The Carolinas' Professional Wrestling Awards

24/06/2024

07/06/2024

Greetings, wrestling fans - as promised here they are, the 2024 CPWA Panelists! They are:

* AJ Frost - APW Asylum Pro Wrestling
* Brian Myers - Referee
* Cole McAbee - Pro Wrestling Union
* Guy Tonight! - NAWA Pro Wrestling Camera Man/Interviewer
* Julian Strauss - Revolution Wrestling Authority
* Tim Wilcox - Wrestling Evolution

After tabulating your nominations and confirming their participation, I can say that we have a very stout group this year made up of influential people from all corners of the Carolinas. As always, I am very eager to see how things play out this year especially with independent professional wrestling flourishing.

I'd like to thank each of the Panelists for their involvement and willingness to be a part of the Awards process. I've known most of them for many years and I'm looking forward to working with them as colleagues!

06/06/2024

Greetings, wrestling fans - it feels like this has been a long time coming but we are finally set to reveal the CPWA Panel for 2024 as chosen by YOU!

The process of tabulating votes and confirming the Panelists for 2024 was as involved as it was rewarding. With everyone having their opportunity to play a role in this part of the Awards process as well as with public voting in the Fan's Choice Polls, it feels like we could have a very unique experience in determining the winners for 2024.

We'll be making the official reveal TOMORROW (June 7, 2024), so stay tuned!

17/04/2024

Good afternoon, everyone - you still have a few days to get your Nominations in for the 2024 CPWA Panel, but I wanted to share a first glimpse at the plaques for the 2023 CPWA winners which I just received in the mail today!

These are a bit different from the older versions of the plaques in that they feature a metal plate upon which the artwork was added directly via sublimation printing. Definitely an upgrade from what we'd been doing in the past.

I hope to begin delivering these to their rightful owners in the near future!

12/04/2024

Greetings, everyone – over the years of serving as Moderator of the CPWAs, I’ve tried to be as transparent as possible regarding the processes by which the winners of the Awards are determined. One aspect of those processes I’ve gotten more questions about than any other would be how the Panelists are chosen.

After the 2023 winners were announced I had a conversation with a very astute member of our community who asked that question specifically. I described to them what I typically look for in a Panelist during recruitment; things like name value (in being able to draw people to the CPWAs by association), experience level, and expressed knowledge of the territory. The conversation evolved and then another question came up.

“Have you ever thought of letting the fans pick the Panel?”

To be frank, my first thought was “Oh, boy…”, and not necessarily in an excited sense. I’d never considered that as an option and it seemed like the potential for becoming a mess, nevertheless my mind went into trying to decide if it was feasible. Given that we are already utilizing a similar scenario to help pick the Finalists for the Awards, I feel like it is.

That said, with the 2024 CPWAs and for the first time ever the Panel will be made up of individuals selected by you, the fans.
The process for determining the 2024 CPWA Panel will be as follows:

· A Panelist Nominations thread will be published in the Official CPWA Facebook Group on Monday, April 15
· Members of the group will be asked to make a reply to this thread with the names of NO MORE THAN SIX (6) Panelist Nominees
· Replies to the thread going against this directive will have only the first 6 names considered, all others will be dropped
· The Panelist Nomination thread will be open for one full week (7 days)
· At the end of the Panelist Nomination period the results will be tallied
· The top 6 Panelist Nominees by virtue of the number of individual nominations will be regarded as “potential Panelists”
· These potential Panelists will be asked for their consent to participate (it is only proper to consider the possibility that they may not want to be involved)
· Potential Panelists who consent to participate will be confirmed
· Potential Panelists who choose not to participate will be removed from consideration with the next-highest ranking potential Panelist from the Nominations results being given an opportunity to be involved
· Confirmed Panelists will not be eligible for any CPWA Award Categories
· The confirmed Panel for the 2024 CPWAs will be announced once the Panel Nominations process has been completed

When it comes to who makes an ideal Panelist, the qualities I’ve sought when recruiting Panelists in the past were things like:

· Ties to the local independent professional wrestling scene of the Carolinas (such as being a podcaster/media member, trainer, wrestler, referee, photographer, etc.)
· Knowledge of promotions and talent in the territory
· Potential name value (which could help in bringing attention to the Awards)
· The level of credibility they would attach to the legacy of the Awards

Please don’t make a submission along the lines of “John Cena, Undertaker, El Generico, Shockmaster, the KISS Demon, and the Gobbletygooker.”

It should also be pointed out that one of the parameters I worked off of in the past was that an individual or entity may not serve on the Panel more than once in a 3-year period. With that in mind, the individuals below should not be considered as potential Panelists for the 2024 CPWAS:

· Tracy Myers
· William Roberts
· Joe Blumenfeld
· LaBron Kozone
· Michael Elliott
· Palmetto Championship Wrestling owners (Shane Dorr, Jonathan Winburn & Elliot Poston)
· Chad McDaniel
· Keri Craven
· Bret Wolverton
· Tim Enlow
· Mark de Gruchy
· TK Stark
· Dave Foster
· Yolonda Wright
· Dan Schram
· Ryan Zudonyi
· Smash the Mat Podcast (Jay5, G-Moniy, DB & Mr. Magnificent)
· Rob Killjoy

I realize this is a lot to work with and to consider, however I am fully onboard with giving this scenario a fair shake. If it winds up falling flat, at least we tried, and if it’s well-received then we may incorporate this into our By-Laws as the new way forward when it comes to selecting the Panel.

