Best Promotional Move

Award Description:

To be given to the best move made by a promotion this past year. This could
include giving somebody a push, demoting someone, firing someone hiring
someone, or anything of a promotional nature. 

Previous Winners:

  1991: WWF signs Ric Flair 
  1992: WCW signs Jake Roberts 
  1993: WWF works with SMW & USWA 
  1994: WWF pushes Bret Hart as champion again 
  1995: WCW signs Sabu, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero & Dean Malenko away
  1996: WCW signs Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Ted DiBiase & Syxx
  1997: ECW uses "working agreement" with WWF
  1998: WWF books Vince McMahon into top storyline role

**1999**: WWF signs Chris Jericho

324 first place votes
308 second place votes
293 third place votes

 72 68 34  632   WWF signs Chris Jericho
 47 30 41  407   ECW signs with TNN for national TV deal
 45 35 36  402   WCW (Turner) reassigns Eric Bischoff
 34 26 23  294   WCW signs Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara
 25 16 18  209   WWF gets a timeslot on UPN
 22 17 15  191   WWF airs tribute to Owen Hart on RAW is WAR
 14 14 19  150   WWF gives title to Mankind
 12 11 19  131   WWF signs Jesse Ventura as SummerSlam referee
  8  8 14   92   ECW re-signs Raven
  7 13  8   90   WCW airs Owen Hart tribute match on Nitro
  3 11  8   64   WCW gives titles to Chris Benoit
  3  9  6   54   WCW accepts Hulk Hogan's 90-day notice
  4  4  7   46   WWF goes public with offering
  3  6  4   41   WWF airs Countdown to the Millennium
  2  2  5   26   ECW gives Mike Awesome the World title
  0  6  4   26   WWF signs Paul Wight
  0  3  6   21   WWF signs Taz
  2  1  1   15   Mankind writes his autobiography
  0  3  2   13   Sable appears in Playboy - twice
  2  0  1   12   WCW signs Jeff Jarrett
  2  0  0   10   WCW resumes women's wrestling matches
  1  0  2    9   WWF pushes Triple H
  1  0  2    9   MTV makes a "True Life" special on pro wrestling
  1  1  0    8   WCW/WWF book stars on other TV shows
  1  1  0    8   Mr. Socko
  0  2  1    8   WCW gives titles to Bret Hart
  0  2  1    8   ECW re-signs Sandman & Mikey Whipwreck
  0  2  0    6   WWF books Austin/McMahon cage match PPV main event
  1  0  0    5   Wal-Mart pulls Al Snow's action figure
  1  0  0    5   WWF starts putting more wrestling on RAW
  1  0  0    5   WWF pushes young talents
  1  0  0    5   WWF pushes Rock
  1  0  0    5   WWF hires Jesse Ventura for SummerSlam
  1  0  0    5   WWF gets Austin vs. McMahon all over the mainstream media
  1  0  0    5   WWF airs Halftime Heat
  1  0  0    5   Rob Van Dam's Five Star Frogsplash
  1  0  0    5   NWA puts World title on Naoya Ogawa & Gary Steele
  1  0  0    5   GAEA's "God Only Knows" Tour features OZ Academy superstars
  1  0  0    5   ECW keeps TV title on Rob Van Dam all year
  1  0  0    5   ECW Anarchy Rulz
  1  0  0    5   All Japan pushes Vader
  0  0  2    4   WWF uses other stars on its programming
  0  0  2    4   WWF puts over Edge/Christian vs. Hardys ladder match
  0  0  2    4   WWF gives tag team titles to Hardy Boyz
  0  0  2    4   WWF buys ad time during the Super Bowl
  0  1  0    3   Windy City Pro Wrestling broadcasts matches over the Internet
  0  1  0    3   WWF teams Rock & Mankind
  0  1  0    3   WWF signs Dudley Boyz
  0  1  0    3   WWF releases "WWF: The Music Volume 4"
  0  1  0    3   WWF pushes Kane
  0  1  0    3   WWF brings back elimination matches for Survivor Series
  0  1  0    3   WWF books Stephanie McMahon into storylines
  0  1  0    3   WCW tries to clean up, gets rid of Bischoff
  0  1  0    3   WCW holds 32-man tourney for World title
  0  1  0    3   WCW fires Dusty Rhodes
  0  1  0    3   WCW books Kiss on Nitro
  0  1  0    3   People's Elbow
  0  1  0    3   New Japan pushes Kendo Ka Shin
  0  1  0    3   ECW signs Cyrus The Virus
  0  1  0    3   ECW pushing foreign wrestlers correctly
  0  1  0    3   ECW loses Shane Douglas
  0  0  1    2   WWF signs British Bulldog
  0  0  1    2   WWF de-emphasizes Steve Austin
  0  0  1    2   Steve Corino appears at Limp Bizkit concert
  0  0  1    2   Michinoku Pro books Toryumon wrestlers
  0  0  1    2   Hard Core Division
  0  0  1    2   DX
  0  0  1    2   Bronco Buster
  0  0  1    2   All Japan continuing to have 100% clean finishes

