By Mark Rodriguez
I honestly must have missed when they did this last year as is this the SECOND Annual AEW Awards. I'm also confused when this took place seeing as we had an episode of Dynamite today. Did the people that went get to see this alongside Dark Elevation matches? Anyways, let's talk a walk down memory lane and see who won each event.
Biggest Surprise- Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson
It was a such a random double-surprise. First Adam Cole makes a big appearance at the All Out 2021 PPV and acts like he's going to attack the Young Bucks, but then they all hug and show the crowd that they're gonna be a team. Then they start bragging that nobody can beat them now, and in come Bryan Danielson.
At first I was surprised that CM Punk coming to AEW wasn't even one of the nominees, but then I remember everybody and their mother knew he was coming back and when. In fact that one episode in Chicago had such a huge expectation for CM Punk making his debut, they would have torn the house down if he HADN'T made his debut. So yeah, I would say the double-debut of both Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson caught everyone off guard. Some might have been expecting one or the other, but not both, and at the same Pay Per View.
Best Moments on the Mic- CM Punk Returns
Ah yes, here we go. What can I say? The man left wrestling for seven years and swore to never ever return. Little did we know at the time, he meant he'd never return to the WWE. Now that there's a new guy in town. CM Punk made his epic return to wrestling at AEW, 'cause he'll never get better if he doesn't leave the place that was making him sick'. His comeback promo, needless to say, rocked the house. I swear, people were crying in the crowds. Wrestling got real.
Best WTF Moment- NYE Street Fight- Tay Conti & Anna Jay VS The Bunny & Penelope Ford
I have to admit, it was a wilder and crazier match than I was expecting. All four women went all out, complete with blood and thumbtack spots. It was also intense because we never saw these four women in that kind of match before so things got crazy. I'm surprised The Bunny and Penelope Ford weren't brought in (whatever Ford is doing lately, she's been MIA). The award is for the WTF moment, not who actually won the match. All four of them should be there.
There's a funny part where Britt Baker interviews Tay and Jay about having the 'second best hardcore match'. Tay asks if she's referring to the match Britt LOST to Thunder Rosa while pointing out that they actually won their match. Britt is entertaining during the show with her reactions and her mannerisms.
Biggest Beatdown- Hangman Adam Page goes 60 on Bryan Danielson
Been a while since I seen this one, but it was Hangman Page defending his title against The American Dragon. Not saying this wasn't a good match and both men definitely beat each other to hell and back, but c'mon. You have an actual hardcore match between Thunder Rosa and Britt Baker including thumbtacks and them slamming each other against steel ladders. Even the clips showing the nominees make the Rosa/Baker match look like the 'best beatdown'. In my opinion that should have taken the award, but oh well.
Best Twitter Follow- Nyla Rose
Um... kinda confused why this is even a category? The nominees were The Young Bucks, Orange Cassidy, Britt Baker, MJF and Nyla Rose, but I mean.... any one of them could have won this. I'm assuming Nyla has the most followers? She does have a huge fanbase. But I mean I doubt any of these nominees have a larger Twitter following than Chris Jericho, or CM Punk. I don't know. I'm just confused as to why this is a category. Anyways it seems Nyla Rose also won this award last year. Danhausen showed up to remind her it might be tougher next year since he's not part of the roster.
The Best High Flyer- Dante Martin
Dante Martin has proven himself to be quite the flyer as he breaks into AEW. He's had issues with Team Taz, either joining them or the fallout when he left them, and he even took a crack at MJF. Recently he challenged Hangman Page for the title and even though he didn't win, he earned the champ's respect. Personally I would have had a harder chance voting because the other nominees included PAC, Penta Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix. I'm thinking I would have voted for Penta, but all 3 of the Death Triangle do all sorts of crazy high flying stuff. Either way, Dante is pretty good as well and earned his award.
Best Fashion Moment- Britt Baker Brittsburgh Jacket at Pittsburgh PA
Not much to say except that was indeed a pretty sweet jacket. Also extra awesome because Johnny and I were there in person to watch her cut her promo wearing that sweet jacket. I felt bad for her opponent Red Velvet. It was Britt's hometown and it was the main event, literally everything Velvet did got her booed since everyone was in town to see Britt Baker DMD. Totally agree with this one.
Best Tag Team Brawl- Lucha Bros VS Young Bucks Steel Cage Match
That was a pretty intense match and both my bro and I stood up in shock and celebration seeing the Lucha Bros defeat the Young Bucks and become the Tag Team Champs. It would make sense these guys would get the award seeing as they were also nominated for their match against Jurassic Express. These guys are awesome and I can't enough of them.
Best Mic Duel- MJF VS CM Punk
I mean... is it really a surprise? Love him or hate him, MJF is one of the best, if not THE best heel in AEW and the hottest on the mic. No one insults a town and an arena full of fans better than him, and his promos against CM Punk were straight fire.
Best Breakout Star Male- Sammy Guevara
Not too surprising, though more surprising he hasn't already won it the year before. No one befitted more from being part of Jericho's Inner Circle than Sammy Guevara. He defeated Miro of all people to win the TNT Championship title and defended it several times against the likes of Cody and Jay Lethal. While Sammy has currently lost the title to Scorpio Sky, he still made quite a name for himself and will continue to do so in 2022. Of the nominees, the only other person I might have voted other than Sammy would have been Jungle Boy.
Best Breakout Star Female- Jade Cargill
Again, no big surprise here. Jade is simply amazing and jaw-dropping. Incredible presentation, the attitude to break up, and she can pull off dressing like Storm and MK's Jade and still look ready to fight. She is the current and undefeated TBS Champion and it'll be a while before someone can take her down. I really don't know who else could have topped her for this event.
Wrestler of the Year- Kenny Omega
While he's currently out of action, 2021 was a big year for Kenny Omega. The dude put on a lot of quality matches and even started crossing over to other promotions. He held not just the AEW Championship but also the Impact Championship and the AAA Championship. His feud with Hangman also helped build him up making him get the huge pop he gets today as current champ. The whole story with Omega taking not just the Young Bucks but also Impact's Good Brothers under his wing, as well as all the belts and him hamming up the heel gimmick was fun to watch beginning to end. Not only that, but the man was in severe pain the whole time. He was pushing his broken body to the limit, hoping to have a hell of title run and leave a lasting impression so he could afford to take months off to heal up without being forgotten.
My Opinions-
Pretty entertaining show, though some of the categories were kinda odd. IMO if they needed to add more categories or wanted to fill up time, maybe they should have split up Wrestler of the Year into male and female categories. Loved how Danhuasen kept getting into people's way here and there and of course, love all the Britt Baker 'full of her herself' antics. I did find it kinda odd how Men of the Year (Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page) kept getting disappointed when they didn't win the categories... even when they weren't even nominees for most of em.
Either way, I did manage to catch this and vote for it in time, and a lot of my choices, Lucha Bros, Britt Baker, Jade, and Kenny Omega were my picks. After watching this I guess this was a Youtube-type show. I would have liked to somehow be live in front of the crowd, maybe in-between matches. Maybe spark a few new feuds among sore losers, I don't know. They like to make episodes of Dynamite be special Mini-PPVs like Blood and Guts and Beach Break and the like, tonight could have been the awards episode.
Either way let's see what happens as AEW continues to change and grow. Let's see where today's stars are same time next year.
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