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411’s Wrestler of the Week 04.05.10: Week 1
Welcome to Week 1, Year SIX, 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~!
Shawn S. Lealos
1) Jack Swagger
Who the hell saw this coming? The guy attempts to cash in his MITB against John Cena on RAW and then gets pinned in a tag team match by Randy Orton. I figured he would continue to try to get one over on Cena for awhile but then – BOOM! – he takes out Edge and pins Y2J for the World Championship. So, I have to give my WOTW to my fellow Sooner, The All-American-American-American Jack Swagger.
2) Randy Orton: Who the hell thought Randy freaking orton would be the most over guy on RAW? He teams with his mortal enemy John Cena, hits Batista with the RKO and pins the future World Champion Jack Swagger. Then Cena leaves the ring so Orton can celebrate alone to close out the show. How the hell did this happen?
3) Christopher Daniels: One of the best wrestlers in TNA is back in Ring of Honor, where he was always entertaining. Is this finally the return of The Fallen Angel?
4) The Kings of Wrestling
5) (TIE) Daniel Bryan/Wade Barrett
Jasper Gerretsen
1) Jack Swagger
I don’t think anyone expected Swagger to cash in so soon, but he did, and he has his title. Being involved with two veterans will only help his first run, although I hope that he doesn’t become a third wheel.
2) Kings of Wrestling: While not as shocking as Swagger’s big win, I’m still surprised that the Kings of Wrestling unseated the Briscoe Brothers so soon.
3) Daniel Bryan: While being ranked #1 might be a bit too much, he has still managed to be the focal point of WWE NXT for the past few weeks.
4) Tyler Black
5) Randy Orton
Aaron Hubbard
1) Jack Swagger
Not sure about how Swagger will adapt to being a top level star, but I think he has a lot more upside than say, Sheamus. He has a cocky, smarmy sort of charisma that makes me want to see him lose, and he is very solid in the ring when he’s given the chance to go. I think this guy has the potential to be a big-time player for the long run.
2) Kings of Wrestling: This is how you do booking. At Final Battle, the Kings of Wrestling come in right after The Briscoes defeat The American Wolves to become six-time champions, and beat them down. Next PPV, The Kings of Wrestling win the match and titles. Kings Reign Supreme, and hopefully they spend most of the rest of the year as champions. I’m salivating at the chance to see them agains The American Wolves.
3) Tyler Black: Successfully defended his World Championship twice this weekend, first in an impromptu Triple Threat match with Austin Aries and Roderick Strong, and then in a MOTYC against the same challengers on The Big Bang.
4) Randy Orton
5) Daniel Bryan/Wade Barrett(TIE)
Michael Bauer
1) Jack Swagger
The fastest cashing in of the Money of the Bank goes to Swagger. I actually loved his not cashing in against Cena, which would have been enough to be in the Top 5, but knocking off Jericho for his first World Title makes this easy.
2) Kings of Wrestling: The new RoH Tag Champs do it on Pay Per View. Huge win for the reformed team. I just wonder what the Wolves will think.
3) Wade Barrett: Biggest win of his career by pinning Christian on NXT.
4) Tyler Black
5) Randy Orton
Ryan Byers
1) Jack Swagger
I frankly think that Swagger’s title win was a little bit premature and that they needed to spend some time reestablishing before he cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot – let alone won the belt with it – but, regardless of the timing, you can’t deny that this is, at least on paper, a major step forward for the young man’s career.
2) Wade Barrett: Barrett got a surprisingly big victory this week when he pinned Christian on NXT in front of an audience significantly larger than that of TNA Impact.
3) The Kings of Wrestling: I mark out hard for Claudio Castagnoli and think that he’s deserved some sort of gold in ROH for a long, long time. Kudos, Claudio.
