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411’s Wrestler of the Week 10.27.08: Week 30
Welcome to Week 30, 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~!
Andy Clark
1) Batista
After serving as the poster boy for “Close But No Cigar” (a poster that currently features one Jeff Hardy) Batista captures the World Heavyweight Title and pulls ahead of his class of 2002 contemporaries John Cena and Randy Orton with a fourth World Title reign.
2) Evan Bourne: He may not have won the ECW Title, but he sure came off like a winner. He came :that: close to winning the ECW Title, but more impressively he smoked a guy that is over with the kids and the guy that WWE wanted you to vote for with a whopping 69% of the vote. Color me shocked. He also scored a big win over said opposition on ECW and managed to bring back some of the old Matt Hardy, V1 in his championship match.
3) Blue Demon Jr.: Say what you will about the NWA these days (and I’m sure you will) but there is still some merit to being the first luchador to ever win the belt.
4) Awesome Kong
5) Aden Chambers
Matt Short
1) Batista
Finally after months and months of main eventing PPV’s for whatever brand he’s on, Batista has finally regained the World Heavyweight Title. The match against Jericho might have been hurt a bit by the amount of run ins that went down, but it was still a solid match and sent the crowd home happy. Now the question turns to, “will they keep the belt on him until WrestleMania for a title match against Cena?”
2) Naomichi Marufuji/KENTA: I’m giving these two second place for what was an impressive feat this weekend. These two faced each other in a double title match with NOAH’s GHC Jr. Heavyweight Title and All Japan’s World Jr. Heavyweight Title on the line. These two battled for a full 60 minutes before a time limit draw was declared. 60 minute main even draws are rare in NOAH and the fact that these two guys pulled it off is impressive. More and more reports are calling this Japan’s Match of the Year, which may or may not be the case but it has impressed a lot of fans.
3) Evan Bourne: Came out looking like a star in his losing effort to Matt Hardy at Cyber Sunday. Bourne looked great in this match and really showed why fans are taking notice of him on ECW.
4) Blue Demon Jr.
5) Awesome Kong
ARI
1) Batista
Won the big title in a big cluster of chaos on Cyber Sunday. Hell, no one realistically expected a title change at Cyber Sunday of all places, so a win here is not only a surprise, but an interesting move. Batista now has the belt just in time for Cena to come back and possibly challenge.
2) LAX: Came back like conquering heroes for two shows in Ring of Honor. They won the Iron Tag match with Homicide getting the last two falls and Hernandez impressing with his massive strength. While they lost to The Briscoes the next night in Edison they were the stars of that show and who the people wanted to see most on that night.
3) Evan Bourne: Defeated Mark Henry on ECW with a Shooting Star Press (and impressive feat that would never have happened just two years ago on WWE TV) and then won the Cyber Sunday voting to make it to a title shot against Matt Hardy.
4) Naomichi Marufuji & KENTA
5) Blue Demon Jr.
Robert Leighty Jr
1) Batista
He finally wins the World Title after choking away chance after chance. I’m not happy they took the strap off Jericho, but doesn’t mean I won’t give Big Dave the nod in WOTW.
2) Big Show/Undertaker: For the 2nd straight PPV this 2 put on a match that was very strong. It’s amazing that these 2 have shown the chemistry this late in their careers when only 8 months earlier they were stinking up the joint. Props to both.
3) HHH/Matt Hardy: They each successfully defended their titles against unknowns and that has to count for something.
4) Evan Bourne
5) Blue Demon Jr
Christi Csonka
1) Awesome Kong
Kong took back what was rightfully hers this week as she won the Knockouts Title once again. I like Taylor Wilde, but I LOVE Kong as the dominant champion.
2) Batista: Batista winning the title is worthy of the top spot, but it all comes down to personal preference, and well, I think Kong can take him.
3) Evan Bourne: I have loved this guy since the first time I saw him in ROH, and he had a big week with the win on ECW and a great match with my Matt at Cyber Sunday.
4) Matt Hardy
5) The Undertaker
Aaron Hubbard
1) The Undertaker
Yeah, somebody won a World Title this week. I’m still pissed about it. Why on Earth is Batista world champion? Anyway, Undertaker and Big Show had a great match at Cyber Sunday, one that nobody was expecting. Undertaker got the big win and I also had a strong match with Triple H on Smackdown!
2) Evan Bourne: Got the biggest win of his career on ECW by beating Mark Henry and Finlay, and then won the vote by a LARGE margin to face Matt at Cyber Sunday. He didn’t win, but he got to challange for a title at a PPV and the FANS picked it. Evan has proved to be marketable and I am SO happy for him.
