wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 4.23.13: Year Nine, Week 2

April 23, 2013 | Posted by Larry Csonka

 photo WrestlerOfWeek_zps4f74fe91.jpg

Welcome to YEAR NINE, WEEK TWO 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) John Morrison
John Morrison returned to the independent scene over the weekend, scoring two victories (over Sami Calihan and Kevin Steen) in good performances for 2CW. He main evented both shows, including one on iPPV, and continues his solid run of non-WWE performances.

2) Brock Lesnar: Brock Lesnar appeared on Raw and did what he does best, MURDERED people. When Brock Lesnar is on TV, I always pay attention. Seriously, who doesn’t like a monster just destroying jobbers?
3) Mickie James: Your new #1 contender for the TNA Knockouts Title.
4) AJ Styles
5) Kofi Kingston

Ryan Byers
1) Brock Lesnar
Most of the time that Lesnar is on WWE television, he’s in the most entertaining segment on the show. Wrestlemania was a rare exception, but this past Monday’s episode of Raw was not. Lesnar absolutely MURDELIZED the Three Man Band and laid down an intense challenge to Triple H for a rubber match to put their feud to bed. It went a long way to reestablishing Brock as a world-beater after a no holds barred match that most of us would rather forget.

2) The Ryback: I didn’t like his promo as much as some people did, but the Ryback’s heel turn is off to a solid start, with a rational explanation for his behavior and a dickish walk out on John Cena.
3) Go Shiozaki & Suwama (tie): This week saw the beginning of the All Japan Champion Carnival, the 2013 edition of the single most prestigious tournament in professional wrestling history. Suwama, the ace of AJPW, went toe-to-toe with Go Shiozaki, the recently departed ace of NOAH, and they put on a hell of a thirty-minute draw.
4) BxB Hulk & Uhaa Nation
5) Shelton Benjamin

Jack McGee
1) Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston defeated Antonio Cesaro on Raw to win the WWE US Title, ending his long skid as far as poor booking goes. He then followed that up on Smackdown with a victory over the WWE IC Title Wade Barrett. It was a good week for Kofi Kingston.

2) AJ Styles: Returned to the ring on Impact this past week, defeating James Storm clean via submission.
3) Mickie James: Defeated Miss Tessmacher on Impact to earn a title shot at Velvet Sky on this week’s Impact.
4) Kenny King
5) John Morrison

TJ Hawke
1) Brock Lesnar
It was a relatively quiet week. Thus, I give my first place vote to the person who entertained me the most this past week.

2) Shelton Benjamin: Shelton got booked like a main eventer upon his return to NJPW, which is certainly a step-up from jobbing to Mike Bennett on ROH iPPVs’ undercards.
3) Isys Ephex: Defeated Kevin Steen on Friday to win 2CW Title. He then successfully defended the title the next night against Jason Axe in a Stairway to Hell match on 2CW’s iPPV debut.
4) Uhaa Nation & BreadxBreakfast Hulk
5) John Morrison

MP Schroeder
1) Kofi Kingston
Coming off two big wins this week against Wade Barrett and taking the US Championship from Antonio Cesaro, Kingston may languish in the midcard but at least he has gold around his waist to solidify his position.

2) CM Punk: What is likely to be the last time we hear from Punk for a while, his promo from Raw produced intrigue and more questions than answers. How his return will resolve his odd in-ring speech is something to anticipate.
3) Justin Gabriel: Movement out of the midcard is a rarity but Gabriel was given an opportunity this week with his win in the Battle Royale on Main Event and subsequent loss to Wade Barrett.
4) Brock Lesnar
5) The Shield

TONY ACERO
1) Ryback
Heel turn, engage! I didn’t mind the promo he had on RAW, and I guess it was really divisive in terms of fan’s reception. Anyways, I realized recently that we are so far removed from Cena vs. Monster feuds that this seems relatively new. I’m enjoying it for the time being, and I can only hope that they don’t butcher Ryback, as they did to numerous others when against Cena. With such a quiet week, Ryback wins solely based on his impact, and jumping into the main event full force is solid enough for me.

