Congratulations to AJ Styles, Wrestling Observer Newsletter Wrestler of the Year!!!
FIRST PLACE VOTES IN PARENTHESIS
LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD
(WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)
1. A.J. STYLES (299) 2,507
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (160) 1,674
3. Kazuchika Okada (136) 1,532
4. Shinsuke Nakamura (190) 1,481
5. John Cena (55) 976
6. Brock Lesnar (79) 668
7. Seth Rollins (51) 580
8. Sasha Banks (80) 519
9. La Sombra (35) 228
10. Jay Lethal (21) 214
HONORABLE MENTION: Finn Balor 64
A.J. Styles, 38-year-old Allan Jones, became the first American to win the Thesz/Flair Award since John Cena in 2010.
Ironically, it took him going to Japan to do so, where he held the IWGP championship, beating Hiroshi Tanahashi on February 11 in Osaka, and losing to Kazuchika Okada on July 5 in New Japan’s biggest Osaka event in more than a decade at a sold out Jo Hall.
Styles was also one of the top stars in ROH and also headlined for a number of promotions in the U.K. During the year, he had some incredible matches with the likes of Tanahashi, Okada, Kota Ibushi, Katsuyori Shibata and Will Ospreay, and headlined the some of the biggest non-WWE shows of the year.
New Japan dominated the voting with the top four finishers, including the winners from the past four years in Tanahashi (2011-2013) and Nakamura (2014).
This was a year without a clear-cut standout for the award. Most of the top place-winners could be reasonably argued to have a shot. With New Japan, Styles was one of the big four, but all of the big four were fantastic wrestlers who successfully headlined major shows. Styles, maybe surprisingly, won by a considerable margin, since it’s hard to find a gap between the four. Styles, Tanahashi and Okada all held the IWGP heavyweight title, while Nakamura headlined a number of shows as IC champion. Okada got most of the Japanese awards, but that’s because he was the one who ended the year as champion, and also was in Genichiro Tenryu’s retirement match, which was one of the year’s biggest events in that country with the sold out crowd and closed circuit throughout the country.
Of the big four, Styles did more outside of Japan since he was not a full-timer there. But the New Japan crew strengthened their relationship with ROH, and got on television weekly in the U.S., so all strengthened their names overseas and in particular, had great matches with Roderick Strong in the U.S.
It was ridiculously close for spots two through four, with Nakamura actually getting the second most first place votes, but Tanahashi was listed top three on more ballots. All four came through in just about title match they were in during the year.
During the latter part of the year Styles was bothered with a herniated disc in his lower back, which forced him to miss a number of scheduled matches. He finished up in ROH with a title loss to Jay Lethal at Final Battle, and then, in a match of the year candidate, finished with New Japan on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome with an IC title loss to Nakamura after he gave notice. He left Japan after shooting an angle where he was turned on by Kenny Omega and kicked out of the Bullet Club.
Styles had been one of the best wrestlers in the U.S. for more than a decade with TNA, when his contract expired at the end of 2013. He opted to leave the promotion when they offered him a substantial pay cut due to the company’s financial issues.
But even though he was a great wrestler, it was something of a risk when New Japan made the decision to go all the way with him as the top foreigner, putting him over for the IWGP title in his first match as a regular on May 3, 2014, where he beat Okada in Fukuoka.
Only a handful of Americans had ever held the IWGP title, Hogan (who is generally not listed as champion now since when he held the title it was a tournament where the winner would defend the next year), Big Van Vader, Scott Norton and Bob Sapp. What they all had in common was they were monsters, while Styles was really the size of a junior heavyweight. New Japan had never put an American of Styles’ size over to the degree they did with him as far as clearly made top foreigner and a two-time top singles champion.
Styles didn’t get over immediately, and there were questions asked when a company as hot as New Japan was when they brought him in, would make him world champion so quickly, before a lot of fans knew who he was. But the experiment was a huge success. His first match with Okada was good, but not great, but the rematch was fantastic and he clearly showed he could hang with the best in Japan during his first G-1 tournament in 2014.
