Hey all, this isn’t directly connected to the awesome game, but…

Hey all, this isn’t directly connected to the awesome game, but…

Hey all, this isn’t directly connected to the awesome game, but…

Some other Internet friends started a wrestling draft in honor of the brand split with RAW and Smackdown.

There are five participants with a few quirky rules; we’ll end up with a roster of 40 live or retired performers who can still go (mostly wrestlers from any promotion, and also up to 2 announcers, 1 manager, and 1 authority figure) . I’m the last to draw each round.

How am I doing so far?

24 thoughts on “Hey all, this isn’t directly connected to the awesome game, but…”

  2. I can’t decide if you are second to Arron, or first. Arron has an incredibly strong and long term viable roster. However, you are the only one with women on your list, which gives you a diversity they all lack. Also, when Jeff Hardy is your weak choice, things are good.

  4. Cool. That’s what I was reading in the draws too. I think Arron will eventually get the better roster as he seems the most knowledgeable. I’m thinking about my announce team but don’t want to go too early with them.

  6. Agree with the notion of Jeff Hardy being the weakest link, though he was at least upper-midcard on the verge of main event before leaving WWE, and for whatever prestige the title may have, he’s been a TNA main eventer…though I’d argue there are several titles that are recognized as more prestigious at this point, such as the IWGP Championship or the ROH Workld Championship. He seems to have gotten his life back together, at least enough to be functional, but Hardy’s track record of reckless and unreliable behavior would make him a major risk in my eyes, without enough upside at this point in his career to make him worthwhile.

    You’ve got the best manager possible already locked up. If your draft also makes you select bookers, having Heyman pretty much gives you the A+ on booking as well, so that’s a 2-for-1 pick. Just don’t let him run anything financial. For the love of god and all that is holy, just no.

    Excellent call on picking two of the best women wrestlers in the world. If professional wrestling is going to grow as an art form and a business, it needs to realize that presenting women’s wrestling as legit “competition” instead of a T&A bathroom break is one of the most obvious areas to grow an audience that otherwise may never have cared about wrestling. The women are already beautiful, so you don’t need to emphasize their looks; emphasize their skills, and you have an audience that can admire and invest in women wrestlers enough to care, which is why people buy tickets. They can look at T&A on the internet for free.

    Tim’s 1-4 picks sound like he was a real big fan of the early “Reality Era” of WWE. Then again, regardless of live crowd response, it’s hard for me to understand Cena being the 14th pick of the draft. He’s clearly on the back half of his active career, but given his injury healing abilities he’s probably got years to go save for a freak accident, and even if it pains my inner smark, he is the biggest international name in wrestling. For what it’s worth, as much as he gets Hogan comparisons, he doesn’t seem like nearly the backstage cancer Hogan is; if anything, Cena’s got mad respect from his peers, including CM Punk. Good to have a locker room leader like that, set a good example. If I’m trying to set up a promotion to make some seriously stupid amounts of cash and PPV (or Network) buys, Cena’s going to move that needle like no one else.

    Matthew’s showing some love for the big men, which makes me happy. Yes, you don’t need to be a monster, but there is absolutely a place in wrestling for huge, intimidating dudes. And he’s got some really great picks in with Lesnar and Joe, two of the most agile and athletic big men in the history of the business. Picking Zayn with that big man top heavy roster was a brilliant choice. An underdog story is far, far more interesting when there’s a size difference. A Rey Mysterio battle against the Undertaker, even if he loses, still does wonders for both men if you make it look like he really did have a legit chance, and an Eddie Guerrero victory over Brock Lesnar makes the underdog’s rise to the top so much sweeter for having toppled the giant. Undertaker’s a great special attraction in terms of buys and merch, but his ring skills have deteriorated to the point I am legit scared he’s going to kill himself in the ring, and his impact lessens the more you see him. Still, going to grab eyeballs. Toss in the world’s most weirdly charismatic wrestler in Nakamura, and that’s a strong roster in my eyes.

