wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 8.28.12: Year Eight, Week 21

August 28, 2012 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to WEEK 21, YEAR EIGHT 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

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 (the voting week ins Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…

Larry Csonka
1) Masakatsu Funaki
Masakatsu Funaki defeated Jun Akiyama to become the new AJPW Triple Crown Champion. Funaki winning isn’t only big for him, but plays into a bigger angle since Akiyama is a NOAH wrestler, holding the title as an outsider. With it being quiet in the US, Funaki winning the Triple Crown is the only big deal that happened all week.

2) Dolph Ziggler: Dolph Ziggler may have come out on the short end of the stick at Summer slam, but he more than made up for it on Raw. Ziggler defeated Chris Jericho, clean, and will be credited for sending Chris Jericho away. It’s a big win for Ziggler, and will give him months of material, and he will make sure to remind us of the accomplishment at all times.
3) Alberto Del Rio: On the surface, Alberto Del Rio becoming number one contender, again, to the world title isn’t big news. But he defeated Randy Orton this week, making him tap out clean as a sheet. That is a big deal within the “WWE Universe,” and that is why Del Rio gets a vote this week.
4) Robbie E
5) Tara

Greg Demark
1) Aces & Eights
No one made a bigger impact (no pun intended) this week, as they completely controlled Impact Wrestling from start to finish.

2) Dolph Ziggler: The man “retired” Chris Jericho, and tried to pull off a stunt no one has tried, attacking his opponent, then cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. Plus he had that whole ex-girlfriend talking on Howard Stern thingy.
3) Claire Lynch: Another one who had everyone talking all week, Claire’s decision to quit Impact Wrestling made changes to their script, and has fans everywhere calling for an immediate Wrestle rap induction.
4) Sting
5) Cyma

Ryan Byers
1) Masakatsu Funaki
For ten months, Jun Akiyama has held the prestigious Triple Crown of All Japan Pro Wrestling while being a member of the Pro Wrestling NOAH roster. This past Sunday, Masakatsu Funaki of AJPW defeated Akiyama to end his dream reign and bring the championship back to the All Japan roster. This also makes Funaki one of the few men in history to hold major championships in both pro wrestling and mixed martial arts (alongside Brock Lesnar and Dan Severn), as he was previously the King of Pancreas.

2) Akebono: There aren’t many guys who could headline an Indy show and make it such a big deal that cable executives would want to put it on pay per view, but that’s what happened with Akebono this weekend. His feud with death match legend Atsushi Onita reached the point that it headlined a PPV in an exploding barbed wire match, and, believe it or not, ‘Bono even managed to defeat Onita in his own specialty bout.
3) Kaz Hayashi: This past weekend, Kaz Hayashi celebrated the twentieth anniversary of him becoming a professional wrestler. He did so by wrestling two celebratory matches on this weekend’s All Japan show, one has himself and one as his masked alter ego Shiryu. Hayashi was victorious in both bouts and looks like he may have another ten years left in the tank.
4) CIMA
5) Daisuke Sekimoto

TJ Hawke
1) Masakatsu Funaki
Defeated Jun Akiyama to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.

2) CIMA: Successfully defended the Open the Dream Gate Championship against YAMATO. His next defense is scheduled to be against Naruki Doi.
3) Dolph Ziggler: “Retired” Chris Jericho.
4) Akebono
5) Alberto Del Rio

Gavin Napier
1) Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler was the beneficiary of Chris Jericho’s professionalism, as Jericho put Ziggler over on his way out to a Fozzy tour. Ziggler’s not my favorite guy, but he had the biggest week of anyone relevant.

2) Alberto del Rio Del Rio and Sheamus seem intent on matching Orton and Cena’s run of ppv matches. As much a I dread it, a sustained main event run is nothing to sneeze at in WWE.
3) Robbie E Actually won a match. That’s big for him.
4) Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
5) Tara

Jack McGee
1) Dolph Ziggler
Dolph Ziggler defeated Chris Jericho on Raw, and sent Jericho on another sabbatical. Ziggler now has MITB and a big win over Chris Jericho. Can the guy be the next big thing? I think he can, and I hope that he actually gets the chance.

2) Alberto Del Rio : Defeated Randy Orton on last week’s Smackdown with his dreaded arm bar finisher. Del Rio is once again the #1 contender to the World Title.
3) Robbie E: Won a BFG Series match on IMPACT this week, defeating AJ Styles and RVD. While Robbie E has no chance to win this thing, defeating RVD and Styles is huge.
4) Masakatsu Funaki
5) CIMA

Jeremy Thomas
1) Masakatsu Funaki
Funaki beat Jun Akiyama in order to become the new Triple Crown champion in AJPW. That’s a big feather in Funaki’s cap and easily enough to put him on top this week.

