By Greg Parks, PWTorch columnist

The calendar has turned to a new year, which means it’s time for me to hand out the third annual Parksy Awards. It’s not a democratic process in deciding who wins the Parksies: They are named after me, so I’m the one and only decider.

For a little background on the name of the award - “Parksy” is the nickname some of my coaches and gym teachers tagged me with when I was younger. My dad warned me when I was a kid that people would call me that as short-hand (since I guess “Greg” just didn’t cut it), for when he was younger, that was his nickname as well. My grandfather had it, so did his father, and….well, you get the idea.

As a primer for those new to this column, this award is given to those folks in the wrestling business who may have been undervalued and overlooked in the past year, sort of an “unsung hero” award. These are people who made the best of a difficult position they may have been put in and deserve acknowledgement for their work, as traditional awards given out may ignore them.

Last year, the award was given out to NXT Rookies in seasons 1-4 (for putting up with nonsensical “contests” and basically being the butt of a giant inside joke that was NXT); Don West (TNA house-show workhorse and a guy who was infectious with his enthusiasm for the product); and Hulk Hogan (for just being able to get through a publicly awful year).

In the first year, Terry Taylor (at the time, TNA’s director of talent relations; won for having to put up with the backstage issues in 2009 and all the drama surrounding it; comments by Dixie Carter to Congress didn’t help his standing, either). FCW Trainers (having to work from scratch with many bodybuilders and models or wrestlers with very little experience), and the WWE writing staff (despite the criticisms, working closely with Vince McMahon and being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week is no walk in the park) took home the metaphorical hardware.

Without further ado, the first Parksy Award for the 2011 year goes to…Garret Bischoff. If he wasn’t the son of Eric Bischoff and went through the training and independent league channels that most wrestlers go through to gain experience, he certainly wouldn’t be getting the heat he’s been getting from fans.

Wrestling fans (and talent, for that matter) are conditioned to second-guess the pushes of sons of those in power. Erik Watts, Greg Gagne, Shane McMahon - the list is almost as long as the list of promoters in history. Too many times, those wrestlers were pushed further than their talent would dictate because their dad was in charge.

The thing about Garret Bischoff is that he really shows promise. He’s got a good look and in the limited action he’s had, he certainly hasn’t embarrassed himself. But to fans, he has to show even more than the normal wrestler to justify his spot, or else he’ll be seen as someone taking up a valuable roster spot on a national company solely because his father works in management.

Not only does he have to win over fans, but he has to win over his fellow TNA wrestlers as well. And it doesn’t help when Hulk Hogan Tweets “Taping again in Orlando, Garrett seems to have found the magic, I only hope it rubs off on some of the other numbskulls.” Yes, Hulk Hogan actually Tweeted that. And didn’t delete it.

Imagine you’re a TNA wrestler and you’ve busted your hump for the company for years, only to see very little growth thanks in part to inept management. Then in comes Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, two high-priced architects of the demise of WCW. There’s little increase in the PPV buyrates or TV ratings since their arrival. Bischoff’s son goes from referee to main-event wrestler on Impact, and Hogan Tweets the above statement. How do you think you’d feel?

Suffice to say, as much promise as Garret shows, he’s going to have to work twice as hard to convince wrestlers and fans that he has earned his spot. Hopefully, he knows this, and he’s serious about becoming a full-time professional wrestler. If not, it will hurt TNA’s credibility, but it’ll also hurt any promoter’s son in the future who wants to break into the business, only to be seen as someone riding the coattails of their parent.

The second Parksy award goes to...

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This is a VIP excluisive article from this week's PWTorch Newsletter #1236. To read the rest of the article including the rest of the recipeints of the Parksy Awards, and also gain access to the Greg Parks VIP Library to read prior Parksy Award Winners, go VIP! Click here: www.pwtorch.com/govip.

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