K. CANZANELLA: The descision to air a tribute match for Owen Hart with two
of the greatest in the sport for 35 minutes in remembrance of his
wrestling ability was terrific. Yeah, all the online "smarts" thought it
was a ratings ploy, or a sympathy ploy, but as one person put it, you look
in the emotion in these guys eyes and tell me with a straight face that
you aren't making shit up to blast your favorite fed's competition. Sadly,
this would be the last real great wrestling match of the millennium in the
big two, as soon after, dumb and dumber took over. WWF giving Mankind a
title was a good idea because it allowed the matches to focus around him
and not around Steve Austin v. Undertaker or Kane for the billionth time.
I still can't believe WCW let Jericho go but decided to hire Master P.

SVEN MASCARENHAS: While I don't care for a lot of the things ECW does as a
whole, the signing of Raven was brilliant, something which I should have
expected from Heyman but somehow never occurred to me. Jesse Ventura
brought HUGE publicity the WWF's way, and it was a nice way of reconciling
the differences between the Body and McMahon. And Bischoff's final
dismissal brought a shout from me as I checked my mail the day it
happened.

AARON: The tribute to Owen Hart was probably the classiest piece of
television I've seen this year. Props should be given to WCW for their
small tribute to Owen as well. Jericho and ECW on TNN were big deals at
the time, but are starting to lose momentum, so neither was good enough
for first.

DON BECKER: Wrestling returning to a regular spot on network TV for the
first time since the days of the Dumont network is a Really Big Deal, and
the WWF effectively couped WCW's attempts to run shows on NBC.  The
respective Owen Hart tributes were also classy maneuvers on the part of
both the WWF and WCW.  The WWF put on one of its best shows all year by
scrapping angles and gimmicks for one night, while WCW did something you
just don't see anymore - aired a nearly half-hour long match on free TV.

MAX CHITTISTER: The TNN deal didn't do anything to help ECW's product, but
it's hard to find a move that did more to help a promotion as a whole than
that one.

JBELL55146: Reassigning Bischoff actually came about one year too late.
And the WWF signing Paul Wright and Chris Jericho will do more for them in
the long run then anything.

PAUL SHOCK:  The only good promotional move that WCW made was by firing
the guy who made all of the bad moves; Bischoff.

BLOB: Chris Jericho's signing was the no-brainer was best promotional
move. ECW's TNN deal helped propel the company out of a bad situation. WCW
finally gave US and TV titles to Benoit, but screwed him out of the World
Title.

GEORGE CARTER:  Bischoff did a lot for wrestling than most people give him
credit for.  No matter how bad he was, there was always ONE thing that was
worthwhile in WCW. But the bad outweighed the good and he was running WCW
into the ground.  So WCW reassigning him was probably the best move this
year. The WWF going national for the first time since 90 or 91 was a big
part in their expansion in popularity. Finally, WCW signing Russo &
Ferrera will be more important long term than they are right now.

JOHN C.:When the signing of Jericho to the WWF was announced I was elated
cause finally my favorite wrestler in the world would be given a chance to
shine in the WWF instead of in WCW. Many people were disappointed with the
way he was used upon his debut but I'm pretty sure that in the long run it
will work. As one wise man once said "you can't hold talent down for too
long cause the cream will rise to the top."

JON RICHARDSON:  ECW signing with TNN was hands down the best move down by
any promotion all year.  It finally gets ECW exposed on a national (and
international) level as well as adding a much needed influx of cash into
the promotion.  The WWF signing Chris Jericho was a close second.  
Jericho was the prize free agent due to his excellent ring work and his
golden capabilities on the microphone and the WWF was smart to sign him
long-term.  Signing Jesse Ventura was another shrewd move by the WWF as it
provided them with constant publicity in the lead-up to Summerslam.  Not
all of it positive publicity mind you, but since Vince McMahon will take
any kind of publicity, he certainly got what he wanted.

