WWE Region, Dallas Region, First Round: (8) Curt Hennig vs (25) JBL

[Tastycles]

This is a first round match in the WWE Region, Dallas Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

#8. Curt Hennig

Vs.

#25. John "Bradshaw" Layfield

​

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.

 

[DWFJT]

As good as JBL was I got to go with Mr. Perfect here. More technically sound and well he's perfect.

 

[IHW]

This one, despite the numbers being a bit far off, is a close one IMO.

Curt Hennig was "perfect." But, JBL was one of the best heels ever. JBL knew what he was doing inside that ring at all times. As did Hennig.

JBL had one hell of a tough side, and this is what I think gives him a slight nudge for the win.

I am still unsure of who I will vote for as of yet. I may go and watch a few Hennig matches where he is facing someone with JBL's style.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

JBL, World Heavyweight Champ for a year, or Mr. Perfect? This is the first one I may be having trouble with. 1) I'm a JBL mark, so its hard for me to not just jump straight into that pool and 2) Mr. Perfect was fucking awesome.

When the poll comes up, then I'll make a decision.

 

[CrissSpades]

I pick Mr. Perfect. Hands down. Mr. Perfect is quite possibly the best wrestler to never hold the WWF/E Championship. Along with that, he is arguably the best IC champion of all time. Technically sound, and had the best matches.

 

[Con T.]

I pick Mr. Perfect. Hands down. Mr. Perfect is quite possibly the best wrestler to never hold the WWF/E Championship. Along with that, he is arguably the best IC champion of all time. Technically sound, and had the best matches.

And wound up losing more often than not, too.

Listen, I won't sit here and tell you JBL is a better worker, but he did make it to the top of WWE, during an era of Eddie, Kurt, Undertaker, Benoit, and eventually Cena. Perfect played a good character, but JBL played an even better one. Then again, that's likely because there is little difference between the man and the character, but JBL has been nothing but successful for the WWE. Hennig got to the IC belt, but he was never more than a guy to have good matches. JBL was Smackdown's guy, and I put more stock into his credentials than I do Perfect's.

Give me JBL

 

[1On1WithTheGreatOne]

JBL. Although its hard for me to say, since I'm a fan of Mr. Perfect. Mr. Perfect is a technical genius, but i think that's where his flaw is with going up against JBL. JBL is a brawler first. He has moves like the clothesline from hell than be done almost at anytime.

 

[Saeros]

Hands down Mr.Perfect. JBL probably had more success in the eyes of many. But when you look at it, JBL held the World Heavyweight title for almost a year. Mr Perfect held the IC title for almost a year. Back then, the IC title was at or maybe even above the level the World title is/was back in 2004. So my vote is the Perfect vote. Mr Perfect, Curt Hennig

 

[Con T.]

Hands down Mr.Perfect. JBL probably had more success in the eyes of many. But when you look at it, JBL held the World Heavyweight title for almost a year. Mr Perfect held the IC title for almost a year. Back then, the IC title was at or maybe even above the level the World title is/was back in 2004. So my vote is the Perfect vote. Mr Perfect, Curt Hennig

Um, no it wasn't. Actually, no, it isn't. The IC title was always the mid card title. JBL was WWE champion; first of all, you're already wrong in saying he was World Heavyweight Champion. He wasn't, he won the WWE title. Second of all, he won the main title of his brand, at the time when the brand extension actually meant two fucks. I get that you want to rationalize the fact Perfect never won a world title, but of all the ways, you've picked a horrendous one. You're wrong, end of story, good night.

 

[stblink]

JBL over Curt Henning because JBL won a world heavyweight championship while Henning never reached that accolade

 

[Natural Selection]

JBL may be a "Wrestling God" but we are talking about Mr. Perfect here. In the ring he was almost always perfection. He made the I.C title seem like the end all be all. I'm sure Mr. Perfect would tell you(In character) that he wasn't the world champ because he didn't need to be, he was perfection. Mr. Perfect's I.C runs were better then alot of peoples world title runs.

 

[Con T.]

JBL may be a "Wrestling God" but we are talking about Mr. Perfect here. In the ring he was almost always perfection. He made the I.C title seem like the end all be all. I'm sure Mr. Perfect would tell you(In character) that he wasn't the world champ because he didn't need to be, he was perfection. Mr. Perfect's I.C runs were better then alot of peoples world title runs.

I want you to answer this question, and while I admit I have no way of checking this, I want you to be fully honest in your answer; aside from wrestling Bret Hart at Summerslam do you actually remember anything about Curt Hennig's IC title run? Anything?

