wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 03.08.10: Week 49

March 8, 2010 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Welcome to Week 49, 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…

THIS COLUMN CONTAINS ROH TV SPOILERS

The Voting~!
Ryan Byers
1) Ryota Hama
In a weird way, Ryota Hama, the former sumo wrestler who made his pro wrestling debut in November 2008, is the hottest act in all of puroresu right now. He’s pinned Keiji Mutoh, he’s gotten the better of AJPW Triple Crown holder Satoshi Kojima, and he even has a shot at Kojima’s championship coming up on March 21. This week, this march toward that title match continued, as Hama and his partner Akebono successfully defended their All Asia Tag Team Titles against the tandem of Osamu Nishimura and – you guessed it – Satoshi Kojima with Hama pinning Nishimura. The Hama/Kojima match seemed like a novelty at first, but, the more they build to it, the more it’s starting to feel like a legitimate title bout.

2) Mike the Miz – Speaking of younger wrestlers who are getting victories that nobody should expect them to get, the Miz managed to score a pinfall over Shawn Michaels this past Monday night on Raw, although it was a bit tainted by Taker-ference. For the last couple of months, this guy has been one of the most consistently entertaining acts in pro wrestling, and it’s nice to see him getting some in-ring recognition for that fact.
3) Eddie Edwards – Edwards becomes the first ever ROH Television Champion this week, defeating his regular tag team partner Davey Richards in a tournament final that reminds me of Owen Hart facing the British Bulldog to create the WWF European Title many years ago. Let’s see if this can turn Edwards in to a legitimate singles star instead of being the competent albeit unspectacular second half of the American Wolves that he has been for the last little while.
4) John Cena & Dave Batista (tie)
5) Kandi Kisses

Chad Nevett
1) Eddie Edwards
Became the first ROH Television Champion by beating his tag-team partner Davey Richards in a mild upset with many figuring that a meeting of the Wolves would have Richards walk away champ.

2) AJ Styles: The match may have been bad, but Styles did retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Abyss, Desmond Wolfe, and the Pope going into Monday’s live Impact.
3) Edge: Beat the Big Show and continued to dominate the mic on Smackdown.
4) Batista/John Cena (tie)
5) Matt Hardy

ARI
1) AJ Styles
Retained the TNA Title in a four-way match against Abyss, The Pope and Desmond Wolfe.

2) Batista: This guy just had the best promo of his career and helped to create a major sense of anticipation for his WWE Championship match against John Cena at Wrestlemania XXVI.
3) Eddie Edwards: Won the inaugural ROH Television Title at the weekend HDNet tapings, defeating Kevin Steen and then his own tag partner Davey Richards in the finals. This is a pretty big vote of confidence in Edwards, and a huge opportunity to cement his place in ROH. You can watch these matches in a few weeks on HDNet or through the ROHBrazil YouTube channel.
4) Edge
5) Matt Hardy & Justin Gabriel

Samuel Berman
1) Eddie Edwards
Became the first Ring of Honor Television Champion with his tournament victory.

2) Naomichi Marufuji: Retained the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title over Koji Kanemoto.
3) Batista: Best promo of his career, bar none.
4) AJ Styles
5) Roderick Strong

Michael Bauer
1) Eddie Edwards
When weeks are quiet in the main two, history wins out as Eddie Edwards becomes the first Ring of Honor World Television Champion, beating Kevin Steen and Davey Richards in the same night.

2) AJ Styles: Match quality aside, it was still an impressive win.
3) Batista: Has he ever done a better promo?
4) Matt Hardy and Justin Gabriel
5) The Miz

Jasper Gerretsen
1) Eddie Edwards
While Edwards is often seen as the lesser half of the American Wolves, he picked up his biggest singles win in his ROH career when he became the inaugural television champion, making his partner Davey Richards submit.

2) Batista: With WrestleMania rapidly approaching the Animal has really stepped up, proving why he belongs in the main event on the grandest stage of them all.
3) The Miz: Proved that he’s awesome enough to pin Shawn Michaels.
4) AJ Styles
5) Edge

THE Larry Csonka
1) Batista and John Cena
While I understand the praise for Batista on the promo, because it was his best, I have to give both guys credit for the segment. I will never claim that Cena and Batista are the Rock and Austin, but they are the next generation of stars, and the promo war on Monday went a long way to building to the big match at WrestleMania.

