Mex. region, Guadalajara subregion, 1st round: (2) Mildred Burke vs (15) Akira Hokuto

[Bernkastel]

This is a first round match in the Mexican region. It is a standard wrestling match. It will be held at the VFG Arena in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

#2 Mildred Burke

VS.

#15 Akira Hokuto ​

There will be 1 day of discussion before the poll opens. It will remain open for 2 days. Spam rules will apply. In case of a tie the winner will be decided based upon how many people have made a case for them in the discussion thread. One per each poster.

Who wins the match up?

 

[Bernkastel]

Terrible draw for Akira Hokuto here. If I were younger and still in my Joshi craze days while being ignorant to the pioneers I would have voted for her in a heartbeat. And I'm sure others might be tempted to when looking at some of her career highlights...

- Former 3 time AJW champion
- Former CMLL women's champion
- Former WCW women's champion
- Spent over 1,450 days as a champion of a major promotion.
- Has a winning record over Madusa as an international star.

... but you'd be horribly wrong to. This match is the WZT equivalent of the Great Muta vs Lou Thesz. And none of you would vote Muta over Thesz, right? Fuck no.

Mildred's legacy speaks for itself...

- Burke was a 3 time World's Women's champion. And widely recognized as the first NWA women's champion.

- She held that title for 20 years, defended it regularly, and was always the unquestionable biggest draw. Her popularity ranking her among some of the greatest at the time.

- Sources vary. Her obituary claims that she had wrestled 150 men without suffering a single loss, while wrestling over 5,000 matches altogether. Her number of losses could be counted on one hand.

- She built the national platform for women's wrestling on her back. By the time Fabulous Moolah won the title the exploits of Burke were known throughout the world.

- She later formed the WWWA [the Joshi's later took the belt and turned it into their top prize which Akira Hokuto never got to hold] and helped train women for future generations, carving her legacy even deeper into the industry.

So without Mildred Burke, Akira Hokuto doesn't have a career. And neither does anyone else. She was the greatest women's wrestler ever, and she's not going out to someone that wasn't the greatest ever in Japan.

Vote Mildred Burke.

 

[stingray11214]

The fact that Hokuto got that low of a seed is insulting enough. Burke and Hokuto would have been a one-hour war. Hokuto would have destroyed a tremendous number on the lower bracket. But, you cannot have your WWE "fitness models" lose to Hokuto now, can we? However, give the old girl her due. Mildred Burke was a monster back in the day, a day in which women's wrestling was a far more difficult activity. In this instance, Bernkastel is 100% spot on. It would be a war, but Burke would win.

 

[Papa Pillman]

This match is the WZT equivalent of the Great Muta vs Lou Thesz. And none of you would vote Muta over Thesz, right? Fuck no.

Vote Mildred Burke.

I really dig this analogy as I think it effectively puts this match into perspective with only a couple of sentences.

That said, and no disrespect meant to Hokuto, the comparison to Mutoh may be a little strong, Masahiro Chono would have probably been a little more direct of a comparison for translating her standing in history in my eyes(or possibly a Kabuki or an Ultimo Dragon, though that could be misleading stylistically). The parallel of Burke to Thesz does hold up though and illustrates why she must advance here.