411’s Wrestler of the Week 07.28.08: Week 17

Posted by Larry Csonka on 07.28.2008

Matt Hardy defeats three men to earn a shot at the ECW Title, The Great Khali heads to Summerslam to challenge for the WWE Title, Chris Jericho is just awesome, Genki Horiguchi and Shingo Takagi get the title scene in Dragon Gate back under control and much 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 17, 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…

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The Voting~!
Daniel Wilcox
1) The Great Khali
In a week where nothing much went down in either of the two big companies, Great Khali stands out as the one guy who had a big week, winning a battle royal to earn an opportunity to face Triple H for the WWE Championship. If that wasn't enough to win him the top spot, take into consideration that when he won his first world title a year ago, it was because all of the big name players were down to injury and Khali was one of the few credible people around. Fast forward a year and everyone is fit, and Khali is in one of the marquee matches at Summerslam, the second biggest show of the year.

2) Matt Hardy: Like Khali, Hardy earned himself a big title match at Summerslam and did it in spectacular fashion, winning a fun fatal four-way match on ECW against The Miz, John Morrison and Finlay.
3) Chris Jericho: Jericho delivered an awesome promo on Monday night and in a week like this, that's enough to earn him the number three slot.
4) Taylor Wilde
5) Edge


Christi Csonka
1) Taylor Wilde
I LOVE the TNA Knockouts division, and this week Taylor Wilde ruled the world with TWO wins in 25-seconds! She was well on her way to a third win until she was attacked. I think that's a great week.

2) Matt Hardy: My man Matt Hotty wins a GREAT match on ECW this past week, and is now the #1 contender. I'm a happy lady.
3) Beer Money: These guys are great, and more importantly than that they won a really fun match and I never want to change the channel.
4) The Great Khali
5) D Lo


Michael Bauer
1) Nigel McGuiness
Like Wilcox said, nothing much went down in the two big companies. So my vote goes to a guy who successfully defended the RoH World Heavyweight Title not once, but twice, including for a Pay Per View Taping. He defeated Kevin Steen in Steen's home country and then defeated Claudio in what may be Claudio's final match for RoH. Both wins were amazingly impressive and by far, Nigel has the biggest week of anyone in any federation.

2) Bryan Danielson: Also defeated Claudio, plus an amazing PPV taping win over Tyler Black.
3) Matt Hardy: As he said, one door closes and another giant one opened.
4) Ruckus
5) Austin Aries/Jimmy Jacobs/Necro Butcher


Jeff Small
1) The Great Khali
Would I really vote for anyone else? This week, Khali showed us why it pays to be an Indian legend by defeating all of the top Smackdown upper carders to win a shot at Triple H's title at Summerslam. While Khali has lost some of his edge since his first round of title shots, here's hoping the WWE has something in plan to bring back the killer tiger in him.

2) Edge/Vickie Guerrero - Excellent closing segment from the two of them this week. Originally, I think we all feared the worst from this pairing but both have stepped up their games (especially Vickie) to produce some riveting sports entertainment.
3) Matt Hardy: Like Khali, won a title shot for Summerslam. Unlike Khali, he has to settle with the third-rate Championship. Regardless it is a step up from the US Title AND he won the shot in one of the better television matches of the year.
4) Chris Jericho
5) D'lo Brown


ARI
1) Nigel McGuinness: There was a danger that the ROH World Title would be changed this weekend, mostly during the PPV taping. However, Nigel retained the title in two dramatic title defenses, and did them in matches that people were rating as some of the top matches of the weekend. Credit also goes to Nigel opponents on the weekend and that's why they rated the number five slot for this week's WotW.

