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

[MrMojoRisin]

Voting Andre because there is no way this should be this much of a blowout.

The truth of this match though... is who's the heel? Because these are two 70's era WWWF fan favorite icons. They both are known for one thing above everything else. Beating the bad guys. Every time.

The logical assumption is that Andre is the bad guy because Wrestlemania 3. He worked as a pretty damn impressive heel for the last few years of his career, and that Andre loses this match every single time.

Who says that's the Andre we're seeing here? And who says that Andre's the one that has to work heel?

Bruno Sammartino... was a good guy wrestler who the fans identified with and appreciated more because he would fight like a bad guy. He gave them a taste of their own medicine. Bruno would break rules. Now I'm not talking foreign objects, chair shots, cheating managers or valets. Nothing like that. He'd fight with closed fists. He'd take the extra cheap shot when the ref wasn't looking. He'd throw you over the top rope. All the sneaky little things that separated a good guy from a bad guy... he would do.

It's very easy to see Bruno working heel trying to take down the beloved gentle giant. And it's easy to see the crowd turning on him if he did.

The guy working heel loses this match. Don't assume that person will be Andre.

 

[Tastycles]

I voted for Andre. The truth is, they never really interacted because Andre didn't need the title to be a draw. I think a pretty good case could be made either way, but for me it boils down the fact that Andre made the transition to being a national and international star far better than Bruno. Look forward to seeing Bruno in the final though.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Andre loses because there's not enough gas in the tank to endure a long, grudge match with history's king of grudge matches. Bruno would attack the legs of the giant and take the match to the mat. After a long match, Bruno wins by pin fall.

 

[enviousdominous]

I think this match would be billed as hero vs hero in respect to the wrestlers. Each wrestler had a brand to protect when they were on top, and it would make more sense to protect that as neither man would be retiring anytime soon.

I'm giving this one to Andre. He's the immovable object that I see stopping Bruno's irresistible force. Though I admit that I wouldn't feel at all negative about seeing Bruno beat Andre.

If they ever actually had this match, it would be the biggest accolade of either man to beat the other. Neither man would be able to effectively dominate the other, I could see this being the first match for these two where both men could endure worse beatings than either man can give. The winner would be the one who could tip the match in his favor at the right time, and I see Andre winning that coin toss.

Vote Andre