Smark Out Moment

The WWE may have their Slammy Awards, but here at Smark Out Moment we like to take an even closer look at what happened throughout the year and award not just the best, but also point out the worst.


Keeping with the tradition of adding awards, we have now given you the option of picking your "worst" choices for each category of the Smack Talk awards section. Make sure you let us know in the comments what your choices are for the best and the worst of each award in the Technical Awards, Writing Awards and Performer Awards sections.



ENTRANCE

[BEST]: Bray Wyatt
Although The Undertaker is the lifetime achievement winner of this category, it would be boring if I just went with him again, so the next best option is Bray Wyatt. The lantern switch from a real one to a fake one is a bit silly, but his theme is awesome, the lighting is great, "we're here" was fun when he did that, and you could see that it set him apart from everyone else.

[WORST]: Cesaro
This was tough, as I really, really hated Harper and Rowan's theme that started with the kids singing. That never felt like it worked well with them and I can't stand the generic rock song that was too disjointed in comparison to the cell phones. That works for Bray Wyatt, but not for that setup. However, I can't ignore Cesaro's god awful sirens. This theme song does not fit him whatsoever and he doesn't even do anything during his entrance to distract you from this. He's changed his entrance attire multiple times and nothing ever seems to fit. He still does that arm pump gun thing but it doesn't match up with anything, so that looks awkward. Come on, guys....give Cesaro something to work with. And come on, Cesaro....stop giving them reasons to doubt you.

SIGNATURE MANEUVER

[BEST]: Paige's PTO
Although I think it would be much more devastating in its appearance if it were done by someone bigger, Paige's PTO submission hold looks like it would legitimately hurt like a son of a bitch. I almost gave this to the Superman Punch that Roman Reigns does, but what gives the PTO the edge is how much more it "wow"ed me the first time I saw it.

[WORST]: Curtis Axel's AxeHole
This is still such a lame move, which is why I keep putting it in this category. It looks like a transitional thing someone would do during the boring stretch of a match, not a finisher.

SPOT VS BOTCH

[BEST]: WeeLC Match (Extreme Rules)
This was just one awesome spot after another, so grouped together, it has to win in my book. I need to give credit where it's due, considering how I went into it expecting it to be terrible. The freaking match ends in a West Coast Pop through a table, which alone is better than almost anything Hornswoggle's been involved with in the entirety of his career. So many good spots in this match. It's just fun as hell to watch. Honorable mention to Kofi Kingston's Royal Rumble and WrestleMania spots as well as the Cody Rhodes moonsault.

[WORST]: Batista rips his pants
When you come back to the company and you're supposed to be the hottest ticket, but the fans don't want to see you as the top draw, you earn their cheers by being awesome, not by tearing a hole in your ass. Mistakes happen and I'm sure I'd be embarrassed as hell if that were me, but it was hilarious to see someone that was failing to get over end up making themselves look even sillier.

DUE CREDIT

[MOST UNDERRATED]: Cody Rhodes
This almost went to Dolph Ziggler, but they've been pushing him recently, so they seem to understand how valuable he is. It also almost went to Fandango, who has spent most of the year jobbing or missing in action. But Cody Rhodes is a guy that is SO much better than WWE is willing to admit to the audience. He's proven time and time again that he can adapt to various types of characters and for a while there, he was getting over as a babyface. WWE missed the opportunity to have him become a solid upper midcard babyface. Cody deserves that spot and he deserves to be groomed for a future main event role.

[MOST OVERRATED]: Rusev
Is he awful? No. But there is nothing so special of Rusev to justify giving him such a big role. The character has been done before (and better), his ring and mic work are just okay, and yet, he's booked as one of the most important people on the roster. He is a true example of WWE pushing someone because they want to push him, not because he's earned a spot at the top. Maybe he'll reach that level some day, but right now, he's being placed in a level he doesn't belong. Good midcarder? Sure. I'm even okay with him being the United States champion. But when he's viewed as a top asset and hasn't had a single awesome match with anybody that I can remember really enjoying instead of just being okay with watching, something is wrong.

