First Round: St. Louis - Ted DiBiase vs. Jerry Lawler

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round matchup in the St. Louis Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated.

Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri.

Ted DiBiase

Vs.

Jerry Lawler

Voting is open for 4 days.

 

[Mr. TM]

Very interesting matchup here. You have two guys, who have wont a lot of gold, just never in the big time of the WWE. But you have two guys coming as heels from two different periods, two guys that were great at getting over on the mic. What it comes down to is this. Lawler was great in his feud against Bret Hart, but it was never the biggest feud going. Ted Dibiase was always going after Hogan in his period during the biggest feud. Think that helps him out here.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Ted Dibiase was a far better wrestler than Lawler was. Lawler's offense was limited to stiff punches and the pile driver. Dibiase could use an array of moves and submit you with the Million Dollar Dream. It would be a wonderful match to see, and since this isn't in Memphis, I chose Dibiase to win the battle here.

 

[Ferbian]

Just like Lariat said, Ted DiBiase was much better, and in my opinion is much better on the microphone too, while Lawler has any possible chance of winning this purely for the fact that he has so damn many titles behind him, I think that's about the only reason to vote for Lawler, as opposed to Ted DiBiase who's a better wrestler, better talker, amazing heel, and definitely worth every single vote he gets, so I'm just gonna add another one, Ted DiBiase wins.

 

[GenMe]

Ted Dibiase was very good in the mic and he was very fun to watch. He had tons of good feuds and he was just magic in side the ring. Lawler was also good, but he wasn't as good as Dibiase. Lawler was a very stiff wrestler and kind of boring to watch.

Vote for Ted Dibiase.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Lawler was a great talker (hence the commentary postition he holds) but was nothing better than average in the ring. Ted DiBiase on the other hand, he could do it all, talk, wrestle, the works. He was the most hated man in wrestling for a long period and it wasn't really until Hogan turned that wrestling found a real replacement for the Million Dollar Man. DiBiase also has the ability to buy people off and with Virgil in his corner and Andre/Heenan there too, I don't see anyway for Jerry Lawler to runaway. I give this to Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase.

 

[8thwotwATG]

Ted Dibiase was a far better wrestler than Lawler was. Lawler's offense was limited to stiff punches and the pile driver. Dibiase could use an array of moves and submit you with the Million Dollar Dream. It would be a wonderful match to see, and since this isn't in Memphis, I chose Dibiase to win the battle here.

Couldn't have said it any better, especially the part about this not being in Memphis. I agree, DiBiase goes over here.

 

[D-Man]

This is another personal opinion vote for me. But, at least I'm not just voting out of my ass here.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm voting for Ted DiBiase. I feel that Ted was always a better total package of a performer than Lawler. Sure, Lawler has the titles and history. He's gone toe-to-toe with the best of them and won more titles than I have hairs left on my head.

But from a soup to nuts category, Ted DiBiase really had it all. No one played their character better than him. But he wasn't just a great gimmick... the guy could GO in the ring. He had an endless arsenal of moves, amazing conditioning, strength, smooth and fluent moves, and was always in a main event picture. Even though he never "won the big one", the guy might be in the top 3 for the greatest performers of all time to NEVER have won a world title. Personally, I feel he should have, but I don't book the WWE. (Fuck you, Vince).

Ted for the win.

 

[jmt225]

In my opinion, Jerry Lawler is one of the greatest babyfaces in the history of the sport. Unfortunately, however, he is most known as a commentator and the guy who had Bret Hart's foot shoved down his mouth. But, the fact is, if you watch those Memphis tapes, man, that guy was a SPECTACULAR babyface wrestler, and those fans LOVED him. And it lasted for years and years and years. Hell, that territory stayed around longer than any other after Vince monopolized the business, and it was all because of Jerry Lawler. Not because of Jerry Lawler the business man, but because of Jerry Lawler the wrestler. The fans loved him too much in Memphis to ever abandon him and his company, even after he signed with WWE. That shows a lot, if you ask me.

Ted DiBiase was a great heel, but he was nothing but a mid-carded all throughout his career. Even in Mid-South/UWF he never got a top spot. You could argue that it was all politics, but it's still a fact that no company ever trusted to give this man their World Title and let him carry it. Does it make him a bad wrestler? No, but it does make him inferior to Lawler, who had an entire state at the palm of his hands for nearly two decades, and even had a nice mid-card run in WWE as well, before becoming one of their all-time greatest color commentators.

I really, really like DiBiase, but to me this really is a no contest. Lawler should win, no doubt about it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Overall, I always thought that Ted DiBiase was a better wrestler than Jerry Lawler. Neither man was ever a particularly fabulous athlete, but DiBiase was the more athletic of the two easily and was certainly more skilled. Lawler has an impressive number of titles to his credit. Lawler may well be the single most decorated professional wrestler of them all.

DiBiase may well be the best wrestler of the past 30 years, in my view, to have never been a singles world champion. The Million Dollar Man is my favorite heel of the late 80s and nobody could touch him. He was a top contender for the WWF Championship and, even though he never won it, his feuds with Randy Savage and Hogan for the title were always entertaining and memorable. Lawler was someone that could give great promos but I was never all that wild about most of his matches. His offense seemed to be limited to stiff punches primarily. I think it would be a pretty good bout, and if the match took place in Memphis, I probably would have voted for Lawler. Whenever Lawler was in Memphis, he pretty much owned you no matter who you were. I'm giving the win to DiBiase.

 

[Tastycles]

Lawler is a superb regional wrestler, and if this match was in Memphis, I'd expect him to go very far in the tournament. However, he didn't acheive much outside of the area, and I don't expect that he would do here. DiBiase was a great heel, one of the best of all time, and he was a good wrestler too, not just a character. He deserves this one, just about.