International Region, Third Round, Street Fight: (4) Kurt Angle vs. (5) Antonio Inoki

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Kurt Angle is a phenomenal wrestler that has won World Titles and accolades in everything he's ever done. Olympics...broke freakin' neck...blah blah blah. He's been in hardcore matches with some of the best sons of bitches in wrestling's history, and beaten most of them. So yeah, maybe Angle could grapple with Antonio Inoki and come out on top...

Not.

You think he's not a bad-ass because he's a "technical Asian wrestler"? Inoki forced Muhammad Ali to a 15-round draw.

Certainly Kurt Angle is a big enough name to go over Inoki, even if they are in Japan, right? Inoki defeated Ric Flair in front of one the biggest wrestling crowds of all time - admittedly it was in North Korea, but I still hold to that point. If that's not enough for you, he's beaten Hulk Hogan multiple times. In fact, the only reason Hogan EVER beat Inoki the one time he did was a botch, resulting in Inoki knocking himself out and Hogan having to improvise on the fly. Flair and Hogan couldn't get the job done in Asia, and you think Kurt Angle stands a muffuckin chance?

Oh, so Angle would win because it's a Street Fight? False. Inoki won an "Island Death match" that lasted over two hours against Masa Saito? What's an Island Death match, you might ask? It exists because Japanese wrestling is fucking insane! You think TNA comes up with some ridiculous shit? They dropped these guys on an empty island with no crowd and no rules, and they beat the hell out of each other for two hours... I know. What the fuck?

The man has had meetings with fucking Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein, and the crazy bastard is still alive. WCW and WWE Hall of Famer.

But no, go ahead and keep voting for Kurt Angle. I know how tempting it is to just push that button because doing any amount of research is difficult. Well, I did it for you. Angle has no angle, he's not winning this match. Inoki founded New Japan Pro Wrestling, wrestled there over the course of 30 years, ate one-off big-name challengers from America for breakfast, and beat a man to near-death on an island for two hours. Angle bitches on Twitter.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Antonio Inoki has beaten many great names; so has Kurt Angle.

Antonio Inoki has won matches in a hardcore environment; so has Kurt Angle.

Antonio Inoki is the hometown hero; Kurt Angle has beaten both hometown heroes and top drawer Gaijins in Inoki's hometown.

Antonio Inoki has a reputation for his shooting ability... but this has been drawn into question on occasion (notably by Bruno Sammartino); Kurt Angle is a world renowned hardass.

Antonio Inoki has a 15 round time limit draw with, Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Muhammad Ali with concessions to both guys; Kurt Angle is a Gold Medal winner in his own right who holds a number of victories over UFC Champion Brock Lesnar with no concessions.

I'm going with Kurt.

 

[Natural Selection]

I'm really surprised at how short Kurt is being sold here. No one in the history of professional wrestling has the accolades that Kurt does. Held the European and Intercontinental titles simultaneously, not to mention holding every title in TNA at once, former World Heavyweight Champion, former WWE champion, former WCW Champion, former Hardcore Champion, former Tag Team champ. At least 5 matches of the year. Has won feud of the year, most hated wrestler, most inspirational wrestler, best gimmick, best technical wrestler, best interviews, most improved, comeback of the year, wrestler of the decade, the list goes on and on and on. To tell me he can't handle Inoki is absurd. Inoki would tap, everyone taps to angle.

Everyone got caught in Kurt Angles ankle lock, who didn't tap out to Angle. Hell, even Taker tapped to Angle, even HOGAN tapped to Angle, EVERYONE TAPS TO ANGLE.

So please tell me how the hell does Inoki even have a chance in this match?

 

[Poop Master Flex]

So please tell me how the hell does Inoki even have a chance in this match?

Because like it or not, when it comes to drawing power Angle isn't even in Inoki's league. Inoki could make anyone tap as well, he made Andre tap when he could move, ANDRE THE GIANT.

Its in Tokyo, a place where Inoki is a legend. Although everyone tapped to the Angle Lock it doesn't mean Angle won every match he put the Ankle Lock on somebody. I don't see why Inoki couldn't reverse the Angle Lock or kick out of it.

We are talking about Angle in his prime versus Inoki in his prime in Tokyo. So lets looks at the match:

Bigger Draw: Inoki
Home Advantage: Inoki
More Relevant in the history of wrestling: Inoki

What would the fans rather see, the hometown boy triumphant over the American hero or the American Angle beating their hero?

