Champion of Champions Match

[klunderbunker]

I figured it might be fun to have the four champions in one final poll to see who is voted as the best of the best. Spam is allowed in this as it doesn't actually count for anything other than the sake of a little sendoff for this. Poll opens tomorrow and I'll keep it up for 48 hours.

Your participants:

Shawn Michaels

Undertaker

Steve Austin

Poll opens tomorrow.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I thought Undertaker beat Savage in the finals, did he not?

 

[klunderbunker]

Blast it Sly.

 

[Coco]

Austin took the WWF to new heights. The other men didn't. That's about as critically as I reckon I'll be thinking about this. Barely C- work. On the other hand, probably spot on.

 

[Jackie Hon]

Austin took the WWF to new heights. The other men didn't. That's about as critically as I reckon I'll be thinking about this. Barely C- work. On the other hand, probably spot on.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa... First things first. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm extremely opinionated and i will get into any well spirited argument i can, as long as it's defendable. It's all in fun, remember that.

I have huuuuge issues with this statement. It's a flat out blanket statement to be honest. Yes Austin took the company to new heights, but did he do it alone? hell no. And to say that none of these other men took the WWe to new heights is comepletely biased and narrowminded IMO.

The Undertaker and HBK kind of fall into the same category in my eyes. they both had massive longevity with the company, and have paid their dues time and time again over the years. Both have them have put more people over than anyone else in the company's history. And they are two of the best fued workers of all time. It's splitting hairs between them.

Shawn has the quicker more stylistic offense that he was able to do until his time was done. And he made so many people look good in the ring it was unreal. Hell, 4 of my top 5 matches of all time include him and he is nowhere near my personal favorite. He, unlike taker, worked his way up from the tag team ranks to the ic ranks to the wwe title ranks and it never felt rushed or forced. ALot of people could argue that Austin was pushed down our throats as much as cena is today, except peple actually liked austin. HBK did it the old fashioned way, and it never felt like he was stealing all of the limelight along the way.


Taker took the typical big man mold and shattered it. He started doing things that people had never seen a man his size do. The most amazing thing about taker is that he was brought in during the phase of whack ass characters and persona's but he dedicated himself to his and made it work a thousand times over, in multiple re-creations. His WM match is always the single most anticipated match of the year. Hell, we even already have a thread about next years opponent for him. Taker is the WWe in my eyes. He personifies everything the comapay has been about for the past 20 years.


Bret Hart took the woild of wresting and turned it on it's technical head. Sure there were technicians before him, but bret did it like no one else could. Bret and Shawn together made the WWE in the mid-late 90's, and it's because of people like them that Austin got to where he was. If bret and Shawn hadn't been so open to putting people over, Austin never would have made it where he did.

IMO Austin should come in a distant 4th to these guys. I respect what he did, but he isn't in this race to me. Taker and Shawn are the single best two workers the WWe has ever had. Even the wrestlers voted it that way. (top 50 of all time)


So my final vote will go to Taker. And I hope this will get the attention of some posters and things can take off from here.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

^^^ I swear that isn't an alt. by me.

Since we can spam, I'll leave it short (heh, yeah right) and sweet.

Steve Austin is a whining little bitch, who beats Women and walks out on the Company who made him when he's told to do something he doesn't agree with. The best thing to happen to him was when Owen Hart dropped him on his head. Who knows, it might of made him smarter.

The Undertaker is known for a streak. Over 2 decades in the business, and he's best known for having 19 wins. Really? Michael Cole is 1-0 at Wrestlemania, so is LT. I rest my case.

Shawn Michaels is where he belongs in the HoF. Unfortunately, he shares that same location with guys like Drew Carey, Bob Armstrong and Bob Uecker - not exactly some standout talent you got there.

Finally - Bret Hart, he's Canadian and thereby an instant winner. Nothing else need be said.

Oh, Austin beats Women. Just thought I'd make sure people fully realized that.

I'm also pretty sure he sings this as he's doing it.

[youtube]LyDp0HyFRgM[/youtube]

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I love how these are the four people who were the top guys in 1996, strange affinity with the year where there was no one top person? hmm....

My vote definitely goes with Taker, able to constantly reinvent himself and be relevant for twenty years in one company when he should have been discarded eons ago as a mere cartoon gimmick from the early 90's.

 

[The Codebreaker]

Undertaker because I'm pretending this is at Wrestlemania.

