411’s Wrestler of the Week 08.25.08: Week 21

Posted by Larry Csonka on 08.25.2008

Chris Jericho defeats CM Punk, Go Shiozaki wins the FIP Title, AJ Styles defeats Kurt Angle and THE Brian Kendrick is Scramble bound! 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 21, 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) Chris Jericho
I don't think there's too much strong competition this week, but one man that did stand out (again) is Chris Jericho. The heat he was getting at the beginning of Raw this week was off the chart and a testament to his great work in recent months. He cut another pretty good promo, blaming Shawn Michaels and the fans for what happened to Rebecca Michaels. And to cap it all off, the guy got a reasonably clean win in a great little match against World Champion CM Punk. And while beating Punk isn't all that uncommon, it was nice to see Jericho in the mix against the champion again.

2) THE Brian Kendrick: OK, so there were eight guys who found their way into a world championship match at Unforgiven one way or another, but the least likely of those contenders is THE Brian Kendrick, who won a Battle Royal on SmackDown to get his shot. Kendrick has been thoroughly entertaining in recent weeks and it's nice to see him but into such a big match like the Championship Scramble.
3) Gail Kim: I give Gail a lot of credit for making what may be an unpopular decision in leaving TNA, a company that used her as the centerpiece for their Knockout's division, and going back to WWE, essentially for the money. Kim should do much better in WWE this time around now that they focus more on women's wrestling than T & A. Kim also put in a great performance in the Knockout's Street Fight against Awesome Kong.
4) Go Shiozaki
5) Mark Henry/Matt Hardy


Michael Bauer
1) Go Shiozaki
So I see that Go finally on his 10 millionth try has won a US based Title. The whole deal is that he needed a title win to be a success in America. And he finally won, defeating Stevens in what was a very good match that is probably MOTY in FIP. I'm not happy Stevens is being back as he is, but for this week, Go is the FIP Champ.

2) Chris Jericho: Another great promo and a slightly tainted win over CM Punk. Why he is not in the Title hunt is beyond me.
3) The Brian Kendrick: So Smackdown gets HHH defending against Jeff Hardy, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Brian Kedrick? While MVP and Benjamin are odd choices, Kendrick is just off the map. He has been a major hot streak and gets the chance of a lifetime at Unforgiven.
4) Matt Hardy / Mark Henry
5) Jeff Hardy


Ryan Byers
1) Chris Jericho
When Jericho first made his return to WWE late last year, I was thoroughly disappointed. It seemed like the former Thrillseeker came back to play the exact same role he played before his departure and to feud with the exact same guys he was feuding with before his departure, which made me wonder why it was even worth bringing him back in the first place. Thanks to his feud with Shawn Michaels, I can DEFINITELY say that it was worth bringing him back. The repackaged Jericho, devoid of any of his old one liners and wacky jokes, is a brilliant character, probably the most well-defined that wrestling has seen since Steve Austin's insecurity lead to him losing his mind in 2001. Jericho's character would be nothing without his off the charts performances, and he put on another one of those this past Monday night, when he cut a SCATHING promo on his rival which made it sound like the entire city of Chicago was going to rush the ring and murder him. People have been heaping a ton of praise on Edge this year, but, quite frankly, Jericho has easily outshone him in the heel-ing department over the last couple of months. Oh, and Y2J also beat CM Punk in a half-decent Raw main event this week, but beating Punk is hardly an accomplishment.

2) Cyber Kong & YAMATO - Dragon Gate's Summer Adventure Tag League tournament has seen some gridlock at the top of the standings over the last several shows, with Kong & Yamato, Dragon Kid & Shingo Takagi, and the Young Bucks all being undefeated for an extended period of time. The Bucks dropped out of that picture recently, leaving Kong & YAMATO and Kid & Takagi to slug it out for top honors on the company's August 23 show. It was the Real Hazard team who pulled out the victory, giving themselves a clear lead in the tournament standings for the first time and also virtually guaranteeing themselves a slot in the finals.
3) Zeus - Many of you reading this haven't heard of Zeus, who is an independent wrestler for Japan's Osaka Pro group (and of no relation to Hulk Hogan's co-star in No Holds Barred). In recent months, Zeus, who has less than three years of experience as a wrestler, has been gaining much-needed exposure by adding HUSTLE appearances to his Osaka Pro work. It was in one of those HUSTLE appearances this week that he gained the biggest win of his lifetime, upsetting former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and legendary MMA drawing card Bob Sapp. The win didn't mean as much as it would have if it were booked in a company like New Japan or All Japan, but it was still significant for Zeus' young career.
4) Go Shiazaki
5) THE Spanky


Matt Short
1) Chris Jericho
Another great week for Jericho as he continues to look and act the part of Raw's top heel. He's been perfect as the straight-faced guy and now has a win over the World Heavyweight Champion under his belt to add to his list of accomplishments since dropping the goofy side of his character.

