Rock Region, Leeds Subregion, Second Round:(7) Daniel Bryan vs.(23) Hiroshi Tanahashi

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round match in the Rock Region, Leeds Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England.

#7. Daniel Bryan

Vs.

#23. Hiroshi Tanahashi

​

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. Assume that the wrestlers are coming in fresh after their first round match.

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.

 

[ShinChan]

As I said in Tanahashi's first round match, Hiroshi Tanahashi is the Japanese version of John Cena. And Daniel Bryan defeated the American version of John Cena at Summerslam clean! So Daniel Bryan should win this match.

Nopes, that was somewhat lame for me.

I will vote Daniel Bryan because he has inspired me to a great extent in my real life. That doesn't mean that I can ignore Tanahashi's stature. Both of them are very good in the ring. I don't know about Tanahashi's mic skills though. So, I won't take that into consideration.

Yes! Man wins because he's an inspirational wrestler. The YES! Movement was one of the best moments of all time.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Take my motherfucking money. I'm still holding out hope that we'll see this matchup in NJPW in about two years, and even though neither man will be the wrestler they were 2-3 years ago, I would still go into the match with four and a half star expectations.

I'm gonna go with Bryan here. The two men have had comparable success, but Bryan having defied all odds to prove that he could get just as over and be booked just as successfully in the WWE as he was all over the wrestling world prior to arriving in Stamford, gives him the edge.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Yeah...gotta admit I'd probably have one raging erection if this match ever took place though it'd be nothing compared to the one Dave Meltzer would proudly sport. This would pretty much be Meltzer's true dream match, understandably so, as Bryan & Tanahashi are probably the two guys he's heaped the most praise upon since the mid 2000s.

I can't really fault anyone for going with Tanahashi because, as has been mentioned, he's basically been New Japan's John Cena for over a decade. I'm going with Bryan for the win because rising to the occasion is exactly what Bryan did and probably would still be doing if he hadn't been forced into retirement. I could see this match going a good 45 minutes as a mixture of hard hitting, high flying, technical knowhow that just delivers on every level you'd hope a match could reach.

 

[OYDK]

Damn, this one's tough. I think Tanahashi will ultimately go down here as Bryan is a relative god on these boards, but this would really be anybody's match, especially on a neutral playing field such as England; you could literally flip a coin. Daniel Bryan was the indie god before coming to the WWE and once he got there probably became the biggest star to come out of the company since John Cena. His popularity reached heights unseen since like, the Attitude Era and he owns one of the greatest Wrestlemania moments in the events history.

At the same time, Tanahashi is probably New Japan's biggest star since Yuji Nagata or maybe even Sasaki, and has basically carried the company for the past 10 years. He has made a name from beating wrestlers of the same class and style of Daniel Bryan. Bryan was cut down right at the point where he was just about to hit the stratosphere, probably replacing John Cena as the 1A guy in the company. Even so, he became a sure-fire Hall of Famer in all of two years and will be remembered as one of the better wrestlers, at least, of the past 20 years.

So will Tanahashi though. I'm going back and forth, but I'm just leaning towards Tanahashi to be honest. More longevity on top, just as much of an impact, if not more, on his respective company, and just as good in the ring as DBry was. True Bryan overcame literally all the odds to get to the top, but it's not like Tanahashi was just handed everything on a silver platter either. I won't say vote Tanahashi because I'm not sure I'm even going to be voting for him, but people should at least think about it before just voting Bryan because he's Bryan.

 

[Bernkastel]

Daniel Bryan is overrated. Yes, he had an incredible moment at Mania 30, but he left no lasting impact on the industry as a champion. He wasn't even carrying the WWE in the few months he managed to keep himself healthy. John Cena was still drawing bigger numbers than Bryan was on the house show circuit, despite Bryan being the undisputed champion.

Tanahashi is a 7 time IWGP champion. A title which he held for a combined 1,358 days. He carried New Japan to new heights on his back for years. A feat that Bryan can't claim.

Don't let the Mania 30 nostalgia cloud your vision. Tanahashi was twice the moneymaker that Bryan was, and was highly instrumental to the success of his promotion. He deserves to win.

