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Wrestler of the Week: Weeks 33 & 34 – Mundo & O’Reilly Win Gold

December 13, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Johnny Mundo Lucha Underground

This is a double edition, due to scheduling conflicts.

Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK 33 & 34 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. (The voting week runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…

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WEEK 33 – Voting period: NOVEMBER 20 – NOVEMBER 27

Larry Csonka
1) Johnny Mundo: Defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Title.

2) The Miz: Retained the WWE IC Title at the Survivor Series and again two days later on Smackdown; a true fighting champion.
3) War Machine: Were the standout team during the New Japan World Tag League, likely earning a lot of work in 2017..
4) Pete Duune
5) Miyahara

Mike Hammerlock
1) Dante Fox:
I have been hoping for years that a wrestling promotion with a television program would sign AR (now Dante) Fox. Why it never happened with TNA or ROH, I do not know, but his Lucha Underground match against Killshot last week was outrageously good. He’s got a massive moveset and the LU temple has pretty much fallen instantly in love with him. I don’t know what the viewership was like on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (probably low), but Fox and Killshot totally stole the show. Most importantly, Fox served notice that he’s a talent to watch.

2) Johnny Mundo: I’d have given him the #1 spot, but he overshot his finisher. His match against Sexy Star was a perfect example of what you can do when you get the story right. Mundo’s desperation vs. Sexy’s perseverance really worked.
3) Kevin Owens: Owens has been stuck with WWE heel champ booking, which means shenanigans are prerequisite for him to win. Yet he’s so legit in the ring that it makes it a lot easier to look past WWE goofiness.
4) Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI
5) American Alpha

Kevin Pantoja
1) Pete Dunne:
A major title win this past week saw the “Bruiserweight” Pete Dunne capture the PROGRESS Championship. An injury to Mark Haskins caused him to vacate the title. There were qualifying matches throughout Chapter 39 to earn a title shot to end the show. The PROGRESS Tag Team Champions, British Strong Style, which consists of Dunne and Trent Seven, retained their belts early on and gained spots in the main event. In that main event, which also featured Matt Riddle, Jimmy Havoc, TK Cooper, Travis Banks and Sebastian, Dunne got help from a returning Tyler Bate to lastly eliminate Havoc. The win came as a shock to many and Dunne is now a double champion for PROGRESS.

2) Johnny Mundo: The reign of Sexy Star only lasted one week. After taking the Gift of the Gods Championship from her earlier this year, Johnny Mundo used that to get a title shot and took the Lucha Underground Championship from Sexy Star as well. What a dick! Admittedly, this wasn’t anywhere near the best match of the week. Both of their matches have lacked in quality but this is still the biggest accomplishment for Mundo since leaving the WWE. When he won, Matt Striker said that since the first episode of the series, you just knew Mundo would one day be champion. That proved to be very true as Mundo is finally at the top of the Temple.
3) Kevin Owens: Enough about guys winning titles. Time to focus on someone who retained his. WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens main evented Raw in a really good title defense against Seth Rollins. Their series of matches have not quite reached great levels and this didn’t either, but it was much better than their Clash of Champions match and I think I liked it more than the Hell in a Cell one. They fought around the arena in a No DQ match and just when Seth might have had things won, Chris Jericho interfered in a Sin Cara mask. That allowed Owens to retain and move into a feud where he’ll get to look inferior against Roman Reigns.
4) James Ellsworth
5) American Alpha

Mike Chin
1) Johnny Mundo:
He may have done it via less than auspicious methods, by Mundo finally won the LU Championship.
2) James Ellsworth: I’ll be the first to admit that the goofy bastard’s shtick is wearing thin, but his Dean Ambrose-facilitated win on Smackdown to shore up his contract was very arguably the biggest WWE story of this past week.
3) Pete Dunne: Dunne is the new PROGRESS world champ.
4) Kevin Owens
5) New Day

Jack McGee
1) Johnny Mundo:
The New Lucha Underground Champion.

2) Goldberg: Killed Brock.
3) The Miz: Still the reigning and defending WWE IC Champion.
4) War Machine
5) Pete Dunne

Rob Stewart
1) Johnny Mundo:
Johnny’s season-long struggle to ascertain the Lucha Underground championship culminated in a title win this week over Sexy Star, ending her run as LU champ after just a week. Tough break that Star wasn’t given a chance to shine, but it’s the title win that Johnny had been seeking for so long.

