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CMV1: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Road to Wrestlemania Selection Special. For a few months now, I’ve been hyping the Road to Wrestlemania in my columns, hoping to get you wondering and thinking about what could be in store. Well, tonight, you’re going to find out. Have you ever imagined what it would be like if Steve Austin in his prime wrestled one of the top stars of today? What about if Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon were on commentary with Jim Ross for it? And if it were held in Detroit, Michigan’s Pontiac Silverdome (site of one of the greatest events in Mania history)? John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Jake Roberts, Andre the Giant, Ultimate Warrior, Rock, Triple H, and so many, many more in combinations you never thought possible wrestling in some of the greatest host cities with some of the greatest commentators, announcers, and referees on hand? Well, that’s what we’re going to make it happen between now and April. I am writing this column series for one reason and one reason only: to make sure that we’re all as hyped as humanly possible for Wrestlemania 27. So, welcome to the Road to Wrestlemania Selection Special. TONIGHT, me and my esteemed guests will reveal brackets pitting the best of the best in Wrestlemania history against each other for a fantasy tournament that will span the next three months. We’ll start with my colleague, “Mean” Gene Okerlund. He’s going to tell you about the S-P-E-C-I-A-L BONUS that’s involved with The ROAD to WRESTLEMANIA. Specifically, how you can get involved… Mean Gene: Well, it’s that time of the year! The Road to Wrestlemania is upon us and we want YOU to be as involved as possible. In just a few moments, we will begin revealing the match-ups for the FIRST round and at the end of the night we will post a link to a complete bracket. HERE’s what’s on the line for YOU. Take the bracket and make YOUR predictions using the provided format. You can post your predictions to the facebook feedback, email them to me, or go to the following link (http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php/1517-Doctor-s-Orders-feedback-thread.) and post them there! Each round will be scored based on a criterion to be announced later. The WINNER – the one who makes the most correct predictions – will win a FREE copy of the Wrestlemania 27 DVD!! CMV1: I want to make this as entertaining as possible, but to change it up from the normal tournaments that we do around here, I want to keep you completely guessing as to what may happen… Mr. Perfect: Shut up, Matthews! It’s time for you to explain to these people why I’m up here in the studio with you and not training for a match. This tournament may end up being a lot of great things, but one thing it won’t be is…PERFECT. CMV1: Uh, please welcome Mr. Perfect, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry, Mr. P. Unfortunately, in looking at the Wrestlemania resumes of all the eligible participants – things like being in a marquee/headlining match or a championship match – you just fell a little bit short. If it makes you feel any better, you were the last guy to get cut. Mr. Perfect: Just you wait until these brackets are revealed. The people will be up in arms that you didn’t include me. And NO, for the record, it doesn’t make me feel any better to know that I was the 65th best guy on your stupid list! And to top it all off – to complete the slap in the face – you put me on commentary for the first round with Sean Mooney!? MOONEY!? I ought to slap you right across the face and slap him too just for the heck of it. CMV1: But… Mr. Perfect: No BUTS, Matthews. You made a real mistake here. I could’ve gone all the way. But I’ll tell you what…just like I did with so many wrestlers in my day, I’ll strap Mooney’s useless carcass on my back and carry him to the best commentating you’ll read during this tournament. Mark my words! Mean Gene: If we could, please, get the perfect one to be perfectly silent, then maybe we can move on… Mr. Perfect: Why I oughta… Mean Gene: Be perfectly quiet? That WOULD BE great! Anyhow, at this time we’d like to welcome current WWE Superstar, Daniel Bryan, to the studio. Daniel will be identifying the biggest underdog from each of the four regional brackets. Daniel Bryan: Thank you, Mean Gene and CMV1, for including me in this project. At this time, I’d like to… The Miz: EXCUSE me…wait a second! Hold on! This is NOT happening! CMV1: Miz, we’re going to get to you, man… The Miz: You don’t GET TO the Miz, especially if you introduce this nobody before me. Perfect, I can understand, but THIS guy? CMV1: Well, the Miz obviously needs no introduction, and since he’s so good at making his own introductions, he is here to introduce the four regional brackets. Daniel Bryan: Haven’t we been through this enough already, Miz? I beat you…twice. I made you tap out…twice. So, if you’ll excuse me, I would like to now announce the… The Miz: That is ENOUGH! I will take it from, here. You can go back to being a bland, boring, no personality never-was. I’d now like to introduce the sites for the Road to Wrestlemania tournament… Sites East (Round 1 and 2): Atlantic City, NJ – Philadelphia, PA – Hartford, CT East (Sweet 16 and Elite 8): Boston, MA Midwest (Round 1 and 2): Indianapolis, IN – Chicago, IL – Toronto, ONT Midwest (Sweet 16 and Elite 8): Detroit, MI South (Round 1 and 2): Atlanta, GA – Orlando, Fl – Phoenix, AZ South (Sweet 16 and Elite 8): Houston, TX West (Round 1 and 2): Anaheim, CA – Seattle, WA – Las Vegas, NV West (Sweet 16 and Elite 8): Los Angeles, CA The Final Four: New York City, New York CMV1: As you can read, we’ve broken the tournament down into four regions featuring all of the sites to host a Wrestlemania. Seeds 1-16 will be matched up in each region. In just a minute, we’ll unveil the announcers, referees, and wrestlers in each location for round #1. But, first, I’d like to introduce another current superstar who will join Miz and Daniel in the studio with us, as wrestlers we feel will one day be involved in such a fantasy tournament. Please help me welcome, Wade Barrett… The Miz: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Daniel Bryan (at Miz): Are you kidding me? Wade Barrett: You can boo ule you wunt to, but the fact of the matter is that I am far su-pe-ri-or to each of you so culled supur stars. I want to thank CMV1 for recognizing the future of this bisnuss when he sees it. So, it is my extreme pleashah to reveal the bracket for the East Regional. And I wunt to make a promise to all of you in doing so that I will not sit here quietly while this turna-ment unfolds. CMV1: I’d appreciate it if you would, Wade. I’m not bringing you here to make trouble, but to tell us who you expect the most dominant star in each bracket will be… let’s get to the East Regional… The Miz: One played host to the 4th and 5th Wrestlemanias…One saw LT crossover from the gridiron to the squared circle…and one gave 20,000 witnesses the chance to see the Austin era begin. In less than two weeks, they will HOST THE FIRST ROUND OF THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA. Atlantic City, Hartford, and Philadelphia…WELCOME BACK to WRESTLE-MANIA!!! The East Regional…show it! East Atlantic City, NJ Announcer: Tony Chimel Referee: Mike Chioda Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz 1 John Cena vs. 16 JYD 8 Sgt. Slaughter vs. 9 Rey Mysterio 3 Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. 14 Ron “Farooq” Simmons 6 Chris Jericho vs. 11 Big John Studd Philadelphia, PA Announcer: Joel Gertner Referee: Dave Hebner Commentators: Joey Styles and Paul Heyman 4 Rowdy Roddy Piper vs. 13 Bubba Ray Dudley 5 Vince McMahon vs. 12 Greg “The Hammer” Valentine Hartford, CT Announcer: Sunny Referee: Chad Patton Commentators: Doc Hendrix and Kevin Kelly 2 Triple H vs. 15 Shane McMahon 7 Brock Lesnar vs. 10 Booker T Mr. Perfect: Are you fooling with me, Matthews? Mysterio is a 9-seed and I’m not even in the tournament? CMV1: By the way, Perfect is here to apparently harass me… Daniel Bryan: How many World titles did you win at Wrestlemania, Perfect? Mr. Perfect (looking at Bryan): And you’re letting minors in here, too? Matthews, I think there’s something seriously wrong with your mind. Gorilla Monsoon: WILL YOU STOP?! Mr. Perfect: What the heck are you doing here, Monsoon?! Mean Gene: I INVITED him! CMV1: In an effort to get back on track, here, I’d like to welcome Gorilla Monsoon. Gorilla Monsoon: It’s an honor to be involved. I just thought I’d stop by and see where the Body and I will be doing our commentary in round 1. CMV1: We’ll get to that in just a moment, but first let’s hear from one of our current stars for a little breakdown of the East Regional. Wade? Wade Barrett: Jun Cenar is obviously got to be considered the favurite in this group, but his job clearly wun’t be ea-sy. Triple H, Bruck Lesnah, and Macho Man all could spoil his fantasy dream matches later un. Dun’t