WWE Region, San Diego Subregion, First Round: (8) Kane vs. (25) Yokozuna

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the WWE Region, San Diego Subregion. It is a standard one on one match held under WWE Rules. It will be held at the San Diego Arena in San Diego, California.

#8. Kane

Vs.

#25. Yokozuna

​

Polls will be open for four 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]

Pre-1996 Undertaker was very much like Kane at his peak in 1998, except between the years of 1993 and 1995, Taker was at a loose end and not as fearsome. So, I don't think it's beyond the realms of ridiculousness to look to Undertaker's feud with Yokozuna in 1994 as a pointer here. Now, Yoko may have won, but ultimately their match at Royal Rumble literally has more interference than any other professional wrestling match ever, and even then Yoko only narrowly won. In my eyes, Kane has this, and I think he's the bigger name overall anyway. Yokozuna looked interesting, so he was given a run, but outside of that he was largely ignored by the wrestling audience. Kane wins here.

 

[nightmare]

Kane may not be able to get off a Tombstone or a full on Chokeslam, but he still has plenty to take out Yokozuna here. At very least he can withstand long enough for Yoko to make a mistake & use his size against him.


Besides that Kane is just a bigger deal than Yokozuna ever was. Kane has destroyed some of the best to enter the WWE ring & has gained a rep for being one of the most twisted people to lace a pair of boots. He takes this round.

 

[HBsam31]

I like Yoko in a first round match with Kane. Yoko seems to get underrated in these tournaments. I would put him over kane just for the fact that he took the title from Hogan. I probably wouldn't have taken Yoko, but a fresh Yoko in his prime would just be to much size and strength for Kane.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that it could be argued that Yokozuna had a hotter peak but it is also interesting to note the circumstances and the storylines that were prevailing in the WWF at the time of his peak. Yokozuna hit his peak at the time of the steroid scandal and it was no surprise that at this point WWF was populated with smaller wrestlers. Yoko's angle was that he was so huge that it was impossible to knock him off his feet. The storyline worked because, at that point in the WWF, Yoko outmatched his fellow wrestlers in terms of size.

That cannot be said for Kane. He is very much Yoko's equal in size and is probably much stronger and faster than him. This is a guy who made his debut by ripping the door of a cell in a HIAC match. I'm pretty sure that Kane would have no problem in knocking Yoko down. Kane has a decent record against big guys, Yoko has never won against anyone big without a ton of interference. With that being kept in mind, my vote goes for Kane.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I like Yoko in a first round match with Kane. Yoko seems to get underrated in these tournaments. I would put him over kane just for the fact that he took the title from Hogan. I probably wouldn't have taken Yoko, but a fresh Yoko in his prime would just be to much size and strength for Kane.

It should be pointed out that Yoko did take the strap from Hogan, but it was only after a photographer threw a fireball into Hogan's face.

Is that really that much more impressive than Kane defeating Stone Cold for the belt at King of the Ring in '98 when Austin was enjoying his first World title reign and was by far the biggest star in professional wrestling?

I'd say those accomplishments wash, and the magnitude of the remainder of their careers weighs heavily in Kane's favor.

Kane should get this win.

 

[Loveless]

Talk about an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. In their primes, these 2 were nearly upstoppable, Kane probably slightly moreso than Yoko.
My instinct says Yoko is simply too big for Kane to finish off, but then I think way back to Undertaker Vs Yoko, although that was a casket match.
Nope I'm sticking with Yoko. If this was No DQ or a gimmick match, I could see Kane going mental with a chair, but in a straight one on one, Yoko squashes him.

 

[Bdubbs]

Interesting match here. You got Kane, who is arguably one of the best big men, going up against Yokozuna. Yoko scared me as a kid, as his bonzai drop was lethal.

I'm mainly voting personal preference in this match. I've always enjoyed Kane more, and he's much more agile than Yoko. I don't think Kane would be dominated to the point where Yoko can set-up the bonzai drop. Also, Yokozuna often needed lots of interference in matches against big men(Example: Taker casket match).

