411’s Wrestler of the Week 12.12.11: Year Seven, Week 37
Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.12.2011
Bobby Roode retained the TNA Title at Final Resolution, Cody Rhodes dominated Smackdown, Zack Ryder continued to be on the rise 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 37, 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) Bobby Roode & AJ Styles
Both men worked hard to put on a very good main event at the TNA Final Resolution PPV. While the booking of the match's finish upset some people, and that is understandable, you cannot deny that they worked hard and put on a very entertaining Iron Man match. Extra points to AJ, who has been working on an injured ankle for weeks really busting ass.
2) Kevin Steen & Super Dragon: Defeated the Young Bucks to win the PWG Tag Team Titles.
3) James Storm: Defeated Kurt Angle, clean, in a very good PPV match.
4) Austin Aries
5) Gail Kim
Ryan Byers
1) Cody Rhodes
Smackdown this week WAS the Cody Rhodes show, with some solid mic work, a decent match, and interesting development of his feud with Booker T. This kid is getting an actual, god's honest push, not one of those Dolph Ziggler or Zach Ryder "pushes" where the company supposedly gets behind the guy but he still loses anytime he's paired up with a meaningful opponent or only wins because he backdoors his way into it (i.e. Ryder vs. Henry this week). However, Cody isn't just getting the push. He's also living up to the hype, which the main reason that he's my number one this week.
2) CM Punk: Not the way that I would've booked it, but Punk certainly looked like a top guy when he got to treat both of his MITB opponents as complete jobbers in the Raw main event interview segment.
3) Sheamus: Sheamus picked up two more victories this week and continues rolling through WWE.
4) Yoshiko
5) Kevin Steen & Super Dragon
TJ Hawke
1) Appetite for Destruction (Kevin Steen & Super Dragon)
Super Dragon shocked the independent wrestling world by returning at the last PWG show. Here, he wrestled for the first time since 2008 and teamed with his former enemy to defeat the Young Bucks and win the PWG Tag titles. Many live fans called this the Match of the Year.
2) James Storm: His path to winning the title from Robert Roode continued as he defeated Kurt Angle clean on PPV in what was said to be a good match.
3) El Generico: Defeated Michinoku legend, Dick Togo, in what was said to be a great match at PWG.
4) Chris Hero: Made a surprise return to PWG and had a reportedly great match with Willie Mack.
5) Robert Roode/Austin Aries (tie): Left the TNA PPVs with their belts still around their waist.
Steve Cook
1) Sheamus
All Tim Tebow does is win football games, and all Sheamus does is win wrestling matches. The Celtic Warrior scored victories over Dolph Ziggler & David Otunga on this week's Raw & SmackDown, and continues to be one of WWE's top performers. That's a good way to make people forget that he jobbed to Hornswoggle in a battle royal.
2) Zack Ryder: The Woo Woo Kid finally won another shot at Dolph Ziggler's US title with a victory over Mark Henry, though it was with some help from John Cena, a man that defeated Ryder earlier in the evening. Ryder continues to gain momentum with each passing week and it'll be interesting to see what he does at TLC with Ziggler.
3) Winter/Terra Calaway: Winter defended the WILD championship against Terra on Saturday night in a match you can find elsewhere on this website. For a person that's only had twenty-something matches, Terra displays tons of potential and Winter was able to do good things with her. Ms. Calaway represented 411 very well against the Evil Empire.
4) Kevin Steen & Super Dragon
5) James Storm
Wes Kirk
1) Robert Roode
With his performance in the thirty-minute Ironman match, Roode proved what a good heel he really is. By purposely tying the match and refusing to lock up with Styles, he advanced the character that he's selfish and could care less about anybody else, especially their title aspirations, knowing AJ wasn't going to take the title on a draw. After a wonderful match, Roode now has AJ in a situation where AJ can't say he beat Roode but can't say he lost, which puts AJ into a potential contender range after Jeff Hardy and finally after that James Storm. Excellent work by Roode to put the character over and for his in-ring work with Styles.
2) Gail Kim and Mickie James: I rarely, in fact never until now, vote for two people in one pick because I feel it cheapens things a little. However, after the Knockouts title match on Final Resolution I have to change my mind just this one time. Gail and Mickie proved that they were able to put together a very good match and showed just what WWE lost when both women kicked ass all around the ring and put on a match women can be proud of. Gail might have retained the title thanks to dirty deeds, but it was fun to see women's wrestling matter again regardless of the end result.
