wrestling / Columns

411’s Wrestler of the Week 7.09.13: Year Nine, Week 13

July 9, 2013 | Posted by Larry Csonka

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Welcome to YEAR NINE, WEEK 13 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 Tuesday (the voting week runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…


Larry Csonka
1) TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls)
The Australian team of TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) defeated New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Taskashi Iizuki & Toru Yano to become the NEW GHC Tag Team Champions. This is one of the biggest wins of their career, which seems to be really taking off over in Japan.

2) Chris Sabin: After a bunch of unnecessary (IMO) booking, Chris Sabin is once again your TNA X-Division champion. With the title victory, Sabin also teased that he will cash it in at Destination X for a shot at the World Title. Sabin as a world title challenger, that sounds like a really good plan.
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger: They defeated Tama Tonga & El Terrible to become the NEW CMLL tag team champions.
4) Prince Devitt
5) Magnus

Matt O’Connell
1) Chris Sabin
Chris Sabin has been on fire since his return just a few short weeks ago, and his rivalry with Austin Aries has been pure gold. His defeat of Aries this week makes him the number one contender to Bully Ray’s championship. The yearly possibility of an X-Division guy powering through to the main event makes this win all the more meaningful for Sabin.

2) CM Punk: Punk’s promo work this week has been stellar, and his match against Del Rio on SmackDown was pretty damn good for a television main event. I’m also really enjoying the changing nature of his relationship with Paul Heyman, as they attempt to portray a friendship weathering the storm of a heel/face turn.
3) Dolph Ziggler: WWE is a strange place, where a guy who is arguably the best worker in the company can win convincingly only AFTER losing a major championship. Still, I’m always glad to see Ziggler get a win, even if it is only against the likes of the 3MB.
4) Mark Henry
5) Fandango

Ryan Byers
1) Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
Australian wrestlers Haste & Nicholls have become regulars in Japan with Pro Wrestling NOAH over the course of the last couple of years, and now they’ve cemented their status as part of the company by winning the GHC Tag Team Championship. This makes them the first Australians to hold titles in a major Japanese promotion that I can recall offhand, and it gives them added credibility not just in NOAH but also in the Japanese wresting scene as a whole, given that the prior titleholders were not actually NOAH wrestlers but rather the visiting New Japan Pro Wrestling duo of Takashi Iizuka & Toru Yano.

2) Prince Devitt: Devitt retained his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title and held on to his upcoming IWGP Heavyweight Title shot by defeating Gedo in the main event of the biggest New Japan show held this week, which was taped for television and available internationally on iPPV. It was an expected result, but this was also a sloooow week.
3) The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan): It amazed me to see that the debut of a new group of wrestlers was essentially being pushed as THE hook for the July 8 Monday Night Raw, so much so that they got to close out the show on July 1.
4) HARASHIMA
5) Shigehiro Irie

Jesse Nguyen
1) Chris Sabin
Sabin managed to win back the X-Division title on Impact, in a great match against Austin Aries(also Manik, I suppose.) He also plans to cash in his newly won championship to get a shot at Bully Ray’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship. He’s been on a tear since his return, and it doesn’t seem to be stopping.

2) The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan): These guys have the WWE Universe on the edge of their seats. What are their plans? Who are their targets? We’ll find out on the July 8th edition of RAW.
3) CM Punk: Once again Punk entertains on the mic, and has a good match against Del Rio on Smackdown’s main event. Although it wasn’t a win, he showed his aggression as Money in the Bank gets closer.
4) AJ Styles
5) Dolph Ziggler

Justin Watry
1) Bray Wyatt
Honestly, you can include the whole ‘Family’ if you really want to. For me, it is clear that one man is leading this group. The vignettes give that away. Thus, all of the main focus will be on Bray Wyatt. I loved, LOVED the fact that them debuting got the top billing for Monday night’s episode of Raw. It was not just thrown to the side with a quick mention of an arrival. No, WWE want out of their way to promote the act during every single hour of Raw all the way to the finish. For that alone, Bray was the most talked about talent in the past week.

