WWE World Champion Knockout Game - Round 3

Hey there I hope you had a good Christmas. Round 2 for my WWE World Champion Knockout Game came to an end today. For the last week I've been asking for your votes on who make the best World Champions and I've had tallies going on this site, and two other forums. I can now reveal the results.

The Pedigree Bracket

(1) Triple H vs (4) Vince McMahon - Triple H wins 19 votes to 2.
(2) Christian vs (6) Chris Benoit - Chris Benoit wins 10 votes to 8.

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket

(1) John Cena vs (4) Rob Van Dam - John Cena wins 13 votes to 8.
(2) Shawn Michaels vs (6) Eddie Guerrero - Shawn Michaels wins 17 votes to 4.

The Jackhammer Bracket

(1) Edge vs (4) Alberto Del Rio - Edge wins 20 votes to 1.
(2) Bob Backlund (3) Jeff Hardy - Jeff Hardy wins 13 votes to 8.

The Brogue Kick Bracket

(1) The Rock vs (4) Sheamus - The Rock wins 20 votes to 1.
(2) Bret Hart vs (3) Rey Mysterio - Bret Hart wins 17 votes to 4.

The Chokeslam Bracket

(1) Randy Orton vs (4) Booker T - Booker T wins 16 votes to 5.
(2) CM Punk vs (3) Big Show - CM Punk wins 18 votes to 3.

The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket

(1) The Undertaker vs (4) Sycho Sid - The Undertaker wins 19 votes to 2.
(2) Batista vs (3) Kane - Kane wins 12 votes to 9.

The Codebreaker Bracket

(1) Hulk Hogan vs (5) The Iron Shiek - Hulk Hogan wins 16 votes to 5.
(2) Chris Jericho vs (6) Andre the Giant - Chris Jericho wins 17 votes to 4.

The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket

(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (4) Ric Flair - Stone Cold Steve Austin wins 20 votes to 1.
(2) Kurt Angle vs (3) Randy Savage - Kurt Angle wins 11 votes to 10.

The biggest shock of the round when it comes to seeding are the eliminations of Christian, a #2 seed which lost to #6 seed Chris Benoit. We also have our first #1 seed elimination, with Randy Orton losing to #4 seed Booker T.

Just a reminder, that picture above is who is pairing off against who, the bracket number they have and the total amount of titles they have won.

To vote, vote or comment below, or message me on my Facebook page, my Twitter, or email me. 

Now that mumbo jumbo is out of the way, here's Round 3! Round 4, the Quarter Finals, will be posted on Friday 6th January. 

Round 3

*Voting Closed* 


The Pedigree Bracket 
(1) Triple H vs (6) Chris Benoit 


The Sweet Chin Music Bracket 
(1) John Cena vs (2) Shawn Michaels 


The Jackhammer Bracket 
(1) Edge vs (3) Jeff Hardy 


The Brogue Kick Bracket 
(1) The Rock vs (2) Bret Hart 


The Chokeslam Bracket 
(2) CM Punk vs (4) Booker T 


The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket 
(1) The Undertaker vs (3) Kane 


The Codebreaker Bracket 
(1) Hulk Hogan vs (2) Chris Jericho 


The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket 
(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (2) Kurt Angle

*Voting Closed* 

To summarise, to vote, you can list your preferred champions in the polls above. But I can also accept votes elsewhere, you can vote on my Facebook, my Twitter or via email. Votes will be tallied and Round 4, The Quarter Finals will be posted on Friday 6th January. Happy voting!

For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!

Bitesize: #5

Hey there,

This is the first Bitesize post in two weeks. I'll do them once in a while just to get a few things off my chest in one go rather than do full articles about everything. It's just not possible to do that.


First let's start with the wrasslin'. I wrote about The Hardy Boyz this week before Raw was on so that's why I haven't talked about current storylines as of yet. Before I do, give that article a look, if you haven't already, it's about the problems both of the Hardy's are having and how their lifestyles and and attitudes piss me off. In terms of quantities of people, it's the most praise I've had for a piece of work I've done.


Onto Raw, it was a very good show all around, the promos were very good, the matches were very good. What they're doing with Nash and Punk is intriguing, although it does seem to be leading to a long term Punk/Triple H feud which is fine by me. Keep going. As for Cena going against Del Rio, that's also fine. I hope Cena puts Del Rio over, and they can have a good match as well. I doubt it will be a classic like the two Cena/Punk matches were, but it should be still hopefully go into the **** star range. As for Smackdown, I haven't read the spoilers but last week we saw Mark Henry crowned as the no. 1 contender. While he isn't the most technically gifted wrestler on the show he has been a very entertaining character on TV recently and Randy Orton having a fresh opponent is fine by me. Christian/Orton was great and they booked the right time to end the feud. It'll easily be considered the feud of the year, unless this Punk/HHH feud is igniting into a huge thing that will go all the way to Wrestlemania, which isn't out of the realms of possibility.


