411’s Wrestler of The Week: Ambrose Battles Zayn

Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK SIXTEEN 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: JULY 18 – JULY 24

Larry Csonka
1) Dean Ambrose:
he may have went to a draw on Raw, but he retained the WWE Title on both Smackdown and Battleground. Many thought Ambrose’s run would be over by now, but he’s defied the odds and is putting together a good run with the title

2) Lashley: I have repeatedly said that Lashley has been great in TNA, and he continued that this week as he defeated Eddie Edwards to win the X-Division title. Lashley is now a double champion and right now, no one can stop him.
3) Rey Mysterio: Rey Mysterio defeated Prince Puma at the Ultima Lucha Dos finale. Rey was awesome in this match, and I have no clue how many more efforts like this we will see from him, but for one night, he was still El Rey.
4) Sami Zayn
5) Hiroyoshi Tenzan

Dylan Diot
1) Dean Ambrose:
Another great week for Dean Ambrose. He went 2-0-1 in WWE Title Defenses, defeating Seth Rollins on Smackdown and winning the Triple Threat match at Battleground against Rollins and Roman Reigns. He took the WWE Championship to Smackdown and is finally to start to feel like a legitimate champion.

2) Bobby Lashley: Bobby Lashley defeated Eddie Edwards in a Six Sides of Steel match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Champion and win the X-Division Championship in a great match. Lashley continues to collect gold and is having one of the most underrated years of anyone in wrestling.
3) YAMATO: YAMATO defeated Shingo Takagi to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship in an absolute classic. He’s been built up incredibly well since Verserk turned on him and his victory at Kobe Word was the culmination to his redemption story and has solidified him as the top star in Dragon Gate going forward.
4) Sami Zayn
5) Naomichi Marufuji

Mitch Nickelson
1) Dean Ambrose:
What originally felt like merely a guy keeping a belt warm until Big Dog Roman returned from suspension has resulted in several big wins for Dean, all in the past week. The draw with Seth Rollins on Raw fell a little flat but his defeat of Rollins on SmackDown and then the victory in the first Shield Triple Threat at Battleground made Ambrose look like a real winner. He’s THE champion while only one man on the WWE main roster can claim that status.

2) Rey Mysterio: With all due respect to Rey, I wasn’t expecting that amazing of a match between him and Prince Puma in the main event of Ultima Lucha Dos. It turned out to be one of the best matches of the year from that company, topped off with a surprising victory by Rey over Puma. Well, it was surprising to me at least, you all might’ve seen it coming.
3) Bobby Lashley: I don’t think I would’ve ever imagined Lashley as the X-Division Champion, but that’s now true after defeating Eddie Edwards in a Title vs. Title Six Sides of Steel Match. He already holds the TNA World Championship so what other titles does he have left in his sights? Is the King of the Mountain Championship still a thing?
4) Sami Zayn
5) Bayley

Jack McGee
1) Lashley:
Lashley gives no fucks, kicks asses and takes any title he wants. He’s the best thing about TNA right now.

2) Dean Ambrose: Defended the WWE title two times last week, including at the Battleground PPV. Ambrose put in another great week as the WWE Champion, and now heads to the blue brand wit the title.
3) Rey Mysterio: It may have been the last time, but he was Rey Fucking Mysterio for one more night, putting in a great performance and winning at the Ultima Lucha Dos finale.
4) YAMATO
5) Sami Zayn

Rob Stewart
1) Dean Ambrose:
What a week for Dean. He pinned both of his former partners in The Shield this week in two separate title defenses, with the latter being the main event of a great Battleground live special. There was a lot of worry that Dean’s title reign was going to be short-lived and made to look like a fluke, but after this week? He should be a made man for quite a while. He’s not only cemented himself as a main eventer, but pushed through to being one of the top performers in WWE right now.

2) Sami Zayn: Look, it hurts my soul that I can’t make Sami #` this week, but it would be inexcusable to not give it to Dean this week. That said, Zayn and Owens didn’t just steal Battleground; they snuck up on it in alley, hit it over the head with a ballbat, and tied it up in their trunk. Zayn FINALLY gets his signature win on the main roster, and wow… what a way to do it.
3) The Monster, Matanza Cueto: The Monster fended off the challenge of the newly christened Pentagon Dark to finish season 2 of Lucha Underground as the reigning and undefeated champion. At this point, you have to wonder if anyone in Lucha Underground is going to be able to stop El Jefe’s brother’s dominance.
4) Rey Mysterio Jr
5) Bayley

Kevin Pantoja
1) Dean Ambrose:
Boy, what a tough week. Several people with big accomplishments missed the cut including Lashley, Drago, Aerostar, Fenix, Rey Mysterio and Matanza Cueto. To kick things off, I’m going with Dean Ambrose. First of all, he defended his WWE World Heavyweight Title against Seth Rollins in a match that ended in controversy. He was then taken second overall in the draft the following night and closed out that show by defeating the number one overall pick, Seth Rollins and retaining the title. His biggest moment came at the Battleground Pay-Per-View though. In the highly anticipated Shield triple threat match for the belt, Ambrose bested his former brothers to keep the title. It was a clean win that doesn’t allow for any title shenanigans to move the strap to Raw. He pinned Roman Reigns and a win like this solidified his title reign.

