The 2018 Fantasy Wrestling Tournament - Introduction and The First Four Revealed!

[Slyfox696]

Welcome to the 2018 Fantasy Wrestling Tournament, presented by the Steel Cage Forums! This year's tournament may be a little different than you're used to. In this year's tournament, there will only be 32 wrestlers vying for the title of the greatest professional wrestler of all time. There will be no gimmicks, there will be no rules on voting. Cast your vote for the one you think is the best.

The full bracket and entrants will be revealed later, but we'll start with the First Four, the top four seeds in this year's tournament. Without further ado:



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#1 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin





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#2 "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels





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#3 "The Beast" Brock Lesnar





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#4 "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan

























These are the First Four overall seeds in the tournament. Use this thread to discuss the 2018 Wrestling Tournament, including discussions on seeding, who should be in, who should be out, predictions or anything you wish to discuss at all. The rest of the bracket will be revealed in the next day or two.

[DNA 2.0]

No rules, no gimmicks? Isn't this kinda boring? Even more so if we're voting on who we think is the greatest, isn't this going to automatically lead to Hogan, Austin or Bruno? The pevious versions were fun because you used the gimmick matches and kayfability to determine the winners. This one seems more like a shoot tournament with a predictable outcome.

Anyway, let's see how this one turns out, I'd be shocked if anybody not named Hogan or Austin actually wins.

[jmt225]

I was never able to get Sting to win one of these tournaments on WZ no matter how hard I tried (and I tried pretty damn hard for a couple of years).

However, this is Steel Cage Forums and it is now my MISSION to lead the Stinger to victory in the first wrestling tournament on this beautiful messageboard!

Stand in my way and there will be hell to pay!

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[Echelon]

32 entrants is tight, but with the successes of Andre and Bruno, I'm much more optimistic in seeing the pre-modern names getting fair representation. That being said, I understand now that anyone that was a big name in wrestling before WWII is just too obscure to really be discussed here properly. We'll just have to see what the field actually looks like first.

[Fallout]

32 entrants is tight, but with the successes of Andre and Bruno, I'm much more optimistic in seeing the pre-modern names getting fair representation. That being said, I understand now that anyone that was a big name in wrestling before WWII is just too obscure to really be discussed here properly. We'll just have to see what the field actually looks like first.

Thesz is the only pre-WWF era guy who stands a chance honestly, and even then, that took Gelgarin lobbying for him annually.

As far as the entrants go, Lesnar getting seeded over Hogan, Cena, Bruno, Rock and Thesz? Really? I'd have Lesnar in my late teens/20's most probably. HBK is also a little high for my liking, but that's a little less egregious.

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Even more so if we're voting on who we think is the greatest, isn't this going to automatically lead to Hogan, Austin or Bruno?

I have to agree. Outside of those three, who has a legitimate argument?

[Big Nick Dudley]

People seem to ignore how dominant Brock has been, especially during his second run. He can place in anyone's top ten and be secure.

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Hulk Hogan will make a comeback by hulking up, then boot and legdrop his way to victory.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

The thing that gets me frustrated (in a good way) is when Japanese guys are thrown in. I don't watch NJPW or AJPW. So, it's cool I guess because I get to do some research about those guys.

[Slyfox696]

I have to agree. Outside of those three, who has a legitimate argument?I think once you start going down the list, it'll be more possible than you think.

[Fallout]

People seem to ignore how dominant Brock has been, especially during his second run. He can place in anyone's top ten and be secure.

Dominance (particularly when the number of matches you wrestle a year are in the single-digits) might be more useful in the old format of considering the participants to be in matches together, but in terms of contributions and legacy to the wrestling industry, Brock is much lower on the totem pole.

This is a list I made a while back, so it might be subject to change, of all the people I'd personally rank above Lesnar in terms of overall legacy and impact:

1: Hulk Hogan
2: Lou Thesz
3: Stone Cold Steve Austin
4: John Cena
5: Bruno Sammartino
6: El Santo
7: Ric Flair
8: The Undertaker
9: Andre The Giant
10: The Rock
11: Antonio Inoki
12: Sting
13: Shawn Michaels
14: Randy Savage
15: Rikidozan
16: Triple H
17: Bret Hart
18: Harley Race
19: Nick Bockwinkel
20: Dusty Rhodes
21: Verne Gagne
22: Misuharu Misawa
23: Gene Kiniski
24: Roman Reigns
25: Antonino Rocca
26: AJ Styles
27: Randy Orton
28: Chris Jericho
29: Edge
30: Kurt Angle
31: CM Punk
32: Brock Lesnar

Of course, that's subjective, but other than his MMA career (which is more a testament to his legacy in MMA) and his dominance, why should Lesnar be ranked above Hogan, Thesz, Cena, Sammartino, Santo, Flair, Taker, Andre, Rock, Inoki, Sting and Savage?

[Echelon]

Of course, that's subjective, but other than his MMA career (which is more a testament to his legacy in MMA) and his dominance, why should Lesnar be ranked above Hogan, Thesz, Cena, Sammartino, Santo, Flair, Taker, Andre, Rock, Inoki, Sting and Savage?

At this point I'd put Lesnar over Sting and Savage, and really Michaels too. Compared to 2014/2015, where the Brock Smash arguments got annoying as hell, I think he's done enough the past 2 years to really solidify himself as the top name of this decade. This current run of his has been great.

[Fallout]

At this point I'd put Lesnar over Sting and Savage, and really Michaels too. Compared to 2014/2015, where the Brock Smash arguments got annoying as hell, I think he's done enough the past 2 years to really solidify himself as the top name of this decade. This current run of his has been great.

His current run (post WM32 onwards) is definitely better than his 2015 run, but I think that's more because of the brand-split than anything. Orton, AJ and yes, even Mahal to his credit, created a main title scene on Smackdown to fill the void. It was bad, especially with Mahal's time with the belt, sure, but I'd take a bad main title scene than a main title scene that gets very little focus, and even when it did get focus, it was Heyman more so than Brock selling the title picture.

I would put Lesnar above the likes of Goldberg and Ultimate Warrior (37th and 38th respectively on my list if you're interested), because of his cross-over success with MMA, but in terms of wrestling, I can't think of an argument that would put him above Savage, Sting and HBK. When you get to Rikidozan, Triple H, Bret Hart and Harley Race, I could understand some arguments, even if I would rank them higher, but Savage was consistently the #2 guy who was far more iconic in the industry, Sting was the only American wrestler of his era I can think of that was instantly recognisable to a mainstream audience without ever needing WWE (he was a made man by 2014), and HBK might have been a bit overrated for his first run, but his career renaissance pushes him way up the ladder for me, even above Hart, who was arguably more popular in HBK's era.

The guy right behind Lesnar on my list is Batista. Batista has some mainstream popularity outside of wrestling with his movie roles, and even whilst wrestling, Batista was a name a mainstream audience would recognise, as was Brock before he quit for the first time. I'd say Lesnar is probably just under that level of popularity and impact on a mainstream level personally, but I'd say breaking the streak just gives him the edge over Batista, but that's the level I'd probably put Lesnar at.

[Slyfox696]

https://steelcageforums.com/showthread.php/230-2018-Fantasy-Wrestling-Tournament-The-Rest-of-the-Bracket!

[Spidey]

First to spill blood.

Come at me, my brothers.

[Slyfox696]

The South and West regions are now open for discussion.

[#AbsoluteUnit]

Hmm. I have to think a bit about HBK vs Andre..