Much Ado About Wrestling

The scholars return to the podcast with a plethora of big wrestling news waiting for them, plus they dive into the history of Worked Shoots!

The Scholars react to the potential changes in WWE following the Vince McMahon hush money scandal (and preview an upcoming episode all about the legal implications). (01:00).

Then, the scholars go through the other giant news items that happened during their sabbatical, including the AEW Title Change at Double or Nothing, the injury bug that has hit WWE and AEW, what to expect from Forbidden Door, the Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins 5-star Hell in a Cell match, and the MJF worked shoot saga (13:40).

Finally, the scholars dedicate the rest of the episode to the word of the day; Worked Shoot. They explore how the definition of a worked shoot sounds similar to the mission statement of pro wrestling in general, but how it is so much different. Then they take a handy quiz to help determine if what you are watching is a worked shoot. They also look to other media where worked shoots happen (Reality TV and Found Footage Movies) and recount some of the most infamous worked shoot moments in pro wrestling history from the likes of Andy Kaufman, Brian Pillman, The Outsiders, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, and more! (47:00)

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The scholars reveal the results of our annual top ten wrestlers and matches of the year lists, plus they discuss Sasha Banks and Naomi’s walkout on Raw.

The Scholars start things by reacting in real time to the news of Stephanie McMahon stepping away from her role in WWE. Then they talk about the biggest news of the week, Sasha Banks and Naomi walking out of the Raw taping. They discuss other times that stars have walked out, notably Stone Cold and CM Punk, and how the WWE tends to respond on-air when this sort of thing happens. (01:00)

Also, The Scholars reveal the winner of our Title Unification Bracket, plus announce the first winner of a $50 Pro Wrestling Tees Gift Card. (35:00)

Then, we run down the top ten matches of the year (38:30) followed by the top ten wrestlers of the year (1:14:50) and we reveal the second winner of the $50 Pro Wrestling Tees gift card!

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The Scholars provide bold predictions for the year to come in pro wrestling, and discuss the Forbidden Door AEW/NJPW SuperShow!

The Scholars talk about who they are voting for in the finals of our Title Unification Madness bracket. Then they also remind the listeners to also vote for our annual Top 10 Matches and Wrestlers of the year! (02:00)

Then, the Scholars react to the news of AEW and New Japan teaming up for their own Supercard called “Forbidden Door” set for Chicago in June. They talk about the pitfalls of trying to book a co-promotional card, debate about what other partnerships this might lead to between the two companies, and fantasy book the matches they most want to see (14:40)

The Scholars then get into their Bold Predictions for the coming year in wrestling. They discuss who they can see becoming new world champions, who might move to other companies, and what the most OVER acts will be this year. Then they do a countdown of their five boldest predictions. Which Marvel superhero does Tyler think will step inside the ring? Did Andrew really predict a brawl at a show between fans and the wrestlers? Listen to find out! (34:00)

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So many fights, so many hall of fame matches, have led us to this: The FINAL FOUR to determine who is the greatest WWE World Champion of All Time!!!

There was such an even balance going into the elite 8 of eras and seeds, but things narrowed considerably going to the final 4.

We’re left with the two luminaries of the Attitude Era (The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin), plus the man who’s departure from WWE is the beginning of the Attitude Era to some (Bret Hart), and finally the man who’s Attitude-era type persona helped WWE transition from the PG Era to the Reality Era (CM Punk).

The potential for some big WrestleMania Main Event rematches (and one that never happened but maybe should have) is enough to get me excited for the finals! Speaking of which…

Scroll below to see the results of the Elite 8, and to vote on the Final Four
(Voting is from April 14th – April 18th)

VOTE AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A $50 PRO WRESTLING TEES GIFT CARD

That’s right! Vote along, and sign up at the bottom of the page to be eligible to win the gift card. We will announce the winner on the podcast !

What happened to all the #1 seeds!? They were all accounted for going into the Sweet 16, but in two short rounds they’ve made way for the rest of the field.

