Best Wrestling Tournament?

['Foretold' Joker]

I really enjoy the Tournament setup be it king of the ring, survivor series 90 & 98, lethal lottery, king of trios, all the ones TNA did etc ... I feel it isn't done enough (especially in wwe).

Which are your favourites?

Which winners were the best?

What was the worst?

[Spider2024]

I was just thinking the other day, what would you put on a 'Best Tournaments' list?

I'd think what makes an exceptionally good tournament is a few things: A fairly good field of participants, a fairly good winner at the end, making the winner look like a million bucks, while also somehow making it so that at least a few of the tournament losers aren't left totally inconsequential from losing. Like, either a feud is built up between some of the others in the tournament, or they have some good performances that make them look good in defeat somehow. Also some good matches, that certainly helps.

It's tough to pick which was the best KOTR of them all (it's much easier to single out the worst, see below) but I'll pick '93, the first one to be a PPV and all over TV. It did a great job of setting the tone for how important it was, pretty much everyone in the mid-card & upper mid-card back then wanted to win a tournament that wasn't even a thing 3 months ago. And yeah, winner Bret Hart looked like a million bucks by virtue of winning, in more ways than one.

The Cruiserweight Classic did all that as well (it kickstarted the whole DIY storyline, and also, "Sign Cedric!"), and both MYCs have been very good. Also credit the 1998 Survivor Series World Title Tournament for somehow making a one-night work when the 1988 WrestleMania IV World Title Tournament was bungled so much.

The worst tournaments would be the ones that did all the opposite. Basically by being janky in multiple ways (bad results/matches/winner to name a few). KOTR '95 is certainly the worst KOTR, not just for who won, but for the fact that, in a Final 8 that contained Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker & Yokozuna, the eventual Final 4 was: Mabel, Savio Vega, The Roadie... and Vacant.

[2coldMack is even more baffled]

Tag World Grand Prix 06 is pretty high up there.

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

If round robin-style tournaments count, then G1 Climax 26 is my pick. The main storyline was the rise of Kenny Omega, but everyone had a coherent story and every show had at least one 4+ star match

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

May 30, 2019 11:44:36 GMT -5 TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out said:

If round robin-style tournaments count, then G1 Climax 26 is my pick. The main storyline was the rise of Kenny Omega, but everyone had a coherent story and every show had at least one 4+ star match

G1 27 stood out for me especially. I liked Okada’s matches with Suzuki and Omega in that tourney more than most of the others he’s had with them on different shows.

[BRAINFADE]

The Best of the Super Juniors tournament that is currently going on is seriously a contender for me. It has been incredible so far, with the three nights in Korakuen Hall in particular being maybe the best multi night stretch of wrestling I have ever seen.

[Mozenrath]

May 30, 2019 12:26:11 GMT -5 BRAINFADE said:

The Best of the Super Juniors tournament that is currently going on is seriously a contender for me. It has been incredible so far, with the three nights in Korakuen Hall in particular being maybe the best multi night stretch of wrestling I have ever seen.

I've really been impressed with the variety of guys, and how it has had to deal with a lot of adversity. (Two substitutions, including one guy who has very limited experience in this sort of thing, and now TAKA's injury) They've done a good job rising to the occasion, all of the guys.

[ronnie2hotty]

Modern ones would be the Cruiserweight Classic and both of the Mae Young Classics. Crazy how good things can be when it's not overbooked.

One of the more underrated tournaments that may not get much mention would be the 2007 ROH Race to the Top Tournament. Great talent. Good upsets. Good matches.

[Fundertaker]

Can't go wrong with a Super J Cup.

Even the one Osaka Pro hosted (aka: the one without Liger) was decent.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Currently? G1 Climax

My favorite of all time? Ted Petty Invitational 05, the only good thing Ian Rotten ever did in his hep c life.

[HMARK Center]

May 30, 2019 11:44:36 GMT -5 TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out said:

If round robin-style tournaments count, then G1 Climax 26 is my pick. The main storyline was the rise of Kenny Omega, but everyone had a coherent story and every show had at least one 4+ star match

God, yeah; that year was such a transition period for the promotion after the departures of Styles and Nakamura, so things really felt wide open and chaotic, especially with things like Omega's rise, Naito solidifying LIJ, Shibata and Nakajima trying to kill one another, etc. The final three nights from that tournament are probably the most hyped I've been for any wrestling events, from Goto's surprise win of A block after beating Marufuji/the Okada vs. Tanahashi match being a draw, Omega and Naito nearly killing each other for B block, and then Omega vs. Goto ending up as one of my favorite NJPW matches.

Maybe I'm just biased since it was the first G1 I ever watched from start to finish, but that tournament was just spectacular from top to bottom.

[thecrusherwi]

I liked the first two King of the Ring PPVs quite a bit. Winning the 8 man tournament always felt like much more of an accomplishment than the 4 man.

I have a hard time imagining a tournament that’s worse than The Wrestling Classic. It’s a long tournament filled with BS finishes, the winner got nothing of value and it was rarely (if ever) mentioned again. It was just a meaningless filler event to test the viability of PPV as a vehicle.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

I'm a sucker for generally 'crap' tournaments, The Wrestlemania 4 World Title tournament and the Pat O'connor International Memorial Tag Team Tournament being two of my favourites.

[kidkamikaze10]

I love King of Trios. Not exactly the best tourney, but always fun

[DSR]

I've always enjoyed ROH's Survival of the Fittest tournament. Probably the best one of those was 2007, when Chris Hero eliminated everyone in the finals.

[Allie Kitsune]

May 30, 2019 13:12:21 GMT -5 thecrusherwi said:

I liked the first two King of the Ring PPVs quite a bit. Winning the 8 man tournament always felt like much more of an accomplishment than the 4 man.

I have a hard time imagining a tournament that’s worse than The Wrestling Classic. It’s a long tournament filled with BS finishes, the winner got nothing of value and it was rarely (if ever) mentioned again. It was just a meaningless filler event to test the viability of PPV as a vehicle.

I won't say it's worse (it's not), but looking back on it, the Deadly Game doesn't really hold up.

It's a loooooooooot of bullshit.

[thirteen3]

May 30, 2019 12:26:11 GMT -5 BRAINFADE said:

The Best of the Super Juniors tournament that is currently going on is seriously a contender for me. It has been incredible so far, with the three nights in Korakuen Hall in particular being maybe the best multi night stretch of wrestling I have ever seen.

Not a B-show in the bunch!

[Jiren]

Survivor Series 98 is both Best & Worst for me because most of the Matches are abysmal but dear lord the story is awesome.

But in terms of overall package then I'd go KOTR 93, Razor/Bret, Bret/Perfect & Bret/Bam Bam where damn good matches. Plus as a Bret fan seeing him win adds to the greatness.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

King of the Ring 1993 is part garbage and part two EXCELLENT Bret matches with Razor and especially Hennig. I only saw them recently. I had no idea Bret was so good.

[MrElijah]

J Crown Championship Tournament.