Tim Healys Chutney Spoon Posted December 27, 2024 Posted December 27, 2024 THE GOOD Best Women's Wrestler Toni Storm Best Men's Wrestler Will Ospreay, Swerve Strickland Best Tag Team The Outrunners Best British Wrestler - British Wrestler in any promotion, not just UK-based Will Ospreay Best Non-wrestler Renee Paquette, Prince Nana Best Event All In Best Wrestling Show Collision Best Feud or Angle Swerve v Hangman Funniest Moment Toni Storm promos/press conference Will Ospreay responding to Romford Recorder after All In. Best Heel Okada Best Babyface Swerve, Mark Briscoe, OC, Darby Allin Best Digital Content (previously Best Podcast) Moment of the Year Bryan Danielson at All In Match of the Year Danielson v Swerve All In Promo of the Year – can be an individual promo or a two-person back and forth but please be specific i.e. show and date Breakout Star Julia Hart, Outrunners THE BAD Biggest Letdown Jericho Worst Wrestler Jericho Worst Non-wrestler Jericho Worst Match Jericho v anyone Worst Event Full Gear Worst TV Show Dynamite has been too hit and miss this year.
Paid Members FLips Posted December 27, 2024 Paid Members Posted December 27, 2024 Hello please add Ricochet to my Worst Wrestler nominations. I haven’t seen any of his apparently opinion changing AEW stuff but I have seen he has a new Andrew Tate gimmick and I can’t be doing with that in any shape or form, kayfabe or not.
RIDDUM_N_STYLE Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 THE GOOD Best Women's Wrestler - Toni Storm Best Men's Wrestler - Cody Rhodes Best Tag Team - Nathan Frazer/Axiom Best British Wrestler - Will Ospreay Best Non-wrestler - Renee Paquette Best Event - All In or Wrestlemania 40 Best Wrestling Show - NXT Best Feud or Angle - Swerve vs Hangman or Punk vs McIntyre Funniest Moment - R Truth tries to be part of Judgement Day Best Heel - Dominik Mysterio Best Babyface - Cody Rhodes Best Digital Content (previously Best Podcast) - WWE Vault on YouTube Moment of the Year - ‘Finshed. The. Story’ or Danielson winning at Wembley Match of the Year - Punk vs McIntyre HIAC Promo of the Year – Jeff Jarrett talking about the Owen Cup Breakout Star - Bron Breakker THE BAD Biggest Letdown - Mercedes Mone Worst Wrestler - Ridge Holland Worst Non-wrestler - Alex Abrahantes Worst Match - Trick Williams vs Ridge Holland Worst Event - All Out Worst TV Show - NWA Powerrr, so bad it’s been kicked off the CW App and back to YouTube
Paid Members gmoney Posted January 2, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 2, 2025 (edited) Best Women's Wrestler Willow Nightingale Rhea Ripley Best Men's Wrestler CM Punk Drew McIntyre Cody Rhodes Best British Wrestler - British Wrestler in any promotion, not just UK-based Drew McIntyre Will Ospreay Best Event Wrestlemania XL Night 1 and 2 All In 2024 Best Feud or Angle CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre Best Heel Drew McIntyre Dom Mysterio Best Babyface Cody Rhodes Willow Nightingale Best Digital Content (previously Best Podcast) Wrestle Me Moment of the Year Cody wins the title Breakout Star Ludwig Kaiser THE BAD Biggest Letdown Jon Moxley wins the AEW title Death Riders Worst Wrestler Jon Moxley Worst Non-wrestler Justin Roberts Alex Marvez Alex Abrahantes Edited January 2, 2025 by gmoney Correcting Spelling
Paid Members JLM Posted January 4, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 4, 2025 (edited) Best Women's Wrestler Toni Storm Chelsea Green Willow Nightingale Kris Statlander Best Men's Wrestler Bryan Danielson. HUGE POST WARNING: Spoiler Bit of a Usain Bolt situation here, where it should be a toss up for me between Ospreay and Takeshita, but they just so happened to be up against the greatest of all time. That's not even including Swerve, who was spectacular this year as well. Some of Takeshita's highlights just because I think the round-up is warranted: One of the best TV matches of the year against Darby in January. The mindblowing spectacle with Ospreay at Revolution and a cracking TV match with Swerve the same month. Multiple bangers in DDT in the Spring/early Summer including a slobberknocker against Minoru Suzuki in May. Then there was his INSANE performance in the G1 Climax in New Japan. Following his run in that tournament was easily one of my wrestling highlights of the year. Giving Yota Tsuji two of the best singles matches of his career and a career-defining victory in the rematch, elevating Yuya Uemura from nearly-man to main event prospect, gloriously