2009 IWRG AWARDS!

So barring any new stuff showing up (and we can always hope) we have now watched and reviewed the totality of available 2009 IWRG. So here are some year end awards

Wrestler of the Year

PAS: Trauma II

Negro Navarro was my 2009 wrestler of the year but some of his best stuff was outside of IWRG (Solar title match, Delaware trios). His baby boy however made 2009 his. Turned into a world class wrestler in front of our eyes, had a pair of awesome title matches (vs. Avisman and vs. Zatura) and owned it in trios as well. Right up there with Danielson and Yujiro Yammamoto as the future of wrestling.

TKG: Dr. Cerebro

This was a two man race between Black Terry and Dr Cerebro. . Los Terribles Cerebros were the best team in wrestling in 2009. And the two really complimented each other well. Terry was really the heart of the team while Dr Cerebro was the workhorse. Cerebro was performing on a level that allowed Terry to concentrate on subtler character stuff. When you saw Black Terry without Dr Cerebro he would end up doing a lot more ring work, and when you saw Dr Cerebro without Terry, Cerebro would put in a little more character work. Dr Cerebro was in four hair matches in 2009. While we didn’t get to see the Dr Cerebro v Juve hair match we got to see the awesome match that set it up. We only got to see one hair v hair match, the Cerebro v Mikey Segura one which was pretty great if not for the overbooked finish. It was a two man race and showcase singles matches put Cerebro over the top for me.

Match of the Year

PAS: Zatura v. Trauma II 6/18(REVIEW)

Lucha Libre is kind of a dying artform, really all the great work is being done by wrestlers in their 40's and 50's and both major promotions push a crappy approximation of the style. So it is great to see to young guys have a match this good which felt actually modern. This wasn't a 1992 title match being done in 2009, it was something new but still great.

TKG: Negro Navarro/Trauma I/Trauma II v. Black Terry/Cerebro Negro/Dr. Cerebro 4/16 (REVIEW)

This was the feud of the year and this was the match that set it up in Naucalpan, that established the relationships between all the participants, teased match ups, established the basis for a feud, and it's the match that all the rest of the matches in the feud reference. And untill they have a match that equals this I won't buy that any payoff match is actually the last match in the feud.

Team of the Year

PAS: Terrible Cerebros

Cerebros v. Navarros was by far the feud of the year, and the Cerebros family also had fun matches against the Oficiales and a Jr. Piratas. This could have gone either way, but since I gave Trauma II wrestler of the year for IWRG and Negro Navarro wrestler of the year for the world, I can give this one to Terry and the Boys

TKG:Terribles Cerebros.

The further you get from 2009 the more obvious it is that these guys dominated it.

Most Improved

PAS: Zatura

Both Trauma's made huge leaps in 2009 too, but Zatura went from a guy dragging down trios matches to one of the top 15 guys in the world. Great on the mat, awesome agility, great selling, and cool dives. He pretty much is the total technico package.

TKG: Trauma II.

Trauma II is a guy who you watched get better from week to week. Constantly workshopping new stuff. I am normally not a fan of wrestlers who are constantly trying to “innovate” but I think that’s because “innovative wrestlers” tend to have really bad aesthetic judgements. Truama II is trying things and improving in ways that actually interest me.

Worst Wrestler of the Year

PAS: Angelico

There is some semi watchable stuff in 2010, but in 2009 he was a plague on all that he touched. His fake British matwork, awkward Chikara flying, and awful fake Low-Ki kicks, just unbearable.

TKG: Arlequin Amarillo

A quick finger count tells me that we watched a total of 106 wrestlers in IWRG in 2009. Sexy Gladys was so bad that they edited him out of a match. We only saw Arlequin Verde one time and he looked awful. Honestly this should go to Angelico. Arlequin Amarillo at least has a better sense of how to put a match together. But I said after the 12/20 match: “I’d like to stop writing about the poor wrestling of Angelico. Yes his South African diamonds has bought him an inexplicable main event push. But I figure those same South African diamonds have paid for Black Terry Jr’s digital video camera. So I’ll take the bad with the good. It totally makes up for it.” Arlequin Amarillo was worlds better than Angelico in 2009. But he didn’t buy anyone a digital camera.