wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 08.16.10: Week 20

August 16, 2010 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to Week 20, 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) Daniel Bryan
After his short exile from the WWE Universe, Daniel Bryan returned at Summerslam and joined team WWE. He scored two impressive eliminations, looked great, and is set for the ready made feud with the Miz, who is red hot right now. The follow up is very key here, but Daniel Bryan is back and he caused a huge buzz.

2) The Motor City Machine Guns: The Motor City Machine Guns defeated Beer Money to win and complete their best of five series. The Guns not only won and retained their tag team titles, but also delivered the goods in a match that by some, has been called free TV match of the year. These guys keep delivering, hopefully they have their next step planned, because they are stars.
3) Satoshi Kojima: Satoshi Kojima defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi yesterday to win the G-1 Climax tournament at Tokyo Sumo Hall.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Melina

Andy Critchell
1) Daniel Bryan
Really though, could there be anyone else? This is one of those times when WWE shows that they can still surprise us and it is GREAT when it happens. Not only was it a surprise, but Daniel was able to eliminate two Nexus guys. Pretty good stuff.

2) Melina: Beat then-champ Alica Fox on Raw then beat her again on the PPV for the title.
3) John Cena: I don’ think enough has been made about how great Cena has been during this Nexus storyline. He really is the glue that holds this whole thing together and he flat out DELIVERS every time whether it be on the mic or in the ring. Cena’s efforts have gotten the whole Nexus team over, and now Daniel Bryan, but at the same time he has not overshadowed any one else on his team. You gotta respect that.
4) THE MIZ
5) Layla El and Michelle McCool

Aaron Hubbard
1) Satoshi Kojima
Beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to win All Japan’s G1 Climax tournament and sets himself up as a top challenger to the Triple Crown.

2) The Motor City Machine Guns: An OUTSTANDING 2 out of 3 Falls match with Beer Money brings this great series to an end, and the Machine Guns came out the winners. This is the peak of their career so far.
3) Daniel Bryan: GREAT surprise return and two eliminations of NXT. It doesn’t really make much sense to have him on the team considering what he did to Cena in his last appearance, but MAN I marked out.
4) The Miz
5) Kurt Angle

Ronnie LaFianza
1) Motor City Machine Guns
There really isn’t anyone else who should be #1 this week. The story of their rivalry against Beer Money has been about how they’re always one step behind them, and they managed to show that perfectly in their match on Impact. The Guns were behind 1-0 in their match, and yet managed to get 2 straight falls in a row to win, making a huge comeback from being 2-0 in the early stages of their Best of 5. Never mind the fact that their match was quite possibly the greatest Impact match ever, and they came out on top of what I’m considering so far as the feud of the year.

2) Daniel Bryan: Biggest shocker of the week is without a doubt Bryan returning at Summerslam. But I told you all he would be back in time for Summerslam, I just didn’t think he would actually be making his return at the damn PPV. But I digress, as it was pretty epic, and he managed to eliminate two members of Nexus. Good stuff for Bryan. And the United States Championship could definitely be next for him.
3) Kurt Angle : Angle continues to move up the Top 10, this time taking out #6, AJ Styles. And it was a damn fine match at that.
4) John Cena
5) The Miz

Ryan Byers
1) Daniel Bryan
I don’t know how you could pick anybody else this week. Bryan went from not having a contract with a major promotion to wrestling in the main event of WWE’s second largest pay per view of the year. (Though some people will probably cry “work” and claim this was planned from the beginning of the Nexus angle, I doubt that . . . but I don’t have the space to elaborate in this column.) That’s the kind of major career advancement which only happens once in a lifetime, and hopefully there is enough support of Danielson in the WWE office that he’ll have momentum for a long period of time instead of just fizzling out and getting mired in the midcard.

2) Satoshi Kojima: Speaking of career advancement, after leaving All Japan Pro Wrestling and being a virtual non-entity in puroresu, Satoshi Kojima threw his hat into New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G-1 Climax tournament and had a hell of a run which came to a head this week when he won the whole shooting match by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals. This immediately makes Kojima a player in NJPW once again and no doubt sets him up for an IWGP Heavyweight Title shot against Togi Makabe.
3) Heath Slater: He’s largely been hiding out in the background, but I think that Slater deserves some credit this week for silently becoming one of the better “rookie” performers in the Nexus storyline. He’s solid in the ring and is developing well as a heel character, and his improvement paid some dividends in the Summerslam main event, when he got to pin not just Chris Jericho but also Edge. That’s some serious momentum right there.
4) Prince Devitt
5) Melina

Chad Nevett
1) The Motor City Machine Guns
They retained the TNA World Tag Team Championship by winning a best 2-out-3 falls match, the final match of the best-of-five series with Beer Money. It was one of the best matches I’ve seen this year and goes a long way to making both teams look like the best tag teams in the world.

