411’s Wrestler of the Week 11.20.12: Year Eight, Week 33

Welcome to WEEK 33, 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) Samuray Del Sol aka Octagon Jr
Samuray Del Sol has been a standout on iPPV in 2012, but now he heads to Mexico. He not only has joined the AAA promotion, and not only is under the wing of Octagon, but he has been re-masked as “Octagon Jr,” which could solidify his career in Mexico for life. This is a huge honor and also a huge career boost for Del Sol.

2) Tim Donst: Tim Donst won the ninth annual CHIKARA Torneo Cibernetico on Sunday. Not only did he outlast 15 others to win the hug match (which went over 60-minutes and included a very talented roster of wrestlers) but he also pinned reigning CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston. Donst is on a collision course with Kingston, and finally will get his chance at the title in early December on iPPV.
3) Dolph Ziggler: Got to stand out in the big Survivor Series tag team match on the PPV Sunday, which is nice because he needs to get booked that way.
4) CM Punk
5) The Big Show

Francisco Ramirez
1) Samuray Del Sol aka Octagon Jr.
Titles were retained and contendership established, but no one had a bigger boost in their career this week than Samuray del Sol. Known in the indys in the states and in Mexico, Samuray del Sol is now part of the AAA roster. After being taken under AAA legend Octagon’s wings for some weeks now, Samuray Del Sol ran in to save Octagon from a beating courtesy of members of El Consejo, Octagon thanked him by re-masking him and branding him as Octagon Jr. This was an instant career boost for the new Octagon Jr.

2) Bobby Roode: Bobby Roode outsmarted, and defeated Cowboy James Storm to become the number 1 contender to Jeff Hardy’s TNA World Championship. Roode is back on the title picture after losing to Austin Aries earlier in the year.
3) TIE: Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns: One hell of a debut for those three.
4) CM Punk
5) Antonio Cesaro

Ryan Byers
1) Tim Donst
Tim Donst won the ninth annual CHIKARA Torneo Cibernetico on Sunday, outlasting fifteen other top competitors from both CHIKARA and Ring of Honor, including names like the Briscoe Brothers, UltraMantis Black, and Kevin Steen. The most important part of the victory for CHIKARA purposes, though, is the fact that, in the last fall of the match, Donst pinned reigning CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston. After the bell, Donst and his crony Jakob Hammermeier gave King “two weeks notice,” almost definitely foreshadowing a coming title shot for Tim.

2) Octagon, Jr.: Octagon is one of the most popular and enduring characters in the past twenty years of lucha libre, and, this week, US indy wrestler Samuray Del Sol was officially crowned the successor to the gimmick by Octagon himself. This could make Del Sol a fixture in Mexico for years to come if he wants to take that opportunity.
3) Akitoshi Saito: NOAH’s annual round robin singles tournament, the Global League, is currently ongoing, and Saito picked up two big upsets in tourney competition this week, first defeating Takashi Sugiura and then getting the better of Jun Akiyama. Saito probably won’t wind up in the finals of the tournament, but it’s interesting to see him booked to play spoiler.
4) Ambrose, Reigns, & Rollins
5) Mr. Touchdown

TJ Hawke
1) Tim Donst
He won Chikara’s annual Cibernetico tournament, and it appears that this victory has earned him a shot at the Grand Championship at Chikara’s season finale, Under the Hood.

2) Samuray Del Sol/Octagon Jr.: Del Sol got a huge honor, by being named the successor to the Ocatgon gimmick, by Octagon himself. This is could make Del Sol a huge star in Mexico for years to come.
3) CM Punk: With his successful title defense at Survivor Series, Punk has now been WWE Champion for over a year. This has been the first time that someone has been WWE Champion for over a year since John Cena’s fantastic reign from September 2006 until October 2007.
4) Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns
5) Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid

Jeremy Thomas
1) CM Punk
Punk retained the WWE Title “against all odds” at Survivor Series and hit the one-year milestone; barring an unlikely loss in the next two weeks, he will become the longest-reigning champion since Hulk Hogan in 1984. That’s a lot bigger than some people who are down on Punk would like to admit.

2) Dolph Ziggler/Bobby Roode (tie): Ziggler got his first huge win since Money in the Bank, as he was the sole survivor–in clean fashion against Randy Orton, nonetheless–in the final two of the big Survivor Series match. Meanwhile, Bobby Roode took the #1 contendership for the TNA World Title right out of James Storm’s fingers.
3) The Miz: The Miz did what I figured he wouldn’t do for a long time coming still and began a babyface turn that should mean great things for him; I’m excited to see how he performs.
4) The NXT Posse (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns)
5) Tim Donst

Michael Ornelas
1) CM Punk
The main secured a one-year title reign after a match with WWE’s two Supermen — I don’t know how someone could put someone above Punk this week.

2) Tim Donst: Won CHIKARA’s Torneo Cibernetico – a match that I personally can’t wait to get my hands on and watch.
3) Dolph Ziggler: I have a hard time putting him over The Big Show because Dolph didn’t get to look all that impressive in the closing minutes of his match, but the bottom line is that he eked out a clean pinfall victory over Randy Orton on PPV.
4) The Big Show
5) Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns

Jack McGee
1) Bobby Roode
Bobby Roode defeated James Storm on Impact Thursday night and is now the new #1 contender for the TNA World Title. Roode will now main event the final TNA PPV of 2012 against Jeff Hardy. Hardy has had two great PPV matches in a row, and Roode has also had some very good PPV outings during 2012. The match certainly has the chance to be great, and I am looking forward to it.

2) Dolph Ziggler: Dolph Ziggler finally got to stand out at the Survivor Series, and it is about time. The guy is great, and he should be booked as a STAR, not as the guy that has good performances and consistently loses all the time.
3) CM Punk: CM Punk is still your reigning and defending WWE Champion. By hook or by crook they say, but the facts remain that Punk still holds the title and is the man.
4) Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns
5) Big Show

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