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411’s Wrestler of the Week 10.20.08: Week 29
Welcome to Week 29, 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
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…
The Voting~!
Aaron Hubbard
1) Yuji Nagata
Yuji Nagata won the ZERO-1 Championship from Masato Tanaka, getting a huge edge in the NWJP vs. ZERO-1 war. That’s not the really story though. They real story is that these two had a GREAT match that is probably in my top 10 Matches of the Year right now. Since I know somebody will complain that they haven’t seen it, and therefore it doesn’t matter, Matt Short posted the full match in his column this week. You now have no excuse. Educate yourselves.
2) KENTA: I’m sad to see Bryan Danielson’s reign as GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion end this early, but I’m not surprised. KENTA is a great choice, and Japan now has a big match on their hands with AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Champion Naomichi Marufuji facing him in a Title vs. Title Match. These guys have great chemistry, and don’t be surprised if the match ends up as a MOTYC.
3) Evan Bourne: His match with Chavo was great, and his victory was unexpected, to me at least. I hope that the WWE Universe give him his title shot at Cyber Sunday, because it would be fantastic.
4) Masato Tanaka
5) Haas Hogan
Christi Csonka
1) Ashley Lane and Nevaeh
For SHIMMER fans, this was a huge weekend as the promotion crowned their first ever tag team champions. Ashley Lane and Nevaeh, a pair NO ONE thought would win came out on top with victories over The International Home Wrecking Crew AND The Experience to take the titles. They followed that up with a win over The Canadian Ninjas to keep the titles. This was a great week for both ladies as they are the first SHIMMER tag team champions, and that cannot be taken away.
2) MsChif: She had two successful title defenses this weekend, and that should be recognized. I see people vote for Nigel all the time when he gets a few defenses, so I am giving MsChif some love here.
3) Yuji Nagata: He captured the ZERO-1 Championship from Masato Tanaka, he’s an easy choice for the top three.
4) Evan Bourne
5) KENTA
Andy Clark
1) Yuji Nagata
In a slow week for the big two, Yuji Nagata gets the nod this week for defeating Masato Tanaka in a reportedly awesome match to claim the Zero One World Title. While the title is not as big a deal as some others in Japan, a battle of this magnitude no doubt helps it’s prestige and adds to the New Japan vs. Zero-1 feud.
2) Vladmir Kozlov: The Kozlov megapush continues as he takes out the Charismatic Enigma on SmackDown. This is the first major victory that Kozlov has secured after all these months on SmackDown, and the Russian has himself in position to have a potential run with the WWE Title.
3) Evan Bourne: Defeated former ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero to earn the opportunity to challenge for a World Title at Cyber Sunday. Bourne has ascended quickly on ECW and now may have the chance to really shine on PPV if voted in by the fans.
4) Ashley Lane & Neveah
5) Claudio Castagnoli
Matt Short
1) Yuji Nagata
While winning the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Title is itself not a huge accomplishment, there are a few factors that give Nagata the edge here. First, he beat Masato Tanaka, who has been all but unstoppable this year. Second, it is the perfect twist to the New Japan vs. ZERO1 feud that has been on going all year. This also ties in with Tanaka’s impressive win-loss record. Third, Nagata holding the title gives it a lot more meaning now than if anyone else from ZERO1 had won it. Last, but not least the match is absolutely amazing.
2) The Osirian Portal (Amasis & Ophidian): The Osirian Portal are honestly the best rookie tag team of the year. If you watch their matches you wouldn’t even guess that they’d been wrestling for less than a year. This has all culminated in them winning CHIKARA’s Campeonatos de Parejas this weekend, first scoring their third point on Saturday then cashing on Sunday defeating the Super Smash Bros. in an impressive match.
3) KENTA: Reclaimed the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title this Monday from Bryan Danielson, but the big news is that his showdown with rival Marufuji for the All Japan Jr. Heavyweight Title will now be for all the gold.
4) Vladamir Kozlov
5) Claudio Castagnoli
ARI
1) Yuji Nagata
Crossover is key in 2008 Japan’s wrestling scene. Yuji Nagata from New Japan defeated Masato Tanaka from Zero-1 Max for their world title. Keiji Muto / Great Muta is a multiple promotion champion, and now Nagata claiming the Z1 title strengths the bond between NJPW and Z1.
2) KENTA: in sort of a quaint notion, he defeated someone for a title in his own home promotion. That someone of course being Bryan Danielson, one of America’s best independent wrestlers. Now the attention focuses on KENTA vs. Marufuji in a title for title situation featuring cross promotion with All Japan Pro Wrestling.
