V2 WWC 2012 Round 1 Group 3

Bobby Roode was in full control of group 2 for most of yesterday qualifying for round 2 in first place with 41% of the total vote, the battle for second was neck and neck all day with the current US Champ just piping ROH's Steen into the next round with 12 votes to Steens 11.

Next up is group 3

Please vote for the wrestler you believe has generated the best work in the last 12 months

As always please leave a comment as to why you voted

The top two will progress into round 2

I've gone for James Storm.

I don't like much about TNA. Storm and Bully Ray spring to mind as the only two performers I really enjoy watching. He's got a good character and he seems to get their rubbish crowd excited, so I think that's a good measure of his talent.

Hardy for me for how he has overcome his demons, knuckled down this past year and worked his way back to the top of the pile. Many others would have just expected to go straight back as the main man.

I've had to go for Adam Cole, it's just unfortunate he's up against two of TNA's biggest stars, and the majority of you probably won't know what a great year he has had in the indy scene.

# Main evented ROH's 10th Anniversary Show pinning Davey Richards to take the win
# Won TV Championship beating Roderick Strong, having now held the belt since July
# Challeneged for World Title Matches
# WWE attempted to sign him early this year after some impressive work
# BOLA 2012 Winner (PWG) (Then turning Heel)
# Number #1 for Kevin Steen's World Title (PWG)

Went for James Storm, because come out of a recent tag team with Roode and made his mark as a singles wrestler in the main event scene.

Couple of strong candidates out there, since his move to Japan, Pac has really broken out as one of, if not the best highflyer in the world, if you can find his matches with Ricochet some of the ariels just have to been seen to be belived, that set, as would be the issues with most Jap workers, the lack of defined feuds and mic time have let him down, hopefully this will improve when he surfaces in WWE

Adam Cole deserves a shout, for a lot of the reasons Enigma listed above, it's been a meteioric year for him, and his in-ring output has been very good, my problems with him though are I still find him a little bland and think they broke up Futureshock too early, he and O'Rielly could have used more time to develop and improve as characters, at the moment they still strike me as a poor man's Edwards and Richards, which isn't a criticism as such just that while he (and O'Rielly) patten their acts so clearly on their mentors comparisons are inevitable and the former Wolves are two of the best going in the indies today

Jeff Hardy obviously this year was the centre of his redemption storyline and while it had an obvious beginning, with the contrite, humble Hardy returning to TNA, and a blockbuster finish, with him facing Aries at BFG in a very good match, I feel the middle fell a little flat, if I'm honest I remember next to nothing between him pinning Jarrett 3 times at Turning Point and making Joe tap out on the pre-No Surrender Impact, he sort of just floated about in the mid card for most of the year and I can't recall any exciting fueds, matches or that indefinable Hardy It Factor, to draw my attention to him, but as I said he seemed to be getting back into his groove right at the end so it will be interesting to see what has come of it in a years time, if he can fufil his undeniable potential.

Speaking of people who have come into their own in a year, that brings me to the man I am going to vote for, James Storm, when he won the title a year ago, I saw him as a tag team wrestler with a southern flavoured gimmick that could never hack it at the top level and his title win over the much more exciting Bobby Roode was TNA's clusterflip booking at it's finest, but as the year went on he really grew into the role, and I now totally buy him as a top line babyface, and while in terms of all round ability he ain't no Ric Flair but he exudes an intensity when he speaks and his smash mouth style is exciting, plus the more I though about it, the more his gimmick makes sense as a babyface, beer drinking, truck driving, bar brawling man of the people isn't exactly a stunningly origional concept but it works, in the ring highlights have been his matches in the early part of the year with Angle, his squash of Crimson, his semi-final match with Bully Ray at No Surrender and of course his bloodbath with Roode at BFG, speaking of Storm and Roode, of course their defining feud of the year was with each other, and like I said with Roode, I feel the feud suffered with Aries surprise title win, when all roads were pointing to a Storm title win at BFG, but credit to both men they brought the intensity back with some ace brawling and really delivered on the big show.

Someone voted for Colt Cabana? All he's done in the last 12 months is be CM Punk's friend.

FYI I went for Storm, easily the best of the group, Hardy may have done well getting over his demons but i'm not really a fan of his anyway. It's not like he's delivered any decent promos, he's basically an overhyped Heath Slater with facepaint.

Marky wrote:Someone voted for Colt Cabana? All he's done in the last 12 months is be CM Punk's friend.

But he was instrumental in the year before.

Great summing up there doc and thanks for the PAC, Cole summary, I’m the first to admit that my knowledge outside of wwe/tna is poor so it’s great to have some insight into what these characters have delivered in the last 12 months.

For me this was a straight tossup between Storm and Hardy both of which have had excellent years and both claimed the 'big one' in the last 12 months. When storm won his first WHC I was baffled by TNA's booking considering Roodes rise and build up going into last year’s BFG, it seemed a lock that he would claim the strap from Angle so when TNA swerved the 'internet fans' as Hogan and Eric B put it by default I was not Storms biggest fan. However since then he has performed well above my opinion of his limitations and seems to be hugely over with the live crowds especially down south which I suppose to some extent is expected. Storm appears to be thought of very highly in TNA and being handed Crimsons streak only fuels that train of thought (on another note how far has crimson fallen since then...?!!), I can see 2013 being a very successful year for the cowboy and he gets my vote today.