In football, Liverpool beat Exeter 1-3 away. While they're not the best of opponents they were still a decent test despite us fielding a strong side. We still put in a very mature performance, we defended well and scored when we had the opportunity. Just because they're not a Premier League side doesn't mean we can dominate for ninety minutes, you'll always have shakes it's just being able to stay strong and composed when you're pressed a bit. And it was a mature performance, and the goals were good as well. Good performance. I'm quietly confident about this season, not that I predict we'll even come close to the title, but a Top 4 finish is something realistic I'm hoping.


As for site news, I'm introducing a few new things to the site recently, some you've already seen. On a monthly basis I'll be covering a year in music, this month I covered 1999, and at the start of September I'll cover 1998, and keep on going backwards. Another thing is I'm starting to do live football thoughts while a match is on; you can view my biased rambles on what happens during a Liverpool match here once in a while when I can. I did my first one here, when we beat Arsenal last weekend. I will be covering Liverpool against Bolton tomorrow in the same way. Once in a while I'll start introducing the Mercyside Licks, which is 10 songs (with Youtube videos if I can find them) that I really like, and will recommend. The only rule? No music singles. They have to not have been released as a single, so in theory, if you're not a big fan of the band you probably haven't heard the track. I'll try and follow a form of music theme as well, like heavy tracks or soft indie stuff, but that might not always be possible. There are other things too, like I'm trying to do a Q&A post once a month if I can too. So yeah, I'm adding some structure to my site.


So there you go, keep supporting me! I have a Facebook page you can 'like' me below. Have a good day.

The Mercy Side: The Hardy Complex

This is going to be a slightly different edition of The Mercy Side than usual. I’m going to talk about wrestling in this article, but I also give you some life advice. It may not apply to you but you never know. Enjoy the article anyway. 

“Hardy! Hardy! Hardy!”, the little boys and girls shout at both WWE and TNA performances whenever Matt or Jeff Hardy are in the ring doing their stuff. They’re an incredibly popular tag team, and make a claim for the most popular tag team in history in terms of the general fanbase loving them (smarks tend to like Edge and Christian more, and in the past five years, Beer Money). They have really cool entrance themes, flashy clothing, cool tattoos (in Jeff’s case), and they do some excellent tag team moves (Poetry in Motion while not technically brilliant, it’s still a cool signature move). They’ve had excellent matches, both of them as a tag team and individually. Who can forget the TLC triple threat match against Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz? Brilliant stuff.

But… as the intelligent internet wrestling fanbase is aware… all is not as it seems with the Hardy Boyz. They have a side to them, an ugly side, which rears its head once in a while. Don’t get me wrong when sober and interested, both of the Hardy’s I can really like in the ring. Really like. Jeff Hardy’s last run in the WWE was the best Jeff Hardy I’ve ever seen. Matt Hardy had his form back a few years ago when he was feuding with Edge. I like them in the ring. I saw TNA live earlier this year, and saw both Hardy’s wrestle. They weren’t that bad. Jeff Hardy had a lot of abuse from some of the smarks, including myself and my good Irish friend John, and he took it all on the chin. We had some excellent chants, like “Hardy’s wasted” and “Just eat grapes” (for Matt). They were excellent professionals when I saw them live and I give them credit when they work hard at their craft. Despite a lot of heckling at both the Hardy Boyz from the smarks, there were still passionate kids chanting “Hardy! Hardy! Hardy!”. Only John Cena nowadays, in a bigger venue on a bigger chant, get such a strong mixed reaction on a constant basis.

Why is this? Well if you haven’t figured much out on the internet, but the reason why both men left the WWE for TNA are because of their problems with the company. Jeff Hardy’s contract was running out and it seemed quite obvious that he wanted to start using drugs again. He still has court cases dating back around two years now, for having loads of drugs at his property. As for Matt Hardy, he felt he was underused in the WWE, that he is better than some (or all) the other guys getting a big push. He caused scenes on tour. He got suspended, and wriggled out of his contract. Both guys then went to TNA, Jeff Hardy around two years ago, and Matt Hardy earlier this year.

Jeff Hardy - idol of many. It's such a shame he's such an idiot.

