First Round: Philadelphia - Jack Swagger vs. Pedro Morales

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round matchup in the Philadelphia Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated.

Location: The First Union Center: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jack Swagger

Vs.

Pedro Morales

Voting is open for 4 days.

 

[pun2003hh]

Shouldn't even be close. Young Mr. Swagger has a bright future ahead of him, but he can't match brute strength against the powerhouse that is Pedro Morales. Pedro was the top draw in the WWF for many many years. He beat all the greats in his time, and though Swagger has the collegiate background, I don't think he has the experience to beat Morales in his prime.

 

[D-Man]

Even though Swagger is the current World Heavyweight Champion, he hasn't doesn't anything that would even constitute a good match with Morales. After all, Pedro was the WWF champion when there was only one title during the early days of the promotion.

Sorry Swagger... you're done in round one.

Morales for the win.

 

[CH David]

It is the Vote for Pedro campaign. Yeah, I actually said that. Oh well. Morales wins this. He won the WWWF Championship and held it for nearly three years. He was also the first Triple Crown champion. Swagger is still young and inexperienced. Sure he is the current World Heavyweight champion, but I don't know how well he would handle Morales' size and strength. Although if this match is down the line, with Swagger more experienced, it could be a better draw for him.

 

[Mr. Truth]

Pedro Morales's WWE history:

* World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation
o WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)
o WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
o WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bob Backlund
o WWWF United States Championship (1 time)
o WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
o Triple Crown Championship (First)
Jack Swagger's history:
* World Wrestling Entertainment
o ECW Championship (1 time)
o World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
o Mr. Money in the Bank (2010)

Jack Swagger is going to be huge in the future, but I have to go with the first Triple Crown Champion.

 

[Theo Mays]

Swagger has an awesome future, no doubt. However Pedro Morales is a fucking wrestling legend and would take down Swagger from pillar to post. Swagger will get in his fair shots, but he really doesn't stand a chance against the wrestling great from Puerto Rico.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I have a lot of respect for Pedro, don't get me wrong but swagger is a prodigy. This man has a HUGE future ahead of him. This guy pinned Chris Jericho TWICE! Swagger is a true champion in the making. He can out wrestle Morales and that is why you NEED to vote for Swagger.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I have a lot of respect for Pedro, don't get me wrong but swagger is a prodigy. This man has a HUGE future ahead of him. This guy pinned Chris Jericho TWICE! Swagger is a true champion in the making. He can out wrestle Morales and that is why you NEED to vote for Swagger.

I know you conveniently left out that Jericho was speared by Edge twice which led to those two pinfall victories. Kofi has pinned Jericho but there's no way in hell I'm voting him over Morales. Unless Edge spears Morales, I don't see much hope for Swagger.

 

[TLC]

Swagger is good but he hasn't really done much. He hasn't beat anyone huge without the help off outside interference and even then Jericho wasn't one hundred percent. Morales held the WWWF title for a long time and held a number of other titles whilst beating some big names.

Swagger may be able to beat him when his career has took off but right now Morales gets the win.

 

[GenMe]

Morales is far more of a wrestler than Swagger. Swagger still has a lot to learn, He has a good future ahead of him. Also Swagger hasn't done much for him to get my vote. Now as for Morales, he was a solid WWWF wrestler, Inside the ring and outside the ring. This vote goes to Pedro Morales.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

SEVEN PEOPLE voted for Swagger? Sweet Jesus.

 

[Tastycles]

Don't be decieved by the numbers. Morales certainly wasn't the name that a three year title reign would suggest- and as soon as Sammartino came back into the fray, he dropped the title back. Morales was a man that played second fiddle for much of his career, but that being said, one would have to argue that he was the first ever man to beat a short term heel transitional champion, which is what Swagger will surely prove to be. Morales isn't as significant as one might think, but he would go over Jack Swagger, a man who's greatest bona fide singles win to date came against Matt Hardy.

 

[Shocky]

Pedro is significant in the fact that he is the first Triple Crown winner in the WWF. I think he accomplished this in 1982. When you look to see that Bret Hart was the second guy, but it took nearly 11 years for him to get to that level, it's amazing. To be a triple crown winner in 1982 was unfathomable. He wasn't as good as his resume suggest, but he is certainly better then someone we know nothing about at this point.

At his size, Jack Swagger is easily a guy to watch out for the next few years. he had a moderately successful run in ECW with that title, and the jury is still out on his ability to carry a major world championship. His amateur background, and size, suggest that the man will be around for a long time. Wasn't it only a few months ago that most of us thought Jack Swagger would be getting a future endeavored anyways?

 

[Razor]

I voted for Jack Swagger because he's teh Swagga, and I wanted to vote for him.

With that said, the sheer fact that Pedro Morales was the first Triple Crown Champion should get him the win over Swagga here. Swagga went from a huge push against Cena to wallowing to somehow trying to gain his position back with a MITB title win. That does not scream "Beat Pedro Morales, first ever Triple Crown Champ" to me.