 

[Natural Selection]

Sure Inoki could counter the ankle lock, many have. Very similar to Flairs figure four Angle will repeatedly apply the ankle lock. Kurt knows how to dissect an opponent and he can/will do that to Inoki. Inoki may be a bigger draw in Japan, but Angle is a draw world wide. Kurt Angle is a superior athlete in every way. Kurt Angle beat Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Which is the championship for Inoki Genome Federation, isn't that run by Inoki? So he's good enough to be Inokis champ, but not good enough to beat Inoki? I don't think so.

Inoki could make anyone tap as well, he made Andre tap when he could move, ANDRE THE GIANT.

Andre is not half the wrestler Kurt is, just twice the size. Kurt could make Andre tap as well.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Sure Inoki could counter the ankle lock, many have. Very similar to Flairs figure four Angle will repeatedly apply the ankle lock. Kurt knows how to dissect an opponent and he can/will do that to Inoki. Inoki may be a bigger draw in Japan, but Angle is a draw world wide. Kurt Angle is a superior athlete in every way. Kurt Angle beat Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Which is the championship for Inoki Genome Federation, isn't that run by Inoki? So he's good enough to be Inokis champ, but not good enough to beat Inoki? I don't think so.

Andre is not half the wrestler Kurt is, just twice the size. Kurt could make Andre tap as well.

Don't compare a pre UFC Brock Lesnar to Antonio Inoki, Lesnar isn't in Inoki's league. Angle as a draw worldwide isn't nearly at the point Inoki was in his prime and once again this is in Tokyo, Japan where Inoki is king and it's in Inoki's prime, no way he loses this match.

I never denied Angle being good enough to be Inoki's champion, hell I even said this was a tough match BECAUSE Angle is exactly the type of person Inoki would put over because Angle was an Olympic champion, I think you are putting too much emphasis on in ring skills and not enough on the important stuff.

If in ring skills meant everything Hogan would have lost clean to Savage, Perfect, Dibiase and a lot of other wrestlers as well.

Also don't compare an early 80's Andre to Kurt Angle. Andre at the time was the biggest draw in the history of wrestling and made more money than ANY WRESTLER IN HISTORY at the time. So when Andre was the biggest draw of all time he put Inoki over and let Inoki make him submit. If the biggest draw of all time is willing to put you over you must be something special. Bob Backlund, the WWWF champion put over Inoki in Japan and even lost the title to him, the WWWF champion although it wasn't recognized by the WWWF, he still beat him.

Backlund in America was a bigger draw than Angle ever was, held the title for over 5 years (or at least by the record books) and is just as good in the ring as Angle was. He may not have been an Olympic champion but there are a lot of parallels between Backlund and Angle.

Is Angle a fantastic wrestler? Yes. But he was never the top guy in a big company, he was never the draw in any big company. From a business standpoint (not a wrestling standpoint), Angle isn't in Andre's league and he isn't in Inoki's league. Its not about who's the better wrestler, its about who puts the most butts in seats and in Japan, Angle is jack shit compared to Inoki.

 

[The_Misson]

Sure Inoki could counter the ankle lock, many have. Very similar to Flairs figure four Angle will repeatedly apply the ankle lock. Kurt knows how to dissect an opponent and he can/will do that to Inoki. Inoki may be a bigger draw in Japan

Which is where this match takes place.

but Angle is a draw world wide.

This match does not take place in "word wide." This match takes place in Japan.

Kurt Angle is a superior athlete in every way. Kurt Angle beat Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

And Inoki beat Hulk Hogan. Your point is?

Which is the championship for Inoki Genome Federation, isn't that run by Inoki?

Yupp. That's why it's called INOKI Genome Federation.

So he's good enough to be Inokis champ, but not good enough to beat Inoki? I don't think so.

So, just because Inoki, who was 64 years old at the time, let Angle win his companies championship means that Angle would beat Inoki.
So according to your logic if Hulk Hogan started his own promotion in the United States and say let Spike Dudley be his Champion. Then that means Spike Dudley could beat Hulk Hogan.

 

[Natural Selection]

This match does not take place in "word wide." This match takes place in Japan.

And Kurt Angle has gone over in Japan before.

And Inoki beat Hulk Hogan. Your point is?

And Kurt Angle beat Hogan.

Yupp. That's why it's called INOKI Genome Federation.

Clearly you missed my sarcasm

So, just because Inoki, who was 64 years old at the time, let Angle win his companies championship means that Angle would beat Inoki.
So according to your logic if Hulk Hogan started his own promotion in the United States and say let Spike Dudley be his Champion. Then that means Spike Dudley could beat Hulk Hogan.

Wow, that is quite the stretching of my logic. What I was saying was he thought enough of Kurt to let him be his champion and let him go over some of his guys in Japan.

