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411’s Wrestler of the Week 8.21.12: Year Eight, Week 20
Welcome to WEEK 20, YEAR EIGHT 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
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 Monday (the voting week ins Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…
Larry Csonka
1) Mr. Touchdown
Mr. Touchdown Mark Angelosetti won the 10th CHIKARA Young Lions Cup, defeating ACH in the finals. Angelosetti has been on a roll since arriving in CHIKARA, being n addition to the Throwbacks, and continually growing as a cocky heel. The YLC has been held by wrestlers who have been an important part of CHKARA through the years, and the victory here is easily the biggest accomplishment in his career; and that also makes it an easy pick for me this week.
2) Antonio Cesaro: WWE finally decided to move forward with the push of Antonio Cesaro, and he is now your new WWE US Champion. It is his first singles title in WWE, and is a good stepping stone for him. On top of that, the genuine well wished from wrestlers and former places of employment sent to Cesaro
3) Kevin Steen: Had two successful ROH Title defenses this weekend, and continues to be one of the fee things in the promoting that has been keeping my interest.
4) AJ Styles
5) Jeff Hardy
Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Brock Lesnar
He broke the arm of Shawn Michaels on RAW and then made HHH tap-out in the Main Event at Summer Slam.
2) Antonio Cesaro: Wins his first title in the WWE: The US Title.
3) CM Punk: Once again defends his WWE Title as his title reign keeps on going.
4) Sheamus
5) The Miz
Gavin Napier
1) Antonio Cesaro
Sure, it happened on the preshow. Sure, the United States title isn’t what it used to be. Sure, Santino hasn’t been booked as the strongest champion. The fact remains that a guy that WWE reportedly has “mixed feelings” about just captured his first singles championship and has a chance to impress people.
2) CM Punk: Stole a win to retain his title in a match that many people were expecting him to lose.
3) Brock Lesnar: Won his first WWE match in roughly eight and a half years. He’s been with WWE for almost five months now, so his attention span is probably running short. This may be the last chance I have to vote for him before he decides he wants to be a professional bull rider or something. Or gets another belly ache.
4) AJ Styles
5) Kevin Steen
Ryan Byers
1) Brock Lesnar
Lesnar was dominant all week long, as he not only got to break Shawn Michaels’ arm on Monday Night Raw but also managed to win clean as a sheet against a vengeance-seeking HHH in the main event of Summerslam. After having Lesnar lose what I thought was a no-brainer victory against John Cena, the company appears to have righted the ship and put Brock into a very strong position for whatever his match at Wrestlemania will be, which is most likely his last stand with the company unless they can come to terms on a new deal.
2) Kota Ibushi: In the main event of perhaps the biggest show in the history of the Japanese indy group DDT, their top champion Kota Ibushi retained the KO-D Openweight Title over his friend and tag team partner Kenny Omega. Why was the show big? Not only was it the promotion’s fifteenth anniversary card, but it was also attended by a mind-blowing reported 10,000 fans at the Budokan.
3) CM Punk: The finish to the WWE Title match at Summerslam was a predictable one, but predictable isn’t always a bad thing, as triumphing over both John Cena and the Big Show gives CM Punk some serious momentum headed into his presumed Royal Rumble title match with the Rock.
4) Naoki Tanizaki
5) Daniel Bryan
TJ Hawke
1) Brock Lesnar
Survived two pedigrees and made Triple H tap out clean in the middle of the ring in the main event of Summerslam. That’s good enough for me.
2) Mr. Touchdown: Won the vacant Chikara Young Lions Cup in a reportedly great main event.
3) Kevin Steen: Successfully defended the ROH World Title twice. Once on TV to Homicide and once on a PWX show against Cedric Alexander.
4) Antonio Cesaro
5) Kota Ibushi
James Wright
1) C.M. Punk
Defended his WWE title successfully at Summerslam, making it two years in a row that he has beaten Cena in a WWE title match at the event, which is pretty big, even if it wasn’t the main event this year. He also has all but guaranteed that he will be the longest reigning WWE champion for over five years, which isn’t too bad for a guy from the indys, and if he somehow makes it to the Royal Rumble as champion to face the Rock he might even dethrone John Cena as the longest running champ in a decade.
2) Brock Lesnar: Came into Triple H’s house and possibly forced the Game to retire. Of course this is all fleeting as knowing HHH he could come out in a couple of weeks acting like nothing has happened, still for now Lesnar looks like a dangerous man once again.
3) Kevin Steen: It might not be at Summerslam, but defending a world title successfully twice in one week is no mean feat and if ROH could get their act together production-wise, maybe Steen’s title run will be remembered a lot more favorably than it has been so far, mostly being recognized for Steen’s antics after matches, rather than the matches themselves, which have all been decent contests.
4) Sheamus
5) Antonio Cesaro
Michael Ornelas
1) Antonio Cesaro
As far as I’m concerned, his career was progressed the most this week.
2) CM Punk: WWE continues to board the Punk train and his momentum continues.
3) Brock Lesnar: Winner of the match of the night. Against HHH, nonetheless.
