411’s Wrestler of the Week 3.26.07: Week 51
Posted by Larry Csonka on 03.26.2007
The build to WrestleMania, Japanese Title Changes, Cruiserweight wins and JBL on Raw! Lots of things to vote for this week, but as always, you’ll have to click to see who took the 51st WOTW award!
Welcome to Week 51, 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!
Mathew Sforcina
1) Victoria and Mickie James
Oh my god, Women's Wrestling in WWE has a pulse. It's about as strong as Sandman's lem...beer, but it's there. Lyger gets 2nd place for winning the top title in a very high class fed, and Cena made Benoit tap. Sigh.
2) Jushin 'Thunder' Liger
3) John Cena
Vinz Rothenburg
1) Lashley
We can discuss the validity of Lashley's push till we're all blue in the face, but nothing we say will change the fact that the last week was huge for Vince's newest pet project. Lashley broke the Masterlock Challenge on Raw, all but squashed Masters himself on ECW, and finally went over both Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy in a handicap match on SmackDown! If they want to build the guy up any further, he'll have to beat Hulk Hogan by blowing on him next week. This has to be the most well executed push WWE has booked in a long time, and it makes Lashley look like a million bucks. Batista earns his spot by recapturing some of the cunning and aggression that made him great during his initial feud with HHH, and Rhino gets some points for showing that he can indeed play with TNA's big boys after months of having nothing good to do.
2) Batista
3) Rhino
Arnold Furious
1) Lashley
Broke the Masterlock on Raw, beat Masters on ECW and then downed both Randy Orton AND Mr. Kennedy on Smackdown. Massive week for him. No doubt about it. Meanwhile Cena really showed why he's the WWE's big star right now plowing through Chris Benoit, a former world champion and main event guy, in about five minutes. Finally Jimmy Wang Yang was both impressive and victorious on Smackdown. Worth a mention.
2) John Cena
3) Jimmy Yang
Zac Calhoun
1) Lashley
More than anyone else in WWE right now, this man is owning the television leading up to WM 23. He gets the distinction of ending the Masterlock Challenge (which despite all logic had actually gotten sort of over), then he makes Masters look like a bitch in less than four minutes the very next night, then he put two high-card guys effortlessly through tables in less than seven on SD. No other guy is being thrust into the spotlight with more force than Lashley. I just wish he would improve as rapidly.
2) John Cena
3) Christian Cage
JT~!
1) Lashley
Ran through what seems to be the entire upper tier roster this week, appearing on all three shows and proving himself to be a DOMINANT force as we head into WrestleMania. I have to be honest, they are booking him so strongly, and I am worried they might pull the SWERVE! at WrestleMania. Now, will they? Hell no. I'm just saying the booking has been SO in his favor, it almost makes one wonder who will get by him. Either way, a great week for him, and therefore gets my WOTW vote.
2) John Cena
3) JBL
Mike Bauer
1) Lashley
Let's see here. He is on the roll of a lifetime right now by doing everything and anything to make himself bigger than John Cena. Everyone else has ran down his achievements, so I won't harp on them as well. I'll give Cena the #2 hole for his impressive win and continued push towards the main event nobody can predict. It's hard to come up with a third, so I'll go with Edge for outsmarting everyone in the battle royal.
2) John Cena
3) Edge
SAT
1) Lashley
Lashley gets the top slot from me because he has another amazing week. On RAW, he becomes the first person to break out of the Masterlock and then he goes ahead and beats Masters in a match on ECW. Then, on SmackDown, he beats Mr. Kennedy and Randy Orton in a tables match. John Cena gets the second slot for his win against the United States champion and the final slot goes to Jimmy Wang Yang for his win against the Cruiserweight champion.
2) John Cena
3) Jimmy Yang
Matt Adamson
1) Lashley
Lashley continues to make a fan out of me. Just a few short months ago I was calling the guy green and boring. Now I find him to be entertaining and deserving of this push due to how he has handled it. The second spot goes to Jushin "Thunder" Lyger for his winning Dragon Gate's Open The Dream Gate Championship by defeating Don Fujii. The number three spot goes to John Cena for his win against Benoit.
2) Jushin "Thunder" Lyger
3) John Cena
Scott Slimmer
1) Lashley
Bobby Lashley owned everyone who had the misfortune of stepping into the ring with him this week, so he's an easy pick for WOTW. I'll go with John Cena in the second place spot thanks to his victory (by submission!) over Chris FN Benoit on Raw. Finally, I've got to give some love to Mickie James and Victoria for fighting the good fight and doing whatever the hell they can to keep women's WRESTLING alive in WWE, even if they were only on Heat.
