Hogan Region, Toronto Subregion, First Round: (6) Rey Mysterio vs. (27)Antonino Rocca

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the Hogan Region, Toronto Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

#6. Rey Mysterio

Vs.

#27. Antonino Rocca

​

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.

 

[Bernkastel]

Props to Yaz for voting Rocca. He knows what's up.

Antonino Rocca was the biggest star in the Northwest during his prime. Before Bruno Sammartino, Rocca was McMahon's ace and the one that was largely responsible for turning the territory into a profitable hotbed after Jim Londos major run in the 1930's. His nearly unrivaled drawing power alone was worth more than all the novelty masks Mysterio ever sold. And if you enjoy high flying performers like Rey Mysterio, then you should be be grateful to Rocca since he's one of the innovators of early acrobatic style wrestling. Thanks to him and others like Edouard Carpentier, that style of wrestling became common place.

Plus, Rocca defeated Superman.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Antonino Rocca doesn't wear boots. Mysterio stamps on his foot, then takes his mask off and slaps him with it, then does a crazy lucha multi spin head scissor and gets the pin.

Rey advances.

 

[Bernkastel]

Antonino Rocca doesn't wear boots. Mysterio stamps on his foot, then takes his mask off and slaps him with it, then does a crazy lucha multi spin head scissor and gets the pin.

Rey advances.

Lulz

Rocca was throwing head scissor take downs before Mysterio was even born. Rocca would grab Rey and throw him through the ropes the same way he did Superman. And then he would grab that little fucker, pick him up on his shoulders, and then force him to submit to the rack.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

This match would be super competitive, but Rocca would pull it out in the end. Rey is one of the most influential wrestlers ever, with many of his moves and his style being a major impact on today's wrestlers.

Without Rocca though, Rey wouldn't have had the inspiration for his own masterpieces. Rocca was a godfather of what Rey ended up doing. He was a bigger star. And he fucking beat Superman.

This isn't a case of Rey being a bad choice (I'm usually an advocate for Rey) it's just that Rocca is a better one.

Vote Rocca.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Rocca is one of those guys who I didn't know much about when I first joined the forums. Rey on the other hand is fairly popular, so five or six yeas ago I may have voted differently.

Rocca did manage to gain a degree of mainstream appeal during his prime, appearing in various media, including a Superman comic. Rey was largely a career midcarder until Eddie's untimely death. Had Eddie not have passed while still an active wrestler, Rey may not have achieved the main event status he did in WWE.

Vote for the guy who wasn't pushed to exploit his friend's death.

 

[Tastycles]

Rocca is great, no doubt. But let us not get ahead of ourselves here. Rey Mysterio was a sideshow that broke out from that and became a multiple time world heavyweight champion.

Rocca was certainly more agile than most in his day, but it is ludicrous to say he made popular the style that Mysterio would actually make popular in later years. Wrestlers in the 70s were back on the ground, The Genius, some 30 years after Rocca was the first person to use aerial threat as their most common moves, and he lost. All of the time. Lucha libre was an afterthought in North America until Bischoff started putting the Cruiserweights on Nitro.

This division had absolutely zero traction before that, and Mysterio came along and not only was the most notable force in galvanising it, but he expanded beyond it. Rocca was a great and popular regional wrestler, no doubt, but Mysterio is an all time great.

The fact that the only victory cited by anyone supporting Rocca is against a fictional character in a comic book speaks volumes to his legacy.

 

[nightmare]

Tasty nailed it.

While one guy may have started using an aerial style before anyone really did here, the other took those moves and created a legacy. Rey stepped out of the lucha style shadows and became a guy who could not only put on solid matches with anyone, he had you believe he could win at any moment. More than just a mask, he became a slayer of giants who could hang with the much larger guys who dominated the sport.

Rocca was legit, but Rey is a fucking highlight reel that should be shown to anyone looking to be a cruiserweight. Many more memorable matches under the belt of Mysterio & I would say his matches against Eddie or Dean were better than anything I have seen from his opponent here.

