Welcome to the finale of the Best and Worst of 2012. I know this should've been done weeks ago, but life got in the way of releasing this. Without further delay, let's finally end this look back and move forward. If you haven't seen Part I or II, click the links below to check them out.
Gimmick Match of the Year
My Choice: Undertaker vs Triple H; HIAC at WM
Your Choice: Taker vs Trips-53%, Ryback/Hell No vs Shield-27%, Daniels vs Styles-9%
There was a couple of decent matches to choose from, but this was an easy choice for me. 2012 featured some great matches from both companies. I personally think the best gimmick match TNA had to offer was the Last Man Standing match between AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels. Yeah, both guys were in a storyline that was comprised of horse s***, but the guys managed to put together some great matches. I personally think this was the best match they put together in 2012. In their in-ring debut, The Shield was thrown into a TLC match because of an injured CM Punk. That's a very tall order when you think about that. Despite a tough situation for three rookies, Shield manages to put together one of the best TLC matches I've seen in years. We have to be fair and give Bryan, Kane, and Ryback some credit, but I'm more stunned by the overall performance of the rookies in this situation. That's how you show the company that didn't make a mistake when calling you up to the main roster. Shield is definitely on their way to some big things. At the end of the day, I had to give this to the veterans. Taker and Trips went out there and put so much into this match. What really won me over with this match was the emotion. Taker, Trips, and HBK really laid it all out there and delivered a spectacular performance. That's a moment that's difficult to duplicate. The moment really can bring a tear to your eye. It was a masterpiece that featured some of the best of all time. I know this one gets some flag amongst people for not really being that amazing 'wrestling' match, but this moment cannot go unnoticed. As a simple fan, all I can say is thank you to everyone that put this match together.
Best PPV of the Year
My Choice: WWE Extreme Rules
Your Choice: WWE WM-33%, Extreme Rules-27%, WWE TLC-21%, TNA Destination X-8%
This wasn't an easy choice. In the PPV department, we had a pretty good year. There was some duds, but that's always gonna happen. Destination X featured the short-lived Option C, where the X Division champion could give up the title for a shot at the world title. Not really sure what happens to this stipulation since TNA is only doing four PPVs this year, but we shall wait and see. I think this idea has potential. Overall, this was probably their best PPV of the year, but I personally think Slammiversary was better. To each his or her own. TLC featured the amazing TLC match, while WM featured some of the greatest WM moments of all time. Those are very strong choices, but I have to pick Extreme Rules as my personal favorite. ER featured two amazing world title matches in Bryan/Sheamus and Punk/Jericho. Plus, who could forget the brawl between John Cena and Brock Lesnar? It was really a toss up between ER and WM. It really could've gone both ways. Regardless of which was your favorite between the two, both shows are definitely worth adding to the DVD collection.
Biggest Potential of 2013
My Choice: The Shield
Your Choice: Dolph Ziggler-35%, Shield-34%, Damien Sandow-12%, Ryback-10%
This award goes out to the people who will have a great 2013. You can also look at it as who will improve on what they did a year ago. I can see a lot of disagreement with this decision, but I think some people will understand where I'm coming from here. If you were here a year ago, I also did this category. Last year, I ended up picking Dolph as the guy who would have the biggest potential for 2012. Part of me feels it would be cheap to pick the same guy twice based on what this award means. Unlike WWE Superstar of the Year, this type of award shouldn't really have a multi-time winner. It seems redundant. I just wanted to get that out there since I can see some people argue against some of the other choices. Dolph did have a good 2012, but part of me thought he should've done better. I'm sure Dolph will have a big year in 2013. He's holding onto the MITB and seems very close to becoming a legit world champion. I have no doubt he'll have a big year, but I'm personally thinking that Shield will have a big year as well. I don't think they will have a bigger year than Dolph, but as rookies still getting their feet wet, I think they will make some massive strides in their careers. I can see Shield being one of those forces that goes far in 2013. I know stables in WWE tend to fall pretty early. Especially when they encounter Mr. Breakfast Cereal, but I think WWE wants these guys to do well. By giving them that big win at TLC against Ryback and Team Hell No, I think WWE wants the Shield to become a big threat. It's really hard to say what the Shield will become when it comes time for the stable to split apart. I will definitely agree that Dead Ambrose has been the most entertaining part of the stable. His promo style isn't completely original, but it's something we haven't seen from a character in quite some time. Seth Rollins has done okay with the part, while Roman Reigns is the muscle of the group. There's a reason why he doesn't really say much. Strangely enough, I've enjoyed his one-liners. At least he has that going for him. Regardless if you pick Dolph or the Shield, I think both are gonna be big in 2013.
Non-Gimmick Match of the Year
My Choice: CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan
Your Choice: Punk vs Bryan-65%, Punk vs Cena- 19%, Roode vs Aries-10%
This was an easy choice in my opinion. According to the poll, you thought the same thing. It isn't like these other matches were bad. In fact, they were awesome in their own right, but the Punk/Bryan match at Over the Limit was just on another playing field. Their match at the PPV is what made the show stand out. The finish was pretty interesting as well. It started the build between Punk and Bryan, which in of itself, also started the birth of Team Hell No. If you're looking for a flat out wrestling match, this is the match for you. Yeah, I really have nothing else to say about this one.
