411s Wrestler of the Week 9.24.07: Week 25
Posted by Larry Csonka on 09.24.2007
CIMA retains, HHH dominates, Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai win Dragon Gate gold, Claudio wins the CHIKARA Cibernetico and more! But who takes home the most coveted award is all of wrestling, the 411 Wrestler of the Week?
Welcome to Week 24 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!
Michael Bauer
1) Triple H
Like it or not, he dominated in his own way this past week. And while Carlito and the Tag Team Division of Raw are in hell, all is roses for the power trip of the McMahon's and family.
2) CIMA: Defeated Naruki Doi to retain the Open the Dragon Gate title
3) Randy Orton: Kept up his serious heel heat and looks ready to finally beat Cena
4) Claudio Castagnoli
5) Elijah Burke/Tommy Dreamer/Kevin Thorn
Andy Clark
1) Big Daddy V
This was a slow week so I went with the guy in the most heavily promoted match. Big Daddy V has been on a tear in ECW and finally may be a credible main eventer for the first time in his career.
2) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai- Won the WAR Tag Team Titles and look to move on to unify them with the new Dragon Gate tag straps.
3) Randy Orton- Destroyed Mr. Cena on Monday night and looks to win the title from John Cena at No Mercy.
4) Judas Mesias
5) Elijah Burke/Tommy Dreamer/Kevin Thorn
Robbie Brooksbank
1) Claudio Castagnoli
Won CHIKARA's fourth annual sixteen-man Torneo Cibernetico, defeating Chris Hero, Mitch Rider and Incognito along the way.
2) Kenichiro Arai & Taku Iwasa: Won the WAR tag titles in what was apparently an excellent match.
3) Hallowicked and Delirious: Defeated long-time rivals Ultramantis Black and Hydra to gain a shot at the CHIKARA Campeones de Parejas.
4) PcP Crazy Manny
5) Judas Mesias
Brad Garoon
1) Iwasa & Arai
Winning the IJ tag titles is impressive. It's too bad that Dragon Gate doesn't have the balls to put them in the GHC Jr. Tag Team Championship slot against Marvin and Suzuki to really make that rematch something special.
2) Claudio Castagnoli: Won the 4th annual Torneo Cibernetico and I believe got to be the first CHIKARA wrestler to ever do so by last pinning a man on his own team. I know the 2005 version ended traditionally and I believe the 2004 and 2006 versions did as well.
3) CIMA: Defeated Naruki Doi to defend his title. I'm dying to see this match. Hopefully CIMA's injury is nothing serious.
4) Naruki Doi & Genki Horiguchi
5) Masato Yoshino
Matt Short
1) Claudio Castagnoli
What a year Claudio is having. He won ROH's Race to the Top Tournament. He's had great matches with the likes of Takeshi Morishima, Chris Hero, and Mike Quackenbush. His latest achievement is winning CHIKARA's annual Torneo Cibernetico. And in the process of doing so got some small revenge against those who have been making his life miserable in CHIKARA.
2) Taku Iwasa & Kenichiro Arai: Won the WAR IJ Tag Team titles for Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka at the last Dragon Gate show this weekend. The match is getting rave reviews. Iwasa & Arai have been having a great 2007 too and they now look forward to a unification match with the new Dragon Gate tag team titles.
3) Incoherence (Delirious & Hallowicked): One of my favorite teams picked up their third consecutive win at CHIKARA's Cibernetico & Robin show. That means they get a shot at the Campeones de Parejas. And that's awesome.
4) CIMA
5) Masato Yoshino
Bayani Domingo
1) Arai & Iwasa
AraIwa wins a big match to capture the IJ Tag Titles from RyoSuka this weekend. Giving AraIwa their first victory as a team and giving Tozawa Juku something to finally celebrate.
2) Claudio Castagnoli: Maybe it's the summer of Claudio? After winning his 2nd tournament it looks like all Double C needs to do now is find a way to translate those wins into some gold.
3) YOSHINO: Beat Kanda for his 2nd Open The Brave Gate title. May be renewing his epic feud with K-NESS as well.
4) CIMA
5) Triple H
Scott Slimmer
1) Triple H
Triple H gets my first place vote this week for single-handedly destroying Raw's tag team division. Don't get me wrong; that sucks mightily for the tag team division. I absolutely LOVE London & Kendrick, and I was furious that Triple H was allowed to make them look absolutely worthless. However, you can't argue with the fact that Triple H looked like an absolute beast in the process, and that's why I'm giving him my vote. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that I was astounded at the reception Triple H received from the crowd when he made his way to the ring at the Raw house show here in Champaign on Saturday night. I've been to tractor pulls that did less damage to my ears. I'd brought a friend who has no real knowledge of wrestling to the show. After the show, as we began to walk to the car and could finally begin to hear ourselves think again, he had only one question concerning all that he had seen that night. "So, who's that Triple H dude, and why does everyone lose their minds when they see him?" My point is that even an impartial observer can see the difference between Triple H and every other wrestler on the roster. And that makes him an easy choice as my WOTW.
2) Randy Orton: Randy Orton gets my second place vote this week for getting revenge on John Cena's father while further cementing himself as the most dominant heel in all of WWE. Orton's career may be at an all time high, but that could easily change if he continues to fail in his attempts to win the WWE Championship.
3) Elijah Burke / Tommy Dreamer / Kevin Thorn: Elijah Burke, Tommy Dreamer, and Kevin Thorn get my third place vote this week for having a nice little match on ECW and moving forward in the Elimination Chase. Bonus points for this title race not involving a Reverse Battle Royal.
