411s Wrestler of the Week 12.24.07: Week 38
Posted by Larry Csonka on 12.24.2007
Kaz defeated AJ Styles in a great ladder match, JBL and Jericho had a tremendous war of words and Jeff Hardy pinned WWE Champion Randy Orton! Which accomplishment was good enough to take the top spot? Come on in to find out!
Welcome to Week 38, 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) Jeff Hardy
Jeff has been getting some major chances recently and he has been solid gold on all of them. Getting the pin on Randy Orton in the Tag Team Main Event was just a piece of that this week. But even without that, telling McMahon hat he is Saddam was priceless.
2) Kaz - Another impressive main event win in a ladder match.
3) Ric Flair - Killer promo and some great work for the Nature Boy.
4) Jimmy Wang Yang/Shannon Moore
5) Amazing Kong
Christi Csonka
1) Awesome Kong
She remains the single best thing going in TNA today and gets my vote for not only surviving but dominating the roster of Knockouts. How can you not mark out for her?
2) Kaz: it is nice to see TNA giving some fresh and new talent a push. I really want Kaz to get a chance to rise to the top and weeks like this will help him do that.
3) Jeff Hardy: Wow, Jeff Hardy is actually getting a chance. You all should know I LOVE Matt, but Jeff is doing really well and wins over HHH and Orton are nothing but great things.
4) Edge
5) Jimmy Wang Yang/Shannon Moore
JT~!
1) Jeff Hardy
Came out on the A-Show to interrupt the boss and give him a piece of his mind, and followed that up by pining the current WWE Champion. It appears that as long as he keeps his shit together, they're going to continue to try and elevate Jeff to at least a believable main-eventer. In a slow week, he by far had the most impressive performance.
2) Ric Flair - Ric Flair has been on a roll with the promos and with not much else going on, I'm going to have to give him some love for his promo regarding his match with Triple H.
3) Kaz - Much like Jeff Hardy in WWE, it appears that as long as he keeps it together, TNA is going the extra mile to get him - and keep him - over as a legitimate contender.
4) Edge
5) Kong
Matt Short
1)Jeff Hardy
Kept his momentum from his win over Triple H going with a solid promo on Raw and a big pinfall victory over his Royal Rumble opponent, Randy Orton. Hardy is just about the best place he can be right now and if he keeps it up he'll stay there.
2)Ric Flair: Survived Umaga on Monday and gave awesome promos on Raw and Smackdown. The Flair Retirement Tour continues to roll on.
3)Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore: Went out in a rematch from last week's ECW match with John Morrison & The Miz. They stole the show again and had an amazing match, but this time pulled out the upset victory. It's great to see these two getting TV time and really showing off.
4)Awesome Kong
5)Edge
ARI~!
1) Jeff Hardy
The WWE is having faith in Jeff Hardy and it is paying off dividends. Hardy is succeeding in the spotlight and may just make himself into a believable main event talent. A win over the WWE champion will certainly help get that point across and that's exactly what he did in the tag main event at Raw.
2) Ric Flair: A full out Flair promo like the one we saw last Monday is the greatest Christmas present of them all.
3) Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore: They brought solid wrestling to the program and that's what I like to see.
4) Edge
5) JBL & Y2J
Ryan Byers
1) Jeff Hardy
As many others have noted, this was a pretty slow week in the world of professional wrestling. Normally I wouldn't put Hardy at number one for pinning Randy Orton in this context, since it's probably meant just to set up their Rumble match and do little more. However, with no other major events, the main event of Raw was the biggest match of the week, and Jeff did emerge the victor there.
2) The Amazing Kong - Hey, when's the last time you saw a wrestler defeat his or her entire division in one match?
3) Frankie Kazarian / AJ Styles - Though the result means nothing in the long run, these two did put on the best match of the week.
4) Ric Flair
5) Chris Masters
Andy Clark
1) Jeff Hardy
I was very skeptical about how WWE attempted to push Jeff Hardy at Armageddon, and I thought that his impending Royal Rumble title shot would kill his push. Then Raw happened. Maybe it's the way he stood up to Vince, maybe it's how he came across in the main event, but something happened that made me a believer. WWE HAS to have a higher purpose for Hardy, and if they don't, his performance on Monday should make them ashamed of that fact.
2) Chris Jericho & JBL- Jericho and JBL made me quit excited for their feud on Monday and if the promos are as good in the coming weeks then this should be a great one.
3) Ric Flair- Not only cut a great promo on Raw (I missed the SmackDown promo but I'm sure it was good) but also got a major win over Umaga to keep his career alive.
4) Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore
5) Kazarian
Daniel Wilcox
1) Jeff Hardy
It's like JR and King said on Raw, this guy is on the role of his live and now he can brag about beating Triple H and WWE Champion Randy Orton on consecutive nights. And as we're about to hit the Road to WrestleMania, now is certainly not a bad time to be getting big wins.
2) Ric Flair - Hardy wasn't the only one who got a big win this week as Ric Flair survived Umaga on Raw and got a count out victory to keep his career alive. Add to that he cut two fantastic promos this week and Flair deserves this spot.
3) JBL - JBL and Y2J had some great back and forth on Raw this week but JBL managed to put over his in-ring return as if it was a true "second coming" and not some half-assed "save us" shit!
4) Edge
5) Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang
Theo Fraser
1) Jeff Hardy
It seems that finally, the WWE have decided to give Jeff Hardy the ball, and judging by his performances this past Monday on Raw and of course the great match he had with Triple H at Armageddon, he is really running with it. After holding his own on the mic with Vince McMahon to kick off the Raw broadcast, he gained a decisive pin over WWE Champion Randy Orton, which was the icing on the cake for one of Jeff's best weeks in a heck of a long time.
