Over the past two weeks we have run down our ‘best' and ‘worst' picks of 2009 on The LAW and I wanted to take this time to review my picks and put some explanation behind all of the picks.

Best Wrestler (male) - Chris Jericho
It's really hard to argue this pick as he was the MVP of the promotion throughout the year working both ‘Raw' and ‘Smackdown' for the majority. The character he crafted in 2008 evolved even moreso in 2009 and serves as a testament to the confidence of Jericho in blowing up an already successful babyface character and creating this heel persona for the next decade. Arguments can be made for others such as Kurt Angle (a more consistent in ring performer you will be hard pressed to find), Davey Richards (a breakout year for this performer) and Hiroshi Tanahashi (the biggest bright spot in New Japan right now) but I think when you analyze the entire package and how valuable one was to their respective promotion on all facets of what the industry calls for, Jericho is head and shoulders at the top for 2009.

Best Wrestler (female) - Hamada
When Hamada debuted for TNA back in August she immediately established herself with her strongest asset - her in ring ability. She has never been given an adequate promotional push and has made up for that shortcoming but using the limited in ring time she has been given to have stellar matches with Daffney and Tara. Hopefully with the Tag Titles being put on Hamada and Kong that we can get a great run from these two and an eventual feud.

Best Tag Team - Beer Money Inc.
Many are voting in the direction of Big Show and Chris Jericho but I'm leaning towards the team that was together for the full year rather than six months and are consistently the most ‘over' product that was created by TNA. Many were doubtful that James Storm would flourish post AMW but Storm and Roode compliment each other so well. Their ‘Beer...Money' celebration during their matches is so over and have helped elevated TNA's tag division by raising the game of those in the ring opposite Beer Money.

Best on the Mic - Frank Mir
The goal of any promo is that at the end the viewer wants to see that person either kick someone's ass or get their ass kicked and no one was better in that regard that Frank Mir, who fans either loved or hated. Mir's ability to use his promo ability to draw people in for his fights was second to none in 2009 resulting in headlining UFC 100 (1.6 million buys) and the co-feature of UFC 107 (625,000 buys) and becoming the top drawing heel in the industry. 2010 could be another huge year for Mir with a March 27th fight with Shane Carwin and if his health situation is taken care of, a third fight with Brock Lesnar that will do gigantic business.

Best Announcer - Mauro Ranallo
Mauro has an ability to take his verbal skills and turn a good fight into a great fight and a great fight into an epic fight. When it comes to the call of a mixed martial arts contest Ranallo provides the soundtrack I want attached to a major league event and his tidbits of information help add color and context to each respective bout and make you care about each fighter, which should be the goal of every announcer.

Best Non Wrestling Performer - Don West
He has been limited in his on screen time but when you take his work as the heel announcer (a heel turn that seemed destined for failure when executed but provided some tremendous television) and his work as the promoter for Amazing Red I think a round of applause is reserved for Don West. TNA found a diamond in the rough with this guy in 2002, who had a shaky start but has evolved into a tremendous performer that is needed on a professional wrestling show and hopefully his skills are not forgotten with the new regime.

Best ‘Raw' Guest Host - Jesse Ventura
Ventura cut arguably the best promo of any of the guest host and reverted into his wrestling skin fairly seamlessly back in November. The decision to put Ventura and Vince McMahon on commentary was a nice bit of a nostalgia and most of all his appearance helped elevate Sheamus and saved a dying segment at the end involving Sheamus attacking John Cena where the fans sat on their hands.

Most Improved - Brutus Magnus
It was only this past February where Magnus debuted wearing a gladiator outfit and worked Chris Sabin on a terrible pay per view match that did nothing for Magnus. A singles run with Magnus was not going to end well so he was repackaged as a Hugh Jackson style smug heel as part of The British Invasion, where his in ring would be limited and allow Doug Williams to carry the work load. The gimmick has gotten over well, his in ring has slowly gotten better and he is a great worker on the stick - all in the course of the last seven months.

Best Comeback - Ricky Steamboat
If you were hoping for the 1989 Ricky Steamboat than you were setting yourself up for a letdown however, the Steamboat that returned this past April ended up being one of the highlights of WrestleMania and his followup singles match at ‘Backlash' with Chris Jericho overachieved when you consider it had been fifteen years since Steamboat worked a full match. With so many young talents being brought up and needing to work with veterans it's unfortunate Steamboat isn't on the road more often working because his knowledge base is an incredible resource for the next generation.

