WWE Region, Miami Subregion, First Round: (10) Curt Hennig vs. (23) Kerry Von Erich

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the WWE Region, Miami Subregion. It is a standard one on one match held under WWE Rules. It will be held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

#10. Curt Hennig

Vs.

#23. Kerry Von Erich

​

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.

 

[Con T.]

This match is fairly elementary. These two me have fought before. Perfect was in the prime of his career, Von Erich was actually a couple years past his prime.

Von Erich won clean, in the middle of the ring. Just like he should in this match.

Aside from longevity, Von Erich has a bit better of a resume, compared to Perfect. Von Erich was a better draw (and granted, that was because the Von Erich's ran the teritorry, but you could just as easily argue that Hennig gt his shot because his dad was Verne Gagne's buddy.), Von Erich has better moments in his career, and as I mentioned before, Kerry beat him clean.

Vote Kerry here. It's the smart thing to do

 

[6timehitta]

Mr. Perfect is just that. Kerry is a great athlete and a very underrated wrestler, but I think the overall talent of Henning Is just too much for Texas Tornado to overcome.

 

[Con T.]

[QUOTE="The OverNight Celebrity" Roger Ruiz;4366523]Mr. Perfect is just that. Kerry is a great athlete and a very underrated wrestler, but I think the overall talent of Henning Is just too much for Texas Tornado to overcome.[/QUOTE]

He did overcome it.

He overcame it clean.

Clean in the middle of the ring.

If you're going to argue that you like Perfect better, fine. If you're going to argue he'd cheat to, that's fine, too. But Perfect and Tornado are pretty much the same value of wrestler. Can we finally just let go of the unnecessary ball sucking we do constantly of this man?

He was a great gimmick, and a great wrestler; nothing more

 

[The Brain]

Mr. Perfect was a great gimmick, and a great wrestler. Nothing more seems a bit harsh. Is he overrated on this forum? Probably. I think a lot of people rate him for what they hoped he would have been or what they think he could have been rather than what he was. I love Mr. Perfect and I think he was fantastic, but I think I’m giving the win to Von Erich.

I’m sure most people will look at the names and automatically click on Hennig and move on. This is actually a really great matchup and among the most intriguing of the first round. If you only know Kerry Von Erich as the Texas Tornado you’re probably not all that impressed even though it was the Texas Tornado that beat Mr. Perfect for the IC title. Both were already great stars before they made it to the WWF. I think Kerry’s star shined a little brighter.

Curt Hennig did a great job as AWA champion but the Von Erichs were wrestling in Texas. They owned the territory for a long time and brought a lot of national attention to a regional promotion. Kerry Von Erich even pinned Ric Flair to win the NWA world title. It’s a very close match but I’m going with Von Erich in an upset. I expect to come up on the losing end in the polls in a match that should be much closer than it will be.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I wanna vote Perfect, I think he was better, he's one of my favorites and I will hate myself for this but I'm voting Kerry. In his prime Kerry was white hot and was ultimately a bigger star than Perfect. Regardless of the circumstances he still beat Flair for the NWA champion and was certainly big enough to do so. Using their WWE matches isn't fair and a bad comparison even though Perfect won the feud.

Kerry was so popular, had the x factor and he would win this. Just too many intangibles to not win.

 

[Brewski]

This is a great match up. Kerry was a bigger star at the time but Perfect will always be better recognized because he was a relevant name all the way up until the 2000s. Von Erich was the man at the time and to me Hennig always was an underachiever. Von Erich wins this match.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I'm voting Perfect. Von Erich beat Perfect, but Perfect has beaten Von Erich as well.

On this stage, in this match, I can't see Tornado outsmarting Perfect. Not this early in a tournament. Perfect would come in with a game plan, something up his sleeve. Von Erich wasn't that smart.

 

[Papa Pillman]

This match is fairly elementary. These two me have fought before. Perfect was in the prime of his career, Von Erich was actually a couple years past his prime.

Von Erich won clean, in the middle of the ring. Just like he should in this match.

Aside from longevity, Von Erich has a bit better of a resume, compared to Perfect. Von Erich was a better draw (and granted, that was because the Von Erich's ran the teritorry, but you could just as easily argue that Hennig gt his shot because his dad was Verne Gagne's buddy.), Von Erich has better moments in his career, and as I mentioned before, Kerry beat him clean.

Vote Kerry here. It's the smart thing to do

Haiku just shut down the entire argument with the first reply.

Their WWE program alone provides enough reasoning to make it extremely hard to justify voting for Hennig here. Kerry was able to defeat Hennig cleanly for the IC title. It took Dibiase for Hennig to regain it.

And this doesn't even take into account Von Erich's dominance throughout the 80s, which include supporting facts like that he beat Ric Flair for the NWA World title in one of that belt's greatest matches ever in front of over 50,000 people at the age of only 24.

I know we all love Hennig, but this upset should rightfully belong to Kerry the same way the IC belt did after SummerSlam in '90.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think this would have been a fun match. If you took Kerry Von Erich in his prime, circa 1980-1985 and put him against Hennig from about 87-93, it'd be a great match.

