2018 Wrestling Nominations: Negative

[Otto Dem Wanz]

Worst pro wrestler - Nia Jax, Brock Lesnar

Worst match of the year - The DX vs BoD fiasco

Worst Event - Crown Jewel.

Biggest letdown (Anticlimax of the Year) - AJ vs Naka from Wrestlemania, WWE's writing in general

Stupidest Moment of the Year - Still doing Crown Jewel, Brock winning the title again, Smackers getting squashed at Survivors. 

[PunkStep]

I haven't watched a huge amount of wrestling, so this may be heavily weighted towards the first few months of the year (I pretty much gave up after Mania).

 

Worst Wrestler - Shane McMahon, Baron Corbin

Worst Match - Lesnar VS Reigns @ Mania

Biggest Letdown - Asuka winning the Rumble only to lose the Mania match AND drop down the card to be a nobody for so long, real heat-killer. AJ Styles VS Nakamura at Mania. World of Sport Wrestling.

Stupidest Moment - Reigns losing to Brock at Mania. WWE agreeing a long-term deal with Saudi Arabia.

[WeeAl]

Worst pro wrestler - Baron Corbin, all day. Followed by Nia Jax and Sasha Banks (a toss up between her and Bayley due to their dreadful feud)

Worst match of the year - DX Vs Brothers of Destruction will win here, but Corbin and Jax were in some bad matches constantly and it's hard to pick them all, so for the craic I'll slot in the random Corbin Vs Balor (Raw 27.08.2018) and Nia Jax Vs Alexa Bliss at Backlash.

Worst Event - 

Backlash

Raw 25

Crown Jewel

Biggest letdown (Anticlimax of the Year)

Raw 25, AJ Vs Nakamura not living up to the hype, Shawn Michaels return.

Stupidest Moment of the Year

WWE Not having the balls to put the title on Roman at either Mania or the first Saudi show,

WWE getting into bed with Saudi Arabia

Not using Raw 25 as a platform for a hot new angle or to feature a potential new star strongly. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by WeeAl

[tiger_rick]

This hurts me to say it because I'm a big fan of the posters who this refers to but nominating Brock Lesnar as the worst pro-wrestler is absolute fucking idiocy. I get the negative side to him not showing up much and I even get that some of his matches have been are formulaic over the past few years but he's just shown recently that he is magnificent at the wrestling lark with his superb match with Daniel Bryan. That match with Roman Reigns at Mania is nowhere near this debate either. There are 20 matches on TV every single week of the year worse than that one.

You lot are lunatics sometimes. Lunatics.

[Grecian]

Worst pro wrestler – Jinder Mahal (he’s just unremittingly awful and has to be a contender for quickest plummet down the card from being a world champ since Jack Swagger), Bobby Lashley (for a guy the size he is with the athletic ability he has, he should be being booked as an absolute killer).

Worst match of the year – Brothers of Destruction vs DX, Undertaker vs Triple H and for a non-part-timer, the Backlash match with AJ vs Nakamura both walloping each other in the balls for a draw.

Worst Event – Crown Jewel and not just for the stupidity in going ahead with it, the matches were terrible and the Shane O’Mac ending was the most obvious trolling WWE have done in years. Backlash was awful too.

Biggest letdown (Anticlimax of the Year) –AJ vs Nakamura being as crap as it was without a match anywhere near as good as their talent should have made it. The Greatest Royal Rumble being about 95% jobbers. Would it really have been so difficult to get some of the big names who had singles matches earlier in the card to pull double-duty? The years of build-up and history between Miz and Bryan being utterly wasted.

Stupidest Moment of the Year – Crown Jewel. Everything about it, aside from the bump to Vince’s wallet. Drake Maverick. Braun Strowman winning MITB and then cashing in for a Hell In a Cell match? Why?

