ECW Third, Round, Regular Match: (4) Harley Race vs. (5) Bob Backlund

Who wins this match?

  • Harley Race

  • Bob Backlund


Results are only viewable after voting.

klunderbunker

Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
This is a third round match in the ECW Region. It is a regular one on one match. It will be held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Assume one week has passed since the first round matches.

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Regular Match Rules: Stand one on one match. You can win by pin, submission, countout or disqualification.

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#4. Harley Race

Vs.

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#5. Bob Backlund



Polls will be open for four days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.

Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.
 
Race goes over here plain and simple. He's to big, to strong, to tough, and to smart for Backlund to overcome here.
 
Their careers match up kinda well, both having well received title reigns and dominant runs. I mean, they had a famous feud with on top of their respective organisations, both in their primes. Most of the big matches ended in draws, so there is little to gain in knowledge from that in terms of separating them. Both feuded all over the world, both were mega over. For two guys sooo different, one a scientific face and one a charismatic brawling heel, they really do match up perfectly.

Of their recorded matches together - 5 wins for Backlund, 2 wins for Race and 3 draws.

This is super close. I need something clarified - this is a regular match with DQ's despite it being in the ECW region, right? I know the op says you can be disqualified, just wanna make sure this isn't a mistake.

I think Race would be considered the favourite in an ECW match for sure, but if this is a standard rules match I gotta follow the numbers and say Backlund would go over here.
 
I'm going Backlund based on one thing alone. I think the main body of their careers are sufficiently similar that I don't feel I can separate them as someone who didn't watch them back then. So what to pick? Well, their late WWF stints. Race came binbags a King, didn't do much, then left. Backlund reinvented himself to make himself a relevant character and won the title. For my money, that gives it to him.
 
Standard one on one match, I can see both parties winning this, but I'll take Harley Race as this is closer to his home territory and most of Backlund's wins against Race were in Madison Square Garden. This is in Chicago, so Backlund's advantage venue wise is moot, but that aside, this will be a very good match.

This could really go either way but I'm giving this to Race in a hard fought battle.
 
Fuck it, I'm voting Race. Here's why.

I previously said I'd be taking Backlund over Race due to his superior win/loss record. Lariat's input about location is kinda relevant, especially when the win/loss record is SO close between them.

So it boils down to this for me - Race would work heel here, Backlund would work face. Next round the winner faces the winner of Cena/Funk in either a TLC match, a three stages of hell match, a Hell in a Cell or a 60m Ironman match.

If Cena progresses - Harley is the perfect cool heel to get duelling chants with Cena. There is no way Cena is working heel since he is in his prime, which makes a match with Backlund kinda awkward.

If Funk progresses - it's ECW and he is adored, naturally him vs another brutal heel in the previously stated gimmick matches would work better.

The only scenario I see that logically makes sense to book for Backlund is he wins here and faces Terry Funk in a 60m Ironman match. I don't think it's what I'd want to see, or what I'd book, so I'm putting Race over just for his utility in the tournament.
 
This one is hard for me and based on what I have read on the win loss records I went with Backlund. I also agree that he came back to WWE and reinvented himself and Race just kinda played the midcard. This is the least I have known going into one of these matches, and I went with Backlund.
 
These men are pretty close in what they achieved, and moreover when they achieved it so you can make a pretty good comparison. Race was an 8 time world champion, Backlund a 2 time champ but one of his reigns lasted for four years meaning they were actually champions for about the same total combined time.

But Backlund transcended eras. Before Hogan joined the NWO, the cleanest face in all of wrestling history returned in a big way to the WWE to challenge Bret Hart, the king of the mountain, to the WWE championship. He lost and then snapped and completed a successful character re-invention to adapt to the modern era of bigger, more obvious gimmicks. He was so successful that he actually beat Hart and was WWE champion briefly in the mid-90s before being served as fuel fodder for Diesel.

But if they guys are as close as they are, I think the defining feature should be the one that was able to get over in two separate periods in WWE history as totally different characters. In fact his match with Bret where he won the title is one of my favourite matches in WWE history, and so I think he deserves to go over and be recognised for being as big as he was.
 
Two years ago Race beat Sammartino in the second round of this tournament. At the time I did not mind so much as I like Race and place him as one of the best. However I did regret not posting and arguing for Sammartino as most of the support for Race was blind 'he was a 8 time champ' statements. So...

In reality when we talk about Race's title reigns we are really talking from 1977 to 1981. He held the title 5 times during this period. His first reign was a transitional reign from Funk Jr to Brisco. His seventh reign was to set up Flair, or so everyone here says; and his last reign was for 2 days. His 5 reigns come from dropping and then regaining the belt from Baba(twice), Rhodes and Rich.While I am not saying it is not impressive it is not the Holy Grail some make it out to be.

