Third Round - Tokyo: Embarassment Match - Rick Martel vs. Chris Benoit

[klunderbunker]

This is a Third Round match in the Tokyo Region.

Rules: The idea here is to embarrass your opponent by ending the match using their designated finishing maneuver. There are count outs disqualifications in this contest, but the referee has been instructed to be more lenient in his enforcement of such rules. (Translate as it should be no DQ but I'm tired of saying that)

Location: Tokyo Dome

Rick Martel

Designated Finishing Move: Boston Crab

Vs.

Chris Benoit

Designated Finishing Move: Crippler Crossface​

Voting is open for 4 days.

 

[stillboy21]

I'm not a great WWE historian so I don't know how Martel's technical ability was but I've seen Benoit and know he was way up there. But I ended up basing my vote on the fact that I think it'll be easier for Chris to lock on the boston crab than Martel to lock the crossface.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Chris Benoit wins this one. Plain and simple. Benoit is a sound techincal wrestler and as much as I personally despise the dude for what he did outside the ring... in the ring, few could put on a better match and knew more submission holds. Benoit would have no trouble busting up Martel and putting him in his signature Boston Crab.

And for further proof, Stan Hansen actually beat Martel with his own submission to win the AWA World Heavyweight Title from him. It's on YouTube. Look it up.

This is Benoit in a brutal match.

 

[Tastycles]

The Boston crab is a fairly basic submission hold, and I'm sure Benoit has probably used the hold at some point somewhere. In addition, when push comes to shove, he's just a better wrestler than Martel really isn't he? Seriously. Martel was alright, but he wasn't able to translate his success in a desperate company to one that was thriving, were Benoit, eventually, was able to do that. Benoit wins.

 

[Ferbian]

Chris Benoit is very wide spread on his submission holds, and is the superior wrestler in this one, I have my doubts it'd be very hard for Benoit to slap on a Boston Crab, seeing as he can slap on a Sharpshooter rather easily.

Rick Martel on the other hand might have a problem locking in the Crossface, so it's quite obvious who should win this one.

Chris Benoit wins.

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

Benoit is a sound technical wrestler who is brutal, intense agile, strong, the list goes on and on. Even if you take all of that away from him, Benoit still advances stictly based on his knowledge of submission moves.

The boston crab is basic in the world of submissions and Benoit would have no problem making Martel tap with it in a quick victory.

 

[D-Man]

Yeah, this is a slaughter designed for Chris Benoit to take the win.

I've backed Martel up until this point and I feel that each of his first two wins were perfectly justified, but I knew his time would run out once he faced a truly touch opponent. They don't get much tougher than Chris Benoit.

The match type in this round really doesn't matter much to me. It's a type that favors both men... SUBMISSION. Since the "embarrassment" comes from stealing the other opponent's finisher, both men are essentially just doing the other man's version of a simple submission finishing maneuver. But we've probably seen Benoit steal more men's finishers during a match than Martel, and add on his tenacity, strength, experience, agility, and power and you've got yourself a bonafide winner here.

Benoit destroys Martel here in every possible way.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

This is not a slam dunk for Chris Benoit. He is human and he has tapped before. I believe he has tapped to his own submission applied by Kurt Angle, submitted to John Cena, and passed out from a submisison hold applied by Brock Lesnar. Rick Martel can certainly win this match and I'm going to vote for him.

 

[D-Man]

This is not a slam dunk for Chris Benoit. He is human and he has tapped before. I believe he has tapped to his own submission applied by Kurt Angle, submitted to John Cena, and passed out from a submisison hold applied by Brock Lesnar. Rick Martel can certainly win this match and I'm going to vote for him.

Yeah, and Hornswoggle has beaten Chavo on multiple occasions, too.

We're going with the more logical choices in these matches. How can you possibly think that Martel is in Benoit's universe in a submission matchup? Benoit is quicker, stronger, more technically sound...

In order for Martel to win, he has to lock in the Crossface and make Benoit tap. So that means he has to get him in the move, first. Just for starters, the Crossface works better on taller opponents. Benoit is shorter and stockier, so he has a MUCH better center of gravity. Therefore, Martel would have to really wear Benoit down in order to get Benoit to succumb to the submission.

Benoit can lock in the Boston Crab just about every time that he knocks Martel down. And with his arm-strength and power, there is no reason why he couldn't easily turn Martel over to apply the pressure. And once again, the crab has the most leverage when being used against a larger opponent than yourself. So the crab will give maximum torque to Martel's back, and Benoit's center of gravity will make it damn near impossible for Martel to kick out.

This is really Benoit's match here.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

You think wrestlers have submitted to another wrestler who is slower and not as agile as they are. Cena used his STF to finish matches primarily from late 2005 to I'll say around the middle of 2008 since he doesn't use it as much to finish matches lately. He isn't known as a submission specialist but in that period he made HBK, Edge, HHH, Orton, Khali, Umaga, and the aforementioned Chris Benoit tap out. Everybody has a logical choice but not every person's logical choice is the same. It's not that hard to get someone off their feet to apply the crossface. All Benoit has to do is go for one headbutt and he misses and that will be an opportunity for Martel to lock on the Crossface.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Yeah I'm afraid Rick Martel has gone as far as he's going to. Benoit is a very sound technical wrestler, particularly when it comes to submission holds. The Boston Crab, which was Rick Martel's finisher, is pretty basic, it's something that I've seen Benoit use before and he'd have little trouble slapping it on Martel.

That being said, I do think that Martel would do well for himself and would be able to lock Benoit in the Crippler Crossface on at least one occassion. However, Benoit is ultimately gonna win this. He's stronger, he's tougher, just as fast, much more aggressive and tenacious and it's just a matter of time before he wears Martel down enough for him to tap out.

 

[gd]

Does no one here like Cinderella stories? The best part of any tournament is when a lesser known competitor is counted out, but defies the odds and makes a big run. 1980 Olympic Hockey Team anyone? How about George Mason? Montreal Canadiens? Add Rick Martel to this list.

Martel was not as boring of bland as Benoit. Hell, he once wrestled a blindfold match at Wrestlemania. That has to take some balls. I think the key here though is his shitty finisher. A Boston Crab? Benoit, however the great technician he is, wouldn't easily finish anyone with the Boston Crab. Martel would be shocked at how easy things can be when you have a proper finisher, and pull off the quick upset here.

 

[Coco]

Benoit defies logic in that he murder his wife and son and still get over 85% of the people on WrestleZone to vote for him in their annual tournament. Now that's the true Cinderella story. The man is truly beloved. Couple that with the fact that I don't really think "The Model" would beat Benoit in either WWE or Japan, and I've picked my winner. Call it a hunch. Benoit in the eleventh round via embarassment. Just like the Greeks intended.