On the one hand, the liberal in me is jumping up and down wanting to give a delightful speech about Jackie Robinson and breaking barriers. On the other hand, pure instinct is telling me that Buddy Rogers had a greater and more lasting impact on the business.
So many of today's great personalities can be traced back to the work of Buddy Rogers, and so many of the names of the past generation list him as their inspiration. It's just like how so many of the talents of today's generation were inspired by Rick Flair, in fact the comparisons between to two are great in number, and since I hold a lot of love for Flair, I'm drawn towards Rogers almost by default.
Hell, Giant Baba (who trained with names such as Rokodozan, Thesz and Inoki) names Rogers as one of the greatist of all time.
Additionally, after some consideration I've decided that, if I vote for Bobo Brazil, I'll be voting for him simply because he was black. Were it not for being African-American, his name would be just another one from professional wrestling's lost era. Nobody would remember who he was, and with that in mind I'm reluctant to call him a legend.
Don't get me wrong. I have massive respect for Harris, and his success much have come a lot harder than others, but if he hadn't been the first successful black wrestler then somebody else would have been, the direction of the business wouldn't have changed had he not existed, and for that reason I'm not willing to call him a legend.
Both men are winners. But Rogers wins this round.