Now, in this contest we must compare the men in their primes. I would argue that when both dominated their respective titles would be a fair point to look at. Race owned the NWA title from 1977 until 1981. Backland the WWF title from 1978 until 1983. Both dropped and regained their titles( Race as mentioned. Backland to Inoki). Backland defended on the east coast from Florida up into Canada and in Japan. Race defended in the Southeast, Missouri territory, a handful in Texas, a handful in California and in Japan. Backland held his title longer.

Given all this I think it is fair to say that both men during this time are fairly equal. So the only logical thing to do is go to matches they have had together in which Backland holds an edge. Yes he beat Race in New York. Race beat Backland in St. Louis, right in his backyard. bottom line is that when they were matched up Backland won more then he lost. Prime vs Prime.

Race is great but so is Backland. Logic says vote Backland.

Fuck it, I'm voting Race. Here's why.

I previously said I'd be taking Backlund over Race due to his superior win/loss record. Lariat's input about location is kinda relevant, especially when the win/loss record is SO close between them.

So it boils down to this for me - Race would work heel here, Backlund would work face. Next round the winner faces the winner of Cena/Funk in either a TLC match, a three stages of hell match, a Hell in a Cell or a 60m Ironman match.

If Cena progresses - Harley is the perfect cool heel to get duelling chants with Cena. There is no way Cena is working heel since he is in his prime, which makes a match with Backlund kinda awkward.

If Funk progresses - it's ECW and he is adored, naturally him vs another brutal heel in the previously stated gimmick matches would work better.

The only scenario I see that logically makes sense to book for Backlund is he wins here and faces Terry Funk in a 60m Ironman match. I don't think it's what I'd want to see, or what I'd book, so I'm putting Race over just for his utility in the tournament.

Let me get this right. you are ignoring your own solid facts to vote for Race on a could be, might be, so probably this would happen. You are actually voting for someone you thought would lose based on who might win another match and on a set of rules you have no idea about. nice.

Also, backland won his share of cage and death matches, so with the exception of a TLC match( which would in no way favor Race any more or less then Backland ) I think he would do just fine.
 
Let me get this right. you are ignoring your own solid facts to vote for Race on a could be, might be, so probably this would happen. You are actually voting for someone you thought would lose based on who might win another match and on a set of rules you have no idea about. nice.

Also, backland won his share of cage and death matches, so with the exception of a TLC match( which would in no way favor Race any more or less then Backland ) I think he would do just fine.

Yeah, I mean I understand not everyone follows the same selection process so votes for Backlund I'm completely fine with. I'd only base vote on logical choice for next round when its really, really close - and I think its really close here. More importantly than not suiting the gimmicks, I DO think a heel would be the most natural fit to face Cena/Funk.

As I say, kayfabe it's pretty much a toss up. Slight edge for Backlund, but the location might be enough to fade this out. I just don't see how anyone can put up a passionate argument either way here, so just vote how you want. I probably prefer Backlund, I think Race has more utility for the next round of the tournament. That's what swayed it for me.

Oh and, I don't put as much weight on Backlund's reinvention - it's really impressive, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but I'm trying to just base this on prime vs prime so for me it's irrelevant. Completely fine to include if you vote in different ways, so again I'm not opposing Bob at all.
 
A part of me wants to say Harley Race kicks Bob Backland's ass six ways to Sunday, especially in an ECW environment, "regular" match or not. Another part of me thinks Backlund would ground Race out and make it HIS kind of battle, which there's no way Race could win. It's a really hard fight to predict.

I looked up to see if these two ever faced each other in their primes, and sure enough, it's happened 3 times that I could find, each time both were champion of their respective organization (Backlund for the WWWF and Race for the NWA). Results? 2 draws, and Race winning a controversial 2 out of 3 falls bout by getting the 3rd fall off a DQ after Race was backdropped over the top rope while reversing a piledriver attempt.

Let's face it, this match ends in a draw. I don't see how it could go any other way. I don't care if there's no time limit or anything like that... there would be no clear winner with these two.

So, you have to vote for the guy you like and/or respect more, and for me that's Harley Race. I'm a fan of Bob Backlund and respect the hell out of him, but I'm just more of a Harley Race guy. Race is the rugged, bad ass motherfucker you want on your side in a bar fight, while Backlund is Mr. Clean Cut American. I mean, of course I like Race more. And quite frankly, I think Race's matches have better rewatch quality than Backlund's matches; not to mention promos, where Race had the CLEAR edge over Backlund.

So yeah, in terms of kayfabe, this match is a draw no matter how you cut it, but I have to vote for Race regardless based off of talent that catered more to my preferences as a pro wrestling fan.
 
I like Harley more than Backlund. Always have. Found Backlund annoying mostly. And that's my main basis for voting here.

I profess I have but elementary knowledge about these men. Of course I've read, seen more of Race and dig his raspy voice.

The King of Kansas for me!
 
This would be very interesting because Backlund was, basically, a very goody too shoes face which I can just see the ECW fans booing with every bit of air they have in their lungs. As a career heel, nothing will unsettle Race but I do think Backlund would be thrown off just enough to give Harley the win.
 

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