Dot Net Awards: 2008 Best Heel

Dot Net readers voted on a variety of 2008 awards throughout January. The results will be posted today. The following are the poll results of the Best Heel category.

(1) Chris Jericho: 48 percent (of Dot Net reader votes)
Tie (2) Randy Orton: 17 percent
Tie (2) Edge: 17 percent
(4) Kurt Angle: 6 percent
(5) Vickie Guerrero: 3 percent
Others: 15 other nominees split 10 percent of the vote

Rich Twilling's thoughts: I am not sure how this could go to anybody but Chris Jericho. No swerves here; Jericho is the guy. Not only was his mic work better than anything he had ever done in his career (and he was always great on the mic), but he completely reinvented his character, which is not easy to do, especially for a former world champion. Jericho carried the heavy weight of the Shawn Michaels feud and even had a nice, albeit short, program with Batista. Edge and Randy Orton (who already wins this award for 2009) round out the top three.

Jason Powell's thoughts: I can't argue with the readers who voted Jericho the best heel of 2008. He overhauled his persona and debuted a heel act that was one of the highlights of the WWE Raw brand in 2008. Several wrestlers have emulated his promo style, most notably JBL. Past incarnations of the Jericho heel characters drew a mix of cheers and boos, but this character was universally hated in a way that made viewers want to pay money to see him get his ass kicked. My second place nod goes to Edge over Orton. Edge carried the Smackdown brand and was the most entertaining act in the company at times throughout the year. Orton was great, but he didn't reach his peak until late in the year.