V2 WWC 2012 Round 1 Group 6

50 votes were cast yesterday in what was a two horse race almost from the very start of the day, Kane the eventual winner went through with 22 votes and the runner up was John Cena in second place with 15 votes

Next up is group 6

Please vote for the wrestler you believe has generated the best work in the last 12 months

As always please leave a comment as to why you voted

The top two will progress into round 2

It has to be the Ginger Genius that is Heath Slater

Austin Aries has had a fantastic year, rising up from the X Division to fully blown World Champion in such a short space of time, but for me 2012 belonged to one man - and that man is Heath Slater.

With his career on the rocks after his suspension for drug abuse following the dispansion of Nexus then the Corre, Heath Slater could have so easily slipped off into obscurity or even into Future Endeavored territory or even worse still... TNA, but he returned to WWE with a renewed vigour and a real hard work ethic that has impressed many a former Slater Hater.

Taking Wrestlemania as a jump off point for the year, Slater thrust himself and WWE into the mainstream columns of TMZ and the like, taking what could be an embarrassing burial by the rapper Flo Rida, and turning it into a fully blown twitter feud, which was mooted for a match at Summerslam. Though this idea fizzled out, I think Slater's desire to promote himself and the WWE off of his own back impressed the higher echelons of the company and highlighted his potential to the right people.

A few months of jobbing to the likes of Brodus Clay, Ryback and Sheamus ensued, but in between, when Slater was afforded the slightest bit of mic time, he shone. His over-confident, southern doofus routine drawing laughs and genuine heat from the crowd - the like of which someone like Alboreto Del Rio could only dream of. He made full use of exposure on Superstars, NXT (see his hilarious "I'm a Winner" promo with Derrick Bateman) and the backstage segments for youtube (see his even more hilarious hissy fit about losing to Sin Cara in the dark).

Then came Heath's crowning glory. The Legends run. This is the event that seemed to turn the Slater Haters into fans, and truly became the most entertaining part of the weekly Raw episodes in the run up to #1000. Slater got his chance to bring his humorous showing off to a weekly live TV audience and he made the most of that opportunity, working with some really stinking segments such as Piper and Lauper, and turning it into gold with his facial expressions and reactions.

During this run Slater showed real unselfishness whilst not harming his own prospects. He saw the long game. And in the process he made Vader and Psycho Sid in particular, look brilliant. Slater should have taken the "You Still Got It" chants as a compliment of his own - and Vader showered Slater with great praise afterwards.

And now I hope we are seeing the "long game" take shape - with 3MB! Slater, Mahal and McIntyre each have a heap of talent, that they have been displaying in quality matches on Superstars and NXT for a long time now, and i just hope this stable is the crux for them to move on up the roster. Slater's perfectly crafted "one man band gimmick" can be the umbrella to propel them to the stars, I already see them as the Edge and Christian type dorks of the modern era, and Slater as the hapless idiot leader already looks like comedy gold.

All in all, it's got to be Slater in this round. Heath may have been suspended last year for smoking pot, but since his return he has been smoking hot! And whilst others may have had their fill of success this year, they must still get the munchies when seeing the feast that’s in store for the One Man Baaaaaaaaaaand BABY!

The only dampener on the year is the lack of a god damn Heath Slater t-shirt.

The greatest man alive gets my vote, better than Punk which just about sums everything up.

Good job heath is getting some votes otherwise this could have ended up 50-0 to Aries!

One man band baby!

Gregers wrote:The greatest man alive gets my vote, better than Punk which just about sums everything up.

Good job heath is getting some votes otherwise this could have ended up 50-0 to Aries!

Greg,

You'll be lucky to find 50 TNA fans on this board.

Team Slater!!!!

It was me who accidently voted for Titus Bramble. Was meant to vote for Slater!

Oh H... you've let the side down

That vote could be crucial

Mr H wrote:It was me who accidently voted for Titus Bramble. Was meant to vote for Slater!

SHE SAID NO TITUS!!!

I'M THE ONE MAAAN BAAAAND BAAAABEEHHH !

Oh E.D what have you done?!

Roverblue wrote:

Mr H wrote:It was me who accidently voted for Titus Bramble. Was meant to vote for Slater!

