Greatest WrestleMania Match of All Time Tournament: Round 2 (Michaels Bracket)

What's up, ladies and gentlemen? My name is Eric Kanes and I present to you the long-awaited Round 2 of the Michaels Bracket.

Now, the reason that this Bracket is coming a day late is because a tie was encountered for one of the matches, so this bracket was a lot closer than the Austin Bracket.

For those wondering, yes the schedule has been changed and now all of the Brackets will end one day later than they were supposed to, so that leaves an extra 24 hours to vote for the Rock Bracket and 48 more hours to vote for the Henry Bracket.

And now, without any further ado, which matches from Round 1 made it to Round 2? Let's find out:

1. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho (WM 19) (28.2%)

vs.

8. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (WM 17) (71.8%)

2. Steve Austin vs. The Rock (WM 19) (46.2%)

vs.

7. The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan (WM 18) (53.8%)

3. Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels (WM 11) (51.3%)

vs.

6. Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper (WM 8) (48.7%)

4. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WM 13) (82.1%)

vs.

5. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant (WM 3) (17.9%)

My thoughts?

I'm a bit surprised that Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels didn't get more votes considering it was two of the best (and most beloved) wrestlers of all time in a straight up wrestling match.

However, I definitely understand why. The TLC match at WrestleMania 17 was definitely the greatest one in the series and it set the bar for all future TLC matches. I approve.

Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels barely defeated Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper by one vote and although I voted for Hart vs. Piper, I once again understand the reasoning behind this.

Hart/Piper was the better actual wrestling match in my opinion but Diesel/Michaels had much better build-up and some would say that it was the genesis of Michaels' major babyface run.

Hart/Austin blowing out Hogan/Andre does not surprise me at all. Although a lot of people love the Hogan/Andre match, I think a majority consensus would agree that Hart/Austin was better in just about every aspect.

With all due respect to both Hogan and Andre, putting on a match like the one that Hart and Austin did at WrestleMania 13 is extremely improbable. It's definitely one of my top three WrestleMania matches of all time.

Finally, there is one outcome that is very shocking to me and that is that Rock/Hogan managed to knock out Rock/Austin even if by only a couple votes. The only justification that I saw is that this was Hogan's last good match but keep in mind that this was Austin's last good match as well. Hell, it was Austin's last match in general.

Hogan and Rock's match was really only a classic due to the phenomenal crowd, so seeing this match defeat Rock vs. Austin is a bit of an upset to say the least.

Anyway, that's Round 1. On to Round 2.

3. Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels (WM 11)

The exciting thing about this match was that this was the first time Shawn Michaels headlined a pay-per-view.

Although it wasn't the last match on the card, it was for the world title, which would've made it the main event by normal standards.

Shawn's performance here was fantastic, and this was the start of his first run as a babyface singles wrestler.

vs. 8. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz (WM 17)

This was the third match in the series, so there was nothing they could do that was unseen before, but they found ways to make it different.

The addition of Rhyno, Spike and Lita added something good to the match that wasn’t there before. The spots in this match were once again awesome as all six guys, plus their three friends, busted their asses to put on a great show.

As usual, Jeff Hardy took the most insane bumps with the Swanton onto two people as well as the spear that he took from Edge while hanging onto the belts, which is one of the sickest bumps I've ever seen in any match. It's amazing that he could even walk afterwards.

One other thing that stood out was the chemistry that these guys already had by the time of this match. They had everything planned out perfectly and it worked in every way possible.

Due to that fact, this is personally my favorite match of the three original TLCs.

4. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WM 13)

This match had everything that is good about the wrestling business: two great competitors, a tremendous storyline, an extremely high workrate, plenty of crowd heat, one of the greatest blade jobs ever, and the greatest double turn in the history of the business.

This is one of the greatest matches in wrestling history, if not the greatest match.

vs. 7. The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan (WM 18)

This was a dream match-up going in. Two icons, one from the past in Hogan and one from the present in Rock, went face-to-face in Toronto on the grandest stage of them all. Was this a technical classic? Absolutely not.

However, these men did a fantastic job of playing off of the crowd and it was one of the most electric atmospheres for any match in WrestleMania history.

The end saw The Rock toppling Hollywood Hogan, only to have Hogan shake his hand in what was considered the "passing of the torch."

Final Bracket

In case you missed it, here is the final Round 2 Michaels Bracket:

3. Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels (WM 11)

vs.

8. Edge & Christian vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz (WM 17)

4. Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart (WM 13)

vs.

7. The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan (WM 18)

And that shall conclude the second round Michaels Bracket.

The Round 1 Rock Bracket, which has an extremely heated match-up going on, has 24 hours left. You can vote on it right here.

The Round 1 Henry Bracket has 48 hours left. Make sure to cast your votes here.

Finally, the Round 2 Austin Bracket has 72 hours left but the two match-ups are currently shaping up to be blow-outs.

Will these matches get the easy victory, or will the "underdog" matches be able to retaliate and pick up a huge upset? You can decide by voting right here.

I will be right back here tomorrow with the Round 2 Rock Bracket and more results from Round 1, but until then, I'm out!