The 2014 Wrestling Examiner Awards
Now that the year is over, we can look back at the entire year and determine what was the best of the best. We here at The Wrestling Examiner decided to identify 24 categories and determine who led that category. Once we determined the best of the best, we decided to share our results with the world. And what better way to do that with the first-ever Wrestling Examiner annual awards?
Since we mainly cover WWE, most of these awards are WWE awards, unless specified. We do have a few specific awards for NXT and TNA. The only awards than look past company lines are Maneuver of the Year and Weekly Show of the Year. So, without further ado, let us look at the 2014 Wrestling Examiner awards.
Match of the Year:
Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series
Some of you might be groaning at this pick, but it was the best match of the year. It had drama, suspense, and great wrestling. We saw the surprise heel turn of Big Show, the heroic actions of Dolph Ziggler, and the debut of Sting. What's more, this match lasted more than 40 minutes, which is something you usually don't see nowadays. Finalists include The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber, Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt at the Rumble, and the Money in the Bank ladder match.
One-Night Performance of the Year:
Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX
This was one of the easiest awards to pick. Very few wrestlers had more than one match at a PPV this year, and none had more of an impact than D-Bry. First, Bryan beat Triple H in the opening match to earn a spot in the main event, a Triple Threat match against Randy Orton and Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan would go on to win that match, as well. So, to recap, Bryan won two great matches and walked out as WWEWHC. It doesn't get much better than that.
Moment of the Year:
Brock Lesnar Breaks The Streak
Like the previous award, this one was fairly evident. The Streak had been around for more than two decades and was one of the most famous records in sports entertainment history. Notable competitors such as Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and CM Punk were all unable to conquer it. Then, at WrestleMania 30, Brock Lesnar did the unthinkable and pinned The Undertaker. It was without a doubt, one of the most shocking moments in WWE history.
Weekly Show of the Year:
NXT
No show this year has been as consistent as NXT. The best episodes of Raw were better than the best episodes of NXT, but there were a lot of episodes of Raw that just totally fell flat. There were no really great episodes of Smackdown, Impact was off the air for weeks, Main Event did not have any great episodes, and no one cares about Superstars. Therefore, NXT wins.
Betrayal of the Year:
Seth Rollins Turns on The Shield
The Shield was one of the most dominant factions in WWE history. Together, they were a dominant force to be reckoned with. They were a band of brothers. That made it all the more shocking when Seth Rollins took out Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose with a chair and sided with The Authority. Just like that, the run of arguably the greatest faction of the last decade ended. We knew it had to end, but did it have to be like this?
Legend of the Year:
Ultimate Warrior
When Ultimate Warrior left the WWE, it was on very bad terms. The WWE even released a DVD called The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. Amazingly, the two made peace and Warrior took his rightful place in the Hall of Fame. The night after WrestleMania, Warrior came down to the ring and gave a great speech that had the whole arena buzzing. Tragically, Warrior would pass away only two days later.
Debut of the Year:
Sting
Up until this year, Sting was the greatest professional wrestler to never set foot in a WWE ring. That all changed at Survivor Series, when Sting made his debut to help Dolph Ziggler defeat Team Authority. It was an awesome moment to behold and one that fans never thought they were going to see. Other contenders for this award were Paige and Rusev.
Pay-Per-View of the Year:
WrestleMania XXX
WrestleMania 30 was good. WrestleMania was really good. WrestleMania may go down as one of the best pay-per-views of this decade. What's not to like about it? Multiple great and very good matches, including the main event match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the opening match. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was really fun, the Divas worked hard, and The Shield looked awesome. How can you top that?
NXT Star of the Year:
Sami Zayn
This was actually closer than you might think. Sure, Zayn is the darling of NXT, but he has a penchant for losing big matches (up until recently at least). Adrian Neville on the other hand, had a lot of great matches, was a great champion, dazzled with the Red Arrow, was a better talker than Zayn, and played all of his roles to perfection. Zayn gets the nod here because he was one of the best face performers of the year, in NXT, WWE, or TNA.
Diva of the Year:
Paige
Like the previous award, this was tough to decide. Paige or AJ Lee? Paige had two Divas title reigns this year while AJ had three. Both of them went 4-4 in PPV matches. Both played heel and face roles (they even executed a double-turn in one match). Paige gets the nod (barely) because she brought a new spark to the Divas division, a division many fans were not interested in seeing. AJ was great, but she didn't shake up the division the way she did last year.
