Best Angle                              

Award Description:

To be given to the best angle you've seen in the sport this year. 

Previous Winners:

  1990: Horsemen turn heel 
  1991: "Real World Champion" Ric Flair challenges Hulk Hogan 
  1992: Ric Flair "knew Elizabeth first" 
  1993: WWF brings in Sean Waltman as 1-2-3 Kid 
  1994: Shane Douglas forfeits NWA title moments after winning it 
  1995: Barry Horowitz finally wins on WWF television
  1996: NWO forms and attempts takeover of WCW
  1997: Bret Hart turns on USA, reforms Hart Foundation
  1998: Mr. McMahon offers Steve Austin the easy way - or the hard way
  1999: "Countdown to the Millennium" ends with Chris Jericho's WWF debut

**2000**: Triple H, Stephanie McMahon-Helsmley, Kurt Angle love triangle

533 first place votes
509 second place votes
490 third place votes

174 82 39 1194   Triple H / Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley / Kurt Angle love triangle
 86 38 17  578   Triple H marries Stephanie McMahon, leading to McMahon-Helmsley Era/Faction/Regime
 29 46 50  383   Edge & Christian, denied tag title shots, bring back the Conquistadors
 43 34 31  379   Mick Foley brings back Cactus Jack to deal with Triple H
 30 48 32  358   Who ran over Steve Austin?
 25 36 45  323   Crash offers to defend Hardcore title 24/7
 26 35 20  275   Cactus Jack puts his career on the line...and retires
 24 28 29  262   Chris Jericho wins WWF title from Triple H on a fast count
 19 30 29  243   Radicalz turn on Mick Foley to get WWF contracts from Triple H
 18 15 30  195   Al Snow tries to help Steve Blackman find a personality
  7 18 19  127   Right to Censor censor everything they don't like
  4 15 19  103   Dudley Boyz put women through tables
  2  8 16   66   Chris Kanyon rips off Diamond Dallas Page
  5  8  8   65   Al Snow represents different European countries
  5  7  8   62   All Japan v. New Japan
  5  8  4   57   WCW's New Blood tries to push out the Millionaire's Club
  1  4 16   49   Jeff Jarrett says Sting no longer has the heart for wrestling
  3  7  6   48   ECW fights the Network
  2  3 11   41   Lance Storm forms Team Canada
  2  5  5   35   Sinister Minister makes Mikey Whipwreck go crazy
  1  2  4   19   Chris Benoit dares WWF to prove him wrong
  3  1  0   18   Chigusa tells everyone to pick a side at the end of show on 5/14/2000
  1  3  2   18   Hulk Hogan kicked off TV
  1  2  3   17   Miss Hancock forms Los Fabulosos to combat Lane & Idol
  1  1  3   14   Undertaker returns: "His Judgment Day is Here"
  0  2  4   14   Mick Foley named WWF commissioner
  2  1  0   13   Booker T. wins WCW World Championship
  0  1  2    7   Tazz and Jerry Lawler duel in ring, commentary
  0  2  0    6   Vince Russo restarts Goldberg's streak, telling him he must win or be fired
  0  2  0    6   Lita wins WWF Women's championship
  0  2  0    6   Edge & Christian show early Hardyz footage
  0  0  3    6   Strange orange glow culminates in Tazz' WWF debut
  0  0  3    6   Chyna, Eddie Guerrero split
  0  0  3    6   Cat named WCW Commissioner
  1  0  0    5   William Regal teaches manners to American fans
  1  0  0    5   Team no Respect disbands
  1  0  0    5   Ricky Fuji is Kidnapped
  1  0  0    5   Jun Akiyama turns on Kenta Kobashi
  0  1  1    5   Tazz returns to ECW, wins world title
  0  1  1    5   Sting and Hogan recruit Vampiro as a good guy top face partner in WCW
  0  1  1    5   Big Show starts playing characters
  0  1  1    5   Acolytes become APA
  0  0  2    4   Chris Jericho mocks Chris Benoit with series of doctored photos
  0  0  2    4   Big Show protests the Royal Rumble result
  0  1  0    3   Test finally realizes he used to date Steph
  0  1  0    3   Shawn Michaels returns to guest ref Iron Man match
  0  1  0    3   Shawn Michaels reforms DX on RAW(?)
  0  1  0    3   Mayumi Ozaki tries to recuit KAORU as her new lesbian lover
  0  1  0    3   Masa Chono showing up on All Japan show
  0  1  0    3   Chris Jericho calls Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley a "ho"
  0  1  0    3   Billy Kidman attacks Hulk Hogan
  0  0  1    2   Trish Stratus loses at strip poker
  0  0  1    2   Triple H, Rock go at it again
  0  0  1    2   Team No Fear reunite
  0  0  1    2   Steve Blackman becomes fighting champion after winning Hardcore title
  0  0  1    2   Scott Hall's contract put on the line in match
  0  0  1    2   Ric Flair Retired
  0  0  1    2   Rhino v. Sandman
  0  0  1    2   Naked Mideon streaks through WWF programming
  0  0  1    2   Kurt Angle resents fans' resentment of him as real American
  0  0  1    2   Kevin Nash pimps the fired Scott Hall
  0  0  1    2   Kenta Kobashi v. Jun Akiyama (angle?)
  0  0  1    2   Kai En Tai, Acolytes become drinking buddies
  0  0  1    2   Harley's Angels break Selina Majors' leg
  0  0  1    2   Eddie Guerrero wins over Chyna with his Latino Heat
  0  0  1    2   Each McMahon stands in a corner for WrestleMania main event
  0  0  1    2   D-Generation X breaks up
  0  0  1    2   Crazy Max (what about them?)
  0  0  1    2   Chris Benoit gets surprise WCW World title win
  0  0  1    2   Big Boss Man torments Big Show by making fun of his dying father
  0  0  1    2   Al Snow hates the Rock

