|
2004's Best Male Wrestler
The SLAM! Readers and SLAM! Wrestling staff make their year-end picks
|
  
|
What We Thought
Jason Clevett - Chris Benoit. It was a toss up between Chris
Benoit
and Eddy Guerrero, but Benoit has had better quality opposition and a more
solid
full year, even though in terms of overall package (charisma, in ring
ability),
Guerrero has the edge. 2004 was Benoit’s year and I am curious to see
where
the company takes him in 2005.
Yves Leroux - Chris Benoit. Without a doubt, Benoit for going
against
the odds and not only winning, but keeping the championship belt for a
while.
Samoa Joe comes in at a close second for being Ring Of Honor Wrestling's
champion
for almost the entire year.
Bob Kapur - Chris Benoit.
To me, there are two essential criteria
in
picking who is the best professional wrestler: the quality of their
in-ring
performance, and whether or not they are a character worth caring about.
With
respect the first, I was asked by a friend to list my choices for top 5
matches
of the year; Benoit was in every one of them. As for the second, well, the
fact
that tears welled up in my eyes when he won the title at WrestleMania says
it
all.
Corey David Lacroix - Kenta Kobashi. A man who not that long ago
seemed
destined for retirement due to injuries has delivered miracle title
matches
when it counts. It makes it so easy to believe in this guy as a legitimate
heavyweight
wrestling champion with his fighting spirit and willingness to take insane
bumps.
Believe in Kobashi!
Jon Waldman - Eddy Guererro. As much as I'd love to give Benoit
this
award, Guererro has been more consistently in the limelight on Smackdown
and
wor
ks the fans into a frenzy on a more consistent basis than Beniot.
Benoit
also had the advantage of working every week with very agile men in the
ring,
while Eddy had to work with the likes of JBL and make watchable matches.
Viva
Latino Heat.
What Our Readers Thought:
1. Best Male Wrestler
|
Graph |
Count |
Percent |
| Chris Benoit |
 |
653 |
45.1 |
| Randy Orton |
|
192 |
13.3 |
| AJ Styles |
|
116 |
8.0 |
| Chris Jericho |
|
81 |
5.6 |
| Shelton Benjamin |
|
79 |
5.5 |
| Triple H |
|
75 |
5.2 |
| Eddie Guerrero |
|
64 |
4.4 |
| John Cena |
|
53 |
3.7 |
| Edge |
|
45 |
3.1 |
| JBL |
|
23 |
1.6 |
| Booker T |
|
11 |
0.8 |
| Jeff Jarrett |
|
3 |
0.2 |
| Other |
|
42 |
2.9 |
|
Total |
1447 |
100.0 |
| |
|
Each day we'll post another award-winner.
Visit the SLAM! Wrestling store!
Order your WWE Chris Benoit Double DVD set now!