2) THE Brian Kendrick: When London & Kendrick broke up I don't think anyone would have predicted one of them would be in the main event picture. Kendrick is in Smackdown's championship scramble match after outsmarting The Big Show in a Battle Royal, so at least for this brief period we can say Brian Kendrick is in the main event.
3) Go Shiozaki: While the FIP Title isn't quite on the level as some other titles, Shiozaki's win of the belt this weekend is a good feather in his cap and gives the time he's spent in the US a bit more meaning.
4) Matt Hardy/Mark Henry
5) Takeshi Morishima


Christi Csonka
1) AJ Styles
AL Styles won a really fun ladder match and seems to have Kurt Angle's number these days. I am hoping that this is the return of AJ being a major player in TNA.

2) Chris Jericho: Jericho continues to be great on the mic and got a win over CM Punk this week on Raw.
3) Awesome Kong: Kong sent Gail Kim packing in a great match.
4) Shelton Benjamin
5) Booker T


Shawn S. Lealos
1) THE Brian Kendrick
Who would have thought The Brian Kendrick was going to get into a World Title match at a Pay Per View. It looks like they really are trying to create the next Shawn Michaels here. I don't know if it will work, but he is very entertaining as of late, is on a great winning streak after jobbing to everyone on RAW and can wrestle with the best of them. Let's hope he doesn't get berried in this match.

2) AJ Styles - Continues to make Kurt Angle his bitch. It is going to be A.J. Styles and Jeff Jarrett who is going to kick off this monster storyline in the works, not the bad guys.
3) Chris Jericho - I think the opening promo was boring and one of Jericho's weakest in a few weeks. He did beat Punk, who is the World Champion, and that means something.
4) Awesome Kong
5) Mark Henry


Jeremy Thomas
1) Chris Jericho
Jericho's been consistently top-notch, carrying this feud almost single-handedly during Shawn's injury angle, and he's been amazing. This week, he not only delivered a promo that had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, but he got a big win over the World Champion, thus establishing him as the top heel on Raw (whether he's in the Championship Scrabble match or not).

2) THE Brian Kendrick: No one had a bigger boost to their career then THE Brian Kendrick. Obviously, we won't be looking at Brian Kendrick, World Champion any time this year, but he's getting a test run in upper-card matches, and that says worlds about what the 'E thinks of him.
3) AJ Styles: Wow, who'd have thought a couple of months ago that AJ would be consistently making Kurt Angle his bitch? They're really getting behind the AJ push, and they're doing it smart because they know these losses don't hurt Kurt's prestige.
4) Go Shiazaki
5) Awesome Kong


Aaron Hubbard
1) Chris Jericho
Consistently the best part of RAW this year, Jericho's roll continued this week with another strong promo (as usual), and then having an excellent match with CM Punk, and getting the win. A win over a world champion, however tainted, is nothing to scoff at.

2) Go Shiozaki: Winning FIP gold gets this guy the top spot. I can't wait to see his match with Stevens when it comes out on DVD. Shiozaki is the future of NOAH, and I'm glad to see him have success in America.
3) Shelton Benjamin: The most consistent mainstream wrestler for the last month has been Shelton Benjamin. He's been in a good match every time he's been out, making him the Gold Standard of quality wrestling on Smackdown! A win over Finlay and a shot at the WWE title earns him third place.
4) THE Brian Kendrick
5) AJ Styles


Andy Clark
1) THE Brian Kendrick
I'll be the first to admit that I never thought Brian Kendrick could make it as a legitimate singles wrestler. I know fans of his Spanky days in ROH believed in him all along, but I never thought he'd amount to much outside of a tag team. Over the past few weeks I have been highly impressed with his role as The Brian Kendrick and you can color me shocked hearing that he'd be in the SmackDown main event at Unforgiven. I don't care that it was done in flukish fashion, The Brian Kendrick had his career advanced more than anyone in wrestling this week, period.

