411s Wrestler of the Week 10.08.07: Week 27
Posted by Larry Csonka on 10.08.2007
Randy Orton, HHH and Nigel McGuiness all win the big belts while Batista manages to survive Punjabi hell! But who was able to survive the 411 WOTW voting and took the top spot? Theres only one way to find out!
Welcome to Week 27 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) Randy Orton
I was all set to hand Nigel this week's #1, but then Randy Orton went out and cleanly beat Triple H in a Last Man Standing match to now become a three time WWE World Champion. Yes, reign number two lasted 15 minutes for the second shortest reign ever, but Orton still walked out of No Mercy as the champion.
2) Nigel McGuiness: Nigel did the unthinkable last night and defeated Morishima on his third try to become the 10th ever Ring of Honor Champion. Congrats Nigel!
3) Triple H: Like it or not, he did earn his 11th title reign, though it only lasted 2 hours for the third shortest reign ever.
4) Austin Aries
5) Beth Phoenix/Batista
Brad Garoon
1) Nigel McGuinness
When a guy can win a World title cleanly without any shenanigans after a long chance in wrestling as it exists today then you have to give him number one.
2) Randy Orton: Would be number one but WWE can't get it through their head that simpler is better. Some may argue that beating HHH clean is reason enough to get number one. To that I say go check out WWE.com's write up on the match and see what's mentioned more, Orton's win or how tough and impossible to beat HHH is and how Orton really wouldn't have stood a chance if not for Umaga. Screw WWE, but congratulations to Randy the psycho.
3) Triple H: He added an 11th title reign. I have nothing more to say, the PPV was a mess.
4) Austin Aries
5) Necro Butcher
Jeff Small
1) Randy Orton
As awesome as it was to see a new ROH champion this week, the WWE title is still the #1 prize in the business. Orton clearly deserves it this week with an impressive victory and possible Match of the Year candidate against Triple H. While some might question the reason of him losing the title in the first place in the first match of the night, it definitely added to the unpredictability and the uniqueness of the event. Kudos again to Randy Orton for bringing it in the main event.
2) Triple H: Won the WWE championship, retained the title, and then lost it all in one night. Triple H deserves a lot of love this week for getting Orton over with one hell of a main event performance. Considering he's only two months removed from a serious quad injury, it's very nice to see him almost back to his 2000 form.
3) Nigel McGuiness: Any other week, this would have been my #1; however, shit happens some times. Regardless, Nigel shocked the Indy world with a stunning victory against Morishima which should look all the better when shown on PPV.
4) Austin Aries
5) Batista
Steve Sullivan
1) Nigel McGuinness
Nigel winning the ROH title is huge in my eyes. I watched this guy for the first time on Driven against Danielson and was really impressed. It's my understanding now that Bryan Danielson is the #1 contender, so that means we get to see these two face off again for the title in the future, which is great for ROH and wrestling in general. ROH is really opening my eyes and putting the title on Nigel is like putting caffeine pills in my coffee.
2) Randy Orton
I was actually checking on No Mercy through my cell phone. Around 9 I saw that Triple H had won the WWE title and I shut my phone pretty hard with a sigh of disappointment. But now that I see that Orton ended up winning it back, I'm pretty happy. A lot more happy than most. I like the idea that the title was defended several times. I liked having Triple H win the belt, and even defend it the same night. Yes, the first match sucked since Orton was beat by a rollup, but the fact that Orton defeated Triple H later that night in a Last Man Standing match is huge, and gives me a hell of a lot more credibility. He's now champion because he won it, not because it was awarded to him, and I think that's the best WWE could offer us at this point.
3) Triple H
Trips wins his 11th title, then defends it, then loses it. All in the same night. Did WWE just take a shot at TNA by having Triple H work 3 matches on one pay per view? Anyway, he was pretty busy at No Mercy and he put over, yes, put over Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match no less. He deserves more credit than he gets.
4) Batista
5) Austin Ares
Scott Slimmer
1) Nigel McGuinness
Nigel McGuinness gets my first place vote for defeating Takeshi Morishima at the ROH pay-per-view taping to win the ROH World Championship. ROH title changes are few and far between, so McGuinness' victory is huge for both McGuinness and ROH.
