411s Wrestler of the Week 01.25.10: Week 43
Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 01.25.2010
Dragon Gate USA's Pay-Per-View tapings result in great matches, the Straight Edge Society grows, TNA has their own Screwjob 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 43, 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) BxB Hulk
Retained the Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate title against Dragon Kid in the main even of DGUSA's fourth PPV taping, held this weekend in Chicago.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: Won the three-team elimination match at the DGUSA show over Young Bucks (Generation Me) and the heel tandem of SHINGO and YAMATO--best match of the night according to numerous sources I trust and that's good enough for me to place it second, below the Hulk title retention.
3) Kofi Kingston: Somewhat rehabbed his recent loses and de-push by winning a higher profile tag team match on Raw pairing up with John Cena against Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes.
4) AJ Styles
5) CM Punk
Chad Nevett
1) BxB Hulk
Retained the Open the Freedom Gate Championship at Dragon Gate USA's PPV taping on Saturday against Dragon Kid. I can't wait to see this match when the PPV is released on DVD since both Hulk and Dragon Kid are fantastic in-ring performers.
2) Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino: This pair won a three-way elimination match at the Dragon Gate USA taping against the Young Bucks/Generation Me and Shingo & Yamato, and, as Ari said, apparently put on the best match of the night (which is always saying something with Dragon Gate USA).
3) Davey Richards: Won the FIP World Championship on Saturday night against Masaki Mochizuki.
4) AJ Styles
5) John Morrison / Chris Jericho (tie)
Samuel Berman
1) BxB Hulk
A successful defense of the Open the Freedom Gate Championship.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: Win a crucial three-way elimination tag match.
3) Davey Richards: Defeats Masaaki Mochizuki to regain the FIP World Heavyweight Title.
4) Chris Jericho
5) CM Punk
The Cleric Larry Csonka
1) BxB Hulk
BxB Hulk successfully defended the Open The Freedom Gate Title against Dragon Kid at the recent Dragon Gate USA PPV tapings. Hulk is the man right now for the company, and deserves some attention for defending his title.
2) AJ Styles: The heel turn of AJ Styles is not something that everyone likes, but I feel that this week he did a most excellent job both in the ring, and also trying to get into his new gimmick. The rehashed poor man's Montreal sucked, but Styles has been delivering week in and week out and has been one of the main highlights on Impact. It's about time that AJ got featured like this.
3) CM Punk: CM Punk's dirty hippy Jesus gimmick has been money as of late, and this week's performance with "Serena" was excellent. The guy is one of the main reasons for me to watch Smackdown these days.
4) Davey Richards
5) Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino
Ryan Byers
1) CM Punk & Serena Deeb
Maybe I'm just not watching enough Smackdown for my own good, but I thought that Punk and Deeb were responsible for the most entertaining WWE segments of the young new year. In a week without that many major accomplishments being made, I'll often default to who delivered the most entertaining segment of the week, and, in this case, the Straight Edgers get my vote.
2) Yoshihiro Takayama & Takuma Sano: Takayama and Sano are your winners of the NOAH Global Tag League tournament, defeating a team in the finals which included reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura.
3) BxB Hulk - I'm normally not a big fan of voting for title retention for title wins, especially for the first defense of a title reign, which is almost always a retention. However, it's been a pretty slow week, so we'll give the nod to Hulk here.
4) Minoru Suzuki
5) Shawn Michaels
Jeremy Thomas
1) Serena Deeb
In a pretty slow week overall, I'm giving Serena the nod for getting her call up to the dance. Serena did a great job in her segment with CM Punk and Luke Gallows on SmackDown, and sacrificed her hair in order to get on Friday Nights. I'm excited to see what the former SHIMMER star can bring to the Divas and SmackDown just pulled even further ahead of Raw in terms of their Women's Division.
2) A.J. Styles: His heel turn is certainly a new direction for the Phenomenal One, and I don't know if I like it yet. However, he was part of the TV match of the week (Olrando Screwjob moment aside) and defeated Kurt Angle once again to stay on top of TNA. Will it last? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
3) Angelina Love: Yes, I am giving the ladies some love this week. It's been a slow week, what can I say? Anyway, Love made her in-ring redebut with TNA, handily defeating Madison Rayne. It wasn't the greatest match, but it was a very solid way to bring her back and put her over strongly.