2) Chris Jericho: I've mentioned before how I've been hot and cold on the Jericho-HBK feud, but the past few weeks have got me climbing aboard the "This is awesome" bandwagon. As Jericho was leaving the ring on Monday night and took in all the heat he was receiving in Chicago I was just amazed at how big of a heel Jericho has become in all of this and how WWE has managed to get this feud looked at by fans as a legitimate main event and not just a main event for net fans. Add in a win over the World Heavyweight Champion and Jericho has had a great week.
3) Go Shiozaki: The FIP Title continues to play hot potato with Go Shiozaki walking away with the belt this time. I'm intrigued by this move and am looking forward to seeing how Go fairs as champ.
4) Mark Henry
5) Kane


Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) The Brian Kendrick
I am still kind of shocked at the push that the WWE seems to be giving Kendrick. It seems almost to good to be true, and I am waiting for the other shoe to fall. I am thrilled he is in the WWE Title Scramble, but part of me wouldn't be shocked if he gets squashed by The Big Show or some other "monster" on SmackDown to lose his spot. For this week though, he gets my vote.

2) Chris Jericho: Outside of Edge, this is the best heel on WWE TV. He was great on the mic again this week, and had a very solid match with Punk on RAW.
3) Shelton Benjamin: Benjamin has seemingly found himself on SD, and also seems to be getting a renewed push. I feel more comfortable about his staying in the Scramble. He and Finlay had a strong match, and it's nice to see Shelton with direction again.
4) AJ Styles
5) Mark Henry


ARI
1) Chris Jericho
Y2J is absolutely on fire right now with his portrayal of a wronged man looking to justify the way everyone treated him. His feud with Shawn Michaels has been epic in scope and the remorseless interview at the start of Raw certified he is top of the heap. The fans hated him and wanted him to be beaten an instead he defeated CM Punk in front of Punk's hometown crowd in a very good match. Jericho should receive a title shot this Monday on Raw, but whether he will or not is anyone's guess.

2) CM Punk: Punk may have lost a match in his hometown of Chicago, as expected in WWE booking, but he looked like a true and legitimate superstar during the show. He was beloved by the hometown crowd, cut a confident promo on Raw and was able to strut his stuff in a main event match. By the way, for those complaining about how Punk has been treated or that ROH fans are protesting too much, he only won about half of his matches in ROH. Punk doesn't have to have a 100% winning streak to do well as champion.
3) Go Shiozaki: Wins the FIP Heavyweight Title, unseating Erick Stevens. I should be more impressed, but I'm a tad upset Stevens lost the belt so suddenly. The reports have it as an awesome match, so much credit to both, but ROH might as well change the name of this belt to the ROH intercontinental Title the way things are going these days. At least ROH fans won't have to read about how "Go Shiozaki needs to win a title for his U.S. stay to be a success."
4) Mark Henry & Matt Hardy
5) THE Brian Kendrick


Jarrod Westerfeld
1) THE Brian Kendrick
This one was a bit of a tough decision, but the end result is I have to give this week over to THE Brian Kendrick, formerly Spanky, or Leonardo Spanky of indy fame. Why? Well, some will consider this to be Chris Jericho's week as he's had a tremendous run, but who really expected Kendrick to be involved in the main event after just recently being repackaged as the cocky and brash heel that plays up on his past roles on the American indy scene? Seriously, this was such a curve ball that I doubt anyone could've predicted it. The true test for him now is performing to the high standards of a pay-per-view main event match and helping to add some drama to a match that just looks so much better than Raw's own championship scramble.

2) Chris Jericho – Some will complain that this is Jericho's week, and to a degree it was. A tremendous promo that once again showcases his talents as a entertainer as he masterfully pulled in tremendous heat against himself to kick off Raw, and then he caps it off with a win over World Champion CM Punk to put a big feather in his cap. Truly now people have to believe all of the hype around Jericho earlier this decade was for real – he's a main event player just waiting to be unleashed.
3) Go Shiozaki – I hate that the FIP title has switched hands about 4 times this year alone, namely between Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens, but this was what Shiozaki needed to boost up his stock and it couldn't have happened at a better time for him.
4) Cyber Kong & YAMATO
5) Takeshi Morishima


Samuel Berman
1) Go Shiozaki
In defeating Erick Stevens for the FIP World Heavyweight Title, Shiozaki makes his United States run a true success story. Though some worried about Shiozaki's ability to adapt to the Independent scene during his stay, the Pro Wrestling NOAH star has proven that he is amongst the best performers around, consistently putting in good efforts against ROH and FIP's best. The real question now is what becomes of Stevens, whose inability to keep a hold of the FIP World Heavyweight Title is starting to become a pattern.

