March Mania Sixteen Match Rumble Round! What will be the eight best modern Wrestlemania matches?

Yesterday, the field narrowed from 48 to 16. Today, it will narrow again from 16 to 8. Voting is open to midnight Central time tonight, so get yours votes in!

But enough with the preliminaries. On to the match ups!

ROUND TWO - GEORGIA DIVISION

Image credit: WWE.

Edge's final pay-per-view match against Alberto Del Rio scored big in its first round match-up, while decisions were split for The Shield battling against Kane and the New Age Outlaws in one of their first battles as a babyface unit. Both are stellar matches, but only one moves on!

Image credit: WWE screen grab

The end of the streak for Undertaker had to go through a tie-breaker to get to the second round, while last year's 7 way Intercontinental Ladder Match did much better, dominating over Triple H vs. Sting.




ROUND TWO - LOUISIANA DIVISION

Seth Rollins crashed last year's main event between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, helping that match secure a win in the first round. Jack Swagger's victory in the Wrestlemania XXVI Money in the Bank match was a tighter race.




I was a bit surprised to see the Wrestlemania XXX match between Triple H and Daniel Bryan go to a tiebreaker after stiff competition from Jericho and Edge. Rey Mysterio versus CM Punk had none of that trouble, completely sweeping their opening round battle.




ROUND TWO - FLORIDA DIVISION

CM Punk and Chris Jericho's World title battle swept its division while Triple H and Undertaker's war at Wrestlemania 28 scored big as well.




Daniel Bryan vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton was almost a no brainer to take its first round match, while the conflict between John Cena and Bray Wyatt barely sneaked out a win.




ROUND TWO - NEW YORK DIVISION

Tyson Kidd and Cesaro's victory in last year's 4 way tag team match was the only preliminary show match to make it to the final round. John Cena battling the Rock in the Twice in a Lifetime match dominated completely against lackluster challengers.




Undertaker retired two other matches much as he did Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 26. John Cena and Batista barely squeezed past Undertaker and CM Punk to keep this from being two Taker matches pitted against one another.




That's all the matches featuring some huge competitors in some stellar matches! Make your voice heard by voting now!

NXT Advent Calendar Day 20: Hideo Itami versus a WWE star that stole his finisher

Before Hideo Itami made his way to WWE's developmental roster, he had two finishers very different from the Shotgun Kick and double foot stomp he used as his finishers in NXT. The more famous of the moves is one he innovated and helped popularize, a fireman's carry drop knee strike called the Go To Sleep. When CM Punk came into WWE, he adopted the move and the GTS became a hugely popular move the world over.

But it wasn't his only finisher stolen by a major WWE star. His striking finisher long before the Shotgun Kick was a running single leg high knee which was as fast as it was brutal in appearance. The Busaiku Knee Kick put down a ton of opponents in the physical sport-oriented Pro Wrestling NOAH.

Image credit: wrestlinghurts.tumblr.com

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero... in 2002?

The time period after the fall of WCW was a strange one. Tons of free agents were suddenly on the market and willing to take independent bookings if the money was right. Ian Rotten and his IWA Mid-South promotion were riding a wave of growing support for the indies during that time period and he used big name talent to strengthen that run.

Rey Mysterio (still unmasked) was one such talent who after recovering from knee surgery post-WCW seemed like he would never get  the call to WWE. Eddie Guerrero had his shot, even starting the invasion storyline, but his drug problems cost him his job. Cleaned up, he would fight to bring himself back through a truly epic run of great independent matches.

Between the two man was a young Midwestern kid that was taking the promotion by storm. CM Punk was young and still woefully inexperienced, but he had the gumption to go full blast with two living legends in the ring. The result was a great, unique match in the annals of wrestling history.

Thoughts on the WWE's Current Roster

Did anyone else notice that every champion who walked out of Night of Champions was a former NXT star? NXT is creating great WWE wrestlers faster than they can be absorbed into the main company, but that's okay, because they are also raising the bar across the board as far as skill and talent goes. Between Kane and Undertaker moving into the end of their careers and all the guys just getting started, we're at a point where things can change quickly and anything can happen. Here is what I think should happen.


THE DIVAS

Bayley should be in no rush to move up and would be best served by remaining the NXT Women's champion for a year or so. The kids love her, she's got a great babyface attitude and could really pull up the rest of the division. If she moves up to the WWE, she'll be sitting at the back of the line behind the other four horsewomen. Bayley needs to cement her place and her personality so that when she does finally make the leap to the Divas division, she will do so as a top superstar. Asuka and Dana both need to a few good matches against Bayley as well, especially Dana, who comes across as a great heel with a great physique, she just needs the right focus and story to build her up. I don't know much about Asuka but I am sure her skills are top notch. Why is the WWE even wasting our time with Eva Marie matches? Especially when Bayley seems to be the Hulk Hogan of women's wrestling. If she isn't now, she soon will be. I also can't wait to see who this Nia Jax woman is.

Raven's Top Five Biggest Disappointments

Some stars come from out of nowhere and leave an immediate impact, guys like Kevin Owens and Mick Foley. Other guys never even take off and linger in obscurity forever. But there are some guys out there who make it to the top, who have all the right tools in their arsenal, but never really came through.

Here is my list of five guys who I believe could have done a lot more, but for some reason just never came through.

5. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR

Yes I know, the Warrior was a hero, a legend, an unstoppable force, an Icon. I respect the Warrior, but when you ask me my favorite match is of his, I'm going to have to fall back on his match with Hogan at Wrestlemania 6. Right here in my home town, Warrior gave the best fight of his life. But what happened after that?

