411’s Wrestler of The Week: Kenny Omega Battles Lashley

Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK 19 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…

Voting period: AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14

Larry Csonka
1) Kenny Omega:
Kenny Omega defeated Hirooki Goto to win the 2016 NJPW G1 Climax tournament. Omega was the third westerner (Rick Rude and Karl Anderson) to make the finals and the first to win the G1. Omega delivered back to back MOTY candidates, proving that he can be a top guy. Some want to point to the way overbooked Tanahashi match as Omega’s coming out party, but that true moment was the G1 finals, all of the reactions he received were star reactions and after a lot of work and some misfires, NJPW has finally made Kenny Omega. Kenny Omega, from junior comedy guy wrestling kids and dolls to a Bullet Club stooge to G1 winner; wrestling in 2016 is a hell of a thing.

2) Lashley: Defeated James Storm to win the TNA KOTM Title on this week’s impact, making him the TNA World, KOTM and X-Division Champion. He’s a pretty much a bad motherfucker.
3) Jay Lethal: Had successful title defenses against Colt Cabana (ROH TV) and Satoshi Kojima (G1 Climax Finals); Lethal continues to shine as ROH Champion.
4) Kota Ibushi and Gran Metalik
5) Hirooki Goto and Tetsuya Naito

Rob Stewart
1) Bobby Lashley:
Bobby Lashley is now the TNA World Champion, the TNA X-Division Champion, and the TNA King Of The Mountain Champion after beating James Storm. I can only assume by this time next month, he will have become the TNA Knockouts Champion and, single-handedly, the TNA Tag Team Champion.By November, he’ll be the CEO of TNA. And by January, the company will change its name to Total Nonstop Bobby Lashley.

2) Kenny Omega: Defeated Hirooki Goto in the G1 climax finals match. Along the way this week, he also took G1 victories over Tetsuya Naito and Katsuhiko Natsujima on nights 16 and 18.
3) Kota Ibushi: Kota won a fantastic match against Cedric Alexander in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic this week. Alexander himself deserves an honorable mention here because this match really put him on the map and had the fans buying into him as a guy they want to see long-term. But still, it was Ibushi that took home the victory, further cementing his status as the favorite to win the whole event.
4) Jay Lethal
5) Gran Metalik

Kevin Pantoja
1) Kenny Omega:
Man, people sure weren’t happy with my review of Omega/Naito. I saw comments here and an entire Facebook post about it. Anyway, I didn’t like the idea of putting the new flavor of the month gaijin over the hottest act in NJPW (who has eaten Gedo’s shit for years), nor do I think Kenny Omega of all people should be the fist Westerner to win the G1 Climax. Still, Omega beat Naito win his block in the best match I’ve ever seen him have. I didn’t watch the finals, but he beat Gedo’s favorite punching bag and perpetual choke artist Hirooki Goto to win the entire thing. Like it or not, it is a massive accomplish for Omega who, barring the loss of the briefcase over the next few months, is in line to actually headline Wrestle Kingdom 11.

2) Kota Ibushi: People like to flame ROH for fumbling with Cedric Alexander, however, people seemingly give Gedo a pass for fucking up monumentally with Kota Ibushi. There is no reason, other than bad booking, for why Kota isn’t a massive star in NJPW right now. Instead, he is in the Cruiserweight Classic and killing it. After beating an Uso clone in the first round, Ibushi wrestled Alexander in the second round this week. There was a lot of hype surrounding it after being taped and it delivered. Their match was right up there with the best G1 stuff and was probably my favorite match of the week. Ibushi won to advance to the Elite Eight in a tremendous match that is must see and currently among my ten best matches of the year.
3) Cedric Alexander: Originally, I was going to group Ibushi and Alexander together but decided against it. Cedric deserves his own praise for the week. While it was Ibushi who came out on top, Alexander made a statement. He showed the entire world that yes, ROH blew this big time. It was one of those matches where the guy that lost gained just as much, if not more, than the winner. Alexander hung and was even with a heavy tournament favorite. So much so that there were “please sign Cedric” chants after it was all over. Triple H came out, making his first appearance on TV since WrestleMania, and basically said “okay” before shaking hands with Cedric. Alexander became a star this week and needs to be competing for the Cruiserweight Title once it returns.
4) Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kazuchika Okada
5) Lashley

Jack McGee
1) Kenny Omega:
Won the 2016 G1 Climax tournament, with an amazing final two days and a finals match for the ages.

