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411’s Wrestler of The Week: Sexy Star vs. Bobby Fish
Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK FIVE 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: May 2 – May 8
Larry Csonka
1) Sexy Star:
Sexy Star has been heavily pushed by Lucha Underground, but had drawn criticism from many fans because she simply never appeared to do any thing special or have great matches. Sexy Star FINALLY has that signature match that she’s desperately needed to have to justify her push in the company. She needed that match, she needed to have that performance and she delivered.
2) Bobby Fish: Defeated Tomohiro Ishii to become the new ROH TV Champion at the Global Wars PPV.
3) Tetsuya Naito: The IWGP Champion retained his title against Tomohiro Ishii at Dontaku and then defeated Kyle O’Reilly at Global Wars.
4) TJP and Drew Gulak
5) Yuji Nagata
Kevin Pantoja
1) Tetsuya Naito:
Tetsuya Naito continues to be the best thing going in pro wrestling right now. At NJPW’s Wrestling Dontaku event on May 3rd, Naito headlined against Tomohiro Ishii. Ishii and Naito always have fantastic chemistry and it showed here again. They had one of the better matches so far in 2016. We got some Chaos and Los Ingobernables de Japon interference but it eventually came down to just the two of them and it was excellent. Tons of close calls and great work from both men. Naito struck with Destino and retained his title in his best match this year. Then, to add onto an already great week, Naito went out and defeated Kyle O’Reilly at ROH’s Global Wars PPV. While that wasn’t anywhere near as great, it was still good and a solid win for Naito.
2) Sexy Star: Other than the great Ishii/Naito match, my favorite this week was the “No Mas” match. It was Lucha Underground’s equivalent to an “I Quit” match and it pit Sexy Star against Mariposa. Sexy was kidnapped by Marty Martinez at the end of season one and tormented by him and his sister, Mariposa. Looking for revenge, Sexy was given this match by Dario Cueto. These two women went out and had a war. Not only was it big because two women were given the opportunity to main event, but they had the kind of match you don’t see women have often. Sexy Star bled, Mariposa did some sick stuff and it all worked very well. I had a few minor grips with the match (the slow start and the finish itself) but it was damn great. Sexy Star made Mariposa say “no mas” to an armbar and got her biggest Lucha Underground win.
3) Bobby Fish: ROH’s Global Wars Pay-Per-View was going pretty well until the final two matches and the actual ending to the show has caused me to take a break from following them as a company. One of the things they did right before all of that fuckery was the Television Title match. Bobby Fish and Tomohiro Ishii are two guys that I really like and their match was damn good. Fish was able to do what his rival Roderick Strong couldn’t and that was beat Ishii. They billed it as a possible last chance at singles glory for the 39 year old and Fish prevailed. They had to get the belt off of Ishii since he’s away so often and Fish is a great choice to take over.
4) Yuji Nagata
5) War Machine
Wyatt Beougher
1) Sexy Star:
The “No Mas” match between Sexy Star and erstwhile cheerleader and butterfly enthusiast Mariposa may not have been as technically sound or as hate-fueled as the Bret Hart/Steve Austin submission match at Wrestlemania 13 or as cringe-inducing as the Rock/Mankind “I Quit” match from Royal Rumble 1999 that saw Mick Foley take approximately eleventy billion unprotected chair shots to the head and body. And sure, the actual wrestling couldn’t touch the average NXT Women’s Championship match during the Takeover era, but it provided one of the most visceral moments I can remember in recent history, with Sexy dropping multiple f-bombs while refusing to submit to Mariposa. One of my frequent complaints about Sexy Star is that she sometimes seems to be on a different page than her opponents and it can hurt the flow of her matches, and there were a couple instances of that in this match; however, the raw emotion on display more than made up for that. Throw in the Aztec medallion that Sexy won, and that’s good enough for first place in a week where Larry gave a PPV a 1/10 rating.
2) War Machine: If championing New Day for Wrestler of the Year last year wasn’t indication enough, I’m a sucker for tag team wrestling, and as one of the brightest spots on the aforementioned 1/10-rated PPV, War Machine retaining their tag team titles against the team that is basically synonymous with tag team wrestling in Ring of Honor was a huge accomplishment.
3) Bobby Fish: Fish could have easily taken the second spot for defeating RoH television champion Tomohiro Ishii and winning the title, but I bumped him down for two reasons: one, tag team wrestling, and two, it was the obvious call. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right call, but it was so obvious that it essentially spoiled the ending of the match before it actually started. Thankfully the match itself was pretty terrific.
