V2 WWC 2012 The Knockout Stages Last 16 Match 5

And yet another clear cut, one sided, landslide victory in yesterday's group with current reigning and defending WWC champion and WWE champion CM punk hammered Sheamus with 86% of the vote!

Next up match 5

Pease vote for the wrestler you believe has generated the best work in the last 12 months

As always leave a comment as to why you voted

The winner will progress to the last 8

As much as I appreciate the work and the push of Ryback these past few months, I have thoroughly enjoyed Ziggler's work for the last 12 months. He is a work horse, a great seller, a very good wrestler and he has charisma. Can't wait until he is finally World Champion. Hopefully that will be soon and he will be given a proper run this time.

15 votes, one comment. I guess i'd better justify voting for Ziggler.

I prefer him, I think he's brilliant in the ring and on the mic, and if used correctly could be a huge star in the WWE for years to come.

Despite having doubts over Dolph Ziggler's long-term main event potential, he wins this one on account of not being Ryberg.

I'm not actually the biggest fan of Ziggler but given the choice of him or Skippy who huffs and puffs his way to victory whilst gurning more than Gurnie McGurnish from Gurnland.

I'm not really that big a fan of either, I think both are massively overrated. Voted for Ziggler in the end who I enjoy watching considerably more than Skip Sheffield.

Im a big fan of Ziggles, but I dont think hes done enough this year, and whilst hes brilliant in the ring hes only just being let out on his own a touch more as a character. I think Ryback deserves credit for making the main event interesting, and I think he does the whole monster thing very well.

Im with Crimey on this, dont rate either of them. Really really really dont get all the love for Ryback. Sure he does the powerhouse thing well but i hate his name, his facial expressions, his stupid catchphrase, i dont find him charasmatic and i hate the fact he's in the title picture. Batista was and is a much better big man powerhouse, has a better look, more charisma and is a million times better on the mic.

For me the only way Ziggler will get close to making it as a main eventer would be as a face. Cash in the briefcase, win the WHC and fued with a heel Orton next summer and i can see him being massively over as a face main eventer on Smackdown.

Ziggler gets my vote purely because he could sell sand to an arab.

It's a damning indictment when this is used as an argument against someone:

Batista was and is a much better big man powerhouse, has a better look, more charisma and is a million times better on the mic.

Perhaps Ryback should take out his frustrations on a basketball?

The basketball would have more charisma.

He could actually eat them with his gimmick.

I went for ryback as he has progressed at fast rate, made in into 3 main events in a row (even as champ Ziggler will struggle to get into one) and is mega over.

Ziggler was 7-0 u this morning. Ryback on the comeback. Went for Ziggler as I feel he has the potential to be as close to the new HBK as we are gonna get.

Mr H wrote:Im with Crimey on this, dont rate either of them. Really really really dont get all the love for Ryback. Sure he does the powerhouse thing well but i hate his name, his facial expressions, his stupid catchphrase, i dont find him charasmatic and i hate the fact he's in the title picture. Batista was and is a much better big man powerhouse, has a better look, more charisma and is a million times better on the mic.

You forgot the dumbass 'Big Hungry' moniker, his stupid 'stomping around the ring' that Michael Cole faps over which just reminds me of Santino's 'trumpet dance', his inability to lift fattys like Tensai for his finisher and the fact that he used to be Skip Sheffield.

Yip yip yip. What it do.

How anyone cannot rate Ziggler is beyond me!

I agree. He has massive potential. He isn't quite there yet, just needs that moment.

Who says people don't rate Ziggler? Just because someone would vote for Ryberg doesn't mean they don't rate the other guy, simply that they either rate Goldback more or prefer what Skip Manchester brings to the table

Gregers wrote:How anyone cannot rate Ziggler is beyond me!

I think he's gone totally stale and has been stuck in the same spot for about 3 years. He has to move on from being just good at selling to something else. Even in this feud with Cena, it's really a feud between Guerrero and Cena, or Guerrero vs. Cena and AJ, Ziggler isn't taking a main role and hasn't for a long time.

On the mic he's overrated, any chance he has been given on it has been basically average hence why he's stuck with Guerrero and in the ring I think he has the potential to be good but relies too much on his ability to sell.

This is very tough. My vote actually goes for Ryback.

Both men have had a great developing year and im sure both men will be a huge hit in 2013. But i think Ryback has done that little bit more.

Ziggler has put on some great matches.

Royal Rumble 2012 - CM Punk
No Way Out 2012 - Sheamus
Money in the bank 2012 - Ladder match
Summer Slam 2012 - Chris Jericho (and the re-match the next night on Raw)
Night of Champions 2012 - Randy Orton

But as said, i have been a huge fan of Ryback since day 1. Enjoying his storyline atm. So Ryback for me.