make the mistake of sleeping on my old pro, Chris Jericho, ei-ther, but I think he’ll need to have Cenar lose. I wouldn’t count out the Hall of Famers Sar-gent Slaugh-tah or Ruddy Piper either. The Miz: You type funny… Wade Barrett: You look funny… Daniel Bryan: Ha! Pot…meet, Mr. Kettle. He’s black. CMV1: Keep it PG, guys. Daniel, who would you call the realistic underdog that could come out of nowhere and move onto the Final Four? Daniel Bryan: Even though he’s a multi-time World Champion the first Undisputed champion, I think people are going to sleep on Chris Jericho. He’s a six seed, so he’s got a lot of huge stars to overcome, but he’s obviously got the potential. If he can make it past the likes of Macho Man, Triple H or Lesnar, and then John Cena, then I’d say he could win the whole tournament. CMV1: Well, the winner of the East Regional will ultimately meet the winner of our next bracket. The South Regional… The Miz: What do Phoenix, Orlando, and Atlanta all have in common other than not winning a major championship in basketball or football? They’ve hosted – as of this April – a Wrestlemania…and all in the last 4 years I might add. Without further ado, the South Regional!!!! South Phoenix, AZ Announcer: Howard Finkel Referee: Earl Hebner Commentators: Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross 1 Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. 16 Shelton Benjamin 8 John Bradshaw Layfield vs. 9 Ricky Steamboat 4 Ultimate Warrior vs. 13 Rick “The Model” Martel 5 Yokozuna vs. 12 Paul Orndorff Orlando, FL Announcer: Mike Adamle Referee: Teddy Long Commentators: Jonathan Coachman and Todd Pettingill 3 Edge vs. 14 Devon Dudley 6 The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase vs. 11 Bam Bam Bigelow Atlanta, GA Announcer: Justin Roberts Referee: Tim White Commentators: Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff 2 The Rock vs. 15 Umaga 7 Diesel vs. 10 Christian The Miz: The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for a fourth time in a Wrestlemania setting? I’ll take that every day and twice on Sunday. The feud that defined the Attitude era! AWESOME is what that is, people. AWE-SOME! Daniel Bryan: I think there’s about 8 guys that can realistically win this bracket. The Rock could get eliminated in the first round. There’s a lot of potential upsets. I’m sure guys like Edge, Dibiase, Steamboat, and Yokozuna will have something to say about your Rock-Austin proclamation. I especially think that people will underestimate those last two. Yokozuna won’t get much publicity in this region, but if he can get past Warrior in Round 2, people will be talking. And never count out Rick Steambat. The Miz: You’re not seriously suggesting it could be anything other than Rock vs. Austin, are you? Of course you’d say the Rock will get upset. It doesn’t surprise me that you have something against a guy with unparalleled charisma. Wade Barrett: I think both of you are crazy for nut having mentioned the Ultimate Warri-ah. Hill be the most dominunt performur in the South…and ride that dominunce to the Final Four. The Miz: Really? Really!? CMV1: Well, there’s certainly a lot of room for debate in the south regional. Any thoughts, Gorilla? Gorilla Monsoon: Pretty wide open if you ask me. A wrestler with the skill set of a Rick Martel could surprise a lot of people. I think he’d relish the role of flying under the radar, but to draw Warrior in round 1? That’s a tough one. There are certainly some amazing potential bouts in the latter rounds… CMV1: On the other side of the bracket, we’ll start with the West Regional, where Hulk Hogan will be the #1 seed… The Miz: WAIT…WAIT…WAIT for me to call out the West Regional. I AM AWESOME…and so Anaheim when it provided the setting for Wrestlemania XII and 2000. The boyhood dream came true there, as did the first real TLC match. And what about Seattle, WA? I know; it sucks there and it rains all the time, but the Miz has been there, so it’s GREAT! Wrestlemania XIX was there, too. And THE Las Vegas, where not even I can remember something interesting happening at WRESTLEMANIA NINE! West Anaheim, CA Announcer: Bob Uecker Referee: Joey Marella Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura 1 Hulk Hogan vs. 16 Sheamus 8 Kane vs. 9 Scott “Razor Ramon” Hall Seattle, WA Announcer: Rue Debona Referee: Brian Hebner Commentators: Josh Mathews and Jim Cornette 3 Kurt Angle vs. 14 Matt Hardy 6 Mick Foley vs. 11 CM Punk Las Vegas, NV Announcer: Brother Love Referee: Nick Patrick Commentators: Sean Mooney and Mr. Perfect 2 Bret Hart vs. 15 Big Bossman 7 King Kong Bundy vs. 10 “Ravishing” Rick Rude 4 Randy Orton vs. 13 Trish Stratus 5 Ric Flair vs. 12 Mr. T Mr. Perfect: I have two things to say. First, I didn’t think it could get any worse than being on commentary instead of wrestling, but then you go and make my announcer the most annoying man in the history of this business. First part B: I hate your guts, Matthews. Second, as if I needed to salt poured in my wound, you put a woman in the tournament instead of me. I’m a Hall of Famer, for God’s sake. Daniel Bryan: I think even I’m starting to feel slighted and I haven’t even been on a Mania card, yet… The Miz: That’s not awesome… Wade Barrett: Hunestly, Matthews…was the Brooklyn Brawl-ah busy? CMV1: C’mon guys…Trish Stratus was a focal point of the build-up for three different Wrestlemanias. Perfect, I think you’re one of the best of all-time, but while you may have been a major player, there weren’t ever any hype videos made to recap feuds for your matches. Stratus WAS the women’s division and she was excellent no matter what role she played. Daniel Bryan: I’m kind of looking forward to seeing how Orton handles that match. The two underdogs would have to be Rude and Punk. CM Punk is a guy that I’ve known for a long time and you can’t ever underestimate him or he’ll make you pay. If fate should say that a guy whose destiny is yet to unfold, then Punk could be your guy. Ravishing Rick was just awesome. Jesse Ventura: If I may interrupt your little group therapy session, I’d just like to say that it will be an honor to see the Luster lose in the first round. Sheamus is going to dominate. He’s the most complete star of the new era. I’m a huge fan of that guy. Gorilla Monsoon: Hulk is his name, Jess. Jesse Ventura: Lust! I think he just married his daughter’s best friend. What a loser… CMV1: Let’s try and stay within the fantasy land, gentlemen. Mean Gene: I’ve seen HULK HOGAN do battle with many a superstar, but he will have his work cut out for him against Sheamus. The Celtic Warrior is one of many huge hurdles for the Hulkster, but the POWER OF HULKAMANIA is alive and well. Jesse Ventura: If…and I mean this is a serious IF…Hogan advances to the second round, Kane will pick up the scraps. Gorilla Monsoon: That’s assuming Kane gets past the Bad Guy… Wade Barrett: I’m going to have to agree with Mean Gene. Hogan is clearly the most dominant presence on the western side of the tournament. CMV1: No doubt, the West Regional will be as hotly contested as any other. To think that Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan could face off in the Sweet 16; really puts this tournament into perspective. Wrestlemania has had some huge stars if the arguable greatest of all-time is a 5th seeded performer. Let’s move to the final part of the bracket: the Midwest Regional… The Miz: Two of the greatest wrestling cities in the world will host matches in the first and second rounds of the Road to Wrestlemania’s Midwest Regional. Chicago!!! Toronto!!! If there are two better places to perform in this hemisphere then I don’t know where they are. Maybe MSG, but that’s a short list. Oh yeah, and Indianapolis, too. The MIDWEST… Midwest Indianapolis, IN Announcer: Lillian Garcia Referee: Charles Robinson Commentators: Bobby Heenan and Gene Okerlund 1 Shawn Michaels vs. 16 Honky Tonk Man 8 Eddie Guerrero vs. 9 Jeff Hardy Chicago, IL Announcer: Mr. Kennedy Referee: Jack Doan Commentators: Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes 3 Andre The Giant vs. 14 Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake 6 Sycho Sid vs. 11 Jake “The Snake” Roberts 4 Batista vs. 13 Goldust 5 Big Show vs. 12 Lex Luger Toronto, ONT Announcer: Funaki Referee: Jim Korderas Commentators: Matt Striker and Todd Grisham 2 Undertaker vs. 15 British Bulldog 7 Chris Benoit vs. 10 Owen Hart CMV1: Gorilla? Jesse? Would you do the honors and break down this bracket for us? Gorilla: Conventional wisdom would suggest that Undertaker would be the favorite despite not being the top seed. Gotta wonder what you were thinking when you made these brackets, Chad. A guy that is undefeated at Wrestlemania is not a top seed. The Heartbreak Kid would seem like a longshot to meet Taker again based on who he’ll have to get through. A spot in the Sweet 16 seems plausible but if Big Show can make it that far, I don’t see how Michaels gets past him. Show vs. Andre in the Region’s final? That would certainly be one I’d like to call from