Tournament: Greatest ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Round 1

[Cyrus Riddle]

Hey all,

Brandon and I talked a couple of weeks back about doing this, but I just didn't get around to it until now. For those who are new and want to participate, all you have to do is respond to this thread with your picks for each match. I'll give this first round voting a good five days so that everyone who wants to participate can have a chance. As usual, the first round will consist of pretty each matchups, but it will get tougher as we move along. Feel free to give reasons for choices and also do some research if you are unfamiliar with anyone's reign.

Greatest ECW World Champion, Round 1
Voting Ends: Thursday, December 19, 2013 at 12:00 PM EST

Shane Douglas (4)[874]

vs.

Ezekial Jackson (1)[<1]

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Sandman (5)[446]

vs.

Masato Tanaka (1)[6]

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Raven (2)[379]

vs.

RVD (1)[21]

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Taz (2)[261]

vs.

Tito Santana (1)[32]

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Christian (2)[247]

vs.

Vince McMahon (1)[38]

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Terry Funk(2)[208]

vs.

Jerry Lynn (1)[35]

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Mike Awesome (2)[201]

vs.

Mikey Whipwreck (1)[42]

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Don Muraco (2)[174]

vs.

Bam Bam Bigelow (1)[45]

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Justin Credible (1)[162]

vs.

Tommy Dreamer (2)[49]

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Bobby Lashley (2)[155]

vs.

Steve Corino (1)[63]

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Big Show (1)[152]

vs.

Chavo Guerrero (1)[68]

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CM Punk (1)[143]

vs.

John Morrison (1)[69]

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Matt Hardy (1)[127]

vs.

Mark Henry (1)[70]

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Jack Swagger (1)[104]

vs.

Johnny Hotbody (1)[79]

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Sabu (2)[93]

vs.

Jimmy Snuka (2)[79]

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Rhyno (1)[93]

vs.

Kane (1)[91]

 

[Postman Dave]

Shane Douglas
I mean c'mon, Jackson didn't even get a run with the belt as it was discontinued :

Sandman
I prefer Tanaka as a wrestler, but it's hard to compare a 6 day reign against 5 reigns over 446 days

Raven
Another one where you just have to compare the figures. RVD should have done enough to progress past round one, but he fucked up his one chance at the top

Taz
Again, look at the figures

Christian
Now this one is more interesting as Vince's reign was probably the most attention the title got during it's WWE tenure. However, Christian put in a ton of good to great matches during his reigns that cannot be undone by non-wrestler.

Terry Funk
Jerry had a very “blink and you'll miss it” reign, whereas Funk had the title win at Barely Legal that's an integral part of ECW history

Mike Awesome
Interesting how much more time Awesome got with the belt than long time adversary Tanaka.

Don Muraco
I guess, don't know too much about either guys reigns tbh.

Tommy Dreamer
Incredible was a Heyman project that never caught on, no matter how long the reign

Steve Corino
Because the day Bobby Lashley wins any contest I have a say in is the day I stick forks in my eyes

Big Show
For better or worse, Big Show played a key role in early WWECW. Chavo's reign signified the move from World Title to midcard title.

CM Punk
Morrison wasn't ready for his reign, simple as

Matt Hardy
Henry's was a fun prelude to his future awesome WHC reign. But Matt's run was a lot like Christians, full of quality

Jack Swagger
Don't really know who Hotbody is

Sabu
Two guys you would have thought had more distinguishable reigns. Snuka being ECW champ is more of a trivia answer, not really notable

Rhyno
The manbeast was catching momentum towards the end of ECW and could have had a great reign. Kane's was just something that happened really

 

[Wangman Page]

Shane Douglas (4)[874]

No contest on this one at all. Shane Douglas all day.

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Sandman (5)[446]
Sandman was ECW for awhile

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RVD (1)[21]

While Raven was great. RVD is still one of the biggest names to ever come out of ECW

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Taz (2)[261]

vs.

Tazz was the man in ECW. I din't even remember Santana being there, not that that means he wasn't a part of it.

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Christian (2)[247]

vs.

I am voting Christian while I don't consider anything that WWE did with ECW as part of it. Christian was a much better champion that VKM

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Terry Funk(2)[208]

Funk is who everyone wanted to be like while Lynn was great not a great as Funk

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Mikey Whipwreck (1)[42]


Whipwreck left us too soon but he was much better than Mike Aweful
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Bam Bam Bigelow (1)[45]

Who can hate on Bam Bam

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Tommy Dreamer (2)[49]


Dreamer will carry that ECW name until he dies.