    I’m feeling a little more meh on Arron’s list that I think most people are, but that’s probably personal preference. I’m not sold on Aries entirely, and he’s pretty old, but if he’s being run as the douchiest heel of all time, he’s got major upside, though because of his size, he looks like an underdog though as a heel we want to see him get his ass kicked, which sort of throws the usual dynamics out of the loop. Though I do enjoy the pick of Johnny Cage, though Arron will probably want to ban him from uppercutting people’s heads off as his finisher 😛

    Fascinating idea! I can’t speak for everyone, but I’d love to see the final results.

    P.S. My sleeper picks for commentary, or potential managers: Scott Hall or Jake Roberts. They’ve seemingly been clean long enough that they may be less of a hazard than even five years ago, they both have two of the best minds for wrestling of anyone in history, they both can effortlessly glide between face or heel if necessary, and both – especially Roberts – know how to extemporaneously weave a narrative into what they’re saying.

  7. Also, eff me, man, didn’t say that your pick of Owens was brilliant. Can’t believe he was still around for pick #10. My god, the years of heel brilliance you’ll get out of him, plus, once his career in-ring winds down, you’ve got an amazing choice for a future manager or commentator. Great choice, short and long term.

  9. Wait till about sixteen to grab Graves for announce. Right now your weak spot is a young big man, preferably one that can work heel. Someone like Baron Corbin but with mic skills and a good gimmick. I’d consider him anyways seeing as how you’ve got Heyman.

    Another spot I’d fill that I bet no one else has thought of is the Jobber To The Stars. That consistent midcarder that always seems to lose to the big names. Sadly, TheMiz has already been picked up, or I’d suggest him.

    My final takeaway is that while yours is the most diverse line-up, Arron has picked up some more workhorses, and Tim appears to have spent the first seven or eight rounds lulling everyone into thinking he was not paying attention. With his recent picks and the former Husky Harris as one of his first choices, I expect him to play strongly from now on.

  11. Peter Bothwick Great call on Corbin. I think I’m more bullish on his mic skills, at least in a backstage setting. I’m not sure about where he is as a live performer, but the backstage video promos he was dropping on NXT in the weeks before his call up were nuclear hot fire. Plus, his character’s obsessive insecurity over small-sized indie stars coming to take his spot and getting more hype than him is such a great angle that a good booker could get years and years of mileage out of.

    Plus, dude throws some of the best-looking, by which I mean vicious-looking, punches of anyone in the game right now. Dude wrestles like a bad-tempered biker bar denizen, who’s drunk enough to be mean as hell but not enough for it to have dulled his fighting ability. I’m big on Corbin’s upside, if used well.

  13. I’m now doubling down on my last comment. Tim has decided to play HARD after an early lull. I think he might just be a hair away from knocking you out of first. He’s the only other draftee that’s picked multiple women wrestlers (both young and skilled, to boot, so he can build upon them). So, to beat him out there, you are going in the right direction: an actual division. You have three women, it’s time to grab a fourth. And I say a veteran, if possible. Gail Kim, Sara Del Rey, Awesome Kong. Somebody like that.

    This is also the spot to start thinking about your lower card spots. Comedy wrestler, perhaps? Santino Marella or Delirious. Jobber to the Stars is still open. Maybe Heath Slater. You also might want to grab Jay Lethal for a more than solid small belt holder. His run as ROH TV Champion was a thing of beautiful booking for him. Also, smaller, more technical wrestlers might fill out a hole in your roster. Chad Gable would do nicely, as would Mike Quackenbush. Hell, just about anyone from CHIKARA would fill most of these lower card spots nicely. cough GET THE ANTS, I LOVE THE COLONY cough

    Takeaways: Matthew is the clear weak draftee. Since the 14 slot he has had only one solid pick, and that was William Regal. Arron is slipping, but he’s still strong. I wish you and Tim could trade 24th picks. Talk to the guys and see if they’d be willing to do a single trade initiated per person kind of thing, you might be able to grab a star you need.

  14. Some of the guys didn’t realize they needed to have at least 3 female wrestlers, so they are going to be going quick. Gail Kim is gone, and Matt grabbed Leva Bates.

    I’m hoping Sara del Rey will be there still. I need one more TNA wrestler, so I thought I could pick up Jade (as Mia Yim) but I don’t think that will help me in the voting.