2) Jack Swagger: For me, Jack Swagger was the sole winner of the week in terms of wrestling. First, against Ziggler, where even though he probably shouldn’t have won, he did. Then against Del Rio, where he lost. Each match, however, hit the ten-minute mark (and surpassed it on Smackdown), yet felt like five. Both matches were solid and fun to watch. The common factor was Swagger. This doesn’t take anything away from Ziggler or Del Rio, but it definitely gave Swagger something that was pushed behind his gimmick, and that’s the fact that the boy can go.
3) Kofi Kingston: Whether I agree with the decision or not, Kingston is once again holding gold, and I can’t say he doesn’t deserve it. I can only hope it’s a push that starts and doesn’t hiccup, as per usual.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) AJ

Michael Benjamin
1) Ryback
I liked his promo and it looks like he’s off and running as a heel now. I’m fine with it, but I don’t understand why they pulled the trigger on it. They barely scratched the surface with him as a face. He’s going into a feud with John Cena now and still has zero credible victories under his belt. Lets hope it works out for him.

2) Kofi Kingston: Defeated Antonio Cesaro on Raw for the United States Championship as I died a little inside.
3) Jack Swagger: Qualified for the World Heavyweight Championship and wrestled two great-televised matches.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) Brock Lesnar

Francisco Ramirez
1) Kofi Kingston
As much as I hated it, Kofi Kingston defeated Antonio Cesar becoming the new U.S. Champion. While Cesaro has usually been booked to look good, this might be the slow decline for him since the beginning of the yodeling gimmick.

2) Ryback: Put everything in perspective with his promo.
3) Brock Lesnar: He destroyed 3MB, nothing new, damn near everyone does it. So yeah, slow week, but he did do it in a very entertaining fashion.
4) AJ Styles
5) Kenny King

Nick Sellers
1) Kofi Kingston
Kofi put in a couple of solid TV performances this week. It’s been a little quiet over the past few days as we start to wind down following Wrestlemania, but from an in-ring perspective Kofi gets the nod for hard work and endeavor. His title win and subsequent victory over Wade Barrett won’t mean much in the long run, but it’s still more gold to add to his growing collection.

2) Ryback: His promo was very, very good. I think if he keeps up that kind of mike work then this heel run could be very interesting. Heels are at their best when they have legitimate gripes in their own minds and totally believe in what they are saying. That’s the impression I got from Ryback’s promo and I’m now much more interested to see how things pan out for him.
3) AJ Styles: It’s good to have him back! His new demeanor should make for some interesting TNA TV over the coming weeks.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) Kenny King

Jeremy Thomas
1) Brock Lesnar
BROCK SMASH 3MB! BROCK DEMAND TRIPLE H AT EXTREME RULES! BROCK WANT CAGE MATCH! BROCK WRESTLER OF THE WEEK!

2) Ryback: Not a great promo, but it was tolerable and more to the point, it established him as one of the top heels in the company now that he’s flipped around and CM Punk has left. Ryback needed this.
3) Kofi Kingston: I don’t like that Cesaro lost either, but I like that Kofi’s champion. Least they’re doing something with him.
4) Isys Ephex
5) AJ Styles


THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Mickie James and Alberto Del Rio – 6 Votes
  • Fifth Place…John Morrison and Jack Swagger – 7 Votes
  • Fourth Place…AJ Styles – 11 Votes
  • Third Place…Brock Lesnar – 25 Votes

    Destroyed the 3MB and then, through Paul Heyman, challenged Triple H to a cage match…

  • Second Place…Ryback – 26 Votes

    Ryback explained his actions last week, and then left John Cena for dead when the Shield arrived…!

  • Wrestler of the Week…Kofi Kingston – 31 Votes

     photo kofiustitle_zps7c20980c.jpg

    Your NEW United States Champion!

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

    Dolph Ziggler – 15pts.
    Kofi Kingston – 15pts.

    Ryback – 13pts

    Bully Ray – 12pts.

    Brock Lesnar – 9pts
    Wade Barrett – 9pts.

    AJ Styles – 6pts.
    Fandango – 6pts.

    John Morrison – 3pts.
    Jack Swagger – 3pts.
    Hernandez – 3pts.
    Chavo Guerrero – 3pts.

    Mickie James – 1pt
    Alberto Del Rio- 1pt

  • Voting began 4.16.13
  • 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


    Year Eight Winner: CM Punk

  • article topics

    Larry Csonka

    wrestling / Columns

    411’s Wrestler of the Week 4.23.13: Year Nine, Week 2

    April 23, 2013 | Posted by Larry Csonka

     photo WrestlerOfWeek_zps4f74fe91.jpg

    Welcome to YEAR NINE, WEEK TWO 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) John Morrison
    John Morrison returned to the independent scene over the weekend, scoring two victories (over Sami Calihan and Kevin Steen) in good performances for 2CW. He main evented both shows, including one on iPPV, and continues his solid run of non-WWE performances.

