JRGoldman Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I'm at work so I can't link a bunch of youtube videos, but I think that a few indy workers probably deserve consideration, and should be in the tournament. I think three of them are basically tied together this year, and can be talked about as a group: Drew Gulak Timothy Thatcher Biff Busick I think with the overall quality of NXT and the fact that most of the indy darlings from the past few years are featured on it, becoming an indy name or generating buzz has become more difficult. I think it speaks volumes that these three in their matches were able to do just that, and were also able to do it wrestling a style that isn't necessarily en vogue. I loved the stuff from Evolve and the Stuff from beyond, and I think that you could make a case for any of them having the quality that matches all but the top tier workers from last year. Also, many people on here have asked to open March Madness up to women. If we do this, I think that Kimber Lee deserves a spot as well. She has had some great sprints and great intergender stuff from all over the Indies this year. Again, her stuff in Beyond is awesome, but even in Chikara (or Wrestling Is....) and CZW she has had standout matches. She is great at garnering sympathy, and has a great sense of timing for selling stuff. She is also one of the few women who does things at a pace that allows her to believably work intergender. I understand women like Sasha, Bayley or even Havok in TNA have good resumes as well, but I think Kimber deserves some consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyLaw Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I think Rusev is a sleeper, and depending on match ups, I wouldn't be surprised to see him reach the elite eight. He's missing a stand-out match (although Fast Lane will be in the voting period and fresh in people's minds). He's a great seller and does what he's supposed to do really well. Factor in some intangibles, like his reaction after last week's flag non-drop, and I think he's building a decent resume. In fact, I'll go out on a limb and say he's my pick to upset some lucha/puro guy early that people will say should have never beaten him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ok. Let's get real here. The guy who should win is the same guy who should have won last year. BROCK LESNAR! We all know a WWE guy is going to win this thing and there is only one man in the company who is appointment TV. Quantity over quality is how we ended up with three hour Raws, 1,000 Ziggler/Kofi matches and the Uso's vs random tag team. It's clear that the WWE values their formula of putting out consistent, mediocre wrestling with little to no story behind it week after week. Do we? Brock takes the WWE main event formula and rips it apart. He breaks the boring-as-all-hell WWE heel playbook by simply stepping in the ring. A vote for Brock is a vote against monotony. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Also a vote for being smart enough to not be on tv every week, even as champion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Add Saturdays match vs fureza as a reason to vote for negro casas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Ok. Let's get real here. The guy who should win is the same guy who should have won last year. BROCK LESNAR! We all know a WWE guy is going to win this thing and there is only one man in the company who is appointment TV. Quantity over quality is how we ended up with three hour Raws, 1,000 Ziggler/Kofi matches and the Uso's vs random tag team. It's clear that the WWE values their formula of putting out consistent, mediocre wrestling with little to no story behind it week after week. Do we? Brock takes the WWE main event formula and rips it apart. He breaks the boring-as-all-hell WWE heel playbook by simply stepping in the ring. A vote for Brock is a vote against monotony. I still stand that people underestimate how little of my shit people on this board give about WWE right now. Maybe Rollins wins, sure, but I'd be flat stunned if anyone else from the E wins this thing. I can't even come up with a guy who I feel should make the final 4 from March to now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Theres the silent percentage of the board populace that likely are wwe fans and will vote for DB, ambrose or Rusev in the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Honestly, if runs on Superstars were enough to garner groundswell in the past for Chris Masters and Drew McIntyre, then Rusev's resume more than holds up enough for him to make a decent run. Especially with aforementioned WWE only watchers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORELOCK Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Much to the chagrin of some here, the board is very WWE-centric. It'll be surprising if any Japan/Lucha workers make it past the first couple of rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Also, many people on here have asked to open March Madness up to women. If we do this.... Can we get an official stance on if any women will be in the field this year? Paige and especially Sasha need be in, right? I know you guys aren't new. Women have been in the tournament in the past. Sara Del Rey was in one year. Kana was in last year. This year there will probably be more than ever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Also, many people on here have asked to open March Madness up to women. If we do this.... Can we get an official stance on if any women will be in the field this year? Paige and especially Sasha need be in, right? I know you guys aren't new. Women have been in the tournament in the past. Sara Del Rey was in one year. Kana was in last year. This year there will probably be more than ever. I know, but you left out Emma last year and that broke my heart... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Who? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man Known as Dan Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Who? *glare* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Jae, I am a dunce. I was thinking about this today: DVDVR certainly has different taste than the vast majority of wrestling message boards, and I think that's one of the reasons that this tournament is so fun. That being said, who would win March Madness if it was run on reddit, or whatever other board passes for a consensus these days? AJ Styles? Nakamura? I think everyone has blemishes compared to previous years. This year seems really wide open even in less esoteric parts of the internet wrestling community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 This year is waaaaaay more wide open than any year we've done this. That's why what Matt is trying to do in this thread is so important because you could sell people on just about anyone right now. To me there's no one on the main roster outside of maybe Brock Lesnar who had a stellar work rate year. Dolph had some moments. Dean and Seth had some moments. But I don't think anyone had a complete year. As many have pointed out, this board is somewhat WWE-centric. HOWEVER a large portion of that fan base has gotten sick of the company this year. So between shitty booking, some uninspired in-ring product, and the NXT roster making the main one look like fools - this year is the best year to open people's eyes to a new MArch Madness champion - because they're looking for one. I don't know who would win at other places because my finger is about as much on the pulse of the fans as Vince McMahon's is. NAKAMURA is probably my favorite guy out of Japan. Kenta had a great year before coming to the states(And he had that one good Ascension match with Devitt). Marufuji, OF ALL FUCKING PEOPLE, has had a good year. I'm not caught up on Mexico but they really came out of last year's tournament looking great. People really got on board with what was going on in Lucha and several people had their eyes opened. If this year the match quality stays up, there could be a dark horse out of Mexico who could steal one. Because why not? It's really anyone's game, you just have to make a good case. I've got no clue on indies. I haven't seen Drew Mac or Del Rio's indy stuff. I haven't heard many smaller names popping up. You guys gotta help me out there. Just tell me who's good and link me some matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodear Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I think this is the year where you will see some more representation of the New Japan roster going deep in the tournament as their product has been more widely available than other years prior with (I would guess) over 5 making it past the first round. I also expect pretty good representation from NXT talent to take up a lot of the slack the main WWE roster dropped in the interim with Sami being most likely to go extremely deep. I plan on championing Rush a lot but expect some of the other lucha guys like Negro Casas to get a couple rounds deep with Atlantis being a possible tournament dark horse. I would like to see some of the British indy guys to get a bit more love this year as Rampage Brown especially is pretty solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacelle Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I'm all in on Jay Briscoe, he's been killing it all year. Mark too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Give me 3 of the best matches for Rampage Brown. Tell me what the great Jay Briscoe performances are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Tell me what the great Jay Briscoe performances are. Him and Adam Cole at Supercard of Honor, Him and Mark vs Mike Bennett and Matt Hardy at Best in the World and hell Id throw Jay & MArk vs Bullet Club from Global Wars in there too and his ROH World Title defense against ACH at Glory By Honor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodear Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I'm not a "best matches" kind of guy so I'm not going to say these are Rampage's best stuff ever because hell if I know. I just figured if you are going to hit the British Indys again this year, he's been all over the DVDVR's for the last few updates. To Whit... RAMPAGE BROWN vs. MICKY FINN - EXPLOSIVE PRO WRESTLING (4/27/2014)(DEAN)Rampage Brown is flying up my list of not just favorite wrestlers wrestling in Britain but favorite wrestlers wrestling in wrestling rings. I vaguely remember seeing Mickey Finn. He does have the seedy Cockney Snakepit BASTARD look to him, so he is already ahead of the game as we begin. He works the arm- which is smart because Rampage uses his arm when he is beating the dog crap out of you, so definitely hold on to the arm. Nouvelle Brit wrestling is awesome not just because it approximates World Of Sport- style wrestling to some degree, but is also the last bastion of a LOT of things: such as in this match, Finn works the arm into a headscissors spot to the spot where Rampage escapes and shoots into the ropes to go back into Finn working the arm. Nobody does that anymore. From that, Rampage does his Budding Fit Finlay stylings by just hitting totally great looking, assholish heel offense. He then threatens to beat up all the snot nosed kids in the audience and your LOVE for RAMPAGE is now LOVE WITHOUT END. Finn takes his ass-beating and shows the SPARK! the FIRE! and LOVE OF GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP! to not quit! The brats in the audience clap and cheer as he gets to his feet! He battles back and shoots Rampage into the ropes! He's gonna..Oh wait. Rampage totally just fucking kills him. Finn makes with a few more HOPE SPOTS~!