A look back at 2005

Mr.Nice Guy

I figured seeing as it's the end of year, that it would be good to take a look back at wrestling over the past 12 months. So with that being the case...

Best wrestler of 2005 - Kurt Angle
Angle just edges out Michaels for the award in my opinion seeing as it was a year in which he was injury free and he didn't hold WWE gold at all yet he still managed to have a great year.

Best tag team of 2005 - MNM
How bad would WWE's tag team division be without these guys? They're perhaps the only credible tag team in the WWE right now and I think they have a great look (Melina especially!) and they can put on great tag team bouts.

Best match of 2005 - Angle/Michaels (WM21)
Angle had a brilliant match against Marty Jannetty prior to this match but this match just about edges that one out I feel.

Hottest Diva of 2005 - Maria
Maria is in my opinion the sexiest female on the roster right now!

Best feud of 2005 - Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels
I would give it to this feud over Michaels vs Hogan because this feud was able to last for longer than one PPV and any time these two get in the ring you feel like great things are going to happen. The Edge/Matt Hardy feud was probably the biggest disappointment.

Best show of 2005 - ECW One Night Stand
I thought this show was superb. The promos were great as were the matches, particularly Tanaka vs Awesome.

Best comeback of 2005 - Hulk Hogan
Just about edges out Matt's return since Hogan's was demanded by the fans and they got the dream tag team match with Michaels as well as a feud with Michaels which Hogan won.

Best newcomer of 2005 - Ken Kennedy
I'm not the biggest fan of Mr. Kennedy...Kennedy (sorry) but I can't think of anyone else who deserves the award. Certainly not The Boogeyman!

Most misused talent of 2005 - Christian/Shelton Benjamin
I can't decide between these two. Christian became a real hot property in 2005 thanks to his great partnership with Tomko. A great feud with Cena was being built up which the fans couldn't wait for and he got a monstrous pop at the Smackdown show in England - then WWE messed it up. They shoved Christian and Cena into a triple threat match, they moved Christian to Smackdown without Tomko, they had him lose to JBL in his first match and then they pushed him down to mid-card where he lost to people like Booker T thus killing his momentum entirely. No wonder he left for TNA.

As for Benjamin, he continued his long reign as IC champion, he had the best spot at WM21 when he ran up the ladder, he had a brilliant match against Y2J at Backlash which contained another great spot when he leapt on the turnbuckle and did a snap superplex, he then had perhaps Raw's best match of 2005 against Shawn Michaels - then WWE messed it up. He lost the belt to Carlito which was fine but he came out of the feud looking really poor, he then slipped into mid-card status before ending up on Heat where he lost to guys like Conway and Murdoch. He has also been saddled with a gimmick involving his 'mama'. He's been seriously wasted this year.

Best brand of 2005 - Raw
They can pretend all they want that Smackdown isn't the B show but the fans clearly think it is. Raw is still number 1 in terms of excitement as the return of Hogan, Austin and Foley proved.

Stupidest thing about wrestling in 2005 - WWE Creative
WWE Creative were a shambles this year. They rarely got things right and one only has to look at the talent they had who were either released or who left willingly to see that. Considering that ECW ONS, written by Paul Heyman, did better than most shows and seeing as OVW, written by Paul Heyman, has earned rave reviews, you'd think they would ask Heyman to get involved once more. Sadly, Steph's pride can't handle that.

My thoughts on 2005
2005 was the worst year in recent memory for me. Obviously the passing of Eddie Guerrero was a tragedy, but there were so many horrible things in the WWE this year that just boggle the mind. So many horrible angles including one which involved Eddie's low rider, Vince calling Cena his 'nigga', the Tim White angle, the trial of Bischoff, the whole Muhammad Hassan angle, the thing on Jillian's face, Dominic's father storyline, the Juniors division, the firing of Jim Ross, Bischoff's firing, The Boogeyman. And I've probably left alot of stuff out!

