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411’s Wrestler of the Week 08.09.10: Week 19
Welcome to Week 19, Year SIX, 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 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
If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!
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 at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let’s see who wins this week…
Larry Csonka
1) Jimmy Yang
Jimmy yang recently won the All Japan’s league tournament for junior heavyweights. Semi-finalists were KAI, Hiroshi Yamato, Minoru, and Yang, with the finals seeing Yang defeat KAI with the Yang Time moonsault to win the tournament. Yang will likely move onto a shot at the Junior Heavyweight Title currently held by his former tag team partner Kaz Hayashi. Good to see Yang back and doing well.
2) Taylor Wilde and Hamada: HAMADA is back! She wins the Knockouts tag team titles along with Taylor Wilde’s cheerleader outfit.
3) Dolph Ziggler: Dolph FINALLY wins the IC Title, something he should have had long ago.
4) The Motor City Machineguns
5) RVD
Andy Critchell
1) Dolph Ziggler
Well he’s finally got his IC title. The dude has a ton of charisma and talent so I hope this win can elevate him.
2) THE MIZ: Sometimes a guy can lose and still come out the better for it. That’s what happened to Miz on Monday. He hung in there with Orton and looked like he belonged. Then on Tuesday he basically was the biggest part of NXT and got a real strong match out of Michael McGillicutty. Big week for Miz.
3) Layla: The whole kissing contest idea on NXT sounded pretty stupid and was stupid but in a fun way, thanks mostly to Layla. It’s really something to see how she has gone from luscious eye candy in Extreme Expose to being very good all the way around. She is charismatic and funny on the mic and a decent worker as well, as evidenced by her Superstars match with Tiffany. Oh and did I mention she was the hottest Diva in WWE? Because she is. In fact, she is the hottest woman in wrestling, PERIOD.
4) Taylor Wilde and Hamada
5) Melina
Chad Nevett
1) Dolph Ziggler
Finally won the Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston, pretty much surprising anyone who ever saw the Spirit Squad. About time.
2) Motor City Machine Guns: Beat Beer Money in an Ultimate X match to force a fifth and final match in their series for the tag team titles. Plus, it was an amazing match.
3) Drew McIntyre: Had a strong match with Rey Mysterio and looks like he’s finally showing some of that talent a ‘chosen one’ should have.
4) The Miz
5) AJ Styles
Aaron Hubbard
1) Dolph Ziggler
Our new Intercontinental Champion, and not a moment too soon in my opinion. I hope Kofi is able to see some upward movement on the card, but I also look forward to seeing Ziggles be champion.
2) Jimmy Yang: In what is a minor upset in my opinion, the former Jimmy Wang Yang won All Japan’s league tournament for junior heavyweights, earning a title shot against former partner Kaz Hayashi, which is a match I actually want to see.
3) The Motor City Machine Guns: Came out the victors in their series with Beer Money, winning an Ultimate X match and having the best match on television this week.
4) The Miz
5) Tommy Dreamer/Raven [TIE]
Michael Bauer
1) Motor City Machine Guns
They beat Beer Money again in the best match of the week to even the series at 2. Now, it’s a Best of Three next week for the series, the gold, and all the marbles.
2) Jimmy Yang: Making his mark back in Japan as he wins All Japan’s league tournament for junior heavyweights.
3) Dolph Ziggler: Yes, it’s his first singles gold, but I hate the way it happened. Kofi looked better in the end.
4) The Miz
5) Drew McIntyre
Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Dolph Ziggler
Winning gold is always huge with me, and Dolph winning the IC Title makes him an easy choice for WOTW.
2) Raven: This is all about personal preference. I am a huge Raven fan, and will take any chance I get to praise him. I love the fact he won the final match (if it is) with Dreamer and really, it should have ended that way.
3) Taylor Wilde and Hamada: The titles may not mean all the much, but a title change is a title change and these women deserve a mention.
