Cheap Heat Wrestling - 2018 Year End Awards

2018 Cheap Heat Wrestling Year End Awards

2018 Inspirational Wrestler of the Year: Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns may have won himself the Most Inspirational Wrestler of All Time Award after he bravely announced his fight with leukemia on the October 22nd episode of RAW. Throughout the years, his battle with cancer had been kept a secret, but as the dreadful disease made its unwelcome return, Reigns was forced to relinquish his Universal Championship in a highly shocking and emotional moment that grabbed at the heart strings of the entire wrestling world. Joe Anoai poured his heart out and opened up about the opportunities he received in the WWE when all other doors were closed to him. Reigns ended his inspiring speech with the following promise, 'I want to make one thing clear. By no means is this a retirement speech because after I'm done whopping leukemia's ass once again, I'm coming back home.' He is currently undergoing cancer treatment in his quest to 'return home.'

2017 Winner: Paige
2016 Winner: Bayley
2015 Winner: Allie Parker

2018 Manager of the Year: Lana
The Manager of the Year award has been a long-time coming for Lana. She has been at Rusev's side for three United States championship runs. This time she helped her reality co-star husband through a scandalous betrayal at the hands of one Aiden English. Rusev Day was wildly popular and it had broken up, shocking the WWE Universe. While most wrestlers may have stalled, Lana returned to her husband's side and instead helped him achieve his third United States Championship victory over Shinsuke Nakamura.

2017 Winner: Maria Kanellis
2016 Winner: Lana
2015 Winner: Paul Heyman

2018 Most Improved Wrestler Of The Year, Most Popular Wrestler Of The Year: Becky Lynch 
Last year Becky Lynch was not in consideration for any awards. She was an afterthought, a mid-carder that floundered on the SmackDown roster. Cast away and lost in Charlotte Flair's lofty shadow, Lynch looked to live out the rest of her WWE career as an also ran. Then she lost to Charlotte at SummerSlam and the revolution began. Instead of being gracious in defeat, Lynch slapped her long-time friend. A new Becky Lynch was born and fans were solidly behind the Irish Lasskicker like never before. She capitalized on her momentum to win the coveted SmackDown Women's Championship and wrestle in the Match of The Year against Charlotte Flair (more on that later). Now, Lynch is undoubtedly the most popular wrestler in the WWE and enjoying a run reminiscent to 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's.

Most Improved Wrestler Winners
2017 Winner: Jinder Mahal
2016 Winner: Braun Strowman
2015 Winner: Nikki Bella

Most Popular Wrestler Winners
2017 Winner: The Shield
2016 Winner: Dean Ambrose
2015 Winner: Dean Ambrose

2018 Comeback of the Year: Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan was told that he would never wrestle again and discouraged from even attempting to make a comeback to the sport he loved. He didn't listen to reason and despite suffering from multiple concussions and the seizures that went along with them, Bryan never gave up on his dream of returning to the WWE. Those dreams became a reality in March of 2018 when Bryan announced that he would, in fact, be returning to the wrestling ring. He made a successful comeback at WrestleMania 34 alongside Shane McMahon against the team of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The dream was complete and Bryan would have won Comeback of the Year on that moment alone; however, he also had one other goal: winning the WWE Championship. Bryan accomplished that in November by defeating longtime WWE Champion AJ Styles. Within one year, the resurrected Daniel Bryan had accomplished what was considered impossible (returning) and had won the title that injury forced him to vacate 4 years ago.

2017 Winner: The Hardy Boyz
2016 Winner: Goldberg
2015 Winner: Sting

2018 Andy Kaufman Award (Best Comedic Performance By A Wrestler): Rusev
No wrestler has a better grasp of comedy than Rusev. Not only was the Bulgarian Brute able to get Rusev Day over in the WWE, but he also proved to be a master of comedy on Total Divas and social media, as well. This year Rusev's comedy included playing guitar in mockery of Elias and hilariously feigning indifference when talking about John Cena's movie career on Russian television. Something tells us that this was only a small sampling of Rusev's comedic ability, but it was enough to earn the United States Champion this year's Andy Kaufman Award.

