My Take On 12.23.11: My Worst 10 Wrestlers of 2011

WELCOME!
Guess what, I’M BACK! Yeah, I got the first top 10 list done and thought, what the hell, let’s look at the worst of 2011. Now, like last time, I do not claim that this is the end all be all list. But the bottom line here is that this will represent who, in my opinion, had the WORST 2011. I will look at the year they had in matches, promos, lack of career growth, feuds, legal issues and basically the whole spectrum of what makes a pro wrestler have a shitty year. Basically people who had a bad year for any of a laundry list of reasons, including the way they were booking and of course wasted potential. I do not expect everyone to agree, but I would like your thoughts, and please share your top 10 in the comments section.

AND NOW… LARRY’s WORST 10 WRESTLERS OF 2011!

I don’t know about you guys, but when I plan to do a list like this, I start thinking of names and make a long list of people I will consider. I honestly feel that there were a good number of wrestlers to consider, and that made the list quite hard to narrow down. Here are some wrestlers that were under consideration at one point before cutting it down to ten: Abyss, Alex Riley, Ric Flair, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, AJ Styles, Matt Morgan, Ezekiel Jackson, Hernandez, Michael McGuillicutty and Kazarian. I am sure that this just stirred more shit, but hey, it’s in the interest of full disclosure.

#10. KHARMA

In late 2010 the artist formerly known as Awesome Kong signed with WWE. Kong had spent years working in Japan, SHIMMER and TNA, building her reputation and succeeding on various levels. She was the monster of any company she was in, and played the role very well. But the big time came calling after a falling out with TNA, and many questioned whether or not WWE could be a place for her to succeed. Things started off very well as in April, vignettes for her started to air, featuring her cackling manically, killing little dolls and looking like she was going to be a force. In May she debuted live, taking out Michelle McCool at the Extreme Rules PPV, both a way for her to get over and add to McCool being written out of the WWE Universe. She would follow that by attacking the divas on Raw and Smackdown, but 22 days after dispatching McCool she “broke down” in the ring. The following week she revealed to the world that she was pregnant, and would be taking time off, while vowing to return. She comes in at #10 because WWE reportedly had huge plans for her, and judging by the way she debuted, that is had to argue. The booking didn’t hold her down, she didn’t perform badly; she just got pregnant. We can only wonder what could have been if that hadn’t happened, but career wise, this hurt her for now.

#9. ROBBIE E

Just look at this guy. Robbie E was brought into TNA in 2010, a direct play off of the Jersey Shore boom, and while some instantly hated the character, I was willing to give it a chance. TNA has given him a lot of TV time, they have given PPV time, they gave him a manager, and then they got rid of her and gave him a muscled up sidekick. In 2011 they gave him the TV time, they brought in ANOTHER member of the Jersey Shore cast to get him attention and they gave him the TV Title. But the bottom line is this, Robbie E has been a complete failure for the company. And considering how much they have given him, it is a shame. They keep giving the guy a lot, and he has never caught on. The gimmick is a little fun, but he is a joke character, no one can take him seriously. No one can take his promos seriously, and as a wrestler, he is simply not very good. He is a comedy character that they have over pushed, and has not nor ever will pay any dividends for them. Sorry to be so harsh, bro.

#8. CRIMSON

By all rights, Crimson should have had a great year considering the booking of the character for most of the year. Unfortunately, uneven booking and his current abilities have shut down the young TNA prospect. The year started off well, as they decided to make him a the messenger for the new “They,” attacking Abyss. He was paired with Scott Steiner for a while in a “new guy + veteran = tag team,” which ended out of nowhere. But then TNA decided to begin his “undefeated streak,” a gimmick that can work, but also one that you have to put effort into. I never fully feel that TNA put the effort into it. Sure the guy is green, but if they wanted to make him, they could have. But they had him wrestle these matches, and he would get an ass kicking for 4-5 minutes, and then hit his finish and that was that. He looked lucky, they “sorta” pushed the undefeated thing, and it was what it was. And then the Bound For Glory Series began, and he got the big rub, going over everyone, leading the series, but again looking unimpressive. TNA pulled back on the push, realized he wasn’t “the guy brother,” and they went with Roode. Sure, on the surface he looks good, but when you have built a guy all year, had him win over almost the entire roster, and you have little to no improvement and crickets to show for it when the guy wrestles, that’s a failure. TNA never fully got behind the guy, they never fully got behind the gimmick, and therefore fans never got into him. Better luck next year.

