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411’s Wrestler of the Week 12.07.09: Week 36

December 7, 2009 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Welcome to Week 36, 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

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~!
Ryan Byers
1) Takashi Sugiura
In the wake of Mitsuhara Misawa’s death earlier this year, Pro Wrestling NOAH’s top title, the GHC Heavyweight Championship, was put around the waist of young up-and-coming star Go Shiozaki. It looked like Shiozaki was going to be the face of the company for the foreseeable future with its top star outside of Kenta Kobashi having just passed away. However, in what has to be considered a bit of an upset, Takashi Sugiura defeated Go this weekend in order to take the GHC Title away from Shiozaki. It will be interesting to see where the company goes from this point forward, as the victory by Sugiura appears to be a bit of an about face from the direction that the promotion was headed in just a few months ago.

2) Keiji Mutoh & Masakatsu Funaki: The Real World Tag League of All Japan is one of the most prestigious – if not the most prestigious – tournament in professional wrestling history. This year’s edition had a bit of a unique story to it because numerous teams had to withdraw when their members contracted a severe influenza. With the field narrowed somewhat by health issues, the veteran team of Keiji Mutoh & Masakatsu Funaki was able to steal the victory this week, giving Mutoh is third RWTL win and Funaki his first.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Nakamura became IWGP Heavyweight Champion a few months ago, essentially on a fluke as a new titleholder was needed due to an injury to Hiroshi Tanahashi. Originally I figured that Nakamura would be a short-term champ, just holding the belt until Tanahashi was healed up. However, Nakamura defeated Tanahashi in their rematch for the belt. This week, Shinsuke extended his reign by overcoming the challenge of veteran Yuji Nagata, fully cementing him as somebody that NJPW has full confidence in to carry the promotion for quite some time.
4) Takeshi Rikio & Mohammed Yone
5) Billiken Kid

ARI
1) Takashi Sugiura
Ousts Go Shiozaki as GHC Heavyweight Champion and becomes the current face of Pro Wrestling NOAH.

2) Mickie James: Won the number-one contendership for the WWE Women’s Title by upending Beth Phoenix and Natalia in a three-way match, which was pretty damned good actually.Also got a taste of payback on Layla and Michelle McCool in the same segment on Smackdown.
3) Triple H: Defeats Chris Jericho in the main event of Raw and ends up giving D-X a significant advantage for next week’s show as the build to the TLC match for the tag titles continues onward.
4) Shinsuke Nakamura
5) Drew McIntyre

Chad Nevett
1) Takashi Sugiura
A big win to become the new GHC Heavyweight Champion and man to beat in Pro Wrestling NOAH.

2) Drew McIntyre: Defeated John Morrison in a non-title match that went over two segments on Smackdown to show that McIntyre isn’t just cheap beatings and lots of talk.
3) Mickie James: Won a triple threat match against two superior wrestlers and held her own throughout the match quite well.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Triple H

THE Larry Csonka
1) Takashi Sugiura
Defeated Go Shiozaki to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship, which is the top title for NOAH. It seemed that Go Shiozaki was going to be the new face of the company, but the victory by Takashi Sugiura seems to have changed that direction. This was a huge victory for Sugiura and easily takes the top spot with me.

2) Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki: Won the Real World Tag League of All Japan, which is one of the most prestigious tournaments in pro wrestling. While the swine flu tried to play havoc on the tournament, Keiji Mutoh earns his third Real World Tag League title.
3) Mickie James: Defeated Nayalya and Beth Phoenix in a solid match to become the #1 contender for the WWE Women’s Title.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Drew McIntyre

Samuel Berman
1) Takashi Sugiura
Bested Go Shiozaki to win the GHC Heavyweight Title and become the top man for Pro Wrestling NOAH.

2) Shinsuke Nakamura: Retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title over former title holder Yuji Nagata.
3) Keiji Mutoh & Matsakatsu Funaki: Won the Real World Tag League in AJPW.
4) Takeshi Rikio and Mohammed Yone (tie)
5) BxB Hulk

Michael Bauer
1) Takashi Sugiura
Absolutly nothing happened in the States this week, so we look overseas. Takashi Sugiura beat Go Shiozaki for the GHC Heavyweight Title. It is the biggest title change in Japan this week, so he gets my vote.

