411’s Wrestler of the Week 06.30.08: Week 13

Posted by Larry Csonka on 06.30.2008

Mark Henry won the ECW Title, Kofi Kingston won the IC Title, HHH retained the WWE Title, Edge retained the World Title, Claudio Castagnoli gets a huge win and more! But who had the goods to take home the WOTW award? Check out the latest edition of 411's Wrestler of the Week for all the details!



Welcome to Week 13, Year-FOUR, of 411's Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview to kick things off as we have some new rules for year four…

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

If you are wondering how some of the writers decide who to vote for, please check out our Wrestler of the Week Supplemental Column!

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~!
JT
1) HHH
Well, with the entire world predicting that one belt would be heading back to RAW - and having seen Edge already retain - the game said "fuck that". I thought this was a GREAT match, and to be honest, I wanted to split the vote between the two but to the victor go the spoils. Not only that, he kick started his career on SmackDown with a great promo that immediately shot himself into the main event of that show (then proceeded to represent the brand by winning his first title defense as a member of the SD roster). Not a bad week for him at all.

2) John Cena: He lost, but I'll be damned if it wasn't one of the funnest matches I've seen all year and he was 50% of that.
3) Kofi Kingston: God traded to the A-Show, got thrown into a match, and - despite circumstances - came away with not only a win over one of the most popular and "high on the card" wrestlers EVER, but also as RAW's new Intercontinental Champion.
4) Mark Henry
5) Batista


Ryan Byers
1) Claudio Castagnoli - There are a lot of similarities between my number one and number two picks this week. Both portray foreigners, both have alliterative initials, and both got big wins, which will presumably move them up the ranks in their respective promotions. However, I have to give Claudio Castagnoli's win over Bryan Danielson just a tad bit more recognition than Kofi Kingston's win over Chris Jericho. Why? It's because, in the long haul, I believe that Claudio's victory will mean much more to his ROH career than Kofi's victory will mean to his WWE career. Castagnoli took out a franchise player of his promotion in a very impressive fashion after months of being gradually built up to the level of a near main eventer. Kingston took out a midcarder in a manner similar to the manner in which many other new babyfaces have been handed big wins in WWE only to wind up going nowhere fast. (See Marella, Santino and Benjamin, Shelton for examples.) Don't get me wrong, Kofi's win remains impressive. However, it's not quite as impressive as what everybody's favorite Swissman pulled off.

2) Kofi Kingston - See above.
3) Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki - In a week that saw a few different Japanese title changes, this one strikes me as the most important, in large part because one of the men defeated is the reigning IWGP Champion.
4) Cody Rhodes
5) MsChif


Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Mark Henry
Well, my #1 rule is that I will put a wrestler who wins a World Title at #1 in the WOTW voting. Even if it is only the ECW Title, it is still a World Title (in theory), and that gives Henry the nod this week. I'm sure it's a proud moment for the big guy. He has been a loyal employee for a dozen years now, and this is his reward. Congrats Mark!

2) HHH: He finally got the win back on Cena, and he did it when most people figured he had no chance in hell. It was a nice twist, and it leaves questions to be answered on RAW. The match itself was the Match of the Night.
3) Kofi Kingston: His first taste of Gold comes from defeating Chris Jericho on a PPV. Not a bad start to his RAW career.
4) Ted Dibiase Jr.
5) Edge


Jeremy Thomas
1) Triple H
Well, smack my ass and call me Daisy. I really didn't see him making it to SmackDown with his title intact; maybe they're saving the switch-off until SD debuts on its new home before they'll make him lose it. Still, they did it, and he had a killer match with Cena in the process. These two have that chemistry in the ring, and it came off brilliantly.

2) Edge/John Cena: One good by-product of the Triple H win is that it means, for the time being at least, Edge's title reign isn't going to be threatened by him. Edge & Batista's match wasn't nearly as good as the other main event, but the champ did retain, and that's big for him, getting to say he sent Batista off to Raw with a loss. Cena gets the tie because he was a big part of the success of his match with Triple H.
3) Kofi Kingston: Huge win for Kofi, no doubt. The only question from here will be, will this be a Santino-esque title reign, or a real, star-making one? Only time will tell...but for now, little Jamacain Kofi gets easily the win of his career, and it looks like management and creative are fully behind him.
4) Claudio Castagnolli
5) Mark Henry


Andy Clark
1) Mark Henry
While it may not have the same pizzazz or internet appreciation as Mick Foley or Eddie Guerrero achieving their dreams, after 12 years Mark Henry is finally a World Champion. He managed to salvage a Triple Threat Match that was rapidly falling apart and gives hope to men like William Regal and Finlay that a World Championship is still possible.