In this time, the Hardy Boyz had problems. Personal problems. They took their feuds with both the WWE and certain wrestlers (CM Punk being one of them) to the internet. They ripped wrestlers off on the net. They used Twitter to air their grievances. Jeff Hardy’s last match in TNA was an absolute mess. He had a match against Sting, and stumbled to the ring, completely wasted. Sting finished him off quickly and took the title. Now TNA shouldn’t have let Jeff Hardy get to the ring in that state, but Jeff shouldn’t be fucked up at work in the first place. Taking drugs is one thing, but to do it at work, regardless of your profession, is just plain stupid. Jeff claims he was just tired due to his hectic schedule, but that was bullshit; his schedule for WWE was much bigger than it ever has been for TNA. And what's even worse? He has a wife and child. Does he do drugs around his child? I certainly hope not. That would be Jeff's lowest possible ebb.

And then there’s Matt. Now for the most part, there hasn’t been any evidence that Matt has any drug problems, or he takes drugs at all for the contrary. But his attitude in general just stinks, much worse than Jeff’s for the most part. He just thinks so high of himself, heck, both Hardy brothers do. On the top of their game, Jeff Hardy is a great talent capable of having great matches, and is world champion material. Matt is a step below that; capable of having good matches with most people yet never really deserving a place in the elite. That’s my frank opinion of them both, when they’re sober and motivated. But Matt just thinks he’s better than everyone. Their attitude is disgusting.

And the thing that pisses me off the most? Is usually around December/January time, when Matt Hardy promises to himself and to his fans that “a new era of Matt Hardy has begun”. Every year he says that, without fail. He can’t come to terms with the fact that Matt Hardy is actually passed his prime. He can’t compete as well as he could in the past. He can still go, but his ability seems to be on the wane. He just thinks far too much of himself, and can never take a look in the mirror and see his true self. Matt Hardy’s worst moment of past may not have had anything to do with drugs like Jeff, but it was harming his girlfriend, Reby Sky, who I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know via Formspring. He and Jeff tasered her, live on camera, before putting it on Youtube, to the horror of many people. How fucking sick is that? Abusing your own girlfriend on camera? As I said, I’ve spoken to Reby a few times and she seems like a really nice woman, someone that really loves being with her boyfriend. But things like this just disgust me personally.

And then we come to the news from this weekend. Matt Hardy crashing into a tree, drunk. TNA immediately fire him, it was obviously the last straw for them. His reaction? He denies it, and hints at a move back to WWE? How pathetic! The WWE won’t want to go anywhere near Matt Hardy. He really must think too high of himself if he even thinks they’ll touch him again based on the problems he caused less than a year ago, and for his reckless actions. He denies it, but there’s no evidence for or against it at present. Matt and Jeff Hardy deny any wrongdoing they ever do. They just think they can do what they want, when they want and because they have a certain element of celebrity status and star power, they get away with certain things.

Matt "I wasn't drink-driving" Hardy.

Which brings me to my point for this article – The Hardy Complex. Now this article is mainly about wrestling and the Hardy Boyz in particular, but it’s also about a life lesson in general. What is The Hardy Complex? It’s a term me and my wife came up with a good six months ago, when looking at these two brothers. The Hardy Boyz have their fans, many of them. Probably in the millions. And whenever things go wrong for them, if they crash into a tree, take drugs, tase their girlfriend, or turn up to a PPV mainevent fucked up, they blame someone else. They don’t take responsibility for their actions. And The Hardy Complex? They seek comfort and sympathy from those that love them. They go to their fans; their blind fans, who will stick by them no matter what. They go to these fans who will agree with them, that it’s ‘all the others’, and never their fault. It’s not Matt Hardy’s fault he crashed into a tree, drunk. It’s not Jeff Hardy’s fault he decided to take drugs. It’s the WWE’s fault for not accepting them for the way they are, as their talent warrants this behaviour and this lifestyle. It’s TNA’s fault as well no doubt.

That’s The Hardy Complex. It’s a lot more popular than you think. You probably know many people that have it. You know, they have a problem, they don’t accept responsibility for it, and then go to all their friends and family and seek consolation, knowing that the love they receive will make them truly believe that they are not the reason their life is fucking up. I know a few people myself. The best thing to do is to stay away from them, let them believe they are not responsible for the shit that happens in their life and concentrate on your own. The Hardy Complex. Seriously, if you are having shit happening in your life, look at yourself in the mirror and truly seek a way out of the problems that occur. Don’t blame people, or things. There may be small things that make the path you’re currently on harder, there may be small things that aren’t actually your fault. But for the most part, you are the reason you are where you are. Not other people, or things. The Hardy Complex.

“Hardy! Hardy! Hardy..." what their fans be saying really is “Hardy's. Look at yourselves. Sort your life out”. Thanks for reading.

