WWE 2018 Slammy Awards
It’s that time of year again; the time we sit around with friends and family to debate the best of the year, and WWE is no different. 2018 was a great year for World Wrestling Entertainment. RAW celebrated its 25th anniversary. Women continued to make history, including Ronda Rousey making her debut at Royal Ruble, the first ever women’s royal rumble, elimination chamber, last women standing match, and all women’s pay per view Evolution. We saw the return of some old faces such as Rey Mysterio, and we saw some new faces make their main roster debuts after Wrestlemania, including Ember Moon, No Way Jose, and SAnity. Roman Reigns climbed the top of the mountain at Summerslam, only to break our hearts with his announcement of him having to leave WWE to battle leukemia. Daniel Bryan returned to competition at Wrestlemania 34 to a rousing ovation of YES chants after being retired for two and a half years, only for him to turn on the WWE Universe seven months later. The McMahons took back control of both RAW and Smackdown Live, and we even got to witness 10-year-old Nicholas capture the RAW Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania with the help of Braun Strowman. With all that happened in WWE in 2018, it is time to break down the best of the best this year.
Male Superstar of the Year: Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins’ entrance music five seconds in says, “Burn it down”, and that is exactly what Rollins did every Monday night in 2018. Rollins lived up to his “Monday Night Rollins” nickname that he proclaimed at the start of the year by lasting approximately 90 minutes in a gauntlet match on the February 19th episode of RAW, defeating both Roman Reigns and John Cena in two amazing contests before being eliminated by Elias. That match set the tone for Rollins in 2018. The “King Slayer” went on to win the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania in an incredible opening match with Finn Baylor and The Miz. In April, Rollins would defend the title all over the globe, including retaining the championship in a fatal four way ladder match at Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia against Finn Baylor, The Miz, and Samoa Joe. Over the summer, Rollins had the rivalry of the year with Dolph Ziggler, the two superstars battling over the Intercontinental Championship in classic matches, including the infamous 30 minute iron-man match at Extreme Rules, the first time the Intercontinental Championship main evented a pay per view in 17 years. In the fall, Rollins would reunite the Shield alongside Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to battle the Dogs of War(Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, and Braun Strowman). Their six man tag match at WWE Super Show-Down arguably was the best match of the night. Rollins also won the WWE RAW Tag Team Championship with Dean Ambrose on the same night Roman Reigns announced his leukemia, only for Ambrose to turn on Rollins right after, Rollins has been in a rivalry with Ambrose ever since, and it has not lived up to par, according to wrestlinginc.com, but regardless, Rollins was the work course for WWE in 2018, and deserves to be named Male Superstar of the Year. 2019 should be an amazing year for “The Architect.”
Female Superstar/Newcomer of the Year: Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble, the former UFC Champion appearing after Auska won the first ever women’s royal rumble. Rousey received a rousing round of applause from the Philadelphia crowd as she stepped into the ring with Auska, the Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, and the RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, pointing at the Wrestlemania sign to close the show. Rousey would make her wrestling debut at Wrestlemania, teaming with hall of famer Kurt Angle to face off with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag match. Rousey shined in the match, looking like a 10 year veteran in the squared circle. She went toe to toe with both Triple H and Stephanie, making Mrs. McMahon tap out with her signature arm bar for the win. The match was one of the best of the night on the grandest stage of them all. Rousey would only get better throughout this year, eventually winning the RAW Women’s Championship from Alexa Bliss at Summerslam in dominating fashion. Rousey has been in the ring with almost every women on the RAW roster, and she looks like the best wrestler out of all of them. She simply has not had a bad match, and her future looks bright in professional wrestling.
Breakout Star of the Year: Drew McIntyre
This award goes to a superstar who’s impact was overwhelmingly obvious in 2018, and this was an easy one to give out. “The Scottish Terminator” returned to RAW on April 16th as part of the superstar shakeup to form an alliance with Dolph Ziggler. McIntyre did great work in 2017 during his time in NXT, but he has became a mega heel on RAW. His work with Ziggler allowed him to slowly reach his potential he had in WWE when he originally made his debut in 2009. McIntyre was eventually released in 2012 because he lost his edge. However, that release might have been the best thing to happen to McIntyre because now that he is back, he is a stable of RAW. His size, look, ruthless aggression, and wrestling skills make him an ideal top heel to build around. Now that he has broke away from Ziggler, McIntyre could be posed on a gigantic 2019, including possibility winning the Universal Championship from Braun Strowman at Wrestlemania.
Tag Team(s) of the Year: New Day/Usos
It was hard to give this award to one team. The RAW tag team division was abysmal in 2018, mixing and matching different teams together, so I had to look to Smackdown Live, and there was not a clear cut winner either. I decided on both The New Day and the Usos because they pretty much competed in every Smackdown Live Tag Team Title match in 2018. Along with battling each other, both teams had epic encounters with the Bludgeon Brothers and The Bar. The Usos and The New Day clearly carried the tag division in 2018, so they can each split the award!
OMG Moment of the Year: Braun Strowman Throws Kevin Owens off a 20-foot Ladder at Money in the Bank.
The GIF image below says it all. This moment at Money in the Bank would set up a hilarious feud between Owens and Strowman which would include Strowman throwing Owens off a steel cage at Extreme Rules, flipping his car over, locking him in a porta potty and knocking him off the stage, and absolutely destroying him in a match at Summerslam to finish the feud. What a moment!
