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Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is the most enduring memory provided by WWE in 2015? Wrestler of the Year - Seth Rollins TV Match of the Year – John Cena vs. Cesaro on the July 6th Monday Night Raw This was an award in which I let the reader voting be the deciding factor. I thought that there were several great candidates this year, but Cesaro vs. John Cena got the nod for the second straight year. I wrote a column after their July 6th classic, begging WWE to push Cesaro so that the kinds of matches we've seen the Swiss Superman wrestle so frequently on TV (and NXT) these last few years could be transferred to the more memorable PPV setting. That said, I thought Neville vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship in early August was a tremendous contender to unseat Cena and Cesaro for the yearly best on TV. Rollins vs. Cena the week before, during which Cena had his nose accidentally broken, was just as enthralling to me; accidents happen and that one in particular served only to enhance the drama of the situation. Cesaro gave us a late addition to the list in the Quarterfinals of the WWE Championship tournament in November, combining with Roman Reigns for a match that I'd put on equal footing with Cena vs. Cesaro. I had a hard time separating between those matches, so I looked at the reader voting and saw considerable support for Cena vs. Cesaro. That was a good enough argument to sway my vote. Cheers to the awesome readers of LOP and Doctor's Orders; and cheers to John Cena and Cesaro for a 2nd straight TV MOTY! PPV of the Year – WrestleMania 31 Another strong year of PPV finished up two weeks ago with a solid TLC. For a second straight year, though, there wasn't much doubt that the best show of the year was the show that flat out should be the best every year: WrestleMania. The stories leading into the show were lackluster, but that was a theme for much of the year. Had Summerslam delivered to a greater extent, it had a build superior to all other shows in 2015 and would've in all likelihood eclipsed even a stellar WrestleMania. Alas, it did not. The formula used for Summerslam 2014, with great emphasis on several matches culminating in a classic main-event, was utilized to perfection at WrestleMania 31. It was perhaps the best-rounded Show of Shows ever and if you appreciate the pomp and circumstance of the modern Mania as I do, how could you not love it? It was like Mania 19 in a way without the Cat Fight girls. The presentation throughout the night was outstanding. The undercard was strong, with Rollins vs. Orton arguably stealing the show; Triple H and Sting had a thoroughly entertaining match; Rusev vs. Cena and Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker were each quite good; Rollins cashing in Money in the Bank during the main-event made Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar truly epic. It was quite a night. Match of the Year - Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Feud of the Year – John Cena vs. Kevin Owens There was not a closer call in my mind than the decision for which feud should win best of the year. When I think of feuds, I think largely of quality television build to PPV matches; the continuation of storylines through match outcomes on PPV are obviously a big piece of the puzzle, but the bulk of my definition for “feud” stems from what happens between the biggest shows. The aforementioned comment about lackluster stories was meant to foreshadow the difficulty in choosing a Feud of the Year when the TV product was so bland (not to be confused with bad). Contrary to popular belief, NXT TV may be simpler and more concise, but it's not breaking any new ground in the hype department. So, I don't personally see that there was a drastic difference between what WWE proper and WWE developmental produced week-to-week, at least in terms of the quality of the top angles. That said, just a few stories stood out to me from 2015 – the two that the readers seemed to be highest on (Cena vs. Owens and Undertaker vs. Lesnar) and also Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns. The Bryan-Reigns saga should age well when the emotional turmoil surrounding that situation has fully subsided; that was an outstandingly executed three week story. Ultimately, for me, it boiled down to the confusion sparked by the Summerslam main-event's finish weakening some of the better moments of the rebooted Taker vs. Lesnar arc, leaving Bryan-Reigns and Cena-Owens to duke it out for the top spot. I said it in June and I'll reiterate it here: Kevin Owens was so good for the first 5-6 weeks of his WWE TV tenure that it took a rather typical list of “internet favorite Cena feud barbs” and turned it into perhaps the best version of that brand of Cena bashing since CM Punk popularized it. KO was the difference maker. Credit to Cena for doing his usual thing as well as he can and for ramping up his frustration level when he struggled to put Owens away during the PPV battles, but it was the believability of the KO character that allowed the late May to mid-July, three PPV story to win Feud of the Year. Most Memorable Moment of the Year – Seth Rollins Cashes In at WrestleMania As much as the television product underwhelmed on the Road to WrestleMania, the card itself offered intriguing historical possibilities. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar seemed destined to be the coronation ceremony for the Roman Empire. When WWE decided not to change plans and push forward with Reigns in the main-event, it felt almost inevitable that Roman would be the one that finally conquered the Conqueror. All the while, you had Rollins in the background. Many predicted several months in advance that the Architect would cash in at Mania. Similar predictions of Mania glory had been made with past contract holders, but this one with Rollins seemed more legitimate. In the midst of a much stronger than anticipated match between Reigns and Lesnar, the story was poised to take a favorable turn for Reigns...and then Rollins showed up out of the nowhere to cash in and win the WWE Championship right out from under Roman's nose. Boom! Destiny was in Seth's corner instead and it is his moment now destined to become one of the classics of WrestleMania lore.
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