Ok, better question; who did Perfect beat to actually win the title? Can you give me that without going on wikipedia? Or, how about this; who did Perfect face at the Wrestlemania he had the IC belt for?

If you couldn't answer those questions, fear not, you are one of many. All people remember of Curt as an IC title holder is losing to Bret Hart. They remember him doing the job. Fuck, his back was so screwed up, he couldn't actually work too much until he got to Bret. Perfect's title run was just like any other; we idealize it because it's Curt Hennig, and we want to believe he meant as much to wrestling as we would like to believe

News flash; he didn't

 

[Natural Selection]

I want you to answer this question, and while I admit I have no way of checking this, I want you to be fully honest in your answer; aside from wrestling Bret Hart at Summerslam do you actually remember anything about Curt Hennig's IC title run? Anything?

Ok, better question; who did Perfect beat to actually win the title? Can you give me that without going on wikipedia? Or, how about this; who did Perfect face at the Wrestlemania he had the IC belt for?

If you couldn't answer those questions, fear not, you are one of many. All people remember of Curt as an IC title holder is losing to Bret Hart. They remember him doing the job. Fuck, his back was so screwed up, he couldn't actually work too much until he got to Bret. Perfect's title run was just like any other; we idealize it because it's Curt Hennig, and we want to believe he meant as much to wrestling as we would like to believe

News flash; he didn't

Brutally fucking honest, I love it. And no without checking wiki I can't tell you the answer to any of those questions and have now buried myself DAMNIT! You are right though it meant more to us because we wanted it to. That can be said about alot of wrestlers though. I like to think of Curt Henning as actually being Mr. Perfect, but of course hes not. JBL in his prime was the top heel so in all reality Mr. Perfect would probally go out there and make JBL look pretty damn good, but from in ring perspective I'd like to think we get a fisherman suplex finish rather then a clothesline from hell finish.

 

[Bernkastel]

If Curt Hennig could be considered one of the best never to win a world title, then Bradshaw could have been considered one of the least likely to ever hold a world title. But not only did JBL become a world champion and have one of the longest reigns in the modern era, but he maximized his full potential in the process.

JBL overhauling his image and finding the success he did was a huge feat; it would be like Lord Tensai becoming as big as CM Punk or Randy Orton 2 to 3 years down the line. And if his title reign isn't remembered for it's length, it damn sure will be remembered for jump starting John Cena's main event career.

JBL could pound and brawl with the best of them. I certainly wouldn't vote Curt Hennig over Stan Hansen, so I won't be voting him over Bradshaw, who is like a demi version of the Lariat... but with serious credentials.

 

[Con T.]

Brutally fucking honest, I love it. And no without checking wiki I can't tell you the answer to any of those questions and have now buried myself DAMNIT! You are right though it meant more to us because we wanted it to. That can be said about alot of wrestlers though. I like to think of Curt Henning as actually being Mr. Perfect, but of course hes not. JBL in his prime was the top heel so in all reality Mr. Perfect would probally go out there and make JBL look pretty damn good, but from in ring perspective I'd like to think we get a fisherman suplex finish rather then a clothesline from hell finish.

For the record, your answers were Kerry Von Erich, and the Big Bossman. I repped you, but didn't say I appreciate that you had the guts to admit that. Most wouldn't; they want you to believe that Mr. Perfect caused this dramatic paradigm shift in the IC title where it was important. He really didn't; he was a great worker, whose best contribution to wrestling is that he could sell really well, and make his opponent look good.

That's going to earn you a great legacy in inside circles of wrestling. But it isn't enough to grab my vote

 

[Natural Selection]

I don't think he caused a dramatic shift to the I.C title outside of when he had it. When he had it like I said it seemed to be the end all be all. Similar to HHH with the WHC and JBL with WWE title. That was his doing, Cody tried to do it himself but as we see its a little harder then just changing the belt design. If the I.C title represents the best worker then Mr. Perfect was the perfect person to showcase that title.

 

[Pyro180]

This is a toughy, but, I think im going with JBL. if for any reason, its bc its set in Texas.

 

[Celtic Tiger]

Curt Hennig is in my top 5fav wrestlers
of all time don't care wat anyone says.
JBL I was also a big fan of and he was
a great champ with great fueds like Eddie
and of course Cena.
Thing is I can see people saying he never
got the big one but injuries stopped him
reaching full potential.
JBL and Hennig would be a great match
with both men giving it all JBL would
dominate most the match but Perfect would
fight back.The finish would come with
Hennig being slow getting up JBL comes to
pick him up and a small package.1-2-3
Perfect.