3) Austin Aries: Aries defended the X-Division Title and once again showed some new innovative spots as well as an excellent distraction routine at the end by out-cheating Kid Kash to get the victory after wrestling a great contest. A Double is one of the greatest things in the X-Division today and his matches get more fun to watch every week!
4) Randy Orton
5) Sheamus
Andy Critchell
1) Zack Ryder
Lat Monday's episode of Raw was very interesting as a great portion of the show was devoted to a guy who is not in the WWE title picture; Zack Ryder. He's hanging with Cena, lost to Cena in a competitive (!) match, then beat Mark Henry with Cena's help, and is now the number one contender for the US Championship. And then he also picks up a squash win on Smackdown for good measure. While it remains to be seen if he was actually "made" last Monday, it certainly felt like it. Ryder is basically the Tugboat to Cena's Hulk Hogan but you have really got to appreciate how hard everyone involved is working to make Ryder into a real, legitimate superstar.
2) Cody Rhodes: In much the same way that Zack Ryder was all over Raw, Cody was all over Smackdown. His feud with Booker T is starting to pick up steam and Cody was able to showcase more of his character and personality while "filling in" for Booker T on commentary. Rhodes is also reminding me somewhat of CM Punk last year with his increased show presence despite not being involved in the title picture. Between Rhodes and Ryder (not to mention Sheamus, Ziggler, Swagger, and others) it seems like the future of WWE is very bright.
3) Gail Kim: Won on Impact, retained title at the PPV, is today's 411 Daily Hotness.
4) Steen & Super Dragon
5) The Miz!
Jeremy Thomas
1) Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes' evolution into legitimate, honest-to-goodness upper midcarder has been fascinating. He started off with the goofy gimmick that against all odds, he made work. He got over by doing great work both on the mic and in the ring, then sort of lost the DASHING thing in exchange for the equally goofy (yet, improbably, successful) mask. The mask has been shed and he's now just a guy who's on the verge of breaking out and looked a little bit closer with a hell of a performance on Smackdown. He'll be World or WWE champion by SummerSlam, I almost guarantee at this point.
2) Zack Ryder: It took me a while to jump on the Z-Ry train, but I gotta admit the guy's entertaining and he's elevating above comedy character status. Sure, he lost to John Cena and he only beat Mark Henry by Cena-ference, but that is about 10% of the story. The rest is that he looked very competitive against Cena and he beat Mark Henry ~period.~ That's more than a lot of guys in the midcard-to-upper midcard have gotten.
3) Robert Roode & AJ Styles (tie): Put on an impressive match at Final Resolution for the World Title. Sure, nothing was solved, but we didn't expect any actual resolution here, did we? Didn't think so.
4) Kevin Steen & Super Dragon
5) Gail Kim
THE WINNERS~!
Special Mention…Austin Aries - 6 Votes
Fifth Place…AJ Styles and James Storm - 8 Votes
Fourth Place…Gail Kim and Sheamus - 9 Votes
Third Place…Zack Ryder - 13 Votes
Zack Ryder earned a US Title shot, woo woo woo, you know it.
Second Place…Cody Rhodes and Bobby Roode - 14 Votes
Cody Rhodes took control of Smackdown while Bobby Roode continues to rule over TNA.
Wrestler of the Week…Kevin Steen and Super Dragon - 16 Votes
Kevin Steen and Super Dragon are YOUR new PWG Tag Team Champions!
Year-End Standings~!