To finish off the Big Gold Belt Region, Bret Hart got vengeance for the Montreal Screwjob by defeating Shawn Michaels by a 10% margin. In the Winged Eagle Region, Hulk Hogan’s nostalgia act finally ran out, as he was walloped by The Rock, who posted a staggering 77% of the votes. Not to be outdone was Stone Cold Steve Austin, who shockingly turned his hotly anticipated match against John Cena for the Spinner Belt Region title into a squash match reminiscent of Cena’s loss to Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014. Speaking of Lesnar, in what I’m sure will be a shocking development to our most Kayfabe-abiding voters, he took the L against C.M. Punk. I personally thought Punk would have a hard time in an internet vote about WWE-Specific titles due to his acrimonious exit and place in AEW, but I was wrong. Punk is looking to again win the title and blow a kiss to Vince as he leaves.

These are two guys who love each other in real life. Bret Hart was on his way out of the business as The Rock was coming in, and while it might be hard to think of The Rock as taking the baton from Bret due to their different strengths and levels of natural charisma, I’ll argue they have much more in common than people might realize. They are the two people who most up until that time in pro wrestling understood the pressure of continuing the legacy of a historic pro wrestling family as TV became a more regular and important factor. There was less room for error for these two, who are known for their perfection and ability to connect with a crowd.

Bret could cut a good promo when pushed, and The Rock is no slouch in the ring, but I think it’s safe to say that how you vote comes down to the what you find the single most important aspect of a World Champion; Are they the best wrestler in the ring or the most undeniable charismatic force on the roster?

The dream match that never was. During his peak in WWE, C.M. Punk got a lot of comparisons in the media to Stone Cold Steve Austin. That might get a confused face reaction when you first think of it, considering one of these guys doesn’t drink any alcohol and the other basically drank a case of beer by himself a few weeks ago at WrestleMania. But both were long-time respected hands who let their real frustrations burst out into their characters, launching red hot careers in the main event scene as the result of the two most quoted promos of all time. Austin had his 3:16 at King of The Ring, and Punk had his Pipebomb that led to his 5 Star match with Cena at Money in the Bank.

Even though he was long retired at the time, it felt like a missed opportunity to never have a program between the two during Punk’s 434 day title reign. The closest we got was this tense backstage promo, where it seems that the performers buckled under the weight of the moment, with a few stutters here, and interrupted lines there. Stone Cold seems like he doesn’t know what to do with that Keystone Light in his hands. But right now, we’re going to get to the bottom of this. There can only be one Anti-Hero Babyface to go up against a squeaky clean posterboy in the finals. Who’s it gonna be? Austin or Punk?

Now that you’ve voted, make sure to fill out the box below and click the button to gain entry into the $50 Pro Wrestling Tees Gift Card giveaway!

Only one entry per voter, per round of voting!

And then there were 8. It wasn’t easy. In fact, this round saw two matches decided by less than 1% of the vote – which is saying something, with over 4,000 votes cast.

Those who remain are a class that lives up to the moniker of the round; Elite.

Half of the 8 are WWE Hall of Famers. The other four include 3 sure-fire Hall-of-Famers, plus CM Punk (Never say never, I guess?). The eras are represented well too. We’ve got the two faces of the Attitude Era (Rock and Austin), the two faces of the Ruthless Aggression Era (Cena and Lesnar), the two faces of the New Generation Era (Shawn and Bret), Hulk Hogan holding down the TV Era, and CM Punk and his pipebomb representing what we call the “Reality Era.”

Maybe the most exciting bit about the remaining matches (certainly more exciting than the Biggest WrestleMania Match of All Time turned out) is that three of the four matches are reigniting classic rivalries, while the fourth is an incredibly tantalizing dream match that we would’ve said was impossible before the events of WrestleMania 38…

Scroll below to see the results of the Sweet 16, and to vote on the Elite 8
(Voting is from April 9th – April 12th)

VOTE AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A $50 PRO WRESTLING TEES GIFT CARD

That’s right! Vote along, and sign up at the bottom of the page to be eligible to win the gift card. We will announce the winner on the podcast !

In the Big Gold Belt Region, we saw the fall of Evolution. HHH and Randy Orton joined Flair and Batista in the group of eliminated gladiators, setting up a rematch of the most legitimately heated rivalry of the 90s. Trips was the first #1 seed to fall, and though he was much loved opening night 2 of WrestleMania 38, the reception was less warm with our voters recalling his endless heel title reigns. Randy Orton had a closer match against Bret Hart , only losing by 10%, but was trailing from the moment the polls opened.