4) Motor City Machineguns
5) The Miz
Ryan Byers
1) Dolph Ziggler
Well, Dolph snagged himself the Intercontinental Championship. The fellow seems to be fairly talented, so hopefully this will be a situation in which holding a secondary title actually elevates a person instead of the all-too-common situation these days in which the title just bounces around from midcarder to midcarder with none of them progressing as a result of their title reigns.
2) Jimmy Yang: Yang is back with a vengeance in All Japan Pro Wrestling, winning the company’s annual junior heavyweight league tournament. Chances are good that this means he’ll be back for a fair number of future tours with the company, no doubt going up against Kaz Hayashi for the Junior Heavyweight Title within the next couple of months.
3) Testsuya Naito: Naito, just a year or so removed from being a meaningless “young boy” in Japanese wrestling, is now back in NJPW and is being treated like a big deal. If you need proof of that, look no further than the fact, this week in the G1 Climax tournament, he got a surprising victory over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe.
4) Drew McIntyre
5) Melina
Ronnie LaFianza
1) Motor City Machine Guns
The Guns have once again managed to defeat Beer Money on Impact, thus tying the score. And it was one helluva match at that, and without a doubt the match of the week. Next week it’s 2 Out Of 3 Falls for Match 5, and it’s gonna be damn hard for the Guns and Beer Money to try to up their last four matches.
2) Dolph Ziggler: Ziggler picked up the biggest victory of his career last Friday as he managed to win Intercontinental gold, defeating Kofi Kingston with the Zig Zag. The only reason I’m not putting him at #1 is that a) he won it thanks to interference and b) Ziggler didn’t look too great coming out of it with that post match beat down. Still, this is considered a great week for Dolph.
3) Rob Van Dam: Scored the pinfall on Impact to win the match for his team, plus he defeated Sabu in the main event of Hardcore Justice.
4) Jimmy Wang Yang
5) The Miz
Steve Cook
1) Dolph Ziggler
Dolph finally accomplished the goal he’d been striving for over the past 12 months, winning the Intercontinental Championship. I wasn’t a big fan of Kofi Kingston making him look like a biatch after the match, but Mr. Ziggles still deserves his props for getting the job done.
2) Taylor Wilde & Hamada: I’ve been wondering where these two talented Knockouts have been for quite awhile, so it was nice to see them appear on Impact and take the tag straps from the Beautiful People. I’m not optimistic that this will lead too much more than an occasional title match, but maybe they’ll actually get to do something. Stranger things have happened.
3) Magno: The luchador continues to outsmart RJ Brewer at every turn on Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors, getting a second win over him on the show last week through nefarious means.
4) Dashing Cody Rhodes
5) Drew McIntyre
Jeremy Thomas
1) Dolph Ziggler
This was a do or die situation for Dolph, and he did. I didn’t have a problem with the way that he won because Vicki had distracted him in the first place, and people will remember Dolph’s win more than they will Kofi’s ass-kicking post-match. Dolph has the Intercontinental Title and is no longer the Choke Artist, so good for him.
2) Motor City Machine Guns: Come on, do you really have to ask why? Sabin and Shelley beat Beer Money in the fourth match of their best of five series, had the match of the week and got over huge in the process. Fantastic work.
3) Tyler Black: The ROH Champion is WWE-bound, assuming reports are correct (and I have a feeling that they are). That’s huge for Black’s career and definitely enough for some votes here.
4) Drew McIntyre
5) Raven & Melina (tie)
THE WINNERS~!
Yang wins All Japan’s league tournament for junior heavyweights, and will be headed for a title shot against former partner Kaz Hayashi.
The Guns keep delivering the goods in he ring with a great ultimate X victory this week.
Dolph Ziggler climbs the mountain and finally gets his first taste of WWE singles gold.
Year-End Standings~!
Dolph Ziggler, Wilde, Hamada and Yang all make their debuts on the big list this week, but the real story continues to be the rise of the Motor City Machineguns. Good matches week in and out have launched the tag team partners into a tie for third place in the standings. Could they find themselves in first place this time next week? Check out the updated standings to see the all of the changes…
Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!