SHE SAID NO TITUS!!!

Titus doesnt take no for an answer, now bend over!

And Demon, if it gets to the point where my vote could make a difference, i'll stress that i obviously wasnt meant to vote for Bramble.

He actually made a compelling case with his post up there!

Plus I don't watch much TNA or ROH, and I love a goofball, so I went with Slater too.

I don't think I've done anything MtottheC. Heath Slater has done it all. A year ago (maybe you could look up the stats and find out?) I'm sure Slater was laughed out of the competition - this showing so far is testament to what he has achieved during the year.

Looking at the competition, Morgan and O Neill have done nothing of note this year. Kruger and Edwards are outside bets due to where they compete. And sure, Austin Aries has achieved a hell of a lot this year too, but he's done so in TNA, so it basically doesn't count.

I'm not surprised in the slightest by how this is shaping up
(I am actually really... really surprised )

sodhat wrote:He actually made a compelling case with his post up there!

Plus I don't watch much TNA or ROH, and I love a goofball, so I went with Slater too.

Fair enough i guess if you haven't watch AA wrestle or promo you cant vote for him and this is a very wwe light group which would account for slater picking up the stanard wwe vote

Electric Demon wrote:I don't think I've done anything MtottheC. Heath Slater has done it all. A year ago (maybe you could look up the stats and find out?) I'm sure Slater was laughed out of the competition - this showing so far is testament to what he has achieved during the year.

Looking at the competition, Morgan and O Neill have done nothing of note this year. Kruger and Edwards are outside bets due to where they compete. And sure, Austin Aries has achieved a hell of a lot this year too, but he's done so in TNA, so it basically doesn't count.

I'm not surprised in the slightest by how this is shaping up
(I am actually really... really surprised )

I just didn’t want this descending into a 'Hunico' farce, of course Slater has improved on last year, he's had more exposure and people who don’t like/watch TNA will not vote for AA

I just find it difficult to see how anyone who watches TNA could vote for slater when you take into account what AA has been doing in the last 12 months, unless it’s to take the p!ss


But in your honest opinion how far do you expect him to go?

would you vote for him over Bryan or Punk?

HUNICO!

Went for Slater, the guys really impressed me this year, I'm also on a crusade to make sure no internet darling wrestlers win this year. Aries hasn't impressed me much anyway, over hyped and overrated. There I said it.

The Awesome Giz wrote:Went for Slater, the guys really impressed me this year, I'm also on a crusade to make sure no internet darling wrestlers win this year. Aries hasn't impressed me much anyway, over hyped and overrated. There I said it.

Would you include Dolph Ziggler in the 'internet darling' section? He's one of the most over people on this board yet hasn't really done anything of note bar sell other peoples moves well? Yet becuase the likes of bryan, punk, AA etc come from the indy's there internet darlings?!

Slater could win the whole thing!

MtotheC wrote:

Electric Demon wrote:I don't think I've done anything MtottheC. Heath Slater has done it all. A year ago (maybe you could look up the stats and find out?) I'm sure Slater was laughed out of the competition - this showing so far is testament to what he has achieved during the year.

Looking at the competition, Morgan and O Neill have done nothing of note this year. Kruger and Edwards are outside bets due to where they compete. And sure, Austin Aries has achieved a hell of a lot this year too, but he's done so in TNA, so it basically doesn't count.

I'm not surprised in the slightest by how this is shaping up
(I am actually really... really surprised )

I just didn’t want this descending into a 'Hunico' farce, of course Slater has improved on last year, he's had more exposure and people who don’t like/watch TNA will not vote for AA

I just find it difficult to see how anyone who watches TNA could vote for slater when you take into account what AA has been doing in the last 12 months, unless it’s to take the p!ss


But in your honest opinion how far do you expect him to go?

would you vote for him over Bryan or Punk?

I honestly don't think this is a Hunico farce - you can see from the comments that people genuinely like Heath Slater. I don't have time to set up some conspiracy to get him through - and if that was important to me I might as well spool out my own intestines and hang myself from the nearest window by them for being a sad case.

