411’s Wrestler of the Week 05.04.09: Week 5

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 05.04.2009

The WWE elevates some new talent to the main event and Batista becomes the number one contender on Raw, while Bison Smith gets a big win and MsChif has a busy weekend with SHIMMER...but which of them made it to the top of the mountain this week? Check out Week 5 of 411's Wrestler of the Week for all the details and for an updated look at the Year-End standings!



Welcome to Week 5, Year FIVE, 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 at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let's see who wins this week…

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The Voting~!
Aaron Hubbard
1) Bison Smith
For those of you who don't live in ignorance, the following sentence should be enough to justify his place at the top. Bison Smith pinned Mitsuharu Misawa at NOAH"s Global Tag League this week. Considering this is rarer than a victory over Undertaker these days, the big man gets top votes from me this week.

2) MVP: Out of the blue, MVP established himself as one of Raw's top faces by standing up to Randy Orton. Add in a victory over Dolph Ziggler and some extra publicity for the ‘E, and it's been a good week for Mr. Porter.
3) Jeff Hardy: Defeated Chris Jericho, Kane and Rey Mysterio to become the #1 Contender to Edge's World Championship, and then sent a further message with a Swanton Bomb to the Ultimate Opportunist.
4) CM Punk/Tommy Dreamer
5) Batista


ARI
1) MVP
At the center of one of the most positive pieces of PR for WWE in years is MVP, who has received a great deal of attention from Sherry Shepherd and The View. The extra attention led to MVP being given the chance to elevate himself in the WWE pecking order. He challenged Randy Orton & Legacy in the opening of Raw and gave a great effort in a singles match against Orton later in the night (even though he was booked to do a disappearing act in order to get McMahon Jr. Jr. over). Then he and Shepherd were part of a very fun series of moments on Smackdown, where MVP retained his U.S. title against Dolph Ziggler. I actually wouldn't mind if Shepherd came back on a more regular basis to be MVP's valet--there is something there between the two of them.

2) Bison Smith: A win against Mitsuharu Misawa is a damned great achievement in the world of Japanese professional wrestling. Foreign wrestlers just don't win all that often against the biggest names in Japan, and its a great personal accomplishment for Smith, after years of being in NOAH, to get that win.
3) CM Punk: Punk and Hardy are basically the top two faces of Smackdown right now, and each asserted himself this week on the first SD with the new post-Draft roster. Punk felt right at home in the give-and-take between he, Edge and Jericho in the opening segment. Then he pinned World Heavyweight Champion Edge in a non-title match, and but for the interference of Umaga could have cashed in the Money in the Bank shot to win the title outright. A strong showing for Punk this week.
4) Jeff Hardy
5) Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews


Larry Csonka
1) MsChif
MsChif retained her SHIMMER title this past weekend, THREE TIMES. Successful defenses over Serena Deeb, Wensa Busic and LuFisto give the SHIMMER champion the first place vote from me.

2) Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews: The team won the SHIMMER tag team titles over the weekend, but Matthews also went to a 20-minute draw with Haze while Perez defeated Allison Danger in a no-DQ street fight. This was a great weekend for the Canadian FREAKIN Ninjas.
3) Bison Smith: Bison Smith becomes the third man in three years to claim a pin fall victory over Misawa.
4) MVP
5) Jeff Hardy/Batista


Ryan Byers
1) Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews - This was a huge weekend for SHIMMER, and I don't think that any two wrestlers on the roster had a bigger weekend than Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews, collectively known as the Canadian NINJAS. The duo started off in singles competition, with Portia defeating rival Allison Danger in a No DQ street fight and Nicole wrestling to an impressive twenty minute draw against Daizee Haze. Matthews then had a rematch against Haze and lost, but she actually wound up looking more impressive in the ring than Daizee did. Finally the duo capped of the weekend by returning to tag team competition and unseating Ashley Lane and Neveah to become your NEW SHIMMER Tag Team Champions. Not only is it nice to have gold around the waists of the Ninjas, but it is also worth noting that they are the first heel champions of any sort in the company's history.