4) CM Punk/Kofi Kingston
5) BxB Hulk
THE WINNERS~!
Special Mention Kofi Kingston - 5 Votes
Fifth Place Davey Richards - 8 Votes
Fourth Place Serena Deeb - 10 Votes
Third Place CM Punk & AJ Styles - 12 Votes
Punk continues to add to his Straight Edge Society with a great segment on SmackDown, while AJ Styles's heel turn is in full effect amidst a good match with Kurt Angle--albeit with an iffy ending.
Second Place Masato Yoshino & Naruki Doi - 13 Votes
Doi and Yoshino make a great showing at the DG-USA PPV Taping, beating the Young Bucks and Shingo & Yamato.
Wrestler of the Week BxB Hulk - 24 Votes
The Other Hulk retains his title at the DG-USA tapings, beating Dragon Kid and further solidifying his position as The Man of Dragon Gate America.
Year-End Standings~!
CM Punk manages to keep his ground against AJ Styles as both men gain six points to stay atop the charts; meanwhile Naruki Doi and Davey Richards enter the top 15 and Kofi moves into sole possession of twelfth place. BxB Hulk jumps up to be within Top 15 striking distance, and Yoshino and Deeb make their debuts on the list. There's less than ten weeks to go, and it's a close race at the top still! Who will take home the top prize?
Let's check out the Year-End Standings!
1. CM Punk 122 (SmackDown)
2. AJ Styles 114 (TNA)
3. Jeff Hardy 85 (TNA)
4. Rey Mysterio 85 (SmackDown)
5. John Morrison 70 (SmackDown)
6. Chris Jericho 55 (SmackDown)
7. Randy Orton 53 (RAW)
7. John Cena 53 (RAW)
9. Edge 49 (SmackDown) {INJURED}
10. Kurt Angle 46 (TNA)
11. The Undertaker 42 (SmackDown)
11. Naruki Doi - 42 (Dragon Gate)
Ryouji Sai - 9 (ZERO1) Player Dos - 9 (CHIKARA) Mistico - 9 (CMLL) The Big Show 9 (RAW) Bobby Lashley 9 (TNA) Roderick Strong - 9 (ROH) Bret Hart 9 (RAW)
Yoshinobu Kanemura - 7 (NOAH)
Matt Hardy 6 (SmackDown) Chris Hero - 6 (US Independent) Satoshi Kojima - 6 (AJPW) Giant Bernard - 6 (NJPW) Karl Anderson - 6 (NJPW) Yoshi Tatsu 6 (ECW) Serena 6 (SmackDown)
Hamada 5 (TNA)
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) Eric Young 3 (TNA) Eric Escobar 3 (SmackDown) Doug Williams 3 (TNA) Brutus Magnus 3 (TNA) Yujiro Takahashi - 3 (CMLL) Mickie James 3 (SmackDown) Jun Kasai - 3 (Big Japan)
Posted By: Jamal (Registered) on January 25, 2010 at 04:42 PM
I realize not a whole lot of not happened in WWE or TNA last week (besides AJ's rebirth as a Nature Boy and title defense), but is being the champion of a still little-known wrestling company THAT big of a deal? Who the heck is BxB Hulk?
Posted By: thegoat (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 04:53 PM
To those of you who voted for Deeb, did you vote for Roxxi when she had her hair cut on PPV?
Posted By: Guest#2664 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:03 PM
R-Truth deserved some love. He did pin Jericho.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:07 PM
It's a safe bet that AJ will manage to beat Punk by the time the voting ends, since he's the World Champ of his company and Punk is just a midcarder on the B-show of his. AJ has much better chance of being featured prominently, main eventing, winning high caliber matches etc. Good thing Punk had FINALLY managed to at least grab a few points, he hadn't had any for a couple of months now...
Posted By: JK (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:49 PM
Lets tears of the "mainstream" marks flow...