IMPROVEMENT IN A SUPERSTAR

[MOST IMPROVED]: Seth Rollins
Rollins was the weak link in The Shield in my opinion for 2013 and I expected him to end up as a midcarder at some point by the end of 2014, but he's proven himself a damn good performer in the ring, solid on the mic, and definitely worthy of the spot he's in.

[LEAST IMPROVED]: Undertaker
When you only have one match per year, it has to deliver. This time around, the build sucked, the match was sloppy and he ended up losing.

FUTURE ENDEAVORS

choose between the names listed here

[HAPPY TO SEE RELEASED]: Sin Cara
WWE cut a lot of fat by getting rid of people like JTG that were totally unnecessary, but the smartest decision they've made this year was getting rid of Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde—the first Sin Cara. They tossed away someone who botched all the time and was apparently problematic in multiple ways backstage and replaced him with a better worker who is more trustworthy, while being able to keep the same character that they had invested time and money in. Smart decision indeed. Now, Hunico, aka Sin Cara Negro, is a tag team champion on NXT while Sin Cara Azul is on his third name that I can't even begin to spell correctly. Myzytezyesiz? Mr. Mxyzptlk? Sierra Mysterion?

[UNHAPPY TO SEE RELEASED]: Justin Roberts
There were actually a couple people I was sad to see go this year. Josh Mathews is better than TNA, in my book, and so is Brodus Clay. CM Punk, of course, ended up being a disappointment. But seeing as how we have no solid ring announcers in the company today (I'm not a fan of Lilian Garcia), it sucks that Justin Roberts was let go.

RING SKILLS

[BEST]: Dolph Ziggler
I've been saying for years that Dolph Ziggler is the best performer in the ring now that Shawn Michaels is no longer wrestling and that includes when Daniel Bryan is an active member of the roster. The guy can't seem to have a bad match with anybody unless WWE books him into a corner. There's a reason he's called The Show Off—because he can back that claim up.

[WORST]: Khali
You're lucky you had that WeeLC Match, Hornswoggle, or you would be the winner. But hey, let's give it to the old standard bearer of this award, the guy who can barely walk let alone wrestle!

MIC SKILLS

[BEST]: Triple H
Almost every Triple H promo this year was a great representation of his character. He even was able to have some killer jokes along the way, despite being a heel, like his quip about his friend "Mark".

[WORST]: Khali
After all these years, I still can't understand almost anything he's saying.

TITLE REIGN

choose between the names listed here 

[BEST]: The Usos
The Usos were the backbone of the tag team division this year and almost single-handedly (double-handedly?) kept it going. If it weren't for their title reign, the division would have crumbled. They had great matches with every team that they were put in the ring with when defending their titles and they're continuing to have extremely well-rounded performances even without the belts.

[WORST]: Sheamus
Brock Lesnar is having a real piece of shit title reign that could have been amazing, but has become a footnote. However...think back on how useless Sheamus was as the United States champion. He won it from Dean Ambrose in a situation where people felt that the title hadn't been defended frequently enough and then proceeded to not defend the title all that much. Even when he did, it was in mediocre matches as part of feuds that were sloppily put together and rushed for the sake of getting Sheamus on the card more than anything else. The best thing he did in his entire run with the belt was drop it to Rusev, and I don't even like Rusev!

MATCH OF THE YEAR

[BEST]: The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family (Elimination Chamber)
This was just an awesome, awesome match. At the time, The Shield weren't really babyfaces and it still worked. The crowd is red hot the entire time, the Wyatt Family hadn't started to suck yet, and it has a great mix of styles. The first match that I had written down as a candidate for this, by the way, was John Cena vs Cesaro from Raw 2/17/2014, for those who are interested in stats like that.

[WORST]: Hornswoggle vs El Torito (SmackDown 4-18-2014)
This match features a Bronco Buster, a gore to Hornswoggle's ass, and more. I could have gone with a wide variety of Divas matches like AJ Lee and Cameron from Elimination Chamber and they would be just as bad as this, but I figured that's the easy way out and I kind of wanted to showcase one of the reasons why SmackDown is so pointless to watch.