2) MsChif - After taping four separate volumes of SHIMMER's DVD series this weekend, MsChif is still on top of the promotion as its champion. She defended that strap successfully against three very game competitors in the forms of Serena Deeb, Wesna Busic, and LuFisto. Top that off with a solid tag match with Cheerleader Melissa against Amazing Kong and Sara Del Rey, and she's an easy choice for number two.
3) Bison Smith - I'll give him number three since pinning Misawa is an uncommon accomplishment, but I have to question how far it will get Bison in the long run given that Samoa Joe was still a flop in NOAH after doing the exact same thing.
4) LuFisto
5) MVP


Matt Short
1) MVP
No one looked like a biggest star this week in the WWE than MVP. On Raw he got in the face of the new WWE Champion Randy Orton and then managed to hang with the champ in a great match. Then on Smackdown he successfully defended his US Championship against Dolph Ziggler, with a main stream TV personality in his corner, earning him so great publicity. MVP had an awesome week.

2) Bison Smith: Picked up an extremely rare pinfall victory over Misawa in NOAH this past week. Smith was already considered the company's top foreigner for a few years, but this solidifies his position. A title match is most likely in the works for Smith against GHC Heavyweight Champion Jun Akiyama, but whether that match up is more successful than his last challenge remains to be seen.
3) MsChif: Three successful title defenses over the span of a weekend is very impressive for the SHIMMER Champion.
4) CM Punk
5) Amazing Red


Samuel Berman
1) Bison Smith
Scored an exceedingly rare (especially for a gaijin) pinfall victory over NOAH boss Mitsuharu Misawa.

2) Hiroshi Tanahashi: Retained his IWGP Heavyweight Title against rival Hirooki Goto in a rematch of their 2007 Match of the Year Candidate.
3) MsChif: Three title retentions for the SHIMMER Champion.
4) MVP
5) Davey Richards


Michael Bauer
1) Bison Smith
Bison Smith pinned Mitsuharu Misawa at NOAH's Global Tag League this week. If you have any doubts about how big this is, let me run it down for you. Misawa has now been pinned only 3 times in the past 3 years. Even Hulk Hogan didn't have a more dominating three years during any part of the 1980's. Bison Smith joins Samoa Joe and Morishima as the only people to beat Misawa in the past three years. Yes, this may not have had the "United States exposure" of MVP, but this is certainly a bigger deal and bigger magntiude of importance than ANYTHING, even if this was WrestleMania week.

2) MVP: He would be an easy #1 in any other week with what he did. Got the mega fresh new draft pick push on Raw, then beat Dolph on Smackdown.
3) MsChif: Name any other Women's Champion who would have three sucessful defenses in one weekend.
4) Hiroshi Tanahashi
5) Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews


Joseph Martinez
1) MVP: When all the big stars were drafted to Raw it seemed like a wrestler such as MVP would be lost in the shuffle. MVP proved that wrong and had an excellent showing against new WWE Champion Randy Orton. Things are looking bright for Porter.

2) Jeff Hardy: Hardy won a four way elimination match to set up a World Title match at the next PPV against Edge. He looked good doing it and can cement himself as the top face of the brand with the Undertaker possibly sidelined.
3) CM Punk: Although his dreams of cashing in the Money in the Bank were squashed by Umaga, CM Punk still got the victory over the World Heavyweight Champion. He looks to feud with Umaga and still has his briefcase.
4) Umaga
5) Amazing Red


Daniel Wilcox
1) John Morrison
I wanted to vote for one of the guys who got a push on WWE this week, and I was going to go with MVP but I figure because he's on Raw, his elevation is going to be as long-lasting as others. John Morrison, on the other hand, looks to be set for superstardom. His face turn is being well recieved, and a program with Chris Jericho will only serve to help further his popularity with the fans. Morrison also picked up an impressive win over Shelton Benjamin this week, and looks to be one of the stand-out performers for the SmackDown brand going into the post-draft future.

