411’s Wrestler of the Week 07.11.11: Year Seven, Week 15
Posted by Larry Csonka on 07.11.2011
AJ Styles won the main event of Destination X, Go Shiozaki won the GHC Heavyweight Title, Austin Aries won a TNA contract 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 15, 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…
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…
Larry Csonka
1) Go Shiozaki
Go Shiozaki pinned Takashi Sugiura to become the NEW GHC Heavyweight Champion. Sugiura's reign set records, lasting 19 months and consisting of 14 successful defenses! Rock on Go Shiozaki!
2) Austin Aries: The Greatest Man that Ever Lived is BACK with TNA, winning an awesome X-Division four-way at Destination X!
3) AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels: Delivered in the main event of Destination X.
4) Alex Shelley
5) Brian Kendrick
Ryan Byers
1) Go Shiozaki
Takashi Sugiura was the longest reigning champion in any major promotion, with his GHC Heavyweight Title reign spanning nineteen months. He also shattered the record for most successful defenses of that belt, with fourteen in all. However, this past weekend, young Go Shiozaki, who had been without singles gold for roughly two years, climbed back to the top of the ladder and ended Sugiura's impressive run. This will hopefully allow Go to grab a permanent spot as Pro Wrestling NOAH's young ace.
2) John Cena: I know that I'm an internet fan and that, as a result, I'm not supposed to give John Cena any credit for anything, but I honestly thought the guy did a hell of a job on the mic this past Monday on Raw providing some very solid follow-up on the angle for which CM Punk had laid the foundation seven days earlier. (Well, really it was about twenty minutes earlier, but you get what I mean.) In a lot of circumstances, the follow-up in week two of an angle is far more important than the establishment in week one, and Cena made sure week two was not a failure.
3) Austin Aries: Aries won a job with TNA. If Taylor Wilde's career is any indication, hopefully Aries will also be able to win a job at his local mall's sunglasses hut if he wants to be able to make ends meet.
4) Mark Henry
5) Christian Cage
Michael Bauer
1) Austin Aries
Goes out on TNA PPV and wins himself a contract. The Greatest Man that Ever Lived is now back in a place he left years ago.
2) Brian Kendrick: Won the X-Division Championship, beating Abyss. They made it look like a huge deal and it was.
3) Go Shiozaki: One hell of an accomplishment, ending the longest GHC Title reign in history.
4) AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels (tie)
5) El Generico
Andy Critchell
1) Brian Kendrick
In the Roundtable preview for Destination X I thought for sure Kendrick would lose either as a sacrificial lamb to Abyss or as the first step in a longer program. Needless to say I was wrong and I am glad that I was. I make no secret that I think Abyss is a complete waste of space and TV time but Kendrick was able to carry that fat load to a passable match AND in the process was made to look like a big star by TNA. I feel that TNA has largely mishandled a real talent in Kendrick but now they have the chance to push a truly worthy guy. I, for one, look forward to seeing Kendrick be part of the crew that brings meaning back to the X-Division, along with my #2 pick...
2) Austin Aries: Aries showed once again that despite his diminutive stature that he is truly a fantastic wrestler. Unless they are completely incompetent TNA was going to give him a contract anyway but it was nice to see him get a big win on PPV. I truly hope TNA plans to follow up with him, Aries could be just what they need to get the X-Division to matter again.
3) Mark Henry/Sheamus: Both guys looked really good on Smackdown and both seem to be getting a nice push. Mark Henry has looked DOMINANT for weeks now and I am glad to see it continue. As for Sheamus he totally looks like he belongs in the same class as Orton and Christian. Great week for both guys.
4) Alex Shelley
5) Zack Ryder
Michael Ornelas
1) Go Shiozaki
Ended Takashi Sugiura's record-setting reign as GHC Heavyweight Champion.
2) Brian Kendrick: Defeated Abyss to save the X Division by bringing back the X Division Championship
3) Austin Aries: Won a TNA contract...for what that's worth.
4) AJ Styles
5) El Generico
Wes Kirk
1) Brian Kendrick
Kendrick did what many thought was impossible by defeating the monster Abyss and taking the X-Division Championship home at Destination X, despite a major size disadvantage and the belief Kendrick wasn't really singles championship material at his old job up North. Kendrick had been jobbing a bit and out of nowhere got to put together a surprisingly good match with Abyss and ended up becoming the brand new champion to continue the great trend the X-Division guys have been on.
