411’s Wrestler of the Week 11.14.11: Year Seven, Week 33

Posted by Larry Csonka on 11.14.2011

Wade Barrett defeated Randy Orton, Eddie Kingston became the first CHIKARA Grand Champion, Bobby Roode retained the TNA Title 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 33, 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) Eddie Kingston
Worked his way through the 12 LARGE Tournament to make the finals at CHIKARA's High Noon iPPV. He battled Mike Quackenbush in the main event, and after a great match, was able to pin Quack and become the FIRST EVER CHIKARA Grand Champion.

2) Johnny Gargano: Won the Open The Freedom Gate, defeating YAMATO at the DGUSA Freedom Fight 2011 iPPV.
3) Sara Del Rey: Won the CIBERNETICO, outlasting 15 others, and also won her CHIKARA iPPV match, a hell of a weekend for Del Rey.
4) Gail Kim
5) Bobby Roode

Jeremy Thomas
1) Wade Barrett
The Barrett Barrage continues as Wade beats Randy Orton (relatively) cleanly on Smackdown in a one-on-one affair. It's nice to see they're rebuilding Barrett after all the damage his credibility took in the last several months, and with luck he can find himself back in the upper midcard.

2) Gail Kim: I know, we don't like women's wrestling here in the US, but you can't deny that TNA has quickly built the entire Knockout division around Gail with both the Knockout Tag Titles and now the Knockout Title in her possession. Not bad for someone who barely got matches in the 'E.
3) Eddie Kingston/Johnny Gargano (tie): Eddie Kingston became the first ever CHIKARA Grand Champion over the weekend by beating Mike Quackenbush while Gargano won the DGUSA Open The Freedom Gate Title from YAMATO. Kudos to both men.
4) Sara Del Rey
5) Sami Callihan


Wes Kirk
1) Robert Roode
Like him or hate him, Robert Roode is officially the TNA Champion and has put forward a successful main event title match against the always awesome AJ Styles at Turning Point. While a few other champions lost the belts, Roode was able to retain with the always trusty pulling the tights spot which continues to advance him as a cheating scumbag who will do anything to win, at all costs. It pays to be Roode this week!

2) Gail Kim: Gail Kim is one of only a few females to hold both the Knockouts singles and tag titles at the same time and has done a complete 180 of her career from a few months ago. I've said it before and I'll say it again: With her showing in TNA thus far, Gail Kim has gone from afterthought to only thought and proven why we all liked her in the first place. Congratulations Gail!
3) Austin Aries: The Greatest Man That Ever Lived pulled off an enjoyable match both in-ring and psychology wise by playing both Jesse Sorensen and Kid Kash for fools when he and Kash double-teamed poor Jesse and then, in the end, turned on Kash for a cheap victory to retain the title. A Double has once again proven his superiority in the X-Division!
4) Hiroshi Tanahashi
5) Wade Barrett


Greg DeMarco
1) Johnny Gargano
Johnny Gargano became the first American born Open the Freedom Gate Champion, which is the top title in Dragon Gate USA, with his victory over YAMATO. He's now considered the top star of the US arm of Japan's Dragon Gate. Gargano defeated BxB Hulk the night before, and owns wins over nearly all of the top of the Dragon Gate roster.

2) Eddie Kingston: The King of Diamonds became the first CHIKARA Grand Champion this week, defeating his teacher Mike Quackenbush to win the title. Kingston is a great choice for champion here.
3) Gail Kim: Gail won the TNA Knockouts Championship, and is now a double champion in TNA. She's been on fire since quitting the WWE and signing with TNA.
4) Robert Bobby Roode
5) Wade Barrett


Ryan Byers
1) Eddie Kingston
CHIKARA established itself as a pro wrestling promotion in 2002, and, on the company's seventh card, held in October of that year, Eddie Kingston made his professional wrestling debut. Since that time, CHIKARA has gone on to be the biggest and perhaps the most entertaining indy wrestling group in the US, while Kingston has gone on to become one of its cornerstones. CHIKARA hit a milestone this weekend, as it crowned its first ever singles champion on its first ever iPPV. The title was to go to the winner of a tournament named for late CHIKARA roster member "Sweet n' Sour" Larry Sweeney. Given all of the circumstances, there was perhaps no better winner for the tournament than Kingston, who had been with the company since the beginning and was one of Sweeney's closest friends in the locker room. King has busted his hump in CHIKARA for some time and been one of their more entertaining acts, so it's great to see him in such a high profile position.

2) Hiroshi Tanahashi: Tanahashi main evented this weekend's New Japan pay per view, which was broadcast live from Osaka, and successfully defended his IWGP Heavyweight Title against Toru Yano in the main event. Tanahashi has now held the belt since January 4, 2011, and everybody is chomping at the bit to see whether he'll make it a full year.
3) Sara Del Rey: In addition to the iPPV this weekend, CHIKARA ran its annual Torneo Cibernetico show, headlined by a wacky lucha elimination match featuring sixteen members of the company's roster. Fifteen pinfalls and almost an hour after the opening bell rang and none other than Sara Del Rey was the sole survivor. That's perhaps her biggest win in the company to date.
4) Wade Barrett
5) Munenori Sawa


R.C. Sutton
1) Robert Roode
The guy survived a title defense main event in TNA. That's no easy task as of late. Seriously though, he's World Heavyweight Champ, put on a very nice match with AJ in the main event and advanced his character. What more can you ask for?

