THE 2000 REC.SPORT.PRO-WRESTLING YEAR-END ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

This entire document copyright 2000 by Christopher Robin Zimmerman.  Portions
of this document are copyright 1990-95 by Herb Kunze and used with his kind
permission.  

Visit Herb's Awards page at .
The 1999 Awards can be found at .

*PLEASE* CONTACT ME FIRST BEFORE USING ANY PART OF THESE RESULTS!!
I can be reached by emailing chris@kzim.com.

First, some general comments...

STUART: A disasterous year for U.S. wrestling thanks to the "boom" as well
as Vince Russo which dragged down the WWF and WCW. WWF showed promise at
the start of the year with a strong Royal Rumble PPV but it was downhill
with poor, watered down wrestling and dry angles so the *sports* and
*entertainment* weren't fun. WCW was just bad aside from those two or so
weeks with Ace and Taylor in control. ECW was also plagued by a bad TNN
show with half of the blame on TNN. It did maintain a consistently good
PPV standard though, easily the best in the U.S. this year. Since leaving
TNN, ECW has become the best product in the U.S. by a stretch since
leaving TNN and using it's syndicated show without restrictions. Sadly, a
TV deal is needed or the company may lose all it's talent.
The major
Japanese leagues, AJPW and NJPW, suffered hard times especially AJ when
Misawa split and took most of the roster, forming Pro Wrestling NOAH.
NJPW's hard times weren't financially, since they are #2 in the world in
that department, but rather product-wise, becoming the worst league in
Japan with only junior matches making the product slightly watchable. The
burial of Shinya Hashimoto early this year was depressing. An excellent
array of indies carried the puroresu scene in 2000. Toryumon and Michinoku
Pro (using Toryumon talent along with it's own) were and still are the
best pound for pound leagues on earth. Big Japan Pro-Wrestling continued
to redefine hardcore wrestling, serving us the match of the year between
the awesome Honma and Yamakawa. However in April when CZW (Combat Zone
Wrestling) arrived from America to work with Big Japan, it went downhill.
Other promotions such as FMW, Osaka Pro and even Onita Pro provided us
with some great wrestling, making 2000 not completely disasterous for the
business.

JOE KLEMM: This year, WCW went way downhill. From bringing back Vince
Russo as booker, to giving David Arquette the title (somewhere David's
grandpa, Charlie Weaver, is rolling in his grave), all theway to a heel
Duggan, WCW has become even worse than it was last year.

DON DEL GRANDE: Some awards are hard to vote on based just on a line of
text in the nominations - for example, some of us can't remember what the
highlights (and lowlights) were in most of the major shows (awards 37,
46).  How about a little more description, even if it means splitting the
nomimations into two posts next year?

RICHARD BEAUBIEN: Oh what a difference a year makes in terms of voting in
the RSPW awards. From a North American stand point (My Puro knowledge not
being up to snuff to vote for them in most categories) last year was
pretty even in awards, even with WCW's free fall in quality. They still
had Benoit, Guerrero, and so many other tools to put on a quality product
and factor into the awards. This year it isn't even close, with all of the
good stuff coming mostly from the WWF, and all of the crap coming from
WCW. With the departure of the Radicals to the WWF to the booking of Vince
Russo (it's a shoot baby), never has the awards process been so simple and
easy to follow. Which in many ways may be a bad sign for the business, as
the WWF starts to fall into the rut that lead to there first collapse...

