411’s Wrestler of the Week 11.09.09: Week 32
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 11.09.2009
MsChif pins a major challenge in SHIMMER, Shinsuke Nakamura defends the IWGP Heavyweight Title, Sheamus got off to a good start on Raw and more! Check out the latest edition of 411's Wrestler of the Week for all the details and for an updated look at the Year-End standings!
Welcome to Week 32, 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…
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~! ARI
1) Shinsuke Nakamura
Retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title by defeating former champion and rival Hiroshi Tanahashi. Nakamura won the title in a tournament when Tanahashi was injured and forced to vacate the title. It could have easily been a short run just to transition back to Tanahashi when he returned, but now that looks not to be the case, and that Nakamura may be defining a title legacy on his own merits here at the end of the year.
2) Bobby Lashley & Sheamus (tie): Dominating performances by each men for their respective promotions vault these two into a tie for second place this week. Lashley bulldozed through Homicide and then definitely got the best of Scott Steiner in a backstage encounter on TNA iMPACT. Sheamus called his shot and fulfilled a promise to hurt Jamie Noble so bad his career would be in jeopardy. This past Raw was everything his debut the previous week should have been but wasn't.
3) Roderick Strong: Defeated Davey Richards at the ROH on HDNet tapings, thus not only gaining entrance into the new Pick 6 Contenders rankings for the ROH World Title, but also being placed in the number one slot and making him the most eligible for a title match. Strong also went over Delirious on an ROH house show in Edison this weekend.
4) Beer Money Inc.
5) Tiger Mask IV
Ryan Byers
1) MsChif
SHIMMER: Women Athletes taped Volumes 27 and 28 of its DVD series this past Sunday night, and the company was also celebrating its fourth anniversary. In the Volume 27 main event, SHIMMER Champion MsChif defended her title successfully against Nikki Roxx. That wasn't too horribly surprising, but then, in the main event of Volume 28, 'Chif was pitted against top contenders LuFisto and Amazing Kong in a three-way dance. It was reportedly a hell of a bout, and MsChif didn't just retain her title. She also became the first person to pin Kong in a SHIMMER ring, which is impressive when you consider the fact that the Amazing one has been with the promotion dating all the way back to Volume 5. This was a great weekend for the champ, especially given the fact that most people who follow the promotion closely didn't expect her to walk out of it with her title reign in tact.
2) Shinsuke Nakamura: This weekend, Nakamura showed us that he's not a paper champion. He successfully defended his IWGP Title over former champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi had to vacate the title when he was injured in a match against Nakamura, and this victory by Shinsuke did a lot to legitimize his title reign.
3) Sheamus: That was the best debut for a new character in quite some time on Monday Night Raw, and it got legitimate heat from a rather large live audience. Hopefully the company is consistent with how they push the big Irishman, because they've laid a good foundation for him.
4) Sara Del Rey
5) Tiger Mask IV
THE Larry Csonka
1) MsChif
SHIMMER taped volumes 27 and 28 of their DVD series this weekend, and the SHIMMER champion, MsCHif, once again dominated the tapings. A title defense in singles action against Nikki Roxx, followed by a defense in a three way over LuFisto and Awesome Kong are very impressive. But more impressive than that is the fact that MsChif became the first person in the history of SHIMMER to pin Awesome Kong. Rock on MsChif.
2) Shinsuke Nakamura: Shinsuke Nakamura has a huge title defense, retaining the IWGP Heavyweight Title by defeating former champion and rival Hiroshi Tanahashi. Many thought he would drop the title to him in this match, which is why he gets love for the defense.
3) Chris Jericho: Chris Jericho, as usual, is a highlight of the week with his appearances on various shows. Jericho, while not always doing huge things, is a quiet MVP for the company, as the shows would be much different without him.
4) Desmond Wolfe
5) Tiger Mask IV
Samuel Berman
1) Shinsuke Nakamura
Retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title over former champion and longtime rival Hiroshi Tanahashi.
