Man, I think I overestimated the depth in this. Only 2 guys left on my 2nd rounder list

Lawler + Sting is the best combo so far I think. Both have a long run at the top, and their styles/drawing appeal complement each other really well.

too much to get into with one quote, but, I'll have at it

Cena has been shoved down our throats in very much the same way that HHH has been. To say otherwise is ignoring who he was put into programs with and how he was marketed basically from the outset. Don't forget that for well over a year into his first reign with the strap he was a face that got consistently booed because nobody liked him and people saw through him

While some promotions have been built upon guys who aren't good workers, those guys were very transcendant or from another era. I'm sure the Shiek won't be drafted, so I'll use him as an example, the guy couldn't work his way out of a paper bag and did have detroit as a hot promotion for a much longer run then would be expected, but, still the fans got burned out by him and Detroit ended up crumbling as a promotion. Mid-South had a massive run with someone on the top who couldn't work and could talk a million times better then Cena could, but he did have the help of Watts bringing in a lot of talented heels to play off of and guys that could carry him.

Overall, there aren't that many promotions that have guys in for a long run who can't work. Hogan can work, I've seen matches of his from Japan and I have watched plenty of AWA. Hogan won't ever be confused with Kenta Kobashi by any means, but he was a much better worker then Cena could ever imagine to be

I honestly think that Cena is rated right where he belongs, and I think that people itt are over rating him a lot. I certainly don't think that a promotion should build themselves around very technical over-sized midgets that populate a lot of indy shows these days, but, there are a lot of guys in the past who have held the strap for a while on top and have made millions of dollars who can work and get over to the crowd at teh same time.

I give cena credit where credit is due, but his position right now is because of Vince not just shoving him down our throats, but just throttling him down our throats for years now

I was at work. Wasent expecting it to get to me this quick. Tried posting when 2+2 was down. Writing up my pick now.

I am in the pro Cena camp. I had him 9th. Yes I'd rather watch Benoit and Angle go at it than Cena and HHH. But if I'm running a business, it's about money. And Cena is one of the biggest stars ever. No joke. If you dispute that, you're just a Cena hater. Benoit over Cena is extremely lol. One guy is extremely over and has been the biggest star in the company for 5 years. He has crossover appeal. Does he have a lot? No, he's not Rock, Hogan, or Austin. But I would bet he's the most recognizable WWE wrestler now, ahead of Taker and Triple H. Benoit, on the other hand, was masturbated over for years by the smart fans. He just wasn't popular. Not a damn person who didn't know wrestling knew who he was until he went nuts. So you have a guy who has carried a company for a while a will continue to, and seems like a decent human being, vs. a guy who never carried the company, who was never over as much as everyone wanted him to be, and, oh yeah, murdered his entire family.

I had Cena in front of Benoit too btw

Wow, just read the last 20 pages, 2nd round picks > 1st round picks, just in terms of surprises.

It's also worth noting that Cena is basically on the exact same career track as Hogan, however Hogan did not have to appear on TV every week and on 12 PPVs a year. People burned out on Hogan within 10 years and they only had to endure him on TV 2-3 times a month and 4 PPVs a year.

Yeah Benoit might be the biggest reach so far. Not much charisma and he gives your promotion a big black eye when he kills his family.

I don't disagree with you that Cena is shoved down our throats currently (hence I'm a Cena hater). The comparisons I made with Cena and HHH being shoved were more about their way up to the top. I really believed that Cena made it on his own to become a top level star.

As far as fans booing him, whether they like him or not he still has the ability to evoke emotion out of people, and those people are paying money to see him. They care about him one way or another. If he walks out to the ring and everyone is on their feet spewing venom at him that's a good thing. The worst thing that can happen to a wrestler is when they come out and fans just sit on their asses and don't care about you one way or another.

Cena's situation sucks because WWE can't pull the trigger to make him turn heel because of his mass market appeal to kids and he sells a ton of merchandise In the current WWE environment they want to attract more kids and be more mainstream friendly because they want to change their image due to the bad press WWE has gotten over the years with Benoit and wrestler deaths etc...Now that Linda Macmahon is running for senate, this will be WWE's direction for the foreseeable future.

All this is not Cena's fault at all. He stills sells a ton of merchandise and sells tickets. If WWE ever decided to freshen up Cena's character and turn him heel the audience would care and it would draw good money too because Cena is a great performer. This is the kind of guy you want to start a promotion imo.

Agreed, I prefer to watch Benoit matches over Cena myself but if we were to think logically and are basing our criteria over starting a brand new promotion, drafting Benoit over Cena is completely ludicrous.

I think it's a little odd that you guys decided that lives/careers/events are going to play out exactly the same in this, as they have in real life. Probably would have been more fun to draft these guys, put them together, and then argue about what happens in this alternate universe.

With the 31st overall pick in the SE Professional Wrestling Draft, DNKY PURE WRESTLING selects...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-7bWko4kPI

You SOB! He was gonna feud with Macho Man and Snake!

Nice! I wondered why he was slipping, and how far he was gonna go.

I was wondering where he'd go. Nice pick, should produce some awesome matches with Punk.

Yeah, I agree. I'm drafting using the alternate universe angle since it's more fun that way. But since it seems like most people aren't, the Benoit thing is obviously a big deal.

so is that a "good" pick???

all part of my plans.

Woah not who I expected... BUT **** YOU I HAVE FLAIR HE NEEDS TO BE WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I was gonna take Steamboat this round, but I figured he had a higher chance of falling than Roberts. Steamboat/Savage fought some of the best matched I have ever seen.

I agree to a point (I doubt Austin gets his career shortened in our universe since he won't get injured in the match that does it), but then you'll be drafting guys who had a short great run then had something bad happen (death, career injury, blacklisted) and the drafter will say he would have become a superdupermegastar.

Nice pick, wasn't on my list for some bizzare reason.

as insensitive as this might sound, isn't any mainstream publicity good publicity?

I think it's a great combination of incredible wrestling skills with fairly high recognition. Not much on the mic, but his skill more than makes up for it.

Crazy arguments like this are part of the fun imo.

picking punk #1 is because he is gonne be the cornerstone to my fed. he is great as both heel and face. in ring and on mic.

steamboat is imo, the most underrated wrestler in history. the man had 3 5star matches in a 1 year period. he was in the match of the year twice. but he was only world champion once. that is a travisty to me.