1. Jack Swagger – 61 (SmackDown)
2. Rob Van Dam – 49 (TNA)
3. Chris Sabin– 48 (TNA)
3. Alex Shelley – 48 (TNA)
5. Randy Orton – 43 (Raw)
6. Rey Mysterio – 39 (Smackdown)
7. Bryan Danielson – 35 (US Independent)
7. Wade Barrett – 35 (Raw)
9. Evan Bourne – 34 (Raw)
10. The Miz – 27 (Raw)
11. Kofi Kingston – 25 (Smackdown)
12. Claudio Castagnoli – 24 (ROH)
12. Tyson Kidd – 24 (Raw)
12. DH Smith – 24 (Raw)
15. AJ Styles – 21 (TNA)
Robert Roode – 18 (TNA)
James Storm – 18 (TNA)
Kurt Angle – 18 (TNA)
Jay Lethal – 18 (TNA)
Kane – 17 (SmackDown)
Togi Makabe – 16 (IWGP)
Sheamus – 16 (Raw)
Tyler Black – 16 (ROH)
Madison Eagles – 15 (SHIMMER)
Dolph Ziggler – 15 (Smackdown)
Kaval – 15 (NXT)
Edge – 15 (Raw)
R-Truth – 15 (Raw)
Douglas Williams – 13 (TNA)
Chris Hero – 12 (ROH)
Ares – 12 (US Independent)
Tursas – 12 (US Independent)
Minoru Suzuki – 12 (AJPW)
Kaz Hayashi– 12 (AJPW)
Masato Yoshino– 12 (Dragon Gate)
Paul London – 12 (US Independent)
El Generico – 12 (US Independent)
John Cena – 12 (Raw)
Desmond Wolfe – 12 (TNA)
Matt Hardy – 12 (SmackDown)
Chris Jericho – 12 (Raw)
Cody Rhodes – 12 (Smackdown)
Mr. Anderson – 10 (TNA)
Kazarian – 10 (TNA)
Tigers Mask – 9 (Dragon Gate)
Jimmy Yang – 9 (All Japan)
YAMATO – 9 (Dragon Gate)
Samoa Joe – 9 (TNA)
Jeff Hardy – 9 (TNA)
Davey Richards – 9 (ROH)
Prince Devitt – 9 (NJPW)
Dr. Wagner Jr. – 9 (AAA)
Heath Slater – 6 (NXT)
Hamada – 6 (TNA)
Taylor Wilde – 6 (TNA)
Nick Jackson – 6 (TNA)
Matt Jackson – 6 (TNA)
Bison Smith – 6 (NOAH)
Keith Walker – 6 (NOAH)
Bret Hart – 6 (Raw)
Christopher Daniels – 4 (ROH)
Michael McGillicutty – 3 (NXT)
Jon Moxley – 3 (US Independent)
CM Punk – 3 (Smackdown)
Percy Watson – 3 (NXT)
Willie Richardson – 3 (US Independent)
Marshe Rocket – 3 (US Independent)
Acid Jaz – 3 (US Independent)
Takashi Sugiura – 3 (Dragon Gate)
Drew McIntyre – 2 (SmackDown)
Shelton Benjamin – 1 (US Independent)
Abyss – 1 (TNA)
John Morrison – 1 (Raw)
Beth Phoenix – 1 (SmackDown)
Ted DiBiase – 1 (Raw)
Christian – 1 (Smackdown)
Shingo Takagi – 1 (Dragon Gate)
Chuck Taylor – 1 (US Independent)
Masaaki Mochizuki – 1 (Dragon Gate)
Batista – 1 (US Independent)
The Undertaker – 1 (Smackdown)
Giant Bernard – 1 (NJPW)
Karl Anderson – 1 (NJPW)
Akebono – 1 (AJPW)
Taiyo Kea – 1 (AJPW)
Tasha Simone – 1 (US Independent)
WWE, Raw, SmackDown and NXT-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 Contracted Wrestlers are represented in MAGENTA.
Australian Contracted Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.
 Year One Winner: Ric Flair
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If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!
