411’s Wrestler of the Week 6.18.13: Year Nine, Week 10

Welcome to YEAR NINE, WEEK TEN 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) El Hijo del Perro Aguayo
El Hijo del Perro Aguayo defeated Cibernetico in a hair vs. hair match that was the main event of TripleMania XXI. This is their biggest show of the year and in Mexico taking a rival’s hair has long been looked as more important than a title and similar to taking their pride. He scores the #1 spot this week.

2) Curtis Axel: Defeated The Miz and Wade Barrett at the WWE Payback PPV to win the IC Title. It was an overall good performance, and hopefully the company can book him better than they have going forward.
3) Alberto Del Rio: Defeated Dolph Ziggler at the WWE Payback PPV to win the World Title.
4) John Cena
5) CM Punk and Chris Jericho

Jack McGee
1) Curtis Axel
Curtis Axel defeated Wade Barrett and The Miz to win the IC Title at the WWE Payback PPV. It appears as if Fandango’s loss is his gain, and Axel won the title in a very entertaining opener. I am still not completely sold on the Curtis Axel experiment, but I do feel that this was his best outing and that they really tried to make the title win mean something.

2) Alberto Del Rio: Alberto Del Rio won the world title at the Payback PPV, and seemingly has turned heel in the process. I hope that is the case, because his face run has just not worked. The match was interestingly booked, and I am curious to see where it goes.
3) AJ Lee: Your new Divas Champion.
4) CM Punk and Chris Jericho
5) John Cena

Robert S. Leighty Jr
1) Alberto Del Rio
ADR is your new World Heavyweight Champion and thankfully it seems he is turning back to the dark side as he is much better in that role.

2) Curtis Axel: Axel finally gets a legit win and in the process wins the Intercontinental Title much like his father did over 20 years ago.
3) AJ Lee: Finally wins the Divas Title and that already makes the division more interesting.
4) CM Punk
5) John Cena

Justin Watry
1) Curtis Axel
Still not his biggest fan. However, fair is fair. He picked up his first major single’s title in WWE. This time, the man can add The Miz and Wade Barrett to his long list of defeated opponents. Not bad. I am still waiting for that ‘WOW!’ moment from him though.

2) AJ Lee: Axel picked up his first major single’s title. AJ Lee did the same at WWE Payback winning the Divas Title over Kaitlyn. This was a long time coming for her. I am not sure how long she holds the belt, but we can worry about that at a different time. She gets the second spot over Alberto Del Rio because of reasons about to be listed.
3) Alberto Del Rio: He won the World Title for the second time this year Sunday night. That is on top of two WWE Title reigns in 2011. The internet tells me he turned back heel also. I suppose it did seem that way, but Chicago is not a reliable crowd at all to judge that on. If his ‘attitude’ continues this week on television, then yes – he has turned BACK heel after six months. All in all, I can’t rank this highly because all of his other previous victories meant next to nothing.
4) CM Punk
5) John Cena (barely edging out RVD)

Ryan Byers
1) CM Punk
Voting for Punk in this column feels like a little bit of a cliché given that he’s won the “Wrestler of the Year” title three times now, but I think this one is justified. Punk made his return to the ring after a two-month hiatus in his hometown to a thunderous reaction, and he defeated Chris Jericho in what some are calling at or near the level of a match of the year contender. On top of that, you have to give Punk credit for the fact that, even though he wasn’t on television to promote it, his match with Jericho was perhaps the most anticipated on the pay per view, just because his name was attached to it. If that’s not an indication of how big a star this guy has become, I don’t know what is.