What a crap year. Where were the really big moments in 2005? Moments which delighted everybody? In 2002, we had the NWO return and later on Shawn Michaels return as well as Brock Lesnar dominate everybody, in 2003 we had Goldberg's debut which was big and we had some really great wrestling that year, in 2004 we had Benoit win the Rumble and Benoit and Eddie victorious at WM20 and even though 2004 got pretty bad near the end with JBL dominant and Triple H once again in the spotlight, 2005 blew 2004 away in terms of disappointment.

Why were things so bad?

What to look forward to in 2006
I really hope 2006 improves for wrestling. I hope TNA can really challenge WWE and give them a run for their money. I hope Bret Hart gets inducted into the Hall of Fame though it looks doubtful. I hope Hogan and Austin meet at WM22. I hope Triple H doesn't hog the spotlight too much in 2006 since I expect Cena to be taken care of by Triple Naitch at WM22. I hope ECW returns in 2006 and I hope Heyman is still with the company and I hope he gets the chance to write for WWE though I doubt that will happen. I hope The Rock returns in some way. I hope Angle gets a chance to hold the gold as I think he has earned that. Most of all I hope WWE is unpredictable in 2006 as things are just too dull right now and the only thing that is shocking in WWE at the minute is how badly they mess things up!

Anyway, Happy New Year to all of you on the wrestling forum and hopefully we'll be entertained in 2006. This has been a long post but since it's my 3000th post I wanted it to be decent.

Have a good 2006 peeps.:cool:

Lita Forever

Best wrestler of 2005: - Shawn Michaels
I know a lot has ben made of his amazing comeback but still, it is something special. I've already outlined Shawn's year in another thread so here I'll just say, HBK for champ in 06!

Best tag team of 2005: - MNM
Talk about a breath of fresh air. I'm not sure what other team I could have said was best in 05. LOD 2005? Heart Throbs? The Dicks? Hardly. It's a shame to imagine just how great MNM would be in a great tag division.

Best match of 2005 - Angle V HBK- Mania
I agree that Angles match with Jannetty was great but this just blew it away, that's how good it was. Superb action, it just doesn't get any better.

Hottest Diva of 2005 - Lita
No explanation needed.

Best feud of 2005 - Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels
This one had everything, great build up and great promos. I loved the idea of Angle attempting to replicate HBK's career. My favorite part was Sherri's return. That they had this great build up with barely any physicality makes it even greater.

Best show of 2005 - Wrestle Mania 21
As great as the ECW show was, nothing beats the magic of Mania. Sure the main events were sub par but the card was spectacular in other areas.

Best comeback of 2005 - Lita
Not a comeback in the traditional sense, but still, she went through a lot this year. She survived where other women would have crumbled. If she can take whats been thrown at her this past year and finish the year strong she can comeback from anything.

Best newcomer of 2005 - Melina
Not a newcomer to wrestling but new to WWE. Great character that breathed life into the tag and womens divisions. 2006 should be great for her.

Most misused talent of 2005 - Jillian Hall
Seriously, what is WWE at here? Sure she's been great in her current role, but this role could have been given to a diva who can't wrestle. I realise she's on Sd but she still could have been given more than one match. She has talent. This is a woman who can wrestle a 15 minute match and still perform a great 450 splash. As if to prove my point, in her one TV match she carried Stacy Keibler to a good wrestling match. I really am expecting more in 2006.

Best brand of 2005 - Raw
Simply for Lita and the women's division. Sd had it's good bits too still, even Raw on a bad night beats Sd on a good night.

Stupidest thing about wrestling in 2005
Boogey Man, Tim White angle, the tasteless Angle/ Sharmell angle, Trish returing as a super face without any explanation.

Those are all good examples but what was really dumb was the firing of Christy Hemme. They seem to realease a woman with potential each year, last years example being Gail Kim.

Thoughts on 2005:

In terms of the women's divison, not great. We had the whole Lita-Edge-Matt debacle, and Trish was out for half the year. Trish will have held the title a year soon which is crazy. She seems to be doing everything she can to justify the Trishhh name I've given her.