CATCH PHRASE OR SLOGAN

[BEST]: "Yes!"
Once again, this just cannot be beaten. It's simplicity is part of the reason that it has been able to catch on so easily, but it's also proven that it has true staying power.

[WORST]: Paige shrieking
I would give this to Adam Rose's sayings, but they aren't so bad. The problem lies with him. On the other hand, I fucking haaaaaaaaate it when Paige shrieks. I see nothing positive about it. It's ear-grating and annoying and it doesn't make me think that she's crazy or dangerous or fun or anything. It just reminds me of when Vicki Guerrero would scream in her own annoying way or how every babyface Diva feels the need to yell out "come oooon!" at some point in their match. So dumb.

GIMMICK

[BEST]: Bo Dallas
Bo's gimmick is so ridiculous that I just had to love it. "All you have to do is Bolieve" is such a perfect, moronic catch phrase. The idea that he beats people and then gives them pep talks made me laugh so hard.

[WORST]: Emma dancing
Why does she do it? They don't make her character seem like she's a brainless twit, so why does she appear to have brain damage when walking to the ring?

HEEL OR FACE TURN

choose between the names listed here

[BEST]: Seth Rollins
I loved when Jack Swagger turned babyface to go against Rusev, but let's face it, nothing compares to Rollins turning on The Shield.

[WORST]: Christian
To be perfectly honest, the main reason that I chose this is because I had it down in my notes and I completely don't even remember it happening. It must have been that uneventful that I can remember pretty much everybody else's turns except for Christian's.

COMEBACK

choose between: Rikishi & Too Cool (Old School Raw), Kevin Nash (Royal Rumble), Hulk Hogan's Raw appearances, Hall of Fame, Hulk Hogan/The Rock/Steve Austin (WrestleMania), Ric Flair (Raw), Legends House, Mick Foley (Raw before Hell in a Cell), or any others that I may have forgotten to put on this list


[BEST]: Hulk Hogan & Steve Austin & The Rock @ WrestleMania
This was AWESOME at the time the pay-per-view was live. I completely marked out. We had a funny promo with the Silverdome and arguably the three most popular wrestlers ever all in the ring together.

[WORST]: Hulk Hogan Network Plugs
Every time Hogan came out after WrestleMania, it was a bore, brother. He cut the same exact promo about the network to the point where I bet they literally have a script with only a few blanks written in where he replaces it with Susan G. Komen or the next pay-per-view, jack. Whatcha gonna do when laziness and repetitive promos run wild on you?

IMPROVEMENT IN A DIVISION

choose between: Legends, Main Event, Upper Midcard, Midcard, Tag Team, Divas, Jobber, Developmental

[MOST]: Upper Midcard
The destruction of the World Heavyweight Championship forced people to be demoted. As such, the upper midcard scene became filled with more superstars that are very talented instead of some midcarders that are just being placed in some higher profile spots than they're able to handle.

[LEAST]: Jobber
This may be a good thing, but WWE got rid of a lot of their jobbers this year. Now, we're pretty much down to only a handful like Heath Slater. This should correct itself in 2015, but hopefully not at the expense of anybody who deserves to be higher up on the card.

SHOCKING MOMENTS

[MOST]: Undertaker's streak ends
I had absolutely no reservations that Brock Lesnar would end up losing, so I was completely stunned when Undertaker was the one being pinned. I don't even think I need to elaborate on just how shocking this was.

[LEAST]: Damn near every single DQ finish on Raw
We've become so conditioned to expect matches to end with a disqualification from some sort of interference that it's no longer a shock when someone screws up a match. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'm surprised when a main event on Raw ends without someone trying to interfere. Knowing that someone will come out to mess up the match each and every week is one of the reasons why I very rarely pay attention to the main event anymore, which is a shame, as that should be the thing that I'm most excited about.

SMARK OUT MOMENTS

What was the overall coolest moment that made you happy as a fan and which was the lowest of the low that made you ashamed of WWE?

