Nerdly Wrestling Awards – Week Three
Welcome to the third Nerdly Wrestling Awards, right here on Nerdly. I’m Nathan Favel and we have some interesting matches to cover from throughout the week. Let’s… talk about other people… pretending… to kick some ass!
Worst Promo:
Triple H Disparages A Talking Corpse (WWE)
Triple H cut a promo on The Undertaker that was from the old “screw the business” book that Triple H wrote in 1999. The idea here was to bury The Undertaker as weak and pathetic. Sadly, some of the crowd actually cheered for Triple H in this tirade. The goal appears to be to make Triple H the hero, which is as dumb a decision as any other that involved Triple H winning the title. The idea that Triple H is seeking revenge for The Undertaker disparaging Shawn Michaels feels cheap. This match worked far better when it was just about the spirit of competition. Hell, Triple H even cut this promo in the stupid suit, which took the edge away from it, immediately.
Final Words: After looking at all of the various promos of the week, this was still the worst promo from any wrestling league we cover.
Best Promo:
Jonathan Gresham Sudden Death Plea (Ring Of Honor)
Gresham had just lost the Iron-Man match for the ROH World Title and wanted to fight until either he or Jay Lethal could break the tie that had occurred and stood as the final result. Gresham got his wish and we had Sudden Death.
Final Words: Gresham showed a lot in this promo and really proved that being a great talker should only mean saying what needs to be said when it’s necessary.
Worst Moment:
Joe Hendry’s MTV Refusal (Impact Wrestling)
Joe Hendry turned down Katarina… with a music video.
Final Words: Not only did this serve as a cheap way to move the feud between Katarina and Joe Hendry/Grado, but it also served as the match itself, more or less.
Best Moment:
Renee-Mania Is Running Wild! (WWE)
Renee Young became the new, permanent commentator for Raw, replacing the frequently awful Jonathan Coachman, who still has not answered for his sexual harassment accusations to the court of public opinion or of our country… at least without an arrogant/elitist attitude. Renee will need some time to get really good at her job, but she has the foundation to be an excellent commentator.
Final Words: Paquette power, baby… food! Renee is very much a journeyman candidate that has been given this position. People seem pretty pleased to have her as a Raw commentator and I am among them.
Worst Trend:
Great Potential Comes Up Short (WWE, Impact Wrestling, Ring Of Honor)
This week saw three leagues put quality matches into a position to fail by taking away their logical length.
Final Words: People don’t tune into wrestling to watch five minutes of head-locks. People want a good seventeen minutes of action per bout, because it’s a good length. There’s nothing wrong with fourteen or fifteen or sixteen either, but you need to be careful not to get to low on the clock, because chopping away minutes to save time is a technique that can get out of hand quickly.
Best Trend:
Main Events Deliver (Lucha Underground, Major League Wrestling and Ring Of Honor)
This week, we had numerous main events that made a big impact. These main events promised great wrestling with great stakes and we got what was promised, in spades.
Final Words: The main event is supposed to be a big deal and when it is, why deny it?
Worst Wrestler:
Elias
Elias is getting better, but he could make sugar taste like salt with his wrestling technique.
Final Words: Boy, do I feel bad about this. I like Elias and I’m glad he’s gotten a strong following on Raw, but he just isn’t pushing himself to be more than his success will allow, at this point. Elias needs to get gutsy if he’s going to keep his fandom. Elias has got to protect his character more, because he is going to keep getting booked in bad angles until he can scare Vince off of ridiculing him with those awful concerts he’s forced to play.
Best Wrestler:
Sami Callihan/Jeremiah Snake
Sami had a great week as a top-tier athlete for Impact Wrestling, Major League Wrestling and Lucha Underground, either in matches or vignettes.
Final Words: The man dominated three promotions in one week. You can’t get any better than that. Sami is the anti-Elias, in terms of protecting his character and not resting on his laurels.
Worst Match:
Alisha vs. Katarina
The following is courtesy of ImpactWrestling.com: Before the match can get underway, Grado and Joe Hendry interrupt. Last week, Katarina revealed that she didn’t have feelings for Grado anymore but she was interested in Hendry! Hendry plays his newest music video where he gives Katarina his response — “access denied!” The bell rings and Alisha rolls up Katarina for the quick victory!
My Take: This sucked. Who in the hell thought this was a good idea? This is why TNA/Impact is only selling out 1,300-1,800 people in New York, instead of 10,000. This was one of the worst matches of the year.
Best Match:
- World Champion Austin Aries w/ Moose & Killer Kross versus Fallah Bahh w/ KM – World Championship Match (Impact Wrestling)
- WAR GAMES Match- Dreamer, Brazil, Hughes, Hennigan, Strickland versus Callihan, Scott, Fulton, Havoc, Abyss (Major League Wrestling)
- Reptile Tribe (Kobra Moon, Daga, Jeremiah Snake) versus Lucha Super Friends (Aerostar, Fenix, Drago) for the Lucha Underground Trios Championship (Lucha Underground)
- Jay Lethal versus Jonathan Gresham – 30 Minute Iron-Man Match For The Ring Of Honor World Title (Ring Of Honor)
- Ronda Rousey & Natalya versus Alexa Bliss & Mickie James (WWE)
Winner: Jay Lethal versus Jonathan Gresham – 30 Minute Iron-Man Match For The Ring Of Honor World Title (Ring Of Honor)
Final Words: This was an incredible match between two great athletes. There was a pedigree of skill here that can’t be denied, even with the controversy surrounding Jay Lethal concerning his sexual assault allegations. What a great match and a worthy victor for match of the week.
Worst League:
WWE
The WWE had a series of dull cards that were saved by the extensive inclusion of the women of Vince’s roster. Final Words: How can the most successful wrestling league in the world be so bad, so consistently, for over thirty years?
Best League:
Major League Wrestling
MLW presented their War Games card and had a resounding success. Final Words: It was a difficult decision that came down to Major League Wrestling and Ring Of Honor, but I gave it to MLW because they had the good sense to not air their opener cut in half as Ring Of Honor did. MLW presented their one, lone match as a major event and used the atmosphere to promote their next big card, which made that feel just as important. When you get that much right, you just can’t deny how much credit you deserve.
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Final Verdict: 3.5 out of 5 – This week in wrestling was excellent and had some great matches, some of whom were marred by the bad booking used to get us to the Promised Land, so to speak.