Title Reign of the Year:
The Usos as WWE Tag Team Champions
This may seem like a weird pick, but it makes sense. We start with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Randy Orton seemed like an afterthought during his reign, Daniel Bryan's reign was too short, John Cena's reign was purely transitional, and Brock Lesnar only defended the title once. Moving on to the Intercontinental Championship: Big E's reign was nothing great, Bad News Barrett's reign was cut short to injury, both of Miz's reigns were too short, Dolph Ziggler's three reigns were all short, and Luke Harper lost his first PPV title defense. The United States Championship? Dean Ambrose didn't defend the title once on PPV, Sheamus didn't have a great reign, and Rusev only recently won the title. Divas Championship? None of the three champions (Paige, AJ, and Nikki Bella) had a great reign this year. That takes us to the tag titles. Gold & Stardust (and Goldust and Cody Rhodes) didn't have the titles for long, and the same goes for Miz and Damien Mizdow. The New Age Outlaws had a transition reign. That leaves us with The Usos, who had a reign of more than 200 days and had some great matches.
Character Reinvention of the Year:
Damien Mizdow
At the beginning of the year, Damien Sandow was in trouble. He was the first one eliminated from the Royal Rumble and lost constantly. Many fans feared he would soon be released from his contract. Instead, Sandow struck pure gold when he became Damien Mizdow and the Miz's stunt double. Mizdow's antics as he copied the Miz's every move are laugh-out-loud hilarious and have really breathed new life into Mizdow's career.
TNA Tag Team of the Year:
The Wolves
Really, what other choice could there be? The Wolves had a 145 day title reign from April to September. During this time, they clashed with teams like The Hardys, The Revolution, and Team 3-D. Tag team wrestling was a big highlight for TNA this year, and the Wolves are undoubtedly the main reason why.
Maneuver of the Year:
Adrian Neville's Red Arrow
As mentioned before, this award is eligible to be won by anyone from WWE, NXT, or TNA. While we say many impressive moves this year (like Brock Lesnar's German suplex, Roman Reigns's Superman Punch, and Seth Rollins's Curb Stomp), no move is nowhere near as cool as Neville's Red Arrow. In fact, this move is so good it's probably going to win this award next year.
NXT Diva of the Year:
Charlotte
This was a very easy pick. Charlotte has absolutely dominated the NXT Women's division this year. At NXT TakeOver, she and Natalya had one of the best Diva matches of all-time. Charlotte won that match and the NXT Women's title. She has successfully defended that title on multiple occasions, including a great match at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution against her former BFF Sasha Banks. Clearly, Charlotte is the future.
Comeback Superstar of the Year:
Tyson Kidd
For years, Kidd was often referred to as the most underrated and underused superstar in the WWE. To make matters worse, he suffered a torn knee meniscus in 2013. Many feared that he would spend the rest of his career as a jobber making other wrestlers look great. That all changed when Kidd started working in NXT. Immediately, his profile rose. He was involved in a number of high-profile matches and developed the persona of a cocky heel. At one point, he was easily one of the best heels in WWE or NXT. Not bad for a guy who was barely around in 2013.
Look of the Year:
NXT Feud of the Year:
Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn
You really can't argue against this one. Sure, they both were babyfaces during the entirety of the feud, but they really made it work. It really started at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way, when they were involved in the main event match for Neville's NXT title. Zayn had the match won, but Neville (using some heel-like tactics) managed to retain his title. It then went to NXT TakeOver: R Evolution, where the two met in a singles match for the title. Neville played the heel here, but Zayn (with the crowd firmly behind him) managed to win the title. Hopefully, we will see this feud play out on the main roster this year.
Tag Team of the Year:
The Usos
There is no controversy here whatsoever. They won the titles twice in 2014, competed at three of the Big 4 events, and competed in some of the best tag matches of the year, including a successful title defense against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at Battleground. The runner-up in this category: Gold & Stardust. They had two tag team championship reigns this year, but didn't have the impact that Jimmy and Jey did.
TNA Breakout Star of the Year:
Ethan Carter III
The former Derrick Bateman failed to make an impact in WWE, but he quickly turned things around when he debuted as EC3 in TNA in 2013. He made an impact right-away, but it wasn't 2014 that he became one of the biggest and most hated heels in the company. Carter became a master at getting the crowd to boo him. With TNA's reboot in 2015, Carter could become TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
Feud of the Year:
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
There were only a few great or really good feuds this year, like John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority. The one that really stood out: Rollins vs. Ambrose. The rivalry spanned from June (when Rollins turned on The Shield) to October (when the two clashed in a Hell in a Cell match). The two clashed met at five straight pay-per-views, including a great Lumberjack match at SummerSlam and the Money in the Bank Ladder match. Bray Wyatt interfered in the rubber match at Hell in a Cell, so expect them to reignite their feud sometime within the coming years.
