WrestleMania Tournament- Elite Eight

[humanoid92 0]

I'll be back later with some Round 3 analysis but we might as well start on the voting now. This is going to be the last round with traditional voting...

 

Once again, for those just joining us, simply vote for your favorites. Historical significance, star ratings, finishes, buyrates, money drawn, etc. does not matter. Just vote for which match you personally like more.

 

And as always, please just indicate the # of your vote instead of bolding it or listing it. It's easier to count that way.

 

Thanks to everyone who's been voting.

 

The sweet sixteen:

 

Pontiac

 

1 Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (III)

2 Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

 

Atlantic City

 

1 Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage

3 Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair

 

Toronto

 

1 Ultimate Warrior vs. Hulk Hogan

2 Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart

 

New York City

 

1 Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage

6 Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper

 

Houston

 

1 Steve Austin vs. The Rock (X-7)

6 Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

 

Seattle

 

1 Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

10 Christian vs. Chris Jericho

 

Chicago

 

1 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin

2 Chris Benoit vs. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels

 

Anaheim

 

3 Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

5 Edge & Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz (X-7)

[CanadianChris 0]

Pontiac - 2

Atlantic City - 3

Toronto - 2

New York City - 1

Houston - 1

Seattle - 10

Chicago - 2

Anaheim - 5

[Alro 0]

Pontiac - 2

 

Atlantic City - 1

 

Toronto - 2

 

New York City - 6

 

Houston - 1

 

Seattle - 1

 

Chicago - 2

 

Anaheim - 5

[eiker_ir 0]

Pontiac 2

 

Atlantic City 3

 

Toronto 2

 

New York City 1

 

Houston 6

 

Seattle 10

 

Chicago 1

 

Anaheim 5

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Pontiac - 2 Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

 

Atlantic City- 3 Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair

 

Toronto - 2 Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart

 

New York City - 1 Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage

 

Houston - 6 Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

 

Seattle - 10 Christian vs. Chris Jericho

 

Chicago - 2 Chris Benoit vs. HHH vs. Shawn Michaels

 

Anaheim - 3 Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle

[Guest BlueStang302]

Pontiac

 

1 Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (III)

2 Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

 

The biggest match ever vs My favorite match ever. I was in awe of Andre as a kid and I still am now. As I got older, I learned why he was so slow and lumbering in the ring and found out that he was not always that way. But it doesn't matter to me. Since he wrestled so infrequently, any match he was in seemed huge. And this match certainly was. The staredown in the middle of the ring and the bodyslam are unquestionably two of the most enduring images in wrestling history. BUT, Warrior-Savage might be my favorite match ever. I never liked Warrior, but I liked Savage and this match was huge. The intensity throughout, the 5 elbowdrops, the dramatic ending where Macho is exhausted and half dead, and the post match reunion with Liz. This was great. Warrior even WALKED to the ring, and walked back. In some ways, this seemed as big as Hogan-Andre did. Two former world champions. One was the "heir apparent" to Hogan - only 2 months removed from holding the belt. The other, a legend of the ring with the best finishing move of all time. And for one of them, it was their LAST match. Theoretically.

 

 

Atlantic City

 

1 Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage

3 Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair

 

I have to go with Savage/Flair here. I like this match almost as much as Warrior/Savage from the year prior. Great story, great back and forth, very intense, Heenan on commentary. The only irritating part was when Liz came down to ringside and they had 6-8 backstage people hassle her for 10 minutes to try and get her to leave. Why? That was just distracting. But otherwise, it was close to Perfect. Oh yeah, he was there too! Savage/Hogan never did a whole lot for me. Even as a kid, I was never a big fan of the formulaic Hogan match. It was so obvious he was always going to win, so where was the fun in that. If I had like him that would have been one thing, but I didn't even like him. It was a quality match, but I'm going with Flair/Savage.