2) MsChif: Two successful defenses of the SHIMMER Title.
3) Erick Stevens: Turned heel and joined Prince Nana's Embassy to potentially revitalize his ROH career.
4) Roderick Strong and Delirious (tie)
5) Tiger Mask IV
Michael Bauer
1) MsChif
I don't claim to know much about SHIMMER, but I do know this. Defeating three of the top contenders in one night, regardless of the promotion, is noteworthy. Especially when one of them is Awesome Kong, who has NEVER been pinned in SHIMMER until MsChif accomplished the feat.
2) Shinsuke Nakamura: Proved he was no fluke of a champion by retaining the IWGP Heavyweight Title.
3) Sheamus: I'm still not sold on him as a major factor on Raw, but he's doing pretty good.
4) Roderick Strong
5) Chris Masters (based on pure awesomeness)
Jasper Gerretsen
1) MsChif
MsChif managed to walk away from the last set of SHIMMER tapings still holding her belt, which is an amazing feat considering the fact that in the second title match, she was up against both LuFisto and Amazing Kong, who she actually managed to pin to retain her belt.
2) Shinsuke Nakamura: Nakamura put away his biggest challenger yet in former IWGP title Hiroshi Tanahashi.
3) Roderick Strong: Davey Richards has been on fire lately, going undefeated for almost four months. Strong managed to end that streak.
4) Tiger Mask IV
5) Sara Del Rey
Aaron Hubbard
1) MsChif
Yes, I'm voting for an independent female wrestler. An independent female wrestler representing the only all female promotion in North America as it's champion, and an independent female wrestler who made two successful title defenses in one weekend. Most importantly, I'm voting for an independent female wrestler who pinned Awesome Kong for the first time in SHIMMER history. Don't like? Tough luck.
2) Shinsuke Nakamura: Overall, this was a pretty slow week. Nakamura successfully defended his IWGP championship against top rival Hiroshi Tanahashi, which was probably the most important match of the week.
3) Roderick Strong: Defeated Davey Richards to become the unofficial #1 contender to the ROH World Title. I'm holding out hope that he finally accomplishes this goal this time; his in-ring work is stellar and he has a lot of history with the champion Austin Aries. I want Strong as champ!
4) Chris Jericho
5) Sheamus/Erick Stevens
Chad Nevett
1. MsChif: Two big defenses of the SHIMMER title this weekend, including one that ends with pinning Amazing Kong for the first time in the promotion's history? No one did anything nearly as impressive this week.
2. Shinsuke Nakamura: Retained the IWGP championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi.
3. Chris Jericho: Won a triple threat with John Cena and the Big Show by pinning the WWE champ, beat Finlay, and stood up to the Undertaker unafraid.
4. Roderick Strong
5. Sheamus / Desmond Wolfe (tie)
Jeremy Thomas
1) MsChif
Call me a SHIMMER mark all you want, 'cause it's true and I'm not afraid to say it. Even by non-mark standards, MsChif's weekend was an impressive one. First she defeats Nikki Roxx on the first night of tapings to retain her Shimmer Championship, and then the next night--the night everyone had her pegged to lose it--she retains again against LuFisto and Amazing Kong. She also pinned Kong in the middle of the ring, which is a first for the company and officially makes MsChif THE woman in the company...which I couldn't be happier about.
2) Kofi Kingston: Kofi's push continued this week, and while I half-expected him to get crushed by Orton, he ended up delivering a strong promo on his way to the ring, then going one-on-one with Orton for a few until it turned into a six-man tag and his team got the win against Orton's team. By anyone's definition, Kofi's luck in his feud against Legacy is impressive.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Nakamura defended his IWGP Heavyweight Title successfully against Tanahashi, showing that the company was using him as more than just a guy to store the belt on until the former champion returned.
4) Sheamus
5) AJ Styles/Desmond Wolfe
THE WINNERS~!
