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411’s Wrestler of the Week 4.26.10: Week 4

April 26, 2010 | Posted by Daniel Bonnizzio

411’s Wrestler of the Week 04.26.10: Week 4

Welcome to Week FOUR, 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~!

Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) RVD
-This one was pretty easy and made even easier when nothing major happened at Extreme Rules. RVD defeated Jeff Hardy and then ended the TNA Title reign of AJ Styles all in the same night. It seems to be a new era in TNA and lets hope this World Title reign for Rob doesn’t go up in smoke.

2) CM Punk: I give him the nod in the 2 spot because of not only his win over Rey at the PPV, but because of his performance on RAW. With the RAW roster stranded it was up to SD to save the show and Punk showed he belonged in his opening verbal rule with HHH. You add that to the solid showing at the PPV and it was good week for Punk.
3) Jack Swagger: He finally gets the big time win to solidify his run as World Champion. He had been booked to look weak as he lost to Taker on RAW and then Morrison on SD, but he successfully defends the title in clean fashion over Orton at Extreme Rules.
4) Sheamus/Edge
5) Beth Phoenix

Andy Critchell
1) RVD
Despite the hot shot, off brand booking that TNA did to allow RVD to win the belt, it is still significant. I’ll be interested to see where we go from here but I guess I should just be happy that we haven’t had any reports of RVD riding around in cars with Sabu lately.

2) Beth Phoenix: I like Beth, she is one of those who just does her job without protest and I hope this title reign will be one where her talents are truly recognized. She’s already a much better foil for LayCool than Piggie James ever was (mostly because LayCool was right on the money) and Beth fought hard to teach those gals a lesson.
3) MORRISON – First of all, he’s awesome. Second, he pinned the champ on Smackdown and had a big win on Superstars. he also looked pretty strong on the PPV. Despite WWE creative not having much for him lately, he’s slogged along and kept his performance level high, and this could signal a renewed push for the Shaman of Sexy.
4) Hart Dynasty
5) Heath Slater

Shawn S. Lealos
1) Rob Van Dam
The guy beat both Jeff Hardy and A.J. Styles in the same night. The new TNA World Champion deserves this spot over everyone else, no matter what they accomplished this week.

2) Sheamus: He beat Triple H on a PPV. Pretty damn good if you ask me.
3) (TIE) Undertaker/John Morrison: They both beat the World Champion this week.
4) Heath Slater
5) Samoa Joe

Larry Csonka
1) RVD
RVD is my clear-cut winner this week. He had a really good match with Jeff Hardy, that he won to earn the title shot with AJ Styles. He then followed that up with the big title win. Booking issues aside, the fact is that he worked two matches, won both clean and won the title. That’s the WOTW.

2) Claudio Castagnoli, Ares and Tursas: Won the huge CHIKARA King of the Trios tournament to cement their reign of terror.
3) John Morrison: John Morrison defeated World Champion Jack Swagger clean in Smackdown this week. With the draft coming and shakeups happening, Morrison could find himself in line for the push many have expected him to get.
4) Beth Phoenix
5) Samoa Joe

Chad Nevett
1) Rob Van Dam
Beating Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles in one night would be enough to warrant the top spot, but that the second match was a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match clinches it beyond all doubt. RVD looked great on Monday night, better than anyone else this week.

2) Edge: Since returning as a face, Edge has lacked that big win and got it against Jericho at Extreme Rules, winning their cage match in that oh-so-rare victory of pinning his opponent rather than simply escaping. It’s a strong victory that he needed.
3) Jack Swagger: Losing to the Undertaker isn’t that bad when you look like a credible threat, which Swagger did. Losing to Morrison was just bad booking, but Swagger recovered by beating Randy Orton at Extreme Rules. He needed to win a big match to look worthy of being champ and he did just that.
4) Beth Phoenix
5) Heath Slater

Jeremy Thomas
1) Rob Van Dam
This one’s a no-brainer. RVD shocked us all by winning the TNA World Heavyweight Title at iMpact out of nowhere, putting him right at the top of the company…and doing it on a show that found itself getting a huge bump in ratings as well. We’ll have to see where it goes from here, but for now he’s on top of the world.

2) Jack Swagger: Swagger was competitive with the Undertaker on Raw and then beat Randy Orton at Extreme Rules–cleanly–to retain the title. I expected the All-American American to win, but not cleanly. This gives him a big boost in cred, loss to Morrison or not.
3) Sheamus: Sheamus seems to have put the Game out of action for a while, and came out of Extreme Rules looking more like a threat than ever before.
4) Beth Phoenix/Heath Slater
5) Edge

Samuel Berman
1) Claudio Castagnoli, Ares & Tursas
The Bruderschaft de Kreuzes walks away as the 2010 King of Trios Tournament Champions, last defeating CHIKARA icons The Colony with their devastating Ragnarok finisher.

2) Rob Van Dam: Won the TNA World Title
3) Ophidian: The Osirian Portal member won the annual Rey de Voladores tournament.
4) Tyler Black
5) Sheamus

Daniel Bonnizzio
1) Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, and Tursas)
The Brotherhood of the Cross began the weekend as just one of 16 three-man teams but walked out as the 2010 King of Trios Champions. For winning the biggest indy tournament of the year, the three of these guys get my vote.

2) Rob Van Dam: First, he beat Jeff Hardy to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Championship, then he pinned AJ Styles ON THE SAME NIGHT to become the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
3) Sheamus: Sure, it took a pipe shot and 4 pump kicks for him to go down, but Sheamus got a win over HHH on a PPV. Score one for the pasty folks.
4) Jack Swagger
5) Ophidian

Aaron Hubbard
1) Rob Van Dam
Defeated Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles in one night and became the TNA World Champion on Impact.

