2011 WWE Twitter Awards

It is yet another Follow Friday on Twitter, the uber-popular social networking site. Countless companies have taken the influence of Twitter and marketed it in a way never imagined to be. One of those companies was WWE, who saw the exposure that Twitter brought on and sought to try and hone their own momentum out of it. WWE's love affair with Twitter was hardly a secret in 2011.

On nearly any night there was some WWE action, a worldwide trending topic would seem to follow. Superstars were being asked to create Twitter accounts. Storylines were being influenced by Twitter activity. Tweets and trending topics were being discussed during broadcasts. Superstars would even have their Twitter usernames be displayed along with their name upon entering the ring.

With everything that Twitter meant to WWE this year, it would almost be a crime to not relive some of the memories that WWE and Twitter have combined to create.

Best Worldwide Trending Topic

#bootstoasses

Not only did The Rock's saying of putting "Boots to Asses" make the back of his "Team Bring It" shirts, but the term itself became a well-known worldwide trending topic. The term, even in its short existence, still gets many chants from live crowds, even when The Rock is not on the episode.

The term reminds many people of the old Attitude Era, where The Rock used to say, more or less, that he would take his boot, turn it sideways and stick it straight up someone's ass. Obviously, there was more to it then. For now, Boots to Asses gets right to the point.

Worst Worldwide Trending Topic

#analbleeding

Believe it or not, there was one episode where the term "anal bleeding" was trending worldwide. Sure, there are some crazy stuff that trends, but this one belongs all to WWE. It was right after Jerry "The King" Lawler had been attacked by Mark Henry on an episode of RAW. Lawler was put through the announce table by Henry, but the table was not rigged properly. The table did not give entirely and Lawler paid for it by getting some pretty bad injuries. When he did not appear the following week, Michael Cole announced Lawler's injuries and threw in "anal bleeding."

Cole even tried to preface the diagnosis and did not laugh during it, but Booker T and Jim Ross both looked like they could not believe what was being said. Fans on Twitter couldn't believe it, either, leading to a lot of "did he just say anal bleeding?" tweets. It trended and the rest was regrettable history.

Best Twitter Picture of the Year

@CMPunk tweets current WWE champions

What a powerful picture to post on the part of CM Punk. Posted just this past Monday, Punk tweeted a picture of all the champions in WWE standing together. You don't often see those types of things and it was really awe inspiring. The tweet itself read "If you can't get behind this, you will be left behind."

Every single one of those champions has the fan opinions all over it. Punk and Bryan as world champions was a pipe dream a year ago. Cody Rhodes seemed to have a dead-end career not too long ago. Zack Ryder was just a jobber. The Divas' and tag team divisions were dead. Despite all of that, every championship was represented proudly. Next year will certainly be interesting to see what is next for this group.

Most Creative Twitter Name

@HEELZiggler

Most Twitter names in WWE consist of someone's name and not much else. Only Dolph Ziggler, from the very beginning, had his name literally say that he was a heel. It was edgy because it broke the fourth wall. Ziggler said he was a heel before CM Punk said everything he felt.

Ziggler has now turned that idea into part of his gimmick. Many of his clothes and choices of ring attire include "#HEEL" on them.

Best Fake WWE Twitter Name

@WWE_Creative

No, it isn't actually the creative team. It might as well be. If you need a pick-me-up throughout the day, read this Twitter feed. It is also a must-read during live tweeting during programming and pay-per-views. There are tons of fake Twitter accounts that are just plain hilarious, but this one is followed by more than 32,000 people.

Read some of their tweets and tell me you wouldn't follow this name.

Best Twitter Profile Picture

@CMPunk

There are plenty of pictures to choose from. Many are slightly boring and others change constantly. One that has seemed to stick for a very long time is this one from CM Punk. It appears to be Punk shooting a gun during a visit to the military, probably during a Tribute to the Troops. It's such a badass picture and, despite whatever happens to him in his career, this has been his picture throughout it all. He is at least consistent.

Best Relationship with Followers

@ZackRyder

The Woo Woo Woo Kid owes everything he is to his fans. Without them, Ryder might not even be employed by WWE anymore. Ryder has used his unique gimmick and great relationship with those who follow him. It is the fans who have made Ryder one of the most popular superstars in WWE today. He can thank his Twitter followers for that. All 427,806 of them.

More on Ryder and his Twitter later.

Unsung Twitter Superstar of the Year

@TylerReks

Poor Tyler Reks has been one of those young guys in WWE that has the menacing size but such a distinct lack of direction for his character. Starting out as a surfer dude in the old ECW brand, Reks went back to development after the brand folded. He would return with a dark and mysterious attitude. It seems like his dreadlocks are as close to a gimmick as they would like to show Reks having. This still doesn't stop Reks from trying to do things.

Despite rarely being given a chance to work on television, Reks has built up a following with his Twitter. That much seemed to have led to his tag team with Curt Hawkins. While the duo have yet to make much of an impact, they did try to follow in Ryder's footsteps with "MidCard Mafia," a YouTube cartoon created by Reks to unleash his frustrations about the company he works for. Naturally, the show was a trending topic on Twitter and did not go over well with WWE. The cartoon has since been pulled down, making Reks under-appreciated, as well as probably being on a shorter leash now.

Twitter Feud of the Year

@CMPunk vs. @steveaustinBSR

There has been a lot made for these two on Twitter. They would have a back-and-forth Twitter feud for the whole world to see, prompting many fans to want to see actual encounters with these two. Punk's straightedge lifestyle coupled with Austin's brash attitude and excessive drinking would make for a hostile situation.

It led to Austin and Punk having an encounter on RAW. There have also been constant hashtags from fans clamoring for a WrestleMania encounter between the two, rivaling the upcoming John Cena/ The Rock match in April.

Twitter Account of the Year

@ZackRyder

Without that name, who knows if WWE would even care so much about Twitter? Ryder's following blew up Twitter. Every time that Ryder was on television, he would trend worldwide. Superstars were prompted to join the social networking site and WWE now embraces their worldwide trends. It all links back to Ryder. He wasn't the first one on Twitter, but he is the first Twitter success story for WWE. Care to know who to blame for the Twitter obsession by WWE? Technically, blame Ryder.

Now what kind of guy would I be if I didn't try to plug my own Twitter on this article? Thanks to all who follow me and I hope to hear from more of you in the coming year.

Follow @RobertAitkenBR