2) Ric Flair: What an awesome, heartfelt promo he delivered on Raw. The Smackdown promo was also top notch, and I'm so glad this Farewell Tour is being promoted across all the shows. Great to see Flair being given the time to do what he does best.
3) Kaz: Won a TV main event Ladder match against AJ Styles, and looked superb in the process. Kaz's rise to the top continues.
4) Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore
5) Edge
SAT
1) Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy gets the top slot for defeating the WWE Champion in a tag team match.
2) Amazing Kong: I have to agree with Ryan here. She is deserving of the second slot because she destroyed the entire division this week on Impact.
3) Ric Flair: Ric Flair gets the third slot for defeating Umaga and for his promos.
4) Kaz
5) Jimmy Wang Yang & Shannon Moore
Matt Adamson
1) Kaz
I find it impressive that he is able to make himself the new Ronnie Garvin of wrestling without the lame ass move set. His Ladder match win was nice and helped him take that next step. The question remains; will it pan out?
2)Jeff Hardy - Continuing to get the big wins, Jeff deserves a spot on this weeks WOTW.
3)Ric Flair - Delivered the good yet again in a promo that shows how shitty the rest of the WWE roster is on the mic.
4)Awesome Kong
5)Chris Jericho & JBL
Larry Csonka
1) Kaz
Kaz continues to rise in TNA land. While I agree that this particular match means about nothing in the long term, it does mean that they are serious in pushing him, which is really refreshing coming from TNA.
2) Awesome Kong: Speaking of refreshing, KONG is just fucking awesome. I totally dig her booking and think she has been great thus far.
3) Jeff Hardy: Hardy gets a great pin fall victory on Raw over Orton in a tag match, showing that they appear to be behind his push, which I think is great.
4) JBL/Chris Jericho/Ric Flair
5) Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore
THE WINNERS!
Special Mention JBL - 11 Votes
Fifth Place Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang - 16 Votes
Fourth Place Awesome Kong - 27 Votes
Third Place Kaz - 32 Votes
Kaz gets another big ladder match victory and is proving that he deserves he new found push in TNA.
Second Place Ric Flair - 36 Votes
He cut two great promos this week and survived Umaga. That deserves some recognition.
Wrestler of the Week Jeff Hardy - 52 Votes
Jeff Hardy makes waves again this week with a big pin on WWE Champion Randy Orton. The current Intercontinental Champion is making a push for the big gold and looking impressive doing so.
Year-End Standings~!
The big story this week is Jeff Hardy. With his first place win this week, he leaps into the 11th place in the top 15. Hardy is on a roll and if he can keep putting some good weeks together, he could easily be in the top five. Other big movers were Ric Flair and Kaz, who is now just outside of the top 15. JBL, Shannon Moore and Jimmy Yang Wang all made their debuts this week.
-The top 15 spots are marked
1. Samoa Joe 87 (TNA)
2. John Cena 78 (Raw) {INJURED}
3. Kurt Angle 72 (TNA)
4. Matt Hardy 66 (Smackdown) {INJURED}
5. Edge 65 (Smackdown)
6. CM Punk 61 (ECW)
7. Randy Orton 55 (Raw)
7. Mark Briscoe 55 (ROH)
7. Jay Briscoe 55 (ROH)
10. Batista 51 (Smackdown)
11. Jeff Hardy 50 (Raw)
12. MVP 47 (Smackdown)
13. Shawn Michaels 45 (Raw)
14. Claudio Castagnoli 37 (ROH)
15. Nigel McGuinness 36 (ROH)
Bobby Lashley 35 (Raw) {INJURED}
CIMA 33 (Dragon Gate)
Chuck Taylor 32 (US Independent)
Kaz 28 (TNA) El Generico 28 (US Independent)
Jimmy Jacobs 26 (ROH)
Giant Bernard 24 (New Japan) The Great Khali 24 (Raw) Takeshi Morishima 24 (ROH/NOAH) Chris Hero 24 (US Independent)
Amazing Kong 9 (TNA) Vito Thomaselli 9 (US Independent) Sal Thomaselli 9 (US Independent) Icarus 9 (US Independent) Gran Akuma 9 (US Independent) Kenny King 9 (US Independent) Jason Blade 9 (US Independent) Lince Dorado 9 (US Independent) TAKA Michinoku 9 (New Japan) Yugi Nagata 9 (New Japan) D LO Brown- 9 (NOAH) Bull Buchanan - 9 (NOAH) Naomichi Marufuji - 9 (NOAH) Mitsuharu Misawa 9 (NOAH) Keiji Muto 9 (All Japan) Joe Doering 9 (All Japan) Blue Panther 9 (CMLL)
Necro Butcher 7 (US Independent) Finlay 7 (WWE) Paul London 7 (Raw) Brian Kendrick 7 (Raw) Gail Kim 7 (TNA)
Hornswoggle 6 (Smackdown) Rey Mysterio 6 (Smackdown) Carlito 6 (Raw) Booker T 6 (TNA) Christian Cage 6 (TNA) Scott Steiner 6 (TNA) Kensuke Sasaki 6 (All Japan) Milano Collection AT 6 (Japan) Scott Hall 6 (Independent) Super Dragon 6 (Independent) Davey Richards 6 (ROH) Ultimo Guerrero 6 (CMLL) Averno 6 (CMLL)
Shelton Benjamin 4 (ECW) AJ Styles 4 (TNA) Delirious 4 (ROH) Rob Van Dam 4 (US Independent) Hallowicked 4 (US Independent)
Eric Young 3 (TNA) Big Daddy V 3 (ECW) Jimmy Yang Wang 3 (Smackdown) Shannon Moore 3 (Smackdown) 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)
