411’s Wrestler of the Week 1.28.08: Week 43

Welcome to Week 43, Year-Three, of 411’s Wrestler of the Week. A quick overview to kick things off as we have some new rules for year three…

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 at WrestleMania. This will be posted every Monday. Let’s see who wins this week…

The Voting!

Andy Clark
1) John Cena
I don’t care what else happened this week. THIS is the No. 1 Wrestler of the Week. John Cena shocks the world but coming back at least three months early (looking great I might add), faces off with the Rumble favorite Triple H, spits in the face of the smarky Northern crowd, and wins the Royal Rumble from the jinxed No. 30 spot. John motherfucking Cena is back and is going to the main event of WrestleMania in a state that might not even boo him. I’m sorry, Larry, I have to steal the phrase: ELEVENTY BILLION STARS!

2) Chavo Guerrero: While this week managed to severely devalue the ECW Title, it’s still kind of a World Title and I’ll recognize the win as such.
3) Rocky Romero & Davey Richard: Who thought the Age of the Fall would drop the belts so quickly? And to fellow heels no less. Now the ROH Tag Team Titles are in the hands of people with NO REMORSE.
4) Minoru & Prince Devitt
5) Masaaki Mochizuki

JT
1) John Cena
Yes, I’ll be the first along with Clark to take the heat for it. Doesn’t even really need discussion. John Cena showed up 3 months ahead of time when NOBODY – AND BY NOBODY I MEAN NOT A SINGLE PERSON ON THE PLANET – saw it coming. He happened to show up in the Rumble, and went on to eliminate some people and win the whole thing over guys like Batista and HHH. Bottom line, Cena was part of a huge SWERVE from the E and he is heading to WrestleMania for the chance to regain a title, whichever one he chooses to seek out.

2) Chavo Guerrero: When it comes to the WWE, there are only two titles more important; he may have won #3, but it’s still #3 in a long list of titles.
3) Ric Flair: Wrestled what we all believe to be his last match at MSG, one of the places it all started 30+ years ago. Standing ovation from the crowd, near tears from Flair, and a great way to open one of the Big 4.
4) Minoru & Prince Devitt
5) Johnny Devine

Samuel Berman
1) Davey Richards & Rocky Romero
Defied the odds to win the ROH World Tag Team Titles from Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black, along the way having to best ROH’s current incarnation of the Mega Powers, Austin Aries & Bryan Danielson. I won’t pretend to be a big fan of the No Remorse Corps, but the group finally took that elusive step forward, and that in itself is a huge accomplishment. Now the only question is how long Richards & Romero can hold onto the straps in the current climate of Faction Warfare.

2) John Cena: Improbably returning to win the Royal Rumble would even earn the top spot from me if there hadn’t been movement in the ROH title picture.
3) Nigel McGuinness: A pair of successful ROH World Title defenses (including the highly anticipated Steel Cage Match with Chris Hero) gets Nigel on my ballot again this week.
4) Joey Ryan & Scott Lost
5) Masaaki Mochizuki

ARI
1) John Cena
Well, now THAT is how you throw the whole wrestling world for a loop. Cena came from outta nowhere and returned to action in WWE after his pec injury. He won the match right out from under Triple H, defying what many had thought to be an easy win for the King of Kings. Cena also becomes the second man in a row to win from the number 30 spot, thus giving the position back all of the importance it had back in the early days. Who knows what this does for the Mania main event, but for now Cena returns and reigns supreme.

2) No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero): Speaking of shocking events, the NRC winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles this past weekend in Chi-town was certainly unexpected. The Age of the Fall seemed to be the new “it” team in Ring of Honor, but even with a new member in Joey Matthews this wasn’t their weekend at all. The No Remorse Corps eliminated Jacobs & Black first in the Ultimate Endurance match and defeated Aries in the final fall to win the belts.
3) Nigel McGuinness: Retains the title against two top challengers in Chris Hero and Roderick Strong. McGuinness has stabilized his run at the top by actually wrestling two shows in one weekend without getting injured. The matches were pretty damned good to boot judging from reports. Next up is Bryan Danielson on the Ring of Honor sixth anniversary show.
4) Randy Orton/Jeff Hardy
5) Bryan Danielson

Matt Short
1) John Cena
Now THAT is an epic return.

2) Rocky Romero & Davey Richards: Upset Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black to win the ROH Tag Team titles. A big win for the No Remorse Corps. though I expect their victory to be rather short lived since I can see the belts passed along among the factions in ROH for awhile.
3) Chavo Guerrero: Won the ECW Championship from CM Punk this week and solidified himself as an important part of the Rated Rmy.
4) Minoru & Prince Devitt
5) Masaaki Mochizuki

Scott Slimmer
1) John Cena
He may not be the champ, but he is definitely here. As soon as Triple H entered the Royal Rumble at #29, I began to think about who would emerge at #30. We’d already seen the other favorites like the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Mr. Kennedy, and CM Punk, so it couldn’t be any of them. There were rumors that none of the possible surprises like Big Show, Matt Hardy, Bobby Lashley, or Ron Killings were going to materialize. Had I forgotten about someone? And then, 90 seconds later, 20,000 screaming New Yorkers simultaneously creamed their pants. I know I did. Winning the Royal Rumble is almost always enough to win WOTW, but in this case the fact that Cena went on to actually win the Rumble is almost less important than the fact that he even walked down the isle in the first place. My friends, it’s gonna be a SWEET road to WrestleMania…

2) Chavo Guerrero: Chavo Guerrero gets my second place vote for defeating CM Punk to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. The Edge / Guerrero / Guerrero triangle of love now owns both Smackdown and ECW, and Chavito is riding high with his first world championship (even if, in the case of ECW, you do feel the need to put air quotes around either of those last two words).
3) Jamie Noble / Chuck Palumbo: Jamie Noble and Chuck Palumbo get my third place vote for taking their underlying animosity and turning it into the most compelling feud on Smackdown. Palumbo’s beat-down of Noble and Michelle McCool was the epitome of brutal intensity, and you just know that Noble is going to be gold as Michelle’s redneck night in shining armor.
4) Johnny Devine
5) Minoru & Prince Devitt

Mathew Sforcina
1) John Cena
Hands up anyone who saw this coming, or indeed called that #30 would win second year in a row? Anyone? *a hand pop up, Mathew pulls out a shotgun and shoots him* Anyone else? *another hand, another shot* That it? Good, now that we have the stinking liars gone, it’s just the poor shocked honest guys left.

