International Region, Charlotte, Second Round: (8) Giant Baba vs. (9) Dusty Rhodes

[Tastycles]

This is a second round match in the International Region, Charlotte Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina.

#8. Giant Baba

Vs.

#9. Dusty Rhodes

​

This match takes place one week after round 1.

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.

 

[Con T.]

Baba's wife and my love for Johnny Ace can't save Baba now. Dusty wins this match, for something I rarely imagined would be coming out of mouth; Dusty is a hundred times the worker that Baba was.

'Tis true, you see. Every time I watch a Baba match, I cringe at some point, because I think he's going to wind up blowing out a knee. Again, Dusty isn't the best, but if I'm being completely honest, Baba has, at times, made the Great Khali look coordinated in the ring.

Think about that for a second. I'm less frightened to watch a Khali match than a Baba match. And Khali has actually killed a man in the ring. Dusty drew so much money with his mouth, and that's how it always worked. That said, he also drew plenty of money, and in the grand scheme of things, is actually underrated in how important he is to wrestling.

Dusty wins with a bionic elbow, and some dancing

 

[PsychoBlack]

Dusty wins this one for me. You ask why? Because Giant Baba does not entertain me in the slightest bit. He was an excellent booker but quite a mediocre worker. Dusty on the other hand can keep you entertained for hours at a time, look him up on youtube if you dont believe me.

 

[The Gribbler]

Gotta go with dusty, I think he was better all around than Baba and I really believe he deserves to move past the Second round.

That and Baba, like Khali bored the pants off of me.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Giant Baba was a legend in Japan, but to be honest, I don't recall any of his matches overwhelming me in the Japanese fanboy department.

On the other hand, the American Dream is a winner. He's beaten greats like Harley Race, Terry Funk, and Ric Flair at the peak of their careers. He's also beaten many fan faves in this tournament and is the ultimate underdog. It's also in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a huge NWA territory.

Baba's a fish out of water, and Dusty locks in a Weaver Lock and puts Baba to sleep in about 25 minutes.

In public if you weeeeeel.

 

[The Brain]

It's booker vs. booker and since this match takes place in North Carolina instead of Japan I would think Dusty would be the one booked to win. Baba is out of his element here. It's going to take a special talent to hold Baba down and the American Dream is just the guy to do it.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

The match is in the International region, but takes place in North Carolina? How does this make sense?

Dusty Rhodes never really gets the respect he deserves. He was a great performer in the WCW days and was one of my favourites when he went to WWFE. His ability on the mic was so unique that we may never hear someone like him ever again, at least not in the current age of pro wrestling.

Giant Baba would have the advantage in a Japanese ring, but, again, for some reason, this International match takes place in foreign and exotic Charlotte. No way Dusty loses to a monster in Charlotte, even with dusty finishes.

Mr. Rhodes, by countout. 15 minutes.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Giant Baba was a legend in Japan, but to be honest, I don't recall any of his matches overwhelming me in the Japanese fanboy department.

On the other hand, the American Dream is a winner. He's beaten greats like Harley Race, Terry Funk, and Ric Flair at the peak of their careers. He's also beaten many fan faves in this tournament and is the ultimate underdog. It's also in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is a huge NWA territory.

Baba's a fish out of water, and Dusty locks in a Weaver Lock and puts Baba to sleep in about 25 minutes.

In public if you weeeeeel.

Lariat nails it.

This is NWA country, and Dusty is an icon round these parts. He would take advantage of the crowd support and would beat Baba in this one.

I have looked up a few Baba matches so I have something to go off in this tournament, and have yet to see one that entertained me. He is just not that great in the ring, however big of a legend in Japan he may be.

Dusty deserves to advance here, he is a far better performer than Baba ever was.

Winner: Dusty Rhodes

 

[pumpkinking8987]

Its all Dusty here, I can see him making Baba actually look good in the ring. Anyone that can do that deserves the win.

 

[Tastycles]

I've voted for Baba, but I'm not really sure why. I guess there's something mildly embarrassing about Dusty doing well in a wrestling tournament - look at the state of him! That being said, he probably would win this match in the US, and Baba going out isn't a travesty. I think it'd be a close match, so I'm giving Baba something on the board.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Dusty Rhodes takes this match, as well he should. This match takes place in Charlotte, and we all know that the Mid-Atlantic region was one of the many territories in which Dusty was a huge force. Outside of Japan, Baba was nothing. Not that Baba isn't an important figure in pro wrestling history, but that's not enough to give him a vote over Dusty here.

It's true that Baba was a 3 time NWA World Heavyweight Champion but, let's be honest, those reigns were purely for cosmetic purposes. They each lasted about a week and only came about because Baba was the founder of AJPW and so he'd continue to look like a big shot in front of the Japanese fans.

 

[klunderbunker]

It's Dusty. Neither guy is someone I'd ever want to see go more than about ten minutes, but Dusty is just a bigger deal. He was a big deal in Japan as well, and while he's nowhere near as big as Baba is over tehre, he's a bigger deal in Japan than Baba is in America. Dusty would win by something like a rollup or something like that and that's good enough to get him to the third round.