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411’s Wrestler of the Week 07.26.10: Week 17

July 26, 2010 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to Week 17, 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…

LARRY CSONKA
1) Randy Orton
Randy Orton defeated Edge and Chris Jericho in a great TV match to become the #1 contender for Sheamus’ WWE Title.

2) Beer Money: Beer Money continues their winning streak and streak of performing well on Impact with another victory over The MCMGs. They are a great tag team and they are money each time out.
3) Bryan Danielson: Danielson earns big victories in EVOLVE and at the DGUSA tapings this weekend. His return to the independent scene has been good for business and so far, good for him as he seems happy getting back to having long, and good matches.
4) Rey Mysterio
5) AJ Styles

Ronnie LaFianza
1) Rey Mysterio
Mysterio overcame all odds as he somehow managed to overcome Jack Swagger in a 2 out of 3 falls bout to earn a World title match against Kane at Summerslam.

2) Randy Orton: Just like Mysterio, Orton managed to overcome the odds of a Triple Threat match to earn a world championship match at Summerslam.
3) AJ Styles: AJ Styles has once again managed to claim gold. Sure, it may have been thanks to outside interference, but Styles still managed to defeat Rob Terry to become the new Global Champion. And yeah, the title may be essentially worthless, but if there’s one guy in TNA who can raise its credibility (remember the Legends Championship) then it’s AJ Styles.
4) Beer Money
5) Kurt Angle

Chad Nevett
1) Randy Orton
Beat Chris Jericho and Edge to become the #1 contender for the WWE title.

2) Rey Mysterio: Beat Jack Swagger in a 2-out-of-3 falls match to become the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight title.
3) Beer Money: Took a 2-0 lead in their best of 5 series against the Motor City Machine Guns and are one win away from becoming four time TNA World Tag Team champions.
4) AJ Styles
5) Wade Barrett

Jeremy Thomas
1) Randy Orton
The Legend-Killer kicked off the week in style by facing down Edge and Chris Jericho in a number one contender’s match to open Raw. They put together a very good TV match, and Orton picked up the win to win the shot against Sheamus for the WWE Title. Now, here’s hoping that their match is better than the one at the Royal Rumble (see R’s readers, I got it right this time!).

2) Beer Money: Beer Money beat the Machine Guns in the second of the best of five match set to go up 2-0 on the Guns. This of course guarantees that the Guns will win the next two, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the match.
3) Tasha Simone: Yes, call me a mark. I love women’s wrestling and this is a significant event, even if the NWA isn’t that big anymore. What happened, you ask? Tasha Simone defeated MsChif to claim the NWA Women’s Title, a belt MsChif had held for 818 days. That’s a hell of a long time and whoever was going to dethrone her would be the person getting a lot of attention. Here’s hoping for good things to come from Tasha.
4) Rey Mysterio
5) Wade Barrett/Kurt Angle (tie)

Ryan Byers
1) Randy Orton
Normally when a guy who has received numerous World Title shots on pay per view wins yet ANOTHER World Title shot on pay per view, I’m not going to vote for him because he’s not really done anything to advance his career. However, I have a hard time not putting Randy Orton on top of my list this week because he looked so dominant in his number one contender’s match victory on Monday Night Raw and put on probably the best performance in the best television match of the week. Here’s to hoping that Orton and Sheamus can deliver a hell of a match in a few weeks at Summerslam. I’ve got faith in them.

2) Togi Makabe: It’s rare that it can be considered an upset when a champion retains his title, but I would consider IWGP Heavyweight Champion Togi Makabe keeping his belt this week over Shinsuke Nakamura an upset. It looks like Makabe is now settled in for a longer reign as the top man in New Japan as opposed to the brief transitional run that I had assumed he was getting.
3) Danshoku Dino: Dino can now lay claim to being THE number the one over-the-top pervy gay character in professional wrestling, as he defeated Razor Ramon Hardy Gay and Real Gay in a handicap match on this weekend’s DDT show in Sumo Hall, which, for those of you who complain about voting for indy wrestlers, drew more than twice the fans of any TNA live event in history.
4) Rey Misterio, Jr.
5) Wade Barrett

Michael Bauer
1) Randy Orton
Wins the best match I’ve seen on Raw not involving Evan Bourne so far in 2010 and picks up the #1 contendership to Sheamus in the process.

