First Round: Dallas - Antonio Inoki vs. CM Punk

[Uncle Sam]

Wow, I probably should have voted for Punk while I had the chance. "You're going to forget, Sam. Trust me, I know you - you're going to forget", said the little voice in my head. "No", I replied aloud, "you're going to forget, motherfucker."

I think it just goes to show that you should always do what the voices in your head tell you to.

Unless it's vote for Antonio Inoki, obviously.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Write in vote for CM Punk: for the sake of fairness, I just believe that the arguments for Punk have been stronger. I'd rather not break out any extra arguments until it'll count more. I'm just hearing way too much "Are you srs, why are you voting for Punk STPUID MARKZ vote Inoki"

 

[Uncle Sam]

Well, you know me - I hate not to be part of a trend. Go on then - this right here is a [WRITE IN VOTE FOR CM PUNK]. Want a little box with a cross in it to further drive home the point? You got it, friend: [x]

Shame about that whole rule, derived from traditional Japanese customs I think, wherein, in the result of a draw, both contestants must impale themselves in the gut with a samurai sword for dishonouring their families in such a way. Though obviously, Inoki, being himself Japanese, is the only one of the two that would seriously contemplate doing it. Therefore, if you really think about, Punk goes through on kayfabe.

 

[Tenta]

I'm going to offer my own write in vote, with the reasoning that I was going to make a post for Punk, and write it in, but I was locked out of Wrestlezone. Thus, hopefully, this is an accepted way to break the tie.

Look, this isn't to shit on Inoki's fame; the guy's a fucking memebr of the National Diet, for crying out loud. He also has his hands dirty with the Yakuza, and quite frankly, this may sound strange, but I wash my hands clean of a man that's involved with the organized mafia of Japan. Sure, that should probably disqualify plenty of my votes I've made for Japanese wrestlers; it may sound hypocritical that I vote Misawa, and won't vote Inoki. This is kind od my mini stance against organized crime in Japan, and my feelings that Inoki has plenty enough involvement for me to be uncomfortable.

Now then, as a wrestler, he was always pretty ok. I mean, he could draw, and that is well and good, but the guy did book himself into the position he is. This is probably not a fair comparison, but Inoki kind of reminds me of Kevin Sullivan from 1995-97; a man who booked himself to the top of the company, or pretty close to it, and got enough out of his workers to keep him over. The only difference is, where Sullivan failed, Inoki succeeded.

Besides that, Punk is actually probably the fourth or fifth most accomplished wrestler in the E right now, behind Cena, Taker, Trips, and maybe Paul Wight. The man is a bit overrated by the IWC right now, but that won't stop me from acknowledging his greatness in the ring. He regularly used to work iron man matches against the likes of Samoa Joe, Chris Hero, and AJ Styles. My favorite work was probably against Raven, though in all fairness, that was a built in feud for a guy who's straight edge. It could only be more fitting if it were Jake Roberts feuding with Punk, not Raven, but that's not exactly the point. Point is, Punk is a multiple time World Heavyweight Champion, and has plenty of ability in the ring to back the companies decision to put the strap on him. He still has yet to reveal his full potential in the WWE, but his work now has done enough to prove to me that I should take Punk over Inoki.

Inoki, I apologe, but my vote goes to Punk

 

[Mr_Ratings]

Ok first off jobbing to Mysterio isnt a bad thing.... Just putting that out there.

This is the biggest push of all the matches.... These guys are both tremendously great in the ring. Punk has the edge in speed. Inoki has the edge in strength.

But ima lean toward Punk on this one... If he could just frie off those kicks and take out Inokis legs, he should be fine.