wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of The Week: Galloway Battles Star

July 20, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Drew Galloway McIntyre TNA Impact Image Credit: Impact Wrestling

Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK FIFTEEN 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…

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Voting period: JULY 11 – JULY 17

Larry Csonka
1) Drew Galloway:
At Evolve 64 Drew Galloway and the former Chuck Taylor won the Evolve tag team titles. And then at Evolve 65, Galloway defeated “Mr. Evolve” Johnny Gargano, in a match that looks to be setting the stage for Gargano’s exit from the company.

2) Sexy Star: At Ultima Lucha Dos (Part II) Sexy Star defeated Night Claw, Daga, Killshot, Marty the Moth, Mariposa and Siniestro de la Muerta to not only get a final measure of revenge on Marty and Mariposa, but to also win the Gift of the Gods Title. Now the question will be, can she ride the momentum and turn it into a Lucha Underground Title victory?
3) DJ Z: Became the # contender for the TNA X-Division Title on last week’s Impact.
4) Matt Riddle and Dustin
5) Cedric Alexander

Kevin Pantoja
1) Matt Riddle:
There was certainly a fair amount of action this week but only one guy swept more than two matches. Matt Riddle competed three times in two days and had some great matches. First, at Evolve 64, he wrestled Roderick Strong in a bit of a dream match. The young Riddle defeated him in a match I gave **** to. The following day, he competed at Beyond Wrestling’s Flesh event and won in the main event against Tommaso Ciampa. Later that day, he was at it again, taking on another big indy name, Marty Scurll at Evolve 65. Riddle won all three matches and continues to shine despite being in the business for less than two yeas.

2) Sexy Star: Ultima Lucha Dos continued this week with the second part. A good chunk of the show was taken up by the Gift of the Gods Championship match. Unlike last year’s big Gift of the Gods Title match, this was held under elimination rules. The final four (of seven) saw two rivalries come together. Killshot, Marty Martinez, Mariposa and Sexy Star. Killshot got eliminated, leaving Sexy Star alone against the Martinez siblings that made her life hell since the end of the inaugural Ultima Lucha. Sexy Star overcame the odds and defeated both of them to win the title, earning her a shot at the Lucha Underground Championship whenever she wants. It was a fitting bookend to the rivalry, especially since Sexy Star was kind of made after the No Mas match.
3) Seth Rollins: On Raw, Seth Rollins was part of a really funny segment called the “Rollins Report”. He clipped together footage of old Roman Reigns interviews and spliced them together to create some really funny stuff. He and Dean Ambrose then had a great promo together to set up a title match this week. On Smackdown, Seth got involved in Dean’s match with Kevin Owens, leading to a tag team match also involving Sami Zayn. Seth was able to defeat Sami and pick up the pinfall and win in the final Thursday night Smackdown. With the news that Stephanie McMahon is running aw and them getting the first pick, Seth is predicted by many to go number one overall.
4) Drew Galloway and Dustin
5) Mil Muertes

Dylan Diot
1) Drew Galloway:
Drew Galloway was the big winner of the week. At EVOLVE 54, he brought Chuck Taylor back into the mix and they captured the EVOLVE Tag Team Tiltes from Catch Point. At EVOLVE 55, he defeated Johnny Gargano to finish their score and Galloway continues to send a strong message in his crusade against EVOLVE’s relationship with WWE.

2) Dustin (Chuck Taylor): Dustin made a shocking return to EVOLVE, aligning himself with Drew Galloway and he immediately made an impact, winning the EVOLVE Tag Team Titles and declaring Chuck Taylor dead. He adds a whole new element to the Galloway vs. EVOLVE feud and I’m incredibly happy to see Dustin involved in what is become one of the best storylines in wrestling right now.
3) Darren Young: After weeks of vignettes with Bob Backlund, Darren Young made an impact in his return the ring, squeaking away with a victory in a battle royal on Raw and becoming the #1 Contender for the WWE Intercontinental Championship with a match with Miz set for Battleground.
4) Sexy Star
5) Timothy Thatcher

Rob Stewart
1) Sexy Star:
Star capped off her fantastic season 2 of Lucha Underground (the “No Mas” match is one of my sneaky favorite matches of the year) by capturing the Gift of the Gods championship, allowing her a title shot for season 3. It seems… unlikely that Star could beat either Matanza Cueto or Pentagon Jr, but with the heart she’s shown this year, you can’t rule her out.