The year started out promising with the Lita finally showing her old form. It just went downhill from NYR really.

What to look forward to in 2006
Lita returning to the ring and an all around better women's division.

Happy new year all!

Vince135792003

You 2 but way too much effort into this!

Best wrestler: Chris Benoit. Completely overlooked this year but throughout the year he put on solid match after solid match with Edge, Booker T Regal etc.. When Benoit has a bad match its headline news. So just for consistency even when he was nt being used right I'd go for him.

Best Tag team: LOD 6000000. No just kidding MnM. Its all been ready said about how good they are.

Hottest diva: Trish Stratus. She was one hot heel.

Best Match: HBK v Kurt Angle WM 21.

Feud of the year: Big Dave v Hunter. It made alot of dollars and I like how they slowly did it.


Best show: ECW ppv. Loved it.


Best comeback: Hogans I guess. Mind you I don't want him to come back too often.

Best newcomer: Thats a tough one. Carlito, Ken Kennedy, Melina/MnM and yes even the Boogeyman (I know his routine will get old but some of his promos were just brilliantly weird)freshened the WWE up a little. I'll go with Carlito.

Most misused talent: Gene Snitsky. They misused him by giving him a job.

Best brand: Raw


Stupidest thing about wrestling: Getting rid of Jim Ross.

Thoughts on 2005:
It'll be remebered as the year a great wrestelr and an inspiration to many died. Eddie Guerrero RIP.

Hopes for 2006: TNA gets a prime time slot on Spike and put more pressure on the WWE. I think it would actually be a postive for the WWE creatively.

Hope everyone has a good 2006

Brow

Agree with a lot that was already said but as for some that didnt get mentioned...

Best Newcomer: Chris Masters should be in someway mentioned. It looked sketchey at first with the whole masterlock challenge but he slowly grew on me as he improved in the ring. I'd rank him above Boogeyman anyway. And although late onto the scene Kid Kash looks very promising.

J.R.HARTLEY

Most Boring overrated trotted-out and unwanted comeback:Hogan
by a mile over matt hardy, only the people who didn't want to watch a decent match wanted hogan back, first hbk carries him in the tag match then he has to job to the egocentric old geriatric, he's such a pain in the ass, his "comeback" was pretty much over after taker took the belt off him in 2002-ish

Best wrestler:Angle, his matches may have been ruined with all the bischoff/daivari angles but he's still the best wrestler.entertainment-wise HBK has got to be top of the list
Best tag team:MNM, Wanted so badly to say cade and murdoch, they actually looked good, but i think it's official raw is not for tag teams
Hottest diva:Trish
Best Match:Benjamin vs Michaels gold rush tournament
Feud of the year:Randy vs the Undertaker, good matches, and everytime you thouhg ttaker was gonna wrap it up randy turned the tables, admittedly some vignettes weren't great, the possesion and the blood on bob ortons face stuff.
Best show:Gotta agree with everyone on this ECW one night stand, also had some novelty value which doesn't hurt.
Best comeback:Jimmy Snuka for taboo tuesday, anything so as not to mention f'in wrinkly tits hogan.
Best newcomer:Kennedy, just wormed his way into everyone. Burchill is a close second, good in the ring.honorable mention Chris masters, the masterlock challenge wasn't his idea to be fair, and every match he's in he's performed well in, plus the bischoff hearing sketch showed he's willing to send himself up.
Best brand:Smackdown, way more action per show

Most misused talent:Chavo, that kerwin white gimmick was death, also controversially i'd say eddie guerrero; his matches were god and thats credit to him but the overlong bs paternity battle with mysterio when he should have been challenging for the belt was a waste
Stupidest thing about wrestling:Hiring Nickelodeon writers to script for shows they don't even watch.
Thoughts on 2005:very sad loss of latino heat, helped humaise some of the chatacters to the audience again, good year for a return to more wrestling on raw, as opposed to backstage stuff.
Hopes for 2006:More wrestling action, a decent champ on raw.
Favourite quote/interaction:the week after HHH turned on Flair,
Cena:You Want Some, Come Get Some
HHH(reffering to title): Don't Worry, When I Want It, I'll Take It

RebelRockChick

Best wrestler of 2005 - Kurt Angle
Closely followed by HBK. I don't think i need to explain, just watch the guy wrestle!

