Smark Out Moment

WWE has the Slammy Awards. But here at Smark Out Moment, we like to take an even closer look at what happened throughout the year. Not only do we award the best of many more categories, we also point out the worst that we've seen in the past 12 months of what World Wrestling Entertainment had to offer.

Welcome to the WWE half of the 16th annual Smark Out Moment Awards, aka The Smarkies!

Make sure you let us know in the comments what your choices are for the best and the worst of each award in all of these divisions (Technical Skill Awards, Writing Awards and Performer Awards)!

[TECHNICAL SKILLS AWARDS]

ENTRANCE

Explanation: This award should take into account everything including pyro, lighting, music, what the superstars do during their entrances, and so on. Your choices can be a singular entrance in particular (such as their upgraded WrestleMania one) or someone's standard entrance that happens every time he/she comes to the ring.

[BEST]: 

• Tiffany Stratton @ WrestleMania barbie doll boxes
• AJ Lee's return on SmackDown
• Penta
• Cody Rhodes
• Oba Femi
• Blake Monroe
• Joe Hendry
• Jazmyn Nyx
• Aleister Black and Zelina Vega (aka Karrion Kross and Scarlett, am I right?)

[WORST]: 

• Damn near everyone at WrestleMania didn't even have a special entrance or they were massively underwhelming, like Roman Reigns
• Jey Uso
• Judgment Day's themes
• Ilja Dragunov
• "I believe in Thea Hail"
• DarkState
• BJ Ray
• Jordan Oasis
• Katana Chance and Kayden Carter
• The typical generic babyface fired up with no audience reaction stuff from EVOLVE
• Josh Briggs with the smoking skull on his shoulder 

CLOTHING / ATTIRE

Explanation: Who has the best and worst outfits, whether it's just what they wear during their entrance or if it's their normal ring gear?

[BEST]: 

• Zelina Vega (Royal Rumble)
• Zelina Vega (WrestleMania SmackDown)
  
• Bianca Belair (WrestleMania)
  
• Rhea Ripley (WrestleMania)
• Lyra Valkyria (WrestleMania)
• Stephanie Vaquer (NXT May 13)
• Jade Cargill (Night of Champions - Storm outfit)
• Rhea Ripley (Raw - August 18 - red bra on top of a lacey black bra)
• Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill's outfits on the Halloween episode of SmackDown
• Tatum Paxley regularly
• Jade Cargill regularly

[WORST]: 

• Charlotte Flair yellow outfit from the Raw after Royal Rumble
• Nia Jax at WarGames
• BJ Ray
• PJ Vasa
• Drake Morreaux (looks like some failed late 80s early 90s gimmick; colors over quality)
• Hank and Tank

SIGNATURE MANEUVER

Explanation: What is your favorite and least favorite regularly seen wrestling move was that had been featured multiple times as something on a superstar's repertoire. Typically, these are finishers (such as the Attitude Adjustment) but it could also be a signature setup (such as the Five Knuckle Shuffle) or something along those lines.

[BEST]: 

• Stephanie Vaquer's The Devil's Kiss
• Bron Breakker's spear (Carlito one in particular)
• Mr. Iguana kicking La Yesca and catching it on his shoulder
• Sol Snatcher
• OG Cutter (Je'Von Evans)

[WORST]: 

• Someone does a playmaker in EVOLVE, I forget who (Carlee Bright?)
• Jey Uso's spear
• Bayley's rose plant
• Asuka's Empress Impact hip/butt attack
• Jaida Parker's Hipnotic
• Ijla Dragunov's H-Bomb 

SPOT / BOTCH

Explanation: What was the most entertaining spot and what was the biggest disaster of a botch that happened this year?

[BEST/COOLEST SPOT]: 

• Bron Breakker's super fast spear on Carlito
• Bron Breakker's spear on IShowSpeed
• Stephanie Vaquer & Rhea Ripley do a double Devil's Kiss to Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne at NXT Homecoming
• Damian Priest gives Finn Balor a Falcon Arrow through a table off some arena set stuff while brawling on the outside on Raw
• Damian Priest throws Kit Wilson through a wall
• Joaquin Wilde steps on the backs of Cruz Del Toro and Julius Creed to flip over the rope to the outside onto Brutus Creed
• Omos vs Microman at AAA Worlds Collide
• Kofi Kingston bounces off the ropes from a kick from Dragon Lee right into AJ Styles' arms for a Styles Clash on Raw 12/1

