Mat Madness: On to Round 2
The opening round of Mat Madness, a bracket-style pro wrestling tournament determined by online voting, is in the books.
Thank you to all who voted. Voting for Round 2 (the Sweet 16) begins tonight at midnight EDT. You can vote up to five times per day.
There weren’t a whole lot of surprises in the first round, as most of the matchups ended up being squashes. Four wrestlers got 90 percent or more of the vote – The Undertaker (against Rhino), Chris Jericho (against Sheamus), Edge (against Jack Swagger) and A.J. Styles (against Abyss).
The biggest upset saw Booker T. – who spends most of his time these days behind the announce table on Smackdown rather than in the ring – score a convincing victory over Jeff Hardy (62 percent to 38 percent). One has to wonder if that result would have been much different had the Hardy-Sting debacle at TNA’s Victory Road pay-per-view not occurred last Sunday.
The closest vote was in the battle of current world champions, as TNA champ Sting rallied from an early disadvantage to eliminate WWE champ The Miz, 54 percent to 46 percent.
There are some interesting inter-promotional matchups in the second round, including Triple H vs. Styles, Kurt Angle vs. CM Punk and Randy Orton vs. Sting.
To view the bracket, click here.
To view a photo gallery of the tournament competitors, click here.
Comments
In the second round, Chris Jericho and Edge are up against each other.
My two fav Wrestlers. :)
Posted by: Sharan | March 18, 2011 3:03 PM
Can't click on my selection for round 2.
I don't think the Booker/Hardy vote would have been much different even if Hardy had shown up clean and won. I think the vote reflects your blog following and it's not mostly teenagers and early 20's. Seems it's more 30's and above
Posted by: Dave | March 18, 2011 8:59 PM
@Sharan Tell me about it, I'm torn . I'm either going to vote for Edge because he's currently active or abstain.
@Dave If you're right then that's a shame for the 30 pluses. Hardy has pretty much sacrificed everything for wrestling, and deserves more respect. You Americans can be so small-minded and judgemental about drug-related issues. You don't know what he's been through in his life, yet you turn your nose up at him.
Posted by: Will | March 19, 2011 7:21 AM
MIZ not making it to the second round is a travesty...Dolph Ziggler not squeaking one out over Big Show laughable...CM Punk and RVD lose WE RIOT!!!
Posted by: Rob | March 19, 2011 11:25 AM
Booker won cause he is a 6-time world champ, & Hardy is a 4-time world champ.(I think)
Posted by: Ron McLeod | March 20, 2011 7:17 PM