Diva Dirt presents its second annual Writers’ Choice Awards, the awards that celebrate the year in women’s wrestling, as decided by the editors and contributors of Diva Dirt. The Diva Dirt team has watched hundreds of episode of wrestling television this year, as well as hundreds of live events on DVD, additionally, we’ve followed a countless number of wrestlers over the year, and reviewed tons of matches. Now, as we come to the end of 2012, we have picked the best of the best to be awarded our Writers’ Choice blue ribbons.
Most Improved: Brooke Tessmacher
So precise, she wins it twice! Despite taking home the 2011 Diva Dirt Writers’ Choice Award for most improved female wrestler, we felt that Brooke Tessmacher continued to up her game to new levels that overall she deserved to win the prize for the second year in a row.
Last year, Brooke rose to prominence as one half of tag team, TNT, alongside veteran wrestler, Tara. This year, however, she stepped into the limelight as a singles competitor and took a completely different route in targeting the Knockouts Championship. It wasn’t an easy road to get there, but Brooke got her first big opportunity at the company’s May pay per view, Sacrifice, when she and Gail Kim delivered what some fans feel is one of the strongest televised female bouts of the past year.
Despite not leaving with the title that night, both Gail and Brooke delivered, with the latter showing off a variety of new moves we had not previously seen from the Texan native before. She proved a lot of people wrong… but that wasn’t good enough for someone with their eyes on the prize.
The following month, Brooke got one more shot against Gail at Slammiversary, which coincidentally emanated from her home state of Texas. It was there that she scored the big upset and pinned Gail’s shoulders to the mat for the three count to leave as the new Knockouts champion. For someone so new in a roster filled with veteran talent, this was a huge step in her career, and further spoke for how skilled she had become in that she could now hold her own in matches with or without having Tara by her side.
Even though Brooke’s time as Knockouts Champion came to an end, we have no doubt that she can win the title again, and in an even better showing than before. Champion or not, no one can deny the amount of hard work and dedication that shows each time she steps into the ring.
Due to her continuous drastic improvement over the past year, as well as the fact that she’s now able to stand toe to toe with the best of them and not come off looking anything less than a million bucks, we simply could not think of any candidate more deserving for the title of “Most Improved” than Brooke Tessmacher.
Stay tuned for more Writers’ Choice Awards throughout December.
35 Comments
at 4:39 pm
Congrats to Brooke!
She really deserves it. :)
at 5:00 pm
Yes! Always saw her as “Tara’s Sidekick” but when she got into singles action, she proved me wrong! Improved rapidly and it helps that she’s with veterans surrounding her, she owns her craft and always has something new.
Love Brooke, hope to see her again in 2013! :)
at 5:22 pm
i’m a bit torn on this. obviously tessmacher has improved a great deal, but i feel most of her improvements happened last year and somebody like kaitlyn or even tamina are better suited for most improved of 2012.
would’ve even thrown gail kim in there.. not for ‘in-ring improvements’ but the way she went from being a much loved babyface to a convincing snobby heel shows major improvement in the way she cuts promos and the energy she puts behind her character when not wrestling matches.
Souma Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 6:38 pm
I agree. I thought that Kaitlyn was gonna win this one too, since I think she improved a lot more than the others.
NY Pollard Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 12:58 am
I don’t see how Tamina improved greatly? I can agree about Kaitlyn. I haven’t caught up w Tessmacher but going by the many comments and reviews, she seemed to earn it. As far as I can remember, Tessmacher was constantly praised about her improvement throughout the year. Kaitlyn was also talked about, as was Eve and a few others, but Tessmacher was the standout imo. I think she earned it.
Souma Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 11:36 am
No I was agreeing with Kaledrina about the Kaitlyn part…yeah I don’t think Tamina improved a lot either..Kaitlyn has definitely improved ever since she debuted on the main roster…she developed her in-ring style in a good way, and Eve improved a lot, both in ring and on the mic(.she’s much better as a heel than as a face imo) .I’ve seen some of Brooke’s matches this year, and her hard work shows,so yeah I agree she earned it, but I think that’s Kaitlyn’s matches are a lot better than the first one she had with Eve a couple of months ago…that’s why I think she improved much more than the others.
at 5:22 pm
Definitely well deserved. She proved that she could hang as a singles competitor and I think it’s a shame we’re not seeing her on TV anymore right now.
at 6:04 pm
I’m not a fan of Brooke, but I feel she deserves it.
at 6:12 pm
In short, I guess I feel this is a pointless pick. Someone like Kaitlyn feels more suitable.
at 6:34 pm
No surprises here.
at 6:38 pm
Congrats to Brooke :)
at 7:26 pm
This definitely has been another year of improvement from Brooke Tessmacher.She proved to everyone that she could hold her own in a match instead of always having Tara by her side.Hoping to see even more improvement from her in 2013 : )
If Brooke hadn’t won this, I would think that Kaitlyn would have because Kaitlyn’s also improved a lot in the ring this year as well.
at 7:30 pm
Better than Kaitlyn. Who thinks Kaitlyn improved is blind or lies. Sorry but Kaitlynn botched in the most of her matches and just has 1 ppv one on one matches. Brooke had some ppv one on one matches and was a 2 time champion.
Blac Chyna Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 8:11 pm
I know right! Kaitlyn is so overrated and brooke has much better improvements it is a shame people talk about kaitlyn like she is the best thing to step in the ring
Chryst Voegele Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Kaitlyn improve too but little slow… Brooke improve so fast & no one deserve this in this year except her!