Talker of the Year:
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman has always been known as a great talker, but he was absolutely sensational in 2014. His "Eat, Sleep, Suplex, Repeat" promo after SummerSlam was awesome as were his "Eat, Sleep, Conquer the Streak" promos. One of his best promos of the year was the one he gave in New Orleans the night after WrestleMania. People were still stunned that Lesnar had beaten The Streak, had Heyman rubbed it in all of their faces.
Superstar of the Year:
Seth Rollins
This may seem like a wild pick, but it makes sense. He was in some of the best matches of the year, was one of the top five wrestlers of 2014, was one of the top ten talkers of 2014, was a member of The Shield and The Authority, won the Money in the Bank Ladder match, and defeating opponents like Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and John Cena. If you're still not convinced, let's look at all of the other possible nominees, and why Rollins trumps them. Daniel Bryan didn't have a match after May. Brock Lesnar only had four matches. Roman Reigns was out of action for a few months. Dean Ambrose failed to pick up a win in the last 7 PPV matches of the year. Rusev never cemented his spot in the main event. Dolph Ziggler didn't really do much until July. Randy Orton took a backseat to Rollins when he was in The Authority. The only guy who really poses a challenge is John Cena, who was WWEWHC. However, that reign was about two months long and was only a transitional reign. Also, Rollins had better matches and was an overall better wrestler than Cena was. Therefore, 2014 was the year of Seth Rollins.
With that award, we conclude the first-ever Wrestling Examiner awards. Agree or disagree with any of them? Comment and let us know.
Since we mainly cover WWE, most of these awards are WWE awards, unless specified. We do have a few specific awards for NXT and TNA. The only awards than look past company lines are Maneuver of the Year and Weekly Show of the Year. So, without further ado, let us look at the 2014 Wrestling Examiner awards.
Match of the Year:
Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series
Some of you might be groaning at this pick, but it was the best match of the year. It had drama, suspense, and great wrestling. We saw the surprise heel turn of Big Show, the heroic actions of Dolph Ziggler, and the debut of Sting. What's more, this match lasted more than 40 minutes, which is something you usually don't see nowadays. Finalists include The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber, Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt at the Rumble, and the Money in the Bank ladder match.
One-Night Performance of the Year:
Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX
This was one of the easiest awards to pick. Very few wrestlers had more than one match at a PPV this year, and none had more of an impact than D-Bry. First, Bryan beat Triple H in the opening match to earn a spot in the main event, a Triple Threat match against Randy Orton and Batista for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan would go on to win that match, as well. So, to recap, Bryan won two great matches and walked out as WWEWHC. It doesn't get much better than that.
Moment of the Year:
Brock Lesnar Breaks The Streak
Like the previous award, this one was fairly evident. The Streak had been around for more than two decades and was one of the most famous records in sports entertainment history. Notable competitors such as Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and CM Punk were all unable to conquer it. Then, at WrestleMania 30, Brock Lesnar did the unthinkable and pinned The Undertaker. It was without a doubt, one of the most shocking moments in WWE history.
Weekly Show of the Year:
NXT
No show this year has been as consistent as NXT. The best episodes of Raw were better than the best episodes of NXT, but there were a lot of episodes of Raw that just totally fell flat. There were no really great episodes of Smackdown, Impact was off the air for weeks, Main Event did not have any great episodes, and no one cares about Superstars. Therefore, NXT wins.
Betrayal of the Year:
Seth Rollins Turns on The Shield
The Shield was one of the most dominant factions in WWE history. Together, they were a dominant force to be reckoned with. They were a band of brothers. That made it all the more shocking when Seth Rollins took out Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose with a chair and sided with The Authority. Just like that, the run of arguably the greatest faction of the last decade ended. We knew it had to end, but did it have to be like this?
Legend of the Year:
Ultimate Warrior
When Ultimate Warrior left the WWE, it was on very bad terms. The WWE even released a DVD called The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. Amazingly, the two made peace and Warrior took his rightful place in the Hall of Fame. The night after WrestleMania, Warrior came down to the ring and gave a great speech that had the whole arena buzzing. Tragically, Warrior would pass away only two days later.
