Smart Mark Madness 2010

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In honor of Wrestlemania week kicking off this week, as well as The March Madness College Basketball Tournament Juggernaut, The Big Nasty Athletic Dept. has decided to launch yet another annual tradition dedicated to current stars in pro wrestling.

Smart Mark Madness is a simulated 64 wrestler tournament that decides best of the best in the wrestling industry.  In order to qualify for the tournament, participants must be active wrestlers who work at least semi-regularly.

32 wrestlers from TNA and 32 wrestlers from WWE are seeded by The Big Nasty Athletic Dept. based on three critical pro wrestling categories:  Booking, Star Power, and Headline Potential.

Booking: How is the wrestler booked?  Do they win more than they lose?  Are they protected in losses or do they often lose clean?  What is the average length of the wrestlers’ match?  Is the given wrestler active on pay per views?

Star Power: What’s the wrestler’s prestige like?  Is his star shining bright and continuing to do so, or is it fading out?  Has this wrestler enjoyed one or more successful championship reigns?

Headline Potential: Is this wrestler a main eventer?  Does he have potential to be a perennial main eventer based on his booking?  What caliber of wrestler is he usually paired with?

Wrestlers from each respective company are seeded in 8 groups of four (seeds range from #1-8) and then re-seeded in 16 groups of four (seeds range from #1-16) in order to determine placement for the 64 wrestler tournament field.  Once all 64 wrestlers have been seeded, they are broken up into four different regions of 16 wrestlers based on legendary pro wrestling catch phrases.  The winners of each region advance to the Final Four semifinal round where the participants will compete for the right to be named our Smart Mark Madness National Champion.

WWE Seeding

1. John Cena, Batista, Chris Jericho, HHH
2. Edge, Randy Orton, HBK, Undertaker
3. CM Punk, Rey Mysterio Jr., The Miz, The Big Show
4. John Morrison, R. Truth, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus
5. Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase Jr., Christian, Cody Rhodes
6. Kane, Shelton Benjamin, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry
7. MVP, Jack Swagger, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne
8. Carlito, Santino Marella, Zach Ryder, Chavo Guerrero

TNA Seeding

1. Kurt Angle, A.J. Styles, Abyss, Sting
2. Ken Anderson, “The Pope” DeAngelo Dinero, Jeff Hardy, Matt Morgan
3. Nash, RVD, Samoa Joe, Mick Foley
4. Robert Roode, Rob Terry, Desmond Wolfe, Hernandez
5. James Storm, Jeff Jarrett, Eric Young, Syxxx-Pac
6. Brother Ray, Brother Devon, Frankie Kazarian, Daniels
7. Doug Williams, Chris Saban, Alex Shelley, Amazing Red
8. Tomko, Brian Kendrick, Brutus Magnus, Jesse Neal

Tournament Seeding

1. John Cena, HHH, Batista, Chris Jericho
2. Edge, Randy Orton, HBK, The Undertaker
3. CM Punk, Rey Mysterio Jr. A.J. Styles, Kurt Angle
4. The Miz, The Abyss, The Big Show, Sting
5. Ken Anderson, “The Pope” DeAngelo Dinero”, Matt Morgan, Jeff Hardy
6. RVD, Samoa Joe, Mick Foley, Sheamus
7. Morrison, Truth, McIntyre, Nash
8. Kofi Kingston, Ted DiBiase, Christian, Cody Rhodes
9. Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode, Syxxx-Pac, Rob Terry
10. Kane, Shawn Hernandez, Dolph Ziggler, Mark Henry
11. James Storm, Shelton Benjamin, Eric Young, Jeff Jarrett
12. Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Jack Swagger, MVP
13. Doug Williams, Brother Devon, Brother Ray, Frankie Kazarian
14. Chris Saban, Alex Shelley, Daniels, The Amazing Red
15. Santino Marella, Carlito, Brian Kendrick, Zach Ryder
16. Tomko, Jesse Neal, Brutus Magnus, Chavo Guerrero

“Smart Mark” Trivia

• 20 RAW Superstars qualified for the tournament while 12 Smackdown! Superstars qualified.
• 25 TNA Heavyweight competitors qualified for the tournament while 7 TNA X-Division Wrestlers qualified.
• Of the 64 competitors in the tournament, 23 are former world champions.