Barring something unforeseen, Styles will be starting a new chapter in his career with WWE in 2016. It’ll be a major test for both. Styles already broke the mold for top foreigner with New Japan, and he’s certainly not the traditional style headliner for WWE. The question is can WWE, which has struggled to an extent in making top new stars, get over a guy who doesn’t fit their mold but has gotten over strong everywhere he’s been in the last two years. And for Styles, the challenge is performing on his biggest stage while dealing with healing a serious back problem.
Cena, as WWE’s biggest star, had consistently very good matches in a Nakamura-like role of elevating the U.S. title after WrestleMania, with weekly challenge matches on Raw. His program with Kevin Owens, while it could have ended differently, did put Owens on the map as a genuine star at a far higher level. There is a gap between his best matches and those of the Japanese. And he was downgraded as the company’s focal point in favor of Roman Reigns as the ascending star. But he is still the biggest full-time pro wrestling star in the world and one who delivered big matches inside the ring.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1980 - Harley Race; 1981 - Harley Race; 1982 - Ric Flair; 1983 - Ric Flair; 1984 - Ric Flair; 1985 - Ric Flair; 1986 - Ric Flair; 1987 - Riki Choshu; 1988 - Akira Maeda; 1989 - Ric Flair; 1990 - Ric Flair; 1991 - Jumbo Tsuruta; 1992 - Ric Flair; 1993 - Vader; 1994 - Toshiaki Kawada; 1995 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1996 - Kenta Kobashi; 1997 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1998 - Steve Austin; 1999 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 2000 - HHH; 2001 - Keiji Muto; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Kenta Kobashi; 2004 - Kenta Kobashi; 2005 - Kenta Kobashi; 2006 - Mistico; 2007 - John Cena; 2008 - Chris Jericho; 2009 - Chris Jericho; 2010 - John Cena; 2011 - Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2012 - Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2013 - Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2014 - Shinsuke Nakamura
FIRST PLACE VOTES IN PARENTHESIS
LOU THESZ/RIC FLAIR AWARD
(WRESTLER OF THE YEAR)
1. A.J. STYLES (299) 2,507
2. Hiroshi Tanahashi (160) 1,674
3. Kazuchika Okada (136) 1,532
4. Shinsuke Nakamura (190) 1,481
5. John Cena (55) 976
6. Brock Lesnar (79) 668
7. Seth Rollins (51) 580
8. Sasha Banks (80) 519
9. La Sombra (35) 228
10. Jay Lethal (21) 214
HONORABLE MENTION: Finn Balor 64
A.J. Styles, 38-year-old Allan Jones, became the first American to win the Thesz/Flair Award since John Cena in 2010.
Ironically, it took him going to Japan to do so, where he held the IWGP championship, beating Hiroshi Tanahashi on February 11 in Osaka, and losing to Kazuchika Okada on July 5 in New Japan’s biggest Osaka event in more than a decade at a sold out Jo Hall.
Styles was also one of the top stars in ROH and also headlined for a number of promotions in the U.K. During the year, he had some incredible matches with the likes of Tanahashi, Okada, Kota Ibushi, Katsuyori Shibata and Will Ospreay, and headlined the some of the biggest non-WWE shows of the year.
New Japan dominated the voting with the top four finishers, including the winners from the past four years in Tanahashi (2011-2013) and Nakamura (2014).
This was a year without a clear-cut standout for the award. Most of the top place-winners could be reasonably argued to have a shot. With New Japan, Styles was one of the big four, but all of the big four were fantastic wrestlers who successfully headlined major shows. Styles, maybe surprisingly, won by a considerable margin, since it’s hard to find a gap between the four. Styles, Tanahashi and Okada all held the IWGP heavyweight title, while Nakamura headlined a number of shows as IC champion. Okada got most of the Japanese awards, but that’s because he was the one who ended the year as champion, and also was in Genichiro Tenryu’s retirement match, which was one of the year’s biggest events in that country with the sold out crowd and closed circuit throughout the country.
