The realistic answer seems to be, yes, Anakin in his prime could have defeated Luke Skywalker (in the current canon) if they battled one-on-one. The main reason behind this is Luke's lack of formal Jedi training, at least when it comes to combat.
While Luke was defending himself, Vader could've easily unleashed his full strength and cut him down, but his main goal was to slowly poke at his son. Yet once he spoke of Leia, the provocation worked too well, and Luke fought back with all his anger, taking Vader completely by surprise.
There are few reasons for this; firstly, the young Skywalker has become more powerful. While he didn't continue his traditional training with Master Yoda, Luke was on the field, practicing what he knew thus far, and honing his skills in the real world.
Many have described him as being the most powerful Force User of all time, making him superior to even Luke Skywalker and Yoda. Darth Revan had the ability to wield the powers of both the light side and dark side of the Force.
The realistic answer seems to be, yes, Anakin in his prime could have defeated Luke Skywalker (in the current canon) if they battled one-on-one. The main reason behind this is Luke's lack of formal Jedi training, at least when it comes to combat.
What If Anakin Skywalker NEVER Turned To The Dark Side?
Is Rey stronger than Anakin?
ANAKIN - More Powerful
Although Rey is also strong with force, she doesn't compare to Anakin's pure strength with the force and his connection, being created by the Force itself. Even in the movies, comics, and shows we see Anakin accomplish greater feats of strength that Rey was years away from learning.
While Vader may be stronger, Luke had several advantages of his own. He was both swifter and nimbler than Vader. But the biggest edge was that Luke didn't give in to his hatred and anger.
If anything Vader was much stronger because of his powered armored suit. And Vader's ability to manipulate the Force wasn't any lesser than Anakin's. The one area where Anakin had him beat completely was in his agility. Anakin's agility was what made him one of the deadliest Jedi of all time.
Obi-Wan faced off against Darth Vader four times and physically beat him twice while beating him through his Force development in a third fight. Obi-Wan Kenobi had the high ground that led to Vader's disfigurement and becoming the ultimate Star Wars cyborg.
So while Luke may have bested him in terms of athletics, Palpatine's Force-powers could very likely give him the victory. So while fans may never know for sure, it would've likely been a very close battle, with neither side being a clear victor.
He has decades of experience and even though Rey's brute power has seen her through every fight, Vader has the power and the skill, something Rey lacks in comparison. Rey just couldn't match up to Vader.
As further highlighted by Vader and Kylo's redemption stories, it was a lesson that Kylo Ren never fully learned himself, which makes Darth Vader the more powerful user of the Force between the two of them in Star Wars.
Anakin Skywalker is the only Jedi known to possess 25,000-plus midi-chlorians per cell, and explains why he was the Chosen One and so powerful. It is worth noting the other two Force-wielders who meet this criteria as well -- Darth Sidious and Yoda, both of whom were pushing 20,000 midi-chlorians per cell.
It was the fact that Luke was his son that caused turmoil within Vader. It was his love for his son that caused his loyalty to Palpatine and the Dark Side to falter. If Vader didn't know who Luke was he would have been just another force sensitive person to be trained to serve Palpatine like an Inquisitor or be killed.
Many fans declare that Luke won the confrontation because he nearly killed Vader, but that's technically not true. Vader was far more powerful than Luke and easily could have bested him. So, knowing that Vader wasn't allowed to kill Luke drastically changes the equation.
Despite being the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker was not the most powerful Jedi in Star Wars, as that honor goes to Ahsoka Tano. The Star Wars prequel trilogy focused on Anakin's desire to become the most powerful Jedi, and while he became very strong in the Force, his lust for power drove him to the dark side.
Kylo lost to Rey in TFA because he was heavily wounded and was holding back against her due to Snoke's request that he bring her back to him alive. He is also stated by Palpatine in the Secrets of the Sith book to be “equally as powerful as a real Sith despite not being one”.
George Lucas has stated that while Anakin had the most potential, in the form of a high midichlorian count, Luke Skywalker is the most powerful Jedi of all time — yes, topping Yoda, Revan, Nomi Sunrider, etc. This is due to more refined power.
