WWE/TNA Mark Madness 2011: Cena-Angle, Miz-Orton to the Wire, Final Four Set

No. 1 seeds continued to fall from the ranks of championship hopefuls in the Elite Eight, but not without a fight.

Elite Eight marked by far the closest round of the entire tournament, with three out of the four matches fiercely contested for the majority of the 24-hour voting period. 

Elite Eight Headlines

No. 1 seeds Edge and Miz eliminated

 John Cena is the only remaining No. 1 seed after the scintillating eliminations of both Edge and Miz.  Miz waged a back-and-forth war with Randy Orton that hovered around the 50 percentile for each competitor throughout. 

Orton was able to squeak by WWE Champion Miz, advancing to the Final Four. 

Meanwhile, A.J. Styles' quiet run to the tournament crown just made a lot more noise as the former TNA World Champion defeated World Champion Edge in an entertaining bout that saw Styles pick up considerable steam on the back end of the voting period. 

Styles, now the only remaining wrestler in the tournament from TNA after Jeff Hardy was defeated by the Undertaker, will take on Randy Orton in his respective Final Four match.  

Cena-Angle live up to the hype

 While Cena-Punk may have fallen short of expectations, Cena and Angle staged a classic battle that was tied through the first thousand votes. 

Following the dead heat, the two would exchange diminutive leads until Cena managed to hold off Angle in the final minutes of the voting period. 

While Cena indeed won this hotly contested matchup, a case could also be made that Angle just ran out of time. 

Final Four Preview

With the Final Four featuring a strong crop of former World Champions and poster boys, here's a preview of each wrestler who has made it to the semifinal round and how they got there. 

(8) A.J. Styles

 The Final Four round sees three out of four wrestlers being housed under the WWE brand.  While TNA has been underwhelming throughout Mark Madness, their sole remaining representative in A.J. Styles has been anything but that. 

Styles has defeated three consecutive former World Champions in his quest to win the 2011 Mark Madness tournament.  All of these wins have been by double digits.  

(11) The Undertaker

 Despite being the lowest seed of the Final Four field, the Undertaker has definitely been the most dominant. 

The Undertaker has not been in trouble at any point in this tournament, averaging an astounding 82.2% of the vote, with his average margin of victory being 63.95%. 

Undertaker will now face No. 1 overall seed John Cena in a matchup that many have been clamoring to see at WrestleMania for years. 

(6) Randy Orton

Randy Orton has impressed, rising to the occasion against formidable competition for the majority of the tournament.  Orton now takes on a red-hot A.J. Styles in a battle of wrestlers coming off of wins over No. 1 seeds. 

(1) John Cena

 John Cena has been flirting with disaster for two rounds now, coming off of hard-fought wins over John Morrison and Kurt Angle. 

Cena, and those who voted for him, has shown the resolve of a champion and will need all the resolve he can muster in the Final Four against the Undertaker. 

The Final Four is live!  Click here to vote for which wrestler you think should be in the championship round.  Follow Big Nasty on twitter @ThisIsNasty for up-to-the-minute analysis and coverage of the 2011 Mark Madness tournament.