Bryan Alvarez critical of some WON awards voting: ‘The worst I’ve ever seen’
Bryan Alvarez agreed with much of the voting this year for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards, but not in some categories.
On Wrestling Observer Live on Friday, Alvarez and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor discussed the annual awards issue. In particular, Alvarez did not agree with John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes on night two of WWE WrestleMania 41 being voted Worst Match of the Year rather than Butterbean vs. Minoru Suzuki, which finished second.
Alvarez said:
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen out of the Observer Awards and it’s not even close. Worst match of the year: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes. Guys, 328 of you need your voting privileges revoked. The worst match of the year, and it’s not even a question, it’s not even an opinion, this actually isn’t even subjective, it’s objective. Minoru Suzuki and Butterbean was the worst match I have ever seen in my whole life. It was the worst match Dave has ever seen in his entire life. It was horrible, beyond words, and it came in second to John Cena and Cody Rhodes.”
Lawlor also mentioned the referee Dan Severn “actively made the match worse somehow.”
Alvarez did not agree with the Worst Television Announcer voting.
“I am absolutely aghast at this one. Worst Television Announcer, Booker T. He’s not even the worst guy on that announce team,” Alvarez said, referring to Vic Joseph, who finished fourth in the voting.
Regarding AEW Collision being voted the third best television show, ahead of both WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown, Alvarez disagreed.
“I’m sorry, but in no universe is Collision better than Raw and SmackDown.”
AEW Dynamite finished first in that category, with CMLL Super Viernes second.
The full episode of Wrestling Observer Live is available for subscribers here. A clip of Alvarez talking about Cena vs. Rhodes from WrestleMania 41 is below. The WON 2025 Awards Issue is available for subscribers here.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.