WWE World Champion Knockout Game - Round 1

Hey there, welcome to my project! I did quite a lot of knockout games on the official Liverpool FC forums back in 2009 and 2010 and while the principle is the same, I've arranged this particular game differently.

I did a competition asking "Who is the Best" back in November 2009 on the LFC forums and the winner was Shawn Michaels. you can see that thread here. But that's not the same as this competition. For starters, that included WWE, World, ECW, WCW and TNA and AWA champions. This is only including the WWE and World Champions, while including the WWE versions of the ECW and WCW titles (which both had very few champions). So no TNA, no old WCW, old ECW or AWA champions.

Also this game is concentrating more on champions, rather than the wrestler or your favourites. As much as some of you may hate it, there's a reason why John Cena has won the title 12 times. And as good as Evan Bourne is, he probably overall, won't make as good a World Champion as Cena does, when you think about all the things that makes a good champion.

So what does make a good champion? A combination of things, and you can take away or add to these if you wish. To me, a good champion has to get a strong reaction from the crowd, has to earn the company money, has to be a good wrestler and has to be great on the microphone. There are more things that can be included, by all means include them if you value those things.

What's also different this time round is that it's not random. I've bracketed the competition so that the "strongest" goes against the "weakest" candidates, and slowly the favourites will eliminate the rest of the competition. How did I bracket it this way? Simple, in the total tally of titles. I had 57 champions, so to make a total of 64 I added the 7 wrestlers who last won the Intercontinental or United States title. The bracket in its entirety is in the image below, you'll need to click on it to see it properly.

If you look at that picture above you'll see who is pairing off against who, the bracket number they have and the total amount of titles they have won. Of course, this isn't always the best way of pairing off people, for instance Ric Flair actually only won 2 titles in the WWE, the same number as Vince McMahon of all people, so he's very low on the list. If you don't like how the competition has been decided don't blame me! Blame the WWE for favouring these people this way! Another example is Daniel Bryan won the US title yet hasn't won the big one yet so he's going against one of the elite title winners. But it's up to you to change that! If you genuinely think that Daniel Bryan or R-Truth or Ezekiel Jackson is as good a candidate for potentially being one of the best ever world champions then vote for them!

But the biggest change in this project is that I'm extending this competition to loads of things. I've included it on two different forums I'm a member of. They're getting involved. I also have this going on my Facebook and Twitter, so if everyone gets involved I could have loads and loads of votes. Also, you can get your friends involved! You can get other forums involved! Share this webpage to your forums or friends, and they can vote and comment! They can also comment on my Facebook page and my Twitter, as long as I get their vote it counts! The bigger this thing becomes the better it will be! So please help me with this! If it works it'd be pretty amazing!

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

Finally before I put the first round up, here are the bracket rules. These rounds will be going on for a week at a time. So that means that Round 2 will be posted on Friday 23rd December.

Bracket Rules

In Round 1, the person in each bracket that is ranked 1 goes against ranked 8, 2 against 7, 3 against 6 and 4 against 5.

In Round 2, the winner of 1vs8 goes against 4vs5, while 2vs7 goes against 3vs6.

In Round 3, the two remaining wrestlers in each bracket face each other.

In Round 4, the quarter finals, the 1st bracket winner (The Pedigree Bracket) takes on the 8th bracket winner (The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket). The 2nd bracket winner goes against the 7th bracket winner, 3rd against 6th, and 4th against 5th.

In Round 5, the semi finals, the winner of 1vs8 goes against 4vs5, while 2vs7 goes against 3vs6.

In Round 6, the final, the two remaining wrestlers go against each other.

If there is ever a tiebreaker, the seeded number (in blue font) will be the decider, with the higher ranked seed (1 being best, 8 being worst) will automatically go through.

If you're unsure of the rules, comment below or email me!

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Now that mumbo jumbo is out of the way, here's the first Round! Round 2 will be posted on Friday 23rd December.

