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411’s Wrestler of the Week: Year 10, Week 24 – Brock Lesnar and Atlantis Battle For The Top Spot

September 23, 2014 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to YEAR TEN, WEEK 24 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) Atlantis:
In what ended up as a spectacular example of pro wrestling storytelling, Atlantis defeated Último Guerrero in a Mask vs. Mask match at the CMLL 81st Anniversary show. From a pure wrestling standpoint, not the match of the year, but from the build, anticipation, the story they told and the raw emotion that took place post match, this is everything to love about pro wrestling. Some felt that it was a year too late, but the reportedly did a million dollar gate, so apparently not.

2) Devastation Corporation (Flex Rumblecrunch, Blaster McMassive, Max Smashmaster): Defeated CHIKARA Champion Icarus and Campeones de Parejas the Throwbacks in the finals to win the 2014 CHKARA King of Trios Tournament.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Defeated Bad Luck Fale to win the IWGP Intercontinental Title.
4) Ryusuke Taguchi
5) Cavernario

justin watry
1) Brock Lesnar
Not a fan of the WWE Night of Champions finish. Did we really need a third match in the series? Really? Come on! Regardless, Brock Lesnar is STILL the WWE World Champion, and that is really all that matters right now.

2) AJ Lee: I am usually against playing hot potato with title belts, but as I wrote about a few weeks ago, I welcome it in the Divas division with AJ Lee and Paige. Keep it going until the end of 2014 for all I care. No complaints from me that AJ is the new Divas Champ.
3) Dean Ambrose: Big return at WWE Night of Champions. Plus, you got your monthly reminder that being predictable is NOT a bad thing as that entire segment on Sunday was VERY predictable but still awesome. Now give me Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins in a Heck on a Deck match for a true classic.
4) Seth Rollins
5) The Miz

Mike Hammerlock
1) Sheamus
Best match without question at Night of Champions was Sheamus vs. Cesaro. I thought it was ****1/4. Sheamus continued with the outstanding quality of his work and Cesaro found his groove again. They put on a fantastic smash mouth exhibition. Sheamus’ collapse to the pin was nicely done too. Wish I had space for Devastation Corp (the Chikara King of Trios winners), Shynron (who beat Sanada at the KoT finale) and Wolves. I’ve got Atlantis below for taking Ultimo Guerrero’s mask at the CMLL 81st anniversary show, capping one of the more notable rivalries in modern Mexican wrestling history.

2) Dust Brothers: I enjoyed the hell out of their match with the Usos. Hopefully this feud stretches out to TLC where these two teams can get a proper TLC match and do something amazing.
3) Bobby Lashley: Lashley-Roode at No Surrender delivered the goods. If TNA keeps putting on matches like that, and shows like that, then fans are going to come back to it.
4) AJ Lee
5) Atantis

Mike Chin
1) Brock Lesnar
This was the least dominating of Lesnar’s performances this year so far, but may have also been his all around best work as not only a beast, but selling convincingly for John Cena and even Seth Rollins.

2) John Cena: John Cena played the desperate underdog perfectly in the Night of Champions main event. Between the inconclusive finish to his match with Lesnar, his exchange with Seth Rollins, and the rumored program with Rusev (who went over strong opposite Mark Henry) he may have more meaningful potential directions than anyone in WWE right now.
3) Seth Rollins: The Seth Rollins-Dean Ambrose feud will continue, and I don’t think anyone objects to that. Besides that, Rollins looked like a legit player in the main event scene when he got involved in Cena-Lesnar and nearly cashed in his title shot.
4) Rusev
5) Atlantis

Jeremy Thomas
1) Brock Lesnar & John Cena
Both of these guys really put forth a hell of an effort in the main event of Night of Champions. Was it my favorite match of either of theirs, or my favorite of the night? No, but that has nothing to do with their work and everything to do with the stupid unnecessary finish. It wasn’t as dominating as their last match and that’s actually a good thing, as two in a row like that would have been too much. Great work and kudos to both guys.

