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411’s Wrestler of the Week 05.19.08: Week 7
Welcome to Week 7, Year-FOUR, of 411’s Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview to kick things off as we have some new rules for year four…
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 at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let’s see who wins this week…
The Voting!
Ryan Byers
1) Incognito
A seemingly humdrum WWE pay per view in which the status quo was maintained across the board results in me heading to the dreaded INDIES~! to pick my number one. This weekend was CHIKARA’s second annual Rey de Voladores tournament, which saw Mexico’s Incognito outlast a field including competitors from the United States, Japan, Canada, and, yes, even India. This is Incognito’s second major touranment win in CHIKARA in 2008, as back in early March he and partners El Pantera and Lince Dorado took home the King of Trios championship. Incognito was a guy who I originally thought of as little more than filler in CHIKARA, popping up only occasionally when the promotion needed a warm body to fill out a “Mexican” team. However, his two major wins within the last three months make him a force to be reckoned with on the United States Indy scene. Can somebody say number one contender of the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title?
2) Johnny Nitro & Mike Mizanin – I still can’t stand the Miz in the ring, but I have to admit that there was no way that I would have guessed that he and his six packed-partner would have gone over Kane and CM Punk in both singles AND tag team action this week. For the longest time, it seemed like ECW was nothing more than vehicle to get Punk over. However, the fact that Nitro and Mizanin have eclipsed him in terms of personality and the fact that Nitro has pulled out way ahead of him in terms of in-ring performance makes it clear that they are the act on the c-show with the most potential to break out on the big stage of Raw. The results of their matches this past week just reflect what their performances have shown us for a while.
3) Gamma – Gamma has been getting the big rudo push in Dragon Gate for a while now, and he’s finally got some gold to go along with it.
4) Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho (tie)
5) Beth Phoenix (For that backbreaker if nothing else. Yowza.)
Andy Clark
1) Jeff Hardy
The Rainbow Haired Warrior had a hell of a week and I couldn’t be happier. He makes his return on Raw, receives and ungodly pop, beats Umaga, gets a PPV payday, and beats MVP. While I was a bit disappointed to hear him declare his intentions for the Intercontinental Title, I’m happy to see that WWE hasn’t given up on the guy.
2) John Morrison & The Miz- I wasn’t expecting this but I certainly won’t complain. Morrison got a singles victory over Kane, and The Miz actually got to win a singles match with a victory over CM Punk, plus they put the beat down on the two men on ECW. Then they even get to win their match at Judgment Day!
3) Roderick Strong & Jack Evans- Win the PWG Tag Team Titles and I’m presuming DDT4 as well, one of the biggest tournaments in wrestling.
4) Incognito
5) Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho
Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) John Morrison & The Miz
They went over Kane and Punk in singles matches on ECW and then got another clean win to defend their Tag Titles. The Dirt Sheet segment on wwe.com with them making fun of Kane and Punk was hilarious as well. These two as a tag team are growing on me, and I enjoy them more than Morrison’s original team, MNM. Congrats to Team Tough Enough. They deserve it.
2) Shawn Michaels: Why I am not shocked that he once again stole the show at a PPV? I have no doubts now that he is going to go down as the greatest in-ring performer ever. The crazy, daredevils days are in his past, but his story telling is top notch at this point. He just doesn’t seem to have a bad match anymore.
3) Chris Jericho: He lost the show-stealing match, but that only costs him one spot. Easily the best match Jericho has had since his return. I may have pushed Jericho to #1 on this list (even with the loss) had he kicked Michaels in the balls after the handshake, but no dice there.
4) Jeff Hardy
5) HHH
ARI
1) John Morrison & The Miz
Booked strong throughout the week, demolishing CM Punk every which way and beating Punk and Kane at the PPV. These guys are reaching a peak of their abilities and value in WWE.
2) Eddie Kingston & Shane Storm: Both men steal the thunder on the independent scene this weekend. Kingston returned to wrestling at least for now by making a surprise appearance at the CHIKARA show this weekend. Then he and Shane Storm had a reprise of a brutal and bloody match from January.