2) Lashley: The ruler of all men in TNA.
3) Jay Lethal: Turned in two successful title defenses prior to the Death Before Dishonor PPV.
4) Broken Matt and Brother Nero
5) Kota Ibushi and Cedric Alexander

Dylan Diot
1) Kenny Omega:
This week belong to Kenny Omega, who had as good a weekend as any wrestler has had all year. He defeated Tetsuya Naito in one of the best matches of the year to win the B Block of the G1 Climax, then defeated Hirooki Goto in an amazing match to win the G1 Climax, becoming the first North American to ever win the tournament. He made himself into one of the biggest stars in New Japan in two days and now barring losing the briefcase over the next few months has a spot in the main event of WrestleKingdom XI.

2) Bobby Lashley: Lashley continues to collect gold, winning the TNA King of the Mountain Championship from James Storm on Impact. Lashley now holds all three major singles titles in TNA and continues to be on an incredible run of success with no end in sight.
3) Cedric Alexander: In a losing effort, Cedric Alexander got the wrestling world buzzing with an incredible performance against Kota Ibushi on the WWE Cruiserweight Classic. The two men had an incredible match and Alexander had the showing of his career. He received a chant of “Please Sign Cedric” postmatch and was taken to the back by Triple H himself in one of the great feel good moments in wrestling this year.
4) Jay Lethal
5) Hirooki Goto

Mike Chin
1) Kenny Omega:
Omega put on great performances, besting Tetsuya Naito and Hirooki Goto in great matches to win the G1 Climax Tournament.

2) Lashley: Lashley beat James Storm to not only retain, but become master of the universe, capturing all of TNA’s men’s singles gold.
3) Jay Lethal: Lethal retained his ROH title, defeating Colt Cabana in a very good match.
4) Kota Ibushi
5) Rusev

Wyatt Beougher
1) Kenny Omega:
Omega’s having quite the year in New Japan, and winning this year’s G1 Climax tournament in a very, very good match is just the latest feather in his cap. Depending on how you feel about its precursors, Omega is either the first American to win the tournament or the first to do so since 1983, when Hulk Hogan won the International Wrestling Grand Prix. Plus, if rumors are to be believed, Omega is the at the top of the list for WWE’s next NJPW talent raid, so it’s only fitting that he takes the top spot this week.

2) Lashley: Lashley holds all of the men’s singles titles in Impact Wrestling, and, on top of that, he now has a fresh new challenger in Aron Rex, the former Damien Sandow. Lashley still has the charisma of a peanut, but he’s proven to be a very good in-ring talent during his Impact run and he is certainly a solid choice to headline the promotion as the Billy Corgan era begins.
3) Jay Lethal: Lethal racked up another very good title defense, beating Colt Cabana to retain his Ring of Honor world championship.
4) Kota Ibushi
5) Rusev

Arnold Furious
1) Kenny Omega:
It can only be Kenny Omega. He defied doubters, spat in the face of history and became the first ever Westerner to win the G1 Climax. This is a huge honor but Omega deserved it. His last two matches in the tournament were both MOTYC. The match with Naito to culminate in his Block B victory was sensational but the final victory over the hapless Hirooki Goto was even more impressive. Goto has drifted aimlessly through 2016, joining CHAOS but continuing his middling performances. For anyone to drag a great match out of this Goto is nothing short of miraculous. He’s been having mediocre matches with people like Okada. The G1 Final was fantastic. Omega’s post match speech was even greater, suggesting he’s in Japan for the long haul and dispelled rumors of a WWE move, which he’s been hinting at all year long. He worked us all.

2) Kota Ibushi & Cedric Alexander: Had an absolute blow-away match in the Cruiserweight Classic. It put Cedric in a great position to get more eyes on him and confirmed that Ibushi is one of the most outstanding wrestlers in the world. In a week dominated by G1 action, it still managed to stand out as one of the best matches of the week. That has to count for something.
3) Zack Sabre Jr.: Had two massive wins over the week, besting Jeff Cobb in Rev Pro whilst defending the British Heavyweight Championship before downing Will Ospreay in PROGRESS. Two extremely high profile victories.
4) Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi
5) Jay Lethal

Len Archibald
1) Kenny Omega: God damn, this week was LOADED. This just adds fuel to my consideration that 2016 may very go down as the single best year match-for-match in history (which is a good plug and segue-way for my column next week.) But this is about The Cleaner, Kenny Omega. The leader of the Bullet Club/The Elite gets the nod for WOTW in my opinion as the winner of the 2016 G1 Climax tournament and pulling in clutch performances against Tetsuya Naito and Hirooki Goto to take the crown. Omega is on top of the wrestling world as leader of the Bullet Club in the East, and his stock is only going to rise even further as the year continues. Let the talks and rumors of Omega making his way to WWE begin!

