First Round Upset Predictions

[The Dragon Saga]

When each man is at their best, Samoa Joe is more entertaining than Chris Jericho. He just has the sort of viciousness that lends itself to wrestling that Jericho never had, and never could have. Both on the mic and in the ring, Samoa Joe has the personality that screams wrestling to me, while Jericho is more of a "superstar".

I'm not sure if that's enough to win it, as there are hundreds of mislead souls on this site that believe that have bought into Jericho and his silver tongue. But put Joe's best match up against Jericho's best match, and Joe's is better. Put Joe's best promo up against Jericho's best promo, and Joe's is better.

I rarely disagree with you JGlass, but here is one of those times.

I've been a fan of Samoa Joe since he stepped a foot inside Ring of Honor. The guy is all about intensity and hard hitting bouts, the dude is big and could probably knock out a bear with his Olé Kick, but Samoa Joe is in no way, shape or form more entertaining than Chris Jericho. Chris Jericho was one of the most over wrestlers in WCW, a company that had no desire to ever make him a Main Eventer, something Eric Bischoff has never denied and never will. Jericho got fans to cheer for him despite him being a heel based off the fact he was hilarious on the microphone, he'd say the most ridiculous things and get a laugh, he was the anti-heel in ways, because despite being someone who wanted the crowd to hate him and achieving it, they couldn't help but admire his humor.

Joe has shown he can be entertaining, but he doesn't touch Jericho on the stick. In the ring, sure Samoa Joe has an impressive record, but lets look at the facts. Outside of Kurt Angle, Sting, AJ Styles, Rob Van Dam and hell, Jeff Jarrett, who has Samoa Joe beaten that could be labeled as impressive? Jericho has victories over a slew of top names in the industry, Jericho has main evented a Wrestlemania, hes held several World Championships and is one of the best heels of the past decade.

Sorry JGlass, but Joe doesn't touch Jericho. I agree a decent argument can be made for Joe, but it isn't going to stand up to that of Jericho's, people may want to start making their cases for Jerry Lawler now cause Jericho is breezing past the first round.

 

[GI Cake]

Anyone else digging the Steve Austin vs Sabu in ECW? I feel this can be the upset of the entire tournament. Sabu is one of the toughest guys in Professional Wrestling and he is in his home field advantage of ECW.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

JBL over Curt Hennig - I love Mr. Perfect, but this was a terrible draw for him. JBL is a multiple time champion while Mr. Perfect was not ever a headliner. To what fault that is attributed to Creative, alcohol, his back injury is arguable, but the fact remains that JBL was more successful than Mr. Perfect and would have went over on him.

Arn Anderson over Dory Funk Jr. - With his recent induction into the WWE HOF, there will be a bump for Double A. Dory Funk Jr is not a character many regular members will know / relate to. But they'll all have heard about the Four Horsemen.

Jeff Hardy over Kevin Nash - This one was tough for me. I think both men have great strengths in different areas. Watching these two in their primes would have been interesting. That being said, Nash is probably ranked too high while Hardy is a bit too low. I can see Hardy getting over on Nash, especially with fan votes probably not giving Nash too much love.

Greg Valentine over DDP - I hated Greg Valentine and I actually enjoyed DDP. But Greg Valentine deserves it here. He was a scary, scary man growing up while DDP never became too successful (or as successful as he could have been). Valentine had multiple championships in every promotion, and for that reason I'm giving it to him.

Steve Williams over Ultimo Dragon - I adored the Ultimo Dragon character when he was in WCW, before the tragic injury. But Dr. Death was, like Valentine, successful everywhere he went. He was a tremendously feared competitor and was incredibly over in Japan. Bad draw for Ultimo Dragon, but Steve Williams deserves this match.

I'd like to point out that I am a perfect 0 for 5 in predicting first round upsets