Hogan Region, Toronto Subregion, Second Round: (3) Randy Savage vs. (14) Stan Hansen

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round match in the Hogan Region, Toronto Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

#3. Randy Savage

Vs.

#14. Stan Hansen

​

Polls will be open for three 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. Assume that the wrestlers are coming in fresh after their first round match.

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.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Stan Hansen is one of the toughest, stiffest wrestlers of the entire tournament. The only way anyone is beating him is if they are bigger, stronger and can survive a thrashing.

Macho Man is no slouch either. He's agile, strong and resiliant. I'm not going to compare accomplishments or who had the bigger main events. Macho would win if that were the case.

I just can't see Macho Man being able to handle a serious thrashing from Stan Hansen. Hansen with the upset with a hard lariat special move.

Vote Stan Hansen!

 

[enviousdominous]

This is a really tough one, for all I can research these two prowrestling mainstays only ever competed against each other in battle royals for GCW.

I'm giving my vote to Randy Savage, because he could easily match Stan's sadism. Randy was a fan favorite, with a level of ferocity that was usually reserved for heels like Stan. No matter who you were, Randy was coming in with his soul on fire and was ready to take the match to the limit.

Stan would beat his opponents within an inch of their lives, and he's going up against someone so full of life that Stan would likely die of starvation trying to beat it out of him.

Vote Randy Savage.

 

[Bernkastel]

This is actually a tougher match than I had initially realized. I came in ready to back Randy Savage 100%, and now I'm not so sure. Savage was one of WWE's most popular champions during the 1980's and was a WCW mainstay. He may have won more titles in WCW, but he was no where near the moneymaker that he was in WWE.

I would say that Hansen was a moderate success as AWA champion, similar to Savage's WCW world title runs by comparison, but his main claim to fame as a champion were the world titles he won in the All Japan. Where he defeated 3 of the promotions biggest names, Tsuruta, Misawa, and Kawada to win 3 of those. Very impressive.

Both men were household names at their peak. Hansen did all sorts of media in Japan, while Macho Man appeared in movies and Slim Jim commercials. So their mainstream appeal seems rather even. Hansen has the edge thanks to his success in the States before becoming an icon in Japan.

As far as impact on the industry goes though, I think Savage has the edge. He was a standout performer during a time when the entertainment aspect of wrestling became the most important facet of the industry. The character that he created has been one that many wrestlers of the current era have tried to emulate. Some might see JBL as a Hansen copy, or even a tribute, but for every JBL there's a Punk trying to catch lightning in a bottle the same way Savage did.

I think all things considered I'm going to back Savage, but it was close.

 

[Tastycles]

I said in the last round that I had earned a lot of respect for Hansen over the last few years, and there's certainly a place for guys like that. He is not Randy Savage though, a man who is possibly the best all round professional wrestler of all time. Savage wins.

 

[justtxyank]

I' in the minority on this board, but I think Hansen was a better worker than Randy Savage and had a much longer period as a top draw.

Look, I love Savage. He's one of my favorites of all time. However, a lot of his 90s run was basically just "Hey I'm Randy Savage and I'm popular and that's why you should root for me and like my matches."

Hansen was good to great consistently from the early 80s to around 94 and was good to ok after that until his retirement. In 1993 I think he was the best wrestler in the world and had a better run of great matches than Savage ever did. Some of that is that Savage worked WWF with their style, but none the less, Hansen was working longer, better matches against everyone.

Hansen will get my vote, but it's no shame to lose to Randy Savage, which I expect he will.

To be clear though, outside of his run after winning the title at WrestleMania IV, Savage was never able to be the lead guy in a promotion. Hansen on the other hand was treated as the lead foe for much of All Japan for a decade. Beating Hansen was something that AJPW spent years building to with guys from the Pillars.

Vote Hansen (but don't feel bad if you vote Savage anyway lol)