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The Mercy Side: Thoughts on TNA Final Resolution and WWE Raw

Hey everyone,

I just thought I'd quickly run through my thoughts on the latest TNA Pay-Per-View and WWE's Monday Night Raw.
 
On the whole, Final Resolution was exactly what TNA is in general at the moment, a mixed bag of good, bad, and awful. The tag team matches were well received, and the Knockouts feud was also good. That's the good. The bad was the constant fuck-ups mid-broadcast - the PPV started a few minutes late. The hell? This is the biggest night of the month for the company and they screw the production up. There were blackouts, some parts had just sound, they put some videos or segments up early or late, it was a complete disaster. Abyss/Pope and Jarrett/Joe were pretty bad too, as expected.

And then the awful. Jeff Hardy. Now there have been conflicting reports to what happened on Sunday night. It doesn't matter what the truth is, if he was drunk, if he was high, if he was wasted, or if he was tired. Was he off his tits, or exhausted due to a ridiculous travel schedule? As I said it doesn't matter, it shouldn't have happened.

If he was high or drunk, get rid of him. If he has to take drugs, drink, fine, what people do in their personal lives is up to them. I don't condone drug taking but if TNA want to turn a blind eye that's fine. But if it affects work, then that's where the line is crossed. If I turned up to work drugged up and out of it, they'd sack me. It should apply anywhere, you are a professional. Yes, this is the wrestling biz, but it's also a national and a semi international product, that is watched in many different countries. Jeff Hardy is not only a role model to many people, especially children, but is the champion. He's the main man. He is booked to get asses into seats. If he is drugged up, he's simply, not going to perform. It makes him look really bad. It will make TNA look even worse. So as much as he's money, he's a big "superstar", he will be the cause of them losing money if they continue to let him get away with it.

But the more recent report is that it was all blown out of proportion, and that Jeff Hardy has been all over the world, promoting and performing. Now, if that's the case, that's TNA's fault. Final Resolution is the main night of the month, it's PPV night. All the month's work builds up to that one night. If they exhaust their champion to death before the main night, they're not going to get 100% out of him. He should be relaxing the day before, doing his usual work out, preparing for the night. Not travelling on planes and promoting TNA. It makes me laugh in a way, TNA's schedule is nothing on WWE's, they don't promote anywhere near as much as WWE wrestlers do. Jeff should know, he spent most of his career there. I don't know if TNA worked him too hard or if he isn't dealing with it well enough. Something needs to change, if there's nothing wrong with the schedule, and he can't deal with it, he's not fit for champion. John Cena is the most popular guy with casual fans in WWE, yet he backs it up by busting his ass day after day, year after year. That's one of the main reasons he has been champion so many times for so many days. WWE trust him with their product, if it's too much for Jeff Hardy he shouldn't carry the burden.
 
Now that's out of the way, I'd like to talk about Raw last night. It sounded okay, they didn't do anything mind blowing. CM Punk is really getting used to his new commentary role. I love his "my soda!" lines he keeps saying when the wrestlers get close to the announce table, or put someone through it. It's fantastic.
 
The Michael Cole angle sounded good as well, I just hope that he is going to be an official heel now, it's just frustrating when he praises some faces, it's not good for the casual fans who see Cole like some bad guys and some good guys. He needs to be consistent. I think Michael Cole may need to develop a heel manager persona down the line, his heat is fantastic right now. I wouldn't say The Miz, he can talk for England (I mean US, sorry), but maybe Alex Riley on his own, or with a stable. Cole, Riley and some one else, or a tag team. It might work.

The Orton/Miz stuff is working so far, not that I'm excited about their PPV match. It should be an okay match, but I don't think they'll have anything close to a match of the year standard match. But The Miz can talk, and Orton is over enough for there to be interest, mainly with the casual fans who want Orton to take The Miz out for his cocky chicken-shit heel approach.

Sheamus/Morrison is carrying on it seems. That's fine, maybe Triple H isn't quite ready yet. Sheamus should go over in their next match, and then Trips come back and beat him up. I want Morrison to go over personally, I'm a decent fan of his and think he deserves a break. But for storyline purposes it makes sense for Sheamus to go out of the feud looking strong so people can debate, can he actually beat Triple H? It's been close to a year now, since they first started their feud. Time flies.

That's it from me today. I should do these type of posts once in a while, it really depends on time, and if what happened in the week interests me. I'm not going to do any play-by-play or any reports, there's enough guys out there to do that. But if you want my views on wrestling, you know where to go.
 
Tomorrow I'll start my Top 50 Greatest Wrestling Catchphrases list. I'll post from #50 to #26 tomorrow. I hope you enjoy that. Have a good night.

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