TNA Wrestler/Superstar of the Year
My Choice: Bobby Roode
Your Choice-Austin Aries-65%, Roode-16%, Jeff Hardy-8%
Oh, I expect to get a lot of crap for this choice. How dare I choose Roode over Aries for the best of 2012. Well, I have my reasons. I'm not gonna lie. Aries was insane in 2012. He put on some of the best matches TNA had to offer for the entire year and made a giant climb from the X Division to the main event. Based on where he's at, it seems Aries is gonna be with the big boys for quite some time. So, how can I pick against this list of credentials? Well, I think it's easy to forget about what Roode was doing for the first half of the year. For the first half of 2012, Roode was the man in TNA. I think most people forgot that Roode became the longest reigning world champion in the history of TNA. I know some smart-ass will mock this, but that's still an impressive feat. Roode wasn't one of those boring champions. He found himself in some of the best feuds/matches for 2012 and continued to cut great promos to make his character draw heat. I think the reason I picked Bobby over Aries is by judging both world title reigns. Roode was quite simply a much more interesting champion than Aries. To be fair, Aries was playing a face during his world title reign, but he quickly took a backseat when Aces and Eights become the centerpiece of the show. Whenever Roode was the champion, he was always in the main storyline and had a championship reign that I wanted to see continue. Aries' title reign was just something I wish would just stop after a while. I know I'm pissing off a lot of Aries fans, but that's personally how I feel about his world title reign. I'm sure Aries can have an awesome world title reign as a heel, but I cannot base things on what COULD'VE happened and have to base things on what DID happen. For me, Bobby had the better world title reign, which is what makes him my choice for TNA Wrestler of the Year. There's gonna be a lot of disagreement with this choice, but I welcome the challenge.
Best Storyline of 2012
My Choice: Birth of Team Hell No
Your Choice: Birth of Hell No-45%, Punk's heel turn-25%, Aries' climb to the top-20%, Roode's world title reign-8%
I can see why Aries and Punk got a high number of votes. Aries' option C was great and it was amazing seeing him get the world title, but the reason he doesn't get my vote is because his world title reign is kinda forgettable. Punk's heel turn was a little more interesting than Aries. Punk's world title reign was starting to get boring until he decided to go back to a character that he's more comfortable with. I still like anti-hero Punk, but I would gladly take heel Punk over face Punk any day of the week. As soon as he turned heel, his world title run started to mean something again. He eventually joined up with Paul Heyman and it only made his heel turn stick out even more. Even though I enjoyed Punk going back to his roots, Team Hell No was just too entertaining at the end of the day. Simply put, Team Hell No has entertained me more than anything else that happened in 2012. I know I've talked a lot about this pairing during this look back, but these guys are hilarious. This pairing has done many things for the WWE. Not only did it put together two talented people to do some successful comedy, but it also had a big role in the resurrection of the tag division. I've already gone into detail on how I feel about tag team wrestling, but Team Hell No really had a big hand in this. Plus, something about 'hug it out' is really funny. I love this storyline so much that I got this T-shirt….
….And it's awesome. Kane and Daniel Bryan deserve a round of applause of what they've created. I know a time will come for this pairing to stop, but let's enjoy it while we can.
WWE Wrestler/Superstar of the Year
My Choice: CM Punk
Your Choice: Punk-68%, Daniel Bryan-14%, Dolph Ziggler-10%
As with WrestlingNerd tradition, we end the look back with the WWE Wrestler of the Year. Once again, this was a very easy choice in my opinion, but let's look at the people who tried to make a run for this award. I know the IWC loves Dolph. I think that's where a good percentage of these votes came from. I admittedly put Dolph on the ballot just to see how the voting turned out. Now, I need to get this out of the way since people don't seem to understand my thoughts on Dolph. I like Dolph Ziggler. He's got a ton of potential to be one of the WWE's best for years to come, but I don't go insane over Dolph like some of the internet fans. I really like Dolph Ziggler, but I swear that some people treat the guy as if he's the second coming of Jesus. He's great, but let's not go overboard now. Now that I've explained that, I expect somebody to twist my words so that I'm viewed as a Dolph hater. That's generally how it works, but I've grown to accept it. Daniel was the other guy who I thought had a legit shot at this award. If you read my Breakout/Comeback of the Year, then you already know why I think Daniel would make a strong candidate for this award. Still, nobody can touch CM Punk in this category and he wins this award for a second straight year. The man has had one of the longest reigning WWE title reigns in over 25 years. Considering that holding the championship for a whole year is rare, that's really saying something. Punk put some some of the most entertaining matches for the whole year and he was the best promo cutter for the whole year. Quite simply, nobody came close to competing with Punk for this award. I can keep going, but I think you get the idea. It's hard to say if Punk will be able to 3-peat, but we shall see.
And that FINALLY does it for the Best and Worst of 2012. I always enjoy doing this, but it's tiring having to work on all of this. I will be glad to get back to a more relaxed schedule for 2013. I thank everyone that took part in the poll and I really thank anyone who has given me a chance to entertain you these past two years. I've had a great time writing reviews and coming up with stupid jokes. At the end of the day, it's YOU guys who keep this page going. You are the reason I'm still around doing this after all this time. I thank each and every single one of you that's helped me along the way. We may always differ on opinions, but I think seeing opinions from a different point of view is what makes this page fun. I always welcome people to argue against me in a respectful manner. I can keep going on and on about how you folks are awesome, but I should wrap this up. I thank you for joining me in 2012 and here's to another great year.
Too bad the Punk/Bryan match wasn't the main event at Over the Limit instead of that awful Cena/Johnny Ace match.
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