Why wouldn't location matter? Location often matters who wins and loses in matches.
True, but why would it matter in a tournament such as this when we have superstars that never left their home country competing in hypothetical contests? The whole point is to vote the better wrestler over.
It doesn't matter if he was Korean. He didn't build wrestling in Korea, he built wrestling in Japan, he lived in Japan and in Americans eyes when he did wrestle he may as well be Japanese. Nikita Koloff isn't Russian either, what's your point?
I find it utterly amazing that he was able to build such popularity being a non Japanese, with the country being incredibly ethnocentric at the time.
Yes he did win a lot in the States (although all his winning was in Hawaii and the West Coast). I'm aware Lou Thesz put him over as Rikidozan put Thesz over as well. Brody isn't as cooperative as Lou Thesz is though.
Brody isn't anywhere close to Thesz's level, and would have been the type of wrestler Rikidozan would have gone over while working as a heel. When Thesz was a heel, Rikidozan still beat him.
I never said he didn't win I just said he wasn't the hero in the States, which he wasn't. His character in Japan and his character in the States are completely different.
It doesn't matter when he was still booked to either go over or job to the best stars in the region or promotion, and Brody was never either.
Brody drew a lot of money in the States. Sure, he was extremely popular in Japan but don't discredit his popularity in the States as he was very popular.
But not to the level as he was in Japan. That was his prime as a performer.
One of those places was in Florida, a place the Rikidozan never wrestled. I'm just saying Brody (who was a draw in Florida) beating a foreign villain isn't that much of a stretch, especially when Brody rarely lost to anybody regardless of the circumstances.
Brody was a draw in Florida, but not a big one. When Rikidozan was in his prime the big stars in the FCW territory were guys like Thesz and Kiniski who were far bigger than Brody.
Brody rarely lost to wrestlers of his caliber, like Lex Lugar or Abdullah, but lost frequently to bigger stars like Inoki, Hanson, and Tsuruta. With none of those three being on Rikidozan's level as a draw.
He won the NWA International title from Thesz, I don't recall that being the most prestigious title in the States. Yes, it was prestigious in Japan, it's part of the triple crown but that title was created as a partnership with JWA.
Even so, by the time Rikidozan defeated Thesz for the title he had already been a four time world champion. The International title had the same prestige as the world title since Thesz held it in the same regard.
I understand what you are saying, I understand what Rikidozan did for wrestling but the circumstances of a tournament are completely different. Rikidozan won as much as he did was so they could build wrestling in Japan as before Rikidozan there was pretty much nothing in regards to wrestling there.Under Rikidozan the NWA realized that Japan could be another place for them to do good business in(which they did) so they are going to push Japan's top star to the moon. He was a formidable opponent for Lou Thesz and Thesz had enough respect for him that he would willingly lose to Rikidozan. Personally I think its a shame Brody didn't have such qualities but that's neither here or there.
So if you understand then why are you voting for Brody, who was clearly not the superior wrestler regardless of which category you use?
My argument really comes down to this. Rikidozan didn't wrestle in Florida. Brody was big in Texas as well as Florida so he's naturally gonna get love there which is why I picked him (that location thing I was talking about).
Brody was a big star in Florida, but not as big as the stars Florida had when Rikidozan was in his prime. If anything you should be faulting Brody for not being as big of a star as Thesz, Kiniski, or Race rather than faulting Rikidozan for being booked to job to only the top stars in a region.
I probably shouldn't have said Rikidozan didn't mean much as that's really unfair to him.
He meant more to wrestling than Brody.
What I should have said is he played the foreign villain here who often cheated and won 2 singles titles in the States. He rarely lost in the States, but then again neither did Brody and even though Brody was often booked the heel would still get cheered, sometimes over the promotions top star.
Brody would lose to the top stars in Japan, but he only worked against average to mid range stars in the States while Rikidozan defeated the best of the best in Japan, and only jobbed to the best of the best while working internationally. Put Brody up against Thesz or Gagne and he'd also lose, regardless if he was a face or heel.