Round 1

*Voting Closed*

The Pedigree Bracket

(1) Triple H vs (8) Montel Vontavious Porter 
(4) Vince McMahon vs (5) Jack Swagger 
(2) Christian vs (7) John "Bradshaw" Layfield 
(3) Mankind vs (6) Chris Benoit 

The Sweet Chin Music Bracket

(1) John Cena vs (8) Drew McIntyre 
(4) Rob Van Dam vs (5) Mark Henry 
(2) Shawn Michaels vs (7) The Great Khali 
(3) Brock Lesnar vs (6) Eddie Guerrero 

The Jackhammer Bracket

(1) Edge vs (8) R-Truth 
(4) Alberto Del Rio vs (5) Bobby Lashley 
(2) Bob Backlund vs (7) The Miz 
(3) Jeff Hardy vs (6) Goldberg 

The Brogue Kick Bracket

(1) The Rock vs (8) Daniel Bryan 
(4) Sheamus vs (5) Buddy Rodgers 
(2) Bret Hart vs (7) Dolph Ziggler 
(3) Rey Mysterio vs (6) Diesel 

The Chokeslam Bracket

(1) Randy Orton vs (8) Wade Barrett 
(4) Booker T vs (5) Ivan Koloff 
(2) CM Punk vs (7) Ezekiel Jackson 
(3) Big Show vs (6) Sgt. Slaughter 

The Tombstone Piledriver Bracket

(1) The Undertaker vs (8) Kofi Kingston 
(4) Sycho Sid vs (5) Pedro Morales 
(2) Batista vs (7) Tommy Dreamer 
(3) Kane vs (6) The Ultimate Warrior 

The Codebreaker Bracket

(1) Hulk Hogan vs (8) Cody Rhodes
(4) Yokozuna vs (5) The Iron Shiek 
(2) Chris Jericho vs (7) Matt Hardy 
(3) Bruno Sammartino (6) Andre the Giant 

The Stone Cold Stunner Bracket

(1) Stone Cold Steve Austin vs (8) John Morrison 
(4) Ric Flair vs (5) Stan Stasiak 
(2) Kurt Angle vs (7) Chavo Guerrero 
(3) Randy Savage vs (6) Billy Graham

*Voting Closed*

To summarise, to vote, you can list your preferred champions or potential 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 2 will be posted on Friday 23rd December. Happy voting!

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

The Mercy Side: Crossface

On Saturday, it was revealed on many wrestling websites that a film was to be made about the disastrous events that happened in the Benoit household between Friday 22^nd and Monday 25^th June 2007, and the life and career of the murderer, Chris Benoit. Benoit was an absolutely fine wrestler, one of the best, and his actions between these two dates were out of character yet brutal and some could argue, evil. Very little before or since the murder and suicide story has evoke such strong and diverse reactions.

Before I divulge in the idea of a film about Chris Benoit, let me tell you of the two sides to the man who was almost set in stone in terms of being one of wrestling’s modern legends, before the horrible incident occurred. On one side of the coin, you had Chris Benoit, forty years old, a technical genius in the ring and well respected by both rookies and his peers for his aggression and passion for the business. He worked his way up the highly political wrestling ladder from his days on the indie scene, to Japan, to ECW, WCW and eventually, WWE. He always had one of, if not the best match on every card everywhere he went and was well liked by many wrestlers backstage. A lot of people not only respected him, but he was a friendly man, helped out a lot of people in their careers while developing his own the hard way. He also had a great level of dignity; when WCW’s roster was getting thin because of the decrease in ratings and talent leaving the company, he was given the WCW heavyweight title, but after demanding change, left the company and vacated the title due to a lack of faith in him and the wrestlers that were still being held back due to politics. This shows his courage and passion for the business as a wrestling company rather than as a business for profit and greed. He left for the WWF, and despite injuries and a slow build up, he eventually won the gold at Wrestlemania XX and celebrated with long term friend Eddie Guerrero, who also retained his world title at the same event. It was one of the most emotional and real scenes ever displayed in a wrestling ring, a place where characters and acts are central and personal lives are hidden.

Due to the nature and subject of this article, this is the only picture I'm adding. It's a picture I personally want to remember, IF I have to think of Benoit.

And a personal life indeed was hidden. No one saw what Chris Benoit was to do coming. His work colleagues, friends, family, fans, and more importantly, his wife and son didn’t know what was coming. No one foresaw him as a person who could bound his wife, press a knee into her back and pull a chord around her neck and strangle her, as speculated. No one expected him to sedate his son and to suffocate him, as speculated. And then to kill himself by hanging himself with a chord attached to a weight machine. Who knows what went on in that house before Chris did these unforgivable things? Did he have issues with his wife? His kid? Was he just insane? It was certainly planned.

