wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week – Did The Hardys Win The Week?

April 21, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to YEAR ELEVEN, WEEK 3 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…

 photo WrestlerOfWeek_zps4f74fe91.jpg

Larry Csonka
1) The Hardys (Jeff & Matt):
The Hardys added to their tag team legacy this week as they won the TAN Tag Team Titles. The titled had been vacated, and on Impact they defeated the Revolution in the first round of the mini-tournament. The brothers then defeated EC3 & Bram, Low Ki and Kenny King and Austin Aries and Bobby Roode in an Ultimate X match to win the titles. The Hardys have been working hard in TNA, and considering the circumstances, I really have no issue with them getting a run with the titles.

2) Drago: Drago defeated Aerostar in the main event of this week’s Lucha Underground. This was the final match in their best of five series, and with the win Drago won a “unique opportunity” from Dario Cueto, which was a title shot against Prince Puma. Of course, if he loses, he gets banned from the Lucha Underground Temple forever.
3) Rich Swann: Defeated Roderick Strong to with the FIP Title and then later that night won the Open the United Gate with partner Johnny Gargano.
4) Johnny Gargano
5) Cage, King Cuerno and Texano

Eric Palmer
1) Rich Swann:
Rich Swann defeated Roderick Strong for the FIP Heavyweight title. While it’s technically his second run with the belt, his last reign he was forced to vacate the belt due to injury. Defeating Roderick Strong is a pretty big deal on the indies these days, and hopefully Swann’s reign lasts longer than his last one. At EVOLVE 42, Swann teamed with Johnny Gargano to win the Open the United Gate (tag team) Title. In another relatively slow week for professional wrestling, winning two title belts earns Swann the top spot on my list.

2) Adrian Neville: Adrian Neville had two really good matches this week. He lost to Dolph Ziggler on Raw in what was a fantastic showing by the NXT standout, including a ridiculous 450 splash off the barricade. Not to be outdone by himself, on Smackdown he defeated Sheamus via disqualification in another really solid match. Neville also busted out a beautiful Phoenix Splash from the second rope that was just insane. While he may have won by disqualification, Neville showed he could hold his own against the best of the best this week. He’s easily one of the best of the week.
3) Randy Orton: Orton only wrestled once this week, defeating WWE Tag Team Champions Tyson Kidd and Cesaro on Raw in a handicap match to pick his stipulation for Extreme Rules. Any time you can single handily defeat the reigning tag team champions, it usually means you had a pretty good week. The only reason he isn’t higher on the list, is due to his absence from Smackdown.
4) The Hardyz
5) Drago

Kevin Pantoja
1) Rich Swann:
I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t seen much of Rich Swann. Still, after reading about his accomplishments this week, it would be hard to put anyone else ahead of him. First, he won the FIP Heavyweight Title from Roderick Strong. Strong has been on the indies forever and is a multi-time FIP Champion, making this a pretty big win for Swann. That in itself was enough to land in the top spot on a slow week, but he would add to this by winning more gold. He teamed with the excellent Johnny Gargano to win the DGUSA Open The United Gate Tag Team Titles, capping off a great week for him.

2) The Hardyz: This week’s Impact was pretty much solely focused on the TNA Tag Team Titles. That’s great for the prestige of the title as having a show dedicated to it does wonders. Eight teams competed in four matches with the winners moving on to an Ultimate X that determined our new champions after the Wolves were forced to relinquish them due to injury. The Hardyz would defeat the Revolution to start the night before capturing the gold in Ultimate X to close the show. Not only was this obviously a cool moment for them but the TNA Tag Titles were the only major Tag Team Titles left for them to win.
3) John Cena: Over in the WWE, nobody really had a huge standout week. I’d say that the top three performers of the week for the WWE were John Cena, Sami Zayn, and Neville. The reason I choose Cena here is because he was the guy who won twice this week. On Raw, he issued his usual open challenge for the United States Title and defeated Bad News Barrett in a really good match. Then on Smackdown, he issued it again only to end up in a tag team match with Daniel Bryan as his partner. They defeated the Tag Team Champions in non-title action, making it a successful week for the US Champ.
4) Drago
5) Cage, King Cuerno and Texano

Ryan Byers
1) Randy Orton:
It’s been another slow week as we settle down into the post-WrestleMania doldrums, as WWE realizes that you don’t have to put together a particularly compelling set of shows in order to get crowds in the United Kingdom to go nuts. (They love FANDANGO of all things, people. If that’s not an indication of low standards, I don’t know what is.) Anyway, without much significant going on, Randy Orton snags the top spot in my book for getting a big win over the reigning Tag Team Champions in what was probably the most important match held on Monday Night Raw. For the time being, Randy is the company’s top babyface, and he’s holding his own in the position.

2) Akito: Akito is probably one of the more underrated wrestlers going in Japan, though he should be getting some attention this week, as he defeated Daisuke Sasaki in the DDT promotion in a rare-for-Japan one hour iron man match that saw Akito retain his DDT Extreme Title. If you get the opportunity, check it out.
3) Naomi/Trinity: Maybe I’m in the minority on this one, but I thought the former Funkadactyl showed good intensity and heel charisma in her post-match beatdown on Paige this week, though the promo could have used some work. I can’t remember the last time that a WWE heel turn felt as fresh and unexpected (while still making sense) as this one.
4) Abdullah Kobayashi
5) Chris Hero & Colt Cabana

Mike Chin
1) Randy Orton:
Although Randy Orton’s single-handed victory over the tag champs probably did more to hurt Cesar and Kidd than help him, it was nonetheless a good performance and Orton’s character continues to gather steam en route to his Extreme Rules title shot.