M. PALUMBO: A very dismal year for wrestling in general, many poor
nominees for catagories.

TORREY SPEARS: 2000 Was the year for Triple H.  No doubt about it.  
Triple H came on this year and really established himself as one of the
best wrestlers/workers in the business.  Some question his willingness to
job, and he occasionally overbooks himself, but anyone who can wrestle a
Hell in a Cell match, and follow it up with an iron man match, never
skipping a night in between, deserves all the accolades in the world.  
Give it up for Right To Censor... taking perennial midcarders Bull
Buchanan and Godfather and giving them an angle w/ purpose... now if only
Val would dress like the rest of them...  Kurt Angle exploded onto the
scene, and has been golden this year.  Right now, he's current booking
sucks, but I still look for big things from the Olympic hero in the
future!  The Rock, in attempting to make his moveset for variable, just
looks out of control and sloppy in the ring.  What happend to the Rock?  
He used to be original, witty, funny, and fresh... now he's stale and
boring, and only appeals to the marks.  I miss "Rocky Sucks!".... ....  
The thought of Booker T. as WCW champion seemed almost perfect... he's an
outstanding worker with great talent, and okay mic skills.  What happend?
They tried to make him into another "Rock", and it failed... now you have
this 'guy' out there who's holding the belt...  WCW in itself is in such
disarray, it's a shame to see such a proud franchise in turmoil.  Vince
Russo has ruined WCW beyond repair.  Trying to turn it into the WWF2 was a
BIG mistake... the shock value was cool for all of 2 weeks, but the WCW
prides itself on in-ring work, not backstage gimmicks.  The best Nitroes
of the past year were the Johnny Ace and Co. booked technical fests...
gone are those days I know, but WCW needs to set itself apart from WWF in
order to gain back viewers, not play 'Can You Top This?' ...  All in all,
the megapush that brought wrestling out of his backwoods hick phase, is
ultimately what's going to do it in... there's too much of it, it's all
over the place, and trying to cater to everybody, the result, a poor
product that die hard wrestling fans will soon turn off in favor of
videotape classics from days past... and the fickle fairweather fan that
the WWF and WCW are trying so hard to capture will soon pass on, and WHO
(n.N.) will be watching wrestling then?... ... ...

CHRIS BIRD: Hoo-boy, it's been a wild year, hasn't it? WCW collapsing, the
long-awaited jump of Chris Benoit, ECW going bankrupt, Vince McMahon
putting together the XFL, Mitsuhara Misawa splitting from AJPW to form
NOAH, the rise to prominence of Triple H, CRZ finally getting rid of the
Best Jobber categories, and the WWF doing gangbusters business without the
presence of Steve Austin. Plus, this was the year that brought us the
return of the Conquistadors, Ken the Box, and Vince Russo running a
company into the ground not once but twice. I stand agog - this has been a
largely exciting year for wrestling, despite the recent tedium, and this
year's awards will likely reflect that.

WILL GEDDES: Scott Keith said last lear - rule one of the WWF is Vince
loves big talentless lugs... Vince signs some of the best damn wrestlers
in the world and repeatedly uses them to put over The Rock, who gets
staler by the day and no talent goofs like DX and Rikishi. On a brighter
note, Kurt Angle is the greatest find in recent wrestling history - best
Angle is Kurt! Meanwhile Atlanta falls apart, just cos the other Vince
hates wrestling and non-americans, and likes goofy angles, stupid
characters and loves himself. But at least we shall never need to speak
the name of the Orange Goblin again (I hope). ECW continues to provide
good quality wrestling on a budget of $2.50 - even if that involves not
paying anyone.

SAMUEL SKLAROFF: I've watched barely any WCW this year, so I may be
biased.

JOEY CREIGHTON: Sorry, but I couldn't vote for everything, due to lack of
knowledge. All my votes come from what is available to me, therefore no
international wrestlers or organizations.

MATTHEW HEMING: WCW is so bad, I don't even watch it anymore, I just read
the Nitro recaps, and even those are painful.

TOMSTONE: The WWF had a truly outstanding year. They gave the ball to
people like The Rock, Triple H, and Chris Benoit, and none disappointed.
WCW and ECW had horrible years, thanks to horrible bookers, horrible
talent, blatant ripoffs, and a decreasing budget. Still, this was an
improvement over last year.

BEN WEINER: WCW further flushes itself down the toilet while the WWF could
air still shots of Rikishi's ass dimples and get 6.0 QH's.

JASON MEAD: This year, 2000, included many great moments from the main
company in the business, especially in North America, the WWF. Sure, they
made some mistakes, but this year was generally solid for them, both
wrestling and entertainment wise. The rise of Triple H, Chris Benoit, and
Kurt Angle will be remembered for a long time. All in all, however, this
year sucked. WCW, ECW, and any Japanese tapes I've seen haven't been so
good.

