wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 02.15.10: Week 46

February 15, 2010 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Welcome to Week 46, 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~!
Chad Nevett
1) “The Pope” D’Angelo Dinero
After earning a shot in the 8-Card Stud Tournament by beating Orlando Jordan on Impact, the Pope went on to win the tournament by beating Desmond Wolfe, Matt Morgan, and Mr. Anderson to earn a shot against AJ Styles for the world belt. Definitely impressive.

2) Tyler Black: Won the ROH World Title from Austin Aries in a match that people didn’t hate nearly as much as expected.
3) Mr. Anderson: Made it to the finals of the 8-Card Stud Tournament.
4) Big Show / Miz (tie)
5) AJ Styles

Aaron Hubbard
1) Tyler Black
We have a new Ring of Honor World Champion as Black finally wins the big one. The expected Backlash from ROH’s ever-fickle audience has already started, but Black is the champion of the third largest wrestling company in America, and won back the adoration of the New York City Crowd in the process. Congratulations Mr. Black.

2) D’Angelo Dinero: He’s a the freaking Pope! And now, he main evented a TNA PPV, upsetting Mr. Anderson to win the 8-Card Stud or some random lame name. Anyway, three big wins and the #1 contender position would be enough to put Dinero at #1 if it weren’t for Black’s win.
3) The Miz & Big Show: Defeated D-Generation X and The Straight-Edge Society to become new unified tag team champions, likely giving them something to do at ‘Mania (MVP-Henry perhaps?) and making Miz a double champion.
4) Davey Richards
5) Rey Mysterio

ARI
1) The MizShow
Big Show found a new tag partner after losing the ability to team with Chris Jericho. Turns out he and The Miz are just as AWESOME together as his former partnership. This week they win the WWE Unified Tag Team championship in a three way elimination match on Raw and unseat DeGeneration-X, which is a very big deal in and of itself.

2) Tyler Black: Wins the ROH World Title in one hell of a main event battle during Eighth Anniversary Show in New York. Black shut up or converted many detractors that night and had the crowd in a frenzy for his championship win. That’s a successful night and a taste of redemption for Black AND Ring of Honor.
3) The Pope D’Angelo Dinero: Goes over four mid-carders (one on iMPACT, three last night on PPV) and wins the 8-Card Stud Tournament. Main eventing Against All Odds PPV and a guaranteed main event title match against AJ Styles (or whomever is TNA Champion) in April shows that TNA has a serious desire to feature The Pope as a superstar for their product.
4) CM Punk / Rey Mysterio (tie)
5) Chris Jericho

Larry Csonka
1) Pope D’Angelo Dinero
Pope D’Angelo Dinero takes the top spot from me this week. He got his win back over Orlando Jordan, and then went into Against All Odds and defeated Desmond Wolfe, Matt Morgan and Ken Anderson to earn a shot at the TNA World Title. That’s one hell of a week, and as we all know, POPE IS PIMPIN!

2) Show-Miz: The Big Show and The Miz won the Unified Tag Team Titles on Raw, defeating The Straight Edge Society and DX. Can they become as good as Jeri-Show? Time will tell…
3) Tyler Black: Tyler Black finally won the ROH Title at the company’s eighth anniversary show over the weekend. It has been a long time coming, and now Black has the ball and will have the chance to run with it.
4) AJ Styles
5) Rey Mysterio

JT
1) AJ Styles
Sorry but AJ had a big night himself. He continues to capture interest with his apparent transition into the next “Nature Boy”. Tonight he successfully defended his title against a red hot (and unimpressed) Samoe Joe in a pretty long MOTN candidate. He is still the TNA champ and this gimmick has sparked more interest than several of its predecessors.

2) Pope D’Angelo Dinero: As its been said, he had a great night to finish out his week and grabbed a main event win at a PPV to earn a shot at the aforementioned AJ Styles’ title.
3) Mr. Anderson: He basically had the exact same night Dinero did only he came up on the losing side of the main event.
4) Tyler Black
5) The Miz Show or however you’d like to word it.

Samuel Berman
1) Tyler Black
Defeats Austin Aries to become the thirteenth Ring of Honor World Champion.

2) D’Angelo Dinero: Won the 8-Card Stud Tournament.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title over Manabu Nakanishi.
4) AJ Styles
5) CIMA & Gamma

Shawn S. Lealos
1) D’Angelo Dinero
He beat one half of the World Tag Team Champions, avenged his losses to Orlando Jordan and Desmond Wolfe, and gave Mr. Anderson his first loss since coming to TNA. He is now the number one contender to A.J. Styles’ world title – a man he beat two weeks ago. This is how you build a star.