And here are the rankings after week THIRTY-SEVEN! Bobby Roode makes his way into the top 5, jumping into fourth place this week. Gail Kim also makes her top 15 debut, while Sheamus and Austin Aires both earn some points to improve their top 15 standing. Cody Rhodes also makes it into the top 15, while Super Dragon makes his debut on the list. Here are the updated standings…
1. CM Punk (WWE) - 108
2. Mark Henry (WWE) - 89
3. Randy Orton (WWE) - 87
4. Bobby Roode (TNA) - 79
5. Alberto Del Rio (WWE) – 74
6. Christian (WWE) – 69
6. R-Truth (WWE) – 69
8. Daniel Bryan (WWE) - 51
8. John Cena (WWE) - 51
10. Austin Aries (TNA) - 47
11. Hiroshi Tanahashi (NJPW) - 43
12. Kurt Angle (TNA) - 41
13. Sheamus (WWE) - 39
14. The Miz (WWE) - 40
15. Cody Rhodes (WWE) - 33
15. El Generico (ROH) - 33
15. Gail Kim (TNA) - 33
Davey Richards (ROH) - 31
Kevin Steen (US Independent) - 30 Johnny Gargano (US Independent) - 30
Sara Del Rey (US Independent) - 28
Sin Cara (WWE) – 27 {INJURED}
Rey Mysterio (WWE) – 26 {INJURED}
Sting (TNA) - 25
Gunner (TNA) - 24 Giant Bernard (NJPW) - 24 Kota Ibushi (DDT) - 24
MVP (NJPW) - 21
Takashi Sugiura (NOAH) - 19
James Storm (TNA) - 18 Zack Ryder (WWE) - 18 Go Shiozaki (NOAH) - 18
Classic Kirk. Trolling at the first line and not giving Styles anything while the BOSS made a majority of TNA picks. Bias where now?
Posted By: Guest#7074 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 03:55 PM
Bobby Roode, a homegrown TNA talent, showcases TNA's PPV event, in the main event against a star in AJ Styles, in a manner that's absolutely fitting to his character, and a way that is 'heel wrestling 101', and he gets near no credit from this site?
First place goes to a match, likely in front of less than 500 people, by the team of Kevin Steen and a guy, who hasn't wrestled in 3 years?
Didn't watch Raw or Smackdown, so i can't judge the impacts of Cody Rhodes and Zach Ryder, but seriously people?
I know folks are getting desperate, but dang.
Roode's within 30 points of 1st place, and the year ends at Wrestlemania 27, likely also to be known as the Cena vs. The Rock: The Spectacle.
All the while, TNA seems to be focusing the top of their cards, at least till Lockdown in April, on Bobby Roode(c) as heel champion, with AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy in his immediate sights and Roode(c) vs. Storm, who's working in a long program with the real "best wrestler in the world" Kurt Angle, as the big blowoff.
It's gonna be hilarious to watch you folks try and justify, barring injury, robbing the man.
Posted By: scipio2009 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 04:09 PM
Super Dragon? Is that better or worse than an Ultimo Dragon?
Posted By: Black Snow (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 04:10 PM
SUP-ER DRAG-ON
Posted By: WrestlingsOK (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 04:19 PM
Roode can easily sneak up and slide into first place at the rate he's going.
Posted By: Michael (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 05:26 PM
Only in TNA can a champion put on a 4 star main event and retain his title, and get totally ignored by several people out of personal bias. Tremendous.
Posted By: Guest#7586 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 06:40 PM
1. James Storm - had the match of the PPV and beat Angle clean.
2. Bobby Roode - best heel in wrestling right now.
3. AJ Styles/Kurt Angle - the other halves of those matches.
4. Gail Kim
5. Austin Aries
Posted By: Guest#3246 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 06:56 PM
You don't have to like TNA, but Roode(and possibly Storm) should have been on everybody's list.
1.Roode/AJ(because of the draw)
2.Storm
3.Rhodes
4.Ryder
5.Gail
Posted By: Still Guest#8287 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 08:35 PM
And you writers claim to not have a vendetta against TNA.
Look forward to everyone wrestling at TLC getting votes next week while TNA gets ignored again
Posted By: Guest#1167 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 10:10 PM
And you writers claim to not have a vendetta against TNA.
Look forward to everyone wrestling at TLC getting votes next week while TNA gets ignored again
Posted By: Guest#1167 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 10:10 PM
That's what happens when one company completely dominates the business. You want TNA, ROH, or any other promotion to get more love? Don't look to writers for hope. Look for the product to become a higher quality, more intriguing, with more exposure.
When you're the undisputed #1 then big matches become that much more important. I'm sorry, but when Over the Hill Guy faces Underutilized Relative Unknown while continually being stuck in Orlando people don't care.