2) Claudio Castagnoli, Ares & Tursas: The CHIKARA King of Trios is the biggest independent tournament of the year, and as predicted, the Brotherhood of the Cross came away as the victors as they continue to dominate the promotion.
3) Jack Swagger: Wrestled three times this week putting on good matches each time. While the loss to Morrison was a bit of a misstep, Swagger went toe to toe with The Undertaker on RAW and defeated Randy Orton at Extreme Rules CLEANLY. Swagger is doing very well as champion so far in my opinion.
4) Heath Slater
5) John Morrison

Ryan Byers
1) Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, & Tursas)
CHIKARA’s King of Trios tournament (predated by its Tag World Grand Prix) has been my favorite independent wrestling show for several consecutive years now, and, aside from being a personal favorite, it is usually among the biggest and most memorable indy events of the year. The 2010 version of the tournament ran this past weekend, and the winners on Sunday evening were three members of the promotion’s top heel faction. The BDK were already on quite the roll headed into the tournament, but this cements them as a force to be reckoned with inside the world of indy wrestling and in particular gives a shot in the arm to their young member Tursas, who could now legitimately be a headliner despite spending less than a year in the promotion.

2) Jack Swagger: I didn’t think that there was any way I would be voting for Swagger this week after clean losses to both the Undertaker and Johnny Morrison on Raw and Smackdown, respectively, but his successful title defense over Randy Orton on Extreme Rules with a clean finish still gives him enough “oomph” to receive a second place finish in my book.
3) The Hart Dynasty: Tyson and Harry Boy are now YOUR number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Titles, a championship that I have a feeling that they will end up winning before things are all said and done.
4) Heath Slater
5) Ophidian

Michael Bauer
1) Rob Van Damn
Never saw this coming in a million years. And while I personally hate the move, I think this makes RVD the first person to hold the WWE, ECW, and TNA World Titles, so that’s a bonus.

2) Claudio Castagnoli & Ares & Tursas: The King of Trios is one of the premier US Indy events and to win four times in one weekend is an accomplishment.
3) Heath Slater: No offense to the champ, but the rookie beating Jericho is better than 1 win in 3 matches.
4) CM Punk
5) Jack Swagger/John Cena (tie

Jasper Gerretsen
1) RVD: You have to wonder what kind of message RVD’s big title win sends to the TNA regulars, and I would have at least liked to see some sort of feud between him and AJ before they made the switch, but you can’t argue with crowd reactions and RVD is very over right now.

2) Die Brüderschaft des Kreuzes (Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, and Tursas): The BDK is the winner of what is probably the biggest annual wrestling tournament in North America, cutting through a field of local talent and Mexican and Japanese imports to win it all.
3) Jack Swagger: Sure, he may have jobbed to the Undertaker, but it seems like that’s something everybody has to go through, champion or not. He did win when it actually mattered this Sunday, pinning Orton to retain his title.
4) Ophidian
5) Heath Slater/John Morrison (tie)

THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Beth Phoenix/John Morrison – 11 Votes

Fifth Place…Sheamus – 13 Votes

Fourth Place…Heath Slater – 14 Votes

Third Place…Jack Swagger – 24 Votes

Despite losing cleanly to both John Morrison and The Undertaker, Jack Swagger managed to score a clean pinfall over Randy Orton at WWE Extreme Rules to retain his World Heavyweight Championship

Second Place…Die Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Claudio Castagnoli, Ares, and Tursas) – 31 Votes

The team ended the weekend as the winner of the 2010 King of Trios tournament, adding yet another feather to the already-impressive cap of the BDK.

Wrestler of the Week…Rob Van Dam – 53 Votes

The former ECW and WWE World Champion adds another belt to his resume after he pinned Jeff Hardy to become the #1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, then pinned AJ Styles on the same night to become the NEW TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and you Wrestler of the Week!

Year-End Standings~!

The first month of voting is over and, despite being still early in the competition, Jack Swagger still has a comfortable lead over the next wrestler in line as we have several new wrestlers join the list.

Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!

1. Jack Swagger – 39 (SmackDown)

2. Claudio Castagnoli – 24 (ROH)

3. Madison Eagles – 15 (SHIMMER)
3. Randy Orton – 15 (Raw)
3. Rob Van Dam – 15 (TNA)

4. Chris Hero – 12 (ROH)
4. Ares – 12 (US Independent)
4. Tursas – 12 (US Independent)
4. Kurt Angle – 12 (TNA)

5. Mr. Anderson – 10 (TNA)

6. Wade Barrett – 9 (NXT)
6. Kazarian – 9 (TNA)

7. Heath Slater – 6 (NXT)
7. Tyler Black – 6 (ROH)
7. Nick Jackson – 6 (TNA)
7. Matt Jackson – 6 (TNA)
7. Bison Smith – 6 (NOAH)
7. Keith Walker – 6 (NOAH)

8. Sheamus – 3 (Raw)
8. Davey Richards – 3 (ROH)
8. Jon Moxley – 3 (US Independent)

9. Daniel Bryan – 1 (NXT)
9. John Morrison – 1 (SmackDown)
9. Beth Phoenix – 1 (SmackDown)
9. Christopher Daniels – 1 (ROH)
9. Ted DiBiase – 1 (Raw)
9. Shingo Takagi – 1 (Dagon Gate)

Voting began 4.05.10

Year-End Rankings Key:

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**