Dot Net Awards: 2012 Biggest News Story

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

(1) Jerry Lawler suffers a heart attack, returns just over two months later: 40 percent
(2) C.M. Punk holds the WWE Championship all year: 26 percent
(3) Brock Lesnar returns to WWE: 14 percent
(4) The Rock wrestles John Cena at WrestleMania 28: 10 percent
(5) Paul Heyman returns to WWE: 2 percent
Others: 8 percent

Will Pruett's Thoughts: I'm selfishly going to select the news story with the largest effect on me personally. Monday Night Raw going from two hours to three hours has severely diminished my passion for wrestling. WWE didn't change the format of the show, innovate a new way of producing TV, or do anything creative with their extra hour. Instead, they have decided to stretch what took two hours into three. While an extra long match or two is kind of nice, it doesn't make up for the copious amount of filler we see on an average Monday night. Pruett's Pause has almost become Pruett's Fast Forward because of this change.

Jason Powell's Thoughts: Not even The Rock's return to the WrestleMania ring generated as much mainstream attention as Jerry Lawler suffering a heart attack live on Raw. I am very surprised that the expansion of Raw to three hours did not crack the top five. It had a major effect on the quality of the show and presumably WWE finances. I wonder how different the voting would have been if Lesnar had returned in December rather than April. Punk holding the title all year long is huge within the pro wrestling universe, but it wasn't as much of a mainstream talker as Lawler, Lesnar, or Rock.

Ryan Kester's Thoughts: Jerry Lawler’s sudden heart attack was easily the biggest story of the year. Punk’s title reign was impressive and Lesnar’s return was unexpected, but Lawler’s heart attack had an immediate and powerful impact on wrestling fans worldwide. Storylines and business decisions are one thing, but Lawler’s heart attack is something that shook up the industry in a way that the other stories cannot compare.

Chris Shore's Thoughts: This award is a little difficult to pick simply because the term "biggest" pretty much guarantees a WWE story as they get far more press than anyone. For example, Vince Russo leaving TNA was gigantic news for TNA, but it didn't even make a ripple outside of that sphere; whereas the Rock returning to wrestle was everywhere due to his celebrity. So with that caveat, the biggest news story for me was the expansion of Raw to three hours. I have said for some time that nobody is ever going to be big enough to take down WWE, but WWE is certainly big enough to take itself down, and the expansion still strikes me as one of the things we would look back on should WWE collapse in the next 10 years (not that I expect that).

Jake Barnett’s Thoughts: There were a lot of surprises this year in WWE, but none that hit as hard as what happened to Jerry Lawler. Being a long time fan of Pro Wrestling, going to when I was just a child at AWA shows in St. Paul, I have a lot of memories of Jerry Lawler. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for his friends and family to watch him go through it, and his recovery was nothing short of miraculous. It’s a testament to modern medicine, and the great WWE medical staff that he is in as good of health as he is today. Regardless of all of that, this was the biggest story of the year, and as a fan of Jerry’s I couldn’t be happier that the ending was as amazing as it was.