[WORST/BIGGEST BOTCH]: 

• Lyra Valkyria's wardrobe malfunction during Royal Rumble
• Zoey Stark's missile dropkick injury
• Penta gets injured during a hurricanrana on the outside
• Goldberg's retirement speech gets cut off during Saturday Night's Main Event
• Gunther never should have tapped out to Jey Uso
• The finish to Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax on SmackDown
• Brock Lesnar falls backward during entrance
• Blake Monroe loses NXT Women's North American Championship to Thea Hail by not kicking out in time

RECOGNITION

Explanation: Perception is everything, so which superstar deserved more credit this year than they received and which superstar was unworthy of all the praise he or she received?

[MOST UNDERRATED]: 

• Asuka
• Bryce Donovan 
• Carmelo Hayes
• Charlie Dempsey
• Damian Priest
• Ethan Page
• Fallon Henley 
• Grayson Waller
• Haze Jameson 
• JC Mateo
• Kairi Sane
• Lexis King
• Ludwig Kaiser
• Michin
• The Miz
• Nia Jax
• Thea Hail
• Wendy Choo

[MOST OVERRATED]: 

• Jey Uso (does that even count?)
• Kendal Grey (She's good, but slow down now)
• Lainey Reid
• Nikki Bella (by her stans)

IMPROVEMENT IN A SUPERSTAR

Explanation: Which superstar improved their work and saw the biggest upgrade and who saw the biggest downgrade in terms of a regression of their performance, spot on the roster, quality of value and so forth?

[BIGGEST UPGRADE]: 

• Dion Lennox
• Jacy Jayne 
• Jey Uso in terms of kayfabe, but not as a performer
• Kendal Grey
• Lash Legend 
• Maxxine Dupri
• Myles Borne 
• Naomi

[BIGGEST DOWNGRADE]: 

• Bianca Belair (loses her WrestleMania streak; injured the entire year)
• Brooks Jensen
• Cora Jade
• Damian Priest
• Jordynne Grace
• Wes Lee

RING WORK

Explanation: Which two superstars were the best and the worst when performing in the ring?

[BEST]: 

• AJ Styles
• Axiom and Nathan Frazer
• Chad Gable
• Cody Rhodes
• Ethan Page
• Je'Von Evans
• Montez Ford
• Sami Zayn

[WORST]: 

• BJ Ray
• Elektra Lopez
• Jey Uso
• Tatyanna Dumas 
• Tonga Loa 

MIC WORK

Explanation: Who had the best and worst promo skills, charisma, and performing as an entertaining character with all of the verbal aspects of WWE.

[BEST]: 

• Alexa Bliss
• Becky Lynch
• Chelsea Green
• CM Punk
• Dominik Mysterio
• Drew McIntyre
• Ethan Page
• The Miz

[WORST]: 

• Chris Island
• Cutler James
• Giulia
• Ilja Dragunov
• Iyo Sky
• Jey Uso
• Jimmy Uso
• Most of the talent from EVOLVE 
• Nikki Bella
• Niko Vance
• OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price)

MATCH OF THE YEAR

Explanation: Matches can be from any show, including Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Main Event, NXT Level Up, pay-per-views and special events.

[BEST]: 

• Royal Rumble matches
• Ladder Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Kevin Owens @ Royal Rumble
• Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn @ Elimination Chamber
• WWE Tag Team Championship TLC Match: #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) @ SmackDown April 25
• Women's World Championship: Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley @ WrestleMania 41
• Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Andrade vs. El Grande Americano vs. LA Knight vs. Penta vs. Seth Rollins vs. Solo Sikoa @ Money in the Bank
• Women's World Championship: Iyo Sky (c) vs. Rhea Ripley @ Evolution
• TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship: The Wyatt Sicks (c) (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) vs. Andrade & Rey Fénix vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) @ SummerSlam
• AJ Styles vs. John Cena @ Crown Jewel
• WWE Women's Tag Team Championship Match: Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria @ Raw October 27

[WORST]: 

• Various WWE LFG matches such as Dani Sekelsky & Sirena Linton vs. Leigh Laurel & Penina Tiulaepa
• Kendal Grey vs. Nikkita Lyons @ EVOLVE April 4
• WWE Women's United States Championship Match: Zelina Vega (c) vs. Chelsea Green @ Saturday Night's Main Event 39

[WRITING AWARDS]

CATCH PHRASE or SLOGAN

Explanation: This includes any kind of regularly mentioned slogan, taunt, catch phrase, signature sign-off or any verbal sayings of those sorts.