 

Toronto

 

1 Ultimate Warrior vs. Hulk Hogan

2 Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart

 

Both very good and well put together matches. I never loved Bret. It was cool when he first won the title out of the blue and became the fighting champion wrestling guys like Papa Shango and Jean Pierre Lafitte every week on Raw. But I got a little bored of him. Bland interviews, same moveset every match. So, I don't go out of my way to see every Bret match and rank them highly like some people seem to. But, this was a very good match. And it should have been considering they were brothers. They probably had hundreds of matches similar to this in the basement that no one ever saw. The match was well-wrestled and had great psychology. I can say the same for Warrior-Hogan. The match built the two guys up as being equal which made it interesting because you truly didn't know who was going to win. Hogan had NEVER lost, but he had never before faced a fan favorite with equal popularity and such a legitimate percieved chance to beat him. It was great watching him finally lose. Even back then at 9 years old, I loved it. I wasn't a Warrior fan, but I was sick of Hogan. In a close call such as this, that gives the edge to Warrior-Hogan for me.

 

New York City

 

1 Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage

6 Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper

 

Bret-Piper told an incredible story. Piper never failed to be entertaining and Hart played a great no-nonsense guy to counteract that. They were good friends going in looking for a respectful fight. Then it intensified and the slapping and brawling began. Then Hart plays possum and almost gets the small package. Then Piper gets even more mad. He goes for the ring bell, but is persuaded against using it. Match ends and they make up. Can't ask for much more in 13 minutes. Steamboat-Savage seems to get wide acclaim as one of the matches ever, but I wonder if that is because how much it stood out. Back then, you hardly ever got 16 minute matches with 22 near falls. Not in the WWF at least. But this match did that and stole the show at the biggest wrestling event in history. A transcendent match, but I don't really think it's much better than any of the other matches in the "Elite Eight". It's a tough call, but if I had to choose to watch one match and not the other - I'd pick Bret-Piper.

[Chui 0]

Pontiac: 2

 

Atlantic City: 3

 

Toronto: 1

 

New York City: 6

 

Houston: 1

 

Seattle: 10

 

Chicago: 2

 

Anaheim: 3

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

Pontiac

2

 

Atlantic City

3

 

Toronto

2

 

New York City

6

 

Houston

1

 

Seattle

10

 

Chicago

2

 

Anaheim

5

[El Gigante 0]

Pontiac 2

 

Atlantic City 3

 

Toronto 1

 

New York City 6

 

Houston 1

 

Seattle 1

 

Chicago 1

 

Anaheim 5

[Vern Gagne 0]

Pontiac 2

Atlantic City 3

Toronto 2

New York City 1

Houston 6

Seattle 10

Chicago 1

Anaheim 5

[Stephen 0]

Pontiac- 2

 

Atlantic City- 3

 

Toronto- 2

 

New York City- 1

 

Houston- 1

 

Seattle- 10

 

Chicago- 2

 

Anaheim- 5

[alfdogg 0]

Pontiac - 2

 

Atlantic City - 3

 

Toronto - 2

 

New York City - 1

 

Houston - 1

 

Seattle - 1

 

Chicago - 1

 

Anaheim - 5

[Si82 0]

Pontiac: 2

 

Atlantic City: 3

 

Toronto: 2

 

New York City: 6

 

Houston: 6

 

Seattle: 10

 

Chicago: 1

 

Anaheim: 5

[Perfxion 0]

Pontiac

 

2

 

Atlantic City

 

3

 

Toronto

 

2

 

New York City

 

1

 

Houston

1

 

Seattle

 

10

 

Chicago

 

1

 

Anaheim

 

5

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Pontiac - 2

 

Warrior/Savage is as well a booked match as you will ever see with both men going all out and Savage becoming a bigger star despite getting pinned by a boot to the chest. Hogan/Andre was gigantic, but neither the match nor the feud was as good as Warrior/Savage.

 

 

Atlantic City - 1

 

Tough one here and both related my pick in the Pontiac bracket. Hogan/Savage was the beginning of Savage's decline leading to the above match, whereas Flair/Savage was his final redemption. You can't go wrong with either, but I went with Savage/Hogan because if Savage/Flair has one flaw it is that they signed the match before they built the issue between them.

 

Toronto - 2

 

Warrior/Hogan was one of the defining matches of its generation, but it is up against possibly the best match of all time. I had to go with Bret/Owen.

 

New York City - 1

 

Steamboat/Savage was by far the best match in WWF history for a number of years and completely overshadowed the main event at the biggest show of all time. Arguably my favourite match ever.

 

Houston - 1

 

I loved Austin/Rock and it was the biggest match of the last ten years.

