Welcome to insidepulse.com’s recap of round one of Wrestlemania Madness and your brackets for round two! I’m your host Rob Blatt and I’ll take you through the one sided victories and the upsets. Unfortunately this year we don’t see any Cinderella stories as all of the top seeded matches ended how you think they would end.
As it comes to no surprise to anyone that Hollywood Hogan def. Andre the Giant w/ Bobby The Brain Heenan to retain the championship, Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match, Razor Ramon def. Shawn Michaels to retain, WWE Iron Man Match for WWE Championship, Shawn Michaels def. Bret Hit Man Hart in overtime, and Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship Match, Chris Benoit def. Triple H and Shawn Michaels to become new champion have all destroyed their opponents with the Intercontinental Ladder Match making the easiest work of the Dusty/Macho mixed tag match.
But should the Ladder match have been in the first seed? The results deem so, but of all the divisions, this race was the hardest to call, but the voting seems to have validates any arguments against the judges. Or could it have just been the opponents. Macho/Warrior was going up against Andre the Giant and Jake the Snake, and Andre’s just one of those guys that garners votes no matter what match he’s in.
The ladder match also got the most votes, followed by Andre/Hogan at Wrestlemania III, and currently those two seem destined to go to the Final Four in the ultimate battle of innovation vs. nostalgia.
So let’s talk upsets. This tournament so far has been light on upsets. Christian/Chris Jericho from Wrestmania XX nearly squeezed out a victory going against Rock/Austin III from XIX. That was by far the closest match up, with a 5 nearly losing to a 12.
The other upset happened in the second division where Undertaker/Jake Roberts beat out the infamous half black Roddy Pipper/Bad New Brown match.
Some 9’s beat 8’s, but those were the hardest matches to seed regardless, so those are good match ups.
Round two is going to be MUCH harder to call and you’ll see why.
Let’s turn to analysts Gordi Whitelaw and HeartBurnKid for their picks.
“Depending on the matchups, I’d predict Bret vs. Austin, Bret vs. Owen, the WM XX Main Event, and Savage vs. Steamboat for the Final Four. Hogan vs. Andre or Hogan vs. Woyyah MIGHT make it, depending if people are voting on match quality, nostalgia, after the fact hype, or how much they marked out the first time they saw it… ” -Gordi Whitelaw
“The smart money’s on Hogan/Andre to win this one in the end; but, to tell the truth, I’m really pulling for Benoit/HHH/HBK. To me, that match, from the opening bell to the post-match celebration, exemplifies everything that is good and just in wrestling. Heck, the celebration was so powerful that they ripped it off as the Story Mode ending in Day of Reckoning. And the ending… my god, the ending… I was screaming like a 10-year-old mark–“TAP! TAP YOU ASSHOLE! TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!” ” -HeatBurnKid
Here are the Round Two Brackets:
(1) Hogan def. Andre the Giant w/ Bobby The Brain Heenan to retain the championship
vs.
(8)World Tag Team Championship, The British Bulldogs w/ Captain Lou Albano and Ozzy Osbourne def. The Dream Team, Brutus Beefcake & Greg The Hammer Valentine, w/ Luscious Johnny Valiant to become new champions
(5)Hollywood Hogan & Mr. T w/ Superfly Jimmy Snuka def. Rowdy Roddy Piper & Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff w/ Cowboy Bob Orton
vs.
(4)Randy Macho Man Savage w/ Elizabeth and Hollywood Hogan def. Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase w/ Virgil and Andre the Giant to become new champion
(6)Mr. Perfect def. Blue Blazer
vs.
(3)Ricky The Dragon Steamboat w/ George “The Animal” Steele def. Randy Macho Man Savage w/ Elizabeth to become new IC champion
(7)Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji def. Strike Force to become new champions
vs.
(2)Hogan def. Randy Macho Man Savage w/ Elizabeth in a neutral corner to become new champion
(1)Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match, Razor Ramon def. Shawn Michaels to retain
vs.
(8)WWE Championship Main Event, Bret Hit Man Hart def. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette
(5)Owen Hart def. Bret Hit Man Hart
vs.
(4)Title vs. Title Match, Ultimate Warrior def. Hollywood Hogan to retain Intercontinental Championship and become new WWE Champion
(6)Intercontinental Championship, Bret Hit Man Hart def. Rowdy Roddy Piper to become new champion
vs.
(3)WWE Championship Match, Randy Macho Man Savage w/ Elizabeth def. Ric Flair w/ Mr. Perfect to become new champion
(10)Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer def. Jake The Snake Roberts
vs.
(2)Retirement Match, Ultimate Warrior def. Randy Macho King Savage w/ Queen Sherri
(1)WWE Iron Man Match for WWE Championship, Shawn Michaels def. Bret Hit Man Hart in overtime
vs.
(9)Fatal Four Way Elimination WWE Championship Main Event, Triple H w/ Stephanie McMahon def. The Rock w/ Mr. McMahon, Mick Foley w/ Linda McMahon and Big Show w/ Shane McMahon to retain
(5)Kurt Angle def. Chris Benoit
vs.
(4)WWE Championship Main Event, Stone Cold def. The Rock to become champion
(6)Intercontinental and European Championship Triple Threat Match, Chris Benoit pinned Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship; Chris Jericho pinned Chris Benoit to become European Champion; Kurt Angle was never pinned but lost both titles
vs.
(3)WWE Championship Main Event, Stone Cold def. Shawn Michaels w/ D-Generation X (Mike Tyson was special ring enforcer)
(7)World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match, Edge & Christian def. the Dudleys and Hardy Boyz to become new champions
vs.
(2)Submission Match, Bret Hit Man Hart def. Stone Cold (Ken Shamrock was special guest referee)
(1)Triple Threat World Heavyweight Championship Match, Chris Benoit def. Triple H and Shawn Michaels to become new champion
vs.
(8)
Shawn Michaels def. Chris Jericho
(5)The Rock def. Stone Cold, XIX
vs.
(4)WWE Championship Match, Eddie Guerrero def. Kurt Angle to retain
(6)WWE Championship Match, Brock Lesnar def. Kurt Angle to become new champion
vs.
(3)Icon vs. Icon Match, The Rock def. Hollywood Hogan
(7)Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match for World Tag Team Championship, Edge & Christian def. the Dudleys and Hardy Boyz to become new champions
vs.
(2)WWE Championship Main Event, Stone Cold def. The Rock to become new champion