Special Mention…Tiger Mask IV - 6 Votes
Fifth Place…Chris Jericho - 8 Votes
Fourth Place…Sheamus - 13 Votes
Third Place…Roderick Strong - 15 Votes
Strong makes a strong case for being the #1 Contender in Ring of Honor by beating Davey Richards and coming in at the top spot of the Pick 6 Rankings.
Second Place…Shinsuke Nakamura - 37 Votes
Nakamura's title reign gained a lot of credibility as he defeats the former champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and remains the IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
Wrestler of the Week…MsChif - 39 Votes
MsChif has another great weekend during the SHIMMER tapings. She defended her title twice, became the first person to pin Kong in SHIMMER, and has our Wrestler of the Week Award on top of it!
Year-End Standings~!
MsChif moves much closer to the top 15 this week and Nakamura, Sheamus, Strong and Tiger Mask all make their debut. Meanwhile, Chris Jericho moves ever closer toward the top spot as he's now in a tie with Rey Mysterio for fourth place. Can he catch Punk, who's been stagnant for several weeks now? Only time will tell!
Let's check out the Year-End Standings!
1. CM Punk – 107 (SmackDown)
2. Jeff Hardy – 85 (US Independent)
3. John Morrison – 70 (SmackDown)
4. Rey Mysterio – 55 (SmackDown)
4. Chris Jericho – 55 (SmackDown)
6. Randy Orton – 52 (RAW)
7. Edge – 49 (SmackDown) {INJURED}
8. AJ Styles – 45 (TNA)
9. The Undertaker – 36 (SmackDown)
10. Davey Richards – 33 (ROH)
10. Eddie Edwards – 33 (ROH)
10. John Cena – 33 (RAW)
Posted By: Jamal (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 12:56 PM
BERRMANNNN!!!
Nakamura FTW!
Posted By: Jamal (Registered) on November 09, 2009 at 01:06 PM
Another joke week from these clowns.
MsChif (Who?) got the top spot. Nothing more needs to be said.
Posted By: Peep (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 01:21 PM
"An independent female wrestler representing the only all female promotion in North America."
What about WSU?
In a quiet week MsChif deserved No.1. I thought she would retain, but never thought she'd pin Kong. Awesome. Btw both Shimmer shows happened the SAME night, not consecutive days as some said.
Posted By: Tim (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 02:09 PM
@ Mr. Gerretsen: Davey wasn't undefeated for four months. He was pinned by Kenny Omega a month ago, just off the top of my head. I'm sure he lost other matches in that time.
Posted By: The REAL MP (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 02:43 PM
Wow - go MsChief. That's awesome--amazing--er, whatever.
Posted By: JMAC (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 02:45 PM
Pardon me assclowns, but did I not defeat both John Cena and Finlay while also standing up to the hobbled "Legend" The Undertaker in the same week and You gave my #1 spot to a women wrestler? There is no lower place then my Fans but the smallest place above belongs to custodians and Divas. You also dare to place a Jap and two Brits above me!?! How dare you Hadji.
Posted By: Lionheart (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 05:22 PM
Worst Wrestler of the Week ever!
Posted By: This Guy! (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 06:32 PM
Props to Bauer for the Masters nod.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 08:38 PM
The fact that Tiger Mask got points while Big Show and Team 3D weren't even mentioned (and NOT for whatever they did on TNA this week) is a fucking crime.
Did the like the random Beer Money appearance, though.
Posted By: B.W.G. (Guest) on November 09, 2009 at 11:42 PM
Inb4 MsChief becomes the first womens wrestler in the top 15 EVA...
(I think)
Posted By: Miz fan (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 12:17 AM
Inb4 MsChief becomes the first womens wrestler in the top 15 EVA...
(I think)
--------------------------------------
I highly doubt it seeing as SHIMMER doesn't tape any more volumes until Spring due to travel issues during the winter.
Posted By: Guest#4020 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 06:01 AM
Ok, I think I get it. Indy wrestling like Shimmer and Japanese wrestling such as IWGP (which I'm sure everyone who voted for this guy watched at home) are neither going to be making it to television in these United States anytime soon. So therefore shouldn't all WWE & TNA house show matches be taken into consideration for the voting?
