RIPPA Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 These are the 64 selections I have right now. I also have a list about 20 names deep that are waiting for me to change my mind and slip someone in (or when it is pointed out that I forgot a major name). I would say about 58 of these are firm. You will find out the official field on Friday but you can use this to start your watching. Alpha by first name/group name. Spelling mistakes are obviously my own Spoiler AJ Styles Asuka Barbaro Cavernario Bayley Black Terry Bobby Lashley Cesaro/Sheamus Charlotte Chris Hero Chris Jericho DIY (Gargano/Ciampa) Dragon Lee Fred Yehi Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada) Hardys (Matt & Jeff) Hideki Suzuki Hiromu Takahashi (Kamaitachi) Hirooki Goto Hiroshi Tanahashi Io Shirai Jack Gallagher Joe Coffey John Cena Johnny Mundo Kairi Hojo Katsuyori Shibata Kazuchika Okada Keith Lee Kenny Omega Kevin Owens Kota Ibushi Kyle O'Reilly L.A. Park Marty Scurll Matt Riddle Meiko Satomura Michael Elgin Mike Bailey Miz Negro Casas Penta Zero M Pete Dunne Revival Ricochet Roman Reigns Rush Sami Callihan Sami Zayn Shingo Takagi Shinsuke Nakamura Tetsuya Naito Timothy Thatcher Tomohiro Ishii Trent Seven Trevor Lee Tyler Bate Ultimo Guerrero Volador Jr Will Ospreay Wyatts (Bray, Orton, Harper) Zach(k) Gibson Zack Sabre Jr Last two spots I have listed as RESERVED FOR WWE CHOADE (ie: the top 2 in the poll) Low # of matches or having almost no available matches easily available to watch are reasons I might eventually bounce someone. So there are a few people ear-marked for that. And if you work for the WWE, you are more likely to lose your spot than others. (Since - at least to me - the purpose of all this is for you to watch new wrestlers) I clearly and putting way more energy into this than I ever really should. And I am just setting myself up for disappointment... again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Glad to see Kamaitachi on the list. sad not seeing Hechicero on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zev Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 @RIPPA You've got Becky Lynch listed in the 12 spots already filled as per Weeding Through The WWE Slog thread, but I don't see her in your first post in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 1 minute ago, zev said: @RIPPA You've got Becky Lynch listed in the 12 spots already filled as per Weeding Through The WWE Slog thread, but I don't see her in your first post in this thread. Yup - Becky has been moved to the bubble. (Which if you look through the thread I was already leaning towards) She will be first choice over pretty much everyone else but as I was filling in the spots - some cuts needed to be made and I wanted a wider variety than what amounted to the 20th WWE affiliated person (when you add in NXT and 205Live) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyanide Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 KUSHIDA is probably the only real omission I see, but I get that there's only so many eligible slots to keep everything from being NJPW/WWE/NXT. That said, G1 finalist be damned, I think there's a strong argument for bouncing Goto for KUSHIDA if it comes down to NJPW picks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 KUSHIDA is in my - albeit it giant - bubble list of folks I am leaning towards maybe doing 4 play-ins (so at least it mirrors the NCAA tournament but doesn't add extra to work for me) But I won't 100% decide on that until I am physically creating the bracket Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 1 hour ago, RIPPA said: Yup - Becky has been moved to the bubble. (Which if you look through the thread I was already leaning towards) She will be first choice over pretty much everyone else but as I was filling in the spots - some cuts needed to be made and I wanted a wider variety than what amounted to the 20th WWE affiliated person (when you add in NXT and 205Live) That makes some sense, but given the audience shrink for WWE (and the global expansion), plus the fact that TNA, Lucha Underground, Ring of Honor, and New Japan all have relatively accessible TV...why does just WWE have the limit for it? It seems like if WWE has 20 people, that's too much- but if New Japan has 11 more (not even counting ROH wrestlers), they should also have a similar bubble limit as well (and that's before the WWE UK tournament people or Kota Ibushi/Zack Sabre Jr., who'd have been affiliated with both New Japan and WWE in the time period.) When it gets that far, it might work more to the spirit of finding new top names to cut it down to 16 (or 17 with max for WWE and New Japan/ROH and just give both of them their own regionals outright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp, broken circa 1988 Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I offer a LOUD harumph to the idea that a comprehensive March Madness would leave out Puma. