WWE Region, Argentina Subregion,First Round:(7)Antonio Inoki vs.(26)Hiroshi Tanahashi

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the WWE Region, Buenos Aires Subregion. It is a standard one on one match held under WWE Rules. It will be held at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

#7. Antonio Inoki

Vs.

#26. Hiroshi Tanahashi

​

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.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Now here's an epic encounter that should be saved for later but alas, Tanahashi isn't as revered as he should be yet and Inoki is held in varying levels of esteem amongst the panel of experts.

What we have here, in simplified terms, is Hulk Hogan vs. John Cena. The first real mega-star (international acclaim, an incredibly high level of public recognition, major respect within the local wrestling community itself, the measuring stick for future wrestlers to come) of the television era in Japan versus the modern face of Japanese wrestling.

What makes this an intriguing choice is that Tanahashi is probably the better wrestler if not the lesser star. So what you really boil this down to is what do you prefer, a great wrestler who is probably the fifth (or so) biggest draw in his country's history or a somewhat dull wrestler (Inoki's obsession with the MMA/strong style made his matches incredibly tedious at times though for the most part he was fine) who was a pioneer and arguably his country's biggest star?

Inoki is revered as a God, Tanahashi is celebrated as, 'The Ace of the Universe' (New Japan's words, not mine). I've not made my mind up yet, but this is certainly one to keep your eye on folks.

Also, again, these two have great themes:

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]vwOMb64BiN0[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]MLTWKU8rS1Q[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Tastycles]

Tanahashi's story with the stabbing and all that business is interesting, but I can't pretend that I know much about him. He's won a lot of titles, but does that really mean anything? A Japanese forum member could look at the stats and deduce Edge is one of the greatest of all time, when in fact we know he's only the second greatest. On name value alone, I'd go Inoki, but this is certainly one where someone who actually has a scooby could make my mind up for me.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

Naturally, I'm inclined to vote Inoki due to his endearing and well-known legacy but knowing more or less nothing about Tanahashi, my stance is akin to Tasty's.

Anyone feel like posting specific relevant matches? Anyone who cares enough?

 

[Bernkastel]

If this match is the Japanese equivalent of Hogan vs Cena, then as great as Cena is he'd still lose to Hogan. As old as he is Hogan still makes all sorts of appearances within WWE, just like Inoki is very much active within Japanese society. He's a politician as well as a peacekeeper.

If we're talking accolades Tanahashi has quite a few of them, but so does Inoki. And with more diversity. Inoki won titles in the WWE and NWA and Mexico. He even tried [albeit failing] to start a promotion in America. Luckily NJPW worked out for him. Inoki was the first inductee into the NJPW HOF and is a member of both the WCW and WWE HOF's as well. Tanahashi was responsible for bringing back some of the credibility the IWGP champion had lost. However without Inoki paving the road he would have gotten the chance.

If we're talking longevity then it's Inoki hands down. Not even arguable.

If we're talking drawing power then it also has to be Inoki. Even though puroresu is no longer in the slump that it was years ago, it's no where near as popular now as it was when Inoki was at his peak. In fact wrestling everywhere is not as popular as it was years ago. Tanahashi might be puro's Ace, but he doesn't have government officials and J-Pop idols lining up to be slapped in the face by him either.

If we're talking ability... I haven't seen enough on Tanahashi to make a detailed comparison... but if you're going to call Tanahashi a better wrestler [IE shooter] then that's totally false. However if you were to say he's a better performer than Inoki then that might be true. To call him a better worker then Inoki might also be false when you consider the vast catalog of matches that Inoki had over the decades with numerous different types of wrestlers and performers. I'd probably still give the nod to Inoki.

If we're talking legacy... then yeah, that's Inoki hands down again.

If the general consensus that we've come to after years of doing this tournament is that Cena will not be able to surpass Hogan across the board then why should Tanahashi defeat Antonio Inoki? He's pretty much [bar Dozan's whose a close second] the biggest star Japan as ever produced.

Vote Inoki.

 

[Kermit]

Disclaimer: I won't pretend that I have in-depth wrestling knowledge about a wide range of superstars. So, I'm going to perform my voting a little differently. There will be 127 matches in total in this tournament. I've comprised a list of 63 random 1v1 events. I'll randomize the list and base my vote off the results of who I think would win the selected event with my odd logic.

This event: Ping Pong

Logic: Oh, man. What an epic event for two Asian superstars. I hope that is not racist. In the end I see the wisdom of the master besting out the student.

Winner: Antonio Inoki

 

[Shadowmancer]

Antonio Inoki drops to one knee and keeps kicking Tanahashi in the leg to be one of the most boring fights ever.

I wish Tanahashi would win as I enjoy him more than I do Inoki fights. But Inoki is one of the three big names that made Japanese wrestling what it became even though he did almost kill NJPW with his insistence on all of the bloody shoot fights and pretty much ruined the careers of some great talent. But that is booking and not Wrestling.

Saying that Tanahashi has won the big one in New Japan more than any other. He is the Ace of New Japan for good reason he is that good.

So voting heart above head I am voting Tanahashi.