The G9Z Wrestling Honor Roll: Class Of 2002

Welcome to another edition of the HONOR ROLL. Every year during my "Year End Awards" I give out roughly 15 awards. Of those awards, "the big four" are the Wrestler, Woman, Tag Team & Match of the year. The winners of these awards were generally the most awesome performers of the year and with hundreds of prominent wrestlers worldwide, it's a true honor to be able to snag one of the four. This section of the blog will be dedicated to the winners for every year dating all the way back to 1990 (roughly the time I first began watching wrestling)! Every week I will add another year's winners until the database is up to date. This is just a fun series that will give you an idea of what the best of the best was in any year you may have missed. Any current and/or future winners will also be added to the honor roll and join the most prestigious group in all of blogging!

This week, we're announcing the class of 2002!

 

Wrestler Of The Year: Kurt Angle

In 2002 there was no other professional wrestler better than Kurt Angle.  In and out of the ring, he really started to reach a level reserved for the absolute best of all time.  His consistency allowed him to out perform everyone in the company for the entire duration of the year.  For a large chunk of the year, he would turn in an impressive array of near five star matches with Edge, Rey Mysterio, Big Show & Eddie Guerrero.  In October, he would also make history becoming the first ever WWE Tag Team Championship tournament and along with partner Chris Benoit, he competed in a series of tag matches that stand as some of the best ever.  After establishing the tag belts, he would cap the year off by winning his third WWE Championship by defeating Big Show at Armageddon.

Runner Up: Brock Lesnar

Woman Of The Year: Trish Stratus

 

Trish Stratus had become one of the central figures of the divas division almost immediately thanks to her stunning looks and sex appeal.  As a result of this, she was often used in oversexed storylines with the likes of Vince McMahon and Triple H and no one ever really thought she would accomplish much more at the time.  They were wrong.  Trish had been honing her skills with the help of Dave Finlay and she would shock the world by winning her first Women's Championship in late 2001.  Heading into 2002, she was now positioned as the diamond of the women's division and she would capture two more women's titles come years end feuding with the likes of Jazz, Victoria, Molly Holly and her arch-rival Lita. 

  

Runner Up: Stacy Kiebler

 

 

 

Tag Team Of The Year: Los Guerreros

 

 

Eddie and Chavo Guerrero shared a strong brotherly bond that transferred magnificently into their ring work as a team.  It was no secret that they were two of the best wrestlers in the company at the time, but what surprised everyone was just how entertaining the duo could be.  With their "lie, cheat and steal" mantra, they would become one of the most over acts in the entire company and the true heart and soul of the WWE's tag team division at the time.  Their highly successful run saw them capture the WWE Tag Team Championship from Chris Benoit & Kurt Angle at Survivor Series in an excellent triple threat match that also involved Edge and Rey Mysterio.

 

Runner Up: Billy & Chuck

 

 

 

Match Of The Year:: WWE No Mercy: Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio

 

 

As noted earlier, this match was the finals of the inaugural WWE Tag Team Championship tournament on the Smackdown brand.  At the time, the blue brand had the most talented crop of in-ring competitors the WWE has had since the brand extension.  With Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Eddie & Chavo Guerrero all on one show and all in their prime, you were damn near guaranteed a classic match with each passing week.  Now take all of these competitors and form them into three sets of teams and you've got the most brilliant series of tag team matches the WWE has ever seen.  The angle of the match revolved around whether or not longtime rivals Angle & Benoit could co-exist as a tandem.  It was an advantage nearly every team looked to exploit in order to eliminate the formidable pair of technical wizards.  Come to find out, they meshed together as well as any other team I have ever seen.  The resulting finals match was one of the most brilliantly paced and sharply executed tag team matches of all time.  It's a hidden gem, that if you've yet to see, should jump right to the top of your "must watch" list.

 

Runner Up:: WWE Wrestlemania XVIII: Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock