Best and Worst of WWE/TNA for 2012 Part II

Welcome back to the Best and Worst of WWE/TNA for 2012. Let's tackle another ten categories and move forward. If you haven't seen Part I yet, click on the link below to catch up on anything you may have missed.

Best and Worst of WWE/TNA of 2012 Part I

Worst PPV of the Year

My Choice: Everybody wins….except for the people that watched them. 

Your Choice: WWE No Way Out-30%, TNA Final Resolution-28%, TNA Against All Odds-24%

The voting was very close for this one. It wasn't by much, but you personally thought No Way Out was the worst. I can see why you would think that. Nothing really happens at this PPV. The only thing I remembered from this was Sheamus/Dolph. Well, at least the wrestling quality for this show was fair, but I think the issue was the predictability. It just seemed too obvious what was gonna happen. I personally don't think NWO was WWE's worst PPV of 2012. I personally thought Hell in a Cell was much worse, but it's mostly because of the wrestling quality. Even with that said, that wasn't the worst showing of the year. If I really had to pick the worst PPV of 2012, I have to go with Final Resolution. This PPV was like an episode of DragonBall Z. Filler, filler, and more filler. That's all you get with Final Resolution….

The show didn't sit well with me at all. The only thing worth watching with this PPV was Styles/Daniels, but I personally think they've done better matches. If I'm looking to watch a Styles/Daniels match, I probably gonna pick their Last Man Standing match. But the sooner I forget about that rivalry, the sooner I can stop giving a therapist a share of my paycheck, but I digress. Do yourself a favor and don't watch any of these PPVs. We'll talk about good PPVs later. I think it can help you wash away the sin. 

Best Rivalry of 2012

My Choice: Punk/Bryan

Your Choice: Punk/Jericho & Punk/Bryan-26%, Roode/Storm-17%, Punk/Cena-16%

I'm glad Roode/Storm had a decent turnout. I personally think this was my second favorite rivalry of the year. I think the reason it doesn't get my vote is because it did make a few mistakes, especially when the rivalry ended. Storm went from Roode to Daniels…..why? There really wasn't that gigantic rivalry that really defined 2012. Don't get me wrong. We got some pretty good rivalries for the year, but there really wasn't that rivalry that stuck out. I think this is why the voting for this was close. As I mentioned in the last part, we had two ties in the polls, 'Rookie of the Year' and this one. Punk/Jericho was good, but I felt it performed below my expectations. It still was pretty good, but I felt they could've done a whole lot more with it. Punk/Bryan falls in the same category as well. I think it's because of the overexposure of AJ that did hurt this rivalry. If I really had to pick one, I would say Punk/Bryan was the best of 2012. Their matches and inclusion of Kane is what made this stick out the most. It was because of Kane's presence that we would get Team Hell No. I think that's why Punk/Bryan gets my vote. This wasn't an easy choice, but something about Punk/Bryan makes a bigger impression than Punk/Jericho. 

Underused Talent of 2012

My Choice: Wade Barrett

Your Choice: Wade Barrett-49%, Magnus-17%, Miz-16%

This award goes out to the talent that simply got used poorly in 2012. I know a category like this can be very crowded with undercard talents that the majority of people don't really know anything about. I mostly put talents that we have a general idea of who or what they are about. Miz has had a rough stretch since losing the WWE title last year, but I think is slowly finding his comfort zone. Most say he's playing face these days, but he comes off more as a tweener. I think this works best for Miz. He can still be an smug s.o.b, but can be appreciated while doing it. Magnus got a lot more exposure this year and I still think isn't getting enough credit. I think people are slowly coming around on the guy, but I've been saying for years that Magnus has the potential to be something if you give him a chance. These two are strong candidates for this award, but I easily have to pick Wade for this award. It was a shame that he got injured earlier in the year, but that wasn't the worst of it. WWE had plans to bring back Wade as a bad-ass, but what happened? Nothing. Nothing happened. They brought him back and weren't sure what to do with him, so he was in limbo until Survivor Series rolled around. What happened here? Did the creative staff drink their lunch during the meetings? It was strange to say the least. Wade did end the year winning the IC title, but he easily can go after the world title. So far, Wade hasn't looked too bad as the IC champion, so it's possible that he'll get back on the right track. I know that winning the IC title in 2012 meant creative had nothing for you, but maybe things can be different with Wade holding the belt? I can at least be optimistic about it….

