Our pro wrestling awards will be WWE heavy because it’s the number one promotion in the US. But Alan keeps us honest with his independent and international choices. Alan, Duan, myself, Big D from Superfriends Universe, Ryan Pike from Tough Talk MMA give us their picks for the awards.

Most Outstanding Wrestler Of The Year

Alan – Daisuke Sekimoto and Akira Tozawa

I’m sitting on the fence and splitting this between two men who’ve had years that were utterly incredible. Daisuke Sekimoto basically played the NWA touring world champion role in the first half of the year as wXw champ defending the belt in three different continents. Invaded All Japan with Yuji Okabayashi and won the All Asia titles in one of several classics with Soya & Sanada. Had a MOTYC in his home promotion of Big Japan when Soya and Hama came to try to take back the belts. Won the Fire Festival in Zero 1 in a great final with the usually average Kohei Sato. Has had countless other ****+ singles and tag matches.

Akira Tozawa shares the spoils by having two amazing half years. The 1st half was all in the US where he became a hero in PWG with an absurd amount of MOTYCs, and was the best guy on the DGUSA shows too. Then in the second half of the year he made his return to Japan and instantly was in the main event picture. His title match with Mochi was incredible.

Duan – Dolph Ziggler

A huge breakout year for Ziggler – always gave it absolutely everything inside the ring regardless of his place on the card. There’s not a more consistent performer on the roster.

Ryan – CM Punk

Consistently delivered great promos and delivered great performances in the ring at the right times.

Big D – Daniel Bryan and CM Punk

Despite the storyline going from fascinating to lame WWE garbage, CM Punk managed to completely reinvigorate his career and for the first time became a super-over top babyface. Bryan had good matches up and down the card with guys of all shapes and sizes from Sin Cara to Mark Henry. He won Money in the Bank. He does tons of jobs and doesn’t even complain about it, then ends the year as World Champ. The cream rises to the top.

GG – Dolph Ziggler

He was my choice last year for who I expected big things from in 2011. And even throughout horrendous booking, I think he was the brightest star. For one, I looked forward most to his matches on every PPV and TV taping. Secondly, his selling has become Mr. Perfect-like, taking athletic bumps, and really selling the hell out of the beating he’s taking. Thirdly, I’m not sure there’s a better athlete in the company and if they don’t turn him loose in 2012, it will boggle my mind.

Pro Wrestling Show Of The Year

Alan – PWG DDT4

The PWG DDT4 show was a really amazing night of tag team action.

Duan – Money In The Bank

If there was one fleeting moment where I thought WWE might actually turn the ship around; this was it. A brilliantly booked and brilliantly executed PPV capping off a fascinating month of TV.

Ryan – Money In The Bank

A couple fun ladder matches, a few decent undercard bouts and a main event that delivered and then some.

Big D – Money In The Bank

Every single moment of the PPV I loved. From start to finish. The Divas Match was even OK! Henry vs. Big Show was great. Both MITBs were brutal and yet different, and CM Punk vs. John Cena was everything I love about the biz wrapped up into one match.

GG – Elimination Chamber

It was between this show and Money In The Bank for me. Part of the reason why I think this show may have been better in comparison is because I was there live, and I didn’t have to hear the inane commentary. My favorite part of the show was watching Edge and Rey Mysterio. They are experts at the Elimination Chamber match, making every possible near fall and big move count.

Match Of The Year

Alan – Susumu Yokosuka vs. Shingo Takagi (Dragon Gate in Nottingham – October 22nd)

Haven’t been able to watch it on tape yet, but I’m confident enough from the live experience that it was the MOTY and possibly my favorite match of all time.

Duan – The Undertaker vs. Triple H (WrestleMania XXVII)

The only saving grace of this years Wrestlemania and Triple H’s career best performance. A miracle match considering the level of injury and inactivity for both men going into the show .

Ryan – CM Punk vs. John Cena (Money In The Bank)

High drama and a sense of real consequences in an industry that seems to have lost both.

Big D – The Undertaker vs. Triple H (WrestleMania XXVII)

This match displayed the art of near-falls encompassed into one match.

GG – CM Punk vs. John Cena (Money In The Bank)

I wouldn’t put it on par with 2010′s Michaels/Undertaker match (which was the winner for me last year), but it’s the slightest notch below. There’s something missing from a lot of these big matches that Taker and HBK got right. The moves need to count. They need to make sense. And they need to lead the viewer to believe that the match could possibly be over. In that sense, Taker/HHH from this year’s WrestleMania was better than this was. But overall, I think this was slightly better because there was a curiosity about what was going to happen that is missing from every single Undertaker match that you watch. That curiosity, and then actual payoff worked tremendously and popped everyone.