2) Bryan Danielson: Had two tremendous matches on the weekend, including very dramatic finishes to both. He defeated Claudio by reversing the pop-up European into a backslide in mid-air and then defeated Tyler Black for PPV after the ring rope broke from the force of a Black powerbomb. Danielson bounces back from losses in the company and reemerges as the top contender for the ROH World Title after this weekend.
3) The Great Khali/Matt Hardy: Both men earned contendership status for top WWE titles and will receive the extra attention and build that goes with it in the weeks to come.
4) Shingo Takagi
5) Kevin Steen & Claudio Castagnoli


Jarrod Westerfeld
1) Shingo Takagi
One of the fewer title changes to occur during the week, and while it's not one of the bigger titles out in Japan, Shingo's title victory of the vacant Open the Dream Gate title comes over his former team mate and new rival, BxB Hulk. A feud that's heating up and has seen two new factions spawn from this rivalry leads me to give Shingo the nod on this one. This win could open up bigger things for the title and this rivalry as BxB Hulk is going to look for a way to gain back revenge on his former friend.

2) Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson (Tie) – Both pulled out impressive victories during the weekend, and both faced tough competitors. While Nigel should get a bigger nod for retaining his ROH World Championship against Steen and Claudio, Danielson rebounded from two tough loses the previous week and gave himself some much needed momentum for his title match at this weekend's upcoming Hammerstein show.
3) Matt Hardy – A week of rebounds for some guys, as Matt Hardy dropped his US title on the same week that he would win an impressive fatal four way battle against John Morrison, The Miz and Finlay, earning him a shot against Mark Henry's newly designed silver ECW Championship.
4) D'Lo Brown, Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix (Tie for saving RAW last week)
5) Genki Horiguchi


Jeremy Thomas
1) Matt Hardy
In a slow week, Matt Hardy takes the WOTW for me for rebounding from his US Title loss by winning a shot at the ECW belt at SummerSlam. The match was all sorts of awesome, the best TV match I've seen in a while, and it's great to see that the Sensei of Mattitude is possibly going somewhere on ECW.

2) Chris Jericho: Jericho owned Raw with that amazing promo he did. The coming around full circle when he talked about the blood not being on his hands, tying his entire run since he returned together, and delivering it in a cold, intense tone just sold it for me.
3) Nigel McGuinness: Nigel had two great defenses of the ROH strap in two amazing matches You can't ask for much more then that.
4) The Great Khali
5) Beer Money


Andy Clark
1) Batista
Batista had a great week on Monday, managing to convincingly feud with three people at once. His character's chemistry with Punk has been great, his impending feud with Kane has been booked wonderfully, and seeing him and Cena go at it at the end of Raw was a truly awesome sight.

2) Matt Hardy: Won a fantastic Fatal Four-Way Match on SmackDown to earn a shot at Mark Henry's ECW Title at SummerSlam.
3) Shingo: Won the vacant Open the Dream Gate Title to become the top champion in Dragon Gate and yet another successful ROH alumnus.
4) Ruckus
5) Nigel McGuinness


Michael O
1) The Great Khali
Why the hell not? Khali has been guilty pleasure numero uno for a while now, at least for me, and nobody really had a banner week. The Great one hasn't been doing much lately so I took him to be the least likely to win the Smackdown Super Summerslam Blockbuster Extravaganza Battle Royal, but he did just that, and in spectacular fashion. I'm talking about his pants, 'cause he didn't really do anything that amazing in the ring. Anyways, officer Khali is going to Summerslam to challenge for the WWE title and I couldn't be happier. Eat shit IWC!

2) Matt Hardy: While I place the value of the ECW title somewhere between the long defunct European strap and the dump I took this morning, I guess some consider it important. And while the fatal four way Matt won to earn a shot at it started off somewhere between sloppy and shitty, the last half was so good I have no problem hailing it as match of the week.
3) D'Lo Brown: Speaking of the European title, now that the greatest Euro-continental champ ever is back, could his most prized possession be too far behind? Regardless, I know D'Lo only beat Santino, who everybody and their girlfriend can beat, but he's gone from years of toiling in obscurity to returning to the most watched wrestling show in the world. I'm down with the D'Lo Brown. But that doesn't mean I'm on the down low, got it?
4) Brian Kendrick
5) "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan


Matt Short
1) Shingo Takagi
I called for him to win the Open the Dream Gate Title sometime in 2008. He has proven me right this weekend by winning the vacated belt over his rival and former friend BxB Hulk this weekend in Japan. The last time these two had met they went to a 60-minute draw that was universally praised by even the most critical of Japanese magazines. Shingo's fulfilled his destiny in Dragon Gate as it were and while he was kicked out of Real Hazard at the same time, is the dominant force in Dragon Gate now.

