Mex. region, Guadalajara subregion, 2nd round (2) Mildred Burke vs (15) Manami Toyota

[Bernkastel]

This is a second 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.

#7 Manami Toyota​

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?

 

[Viola Moonlight]

I don't think we will get any better of a dream match than you will with possibly America's greatest female wrestler going up against arguably Japan's greatest female wrestler. Wow.

I don't have the knowledge to get into details about each woman but they were the best in their time when the women's division was at a peak. Burke was at the top of the NWA and Independent scene whilst Toyotran roughshot through the major women's promotion in Japan and accrued many awards for her work from the Wrestling Observer (easy Wikipedia search).

Judging by the amount of accolades and where they both wrestled/time period, I'm leaning towards Manami Toyota unless someone convinces me otherwise. All I know is this will be a tough, exciting fight to watch and the true winners would be the fans and the promoter.

 

[Bernkastel]

Manami Toyota is the best women's wrestler to ever come out of Japan. But Mildred Burke is the best women's wrestler ever. She was the first recognized NWA women's champion and held the belt for 20 years. Only Moolah's reign was longer. The difference is that Burke wrestled constantly and defended the belt regularly while Moolah was inactive for large periods of time through hers.

And while Manami drew lots of money... probably more than any other Joshi outside of maybe Megumi Kudo or Chigusa Nagayo... Burke still drew allot more. And for a much longer period of time. Her popularity was comparable to many of the big male stars at the time, considering that many of her matches stole newspaper headlines away from them. Burke built the women's wrestling industry along with Billy Wolfe... those two being what Lewis/Sandow/Toots were to men's wrestling during the 20's. They were that important to women's wrestling.

kayfabe? Burke wrestled around 5,000 matches and her losses can be counted on one hand. She didn't lose the NWA to June Byers... it was stolen from her in a shoot match. No mere Joshi could hope to compete with her in that aspect.

Legacy? Being the best ever in Japan is nice and all but how do you think the likes of Inoki and Rikidozan stack up to Lou thesz, Strangler Lewis, or Hulk Hogan? They don't. Same thing with Burke. Even when she was getting frozen out of business by the NWA she persevered, trained many students, and created the WWWA title which would later become the top prize for Joshi's in Japan. So it's thanks to Mildred that Toyota had a career and later a championship to hold.

So to reiterate...

Burke was a bigger draw than Manami...
Burke had more longevity than Manami...
Burke had a better kayfabe record than Manami...
Burke was more dominant than Manami...
Burke did more for the industry than Manami...
Burke was a better wrestler than Manami...

So yeah, across the board Burke was better. So vote for her.

 

[Papa Pillman]

This battle is the equivalent of Thesz vs. Misawa in the men's tournament. One has a claim to best ever as being the undisputed lead pioneer for the sport. The other has a claim to best ever as being the clear number one competitor in the history of Japan, dominating during the best period for Japanese wrestling and forever altering the future of the sport. Yes there is no argument that Burke(like Thesz) changed the history and set the groundwork for how wrestling would be performed. But I'd argue that Toyota(like Misawa) was at the forefront of a period of Japanese wrestling that set the groundwork for a shift in how wrestling matches are worked worldwide and have also forever effected how pro wrestling was executed going forward.

I choose Toyota here(just as I would choose Misawa over Thesz everytime). Its a matter of progression of the sport. Both reached the highest heights possible for their time period, it just so happens that Manami came around in a modern era where professional wrestling is a different animal entirely, and she is the most gifted and talented woman to ever do it, all while incorporating a brand of athleticism that would have been considered witchcraft in Burke's day. Her speed, stamina, and fluidity are legendary and her strength for her size is awe-inspiring.

Toyota has more classic matches than every non-Japanese woman in the history of wrestling combined.

Want a reason to vote Toyota and really push her through to what should be at least a final four run? Chew on this:

In 1995 The Wrestling Observer named Manami Toyota as the Most Oustanding Wrestler of the year- PERIOD. Not best Women's wrestler. Best goddamn wrestler on the entire fucking planet regardless of gender, and in a period where workrate was at the highest it had maybe ever been.

Respect Burke for making the glory days of the Joshi possible. But vote Toyota as she is maybe the greatest to ever lace them up, Burke was not.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

As great as Burke's legacy is there is still a question mark; would she have had the same level of success if not for her marriage to Billy Wolfe?

Toyota has no such question marks about her career and her storied career is sufficient that this should be enough to carry her through this match up.

 

[stingray11214]

There have been only 75 matches in history that has been given a 5* rating. 15 of them held by one woman.
One woman has held the WWWA strap once (Since she founded the place), the other four times.
One was married and had an ugly divorce with the promotion's head promoter, who basically controlled women's wrestling at the time. The other had no such issues.
One wrestled as a side show attraction for many years. The other was among the elite and into the national consciousness.

And, only one was named Wrestler of the Year, Man or Woman.

There is an old saying about hockey: Canada was hockey's birthplace. The Soviet union was it's laboratory.

Mildred Burke will always be granted her status as the Mother of Women's Wrestling.
Toyota was was the Women's Laboratory's near-finished product.

Vote for Toyota.