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1999 R.S.P-W Awards

Best Technical Wrestler

Awards
Best Technical Wrestler

Award Description:

To be given to the wrestler who has the most technical ability. The number
of holds and moves you see this person do and the crispness with which the
moves are executed makes his/her matches a pleasure to watch. In 1994, this
award was split into three: North American, Non-North American, and overall.
In 1998, it was recombined into one.

Previous Winners:

  1991: Bret Hart
  1992: Bret Hart
  1993: Bret Hart
  1994: (overall/NA) Bret Hart
  1994: (non-NA)     Chris Benoit
  1995: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko
  1995: (non-NA)     Chris Benoit
  1996: (sweep)      Dean Malenko
  1997: (overall/NA) Dean Malenko
  1997: (non-NA)     Jushin Liger
  1998: Dean Malenko

**1999**: Chris Benoit

344 first place votes
338 second place votes
329 third place votes

141 85 33 1026   Chris Benoit
 64 65 47  609   Bret Hart
 57 54 49  545   Dean Malenko
 16 16 27  182   Owen Hart
  8 17 30  151   Chris Jericho
  3 16 24  111   Jerry Lynn
  5 15 18  106   Lance Storm
  1 15 16   82   Eddie Guerrero
  9  6  9   81   Yoshihiro Tajiri
  3  5 11   52   Perry Saturn
  1  7 11   48   Steve Regal
  2  5  4   33   Kurt Angle
  2  2  6   28   Al Snow
  2  4  2   26   Koji Kanemoto
  3  2  0   21   Minoru Tanaka
  3  0  3   21   Shinjiro Otani
  2  1  4   21   Taz
  3  1  0   18   Rob Van Dam
  2  0  2   14   Ken Shamrock
  2  1  0   13   Mariko Yoshida
  2  1  0   13   Kiyoshi Tamura
  0  1  5   13   Norman Smiley
  1  2  0   11   Mikiko Futagami
  1  1  1   10   Daisuke Ikeda
  0  2  2   10   Little Guido
  0  2  2   10   Jushin Liger
  1  1  0    8   Mitsuharu Misawa
  1  0  1    7   Sting
  1  0  1    7   Riptide
  1  0  1    7   Carlos Amano
  0  1  2    7   Curt Hennig
  0  0  3    6   Jeff Jarrett
  1  0  0    5   Yuki Ishikawa
  1  0  0    5   Triple H
  1  0  0    5   Susan Green
  1  0  0    5   Road Dogg
  1  0  0    5   Nova
  1  0  0    5   Hulk Hogan
  1  0  0    5   Dan Severn
  0  1  1    5   Ric Flair
  0  1  1    5   Edge
  0  1  1    5   David Taylor
  0  0  2    4   Rey Mysterio Jr.
  0  1  0    3   X-Pac
  0  1  0    3   Test
  0  1  0    3   Naoya Ogawa
  0  1  0    3   Malia Hosaka
  0  1  0    3   Hacksaw Jim Duggan
  0  1  0    3   Cuddley Berr
  0  1  0    3   Bill Goldberg
  0  0  1    2   Yoshiyuki Saito
  0  0  1    2   Taka Michinoku
  0  0  1    2   Shane Douglas
  0  0  1    2   Mona
  0  0  1    2   Kanyon
  0  0  1    2   Gary Steele
  0  0  1    2   Fit Finlay
  0  0  1    2   Dr. Wagner Jr.
  0  0  1    2   Bert Hart
  0  0  1    2   Adam Pearce

CHRIS BIRD: While this might be a good candidate to rename "the Dean
Malenko Memorial Award", he doesn't win it this year. Bret Hart waged a
one-man crusade to bring mat-wrestling back to the masses. Norman Smiley
did the same and got over while doing it. Perry Saturn learned everything
Dean taught him and expanded on it to develop his own distinctly unique
and exciting mat style.

EDC: Super Crazy brings a new meaning to the term Flyer. Everything he
does is always on the mark and he hasn't botched anything I remember all
year. Hardy gets on because of his Hangtime, although he does seem out of
control sometimes. Dragon Kid can not be denied, but his blowing 50% of
his spots drops him to number 3.

CYBERAL33: I'm going to give Minoru Tanaka the best technical wrestler
award, but it's a close call. His main advantage is his quickness and the
sharpness, as he can break into a cross armbreaker (jujigatame) from any
position. Second would have to be Mariko Yoshida whose intense jiu-jutsu
training has really showed. She seems to now be the most credible fighter
in ARSION. Third is Steven Regal who can stretch anyone, even in the
routond shape he's in.  Europe has produced a ton of great wrestlers that
never seem to get any respect (Regal, Finlay, Taylor, Smiley, Jody Fleich,
etc.)

