Message-ID: 

Most Underrated Wrestler                

Award Description:

To be given to the person whose ability merits a far greater push than the
person receives. There may be many such people, but the winner of this
award should have the most ability with least push.

Previous Winners:

  1990: Terry Taylor 
  1991: Cactus Jack Manson
  1992: Owen Hart 
  1993: Chris Benoit 
  1994: 1-2-3 Kid 
  1995: Barry Horowitz
  1996: Owen Hart
  1997: Chris Benoit
  1998: Chris Benoit
  1999: D'Lo Brown
  2000: Al Snow
  2001: Lance Storm
  2002: D'Lo Brown

**2003**: Matt Hardy

133 first place votes
126 second place votes
125 third place votes

 14  4  6   94   Matt Hardy
  7 10  3   71   Lance Storm
 10  3  5   69   Sean O'Haire
  6  7  9   69   Spanky
  7  3 10   64   Ultimo Dragon
  8  4  5   62   Christian
  9  4  1   59   Kanyon
  7  4  2   51   Goldust
  4  6  6   50   Stevie Richards
  4  5  6   47   Hurricane
  6  4  1   44   Chris Benoit
  4  4  5   42   Chris Jericho
  5  4  2   41   Rob van Dam
  4  4  2   36   Tajiri
  3  3  3   30   Chavo Guerrero
  3  3  3   30   Booker T
  1  1  9   26   Shannon Moore
  1  3  4   22   Molly Holly
  2  3  1   21   Raven
  2  3  1   21   Jamie Noble
  1  5  0   20   Nunzio
  3  0  1   17   Chris Hero
  1  2  3   17   Eddie Guerrero
  2  2  0   16   Rico
  0  2  3   12   D'Lo Brown
  0  2  3   12   A-Train
  2  0  0   10   John Walters
  1  1  1   10   Victoria
  1  1  1   10   Ric Flair
  1  0  1    7   John Cena
  1  0  1    7   Jeremy Lightfoot
  0  1  2    7   Test
  0  2  0    6   Val Venis
  0  2  0    6   Mike Quackenbush
  0  2  0    6   Kory Twist
  0  2  0    6   Charlie Haas
  0  0  3    6   Undertaker
  1  0  0    5   Tigre Blanco
  1  0  0    5   Shinsuke Nakamura
  1  0  0    5   Rhyno
  1  0  0    5   Rey Bucanero
  1  0  0    5   Reckless Youth Tom Carter
  1  0  0    5   Maven
  1  0  0    5   Mammoth Sasaki
  1  0  0    5   Kane
  1  0  0    5   Goldberg
  1  0  0    5   Gail Kim
  1  0  0    5   Cade Sydal
  1  0  0    5   Brock Lesnar
  1  0  0    5   AKIRA
  0  1  1    5   Jerry Lynn
  0  1  1    5   Garrison Cade
  0  1  1    5   Averno
  0  0  2    4   Paul London
  0  1  0    3   Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
  0  1  0    3   Tommy Dreamer
  0  1  0    3   Takashi Iizuka
  0  1  0    3   Ron Killings
  0  1  0    3   Rob Conway
  0  1  0    3   Rey Mysterio
  0  1  0    3   Nick Dinsmore
  0  1  0    3   Mr. Gannosuke
  0  1  0    3   Mike Saunders
  0  1  0    3   Michael Shane
  0  1  0    3   Mephisto
  0  1  0    3   Mana (MLW)
  0  1  0    3   KENTA
  0  1  0    3   Chris Harris
  0  1  0    3   CM Punk
  0  1  0    3   Bryan Danielson
  0  1  0    3   Ace Steel
  0  0  1    2   Triple H
  0  0  1    2   Steven Kennedy
  0  0  1    2   Slyk Wagner Brown
  0  0  1    2   Randy Orton
  0  0  1    2   Onryo
  0  0  1    2   Nick Gage
  0  0  1    2   Katsushi Takemura
  0  0  1    2   Johnathan Coachman
  0  0  1    2   Jerry Lawler
  0  0  1    2   James Storm
  0  0  1    2   Jacqueline
  0  0  1    2   Hotstuff Hernandez
  0  0  1    2   Glen Gilberti
  0  0  1    2   Funaki
  0  0  1    2   Christopher Daniels
  0  0  1    2   Big Show
  0  0  1    2   Batista

C FRARACCI: Matt Hardy has the crowd always erupting for him, his Matt
Facts are classic and he works a great match. Chris Jericho went from
Undisputed champion to hosting a show? Why? This is the man who should be
World Champion, not Oldberg or Cripple H. Chris can fire up a crowd with
his entrance, can cut killer promos, and work with anyone in the ring. The
man is the biggest star on RAW but is consistantly screwed over.  Ultimo
Dragon was brought in to huge promos, announcements and fanfare. Now where
is he?  He's been on Smackdown maybe twice in the last four months. He
should be feuding with Tajiri and Rey Rey.