3) Evan Bourne: Shined brightly in his appearance on ECW this week, defeating Chavo Guerrero to earn a spot in the ECW Title match vote off.
4) The Osirian Portal
5) Ashley Lane & Neveah
Jeremy Thomas
1) Yuji Nagata
“Whatever, I can’t even find their match, they must not be important!” Sure you can, if you check out a certain video site out there. Nagata had an amazing match with Masato Tanaka and won the ZERO1 World Title. If you haven’t seen it, I strongly suggest that you check it out before you claim the win wasn’t important and worthy of making Nagata the wrestler of the week.
2) Vladimir Kozlov: Destroying Jeff Hardy is something that not many people can do these days; even Triple H had a hell of a time putting him away at No Mercy. While their build with Vlad was pretty crappy, he’s paying off in spades now, and looks to be headed toward that title match with all the forward motion of a bullet train.
3) Evan Bourne: Bourne earned a spot in the voting for the ECW Title match at Cyber Sunday by putting on a great match with Chavo. It’s an award that means more to elevate his career then Finlay’s win does to elevate him, since Finlay’s already in the upper mid-card on ECW, so Bourne gets the nod.
4) AJ Styles/Sting
5) Ashley Lane & Nevaeh
Michael Bauer
1) Yuji Nagata
Jeremy said it perfectly. The match is out there, I’ve seen it and Yuji absolutely deserves the spot this week for winning an amazing match and the ZERO1 World Title. Tanaka has been unstoppable and this win is certainly a shock.
2) KENTA: KENTA beats Danielson to get back the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title and now gets ready for a title vs. title match against Marufuji. Winner of that match will be WOTW for me no matter what!
3) Evan Bourne: Air Bourne was flying high in ECW this week and is my choice to face Matt Hardy at Cyber Sunday.
4) The Osirian Portal
5) Ashley Lane & Nevaeh
Michael O
1) Yuji Nagata
Boy, I’m sure glad I decided to watch Yuji win the ZERO-1 championship, ’cause otherwise Danny freakin’ Bonaduce would’ve made my list, and that would not have been good for anybody.
2) Vladimir Kozlov: I don’t think the E has gotten behind a monster like they have Vlad since the early days of Brock. It’s a shame that he’s probably just being built up so Hunter can fill his belly at a later date, but right now the blue brand is all about the Koz.
3) Masato Tanaka: Lost the best match of the week. Actually, it was probably the second best match of the month, after the Jericho/Michaels ladder clash. Like everybody else is sayin…go watch it and see for yourself. What else are you doing right now?
4) Evan Bourne
5) HBK/Batista
Jarrod Westerfeld
1) Yuji Nagata
A big title switch out in Japan, though it’s not a major world title. Nagata battled the ECW/FMW hardcore legend of Masato Tanaka for the Zero-1 World Heavyweight Championship to really escalate the Zero-1 and NJPW feud that’s been going on for some time now, and it was a pretty good match to boot. Don’t believe me? See it for yourself here while it’s still up and running: Part One: Masato Tanaka vs. Yuji Nagata.
2) The Osirian Portal, Ashley Lane & Nevaeh (TIE): Both won the tag titles of their respective promotions, and both did it by gaining several victories to accomplish it. The Osirian Portal first defeated Atsushi Ohashi and Shinya Ishikawa to earn the right to face Player Uno and Player Dos for the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas, and then beat The Super Smash Bros. 2 falls to 1. Ashley Lane and Nevaeh won the SHIMMER Tag Team Gauntlet by beating both “The International Home Wrecking Crew” (Rain and Jetta) and then “The Experience” (Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka) to become the first SHIMMER Tag Team Champions, and then successfully defended it against “The Canadian Ninjas” of Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews. Both teams gained 3 victories this weekend to become (and in the case of the ladies, remain) tag team champions.
3) Vladimir Kozlov: A win over the super hot (with the crowd) Jeff Hardy, a potential push from creative to become a WWE World Champion, and a shot to enter into WWE’s Cyber Sunday for a shot to win the title off of Triple H earns Vlad this final slot – though I still think the only way fans are going to really buy him as a threat is they push him like he was Fedor Emelianenko.
4) KENTA
5) Evan Bourne
Samuel Berman
1) Yuji Nagata
I’m giving Nagata this spot for defeating ZERO-1 ace Masato Tanaka for that company’s World Title. If you haven’t seen the match yet, do so; it’s not hard to find. If you watch it and STILL disagree with my vote, then we’ll talk…
2) KENTA: A win over longtime rival Bryan Danielson brings the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title back to one of NOAH’s own.