(1) and Rampage kicks him right in the face a few times. The children are upset. Rampage is making them even more upset by SCOFFING at their booing! They trade elbows so this is just extra added AngloGrapploFun. Finn gets Rampage sitting in the corner and Rampage's skanky valet charges at Finn and is drop-toe-holded into Rampage's manly parts!- though she seems to weigh about 73 pounds, so it could only hurt so much. Finn then hits a fucking beautiful overhead Fishermanbuster Suplex, but 73 pounds of wee lass to the junk and a truly fine looking suplex is not enough. Rampage kicks out. The finish by Rampage is sooooo fucking AWESOME. Watch it yourself. Fucking BEAUTIFUL. This match is great but one should also note that alllll current AngloGrappling is pretty great. Finn should definitely go the heel route- as he really look like a guy who would stab you in the gums with a screwdriver.(2) Goodear again: I will look up more stuff from the voting period when I'm not at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo Woodbine Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Rampage only has about a dozen matches online for 2014, I'd say the posted Mickey Finn match, the Mason Ryan match also from EPW(filmed from about a mile away) and the match from Discovery against Damian O'Connor are your best bet. The problem a bunch of Euro guys will have is that most examples of "big matches" are used to sell dvd's, so don't make it to youtube for a while. So you have good matches of little consequence, which is fine with me but might lead to a great wrestler getting stiffed in favour of say, Cody Rhodes. Does anyone want to make a case for Drew Galloway? He's had a fantastic year from what I've seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I think it's open for guys to push farther, but as far as winning, I don't think there's a chance it won't be a WWE/NXT guy. There's posters who watch Japan, and lucha, and indies, and a few who watch all of the above, but in each case, I don't think it's a large enough group to where a Nakamura or a (whoever the current lucha favorite is) is going to beat out a Brock Lesnar or a Sami Zayn. I don't separate NXT from WWE in this regard, because I feel like by now, if you're a DVDVR poster and you watch WWE, (or follow it, but don't watch it cuz fuck a 3 hour Raw,) odds are very high that you watch NXT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 I personally think pushing farther would be more than good enough. Just like the WON awards/HOF are very much about what Dave and his constituency likes, March Madness is about what the board likes and has liked over the year. There's no reason not to think Dean Ambrose won't go far if only because we've been reading ridiculous fan fiction about him all year. That said, if a few more people see Rampage Brown or Rush or Nakamura and their horizons get expanded by people who are very vocal about the fact these people should beat someone more familiar, then great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I like Ambrose a lot, and I think most of his problems have been because of mind-blowingly idiotic booking of him since the Shield break-up, but I wouldn't put his year over Nakamura's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I think it's open for guys to push farther, but as far as winning, I don't think there's a chance it won't be a WWE/NXT guy. There's posters who watch Japan, and lucha, and indies, and a few who watch all of the above, but in each case, I don't think it's a large enough group to where a Nakamura or a (whoever the current lucha favorite is) is going to beat out a Brock Lesnar or a Sami Zayn. I don't separate NXT from WWE in this regard, because I feel like by now, if you're a DVDVR poster and you watch WWE, (or follow it, but don't watch it cuz fuck a 3 hour Raw,) odds are very high that you watch NXT. Yeah, I can go months without watching Raw, but I still watch more WWE than anything else. It is almost harder not to watch WWE when you're looking for wrestling. The network is available on every device possible, their TV is on networks that everyone has, it is presented in a language I understand, and $9.99 a month to watch their PPVs makes it very easy to follow. I think NJPW has been better over the last year, but I can't just switch to NJPW World when nothing is on TV. WWE Network is essentially a click away on my Playstation, Xbox, Smart TV, and Amazon Fire. I don't have to grab my ipad, hook it up to the TV, and try to remember what audio channel I plugged that stupid adapter into on my receiver like I do when I watch NJPW World. I can't stand half of the shit I see on WWE television, but it is ubiquitous in my life as a wrestling fan. I think I'd vote for Nakamura over everyone, but I only watched 4 or 5 of his matches over the last year. I've probably seen 30 Seth Rollins matches, 30 John Cena matches, 20 Sami Zayn matches and 10 from Daniel Bryan who was injured for the majority of the time. It is hard to vote for someone I've enjoyed 5 or 6 times over someone that I've seen having good to great matches week after week over the course of a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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