The most common and logical reason that is hypothesized is that brain damage and repeated trauma to Benoit’s head were major factors in this incident. It was discovered that Chris had damage to all four lobes of his brain. It is almost inevitable that so much strain to the brain gave him loads of concussions, and too many concussions can affect people’s behaviour. Because of Benoit’s actions the WWE have never mentioned his name on television again, and they have removed him from nearly all the archive footage in their history. Only his name, and his name only, is mentioned in the history books when he won titles. No descriptions on how he won, the feuds that lead to the wins are stated. Just his name. Also the WWE have made their product much safer, they have stopped chair shots directly to the head and removed the gore element of their matches. If blood is shed in matches now, it’s certainly not fake blood or cuttings, and the match is often paused so the officials can deal with the injury. Most importantly, the WWE have tried their best to make sure things like this never happen again by including a Wellness Policy that tries to eliminate illegal drug use, including steroids and abuse to prescriptions. The WWE Wellness Policy actually started with the death of Eddie Guerrero, two years prior, but activity was definitely revved up after the double murder and suicide of Chris Benoit. The WWE have acted very professionally in this situation, after all, they have to defend their company but they also needed to take certain measures so that these situations would hopefully never happen again.

It’s a horrible and scratchy subject to bring up, the wrestler once known as Chris Benoit. Why? Because one of two memories always crops up, for nearly everyone. The majority of people I’d say think of the horrible and disgusting ending to three people’s lives when they think of Chris Benoit. But there is a minority that like to celebrate the wrestler that was Chris Benoit, and try not to think about him as an evil man who committed unforgivable actions. I’m probably in the latter. Now, before you jump on me and tell me I’m terrible for having that view, as I’m sure there are many people who just can’t fathom to understand how that can be a possibility. But I don’t like to see the negative side of people if I can help it. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t jump away from the subject, if people ask me for my thoughts on what Benoit did, I’m one of the first to say it’s disgusting, sick, inexcusable and reprehensible. But I like to think about his work in the ring before those actions. The reason is simply because I don’t want to think about those things, I mean who does? So that’s the reason. But I try not to think about Benoit at all, because of it beign such a sketchy subject.

The same by the way applies to other talented men who did committed malevolence, like Gary Glitter. I see them in the same boat. I grew up listening to Gary Glitter as a kid and loved his music. By the time I was entering my teens news was rife about his disgusting and filthy actions towards children. Those actions are equally as indefensible. But if a Glitter song comes on, I try my best to enjoy it, as it was good music from the seventies. So, that’s my attitude towards these things, and if you don’t’ agree with it I can completely respect that, just try to understand my logic is all I ask.

Anyway, back to the subject, a film is apparently going to be made about Chris Benoit, and most particularly, the acts he caused. Why? Well the film is to be made by SRG films, and the chief there had this to say:

“Chris Benoit has become a poster child for everything that’s wrong with professional wrestling and Sarah [Coulter]’s terrific script captures his struggles and the many factors that led to the deaths of three people.”

“People immediately point to steroids, never thinking about the brain trauma these wrestlers can, and do, incur in their profession, nor do they consider the rigorous schedule that keeps them working even when they shouldn’t be. The Benoit story is one that needs to be brought into the light.”

So in an nutshell, the idea is that this film is going to raise awareness of brain trauma and the hectic schedule that wrestlers have to deal with (which can be around 300 nights a year of wrestling) and its effect on them. Essentially, this film will focus on the negatives of wrestling and the toll it has on a human being. I’d say you’d expect to see lots of headshots and headbutts and a lack of focus on the wrestling side of things. It'll be more about Benoit's life than his career. It's going to be unsettling to watch and is being made to emphasise how dangerous the game is. So if you’re expecting a film paying homage to wrestling, or even more stupidly, to Benoit, then you’re wrong. This film is here to shed a dark light on wrestling. And not even in a way similar to The Wrestler.

Comparing this film to The Wrestler, the good thing that The Wrestler does is celebrate wrestling. Yes it deals with the hard and grubby situations that wrestlers have to deal with. It deals with a lot of negative aspects of wrestling, but it does it in a tasteful way, a realistic way and it does it educationally. The Wrestler got nearly everything inch perfect about how wrestling life is like. And the best thing is, it IS homage, as it shed great light on the spectacle, on the show, on the sportsmanship and the good and great. It had a balanced story of positive and negative.

This film won’t do that. There will probably be very little actual wrestling in the film. I’d expect most of this film to be out of the ring, and full of speculation on what happened backstage, in the Benoit household and the potential motives the man had. It’s going to be very dark and extremely unsettling.