#7. THE CORRE

Remember these guys? If you don’t, well I really do not blame you. The CORRE was WWE’s brilliant idea to spin off the NEXUS into the NEW NEXUS and THE CORRE, something they felt would work and allow two dominant stables on both brands. But instead of that, we had a split of the n.W.o black and white that couldn’t have controlled the old WCW Main Event program. The CORRE was the classic example of the wrong execution of the right idea, and they were pretty much a failure from the get go. Sure they had a tag title run with Slater and Gabriel and sure they had Wade win the IC Title, but when it came down to the big time, they were essentially a reboot of the Job Squad. At WrestleMania they lost in a eight-man tag match in about two minutes, and to make things worse, WWE booked them the next night to get their asses kicked by Rock and Cena. To me that is where it was plain to see that any plans they had for these guys were out the window. The rest of the year they battled in mediocrity, through suspensions, and simply were not very impressive. At this time, the only guy that has seemed to survive is, and this is not surprising, Wade Barrett. Between WWE’s week-to-week booking and lack of commitment to younger star most of the year, the CORRE could have been so much more. Not the next Horsemen or anything, but they could have been a viable mid-card stable for most of the year and actually have given these guys something to do.

#6. KEVIN NASH

Coming in at #6 in Kevin Nash. Now I know that there are a lot of Kevin Nash fans around, and that is cool. This is not personal, but Kevin Nash, in my opinion, has not had a great comeback. Sure when he made his comeback at the Royal Rumble as Diesel, the crowd loved it. Hell so did I. But the fact is that I did not want to see him comeback as a regular performer. Since coming back he got involved with both CM Punk and his pal Triple H. The interactions with Punk were disastrous. In my opinion, Nash couldn’t keep up with Punk, their interactions were “too inside,” and it was one aspect that cooled off the Punk angle. But the he feuded with Triple H, and we got a LADDER MATCH with these guys, in 2011. Seriously, I have no clue WHY they did this, but it did not end well. Nash, while looking in great shape, is broken down and the match stipulation did him no favors. Sure he took a table bump, but flubbed the pedigree and it looked sad. Much respect for him trying, but the guy does not need to be in the ring. For all of the excitement about his Rumble appearance, I cannot say the man had a good year at all. But hey, he’s smart, and he got paid, which is likely all he cares about.

#5. MR. ANDERSON

ASSHOLE! Ken Mr. Kennedy Anderson came to TNA and many people thought that he would be a guy that would thrive there after being dismissed from WWE. And I could see why, he was entertaining in WWE and was having some good matches. He got released following a match where he pissed off Randy Orton, and we all knew he would get to TNA. But like many WWE guys that went to TNA, he came in with lots of thunder, but it tends to always go to the same place. His promos became a repetitive mess where he says asshole 54 times, and the rest of the promos tend to be bad or simply do not make sense. He is essentially a poor man’s Steve Austin, only not as good in the ring, or the mic, and well, seems not to try anymore. Seriously dude, you’re wearing a t-shirt to the ring all the time now. His booking hasn’t helped either. The man had two world title victories, one run lasting 33 days or so and the other lasting maybe 29. And then there is simply the character of Mr. Anderson. He is supposed to be a face, but as mentioned does such a poor Steve Austin impression that you want to hate him. They continually bounce him back and forth from face to heel and back to face again and no one cares about him. Which brings me to the point that for most of the year he was a “main event guy” for the company. A “main event guy,” playing a character that he can’t be, that isn’t over and that no one cares about. And that’s the year of Mr. Anderson in a nutshell, but I better be nice, because he is sensitive to online criticism. ASSSSSSHOOOOOLE!

#4. JEFF HARDY

Coming in and #3 for the year is Jeffery Nero Hardy. To say that 2011 was a bad year for Jeff is an understatement. Hardy spent the year in TNA as a main event guy at the start of the year, but the facts were that he wasn’t having good matches, and some thought that he was suffering from not giving a shit, but it turned out to be the symptom of something bigger. Hardy was having issues with drugs again. He was in a legal battle where he was busted receiving drugs through the mail, which he denied, but it came into the ring eventually. At the Victory Road PPV, Hardy reportedly showed up “in no condition to perform.” He was reportedly so bad that they had to have people bring him to the gorilla position so that they could explain the main event, and then they actually sent him out there on live PPV. The match was ended very quickly with Sting winning, the crowd chanting “BULLSHIT, and even Sting agreeing with the audience. He was then taken off of TNA TV, made a deal in regards to charges trafficking in controlled prescription pills and possession of anabolic steroids. Hardy cut a deal when he plead guilty, and was sentenced to ten days in jail, 30 months of probation and a fine of $100,000. Bottom line, when you show up to a PPV fucked up, spend time in jail and then outside of that still have a generally shit year that alienates your fans, you’ve had a bad year. But hey, you got ONE MORE SHOT and some new theme music.