[BEST]: Daniel Bryan Occupy Raw 3/10/2014
Honorable mention for something stupid goes to Triple H making a Teddy Long match on the 9/5/2014 edition of SmackDown. But in all seriousness, the moment above all that I think made me get butterflies was the Occupy Raw segment on the 3/10/2014 edition of Raw. That really felt like something special that I wasn't expecting to see.

[WORST]: Batista wins Royal Rumble
WWE wanted this to be a big deal with the fans embracing it and really getting behind Batista going into WrestleMania, but it bombed terribly. That's not what the audience wanted and WWE's decision makers were just too stubborn to go against their own preferences. Thankfully, they came to their senses and were forced to back-peddle and do what everyone wanted to begin with, but it still is a shame that Batista gets a second Royal Rumble victory. He might have deserved the first one, but he certainly didn't deserve this year's win.

STORYLINE

[BEST]: The Oppression of The Authority
Whether it was The Yes Movement, The Shield, Team Cena or anything in between, The Authority was the mainstay best storyline of the year, bar none. Absolutely nothing comes close to touching it, in my opinion save for possibly Rusev's anti-American propaganda, but that's still a far, far distant second.

[WORST]: Alberto Del Rio vs Batista
You know that babyface that nobody is cheering for, because they don't want to see him main event WrestleMania? Do you also know that heel that nobody has really given a shit about for a long time but WWE refused to believe wasn't a big star? How about we just sort of have them feud with each other? It's not like we have to put any effort into a story like that if we know that it is going to suck no matter what. That's how you get home early on a work night. Now let's talk about rehashing that "Santino is infatuated with a Diva" storyline with this Emma chick. Also, we don't have to put any effort into Brock vs Taker, right? Cause I'm tired after trying to block out all of these 'yes' chants that I keep hearing.

TV SHOW OR WEB PROGRAM

choose between: 30 Second Fury, 5 Things, Afterburn, Backstage Fallout, Behind the Match, Best of Raw, Best of SmackDown, Beyond the Ring, Bottom Line, Experience, Free for All, Friday Night SmackDown, JBL & Cole Show, Legends House, Main Event, Monday Night Raw, NXT, Outside the Ring, Raw Backstage Pass, Raw Pre-Show, Rivalries, Slam City, SmackDown Backstage Pass, SmackDown Pre-Show, Superstars, The Monday Night War, This Week, Top 10, Total Divas, WrestleMania Rewind, WWE Cheap Pops, WWE Countdown, WWE in 5, WWE Inbox, WWE Insider, WWE Warehouse

[BEST]: NXT
Raw tends to drag, SmackDown and Main Event and Superstars are utterly pointless to watch, Total Divas has become far too scripted and stereotypical to be worth a damn and the majority of the other programming is made up of documentaries and recaps, so that's nothing special. NXT, on the other hand, is almost always a quality hour of television with some great matches and some interesting storylines and characters.

[WORST]: (tie) WWE Insider + Slam City
WWE Insider was a piss poor attempt at adding yet another no-budget show into the lineup and they sure as hell stumbled out of the gate by starting off with mundane stuff like Natalya talking about shoes. As far as Slam City goes....ugh. Just...ugh. You got rid of Cheap Pops and kept this garbage?

PAY-PER-VIEW OR SPECIAL EVENT

choose between: Battleground, Elimination Chamber, Extreme Rules, Hall of Fame, Hell in a Cell, Money in the Bank, Night of Champions, NXT Arrival, NXT Takeover, NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way, NXT Takeover: R Evolution, Payback, Royal Rumble, Slammy Awards, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, TLC, Tribute to the Troops, WrestleMania

[BEST]: (tie) WrestleMania XXX + NXT TakeOver: R Evolution
I enjoyed quite a bit from WrestleMania and even though some of the matches were just okay or 'meh' and I think WWE dropped the ball and made the Streak's conquest pointless over the past year, it's still easily the most memorable event of 2014. Then again, I was thoroughly impressed with R Evolution and I think it's justified as to why people made such a big deal about it afterward. Those guys deserve a lot of credit and I just can't ignore them in this category.

[WORST]: Night of Champions
Looking back, I don't seem to have much positive to say about this event.



