Why not a tag-team tournament every year? It puts the spotlight back on the tag titles and existing tag teams, and it also gives the writers lots of opportunities for wacky combinations where it actually has some consequence beyond a Raw or Smackdown match. Plenty of possibilities there. Maybe one guy in an established team decides to screw his partner and find a new one. Maybe there's a superstar nobody wants to team up with because he's a jerk. Maybe you do randomly selected teams to fill a couple of spots. It just seems more interesting than another PPV full of rehashed stuff from the last three weeks of TV.
I would lose my shit if they ever brought back the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, but I honestly don't think they'd have enough teams to fill out the field unless they used thrown-together singles guys. But holy shit, could you imagine a tournament with this field with say the winner declared tag champions, thus forcing Hell No to defend three times potentially:
1. Daniel Bryan & Kane v. Kassius Ohno & Antonio Cesaro (or Wade Barrett & Cesaro as the European Invasion)
2. Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara v. The Primetime Players
3. Cody Rhodes & Damien Sandow v. The Usos
4. John Cena & The Rock v. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston
5. CM Punk & Brock Lesnar v. Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez
6. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose v. Sheamus & Ryback
7. Randy Orton & HHH v. Primo & Epico
8. Big Show & Mark Henry v. Kofi Kingston & R-Truth
Just for fun, let's see how we could do this:
Quarterfinals:
Ohno & Cesaro v. Mysterio & Sin Cara (Kane and Bryan break up to give the Kings the match)
Rhodes Scholars v. Cena & The Rock (seems like the likeliest pairing)
Heyman Guys v. The Shield (Brock hitting an F5 on poor Ricardo to advance? EPIC. Ryback would walk out on Sheamus to put the Shield through)
Evolution v. Show/Henry
Semifinals:
Ohno & Cesaro v. Cena & The Rock (again, seems like the likely pairing based on heel-face alignment and star power)
The Shield v. Evolution (I was torn here but I think they'd do an angle where Brock apparently opts out of the tournament after one match because his contract doesn't stipulate working more than once, leaving Punk to get beat 3-on-1.)
Finals: Cena & The Rock v. The Shield (Team Crock continues their steamroll into the finals, while Brock returns for a brawl with HHH, sending the Shield onwards)
Winners and tag champions: The Shield (This way they get a big rub from beating the biggest stars and don't have to get beaten yet.)
But hey, as I always say, tournaments are awesome.
Isn't TNA doing something with Tag Teams on one of their specials?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read online it's actually more like the less popular Battlebowl using random tag team pairings with the winners advancing on to a battle royale where the winner gets a cash prize.
ReplyDeleteGod forbid WWE actually do something different... They don't even have the King Of The Ring anymore.. Hours and HOURS of time to fill and the very least they could do is have tournaments.
ReplyDeleteApart from when they drag it out the mothballs once every 3-5 years usually during an episode of Raw to push someone that they usually lose interest in after a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteIt'd also be a good way to feature an NXT act -- say, the Wyatt Family -- and get them over as a threat with an upset or two.
ReplyDeleteYeah this entire post is awesome...
ReplyDeleteThis would be quite awesome, but as evidenced by the last few months, they've quickly forgotten about the tag division again. You have a very viable team in the PTP that were beaten by a man with his arm tied behind his back while his partner was blindfolded. When I saw that, I just laughed as today I read an interview by Jericho saying that HHH is basically the boss. Saying you care about tag teams and actually showing so by example are two very different things. Empty words so far...
ReplyDeleteI always wanted to see a NCAA 64 man tournament with seeding
ReplyDeleteHave Punk/Cena instead of Cena/Rock. Much fun can be had with that pairing, especially if it's against their will, so as to make us wonder if they can win or fall apart in spectacular fashion.
ReplyDeleteYou are misremembering: the point of Sheamus getting the crown was to set up his rematch against HHH, who has used a modified version of the king gimmick with his conan the barbarian rip-off costumes.....
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it I do vaguely remember that. Didn't that also go nowhere with Triple H challenging Taker to a match at Wrestlemania and randomly squashing Sheamus on an episode of Raw?
ReplyDeleteHaving a tournament would be too much like something a real sports organization would do. This is action-adventure variety soap opera, no room for a tournament.
