wrestling / Columns
411’s Wrestler of the Week 8.14.12: Year Eight, Week 19
Welcome to WEEK 19, 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. Let’s see who wins this week…
Larry Csonka
1) Austin Aries
Austin Aries retained the TNA World Title in a very good in event at Hardcore Justice. In my opinion the big surprise wasn’t that he won the title, it is that TNA has seemingly changed plans and kept the title on Aries. They have something with him, and it seems as if they have committed to the new project, and will take a new plan with Storm vs. Roode. Austin Aries, maybe not the greatest man that veer lived, but he is “THE GUY, BROTHER” in TNA right now.
2) Kazuchika Okada: Defeated Togi Makabe in the semifinals and then Karl Anderson in the finals to win the NJPW G1 Climax Tournament.
3) Karl Anderson: Was the first foreigner to make a G1 Climax final since Rick Rude did it almost twenty years ago, and also defeated reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi in his semifinal match to make the finals.
4) Bully Ray
5) RVD
Ryan Byers
1) Kazuchika Okada
One year ago today, Kazuchika Okada was a persona non grata in professional wrestling. Then, at the beginning of 2012, he returned to New Japan after his “learning excursion” and immediately became a top star with a shocking IWGP Title win. He followed that up with a MOTYC in a title defense against Tetsuya Naito. Now, after this weekend, he has won the G1 Climax tournament, a competition that dates back to 1991 and has been won by legends such as Masahiro Chono, Tatsumi Fujinami, and the Great Muta. Okada is one of only two men in history to win the tournament the first time that he has competed in it, and his victory proves that the company is still behind him as one of its biggest stars despite the fact that his IWGP Title reign came to an end at the hands of Hiroshi Tanahashi. After this tournament victory, unless he completely goes off the rails in the next four months, Okada has leapfrogged to the top of my “wrestler of the year” ballot.
2) Karl Anderson: The Machine Gun was Okada’s opponent in the finals of the G1 Climax, the first non-Japanese wrestler to make the finals in twenty years. Also, in order to advance to the finals, Anderson got a surprising upset over reigning IWGP Champ Tanahashi, which makes Anderson’s loss in the finals almost as big of a deal as Okada’s win.
3) Hiroshi Yamato: Coming off of his win two weeks ago in All Japan’s junior heavyweight league tournament, Hiroshi Yamato wrestled KAI for the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title and managed to take the belt away from KAI for his first title reign.
4) CM Punk
5) Alberto Del Rio
Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Austin Aries
Aries defends the TNA Title successfully when most people seemed to think he was dropping the strap back to Roode.
2) Bully Ray: Great week for Bully as he knocks off Storm in the Impact Main Event in a BFG series match and then ends the week with another BFG series win at the PPV in a Tables Match.
3) RVD: Good week for RVD as well as he also gets 2 wins in BGF series matches.
4) Madison Rayne
5) Damien Sandow
Greg DeMarco
1) Austin Aries
Aries retains the TNA World Championship a midst thoughts of his loss from pretty much everyone. Everyone expected Roode to win the belt back, especially after the stipulation of no rematches was announced.
2) The Big Show: Show got to stand tall in the middle of the ring (and feud) between himself, John Cena and CM Punk.
3) AW/ Abraham Washington: Hell, he should probably be #1. Who else is being talked about more?
4) Madison Rayne
5) AJ Styles, Bully Ray & Rob Van Dam (tie)
Jack McGee
1) Austin Aries
Austin Aries won the TNA World Title in somewhat of a surprise, but it has to be an even bigger surprise that he got to retain the title in a match where the loser was not going to get a rematch. Aries is the guy right now, and it is nice to see TNA not only pull the trigger, but also see them stick to their guns when they do so.
2) Bully Ray: This man is great, and on top of that won a big BFG Series match on the PPV to earn 20 points, and also defeated James Storm on Impact in another BFG Series match. #twittahmachine
3) Zema Ion: Still your reigning and defending TNA X Division Champion.