I mean for all that energy, all that running around, all that power and paint, what did we get after that? I few more badly booked matches, some crazy interviews and then the Warrior was gone, lost to legend.

The Road to Wrestlemania

During the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, a lot of opinions on the new generation of wrestlers changed. Every episode of Raw and Smackdown was excellent and they did a fantastic job revealing the Wrestlemania card. Sure, the IC title theft story was a bit silly, but at least you got to see a bit of the personality and skill set of the wrestlers involved. Except for R. Truth. He's the kind of guy you see once and never want to see again.

Watching Daniel Bryan and that beard drove me nuts at first, I couldn't stand watching that grimy beard flinging itself around the ring. But I found a two disc set of Ring of Honor matches featuring the best of Bryan Danielson, the real guy before he became a WWE star, as well as the documentary of his rise to Wrestlemania 30. The guy has a huge amount of in-ring talent, even better than Bret Hart in his prime. I am sort of glad I missed his rise, because now I can appreciate his talent, I didn't have to see Bryan get fired (was it twice?), I didn't have to see him lose over and over again at the beginning of his career. Bryan is an amazing talent and totally deserves the love he gets from the WWE universe. I'm even a fan of his wife, Brie Bella, and I hope the Bella twins hold onto the Divas title for a long time. Bryan is a lot like Macho Man; his moves aren't all that devastating but they are beautifully simple in their execution. I'd love to see a Bryan/Rusev match-up.

My opinion of Dolph Ziggler changed over the weeks as well. At first I thought he was Miami Vice character, a left-over Billy Gunn wannabe, but he proved himself to be a talented scrapper in every match he was involved in.

I just discovered today while researching for this blog post that Ziggler's a two-time world heavyweight champion. I'm surprised, because he really doesn't seem to be at that level yet. Being champion isn't about being the best, its about being able to create the best matches. Ziggler's not at the point where I can see him squaring off against the other top tier stars, not unless he can manage to channel the crowd the way Shawn Michaels used to, get them behind him. We'll see, I am sure he'll be around for a while.

Seth Rollins. Another darling of the underground wrestling scene. I don't know much about Rollins, which in this case is a good thing. Let me explain:

The more you know about wrestling, the less you can enjoy it. Let me explain:

As I watched old matches and read the rumors and blog posts, I realized that Seth Rollins is the guy they are grooming for the top spot. I know a lot of fans felt like the WWE was pushing Roman Reigns, but after watching Daniel Bryan's epic run and victory at Wrestlemania 30, I knew Roman's chances were slim to none. Wrestlemania 31 was not going to be the story of another underdog rising to the top; whether Brock Lesnar stayed or not, I knew that Seth was going to cash in that briefcase. So I've done everything I can to avoid seeing old Seth Rollins matches, I figured I'd see him enough in the coming months.

I really like Roman Reigns. I think he's a good looking guy with a lot of in-ring talent he's yet to harness. I'm glad to see the fans are coming around to him, but I couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. First, he had to deal with the crowd, then he has an ass-kicking at the hands of Lesnar to look forward to.

Paul Heyman, a guy I used to hate, has become one of the greatest pitch men in the business. His microphone work is a perfect match for Lesnar.

GLAD TO HAVE MISSED:

Basically during the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania I did my best to get caught up on what I'd missed. Here are some of the highlights, the stuff I am glad I never saw and I hope to never, ever see:

CM PUNK's career: Never liked this guy or anything he stood for. He always came across as a whiny, ungrateful, loser. I don't know how he ever became a champion, I sure as hell can't understand how he headlined a Wrestlemania. His absence from the sport gave better wrestlers a chance to shine and allowed a brighter, more positive attitude to come through. I've been saying this for over 25 years: Never trust a straight edge. The guy had 400+ days as champ, one of the longest runs I've seen in modern wrestling, he had everything given to him that the WWE had to offer and it still wasn't good enough. Well I hope the UFC pays him well for the beating he's going to take, because I believe that PUNK is just a punk and hasn't faced reality yet.

There was a point on Tough Enough where Bob Holly beats the hell out of Matt Cappotelli, where coach Bill DeMott tells Matt that every man has to swallow shit in his career in wrestling. I totally believe that, I believe that those horrible, shitty, matches that pop up every now and then are what a champion. Triple H would not be the man he is today without that "Pig Pen Match". CM Punk never understood this. He saw his rise to fame as something he earned himself, not something the fans gave him. Fans hated him in the WWE because he had no respect for the WWE or its history. I could go on about this guy for another page or two but I won't, I am just glad he is gone. The comic industry is full of toxic, arrogant, people. He'll fit right in there, take it from me, the comic industry deserves a guy like PUNK. It was always sour grapes with that guy, you know why he is gone forever and John Cena is still the man? Because he respected the sport, he respected the fans and he paid his dues. I am not a fan of Cena, but Cena works harder than CM PUNK ever did. The guy couldn't even be bothered to stand up while he dropped his "pipe bomb" crap on Raw.

I'm glad to have missed the Vickie Guerrero years. And Thedore Long. And John Laurinaitis. Just a bad, bad set of years. I feel like I've come into a party just as its starting again, with Wrestlemania 31. I do wish I'd seen Team Hell No in action though! I'm going to look into finding some of those matches today.

I believed in Roman Reigns. Hell, the man played Canadian football!

 It was just too late though, the tide was against the Samoan.

















Stay tuned for the next blog post on the greatest event in sports entertainment, WRESTLEMANIA!