Thursday, September 29, 2005

A1 Draft Analysis: Part 1~!

Well, I was going to wait 'til all the bookings were done, but that might take too long. I'm just going to analyze each roster (except for my own) two at a time. That's 10 rosters, so five entries devoted to this draft. I may do a blanket entry on the booking when it all gets done.

Anyway, might as well start with the first overall pick...

Andrew Gilkison's Asshole Wrestling Federation (wrestlers listed in order of drafting)
Spoiler, Beast, Mr. Amazing!, BobbyR, Mikey F'n W*, The Canadian Loonie*, dumi, Eddie Weston, Lucifer, Jack Blade, The Hitman, Zeno, Pantera, Sky O'Brian, The Tick, Marty Mirumoto, Heather Locke, Guerilla

Traded Away
Mikey F'n W, The Canadian Loonie

Received in Return
Atkins, Tornado DDT

Free Agents
Blitzkrieg, Juen Lee

One look at the AWF roster and it's Holy Old Skool MBE, Batman! He totally picked up many of the founding fathers of the elder A1 fed. He also has quite a few new-school A1E types on the roster too. It's an interesting mix to say the least.

Best Pick It's easy to say it was Spoiler, seeing that AWF was the first overall selection and Spoiler is a no-brainer. However, the best pick of the AWF draft was Beast. Andy got very lucky that Beast dropped where he did, thanks to some questionable first round picks (GUNS? Duchess? Irish Red?) Still, he should be commended for stopping the most egregious of drops in this draft. Beast should have been first round talent, but hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth, eh?

Sleeper Picks Probably getting Guerilla in the 18th round, but that shouldn't count since it was only because James Irish dropped out.

Questionable Picks Where to begin... For one, I think Mr. Amazing! in the third round was a bit of a reach, especially with some former A1E and MBE Champions still on the board. No doubt that Mr. A!'s handler played a major role, and he was an integral part in early MBE as well as in the A1 run as an NPC, but I think the third round ahead of Paco the Wetback, Promo, Snake and Nemesys is pushing it a little. I also don't see the logic in drafting Sky O'Brian at all. Hell, I really don't see the logic in drafting announcers at all. And having Heather Locke and not Housefly on the roster doesn't make any sense to me. It's like drafting Lollipop and not JA or Jessica adn not Beast.

Overall Grade C... it's a solid roster, but it has some glaring holes, especially on the low card. Spoiler/Beast is an AWESOME main event feud, but where are the tag teams?

Jeff Paternostro's World Wrestling Collective (wrestlers listed in order of drafting)
Freakfish, Professor Tremendous, Slambo the Clown, The Great Yamada, Tornado DDT*, Mr. CATV, FATSEXY, Webweaver, Felix Red, Akira Otsuka, Justin Evitable, David Spoiler*, Wong Fei Hung II, Hornet, Lucky, SupTool, Dr. Phantasmo, The Idiot Fan

Cut/Traded Away
Tornado DDT, David Spoiler, Mr. Morality#

Received in Return
The Behemoths (Mammoth and Mastodon Monroe)

Free Agents
Saigon Cinnamon, Beau Michaels-Cruise

This roster moreso than Andy's is MBE heavy, probably the most MBE heavy in the draft. There is a good smattering of FW talent here too, including THAT DAMN HORNET~~!!

Best Pick No doubt, it's Webweaver, who could be the steal of the draft here. There's no reason a multiple time MBE North American Champion should slip to round 8 like that outside of OOC polarization. Web can be a bit cancerous in any locker room as a handler, plus his loony tendencies on the A1 boards themselves may polarize some, but we're not drafting handlers, just characters.

Sleeper Picks Felix Red is probably the breakout star in NFW East this season, so getting him was a boon. Hornet going that late is almost criminal in comparison to some of the early round FW picks. Probably the brightest star over at FW in its history as a circuit, Hornet went in the 14th round. In comparison, Troy Windham went in round 4, Joey Melton in round 3 and GUNS in round 1.

Questionable Picks First, Wong Fei Hung II probably should have gone in free agency. New character that has cut all of one promo. Interesting character, mind you, but would have been there after the draft was over. Slambo the Clown in round 3 might have been a reach. In the incarnation drafted, Slambo is a Cyber Champion and almost won Pier Six in 2005, but I'm not sure he should have gone ahead of Nemesys, Promo, Bobby R, Snake or Paco. Also not a fan of drafting NPCs/announcers, so I guess I have to mention Dr. Phantasmo here too.

Overall Grade B+ Solid draft, a little weak in the main event outside of Double F and possibly Hornet, but a great cast of upper midcarders and entertaining personalities.

* drafted but no longer on roster
# picked up after draft but waived shortly thereafter

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wasn't a first round pick Tom.

Anonymous said...

web is overrated in that he got too much of a push in comparison to his promos

Anonymous said...

Web was hot and cold. In the right program, I thought he could hold his own. And he was definitely "carriable."

Anonymous said...

beau michaels-cruise should never have been in free agency .. but obviously this guy knew what he was doing when he picked him up.