Wrestling On Earth Fantasy Draft: Introduction and Round One

Everyone thinks they could run their own wrestling company, but we’re determined to prove it, with the Wrestling On Earth Fantasy Draft!

Making their picks in the following order will be:

• Brad (@BradWardFGN),
• Tom (@TomBlackett),
• Tim (@TimWelcomed), and
• typicalROHfan (@typicalROHfan).

Here’s the scenario that was presented to them:

“With a financial backer, you will be starting a brand new promotion with a small TV deal (similar to TNA’s), with your goal being to be a profitable company that stays in business as long as possible.

You will each draft a total of 12 performers (including one female wrestler and one non-wrestler) over the course of 12 rounds (in the spirit of John Cena movies, obviously).”

The rules are as follows:

• Only active wrestlers are allowed.
• Wrestlers from anywhere in the world or any promotion are allowed.
• You can only pick as many as THREE male WWE wrestlers and THREE male TNA wrestlers. After that, you must pick wrestlers outside of WWE and TNA.
• Similar to the NFL fantasy having kicker and defense, at least one of the twelve picks MUST be a female wrestler and at least one MUST be a non-wrestler (i.e. an announcer/booker/agent/whatever you want). Neither the female wrestler or the non-wrestler will count as one of your three WWE picks or three TNA picks (so you can have three WWE male wrestlers and three TNA male wrestlers, and still choose a female wrestler or non-wrestler from WWE and TNA).
• Tag teams will count as one pick, but the tag team must be current and you must intend to use them as a tag team (i.e. you couldn’t pick The Shield with the intention of using Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns as singles wrestlers).

So now we’ve got that out the way, let’s see who the first round picks are!

Wrestling On Earth Fantasy Draft: Round One

Brad’s pick: DANIEL BRYAN

Brad:

Daniel Bryan is the easy pick for me because I think he has as many upsides as pretty much anyone in the wrestling business today. What first made me pick him is the fact that he has fundamentals that have been instilled by, arguably the greatest of all time, Shawn Michaels. His style is pretty much the closest thing to Shawn Michaels as he has a very solid fundamental base and is able to work regardless of whether it’s lucha, chain or brawling styles.

The crowd reactions he has gotten in promotions like Ring of Honor, DGUSA and now WWE are second to none. I feel that he is that one guy that embodies what a top star truly is. Everything he does in the ring, there is no wasted motion, and does the little things that really add to his matches. I always thought a top star is someone who has the crowd in the palm of their hands and this is something that Daniel Bryan can do.

Daniel Bryan has a personality that connects with everyone from the kids, to hardcore wrestling fans. His character and personality has a lot of depth. He doesn’t come off as being shallow and brings a true sense of believability to his matches. The only guy I really ever felt this way about was Bret Hart many years ago in the 90s. So, I am confident that everything that Daniel Bryan brings, is everything you want as the face of your company.

Tom’s pick: JOHN CENA

Tom:

Having to explain why I chose John Cena as my round one pick feels pretty redundant. Let’s put it like this: he is the only legitimate wrestling superstar in the world right now. Sure, there are part-timers who are on his level and guys who are close or on the way up, but he’s the only one who’s on Raw week-in and week-out that REALLY makes a difference. He’s also probably the only current wrestler your mum could name, and the mum vote is vitally important to any wrestling company.

Beyond that though, he’s one of the few guys whose matches almost always feel like they matter and has the ability to ‘make’ other guys. Think about it:

Would CM Punk have broken out if he didn’t have a John Cena to feud with?

Could Daniel Bryan’s current push feel legitimate if it didn’t culminate in a John Cena PPV match?

Would Ryback be the star he’s become without his epic feud with John Cena?

…so okay, he can’t work miracles with EVERYONE, but he’s still the number one guy in the world with the ability to elevate (almost) anyone he works with. Think of the indy workers and mid-card WWE guys who could be instantly raised to main event status just from having a couple of competitive matches with Cena. It practically books itself!

Also, I think by naming my new company the ‘John Cena Wrestling Federation feat. John Cena‘ and selling nothing but Cena merch, I’d be assured ratings and financial success.

Tim’s pick: CM PUNK

Tim:

I figured being third in the draft pretty much assured that someone else would pick John Cena before I got to him, which is totally understandable. John Cena is the biggest name in pro wrestling that is still a weekly performer.

This lead me to CM Punk as my first round draft pick. My plan was to draft one big name who could have a good match with almost anyone and carry a feud on the mic to help out my roster that was set to be focused on noticeably less popular talent. CM Punk fit this mold perfectly.

I’d say CM Punk is probably the best first round pick for my promotion’s, (Wrestling Is Tim! / WIT!), style.

typicalROHfan’s pick: JEFF HARDY

typicalROHfan:

With the obvious three off the board, I had to think about my first round pick for a few minutes. After the big three, there’s no real “franchise” wrestlers in WWE to take here. Maybe Randy Orton but he’s no bigger than Jeff Hardy, without the WWE machine hyping him. Sheamus? Same story plus I believe I can get him in a later round. (Did I? Keep up with the future draft posts and you’ll find out soon enough.)

Jeff Hardy was once the most risky wrestler in the industry with personal demons haunting him for quite a few years but he seems to have finally defeated them. Ever since his return from exile in TNA, he has been putting on some of the best matches of his career and just seems extra motivated. Another bonus is despite being on television since the mid-late 90’s, he is still in the same age range as Randy Orton, CM Punk and John Cena so he has a few very good years left in him.

Lastly and most important, he has a connection with fans that is very rare to find in wrestling. Every TNA house show I have been to in recent years, it’s been clear that the people who pay for the most expensive seats or packages are the ones who are there to see Jeff Hardy. I shudder to think where TNA would be this year if Hardy never returned.

Based off 99% of wrestlers word, he is also the coolest guy and gets along with everyone thus a nice add to the locker room. With the final pick of the first round, I feel comfortable picking Jeff Hardy as the face of my promotion.

I also wanted to conserve the valuable WWE picks for later rounds.

– If you want to hurl abuse at our draft pickers, you can find them on Twitter at @BradWardFGN, @TomBlackett, @TimWelcomed and @typicalROHfan. Please don’t though, they’re trying their best. Check back Tuesday for the 2nd and 3rd rounds!