REJECTED

  9  0  1        Kurt (ha ha)
  0  2  0        Eric (ditto)
  1  0  0        Steve Austin drops Triple H from a forklift (time)
  0  1  0        Kurt and Eric
  0  1  0        Kurt & Eric Angle's switch to beat Undertaker (time)

C. JOSEPH HOFFMAN: Catcus Jack coming in was totally unexpected!

DON DEL GRANDE: Not much choice...in fact, you could have stuffed the
"Best Angle"  nominees into the "Worst Angle" category and I probably
wouldn't have noticed.  (Has allowing votes of "no award this year" ever
been considered?)

MICHAEL BANKER: The love triangle was right in there, too.  It was a very
close #4.

JASON BOUGGER: Nature Boy still rules this category (current lousy angle
put aside)

CHRIS WILCOX: A prediction.  Several people will put down "Kurt" for this
category. All will think it's funny and original.  All will be wrong.

ADAM FROM TORONTO: The Snow/Blackman vignettes were the apex of the WWF's
creative team in 2000. I don't give two blue damns about the
hardcore/European titles: neither guy has been as over since.

J3R CR0WE: Anything that involved the Radicalz entry to the WWF was good
in my books.

DEVON: The great thing about the Radicalz heel turn was that not only did
no one see it coming, but it actually made sense.  These kinds of swerves
are rare these days.  Head Cheese gets a mention because of its sheer
brilliance and all the laughs that came out of it.

ALEX GIPSON: The whole 24/7 thing never got old, IMO, and to me showed
that the WWF at least realizes that the Hardcore title is, these days, a
joke for the most part (Blackman's last few months aside, of course), and
was able to play it up with very entertaining results. The
McMahon-Helmsley period is one of the hottest "eras" I've ever seen.

SCOTT W.: Edge and Christian bringing back the Conquistadors was
fantastic.  I was hoping for a Killer Beez coming back. Edge and Christian
need a z for their name. The love Triangle was great for what it was.  
The Dudley boyz and the women through tables is 3rd.  Hey, you women want
to be treated like men in the work place, well here you go.

CHANCE50JR: Coming in a close 4th was Albert puts on a shirt.

MARCUS SPARKS: The Snow/Blackman made for some of the best TV viewing of
this year. Crash's 24/7 rule did the same and practically re-invented the
hardcore division overnight.  Jarrett dressing up as the old Sting was the
best thing seen on Nitro in ages, especially the credit card commercial.

JOHN C.: When Jericho "beat" Triple H for the WWF title on Raw earlier
this year it received a huge reaction from people at the arena and from me
in my living room. Even though the reign lasted for only five minutes it
was still the most memorable angle from the year. If you would have told
me that Triple H marrying Stephanie McMahon would carry WWF storylines for
most of the year I would have laughed in your face. I must give credit to
the WWF for starting the angle out right with the surprise wedding between
Hunter and his drugged bride. The Radicals turning on Foley during their
second week as part of the WWF was great to see as it gave them heat
immediately with the WWF crowds. It was a great surprise that also gave us
the best Raw match of the year with the ten man tag on the February 7th
edition of the show.

STEPHEN TISZENKEL: Vince Russo actually has admitted the McMahon-Helmsley
marriage angle is the only interesting, original thing the WWF has done
since he left. At least on the main event level, he's right.