Am I for or against this film? It’s hard to say, it’s not as black and white an answer of yes or no. I'm 'for' the idea of bringing focus on the dangers of brain trauma and the psychological strain these guys go through. I’m for the educational purpose of this film. But I'm against the idea of these people trying to take a negative spin on all the great things about wrestling, and the WWE in general, The Wrestler did this but also celebrated wrestling. Let's be honest, these people want wrestling to be banned or at least strong lines to be drawn on what can and cannot happen in a wrestling ring, which in a certain way you can admire them for their concern, but I think the WWE have things under control more now than they ever had. To expect miracles in four years is stupid.

The main problem with this film is simply that it’s a film in the first place. They describe the film as a “biological thriller”. Really? If it was a biological film it will deal with the life of Chris Benoit. It’s not about Benoit as a person; it’s about Benoit as a murderer. I very much doubt there will be no stories on Benoit as a child, or as Benoit as a teenager. There may be some parts of the film that deal with Benoit’s early career, but only as a referencing point of how early he was causing damage to himself. So that’s not a biography really is it? Of course, in the end I’m speculating what the film will be about and do I know really? No I don’t, but I think it’s obvious how this film will be made if you put the thought into it.

The worse part of the whole film will be the actual scenes of murder. Once again, reports are strong about what happened and the methods used, but in the end, no one knows what happened the night before the murder. Did Nancy provoke Chris? How much thought did Chris Benoit put into killing his family? The motives were there but did he plan it the day before, the morning of, or longer than that? No one knows this. And to further this being the worst part, watching a grown man sedate a young boy and then suffocate him is going to be absolutely distressing to watch. Benoit didn’t strangle his son; he suffocated him, probably with a pillow or a plastic bag or something. In the end, this is a film; you’re supposed to enjoy films. Even thrillers and horror films are to be enjoyed. How can you enjoy this? Yes it’s described as a “biological thriller”, and it is certainly ‘thrilling’, but for the wrong reasons. It’s unsettling, it’s upsetting and it’s uncomfortable to think about. Also, how does the film end? In the end of a film you should have some form of satisfaction. It doesn’t always have to be a happy ending, but how can you end a film like this? Where does it end? If it ends at the point where Chris commits suicide, that’s a hideous ending. It if ends with the police finding the bodies, it’s equally as horrible. How else can it end? It’s just not a story that has an ending where you can feel fulfilled and all you have at the end of watching such a film is discomfort and distress.

So on the whole, I'm against this film happening. There are pros, but the cons dramatically outweigh them. Yes this is a subject that has relevance and importance, but the WWE have already taken good steps to make sure these horrible stories don't happen again, with the ban of headshots, the turn into a PG product and the banning of fake blood and the graphic side to wrestling on the verge of obscurity. But the idea of making this scene into a film is also baffling due to it actually having to be a film anyway, and there’s no satisfaction to watching the events unfold, even for educational purposes. But if they are to make this film, I'm definitely interested to see to and I will watch it, with clenched fists and seething teeth. Thanks for reading.

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The Mercy Side: A Golden Curtain Call

Hey there, I haven’t done any writing on wrestling for around six weeks now which is a shame. I just haven’t really found much in wrestling to write about, most of the stuff that’s happening is covered by other people already, and while I know I can write nearly as well as other people out there, I don’t really know what my opinion can contribute to on the grand scheme of things. So I just waited for a topic that was less likely to be covered by other people, or at least something that won’t be pinpointed as a huge talking point.

And then this morning I boot up the computer as always. Eat a jam donut. Drink some water from plastic bottle. Spit it out in the air and start posing like Triple H. Pretend there’s a camera in my face and growl at it. Make sure there’s enough water in my throat to spit at the camera and then proceed to do so. Now there’s water over my screen. Anyway, after wiping the spit and water off my screen, something caught my eye as I do my morning wrestling news and rumours gander. Goldust is campaigning for a match against his half brother, Cody Rhodes, for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania. Now I know what you might think about that. It’s not a big deal. It probably won’t happen. Why would Cody Rhodes want to wrestle Goldust, who’s barely been relevant for many a year and not been on TV for months due to injury and working backstage? Well there’s a lot to gain from this match, and I’m putting my entire 18 stone frame behind it to happen.

