Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Best Wrestler): AJ Styles

Most Oustanding Wrestler: AJ Styles

Best Box Office Draw: Conor McGregor

Feud of the Year: Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz

Team of the Year: The Young Bucks

Most Improved: Matt Riddle

Best on Interviews: Conor McGregor

Most Charismatic: Conor McGregor

Bryan Danielson Award (Best Technical Wrestler): Zack Sabre Jr.

Bruiser Brody Award (Best Brawler): Tomohiro Ishii

Best Flying Wrestler: Will Ospreay

Most Overrated: Roman Reigns

Most Underrated: Cesaro

Promotion of the Year: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Best Weekly Television Show: New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS

Match of the Year: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship (Wrestle Kingdom 10)

Rookie of the Year: Matt Riddle

Best Non-Wrestler: Dario Cueto

Best TV Announcer: Mauro Ranallo

Worst TV Announcer: David Otunga

Best Major Show: Wrestle Kingdom 10

Worst Major Show: WrestleMania 32

Best Wrestling Move: One Winged Angel (Kenny Omega)

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Kimbo Slice vs Dada 5000

Worst Television Show: WWE RAW

Worst Match of the Year: Shelly Martinez vs Rebel (TNA Impact)

Worst Feud of the Year: Titus O'Neil vs Darren Young

Worst Promotion: TNA

Best Booker: Gedo (NJPW)

Promoter of the Year: Dana White (UFC)

Best Gimmick: Broken Matt Hardy

Worst Gimmick: Bone Soldier

Best Book: Ali vs Inoki

Best DVD/Network Special: Seth Rollins: Redesign, Rebuild, Reclaim

Robbie V wrote:

Most Improved: Matt Riddle

Bryan Danielson Award (Best Technical Wrestler): Zack Sabre Jr.

Bruiser Brody Award (Best Brawler): Tomohiro Ishii

Promotion of the Year: New Japan Pro Wrestling

Best Weekly Television Show: New Japan Pro Wrestling on AXS

Match of the Year: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - IWGP Heavyweight Championship (Wrestle Kingdom 10)

Rookie of the Year: Matt Riddle

Best Wrestling Move: One Winged Angel (Kenny Omega)

Best Booker: Gedo (NJPW)

Good shit.

Poor Bone Soldier never gets no luv

Kidani's Golden Boy Project Worked!

Why stop at MMA? Most overrated should go to Boxing's Canelo-GGG "feud".

This magazine should be named Hatin' WWE Illustrated. Seriously apart from praising AJ Styles, which doesn't count, they didn't say one positive thing about WWE

The only thing I vehemently scream bias on is saying New Japan on Axes is good television.  Don't get me wrong, it's good wrestling, but JR and Barnett drag it down with their unenthusiastic and generally grumpy commentary.  We get it, the refs are shit and everyone cheats.  Get over yourselves.

dang took so long for them to announce the awards this year

It's probably because it was a shit year for WWE booking wise. Women's Title Hot Potato wasn't worth our time, US Title lost everything that it was worth in 2015, and they didn't completely hate WWE. Cesaro, Mauro won some awards.

If not Otunga then I know the worst announcer award would have gone to JBL and that irrationally upsets me, almost as much as putting MMA into a list of wrestling awards.

Glad to see Mauro winning the best commentator award. His commentary really has been amazing and I think he is the only one commentator in today's WWE who can really bring out the emotion of any event without over dramatizing it like Cole does

I agree with most the list in all honesty. 

Though there are two exceptions; 

For one, if it were up to me, match of the year would have gone to either; DIY/Revival or End/Haskins/Scurll. Mostly due to a matter of storytelling. Tanahashi/Okada was a great match (Assuming this is their WK match were talking about) but NJPW honestly has always lacked storytelling (Unless you're Tetsuya Naito). 

As for Most Improved, honestly it should've went to Braun Strowman, while Matt Riddle going from MMA to Pro Wrestling was cool, I feel like "Most improved" implies somebody who had a rough previous year. He however did definetly deserve Rookie of the year. Not a single argument otherwise.

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

I agree with most the list in all honesty. 

Though there are two exceptions; 

For one, if it were up to me, match of the year would have gone to either; DIY/Revival or End/Haskins/Scurll. Mostly due to a matter of storytelling. Tanahashi/Okada was a great match (Assuming this is their WK match were talking about) but NJPW honestly has always lacked storytelling (Unless you're Tetsuya Naito). 

As for Most Improved, honestly it should've went to Braun Strowman, while Matt Riddle going from MMA to Pro Wrestling was cool, I feel like "Most improved" implies somebody who had a rough previous year. He however did definetly deserve Rookie of the year. Not a single argument otherwise.

I strongly disagree with NJPW lacking storytelling. It may not be in the North American wrestling style sense but the storytelling can be amazing. 

Watch Tenzan's G1 Climax run or Nagata and Shibata's feud from last year. Plenty of storytelling there. Does everybody sell when they probably should? No, but to me storytelling is about trying to draw emotions out of people with behavior in the ring. In my opinion NJPW is the best at getting the sort of reactions they want out of their audience (....except for the Bone Soldier stuff. That's just a horrible dream we will all wake up from soon.)

