Second Round: Lexington - Raven vs. Chris Benoit

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round matchup in the Lexington Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated. Assume one week has passed since the first match.

Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky.

Raven

Vs.

Chris Benoit

Voting is open for 4 days.​

 

[Ferbian]

This one Chris Benoit takes home pretty clean if you ask me, Chris is an incredible talent, and and has won numerous titles around many different promotions around the world, his array of wrestling moves outshines almost any talent you could ever bump into, of course with a few exceptions, but Raven certainly isn't one of them

In my eyes, Chris Benoit, both kayfabe wise would absolutely kill Raven, and then influence wise, has done much more to shape this business, than Raven has.

Chris Benoit wins.

 

[PsychoBlack]

This one Chris Benoit takes home pretty clean if you ask me, Chris is an incredible talent, and and has won numerous titles around many different promotions around the world, his array of wrestling moves outshines almost any talent you could ever bump into, of course with a few exceptions, but Raven certainly isn't one of them

In my eyes, Chris Benoit, both kayfabe wise would absolutely kill Raven, and then influence wise, has done much more to shape this business, than Raven has.

Chris Benoit wins.

not true Raven was an innovator of hardcore sure it was being done before it came along but his character his ring attire and storylines he was in helped evolve wrestling into a more adult type of industry while benoit had no type of character at all

my vote goes to benoit here though as he is just a better wrestler than raven and proved in wcw that he was able to beat raven on a big stage (he still has a losing record to him) like this one. Benoit goes over rather easy here but to say Benoit did more for the business than raven you must be insane

 

[Scotty]

The picture of Benoit explains it all. He is a former World Heavyweight Champion. Raven was a two time ECW Champion when it arguably meant something, but Benoit made it in the big time on more then one occasion. He was a World Champion in both World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment. He has an array of moves that he can pull out of nowhere.

Raven is a tough son of a bitch, but so is Benoit. I see Raven kicking out of stuff that would put a normal man down, but eventually succumbing to the power of the "Crippler Crossface".

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Raven is supremely overrated. While Benoit never really had that much character or personality, he was still extremely over as he let his work in the ring speak for him.

Benoit is simply a much better wrestler inside the ring than Raven ever was or ever has been. Benoit could go to the mat and do quite well, did submission holds well, was just as tough as Raven, stronger, faster, more agile, etc. Physically, Benoit was superior to Raven in just about every way.

If this were a hardcore match, I think Raven would stand a much better chance. Weapons can sometimes be great equalizers as can using underhanded tricks and simply being utterly ruthless. However, as this isn't a hardcore match, Raven doesn't have nearly as much going for him. Benoit takes this in under 10 minutes.

 

[Tastycles]

As much as I hate Benoit, there's no doubting that he was a great in ring performer. There is even less doubt that he did more than Raven did in his career. Benoit would beat Raven pretty easily in a no weapons match, by technical supremacy no doubt. Raven was easily the more entertaining of the two whilst not wrestling, and even as Johnny Polo that would be true, but in terms of overall acheivement, and actual likelihood of winning, Benoit takes this one.

 

[Ferbian]

not true Raven was an innovator of hardcore sure it was being done before it came along but his character his ring attire and storylines he was in helped evolve wrestling into a more adult type of industry while benoit had no type of character at all

Certainly Raven was an innovator of hardcore but last time I checked, Raven's ass would be disqualified quicker than Chris Benoit made Orlando Jordan tap out, yep.. 23 seconds.. it takes about the same amount of time for Orlando to tap out as it does for Benoit to make a cup of coffee, and that's not saying that Benoit is a slow coffee maker.

Benoit has no character at all? Benoit known for his in ring roughness, a part of his character cause he was the Canadian Crippler, while it's not exactly the characteristics of someone like Triple H or Raven perhaps, but Benoit's insane respects backstage and on-screen is by far enough to slowly scoop up the squashed kayfabe personality that Raven put forth, compared to the respect Benoit had.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Raven was a master at out of the ring psychology but that means shit against the guy who broke Sabu's frickin' neck. Benoit is one tough S.O.B and can take it to the best of them. I'm a fan of Raven's but he's well out of his depth against Benoit. Benoit made people like the Rock, Shawn Michaels and Triple H tap while Raven beat guys like Tommy Dreamer (nothing against Tommy just not anywhere near the three names I mentioned). I like Raven but vote Benoit.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I don't have a whole lot of respect for Raven, but I have even less respect for a scumbag who suffocated his 7 year old son. I said it last round, and I'll say it again, I'll vote against Benoit in every round.

And since I'll have people criticizing me again about it, saying it shouldn't matter what he did outside the ring, bullshit. You're the same people who have railed against Hogan and others for "holding people down" and being a backstage politicker, and last I checked that wasn't in the ring either, and is a hell of a lot better then murdering your wife and kid. Sorry, someone who does that deserves NO honor.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I don't have a whole lot of respect for Raven, but I have even less respect for a scumbag who suffocated his 7 year old son. I said it last round, and I'll say it again, I'll vote against Benoit in every round.

And since I'll have people criticizing me again about it, saying it shouldn't matter what he did outside the ring, bullshit. You're the same people who have railed against Hogan and others for "holding people down" and being a backstage politicker, and last I checked that wasn't in the ring either, and is a hell of a lot better then murdering your wife and kid. Sorry, someone who does that deserves NO honor.

That is bullshit. What you do inside the ring and outside the ring are two totally different things. I don't hold Hogan in a lesser regard of what he did outside the ring because he was great inside the ring. Benoit was a great wrestler who performed great matches for almost two decades and what he did outside the ring will never change that. Benoit killing his family has nothing to do with this particular match but I knew people like you would bring it up.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

That is bullshit. What you do inside the ring and outside the ring are two totally different things. I don't hold Hogan in a lesser regard of what he did outside the ring because he was great inside the ring. Benoit was a great wrestler who performed great matches for almost two decades and what he did outside the ring will never change that. Benoit killing his family has nothing to do with this particular match but I knew people like you would bring it up.