beefy slugfests with Jeff Cobb (my favourite 10 minute match of the year), HENARE and Oleg Boltin, once again giving the latter a star-making win in the process. He also showcased a range I didn't know he had in him in such a short space of time. He was the heel outsider trying to beat the home team heroes against Uemura and HENARE. He was the cocksure blue chipper next-gen obstacle for a sentimental favourite veteran against Goto. He was the babyface underdog battling seemingly impossible odds against Finlay and Narita. He was the ultimate test of confidence against an El Phantasmo in crisis. He did it all, he had the New Japan crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. He elevated his own stock massively, brought the house down every night and elevated almost every opponent he faced. I cannot praise this run enough. He also took a night off from the G1 to have an excellent hardcore brawl against Masato Tanaka in DDT. Then in October he had the completely batshit triple threat match with Ricochet and Ospreay at Wrestledream. A week after that on BACK TO BACK NIGHTS he delivered two of the best indy matches of the year against Speedball Mike Bailey and then Josh Alexander. Two wildly different styles as well. Overwhelmingly physically dominant against the speedy and elusive Bailey, then the polar opposite against Josh Alexander, who is one of the rare opponents who is a physical and technical match for him. If not for Danielson, Ospreay and AEW's ever-inconsistent handling of him, he would be an easy pick for men's wrestler of the year. Danielson though, just to confirm this wasn't just All In live event bias and the fact that he's retired, let's recap the year: January - Danielson/Okada 2 in the Tokyo Dome. I was higher on this than many. I loved the story of Danielson trying to break the Rainmaker arm and Okada trying to break the orbital bone. Danielson in his vicious bastard villain role he perfected during the Continental Classic and drawing great fire out of Okada and real concern from the Japanese audience. Ending was a bit abrupt and maybe these two never quite delivered the all-timer they should have, but this was still a cracker. - Danielson/Mox vs Kingston and Ortiz, with Danielson trying to rattle the newly unflappable Kingston and get into his head by hurting those he cares about. - Danielson vs Yuji Nagata. Nagata many years past his prime, limited mobility, the classic "AEW guy vs broken down Japanese legend" format had people pre-emptively rolling their eyes that this was the Collision main event. So of course it was a belter. Again just beautiful in-ring story telling, with the two being dead even in the technical/grappling game and Danielson having to find another gear and beat him in the intensity/war of attrition game. A slightly trimmed down version of a classic New Japan heavyweight main event which managed to captivate an American audience and massively over-deliver. Great character work either side of this too, with Danielson entering as Eddie was still celebrating a win, then Danielson giving Nagata an almost comical amount of respect to Nagata after the match, showing that he DOES respect the greats and those who push him to his limits, just not Eddie Kingston. February - Danielson vs Hechicero. One of the most joyous TV matches of the year. An eye-popping spectacle, a magnificent showcase for the brilliant Hechicero and Danielson effortlessly flexing his ability to llave it up with one of the best in the world. The referee in this match sometimes could not tell if they were in a submission hold or a pinning combination, such was the tangle of limbs. Danielson showing panic and bewilderment at some of the stuff his submission wizard opponent was pulling out. This match made me an instant fan of Hechicero. Also a phenomenal call from Nigel here "He's realising Hechicero is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, not a DEFENSELESS CLAM!". - ONE WEEK LATER he's in Japan again having one of the matches of the year against Zack Sabre Jr. in Osaka at New Beginning. Don't even know what to say about this one. I think it maybe suffered from being earlier in the year and on a a New Japan show in a year when they're not hot at all but it should be on all MOTY lists. It might be even better than their match from 2023. Beautiful, almost perfect professional wrestling. Silky, dazzling technical stuff from the two best in the world at it, but I felt this one had more