ReplyDeleteit wasnt a squash. It wasnt a match.
ReplyDeleteHHH just came out and beat him down.
Thanks for clarifying. At least Sheamus wasn't hurt in the long run,
ReplyDeleteNo kidding....tournaments, 2/3 falls matches, iron man matches, gauntlet matches, Survivor Series-style elimination matches......not only would any of those matches fill a good chunk of time but it almost guarentees a great match
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, check Smackdown spoilers for the PTP.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, check next week's Raw for Team Hell No.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, check NEXT week's Smackdown for the PTP.
ReplyDeleteI hate 50/50 booking :(
ReplyDeleteI'd like some opinions on whether this is a good idea or not:
ReplyDeleteA "Battlebowl"-esque tournament, with teams composed of guys that are currently feuding, with the winning "team" being rewarded a shot at the WWE/World title. The idea would be that partners would have to set their differences aside, basically swallowing their pride to prove how much they want to be champion.
For instance, let's say you have the following eight teams:
- Cena & Punk
- Del Rio & Swagger
- Kane & Bryan
- Barrett & Kofi
- Cesaro & Miz
- Sheamus & Show
- Ziggler & Jericho
- Orton & Christian
... with Cena-Punk winning the tournament. You could then either have them fight each other, with the winner facing the WWE champ, or just do a three-way.
Thoughts?
Aren't some of the new TNA throwaway PPV's based around tourney's?
ReplyDeleteThis is a bit too Russorriffic for my taste.
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't been 50/50 booking, Bryan and Kane pretty much have beaten every other team. I'm not counting Shield since they're not officially a tag team and haven't expressed any desire for the tag titles.
ReplyDeleteKing of the Ring could work if they would drop the asinine "winner gets to have a King gimmick"
ReplyDeleteThough they really should. If they booked the Shield the way they booked Team Eck, you'd have a program that lasted all the way til WM 30.
ReplyDeleteWe just had Cena/Punk.
ReplyDeleteA Parejas IncreÃbles tournament? I can dig it.
ReplyDeleteI must confess to my own bout with Bakeness: years ago I actually went through and made one up, with each of the major world champs (Raw, Smackdown, ROH and TNA) as the No. 1 seeds.
ReplyDeleteI will now go wear the cone of shame.
I always thought a scepter as a trophy would be sufficient. The winner could carry it around for a while and not look like a complete tool, a la the MITB-briefcase. Would make for a good foreign object for a heel too. And they should've formalized the informal title-shot the winner occasionally received at SummerSlam. Making it the Royal Rumble to SummerSlam's Wrestlemania would've benefited both PPVs. Could've even closed the show with the tournament final every year, thereby elevating both finalists.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. King Booker was hilarious and it breathed fresh life into Booker's act, so much so that it got him a world title run. King Regal was short-lived due to his wellness violation but Regal was great, wearing a suit, just slumped in his throne looking like a vile wrestler version of Richard III.
ReplyDeleteForget a tag tournament.....WWE NIGHT OF TRIOS! (And the Shield can still go over in the end.)
ReplyDeletePoor Ziggler. All those jobs in real life and now he can't even snag a win in Scott's fantasy bracket.
So what you're saying is.....AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT?
ReplyDeleteTeam Eck? Do you mean Edge Christian and Kurt Angle or something else?
ReplyDeleteIf we're gonna be Russorific, have they done a reverse Steel Cage Match yet?
ReplyDeleteThey need to do a World Cup of Wrestling PPV. God knows they have enough countries represented on the roster.
ReplyDeleteThis guy gets it.
ReplyDeleteThat's some excellent fantasy booking! After that roll I can see Scott tackling invasion questions again
ReplyDeleteI'm absolutely FLOORED that they haven't done an Iron Man Match since three-hour Raws were instated. I assumed that was one of the first things they'd do, just put on an Iron Man Match in hour one to not only pop a rating, but to give them a week off from having to script three hours. I'm not saying they should have done it every month, or even any more often than once every year or two, but it seemed like a no-brainer.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the mind reels.
The problem with KOTR is that in its babyface-centric product, it doesn't do to have a tournament with its own gimmick designed for a heel to win. Although I see no reason why the King can't be a babyface.