Kaledrina Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
i think we’re all clever enough to realise that being a champion doesn’t mean you’re the most improved wrestler of the year. i just think that, *this year* kaitlyn improved at a better rate than tessmacher did. brooke owned 2011 for me, 2012 not so much. and i’m neither blind (a lil shortsighted, sure, but contacts are awesome lol) nor lying :)
Gail-Trish-Maryse Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 11:43 pm
How did Brooke own 2011 when she didn’t get her first singles push till this year?
WWE marks…
Kaledrina Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 1:30 am
in IMPROVING AS A WRESTLER.
and FOR ME.
jeez. i’m far from a wwe mark, you idiot.
Chryst Voegele Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 6:36 am
I upset about last year but this year she deserve it.
Chryst Voegele Reply:
December 11th, 2012 at 6:42 am
I agree that Kaitlyn improve some much and try to found her ‘suited point’ but she can’t carry herself good enough and I think this point make Tessmacher won again in this year.
at 8:31 pm
Brooke definitely deserves the most improved award. Even though I do feel Kaitlyn has gotten better in the ring. I don’t feel she deserved this, as she hasn’t ever had a match that’s made me go omg. Brooke on the other hand has with her matches against Gail and Tara. Like I said Brooke deserved it more than anyone.
at 8:33 pm
Congrats Brooke you deserved this and who thinks Kaitlyn is most improved wrestler then it means you people know nothing about wrestling but I swear to God Brooke still much better wrestler then Kelly Kelly And Layla
at 8:45 pm
Brooke had this one in the bag! Her improvement just keeps going uphill, not plateauing. Good for her!
at 9:42 pm
Ummm… in the idea of what, “Most Improved” means, isn’t that going from okay-alright, to really good-good-great. If one makes that jump once… ho wcan they make that same jump twice?
Like if she is the most improved she has raised her game from when we last saw her (at the end of 2010, to win it in 2011), so unless I missed something it’s hard to make the same jump.. 2 years in a row… considering she has been AWOL or the back half of this year. I dont follow TNA that closely, but I havent been hearing her name called that much recently in terms of Knockouts stuff.
I would of pegged Kaitlyn or even Tamina as they have turned it around int h last year. I think Kellie Skater got really good in ShIMMER this year went form being an okay opener to a great worker. Dunno… not feeling thisone
Kaledrina Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
“Ummm… in the idea of what, “Most Improved” means, isn’t that going from okay-alright, to really good-good-great. If one makes that jump once… ho wcan they make that same jump twice?”
oh, totally. i personally don’t see that big of a difference or improvement in brooke’s wrestling since the beginning of this year and the tail-end of it. it’s as if brooke went from rubbish to passable in a super short space of time and has just settled into a comfort zone for me.
plus she must have wrestled against gail kim in 3/4s of her tv matches this year.. i think it would be rather interesting to see just how brooke holds up in the ring against a velvet sky or a taeler hendrix.
basically, anybody is gonna look like a superstar against tara, gail, mickie or sarita. kaitlyn was holding her own and putting on some solid matches against people on her own level and to an extent a lesser level in aksana maxine and tamina. heck, even eve. ..which, to me, says a lot more. funny thing is i don’t even like kaitlyn lol.
so, is brooke as good as people think she is or is it simply because gail (and then tara) made her look good?
Kaledrina Reply:
December 10th, 2012 at 10:38 pm
lol im a big dumb jerk idiot who sucks at fractions and math in general. i meant *three quarters. :)
at 9:45 pm
it was a toss-up between Brooke and Kaitlyn for me, so I’m glad one of them won it!! a well deserved win, congrats! :)
at 11:48 pm
I love Brooke and Kaitlyn, but 2012 was definitely Brooks year. Kaitlyn improved alot, but no where near the amount that Brooke did. So WWE marks just need to let it go.
at 6:07 am
I thought Kaitlyn was going to win, but of course Brooke deserves it as well. Congratulations! (:
at 8:28 am
So silly to come here and see people bashing girls who are obviously improving. Brooke or Kaitlyn deserved this one and I’m glad one of them got it.
at 11:08 pm
For all of the Kaitlyn marks, keep in mind that Kaitlyn wasn’t really featured consistently in 2012 until most recently, which is when a lot of her improvements started to show through. Congrats to Brooke!
at 1:43 am
Brooke deserved it 2012 was the year of Tessmacher!!!! TESSFLOCKER FOR LIFE
at 8:53 pm
go brooke!!!! was always a big fan of hers and i agree 100% brooke worked her ass off this past year, and improved lightyears beyond the expectations of everyone that called her just a model, kelly was just a model, brooke is a wrestler who just happens to have the looks of a model!! way to go brooke you deserve it!!!! :)
at 6:07 pm
I think Brooke deserves this.. I mean when you look at where she started to where she is now, she has improved more than anyone else. Yes Kaitlyn improved this year, but in comparison from where she started to now.. she hasn’t improved as much as Tess. I’m not bashing Kaitlyn, I just thought by now she would’ve improved a lot more than she has whereas Tess just keeps getting better.
at 8:36 pm
I definitely agree for Tessamcher getting this award! Although, I think Kaitlyn should’ve gotten this award. Mostly because she went from been infrequently seen to being on PPVs against Eve. Which is a low level these days but great for her.
I understand why Tessmacher gets the award. In WWE, she was nothing more than an extra and a dancer. When she got to TNA, she showed these moves that I’ve never seen from her. Overall, it was a good chocie. Congrats, Tess!