3) Jeff Hardy: Returns and wins two matches in a row coming off of the 60-day suspension. it looks like WWE is still going with Jeff as a pushable act and he will be featured and accentuated in their programming.
4) Shawn Michaels
5) Triple H
Matt Short
1) Shingo Takagi
The best swerves are ones you don’t see coming. This past week Shingo shocked Dragon Gate by turning on his long-time partner BxB Hulk to join with the Muscle Outlaw’z stable to lead the new faction, Real Hazard. He capped it off by winning the Open the Triangle Gate titles with his new unit and is poised to become the company’s new monster heel.
2) Incognito: Won Chikara’s Rey de Voladores this weekend. He’s been having a great year in Chikara so far, winning King of Trios and is now the King of the Flippy Little Boys after beating Young Lion’s Cup holder Helios in the finals.
3) John Morrison & The Miz: A great week for the WWE Tag Team Champions, with wins over both Kane and CM Punk in singles matches. Then they retained their titles on PPV. I don’t think people expected much from this team when it first started, but they’ve proven to be a really fun pair to watch in and out of the ring.
4) Roderick Strong & Jack Evans
5) Eddie Kingston
Jerome Cusson
1) Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho
Having the two guys who had the best match Judgment Day makes them wrestlers of the week. It’s not just that their match was really good, but it’s that they have one of the best and most compelling angles going in the WWE right now. I don’t really want to give it to one or the other since they’ve been such a big part of the success of the last few months of WWE television. I’m looking forward to seeing where they take this now. I still think one of these two are going heel, but I’m just not sure which now.
2) The Miz and John Morrison- They did go over Punk and Kane twice in a week. Since they actually seem to be getting a push and even a title defense, I guess they deserve to be on this list. Personally, I can’t stand either of these guys but I’ll give them their props.
3) Roderick Strong and Jack Evans- Strong and Evans are one of the best teams on the independent scene right now. They also won the PWG tag titles and a major Indy tournament. Clearly, they deserve to be featured for their efforts this weekend.
4) Triple H
5) Incognito
Samuel Berman
1) Jack Evans & Roderick Strong
In surviving the DDT4 field, Strong & Evans upended PWG World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico, in-so-doing winning the belts and besting the hottest properties in the company. It’s strange to think that this win earns the former Generation Next duo its first major tag belts as a tandem, especially considering how hot an act they were a couple of years ago. Furthermore, this win comes as a major surprise, especially on the heels of Evans’ announcement that he would be taking a hiatus from Ring of Honor to take extended International bookings. Still, congratulations are in order, especially to Strong who won the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament for the second straight year (he won the 2007 DDT4 with PAC).
2) Shingo: From the ashes of New Hazard rises the new dominant faction in Dragon Gate, the Shingo-led Real Hazard, with their leader pinning former partner BxB Hulk to win the disputed Open the Triangle Gate Championships.
3) Incognito and Eddie Kingston (tie): The former won the second annual Rey de Voladores Tournament while the latter made a shocking return to action to leave Shane Storm a bloody mess.
4) Delirious & Hallowicked
5) Danny Havoc
SAT
1) John Morrison & The Miz
John Morrison and the Miz get the top slot for defeating Kane and CM Punk in singles action on ECW and then defeating them in a tag team match at Judgment Day
2) Jeff Hardy – Jeff Hardy gets the second slot for coming back this week at defeating Umaga on RAW and then defeating MVP at Judgment Day
3) Roderick Strong and Jack Evans – Roderick Strong and Jack Evans get the third slot for winning the PWG Tag Team Championship
4) Incognito
5) Shingo Takagi
Jarrod Westerfeld
1) The Undertaker
It’s a really tough call this week, as you have a lot of candidates for the wrestler of the week, but I’m going to tough it out and pick Undertaker for surprising me enough to keep putting on solid bouts with Edge and making me care about a storyline that is pretty much flat lining right now thanks to poor writers trying to fill in the big shoes of Michael Hayes. Putting over Edge in yet another brilliantly worked match, walking away with a strong victory that made Edge look just as good as him, and still not getting the title after all of that? I’ll admit, it’s got me intrigued, though I was hoping for something more to come from this. I guess I can’t be too picky, as Taker really showed me that he’s truly an M.V.P. to the WWE’s roster.
