2007 Tapatia Preview

Voting for the 2008 Tapatia Awards starts on Monday (NOT TODAY – DO NOT VOTE), so I thought it’d be worth a post to throw out nominees and possibly inflict my bias on the voter base. Feel free to persuade people to vote like you in the comments. You can also take a look at last year’s winners to remember where we’ve been and get an idea of where this might go.

Before I get to nominees ideas, I’m still not actually sure about an award existing on the ballot. I’d been thinking about adding Best Mini this year, but upon further reflection…the AAA minis didn’t do much this year and the CMLL minis didn’t get on TV much till the end of the year. This probably will work for 2008, but I’m not so sure about 2007. Anyone have an dissenting opinion?

Sticking with stuff that’s going to be voted on…

1) Best Wrestler

There’s no runaway winner, but plenty of people you can make reasonable cases. Mistico, Perro Jr. ($), Wagner, Ultimo Guerrero (just for existing) are possibilities from CMLL, AAA’s got plenty of people if you’re willing to ignore the actual matches – Cibernetico, Mesias, and Parka are the easiest ones. If you choose to look at guys who’ve been great, though not put in top positions, maybe you consider Gran Apache, Billy Boy, Super Fly (more so than Laredo, since he missed so much time), or Alan Stone. You can throw Santo in, just for getting a show to work based on being Santo. Black Terry hasn’t always been a top guy for IWRG, but he’s been consistently involved in a group where a lot of people just pass thru, maybe he’s worth some down ballot consideration

2) Best Match

This is always the last and hardest votes for me to make. I accumlate a sense of what I want to do with the other awards thru the year, but remembering specifics is a bit harder. (The repeatitive neature of GdR does not help with this.) As always, I recommend checking the luchawiki list of matches and/or posting links to video of matches you think other people should vote for, to refresh everyone.

3) Best Tecnico

This seems like it’ll be Mistico’s award again, though Cibernetico, La Parka Jr., Santo and Dr. Wagner should get votes. Or maybe I’m not giving enough credit to the Mistico backlash. Favorites from lower on the cards: Valiente, Sombra, Billy Boy, Fabi Apache, various Air Force wrestlers

4) Best Rudo

Mesias was definitely the strongest pushed rudo in Mexico this year, though Perro might argue. UG should get some votes, Gran Apache too. Members of the Sect? Members of the Triad of Terror?

5) Best Female

SuperLuchas awards, which I didn’t post at the time because I didn’t want to spoil the magazine but never got around to posting after the fact, went with an all CMLL top 3 three here. It surprised me, and then didn’t suprise me. My first place vote’s going to either Fabi Apache (who was a central figure in AAA this year, but didn’t actually have a good year if you think of this as a sport and note how she didn’t actually win much) or Amapola (who went unfeatured for most of the year, but did get a hair win and a title win.) Marcela (Mexican Women’s Champ), Lady Apache (CMLL Women’s Champ most of the year), Dark Angel (women’s Cibernetico champ) and Cinthia Moreno (Mixed Tag Champ) all seem worth considering for spots on the ballot. Tiffany was the Reina de Reina champion but missed much of the year.

6) Best Unit

For the purpose of this award, this year, the Secta (Mesias + Dark Family), the Vipers and the Legion (all foreigners + Zorro + Electro) are separate entities. There’s a lot of groups to choose from; groups like the Legion and the Perros dominated their promotions at times, but Real Fureza Aerea AAA and Guerreros del Atlantida were generally more fun.

7) Best Promotion/Territory

CMLL, AAA, IWRG, AULL (assuming you can see them), Todos X El Todos (all one show – though I guess you can throw in the other Santo stuff) and…Monterrey? Should we be voting Laguna since CMLL is taking all their wrestlers?

8) Best Rivalary

I will not be voting for Cibernetico/Mesias, but you might! Billy Boy vs Gran Apache has to be the strong favorite here, but maybe you’d prefer to vote for Mistico vs Perro or Warrior or UG or Averno or whoever else I’m forgetting. There’s lots to choice from here, especially from the AAA side. Stuka/Jeque was 2007! 2007 is a long year. I think Amapola/Marcela wins Best Satellite Fued of the year.

9) Most Improved

A tougher one this year, because most of the guys who are newly good didn’t really get better, they just got on TV a lot more. Like, I don’t think Valiente would work for this one. Nosferatu might. Alan Stone? Decnis? Mr. Neibla or Super Calo becoming relevant again? I’m not sure how this one is going to go.

10) Most Underutilitzed

This award is tougher this year, for all the right reasons; more TV has meant more people are being used in more ways, though it always can improve. Last year, the top 3 were Blue Panther (who did win a mask in the biggest CMLL show of the year), Volador Jr. (won a title and worked top 2 matches thru the year) and Sangre Azteca (see previous!) I think this award might turn out to be less “not used” and more “misused”. Then again, maybe vote for the top stars that weren’t treated like top stars – I could definetely see someone voting Dr. Wagner or Latin Lover as #1 here.

What do you think?