Big Things In ’12

Alan – Manabu Soya and Takumi Soya

Manabu Soya was my original choice but after seeing his little bro Takumi in action recently I think both Soya brothers will have great 2012s.

Duan – Justin Gabriel

If you eliminate all the guys they have already tossed a world title to at some point, there isn’t a whole lot to work with. Gabriel has the skills, look and personality to take an opportunity should one be afforded to him.

Ryan – Antonio Cesaro

Best known as Claudio Castagnoli in PWG, CHIKARA and Ring of Honor, Cesaro is delivering some great performances in Florida Championship Wrestling. It’s only a matter of time before he hits the main roster.

Big D – Other than Wrestlemania XXVIII? Nothing.

Nobody is gonna get over and nobody will care about anything other than Mania unless we see Cena finally go heel.

GG – Brodus Clay

Even with the delay in his comeback from injury, I think he’s a guy that will need to be pushed. WWE is lacking heels and they have a bit of a script in how to book him by how they’ve booked Mark Henry this year. He could be Raw’s version of Henry.

Moment Of The Year

Alan – Kota Ibushi winning the Best Of The Super Juniors. So emotional.

Duan – CM Punk’s title win at MITB. The one and only time WWE had people talking this year.

Ryan – CM Punk blows a kiss to Vince McMahon, leaves WWE with the title…for two weeks. They may have whiffed on the follow-through, but the beginning of this angle was executed beautifully.

Big D – Granted CM Punk’s title win is pretty freakin’ big, Rock’s return actually created a spike in the ratings and viewership. Can’t be touched.

GG – I think Punk’s Raw-ending promo in late June was the moment of the year. It got so many people talking, specifically non-wrestling watchers. Whenever people start wondering if it was “real”, you know you’ve done something right. You can relive it on Paul Heyman’s website.

We’ll be back early next week with our boxing and MMA awards.

There’s always good stuff. Sometimes, you just have to dig. Alan, Duan, myself, and Stevie J from Angry Marks have listed our picks for our awards. Also, we have Big D making his return to the site for “One Night Only”, giving his thoughts as well. You can find D at Superfriends Universe.

Most Outstanding Wrestler Of The Year

Alan – Chris Hero

Career year for Metropolis’ finest. He tore it up in NOAH, PWG, ROH, EVOLVE and wXw during the course of the year, having one great match after another. Shined in both singles and tags (as part of the Kings Of Wrestling). His matches with Akira Tozawa, the Briscoes, Martin Stone and Davey Richards were crazy good.

Duan – John Cena

Another brilliant year for Cena. He delivered his best work when needed and remains the best reason to tune into WWE TV.

Stevie J – Tie between Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho, Kofi Kingston and Davey Richards.

Big D – Daniel Bryan

Fake Fired, real fired, who cares? This guy got 4-5 paychecks in the summer, was the most talked about guy on the net, and has had consistently great matches all over WWE AND the indies! He is the alpha dog.

GG – Daniel Bryan

It’s odd that in a year that he probably had less great matches than any year, I choose him for this award. But being that I watch mostly WWE these days, he was the best thing on TV all year. From his really fun match with Kaval in FCW to his match on NXT with Chris Jericho, to his really strong matches with Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and John Morrison, he was the most consistent performer on WWE television.

Pro Wrestling Show Of The Year

Alan – PWG Seven

Jesus Christ, this show was ridiculous. A five star main event, a ****3/4 star semi main and a bunch of other great stuff on the undercard. When the worst match on a show is Danielson vs. Strong, that’s saying something.

Duan – WrestleMania XXVI

Several quality matches and an epic main event. It’s the one thing WWE gets right every year.

Stevie J – WrestleMania XXVI

Big D – WrestleMania XXVI

GG – WrestleMania XXVI

If you get the chance to see WrestleMania live, do it. It was my second year in a row of being there live, and this time, I got to experience it with my kids. We had a blast. The show never hit a lull and the main event was one of the top two best matches I’ve seen live.

Match Of The Year

Alan – Caballera Contra Caballera: Shingo Takagi vs. BxB Hulk (Dragon Gate – Pro Wrestling Festival In Kobe)

One of my favourite matches of all time. The culmination of a story that began when both men debuted 5 years ago. Amazing character work, storytelling and mindblowing action all in front of a white hot crowd of 10,000 people at their biggest show of the year.

Duan – Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI)

It should have been impossible to follow last years effort, but some how they did it. Another classic and completely unique from the previous year’s effort.