Best Gimmick - CM Punk ‘Straight Edge'
I never thought the WWE would present a heel who preached AGAINST drugs but the company took elements of reality from both Punk and Jeff Hardy to provide one of the year's best feuds and elevated Punk to a top heel position within the company. A plethora of quick title changes and politics ended up derailing Punk's push towards the end of 2009 but his new found ‘cult' leaves me optimistic that the next year will be an improvement on the last.

Match of the Year - The Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels at ‘WrestleMania 25'
I had very high expectations for this match going in and they still exceeded them, which is an amazing feat considering the age and injuries of both men with the biggest spotlight of the year being on both. The fact this match took place on the biggest show of the year obviously helps when it comes to significance but the fact this match got over so well that it will be one of the featured matches at the next WrestleMania is a testament to the success of this match.

Feud of the Year - Brock Lesnar Vs Frank Mir
The rematch was seventeen months in the making and it resulted in the most successful UFC event in history with the assist of the UFC 100 promotional push. The countdown show featuring these two was a grand slam by the company featuring two men that genuinely dislike one another and a simple story of Lesnar eating himself alive over tapping out to Mir at UFC 81. The best part is that you have a rubber match situation if the health of Lesnar allows him to return.

Best Angle of the Year - Randy Orton Kicks Vince McMahon in the head
Following this angle on the ‘go home' edition of ‘Raw' prior to the ‘Royal Rumble' Randy Orton became the hottest heel in the industry and comparisons of Orton to this generation's Steve Austin in terms of upward potential. It lasted all of one week until Orton was attacked by Shane McMahon but for one week Orton was at a level few heels have been near over the past decade.

Best Pay Per View - UFC 100
The numbers provide every bit of explanation - 1.6 million buys, a number that few UFC events will ever be able to hit again and a number the WWE can only dream of. This show highlighted one of the greatest years for any promotional company in history and was anchored by this event. In addition the hype delivered with an exciting (albeit short) fight between Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar, Georges St. Pierre dominating Thiago Alves and cementing his spot as the top welterweight in the world as well as one of the most vicious knockouts of the year from Dan Henderson to Michael Bisping.

Best Promotion - UFC
A record setting year on pay per view with huge shows in UFC 94, UFC 100, UFC 101 and UFC 107, more viable stars created as pay per view draws, a further expansion on the international market to become a truly global brand and in the most secure spot of any company heading into 2010.

Best TV Show - Ultimate Fighter 10
All of the attention was geared around Kimbo Slice and it resulted in record numbers for the show and one of the most watched fights in cable history (Slice Vs Roy Nelson) but it also featured one of the best coaching dynamics in years with Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson that will do huge business this year. They also took the focus for Kimbo and spread it around to interesting characters such as Nelson, Marcus Jones and Matt Mitrione.

Best Book - ‘The Midnight Express & Jim Cornette - 25th Anniversary Scrapbook' by Jim Cornette
This is a wrestling fan's dream of someone who saved documents, memos, attendance and pay off slips to record the best record book of its kind and documenting an intriguing time in the industry as the war between the NWA and WWF escalated. On top of that, Cornette is a fantastic writer with an invaluable knowledge base and this book is a must read.

Best DVD - ‘Starrcade - The Essential Collection'
I enjoyed this documentary because the company went outside and got the perspective of guys that were actually there including Jim Crockett, which added a lot to this piece. Not only that but it sold tremendously well for the WWE and shows once again the market for this time period is there and good on the WWE to exploit that.

Best Mixed Martial Artist - Georges St. Pierre
In my opinion GSP established himself as the best pound for pound fighter in the world in 2009 by dominating B.J Penn at UFC 94 and then a similar performance against Thiago Alves at UFC 100. GSP has cleaned out the welterweight division with few expecting any kind of a competitive fight from Dan Hardy in March. St. Pierre has also established himself as the second biggest draw on the UFC roster and should he step back with dreams of an Olympic medal it would hurt the UFC from a financial standpoint immediately.

Best Mixed Martial Arts Fight - Diego Sanchez Vs Clay Guida (Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale)
This fight was 15:00 of nonstop action and an opening round that I'm still puzzled over how Guida got out of. It was a dominant 10-8 round by Sanchez but Guida has an incredible heart and by the end of the fight his head was busted open from Sanchez's elbows from his back and looked like he could easily go another three rounds if called upon. This was a great fight and propelled Sanchez to a lightweight title shot later that year.