2) Roderick Strong & Jack Evans: Though it’s not the big tournament from PWG, it’s one that gives the tag teams a night to shine, and though ROH made it clear that Evans was heading out to tour in Japan, PWG still went with the decision to crown them as their new champions. This is also a big deal in that this is the second year, now, that Roderick Strong has won this tournament with the tag partners of his choosing – last year with PAC and this year with his Generation Next team mate (of yesteryear) Jack Evans.
3) John Morrison & The Miz + Delirious & Hallowicked (tie): I can’t vote one and not the other here; Morrison and Miz retained in a bout everyone had pegged to result in new champions at Judgment Day, while Delirious and Hallowicked made their first successful Campeonatos de Parejas in 2 straight falls of a Best 2 out of 3 Falls over Amasis & Ophidian.
4) Jeff Hardy & Eddie Kingston (tie)
5) Incognito
Shawn S Lealos
1) JEFF HARDY
Hardy made his return and told everyone he made a mistake and paid for it and now it was time to regain the Intercontinental title. Actually his mic was shut off by King Regal before he could finish that sentence. Then Regal sent out Umaga to punish Hardy some more. Just when I figured it was time to start to bury Jeff and send him to the mid card as further punishment, he pinned Umaga to win his return match in quick fashion. Then at Judgment Day, he came out for an impromptu match against his brother’s nemesis MVP and pinned the former United States champion as well. Jeff is back and is still being pushed.
2) MIZ and MORRISON – They individually pinned Mr. Money in the Bank and the current ECW Champion. Then at the Pay Per View they beat the two in a tag title defense. The right team won the match and an honest to God tag team is being pushed in the E. How cool is that?
3) Triple H – He won his title defense against Randy Orton in a really solid steel cage match. That is good enough for his spot here.
4) Awesome Kong
5) Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho
John Gregory
1) Triple H
Beat Randy Orton in a cage match, finally ending the Age of Orton and getting retribution from Orton’s title win months ago. He’s standing tall, and has big momentum in what may be his last major title reign.
2) Roderick Strong and Jack Evans – In a surprise win, they become new PWG Tag Team Champions by winning the DDT4 tournament this weekend. This marks Strong’s second straight victory, and it was just as shocking as it was last year.
3) Osamu Nishimura – Pinned Triple Crown Champion Suwama in a tag team match, cementing his spot as No. 1 contender.
4) Shingo
5) Incognito
Bayani Domingo
1) Roderick Strong and Jack Evans
Maybe nobody else cares, but I was at both shows this weekend and Strong/Evans not only beat the odds and had a surprise with this weekend at the ever changing and unpredictable DDT4, but also worked some of the cleanest matches possible and not only went through the current NWA Tag Team World Champs, but also the (no former) PWG Tag Champs to win the whole damn thing. Roddy just OWNS DDT4.
2) Incognito: You gotta love those “high flyer” tournaments. At least someone still cares about those guys…so long as they aren’t on free TV I guess.
3) HHH: I guess it’s time to put Randykins to bed now.
4) SHINGO
5) Kevin Steen/El Generico
Jeremy Thomas
1) Jeff Hardy
What? Jeff, really? Yeah, really. C’mon folks…Jeff’s mistake aside, he came back huge and in a major statement by the ‘E that they haven’t given up on pushing him. First, his supposed “punishment match” against Umaga was a big win, and second, he went over MVP in the “surprise” match on the Pay-Per-View. And the live fans clearly approve, as he got quite the pops. If Jeff doesn’t screw it all up again…well, gods help him, he may have a chance still.
2) Triple H: Why Triple H for #2? Easy. He won the blow-off match of a feud in the main even of the WWE Pay-Per-View this week. Had he been more involved on RAW, he would have edged out Jeff for the #1 spot, but as it is, the match at Judgment Day was good, and the Game looked good in it. Cena/HHH is certainly slated to be ahead, and it should be fun.