2) John Cena
3) Mickie James/Victoria
Samuel Berman
1) Jushin Lyger
We seem to be in the annual pre-WrestleMania holding pattern, so this was a tough week for me to call until the Dragon Gate results got posted. I'm going with Lyger in the top spot for winning the Open the Dream Gate Title (DG's top singles championship). John Cena gets spot number two because I think he's actually generating interest from me in his title defense at WrestleMania, which is a feat in itself. I guess I'll give Lashley the third spot this week because little else was going on, but I fail to see how beating up on Chris Masters qualifies for being 'Wrestler of the Week'. Color me totally uninterested in the Lashley vs. Umaga match, no matter how good the mainstream media coverage may be for the product.
2) John Cena
3) Lashley
B-RAD
1) Lashley
I don't think I have to cover anymore on how Lashley made Chris Masters is bitch twice this week and his victory over Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy in the Handicap Tables Match on Smackdown. He's our #1 guy this week. Edge gets my #2 smart for losing his Money In The Bank spot this week but regaining it by outsmarting everyone in the battle royal and my #3 spot goes to JBL for the #3 spot for his promo on HBK and how he tore into Michael Cole on Smackdown and made total sense.
2) Edge
3) JBL
Dan Wilcox
1) John Cena
Sure Lashley made Chris Masters his bitch twice this week, but that's nothing new, even Super Crazy has been making Masters his bitch recently. What is new is Chris Benoit tapping out. Whether it was the right move or not, it's extremely rare to see the Rabid Wolverine submit but Cena did it this past week on Raw. Lashley gets the #2 spot because he did have another great week and JBL takes third for looking good on Raw in both his promos. I say JBL should take up Raw's GM spot after Mania while Vince takes time off to re-grow his hair.
2) Lashley
3) JBL
Stuart Carapola
1) Lashley
For me, it came down to deciding whether Cena's one victory, impressive though it was, over US Champion Chris Benoit by submission was worth more than Lashley's two victories, first in a title defense over Chris Masters (the day after being the first winner of the Masterlock Challenge) and then in a handicap Tables Match against Randy Orton and Ken Kennedy. The answer was no, but it was close. Edge gets third for re-winning his MITB opportunity.
2) John Cena
3) Edge
Ryan Byers
1) Jushin "Thunder" Lyger
Like Sammy said, I'm really not understanding all of the Lashley love this week. Yeah, he got two wins over Chris Masters . . . but who HASN'T beaten Chris Masters in the last six months? We certainly didn't vote Super Crazy WOTW when he did it. Liger, meanwhile, picked up a pretty impressive title win this weekend in Dragon Gate. Granted, it's not the biggest wrestling promotion in Japan, but it's the promotion that has been setting the standard for junior heavyweight competitors in the country. Liger, being one of history's most dominant juniors, has now proven that he can still be relevant in modern wrestling by picking up DG's top title. Good for him.
2) John Cena
3) Lashley
Andy Clark
1) Jushin "Thunder" Lyger
Other Liger voters have already said it for me. He won a top title in an otherwise treadmillish week. Is it a good treadmill? Sure, but a treadmill nonetheless. Liger shook things up by continuing to make Dragon Gate the real third promotion in Japan.
2) John Cena
3) Lashley
Larry Csonka
1) Jushin "Thunder" Lyger
While the push of Lashley is impressive, and the build to the match is good and will sell buys and all, I'm over it personally and as I said, Masters was a goof, was booked like a good and treated like a goof, so all Lashley beat was a goof. Perception is a lot, no one bought Masters as anything important, and so Lashley's week was "fine." Lyger went out and proved that in 2007 that he can still have good matches, win title and be relevant in the wrestling scene. Rock on brother first place from me! 2nd goes to Christian Cage for rocking in the heel role and just being awesome the last few months and keeping it rolling now. 3rd goes to the Bash brothers, hope that urine stays clean kids.
2) Christian Cage
3) Lashley/John Cena
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention…Victoria and Mickie James - 6 Votes
Victoria and Mickie James get some love for being good looking and for actually being ladies wrestlers! They make a debut late in the year, but are appreciated nonetheless.
Third Place…Jushin "Thunder" Lyger - 26 Votes
Lyger waits until the year of voting is almost over to make an appearance, but he does so in impressive fashion as he wins the Open the Dream Gate Title, which is Dragon Gate's top singles championship. Lyger still has it, and now has some WOTW love to ass to that.
Second Place…John Cena - 38 Votes
The Champ keeps climbing on the list, and will probably hold onto the 2nd place title with this second place finish. Cena is going into WrestleMania as the champ, but can he keep the title?
Wrestler of the Week…Lashley - 52 Votes
Lashley once again takes the top spot and rolls into WrestleMania with a ton of momentum. He has the chance to climb a few more spots next week, possibly getting into the top 5.
Year-End Standings!
Well we have one more week to go. Lashley and Cena establish themselves again this week and have had great years. Lyger, Mickie and Victoria all debut, showing that at anytime, you can have a good week. But the fact is this; WrestleMania is Sunday! ROH has their big double shot weekend and all of the regular shows will run. What will the final standings look like? Stay tuned!
