The Piledriver Report 4.04.07: The 2nd Annual March Madness Tournament Final Four Results and My WrestleMania Thoughts.

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 04.04.2007

March Madness hits “The Piledriver Report.” Check out the results of the tournaments Final Four round, and vote on the Championship Final round match of TPR’s second Annual March Madness Tournament. Help crown the Ultimate World Champion wrestler of All-Time. Plus, my thoughts on WrestleMania 23.

The field is now narrowed down to the Final Two wrestlers in the tournament. Before the results are given, I would like to thank everyone who has voted thus far. I have received over 633 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 Championship match-up, which I will need you to vote on. Followed by a quick analysis of the Final. I will end the column with the wrestlers I had picked to advance to the finals of the tournament.

PLEASE E-MAIL ME WHO YOU THINK WILL WIN EACH THIRD ROUND MATCH BY SUNDAY, APRIL 8th, 2007.

ELITE EIGHT RESULTS

MCMAHON REGION #8 Bret Hart (34) over HEYMAN REGION #4 Taz (4)

CROCKETT-TURNER REGION #2 Ric Flair (25) over BLACKBURN REGION
#6 Curt Hennig (13)

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH-UP

MCMAHON REGION
#8 Bret Hart (5 time WWF Champion for a grand total of 654 days)
vs.
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.)

Final Four Notes:

For the first time in the tournament, Ric Flair DID NOT received the highest amount of votes in a round during this tournament. Bret Hart scored 34 votes compared to Ric Flair's 25.

My Final Four Round Picks

MCMAHON REGION #8 Bret Hart over HEYMAN REGION #4 Taz

CROCKETT-TURNER REGION #2 Ric Flair over BLACKBURN REGION #6 Curt Hennig

Thanks again for voting, and I look forward to seeing everyone's Final pick as we crown the Ultimate World Champion.


WrestleMania 23 reminded me a lot of WrestleMania 3. While both shows opened with Vince McMahon opening the broadcast, and Aretha Franklin kicking things off with her rendition of "America the Beautiful," the two shows were similar in that each extravaganza can be described as "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly."

Just like the third edition of WrestleMania, this year's Mania went exactly as planned. The matches that you expected to be good, were exactly that. The matches that were okay on paper turned out to be okay on the live show. The matches that were thought to be ugly turned out to be Ugly like Betty.

To my surprise, the WWE presented the Money in the Bank match first. After thinking about the decision for I moment, I realized that the move made perfect sense. It's WrestleMania. The crowd is going to be hot right off the bat. You don't want to put them to sleep with a stinker opening match. Lance Storm once said that besides the main event, the next best match to be on is in the opening contest. It makes perfect sense. If the first match on the show is hot, then they can set the tone for the rest of the show. Either that, or the rest of the show would be a letdown. This match did not led to the rest of the show being a let down. Quite the contrary, the Money in the Bank Match definitely helped set the tone for an entertaining WrestleMania.

Another factor that probably led to the Money in the Bank contest being placed as the opening match on the show was due to time constraints. Remember last year's WrestleMania? The World Heavyweight title match between Kurt Angle, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio Jr. was action packed with the potential to be a WrestleMania classic. However, the show was running short on time, and this was the match that suffered for it. The match was cut short, and the fans were robbed of a truly great Mania Moment.

This year would not be the case. The Money in the Bank match delivered all that it set out to. I do not believe that one individual separated himself from the crowd, as Shelton Benjamin has done during the previous MitB matches. However, each competitor seemed to have their own special moment during the contest to make themselves stand out at one point.

I was dead wrong on my prediction of this match. I picked Randy Orton to win the bout, since he was considered (at one time) to be one of the future cornerstones of the company. Edge was the wrestler that I had hoped would win it and then challenge the winner of the main event. I figured it was a pipe dream, but I could dream. I was surprised the Ken Kennedy won the match. He just feuded with Batista over the World title, and the Undertaker shortly before that. Unless he moves over to RAW to challenge John Cena, I don't understand the move. One good thing about giving Ken Kennedy the win is that it picks up where the King of the Ring left off. The Money in the Bank match is being used to turn WWE Superstars into main event wrestlers. However, I am predicting that Ken Kennedy does NOT win championship gold once he cashes in his Money in the Bank title shot. If he does, then the Money in the Bank stipulation will get too predictable. Winner of the match wins the World title. The WWE needs to keep some unpredictability with the Money in the Bank concept.

The next match on the show featured the UGLY, or as Jim Ross was shockingly allowed to say/predict during last Monday's RAW, this match was bowling shoe ugly. The key WrestleMania moment for me was when Kane bodyslammed Khali. While the WWE may try to promote it like Hogan body slamming Andre twenty years prior, to me, when I saw the slam, I thought back to Andre the Giant slamming Big John Studd at the inaugural WrestleMania event. While I was right that this match was the first unofficial "bathroom break" of the evening, I was wrong about the winner. Khali won to keep his unwarranted push alive yet another day. YUCK!

To wake us up from the boredom of Khali, the WWE provided Comedy Moment #1 of the night. It was very cool seeing all of the "Eighties Superstars" show up during the dance segment. Seeing Ricky Steamboat in his full "Dragon" garb was very cool.