4) Kushida
5) Lashley
Mike Chin
1) Sexy Star:
I have to confess that, my schedule being what it is, I haven’t been able to watch Lucha Underground on anything resembling a consistent basis. But when I heard the buzz about the “No Mas” match that main evented this week’s show, I decided to make the time to check it out for myself. Sexy Star-Mariposa wasn’t necessarily a technical masterpiece (though it wasn’t bad either), but it was one of the best-constructed vicious, bloody, emotional wars I can remember seeing anywhere for quite some time, and a reminder of what LU does best–embracing off-beat storylines, characters, and gimmick matches to culminate in a unique product. All of that booking was centered on Sexy Star this week and she more than delivered in her role.
2) Bobby Fish: Fish bested Tomohiro Ishii in an excellent match to win the TV Title at ROH Global Wars.
3) Rusev: With the League of Nations dissolved, hopefully Rusev can get back to being the ass-kicking machine he’s proven himself full capable of performing as. At the least, his Raw battle royal win positions him as a good monster heel foil for Kalisto to face off with.
4) Tetsuya Naito
5) Lashley
Jack McGee
1) Lashley:
Lashley won a #1 contender’s match on Impact, and will challenge Drew Galloway for the TNA Title. Lashley has been awesome in his in ring as well as his out of the ring attitude (his character where he doesn’t give a fuck about anyone); I really wish he could have found this years ago, be he has come into his own and is a ton of fun to watch right now.
2) Yuji Nagata: Score one for the old men, as Nagata defeated Shibata to win the NJPW NEVER Openweight title in a great match. This was a feel good moment in a feud that Shibata had constantly embarrassed the legend, and finally got his comeuppance.
3) Sexy Star: Star won an awesome main event on Lucha Underground, defeating her main foe and also scoring an Aztec medallion.
4) Tetsuya Naito
5) TJ Perkins and Drew Gulak
Mike Hammerlock
1) Sexy Star:
We use phrases like “storytelling” and “emotion” when talking about wrestling matches, but rarely will you see a better example than Sexy Star vs. Mariposa. At the start of their match, I was on the fence just like the live crowd. I wasn’t deeply invested in the story (it had been fun to follow, but nothing extraordinary) and I wasn’t expecting a ring masterpiece. Yet damned if they didn’t draw me and then blow my mind. They fought a stiff, brutal match, which made complete sense for how personal this was supposed to be. Then Sexy Star bled. Then she broke the F-barrier. Then she won and I went nuts. It was a complete punk rock match. They didn’t give us technical perfection, but the raw emotion was searing. Lucha Underground pushes all the right envelopes at all the right times and this is just the latest example. The next time someone says, “well, female wrestlers can’t do XYZ,” you tell them Sexy Star says, “Fuck You.”
2) Chris Hero: You kind of knew when Chris Hero and Zack Sabre Jr. had a scheduled match that it would set the standard for the week. I know Steve Corino is working a Mr. Wrestling III angle these days, but if anyone deserves that title, it’s Hero. He may look like a truck driver on vacation at a Croatian beach, but he is about as good as it gets inside a wrestling ring. Shout out for my lower pick of Drew Gulak, who also had himself a hell of a weekend. If his qualifying match for the WWE Cruiserweight Classic against Tracy Williams is any indication of what we’re going to get from that event, we’re in for something special.
3) Tetsuya Naito: He’s the champ and Tomohiro Ishii was the perfect guy to give him a match that makes him look like a star. The mission was to establish Naito as a main event player and the mission was accomplished. Really hoping we get to see Naito’s CHAOS faction go to war with the updated Bullet Club. Adam Cole was a perfect choice to join Bullet Club (even if you hated the way they punted a PPV main event to do his reveal) and I’d love to see him face Naito down the road.
4) Drew Gulak
5) KUSHIDA
Rob Stewart
1) Sexy Star:
Admittedly, seeing a woman get busted open during a wrestling match was a bit uncomfortable to watch, But Sexy Star had a great, groundbreaking match against Mariposa this week to win an Aztec Medallion and get herself in the running for the Gift Of The Gods. The “No Mas” aspect of the match added a great air to it, and allowed Sexy Star to have a defining moment when she screamed in vulgar defiance at Mariposa’s attempt to break her.
2) Siniestro De La Muerte: He also won an Aztec Medallion on Lucha Underground, and in quick fashion, no less. In doing so, he further established himself as his own man since the demise of the Disciples of Death.
3) Bobby Lashley: A big win over Jeff Hardy and Mike Bennett made Lashley the #1 contender to the TNA World championship.