[WeeAl]

1 hour ago, Grecian said:

Worst pro wrestler – Jinder Mahal (he’s just unremittingly awful and has to be a contender for quickest plummet down the card from being a world champ since Jack Swagger), Bobby Lashley (for a guy the size he is with the athletic ability he has, he should be being booked as an absolute killer).

Certainly two that are worthy of any list. If I had more spaces, there's a good chance they'd be filling it out. 

[FLips]

Worst pro wrestler - Nia Jax
She's just offensively and dangerously poor in every aspect. She's crap on the mic, dangerous in the ring, and pushed because she has a famous relative. She's morbidly obese but isn't booked consistently like someone her size should be. There's nothing wrong with a big fat wrestler but outside of a small few they're usually the shits and she's no exception.

Kassius Ohno - See above. A big podgy mess with little to no upside. Doesn't look like a wrestler, looks like a deadbeat cousin your parents hate.

Worst match of the year - Undertaker and Kane vs HBK and HHH

Embarrassing from start to finish. HHH is the only one of them who can still go and doesn't look like shit and he got injured halfway through the match. HBK soiled arguably the best wrestler retirement ever by coming back a frail bald old todger and putting on this -5* slog. 

Worst Event - Crown Jewel

Poor from start to finish. Not a single memorable match on the card other than Shane McMahon winning a tournament he was never a part of and the main event I nominated for being so awful.

Biggest letdown (Anticlimax of the Year) - Daniel Bryan having no payoff with Miz

Stupidest Moment of the Year - Nia Jax can't work a punch and smashes Becky Lynch in the face

[PunkStep]

Oh shit, I forgot about Spud pissing himself for stupidest moment. Truly awful.

[tiger_rick]

4 hours ago, PunkStep said:

Oh shit, I forgot about Spud pissing himself for stupidest moment. Truly awful.

+1

Also WWE putting their tag title on a kid.

[Alex Wright Mark]

Worst pro wrestler
Nia Jax
Baron Corbin
 

Worst match of the year
The Undertaker vs Triple H - WWE Super Show Down
The Undertaker and Kane vs DX - WWE Crown Jewel
Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns - WWE WrestleMania 34

Worst Event
WWE Crown Jewel
WWE Backlash
WWE Raw 25
 

Biggest letdown (Anticlimax of the Year)
World Of Sport 
Shawn Michaels's return match being in a shit tag team match at a show that shouldn't have happened

 

Stupidest Moment of the Year
Going ahead with Crown Jewel
Trying to turn Becky Lynch heel
Shane McMahon winning the Best of the World tournament

[Keith Houchen]

Haven't watched enough to warrant legitimate opinions but for Stupidest Moment, Austin Aries no selling the finish at Bound For Glory. He was a right bellend the whole time but it all went nowhere.

[MPDTT]

Hmmm, I'm not going to vote on these awards.....not a fan of focusing on the negative. But @Keith Houchen and I can agree on Austin Aries.....

[Kamaras-Tash]

Has Aries appeared since? I've missed a fair few episodes of Impact but can't remember seeing him 

[dopper]

Worst Wrestler:

Nia Jax

EC3

 

Worst Match:

John Cena vs Undertaker at WrestleMania

Edited December 27, 2018 by dopper

[Supremo]

Worst pro wrestler

The performances of both NIA JAX and BRIE BELLA this year proved neither of them belongs on live, national television. Luckily though, they only ever appeared in short, crap matches. That wasn't the case for BARON CORBIN though, who became the most featured character on the flagship show. Fuck me. Never has someone so shit been presented so prominently.

At least in the past, whenever we had to endure Vince's fetish for useless lanky blokes, they normally only featured in one or two segments maximum. Sure, Heidenreich or Great Khali might be absolutely dreadful, but if we can put up with their matches it'll only be a matter of time before Vince gives up, turns them into a comedy character and then eventually gets rid. This is the first time it feels like he's smeared this shit all over his show though. Corbin was everywhere, in loads of segments, long opening promos, long main event matches, and not once was he anything better than completely rubbish. Bad matches, bad promos, toxic character, shit look. If your push leaves the McMahon Family with no other alternative than to apologise to the viewer live on air, you must be really, really bad.