ReplyDeleteNot that he should win it, but I could imagine, for instance, Good King Brodus. Or King Kofi Kingsto--wait a minute...
It's funny, as a kid I thought Battlebowl was a ridiculous concept that was boring far more often than it was interesting. Yet I would watch the shit out of a Battlebowl Raw/PPV today.
ReplyDeleteI think he meant as a team.
ReplyDeleteThat said, personally, I'm over "Partners forced to team together against their will." Of course, I'd have taken Cena-Rock at SurSer '11 coming about as the result of the two being forced to team together, instead of "I'll team with this guy I hate because Twitter told me to."
Scott was oddly enthusiastic about answering that question lol. Usually he just answers it. This time we got an entire fantasy booking scenario with a card to boot.
ReplyDeleteMake it so!
ReplyDeleteIron man matches don't pop ratings. People know the finish isn't coming for 60 minutes and tune out until 5 minutes before the end. That's the reason they stopped doing them after Brock-Angle and HHH-Benoit.
ReplyDeleteAnd in staying true to WWE booking, Scott has 3 of the 4 the black guys team up AND face each other in one match.
ReplyDeletePrime Time Players and Big E aren't in the match, neither is the 50% of The Rock.
ReplyDeleteTag team wrestling has always been my favorite type of match. So I wholeheartedly endorse this topic.
ReplyDeleteI made more than one in the early 90's myself
ReplyDeleteAlso in staying true to WWE booking, I forgot about the PTP.
ReplyDeleteI'm so down with this. BOOK IT.
ReplyDeleteLet it play out!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 9th/10th grade in the Attitude Era, I absolutely made 64-man wrestling brackets.
ReplyDeleteOrton & Christian are still feuding? Color me shocked.
ReplyDeleteOnly if it leads to a Buddy Lee Parker moment ala Starrcade '91. Most epic performance ever.
ReplyDeleteThat's not Russo. That's pure Dusty. Look up the Bunkhouse Stampede PPV.
ReplyDeleteWhy not make the tournament for a kayfabe money prize, too? I always remember when Yoko won the Rumble, they gave him an envelope that was supposedly his cheque for winning. That always seemed cool to me.
ReplyDeleteYou could have the heels plotting and fighting for greed and the babyfaces fighting to, say, donate the cash to a worthy cause. A guy like John Cena could be wrestling for the Make-A-Wish Foundation or something. And when he wins, there could be a much-needed publicity boost.
It would definitely add some emotion to the tournament...although WWE would probably overkill it and make it TOO cheesy...
Plus it's a weapon! Macho King FTW!
ReplyDeleteYeah, but then Yoshi Tatsu would just squash everyone.
ReplyDeleteThat's a Battle Royal in a cage but what I meant was Russo;s Reverse Battle Royal but you'd have to fight your way into the cage, not just the ring. I thought Russo's RBR was just into a ring but I don't follow TNA closely enough to know for sure.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't think of anybody else to pair Orton with - he's just kind of meandering around the mid-card right now, and they have history, so I went with it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not because that requires.......you know.......Wrestling.
ReplyDeleteRhodes?
ReplyDeleteI know that Zack Ryder would have a better chance of winning the WWE title, but a Champions League type tournament that lasted at least half of the year leading up to WM would be amazing. Round robin group stages, knockout rounds. I need to stop.
ReplyDeleteMarked big for him braining the Ultimate Puke (according to Slaughter)
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that ever bugged me about that was that he had the scepter with the jewel on the top for the longest time, but then all the sudden he's got one much better for smashing on someones head for the Rumble.
ReplyDeleteComing up with all the ridiculous TEAM blank names for all the teams would probably cause Stephanie's head to explode. So I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteTHREADJACK: Anyone else getting "attack site" warnings when trying to access 411? I've heard about people having problems in the past, but I've never actually received a warning about accessing the site before today.
ReplyDeleteB/c as we all know, if a wrestler is Japanese, he's automatically like the best wrestler EVAR.
ReplyDelete(not a knock against Yoshi himself)
He might get it, but does he got the time for it?
ReplyDeleteBut hopefully his remains will end up in a better place.
