wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week – Bayley or Rollins?

August 25, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to YEAR ELEVEN, WEEK 21 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…

Ryan Byers
1) Seth Rollins:
Though the finish was a little bit . . . odd . . . Seth Rollins was the man who brought an end to John Cena’s excellent United States Championship reign. It’s a testament to Cena that the title change feels as meaningful as it does, and it’s a testament to Rollins that the company has the faith in him to allow him to win it. In some ways, this almost says more about Rollin’s position as the future of WWE than his original World Heavyweight Championship win does.

2) Bayley: We have a new NXT Women’s Champion, coming off of a great match in Brooklyn. The jury is still out on whether Bayley’s character will work on the WWE main roster, but, for the time being, she’s on top of her world.
3) New Day: The WWE Tag Team Titles have returned to their rightful home.
4) Yukio Sakaguchi
5) Kota Ibushi & Daisuke Sasaki

Kevin Pantoja
1) Bayley/Sasha Banks:
I honestly could not pick between these two girls. Yes, Bayley won the match but I can’t put one girl’s performance above the other. I watched nearly every match the WWE has put on this year, I watched Lucha Underground, the entire G1 Climax, Wrestle Kingdom 9 ROH and a ton of wrestling, but my match of the year is Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and I don’t care what people say. Everything from the entrances (Bayley with the Dusty tribute, Sasha with the Escalade) to the story they told to the moves they did to the emotion of the crowd, was perfect. The atmosphere in the Barclays Center was something that wasn’t topped all weekend long. Sasha Banks attacking Bayley’s hand was genius and done viciously. Stomping on her hand during the Bank Statement and the somersault outside were both highlights. I always liked Bayley, but felt she was the worst of the NXT four. I thought that there was no way these two would top what Banks and Becky Lynch did in May. I even wrote a long article about that match. Instead, they shut me up and bested it. There was nothing about this match that I would change. I was emotionally invested in a way that I didn’t get for anything else I’ve seen all year. If you would have told me a few years ago that, on a weekend with Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Tyler Black, Kevin Steen, John Cena, Claudio Castagnoli and many others, SHIMMER’s Davina Rose and Snoop Dogg’s cousin would outperform them all, I would have never believed you.

2) Seth Rollins: After sitting in the front row for TakeOver, it certainly seemed like Seth Rollins came out trying to steal the show at SummerSlam. While I don’t think his match with John Cena was better than either of the double main events at TakeOver, but man he tried. Seth brought out a diving double stomp in the corner, a superplex rolled into a falcon arrow and three consecutive suicide dives. Seth brought it and did his best to deliver in what was probably the biggest match of his career. I know that a lot of people have been down on his booking, and it has been rough at times, but the guy has been successful as hell. Here, he won the United States Title, adding to his WWE Championship. That’s an accomplishment, especially with the effort Cena put into making the title relevant again.
3) Finn Balor: There was a tough task ahead of Finn Balor and Kevin Owens to follow the MOTY at the close of TakeOver, but they did an admirable job in doing so. Looking back, I wasn’t a huge fan of their first match but really liked the one in Japan. This one lived up to the Japan match. It started a bit slow but really picked up and they put on an awesome match. Finn Balor was able to retain and should finally put Kevin Owens behind him. Now, he can move on to new challengers, hopefully beating Samoa Joe before a feud with a returning Hideo Itami. That’s just my wishes though. Finn Balor successfully retained the NXT Title in the main event of their biggest event ever, so he clearly earns this spot.
4) New Day
5) Vaudevillains

Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Seth Rollins:
Rollins gets the nod by retaining the WWE World Title and beating Cena for the US Title. Lost in the silliness of the match ending is the fact that Rollins put on an all time performance in what was the biggest match of his career.

2) Bayley: Won the NXT Woman’s Title in what may have been the best match of the weekend. Just a fantastic effort by her and Sasha Banks, but I will give the nod to Bayley since she won the match. We will probably never get this on the Main Roster, but at least we can still see it on NXT.
3) New Day: Tag Title match was a lot of fun, and New Day winning is the right call. They are doing great things with this heel run and it is getting so over that WWE will turn them face and that will kill the fun.
4) The Vaudevillians
5) Finn Balor

Mike Hammerlock
1) Seth Rollins:
Reminded everyone exactly how much of a star he is when Vince gives him respectable booking. Rollins has perhaps the biggest arsenal in the WWE and his aerial ability is special. Seriously, that may have been the best frog splash ever executed. Also a nod to Vince here for having the right guy win this match. Cena should have to wade through Hell and Purgatory in order to win that 16th title.

