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List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

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This is a list of both active and inactive Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll between Meltzer and his friends and others he corresponded with on the subject of professional wrestling at the time. After starting the Wrestling Observer in 1982, the awards took on a greater life, with an increasing number of awards given out every year.[1]

The awards were created to recognize the individual achievements of a select few wrestlers who exemplified a specified criterion. The awards are given every year in various categories such as Wrestler of the Year,[2] Most Outstanding Wrestler, Tag Team of the Year, Most Improved, Pro Wrestling Match of the Year, etc.; there are also a handful of awards to recognize the dubious distinctions in the business during that year such as Most Overrated and Worst Match. There are currently forty-five categories that are actively assessed every year and twenty that are no longer active. The awards are voted for by the newsletter's paying readership, primarily wrestling fans, although it is claimed that some industry workers also vote.

The awards are organized into two categories. For "Category A" awards, voters indicate their top three choices. First choices are awarded five points, second places three points, and third places two points. The choice with the most points overall wins. For "Category B" awards, voters simply indicate their top choice. For the "Category B" Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award, the recipients are chosen by a committee headed by Meltzer.

Over the years, various MMA promotions or individual mixed martial artists were deemed eligible to win some awards when it seemed as though they were more deserving to win than the conventional wrestler or wrestling promotion. This led to, in 1997, the creation of Shootfighter of the Year and Shoot Match of the Year to recognize MMA achievement specifically. Still, some primarily professional wrestling-focused awards remained intact for MMA promotions/fighters to win, due to the similar business aspect between both sports (i.e. Best Box Office Draw and Promotion of the Year). In the December 3, 2007 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was announced that from that year onwards, mixed martial artists are no longer eligible for the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award, thus reserving it for professional wrestlers only. Shootfighter of the Year was renamed to Most Outstanding Fighter and Shoot Match of the Year was renamed to MMA Match of the Year to match a new award called Mixed Martial Arts Most Valuable, which is similar to the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award except it is for mixed martial artists.

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Current awards

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"Category A" awards

Lou Thesz/Ric Flair Award (Wrestler of the Year)

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Cody Rhodes is the most recent winner, winning for his 2024 work in WWE.
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Ric Flair is an eight-time winner and co-namesake of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Mixed Martial Arts Most Valuable

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Georges St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar are three-time winners of the category.
More information Year, Fighter ...

Most Outstanding Wrestler

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Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan is a record five-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Outstanding Fighter of the Year

Note: Was known as "Shootfighter of the Year" until 2008.

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Georges St-Pierre is a three-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Fighter ...

Tag Team of the Year

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Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane became the first tag team to win the award consecutively.
More information Year, Tag Team ...

Best on Interviews

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Jim Cornette is a record five-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Performer ...

Promotion of the Year

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WWE is the most recent winner, having won the award in consecutive years (2023, 2024).
More information Year, Promotion ...

Best Weekly TV Show

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The Ultimate Fighter is the only non-wrestling TV show to win the category.
More information Year, Program ...

Pro Wrestling Match of the Year

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Bob Backlund and Ken Patera were the inaugural winners of the category, for their 1980 Texas Death Match in WWF.
More information Year, Match ...

MMA Match of the Year

Note: Was previously known as the "Shoot Match of the Year" and is sometimes referred to as "Fight of the Year".

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Robbie Lawler is a three-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Fight ...

"Category B" awards

United States/Canada MVP

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Cody Rhodes is a two-time and the most recent winner of the US/Canada MVP award, winning for his 2024 work in WWE.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Koichi Yoshizawa Award (Japan MVP)

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Tetsuya Naito is one of seven New Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers to be named Japan MVP.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Mexico MVP

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L. A. Park was the inaugural Mexico MVP.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Europe MVP

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Walter, better known as Gunther, was the inaugural Europe MVP, and overall is a record three-time winner.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Danny Hodge Memorial Award (Non-Heavyweight MVP)

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Danny Hodge was the namesake for the award, a multi-time amateur and professional champion.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Women's Wrestling MVP

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Becky Lynch was the inaugural winner of the award, and is a record two-time winner.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Women's MMA MVP

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Amanda Nunes is a record three-time winner.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Best Box Office Draw

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Roman Reigns won the award in 2022 and 2023.
More information Year, Performer ...

Feud of the Year

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Drew McIntyre & CM Punk are the most recent winners of the award.
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Jerry Lawler was the first wrestler to win the category three different times.
More information Year, Feud ...