Stevie J – Tie between Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (Final Battle), Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI), and The Kings of Wrestling vs. The World’s Greatest Tag Team (Glory By Honor IX).

Big D – Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI)

Benjamin/Haas vs. KOW came close but… this one was amazing because not only did they manage to have an unbelievably great match, they managed to follow-up one of the best ever and make it DIFFERENT. You can’t screw with these two.

GG – Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker (WrestleMania XXVI)

I still say that their rematch was better than the one at WrestleMania XXV. I saw both live. In the crowd, I never felt that Michaels was going win the first one. They managed to get me to believe that he had a chance in the second. It was probably the most content I’ve been watching a wrestling match ever.

Big Things In ’11

Alan – Tetsuya Naito

Came back from Mexico a new man in January. Given a huge opportunity by feuding with Hiroshi Tanahashi, and he seized it in a big big way. I see no slowing down next year. An IWGP Heavyweight Title charge is surely on tap.

Duan – Dolph Ziggler

I’m not sure exactly where Dolph’s position is in the WWE hierarchy, but I think we will find out in 2011. He’s developing his character and his ring work is constantly improving. He’s going to be great for WWE next year. It doesn’t matter whether it’s as a midcarder or main-eventer.

Stevie J – Davey Richards

Big D – I predict bad things in 2011, including the buyrates and ratings still dropping and ROH fully going under.

GG – Dolph Ziggler

I completely agree with Duan. My wish for Ziggler this year was for him to be able to wrestle a much more athletic style because he has the goods. Athletically, he’s up there with the best of the guys they have going. I loved watching him excel in matches with other guys who embody an athletic style like Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan. I see him in the main event picture sometime late next year and at least by 2012.

Moment Of The Year

Alan – The DDT roster get serious and toughen up HARASHIMA so he can save their title from Daisuke Sekimoto.

Stevie J – Shawn Michaels “legit” retiring after another awesome match with Undertaker.

Big D – While HBK’s retirement is the most emotional, Nexus’ invasion had more people talking than anything and was the biggest “holy shit” moment of 2010.

GG – Even though we knew there was a good chance he’d show up, my favorite moment of the year was when Daniel Bryan came out as John Cena’s surprise man in the elimination tag match with Nexus.

Photo of Daniel Bryan shared via Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Listen below.

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Topics covered include:
-ROH NYC PPV
-Hero in NOAH
-Ricky Marvin stories
-Teddy Hart impressions
-PWG

and more…

1. Kensuke Office vs. Burning (8/17) (KO)
2. Speed Muscle vs. Shingo/BxB (1/15) (DG)
3. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kohei Suwama (4/9) (AJPW)
4. Mashimo/Madoka vs. Men’s Teioh/Shinobu (5/23) (BJW)
5. Nakanishi/Nagata vs. Ohtani/Tanaka (7/7) (NJPW)
6. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Shuji Kondo (11/3) (AJPW)
7. Briscoes vs. Ibushi/Nakajima (9/6) (NOAH)
8. Speed Muscle vs. Shingo/Dragon Kid (8/28)(DG)
9. Masato Yoshino vs. Dragon Kid (11/16) (DG)
10. Kobashi/Honda/Taniguchi vs. Marufuji/Sugiura/Morishima (2/21) (NOAH)
11. Nakajima/Sasaki vs. Akiyama/Rikio (4/27) (NOAH)
12. KENTA vs. Naomichi Marufuji (10/25) (NOAH)
13. Yugi Nagata vs. Masato Tanaka (10/13) (NJPW)
14. Masato Tanaka vs. Koji Kanemoto (4/13) (NJPW)
15. Shingo/BxB Hulk vs. KENTA/Ishimori (3/20) (DG)
16. Suzuki/Kanemaru vs. KENTA/Ishimori (12/7) (NOAH)
17. Naruki Doi vs. KENTA (5/5) (DG)
18. Doi/Tanisaki vs. Cyber Kong/YAMATO (11/16) (DG)
19. Kobashi/KENTA vs. Nakajima/Sasaki (6/14) (NOAH)
20. Suwama/Kondo vs. TenKoji (11/24) (AJPW)

I also did a top 20 for all of wrestling, but this was done under the Observer criteria (Dec2007-Nov2008)