2) Bayley: A good week for the women in the WWE/NXT, but Bayley’s win over the Boss was epic. She now carries the NXT Women’s Championship, which has become a standard of excellence, and faces the task of leading the next batch of NXT female standouts. Heady stuff. Yet her win on Saturday indicates she’s more than up to the task. Hugs for everyone.
3) Kazuchika Okada: It might get lost in the shuffle with all the WWE/NXT action this week, but Okada defended his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Roderick Strong at ROH’s Field of Honor event in what might have been the match of the week. Okada and Strong both are on the short list for best pro wrestler on the planet in 2015. This was a really tough week to make a list. For those who might be wondering why Undertaker didn’t make my picks, I thought he looked slow for much of his match. They booked around his limitations fairly well, but he looked gassed even though they clearly slowed the pace for him.
4) New Day
5) Finn Balor

Wyatt Beougher
1) Bayley:
I see some of my compatriots are putting Rollins in this spot, and that’s fine, I guess, but I personally couldn’t justify not putting Bayley at the top of the list considering her match not only ended with a clean finish, but paid off a storyline that’s been ongoing for two years now, all while Bayley herself proved that she can hang with the greatest female wrestler of our generation and was one-half of the best match of a big weekend of wrestling.

2) New Day: Yeah, not putting Rollins here either, because for my money, New Day out-entertained him. These guys deserve accolades every week that they’re on the show simply for taking such a garbage gimmick and turning it into gold, so being able to reward them with the second spot for winning back the tag team championships feels GOOOOOOD. NEW…DAY ROCKS! NEW…DAY ROCKS! NEW…DAY ROCKS!
3) Seth Rollins: Rollins not only retained his WWE World Heavyweight Championship and won the WWE United States Championship from John Cena at Summerslam, he also went move-for-move and toe-to-toe with a guy who tends not to lose in these situations. Yes, he ended up having help to win last night’s match, but the body of the match prior to that should’ve at least quieted the critics who think Rollins has been booked as ineffectual. There’s a difference between not being able to win on your own and simply choosing to let people help you win because you can, and the latter, which has defined Rollins’ character, is the mark of a truly great heel.
4) The Vaudevillains
5) Finn Balor

JUSTIN WATRY
1) Bayley:
When you think of everything that took place over the last two days, what stood out most? Stephen Amell wrestling? The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar? John Cena getting screwed over by Jon Stewart? Seth Rollins winning the United States Championship and adding that to his WWE World Championship resume? So much. For me though, nothing was more emotional and/or cool than watching Bayley FINALLY winning the NXT Womens title in front of 15,000 fans at the biggest NXT show ever. Absolutely amazing bout and one that should have closed the show as the true main event (something I wrote about last week on another website). Congrats Bayley!

2) Big E: I have a lot to say about this past weekend of wrestling, so be sure to check out my upcoming column(s) on everything. Why did I give the #2 spot to Big E you ask? Because of The New Day winning the WWE Tag Team Titles? No, no, no. He deserves his spot for his dancing skills and facial reactions. These past few weeks, the highlight of the tag division has not been the matches of even what we saw at WWE Summerslam. It has been Big E. Everything Big E. The man should be given a shout out and is getting it here.
3) Kevin Owens: Tough battle here for the remaining spots. Obviously, there was the Summerslam main event…but both of those guys are basically in a league of their own in terms of legacy. John Cena, Sheamus, Finn Balor, Apollo Crews, Sasha Banks, Jushin Liger, The Vaudevillains, and many more had a very good week, but that is the good/bad of only listing five wrestlers. Some make it; some don’t. Kevin Owens gets the nod for being in the NXT Title ladder match on Saturday night and following it up with a victory over Cesaro not even 24 hours later. Very nice.
4) Seth Rollins
5) The Undertaker

Larry Csonka
1) Bayley & Sasha Banks:
The NXT ladies seem to be playing a constant game of can you top this, and this time it was Bayley & Sasha Banks delivering at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn special. We all knew that Bayley was winning, but they had a great layout, told an awesome story and at the end of the provided a top tier, MOTY caliber match at Takeover that is worthy of all of the praise that it has received. Bayley won the title, Sasha added to her résumé and likely locked up women’s wrestler of the year already. It would take a lot for someone to get in her league right now. This was a match is that was so good that I feel that both ladies needed to be rewarded.

2) Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston: No explanation needed.
3) Seth Rollins: The booking was shit, but Seth Rollins defeated John Cena to retain the WWE World Title and to win the WWE US Title. It’s not so much the accomplishment that gets Rollins the spot this week; it’s the fact that Summerslam may have been his best individual performance ever. Rollins proved that he has earned his place and that he was the right guy to break off from the Shield and push.
4) Finn Balor
5) The Vaudevillans

GREG DEMARCO
1) Seth Rollins:
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion is now the first man to hold that championship alongside the United States Championship. Despite the booking method used in his win, it further solidifies his place in history. One year ago Brock Lesnar captured the world title and we didn’t know where this left Mr. Money In The Bank. Now he stands on top of the wrestling world, and deservedly so.
2) Sasha Banks: I know, she didn’t even get a win this weekend. But Sasha Banks proved why she is the key to this supposed Divas Revolution. She is one of the best performers in all of the WWE, and what she did at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn proves that she’s ready to carry the division on the main roster.
3) Charles Robinson: Sometimes in the world of professional wrestling your job is to take the chicken shit you’re given and make chicken salad. Charles Robinson was put in a terrible position as the referee for the horribly booked Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker match at SummerSlam. Yet he delivered the most believable performance of anyone involved in the match. Bravo to you, Lil’ Naitch!
4) The New Day
5) The Vaudevillians AND Blue Pants

Jeremy Thomas
1) Seth Rollins:
Seth Rollins’ title reign hasn’t been handled like many people thought it should be, but whatever the booking has been he’s been delivering big-time throughout. That happened again at SummerSlam as he delivered a fantastic match against Cena and looked strong, even with Jon Stewart’s run in (which I at least found entertaining). Rollins is now a double champion and if anyone had doubts as to his future at the top of the card for a long time, those should be firmly squashed now.