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Puma was my last luchadore out I am doing a balance with lucha where I almost have to treat it like voting for OL in the Pro Bowl. Since most are lazy - they are going by rep so I leaned towards guys with great years who we have trained to like in years past That being said - I have been going back and forth for (and probably will for the next two days) over including Black Terry. As deserving as he might be - I think 99% aren't gonna buy his matches so it makes it tough to promote someone with nothing to show. We shall see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Hechicero got a good match out of Bucanero when he won the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 And no Vanguard 1. He should be Davey's first round opponent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Concrete Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 An unjust world has Trent Seven in and Hechicero out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 35 minutes ago, odessasteps said: And no Vanguard 1. He should be Davey's first round opponent. Davey isn't in the tournament. They can go have their own match in TJ though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maciej Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I know I ain't really shit around here but would also push really, really hard for Hechicero if he's anywhere near your bubble. I'd vote for him over almost anyone, tbh, and if people are gonna give Negro Casas a fair shot they're gonna have to watch that beautiful, beautiful match anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 2 hours ago, Dewar said: Davey isn't in the tournament. They can go have their own match in TJ though. If there's any extras in the tournament, this would be the fun one. See who'd win- the non-wrestling people from Final Deletion or the most polarizing suspects. It's weird- but hey, King Maxel worked at least one match, that's probably enough to take out Dolph Ziggler in a March Madness battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Good field. Some workers in there that have put in some decent matches that I have enjoyed, but I wouldn't hate myself for voting against them and at least I can further educate myself on lesser known matches they've worked.. That will change the closer we get to the Finals. The Hardy Boys / Miz final will probably turn me into an alcoholic. I can't wait to see what trauma inducing bullshit forces me to vote against AJ Styles or Kairi Hojo's elbow drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 If I had the energy - I would rig the entire bracket just to give you nightmares 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 6 minutes ago, RIPPA said: If I had the energy - I would rig the entire bracket just to give you nightmares. And then I would vote for Will Osprey over Sasha Banks out of pure spite and you would hate life and a perfectly good friendship would burn in flames of rage. WHY JT? WHY ARE YOU SO OLD AND DUMB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Has anyone peeped the Middle Kingdom thread to see if there is anyone worth nominating from the People's Republic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Blue Sam Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 12 hours ago, Concrete said: An unjust world has Trent Seven in and Hechicero out. Trent has had an amazing 12 months though. He's gone from a relatively minor figure in BritWres to having an absolute breakout year - getting US bookings and becoming CHIKARA tag champ, starting to work for Progress and winning their tag titles, winning the ICW world title, then topping it off by getting under WWE contract and having a belting match on last weeks NXT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I'm really looking forward to watching all the matches here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I'm looking at the names of those who didn't make it and laughing at the thought of a NIC style tournament for those not invited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I totally forgot to nominate Zeuxis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanWaco Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Kind of feel like Joey Janela should at least make a play in. He's managed to make himself a top guy on the indies through viral suicide spots and Bad Boy Schtick and he's had some really good matches along the way. Generally I think the field lacks the sort of outside the box pick that people get indignant over when they lose handily in the first round. My view is that these type of guys are critical to the process. Here id argue for PWX ace/SCI standout Anthony Henry, or Nova Pro ace and CWF standout Arik Royal. Both are likely to be top 30ish guys to people who followed them closely and will have strong advocates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 23, 2017 Share Posted February 23, 2017 Or you can just put Gino Hernandez in. Two more great Dynamic Duo matches just popped up last week that haven't been seen since 82 including maybe JYD's best match ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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