In the Winged Eagle Belt Region, we saw the closest match to date in the tournament between The Rock and The Undertaker, which was decided by 4 votes. The lead changed hands many times, and while Undertaker tried to get his name out there by appearing both nights at WrestleMania 38, it wasn’t enough to sneak past the Great One. Hulk Hogan had his lowest margin of victory so far, which is a nice consolation prize for the man who popularized wearing two belts at the same time.

The Big Green Belt Region saw the second #1 seed to fall, where Bruno Sammartino got so close to winning it for the old timers, but lost by 4% of the vote to the controversial and always contemporary CM Punk. In real life, Roman Reigns, our Tribal Chief and new Undisputed WWE Super-Mega-Aggro-Crag-Universal Champ, defeated Brock Lesnar by way of a million spears. But in the bracket, Brock Lesnar picked up the W. Maybe this is due to the current alignment of heel/face, or maybe it was due to his memorable title reigns in two different eras, but Brock led the entire way despite the gap closing considerably in the final day of voting.

And finally in the Spinner Belt region, chalk prevailed, as we got our second #1/#2 match in the elite 8 and the two largest margins of victory in the round. The Cinderella run ended for Eddie Guerrero, who was “blown out” by Austin worse than Kevin Owens was last Saturday. John Cena also easily dealt with internet darling and Crossfit deity Seth Rollins.

Bret Hart certainly held the belt longer, but Shawn Michaels held it much more recently. These two had legit heat that led to the famed Montreal Screwjob, but in the ring, they were heads and shoulders above the rest of their contemporaries in terms of technical ability and character work. They are also responsible for changing the image of what a World Title holder in WWE looked like. Without these two “small” men holding the belt, we would’ve never got Punk or Daniel Bryan or Finn Balor holding the belt in modern times. Many of Bret and Shawn’s title reigns blend into each other. Bret lost it to Shawn at Mania, then Shawn lost the title along with his “smile,” leading to Bret winning it again, and losing it again to Shawn thanks to a phantom tap out. It’s impossible to separate these two men from each other in legacy, but now you’ve gotta separate them by internet votes. It’s a toss up old as time; Coke or Pepsi? Stones or Beatles? Bret or Shawn?

Another WrestleMania Main Event re-match! Wait…this wasn’t the main event of WrestleMania 18? Even though it was the most promoted match and was on the poster? My mistake.

Forget the fact that one of these competitors in real life has been accused of being a liar, hard to work with, and a racist – while the other is one of the most universally liked celebrities on the planet. In kayfabe, this is the battle between the original “ready for TV” WWE babyface in Hulk Hogan and the man who he eventually passed the torch to in The Rock. Hogan kind of passed the torch to Warrior and Savage, but then Vince decided they weren’t long term solutions and went back to Hogan. When Hogan left, it became a battle between Bret and Shawn, who would both wind up leaving by the late 90s. WWE needed someone to step up and got Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was a face and over as all hell, but was the first anti-hero to do it. Enter The Rock, who while also heelish, was a charisma machine not seen since Hogan. in 2002, Hogan was beat clean by The Rock, and there we had our new babyface God. Now we leave it to you, the voters, to decide if that result should stand, or if Hulkamania will live forever.

The battle between the Paul Heyman guys! They don’t have much in common on paper beyond that (I know they were both in UFC, but nothing about their experiences was similar). Punk is a tattooed smaller workhorse who talks A LOT, while Lesnar is a cornfed monster who wrestles short matches and lets his advocate do his talking for him.

They wrestled once in real life at SummerSlam 2013, in a banger of a match that saw CM Punk bite Lesnar’s ear, but Brock pick up the win in the end.

How you vote now comes down to what you value most in archetypes of champions. Do you want your champ to be a larger-than-life monster who dominates his opponents, or do you want your champ to be the best in-ring working pro wrestler there is?

The most squeaky-clean PG superstar WWE ever produced versus the guy who got over by drinking beer, swearing, and flipping the bird.

John Cena rose to greatness very quickly, too quickly for the older fans liking, but no one and I mean no one has ever been more popular as champion with kids. And for that reason, Cena was the champion or champion-adjacent for most of the Ruthless Aggression era and nearly ALL of the PG era. John Cena, with his towel and jorts and iconic theme music, was the most identifiable and profitable WWE wrestler for a very long time. But as popular as Cena was with kids, Steve Austin was just as popular with the young male demographic. Austin may not have been the number one star for very long, his back and neck were shot by the time he became champ, but his star burned brighter than anyone in WWE’s entire history.