venom and intensity to it than the first match too. Find a way to watch this one if you haven't seen it - Rounds out the month with quality TV match: BCC multiman tags against Kingston/FTR and the CMLL boys and another over-delivering singles match against an ageing Japanese legend in Jun Akiyama. March - Danielson vs Kingston at Revolution. Masterpiece. From my Revolution Review: Spoiler Kingston vs Danielson. Before the match even started, having Lexy and Renee paraphrase promos on their behalf was a wonderful touch. They've already said everything, they're both laser focused. Proper big fight feel before they were both in the ring. What a match. Hard to even know where to begin with it. The in-ring storytelling throughout this feud has been some of the best I have ever seen in pro wrestling and this was no exception. We've had Danielson goading Eddie into losing his cool, we've had Eddie making Danielson lose his cool. We've established that Eddie's strikes are one of his biggest strengths against Danielson. This time Danielson is taking it more seriously than ever. He is not trying to wind up Eddie, he is not engaging in mind games. He is a better wrestler than Kingston. He is a better strategist and a better technical wrestler. He knows this, he has told himself this (perhaps NEEDS to tell himself this?) and he is going to dismantle Eddie and make him tap out. It's working, too. He picks apart the leg to slow Eddie down, then moves on to the arm to remove the threat of the Uraken and set up his submission finish. It is all going exactly to plan. Eddie is barely surviving his holds, he is forced to use the weaker left hand for his offense. However, once again, despite all logic and despite Danielson doing exactly what he set out to do, this fucking guy will not lose. The growing frustration in Danielson and the gradual collapse of his gameplan as it went on was a joy to watch. On Eddie's side, yes, the strikes are a big asset and he has relied on them in the past. However, the things he has that can't be out-wrestled or outplayed are his resolve and his FIRE. What was once both a strength and at times an achilles heel for Eddie has been channeled into his greatest weapon. He isn't losing to uncontrollable rage, but rather deploying the rage when he needs it the most, and when he has it under control it's something no opponent can plan or account for. Perhaps Danielson could be in the World Title picture and headlining on the posters and perhaps that might be a better business move for AEW, but as a fan I am glad he has chosen to do exactly what he's been doing on this run. Will Osprey might have more sizzle and razzmatazz, but for me Danielson is the best pro wrestler in the world. The Messi to Osprey's Ronaldo, for any sport ball heads. - Danielson vs Shane Taylor from Collision. Seamlessly transitioning from his villainous bastard role against Kingston to underdog babyface against a physically dominant opponent. - Danielson vs Shibata from Collision. LOVED this match. Completely evenly matched in the technical/grappling game. Constantly trying to outfox each other and not quite pulling it off. I know there has been a lot of discussion about the "let's take turns to hit each other now" exchange and how it's over done, but this was one of my favourite uses of it. They knew they were heading for a time limit draw because they could not best each other on the mat, so they mutually decided to settle it via a face smacking tie breaker. A joy to watch, easily one of Shibata's best AEW matches if not the best. - Danielson/BCC vs CMLL All Stars in Arena Mexico. The HEAT for this match. My goodness. Danielson/BCC/Sydal going full heel for this one, and rightly so when Mistico and Blue Panther are two of the most beloved wrestlers in Lucha history. The modern day superhero and a bona fide living legend. One of those special events that makes it clear why Arena Mexico is a bucket list destination for wrestlers and fans alike. - BCC/Shibata vs Archer and The Righteous. Textbook Collision main event cracker to round off a frankly absurd month of work for our man. April - Bryan Danielson vs Blue Panther, submission match in Arena Mexico. One of the feelgood matches of the year here. Truly heart-warming to watch. The CMLL fans clearly overjoyed to have Danielson paying them another visit and to be witnessing a dream match. Danielson beyond thrilled to be there. He cannot contain his joy. Wrestling an idol in front of a rabid