3) John Morrison and The Miz: You know, it was good to see Morrison and Miz get singles wins against Punk and Kane, and was a huge rub for what’s probably the best active tag team in the WWE right now. So I suppose it’s okay that they lost at Judg…wait a minute. They won? Seriously? Oh. Well, shit. Nice to not kill their push, then. It would be nice if they didn’t make Punk and Kane keep taking falls, but I can only hope for so much. Way to go, Morrison and Miz!
4) Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho (tie)
5) Incognito
Stuart James
1) Shawn Michaels & Chris Jericho: They definitely deserve it. Match of the night (and a sleeper for Match of the Year) on a major pay-per-view usually is enough to get it for me. Not only that, but the match went down a very unpredictable line, and now we’ve got three faces who hate each other. Great, great stuff. As well as this, and I may get a lot of hatred for this, but I actually preferred this match to their Wrestlemania XIX match, because this one flowed more and the psychology was better. Great match, and no complaints here.
2) Triple H: Usually when there’s been a really solid WWE Pay-Per-View I’ll hand all my votes to them, as they do mean the most, and HHH won in the main event in a fine, if unspectacular, cage match. Really fine match, and Triple H won cleanly, so logic would say that ends the feud, although Orton may have one more trick.
3) Mickie James: I liked this, I liked it a lot. Divas got to wrestle, they put on a fine match at Judgment Day (probably second best woman’s match behind Mickie/Beth from Raw) and I loved it. Only complaint is the match should have been longer.
4) Jeff Hardy
5) Awesome Kong
Michael Bauer
1) Jack Evans and Roderick Strong
To say they were a dark horse team heading into the DDT4 2 tourney could be an understatement. After RoH said Jack was taking time off for international purposes, nobody gave them a chance of winning. But in one night, they beat the NWA Tag Champs and THEN beat the hottest North American Tag team in Steen-erico to win the PWG Tag Titles. In the end, they made the biggest impact on their careers this week and they get the spot.
2) Shawn Michaels: He won the match, I’m not using a tie just because the story was good.
3) Morrison and The Miz: Beating Kane and Punk twice in a week, can’t do much better.
4) Gamma (to represent his Open the Gate Team)
5) Incognito
Daniel Wilcox
1) The Miz and John Morrison
It’s the norm for Shawn Michaels to put on a killer match at a pay-per-view, and it’s the norm for The Game to be getting big wins, but Miz and Morrison had a very special week in that it became clear who the real stars of ECW are. While CM Punk is treading water, unsuccessfully at that, Miz and Morrison are standing above all other young up-and-comers in ECW and that became much more apparent this week. Miz and Morrison earned singles victories over CM Punk and Kane successfully and then beat the duo with the gold on the line at Judgment Day. It’s been a terrific week for this duo whose stars are shining brighter than anyone elses in WWE right now.
2) Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho: It may be the norm, but HBK and Y2J did put on a fantastic match-up at Judgment Day last night, one that holds up pretty well against their WrestleMania XIX classic. But what clinches this duo 2nd place ahead of Triple H is their promo work on Raw, which I absolutely loved. Ric Flair’s retirement and the subsequent fall out has been the angle of the year thus far, and a lot of that is to do with the work these guys have been doing on the microphone.
3) Triple H: The Game retained the WWE Championship against Randy Orton in a very enjoyable cage match at Judgment Day.
4) Jeff Hardy
5) Awesome Kong
Chris Lansdell
1) Roderick Strong and Jack Evans
They win the second-biggest tag team tournament in North America (after the CHIKARA one), beating not only the current NWA tag champs, but the PWG tag champs as well. In a week where nobody did anything noteworthy in the big 2, this takes top spot.
2) SHINGO: Completely unforeseen turn and won the Open the Triangle Gate belt with his new faction, one of the more prestigious belts in Dragon Gate.
3) Shawn Michaels/Y2J: It was a great match, and it would have got them higher in the rankings if it wasn’t exactly what I expected from them. WOTW is about surpassing expectations, not meeting them.