RICHARD BEAUBIEN: The firing of Bischoff seemed to hearld a new start for
WCW, and the hopes that a new direction could be had for a company that
still had promise. Of course the powers that be came, and we must all HAIL
RUSSO!!! And T&A...  The WWF grabbing Jericho was a great movie because
they have the next big star, and if the goof up then at least WCW doesn't
have him to use...

SEAN FLYNN: While everyone moans about the first few months of Jericho's
time, I look at the long term.  Five years from now, people will not
remember the first few months of the biggest star in the sport.  Wight is
big, fairly marketable and young.  WCW fired Uncle Eric_about damn time.

MARK SMITH:  ECW's TV deal this year was a very happy moment for all the
long time fans.  I wish them all the best in the future.  The WWF and
Chris Jericho aren't turning out as they'd planned, I think, but if they
keep their promotional machine behind him, he'll be big.  Trust me.

B. SZPAKOWICZ: The WWF managing to get the single most important
ex-wrestling personality on the planet to referee their second biggest
show was the biggest coup of the year, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
(Probably the biggest of the past few years) ECW getting a national TV
show was also huge, even if the show itself could be (far, far) better.
Finally, WCW's stealing Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara was *their* biggest
coup. (Though there really was no way in hell it could have singlehandedly
brought the WWF down.)

SUGAR RAY: WCW finally fires Eric Bischoff. By very far the greatest news
I heard all year long. Hiring Russo and Ferrera guarantees thhat WCW will
never suck again. Amen to that! And WCW finally gives the great Bret Hart
the world title he deserved all along. About time!

RICK SCAIA:  In the big-man-centric WWF, I would never have guessed it,
but even as I sit here today with the Big Show as WWF champ and Chris
Jericho losing matches to women, I think we'll look back at 1999 and
decide it was Jericho's jump to the WWF that was ultimately more
important.  It's not about what the bookers think, it's about how the fans
react, and right now, Jericho's getting more reaction than Wight.  It's
only a matter of time before the creative plan follows suit.  I think
snagging Jericho was the Best Promotional Move of 1999.  WCW's decision to
grab Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera was also a good move that should produce
results in the long term. ECW's acquisition of a national cable outlet
marked that company's true launch into the mainstream spotlight.

JEREMY SORIA: WWF, in an uncharacteristic move, allowed all the wrestling
fans to have a wonderfully comforting group-therapy session, if you will,
by doing a tribute to the fallen hero on the May 24 Raw. Great move. WCW,
in a similar move, allowed Bret Hart to put on a tribute match with CHris
Benoit to remember Owen. And WWF literally saves UPN with its weekly
SmackDown! on Thursdays.

SELENA KYTE:  There's a lot of useful technology independent companies
could use to better promote themselves.  Money is always an impediment,
but if the opportunity is there, why not take advantage of it?  Windy City
Pro Wrestling may be leading the way with their decision to broadcast some
of their matches over the Internet, and in doing so, gain some new fans.

HEATM:  The best promotional move was ECW signing a deal with TNN.  That
show is gaining popularity already and should be a driving force in
turning the Big 2 into the Big 3.  The *biggest* promotional move was
WCW's signing of Russo and Ferreira because it changed the structure of
their program.  Thus, Eric Bischoff's demotion was #2.  WWF signing
Jericho will work to their advantages many years down the road when he
will be their biggest star.

OTTO "HACK-MAN" HEUER: Best Promotional Move. Here were my top six: 1. ECW
signs with TNN for national TV deal 2. WCW gives titles to Chris Benoit 3.
ECW gives Mike Awesome the World Heavyweight Title 4. ECW signs Raven 5.
WWF gets a timeslot on UPN 6. WCW airs Owen Hart tribute match on Nitro

MDB: ECW getting a national TV deal, even if it's TNN, was a real
breakthrough.  Even if the ratings haven't been the big numbers they were
predicting, ECW took a big step to being a real contender.  WWF getting
Jericho was a no brainer, but it will pay off in the years to come.  And
wasn't it great to see Foley as WWF champ?