411’s Wrestler of the Week 6.11.13: Year Nine, Week 9

Welcome to YEAR NINE, WEEK NINE 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 Tuesday (the voting week runs Monday through Sunday). Let’s see who wins this week…

Larry Csonka
1) Prince Devitt
This past weekend, Prince Devitt defeated Kenny Omega in the semifinals and then Alex Shelley in the finals to win NJPW’s 20th annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament. The man is on fire right now, and instead of the tournament creating a challenger or two for the champion (Devitt) the tournament has been used to put Devitt over as even more of a bad ass.

2) Rampage Jackson: While my enjoyment of Rampage Jackson has faded in recent years, in terms of wrestling he had a big debut week. He signed a big deal with Spike TV, he made his debut on TNA Impact and he stared down with Kurt Angle and got a little buzz going for TNA. At the end of the day I think this works out like the King Mo deal, but the first week was way bigger than the Mo deal already. Hopefully I am wrong and he does well for himself and does some positive things for TNA.
3) Daniel Bryan: Daniel Bryan, best hot tag in wrestling, has been awesome on TV and is primed for big things according reports. YES! YES! YES!
4) Alex Shelley
5) Ricochet

Craig Stevens
1) Daniel Bryan
Bryan just continues to be on an absolute tear every time he’s on television. He was the MVP of RAW this past week, pulling double-duty against the Shield and Ryback, in what was probably one of Ryback’s two or three best TV one-on-one matches to date. Then he teamed with Randy Orton against Reigns and Rollins in the main event on Smackdown, and put on another great performance. The “weak link” is the hottest act in the business at the moment, and it seems like he can really do no wrong.

2) Prince Devitt: With his win over Alex Shelly in the final, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion completed the first undefeated run in the Best of Super Juniors tournament since 2001 (and only the second ever in the tournament’s history). His challenge to Hiroshi Tanahashi after the match would seem to indicate he’s at least going to flirt with the heavyweight division, if not move up full-time. And after the dominant run he’s been on as of late, it’s probably for the best; it’s getting hard to envision any of the other juniors even making a legit challenge to his title at the point.
3) Ryback: He went 0-2 this week, but only because he was putting anything and everything that moved through tables. Daniel Bryan, Kane, and John Cena were all left laying at his feet, and Ryback’s looking strong heading into his challenge for the WWE Championship at Payback.
4) Curtis Axel
5) Hernandez/Samoa Joe

Ryan Byers
1) Prince Devitt
In the twenty year history of New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, nobody has been as dominant as Prince Devitt was this year. Devitt came into the tournament as the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, and he proceeded to best almost literally the entire division, going undefeated in the league portion of the tournament before moving on to the semi-finals and finals this weekend, where he knocked off Kenny Omega and Alex Shelley in order to become your tournament winner for 2013. After the final match, he demanded another one-on-one encounter with Hiroshi Tanahashi, perhaps foreshadowing a full-time move to the heavyweight division for the Irish star.

2) Daniel Bryan: Bryan absolutely OWNED Monday Night Raw this week, putting on two great matches in two completely different styles, first against the Shield in tag action and then a singles bout against the Ryback. He lost both matches but performed so well in each that, if anything, he gained momentum as a singles star this week as opposed to losing it.
3) Rampage Jackson: I virtually never watch or pay attention to TNA, but Jackson’s debut was so newsworthy and so critically acclaimed that even I heard about it and decided to check it out. It was damn near perfectly booked and performed by Rampage, and he’s got some big momentum as he heads into pro wrestling.
4) Alex Shelley
5) Ricochet

Justin Watry
1) Daniel Bryan
Not even up for debate. This man is the BEST thing going today in the world of wrestling. From the Internet crowd to the casual fans alike, he is connecting with the WWE Universe. After getting nearly the entire episode of Raw dedicated to him, he follows it up with a great showing on Smackdown. Bryan is on FIRE right now and is showing no signs of letting up.

