411’s Wrestler of the Week 12.11.06: Week 36
Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.11.2006
NOAH gives us a new GHC Champion, TNA gives us a MOTY Candidate, Delirious gives us Gibberish, but what was the most important event and who took the top spot of wrestler of the week? Come on into see, it is like Christmas Early!
Welcome to Week 36, Year-Two, of 411's Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview for those who don't know the deal…
Each writer chooses three wrestlers from any promotion and each wrestler gets a vote attached to that ranking. It looks a little like this…
1st – 5
2nd – 3
3rd – 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 five vote getters get a points value for their ranking which looks something like this…
1st – 15
2nd – 10
3rd – 5
4th – 3
5th – 1
...and they go towards the 411 Wrestler of the Year award to be announced each year at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let's see who wins this week…
The Voting!
Steve Cook
1) Samoa Joe
While the Samoan Submission Machine did come up a little bit short against Bryan Danielson in a steel cage match, he showed up at Turning Point and got what might be the biggest victory of his career up to this point, a victory over the great Kurt Angle. Joe fans need not worry about his undefeated streak coming to an end, he's still going to be NWA Champion when the time is right for him. I'm giving Angle second place for winning that fun little All Star Brawl on Impact Thursday night, and Abyss gets third place for defying most of the experts' predictions and retaining the NWA World Heavyweight title.
2) Kurt Angle
3) Abyss
Andy Clark
1) Samoa Joe
Beat Kurt Angle in what sounds like an incredible match. Will we get one more match now or will those sly bastards makes us wait? Only time will tell, but Samoa Joe stands tall tonight. Could a date with the NWA World Champion Abyss be in the future?
2) Mitsuharu Misawa
3) Delirious
SAT
1) Samoa Joe
He gets the win at Turning Point by beating Kurt Angle in an amazing match.
2) Abyss
3) Kurt Angle
Ryan Byers
1) Samoa Joe
Well, the angle wasn't booked nearly as well as I would have liked, but Joe still got the biggest win of his career tonight and did so in what, by all accounts, was a great match. Combine that with a less covered but still awesome cage match in ROH and the continuation of his international feud with NOAH, and you've got all of the makings for a huge week.
2) Delirious
3) Mitsuharu Misawa
ARI
1) Samoa Joe
Joe-Angle II kicked all sorts of ass. The finish with the ref bump was unnecessary but everything else before and after was top notch. Not a five star match but definitely in the mid four-star range. The strikes they had were stiff and the chain sequence in the middle was tremendous and both men really kept it going and kept the crowd biting on every reversal. THIS was the match they should have done the first time around. Joe's ROH work over the weekend was also awesome and again the finish of the match was perfect and kept Joe strong while saving the real title change for Final Battle 2006. Kurt Angle continues to deliver exceptionally strong promos and in ring work. The man may be a shade short of mental, but boy is he still excellent when it comes to the wrestling. Misawa regained the GHC title by defeating Naomichi Marufuji in a decision I personally dislike but understand it as good for the business as certainly accepted by the Japanese crowd in attendance. I wish Nao was given more of a run, but the point about juniors winning the heavyweight title was made. And Misawa is just keeping that belt warm for Morishima anyhow.
2) Kurt Angle
3) Mitsuharu Misawa
JT~!
1) Samoa Joe
Beat Kurt Angle in what appears to be match 2 of 3, and did so in grand fashion. I don't recall Samoa Joe tapping twice (once with the ref down) in their first match, so I really liked that they made Joe seem strong by making Kurt tap more than once. While I'm usually against out of character, random shit, I actually bought Kurt going for the low blow because of how pissed he was for tapping. Either way, that was one of the best matches I've seen this year, and Samoa Joe came out on top and looking strong. After all, he kills bitches.
2) Abyss
3) Kurt Angle
Stuart Carapola
1) Delirious
This might sound ridiculous, but in terms of wins and losses, Delirious is ahead. Joe beat Angle, but Danielson beat Joe, and Delirious beat Danielson. Following the chain of wins, that leaves Delirious at the top of the ladder this week, and Kurt Angle nowhere to be seen. Funny how things work out like that.
2) Bryan Danielson
3) Samoa Joe
Bayani Domingo
1) Delirious
Making the current most deserving champion in the U.S. and A tap out is quite a feat, also considering that he still manages to cut a better promo than 90% of the WWE is pretty impressive. That, and...I like tassels, what can I say?