HAWKER JOHN S. WILCOX: For fans who never heard of XPW. XPW is basically a
West Coast version of ECW but without any good wrestling created by Porno
King Rob Black. They sometimes show Lucha and Chris Daniels matches, but
it's mostly shitty "Hardcore" matches with ECW retreads Sabu, Big Dick
Dudley, Axl Rotten, and a fatter John Kronus. And their "original"
wrestlers are rip-offs of Sandman, Raven, the Gangtaz, and Steve Corino.
They don't even show wrestling anymore. It's just stupid viginettes of Rob
Black talking to a damn doll, White Trash Johnny something looking for a
"Homeless Jimmy". and twins holding Rob Black's wife captive for a car,
and their announcer Kris Kloss is so damn annoying with his screaming i'd
beat this guy to death. The only saving grace is the announcer Larry
Rivera, with his sterotypical cuban immigrant gimmick. Avoid watching this
Indy sleaze smarts.  HHH greatly improved from an average wrestler with a
weak moveset, to carrying most of the WWF's PPV's this year.  Chris
Jericho's mic skills really deteriorated when he entered the WWF last
year, now it's just catchphrases and calling Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley a
whore.  Curry Man: Hot, spicy, OTAKI!!!

EDC: General comments: Tough year for wrestling, My thanks go to CRZ for
actually remembering to do this again this year.

BRANDON BOLLOM: I didn't vote for most of the "worst" categories, and I
skipped a few of the others too.  These are my votes!

DUDICALY2K: Sorry I didn't fill out every ballot position. Inherintly, I
don't believe in voting for "the worst this and the worst that."  Also,
some positions were hard to chose from because of how bad and blurred
American wrestling has become.  But here are my comments nonetheless.

SCOTT W.: Hey Chris, do you think the Florida voters will get confused?  
I wonder if Mike Samuda can understand this easy ballot?  Maybe you should
have said "All Florida Votes will not be counted."  If my choices for #1
are not number 1, then I want a hand recount again. :-)

BRINK: Sorry for the Overly WWF bias of this. WCW is really painful to
watch now and I get ill just reading the re-capps of the PPV's. ECW got
worse as the year went on but hasn't hot the new lows that WCW come sup
with and look like a gem in comparison.

DONNIE VOMIT: It was a great year to be a WWF fan. However, it was a bad
year to be a fan of wrestling in general.

RICHARD SHAW-WRIGHT: This year just felt strange. Benoit proved himself as
the best worker in the world, and why didn't WCW let him on the mic more
often! Angle was hillarious, a deserving World Champ, Arquette, however,
was not! Roll on 2001!

BEANS: A best and worst cruiserweight pair of categories might be a good
addition.  Also, please use 'Beans' if you happen to quote one of my
comments.

JOHN C.: The year 2000 was a good year for the wrestling in that the WWF
had tremendous success. The addition of the Radicals helped them out
greatly as they improved their workrate, creating more coherent storylines
and developing a lot of their younger stars without relying on people like
Steve Austin, Vince McMahon or the Undertaker like they did in years past.  
Meanwhile, the gap between the WWF and the competition widened with the
continued failures of WCW and the loss of a TV deal forcing ECW to scratch
and crawl their way to survive. The wrestling business is no longer a two
horse race and because of that the WWF product could become stale again
although with the roster they currently have that sort of thing would be
extremely hard to do. People like Mick Foley and Bret Hart, who racked up
several RSPW Awards during their careers, called it a career although they
left under entirely different circumstances. While Foley's departure was
met with a lot of fanfare, Hart left in utter silence as his legacy faded
away thanks to an errant kick from a green monster named Goldberg. This
was a great year for the WWF although for me what I will remember most is
the retirement of two legends who helped make wrestling what it is today.

DAVEN HOWARD: David Arquette -- he was horrible when we were supposed to
like him, he was horrible when we were supposed to hate him, and may we
never have to speak of him related to wrestling ever again.

