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411’s Wrestler of the Week 5.10.10: Week 6

May 10, 2010 | Posted by Daniel Bonnizzio

411’s Wrestler of the Week 05.10.10: Week 6

Welcome to Week SIX, 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~!
Ryan Byers
1) Togi Makabe
Shinsuke Nakamura held the IWGP Heavyweight Title since September 2009, until his title reign came to an end this past Monday at the hands of Mr. Togi Makabe. Makabe, a thirteen year veteran of New Japan Pro Wrestling, had always been a bridesmaid but never the bride, receiving several title shots though remaining cemented in the high mid-card. After completing a very successful tag team run with Toru Yano, he started to break out as a single by winning last year’s G1 Climax tournament, and this past Monday’s title victory was the culmination of his elevation. Hats off to Makabe, who now holds what I consider the most important singles championship in professional wrestling outside of WWE.

2) YAMATO: YAMATO had success on two separate continents this week. First of all, on Dragon Gate’s Japanese pay per view Dead or Alive, he retained his Open the Dream Gate Title by pinning Shingo Takagi. He was then successful in two tag team matches with Takagi as his partner on this weekend’s Dragon Gate USA shows, the most impressive of which saw Open the Dream Gate champ YAMATO scoring a fall over Open the Freedom Gate champ BxB Hulk.
3) Koji Kanemoto & El Samurai: Kanemoto and Samurai won the first ever tag team version of the Super J Cup tournament earlier this week, in the process also winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. This was particularly interesting given that Samurai has been a virtual non-entity in wrestling lately.
4) Daisuke Sekimoto
5) Emi Sakura

Samuel Berman
1) Togi Makabe
Won the IWGP Heavyweight Title from Shinsuke Nakamura.

2) El Generico & Paul London: Won PWG’s DDT4 and with it the PWG World Tag Team Titles.
3) Tyler Black and YAMATO (tie): Bested top rivals to retain their respective titles.
4) Christopher Daniels
5) Naomichi Marufuji

THE Larry Csonka
1) Togi Makabe
On Monday, May 3 in New Japan, the IWGP Heavyweight Title reign of Shinsuke Nakamura came to an end when he was defeated by Togi Makabe. This is the first time that Makabe has held the prestigious title, and it makes it easily the biggest moment of his career thus far.

2) El Generico and Paul London: On Sunday, Paul London ad El Generico ran the gauntlet so to speak, defeating Chuck Taylor and Scott Lost and the Briscoe Brothers to make it to the finals of the PWG DDT4 event. In the finals, they won their third match of the night, defeating The Young Bucks/Generation Me to win the PWG Tag Team Titles. They had one hell of a weekend.
3) Christian: Won his tournament match to earn a shot at the IC Title, and continues to be the most consistent performer in all of wrestling.
4) Kofi Kingston
5) Christopher Daniels

Shawn S. Lealos
1) Randy Orton/Edge (TIE)
That promo was simply awesome. Edge going on about how life just isn’t fair was incredible and Orton just standing there was a perfect reaction. Then when they finally started to go at it … everything about this promo was perfect and I cannot wait for this feud to really get going.

2) El Generico and Paul London: These guys won the PWG Tag Team Titles and beat The Briscoe Brothers and Generation Me to do it.
3) Christopher Daniels: He won two matches this week, one over Eddie Edwards and another over Pick 6 competetor Kevin Steen.
4) Rob Van Dam
5) A.J. Styles

Michael Bauer
1) Togi Makabe
Definitely didn’t see this title change coming, as Shinsuke Nakamura has been a hell of a champion. But the 13 year pro finally holds some singles gold with the IWGP Heavyweight Title.

2) El Generico and Paul London: Ending the very long PWG Tag Title reign of The Young Bucks is amazing. Beating them and the Briscoes in one night (plus Taylor/Lost) is insane.
3) Christopher Daniels: Two extraordinary wins for the Fallen Angel this weekend makes him #2 in the RoH Pick 6.
4) YAMATO
5) Randy Orton/Edge (tie)

Daniel Bonnizzio
1) Paul London and El Generico: These two teamed up to try the DDT4 tournament. They beat Chuck Taylor and Scott Lost, the Briscoe Brothers, and finally the reigning champs the Young Bucks to become the new PWG Tag Team Champions.

2) Togi Makabe
In a week dominated by Japan, Toki’s title win makes the top of the list. The IWGP Heavyweight Title is pretty much one of the single most important titles over there, so to change hands is big news. Especially from Shinsuke Nakamura to this guy.
3)Christian: Finally settling into his role on Smackdown by earning a shot at the Intercontinental Championship.
4) Masaaki Mochizuki/YAMATO (TIE)
5) Christopher Daniels

Jasper Gerretsen
1) Masaaki Mochizuki & YAMATO (tie)
Both men got pretty big wins on this weekend’s DGUSA show. Mochizuki pinned former Open the Dream Gate champion and star of the company Naruki Doi, while current Open the Dream Gate champion YAMATO pinned Open the Freedom Gate champion BxB Hulk in a tag match.