Posted By: Realistic Fan (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 11:28 PM
bias bullshit! judge all wrestling fair or dont bother with these crap columns!
tna constantly gets snubbed while tiny irrelevent indy feds get votes...
watch the whole tlc roster will have a spot next week even if every match sucks...
Posted By: Guest#0256 (Guest) on December 12, 2011 at 11:35 PM
lol piss kirk trying to spin that tna trash into something exciting. robert roode sucks.
then again he does it with his life, claiming hes an accountant when he is a geek squad loser
Posted By: Guest#6264 (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 12:20 AM
I've been reading the replies so far, and I know quite a few of you don't like me but in this case all of us are in agreement.
This is BULLSHIT.
The only reason I didn't put Styles in 1st place with Roode is because I was already making a pick with two entries and Roode was still the champion.
At the end of the day, people continue to mostly ignore TNA or bash it with two notable exceptions of myself and Larry. It is also interesting that several people on the WOTW voting do not watch TNA and therefore never vote for TNA, ever.
The idea that TNA guys after a great PPV get shafted in the votes for wrestlers who may be good, may even be great, but never wrestled on PPV watched by tens of thousands and potentially millions on DVD and streaming video around the world is a crock. TNA is going to get shafted big time, but we don't have to get used to it! Keep demanding fair coverage!
Posted By: Wes Kirk (Registered) on December 13, 2011 at 12:54 AM
"That's what happens when one company completely dominates the business. You want TNA, ROH, or any other promotion to get more love? Don't look to writers for hope. Look for the product to become a higher quality, more intriguing, with more exposure."
That might fly except that the winner this week were from PWG, a fun promotion that is as small compared to TNA as TNA is compared to WWE.
Posted By: Guest#7168 (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 01:51 AM
YES! Kevin Steel and Superdragon won. Finally, they...wait, who? Oh yeah, I live in Tulsa. I only get WWE and TNA. Oh well.
Posted By: Comment Board Poster (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 09:41 AM
I have a serious question. Let's look at some evidence behind it first.
1. Many of the writers say they don't vote for TNA wrestlers because they don't watch the product.
2. Kevin Steen and Super Dragon won a match at at PWG show that was not an iPPV.
3. Most of the writers on this site have indicated in the past they do not live in California, where PWG runs shows.
So, does this mean that writers are voting for guys who wrestled on a show they didn't see, while using that same rationale as a reason to not vote for people in another company?
That seems to be the real issue here. You should either not vote for matches you haven't seen, or you should vote for people based on accomplishment rather than match quality.
Saying, "The fans called it match of the year," is a weak excuse. Every PWG show supposedly has the "match of the year" on it. There are plenty of fans saying great things about Roode-Styles and Storm-Angle, but they get overlooked because "I didn't watch the show."
Can someone please explain to me why this school of thought is viewed as acceptable and rational?
Posted By: AT (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 10:49 AM
STEEN
Posted By: s1rude (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 11:39 AM
Keep demanding fair coverage!
Posted By: Wes Kirk (Registered) on December 13, 2011 at 12:54 AM
If we, the readers, had that kind of power you would be out of work.
Posted By: Guest#0572 (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 02:13 PM
So Sten and Super Dragon?
To quote the Miz, "Really....Really....REALLY!?"
Dragon is a fun wrestler, and I enjoy Steen alot, but come on people. The bias is getting to be embarrassing on this website.
Bobby Roode retains his title in a great 30 min match on PPV in the second biggest company in North America, nah...instead I'll vote for a chick no one's heard of, who LOST a title-match no cares about to Winter. Nice one Cook.
Can we please get SOME fairness in this column, when half the "writers" refuse to acknowledge TNA's existence it makes the whole column meaningless.
And for you so call Writers, REAL writers/journalists ignore personal bias and look at things OBJECTIVELY!
Posted By: Pat (Guest) on December 13, 2011 at 10:49 PM
TJ Hawke: "I hear a lot about wrestling!"
Posted By: Guest#1368 (Guest) on December 16, 2011 at 03:14 PM
I want everyone here to realize one thing:
This is a means-nothing, just-for-fun poll of a scripted competition that, frankly, most of us have/should have/act like we have outgrown when we were kids.
Please calm your sphincters down.
Posted By: Guest#2068 (Guest) on December 16, 2011 at 03:20 PM
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