411’s Wrestler of the Week 10.30.06: Week 30

Each writer chooses three wrestlers from any promotion and each wrestler gets a vote attached to that ranking. It looks a little like this…

1st – 5
2nd – 3
3rd – 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 five vote getters get a points value for their ranking which looks something like this…

1st – 15
2nd – 10
3rd – 5
4th – 3
5th – 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…

The Voting!

Andy Clark
1) Samoa Joe
The man beat Bryan Danielson in a nice, tidy 21 minutes, and he got to shut Kurt Angle up on Impact. Joe is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

2) Batista
3) Abyss

Steve Cook
1) Delirious
If there is a more fun wrestler to watch live, I have not seen them. While Joe/Homicide vs. Corino/Pearce will likely be the best match on the most recent Dayton show to those watching on DVD, Delirious vs. Matt Sydal was fucking awesome to watch live. These two men have probably wrestled each other more than they’ve wrestled anybody else, and you can tell because they have a damn good match every time they’re booked against each other. The reason it might not be the best match on the show on the DVD is it’s probably harder to understand Delirious speak when you’re not within 10 feet of him. He’s an entertaining son of a bitch that’s awesome at working a crowd, and he can wrestle with the best of them. As far as I’m concerned, Delirious is a great worker. That’s right, I said it! Samoa Joe beat Danielson and teamed with Homicide to beat Corino & Pearce, and he’s feuding with Kurt Angle in TNA. Doesn’t get much better than that. Colt gets third place because he got to wrestle Hacksaw Jim Duggan and I bought one of his t-shirts at the show. I watched maybe 5 minutes of WWE programming this week, so I’ll let my colleagues vote for those people.

2) Samoa Joe
3) Colt Cabana

Ryan Byers
1) Icarus
A lot of this site’s readers have probably never heard of Icarus, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a really big weekend. Saturday night brought us CHIKARA’s annual torneo cibernetico show, which is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most entertaining and innovative annual indy events. In this crazy lucha style match, young Icarus (a graduate of the Texas Wrestling Academy) outlasted fifteen other men and stood victorious. It may not make him a nationally renowned wrestler, but for a guy on his level it’s a major victory that deserves some recognition.

2) Samoa Joe
3) Ken Doane

JD Dunn
1) Samoa Joe
Involved in the big programs of two of the top three feds in the industry.

2) RVD
3) Lance Hoyt

Arnold Furious
1) Samoa Joe
Not really anything else to get excited about this week. Joe is over huge in ROH & TNA and basically involved in each of their key feuds. Wrestling has been generally weak elsewhere. NOAH had a big show though with Marufuji going over KENTA and Minoru had a big title defense too (well over RO’ Z).

2) Naomichi Marufuji
3) Minoru Suzuki

Stuart Carapola
1) Samoa Joe
It’s all ROH all the time this weekend. In addition to beating up Kurt Angle again on Impact, he beat the ROH World Champion in 21 this weekend in Chicago after going to two time limit draws with him earlier in the year. Joe is the moneyman in the business right now without a shadow of a doubt. Davey Richards gets a close second by beating both Jay and Mark Briscoe in separate singles matches this weekend, and Christopher Daniels comes in a close third by beating both former WWE star Brent Albright and also former ROH World Champion Austin Aries in their first singles meeting in ROH.

2) Davey Richards
3) Christopher Daniels

Bayani Domingo
1) Samoa Joe
Is there a fed where he isn’t “the man” right now? The man has beaten basically every in RoH save Zach Gowen and right now is embroiled in a feud with Kurt Angle in what many are calling a potential ‘dream match’. I don’t know about that but the man is red hot right now.