1. Kensuke Office vs. Burning (8/17) (KO)
2. Typhoon vs. Muscle Outlaw’z (3/29) (ROH)
3. Nigel McGuinness vs. Bryan Danielson (2/23) (ROH)
4. DoiYoshi vs. Shingo/BxB Hulk (1/15) (DG)
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kohei Suwama (4/9) (AJPW)
6. Mashimo/Madoka vs. Men’s Teioh/Shinobu (5/23) (BJW)
7. Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black (5/30 airdate) (ROH)
8. El Generico vs. Kota Ibushi (4/19) (ROH)
9. Nakanishi/Nagata vs. Ohtani/Tanaka (7/7) (NJPW)
10. Steen/Generico vs. Age Of The Fall (11/14 airdate) (ROH)
11. Naomichi Marufuji vs. Shuji Kondo (11/3) (AJPW)
12. McGuinness vs. Black vs. Danielson vs. Castagnoli (8/2) (ROH)
13. Nigel McGuinness vs. Austin Aries (3/7 airdate) (ROH)
14. New Hazard vs. Steen/Generico (3/29) (ROH)
15. DoiYoshi vs. Steen/Generico (3/28 ) (ROH)
16. Chris Bosh vs. Scorpio Sky (7/6) (PWG)
17. Kobashi/Takayama vs. Misawa/Akiyama (12/2) (NOAH)
18. Briscoes vs. Ibushi/Nakajima (9/6) (NOAH)
19. Chris Hero vs. Human Tornado (7/6) (PWG Guerrilla Warfare Cage Match)
20. Volador Jr./Sombra/Sagrada vs. Valiente/Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara (4/30) (CMLL)

9 ROH matches
2 NOAH
2 All Japan
2 PWG
1 CMLL
1 Kensuke Office
1 BJW
1 Dragon Gate
1 New Japan

TJ Perkins
The former “Puma” is known in SoCal wrestling for being the youngest veteran in the business. Still in his early 20′s, TJ has been working the best part of 10 years (he started in his early to mid teens). After being somewhat out of the limelight in 2006 and 2007, this year has been a big comeback year for Perkins. He turned heel and formed an extremely entertaining team with Hook Bomberry (their team name is TJ Hooker in a stroke of greatness). A motivated and focused TJ Perkins is a scary prospect because the dude has so much talent. It’ll be interesting to see how he fares in BOLA.

Bryan Danielson/Low Ki
Yes, the final entrant is TWO MEN. PWG Commissioner Of Wrestling, Dino Windwood and PWG Commissioner Of Food & Beverage, Excalibur couldn’t agree on who should have the last spot so both men are in. In the next column I’ll look at how this plays into the bracketing which was also announced in the last few days, but for now let’s talk a little about each guy. Low Ki is the current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion and former PWG Heavyweight Champion. He spent most of the year on the sidelines with an injury which forced him to vacate the PWG belt, but now he’s back and based on recent New Japan shows, is looking as good as ever. Ki is without question a favourite to win the whole thing.

Danielson, of course, also fits the bill of favourite. I’d be here all day listing the credentials of “The Best In The World”, so I won’t bother. I’ll just say that looking at this lineup, there are a ton of great potential matchups for Dragon that we don’t usually get to see (cough Yoshino cough). Hopefully he goes deep in the tournament and we get to see him used to his fullest.

“Slick” Nick Jackson
One half of “The Young Buck$” and the only half that isn’t getting married BOLA weekend, so “Slick” Nick is in the tourney. Hopefully he wrestles in a tux coming straight from the reception. Nick is a promising young wrestler with incredible high flying skills and he showed that he can do singles as well as tag when he had an enjoyable match with Brandon Bonham earlier this year. Coming of significant Dragon Gate experience this year, Nick is sure to be much improved and whilst not a favourite to go far, he could well have a memorable match (or two) over the weekend.

Roderick Strong
Another guy that I think everyone’s familiar with at this point. Roddy has yet to win a BOLA but he’s had two impressive showings – reaching the semi’s in 2006 and the final in 2007. He’s had a mixed year in ROH but in recent months he’s started to become more consistent putting together a string of very good matches. Strong always impresses in PWG though so he makes a great addition to the tourney. Hopefully he’s matched up with some smaller flyers because he excels as a base.

Joey Ryan
One of the PWG owners, Joey’s never made much of an impact in BOLA’s past. However he’s been on fire this year, having several great tags with Scott Lost, having one of the brawls of the year with Super Dragon, and of course inventing the most astounding move seen in decades – The Boobplex! Matchups will be key for Joey’s entertainment value this year. There are plenty of matches he could be in that would be tons of fun, but there are some that may not be as interesting.

Nigel McGuinness
The best singles wrestler of 2008, bar none. Nigel is perfect for a tournament like this as he knows how to go out there and have great singles matches with wrestlers of any ilk. We could see him matched up with some of the guys he’s torn the house down with already this year such as Aries, Generico or Strong; or we could see him in new matchups with the likes of Omega, Taylor or Yoshino. Either way, Nigel is sure to bring entertainment and credibility to this years BOLA.