2) Triple H: Moved to SmackDown, retained his title, got his win back from John Cena, and shocked the world all in a matter of days.
3) Kofi Kingston: Blew off his feud with Shelton Benjamin in a very good Extreme Rules Match, moved to Raw, and won his first championship gold, upsetting eight time IC Champion Chris Jericho.
4) Edge
5) The Great Khali


Matt Short
1) Triple H
Beat John Cena at Night of Champions in a hell of a main event to retain the WWE Championship. It was a real surprise that they're sending both major titles to Smackdown since once Edge retained it seemed like an obvious Cena victory. But it was not to be.

2) Kofi Kingston: Chris Jericho's mystery opponent turned out to be Kofi Kingston. They had a fine match together and surprise, surprise, Kofi is the new Intercontinental Champion. A fairly fitting reward for a guy who's worked damn hard on ECW and quickly made a name for himself.
3) Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki: Unseated Keiji Muto & Joe Doering to win the All Japan World Tag Team Championship. Not an easy task on any day.
4) Shingo Takagi/BxB Hulk
5) Ted Dibiase Jr.


Jarrod Westerfeld
1) Kofi Kingston
Title wins always mean more than title retentions if only for the fact that you don't see it happening sometimes and because those moments tend to mean more than the moments of a champion keeping his title. So Kofi gets the nod this week just for getting a huge win for his first WWE title, but I'm still against him being on Raw for the fact that he will get lost in the shuffle at one point. Hey, it happened to Shelton and Carlito before him, who's to say history won't repeat this time around? Oh well, at least we'll remember him for this week.

2) Claudio Castagnoli: I'll copy Byers's answers for this one, though I'm still convinced that Claudio needs to finish out a program before he moves on anywhere else: get back your win over Larry Sweeney and end that chase before you finally challenge Nigel again for the title.
3) Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki: The tag team that dethroned the AJPW World Tag Team Champions of Keiji Mutoh and Joe Doering.
4) Nigel McGuinness
5) Shingo Takagi/BxB Hulk


Ryan Merholz
1) Kofi Kingston
What has two thumbs and didn't see this one coming? This guy. Kofi came out of nowhere, put on a great match with Jericho at Night of Champions, and became the NEW Intercontinental Champion. Sure some major players retained their belts tonight, but I think it means a bit more that a new guy won his first title on a show that focuses entirely on the titles (for a change).

2) Triple H/John Cena: These guys put on one hell of a match at Night of Champions and, I feel, more than made up for the debacle that was the Edge/Batista finish. Their finishing sequence was one of the cooler ones I've seen in some time. Here's hoping WWE somehow finagles a rematch that brings the title back to RAW.
3) Mark Henry: I know, I'm surprised too. I gotta hand it to the guy though, he picked up a singles win over the ECW champion and then won the very same title 5 days later at Night of Champions. That's a pretty good week for a guy who at one point was the proud father of a rubber hand. You could tell the guy was totally excited about his win, too. It was actually pretty cool.
4) Ted DiBiase, Jr.
5) Matt Hardy


Christi Csonka
1) Kofi Kingston
I have really enjoyed Kofi thus far. He's different, and they are actually allowing him to be different, which makes me happy. He got the big win over Chris Jericho, and hopefully this means big things for young Kofi.

2) Team Mexico (Buccanero and Guerrero): I continue to love the TNA X-Cup. This week Team Mexico got the big win and were a ton of fun to watch. Can we do the X-Cup year round?
3) Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes: I liked the angle leading into this and it actually made me care about Cody Rhodes. I think that's good work.
4) Matt Hardy
5) HHH


Shawn S Lealos
1) Edge/Triple H
The two men went into Night of Champions and everyone knew one of them had to lose. I mean, if neither man lost, RAW would have no champion. Then the champions both went in and won their matches. Now Smackdown - the B Show - has 2 world champions and RAW has none. All this the night before I get to attend my first RAW. Let's see where they go from here.