As always, I thank you for continuing to support the CPWAs. 2024 will be the 10th year for the Awards. Some things related to the professional wrestling industry don’t last 10 months so the fact that we’ve been running this long means a lot to me, personally, and I’d like to think they mean a lot to others in our community as well.

There have been many challenges over the years in keeping this ship going. There have been moments where I considered handing this off to someone else or hanging it up altogether. It’s tough to see something you’re passionate about be criticized, in this case often by the very people to which the Awards are intended to show appreciation. Through it all what has brought me back to the CPWAs is my continued adulation for the men and women who’ve given me so much enjoyment through the artform that is professional wrestling. I’ve been around the Carolinas’ indie scene for more than 20 years and I’m looking forward to seeing what the remainder of 2024 has in store for us all.

We’ll see you at the matches!

17/02/2024

Y'all may want to keep your eyes on this Je'Von Evans kid - he shows potential.

Looks kind of familiar, too... 😅

19/01/2024

The winners of the 2023 Carolinas' Professional Wrestling Awards have been revealed!

The 2023 Class of CPWA winners represents many first-time recipients of plaques, which is a testament to the continued evolution and progression of the territory. It's impressive to sit back and look at this collection of talent as it should remind all of us that the "cupboard" is still very much full and that the future of pro wrestling in the Carolinas is strong.

As we wrap up the 2023 CPWAs, I would like to thank the members of the Panel for their time and participation. With this Panel, we had a remarkable gathering of influential members of the indie pro wrestling community representing some of the top promotions in the region. Please help me in showing appreciate to them for their contributions not only to the Awards but to pro wrestling as a whole!

Also, thank you to everyone who continues to support and believe in what the CPWAs are about - celebrating independent professional wrestling in the Carolinas. We'll see you at the matches!

The winners of the 2023 Carolinas' Professional Wrestling Awards have been revealed! Congratulations to each of these individuals. They are tremendous examples of the talent that exists in the region and we are proud to be able to recognize their achievements.

09/01/2024

GREETINGS, WRESTLING FANS - after tabulating the Panelist votes and the Fan's Choice Poll results, we have a tie...Actually, we have TWO TIES!

The Categories with ties are:

- WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
- REFEREE OF THE YEAR

As such there are new pair of polls here in the group that will allow you to help determine the overall winners of the 2023 CPWAs. These polls work just as the initial round did except now only the Nominees involved in the ties are included.

The tiebreaker polls will close one week from today, January 15, 2024. Thank you once again for supporting and participating in the CPWAs!

02/01/2024

The 2023 CPWA Fan's Choice Polls are now closed - thank you very much for participating!

This year we collected over FOUR THOUSAND individual votes across our nine categories, and in the past few days membership here in the official CPWA group surpassed TWO THOUSAND members. Those are truly staggering numbers and I am very proud of the growth we've experienced seeing as how one of the primary goals of the CPWAs is to put more eyes on independent pro wrestling in the Carolinas.

That said, I haven't compiled the numbers yet but it does look like we will have at least two tiebreaker scenarios to settle. I'll be working to confirm the data in the coming days and once that's done we'll be able to post the tiebreaker voting polls to determine the winners in those categories.

Thank you all once again for your participation and support of the CPWAs!

29/12/2023

Just a reminder - get those votes in as soon as you can!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/carolinasprofessionalwrestlingawards/

23/12/2023

For everyone asking... ;)

And the only way for you to participate in Final Voting is to become a member over at the Official CPWA Facebook group, a link to which you can find right here -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/carolinasprofessionalwrestlingawards/

I would also like to thank everyone who's taken the time to share word of the Nominee announcements! The response to this year's class of Nominees has been phenomenal and it truly shows the kind of talent that exists in our part of the world.

Please enjoy time with your family and loved ones this week - we'll see you in the Fan's Choice Polls in a few days!

22/12/2023

2023 Nominee - Fire of the Year: LUKA DANIELS

22/12/2023

GREETINGS, WRESTLING FANS - here they are, the Nominees for the 2023 CPWAs!

This is an exciting list and one that very much impresses me, as a fan. I always worry that the "cupboard" of talent in the territory is going to diminish but then I see this collection of men & women and those worries disappear.

Final Voting for the 2023 CPWAs begins next week over in the Official CPWA Facebook group so if you have not yet please JOIN US -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/carolinasprofessionalwrestlingawards

Happy Holidays, everyone - we'll see you at the matches!

Announcing the Nominees for the 2023 CPWAs - congratulations to all who do so much in representing the independent professional wrestling scene of the Carolinas!

22/12/2023