2) American Alpha: Alpha won the tag team turmoil match on Smackdown Live to become the #1 contenders to the blue brand’s tag team championship. Another road block they’ll have to later overcome was put in their way later that night (they must defend their #1 contendership against Bray and Randy), but it puts Alpha one step closer to being THE team on Smackdown Live.
3) SANADA & EVIL/Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima: Both teams started off the NJPW World Tag League by going 3-0 in the first six days of the event.
4) James Ellsworth
5) Pete Dunne

Arnold Furious
1) Pete Dunne:
Not only retained the Progress tag team titles but also captured the Progress World title in a seven-man elimination main event, which also featured Jimmy Havoc and Matt Riddle. Dunne’s star has been steadily rising all year, going from a regional star to capturing titles all over Europe and competing in BOLA. Capturing the Progress title confirms he’s on the top tier of BritWres.

2) Travis Banks: Won Fight Club Pro’s annual Infinity tournament on Friday night. FCP have been running a storyline all year long about Travis Banks, where he’s looked great in defeat against a myriad of opponents. Including local lads and stars from further afield like Shane Strickland and Fire Ant. The reactions for him during Infinity were mind-blowing. In terms of a per-person reaction I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it at a UK show. People all over the building were literally jumping for joy. Travis Banks is another guy well worth watching. He’s had a solid 2016, including an ROH debut on their UK tour, and is destined for greatness.
3) Kento Miyahara: Successfully defended his All Japan triple crown on their biggest show of the year, besting Suwama. Miyahara has now seen off a multitude of internal challengers and several external ones. He’s two months shy of a year long reign. For a guy who was forced into this spot because AJPW had no one else he’s responded magnificently and is truly All Japan’s ace.
4) Matt Riddle
5) Big Guns

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…American Alpha – 6 Votes

* Fifth Place…The Miz – 7 Votes

* Fourth Place… Kevin Owens & James Ellsworth – 8 Votes

* Third Place…Goldberg – 9 Votes

He done killed Brock.

* Second Place…Pete Dunne – 17 Votes

Retained the Progress tag team titles but also captured the Progress World title.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week (week 33) is…

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Johnny Mundo – 28 Votes

The new Lucha Underground Champion!

WEEK 34 – Voting period: NOVEMBER 28 – DECEMBER 4th
Larry Csonka
1) Kyle O’Reilly:
Defeated Adam Cole at the biggest ROH show of the year to finally claim the ROH World Title.

2) Rich Swann: Your NEW WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
3) AJ Styles: Still your WWE World Champion.
4) Moose, Rosemary & Alexa Bliss
5) Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia

Kevin Pantoja
1) AJ Styles:
Man, that was one eventful week. So much so that people like Sasha Banks (third Women’s Title win), Marty Scurll (retained the ROH TV Title in a strong match), Rosemary (captured the TNA Knockouts Title) and several others missed out. In the end, I went with AJ Styles as the number one pick. He retained the most important title in all of wrestling in the main event of TLC. Not only that but it was another in a string of great matches for Styles. Seriously, his worst PPV matches this year have been the really good ones with Chris Jericho. That says something. Sure he had help from James Ellsworth but at the end of the day, AJ Styles added another notch to his “Wrestler of the Year” belt.

2) Alexa Bliss: In a move that came as a surprise to many, Alexa Bliss captured her first ever championship by defeating Becky Lynch in a tables match at TLC. I would have kept the title on Becky for a bit longer but Alexa has been one of the best post-draft stars. She has delivered since her callup and deserves the title. The match itself proved to be better than a lot of tables matches and both women performed in a big moment. Alexa should be near the top of the women’s division for a long time.
3) Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton: Speaking of people winning their first ever titles, we have Bray Wyatt. It’s kind of mind boggling that he hadn’t before this. Bray and Randy Orton defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno to become the second ever Smackdown Tag Team Champions. For a long time, Wyatt and Orton were incredibly stale but this has rejuvenated both men. Orton didn’t even have to change his look or mannerisms but this new role feels so fresh. It’s also really cool that Luke Harper seems to also be a champion under the freebird rule.
4) Kyle O’Reilly
5) Rich Swann

Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton:
My number one rule has always been to give the nod to anyone winning a title. Well this week we had title changes all over the place so I have to leave some out and go from there. I will give the nod to Bray and Randy for not only winning the titles but also beating American Alpha on SmackDown to win their title match. It also helps that Bray is finally a champion of some kind in the WWE. This pairing has been surprisingly awesome and I look forward to seeing where they go from here.