2) Randy Orton: Randy Orton gets my second place vote for winning the WWE Championship one or two times, depending on how you do the math. The entire WWE Championship scene is all kinds of wrong at the moment, but you have give Orton credit for once again (and then again) becoming the man to beat in WWE.
3) Austin Aries: Austin Aries gets my third place vote for defeating Roderick Strong to conclude one feud and defeating Bryan Danielson to start another. Aries has returned to ROH in a big way, and his two victories this weekend could mark the beginning of his path back to the ROH World Championship.
4) Triple H
5) Necro Butcher
Ryan Byers
1) Randy Orton
Aside from the Hardcore Title, has anybody ever become a two-time champion on the same show? I'm sure that there's an obscure example out there somewhere, but Randy Orton is the first guy that I can think of who has done it on a major scale. On top of that, he is (at least in kayfabe terms) the man who put John Cena out of action, ending his title reign of one full year. As if that wasn't enough, many folks are calling the last man standing match that he had against Triple H to close out the No Mercy pay per view one of the best WWE main events in many months, which no doubt helps to ensure that the belt will be around his waist for quite some time.
2) Triple H - Of course, he had a brief title reign Sunday night AND scored a rare win over Umaga, but that's not the real reason that I'm voting for Trips. The real reason is that, in the main event with Orton, he had his first truly good match since his return to the ring, proving that he can still deliver when called upon to do so.
3) Beth Phoenix - I fully admit that I'm ranking her higher than I would otherwise, as she's a sentimental favorite. It's just great to see somebody who I've followed since her time on the independent circuit pick up a major championship. (Well, as major of a championship as a woman in this industry can pick up.)
4) Nigel McGuinness
5) Austin Aries
Andy Clark
1) Randy Orton
Randy Orton walked away from No Mercy with two new World Title reigns to his credit, a great (and one very good) match under his belt, and perhaps more importantly one hell of a rub from the main event. Orton had an intriguing night and definitely deserves the top spot.
2) Triple H- Much like Orton, he had a great and a very good match, a title win, and more importantly, gave Orton a huge rub in the main event. I was questioning the booking decision during the LMS Match where it looked like Triple H was super manning up, but boy did he put Orton over strong.
3) Nigel McGuinness- I really wanted to give Cena the No. 3 spot for having a tremendous year plus title run, but I had to be fair a give Nigel his due. The ROH Title is a pretty meaningful belt and it's a big feather in the cap of Nigel.
4) John Cena
5) Batista
ARI~!
1) Nigel McGuinness
After nine months of chasing Morishima, Nigel finally got the win and the ROH World Title on the third try. This year Nigel has skyrocketed up the rankings in both a real and a kayfabed sense. For him to be featured on ROH shows as the champion is a huge accolade and I think he'll shine in this role.
2) Austin Aries: Two huge wins this weekend, including one against the tough to beat Bryan Danielson (and Aries won that by submission!) and his arch rival Roderick Strong in a match taped for the fourth ROH PPV. I had speculated that Aries was in line for a bigger push in the fall, and now here it is. Kudos to Aries.
3) Randy Orton: As much as I despise to give this slot to him, he did end up the WWE champion after all was said and done at No Mercy. I guess that counts for something these days, although how much I really don't know. Nice of HHH to turn off the HHH show long enough to job cleanly though of course he didn't have to have his shoulders to the mat for the L.
4) Necro Butcher
5) Samoa Joe
Matt Short
1) Randy Orton
I don't care what anyone says about the shenanigans surrounding No Mercy. He had a great night. Sure it started out slow, but he recovered and won the WWE title. I don't know if it's going to count as two reigns since he was awarded it, but I don't care. This was some well-built drama in one night. Congratulations to Orton and here's hoping his new reign lasts longer than the previous one.
2) Nigel McGuinness: I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to hear Nigel finally beat Morishima for the ROH World title. It's a well-deserved win, though I'll admit I didn't think Nigel was going to win the belt off of Morishima this weekend.
3) Triple H: Well, he won the title once at No Mercy only to drop it to Orton later in the night. But that still impressive since he got by Umaga on the same night.