 

[ShinChan]

Daniel Bryan is overrated. Yes, he had an incredible moment at Mania 30, but he left no lasting impact on the industry as a champion. He wasn't even carrying the WWE in the few months he managed to keep himself healthy. John Cena was still drawing bigger numbers than Bryan was on the house show circuit, despite Bryan being the undisputed champion.

Tanahashi is a 7 time IWGP champion. A title which he held for a combined 1,358 days. He carried New Japan to new heights on his back for years. A feat that Bryan can't claim.

Don't let the Mania 30 nostalgia cloud your vision. Tanahashi was twice the moneymaker that Bryan was, and was highly instrumental to the success of his promotion. He deserves to win.

As much I respect you and your opinion, I tend to disagree with you.

I would like to see the proof of John Cena drawing bigger numbers than Daniel Bryan when the latter was the world champion. I hope that it's after Yes! Movement became a thing. The fact is that he didn't do much in his title reign, thanks to the injury. The whole storyline was a major ratings draw and so was his small title reign after Wrestlemania 30.

About Tanahashi, I agree that he has held the title and NJPW to bigger heights. But the same can be said about Daniel Bryan regarding ROH.

Tanahashi defended his title 28 times total in his all reigns while Daniel Bryan defended his ROH title 38 times in his one reign which is almost 1/4 of 7 reigns of Tanahashi. Defending a title more times does lead to elevating a particular title. ROH couldn't be what it's today without Bryan just like NJPW couldn't be what it's today without Tanahashi.

Daniel Bryan is the most over wrestler in this decade. He and CM Punk are the only wrestlers who were made stars in this 2k1ish decade.

 

[Bernkastel]

As much I respect you and your opinion, I tend to disagree with you.

I would like to see the proof of John Cena drawing bigger numbers than Daniel Bryan when the latter was the world champion.

Here's the link to the data.

https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/wwe_houseshow_wm2010_wm2014_draw_analysis

Here's a link to the attendance figures per city.

https://sites.google.com/site/chris...ngstatistics/wwe-attendance-by-city-2008-2016

From the beginning of 2014 leading up to Wrestlemania 30, Bryan had been headlining live events more than Cena and he still wasn't as successful. Cena still headlined in the larger cities, but that alone should tell you that Cena had staying power and appeal that Bryan did not.

Bryan's numbers were cut short due to his injury, but even before that he wasn't drawing the numbers that Cena had been.

The whole storyline was a major ratings draw and so was his small title reign after Wrestlemania 30.

TV ratings aren't a good way to measure quality. They tend to vary, and always rise and fall depending on the time of year.

About Tanahashi, I agree that he has held the title and NJPW to bigger heights. But the same can be said about Daniel Bryan regarding ROH.

ROH is a tiny promotion. Any money that Bryan would have drawn for them would have been minuscule compared to the amount of money that Tanahashi generated for New Japan.

Tanahashi headlined Wrestle Kingdom's 5-10. Each card drawing in between 20,000 to 40,000 people. It was far removed from anything ROH has ever done. Even most major WWE PPV's outside of Mania won't see attendance figures that high.

 

[ShinChan]

Here's the link to the data.

https://sites.google.com/site/chrisharrington/wwe_houseshow_wm2010_wm2014_draw_analysis

Here's a link to the attendance figures per city.

https://sites.google.com/site/chris...ngstatistics/wwe-attendance-by-city-2008-2016

From the beginning of 2014 leading up to Wrestlemania 30, Bryan had been headlining live events more than Cena and he still wasn't as successful. Cena still headlined in the larger cities, but that alone should tell you that Cena had staying power and appeal that Bryan did not.

Bryan's numbers were cut short due to his injury, but even before that he wasn't drawing the numbers that Cena had been.



TV ratings aren't a good way to measure quality. They tend to vary, and always rise and fall depending on the time of year.



ROH is a tiny promotion. Any money that Bryan would have drawn for them would have been minuscule compared to the amount of money that Tanahashi generated for New Japan.

Tanahashi headlined Wrestle Kingdom's 5-10. Each card drawing in between 20,000 to 40,000 people. It was far removed from anything ROH has ever done. Even most major WWE PPV's outside of Mania won't see attendance figures that high.

