General Tournament Banter

[JGlass]

I was just thinking to myself the other day when the WrestleZone Tournament was coming back, and what do you know, it's back today! Glad to see it's back, and I'm interested to see how things turn out this year.

Last year, if I'm not mistaken, it came down to Bret Hart vs. Edge, which is sorta crazy if you think about it, but it just shows you anything can happen here! I'm sure this year will be filled with heated debates, backhanded insults, dirty politicking, all the things that make us watch wrestling in the first place! And having matured another year as a wrestling fan, I look forward to participating from beginning to end this year.

And with that said...
Let's go Jericho!

 

[gd]

If Hulk Hogan goes out in another cage match I'm going to be pissed. Whoever voted against Hogan because they thought he couldn't climb is an idiot.

It's not going to get any easier for Hogan this year. With the piece of shit that TNA is now, he's not going to have a ton of support. The last thing people remember of the guy in the ring is him wrestling an abomination of a match with a saggy-boobed Ric Flair. Apparently he has no chance in any type of gimmick match that involved movement, which is absurd.

Also, Bruno Sammartino should get some love here. Sure, he wasn't the most flashy guy out there, but he was the world champion for over a decade and was truly a man of the people. Plus, his chest is quite hairy

 

[Big Sexy]

It's not going to get any easier for Hogan this year. With the piece of shit that TNA is now, he's not going to have a ton of support. The last thing people remember of the guy in the ring is him wrestling an abomination of a match with a saggy-boobed Ric Flair. Apparently he has no chance in any type of gimmick match that involved movement, which is absurd.

Also, Bruno Sammartino should get some love here. Sure, he wasn't the most flashy guy out there, but he was the world champion for over a decade and was truly a man of the people. Plus, his chest is quite hairy

Yeah, people can't seem to wrap their brains around the fact that Hogan once had two good hips. If my 70+ year old grandpa can climb a ladder I'm sure Hogan in his prime would have no trouble climbing a cage or ladder.

 

[Shocky]

Meh, no one to blame but Hogan and Flair or any of these other old guys that hang on too long. The old saying goes, you're only as good as your last match. These guys have done enough to tarnish once flawless victories. It doesn't mean I'm going to vote against them (well maybe Flair), but they've made this new reputation by not letting go. Is it right, probably not, but try convincing a 15 year old that Hulk Hogan was bigger then God at one point.

 

[Via Armbar]

My first tournament obviously and the hype is getting me all giddy. I will be backing Savage and Jericho, possibly more.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Meh, no one to blame but Hogan and Flair or any of these other old guys that hang on too long. The old saying goes, you're only as good as your last match. These guys have done enough to tarnish once flawless victories. It doesn't mean I'm going to vote against them (well maybe Flair), but they've made this new reputation by not letting go. Is it right, probably not, but try convincing a 15 year old that Hulk Hogan was bigger then God at one point.

If Hogan and Flair would have retired 15 or so years ago, then all the youngsters will have no idea of their greatness. Would Flair have been better remembered if he retired say around 1993 or 1994 instead of 2008?

 

[Shocky]

Undoubtedly. It's the Barry Sanders effect. People talk about Sanders like he was the greatest running back of all time, even though statistically he is above average. Why is this, because he retired with something left in the tank. The what if scenarios pop into everyone's thought process.

The same thing could have happened with Hogan and Flair if they simply walked away at the end of the 90's, or even in the early 90's. Now, they've taken the imagination and what if, and turned it into a reality. A saggy boobed, pathetic balding old men who need hip replacement reality. If Shawn Michaels stays away from the ring for the next 15 years, watch how his legacy grows exponentially.

 

[Big Sexy]

Undoubtedly. It's the Barry Sanders effect. People talk about Sanders like he was the greatest running back of all time, even though statistically he is above average. Why is this, because he retired with something left in the tank. The what if scenarios pop into everyone's thought process.