2) Keiji Mutoh & Masakatsu Funaki: Winning one of the most prestigious tournaments in pro wrestling, yeah, that works.
3) Masaaki Mochizuki: In a shocker, he beat Davey Richards for the FIP Title.
4) Drew McIntyre
5) Shinsuke Nakamura

Aaron Hubbard
1) Takashi Sugiura
Defeated Go Shiozaki to when the GHC Heavyweight Championship, ending Go Shiozaki’s near six-month reign at the top of NOAH. Even if this wasn’t a slow week in the states, winning NOAH’s top prize is worthy of note among any unbiased wrestling fan.

2) Keiji Mutoh & Masakatsu Funaki: The veteran duo won All Japan’s Real World Tag League, one of the most important and prestigious tag title tournaments in the world.
3) Drew McIntyre: You can argue booking or whether Drew is worthy of the push, but this column isn’t about whether something is the right decision or not. McIntyre defeated John Morrison in a very good match on Smackdown!, and looks to be the heir to Morrison’s IC Title.
4) Shinsuke Nakamura
5) Triple H

Jasper Gerretsen
1) Takashi Sugiura
Ended Go Shiozaki’s six month reign as GHC heavyweight champion to become the new top dog in Pro Wrestling NOAH, in a passing of the torch from one NOAH dojo student to the other.

2) Keiji Mutoh & Masakatsu Funaki: The team of Keiji Mutoh and Masakutsu Funaki might have benefited from the swine flu epidemic, but they still won one of the oldest and most prestigious tag team tournaments in the world.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Beat veteran Yuji Nagata to retain his IWGP heavyweight championship
4) Drew McIntyre
5) Austin Aries

Jeremy Thomas
1) Takashi Sugiura
Sugiura is NOAH’s new top champion after dethroning Go Shiozaki, which is a big title change and a huge lift for the man’s career. That really does make him the easy choice for the top spot in an otherwise very slow week.

2) Drew McIntyre: McIntyre actually wrestled for once, and he got a big, relatively clean non-title win against John Morrison to assumedly set up their title feud. McIntyre looked good and the match was very nice; it looks like Drew might have that potential we’ve all been hearing about.
3) Mickie James: Mickie may not have been in the greatest match this week (by far), but she did become the Number One contender to the Women’s Title by outlasting and defeating Beth Phoenix and Natalya, then she refused to back down from Michelle and Layla. After all the “Piggie James” bullshit, this angle finally seems to be going somewhere.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Triple H


THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Triple H – 7 Votes
  • Fifth Place…Mickie James – 13 Votes
  • Fourth Place…Shinsuke Nakamura – 15 Votes
  • Third Place…Drew McIntyre – 17 Votes

    McIntyre beats John Morrison to toss himself at the forefront of the Intercontinental Title hunt.

  • Second Place…Keiji Mutoh and Masakatsu Funaki – 23 Votes

    Mutoh and Funaki win the Real World Tag League in All-Japan to place second this week.

  • Wrestler of the Week…Takashi Sugiura – 45 Votes

    With a GHC Heavyweight Title win over Go Shiozaki, Sugiura gets the ball to run with for NOAH and becomes our Wrestler of the Week!

    Year-End Standings~!

    No big moves in the rankings this week, but lots of debuts as Sugiura, Mutoh, Funaki, Drew McIntyre and James all make their first appearances this year. Shinsuke Nakamura moves up a bit in the middle rungs of the rankings, while the Game gains another point to move further away from the bottom. There’s only four months left to go; can anyone catch CM Punk?

    Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!

    1. CM Punk – 113 (SmackDown)

    2. Jeff Hardy – 85 (US Independent)

    3. John Morrison – 70 (SmackDown)

    4. AJ Styles – 60 (TNA)

    5. Rey Mysterio – 55 (SmackDown)
    5. Chris Jericho – 55 (SmackDown)

    7. Randy Orton – 52 (RAW)

    8. Edge – 49 (SmackDown) {INJURED}

    9. John Cena – 45 (RAW)

    10. The Undertaker – 42 (SmackDown)

    11. Kofi Kingston – 36 (Raw)

    12. Samoa Joe – 34 (TNA)

    13. Davey Richards – 33 (ROH)
    13. Eddie Edwards – 33 (ROH)

    15. Ted DiBiase – 32 (RAW)
    15. Desmond Wolfe – 32 (TNA)

    Tyler Black – 31 (ROH)

    Batista – 30 (SmackDown)

    Christian – 29 (ECW)

    Kurt Angle – 28 (TNA)

    Naruki Doi – 27 (Dragon Gate)
    JTG – 27 (SmackDown)
    Brian Danielson – 27 (WWE)

    Jerry Lynn – 24 (ROH)

    Sheamus – 22 (Raw)

    Mitsuharu Misawa – 21 (NOAH) {DECEASED}
    MsChif – 21 (SHIMMER)