GABY McMAHON: I hate Stephanie as a heel

JIZZAY: 1. Lance Storm's finisher, the Maple Leaf, is the sweetest move
when it's done in the rolling fashion.  Otherwise it sucks. So, I can't
put it on the list.  2. The "worst babyfaces" on my list are that way
because they belong as heels, not because they suck.  3. Where's Mick
Foley on the "Most Deteriorated Wrestler" question?  4. Since we're all
smarks here, I think there should be a "biggest mark-out moment" category.
(I'm going with Big Show doing the "Showster" rip-off)  5. No rookie of
the year category?  Not that we need it this year with Kurt Angle, but I'm
just dying to know who's in 2nd and 3rd!  6. How bout a "Most sick of"
cat.?  I'm dying to put Rocky in the Worst Wrestler, but that's not
actually true.  Like you care.

ANDREW CURRY: Both major North American companies put their championship
belts around the waists of relative newcomers.  The WWF chose Kurt Angle.  
WCW chose David Arquette.  And nothing better typifies the differences
between the two organizations.  Never has Vince MacMahon's ultimate power
and genius been more evident than during the WCW run of Vince Russo, who
insulted us with one misbegotten notion after another--Powers That Be,
pinata on a pole, Oklahoma, Arquette, Hogan/Kidman, the new nWo, janitor
Hacksaw, Amway Chavo, GI Bro, Hugh G. Rection, That 70's Guy,
Cruiserweight champions Daffney and Madusa, Jimmy Hart vs. Mancow
(twice)...the list goes on and on.  And on.  And on. Clearly Vinnie Mac
was giving the red and green lights to Vinnie Ru in New York.  If only I
could have selected ten candidates for Worst Promotional move or Worst
Angle.  WCW brightspots were few and far between, but in fairness, there
were some worth mentioning.  Booker T as champ.  Jeff Jarrett in the main
event picture.  Banishing Hogan and Bischoff.  Ummm...Okay, well, that's a
thin list to be sure.  WWF not only went on without Russo, it thrived.  
Never has a line-up had so many people that were over.  From the usual
suspects like the Rock and HHH to the pleasant surprises like Benoit and
Edge and Christian to the downright mystifying successes like Steve
Blackman, the WWF seemed to succeed effortlessly in getting their talent
over with the crowds.  And if a certain complacency has set in over the
last few weeks, who can blame them?  I hope that it won't last too long
(in short, no more Kane/Undertaker).  At this point, being signed to a WWF
contract must almost seem to be a mixed blessing.  While you are a part of
the hottest organization in the world, you have to fight like hell to make
an impression.  Talents like Raven and Tazz (superstars in former days)
have discovered this during the past year.  I've gone from watching Nitro,
Thunder, Raw, Smackdown and Heat every week to completely eliminating
Thunder, cutting Nitro back to once a month or so, and remaining loyal to
the WWF product.  And now that my illegal sattelite hook-up is gone, I
haven't seen a WCW ppv in months (New Blood Rising taught me my lesson).  
But I still faithfully chip in my $30.00 to WWF's ppv product each and
every month.  Call me a mark.  Call me biased.  Call me whatever you
choose.  But anyone that denies that there are fundamental and serious
differences between WWF and WCW is delusional.  I'm hardly the first to
note this obvious discrepancy.  Let's just hope that my opinion, tossed on
the mountain of similar opinions, might make WCW sit up and take notice.  
Things may have to get worse before they get better.  I just won't be
watching in the meantime.

AHW44: The worst thing I have ever seen on TV was the smackdown where
Steph slapped Linda for the main event. That is the lowest point in
wrestling.  Joe C and Kid Rock was just as bad

AL RITCHIE: I resisted the temptation to vote: Best Angle: Kurt, Worst
Angle: Eric.  Do I win a prize?

ANDY P. GOSS: Wow.  What a wild, strange trip it's been in 2000.  As a fan
of wrestling, and not just one of these critics, I've enjoyed every minute
of it.  And now, let's look for the best.

