Dot Net Awards: 2012 Best Babyface

Dot Net readers voted on a variety of 2012 awards throughout the month of January. The following are the results of our poll for Best Babyface. Thanks to everyone who took part in the voting. You can check out the past winners in our Awards section.

(1) C.M. Punk: 19 percent
(2) John Cena: 16 percent
(3) Ryback : 12 percent
(4) The Rock: 12 percent
(5) Jeff Hardy: 9 percent
Others: 32 percent

Jake Barnett’s Thoughts: This is a tough category without a clear choice. For my taste, I’m going to give the nod to Sheamus as the best babyface of the year. That’s not to say there aren’t things I would do different with his character, but he had a very strong run as a babyface, and managed to have entertaining feuds on Smackdown with a limited heel roster.

Will Pruett's Thoughts: I have trouble giving this award to John Cena, simply because John Cena is booed by a large percentage of the crowd. He is a heel to many fans, even if he is playing a traditional babyface character. It's territory wrestling has not dared to tread, until now. This leaves TNA's lead babyface, Jeff Hardy, or WWE's second babyface, Ryback. Since this is my choice, I have to give this one to Ryback. No one has shaken up the main event scene like Ryback has. No one has excited the casual WWE fans like Ryback has. He is one of the brightest new stars to get over in the past few years. He isn't the internet prototype, but not being the online fan prototype is part of what makes him fun.

Chris Shore's Thoughts: No, I am not suddenly turning into a TNA apologist, but did any babyface have a better year than Jeff Hardy? John Cena's and CM Punk's baby runs this year were uninspiring. James Storm had a good run, but he was passed over for Austin Aries, who also had a better run than expected. Everybody else just went through the motions, with the exception of El Generico, but it's hard to call someone "best babyface" when they were seen by so few. That leaves Jeff Hardy as the only guy left standing, so he's my pick. The reality is 2012 was not a banner year for babyface acts, but no one commanded more of their audience to cheer for him than Hardy did.

Ryan Kester's Thoughts: Despite the fact that he is barely around, The Rock takes my vote for the Best babyface act of 2012. Punk was a close second, but he spent the better part of the year as a heel, and the part of his babyface run that fell into 2012 wasn’t exactly inspiring. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as his late 2011 run. I gave considerable though to Ryback, but he caught fire too late too really compete with the work that The Rock did during the year. John Cena would be a solid choice if he didn’t exist as a heel to half of WWE’s audience.

Jason Powell's Thoughts: The winner of the best babyface and best heel award in the same year? Damn, I'm almost surprised that Punk didn't get write-in votes for Best Tag Team and Best Female act too. The Rock got my vote. Sure, he's only a part-timer, but he packs one hell of a punch whenever he shows up. That's not a knock on Punk, though I do think he's more of a natural heel. Cena is my third place pick even though I felt he had a lackluster year on the mic by his standards. Jeff Hardy and Ryback both came on strong at the end of the year and could move up my list in 2013. Hardy felt like he was just floating around in TNA until he won the Bound For Glory Series in September. There's a good chance I will have him higher on my list next year.