Championship Region, Sixth Round: (4) Bruno Sammartino vs. (3) Andre the Giant

[klunderbunker]

This is a sixth round match in the Championship Region. It will be held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

Starting in this round, all matches are taking place in one night, meaning all damage from one match will carry over to the next match. This will be determined by the margin of the match and total votes. The wider a margin, the more dominant a victory. The more total votes, the longer a match lasted. I'll keep these updated as the last three rounds go along.

#4. Bruno Sammartino

Round 5 Result: Defeated Triple H 42-23

Vs.

#3. Andre the Giant

Round 5 Results: Defeated Kurt Angle 41-32

​

Polls will be open for six 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.

 

[nightmare]

Bruno. He is in better shape, he carries less damage into the match & his title history is top notch.

There really isnt an argument here.

 

[zhaff2004]

Bruno takes this. He's fresher, in better shape and will not be intimidated by Andre. Andre is a legend, but Bruno is THE living legend and he puts Andre away then goes on to slay the beast in the final.

 

[The Gribbler]

I think that Sammartino takes it. Andre lost to Hogan in the closest approximation of this match (dominant champ vs monster) and Sammartino is a better wrestler than Hogan on just about any day of the week.

Bruno is fresher (and take into consideration that being a giant Andre would tire faster in any case) and clearly strength isn't an issue as Sammartino can bench Andre.

Sammartino for the finals.

 

[Cena Is A Punk Rocker]

Voting Bruno strictly because I want a Bruno vs Beast match.

 

[Loveless]

This is just a bad draw for Andre as he's clearly most vulnerable to people strong enough to handle him. Bruno is the quintessential strongman, he's not losing this.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Andre is a way bigger star and part of pop culture than Bruno could ever dream to be. As great as Bruno was, no one outside of wrestling nerds knows who he is, and even then a fair bit don't know him. Bruno is great, but I gotta go Andre here.

 

[nightmare]

Andre is a way bigger star and part of pop culture than Bruno could ever dream to be. As great as Bruno was, no one outside of wrestling nerds knows who he is, and even then a fair bit don't know him. Bruno is great, but I gotta go Andre here.

By wrestling nerds, you meant everyone associated with the business in the last 50 years? Or did you mean any fan over the age of 15? Either way it is quite a large number of people know Bruno.

Oh and as far as Pop Culture goes, who cares? Miz is a bigger part of Pop Culture than the both of them & he sure as hell isnt winning one of these tournaments because of it.

Sounds like both your reasons are complete trash. Now kindly change your vote.

 

[sikkbones]

Given that this match never ever happened... I just want to see what the results are.

As much as I want to see bork vs. Bruno, I have a feeling Andre is the one guy bruno just can't beat,

 

[Bernkastel]

Nope, this Bruno all day and night. Andre lost to some of the top guys in the industry and Bruno was just about as big as it got. I mean sure, you could argue that Andre was a bigger crossover star because of his movies, but in the 60's wrestling was still being treated like a sport, and Bruno was one of the most recognizable athlete's in the world. He was to wrestling what Muhammad Ali was to boxing, or Wilt Chamberlain was to basketball.

Bruno is also one of the most successful drawing cards of all time. Even more so than Andre. Bruno had constant and continuous sellouts across the Northeast for years. He was the one that made MSG the most famous arena for wrestling. Something Andre could never do. Sure, he traveled everywhere, but it's not as if Bruno didn't. Bruno had his fair share of sellouts in Australia, Japan, Puerto Rico, across Europe, and South America. And when he wasn't champion he traveled all across the US and Canada.

Andre's most memorable moment is being slammed by Hulk Hogan, where fans booed him and called his opponent the greatest of all time. Bruno's most memorable moment is causing a pin to drop in a moment of complete silence when Ivan Koloff beat him during a match in the Garden in 1971. Koloff became the most hated man in America, while grown men cried and proclaimed that Bruno would remain their champion for life. WWE tried to recapture that same moment when Brock defeated Taker at Mania 30, to dramatic results. The Andre/Hulk moment has been recreated too, but often with less than stellar results.

The giants main role at this point would be to put over the ultimate giant slayer. A strongman with virtually limitless strength and stamina. Andre is worn from his match with Angle, while a far better performer in Triple H, was schooled by Bruno with less effort.