Honestly, Swagga fails because he simply doesn't have the wins under his belt to compete against a man with a record like Morales. It'd be like if they let Otunga actually be a threat to Cena last week on Raw. Cena threw that son of a bitch around, like he should have. Morales would do the same.

 

[Mr. TM]

Cant really vote on what Swagger COULD be, I am voting on what Pedro Morales is. He is a major figure worldwide in wrestling, doing something never done before in winning the Triple Crown. Even at this moment, Swagger does not excite me, even as the champion, he just seems like he is holding it to lose to someone.

 

[ZeroVX]

I know next to nothing about Morales, beyond the fact that he held the world title in between Sammartino's two reigns, and that he was the first Triple Crown champion. Having said that, that is more than what Swagger has done so far as a champion. In fact, I think Swagger's kind of moved back a bit in terms of character now that he's a world champion. He seems to be trying to repeat what Jericho has done as a super serious heel rather than the gung-ho, energetic douche we've come to love. So, as much as I want to vote for Swagger, I have to give it to Morales here.

 

[FromTheSouth]

Honestly, in a match between the two, Swagger would win. Pedro had the power game, but Swagger is a master of leverage, and that is what it takes to beat power. Adding Swagger's power to his mastery of leverage is lethal for Pedro.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I gave Swagger the vote based on athleticism alone. Sure Pedro is a better all around wrestler at this point, but Swagger is someone who can pull out a win in this match. It may not happen and looks very slim due to being in Philly, where Pedro defended his IC title many, MANY times. But I can still go with Swagger here in a surprise roll up. Why not?

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

Jack Swagger's potentially bright future should not be apart of someone's argument for Swagger to go over Morales as this tournament is for what a wrestler has accomplished as of now, not what they might be capable of.

All of Jack Swagger's major victories have been due to taking advantage of an opportunity. He cashed in the Money in the Bank match after Jericho had already been beaten. He recently was in a triple threat match involving Edge and Jericho were he allowed the two of them to beat the hell out of each other before Swagger snuck out a win at the end. Since this is a basic one on one standard match, Swagger could never steal a victory.

 

[DirtyJosé]

I'm voting Swagger because damnit, he put on a damn fine match with Undertaker last night, and I think he could pull a win out of this match. I'll admit I'm stretching a bit for this reason, but I'm voting Swagger regardless.

 

[gd]

I really like Jack Swagger. I may even say he's my favorite wrestler in the WWE at the moment. Ignore the 6 months or so when the WWE creative team dropped the ball on him, and he's been great. He's beaten Christian, who isn't terrible and held his own with the big guns such as Cena, Orton, and Taker. And in only a years time, he's become one of the top 5 in ring guys in the company, which is impressive.

Pedro Morales wrestled some great competitors like, uhh, Stasiak and uhh, Mr. Saito. Go watch some of Pedro matches. Not particularly exciting stuff, I'll tell you. I don't think the "power" argument can be used either since Swagger is pretty damn big and strong himself. Not sure how he's getting doubled up at the moment actually, just more predjiduce toward the new generation of wrestling superstars.

 

[Coco]

I've seen the generalities that some of the great, "oh so knowledgable" posters voting for Morales, such as Theo Mays, write in. If I had to wager, I'd say at least half of the votes coming in for Morales are coming from people who see big names claiming that he's a big deal and then follow suit because it's socially acceptable here on WrestleZone (I know implying that there's anything socially acceptable about WZ is laughable at best, but roll with me here).

I'm completely convinced that in this match, just as in Inoki-Punk, Baba-Joe, and even Stu-Goldberg, people are going with what's popular, even if they have next to no idea who this guy they're voting for is.

People here, no doubt, enjoy Swagger more. Morales just isn't palatable to fans of this generation. Some of you need to man up and go with what your heart says.

Vote Swagger.

 

[deem]

This is ridiculous. There is no outside interference in this match almost without doubt, and I truly struggle to think of big clean wins Swagger has had. Hell, even dirty wins without intereference. The kid just jobs.. and wins World titles wtf, but just jobs.

I do not follow anyone in my voting, but it is absurd to even consider a blip like Swagger as competitive with Pedro. In kayfabe, undoubtedly the leverage would work well vs the power, I like this argument - however, if we take WWE to be the level of kayfabe we adhere to, then we can see the leverage does little good in picking up wins in Professional Wrestling.

We have to change the entire nuances of the sport to justify a Swagger win.

This shouldn't be as close as it is, people voting Swagger do so to take the "alternative" and make a point as it would be funny to see Swagger go deep, and they like the character. Give me a convincing argument and I'll be impressed, Swagger just doesn't win singles matches.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Morales vs. Swagger brings up a potentially interesting matchup, due to Swaggers amateur background, his superior height, and natural ability. That being said, I still think that Morales' better resume', and his vast experience would overcome Swagger in a close match. For now, anyway.