wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 11.27.12: Year Eight, Week 34

November 27, 2012 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome to WEEK 34, 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 runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…


Larry Csonka
1) Dolph Ziggler
As I wrote in the R’s yesterday, this is the kind of booking that we have been waiting for in regards to Dolph Ziggler. Thank you WWE, not only did we get a good main event, but this is how Ziggler needs to be booked; LIKE A THREAT, not like a goof. The Cena beat down, a good match and win over Miz and a bigger win and better match with Orton all in the same week. #1 with a bullet.

2) Masato Tanaka: Won the NEVER Openweight Championship, defeating Taishi Takizawa, Tomohiro Ishii, and Karl Anderson all in the same night to win that title. Tanaka is still a great performer, and it makes this wrestling fan happy to see him still succeeding.
3) Wade Barrett: Wade Barrett defeated the IC Champion on Raw, and is coming off like a real star, even if the booking could be better.
4) Michael Elgin
5) El Generico

Ryan Byers
1) Masato Tanaka
For my money, Masato Tanaka is one of the most underrated guys in wrestling right now. Next year, he will celebrate his twentieth anniversary as a professional wrestler and yet the man is still an absolute workhorse. He proved that again this week. First, on November 18, he wrestled three matches in one night as part of a tournament for New Japan’s developmental brand NEVER, winning a tournament and becoming the brand’s first champion. On top of that, he also worked a regular schedule of matches for the main NJPW brand as part of the World Tag League tournament, teaming with Yujiro Takahashi. They’ve been successful in those matches as well, being one of three teams currently tied for the lead in points.

2) Dolph Ziggler: Dolph was once again successful against Randy Orton this week, defeating him in the main event of Smackdown. On top of that, he laid out John Cena in one of the central angles of Raw, and he defeated the Miz (though everybody defeats the Miz these days) on WWE Main Event. Ziggler has been an utter jobber for months, and now hopefully he is breaking out of the doldrums.
3) Wade Barrett: Barrett’s push since his return has been a bit start-and-stop, but, with his win over Kofi Kingston, it appears he is now en route to an Intercontinental Title reign.
4) El Generico
5) Poison Sawada JULIE

Steve Cook
1) Dolph Ziggler
He beat Miz & Randy Orton on separate shows while getting the upper hand on John Cena on Raw. I’m not big on the Cena/AJ/Vickie/Ziggler angle, but at least Ziggler’s getting something from it.

2) Christian York: In spite of one of the worst hairdos in wrestling today, York’s looked good in his Impact appearances. He & Jeff Hardy put on a nice little match and York doesn’t look like he’s lost a step since the ECW days.
3) Taeler Hendrix: Stepped her game up big time in her second Impact appearance. Her in-ring skillz are improving, and I think if DeMarco’s readers watched Impact their votes in the Rumble would have been different.
4) Titus O’Neil
5) Wade Barrett

TJ Hawke
1) Ryo “Jimmy” Saito, Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!, and Mr. Kyukyu Toyonaka Dolphin
Yes, those are the names of real wrestlers in Dragon Gate. They won the Triangle Gate Championships last week.

2) Dolph Ziggler: The dude was booked strong on several WWE programs this week. Hopefully, he’s finally being positioned to get the chance to become a top guy.
3) El Generico: The Generic Luchador successfully retained DDT’s KO-D Openweight Title by defeating MIKAMI.
4) Michael Elgin
5) Masato Tanaka

Jack McGee
1) Dolph Ziggler
In a quiet week, Dolph Ziggler made the biggest impact. The beat down of John Cena on Raw, he defeated Miz on Main Event and then defeated Randy Orton in a really good match on Smackdown. In my opinion, this was Dolph Ziggler’s week.

2) Wade Barrett: Defeated the IC Champion on Raw, and looks to get a title shot at the next PPV.
3) R Truth: Defeated the US Champion on SD, and looks to get a title shot at the next PPV.
4) Austin Aries
5) Alberto Del Rio

Jeremy Thomas
1) Dolph Ziggler
Dolph is firmly in “Push: ENGAGED” mode, as he pinned Randy Orton for the second week in a row, beat the Miz and is in a high-profile feud with John Cena. It looks like they may finally be pulling the trigger on Ziggler’s main event push and it is about damned time.

2) Christian York: The TNA Gut Check winner went ten minutes against the TNA World Champion and actually put on a really good match with him and, with the non-title stip in place, there were a couple of times where he looked potentially capable of winning the match. That’s quite a statement in favor of York’s future.
3) Wade Barrett: He looks to be headed for a potential Intercontinental Title reign; just getting him in a feud he can win is big progress for the guy’s prospects.
4) Austin Aries
5) El Generico

James Wright
1) Dolph Ziggler
The man pulled a clean sweep this week and won both his matches, neither of which were easy squashes. One being against the always hard to beat Viper and the other against a newly face-turned Miz, who could have sorely used a win in their match on Main Event, but Ziggler was just that little bit better. What’s more he also destroyed John Cena on Raw and the retaliation shows that the two are definitely in a program together now, Ziggler even got to close the show on Smackdown, even if he was locked in the STF at the time.