2) Chavo Guerrero- Hey, he made history by being the first World Champion to enter a Rumble…
3) Rocky Romero & Davey Richards- Hot potato hot potato…
4) Johnny Devine
5) Minoru & Prince Devitt

Mike Minotti
1) John Cena
It’s rare when wrestling can actually surprise me anymore these days. I marked out big for Cena, and winning the Rumble means he will be main eventing the year’s biggest wrestling show. Of course, now we have to deal with the crying Cena haters again…

2) Randy Orton: Defended his WWE championship against an incredibly threatening opponent in Jeff Hardy. It looks like Orton also stamped his ticket to WrestleMania.
3) Davey Richards and Rocky Romero: You’ve got to give it up to the new ROH Tag Team Champions.
4) Nigel McGuinness
5) Chavo Guerrero

Daniel Wilcox
1) John Cena
I saw the guy on Sky Sports News in the UK just last week saying he would be out of action for another 6 months, at least. Cena gets the top spot for winning the Royal Rumble and being able to get a reaction out of wrestling fans such as that he did last night. That was one of the most epic moments I’ve ever witnessed on a wrestling show, and there was me waiting on Big Show to turn up.

2) Chavo Guerrero – Won the ECW Championship from CM Punk
3) Edge/Randy Orton – Both retained their world titles at Royal Rumble in equally good matches.
4) Johnny Devine
5) Ric Flair

Christi Csonka
1) John Cena
Wow…that was awesome. I love being surprised.

2) Randy Orton: He beat Jeff Hardy and did so with no help or shenanigans.
3) Chavo Guerrero/Johnny Devine: Both men win titles this week and deserve the recognition.
4) Rocky Romero and Davey Richards
5) John Morrison

Bayani Domingo
1) John Cena
Um…so there goes all the build up for the half dozen or so guys who were “favorites” to win the Rumble. John Cena debuts to a huge surprise and manages to take out a small army of men all by himself. Back and apparently A-ok, Super Cena is headed back to Wrestlemania and it seems as though the person who really is going to save us from Randy Orton is the Dr. of Thuganomics.

2) Rocky Romero & Davey Richards: I didn’t see the AoTF losing the titles so quickly and it looks like the NRC finally has some teeth. Who knows how long they’re going to hold the belts but clearly this may be the biggest break for the “corp” since they first formed.
3) Chavo Guerrero: Hey, it’s a “World Championship” after all. Of course…what the hell was he doing in the Rumble in the first place? I guess he’s just being greedy.
4) Joey Ryan & Scott Lost
5) Johnny Devine

Michael Bauer
1) John Cena
Well, I think everything that needs to be said has been said, but I’ll throw my own spin into it. John Cena is the 2nd straight person to win the Rumble from the #30 hole, which used to be a curse. We also now get Cena vs. Orton, which the “creative” of the WWE has been salivating for years about to happen at Wrestlemania. What this also does is gives us their feud ender that never happened. That is what Wrestlemania is all about, so Cena is a logical choice, despite being the biggest shocker EVER.

2) Rocky Romero and Davey Richards – The title drop was called only by Sam and these guys deserve their due. The NRC finally can boast something worth while.
3) Nigel McGuiness – Two excellent defenses from all accounts makes it a little easier to put him above two guys with not so clean title wins.
4) Chavo Guerrero/Johnny Devine
5) Masaaki Mochizuki

SAT
1) John Cena
Wow, John Cena shocks the world and wins the Royal Rumble. Looks to me like he is not willing to give up the Wrestler of the Year award so quickly.

2) Chavo Guerrero: Chavo Guerrero gets the second slot for winning the ECW Title from CM Punk.
3) Rocky Romero and Davey Richards: Rocky Romero and Davey Richards get the third slot for winning the ROH Tag Team Titles.
4) Johnny Devine
5) Randy Orton

Matt Adamson
1) John Cena
I can be a decent guy and give Cena all the due credit here. While I loathe the guys gimmick and am among a small minority that thinks he is incredibly stale, this Rumble was a big deal yesterday because of his win. It won’t hold up, but yesterday it was meaningful.

2) Chavo Guerrero – I never expected this and the guy seems to finally have some quality to his character.
3) Ric Flair – Ya know, Ric Flair is the man, period.
4) Rocky Romero & Davey Richards
5) Edge/Randy Orton

Larry Csonka
1) John Cena
Epic Swerve? Yup. Any man that can return unannounced, win the Rumble and blow up the Internet and wrestling world on both spectrums like Cena did in a matter of hours deserves the spot. I loved the surprise, I marked out and it was just amazing.

2) Minoru & Prince Devitt:
3) Johnny Devine/Chavo Guerrero: These men won the ECW and X-Division titles this week, in a stacked week. They really need mentioned, because they are easily going to be overshadowed with the return of John Cena.
4) Masaaki Mochizuki
5) Randy Orton

THE WINNERS!