WWE Region, Manchester Subregion, First Round:(16)Antonino Rocca vs. (17)Gene Kiniski

[klunderbunker]

This is a first round match in the WWE Region, Manchester Subregion. It is a standard one on one match. It will be held at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, England.

#16. Antonino Rocca

Vs.

#17. Gene Kiniski

​

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.

 

[Tastycles]

I don't imagine either of these guys is going far, and I certainly don't suppose that this match will really get much chat. If any of you get around to watching one of their matches, and I imagine you probably won't, you're more likely to find Rocca entertaining. Rocca was more popular at the time, and I think his style would translate to a modern audience much better, so for that reason he has my vote here.

 

[HHHfanboy9]

Antonino Rocca hit his backbreaker at of nowhere all the time, is a professional wrestling hall of famer like Kiniski. he was the international world heavyweight champion one of the best wrestlers WWE has ever seen. I give it to him in the end here.

 

[Brewski]

Antonio Rocca is an entertaining wrestler to this day. Way more popular than Gene as well. Rocca wins this.

 

[supernatural1981]

I saw this match and even though i have heard of both guys i am not very clued up on them both, however i will give my vote to Rocca in this match due to the fact that he was more mainstream than Kiniski.

 

[Thom]

If that image is somehow accurate and Rocca did, at one point, manage to throw Superman around, I think he's got this entire tournament in the bag. He's got my vote this round.

 

[Kermit]

I'll be completely honest with you, I do not know either of these two men. However, that Antonio Rocca fellow is throwing Superman over the top ropes! How can you vote against that? I have seen plenty of Royal Rumbles and it always appear extremely difficult to get a mid-sized guys over the ropes, so I can't even imagine the strength it takes to throw Superman over them.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

I'm obviously not an expert on either individual, but let's not forget that Gene Kiniski was an NWA Champion for a number of years in the 1960's. In fact he was the main who defeated Lou Thesz in his final reign as NWA Champion. So basically Lou Thesz in essence picked Gene Kiniski as the man to pass the torch to. That's a pretty big deal.

I do agree that Antonio "Argentina" Rocca was more of an innovator though, as he was basically the first wrestler in America to utilize the ropes and do high flying and more graceful moves. That's important.

Really this is a good matchup of two of the greats of the "Television Era." But I'm going with Gene Kiniski on this one.

 

[deem]

One of the toughest for me. I really enjoy Rocca, of 50s wrestlers I think he is the one whose work holds up best for a modern fan. It's super crisp, smooth and impactful with a diverse moveset while still maintaining the psychology and pacing of the times.

Kiniski I've seen a lot less of. I did recently see highlights of a feud with Lou Thesz, but the quality of the recording is a lot worse. I mean, on paper Kiniski has had a far, far superior career. He's feuded with a who's who of wrestling and beating a ton of them. He's won titles against Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne, he's gone over Sammartino, he carried Giant Baba to the best match of his career, he's gone over the Funks and O'Connor, Bobo and The Sheik.

All that while wrestling at a similar time as Rocca, for longer. Yet I'd strongly argue that Rocca's legacy shines brighter and remains more of an impact on the business, so I'm not sure which way to go here.

Thing is, Rocca's greatness exceeded the need for a belt. He was an attraction by being LIGHTYEARS ahead of his time and went from region to region with immense popularity. Antonino Rocca's win loss record is insane, one of the best I've ever seen. He's 7-0 Vs Giant Baba! The only question is whether his opponents consisted mostly of undercard/midcarders, similar to Goldbergs. Looking at his feuds against the the top guys - 8-14 down to Buddy Rogers, 0-4 Vs Gagne, 0-3 Vs Thesz. He fought Kiniski once, went to a draw. Sigh, wouldn't taken the copout and just voted for the winner

Gene Kiniski lost a lot more, but being booked as a heel that's understandable. To compare with Rocca, he is 7-19 Vs Thesz, 5-14 Vs Gagne, 2-4 Vs Buddy Rogers. 0-7 to Baba lol.

Idno. While the win/loss favours Rocca for sure I think I'm leaning towards Kiniski, just because he was a top name for longer while Rocca kinda didn't maximise his potential ever. Sure, he was a pure talent, a freak and innovator and impacted the business more. However, he never really used that to push himself into the echelons of the industry as he should. Kiniski did, with less raw talent, and has a ton more big game experience because of that as well as more victories over the big names.

I don't think you can make a mistake here. Whoever you pick is fine. Kinda homefield advantage to Rocca too being in Europe here.

Fck I could go either way. Better kayfabe record Vs more success in the industry. European advantage Vs being handpicked by Thesz.

I'm taking Kiniski to find a way to steal a win in what will be a highly unpopular outcome in Manchester. I think it sets up better to logically build towards a second round Kiniski Vs Hogan match too. If Rocca goes over, which he probably will, fair enough and it might be the right result. Closest in the tournament so far.

 

[The Brain]

Tough call here. Tough because I haven't seen either of them wrestle and from what I've heard they were both great and very different. I'll go with Rocca because of his popularity and innovative style. Should I stretch this out to make myself seem smarter than I am? Nah, I'll just leave it at that.