2) Randy Orton: I’m not sure what he is up to these days, but I like it. The man had a great match on Raw and followed that up with another nice performance on Smackdown. Winning may not advance his career much in 2013, but the effort is still there from Mr. RKO. Nice to see.
3) John Cena: At last check, he was the WWE Champion. Right? On Raw, WWE did a great job making the two top titles actually mean something. Shocking, I know. It may have been a random unannounced main event, but the video packages and atmosphere surrounding the match were excellent. Like it or not, Cena did defeat Alberto Del Rio (World Champion) to end Raw.
4) CM Punk
5) Chris Sabin

Craig Stevens
1) Chris Sabin
Regained the X-Division title from Austin Aries in a really good match, and looked like a star in the process. Now he cashes in Option C for a chance at Bully Ray and the TNA World Heavyweight Title. Whether he wins or not, he has a chance to cement himself as a top-level player with a good showing.

2) Prince Devitt: Successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and cemented his challenge versus Okada for the big belt.
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger: New CMLL tag champs. Liger in CMLL is always a treat.
4) The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan)
5) Randy Orton

Jack McGee
1) Chris Sabin
Chris Sabin won back the X-Division Title on Impact last week, in a what ended up being a great match, mostly with Aries. Sabin looked great, seems to have the momentum back and will now challenge for the TNA World Title. Could he be the man to take the title away from Bully Ray? Never say never…

2) Magnus: Magnus is now in the main event mafia, and judging by his early push in the BFG Series, he could be the guy that TNA is looking to as the next big star. If he is the one they have chosen, I just hope that they keep the course and do everything that they can to create a new star.
3) Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jushin Liger: Your NEW CMLL tag team champions.
4) Prince Devitt
5) AJ Styles


THE WINNERS~!

  • Special Mention…Magnus, Randy Orton – 5 Votes
  • Fifth Place…Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, CM Punk, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jushin Liger – 9 Votes
  • Fourth Place…Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls – 10 Votes
  • Third Place…Price Devitt – 12 Votes

    Prince Devitt defeated Gedo to retain the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title. He will next be challenging for the IWGP Heavyweight Title…

  • Second Place…Bray Wyatt – 14 Votes

    He’s comin…

  • And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…

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    Chris Sabin – 25 Votes

    Chris Sabin regained the X-Division title on Impact, and will look to cash it in and win the TNA World Title on July 18th…

    Year-End Standings~!
    And here are the standings after week 13…

    Dean Ambrose – 64pts.

    Seth Rollins – 60pts
    Roman Reigns – 60pts

    Daniel Bryan – 54pts.

    Prince Devitt – 33pts
    Curtis Axel – 33pts.

    Mark Henry – 27pts.

    Brock Lesnar – 24pts

    Chris Sabin – 21pts.

    Ryback – 20pts

    Kurt Angle – 15pts.
    Bully Ray – 15pts.
    Dolph Ziggler – 15pts.
    Kofi Kingston – 15pts.
    Kenta Kobashi – 15pts.
    Ricochet – 15pts
    CM Punk – 15pts.

    Austin Aries – 12pts.
    Bray Wyatt – 12pts.

    Alberto Del Rio – 10pts.

    Jimmy Uso – 9pts.
    Jey Uso – 9pts.
    Kazuchika Okada – 9pts.
    Rampage Jackson – 9pts.
    Big E. Langston – 9pts.
    Abyss – 9pts.
    Wade Barrett – 9pts.
    The Undertaker – 9pts
    Jun Akiyama – 9pts.

    Mikey Nicholls- 7pt
    Shane Haste – 7pt

    AJ Styles – 6pts.
    Christian – 6pts.
    AJ Lee – 6pts.
    Fandango – 6pts.
    KENTA – 6pts.
    Yoshihiro Takayama – 6pts.
    Jigsaw – 6pts.
    The Shard – 6pts.

    Mickie James – 4pts.

    Hiroshi Tanahashi- 3pts.
    Jushin Liger – 3pts.
    Suwama – 3pts.
    John Morrison – 3pts.
    Jack Swagger – 3pts.
    Luke Harper – 3pts.
    Erick Rowan – 3pts.
    Sting – 3pts.
    Hernandez – 3pts.
    Chavo Guerrero – 3pts.
    Seita Sanada – 3pts.

    Magnus – 2pts

    Randy Orton – 1pt.
    Samoa Joe – 1pt
    CIMA – 1pt
    Alex Shelley – 1pt
    Ethan Page – 1pt
    Eddie Kingston – 1pt
    La Sombra – 1 pt
    El Hijo del Perro Aguayo – 1 pt

  • Voting began 4.16.13
  • Year-End Rankings Key:

    WWE 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

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    Larry Csonka