 

Seattle - 1

 

I'm not the biggest fan of the Iron Man match, but it is better than Jericho/Christian.

 

Chicago - 1

 

Tough one, but ultimately Bret/Austin meant so much more. It made Austin, destroyed Bret and changed the face of the company for years to come. We are still seeing the effects of this match today.

 

Anaheim - 5

 

The best the tag division has been since the 80s.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Pontiac

- 2 (Hogan/Andre is all spectacle while Savage/Warrior is a great match and, arguably, the most emotional moment n WWF history)

 

Atlantic City

- 3 (Savage/Flair is my second favorite of all-time and my favorite Mania match in general so it gets the vote)

 

Toronto

- 2 (Very tough call but I gotta give it to Bret and Owen since it's Owen shining moment)

 

New York City

- 6 (Savage/Steamboat I'm not big on, not even my favorite match between the two)

 

Houston

- 1 (No contest)

 

Seattle

- 10 (Eh I don't like either match much but atleast Christian/Jericho isn't an hour long)

 

Chicago

- 1 (No conest)

 

Anaheim

- 5 (This should be Rock/Hogan but whatever, still better than the overrated Angle/Brock match)

[J.T. 0]

Pontiac

1

 

Atlantic City

 

3

 

Toronto

 

2

 

New York City

 

6

 

Houston

 

6

 

Seattle

 

1

 

Chicago

 

2

 

Anaheim

 

5

[RepoMan 0]

Pontiac

 

2

 

Atlantic City

3

 

Toronto

 

2

 

New York City

 

1

 

Houston

 

1

 

Seattle

 

1

Chicago

 

2

 

Anaheim

 

3

[gWIL 0]

Pontiac

2

 

Atlantic City

1

 

Toronto

2

 

New York City

6

 

Houston

1

 

Seattle

10

 

Chicago

1

 

Anaheim

5

[humanoid92 0]

My votes:

 

Pontiac- 2

AC- 3

Toronto- 2

NYC- 6

Houston- 6

Seattle- 1

Chicago- 2

Anaheim- 5

 

Comments:

 

Pontiac- I've never been a fan of Hogan or Andre and every time I watch Wrestlemania III, I find myself wanting to stop watching before the main event. I know what it did for the business, I just don't ever want to watch it again. Warrior vs. Savage, on the other hand, is an awesome match with legitimately touching aftermath. And I love how the finish came out of nowhere- they really put over the idea that a career could end just like that. Five elbows wasn't enough to do it to Warrior, but Savage was both demoralized when his elbows didn't work and gassed by the end after the press slam and splash, that all it took was the shoulder tackles to end it for him. They don't do intra-match storylines like this anymore.

 

AC- Savage vs. Flair has always been one of my all time favorites. Hogan vs. Savage was a great storyline, but the outcome was painfully obvious. Also, they didn't really do anything special with it- it just devolved into the typical Hogan formula match.

 

With the midcard booking at WM 8, and Hogan still around to save the day in the main event, I think a lot of people thought Flair was going over. The fact that they built the issue after they booked the match never bothered me because the whole thing was just a psych game Flair used to get into Randy's head. He was trying to gain every advantage he could for the match by making up this ridiculous backstory.... I dare say it wouldn't have made as much sense if they'd done the angle first and then booked the match. The match itself is a perfect example of creating a chaotic environment without using weapons or vehicles or police officers or any nonsense gimmicks. As for the pre and post-match promos, and the mid-match commentary, everyone was ON. Savage, Flair, Perfect, Heenan, and Gorilla all at their best. And the fact that they never paid off Liz with the centerfold is a non-issue because they were full shit the whole time and after Savage won the Title, Flair's head games became irrelevant. I've always considered this a ***** match.

 

Toronto- Bret vs. Owen is my favorite match/feud/angle ever.

 

NYC- Piper vs. Bret is another of my all-time favorites. Perfect example of doing more with less. This match is so unique from every other match Bret ever had. They just told a great in-ring story (and again, a brilliant promo before the match to set the whole thing up). I would never knock Savage vs. Steamboat. I think it's everything everybody says it is and I know the impact it had and its standing as "greatest match ever." I wouldn't argue it. But this is about favorites, not best, and Bret/Piper is one of my all-time favorites.