I prefer Ziggler overall, but Ryback has reinvigorated the main event imho. I like Ryback too, now hes doing less hunger puns I find his character interesting. He plays the intense monster role well. The catchphrase is over, hes over, and I think he legitimately comes into question for the big matches of WM, which Im not sure Dolph does.

In a way I think the amount of potential Dolph has and the fact WWE have yet to pull the trigger is why I havent voted for him. His standards of success and expectation are higher than those I had for Ryback this year. Plus his involvement has knocked Cena out of the main event for a little, huge bonus. (He also did left Tensai the week before on Smackdown)

Have to disagree Crimey I think he is severely underrated on the mic and find him to be a very good talker. His promo on Raw the other night was actually very good and the crowd are reacting to him much more now.

Saying this I voted for Ryback as he really has impressed me this year, when he first came in I hated him, the gimmick and felt he was undeserving but boy was I wrong! He is doing okay on the stick, not terrible and not amazing, his in ring work is steadily getting better, watching him come out attempting the save the other night showed just how far he has come. But most importantly the guy has got himself well over to the point that I would now class him as a genuine main event face.

Very tough as I love Ziggler but Ryback has gone from being a guy I had no time for to one I am now genuinely interested in and that is what gets him my vote.

It's been close between these two all day, just 5 votes in it now, looks like Ziggler is going to progress unless something drastic happens in the next few hours

I am a massive fan of both guys, but I went for Ryback because, for some reason, I have developed a real liking for the guy in recent weeks.

I think the magnitude of his situation has not been realised by some people. He isn't the best on the mic, granted, and he isn't the best in the ring either, grant that too, but he has successfully become a legitimate WWE main eventer in just a couple of months.

He is bang over with the crowd, which is something nobody seems capable of doing anymore, and he plays the powerhouse extremely well in my opinion.

I enjoyed his demolition of CM Punk at HIAC, I enjoyed the triple threat at Survivor Series and I am seriously enjoying his ongoing program with The Shield, plus the impending TLC match with Punk at the event of the same name.

Maybe he is a rip-off of Goldberg, but he was given the gimmick and boy has he run with it. He is now a genuine threat to anybody on the roster and the crowd are buying into it.

Sure it goes to show that WWE could do this with anyone, but they did it with Skip Sheffield and he made it work, no matter what anyone thinks of him.

I'm a fan, it is a break from the same boring stuff we have been fed for years. A break from Orton/Cena/Punk main evnts and a different character who actually makes it a little intriguing.

I see longevity if the current booking continues, and I believe a top tier match at Mania is on the horizon.

That being said, I think Ziggler is a future star of the company. He can wrestle, he can sell and he has decent mic skills (he also seems willing to improve which is a good trait).

I agree with some of the above points, that he has stalled somewhat. But I believe that if he is given the chance, then he will more than make the most of it.

A good win over Orton at SS, a feud with Cena where he has got a good amount of screen time and looked good in stages.Hopefully a decent PPV contest with Cena will elevate him into the position where it is believable to become WHC.

I feel that the fact that Ziggler spent all summer jobbing to Sheamus hurt his character badly and he is only just getting back in his groove.That is why I think Ryback pips him at the post.

Been the most difficult to choose for me so far

Agree about this being the most difficult choice so far, when this match up came out of the hat I instantly knew this would be one of the match up's of the tournament.

Just four in it now!

Whilst I can where you're coming from JJ isn't it down to the WWE Universe just doing as Vince wanted, he's his last pet project and he wanted him to go hugely over, you could have stuck any of the meatheads that needed a gimmick change in his situation and got the same result.

But Sheffield still had to be in that position and he was, therefore he deserves the plaudits. The WWE Universe still had to buy into it, so he must be doing something right.

They haven't bought into a legitimate main eventer in years, I see Ryback as a better main eventer than Sheamus and he has been there for two years now.

I admit that I like Ryback, and therefore am probably slightly biased but I barely buy into wrestling anymore and Ryback has actually peaked my interest for the first time in awhile.

There are probably hundreds more talented than him in the world, I know of a few myself, but this competition was about who has had the best year....and it is hard to argue against Ryback for me.

I must say I agree word for word with everything JJJ says here.

As much as I really don't understand it, I like Ryback, I like how over he is, the fact RAW went to a break with the crowd chanting his name and they came back and the crowd were still doing it shows he is unbelievably over. The WWE machine can only do so much, you have to get yourself over and I think he's done that well.

I'm not watching a Ryback match to see a great Wrestling match, but I'm watching it to see him kick ass and watching it to see how the better "smarter" Wrestler will avoid defeat when he at this moment in time looks unstoppable.

I've no doubt that this time next year I'll probably hate him but right here right now I like him and I enjoy the freshness he brings to the World Title scene