Posted in: Hustle Is Posting Right Now Hustle Madness 2012 - Best Talkers Of The Last 30 Years (Second Round)
By Hustle
Mar 18, 2012 - 10:14:02 AM
It's been a week, and that means it's time for another round in Hustle Madness, ladies and gentlemen. I knew the topic of "Best Talkers Of The Last 30 Years" would strike up a bunch of conversation, and sure enough, it did just that. People thought this person should be seeded higher. People thought that person should be seeded lower. People thought so-and-so should be included in the competition. People thought such-and-such shouldn't be included in the competition. People were torn between several tough first round matchups. Before I give out any of the results, I want to thank each and every person that sent in votes, no matter how you sent them in. I love the reader interaction for Hustle Madness every year, allowing you, the reader, to have your opinions heard. Alright, not that we've gotten that out of the way, let's get things poppin with the results of the first round..
Red Bracket #1 Mick Foley defeats #16 Taz, 130-11
As would be expected in a 1 VS 16 matchup, the top seed romped and stomped to a victory. A lot of the feedback I received for Foley matched some of the things I've been saying about him for years. People praised his ability to ad-lib, as well as his ability to cut promos that would bring out various emotions in fans in multiple promotions. Taz really didn't stand much of a chance here. He was basically a sacrificial lamb. Not only did he pull in a mere 11 votes, but four of those votes were accompanied by comments along the lines of "I want to vote for him because nobody else will".
#8 "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase defeats #9 Eddie Guerrero, 76-65
Now this was a fun matchup to track during the week. There were multiple lead changes, with Guerrero being ahead at three different points, but thanks to a late e-mail flurry, DiBiase put it away and advanced to the second round. Guerrero is my second-favorite wrestler of all-time, so it's a bit of a bummer to see him bounced so early in the competition, but it's completely understandable in a situation like this.
#13 The Miz defeats #4 "Superstar" Billy Graham, 109-32
On one hand, this is a huge upset in two different ways.. a rather low seed got the victory, and it was a blowout. On the other hand, it was probably the one upset that most people could see coming, based on the fact that Billy Graham's work came before a lot of you were wrestling fans, and apparently, watching DVDs or YouTube clips is more than I can ask of you. Even with the low seed for Miz, I came into the week assuming he would win, but I damn sure wasn't expecting him to win by such a wide margin.
#5 Jim Cornette defeats #12 Honky Tonk Man, 112-29
In the NCAA tournament, the 5 VS 12 matchups are the ones that everyone looks to for upsets, and that tends to happen with Hustle Madness, as well. Not here, though, obviously. There were a lot of complaints about HTM's promos, and how he was basically a one-trick pony. That really seemed to cost him here, going up against a man that could make you laugh, but could also turn around and piss you off. A very strong victory for Cornette here.
#3 Chris Jericho defeats #14 Santino, 96-45
This matchup, perhaps more than any other, is one that I was really looking forward to. It comes at an interesting time, because Jericho's overall body of work in this latest WWE return wasn't very solid, and Santino is at close to a peak point in his career as far as popularity is concerned. This was almost split into two sets of voters.. those who voted before Raw, and those who voted after Raw. I got a couple dozen votes for Santino right off the bat, and it looked like he could very well run away with this.. and then Jericho cut his promo on Raw. Almost literally, I must have received 50 consecutive votes for Jericho, and he never looked back here. Credit goes to Santino for a strong showing, though, even in a loss. Had I done this competition a week earlier, Santino would probably be moving on here.
#11 Christian defeats #6 "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, 74-67
I'm tallying up these votes as I go along, so I don't know for sure, but this is probably going to be the closest result of the round. Gilbert had a half-dozen times during the week where he was in the lead, but in the end, the more "familiar" name got the nod here. Many of you could say Gilbert was before your time, but being a lot more recent than Billy Graham, he wasn't punished for it as much as "Superstar" was. Very fun, back-and-forth matchup.