2) Cyber Kong & YAMATO: The only undefeated team in Dragon Gate's Summer Adventure Tag League tournament, having bested some of the company's most dangerous duos.
3) Chris Jericho: A clean win over World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk to main event RAW.
4) Tyler Black
5) THE Brian Kendrick


JT
1) Chris Jericho
He comes out to heat that is almost unbelievable considering that it's him; a fantastic credit to his capabilities in and of itself. Now a typical heel who had done something like he did at SummerSlam would come out, and do anything to create the illusion of accident or a deflection of some kind to make himself seem a little less heelish. Did our boy Y2J do that? NOPE. Took a big fat deep breath, opened his mouth, and proceeded to blame not only Shawn Michaels, but all of us the fans. He didn't give two shits about how the incident reflected on him; his sole concern was letting us all know that we were wrong as was HBK, PERFECTLY fitting his character. He is here to save himself, and be disgusted with all of us, period. To top it off, he went ahead and got himself a win over the World Heavyweight Champ, in Punk's hometown no less. Like some have said, you can all feel free to keep ranting and raving about Edge and the year he's having. At the end of the day sans the last three weeks or so – and I said this numerous times but have no problem saying it again – any and all credit given to Edge has an asterisk in the form of the SD! GM, couple of jobbers, fake bodyguard, few chairs, and a yacht in his back pocket at each and every turn attached to it. Jericho is doing it all on his own, and doing it better than anyone else in the world right now. If Jericho keeps this up, I can't wait for the thousands of comments ready to decapitate our first child when we vote Jericho wrestler of the year, comeback wrestler of the year, promo of the year, feud of the year, etc etc.

2) AJ Styles: One of my biggest beefs with TNA over the last two years or however long I've been bitching, is the lack of following through on things. They always seem so eager to get to the next angle that they don't follow through on the current one (sans Machismo/Dutt and Roode/Young). This one, they are paying attention to though. AJ is becoming the focus of something big looming and by making Kurt Angle your bitch YET AGAIN, you certainly deserve my vote on this one.
3) THE Brian Kendrick: This is given out on a little bit of an act of faith. If he runs down with five minutes left, gets immediately spinebusted, pedigreed and thrown out of the ring to never be heard from again, then this is all for nothing. That said, it looks like the WWE is actually serious about his push and he got a serious elevation this week by being thrust into the upper-card to see how he can do. They had enough trust in him to put him in this spot, so I have enough trust to reward him for it.
4) Shelton Benjamin
5) Go Shiozaki


Michael O
1) Shelton Benjamin
I didn't watch RAW this week, so while I have no doubt that Chris Jericho delivered greatness, I have only praise by proxy to offer. So I'm going to give the top spot to someone who won what I think was the best match of the week, and that would be Mr. Benjamin. His match against Finlay on Smackdown wasn't an MOTYC or anything, but it was really FN good and by virtue of his victory he'll be participating in Smackdown's Championship Shambles. Not bad for our favorite mama's boy, who seems to finally be on the right track to earning that push everybody's wanted him to have for so long.

2) THE Brian Kendrick: I realize that his accomplishment in and of itself isn't that huge, but when was the last time Brian Kendrick had a PPV match? And when was the last time Brian Kendrick had in a world title match? Never, that's when. Lower card wrestlers of the world, UNITE!
3) Chris Jericho: Beat the champ in a non-title match. Has a new TV show coming out soon. Is a dick.
4) Jeff Hardy
5) Mark Henry


Mathew Sforcina
1) Chris Jericho
A long, long time ago in a federation far, far away, there was a man. A Canadian born in America, this man had diverse interests, but one main field of expertise, Professional Wrestling. This man carved a name for himself as a Comedy Heel unlike the business had ever seen, getting himself a cult following and heat, but not truly hated heat, it was always half boos, half laughs. This man was given poisoned chalices them blamed for his reactions, and yet there was the fact that he did not have that killer, I Am Evil promo skill. After leaving the business for a time, he returned, first as a face. Then he turned, with a logical, reasonable turn. And then, a miracle occurred. The fact that he beat a World Champion isn't why he holds this spot. Chris Jericho holds this spot because Chris Jericho has FINALLY found the Main Event Heel Promo Skill. Congrats.

