WWE: Pro Wrestling Powerhouse 2012 Year End Awards

The community at Pro Wrestling Powerhouse voted on the first ever PWP 2012 Year End Awards and winners were issued on the first ever episode of PWP TV.

In this slideshow, I will reveal the winners of each category with a brief analysis. The entire award show will be featured on the final slide for your viewing pleasure! Many fans and a couple of writers here on Bleacher Report were included in the voting process.

The categories for the awards are:

1. Wrestler of the Year (Male and Female) 

2. Tag Team of the Year 

3. Match of the Year

4. Feud of the Year

5. PPV of the Year

6. TV Show of the Year 

7. Promotion of the Year

8. Rookie of the Year

9. Commentator of the Year

10. Surprise Superstar of the Year

11. Most Memorable Moment of the Year

12. Champion of the Year  

The voting was done via email, on our official Facebook Group, Twitter and our Facebook Fan Page. While some winners are exactly who you think they would be, there were a couple of surprises. As in any community voting, there is controversy. 

Without further ado, enjoy the winners of the first ever PWP TV Year End Awards!

13. Champion of the Year

CM Punk took home the award for 2012 Champion of the Year. The nominees were Kevin Steen with the Ring of Honor World Championship, Austin Aries and Bobby Roode with the TNA World Championship and your winner, CM Punk with the WWE Championship.

This was a year where there were many long and meaningful championship reigns. Bobby Roode became the longest-running TNA World Champion in history. He brought prestige back to that belt.

Austin Aries traded in his X-Division Championship for a shot at Bobby Roode for the TNA World Championship and was successful! Austin Aries held the championship for 98 days before dropping it to Jeff Hardy at Bound for Glory 2012.

Kevin Steen became the most controversial champion of the year by becoming Ring of Honor World champion by defeating Davey Richards in Toronto on May 12, 2012. Steen has held the championship for 236 days and counting. 

However, the is no denying that CM Punk deserves to win this award. He is the first WWE champion to hold the title from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 since Hulk Hogan did it in 1987. 

Congratulation to CM Punk for the 2012 PWP Year End Award for Champion of the Year!

12. Most Memorable Moment of the Year

The return of Brock Lesnar is what got my juices flowing to begin writing again and get back involved in wrestling. After a close race, Brock Lesnar's return to Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania 28 was the most memorable moment of the year.

The other nominees for this award were Jerry Lawler's heart attack, Devon being revealed as a member of Aces and Eights and CM Punk laying out The Rock at Raw 1000.

While all these moments were memorable, I will personally never forget the heart attack suffered live on the air by Jerry Lawler. It was a moment that could have been one of the most tragic moments in professional wrestling history, but it turned out to be very positive for The King.

Although Aces and Eights has become one of the more stale angles in professional wrestling, the initial reveal of Devon was very unexpected. 

The turn of CM Punk on The Rock at Raw 1000 was something that I didn't quite see coming; however, there were many people speculating their involvement in an angle at the time. 

11. Surprise Superstar of the Year

Daniel Bryan started 2012 off as World Heavyweight champion and spent most of the year as a huge contributor to both Raw and SmackDown on a weekly basis. 

The other nominees for this award included Antonio Cesaro, Bully Ray and Ryback. All three of those men rose above what they were given and had fantastic years.

However, after being squashed in an 18-second debacle at WrestleMania 28, Daniel Bryan became one of the most over men in the entire company. The "Yes" chants came during just about every segment on the following night of Raw. 

While The Rock was on, the crowd chanted "YES!" While John Cena was on, the crowd chanted "YES!"

There is no denying that Daniel Bryan rose above everyone's expectations in 2012 and will continue to strive for success in 2013!

10. Commentator of the Year

JBL won the award for commentator of the year. He did provide a fresh feel to the booth and he doesn't seem as choreographed as other announcers in the industry. 

The other nominees were Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.

While I agree that JBL did a great job, I feel like Michael Cole should have won this award based on how he handled the entire Jerry Lawler situation back in September.

Jim Ross also stepped in when Jerry Lawler went down and did a great job. Jim Ross should always have a spot on the WWE roster for commentary.

What can we say about Jerry Lawler? He isn't everyone's favorite announcer, but he has been consistent over the year and overcame his biggest obstacle ever in 2012. 

9. Rookie of the Year

Ryback is the winner of the 2012 PWP Year End Award for Rookie of the Year. There was no man more dominant in all of professional wrestling than Ryback. 

I realize some of you hate him and think he sucks, but there is no denying that there will always be a place for an intense, muscle-bound individual like him.

The other nominees for Rookie of the Year included Antonio Cesaro, Zema Ion and Damien Sandow. The vote was extremely close, with Ryback edging out Cesaro by just one vote. 

Damien Sandow has been a favorite among the IWC, and for good reason. His gimmick is a breath of fresh air and has been executed perfectly.

Zema Ion was the surprise nominee, but he did have a pretty solid year, becoming the TNA X-Division champion and putting on some entertaining bouts on Impact Wrestling.

8. Promotion of the Year

WWE was voted as the 2012 Promotion of the Year. While some people continuously hate on WWE no matter what they do, there is no denying that the business moves with them. They had an extremely successful year, with WrestleMania 28 being the biggest PPV of all time.

The other nominees for this award were TNA, Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling. TNA and ROH both seemed to have inconsistencies throughout the year.

The in-ring action in all three of these nominees may be better than WWE at times. That alone should be enough for you to check them out if you have not. New Japan Pro Wrestling isn't in the limelight much in America, but they do feature numerous wrestlers that you may know, including MVP, Shelton Benjamin and DH Smith.

