411s Wrestler of the Week 9.03.07: Week 22
Posted by Larry Csonka on 09.03.2007
MVP and Matt Hardy win tag gold, Sting becomes half of the TNA Tag Champions; CIMA wins the Battle of Los Angeles and much more! But only one man can take the top spot and be the 411 wrestler of the week! Come on into find out who.
Welcome to Week 22 Year-Three, of 411's Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview to kick things off as we have some new rules for year three
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 at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let's see who wins this week
The Voting!
Mathew Sforcina
1) Adam Pearce
In a week of conflicting Indy achievements, this is I think the most surprising, given the whole 'He was knocked out before" thing.
2) CIMA -They won BOLA. Huzzah.
3) Tiger Mask IV- He won theFukumen League. Good for him.
4) Roderick Strong and El Generico
5) Matt Hardy/MVP
Andy Clark
1) CIMA
PWG's Battle of Los Angeles tournament is quickly becoming THE premiere tournament in all of independent wrestling. Hell, BoLA is the premiere tournament in all of wrestling period. Winning this tournament is a huge step in anybody's career, and one can only assume that this wrestler will be in for a big year on the indy scene.
2) Adam Pearce- Wow, I would definitely not have called this one. Scrap Iron joins the ranks of Ric Flair, Dory Funk Jr., Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, and the Colorado Kid in holding the NWA Championship, despite not even being originally scheduled to compete for it.
3) Rey Mysterio- Rey won a mini tournament to earn a shot at the World Heavyweight Title at Unforgiven, defeating Batista and Finlay in the process.
4) Randy Orton
5) Matt Hardy & MVP
Bayani Domingo
1) CIMA
CIMA had 2 good matches in the 1st and 3rd rounds of the Battle of Los Angeles and a GREAT match against SHINGO in the quarterfinals. He not only went on to the BoLA tournament finals but also won by pinning both El Generico AND Roderick Strong to win the trophy. No one else had CIMA as even a possibility to win the tourney but 'truth b told' there was ONE column that had him taking the whole darn thing.
2) El Generico - Retained his tag title belts from Dragon Kid and Susumu Yokosuka on Night 1 of BoLA then made it all the way to the finals by beating Tony Kozina, Dragon Kid, and Nigel McGuinness.
3) Adam Pearce - Yeah, who would have thunk it, but Pearce is the NWA Heavyweight Champion right now...I guess more than one person benefitted from an insanely over aggressive Japanese girl last weekend.
4) Roderick Strong
5) Tiger Mask IV
Michael Bauer
1) CIMA
The Battle for Los Angeles is without a doubt, the biggest thing outside of the WWE in the United States for wrestling and it may be bigger than anything not named Wrestlemania. CIMA won that tournament this weekend, beating a nice list of credible talent along the way, including El Generico and Roderick Strong in the finals. That is more than enough.
2) Adam Pearce - He is the new NWA Champion and much deserving of his spot.
3) CM Punk - Like it or not, he is the #1 contender again in ECW.
4) Rey Mysterio
5) El Generico
Meehan
1) CIMA
Became the third BoLA Champion after defeating not one, not two, not three, but FOUR opponents over the span of three pretty darn impressive matches in one night. Sure, the show was only seen by less than a thousand fans in attendance... but dammit, TNA's Impact Zone isn't really all that much larger, when you think about it.
2) Matt Hardy/MVP - The comically mismatched duo not only won themselves a set of tag team belts, they also BOTH managed to dodge the recent slew of Wellness offings -- an especially rare feat when you consider that just about EVERY OTHER MAJOR WWE FEUD lost at *least* one active performer to the latest round of suspensions.
3) Randy Orton - Booted his way into the #1 Contender's spot thanks to a well-placed kick to the head of John Cena Sr.
4) Sting
5) Roderick Strong
Samuel Berman
1) CIMA
Already an established main event player in Dragon Gate and a respected veteran in Ring of Honor, CIMA cemented his place in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla with a win in this year's Battle of Los Angeles Tournament. Besting one of the deepest tournament fields in Independent wrestling history (probably only matched by the 2004 Ted Petty Invitational in IWA Mid-South), CIMA showed that he isn't just an honored guest at PWG shows, but a man who is intent on being a mainstay for that company in the coming year. A potentially spectacular match with PWG World Champion "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson would seem to be on the horizon for CIMA, and who's to say that the Dragon Gate star can't wrest the title from the champion's grasp.
2) "Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce - Winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title would put Pearce at the top of the heap if this weren't BOLA week.
3) Chuck Taylor - Though he lost the Women's Title, Taylor's win over Brandon Thomaselli nets him BOTH of IWA Mid-South's major men's singles championships.
4) El Generico and Roderick Strong (tie)
5) Tiger Mask IV
ARI
1) CIMA
For the second year in a row, CIMA made it into the PWG Battle of Los Angeles tournament finals...but this time he won! A heck of an effort to make it all the way back and finally reclaim the mantle of PWG's elite tournament.
2) Adam Pearce: A big win at ROH Manhattan Mayhem II last week is followed up by winning the NWA Heavyweight strap. Sure, he wasn't supposed to win the gold, but he "repossessed" Danielson's slot and took it for his own.