ringside… CMV1: More than just record is taken into account in the seeding, Gorilla… Ventura: I’d call this one of the most difficult groups to pick. Undertaker has beaten some giants in his career, but none quite like Andre. Gorilla, you talk about Michaels having to get past the Big Show. What about the Deadman getting past the Giant? I’ll tell ya one thing, you can never count out a guy like Guerrero. The man’s been through it all. A surprise run is not out of the question for a wrestler of his caliber. Wade Barrett: It’s safe to assume that the Under-taker will win this bracket, in my opiniun. Yet, I can’t help but think that Andre might upset him. There’s never been a more dominant force in this industry than Andre… Daniel Bryan: Jake Roberts is an 11 seed. Considering his legendary career, you’ve got to look at him as a guy who could far exceed the expectations of what his seeding would suggest. Oh, but you gotta make Owen vs. Benoit the match of the week for that bracket, Chad. That’s a dream match. CMV1: We’ll see what happens. At this time, I want to give each of you an opportunity to give your final thoughts tonight. Then, we’ll reveal the link to the brackets, the format of the contest, and the link to where you should place your brackets. Daniel, we’ll start with you… Daniel Bryan: From what I’m seeing, it looks like Cena has the easiest road to the final. If he’s on top of his game, he could end up meeting Lesnar or Triple H or Macho Man in the Elite 8, but I think he can handle it. That would set up a match, potentially, with Rock or Austin in the Final Four. Of course, anything can happen, but I feel like the winner of this whole thing comes from the left side of the bracket. The Miz: Would it not be fitting for the winner of this thing to be determined by another Rock vs. Austin match? The South regional final could put the two against each other, yet again. Awesome? I think so. Undertaker vs. Austin in the final is my call. The south champ takes it all Gorilla: There was never a more gifted in-ring performer that I ever saw than Bret “Hitman” Hart. The Excellence of Execution has a long road to the Elite 8, but a potential showdown with the greatest of all-time, Hulk Hogan, could await. I would personally love to see the Hitman vs. The Rock or Triple H or Brock Lesnar in the finals of the tournament. Mr. Perfect: We’ve barely even talked about Ric Flair…and I have to seriously wonder why. The Nature Boy in his prime was twice as good as any of these guys and that’s a promise I can make from experience. He spent his whole career defying the odds and beating guys that nobody thought he could beat, but that’s what made him THE MAN and that what ultimately wins him this tournament. Wade Barrett: There’s no questioning the wherewithal of a man like Jun Cena. One thing to take into further account is that he’s had the opportunity to watch each of these legends, whereas they may not be as familiar with him. Cena knows what to expect from Hogan and Ustin and Rock and Flair…do they know what to expect from him? Mean Gene: In all my years with the mic in my hand, I never saw a greater professional wrestler than Hulk Hogan. Beatable? Absolutely. But in this kind of format with the ULTIMATE honor on the line, I gotta take the Hulkster to get through THICK AND THIN and win the whole thing. Ventura: The only thing that I know is that if Jesse “The Body” had been included, we wouldn’t be talking about all these other wrestlers. That’s what I know for sure… CMV1: …OK. Well, for all of our esteemed guests that joined us tonight, I want to say thank you for reading and we hope that you’ll participate and anticipate the next few months of Road to Wrestlemania memories. Below is the link to the entire tournament bracket – we suggest printing it out to use as a guide and to keep score at home. http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=376250&tclass= Next, you’ll see that we’ve provided the official prediction format. Please copy this and use it. It is intended to make predictions concise and easy to score. Just list your predicted winners in the appropriate space (i.e. East Round1/R1 – Cena, Mysterio, Piper, McMahon, etc.) East R1 – East R2 – East SE16 – East E8 – South R1 – South R2 – South SE16 – South E8 – West R1 – West R2 – West SE16 – West E8 – Midwest R1 – Midwest R2 – Midwest SE16 – Midwest E8 – Final Four – WM Championship – Wrestlemania Champion - CMV1: We’ll see you in 10 days, folks…
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