2) Kane: Defeated Kofi Kingston with relative ease on Smackdown before retained the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. Then, got the upperhand on the returning Undertaker.
3) Daniel Bryan: Surprise return for the Nexus match and looked great in the process.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Melina

Michael Bauer
1) Motor City Machine Guns
Summerslam was this weekend, but left a sour taste in my mouth with one exception. The Guns capped off five weeks of insane matches by beating Beer Money in a 2 out of 3 falls match in what is right now my Match of the Year. It is really, really hard to vote against that.

2) Satoshi Kojima: Beat Hiroshi Tanahashi to win New Japan’s G1 Climax tournament. He becomes the first ever non New Japan wrestler to do so in 20 years, so that is a big deal.
3) Daniel Bryan: If it was a work, then holy crap was it a good one. If not, then holy crap was it a good one.
4) Rob Van Dam
5) Kurt Angle

Jeremy Thomas
1) Daniel Bryan
Oh, come now. Bryan made for the shocker of the night, and really of the month. This came out of nowhere (other than the WWE.com leak) and Bryan came into the main event of a Big Four PPV to dominate and look strong. Who else would it be.

2) Motor City Machine Guns: A Match of the Year contender took place on the Whole F’n Show, and the Guns won that match. This puts them over Beer Money once and for all and shows how much confidence TNA had in them.
3) John Cena: Like it or not, Cena IS the face of the WWE and he finally got some retribution on the Nexus.
4) Satoshia Kojima
5) The Miz and Skip Sheffield (tie)


THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Melina – 7 Votes
  • Fifth Place…John Cena – 8 Votes
  • Fourth Place…Kurt Angle – 9 Votes
  • Third Place…Satoshia Kojima – 18 Votes

    Satoshi Kojima defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi yesterday to win the G-1 Climax tournament at Tokyo Sumo Hall.

  • Second Place…Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley – 27 Votes

    Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley won their series with Beer Money, retained their tag team titles and helped put on one of the better matches this year.

  • Wrestler of the Week…Daniel Bryan – 33 Votes

    Daniel Bryan returned at Summerslam as a part of Team WWE, Eliminated two members of Nexus and looks to be set for a feud with the Miz. Welcome back.

    Year-End Standings~!
    Daniel Bryan, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley make big jumps this week and the Guns are now tied for second place in the standings! Satoshia Kojima and Melina debut and Kurt Angle is back 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 – 61 (SmackDown)

    2. Chris Sabin– 60 (TNA)
    2. Alex Shelley – 60 (TNA)

    4. Daniel Bryan – 50 (Raw)

    5. Rob Van Dam – 49 (TNA)

    6. Randy Orton – 43 (Raw)

    7. Rey Mysterio – 39 (Smackdown)

    8. Wade Barrett – 35 (Raw)

    9. Evan Bourne – 34 (Raw)

    10. The Miz – 27 (Raw)

    11. Kofi Kingston – 25 (Smackdown)

    12. Kurt Angle – 24 (TNA)
    12. Claudio Castagnoli – 24 (ROH)
    12. Tyson Kidd – 24 (Raw)
    12. DH Smith – 24 (Raw)

    AJ Styles – 21 (TNA)

    Robert Roode – 18 (TNA)
    James Storm – 18 (TNA)
    Jay Lethal – 18 (TNA)

    Kane – 17 (SmackDown)

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

    John Cena – 15 (Raw)
    Madison Eagles – 15 (SHIMMER)
    Dolph Ziggler – 15 (Smackdown)
    Kaval – 15 (NXT)
    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)
    Desmond Wolfe – 12 (TNA)
    Matt Hardy – 12 (SmackDown)
    Chris Jericho – 12 (Raw)
    Cody Rhodes – 12 (Smackdown)

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

    Tigers Mask – 9 (Dragon Gate)
    Jimmy Yang – 9 (All Japan)
    Satoshia Kojima – 9 (All Japan)
    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)
    Hamada – 6 (TNA)
    Taylor Wilde – 6 (TNA)
    Nick Jackson – 6 (TNA)
    Matt Jackson – 6 (TNA)
    Bison Smith – 6 (NOAH)
    Keith Walker – 6 (NOAH)
    Bret Hart – 6 (Raw)

    Christopher Daniels – 4 (ROH)

    Michael McGillicutty – 3 (NXT)
    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)

    Drew McIntyre – 2 (SmackDown)

    Shelton Benjamin – 1 (US Independent)
    Abyss – 1 (TNA)
    Melina – 1 (Raw)
    John Morrison – 1 (Raw)
    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)

  • 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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    Larry Csonka

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