411’s Wrestler of the Week 06.06.11: Year Seven, Week 10

Posted by Larry Csonka on 06.06.2011

R-Truth earned a WWE Title shot, Johnny Gargano had a career weekend in DGUSA, Alex Riley took it to the Miz and more! Check out 411's Wrestler of the Week for all the details and for an updated look at the Year-End standings!



Welcome to Week 10, Year SEVEN, 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 around WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let's see who wins this week…

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Larry Csonka
1) R Truth
R Truth continues to deliver in his new role as a top heel on Raw. I still fear that he will be the summer program and quickly forgotten, and that would be a shame. Truth is taking the raw "Truth" character he was doing in TNA at the beginning, and adding in the years of experience and the little thing he has learned to take it to the next level. While not a young guy, he is fresh to the main event scene and maybe if he continues to do well, it could lead to more for him down the road.

2) CIMA: A victory over Rich Swann, as well as a victory over YAMATO, Johnny Gargano and Masato Yoshino in a four-way match made for a very good weekend for CIMA.
3) Johnny Gargano: Submitted both Austin Aries and CIMA during the DGUSA Second Anniversary I-PPV.
4) El Hijo de Rey Misterio/"Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown
5) Alex Riley


Ryan Byers
1) Kharma
Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like no wrestler had more buzz around her this week than Kharma. The former Amazing Kong got an opportunity to cut a great "real" promo this week on Monday Night Raw, which seemed to draw a genuine reaction from a large live crowd of WWE fans most of whom didn't have much of a preexisting emotional connection to her. That sets her up for a strong return in one year's time if WWE is willing and able to remind fans of this moment. It's the kind of thing that could make her a legitimate superstar for some time to come.

2) Alex Riley: Speaking of making people into legitimate superstars, it seems like WWE is strapping a rocket to Alex Riley's ass. The Wrestler of the Week panel took some flack in the comment section last week for not giving Riley more love when he first turned on the Miz, and in a way I can see not voting for him last week because one angle in which he gets the better of the Miz could have been a fluke. However, a second one, combined with an amped up entrance and some snazzy music, definitely proves that they've got their minds set on elevating this fellow.
3) Kenny Omega: Kenny Omega has been in New Japan for the past couple of weeks competing in the company's annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament, and he's had a great week in that tournament. First off, he scored what I would consider an upset victory over perpetual jr. heavyweight star Tiger Mask on June 4. On June 6, though he wound up losing, he had a competitive bout against IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Prince Devitt in what was billed as the most important tournament match of the evening. Because of his performance, he finds himself tied with Devitt for first place in the Block A standings with just two shows left in regular tournament play.
4) Dolph Ziggler & Kofi Kingston
5) R-Truth


Michael Bauer
1) Johnny Gargano
DG USA may have just made a star in Johnny. He looked amazing against Aries on Friday and then made him tap on Sunday, both on Pay Per View. While Swann has been impressive, Gragano is the breakout of Ronin.

2) R-Truth: Technical difficulties aside, R-Truth has been the best part of Raw lately.
3) Alex Riley: Getting the push of his life right now.
4) Randy Orton
5) Akira Tozawa


Michael Ornelas
1) Johnny Gargano
Lost his match on Friday but man, that was a career-making performance. Austin Aries put him over huge this weekend by BARELY coming out on top in a singles match, making Gargano look like a star in the process, and then on Night 3 of the weekend, Gargano made Aries tap. I cannot wait to see that show. Hell of a weekend for the Cat's Pajamas.

2) Randy Orton/Christian: Successful title defense in the Match of the Week on free TV earns Orton the number two spot here. What gets Christian in here is that SmackDown, ONCE AGAIN, was all about his character's development. And they finally pulled the trigger on the heel turn and it was done very well. He still has noble intentions, but people are going to boo him for firing the first shot on Orton.
3) Alex Riley: He had a MUCH bigger pop than I expected on Monday, and he's on his way to being a hot upper-midcard babyface prospect in the WWE. Hopefully it continues organically and isn't forced down our throats.
4) Kenny Omega
5) Daniel Bryan


Wes Kirk
1) R-Truth
With one victory on Monday Night RAW, R-Truth propelled himself to the main event of Capitol Punishment taking on John Cena for the WWE Championship, even if the victory was a simple count-out over the reigning champion. It is a big deal anytime you beat the champion, and like it or not The Truth is heading to the main event of WWE's next PPV.

2) Brian Kendrick: Perhaps nobody from the X-Division has upped their game quite as much in the past few weeks as Brian Kendrick. Impressive performances against Abyss and Kazarian back-to-back showcased Kendrick's ability inside the ring, as did the ten-minute match with Kazarian on Thursday's Impact. Although nobody won the match, Kendrick has obviously won over more fans and seems to be in line for a push at the X-Division gold.
3) Randy Orton: Orton has been a busy man as of late. His victory over Christian was followed by a PPV match against Christian, a tag team match with Christian against Sheamus and Orton, and a title defense against Sheamus. So far Orton has been victorious, but one wonders how much the challenges of the past few weeks have weakened him for Capitol Punishment, especially after Christian's assault on SmackDown.
4) Alex Riley
5) Eric Young


Jeremy Thomas
1) R-Truth
Truth earned himself a title shot at Capitol Punishment (even if he has to "apologize" first) and shot himself into the main event scene. His opening promo performance was a bit lost but I blame that on him trying to stall during the technical difficulties. Truth's turn has been huge for him and we'll have to see where this takes him.