 

Houston- Rock vs. Austin has got to be one of the most overrated WM matches ever, while HBK/Jericho gets a raw deal just because of who went over. There's this myth that Austin/Rock is some great match or something but I don't see it. It's a good, typical main-event style match that was indicative of the time period and that's it. It's way better than their crapfest at WM XV but it's also in no way a classic. I think Austin/Rock as a match is overrated because of the names involved and the show it took place on. If you look at the match itself it's really nothing special. My vote goes to Jericho/HBK, which I believe is just a superior worked match, and a lot more fun to watch.

 

Seattle- I love Christian vs. Jericho and I'm glad (and surprised) it got this far, but there's no way I can vote for it over Bret vs. Shawn. A few weeks back when I made the comment about "mass opinions that are accepted as fact on the internet when they're really bullshit" the sentiment about the Iron Man is at the top of the list. Say what you will about the first half being slow, but it's a great, great wrestling match. The perception against the Iron Man has always irked me.

 

Chicago- I think both these matches are tremendously overrated, but I'll go with WM XX because I think Bret vs. Austin is so overrated it's not funny. It is not "the best match of all-time." Bret alone had almost a dozen famous matches that are better. And that's coming from a huge Bret mark. I've gone into this at length before, so there's no sense in revisiting it.

 

Anaheim- I actually like the WM 2000 E & C match more than the TLC at X-7. But I'll vote for it over Brock vs. Angle because I never really could stand Brock, and X-7 was the last time I was actually excited for a ladder match before the fact. To me, it's the last great spotfest of a ladder match before the whole concept jumped the shark.

[Foshi 0]

Pontiac-2

Atlantic City-3

Toronto-2

New York City-1

Houston-1

Seattle-1

Chicago-1

Anaheim-5

[4hartthreat 0]

Pontiac - 2

 

Atlantic City - 3

 

Toronto - 1

 

New York City - 6

 

Houston - 1

 

Seattle - 1

 

Chicago - 1

 

Anaheim - 5

[King Cucaracha 0]

Pontiac

2

 

Atlantic City

3

 

Toronto

2

 

New York City

1

 

Houston

1

 

Seattle

1

 

Chicago

1

 

Anaheim

5

[humanoid92 0]

If you didn't vote in this round yet, do it now. A lot of close matchups at this point.

 

Some Round 3 info:

 

- There were only four upsets out of 16 matchups. They were: Savage/Flair over Razor/Shawn, Christian/Jericho over Taker/Flair, TLC at X-7 over Rock/Hogan, and Angle/Lesnar over Austin/Michaels.

 

- The closest battles were: Savage/Flair over Razor/Shawn (14-12) and Brock/Angle over Shawn/Austin (13-12). (There's always one fewer total vote for matches on the 1996-2006 side of the bracket because one of the voters only votes in the top half.)

 

- The upsets with the most votes were Jericho/Christian and TLC, with 15 out of 25 votes.

 

- Owen/Bret and Savage/Steamboat were the only unanimous choices.

 

- Warrior/Savage and Warrior/Hogan only had one vote go against them.

 

Personal thoughts:

 

- Razor/HBK vs. Savage/Flair is a tough matchup. Both of them deserve to be in the final eight in my opinion, but that's the way the seeding ended up.

 

- I like Jericho vs. Christian, but I didn't expect it to roll like this.

 

- I love Bret vs. Piper but unfortunately it gets Savage vs. Steamboat in the regional final. That's another tough one.

 

- A little surprised Austin vs. Rock (X-7) only got two votes against it. Granted it didn't have a lot of competition but in my opinion it's the weakest #1 seed behind Rock/Hogan and Hogan/Andre.

 

- I'm glad Jericho vs. Michaels beat the WM 2000 "TLC 0" match. But as it turns out, the X-7 TLC match advanced and the 2000 match didn't... I actually prefer the 2000 match.

 

- Brock vs. Angle edged out Austin vs. Michaels by one vote. I'm pretty indifferent to both matches, but who knew it'd be so close.

[Der Kommissar 0]

Pontiac

1

Atlantic City

3

 

Toronto

2

 

New York City

6

 

Houston

1

 

Seattle

10

 

Chicago

1

 

Anaheim

3

[Guest BlueStang302]

bump?