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411’s Wrestler of the Week 1.15.13: Year Eight, Week 41
Welcome to WEEK 41, 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) Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio is your new world champion, defeating the Big Show on Smackdown last week. Del Rio has been a guy that was suffering from Lex Luger syndrome, and I was really worried about his placemen tin the company. But with WWE losing faith in Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio for several reasons, they decided to make a statement and make Del Rio the new Hispanic star. While I am generally not a big fan of title changes on free TV, WWE did this on the right show. While it could have happened on Raw with a bigger audience, I feel that it would have gotten lost in the shuffle on Raw, and shortchanged time wise. WWE looked at the situation, knew Rock would be on the show and would likely lead to the biggest audience for the show in months. They want Del Rio to be the Hispanic face of the company, the Rock was on the show, the possible big audience and then the booking to make him look like a resilient babyface; that all works for me. Sure I would have liked a more organic build to the Del Rio babyface title win, but all things considered, they did a good job with the planning for this title change. Del Rio is the man, at least for now, to carry the big belt, and I hope it goes well for him.
2) The Young Bucks: The Young Bucks defeated Ricochet & Rich Swann, Brian Cage & Michael Elgin and Kevin Steen & El Generico to not only win the PWG DDT4 tournament, but also to win the tag team titles. They won the titles from Cage and Elgin, and then successfully retained then in the DDt4 finals against Steen and Generico as they won the tournament. While this was not the most popular decision in the world to some, I appreciate the achievement.
3) Jeff Hardy: Defeated Bobby Roode and Austin Aries to retain the TNA World Title in a great main event at Genesis.
4) El Generico
5) Christopher Daniels
Michael Benjamin
1) Alberto Del Rio
ADR won the World Heavyweight Championship on Smackdown so this is pretty much a no brainer for me. He won in impressive fashion too. If the projected Wrestlemania card is any indication, Alberto won’t be holding on to his title beyond Elimination Chamber. That’s nothing but speculation though and you have to look at this as an isolated event. The World Heavyweight Championship is the second most important championship in the company. Winning it is an accomplishment that can’t be matched this week. Plus, I’ve been on the fence regarding his face turn but I think he’s going to pull it off just fine.
2) The Rock: If Del Rio didn’t win the WHC this week, Rock would easily be number one. He came back to Raw and had a great segment with CM Punk. Cookie Puss is like, a thing now. Smackdown came around and The Rock had an entertaining segment with Team Rhodes Scholars. While I think that The Rock’s time could be used more efficiently, you can’t argue with the end result from that segment. Seeing The Rock mix it up with the current crop of talent is something I wish we had the opportunity to see more of. Anyways, The Rock showed up to both shows and knocked it out of the park both times. The Rock had a good week.
3) Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy retained his title in an awesome main event at Genesis. I’d rather have seen any other outcome but that’s okay because the match rocked. Jeff Hardy has been a consistent champion all things considered. He’s been delivering far beyond my expectations. The question is, who is TNA going to deem worthy of defeating him?
4) El Generico
5) Kenny King
Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Alberto Del Rio
I have a rule that I will always vote someone Wrestler of the Week should they win a World Title, and that is the case here with Del Rio.
2) CM Punk: He successfully defends his WWE Title on RAW in a TLC Match and then has an epic war of words with The Rock that sold a lot of people on buying the Rumble.
3) The Rock: The Rock returned to RAW and immediately got into a War with CM Punk that out classed everything we saw in the year long build to Rock/Cena. Rock also returned to SmackDown for the first time in a decade and had some fun with Team Rhode Scholars
4) Christopher Daniels
5) Jeff Hardy
Ryan Byers
1) The Rock
Yes, Alberto Del Rio won a title this week, but the person who really had the most impact and generated the most discussion in professional wrestling this week was the Rock, who made his most recent return to professional wrestling on Monday and proceeded to prove why he is one of the best performers in the history of the sport, absolutely owning CM Punk on the microphone.
2) Alberto Del Rio: Though his title reign was overshadowed somewhat by the Rock’s return and the fact that it happened on the b-show, Alberto Del Rio is your new World Heavyweight Champion, and hopefully that title win will help him rebuild his character, which I think has been significantly damaged by mismanagement ever since he lost the WWE Title to CM Punk over a year ago.
3) El Generico: If you want to talk about generating buzz and career advancement, Generico is a big winner this week, as his signing with WWE got everybody talking and also allows him the potentially to become an infinitely bigger name than he was before. Also, he had a memorable sendoff in PWG, main eventing one last show with partner Kevin Steen against Generation Me in the finals of the DDT4 tournament.
4) Team Rhodes Scholar
5) John Cena
TJ Hawke
1) El Generico
The best wrestler in the world got his WWE contract, and he made it to the finals of PWG’s annual DDT4 with his longest running partner/enemy, Kevin Steen.
2) The Young Bucks: I didn’t love the decision, but the Young Bucks defeated Ricochet/Rich Swann, won the PWG Tag Titles from Michael Elgin/Brian Cage, and then defeated Steenerico to successfully defend said titles and win the 2013 DDT4…and all in one night!
3) Alberto Del Rio: He won the World Heavyweight Championship
4) Christopher Daniels
5) Christian York
Francisco Ramirez
1) Alberto del Rio
Rey is having family issues, Sin Cara had minor knee surgery, leaving the WWE without their latin star. Turn Del Rio face, have him get his ass beat, yet defeat the Big Show in a Last Man Standing, winning the big gold belt. WWE now has their new star for the latin market, and a new World Heavyweight Champion.
2) Jeff Hardy: TNA may still catch hell for this, but Jeff Hardy has not disappointed in his World Title run. He came out on top at Genesis going over Roode and Aries.