He is the greatest running back of all time but that's besides the point. I think there is a healthy medium between the two. If they retired back in 93-95 then there would be that "what if" effect but there would also be some fans who had no clue who they were. However, the way it is now they are embarrassing themselves. If Flair stayed retired in 2001 after WCW and Hogan stayed retired after his last 2002 run in WWE then that would have been best.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Hopefully this year more people will watch matches of old school guys like Thesz or any of the Japanese and Mexican wrestlers so they will be more informed. We don't whole a lot of "I'm voting for this guy because I haven't seen the other guy perform" line.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Tonnes of support for Y2J already. Let's GO JERICHO! Free Jerichol if you vote Y2J, keep that in mind!

 

[Lee]

Hopefully this year more people will watch matches of old school guys like Thesz or any of the Japanese and Mexican wrestlers so they will be more informed. We don't whole a lot of "I'm voting for this guy because I haven't seen the other guy perform" line.

Which in turn is better than people pretending they've seen said matches and spouting a load of shit about it

 

[Ferbian]

We don't whole a lot of "I'm voting for this guy because I haven't seen the other guy perform" line.

I can say the least I plan to at least read up on the competitors before I even plan on voting, in case it contains one I know absolutely nothing about.. like Lou Thesz..

 

[The Hiphopapotamus]

If samoa Joe gets in, I'll be backing him to oblivion. Or when he goes out in the first round

 

[gd]

I can say the least I plan to at least read up on the competitors before I even plan on voting, in case it contains one I know absolutely nothing about.. like Lou Thesz..

I think this will give you more than enough info on Thesz.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=45589

I think I voted for most of the unkown foreign/old school guys that people tried to back really hard last year. If someone cares enough to write all about them it must mean they're good, right? If not, I think simply watching a few matches and getting feel for someone you don't know about would be sufficient.

 

[Ferbian]

I think this will give you more than enough info on Thesz.

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=45589

Appriciated GD, but he wouldn't be the only one I would be absolutely clueless about, so I'm gonna be doing a lot more than just reading that, time will show where the wrestlers stand although, and I'll do my best not to become one of those "I voted for... cause ... I didn't know"

 

[Tastycles]

Remember, you don't have to vote in every match. That being said, it isn't hard to watch a bit on youtube, and 90% of the field will have someone backing them to the hilt. The field is a lot more mainstream this year, and there are fewer guys that I am unaware of, and I imagine that will be the same for most.

 

[Coco]

I have high hopes for Batista in this tournament. Quite simply, he's just far too easy to argue for. It's like going through the first two gyms in the Blue and Red versions of Pokemon using Bulbasaur. There's no proper reason Batista shouldn't be doing very well in this thing, smark biased posters' intentions of knocking him out cast aside.

Are Rob Van Dam and Nick Bockwinkel going to be in this thing? I'll support them as well.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

If Lesnar gets beat by anyone not named Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, or Goldberg, I riot.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

My first tournament obviously and the hype is getting me all giddy. I will be backing Savage and Jericho, possibly more.

Last year was my first tournament. Iknowright?

Savage should go far and usually does. Jericho shouldn't go as far as people want him to. Hansen will go further than last year.

 

[klunderbunker]

Announcement: the random draw begins as soon as NXT goes off the air Tuesday night!

 

[klunderbunker]

Actually wait.

Scratch that theory as hardly anyone will be here.

Wednesday. 4pm EST.

 

[Shocky]

Much better. An 11 O'Clock start time is a bit too late for me.

 

[X]

Really looking forward to the fourth annual WZ tournament. I still remember the original tournament, all in one big giant thread, Shocky and me and Cola and a few others arguing about Terry Funk and Hulk Hogan. Good times.

I'll be putting alot of my support behind the Japanese guys this year, my number one goal is to try and educate and acquaint some of our posters with these legendary figures if they've never taken the time to research or watch them. I don't really expect Misawa or Kobashi to win the whole thing (though I'd love it), but I'll be arguing for them nevertheless. Same goes for some of my personal favorites like HBK, Austin, Benoit, etc.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Come on Jericholics. It's time to break the walls Down and get this party started.

 

[48.7 is Approximately 49 Times Better Than You]

I will not vote Japan.