[BEST]: 

• "All gas, no brakes / dog walk / yadada mean" - Jacob Fatu
• "No bread, no water, just meat" - Booker T
• Booker T's reactions to Stephanie Vaquer's Devil's Kiss
• "Nice guys used to finish last, and then I showed up." - Cody Rhodes on the Halloween episode of SmackDown
• "And that is official" - Adam Pearce
• "Yeah!" - LA Knight
• Say his name and he appears. I believe in Joe Hendry *clap clap*
• Iyo Sky's point head shake thing
• "Your boy is bouncy!" - Je'Von Evans 

[WORST]: 

• "Alabam-bam-bam-bam-bama" - Brooks Jensen
• "Four letters, one word, uh uh, Yeet" - Jey Uso
• Jey Uso runs his theme back
• "I believe in Thea Hail"
• "When DarkState strikes, ain't nobody safe!"

GIMMICK

Explanation: Which superstars portrayed the best and the worst characters this year?

[BEST]: 

• Chelsea Green
• Dominik Mysterio 
• It's Gal
• Mr. Iguana
• The Ruler of NXT Oba Femi
• Tatum Paxley keeps losing her friends and can't take it anymore 
• The Vanity Project / Swipe Right and Heartbreak Drake
• Wendy Choo 

[WORST]: 

• WTF was The Rock doing this year?
• Bayley's split personalities
• "The Unpredictable Badass" Bron Breakker
• Charlie Dempsey just sucks at everything and serves no real purpose despite being talented 
• Chris Island
• Cutler James innuendo
• Grayson Waller is paired with The New Day for some reason as "Big G" 
• Iyo Sky struggling over The Kabuki Warriors and Rhea Ripley
• Rusev
• "Super" Sean Legacy comes off as an obnoxiously optimistic and self-defeating roundabout jerk
• Tate Wilder
• Tatyanna Dumas
• Thea Hail is paired with Joe Hendry
• Generic people from EVOLVE like Marcus Mathers, Mike Cunningham, all the "second chance" stuff like Javier Bernal that went nowhere

HEEL or FACE TURN

Explanation: The Best/Worst Heel or Face Turn award asks which character turn (whether it was from heel to face or face to heel doesn't matter) was the most effective and interesting and which one was stupid and a mistake.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: all heel and face turns are on this list

[BEST]: 

• John Cena @ Elimination Chamber (but the run after wasn't great)
• Naomi
• Charlotte Flair turns face to team with Alexa Bliss 

[WORST]: 

• Charlotte Flair / Tiffany Stratton situation
• The Rock / John Cena
• Tony D'Angelo attacks Je'Von Evans just to attack Ethan Page a few days later
• Kelani Jordan flip-flopped a lot this year with WWE not sure what they wanted to do with her

TITLE REIGN

Explanation: Who had the most meaningful time with a championship to their name, where the matches were good, the feuds were interesting, and you were enjoying their reign, as well as who failed to meet those expectations and perhaps had a boring, uneventful, bad run with a belt.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: all of the title reigns on this list

[BEST]: 

• Dominik Mysterio (Intercontinental)
• Oba Femi (NXT)

[WORST]: 

• Rhea Ripley's Women's World Championship run (January 6th - March 3rd)
• the NXT Heritage Cup was just tossed aside multiple times this year - Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo just doesn't care about it???
• WWE proved they don't like the Women's United States Championship no matter who is holding it
• Tatum Paxley, technically
• Tiffany Stratton couldn't fight anyone but Nia Jax and Jade Cargill all year

PAY-PER-VIEW or SPECIAL EVENT

Explanation: What were your favorite and least favorite pay-per-views or special events from the year?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All pay-per-views and special events are indicated on this list

[BEST]: 

• Royal Rumble
• Night 1 of WrestleMania?
• Crown Jewel

[WORST]: 

• WWE Vengeance Day - weird choices for the winners, RETRIBUTION-style lame debut for the masked faction, so much downtime focused on LFG commercials or pointless filler content
• There are admittedly probably so many more picks, particularly when you count TV specials like Saturday Night's Main Event, but I honestly don't remember. There is just too much wrestling every year. 

