411s Wrestler of the Week 11.26.07: Week 34
Posted by Larry Csonka on 11.26.2007
Chris Jericho returns, Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi win NOAH tag team gold and Samoa Joe won the first ever Turkey Bowl! But who was able to take the top spot and take home the 411 WOTW Award? CLICK!
Welcome to Week 34, 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!
Christi Csonka
1) Chris Jericho
I want to tame that sexy beast.
2) Samoa Joe: Joe dominated on Impact and is heading to the main event of Turning Point, all in a week's work for the dancing Samoan.
3) Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi: I asked Larry about these guys, heard what they did and then saw them in action. These men need to be on my TV stat.
4) ODB
5) AJ Styles
Michael Bauer
1) Chris Jericho
Now that my friends is what I call a return to action. Yes, I do admit that the way it happened was a little different, but that is what I think akes it better. The problem the WWE ran into is that everyone knew it was going to be Jericho. So instead of insulting our intelligence, they gave us the quick shot before the whole code breaking deal. I was fine with that and Chris Jericho is now the man hunting Orton on Raw.
2) Samoa Joe: The man looked dominant in the Turkey Bowl tournament.
3) Shawn Michaels/Mr. Kennedy: Those two put on some golden work to start their new feud.
4) AJ Styles
5) Shelton Benjamin
Andy Clark
1) Chris Jericho
Easy No. 1 this week. Y2J returned on Monday and has everyone buzzing at the prospects of his feud with Randy Orton. Welcome back, oh savior.
2) Samoa Joe: I actually quite enjoyed the Turkey Bowl and hope it becomes a tradition in Impact remains on Thursday. Samoa Joe is your inaugural winner.
3) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: These two have been having a half year or so, and it continued this weekend, retaining the Open the Twin Gate Titles and winning the NOAH Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles.
4) Randy Orton
5) Shelton Benjamin
Brad Garoon
1) Chris Jericho
Came back to a ton of fanfare (many pops instead of one big one) after a two-year hiatus. Maybe I'll start watching RAW regularly again.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: While I don't really get why Doi got three shots at the junior tag belts he came through and finally won them with Yoshino. I happened to think his most recent effort before his win (a challenge with Genki Horiguchi) left us with the worst match in Marvin and Suzuki's reign, so hopefully the match that saw the title switch was an improvement. They also get marks for beating Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka to defend their Twin Gate titles.
3) Samoa Joe: Congrats on winning the Turkey Bowl. Good thing you left ROH for this.
4) CIMA
5) Shingo Takagi
Matt Short
1) Chris Jericho
Jericho made his triumphant return this past Monday and immediately put himself in a main event position. That promo was awesome to boot.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: Upset Kotaro Suzuki and Ricky Marvin this weekend to take the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team titles. This was their second attempt at the belts together and Doi's third. This team has been amazingly successful this past year, uniting the IJ Tag titles with Dragon Gate's new Open the Twin Gate belts. They capped off the weekend by retaining their Twin Gate titles against Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka.
3) Kishin Kawabata: He won NOAH's Global Hardcore Title and kept his hair this past week against his long time partner Kentaro Shiga in a hair vs. hair title match. The belt had been used as a tag title through 2007 held by Shiga and Kawabata, but now it's reverted back to a singles title.
4) Samoa Joe
5) Shelton Benjamin
JT~!
1) Chris Jericho
Easy choice here. After months of teases and twists, Y2J finally returned on RAW to save us all in the form of a title program with Randy Orton and a kick ass promo.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: It doesn't take much to recognize that not only retaining one championship but adding one as well is a pretty fine accomplishment.
3) Samoa Joe: Won the 1st ever TNA Turkey Bowl against two of TNA's most talented homegrown stars.
4) Shawn Michaels / Ken Kennedy
5) Shelton Benjamin
Mathew Sforcina
1) Samoa Joe
Look, I like Chris Jericho as much as the next guy, but that return, for various reasons (The Early Reveal, The TERRIBLE Camerawork, Orton's usual stunned mullet persona, Jericho going for Comedy which, while great, is exactly the wrong thing to be doing right now) just didn't work for me. Hence, he's not in my top 5. Shocking I know. So, with that removed, there's very little to celebrate, so, voila, a Turkey match wins top billing. Sigh.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino- Keep a belt, add a belt, get #2.
3) Kishin Kawabata- As a man who loves his hair and never wants to lose it, I appreciate a guy who kept it.
4) Shawn Michaels/Ken Kennedy
5) Shelton Benjamin.
Ryan Byers
1) Chris Jericho
I quite enjoyed Chris Jericho's promo from this past Monday night, even though the live crowd in Fort Lauderdale was acting more like they were listening to the return of the Brooklyn Brawler than the return of Y2J. The fact that Jericho did some fine mic work and established himself immediately as a contender for the most important World Title on the planet makes him an easy selection for number one.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino - They essentially created Dragon Gate's own tag team titles, they unified those belts with the old WAR IJ Tag Titles, and this week they've won the Jr. Tag Titles from NOAH. As if making yourself in to a triple crown champion wasn't enough to result in some votes being thrown your way, they also managed to successfully defend the DG tag straps on a major show.
3) Samoa Joe - I couldn't care less about the tournament victory, but the fact that Joe looked more dominant on Impact than he has in months made him an easy pick.
