411’s Wrestler of the Week 03.17.08: Week 50

Posted by Larry Csonka on 03.17.2008

Jericho wins the IC Title once again, Tyler Black rules the ROH triple shot weekend and more! But who had the goods to take home the WOTW award? Come on into find out!



Welcome to Week 50, 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!

ARI
1) John Cena & Shawn Michaels: I'm place Cena first here for two reasons: one, to spite all the Cena haters out there, just like I said I would...and two, because I am a huge mark for Cena vs. HBK and think these two work together like magic. Cena selling his leg and HBK's great efforts to get a crowd that had to sit though a three-hour Raw behind him are worthy of recognition. You also can't ignore his efforts in building up the match against Flair. Speaking of which...

2) Ric Flair: You can't forget to mention the guy who gave one of the best promos of this march to Wrestlemania. Flair is best when he wants to make a point known and he did it this week with passion and intensity. I am looking to Flair vs. HBK more than any other match at WM 24.
3) Nigel McGuinness & Tyler Black: Each man ruled the roost of ROH this week. McGuinness had a fantastic "sit down" style interview with Dave Prozac, er, Prazak. The interview gave us so many great one-liners and really put over the new heel act he is using as champion. Then he went 1 and 2 over the weekend in matches for ROH, losing clean to Claudio Castagnoli and being a part of the submitting team against Danielson & Aries. However, while he was on a losing streak, what was most important was when push came to shove, Nigel retained the ROH World Title in a defense against Tyler Black that many are already raving about. Meanwhile Black continued his break out in ROH (although I'm very surprised by just how far he's being pushed and really need to see it to be fully convinced of it). Black defeated Erick Stevens, who had previously been surging with momentum. He then won the Four Corner Survival match to earn a title shot on the same night for the sixth ROH PPV. Black & McGuinness proceeded to tear the house down and that's what lands both on the list this week.
4) Chris Jericho
5) Hector Garza & Mistico


Ryan Byers
1) Floyd Mayweather
This was the week that WWE FINALLY let Floyd "Money" Mayweather do exactly what he should have been doing all along in his feud with the Big Show, i.e. playing the heel. Mayweather, who established himself as the clear bad guy in the excellent build to his boxing match last year against Oscar De La Hoya, is such a natural in this role. As such, it should be no surprise to anybody who watched Monday Night Raw that he pulled of a hell of a performance on the stick, getting the most heat of the evening's three hour show and receiving such a strong reaction for his segment that the audience really didn't get back up to that level for the rest of the card. On top of that, he did a MASTERFUL job of selling his supposed "injury" after his big bump to the floor, meaning that he's already more proficient at getting an angle over than guys like Ken Kennedy and Carlito, despite the fact that they've been wrestling for years whereas Floyd has been in WWE for ONE MONTH. In a year in which the road to Wrestlemania has largely left me under whelmed, Mayweather has been a major highlight. He may even be better than K-Fed was, and I loved me some K-Fed.

2) Tyler Black - Good to see this Age of the Fall member getting pushed relatively hard on the weekend's Ring of Honor shows, particularly since he went over Erick Stevens, who I still contend is massively overrated in just about every aspect of his game.
3) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai - Three big title defenses for the tag champs of Dragon Gate land them at number three.
4) Hector Garza & Mistico
5) Ernest Miller & Bushwacker Luke (Who'd have thought that we'd ever see these two wrestling on ROH shows?)


Samuel Berman
1) Nigel McGuinness and Tyler Black
In putting on a reportedly outstanding bout for McGuinness' ROH World Title, these two have completely elevated Tyler Black to main event status in Ring of Honor. Furthermore, by winning a mini-tournament to earn his shot, Black established himself from amongst a field that included crowd favorite Claudio Castagnoli and a recently white hot Erick Stevens. All this adds up to a big defense for Nigel and a big move up the card for Tyler.

2) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai: Made their first successful defense of the Open the Twin Gate Titles by besting Typhoon's CIMA & Dragon Kid.
3) Kevin Steen: A perfect week in ROH competition, including a hard-fought win over No Remorse Corps leader Roderick Strong on Pay-Per-View.
4) Shingo Takagi, YAMATO & Cyber Kong
5) Claudio Castagnoli


Andy Clark
1) Chris Jericho & Jeff Hardy
Now before you go and accuse me of going for the "shock" vote with Hardy, hear me out. In my opinion these two men had the best match on TV this week and made the IC Title really seem important. The match was great with plenty of near falls and Jericho continued what looks to be a heel turn by cockily walking out after the match. With Jeff's suspension Jericho looks like a much more viable candidate for Money in the Bank. And what of Jeff Hardy? Given the title change you have you assume Hardy knew he was suspended before he went out there. But did that impact his effort? Hell no. He played to the fans and wrestled a hell of a match on his way out. Despite how I may feel about his extracurricular activities that's an admirable quality. Take this vote as a vote of confidence that Jeff Hardy will be back, hopefully clean, and hopefully better than ever.

2) Ric Flair- This should really be a tie between Flair and Shawn Michaels, but since I used up my tie already this week I'll give the nod to Naitch. Flair cut one hell of a promo that really got me invested in their match at WrestleMania. It's a shame that in a few weeks we'll never get a promo from the Nature Boy again, but this is a great one to go out on. Plus he was involved in that crazy Steel Cage Match on SmackDown.
3) Shawn Michaels- Same as above. I'm one of the few IWC types that DOESN'T want to see HBK turn heel, but I do like an intense Shawn Michaels and that's what we got here. Great job all around.
4) Tyler Black
5) Taku Iwasa & Keni'chiro Arai


Matt Short
1) Chris Jericho
Sure the circumstances surrounding Jericho's title win are pretty lousy. But a title change is a title change and Jericho picked up his eighth Intercontinental Championship on Monday in pretty impressive fashion.

2) Tyler Black: Black was made to look like a star this weekend, winning a mini-tournament going through some of the company's biggest names to receive a shot at ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. He came up short, but reports are calling the match very impressive. Black is quickly making himself into a main eventer in ROH.
3) Taku Iwasa & Kenichiro Arai: Dragon Gate's Open the Twin Gate champions had a successful first defense against super team CIMA & Dragon Kid this past week. They appear to be settling into a nice long title run if a win over the company's champion and one of it's most popular faces is any indication.
4) Nigel McGuinness
5) Hector Garza & Mistico


Christi Csonka
1) Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho finally got some gold in his latest run with the company. Sure it was due to Hardy messing up, but they had a great match and Jericho deserves some spotlight.

2) Samoa Joe: Joe gave a great interview on Impact and came off as a star. They better put the damn title on him.
3) Ric Flair: While I am not the huge Flair fan most are, he was pretty great this week. I have to respect that.
4) Shawn Michaels/Morrison
5) Kurt Angle


JT
1) Ric Flair
What has amazed me about Flair (I'll spare you the 30 year history lesson) lately is that when he comes out to cut a promo, we know he's about done, he knows we know he's about done, and yet we still hang on and enjoy his every word as if the ride *really* might not be over with. He has shown amazing passion and when you combine that with a complete beat down in full Ric Flair fashion on SmackDown!, you win for the week.

2) Chris Jericho/Jeff Hardy: I had to split these guys this week, despite Hardy's "issues". Despite the situation, Jericho won the IC title of seemingly the hottest guy in the E right now. Despite the issues, Jeff Hardy went out there and gave it his all to make sure it was an awesome match. Kudos to both guys for kind of disregarding the suspension and focusing on making sure the crowd got a hot ass match.
3) John Cena: Despite half the warm-blooded American, male crowd continuing their booing the hell out of him, and despite half the IWC and their readers/commenter just not getting it, he went out and again held his own in a damn fine match with Shawn Michaels that was a clean finish away from a Free TV Match of the Year candidate.
4) Shawn Michaels
5) Tyler Black


Michael Bauer
1) Tyler Black
Tyler Black's star has just been lit and he took full advantage of that. After beating Erick Stevens to qualify for a four way match, he defeated Claudio, Delirious, and Go on PPV to give himself a title shot. He then proceeds to work one of his best matches ever against Nigel to solidify that he has arrived. The timing simply could not have been better for Tyler Black.

