The Piledriver Report 3.28.07: 2nd Annual March Madness Tournament Elite Eight Results and WrestleMania Predictions.
Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 03.28.2007
March Madness hits “The Piledriver Report.” Check out the results of the tournaments Elite Eight round, and vote on each Final Four round match of TPR’s second Annual March Madness Tournament. Help crown the Ultimate World Champion wrestler of All-Time. Plus, Ronny gives his WrestleMania 23 predictions, and a look at the release of a WWE wrestler.
The field is now narrowed down to the Final Four wrestlers in the tournament. Before the results are given, I would like to thank everyone who has voted thus far. I have received over 595 e-mails voting on the tournament. Thank you again.
Along with the results, I will be including how many votes each wrestler received in parenthesis. Next, will come the Final Four match-ups, which I will need you to vote on. Followed by a quick analysis of the Elite Eight. I will end the column with the wrestler I had picked to advance to the Final Four.
PLEASE E-MAIL ME WHO YOU THINK WILL WIN EACH THIRD ROUND MATCH BY SUNDAY, APRIL 1ST, 2007.
ELITE EIGHT RESULTS
MCMAHON REGION
#8 Bret Hart (53) over #6 The Rock (36)
HEYMAN REGION
#4 Taz (43) over #3 Raven (42)
CROCKETT-TURNER REGION
#2 Ric Flair (78) over #1 Lou Thesz (8)
BLACKBURN REGION
#6 Curt Hennig (50) over #1 Verne Gagne (35)
FINAL FOUR MATCH-UPS
MCMAHON REGION
#8 Bret Hart (5 time WWF Champion for a grand total of 654 days)
vs.
HEYMAN REGION
#4 Taz (2 time ECW Champion for a grand total of 261 days.)
CROCKETT-TURNER REGION
#2 Ric Flair (17 (debatable) time Champion (10 time NWA Champion, 7 time WCW Champion) for a grand total of 3,597 days.)
vs.
BLACKBURN REGION
#6 Curt Hennig (1 time AWA Champion for a total of 373 days.)
Elite Eight Notes:
A #1 seed failed to advance to the Final Four in any region.
Bret Hart was the lowest number seed (#8) in the tournament that advanced to the Final Four. Bret Hart is in the MCMAHON REGION.
Once again, Ric Flair received the highest amount of votes in this round of the tournament with 78 votes.
The wrestler who advanced to the next round by the slimmest margin was TAZ when he beat Raven by a total of 1 vote.
Only Lou Thesz in the CROCKETT-TURNER REGION received fewer than ten (8) votes each in their respective Elite Eight match-ups.
Three of the 8 wrestlers received 50 or more votes each in their respective match-up.
These wrestlers are Bret Hart (53) in the MCMAHON REGION , Ric Flair (78) in the CROCKETT-TURNER REGION, and Curt Hennig (50) in the BLACKBURN REGION.
The biggest upset in the round, in terms of where each wrestler was seeded compared to his opponent, Curt Hennig at the #6 seed when he beat #1 Verne Gagne in the BLACKBURN REGION to pull off the biggest upset by beating someone that was ranked five seeds higher then he were.
My Elite Eight Round Picks
MCMAHON REGION
#8 Bret Hart over #6 The Rock
HEYMAN REGION
#4 Taz over #3 Raven
CROCKETT-TURNER REGION
#2 Ric Flair over #1 Lou Thesz
BLACKBURN REGION
#6 Curt Hennig over #1 Verne Gagne
Thanks again for voting, and I look forward to seeing everyone's Final Four picks as we narrow the field next week to the World Title Finals.