4) Incognito
5) Eddie Kingston
Andy Critchell
1) Miz & MORRISON:
Both guys had a big week with each scoring a singles victory on ECW and a successful title defense at Judgment Day. Plus, they once again hit it out of the park with their impersonations of Kane (I’m lactose intolerant) and Punk (I run a Jordan Knight fan site) on the Dirt Sheet. Speaking of Punk, Elijah Burke must be laughing somewhere as now Punk is the bitch having taken two consecutive clean pins. And if you are one of those who still won’t acknowledge how good Miz is after the week he’s had then you should just give up because you’re an idiot.
2) HBK: He was one half of the MOTN at Judgment Day and it was a match that can be called an instant classic. Plus he had an awesome segment on Raw and let us all know just how far he is willing to go to win but is still good enough to remain a good guy.
3) Y2J: The other half of the MOTN at Judgment Day. He kept up with HBK move for move, hold for hold, counter for counter, but in the end it wasn’t enough as Shawn had just one more trick than Jericho had.
4) JBL
5) Beth Phoenix
Larry Csonka
1) Incognito
Incognito won his second major tournament this year as he was victorious in this past weekend’s CHIKARA’s Rey de Voladores tournament. After being a part of the winning trios tournament team, he has no proven that he is THE LITTLE FLIPPY BOY that means business. He could have a good year ahead of him in CHIKARA.
2) John Morrison and The Miz – John Morrison and The Miz are really coming into their own and showed it with a big week. They both won their singles matches against Punk and Kane and then followed up with a PPV win, retaining the titles and surprising many.
3) Roderick Strong and Jack Evans – Strong and Evans get the second spot, won the DDT4 tournament, defeating the current NWA tag champs (non-title match) and then capturing the PWG tag team titles. That’s a hell of a weekend.
4) Shawn Michaels
5) HHH
THE WINNERS!
Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho put on a great a match at Judgment Day, but the win got HBK the third place nod.
Roderick Strong and Jack Evans had one hell of a weekend as they won the DDT4 tournament with a non-title win over the current NWA Champs as well as capturing the PWG Tag Team Titles along the way.
Tag teams dominate the top of the list this week. John Morrison and The Miz not only retained their WWE Tag Team Titles at Judgment Day, but they also defeated them in singles action on ECW. The Guru of Greatness and the Chick Magnet are sitting pretty right now.
Yearend Standings~!
We have a week of debuts as the Miz, John Morrison, Incognito, Jack Evans, Roderick Strong and Jeff Hardy crash the party. Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho both gain some ground, but Matt Hardy still stays on top of the list.
Matt Hardy – 30 (Smackdown)
Suwama – 24 (All Japan)
King William Regal – 24 (RAW)
Samoa Joe – 21 (TNA)
Homicide – 15 (TNA)
Hernandez – 15 (TNA)
Ric Flair – 15 (WWE) {RETIRED}
Shawn Michaels – 15 (RAW)
Mickie James – 15 (RAW)
HHH – 15 (RAW)
John Morrison – 15 (RAW)
The Miz – 15 (RAW)
Kaz – 12 (TNA)
Jimmy Jacobs – 12 (ROH)
Jay Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Mark Briscoe – 12 (ROH) {INJURED}
Roderick Strong – 12 (ROH)
Jack Evans – 12 (US Independent)
Nigel McGuinness – 10 (ROH)
Batista – 9 (Smackdown)
Randy Orton – 9 (RAW)
Petey Williams – 9 (TNA)
Chuck Taylor – 9 (US Independent)
Chris Jericho – 7 (RAW)
Keiji Muto – 6 (All Japan)
Kurt Angle – 6 (TNA)
MsChif – 6 (US Independent)
Incognito – 6 (Mexico)
Bryan Danielson – 3 (ROH)
Ryuji Hijikata –3 (All Japan)
Bison Smith – 3 (NOAH)
Akitoshi Saito – 3 (NOAH)
Jeff Hardy – 3 (RAW)
Brent Albright – 1 (ROH)
Awesome Kong – 1 (TNA)
Mike Quackenbush – 1 (US Independent)
Joe Doering – 1 (All Japan)
Anthony W. Mori – 1 (Dragon Gate)
GAMMA – 1 (Dragon Gate)
WWE, Raw, ECW and Smackdown 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.
PREVIOUS WINNERSYear One Winner: Ric Flair |
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