Rock Region, Las Vegas Subregion, First Round: (13) Rick Rude vs. (20) Tiger Mask I

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the Rock Region, Las Vegas Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada.

#13. Rick Rude

Vs.

#20. Tiger Mask I

​

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.

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.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

This is one of those matches where it's difficult to tell where I should vote. Rude is clearly the more main event of the two. He ended the Ultimate Warrior's undefeated streak, was the main man in the Dangerous Alliance and was a multiple time world champion (if you subscribe to the belief that the International World Championship counts). He'd main event a show and make you hate him.

By contrast, Tiger Mask is probably more important to the overall legacy of wrestling. If not for him and Dynamite Kid, we wouldn't see the rise of smaller wrestler's today, or at least on the same level. I've no doubt Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart would've made it regardless, but guys like Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho and the other counterweights from that era and smaller indy guys wouldn't have been given the time and trust that was placed in them to make it big.

Tiger Mask helped reinvent the game, Rude in turn was a major player in his day. So I'm quite torn.

 

[enviousdominous]

While top heels are not likely to win a tournament like this, they most certainly don't deserve to go out early either.

Tiger Mask, in all his incarnations, was phenomenal. He was to prowrestling what Bruce Lee was to martial arts. He was a part of the golden age of puroresu, and he damn well better be getting a HOF nod in the future.

Rick Rude was legendary in his own right. He was one of the most memorable performers in history, and he made any of his opponents look ten times better for being in a match with him.

I'm giving the edge to Rick Rude, because at his best he would have figured out a way to get a victory over someone who respects the sanctity of the rules as much as Tiger Mask.

Vote Rick Rude.

 

[Bernkastel]

Tiger Mask was cut from the same cloth as Jushin Liger. He was a persona that was aimed at children to help get them weened onto the product. Like Liger the original Tiger Mask was just as popular and marketable. Satoru Sayama doesn't portray the character anymore, but there have been 4 incarnations since then to carry the characters mantle. Tiger Mask is a cultural icon in Japan, the wrestling gimmick being very well received, and is well known in the States too. Tekken fans will know who he is.

Rude was a fantastic heel. But his popularly peaked after a few years. Tiger Mask, as both a wrestler and character, remains an icon all over the world some 35 years after New Japan first debuted the character. That's staying power.

Vote Tiger Mask.

 

[Tastycles]

Tiger Mask's matches are the polar opposite in terms of quality than Rick Rude's matches. Christ Rude could put on a snoozefest. But wrestling isn't really about wrestling, it's about building yourself into a character and making the people interact with it, and I think Rude was better at that. A master of generating heat, I can't see any other outcome here but a Rude win.