Michael’s Musings – The Golden Mike Awards

It is the end of the year and everyone is talking about the best that professional wrestling has had to offer in the past year. 2012 has been a hell of a year in the world of professional wrestling and everyone seems to have a different opinion about what was the greatest things. I thought it would only be fair to post my awards for the best of TNA and WWE Wrestling, it is a little award I like the call The Golden Mike.

Wrestler of the Year:
Bobby Roode.

Bobby Roode came into his own this year as a singles wrestler and as a World Champion. He reclaimed what a heel should be in pro wrestling and was the only wrestler that seemed to be consistantly over in his character, people wanted to see him lose the World Title that he held for nine months. His feuds have been entertaining and he put on amazing matches with the likes of AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, and Austin Aries.

Diva of the Year:
Eve

2012 has really been a disappointment on terms of Divas and Knockouts, the one bright spot in the Women’s Wrestling World has been Eve. After turning on Zack Ryder, attempting to seduce John Cena, and hiring a hit woman to take out Kaitlyn so she could become the Divas Champion again. Eve became the #1 Heel in the business by giving herself a well rounded character, even if she is stealing from Melina and Madison Rayne to do it.

Tag Team of the Year
Team Hell No

There is no other team that should even qualify for this award while tag team wrestling seems to be getting a Renaissance in WWE, it has been all about Kane and Daniel Bryan. They have put on great matches while defending their title and their backstage segments have been some of the most entertaining footage the WWE has been out in years.

Breakout Star of the Year:
Dolph Ziggler

Dolph Ziggler was one of those wrestlers much like Kofi Kingston and Wade Barrett who have an amazing skill set but seemed to have been put in midcard hell for the major of 2012 but at Money in the Bank, Ziggler began a rise to the top that could not be equaled. Ziggler got back to back wins over WWE’s two biggest stars, John Cena, and Randy Orton in back to back pay-per-views. If Ziggler continues to work at this pace, it will be his name on the Wrestler of the Year trophy next year.

Newcomer of the Year:
Antonio Cesaro

Antonio Cesaro has an amazing skill set and he has used that talent to become a great Anti-American superstar, something that rarely works in professional wrestling these day. As the Anti-American US Champions, Cesaro has pretty much saved the United States Championship from its banality.

Match of the Year
John Cena vs The Rock

After a year of build up, John Cena and The Rock tore down the house and Wrestlemania this year. Their match had the four elements that the Match of the Year needs, great storytelling, great promo work, great wrestling, and the belief that either one of the wrestlers could win.

Comeback of the Year:
Jeff Hardy

After a disastrous 2011 filled with legal and drug problems, Jeff Hardy came back to Impact Wrestling with the goal of becoming the man that he used to be. He became the man that the fans could be pound to cheer again. After winning the Bound for Glory Series, Jeff Hardy went on to become the TNA World Champion again. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to hope that Jeff Hardy truly changed and this is the man he will continue to be.

Disappointment of the Year
WWE Kills Zack Ryder

At the beginning of the year, Zack Ryder was one of the most over talents in the company and their was no arena in the country that would not chant along with the Woo Woo Woos that Zack Ryder would put out. For whatever reason, whether it was Zack not wanting to had over his Z! True Long Island Stories web series or the fact that Vince McMahon hates when someone gets themselves over with the WWE machine behind them, Zack Ryder’s push was over as quickly as it began.

Shock of the Year
The Big Show vs Sheamus at Hell in a Cell

There is no one in creation that could have predicted how good this match would have been, especially given the people that were involved in it. Sheamus and The Big Show put on arguably the best match of their combined careers. Both of them had been build as unstoppable juggernauts that could not be stopped but it was The Big Show that claimed the title and finally is given a long overdue lengthy World Title reign.

Worst Storyline of the Year
AJ Styles Is NOT The Father.

AJ Styles is without a doubt one of the greatest wrestlers in the industry but he has been disgracefully misused since the Hogan/Bischoff regime took over Impact Wrestling. This was never more evident then with this horrible Baby Daddy storyline. This storyline was without a doubt one of the worst things of 2012 and it went on far to long. Thankfully the Internet Wrestling Community found out about the actress that played Claire Lynch and forced TNA to end the insanity.

Hopes for 2013 (Some of these are jokes…)
Kofi Kingston Turns Heel and Becomes a World Champion.
AJ Styles finds his way back to the World Title scene.
The Hardys, John Morrison, MVP and Shelton Benjamin make their WWE returns
Richie Steamboat and Kassius Ohno are brought to the Main Roster.
TNA stops wasting the talent of Mickie James and Mr. Anderson
TNA will stop getting storylines from FX’s shows
Ryback and Big E. Langston form a tag team called Ry-BacknBlack
Brock Lesnar decides to leave WWE again and tries out for Arena Football.
John Cena vs The Undertaker is signed for Wrestlemania.

Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling thoughts, if you would like to read more of them, follow me on Twitter @TheMichaelG85