Kane woudn't be able to tombstone Yoko, and I'm not sure he could grab a chokeslam on him either. However, Kane is a sadistic monster, and he would tire out Yoko and find a way to win. Kane to round 2

 

[deem]

Pre-1996 Undertaker was very much like Kane at his peak in 1998, except between the years of 1993 and 1995, Taker was at a loose end and not as fearsome. So, I don't think it's beyond the realms of ridiculousness to look to Undertaker's feud with Yokozuna in 1994 as a pointer here. Now, Yoko may have won, but ultimately their match at Royal Rumble literally has more interference than any other professional wrestling match ever, and even then Yoko only narrowly won. In my eyes, Kane has this, and I think he's the bigger name overall anyway. Yokozuna looked interesting, so he was given a run, but outside of that he was largely ignored by the wrestling audience. Kane wins here.

I like this argument a lot. Undertaker was CLEARLY dominant against Yoko too, the overall record being 128 wins for Undertaker, 17 wins for Yoko. Fair enough most of that was house shows though, Yoko won their only match on Raw and they traded casket matches on PPV.

I do think that Yoko is kinda underrated. Dude came in, won his first Royal Rumble and won the strap in the Wrestlemania Main Event. How many do that? Sure he lost it to Hogan, but with better preperation he won the rematch, albeit in a crooked way... but he also kicked out of the f legdrop that match! That's being put over in a hugeeee way - the only other guy that had kicked out of it on WWF TV being Sid at Mania 8. No one else would in WWF/E until The Rock at Mania 18. This isn't mentioning the fact that he held his second title for 280 days. Other than Nash, no one held it longer until Cena in 2006.

So yeah, people sell Yoko a whole lot short, but this is Kane who is also a beast and one of the few in the tournament that can handle the power of Yoko. I'll look at both their records against similar sized opponents - obv this will be limited for Kane.

Kane

Vs Big Show - 33 wins 31 defeats w/ 12 draws. At PPV 2-1 to Kane
Vs Mark Henry - 10 wins, 4 defeats w/ 1 draw. At PPV 1-0 to Henry
Vs Vader - 24 wins, 3 defeats w/ 1 draw. At PPV 2-0 to Kane

Yokozuna

Vs Undertaker - aforementioned, got crushed on house shows, 1-1 on PPV
Vs Vader - 2 wins, 6 defeats. 1-1 on PPV
Vs Kevin Nash - 0 wins, 14 defeats.

I guess I've gotta give credit to the argument that Yoko's success was largely based on the lack of powerful members of the roster during his prime, while Kane excels against guys that weigh more than him. I'm voting Kane, bad draw for Yoko. I'd take him over a BUNCH of average sized guys

 

[RedRegan1005]

I'm Pulling for the upset here. Yea Undertaker beat Yokozuna, and he is very similar to Kane. However I think Yokozuna is actually a little underrated. I'd expect a good match with Kane hitting Yoko with everything he's got, but he just can't hit the Chokeslam, or the Tombstone. Kane eventually is starring up at Yokozuna as he crashes down on him with a Banzai Drop. 1-2-3 YokoZuna Wins.

 

[Bernkastel]

Interesting match here. You got Kane, who is arguably one of the best big men, going up against Yokozuna. Yoko scared me as a kid, as his bonzai drop was lethal.

I'm mainly voting personal preference in this match. I've always enjoyed Kane more, and he's much more agile than Yoko. I don't think Kane would be dominated to the point where Yoko can set-up the bonzai drop. Also, Yokozuna often needed lots of interference in matches against big men(Example: Taker casket match).

Kane woudn't be able to tombstone Yoko, and I'm not sure he could grab a chokeslam on him either. However, Kane is a sadistic monster, and he would tire out Yoko and find a way to win. Kane to round 2

He could. He could bench 525 during his youth, which what I'm assuming most are thinking to be prime Kane, but it would look like shit if Yoko didn't at least jump a little. Tombstone probably not. He's not Mark Henry.

That jazz aside I went with Kane because of his longevity. Both he and Yoko are probably about on par from a quality standpoint. Kane may be a bit better because of his relevance. But because of that longevity Kane certainly has a more prominent legacy. He's the most successful gimmick character in the world behind [mostly] Taker, Sting, and Muta. And undoubtedly he's the most successful spin off character. His career that was only supposed to last a year or two based on the way he was made has lasted 17 years. And he's been a major player the entire way. That's damn impressive.