JONATHAN MUGGLETON: I realize Foley is retired, but I couldn't think of
good babyfaces.  As you can see, I'm a total WWF mark, but I do like ECW.  
The only contact I have with WCW is your recaps.

MOSES GATES: My only general comment is that I don't have cable, and
therefor watch only Jakked and Smackdown on a regular basis, and only
occasionaly catch Raw/Nitro/or ECW (although I try to catch ECW whenever
possible).  My votes are probably biased accordingly.

TATEWKIKNO: I didn't vote for some of the "worst" categories, because who
am I to say who the worst promotion in the world is?

LON GRAHAM: As you can see, I am a WWF "mark" all the way baby!  Although
if they don't gets their head out of their rearends then next year could
be different.

ADAM BLODGETT: I guess I'm just not obsessed with wrestling enough to
answer every category.... I rather not vote at all in a category instead
of making stupid choice.

DAVID COHEN: Triple H should win the Triple H award...Don't ask me what it
is, but he certainly deserves it!

EDDIE BURKETT: In general, I tried to disregard WCW as much as possible.  
I don't watch much of their programming, so I decided to be "fair".

KEVIN RICHARDSON:  I think this was the best year for the WWF as the
signing of the Radicalz brought wrestling back. The year hasn't ended too
strongly though, and I can't believe the IC strap has been put on Billy
Gunn!

MIKE: That's my opinion. Hope you appreciate it as I spent over an hour on
it.  If your RAW/Nitro recaps weren't so fucking funny, I never would have
done this. Peace.

SHAUN THOMAS: 1. All of the best wrestlers (Benoit Jericho and Storm) are
Canadian.  2. What the hell does "Don't hate the playa, hate the game"
mean?  3. If he goes singles, I see Jeff Hardy as the future.

DAVE B: I am so frickin sick of the frickin rock and his frickin
ridiculous antics and stupid obnoxious personality.  When he was a bad
guy, I lapped it up.  But it's sickening and so god damn annoying to see
this idiot go out there day and night to talk about shoving things up
people's asses, piles of monkey dung and buffalo chips, and proclaiming
triumphantly his return to (insert city here).  What's next?  "Ladies and
gentlemen... the rock has left the building?"  How about shutting his
mouth and revising his role?

JASON KNUDSON: I pretty much just picked three WCW shows for the worst
shows of the year.  They've all pretty well sucked.  As for the best
angle, I'm sorry, but the Al Snow/Steve Blackman angle made me die
laughing.  Especially "The Comedy Stylings of Steve Blackman."  That one
was hilarious.  They weren't a bad tag team, either.  Oh, and one more
thing, MIKE AWESOME SHOULD GO BACK TO ECW WHERE HE WILL BE APPRECIATED AND
FINALLY USED PROPERLY INSTEAD OF BEING THE BUTT OF EVERY WCW JOKE THEY CAN
COME UP WITH.  There, I feel better.

NICOLáS D. SCHAPIRA: 1.  worst matches/shows are inordinantly more
difficult to remember, for good reason, they sucked so badly we put it in
the back of our minds.  2.  I don't get much japan or indie stuff, hence
why I can't rate them.  3.  I'm obviously a WWF mark, but for good reason,
they were the best promotion this year, and thus made me care more about
their wrestlers.  4.  Jeff jarret is one of the few reasons to watch WCW.