CHRIS BURKE: Foley bringing back Cactus made for the best TV of the year.  
He had a great rapport with HHH, and the interview he gave leading up to
his “retirement” match (despite being ultimately bogus) was one hell of an
interview.  He is great as Mankind, and in his new role as commish, but
he’s at his best playing the crazed Cactus.  To bring Cactus back to
“deal” with HHH was a great final touch on a fantastic career.

COLIN MORTON: I wanted to say "Kurt", followed by "Eric", but I resisted
the urge.  As for the Regime:  Who'd ha' thunk it?

JAMES HOWARD: Kanyon swiping Page's gimmick when he wasn't looking was
great. Edge and Christian resurrecting Los Conquistadores was *priceless*.
But Chris Jericho winning the WWF Title... there's no competing with Chris
Jericho winning the WWF Title. Maybe next time they'll let him keep it.
^_^ But when you think about it, Chris Jericho is anything but "used
wrong" like some people would have you believe; events like this, and much
later like Chris Jericho having the WWF Championship match against Kurt
Angle won before Kane ran in, give the impression that Jericho could on
any given night just go out and win the WWF Championship any time he feels
like it. And that all started with him winning the WWF Title from Triple H
on a fast count. Best angle of the year, damnit. :)

PETER HAZLETT: I hope the Triple H / Angle feud comes up again, they
finished it so poorly.

JOE GAGNE: The Triple H/Angle/Steph love triangle unfurled very casually
and provided lots of great bits.  Sadly, it was dropped without much in
the way of resolution. Chris Jericho winning the World title and then
having it taken away may have been one of the best segments ever on RAW.  
Smackdown?s best moment, however, was Mick Foley bringing back Cactus Jack
to face Triple H, in what was my favorite mark out moment of the past
year.

BOB MORRIS: My top two angles get recognition for different reasons. The
HHH/Stephanie marriage seemed like a bad idea to me at first, but once the
loose ends were tied up, it worked wonders for Triple H and helped propel
him to the top. As for the HHH/Angle/Steph love triangle, that was an
angle that proved that the simplest concepts make for the best angles.
Anyone could easily understand and relate to the angle, and that made it
one of the year's best. I give the edge to the marriage angle, though,
because that was the one that gave HHH the final push to make him a major
player in the WWF.

CHRISTOPHER SHEA: The Triple H/Kurt/Steph angle could have been first...if
they'd blown it off around September or October. As it is, it's tragically
crippled by the lack of resolution.

JPM38: The Triple H and Mankind show dominates this category as well. Even
though he came out of retirement for one last match, Mick caused one of
the only "retirement" matches in history where nobody knew who was gonna
win going into the match. The 1 and 2 spots are very close, since they
both originated in the same promo on the best raw segment of the year, and
also the best raw of the year (2/7/00). The last spot was ANOTHER awesome
promo from smackdown before the Rumble, when Mick busted out the Cactus
gear for one last run at the top.

WES SCHULZE: (3rd choice is just because of the one nitro where JJ dresses
as old school sting)

NATHAN LONEY: "You are the best in the business right now... and as you
said, well, Mankind in some ways is nothing more than a beaten up,
pathetic fool, but I think the WWF fans deserve a substitute in that
match... what I'm gonna do, Triple H, is I'm gonna name him right now, as
a matter of fact, I think you know the guy and I think you know him pretty
damn well - his name is CACTUS JACK! And his first official act, as part
of the WWF, is to kick your teeth all over the city of Chicago!"  With
these words, Mick Foley started the angle that completely OWNED the
wrestling world this year.  Al Snow tried to make Steve Blackman
entertaining... the end result?  Hilarity!  Edge and Christian bringing
back Los Conquistadores was a great touch, as well.

BILL LEHECKA: Maybe I should've ranked it lower because of the fizzled
ending, but the Triple H/ Stephanie / Kurt Angle feud was the best angle
this year.  Bar none. Why?  People actually gave a damn about it (take
note, WCW).

NATE PATRIN: Note, however, that all three of these angles resulted in HHH
coming out on top. Hrm.

MATT SPAULDING: The Stephanie's wedding swerve provided the catalyst for
the entire year of WWF angles.  Crash's 24/7 gimmick got him over and
restored some unpredictability to the WWF's Hardcore division.  Jericho
taking down the "unbeatable" Triple H was arguably the markout moment of
the year.

BLAZEJ SZPAKOWICZ: Chris Jericho "winning" the WWF title was the single
biggest markout moment of the year for me. Sure, nothing came of it (and
sure the WWF seems unwilling to properly push him despite his massive
popularity) but it was simply a great
holy-shit-I-don't-believe-they-did-that moment. Edge & Christian bringing
back Los Conquistadors just ruled it. Markout city for anyone who
remembers the originals, and they didn't drag the angle out beyond its
natural lifespan! Finally, there's the H/Steph/Angle triangle. Great
set-up, shame it just fizzled out like that...