3) Amasis & Ophidian: Normally new Campeones de Parejas would get the top spot, but it’s a busy week so CHIKARA’s new top dogs drop all the way to third.
4) Keiji Muto
5) Masato Tanaka
Ryan Byers
1) The Osirian Portal
Most folks are going gaga for Nagata this week, and I think my selection of the Osirian Portal over him underscores how I look at this voting a little bit differently than most of the staff. The Portal won the CHIKARA Tag Titles, while Nagata won the main singles title of ZERO-ONE. Yes, Nagata’s championship win gave him a more significant victory on a bigger show in what was in all likelihood a better match. However, I think the key inquiry here is to look at what the win does for the individual wrestler’s careers. Nagata is already an established superstar in Japan, and he’s won the main strap of a promotion that is significantly smaller than the company in which he spends the majority of his time. The victory is a good way to continue New Japan’s feud with ZERO-ONE, but it does absolutely nothing to increase Nagata’s standing in the world of professional wrestling. Meanwhile, even though the Portal’s win was in a smaller promotion, it was their first championship victory in a company that has a proven track record of spring boarding its top guys in to larger companies. The CHIKARA stars of today often become the ROH stars of tomorrow who have lately become the TNA or even WWE stars of a few weeks from now, which is why I consider a couple of wrestlers becoming top dogs in CHIKARA more important than an established guy in NJPW winning a title that is beneath him for the purposes of a storyline.
2) Ashley Lane & Neveah – I’m voting for Lane & Neveah on a principle similar to the one that I used above. Prior to debuting in SHIMMER, these two were somewhat talented young wrestlers who were confined entirely to a couple of small Indy promotions in Ohio that few to no people follow. They picked up some steam and exposure as a result of getting on to the SHIMMER cards, and now they have become the company’s first Tag Team Champions. This opens all sorts of doors for the young duo, as with both ROH and FIP recognizing SHIMMER’s championships, they have opportunities to be booked there and thereby exposed to thousands of new fans.
3) Yuiji Nagata – Though I don’t think that it is as important others do, I don’t completely throw match quality out of the window in voting. That’s why Nagata still manages to come in at number three.
4) KENTA
5) Ariel
JT
1) Yuji Nagata
The 411 Indy/Japan crew has covered this quite sufficiently. See the match.
2) KENTA: See explanation for #1.
3) Evan Bourne: Continues to impress, and last Tuesday may have wrestled himself right into a title shot against Matt Hardy.
4) Ashley & Nevaeh
5) Vladimir Kozlov
Larry Csonka
1) Yuji Nagata
With the war between NJPW and ZERO-1heating up, things got REAL this weekend as Yuji Nagata won the ZERO-1 Championship from Masato Tanaka in a tremendous match. I am a fan of both guys and they delivered a great match along with the title change.
2) Ashley Lane and Nevaeh: There is only one first, and Ashley Lane and Nevaeh are and forever will be the FIRST SHIMMER tag team champions. Add into it the fact that they defeated The International Home Wrecking Crew AND The Experience and they are more than deserving of a top three spot.
3) KENTA: KENTA defeated Bryan Danielson to recapture the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title. He is now scheduled to face Marufuji for All Japan’s Jr. Heavyweight Title at the Budokan Hall next weekend.
4) The Osirian Portal (Ophidian & Amasis)
5) Vladimir Kozlov
THE WINNERS~!
Ashley Lane and Nevaeh pick up some huge wins this weekend as they become the SHIMMER tag team champions.
KENTA defeated Bryan Danielson to recapture the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title and is now on his way to battle Marufuji in a title vs. title match.
Yuji Nagata won the ZERO-1 Championship from Masato Tanaka in a tremendous match this week!
Yearend Standings~!
Lots of debuts this week and a few people improving their overall positioning, but the top of the list still remains the same.
Let’s check out the Yearend Standings!