 

Worst match of the year

SHAWN MICHAELS & TRIPLE H VS. KANE & THE UNDERTAKER is winning this hands-down. A tragic mess from conception to execution, I really hope Shawn enjoys the blood money because that's the only positive to come out of this pile of shit. I did laugh at Kane's mask falling off though. So fitting that he had a twenty-year career without that happening, only for it to happen in this match.

BROCK LESNAR VS. ROMAN REIGNS AT SUMMERSLAM was a real black eye. You've done such a bad job of setting the match up, completely fucking up both Roman and Brock's characters to force through your terrible vision, that you have to essentially con everyone watching in order to just get through the match. Using Strowman's cash-in as a bait and switch to keep the fans in their seats, then cutting the feed the moment you've got the result you want. That was a really shitty, scummy thing to do. It felt the Montreal screwjob all over again, only instead of fucking over a wrestler they actually fucked over their own paying audience. And let's never forget they chose to do this rather than having Roman turn heel and join forces with Heyman, which they teased on television but then decided they knew better. Unbelievable.

ROMAN REIGNS VS. JINDER MAHAL AT MONEY IN THE BANK was so shit that most people managed to immediately forget it. Not me though. Terrible in concept, even worse when realised. Dog shit.

 

Worst Event

RAW 25 was an absolute chore to sit through. Segment after segment of absolutely nothing of note happening, despite them having everyone from forever at their disposal. Lazy writing at its worst. It could've been filled with cool, fun vignettes where guys of the past interact with the current crop. We could've had the Balor club attack DX and turn heel. John Cena could've attacked The Undertaker from behind. Some of the women could've at the very least announced their Royal Rumble participation to build up some excitement. Nope. Nothing. Just keep bringing out people from the past to do nothing. Look, that guy who made a cameo on the last nostalgia show is here again. The only saving grace was the cheek they had charging people so much money to sit in the Manhattan Centre and watch the show on the big screen. That took real balls.

BACKLASH was the type of show where you're left wondering why you're wasting your time watching this shit. Nothing but stinkers up and down the card. I specifically remember them cutting to a crowd shot at the very end of the Roman vs. Joe match and every single person looked pissed off or bored, immediately grabbing their coats to go home unsatisfied. It spoke volumes.

CROWN JEWEL was obviously the worst of all though. Imagine bringing back self-admitted racist Hulk Hogan for a big show and it goes relatively under the radar because of all the other shit going on. Amazing. Might as well have inducted Chris Benoit into the Hall of Fame on that show, too.

 

Biggest letdown (Anticlimax of the Year)

DANIEL BRYAN'S RETURN between when he came down the ramp at Wrestlemania up until he kicked AJ Styles in the balls was an uninspiring, ill-conceived pile of shit. It should've been the easiest run in the world to book, yet they managed to fuck it all up from start to finish, leaving him in such a terrible position that the only way to salvage him was to turn Daniel Bryan into a heel. It still boggles the mind.

AJ STYLES VS. NAKAMURA AT WRESTLEMANIA was terribly disappointing. An average match, in front of a dead crowd, about seventeen hours into a show. If you're gonna sell something as a, "dream match," you better ensure it's at the very least the best match on the card. This was one of the worst.

My number one pick though is ASUKA winning the Royal Rumble, having a fantastic match at Wrestlemania, then falling off a cliff and spending the majority of the year getting outsmarted by Ellsworth, dancing with Naomi and acting like a confused toddler in interviews. Never good when such a talent becomes such an afterthought so quickly, even worse when you can almost guarantee that this is Vince's vision for where she should be slotted. It's a fucking miracle she remains as over as she is. Most members of the roster would never have recovered.

