This Or That (2/10/14)

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, @typicalROHfan and @TomBlackett 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 do you fault more for their falling out?

WWE – 53%, CM Punk – 47%

More exciting Elimination Chamber match?

Orton vs. Bryan vs. Sheamus vs. Cena vs. Cesaro vs. Christian – 65%, The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family – 35%

More optimistic sign for TNA?

Samoa Joe’s push – 61%, MVP’s debut – 39%

Better super power?

Invisibility – 55%, Flying – 45%

Better Hall of Fame choice: The Ultimate Warrior or Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts?

The first two members of the 2014 Hall of Fame. Which is “more” of a Hall of Famer?

Tim:

Both of these men have had their problems but I do feel that they both deserve a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. The Ultimate Warrior has to take this one though. He was larger than life and took wrestling by storm for a period of time. He represents a lot of the good and bad of wrestling in a lot of ways.

The Ultimate Warrior

typicalROHfan:

1989 is my year of birth. I don’t have the pleasure of being able to truly rank them as I didn’t get to see their careers unfold in real time. That being said, with my skewed view, it’s The Ultimate Warrior. He was way more important in the history of WWE and just represents an entity bigger than Jake’s body of work.

Sure, he has a world of flaws but in a bizarre way, I feel that’s what makes him more relevant to the culture of wrestling. A crazy human being playing a crazy face-painted beast who could barely form cohesive sentences. It was must see. Also, let’s please stop pretending Jake was as big in stature in WWE as Warrior was when both were at their peak. Warrior beat Hulk Hogan clean in a Wrestlemania main event.

The Ultimate Warrior

Tom:

This year’s Hall of Fame is already set to be the most interesting one for a while. As deserving as Bruno Sammartino and Mick Foley were last year, they’re also very safe – Mick might have had his issues with WWE in the past and Bruno was on the outs with Vince for longer than I’ve been alive, but both seem like professional, dignified guys who won’t make a scene.

On the other end of the dignity spectrum though, you have the Ultimate Warrior and Jake Roberts. Honestly, at this point it seems inevitable that every past star is eventually going to reconcile their differences with the company and be ‘welcomed’ back into the fold for the sake of a Hall of Fame induction and a DVD set, but having Warrior and Jake opening and closing the thing… well, it seems awfully daring for a company that’s become so conservative. I’m not expecting any real theatrics (or at least none that make it to broadcast / DVD release) but it’s still exciting!

Anyway, back to the question! Both these guys were favourites of mine as a kid, and as much as Jake trumps Warrior when it comes to promos, wrestling ability and… well, most everything that you’d usually use to measure the standard of a wrestler, the Ultimate Warrior was just the Ultimate Warrior. As a six year old, he was the guy I could look to as definitive proof that wrestling was a) amazing and b) REAL. He was just too crazy for any other possibility to be feasible! I don’t know that it makes him more ‘worthy’ to be entered into the Hall of Fame, but he’s still my pick.

The Ultimate Warrior 

More likely to make an in-ring appearance at Wrestlemania 30: CM Punk or Sting?

CM Punk has left. Sting is rumored to sign with WWE but kept away from TV until after Wrestlemania. Who is more likely to be in an in-ring segment at Wrestlemania?

Tim:

CM Punk will not come back unless it is on his terms. That’s just the kind of person he is. The only thing that had me intrigued and, to an extent, excited about Sting showing up in the WWE is the potential for a huge debut leading into a feud with The Undertaker filled with over-the-top theatrics. The more that comes to light about the ideas WWE has for him it becomes more clear that this is not happening by Wrestlemania 30 and that he probably will not even get a very cool debut. That being said, I think if there is more of a chance of him being at Wrestlemania 30 than CM Punk.

Sting

typicalROHfan:

This comes down to one factor for me – CM Punk being stubborn and reveling in his reputation as an anti-authority bad ass. If Punk is back for Wrestlemania, it would have to be in the top storyline and/or getting more freedom in his promos. I just can’t see WWE giving him that as much just as I can’t see Punk allowing the narrative of him “crawling back” to take place unless it’s for something really important.

On the flip side, perhaps Sting is involved in an in ring segment with Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper or something along those lines. I also can see Sting getting the better of some low card act like Wade Barrett. Barrett comes out for the bad news skit, the lights go out, Sting delivers the good news of Showtime and bad news of a baseball bat attack. Sting hits him with a bat, celebrates, then is off TV until you want him again. You’re welcome, WWE.

