WWE Region, Miami Subregion, Second Round: (7) Randy Orton vs. (10) Curt Hennig

[klunderbunker]

This is a second 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. Assume one week has passed since the first round match.

#7. Randy Orton

Vs.

#10. Curt Hennig

​

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.

 

[LSN80]

People say Randy Orton is overrated, and Mr. Perfect perhaps underrated, but Randy Orton is a nine time World Champion for a reason. He went toe to toe with Undertaker, beat Chris Benoit clean for his first World Title, the man who had taken the title from HHH, whom Orton has feuded with extensively and beaten twice for the WWE Title. He's the rare star to hold several clean wins against John Cena, including a tables match and a Hell in A Cell match.

Mr. Perfect is one of the best examples of a man that screams upper mid-card. He could have a great match with just about anyone, and started his WWF career out hot as heck with an undefeated streak that spanned over a year. He even got a pinfall win against Bret Hart during that time after beating mostly mid-carders, but was dropped back to the mid-card after being eliminated by Hogan in the Rumble and having his undefeated streak ended by Brutus Beefcake, which essentially sent him to the mid-card for the rest of his career.

Perfect couldn't and didn't beat the biggest stars of his time. He was a fine Intercontinental Champion, but other then an AWA World Championship win, Perfect was a career mid-carder who couldn't stay healthy long enough to gain momentum, or stay out of trouble to do so as well.

Orton, despite the problems he's had both with injuries and trouble as well, rose above that to become a nine time champion and beat the best in the business. He's never been the top guy, but he's been close at times. We don't know what Perfect may have become had he not been injury prone and troublesome, but that's the point. We don't know. We do know with Orton, and there's no way in hell he'ld be booked to lose to Perfect. One of the men compared to Perfect, Dolph Ziggler, has faced Orton numerous times and has never beaten him clean.

If there's an argument to be made for Perfect, I fail to see it. Orton wins this.

 

[Tastycles]

Please stop making me vote for Randy Orton.

Orton is shit, but the fact is he was a youngster with potential that actually did something with it. People point to Perfect's feud with Hogan and said he should have won, but I think the actual point of no return for him was when he got injured in the early 90s. Without that, he could have capitalised on the post Hogan doldrums, but he lost momentum. Orton took his chance, and despite his total lack of charisma, he has done very well. Reluctantly going with Orton.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Orton's one of my favorites ever, I like Perfect to, but he just has never been over to the point that Orton is. Since 2004 Randy has been one of the top guys on the roster and always managing to give us at least one MOTYC. Around 2010 WWE had to turn him face because he was getting pops just as loud as John Cena. He's a huge star and to much for Perfect here.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Who would win an actual match between two, solid in-ring competitors like Orton and Hennig. Hennig should take this.

Hennig's best run was in the AWA when he was their champion for over a year. He carried the promotion and tried to resurrect the promotion as good as he could, but too many AWA stars left for the WWE and eventually, Hennig did the same thing, dropping the belt to Lawler.

Hennig's also the longest reigning Intercontinental champion of the 1990's... which beats the likes of Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, The Rock, and Steve Austin. He was also undefeated for a year during his run in the WWE. He had the undefeated streak before Goldberg.

Orton's very decorated and is the youngest WWE Heavyweight Champion in history when he won the belt, but to me, the IC title back in the late 80's and 90's was on par with the Heavyweight title today, and Hennig's reign was longer than anyone's during that decade.

Would be a helluva match, but I give this one to Hennig. Because he's simply... PERFECT>

 

[Uncle Sam]

The wait continues for me mounting a stirring defence for Randy Orton. The sort of defence that reduces grown men to tears. Alas, not here, not now.

There was a line by, ooh, I can't remember, either Cole or Lawler on the latest Raw which caught my ear. To paraphrase:

"The intercontinental title has been held by no fewer than a dozen WWE hall of famers."