2) Jeff Hardy: Hardy came out on top in an impressive fatal four way and will now take on Edge for the World Championship at Judgment Day. Contract dispute or not, someone in management is high on Jeff Hardy.
3) MVP: MVP stepped up to the plate on Raw, confronting Randy Orton and then hanging with him in a really good match on Raw.
4) CM Punk
5) Batista


Jeremy Thomas
1) MsChif
Am I a SHIMMER mark? Admittedly, yes. Even if I wasn't however, it would be REALLY hard to deny that MsChif deserves #1 this week. Defending one's title three times over one weekend and still having time to take on Awesome Kong and Sara Del Ray as part of a tag team match is damn impressive no matter who you are.

2) M.V.P.: Montel came out of Raw looking like a million bucks, hanging right in there with the WWE Heavyweight Champion throughout an excellent match. From the looks of things, McMahonagement is ready to give M.V.P. that sustained push, and if it keeps up then he could well be a main eventer in no time.
3) Jeff Hardy & CM Punk: More elevation occurred on SmackDown, where Jeff earned his shot in a fatal four-way at Edge while Punk defeated the the World Heavyweight Champion and was only stopped from becoming said champ via a Money in the Bank shot by Umaga.
4) Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez
5) Batista

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Nicole Matthews & Portia Perez - 12 Votes

Fifth Place…CM Punk - 15 Votes

Fourth Place…Jeff Hardy - 17 Votes

Third Place…MsChif - 23 Votes

Three title retentions in two days, plus a tag team match alongside Cheerleader Melissa against Awesome Kong and Sara Del Ray, catapults the SHIMMER Champion to number three this week.

Second Place…Bison Smith - 29 Votes

A big win over Misawa this week puts Bison Smith near the top of the voting!

Wrestler of the Week…M.V.P. - 35 Votes

The United States champion made his big appearance on Raw, holding his own with the Legend-Killer not only on the mic, but in the ring too. That's quite enough to elevate him above the rest to become this week's Wrestler of the Week!

Year-End Standings~!

A fifth week, and we have a fifth addition to the 15-point club for second place! It's another week of debuts as M.V.P., Bison Smith, MsChif and Portia and Matthews all make their first appearances this year, while Jeff Hardy and CM Punk climb the rankings! Will someone new claim the crown once again next week, or will someone rocket into the lead? Only one way to find out!

Let's check out the Year-End Standings!

1. Jerry Lynn – 18 (ROH)

2. The Undertaker – 15 (SmackDown)
2. Davey Richards – 15 (ROH)
2. Eddie Edwards – 15 (ROH)
2. Mick Foley – 15 (TNA)
2. Edge – 15 (SmackDown)
2. Montel Vontavious Porter – 15 (RAW)

8. Shawn Michaels – 12 (RAW)
8. Minoru Suzuki - 12 (All Japan)
8. Brother Devon – 12 (TNA)
8. Brother Ray – 12 (TNA)
8. Randy Orton – 12 (RAW)
8. Bison Smith - 12 (NOAH)

14. Christian – 10 (ECW)

15. Batista – 9 (RAW)
15. John Morrison – 9 (SmackDown)
15. John Cena – 9 (RAW)
15. MsChif - 9 (SHIMMER)

Jeff Hardy – 7 (SmackDown)

Christopher Daniels – 6 (TNA)
Matt Hardy – 6 (Raw)

CM Punk – 4 (SmackDown)

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 3 (New Japan)
Evan Bourne – 3 (ECW)

Ricky Steamboat– 2 (WWE)

Portia Perez - 1 (SHIMMER)
Nicole Mathews - 1 (SHIMMER)

Voting began 4.06.09

Year-End Rankings Key:

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.

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**PREVIOUS WINNERS**

Year One Winner: Ric Flair


Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe


Year Three Winner: John Cena


Year Four Winner: Chris Jericho

If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!