This Or That (2/4/2015)

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, @JoeySplashwater 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:

Better 2015 match?

Nakamura vs. Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom – 51%, Lesnar vs. Rollins vs. Cena at Royal Rumble – 49%

Better Royal Rumble crowd?

Philadelphia in 2015 – 65%, Pittsburgh in 2014 – 35%

Who booed wrestler did you feel worse for?

Rey Mysterio in 2014 – 61%, The New Day in 2015 – 39%

Who will win the Super Bowl?

Dan Marino – 52%, Seattle Seahawks – 34%, New England Patriots – 14%

Who will leave Wrestlemania 31 as champ: Roman Reigns or anyone else?

Reigns or the field (Brock Lesnar/Daniel Bryan/Seth Rollins). Who will leave as champ?

Tim:

WWE is in such a self-made clusterfuck here. I don’t think they’re pulling back on Reigns even though they should so I see him beating Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. This will make things worse for Reigns. Do they turn him heel? Because at that point he might as well be. I don’t see Lesnar staying so he will be losing the belt at Wrestlemania.

The whole match will have a very odd atmosphere as Lesnar is leaving and Reigns is not accepted by as many people as they want. The only thing I think they can do to make Wrestlemania end on a somewhat better note is have Rollins cash-in. Preferably somewhere in the middle of the match where he thinks he can win and then they both get up making the last half a triple threat or something.

Will they do it and not end on Roman Reigns being supreme ruler of all things? I don’t know. I think they will most likely have their hand pushed to actually fix this whole mess by then.

Anyone else

Joey:

Let’s go through an order of elimination – unfortunately I think Roman Reigns is defeating Daniel Bryan at Fast Lane so that eliminates him. I do not think there’s a chance Brock Lesnar leaves Wrestlemania as champ so he’s gone as well. I’m essentially choosing between Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. I’ll side with Rollins here as Reigns will get booed out of the building at Wrestlemania and his cash in would be the perfect back-up plan.

Rollins cashing in at Wrestlemania would cement him as the smartest Money in the Bank briefcase holder. Reigns would beat Lesnar in Vince McMahon’s dream scenario and still look strong (lol) so I can see this being the middle ground for WWE.

Anyone else

Tom:

Man… I really get the feeling that they’d hate to be seen as buckling to fan pressure SO they’re just gonna stay on track with Reigns. It’s going to be a VERY weird ending to ‘Mania but ending the show with Rollins cashing in to a huge face reacton probably wouldn’t do anyone any favours, even though I’d be much more interested seeing him as champion.

I dunno, man! If I had to guess how it all plays out, Reigns wins without shenanigans at ‘Mania, Rollins cashes in by Extreme Rules, Reigns ends up a heel by Summerslam and they mostly give up on old Roman by ‘Mania 32.

Roman Reigns

Better tag team break-up tease: Goldust and Stardust or Miz and Sandow?

Which feud off a tag team break-up would interest you more?

Tim:

I don’t have much faith in WWE’s booking of Sandow (or anyone) but I do believe Stardust and Goldust can put on an entertaining match. I think if they go the route of Stardust coming around and embracing Cody Rhodes it could be a really neat angle.

Goldust and Stardust

Joey:

Goldust and Cody Rhodes are better overall wrestlers. No offense to Damien Sandow. I have more faith in the Rhodes brothers having a great match or telling a strong story after a break-up if given a chance. The Sandow character will be risky with WWE writers trying to book for a likeable new character which rarely works out. Miz matches will not have someone on the outside doing comedy.

There’s more risk involved where I know Goldust vs. Cody Rhodes would be good stuff. I mean Goldust has been begging for this since like 2011 and his motivation usually provides great results.

Goldust and Stardust

Tom:

My two colleagues are mental, Gold and Stardust are RIDICULOUSLY cold right now (LIKE WHAT IT IS IN SPACE LIKE WHERE STARDUST IS FROM HAHA RIGHT) whereas my main man Damien Sandow continues to be the hottest thing going. Yes, The Miz is still pretty bad stuff and fuck knows what they’ll do with Sandow once he breaks off as his own guy again but LOOK, I’m pretty sure they can have a very fun five minute Wrestlemania match whereas I think Gold and Stardust will need to be spun out for a while longer and be given a little more time before they’ll be worth paying much attention to.

The Miz and Damien Sandow

Better Steve Austin Podcast guest on WWE Network: Vince McMahon or Triple H?

Which podcast interested you more?

Tim:

Triple H rambled too much and didn’t seem to answer many questions directly. Maybe he didn’t want to step on Vince’s toes or he was just being to careful. Either way, Vince McMahon showed how out-of-touch and “in a bubble ” he is but at least he was open.

Vince McMahon

Joey:

I don’t know what I was expecting but I was definitely hoping for more from the Triple H interview than what we got. The only things I even really remember from it are his comments about Chyna’s porn and kayfabe being dead. Vince McMahon said some crazy things but at least you got a glimpse into his mind. Chris Jericho’s interview with Triple H may have been better than Austin’s. Classic PC Paul.

Vince McMahon

Tom:

There were some interesting moments in Triple H’s but he’s too self-aware for it to be anywhere near as fun as Vince’s, who is just a crazy, awful old man who has mostly stopped caring about anything. Also, Austin didn’t have as much good material this time – the Chyna question was a nice bit of trolling but we’re past caring about The Punker and resigned to the fact that Roman Reigns is main eventing ‘Mania so there wasn’t anything particularly juicy to get into.

Vince McMahon

Better video game series: Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter?

FINISH HIM! HADOUKEN! SHOW ME YOUR MOVES! YOU’RE PRETTY GOOD! IT’S-A ME! Wait, what video game series are we talking about again? Oh, right, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter.

Tim:

I love Mortal Kombat for its over-the-top nature. They knew how to evolve the game with the times to make it seem ridiculous as opposed  to just another too-serious violent videogame. It has a slew of memorable characters and fun can be had all around, I say. BUUUUUUUT it is not Street Fighter. Street Fighter is the go-to fighting game for many and for good reason. Best original characters for a fighting franchise by far. The difficulty can be steep but it is worth trying out. I am a fan of colorful games so it’s usual lively art style whether it be a 2D version or 3D version is always welcome.  Also, the Mortal Kombat movies did not have Raúl Juliá and Jean-Claude Van Damme. (Clay Fighter can take both of these games down though)

Street Fighter

Joey:

I played Mortal Kombat as a kid but I have zero memories about it so it obviously didn’t leave an impact on me. Street Fighter was definitely my favorite fighting game of all time. The characters were more interesting to me. Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy, Bison and Zangief? We’re dealing with the A-listers here. I liked that Street Fighter was more colorful and fun while Mortal Kombat seemed like a darker game. Give me Street Fighter all day.

Street Fighter

Tom:

For the longest time, I thought I preferred Street Fighter until I realised that Mortal Kombat is just so much more of a laugh. In terms of game quality, Street Fighter is probably more consistent but MK is just more over-the-top and full of craziness and, when you get to be an old man like me, that’s kind of all you care about.

Also, Mortal Kombat’s theme song is FAR superior:

Mortal Kombat