2) Austin Aries: While I don't think we was the athlete who performed the best in the match for a contract, he won the contract and is now employed in one of the top two wrestling promotions in the world. Congratulations on a great match and being part of TNA, as now the real work begins!
3) Go Shiozaki: It takes a lot to defeat somebody for a championship like the GHC title but Shiozaki mustered up enough skill to beat a champion who had set records with his title run and even beaten Shiozaki recently. A very big add to the resume!
4) AJ Styles
5) Alberto Del Rio
Chad Nevett
1) Brian Kendrick
Abyss beating Kendrick was the 'sure thing' pick of the roundtable previewing Destination X. None of us thought that Kendrick would win the X Division Title on Sunday and he did. A title win is always big, but when no one thinks you'll actually do it, it means that much more.
2) Austin Aries: Any of the four men in that match could have won and Aries coming out on top is, hopefully, a good sign for his return to TNA.
3) Alberto Del Rio: What happens to his title shot now is up in the air, but he did become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship, beating both Rey Mysterio and R-Truth.
4) Go Shiozaki
5) AJ Styles
Steve Cook
1) Austin Aries
The Greatest Man That Ever Lived now has an Impact Wrestling contract. One hopes that the company can become better by osmosis. Considering Aries was considering leaving the sport a few months ago (or even worse, doing it as a swerve for Dragon Gate USA), this is a pretty big step up for him. Hopefully he shows up ready to do business and TNA won't waste his talent & ability too much this time around.
2) Mark Henry: Mizark has been a beast lately, and he continued that trend on SmackDown by beating Kane down & punking out Booker T.
3) Brian Kendrick: Winning the X Division title is great & all, but he has to be docked a couple of spots for that horrible promo segment he did on Impact.
4) Sheamus
5) Cody Rhodes/Ted DiBiase
Jeremy Thomas
1) AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (tie)
This guys put on the obvious match of the night and, quite probably, the match of the week. (It's still early, but…seriously, we know it's going to be when the dust settles.) AJ and Daniels are always gold on their own, and they're freaking platinum when they're together. This was no different and they capped off a great TNA PPV with an awesome match.
2) Austin Aries: Austin wins a TNA contract by beating Evans, Zion and Low Ki at Destination X. I loved the chants of "Sign Them All" during the match.
3) Brian Kendrick: The new X-Division champion reigns tall in his first TNA Title win after months of being directionless. Kudos to BK.
4) Mark Henry
5) Go Shiozaki
THE WINNERS~!
Special Mention…Christopher Daniels - 10 Votes
Fifth Place…Mark Henry - 11 Votes
Fourth Place…AJ Styles - 15 Votes
Third Place…Go Shiozaki - 24 Votes
Your NEW GHC Heavyweight Champion!
Second Place…Brian Kendrick - 27 Votes
Your NEW TNA X-Division Champion!
Wrestler of the Week…Austin Aries - 36 Votes
The greatest man that ever lived is back with TNA!
Year-End Standings~!
And here are the rankings after week FOURTEEN…
1. Christian (WWE) – 57
2. Randy Orton (WWE) - 46
3. R-Truth (WWE) – 42
4. CM Punk (WWE) - 30
5. Sin Cara (WWE) - 27
6. Giant Bernard (NJPW) - 24
6. Kota Ibushi (DDT) - 24
Posted By: Guest#4789 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 02:35 PM
RYan Byers, voted for a TNA wrestler.
the world as we know is....
DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!
Posted By: The fuj (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 02:40 PM
"3) Austin Aries: Aries won a job with TNA. If Taylor Wilde's career is any indication, hopefully Aries will also be able to win a job at his local mall's sunglasses hut if he wants to be able to make ends meet."
i see someone is mad that austin called out the people watching on illegal streams!