 

[Coco]

At least Steve Austin was man enough to beat a woman proper, unlike Shawn Michaels, who used them, urinated on them, and ran away, or Bret Hart, who used them and cried about it in his book, or Undertaker, who doesn't respect women or the institution of marriage but is too much of a coward to physicalize his deep-seeded loathing of the opposite gender. In my opinion, that's what makes Austin a man. Many of you will disagree, but you've been hyper-sensitized by the PG era. Austin's straight old school. Rant about technicians or putting people over or longevity all you want, but that's never been what being the man is all about. It's about doing what you do well and getting out. Austin makes money the same way he hates women: Very efficiently.

Vote Austin.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa... First things first. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm extremely opinionated and i will get into any well spirited argument i can, as long as it's defendable. It's all in fun, remember that.

I have huuuuge issues with this statement. It's a flat out blanket statement to be honest. Yes Austin took the company to new heights, but did he do it alone? hell no. And to say that none of these other men took the WWe to new heights is comepletely biased and narrowminded IMO.

Explain these new heights Undertaker and HBK took us to.

The Undertaker and HBK kind of fall into the same category in my eyes. they both had massive longevity with the company, and have paid their dues time and time again over the years. Both have them have put more people over than anyone else in the company's history. And they are two of the best fued workers of all time. It's splitting hairs between them.

Shame Hogan isn't in this because he put more people over than Undertaker and HBK combined.

Undertaker has terrible chemistry with pretty much every big name. He couldn't have a good match with Austin to save his life and don't get me started on Edge.

Shawn has the quicker more stylistic offense that he was able to do until his time was done. And he made so many people look good in the ring it was unreal. Hell, 4 of my top 5 matches of all time include him and he is nowhere near my personal favorite. He, unlike taker, worked his way up from the tag team ranks to the ic ranks to the wwe title ranks and it never felt rushed or forced. ALot of people could argue that Austin was pushed down our throats as much as cena is today, except peple actually liked austin. HBK did it the old fashioned way, and it never felt like he was stealing all of the limelight along the way.

You mean Shawn "King Politic" Michaels never stole limelight? Interesting.

Taker took the typical big man mold and shattered it. He started doing things that people had never seen a man his size do. The most amazing thing about taker is that he was brought in during the phase of whack ass characters and persona's but he dedicated himself to his and made it work a thousand times over, in multiple re-creations. His WM match is always the single most anticipated match of the year. Hell, we even already have a thread about next years opponent for him. Taker is the WWe in my eyes. He personifies everything the comapay has been about for the past 20 years.

So pretty much the Undertaker's career can be defined with just 19 matches. Scratch that. They didn't really use the streak as a storyline until WM 24 so let's say four matches.

Bret Hart took the woild of wresting and turned it on it's technical head. Sure there were technicians before him, but bret did it like no one else could. Bret and Shawn together made the WWE in the mid-late 90's, and it's because of people like them that Austin got to where he was. If bret and Shawn hadn't been so open to putting people over, Austin never would have made it where he did.

I guess you don't know the rumors about Undertaker threatening to beat the shit out of HBK if he didn't put Austin over.

IMO Austin should come in a distant 4th to these guys. I respect what he did, but he isn't in this race to me. Taker and Shawn are the single best two workers the WWe has ever had. Even the wrestlers voted it that way. (top 50 of all time)

I don't take a list of the greatest superstars ever that has Hogan in the 20's very seriously but I knew somebody would.

So my final vote will go to Taker. And I hope this will get the attention of some posters and things can take off from here.

Good luck with that one.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Austin and it's really not even that hard for me. None of these guys are on his level and I'm not going to pretend they are now. Hart's a great technician, Taker is big, and Michaels is probably the most entertaining in ring star I've ever seen, but Austin is the only complete package of all of them.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

To be honest with you, I'm staking it as everyone vs. Austin. Undertaker is someone who I don't seem to ever recall beating Austin clean, and in the two matches with Shawn Michaels that Austin had, Michaels has yet to win. That leaves Bret vs. Austin. Bret is the only one who you could really say has a chance against Austin. Bret owns multiple victories over Austin by pinfall and submission (or however you wish to define Austin's loss at Mania 13), that being said, he hadn't reached his prime yet. He hadn't been kicking McMahon's ass all over RAW or brawled with the Rock. Austin was the man of his generation and arguably the single most important wrestler in WWF/E history, so I'll say he wins here.

 

[Mac Attack]

My final vote goes to the Undertaker because he is the best overall performer out of these guys.

 

[Shocky]

The Undertaker was the only heel big enough to be a constant thorn in the side of Steve Austin as far as wrestling goes. Between the 12 world titles that Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin won in the WWF/E, The Undertaker is directly responsible for ending 2 of Hogan's title reigns, and ending 1 of Austin's title reign.

