Pro Wrestling Ponderings

Can you believe it’s June already? The first half of the year has brought a lot of quality moments in professional wrestling… and a whole lot of bad. This week, we’ll take a look at some of the best in a wide variety of categories. So let’s go to it.

Tag Team of the (half) Year- The Young Bucks

I know how well the American Wolves have done in Ring of Honor, but for me the best tag team are The Young Bucks. They’ve held the tag team titles of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla the entire. They made their east coast debut in CHIKARA at King of Trios. Then they were announced for Dragon Gate USA. Ring of Honor didn’t want to be left out of the party so they decided to book Matt and Nick Jackson. They’ve been successful in three of their matches while apparently having a great match with Steenerico in their one loss. The Bucks have had great matches with Davey Richards/Roderick Strong and the Motor City Machine Guns in PWG. Considering where they were less than 18 months ago, the Young Bucks have done a phenomonal job rising in the world of professional wrestling.

Runner-ups: 2- The American Wolves…3- Kevin Steen and El Generico

You might notice there are no WWE tag teams. Sorry, but if WWE can’t be bothered to care, then I don’t care either.

Most Improved Wrestler of the (half) Year: The Young Bucks

Two awards announced and another one for The Young Bucks. Just over a year ago, these two were in opening matches and just another pair of Hardy knock-offs. Now? They’re one of the better tag teams in independent wrestling and Dragon Gate tours have just made them all the better. Matt and Nick Jackson might improve tenfold by next year as well if they begin making more consistent east coast appearances.

Runner-ups: 2- Dolph Ziggler… 3- The Osirian Portal

Comeback of the (half) Year- Rey Mysterio

I made mention of this on the podcast, but Mysterio has been awfully good this year. From the Elimination Chamber to his feud with Chris Jericho, he’s already had an incredible year. Considering how bad his injury situation has been the last few years, it’s incredible to see him come back and have the kind of 2009 he’s having. I fully admit to writing this guy off and saying he should retire. I’m happy to say I was wrong.

Runner-ups: 2- Gabe Sapolsky… 3- Christian

Gabe goes from being fired by ROH to helping run a company that’s got two of the more anticipated shows of the year. He’s also gotten the company a Pay-Per-View deal, a beautifully designed website, and deals with a variety of independent companies now. Christian was in the purgatory of TNA. Now he’s back in WWE.

Non-wrestling Personality of the (half) Year- Jim Ross

Ever since I’ve started watching Smackdown on a regular basis, I’ve found new respect for Jim Ross. He is a Hall-of-Famer already, but he’s done a great job putting over what’s actually the good show in WWE these days. Yes, he’s been moved to color commenator, but he’s had a number of strong performances. Not to mention, he’s found a way to make Todd Grisham a better announcer. Award clinched.

Runner-ups: 2- Matt Stryker… 3- Teddy Long

Company of the (half) Year- CHIKARA

CHIKARA has been phenomenal this year. Revelation X got the company off to a great start with two excellent main events. King of Trios is probably the best weekend of wrestling this year. Their anniversary weekend has kept the company rolling, and I’ll have more on one of the matches in just a little bit. They claim to be the most fan-friendly company in professional wrestling. This claim has been validated in 2009 so far.

Runner-Ups: 2- WWE Smackdown… 3- PWG

Smackdown might have been number if not for the general crappiness of the shows before the draft. Also, there was far too much interaction with RAW as well. PWG has put on four very good shows as well, making this the easiest category to choose the winners.

Wrestler of the (half) Year- Chris Jericho

At the end of 2007, Chris Jericho made a decision to come back to WWE. I looked at him and just asked why he would bother coming back. Up until around the spring of 2008, I kept asking myself this question. Then his feud with Shawn Michaels began, and I finally understood. Ever since the heel turn, Jericho has been the best performer in professional wrestling. Better than Bryan Danielson. Better than Austin Aries. Better than anyone else. If you don’t at least appreciate what this man is doing, you really aren’t a wrestling fan.

The fact that he’s been having an excellent matches is only part of the story. His promos are cold, calculating, and deliberate. He finds new ways to anger the fans through the trusty use of a thesaurus. Jericho is also able to circumvent much of the incompetence in the back and with the writers by helping to book his own angles.

Runner-ups: 2- Austin Aries… 3- Nigel McGuinness

Match of the (half) Year: F.I.S.T (Icarus and Chuck Taylor) vs. The Colony (Soldier Ant and Fire Ant)- Aniversario Yang

I know that these four individuals aren’t the best workers in the world. I understand that there are guys with way more experience, but these four individuals provided one of the most emotionally charged matches I’ve seen in quite some time. The story was so simple. F.I.S.T were the hated heels. The Colony were the plucky underdog babyfaces. To fully appreciate this match, I think you almost need to watch the last year or so of shows since this featured a slow burn and a number of matches.

The heat was turned up in February when F.I.S.T decided that they wanted to be one of the best trios in CHIKARA. In a qualifying match for King of Trios, the dastardly heels attacked the three ants during the entrance. In the end, Chuck Taylor also ended the career of Worker Ant by hitting his finisher, the Awful Waffle, on the floor.

After winning King of Trios, the feud was re-ignited at the April shows to the point where a mask vs. hair match was made to finally settle the score.

If you have not yet gotten a chance to see the match, I could not recommend the DVD more. Anthony Perillo reviewed the show and gave the match ****1/2. It’s hard to disagree, and I would consider giving it the full monty.

This has been the best of 2009. Next week, we’ll look at the worst of 2009. WWE RAW will be mentioned quite a bit.

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