Best of luck for 2013, Wade. 

Dumbest Storyline of the Year

My Choice: AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels' ridiculously, long feud

Your Choice: AJ/Daniels/Lynch-44%, Cena and AJ-21%, Embrace the hate-20%

Awww, the worst storyline of the year. Or as I like to call it, the Vince Russo Award. There was plenty to choose from in this category. Embracing the hate was ridiculous at the end of the day. It did more for Eve than anyone else. The Hogans drama was bad, but I cannot consider it the worst of 2012 because it happened really late in the year. In fact, the storyline is still going on. I think the storyline is an early candidate for the worst of 2013, but that's just me. In my personal opinion, the worst storyline of 2012 was Styles and Daniels. This storyline made absolutely no sense. You had Kaz turn on Styles and acted conflicted during the early stages of his character. What we end up finding out is Daniels told Kaz that Styles is a shady character, but he wasn't fully convinced at first. So, the first thing off about this storyline was Kaz's thought process. It made absolutely no sense. That alone sounds bad, but we're just getting started with this one. Bad Influence tried to convince people that Styles and Dixie Carter were in a relationship. I was actually starting to get back in the storyline at this point, but nothing could've prepared you for the next turn in this storyline. Claire Lynch……Yep….Claire Lynch. I don't think I have to explain who Claire Lynch is. If you don't know who she is, consider that your own personal reward. Once that plot-hole went up TNA's ass, they wrote her character off when she quit her job. Yeah, TNA was trying to write the wrong by convincing you this never happened by blowing more smoke up your ass. I would be embarrassed if THIS idea was pitched in the meetings. I'm more dumbfounded as to how this got green-lighted. After…..THAT, TNA still went on to continue the rivalry with Styles trying to get the tag titles. The rivalry barely concluded in December…..I think. It's actually possible for TNA to still continue this once Styles returns to television. I really hope that isn't the case. To be fair, Styles/Daniels put on good matches. Another positive about the rivalry was Daniels as a character. I felt he really grew into this role and I think this is one of the best years he's had in quite some time. Personally, I've always thought of Daniels as that guy who was a great wrestler, but was boring beyond anything else. Daniels really grew comfortable while cutting promos during this rivalry, and managed to finally show me he has a personality. So, at least there was a couple of good things about this rivalry, but I stand by my original thoughts. Congratulations on winning the Vince Russo Award, Styles and Daniels. Let's hope you don't try to repeat your performance. 

Worst Wrestler/Character of the Year

My Choice: Garett Bischoff

Your Choice: Tensai-28%, Garett Bischoff-26%, Eric Young/ODB and Brodus Clay-17%

And the bulls*** commences. In my view, it was a no-brainer in who I was gonna select, but the voting was a little more interesting. I can see why Tensai would win this award. After all, his character completely bombed and is working his way towards a pink slip. I bet he wishes he stayed in Japan. Brodus Clay, or the fat, dancing, dinosaur. Wasn't there another character similar to Brodus in my youth? 

Oh, son of a bitch!!! I've talked about how much I can't stand the comedy pairing of EY/ODB. Can you really call them a comedy pairing? I don't find these two funny at all. I cannot stand it when they do a segment involving them. With all that said, why did I pick Garett Bischoff? Well, because he's awful. They were trying so hard to make Garett a key factor in the show. He even got guidance from Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle at one point to make himself stand out. What has it accomplished? The man has a boring personality. In fact, I'm not even sure if you can classify THAT as personality. His in-ring skills are below average and he can't cut a promo if his life depended on it. The only reason he got to where he's at is because of his last name. Despite having a famous last name, it just proves that you aren't destined for greatness just because of your gene pool. Genetics doesn't work like that. Most of Garett's matches were below par and uninteresting. At least Tensai has put on some fair matches, which is a lot more than what I can say for Garett. You know you really suck when Kurt Angle can't even make you look good in the ring. There's no hope for you after that. There's no hope for anyone that witnessed a Garett Bischoff match. The horror!!!