Winner Curt "Mr Perfect" Hennig

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll go with Hennig here. What people forget about Bradshaw is that for the VAST majority of his career, he was a midcard guy that did nothing significant. Then one day there was no one else on Smackdown to be a heel champion so they took a huge shot in the dark and gave Bradshaw a very long title run for some reason. before then, no one cared about Bradshaw and he had no reason to be made a champion. Hennig would have been champion at almost any other point in history other than Hogan's time on top and was world champion in the AWA. Hennig with ease.

 

[Con T.]

I'll go with Hennig here. What people forget about Bradshaw is that for the VAST majority of his career, he was a midcard guy that did nothing significant.

And Curt Hennig wasn't a career midcarder himself?

If you're using the argument Perfect would have been a main eventer in an era outside of the Hogan era, what's keeping me from saying Bradshaw was a victim of being in the Austin era? Even if Perfect never became champion because of Hogan, there was always a need for a heel to feud with Hogan. As I recall, Hogan and Perfect headlined house shows, and did bad business. Mind you, it was bad Hogan business, but it isn't as though Hennig was a burgeoning main event name; he was a mid card name. He sold extremely well for his opponents and made them look great, but JBL got somewhere Perfect just didn't

 

[klunderbunker]

And Curt Hennig wasn't a career midcarder himself?

If you're using the argument Perfect would have been a main eventer in an era outside of the Hogan era, what's keeping me from saying Bradshaw was a victim of being in the Austin era?

The fact that it would have been a disaster because there was no reason for him to make such a jump, partially because of there being better talent and him having no significant background as a singles guy.

Even if Perfect never became champion because of Hogan, there was always a need for a heel to feud with Hogan. As I recall, Hogan and Perfect headlined house shows, and did bad business.

They did, which is contrary to what Bradshaw did.

Mind you, it was bad Hogan business, but it isn't as though Hennig was a burgeoning main event name; he was a mid card name. He sold extremely well for his opponents and made them look great, but JBL got somewhere Perfect just didn't

What would that be exactly? A level of boring that few thought was possible? Listen to the crowd when he keeps the title at some of the PPVs. The crowd GROANS when he retains.

 

[Con T.]

I'm confused; you're saying Hennig an Hogan did bad business, and JBL didn't?

Again, it's not like the WWE had an influx of great heels at the time Hennig was around. JBL wasn't a great wrestler, but he was more than enough to carry business on Smackdown. Sure, he didn't light the world on fire, but he didn't kill business, either. People still paid to see him get his ass kicked, and kept it up to Mania. What more did you want?

I get it, you don't like JBL. JBL is to you what Kane is to me. But that isn't enough to sway me into thinking Perfect wins. Again, great seller, made his opponents look great, not enough for my vote.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm confused; you're saying Hennig an Hogan did bad business, and JBL didn't?

Again, it's not like the WWE had an influx of great heels at the time Hennig was around. JBL wasn't a great wrestler, but he was more than enough to carry business on Smackdown. Sure, he didn't light the world on fire, but he didn't kill business, either. People still paid to see him get his ass kicked, and kept it up to Mania. What more did you want?

I get it, you don't like JBL. JBL is to you what Kane is to me. But that isn't enough to sway me into thinking Perfect wins. Again, great seller, made his opponents look great, not enough for my vote.

No, not quite.

Hennig and Hogan did good business. JBL had people bored out of their minds. Bit of a difference there. JBL had no business being around the title. he got it because there was no one else there to give it to and Eddie wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire. I don't mind JBL, but to insinuate that he's some kind of a big deal because he got a world title in WWE is really wrong.

 

[Con T.]

And people didn't tune out.... Why? If people were annoyed because they didn't want the man as champ, people would have stopped paying. Vince is, above all, a money man, and if something's not making money, he'll pull the plug. JBL must have done something to keep the belt on him; they had Taker, Booker, and the like on the roster, so it wan't like there weren't many options. And, if Hogan and Perfect did do good business, why didn't Vincent further the angle?

 

[Peoples_Champ]

JBL over Hennig pretty damn easily. First and foremost is the hometown factor, there's going to be a hot Texas crowd ready to see their hated heel against a career midcarder. Second, I'll give Hennig the technical advantage but JBL has the power to dominate and a crazy lariat. Also, I can't see JBL losing to the Perfectplex ever. But I can absolutely see JBL turning Perfect inside out with a nasty lariat.

JBL by pinfall in a well fought match, 18 minute mark.