Of the big four, Styles did more outside of Japan since he was not a full-timer there. But the New Japan crew strengthened their relationship with ROH, and got on television weekly in the U.S., so all strengthened their names overseas and in particular, had great matches with Roderick Strong in the U.S.
It was ridiculously close for spots two through four, with Nakamura actually getting the second most first place votes, but Tanahashi was listed top three on more ballots. All four came through in just about title match they were in during the year.
During the latter part of the year Styles was bothered with a herniated disc in his lower back, which forced him to miss a number of scheduled matches. He finished up in ROH with a title loss to Jay Lethal at Final Battle, and then, in a match of the year candidate, finished with New Japan on 1/4 at the Tokyo Dome with an IC title loss to Nakamura after he gave notice. He left Japan after shooting an angle where he was turned on by Kenny Omega and kicked out of the Bullet Club.
Styles had been one of the best wrestlers in the U.S. for more than a decade with TNA, when his contract expired at the end of 2013. He opted to leave the promotion when they offered him a substantial pay cut due to the company’s financial issues.
But even though he was a great wrestler, it was something of a risk when New Japan made the decision to go all the way with him as the top foreigner, putting him over for the IWGP title in his first match as a regular on May 3, 2014, where he beat Okada in Fukuoka.
Only a handful of Americans had ever held the IWGP title, Hogan (who is generally not listed as champion now since when he held the title it was a tournament where the winner would defend the next year), Big Van Vader, Scott Norton and Bob Sapp. What they all had in common was they were monsters, while Styles was really the size of a junior heavyweight. New Japan had never put an American of Styles’ size over to the degree they did with him as far as clearly made top foreigner and a two-time top singles champion.
Styles didn’t get over immediately, and there were questions asked when a company as hot as New Japan was when they brought him in, would make him world champion so quickly, before a lot of fans knew who he was. But the experiment was a huge success. His first match with Okada was good, but not great, but the rematch was fantastic and he clearly showed he could hang with the best in Japan during his first G-1 tournament in 2014.
Barring something unforeseen, Styles will be starting a new chapter in his career with WWE in 2016. It’ll be a major test for both. Styles already broke the mold for top foreigner with New Japan, and he’s certainly not the traditional style headliner for WWE. The question is can WWE, which has struggled to an extent in making top new stars, get over a guy who doesn’t fit their mold but has gotten over strong everywhere he’s been in the last two years. And for Styles, the challenge is performing on his biggest stage while dealing with healing a serious back problem.
Cena, as WWE’s biggest star, had consistently very good matches in a Nakamura-like role of elevating the U.S. title after WrestleMania, with weekly challenge matches on Raw. His program with Kevin Owens, while it could have ended differently, did put Owens on the map as a genuine star at a far higher level. There is a gap between his best matches and those of the Japanese. And he was downgraded as the company’s focal point in favor of Roman Reigns as the ascending star. But he is still the biggest full-time pro wrestling star in the world and one who delivered big matches inside the ring.
PREVIOUS WINNERS: 1980 - Harley Race; 1981 - Harley Race; 1982 - Ric Flair; 1983 - Ric Flair; 1984 - Ric Flair; 1985 - Ric Flair; 1986 - Ric Flair; 1987 - Riki Choshu; 1988 - Akira Maeda; 1989 - Ric Flair; 1990 - Ric Flair; 1991 - Jumbo Tsuruta; 1992 - Ric Flair; 1993 - Vader; 1994 - Toshiaki Kawada; 1995 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1996 - Kenta Kobashi; 1997 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 1998 - Steve Austin; 1999 - Mitsuharu Misawa; 2000 - HHH; 2001 - Keiji Muto; 2002 - Kurt Angle; 2003 - Kenta Kobashi; 2004 - Kenta Kobashi; 2005 - Kenta Kobashi; 2006 - Mistico; 2007 - John Cena; 2008 - Chris Jericho; 2009 - Chris Jericho; 2010 - John Cena; 2011 - Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2012 - Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2013 - Hiroshi Tanahashi; 2014 - Shinsuke Nakamura