2) Tyler Black: Too little, too late? Who cares. He is the new ROH Champion.
3) A.J. Styles: People bitch about the “old guys” in TNA but in the first two PPVs of 2010, the main events saw A.J. Styles beat Christopher Daniels and now Samoa Joe. They are pushing the right guys.
4) ShowMiz
5) Davey Richards/El Generico

1) Tyler Black
No question here for me. That crowd was ballistic when Tyler Black won, but it was in the best way possible as Black did everything right in New York City. Seriously, when you can get the NYC crowd from split down the middle to 100% behind you in the last two minutes of a match, you are doing something right.

2) Show-Miz: Um, did everyone else forget that these guys pinned DX clean to win the Unified Tag Titles and make The Miz a double champion?
3) D’Angelo Dinero: Hey, the Pope went 4-0 this week and is now #1 contender to the TNA World Title. I have to give respect there.
4) AJ Styles
5) Davey Richards / El Generico (tie)

Ryan Byers
1) The Miz & The Big Show
With the way that they’ve been pushed ever since Edge & Chris Jericho won them almost a year ago, the WWE Tag Team Titles really have been elevated to the point that they’re a legitimate, main event level championship, perhaps even being a notch higher than the WWE Title given how that belt has been positioned lately. Now, winning those Tag Team Championships clean in the middle of the ring are the Miz and the Big Show, one guy who I thought I would never see coming anywhere close to beating either member of DX and one guy who I thought was sure to flounder for the next several months without Chris Jericho by his side. Kudos to the new champions, and may they have a long and successful reign.

2) CM Punk: Punk didn’t really accomplish that much in storyline terms this week, but, if you look at his performances from a non-kayfabe standpoint, he continued his role of great mic work and had some pretty damn in-ring performances as well. If his program with Misterio continues through Wrestlemania as rumored, it could be one of the most entertaining feuds on the card.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Nakamura earned his forth successful defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Title this past weekend by defeating a very game Manabu Nakanishi.
4) Tyler Black
5) TARU & Rene Dupree

Jasper Gerretsen
1) Tyler Black
Sure, it should’ve happened months, if not a year ago, but at the same time it seems like they’ve actually managed to get a positive crowd response out of the New York crowd, which is a huge achievement.

2) D’Angelo Dinero: The Pope has been on fire since coming to TNA, and his tournament win on Sunday was the icing on the cake.
3) AJ Styles: Sure, beating Joe isn’t nearly as big a deal as it was two years ago, but it’s still a great achievement.
4) The Miz/Big Show
5) Davey Richards

Jeremy Thomas
1) Tyler Black
Tyler Black, after long last, has become the ROH World Champion. Some say that it’s happened too late, some say it shouldn’t have happened at all, but regardless Black is at the top of the mountain and now that he has the ball, he has an opportunity to prove those people wrong. His win was one that galvanized the crowd and whatever happens from this point, he can say with certainty that he has finally arrived, and deservedly so in my book.

2) D’Angelo Dinero: Dinero had the best week out of the Big Two by winning the 8-Card Stud tournament to become the man who will challenge for the TNA World Title at Lockdown. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy, and he’s got the chance to show Vinnie Mac how much of a mistake it was in letting him go.
3) Show Miz: They may not have been the expected winners, but that makes Miz and Show’s Unified Tag Title wins that much sweeter. Miz is now a double champion and I’m betting he’s going to have a lot of fun with that.
4) A.J. Styles
5) Rey Mysterio/CM Punk

THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Ken Anderson & Shinsuke Nakamura – 6 Votes

Fifth Place…CM Punk – 7 Votes

Fourth Place…AJ Styles – 21 Votes

Third Place…The Big Show & Miz – 31 Votes

A big win over D-Generation X passes the Unified Tag Team Title into this new team’s hands and makes Miz a double-champion.

Second Place…D’Angelo Dinero – 41 Votes

Dinero beats Orlando Jordan to get into the 8-Card Stud Tournament on Impact and then makes it through Desmond Wolfe, Matt Morgan and Mr. Anderson to become the number one contender to the TNA World Title.

Wrestler of the Week…Tyler Black – 44 Votes

After a lengthy chase, Tyler Black defeats Austin Aries to become the Ring of Honor World Champion and our Wrestler of the Week!

Year-End Standings~!

The two front-runners, CM Punk and AJ Styles, both gain points this week, with the TNA World Champion gaining a few more than the Straight Edge Savior to close the gap to seventeen. Tyler Black hops into the top ten with his first place finish and the Pope D’Angelo Dinero is just a few short points outside of the top fifteen, and with the Miz now right behind him. The Big Show, Mr. Anderson and Nakaumura all get a little bit higher in the rankings, but with six weeks left to go this has become a two horse race. Who will pick up the big prize come WrestleMania weekend? Only one way to find out!

Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!