What I thought of that was, well, correlation does not equal causation. Shawn Michaels is not in the Hall of Fame because of his reign as intercontinental champion. Steve Austin is not in the Hall of Fame because of his reign as intercontinental champion. Randy Orton will not one day be in the Hall of Fame because of his reign as intercontinental champion. Curt Hennig may well be.

 

[Brewski]

I'm going to use the same argument for Orton here that I used for Orton last week against Malenko, except it makes more sense this time because Perfect competed with heavyweights.

Randy Orton has done a shit ton more in his young life/career than Hennig had in an entire lifetime. His multiple championship wins put him way ahead of Mr. Perect.

Orton wins.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

It's not so much that Curt Henning's status as a performer has been much exaggerated, it's more that Orton's has been under-appreciated. Henning's ability to work a match and use the stick was very good no doubt, and he may well have been a world champion at a time when Hogan, Flair, Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior were floating around, but Orton has been equally as good as Henning in all aspects as various points in his career.

Orton isn't the most consistent performer, a good chunk of his career he's just phoned it in and done very little noteworthy aside from his booking, but once again the same can be said of Henning. People will remember him in the WWE from about 90-93 but nothing else in particular, and the man wrestled up until a decade after that later year. So I suppose the only real difference between these two men is that Orton has made it stick, he's been the more consistent guy who pulled it out when it counted to solidify his spot.

Orton was good in evolution, great upon breaking out, dull for a bit, faced The Undertaker, teamed with Edge (so-so) and then had a massive heel run, and then a massive face turn. All of the highlights have been punctuated by periods of mundane action, but when he had to work great, he did so. This can't really be said about Perfect, when he had chances to break out he never really seemed to take them. And he probably could've.

I've weighed up all of the other stuff with these two guys, but really because I think on a talent level they aren't that far apart, the thing it has to come down to is resume. And I don't need to tell you that on that level Orton trounces Hennig. Sorry Curt, maybe you were a victim of the times, but that's how it goes.

 

[HBsam31]

I was only ever a real fan of Orton during his legend killer days, and then when he went on the heel run and had the feud with HHH and the McMahon family. In between I have to agree that he was not at the top of his game. Hennig is one of my all time favorite in ring performers. Kind funny as I am typing this I am watching Bret Hart vs Hennig on the Dungeon Collection set. Hennig was real good, but he just never was at the spot of Orton. Orton's resume speaks for itself and Hennig never really accomplished all that Orton did. Have to go with Orton.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Two of my ten or so favorite wrestlers of all time. I'm going with Orton, though.

WWE World Champion, consistently beat top-draw guys, face of a show, etc. Curt is also (somewhat) a former World Champion and I think they're equally strong in the ring, but I can't think back to a Curt Hennig victory that would make me vote him over Orton. Bockwinkel? I guess, but Orton has victories over Cena, Batista, The Undertaker, CM Punk, HHH, ... the list goes on.

I'm voting Orton, and no, it's not as easy as you think it is.

 

[D-Man]

Ugh... this kills me.

On one hand, we know Randy's resume. And those title wins and his success weren't a bunch of flukes. The guy legitimately dominated the WWE during time periods where guys like Triple H, Ric Flair, the Undertaker, Mick Foley, The Rock, and many more were on the roster.

On the other hand, Curt Hennig is one of the most gifted in-ring wrestlers that ever lived. The guy could "wrestle" circles around Randy. And that's saying a lot because Randy is a really solid worker.

If we are judging this round based on overall superstardom, accomplishments, in-ring skills, mic skills, and all other aspects that make up a great wrestler, Orton takes more categories than Hennig. That is the only reason why I have to stay honest and reluctantly vote for who I feel is the overall better superstar; Randy Orton.

 

[The Crock]

I've gotta go with Orton here. Perfect wasn't the star Orton is, nor was he anywhere near as decorated. For all the stupid things Orton has managed to do in his career, he has become a viable top draw and isn't even near the end of his career. Hennig, on the other hand, has been defined as one of the guys that should have been -- you know, should have been a world champion in one of the two major promotions (since most people ignore his AWA title reign anyway) and so on. It's become less about what he actually accomplished, in favor of trumping up the potential he had and talking about what he should have achieved. Mr. Perfect was a fine wrestler (a damn good in-ring practitioner, albeit a bit overrated), but there's no way he beats Orton, who just plain outclasses him.