Posted By: James (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 03:01 PM
it's called Impact now, like that giant robot from Goemon
Posted By: Guest#7222 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 03:12 PM
now that aries is in tna everyone is going to say he sucks just like they did when jeff hardy,sting,christian,kurt angle,anderson,rvd ect.went to tna.When they are in wwe or in the indies they are great and everyone loves them.except sting(he obviously wasn't in wwe).Then when they leave and go to tna everyone then changes their mind and says they suck.Look at jeff hardy he has had his problems with drugs and stuff like his whole career.In WWE everyone loved him.He was like everyones favorite wrestler then He goes to tna and then he sucks.rvd same.anderson same.kurt angle even.WWE still doesn't have a wrestler as good as kurt thant under contract for more than another 2 weeks.oh daniel bryan.thats it but look how he has been treated.he has been there for awhile now and he went from US champ to jobber and is now climbing back up alittle bit but just to try and put over debiase and rhodes.I'm not defending tna like they are great but wwe is no better.recently smackdown has been great.tna has been getting better and raw wwe's main show still sucks.But everyone praises cena and miz like they are actually as great as wwe makes them out to be.Miz is highly over rated.Jessie Neal on Tna can out wrestle the miz.all miz is is a reality tv host thats why he is good on the mic.he has charisma but he doesn't have the build,look,or wrestling capability to be a wwe champion.Cena tried his ass off to try and make miz look legit.the rock even tried to help him and nothing work.Cena is better in the ring than people give him credit for but he is sloppy.he has charisma but if he came out in the late 90's early 2000's cena wouldn't have accomplished much.The only reason cena and orton for that matter have so much accomplishments is because all the old greats are gone and they haven't replaced hardly any of them.rock,austin,angle,undertaker,hhh,micheal,lesner,batista(is great but was a big star)edge,benoit,guerrero,jericho.what have they replaced them with.cena,orton,miz,sheamus,del rio,barret,punk????Then the guys like christian who have been waiting forever to get his shot gets screwed with a 2 day tittle reign.If guys like rey,edge,orton are deserving christian is definitely deserving.Chistian has great charisma,is really good in the ring(look at his matches recently..they are all almost 3 stars or more.)he is over as a heel.he is more built as a heavyweight thn the miz is.Even look at cm punk.he is the most over wrestler they have had in recent year or atleast top 3 and he has had 3 pathetic heavyweight tittle rigns but the miz,orton,cena can carry the tittle for over half a year.WWE and how they handle things is no better than TNA.The only difference between the two is WWE has been a company alot longer which is actually sad.
Posted By: ? (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 03:52 PM
The correct answer is my Mickie for her magnificent work in Mexico. I haven't seen it yet but when I do I know I'll fall in love with her all over again.
Posted By: Martin "Steveweiser" Bentley (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 04:28 PM
"3) Austin Aries: Aries won a job with TNA. If Taylor Wilde's career is any indication, hopefully Aries will also be able to win a job at his local mall's sunglasses hut if he wants to be able to make ends meet."
i see someone is mad that austin called out the people watching on illegal streams!
Posted By: James (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 03:01 PM
Not sure what that has to do with a true statement about a secondary title holder in TNA having to work at a Sunglasses Hut in a mall, but if it makes you feel cool, run with it.
Posted By: Guest#7878 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 04:35 PM
Shiozaki got robbed!
Posted By: Guest#2985 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 04:57 PM
#1 should be Stoink for NOT appearing at and ruining a great TNA PPV. The absolute stupidity of the Sting/Joker/Doink character is mind-boggling.
Posted By: Aries rules (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 05:05 PM
The only reason they kept Suigura the champ was because he was the only NOAH wrestler to regularly get TV time on NJPW programming. Unless Go Shiozaki is featured regularly on TV somewhere, they're probably going to have him drop it to someone else who does.
Posted By: Guest#9488 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 05:18 PM
3) Austin Aries: Aries won a job with TNA. If Taylor Wilde's career is any indication, hopefully Aries will also be able to win a job at his local mall's sunglasses hut if he wants to be able to make ends meet.
what a douchebag
Posted By: Guest#6492 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 06:24 PM
Should've been Shiozaki.
Posted By: Guest#7901 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 06:51 PM
Dear ?,
For the love of all that is holy, learn some basic grammar rules. I seriously doubt that ANYONE read that wall of insanity that you called a comment.
You can find out more about basic grammar from your local English teacher.
Signed,
The rest of us.
Posted By: Shane (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 06:53 PM
What, no love for the Bravados? Sure they lost the mini-tourney, but damnit, they beat the gerdamn Briscoes!
Posted By: Derp (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 07:28 PM
@ ?