2) Dolph Ziggler: If he hadn’t been bitched out by Orton on Smackdown, Dolph would have #1 for “retiring” Chris Jericho. As it is, he’s still good enough for #2.
3) Damien Sandow: Picked up two strong wins this week; one on Raw and one on Superstars.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) CIMA

THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Akebono – 6 Votes

Fifth Place…Robbie E – 8 Votes

Fourth Place…CIMA – 9 Votes

Third Place…Alberto Del Rio – 14 Votes

Is once again your number one contender for the World Title.

Second Place…Masakatsu Funaki – 22 Votes

Your NEW AJPW Triple Crown Champion!

Wrestler of the Week…Dolph Ziggler – 25 Votes

Sent Chris Jericho packing, because he’s the show off…

Year-End Standings~!
And here are the standings after week 21…

1. CM Punk – 81 points (WWE)

2. Austin Aries – 58 points (TNA)

3. Brock Lesnar – 55 points (WWE)

4. Sheamus – 51 points (WWE)

5. Bobby Roode – 50 points (TNA)
5. Daniel Bryan – 50 points (WWE)

7. Kevin Steen – 36 points (ROH)

8. Dolph Ziggler – 33 points (WWE)

9. James Storm – 30 points (TNA)

10. Alberto Del Rio – 27 points (WWE)

Kazuchika Okada – 24 points (NJPW)
John Cena – 24 points (WWE)

Kenny King – 21 points (TNA)
Christian – 21 points (WWE)

Player Uno – 19 points (US Independent)
Stupified – 19 points (US Independent)

Chuck Taylor- 18 points (US Independent)

Samoa Joe – 16 points (TNA)

Antonio Cesaro – 15 points (WWE)
Johnny Gargano – 15 points (US Independent)
Ryusuke Taguchi – 15 points (NJPW)
Nick Jackson- 15 points (US Independent)
Matt Jackson- 15 points (US Independent)
Tyson Kidd – 15 points (WWE)
Rhett Titus – 15 points (ROH)

Masakatsu Funaki – 12 points (AJPW)
Magnus – 12 points (TNA)
AJ Styles – 12 points (TNA)
Zema Ion – 12 points (TNA)
Christopher Daniels – 12 points (TNA)
Kazarian – 12 points (TNA)
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 12 points (NJPW)
Tensai – 12 points (WWE)
Big Show – 12 points (WWE)
Damian Sandow – 12 points (WWE)
The Miz – 12 points (WWE)
Dr. Wagner Jr. – 12 points (AAA)

RVD – 10 points (TNA)

Bully Ray- 9 points (TNA)
Portia Perez – 9 points (US Independent)
Nicole Mathews – 9 points (US Independent)
Rey Mysterio – 9 points (WWE)
Kofi Kingston – 9 points (WWE)
R Truth – 9 points (WWE)
Hirooki Goto – 9 points (NJPW)
Kurt Angle – 9 points (TNA)
CIMA – 9 point (Dragon Gate)

Karl Anderson – 7 point (NJPW)
AR Fox – 7 point (US Independent)

Sting – 6 points (TNA)
Taiyo Kea – 6 points (AJPW)
Masata Tanaka – 6 points (ZERO1)
KAI – 6 points (AJPW)
Adam Pearce – 6 points (US Independent)
17 – 6 points (US Independent)
Shard – 6 points (US Independent)
assailANT – 6 points (US Independent)
combatANT – 6 points (US Independent)
Colt Cabana – 6 points (US Independent)

Mark Henry – 4 points (WWE)
PAC – 4 points (WWE)
Low Ki – 4 points (US Independent)

Gran Akuma – 3 points (US Independent)
Sara Del Rey – 3 points (US Independent)
Chris Sabin – 3 points (TNA)
Robbie E – 3 points (TNA)
Mr. Touchdown Mark Angelosetti – 3 points (US Independent)
Alex Shelley – 3 points (US Independent)
Genki Horguchi – 3 point (Dragon Gate)

Kota Ibushi – 2 point (NJPW)
AJ Lee – 2 points (WWE)

Akebono – 1 point (Japan)
Yujiro Takahashi – 1 point (NJPW)
Miss Tessmacher – 1 point (TNA)
Katsuhiko Nakajima – 1 point (NOAH)
Charlie Haas – 1 point (ROH)
Shelton Benjamin – 1 point (ROH)
Layla – 1 point (WWE)
Dmitrious “The Greek God” Papadon – 1 point (US Independent)
Sami Callihan – 1 point (US Independent)
El Generico – 1 point (US Independent)
Jon Davis – 1 point (US Independent)