Best tag team of 2005 - MNM
Finally the WWE seemed to introduce a proper tag team! They have a good gimmick and since their debut in April have won the tag team title 3 times.

Best match of 2005 - Angle/Michaels (WM21)
Has to be the best match, these guys work so well together!

Hottest Diva of 2005 - Lita

Best feud of 2005 - Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels
As said about, these two work well together!

Best show of 2005 - ECW One Night Stand
Showed up every WWE PPV!

Best comeback of 2005 - Tatanka
Although he has only been seen once on his return, i'd rather his return than Hogan or Hardy! I thought it was great when he came out unexpected! now he has signed with WWE, has slimed down a bit and has been working houseshows. It will be great to see what happens with his in 2006.

Best newcomer of 2005 - Ken Kennedy
He seems to be a good character and is a good wrestler. Even though he is injured now he is supposed still be on t.v. as a feud with Tony Chimmel

Most misused talent of 2005 - Shelton Benjamin
So many to name, alot of cruiserweights and others were misused but i have to go with Benjamin. He was wasted so much, they could of done something with him after his feud with Carlito, but he just ended up back on Heat. Now we have his 'mama' coming to Raw :rolleyes: . I just hope that Charlie Haas is brought back and feuds with Benjamin, now that would be something worth watching!!

Best brand of 2005 - Raw
It has proved to be the best brand, but Smackdown put on a good show too!

Stupidest thing about wrestling in 2005 - WWE Creative
A love triangle, a sexual harassment case, a Diva with a 'face blemish'.....so many things to name!! Why would they get a writer from nickelodeon to write in the WWE!?

My thoughts on 2005
Much wasted talent, who were either unused or released. Although there were some good matches and feuds along with some bad storylines, one of WWE biggest mistakes was still having Cena as champ, i just hope he loses it in early 2006 and doesn't have the title til Mania, his whole gimmick has gotten so old!!

What to look forward to in 2006
Same old crazy storylines, hopefully better feuds, a stronger women's division, the return of Lita as a wrestler, a bit more focus on the cruiserweights on Smackdown (that's Smackdown, not Velocity!), the Drafts, new talent (Chris Cage, The Miz, Ken Doane, Shelly Martinez, Beth Pheonix, and so many more from OVW and DSW), return of some old talent (if the rumours are true): Jamal, Chuck Palumbo, Charlie Haas and Aaron Aguilera (Jesus).

Lump Basher

So, a look back at what happened in "WRESTLING" in 2005 consists solely of WWE? Yaaaawn @ the WWE fanboys. So naive. Some of the best matches of 2005 took place in NOAH, ROH and TNA. Wake up, or rename the topic title.

RebelRockChick

So, a look back at what happened in "WRESTLING" in 2005 consists solely of WWE? Yaaaawn @ the WWE fanboys. So naive.

Well, maybe if other promotions such as ROH, TNA were shown as regularly and as up to date then i'd comment on them, but guess what.....they weren't!

Lump Basher

RebelRockChick wrote:

Well, maybe if other promotions such as ROH, TNA were shown as regularly and as up to date then i'd comment on them, but guess what.....they weren't!

They're on twc every week (is weekly regular enough for you?) - and twc is not that hard to get. I watch tna every week, and it blows wwe away at the moment. I think twc will be showng it with only 1 week delay in a few weeks time. And you cant beat noah for consistent match quality.

