Greatest WWF/E Champion of all time

[Guest NoSelfWorth]

It's down to Bret Hart v Shawn Michaels in the final.

 

Go to Greatest WWF/E Champion of all time poll to vote.

 

The first round saw:

 

Ric Flair beat Bruno Sammartino

Shawn Michaels beat HGH

Bob Backlund beat Superstar Billy Graham

The Rock beat Diesel

Steve Austin beat Yokozuna

Bret Hart beat Underseller

Randy Savage beat Pedro Morales

Hulk Hogan beat Kurt Angle

 

Quarter Finals saw:

 

Shawn Michaels beat Ric Flair

The Rock beat Bob Backlund

Bret Hart beat Steve Austin

Hulk Hogan beat Randay Savage

 

Semi Finals saw:

 

Shawn Michaels beat The Rock

Bret Hart beat Hulk Hogan

 

 

Go and vote

[Guest CanadianChick]

I voted for Bret already. He was my favorite back when he wrestled. I would say that, of all the years I've been watching wrestling, Bret is my all-time favorite. Go Bret!

[Guest Angle-plex]

Bret knocked out Austin? That's kind of surprising.

[Guest TheSoleSurvivor]

Where's KANE?

[Guest NoSelfWorth]

It should be noted that it's 99% certain the poll will be rigged.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

ric flair was a greater wwf champion in his 3-4 months with the gold than bruno sammartino was for an entire decade on top? right... god bless the fans.

[Ultimo Dugas 0]

The fact that Bret beat Austin leads me to believe that this one may not be rigged.

[Guest NoSelfWorth]

Or it could be, and Vince is giving this award to Bret as some sort of goodwill gesture.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I'm pretty shocked Bret beat Hogan.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

FIRST ROUND:

 

1--Sammartino mops the floor with Flair in terms of credibility, drawing power, overness and big money gates. We're not talking overall here, cause it's just WWF champions this pole deals with. Flair was in the WWF all of 18 months. His legacy was formed in the NWA, his WWF stint was just a brief interlude. Jesus. Sammartino WAS the WW(W)F for almost 20 friggin' years!

 

2--Shawn over HHH. Agreed.

 

3--Backlund over Superstar Graham is right, but only cause Graham was never given a fair shot at a face run as champion. Vince kinda pulled the rug out from under him, and put Backlund on top for a looong time in his place (too long).

 

4--Rock over Diesel, no contest. Probably wrestling's greatest ever crossover star against the worst drawing champion of all-time.

 

5--Austin over Yokozuna, obviously.

 

6--Bret Hart over Undertaker. Taker's always been a dependably solid main eventer, but never the franchise player that Bret was.

 

7--Savage over Morales, but just. Pedro held the title longer, but kinda bombed as champion. Although it could be argued that Savage bombed as champ too, he was an undeniable part of wrestling's 80's boom, probably second only to Hogan.

 

8--Hogan over Angle, again no contest. On pure wrestling ability, obviously Kurt takes it in a heartbeat, but technique is only a fraction of what makes a great champion. OK, that's 7 out of 8 first round picks I go along with. Not too shabby, just the Sammartino one was waay off base.

 

 

QUARTER FINALS

 

1--Sammartino again walks it when compared to HBK, who drew shit during his run on top.

 

2--The Rock over Backlund, agreed.

 

3--Austin over Bret Hart without a shadow of a doubt! Dunno where that one came from, especially if they're rigging the thing like they usually do. Did all of Canada vote or something? If there had been no Austin, wrestling would be absolutely unrecognisable today. No bad thing, probably, but you can't deny StoneCold's run as champion was way more memorable and historically important than Bret's.

 

4--Hogan over Savage, another no-brainer.

 

 

SEMI FINALS

 

1--I'd go with Rock over Sammartino, though it's difficult to compare eras like that. I pick Rocky because he's an international household name, a great ambassador for the sport, had amazing heat, mic work and drawing power, and could put on a more entertaining match than Bruno. But it's close. Shawn Michaels a better WWF champion than Rock? As Gorilla Monsoon would say...

 

2--Hogan vs. Austin (forget Bret, he's long gone...) Toughest call of the tournament, they respectively spearheaded the WWF's two mainstream financial boom periods. They're both exceptionally charismatic, phenomenal box office draws. Both were limited in terms of technique, but Austin could put on a far superior match psychologically. Hard choice, but I go with Hogan simply because he took wrestling national and international and was not just the champion but the face of wrestling as a whole when it became the global force we know it as today.

 

FINAL

 

Bret vs. Shawn my ass, the real final for greatest WWF champion of all-time is Hogan vs. Rock and you can see that event next sunday on PPV. Host Haley Barbour joins special guest lady Margaret Thatcher in celebrating the former president's 83 birthday. Ticket's are 1000 Dollars a plate but you can see the event free on GOP TV.

 

EDIT: a cookie to anyone who gets the quote at the end there! i feel in this instance it's strangely fitting...

[Ultimo Dugas 0]

Perhaps NoSelfWorth, but I wouldn't think he'd put Bret/Shawn in the finals, especially because of all the controversy.

[Guest Eagan469]

Yeah, but this could be Vince's way of putting Bret over Shawn 6 years after the fact

 

I don't see problem with that at all.

[Guest Army Eye]

Weird.. Michaels shouldn't even have made it out of the first round. HHH was the better champ.

 

And Sammartino over Flair, come on now. That's insane. Although I'm sure Vince liked that result.

[Guest TheCynicalHateMongerFromHell]

Austin is the greatest of all-time, what?! I said he's the greatest. And all bullshit posting gimmicks aside, I mean it. From someone who didn't see Flair during is heydey, and can't sit through 50 minutes of sleeper variations - Austin is the man. He changed the business. He could wrestle better than anyone in the WWE over the past few years, as well as entertain the fans in the Main Event slot. He truly is a rare commidity in the business.

[Guest Mole]

I voted for Bret Hart, and this thing was TOTALLY rigged.

[Guest spiny norman]

"Host Haley Barbour joins special guest lady Margaret Thatcher in celebrating the former president's 83 birthday"

 

Deputy Hawk, I was not aware of Margaret Thatcher's presidency?

 

And of these two, it's Bret obviously, but probably should've been Austin.

[Guest Your Olympic Hero]

The first voter will vote for Michaels. Michaels leads the poll 1-0. Vince will then come to the WWE website offices and say to ring the fucking bell now and stop the voting. Michaels wins.

[Guest Bling-Bling Buchanan]

Something has to be up. How can two guys from the vastly unpopular WWF New Generation Era be the front runners?

[Guest Austin3164life]

WWE polls are always rigged. Greatest WWE World Champion should always, always come down between Hogan and Austin. Austin should get it because he was every bit the draw Hogan was, and a far better wrestler.