1. CM Punk – 137 (SmackDown)

2. AJ Styles – 120 (TNA)

3. Rey Mysterio – 86 (SmackDown)

4. Jeff Hardy – 85 (TNA)

5. John Morrison – 70 (SmackDown)

6. Edge – 67 (SmackDown)

7. Randy Orton – 59 (RAW)

8. Chris Jericho – 55 (SmackDown)

9. John Cena – 53 (RAW)

10. Kurt Angle – 46 (TNA)
10. Tyler Black – 46 (ROH)

12. The Undertaker – 42 (SmackDown)
12. Naruki Doi – 42 (Dragon Gate)

14. Shawn Michaels – 38 (RAW)

15. Kofi Kingston – 37 (Raw)

Sheamus – 36 (Raw)
Davey Richards – 36 (ROH)

Christian – 35 (ECW)

Samoa Joe – 34 (TNA)

Eddie Edwards – 33 (ROH)

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

Batista – 30 (SmackDown)

JTG – 27 (SmackDown)
Brian Danielson – 27 (WWE)
Keiji Mutoh – 27 (AJPW)
Masakatsu Funaki – 27 (AJPW)
BxB Hulk – 27 (Dragon’s Gate)
D’Angelo Dinero – 27 (TNA)

The Miz – 25 (Raw)

Jerry Lynn – 24 (ROH)

MsChif – 21 (SHIMMER)
Nick Jackson – 21 (US Independent)
Matt Jackson – 21 (US Independent)
Daniels – 21 (TNA)
Hulk Hogan – 21 (TNA)
Naomichi Marufuji – 21 (NOAH)

Austin Aries – 19 (ROH)
Shinsuke Nakamura – 19 (NJPW)

Sting – 18 (TNA)
Go Shiozaki – 18 (NOAH)
Drew McIntyre – 18 (SmackDown)
Tommy Dreamer – 18 (US Independent)
Bret Hart – 18 (RAW)
The Big Show – 18 (RAW)

Cody Rhodes – 16 (RAW)
Mark Henry – 16 (RAW)
Triple H – 16 (Raw)
Hernandez – 16 (TNA)

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

Pinky Sanchez – 12 (CHIKARA)
Minoru Suzuki – 12 (All Japan)
Brother Devon – 12 (TNA)
Brother Ray – 12 (TNA)
The Amazing Red – 12 (TNA)
Masato Yoshino – 12 (Dragon Gate)
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 12 (New Japan)
Shad – 12 (SmackDown)
Zach Ryder – 12 (ECW)
Shingo Takagi – 12 (Dragon Gate)
YAMATO – 12 (Dragon’s Gate)
Kenny Omega – 12 (US Independent)
CIMA – 12 (Dragon Gate)
Gamma – 12 (Dragon Gate)
Jack Swagger – 12 (RAW)
Massive Q – 12 (AWF)
Ryoto Hama – 12 (AJPW)

Soldier Ant – 10 (CHIKARA)
Fire Ant – 10 (CHIKARA)
Vince McMahon – 10 (WWE)

Delirious – 9 (ROH)
Masato Tanaka – 9 (ZERO1)
Homicide – 9 (TNA)
ODB – 9 (TNA)

Ryouji Sai – 9 (ZERO1)
Player Dos – 9 (CHIKARA)
Mistico – 9 (CMLL)
Bobby Lashley – 9 (TNA)
Roderick Strong – 9 (ROH)
Mickie James – 9 (SmackDown)

Yoshinobu Kanemura – 7 (NOAH)
Karl Anderson – 7 (NJPW)

Matt Hardy – 6 (SmackDown)
Chris Hero – 6 (US Independent)
Satoshi Kojima – 6 (AJPW)
Giant Bernard – 6 (NJPW)
Yoshi Tatsu – 6 (ECW)
Serena – 6 (SmackDown)

Hamada – 5 (TNA)

Dr. Wagner Jr. – 4 (AAA)
Doug Williams – 4 (TNA)
Ken Anderson – 4 (TNA)

Evan Bourne – 3 (Raw)
Tara – 3 (TNA)
Booker T – 3 (TNA)
Alex Shelley – 3 (TNA)
Chris Sabin – 3 (TNA)
Scott Steiner – 3 (US Independent)
Tajiri – 3 (HUSTLE)
Tyson Kidd – 3 (SmackDown)
Eric Young – 3 (TNA)
Eric Escobar – 3 (SmackDown)
Brutus Magnus – 3 (TNA)
Yujiro Takahashi – 3 (CMLL)
Jun Kasai – 3 (Big Japan)

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)
Kotaro Suzuki – 1 (NOAH)
Brian Kendrick – 1 (US Independent)
Tiger Mask IV- 1 (NJPW)
Shelton Benjamin – 1 (ECW)
Kevin Steen – 1 (ROH)
Awesome Kong – 1 (TNA)