2) Tyler Black: Black overcame one of his biggest challengers yet, defeating Roderick Strong to retain the ROH world championship.
3) Big Show: Of course nobody expects him to actually win the title, but he did get one over on the world champion on SmackDown.
4) Sara Del Rey
5) John Cena

Jeremy Thomas
1) Togi Makabe
Makabe is YOUR new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Yes, he’s your new champion. All yours. Anyway, Makabe dethroned Shinsuke Nakamura to get his first reign with the big belt, which is a huge feather in his cap.

2) Christian/Kofi Kingston (tie): Christian and Kofi both had very good matches on SmackDown that resulted in them moving on in the impromptu IC Title tournmanet to face each other.
3) Justin Gabriel: Gabriel won immunity on NXT, ensuring that he won’t be the guy getting sent home this week.
4) Christopher Daniels
5) Jay Lethal

Chad Nevett
1) Togi Makabe
He’s the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion! He beat Shinsuke Nakamura! He’s wrestler of the week!

2) El Generico and Paul London: Won the PWG tag belts off the Young Bucks/Generation Me plus beating the Briscoes before that.
3) Christopher Daniels: Made his mark in his return to ROH this weekend by defeating both Eddie Edwards and Kevin Steen.
4) Christian
5) Kofi Kingston


THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Tyler Black/Masaaki Mochizuki/Kofi Kingston – 7 Votes
  • Fifth Place…Christian – 11 Votes
  • Fourth Place…Christopher Daniels – 15 Votes
  • Third Place…YAMATO – 16 votes

    The reigning Open the Dream Gate Champion managed to both defend his title as well as get a tag-team win over the reigning Open the Freedom Gate Champion.

  • Second Place…Paul London and El Generico – 25 Votes

    Paul London and El Generico entered the PWG DDT4 tournament and managed to beat both the Briscoes and the Young Bucks in the same weekend to become the new PWG Tag Team Champions..

  • Wrestler of the Week…Togi Makabe – 34 votes

    Togi Makabe managed to get a huge win this past week as he managed to defeat Shinsuke Nakamura to win the coveted IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career, and become your Wrestler of the Week!

    Year-End Standings~!

    Week six is over and Japan has finally started to make an impact on the rankings as the new IWGP Champion debuts on the list as well as other Japanese wrestlers. Jack Swagger is still maintaining his lead; how long can he hold on to it?

    Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!

    1. Jack Swagger – 40 (SmackDown)

    2. Claudio Castagnoli – 24 (ROH)

    3. Madison Eagles – 15 (SHIMMER)
    3. Randy Orton – 15 (Raw)
    3. Rob Van Dam – 15 (TNA)
    3. Tyson Kidd – 15 (Raw)
    3. DH Smith – 15 (Raw)
    3. Togi Makabe – 15 (IWGP)

    4. Chris Hero – 12 (ROH)
    4. Ares – 12 (US Independent)
    4. Tursas – 12 (US Independent)
    4. Kurt Angle – 12 (TNA)
    4. Minoru Suzuki – 12 (AJPW)
    4. Paul London – 12 (US Independent)
    4. El Generico – 12 (US Independent)

    5. Mr. Anderson – 10 (TNA)

    6. Wade Barrett – 9 (NXT)
    6. Big Show – 9 (SmackDown)
    6. Kazarian – 9 (TNA)
    6. YAMATO – 9 (Dragon Gate)

    7. Tyler Black – 7 (ROH)

    8. Heath Slater – 6 (NXT)
    8. Nick Jackson – 6 (TNA)
    8. Matt Jackson – 6 (TNA)
    8. Bison Smith – 6 (NOAH)
    8. Keith Walker – 6 (NOAH)
    8. Edge – 6 (Raw)

    9. Christopher Daniels – 4 (ROH)

    10. Christian – 3 (Smackdown)
    10. Sheamus – 3 (Raw)
    10. Davey Richards – 3 (ROH)
    10. Jon Moxley – 3 (US Independent)
    10. Chris Jericho – 3 (Raw)

    11. Kofi Kingston – 1 (SmackDown)
    11. Daniel Bryan – 1 (NXT)
    11. John Morrison – 1 (SmackDown)
    11. Beth Phoenix – 1 (SmackDown)
    11. Ted DiBiase – 1 (Raw)
    11. Shingo Takagi – 1 (Dagon Gate)
    11. Chuck Taylor – 1 (US Independent)
    11. Masaaki Mochizuki – 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**

    Year One Winner: Ric Flair


    Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe


    Year Three Winner: John Cena


    Year Four Winner: Chris Jericho


    Year Five Winner: CM Punk

    If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!

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