2) C.M. Punk: Celebrated a full year as WWE champion, in this day and age, and for a man who is nowhere near the ‘WWE standard’ for a wrestler who could claim such a long reign it is a big deal. Sure the reign might not have been the most significant or groundbreaking so far, but with rumors rife that Punk might not be dropping the belt at the Rumble after all, who knows where things could go from here!
3) Austin Aries: He offered to give Brooke Hogan a stuffing on Thanksgiving, that is all.
4) El Generico
5) R-Truth


THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Austin Aries – 7 Votes
  • Fifth Place…Christian York – 8 Votes
  • Fourth Place…El Generico – 9 Votes
  • Third Place…Masato Tanaka – 10 Votes

    Defeated Taishi Takizawa, Tomohiro Ishii, and Karl Anderson to win the NEVER Openweight Title.

  • Second Place…Wade Barrett – 14 Votes

    Defeated current IC Champion Kofi Kingston on Raw…

  • Wrestler of the Week…Dolph Ziggler – 33 Votes

    Dominated WWE TV last week…

    Year-End Standings~!
    And here are the standings after week 34…

    1. CM Punk – 131 points (WWE)

    2. Daniel Bryan – 86 points (WWE)

    3. Sheamus – 69 points (WWE)

    4. Samoa Joe – 62 points (TNA)

    5. Austin Aries – 60 points (TNA)

    6. Brock Lesnar – 55 points (WWE)

    7. Dolph Ziggler – 54 points (WWE)
    7. James Storm – 54 points (TNA)

    9. Bobby Roode – 53 points (TNA)

    10. Jeff Hardy – 52 points (TNA)

    Bully Ray- 51 points (TNA)
    Big Show – 51 points (WWE)

    Kevin Steen – 45 points (ROH)

    The Ryback – 40 points (WWE)

    Kane – 39 points (WWE)

    Hiroshi Tanahashi – 36 points (NJPW)

    Johnny Gargano – 30 points (US Independent)

    Alex Shelley – 27 points (US Independent)
    Kazuchika Okada – 27 points (NJPW)
    Alberto Del Rio – 27 points (WWE)

    John Cena – 25 points (WWE)

    KUSHIDA – 24 points (NJPW)

    Kofi Kingston – 21 points (WWE)
    Christopher Daniels – 21 points (TNA)
    Kazarian – 21 points (TNA)
    Kenny King – 21 points (TNA)
    Christian – 21 points (WWE)

    Player Uno – 19 points (US Independent)
    Stupified – 19 points (US Independent)
    Damian Sandow – 19 points (WWE)

    Wade Barrett – 18 points (WWE)
    Chuck Taylor- 18 points (US Independent)

    Masata Tanaka – 15 points (ZERO1)
    CIMA – 15 point (Dragon Gate)
    Adam Cole – 15 points (ROH)
    Antonio Cesaro – 15 points (WWE)
    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)
    Portia Perez – 15 points (US Independent)
    Nicole Mathews – 15 points (US Independent)

    The Miz – 13 points (WWE)
    El Generico – 13 point (US Independent)

    Tim Donst – 12 points (US Independent)
    Sweet Saraya Knight – 12 points (US Independent)
    Masakatsu Funaki – 12 points (AJPW)
    Magnus – 12 points (TNA)
    AJ Styles – 12 points (TNA)
    Zema Ion – 12 points (TNA)
    Tensai – 12 points (WWE)
    Dr. Wagner Jr. – 12 points (AAA)

    RVD – 10 points (TNA)
    Devon – 10 points (TNA)

    Samuri Del Sol (aka Octagon Jr.) – 9 points (US Independent)
    Rey Mysterio – 9 points (WWE)
    R Truth – 9 points (WWE)
    Hirooki Goto – 9 points (NJPW)
    Kurt Angle – 9 points (TNA)

    Low Ki – 7 points (US Independent)
    Karl Anderson – 7 point (NJPW)
    AR Fox – 7 point (US Independent)
    Cody Rhodes – 7 points (WWE)

    Sting – 6 points (TNA)
    Taiyo Kea – 6 points (AJPW)
    Lance Archer – 6 points (NJPW)
    Davey Boy Smith Jr. – 6 points (NJPW)
    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)
    Ultramantis Black – 6 points (US Independent)
    Hallowicked – 6 points (US Independent)
    Frightmare – 6 points (US Independent)
    Mr. Touchdown Mark Angelosetti – 6 points (US Independent)

    Mark Henry – 4 points (WWE)
    PAC – 4 points (WWE)

    Michael Elgin – 3 point (ROH)
    Paul Heyman – 3 points (WWE)
    Jerry Lawler – 3 points (WWE)
    Gran Akuma – 3 points (US Independent)
    Sara Del Rey – 3 points (WWE)
    Chris Sabin – 3 points (TNA)
    Chavo Guerrero – 3 points (TNA)
    Hernandez – 3 points (TNA)
    Robbie E – 3 points (TNA)
    Christian York – 3 points (TNA)
    Genki Horguchi – 3 point (Dragon Gate)

    Jon Davis – 2 point (US Independent)
    Kota Ibushi – 2 point (NJPW)
    AJ Lee – 2 points (WWE)

    Seth Rollins – 1 points (WWE)
    Dean Ambrose – 1 points (WWE)
    Roman Reigns – 1 points (WWE)
    Mick Foley – 1 points (WWE)
    Shuji Kondo – 1 point (Japan)
    Akebono – 1 point (Japan)
    Dick Togo – 1 point (Japan)
    Yujiro Takahashi – 1 point (NJPW)
    Tara – 1 point (TNA)
    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 Terrible – 1 point (CMLL)
    Rush – 1 point (CMLL)

  • Voting began 4.09.12
  • 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.

    Other International Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.



    **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


    Year Seven Winner: CM Punk

  • article topics

    Larry Csonka