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Steve Corino (1)[63]

I never felt that Lashley was all that good and even worse when he began to talk and you heard his girl voice.
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Big Show (1)[152]

Again another WWE Ecw reign but Show will always be better than Chavo

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CM Punk (1)[143]

vs.
Punk for this victory any day of the week.

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Mark Henry (1)[70]


While Matt Hardy was decent at this time, Henry was just dominant.
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Johnny Hotbody (1)[79]


Anyone is better than Jack Thwagger. Johnny Hotbody was pretty decent at times too.
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Sabu (2)[93]


Sabu due to Snuka being past his prime if memory serves me correctly. Sabu was just a beast in ECW too.

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Rhyno (1)[93]

I am taking Rhyno over Kane because he was an ECW original that was decent back then too. Kane was good but Rhyno was better .

 

[Gentleman Jake]

Shane Douglas (4)[874]
Like for real?

Sandman (5)[446]

Raven (2)[379]
When I think ECW Raven is one of the first guys I think of

Taz (2)[261]


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Christian (2)[247]
Captain Charisma all the way

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Terry Funk(2)[208]



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Mike Awesome (2)[201]
I fuckin love Mike Awesome

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Bam Bam Bigelow (1)[45]


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Justin Credible (1)[162]
you know who I love more then Mike Awesome…JUSTIN FUCKIN CREDIBLE

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Steve Corino (1)[63]
fuck Lashley

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Big Show (1)[152]



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CM Punk (1)[143]



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Mark Henry (1)[70]
Matt Hardy just got his wig split
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Jack Swagger (1)[104]


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Sabu (2)[93]


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Rhyno (1)[93]

 

[Horrorfan_1986]

1. Shane Douglas
(Douglas wasn't anything special, but he played a huge role in ECW as ECW Champion. Big Zeke just had a good match where he won the belt.)

2. The Sandman
(Sandman was pretty dreadful while Tanaka was incredible, but it's difficult to make a case for Tanaka when his reign was just a means to create a couple more encounters with Mike Awesome.)

3. Raven
(Raven had some fairly memorable title defenses while RVD's time as champion is only memorable for the title win and being busted.)

4. Taz
(Let's just get the Eastern Championship Wrestling champions out of the way seeing as few people have actually seen Eastern Championship Wrestling.)

5. Christian
(Christian's time as ECW Champion was the best period of WWECW.)

6. Terry Funk
(Funk's 1997 title reign is more memorable than anything from Lynn's title reign, although Lynn's match against Justin Credible was really good.)

7. Mike Awesome
(Awesome's time in ECW as Champion was pretty damn awesome. He helped give ECW some direction after the losses of Taz and Dudley Boyz.)

8. Bam Bam Bigelow
(Once again, just get the Eastern Champions out of this.)

9. Justin Credible
(It's not as if Dreamer's reigns were memorable. Credible had some solid title defenses.)

10. Steve Corino
(Eh, neither reign was good and I'm struggling to think of any good matches. But eh, Corino at least had good matches in 2000 prior to the reign.)

11. The Big Show
(Again, both reigns sucked. At least with Show, the title meant something then and he was worthy of being champion.)

12. CM Punk
(Punk had some surprisingly good matches as champion. Morrison, despite wrestling Punk in most of his defenses, didn't have any truly special defenses.)

13. Matt Hardy
(Henry still sucked at this point. I seem to remember a really good ECW Title defense by Hardy against Evan Bourne.)

14. Jack Swagger
(To continue the removal of the Eastern champs.)

15. Sabu
(My God, did Jimmy Snuka suck.)

16. Kane
(Rhino had a grand total of zero title defenses. I don't see any reason to vote for him.)

 

[Swinny]

Shane Douglas
Sandman
Raven
Taz
Vince McMahon (because it was an epic heel thing to do, even if it kinda shit on the legacy of ECW...)
Terry Funk
Mikey Whipwreck (His rise to the title and everything was a great story)
Bam Bam Bigelow
Tommy Dreamer (Even if he never held the title nearly as long as he should have)
Steve Corino
Big Show
CM Punk
Mark Henry
Johny Hotbody
Sabu
Rhyno (but this one was close)

 

[Cyrus Riddle]

I'll be starting round 2 this coming week everyone, sorry for the delay...holidays, not much more I can elaborate on other than that it's been a hellacious, albeit great, holiday season.