How you vote here probably comes down to your age, but I’ll challenge you to decide if you’re voting on someone who was truly representative of “Championship Material” for a sustained era (Cena) or the person who’s pursuit of the championship to spite his boss was the sole reason you tuned in each week (Austin).

Now that you’ve voted, make sure to fill out the box below and click the button to gain entry into the $50 Pro Wrestling Tees Gift Card giveaway!

Only one entry per voter, per round of voting!

The scholars gives their thoughts on night 1 and 2 of WWE WrestleMania 38!

The Scholars talk all things WrestleMania 38 from Stone Cold, to Cody Rhodes, to (checks notes) Wee-Man body slamming Sami Zayn?

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The Scholars answer 38 burning questions about WrestleMania 38

The Scholars talk about the Sweet 16 of the Title Unification Madness bracket. We need YOU, the listeners, to vote for who you think are the best WWE World Champions of all time. Plus, enter for a chance to win a $50 Pro Wrestling Tees gift card by voting!(06:00)

Then, the Scholars spend the first chunk of their preview answering questions about the show as a whole and the very very big main event. Why does WWE keep using the word “Stupendous”? How many finishers will happen in Brock vs. Roman? What is the shocking way Andrew thinks it’s going to end? (11:20)

The Scholars then answer questions about Night 1 and Night 2 specifically, focusing most of their energy on the mystery opponent for Seth Rollins that may or may not be Cody Rhodes, what The KO Show with Steve Austin needs to do to earn Main Event status, and why we expect a lot out of the two women’s title matches. (42:00)

Finally, the Scholars finish off the preview with a look at some of the other events going on during Mania weekend, do some lightning round over/unders, and lay down some predictions. (1:17:13)

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WrestleMania week has arrived. On Sunday night, the WWE Universal and WWE Championship titles will merge into one World Title when Roman Reigns goes up against Brock Lesnar – their 3rd (and final?) WrestleMania main event as competitors. But I think we can all agree, what really matters in the mind of pro wrestling fans everywhere, is who will have the distinction of being named the One True WWE World Champion in our bracket of madness.

We’ve arrived at the sweet 16 – and man, is it a murder’s row. Half of the 16 are WWE Hall of Famers. The 8 who aren’t there yet are all still active, except for John Cena and The Rock. The only one you can’t see going into the hall is CM Punk, and that’s not certainly not for lack of contributions to WWE’s legacy.

After a first round that delivered a decent amount of upsets, our final 16 are more chalky. All the 1 and 2 seeds survived and advanced. Only one 3 seed is absent (Edge lost in round 1). The “lower seeds” still in it include three 5 seeds and the only real “Cinderella” left, 14 seed Eddie Guerrero.

There were some quasi-scares to the big dogs up until this point – but now, it’s going to be extremely hard to see all 1 v 2s in our Elite 8.

Scroll below to see the results of round 2, and to vote on the Sweet 16
(Voting is from March 31st – April 7th)

VOTE AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A $50 PRO WRESTLING TEES GIFT CARD

That’s right! Vote along, and sign up at the bottom of the page to be eligible to win the gift card. We will announce the winner on the podcast
sometime after WrestleMania!

It was a big week for Triple H. He announced on ESPN that his recent heart issues have ended his in-ring career, and then he almost got upset by Ric Flair. In fact, this was the closest round 2 match, with Flair leading for a considerable portion of it. Perhaps the headlines pushed Trips over the line, but now he’s got best friend Shawn Michaels waiting for him (and then either Evolution mate Randy Orton or former foe Bret Hart after that).

HHH vs HBK as the better World Champion comes down to what you value most as a fan. I’ve joked about Triple H’s Ruthless Aggression Title Run being a “Reign Of Terror,” one that kept a younger Me watching every week hoping that RVD, Jericho, Booker T, SOMEBODY would dethrone him. But there is real value in the heel champion, and Triple H played this part to elevate faces even later in his career with Jeff Hardy, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan. Shawn Michaels was one of the few people to win titles off of HHH, perhaps the most memorable being his comeback win at Survivor Series 2002 in the first Elimination Chamber match. This is one of those moments where the hero prevails and makes the past struggles worth it for the fans, but you can argue that the euphoria wouldn’t be so high without the struggle and pain Triple H as champ caused. Without heel Bret Hart, you don’t get “The boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels.”