2) Rey Mysterio: Gotta give credit also for getting another shot at Kane.
3) Bryan Danielson: Match of the Weekend in Dragon Gate, beating SHINGO in a must see match.
4) Tyler Black
5) Tasha Simone / AJ Styles (tie)

THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Tasha Simone and Togi Makabe – 4 Votes

Fifth Place…Bryan Danielson – 6 Votes

Fourth Place…AJ Styles – 7 Votes

Third Place…Beer Money – 13 Votes

Beer Money wins again over the MCMGs, and continues to deliver on Impact.

Second Place…Rey Mysterio – 19 Votes

Defeated former champion Jack Swagger to earn a title shot against Kane at Summerslam.

Wrestler of the Week…Randy Orton – 29 Votes

Defeated Chris Jericho and Edge in a great match to earn a title shot against Sheamus at Summerslam.

Year-End Standings~!
Randy Orton leaps into 3rd place and Rey Mysterio is right behind him in 4th this week, while Bryan Danielson ends up in a tie for 5th place with former NXT partner Wade Barrett. The bottom of the top 15 expanded with more ties, and the TNA contingent making noise as seven of their performers are trying to make waves in the top 15. Check out the updated standings to see the all of the changes…

Let’s check out the Year-End Standings!

1. Jack Swagger – 55 (SmackDown)

2. Rob Van Dam – 49 (TNA)

3. Randy Orton – 43 (Raw)

4. Rey Mysterio – 39 (Smackdown)

5. Bryan Danielson – 35 (US Independent)
5. Wade Barrett – 35 (Raw)

7. Evan Bourne – 34 (Raw)

8. Kofi Kingston – 25 (Smackdown)

9. Claudio Castagnoli – 24 (ROH)
9. Tyson Kidd – 24 (Raw)
9. DH Smith – 24 (Raw)

12. AJ Styles – 21 (TNA)
12. Chris Sabin– 21 (TNA)
12. Alex Shelley – 21 (TNA)

15. Robert Roode – 18 (TNA)
15. James Storm – 18 (TNA)
15. Kurt Angle – 18 (TNA)
15. Jay Lethal – 18 (TNA)

Kane – 17 (SmackDown)

Togi Makabe – 16 (IWGP)
Sheamus – 16 (Raw)
Tyler Black – 16 (ROH)

Madison Eagles – 15 (SHIMMER)
Kaval – 15 (Raw)
Edge – 15 (Raw)
R-Truth – 15 (Raw)

Douglas Williams – 13 (TNA)

Chris Hero – 12 (ROH)
Ares – 12 (US Independent)
Tursas – 12 (US Independent)
Minoru Suzuki – 12 (AJPW)
Kaz Hayashi– 12 (AJPW)
Masato Yoshino– 12 (Dragon Gate)
Paul London – 12 (US Independent)
El Generico – 12 (US Independent)
John Cena – 12 (Raw)
Desmond Wolfe – 12 (TNA)
Matt Hardy – 12 (SmackDown)
Chris Jericho – 12 (Raw)
The Miz – 12 (Raw)
Cody Rhodes – 12 (Smackdown)

Mr. Anderson – 10 (TNA)
Kazarian – 10 (TNA)

YAMATO – 9 (Dragon Gate)
Samoa Joe – 9 (TNA)
Jeff Hardy – 9 (TNA)
Davey Richards – 9 (ROH)
Prince Devitt – 9 (NJPW)
Dr. Wagner Jr. – 9 (AAA)

Heath Slater – 6 (NXT)
Nick Jackson – 6 (TNA)
Matt Jackson – 6 (TNA)
Bison Smith – 6 (NOAH)
Keith Walker – 6 (NOAH)
Bret Hart – 6 (Raw)

Christopher Daniels – 4 (ROH)

Jon Moxley – 3 (US Independent)
CM Punk – 3 (Smackdown)
Percy Watson – 3 (NXT)
Willie Richardson – 3 (US Independent)
Marshe Rocket – 3 (US Independent)
Acid Jaz – 3 (US Independent)
Takashi Sugiura – 3 (Dragon Gate)

John Morrison – 1 (Raw)
Drew McIntyre – 1 (SmackDown)
Beth Phoenix – 1 (SmackDown)
Ted DiBiase – 1 (Raw)
Christian – 1 (Smackdown)
Shingo Takagi – 1 (Dragon Gate)
Chuck Taylor – 1 (US Independent)
Masaaki Mochizuki – 1 (Dragon Gate)
Batista – 1 (US Independent)
The Undertaker – 1 (Smackdown)
Giant Bernard – 1 (NJPW)
Karl Anderson – 1 (NJPW)
Akebono – 1 (AJPW)
Taiyo Kea – 1 (AJPW)
Tasha Simone – 1 (US Independent)