1. Chris Jericho – 98 (RAW)
2. Edge – 64 (Smackdown) {Sent to Hell}
3. Batista – 59 (Raw)
4. Matt Hardy – 55 (ECW)
5. Shawn Michaels – 51 (RAW)
6. HHH – 48 (Smackdown)
7. Samoa Joe – 48 (TNA)
8. AJ Styles – 42 (TNA)
9. Masato Yoshino – 33 (Dragon Gate)
10. Naruki Doi – 30 (Dragon Gate)
10. Sting – 30 (TNA)
The Undertaker – 27 (Smackdown)
Lance Cade – 27 (US Independent)
William Regal – 25 (RAW)
James Storm – 24 (TNA)
Robert Roode – 24 (TNA)
CM Punk – 24 (Raw)
Suwama – 24 (All Japan)
KENTA – 24 (NOAH)
Jimmy Jacobs – 24 (ROH)
Alex Shelley – 21 (TNA)
Keiji Mutoh – 21 (All Japan)
Jeff Jarrett – 19 (TNA)
Nigel McGuinness – 20 (ROH)
Bryan Danielson – 19 (ROH)
John Cena – 19 (RAW) {Injured}
Kaz – 18 (TNA) {“Retired”}
Chris Sabin – 18 (TNA)
Evan Bourne – 17 (ECW)
Taylor Wilde – 15 (TNA)
Homicide – 15 (TNA)
Hernandez – 15 (TNA)
Petey Williams – 15 (TNA)
Mick Foley – 15 (TNA)
Ric Flair – 15 (US Independent)
Shelton Benjamin – 15 (Smackdown)
Kofi Kingston – 15 (RAW)
Mickie James – 15 (RAW)
John Morrison – 15 (ECW)
The Miz – 15 (ECW)
Yuji Nagata– 15 (New Japan)
Bison Smith – 15 (NOAH)
Akitoshi Saito – 15 (NOAH)
Kevin Steen – 15 (ROH)
El Generico – 15 (ROH)
Tyler Black – 13 (ROH)
Brent Albright – 13 (ROH)
Kurt Angle – 13 (TNA)
THE Brian Kendrick – 13 (Smackdown)
Sheik Abdul Bashir – 12 (TNA)
Jeff Hardy – 12 (Smackdown)
The Big Show – 12 (Smackdown)
The Great Khali – 12 (Smackdown)
Jay Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Mark Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Roderick Strong – 12 (ROH)
MsChif – 12 (US Independent)
Low Ki – 12 (US Independent)
Jack Evans – 12 (US Independent)
Taiji Ishimori – 12 (NOAH)
Randy Orton – 10 (RAW)
Mark Henry – 10 (ECW)
Chris Hero – 10 (US Independent)
Ashley Lane – 9 (US Independent)
Nevaeh – 9 (US Independent)
Chuck Taylor – 9 (US Independent)
Volador Jr. – 9 (Mexico)
Mistico – 9 (Mexico)
Hector Garza – 9 (Mexico)
Go Shiozaki – 9 (NOAH)
Kensuke Sasaki – 9 (NOAH)
Shingo Takagi – 9 (Dragon Gate)
Michelle McCool – 9 (Smackdown)
Drake Younger – 9 (US Independent)
Masato Tanaka – 6 (Zero One Max)
Tiger Mask IV – 6 (NOAH)
Wataru Inoue – 6 (New Japan)
Mr. Kennedy – 6 (Smackdown) {Injured}
Incognito – 6 (Mexico)
Erick Stevens – 6 (ROH)
Villano V – 3 (Mexico)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 (ROH)
Hiroshi Tenzan –3 (New Japan)
Hirooki Goto –3 (New Japan)
Ryuji Hijikata –3 (All Japan)
Ophidian – 3 (US Independent)
Amasis – 3 (US Independent)
Fire Ant – 3 (US Independent)
Player Uno – 3 (US Independent)
Player Dos – 3 (US Independent)
Beth Phoenix – 3 (RAW)
JBL – 3 (RAW)
Rey Mysterio – 3 (RAW)
Carlito Colon – 3 (Smackdown)
Primo Colon – 3 (Smackdown)
Vladimir Kozlov – 1 (Smackdown)
Ted DiBiase – 1 (RAW)
Cody Rhodes – 1 (RAW)
Awesome Kong – 1 (TNA)
Sonjay Dutt – 1 (TNA)
Mike Quackenbush – 1 (US Independent)
Nick Jackson – 1 (US Independent)
Matt Jackson – 1 (US Independent)
Scotty II Hotty – 1 (US Independent)
Joe Doering – 1 (All Japan)
Anthony W. Mori – 1 (Dragon Gate)
GAMMA – 1 (Dragon Gate)
Taiyo Kea – 1 (All Japan)
Minoru Suzuki – 1 (All Japan)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru – 1 (NOAH)
Naomichi Marufuji – 1 (NOAH)
Kotaro Suzuki – 1 (NOAH)
Zack Ryder – 1 (Smackdown)
Curt Hawkins – 1 (Smackdown)
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 WINNERS**  Year One Winner: Ric Flair
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