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411’s Wrestler of the Week 03.22.10: Week 51
Welcome to Week 51, 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~!
ARI
1. Davey Richards
Wrestled in the best match of the weekend at ROH’s Saturday show in Mississauga, where he defeated Kenny Omega in the main event. The match was a fitting sequel to an excellent match they had in October 2009.
2. Kurt Angle: Defeated Mr. Anderson at TNA Destination X with the epic angle lock and scissors, bloodying him up and gaining ultimate revenge (for the second but maybe not the last time) in this feud
3. Ryoto Hama: Unseated Kojima to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship in Japan, and for a wrestler who is only two years into his career that is a spectacular achievement. Think CM Punk or Sheamus winning their Heavyweight Championships in WWE and you get the sense of what this means for Hama and his career as well as the Japan scene.
4. Bruderschaft des Kruzes (Brotherhood of the Cross of Claudio Castagnoli & Ares)
5. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin)
Aaron Hubbard
1) Ryoto Hama
All Japan’s latest pet project is now it’s latest champion, beating Satoshi Kojima in a MAJOR upset to become the All Japan Triple Crown Champion, one of the most prestigious titles in the history of wrestling. Hama is now on a list that includes Baba, Tsuruta, Gordy, Misawa, Kobashi, Kawada, Taue, Tenryu, Muta and other legends of the Japanese Wrestling scene.
2) Claudio Castagnoli & Ares: The Bruderschaft defeated The Colony in dominating fashion to become the new CHIKARA Campeones de Parajas and followed it up by teaming with Tursas to defeat Mike Quackenbush, Hallowicked and 411 Rookie of the Year Frightmare the night after.
3) Kurt Angle: Defeated a bloody Mr. Anderson at Destination X in the best match of the night.
4) Davey Richards
5) The Motor City Machine Guns
Samuel Berman
1) Claudio Castagnoli & Ares
Defeated The Colony to win the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas. With the win, Claudio becomes the only two-time champion in the history of the belts.
2) Ryota Hama: Became the AJPW Triple Crown Champion after defeated Satoshi Kojima.
3) Davey Richards: Defeated Kenny Omega in a their highly-anticipated rematch.
4) Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley (tie)
5) Frightmare
Jasper Gerretsen
1) Ryota Hama
This came pretty much out of nowhere, but Ryota Hama somehow managed to capture the AJPW triple crown championship.
2) The Brüderschaft des Kreuzes: With Castagnoli and Ares capturing the Campeonates de Parejas, the BDK controls all the gold in CHIKARA.
3) Davey Richards: Picked up a main event win in ROH this weekend.
4) Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (tied)
5) Kurt Angle
Chad Nevett
1) Ryota Hama
Shocking win of the AJPW triple crown championship from Satoshi Kojima.
2) Davey Richards: Big win in this weekend’s ROH main event, defeating Kenny Omega.
3) The Brüderschaft des Kreuzes: Won the Campeonates de Parejas in CHIKARA.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Luke Gallows
Michael Bauer
1) Ryota Hama
Well, the biggest fed did nothing while the “2nd” biggest fed screwed up the main event. So I go to the shocker in Japan with Hama defeating Kojima for the AJPW Triple Crown. He has had fast growing popularity, but him winning the title with only two year experience is quite an accomplishment.
2) The Brüderschaft des Kreuzes: Ares and Claudio win the CHIKARA Campeonates de Parejas to give them all the gold.
3) Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin (tie): Insane win in Ultimate X between the two best young teams in the business today.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Davey Richards
Ryan Byers
1) Ryota Hama
I was a little bit surprised when Ryota Hama first earned a shot at AJPW’s Triple Crown, though, after I thought about it for a bit, I figured it made sense because he has this strong, almost cult following and it could make for a good one-off main event, Satoshi Kojima could narrowly retain his title, and we could all move on with our lives. However, I was AMAZED to read that Hama, with slightly less than two years of professional wrestling experience, won the Triple Crown and will now be listed in the same annals of history that contain the names Kawada, Misawa, and Kobashi. I can only imagine where the Hama title reign goes from here.
2) Bret Hart: I’m surprised that I’m not seeing more love for Bret this week, because his performance in the main event segment of Raw this past Monday night was phenomenal. That was the kind of performance that convinces fans to buy pay per views, and, after some starts and stops, it turned the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon feud in to the Wrestlemania-level program that it should be.
