Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards 2015 – Ryan’s Ballot

LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD

1. Sasha Banks
2. Kazuchika Okada
3. AJ Styles

Honourable Mentions: Seth Rollins, Jay Lethal, Roderick Strong

MMA MOST VALUABLE FIGHTER:

1. Ronda Rousey
2. Connor McGregor
3. Daniel Cormier

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER:

1. Roderick Strong
2. Kota Ibushi
3. Chris Hero

Honourable Mentions: Timothy Thatcher, Kazuchika Okada, AJ Styles, Zack Sabre Jr., Mike Bailey

MOST OUTSTANDING FIGHTER:

1. Robbie Lawler
2. Rafael dos Anjos
3. Joanna Jędrzejczyk

BEST BOX OFFICE DRAW:

1. Ronda Rousey
2. Connor McGregor
3. Brock Lesnar

Honourable Mentions: John Cena, Kazuchika Okada

FEUD OF THE YEAR

1. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
2. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma
3. Timothy Thatcher vs. Chris Hero

Honourable Mentions: Connor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR

1. Young Bucks
2. Strong BJ
3. Chad Gable & Jason Jordan

Honourable Mentions: Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori, reDragon

MOST IMPROVED

1. Bayley
2. Michael Elgin
3. Roman Reigns

Honourable Mentions: Kamaitachi, Dragon Lee, Sasha Banks

BEST ON INTERVIEWS

1. Connor McGregor
2. Kevin Owens
3. Xavier Woods

Honourable Mentions: Paul Heyman

MOST CHARISMATIC

1. Connor McGregor
2. Shinsuke Nakamura
3. Sasha Banks

Honourable Mentions: Pentagon Jr., Kazuchika Okada, Bayley, Rush, Roderick Strong

BEST TECHNICAL WRESTLER

1. Timothy Thatcher
2. Zack Sabre Jr.
3. Drew Gulak

Honourable Mentions: Tracy Williams, Biff Busick

BRUISER BRODY MEMORIAL AWARD

1. Drew Galloway
2. Pentagon Jr.
3. Tomohiro Ishii

Honourable Mentions: Katsuyori Shibata, Mike Bailey, Roderick Strong

BEST FLYING WRESTLER

1. Mike Bailey
2. Kota Ibushi
3. KUSHIDA

Honourable Mentions: Dragon Lee, Kamaitachi (I didn’t see enough of either of these guys this year), Matt Sydal, Will Ospreay

MOST OVERRATED

1. Kane
2. Roman Reigns
3. Alberto Del Rio

Dishonourable Mentions: Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Sheamus, Bad Luck Fale, Eva Marie

MOST UNDERRATED

1. Antonio Cesaro
2. Luke Harper
3. Dean Ambrose

Honourable Mentions: Mascara Dorada, Jimmy Rave

PROMOTION OF THE YEAR

1. New Japan Pro-Wrestling
2. Pro-Wrestling Guerrilla
3. EVOLVE/WWN Live

Honourable Mentions: Revolution Pro, Lucha Underground

BEST WEEKLY TV SHOW

1. Lucha Underground
2. NJPW on AXS
3. WWE NXT

PRO WRESTLING MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi, NJPW WrestleKingdom 10, Tokyo, January 4^th
2. Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bailey, PWG Mystery Vortex III, Reseda California, June 26^th
3. Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr., PWG Mystery Vortex III, Reseda California, June 26^th

Honourable Mentions: See the 2015 CCN Yearbook

MMA MATCH OF THE YEAR

1. Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson, UFC 192, Toyota Center, Houston, October 3^rd
2. Robbie Lawler vs. Rory McDonald, UFC 189, Las Vegas Nevada, July 11^th
3. Jeremy Stephens vs. Dennis Bermudez, UFC 189, Las Vegas Nevada, July 11^th

Honourable Mentions: Travis Brown vs. Andrei Arlovski, Connor McGregor vs. Chad Mendez

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

1. Jay White
2. Chad Gable
3. David Finlay

Honourable Mentions: Matt Riddle (Didn’t see enough)

BEST NON-WRESTLER PERFORMER

1. Xavier Woods
2. Dario Cueto
3. William Regal

Honourable Mentions: Paul Heyman

BEST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

1. Mauro Ranallo
2. Excalibur
3. Josh Barnett

Honourable Mentions: Chris Hero, Lenny Leonard, Rob Naylor, Chuck Taylor

WORST TELEVISION ANNOUNCER

1. Matt Striker
2. Vampiro
3. John Bradshaw Layfield

Dishonourable Mentions: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Bryan Saxton

BEST MAJOR SHOW

1. NJPW WrestleKingdom 9, January 4^th, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
2. PWG Mystery Vortex III, June 26^th, American Legion Post #308, Reseda, California
3. NJPW Dominion, July 5^th, Osaka Jo-Hall, Osaka

Honourable Mentions: PWG Don’t Sweat The Technique, PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Two

“CATEGORY B” AWARDS. PICK ONE IN EACH CATEGORY. WINNER CHOSEN ON THE BASIS OF FIRST PLACE VOTES.

WORST MAJOR SHOW OF THE YEAR

• WWE Payback, May 17^th, Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

BEST WRESTLING MANEUVER

• German Suplex Hold Into Rainmaker – Kazuchika Okada

Honourable Mentions: End of Heartache, Meltzer Driver

MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC

• WWE exploiting the death of Reid Flair

WORST TELEVISION SHOW

• WWE Monday Night RAW

WORST MATCH OF THE YEAR

• Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber, WWE Elimination Chamber, May 31^st, American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas

Dishonourable Mentions: John Cena vs. Rusev WWE Payback, Great Kabuki, KAI & Buki vs. Great Kojika, Jun Kasai & Toru Sugiura, Tenryu Retirement Show, Los Villanos vs Psycho Circus AAA TripleMania

WORST FEUD OF THE YEAR

• Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt

Dishonourable Mentions: Kingdom vs. Guns & Gallows, John Cena vs. Rusev, Rusev vs. Dolf Ziggler

WORST PROMOTION

• Impact Wrestling

Dishonourable Mentions: WWE

BEST BOOKER

• Gedo (and Jado)

Honourable Mentions: PWG Crew

PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

• Takaaki Kidani

Honourable Mentions: Dana White, PWG Crew

BEST GIMMICK

• Tetsuya Naito, Apathetic Heel Scumbag

Honourable Mentions: New Day, Mike Bailey

WORST GIMMICK

• Bray Wyatt stealing Undertaker & Kane’s souls.

Dishonourable Mentions: Lana & Ziggler as a couple, Stardust

BEST WRESTLING BOOK

• Abstain

BEST PRO WRESTLING DVD

• Abstain

If you enjoyed this list be sure to take a look at Trask’s ballot over at Wrestling with Words, the PWO Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards thread, and Alan4L’s ballot over at VOW!