With Raw having had its last live broadcast of 2007, it's time to hand out some awards as the final days tick down for the year.

WWE Monday Night Raw:

Wrestler of the Year: I'm giving the award to Randy Orton this year. While several top tier players missed significant amounts of time due to injury (i.e. Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Bobby Lashley), Orton only missed about a month, suspended because of another bout of off-screen immaturity. Hopefully, getting married was the tonic that cures those issues. Orton started the year as 1/2 of the World tag team champs with Edge as Rated RKO. With Edge now holding the World heavyweight title on Smackdown, they can say that Rated RKO rules the WWE. Well, if they did, it would only give Vince McMahon some bad ideas, and we can't have that. Anyway, Orton finishes '07 as the WWE champion, having reinvented himself and refined his "Legend Killer" gimmick by becoming the kind of heel that Vince really craves, a psychotic, remorseless sociopath. Heh, with those qualities, maybe we're looking at Gene Snitsky being champ next year. Not.

Runners-up: Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Triple H.

Babyface of the Year: Jeff Hardy. Like Orton, Hardy had a unscheduled 30-day vacation this summer, but has restored the faith of management by elevating his game. As Intercontinental champion, Hardy is the #3 face on Raw now (behind Triple H & Shawn Michaels) with John Cena on the DL. Hardy's hard work has been rewarded with a title match vs. Randy Orton at Royal Rumble, and he finishes 2007 with some upward momentum.

Runners-up: Cena, Michaels, Helmsley, Lashley.

Heel of the Year: Vince McMahon. While Orton embodies the "ruthless aggression" that McMahon craves, the insane chairman was an even bigger villain (as usual). He's like the pesky, noisy neighbor who won't leave you alone. He's a cowardly weasel who can't back up his words with action unless he can stack the deck in his favor at the last possible second. A 3 Card Monte dealer isn't that blatant about his cons. McMahon picks fights with wrestlers he knows he can't win, and persists with the feud beyond its expiration date. This is one legend I wouldn't mind getting "killed" by an RKO. It's time to retire, Vince. Deal with it.

Runners-up: Randy Orton, Umaga.

Woman of the Year: Beth Phoenix. The "Glamazon" earns this award not just for winning the WWE Women's title, but having had a solid year overall. She had a cup of coffee in WWE in '06, but after getting her jaw broken by Victoria, was left behind in OVW, where she won their women's title early in '07. Of course, she could also teach the sports teams in her hometown of Buffalo a thing or twenty about winning championships......!

Runners-up: Mickie James, Candice Michelle.

Tag team of the Year: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch. One was trained by Shawn Michaels, the other by Harley Race. With that kind of pedigree, how can you go wrong? This team never should've split up after losing the tag titles in November of 2005, and their reformation as a team would've lit a fuse to spark the tag division---if only Uncreative gave a rat's butt about it to start with. They lost the titles to Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly on 12/10, and Uncreative has teased the idea of splitting up the "Southern Gentlemen" again. As Santayana put it, those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it.

Runners-up: The Hardys, Brian Kendrick & Paul London, World's Greatest Tag Team.

Most Improved Wrestler of the Year: Candice Michelle gets this award virtually by default. The GoDaddy.com model put her nose to the grindstone and worked on improving her performance in the ring, and was rewarded for her efforts with the Women's title after beating Melina at Judgment Day. Candice's 5 month run was historic in that she was the first Diva Search contestant to ascend to the championship. Unfortunately, she may be the only one.

Runners-up: None.

Eddie Guerrero Most Valuable Player Award: William Regal. The veteran British grappler was placed in the role of general manager of Raw in August to fill a long-vacant hole in the "executive wing" that should've been addressed long ago, but then we all know why we went nearly 2 years without a real GM on Raw. Jonathan Coachman has no charisma, no presence, no skill as a faux executive. He comes off as a hybrid of Waylon Smithers ("The Simpsons"), Leon Phelps, and Carlton Banks (Alfonso Ribiero from "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"). Regal, on the other hand, showed his playful side by hosting some game show parodies early in his administration. However, since Vince wants him to be a little corrupt, the game shows were abruptly stopped. It wouldn't hurt to go back to that, though. Regal finally got back in the ring on Monday, albeit in street clothes, but we're hoping for some staying power in the GM's office during '08.

Runners-up: Orton, Cena, HHH.

Rookie of the Year: Santino Marella. He started as a "planted fan" in Milan, Italy who relieved Umaga of the IC title back in April with an assist from Bobby Lashley. He finishes 2007 as a comedy heel who's become the 2nd coming of Norm Crosby with his malaprop-filled promos. I'm not sure if he's also deaf, like Crosby.

Runners-up: None.

Match of the Year: There were a lot of candidates, but since I don't get PPV's, I can only go by what I see on Mondays. The one that stood out the most for me happened just last week, a ladder match for the IC title between Carlito & Jeff Hardy. Carlito, who'd just been talked into staying with WWE, elevated his game even further than he did in his storyline with Ric Flair earlier this year. It would've been nice for Carlito to end the year as a champion, but it wasn't to be.

We'll hand awards out for ECW & Smackdown next time.