Its not about who's the better wrestler, its about who puts the most butts in seats and in Japan, Angle is jack shit compared to Inoki.

Really? If that is the case and it all comes down to perceived drawing power then what the fuck is the point of this tournament? We already know who the top drawers in wrestling history are. I think you guys put to much emphasis on the $$$$ (which Angle has brought in more of then Inoki if for no other reason then the stage on which he shined in[WWE], and not the important stuff. Angle has proven time and time again that he can go over anyone on any given stage. High School dominant, College dominant, Olympics dominant, WWE dominant, TNA dominant.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Really? If that is the case and it all comes down to perceived drawing power then what the fuck is the point of this tournament? We already know who the top drawers in wrestling history are. I think you guys put to much emphasis on the $$$$ (which Angle has brought in more of then Inoki if for no other reason then the stage on which he shined in[WWE], and not the important stuff. Angle has proven time and time again that he can go over anyone on any given stage. High School dominant, College dominant, Olympics dominant, WWE dominant, TNA dominant.

High School, College, Olympics are irrelevant to pro wrestling so they hold no weight for this argument. WWE he did very well but don't for 1 second think Angle was a draw because he wasn't. There's a very big difference between main eventer and draw and although Angle was a main eventer he wasn't a draw. On Smackdown when he was the top guy Lesnar was the draw to that show, Angle was the guy fighting him. In the early 2000's The Rock and Stone Cold were the draws, not Angle. 2006 When he became champion it was because the draw, Batista got injured. Angle is someone people love to see but he isn't a draw. If he was then you would have seen TNA's ratings rise immediately when he showed up, but that didn't happen did it?

I will say you are right about its not all about the draws because it isn't, not this tournament at least but Inoki didn't lose to ANYONE in his prime, no one went over Inoki in Japan during his prime because he was the top draw and could regularly put 20,000 people in seats on a consistent basis.

Did Angle do well in Japan? You bet but so did everyone else, hell Johnny Ace even did well in Japan.

We are talking about a prime Angle (who lost regularly clean) against a prime Inoki (who lost very seldom) in a match in Japan, where Inoki is probably the biggest wrestler in Japanese history. If this match was in America? Angle would have a shot but its in Japan, no one in their right mind would book Angle over Inoki in Japan.

Also if being a draw doesn't matter that much in the tournament why has the biggest draw in wrestling history won the last 2 years?

 

[Davi323]

Kurt Angle will win this vote purely on ignorance of Antonio Inoki. It's a damn shame that people with no clue how good Inoki was will automatically vote for Angle because he is in the here and now. It's been said by others, Angle is good, very good. Inoki is a fucking legend, one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

 

[Natural Selection]

Also if being a draw doesn't matter that much in the tournament why has the biggest draw in wrestling history won the last 2 years?

That's my point being a huge draw shouldn't be as big of a factor as it is. Because no one has ever drawn more then Steve Austin, but people have beaten Steve Austin. The match ups should mean more then they do. Stone Cold and Dibase should be a lot closer then it is considering it is a first blood match. SO yes I will concede to you that Inoki is the biggest draw in Japan wrestling history and he is a legend, but I still say Angle would beat him anywhere in the world. It might take an hour, but we all know Angle can go for an hour plus.

 

[The_Misson]

And Kurt Angle has gone over in Japan before.

He has 4 singles wins in Japan. I would hardly call that a huge accomplishment. He's beaten Giant Bernard who was mainly a tag team wrestler in Japan. Yuji Nagata which I'll give him props for beating him. Brock Lesnar who was on his way out of New Japan and Kendo Kashin a former Junior Heavyweight who never really did a whole lot.

Wow, that is quite the stretching of my logic. What I was saying was he thought enough of Kurt to let him be his champion and let him go over some of his guys in Japan.

Ok I'll use a real example from New Japan for you then. In 1992 Inoki let The Great Muta hold the IWGP Championship for 400 days. Muta later ended up dropping it. Then in 1994 Muta had a match against a 51 year old Antonio Inoki. Let's see how that match ended.

[YOUTUBE]ciYqMScfpV0[/YOUTUBE]

Yupp Inoki won.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I'm fine with the result, just not the margin of winning right now.

Antonio Inoki was an unstoppable force in Japan for decades. As in 10 year increments of time. Angle's great, but in Tokyo.. where Inoki's best and most dominating matches have taken place, it would be a bloodbath of epic proportions that would end with Inoki making Angle pass out to one of the hundreds of submission holds Inoki could come up with.

At least make this close and Vote Inoki.