2) Gail Kim: Gail has been on an absolute roll since returning to TNA. I didn't see this one coming, but she picked up the Knockouts title on Sunday and continues her hot streak.
3) Wade Barrett: Speaking of being on a roll. The hot streak and rebuilding of Barrett continues. Hopefully it works out for him this time.
4) Austin Aries
5) Robbie E


Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Robbie E
I put winning titles above everything most of the time, and while it was a comedy match, Robbie E is your new TNA TV Champ.

2) Gail Kim: Is being pushed to the moon in TNA's KO division since her return from the WWE. Now she is a dual champion after winning the KO Title.
3) Robert Roode: 2 Title successful defenses of his title this week including his first Main Event PPV defense.
4) Wade Barrett
5) Austin Aries


TJ Hawke
1) Eddie Kingston
Kingston becomes the first Chikara Grand Champion. Anyone who watched this show knows that this was one of the most emotional title wins of the year. I know a lot of fans are skeptical about indie wrestling, but I strongly encourage everyone check out this show for the main event.

2) Johnny Gargano: I have issues with how Gargano "earned" a title shot (check his DGUSA singles record in 2011), but there is no doubt that this young man has become a fantastic wrestler. He is definitively the most improved wrestler of 2011, and I am glad that DGUSA is booking him as such.
3) Sami Callihan/Gail Kim (tie): Sami the CZW Jr. Title after finally defeating Adam Cole whose heel reign finally comes to an end. Kim won her second TNA title in just a month after ditching WWE.
4) Sara Del Ray: Became the first woman to win the Torneo Cibernetico in Chikara. She then completely destroyed Jakob Hammermeier on the High Noon iPPV. With ROH dropping the ball with her, I am really glad to see Death Ray achieve tremendous success in Chikara. I hope to see her challenge for the Grand Championship in 2012.
5) Robert Roode: Had his first successful PPV World Title Defense. Sure, no one bought this PPV, but this still seems like an accomplishment to me.


Steve Cook
1) Eddie Kingston
The War King achieved his goal of becoming CHIKARA's first Grand Champion by defeating his trainer Mike Quackenbush at High Noon. Eddie's a guy who's always been somewhat controversial among the indy fanbase...people either love him for his promos & his never-say-die attitude, or they hate him. Kingston's promos were a key point in selling this show, and winning the title against CHIKARA's founder & his mentor had to be a great feeling.

2) Johnny Gargano - Won Dragon Gate USA's Open the Freedom Gate championship from YAMATO, cementing himself as the top star of that group.
3) Wade Barrett - The Barrett Barrage has definitely become a reality, as Wade defeated Randy Orton in SmackDown's main event this week. He's survived WWE's traditional "build them up then knock them down" booking and is now back where he belongs, near the top.
4) Gail Kim
5) Sara Del Rey


Chad Nevett
1) Johnny Gargano
Won the Dragon Gate USA Open the Freedom Gate Championship and became the first non-Japanese wrestler to do so. Pretty good for a guy who was in a pre-show Fray match on their first PPV.

2) Eddie Kingston: After working his way through the 12 Large Summit tournament, he defeated Mike Quackenbush to become CHIKARA's first Grand Champion.
3) Wade Barrett: Was made captain of the 'heel' Survivor Series team and, then, got a victory over Randy Orton, the other captain.
4) Hiroshi Tanahashi
5) Sara Del Rey


Andy Critchell
1) Eddie Kingston
This is actually the obvious choice as Eddie is the inaugural Grand Champion of CHIKARA, whose iPPV was without question the most entertaining wrestling show this month, much less this week. I find it funny that this small little independent can run a show that outclasses anything that TNA has done in the Hogan/Bischoff era and even outclasses at least three quarters of what WWE does. So yeah, my list is going to be CHIKARA heavy this week and I am going to completely ignore anything that TNA did. Anyway, the High Noon iPPV was built around the culmination of the 12 Large Summit tournament to determine the first CHIKARA Grand Champion so the whole show was depending on a good performance in the main event and Kingston definitely did not disappoint. He's the man and I would encourage anyone to check out this show as it was worth every single penny I spent on it.

2) The Colony: Also from High Noon, the Colony was able to overcome the challenge of the Young Bucks and get their third point. In CHIKARA that means that they can now challenge for the tag team titles. The Colony has been my favorite tag team & trio in CHIKARA ever since I started watching the promotion so I am very happy to see my guys step up and put themselves in the hunt for the titles once again.
3) UltraMantis Black/Hallowicked: These two won their tag match at High Noon against Tim Donst and Ares of the BDK and had what I consider to be the MOTN. The stipulation made the ending seem pretty obvious and the fact that I was still entertained to the degree that I was only speaks to the tremendous work that these two individuals put forth.
4) Wade Barrett
5) John Morrison

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Sara Del Rey - 12 Votes

Fifth Place…Bobby Roode - 17 Votes

Fourth Place…Wade Barrett - 22 Votes

Third Place…Johnny Gargano - 25 Votes

Defeated YAMATO o become the NEW Open The Freedom Gate champion!