Debut of the Year:
Sting
Up until this year, Sting was the greatest professional wrestler to never set foot in a WWE ring. That all changed at Survivor Series, when Sting made his debut to help Dolph Ziggler defeat Team Authority. It was an awesome moment to behold and one that fans never thought they were going to see. Other contenders for this award were Paige and Rusev.
Pay-Per-View of the Year:
WrestleMania XXX
WrestleMania 30 was good. WrestleMania was really good. WrestleMania may go down as one of the best pay-per-views of this decade. What's not to like about it? Multiple great and very good matches, including the main event match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the opening match. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was really fun, the Divas worked hard, and The Shield looked awesome. How can you top that?
NXT Star of the Year:
Sami Zayn
This was actually closer than you might think. Sure, Zayn is the darling of NXT, but he has a penchant for losing big matches (up until recently at least). Adrian Neville on the other hand, had a lot of great matches, was a great champion, dazzled with the Red Arrow, was a better talker than Zayn, and played all of his roles to perfection. Zayn gets the nod here because he was one of the best face performers of the year, in NXT, WWE, or TNA.
Diva of the Year:
Paige
Like the previous award, this was tough to decide. Paige or AJ Lee? Paige had two Divas title reigns this year while AJ had three. Both of them went 4-4 in PPV matches. Both played heel and face roles (they even executed a double-turn in one match). Paige gets the nod (barely) because she brought a new spark to the Divas division, a division many fans were not interested in seeing. AJ was great, but she didn't shake up the division the way she did last year.
Title Reign of the Year:
The Usos as WWE Tag Team Champions
This may seem like a weird pick, but it makes sense. We start with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Randy Orton seemed like an afterthought during his reign, Daniel Bryan's reign was too short, John Cena's reign was purely transitional, and Brock Lesnar only defended the title once. Moving on to the Intercontinental Championship: Big E's reign was nothing great, Bad News Barrett's reign was cut short to injury, both of Miz's reigns were too short, Dolph Ziggler's three reigns were all short, and Luke Harper lost his first PPV title defense. The United States Championship? Dean Ambrose didn't defend the title once on PPV, Sheamus didn't have a great reign, and Rusev only recently won the title. Divas Championship? None of the three champions (Paige, AJ, and Nikki Bella) had a great reign this year. That takes us to the tag titles. Gold & Stardust (and Goldust and Cody Rhodes) didn't have the titles for long, and the same goes for Miz and Damien Mizdow. The New Age Outlaws had a transition reign. That leaves us with The Usos, who had a reign of more than 200 days and had some great matches.
Character Reinvention of the Year:
Damien Mizdow
At the beginning of the year, Damien Sandow was in trouble. He was the first one eliminated from the Royal Rumble and lost constantly. Many fans feared he would soon be released from his contract. Instead, Sandow struck pure gold when he became Damien Mizdow and the Miz's stunt double. Mizdow's antics as he copied the Miz's every move are laugh-out-loud hilarious and have really breathed new life into Mizdow's career.
TNA Tag Team of the Year:
The Wolves
Really, what other choice could there be? The Wolves had a 145 day title reign from April to September. During this time, they clashed with teams like The Hardys, The Revolution, and Team 3-D. Tag team wrestling was a big highlight for TNA this year, and the Wolves are undoubtedly the main reason why.
Maneuver of the Year:
Adrian Neville's Red Arrow
As mentioned before, this award is eligible to be won by anyone from WWE, NXT, or TNA. While we say many impressive moves this year (like Brock Lesnar's German suplex, Roman Reigns's Superman Punch, and Seth Rollins's Curb Stomp), no move is nowhere near as cool as Neville's Red Arrow. In fact, this move is so good it's probably going to win this award next year.
NXT Diva of the Year:
Charlotte
This was a very easy pick. Charlotte has absolutely dominated the NXT Women's division this year. At NXT TakeOver, she and Natalya had one of the best Diva matches of all-time. Charlotte won that match and the NXT Women's title. She has successfully defended that title on multiple occasions, including a great match at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution against her former BFF Sasha Banks. Clearly, Charlotte is the future.
Comeback Superstar of the Year:
Tyson Kidd
For years, Kidd was often referred to as the most underrated and underused superstar in the WWE. To make matters worse, he suffered a torn knee meniscus in 2013. Many feared that he would spend the rest of his career as a jobber making other wrestlers look great. That all changed when Kidd started working in NXT. Immediately, his profile rose. He was involved in a number of high-profile matches and developed the persona of a cocky heel. At one point, he was easily one of the best heels in WWE or NXT. Not bad for a guy who was barely around in 2013.