3) Big Show: Show has been wrestling for 12 years. This Sunday, he had the best match of his career. Show has always been a sentimental favorite of mine, and I’m glad that he finally was able to have a match that people loved.
4) KENTA/Naomichi Marufuji
5) Batista
Jarrod Westerfeld
1) KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji (Tie)
I know, we had a few title changes this week, why am I going with these two when all they did was retain their titles in a match that isn’t even out on the internet right now for all to see? Well, because I remember seeing their two bouts back in 2006 and remember how great those bouts were. Call this one to personal bias and a bending of my own rule, but with all of the talk that this match wasn’t nearly as good as their last encounter all I can think of is that it can’t be that bad considering the standards these two placed in those clashes for the GHC Jr. Heavyweight title those years back.
2) Undertaker: So a strong bout with Triple H on SmackDown and a big win over Big Show at Cyber Sunday was enough to kind of nudge me on giving him this nod; I know, still no title win for this guy so why is he getting a higher cast in the vote? Well, I kind of feel as though we’ve forgotten to honor the Undertaker at parts of this year and I’d like of like to amend that somewhat.
3) Batista: Big title win for Batista, though my head aches trying to figure out why rush the title onto him so soon after Jericho had just taken it up for himself, but whatever. I’m sure this’ll lead to big things for Raw…I hope.
4) Awesome Kong
5) Blue Demon Jr.
Michael O
1) The Undertaker
Won the best match of the week, and is my favorite wrestler of all-time. Hey, I could’ve easily come up with a lengthy, and perhaps even convincing, argument as to why ‘Taker deserves this spot over a new World Heavyweight champion. But I have respect for you, so I’m just going to keep it basic and honest.
2) Batista: With the way the WWE has handled anything to do with Chris Jericho or Shawn Michaels since, oh, about April, I’m actually willing to see where they’re going with this. I’m not really thrilled at the decision, but the match was good and I’ll wait for the fall-out before I get my panties all knotted up.
3) Evan Bourne: Won an excellent triple threat match by cleanly pinning Mizark, and competed in his first PPV match, an ECW title bout that could have been the MOTN on a lesser PPV.
4) Miz & Morrison
5) HHH
Samuel Berman
1) KENTA and Naomichi Marufuji (tie)
The longtime partners and rivals went to a draw this week as KENTA defended his newly-won GHC Jr. Heavyweight strap against Marufuji’s All Japan World Jr. Heavyweight belt. The sixty-minute contest has received mixed reviews, ranging from ‘somewhat disappointing’ to ‘Japan’s Match of the Year’. Only time will tell whether the duo was able to top their landmark 2006 match (for the GHC Heavyweight Title that Marufuji held at the time), but no either way the juniors once again headlined one of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Budokan Hall events.
2) Aden Chambers: Toppled the field to win the 2008 ECWA Super 8 Tournament, an event won by such icons as Christopher Daniels, Low Ki and Paul London.
3) Blue Demon, Jr.: Won the NWA World Heavyweight Title in a huge upset over “Scrap Iron” Adam Pearce.
4) Batista
5) Dragon Kid
Jeremy Thomas
1) Batista
Well, I’ll be damned. Mr. WWE Choke Artist himself finally got the win. I’ll admit I didn’t see this coming, and I’m not real pleased about it at all because Jericho was totally rolling as champion; I guess that Orton’s ready to come back now, or they’re planning on having Jericho chase Batista until Randy’s ready. Either way, this was a big win for the Manimal and I can’t not give him the #1 spot.
2) Matt Hardy/Evan Bourne: Bourne looked like a champ and Hardy got the win in a killer match that made then both, as well as the ECW Title, look pretty damn good. Bourne may have been the surprise pick, but this is the kind of thing that puts the ‘E on notice that they should move someone into bigger and better things, and Matt got to look really strong. Great job from both guys.
3) Awesome Kong: Kong won her Knockouts Title back from Taylor Wilde, making her the first ever two-time Knockouts Champion. Props to her for that one.
4) The Undertaker
5) Blue Demon Jr.
Bayani Domingo
1) Batista
Well the conventional booking made liars of us all didn’t they? Batista made Jericho his bitch week after week and it seemed like a “no brainier” that Jericho would have the last laugh. Sure it took an army of run-ins, but Batista is back on top of the industry after taking the title from Jericho. Or at least that’s what it looks like for now.
2) Amazing Kong: Killing bitches and taking names. Restoring the natural order of women’s wrestling once again after winning the Knockout’s title on the first ever live Impact outside of Orlando.