    Austin Aries – 19 (ROH)

    Sting – 18 (TNA)
    Go Shiozaki – 18 (NOAH)
    Daniels – 18 (TNA)
    Hulk Hogan – 18 (TNA)
    Shinsuke Nakamura – 18 (NJPW)

    Cody Rhodes – 16 (RAW)
    Mark Henry – 16 (RAW)
    Shawn Michaels – 16 (RAW)

    The Miz – 16 (Raw)

    Mick Foley – 15 (TNA)
    Montel Vontavious Porter – 15 (RAW)
    Manabu Nakanishi – 15 (NOAH)
    Togi Makabe – 15 (NOAH)
    Hernandez – 15 (TNA)
    Dolph Ziggler – 15 (SmackDown)
    Bison Smith – 15 (NOAH)
    Takashia Sugiura – 15 (NOAH)

    Pinky Sanchez – 12 (CHIKARA)
    Minoru Suzuki – 12 (All Japan)
    Brother Devon – 12 (TNA)
    Brother Ray – 12 (TNA)
    The Amazing Red – 12 (TNA)
    Bison Smith – 15 (NOAH)
    Tommy Dreamer – 12 (ECW)
    Hiroshi Tanahashi – 12 (New Japan)
    Shad – 12 (SmackDown)
    Zach Ryder – 12 (ECW)
    Shingo Takagi – 12 (Dragon Gate)
    YAMATO – 12 (Dragon’s Gate)
    BxB Hulk – 12 (Dragon’s Gate)
    Keiji Mutoh – 12 (AJPW)
    Masakatsu Funaki – 12 (AJPW)
    Kenny Omega – 12 (US Independent)

    Soldier Ant – 10 (CHIKARA)
    Fire Ant – 10 (CHIKARA)

    Delirious – 9 (ROH)
    Jack Swagger – 9 (RAW)
    Masato Tanaka – 9 (ZERO1)
    Homicide – 9 (TNA)
    Nick Jackson – 9 (US Independent)
    Matt Jackson – 9 (US Independent)
    Ryouji Sai – 9 (ZERO1)
    Player Dos – 9 (CHIKARA)
    Mistico – 9 (CMLL)
    The Big Show – 9 (RAW)
    Bobby Lashley – 9 (TNA)
    Drew McIntyre – 9 (SmackDown)
    Roderick Strong – 9 (ROH)

    Matt Hardy – 6 (SmackDown)
    Chris Hero – 6 (US Independent)
    Satoshi Kojima – 6 (AJPW)
    Yoshinobu Kanemura – 6 (NOAH)
    Giant Bernard – 6 (NJPW)
    Karl Anderson – 6 (NJPW)

    Dr. Wagner Jr. – 4 (AAA)

    Evan Bourne – 3 (Raw)
    Ken Anderson – 3 (US Independent)
    Tara – 3 (TNA)
    Booker T – 3 (TNA)
    Alex Shelley – 3 (TNA)
    Chris Sabin – 3 (TNA)
    Scott Steiner – 3 (TNA)
    Tajiri – 3 (HUSTLE)
    Tyson Kidd – 3 (SmackDown)
    Hamada – 3 (TNA)
    Eric Young – 3 (TNA)
    Eric Escobar – 3 (SmackDown)
    Doug Williams – 3 (TNA)
    Brutus Magnus – 3 (TNA)
    Yujiro Takahashi – 3 (CMLL)
    Mickie James – 3 (SmackDown)
    Triple H – 3 (Raw)

    Ricky Steamboat– 2 (WWE)

    Portia Perez – 1 (SHIMMER)
    Nicole Mathews – 1 (SHIMMER)
    Ryo Saito – 1 (Dragon Gate)
    Genki Horiguchi – 1 (Dragon Gate)
    Michelle McCool – 1 (SmackDown)
    Atsushi Aoki – 1 (NOAH)
    Kota Ibushi – 1 (NOAH)
    Seth Green – 1 (US Independent)
    Yoshinobu Kanemaru – 1 (NOAH)
    Kotaro Suzuki – 1 (NOAH)
    Vince McMahon – 1 (WWE)
    Brian Kendrick – 1 (US Independent)
    Tiger Mask IV- 1 (NJPW)
    Shelton Benjamin – 1 (ECW)

  • 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.



    **PREVIOUS WINNERS**

    Year One Winner: Ric Flair – 62 Points (Only 27 voting weeks)


    Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe – 122 Points


    Year Three Winner: John Cena – 123 Points


    Year Four Winner: Chris Jericho – 138 Points

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

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