2) THE Brian Kendrick - I know that it won't count, but it's actually possible that Brian will be a WWE Champion soon. Wow.
3) Go Shiozaki - I kinda hate myself for this placement, but Kendrick's success is more shocking.
4) Shelton Benjamin
5) AJ Styles


Andrew Critchell
1) Go Shiozaki
There was a lot of fun stuff this week but only one notable title change, and that always comes first in my book. Giving someone the FIP title is usually an indication that ROH has big plans for you and Go has been impressive since his ROH debut so this move makes sense.

2) Mark Henry – I think big Mark is being unfairly overlooked and that's a shame because he did quite well for himself this week. He had a very competitive match with Matt Hardy and managed to retain his ECW title with a minimum of shenanigans and KILLED Hardy with a World's Strongest Slam. Mark has quietly become a VERY effective heel champion and the man that finally gets the belt off of him is going to look really good, as long as that man ISN'T Matt "it's still 2003, right?" Hardy. Mark's title run is just one of the many things they are doing right on ECW these days and he is one of the main reasons it should be required watching.
3) THE Brian Kendrick - I'm going to go along with the crowd here but not because it's easy, because it is justified. The knock against WWE by many is that they are never willing to push a smaller guy. Enter THE Brian Kendrick and his Battle Royal win to qualify for the Smackdown Championship Scramble, and the landscape of WWE is starting to shift. Realistically, he's not going to win the title from Triple H but the match is set up in such a way that anyone who is in the match can get a rub just by virtue of being in the match. The comparisons to Shawn Michaels and Brian Pillman aren't hurting things either. Thanks JR.
4) Chris Jericho
5) The Miz


Larry Csonka
1) AJ Styles
It looks as if AJ Styles is back to being AJ Styles. He's not a goofy bitch anymore, he's being the awesome performer he always has been while also being serious. He gets ANOTHER win over Kurt Angle, won his gold medal again and is being positioned as one of the main faces for the upcoming new blood vs. millionaires club style angle.

2) Chris Jericho: Chris Jericho continues to be a highlight of WWE TV. Another great promo and a good match with Pun, combined with the win make him an easy choice for the top three again this week.
3) Shelton Benjamin: Shelton Benjamin has put together a great string of matches on Smackdown as of late, and earns his way into the Championship Scramble deal. Shelton is making the most of the recent push and deserves some love.
4) THE Brian Kendrick
5) Go Shiozaki

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THE WINNERS~!

Special Mention… Mark Henry - 16 Votes

Fifth Place…Shelton Benjamin - 20 Votes

Fourth Place…AJ Styles - 25 Votes

Third Place…Go Shiozaki - 41 Votes

Go Shiozaki makes the most of his US stint by winning the FIP Title!

Second Place…THE Brian Kendrick - 56 Votes

THE Brian Kendrick has been turning heads for weeks, but this week got about everyone's attention as he won his way into the WWE Scramble Match at Unforgiven!

Wrestler of the Week…Chris Jericho - 76 Votes

Chris Jericho is on a roll, dominating with great performances on the mic as well as pinning the World Champion this past week on Raw. What's a guy got to do to get invited into a Scramble match?.


Yearend Standings~!
Go Shiozaki and THE Brian Kendrick debut on the list this week with big accomplishments, while Shelton Benjamin and Mark Henry gain some points on the overall standings. AJ Styles solidifies his 5th place position as Chris Jericho launches himself into 3rd place, continuing his impressive climb.


Let's check out the Yearend Standings!

1. Edge – 64 (Smackdown)

2. Batista – 57 (Raw)

3. Chris Jericho – 49 (RAW)

4. Matt Hardy – 46 (ECW)

5. AJ Styles – 42 (TNA)

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)
Shelton Benjamin – 15 (Smackdown)
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)
THE Brian Kendrick – 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}
Mark Henry – 10 (ECW)

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)
Go Shiozaki – 9 (NOAH)
Shingo Takagi – 9 (Dragon Gate)
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) {INJURED}
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