wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week: Did Del Rio Take #1?

December 9, 2014 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to YEAR TEN, WEEK 35 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) 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) Alberto El Patron:
Alberto El Patron, formerly known as Alberto Del Rio, scored a huge accomplishment this past weekend. Patron won the AAA World Heavyweight Title and is now not only the top dog in the company, but is the first man to hold world title with AAA, CMLL and WWE. That’s a damn fine week.

2) Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata: Won the New Japan World Tag League, defeating champions Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows in the finals. This earned them a title shot on the big January 4th Tokyo Dome show.
3) reDRagon: Defeated the Time Splitters in a damn good match on the ROH PPV to continue their great 2014.
4) Devastation Corporation (Max Smashmaster and Blaster McMassive)
5) Icarus

Justin Watry
1) Dolph Ziggler:
First, I want to apologize for placing CM Punk as my number one choice last week. I should not have done that, as he is no longer a wrestler. I always own up to my mistakes, so I was wrong. My mistake. Even with him signing with UFC, I am no longer voting for him. He is done with WWE, I have moved on, and hopefully, everyone else will too. Dolph Ziggler had a nice showing on Raw and followed that up with another strong outing on Smackdown. His IC Championship ladder match against Luke Harper at TLC could be match of the night. Looking forward to it.

2) John Cena: Sure. Even if the opening segment on RAW felt like it took an hour, it set up TLC nicely. Plus, John Cena shut up the Anonymous Raw General Manager in a hurry. That goes a long way in my book! Oh, and he was victorious in the Raw main event. Cena is heading towards a showdown with Brock Lesnar, so after losing at Survivor Series, it seems logical he gets that win back at TLC.
3) Ryback: Seems The Big Guy is doing just fine despite the slander thrown his way in recent weeks. Shows how much ‘truth’ there is to the claims that WWE is carrying on business as usual with Ryback. Good for him. I should note that Sami Zayn juuuuust missed out on making the top five, as he showed lots of fire and passion on NXT last week. Assuming this leads to his long awaited NXT Title win, it was very well done.
4) Seth Rollins
5) Bray Wyatt

Arnold Furious
1) Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata:
There have been times this year where I’ve questioned New Japan’s booking of Goto & Shibata. They’re the best tag team in the company and yet they can’t seem to claim tag GOLD. Winning the World Tag League finally gives them something to show for a year of being the best tag team in the promotion. In doing so they beat the incumbent tag team champions too, Bullet Club duo Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. Maybe Gedo & Jado have a plan for them after all.

2) Atsushi Kotoge: NOAH’s junior division has been a surprise this year. It’s become quite the draw with several wrestlers coming to the forefront, including former Junior champ Daisuke Harada. He’s been quite excellent all year long and had great matches with a variety of opponents. I’m a little sad to see him lose the belt but Kotoge is another guy who’s earned a top spot, often competing on an equal footing with main eventers. The belt rewards a fine year for him.
3) Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori: While New Japan’s tag league gets most of the press, All Japan have been steadily rebuilding since the summer and this seems to be working towards Akiyama, the veteran and chief booker, against the likes of Kento Miyahara and Go Shiozaki. Forcing the younger talent to prove itself. Akiyama has taken a few noble jobs already in this storyline but claiming the Real World Tag League just reminds the youngsters of their place. The storyline is here for the long haul.
4) Naomichi Marufuji
5) Satoshi Kojima

Kevin P
1. Jay Briscoe:
I haven’t watched Ring of Honor as much as I should recently, but I have to give Jay Briscoe CREDIT where it is due. The ROH World Title has been a bit of a cluster with Adam Cole’s reign followed by the Michael Elgin debacle. Jay has been a mainstay in ROH and retained the belt against Cole in the main event of ROH’s biggest show. A brutal street fight featuring thumbtacks, chairs and a Jay Driller on the belt to retain. Impressive.