2) Kofi Kingston: Who saw this one coming? I heard about CM Punk or Shawn Michaels. I also heard rumors that they might bring in Bryan Danielson. Then they go and give the former ECW youngster a shot and he wins it. Great surprise, although I don't see a lengthy title reign.
3) Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Buccanero: I was all over voting for SpeedMuscle, even after losing to the MCMG a couple of weeks ago. I was tempted to throw them in here again, despite losing once again, but damn if Team Mexico didn't impress the hell out of me too. SpeedMuscle still looked great, but that finishing move - damn.
4) Mark Henry
5) Claudio Castagnoli


Michael Bauer
1) Triple H
Hands down, Triple H gets the one and makes me look like a genius for thinking he would retain. Am I annoyed that Raw is left with no title? Yes, but at the same time, I am slightly curious to see what it leads to.

2) Kofi Kingston: If Triple H lost, Kofi was #1. An IC Title win out of nowhere after finally ending his feud with Shelton with a win. Great week.
3) Erick Stevens: Unlike Claudio, he went 2 for 2, beating Danielson and Jay Briscoe in back to back nights. He is being primed as the next to get to the top.
4) Taiyo Kea & Minoru Suzuki
5) Claudio Castagnoli / Nigel McGuiness


Daniel Wilcox
1) Triple H/John Cena
I give both guys the top spot this week. Even though Triple H won the match, each put in a tremendous performance and the result was a very good match to close out Night of Champions. The next few weeks of television at least are going to be very interesting now that Raw's top champion is Kofi Kingston.

2) Kofi Kingston: Kofi had a really big week, first putting up a decent fight against JBL on Raw, then beating his rival in an Extreme Rules match on ECW, and then getting Drafted to Raw. And to top it all off, he beats Chris Jericho to become the Intercontinental Champion. Not bad.
3) Great Khali: He screamed at a phone, thus making me laugh. Kudos.
4) Mark Henry
5) Christian Cage


Wendell Mitchell
1) Mark Henry
Yes, I'm serious. No, I'm not some anti-smark. It's just that against all odds, finally, Mark Henry is a world heavyweight champion. Here's hoping he tries to split Evan Bourne's skull to the white meat within the next month.

2) Kofi Kingston: Kofi was everywhere this week. He got some exposure on the A show with his loss against JBL and ended his stay on ECW with a hard fought win over his rival Shelton Benjamin. That's enough for a top five finish right there, but the Jamaican sensation (who sadly doesn't make me crazy) beats the top heel (in my eyes, Vickie doesn't count because she's not a wrestler and I think most of Edge's heat these days is because of her)for a major (at least it's not the cruiserweight or tag) title.
3) HHH: For finally getting that Monkey named Cena off his back. If only he would drop the strap to Jericho...
4) Christian Cage
5) Ultimo Guerrero and Rey Buccanero


Andrew Critchell
1) Mark Henry
Mark won his very first world title and did it in pretty impressive fashion. Mark has been a hard worker and a great presence ever since he returned to WWE a couple of years ago. He's a throwback to an earlier generation; a no frills intimidator who looks like he can kick your ass and then he goes out there and does it. I am happy that he's finally getting his due and look forward to seeing what the Silverback can do as champ of ECW.

2) Kofi Kingston: Kofi has been nothing short of amazing during his short time in WWE and Sunday's IC win over Y2J is just another step in the ascension of the "Jamaican Sensation." Obviously the office has some faith in the young man if they were willing to not only move him to Raw but to put the IC belt on him in the same week. And his match with Jericho really delivered and it was obvious that Kofi has the skills to hang with upper echelon workers. The future is bright for this guy. Jamaican me crazy Kofi!
3) Triple H: Before the PPV, a good number of people thought that he might drop his title what with his move to Smackdown (which was a huge event in and of itself.) After Edge beat Batista to retain his title, most people thought that Cena was a lock to take the title from Triple H. The Cerebral Assassin had other plans though and was able to weather Cena's offensive onslaught and walk out of Night of Champions STILL the WWE Champion. The match itself was a real hard fought battle and it was clear that both men were going to work extra hard to make sure that it delivered. And did it ever! Most have a pretty high opinion of the Triple H/Cena match from Wrestlemania 22 and I would hazard to say that last night's match was even better. Yeah, that's right.
4) Cody Rhodes
5) Claudio Castagnoli


Larry Csonka
1) Kofi Kingston
Kofi had a big week as he ended his feud with Shelton Benjamin in decisive fashion and then went onto Night of Champions to with the IC Title is surprising fashion. A hell of a week for the young up and comer.

