Dot Net Awards: 2009 Biggest News Story

Dot Net readers voted on a variety of 2009 awards throughout January and February. We will be revealing the winners throughout the weekend. The following are the poll results of the Biggest News Story category.

Bret Hart returns to WWE: 39 percent
Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff join TNA: 30 percent
Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels Classic at WrestleMania 25: 10 percent
Shane McMahon leaves WWE: 8 percent
Jeff Hardy charged with drug trafficking: 5 percent
Others: 8 percent

Rich Twilling's thoughts: In any other year, Hulk Hogan going to TNA would be the number one story, but in 2009, it was the announcement that Bret Hart was returning to WWE. Actually, he did not appear until 2010, but we knew he was coming back in 2009, so that is the top story of the year. I know never to say never in the wrestling business, but I honestly thought I would never see Bret Hart back in WWE. Hulk Hogan moving to TNA is second, and although it didn't register on the list, TNA announcing their first head to head matchup with WWE finishes third. Oddly enough, all of these stories broke in 2009, but none of them actually happened until 2010.

Jason Powell's thoughts: The shock value of Hart returning to WWE was apparently greater than Hogan and Bischoff joining TNA. It was a close call, but I agree with the voting majority simply because Hart had had been so adamant in the past about not appearing on Raw ever again. I am very curious to see whether the actual Hart return or Hogan and Bischoff's debut are considered major stories in the awards next year. My guess is they will finish outside the top five simply because they occurred early in 2010.

Shane McMahon leaving WWE is a huge story and it may have competed with the top two stories had he not done such a good job of keeping the reasons he departed so quiet. It was a shocking story that generated a ton of interest at first, but the lack of additional details on the split caused the buzz to fade quickly. I give it my third place vote, followed by Hardy's latest drug related infraction. My early prediction for 2010 top story is the Monday Night War. Will the story be that both companies thrived or that there wasn't enough interest to sustain two Monday nights shows?