3) Claudio Castagnoli & Ares: We have NEW holders of the tag team championships in CHIKARA as Der Bruderschaft edges even closer to complete dominance of the promotion.
4) Davey Richards
5) Bryan Danielson
THE Larry Csonka
1) Ryota Hama
Ryota Hama defeated Kojima to win the AJPW Triple Crown Championship in Japan. This is a huge shocker, as Hama only has about two years of experience as far as pro wrestling goes. All Japan has noticed his cult following and are trying to make a big star with the title change.
2) Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy pinned TNA Champion AJ Styles last week in his first match back with TNA.
3) Bruderschaft des Kruzes (Brotherhood of the Cross of Claudio Castagnoli & Ares): Ares and Claudio win the CHIKARA Campeonates de Parejas and are running wild over CHIKARA n what I feel is a really fun angle.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin
Jeremy Thomas
1) Ryoto Hama
As the above folks say, Hama’s win over Kojima to capture the AJPW Triple Crown was surprising as hell, and definitely deserves the number one spot this week. Not only is it the biggest news, it’s also the biggest achievement in someone’s career that occurred this week.
2) Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin: In the best match I saw all week, the Guns beat Generation Me to become the Number One Contenders to the World Tag Team Titles. No, we won’t be seeing MCMG/Beer Money like we hoped, but the win by the feuding tag team partners does improve the Guns’ chances at picking up the belts come their eventual match.
3) Kazarian: Kazarian beat Daniels, Red and Kendrick in a four-way Ladder Match to become the Number One Contender to Doug Williams’s X-Division Championship, which should be a great match when it happens.
4) Bret Hart
5) Kurt Angle
THE WINNERS~!
Richards beats Kenny Omega in the main event of ROH’s weekend show.
Castagnoli and Ares win the Campeonatos de Parejas from the Colony to continue their dominance of CHIKARA.
The relative rookie Hama takes the coveted AJPW Triple Crown Title from Satoshia Kojima, putting him on top of the company and making him our Wrestler of the Week!
Year-End Standings~!
There is some movement and debuts in the rankings, as Ryoto Hama, Davey Richards and Kurt Angle leap up the rankings while Castagnoli and Ares make their debuts. We’ve got just a week left to go!
Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!
1. CM Punk – 152 (SmackDown)
2. AJ Styles – 129 (TNA)
3. Rey Mysterio – 86 (SmackDown)
4. Jeff Hardy – 85 (TNA)
5. Edge – 74 (SmackDown)
6. Chris Jericho – 71 (SmackDown)
7. John Morrison – 70 (SmackDown)
8. John Cena – 65 (RAW)
9. Randy Orton – 59 (RAW)
10. Batista – 54 (SmackDown)
11. Kurt Angle – 52 (TNA)
12. Eddie Edwards – 48 (ROH)
13. Tyler Black – 46 (ROH)
14. Davey Richards – 45 (ROH)
15. The Undertaker – 42 (SmackDown)
15. Naruki Doi – 42 (Dragon Gate)
Shawn Michaels – 38 (RAW)
Kofi Kingston – 37 (Raw)
Sheamus – 36 (Raw)
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)
Ryoto Hama – 27 (AJPW)
Jerry Lynn – 24 (ROH)
Sting – 24 (TNA)
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)
Bret Hart – 19 (RAW)
Go Shiozaki – 18 (NOAH)
Drew McIntyre – 18 (SmackDown)
Tommy Dreamer – 18 (US Independent)
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 (ROH)
CIMA – 12 (Dragon Gate)
Gamma – 12 (Dragon Gate)
Jack Swagger – 12 (RAW)
Massive Q – 12 (AWF)
Abyss – 12 (TNA)
Claudio Castagnoli– 12 (ROH)
Ares – 12 (US Independent)
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)
Adam Pearce – 9 (US Independent)
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)
Alex Shelley – 6 (TNA)
Chris Sabin – 6 (TNA)
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)
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 – 3 (NOAH)
Ricky Marvin – 3 (NOAH)
Velvet Sky – 3 (TNA)
Madison Rayne – 3 (TNA)
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)
WWE, Raw, SmackDown and NXT-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.
Australian Contracted Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.
**PREVIOUS WINNERS**  Year One Winner: Ric Flair
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If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!