2) Mil Muertes: Mil brutalized King Cuerno to [presumably] win and end the season-long feud between the two. They had an extremely hard-fought match, but when the chips were down, Mil was just too violent, too powerful, and too much of a force of nature for Cuerno.
3) Sasha Banks: The Boss went 2-0 against Dana Brooke on Raw and Smackdown to earn herself a #1 contender’s spot against Charlotte for the WWE Women’s Title. Ever since the beginning of the “Divas Revolution”, people have been waiting for Banks to get the belt; will WWE finally pull the trigger?
4) Drew Galloway
5) Kevin Owens

Jack McGee
1) Mil Muertes:
Mil Muertes put a gloriously savage beating on King Cuerno to pick up the win n the main event of Ultima Lucha Dos (Part II) last week.

2) Drew Galloway: Won the Evolve tag titles and destroyed Evolve poster boy Johnny Gargano.
3) Sexy Star: Survived six others to win the elimination match and Gift of the Gods title, which if she can hang onto it, will give her a title shot.
4) Dustin
5) Kota Ibushi

Mike Hammerlock
1) Sexy Star:
I remember back in Lucha Underground’s first season when we wondered if Sexy Star had a story that would ever go anywhere. Man, did it. She’s had an epic journey this year. I’m kind of blown away by the stories Lucha Underground delivers. Oh yeah, Sexy also won a blast of a match to become the Gift of the Gods champion.

2) Drew Galloway: Won the Evolve tag title at Evolve 64 alongside the Artist Formerly Known as Chuck Taylor (now called Dustin), beating Catch Point’s Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams (who should have called in Orange Cassidy to perform a proper Super Ant-apult). Then beat Johnny Gargano to close out Evolve 65. Top level work on both nights and I love that he’s warning against the pernicious effects of getting cozy with the WWE Death Star. That’s a great angle for Evolve to be working.
3) Mil Muertes: Went caveman at the end of his death match against King Cuerno. Really knows how to work as a hoss against a work rate guy.
4) Matt Riddle
5) Zack Sabre Jr.

Wyatt Beougher
1) Drew Galloway:
The temptation was strong to give the top spot to either Mil Muertes or Sexy Star, but in the end, I had to go with Galloway for not only main eventing back-to-back Evolve shows, but for winning both matches, picking up the tag team championships, and blowing off his feud with Gargano at the same time. Not a bad weekend for a guy once relegated to Three Man Band segments.

2) Kota Ibushi: Ibushi was undoubtedly the star of the first installment of WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic, and he is one of my picks to make it to the finals. While his match with Sean Maluta wasn’t truly indicative of what Ibushi can do, it was certainly a good introduction to WWE audiences.
3) Mil Muertes: Sure, Sexy Star won the Gift of the Gods, but Mil had been on a slide for most of the season, losing his title to Fenix and then getting manhandled, repeatedly, by the Monster Matanza Cueto. Plus, he’s 0-2 in “his” match, Grave Consequences, so it was nice to see death incarnate actually win a death match.
4) Sexy Star
5) Sasha Banks

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Kota Ibushi – 5 Votes

* Fifth Place…Dustin (aka Chuck Taylor) – 8 Votes

* Fourth Place…Matt Riddle – 9 Votes

* Third Place…Mil Muertes – 16 Votes

Defeated King Cuerno in a death match at Ultima Lucha Dos (Part II).

* Second Place…Sexy Star – 25 Votes

Won the Gift of the Gods Title at Ultima Lucha Dos (Part II).

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Drew Galloway – 27 Votes

Won the Evolve tag team titles and ripped out the heart of Evolve over the weekend.

The Standings
Here are the standings after week FIFTEEN

* Prince Puma/Ricochet – 54pts

* AJ Styles – 46pts

* Dragon Azteca Jr. – 36pts

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

* Rey Mysterio Jr. – 30pts

* Johnny Mundo – 27pts
* Dean Ambrose – 27pts

* Lashley – 24pts
* 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

* 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

* Matt Sydal – 2pts

* Chavo Guerrero – 1pt
* Jeff Hardy – 1pt
* Abyss – 1pt
* Crazy Steve – 1pt
* Zack Ryder – 1pt
* Sami Zayn – 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
* 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)

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Year Eleven Winners: The New Day (2015-2016)