You see, Goldust doesn’t want a normal match. He wants a title vs career match. Goldust is 42 now, he’s had many injuries recently and he seems happy backstage helping out the divas (with their matches, not physically, well I suppose it is physical but it’s not sexual... oh you get the idea) so he’s obviously on the foot end of his career. Goldust has many times hinted at retiring. You still might be thinking that this might be a bad idea, and I can understand if you do in a certain way. But believe it or not, Goldust can still go. I remember him having some great matches on the ultimately unsuccessful WWECW programme at its end. By great I mean great TV matches, not five star classics. He had very good matches with Sheamus, Zack Ryder (who was a heel at the time), William Regal and Paul Burchill. I know that on the grandest stage of them all, for a good 10 or maybe 15 minutes if they allow it, they could put on a great match. They’re both gifted wrestlers, Goldust has always been underrated as a wrestler, and can both tell very good stories in the ring.

Cody Rhodes’ light has never shone brighter than it has at present. With the charming gimmick, he had a good run, the gimmick wasn’t great but he made it work. Then he had a good feud heading into Wrestlemania with Rey Mysterio and started donning a mask to hide his ‘disfigured’ face.  The feud however fizzled out with a small pop rather than a bang, and so did Rhodes’ push towards the top. He never went down the card but he did temporarily stop moving upwards. While he wasn’t moving up the card he was doing good promos, and putting paperbags on people’s faces. It worked, it got him good heat and he started changing his voice to come across as creepy and condescending. His promos excelled. And then he got the Intercontinental title on August 9^th, or the 12^th as it was shown on TV then. Since then the man has been on fire, he’s had a very good feud with Randy Orton, despite Orton being occupied with Mark Henry, Orton helped Rhodes out immensely by putting him over a few times. The feud from what we can tell has now finished and Rhodes has lost his mask. He’s now got new music again. The time Rhodes stood out the most for me was at Hell in a Cell, October 2^nd, when he started using the old style Intercontinental title. It was a huge move, and it made a great statement. It shows that Rhodes really cares about representing the Intercontinental title, a title that’s been passed around like mud recently, when it should representing a hot young wrestler on the up. That’s exactly what Rhodes is, and at 26, he’s got as much potential as anyone.

So Goldust wants a title shot at Wrestlemania for the Intercontinental title, and wants to put his career on the line. If Rhodes still has the title by then, he’ll be champion for nearly eight months. Eight months. Long title reigns are a rarity in today’s WWE, and this would be a heck of a statement. But I’m fully behind this. Rhodes needs that long title reign. I don’t think he should be WWE champion before Wrestlemania. I think it’s too soon. And you have Mark Henry, Sheamus and Orton to contend with, and at the moment I don’t think Rhodes has quite made it yet. There are a lot of rumours going around that Booker T will be having a feud with Rhodes soon. I say let that happen, let Rhodes go over Booker, and then prepare him for Goldust. Goldust can return at the Royal Rumble, and immediately start his feud with Cody Rhodes. He can easily be disrespected by Rhodes, for being a has-been, for being ugly, for being weird, for being ashamed to be his half brother. Goldust can make his TV return, and win a few matches against some lower card wrestlers like JTG, Primo and Heath Slater, while Cody Rhodes comes out and attacks him post match or runs him down with his excellent mic skills. Eventually Goldust explodes and beats up Cody Rhodes. They can go back and forth for two months and Goldust can request a title vs career match. I think making it personal, and making the audience aware that they’re half brothers adds spice to the feud. Maybe Goldust, the week before Wrestlemania, can wear no makeup and show the world what Dustin Rhodes is, and Cody can continue to mock him and call him ugly, before Goldust beats him down, ending the night on a high.

It’s a no brainer that Cody Rhodes should retain at Wrestlemania if this feud happens. It also should be a no brainer that after Wrestlemania, Rhodes should eventually lose the title and move onto the top of the Smackdown card. If Daniel Bryan actually cashes in at Wrestlemania and somehow wins, I’d love for Bryan and Rhodes to be the main event of Smackdown for Extreme Rules. That would be awesome. As for Goldust, he’d have a fantastic ending to a very odd career. A career that had some ups and many many downs, and a career that was overshadowed by a flashy gimmick rather than a wrestle who could actually wrestle well. But against his half brother, he will be putting over a great young talent and hopefully himself. He can wrestle. Rhodes/Goldust can work. And I think it is the perfect golden Curtain Call on Dustin Rhodes’ career. Thanks for your time.

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