November 18, 2002 Observer Newsletter: Year end awards preview, Survivor Series build

We’ll be doing our awards balloting in just a few weeks, and this is going to be a very interesting year because there doesn’t appear to be a lot of locks for the major categories. One thing is clear when it comes to Wrestler of the Year. Whomever wins will be unique in that they will win with different qualifications than any winners of the past.

We are also going to make a symbolic name change in the award, as the Wrestler of the Year award will be named the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair award. This kind of exemplifies what the award is about, which is a great wrestler inside the ring combined with being a dominant star of the year (and in their cases, of the era). The only previous time we’ve done something like this was in 1988, when, and this was due to tremendous response after the death of Bruiser Brody to do so, was naming the Best Brawler award after the guy who had dominated that category in the voting for so many years.

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