2018 Fantasy Wrestling Tournament - The Rest of the Bracket!

It is now time to reveal the rest of the 2018 Fantasy Wrestling Tournament bracket, presented by the Steel Cage Forums. All seeds reflect overall tournament seeding.

Let's start with the South Region, with matches to be held in San Antonio, Texas:

#1 Steve Austin vs. #32 Bob Backlund
#16 Chris Jericho vs. #17 Mick Foley
#9 Undertaker vs. #24 Roman Reigns
#8 The Rock vs. #25 Dusty Rhodes


Moving on to the West Region, in Los Angeles, California:

#4 Hulk Hogan vs. #29 Harley Race
#13 Randy Savage vs. #20 Bruno Sammartino
#12 Triple H vs. #21 Terry Funk
#5 John Cena vs. #28 Rey Mysterio


In the Midwest Region, to be held in Indianapolis, Indiana:

#2 Shawn Michaels vs. #31 Vader
#15 AJ Styles vs. #18 Edge
#10 Goldberg vs. #23 Randy Orton
#7 Bret Hart vs. #26 Chris Benoit


And finally, the East Region, with matches in Orlando, Florida.

#3 Brock Lesnar vs. #30 Eddie Guerrero
#14 Sting vs. #19 Kurt Angle
#11 Andre the Giant vs. #22 CM Punk
#6 Ric Flair vs. #27 Ultimate Warrior


Notable exclusions from this year's tournament (in no particular order):

Kevin Nash
Rob Van Dam
Seth Rollins
Batista
Big Show
Ricky Steamboat
Daniel Bryan
Yokozuna
DDP
Psycho Sid Vicious
Kane
All wrestlers without a major world championship in a major American promotion
Anyone Slyfox may have accidentally forgotten.


You can follow the tournament bracket (and check out a brief history of the tournament) by clicking the following link: https://steelcageforums.com/tourney/2018/


Finally, I'm looking to gauge interest in people wanting to do a bracket contest. If you'd be interested in a bracket contest (similar to a March Madness bracket contest), post it somewhere in your post complaining about the seeding. There needs to be enough interest to make it worth my time. Otherwise, use this thread to discuss the tournament, the wrestlers who made the cut, those who got snubbed and their seedings.

Enjoy!


EDIT: The tournament will officially begin by Monday, if not before.

I'd be interested in doing a March Madness like bracket contest.

As far as choices go, probably a good choice that we're not going earlier than Sammartino, as history gets kind of hard to track there without a great deal of studying. Probably also better we're not bringing in people like Inoki and El Santo also, at least for the first tournament, although getting further cultured on wrestling is always a plus.

As for my quick-fire personal choices for the first round:

Click for Spoiler:

#1 Steve Austin vs. #32 Bob Backlund: Backlund did pretty well for himself, but he's against the man who spearheaded WWF's renaissance. No brainer.

#16 Chris Jericho vs. #17 Mick Foley: Close, but Jericho is a bit more versatile and has accomplished more than Foley in his career.

#9 Undertaker vs. #24 Roman Reigns: Closer than you might think, but Taker has been the one constant throughout every era of the WWE. Roman has easily been the biggest failure of a #1 guy, but to be fair, being the #1 guy counts for a lot.

#8 The Rock vs. #25 Dusty Rhodes: Dusty was great, but was more of a supporting player to Ric Flair and his success, whereas Rocky could easily carry the WWF without Austin's help.

#4 Hulk Hogan vs. #29 Harley Race: Sad that Harley Race got put on this side of the bracket, especially in such a rotten draw, but Hogan is a favourite for sure.

#13 Randy Savage vs. #20 Bruno Sammartino: Close, but I think Bruno's longevity and drawing power throughout the 70's, establishing the WWF sees him through.

#12 Triple H vs. #21 Terry Funk: Both of these guys are in similar positions of being mainstays for long periods of time, but I think Triple H just got more success in his career.

#5 John Cena vs. #28 Rey Mysterio: Rey's good and moves a lot of merchandise, but Cena can easily rival him in this category, as well as holding far more accomplishments in his career.

#2 Shawn Michaels vs. #31 Vader: I love Vader, but this is a no-brainer.

#15 AJ Styles vs. #18 Edge: Second closest match of the round here, both men are HoF headliners (hell, Edge was), but I think I appreciate Styles' rise to fame in TNA just a little more than Edge's rise in an established company. Might be personal preference talking here though.

#10 Goldberg vs. #23 Randy Orton: And here's the closest match of the round. It's hard to compare these two, but I think Orton is the more versatile talent with a bit more success to his name. Goldberg's great too, and I could be swayed though.

#7 Bret Hart vs. #26 Chris Benoit: Benoit being in the tournament is probably going to open that nasty can of worms of a conversation that is "Is Benoit's legacy overshadowed by his double murder-suicide", but honestly ignoring that, Hart is still the bigger deal.

#3 Brock Lesnar vs. #30 Eddie Guerrero: I complained about Brock's seeding earlier, but Eddie was a glorified mid-carder who only got exceptionally popular after his death. No disrespect to Eddie and his accomplishments, but Brock dwarves him in that department.

#14 Sting vs. #19 Kurt Angle: Angle is my favourite in-ring performer of all-time, but I do think in terms of overall impact, he gets a little overhyped. Sting for me here.

#11 Andre the Giant vs. #22 CM Punk: Andre was an icon that transcended wrestling. For as good as Punk was at promos, and as impressive as his 434 title reign was, he's completely outclassed here.

#6 Ric Flair vs. #27 Ultimate Warrior: Warrior was the wrestling equivalent of a glass cannon; exceedingly popular for a few years before petering out. Flair was a constant, a household name even though he wasn't with the WWF in the 80's during perhaps his popularity peak.

Not going to complain, can't disagree with the guys who were selected. I'm down for a bracket challenge/contest.

Couple of fun bouts already. Really looking foraward to that AJ/Edge debate.

Although I am a little disappointed that some major names are missing from other sections of the globe, I understand the reasoning and honestly, someone like myself will have a better time engaging in debates/arguments over who should win. It should be fun and I hope to participate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spidercanrana

Couple of fun bouts already. Really looking foraward to that AJ/Edge debate.

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Same here. They are certainly much more evenly matched now that AJ has really distinguished himself over the past 2 years.

It looks like this tourney will be fun at the first rounds

The bracket has been updated to reflect the Round of 32 victories in the South and West regions. You may have to do a hard refresh (hold the Shift key on your keyboard and hit the refresh button) if you don't see the update.