REPOST: Top Ten Cases: WWE 2011 Year-End Awards

The new year is almost upon us which means I’ll be once again doing my WWE year-end awards.  So check back on January 1^st for the survey so that your voice can be heard as well.  But before I do that, I thought it’d be fun to look back at the 2011 Year-End Awards and see how we did with some of our predictions.

SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR

My pick: CM Punk; Your pick: CM Punk (100%)

This one was a no brainer – even more so considering that the year ended with CM Punk winning the title in the main event of a PPV.  I think most people conceived that things would have continued along that course.  Having said that, I think people from 2011 would have been disappointed with the first half of Punk’s 2012 – wrestling in a title match at WrestleMania that wasn’t even promoted as a featured bout and not main eventing a PPV until, I believe, August.

BREAKOUT STAR OF THE YEAR

My pick: Zack Ryder; Your pick: Zack Ryder & Dolph Ziggler (33% each)

This was probably the biggest heart breaker.  Again, the year ended GREAT for Zack Ryder.  He was mega over and finally captured the US title.  It seemed like he was finally accepted by the front office and that he might break through to even better things.  Now he’s in a MUCH worse place than he was a year ago today, and only in a slightly better place than he was before the revolution began (because he at least usually appears on Raw).  Dolph Ziggler, while having a great year, was overall pretty stagnant.  I’d say he’s in a slightly better spot than he was a year ago today, but not by much.

SUPERSTAR WITH THE MOST DISAPPOINTING YEAR

My pick: John Morrison; Your pick: John Morrison (50%)

This award already provides us with the luxury of hindsight, so there’s not much to add to this.

SUPERSTAR MOST POISED FOR A SUCCESSFUL 2012

My pick: Dolph Ziggler; Your pick: Dolph Ziggler & Sheamus (33% each)

I’d say, between Sheamus and Ziggler, you’d have to favor Sheamus.  He won the Royal Rumble, won the World Heavyweight Championship in record time, went on to have a lengthy reign with the gold, and always looked strong.  His only downfall was the fact that the World Heavyweight Championship was an absolute afterthought for the entire year (even more so than the prior year).  And while Dolph had a really great year, I think I might even say Daniel Bryan (another option for that category) had a more successful 2012 than he did.

MOST SHOCKING STORY OF 2011

My pick: The Summer of Punk; Your pick: Edge retires (44%)

Again, we already had hindsight here, so there’s not much to add.

BEST SHIFT IN CHARACTER

My pick: Mark Henry; Your pick: CM Punk & Mark Henry (44% each)

The irony of this particular award is that Mark Henry had a pretty forgettable 2012.  He spent much of the time either injured or jobbing to Sheamus.  And Punk ended up reverting back to his heel character halfway through this year.  So neither character really “stuck” for the entire year.

SUPERSTAR MOST NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY SOCIAL MEDIA

My pick: Matt Hardy; Your pick: Matt Hardy (62%)

And now he’s pretty much irrelevant (and certainly NOT an “Extreme Legend”).

GREATEST STORYLINE FUMBLE

My pick: Anonymous Raw General Manager; Your pick: Anonymous Raw General Manager (55%)

Not much to add.

WILL THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP BE REDESIGNED IN 2012?

My pick: No; Your pick: Yes (66%)

Haha, I was right!  Despite MANY logical opportunities (Punk’s heel turn, the 1,000^th Raw, Punk’s one year anniversary) and rumors of a new belt actually being created, they resisted the temptation to redesign their top championship.  Sadly.

WILL THE WWE NETWORK LAUNCH BE A SUCCESS?

My pick: Yes; Your pick: Yes (88%)

We were all wrong here.  While it still remains to be seen whether the WWE Network will be a success (I still think it has a significant upside), the implication of the question was that the network would launch in 2012.  And it did not.  So I have to say that we were all wrong on this one.