2) Sami Zayn: Easily, the best match of a week chock full of them was Sami Zayn’s “final encounter” with Kevin Owens. They stole the show at Battleground and put on a match of the year candidate. Zayn was able to finally exorcise his demons and defeat his former best friend. The match featured tons of callbacks to past matches, lots of near falls, drama, a hot crowd, great wrestling and everything I could want in a match. Earlier in the week, Zayn was also taken ahead of Owens in the draft, being one of the televised picks to go to Raw. He also won on Raw, teaming with Cesaro to defeat Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. Zayn has been one of the best performers all year long in any company and it continued this week.
3) Hiroyoshi Tenzan: There have been plenty of surprises early on in the G1 Climax. From an 0-2 Hiroshi Tanahashi to a 2-0 Tomoaki Honma, things are off to a strange start. However, I’m going with Hiroyoshi Tenzan’s 2-0 start over Honma’s. While Honma’s is more surprising, Tenzan’s is a better story. After not being selected to participate, Tenzan’s partner Satoshi Kojima gave him his spot. It marked the 20th straight appearance in the G1 for the former three time winner. On night one, Tenzan defeated Tomohiro Ishii in an awesome match, silencing a lot of doubters who thought his inclusion was a bad decision. Then, on night three, he defeated Tama Tonga to move to 2-0. I don’t think he wins his block, but it would be one hell of a story.
4) Bayley
5) Tomoaki Honma

Mike Hammerlock
1) Dean Ambrose:
Three title defenses in a week: two against Seth Rollins and then the Battleground main event against Rollins and former WWE poster boy Roman Reigns. I say “former” because this week made it official they’ve turned to Dean Ambrose. Smart decision. Fans love him. He’ll have to keep that enthusiasm going now that he’s away from his two greatest foils and exclusive to Smackdown, but this was a huge week for Ambrose and the WWE. Looks like we truly are onto something new.

2) Sami Zayn: Beat Kevin Owens in what I doubt is their final clash, but it was excellent nonetheless. It was the kind of maximum effort affair a feud like theirs demands. It set the bar incredibly high if they at each other again at SummerSlam. With performances and crowd reactions like this, the sky is the limit for Zayn.
3) Rey Mysterio Jr.: Looks like he’s still got it. Talk about a statement match. Won a contest that not only cemented his legacy, but made that case that Lucha Libre has fully taken its place in the American wrestling scene. It was glorious. Hats off to Rey and Puma for the match and Lucha Underground for a dynamite second season. Can’t wait for season three to start.
4) Naomichi Marufuji
5) Lashley

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Bayley – 4 Votes

* Fifth Place…YAMATO – 5 Votes

* Fourth Place…Rey Mysterio – 15 Votes

* Third Place…Lashley – 18 Votes

Now the TNA world and X-division champion!

* Second Place…Sami Zayn – 19 Votes

Won a MOTY candidate at Battleground against Kevin Owens.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Dean Ambrose – 34 Votes

Still your reigning and defending WWE Champion!

The Standings
Here are the standings after week SIXTEEN…

* Prince Puma/Ricochet – 54pts

* AJ Styles – 46pts

* Dean Ambrose – 42pts

* Rey Mysterio Jr. – 36pts
* Dragon Azteca Jr. – 36pts

* Lashley – 33pts
* The Monster Matanza Cueto – 33pts
* Will Ospreay – 33pts
* Sexy Star – 33pts

* Johnny Mundo – 27pts

* Cage – 24 pts
* Roman Reigns – 24pts
* Tetsuya Naito – 24pts
* Jack Evans – 24pts
* PJ Black – 24 pts

* Samoa Joe – 21pts

* The Miz – 16pts

* Jay Lethal – 15pts
* Seth Rollins – 15pts
* Broken Matt Hardy – 15pts
* Drew Galloway – 15pts
* Dash – 15pts
* Dawson – 15pts

* Sami Zayn – 13pts

* Son of Havoc – 12pts
* Michael Elgin -12pts
* Kevin Owens – 12pts
* Bobby Fish – 12pts
* Daniels – 12pts
* Kazarian – 12pts
* Mike Bennett – 12pts
* Eddie Edwards – 12pts

* Mil Muertes – 9pts
* Kyle O’Reilly – 9pts
* SANADA – 9pts
* KUSHIDA – 9pts
* Kazuchika Okada – 9pts
* Katsuyori Shibata – 9pts

* Rusev – 7pts

* Ethan Carter III – 6pts
* Fenix – 6pts
* Pentagon Jr – 6pts
* Mariposa – 6pts
* Yuji Nagata – 6pts
* Matt Riddle – 6pts

* Aerostar – 3pts
* The Mack – 3pts
* Cesaro – 3pts
* Dana Brooke – 3pts
* Xavier Woods – 3pts
* Kofi Kingston – 3pts
* Big E – 3pts
* Evie – 3pts
* Heidi Lovelace – 3pts
* Dustin (Chuck Taylor) – 3pts
* YAMATO – 3pts

* Matt Sydal – 2pts

* Chavo Guerrero – 1pt
* Jeff Hardy – 1pt
* Abyss – 1pt
* Crazy Steve – 1pt
* Bayley – 1pt
* Zack Ryder – 1pt
* Big Cass – 1pt
* Enzo Amore – 1pt
* Karl Anderson – 1pt
* Doc Gallows – 1pt
* Rocky Romero – 1pt
* Trent Barreta – 1pt
* Timothy Thatcher – 1pt
* Jay Briscoe – 1pt
* Mark Briscoe – 1pt
* Satoshi Kojima – 1pt
* Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 1pt
* Kota Ibushi – 1pt

---

* 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.

---

**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)