2) Curtis Axel: To be honest, his first few weeks have not been very good. He has Paul Heyman by his side, so that is a plus. However, Hedienreich, Matt Morgan, and Nathan Jones were also paired up with the ‘genius’ manager at one point too. That being said, I can’t take away from Axel picking up a count out victory over John Cena and a (cheap) pin fall win over Chris Jericho. Both in the same week! Yeah, love him or hate him – that is simply incredible.
3) Kurt Angle: What? A TNA Impact Wrestling performer getting a mention? It’s true. It’s…okay, you know the catch phrase. For the past few months, Angle has been an after thought. He was mentoring Wes Brisco and Garett Bischoff (notice the spelling of each name). Sorry, but that was a waste of time. Also, battling the Aces and 0.8’s is not much better. Now though? Angle feels like SOMEBODY again. After beating AJ Styles at Slammiversay and being inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame, he stares down Rampage Jackson on Impact. I doubt this ‘big’ story line draws as much as some seem to think, but it’s a solid start. Nicely done!
4) Ryback
5) Triple H

Jesse Nguyen
1) Daniel Bryan
Currently the hardest workingman in the WWE, Bryan managed to pull off not two, but three great performances in one week. Two of those matches were live on RAW. His pessimistic and self-loathing views of himself are just fueling his abilities. He may not believe it, but Bryan already has the respect he is searching for.

2) Ryback: Ryback doesn’t care that he lost twice this week. All he cares about is making sure everyone knows that he is the greatest threat to John Cena’s WWE Championship reign. So far, Cena has not been able to bring up a counterpoint to Ryback’s argument.
3) Prince Devitt: The current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion dominated and won the 20th Best of Super Juniors tournament. Devitt is dead set on being the best in Japan right now, and a successful challenge against Hiroshi Tanahashi would cement that.
4) Reigns/Rollins
5) Curtis Axel

Jack McGee
1) Rampage Jackson
Rampage Jackson was all over the news this week as the latest big signing for Spike TV, and in relation, TNA. He also made his debut with a big stare down with Kurt Angle, and while I do not think he will mean a lot in the long run, the solid first angle and positive media attention makes it the biggest happening of the week for me.

2) Daniel Bryan: Daniel Bryan has been a highlight of WWE TV, and is reportedly primed for a big push, and that is nothing but a good thing for wrestling fans.
3) Prince Devitt: Won the 20th annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
4) Kurt Angle
5) Mickie James

Michael Benjamin
1) Daniel Bryan
What an amazing week D-Bry had. Obviously he delivered the goods in the ring like he always does, as he wrestled three televised matches that ranged from *** – ***3/4 in my book. What made this week so great for Daniel Bryan though was his extraordinary character development. He’s the only multifaceted member of the roster and it’s quite refreshing to behold on shows filled with one-dimensional characters. His inner struggles and insecurity of being the weak link is great storytelling that keeps me tuning in just as much as his awesome matches.

2) Rampage Jackson: This is a huge pickup for TNA that’s already garnered plenty of mainstream coverage for them. His debut was handled perfectly in my opinion as well. He cut a pretty good promo and immediately went face-to-face with Kurt Angle after saying he wanted to beat the best. TNA has always been good at planting seeds for future rivalries and this was no different.
3) Prince Devitt: He won the 20th annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament for NJPW against Alex Shelley in the finals. Calling out Tanahashi after the match signals a potential rivalry that I’d love to see.
4) Curtis Axel
5) Alex Shelley

TJ Hawke
1) Prince Devitt
The current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion managed to win the annual Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Devitt went undefeated throughout the tournament. The tournament is usually designed to set up a challenger for the championship, but NJPW instead decided to use the tournament to further establish Devitt’s new heel persona.