    2) Brock Lesnar: Brock Lesnar appeared on Raw and did what he does best, MURDERED people. When Brock Lesnar is on TV, I always pay attention. Seriously, who doesn’t like a monster just destroying jobbers?
    3) Mickie James: Your new #1 contender for the TNA Knockouts Title.
    4) AJ Styles
    5) Kofi Kingston

    Ryan Byers
    1) Brock Lesnar
    Most of the time that Lesnar is on WWE television, he’s in the most entertaining segment on the show. Wrestlemania was a rare exception, but this past Monday’s episode of Raw was not. Lesnar absolutely MURDELIZED the Three Man Band and laid down an intense challenge to Triple H for a rubber match to put their feud to bed. It went a long way to reestablishing Brock as a world-beater after a no holds barred match that most of us would rather forget.

    2) The Ryback: I didn’t like his promo as much as some people did, but the Ryback’s heel turn is off to a solid start, with a rational explanation for his behavior and a dickish walk out on John Cena.
    3) Go Shiozaki & Suwama (tie): This week saw the beginning of the All Japan Champion Carnival, the 2013 edition of the single most prestigious tournament in professional wrestling history. Suwama, the ace of AJPW, went toe-to-toe with Go Shiozaki, the recently departed ace of NOAH, and they put on a hell of a thirty-minute draw.
    4) BxB Hulk & Uhaa Nation
    5) Shelton Benjamin

    Jack McGee
    1) Kofi Kingston
    Kofi Kingston defeated Antonio Cesaro on Raw to win the WWE US Title, ending his long skid as far as poor booking goes. He then followed that up on Smackdown with a victory over the WWE IC Title Wade Barrett. It was a good week for Kofi Kingston.

    2) AJ Styles: Returned to the ring on Impact this past week, defeating James Storm clean via submission.
    3) Mickie James: Defeated Miss Tessmacher on Impact to earn a title shot at Velvet Sky on this week’s Impact.
    4) Kenny King
    5) John Morrison

    TJ Hawke
    1) Brock Lesnar
    It was a relatively quiet week. Thus, I give my first place vote to the person who entertained me the most this past week.

    2) Shelton Benjamin: Shelton got booked like a main eventer upon his return to NJPW, which is certainly a step-up from jobbing to Mike Bennett on ROH iPPVs’ undercards.
    3) Isys Ephex: Defeated Kevin Steen on Friday to win 2CW Title. He then successfully defended the title the next night against Jason Axe in a Stairway to Hell match on 2CW’s iPPV debut.
    4) Uhaa Nation & BreadxBreakfast Hulk
    5) John Morrison

    MP Schroeder
    1) Kofi Kingston
    Coming off two big wins this week against Wade Barrett and taking the US Championship from Antonio Cesaro, Kingston may languish in the midcard but at least he has gold around his waist to solidify his position.

    2) CM Punk: What is likely to be the last time we hear from Punk for a while, his promo from Raw produced intrigue and more questions than answers. How his return will resolve his odd in-ring speech is something to anticipate.
    3) Justin Gabriel: Movement out of the midcard is a rarity but Gabriel was given an opportunity this week with his win in the Battle Royale on Main Event and subsequent loss to Wade Barrett.
    4) Brock Lesnar
    5) The Shield

    TONY ACERO
    1) Ryback
    Heel turn, engage! I didn’t mind the promo he had on RAW, and I guess it was really divisive in terms of fan’s reception. Anyways, I realized recently that we are so far removed from Cena vs. Monster feuds that this seems relatively new. I’m enjoying it for the time being, and I can only hope that they don’t butcher Ryback, as they did to numerous others when against Cena. With such a quiet week, Ryback wins solely based on his impact, and jumping into the main event full force is solid enough for me.