Posted By: Guest#6743 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:49 PM
....Bksb Hulk??? Yeah, Dragon Gate!!!
Posted By: Guest#7830 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:54 PM
You might as well remove Hardy as TNA. Not only is it not kayfabe official but he won't do anything for TNA before Wrestlemania.
Posted By: Guest#1861 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:55 PM
VINTAGE BERMAN!
Posted By: Cole Slaw (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:56 PM
Somebody tell me what in GOD's name is a BXB HULK?
Posted By: TELL ME!!! (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 06:27 PM
Just curious, how is BxB Hulk announced coming into the ring, BXB, or B times B, B vs B, Bill X Bixby Hulk. I'll have to look him up on youtube. Thinking about it, name can't be worse than HHH.
Posted By: piperfan01 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 06:48 PM
To those of you who voted for Deeb, did you vote for Roxxi when she had her hair cut on PPV?
Posted By: Guest#2664 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:03 PM
No, because it wasn't her first appearance in the biggest wrestling company on the planet.
Just curious, how is BxB Hulk announced coming into the ring, BXB, or B times B, B vs B, Bill X Bixby Hulk. I'll have to look him up on youtube. Thinking about it, name can't be worse than HHH.
Posted By: piperfan01 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 06:48 PM
It's pronounced "B.B. Hulk," like "B.B. King."
Posted By: Ryan Bias (Registered) on January 25, 2010 at 07:12 PM
bxb hulk is pronouced b.b. the x is like in the emo scremo style of a . even though oddly bxb hulk is neither
Posted By: the saint (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 07:17 PM
BxB Hulk is a great wrestler, but the PPV hasnt aired yet, so people are voting for him when they havent even seen the match yet? Maybe it was a very sloppy match, unworthy for a champion. But we dont know, because only the people who attended the taping saw the match. So, it's kinda silly to include him in this list.
Posted By: James (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 08:28 PM
I like how all AJ did was be involved in a god awful promo (Seriously he looked TERRRIBLE doing the Nature Boy impression) and in a terrible match ending (Why on Earth would TNA do a Montreal finish months after WWE did it and with Bret Hart going to be featured heavily on RAW?) and he still gets mentioned.
Punk could win the Royal Rumble, the Elimination Chamber, and beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania and you guys would STILL make sure AJ won. I mean jeez...
Posted By: Guest#0284 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 10:33 PM
It's unlikely you'll have to move him in the rankings but you still have Eric Escobar down as a Smackdown! talent
Posted By: Jonberg (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 11:14 PM
BxB Hulk got his name from Magnum Tokyo, I don't think anyone expect him knows what he meant.
Posted By: verdu (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 07:10 AM
A tie for Punk and Styles? Is this a joke?
Punk segment completely blew Styles one our of the water. All Styles did was copy Ric Flair.
You people can't stand that Punk is better than your indie darling.
Posted By: Guest#6437 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 09:22 AM
Thomas and Csonka have Styles at #2. What a joke.
Posted By: Guest#1851 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 09:30 AM
It's a safe bet that AJ will manage to beat Punk by the time the voting ends, since he's the World Champ of his company and Punk is just a midcarder on the B-show of his. AJ has much better chance of being featured prominently, main eventing, winning high caliber matches etc. Good thing Punk had FINALLY managed to at least grab a few points, he hadn't had any for a couple of months now...
---
LOL. TNA fans are really delusional.
Styles works for an third rate organization. Punk works for the WWE, the largest wrestling organization in the world.
Being a jobber in WWE will always being better than being a joke champion in TNA. That TNA belt means nothing. Nobody gives a shit about it.
High caliber matches? You mean the one where they just go through the motions and kick out of every finisher imaginable?
Suck it TNA marks. Styles wishes he could be 1/4 as successful as Punk.
LOL TNA
Posted By: Guest#1767 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 09:36 AM
"To those of you who voted for Deeb, did you vote for Roxxi when she had her hair cut on PPV?
Posted By: Guest#2664 (Guest) on January 25, 2010 at 05:03 PM"
This story is much better than the one with Roxxi and TBP. The Straight Edge Society has really refreshed Punk and Gallows charactors. I hope with all of the tension going on between HBK and HHH, Punk and Gallows win the Unified Tag Championship.