Arena Mexico crowd in the main event AND getting to be the dastardly American heel rocking the USA garb? How could you not love it. The American Dragon has never been more American. Panther is 64 years old, his limitations are there for all to see, and yet they go 25 minutes, the old man pulls out some moves nobody would ever have dreamt of seeing, and ultimately none of that matters anyway because the heat for this is beyond nuclear. This perhaps the match that best epitomises the joy of Danielson's retirement year. All In is my show of the year, him winning the title is my moment of the year, the match is my match of the year. However, the fact that he got to do stuff like this fills me with just as much joy. The best pro wrestler and, at the same time, a big old pro wrestling nerd living his dream. - More quality TV matches, with the highlight being the Bunkhouse Brawl with Claudio against Takeshita and Fletcher. - Danielson vs Ospreay, AEW Dynasty. Near flawless pro wrestling match, with only the polarising finish maybe knocking off a fraction of a star or whatever it is that stopped it being utterly perfect. Beyond rabid heat for the start of this and it lived up to all expectations. A dream match on paper and a dream match in practise. Wonderful. May/June Bit of a quieter spell here, partly due to Forbidden Door season derailing the promotion for a bit. Still some highlights though: - Bad ass performance in Anarchy in the Arena at Double or Nothing. - Danielson/Claudio vs Top Flight. This one stands out simply because I was engaged and entertained and at times rooting for Top Flight when my interest in the act had already fallen off a cliff. - Took time out of his busy schedule to give Satnam Singh the best match of his career and provide one of the best visuals of the year. - Danielson vs Shingo Takagi at Forbidden Door. This was hampered by the Owen tournament telegraphing the outcome but still managed to be really bloody good. Bryan heroically fighting from underneath with a head injury against his more explosive and powerful opponent. Slightly underrated match in my opinion, and perhaps lost in the shuffle of a preposterously long show. July - Belting match with Pac on Dynamite in the Owen Cup. From my review of the episode: Spoiler Tremendous opener from Pac and Danielson. Fantastic heat throughout, amazing chemistry, got a "holy shit" chant at the opening bell but managed to completely live up to that expectation. I was 100% sure Danielson was winning, but he is so good that I still worried for a moment when he was in the brutaliser at the end. Belting match; the show was so full of big emotional moments that it felt like a distant memory by the end of the night, but it was so, so good. Any other week this would have been a worthy main event and comfortably the highlight of the show. - Even better match with Hangman Page in the Owen Cup. Again, this one ended up being underrated due to circumstances. The sensational Hangman story and performance meant we were absolutely flabbergasted by the outcome and that definitely dominated the discussion, but this was a stupendous match and these two had incredible chemistry. August - That tune up match against Double J! All of their interactions both in and out of the ring too. Sensational storytelling. - Danielson vs Swerve, All in 2024. Match of the year, my sentimental favourite match ever I think. Again will go to my review for this one: Spoiler Danielson vs Swerve Being inside Wembley Stadium for the last 40 minutes of this show was the best pro wrestling has ever been for me. The highest highs I have ever felt watching it, the most emotionally invested I have ever been, and witnessing one of the career best performances from the greatest pro wrestler of all time. Perfection. That's without even giving Swerve his due. He is performing at such a level right now that in ANY other circumstance I'd want him to remain champion for the next five years. The Danielson meditation video before he came out was out of this world. Starting off as a love letter to pro wrestling and then overlapping with the montage of his family. An amazing nostalgic career retrospective montage but also perfectly telling the story of a man having to choose between the two biggest loves of his life. The overlapping story of the character and the man have rarely felt more real than that. That's been the key to this whole thing for me. I totally understand the criticism that putting the