Speaking of Bret – he’s also in the sweet 16 against Randy Orton in a match that I’m suddenly so sad we never got to experience in real life. These are arguably the two most naturally smooth working wrestlers WWE has ever employed. The question here for the voting populous to ponder is: Do you value a handful of title reigns that cemented Bret Hart as the face of “The New Federation” for a few years, or, do you value that Randy Orton could and has continued to be a viable candidate as World Champion longer than any of his contemporaries (Cena, Batista, Edge) even if none of the reigns were particularly memorable?

Round 2 saw only one upset in the Winded Eagle region, but it’s hard to call it an upset when the two competitors are so equally matched and were contemporaries. Chris Jericho snuck past Kurt Angle to make the sweet 16 (this was the second closest match of the round). Both were main stays of the IC title picture for the end of the Attitude Era, both had multiple World Title reigns in the Ruthless Aggression era, and both were known for their technical ability and comedy chops. So why did Jericho win? Maybe it’s because so much of Angle’s prime was spent as the champ in TNA. Or maybe it’s because when talking about title unification, it’s hard not to picture Chris Jericho, the “first” undisputed WWE Champion, and the man “who beat the Rock and Stone Cold in the SAME NIGHT!” to do so.

But now Chris has got a whole different kind of problem. He’s drawn the most identifiable wrestler of all time, Hulk Hogan. After two days of voting, it looked like Mysterio might actually pull an upset, but then the Hulkamaniacs came out in full force. With another generation gone by, and Hogan’s recent cultural contributions being a Gawker lawsuit, being booed at WrestleMania 37 in his home town, and shaded by the New Day, maybe it’s becoming hard to remember just how big the character was? I don’t think Hogan is going to make it to the final 4, but could Chris step up and take him out now? I’m not so sure.

Another battle of cotemporaries here, with The Undertaker taking on The Rock. Both are potential WWE Mount Rushmore guys. Both were important to the Attitude Era, The Ruthless Aggression Era, and both had late career stints as World Champion. But also, both have arguably more memorable touchstones in wrestling history beyond their title runs. Sure, Rock was one of the people to dethrone Steve Austin, but we remember his interviews, his non-title match against Hogan, and his Hollywood career more than his title runs. It’s the same for the Undertaker. For a time, ending the streak was seen as a much bigger rub for a young star than winning the World Title could ever be. The Undertaker actually held World Championships only a few times and for relatively short reigns considering how long he was employed. But with those reigns he put over young talent (Jeff Hardy’s Raw Ladder Match comes to mind). Is that enough to get past the man who was big enough to take the baton from Hogan and pass it to Cena, though?

We got Chalk in the Big Green Belt region, but it’s the most exciting and juicy chalk you can imagine. In one corner, we have a battle between two men who define their eras and had a legit war of words, and in the other, we have the very real main event of this year’s WrestleMania, the whole reason we thought to do this bracket to begin with!

During his WWE version of the “Summer of Punk,” Punk made some comments about how it was more impressive to hold the WWE title for over a year in modern times than it was for Bruno to hold it for thousands of days when they weren’t running as many shows. Superstar Billy Graham was heated. Bruno, to his credit, had a much calmer response, but still managed to slight CM Punk with this closing statement; “The only thing is I think if he was in my era, he would be a little bit too small, we had bigger built guys back then.” So, now we’re going to settle this once and for all. Two superstars who were considered the best workers and best lengthy champions, though those meant two very different things in their eras – are finally going to come to blows…by way of internet poll.

That leaves us with the two most notable WWE Champions in whatever the name of this post-Reality era of WWE will eventually be called, Roman and Brock. They both have been given the biggest storyline and personnel endorsements that WWE has to offer; Paul Heyman as a manager and beating The Undertaker at WrestleMania. They are the two most physically imposing and protected stars on the roster. They are the two biggest names in the company. And they share the same sort of doubters, both being throwbacks to 80s stalwart type characters but trapped in a modern day workrate climate. I don’t know how to guide the voters here. They are two sides of a similar coin. I suppose I’ll ask you all this, which of these two guys do you think has been used more to elevate the other one? That’s where the answer ultimately lies, and it might be clearer after Sunday.