4) Austin Aries
5) Beth Phoenix
Mike Minotti
1) Nigel McGuinness
Alright, we had a lot of world title changes, so it's a bit hard to decide which new champion should be number one. In the end, I decided to give it to the one man who didn't lose his championship the same night he one it. Nigel's win is undoubtedly huge, and a long time coming.
2) Randy Orton: Won the WWE Championship twice in one night, and he got to keep it after a great Last Man Standing match. Now let's see how long this reign lasts before HHH wants his 12th title reign.
3) HHH: Deserves a lot of credit for not only winning the WWE Championship, but also for wrestling three matches in one night.
4) Batista
5) Beth Phoenix
Samuel Berman
1) Nigel McGuinness
ROH World Title changes are of the rarest breed in professional wrestling, and any time that the title becomes the property of a new champion is huge news. Nigel's quest for the title, though less interesting to me personally than some of Ring of Honor's other storylines during 2007, has been one of the major threads for the company since Takeshi Morishima decimated Homicide to win the strap in February. Morishima had recently run through some of ROH's most bruising competitors, including Kevin Steen, Erick Stevens, Brent Albright, Claudio Castagnoli, and "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson, but none of those competitors was able to string together the right combination of offense to put away the massive champion. Nigel was, and as such we now enter the reign of the 10th Ring of Honor World Champion. (Bonus Pick of Who Will Win the Title Next: Austin Aries)
2) Austin Aries: Absolutely dominant in a pair of high profile wins, as the former (and future?) champion defeats both "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson and key nemesis Roderick Strong.
3) Randy Orton: To the best of my knowledge, Morishima hadn't already wrestled twice when Nigel beat him for his title.
4) Necro Butcher
5) Triple H
Bayani Domingo
1) Nigel McGuinness
I guess he really WAS "in it to win it". I had him going down this week as Morishima's "bitch boy", but the guy came through and won convincingly with the Jawbreaker Lariat. To ME, this is how you let an important match go down. No bullshit, no overbooking, no unnecessary 11th title reign for an egomaniac who needs to have the "most cake". Just a guy finally shaking off the stigma of being a choker.
2) Randy Orton: He goes from the biggest joke in the WWE to the...well I'm not sure what he is but at least he has the chance to run fully with the ball if he can somehow manage not to lose the title in the next month or so.
3) Austin Aries: Yeah, I may get flack for not putting HHH here, but screw it, I'm tired of the kind of backstage politicking that allow this man to add another pointless title reign to his resume in the span of a few hours. Besides, big wins over Danielson and Strong were more impressive in my book.
4) Triple H
5) Necro Butcher
ATHF
1) Nigel McGuinness
I remember reading about Nigel when he first debuted in ROH and thought he seemed like someone that might be an interesting guy in the middle of the card. I am glad to be proven wrong in that regard and fully congratulate Nigel on ending his quest for the ROH title with his victory over Morishima. From all accounts it was a fantastic match and I look forward to seeing what he can do with his reign. A clean win in a straight wrestling match for the most prestigious championship in all of independent wrestling earns Mr. McGuinness the top spot for me this week.
2) Randy Orton: Young Randall had a big week, crippling Cena in kayfabe terms, forcing him to drop the title, being named the champ, losing the belt to Triple H, and then winning it back in the main event by beating him clean in a Last Man Standing match with the same move he used to send Cena to Dr. Andrews. He deserved this chance after being the most entertaining challenger Cena has had in months and sustaining his heat all the way through that feud and into No Mercy. Now to see if he fizzles out with the belt like he did after his first title win...time will certainly tell.
3) Triple H: Anything Kurt can do, I can do better. He wrestles three times for three different belts in one night. Well I wrestled for the same belt three times in one night so Na Na Boo Boo Kurt!! Does someone have a bit of an inferiority complex perhaps??
4) Necro Butcher
5) Austin Aries/Beth Phoenix
TG Corke
1) Randy Orton
Good grief, what the heck happened here? Talk about being 'off the mark' in my predicted booking. Instead of one multi-man match to replace the Last Man Standing, we get three separate matches for the belt, and three champions in one night. Unbelievable stuff, although sadly it will likely add fuel to the 'WWE IS DOOMED LIKE WCW' fire. Anyway, Orton's the easy winner for me. He came into it having never won the WWE title, and by the end of the night he'd become a two-time champ. I know he had to lose it in-between, but it's still an awesome night for the Legend Killer.