ReplyDeleteI was in attendance of the HHH/Benoit match, and enjoyed the hell out of it. I also was in attendance for the Orton/Cena, and had a good time during it, as well. The trick is just to pace yourself, and not get too invested too quickly. Otherwise, you'll spend yourself way too early and then spend a good chunk of the time just waiting for the damn thing to end.
ReplyDeleteUnless it's the WM XII match... no amount of pacing oneself can prepare you for that snoozefest. Yeah, I said it.
I think with the right booking that the Lethal Lottery / Battlebowl would be a tremendous concept. WCW had the idea right I think -- the ads for it pumped it up pretty good too, but then almost none of the tag matches took advantage of the gimmick and the battle royal was booked as just another battle royal, without any emphasis on specific feuds until the end.
ReplyDeleteYeah I'm getting it too. They've had occasional problems with this in the past as you said -- some of them legitimate attacks and some of them false positives, either reported erroneously or by users trying to hurt the site.
ReplyDeleteIn either case, I'd heed the warning until it's taken down.
Team "The Team Team Team the Team"
ReplyDeleteYes - just got a long report from Firefox when I tried to access them,
ReplyDeleteYup just got one
ReplyDeleteYeah man I did my first one on maybe 5th grade and was absolutely still making them in the attitude era (at least as a 10th grader). I seeded out 1-16 and then bracket them on a manilla folder lol. I often had the :ndertaker make the finals and lose. And tbh I'm thinking about making one right now.
ReplyDeleteQuickly seeded the top 32, pumped them into a tournament bracket and progressed who I thought should win. Round of 16:
ReplyDeleteRock/Cesaro
Show/ADR
Cena/Miz
Ryback/Sheamus
Lesnar/Jericho
Swagger/Punk
UT/Henry
Orton/HHH
then
Rock/Show
Cena/Sheamus
Lesnar/Punk
UT/HHH
then
Rock/Cena
Lesnar/UT
then
Rock/Lesnar for the finale.
If you were wondering, Ziggler, Bryan and Barrett lost first round matches to Cesaro, Henry, and Miz.
From 411 on FB-
ReplyDelete411 had an incident today where a hacker/third party got into the site and added in malicious code. We are working on fixing the issue and will update when everything has been fixed. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Speaking of tag teams, what are the odds of Cena and Rock winning the tag titles before Mania and holding them for a week or two. They seem to love doing that with Cena and his feuds. Every single time he's held the tag titles, it's been with a rival (Batista, Shawn Michaels, Miz, and Otunga).
ReplyDeleteThe risk there is, if they write Cena to donate to X charity and he loses -- or worse, that it was just for kayfabe -- it's a pr headache in the making. It might be more elegant to say that WWE is matching the winner's choice of donations, but that several others have donated their purse money, etc.
ReplyDeleteWell, I mean, if Cena was to donate to a certain charity and promote it as such, they better sure as fuck book him to win! Although Cena losing and the heel rubbing it in sick kids' faces is a crazy old-school bad guy thing to do. You can always have Cena say he'll donate out of his own pocket and then going on to feud with said heel.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there's a way to make it work. It kind of reminds me of when game shows have celebrity guests who play for certain charities, etc. I think some shows would donate money anyway.
I say bring back the Brawl For All.
ReplyDeletePotential first round matches: Big Show-Khali, Joey Styles-JBL, Alex Riley-John Cena, Yoshi-Sheamus and everyone else vs. The Miz.
Yeah, but they've done the gimmick far too many times at this point. It's tired and weird at this point. It'd be like if whoever won the Survivor Series got to be Doink the Clown.
ReplyDelete...Though actually...
ReplyDeleteI'd rather they brought back the Battle of the Tough Guys.
ReplyDeleteThere are easier ways to have Viking Space Lord Brock Lesnar murder the entire roster.
ReplyDeleteThen why haven't they done it yet?!
ReplyDeleteOne does not simply tell Viking Space Lord Brock Lesnar when to murder.
ReplyDeleteTHIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.
ReplyDeleteJean Luc Gump?
ReplyDeletejust the laziest of lazy booking.
ReplyDeleteAnd the winner get knocked out by Butterbean in record time again!
ReplyDelete