KB’s Review: And the Winners Are…..

This past Monday we saw the annual Slammy Awards with the best of the best in the WWE being recognized by the fans. Counting those given out on the pre-show, there were eighteen awards given out on Monday. This week I’m going to take a look at each of the awards and the nominees to see which the fans (whose votes I’m sure were completely legitimate all night long) got right.

I’ll list the nominees for each award with the winners in bold.

Tag Team of the Year

New Day
Usos
Prime Time Players
Tyson Kidd and Cesaro
Lucha Dragons

We’re not off to a great start here as the Usos win in a very questionable selection. They’ve barely been together half the year but now they’re the best team? This has been an off year for the Usos due to an injury and I really don’t get the logic here aside from they’re popular at the moment. Of course this should go to New Day, who have been one of the most hilarious teams in several years. If that’s not your thing, they’re also the only team to win the Tag Team Titles multiple times this year. This really shouldn’t have been much of a contest.

Hashtag of the Year

GiveDivasAChance
SaveTheTables
AxelMania
RKOOUTTANOWHERE
SuplexCity

I don’t have much to say here as I’m really not a Twitter guy. However, Suplex City was one of the biggest chants of the year and the shirt with the road sign was a funny idea so I can’t complain much on this one.

Celebrity Moment of the Year

Stephen Amell Dives Onto Stardust
Cast of Entourage Introduces Zack Ryder
Machine Gun Kelly Gets Powerbombed Off the Stage
Jon Stewart Gets Involved in John Cena’s Match at Summerslam
Wayne Rooney Slaps King Barrett

This is another miss for me while Amell’s dive was cool, Stewart’s interference cost Cena the WWE World Title in a major pay per view. Amell’s spot came in a nothing match built around him. I really don’t get this one as Stewart is a bigger star in a bigger moment with a bigger impact. Amell’s is more fun to watch though and that’s what these awards are supposed to be about, but I don’t get it.

Tell Me You Didn’t Just Say That Moment of the Year

Dean Ambrose Calls Seth Rollins “Justin Bieber”
Seth Rollins Calls Johnny Manziel “Johnny Idiot Face”
Brock Lesnar Coins “Suplex City”
Seth Rollins Disses Kane
Paige Spoils Charlotte’s WWE Divas Championship Celebration

Again, there isn’t much to say here. Suplex City is one of the things people remember the most about “Wrestlemania XXXI” and it’s become one of the biggest chants of the year. I barely remember any of the other nominees so there isn’t much of an argument here.

Best John Cena US Open Challenge Opponent

Cesaro
Dolph Ziggler
Sami Zayn
Dean Ambrose
Neville

You could really pick any one of these choices and not go wrong. The US Open Challenge was one of the best things to happen in WWE all year if not on the top of the list. Cesaro kept getting closer and closer to the top of the card but then he jacked up his shoulder and had to go to the sidelines. His match with Cena was outstanding and they had me believing that Cesaro would take the title. That happened many times and Cesaro was one of the best instances so I have no problem here.

Rivalry of the Year

Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
John Cena vs. Rusev
Team Bella vs. Team BAD vs. Team PCB
Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton

This is one where there isn’t a runaway winner and none of the choices are really much to get excited about. Undertaker and Lesnar had some really good matches so I can’t complain much about them winning, but it wouldn’t have popped to my head as the best rivalry all year. I’ll take it over the rest of the choices but nothing here is anything head and shoulders above the rest.

Double Cross of the Year

Jon Stewart Costs John Cena the WWE United States Championship At Summerslam
Randy Orton Turns on Seth Rollins
Paige Attacks Charlotte and Becky Lynch
Stardust Turns on Goldust
Damien Mizdow Eliminates Miz From the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

None of these do much for me but I’d have gone with Paige instead of Mizdow. Stewart attacking Cena really wasn’t a double cross as they were barely friends in the first place. Orton turning on Rollins was one of the most obvious “twist” in history. Stardust turning on Goldust was nothing special. Mizdow eliminating Miz was good but then he lost to Big Show about five minutes later. That leaves us with Paige, which was at least part of a good story and helped get us away from the far too long Divas team story. I’ll take Paige here but it’s hardly a runaway.

Surprise Return of the Year

Chris Jericho at Night of Champions
Dudley Boyz at Monday Night Raw on August 24
Sting at Monday Night Raw on August 24
Alberto Del Rio and Zeb Colter at Hell in a Cell
Kane at Night of Champions

Let’s get Jericho and Kane out of the way to start because Kane is never a surprise and Jericho returns once a year so it was more a matter of time than a shock. Sting was a nice surprise and a good choice but it made sense to have him come back to right a wrong. However, I’m going with the Dudley Boyz in a very close win over Del Rio, only because Colter introduced Del Rio while the Dudley Boyz just appeared with their signature entrance. That actually made my head snap around, which is more than enough to be the best surprise of the year.

Best Original WWE Network Show

Breaking Ground
Table For 3
Stone Cold Podcast
WWE 24
Swerved

All of these are good, but is the “Stone Cold Podcast” really even an original show? I mean, if it’s been around for years before you actually air it, that kind of prevents it from being original. Therefore, I’ll take “WWE 24” as it showcases so many cool stories that you’re never going to see anywhere else. I mean, where else are you going to get a quick documentary on the Usos? They’re not getting a full biography DVD so why not throw up something cool on the Network? “WWE 24” is the winner here, but almost any of them are good options.