It completely depends who he gets in each round how far I can see him going. In my own personal rankings, WWE-wise in 2012, I'd have;

Punk
Bryan
Ziggler
Slater

But that's just my opinion - if he was in a group with any of those 3, I would only be voting for him tactically.

I include Ziggler, Punk and Bryan in that list of course. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, maybe I woke up in a bad mood this morning and dropped coffee down myself, and maybe I'm just being petty because of that. Its all irrelevant, just my opinion.

believe me I wasn’t insinuating that you would conspire to get him through, I’m not that precious about a wrestler voting competition but I do want it to be a genuine format for debate.

MtotheC wrote:believe me I wasn’t insinuating that you would conspire to get him through, I’m not that precious about a wrestler voting competition but I do want it to be a genuine format for debate.

I know you do - and you know I love this competition. Which is why I wouldn't do that. It's the last bastion of decent debate on the site at the moment.

Also, you want genuine debate, and so do I - I've put a fairly lengthy discussion of why I have voted Slater.

I voted for Aries, sorry Demon.

Seen as Slater is winning it by a landslide, which he deserves purely for his selling of Bradshaw's clothesline from hell on Raw 1000, I thought Aries had done enough to go through as a worthy runner up.

Electric Demon wrote:

MtotheC wrote:believe me I wasn’t insinuating that you would conspire to get him through, I’m not that precious about a wrestler voting competition but I do want it to be a genuine format for debate.

I know you do - and you know I love this competition. Which is why I wouldn't do that. It's the last bastion of decent debate on the site at the moment.

Also, you want genuine debate, and so do I - I've put a fairly lengthy discussion of why I have voted Slater.

Ok fair point after lunch i'll do the same for Aries!

To be honest mate, I give you a lot of credit for setting this all up, hell I wouldn't have the time or energy to do it. And I'll conspire if I want thanks.

The Awesome Giz wrote:To be honest mate, I give you a lot of credit for setting this all up, hell I wouldn't have the time or energy to do it. And I'll conspire if I want thanks.

Slow burn heel turn???

Giz has been hiding in the shadows too long brother.

The Awesome Giz wrote:Giz has been hiding in the shadows too long brother.

Welcome to the board

Should be around another 20 votes to go based on the last couple of days voting, things could still change in this one, remember that the group winners will get an advantage in the round 2 draw by winning the group

Stats o'clock:

This is O'Neil and Kruger’s first WWC

Both Edwards and Slater failed to progress behind the first rounds last year and Matt Morgan despite his poor performance today actually qualified in 2nd place from round 1 with 7 votes in a group dominated by Chris Jericho in 2011

and Double A finished round 1 in third place with 9 votes compared to first place HHH with 18 and 2nd place Ziggler with 11

Voted for Austin Aries - going from X Division champ to TNA world champ this year.

How much is ED paying people to vote for Heath Slater?

Miz NG wrote:Voted for Austin Aries - going from X Division champ to TNA world champ this year.

How much is ED paying people to vote for Heath Slater?

A blowie, 2 snickers bars and a used copy of mens health from 2004!

Beer wrote:

Miz NG wrote:Voted for Austin Aries - going from X Division champ to TNA world champ this year.

How much is ED paying people to vote for Heath Slater?

A blowie, 2 snickers bars and a used copy of mens health from 2004!

Hold up, he didnt offer me the copy of Mens Health!

Mr H wrote:

Beer wrote:

Miz NG wrote:Voted for Austin Aries - going from X Division champ to TNA world champ this year.

How much is ED paying people to vote for Heath Slater?

A blowie, 2 snickers bars and a used copy of mens health from 2004!

Hold up, he didnt offer me the copy of Mens Health!

I took the last one.

Mr H wrote:

Beer wrote:

Miz NG wrote:Voted for Austin Aries - going from X Division champ to TNA world champ this year.

How much is ED paying people to vote for Heath Slater?

A blowie, 2 snickers bars and a used copy of mens health from 2004!

Hold up, he didnt offer me the copy of Mens Health!

You can have mine if you want, the pages were stuck together when he gave me it btw....

I voted for Slater, because he has been absolutely awesome in the last few months.