#7 CM Punk defeats #10 Ole Anderson, 132-9
Just as I figured, Punk received the most "you should have seeded him higher" comments. Far more than anyone else in this competition. This was the perfect storm for a blowout. Everyone feeling Punk was "disrespected" by his low seeding, mixed with Ole being an "old school" name that a lot of you never really got to see live. I might as well have just walked up to Ole and shoved him down a flight of stairs, and then pissed all over his mangled body once he hit the bottom. It would have been a whole lot quicker. Punk advances by a huge margin.
#2 Hulk Hogan defeats #15 Diamond Dallas Page, 105-36
This was fun to watch. Yes, the final tally wasn't close, but looking at the people that voted for DDP, damn near all of them didn't do so because they felt he was the better "talker". They did so because they really don't like Hulk Hogan these days. Is that fair? No, probably not, but as I said, you can vote for anyone you want for any reason you want. If you want to vote against someone because you simply don't like them, you have every right to do so. Hogan advances, but some of those crazy reactions to him don't really bode well for his future in this tournament.
Blue Bracket #1 Vince McMahon defeats #16 Jimmy Jacobs, 131-10
The voters were split into two categories here, as well.. indy fans that felt Jacobs should've had a higher seed, and the people who had no idea who Jacobs was. As you can see by the final vote count, even the people that felt Jacobs was seeded too low had to vote for Vince. That's probably why they felt Jacobs should have been given a higher seed.. so he could get an easier matchup, giving them reason to actually vote for him. As it is, though, Vince wins in a bit of a cakewalk, as expected.
#8 Edge defeats #9 Barry Windham, 84-57
Another 8 VS 9 matchup, another close battle. Don't let the final number fool you.. Edge pulled away in the last few hours with a mini-flurry of votes, so it was a whole lot closer than this for most of the week. When all was said and done, though, the more "current" name picked up the victory. I received a lot of praise for the credit I gave to Windham's promo ability through the years, but even some of those people had to go with Edge for his ability to connect with crowds as a face or as a heel.
#4 "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeats #13 Bret "The Hitman" Hart, 99-42
I'll admit.. the result here was a lot closer than I thought it would be, even though it still wasn't all that close. Based on your feedback, I actually swayed several of you into picking Hart here. You commented on what I said about some of Savage's promos not really making a whole lot of sense at all, where he seemed like he was under the influence of something or other. Those people gave voted to Hart for being more "consistent", but in the end, it just wasn't enough to give Bret the win.
#12 Bubba Dudley defeats #5 Michael "PS" Hayes, 80-61
Hey, remember what I said earlier about those 5 VS 12 matchups usually providing an upset or two? Yeah. In the last year or so, it continues to amaze me just how many people Bubba/Bully Ray is winning over. I even had numerous people reference the column I wrote about him last year, where I praised his work and said that he'd do just fine for himself in TNA's main event scene. While he hasn't won the TNA World Title yet, he most certainly has been doing very well as a singles star, and his promo work in recent months is reminding people about his skills.
#3 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan defeats #14 Dustin Rhodes, 108-33
A lot of people actually didn't know a lot about Heenan's non-announcing mic work, but they were such fans of said announcing work that they were actually winning to look up some of his managerial promos, or even some of his mic work back in the days when he was a wrestler himself. Dustin got a lot of credit and praise for being more versatile on the mic than Heenan was, but Heenan's humor just stood out so much, and he won because of it, even if some of you felt he was too one-dimensional.
#6 "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson defeats #11 Tully Blanchard, 81-60
I love how much nostalgia this matchup brought to a lot of my older readers. It brought back so many memories of the Four Horsemen in their earliest (and best) incarnations. It really boiled down to longevity, with Arn getting a lot of votes based on the fact that he was able to cut solid promos for a longer period of time than Tully was able to. That's the type of thing that goes a long way, and although it was really close for most of the week, "Double A" gets the nod here because of it.
#10 Eric Bischoff defeats #7 Kevin Nash, 104-37
I wanted to see just how much Nash hurt his legacy in 2011, and I guess I have my answer. It doesn't necessarily surprise me to see Bischoff get the win, but it does surprise me that it was in a blowout. This was another case of the winner not so much getting so many votes because he "deserved" them, but because his opponent didn't. There were a whole lot of votes for Bischoff that came along with comments along the lines of "I still can't stand Bischoff, though", which really tells you all you need to know about the way the IWC views Kevin Nash after his feuds with CM Punk and Triple H.