Most Improved

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Brock Lesnar and The Miz are record two-time winners of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Charismatic

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The Rock is a seven-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Performer ...

Bryan Danielson Award (Best Technical Wrestler)

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Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan is a 12-time winner and namesake of this category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Bruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler)

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Bruiser Brody is the inaugural recipient, seven-time winner and namesake of the category.
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Mick Foley is 10-time winner of the category in a 10 year streak from 1991 to 2000.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Best Flying Wrestler

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Rey Mysterio (aka Rey Misterio Jr.) is a six-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Overrated

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Hulk Hogan is a seven-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Underrated

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Bobby Eaton and Cesaro, the latter now known as Claudio Castagnoli, are four-time winners each of the category consecutively.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Rookie of the Year

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Barry Windham was the inaugural winner of the award in 1980.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Best Non-Wrestler

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Paul Heyman is an eleven-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Performer ...

Jim Ross Award (Best Television Announcer)

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Jim Ross, namesake of this category, is a 14-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Announcer ...

Worst Television Announcer

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Gorilla Monsoon won the award in five straight years and is a record-tying six-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Announcer ...

Best Major Wrestling Show

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WrestleMania X-Seven, the first of two editions of WrestleMania to win this award.
More information Year, Show ...

Worst Major Wrestling Show

More information Year, Show ...

Best Wrestling Maneuver

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Jimmy Snuka was the first winner of the award, winning in 1981
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic

More information Year, Promotional Tactic ...

Worst Television Show

More information Year, Program ...

Worst Match of the Year

Note: Named "Worst Worked Match of the Year" until 2018.

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Hulk Hogan won the award for a record three straight years.
More information Year, Match ...

Worst Feud of the Year

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Adam Cole/The Devil vs. MJF won the award twice.
More information Year, Feud ...

Worst Promotion of the Year

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Impact Wrestling, formerly and currently known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, is an 11-time winner of the category, having won every year from 2007 to 2017.
More information Year, Promotion ...

Best Booker

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Jim Cornette (top) and Paul Heyman (bottom) are the only winners of the category who won the award for work in two separate promotions.
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Paul 'Triple H' Levesque, is the most recent winner of the category and is a three-time winner overall.
More information Year, Booker ...

Promoter of the Year

More information Year, Promoter ...

Best Gimmick

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The Undertaker is a five-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Worst Gimmick

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Dustin Runnels is a three-time winner of the category under three different gimmicks (Goldust, The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust and Black Reign).
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Best Pro Wrestling Book

More information Year, Book ...

Best Pro Wrestling Documentary

Note: Was previously known as the "Best Pro Wrestling DVD" and "Best Wrestling DVD/Streaming Documentary" award.

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WWE has won the award a record 11 times.
More information Year, Documentary ...

Shad Gaspard/Jon Huber Memorial Award

Note: This award is given to participants in professional wrestling and mixed martial arts who make contributions outside the ring for the betterment of society.

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Shad Gaspard and Jon Huber are the co-namesakes of the category.
More information Year, Recipient(s) ...
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Defunct awards

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Class A awards

Most Impressive Wrestler

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Dynamite Kid is a three-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Washed Up Wrestler

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Strongest Wrestler

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Best Three-Man Team

More information Year, Team ...

Most Unimproved

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Most Obnoxious

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Vince McMahon is a six-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Performer ...

Best Babyface

Note: "Best Babyface" and "Best Heel" were combined in 1997 to create "Best Box Office Draw"

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Best Heel

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Ted DiBiase and Roddy Piper are two-time winners of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Biggest Shock of the Year

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Harley Race has been named in two Biggest Shock of the Year.
More information Year, Event ...

Hardest Worker

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Manager of the Year

More information Year, Manager ...

Class B awards

Best Color Commentator

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Jesse Ventura is a four-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Commentator ...

Readers' Favorite Wrestler

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Readers' Least Favorite Wrestler

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Worst Wrestler

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André the Giant is a three-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Wrestler ...

Worst Tag Team

More information Year, Tag Team ...

Worst Manager

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Mr. Fuji is an eleven-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Manager ...

Worst on Interviews

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The Ultimate Warrior is a five-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Performer ...

Most Embarrassing Wrestler

More information Year, Wrestler ...

Worst Non-Wrestling Personality

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Stephanie McMahon is a three-time winner of the category.
More information Year, Personality ...
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Wrestling Observer Decade Awards

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Kurt Angle, best wrestler of the 2000s
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Hiroshi Tanahashi, best wrestler of the 2010s

2000s

2010s

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References

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