    2) Jack Swagger: For me, Jack Swagger was the sole winner of the week in terms of wrestling. First, against Ziggler, where even though he probably shouldn’t have won, he did. Then against Del Rio, where he lost. Each match, however, hit the ten-minute mark (and surpassed it on Smackdown), yet felt like five. Both matches were solid and fun to watch. The common factor was Swagger. This doesn’t take anything away from Ziggler or Del Rio, but it definitely gave Swagger something that was pushed behind his gimmick, and that’s the fact that the boy can go.
    3) Kofi Kingston: Whether I agree with the decision or not, Kingston is once again holding gold, and I can’t say he doesn’t deserve it. I can only hope it’s a push that starts and doesn’t hiccup, as per usual.
    4) Alberto Del Rio
    5) AJ

    Michael Benjamin
    1) Ryback
    I liked his promo and it looks like he’s off and running as a heel now. I’m fine with it, but I don’t understand why they pulled the trigger on it. They barely scratched the surface with him as a face. He’s going into a feud with John Cena now and still has zero credible victories under his belt. Lets hope it works out for him.

    2) Kofi Kingston: Defeated Antonio Cesaro on Raw for the United States Championship as I died a little inside.
    3) Jack Swagger: Qualified for the World Heavyweight Championship and wrestled two great-televised matches.
    4) Alberto Del Rio
    5) Brock Lesnar

    Francisco Ramirez
    1) Kofi Kingston
    As much as I hated it, Kofi Kingston defeated Antonio Cesar becoming the new U.S. Champion. While Cesaro has usually been booked to look good, this might be the slow decline for him since the beginning of the yodeling gimmick.

    2) Ryback: Put everything in perspective with his promo.
    3) Brock Lesnar: He destroyed 3MB, nothing new, damn near everyone does it. So yeah, slow week, but he did do it in a very entertaining fashion.
    4) AJ Styles
    5) Kenny King

    Nick Sellers
    1) Kofi Kingston
    Kofi put in a couple of solid TV performances this week. It’s been a little quiet over the past few days as we start to wind down following Wrestlemania, but from an in-ring perspective Kofi gets the nod for hard work and endeavor. His title win and subsequent victory over Wade Barrett won’t mean much in the long run, but it’s still more gold to add to his growing collection.

    2) Ryback: His promo was very, very good. I think if he keeps up that kind of mike work then this heel run could be very interesting. Heels are at their best when they have legitimate gripes in their own minds and totally believe in what they are saying. That’s the impression I got from Ryback’s promo and I’m now much more interested to see how things pan out for him.
    3) AJ Styles: It’s good to have him back! His new demeanor should make for some interesting TNA TV over the coming weeks.
    4) Alberto Del Rio
    5) Kenny King

    Jeremy Thomas
    1) Brock Lesnar
    BROCK SMASH 3MB! BROCK DEMAND TRIPLE H AT EXTREME RULES! BROCK WANT CAGE MATCH! BROCK WRESTLER OF THE WEEK!

    2) Ryback: Not a great promo, but it was tolerable and more to the point, it established him as one of the top heels in the company now that he’s flipped around and CM Punk has left. Ryback needed this.
    3) Kofi Kingston: I don’t like that Cesaro lost either, but I like that Kofi’s champion. Least they’re doing something with him.
    4) Isys Ephex
    5) AJ Styles


    THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Mickie James and Alberto Del Rio – 6 Votes
  • Fifth Place…John Morrison and Jack Swagger – 7 Votes
  • Fourth Place…AJ Styles – 11 Votes
  • Third Place…Brock Lesnar – 25 Votes

    Destroyed the 3MB and then, through Paul Heyman, challenged Triple H to a cage match…

  • Second Place…Ryback – 26 Votes

    Ryback explained his actions last week, and then left John Cena for dead when the Shield arrived…!

  • Wrestler of the Week…Kofi Kingston – 31 Votes

     photo kofiustitle_zps7c20980c.jpg

    Your NEW United States Champion!

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

    Dolph Ziggler – 15pts.
    Kofi Kingston – 15pts.

    Ryback – 13pts

    Bully Ray – 12pts.

    Brock Lesnar – 9pts
    Wade Barrett – 9pts.

    AJ Styles – 6pts.
    Fandango – 6pts.

    John Morrison – 3pts.
    Jack Swagger – 3pts.
    Hernandez – 3pts.
    Chavo Guerrero – 3pts.

    Mickie James – 1pt
    Alberto Del Rio- 1pt

  • Voting began 4.16.13
  • 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


    Year Eight Winner: CM Punk

  • article topics

    Larry Csonka