KEVIN SMITH: Still have that Jericho/HHH match on tape - will never erase
it - the crowd went absolutely ape$hi+. HHH's reaction was an absolutely
CLASSIC moment.

ERIC STRAGAND: (3)- Foley's retirement really made the fans care about the
match. The fact that Foley would actually disappear from the rings made
the angle seem more significant. Even his return at Wrestlemania didn't
diffuse the emotion too much. Millionaires/New Blood was about the coolest
thing WCW could come up with, given their situation at the time. However,
they mishandled it, and it bottomed out in about six weeks. Yeah,
Sting/Vampiro was overdone to extremes, but the initial concept and
pairing was pretty cool. If nothing else, it gave Vampiro some much needed
recognition and pushed him toward the top of the card a bit. However, WCW
and Vampiro's own decisions made this all for naught.

LAWRENCE BENEDETTO: Elroy deserves credit for making the hardcore division
fun in the WWF

TANVIR RAQUIB: An injury led to a botched finish. On RAW, the WWF made up
for it in the best way possible. And then, I knew, "everything's gonna be
alright, man."

COLIN MacKINNON: I don't know what genius decided to drag Los
Conquistadors out of the WWF vaults, but it worked.  Any gimmick that
allows Chris Daniels to get some airtime is all right with me.  It's too
bad that Edge and Christian, as expected, were revealed as Uno and Dos,
however.  I mean, it might make for interesting TV if you had two sets of
Conquistadors running around...  That is, if you could tell them apart.  
Still, a nice original angle from the WWF there.

NICK RANGEL: Fantastic, hilarious, stupendous, and it was good too. Edge
and Christian bring the masked wrestler angle into the 90's. Yellow Dog
was never this much fun.

JEFF "FRO" WAHLMAN: The Angle/HHH/Steph love triangle had such a GREAT
slow build and involved many subplots that it was a true joy of Sports E.  
The return of Cactus Jack was a real powerful and a big-time markout
moment, and at least a temporary end to the goofy Foley who we all didn't
like as much as C. Jack.  Steph and HHH marrying really put HHH over
big-time.

PHIL PRZYBYLO: I hope the Steve Austin angle is up there.  It's created a
born-again Steve Austin and a new main eventer in Rikishi.  Only wrestling
for a month, Stone Cold still makes his mark on the wrestling world.

C McMURTRY: The All Japan-New Japan angle was an example of how real
interpromotional angles should be done. Here's hoping that if the WWF ever
does buy WCW, they look at the success of that particular instance of how
to do it themselves. Plus, we got Kawada-Sasaki. Ain't nuttin' wrong wit
dat. The HHH-Angle-Steph love triangle probably would have gotten the duke
from me had it not ended so poorly. Here you have something strung out
over months brillantly, with small references at first, and then the slow
burn leading towards the big money match, and one would think, the climax.
But that match was a bust, and the climax hasn't come yet. There were
probably better angles than Al Snow & Steve Blackman in terms of drawing
money and ratings, but it had too many funny moments (the retirement home
bit on Smackdown comes to mind) to omit.

JIMBO: Los Conquistadores brought laughter into our TV sets, they did
their job.  Al Snow continued his hilarious antics with Steve Blackman and
Head Cheese.  Finally, Crash brought some interesting spots into the
normal WWF lineup.

THE CUBS FAN: See, WCW accidently stumbles on to this GOLDEN gimmick -
Chris Kanyon making fun of DDP and being really funny at the same time by
Diamond Cuttering anyone he could find (but only on Thunder.)  The
DDP/Kanyon feud would have probably approached something like a "money
feud" for WCW. The fans seemed to enjoy it (bye bye Jimmy Baron) and it
actually seemed like a wrestler was having fun in WCW.  So they book
Kanyon into looking really stuipd and in a stuipd angle with the Bagwells,
he ends up with David Arquette in his corner, he loses the big match, and
he's never seen again. That's WCW in 2000.

JBELL55146: The whole Stephanie/Angle/HHH Love triangle was so great cuz
it was so true to life. In many instances during this angle I thought to
myself 'dam, I have been in that situation before' and there is not many
wrestling angles that I can say that about. And Foley becoming Cactus Jack
and the payoff matches afterwards were sheer classics. The Crash Holly
24/7 was the most underrated gimmicks of the year. It created many
different ways to have matches and was a lot of fun.