2011 In WWE

The year 2011 has been a memorable one in WWE. Almost every major star who could have made an appearance did so; some shocking incidents have taken place; and a number of stunning matches went down. These are my WWE Awards for the year of 2011:

Wrestler Of The Year: Randy Orton. The Viper has had great bouts with the likes of The Miz, CM Punk, Christian, Dolph Ziggler and more. Arguably his best year to date, The Legend Killer was the Man in 2011.

Rivalry Of The Year: Randy Orton vs Christian. As entertaining as John Cena vs The Rock was at times, it won't result in a singles match until 2012. Orton vs Christian, though, dominated SmackDown for months, running through four Pay-Per-Views, and with every match (including at least two on SD) being of a high quality.

Ultimate Moment Of The Year: The Rock's Return. On February 14, 2011, FINALLY, The Rock returned to Raw after seven years. Originally the host of WM XXVII, The Great One eventually agreed to face John Cena at WM 28, and returned to the ring at Survivor Series. But none of it would have happened had the People's Champion not shaken WWE up on Valentine's Day 2011.

Event Of The Year: Money In The Bank 2011. Featuring two great Money In The Bank Ladder matches, a win that set Mark Henry up to rule SmackDown for the rest of 2011, one of the battles between Randy Orton and Christian, and a memorable and significant main event between John Cena and CM Punk, MITB 2011 was not only the show of the year, but one of the best WWE events in recent years, if not ever.

Surprise Of The Year: Edge's Retirement. Rumours had spread that Edge would retire in the near future, but no-one expected it just eight days after WrestleMania. Retiring as World Champion, with his last match being a victory at WM, the Rated R Superstar went out as high as he possibly could.

Commentator Of The Year: William Regal. The Blackpool-born Superstar usually had something witty and interesting to say on NXT each week, and seemed genuinely interested in the show, unlike some announcers.

Shock Of The Year: Triple H becoming COO. When Vince McMahon walked to the ring on the July 18 Raw, seemingly to fire John Cena, few could have predicted that the show would end with HHH returning and "relieving Vince of his duties", and giving The Game total control over WWE.

Disappointment Of The Year: Sin Cara. When the Mexican arrived, it seemed that a newer version of Rey Mysterio was in WWE, and would eventually lead to Cara vs Rey at WM 28. As it turned out, Cara ended up earning a reputation for the wrong reasons when trying to pull off high-risk moves, then got suspended, and finally injured himself at Survivor Series doing a dive over the ropes, putting him out until long after WrestleMania. (Mind you, Mysterio is also injured for months, so that match would never have happened anyway.)

Unsolved Mystery Of The Year: The Anonymous Raw General Manager. So, who was he/she?

Low Point Of The Year: The death of Randy Savage. Savage's death alone was sad. Even sadder was that he was never inducted into the Hall Of Fame when he was alive, and sadder still was that, just before his death, Savage seemed to be on good terms with WWE for the first time since 1994 (he participated in a commercial for the WWE All-Stars game). Great wrestlers will come and go, but there will never, ever be another Macho Man.

Catch Phrase Of The Year: "Woo Woo Woo! You Know It!" Nowadays, top WWE stars don't have catch phrases, so this award goes to the tagline for Zach Ryder. Admittedly, he started using it in 2009, but when crowds of 10,000+ start chanting it, it means that it has caught on.

Interview Of The Year: CM Punk, June 27 Raw. In the course of one promo, Punk went from just another No. 1 Contender (albeit one supposedly leaving WWE) to one of the most-talked about wrestlers in, erm, wrestling. All the momentum that would carry him to two WWE Titles and a permanent top spot on Raw came from this one interview.

Warmly Received Occurence Of The Year: Daniel Bryan cashing in Money In The Bank. After a two-year period which saw Daniel Bryan start in WWE on NXT, despite his reputation, then fired days after the debut of the Nexus, followed by a return to become U.S. Champ, getting moved off the WrestleMania card, winning MITB, then struggle for TV time, all whilst receiving constant criticism from Michael Cole, many were more than satisfied when DBryan became World Heavyweight Champion at TLC.

Forgotten Moment Of The Year: A tie. It's either Dolph Ziggler's 10-minute World Title reign on SmackDown in February, or The Miz's short-lived decision to have an upside-down WWE Title between March and May. Actually, scrap that: it's Miz and John Cena's 5-minute Tag Title reign in February. Seriously, does anyone still remember that?