NEWCOMER

choose between: Alexander Rusev, Emma, Lana, Paige, Bo Dallas, Adam Rose, The Bunny + new NXT roster arrivals

[BEST]: Kevin Owens
He's had one match and I'm already more impressed by him than people like Rusev.

[WORST]: Adam Rose
Fat lot of good this guy's done, right? He couldn't get over as a babyface and he can't get over as a heel. He's crap on the mic, not anything special in the ring, and he's on the fast track to being a total jobber and then being released in 2015.

DIVA

choose between: AJ Lee, Aksana, Alexa Bliss, Alicia Fox, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Brie Bella, Cameron, Carmella, Charlotte, Devin Taylor, Eden Rhodes, Emma, Eva Marie, JoJo Offerman, Kaitlyn, Kendall Skye, Lana, Layla El, Naomi, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Paige, Rosa Mendes, Sasha Banks, Summer Rae, Tamina Snuka, Veronica Lane, Vickie Guerrero

[BEST]: AJ Lee
AJ Lee is not only one of the most attractive women that stepped foot in WWE in 2014, but she's also the best all-around performer in the Divas division. She can cut a better promo and put on a better match than anybody in my opinion.

[WORST]: Rosa Mendes
All this time in the company and she still can't wrestle one bit. At least with some of the younger Divas that aren't great in the ring like Eva Marie, they're still learning, so that's an excuse. There's no excuse for Rosa. She's been on the main roster longer than a good portion of the women in the company and she is the worst wrestler of the bunch.

TAG TEAM

choose between: 3MB, The Ascension, Big Show & Mark Henry (Big & Strong), Damian Mizdow & The Miz, Evolution, Goldust & Cody Rhodes (Brotherhood), Goldust & Stardust, J & J Security, Jason Jordon & Tye Dillinger, Kalisto & El Local, The Legionnaires, Los Matadores, Lucha Dragons, The Mechanics, New Age Outlaws, The New Day, The Prime Time Players, The Real Americans, RybAxel, The Shield, Slater Gator, The Usos, The Vaudevillains, Wesley Blake & Buddy Murphy, The Wyatt Family, Xavier Woods & R-Truth

[BEST]: The Usos
As stated above in the Best Title Reign category, The Usos were the backbone of the entire tag team division for 2014 and I've enjoyed seeing them not only in their pay-per-view title defenses, but as regular performers on Monday Night Raw. They've stepped up their game considerably and I'm a big fan of them as a duo now, when I previously thought that they were just okay.

[WORST]: Xavier Woods & R-Truth
These two were useless. I like them, so it's a shame that I have to say that, but what did they accomplish? Their whole run together was odd. They feuded with Tons of Funk over their theme song, which resulted in both teams splitting up and nobody using the song except Naomi. Awesome. Glad to see that we wasted time on that and all we got out of it was Jason Albert on commentary and Brodus Clay in TNA. Woods and Truth are one of the few tag teams of this year to have really done nothing of value.

MANAGER OR VALET

choose between: El Torito, Funkadactyls, Hornswoggle, Lana, Layla, Paul Heyman, Summer Rae, Xavier Woods, Zeb Colter

[BEST]: Paul Heyman
Zeb Colter is great, Lana is assuredly going to get some votes, but for my money, Paul Heyman is the man to beat in this category. He's got so much weight on his shoulders to keep the Brock Lesnar money train going, considering how Lesnar never appears to hold up his end of the bargain.

[WORST]: Layla
At least El Torito and Hornswoggle tried new things. Layla was thrust into Summer Rae's role and didn't do anywhere near as good of a job at it. She looked so out of place and it was very awkward.