People like me? People who don't bury their head in the sand, you mean? Life doesn't exist in a vacuum, you get judged on the totality of your life. What you do affects your memory. I don't give people who do terrible things honor. If you want to, go for it. But he did what he did, nobody forced him to kill his family.

 

[PsychoBlack]

People like me? People who don't bury their head in the sand, you mean? Life doesn't exist in a vacuum, you get judged on the totality of your life. What you do affects your memory. I don't give people who do terrible things honor. If you want to, go for it. But he did what he did, nobody forced him to kill his family.

why are we attacking a mans personal life. what happened with chris and his family was quite frankly none of your damn business and had 0 to do with his in ring work. you say what benoit did was wrong but your a curt hennig fan even though his death was due to overdose on cocaine. vote for the WRESTLING MATCH. its not a whos a better person tourney

 

[Hulkamaniac]

why are we attacking a mans personal life. what happened with chris and his family was quite frankly none of your damn business and had 0 to do with his in ring work. you say what benoit did was wrong but your a curt hennig fan even though his death was due to overdose on cocaine. vote for the WRESTLING MATCH. its not a whos a better person tourney

Except Curt Hennig didn't kill his wife and seven year old son. Big difference between hurting yourself and hurting others. If you do what you want to your body, it happens all the time in the wrestling business. But when you hurt OTHER people, you're in dangerous territory, and when you brutally murder them before taking the coward's way out? This is a fantasy tournament, it's not actually happening, and we're allowed to vote however we want. With regards to Benoit, he's a special case to me, and I'll never vote for him to receive any honor, and he doesn't deserve to be in any Hall of Fame. So I vote against Benoit, and feel perfectly fine with myself about it.

Some of you say I should "separate it out", but why should I? He murdered his family. His death and the events that transpired beforehand are just as tied up in his memory as anything else. We're allowed to vote however we want, and in the case of the dirty, scumbag fuck like Benoit, this is how I choose to vote.

 

[JGlass]

In a tournament of personal lives, Benoit shouldn't even get a vote. But this isn't a fucking personal life tournament, it's a wrestling tournament, and truthfully, Benoit was one of the best wrestlers to ever step in the ring.

You want to talk great matches? Look no further than Benoit's match with HHH and HBK at Wrestlemania XX, one of my all time favorite matches. Sure Shawn and Trips did a great job, but it was Benoit who did the best at that match.

Oh, and Raven's major selling point, his hardcore ability... Benoit's no slouch when it comes to weaponry either. Look at his ladder matches, especially his MiTB match. He is a bad ass mother fucker in that match.

No one wrestled with more reckless abandon in a weapon-free match than Chris Benoit. Raven's wrestling skills can't even hold a candle to Benoit.

So if you're one of those guys who's going to vote for Raven just because Benoit did just about the worst thing a human being could do, wait until the Wrestlezone Good Guys of Wrestling Tournament to state your case.

 

[gd]

I voted for Raven. Not much reasoning behind it, I suppose. Benoit was one of the more boring main eventers of all time. Really solid wrestler, but that's about it. Raven not only was good in the ring, but was quite interesting as well. Once again, his shit run in TNA at the moment has probably hurt him in the eyes of some voters, but looking at his time in WCW and ECW it's obvious he was a very good borderline great wrestler.

Also, you shouldn't be destroying the guy for voting against him because of the whole double murder thing. That certainly fits under the criteria of "anything", so I don't see what the big deal is.

 

[Megatron]

Although I can understand why people wouldn't vote for Benoit because of 'the incident', I am ignoring that and sticking strictly to his ring work. Benoit is the greatest of all time inside of the ring, imo, and it would take him maybe twelve or thirteen minutes to make Raven tap out to the Crippler Crossface. It would be a good battle, but Benoit all of the way here, and he should move onto the next round.

 

[D-Man]

Once again, I express my extreme disdain for Raven. I really don't understand his appeal or what made him such a cult-favorite, aside from his well above par mic skills.

Benoit, prior to his murders, would have absolutely destroyed Raven in every possible way. Benoit is just a superior wrestler. The only way Raven would've had a shot is if he were in a no DQ match, and even THAT would have been questionable.

Vote for Benoit.

 

[falconsault]

While I am a fan of both wrestlers, I would normally prefer Raven over Benoit. But I don't see this going down with an Evenflow DDT to end things. I believe that match wise, these two would go back and forth, Raven would bring out the weapons and Benoit would convince the ref to allow it.

The Crippler would ultimately win, more than likely by slapping on the Crippler Crossface and strangling the life out of Raven, because Raven's not been one to tap out a whole lot when he was in his prime.

As much of a Raven fan that I am, I just don't think he would go over here; Benoit was the better wrestler and entertainer. People enjoyed watching Benoit hurt others and he wasn’t afraid to let you know that he was enjoying it, maybe a little more than he should have. People flocked to Raven because he embodied what a lot of people were thinking at the time, growing a fan base out of the Grunge era; now that fan base has died quite a bit anymore and it is very evident.

Benoit wins with the bone grinding crossface and moves on to the next round.

As far as people judging Benoit based what he did in his last few days, I believe that's just ridiculous. Yes, what he did was horrific; however we're not talking about what the other wrestlers have done outside of the ring so much. No one talked about Henning's drug addiction killing him being a reason he shouldn't win his round. Things like this should be kept purely to their wrestling career, leaving their home lives out. That’s my opinion on the matter.

Vote Benoit, he is the better wrestler in this match up.