Superstar of the Year

Every Superstar on the Roster

The winner here was Seth Rollins, who I would have given the award last year. Instead, I’d go with Cena here as the US Open Challenge became one of the best things to happen to “Monday Night Raw” in a very long time and that was because of Cena having great match after great match. When you’re tearing up the ring almost every single week, you’re pretty far ahead of anyone else on the roster. Cena should have won here, though it’s very telling that the award went to a heel like Rollins.

This is Awesome Moment of the Year

Brock Lesnar Destroys J&J’s Car
Randy Orton Counters Seth Rollins’ Curb Stomp into an RKO
The Divas Revolution Begins
Shield Reunites for a Triple Powerbomb
The Rock and Ronda Rousey at Wrestlemania

Now we’re getting somewhere as all of these are legitimate options. The RKO may have been done better before but Orton LAUNCHED him into that thing. The Divas Revolution was a really fun moment that would have won had it been the organic story they had been building and not Stephanie McMahon just deciding that it was happening. Shield reuniting was cool and seemed to be a quick trailer for the huge reunion that’s coming one day.

That leaves Rock and Rousey which is a really good choice and something I can go with on top. The look on Rousey’s face really did make me believe she was going to kill McMahon, but since it’s the boss, the best we could settle for was a little cranking on the arm. I can’t imagine Rousey won’t be back someday so this was a very nice preview of things to come.

Breakout Star of the Year

Kevin Owens
Neville
Charlotte
Tyler Breeze
Braun Strowman

Are you kidding? Neville came in with a good debut and was stuck in the midcard about a month later. Owens debuted and pinned Cena in the middle of the ring on a pay per view. I think that ends my argument because that’s one of the best debuts that anyone has ever had. Owens should have won this with no arguments.

Diva of the Year

Nikki Bella
Naomi
Paige
Sasha Banks
Charlotte

As unpopular as this one is, I think they made the right call here. Bella was the Divas Champion for most of the year and set the record for longest reign of all time. She was even getting better in the ring and while I found her promos cringe worthy most of the time, she was a lot better than she had been to start the year. The rest of the options were either in NXT most of the time or didn’t do much on the main roster. Bella was the right call here and it really wasn’t close.

Extreme Moment of the Year

Brock Lesnar and Undertaker Brawl at Raw on July 20
Luke Harper Powerbombs Dean Ambrose Through a Ladder at Wrestlemania XXXI
Seth Rollins Breaks John Cena’s Nose at Raw on July 27
Roman Reigns Attacks Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and Triple H at Tables Ladders and Chairs
Neville Dives off a Ladder at Smackdown on June 11

Yeah this is another pretty easy one. The Lesnar/Undertaker brawl isn’t memorable, we’ve seen the powerbomb through a ladder before, Cena’s nose was a fluke and the ladder dive has been done better. Reigns attacking those guys was a game changer for him though and helped make the pay per view even better. This is another easy one without a close second place.

Match of the Year

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania XXXI
Sting vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania XXXI
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber
Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Alberto Del Rio at Raw on October 26
Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker at Hell in a Cell

I can’t get behind this one though it’s certainly not the worst choice. Lesnar and Undertaker beat the tar out of each other in that match, but if there’s one thing that’s better than Lesnar beating up one person, it’s Lesnar beating up two people at the same time. That’s why I’ll take the triple threat match as they went at it as hard as they could, making Rollins a star in the process. It’s been my (main roster) match of the year all year long and it still is now.

OMG Shocking Moment of the Year

Seth Rollins Cashes in Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania XXXI
Brock Lesnar Attacks Everyone to Get His Championship Rematch at Raw on March 30
Kalisto Hits Salida Del Sol Through a Ladder at Tables Ladders and Chairs
The Wyatt Family Attacks and Carries Off the Undertaker at Hell in a Cell
Sheamus Cashes in Money in the Bank at Survivor Series

As much as I can’t stand the concept, this should have gone to Rollins with Money in the Bank. Sheamus was one of the multiple options people were expecting to close the show. The Wyatt attack was a surprise but not a great one. The Salida Del Sol is a very strong second place and it’s a wonder Kalisto didn’t get hurt. Lesnar attacking people when he’s mad is more expected than shocking. Rollins on the other hand was a genuine surprise that actually got me. The stage made it even better and should give it this award with relative ease.

LOL Moment of the Year

Edge and Christian Bring Back the Kazoo
Bushwhackers’ Hall of Fame Induction Speech
Miz and Damien Mizdow’s Erectile Dysfunction Commercial
New Day Get Stephanie McMahon and Triple H to dance
R-Truth Thinks He’s in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Miz and Mizdow and the dancing weren’t funny so we’ll write those off to start. The speech had good moments but it went on too long to really be great. That leaves Edge and Christian with their old school greatness and R-Truth being insane. You really could pick either but R-Truth gave me a stronger laugh so I’ll take that.

The Hero in All of Us Award

Big Show
John Cena
Natalya
Roman Reigns
Titus O’Neil

This was an award for the best charity work and the result was almost never in doubt. Cena has been the king of charity in WWE for years now and he was the right choice here. Well as right as a choice can be when you’re comparing how successful someone is with charity work.

Overall this was a pretty run of the mill Slammy Awards. You had a lot of moments that really didn’t warrant being brought up again and some moments that were clearly going to win the second they were announced. It does a good job of serving as a year in review show as well as setting up some storylines going forward. Most of the winners were fine and there were only a few that were ridiculous. It’s good fun though and that’s all it needed to be.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book of the History of Wrestlemania at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0188BJRGU

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