JOHN WEILENMANN: All votes cast on what I have personally seen, thus no
Japanese votes (no access to tv or tapes). -A monstrous year for the WWF,
with little or no competition from WCW or ECW (except in some of the
"worst" catagories). Triple H was, hands down, the most valuable wrestler
in the business.  It was also good to see the infusion of some new faces
into the fed, though most came at the expense of the WWF's competitors
(with the notable exception of Kurt Angle).  However, there is legitimate
concern that by the end of the year, Vince and company were resting on
their laurels.  If they don't start booking aggressively again, as at the
beginning of the year, they could lose the attention of the casual viewer
who has built the WWF's high ratings. -WCW's stumbling, bumbling and
fumbling continue, with a poor year by almost any standards.  There were
few bright spots at any point, though some faint glimmers of hope have
emerged of late (Jeff Jarrett, Crowbar, Big Vito, and some of the Power
Plant grads).  The occasional good match or effort aside, WCW was simply
hard to watch this year. -ECW, though producing consistently good effort,
has yet to return to the strong storylines that brought them to the dance
in the mid-90's.  At times, it seems Paul E. is trying to piss off his
core fans with his booking rather than pleasing them.  This, combined with
bush league production values for television, the lack of a weekly show,
and on-going financial issues make me fear for ECW's future. -All in all,
what began as a strong year for the business has limped to an end, with
warning signs abundant that the wave of support that carried wrestling
through the past 3 years has subsided.  It makes for a nervous beginning
for the 2001 RSPW awards year.

BOB MORRIS: General comments: If there was a Y2K bug, it certainly
affected wrestling this year. As 1999 came to an end, we had Vince Russo
signing with WCW and some optimism that the company might turn itself
around, but then Bret Hart suffered a concussion, Russo's booking was
panned by many, then he got ousted and replaced by Sullivan...only a few
months later, Sullivan is out, Russo is back in only with Bischoff working
wit him...only just a couple months later, the two no longer are working
with each other. With everything that happened to WCW this year, it just
sent the company further and further into a tailspin. And the fact that
WCW is losing money like crazy makes their situation only worse as the
company kept looking for ways to cut costs. In ECW, the company had a
national TV deal with TNN late in 1999, and one year later, the company
has no such deal. Reports continue to circulate that wrestlers are getting
paychecks late, and that some talent is rumored to be looking for work
elsewhere. The TV deal ECW got last year appeared to be what might turn
its fortunes around, but that never happened, and the company remains in a
bad position. The WWF did have a strong start for the year 2000, with
Triple H rising to prominence after many doubted he could be a main
eventer, plus its acquistion of new talent gave the company a promising
outlook for the future. But as we approach year's end, WWF has gotten
stuck in a creative rut and there are vocal complaints about certain
wrestlers not getting elevated. Kurt Angle was one of those younger stars
that was able to break through to the top, but there's a perception that
wrestlers like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero aren't
truly being allowed to move up the ranks. While the WWF remained
profitable throughout 2000, the signs are pointing to the company possibly
sliding downhill if they aren't able to shake off the creative rut the
company is in. The year 2001 will tell us if the WWF can maintain its
current level of success, or if it will start to slide downhill.

CLAUDIA FOGL: For the tag team award I'd like to say that Jindrak and
O'Hare and Lt. Loco and Corp. Cajun, although they aren't quite as good as
the 3 I've named are still downright fantastic.  Also on the heels, RTC
are also good.  I was sent here by John C. from Rajah.com

RICH HUMPHREYS: If this is Hogan's last year as an active wrestler, the
most deteriorated category should be named after him in tribute.