SUPPORTING/GUEST CHARACTER

choose between: Booker T, Brad Maddox, John Bradshaw Layfield, Stephanie McMahon, Teddy Long, Triple H, Vickie Guerrero, Vince McMahon, the little kid on the Toys R Us commercial (4/14/2014), Wyatt Family children singers (Raw 4/28/2014), Adam Rose's Exotic Express, Micro Cole & Jerry The King Smaller & JB Elf/ WeeBL, Dimitri Vodkaberger (Raw 6/2/2014), Megan Miller (Daniel Bryan's physical therapist from Raw 8/11/2014), Miz's makeup artist (Raw 9/1/2014), Bo Dallas Americans that Jack Swagger let down (Richie, Angelo, Jennifer, Raw 9/1/2014), Army soldier Rusev attacks (Raw 10/20/2014), Rusev's mute victory celebrate comrades (Raw 11/10/2014), Kane's concessions manager (Raw 11/24/2014), Anonymous Raw General Manager (Raw 11/24/2014) + any that I might be missing

[BEST]: Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie is 50% of the equation when thinking about why The Authority works so well. Triple H is the other half and the two piggyback off each other in the perfect way. Steph helped get countless angles over, whether it was against someone like Daniel Bryan or even Brie Bella.

[WORST]: Megan Miller
If I were to ignore celebrities like Florida Georgia Line and Hoda, I'd have to give this to the character of Daniel Bryan's physical therapist Megan Miller from the August 11th edition of Monday Night Raw. This concept of Bryan cheating on Brie Bella went over like a lead balloon and I'm very glad WWE didn't dwell on it much longer.

* Side Note: Since it's become somewhat of a tradition for me to berate a child in this category, I'd like to point out how there were two potential losers for this year—the kid in the K-Mart commercials and the Wyatt Family children singers. Stupid kids.

BROADCASTER

choose between: Alex Riley, Ashley Roberts, Byron Saxton, Carlos Cabrera, Jason Albert, JBL, Jerry Lawler, Jerry Soto, Josh Mathews, Kyle Edwards (Arda Ocal), Marcelo Rodriguez, Michael Cole, Renee Young, Ricardo Rodriguez, Rich Brennan, Scott Stanford, Tom Phillips, William Regal

[BEST]: John Bradshaw Layfield
JBL isn't perfect, but he's the most consistently entertaining person of the bunch. Most of the others are just too bland to stand out or they've got something that annoys me about them.

[WORST]: Jerry "The King" Lawler
I hate the idea that I'm giving this spot to The King instead of someone easily replaceable like Jason Albert or Rich Brennan or Byron Saxton, but Lawler has just been phoning it in beyond a tolerable level this year. He literally seems to do nothing but repeat what's been said earlier, but in his mind-numbingly fake "excited voice". Half the time when he does that, he isn't even repeating something that needs to be repeated. Jerry used to be amazing on the commentary team with Jim Ross but he's become as useless as the senile old man at a family's holiday dinner table that just makes a lot of noise but nobody should waste their time listening to, as none of it is going to be interesting to hear.

ANNOUNCER

choose between: Devin Taylor, Eden Rhodes, JoJo Offerman, Justin Roberts, Kendall Skye, Lilian Garcia, Tony Chimel

[BEST]: Justin Roberts
He was the best thing after The Fink and it sucks that he's gone.

[WORST]: (tie) Kendall Skye / Devin Taylor / Eden Rhodes / JoJo Offerman
I honestly can't really tell the difference between any of them. They're all really bland and tend to enunciate things the same way—in a bit more of a shriek than I personally like.

HEEL

choose between: Bad News Barrett, Bo Dallas, Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Cesaro, Curtis Axel, Damien Mizdow, Dean Ambrose, Erick Rowan, Fandango, Goldust, Heath Slater, Hornswoggle, Jack Swagger, Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry, The Miz, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ryback, Seth Rollins, Stardust, Titus O'Neil, Triple H, Tyson Kidd + released talent + NXT roster heels

[BEST]: Triple H
He sells The Authority. There's no doubt in your mind that he believes a lot of what he says and on top of that, he looks intimidating enough to pull off his threats. When he says he's going to destroy you, you believe that he'll make good on that promise, and when he's not trying to be the tough guy but more of the corrupt corporate asshole, well, he's got that down pat as well.

[WORST]: Curtis Axel
There have been plenty of subpar heels this year that were jobbers and such, but they all offered something to the table. Someone like Heath Slater is supposed to be laughed at. Curtis Axel just sucked and wasn't able to get the job done.