3) El Terrible: Speaking of World Heavyweight Championship runs, El Terrible is still at it successfully defending the CMLL version of said title against Diamante Azul.
4) El Generico
5) Christopher Daniels
Jeremy Thomas
1) Alberto Del Rio
Alberto beat Big Show for the World Heavyweight Title, which pretty much makes him the top face on Smackdown while Randy Orton does his slow-burn heel turn and Sheamus is busy squabbling with Orton. Quite a rise in fortunes for a guy who was approaching “dead in the water” status at the end of his heel run.
2) CM Punk/The Rock: The two men who will face off at the Royal Rumble delivered the most entertaining segment(s) of the week in the Raw main event promo timeslot, setting the stage nicely for their feud.
3) Jeff Hardy: Jeff held onto the World Title against Austin Aries and Bobby Roode in the main event of TNA Genesis, keeping his run going strong.
4) Christopher Daniels
5) El Generico
Jack McGee
1) Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio defeated the Big Show on Smackdown to become the new world champion. Del Rio had been floundering for a while, and the face turn wasn’t exactly done the best, but I liked the match, I liked the title change, and I felt that doing it on a show that had the Rock advertised on it was a smart move. I hope his title run goes well as I think Del Rio has a lot to offer WWE.
2) Jeff Hardy: Retained the TNA World Title in a hell of a match at the Genesis PPV. Overall the PPV wasn’t much to write home about, the main event was great and Hardy’s title run continues.
3) El Generico: El Generico was the talk of the week, signing with WWE and having an emotional send off in PWG. Generico is a guy I heard a lot of people talking about, and after some iPPV investing; I saw what everyone was talking about. This is a long time coming for Generico, and I hope he succeeds in WWE. With the kid friendly direction of WWE (Saturday Slam and things of that nature), and a masked gimmick that could really get over, I feel he has a great chance to do so.
4) Christopher Daniels
5) The Rock and CM Punk
THE WINNERS~!
The Rock returned on Raw, and people enjoyed his confrontation with CM Punk.
Jeff Hardy retained the TNA World Title at Genesis, while El Generico got signed by WWE.
Your NEW World Champion!
Year-End Standings~!
And here are the standings after week 41…
1. CM Punk – 137 points (WWE)
T~2. Daniel Bryan – 87 points (WWE)
T~2. Jeff Hardy – 87 points (TNA)
T~4. Austin Aries – 78 points (TNA)
T~4. Sheamus – 78 points (WWE)
6. Dolph Ziggler – 72 points (WWE)
7. Big Show – 69 points (WWE)
8. Bobby Roode – 68 points (TNA)
9. Samoa Joe – 62 points (TNA)
10. Brock Lesnar – 55 points (WWE)
James Storm – 54 points (TNA)
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 51 points (NJPW)
Bully Ray- 51 points (TNA)
Kevin Steen – 51 points (ROH)
Alberto Del Rio – 42 points (WWE)
John Cena – 40 points (WWE)
The Ryback – 40 points (WWE)
Kane – 40 points (WWE)
Antonio Cesaro – 39 points (WWE)
Johnny Gargano – 31 points (US Independent)
Wade Barrett – 30 points (WWE)
Kazuchika Okada – 28 points (NJPW)
Alex Shelley – 27 points (US Independent)
El Generico – 25 point (US Independent)
KUSHIDA – 24 points (NJPW)
Seth Rollins – 22 points (WWE)
Dean Ambrose – 22 points (WWE)
Roman Reigns – 22 points (WWE)
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)
CIMA – 18 point (Dragon Gate)
Samuray del Sol (aka Octagon Jr.) – 18 points (US Independent)
Adam Cole – 18 points (ROH)
Chuck Taylor- 18 points (US Independent)
Nick Jackson- 18 points (US Independent)
Matt Jackson- 18 points (US Independent)
Hirooki Goto – 15 points (NJPW)
Masata Tanaka – 15 points (ZERO1)
Ryusuke Taguchi – 15 points (NJPW)
Tyson Kidd – 15 points (WWE)
Rhett Titus – 15 points (ROH)
Portia Perez – 15 points (US Independent)
Nicole Mathews – 15 points (US Independent)
Ric Flair – 15 points (US Independent)
Karl Anderson – 13 point (NJPW)
The Miz – 13 points (WWE)
Devon – 13 points (TNA)
Big E. Langston – 12 points (WWE)
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)
Texano Jr. – 12 points (AAA)
Kenta Kobashi – 12 points (Retired)
RVD – 10 points (TNA)
The Rock – 9 points (WWE)
Prince Devitt – 9 points (NJPW)
Rey Mysterio – 9 points (WWE)
R Truth – 9 points (WWE)
Kurt Angle – 9 points (TNA)
Low Ki – 7 points (US Independent)
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)
The Great Khali – 6 points (WWE)
AJ Lee – 5 points (WWE)
Mark Henry – 4 points (WWE)
PAC – 4 points (WWE)
Genki Horiguchi – 4 point (Dragon Gate)
Christian York – 4 points (TNA)
Shinsuke Nakamura – 3 points (NJPW)
Michael Elgin – 3 point (ROH)
Paul Heyman – 3 points (WWE)
Jerry Lawler – 3 points (WWE)
Stevie Richards – 3 points (US Independent)
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)
Tommy Dreamer – 3 point (US Independent)
El Terrible – 2 point (CMLL)
Jon Davis – 2 point (US Independent)
Kota Ibushi – 2 point (NJPW)
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)
Kenny Omega – 1 point (US Independent)
Sami Callihan – 1 point (US Independent)
Rush – 1 point (CMLL)
Ryo Saito – 1 point (Dragon Gate)
Mr. Kyu Kyu Toyonaka Dolphin – 1 point (Dragon Gate)
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.
 Year One Winner: Ric Flair
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