2017 Cavey Awards: Promotions

Welcome to the third and final day of the 2017 Cavey Awards.

I've given awards to my favorite wrestlers and matches. Now, I recognize my favorite producers. This year, I'm singling out three promotions with gold, silver and bronze awards. I judge this based on my overall experience, including quality of wrestling action and video, appeal of their talent, as well as customer experience, including value (what I get for what I pay) and ease of doing business with them (e.g., distribution model).

We've seen a couple of newcomers this year, so 2017 features the most eligible promotions ever. The only three criteria are (1) I had to have spent money with them between 12/1/2016 and 11/30/17; (2) I have watched one of their videos for the first time during that same period, and (3) they can't be opposed to blog coverage.

And so, the 12 nominees are …

1. 88 Wrestling
2. BGEast
3. Can-Am
4. Jonny Firestorm
5. Krushco
6. Movimus Wrestling
7. Muscle Domination Wrestling
8. Muscleboy Wrestling
9. Rock Hard Wrestling
10. Thunders Arena
11. UCW
12. Wrestler4Hire

I will remind you that there are NO legacy picks in the Caveys. Everyone was judged based on this year and this year alone. Yes, I said this on Day 1. However, I'm repeating this because you might notice that last year's Gold and Silver winners are missing. Sorry guys, but that's the way the Caveys have to roll, otherwise there's no point. Better luck next year.

Drum roll, please. Here are my favorites of 2017 …

Gold Cavey Award: Thunders Arena

Yes, Thunders Arena is my favorite promotion of the year. I will say that this was the easiest decision I've ever had with this award. If you've been following my blog, it shouldn't be a huge surprise. They were on fire in 2017.

Thunders raised their action game.

And delivered a really hot year. 

So celebrate, boys. You deserve this.

I watched a lot of Thunders Arena this year. I also put my money where my mouth is. They earned a whopping 34.5% of my wrestling video spending in 2017, which is huge for one company to get when I spent with 13 different companies. That doesn't include any of the promotional videos they sent me. Those are real dollars out of my pocket into theirs.

Why did I give them so much of my hard-earned money?

The talent was even better than usual. From veterans stepping up their game to newcomers jumping all-in, they had a terrific team of studs. Big and small. Models, bodybuilders, porn guys, and pro wrestlers. Scrappy and Blayne gave a consistency to the revolving door roster, but even the flashes in the pan like Spike and Kid Dynamite made an impression on me.

The wrestling was better than ever. I'll be honest, this is the one area that has always held Thunders Arena back at the Caveys. This year, they really broke through thanks to more guys taking things more seriously, even when they were having fun. Both joes and pros, like Scrappy, Blayne, Vinny, Beast and Joey King, consistently worked great matches.

Experience-wise, it's easy to buy from Thunders, the sales improve the value, and they constantly have new product. The only issue is some video quality in the back half of the year, but it certainly wasn't enough to keep them from the top spot.

Congratulations to Thunders Arena on their Favorite Promotion of 2017 Cavey Award.

Silver Cavey Award: Wrestler4Hire

Wrestler4Hire wins the silver this year. The wrestling and value were really good, as was the talent. The unique guys, like KARN, Ronnie Pearl and Will Favero, really impressed me. And the shared guys are often used in new and different ways. Guido squashed. Chet as a superhero. Mark as hired muscle. It all gave me a lot of great options this year.

W4H had a winning year.

Unique or shared, the talent really delivered.

So stand proud, W4H. Thanks for a great year.

I really enjoyed so many matches this year, but where Wrestler4Hire really wins with me is that they have the most fun action. The videos are usually just enjoyable to watch. Yes, some of the stuff is hit-or-miss, but since I stream, it's never a problem for me. I just turn it off and try something else. Honestly, I appreciate that new things are tried here and I can experiment. I actually often enjoy things I never would've purchased.

They're still the only promotion where I do streaming because of the number and variety of videos available. That makes Wrestler4Hire the best value in gay-oriented wrestling videos and I always feel like I come out on top every month.

Well done, Wrestler4Hire, you're my silver 2017 Cavey Award winner.

Bronze Cavey Award: Muscleboy Wrestling

Even I'm kind of surprised that a newcomer like Muscleboy Wrestling can win a Cavey in its first year. However, they definitely deserve the recognition. MBW came out of the gate hard with a ton of videos, amazing rookies and a distinct approach with a lot of porn guys and erotic action.

Yeah, that's how Muscle Boys celebrate.

Uh, Chris, that's not the trophy.

Bruno looks positively thrilled by this win!

I love so many of the new guys. Talent like Chris Cannon, Nick Flex and Justin Powers all broke through as big stars this year. I also liked studs like Luke Maxwell, JJ Allen and Dante. Add in some recognizable faces like Bruno and Steve Tanner and I think this roster is pretty impressive. The only real shortfall is the action in the ring. They definitely had some first-timers, but the guys are learning and I found myself enthralled by the studs and very forgiving of any shortfalls.

I'm sure there are other really good guys, but it's tough to keep up. With so many videos in such a short time, I admit that I'm still overwhelmed, but I mostly worried whether it would be sustainable. So far, so good. Some of their videos lean to the expensive side (over $30), but there are good $20 videos to balance out the pricier ones. It's easy to buy from them, with downloads as well as detailed (sometimes too detailed) descriptions.

Way to break through, MBW! Keep up the great work!

Summary of Winners

Wrestlers

• Favorite Wrestler: Scrappy (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Heel: Kid Karisma (BGEast)
• Favorite Jobber: Blayne (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Pro: Joey King (BGEast, Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Big Man: Vinny (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Smaller Stud: Jonny Firestorm (BGEast, Jonny Firestorm)
• Favorite Hairy Hunk: Guido Genatto (Wrestler4Hire)
• Favorite Rookie: Blayne (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Erotic: Justin Powers (Muscleboy Wrestling)
• The Second Look Award: Rex/Jaxton Wheeler (BGEast, Thunders Arena, Wrestler4Hire)

Matches

• Favorite Match: Cole Cassidy vs. Joshua Goodman (BGEast)
• Favorite Creative Location: Cameron Matthews vs. Jason Stone (Wrestler4Hire)
• Favorite Squash: Scrappy vs. Viking 1 (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Chemistry: Scrappy vs. Finn McCool (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Erotic: Justin Powers vs. JJ Allen (Muscleboy Wrestling)
• Favorite Submission Match: Dario Espinoza vs. Ray Mousi (Movimus)
• Favorite Gimmick: Guido vs. Chet/Alvin (Wrestler4Hire)
• Favorite Catchweight: Austin Cooper vs. Mark Muscle (Wrestler4Hire)
• Favorite Pro vs. Pro: Beast vs. Joey King (Thunders Arena)
• Favorite Fun Match: Ace Owens vs. Nick Justice (Wrestler4Hire)

Promotions

• Gold: Thunders Arena
• Silver: Wrestler4Hire
• Bronze: Muscleboy Wrestling

That’s it for the 2017 Cavey Awards. Another year of amazing wrestlers in great matches. Whether they were mentioned or not, I appreciate every single man I watched this year and every company that make this hobby possible. The quality keeps rising and with new promotions, so do the number of options I have to choose from. It’s tough to keep up and there’s a ton I just can’t watch.

If you haven’t been leaving comments, here’s another chance ... please let me know what YOU think!

Alex