#3. MICHAEL COLE

Yes, Michael Cole. You know, there are times when I watch Michel Cole and think, “Man, this guy would make a great heel manager.” Unfortunately, we are in an age where the manager is all but extinct. Cole is an embarrassment when the company makes him wrestle, and while I fully understand that he should be horrible, it takes precious time away from people that actually deserve it. On top of that, Michael Cole is the lead announcer for the company. Unfortunately he greatly fails at this job as well. This of course is not all his fault, he has people in his ear and a script to follow, but the company does themselves no favors with what they have Cole portray. As the lead announcer, Cole’s job is to sell the performers, the product as a whole and most importantly, the PPVs; but the bottom line is that he fails at that. They may very well want him to be exactly what he is, and if that is the case, I suppose it is a job well done. But at the end of the day, when people say that he drives them from the product and or makes them mute programming because they cannot stand him, well, that is nothing but a failure.

#2. SIN CARA

Coming in at #2 is the former Mistico, the man known to the WWE Universe as Sin Cara. In 2006 this man was on top of the world, as he won the 2006 “Performer of the Year”, “Biggest Box Office Draw”, and “Best Flying Wrestler” in Wrestling Observer’s Year-End Awards. WWE had courted him in the past, but when they actually made the deal to bring the guy in I was optimistic. I was very happy as a fan of the guy, but also worried that WWE would try to reprogram him and take away what was special about him. But the year was not to be a good one for him. He debuted with a bit of a bang, but right away there were tensions in the WWE locker room. People were upset that he wasn’t paying his dues and that the guy who at point was one of he biggest stars in the industry, was, acting like a star. That’s frowned upon when you haven’t made your name in WWE. He failed a drug test and was suspended, and when he was brought back be feuded with Hunico, which should have been a huge feud due to their history. But it was flat, people said he botched too much, and they built to a mask vs. mask match in MEXICO of all places that had little to no heat. Things appeared as if they would rebound, he found himself on the Survivor Series card in the big Survivor Series tag team match. Unfortunately for him, he suffered a patellar tendon rupture, sending him out for 6-9 months and ending his year. They had big plans and high hopes for Sin Cara, an international star, a way to further break into the Hispanic market and the hopes of breaking the mask record at WrestleMania. I guess there’s always next year…

AND NUMBER ONE IS…

#1. TIM TEBOW

Fuck this guy, his team does the work and gets no credit! Wait, no, not here? Ok then… the real number one is…

#1. MATT HARDY

Or should this be MATTHEW? Either way, my buddy Matt Hardy had the worst year in my eyes. I know when I announced this list that many assumed that Hardy would make it and likely be number one, but in all honestly, the guy had a disaster of a year. Ok let’s look back a bit. Before the year started he got released from WWE and proclaimed that he would get into the best shape of his life and show us the REAL Matt “I LOVE MY GRAPES” Hardy. He had an uninspired debut with TNA, looking the same he did when he left WWE. Well he did have some dreadlocks, but people only thought he was Tyler Reks. Matt looked largely the same in and out of the ring, he had a few matches that were good, but nothing that would lead you to believe that he was going to become a huge star for TNA. When brother Jeff had his PPV issue, the company wanted Matt to take his place and be the lead of Immortal, which never happened, and Bully Ray got more TV time, which was the best for all of us. Rumors of issues started to come out. Being late to shows, issues with management and when he was excluded from the Bound For Glory Series, that was a loud message. Matt would claim to be on a break from TNA, but word came that he was suspended for the previously mentioned issues. And then, then the cornucopia of legal issues began. He was arrested for DWI, got released form TNA (and that takes A LOT) and then had more arrests for DWI, DUI, reckless driving, drug possession and more; essentially becoming a public menace while behind the wheel. He then made a big deal on Youtube when he posted what many thought was a suicide video, only to reveal that he was being a grown up and going to rehab. That of course was a LIE, because he went to rehab to get out of going to jail. I wish I could say things worked out for him, but he then got kicked out of rehab, was sent to jail, got bailed out and is in rehab again. This was a tremendous fall, career destruction and all done in one year. But what do I know, I’m just one of the dirt sheet writers that don’t know a damn thing…sorry MATTHEW!

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Again, I am sure you think I missed some, so share your lists in the comments section and keep it clean kids. I fully expect most if not all to disagree, but hopefully we can have some good discussion from this article. Thanks for reading, and have happy Christma-Kwanza-Chanuka-Festivus!

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