Hardy for overcoming his demons

Gregers wrote:Hardy for overcoming his demons

How do people know he has overcome them, TNA could just be hiding it.

Whenever he comes out he looks higher the Baumgartner!

Marky wrote:Someone voted for Colt Cabana? All he's done in the last 12 months is be CM Punk's friend.

And produce a quality podcast.

Statto00 wrote:

Marky wrote:Someone voted for Colt Cabana? All he's done in the last 12 months is be CM Punk's friend.

And produce a quality podcast.

Exactly.

The fact he only has one vote is a TRAVESTY!

I'm really not a fan of James Storm, I think he's talented but I just don't think he has that appeal that Bobby Roode has, I don't think he has the appeal that Jeff Hardy has nor Austin Aries and I just don't think he's got the appeal that Samoa Joe or AJ Styles has.

I can't put my finger on it, for me he's just lacking a fundemental, I just can't get interested in him as a stand alone personality

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:
Adam Cole deserves a shout, for a lot of the reasons Enigma listed above, it's been a meteioric year for him, and his in-ring output has been very good, my problems with him though are I still find him a little bland and think they broke up Futureshock too early, he and O'Rielly could have used more time to develop and improve as characters, at the moment they still strike me as a poor man's Edwards and Richards, which isn't a criticism as such just that while he (and O'Rielly) patten their acts so clearly on their mentors comparisons are inevitable and the former Wolves are two of the best going in the indies today

Interesting input there. I'd have to completly agree 100% with you about how they broke up Futureshock early. They still do tag together in other promotions but I think they did pull the trigger a little to soon in ROH, the tag division is on it's knees and could have done with a break-out tag team. They could have also extended they're feud with each other as they did have some great matches in the short time they faced each other, perhaps they might come back to this at some point in 2013
But I disagree strongly with the comparisons of Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards. I think your right about Kyle O'Reilly but Cole is completly different. He's got a fantastic move set and proved he can compete with the best when he's faced Eddie Edwards, Roderick Strong & Kevin Steen this year. I just hope that if he does end up facing Matt Hardy, Hardy puts him over as he is for sure a future ROH world champion.

Y2James wrote:Hardy for me for how he has overcome his demons, knuckled down this past year and worked his way back to the top of the pile. Many others would have just expected to go straight back as the main man.

What he said!!!

The_Enigma wrote:

Dr Gregory House MD wrote:
Adam Cole deserves a shout, for a lot of the reasons Enigma listed above, it's been a meteioric year for him, and his in-ring output has been very good, my problems with him though are I still find him a little bland and think they broke up Futureshock too early, he and O'Rielly could have used more time to develop and improve as characters, at the moment they still strike me as a poor man's Edwards and Richards, which isn't a criticism as such just that while he (and O'Rielly) patten their acts so clearly on their mentors comparisons are inevitable and the former Wolves are two of the best going in the indies today

Interesting input there. I'd have to completly agree 100% with you about how they broke up Futureshock early. They still do tag together in other promotions but I think they did pull the trigger a little to soon in ROH, the tag division is on it's knees and could have done with a break-out tag team. They could have also extended they're feud with each other as they did have some great matches in the short time they faced each other, perhaps they might come back to this at some point in 2013
But I disagree strongly with the comparisons of Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards. I think your right about Kyle O'Reilly but Cole is completly different. He's got a fantastic move set and proved he can compete with the best when he's faced Eddie Edwards, Roderick Strong & Kevin Steen this year. I just hope that if he does end up facing Matt Hardy, Hardy puts him over as he is for sure a future ROH world champion.

Perhaps I came across a little harsh on Cole in my first post, I don't deny he's a very talented wrestler and at 23 he's amazingly good considering his age, but I do find him very bland on the mic and personally I've struggled to shake the comparisons with Edwards and Richards, Though he has some pretty varied moves in his arsenal I still get that quasi-MMA feel when I'm watching him, with the kicking base to his style, I'm sure he still has time to grow and will probably go on to be a very good world champion but at the moment I still get an Edwards, Richards-Lite feeling off him and think he probably would have been better served in Futureshock (I'm aware they still tag in PWG and such likes) growing together into their own men and providing a focal point for the tag division.

Sorry about your damn luck group 2!!!! The cowboy James storm has strolled into round 2 with 20 votes and joining in second place is TNA's current world heavyweight champion Jeff (I've overcome my demons) hardy.

WWC is back Monday with yet more voting based wrestling fun!

I know it's been a few days, but I've not been here since Friday. The reason that Cole looks so bland on the mic is because he's being told what to say in his promo's within ROH. It all seems forced.

Here's a couple of videos showcasing that Cole can talk on the mic, and can work well as a heel. I've heard great things of his time in CZW as a heel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCvs_HLkY_U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38X1ps6VEl0