2) Perro Aguayo, Jr.: Despite what some ballots may lead you to believe, WWE did not have a monopoly on major shows this weekend. AAA ran TripleMania XXI on Sunday, its signature event of the year. In the main event, Perro Aguayo, Jr. finished off a yearlong feud with twenty-year veteran Cibernetico, defeating him in a hair vs. hair lucha de apuestas match. In Mexico, taking the hair of a hated rival remains more important than winning the most important championship, and doing so in the main event of the biggest card of the year is huge.
3) Jonathan Gresham: Not a lot of people are talking about Jonathan Gresham, but he’s quietly gaining some great momentum and experience at home and abroad. The Georgia indy wrestler has become a regular in Japan for ZERO1, where he simultaneously holds the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Title and the International Jr. Heavyweight Title. This week, he successfully defended those titles in two separate matches on two separate continents, first in Japan for ZERO1 against Jack Anthony and second in the U.S. for IWA Mid-South against Tarek the Great.
4) Daniel Bryan
5) Curt Axel

Jesse Nguyen
1) CM Punk
You can call me biased, or a fanboy, but CM Punk really is one of the best in the world. Punk came back to Chicago to receive an insane amount of applause and cheers, to which he delivered a fantastic match against Chris Jericho. Punk had no promos before the match, so there was just a paper-thin story at best. That didn’t matter. All that needed to be said was that CM Punk was coming back, and the fans were happy. Anyone able to get that kind of reaction just from walking through the curtain can surely justify a number one spot.

2) Curtis Axel: While I’m still not very impressed with him, Curtis managed to win two matches against HHH on RAW (albeit with an assist to Vince McMahon) and left Payback with the Intercontinental Title. Hopefully he will have that breakthrough match soon.
3) AJ Lee: AJ managed to do something that hasn’t been done in years in the WWE. Make me enjoy a Diva’s match. After a long time of messing with Kaitlyn’s head, AJ took home the Divas Championship in a great match.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) Jonathan Gresham

Phil Hiotis
1)AJ Lee
Not only did she carry the load for the first really good Divas match in god knows how long, her match told a great story, she added a little bit of depth and story to Kaitlyn, and she continues to be the only Diva with a discernable character. Seriously, she sold that spear so well.

2)Curtis Axel I thought the triple threat match was fun – the fast pace choreography have a bit of an indie vibe to it. I was into it, and I was into how much the crowd popped for the Perfect-Plex and Axel winning. Now let’s see if they can build him and the belt up.
3)CM Punk I originally didn’t think his match with Jericho was that great; however, I realize now that I was in a bad mood while watching it. When I watched it a second time, I saw that they in fact had a really good match. I legitimately marked out when he performed the fighting spirit GTS. Also, although his chops were patch, I dig him looking like Wolverine.
4) John Cena
5) RVD

Michael Benjamin
1) Daniel Bryan
I believe that getting the first pinfall victory over The Shield in a six man tag match was more important than anything that happened at Payback. That was a magical moment. He also had a **** match with Rollins on Raw and had a good tag match on Sunday. If Daniel Bryan is on the screen, you should be paying attention.

2) CM Punk: Returned in front of his hometown crowd and defeated Chris Jericho in a great match. It will be interesting to see what they do with him moving forward.
3) Alberto Del Rio: Won the World Heavyweight Championship and looks to be turning heel in the process.
4) AJ Lee
5) Curtis Axel

Craig Stevens
1) Team Hell No & Randy Orton
In a voting period that included a PPV with a World Title change, handing the Shield their first six-man tag loss is still the bigger deal. That’s a testament to how strongly they’ve booked the Shield, as well as a small indictment on how they’ve mishandled some other things. Still, this was by far the biggest happening in wrestling this week.

2) Alberto Del Rio: Won the World Title at Payback in a smartly worked match with Dolph Ziggler, and finally aborted his awful face run in the process.
3) Curtis Axel: Defeated Wade Barrett and the Miz in a triple threat to win the Intercontinental Title at Payback.
4) CM Punk
5) AJ Lee

Francisco Ramirez
1) El Hijo del Perro Aguayo
After a heated rivalry with long time AAA poster boy, Cibernetico, Perro Aguayo Jr. defeated his rival in a lucha de apuestas match at AAA’s biggest show of the year Triplemania XXI. Cibernetico was shaved bald, the first time he has lost his hair and a lucha de apuestas since 2004 when he lost his mask to La Parka. Aguayo Jr. dedicated the match to his late friend Hector Garza.