2) The Great Khali: I've actually grown to like Khali more and more. No, he's not an amazing worker but you know what? He gets by in the ring and plays his role perfectly. Now that he's the number one contender to Triple H he gets to play the monster at Summerslam.
3) Chris Jericho: Continued to rule on Raw.
4) Genki Horiguchi
5) Matt Hardy


Chris Lansdell
1) Shingo Tagaki
I am a big fan of this guy, so to hear that he won the Dream Gate title in Japan, his company's biggest title, was heartwarming news in a week where I get stranded in Toronto for two days due to a fucking wing tip indicator. With no other major titles changing hands this week, SHINGO wins. Flawless victory.

2) Nigel McGuinness: Two solid title defenses against two insanely over faces on consecutive nights. The one in Toronto vs. Steen was incredible, and from all accounts the Detroit one was up there too.
3) Great Khali Small/Matt Hardy: Both win #1 Contender spots for their brands in a fairly slow week.
4) Bryan Danielson
5) Chris Jericho

Samuel Berman
1) Shingo Takagi
By winning the Open the Dream Gate Championship, Shingo ascends to the top of the Dragon Gate Mountain. The fact that he did so by defeating former tag team partner BxB Hulk, a man against whom he had an epic 60-minute time limit draw only weeks ago, makes Takagi's title victory all the more sweet. The list of challengers should take shape in the coming weeks, but having Shingo representing Dragon Gate as champion heading into the company's United States debut shows was a great decision and should lead to a number of interesting matches down the line.

2) Nigel McGuinness: A pair of wins over top challengers Kevin Steen and Claudio Castagnoli keeps the ROH World Title around McGuinness' waist.
3) "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson: Bested Claudio Castagnoli and Tyler Black to continues his road to an ROH World Title shot.
4) Keiji Muto and Genki Horiguchi (tie)
5) Ruckus


Bayani Domingo
1) SHINGO
Yeah, I know I'm going to get crap and I'm just waiting for the "fails at life" references for picking a "nobody" from a "nothing company" like Dragon Gate, but it's rare when you see a young guy finally get to become the "Ace" of a promotion and in the grand scheme of things this win for SHINGO meant more for his career than any other win or match did for any other wrestler this week.

2) Great Khali: I hate to admit it, but the field he was against was stacked and the man is now the #1 contender.
3) Nigel McGuinness: Full week and two successful title defenses against two top contenders, better than more guys did this week.
4) Genki Horiguchi
5) Ruckus


Shawn S Lealos
1) Chris Jericho
He can do no wrong in my book, right now. He is the PERFECT heal, as he believes everything he says is true. He has developed a loyal follower in Lance Cade and has made an example of former HBK trainee Paul London. His promos border on excellence and he is the most entertaining thing on RAW at this time.

2) Matt Hardy: He was the favorite to win the match, but with John Morrison in it, I could see it going either way. I don't think Matt will beat Mark Henry for the title as he is really hitting his stride with Tony Atlas, but Matt is getting an honest to God world title shot. It's about damn time.
3) Booker T: I like this feud he has going with Samoa Joe. Booker is playing the perfect veteran heal messing with Joe's mind. After Joe dismantled him at the last PPV and then beat him up last week, Booker finally got some revenge by laying Joe out. I really like how this is playing out.
4) The Great Khali
5) Nigel McGuiness


Larry Csonka
1) Taylor Wilde
To me the one person that came out looking better than most was young Taylor Wilde. Two wins in 25-seconds on Impact was great fun and I felt did a good job of putting over the new champion. I think they have lost a lot of direction in the division, but she looked great in more ways than one this past week.