Bruno has every advantage conceivable. He wins.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Even the thread title says Bruno Sammartino b. Andre the Giant.

I can't argue with that. Who am I to fight something that's gone over everybody's heads because it even sounds like the most logical conclusion?

Vote Bruno.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Great match here. I'm not sure what way I'm going yet, but in doing a little research, I was surprised to find there were only 4 times ever that these two appeared in the same ring together:

10/5/74 - Bruno, Andre and Haystacks Calhoun LOST a 3 out of 5 falls match to Killer Kowalski and the Valiants (Jimmy and Johnny).
3/31/75 - Bruno and Andre defeat the Valiants
3/3/85 - Bruno and Andre defeat Big John Studd and Ken Patera

Legit surprised they didn't have these two team together more.

And one time they were on opposite sides:

Wrestlemania 2 Battle Royal - Andre defeats 19 other competitors including Bruno Sammartino (I'd have to go back and watch to see if they even interacted in it.

Yeah not much to go on historically between these two. It is a little funny though that in a way we actually saw this one at Wrestlemania of all places.

 

[SSJPhenom]

It has to be Bruno.

You've got a guy billed as being undefeated for 15 years going up against a guy who really was undefeated for years and carried the title for all that time as well. Don't let the lore and legend of Andre fool you. He was only unstoppable if you were anything less than the top guy in the business. Well Bruno was the top guy in the business for a very long time and I see no reason whatsoever why Andre would win this match. As far as wrestling goes, Bruno is better in just about every conceivable way.

If this were a battle royal with about 13 other wrestlers, I'd go with Andre. Vote Bruno.

 

[nightmare]

Great match here. I'm not sure what way I'm going yet, but in doing a little research, I was surprised to find there were only 4 times ever that these two appeared in the same ring together:

10/5/74 - Bruno, Andre and Haystacks Calhoun LOST a 3 out of 5 falls match to Killer Kowalski and the Valiants (Jimmy and Johnny).
3/31/75 - Bruno and Andre defeat the Valiants
3/3/85 - Bruno and Andre defeat Big John Studd and Ken Patera

Legit surprised they didn't have these two team together more.

And one time they were on opposite sides:

Wrestlemania 2 Battle Royal - Andre defeats 19 other competitors including Bruno Sammartino (I'd have to go back and watch to see if they even interacted in it.

Yeah not much to go on historically between these two. It is a little funny though that in a way we actually saw this one at Wrestlemania of all places.

That is crazy. Honestly thought they were in more tag matches & the Mania thing never registered. Someone should get on the network and report back on that one.

 

[ShinChan]

As great as Bruno was, no one outside of wrestling nerds knows who he is, and even then a fair bit don't know him. Bruno is great, but I gotta go Andre here.

Well I can't say anything about now. But once upon a time, I was just a casual WWE fan. No Internet. Nothing. Kayfabe was still ultra-alive for me. And I still knew Bruno Sammartino. So that negates the bolded statement by you.

It’s sort of a dream match for me. I got to know more and more about Andre in last year's tournament and I got to know more about Bruno in this tournament. I'll hold off for a while. Soft support for Bruno as of now.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I don't care what anyone says. This the final of this tournament. Both Bruno and Andre each have a bigger leagacy than both Hart & Lesnar combined. Andre, he's definately big. Huge star. But Bruno is bigger. Bruno, Hogan, Austin, Cena. That's the order. Andre never was the ultimate draw. He was like a special attraction. Sure you could argue that Andre was so big he didn't need the belt and having champ Andre and non-champ Bruno won't sell as much as champ Bruno and non-champ Andre headlining the same show.

The problem with special attraction though? They always lose to the big star. Bruno wins. Wrestling logic says so.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Wrestlemania 2 Battle Royal - Andre defeats 19 other competitors including Bruno Sammartino (I'd have to go back and watch to see if they even interacted in it.

That is crazy. Honestly thought they were in more tag matches & the Mania thing never registered. Someone should get on the network and report back on that one.

Bruno got eliminated by Big John Studd before him and Andre interacted


As for me I'll be voting for Bruno. Bruno was the Face of the company during his day and I believe Andre would have been the Monster heel brought in specifically for Bruno to vanquish.

