411’s Wrestler of the Week 08.18.08: Week 20

Posted by Larry Csonka on 08.18.2008

Edge and the Undertaker have an awesome Hell in a Cell match, CM Punk defended the World Title, Batista defeated John Cena and Hirooki Goto wins the G1 Climax Tournament! 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 20, 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~!
Andy Clark
1) Undertaker & Edge
These two men have been engaged in one of the best feuds of the year (minus that whole ridiculous stripping the title fiasco) and at SummerSlam these two topped their other great in ring efforts with a tremendous Hell in a Cell Match. This may very well be the Match of the Year when all is said and done, but it definitely was the Match of the Night, Week, Month, and Feud. Much like Jesus, Edge went to Hell for all of us, there has to be something to say for that.

2) Batista: While a win over John Cena in 2008 isn't as rare as it once was, Batista did get a huge win at WWE's second biggest show of the year. Kudos for not killing Cena with that midair powerbomb as well.
3) Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes: Won the World Tag Team Titles from the dream team of Cena & Batista in relatively clean fashion, making that five tag team title runs between them.
4) Hirooki Goto
5) Delirious


ARI
1) Edge & Undertaker
Minus the ring going up in flame (OMG Edge is TOAST!), that was one hell of a Summerslam main event between these two. Both men equally deserve the honors of being Wrestler of the Week due to the physical ass kicking each took in this match. Edge's awesome "cuddling time" promo also deserves mention as it really put the exclamation point on the "Crazy Edge" character. Awesome Hell in the Cell match, awesome job from both.

2) Batista: Both he and John Cena performed very well in a very good match. Batista gets the placement here due to his win.
3) CM Punk: A title retention at Summerslam is awesome for Punk, and he earned it by bleeding hard way and working through it, even using it to add to his match and post-victory celebration. A good promo on Monday Night Raw with JBL using the straightedge lifestyle in a storyline (finally!) also helped to set the tone for their match.
4) Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes
5) Santino Marella


Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) The Undertaker & Edge
Yes, the Undertaker got the win, but this tie is more about who won the match. Even with the loss, Edge had an awesome week with his promo on SmackDown, and then the performance in the Cell. Taker was the other half of this awesome match, and thus we have a tie.

2) Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase: They regained what they should not have lost in the first place. Winning titles is always a big factor in my voting, so these two men get the #2 slot
3) Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix: Sure are a lot of ties this week. Again, winning gold is always a big factor, and this two won gold. On a PPV to boot. Santino and Beth should continue to make for great TV.
4) Batista
5) CM Punk


Jarrod Westerfeld
1) The Undertaker
While, personally, the star of this match was truly Edge for bringing in a totally new dimension to his character that really solidifies him as a big time player for the WWE's future, Undertaker was nowhere short of excellent. A tremendous outing for his return lends itself some tremendous momentum for the Deadman and does a hell of a job for Edge's career. Taker came back in style with a monumental victory and that alone gives him this week's honors in my book.

2) Edge: While on the receiving end of a tremendous loss that saw him eat everything possible before mercifully being pinned, Edge still stole the show and gave fans a reason to dread his presence in this match. To be honest, this man looked as though he were ready to steal a match that everyone had pegged for The Undertaker, and did it in such a fashion that basically reaffirms all ideas of Edge being the best heel character the WWE has to offer, and who could argue that now?
3) Hirooki Goto: This was a tough one to hand over, as Batista should get the nod here for actually performing well above expectations and delivering a solid match with John Cena on a huge event, but the fact of the matter is Goto won an entire tournament filled with huge names. This gives Goto a win of the G1 Climax tournament and the right to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Keiji Mutoh at the next (I believe) AJPW show later this week.
4) Batista
5) The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Johnson)


Christi Csonka
1) Edge and the Undertaker
I usually hate the longer matches, but this one was pretty great and both men deserve to win in my opinion. I never got bored once and in the end Edge got what he deserved. Now if only someone can punish Vickie's stylist…

2) Batista: I had a hate for Batista for a long time, but fun performances like this have turned me around on him.
3) CM Punk: He retained the title and didn't look like a bitch, that's new.
4) Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
5) Beth Phoenix


Samuel Berman
1) Hirooki Goto
A surprise winner of the G1 Climax Tournament in Japan, Goto earns a shot at Keiji Muto's IWGP Heavyweight Title. When he gets his shot at Muto at an upcoming All Japan event, Goto will have the chance to reclaim New Japan's top title and bring it home. Though thus-far unknown to most American fans, Goto remains one of the top talents worldwide, and his win further cements him as one of Japan's true stars.

