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 2003!
Wrestler Of The Year: Kenta Kobashi
In the 1990s Kenta Kobashi was one of the top two or three wrestlers in the world for the entire decade. He was one of the most consistent and popular in-ring performers the sport had ever seen and yet, he was often held just a notch below his longtime rival Mitsuharu Misawa. With Misawa often coming out on top in many of their five star wars, there was more on the line then just the world title when the two would meet on March 1, 2003. These two legends would wage an all out war culminating with Kobashi finally earning his place as the #1 wrestler in the world. He would hold on to that title for over 700 days and when the dust settled, his reign received loads of critical acclaim and stands alone as the best the promotion and arguably pro wrestling as a whole, has ever seen.
Runner Up: Kurt Angle
Woman Of The Year: Torrie Wilson
Torrie Wilson was the WWE's most popular non-wrestling attraction for the first half of the decade and for good reason. Of all the women in the company's history, none were more responsible for as many mouth watering memorable moments. Her rivalry with Dawn Marie waged for the better half of the year and resulted in many of the most infamous segments in the history of pro wrestling. She would also pose for Playboy and have one of the best selling covers of all time. A lot was made of the WWE's oversexualized product at the time, but Wilson made the best of things and turned a generation of boys to men all the while cementing her status as one of the greatest Divas of all time.
Runner Up: Trish Stratus
Tag Team Of The Year: KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji
Two of the best and most famous stars in NOAH's history KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji defeated the team of Jushin Liger & Takehiro Murahama to become the promotions first ever GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions on July 16, 2003. These two would have some of the most legendary matches ever as opponents, but a lot of their chemistry was immediately established in their inaugural run as a tandem. Their first reign would last just one month shy of two years and for the entire duration of that run, they would remain the best in-ring combination in the world.
Runner Up: The World's Greatest Tag Team
Match Of The Year:: WWE Royal Rumble: Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
It's on the short list of the absolute best matches in WWE history even though it has been unfortunately removed from the archives due to the events surrounding Chris Benoit a few years later. For me however, I can't forget just how absolutely magical this match was and to this day, I still find myself returning to it. In terms of technical brilliance and emotion, there are very few WWE Championship matches that can hold up as well as this one does. Both men in were the best performers in the company at the time and with Benoit's unmatched passion and desire to reach the mountaintop being the foundation for the story, these two legends would blow the roof off the Boston Garden and earn a standing ovation for their efforts. It's a must see match that stands alone as the best WWE Championship battle of the entire decade.
Runner Up:: NOAH Navigate For Evolution '03 Day 9: Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
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