PAUL ZOROVICH: Even though he's held the Tag title, and probably others as
well, I can't help but wonder where Chavo Guerrero's big push is.

BIGDADDYLOCO:  Can a man put out as many quality matches on a B show
(Heat) and still have fun doing it?  Stevie Richards sure can.

JON RICHARDSON:  The whole of the WWE seems to enjoy pushing Christian
just cut his legs out from under him.  He, Goldust and Lance Storm have
the ability to put on kick-ass matches and consistently deliver
entertaining promos, yet still flounder in the midcard.  Life just ain't
fair sometimes...

CRIMEFIGHTER:  Chris Kanyon, by far, the most underrated wrestler of the
year.  Why is the WWE jobbing him week after week?  If the best jobber to
the stars category still existed, this man would win hands down.  After
that Spanky and Shannon Moore deserve better than they've gotten from WWE.

MICHAEL: 1st:  Chris Jericho. 2nd:  Chris Benoit. 3rd:  Eddie Guerrero.  
All three guys are interchangeable and tie for this award IMHO.  Why Vince
hasnąt moved any one of them up to top-tier is mind-boggling.

YNAE316: Booker T, like RVD, is someone they missed the boat on I believe.  
RVD did not make my list this year because I feel he's totally damaged
beyond repair.  Both men should have been battling for the Heavyweight
Title in long programs this year, if not outright given it.  Lance Storm
and Matt Hardy round out my list as two guys who should be getting big
pushes in the new year.  In the case of Storm, I give the WWE 5 points for
pushing the guy but I minus 10 for the lame gimmick they gave him.  In the
case of Matt Hardy, here's hoping Mattitude gets upgraded to V2 in the New
Year.

SCOTT CHRIST: I have an idea. Let's bother giving money and promotion to
an international superstar, then put him on Velocity and make him look
like a jobber. Good job with Ultimo Dragon, WWE. Jericho doesn't get
nearly the due he deserves on Raw, and Matt Hardy went from rising star to
jobbing to a guy with one leg.

STEFAN TORNGREN: Spanky could be so over if they just gave him a chance.
Benoit is NOT a midcarder, and Kanyon deserves better than to be on
Velocity, not that there’s anything wrong with that show.

AERO: Chavo Guerrero stepped up and hanged with his Uncle in their tags,
pretty impressive.

JOHN DONALDSON: Kanyon should be on SmackDown on a regular basis.  Give
him a gimmick please.

THE CUBS FAN: Rey Bucanero is desperately in need of a singles program,
just so he can show people what he can do without having to fight for
attention against his tag team partner. Averno is the my favorite of a
dozen CMLL undercard guys who stand a chance of being really interesting
if they were actually given time. Shannon Moore improved a bunch hanging
with Matt Hardy, though one would bet against him getting a chance to show
it.

RICK SCAIA: For about 2 years, I've been of the opinion that the entire
women's division in WWE has not been getting the respect it should.  This
year, that lack of respect coalesces into Molly Holly getting my #1 Most
Underrated Vote.  In a division where Trish or Lita are thought of as the
MVPs because they are fan favorites combining hotness and talent, and
where even a heel like Victoria (who has a more over-the-top persona) is
over with audiences, it's actually Molly who does most of the grunt work.  
And in the second half of the year, she did it in spectacular fashion,
orchestrating rivalries against both Trish and Lita that seemed very
despicable while continuing to have the same quality matches she could
already be counted on to deliver.  Jamie Noble is #2 on my list; he's a
cruiserweight who is thought of as more gimmick than performer, which
sadly results in lame bullshit like the Billy Gunn/orgy thing, but it's a
personality that can also be very entertaining and which should not
overshadow his in-ring credentials.  No one on the WWE roster is being
more criminally under-utilized than Ultimo Dragon; even if he's only half
his former self, he's still amazingly talented and is an easy choice for
#3 on this list.

RYAN FAULCONER: Chris Hero definitely deserves more recognition for his
excellent work in 2003.

BUNK: 1st: Kanyon 2nd: Nunzio - Give these guys some usable gimmicks
damnit!

--
Christopher Robin Zimmerman   |    moderator, rec.sport.pro-wrestling.info
WWW: CRZ.net | AIM: SeeOurZed | co-moderator, rec.sport.pro-wrestling.moderated
--
©2003 CRZ[tm]


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