2. reDRAGON: I attended five straight Final Battle shows from 2006-2010 and in 2007, Bobby Fish teamed with someone that I can’t remember. He did not impress me and I thought the guy would go nowhere. Boy was I wrong. His team with Kyle O’Reilly is damn good and they are three time ROH World Tag Team Champions. In one of the best matches at Final Battle, they kept the straps against the Time Splitters, which hurt a bit since I love Alex Shelley.
3. Ryback: After the CM Punk podcast, there has been a split opinion on Ryback. Some feel that Punk may have spoken the truth about him being unsafe and some were on the opposite side. Regardless, the WWE has not stopped his push. Some were worried when he was the first man out at Survivor Series but he regained his momentum. I see him defeating Kane at TLC…S, but the biggest thing this week was that he actually pinned Seth Rollins on Smackdown. Not many people, Dean Ambrose included, have done that.
4. Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori
5. Icarus

Alex Crowder
1) Alberto Del Rio/El Patron:
He achieved quite the accomplishment this week becoming the AAA World Heavyweight Champion in his native Mexico. He’s now the only man to hold Mexico’s two major World Championships from both CMLL and AAA along with the WWE World Championship. In addition, MMA companies want him too. This man has success wherever he goes.

2) reDRagon: These guys have to be one of if not the best tag teams of the year! I will admit I like the Time-Splitters even more, but I can’t fault these guys for putting on a hellacious match with them and getting the victory! It is always nice to see tag team wrestling at its best and this team deserves CREDIT for keeping it alive.
3) Dolph Ziggler: WWE didn’t have much going on this week, but to my surprise Dolph Ziggler CONTINUES to win. I cannot complain with Dolph constantly gaining victories even if I wish someone of them were without DQ. Nonetheless, Dolph keeps the momentum going. This is an unexpected surprise and I must commend WWE for not wasting it…yet.
4) Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori
5) Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata

Mike Chin
1) Dolph Ziggler:
Dolph Ziggler picked up the win in the main events of both Raw and Smackdown this week, scoring the pin in a six-man tag alongside John Cena and Ryback, then picking up a DQ win over Luke Harper to further the story of their upcoming Intercontinental Championship showdown at TLC. A quick sidenote: unlike some of my colleagues, I make no apologies about giving CM Punk the number one spot in my countdown last week. Regardless of whether he wrestled, he generated the biggest story in the wrestling world last week. Just the same, this week Phil Brooks is making waves in the MMA sphere, and does not have a place in the Wrestler of the Week rankings.

2) Icarus: Icarus made good as the face of Chikara when he made Deucalion tap in a steel cage at Tomorrow Never Dies. The little family-friendly indy that could is making a nice account of itself on this comeback tour, and I hope they’ll maintain their momentum in 2015.
3) El Patron Alberto: The former Alberto Del Rio won the AAA World Heavyweight Championship, and became the first man to ever take home the top prize in WWE, CMLL and AAA.
4) Jay Briscoe
5) Sami Zayn

Mike Hammerlock
1) El Patron Alberto:
Nice way to debut in AAA by winning the title. The former Alberto Del Rio oozes talent and he’s the most well-known active Mexican wrestler on the planet. It makes sense that AAA would slingshot him right to the top of the promotion. I wonder how this fits in with rumors that he’ll be working Lucha Underground in 2015? Could he bringing the AAA title to that show and defending it there? That would be kind of awesome.

