We would like to announce the nominations for the 2017 Southern California Rookie of the Year award. This award has been given annually since 1999 and honors the top wrestler in Southern California who made their debut on or after August 1, 2016. B-Boy was the award’s first winner in 1999 and other notable winners include Samoa Joe, TJ Perkins, Human Tornado, Peter Avalon, Eli Everfly and Douglas James among others.
This year’s nominees include four wrestlers that trained at Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy, two that trained at the Millennium Wrestling Academy, two who trained at the now defunct Battle U, one wrestler from EWF’s School of Hard Knocks, and one wrestler that trained at Future Stars of Wrestling in Las Vegas.
The nominees for the 2017 Southern California Rookie of the Year are:
- Alonzo Alvarez – Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy
- Brendan Divine – Millennium Wrestling Academy
- Chris Bey – Future Stars of Wrestling
- Daniel Moon – Millennium Wrestling Academy
- Jake Atlas – Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy
- KC Douglas – Battle U
- Koto Hiro – Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy
- Lucas Riley – Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy
- Maritza Janett – EWF’s School of Hard Knocks
- Michael Hopkins – Battle U
In order to be considered for Southern California Rookie of the Year award a wrestler has to have made their debut on or after August 1 of the prior year. Any wrestlers who debuted on or after August 1, 2017 will be eligible for the 2018 Southern California Rookie of the Year award.
The Southern California Year End Awards started in 1999 on SoCal-Wrestling.com and was taken over by SoCalUncensored.com starting in 2001. The awards are largely recognized as one of the most prestigious awards in independent wrestling and have been referenced in national and international wrestling media. The voting for the awards consists of two parts: a public webpoll worth 35% of the total vote and balloting by a committee of voters, which is worth 65% of the total.
The webpoll voting for the 2017 Southern California Rookie of the Year will last until January 16, 2018. All 2017 award winners will be announced on January 25, 2018
Previous winners:
Southern California Rookie of the Year Award