The Chris Benoit/MVP match could have been either a very good match or a borefest. With Chris Benoit in the match, you knew that the opportunity was there for a good match. MVP was definitely the wild card in the match. However, the wild card turned up aces, as MVP held his own. The two had a solid match that could have been a very good match if they were given more time. I took the rumors of Chris Benoit moving back to RAW into account, and gave the victory to MVP. So far, I was 0 for 3 on the night.

After a short skit featuring Donald Trump, it was time to introduce the 2007 Hall of Fame inductees. While the list of inductees are deserving, I can't help but continue to ask "What about Randy Savage?" Aside from Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund, Savage is the top "WWF wrestler" that should be in the Hall of Fame. This was the perfect year for it to. With Vince and Hogan on the outs, the WWE didn't have to worry about any real life confrontation between the Hulkster and the "Macho Man." Also, this was the 20th anniversary of the Savage-Steamboat match from WrestleMania III. Both men should have been sent to the Hall of Fame together this year. As a side note, what was that garbage that aired on the USA Network the night before Mania? I know they called it the Hall of Fame ceremony, but that was not even close to being a respectable version. They had four inductees on the USA broadcast. Three of the speeches last around two minutes. I can't wait to see the real speeches on the WrestleMania 23 DVD, because no way in hell those were the actual speeches. The WWE edited those speeches like crazy. I felt like I was robbed from the experience of watching these Hall of Famers being inducted. It was a waste of an hour of my life that I will never get back. The WWE better do a better job of the Hall of Fame ceremony next year.

The World title match between Batista and the Undertaker was next. I was surprised, because I feel both World Championship matches should go on at the end of the card. Another surprise for me was the match itself. Sure, Batista was sloppy at times, but both men put on a really good match. The match was fast paced, and the crowd was very into it. The Undertaker's winning streak at WrestleMania was extended which was he right move. Sorry Batista, but you aren't the wrestler who deserved to break the streak. Plus, I finally got a match prediction correct.

The ECW Originals vs. The NB: New Breed, or as I like to call them, the Never Been, was next. I loved the way the match started out. Sabu was bouncing all over the ring, and looked really good. The match itself was average, and the crowd wasn't really into it. I was glad to see the Originals win. It was the right move from a booking standpoint. The New Breed has been getting the better of the Originals for the last few weeks, it was time for the Originals to get their revenge. What was even sweeter was seeing Rob Van Dam score the pin. Does that mean that RVD is out of the doghouse and will be resigning with the WWE? Only time will tell.

Bathroom Break#2 came next in the Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley contest. Despite this match being the most heavily pushed in the media, I call it a "Bathroom Break" match for several reasons. First, both men are below average workers. If not for the haircut stipulation, how many people would even care about this match? Second, we all knew the result. Did anybody really think that Umaga would win, forcing Donald Trump to go bald? I don't even think kids who believe the match outcomes aren't predetermined thought that Trump would be getting a visit with a pair of scissors. Not only did we know that Umaga would lose the match, and Vince would lose his hair, but we knew it would come at the hands of special referee Steve Austin hitting Umaga. I don't think any of us were surprised when Austin stunned Trump either. What would have been surprising, and would have led to the biggest pop of the night is if Austin then shaved Trump's head! This match led to the #2, #3, and #4 comedy spots of the night. #2 was when Donald Trump attacked Vince towards the end of the match. With those weak blows, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz have absolutely nothing to worry about. Their titles are safe if Trump decides he wants to try his hand at the mixed martial arts in UFC. The third comedy spot involved Vince McMahon trying to sneak away from getting his hair cut, and then the eventual scalp job. One thing that you have to give Vinnie Mac credit for is that he really will do anything for the company. Can you see Ted Turner getting his head shaved bald during WCW's heyday? The final comedy spot of the evening was the bump that Trump took from Steve Austin's Stunner. Donald should stick to casinos and "The Apprentice," and leave the bumping to Bobby Lashley.

The women's match was next. I only saw the beginning and the end of this match. While you can call this "Bathroom Break #3," I call this, "Time to check on my Mets." Good news, the Mets were up 5-1! Back to WrestleMania. I am so glad that Melina won the match. Ashley isn't ready to be put in that position yet, not that the WWE cares about wrestling ability in their women. However, putting Melina over in this math was the right call.

The main event between WWE World Champion John Cena and Shawn Michaels was next. While I have grown to respect John Cena a lot during this past year, this match made me realize why I hate his character so much. That "You Can't See Me" crap has got to go, and does that damn spinner belt already! I actually picked Cena in this match, as I figured that he would be going over, but why via tap out? It was an amazing match between the two wrestlers. Both men had the advantage over the other for long stretches of the bout. The right ending would have been a roll up pin that came out of nowhere. However, an undramatic tap out of Shawn Michaels left a bad taste in my mouth. That aside, the crowd was great. Over 70,00 fans booing the hell out of Cena was reminiscent of the New York fans booing Alex Rodriguez. Very cool. I wish they would turn him heel already. It did wonders for Ricky Maivia and a stale Hulk Hogan. It could do the same for Cena.

All in all, it was a very entertaining WrestleMania. Was it one of the best? Not even close. Was it an enjoyable event worth the $50 price tag? Definitely. Can't wait for Mania 24.