2) Cedric Alexander & Kota Ibushi: I am not one to have ties very often in WOTW unless it is one of the lesser rankings, but again…loaded week and the next two picks deserve to have all competitors involved receive praise. Cedric Alexander and Kota Ibushi’s match that culminated the kickoff of Round 2 for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic is the kind of special event that reminds even the most jaded fan why we are junkies for this art form. Ibushi, like normal was his awesome self in the ring, leaving Alexander dizzy with kicks (DAT DROPKICK~!) and Moonsaults, but it was the performance of Cedric Alexander himself that was the talk of the wrestling world. Alexander gave the performance not only of his career, but his life, and left Full Sail as a truly anointed superstar in the making, even after what would be considered a soul-crushing defeat. The last 10 minutes of the CWC, with Triple H’s endorsement of Alexander after the fans’ plea of “PLEASE SIGN CEDRIC!” is the kind of goose bump inducing, fist-pumping, transcendent moment that we point to non-fans and newcomers to professional wrestling as to why exactly we are fans. Right now, this is my favorite match of 2016.
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada: The Official Csonkameter ranked TEN matches just from last week alone at four stars or higher, with two of them getting the 5-snowflake treatment; both coming from New Japan. Kenny Omega competed in one with Naito, while eternal rivals Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada competed in the second. Whatever was in the Japanese water on night 17 of the G1 climax tournament is something I want to bottle, as Tanahashi and Okada once AGAIN showed that they may be embroiled in the best rivalry of the new millennium with a draw to close out Block A of the tournament. Okada and Tanahashi delivered the goods, got the crowd rabid for one to take the victory and even with a draw, somehow worked up as close to a perfect match as one can get. What an unreal, surreal and face-melting week is has been to be a fan.
4) LASHLEY GNF
5) Jay Lethal

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada – 7 Votes

* Fifth Place…Cedric Alexander – 15 Votes

* Fourth Place…Jay Lethal – 18 Votes

* Third Place…Kota Ibushi – 22 Votes

Advanced in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, winning the best match so far.

* Second Place…Lashley – 28 Votes

The dominant force in TNA.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…

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Kenny Omega – 44 Votes

Became the first westerner to win the NJPW G1 Climax Tournament, and put in some classic performances along the way.

The Standings
Here are the standings after week 19…

* Prince Puma/Ricochet – 54pts

* AJ Styles – 46pts

* Lashley – 45pts

* Dean Ambrose – 42pts

* Rey Mysterio Jr. – 36pts
* Dragon Azteca Jr. – 36pts

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

* Tetsuya Naito – 30pts

* Johnny Mundo – 27pts

* Cage – 24 pts
* Roman Reigns – 24pts
* Jack Evans – 24pts
* PJ Black – 24 pts

* Jay Lethal – 21pts
* Samoa Joe – 21pts

* The Miz – 16pts

* Kenny Omega – 15pts
* Finn Balor – 15pts
* Seth Rollins – 15pts
* Broken Matt Hardy – 15pts
* Drew Galloway – 15pts
* Dash – 15pts
* Dawson – 15pts
* Johnny Gargano – 15pts

* Sami Zayn – 13pts

* Sasha Banks – 12pts
* Son of Havoc – 12pts
* Michael Elgin -12pts
* Kevin Owens – 12pts
* Bobby Fish – 12pts
* Daniels – 12pts
* Kazarian – 12pts
* Mike Bennett – 12pts
* Eddie Edwards – 12pts
* Tomohiro Ishii – 12pts

* Dolph Ziggler – 10pts
* Kota Ibushi – 10pts
* Kazuchika Okada – 10pts

* Tommaso Ciampa – 9pts
* Mil Muertes – 9pts
* Kyle O’Reilly – 9pts
* SANADA – 9pts
* KUSHIDA – 9pts
* Katsuyori Shibata – 9pts

* Rusev – 7pts

* Ethan Carter III – 6pts
* Fenix – 6pts
* Pentagon Jr – 6pts
* Mariposa – 6pts
* Yuji Nagata – 6pts
* Takashi Sugiura – 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
* Cedric Alexander – 3pts
* YAMATO – 3pts
* Zack Sabre Jr – 3pts
* James Storm – 3pts

* Matt Sydal – 2pts

* Chavo Guerrero – 1pt
* Jeff Hardy – 1pt
* Abyss – 1pt
* Crazy Steve – 1pt
* Bayley – 1pt
* Zack Ryder – 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
* ACH – 1pt
* Satoshi Kojima – 1pt
* Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 1pt
* Taiji Ishimori – 1pt
* Hiroshi Tanahashi – 1pt

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* 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.

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**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)

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