    I also don’t have a real underdog babyface and I think Rockstar Spud could fill that role and give me my TNA slot.

    I’m thinking my jobber roles will be open with the others scrambling for a good ladies division-Slater was at the top of that list with what’s left.

    Since I have “Cien” Almas, I was thinking I could get some reunited Los Ingobernobles heel faction action rocking. Maybe even grab de Japon guys (Lethal is taken).

    The last big thing need to have for our rules is an authority figure. Not sure if I should go with an established one or grab a fantasy legend like Scott Hall, Jake Roberts, or Steve Austin (Foley has been nabbed already)

    I’m loving your input, thanks.

  16. Another note – I totally missed the fact that Jay Lethal was picked like, fifth round, by Arron.

    As for Authority Figure, I’d wait to the last spot with that, and I’d go heel. Your roster is strong in the way of natural baby faces right now, so I would keep at it that way, easily going 3 to 2 ratio in that regard. That means, to drive conflict, you’ll need a right and proper VILLAIN, and the tried, true, and always fun Bad Boss of a heel authority can’t be beat. Vickie Guerreo (spelling? I’m not good at that part), Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan (his early days of running TNA were as a heel); hell, if you want to be really evil about it, pick Stephanie McMahon.

    Also, were Bates and Kim selected in a round we haven’t seen yet?

  17. Picking up Death Rey would be a damned near clincher for you having the best women’s division. I’d also not sleep on Nia Jax. Her in-ring work has been improving dramatically over the past few months, as she’s growing into a monster heel role. I think she had problems fully committing to the amount of force she’d need, since she is legitimately so much larger than every other woman in her division, but her match against Asuka at the last NXT Takeover was fabulous. Really established her monster heel cred, was the first opponent that made Asuka look less than invincible. I know the immediate go-to for Nia Jax is Awesome Kong, which isn’t a bad comparison, but honestly? I think she’s channeling classic Japan/WCW Vader right now. That powerbomb is the Vader Bomb. And it’s nasty looking.

    Plus, if you pick up Del Rey and Jax, you’ve got two very different kinds of heels, a fabulous tweener in Banks, and two strong faces in Asuka and Lynch. And what’s great is that you can shuffle that deck in almost any direction – Jax is likely always going to play as monster heel, given her size, but Del Rey, Banks, Lynch, and Asuka could reasonably be successful in face or heel roles. Lot of flexibility.

  18. Peter Bothwick Yeah, I have another few rounds to post soon. I picked up American Alpha. If Gable moves on to singles, he has some serious underdog potential.

  21. Some random comments. Firstly, everyone that picked announcers grabbed three even though the rules in your OP said a max of two. Secondly, the one person that didn’t grab an announcer grabbed two authorities.

    Also, I think someone didn’t grab the mandatory three women. I’ll have have pull the .pdf to check, and I can’t right now while on my tablet.

  22. Jeremy M You’ve got the makings of a pretty sick cruiserweight division. Zach Sabre Jr., Rich Swann, Neville, Ciampa, Almas, and Puma/Ricochet are all front-line cruiserweights, if Rey Mysterio’s knees don’t explode he could be the crafty veteran/mentor , you could slot Jeff Hardy and Zach Ryder into the mix if desired,   and you could conceivably slot Dawson, Wilder and Gable into the mix as an occasional entry into the division/if you break up their tag teams (DON’T, YOU’LL RUIN THE BEST IN-RING TEAMS IN WWE).

    Plus, you can throw Asuka into the mix. She wrestled cruiserweight men in Japan, and her NXT booking makes her seem like she’d be a legitimate threat no matter what gender you are. Like a smaller, female, neon-colored Brock Lesnar with her booking, in terms of being both the immoveable object and the unstoppable force.

  23. Peter Bothwick​ Yes, the rules were a bit unclear. They ended up being: get 40 wrestlers (a minimum of: 5 WWE male, 3 TNA, 3 roh, 3 lucha underground, 3 Japanese, 3 female {originally 3 wwe female, but changed to just 3 females}) then 1 authority, 1 manager, and 3 announcers.

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