As much as I love Andre I don't see him winning here.

 

[Bernkastel]

McMahon Sr. learned from the mistake of the Sammartino/Morales matches because face vs face rivalries don't work. Why? Because the fans had no way to shift the momentum to one side or the other, and the matches always ended in draws. Same thing here. Bruno wasn't just the face of WWE; he was the one that brought credibility to the organization. McMahon was able to leave the shadow of the NWA, and was able to call his title a true world title because Bruno held it. Andre was just a popular attraction. He would have been the one turning heel to fight Bruno, and Bruno would have been the one victorious. Sr. didn't do this because a high profile loss to Bruno would have possibly hurt Andre's appeal, but Jr. saw the potential. Andre was a vehicle to put over his next big megastar [even though he brought back an aging Bruno because said new megastar couldn't pack New York, Boston, and Philly as well as he could.] If Sr. had made the same decision that his son did years previously, Andre would have lost to wrestling's then megastar; and that was Bruno.

 

[sikkbones]

I don't care what anyone says. This the final of this tournament. Both Bruno and Andre each have a bigger leagacy than both Hart & Lesnar combined. Andre, he's definately big. Huge star. But Bruno is bigger. Bruno, Hogan, Austin, Cena. That's the order. Andre never was the ultimate draw. He was like a special attraction. Sure you could argue that Andre was so big he didn't need the belt and having champ Andre and non-champ Bruno won't sell as much as champ Bruno and non-champ Andre headlining the same show.

The problem with special attraction though? They always lose to the big star. Bruno wins. Wrestling logic says so.

Bruno, hogan, Austin, cena, lesnar.

Fixed.

 

[Lowdown]

This is similar to the discussions when Andre drew Kurt Angle. This is a different opponent altogether in Bruno. Could Bruno beat him, sure, and the same can be said for Andre. But this is a one night tourney, and while and was able to defeat Kurt, this match favors Bruno.

 

[ShinChan]

I have made my mind now. And the soft support for Bruno has turned into a strong one.

Bruno easily defeated Triple H while Andre seems to have a long gruelling battle with Kurt Angle of all people. Andre has had two sixty minutes draws with Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkel. But Bruno has more experience. His longest match is about 81 minutes. That shows the period he could go for in a particular night. Plus, already mentioned, Bruno defeated Triple H easily while Andre's win wasn't this easy.

Also would've loved to see this match actually happen but we won't be getting the Wrestlemania 3 moment if it happened.

Vote Bruno Sammartino.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Apparently Bruno wanted this match to happen too. Same with Andre. But McMahon Sr. refused because he didn't want to do anything to risk either guy's credibility with the fans. Even a draw, double dq, fuck finish, whatever. Without a clear cut winner, there would have been a segment of fans that thought a little less of both guys for not being able to beat the other. And of course if one of the actually lost? Fawgetaboutit.

With Bruno and Andre, McMahon Sr. had TWO main events every night. He could give one or the other the night off whenever he felt like and still have the other to sell the building out. If you don't have both guys, the New York territory probably isn't known as such a cash cow to the wrestlers, and Vince Jr's expansion idea in the 80's has a harder time taking off. If it even does.

Bruno and Andre made a lot of money for wrestlers who worked in the WWWF. That reputation helped guys in the 80's give McMahon's crazy idea a shot. Without all that talent he was able to poach (including Hogan)... what he did probably doesn't happen. That talent doesn't come if they're not certain they'll get paid generously for it. They're not certain they'll get paid generously... unless they already knew they would because the territory had a proven track record. That track record... started with Bruno and Andre.

Never really thought of that until now, but it's funny how things work out.

 

[sikkbones]

Sad that my one lone vote up there is for Andre.

 

[ScreaminNormanSmiley]

Voting for Andre because of the tournament rules. There is no way Bruno would win unscathed like is happening now. Sure he wins but it is ridiculous to assume that he comes out clean and this extra vote will likely fix that flaw. Pretty badass that I'm right and making a difference.

Edit: I voted against Andre on accident. Please change my vote over and also include the likely amount that did the same thing.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Three people have said they voted Andre (myself included), he is only showing one vote.