411’s Wrestler of The Week: A Very Lucha Week

Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK EIGHT of 411’s Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview of the rules to kick things off for us as a reminder…

Each writer chooses FIVE wrestlers (although ties and tag teams are allowed, and more on a special occasion) from any promotion and each wrestler gets a point total attached to that ranking. It looks a little like this…

1st – 5
2nd – 4
3rd – 3
4th – 2
5th – 1

Then we tally up the votes and the official 411 Wrestler of the Week is crowned. But wait, there’s more! Each week the top SIX vote getters get a points value for their ranking which looks something like this…

1st – 15
2nd – 12
3rd – 9
4th – 6
5th – 3
6th – 1

…and they go towards the 411 Wrestler of the Year award to be announced each year around WrestleMania. This will be posted every Tuesday (the voting week runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…

Voting period: May 23 – May 29

Larry Csonka
1) Jack Evans, PJ Black and Johnny Mundo:
Johnny Mundo was the key, as once Fenix was beat down backstage and he was added to the team, we get new trios champion. These three are such assholes that they need to be placed into a Karate Kid cosplay.

2) Kevin Owens: Defeated AJ Styles, clean as a sheet, to earn a shot in the MITB match.
3) Cage: Won the Gift of the Gods title, and more importantly, made me care about a Chavo Guerrero match in 2106.
4) Will Ospreay and Ricochet
5) Trevor Lee

Rob Stewart
1) Matt Sydal:
The erstwhile Evan Bourne of WWE had a great week in the Best of the Super Juniors. He kicked it off with a Day 3 win against BUSHI, kept it up on Day 5 against Gedo, and defeated Kyle O’Reilly on Day 7. This was an amazing week of wrestling that saw several WWE talents qualify for the Money In The Bank ladder match, two title changes in Lucha Underground, and, obviously, a lot of BOTSJ action, and Sydal’s run was tops of it all.

2) PJ Black, Johnny Mundo, and Jack Evans: It was a good week to be a former WWE high flyer, I guess. Not only did Sydal have a great run in BOTSJ, but the former John Morrison and Justin Gabriel are two-thirds of the new Lucha Underground Trios champions after Mundo and Taya forced their way into the group and bested the team of Mysterio, Dragon Azteca, and Prince Puma.
3) Cage: The Machine defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr to capture the Gift of the Gods title in Lucha Underground, whereupon he immediately announced his intent to “cash in” on The Monster Matanza Cueto on the very next episode of Lucha Underground in what should be a fascinating battle of hosses.
4) KUSHIDA
5) Kevin Owens

Mike Hammerlock
1) Cage:
Welcome to the machine. Cage and Chavo Guerrero Jr. had a match for the Gift of the Gods belt that came of like a charm. It showed off Cage’s high impact awesomeness while also making Chavo look great. Seriously, Chavo did enough to beat any mortal man, but Cage isn’t a man … well, you know the rest. I also like that they told an entire story with these two in three episodes. Chavo stole Cage’s GotG medallion, Chavo gamed his way past Cage to get into the GotG match and then Cage made sure Chavo won, then Cage took the belt from Chavo. Perfect. Tied up nice and neat for the moment while still dangling the possibility for Chavo to seek retribution down the road.

2) Will Ospreay and Ricochet: They did it again. Honestly, what these two can do in a ring is breathtaking. I’m including Ricochet because he had a great week between BOTSJ and Lucha Underground. Pulls him even with Ospreay for me despite the taking the loss in their head-to-head meeting.
3) Johnny Mundo, Jack Evans and P.J. Black: Nut-shotted their way to the Lucha Underground Trios Title. Now that’s how you heel it up. Can’t get enough LU trios matches. Action, intrigue, fun.
4) Matt Sydal
5) Kevin Owens

Jack McGee
1) Jack Evans, PJ Black, and Johnny Mundo:
Jack Evans, PJ Black, and Johnny Mundo won the Lucha Underground Trios Titles in glorious douchebag heel fashion. Mundo and Evans are amazing in their roles, and there is nothing to like about them as characters

2) Ricochet and Will Ospreay: I hope that all of the overreaction and controversy creates some cash for these young lads.
3) Cage: Won the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods title, and challenged Matanza for a shot at the Lucha Underground Title.
4) Trevor Lee
5) Kevin Owens

Mitch Nickelson
1) Will Ospreay:
The most buzz worthy match of the past week came from New Japan’s Battle of the Super Juniors and it was won by Will Ospreay. Mostly prompted by Vader’s objections to that particular style of wrestling, a massive debate followed regarding the art of wrestling. I’m a fan of what Ospreay does and since he won this match as opposed to his opponent, he gets the top nod for wrestler of the week from me. Keep on doing that flippy stuff.

2) Kevin Owens: As Money in the Bank Ladder Match spots are being earned in WWE, it’s KO that scored the biggest win along the way. In the main event of Raw he faced off against the man who just came off of a WWE Championship feud, AJ Styles. The match was hard hitting, including a springboard 450 splash as well as a Powerbomb onto steel steps. At this point, Owens is a favorite to capture that briefcase.
3) Cage: If you’re ever in a position to steal an Ancient Aztec Medallion and you target the most swole guy holding one then you deserve what’s coming to you. Chavo Guerrero was the silly man who stole from Cage and paid the price when he stepped into the ring with The Machine. Maybe next time he’ll pick on the woman who probably bench presses a couple hundred pounds less instead.
4) Ricochet
5) Jeff Hardy

Mike Chin
1) Cage:
Cage bested Chavo Guerrero for the Gift of the Gods Title on Lucha Underground and looks set for World War Hoss opposite The Monster Matanza Cueto.

