2011 Lo-Down Wrestling Awards

Hi everyone, I hope you had a Merry Christmas. It’s Boxing Day and that means that it is time for the inaugural Lo-Down Wrestling Awards. All winners will get well...nothing. Well, a picture of their award and a mention on twitter. It’s the least I can do. What I done is list the winners, with a brief explanation. However, for Moment of the Year, Wrestler of the Year and Match of the Year, I’ve gone into more detail about them and they will be published over the next few days. So, here we go. If you want a look at the nominations, click here.

PPV of the Year

Money in the Bank

Can anyone think of a PPV that had almost universal praise, an awesome atmosphere and one of the best storylines in years going into it? No, me neither. Everything about this event was excellent, from the atmosphere throughout to the matches, which had a brilliant ending. Even the commentary, which has been abysmal at times throughout the year, was pretty decent. This is one of the best PPVs WWE have done in years; and the fact that it had LDW Nominations for Match of the Year (twice), Promo Video of the Year and Surprising Moment of the Year, speaks for itself.

Moment of the Year

The Promo by CM Punk

I have an in-depth article about this moment but here is the video.

Promo Video of the Year

The Miz, Wrestlemania XXVII

At Wrestlemania for the main event, WWE decided to do something a little different. Instead of doing a promo video, they showed a video showcasing each wrestler. For The Miz, it showed clips of various famous wrestlers and Wrestlemania moments interspersed with moments with Miz’s career. It showed on the Real World, being on Tough Enough, being the host of Friday Night Smackdown, and winning the WWE Champonship. The music that they used was “Hate Me Now” by Nas and Puff Daddy, which really fitted the video and Miz’s character. To me, it showed that The Miz had arrived as a main event player and really emphasised how awesome he is.

Feud of the Year

CM Punk vs John Cena June – August

Even though this feud only lasted a couple of months, so much happened during that time. You had Punk doing his shoot promo; Cena getting Punk reinstated and getting threatened with losing his job by Vince; Punk leaving the company with the WWE Championship; Vince McMahon being replaced by Triple H; and Punk returning just after Cena wins the “WWE Championship”. While I feel that Punk should have waited a bit longer before returning, this feud made people want to watch wrestling again.

Match of the Year

CM Punk vs John Cena, Money in the Bank.

This match had a brilliant storyline going into it and with it, a lot of pressure. This match truly delivered. There will be an in-depth article about it during the week.

 “Ok, I Did Not See That Coming” Surprising Moment of the Year

Alberto Del Rio winning the Royal Rumble

Alberto Del Rio had only been in the WWE for a few months so hardly anyone expected to win his first ever Royal Rumble. However, despite a brief scare when he forgot that Santino Marella had not been eliminated, Del Rio did exactly that and he went on to have a tremendous year culminating in becoming a 2-time WWE Champion.

Douchebag of the Year

Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy gets released from his contract at TNA, gets arrested twice for driving while intoxicated, goes into WWE-sponsored rehab and then gets kicked off and arrested for failing a breathalyser test.

Then Hardy puts up a video on YouTube, implying that he was going to commit suicide. This prompts phone calls to the police to check Hardy’s wellbeing. This drew criticism from Jim Ross and Hardy’s sister-in-law.

Worst Match of the Year

Sting vs Jeff Hardy, TNA Victory Road

This wasn’t so much a match as a complete joke. The main event at Victory Road was for the TNA World Championship between Sting and Jeff Hardy. Hardy comes out completely out of it on painkillers, spends ages finding somewhere to throw his T-Shirt. Sting, obviously pissed, hits Hardy with a Scorpion Death Drop and pins Hardy in 88 seconds. Although it was a joke of a match, there was one funny moment when Sting is going back up the aisle and he hears one fan’s bad feelings about what happened, Sting replies “I agree”. Looking back on it now, I don’t know what pisses me off more about Jeff Hardy and TNA: the fact that TNA allowed Hardy to compete in that match in the first place; or Hardy has become No. 1 contender a few months after he returned.

 Most Improved Wrestler of the Year

Mark Henry

You can remember what Mark Henry was doing this time last year? No? Me neither. The most memorable that Henry did in 2010 was him coming out to his “Sexual Chocolate” gimmick at the Old School RAW. Since Henry was drafted to Smackdown and he turned heel, he has been slowly destroying people and inducting people into the “Hall of Pain”, resulting in him defeating Randy Orton cleanly at Night of Champions to become the World Heavyweight Championship. Henry had a domnating run as Champion defeating Orton and The Big Show (twice) before losing it to Show at TLC. Henry has had such a meteoric rise this year and I hope that he continues to be like that in 2012.

Female Wrestler of the Year

Beth Phoenix

Beth Phoenix has proved one of the most dominating female wrestlers in the WWE right now. Aligning herself with Natalya to form the Legion Divas of Doom, Beth defeated Kelly Kelly (at the third attempt) at Hell in a Cell to become Divas Champion. Despite challenges by Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres, Phoenix has ended the year as the Champion and looks to be that way for the foreseeable future.

Wrestler of the Year

CM Punk

Without a doubt, this has been Punk’s year. While many people have had amazing years, I don’t know that they have had a much of an impact as CM Punk. A more in-depth article will be published during the week.

There are the awards. I will edit the article during the week to include the links for the articles for Moment of the Year, Match of the Year and Wrestler of the Year.