7. TV Show of the Year

Impact Wrestling is the winner of the 2012 PWP Year End Award for TV Show of the Year. Personally, I don't understand why they won because they have been extremely inconsistent with the quality of the show. I really want them to succeed, but it has always been a one-step-forward, two-steps-back mentality for what they give us on Thursday nights.

WWE had the other three nominees with Raw, NXT and Main Event. Raw was also a bit inconsistent, but it provided many memorable moments throughout 2012.

NXT and Main Event both gave a breath of fresh air to WWE with their focus on actual in-ring professional wrestling. 

6. PPV of the Year

WWE Extreme Rules 2012 was an amazing show and many believe it out-shined WrestleMania 28. From top to bottom, there were entertaining matches and it culminated with one of the most extreme matches I've ever seen (without being gratuitous) between Brock Lesnar and John Cena.

The other nominees were TNA Bound For Glory, WrestleMania 28 and Hell in a Cell 2012. I wasn't surprised by the two biggest shows for TNA and WWE getting nominated, but the nomination for Hell in a Cell 2012 was very surprising to me.

A lot of people really enjoyed that show this year and looking back, it was pretty solid. Big Show and Sheamus put on a widely underrated contest and many enjoyed the fact that CM Punk retained his championship from Ryback.

5. Feud of the Year

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho wins the award for PWP 2012 Feud of the Year. These two had two fantastic matches at WrestleMania 28 and Extreme Rules, respectively, but I feel like it could have gone a lot further than it did. However, this was a close race with one other nominee for the award.

The feud between Bobby Roode and James Storm lost by just one vote. These two spent the majority of 2012 beating the hell out of each other, but the feud started to lose a bit of steam toward the end.

The other two nominees were TNA vs. Aces and Eights and The Rock vs. John Cena. Both feuds are completely understandable in terms of receiving a nomination.

The Rock and John Cena provided some very entertaining moments, while the Aces and Eights brought something completely new and different to the table in TNA.

4. Match of the Year

The Undertaker and Triple H in an epic Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 28 is your winner for PWP 2012 Match of the Year. This match has pretty much swept this category in most year-end awards I have read, and rightfully so. 

Both men got extreme in this environment and put their bodies on the line. They told an amazing story throughout the encounter. The added dimension of Shawn Michaels as the referee helped to solidify the feud as one of the best.

The other nominees were The Rock vs. John Cena, Big Show vs. Sheamus at WWE Hell in a Cell and CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan at WWE Over the Limit.

There were a lot of other nominees for this category, but those three were able to compile the most votes. I think that every match on this list brought something unique to the table for every fan.

3. Tag Team of the Year

The team now known as Bad Influence wins the PWP 2012 Award for Tag Team of the Year by just one vote over Team Hell No. After years of mulling around in TNA trying to find something useful to do, Daniels and Kaz have found each other.

Their heel turn and betrayal on AJ Styles led to some very interesting stories on Impact Wrestling and some very exciting in-ring matches.

The other nominees were The Briscoe Brothers, Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team and, as mentioned above, Team Hell No.

The Briscoes are consistently one of the best tag teams in the world and achieved the ROH World Tag Team Titles for an unprecedented eighth time just last month at ROH Final Battle 2012. 

The team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas became hated heels in Ring of Honor in 2012 and caused a lot of turmoil and chaos in the tag team division. They were tag team champions but lost the straps to The All Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus). 

Team Hell No had quite the story this year and gave us many memorable, fun moments. Their matches have been stellar. Kane has found a career rejuvenation that many of us didn't see coming in the form of a tag team with Daniel Bryan. 

2. Female Wrestler of the Year

The winner of the 2012 PWP Year End Award for Female Wrestler of the Year is none other than Eve Torres! Eve was heavily involved in major storylines throughout the duration of 2012 and ended it as the Divas Champion.

The other nominees—Miss Tessmacher, Tara and AJ Lee—also had fanatic years. Miss Tessmacher has vastly improved her in-ring skills and had a great run as Knockouts champion in TNA.

Tara saw another rejuvenation in her career by becoming Knockouts champion and getting all cozy with her boyfriend, Jesse Godderz from Big Brother.

AJ Lee may have had the most high-profile year of any woman in wrestling in 2012, but it was not because of her in-ring work. She was involved with major storylines and relationships with many top WWE stars. She was also named the Raw general manager at Raw 1000.

1. Best Wrestler of the Year

And the final award in the PWP 2012 Year End Awards goes to none other than CM Punk, who was voted as the Best Wrestler of the Year.

CM Punk broke records and made a whole lot of noise throughout the entire year of 2012. It is amazing that he did not win the Slammy for this category, but at least he will always have his PWP Year End award.

The other nominees were John Cena, Daniel Bryan and Austin Aries, who all competed at high levels throughout all of 2012. While John Cena was on the losing end a lot, he did a great job with putting over talent and helping to mold young wrestlers on the WWE roster.

Austin Aries made history by going from X-Division to TNA World champion without losing the previous championship. He was the first wrestler to do this and competed at a very high level.

Daniel Bryan gave it his all in 2012. He was on most WWE programming and had the best match of the night most of the time.

Conclusion

It was a lot of fun counting the votes and bringing the first ever PWP Year End Awards to you. As you can see, we also filmed the first episode of PWP TV and plan to bring you many more fun episodes as time goes on.

CM Punk seemed to win a majority of the awards that he was nominated for, to the surprise of no one. It truly was "The Year of Punk" in WWE. He set the tone by performing with near flawless execution for the duration of 2012 before an unfortunate injury put him out of action toward the end. 

Thank you for checking out this slideshow and watching the video for further analysis. Also, be on the lookout for the Bleacher Report wrestling awards, which will be coming to you soon! I voted and I am sure they will be extremely interesting and controversial as well!

Whether you agree or disagree with the winners, there is always room for discussion. Please leave your comments below and let me know what you think!

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Keep it real.

JSJ