3) Blue Demon Jr.: Robbed Adam Pearce of the NWA Championship
4) Aden Chambers
5) Undertaker
Michael Bauer
1) Evan Bourne
I was about ready to have Batista here, but remember. I prefer CLEAN victories as opposed to that crap we saw and how much it helps a person’s career. Evan Bourne had the biggest win of his WWE career by pinning Mark Henry on ECW and then got voted into the biggest match of his career period. He looked like he belonged in that ring with Matt Hardy and that he deserved to be a top guy on ECW.
2) Tyler Black: Beat Jerry Lynn, but more importantly, he pinned Homicide in the Iron Man Tag Match. His stock is still rising.
3) Undertaker: Now that was the definition of a slobber knocker.
4) KENTA and Marufuji
5) Blue Demon, Jr.
JT
1) Batista
It’s kind of weird voting for something when I completely disagree with the booking decision (don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily hate Batista as champ). Bottom line though, Big Dave won the big gold belt and is now champion of the flagship show. That gets my vote.
2) Evan Bourne: Look, I’m not saying the Miz is at the top of the card or even the upper-card, but let me remind everyone that he won the voting in similar fashion last year (granted only 40%) and look at what he has done since then. Tag champs and the most popular show on WWE.com is nothing to sneeze at, so I think getting 70% of the vote will force someone in the back to take notice of Bourne. Not only that, he got a win last week and had a very good match with Matt that he came out of looking very strong.
3) Blue Demon: I have to agree with Clark here. The NWA may not be anywhere near what it was, but the history books haven’t vanished and the fact that a luchador has won the title for the first time is not something to be ignored, regardless of prestige level.
4) Awesome Kong
5) KENTA and Marufuji
Daniel Wilcox
1) Evan Bourne
While Batista may have won the World Championship last night, I’m hoping and assuming it’ll just be a transitional reign as Randy Orton is ready to return, which means Evan Bourne probably had the biggest week of anyone, certainly in the top two companies. The win on ECW was huge considering he beat one of ECW’s most popular guys in Finlay and the former champion and man mountain Mark Henry. As if his stock hadn’t risen enough from that, he then gets voted into the Cyber Sunday title match with a massive 70% of the vote, and as a result you have to believe that he is in line for more of a push than he’s already getting. And to top it off, his match with Hardy was a great one.
2) Batista: So The Animal shocked the world and pissed off a whole bunch of smarks in the process of winning the world championship for a fourth time. Regardless of the unpopularity of the booking amongst the IWC, Batista is the man on top once again.
3) Miz and Morrison: Not only are they as awesome as ever, but they also picked up two big tag team victories this week – one on Raw against Kofi Kingston and former World Champion CM Punk, and one on the pay-per-view against Cryme Tyme.
4) Awesome Kong
5) Undertaker
Larry Csonka
1) The Undertaker
The Undertaker had an excellent week with a great match against HHH, followed by a victory in a great match against Big Show. The big man was on this week and deserves some love.
2) Awesome Kong: Kong takes back the Knockouts title and is now queen of the division once again!
3) Blue Demon Jr: Blue Demon Jr is YOUR new NWA Champion!
4) Batista/HHH
5) Evan Bourne
THE WINNERS~!
The Undertaker has a great week in the ring, facing off with HHH and the Big Show.
Evan Bourne’s star truly took off this week with a huge win on ECW, winning the fan voting at Cyber Sunday and then delivering a great match with Matt Hardy.
Batista wins the World Title, and that was enough to get him the top spot this week.
Yearend Standings~!
Batista claims the top spot and that launches him into second place overall. Evan Bourne’s performance helps him crack the top 15, and the same goes for KENTA while Blue Demon Jr. makes his debut on the list.
Let’s check out the Yearend Standings!
1. Chris Jericho – 98 (RAW)
2. Batista – 74 (Raw)
3. Edge – 64 (Smackdown) {Sent to Hell}
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. The Undertaker – 36 (Smackdown)
10. Masato Yoshino – 33 (Dragon Gate)
11. Naruki Doi – 30 (Dragon Gate)
11. Sting – 30 (TNA)
13. Evan Bourne – 29 (ECW)
14. Lance Cade – 27 (US Independent)
15. William Regal – 25 (RAW)
15. KENTA – 25 (NOAH)
James Storm – 24 (TNA)
Robert Roode – 24 (TNA)
CM Punk – 24 (Raw)
Suwama – 24 (All Japan)
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)
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)
Awesome Kong – 7 (TNA)
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)
Blue Demon Jr. – 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)
Naomichi Marufuji – 2 (NOAH)
Vladimir Kozlov – 1 (Smackdown)
Ted DiBiase – 1 (RAW)
Cody Rhodes – 1 (RAW)
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)
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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