411’s Wrestler of The Week: Charlotte Battles Brian Kendrick

Welcome to YEAR TWELVE, WEEK 30 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. This will be posted every Tuesday (the voting week runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…

Voting period: OCTOBER 24 – OCTOBER 30

Larry Csonka
1) Charlotte:
While WWE beat the “historical” thing into the ground to where it became a hype point rather than something that should have naturally evolved, Charlotte getting top billing this week only makes sense. She regained the Raw Women’s Title, in the first ever women’s Hell in a Call in a match that was the main event of the show. She checked all the boxes this week for an easy WOTW win.

2) ACH & Taiji Ishimori: Defeated Ricochet & David Finlay in a great match to earn their spot in the NJPW Super Jr Tag Team Tournament finals. They have been a blast so far in New Japan.
3) Brian Kendrick: Defeated TJ Perkins at the WWE Hell in a Cell PPV to win the WWE Cruiserweight Title.
4) Kevin Owens
5) Johnny Mundo

Mike Chin
1) Charlotte:
Charlotte won back the Raw Women’s Championship in the first women’s WWE PPV main event, and first women’s Cell Match. Yes, the match did have its botches, but between the performances of the athletes involved and the storytelling, this match accomplished what it needed to–not quite a serious MOTY contender but a historic moment for WWE to turn back to for years to come, and for Charlotte to add as highlight to her resume.

2) Sasha Banks: Ordinarily, I’m hesitant to place the loser of a big match in a tie or right behind the winner, but in this case, Sasha Banks turned in an excellent performance in a career-solidifying match and got the star treatment. In addition, because of Charlotte’s heelish pre-match assault, Banks’s character will have a legit argument to get back into the title picture soon (while I think WWE will keep them apart for a bit, I expect she’ll be back in the hunt and might even get her receipt at WrestleMania).
3) Roman Reigns: Reigns vs. Rusev was a good, stiff brawl inside a cage. and while it may have been the lowest profile Cell match this weekend, Reigns emerged the most decisive victor and, based on his promo on Raw Talk, looks like he might head back into the main event scene sooner rather than later.
4) Johnny Mundo
5) Brian Kendrick

Rob Stewart
1) Charlotte:
I am not a fan of Charlotte having gone over Sasha Banks at Hell In A Call, but she did it anyway and regained the WWE Raw Womens’ Championship in the process. Not only was the match ground-breaking for being a Hell In A Cell match in which female superstars competed, but it was given the main event slot on the card after several weeks of teasing by WWE. The match the two ladies had was the best of the night, and about as brutal as anyone could have expected. They both let it all hang out, and Charlotte was the better competitor on that evening. Even for a fairly busy week, this was a relatively easy call in my mind.

2) Johnny Mundo: I know that the match was marred with run-ins and shenanigans, but I don’t look at it as making Johnny look weak in his victory this week where he won the Gift of the Gods championship. I tend to look at it as making Sexy Star look so strong that Mundo was willing to pull out all the stops to put her down and claim the championship opportunity. They’ve been building the story of Mundo being desperate for a title match all year, and now he has the means to get one. Can he capitalize? That’s another matter, but for this week, he finally advanced his cause.
3) Brian Kendrick: When Kendrick couldn’t convince TJ Perkins to simply gift him the WWE Cruiserweight title at Hell In A Cell, he went to his bag of tricks to dupe his friend and rip the championship from his grasp. Kendrick’s desperation was on full display Sunday night, and he managed to focus it into a championship win.
4) ACH and Taiji Ishimori
5) Roman Reigns

Mike Hammerlock
1) Charlotte:
Idiotic booking, but superb execution. I swear the WWE goes out of its way to alienate its audience. Anyway, Charlotte has stepped up in big matches since the brand split. I find her week-to-week work dull and her character two-dimensional, but she’s got main event chops in the ring. Glad they gave here and Sasha the main event.

