The 2016 edition of The Mayhemmys were awarded this week on the Wrestling Mayhem Show. We have some very worthy winners, some surprising results and a decent dose of controversy.
This had to be most ambitious format for year-end professional wrestling awards, and I think it was a great success. It began with the gathering of an expert panel of industry insiders: announcer/producer Joe Dombrowski, professional wrestler Chris LeRusso and International Wrestling Cartel owner Justin Plummer. Their nominees in the 8 categories were then put up for a public vote, with write-in candidates also being accept. The results were tallied, and here are your winners.
The big story was the large, and diverse, field of write-in candidates. We received many different names, but none garnered enough support from the masses to jump past our expert panel’s nominees. Among those, Seth Rollins was the clear winner.
One of the biggest blowouts in this year’s voting, Sasha Banks was the overwhelming choice among the voters.
You had to know there was going to be some unrest after our expert panel declined to nominate The New Day in this category. The public made their opinion known with a strong write-in campaign. In the end, it wasn’t enough to beat the Young Bucks.
This was one of the closest votes in this year’s Mayhemmys. Both TakeOver: Brooklyn and Wrestle Kingdom 9 were great shows which represented monumental, historic steps forward for both NXT and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Another controversial result, NXT was actually trailing in this category going into the final days of the voting. A late surge of support gave NXT the winning edge.
The biggest revolt against our expert panel’s nominees is in this category. Despite being nominated, Stephanie McMahon garnered little support. The public staged a passionate write-in campaign for Dario Cueto, but it fell well short of Paul Heyman, whose position as the standard for speaking in pro wrestling remains secure.
Wow. The biggest blowout in this year’s Mayhemmys is right here. Finn Bálor absolutely torched the rest of the field.
A big thank you to everyone who voted for The Mayhemmys. I enjoyed the new format. Hopefully, we can do it even bigger and better next year!