Posted By: Jake Fury (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 08:58 AM
how come MsChif isnt in TNA? she is one of the top 5 womens wrestlers i have ever seen and TNA seems to be interested in great wrestlers. i understand she doesnt have the look to be in WWE but both federations are missing out big...
Jericho was the class of the major leagues this week. Pretty much like every other week...i think he is being overlooked for consistently being the best thing on TV.
Posted By: nomar34 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 09:54 AM
Slow week?
Posted By: Guest#3992 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 11:12 AM
how come MsChif isnt in TNA? she is one of the top 5 womens wrestlers i have ever seen and TNA seems to be interested in great wrestlers. i understand she doesnt have the look to be in WWE but both federations are missing out big...
Posted By: nomar34 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 09:54 AM
From reading interviews with MsChif on that topic, she's not in TNA or WWE because she doesn't want to be in TNA or WWE.
She has a day job that she loves which also pays as good or better than what she'd get as a female wrestler in the big leagues. She's perfectly content working that job full-time and being a wrestler on a part-time basis.
Posted By: Ryan Bias (Registered) on November 10, 2009 at 01:14 PM
how come MsChif isnt in TNA? she is one of the top 5 womens wrestlers i have ever seen and TNA seems to be interested in great wrestlers. i understand she doesnt have the look to be in WWE but both federations are missing out big...
Posted By: nomar34 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 09:54 AM
From reading interviews with MsChif on that topic, she's not in TNA or WWE because she doesn't want to be in TNA or WWE.
She has a day job that she loves which also pays as good or better than what she'd get as a female wrestler in the big leagues. She's perfectly content working that job full-time and being a wrestler on a part-time basis.
Posted By: Ryan Bias (Registered) on November 10, 2009 at 01:14 PM
*******
MsChif is essentially the real life Abby Scuito! Except she doesn't work in forensics, but micro-biology.
Posted By: Berenstein Von Raschke (Registered) on November 10, 2009 at 01:43 PM
It's funny, if i want to find out about the nobodies that most wrestling fans have never heard of and who don't affect the business at all, I only have to check out this column. I don't know why I ever expect to see anything different.
Posted By: Gothmad (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 01:44 PM
"It's funny, if i want to find out about the nobodies that most wrestling fans have never heard of and who don't affect the business at all, I only have to check out this column. I don't know why I ever expect to see anything different."
Its about which wrestler would be having the best week dumbass, not which wrestler is most known. Not to mention when your a wrestler who makes this big of an impact on the list it means you will become someone who is known.
Posted By: Tom (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 05:25 PM
It's funny, if i want to find out about the nobodies that most wrestling fans have never heard of and who don't affect the business at all, I only have to check out this column. I don't know why I ever expect to see anything different.
Posted By: Gothmad (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 01:44 PM
-------------------------------------
Yes, educate yourself.
Posted By: Guest#2804 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 05:59 PM
Evan Bourne - 3
Triple H - 2
Yup, these wrestler of the week standings are really legit.
Posted By: Guest#3450 (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 09:57 PM
I'm usually a fan of this column but this week's winner forced my hand.
Shimmer admitted a 'sell out' crowd of 220 for this set of tapings. 220 fans..... I'm sorry but how can the wrestler of the week be working in front of 220 fans and a small DVD market.
On the other hand WWE, TNA and NJPW (this week's consensus top 5) work in front of far more fans live and on TV, PPV, etc.
Shimmer is a niche product. In no way or form should a win, regardless of how dominating, be put over a top level promotions push. My vote for #1 would go to Nakamura.
Posted By: Matthias Koster (Guest) on November 10, 2009 at 10:30 PM
regardless of the attendence, a clean pin over Kong is better than anything else this week, and Chif looks better than any of those interchangable WWE/TNA blondes....
Posted By: oldschool4life (Guest) on December 01, 2009 at 06:41 PM