4) Dragon Kid
5) Joe Doering
ARI
1) Chris Jericho
Maybe my ears are damaged from all the years of going to concerts, but to me that crowd seemed electric for Jericho, shouting out Y2J multiple times. At any rate, the protestors are protesting too much. We knew it was coming, so an early reveal wasn't going to reveal anything we didn't already know. And who gives a shit about his wardrobe anyway? The man was always an eccentric with his costumes and hairstyles. Jericho's return was an homage to his 1999 debut in the E and it was a damned effective and exciting return that gives the WWE one more main eventer on a thinned out and needy roster. Y2J is my WOTW pick hands down.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yossino: Winning NOAH's titles and defending your own is a heck of a weekend. I say "here, here!" for more NOAH vs. Dragon Gate interaction in 2008.
3) Samoa Joe: What everyone else said. Let's hope he uses the money to bribe the writers to get him back into the main event scene.
4) CIMA
5) Shawn Michaels
SAT
1) Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho gets the top slot for his return to the WWE with the promo and his challenge to Randy Orton.
2) Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi: Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi get the second slot for winning the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and making a successful defense against Ryo Saito & Susumu Yokosuka.
3) Samoa Joe: Samoa Joe gets the third slot for winning the turkey bowl on Impact.
4) Shawn Michaels/Ken Kennedy
5) Shelton Benjamin
Samuel Berman
1) Chris Jericho
See Ari Berenstein's comments.
2) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino: See Matt Short's comments.
3) Samoa Joe: See Brad Garoon's comments.
4) CIMA
5) Dragon Kid
Scott Slimmer
1) Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho gets my first place vote for finally saving us. Is there really anything more to say?
2) Shawn Michaels: Shawn Michaels gets my second place vote for successfully transitioning from a feud with Randy Orton to a feud with Mr. Kennedy. I give Michaels credit for standing tall at the end of their, um, altercation, but I give him my vote for making Mr. Kennedy more interesting than he's been in months.
3) Shelton Benjamin: Shelton Benjamin gets my third place vote for joining the ECW roster and picking up a win over ECW Original Tommy Dreamer. The last time Benjamin switched rosters he damn near became a star, and we can only hope this change of scenery suits him just as well.
4) Naruki Doi & Masato Yoshino
5) Samoa Joe
Bayani Domingo
1) Naruki Doi/YOSHINO
These guys actually wrestled this week and managed to not only secure the tag titles in NOAH, but also retain over RyoSuka in DG. It's always nice to have a little gold. But it's twice as nice to double down and win big.
2) Samoa Joe: It was a damn good match and it got good time. Too bad it didn't actually "main event" the show but it was a reminder that sometimes TNA just cuts the shit and puts some guys in the ring that can rock n' roll.
3) Dragon Kid: He rid DG of Kenzo Suzuki. If anything the rest of the roster owes him a round of Sake and karaoke. Maybe some Dance Dance Revolution and a geisha.
4) CIMA
5) Chris Jericho
Larry Csonka
1) Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi
There is shit happening in Japan! While the return of Jericho was and is awesome, and will have a bigger impact on the business, I have to go with Doi and Yoshi. They have the WAR IJ Tag Titles, they won NOAH Jr. Tag Titles and have the Dragon Gate tag titles and are the triple crown champions. That's awesome shit, and as a long time fan of tag team wrestling I have to give them some love.
2) Chris Jericho: A great return that should make Raw a lot more fun, if they don't mess it up.
3) Samoa Joe: Joe wins the Turkey Bowl and looks important on Impact.
4) CIMA
5) AJ Styles
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention Ken Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin - Votes
Fifth Place CIMA - 10 Votes
Fourth Place Shawn Michaels - 14 Votes
Third Place Samoa Joe - 45 Votes
Joe wins the big Turkey Bowl on Impact this week and takes the third spot.
Second Place Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi - 50 Votes
Yoshi and Doi add to their tag team gold collection as they won the NOAH JR. tag titles, defended their Dragon Gate tag titles and are just on a role and get recognized here with the 2nd place spot.
Wrestler of the Week Chris Jericho - 60 Votes
Did you expect someone else to win, really?
Year-End Standings~!
With John Cena out for the rest of the voting year (they don't expect him back before WrestleMania) the voting will continue to get very interesting. Samoa Joe is within three points of taking the yearend lead with Kurt Angle just behind him. HBK climbs up to the 12th spot and CIMA stays in the top 15. Doi and Yoshi finally get some recognition and continue their great year. 2007 is rounding out and there are under 20-weeks left, so anything can happen.
-The top 15 spots are marked
1. John Cena 78 (Raw) {INJURED}
2. Samoa Joe 75 (TNA)
3. Kurt Angle 72 (TNA)
4. Matt Hardy 66 (Smackdown)
5. CM Punk 61 (ECW)
6. Randy Orton 55 (Raw)
6. Mark Briscoe 55 (ROH)
6. Jay Briscoe 55 (ROH)
Big Daddy V 3 (ECW) Beth Phoenix 3 (Raw) Charlie Haas 3 (Raw) William Regal 3 (Raw) Mistico 3 (CMLL) Atlantis 3 (CMLL) Togi Makabe 3 (New Japan) Tiger Mask IV 3 (New Japan)
KENTA 2 (NOAH) The Miz 2 (ECW)
Jeff Jarrett 1 (TNA) Super Crazy 1 (Raw) Colt Cabana 1 (WWE) Finlay 1 (WWE) Taiji Ishimori 1 (NOAH) Rob Van Dam 1 (US Independent) Andrew Martin 1 (US Independent) Sherri Martel 1 {Deceased}
Voting began 4.09.07
Year-End Rankings Key:
Raw and Smackdown Wrestlers are represented in BLUE.
ECW Wrestlers are represented in GREEN.
TNA wrestlers are represented in RED.
ROH/FIP Wrestlers are represented in MAROON.
US Independent Wrestlers are represented in ORANGE
Japanese wrestlers are represented in BLACK.
Mexican Wrestlers are represented in MAGENTA.
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