I don't like Aries, he bores me to death and really don't get the whole angle they tried to pull in TNA, basically just ripping off CM Punk. Fair enough he is good in the ring but I can take him or leave him.

Slater's little clash with Flo Rida, the legends storyline and now the 3MB plot is so ridiculous that it is funny and one of the few reasons I watch WWE.

Not the best of groups this one though so wouldn't read too much into Slater winning it. He won't be anywhere near the final end of the tournament.

Cheers for the work you have put in MtotheC

Crimey wrote:

Mr H wrote:

Beer wrote:

Miz NG wrote:Voted for Austin Aries - going from X Division champ to TNA world champ this year.

How much is ED paying people to vote for Heath Slater?

A blowie, 2 snickers bars and a used copy of mens health from 2004!

Hold up, he didnt offer me the copy of Mens Health!

You can have mine if you want, the pages were stuck together when he gave me it btw....

Was it the one with Flo Rida on the cover?

Slater is raping this round

MtotheC wrote:

Electric Demon wrote:

MtotheC wrote:believe me I wasn’t insinuating that you would conspire to get him through, I’m not that precious about a wrestler voting competition but I do want it to be a genuine format for debate.

I know you do - and you know I love this competition. Which is why I wouldn't do that. It's the last bastion of decent debate on the site at the moment.

Also, you want genuine debate, and so do I - I've put a fairly lengthy discussion of why I have voted Slater.

Ok fair point after lunch i'll do the same for Aries!

I'm still waiting for this Mtothe... looking forward to seeing if you can match my rhetoric

sorry E.D got distracted by the podcast thread!

I'm on it... stand by

My vote goes for Titus O Neal. I think him and Darren Young are good together.

MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!!!

I voted for Austin Aries. He made the best of a bad situation as the X-Division champion when that particular division had its weakest pool of talent in years (possibly ever) and outgrew it to the extent that TNA put him in the World title picture.

Winning said title was a bit of a shock, what with Bobby Roode versus James Storm looking a dead cert to headline Bound for Glory, and at the time it seemed as if TNA had rushed putting the belt on him as a result of his burgeoning popularity (and to create their own CM Punk).

As champion though, Aries rose to the challenge and delivered in the ring and on the mic. I thought he looked pretty comfortable as World champion, definitely worthy of future reigns. Hopefully once this feud with Jeffrey Nero Hardy is over he'll get kept around the main event scene, because he's got the talent to be a permanent fixture at the top of the card.

I thought I was going to be tactical voting for Slater because Arie would walk this group, but Slater is killing it!

On a note, weakest group thus far.

Tomorrow isn't much better tbh but Fridays is cracker!! I Compare round one to the football world cup qualifying stage and Round 2 as the world cup group stages and so on, therefore your always going to get a few moldova's etc at this stage

Lovely analogy.

I voted for Heath, mainly because I love being cruel and wanted to dig out Aries.

Not really. I've only watched TNA for a few months now, but they've buried Aries a little bit. They wanted to make him the face of the company but bottled it, whilst he has been easily overshadowed by the erratic Aces and Eights.

Now his push to be proven better than CM Punk has lead for him to attempt to become CM Punk.

I've seen little to suggest his ring work is deserved of such high praise too, but I am reliably informed hes just had a bad period since I started watching.

Slater, however, has been consistently entertaining within his character and harked back to the old days of how lower cards heel should be funny.

On the others. I know little of most of them, and whilst I love Matt Morgan Ive only really seen him kick Al Snow and then tease Hogan into thinking they were gonna have a mad passionate kiss.

Titus O'Neil - good tag work and the better of the two PTP's but not involved at the higher levels yet.

Also, I love this WWC thing, makes me come on here everyday to make sure I've voted, cracking stuff sir!

chris.wilkerson13 wrote:Also, I love this WWC thing, makes me come on here everyday to make sure I've voted, cracking stuff sir!

MtotheC wrote:Tomorrow isn't much better tbh but Fridays is cracker!! I Compare round one to the football world cup qualifying stage and Round 2 as the world cup group stages and so on, therefore your always going to get a few moldova's etc at this stage

Hope Mason Ryan is in tomorrow's then!