4) AJ Styles
5) RVD
TJ Hawke
1) Kazuchika Okada
He won the G1 Climax tournament. Okada has been one the best wrestlers in the world, and this is another huge accomplishment for him.
2) Austin Aries: Successfully defended the TNA Title in the main event of the Hardcore Justice PPV.
3) Kevin Steen: Successfully defended the ROH World Title in the main event of the Boiling Point iPPV.
4) Karl Anderson
5) Hiroshi Yamato
Michael Ornelas
1) Austin Aries
Defended the TNA Championship on PPV.
2) Kazuchika Okada: Won the G1 Climax tourney.
3) Daniel Bryan: Major step in his career this week as he got a Raw main event singles match with John Cena and didn’t look out of place in the main event. Just another step in Bryan’s ascension up the card. Can you name the last guy who won a world championship for the first time and stayed over as a main eventer immediately after in WWE? You’d probably have to go back to Edge. Bryan is OVER and certainly much more than I’d have honestly ever expected (although as a fan, I’d still love to see him get even more over. Like, Punk over).
4) Kevin Steen
5) Karl Anderson
Jeremy Thomas
1) Austin Aries
Aries continues his reign as TNA World Champion, a move that not only helps solidify him as a serious main eventer but also restores a lot of confidence in TNA for me. In the past, TNA would have been likely to switch the belt here to favor their proven main eventer, and likely as a panic reaction to low ratings. The company seems to be run by cooler heads at this point and it’s definitely been to their (and Austin’s) benefit.
2) Kazuchika Okada: Won the G1 Tournament, which is an enormous step for a guy who all that long ago was Samoa Joe’s version of Sakamoto.
3) Bully Ray: Made some big moves in the Bound for Glory Series tournament with a couple of important wins.
4) Kevin Steen
5) Madison Rayne
Gavin Napier
1) Austin Aries
With a successful defense of his championship, Aries moves past Robert Roode and allows TNA to theoretically turn the page towards a new chapter of booking with Bound For Glory looming.
2) Bully Ray: The best heel in the business continues to roll with a big win at Hardcore Justice. Here’s hoping the elbow injury isn’t as bad as it looked.
3) Madison Rayne: So I guess the Tessmacher experiment is over?
4) Kevin Steen
5) AJ Styles
Francisco Ramirez
1) Austin Aries
The reason I’ve started watching TNA again, A Double, retained the TNA World Title from Robert Roode in a fantastic match. There were signs pointing at Aries losing the title, the past couple of weeks, but thankfully this didn’t happen.
2) Kazuchika Okada/ Karl Anderson: The winner of the G1 Climax this year is Okada. Yet Karl Anderson is the first foreigner since Rick Rude 20 years ago to be the runner up. Signs that Japan has good things in store for Karl Anderson.
3) Kevin Steen: Retained the ROH title and attacked some fans.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) Chris Jericho
THE WINNERS~!
Two big Bound for Glory Series match wins for the man that some call the best heel in wrestling today.
Won the NJPW G1 Climax Tournament.
Still your reigning and defending TNA World Champion!
Year-End Standings~!
And here are the standings after week NINETEEN…
1. CM Punk – 72 points (WWE)
2. Austin Aries – 58 points (TNA)
3. Sheamus – 51 points (WWE)
4. Bobby Roode – 50 points (TNA)
4. Daniel Bryan – 50 points (WWE)
6. Brock Lesnar – 40 points (WWE)
7. James Storm – 30 points (TNA)
7. Kevin Steen – 30 points (ROH)
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)
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)
Antonio Cesaro – 3 points (WWE)
Gran Akuma – 3 points (US Independent)
Sara Del Rey – 3 points (US Independent)
Chris Sabin – 3 points (TNA)
Alex Shelley – 3 points (US Independent)
Genki Horguchi – 3 point (Dragon Gate)
CIMA – 3 point (Dragon Gate)
AJ Lee – 2 points (WWE)
Yujiro Takahashi – 1 point (NJPW)
Kota Ibushi – 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
|