RebelRockChick

Lump Basher wrote:

They're on twc every week (is weekly regular enough for you?) - and twc is not that hard to get. I watch tna every week, and it blows wwe away at the moment. I think twc will be showng it with only 1 week delay in a few weeks time. And you cant beat noah for consistent match quality.

I know they are showing TNA with a one week delay later this month, but we are talking about 2005 they were 5/6 weeks behind!! That is not as regular as watching WWE Raw Live on a Monday night!!

Lita Forever

Vince135792003 wrote:

You 2 but way too much effort into this!

Why, that's what perfection is Vince.

Lol /.k.

Lump Basher, everyone who has replied to this thread, bar yourself, has obviously felt more comfortable commenting on WWE. Maybe it's because they prefer it, or like Sarah said it is (or was) far more available than TNA or RoH.

If you don't like this, maybe you should make a reply commenting on TNA or RoH, you might get more people doing the same then.

Fozzy

Best wrestler of 2005 - Kurt Angle
Nothin much to say, he's just always doin everything right

Best tag team of 2005 - Dudley Boys/Team 3D
I thought they'd gotten kinda stale last time they were on WWE tv, but since they've been in TNA they've amazed me. I'd forgotten how good they can be, they've had some awesome matches recently

Best match of 2005 - Angle vs Michaels (WM)
Two of the best wrestlers around, excellent match

Best feud of 2005 - Batista and HHH
I thought it was done very well, being able to build up Batista like that was good work. Nice to see HHH on the losing side for once aswell

Best show of 2005 - ECW One Night Stand
It was great seein them back. Got the dvd, Bradshaw's commentary is brilliant!

Best comeback of 2005 - Vader!
He really entertained me when he showed up on Raw! Hopefully I'll be saying Sting this time next year!

Best newcomer of 2005 - Matt Striker
I've been a fan of his for a while now, he's brilliant on the mic, and he's had excellent matches on Heat the few times I caught him. Brilliant on WWE.com aswell

Most misused talent of 2005 - Matt Hardy
It's been proven he has one of the biggest fanbases around, and they've seriously misused the guy

Best brand of 2005 - Impact!
Got better this year anyway

Bit of a **** year for WWE, TNA's really improved over the summer. Samoa Joe, Christian, Rhino and some other guys are really making it the promotion to watch

Lump Basher

RebelRockChick wrote:

I know they are showing TNA with a one week delay later this month, but we are talking about 2005 they were 5/6 weeks behind!! That is not as regular as watching WWE Raw Live on a Monday night!!

RAW hasn't even been live on SKY for a full year yet - it was always on a 4-day delay. So did you just never watch it before it became live?

Still, you guys need to realise there's more to wrestling than WWE - much more.

Brow

I'll agree with the above although I'm limited in what I can see I always try and see TNA and the odd time ROH. Have only seen Noah the odd time. Not enough to comment on them in terms of this stuff though. Why dont you comment as its been put since you see them so much? For example, what was the best TNA ppv this year in your opinion?

Mr.Nice Guy

Brow wrote:

I'll agree with the above although I'm limited in what I can see I always try and see TNA and the odd time ROH. Have only seen Noah the odd time. Not enough to comment on them in terms of this stuff though. Why dont you comment as its been put since you see them so much? For example, what was the best TNA ppv this year in your opinion?

Lump Basher sounds like a troll to me. TNA fanboys need to wake up as far as I'm concerned. Their show isn't on the WWE's radar yet.

In a choice between watching a show dominated by Triple H hogging the spotlight or Jeff Jarrett, an overrated wrestler who never went beyond mid-card in WWE, I'd go with the former.

If TNA lose Samoa Joe to WWE then they're really f*cked.

Brow

But Joe could be ****ed if WWE creative team get their hands on him. Both shows have their pro's and cons though which has been debated many times. Im happy that theres some form of competition now for WWE. If TNA become strong enough then maybe theyll be forced to come up with some decent storylines.

RebelRockChick

Lump Basher wrote:

RAW hasn't even been live on SKY for a full year yet - it was always on a 4-day delay. So did you just never watch it before it became live?