4) Kota Ibushi
5) Kevin Steen
Francisco Ramirez
1) Antonio Cesaro
The former Claudio has yet to capture lightning in a bottle in the WWE, but he has captured the U.S. Championship defeating Santino. Word around the grapevine is WWE having mixed feelings for Cesaro, this win giving him the opportunity to impress.
2) Brock Lesnar: If anybody would have buried Brock during this new run, I would imagine it would have been HHH. The opposite occurred and of all things, Lesnar made HHH tap out. Not many can say that these days.
3) Terrible: CMLL is holding their annual Universal Tournament consisting of every champion in the promotion, the winner of the first block is Terrible. He accomplished this by beating one of the favorites, Rush.
4) TIE: CM Punk/Sheamus
5) Kevin Steen
Greg DeMarco
1) Brock Lesnar
If there’s any question to the importance of this match, just look at how the company treated Triple H in defeat. Or at least how they planned to treat him, until the crowd acted otherwise. This is the big win Lesnar should have had coming back, and he’s now poised for whatever challenge lies ahead.
2) CM Punk: Big win at SummerSlam, and the guy pretty much owns John Cena over the past 13 months.
3) Antonio Cesaro: Antonio Cesaro scored his first major singles championship (sorry ROH & PWG faithful) and has a road of success ahead of him. Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
4) Kevin Steen
5) Mr. Touchdown
THE WINNERS~!
Still your reigning and defending WWE Champion.
The most money making man is now your US Champion. Heeeeeeeeey!
“Broke” Triple H’s arm for a second time, and made his tap out at summerslam.
Year-End Standings~!
And here are the standings after week 20…
1. CM Punk – 81 points (WWE)
2. Austin Aries – 58 points (TNA)
3. Brock Lesnar – 55 points (WWE)
4. Sheamus – 51 points (WWE)
5. Bobby Roode – 50 points (TNA)
5. Daniel Bryan – 50 points (WWE)
7. Kevin Steen – 36 points (ROH)
8. James Storm – 30 points (TNA)
9. Kazuchika Okada – 24 points (NJPW)
9. John Cena – 24 points (WWE)
Kenny King – 21 points (TNA)
Christian – 21 points (WWE)
Player Uno – 19 points (US Independent)
Stupified – 19 points (US Independent)
Chuck Taylor- 18 points (US Independent)
Alberto Del Rio – 18 points (WWE)
Dolph Ziggler – 18 points (WWE)
Samoa Joe – 16 points (TNA)
Antonio Cesaro – 15 points (WWE)
Johnny Gargano – 15 points (US Independent)
Ryusuke Taguchi – 15 points (NJPW)
Nick Jackson- 15 points (US Independent)
Matt Jackson- 15 points (US Independent)
Tyson Kidd – 15 points (WWE)
Rhett Titus – 15 points (ROH)
Magnus – 12 points (TNA)
AJ Styles – 12 points (TNA)
Zema Ion – 12 points (TNA)
Christopher Daniels – 12 points (TNA)
Kazarian – 12 points (TNA)
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 12 points (NJPW)
Tensai – 12 points (WWE)
Big Show – 12 points (WWE)
Damian Sandow – 12 points (WWE)
The Miz – 12 points (WWE)
Dr. Wagner Jr. – 12 points (AAA)
RVD – 10 points (TNA)
Bully Ray- 9 points (TNA)
Portia Perez – 9 points (US Independent)
Nicole Mathews – 9 points (US Independent)
Rey Mysterio – 9 points (WWE)
Kofi Kingston – 9 points (WWE)
R Truth – 9 points (WWE)
Hirooki Goto – 9 points (NJPW)
Kurt Angle – 9 points (TNA)
Karl Anderson – 7 point (NJPW)
AR Fox – 7 point (US Independent)
Sting – 6 points (TNA)
Taiyo Kea – 6 points (AJPW)
Masata Tanaka – 6 points (ZERO1)
KAI – 6 points (AJPW)
Adam Pearce – 6 points (US Independent)
17 – 6 points (US Independent)
Shard – 6 points (US Independent)
assailANT – 6 points (US Independent)
combatANT – 6 points (US Independent)
Colt Cabana – 6 points (US Independent)
Mark Henry – 4 points (WWE)
PAC – 4 points (WWE)
Low Ki – 4 points (US Independent)
Gran Akuma – 3 points (US Independent)
Sara Del Rey – 3 points (US Independent)
Chris Sabin – 3 points (TNA)
Mr. Touchdown Mark Angelosetti – 3 points (US Independent)
Alex Shelley – 3 points (US Independent)
Genki Horguchi – 3 point (Dragon Gate)
CIMA – 3 point (Dragon Gate)
Kota Ibushi – 2 point (NJPW)
AJ Lee – 2 points (WWE)
Yujiro Takahashi – 1 point (NJPW)
Miss Tessmacher – 1 point (TNA)
Katsuhiko Nakajima – 1 point (NOAH)
Charlie Haas – 1 point (ROH)
Shelton Benjamin – 1 point (ROH)
Layla – 1 point (WWE)
Dmitrious “The Greek God” Papadon – 1 point (US Independent)
Sami Callihan – 1 point (US Independent)
El Generico – 1 point (US Independent)
Jon Davis – 1 point (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.
Other International Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.
 Year One Winner: Ric Flair
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