Our final region saw three clear cut favorites rise to the top, and our Cinderella get another upset. I thought JBL might have a chance against Seth, because his one title reign was such a great time for Smackdown and worked perfectly as a villain for the top faces of the time (Eddie and Mysterio) but it’s hard to beat Seth in any kind of internet voting anything.

Now, Seth is up against John Cena – a man who’s kayfabe ability to be the World Champion in WWE is only equaled by Hulk Hogan. Cena is so synonymous with being the champ that his special Spinner belt became the permanent design of the WWE Championship… and still sorta is today. Oh yeah, also whenever he returns he says “The Champ is Here.” Hard to top that. Though I’ll make an argument that Seth had the most interesting single title reign of the past five years with his Architect double-champ Authority run, that showed his physical value as someone who could wrestle two big matches on SummerSlam. Perhaps it’s not remembered that way by everyone because of how unfortunate the ending of his Sting match was, but I think Seth’s got a shot here.

Our final match involves two of the most universally liked wrestlers in history. Our Cinderella, the always underestimated Eddie Guerrero, might have reached the end of the line. Eddie’s win over Brock was the stuff of legend. The world would’ve been much worse had Eddie not got that run before his premature passing. But talking about the stuff of legend, that’s everything Steve Austin did from 1997-2001. He, for my money, reached the highest single moment of popularity for a star in wrestling history. The World Title, whether the winged eagle or his custom smoking skull belt, looks perfect in my mind’s eye being held by Austin with his hands up while standing on the turnbuckle. If you don’t believe the hype about Austin, just watch what happens when that glass shatters on Saturday night in Texas…

Now that you’ve voted, make sure to fill out the box below and click the button to gain entry into the $50 Pro Wrestling Tees Gift Card giveaway!

Only one entry per voter, per round of voting!

As we inch closer to the showdown between Roman and Brock at Mania to unify WWE’s world titles, we also move to the second round of what is really important when it comes to the identity of the one true world champ – our Title Unification Madness Bracket!

The first round was very chalky, but there were a few upsets and a few matches that were settled by a handful of votes. The rubber is going to hit the road (to WrestleMania) in this round, as some of the biggest names in pro wrestling history will be sent packing.

Scroll below to see the results of round 1, and to vote on Round 2
(Voting is from Mar 24th – Mar 30th)

VOTE AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN A $50 PRO WRESTLING TEES GIFT CARD

That’s right! Vote along, and sign up at the bottom of the page to be eligible to win the gift card. We will announce on the podcast after WrestleMania!

While Evolution might be a mystery, it didn’t have any problems getting love from the voters. HHH made quick work of Sgt. Slaughter, as Did Batista over Pete Butch Dunne and Orton over Jinder. Evolution elder statesman Ric Flair had a bit more trouble against Mankind, but in the end of this grudge match (based on some real life animus between the two) our voters made it known they prefer “with a tear in my eye” to “that’ll put some butts in the seats.”

In Round 2, The Game will be going against his mentor Ric Flair in one of those hotly anticipated matchups that you can’t believe is happening this early in the bracket. Wrestling fans my age will remember hate-watching HHH’s mid 2000s “reign of terror” with the Big Gold Belt on Raw, but it’s also impossible to not think of Flair and think “16 time World Champion.” The issue is, only 2 of those were in WWE, so you have to wonder if those will be enough for Flair to continue his path to the sweet 16. If Trips can advance, he will have either his best friend Shawn Michaels or his Evolution-mate Batista waiting for him.

On the bottom half of the bracket, Sid corrected the over-ranking of Alberto Del Rio, Bret Hart’s body of work moved him past RVD’s memorable short title reign, and Lashley got the W over current NXT champ Dolph Ziggler. While stranger things have happened, it’s hard not to see this side ending with a bout between the Hitman and the Viper.

How about that chalk? Not one surprise here. Despite more recent character issues surrounding Terry Bollea, Hulkster still got a dominate win over Sheiky, which we know won’t make him happy. Rey Mysterio got a win over Jeff Hardy, maybe because Rey’s two wins were memorable for good and bad reasons while Jeff’s failed pursuits of the world title define him more as a character. The first Undisputed champion in WWE Chris Jericho snuck past the first Smackdown Champion of the recent brand split Dean Ambrose. Angle’s longevity beat Warrior’s flash in the pan. I was curious to see if Morales would get love over the much more recent dominance of WALTER, and get the love he did. Superstar Billy Graham wasn’t as lucky against the Undertaker. Adam Cole could go deep on this bracket in the future if he ever returns to WWE, but The Rock was the no-brainer. The closest we got to an upset was Christian, but those ECW reigns just didn’t hold up as well as Drew’s recent crowning.