4) Shinsuke Nakamura
5) Chris Daniels
Robert S. Leighty Jr
1. Jack Swagger
This one is pretty easy this week. Swagger goes from an after thought on RAW heading into WrestleMania to winning MITB and then cashing in against Jericho on SmackDown to win his 1st World Championship. Some are saying this is way too soon and that Swagger has been built for this, but I’ll wait and see how this goes. For now it is nice to see someone get a chance at the top and Swagger is good as anyone from the younger guys to push.
2) The Kings of Wrestling: I am a sucker for Titles changing hands and on ROH’s latest PPV, the KOW won the Tag Titles. That’s enough to put them behind Swagger for teh #2 spot in my rankings.
3) Daniel Bryan/Wade Barrett: The NXT rookies had a good week as Bryan has been ranked #1 in the first NXT poll even without winning a match on the show. Barrett pins Christian clean to pick up the biggest win of his young career.
4) Tyler Black
5) Randy Orton
THE Larry Csonka
1) The All American, American, American Jack SWAGGA~!
This is one of those weeks where, to me, there is one clear cut winner and that is The All American, American, American Jack SWAGGA~! Just days after winning the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania, Swagger appeared on Smackdown, took out Edge and then pinned Chris Jericho to win the world title. Swagger has been started and stopped a few times, and hopefully this restart is for real. Swagger wins his first world title, which is easily the biggest thing he has done in his career.
2) The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli): The Kings of Wrestling are BACK and they have the ROH Tag team gold! The Kings had a great match with the Briscoes at the Big Bang and are on top of the tag team mountain once again. I’m feeling very European today…
3) AJ Styles: AJ Styles delivers again, having a very good TV match with Jeff Jarrett. This should be no surprise, as they have always worked well together, but the good TV match is always appreciated.
4) Christopher Daniels
5) Tyler Black
Samuel Berman
1) Jack Swagger
Cashed in to win the World Heavyweight Title, his first.
2) Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli: Unseated the Briscoes to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles.
3) Tyler Black: Retained the ROH World Title over both Austin Aries and Roderick Strong
4) Shinsuke Nakamura
5) Christopher Daniels
Chad Nevett
1) Jack Swagger
Cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase to win his first World Heavyweight Championship.
2) The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli): Won the ROH tag team titles off the Briscoes.
3) Wade Barrett: Big pin on NXT on Christian.
4) Tyler Black
5) Randy Orton
Jeremy Thomas
1) Jack Swagger
Well, hell. Swagger finished third place last week thanks to his Money in the Bank win, and he looks to be an early fixture in the Wrestler of the Week voting. Or at least, he’s the man this week. We’ll have to look at the booking from here on out to see how it holds up, but for now it’s a boost to a man who has a world of potential and now we can finally see if he’ll take the ball and run with it or fumble. I’m hoping for him.
2) The Kings of Wrestling: We have new ROH Tag Team champions, and they dethroned the most dominant tag team in ROH history to do it. Kudos to Claudio and Hero!
3) AJ Styles: AJ had a hell of a match with Jarrett on Impact for what was probably the TV match of the week, and picked up the win.
4) Wade Barrett
5) Christopher Daniels
THE WINNERS~!
The rookie gets a huge win by pinning Christian on NXT
The Kings of Wrestling defeat the Briscoe Brothers to claim the ROH World Tag Team Titles.
After winning Money in the Bank last week at WrestleMania, the All-American American cashes in on SmackDown and becomes the World Heavyweight Champion, as well as our first Wrestler of the Week for Year Six!
Year-End Standings~!
With the first week in the books, Jack Swagger takes the early lead, with the Kings of Wrestling hot on his tail. We have a couple NXT rookies in the standings as well as Randy Orton, Chris Daniels and ROH World Champion Tyler Black. And thus begins Year Six!
Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!
1. Jack Swagger – 15 (SmackDown)
2. Claudio Castagnoli – 12 (ROH)
2. Chris Hero – 12 (ROH)
4. Wade Barrett – 9 (NXT)
5. Tyler Black – 6 (ROH)
6. Randy Orton – 3 (Raw)
7. Daniel Bryan – 1 (NXT)
7. Christopher Daniels – 1 (ROH)
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!
