WWE Academy of Wrestling Arts and Sciences (kayfabe)[1]
First awarded
March 1, 1986; 38 years ago (1986-03-01)
The Slammy Awards, also known as the Slammys, is a concept used by WWE, where awards, similar to the Academy and Grammy Awards, are given to professional wrestlers and other individuals within WWE, such as commentators and managers.[2] Introduced in 1986, there have been 13 editions of the concept. The awards are a mixture of "serious" and "tongue-in-cheek".[3] Winners of the award receive a statuette that depicts one wrestler holding another over his head.[1]
The awards were discontinued after 2015. The same year, the NXT brand debuted its own exclusive awards, the NXT Year-End Awards (also rewarding the NXT UK brand since 2019), with wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown being instead rewarded by the WWE Year-End Award in 2018 and 2019.[4][5]
In 2020, it was announced that WWE would be reviving the Slammy Awards for their Raw and SmackDown brands, with the winners announced live on the WWE Network.[6] The ceremony aired on December 23, 2020.
Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker hold the record for the most Slammy Awards won by a WWE superstar at fifteen each.
The Slammy Awards returned a year later, now honoring the events and individuals involved within the professional wrestling aspect of the World Wrestling Federation. The second edition of the ceremony (referred to in commercials and on-air as the 37th annual Slammy Awards) took place on December 16, 1987, from Caesars Atlantic City in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It aired in syndication on December 19, 1987.[10][13][12] The ceremony was hosted by Jesse Ventura and Gene Okerlund.[14] Musical numbers were performed by Vince McMahon (singing the song "Stand Back")[15] and Jimmy Hart (singing "Girls in Cars"), with the entire WWF roster performing "If You Only Knew" as the show's closing number.[15][14]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[10][13][12]
Dormant for years, the Slammy Awards returned on a special edition of WWF Mania which aired on December 31, 1994. Todd Pettengill and Stephanie Wiand presented the awards from the WWF television studios.
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.
The fifth edition of the Slammy Awards took place on March 21, 1997, from the Westin Hotel in Chicago. It aired live on USA Network, and there was two celebrity presenters were Cindy Margolis and Walter Payton[10][21][12] Nominees in some categories included celebrities with no connection to the WWF or even to professional wrestling at all.
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[10][21][12][20]
The Slammy Awards were brought back in 2008 as part of a strategy to air more "special episodes" of WWE Raw and revive the brand[1] as well as boost ratings.[15] The event took place on December 8, 2008, from the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.[12] Certain awards were also presented on WWE's website.[22]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[22][23]
The event took place on December 13, 2010, from the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans.[12] The awards were presented on Raw, with "supplemental" awards given on WWE's website.[27] The "Superstar of the Year" award was decided by a fan vote, which were cast through WWE's website.[28]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[29][30][27]
The event took place on December 12, 2011, from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.[12] The awards were presented on Raw, with additional awards given on WWE's website.[31] The "Superstar of the Year" award was decided by a fan vote, which were cast through WWE's website.[32]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[31][33]
The event took place on December 17, 2012, from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.[12] Awards were presented on Raw, on WWE's website, and on the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pre-show the day before.[34] Votes for several categories were cast through the WWE App during the live broadcast; over 583,000 votes were tallied.[35][36]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[37]
"Goat face is a horrible insult. My face is practically perfect in every way. In fact, from now on I demand to be called Beautiful Bryan." – Daniel Bryan
"I don't have Instagram. I'm an adult." – Cody Rhodes
"Yes, this is the real Great Khali. I'm ready to tweet with you!" – The Great Khali
Insult of the Year
John Cena to Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero: "You're the exact opposite. One enjoys eating a lot of nuts and the other is still trying to find his."
Sheamus to Dolph Ziggler, while Ziggler was standing on a ladder: "Look at you there, Ziggler. You’re finally taller than everybody, congratulations."
The Rock to John Cena: "If John Cena had led the American Revolution, right now all of us would be playing cricket, we'd be sipping tea and we'd be blessing the Queen."
This event took place on December 9, 2013, from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington, with over 13,000 people in attendance and was hosted by Booker T and Jerry Lawler.[38] The awards were presented on Raw, its pre-show, and on WWE's website.[39] Votes were cast through the WWE App during the live broadcast; over 1.64 million votes were tallied.[40][41]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[42]
This event took place on December 8, 2014, from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.[43] It was hosted by Seth Green.[44] The awards were presented on Raw, its pre-show and on WWE's website.[44] Votes were cast through WWE's website for the pre-show and website awards, while the main categories were voted through the WWE App during the live broadcast.[44]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[45]
This event took place on December 21, 2015, from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[46] Awards were presented on Raw, its pre-show, and WWE's website.[3] Votes were cast for certain categories through Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, with voting for additional categories occurring on the WWE App during the live show.[47]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.[48]
Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Kevin Owens in a Fatal Four Way to determine the No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship – Raw, October 26
On March 22, 2024, it was announced that the Slammys were returning and the winners would be entirely be determined by fans' votes. The voting ran March 22nd till the 27th with the winners being announced on April 7th from WWE World in a ceremony hosted by Cathy Kelley and Big E.[52]
Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface.
^Caldwell, James (December 16, 2012). "Caldwell's WWE TLC PPV Results 12/16". Pro Wrestling Torch. TDH Communications Inc. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2018.