Worst Match of 2012

My Choice: Garett Bischoff vs Gunner

Your Choice: Daniel Bryan/Sheamus at WM-31%, Garett/Gunner-22%, Cena/Show and Roode/Sting-16%

And we go from worst character to worst match. Geeze, this is an endurance test for me. Why did I design it like this? Anyway, we had many choices for bad matches. I know people wanted to see things mentioned like Cena/Cole, Cena/Laurinaitis, or any diva match, but that's taking the easy way out. Of course matches like that aren't gonna be good, so I personally think those matches shouldn't even be acknowledged. I posted some interesting choices for this award. It was a close race, but you ultimately thought Bryan/Sheamus at WM was worse. Aw yes, the infamous 18 second match. When I first saw this match, I didn't like it either. Overtime, I changed my views on the match. I know a lot of people who cannot stand this match, but here's why I think this isn't the worst match of 2012. There was a lot of good that came out of this match. Think about it? Bryan was just starting to get over prior to WM. All of the sudden, he loses and his stock went through the roof because the fans grew attached to his catchphrase. It was a strange case where the loser of this 18 second match ended up getting more over than the guy who won. A lot of good came afterwords. Look where Bryan went after this rivalry. He started a pretty good program with CM Punk and eventually found his way towards Team Hell No. Plus, you cannot mention Bryan without talking about 'YES/NO'. The chat went global, which is really something. I know people will still hate this match at the end of the day, but I personally cannot hate it as much as others. My pick was almost gonna be Roode vs Sting. Come on, Sting knocked himself out. He knocked himself out!!! How stupid can you get when you're writing stuff like this? It sounds like something that would happen in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. At the end of the day, I thought the worst match of 2012 was Garett/Gunner. Say whatever you will about the 18 second match, but at least some good came out of it. NOTHING good came out of this. It was s*** from top to bottom. What did it accomplish? Absolutely nothing. Garett is doing nothing and Gunner has basically disappeared. Garett and Gunner aren't really interesting enough to go anywhere. It makes you wonder what creative saw in these guys in the first place. Not to mention that both guys have the combined personality of a styrofoam cup. Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Ric Flair were involved with this rivalry. How can you have names like this and have the rivalry/match turn out this bad? By doing this, apparently. I think I need a drink after this. 

Worst Product Placement of 2012

My Choice: Michael Bay

Your Choice: Kurt Angle's 5-hour energy-36%, Michael Bay-18%, Sheamus' K-Mart-14%, Ryback's Subway-11%

Wait, wasn't there something about wrestling in here? 

Worst Rivalry of 2012

My Choice: AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels

Your Choice-Styles/Daniels-35%, AJ/Vickie-21%, Sheamus/Del Rio-18%, TNA/Aces and Eights-13%

I think Part II of his look back is dedicated to the worst. It seems like that's all we're talking about. Well, its gotta get done. The TNA/Aces and Eights storyline is making a strong case for the worst of 2013 as well. It started off nice, but TNA has proven they cannot do slow buildup. They just tend to stop caring about polishing the storyline and eventually turn into crap. The entire concept of Aces and Eights has gone so far down that a plumber wouldn't know what to do about unclogging this mess. There's always a chance of it getting better, but it can be a challenge to be optimistic about it. Sheamus/Del Rio was mostly boring, but one thing I did like about the rivalry is they eventually got to a point where the rivalry wasn't too bad. They really brought more tension with this rivalry when Del Rio's car got in the picture. But like Aces and Eights, this storyline also suffered because it went on too long. AJ/Vickie……Oh God. Now we're getting into a new territory of awful. Everything was bad in this rivalry. The acting. The motives. The general direction of the show. It all screams bulls***. What was the purpose of this? Well, Dolph and AJ and now together. Huzzah? Vickie is calling the shots. Yippee? Despite all of that, I still think the Styles/Daniels rivalry was worse. It went on way longer than it should've and it introduced many mind-numbing ideas. Claire Lynch really had a hand in making this rivalry 'stand out'. The only positive about this rivalry was the matches. They were very good, but you basically had to turn off the storyline just so you can appreciate these matches. I mean, how well can you look at a match when there's a kayfabe baby involved? I think I'm done. I'm not gonna waste any more time on this rivalry. They all suck and you should feel bad for witnessing them…..