2) Bobby Lashley: Retained the TNA World Title against Bobby Roode on Impact. I’ll give TNA credit for really booking Lashley right so far.
3) The Wolves: Retained their titles in a hell of a match against the Hardys and Team 3D.
4) AJ Lee
5) Sheamus

Wyatt Beougher
1) Brock Lesnar
Yeah, the Night of Champions finish sucked, as did the preceding five minutes or so of Cena more or less no selling everything Brock did (while simultaneously “selling” the damage from earlier in the match), but Lesnar is still the champion and he still beat Cena like a rented mule (thanks, JR) for the majority of the match. I’m going to give Brock Lesnar my top vote for the rest of the year, just to ensure that his 2014 is properly remembered as being arguably the most dominant by a North American professional wrestler in quite some time.

2) Atlantis: It’s not everyday someone on the level of Ultimo Guerrero gets unmasked, so the guy who won the match and was responsible for the unmasking gets this spot.
3) Bobby Lashley: Another strong win for the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He’s been consistently booked as the strongest heel champion in major North American wrestling in recent history (the last five minutes of Lesnar/Cena at NOC ensured that Brock wasn’t able to overtake him for that honor).
4) Devastation Corporation
5) Ryusuke Taguchi

Ryan Byers
1) Atlantis
With WWE’s PPV being a poorly promoted and poorly booked b-show and with New Japan’s PPV focusing on its secondary championship, the hottest card of he week was actually CMLL’s 81st anniversary extravaganza in Arena Mexico. With inflated ticket prices due to the importance of the show, it sold out and reportedly gave to the promotion its first ever one million dollar gate. The match that made this all possible was Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero, the culmination of a three-year feud in an epic mask vs. mask match. Ultimately, Atlantis was the winner, taking the hood of one of the biggest CMLL stars of the last twenty years. This extends Atlantis’ record of being one of lucha libre’s top drawing cards, as the next biggest match in CMLL history is still probably his mask vs. mask match with Villano III from fourteen years ago.

2) Cavernario: Also from the CMLL show, rising star Cavernario picked up perhaps the most significant victory of his young career, as he defeated Rey Cometa in a great match with both men’s hair on the line. Go check out some of Cavernario’s work online if you haven’t seen him yet.
3) Dean Ambrose: Pretty much the only thing worthwhile on the WWE pay per view was the return of Dean Ambrose, who showed up out of nowhere and had a great brawl with Seth Rollins. The only question is how he knew to show up in a taxi at the precise moment necessary to dramatically answer Rollins’ open challenge.
4) Shinsuke Nakamura
5) Ryusuke Taguchi

Derrick Cannon
1) Goldust and Stardust.
It’s hard to believe how long Goldust has been competing and how incredible he looked at Night of Champions. I’m hoping that there is a continuation between the reigning and former tag champs. There is definitely still mileage in their feud and if anything the title switch left me wanting more. I would be ecstatic if they continued their feud until TLC, and closed with an epic TLC match.

2) John Cena: John Cena brought the fight to Brock Lesnar and nearly became the 16-time champion in the process.
3) Seth Rollins: Seth Rollins had a very memorable night on Sunday. It is likely that a Hell in a Cell match with Ambrose is in the making. If so it should be one of the better Hell in a Cell matches in recent memory. It is also possible that Rollins will successfully cash in sooner than later, if Night of Champions was any indication of where future cash ins are headed.
4) Bobby Lashley
5) AJ Lee

Alex Crowder
1) Atlantis
WWE’s event was poorly booked even if the work was good. I never subscribe to the theory of making the best decision out of a bad situation either, because in this case the bad situation shouldn’t have been created in the first place. Regardless, I’m going give Lucha Libre some love. It is very rare that this happens and a million dollar gate is nothing to minimize. Atlantis is already a huge Lucha Libre star and this victory only helps.

