Flair Region, Memphis Subregion, Second Round: (5) CM Punk vs. (21) Kenta Kobashi

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round match in the Flair Region, Memphis Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the FexEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

#5. CM Punk

Vs.

#21. Kenta Kobashi

​

Polls will be open for three 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.

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.

 

[enviousdominous]

And here we are, a match that deserves to be the final of this tournament.

CM Punk, The Best in the World, vs Kenta Kobashi, The Perfect Wrestler. Two traditionalist technical experts who will surely trade impressive spots until one man proves that he was only slightly more determined than the other.

Ordinarily I would be on the fence given the evenness of this pairing, but... I'm going with my homeboy CM Punk. I didn't think it could pain me to vote for Punk, but not voting for Kenta is painful.

Kenta was a five star match machine, and he was able to make Japanese fans get out of their seats and scream. I'm too lazy to post clips as examples but based on my experience watching matches in Japan and on tv from Japan, Japanese fans tend to sit quietly and just stare. I've never seen a Kenta match where the crowd wasn't thunderous in their adoration for him.

Punk is a little better in that regard, he's to pro-wrestling what Donald Trump is to the US electoral process. When Punk makes an appearance, people's hearts start to beat faster. Maybe some of us are annoyed by constant "Punk did something!" headlines on the front page, but they wouldn't be there if any random Punk story didn't immediately generate buzz.

For my money, Punk is slightly better than Kenta. Both men have fought tooth and nail to earn their respect, Punk however has earned the type of notoriety that has undiscovered tribes in Peru popping for Cult of Personality. I'm going with the man who has more to say in a bio that explains why he's one of the greatest of all time, vote CM Punk.

 

[nightmare]

Well, simply put, I dont recall anyone chanting for this Japanese legend in other peoples matches, or after he stopped wrestling. Punk did something we thought was not going to happen in our generation by anyone besides Cena. He held the main belt in WWE for a long ass time. A belt that is traded far more now than previous eras. Bitch and moan about how you see him personally or for his attitude, but clearly the guy was over & talented enough to accomplish said task over a slew of other talents in the past decade. He did so by being a workhorse, mixing things up a bit & taking out some of the top guys at the time on his way there. He would defy the odds once again here. Knees to faces.

Welcome your Straight Edge Savior into round 3 with open arms.

 

[NSL]

I'm going to be voting for CM Punk, for similar reasons as last round. This match is in Memphis, where the heel is so important because of how they can work the crowd and build white hot heat, and I'm not sure anyone has done that better than Punk in the last 10-15 years. Kenta is nothing to sneeze at, sure, but even outside of Memphis, this would be too close to call, so the heel factor tipping the scales it what sways me.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Wow, now THIS is a match I'd want to see. Hard hitting, technical and a show stealer for sure.

Awww man, I can't make a decision right now. I'm going to go and watch a couple of matches of both men before making a vote....

 

[OYDK]

It's close, but all things considered I'm going with Kobashi.

For one, Punk was a fantastic wrestler, always among the "best in the world" so to speak, but don't be fooled, he was no Kenta Kobashi. Kobashi was pretty much the perfect wrestler, and he was described as such in Japan. 12 combined matches of the year, 5 time wrestler of the year, 23 fives star matches, and if you've ever watched Kobashi in the ring, it's pretty clear why he has these accolades. He may arguably be the greatest in-ring competitor of all time. If that doesn't sway you think about this... Punk, who was hailed as the god of wrestling by a lot of fans, is a 2 time wrestler of the year, has one match of the year, and two 5 star matches throughout his career.

If we're talking kayfabe, Punk has been on top of everywhere he has ever wrestled, but most of his career was spent on the indies, wrestling in front of 500 people at most. Not taking anything away from his WWE career but his run on top wasn't that long at all, 4-5 years. Kobashi was a major player in a major wrestling company for 20 years, nearly his entire career, and was very popular for the entirety of it. Punk probably has better mic skills, I'm not sure I don't speak Japanese... and that might end up hurting Kenta the most.

Still, and finally, Kobashi has shown himself to be loyal. Like Cena, he'd rush back insanely early from injuries, has stuck with two companies throughout his entire career, and was loved by the fans for his devotion. The guys retirement match was aired in movie theaters across Japan for crying out loud. Punk was known for having a shitty attitude backstage and walked out on his company. Who would you push?

Vote Kenta.

 

[Tastycles]

Kenta wrestled, to my knowledge, two matches in the US and won them both, so I don't think that should necessarily be a factor here. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on Kenta, because I'm not, but what I would say is that Punk was able to get to the top of wrestling by being something of a non-conformist in the market he was wrestling, so I'm going with him.

 

[ShinChan]

I just loved CM Punk in WWE and I amn't talking his personal choices in life.

He was an awesome wrestler. Great Mic-Skills. Good in-ring work. Bunch of accomplishments at wherever he went. He may not achieve something in UFC though.

But still I just prefer Punk over Kenta.