RYAN SLADE: 1. I'd like to note that I didn't vote in the Major Show
categories, simply because I can not afford pay-per-view, and the cable
company only brought them back in August after mysteriously doing away
with pay-per-view for two years. Why? I don't know.  2. I flipped a coin
and gave Edge the vote for third Most Favourite Wrestler. Honourary
mentioning should go out to Christian. I would have like to put him on,
but I couldn't bring myself to remove Kurt Angle from the list. Perhaps if
Hardcore Holly was still injured I'd have forgotten about him, seeing as
wrestling companies don't think we remember anything. For example, the
other night when Benoit fought Austin, J.R. and Jerry Lawler were
marvelling at the fact that Austin was actually wrestling. I couldn't
believe it myself, but not because I have a short-attention span, but
because I haven't seen him perform a wrestling match without the same
punch-kick 5 minute brawl sequence into the crowd for the last 2 years.
Doesn't anyone remmber the Ringmaster? Anyhow, back to the point at hand,
Christian is just as worthy as Edge for thrid Most Favourite. 3. What's
the deal with people voting for Hulk Hogan as the Most Deteriorated
Wrestler over and over and over and over again? Though he had good
wrestling matches in the eighties, he was usually being carried through
them by guys like "Macho Man", except for that match against the Warrior.
Man, was Hogan proving his worth at WM 6. Anyhow, fuzzy memories aside, he
was never more than an average wrestler where as technical ability is
concerned, and I can't help asking myself how an average worker at best
could lose more talent than anyone else for most of the 90's! I brought
this point up last year, but yet, Hogan still won. Therefore, until guys
like Hogan and Jake Roberts, who went through the deterioration process
many years ago haven't got enough skill to lose anymore.  4. I hope this
comment isn't stupid, for I know not how the results will turn out, but
I'm going to assume that relatively very few people are going to vote for
Taka Michinoku as the Most Underrated Wrestler in wrestling! If this
happens, it just goes to show you how Underappreciated he is as well. Does
anybody remember Taka vs. HHH? I know I do. Sure, HHH was a super-over
heel, and maybe Taka was helped by some of that underdog babyface heat,
but if it was Grandmaster Sexay, would people have been popping like mad
and chanting for him? Well, yeah, I guess they would.... which brings me
to my next quesiton: Why are people suckers for goofy looking wannabe
hip-hop gangstas that dance? 5. Man, when Hardcore Holly suffered a broken
arm I thought wrestling was going to enter another recession the size of
1995 or 1996. Another dismal year? Nope, it wasn't a return to the dark
ages of wrestling, but still 5 monthes without Hardcore is 5 monthes too
many, that is why his injury was the most disappointing news item of the
past year. 6. Also, on the Disappointing News Item front, people ought to
stop voting for peoples' deathes to win this award. Say whatever you want
to about me, but I'm not trying to be rude. I just think that when a guy
as old as Gorilla Monsoon dies, as much of a fan of his I was, people have
to accept it for as it is. It's sad that people die, but death is all
around us, and old people die all of the time. I'm not too sympathetic
about drug-overdose or related deathes, but they too are just as
unpleasant to hear about. I would vote the death of a wrestler as the most
disappointing news item during the year if it were to happen while in the
ring, or maybe if it was like a car wreck or something, things that
otherwise shouldn't have happened. The taking of drugs will lead to death,
and therefore the taking should have otherwise not have happened, not the
death. Am I confussing? 7. Finally, I want to talk about all of the
wrestling moves that Hardcore Holly performs better than anyone in
wrestling. I didn't vote for them as Best Wrestling

JO$HUA LUTZ: I should have made macros for "Hulk Hogan" and "Mick Foley,"
since they popped up a lot...  A Rookie of the Year catergory is needed so
Kurt Angle can win something, too...  "WCW" should be a viable answer to
questions like Worst Promotional Move and Worst TV Show...

JEREMY SORIA:  I really liked the wrestling this year from both WCW and
WWF, but of course, the WWF is leaps and bounds ahead of WCW. WCW
continues to throw things at the wall to see what sticks, but they can't
seem to know which ideas to go with. WCW's got a lot of young talent, even
seasoned young talent. They are the keys to keeping WCW alive. WCW must
finally move on and start pushing the young talent, recognize their
perpetually improving skill, and make them the next big superstars. The
WWF is doing a great job with its roster as well, creating an improvement
in the in-ring product across the board at the WWF. I can only hope that
the nonsensical angles that they started pulling off in the beginning of
the 2001 voting period don't begin to disrupt and dismantle all the
positive work the WWF has done over the past year to undo the damage done
by Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera. Once again, in the WWF, they're about
wrestling. Two men wrestling in nothing but their underwear is most
definitely not boring!

JOE KAZMER: Steve Blackman would be 5 on my favorite wrestlers.  
Blackman... 4 Life.

PAUL JACOBUS: Man, I hate forgetting these things until the last minute.