Mess-up Of The Year: The November 7 Raw Main Event. I was actually in attendance for this, in Liverpool. Awesome Truth beat John Cena and Zach Ryder when R-Truth booted Cena, and Miz held Cena's legs down for the three count. Only, it must have gone wrong because within minutes, the match was restarted (without a bell), and the sequence was repeated. Even worse, though, the ref's count went wrong (!), so the three count itself had to be repeated again. Cena afterwards complained on the microphone that "That wasn't even a match", presumably to divert attention from what the fans had just witnessed (of course, only one heavily-edited version was screened). The illusion must have been shattered for some fans that night.

OMG! Moment Of The Year: The ring collapse. At Vengeance, Mark Henry suplexed Big Show off the top rope down onto the ring, which exploded as a result. Having previously seen this with Show and Brock Lesnar, it was slightly predictable beforehand, but it was still an epic way to end a Title match.

What? Moment Of The Year: Booker T. Just before the Henry-Show match at Vengeance, Booker T tried to mention Mark Henry's recent win over John Morrison, but couldn't remember Morrison's name, referring to him as the "Parkour kid", and asking his fellow commentators who he was. This, after Morrison had been in WWE, on and off, for nearly nine years. What?

Chant Of The Year: Fruity Pebbles. Only in WWE would you get thousands of people chanting for a breakfast cereal.

Drag-Out Of The Year: NXT Season 5. At time of writing, it has lasted over 40 weeks, despite only being a Redemption series wherein the winner only gets to choose his Pro for Season 6. In addition, past NXT rookies have returned without explanation; the weekly competitions have disappeared; and the three remaining rookies have been featured on other shows anyway (being promoted to another brand is meant to be the prize). Hopefully, this will be finished soon.

Most Annoying Wrestler/Wrestling Personality Of The Year: Michael Cole. No explanation necessary.

Celebrity Of The Year (If you don't count The Rock): The Muppets. Seriously, they made Raw more entertaining on Halloween, which most celebs on Raw have failed to do.

Storyline Of The Year: CM Punk leaving WWE. What started off as an interesting plot ended up as a major development which saw some groundbreaking on-air comments, Punk establishing himself as a top name, Vince McMahon losing his on-air duties, HHH making a return, and by SummerSlam, two people claiming to be WWE Champion, which in itself ended with a Money In The Bank cash-in by Alberto Del Rio. This was something which made Raw well worth watching over July and August.

Tag Team Of The Year: Air Boom. Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston have made a good partnership, and will hopefully continue their reign as WWE Tag Team Champs.

Most Short-Lived Partnership Of The Year: Hunico, Epico and Primo. On the November 11 SmackDown (which I also attended in Liverpool), the three teamed up to take out The Uso's. This would, strangely, be the only time that they were together. Primo and Epico are still together, though, which is something.

Most Unexpected Return Of The Year: Bull Buchanan on the November 14 Raw Gets Rocked special. I thought Brian Christopher/Lawler had got this one when he appeared in the run-up to WM XXVII, but at least he was related to a current WWE employee (Jerry Lawler). Buchanan, though, was only John Cena's partner (as B2) for a few weeks in 2002/2003. Not to suggest this was a great moment or anything, but let's be honest: who expected to see Bull Buchanan on Raw in 2011?

Most Pointless Event: CM Punk's match changing for Night Of Champions. I could understand if CM Punk went from facing Kevin Nash at Night Of Champions to meeting Triple H if the change was made one week later, or even later in the week. But, to do so on the same show, the question is: why?

Rewriting History Occurence Of The Year: Hornswoggle learning to talk. After winning an All I Want For Christmas Battle Royal on the 29/11/2011 SmackDown, Hornswoggle developed the power of speech. But wasn't he speaking clearly at WrestleMania XXVII? And when he was DX's mascot? And, going way back, occasionally when he was Finlay's sidekick? And . . . oh, never mind.

Unintentionally Hilarious Remark Of The Year: Jack Korpela. On an Autumn episode of NXT, after a run-in by Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks on The Uso's, Korpela remarked: "The Party-Starter and The Dreadlock Demolition Crew!" Somehow, this was said with a straight face (or maybe it wasn't).

