This Or That (12/11/2015)

Everybody loves binary decisions, especially wrestling fans! In This Or That, we’ve forced ourselves to choose between two options that relate to wrestling.

Over four questions, @TimWelcomed, @JoeyOnEarth and @TomBlargh will have to choose one of two options and give their reasoning on each of their choices. You can then vote on which one you’d choose, giving you the false impression that you’re somehow involved and we care about your opinion chance to join the conversation!

Before we start, here’s last week‘s results:

Who is your favorite member of The New Day?

Big E – 64%, Xavier Woods – 20% Kofi Kingston – 16%

More entertaining McMahon kid?

Shane – 58%, Stephanie – 42%

Better manager?

Summer Rae – 52%, Lana – 48%

Better silly slasher series?

Scream – 84%, I Know What You Did Last Summer – 16%

Which 2016 super show are you more excited about: Wrestlemania or Wrestle Kingdom?

Wrestling.

Joey:

This is obviously early in the game to forecast a Wrestlemania card but I find myself disappointed with the variables hitting Wrestlemania season. Seth Rollins is out, Randy Orton is likely out and The Rock is rumored to be unable to compete. The foreshadowing of Triple H vs. Roman Reigns as a top two main event is quite disappointing for me. I can’t watch NJPW shows often because the weaker cards annoy me with their structure of shows but Wrestle Kingdom looks incredible. Top three things I’m looking forward to:

1. Nakamura vs. Styles

2. Okada vs. Tanahashi

3. Cheeseburger’s debut. Top that, Wrestlemania.

Wrestle Kingdom

Tim:

I try to stay up to date with NJPW even if I can’t always catch all of their shows. Wrestle Kingdom is looking like a mighty fine show that I will definitely be tuning into… unlike Tom, the puro expert, who will for sure be asleep. Nothing about the way WWE is booking things right now gives me high hopes for Wrestlemania. Things could always change but I’m just not sure that company has any surprises I would be into left in it without a huge shake-up occurring.

Wrestle Kingdom

Tom:

Am I the Internet’s number one “puroresu” fan? Yes, obviously. Will I stay up to watch Wrestle Kingdom? Again, obviously, and anyone who says I’ve fallen asleep during previous broadcasts is a liar. However, as much as I love the Japanese “strong style”, I’m still going to have to go for Wrestlemania.

As many setbacks as there have been in terms of injuries and other issues, I’m still excited to see what Titan Sports Inc. does with their biggest show of the year. They’ve managed to somehow pull it off the past two times, so I want to see if they can make it three years running. Also, it’ll be the first Kevin Owens Wrestlemania and I’ll be fascinated to see what role he has – a match with Sami Zayn would be incredible and seems like the obvious choice, assuming both are healthy. Regardless though, I think the stakes are much higher at ‘Mania than they are for Wrestle Kingdom – even if it’s a trainwreck, that’ll make for more interesting viewing than just another good NJPW show.

Wrestlemania

Is Sheamus good: Yes or No?

Answer this question in any context you want to.

 

Joey:

The most difficult question in the history of This Or That. Sheamus is incredibly talented. Sheamus can do wonderful things in a wrestling ring. Sheamus is a great addition to the wrestling business. Is Sheamus good? I can’t say yes. I’m never excited about watching a Sheamus match and the matches I remember fondly are a chore to watch back. After lots of lackluster television over the last few months, Sheamus as champ is what has caused me to pay less attention to Raw. I have to stand firm and say NO.

Also, he is going to be in a Michael Bay movie.

No

Tim:

This is a really hard one. I’ve seen him have a couple of good matches but maybe only one I really cared about. His character is never anything more than really irritating. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of Sheamus and even then could he make me care? He has never really excelled in any role they’ve given him and he hasn’t necessarily been given bad roles to play. I can’t find it in my heart to say he’s a good wrestler even though the truth may be that he just hasn’t been shown off properly. I predict that he is, in fact, not a good wrestler. He doesn’t seem to have an interesting personality and often comes off as very bland. Does he have a place in pro wrestling? Of course. Is that place in the main event as the champion.  No.

No

Tom:

Man. I’ll need to ask myself some hard questions as preparation to answer this super-hard question.

Q. Has Sheamus been in good matches?
A. Yes. In fact, he has been in some EXCELLENT matches.

Q. Has Sheamus been in good matches that DIDN’T include Daniel Bryan or Cesaro?
A. Sure, I think so? There was that one ladder match with John Morrison, like, four years ago that was decent?

