5 Takeaways from WWE Backstage (December 24th, 2019)

Since this week's show took place on Christmas Eve, not much happened in terms of news on the latest episode of WWE Backstage. While both Maria Menounos and Richard Jewell actor Paul Walter Hauser joined the show as guests, the lack of a usual WWE Superstar guest that provides some insight hurt things this week.

Instead, this edition's focus was handing out awards in various categories including 'Male and Female Performers of the Year' as well as 'Moment of the Year'. Each category had four nominees and the winners had obviously been revealed in advance due to them having pre-taped thank you videos.

RAW was also pre-taped this week but was barely discussed. New angles were added to the Seth Rollins/AOP partnership storyline like Samoa Joe standing up to the AOP and getting put through a table for his efforts. It was strange not to have it addressed. One of the award categories was 'Breakthrough Superstar of the Year' with Ricochet, Nikki Cross, the Viking Raiders, and the Street Profits as the nominees.

In a slight surprise, the award was won by Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford. It felt odd since they've been on the main roster the shortest and have not won titles like the rest of the nominees. But I wasn't picking the winners, so I guess it's a moot point. Nevertheless, here are five takeaways from the December 24th episode of WWE Backstage that mainly center around the awards that were handed out.

#5 Tag Team of the Year - the New Day

One of the categories was 'Tag Team of the Year' and it wasn't really a shocker regarding the winner. The nominees were the New Day, the Revival, the Viking Raiders, and the OC. While each team won gold this year, the New Day winning was a slam dunk and the closest to a surety among these awards. During the acceptance video, Big E tried to eat the award but was luckily unsuccessful.

Booker T said that when the trio initially debuted years ago, things "could have gone south really, really quick." But due to their run as seven-time Champions and as one of the most entertaining acts in wrestling history, he felt that they were already the greatest tag team in WWE history.

Various versions of the team have held gold this year as Big E and Xavier Woods were once the Champions but E and Kofi Kingston are the current title holders on SmackDown. It's going to be hard to pick some other team for this award in 2020 unless a different duo has a completely mesmerizing year.

#4 Female Superstar of the Year - Becky Lynch

Like picking the top tag team from 2019, deciding who would win the 'Female Superstar of the Year' award was also pretty easy to predict. While it could have gone to any of the other three nominees - Charlotte Flair, Bayley, or Ronda Rousey - Lynch's ascension was the most pivotal moment of the last year and a half.

Sure, Flair is a ten-time Champ, but how many of those reigns were meaningful in 2019? And although Rousey was a juggernaut up until WrestleMania, she hasn't done anything in WWE since April. Bayley has perhaps had the second-best year as she won the Women's Tag Team titles and the SmackDown Women's Championship two times in 2019.

Ember Moon joined the show once more and was curious about Lynch being able to continue her momentum. The Shenom stated that "she's been on top this past year, but if Becky doesn't have quality opponents, she's going to get stale." It's what happened following Money in the Bank against Lacey Evans. Moon added that "they need to build up competition so she can stay on top." Christian added that he thought she could maintain her momentum because "she's fearless" in both her matches and her promos.

#3 Moment of the Year - KofiMania

The New Day was instrumental throughout KofiMania

The hardest category to pick a winner from had to be 'Moment of the Year'. Every nominee could have won due to the importance of each moment in wrestling history and the performers involved in each pick.

Before a winner was chosen, however, Moon gave her two personal favorite moments of the year. Her first choice was being able to hit the Eclipse finisher off of a ladder at MITB. Her second pick was Lynch winning the Royal Rumble. Captain Charisma added that his two moments were Roman Reigns' announcement of his Leukemia's remission and the dominance of NXT during Survivor Series.

When it came to the actual nominees, KofiMania was up against the first female match in Saudi Arabia, Becky Lynch becoming Becky Two Belts at WrestleMania 35, and Braun Strowman putting Bobby Lashley through an LED board on the RAW stage.

While the Strowman/Lashley moment might not have been as important as the others, it did signify a big shift in the creative direction on RAW with Paul Heyman in charge. Regardless, it was hard to overlook Kofi Kingston's ascension this year.

Christian summed things up the best once again, saying that the moment was "organic and it wasn't force-fed." He liked how it "let the fans decide what they want," and that "they (fans) wanted him (Kingston) to be in that title match at 'Mania."

He added that the former WWE Champ has "put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for WWE" and that "the moment was well-deserved." Booker T added that as he watched backstage, "a tear came out." A great moment indeed.

#2 Women's Tag Team of the Year - the Kabuki Warriors

Since the titles were created this year, another category on the show was the 'Female Tag Team of the Year.' The women of WWE have long needed and clamored for a secondary title to pursue. In the latter stages of 2018 and early 2019, they finally got their wish as the first-ever Champions were decided at Elimination Chamber.

Among the nominees were the Boss 'N Hug Connection, the IIconics, Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, and the Kabuki Warriors. They've had the best booking since winning the titles so it wasn't much of a surprise that Asuka and Kairi Sane took home the award. It wouldn't have shocked me if Bayley and Sasha Banks had won, because they were the first Champs.

The Japanese duo also just put away the top two women in the WWE, Lynch and Flair, so the win is totally warranted. Of the Warriors, Moon said that "they are on the same page at every moment" which is pivotal for a successful tag team. Christian added that "Asuka came in undefeated and lost the title and then got lost in the shuffle." While Sane initially joined SmackDown as a face, Captain Charisma felt that once she came in, "they found each other at the right time."

#1 Male Superstar of the Year - 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt

Another category that was hard to call was the 'Male Superstar of the Year", with the nominees being 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt, Kofi Kingston, Brock Lesnar, and Seth Rollins. Rollins won the Royal Rumble and the Universal Championship two times in 2019. He was also the face of RAW up until his recent heel turn. Though I'm not a fan of his, it would have made sense for Lesnar to win since he's won the Universal and WWE Championship and MITB this year.

And I don't think many people would have been upset had Kofi Kingston won another award. But since his new persona is unlike anything we've seen before in the WWE, it made perfect sense for Wyatt to take home the accolade. The character is multi-layered and brings more to the table than simply 'a guy who wrestles'.

Christian praised the current Universal Champion once again, saying that it was the "best character work in quite some time." Wyatt's also a "guy that is able to transform" and that "he's a superstar like the Undertaker who's going to be around for years."

Very rarely does someone reinvent themselves to that level and become so successful with it right away. The awards went to the right winners for the most part as the other parts of the show weren't as attention-grabbing as the others. How will things fare in 2020 for both WWE Backstage and the WWE as a whole?

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