2) Jay Briscoe: The man took a superkick with a mouth full of thumbtacks along the way to defending his ROH title. Holy hell. He and Adam Cole really brought the ultra violence. Talk about closing the year with a bang. For all his faults, Briscoe is ROH to the core and there’s something to be said for making him a gatekeeper champion. When somebody finally beats him, it’s going to mean a lot because Briscoe endured a war like this with Cole. This was probably ROH’s MOTY.
3) Icarus: Admittedly Chikara is cartoony, but it delivered on a seven-month story arc on Saturday when Icarus beat the evil force of nature (and Supernatural demon look-alike) Deucalion with the Chikara Special inside a steel cage before then obliterating him with the Hammer of Peace. Chikara’s whole year was about reclaiming its place in the wrestling universe and Icarus is now firmly ensconced as the face of the company. Deucalion had eliminated numerous established Chikara wrestlers, notably Archibald Peck and the Estonian Thunderfrog. He was on a reign of terror. He was killing off everyone, faces and heels. The Thunderfrog technically was the only being capable of lifting the Hammer of Peace, which can wipe out an entire ring full of wrestlers. So when Icarus came out with it at the start of the match, it was like “Ooh, hammer time!” This was only the second steel cage match in Chikara history (took them forever to get it set up) and it highlighted the theme of Icarus putting himself on the line to defend all of Chikara. The ECW Arena erupted when he eradicated Deucalion with the hammer shot off the top rope. Damn that was fun. Shout out to Soldier Ant (back from an 18-month hiatus), who won the Torneo Cibernetico at the same event. Now we get to the impossible part of this week’s list below. It was maybe the biggest week for tag teams all year. The reDRagon boys (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) defended their ROH tag title against the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) in a battle of two of the best teams on the planet. Where these two teams are right now, whenever they meet it’s a clasico. This may have been their best match yet. It beats out the mountain of meat that is Devastation Corporation taking Chikara’s Campeonatos de Parejas belts from the Throwbacks in a 2 out of 3 falls match and Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata winning NJPW’s World Tag League over IWPG Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows. Japan had other significant tag team doings this week as well. On top of that, Fenix and Sexy Star won a sweet tag match on Lucha Underground. Like I said, this week was impossible. You could pick all tag teams and you wouldn’t be wrong.
4) reDRagon
5) Devastation Corporation (Max Smashmaster and Blaster McMassive)

Greg DeMarco
1 – CM Punk:
Don’t like that Punk is #1? Who made bigger news this week? No one, that’s who! The fact is, CM Punk vaulted himself into a new stratosphere with his UFC signing. It’ll likely effect future contracts and future releases. In fact, outside of signing with TNA, this is the biggest FU he could have given Vince for the wrongdoings Punk perceives happened.

2 – Vince McMahon & Steve Austin: I’m not gonna apologize for this one, either. Punk made news, but from a pure wrestling perspective, Vince was more vulnerable and more open than ever before. This may he the furthest the curtain will ever be pulled back. Good for them.
3 – Cesaro: See a theme developing here? Cesaro wrestles in some tag team matches and ends up at #3? No. He was Austin’s example, and I have a feeling it’ll have long term effects on Cesaro’s booking–in a positive way.
4 – Dean Ambrose
5 – Seth Rollins

Ryan Byers
1) Alberto El Patron:
This weekend, a former WWE Champion who departed the company under controversial circumstances grabbed headlines by making himself a major attraction in another promotion, something that he was allowed to do because WWE was uncharacteristically sloppy in their handling of his departure from the promotion and quick to settle the legal issues between the two sides due to potentially damaging information that they didn’t want exploding into a PR nightmare. Oh yeah, and, in addition to the former Alberto Del Rio winning the AAA Title, CM Punk also signed with UFC.

2) Takao Omori & Jun Akiyama: I have a difficult time voting for Shibata & Goto for their tag team tournament win in New Japan, because the thing was so darn predictable. (That’s what happens when most of the guys in the field have matches already announced for the Tokyo Dome.) What wasn’t predictable is just how fun All Japan has been recently with the Akiyama/Omori team being booked as one of its top acts. They are your Real World Tag League winners for 2014, and they are once again your AJPW World Tag Team Champions.
3) Kenou & Hajime Ohara: Kenou and Ohara, who came to NOAH from indy groups Michinoku Pro and Wrestling New Classic, respectively, got what had to be a career highlight win this weekend when the youngsters retained their GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles against Tiger Mask IV and Jushin Liger.
4) Atsushi Kotoge
5) Dolph Ziggler

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Icarus – 9 Votes

* Fifth Place…Hirooki Goto & Katsuyori Shibata – 10 Votes

* Fourth Place…Jay Briscoe, Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori – 11 Votes

* Third Place…reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) – 13 Votes

Retained the ROH Tag Team Titles in a great match at the Final Battle PPV.

* Second Place…Dolph Ziggler – 14 Votes

Ziggler continues to have good performances and has grabbed the attention of the voters.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Alberto El Patron – 23 Votes

Your NEW AAA World Heavyweight Champion!

