WNS Column: Wilds' War Cry: Award Shows Suck

It is that time of the year again, where I start brushing off the top whatever and best of the year lists for my other articles, but get to make fun of the Slammy Awards here on the Wilds’ War Cry. To be fair, I do not think WWE puts much effort into this episode either, as it is usually a throw-away three hour crapfest with one good match and a kind of cool guest appearance to balance it out. I have to be honest though; the big joke is usually seeing who wins, or sometimes what is even considered for the categories, but I found myself agreeing with the results this year a lot more than any other I can recall. That does not mean I liked all of them though, so I want to touch on some winners I agree with, some I did not; and I left several off because they were a waste of time or too pandering even for me.

First though I want to wrap up a couple of other things that happened this week on NXT and Smackdown. Charlotte looked strong in her match against… wait, did we even get her name? Her opponent had a good look and was not exactly squashed, so I am sure we will see her again, but I do not think she even got an introduction. Hideo Itami and Finn Balor took on Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze in a fun bout with some good wrestling and strong kicks. It did the trick, as I now am even more excited to see this new team take on The Ascension. What I really liked about NXT this week though was seeing Sami Zayn flip out. It added some depth to the character and a small bit of intensity to the feud. If anyone missed him and Neville on Talk is Jericho, it was a cool listen. Smackdown saw the New Day preach up their feud with The Dust Brothers—as I shall now call them—in what should be an entertaining pre-show match. Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper had a fun match, but the real excitement came after it with that sweet smooth ladder reversal from Ziggler—what a pro.

Seth Green was not a bad host, even if I thought he could have been used better, but he is no Grumpy Cat. I loved Charlotte’s debut match against Natalya, even though she lost; with a couple of good heel moments from her, especially trash talking the ref in the corner. Ambrose and Wyatt had a fun and almost brutal interaction that should set us up for possibly the most interesting match this Sunday, because the last segment really did not sell me on much else for TLC.

Enough of that though, on to the main attraction!

Insult of the year

The Rock’s interaction with Rusev won, but in my opinion it should have been AJ Lee: “Talent is not sexually transmitted,” with an honorable mention going to coining lesbehonest. The Rock is the master of smack talk for sure, but this one stuck out more to me.

Tag Team of the Year

The Usos have put in some serious work over this past year putting their bodies on the line and holding onto those titles, but I would have personally awareded it to the Dust Brothers; Gold and Star have given a lot this year and rebranded their team, providing an immense amount of entertainment and constantly trying to up their game.

Faction of the Year

I cannot actually think of any other group that came close to this award outside of the WWE and TNA. The Shield is my favorite faction in recent memory. The trio was strong, put on amazing matches, and survived being booked backwards. It is still a bit early, but each member of this faction is doing decently on their own, which is another good sign. Not calling for a Shield reunion here, but I look back on that time pretty fondly.   

NXT Superstar of the Year

Sami Zayn. Perfect. There are others in NXT who deserve the nomination, but he is the best right now and has a great year.

Breakout Star of the Year

Dean Ambrose is well deserving of this award, especially if we are gauging by fan approval, though I think Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns may have accomplished more over the year in pure on-screen achievement. I love Ambrose, but the machine has been behind the other two more, so it was nice to see him get this small boost.

Best Couple of the Year

It was Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella, but the winners should have been AJ Lee and Paige or AJ and her precious title. Both of those would have been more interesting.

Rivalry of the Year

Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority: that is a hard one to argue with, especially looking back on the long build to Wrestlemania. I know so many were frustrated about how it was done, how long it took, the frustration, but damn was it worth it. I have to agree with this one

Surprise Return of the Year

There was no other option for this award than the Ultimate Warrior. There were so many fans, myself included, who never thought we would see him back in a WWE ring for any reason, but the legend was put into the Hall of Fame just before his untimely death. It is a story to be respected.

OMG Moment of the Year

The streak was conquered. The Undertaker lost at Wrestlemania 30 to Brock Lesnar and that made so many fans lose their shit. They will use the images of those shocked faces for years to come, and I still have people ask me why it happened. There was no bigger moment of shock or awe.

Diva of the Year

There is a huge argument that Paige should have won this, because she has had an amazing year, even if the Anti-Diva did not live up to everyone’s expectations. I have to say I was pleased. This is not to take anything away from AJ Lee, who was very deserving in her own right, and other than Paige has made the rest of the divas division look like they need to step their game up.

Double-Cross of the Year

Seth Rollins betraying the Shield was not a huge surprise, or a welcomed one, but damn if it did not make for some cool story and help propel three great athletes. This was the clear winner.   

Best Actor

Rock’s acting is a bit old hat, not bad at all, but hear me out…Dave Batista. Did anyone see Guardians of the Galaxy, and now his role as Hinx in Spectre? It is a tough sell, I know, but at least they did not try to give the slammy to Miz.

Match of the Year

The winner was Team Cena vs. Team Authority from Survivor Series, and with Sting showing up it is not hard to see why. Overall though, it was not the best match this year. In my opinion there were two better matches: Shield vs. Evolution or Bryan/Orton/Batista from Wrestlemania 30, both of which incite numerous pops and have some moments that stand out in history for me. Sting was an important moment, but these two matches stand firmly on their own.

Superstar of the Year

Roman Reigns had a breakout year, as I mentioned earlier, and there is a lot of potential there, but arguments could easily be made for Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, though I would put my money on Bray Wyatt. When I think back over the year about the various matches and feuds I have been excited about, Bray has been involved in many of them, and his character development feels like it has just begun. I am not going to try and predict the future and say that he will have a great future, but the potential there is astounding. I enjoy following the buzzards already, and with the rumor that this wrestler may actually start a program with the Undertaker; I cannot wait.

Not everyone will agree with me on this, and that is fine, but this was a less than mediocre episode of Raw, but I was still surprised with how many of the winners I agreed with, a trend that I hope continues. 

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