If you add that Hogan was stripped of a title due to the controversy with the Undertaker, that would be 3 title reigns the Undertaker had a hand in ending of Hogan.

If you include The Undertaker busting Austin open at KOTR 98, and pinning Austin at Breakdown 98, that's 3 title reigns The Undertaker had a hand in ending for Steve Austin.

So the two biggest stars in company history, the Undertaker had a part in ending 6 of those 12 title reigns.

 

[Smartie]

I love no one more than Austin (no homo)

I respect no one more than Taker

I there's no in-ring performer better than HBK.

So clearly I know what my vote's gonna be.

 

[mrbrownstone]

Well, Bret has beaten all three of these guys clean in singles matches and I think he is the only one of the four to lay claim to that unless I am missing something (which I likely am). Austin never beat Bret clean , HBK never beat Bret, Taker never beat Austin clean that I know of. Take from that what you will I guess.

 

[Remix]

At least Steve Austin was man enough to beat a woman proper, unlike Shawn Michaels, who used them, urinated on them, and ran away, or Bret Hart, who used them and cried about it in his book, or Undertaker, who doesn't respect women or the institution of marriage but is too much of a coward to physicalize his deep-seeded loathing of the opposite gender. In my opinion, that's what makes Austin a man. Many of you will disagree, but you've been hyper-sensitized by the PG era. Austin's straight old school. Rant about technicians or putting people over or longevity all you want, but that's never been what being the man is all about. It's about doing what you do well and getting out. Austin makes money the same way he hates women: Very efficiently.

Vote Austin.

Care to explain what made you conclude that about 'Taker?

And I intend to vote for Stone Cold Steve Austin. He's simply the best guy in this competition. He was the star of the attitude era where 'Taker was a suppoting cast member, Bret was busy getting concussed in WCW and HBK broke his back and was barred from sucking dick to move up the card. There's a reason for all of this and it's that Stone Cold Steve Austin was simply the best man of these four.

Vote for him. You know it's the right thing to do.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

The Undertaker I've to be honest that I'm not Mark's biggest fan, I feel he has benefited from working with sterling workers and really being able to sell his gimmick. Basically, I think he is a medium level wrestler but top line sports entertainer. The only matches that I have felt he draws under his own name are HitC & (now) WM.

Bret Hart Basically Taker's polar opposite. Great wrestler and medium level sports entertainer (except for the anti American period and Lance Storm did that role equally well). Like Taker, I don't feel Bret would have been an Austin level draw because he struggled to talk matches up without the gimmick of cheap heat.

Shawn Michaels 'Showstopper' in the ring? Never has a term been more apt, if you were following Shawn on a card, chances are SOL are your chances of getting match of the night. Okay on the mic, but when you see him working with Trips or Y2J, you can see that he was far from the top echelon (but I will say that he did great physical pratfalls - just look at his match with Hogan). From his return debilitating injury in the early noughties, HBK managed something Bret never did, he transferred in ring ability into ratings - especially PPV buys.

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin As 'Stone Cold', one of the greatest talkers ever. Until his ill fated match with Owen, had a chance to be one of the top in ring wrestlers too. Even with this drawback and the steadily deteriorating knees, his transitioned brawler style was always sufficient to keep fans enthralled and due to it's simple nature, he could work it with anyone. Austin had a great supporting cast for his whole full time tenure, so I think his individual PPV value isn't as cut and dried as many will argue. Having said that, whilst it may have been 'Austin versus ...' it was still 'AUSTIN versus ...', so his marketability was still substantial.


If this was a four way match, I think I might have went with HBK but as it's greatest all rounder I think I'll have to go with Austin as I've been a big fan ever since the Dangerous Alliance. Over his career he's had it all - excellent faction member, great mid carder, iconic tag teamer (the Hollywood Blonds really do deserve to be remembered as greats), always a great orator (can never fathom why he was given Ted as a mouthpiece), brilliant maverick and extremely adaptable to overcome the physical obstacles that may have actually prevented him from becoming a main eventer.

I hate to say it (because I hate the term) but he went from a brilliant wrestler to a brilliant sports entertainer. VOTE AUSTIN

 

[NSL]

I'm going with Bret, following a simple formula...

Bret > Austin > Undertaker > HBK

 

[TheOneBigWill]

The Undertaker isn't the one who needs to understand an institution of marriage; his former Wife is. From every "report" that's ever been filed under the situation, she was becoming a major bitch toward him and getting heavily upset about his job, who he would travel with, the lack of time he'd be home/spending with his Family - when she understood ALL of that before/after they got married, before ever having a child.