2) Sheamus and Cesaro: They had a very good week, beating New Day twice though not winning the Raw tag championship belts. Love how they have their individual styles intersect at various moments. Makes for unpredictable matches.
3) Johnny Mundo: I appreciated the story they told around his match with Sexy Star. Yes, it was overbooked, but Mundo made Sexy look like a star while also becoming the Gift of the Gods champion.
4) Kevin Owens
5) Brian Kendrick

Chad Perry
1) Charlotte:
I feel like this will be pretty unanimous across the board. Charlotte was on the winning side of the first ever female WWE PPV main event in the first ever female hell in a cell match. Not only did her match with Banks make a lot of HERstory, but they had the best match of the night. Charlotte has truly developed a very strong heel persona that is easy to hate. While I don’t agree with Charlotte getting the belt back so fast, it is what it is.

2) AJ Styles: Defeated Dean Ambrose by DQ thanks to James Ellsworth. All night long myself and many others predicted that Ellsworth would turn on Ambrose, but they did not go the predicable route. Styles continues to have the best debut year in WWE history when it comes to quality matches.
3) Kevin Owens: I would have given the Universal Champ the #2 spot had he not been pinned in a handicap match last week on Raw. Owens retained his title with A LOT of help from best friend Chris Jericho. I get it, heels cheat to win. But the cell match is one time in which it would be nice to just see the heel come out on top by himself.
4) Roman Reigns
5) Sasha Banks

Kevin Pantoja
1) Charlotte:
I’m not a fan of her at all, but I can’t deny her the top spot this week. Charlotte and Sasha Banks made history (if you don’t believe me, just ask the WWE. They told us about a thousand times.) by not only competing in the first women’s Hell in a Cell match, but also became the first women to main event a PPV. Charlotte won a brutal match and became Women’s Champion for the third time. I think it was absolutely the wrong call, since Sasha as champion in her hometown celebrating in the cell was the best way to end the show and Charlotte as champion is beyond stale at this point. Still, she did win and it was rather historic.

2) Kevin Owens: I’d say Charlotte and Sasha had the match of the night at Hell in a Cell, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins weren’t too far behind. They also competed in a Hell in a Cell match, which was on its way to being great until Chris Jericho got involved. The match got a bit overbooked but was still really good. Kudos to Kevin Owens for taking a sick double table bump during the match. With the help of Jericho he was able to retain his Universal Title for the second straight Pay-Per-View following a powerbomb through two open steel chairs. It was a marked improvement on their mediocre first match at Clash of Champions.
3) ACH and Taiji Ishimori: For the second straight week, I found myself very impressed with ACH and Taiji Ishimori. Both guys are very talented with Ishimori making an argument for the second best junior in Japan (KUSHIDA is a clear cut number one). After defeating the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks in the first round, ACH and Ishimori had a slightly better match in the semi-finals where they beat David Finlay and Ricochet. This now sets them up for a meeting with Roppongi Vice in the finals at Power Struggle. Considering the tension between Roppongi Vice recently and the fact that we’ve seen Bucks/RPG Vice several times before, ACH and Ishimori have a good chance to winning the tournament. To add to it, they also won NOAH’s Jr. Tag League this year.
4) The Brian Kendrick
5) Sasha Banks

Jack McGee
1) Charlotte
Defeated Sasha Banks, in the main event, in the hell in a cell, to regain the title. She was the easy, and obvious choice this week.

2) Roman Reigns: Defeated Rusev to retain the WWE US Title in the Hell in a Cell.
3) Kevin Owens: Still your reigning and defending WWE Universal Champion. And Chris Jericho’s best friend.
4) ACH & Taiji Ishimori
5) Cesaro and Sheamus

Arnold Furious
1) Charlotte Flair:
It’s hard to argue with Charlotte’s spot this week. She won the first ever women’s WWE PPV main event. That’s something that will go down in history. Although it’s likely to be remembered as Flair and Sasha’s moment as co-main eventers. Much like Trish and Lita are remembered for their RAW main event. Regardless there can only be one winner and Charlotte was it. She’s primed for another successful heel run with the belt and she’s likely to succeed.

