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411’s Wrestler of the Week 4.19.10: Week 3
411’s Wrestler of the Week 04.12.10: Week 3
Welcome to Week THREE, 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~!
Aaron Hubbard
1) Jack Swagger
The All-American American sent a message to Randy Orton with a powerbomb at the end of RAW, and then defeated Chris Jericho and Edge in an awesome triple threat match in his first title defense on Smackdown. Since I did not actually see the cage match with Kennedy and Angle, this was the best match I saw this week.
2) Kaz: Douglass Williams’ loss is Kaz’s gain. Thanks to interference from a volcano, Kaz is the new X-Division champion, winning two matches on the same night to get to the top.
3) Bison Smith & Keith Walker: Pro Wrestling NOAH’s new GHC Tag Team Champions.
4) Shingo Takagi
5) Kurt Angle
Jeremy Thomas
1) Kurt Angle
Our Olympic Hero goes out on top, with a big win over Mr. Anderson in a fantastic match. There may have been a lot of wacky things that went on at Lockdown, but this one carried off very well and Angle gave a superb performance on his way to some much-deserved time off.
2) Jack Swagger: After looking like a fluke for the last few weeks following his World Heavyweight Title win, the All-American American took some big steps toward legitimacy this week. First, he got his first PPV title defense and it’s a big one–Randy Orton. Then he got one over on Orton, then travelled to SmackDown where he retained his title in a bad-ass three-way dance with Edge and Jericho. There may be hope for this guy yet.
3) Edge & Chris Jericho (tie): It wasn’t just Swagger who made that match; Rated-R and Y2J did their utmost to create a thrilling match and furthered their feud with the opening promo while they were at it. Good times.
4) Kaz
5) Bison Smith and Keith Walker
Shawn S. Lealos
1) The Miz
The Miz beat David Hart Smith in a match that shocked the hell out of me. I thought for sure this would set up the tag title match but then The Miz won. He should have won (he is the U.S. Champion), but it still surprised me. I am loving this cocky, arrogant Miz and the older, wiser, exasperated Big Show as a team. Now with Bret having to make this proclamation next week, The Miz moves even closer to being one of the most hated bad guys in the WWE. He gets bonus points for jumping William Regal from behind on NXT and taking out Daniel Bryan for losing – again. Then he contributed some fantastic commentary on Smackdown during The Hart Dynasty match. It was all Miz, all week long.
2) Kurt Angle: Kurt says he is taking some time off and, Damn, he went out in style. In the best match of the week, he killed Mr. Anderson to finish their feud in style.
3) Jack Swagger: Swagger won the best WWE match this week over both Edge and Chris Jericho. Add the fact that he took out Randy Orton on RAW, costing him an opportunity to pin Batista and you got a nice continued push for the former Sooner.
4) Frankie Kazarian
5) (TIE) Randy Orton/Batista
Chad Nevett
1) Jack Swagger
He sent a message to Randy Orton on Raw, laying his Extreme Rules opponent out and, then, on Smackdown, won a triple threat against Edge and Chris Jericho where he looked like he belonged. He may have stole the victory a little, but he looked like he could have won anyway, coming away from the match as a deserving World Heavyweight Champion.
2) Kurt Angle: He delivered one hell of a match with Mr. Anderson and earned his time off without question.
3) Chris Jericho / Edge (tie): The other two guys in that triple threat. They helped make Swagger look like a main eventer while delivering better in-ring work than, I think, they did at WrestleMania. I can’t wait for their match at Extreme Rules as they keep getting better the more they work together.
4) Kazarian
5) Matt Morgan
THE Larry Csonka
1) Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle continues to defy the odds by having great matches with anyone and everyone, and also proving that conventional weaponry cannot kill him. I don’t agree with the booking of Angle to win the match, since he is taking a break, but when he is on, he is on a completely different level than 99% of the guys in the business.
2) AJ Styles: AJ Styles successfully defended the TNA World Title at Lockdown, without the help of Ric Flair. While the finish left a bit to be desired, this was one of Styles’ strongest performances as TNA Champion, and he deserves credit for that.
3) Bison Smith and Keith Walker: Bison Smith and Keith Walker became the NEW GHC Tag Team Champions on April 14’s NOAH show as they defeated Takeshi Rikio and Mohammed Yone. Bison has been doing well in Japan, but this was HUGE for Walker, who to put it kindly, had been jobbing to any and all stars.