Most Missed Wrestler Of The Year: Chris Jericho. Although big WWE names have been absent for a while now, it became noticeable once Y2J departed in September 2010. The rumour mill says, however, that he may be back soon. Possibly at Royal Rumble?

Notable Absentee Of The Year: The Undertaker. WM XXVII aside, The Phenom has had no - ZERO - matches this year, mainly due to injuries. Will UT only now compete at WrestleMania, to defend his Streak? Might a "proper" return soon be on the cards? Or could it be at his 19th WM win in Atlanta was the end of the road for the Dead Man? Time will tell.

Welcome Return Of The Year: The classic Intercontinental Title. The version that Cody Rhodes unveiled at Hell In A Cell was actually a bit more updated than the original, but it was still good to see a comeback of sorts for the belt worn by the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and the Ultimate Warrior.

Non-Event That Should Have Been An Event Of The Year: The Raw Supershow. On August 29, Triple H announced that SmackDown wrestlers would appear on Raw, making it a Raw Supershow. However, whilst the likes of Randy Orton and Sheamus began appearing regularly on Monday nights, it didn't make much difference, and the favour wasn't returned in the form of Raw wrestlers appearing on SD every week. Unless the plan is to scrap the Brand Extension in 2012, hopefully this will be jazzed up, since at this point the Draft seems pointless.

Ironic Thing That Isn't Necessarily Good Of The Year: Superstars. The WWE show Superstars mainly features opening-match talent, wrestlers from NXT, or those for whom there was no space on Raw or SmackDown that week. No real story developments, nor major names like Cena, Orton or Punk. In other words, the show Superstars has no Superstars.

In And Out Wrestler Of The Year: Kharma. Before May began, Kharma was awaiting her debut. By the end of the month, she had made her debut, destroyed most Divas, but then left due to pregnancy. On the bright side, Kharma's in-ring debut will finally come some time in 2012.

Non-Existent Character Of The Year: Little Jimmy. We never saw him (unless you count the person at Capitol Punishment), nor do we even know what he looks like. But, for over 7 months, not a week on Raw would go by without a reference to Little Jimmy by R-Truth.

Apparently Unimportant Occurence Of The Year: Kaitlyn turning on AJ. This betrayal between friends was so significant, WWE didn't even air it, despite it taking place during a SmackDown taping.

Forgotten Prop Of The Year: The Cole Mine. Remember that?

Most Embarrassing Moment Of The Year: Trish Stratus' impression of The Rock and Booker T at Elimination Chamber. Not the best way to return after a near-18 month absence from WWE.

Funniest Moment Of The Year: The Rock. There weren't any stand-out hilarious events, either intentionally (Steve Austin singing with a guitar) or unintentionally (Mark Henry chasing the Nexus, but ending up in front of them). So, choose any lines that were spoken by The Rock, mainly as insults towards The Miz and/or John Cena. Mind you, CM Punk's "tribute" to John Laurinitis at the Slammy Awards was also quite humorous.

I Meant To Do That Moment Of The Year: Mark Henry. The World's Strongest Man fought Randy Orton on the October 13 Raw, when Cody Rhodes caused a DQ. Orton fought Cody away, but then was struck by Henry and his World's Strongest Slam. Then, the World Heavyweight Champion pinned Orton. After the match was over.

Least Memorable Period Of The Year: May. Extreme Rules and Over The Limit both took place during this month; but on-screen, I can only really remember Christian winning the World Title, The Rock's Birthday and the Randy Orton vs Christian matches as being noteworthy.

Unusual PPV Advert Of The Year: TLC. Not so much the advert itself, but David Otunga being the main face on it. Which is kind of like next season's Premier League coverage on Sky being advertised by Tottenham's Heurelio Gomes, in terms of current recognition.

Whatever Happened To That Guy Of The Year: Husky Harris. He was Punted by Randy Orton on the January 31 Raw, and hasn't been seen since.

Forward Planning Of The Year: Chris Masters. Or, rather, WWE's decision to feature The Masterpiece in the advert for SummerSlam, and then fire him before the show.

Rising Star Of The Year: Zack Ryder. I was going to say Daniel Bryan, but having already discussed his annum, the award goes to Zack, who started 2011 as someone waiting to be fired, but via a YouTube series, got fan support, then TV time, and by TLC, the US Title. Woo woo woo!