WRESTLEMANIA 23 PREDICTIONS
Kane vs. The Great Khali: This is the first bathroom break of the show. Words can't describe how potentially bad this match can actually be. For some reason, Vince keeps pushing the talentless Khali. However, I can't push him to a WrestleMania victory. WINNER: KANE
Tommy Dreamer/Sandman/Sabu/Rob Van Dam vs. Matt Striker/Elijah Burke/Kevin Thorn/Marcus Cor Von: It's being billed as the ECW Originals vs. the New Breed. The WCW/WWE InVasion angle had bigger names on the WCW side, the the WWE has on the ECW New Breed side. From a storyline stand point, the Originals should finally gain their revenge against the New Breed, and take home the victory. However, the real ECW is dead, which means that the crap will reign supreme. WINNERS: Striker/Burke/Thorn/Cor Von (BTW, I hate that name)
United States Champion Chris Benoit vs. Montel Vontavious Porter: Logic would state that Benoit would win in a squash. Normally, I would agree with that as it is an insult to every wrestling fans' intelligence to think that MVP could ever beat Benoit. However, if the rumors are true that Benoit should be going back to RAW, the US title will not be going with him. WINNER: MVP
Women's Champion Melina vs. Ashley in a LumberJills Match: Bathroom break #2. I know the WWE loves to push the latest WWE Playboy model in the Women's match at WrestleMania each year. However, Ashley wasn't the Diva to push on Playboy AND isn't the woman to put over in this match. Is it just me, or is it a pre-requist that if you win the Diva contest, you win a cover photo spread in Playboy? She may have won the Diva contest, but her luck runs out here. WINNER: Melina
Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Booker T vs. Ken Kennedy vs. Fit Finlay vs. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge: WOW! What a match! I see three possible winners. CM Punk could use the win to continue to have his star rise, and push him as the next star to go against Bobby Lashley, possibly at ECW One Night Stand. The other two candidates are Edge and Orton. My dream scenario would be for Edge's WrestleMania winning streak to continue. Then later in the evening, he would challenge the winner of the Michaels/Cena match, preferably Michaels, to a match at the end of the night to win the title, thus allowing him to main event WrestleMania. A spot that he has deserved for the past two Manias. Unfortunately, I see the WWE giving the win to the man that they have been trying to push as their next big star since 2004. WINEER: Randy Orton
Battle of the Billionaires: Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley with Vince McMahon and Donald Trump's hair on the line. The match started out as Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant. Then when The Giant went out with his back and other injuries, Hogan was going to battle the Giant Kahli, and then Umaga. After Hogan had a phone conversation with Vince's secretary broadcast over the radio, Hogan was out of the match, and Umaga was booked to face Bobby Lashley instead. This has a chance to battle Kane and Khali as the worst match of the evening. While the WWE is trying to push this bout as one of the main events, this match is Bathroom Break #3. Do anybody really expect Donald Trump to get his head shaved? WINNER: Bobby Lashley
World Champion Batista vs. the Undertaker: The title vs. the streak. As Michael Meyers said in "Wayne's World," "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" Well, neither is Batista. Since coming back from his injury last summer, Batista has been awful in the ring. Meanwhile, Taker seems rejuvenated. WINNER: the Undertaker
WWE Champion John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels: While I would love to see Shawn regain that magic for one last WrestleMania and take home the gold, I don't see it happening. Sure, Shawn will lead Cena to a hell of a match, but I can't see his hand raised in victory. In order to cement himself as the new leader of the WWE, John Cena needs to beat "Mr. WrestleMania" Shawn Michaels. The Heartbreak Kid doesn't need to beat Cena in order to cement his legacy. WINNER: John Cena
Looking at the card, I was surprised at a few things. First, where are the tag team championships? OK, the RAW version is currently held by Cena and Michaels, so they can't be defended. By the way, shouldn't they have lost them already? What about Paul London/Brian Kendrick? They are the third longest reigning tag team champions in the company's history. Sure, titles mean nothing, but they should be rewarded for being the best tag team in the WWE right now. Why not have them defend against MNM or the World's Greatest Tag Team? After all, how the hell is Shelton Benjamin NOT on the WrestleMania card? That's a travesty! Johnny Nitro too! Couldn't the WWE have had MNM wrestle on the biggest show of the year? After all MNM HAS been involved in some of the best pay per view matches in the WWE since December. Then came the news that Joey Mercury has been released by the WWE. My first reaction was "What the HELL!?!?!?!" Why in the world would the WWE do something that stupid? The guy literally put his face on the line for the company, and came back early in the process. Along with Johnny Nitro, Mercury has been extremely over in the tag team MNM. I'm scratching my head over their decision. Now, if he had a drug slip up, I totally understand, but if it was just because they wanted to get rid of him, them they are complete morons. Only time will tell.
Enjoy WrestleMania 23, and do not forget to vote in the Final Four Round of the Ultimate World Champion tournament.