#2 Jake "The Snake" Roberts defeats #15 Jimmy "Jam" Garvin, 126-15
I'm sorry, Jimmy Jam. I really placed you in a tough spot here, didn't I? Even you probably voted for Jake Roberts. As entertaining as you often were through the years, you just couldn't match the ridiculous levels of psychology that Jake had in his promos, and this was pretty much over from the beginning. At least you can say that Jake never had the amazing beardage that you once had, so there's that, I suppose.
Yellow Bracket #1 The Rock defeats #16 "The Franchise" Shane Douglas, 133-8
On the bright side for Shane, he can go back to his job at Target right away, and won't have to take more time off to continue on in this tournament. Goodness gracious, what a blowout. Even though there's a growing section of the IWC that seems to be turning on Rock (to a certain degree), he had no problem winning this matchup. It remains to be seen how much of it had to do with his opponent, and how much of it had to do with people not really turning on him, after all. I guess we'll find out sooner than later.
#8 William Regal defeats #9 Road Dogg, 72-69
We have a new leader in the "closest matchup" clubhouse. Wow. I actually lost count of the times the lead changed here. It was in the double-digits. That much I know. Just incredible to watch the votes go back-and-forth the way they did. A lot of people praised the really recent work that Road Dogg has been doing, both on WWE's YouTube channel and during his brief time with FCW, but Regal's impeccable comedic timing mixed with his "villainy" were just enough to pull out the victory here. Very fun stuff here.
#4 Triple H defeats #13 "Double J" Jeff Jarrett, 102-39
This one went exactly the way I thought it would. Not only did the higher seed get an easy victory, but I received a whole lot of comments about both men and their penchant to cut long, rambling promos where they would speak about themselves more than they would about the person/people they were feuding with at the time. Trips' versatility was better than Jarrett's versatility through the years, and I think that was the defining factor here.
#5 Jerry "The King" Lawler defeats #12 "The Sinister Minister" James Mitchell, 82-59
Even though it was a 5 VS 12 matchup, and I've already mentioned how those are built for upsets, I'm really surprised at how close this one was. There were a bunch of you that somewhat echoed my comments about Mitchell's lack of promos in his overall career. A lot of you even mentioned that you would have voted for Mitchell if he had a couple more years in the business, but with his brief time, you couldn't see yourselves voting against Lawler, no matter how entertaining the "Sinister Minister" was.
#3 "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels defeats #14 "Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, 133-8
Another gigantic margin, but again, it wasn't a surprise whatsoever. Orndorff's time in the bright lights was two decades ago, and his work is underrated, so it's not like he was getting the proper amount of respect for his mic skills to begin with. It's to be expected that Michaels picked up the big-time win, but it's not like he doesn't deserve to advance. He is a #3 seed, after all.
#11 Kevin Sullivan defeats #6 Harley Race, 78-63
Another upset, but this is one that is a minor surprise to me. I figured the fact that both men retired long ago would cancel itself out, leaving some of my younger readers to lean towards the higher seed nearly by default, but I guess I underestimated Sullivan being the younger, and therefore more "current", name in the matchup. A lot of folks may have missed out on his prime, but Sullivan was around in WCW during the late-90s, and that looks to have made all the difference that was needed to pick up the win.
#10 JBL defeats #7 "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig, 79-62
We have ourselves another upset. Like the Edge VS Barry Windham matchup earlier, this was another one that saw a late flurry of votes for the winner to stretch the margin of victory out. Otherwise, this would've been an even closer contest. Another back-and-forth contest all week long. Even though Hennig died a little over nine years ago, he's still "new" enough to be remembered in the minds of many younger wrestling fans, and that's helped by the Mr Perfect DVD set that WWE released a few years back. He got a lot of votes, but it was JBL that remains fresher in everyone's minds, and his work as a wrestler and as a commentator made him stand out when it mattered most.