Q. Have I ever looked forward to a match because of Sheamus?
A. No, never.

Q. Would I be happy to never see Sheamus wrestle again?
A. …maybe?

It’s that last question that I get hung up on. He seems set to be a WWE lifer because everything indicates that he’s well-liked and not stupid, so he’ll always be floating around the upper midcard/main event scene. That’s kind of a bummer – I don’t want anyone to lose their job or be unhappy, but imagine how much fun his indy run could be. Drew Galloway’s been a revelation since he got released, and I think Sheamus kicking indy lads could be an awful lot of fun too.

Also, just imagine him having some stiff-as-fuck scraps with some sensational Japanese grapplers, that’d be a guaranteed good time. Anyway, just because I’m able to get excited for those extremely unlikely scenarios, I’m prepared to declare that YES, Sheamus IS good… just not in a WWE ring.

Yes

MVP of Thanksgiving dinner: Turkey or Stuffing?

Food

 

Joey:

We may have answered this question in a past holiday edition of This Or That or perhaps we’ve debated it on Twitter but it’s always worth discussing. Turkey is my favorite meat of choice. Throughout the entire year, I consume lots of turkey variants to traditional meals. Maybe it causes the rareness of it being a Thanksgiving thing to be less special for me but I’m all about the stuffing. There are few foods as amazing as a very good Thanksgiving day stuffing. It’s the true MVP of Thanksgiving and I’m madly in love with it. Thank you for being you, stuffing.

Stuffing

Tim:

I love stuffing. I stuff myself with stuffing every chance I get but NOTHING overcomes my love for turkey. You can give me turkey cooked in any form and I will love it like it is my own son. If I had to pick I would go with turkey but please don’t make me pick in real life.

Turkey

Tom:

Fuck American stuffing. It’s just a load of bready bullshit that I don’t care for at all. Turkey isn’t a particularly exciting meat but it’s still better than American stuffing. You know what British stuffing has in it? SAUSAGE MEAT. Instantly better. I’m done here.

Turkey

Which movie are you more excited about: The Good Dinosaur or Creed?

Cinema.

 

Joey:

I made up this question because it feels absolutely bizarre to currently want to see multiple movies out in theaters. Creed looks incredible and I will check it out at some point but I’m not a huge Rocky fan. Sly Stone weirds me out. I can’t explain it. He seems like a creep. Sorry!

After Inside Out was a flawless work of art, I’m back on the Pixar bandwagon and have put all my faith in The Good Dinosaur being wonderful. Michael B. Jordan is a great choice to lead the Creed franchise and I’m sure it’s a good movie but I can’t bet against Pixar in their comeback year. Pixar + dinosaurs = my vote.

The Good Dinosaur

Tim:

I still haven’t seen either but I never really had any connection to the Rocky series I do think Creed sounds interesting and people I trust with good views on entertainment seemed to abso-lutely love it. I’m always excited for Pixar films as long as they aren’t based around automobiles or aircraft. I also love Dinosaurs and was hoping after the world got zombies, aliens, and vampires out of their system we would get a resurgence of dinos in our various forms of media. We had a new Jurassic Park and now this. Things are looking up for The T Man and the Dino Revolution. Next up: Land Before Time XIV: Journey of The Brave in 2016!

The Good Dinosaur

Tom:

Guess what: I’ve already SEEN Creed and it was bloody amazing. I was very invested in the Rocky franchise at one point in my life, so seeing them continue that story in a way that felt modern and relevant in terms of both tone and film-making was pretty amazing. Sylvester Stallone is NOT a creep, he is amazing. Michael B. Jordan was the real star though, and I really hope that we see a few sequels spin out of this (especially if it includes the spawn of Clubber Lang and/or Ivan Drago). Also, I cried twice during it and I am NOT ASHAMED!!!

Speaking of crying during films, the last one to have me well up a bit was Pixar’s Inside Out. That was also extremely good, but I’m a little unsure as to their ability to pump out two quality films in one calendar year. They’ve got to have a B-team, right? How else can you explain Cars 2? The trailers for The Good Dinosaur haven’t really sold me on it completely – everything about it seems nice enough, but kind of fluffy and light. Also, the title annoys me – what if I think ALL dinosaurs are good? Singling one out as “good” implies that all the others are bad, which is bullshit.

Creed