wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week – Cena Battles Cesaro

July 14, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to YEAR ELEVEN, WEEK 15 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…

Larry Csonka
1) Timothy Thatcher:
With the loss of Busick and Richards due to injury, the Evolve 45 card got reshuffled and the beneficiary was Timothy Thatcher. Thatcher, who was red hot following the WM weekend shows, got to face Drew Galloway on the show. Thatcher made the most of the change, challenging Galloway to put his title on the line. He did, and Thatcher defeated Galloway to win the Evolve & Open the Freedom Gate Titles on Evolve 45. he also defended the Evolve title at Evolve 46, making him easily the man who accomplished the most this week.

2) KAI: KAI defeated Hideki Suzuki to become the NEW Wrestle-1 Champion. His victory makes him the first two-time champion in the history of the company.
3) John Cena and Cesaro: For the second straight week these two men put on an awesome match on Raw. Give them all the matches on Raw from now on!
4) Zack Sabre Jr
5) Manabu Soya & Jun Kasai

Eric Palmer
1) Rickey Shane Page:
Rickey Shane Page isn’t by any means a well known name to most people unless you follow the independent promotions in the mid west. RSP has been a mainstay in Ohio based promotion Absolute Intense Wrestling since their inception about 10 years ago. Since then, he’s continued to put on performances that, in my opinion, have made him one of the most underrated big men on the indies. This weekend at AIW’s biggest show, Absolution X, Rickey Shane Page dethroned Josh Alexander to get his first reign as the promotion’s Absolute Champion in what was an incredible feel-good moment for both RSP and the fans in attendance. Give the guy a look.

2) Timothy Thatcher: Thatcher dethroned Drew Galloway for the Evolve and Open the Freedom Gate titles. That’s a pretty good weekend in and of itself, but after defending the belts the next night against Chris Hero, he’s an easy choice for number 2.
3) Cesaro: Cesaro has had two straight great matches with John Cena. We all saw last year on Raw that these two at any time can put on a fantastic match and they did so again here. He’s being made to look like a legit main event caliber talent. I’m still not completely sold on Cesaro as a main event player, but I’d like to see him get the chance to sink or swim.
4) John Cena
5) KAI

Ryan Byers
1) Brock Lesnar:
Brock Lesnar murdered a car in one of the most entertaining non-wrestling segments on Monday Night Raw in quite some time. After his epic heel run, I had a bit of trepidation regarding how Lensar would be received as a babyface, but he’s been doing a bang up job . . . pun fully intended.

2) John Cena & Antonio Cesaro: These two closed out Raw with an excellent matchup for the United States Title, though one is left wondering whether it will do the good for Cesaro’s career that it should.
3) Manabu Soya & Jun Kasai: Kaz Hayashi and Shuji Kondo had successfully defended the Wrestle-1 Tag Team Titles seven times since the championship was created last November, and they were unseated this week by the supremely wacky combination of Soya and outside deathmatch wrestler Kasai.
4) KAI
5) Timothy Thatcher

Kevin Pantoja
1) Timothy Thatcher:
In a relatively slow week, Timothy Thatcher stood above everyone else. I admit some ignorance here as I haven’t seen much of the man’s work, but winning two titles in a weekend is an impressive feat. At Evolve 45, which I hear was a fantastic show, he defeated Drew Galloway to win both the Evolve Championship and the Dragon Gate Open the Freedom Gate Championship. That in itself would be enough to earn a high spot here but what puts him over the top is the fact that he then defended the Evolve Title successfully the next night against Chris Hero, who is having a pretty good 2015 himself.

2) Zach Sabre Jr.: I only started getting into Zach Sabre Jr. recently but the man has impressed me every single time. His match against Roderick Strong at PWG Don’t Sweat the Technique earlier this year is one of my ten favorite matches this year. From what I’ve been told, the rematch against Strong this weekend at Evolve 45 was even better. I’ll be doing my best to check that out this week. This time, Sabre was able to pull out the win and then he defeated TJ Perkins the following night capping a good week.
3) John Cena: I’m sure a ton of people will be happy to see John Cena making this list, though some may feel I placed him too low. Regardless, outside of the Rusev feud, Cena’s work with the United States Championship has been the best stuff he’s done in a very long time. This past week, he and the US Title closed out Raw with a great match against Cesaro. They got nearly 30 minutes and did great stuff with it. I don’t consider it on the level that some people have but it was still damn good and enough to earn the third spot.
4) Cesaro
5) The Vaudevillains

Jack McGee
1) John Cena and Cesaro:
It’s amazing what happens when you give two talented guys a lot of time and don’t handcuff them with shitty booking and other things that hold back matches all too often.