 

Stupidest Moment of the Year

Taking the Women's Division back about ten years with that CARMELLA TITLE REIGN was stupid enough at the time. Seeing what the other women on Smackdown have been capable of since makes it even worse. Pretty much carrying the entire company at the moment, the fact that all these girls were sacrificed in order for Carmella to have shit matches and terrible promos for months and months is fucking insane in retrospect.

ALLOWING CIAMPA VS. GARGANO TO FIZZLE OUT like they did breaks my heart. Best feud in years, purest babyface and heel dynamic in as long as I can remember, brilliant matches every single time, yet instead of doing the logical conclusion of Johnny winning the Title in a huge crescendo, he's instead turning heel and attacking Aleister Black?! The fuck?! I've not seen the cage match angle yet where DIY reunite. Reports are that it actually gets a good reaction. Fair enough, those guys are talented enough to make almost anything work, but still. You had the easiest angle in the world to finish naturally and you overcomplicated it to fuck. Worst of all, I still half expect them to try and go back to it early next year. I'm convinced Johnny will eventually win the belt. It's too late though. The boat's sailed, lads. The genie is out of the bottle. Once you've turned Johnny Gargano heel there's no coming back.

I hope it isn't considered bad taste to mention it considering the Leukemia diagnosis, but it was never about Roman himself. It was always about his portrayal. And you can't talk about stupid stuff in 2018 without mentioning THE CONTINUATION OF ROMAN'S BOTCHED PUSH. It's been a fucking mess for years, but this year may have been the biggest mess of all.

First, you have him losing to chumps like The Miz leading into his Wrestlemania main event. Then, after winning the Mania spot you have Strowman immediately beat the shit out of him at Elimination Chamber. Then you bottle it again at Wrestlemania and keep the title on Brock after all. Then we had that terrible stretch throughout the Summer of bad feuds and bad matches with Samoa Joe, Lashley and Jinder. Terrible scripting throughout, where each week they throw some more shit at the wall, hoping something might stick. It fails every time, with worse PPV crowd reactions each and every month. Then you had the con job at Summerslam that I've previously mentioned. Followed by the stupid Hell in a Cell deal where the newly turned heel is cashing in his briefcase in a Cell match to ensure a fair one and one encounter, only for it to be mired by interference and to end in a no-contest. Fuking HELL what a mess. What next? He comes back after beating cancer and then they decide to finally turn him heel? I honestly wouldn't put it past them.

The worst thing about their insistence on pushing Roman as the top babyface this year is what a wasteland it left behind. Seth Rollins catches on fire but they ignore it in favour of barreling ahead with Roman, eventually leaving Seth as a shell of his former self, getting boring chants in his matches. Then you've got Brock, who a year or so ago was by far their biggest attraction. Now, they've done such a good job of fucking him up, portraying him as a lazy, selfish prick that even hardcore fans have fallen for it in this very thread and are nominating him as worst wrestler of the year, regardless of how silly that is when held up to scrutiny. Then look at Strowman. He was on fire earlier in the year but he was turned heel in order to keep the Roman thing going and it did nothing but cool him off massively. And all of this is without looking at Roman himself. Poor bastard. The longer they continued this nonsense, constantly coming up with new, bad ideas to push it forward, all of which failed spectacularly, it ultimately did nothing but dig Roman a deeper and deeper hole for him to never get out of.

And worst of all, they stumbled across the one thing that could've saved him, that natural heel turn, joining forces with Heyman at Summerslam, and they decided they knew better and went in the opposite direction. They need only to look at the Becky Lynch thing to realise how stupid this whole thing has been for the longest time. They tried to push Becky as the whiny heel, the fans rejected it, they accepted they'd made a mistake, changed course and now she's the hottest star in the company. Just imagine if they'd been as flexible and dynamic with Roman once it became clear they weren't accepting him as a top babyface. He could've turned heel, allowed the fans to dictate when they did want to cheer him and by now he'd probably be one of the biggest babyfaces of all time.

Edited December 28, 2018 by Supremo