As far as the McCool thing, once again from every report I've ever seen, he only went to her, AFTER his marriage to Sara failed.

Steve Austin can't even get abusing right. A black eye, really? You don't leave marks out in the open - you do it under the full length clothing you force them to wear. DAMMIT, he can't do anything right - how the fuck is he an icon in this sport?

Bret Hart is the clear cut guy to vote for here. Not only did he trade up after his divorce, but he picked up a very hot looking girl that's younger than him.

Sorry, but this..

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> this

 

[X]

^^^ I swear that isn't an alt. by me.

Since we can spam, I'll leave it short (heh, yeah right) and sweet.

Steve Austin is a whining little bitch, who beats Women and walks out on the Company who made him when he's told to do something he doesn't agree with. The best thing to happen to him was when Owen Hart dropped him on his head. Who knows, it might of made him smarter.

The Undertaker is known for a streak. Over 2 decades in the business, and he's best known for having 19 wins. Really? Michael Cole is 1-0 at Wrestlemania, so is LT. I rest my case.

Shawn Michaels is where he belongs in the HoF. Unfortunately, he shares that same location with guys like Drew Carey, Bob Armstrong and Bob Uecker - not exactly some standout talent you got there.

Finally - Bret Hart, he's Canadian and thereby an instant winner. Nothing else need be said.

Oh, Austin beats Women. Just thought I'd make sure people fully realized that.

One giant steaming shit pile of mad right here everyone. Sorry bro but Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart will never be the draw that Austin was, they'll never have the impact on this industry that he did, and there isn't a single solitary thing that any of them can do better than Austin in the realm of professional wrestling.

I'm also pretty sure he sings this as he's doing it.

[youtube]LyDp0HyFRgM[/youtube]

Your worst move yet, that video will only make people love Austin more and want to vote for him.

Until I see an Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels Rick Roll, it's rather obvious what sly son of a bitch deserves to win this, and that's Steve Austin.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

One giant steaming shit pile of mad right here everyone. Sorry bro but Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart will never be the draw that Austin was, they'll never have the impact on this industry that he did

X, what are you smoking, that even indicates to you that I've been trying to gain anyone a winning vote here? Seriously man. Klunder said it's a spam thread through and through.

I picked Bret Hart not because I thought he delivered more, or the best, above any of the others - I picked him because I like Canada. It's of a similar logic to Nate picking someone based on shoe size for fuck sake.

and there isn't a single solitary thing that any of them can do better than Austin in the realm of professional wrestling.

Sooo, that means he has to win everything, every time? Have you told the WWE this, because I'm pretty sure he's lost multiple times - even though "he'z teh lawlzest there haz ev3r be3n."

Your worst move yet, that video will only make people love Austin more and want to vote for him.

Until I see an Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels Rick Roll, it's rather obvious what sly son of a bitch deserves to win this, and that's Steve Austin.

Now out of everything you said that I could've ultimately cared less about.. I would PAY to see the Undertaker (in deadman character, mind you) rick roll.

As far as the other two; Shawn Michaels was rick rolling through the early 90's and the beginning of his single's heel run. No one knew it though. Bret Hart probably sang that shit during sex through his first marriage.

X, quick, I hear someone else not giving a shit. Go snap logic at them!

 

[NSL]

Is that a man? I see a 'stache...

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

The Undertaker isn't the one who needs to understand an institution of marriage; his former Wife is. From every "report" that's ever been filed under the situation, she was becoming a major bitch toward him and getting heavily upset about his job, who he would travel with, the lack of time he'd be home/spending with his Family - when she understood ALL of that before/after they got married, before ever having a child.

As far as the McCool thing, once again from every report I've ever seen, he only went to her, AFTER his marriage to Sara failed.

Steve Austin can't even get abusing right. A black eye, really? You don't leave marks out in the open - you do it under the full length clothing you force them to wear. DAMMIT, he can't do anything right - how the fuck is he an icon in this sport?

Bret Hart is the clear cut guy to vote for here. Not only did he trade up after his divorce, but he picked up a very hot looking girl that's younger than him.

Sorry, but this..

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> this

Lulz...I bet your wife sleeps soundly at night knowing that you believe in trading in for a new fuck buddy when the old one starts to get wrinkly and sags in the wrong places. Bret Hart's first wife was a good-looking woman when they first met; all her current wear and tear is solely due to Bret Hart's delusions of grandeur.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm probably not going to add the poll. Works fine as it is I think.