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

For one, if it were up to me, match of the year would have gone to either; DIY/Revival or End/Haskins/Scurll. Mostly due to a matter of storytelling. Tanahashi/Okada was a great match (Assuming this is their WK match were talking about) but NJPW honestly has always lacked storytelling (Unless you're Tetsuya Naito). 

Absolutely disagreed on this. New Japan Pro Wrestling has THE best match storytelling I've ever come across, and it's all so brilliantly done that the company has garnered the following it has to Western audiences. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada had, in my opinion, fantastic storytelling from start to finish, including one of my favorite endings ever when Okada went for the Rainmaker, only to be met with an open-hand chop from Tanahashi, but refusing to let go of the wrist and refusing to be humiliated like he was the previous year. Peppered throughout many big NJPW matches between rivals are callbacks to their previous bouts in which the competitors show great continuity and storytelling to show how they've both learned each others' offense and the mistakes they've made before. Tanahashi vs Okada was no exception to any of that, and it even perfected it. That's why matches such as DIY vs The Revival are highly praised - they basically do what NJPW has always been doing, but more take notice of it when people in a WWE match do it because it's a rarity. DIY vs The Revival was great, no doubt, but I don't think it was better than a contest between two of the best there's ever been performing at their absolute best in the best rivalry in wrestling. Of course, it's all subjective when it comes down to it - people see shit differently and all, but I do think it's a little offensive to knock NJPW for a lack of storytelling when it's what they do better than any other company.

Robbie V wrote:

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

For one, if it were up to me, match of the year would have gone to either; DIY/Revival or End/Haskins/Scurll. Mostly due to a matter of storytelling. Tanahashi/Okada was a great match (Assuming this is their WK match were talking about) but NJPW honestly has always lacked storytelling (Unless you're Tetsuya Naito). 

Absolutely disagreed on this. New Japan Pro Wrestling has THE best match storytelling I've ever come across, and it's all so brilliantly done that the company has garnered the following it has to Western audiences. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada had, in my opinion, fantastic storytelling from start to finish, including one of my favorite endings ever when Okada went for the Rainmaker, only to be met with an open-hand chop from Tanahashi, but refusing to let go of the wrist and refusing to be humiliated like he was the previous year. Peppered throughout many big NJPW matches between rivals are callbacks to their previous bouts in which the competitors show great continuity and storytelling to show how they've both learned each others' offense and the mistakes they've made before. Tanahashi vs Okada was no exception to any of that, and it even perfected it. That's why matches such as DIY vs The Revival are highly praised - they basically do what NJPW has always been doing, but more take notice of it when people in a WWE match do it because it's a rarity. DIY vs The Revival was great, no doubt, but I don't think it was better than a contest between two of the best there's ever been performing at their absolute best in the best rivalry in wrestling. Of course, it's all subjective when it comes down to it - people see shit differently and all, but I do think it's a little offensive to knock NJPW for a lack of storytelling when it's what they do better than any other company.

Sorry man, absolutely have to disagree with you on that. Robbie hit the nail on the head. NJPW surpasses every promotion in terms of story telling, what WWE does is vanilla in comparison so when they get Revival vs DIY it so rare that its good where NJPW do it annually with the same effect.

Sir Finnegan Wakefield wrote:

Robbie V wrote:

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

For one, if it were up to me, match of the year would have gone to either; DIY/Revival or End/Haskins/Scurll. Mostly due to a matter of storytelling. Tanahashi/Okada was a great match (Assuming this is their WK match were talking about) but NJPW honestly has always lacked storytelling (Unless you're Tetsuya Naito). 

Absolutely disagreed on this. New Japan Pro Wrestling has THE best match storytelling I've ever come across, and it's all so brilliantly done that the company has garnered the following it has to Western audiences. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada had, in my opinion, fantastic storytelling from start to finish, including one of my favorite endings ever when Okada went for the Rainmaker, only to be met with an open-hand chop from Tanahashi, but refusing to let go of the wrist and refusing to be humiliated like he was the previous year. Peppered throughout many big NJPW matches between rivals are callbacks to their previous bouts in which the competitors show great continuity and storytelling to show how they've both learned each others' offense and the mistakes they've made before. Tanahashi vs Okada was no exception to any of that, and it even perfected it. That's why matches such as DIY vs The Revival are highly praised - they basically do what NJPW has always been doing, but more take notice of it when people in a WWE match do it because it's a rarity. DIY vs The Revival was great, no doubt, but I don't think it was better than a contest between two of the best there's ever been performing at their absolute best in the best rivalry in wrestling. Of course, it's all subjective when it comes down to it - people see shit differently and all, but I do think it's a little offensive to knock NJPW for a lack of storytelling when it's what they do better than any other company.