2) Mark Henry: The big man brought the title back to ECW. And while it may have been predictable, it is only Henry's second title ever in WWE. Congrats big man.
3) HHH: HHH defied the odds and retained the WWE title. After Edge retained, NO ONE thought HHH had a chance in hell of keeping the belt, which makes him retaining the title very impressive.
4) Team Mexico (Buccanero and Guerrero)
5) Claudio Castagnoli


THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Taiyo Kea, Minoru Suzuki and Edge - 11 Votes

Fifth Place…Claudio Castagnoli - 15 Votes

Fourth Place…John Cena - 17 Votes

Third Place…Mark Henry - 34 Votes

The World's Strongest Man is now the King of Extreme with his ECW title victory this past Sunday.

Second Place…HHH - 52 Votes

The Game retains his title and keeps rolling as the WWE Champion!.

Wrestler of the Week…Kofi Kingston - 60 Votes

Kofi Kinston makes a big debut on the list as he wins the IC Title!


Yearend Standings~!
HHH gains some ground on Joe, Batista and Hardy as the four men are now only separated by 6-points. Taiyo Kea, Minoru Suzuki, Claudio Castagnoli, Mark Henry and Kofi Kingston all debut this week as the list continues to grow.


Samoa Joe – 33 (TNA)
Batista – 33 (Raw)

Matt Hardy – 30 (ECW)

HHH – 27 (Smackdown)

Suwama – 24 (All Japan)
King William Regal – 24 (RAW) {SUSPENDED}

Jimmy Jacobs – 21 (ROH)
AJ Styles – 21 (TNA)

Kaz – 18 (TNA)
Alex Shelley – 18 (TNA)
Chris Sabin – 18 (TNA)
John Cena – 18 (RAW)

Chris Jericho – 16 (RAW)
Edge – 16 (Smackdown)

Homicide – 15 (TNA)
Hernandez – 15 (TNA)
Petey Williams – 15 (TNA)
Ric Flair – 15 (WWE) {RETIRED}
Kofi Kingston – 15 (RAW)
Lance Cade – 15 (RAW)
Shawn Michaels – 15 (RAW)
Mickie James – 15 (RAW)
John Morrison – 15 (ECW)
The Miz – 15 (ECW)
Bison Smith – 15 (NOAH)
Akitoshi Saito – 15 (NOAH)
Masato Yoshino – 15 (Dragon Gate)
Naruki Doi – 15 (Dragon Gate)

The Undertaker – 12 (WWE) {"RETIRED"}
Jay Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Mark Briscoe – 12 (ROH) {INJURED}
Roderick Strong – 12 (ROH)
Jack Evans – 12 (US Independent)

Nigel McGuinness – 10 (ROH)
Randy Orton – 10 (RAW) {INJURED}

Tyler Black – 9 (ROH)
Chuck Taylor – 9 (US Independent)
Mistico – 9 (Mexico)
Hector Garza – 9 (Mexico)
KENTA – 9 (NOAH)
Taiji Ishimori – 9 (NOAH)
Mark Henry – 9 (ECW)

Kurt Angle – 7 (TNA)

Keiji Muto – 6 (All Japan)
Wataru Inoue – 6 (New Japan)
Mr. Kennedy – 6 (Smackdown)
The Big Show – 6 (Smackdown)
MsChif – 6 (US Independent)
Incognito – 6 (Mexico)

Bryan Danielson – 3 (ROH)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 (ROH)
Ryuji Hijikata –3 (All Japan)
Fire Ant – 3 (US Independent)
Jeff Hardy – 3 (Smackdown)
Beth Phoenix – 3 (RAW)

Evan Bourne – 2 (ECW)

CM Punk – 2 (Raw)
Brent Albright – 1 (ROH)
Awesome Kong – 1 (TNA)
Mike Quackenbush – 1 (US Independent)
Scotty II Hotty – 1 (US Independent)
Joe Doering – 1 (All Japan)
Anthony W. Mori - 1 (Dragon Gate)
GAMMA - 1 (Dragon Gate)
Taiyo Kea - 1 (All Japan)
Minoru Suzuki - 1 (All Japan)

Voting began 4.07.08

Year-End Rankings Key:

WWE, Raw, ECW and Smackdown Contracted Wrestlers are represented in BLUE.

TNA Contracted Wrestlers are represented in GREEN.

ROH Contracted Wrestlers are represented in RED.

US Independent Wrestlers are represented in MAROON.

Japanese Contracted Wrestlers are represented in BLACK.

Mexican Contracted Wrestlers are represented in MAGENTA.

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**PREVIOUS WINNERS**

Year One Winner: Ric Flair


Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe


Year Three Winner: John Cena