 

[The Brain]

When was Kane's prime? Am I getting the psychotic monster? Am I getting an awkward babyface? Am I getting on half of about half a dozen tag teams? Am I getting a comedy character? Am I getting Corporate Kane? He's been all these things many different times over the last 16 years. He has brief stints of dominance and the next thing you know he's in a comedy tag team. Yokozuna's run may have been brief but he did make an impact. He was the longest reigning heel champion for the WWF in 15 years. He was credited for being the one to finally kill Hulkamania after countless others had failed. I think this is a close match even though the votes don't say so. Yokozuna for me.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Yoko was one of the guys that stood out in my childhood. I remember him squashing guys like Koko B. Ware on Raws and then demolishing guys on PPVs. The knock on him is that his run was so short. It was impactful, but just so quick. Kane on the other hand has had a long career and showcased great versatility. We all know he is one of the better monster heels in the last decade and half, but he could also play the goofy comedy face, and he found success while doing it.

[YOUTUBE]Aua1iN7i6L8[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]m7NGKPwFT7E[/YOUTUBE]

Not to mention, he was part of the segments that arguably lead to Daniel Bryan really finding himself and propelling him to the level he is now.

[YOUTUBE]xRficYHMpxU[/YOUTUBE]

For his diversity and longevity, I have to give it to Kane.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

How is Kane winning this? I've had a quick glance at some post and people seem to be saying that because The Undertaker mostly bettered Yokozuna that Kane would better Yokozuna. I must've missed where Kane & Undertaker are in anyway similar other than being brothers. You know who The Undertaker also largely dominated? Kane.

I think people need to look back over 'Zuna's career from 1992-1994.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

It should be pointed out that Yoko did take the strap from Hogan, but it was only after a photographer threw a fireball into Hogan's face.

Just wait a minute.

Is that really that much more impressive than Kane defeating Stone Cold for the belt at King of the Ring in '98 when Austin was enjoying his first World title reign and was by far the biggest star in professional wrestling?

Kane didn't make Austin bleed. Undertaker made Austin bleed. What happened the next night? Lost the belt. No Undertaker to help him then.

I'd say those accomplishments wash, and the magnitude of the remainder of their careers weighs heavily in Kane's favor.Kane should get this win.

Yokozuna at his peak was more dominant than whenever Kane's peak was.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Yoko was a legit main eventer, had a LONG ass WWE title reign for a heel and was in fact THE top heel in WWE at one point, Kane cannot lay claim to any of those things. All in all I like Kane better, he certainly had more longevity than Yokozuna but this is prime vs. prime here, and prime Yokozuna was a bigger deal than prime Kane was, a prime Yokozuna was more successful than a prime Kane was and a prime Yokozuna put an end to Hulkamania, sending Hogan packing for 9 years. There's no dispute, Yokozuna deserves the win here.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

Yoko is one of the best big men, and by that I mean a guy booked exclusively like a big man, that has come down the WWE's pike. He was a reliable shoulder in a tough time. He was much more mobile than his size should have allowed and he was booked to be unstoppable for periods of his tenure.

But I can't give the win to Yoko because at his peak he might have been more highly booked than Kane. Kane has been unstoppable before, but with a Paul Bearer shaped leash on it. He's always had somebody holding the reigns when he was at his most powerful and you couldn't keep Kane that way because who would beat him?

Longevity doesn't automatically authorize supremacy, as demonstrated by Bob Holly, but having the long-term success and diversity as a character that was initially brought in purely to serve the character of The Undertaker, and is now here over 15 years later, that's commendable. He's successfully, albeit variably, turned his hand to all and every thing that's come his way. And his career would far exceed that of Yokozna even if he stayed healthy because he didn't have the diversity to extend it.

Kane wins by a fair margin in the end all things considered. And because I love to post this clip, here's the extent of Kane's dominance:

[YOUTUBE]6l5KfkL5_Zs[/YOUTUBE]

That's why I love(d) Kane.