2) Samoa Joe
3) Abyss
Mike Bauer
1) Samoa Joe
Alot of impressive stuff outside of the WWE this week. And while Abyss still holding the NWA Title and Delirious' week was incredible, you gotta give the nod to Samoa Joe. Yes, he got pinned twice in a month on Impact. Yes, he barely lost to Danielson in the Cage match for the ROH title in Chicago. But, he did win in the main event against Kurt Angle in probably the best PPV from any fed since the summer. Hats off to Joe this week.
2) Abyss
3) Delirious
Arnold Furious
1) Samoa Joe
Scored the biggest win of his career by getting his win back over Angle in the main event of a PPV. Somehow that exceeds the achievements of title winners elsewhere. That said Misawa won back the belt he created and Finlay was once again impressive on Smackdown working a solid match with the Animal.
2) Mitsuhara Misawa
3) Finlay
MEEHAN
1) Samoa Joe
Biggest win of the week on major North American television, and a damned good showing against Danielson in the ROH cage match just a few days earlier. Joe is back in the groove at the top of the TNA heap, and so he's a no-brainer for WOTW honors from Mee. Number two goes to Abyss, who defied skeptics by extending his title reign for more than a three-week stretch. And of course, number three goes to The Big Show, who made Lashley look like a monster (HE KICKED OUT OF THE CHOKESLAM, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!) in what may well be his last match for a major wrestling company for a long, long time.
2) Abyss
3) The Big Show
Larry Csonka
1) Samoa Joe/Kurt Angle
Joe and Angle toe the house down is a MOTY candidate, and I really have to allow them to share in the glory of first place this week. Questionable booking for sure, but good matches aren't something you hate, you love them like children. Misawa ended the run of Marufuji, which I agree with Ari on I hate in a lot of ways, but it looks as if Misawa will be the transition to Morishima, who will be a long term champion to build the promotion on. Delirious survived an 8-man elimination match and made Bryan Danielson, the ROH Champ, tap like a bitch in the win. Delirious has certainly raised his stock in the second half of 2006 and could really break out huge in 2007.
2) Mitsuharu Misawa
3) Delirious
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention…Kurt Angle - 13 Votes
Kurt Angle's performance against Joe earned him enough respect to get the special mention this week. Angle is firmly cemented in the top 5, and if he continues to have good-great PPV matches, he could continue to climb.
Third Place…Abyss - 14 Votes
The NWA champion retained the title this week at Turning Point, defeating Christian Cage and actually pinning Sting. The monster has some momentum going now and if he can string together some big defenses and quality matches he could be a threat as the year finishes out.
Second Place…Delirious - 16 Votes
The lizard man proved he wasn't all gibberish and a pretty face as he made ROH Champion Bryan Danielson tap out to win an 8-man Survivor Series Style match. He continues to have a string year.
Wrestler of the Week…Samoa Joe - 54 Votes
The Samoan Submission Machine not only lived up to his name, not only avenged his two losses to Angle but put on a MOTY caliber match in the process after a grueling weekend of shows for ROH. Joe is just the man right now, and the Year-End standing reflect that.
Year-End Standings!
Misawa makes his debut on the list as he won the GHC title this week. Kurt Angle added some more points to cement himself into the top five as Delirious doubled his point total with a huge win over Bryan Danielson. Abyss retains the NWA Title and is now in a huge tie for 8th place with AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Konnan. Samoa Joe takes the top spot this week, and overtakes King Booker for the year-end lead, also becoming the first man to reach 100 points. There is still over three months left in the "year" (We run WM-WM) and as we know, anything can happen.
Satoshi Kojima - 5 (All Japan) William Regal - 5 (Smackdown) BJ Whitmer - 5 (ROH) Jay Lethal - 5 (TNA) Minoru - 5 (New Japan) JBL - 5 (Smackdown) Mark Henry - 5 (Smackdown)
Johnny Nitro - 4 (Raw)
Roddy Piper - 3 (Raw) The Undertaker - 3 (Smackdown) Brian Kendrick - 3 (Smackdown) Paul London - 3 (Smackdown) Rey Bucanero - 3 (CMLL) Shelton Benjamin - 3 (Raw)