2) Genki Horiguchi and Shingo Takagi: Genki Horiguchi and Shingo Takagi had big weeks for the Dragon Gate promotion. Horiguchi won the vacant Open the Brave Gate Title, while Takagi took home the Open the Dream Gate Title. They won big matches and got the title scenes back in order, good work boys.
3) Edge and Vickie Guerrero: They were absolutely awesome on Smackdown and have been awesome for a while; they deserve some love.
4) The Great Khali
5) Matt Hardy

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Bryan Danielson - 17 Votes

Fifth Place…Chris Jericho - 18 Votes

Fourth Place…Nigel McGuiness - 30 Votes

Third Place…Shingo Takagi - 34 Votes

Shingo Takagi defeats BxB Hulk to WIN the vacant Open the Dream Gate Title!

Second Place…The Great Khali -38 Votes

The Great Khali survives Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, MVP and the Big Show to earn a shot at the WWE Title at Summerslam!

Wrestler of the Week…Matt Hardy - 42 Votes

Matt Hardy wins what many consider the best match of the week, surviving the Miz, John Morrison and Finlay to get the ECW Title shot at Summerslam!


Yearend Standings~!
Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuiness have good weekend sin ROH and move up the ranking a bit, while Shingo Takagi winning the Open the Dream Gate Title gets him a 3rd place debut. The Great Khali debuts on the list with a string second place finish, while Chris Jericho's 5th place finish helps him move into 3rd place overall. But Matt Hardy's win Tuesday was enough to gain him the top spot this week, and with that win he also takes over the top spot in the yearend rankings!

Let's check those out!

1. Matt Hardy – 46 (ECW)

2. Batista – 45 (Raw)

3. Chris Jericho – 34 (RAW)

4. Samoa Joe – 33 (TNA)

5. Edge – 28 (Smackdown)

6. HHH – 27 (Smackdown)

7. Suwama – 24 (All Japan)
7. King William Regal – 24 (RAW) {SUSPENDED}
7. Jimmy Jacobs – 24 (ROH)

10. AJ Styles – 21 (TNA)
10. Alex Shelley – 21 (TNA)


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

CM Punk – 17 (Raw)

Nigel McGuinness – 16 (ROH)

Taylor Wilde – 15 (TNA)
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"}
Shelton Benjamin – 12 (Smackdown)
The Great Khali – 12 (Smackdown)
Jay Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Mark Briscoe – 12 (ROH) {INJURED}
Roderick Strong – 12 (ROH)
Tyler Black – 12 (ROH)
MsChif – 12 (US Independent)
Jack Evans – 12 (US Independent)

Randy Orton – 10 (RAW) {INJURED}

Chuck Taylor – 9 (US Independent)
Chris Hero – 9 (US Independent)
Volador Jr. – 9 (Mexico)
Mistico – 9 (Mexico)
Hector Garza – 9 (Mexico)
KENTA – 9 (NOAH)
Taiji Ishimori – 9 (NOAH)
Shingo Takagi – 9 (Dragon Gate)
Mark Henry – 9 (ECW)
Michelle McCool – 9 (RAW)

Kurt Angle – 7 (TNA)

Tiger Mask IV - 6 (NOAH)
Keiji Muto – 6 (All Japan)
Wataru Inoue – 6 (New Japan)
Mr. Kennedy – 6 (Smackdown)
The Big Show – 6 (Smackdown)
Incognito – 6 (Mexico)
Erick Stevens – 6 (ROH)

Bryan Danielson – 4 (ROH)

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

Evan Bourne – 2 (ECW)

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)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru - 1 (NOAH)
Kotaro Suzuki - 1 (NOAH)
Zack Ryder – 1 (Smackdown)
Curt Hawkins – 1 (Smackdown)

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