#2 "Rowdy" Roddy Piper defeats #15 "Sensational" Sherri Martel, 134-7
At this point, I'm starting to wonder if the people that voted for Martel are members of her family, or at least former neighbors and/or classmates. There were two different points in the week where Piper racked up 40+ votes in a row, which is incredible. It was such a blowout that Sherri received more comments along the lines of "I would've had sex with her back in the day" than she received votes in this tournament. Ouch.
Orange Bracket #1 "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes defeats #16 "The Viper" Randy Orton, 119-22
Take it for what you will, but I received a lot of complaints about Randy Orton being involved in Hustle Madness this year. Not "he should have been seeded higher" complaints. I'm talking about "he should have been left out altogether" complaints. Even with that said, Orton still performed better than the other #16 seeds, although that didn't take a whole lot. He only needed 12 votes to accomplish that. He still didn't put up much of a fight here. During my breakdown of the matchup, I mentioned how strange it was to have someone like Orton in such a low seed, but it's even stranger to see him eliminated so quickly.
#8 John Cena defeats #9 Kurt Angle, 103-38
I'm shocked. No, really.. I'm genuinely shocked. I had Cena as a higher seed than Angle, which means Cena was the "favorite", on paper, as the saying goes. I also figured that it would be a relatively close matchup. Cena winning doesn't surprise me, but Cena destroying Angle does. It goes without saying that Cena isn't exactly the IWC's favorite person in the world, but after one round, he has received a lot of support. Now, let's see how much of it was just "anti-Angle" votes, and how much of it was Cena gaining support from internet fans, at least for his promos and mic skills.
#4 Paul Heyman defeats #13 "Ravishing" Rick Rude, 98-43
DANGEROUS ALLIANCE POWERS EXPLODE~! *ahem* Sorry. Rude has always been underrated on the mic, as I said in the original write-up, but he was no real challenge for the man formerly known as Paul E Dangerously. Heyman's motivational speaking abilities clearly convinced enough of you to vote for him, but that's fine. He deserves the praise for his promos. If not for a late flurry of votes for Rude, an even bigger blowout would have been upon us here.
#5 Terry Funk defeats #12 Eddie Kingston, 85-56
In my years of writing columns for all of you.. nearly 1,000 columns deep at this point.. few things make me prouder than when I get feedback from people telling me that I introduced them to something new, whether it's a new wrestler, a new match, a new promotion, etc, and how much they enjoy it now. I've received comments on the times I've mentioned Eddie Kingston's promo work in the past, but I got a lot of it here, with people thanking me for introducing them to his work. There were even a couple people that voted for Funk, but still thanked me for opening their world up to Kingston and his "I'm legitimately insane" style of cutting promos. I'm glad to see that this matchup was so close, and that's nothing against Terry Funk, who is an all-time favorite of mine. I'm just enjoying seeing the praise that Kingston is getting, and has been getting, over the last few months.
#3 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeats #14 Shane McMahon, 106-35
Austin VS McMahon. Again. On a much grander scale than the original Austin VS McMahon feud, though, clearly. Much like the "other" feud, this one saw Austin coming out on top again and again. Perhaps things would have been different if it were Austin VS Vince McMahon here, but we'll have to wait and see if we get an opportunity to have that matchup take place during Hustle Madness. For now, the man that many people feel I under-seeded advances quite easily to the next round.
#11 Scott Hall defeats #6 Raven, 76-65
I really didn't know how this one was going to go. On one hand, you have Raven, who cut some really great promos, but after all this time, anything related to ECW carries a bit of a stink to a lot of people. On the other hand, you have Scott Hall, who was more charismatic than anything, but still cut some good promos, even though he's more known for other shenaniganery than his actual promos. It went back-and-forth all week long, but as expected, it seems like the majority of comments centered around the personal demons that both men dealt with, instead of their promos or mic skills. Hall was able to pull away towards the end of the week, though, and he scores the upset.