Breakout/Comeback of the Year

My Choice: Daniel Bryan

Your Choice: Ryback-29%, Bryan-25%, Austin Aries-20%, Dolph-14%, Damien Sandow-12%

This goes to the guy who really had a big year or a comeback. I have to be honest. This was probably the hardest choice to make. I found that the three top guys in the voting were the overwhelming favorites with this award. Austin Aries had a big year in TNA. He set the record for holding the X Division title, which also made the X Division title mean something in TNA. Unfortunately, the title has gone back to meaning nothing since leaving for a bigger scene, but what can you do? He won the TNA World Title and had a decent reign. A bit disappointing since he took a backseat to Aces and Eights, but has gone better since turning heel again. I think from a TNA standpoint, he had the biggest climb in 2012. He is very deserving of this award, but so are Ryback and Bryan. Ryback showed us that he's gonna be a big deal with this company for years to come. I know a lot of people who don't like this guy, but he has the size and look to go far in the business. Unlike somebody like Ezekiel Jackson, Ryback is a musclebound guy that manages to show some charisma. Hey, at least he can click with the audience, which is more than what I can say about Zeke. We also have to keep in mind that Ryback went from an injured Skip Sheffield to this. That's a big jump. Despite these two picks, I personally have to go with Daniel Bryan. Even though he came into 2012 as the WHC, nobody really thought it would last very long. I thought he would end up a transitional champion, but I was proven wrong. What ended up happening is Bryan clicking with the audience. I've already explained that Bryan's YES/NO phenomenon really got him over, but it really did put him in a solid spot with the company. Somebody like Ryback probably would've gotten over in his own time, but Bryan becoming this popular is a little more surprising. I think Bryan is in a strong place with the company, which is something I never thought would've happened. That's personally why I picked Bryan for this award, but either of these three choices are more than worthy of winning this one. 

Tag Team of the Year

My Choice: Isn't it obvious

Your Choice: Team Hell No-85%, Bad Influence-10%

This was the biggest landslide in the entire poll. There's no way you can argue against Team Hell No's success…..unless you hate WWE, Bryan, or Kane. Hey, I'm just saying. I've already talked about how much I appreciate Team Hell No for the entire year. It's the odd couple effect that makes this tag team work. Bryan and Kane have different personalities, which is what makes the comedy segments enjoyable. Not only that, but Team Hell No was a big contributing factor in WWE's resurrection of the tag division. In the past, I've talked about how tag team wrestling has been virtual nothing for well over a decade. Sure, there was something to hold you over in those years, but let's be honest here. It never truly felt like tag team wrestling was big or important. It was the undercard and nobody really cared about it. When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to watch from WCW or WWF was tag team wrestling. As a young adult, you can imagine my current disappointment when I look back on the last decade for this division. Yeah, it wasn't a pretty sight. Tag Team wrestling looks like it's finally back in the WWE and Team Hell No was the centerpiece of this division. We already had tag teams like Usos, and Prime Time Players, but also got Rhodes Scholars and Mexican Masks in the process. This has been the best tag team wrestling has looked in years. I think they could use a couple more tag teams for this division, but I don't think it's time to put it on panic mode. Hopefully in 2013, we continue to see the resurrection of tag wrestling and enjoy Team Hell No while it last. 

We still have another seven categories to go over. Check back next week as we finally wrap this up. See you then.