2) Kyle O’Reilly: Your new ROH World Champion.
3) Alexa Bliss: Bliss gets the nod over Sasha because this is the first time she has won one of the 2 WWE Women’s Titles. Her Talking Smack segment was always great as we got to see a real side as she nearly broke down talking about winning the title and her parents being there to see it.
4) Rich Swann
5) Sasha Banks/Rosemary

Mike Hammerlock
1) Sasha Banks and Hitokiri:
What we saw last week was the progression of women’s wrestling. First, Sasha Banks and Charlotte main-evented Raw in a falls count anywhere match that pushed the envelope in terms of what women have been allowed to do in the WWE. It was physical and grueling. They went at each other. It also served as a reminder that WWE Universal Championship intrigue doesn’t need to close the show every Monday night. Then two nights later the Black Lotus Triad made its debut in a gauntlet match against Pentagon Dark. The BLT turned out to be three of the finest female wrestlers from Japan in Doku (Kairi Hojo), Yurei (Mayu Iwatani) and Hitokiri (Io Shirai). Doku and Yurei both put in good efforts, but then Hitokiri, which means “manslayer” in Japanese, blew the roof off the temple. Io Shirai is considered one of the best wrestlers in the world and we got to see why as she and Pentagon tore into each other. When she hit the dive from the platform above Dario Cueto’s office everything we thought we knew about intergender matches went out the window. By the time she finished the match with a Code Red, there was very little doubt who the baddest woman on the planet is.

2) Kyle O’Reilly: Climbed to the top of the ROH pedestal at Final Battle, besting his nemesis Adam Cole. It’s a rise that’s been years in the making. No idea how long O’Reilly lasts at the top, but O’Reilly showed he belongs on the fairly illustrious list of ROH champions.
3) AJ Styles: He’s so freakin’ good. It doesn’t even matter how stupid the ending of the match was when AJ brings an almost cartoonish level of action to the ring. Humans shouldn’t be able to do what he does.
4) The Young Bucks
5) Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton

Dylan Diot
1) Kyle O’Reilly:
In a week with HUGE title changes in the WWE, shockingly the biggest championship change happened in Ring of Honor as Kyle O’Reilly defeated his longtime rival Adam Cole at Final Battle to become the new champion. It was a long time coming for O’Reilly who has developed into one of the best wrestlers in the world and is more that worthy of becoming the face of the promotion. I’m excited to see what O’Reilly is going to do as champion and the I’m sure he’s going to have a killer run at the top.

2) Rich Swann: In the debut episode of 205 Live, Rich Swann defeated Brian Kendrick to become the NEW WWE Cruiserwight Champion. Swann has been the shining star since the start of the division, getting the crowd emotional invested in his rags to riches story and just jumping off the screen with his personality. He and Kendrick had a hell of a match to debut the new 205 Live show and Swann is the perfect choice to be the face of the division going forward, as he has made the most of every opportunity given to him to date.
3) The Kingdom: The Kingdom defeated Lio Rush, Jay White & KUSHIDA at Final Battle to become the inaugural ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions. They shocked everyone by winning the six man tag team tournament and on the back of making history as the first champions of a new division in ROH they’re victory is worthy of a top 3 spot in a loaded week.
4) Sasha Banks
5) Alexa Bliss

Mike Chin
1) AJ Styles:
In a year full of great performances, Styles put on one of his very best while getting the best out Dean Ambrose for a pretty epic TLC Match.

2) The Miz: The Miz and Dolph Ziggler blew off their over-achieving IC title feud with a stellar Ladder Match. Miz not only performed well, but played his sleazy heel character perfectly in the process.
3) Alexa Bliss: Bliss’s steady improvement paid off in a Smackdown Women’s Championship win at TLC.
4) Pentagon Jr.
5) Baron Corbin

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Sasha Banks – 8 Votes

* Fifth Place…Bray Wyatt & Randy Orton – 9 Votes

* Fourth Place…Rich Swann – 11 Votes

* Third Place…Alexa Bliss – 13 Votes

* Second Place…AJ Styles – 16 Votes

Still you’re WWE Champion.

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week (week 34) is…

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Kyle O’Reilly – 20 Votes

Your NEW ROH Champion.