4) Kazarian
5) Eve and Madison Rayne
Samuel Berman
1) Jon Moxley
Won the vacant FIP World Heavyweight Title.
2) Bison Smith & Keith Walker: Bested Takeshi Rikio & Mohammad Yone for the GHC Tag Team Titles.
3) Kazarian: Walked away with the X-Division Championship.
4) Shingo Takagi
5) Kurt Angle
Daniel Bonnizzio
1) Jack Swagger
The All-American American has been on a roll and after retaining his championship in a Triple-Threat match with two other well-established veterans is nothing short of awesome.
2) Jon Moxley: The new Full Impact PRO Heavyweight Champion; this is a huge step up in the career of any wrestler from the indies.
3) Kaz: Became the X-Division champion for the first time since 2004
4) Bison Smith & Keith Walker
5) Kurt Angle/Mr Anderson
Jasper Gerretsen
1) Jon Moxley
Jon Moxley won the FIP heavyweight championship, which these days is an easy way to get some DGUSA, EVOLVE and even some Japanese bookings, which means it really is a big career boost for him.
2) Jack Swagger: Jack Swagger left his mark this week by scoring an impressive pinfall victory in a huge SmackDown main event.
3) Kazarian: Kazarian completed his big comeback by winning the X-division championship inside the steel cage at Lockdown.
4) Bison Smith & Keith Walker
5) Kurt Angle
Michael Bauer
1) Jack Swagger
It is very close between Angle and Swagger, since both matches were outstanding. But at the end of the day, Swagger’s defeat of both Edge and Jericho means so much more as it gives that legitimate champion label before heading back into the Viper’s lair.
2) Kurt Angle / Mr. Anderson (tie): Angle may have won, but both men deserve credit for that match.
3) Kaz: The new X-Division Champion in the only other good match from Lockdown.
4) Bison Smith & Keith Walker
5) Eve
Ryan Byers
1) Jack Swagger
This is the first week since Swagger became the World Heavyweight Champion in which he wasn’t booked to look like a complete f’ing joke, which I guess counts for something in a relatively quiet pro wrestling week.
2) Bison Smith & Keith Walker: In a move that really caught me off guard, Smith and Walker are your NEW GHC Tag Team Champions, defeated Takesihi Rikio and Mohammed Yone. This shows that NOAH has a level of faith in Walker in particular that I did not realize they had.
3) Shingo Takagi: Takagi was victorious this week in Dragon Gate’s annual KING OF GATE singles elimination tournament, earning a shot at the Open the Dream Gate Championship at DG’s May pay per view.
4) John Moxley
5) Eve Torres
THE WINNERS~!
Kaz bested both Homicide and Shannon Moore at Lockdown to win the newly-vacated TNA X-Division Championship
Angle proved that he still has it and gave it his all in a Steel Cage Match at Lockdown with Mr Anderson.
The reigning World Heavyweight Champion stands tall again as he gets revenge on Randy Orton on RAW before retaining his Championship in a Triple Threat Match against Edge and Chris Jericho on Smackdown to become the Wrestler of the Week once again!
Year-End Standings~!
Three weeks in and once again the All-American American is head and shoulders above the pack. Can he maintain this hot streak he’s on, or will he crash and burn in the near future?
Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!
1. Jack Swagger – 30 (SmackDown)
2. Madison Eagles – 15 (SHIMMER)
2. Randy Orton – 15 (Raw)
3. Claudio Castagnoli – 12 (ROH)
3. Chris Hero – 12 (ROH)
3. Kurt Angle – 12 (TNA)
4. Mr Anderson – 10 (TNA)
5. Wade Barrett – 9 (NXT)
5. Kazarian – 9 (TNA)
6. Tyler Black – 6 (ROH)
6. Nick Jackson – 6 (TNA)
6. Matt Jackson – 6 (TNA)
6. Bison Smith – 6 (NOAH)
6. Keith Walker – 6 (NOAH)
7. Davey Richards – 3 (ROH)
7. Jon Moxley – 3 (US Independent)
8. Daniel Bryan – 1 (NXT)
8. Christopher Daniels – 1 (ROH)
8. Ted DiBiase – 1 (Raw)
8. Shingo Takagi – 1 (Dagon Gate)
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!
