The Final Four: Pool A

Pick One of the Final Four

  • John Bradshaw Layfield

  • Ken Shamrock

  • Big Boss Man


Results are only viewable after voting.
JBL had one good year as a main eventer and had a nice long title reign, but you have to look at the era he did it in. JBL was in the era of two world champions. I will almost guarantee you that if there were two brands back in the late 90's with two world titles that Shamrock would have gotten some sort of title run. JBL got his run on the B show and well it was decent there was nothing overly spectacular about it. He was a product of right place, right time. There were no other legitimate heels on Smackdown at the time and JBL benefited greatly.

You can't discredit JBL because of the era he was in. He still was a champion, and still has the longest reign in SD history. Before that he was a tag champion, then after that he had a solid US Title run.

We can speculate that Shamrock would have had some sort of a title in a 2 world champion WWE but he didn't. He was a consummate mid carder, while JBL although not at the top of the card after he lost the title, continued to stay extremely relevant.

Smackdown is the B show, but that B is very important, and being a World Champion on Smackdown means something. Just ask Taker, Edge, Hogan, Cena, Angle, Guerrero, Lesnar, HHH, Jericho, Hardy, Batista and others who all had the title on the "B" Show.
 
You can't discredit JBL because of the era he was in. He still was a champion, and still has the longest reign in SD history. Before that he was a tag champion, then after that he had a solid US Title run.

I'm not discrediting JBL, I just don't think he's as good as Shamrock.

We can speculate that Shamrock would have had some sort of a title in a 2 world champion WWE but he didn't. He was a consummate mid carder, while JBL although not at the top of the card after he lost the title, continued to stay extremely relevant.

Are you saying Shamrock wasn't relevant? He started out feuding with the Hart Foundation, then got a title match against HBK. After that he turned heel and was part of the WWE's biggest faction at the time, the corporation. Then he spun off with the union that included Foley and Big Show and was also allied somewhat with the WWE's two biggest names in Ausin and the Rock. Not to mention he was a former IC champion, tag champion, and KOTR winner. That sounds like a very relevant career to me.

Smackdown is the B show, but that B is very important, and being a World Champion on Smackdown means something. Just ask Taker, Edge, Hogan, Cena, Angle, Guerrero, Lesnar, HHH, Jericho, Hardy, Batista and others who all had the title on the "B" Show.

Taker was the only guy on that list of names that JBL defended the title against in a one on one match during his reign. He also defended against Guerrero once in a fatal four way and Angle once in a triple threat. Shamrock has beaten just as many big names in his career as JBL.
 
I'm not discrediting JBL, I just don't think he's as good as Shamrock.



Are you saying Shamrock wasn't relevant? He started out feuding with the Hart Foundation, then got a title match against HBK. After that he turned heel and was part of the WWE's biggest faction at the time, the corporation. Then he spun off with the union that included Foley and Big Show and was also allied somewhat with the WWE's two biggest names in Ausin and the Rock. Not to mention he was a former IC champion, tag champion, and KOTR winner. That sounds like a very relevant career to me.



Taker was the only guy on that list of names that JBL defended the title against in a one on one match during his reign. He also defended against Guerrero once in a fatal four way and Angle once in a triple threat. Shamrock has beaten just as many big names in his career as JBL.

Not so fast. He defended the title against Guerrero in a steel cage match, Booker T at Survivor Series, and against Big Show at No Way Out.

In all honesty, 2004 was the year of HHH and HBK and JBL and Benoit didn't even stand a chance.
 
I've been reading these forums for a while now and this tournament is something that I really want to be a part of. That being said, I have to vote shamrock here. He had a hall-of-fame MMA career, which in a kayfabe tournament means quite a bit to me, was a solid presence in the mid-card for years, has won two tournaments before, and would be deadly in the right gimmick match.

JBL is a solid choice and has had a decent career but still seems to be at his best in tag team matches. His championship reign was the epitomy of meh. It was forgettable from start to finish and seemed like nothing more than a way to elevate cena to superstardom. His resume looks better but I still think shamrock is a far better choice.

Bossman.......no. I honestly dont see him being anywhere near the other two choices in either talent or resume. He never did anything of note and was always just there when someone needed an easy victory over an established heel.
 
I had to go with Big Bossman, even though it's obvious who is going to come out with the winner in this pool. Shamrock didn't get my vote, because he may be a great MMA guy and a former champion back in the UFC but he's just not suited for a kayfabe wrestling tournament. And then, it did come close between Bossman and Layfield. But I had to go with the better 'rastler and that is in my mind the man also known as Ray Traylor. First of all the guy is a lot more agile, and would actually have a chance against a speedier, smaller guy unlike the slow JBL. Secondly, the guy was able to do considerably well as both a face and a heel and he didn't get nearly as stale as the "Wrestling God" did. Lastly, he may not have had the titles or the accomplishments but he had some great matches that some seem to be looking over. What about when he pushed Hulk Hogan to the limit back in the 80's in that cage match? Whatever, just trying to get the guy a couple more votes from the few who haven't discovered this yet.
 
I voted for JBL, though I didn't believe the margin of votes would be anywhere near this great.

To give a simple reason for my pick, I'd compare JBL to Edge, and the one factor that they share: bullshit. In a tournament such as this, all that is sometimes needed to make a case for any given guy is reasonable circumstances for victory (similar to a court case with reasonable doubt).

JBL, like Edge in many ways, is a bullshit artist. His title reign, though solitary, was full of bullshit victories. He beat Eddie Guerrero in a bullrope match and a cage match, the Undertaker in a Last Ride match, Booker T in a singles match, all three of the aforementioned guys in a fatal fourway, Kurt Angle and the Big Show in a triple threat, and the Big Show in a barbed wire steel cage. All of these victories came with some form of bullshit, and thus some argument can be made for JBL to go over any one of these guys, or anyone else for that matter.

I won't likely be backing JBL in the actual tournament, but I would think he has much more of a chance than any other option here.
 
I'm one of the few that voted for Shamrock, mainly because I belive that if he wrestled in a different era he would have been a WWE World Champion. He was the first TNA Heavyweight Champion if I remember right. Plus if Shamrock really wanted to he could easily shoot on someone and get a win.
 

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