Still, you guys need to realise there's more to wrestling than WWE - much more.

Actually it was a 3-day delay and yes, i did watch it before it was live!

I never said that i didn't watch other wrestling shows, i just gave my opinion on a show I felt more comfortable commenting on, as Lita Forever said!

Fozzy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Lump Basher sounds like a troll to me. TNA fanboys need to wake up as far as I'm concerned. Their show isn't on the WWE's radar yet.

Then why did Todd Grisham get so worked up at the mention of TNA on Byte This? Vince was supposedly raging when Spike aired TNA ads during Raw aswell

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

In a choice between watching a show dominated by Triple H hogging the spotlight or Jeff Jarrett, an overrated wrestler who never went beyond mid-card in WWE, I'd go with the former.

I could easily make similar comparisons that would make TNA sound better. I'm not a TNA "fanboy", I realise that WWE should be a lot better than they are now, but it's TNA that are putting on the consistently better shows

Mr.Nice Guy

Fozzy wrote:

Then why did Todd Grisham get so worked up at the mention of TNA on Byte This? Vince was supposedly raging when Spike aired TNA ads during Raw aswell

Grisham reacted very poorly but I'd say it was largely because the guy got in a cheap plug. As for Spike, the relationship with WWE was a mess by then so I don't think that proves TNA are competition.

Fozzy wrote:

I could easily make similar comparisons that would make TNA sound better.

Go ahead. Name me wrestlers from TNA that are better than Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels or Chris Benoit.

Fozzy wrote:

I'm not a TNA "fanboy", I realise that WWE should be a lot better than they are now, but it's TNA that are putting on the consistently better shows

I wouldn't take issue with the fact that TNA are performing better but that doesn't mean they are on WWE's radar. Their ratings for Spike are nothing special at this point. If WWE wanted to they could raid alot of TNA talent. They recently signed former TNA wrestler Sonny Siaki if I'm not mistaken.

I wish TNA well as I think it's obvious the industry needs competition but right now, TNA haven't provided it to be considered WWE's competitors.

On last weeks Raw, when Vince and Shawn were in the ring, Vince said WWE had no competition. This was the perfect time for a TNA chant but while I thought a few people had chanted it, it wasn't loud by any means.

Whether Sting can bring ratings to TNA remains to be seen.

Lita Forever

Fozzy wrote:

Then why did Todd Grisham get so worked up at the mention of TNA on Byte This?

Because Todd Grisham is a fool.

Fozzy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Go ahead

That's not the point I was making. You called Raw a show dominated by HHH hogging the spotlight and TNA with Jarrett, an overrated wrestler. Given that choice, most would choose Raw I'm sure. I was just saying that I could call Raw a show with a piss poor champion that half the fans don't give two ****s about, and call TNA a promotion with two of the best wrestlers around, Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels, feuding for a title

From my experience, recently TNA has had much better wrestling matches, and no storylines that would make you feel embarrassed to be a wrestling fan

My argument here isn't about TNA being big enough to provide competition for WWE, it's that they've produced some of the best quality viewing in recent months. Even Jarrett's had two excellent matches at their last two ppv's!

J.R.HARTLEY

Lump Basher wrote:

RAW hasn't even been live on SKY for a full year yet - it was always on a 4-day delay. So did you just never watch it before it became live?

Still, you guys need to realise there's more to wrestling than WWE - much more.

Lump basher, most people, i'd imagine, like myself were unaware that TNA was available over here, i certainly didn't name any of it as i haven't seen any .
do you know if the twc channel is available on NTL digital.

Fozzy

No, just on Sky Digital. Pity, really. I just have ntl. But there's always ways!

DoctorEdgeWild

You can get TWC for free by getting Sky for a year (cheapest package) then cancelling after the contract is up, you will be left with TWC forever andalot of the other free channels too.

Jimmy Bottlehead

I can tell you don't work for Sky!