Round 2 has potential for the upsets to start happening in this portion of the bracket. Mysterio seems like a trap game for the Hulkster, just because their fanbases are so different. Jericho could easily pull the upset over Angle simply since he’s still going strong. Undertaker will get his second straight match of being the “younger” person in the bout, and while The Rock seems likely to beat Drew, perhaps recency bias could pull it off.

To me, this was the second most exciting region of the bracket. Maybe that’s because we have so many dream matches in round 2, but it’s also because we got close to having our own St. Peters/Kentucky moment. Brock Lesnar seemed like an absolute lock to at least win his first match up, but the Bray Wyatt fans turned out and almost made it an upset for the ages. As surprisingly as an 8/9 match up can be, Goldberg (known for many things but not really for his runs as WWE Champion) made it past Yokozuna who was an unbeatable monster of the New Generation era of WWE. Down the line, other New Generation star Diesel had more luck and got past Sheamus.

Bruno Sammartino has the reputation even with youngsters who’ve never seen him wrestle for a second as the original World Champion in WWE and the man with the longest reign ever, but will that matter going up against Goldberg’s streak and even recent kayfabe dominance? The winner will get a completely different type of pro wrestler, as the two Ring of Honor hall-of-famers Daniel Bryan and CM Punk will go at it to determine which of their both highly influential mid 2010s title reigns will be deemed most important. Big Sexy knows a thing or two about winning against unbeatable top babyfaces, but Roman might be too much for him to handle. And finally, after his first round scare, can Brock get back on track and take out perennial fan-favorite Randy Savage? More importantly, would Brock have a better chance against Bonesaw?

Now here’s the region where things got truly interesting! Yes, there were some overwhelming victories from the top seeds John Cena and Steve Austin – However, this bracket included two matches that were decided by less than five votes. The Miz and his surprising reign eeked past NXT all-timer and first Universal champion Finn Balor, setting up the rematch of the WrestleMania XXVII main event. But the biggest upset of the tournament happened when 14 seed Eddie Guerrero got the buzzer beater over 3 seed Edge. Eddie’s victory is most likely attributed to the exciting win over Brock Lesnar at No Way Out and the now bittersweet ending of WrestleMania XX being more at the front of the mind of the voters than any of the numerous Edge reigns, where he was used more often as a heel foil to Cena in the PG era. The Big Red Machine Kane also pulled the upset over fellow giant wrestler Big Show. Bob Backlund couldn’t get past JBL, perhaps because his odd 90’s title reign overshadowed his dominant run as the heir to Bruno’s World Title crown. King Booker and Kevin Owens, while being universally liked, couldn’t make the upset happen for them over Seth Rollins and AJ Styles, respectively.

Round 2 sees the aforementioned Cena/Miz rematch, plus the weird pairings of Rollins/JBL and Styles/Stone Cold. My eyes will be on the match between Kane and Eddie Guerrero, both lower seeds looking to be the Cinderella of the tournament. One of them is going to the Sweet Sixteen, and I’ve got a feeling it won’t be the mayor of Knoxville…

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The Scholars react to the death of Scott Hall, and do quick hits on the various news across WWE and AEW since our last recording

The Scholars hype the new Title Unification Madness bracket. We need YOU, the listeners, to vote for who you think are the best WWE World Champions of all time. Plus, enter for a chance to win a $50 Pro Wrestling Tees gift card by voting!(5:30)

Then, the scholars spend the rest of the hour running down the following news items:
– The passing of Scott Hall (12:00)
– The absence of Cody on Raw in Jacksonville (21:40)
– Kevin Owens and Steve Austin at WrestleMania (30:30)
– Big E breaking his neck on Smackdown (37:45)
– AEW and WWE title changes and faction break-ups (49:30)
– AEW Revolution 2022 review (58:30)
– Tony Khan buying Ring of Honor (1:03:30)
– Swerve, Regal, and Hardy debuting in AEW (1:10:00)

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