Second Place…Gail Kim - 26 Votes

Won the Knockouts Title at Turning Point, and now is a double champion.

Wrestler of the Week…Eddie Kingston - 36 Votes

Your first ever CHIKARA Grand Champion!


Year-End Standings~!
And here are the rankings after week THIRTY-THREE! Bobby Roode gains a few points but is still in seventh place, while Johnny Gargano and Gail Kim are just outside the top 15. Eddie Kingston made his debut on the list this week. Here are the updated standings…

1. CM Punk (WWE) - 89

2. Randy Orton (WWE) - 87

3. Mark Henry (WWE) - 83

4. Alberto Del Rio (WWE) – 74

5. Christian (WWE) – 69
5. R-Truth (WWE) – 69

7. Bobby Roode (TNA) - 64

8. John Cena (WWE) - 51

9. Austin Aries (TNA) - 46

10. Kurt Angle (TNA) - 41

11. The Miz (WWE) - 40

12. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) - 34

13. El Generico (ROH) - 33
13. Sheamus (WWE) - 33

15. Davey Richards (ROH) - 31

Johnny Gargano (US Independent) - 30

Gail Kim (TNA) - 27
Sin Cara {Mistico} (WWE) – 27

Rey Mysterio (WWE) – 26 {INJURED}

Sting (TNA) - 25

Gunner (TNA) - 24
Giant Bernard (NJPW) - 24
Kota Ibushi (DDT) - 24

MVP (NJPW) - 21
Daniel Bryan (WWE) - 21

Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) - 19

Sara Del Rey (US Independent) - 16
HHH (WWE) – 16
Brian Kendrick (TNA) - 16

Eddie Kingston (US Independent) - 9
James Storm (TNA) - 15
Tadasuke (OSAKA Pro) - 15
Mr. Anderson (TNA) - 15
Kevin Steen (US Independent) - 15
Antonio Cesaro {Claudio Castignoli} (WWE) - 15
Yuji Nagata (NJPW) - 15
Edge (RETIRED) - 15
Kofi Kingston (WWE) - 15

Cody Rhodes (WWE) - 14

Prince Devitt (NJPW) - 12
Mickie James (TNA) - 12
Velvet Sky (TNA) - 12
Karl Anderson (NJPW) - 12
Winter (TNA) - 12
Cheerleader Melissa (US Independent) - 12
Nick Jackson (US Independent) - 12
Matt Jackson (US Independent) - 12
Undertaker (WWE) - 12
Kenny King (ROH) - 12
Rhett Titus (ROH) - 12

Kharma (WWE) – 10 {PREGNANT}

Minoru Suzuki (NJPW) - 9
Lance Archer (NJPW) - 9
Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH) - 9
Zack Ryder (WWE) - 9
The Big Show (WWE) – 9
Hunico (WWE) – 9
Alex Riley (WWE) - 9
Angel De Oro (CMLL) - 9
BxB Hulk (Dragon Gate) - 9
Go Shiozaki (NOAH) - 9
Abyss (TNA) - 9
Charlie Haas (ROH) - 9
Shelton Benjamin (ROH) - 9
Evan Bourne (WWE) - 9
Chuck Taylor (US Independent) - 9
Mike Quackenbush (US Independent) - 9

Wade Barrett (WWE) - 7
AJ Styles (TNA) – 7
The Sheik (US Independent) - 7
Jeff Jarrett (TNA) - 7

Madison Rayne (TNA) - 6
Jun Akiyama (NOAH) - 6
PAC (Dragon Gate) - 6
Eric Young (TNA) - 6
Ezekiel Jackson (WWE) - 6
Escorpion (CMLL) - 6
Low Ki (US Independent) - 6

Dolph Ziggler (WWE) - 5

Beth Phoenix (WWE) - 4

Bully Ray (TNA) - 3
Fire Ant (US Independent) - 3
Green Ant (US Independent) - 3
Soldier Ant (US Independent) - 3
Tyson Kidd (WWE) - 3
Kelly Kelly (WWE) - 3
Hirooki Goto (NJPW) - 3
Masato Tanaka (ZERO1) - 3
Rocky Romero (US Independent) - 3

Eddie Edwards (ROH) - 1
David Otunga (WWE) - 1
Michael McGuillicutty (WWE) - 1
Crimson (TNA) - 1
Kazarian (TNA) - 1
Christopher Daniels (TNA) - 1
Hernandez (TNA) - 1
Anarquia (TNA) - 1
Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL) - 1
Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW) - 1
Mohammed Yone (NOAH) - 1
Dick Togo (RETIRED) - 1
Daisuke Sekimoto (All Japan) - 1
Volador (CMLL) - 1
Starbuck (International Talent) - 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!