Sting

Tom:

Back when we were doing our Wrestlemania 30 predictions (which now look HILARIOUSLY dated thanks to the direction that WWE’s taken since), CM Punk was the guy I really struggled to place in a high profile match. Now he’s walked out, I really don’t think there’s much chance he’ll come back any time soon – the only scenario I can see him agreeing to is some sort of involvement in the main event angle that comes with a guarantee that he’ll get to properly main event next year’s ‘Mania. And really, I don’t see that happening.

As far as Sting goes… he’s also very difficult to place. The shortlist of guys that it’d make sense for him to be placed as an opponent of is really pretty short, and they all seem to have plans already. I can imagine he’ll show up on Raw the next night, but beyond that… man, I dunno. I guess he’s more likely, but I still don’t see much happening with him beyond inducting the Warrior or something.

Sting

More likely to be WWE World Champion in 2014: Dolph Ziggler or The Miz?

Reports are of a team between the two forming soon. Which ex-champion is more likely to climb to the top of the ladder again?

Tim:

I would prefer Dolph Ziggler if I had to pick but I don’t see this happening for either.  I guess if I want Ziggler to be champion that means that The Miz has more of a chance of reaching that.

The Miz

typicalROHfan:

This topic comes down to one thing. WWE believes in Miz and does not believe in Ziggler.

Miz has been given more opportunities, including a Wrestlemania main event involving John Cena and The Rock. They clearly strongly believed in Miz at one point. Ziggler seems to get the rug pulled from under him any time he makes progress. If you recall, after winning the World Championship to a monster pop in New Jersey, he lost the title in his first defense and has been on a downward spiral ever since. Unless he gets into a Daniel Bryan position of having the fans DEMAND he get the top tier push, it won’t happen, especially with one main title.

The Miz

Tom:

Eesh. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine either of these guys even getting an Intercontinental or United States title run at this stage. Both have been run through the system and spat out the other end, and I can’t picture them being in a place where they’d be positioned as the company’s undisputed champion.

Of the two, Miz seems in a completely hopeless place right now – they keep trying to find a place for him, and they keep hitting brick walls. With Punk gone, I could at least imagine Ziggler being elevated as a guy who’s able to have longer, faster matches. He also still gets a reaction from fans, while Miz… well, Miz doesn’t get much of anything.

Dolph Ziggler

Better video game franchise: Super Mario Bros or Sonic the Hedgehog?

Video game debate time.

Tim:

Sonic The Hedgehog really hasn’t had a great game in a long while besides Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, if you want to count that. Okay, maybe Sonic Generations was fun and maybe Sonic Boom has potential if we can rest all of our hope on Knuckles’ redesigned wide shoulders. Mario, however, keeps the game on lock.

 It could be that because almost every other Nintendo game released rests on having Mario involved and there is just more of a chance of them having a good game but I find most Mario games greatly enjoyable sans Sunshine. Super Mario 3D World is widely considered a fantastic game and shows that there is definitely still some life in this over-done franchise.

Maybe I’m still wallowing in the glory of The Year of Luigi. Plus, Sonic has created some of the strangest fans in the history of anything. I’m a Mario guy but I am thankful for Sonic and the gang for teaching me and Tails how to handle trolls on the internet.

Super Mario Bros.

typicalROHfan:

C’mon. Are we serious here? It’s clearly Super Mario Bros. Super Mario World is the greatest video game of all time. A few other Mario titles would crack my top 10. Meanwhile, Sonic is just a one trick pony. Keep running for the rings, dork.

Here’s all you need to know in Popsicle art form:

Super Mario

Tom:

While I do appreciate all the material that the Sonic universe has given me to work with in my many fanfic projects (especially my 50 chapter Sonic/Daria crossover), I don’t think I’ve played a Sonic game since the GameGear (IMPORTANT NOTE: I did NOT own a GameGear, I was not some kind of child millionaire).

Meanwhile, the Mario games have essentially shaped who I am as a human being. Mario Party 3 for the N64 was also responsible for giving us the greatest mini-game of all time: Eatsa Pizza.

So, there’s really no question here – it’s gotta be my main man and fellow Brooklyn resident, Mario ‘Mario Mario’ Mario.

Mario