2) Bobby Lashley: The best-booked champion in American wrestling continues to be Bobby Lashley. I’m not sure what changed but he seems to be better in the ring than he ever was before. In addition, he is booked in a simple, effective manner. WWE could learn a lot from simple booking, that is something they have been lacking in as of late.
3) Seth Rollins: He played a good heel in picking up a victory over “Roman Reigns” at Night of Champions and actually laid out Brock Lesnar of all people. This seems so small but Rollins actually laid out the most dominant wrestler in WWE currently. That to me is a sign of him slowly creeping closer to the next level.
4) Sheamus
5) Rusev

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…AJ Lee, Stardust, Goldust – 9 Votes

* Fifth Place…Seth Rollins – 11 Votes

* Fourth Place…John Cena – 13 Votes

* Third Place…Bobby Lashley – 16 Votes

Still your current, reigning and defending TNA World Champion.

* Second Place…Brock Lesnar – 20 Votes

Still your current, reigning and defending WWE World Champion.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…

Atlantis – 21 Votes

Defeated Ultimo Guerrero in the culmination of their epic feud, drawing one of CMLL’s biggest houses ever at the 81st anniversary show.

Year-End Standings~!
And here are the standings after week twenty-four…

Seth Rollins – 87pts.

AJ Styles – 74pts.

Roman Reigns – 71pts.

Bobby Lashley – 60pts.

Eric Young – 58pts.

Dean Ambrose – 47pts.

John Cena – 45pts.

Brock Lesnar – 43pts.

Rusev – 33pts.

Kazuchika Okada – 30pts

Ricochet – 27pts
Kyle O’Reilly – 27pts.

Hideo Itami – 24pts.

Bad News Barrett – 21pts.

Charlotte – 18pts.
Bobby Fish – 18pts.
Cesaro – 18pts.
Bray Wyatt – 18pts
Jey Uso – 18pts.
Jimmy Uso – 18pts.

AJ Lee – 16pts.
Batista – 16pts.

Atlantis – 15pts.
Adrian Neville – 15pts.
Paige – 15pts.
YAMATO – 15pts
Takao Omori – 15pts
Sheamus – 15pts.

Samoa Joe – 12pts.
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 12pts
BxB Hulk – 12pts
Icarus – 12pts.
Daniel Bryan – 12pts.
Chris Jericho – 12pts.
Michael Elgin – 12pts.
Bully Ray – 12pts.
Jay Briscoe – 12pts.

KUSHIDA – 10pts.
Davey Richards – 10pts.
Eddie Edwards – 10pts.
Stardust (Cody Rhodes) – 10pts.

Ultimo Guerrero – 9pts.
Adam Cole – 9pts.
Luke Harper – 9pts.
Triple H – 9pts.
Austin Aries – 9pts.
Yujiro Takahashi – 9pts
Minoru Suzuki – 9pts

Randy Orton – 7pts.
Alicia Fox – 7pts.
Goldust – 7pts.

Shelton Benjamin – 6pts.
Gail Kim – 6pts.
Devon – 6pts.
Suwama – 6pts.
Bad Luck Fale – 6pts
Biff Busick – 6pts.
Erick Rowan – 6pts.
Stephanie McMahon – 6pts.
Kalisto – 6pts.

Joe Doering – 3pts.
T-Hawk – 3pts.
EITA – 3pts.
Jeff Hardy – 3pts.
Bobby Roode – 3pts.
Tyson Kidd – 3pts.
Mark Henry – 3pts.
Tyler Breeze – 3pts.
Adam Rose – 3pts.
Jack Swagger – 3pts.
Sin Cara – 3pts.

Dasher Hatfield – 2 pts.
Mr. Touchdown – 2 pts.

Dolph Ziggler – 1pt
The Miz – 1pt
Kane – 1pt
Brie Bella – 1pt
Uhaa Nation – 1pt
Naomichi Marufuji – 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