#10 "Flyin" Brian Pillman defeats #7 Big Show, 78-63
I don't know what to think about this result. This was a weird matchup to see unfold, because a large percentage of the votes weren't exactly great seals of approval for anyone. I saw a lot of "I'm voting for Pillman because Show's voice is weird". I saw a lot of "I'm voting for Show because Pillman's voice is weird". More than any other matchup, this one came across as a "lesser of two evils" decision for a lot of you, which is strange. I suppose that doesn't really bode well for Pillman's time in the tournament, but we'll see.
#2 "Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeats #15 "Sweet N Sour" Larry Sweeney, 107-34
Larry Sweeney performed better than any other #15 seed in the tournament. Better than Sherri Martel against Roddy Piper. Better than Jimmy Garvin against Jake Roberts. Better than Diamond Dallas Page against Hulk Hogan. Perhaps some of that has to do with Flair's fall from grace in the minds of a lot of us over the last four years, but I didn't see a lot of that mentioned in my feedback. Instead, I saw a lot of what I said in the original write-up echoed by a lot of you.. how much of a shame it is that Sweeney never had an opportunity to shine with WWE or TNA, and how he really was the single closest thing we've seen to Ric Flair's promos since Ric Flair himself. Like with Eddie Kingston earlier, I'm really happy to know that I introduced a lot of you to Sweeney's work, and while he did get blown out here (as should have been expected), it was a very respectable effort.
Alright, so that's the past. Now, let's take a look at the present and the future. Ladies and gentlemen, here are your second round matchups..
Red Bracket #1 Mick Foley VS #8 "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
DiBiase represented wealth and opulence (I has it) during his prime. Foley has probably spent no more than $100 on clothing since he began his wrestling career. Real opposites here. Can DiBiase's great assholish charisma and promo skills propel him to the upset? Only time will tell.
#13 The Miz VS #5 Jim Cornette
The Miz is the lowest seed remaining in the tournament, but he faces his second consecutive high seed in Cornette. I know that the general consensus on Miz these days is that he has seen his quality take a huge dip across the board, but can his "Cinderella" run continue here and send him to the Sweet Sixteen?
#3 Chris Jericho VS #11 Christian
It's always fun when we get matchups of people from similar eras, and have already worked together in real life. It helps some people to compare the two, and this should be no different. We've seen Jericho and Christian team up, and we've seen them feud with each other. Who will advance from this battle that features two of Canada's favorite sons?
#7 CM Punk VS #2 Hulk Hogan
I don't know about you, but this might be the second-round matchup I'm looking forward to the most. I would actually pay a good chunk of money to see these two feud in real life, if only to hear the promos that Punk would unleash in his "worked shoot" style. Will I continue to regret seeding Punk so low?
Blue Bracket #1 Vince McMahon VS #8 Edge
It's almost weird that Edge was a WWF/WWE wrestler for 13 years, but he didn't have all that much interaction with Vince McMahon. I guess this is as good as it's going to get in that regard. Will Edge ride a bit of a nostalgia wave with his upcoming induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame and pull off the upset?
#4 "Macho Man" Randy Savage VS #12 Bubba Dudley
Savage always looked like he was ready to participate in some sort of riot, so if you ask me, it's only right that he go up against a man who loved to start riots with his promos in ECW. This one could be a major matchup to watch, especially as Bubba/Bully continues to win people over. Can he pull off the upset over one of the internet's all-time favorites, though?
#3 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan VS #6 "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
Another matchup featuring people who were linked in some sort of way in real life, with Heenan managing Anderson during Arn's short tenure with the WWF. This is certainly a battle of comedy VS intensity. Which old school style will come out on top here?
#10 Eric Bischoff VS #2 Jake "The Snake" Roberts
It's another fitting matchup, with Jake Roberts going up against a man who has been referred to as a "snake" for years. It would be a major upset if Bischoff wins here, but WCW ever beating the WWF in the ratings also was viewed as a "major upset" at one point, and Bischoff helped make that happen. Can he do it again here?
Yellow Bracket #1 The Rock VS #8 William Regal
Two "internet darlings", but for different reasons. I'm really intrigued to see how well Regal performs here, going up against a man who is a living, breathing mic phenomenon. This is going to be the first true test for The Rock and whether or not his popularity has taken a dip in recent weeks. Can Regal knock off a #1 seed and score a big upset?