3) Matt Hardy & MVP: new WWE tag champions, and interesting ones at that. Sure WWE has done the rivals holding tag belts plenty of times, but it works, and I'm sure it will be very cool with this pairing.
4) Rey Mysterio
5) Chuck Taylor
Ryan Byers
1) CIMA
Very few people saw it coming because he was an outsider, but CIMA took home the Battle of Los Angeles tournament championship this weekend by defeating some of the greatest names in American indy wrestling and one of his running buddies from Japan. Not only that, but he was also on the winning end of a big main event in Dragon Gate earlier this week, as he teamed with Susumu Yokosuka and Matt Sydal to defeat Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino, and Gamma. Success on two continents in seven days is more than enough to make you the Wrestler of the Week.
2) Tiger Mask IV - Michinoku Pro has dropped off the radar of most fans in the states, but TMIV won an M-Pro tournament this week that also included Jushin Liger, Atlantis, Ultimo Dragon, and El Samurai. That's an impressive feat no matter what promotion is hosting it.
3) Adam Pearce - I'm not Pearce's biggest fan, but you've got to give him some credit for winning the NWA Title.
4) Randy Orton
5) Matt Hardy & MVP
Dan Wilcox
1) MVP/Matt Hardy
The rivals manage to co-exist (sort of) to end the tag title reign of Deuce and Domino and are managing to keep me intrigued in their program all the while.
2) CIMA - It's rare that I vote for indy stuff, because if I don't see it happen it doesn't entertain so I don't fell that I should vote for it. However, even I know what a big deal BoLA is and the fact that it was something of an upset makes CIMA more deserving of this second place spot.
3) CM Punk - Beat out 3 top guys in ECW to become number one contender for John Morrison's ECW Championship.
4) Rey Mysterio
5) Randy Orton
Mike Minotti
1) CIMA
Won the Battle of Los Angeles tournament championship in a pretty big upset. Again, I always give major props to tournament wins.
2) Rey Mysterio - The man makes his first Smackdown appearance this year and is already the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Perhaps Rey isn't as done with the title picture as we may have thought.
3) Matt Hardy/MVP - New WWE Tag Team champions, even when they weren't on the same page. imagine how good they'd be if they were a cohesive unit. It'll be interesting to see how long they hold onto those titles.
4) CM Punk
5) Randy Orton
Matt Short
1) CIMA
Won the Battle of LA. Tournament wins are the big wins for me.
2) Adam Pearce: The new NWA champion and the first since the split with TNA.
3) MVP & Matt Hardy: An awesome feud gets an added twist with the unlikely tag team angle.
4) CM Punk
5) Rey Mysterio
Larry Csonka
1) Adam Pearce
Pearce took the NWA title, replacing Bryan Danielson who had defeated him in the tournament. It's the old tradition that the replacement wins, plus it also sets up Pearce vs. Danielson down the line. That all good stuff and a big accomplishment for SCRAP DADDY~!
2) Tiger Mask IV Tiger Mask IV jumps into the rankings for me with an impressive win of the M-Pro tournament this week. The tournament also included Jushin Liger, Atlantis, Ultimo Dragon, and El Samurai so he had some big names to go through for the win.
3) Sting Sting won a great 4-way match this week to earn himself one half of the TNA Tag Team Championships. Not a conventional win, but it adds to Sting's storied career and we should take notice.
4) CIMA
5) Matt Hardy and MVP/Chuck Taylor
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention CM Punk - 10 Votes
Fifth Place Tiger Mask IV - 13 Votes
Fourth Place Rey Mysterio - 14 Votes
Third Place Matt Hardy and MVP - 22 Votes
Matt Hardy and MVP may be locked in a feud over the US Title, but they got to lay mismatched partners this week and captured the World Tag Team Titles.
Second Place Adam Pearce - 36 Votes
"Scrap Daddy" Adam Pearce got a second lease on life in the NWA Title Tournament and used it to capture the title.
Wrestler of the Week CIMA - 55 Votes
CIMA is the week's big winner. The Japanese superstar did well on last year's BOLA, but this year made good by winning the whole thing.
Year-End Standings~!
And with week 22 in the books we have some debuts in Tiger Mask IV, Rey Mysterio, and Adam Pearce. They all make the list and hope to make an impact on the year-end standings down the line. CIMA works into a time with Khali and CM Punk, Matt Hardy and MVP all make moves in the top 10 to solidify themselves, and the rankings look like this:
-The top 10 spots are marked
1. John Cena 78 (Raw)
2. Matt Hardy 63 (Smackdown)
3. Kurt Angle 57 (TNA)
4. CM Punk 46 (ECW)
5. Samoa Joe 42 (TNA)
6. MVP 40 (Smackdown)
7. Edge 38 (Smackdown) {INJURED}
8. Bobby Lashley 35 (Raw) {INJURED}
9. Mark Briscoe 34 (ROH)
9. Jay Briscoe 34 (ROH)
Randy Orton 27 (Raw)
CIMA 24 (Dragon Gate) The Great Khali 24 (Raw)
Chuck Taylor 22 (US Independent) El Generico 22 (US Independent)
Takeshi Morishima 21 (ROH/NOAH)
Brother Ray 18 (TNA) Brother Devon 18 (TNA) Sara Del Ray 18 (US Independent) Vince McMahon 18 (WWE)