2) Daniel Bryan: Bryan spent the week solidifying his position of being one of wrestling’s fastest rising stars.
3) Alex Shelley: The runner-up in the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
4) Rampage Jackson
5) Curtis Axel Rotten

Phil Hoitis
1) Daniel Bryan
With the magnitude of the WWE universe, there is likely, no other option for the wrestler of the week. When WWE decides to “re-write as you go” it can have infuriating consequences; however, let’s point out when the process works well. Not only did Daniel Bryan wrestle two great matches, but also he single handily carried the show. The beginning and development of his story made me stop from permanently watching Game 7, and his match with Ryback was a great payoff.

2) Prince Devitt : A clean sweep for Devitt and the Bullet Club at the Battle of the Super Juniors. I love his new persona, and am firmly invested.
3) Quinton “Rampage” Jackson : I may be in the minority of people here who are both Wrestling and MMA fans, but I can admit, I like Rampage as a fighter and am happy for him here. He was interested in pro wrestling for a while. I don’t know how it’ll work out for him. I’m not sure how his charisma will translate to promo work; however, an impeding feud with Kurt Angle no doubt makes him an interesting commodity.
4) Curtis Axel
5) The Usos

Tony Acero
1) Daniel Bryan
Dat Boy Bryan has been on fire, ya dig?! Really though, he is taking over and we’re all in on the ride. From all points, he continues to be humble behind the scenes yet so good on the screen. We have been saying it for months, and now it appears that the Dubs is on the same page as the rumored push of Bryan seems to be picking up speed. I talked at length on how a Cena feud wouldn’t hurt Bryan, and I’m lookin forward to being right.

2) Rampage Jackson: Say whaaaa?!? When Rampage was a guest host for Raw, I figured it was only a matter of time before he set foot in the WWE ring again. Of course, they never allowed that to happen and now TNA gets to do their thing with him. I’ve met Rampage a handful of times and although standoffish at first, he was actually a pretty nice guy. I can only assume that will translate to some quality stuff from him, and this may have heightened the interest in TNA a bit more.
3) Curtis Axel: he beat Jericho, his star is rising. It’s at a slow upward trend, but it’s rising nonetheless…I’m still not sold but he deserves the number 3 spot.
4) AJ Lee
5) Kurt Angle

THE WINNERS~!

And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…

Daniel Bryan – 43 Votes

Daniel Bryan’s impressive performances continue, and with a big push reportedly on the way, he scores the big win this week.

Year-End Standings~!
And here are the standings after week NINE…

Dean Ambrose – 64pts.

Seth Rollins – 60pts
Roman Reigns – 60pts

Daniel Bryan – 27pts.

Ryback – 20pts

Curtis Axel – 18pts.
Brock Lesnar – 18pts

Kurt Angle – 15pts.
Bully Ray – 15pts.
Dolph Ziggler – 15pts.
Kofi Kingston – 15pts.
Kenta Kobashi – 15pts.
Ricochet – 15pts

Mark Henry – 12pts.
Prince Devitt – 12pts

Rampage Jackson – 9pts.
Big E. Langston – 9pts.
Abyss – 9pts.
Wade Barrett – 9pts.
The Undertaker – 9pts
Jun Akiyama – 9pts.

AJ Styles – 6pts.
Chris Sabin – 6pts.
Fandango – 6pts.
KENTA – 6pts.
Yoshihiro Takayama – 6pts.
Kazuchika Okada – 6pts.
Jigsaw – 6pts.
The Shard – 6pts.

Mickie James – 4pts.

John Morrison – 3pts.
Jack Swagger – 3pts.
Sting – 3pts.
Hernandez – 3pts.
Chavo Guerrero – 3pts.
Seita Sanada – 3pts.

CIMA – 1pt
Alex Shelley – 1pt
Ethan Page – 1pt
Alberto Del Rio – 1pt
Mikey Nicholls- 1pt
Shane Haste – 1pt
Eddie Kingston – 1pt
La Sombra – 1 pt

Year-End Rankings Key:

WWE 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.

---

**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 Year Eight Winner: CM Punk