4) Big Daddy V
5) Claudio Castagnoli
Samuel Berman
1) Claudio Castagnoli
Though for some the Japanese news is the big topic this week, I watch more Chikara than I do Dragon Gate, so I'm going with Claudio in the top spot after his Torneo Cibernetico win on Saturday. For those who haven't seen the match before, I won't even hazard at an explanation of the rules, but suffice that it can be a great vehicle for in-ring storytelling, and this year's installment sounds like a homerun in that regard.
2) CIMA: Successfully retains his Open the Dream Gate Title against fellow main event player Naruki Doi.
3) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai: Win the IJ Tag Titles with a decision over Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka.
4) Incoherence (Delirious & Hallowicked)
5) Masato Yoshino
Ryan Byers
1) Claudio Castagnoli
With a slow week happening in the big leagues, it's time for some independent action to take center stage! Everybody's favorite Swissman, Claudio Castagnoli, walked in to CHIKARA's sixteen-man Torneo Cibernetico on Saturday night and outlasted virtually every other top name in the promotion as well as a few outside lucha stars. A victory would have been sweet in any event, but it was made even sweeter by the fact that the Most Money Making Man got to plow through some of his most hated rivals in order to accomplish this goal.
2) Iwasa & Arai - They got a set of Tag Team Titles, though the fact that their win is really just a means to an end (i.e. crowning Dragon Gate Tag Champs) prevents them from taking the top spot in my eyes.
3) Delirious & Hallowicked - Shots at the tag straps in CHIKARA are few and far between, as they have to be earned in a rather difficult manner. Incoherence eared their shot this weekend by picking up their third consecutive victory in CHIKARA tag action.
4) Viscera
5) CIMA
Jeff Small
1) HHH
Triple H was seriously on point this week on Raw. From an actual funny interview with McMahon (much better than any comedy skit he did last year with HBK) to burying not only the tag team champions but also the division's #1 contenders! Not bad for a guy who's been stuck in a feud with Carlito!
2) Big Daddy V- Unfortunately, ECW wasn't built this week around the Chase for the Championship; rather, all the hype was on the Big Daddy V/Boogeyman grudge match. Surprisingly, this match wasn't nearly as even as most of us would expect as Big Daddy V picked up an easy win. While V is not in contention yet for a championship shot, it won't be long until he will be.
3) Claudio Castagnoli- Winning a 16-man tournament is always impressive.
4) Jeff Hardy
5) Randy Orton
Tim Haught
1) HHH
Trips buries the tag champs and Carlito. Love him or hate him, he was made to look better than anyone in any promotion this week.
2) Jeff Hardy & Shelton Benjamin - Hardy retains in a good showing for both men.
3) Deuce & Domino - A non-title win over the WWE tag champions is bigger than anything on the Indies. Sorry...
4) Judas Mesias
5) Big Daddy V
Mathew Sforcina
1) Claudio Castanogli
Went over 15 over men to win a major match and get a serious boost, in a totally believable and realistic way that didn't make anyone look bad.
2) Triple H: Did pretty much the exact opposite.
3) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai: Huzzah to them.
4) Judas Mesias
5) CIMA
ARI
1) Claudio Castagnoli
The angle was luchadores vs. Kings of Wrestling, but Claudio stole the attention by gaining a measure of revenge at Cibernetico & Robin. Claudio got his chance to take out his oppressors in the Kings and it was all-legal as a part of the rules of the match.
2) CIMA: defended his belt with pride at the Dragon Gate PPV.
3) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai: This tag team is making waves with impressive performances and impressive wins in Dragon Gate.
4) Delirious & Hallowicked
5) Mitch Ryder
JT~!
1) Claudio Castanogli
Anytime you can enter a legitimate 16 man tournament (and by legitimate I mean that there are more than three guys that are believable as the winner) and win - especially when it's the biggest selling point of the night - you get the nod from me.
2) Triple H: Granted, he simultaneously made the mid card and tag division on RAW look like total shit, but that shouldn't penalize him for the week that he had. He showed up on the flagship show, kicked ass, took names, and went home.
3) Deuce/Domino: Their win didn't really mean shit, but right now Matt Hardy and MVP are two of the top stars carrying SmackDown, so a win over them is a big deal (even if it was booked to build dissention between MVP/MH).
4) Kenichiro Arai/Taku Iwasa
5) Randy Orton
Larry Csonka
1) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai
They win tag gold on a major show this weekend, and will be a major part of crowning Dragon Gate Tag Champs, which will be another good accomplishment for the promotion.
2) Claudio Castanogli: Claudio wins the 16-Man Cibernetico, and continues his great year.
3) CIMA: He keeps the Open the Dream Gate Title in a busy weekend on a major show.
4) Big Daddy V
5) Judas Mesias
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention Hallowicked and Delirious - 13 Votes
Fifth Place Big Daddy V - 16 Votes
Fourth Place CIMA - 24 Votes
Third Place HHH - 29 Votes
HHH dominated on Raw this week and earns the #3 slot.
Second Place Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai - 42 Votes
Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai put the tag teams of Dragon Gate on notice this weekend in a major way.
Wrestler of the Week Claudio Castanogli - 53 Votes
The roll of everyone's favorite Swiss Entrepreneur continues as he rocks the CHIKARA Cibernetico and takes the whole thing.
Year-End Standings~!
No changes in the top 10 this week, but with his 1st place finish Claudio is knocking on the door of the top 10, and if he keeps it up could very well could get into the top 10 very soon. HHH gets some much-needed points, as does CIMA. Taku Iwasa, Keni'chiro Arai, Hallowicked, Delirious and Big Daddy V all debut this week.
-The top 10 spots are marked
1. John Cena 78 (Raw)
2. Matt Hardy 63 (Smackdown)
2. Kurt Angle 63 (TNA)
4. CM Punk 61 (ECW)
5. Mark Briscoe 46 (ROH)
5. Jay Briscoe 46 (ROH)