4) Yuji Nagata
5) Rusev
J Onwuka
1) Yuji Nagata:
Undid a lot of predictions for a long Shibata run as NEVER champion and proved that the Anti-Aging Man is still in fine form. I’ve seen it speculated that the NEVER belt is set to slide from its height centered around Ishii but Nagata’s a tough guy to beat no matter where he is on the card and I’m sure he’ll make it interesting to watch.
2) Sexy Star: Defeated Mariposa to win an Aztec medallion but, more than that, had a star-making match in the process
3) Bobby Fish: Brought the Television title back to Ring of Honor and served Ishii his second title match loss in under ten days.
4) Ricochet & Matt Sydal
5) TJP & Drew Gulak
Mitch Nickelson
1) Sexy Star:
Sexy Star was kidnapped and tortured and who knows what else by Mariposa and Marty the Moth by the end of last season’s Lucha Underground. She got her redemption this week, using way fouler language than I’m used to hearing on my wrestling shows. Nevertheless, the blood and the language added to the atmosphere of it all. Her performance was incredible as she defeated Mariposa. She also won an Ancient Aztec Medallion for her efforts, which is cool as well.
2) EC3: Carter’s so high on my list not because he scored a major win last week but because of his work in Evolve. He and TNA Champion Drew Galloway created some huge buzz when they took it upon themselves to become the dominant heels in that company. The buzz about a sort of TNA/WWE feud happening on proxy territory was pretty darn cool. Ethan charted on this list instead of Drew because he was the one who shooted (shot?) all over everybody. “Do you know what this is? This is a microphone! This is how you create box office!”
3) Rusev: The Bulgarian Brute defeated an entire field of competitors at once when he won a battle royal to become the Number One Contender to Kalisto’s United State’s Championship. Also, he bragged in a WWE.com interview about cameras that he and Lana already have inside their household. Because he and Lana like filming themselves doing…taxes. (Full House reference, baby!)
4) Bobby Fish
5) Ricochet & Matt Sydal
Bradley Hargett
1) Sexy Star:
Sexy Star and Mariposa put on one of the best women’s wrestling matches that I have ever seen on the most recent episode of Lucha Underground. It was intense. The two women told a great story. I knew from the moment the match ended that Sexy Star would have to be my number one wrestler of the week.
2) KUSHIDA: I am new to NJPW. I’ll just get that out of the way. In my short time that I have been watching the company, I have really grown to enjoy a handful of the guys I have seen, KUSHIDA is one of them and he was a part of one of my favorite matches on the Wresting Dontaku card.
3) Ricochet & Matt Sydal: The tag team division is one of the best things about NJPW. This match was a prime example as to why. Ricochet is a blast to watch. Sydal has a ‘swagger’ that he seemed to lack during his WWE run. I also feel like it’d be a travesty to not give a nod to Rocky Romero and Beretta who are great in their own right and have one of my favorite themes in all of wrestling at this time.
4) Rusev
5) Bram
THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Rusev – 9 Votes
* Fifth Place…Lashley – 10 Votes
* Fourth Place…Yuji Nagata – 14 Votes
* Third Place…Tetsuya Naito – 15 Votes
Still your current, reigning and defending IWGP Champion!
* Second Place…Bobby Fish – 19 Votes
Your NEW ROH TV Champion!
* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…
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Bloody from battle, @SexyStarAAA has vanquished her tormentor from the ring. #LuchaUnderground #NoMás pic.twitter.com/S9tnapv9Lu
— Lucha Underground (@LuchaElRey) May 5, 2016
Sexy Star – 43 Votes
Finally had her big moment in Lucha Underground and won an ancient Aztec medallion…
The Standings
Here are the standings after week FIVE…
* AJ Styles – 36pts
* Dragon Azteca Jr. – 27pts
* Prince Puma – 24pts
* Tetsuya Naito – 24pts
* Rey Mysterio Jr. – 21pts
* Samoa Joe – 15pts
* Sexy Star – 15pts
* Roman Reigns – 12pts
* Bobby Fish – 12pts
* Kevin Owens – 9pts
* SANADA – 9pts
* KUSHIDA – 9pts
* Cage – 6pts
* Fenix – 6pts
* Jack Evans – 6pts
* PJ Black – 6pts
* Will Ospreay – 6pts
* Yuji Nagata – 6pts
* The Monster Matanza Cueto – 3pts
* Aerostar – 3pts
* Cesaro – 3pts
* Mike Bennett – 3pts
* Lashley – 3pts
* Abyss – 1pt
* Crazy Steve – 1pt
* Rusev – 1pt
* Big Cass – 1pt
* Enzo Amore – 1pt
* Karl Anderson – 1pt
* Doc Gallows – 1pt
* The Miz – 1pt
* Rocky Romero – 1pt
* Trent Barreta – 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.
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)