The Standings
Here are the standings after week 34

1. AJ Styles – 103pts

2. Prince Puma/Ricochet – 69pts

3. Tetsuya Naito – 54pts
3. Dean Ambrose – 54pts

4. Lashley – 51pts

5. Sexy Star – 48pts

6. Kevin Owens – 46pts

7. Eddie Edwards – 45pts

8. Johnny Mundo – 44pts

9. The Monster Matanza Cueto – 42pts

10. Roman Reigns – 39pts

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Rey Mysterio Jr. – 37pts

* Dragon Azteca Jr. – 36pts

* Will Ospreay – 33pts

* Sasha Banks – 31pts

* Finn Balor – 30pts
* Johnny Gargano – 30pts

* Broken Matt Hardy – 28pts

* TJ Perkins – 27pts
* Samoa Joe – 27pts

* Dolph Ziggler – 25pts
* Kazuchika Okada – 25pts

* Kenny Omega – 24pts
* Kyle O’Reilly – 24pts
* Cage – 24 pts
* Jack Evans – 24pts
* PJ Black – 24 pts

* The Miz – 23pts

* Jay Lethal – 21pts
* KUSHIDA – 21pts
* Bobby Fish – 21pts

* Dash – 18pts
* Dawson – 18pts
* Goldberg – 18pts

* Charlotte – 17pts

* Kota Ibushi – 16pts
* Brother Nero – 16pts
* Katsuyori Shibata – 16pts

* EVIL – 15pts
* Katsuhiko Nakajima – 15pts
* Nick Jackson – 15pts
* Matt Jackson – 15pts
* Seth Rollins – 15pts
* Drew Galloway – 15pts
* Tommaso Ciampa – 24pts
* Aerostar – 15pts

* Sami Zayn – 13pts
* Killshot/Shane Strickland – 13pts
* Chris Hero – 13 pts

* Pete Dunne – 12pts
* Brian Kendrick – 12pts
* Shinsuke Nakamura – 12pts
* Becky Lynch – 12pts
* Son of Havoc – 12pts
* Michael Elgin -12pts
* Daniels – 12pts
* Kazarian – 12pts
* Mike Bennett – 12pts
* Tomohiro Ishii – 12pts
* Marty Scurll – 12pts

* James Ellsworth – 10pts

* Adam Cole – 9pts
* Alexa Bliss – 9pts
* Heath Slater – 9pts
* Rhyno – 9pts
* Mil Muertes – 9pts
* Drago – 9pts
* SANADA – 9pts
* Zack Sabre Jr – 9pts
* Ethan Carter III – 9pts
* Meiko Satomura – 9pts
* DASH Chisako – 9pts
* Cassandra Miyagi – 9pts
* BUSHI – 9pts

* ACH – 7pts
* Taiji Ishimori – 7pts
* Satoshi Kojima – 7pts
* Rusev – 7pts
* Gran Metalik – 7pts
* Pentagon Jr – 7pts

* Fenix – 6pts
* Mariposa – 6pts
* Yuji Nagata – 6pts
* Takashi Sugiura – 6pts
* Matt Riddle – 6pts
* David Finlay – 6pts
* Rich Swann – 6pts
* Bray Wyatt – 6pts

* Bayley – 4pts

* The Mack – 3pts
* Cesaro – 3pts
* Dana Brooke – 3pts
* Xavier Woods – 3pts
* Kofi Kingston – 3pts
* Randy Orton – 3pts
* Big E – 3pts
* Evie – 3pts
* Heidi Lovelace – 3pts
* Dustin (Chuck Taylor) – 3pts
* Cedric Alexander – 3pts
* YAMATO – 3pts
* James Storm – 3pts
* Mark Haskins – 3pts

* Matt Sydal – 2pts

* Chavo Guerrero – 1pt
* DJ Z – 1pt
* Abyss – 1pt
* Crazy Steve – 1pt
* Chad Gable – 1pt
* Jason Jordan – 1pt
* Asuka – 1pt
* Zack Ryder – 1pt
* Big Cass – 1pt
* Enzo Amore – 1pt
* Karl Anderson – 1pt
* Doc Gallows – 1pt
* Rocky Romero – 1pt
* Trent Barreta – 1pt
* Timothy Thatcher – 1pt
* Jay Briscoe – 1pt
* Mark Briscoe – 1pt
* Hiroyoshi Tenzan – 1pt
* Hiroshi Tanahashi – 1pt
* David Starr – 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.


**PREVIOUS WINNERS**
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)