2) Batista
3) Davey Richards

Scott Slimmer
1) King Booker
All three of WWE’s main champions battled it out on Raw, but when the dust cleared it was King Booker that was left standing. I expected either WWE’s golden boy John Cena or their last true monster Big Show to be booked strong on Raw, but I was pleasantly surprised by King Booker asserted his dominance. Sure, the fact that he later got pinned by Batista on Smackdown somewhat takes away from what he accomplished on Raw, but I think it’s important to note that it was Batista, not Cena, who got the pin. This week King Booker was made to look like the Champion of Champions in WWE, and for that he gets my vote for WOTW.

2) Samoa Joe
3) RVD

Mathew Sforcina
1) Samoa Joe
OLAY, OLAY OLAY OLAY!

2) Abyss
3) Colt Cabana

Jeff Small
1) Samoa Joe
The man defeated one of the longer reigning ROH Champions (but really aren’t they all long reigning). Sure it was a non-title match but considering Danielson’s been unbeatable recently, it’s still a HUGE deal. Throw in the fact that he gave props to Umaga and has an upcoming dream match with Kurt Angle so he’s definitely the WOTW.

2) RVD
3) Abyss

Sat
1) Samoa Joe
He defeats Danielson in a non-title match and he is currently involved in a great feud with Kurt Angle.

2) Abyss
3) RVD

ARI
1) Naomichi Marufuji / KENTA
It was Nao’s second defense of the title and his first defense in Japan. not only that but he was put in as the headlining act, a junior heavyweight up against another junior heavyweight in KENTA. This is the FIRST TIME EVER IN JAPAN two junior heavyweights headlined a huge dome show. That is some major accomplishment, further enforced by the major success of live crowd attendance with reports ranging from 13,000 to 15,000 people for a sell out. This is the equivalent of Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, two smaller but nonetheless world-class wrestlers, headlining WrestleMania 12. It is a huge accomplishment for Marufuji and KENTA and as far as I’m concerned it’s one more for the good guys. Joe was a huge presence on both ROH shows and on TNA TV. He did defeat Bryan Danielson for the first time in their one on one encounters this year and it leads to a title shot in a cage this December in Chicago. John Cena continues to reshape his career in a positive way–according to reports he had a great performance on Monday, played off well against K-Fed and did a great job as the base of the main event tag match on Smackdown.

2) Samoa Joe
3) John Cena

JT~!
1) Samoa Joe
What he they said.

2) Batista
3) RVD

MEEHAN
1) Samoa Joe
Top of the charts in two major feds AND hot on the heels of THE hottest acquisition in TNA’s history, Samoa Joe is undeniably the man to watch in professional wrestling today. While it remains to be seem if TNA will have the sense to put him over Kurt Angle, the fact remains that for the moment — Joe is HOT, and TNA fans are in for a treat as his program with the only Olympic Gold Medallist in professional wrestling history builds to a head. PLUS he even blogged his way into getting the most jaded of IWC assholes to give UUUUUMAGA a break for a week, so it’s an easy top spot for Samoa Joe this week in my book.

2) RVD
3) Abyss

Larry Csonka
1) Naomichi Marufuji/KENTA
I was all set to give Joe first, until I read the results from NOAH and what Naomichi Marufuji/KENTA accomplished. The fact that two junior heavyweights headlined a huge dome show, and sold 15,000 sets AND tore the place down is a tremendous accomplishment for both men. Things may be on the down turn in Japan, but if these two have anything to say about it, it won’t stay that way for long. Joe getting a win against Bryan Danielson, which is RARE these days is just a huge deal and needs recognized. Add to that the fact he is feuding with Kurt Angle and that is money all around. Next, it may have been the most convoluted match ever (actually it wasn’t but it was wacky) Abyss went through 17-others to get a bye to the finals of the Fight for your Right (TO PAAAAAAAAAAAAARTAY) tournament for a shot at Sting’s NWA Title, so he gets a mention. Finally, Icarus steals the show in the Cibernetico and takes the whole thing, while Black Warrior is the greatest heel going right now. VIVA LUCHA~!

2) Abyss/Samoa Joe
3) Icarus/Black Warrior

THE WINNERS!