#4 Triple H VS #5 Jerry "The King" Lawler
It's a battle between two men who have often been accused of acting a few decades younger than their age would indicate. Of everyone currently on the WWE roster, they have some of the longest tenures, although Lawler did leave the company for three-quarters of 2001 after the company released his then-girlfriend Stacy "The Kat" Carter. Who will win the "Immature Battle Of The Century" (or Of The Week)?
#3 "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels VS #11 Kevin Sullivan
This turns into another interesting matchup, because Michaels is a well-known Born Again Christian and Sullivan continues to be rumored, to this day, as a Devil Worshiper. Light VS Dark. Good VS Evil. Sullivan has his work cut out for him here. Can he score the upset and assure that we'll all be going to hell when he die?
#10 JBL VS #2 "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Both men had very solid careers as in-ring performers, and also did some entertaining work as members of commentary teams through the years. JBL reached higher heights as a wrestler, but Piper has a lengthier career of entertaining promos that, on paper, should carry him to victory here. Can JBL overcome the odds?
Orange Bracket #1 Dusty Rhodes VS #8 John Cena
Another very interesting matchup. Once again, this is an opportunity to really see how opinions of Cena's mic skills are these days. He's got quite the mountain to climb here, though, going up against a #1 seed. That will really test things. How will Dusty match up against a man riding a lot of promo momentum over the last few weeks?
#4 Paul Heyman VS #5 Terry Funk
If you ask Paul Heyman, he'd be quick to tell you that ECW never would have reached the heights it did without the help and guidance of Terry Funk in the promotion's early days. Funk stepped in and provided a major veteran name to help sell a promotion full of relative no-names to a mass audience. Funk could go from indirectly providing Heyman a chance to be in this tournament to directly providing Heyman a ticket out of this tournament. Who will win the "Battle Of Extreme"?
#3 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin VS #11 Scott Hall
We've seen these two face off before, and they're at it again here in Hustle Madness. Hall went from battling someone (Raven) who had his fair share of those personal demons to someone that has battled demons of his very own. Will that talk dominate this matchup like it did with Hall VS Raven?
#10 "Flyin" Brian Pillman VS #2 "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
This one goes along the same lines as Heyman VS Funk. It can be argued that Pillman was really legitimized in the wrestling business when he teamed with "Stunning" Steve Austin to feud with Flair and Arn Anderson in WCW. It helped to take Pillman from "Light Heavyweight" to "Potential Breakout Main Event Star". Sure, Pillman never quite reached those levels, for various reasons, but feuding with Flair made it possible. Can Pillman use Flair to propel himself to a bigger status once again?
Just like last week, here's the shortened version of the second round..
Red Bracket
#1 Mick Foley VS #8 "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
#13 The Miz VS #5 Jim Cornette
#3 Chris Jericho VS #11 Christian
#7 CM Punk VS #2 Hulk Hogan
Blue Bracket
#1 Vince McMahon VS #8 Edge
#4 "Macho Man" Randy Savage VS #12 Bubba Dudley
#3 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan VS #6 "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson
#10 Eric Bischoff VS #2 Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Yellow Bracket
#1 The Rock VS #8 William Regal
#4 Triple H VS #5 Jerry "The King" Lawler
#3 "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels VS #11 Kevin Sullivan
#10 JBL VS #2 "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Orange Bracket
#1 "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes VS #8 John Cena
#4 Paul Heyman VS #5 Terry Funk
#3 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin VS #11 Scott Hall
#10 "Flyin" Brian Pillman VS #2 "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
The deadline is the same once again.. at 6am EST next Sunday, I'll start working on the new write-up, so that's when you should have your votes in. I took one set of votes during my write-up here this morning, though, so if you get your votes in to me before I post the next write-up, I'll count them. It would be really nice if you could get them in on time, though. There's 869 ways to get the votes in, so really, you don't have any excuse not to make it happen. Happy voting, folks.
