411’s Wrestler of the Week 11.21.11: Year Seven, Week 34

Posted by Larry Csonka on 11.21.2011

The Rock returned at Survivor Series, CM Punk won the WWE Title, Michael Elgin won ROH's Survival of the Fittest Tournament 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 34, 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) The Rock
He's the Rock, he's still awesome, and after seven years, he still owns the business.

2) CM Punk: Won the WWE Title in MSG, and had THE FINK announce for him. Awesome moment.
3) Takeshi Morishima: Won Pro Wrestling NOAH's Global League tournament.
4) Matt Morgan and Crimson
5) Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes


Greg DeMarco
1) The Rock
No one had a bigger week than the worldwide trending wonder himself. He mere presence dominated RAW, and every little action he took at Survivor Series overshadowed everyone else who stepped through the ropes. The Rock is the biggest story of the week, hands down.

2) Michael Elgin: Elgin won Survival of the Fittest--not only getting the biggest win of his career, but also joining some exclusive company in the history of ROH. The worst faring SOTF winner in history? Currently the company's booker. And the past two went on to become world champ less than 12 months later. So yeah...they have plans for Elgin.
3) Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes: Your sole survivors looked like major league players after Survivor Series. The WWE needs to build new heel stars, and those two (along with Ziggler) and primed for big things.
4) Dolph Ziggler
5) James Storm


Ryan Byers
1) THE GODDAMN ROCK
I hate to sound like a schill for this guy, but, unless you're being intellectually dishonest, you have to recognize that the Rock is on a completely different level in terms of charisma, presence, superstar aura, and popularity with wrestling fans than anybody else who is active in WWE today. (That's in part due to his innate talent, and in part due to how poorly WWE has booked many of its wrestlers.) Rocky had two great appearances this week, cutting a hell of a promo on Raw to build up the Survivor Series and then doing everything that he needed to do in order to deliver at the Survivor Series. This man is MONEY, and everybody on the roster needs to send him thank you cards for the bigger-than-average Wrestlemania paydays they're going to be getting in a few months.

2) Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes: These two men surviving was the absolute correct finish for this weekend's traditional Survivor Series elimination match, and I was amazed that it actually happened.
3) Takeshi Morishima: Morishima won Pro Wrestling NOAH's Global League tournament this weekend, which will hopefully go a long way to reestablishing him in the company after he's been treated like a JTTS for quite some time.
4) Michael Elgin
5) Ricochet


Robert S. Leighty Jr.
1) CM Punk
-I love the Rock and clearly he was the main draw all week, but I still put winning titles (especially a WWE/World Title) over anything else. Punk wins the WWE Title for a 3rd time this year, and is once again the top dog on RAW. Hopefully he has a longer and more promising reign this time.

2) The Rock: It is just scary how much this man is above 99% of the current active roster. He gets a promo on RAW that put anything anyone else has said in recent months to shame, and goes out and steals the show at Survivor Series. The crowd was absolutely white hot for the man, and I can't wait for WrestleMania because I know the Rock is more than ready.
3) Matt Morgan and Crimson: Your new TNA Tag Team Champions!
4) Barrett/Rhodes
5) Dolph Ziggler


Wes Kirk
1) The Rock
I'm proud to say that The Rock is from my generation, and showed a lot of people how it was done as a performer in the ring and on the mic at Survivor Series. Despite not wrestling for seven years, Rock is still the most over guy in the WWE and their only true ratings draw right now. In the ring, Rock was able to deliver the goods and pin Miz for the Cena/Rock team victory but in the end, Rock is the prime example of how the WWE was able to build stars by letting them be themselves and crafting their own promos. Today's wrestlers are destroyed by The Rock's star power and his mic skills constantly, as seen at Survivor Series and on RAW.

2) CM Punk: My favorite regular WWE wrestler took home the WWE Championship after beating Alberto Del Rio with what I have to assume is somewhat of a surprising booking move by not having any type of wacky shenanigan. I heard Finkel gave Punk his introduction, which again shows how his finger is always on the pulse of the business by knowing what gets good reactions and providing it. Punk is the guy who should be champion because he can cut the best promos and wrestle the best matches out of anybody in WWE at this time, and frankly it would be nice to see CM Punk make a nice custom belt for himself with an ice cream bar on the center! Better than the hubcap we have now...
3) Crimson: Not only is he undefeated, but he's also taking home the tag team championship in TNA. Crimson has been loss free since his debut eleven months ago and it is a good thing that TNA isn't simply handing him a loss without meaning, as it appears his first loss will be a big deal. Crimson may well develop into a fantastic wrestler, we just need to give him time and see how things progress and right now the direction is excellent.
4) Mickie James
5) Wade Barrett


Chad Nevett
1) CM Punk
Once again, CM Punk is your WWE Champion and that just feels right.

2) The Rock: Not much can make the Rock bigger in wrestling than he already is, but his return this past week was memorable, he delivered in the ring, and proved that, seven years later, he hasn't missed a step.
3) Michael Elgin: Won ROH's 2011 Survival of the Fittest Tournament, earning himself a World Title shot.
4) Wade Barrett / Cody Rhodes
5) The Big Show


Steve Cook
1) The Rock
His promo on Raw didn't do much for me. I don't hate the Twitter references as much as some, but dude wouldn't shut up about it. His Survivor Series appearance was critically acclaimed, however, and dude busted out some wrestling moves like he hadn't missed a day in the ring when he'd been out for seven years. Rock is the top draw in WWE, and John Cena better step his game up if he's gonna hang with the Peoples' Champion.

2) CM Punk: The Punker achieved the life-long dream of most young wrestlers, having Howard Finkel announce him as the new WWE Champion in Madison Square Garden. That didn't suck.
3) Wade Barrett/Cody Rhodes: If there was any doubt that these two are in for big things in the coming months, it went away after Sunday night, where they emerged as the survivors of the Traditional Survivor Series Match.
4) Zack Ryder
5) Michael Elgin

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Crimson - 8 Votes

Fifth Place…Michael Elgin - 10 Votes

Fourth Place…Cody Rhodes - 15 Votes

Third Place…Wade Barrett - 16 Votes

Survived and defeated Randy Orton.

Second Place…CM Punk - 22 Votes

Once again, YOUR WWE Champion!

Wrestler of the Week…The Rock - 33 Votes

Do you smell what the Rock is cookin?


Year-End Standings~!
And here are the rankings after week THIRTY-FOUR! The Rock takes the win and makes his debut on the list, while CM Punk takes second and extends his lead in the year-end standings. Michael Elgin also made his debut on the big list. Here are the updated standings…

1. CM Punk (WWE) - 101

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

Cody Rhodes (WWE) - 20

Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) - 19

Sara Del Rey (US Independent) - 16
HHH (WWE) – 16
Brian Kendrick (TNA) - 16
Wade Barrett (WWE) - 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
The Rock (WWE) - 15

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

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

Michael Elgin (ROH) - 3
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

Crimson (TNA) - 2

Eddie Edwards (ROH) - 1
David Otunga (WWE) - 1
Michael McGuillicutty (WWE) - 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!