 

[Papa Pillman]

This is a fun match...

Two wrestlers who are equal parts quite talented, and quite overrated by the majority of posters on this board.

One has a single world title win, which was a dead title that he won from a 51-year old Nick Bockwinkel; the other is a nine time world champ who counts title wins against in their prime Triple H in a Last Man Standing Match, John Cena in a HIAC, and Cena, HHH, and Show in a four-way amongst his championship victories.

This is a case where Orton's resume speaks louder than any of either wrestler's abilities; therefore rendering the amount of prerequisite slobbing both men will surely recieve in this thread as essentially irrelevant and superfluous to the outcome. Orton wins cleanly as a result of his accolades.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

This would probably be a show stealer.

I like both guys and I think that Hennig is someone whose abilities, extensive as they are, are exaggerated due to nostalgia while Orton's are generally underrated because...well he's been a main eventer in WWE, which means you seem to get hated on a lot.

As has been mentioned in many posts by many people in many threats was one of the best to have never been WWE Champion. He's also, arguably, the greatest IC champ in the title's history.

I have to go with Orton, however. I just don't see any real logical reason I can't. When I compare the two overall, from a physical standpoint, they're pretty much even. Both can talk on the mic. Both come from a rich family wrestling heritage. Both have been World Champion at some point. There are some differences that's got me going over to Orton here.

Orton has been a major, major star in a thriving wrestling company from the moment he arrived in WWE. By the time Hennig was AWA World Heavyweight Champion, AWA wasn't the thriving entity it'd been a decade earlier. When Hennig came to WWE in the late 80s he was a bright star but, let's face it, he was a mid-carder. Hennig had shots at top guys like Hogan, Warrior & Savage but ultimately never got the job done no matter what he tried or did. Orton has held his own and/or beaten the major stars of his day such as Cena, Triple H, Batista, Edge, etc. Along the way, he happened to become one of the major stars himself.

It won't bug me if Hennig went over, but Orton was the bigger star in a much bigger pond and his career hasn't been inflated posthumously with a lot of great "what if" scenarios.

 

[deem]

Easily Orton here. I don't think Perfect is overrated at all tbh - he had everything during his peak and I'm really surprised he didn't make more of his career. I honestly think he had every bit as much going for him as Bret did, albeit a natural heel rather than a face like Bret. Seriously though, as good in the ring and on the mic imo, it's just an intangible that made Bret such a good babyface. That, and consistency for years to break the glass ceiling, something that Perfect lacked despite a stellar first three years in WWF.

Orton. I don't know what to make of Orton. I loved him during Evolution, then just dropped off him when he turned face in the Hunter feud. I think most did tbh. The difference is, I didn't really get back on. I guess I only like him as a heel. Which is weird, because I can't deny how successfully he has managed to get over as a face. Just baffled me, is all. He's such a naturally hateable person - good looking, smarmy evil douche. Perfect heel.

In kayfabe, this isn't a question. Orton has a wayyy better record then Perfect, as do almost everyone in this second round. Just for shits and giggles I'll list the people in this final 64 that I think Perfect should go over in kayfabe.

Scott Steiner.

Even that is debatable. Everyone else is a main event talent, something Hennig never achieved. I guess DiBiase wasn't either, but I'd certainly consider him more relevant at the business end of cards than Perfect ever was. Same to a lesser extent for Rick Rude - I'd still put him over Hennig I think. Idno, would certainly consider a debate there. Everyone else, no. And Orton is like, certainly top 30 percentile of this 64.

Orton wins, easily too.

 

[The Brain]

Good match. Orton wins. He's won world titles, beaten bigger names, and headlined bigger shows. We all like to think about what Mr. Perfect could have been. He could have been what Orton actually did become.