GOTNW Posted July 4, 2015 Report Share Posted July 4, 2015 This is the most ridiculous comparison I could come up with. Both guys are sloppy but with Baba it's part of the charm while with Punk it just comes off as unprofessional. Baba's finisher was safe but believable enough for Harley Race to sell it like it knocked him out while Punk's would either break his opponent's nose or look bad. Baba had an innate charisma while Punk's appeal could be summarised as "pay attention to me!". I'm interested if anyone would make a case for Punk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 Baba I love to watch, Punk not so much. I've always found Punk to be a very lazy, lowest common denominator type of wrestler. He goes for the easiest route in the majority of his matches, and were he able to execute that wouldn't be that bad. But, I've seen Punk bring down way too many matches cause he can't hit a Springboard properly, or because he doesn't understand where to position himself for his opponent's big move. He has this rep as a fantastic worker, but I don't see it; I see a sloppy, lazy, uninspired wrestler who always leaves me wanting something better and more organic. On the other hand I love just about everything about Baba. He's big and gangly, perhaps the most awkward body ever for a high level pro wrestler. But, he gets all the little things; when to time his comebacks, how to make his moves matter more, why it's important to make his opponent look great, and he works so smart by sticking within his limitations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted July 5, 2015 Report Share Posted July 5, 2015 This is the opposite ends of the spectrum poll but it's definetly intriguing. I'd take Baba but want to address a few things: Punk is sloppy at times and certainly isn't a great athlete but unprofessional? If that's the case, Tenyru, Hashimoto, and mid 90's Choshu fit that same bill and I would never consider them unprofessional. Watching Punk's journey from his first ROH show in late 2002 through MITB 2011, you see a physically limited wrestler who was sloppy learn how to work smarter to the point that by the summer of Punk 2005, he's only behind Joe and Danielson in ROH in terms of straight up working. WWE gave him the kickboxing gimmick, which doesn't fit his strengths at all but he managed to turn it into something okay. Arguably has given Cena his best match (or best set of matches), the Rod Strong July 2005 match is a 'holy shit, this shouldn't be possible for this to be that good but it is', and then a bunch of solid stuff, including some early matches against Del Rio when Del Rio wasn't having good WWE matches outside of him and Rey Jr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I like Baba a lot but I picked Punk also. From 2009 to 2013, he was consistently having great matches and many times, stole the show. Since he has been gone, his presence has really been missed, but to be fair, it also coincides with Bryan being injured, Cesaro disappearing on TV and just being boring as fuck the last 9 months as a company. We watched a ton of Baba matches for All Japan but there were as many stinkers as there were classics when he was in the ring. He also had the benefit of owning the company so a lot of the bad booking and finishes in All Japan during the early 80s was due to his leadership. Also, I know people are going to think I am anti-Baba. I am not. I have defended Baba for years on message boards. Just at this point, I would rather watch a Punk match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 I might rather watch a Baba match at this point, but there's no way I can vote for him over Punk. Between the WWE years Will cited and a number of ROH goodness that holds up well for me he takes it on sheer volume. Though he probably doesn't many, if any, that hold up to some of the tags Baba play a (vital) part in. Nevermind some of his hot singles matches with Hansen. But a vote for him would feel a whole lot more romantic then realistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadMick Posted July 6, 2015 Report Share Posted July 6, 2015 Gotta go with realism or romance too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 I like Baba a lot but I picked Punk also. From 2009 to 2013, he was consistently having great matches and many times, stole the show. I'd question the consistency of him having great matches in 2009, 2010 and 2013. Punk was deemed good but I don't remember anyone claiming he was at such an elite level (ringwork-wise) before he got a bigger platform and managed to convince people. He deserves credit for managing to back up what he said but from that time period I only remember his matches vs Rey Mysterio (!!!!) as potentially great. He had some highs in 2013 and it was a very good year for him but overall it was definitely a step down from 2011 and 2012. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 He had the Jeff Hardy feud in 2009, which had a lot to do with out of the ring stuff but also delivered in the big matches. The Punk vs Morrison series of TV matches in 2009 was also very good. Mid-2009 was that 'New Smackdown Six' period of the show and Punk was a part of that, albeit probably the most minor contributor in terms of solely matches, but between those two big feuds there's some volume there that he had lacked in WWE up until that point. I agree that his 2010 is awfully empty of matches save for the Rey feud. He was stuck in a dead-end Big Show feud for ages though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Punk was deemed good but I don't remember anyone claiming he was at such an elite level (ringwork-wise) before he got a bigger platform and managed to convince people.??? He had a LOT of indy fans in his 2003-2005 run who were very high on his work. His matches with the likes of Chris Hero in IWAMS and Samoa Joe in ROH were heavily pimped by lots of folks. Personally I thought he was highly overrated back then (unlike in 2013, when he really WAS that good) but he certainly had his share of supporters. Still voted for Baba, though. His worst matches were somehow less boring than Punk's crappiest stuff, even when he was getting old and decrepit and REALLY immobile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I like watching Punk matches and I don't like watching Baba matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 We watched a ton of Baba matches for All Japan but there were as many stinkers as there were classics when he was in the ring. He also had the benefit of owning the company so a lot of the bad booking and finishes in All Japan during the early 80s was due to his leadership. 1970s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 Punk was deemed good but I don't remember anyone claiming he was at such an elite level (ringwork-wise) before he got a bigger platform and managed to convince people.??? He had a LOT of indy fans in his 2003-2005 run who were very high on his work. His matches with the likes of Chris Hero in IWAMS and Samoa Joe in ROH were heavily pimped by lots of folks. Personally I thought he was highly overrated back then (unlike in 2013, when he really WAS that good) but he certainly had his share of supporters. Still voted for Baba, though. His worst matches were somehow less boring than Punk's crappiest stuff, even when he was getting old and decrepit and REALLY immobile. I was talking about 2009-2010, duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I really only liked CM Punk during his Straight Edge Society run. I never really thought he was all that good in the ring and always thought he was way over rated in that department, going back to people talking about him being the best thing on the ECW show while I was busy being in love with Big Daddy V & Colin Delaney. A lot of times during Punk's ECW title reign I would watch the whole show until the Punk match at which point I'd just delete the show off my DVR unless he was facing someone interesting (so yea I didn't see much of his Chavo feud) I voted Baba. I would rather watch a random Baba match over a random Punk match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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