So much of the fun in Kengan Ashura comes from the realistic elements integrated into the fights, with fighters utilizing real-world martial arts and knowledge of anatomy even within the heightened reality of the story. Such real-world influences had a massive effect on the outcomes of the Annihilation tournament's bracket, but what if things worked out differently?
The matchups for the bracket were largely randomized, but there are at least five fighters who stood a solid chance of winning the tournament if things turned out differently.
Wakatsuki Takeshi
Wakatsuki Takeshi didn't earn the name "The Wild Tiger" for nothing. Born with a genetic mutation that caused his muscle fiber to be 52 times denser than the average human, Wakatsuki was one of the strongest and hardest to put down fighters in the entire tournament. His match against the powerhouse Julius Reinhard proved that even those with more power than him could not stand up to his talents as a fighter and, even early on, he was recognized by many as one of the few favorites to win the tournament. So, what happened?
It all came down to a bad ankle -- an injury sustained from a previous fight he had with the Fang of Metsudo before the tournament started. The ankle severely hindered Wakatsuki throughout his matches, limiting his mobility and giving his opponents a weak point to exploit. He could have easily overpowered Ohma had the two matched up earlier in the bracket, but Wakatsuki had the misfortune of facing Ohma after the fighter unlocked his potential and mastered the ability to throw Wakatsuki's most powerful hits right back at him.
Muteba Gizenga
Not all of the fighters in the Kengan matches came from a martial arts background, and perhaps the deadliest of any from that category was Muteba Gizenga. Known as the "Genocider" because of his work as a mercenary serving anyone paying top dollar to single-handedly throw over government regimes, Muteba utilized his overwhelming physical force with brutal precision -- completely unhindered by moral restraint.
Muteba's modus operandi in a fight was to blind and deafen his opponents while attacking their most vulnerable areas. Muteba's ace up his sleeve was his own blindness, utilizing the superiority of his other senses to gain an advantage over his opponents. But at the end of the day, it was his background as a mercenary that stopped him short of winning: he forfeited his match as soon as he decided the risk was no longer worth the reward. If Muteba just had more of a fighter's spirit, or pushed himself into the finals, his dirty tricks could have won the whole competition.
Imai Cosmo
This is no doubt that this is the most controversial entry on the list, but credit needs to be given where it's due and no fighter in the tournament deserves more of that than Imai Cosmo. The King of Stranglers kept improving during the tournament itself, expanding on his unparalleled skills as a grappler with the addition of boxing techniques; a new source of motivation fueling his ability to win and an ability to predict his opponents' moves that exceeded even Kaneda Suekichi. But at the same time, Cosmo suffered more and more injuries as the tournament wore on that greatly hindered him. He needed those advancements to stay competitive because his body was breaking down.
It was miraculous that he could even out-react Akoya Seishu, one of the fastest fighters in the tournament, but Akoya's piercing knuckles cost Cosmo severely. The King of Stranglers even out-fought Okubo Naoya despite his injuries, and if he'd made it through his earlier matches without such an injury it's entirely possible his predictive ability and strangleholds could have put down any of the top tier fighters.
Okubo Naoya
Beating Okubo in their sparring match was certainly a tremendous achievement for Cosmo because Okubo was truly one of the best fighters in the tournament. His greatest misfortune was a first-round matchup against the Fang of Metsudo, the top-seeded fighter in the entire tournament. It was even made explicitly clear that the Fang surpassed Okubo in each individual area of fighting ability. So what was Okubo's response?
He exceeded Fang in his ability to switch between grapples, strikes and throws. Such a strategy put up a marvelous fight against Fang and could have outperformed almost anyone else in the tournament. He wasn't hailed as the greatest figure in public fighting for nothing. All that Okubo really needed was a more advantageous bracket, and if given the chance to learn and improve like Ohma or Cosmo, there's no telling what he could have done.
Tokita Ohma
Of course, when it comes to the effect of self-improvement over the course of the tournament, there was no fighter who made larger leaps in their ability than Tokita Ohma. While he may have started out with a cocky arrogance, a brief run-in with the Fang of Metsudo taught him just how big the gap between him and the top tier fighters truly was. All he needed was to resolve his own inner demons, coming to terms with and accepting the Niko Style he inherited and learning to combine it with the Advance to reach his full potential.
The problem is that Ohma's revelations came too late in the game, with his earlier rounds against Kure Raian and Wakatsuki costing him dearly in physical stamina and health. The use of his Advance itself cost Ohma much of his health early on. Considering how close he came to winning the whole shebang, it's hard to imagine anyone could have beaten him had he entered the finals match at the top of his game. It'd be miraculous for any fighter to make it through the whole bracket without suffering injury, but with Ohma's redirection techniques, he'd be the most likely to pull it off had mastered the techniques earlier.