WCW Region, Sydney Subregion, Second Round: (1) Lou Thesz vs. (17) Billy Graham

Who wins this match?

  • Lou Thesz

  • Billy Graham


Results are only viewable after voting.

klunderbunker

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This is a second round match in the WCW Region, Sydney Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the Kingdome in Sydney, Australia. Assume one week has passed since the first round match.

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#1. Lou Thesz

Vs.

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#17. Billy Graham



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.
 
Lou should win this and it pains me to say it because Superstar Billy Graham is probably my favorite wrestler that came before 1980. I am a huge fan of the guy but he's going against Lou Thesz here.

Lou was a tremendous draw and a legit shooter. At the beginning of the TV era Lou Thesz was the face of wrestling and had longevity only seen by very few others. Superstar had some really good years don't get me wrong, it's quite amazing as a heel he held onto the WWE title as long as he did not to mention his 95% sellout rate at the Garden which says a lot about his drawing power but at the same time he was quite limited in his longevity from steroid abuse.

Graham had looks, charisma and mic skills but he's also going against one of the greatest legends of all time and in an area of the world Thesz did great and also an area in the world where Graham's influence didn't have nearly as much impact.

I hate to say it but Thesz completely overmatches Graham here.
 
Thesz moves on. That's just simply how it is. I'm sure Graham would get his shots in. He'd use that massive strength advantage to make Lou work for it. In the end, however, Thesz's superior skill would carry him through against Graham.

If this was a contest of personality and charisma, Graham would be all over Thesz. A great wrestler Thesz was, but the man was about as charismatic as a used tampon.
 
The only thing Graham had on Thesz was charisma. A win over Thesz was rare, and the man dominated and defeated every big name in his day, and he unified every World Title there was over a seven year period in the late 40's through the mid-fifties. Thesz is unquestionably one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time, if not the greatest. He went into every territory and defeated the champion or defended his championship there, both in the United States or on foreign soil.

Graham has the legacy of essentially revolutionizing the promo aspect of the wrestling business, along with changing what the physique of what is considered to be a modern wrestler. He had a profound influence on Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Jesse Ventura, and during his WWWF championship reign, he beat the likes of Pedro Morales, Don Muraco, Jack Brisco, and oh yeah, Dusty Rhodes, Mil Mascaras, and Bruno Sanmartino. Graham was a big freaking deal, both in stature and in achievements.

Unfortunately for him, he was eclipsed by Thesz. Graham couldn't sustain his success, while Thesz did. Graham was bigger and stronger, but Thesz had the cardio and technical expertise to wrestle circles around Graham, which he would. Thesz moves on.
 
Billy Graham's big achievement was his WWWF title reign before losing to Hogan. It's important but Thesz long resume of titles and influence on wrestling dwarfs the superstar.

Sorry billy, Lou thesz in this one.
 
Thesz takes Graham down to move on to the next round. Theszs' superior technical skill, his 6 NWA title reigns, his decades long ability to draw crowds to the arenas, and his position as a true innovator and pioneer in the wrestling business are too much for Graham to overcome. Graham would try to overpower Thesz and beat him down, but it's unlikely that a shooter the caliber of Mr. Thesz would stay down for long. Thesz wins with an inside crade after about 20 minutes.
 
I agree with everyone else. Thesz's superior in ring skill would just be too much for Graham. I liked Graham a lot, and he definitely has the charisma factor, but Thesz moves on here due to what he can do in the ring.
 
I've said this before, and I'll say it again no doubt. Charisma is about having people invested as you. Thesz had that, in abundance. Sure, he wasn't flamboyant, cutting hilarious promos, but you know what? Neither were the likes of Goldberg and Lesnar, so even today, that kind of approach holds water.

Thesz is the bigger star and is more important to wrestling. Graham was the WWWF's attempt at a long term heel champion, and it was alright. So good that the next heel to win and retain the WWF title for longer than an obvious transitional period was Yokozuna in 1993. Thesz should win here.
 
Well this torunament can fuck right off.

Have to go with Thez for longevity sake. Bill Graham is what guys who people pattern themselves after, patterned themselves after. Shouldnt be undersold. Some very tough match ups in this thing very early.
 
Two of the more influential wrestlers in the history of the business right here. Thesz did a ton to put wrestling on the map, as well as giving a huge helping hand in the development of Japanese wrestling with his Rikidozan matches. He absolutely paved the way for the Sammartino/Bockwinkels/Gagnes/Backlunds. Graham has had more of a direct influence on modern wrestling though, one of the first to grasp charisma, micwork, a strong gimmick, a likeable dominant heel. He took selling further than anyone had to that point, popularised the typical build of a modern wrestler that holds to this day, as well as popularising dramatic blading.

This is tough for me. Graham is definitely the more innovative "sports entertainer" and I could make an argument as being more important to wrestling than Thesz ever achieved. However I'm voting in kayfabe; I want to make a case for Graham here as it hasn't been done in this thread yet, but I can't really see how. Thesz dominated for so much longer than Graham did and basically singlehandedly created the first major promotion in North America. Graham just took a role and excelled in it more than anyone ever has before.

Thesz's absolute dominance and great win/loss of his era puts him ahead here though. Even the region is in favour of him, with him attaining far more success over seas than Graham managed.

I begrudgingly take Thesz. I'd be happy to take him over far higher seeds than Graham and hope he makes a run at this tournament, but this one sucks.
 
Two of the most important guys in wrestling history. Thesz was really responsible for wrestling going national and created a lot of things we see in the ring today. Graham is really a grandfather of modern wrestling and creates so much of the character work that we still see today. But of those two accomplishments, if I'm going solely on that, I have to stick with Thesz. No good being a great character if you haven't the national audience to see it and that's what Thesz brought in.

But apart from that Thesz is more successful. I wouldv'e like to have made a good drive for Billy Graham in this tournament but it's nos shame to be going out to Thesz which is seems is likely to happen. But it is a shame really. Graham would have safely beaten about half of these second rounders, but not this one I'm afraid. Thesz is a pillar in wrestling history.
 
Good match here. Superstar is a perfect opponent for Thesz. Someone that can talk a big game, back it up in the ring, make you think he's got a chance, and then end up losing.
 

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