[NWA Bracket] Round 1 Match 11: The Original Nature Boy Buddy Rodgers Vs Bobo Brazil

[Hyorinmaru]

The Original Nature Boy Buddy Rogers

Buddy Rogers was one of the biggest wrestling stars in the beginning of the television era. His performances inspired generations of professional wrestlers, such as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Buddy Rogers' nickname, as well as his look, his attitude, and his finishing hold, the Figure four leglock. He was the first of many historic names to hold the title now known as the WWE Championship, and also the first man ever to hold the WWE and NWA Championships.



Bobo Brazil

Bobo was credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling. Harris is considered one of the first successful African-American professional wrestlers, and is often referred to as "the Jackie Robinson of professional wrestling". He was the first WWWF US Champion and has the most reigns at 4.​

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll take Bobo. Rogers was great, but his wwf reign was little more than a prelude to Bruno's first reign. He was good to say the least, but Bobo was breaking down walls well before anyone else. He pinned the NWA champion before the other barrier breaker, Rocky Johnson, had even debuted. He won titles and championships throughout his career, and his legacy is far more felt than Rogers, who is really only a placeholder in wrestling history.

 

[Gelgarin]

This is a very hard one for me.

On the one hand, the liberal in me is jumping up and down wanting to give a delightful speech about Jackie Robinson and breaking barriers. On the other hand, pure instinct is telling me that Buddy Rogers had a greater and more lasting impact on the business.

So many of today's great personalities can be traced back to the work of Buddy Rogers, and so many of the names of the past generation list him as their inspiration. It's just like how so many of the talents of today's generation were inspired by Rick Flair, in fact the comparisons between to two are great in number, and since I hold a lot of love for Flair, I'm drawn towards Rogers almost by default.

Hell, Giant Baba (who trained with names such as Rokodozan, Thesz and Inoki) names Rogers as one of the greatist of all time.

Additionally, after some consideration I've decided that, if I vote for Bobo Brazil, I'll be voting for him simply because he was black. Were it not for being African-American, his name would be just another one from professional wrestling's lost era. Nobody would remember who he was, and with that in mind I'm reluctant to call him a legend.
Don't get me wrong. I have massive respect for Harris, and his success much have come a lot harder than others, but if he hadn't been the first successful black wrestler then somebody else would have been, the direction of the business wouldn't have changed had he not existed, and for that reason I'm not willing to call him a legend.

Both men are winners. But Rogers wins this round.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I voted for Bobo Brazil. being credited with breaking down racial boundaries always makes you a legend in my book. Being the first to hold a title and having the most reigns of said title doesn't hurt anything either. don't get me wrong Buddy Rogers will always have a place in history but the only Nature Boy that people will remember years from now is Ric Flair not Buddy Rogers.