Posted By: mogamer (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 10:57 AM
"Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe"
Bahahaha, look where he is now.
Posted By: Guest#9091 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 02:03 PM
I took a crap. That means more than Bob Hulk beating the Taliban.
Posted By: John Cena (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 03:54 PM
I knew before I even clicked on this that all the pathetic, socially inept nerd writers (i.e. all of them) would be voting for that Dragon Gate douche as No.1. Who the fuck is BxB Hulk? A fucking nobody, that's who, carrying a worthless title in a worthless promotion full of other worthless nobodies. Seriously, how many people were in the audience for that Dragon Gate PPV? 10? 11 maybe? What an absolutely meaningless fed.
Between bullshit like this, and openly giving votes to one of your own staff members last week for his meaningless high school gym title victory ("Massive Q"? Get the fuck out of here Sforcina, you fucking nobody), this column as a concept has officially jumped the shark and landed in a massive swirling toilet bowl full of shit. You might as well scrap this shit after this year ends.
Posted By: David (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 04:20 PM
It's a safe bet that AJ will manage to beat Punk by the time the voting ends, since he's the World Champ of his company and Punk is just a midcarder on the B-show of his. AJ has much better chance of being featured prominently, main eventing, winning high caliber matches etc. Good thing Punk had FINALLY managed to at least grab a few points, he hadn't had any for a couple of months now...
---
LOL. TNA fans are really delusional.
Styles works for an third rate organization. Punk works for the WWE, the largest wrestling organization in the world.
Being a jobber in WWE will always being better than being a joke champion in TNA. That TNA belt means nothing. Nobody gives a shit about it.
High caliber matches? You mean the one where they just go through the motions and kick out of every finisher imaginable?
Suck it TNA marks. Styles wishes he could be 1/4 as successful as Punk.
LOL TNA
Posted By: Guest#1767 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 09:36 AM
Dear "Guest", if you bothered to actually read my comment before jumping to "LOL", you'd see that I actually agree with you on all those points. AJ will win over CM Punk exactly because he is a big fish in a small pond and will get points just for being on top of his show, while Punk sadly won't have an opportunity to keep ahead of him and that show and that belt and those matches will be enough for people voting to score AJ points every week. And I am a fan of Punk, not TNA. Hope that's not too much info for you to take at once. "LOL".
Posted By: JK (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 06:07 PM
"Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe"
Bahahaha, look where he is now.
Posted By: Guest#9091 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 02:03 PM
And look who's the Year One winner! A damn retired manager!
Posted By: Guest#7427 (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 06:08 PM
I knew before I even clicked on this that all the pathetic, socially inept nerd writers (i.e. all of them) would be voting for that Dragon Gate douche as No.1. Who the fuck is BxB Hulk? A fucking nobody, that's who, carrying a worthless title in a worthless promotion full of other worthless nobodies. Seriously, how many people were in the audience for that Dragon Gate PPV? 10? 11 maybe? What an absolutely meaningless fed.
Posted By: David (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 04:20 PM
_______________________________________
As hilarious as it is to read comments like 'John Cena's on a weekly basis, this notion many commenters on here have concerning the props given to indy and foreign talents perturbs me.
If you're a fan of music, if you write about music, are you only supposed to like or report on musicians who have platinum-selling albums? Or have sold out 30,000+ arenas?
Is your credibility as a music fan tarnished if you listen to music that doesn't top the Billboard charts? Is the quality of an Animal Collective eclipsed by a Lady Gaga in terms of musical talent?
It seems rather odd that you people regard smaller companies as inferior when it comes to *wrestling* merely because they're not broadcasting in HD, being presented by that guy from that show.
I mean, if you're more *entertainment* fans than *wrestling* fans, I suppose I can understand. But why fucking care about 'Wrestler of the Week' if all you want to see are skits and cleavage?
Posted By: Chungles (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 08:19 PM
BxB Hulk. Sounds made up. Stop lying to me 411.
Posted By: Sink (Guest) on January 26, 2010 at 09:00 PM
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