Rock Region, New York Subregion, Second Round: (1) The Rock vs. (16) Rikidozan

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round match in the Rock Region, New York City Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

#1. The Rock

Vs.

#16. Rikidozan

​

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.

 

[Tastycles]

Rikidozan's biggest wins came in the context of standing up for Japan in the face of American aggression. The Rock never really wrestled as an out and out American, so the power of it would be lost on him. New York isn't exactly the most hostile arena to an American star anyway. Rock wins.

 

[Bernkastel]

The Rock is an icon outside of wrestling thanks to his movie career; not his career as a wrestler. It's arguable that he never had the same reach into the mainstream that Hogan did, thanks to the Attitude Era being more of a niche program. Late 90's WWE programming was very popular amongst wrestling fans. To everyone else in the country it was seen as trash TV. And due to the explicit content, it alienated the younger audience and turned off family oriented adults.

If I'm looking at the Rock as a simply a wrestler then he was nowhere near the cultural icon in the States that Dozan was in Japan. Dozan was popular with audiences of every age. He wasn't even a natural born Japanese, and yet he was still accepted as a cultural hero.

Neither one of them had impressive longevity at the top either, so it's kind of a wash. I went with Dozan because of his more profound impact on the industry. Rock was a great performer, but he wasn't the father of American wrestling.