BABYFACE

choose between: Adam Rose, Big E, Big Show, The Bunny, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, Dean Ambrose, Diego, Dolph Ziggler, El Torito, Erick Rowan, Fernando, Goldust, Great Khali, Hornswoggle, Jack Swagger, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, John Cena, Justin Gabriel, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Rob Van Dam, Roman Reigns, Ryback, Seth Rollins, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Stardust, The Undertaker, Xavier Woods, Zack Ryder + released talent + NXT roster babyfaces

[BEST]: Daniel Bryan
Credit to Dean Ambrose for almost winning this award, but I can't go against Daniel Bryan. Despite not being there for a good amount of the year, he is still above and beyond the best babyface performer from 2014. The response from the crowd alone is an indicator of this. At the beginning of the year, he was a hotter ticket than anybody has been in WWE in a very, very long time. He shouldn't be punished and not given this distinction just because he hasn't been wrestling as often, especially when you consider how over he still is with the crowd when he does make his appearances.

[WORST]: Adam Rose
Don't get me wrong, Sheamus and Batista sucked as babyfaces...hard. But Adam Rose is an entirely different level of bad when it comes to being someone that the fans should cheer. His entire gimmick was based off the idea that he's a likable guy that people want to be around and party with, but in an entire arena filled with people, the only ones that seemed into him even marginally were the dead-eyed members of the Exotic Express. Rosita and Tessa Blanchard make hot Rosebuds, but nobody ever looked genuinely happy to be around Adam Rose. They all have this soulless and drained autopilot thing going on where they're smiling in such a fake way that it comes off even more depressing than if Rose had just came to the ring alone. Sure, his theme was catchy for a couple weeks, but that only gets you so far. Rose's value to the babyface concept is the equivalent of the type of person that claims that they are hilarious, but nobody laughs at anything they say.

SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR

choose between every superstar that was on the roster at some point in 2014, including those who have been released

[BEST]: Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins has been the most consistently top-notch performer this entire year. He was instrumental in the success of the angles that The Shield were a part of at the beginning of the year when he was a babyface, he had the best turn of the year against Reigns and Ambrose, followed it up with a Money in the Bank win (as well as a generally impressive pay-per-view record overall), and he had a potential feuds of the year with Dean Ambrose. Rollins is the workhorse that made The Authority a living, breathing entity. Without him, it would have floundered under Randy Orton and Kane. Everybody else on the roster that had amazing moments ended up absent for too long to justify having them in this category, such as Daniel Bryan, Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar. They went super boiling hot, then went away, but Rollins stayed sizzling comfortably for twelve straight months and you survive more on the constant smaller meals throughout the year than you do if you limit yourself to only the big feasts that are sparingly offered. I may or may not have been hungry when I wrote this analogy, but then again, we all know that 'hungry' is one of the Rollins attributes, so it works.

[WORST]: Adam Rose
As bad as Khali is....and he is really, really bad....he pretty much stayed off on the sidelines this year. That made him less offensive. But can you name anything positive that Adam Rose has done, for the most part? He hasn't had a single great match and his promo skills are in the toilet. He doesn't resonate with the crowd as a babyface or a heel. His theme song was catchy but got tiresome fast. And why don't I see Rosita as the bee anymore? WTF? She's hot!