Sorry man, absolutely have to disagree with you on that. Robbie hit the nail on the head. NJPW surpasses every promotion in terms of story telling, what WWE does is vanilla in comparison so when they get Revival vs DIY it so rare that its good where NJPW do it annually with the same effect.

Eh. Probably should rephrase that. (Remind me not to state opinions after purple haze). 
Although NJPW had a great showing with Tanahashi and Okada's match, but then again not having watched NJPW before WK9 really did wreck a number on how I saw the show. Probably have to revisit it.

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

Sir Finnegan Wakefield wrote:

Robbie V wrote:

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

For one, if it were up to me, match of the year would have gone to either; DIY/Revival or End/Haskins/Scurll. Mostly due to a matter of storytelling. Tanahashi/Okada was a great match (Assuming this is their WK match were talking about) but NJPW honestly has always lacked storytelling (Unless you're Tetsuya Naito). 

Absolutely disagreed on this. New Japan Pro Wrestling has THE best match storytelling I've ever come across, and it's all so brilliantly done that the company has garnered the following it has to Western audiences. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada had, in my opinion, fantastic storytelling from start to finish, including one of my favorite endings ever when Okada went for the Rainmaker, only to be met with an open-hand chop from Tanahashi, but refusing to let go of the wrist and refusing to be humiliated like he was the previous year. Peppered throughout many big NJPW matches between rivals are callbacks to their previous bouts in which the competitors show great continuity and storytelling to show how they've both learned each others' offense and the mistakes they've made before. Tanahashi vs Okada was no exception to any of that, and it even perfected it. That's why matches such as DIY vs The Revival are highly praised - they basically do what NJPW has always been doing, but more take notice of it when people in a WWE match do it because it's a rarity. DIY vs The Revival was great, no doubt, but I don't think it was better than a contest between two of the best there's ever been performing at their absolute best in the best rivalry in wrestling. Of course, it's all subjective when it comes down to it - people see shit differently and all, but I do think it's a little offensive to knock NJPW for a lack of storytelling when it's what they do better than any other company.

Sorry man, absolutely have to disagree with you on that. Robbie hit the nail on the head. NJPW surpasses every promotion in terms of story telling, what WWE does is vanilla in comparison so when they get Revival vs DIY it so rare that its good where NJPW do it annually with the same effect.

Eh. Probably should rephrase that. (Remind me not to state opinions after purple haze). 
Although NJPW had a great showing with Tanahashi and Okada's match, but then again not having watched NJPW before WK9 really did wreck a number on how I saw the show. Probably have to revisit it.

I totally agree NJPW has the best match storytelling I've ever seen. Tho I can kinda understand what Kelly is talking about. NJPW does 99% of its storytelling thru the matches themselves. That's not a bad thing but it's definitely different than what many other promotions do with the weeks/months/years of promos, betrayals, authority figures, screwjobs, etc. I guess it depends on yo tastes tho but it's definitely goat the way NJPW tells a story thru their matches. It's one of the few companies that can pull off long ass 40+ minute matches where you watch every move without drifting off.

Probably the reason why I enjoy NJPW's storytelling over Western products is due to the lack of angles, constant promos etc. To me that over-saturates a feud and when you look at the case of Tanahashi vs Okada, it was multiple matches but not in the span of two, three months; rather it's years and it's a feud that still isn't done. Every match was different, there was always a shift in the story but not one had a talking point afterwards that was a repeat. I feel you can only truly value a NJPW feud and storyline a good two, three years after it began, like Tana vs Okada, Tana vs Naito; Omega vs Okada seems set to follow that trend. It's continuity on a scale that can't be matched, even by WWE. 

Every match feels big, you don't walk into a show knowing without a doubt who is going to win and every moment in a match feels big. Take something like Omega not hitting the One Winged Angel. We see that shortcoming as possibly his key to beating Okada some day or maybe it isn't and he needs something more. Because we don't find out the next night, the next week, the next month, it seems grander, more important than anywhere else in the world.

Matt Riddle could be a huge star if he quits smoking weed

GC wrote:

Matt Riddle could be a huge star if he quits smoking weed

Didn't stop RVD

Some of biggest superstars were dope fiends: Road Warriors, Sheik, Hardy, etc

Sir Kelly Hackenschmidt wrote:

GC wrote:

Matt Riddle could be a huge star if he quits smoking weed

Didn't stop RVD

lol you have a point

Great list, a lot on here I agree with. I'm glad Dana got his rightful Promoter OTY but if he's been booking the fights UFC did in 2016 as well he should absolutely get booker OTY too. Gedo's incredible but the fights and cards this man Dana White has put together have been extraordinary. The storytelling in the McGregor vs Diaz fights, Joanna vs. Gadelha, Lawler vs. Condit, the man got Brock fucking Lesnar to compete in time to make up for the Jon Bones Jones absence. Absolutely impeccable booking work from the UFC in 2016. In the fight world, the booker makes the promoter, but NJPW definitely has a "real sport" feel to it and like many have said the promotion is based on the match, so it's all good.

Has UFC/MMA always been in this, or am I thinking of another list?