2) Delirious: Though it didn't directly translate to wins-and-losses, his turn and subsequent joining of the Age of the Fall freshens up one of ROH's must underrated performers.
3) Bryan Danielson: A spotless record on the weekend, including forcing ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness into submission in a tag team affair.
4) The Undertaker and Edge (tie)
5) Dingo


Bayani Domingo
1) Batista
I'm giving Batista the nod here for the reason that this was the bigger match-up in my mind when it came to the PPV and really this match could have gone either way. A clean win for "The Animal" was huge here and we'll have to see how this bodes for his chances at being named #1 contender.

2) Undertaker: A close call here, but I actually think the wrong man went over in this match although I've read nothing but good things about it. 'Taker comes back to send Edge "to hell" and is now poised as the next big contender for HHH's belt. Right? Riiiiight? Maybe.
3) CM Punk: Finally a clean win. Now if he can only find an opponent he actually has some good chemistry with on RAW to take him to the next level.
4) Santino/Beth Phoenix
5) Edge


Jeremy Thomas
1) The Undertaker/Edge
Wow. These two came out and delivered in a huge way in the SummerSlam main event. It was better then I think most people expected, and considering the high expectations that were already there, that really says something. Normally, I would give this to 'taker solo for winning the match, but Edge pulls into a tie by doing some awesome promo work on SmackDown to do the hard sell for the match. Nicely done, and even if I think Edge should have gone over, this certainly did no damage to his spot, so I approve.

2) CM Punk: Batista vs. Cena may have been a bigger match, but there's little doubt that Punk got a shot in the arm of his title reign by going over JBL clean. It's the win we've been waiting forever since he won the belt, and damn if it doesn't feel good.
3) Batista: Batista got the big win on Cena...and clean, nonetheless. That was a surprise, and it propels Batista ahead in the rankings in my book.
4) AJ Styles
5) Hirooki Goto


Daniel Wilcox
1) The Undertaker/Edge
You can't ask for much more than the performance Edge and Taker gave last night, producing one of the best Hell in a Cell matches ever, and managing to top an awesome Cena/Batista match. And while Edge has been carrying this feud for the last couple of months, Taker more than brought his A game last night and gave us a classic match.

2) Batista: This was a massive win for Batista, and at the same time a very impressive match from two of the E's best.
3) John Cena: While that's two straight clean PPV losses for John Cena, he was a big part of making that match so good and deserves a lot of credit.
4) Chris Jericho
5) Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase


Michael O
1) The Undertaker:
Emerged from the Island of Misfit Wrestlers (it's a couple islands over from the Island of Misfit Toys and it's much, much weirder) to destroy Edge in the best match I've seen all year. Glad to have you back, Deadman. Always a pleasure.

2) Edge: Bent over backwards to provide an excellent build to the Summerslam main event all by his lonesome. Got the shit beat out of him in aforementioned main event. Would probably fuck your girlfriend if he had the chance (and if you had one).
3) Batista: Of all the surprises to come out of his match against Cena (no Randy, no turns, no fuck finish) I think the biggest one was, well, that the match turned out as great as it did. Despite the fact that this was supposed to be an epic, first time encounter between two of the biggest stars in the fed, I wasn't really buying it. I mean, I like Dave, but I don't really care about John, plus I figured that some sort of fuckery would occur and thus I'd been fairly immune to the hype that preceded it, fully expecting to be disappointed one way or the other. Boy was I wrong. Dead wrong. I like being wrong.
4) CM Punk
5) John Cena


Matt Short
1) Undertaker/ Edge
Awesome Hell in the Cell match gives these two a first place tie from me this week. I loved the match so much I wasn't even phased when Edge was immolated after the bout. Hands down the most entertaining match on SummerSlam last night.

2) Hirooki Goto: Won his first New Japan G1 Climax tournament the first time he was entered in it. That's an impressive feat for the young guy and he will now face Keiji Muto for the IWGP Heavyweight Title at the end of August.
3) Batista: Turned in a good performance against John Cena and won the Clash of the Titans at SummerSlam.
4) CM Punk
5) Simply Priceless


Michael Bauer
1) Undertaker and Edge
I hate giving ties like this, but these two put up something that was nothing short of incredible. And while I didn't like the after match garbage, it was justified and just finally put the seal on an epic feud.

2) Hirooki Goto: Winning the G1 Climax Tournament is no small feat and now a huge title shot comes his way.
3) CM Punk: Got a CLEAN win over JBL, something he definitely needed.
4) Batista
5) Delirious


Andrew Critchell
1) Batista
Big Dave won his "first time ever" match with John Cena and proved himself as THE top guy on Raw (sorry Punk, but it's true.) Both guys came out of the match looking strong and Batista showed his vicious side giving Cena a nasty looking Batista Bomb to finish the match.