2) Eddie Edwards: Eddie Edwards becomes the first Ring of Honor World Television Champion, as he took out Kevin Steen and tag team partner Davey Richards in the same night.
3) AJ Styles: Successfully defended his title in a four way main event on Impact, and is having a good run with the title thus far.
4) The Miz
5) Naomichi Marufuji

Jeremy Thomas
1) Batista
Cena definitely carried his own, mostly with his facial expressions, but in terms of sheer character advancement and displaying how far one has advanced in their skills, Big Dave blew Johnny Boy away. This one just stunned me, because not only was it the best promo he’s given, it was the one that officially defined his character beyond “arrogant guy who got pissed at Rey Rey and now hates everyone.” Great stuff by Batista, and I’m hopeful to see more like it.

2) Eddie Edwards: Being the first ROH Television Champion is a big thing, no matter what certain people are bound to say.
3) AJ Styles: AJ Styles successfully defended his World Title against three other men on Impact. Can’t argue much with that.
4) The Miz
5) Edge

THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Edge – 7 Votes

Fifth Place…John Cena – 9 Votes

Fourth Place…The Miz – 12 Votes

Third Place…AJ Styles – 23 Votes

The TNA World Champion defends his title successfully against The Pope, Abyss, and Desmond Wolfe to claim the number three spot.

Second Place…Batista – 28 Votes

Big Dave gives the promo of his career and gains some serious momentum heading into his match with Cena at WrestleMania

Wrestler of the Week…Eddie Edwards – 34 Votes

Eddie Edwards is your NEW and FIRST Ring of Honor World Television Champion by going through Kevin Steen and Davey Richards to lay claim to the title, as well as Wrestler of the Week!

Year-End Standings~!

No new last-minute entrants in the Year-End rankings, but the Top 15 shakes up a little bit. Eddie Edwards leaps into eleventh place, while Batista jumps in just ahead of him inside the Top Ten. John Cena and Edge distance themselves from Randy Orton in point value; and with just a couple weeks left, AJ Styles moves within striking distance of CM Punk! Let the anti-Punk conspiracy theorists begin; whatever happens, this is going to be close!

Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!

1. CM Punk – 137 (SmackDown)

2. AJ Styles – 129 (TNA)

3. Rey Mysterio – 86 (SmackDown)

4. Jeff Hardy – 85 (TNA)

5. Edge – 74 (SmackDown)

6. John Morrison – 70 (SmackDown)
6. Chris Jericho – 70 (SmackDown)

8. John Cena – 65 (RAW)

9. Randy Orton – 59 (RAW)

10. Batista – 54 (SmackDown)

11. Eddie Edwards – 48 (ROH)

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

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

Shawn Michaels – 38 (RAW)

Kofi Kingston – 37 (Raw)

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

Christian – 35 (WWE)

Samoa Joe – 34 (TNA)

Ted DiBiase – 33 (RAW)

Desmond Wolfe – 32 (TNA)

The Miz – 31 (Raw)

JTG – 27 (SmackDown)
Daniel Bryan – 27 (NXT)
Keiji Mutoh – 27 (AJPW)
Masakatsu Funaki – 27 (AJPW)
BxB Hulk – 27 (Dragon’s Gate)
D’Angelo Dinero – 27 (TNA)

Jerry Lynn – 24 (ROH)

MsChif – 21 (SHIMMER)
Nick Jackson – 21 (TNA)
Matt Jackson – 21 (TNA)
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 (WWE)
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 (WWE)
Serena – 6 (SmackDown)
Ezekiel Jackson – 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)
Taiji Ishimori – 1 (NOAH)
Ricky Marvin – 1 (NOAH)

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 (TNA)
Tiger Mask IV- 1 (NJPW)
Shelton Benjamin – 1 (WWE)
Kevin Steen – 1 (ROH)
Awesome Kong – 1 (TNA)