2) Matt and Jeff Hardy: At first blush, it may seem absurd for the Hardys to win a tag title in the year 2015, but there’s also something poetic to the parabolic shape of their career, rising out of the tag ranks and settling back into them, and still managing to win gold, particularly in the Ultimate X Match style that celebrates spots.
3) Rich Swann: Swann picked up the FIP World Heavyweight Championship off of Roderick Strong and Teamed up with Johnny Gargano to win the DGUSA Open United Gate tag straps.
4) John Cena
5) Naomi

Jack McGee
1) The Hardy Boys:
The Hardy Boys won the TNA Tag team Titles this past week, and that is certainly enough to take the top spot for me. The brothers are working hard, and add another major tag title to their resume, which they are just padding at this point. Now the feud of mutual respect with the Wolves will happen, as they previously teased it and I am fine with that because they work good together.

2) Rich Swann: On Saturday Rich Swann won the FIP Title, and then later that night teamed with Johnny Gargano to win the DGUSA Open United Gate tag titles. Swann’s a hell of a talent and I am glad to see him thriving.
3) Johnny Gargano: Won the DGUSA Open United Gate tag team titles with Rich Swann.
4) Drago
5) John Cena

Jeremy Thomas
1) The Hardy Boys:
Won the TNA Tag Team titles by competing in two matches on Impact, one of which was an Ultimate X. Call me crazy but I love seeing the Hardys back on top of their game and adding TNA’s tag straps to their resume fills the last hole they had left to fill.

2) Neville: Neville may not be picking up the wins, but he is winning over the crowd which is far more important in the early part of your main roster WWE run. Just ask Vladimir Kozlov how winning matches right out of the gate fared for him. Neville’s going to be pushed as an underdog so this makes sense.
3) Rich Swann: Won the FIP World Heavyweight title and the DGUSA Open The United Gate Tag Titles. You gotta show respect for guys who win two major indy promotion titles in the same week.
4) Randy Orton
5) Akito

Mike Hammerlock
1) Drago:
The match I enjoyed best this week, hands down, was Drago vs. Aerostar. It was a blast. We got vastly more good wrestling from one hour of Lucha Underground than in five hours of Raw and Smackdown. Honorable mention to Cage for winning his trios match along with King Cuerno and Texano as well as a three-way match against Son of Havoc and The Mack. Drago gets a title shot next week against Prince Puma, which I’m more interested in seeing than anything on the WWE Extreme Rules card.

2) The Hardys: While it was short of epic, Matt and Jeff finally got themselves the TNA tag belts. They done quality work over the past year, so it’s a well-deserved reward.
3) John Cena: Much as I dislike Cena buzz sawing through the entire WWE mid-card, he’s doing some outstanding work in the ring.
4) Cage
5) Rich Swann

Alex Crowder
1) Rich Swann:
This was a slow week but a few standouts took advantage of this. I have only seen a little bit of Rich Swann’s work; however, what I do see is pretty good. He took advantage of the slow week by winning both the FIP World Heavyweight Championship and the DGUSA Open The United Gate Tag Titles. Anytime a performer gains gold in two different companies it should be notable.

2) The Hardy Boys: The Hardy Boys have been in a resurgence as of late. They really stepped it up the past two years. It is nice to see them get gold in TNA. The Hardy Boys have somehow remained relevant all this time.
3) Neville: Neville despite losing once put on great performances.
4) Drago
5) Akito


THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…John Cena – 9 Votes

* Fifth Place…Neville – 11 Votes

* Fourth Place…Randy Orton – 15 Votes

* Third Place…Drago – 16 Votes

Won the best of five series against Aerostar and earned himself a shot at the Lucha Underground Title.

* Second Place…Rich Swann – 29 Votes

Won the FIP Title as well as the DGUSA Open United Gate tag titles over the weekend.

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

 photo Hardyswotw_zpswzzs6znq.png

Matt & Jeff Hardy – 33 Votes

Your NEW TNA Tag Team Champions!

The Standings
Here are the standings after week THREE

AJ Styles – 15 pts.
Hideo Itami – 15 pts.
Randy Orton – 15 pts.
Matt Hardy – 15 pts.
Jeff Hardy – 15 pts.

Mike Bennett – 12 pts.
Matt Taven – 12 pts.
“Speedball” Mike Bailey – 12 pts.
Rich Swann – 12 pts.

Rocky Romero – 9 pts.
Trent Baretta – 9 pts.
Kimber Lee – 9 pts.
Cherry Bomb – 9 pts.
Drago – 9 pts.

Brock Lesnar – 6 pts.
Kurt Angle – 6 pts.
Nicole Matthews – 6 pts.

Neville – 3 pts.

Kalisto – 1 pt.
Prince Puma – 1pt.
John Cena – 1 pt.


* Voting began 4.06.15

* 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)

 photo Rollins WOTY_zpsozlrughk.png
Year Ten Winner: Seth Rollins (2014-2015)