"DID YOU KNOW?" JOKE OF THE YEAR

[MY CHOICES FOR BEST]:
Episode #113. Raw might go Old School once a year, but Undertaker holds the record for most times “going Old School” - every match.
Episode #115. Isaac Yankem was supposed to do this Did You Know, but he said he wanted to reschedule for another time. Source: If you want to introduce him, "It's gotta be Kane!"
Episode #121. Hulk Hogan's big announcement next week is that Mr. America was him all along.
Episode #122. Next week, Hulk Hogan will announce a special JTG Memorial match to feature all of the wrestlers with dead careers. Source: We're bringing it, bringing it. Whatcha gonna do, when Hulkamania…
Episode #127. WWE Legends House hasn’t aired yet and it’s already better than TNA’s Legends Title. However, that’s not much of a compliment
Episode #135. Smark Out Moment & Fanboys Anonymous had their own spring cleaning in April and do not wish any of them well in their future endeavors.
Episode #136. Mega Powers Radio celebrated its one-year anniversary and Miss Elizabeth has still yet to cause any friction.
Episode #138. Now that Seth Rollins has some money in the bank, maybe he can afford to not be homeless anymore.
Episode #139. The average Real American eats 137.9 pounds of Rusev each year.
Episode #145. Glacier would do the ALS ice bucket challenge for charity, but he's apparently too cool for that.
Episode #148. TNA has recently met with silent investors for a minority stake in the company. All investors have remained silent.
Episode #150. The lyrics of Brie Bella’s new theme are actually a recipe for a really ripping lentil soup.
Episode #152. This week's Did You Know was shipped via United Airlines so instead of being here on this video, it has been sent to Canada.
Episode #153. TNA has been competing in a Contract on a Pole match for a TV deal, but in true TNA fashion, they’ve reversed the match’s gimmick.

[MY CHOICES FOR WORST]:
Episode #117. CM Punk left WWE because his ice cream bars finally melted.
Episode #123. I'm actually Cranky Vince.
Episode #124. WrestleMania is next week. Sure doesn't feel like it, right? Source: Mike Paden
Episode #137. Weird Al Yankovic is the Phantom of the Opera, according to Jerry Lawler
Episode #140. "I'll be heading to #WWEBattleground to present the new IC-Champ with his title. My money's on @HeathSlaterOMRB. #BringBackTheCorre". - @WadeBarrett — See? He endorses Hearsay Heath Slater.
Episode #143. n/a (live episode)
Episode #144. Since it costs money to sing Happy Birthday on the air, WWE had to fire Alberto Del Rio just to celebrate Hulk Hogan.
Episode #149. Following Monday Night Raw’s example, next week’s Smack Talk episode will be main-evented by the Rest Hold commercial break.
Episode #156. I can cut a Luke Harper promo, too. *picture of eyes*

OUTRO OF THE YEAR

click here for a video smash-cut of all of the outros from 2014

[MY CHOICES FOR BEST]:
Episode #132. "Outro of Domination" (Nation of Domination) by Tony Mango
Episode #133. "I'm A Boliever" by Mike Paden
Episode #137. Vacant by Tony Mango
Episode #140. "Kung Fu Kenta" (Kung Fu Naki) by Mike Paden
Episode #145. "Next Big Outro" (Brock Lesnar) by Mike Paden
Episode #162. "O' Outro Tree" by Tony Mango

[MY CHOICES FOR WORST]:
Episode #123. n/a (live Road Trip to WrestleMania episode)
Episode #139. "Bo Yo Outro" (Bo Burnham) by Drew Crew
Episode #143. n/a (live Summer Block Party episode)
Episode #154. "Not Jeff's Theme" (Al & Moo's Theme from Doug) by Miguel Leon
Episode #157. n/a (live Fallout Fest episode)

SEGMENT OF THE YEAR

[MY CHOICES FOR BEST]: 
2013 Smarkies Awards
Call the Spot on the Card
IWC Outreach: Monthly Mailbag Q&A Inbox

[MY CHOICES FOR WORST]:
Outside Interference: What's on What Culture?

RECURRING JOKE OF THE YEAR

[MY CHOICES FOR BEST]: 
"I don't get high, I AM high!"
"Not-Jeff" is John's name.
"Want me to shine yo shoes, Mr. Mango?
Big Show's gun
Captain Lou Al Bono (Do you remember when Captain Lou Albano was on the Super Mario Bros show?)
Drew White's "Mr. Kotter / Mr. Carter" John Travolta voice
Ricky "The Steam" Boat
ROYGHT ROYGHT ROYGHT - Triple H's impression of Bad News Barrett
Rusev is a potato
Shaun Walker – "Ya'know what I'm sayin'?"
Song – Los Matadores "just got my dick sucked" theme
Tugger "The Tuboat" Boat / Tugger "The Tug" Boat-Boat

[MY CHOICES FOR WORST]:
Bobcore Holly

CO-HOST OF THE YEAR

* As ringmaster of this circus, I abstained from voting in this category