Austin Region, OKC Subregion, First Round: (5) Triple H vs. (28) Tatsumi Fujinami

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the Austin Region, Oklahoma City Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

#5. Triple H

Vs.

#28. Tatsumi Fujinami

​

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]

Oh my goodness this match would be fantastic. Two ring generals from two cultures tearing into each other. Two clinical, methodical stars trying to unpick one another. Its a chess match in wrestling form. That said, Triple H's reach is far greater than Misawa's. The casuals know him as the ultimate big bad via DX, The McMahon-Helmsley Era, Evolution, The Authority etc... The smarks know him as the NXT mastermind and as a backstage executive/poloticker. All regard him as an all time great though.

Fujinami is a major star in Japan - the Bret Hart of Japanese wrestling is pretty much the way everyone sums it up. Best technical wrestler ever produced from those shores. A success at Junior-Heavyweight and plain old Heavyweight. The heir to Antonio Inoki's throne as main hero/babyface of NJPW. But beyond those shores, only the hardcore amongst us know these facts. Fujinami's global appeal is far less significant that Triple H's. And it is for this reason that our future wrestling overlord Hunter Hearst Helmsley gets my vote.

 

[Bernkastel]

I would argue that as an international star Fujinami was a much bigger star than Trips was. If Triple H is known worldwide it is because the WWE is known worldwide. And Triple H's name value does not outshine his own promotion. Fujinami's did. When WWE and NJPW had their working relationship Fujinami became a huge star in the States. He was a credible Junior heavyweight champion. He later defeated Ric Flair for the NWA world title and was the first man to hold the IWGP and NWA titles at the same time. He is in the WWE HOFame for a very good reason. He was also one of the few domestic Japanese stars to pin Inoki clean. That was a huge rarity.

Despite that though I probably will throw my support behind Trips here. 14 times a world champion and one of WWE's top drawing cards in the modern era, with fantastic longevity, and great consistency as a main event star to boot is hard to match.

It's a tough, tough first round draw, but Trips is the man here.

 

[Tastycles]

Triple H is finally starting to get the credit he always deserved. Yes, he was always front and centre during the early 2000s, but as soon as Edge, Orton, Cena and Batista came along, he wasn't and he has lost to all of those guys. The story of Triple H is that he kept down brighter talents, the truth is he was just able to identify when wrestlers were never going to make the grade and was in a position where he could protect the company. Much like Verne Gagne did in the AWA.

Fujinami is obviously a big deal, but I honestly think that Triple H is an all-time great of this industry and is the better wrestler.

 

[Dave]

Triple H goes over here, no problem.

Teath be told, I know very little about Fujinami. It is my own ignorance of course. But the fact remains that Triple H is amongst the very best who ever laced up a pair of boots. Maybe he did marry into wrestling royalty, and maybe he did hold a few people down in his day. But the fact of the matter is that Triple H is one of the most decorated Superstars in the history of wrestling. He's beat everyone that there is to beat and Fujinami would just be next on the list of names.

 

[NSL]

Triple H is finally starting to get the credit he always deserved.

I used to despise the man, but having pulled myself away from wrestling recently, I'm more appreciative of his career, definitely. He's gifted in the ring, one of the modern best on the mic, and has carried the torch for a long time.

Also, when even Ech says he beats a Japanese wrestler, you pay attention

 

[nightmare]

Tough match. Both are legendary in their respective continents, both have the skill.

I will go with HHH based on the fact I enjoy his work more & will save the breakdown of accomplishments for a later round.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

What year do we call Hunter's prime?

 

[MCMG]

What year do we call Hunter's prime?

Personally, I'd say 2000. From a logical point of view, he was a machine from 2002-2004, with only Batista (I think) having a favourable win-loss record against him. For HHH, it may even be 2016 and beyond Anyway, I don't think a wrestler's prime is over one year or two years, with a few exceptions.

Triple H definitely wins this. Fujinami had a great career and was something of a pioneer but Triple H was a mega-star with a far longer, more successful career on top.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I don't know a lot about Fujinami, I won't pretend I had even heard of him before the HoF ceremony last year. From what I have gathered, he was a great in ring performer and put on a lot of good matches.

I don't think that is enough to beat Triple H though. He has been around for two decades, being a consistent force for most of them. He is also a real professional, taking the punishment from The Curtain Call incident like a champ. Speaking of champ, Triple H was a champ a lot, and is currently getting cheered as a heel champion because people dislike Roman Reigns that much.

So like I said, I don't know much about Fujinami, but this sounds like it would be a good match with Trips getting the win.