The Standings~!
Here are the standings after week thirty-five…

1. Seth Rollins – 138pts.

2. Dean Ambrose – 97pts.

3. AJ Styles – 74pts.

4. Dolph Ziggler – 83 pts.

5. Roman Reigns – 71pts.

6. Rusev – 67pts.

7. Bobby Lashley – 60pts.
7. John Cena – 60pts.

9. Eric Young – 58pts.

10. Kazuchika Okada – 45pts
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Brock Lesnar – 43pts.

Kyle O’Reilly – 41pts.

Bobby Fish – 33pts.

Ricochet – 27pts
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 27pts

Davey Richards – 25pts.
Eddie Edwards – 25pts.

Jey Uso – 24pts.
Jimmy Uso – 24pts.
Hideo Itami – 24pts.
Adrian Neville – 24pts.

Bobby Roode – 21pts.
Bad News Barrett – 21pts.

BxB Hulk – 19pts
Randy Orton – 19pts.
Bray Wyatt – 19pts

Jay Briscoe – 18pts.
Luke Harper – 18pts.
Charlotte – 18pts.
Cesaro – 18pts.
Adam Cole – 18pts.

AJ Lee – 16pts.
Batista – 16pts.

Alberto El Patron – 15pts.
Sting – 15pts.
Atlantis – 15pts.
Paige – 15pts.
YAMATO – 15pts
Takao Omori – 15pts
Sheamus – 15pts.
Johnny Gargano – 15pts.

Samoa Joe – 14pts.

Icarus – 13pts.
Bully Ray – 13pts.

Ryback – 12pts.
The Rock – 12pts.
Daniel Bryan – 12pts.
Chris Jericho – 12pts.
Michael Elgin – 12pts.
Austin Aries – 12pts.

Stardust (Cody Rhodes) – 11pts.

KUSHIDA – 10pts.

Johnny Mundo – 9pts.
CM Punk – 9pts.
Havok – 9pts.
Ultimo Guerrero – 9pts.
Triple H – 9pts.
Yujiro Takahashi – 9pts
Masayuki Kono – 9pts
Minoru Suzuki – 9pts
Tyson Kidd – 9pts.

Goldust – 8pts.

Alicia Fox – 7pts.
Devon – 7pts.

Shelton Benjamin – 6pts.
Gail Kim – 6pts.
Takao Omori – 6pts.
Jun Akiyama – 6pts.
Masato Tanaka – 6pts.
Takashi Sugiura – 6pts.
Suwama – 6pts.
Bad Luck Fale – 6pts
Biff Busick – 6pts.
Erick Rowan – 6pts.
Damien Sandow – 6pts.
Stephanie McMahon – 6pts.
Kalisto – 6pts.
Rich Swann – 6pts.

Tomohiro Ishii – 4pts
Jeff Hardy – 4pts.

Taryn Terrell – 3pts.
Kenny Omega – 3pts.
Joe Doering – 3pts.
Hirooki Goto – 3pts.
Katsuyori Shibata – 3pts
T-Hawk – 3pts.
EITA – 3pts.
Mark Henry – 3pts.
Tyler Breeze – 3pts.
Adam Rose – 3pts.
Jack Swagger – 3pts.
Sin Cara – 3pts.

The Miz – 2pt
Naomichi Marufuji – 2pt
Dasher Hatfield – 2pts.
Mr. Touchdown – 2pts.

Matt Hardy Hardy – 1pt
Kane – 1pt
Brie Bella – 1pt
Uhaa Nation – 1pt
Kota Ibushi – 1pt
Sanada – 1pt
Bram – 1pt
Alex Shelley – 1pt
Isami Kodaka – 1pt
Kazuyuki Fujita – 1pt
Vickie Guerrero – 1pt
Drew Galloway – 1pt
Caleb Konley – 1pt
Jimmy Susumu – 1pt
Jimmy Kagetora – 1pt
Fenix – 1pt
Kaz Hayashi – 1pt
Shuji Kondo – 1pt