Don't forget Mick Foley. When he was in the WWE, people were calling him a true legend, a hardcore icon who was a really good wrestler who helped make HHH & Rock into stars & a 1st ballot hall of famer, but when he went to TNA, those same people started calling him an overrated stuntman who wasn't a good wrestler & that they thought he always sucked.
Posted By: Guest#4290 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 07:40 PM
Hey ?,
People say those guys suck in TNA because they do. TNA has a pretty shitty booking team and they take the shine off guys that are pretty talented when following a professional script. Angle doesn't suck in TNA and I don't think anyone actually says he does. Anderson's about as good as he was in WWE, but the booking with him hasn't been incredible, so some people bash him. With reason. WWE knows how to build stars. TNA knows how to sustain stars that have been built elsewhere...but not completely. Jeff Hardy was in TNA for a payday, so he wasn't motivated, and therefore we said he sucks. Same with Rob Van Dam, but he was clearly motivated last night, and we praise him for that. It's not a bias; TNA tends to do shitty things with great wrestlers that make it seem like they suck. Sorry, but that's how a lot of people see it.
Posted By: Your tits (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 07:56 PM
Don't forget Mick Foley. When he was in the WWE, people were calling him a true legend, a hardcore icon who was a really good wrestler who helped make HHH & Rock into stars & a 1st ballot hall of famer, but when he went to TNA, those same people started calling him an overrated stuntman who wasn't a good wrestler & that they thought he always sucked.
Posted By: Guest#4290 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 07:40 PM
Dont forget Generation Me. Less than 2 weeks ago they were heralded as the future of the X-Division by TNA fans. Today they say "good riddance" now that they asked for their release.
What about Mickey James? TNA fans called her fat and overrated when she was in WWE, but the moment TNA signed her i havent heard those insults anymore. Now she is the best womens wrestler in the world.
What about Jeff Hardy? TNA fans thought it was ridiculous when he was the top babyface in the world in WWE. But then he signed to TNA and all of a sudden they loved him.
Or what about Daffney. Loved by all TNA fans, until she sued TNA off course.
Posted By: Guest#7543 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 08:44 PM
Byers, I've got to give you credit. Even though you took a cheap shot while doing it, at least you gave credit to someone for a TNA win.
Posted By: Guest#3669 (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 09:47 PM
RYan Byers, voted for a TNA wrestler.
the world as we know is....
DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!
Posted By: The fuj (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 02:40 PM
--------------------------
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted By: wzL (Guest) on July 11, 2011 at 11:36 PM
If Byers wasnt some form of Aries fan you know he wouldnt of picked a TNA guy
Posted By: Guest#4711 (Guest) on July 12, 2011 at 12:53 AM
Well ? TNA does a good job of making talented wrestlers look like clowns. The main event right now should be guys like Styles, Daniels, Joe, Anderson and Wolfe.
Young fresh guys who can carry the company in the main event even though Anderson is a WWE cast off but nooo, we had to endure things like a Foley title run a decade after his prime, Sting still winning the title when he should be semi retired, AJ Styles and Samoa Joe being jobbed out to the dudley boys and so on.
Posted By: Guest#7914 (Guest) on July 12, 2011 at 03:21 AM
I thought cena's promo was wooden, incredibly wooden. Seriously, when the crowd dies when the "uber face" comes out and talks, you've got issues.
Posted By: Guest#8603 (Guest) on July 12, 2011 at 08:47 AM
i love it when stuff flies over people's heads
Posted By: James (Guest) on July 12, 2011 at 03:25 PM
I see that Fire Ant is STILL getting screwed by 411. Figures.
Posted By: Sink (Guest) on July 12, 2011 at 07:50 PM
Having this week go to anyone but Shiozaki is bullshit. I know that NOAH isn't the superpromotion it once was, but Sugiura did a lot to build up NOAH's status, and the fact that Shiozaki put an end to the greatest championship reign of anyone since Danielson's 2006 reign is something special that should be recognized.
Posted By: Goo Goo G'Joob (Guest) on July 13, 2011 at 02:56 AM
Very subjective list.
A title win over a guy who's been running roughshod for damn near 2 years means a lot more than a wasted title and a contract winner.
Posted By: jay (Guest) on July 14, 2011 at 09:47 AM
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