K. CANZANELLA: I was shootstyle-tape declined this year but I did get to
see the work of Minoru Tanaka and I think he is the best of the technical
wrestlers I have seen because of his ability to hit a killer submission
out of anywhere. Koji Kanemoto is also quite prolific in this style. He
gets second. Lance Storm is the best of the US technical wrestlers so I'll
give him the third place vote.

SVEN MASCARENHAS: Much as it pains me, I simply can't give Owen first
place in this one. Dean Malenko was great up until Russo showed up,
especially in his last match with Misterio at the end of the voting
period. Tajiri did well enough for himself to earn third place (amazing
what more regular ECW exposure can get you).

FALCONARROW: Excuse my smartass vote for the Brooklyn Brawler :)

DON BECKER: Deano-Machino gets the top spot again this year.  Ohtani and
Ikeda round out my three, Ikeda going over because he gets to do more
mat-based stuff in BattleArts than Ohtani gets to in NJPW.

SHAWN MULLIN: Deano Machino can do everyone's moves better than they can.  
He'll pull out moves he hasn't done in ages just to show people what he
can do.  I don't think anyone has the repetoire he has, and he rarely
flubs anything.  Benoit and Hart seem to know their shit too :)

MAX CHITTISTER: I don't think there's more than four "technical" wrestlers
left in the world, one of whom (Bret Hart) took most of the year off. So
it's Benoit, Malenko, and Eddy, like always.

PAUL SHOCK: Chris Benoit is the best wrestler in the world.  I felt I had
to vote for the late, great Owen Hart.  Speaking of guys from
Calgary...Alberta...  Canada, Storm edges into third over Malenko,
Guerrero, Snow and the Hitman.

BLOB: Dean Malenko's great technical wrestling and many different holds
and counters just barely put him over the Hart Brothers, who are famous
for their scientific ability. Owen will forever be known for his wonderful
mix of high impact and scientific wrestling.

GEORGE CARTER: Man, this award keeps getting more and more difficult to
choose each and every year. Dean is the purest of the pure and that's why
I still like him.  Bret isn't what he was a few years ago, but he is still
very good. And Owen gets my third voite for being the great technical
wrestler he has been for over a decade.

JOHN C.:You don't have to leave the province of Alberta for this one. The
top three are my fellow Canadians Benoit, Bret Hart and Lance Storm. Any
questions?

RICHARD BEAUBIEN: Hart wins this award thanks to his awesome match with
Benoit, as the two of them provide the last bastion of good old fashioned
North American style wrestling. Benoit comes in second because his mat
works is solid and great, and works well with his stiff brawling and
Japanese style offence.

JAMES GOWDEY: Funny, Hart, Benoit, and Malenko are all in
WCW...*coughMOREWRESTLINGWWFcough*

SEAN FLYNN: WCW's one strong point, though dying under Vinny Roo

BEN MILLER:  Kanemoto is in a league of his own.  Gotta love Benoit,
though.

KEVIN WONG: I almost voted for the Rock, because of his incredibly
technical Greco-Roman spit-laden smack to the side of the head.  Then I
realized that Triple H's knee arsenal was much more deserving, and then I
remembered that Hogan can still bust out that cross-armbreaker, so he HAD
to be placed first.  Then I realized the category was BEST Technical
Wrestler, not LEAST Technical Wrestler

B. SZPAKOWICZ: Rock?? Test?? Road Dogg?!? Right. Anyway, no one uses more
moves per match than Dean Malenko. Like a lot of other people, he doesn't
seem to use many of them anymore, but when he bothers to try, he's still
great. Chris Benoit gets second, with the same caveat. Al Snow gets third,
since he's the best (probably the *only*) technical wrestler in the WWF
and since I refuse to vote for Bret Hart.

JEREMY SORIA: Two-thirds of The New Japan Three are here... they still got
it after all these years. Owen Hart still had it as well... and as a
tribute to him, he's on my ballot.

SELENA KYTE:  I don't always need fancy moves or special holds to keep my
attention on the match.  I enjoy the basics as well, which is the main
reason why I admire veteran Susan Green.  Since she's traching other women
the basics as well, maybe there can be more of a balance between technical
skills and hard-impact moves.

JASON BALDWIN: Steven Regal is sooooooo underrated, it's not even funny.
So is Fit Finlay, but that's another category.

Intro
General Comments
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Best Technical
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Worst Second
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Copyright (C) 1999, 2000 Christopher Robin Zimmerman & KZiM Communications