Look of the Year:
Finn Bálor at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution
If you haven't what Bálor looked like at this NXT special, you are missing out big time. Bálor was painted up and looked absolutely epic. Hopefully we will see more of it, as it was absolutely stunning to see. The only real competition Bálor had was The Shield's look for WrestleMania 30, which looked quite bad-ass.
Faction of the Year:
The Shield
Sure, they were only around for six months this year, but they were on a rampage of sort for those six months. They put on a lot of great matches and took out guys like Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Kane, and the New Age Outlaws. The Wyatt Family had a great year as well, but not as good as the Hounds of Justice.
If you haven't what Bálor looked like at this NXT special, you are missing out big time. Bálor was painted up and looked absolutely epic. Hopefully we will see more of it, as it was absolutely stunning to see. The only real competition Bálor had was The Shield's look for WrestleMania 30, which looked quite bad-ass.
Faction of the Year:
The Shield
Sure, they were only around for six months this year, but they were on a rampage of sort for those six months. They put on a lot of great matches and took out guys like Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Kane, and the New Age Outlaws. The Wyatt Family had a great year as well, but not as good as the Hounds of Justice.
NXT Feud of the Year:
Adrian Neville vs. Sami Zayn
You really can't argue against this one. Sure, they both were babyfaces during the entirety of the feud, but they really made it work. It really started at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way, when they were involved in the main event match for Neville's NXT title. Zayn had the match won, but Neville (using some heel-like tactics) managed to retain his title. It then went to NXT TakeOver: R Evolution, where the two met in a singles match for the title. Neville played the heel here, but Zayn (with the crowd firmly behind him) managed to win the title. Hopefully, we will see this feud play out on the main roster this year.
Tag Team of the Year:
The Usos
There is no controversy here whatsoever. They won the titles twice in 2014, competed at three of the Big 4 events, and competed in some of the best tag matches of the year, including a successful title defense against Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at Battleground. The runner-up in this category: Gold & Stardust. They had two tag team championship reigns this year, but didn't have the impact that Jimmy and Jey did.
TNA Breakout Star of the Year:
Ethan Carter III
The former Derrick Bateman failed to make an impact in WWE, but he quickly turned things around when he debuted as EC3 in TNA in 2013. He made an impact right-away, but it wasn't 2014 that he became one of the biggest and most hated heels in the company. Carter became a master at getting the crowd to boo him. With TNA's reboot in 2015, Carter could become TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
Feud of the Year:
Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose
There were only a few great or really good feuds this year, like John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority. The one that really stood out: Rollins vs. Ambrose. The rivalry spanned from June (when Rollins turned on The Shield) to October (when the two clashed in a Hell in a Cell match). The two clashed met at five straight pay-per-views, including a great Lumberjack match at SummerSlam and the Money in the Bank Ladder match. Bray Wyatt interfered in the rubber match at Hell in a Cell, so expect them to reignite their feud sometime within the coming years.
Talker of the Year:
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman has always been known as a great talker, but he was absolutely sensational in 2014. His "Eat, Sleep, Suplex, Repeat" promo after SummerSlam was awesome as were his "Eat, Sleep, Conquer the Streak" promos. One of his best promos of the year was the one he gave in New Orleans the night after WrestleMania. People were still stunned that Lesnar had beaten The Streak, had Heyman rubbed it in all of their faces.
Superstar of the Year:
Seth Rollins
This may seem like a wild pick, but it makes sense. He was in some of the best matches of the year, was one of the top five wrestlers of 2014, was one of the top ten talkers of 2014, was a member of The Shield and The Authority, won the Money in the Bank Ladder match, and defeating opponents like Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, and John Cena. If you're still not convinced, let's look at all of the other possible nominees, and why Rollins trumps them. Daniel Bryan didn't have a match after May. Brock Lesnar only had four matches. Roman Reigns was out of action for a few months. Dean Ambrose failed to pick up a win in the last 7 PPV matches of the year. Rusev never cemented his spot in the main event. Dolph Ziggler didn't really do much until July. Randy Orton took a backseat to Rollins when he was in The Authority. The only guy who really poses a challenge is John Cena, who was WWEWHC. However, that reign was about two months long and was only a transitional reign. Also, Rollins had better matches and was an overall better wrestler than Cena was. Therefore, 2014 was the year of Seth Rollins.
With that award, we conclude the first-ever Wrestling Examiner awards. Agree or disagree with any of them? Comment and let us know.
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