2) Chris Jericho - Only reason it is not #1 is for what happened with Jeff.
3) Nigel McGuiness - Retained the ROH Title in said great match with Tyler.
4) Ric Flair
5) Kevin Steen


Theo Fraser
1) Nigel McGuinness
The ROH World Champion successfully defended his title against challenger Tyler Black in a reportedly tremendous match at ROH's sixth PPV taping this past Sunday. Naturally, it's good news that the show was main evented by another outstanding contest, thus keeping up the high standards that the company has set for its PPV offerings, but my first place vote for Nigel is actually due to something that happened earlier in the week; Nigel's sit-down interview with Dave Prazak on the latest ROH Video Wire. This is easily the best sit-down interview I've seen in years, and Nigel has rapidly slipped back into his awesome heel role that he had when he was Pure Champion. Nigel's heelwork is brilliant here, as he is convinced that he is in the right, and in my book that makes for some captivating viewing. Bonus points for the "I'mafuckingmark.com" line, which had me rolling around on the floor in fits of giggles. Ladies and Gentlemen, Nigel McGuinness is officially back in top form.

2) John Cena/Shawn Michaels (tie) - As Ari mentioned, HBK and Cena just click in the ring together, and I could seriously watch these two compete against each other all year. A fine match (minus the finish), and these two deserve props for capping off a pretty good 3-hour edition of the WWE's flagship television show.
3) Chris Jericho - Wins the Intercontinental Title in a great match against Jeff Hardy in Hardy's last televised match for the next 60 days. It still sucks that the IC title won't be defended at Wrestlemania, but with Jericho holding the belt, his next feud should help to once again raise the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship to the level it once was at some years ago.
4) Tyler Black
5) John Morrison


Larry Csonka
1) Hector Garza and Mistico
On March 10th Hector Garza and Mistico pulled what is considered a huge upset to defeat Averno and Mephisto for the CMLL World Tag Team Titles. That's a huge title win, and for that they get the top spot this week.

2) Chris Jericho: Jericho via Wellness @ 3.10.08
3) Ric Flair/Samoa Joe: Flair was just great this week including a classic Flair blade job in the cage and also gave a great Flair interview. Joe gave an awesome interview as well and they are making him look like a big star. It may be later than most like, but if done correctly they could still pull off something great.
4) Tyler Black
5) Kevin Steen

THE WINNERS!

Special Mention… Taku Iwasa & Kenichiro Arai - 14 Votes

Fifth Place… Shawn Michaels - 16 Votes

Fourth Place…Nigel McGuiness - 18 Votes

Third Place…Ric Flair - 21 Votes

Ric Flair gave a great effort in the Smackdown Cage match as he works to build his WrestleMania match against Shawn Michaels.

Second Place…Tyler Black - 28 Votes

Tyler Black has a career weekend in ROH, including main eventing the 6th PPV in a shot for the ROH Title.

Wrestler of the Week… Chris Jericho - 32 Votes

The IC Title win on Raw translates into a WOTW victory for Jericho this week.

Yearend Standings~!

We have 2-weeks left as we build towards WrestleMania and the end of the voting year. Chris Jericho, Tyler Black, Taku Iwasa, Kenichiro Arai and Ric Flair all make moves up the list this week while Nigel McGuinness and Shawn Michaels both made moves in the top 15. There are 2-weeks left…it isn't officially over yet, but John Cena has a solid lead.


-The top 15 spots are marked

1. John Cena – 123 (Raw)

2. Samoa Joe – 105 (TNA)

3. Jeff Hardy – 95 (Raw) {SUSPENDED}

4. Kurt Angle – 92 (TNA)

5. CM Punk – 85 (ECW)

6. Matt Hardy – 66 (Smackdown) {INJURED}

7. Edge – 65 (Smackdown)

8. Randy Orton – 61 (Raw)

9. Mark Briscoe – 55 (ROH)
9. Jay Briscoe – 55 (ROH)

11. Batista – 51 (Smackdown)
11. Nigel McGuinness – 51 (ROH)

13. Shawn Michaels – 49 (Raw)

14. MVP – 47 (Smackdown)

15. Jimmy Jacobs – 41 (ROH)


Awesome Kong – 39 (TNA)
Takeshi Morishima – 39 (ROH/NOAH)
CIMA – 39 (Dragon Gate)

Claudio Castagnoli – 38 (ROH)

HHH – 37 (Raw)

Black Machismo – 36 (TNA)

Bobby Lashley – 35 (US Independent)

Ric Flair – 32 (Smackdown)
Kevin Steen – 32 (US Independent)
Chuck Taylor – 32 (US Independent)