2) Alberto del Rio: “Damas y caballeros, su nuevo campeon mundial de peso completo, el Hercules Potosino, La Essencia de Excellencia, Albertoooooo del Rio!” Del Rio is once again the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and even better, is apparently headed for a heel turn, nothing better than a heel Del Rio.
3) TIE: John Cena/Texano Jr.: Both men successfully defended the top title of their company, John Cena survived a 3 Stages of Hell match against The Ryback. Texano Jr. defended the AAA Mega-Campeonato against a member of the legendary Casas family, Heavy Metal.
4) Curtis Axel
5) Blue Demon Jr.

TJ Hawke
1) Daniel Bryan
The best wrestler in the world became the first person in the universe to pin a member of the Shield in a trios match (Smackdown). He also defeated Seth Rollins in a damn good match on Raw.

2) CM Punk: Punk solidified himself as one of the WWE’s biggest stars by returning on PPV and defeating Chris Jericho in a very fun match that caused the crowd to go bananas.
3) Alberto Del Rio: Alberto Del Rudo (credit to Ari Berenstein for that one) won the World Heavyweight Championship again.
4) Perro Aguayo
5) Curtis Axel

Jeremy Thomas
1) Daniel Bryan
D-Bry is pretty much unstoppable at this point. Not in wins and losses obviously, but in terms of constant output and rise in the company. But if you just want to focus on wins and losses, he was the first guy to definitively pin a member of the Shield, which is huge. Bryan is on a serious roll and hopefully will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

2) CM Punk: Punk made his return in his hometown, nearly blew the roof off with the crowd reaction and then had a damned good match with Chris Jericho that saw him pick up the win. Does he go face from here, or stay heel? My bet is face, but we’ll see.
3) Curtis Axel/AJ Lee: Both Curtis and AJ picked up their first WWE Titles at Payback. While Axel’s title win is bigger, AJ gets a ton of credit for helping pull a much better match out of Kaitlyn than I thought possible.
4) Alberto Del Rio
5) Perro Aguayo

James Wright
1) John Cena/C.M. Punk
I debated over which is more important; Retaining the WWE title at the main event of a PPV, or coming back to your hometown to a massive reception and winning the match of the night, and in the end I picked both! Punk and Cena contrast each other so much and yet they often come together very well, can they operate once again as dual faces of the company? Let’s hope so.

2) Alberto Del Rio: I really don’t agree with the decision to give Del Rio the title but I do agree with the apparent double turn that we saw at Payback. As long as this leads to another Ziggler or Bryan title win in the near future then that is okay with me, otherwise I have no idea what the WWE are playing at.
3) Curtis Axel: Axel is one lucky guy considering he wasn’t even supposed to be in this match. Sure the IC title still doesn’t mean all that much at the moment but it is better than getting technicality wins and having nothing else.
4) Daniel Bryan
5) AJ Lee

THE WINNERS~!

And 411’s Wrestler of the Week is…

Curtis Axel – 40 Votes

In a fitting homage to his father, Curtis Axel win the Intercontinental Title on Father’s Day.

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

Dean Ambrose – 64pts.

Seth Rollins – 60pts
Roman Reigns – 60pts

Curtis Axel – 33pts.

Daniel Bryan – 30pts.

Ryback – 20pts

Brock Lesnar – 18pts

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

Mark Henry – 12pts.
CM Punk – 12pts.
Prince Devitt – 12pts

Alberto Del Rio – 10pts.

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

AJ Styles – 6pts.
Chris Sabin – 6pts.
AJ Lee – 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
Mikey Nicholls- 1pt
Shane Haste – 1pt
Eddie Kingston – 1pt
La Sombra – 1 pt
El Hijo del Perro Aguayo – 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.

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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 Year Eight Winner: CM Punk