2017 Winner: Breezango
2016 Winner: Chris Jericho
2015 Winner: Xavier Woods

2018 Most Hated Wrestler Of The Year: Tommaso Ciampa 
Tommaso Ciampa might just be the devil. It's a moniker that isn't easy to attain. No other mainstream wrestler has been referred to as such since Kevin Sullivan, who pulled evil off impeccably. Even Sullivan falls short of the diabolical Ciampa. Ciampa's brutal betrayal of best friend Johnny Gargano gets him here, but the image of him pulling Gargano's wedding ring off with his teeth is forever etched in the mind, as are the countless sadistic moments between both men. To add insult to injury, Ciampa was inevitably victorious in bringing the lovable fan favorite Gargano to the dark side with him, ensuring that there is no one else that can win this year's 2018 Most Hated Wrestler of the Year Award.


2017 Winner: Enzo Amore
2016 Winner: Roman Reigns
2015 Winner: Seth Rollins

2018 Rivalry Of The Year: Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano 
These two despised each other and engaged in one of the most believable feuds in wrestling history. Once best friends, Gargano and Ciampa became bitter enemies and participated in some of the most twisted and sadistic matches in WWE history. Ciampa, who once stood up at Gargano's wedding, even forcefully removed Gargano's wedding ring and then proceeded to toss it into the crowd. The two men were like the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, destined to rival one another for years to come and their feud reached such epic proportions that the 'fight forever' chants they frequently received could have actually come to fruition.

2017 Winner: Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman
2016 Winner: Sasha Banks vs Charlotte Flair
2015 Winner: Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker

2018 Tag Team Of The Year: The Young Bucks
No other tag team were more important to wrestling than the 2018 Young Bucks. Not only did they continue the trend of being one of the best in-ring talents in the world today, but they did so by staying true to themselves and their fans. There are a lot of good people in wrestling, but you would find it difficult to meet two kinder gentlemen than the Young Bucks. They could get this award on their in-ring accomplishments alone; however, their behind the scenes work with All In and All Elite Wrestling ensure the victory.

2017 Winner: The Usos
2016 Winner: The New Day
2015 Winner: The New Day

2018 Match Of The Year: Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch - Last Woman Standing (Evolution)
This was arguably the greatest women's match in history. It may be cliche, however both Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch gave their absolute all. Using chairs, tables, kendo sticks, and whatever else they could get their hands on, the two rivals fought to the point of brokenness and did so on a historic stage. Many would crumble under the weight of Evolution. The two Superstars carried women's wrestling on their back, but didn't meet expectations. They far exceeded them to the benefit of wrestling fans everywhere. No other match compared to this year's match of the year: Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch.

2017 Winner: Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne (NXT TakeOver Chicago - 5/20/17)
2016 Winner: Cedric Alexander vs Kota Ibushi (8/10/2016 Cruiserweight Classic)
2015 Winner: Pentagon, Jr. vs Vampiro

2018 Female Wrestler Of The Year, Rookie of the Year: Ronda Rousey 
Ronda Rousey made her WWE debut at the 2018 Royal Rumble. By simply setting foot in the ring, she was already the baddest and most recognizable female wrestler in the world. Rousey, like no other before her, lived up to the word 'Superstar.' Since that time, she went on to perform in WrestleMania's best match, a show-stealer alongside WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. The duo resoundingly defeated the team of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Rousey even mixed it up with Triple H and was physically imposing in the process, as the torch was passed from one era to the next and from male to female. Rousey would eventually go on to win the RAW Women's Championship and in her first year with the company has yet to lose a match. While Becky Lynch gave Rousey a run for her money this year, Lynch's rise began in August and even if it hadn't, Rousey's dominance over 2018 would be nearly impossible to overcome.


Female Wrestler of The Year
2017 Winner: Alexa Bliss
2016 Winner: Charlotte Flair
2015 Winner: Ronda Rousey

Rookie of the Year
2017 Winner: Kairi Sane
2016 Winner: Nia Jax
2015 Winner: Moose

2018 Male Wrestler of the Year: Cody Rhodes
All Cody Rhodes did this year was change the wrestling landscape forever. Rhodes brought All In to the wrestling world and it was the biggest non-WWE/WCW draw in American history. Rhodes also worked behind the scenes to develop All Elite Wrestling, an alternative to WWE which figures to be a major force in the wrestling industry in 2019 and beyond. Rhodes competed in ROH, NJPW, and NWA. At All In, he captured the NWA World Championship, a title made famous by his legendary father Dusty Rhodes. He also held the ROH World Six Man Championship and the IWGP United States Championship and proved once and for all that there is life outside of the WWE.

2017 Winner: Roman Reigns
2016 Winner: AJ Styles
2015 Winner: Seth Rollins

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