WCW Region, Lexington Subregion, Second Round: (2) Randy Savage vs. (15) Giant Baba

[klunderbunker]

This is a second round match in the WCW Region, Lexington Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Assume one week has passed since the first round match.

#2. Randy Savage

Vs.

#15. Giant Baba

​

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.

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]

There's no doubt Baba is a legend, and a great wrestler, but I think he'd lose here. For me, Baba is a shrewd businessman first and a wrestler second. I know he achieved in the ring, but I'm never very engaged in what he has to offer, but that's a matter of preference. I think the thing that captures it for me is that when Baba fought big names from America in Japan, he had a patchy record, though he did get a few narrow and significant wins. When he tried his luck in the US, he rarely made an impact. As such, against one of North America's true greats, I think he'd fall short.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Baba helped build All Japan Pro Wrestling as it's co-founder, was a three time NWA World's Heavyweight Champion, and was groomed to be the face of Japanese wrestling by Rikidozan, which are all huge deals in the grand scheme of pro wrestling. He defeated Jack Brisco to win his NWA Worlds Title in a 2 out of 3 falls match, which were known to last as long as 90 minutes sometimes. My point is to not discount Baba because he's going against the Macho Man. If both were in their primes, you better damn well believe Baba would give Savage a helluva fight, and even beat Savage.

I'm aware Savage was a mainstay in the most important parts of wrestling's modern history, and am also aware of how great he was in the ring, but in his biggest matches, he loses. He lost to Hogan when the Mega Powers collided, he lost to Steamboat in their Wrestlemania III match, too. And Baba was marketed similar to Hogan in Japan with his own cartoon and brand.

I'm torn on who to vote here... but I want to make sure Baba's not discounted here... he's a very, very good wrestler and has beaten the best North America had to offer during his prime. I'm leaning toward Baba, but can be swayed with a great argument for Savage.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Savage, Baba's great and all, but he rarely won matches against big time American guys outside of Japan. Baba is quite a bit larger than The Macho Man is, but he doesn't wrestle like a giant at all so that wouldn't factor in at all here. Not to mention a lot of the fans in Kentucky would be behind Savage.

I do want to say though that if this match was in Japan, Baba would easily be on his way to the gimmick rounds.

Fun fact: Both of these guys were minor league baseball players before they decided on the path that cemented them as legends.

 

[Bernkastel]

So Baba made it though past DDP; I almost didn't think that he would. If this were Inoki or Rikidozan then I'd be arguing against Savage here, but Baba's longevity as a major draw peaked in the 90's when his star power in his own promotion was eclipsed by Misawa. Baba wasn't a shrewd businessman, even if he didn't like to work with other promotions. If he saw the value of putting someone over than he would.

Randy Savage in his prime would have been one of those stars that Baba would have willing put over. His popularity as a face wasn't something that could have been ignored. And as a heel Savage thrived on making things difficult for the hero, and Baba would have picked up on this. This is not a feud though, and even as a one off I'd have to think that Baba would have lost here... Savage was the bigger star any way you'd cut it.

 

[Brewski]

Most of the time I push for Japanese legends in this tourney but while Baba is an all time great he's just outmatched by the Macho Man. Savage is easily one of the top 5 biggest stars in American wrestling history. Incredibly popular in the early 90s and at WMV he really could have beat Hogan. He didn't, but everyone at the time thought that could have went either way. He was a megastar and just has Baba beat.

 

[HBsam31]

I had to go with Savage here. He is one of the top five American stars ever. I know Baba's credientials, and have read the arguments, but I just think Savage finds a way to win here.

 

[deem]

I got Savage too. I'm not the biggest fan of either man but Savage will go down as an all time great. I agree he's exactly the type that Baba would lose to, especially on American soil.

In the interest of fairness I'm adding my "at least one major draw from a country would get through" argument that I used for El Santo over Kane.

Going into this round, 5 Japanese (counting Rikidozan ofc) remain - same as Mexicans.

Rikidozan slightly losing to Bret Hart, could win
Punk going to beat Muta
Undertaker beating Misawa
Inoki going to beat Lawler

So even if Riki and Baba lose, Inoki is still alive to keep a japanese draw in the tournament. That's enough to justify Baba dropping out to Savage and I think it's very fitting that its Inoki and El Santo that will remain for their countries.

Hard fought, yes. Savage moves on.

 

[The Brain]

I went back and forth on this one and finally decided on Savage. I was surprised to see the results. I figured Savage would be winning but this is a massacre. Anyway, I finally decided on Savage because I think Baba was most remembered as a promoter. Unlike a lot of wrestling promoters Baba recognized when it was time to push new talent and didn't mind doing the job to get them over. Savage is as talented as it gets and I think Baba would have no problem laying down for him.