STORYLINE

Explanation: What were the most interesting, well-executed storylines of the year and which feuds were the least interesting, terrible ones to watch?

[BEST]: 

• I guess everything revolving around Dominik Mysterio and the King of the Luchadors stuff and his feud with AJ Styles
• Most of the CM Punk stuff at the beginning of the year, but not the LA Knight and Jey Uso feud elements
• R-Truth
• Most storytelling was awful
• Naomi's heel turn and Jade Cargill
• Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair aren't friends
• Tatum Paxley's friendships 

[WORST]: 

• The Rock's appearance on NXT 
• Brock Lesnar attacks John Cena just because and it's never followed up on in any way
• Travis Scott's involvement with John Cena and everything with The Rock trying to get Cody Rhodes to sell his soul after turning pure babyface on Jan 7th and then disappearing
• John Cena's heel turn in general
• Tiffany Stratton can only feud with Nia Jax and Jade Cargill
• Whatever was going on with Karrion Kross
• Anyone who came in from LFG to EVOLVE and got fired soon after 

MOST SHOCKING MOMENT

Explanation: What was the absolute biggest surprise you had this entire year that you didn't see coming?

[MOST SHOCKING MOMENT]: 

• 1/3 - Tiffany Stratton cashes in MITB on Nia Jax on SmackDown's 3 hour premiere
• 2/1 - Alexa Bliss returns at Royal Rumble
• 2/1 - Trish Stratus returns at Royal Rumble
• 2/1 - Nia Jax eliminates 5 people at the same time in one shot for a new record
  
• 2/1 - Roxanne Perez sets new Iron Woman record and is runner-up at Royal Rumble
• 2/1 - Akira Tozawa taken out by Carmelo Hayes and replaced by IShowSpeed at Royal Rumble
• 2/1 - Jey Uso wins Royal Rumble
• 2/11 - Ricky Starks/Saints shows up in NXT less than 24 hours after being removed from AEW roster page
• 3/1 - John Cena turns heel at Elimination Chamber
• 3/3 - Iyo Sky beats Rhea Ripley for the Women's World Championship on Raw
• 4/19 - WWE acquires AAA
• 4/20 - Joe Hendry is Randy Orton's surprise opponent for WrestleMania Sunday
• 5/6 - Myles Borne wins 25-man battle royal to earn title shot against Oba Femi for Battleground
• 6/7 - R-Truth returns at Money in the Bank to attack John Cena after having been released 
• 10/13 - Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman turn on Seth Rollins after Crown Jewel
• 10/25 - both Blake Monroe and Tatum Paxley win NXT Women's North American and NXT Women's Championship titles at Halloween Havoc
• 12/16 - Thea Hail wins the NXT Women's North American Championship from Blake Monroe in a botch on NXT 

SMARK OUT MOMENTS

Explanation: What did you consider to be the overall best and worst things to have happened this year? What was the coolest thing to make you happy as a fan and which moment was so horrible that it made you the most disappointed with WWE?

[BEST]: 

• Ricky Saints NXT debut
  
• John Cena turns heel at Elimination Chamber
• Joe Hendry at WrestleMania
• R-Truth returns at Money in the Bank
• Omos vs. Microman at AAA Triplemania 33
• AJ Lee returns on SmackDown in Chicago
• I lol'd at Damian Priest responding to Kit Wilson talking about toxic masculinity on SmackDown by throwing him through a fucking wall (Sept 19th episode); so over the top

[WORST]: 

• The Rock puts over Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns on January 7th and completely negates his character and storyline, then makes no appearance at WrestleMania when his preferred heel turn of Rhodes plans change
• The Rock's appearance on NXT 
• The standup Tony Hinchcliffe gross stuff 
• Goldberg's retirement speech cut short at Saturday Night's Main Event
• WrestleMania switches from New Orleans to Las Vegas and confirmed for Saudi Arabia
• Brock Lesnar is back
• Anything and everything related to WWE being MAGA

[PERFORMER AWARDS]

MANAGER or VALET

Explanation: This includes anybody who regularly accompanies someone down to the ring in some capacity, but is not their tag team partner in the ring.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All managers and valets on the roster are indicated on this list

[BEST]: Paul Heyman

[WORST]: 

• Scarlett
• The Rock 

AUTHORITY FIGURES

Explanation: This includes the general managers and on-screen characters who make matches and control the roster.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: X

[BEST]: 

• Adam Pearce
• Nick Aldis

[WORST]: 

• AAA's Marisela Peña
• Carlos Silva
• Stevie Turner
• Triple H

COMMENTATOR

Explanation: This includes all members of the commentary teams on all brands, including the foreign commentators.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: X

[BEST]: Michael Cole

[WORST]: 

• Jesse Ventura
• Konnan

ROSTER NEWCOMER

Explanation: The Best/Worst Newcomer award applies to anybody who either made their debut somewhere on the main roster or NXT, or were repackaged into a completely different gimmick with a different name.