So Cena outdraw Daniel Bryan mostly. But Bryan was still the No. 2 behind Cena. All of that without being the current world champion. Cena was a star already while Bryan was on his way to become a star. How can we expect Bryan to draw as equal to Cena when he wasn't a star that Cena was?

John Cena was 14 time world champion by the time Wrestlemania 30 came. Bryan was a 2 time champion, I guess.

 

[Bernkastel]

So Cena outdraw Daniel Bryan mostly. But Bryan was still the No. 2 behind Cena. All of that without being the current world champion. Cena was a star already while Bryan was on his way to become a star. How can we expect Bryan to draw as equal to Cena when he wasn't a star that Cena was?

John Cena was 14 time world champion by the time Wrestlemania 30 came. Bryan was a 2 time champion, I guess.

Exactly. Bryan was far from being a proven draw despite his victory at Mania 30. Benoit had a memorable Mania moment, as did The Miz. But like Bryan, neither one of them possessed the drawing power or the marketability to carry a brand long term.

Tanahashi on the other hand did. He not only had memorable matches, but he was the type of guy that the average fan would spend money to see. Wrestle Kingdom is New Japan's version of Wrestlemania. Tanahashi headlined 5 of them.

Daniel Bryan never had that kind of drawing power or marketability.

 

[Tastycles]

Attendance is a 1950s way of measuring drawing power, and totally falls flat these days. WrestleMania XXX made millions of dollars. Yes t-shirts made millions of dollars. There is no way that any main eventer who doesn't wrestle for the WWE in the modern day and age could possibly come close in terms of revenues generated. That's not why Bryan would win, he would win because in this kind of 'dream' match it always comes down to what the crowd want to see, and Bryan is more likely to get them on side.

 

[BigBombB]

While I agree that Tanahashi has been the top dog in NJPW for a long time now and is going to be considered one of the best wrestlers Japan has ever produced, he still does not match Daniel Bryan. Why? Bryan was a star no matter where he set foot, he was the best in-ring performer in the world for multiple years and when given the shot by WWE he defied every expectation by not only being the top heel on Smackdown and carrying that brand during his tenure but then overcoming the odds with a massive win at WrestleMania over some of the top stars the industry has ever produced.

Unfortunately for Tanahashi, his brief run in TNA was a joke and due to that I think a guy like Nakamura will ultimately be remembered as the bigger worldwide star once everything is said and done which does weaken his position a bit as well. Tanahashi will always be the biggest modern draw in Japan but unfortunately he is up against a guy who is a big draw everywhere, a guy who wasn't handed the keys to a kingdom, and had to fight his way into every accomplishment he ever received.

Bryan wins.

 

[Bernkastel]

Attendance is a 1950s way of measuring drawing power, and totally falls flat these days. WrestleMania XXX made millions of dollars. Yes t-shirts made millions of dollars. There is no way that any main eventer who doesn't wrestle for the WWE in the modern day and age could possibly come close in terms of revenues generated. That's not why Bryan would win, he would win because in this kind of 'dream' match it always comes down to what the crowd want to see, and Bryan is more likely to get them on side.

I have to disagree with this Tasty. Live events are still very important to the WWE. In 2016 live events carried 19% of the WWE's total revenue. Third behind the TV deal [35%] and the Network [21%.] WWE still cares who main events in A and B sized cities. John Cena affects the attendance of the live shows he main events, for example. As does Brock Lesnar. Because of that, looking at attendance figures as a way to measure drawing power is still applicable.

WWE also has a drawing brand. I don't think it is fair to attribute the attendance figures of televised shows and PPV's to one person, but rather the company itself, because the average of those figures rarely change.

And I don't feel that marketability is apart of drawing power. WWE markets every single WWE superstar. According to Forbes, James Ellsworth's merchandise is currently outselling Goldberg's, so is James Ellsworth a bigger draw than Goldberg?

As for the last part of your argument, I could see your point if this match were taking place in the States. Since it's in Leeds, Tanahashi, who is every bit as charismatic as Bryan, would have just as much of a chance of getting the crowd on his side.