Pointless Championship Of The Year: United States Title. Nothing to do with Zack Ryder; and this seems hypocritical after saying Ryder is Rising Star of the Year for winning this Championship. But, still, especially with SmackDown wrestlers appearing on Raw, is there really any point to the US Title now? Ideally, the US Champ would face the Intercontinental Champ at WrestleMania in a Title Unification match, with the IC Titleholder winning and keeping his Title in existence (since it has been in WWE since 1979; why dump that for a belt which spent much of its lifespan outside WWE?). Something similar should happen with the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles - but that's another story for another time.

Fan Sign Of The Year: Vince, Please Buy Everton FC. Apparently things are getting desperate at Goodison Park. Yes, this was in Liverpool.

Biggest Drop Of The Year: John Morrison. At the start of 2011, he was No. 1 Contender to the WWE Title. He didn't become Champ, nor earn a Title shot at WrestleMania. Then, after apparently snubbing Trish Stratus at WM, and another failed opportunity, he was injured for months. When he returned, he went on a losing streak, winning one match in about four or five months. Finally, he lost on November 28 to The Miz, and then left WWE.

DVD Of The Year: Stone Cold Steve Austin. The DVD alone has almost 10 hours of coverage, including a career spanning documentary, a number of Austin's greatest matches, and a disc full of promos. One of the best WWE DVDs ever.

Hairstyle Of The Year: Sheamus. Mind you, there was Dolph Ziggler's one-week haircut in April, which, erm, made no difference at all. Anyway, Shemaus beats stiff competition from Mr Ziggles and Zach "Take Care, Spike Your Hair" Ryder.

Gang Of The Year: The Corre. Actually, Wade Barrett's army was the only proper stable, since The New Nexus died a slow, painful death; the Alberto Del Rio/John Laurinitis alliance never materialised; and there weren't any other groups. So, a gang that lost in 1:28 at WM XXVII was the year's best. Not a highlight of 2011, really.

From Out Of Nowhere Award: John Laurinitis. At the beginning of 2011, he wasn't known to WWE fans. In July, he began appearing in a minor role. Now, he is the Interim General Manager of Raw. Not bad, that.

Most Successful Wrestler Of The Year: Alberto Del Rio. A Royal Rumble, Money In The Bank and two WWE Title wins, plus a World Championship match at WrestleMania; ADR couldn't have done much more.

More Muscles Than Brains Of The Year: Mason Ryan. Have you ever seen anyone THAT muscular before?

Change For The Better Of The Year: 40-Man Royal Rumble. Extending the field meant a longer and, consequently, more enjoyable edition of the most anticipated match of the year.

Comeback Of The Year: The Rock. Well, there isn't anyone else, is there? Well, there's Kevin Nash, but at time of writing he has only a Rumble cameo and a one-minute match with Santino Marella under his belt. And Mick Foley's only been back for a little while.

And lastly . . .

Match Of The Year: The Undertaker vs Triple H, WrestleMania XXVII. Although the Orton vs Christian rivalry produced a number of great bouts, this showdown at WrestleMania was the most anticipated, the most memorable and the most exciting match of 2011. Taker went 19-0, but only after taking a ferocious beating from The Game. The Streak has never come close to ending, and there may be a rematch in 2012. Perhaps not to the level of the WM meetings between Taker and Shawn Michaels, but still the best match of WrestleMania 27, and of the year 2011 in WWE.

So, as you can see, it's been quite an eventful year in WWE. It was probably more momentous than 2010, and 2009 for that matter. As for what 2012 may provide: well, we already know the WrestleMania XXVIII Main Event, and have done since, well, the night after WrestleMania XXVII. So, a bit of the buzz that normally brings in the New Year is absent.

What is known, however, is that a number of familiar faces are set to return soon, which should make things interesting. If 2012 does see the end of the Draft, then that should also make a difference. In fact, after a year which saw The Rock come back to the ring, CM Punk speak his mind on WWE and Triple H take over the company, just about anything is possible.

I will focus more on possible 2012 developments in a future blog, as well as a "proper" month-by-month review of this annum; but, for now, that's  all on WWE in a memorable and unpredictable 2011.