Pay-Per-View of the Year: Money in the Bank
Staying with the Money in the Bank theme, this annual June Pay-Per-View(PPV) was the best of 2018. Unlike Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and Survivor Series, also known as the “big four” PPV’s, Money in the Bank did not drag on, and it did not have a bad match which is why I put it at the top of the list for PPV’s of 2018. Both Money in the Bank matches were incredible. Seth Rollins and Elias had a match that could be considered match of the year for the Intercontinental Championship. Roman Reigns and Jinder Mahal had a surprising entertaining match even though the crowd was not for it. A.J. Styles and Shinsake Nakamura finished off their feud for the WWE Championship with A.J. Styles defeating Nakamura in a last man standing match, the best match of their feud by far. On top of all that, Ronda Rousey in her second ever WWE match, had a great bout with Nia Jax for the RAW Women’s Championship which ended when Alexa Bliss shocked the world by interfering in the match, taking out both Rousey and Jax, allowing her to cash in her Money in the Bank briefcase on Jax just 90 minutes after she won it, winning the RAW Women’s Championship for the third time. This PPV had everything you would want in a PPV; quality matches; good flow; unpredictability; shock; and entertainment. It was worth the 9.99 price of the WWE Network.
Match of the Year: Gauntlet Match(RAW. February 19th, 2018).
This year was a strange year in WWE where a match does not stand out to me as a definite match of the year. In my opinion, there were a boatload of great matches, but there was not a match that put you on the edge of your seat from start to finish that made you go WOW afterwards. I talked about this match earlier when I talked about Seth Rollins. The one thing that stood out to me about this match was it went the full first two hours of RAW! That has never happened before in WWE history. Not just Rollins, but everybody in the match preformed great. Of course, the winner of the match, Elias, got to enter the elimination chamber the following Sunday last. You can watch highlights of the match above.
Return of the Year: Daniel Bryan
Going into 2018, Daniel Bryan was in the rumor mill almost every single day. With him getting more involved in the storyline between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs Smackdown commissioner Shane McMahon as the general manager of Smackdown Live, rumors were flying about Bryan’s future, considering Bryan’s contract was up at the end of September, and Bryan had previously stated that he would wrestle elsewhere in 2018 if he was not cleared by WWE’s doctors. In March, the WWE Universe was starting to get their hopes up that the rumor was true about Bryan being cleared to wrestle. After all, Bryan had retired from wrestling in 2016 and because of his history of neck issues and concussions, there was just no way he would return to the squared circle right? Wrong. On March 20th, WWE cleared the YES man for competition, and Bryan was placed in a tag team match with Shane McMahon vs Owens and Zayn at Wrestlemania, and if Bryan and McMahon won, Owens and Zayn would be removed from Smackdown Live. Bryan came out to a sea of YES chants in New Orleans, the same place where “The Miracle on Bourbon Street” occurred four years ago when he defeated all three members of Evolution(Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista)in two matches with an injured shoulder to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan made Zayn tap with the YES lock, and 75,000 fans jumped out of their seats, chanting YES! YES! YES! Bryan would go on this year to have a feud with Big Cass, re-unite with Kane to re-create Team Hell No for a month, have a rivarly with the Miz, and turn his back on the WWE Universe on the November 13th episode of Smackdown Live when he delivered a low blow to A.J. Styles when the referee was down, allowing him to win the WWE Championship for the fifth time, transforming himself into the NEW Daniel Bryan, a man who does not care what the people think, and a man who is obsessed with making sure the WWE Universe helps keep the earth clean by collecting rain water and recycling. Even though many fans now boo the WWE Champion, his comeback story is a miracle in itself, and the fact he is able to wrestle again brings a tear in many fans eyes.
Double-Cross of the Year: Dean Ambrose Turns on Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan turning his back on the WWE Universe was a huge shock this year, but nobody saw this coming. Leading up to the October 22nd episode of RAW, WWE was teasing a Dean Ambrose heel turn on the Shield, but nobody expected it to be on that night. The turn came approximately three hours after the third member of the team, Roman Reigns, came out to the ring in street clothes and announced he was stepping away from WWE to battle leukemia, a disease that Reigns has had to battle with for eleven years. After all three members of the Shield shared a real, emotional moment on the stage, Rollins and Ambrose would win the RAW Tag Team Championship from the Authors of Pain in the main event. Right after the match, Rollins and Ambrose hugged in the ring, until Ambrose kicked Rollins in the stomach and planted him with his Dirty Deeds finisher in the center of the ring, turning a ruckus crowd into silence in an instance. Ambrose would continue to beat down Rollins to close the show, ending his assault with a Dirty Deeds on the floor. The turn was controversial to many fans, considering the real life situation WWE was dealing with when it came to Roman Reigns, fans knowing that little children watch RAW just like adults do, and that they may be confused by the whole situation. The turn for Ambrose has been beneficial to his character as he just won the Intercontinental Championship from Seth Rollins at TLC, and Ambrose looks poised for a big 2019. While the turn has helped Ambrose’s career, because of the timing of the turn, there’s no question this is the double-cross of 2018 in WWE.
So those are my WWE Slammy Awards for 2018. Let me know in the comment section who are your winners for these awards.
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