Chris Jericho– 30 (Raw)

Tomko – 29 (TNA)

Kaz – 28 (TNA)
John Morrison – 28 (ECW)
El Generico – 28 (US Independent)

Christian Cage– 27 (TNA)

Tyler Black – 26 (ROH)
Erick Stevens – 26 (ROH)

Umaga – 25 (Raw)
Bryan Danielson – 25 (ROH)
Keni'chiro Arai – 25 (Dragon Gate)

Giant Bernard – 24 (New Japan)
Ryusuke Taguchi – 24 (New Japan)
Chris Hero – 24 (US Independent)
The Great Khali – 24 (Smackdown)

Austin Aries – 22 (ROH)

Sting– 21 (TNA)
Hiroshi Tanahashi – 21 (New Japan)
Lince Dorado – 21 (US Independent)

Masato Yoshino – 20 (Dragon Gate)

Mike Quackenbush – 19 (US Independent)
Chris Sabin – 19 (TNA)

Shinsuke Nakamura – 18 (New Japan)
James Storm – 18 (TNA)
Brother Ray – 18 (TNA)
Brother Devon – 18 (TNA)
Sara Del Ray – 18 (US Independent)
Vince McMahon – 18 (WWE)

Gail Kim– 16 (TNA)
Ken Kennedy – 16 (Raw)
Eddie Kingston – 16 (US Independent)

Averno - 15 (CMLL)
Mephisto - 15 (CMLL)
Kenta Kobashi – 15 (NOAH)
Masato Tanaka – 15 (ZERO-ONE MAX)
Christopher Daniels/Curry Man – 15 (TNA)
Alex Shelley – 15 (TNA)
Lance Cade – 15 (Raw)
Trevor Murdoch – 15 (Raw)
Santino Marella – 15 (Raw)
PAC – 15 (Independent)
Davey Richards – 15 (ROH)
Rocky Romero – 15 (ROH)
Human Tornado – 15 (US Independent)

Naruki Doi – 14 (Dragon Gate)

Taku Iwasa – 13 (Dragon Gate)
Ricky Banderas a.k.a. Judas Mesias – 13 (AAA)
Chavo Guerrero – 13 (ECW)

Elijah Burke – 12 (ECW)
The Big Show – 12 (Smackdown)
The Undertaker – 12 (Smackdown)
Deuce – 12 (Smackdown)
Domino – 12 (Smackdown)
Chris Harris – 12 (WWE)
Gamma – 12 (Dragon Gate)
Dick Togo – 12 (New Japan)
Adam Pearce – 12 (US Independent)
Roderick Strong– 12 (ROH/FIP)
Incognito – 12 (Mexico)
El Pantera – 12 (Mexico)

Abyss – 10 (TNA)

Dory Funk Jr. – 9 (Independent)
Low Ki – 9 (US Independent)
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)
BxB Hulk – 9 (Dragon Gate)
SHINGO – 9 (Dragon Gate)
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)

The Miz – 8 (ECW)

Scott Steiner– 7 (TNA)
Necro Butcher – 7 (US Independent)
Finlay – 7 (Smackdown)
Paul London – 7 (Raw)
Brian Kendrick – 7 (Raw)

Hornswoggle – 6 (Smackdown)
Rey Mysterio – 6 (Smackdown) {INJURED}
Carlito – 6 (Raw)
Johnny Devine– 6 (TNA)
Booker T– 6 (TNA)
Kensuke Sasaki – 6 (All Japan)
Milano Collection AT – 6 (New Japan)
Scott Hall – 6 (Independent)
Super Dragon – 6 (Independent)
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)
Togi Makabe – 4 (New Japan)

Rhino – 3 (TNA)
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)
Tiger Mask IV – 3 (New Japan)

KENTA – 2 (NOAH)

Jeff Jarrett – 1 (TNA)
Super Crazy – 1 (Raw)
JBL – 1 (Raw)
Hardcore Holly– 1 (Raw)
Cody Rhodes – 1 (Raw)
Colt Cabana – 1 (WWE)
Dragon Kid – 1 (Dragon Gate)
Taiji Ishimori – 1 (NOAH)
Minoru – 1 (New Japan)
Toru Yano– 1 (New Japan)
Prince Devitt – 1 (New Japan)
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.