 

[Bernkastel]

Lets not pretend that just because Rey Mysterio won a world title that somehow makes him better than Rocca. By that logic Jack Swagger was a better pro wrestler than Ted Bibiase and Roddy Piper. Rey Msyterio never drew a tenth of the money Rocca did, even with a multi-million dollar company behind him that did all of his promotional and advertising work for him. His world title reigns were lackluster. The first one was only memorable because of how much of a joke it was with Rey getting squashed nearly every week. And his push was piggybacked off Eddie's death.

Rocca was the face of Capitol Wrestling. He was the one responsible for keeping wrestling in the Northeast hot and profitable during the 50's and early 60's. In his heyday he was just as popular as Thesz, George, Gagne, and Rogers. He was a constant contender for the NWA world title. Alliance members held him in very high regard. Rey Mysterio might have helped ignite the cruiserweight scene in WCW, but lets not act as if the division was the big money draw. It really wasn't. The NWO and Goldberg were the ones that sold tickets. Rocca was more comparable to them.

And the argument that because Rey was able to push his high flying style further than Rocca that made him better, is also ridiculous. Ricochet and Will Ospreay are pulling off maneuvers that Rey and the other crusierweights of the 90's never did, so does that them better than Mysterio? Of course not. Rocca electrified crowds with his acrobatic prowess just like Mysterio would later do, the difference is that Rocca was far more successful in the process.

I see very little reason to vote Mysterio here. Rocca was a top star and moneymaker that carried an entire region [one that would, by the end of the 50's be pulling in the majority of the NWA's big gates] which is much more than anyone could say for Rey Mysterio.

 

[stingray11214]

The very fact that Rocca is seeded so far below Mysterio is an insult in itself. Mysterio was a wrestler built for the age. Rocca was a wrestler for the ages. He took a once closed Madison Square Garden Wrestling department, and turned it into a branch of the Federal Reserve. There were many a night in that ol' building on 8th and 49th where not a seat could be bought to see Mr. Rocca headline a card for Toots Mondt and Vince McMahon Sr. A match he was involved in against Dick the Bruiser and Dr. Jerry Graham caused such a commotion, New York State would ban those under 16 (Which was enforced in larger places) from attending Pro Wrestling cards. That changed in 1979, when Bob Backlund lobbied Albany to repeal the law (which was rarely enforced), and then Gov. Hugh Carey, signed the repeal. Rocca became the first WWWF World Champ, and achieved near deity status in the Northeast. So much so that when Rocca died, over 100,000 people lined the streets for his funeral procession in NYC, and made all the papers, and led the 6 PM newscasts throughout the NY Metro area. Rocca was that well known and loved

Rey Mysterio was a product of the age. Yes, he won three World titles. But, other then selling masks, never drew a dime. He was NEVER in the same league as a Rocca. And, if The Johnstons, Jess McMahon, and Vince Sr. was booking this match, no way in hell would Rey go over. In fact, Rey Mysterio would have been pelted with hot dogs, beer, and rotten fruit before he even got to the ring at the Old Garden to face Rocca. Rocca would have eaten him alive.

Vote for Rocca.

 

[nightmare]

I want to be Antonio Rocca for Halloween, said no child ever.

Who's that jumping out the sky? A guy with no shoes?

Rey will kill him. Literally.

 

[Tastycles]

Rocca was a big draw and had loads of tag matches and was a hero to people of his own heritage. It shouldn't count against him that he stayed in one territory, but it probably should that he was very quickly usurped by Bruno Sammartino as the main man. The fact there was a race riot because he was having a tag match shouldn't really factor into this.

The idea that Mysterio is one of the greatest shifters of merchandise in recent WWE history but wasn't a draw is preposterous.

Rocca wrestled in tag matches New York once a month, Mysterio wrestled week in week out to a television audience of millions. Their reach is completely incomparable, and there isn't really much point in analysing it.