2) Santino and Beth Phoenix - The most entertaining couple on Raw came through with flying colors and defeated Kofi and Mickie James to get their belts. Santino has been nothing but pure entertainment joy for months now and throwing in Beth adds a whole other dimension to his character. While I am worried that Kofi might now get lost in the shuffle, instead I am going to revel on what I'm sure will be a lot of funny skits and angles for "Glamourella"
3) Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes - While it may have not been the cleanest of victories, these two young guns got their tag belts back from the two biggest stars on Raw (sorry Punk, but it's true) and did it by working better as a team than their veteran opponents. Now let's hope they are able to get into a meaningful feud. Cryme Tyme maybe?
4) Undertaker
5) Edge


Jeff Small
1) Edge
Leave it to me to be one of the few that will not have a tie in the #1 spot. Edge deserves a ton more credit than the Undertaker just for doing a one-man build for the main event. He was glorious on Smackdown once again with his main-event promo. And as for the match, after a give and take 25 minutes, he took his ass kicking like a man. Sure some say he was buried, boo to them. A good heel gets his comeuppance. And kudos for Edge to making everyone want to see him get it.

2) Undertaker: Showed no signs of ring rust during the epic Hell in the Cell match (the current MOTY). It's interesting to see if the WWE books him immediately into a program with Triple H.
3) Batista: Picked up a major win in the other showcase match at Summerslam. And it was clean. Over John Cena. Amazing.
4) CM Punk
5) THE Brian Kendrick


Larry Csonka
1) Edge and the Undertaker
Edge single handedly carried the feud and together they put on an excellent HIAC match. In my opinion they deserve to share the top spot.

2) Hirooki Goto: He wins the G1 Climax Tournament and earns an IWGP Title shot, a great week to be sure.
3) Batista: A clean win over John Cena in a really good match is certainly enough to make the top three this week.
4) Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase
5) CM Punk

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention…Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes - 18 Votes

Fifth Place…Hirooki Goto - 23 Votes

Fourth Place…CM Punk - 24 Votes

Third Place…Batista - 47 Votes

Batista defeated John Cena at Summerslam to take the third spot!

Second Place…Edge - 62 Votes

Edge was an insane bastard and put on a hell of a show building to and during the Hell in a Cell match, good enough for second place this week.

Wrestler of the Week…The Undertaker - 67 Votes

The dead man is back and looked great in his return match at Summerslam. He gets his revenge of Edge, and with the win secures the top spot this week.


Yearend Standings~!
In his return the Undertaker cracks the top 10 for the first time this year, and sits in a tie with HHH. Batista and Edge both had impressive performances that gained them more points this week, and they remain in the top two spots, with Edge gaining a bigger lead. CM Punk is on the outside looking in, but just one point out of the current top ten. Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes and Hirooki Goto make their debuts on the list this week.


Let's check out the Yearend Standings!

1. Edge – 64 (Smackdown)

2. Batista – 57 (Raw)

3. Matt Hardy – 46 (ECW)

4. AJ Styles – 36 (TNA)

5. Chris Jericho – 34 (RAW)

6. Samoa Joe – 33 (TNA)

7. HHH – 27 (Smackdown)
7. The Undertaker – 27 (WWE)

9. William Regal – 25 (RAW)

10. Suwama – 24 (All Japan)
10. Jimmy Jacobs – 24 (ROH)



CM Punk – 23 (Raw)

Alex Shelley – 21 (TNA)

Nigel McGuinness – 19 (ROH)
John Cena – 19 (RAW)

Kaz – 18 (TNA) {"Retired"}
Chris Sabin – 18 (TNA)

Taylor Wilde – 15 (TNA)
Homicide – 15 (TNA)
Hernandez – 15 (TNA)
Petey Williams – 15 (TNA)
Ric Flair – 15 (US Independent)
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)

Tyler Black – 13 (ROH)
Brent Albright – 13 (ROH)
Kurt Angle – 13 (TNA)

James Storm – 12 (TNA)
Robert Roode – 12 (TNA)
Shelton Benjamin – 12 (Smackdown)
The Great Khali – 12 (Smackdown)
Jay Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Mark Briscoe – 12 (ROH)
Roderick Strong – 12 (ROH)
MsChif – 12 (US Independent)
Jack Evans – 12 (US Independent)
Mick Foley – 12 (WWE)

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)

Masato Tanaka – 6 (Zero One Max)
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)
Hiroshi Tenzan –3 (New Japan)
Hirooki Goto –3 (New Japan)
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)

Ted DiBiase – 1 (RAW)
Cody Rhodes – 1 (RAW)
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