TROY OLSON: My overall comment to the voting is that I found I
unfortunately didn't know who most of the foreign wrestlers were nor did I
know any of the angles that were going on in any of the Japanese and
Mexican federations.  This left me limited, as I assume most people are,
to voting for American wrestling down the board.  I'm pretty confident
that the second best worker in the world isn't HHH, but then I've never
seen Kawada, Akiyama, or Super Delfin work, so how could I vote for any of
them?  Same is true for the rest of categories 1-7, in particular.  Maybe
the voting should go back to North American and non-North American
categories to accommodate this.  None the less, I know I'll be ordering
some tapes and paying more attention to the foreign scene to get a more
rounded appreciation of wrestling and to see who really is the best for
next year.

BILL LEHECKA: For the sake of refraining from overexposure, I will not
make any parallels or jokes about this ballot compared to the Florida
ballot, and I will not demand a recount.  Anyway, this race wasn't even
close.  Even though the WWF, throughout the year, started to step down in
quality and unpredictability, they still destroyed WCW in terms of
coherent storylines, in-ring work, and overall appeal.  Before I give my
blow-by-blow, the TNN move was dumb.  Dumb, dumb, dumb...  Dumb and
ANNOYING.  One more thing, was Vince Russo trying to swerve us every week,
then, to royally swerve us, have a clean ending without any hijinks?  I
just want to know.

NATE PATRIN: Obviously I'm biased for the WWF and against the WCW- but
simply because at this stage... well, think of it as being a baseball fan
in New York City back in the days. In the late '50s you had the juggernaut
Yankees (WWF), always-competitive Giants (WCW) and likeable underdog
Dodgers (ECW). But now it's 1962, the Dodgers as we know them are no more,
and instead of the Giants, the WCW is acting more like the Mets. And not
the Tom Seaver Mets. The Marv Throneberry Mets. (OK, that may be over some
wrestling fans' heads, but you should see baseball enthusiasts when I tell
'em that Frank Thomas is the Chris Benoit of the American League.)

LADEBAQ: Lousy year for pro wrestling= little to discuss.

SHAWN COLTON: I don't like voting for worst anything so I didn't, though
my choices of best are probably the worst choices in the eyes of the
smarky community. Oddly, I don't care.

BLAZEJ SZPAKOWICZ: Maybe I'm biased, but I honestly think Y2K turned out
to be one of the best years for wrestling in recent memory... for the WWF,
anyway. Good matches weekly, multiple MOTY contenders almost every PPV,
hot crowds (well, sometimes...), booming business... everything really.
WCW, meanwhile, stopped simply sliding into mediocrity, and just plunged
in headfirst, while the bottom fell out of ECW. I think it should surprise
nobody that all of my "Best of" votes in these awards seem to have gone to
the WWF. Their top card certainly seems to be in the best shape it's been
for years, since 95-96 when Shawn Michaels was carrying everyone and their
brother to great matches at the drop of a hat, and the undercard's far
better than it's ever been. Sports Entertainment is still the order of the
day, unfortunately, but longer and better matches mean I'm a happy camper.
WCW? Not much to say, really. All of the ongoing chaos backstage hardly
gave them the time to put together a great wrestling product... but I'm
not sure that's an excuse for some of the crap they've made us suffer
through this year. It's not as bad as it has been in years past, actually,
but it's pretty close. As for ECW, I unfortunately think that it's only a
matter of time before its gone. It's almost tragic, cause they were just
amazing in the middle part of the decade.

DRUNKERPELICAN: This is my first year voting. I had fun putting my choices
together, hope I didn't mess anything up.

LAWRENCE BENEDETTO: Sure I'm a WWF mark, but come on, this is just too
easy.

JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: 2000 has been a down year for most all the wrestling
companies except the WWF.  While WCW was destructed between skirmishes
between Sullivan and Russo, while Paul E. got his talent stolen and
couldn't pay the bills...the WWF signed four great wrestlers and suddenly
switched gears from the fed that had lesser wrestling in the US to the fed
that had the best wrestling. With everyone else in decline and the WWF
putting out a great product, it's really no surprise or that they dominate
this year's winners.  This year, Scaia's WWF marks won't make a
difference...

ROB "R2K" EVANS:  Thanks once again, CRZ, for devoting your time and
energy to organize these awards year after year.

JBELL55146:  WE STILL MISS YOU OWEN!!!!