2) Johnny Gargano: Gargano looked like a star this weekend, putting on a great showing against Austin Aries and then making both CIMA and Aries tap to finish out the six-man elimination match on Sunday night. This is huge for the guy's credibility; it was definitely a star-making weekend for him.
3) Alex Riley: A-Ri has not yet sold me on his ability to convince the fans he's a face—Vicki herself would be cheered if she went against the Miz—but there's no doubt that WWE is giving the turn its full attention for the moment, and Riley looked strong against the former World champ.
4) Eric Young
5) Brian Kendrick/Kazarian (tie)


Steve Cook
1) R-Truth
The dude earned a WWE title shot at Capitol Punishment and people aren't wondering if Vince McMahon has completely lost his mind. Well, we still wonder sometimes, but not because R-Truth's getting a PPV title shot. The promo at the beginning of the show was overcome by his count out win over John Cena and punking out Little Jimmy's dad.

2) Christian: Had an impressive win over Mark Henry and took the opportunity to steal the World title belt after Randy Orton's match with Sheamus. Possession is 9/10ths of the law, remember that.
3) Alex Riley: A-Ri's push continued in impressive fashion on Raw, as he got to yell at Michael Cole for being a knob & ran off the Miz after a failed sneak attack.
4) Johnny Gargano
5) "Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown


Andy Critchell
1) Kharma
More than anyone else this week, Kharma had the most newsworthy performance. Her promo on Raw was unexpectedly good and the fallout on the internet was really interesting to see. Apparently a lot of fat chicks watch Raw because they were all up in arms about what Good ol' JR said to Kharma back in the day. Good on Kharma to clear up what really happened but that didn't prevent JR from getting some hate mail. Hate mail probably stained with ranch dressing, cheetos dust, and diet coke "so I don't get fat ya'll." In any event, I think Kharma did a great job when given the opportunity to speak on a real life situation and make it memorable. She's the anti Matt Hardy.

2) Christian: Once again Captain Charisma was solid, if not unspectacular. He had a really fun match with Mark Henry to open Smackdown and he SMOKED Orton with a belt shot to end the show. I really like the slow burn heel turn that WWE is doing with him.
3) R-Truth: Kharma aside, Truth was the star of Raw once again. He opened the show with his usual crazy ass promo (despite the technical difficulty) and he closed the show with some old school heel tactics, including stalling and throwing a drink in some guy's face. I loved it.
4) Randall K. Orton, Esq.
5) Zack Ryder!


Colin Rinehart
1) R-Truth
Somehow managed to earn a title shot at John Cena on a live PPV. If you had told me that Truth would be doing that roughly a year ago, I would have called you mad. The ball's in Truth's court, and I hope he runs with it.

2) Johnny Gargano: Got a huge win over Austin Aries at the latest Dragon Gate USA series of shows, which at this point is quite possibly the biggest win of his entire career. A lot of people see bright things in Gargano's future, myself included, and he assured us of that with this victory.
3) Rasche Brown: This fuckin' guy! A long time stalwart of the East Coast indy scene who's probably best known for his brief and infrequent ROH stints got a huge win this week at the Urban Wrestling Federation's tapings, winning their version of the world title. It's too early to tell if the promotion is even going to work, but they've got a large amount of money backing them and seem dedicated to making it work, so putting their faith in Rasche was a big decision. Good for him.
4) Randy Orton
5) Alex Riley

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Kharma - 10 Votes

Fifth Place…Christian - 12 Votes

Fourth Place…Randy Orton - 13 Votes

Third Place…Alex Riley - 20 Votes

Has gained new momentum as a babyface battling the Miz.

Second Place…Johnny Gargano - 23 Votes

Had a career weekend for DGUSA.

Wrestler of the Week…R Truth - 33 Votes

Continues his rise in the WWE main event scene.


Year-End Standings~!
And here are the rankings after week TEN…

1. Randy Orton (WWE) - 46

2. Christian (WWE) – 45

3. R-Truth (WWE) – 42

4. Sin Cara (WWE) - 27

5. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) - 21
5. Sting (TNA) - 21

Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) - 19
John Cena(WWE) - 19

Claudio Castignoli (US Independent) - 15
Sheamus (WWE) - 15
HHH (WWE) – 15
Alberto Del Rio (WWE) – 15
Yuji Nagata (NJPW) - 15

Edge (WWE) {RETIRED} - 13

Johnny Gargano (US Independent) - 12
Max Buck (TNA) - 12
Jeremy Buck (TNA) - 12
MVP(NJPW) - 12
Undertaker (WWE) - 12

Kharma (WWE) – 10 {PREGNANT}

Alex Riley (WWE) - 9
Angel De Oro (CMLL) - 9
BxB Hulk (Dragon Gate) - 9
Abyss (TNA) - 9
Charlie Haas (ROH) - 9
Shelton Benjamin (ROH) - 9

The Miz (WWE) - 7

Eric Young (TNA) - 6
Daniel Bryan (WWE) - 6
Kurt Angle (TNA) - 6
Kofi Kingston (WWE) - 6
Escorpion (CMLL) - 6
The Sheik (US Independent) - 6

Fire Ant (US Independent) - 3
Green Ant (US Independent) - 3
Soldier Ant (US Independent) - 3
Cody Rhodes (WWE) - 3
CM Punk (WWE) - 3
Tyson Kidd (WWE) - 3

David Otunga (WWE) - 1
Daniel Bryan (WWE) - 1
Michael McGuillicutty (WWE) - 1
Kazarian (TNA) - 1
Jeff Jarrett (TNA) - 1
Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL) - 1
Mohammed Yone (NOAH) - 1

Voting began 4.04.11

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.

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**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


Year Six Winner: The Miz

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