to who was the best professional wrestler in 2010, The Miz had everyone beat. In 2010, The Miz backed up what he thought he was all along…that he was “awesome”.
2010 Golden Yardstick Winner for Best Wrestler of the Year: The Miz (WWE)
First Runner-Up: Rey Mysterio (WWE)
Second Runner-Up: John Cena (WWE)
Finally, I want to share an e-mail from my good friend James Lacerenza who is still taking part of the Pepsi Refresh Project. There are only a few days remaining to vote, but please read his e-mail and help support MDA.
Okay – here’s what we’re doing!
Our goal is to get in the top 100 by the time the calendar turns February 1. Even if we don’t, just have people tweet and fb this link off the mountaintops until Pepsi won’t let them vote!
http://www.refresheverything.com/mdcamp
Now, if we win or lose, there’s also this until February 14th – people can register, leave a comment, and if I get enough comments – MDA wins 5k – and so do I – which would come in handy for a recent college grad in this economy! lol
http://www.thedailystamford.com/promotions/CTMH
And then there’s THIS – same paper as the link above – but they decided to write about me – http://www.thedailystamford.com/neighbors/handicapped-kids-have-angel-stamford
This concludes the 2010 Golden Yardsticks/Rotten Apple Awards. Please exit your seats and drive carefully.
Dismissal
Well, that does it for me this week. I thank you all for reading this column and I hope you enjoyed this column as much as I typed it out. If you want to get a hold of me during the week, please e-mail me at mistervwv@hotmail.com or at lounge@Wrestleview.com, or by leaving me a message on Facebook. I do get a lot of e-mails and may not reply in a timely fashion, but I will do my best to give you a quicker reply.
Now, students you are allowed to leave the classroom. Please push in your chairs, line up straight, and exit to the closest door around you. Until next week, you are all……DISMISSED!
Facebook: Add me if you want. I am Anthony J. Valvo in the Pittsburgh, PA network
Twitter: @TheMisterV
E-Mail: mistervwv@hotmail.com or lounge@Wrestleview.com
THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE IS NOW AIRING ON SATURDAYS!
The Teacher’s Lounge gives the Wrestleview Radio Network Audience a complete rundown of the past week’s events in professional wrestling all in a two-hour program. We even have a few games, a detention segment, as well as interviews.
New Guest This Week! Stay Tuned!
Already on the archives we interviewed Jose Marrero (Wrestling Rumblings), Matt O’Brien (Notes from the Nosebleeds), Crystal Mai from Diva-Dirt.com, CJ Bowman and Nicholas Gray (co-hosts of The Velvet Room), The YouTube Sensation who had choice words to CM Punk, ROH Wrestler Colt Cabana, and Former WWE Diva Aloisia! For $4.99 a month, you get all of this along with many other hours of content from the other shows on the Wrestleview Radio Network. Soon, we will plan on more guests.
David Stephens (That’s A Wrap and Raw recapper) and I have a weekly Internet show only on the Wrestleview Radio Network. It does cost a bit of money, but we will do our best to make it worth it. If you want to be a part of the Lounge for our “E-mails” section, you may drop us a line at lounge@Wrestleview.com. To sign up, click here.