2) Nigel McGuinness: Only the second Englishman I can ever remember winning a belt classed as a World Heavyweight Championship by any company. The other was Chris Adams. Pretty much any other week, I'd vote Nigel in top position.
3) Triple H: Won his eleventh WWE/World Heavyweight Championship and defended it successfully. He also gets major plaudits for losing the title back to Orton at the end.
4) Beth Phoenix
5) Batista
Mathew Sforcina
1) Nigel McGuinness
This is not me being an ROH Mark. This is neither me voting for the guy I've met and worked on the same card as, nor is this me voting against a guy whose attitude to his co-workers and the fans, if the reports are true, makes me sick. It's just simple math. (Winning World Title + Beating Unstoppable Champion) > (Being Awarded World Title + Losing World Title + Winning Back World Title After 2 Hours). At least in my eyes.
2) Randy Orton- So he's now a 3 time World Champ. Bravo, I guess. He's still a jerk, apparently.
3) HHH- 11 down, 6 to go huh?
4) Beth Phoenix
5) Sabu/Gamma/Super Shenron (AWF For Life!)
Andy Critchell
1) Randall K Orton, Esq.
The dream has finally been realized and Orton is WWE champ! Not only is he the champ but he won it in one of the most grueling ways possible, the Last Man Standing Match, and that was his SECOND match of the night! As disappointed as I was when he lost to Triple H to start off, that made his win to end the show that much more gratifying. This is probably the biggest win of Orton's career and a major step in a new direction for Raw. The significance of this win simply cannot be overestimated.
2) Nigel McGuinness Morishima had been booked as the biggest ROH bad ass since Joe so for Nigel to get the job done is no small feat and very deserving of the number 2 slot. While I have a boatload of respect for the ROH title, I don't see it as on an equal level as the WWE title so while Nigel only needed one match that night to get the belt as opposed to Orton's 2 matches, Nigel's win wasn't as big.
3) Triple H Regardless of how the night ended, the fact is that the man did win a major World Title at No Mercy and wrestled THREE matches on one card, including a brutal Last Man Standing match. You simply don't see that these days especially when talking about a mega star like Hunter.
4) Beth Phoenix
5) Austin Aries
Larry Csonka
1) Nigel McGuinness
Nigel tried and chased the ROH Title for so long that most thought he would never win. No one gave him a chance, I don't even think Nigel's family gave him a chance to win the title. But he made good on the third shot at Morishima and finally, finally is the top dog in ROH. It has been a long time coming, but London's officially calling in ROH and it's a great story. He EARNED it.
2) Randy Orton: Orton technically won the WWE Title twice last night, and had a great main event match with HHH.
3) HHH: He got his 11th title run and was in a great match with HHH.
4) Beth Phoenix
5) Necro Butcher/Austin Aries
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention Necro Butcher - 10 Votes
Fifth Place Beth Phoenix - 14 Votes
Fourth Place Austin Aries - 27 Votes
Third Place HHH - 57 Votes
The game won his 11th World Title and had a tremendous Last Man Standing match with Orton to close out No Mercy.
Second Place Randy Orton - 73 Votes
Young Randal Orton won his 2nd and 3rd World Titles at No Mercy and had a tremendous Last Man Standing match with HHH to close out No Mercy.
Wrestler of the Week Nigel McGuinness - 74 Votes
In possibly the closest Wrestler of the Week voting ever, Nigel McGuinness takes the top spot this week as he became the 10th ROH World Champion. ROH Title changes are rare, and Nigel has been on a crusade to win that title for a long time and finally captures the company's top prize from Morishima.
Year-End Standings~!
We had lots of movement this week. With his 3rd place win, HHH is now just on the edge of the top 15. With Cena out for the rest of the voting year, HHH could be an even bigger player than expected. Nigel's 1st place win also puts him on the cusp of the top 15, and now with him holding the ROH title he could be a major layer. Randy Orton may have just missed out on the first place for the week, but his second place finish vaults him into 8th place overall for the year. With him holding the WWE title, he also improves his chances of climbing the list.
-The top 15 spots are marked
1. John Cena 78 (Raw) {INJURED}
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)