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All newcomers to the roster are indicated amongst the superstars on this list

[BEST]: 

• Joe Hendry
• Penta
• Ricky Saints 
• Zayda Steel

[WORST]: 

• Aaron Roberts, Freedom Ramsey
• Chris Island
• Drako Knox 
• Jamar Hampton
• Jordan Oasis
• Jordynne Grace (her booking, not her herself)
• Tatyanna Dumas 
• Zara Zakher

MAIN ROSTER CALL-UP

Explanation: Which of the superstars who moved up from NXT or developmental to the main roster have done the best and the worst with their promotion?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All call-ups to the main roster are indicated amongst the superstars on this list

[BEST]: 

• Roxanne Perez
• Stephanie Vaquer

[WORST]: Giulia

TAG TEAM or STABLE

Explanation: Which tag team or stable did you like and hate the most?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All tag teams can be found on this list

[BEST]: 

• Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair
• The Judgment Day 
• The Vanity Project
• The Vision

[WORST]: 

• A-Town Down Under
• Final Testament
• Katana Chance and Kayden Carter
• Meta-Four
• Pure Fusion Collective

HEEL

Explanation: Who was the most hated villain and which superstar failed the most to get the crowd to boo them?

[BEST]: 

• Asuka
• Becky Lynch
• Bron Breakker
• Chelsea Green 
• Dominik Mysterio
• Drew McIntyre
• Ethan Page
• It's Gal
• Jacy Jayne
• Naomi
• Paul Heyman 
• Seth Rollins
• Trick Williams
• The Vanity Project 

[WORST]: 

• Ivy Nile
• John Cena
• Josh Briggs
• Karrion Kross and Scarlett (and the whole Final Testament technically) 
• Niko Vance 
• Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne
• The Rock 

BABYFACE

Explanation: Who was the best fan-favorite hero and which superstar wasn't able to pull off being a babyface?

[BEST]: 

• Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis
• CM Punk
• Cody Rhodes 
• Iyo Sky
• Jacob Fatu
• Je'Von Evans
• Joe Hendry
• LA Knight
• Penta
• Rhea Ripley
• Tatum Paxley 

[WORST]: 

• Andrade 
• B-Fab and Michin
• Chase U's Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors
• Dante Chen 
• Hank Walker and Tank Ledger 
• Jordan Oasis
• Katana Chance and Kayden Carter
• Natalya
• Nikki Bella

FEMALE SUPERSTAR

Explanation: Which female wrestlers were the cream of the crop and the bottom of the barrel?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All superstars who were in WWE this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: 

• Iyo Sky
• Jacy Jayne 
• Stephanie Vaquer

[WORST]: 

• Blair Davenport, Elektra Lopez, Valhalla and the releases?
• Giulia (disappointing) 
• Jordynne Grace (booking, not the performer)
• Nikki Bella
• Tatyanna Dumas 

MALE SUPERSTAR

Explanation: Which male wrestlers were the cream of the crop and the bottom of the barrel?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All superstars who were in WWE this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: 

• Bron Breakker
• CM Punk
• Cody Rhodes
• Dominik Mysterio
• Ethan Page 
• Je'Von Evans
• Oba Femi

[WORST]: 

• BJ Ray
• Chris Island
• The releases like Drako Knox? Lance Anoa'i?
• The Rock

OVERALL SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR

Explanation: Judging as a co-ed award out of both the men and women wrestlers who were in the company at some point, who was the absolute best and worst in the company this year?

POSSIBLE OPTIONS: All superstars who were in WWE this year can be found on this list

[BEST]: 

• Bron Breakker
• CM Punk
• Cody Rhodes
• Dominik Mysterio
• Ethan Page 
• Je'Von Evans
• Oba Femi

[WORST]: 

• The Rock

LET US KNOW YOUR PICKS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!