2) Bayley: Bayley won what was the match of the week with ease by capturing the NXT Womens Title at Takeover: Brooklyn. With Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch now on the main roster, Bayley is the face of the NXT Womens division and it’s safe to say that division is in safe hands.
3) Sasha Banks/Finn Balor: Sasha would be tied with Bayley if only she had been able to do a bit more at SummerSlam, but she was largely a non-factor there. Still, she had a phenomenal performance against Bayley and ties with Finn Balor, who solidified his NXT Title reign with a hell of a defense against Kevin Owens.
4) New Day
5) The Vaudevillians

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…The Vaudevillians – 8 Votes

* Fifth Place…Finn Balor – 11 Votes

* Fourth Place…Sasha Banks – 17 Votes

* Third Place…The New Day – 22 Votes

New Day Rocks!

* Second Place…Bayley – 36 Votes

Your NEW NXT Women’s Champion!

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Seth Rollins – 38 Votes

Your reigning and defending WWE Champion and NEW US Champion!

The Standings
Here are the standings after week twenty-one…

John Cena – 61 pts.

Kevin Owens – 48 pts.

Seth Rollins – 46 pts.

Kofi Kingston – 44 pts.
Big E – 44 pts.

Mil Muertes – 31 pts.
Xavier Woods – 31 pts.

Sasha Banks – 30 pts.

Hiroshi Tanahashi – 27 pts.
KUSHIDA – 27 pts.

Prince Puma – 25 pts.

Shinsuke Nakamura – 24 pts.
Kazuchika Okada – 24 pts.
Dean Ambrose – 24 pts.
Kota Ibushi – 24 pts.

Cesaro – 21 pts.
AJ Styles – 21 pts.
Hirooki Goto – 21 pts.
Kyle O’Reilly – 21 pts.

Alberto El Patron – 18 pts.
Roman Reigns – 18 pts.
Nick Jackson – 18 pts.
Matt Jackson – 18 pts.

Finn Balor – 16 pts.

Jay Lethal – 15 pts.
Hideo Itami – 15 pts.
Randy Orton – 15 pts.
Matt Hardy – 15 pts.
Jeff Hardy – 15 pts.
Angelico – 15 pts.
Son of Havoc – 15 pts.
Kurt Angle – 15 pts.
Brock Lesnar – 15 pts.
Undertaker – 15 pts.

Rey Mysterio Jr. – 12 pts.
Katsuyori Shibata – 12 pts.
Mike Bennett – 12 pts.
Matt Taven – 12 pts.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey – 12 pts.
Rich Swann – 12 pts.
Ivelisse – 12 pts.
Bayley – 12 pts.

Becky Lynch – 10 pts.
Roderick Strong – 10 pts.

Bobby Fish – 9 pts.
Fenix – 9 pts.
Jeff Jarrett – 9 pts.
Karl Anderson – 9 pts.
Togi Makabe – 9 pts.
Sheamus – 9 pts.
Sami Zayn – 9 pts.
Rocky Romero – 9 pts.
Trent Baretta – 9 pts.
Kimber Lee – 9 pts.
Cherry Bomb – 9 pts.
Timothy Thatcher – 9 pts.
Drago – 9 pts.
Ethan Carter III – 9 pts.

Michael Elgin – 6 pts.
Minoru Suzuki – 6 pts
Tigre Uno – 6 pts.
Samoa Joe – 6 pts.
KAI – 6 pts.
Masato Tanaka – 6 pts.
Takashi Sugiura – 6 pts.
Ryback – 6 pts.
King Bad News Barrett – 6 pts.
Nicole Matthews – 6 pts.

Neville – 5 pts.

Drew Galloway – 3 pts.
Johnny Mundo – 3 pts.
Jack Evans – 3 pts.
Aerostar – 3 pts.
Cage – 3 pts.

PJ Black – 1 pt.
Pentagon Jr – 1 pt.
El Siniestro de la Muerte – 1 pt.
Barrio Negro – 1 pt.
Terce – 1 pt.
King Cuerno – 1 pt.
Eddie Edwards – 1 pt.
Davey Richards – 1 pt.
Kenny King – 1 pt.
Kalisto – 1 pt.
Titus O’Neil – 1 pt.
Aiden English – 1 pt.
Simon Gotch – 1 pt.
Darren Young – 1 pt.
Minoru Tanaka – 1 pt.
Masato Yoshino – 1 pt.
Kazarian – 1 pt
Christopher Daniels – 1 pt
Zack Sabre Jr – 1 pt.
Jun Kasai – 1 pt.
Manabu Soya – 1 pt.
Tetsuya Naito – 1 pt.