411’s Wrestler of the Week 10.30.12: Year Eight, Week 30

Welcome to WEEK 30, YEAR EIGHT of 411’s Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview of the rules to kick things off for us as a reminder…

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 around WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday (the voting week runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…

Larry Csonka
1) The Big Show
The pro wrestling business is a really funny one at time, sometimes you think you know what will be good, and sometimes you think you know won’t be good. While I liked the build to Sheamus vs. Show, in no universe did I think that this would be as good as it was, nor did I think that it would be my match of the night. Show’s win was without bullshit, and he defeated a rather dominant world champion.

2) Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy had his first defense of the TNA World Title on Impact, and defeated Kurt Angle in a really good match to retain that title. Hardy is working hard, and while I may not have personally liked the move to him as champion, I always appreciate good work.
3) Sweet Saraya Knight: The SHIMMER Champion successfully defended her title three times over the weekend, continuing her domination over SHIMMER.
4) Wade Barrett
5) The Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews)

Ryan Byers
1) Sweet Saraya Knight
This weekend, the latest installments of the SHIMMER DVD series were taped, and the big winner was reigning SHIMMER Champion Saraya Knight. The British import successfully retained her title three times over the weekend, once against Athena and once against former champion Cheerleader Melissa. Perhaps most impressively, though, Sweet Saraya also defeated three top contenders in one four-way elimination match, getting the duke over MsChif, Kellie Skater, and Hiroyo Matsumoto all in one fell swoop. This will extend Knight’s reign for quite some time.

2) The Big Show: In perhaps the most surprising result coming out of WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay per view, the Big Show defeated the seemingly unstoppable Sheamus clean in the middle of the ring to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Show hasn’t had a title reign of any real substance since 2002, and it will be interesting to see what the company does with him in this position a decade later.
3) The Canadian Ninjas (Portia Perez & Nicole Matthews): The Ninjas came out of the weekend’s DVD tapings as your reigning SHIMMER Tag Team Champions, successfully defending their titles twice, once against Allison Danger & Leva Bates and once more against the very game team of LuFisto & Kana.
4) CM Punk
5) MIKAMI

TJ Hawke
1) Saraya Knight
The SHIMMER Champion successfully defended the belt three times this past weekend.

2) CM Punk: The WWE Champion successfully defended his championship against The Ryback. Despite the nefarious tactis used, this victory for Punk was also the first ever loss for The Ryback, which is why Punk is so high on this list.
3) The Canadian Ninjas: They successfully defended the SHIMMER Tag Titles twice this past weekend.
4) The Big Show
5) Gamma, HUB, & Magnitude Kishiwada

Jeremy Thomas
1) Saraya Knight
I do love me some SHIMMER and always look forward to their tapings because it means that someone will see some major career advancement or at least achievement. This weekend it was Saraya Knight, who continued her run as SHIMMER Champion by defeating some of the top names attached to the promotion in various matches. That ensures a title reign through March at least, considering the promotion’s taping schedule.

2) Big Show: Did what I didn’t really expect and not only beat Sheamus for the World Title, but walked out of the PPV with the belt thanks to no Dolph Ziggler cash-in.
3) Ryback/CM Punk: A lot of people are taking issue with the booking; I’m taking a “wait and see” approach as we don’t really know anything yet and follow-up will be key. The important part is that Punk retained his title when most of the WWE Universe (and at least a good section of the IWC) thought he would it and yet Ryback ended the show standing strong.
4) Canadian Ninjas
5) Kevin Steen

James Wright
1) C.M. Punk
Most people might not think Punk’s length of his title reign means anything, but it does to me. Surviving the possible wild card threat of Ryback confirms that Punk will most likely be champion until the Royal Rumble, putting his reign right up there and probably making it the longest of the modern era for years to come.

2) The Big Show: Who would have seen Show winning clean and without a Dolph Ziggler cash in? Clearly the WWE have something planned as to derail Sheamus’ dominant title run seems like a complete swerve considering how much Sheamus had grown over his reign, could the words of SCSA really have been that influential?
3) The Ryback: The match was a little bit shorter than expected and perhaps you could count this as his first loss, but Ryback certainly ended things in a dominant fashion. Also it is pretty likely that the decision will be reversed on Monday, although who can tell if that will actually help his position.
4) Saraya Knight
5) Canadian Ninjas

Jack McGee
1) The Big Show
The Big Show defeated Sheamus at the Hell in a Cell PPV, clean, to win the world title. Not only that, but in what was a sure surprise, it was the best match of the night. This was a hard hitting, and well booked match that I really enjoyed, and Show deserves the top spot in my opinion.

2) Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy defeated Kurt Angle in an outstanding match on IMPACT Wrestling last week. I have my questions about Hardy as champion, but the match rocked, and it was a strong title defense to begin his latest reign as champion.
3) Wade Barrett: Wade Barrett defeated Randy Orton this past week on Smackdown, and continues to look like a player.
4) CM Punk
5) Kevin Steen

Gavin Napier
1) The Big Show:
Unseated a dominant champion in a somewhat surprising win at Hell In A Cell

2) Colt Cabana: Regardless of the NWA title situation, Cabana won the 7th and final installment of 2012’s feud of the year.
3) Adam Pearce: More of a career achievement nod here, as “One Last Ride” appears to be over.
4) The Rhodes Scholars
5) Chance Prophet

Michael Ornelas
1) Kenny Omega & El Generico
There’s some bias here, but I went to the PWG show and Kenny’s homecoming was a great moment to be a part of (and he was super cool about taking a picture after the show). I also had the most fun watching their match against The Young Bucks and they went over in epic fashion, so yeah.

2) The Big Show: Won the WHC from Sheamus. Good for him.
3) CM Punk/Ryback: Both men walked out of the PPV as I’d hoped they would — with Punk still WWE Champion and Ryback still looking dominant. The ref that cost Ryback the match is the same one Heyman berated earlier this year, so there’s already a built in back story. I’m intrigued to see how it plays out.
4) Kevin Steen
5) Colt Cabana

THE WINNERS~!

Year-End Rankings Key:

WWE, Raw, SmackDown and NXT-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.

Other International Wrestlers are represented in INDIGO.

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**PREVIOUS WINNERS** Year One Winner: Ric Flair Year Two Winner: Samoa Joe Year Three Winner: John Cena Year Four Winner: Chris Jericho Year Five Winner: CM Punk Year Six Winner: The Miz Year Seven Winner: CM Punk