Kerry Von Erich was a guy that had a lot going on for him in WCCW. He had a great look, he was super over with the fans and the guy was pretty damn good inside the ring. A lot of poor personal choices on Kerry's part led to his personal & professional ruin.

Curt Hennig is generally thought of as one the very best wrestlers to have never been WWE Champion. In my eyes, he was the last good AWA World Heavyweight Champion and is arguably the greatest Intercontinental Champion in history. Like Von Erich, Hennig made choices in his life that ultimately led to tragedy.

By the time these two met in a feud over the IC title in late summer 1990, Kerry wasn't the same guy he once was. He did score a win over Hennig at SummerSlam to become IC champ before Hennig regained the title less than 3 months later.

In their primes, I think this would be a close match. Kerry was the stronger of the two while Hennig was the better technical wrestler.

In the end, I'm simply going with who I enjoyed more and that was Hennig.

 

[Con T.]

In the end, I'm simply going with who I enjoyed more and that was Hennig.

Finally, we just have someone that's actually saying it. That's all I really wanted to see.

Because, you see, it's really the only way Von Erich doesn't win this match. Jack-Hammer calls Perfect the last great AWA Champion.... And sorry, Hammer, but it's horse manure. Hennig got his run with the AWA Title for the same reason that most people were at the time; Larry Hennig was one of Verne's boys. That, and this was the time that Greg Gagne was getting his big push to the top, and Verne needed someone that could really work in the ring, to get Greg over with the fans. That didn't happen, and Hennig kept the belt, until it was finally time for him to set sails for bigger ocean's.

Hennig, like all AWA champions during the time, was a champion of a dying promotion. Plain and simple.

 

[Tastycles]

A drug addled, has been walks to the ring. His success occurred in a territory that stood against Vince for the longest time. He takes on the heavily pushed, mid card star that the WWF has invested in profusely in his prime. And he wins. Clean.

Vote Von Erich.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

We forget that Curt Hennig is "Mr. Perfect", not Mr. Sometimes or Mr. Flawed. He's Mr. Perfect, and Kerry Von Erich is FAR from perfect in the ring. Von Erich won his biggest match in his HOMETOWN with a Backslide that was probably a fast count to begin with. I'm sure these guys have wrestled a few times, and maybe Kerry came out on top once or twice, but when the chips are down, I bet all my dough on Curt Hennig.

He beat Flair, too ya know. Also bonus points for Kerry contributing to the creation of Lacey Von Erich. Despite that, I still give the edge to Hennig.

 

[deem]

Last thread (Edge/Roode) was the first time I stopped and thought. This is the first time I stopped, thought and changed my mind. Kerry Von Erich should win this.

I've watched a lot of old school wrestling from various territories, most notably NWA. I've watched a lot of Freebirds Vs Von Erichs and assumed Kerry had been primarily a tag team specialist during his early days. I was aware he was the "pretty boy" of the group and was therefore the most marketable Von Erich. I also knew he had beat Ric Flair for a World title after the death of his brother and that it was transitional, brief and assumed it was given to him for the wrong reasons due to brothers death. I didn't realise he was an established main eventer at that point.

I mean Tornado beat Perfect yeah, but that argument doesn't sway it for me. Perfect regained the belt from him and upsets happen. Undoubtedly during that time Perfect was higher on the card than Von Erich.

What does convince me is beating Harley Race, feuding with Ric Flair, winning the title from Ric Flair, and having a far vaster solo resume than I was aware of. Plus, Perfect is kayfabe overrated and never really burst into main event with any authority.

I'm taking Von Erich and I'm pretty convinced it's the right choice.

 

[D-Man]

This is a really tough call. Both men have won world titles in (what is considered today to be) 2nd handed promotions. Both men were outstanding in the ring and had personalities that made them popular and legendary. Both men have defeated monsters of the industry in high-profile matches in their respective promotions.

I'm voting Curt Henning for two reasons:

First of all, he defeated Ric Flair in a retirement match while Flair was still in (what many consider to be) his prime. Yes, even in 1992, Ric Flair was still in his prime.

Secondly, along with Randy Savage, Curt Henning is one of my favorite all-time wrestlers.

As far as I'm concerned, it's a bad draw for Kerry.

 

[supernatural1981]

OK this is the one i have thought about all afternoon and ive finally come to the conclusion that Curt Hennig wins with his perfect plex after a great battle.

KVH was and still is a huge name in wrestling history but i feel his run in texas was only as great as it was because of who the promotion was owned by. Dont get me wrong the guy could wrestle but against Hennig he just does not compare.

Curt we all know about and i feel he could go a long way in this tournament this year

 

[Thriller Ant]

I just watched a couple matches between these two, since I haven't seen too much from either guy. Hennig won one by countout and the other by DQ and in both, it seemed as though Curt's strategy was try to knock out Kerry with the sleeper. I know this, because that was pretty much the only offense he got in either match. Von Erich was much more impressive to me and was dominant when he was on offense. Kerry gets my vote.