2) KAI: KAI defeated Hideki Suzuki to become the NEW Wrestle-1 Champion.
3) Manabu Soya & Jun Kasai: They defeated Kaz Hayashi & Shuji Kondo to become the NEW Wrestle-1 Tag Team Champions.
4) Timothy Thatcher
5) Zack Sabre Jr

JUSTIN WATRY
1) Cesaro:
Big main event on WWE Raw. A loss to John Cena in a United States Championship bout is nothing to be ashamed of. Where we go from here depends on your mentality. Glass half full says Cesaro (again) proved he belongs to be showcased more, especially with his tag team partner Tyson Kidd out for the next year. Glass half empty says it was a one-off performance, and it will lead to nothing. Hopefully, it is somewhere in between. He is not getting near the WWE World Title anytime soon (you wanted ONE champion folks), but it is pretty ridiculous to imagine him doing nothing for the next 12 months.

2) Seth Rollins: Great run continues on top. I wonder if WWE is ready to move on to something different though. Jim Ross has stated that Rollins could remain champ until WrestleMania 32. Not going to disagree with him but doubt that truly is possible with all the moving parts involved with wrestling these days. Also, I have mentioned this on Twitter, but it needs to be said: If Roman Reigns was WWE World Champion and drawing these television ratings, how would YOU be reacting right now? Funny memes, bashing him, jokes, cries to push him down the card, whines for a new title holder, etc. You know it, and I know it. Newsflash folks: Seth Rollins is the champion right now in the midst of near record low TV numbers. I love him as much as the next guy, but facts are facts…
3) Brock Lesnar: Scary man. Even the fans in the arena are not safe from his destruction. Seems to be in line to dethrone Seth Rollins as the NEWWWW WWE World Champion soon. Whether that happens at Battleground or Summerslam remains to be seen. Hard decision for WWE – another Fall season without your top prize around…or The Beast starts losing matches? Yikes.
4) Sasha Banks
5) John Cena

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Zack Zabre Jr, Manabu Soya & Jun Kasai – 7 Votes

* Fifth Place…Brock Lesnar – 8 Votes

* Fourth Place…KAI – 11 Votes

* Third Place…Timothy Thatcher – 17 Votes

Your NEW Evolve & Open the Freedom Gate Champion!

* Second Place…John Cena – 18 Votes

Still the reigning and defending US Champion, putting in another great effort against Cesaro.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Cesaro – 22 Votes

While he came out on the short end of things, again, Cesaro impressed in another match with John Cena.

The Standings
Here are the standings after week fifteen…

Kevin Owens – 48 pts.

Kofi Kingston – 35 pts.
Big E – 35 pts.

John Cena – 31 pts.
Seth Rollins – 31 pts.

Prince Puma – 25 pts.

Dean Ambrose – 24 pts.
KUSHIDA – 24 pts.

Xavier Woods – 22 pts.

AJ Styles – 18 pts.
Roman Reigns – 18 pts.
Nick Jackson – 18 pts.
Matt Jackson – 18 pts.

Mil Muertes – 16 pts.

Kazuchika Okada – 15 pts.
Jay Lethal – 15 pts.
Hideo Itami – 15 pts.
Cesaro – 15 pts.
Randy Orton – 15 pts.
Matt Hardy – 15 pts.
Jeff Hardy – 15 pts.
Hirooki Goto – 15 pts.
Angelico – 15 pts.
Son of Havoc – 15 pts.
Alberto El Patron – 15 pts.
Kurt Angle – 15 pts.

Finn Balor – 13 pts.

Shinsuke Nakamura – 12 pts.
Kyle O’Reilly – 12 pts.
Mike Bennett – 12 pts.
Matt Taven – 12 pts.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey – 12 pts.
Rich Swann – 12 pts.
Ivelisse – 12 pts.
Sasha Banks – 12 pts.

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

Jeff Jarrett – 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.
Brock Lesnar – 9 pts.

Ethan Carter III – 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 – 4 pts.

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

Eddie Edwards – 1 pt.
Davey Richards – 1 pt.
Kenny King – 1 pt.
Kalisto – 1 pt.
Titus O’Neil – 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.