wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week: Zayn, Ziggler, Owens, & Balor Battle For #1

December 16, 2014 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to YEAR TEN, WEEK 36 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) Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville:
Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville delivered a masterpiece at the NXT Takeover: R Evolution special, a true match of the year candidate. Neville had been having good matches as NXT Champion, but this was his best with the company to date. Zayn had been having some truly great matches, and this was also his best. Both men deserve credit for the work, for the story they told and for the satisfaction that the fans got when they finally concluded the story that they had been working on for so long. Congratulations to both men for making me remember why I love wrestling.

2) Kevin Owens: Made a hell of a debut at the same special, winning his debut match and proving that he and Zayn are destined to do this forever.
3) Dolph Ziggler: Defeated Luke Harper in the MOTN at the TLC PPV to regain the WWE IC Title.
4) Charlotte
5) Finn Balor

Justin Watry
1) Sami Zayn:
I have a new column coming out (soon?) that discusses the live NXT special from this past Thursday. Not to give away too much, but I loved everything about it. While TLC was fairly good, nothing was ever going to top what happened during the NXT main event. I wish I could give votes to everybody involved because it was THAT good. Again, I wish I could vote for sooooo many wrestlers this week. Sorry.

2) Kevin Owens: What a debut. I feel bad for leaving out Adrian Neville, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, John Cena, and many more. However, Kevin Owens had to find his way into the top five. When the NXT crowd is chanting “This Is Awesome” only 30 seconds into your debut match, you know it is going to be a memorable night. Following the main event that evening, we certainly saw just how much “fight” he had…
3) Dolph Ziggler: Dolph Ziggler won the IC Championship (again) from Luke Harper who just won it from Dolph Ziggler who won it from The Miz who won it from Dolph Ziggler who probably had to defeat Dolph Ziggler. As great as the ladder match was, I can only care so much for yet another “We are serious about its prestige!!!!” IC Title change.
4) Finn Balor
5) Roman Reigns

Ryan Byers
1) Hiroshi Tanahashi:
Earlier this week, Tanahashi took one step further towards legendary status by again capturing the MVP award in the Tokyo Sports year-end wrestling awards. For those not aware, Tokyo Sports is one of the larger sporting publications in all of Japan, and the award winners are chosen by legitimate voting of members of the magazine’s staff. In other words, it’s kind of like Sports Illustrated gave out American wrestling awards. Tanahashi receiving the award this year is important because it’s the fourth time that he’s done it, and only three other men in history have been crowned MVP that many times in the 40-year history of the awards. They are Antonio Inoki, Genichiro Tenryu, and Keiji Muto. Tanahashi joining a class that elite certainly deserves some special recognition.

2) Sami Zayn: Zayn is now the holder of the best-booked championship in the entirety of WWE. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
3) Kevin Steen: Made his debut on WWE programming in impressive fashion. I never thought he’d be signed by the company, and I certainly never thought that they’d treat him this well this quickly.
4) Roman Reigns
5) Luke Harper

Mike Chin
1) Sami Zayn:
It’s tough not to give Zayn the nod this week, after he won an excellent match to cap an excellent long-term storyline by finally capturing the NXT Championship in the main event of the great R Evolution show.

2) Dolph Ziggler: For all the times WWE has left both Dolph Ziggler and the Intercontinental Championship adrift in recent years, the powers that be gave both an opportunity to shine in the opening match at TLC. Ziggler delivered, capturing the IC title in the best match of a good show.
3) Kevin Owens: I’m generally reticent to place NXT guys over talents on WWE’s main roster, but Kevin Owens’s fine debut match to open R Evolution, followed by his perfectly executed heel turn at the end of the show made him an instant player on the developmental scene, and hopefully foretells a long, well-booked future with WWE.
4) Bray Wyatt
5) Finn Balor

Mike Hammerlock
1) Sami Zayn:
No way around it. NXT Takeover: R Evolution pantsed WWE TLC. The biggest reason was the stellar match between Zayn and Adrian Neville. It had everything: action, backstory, emotion, a fully-invested crowd. It wasn’t in front of 75,000 people, but Zayn’s NXT title win was every bit as well done as Daniel Bryan’s win at WrestleMania. Also, if R Evolution truly is the kind of product we’d get to see if HHH ran the WWE, then Vince needs to step aside.

2) Dolph Ziggler: It’s all kinds of cool when you have high expectations going into a match and then the talent beats your expectations. The ladder match between Ziggler and Luke Harper blew away the rest of the TLC card. Dolph has been the best thing going in the WWE for the past couple of months. I don’t know that they’ve got any plans for him beyond letting him steal the show and bringing the Intercontinental belt back to prominence, but if that’s all he gets to do, I’ll happily take it. Also, Luke Harper did more for himself with that loss than all the winners of the other TLC matches. Amazing what can happen when your match isn’t grotesquely overbooked.
3) Finn Balor: I usually don’t separate tag team members in WOTW votes. However, Balor and Hideo Itami really aren’t a tag team. They’re an alliance currently fighting the Ascension. And at R Evolution Balor grabbed the wrestling world by the scruff of its neck and demanded attention. That was an individual star turn. Frankly, I don’t know that NXT will be able to keep him for long if he keep doing that.
4) Luke Harper
5) Kevin Owens

Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Sami Zayn:
Easy choice here as Sami finally wins the NXT in a fantastic match to cap off one of the best shows of the year.

2) Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler regains the IC Title in what was easily the best match at TLC and second best match of the week in the WWE.
3) Kevin Owens: His NXT debut lived up to the hype with and then some thanks to the ending of the show. Much drooling now with Owens/Zayn wars on the way.
4) Finn Balor
5) Luke Harper

Wyatt Beougher
1) Sami Zayn:
In an era of North American wrestling where long-form storytelling has become almost a forgotten art, NXT paid off a storyline that was over 18 months in the making, with Sami Zayn overcoming his doubts and his detractors (and Adrian Neville) to win the NXT championship in one of the best matches on American soil this year. On top of that, the post-match events alluded back to a five-year history between Zayn and his best friend, now known as Kevin Owens.

2) Kevin Owens: Speaking of the former Kevin Steen, I will admit to being skeptical that he would have much of an impact in the WWE, even on NXT. I have been a fan of the guy for a few years now, but I just thought he would be a round peg in WWE’s square hole (and yes, that was a pretty poor pun pretty poorly intended). Kudos to him for proving me wrong, debuting in unforgettable fashion, and immediately establishing himself as an important part of NXT.
3) Finn Balor/Hideo Itami: Yes, Balor had the best entrance in quite some time and actually brought the body paint to NXT, and if you put a gun to my head and asked me which member of the team would be the bigger star in WWE, Balor would be my choice, but I also do not want to overlook Itami’s contributions to their match against the Ascension on Thursday night, which included retaking the busaiku knee and teasing the Go To Sleep (which may have been the single moment at NXT that stirred up the internet more than any other). Basically, these guys are, at least while they’re in NXT, everything we hoped they would be but never dared believe could actually happen. Can the NXT 5 just stay in NXT forever?
4) Hiroshi Tanahashi
5) Dolph Ziggler

Alex Crowder
1) Sami Zayn:
Zayn had an incredible match with Neville, and finally won the NXT title that he’s been fighting for. Unlike Raw, this was booked simply to perfection. NXT keeps the booking simple, and surprise it works. NXT put on an incredible show this week that all fans should check out! I could probably fill my entire ballot with NXT performer. Nonetheless, Sami Zayn impressed the most of the bunch. This guy just keeps getting better.

2) Hiroshi Tanahashi: In my mind, Tanahashi is already a legend. Now, his peers and journalists of Japan have validated this by giving him the MVP award. Tanahashi is one of four men to receive this award. I’m not sure it gets much better than that. I think it is well deserved too.
3) Kevin Owens: I have seen very little of Steen in the past, so his debut was certainly a treat for me. The guy is as awesome as everyone says and his heel turn was executed well. I think continuing the old Steen and Generico feud is a fantastic idea. NXT just keeps getting better.
4) Dolph Ziggler
5) Finn Balor

Kevin P
1) Sami Zayn
Sami capped off a fantastic year by winning the NXT Championship in the main event of my favorite show of the year. The build up was great and the match delivered. Sami’s title reign was built nearly as well as Daniel Bryan’s huge WrestleMania moment. It was a special moment, just like Bryan’s and he deserves the top spot.

2) Dolph Ziggler – I was at TLC live and let me tell you, nobody got a bigger pop than Dolph Ziggler. Maybe it was because it was his home state but the guy is over. He went out and, along with Luke Harper, stole the show at TLC. In the process, Dolph went out and became a four time Intercontinental Champion. Great match, great performance and a great accolade.
3) Finn Balor – While the entire NXT: R Evolution show was brilliant, the thing that has stuck with me since it happened was Finn Balor’s entrance. It was the kind of thing you’d only see at WrestleMania and surpassed a bunch of ‘Mania entrances in my mind. It was something special and is going to make sure that Balor is memorable. The guy has the “it” factor. He went out and had a damn good victory over an Ascension team that lost maybe one other match all year.
4) Kevin Owens
5) Bray Wyatt

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Adrian Neville – 5 Votes

* Fifth Place…Hiroshi Tanahashi – 11 Votes

* Fourth Place…Finn Balor – 16 Votes

* Third Place…Dolph Ziggler – 25 Votes

Won the IC Title at the TLC PPV in the match if the night.

* Second Place…Kevin Owens – 27 Votes

Made a huge impact at the NXT Takeover: R Evolution special.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Sami Zayn – 44 Votes

Finally completed his journey to the NXT Title in a true match of the year contender.

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

1. Seth Rollins – 138pts.

2. Dean Ambrose – 97pts.

3. Dolph Ziggler – 92 pts.

4. AJ Styles – 74pts.

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.

Hiroshi Tanahashi – 30pts

Ricochet – 27pts

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

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

Sami Zayn – 15pts.
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.

Kevin Owens – 12pts.
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.
Finn Balor – 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