Tomorrow we get the final names announced. Fingers crossed everybody! I WANT DANIELSON~!

Necro Butcher
COMING TO A BIG SCREEN NEAR YOU, is the latest entrant into BOLA, The Necro Butcher. Yes the man who has a significant role in the upcoming movie “The Wrestler”. Necro’s been a regular in PWG this year so it’s not surprising at all that he gets his third shot at the BOLA. He provided a memorable match filled with the craziest crap ever in 2006 against Super Dragon and last year decided to take a more technical approach, using a “picture perfect” O’Connor Roll to move through the rounds. Necro will definitely add a unique flavour to the tournament so he’s a solid addition.

Scott Lost
One of the owners of PWG, Lost has been on fire in recent months, taking his wrestling to levels it’s never been. If anyone is going to rival the man I talked about in part 1, Masato Yoshino, for athleticism – it’s Scott Lost. The guy can seemingly do anything and he makes it look so easy. Many people are picking Lost as a dark horse to go far in the tournament. This would not shock me at all and I think his performances this year have earned him a big push. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the man everyone will be talking after this tournament is Scott Lost.

Kenny Omega
Omega is the breakout guy of the year on the indies. He’s actually been around for a couple of years, even briefly having a WWE developmental contract, but it’s this year where he’s truly made his name. He made his ROH debut during the summer and had a memorable tour for the DDT promotion in Japan where he defended his “Anywhere Title” against Kota Ibushi in a crazy match. PWG have obviously taken notice and are giving the master of the Hadouken a chance to make a memorable year even more memorable by taking part in BOLA.

Chris Hero
PWG World Heavyweight Champion, THAT YOUNG KNOCKOUT KID, Chris Hero. The champ’s had a great year in PWG, engaging in a memorable blood feud with Human Tornado. Hero’s got two early exits under his bekt in BOLA’s past so I have a feeling he’ll be given a longer stay in the tournament this time around.

Austin Aries
Not much I can say about Austin Aries. You all know him, you all know how good he is. However he’s yet to have a bigtime classic in PWG, like he has had many times in ROH. So hopefully this years BOLA provides the setting for him to do just that. He’s more than capable of it.

Brandon Bonham
SoCal local that debuted in PWG earlier this year and made alot of people take notice. His match with Nick Jackson during Spring was tremendous fun and I’ve heard great things about his match with Arik Cannon in July. I wouldn’t expect him to get out of Round 1 but I would expect him to have a very good match regardless of who he wrestles.

Chuck Taylor
Ahhhh smooth Chucky T!!! Mostly known for his comedic stylings in Chikara, Taylor is really underrated for his athletic ability. The guys just seems like such a natural with everything he does in the ring, and while ROH have yet to recognise this, PWG sure did. They flew Chuck in for a couple of shows earlier this year and he obviously impressed enough to get a prestigious spot in BOLA. Like other people I will be profiling, Taylor’s going to be probably put in some first time matches in this tournament and it will be great to see him wrestling guys at a level somewhat higher than his usual opponents.

Masato Yoshino
As far as pure athleticism goes, I will flat out say that Masato Yoshino IS the most talented professional wrestler in the world. Yoshino is a wrestler from the Dragon Gate promotion in Japan, and if you’re not familiar with his work there, you may have noticed him in TNA’s World X Cup this year, putting on an incredible performance going right until the end of the 12 man Cibernetico. He was also possibly the standout of the 1st and 3rd “Dragon Gate 6-Man’s” that took place in Ring Of Honor. Yoshino mainly works as part of the tag team “Speed Muscle” with Naruki Doi but he’s more than capable as a singles wrestler as he proved during his Open The Brave Gate title run earlier this year where he had stellar match after stellar match. I’m hoping the former YOSSINO goes a long way in this tournament and we get to see him in the mind blowing matches he’s capable of.

El Generico
Generico (with Alan in the picture at the top) has probably been the PWG MVP over the last 2 years. The man has done it all, world titles, tag titles, classic match etc. However he’s yet to win BOLA despite coming close twice. He has to be a favourite this year to be given the win, but whether he does or not, one thing is for sure – every match he’s in will be great, because he’s El Generico and he doesn’t have bad matches! Heck, he doesn’t even have average matches. He’s spent alot of time this year in Dragon Gate (as Tozawa Juku’s foreign exchange student!) and as can be seen with likes of Jack Evans and Pac, that makes people improve by LEAPS AND BOUNDS. El Generico possibly improving is a scary thought, because he was already amazing before that.