The G9Z Wrestling Honor Roll: Class Of 2010

 

 

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 2010!

 

Wrestler Of The Year: Randy Orton

For the latter half of the last decade, Randy Orton was one of the top villains of his era.  He was an incredibly gifted performer with a mean streak a mile long.  Come 2010, he started to keep the "voices" in his head under control and he would begin to align himself with some of the top superstars in the WWE to fend off the intimidating Nexus threat.  He won over the WWE Universe in the process and became far and away, the most popular performer of the year.  Orton would also manage to capture the WWE Championship from Sheamus and enter his sixth run with the prestigious gold.

Runner Up: John Cena

Woman Of The Year: Madison Eagles

Madison Eagles' prolific SHIMMER Championship reign was possibly, the best the promotion has ever seen.  She is a skilled athlete with a varied repertoire and a surprising level of adaptability.  This unique combination of traits would help her through a remarkable 539 day championship reign that saw her defeat elite competition like Cheerleader Melissa, Serena Deeb, Ayumi Kurihara, Mercedes Martinez, MsChif, Hiroyo Matsumoto, Jessie McKay, Nicole Matthews & Ayako Hamada.  Not only was she the best female in the sport in 2010, but her run now deserves to be debated among some of the best ever.

Runner Up: Michelle McCool

 

 

Tag Team Of The Year: Kings Of Wrestling

As the premier athletes in the dominant Kings Of Wrestling stable, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli have turned in what was no doubt, the best tag team run of the current decade thus far.  They kicked the year off with a classic ROH World Tag Championship win over the infamous Briscoe Brothers.  The two teams would then engage in an intensely personal rivalry that propelled the KOW to even higher status among indie diehards.  Their second title reign would last just under a year and to date, it's still the longest in company history.  Not to mention their streak of incredible matches with other legendary duos like The Motor City Machine Guns, The All-Night Express, The American Wolves & Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team.

Runner Up: The Canadian NINJAS

 

Match Of The Year:: WWE Wrestlemania XXVI: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

In a epic rematch from their all-time classic war at Wrestlemania XXV, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker would reach the climax of their rivalry both with everything to lose.  The dream of ending The Undertaker's iconic streak was enough for HBK to put his career on the line and set in motion one of the biggest Wrestlemania main events of the modern era.  When paired with their five star battle from the year before, this match creates an unbelievable story.  A story that because of the combined Wrestlemania legacies of the performers involved, will never be duplicated.  One of the most important and unforgettable matches in either man's career for sure.

 

Runner Up:: ROH Supercard Of Honor: Kings Of Wrestling vs. The Motor City Machine Guns