career on the line telegraphs the finish, but this is one scenario where I could 100% believe he'd do it. He'd retire on the big stage, massively put over Swerve, not push his luck any further with his body and keep his promise to his daughter. Like, probably not because he can't help himself and there are more matches left to do and there's a big Washington show etc. etc I get all of that. But because it's Bryan Danielson, he COULD just call it in service of the big story on the big stage to pass the torch to Swerve, who would be an exceptionally worthy recipient of said torch. As such, my jaded wrestling fan brain was out the window for this one. I was biting on EVERYTHING. Biting on near falls that were OBVIOUSLY not going to be the real finish BUT WHAT IF THEY WERE? What if it's that moment when Undertaker doesn't kick out against Brock and the collective life is sucked out of an entire stadium of people in unison? I was grateful to see that my entire block was standing for almost the whole match because I found it very very difficult to sit down. Both entrances were PERFECT. First tear of the evening shed for The Final Countdown chorus in unison. Swerve felt like the biggest deal on this Earth for his. Bun B in the house for a brand new remix of Big Pressure? Outstanding. Swerve wearing the Jimmy Rave robe for his most important matches is the most lovely tribute, but isn't it the happiest coincidence that he looks magnificent in it as well. Then the extended and THUNDEROUS "Who's House?" call and response from Nana. Talk about a big match feel, god damn this was immense. Couldn't see it in the arena, but watching it back that top with the heads of his previous opponents mounted on spikes was the most Swerve thing imaginable too. Distinctly remember going "oh fuck off!" and trying not to cry again during Roberts' introduction for Danielson and the cut to his family on the big screens. The nervous tension at the beginning of this was something else. Bryan doing the big sprinboard somersault effectively broke the tension because he had the advantage and looked confident, so it was "safe" to start cheering again. Whenever he wasn't clearly in control he was in danger of losing; that was how it felt for almost the entire thing. The cycle of Danielson rallying and putting together a big flurry only to be heartbreakingly shut down was done so well, helped by Danielson's look of ever increasing desperation. The big flurry of flying knees in the corner only to be shut down by a flatliner, kicking Swerve's head in into Cattle Mutilation, only to be destroyed with a vertebreaker. Hope into gut punch into hope into gut punch. Loved the contrast between Swerve and Ospreay there too. Ospreay drops Danielson on his head and the sight of the medical staff checking him over makes him question ever using the move again. Swerve drops Danielson on his head and chases the doctors out of the ring so he can follow up with the stomp. The last of the "big rally into gut punch" heartbreakers was one of the best no-sells of a move I have ever seen. Firstly the new take on the pro wrestling "I'm sorry" was just beautiful. Danielson apologising to his family for refusing to stay down and not fully giving up wrestling for them just yet. Then the best Hulk Up spot, bloodied, manic, staring straight at his family as he powered through Swerve's kicks. Then he hits the Busaiku knee! We all lose our collective minds in the stadium, then the sound of elation turning into shock and then genuine concern that this is it for our hero. I have rewatched that bit so many times already. Similar to Hangman drinking Swerve's blood, it is so striking to hear a massive crowd of people go from cheering to a completely different emotion, in unison, over the space of 1-2 seconds. Flipping magical stuff. One of Swerve's finest supervillain moments to date, if not the best one yet. That near fall on Big Pressure there nearly ended me. I don't even know what noise I made. It was some kind of scream/howl/cheer hybrid. I thought my CFF would be laughing at me but he was right there with me by this point. I 100% bit on the near fall after Hangman's distraction too. Again in most other scenarios I'd be cynical and suspect a false finish there, but in that moment I wanted it to be the win so badly I was willing to believe it. Then the last 5 minutes all hope of ever regaining my shit was gone. Welled up again after Swerve tapped. Glorious match, haven't felt an atmosphere like it. Ended up staying in the stadium util two thirds of the people had gone because I didn't want it to be over. Thankfully Danielson and family stuck around and the people continued singing and Yes-ing for a good spell after the PPV went off air. The "Yes" chants on the street coming out of the stadium were also tremendous. Not a perfect show. Some of the undercard "good" rather than great, and Hook/Jericho and Mone/Baker were not All In-worthy matches. The high points were SO BLOODY HIGH though and they were peppered throughout the show (even Hook/Jericho had the Taz spot!), and the last hour I entered some kind of otherworldy pro wrestling nirvana that I will never forget. A Sting appearance followed up with one of the best wrestling matches I've ever seen that made me cry multiple times, ending with the euphoria of the result we all desperately wanted. Hard to beat that. However, Swerve should have sold the shoulder more consistently in the middle third so I have to give it a rating of outlaw mudshow garbage. The End - September/October - vs. Jack Perry. One of if not Perry's best singles match. Suffered for me because I never doubted the outcome for a second, but still another top tier performance from the great man and also brought the best out of Perry. - vs Moxley. As I mentioned at the time, the heat for the opening bell for this match was something truly special. Truly spine tingling stuff. The heartbreaking outcome and the highly controversial plastic bag spot discussion overshadowing the feud have led to this match also being pretty underrated. It was very, very good. I was gripped for the duration. Mox was a vicious bastard, Danielson was at his emotive underdog best. What's mad is that the above doesn't even really factor in his promos and overall character work. That's just the matches. It doesn't even include that his go home promo on Dynamite in Cardiff nearly made me bawl my eyes out, or how he made me instantly forget about any reservations I might have about any booking/creative direction and get me fully invested in what he's doing next. I have never cared more about the outcome of a pro wrestling match than the All In Main Event. I remember saying at the time when we all wanted #JusticeforHangman that it it would only take one promo from Danielson to erase any doubts about the All In Direction. Then Supremo posted the very promo which I believe was posted the same flipping day. That's how good he was. So yeah. It's D-Bry for me this year I reckon. Best Tag Team - Sting and Darby Best British Wrestler - Will Ospreay. Almost feels like giving him "best foreign film" instead of "best picture". Best Non-Wrestler - RJ City Best Event - All in 2024. Revolution a very close second. Best Feud or Angle - Hangman vs Swerve, Toni Storm vs Mariah May. Match of the year - Swerve vs Danielson All In. Sting/Darby vs The Bucks close second. I may come back and fill in the rest but I'm a bit spent after that post. Edited January 4, 2025 by JLM
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted January 4, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 4, 2025 Fuck me, just casually drop a post of the year contender why don't you. Incredible work. After reading that I feel like everyone who didn't vote Danielson wrestler of the year needs their head checked (including me).
Paid Members Supremo Posted January 4, 2025 Paid Members Posted January 4, 2025 Absolutely not on hiding something like that in the Awards section, in a fucking spoiler tag. Spot on, too. Danielson is the best this year. And every other year. Then. Now. Forever. Every so often, whenever our Sky Plus hard drive gets full of shitty Love Island, Gogglebox and Mr. Tumble episodes, my wife asks if she can delete this AEW All In 2024 thing. Not only can she not delete that, ever, but every reminder results in me watching it again. The entrance. The match. The finish. The tears. Every time. Probably my favourite moment and match ever.
TibBo Posted January 5, 2025 Posted January 5, 2025 I really don’t watch enough current stuff, to give a fair opinion on most of this except: Best Digital Content (previously Best Podcast): Wrestle Me
Awards Moderator Frankie Crisp Posted January 7, 2025 Author Awards Moderator Posted January 7, 2025 I'm going to lock the nomination threads at some point tomorrow (probably evening), so if you want to add to what's been posted then now's the time.
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