2) Brian Kendrick: While the match wasn’t very good it was nice to see Kendrick get his win and complete a storyline that was all about his deviousness and manipulative behavior. I enjoyed the storyline better during CWC when it was a shoot regarding his ‘last chance’, rather than the work it has become. I loved seeing Kendrick enter the last chance saloon and lose. That’s what happens to old cowboys. This Hollywood ending has perverted that somewhat. But hey, he’s had a ridiculous comeback that no one could have predicted and he’s currently carrying WWE gold.
3) Mark Haskins: Haskins defended the Progress title on Sunday but it might be the last time we see him for a while. Haskins has forfeited the Progress belt, as well as 4FW’s Junior title, due to persistent neck injuries. It’s very sad to see Haskins telling us he might even have to retire because of neck problems. You sensed someone from the modern wrestling world was due a bad neck injury but seeing Haskins re-tool his style and become a better wrestler and a better man because of it was one of my favorite things about BritWres over the past three years. To see that taken away is heartbreaking. I hope it’s not the end for Haskins as he looked so happy after winning the title in Brixton. He loves wrestling and it must be devastating to have that taken away.
4) Sasha Banks
5) Kevin Owens

Wyatt Beougher
1) Charlotte/Sasha Banks:
I’m not even sure it was the best match these two have had together, the wrong wrestler won, and it probably wasn’t even match of the night in some fans’ eyes, but it was the first women’s match to main event a WWE live special, it was the first women’s match to take place in Hell in a Cell, and it was for the women’s championship, so that combination is more than enough to give both women the top spot this week. Should Charlotte be ranked first and Sasha second based on the outcome of the match? Probably. But in the wake of such an historic event, I think both women deserve to share the top spot this week.

2) Kevin Owens: Owens managed to retain his Universal Championship in a very, very good Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins. Owens continues not only to be one of the best parts of RAW each week, but also to defy the odds, as many fans (myself included) believed that Vince would never give the kind of push that Owens has received to someone with his body type and indy pedigree. Owens has persevered basically by force of will alone, and I hope that he gets to continue this amazing run.
3) Cesaro/Sheamus: Cesaro and Sheamus knocked off the longest-reigning WWE (RAW) tag team champions of all time, and that’s worth third place for me.
4) Brian Kendrick
5) Roman Reigns

THE WINNERS~!
* Special Mention…Johnny Mundo – 10 Votes

* Fifth Place…Roman Reigns, ACH & Taiji Ishimori – 11 Votes

* Fourth Place…Sasha Banks – 13 Votes

* Third Place…Kevin Owens – 15 Votes

Still your WWE Universal Champion!

* Second Place…Brian Kendrick – 16 Votes

Your NEW WWE Cruiserweight Champion!

* And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…

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Charlotte – 45 Votes

The Queen reigns supreme.

The Standings
Here are the standings after week 29

1. AJ Styles – 91pts

2. Prince Puma/Ricochet – 69pts

3. Dean Ambrose – 51pts
3. Lashley – 51pts

5. Tetsuya Naito – 45pts

6. The Monster Matanza Cueto – 42pts

7. Kevin Owens – 40pts

8. Roman Reigns – 39pts

9. Rey Mysterio Jr. – 36pts
9. Dragon Azteca Jr. – 36pts

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* Will Ospreay – 33pts
* Sexy Star – 33pts
* Eddie Edwards – 33pts

* Finn Balor – 30pts
* Sasha Banks – 30pts

* Johnny Mundo – 29pts
* Broken Matt Hardy – 28pts

* TJ Perkins – 27pts

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

* Kenny Omega – 24pts
* Cage – 24 pts
* Jack Evans – 24pts
* PJ Black – 24 pts

* Jay Lethal – 21pts
* Samoa Joe – 21pts

* The Miz – 20pts

* Dash – 18pts
* Dawson – 18pts

* Charlotte – 17pts

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

* Katsuhiko Nakajima – 15pts
* Nick Jackson – 15pts
* Matt Jackson – 15pts
* Seth Rollins – 15pts
* Drew Galloway – 15pts
* Johnny Gargano – 15pts
* KUSHIDA – 15pts
* Aerostar – 15pts

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

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

* Adam Cole – 9pts
* Tommaso Ciampa – 9pts
* Heath Slater – 9pts
* Rhyno – 9pts
* Mil Muertes – 9pts
* Drago – 9pts
* Kyle O’Reilly – 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

* Bayley – 4pts
* James Ellsworth – 4pts

* The Mack – 3pts
* Cesaro – 3pts
* Dana Brooke – 3pts
* Xavier Woods – 3pts
* Kofi Kingston – 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
* 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

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* 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.

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**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)