2) Kevin Owens: KO pinned AJ Styles in the main event of Raw and is quite arguably the early favorite to go over in this year’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
3) Jack Evans, PJ Black, and Johnny Munco: The new Lucha Underground Trios Champions got the best of Rey Mysterio Jr., Dragon Azteca Jr., and Prince Puma to win the titles.
4) Nia Jax
5) Matt Sydal

Kevin Pantoja
1) Will Ospreay and Ricochet:
The match that is getting ALL of the buzz this week. Will Ospreay and Ricochet met in the main event of night six of the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament in one of the most incredible displays of athleticism that I’ve ever seen. A lot of people loved the match and a lot of people hated it. I can see the arguments from both sides and understand where people are coming from. I’m of the group of people that thought it was great. They went full tilt for almost seventeen minutes in the second best match from the tournament right now. NJPW World has uploaded the match for free now, so everyone can go check it out. Ospreay got the win, his first in an NJPW singles match, but both men deserve the high praise here.

2) Jack Evans, Johnny Mundo and PJ Black: While Cage captured the Gift of the Gods Championship from Chavo Guerrero on the same episode, the main event is where the real praise goes. Jack Evans and PJ Black were scheduled to team with Fenix in an attempt to win the Trios Titles. Taya pulled them aside and revealed a beaten up Fenix. Johnny Mundo showed up, as the one who attacked him, and became their new partner. The three men took on Dragon Azteca Jr., Prince Puma and Rey Mysterio Jr. for the Trios Titles and won the belts in a fun match. They used all sorts of underhanded tactics but the important thing is that they got the job done.
3) Matt Sydal: After losing his first Best of the Super Juniors match to Rysuke Taguchi (seriously, why is he 4-1?), Matt Sydal has reeled off four straight wins to tie for first place. During the week of 5/23-5/29, he went 3-0. First, he defeated winless BUSHI in a solid match. Then, he beat NJPW booker Gedo in a decent outing. Finally, on night seven of the tournament, he handed Kyle O’Reilly his first loss of the tournament in a great match, putting himself in first place. I wasn’t expecting this successful of a showing from Sydal, but he and his partner Ricochet have both done rather well.
4) The Miz
5) Cage

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Matt Sydal – 11 Votes

* Fifth Place…Kevin Owens – 15 Votes

* Fourth Place…Ricochet – 17 Votes

* Third Place…Will Ospreay – 20 Votes

Got the world talking about him and his match with Ricochet. Vader does not approve of this ranking.

* Second Place…Cage – 23 Votes

Your NEW Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods champion!

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Jack Evans, PJ Black and Johnny Mundo – 24Votes

Your NEW Lucha Underground Trios Champions!

The Standings
Here are the standings after week EIGHT…

* Prince Puma/Ricochet – 39pts

* AJ Styles – 37pts

* Dragon Azteca Jr. – 36pts

* Rey Mysterio Jr. – 30pts

* Roman Reigns – 24pts
* Tetsuya Naito – 24pts

* Jack Evans – 21pts
* PJ Black – 21 pts

* The Monster Matanza Cueto – 18pts
* Cage – 18pts

* The Miz – 16pts

* Samoa Joe – 15pts
* Sexy Star – 15pts
* Johnny Mundo – 15pts
* Will Ospreay – 15pts

* Kevin Owens – 12pts
* Bobby Fish – 12pts
* Daniels – 12pts
* Kazarian – 12pts

* Kyle O’Reilly – 9pts
* SANADA – 9pts
* KUSHIDA – 9pts

* Rusev – 7pts

* Ethan Carter III – 6pts
* Fenix – 6pts
* Yuji Nagata – 6pts

* Aerostar – 3pts

* Cesaro – 3pts
* Dana Brooke – 3pts
* Mike Bennett – 3pts
* Lashley – 3pts
* Xavier Woods – 3pts
* Kofi Kingston – 3pts
* Big E – 3pts

* Abyss – 1pt
* Crazy Steve – 1pt
* Sami Zayn – 1pt
* Big Cass – 1pt
* Enzo Amore – 1pt
* Karl Anderson – 1pt
* Doc Gallows – 1pt
* Rocky Romero – 1pt
* Trent Barreta – 1pt
* Matt Sydal – 1pt

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* Voting began the week of April 4th, 2016

* Year-End Rankings Key:

WWE Contracted Wrestlers are represented in BLUE.
TNA Contracted Wrestlers are represented in GREEN.
ROH Contracted Wrestlers are represented in RED.
US Independent Wrestlers are represented in MAROON.
Japanese Contracted Wrestlers are represented in BLACK.
Mexican/Lucha Underground Contracted Wrestlers are represented in MAGENTA.
Other International Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.

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**PREVIOUS WINNERS**
Year One Winner: Ric Flair (2005-2006) (Shortened year, starting September 2005)
Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe (2006-2007)
Year Three Winner: John Cena (2007-2008)
Year Four Winner: Chris Jericho (2008-2009)
Year Five Winner: CM Punk (2009-2010)
Year Six Winner: The Miz (2010-2011)
Year Seven Winner: CM Punk (2011-2012)
Year Eight Winner: CM Punk (2012-2013)
Year Nine Winner: Daniel Bryan (2013-2014)
Year Ten Winner: Seth Rollins (2014-2015)

Year Eleven Winners: The New Day (2015-2016)