This Or That (3/17/2014)

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:

Will Daniel Bryan leave Wrestlemania 30 as WWE Champion?

YES– 88%, NO – 12%

Better Wrestlemania match for The Shield?

Staying together for a team match – 63%, Break up for a triple threat match – 37%

Which Young Buck do you have a bigger man crush on?

Matt Jackson – 64%, Nick Jackson – 36%

Better TV nerd?

Urkel – 71%, Screech – 29%

More exciting concept in wrestling: Battle royals or tournaments?

With the official “Andre The Giant Memorial” battle royal scheduled for Wrestlemania, which do you prefer? Battle royals like that and the Royal Rumble or one night tournaments like King of the Ring?

Tim:

I love tournaments. They are one of my favorite things about pro wrestling. The ONLY battle royal-type match I have ever liked is The Royal Rumble. Usually battle royals seem thrown together and there just isn’t much hype surrounding them. I wish WWE would be consistent with The King of The Ring. Not saying it needs to happen every year but maybe do it every two or three years and hype it like that.

Tournaments

typicalROHfan:

The Royal Rumble is my favorite event of the year for the match and I love battle royals as a whole but I love the idea of tournaments even more. I greatly miss the King of the Ring PPV’s and always hope for more tournaments. Luckily there were a few last year with PWG’s traditional shows and ROH & TNA having vacant titles that were decided via tournaments.

I also feel like I need to take the time to say FUCK YOU TO THE SURVIVOR SERIES 1998. Look at the results of that show. Count the future WWE Hall of Famers and legends. A one night tournament with all these great names, the hottest era of wrestling and a vacant title yet the show was abysmal. Between horrid booking and lackluster matches, the show is among my biggest disappointments in wrestling history!

That being said, when done right, tournaments are my favorite. Who doesn’t love a good bracket?

Tournaments

Tom:

This is a tricky question, because for the most part, I really don’t care for battle royal matches or tournaments in wrestling, with a couple notable exceptions in the Royal Rumble and PWG’s tournies. Battle royals are especially dreadful for the most part, since all the fun guys generally seem to get tossed within the first few minutes, leaving only the immobile slugs to rub up against each other.

However, there’s a certain magic to the Royal Rumble that overrides how dreadful all the other battle royal matches generally are. Blame it on my terrible attention span – it’s much easier for me to stay focussed on something where there’s something new every 90 seconds, as opposed to a tournament where I’m expected to care for the same guys in multiple matches.

Battle royals

Better defunct WWE title: The European Championship or The Hardcore Championship?

Which do you look back at with the best outlook?

Tim:

The European Championship is pretty forgettable. I remember some of the good matches it was involved in but seem to forget that it was a part of the match. The Hardcore Championship though… That brought a lot of wild ideas to fruition and was extremely entertaining. The matches weren’t “great” in a conventional sense but you probably at least always remember that the Hardcore title was involved in the match.

Hardcore Championship

typicalROHfan:

The European Championship led to great matches with Owen Hart and the British Bulldog, introduced us to newer talents like Val Venis and D’Lo Brown, and helped cement the legacies of Wiliam Regal and Eddie Guerrero. It had more good wrestling matches than the Hardcore Championship but c’mon.

Crash Holly jumping in ball pits. Tazz getting candy jars smashed on his STUPID face. The Mean Street Posse. So much fun was had from the Hardcore division during the 24/7 defense rules and I really wish it would return. Guys like The 3 Man Band, Wade Barrett, Zack Ryder and El Torito would have purpose on RAW!

Hardcore Championship

Tom:

Despite my abiding love for Steve Blackman: Hardcore Champion and the 24/7 rule, I feel obliged to make a good case for the European Championship being brought back, given that I’m the site’s only European. The Intercontinental Belt might have been the stepping stone to the World Title, but the European Belt acted as incentive for a bunch of very fun feuds – I’ll always have a soft spot for the X-Pac / Shane McMahon saga, as well as the runs William Regal and D’Lo Brown would have with the belt.

Sadly, I think WWE’s missed the boat on bringing it back – if they didn’t swap it in for the US Title while Cesaro was holding it, then I don’t see them doing it any time soon. ANOTHER MISSED OPPORTUNITY.

European Championship

More likely to keep their TNA push for the rest of 2014: The Wolves or Tigre Uno?

Both relatively new to TNA with fanfare, who has a better chance of lasting?

Tim:

I’ve been an Extreme Tiger fan for a long time. I remember seeing him for the first time in a three way match versus Teddy Hart and Jack Evans in AAA. Him getting a TNA contract excited me a great deal but I’ve learned that with TNA we’ll get a little hype with a new guy and then they’ll be off TV for awhile.

On the other hand, I don’t dislike The Wolves at all. I think Davey Richards has had his problems and is not my favorite singles competitor but add in Eddie Edwards and I really can get behind that team. TNA seems to be way more behind them compared to the usual new faces in the company and I’m okay with that.

The Wolves

typicalROHfan:

TNA has a routine whenever they bring in a new talent they are in love with:

Debut > Pushed > Wins mid-card title > Holds title for a few months > Loses title > Loses a few more TV matches > Off television for months.

Kenny King is returning after enduring this process and Manik is at the end of it. As cool as it to see The Wolves getting the red carpet, it was shocking that a TV company would have been as enthusiastic for them as TNA was. I’d imagine that has a lot to do with the NXT appearances.

Give me Tigre Uno. At least he has a cute mask that could be sold. Tiger destroys the wolves. Just like in the wild. (Just kidding. I don’t think the two animals ever interact but tigers would win.)

Tigre Uno

Tom:

The Wolves’ tenure in TNA has been off to a weird start, mostly thanks to the phantom title change that I still don’t fully understand. Even with that though, I do expect them to have a better time of things than Tigre Uno. Lockdown was my first time seeing him, and while he seems pretty fun and his mask’s adorable, TNA doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to using international talent.

Of course, they’re not exactly masters at utilising indy guys they bring in either but… I dunno, man, I just have a feeling The Wolves will end up doing pretty well as TNA continues to go through a weird period.

The Wolves

Better dessert redux: Jello or pudding?

Which did you prefer – the jello gelatin or pudding?

Tim:

Yo, Jell-O and other gelatin brands. You’re cool and I do like you, but you’re not sultry and sexy like my pal pudding. Jelll-O is fun and is great for kids and people who like to laugh at jiggly things. I don’t judge. But give me pudding over Jell-O anyday.

Pudding

typicalROHfan:

Jell-o gelatin or generic jello, it’s amazing! Pudding is fine too but I have a love/hate relationship with it. More than two pudding tastes a year and I loathe it. Jello, I can have any day of the week. Lime is the best in the world.

Also, it’s more fun with an airplane spoon. Suck it, pudding.

Jello

Tom:

I’ve had jelly and I’ve had chocolate custard, so I’ll assume that’s we’re talking about here. Anyway, they’re both a bit rubbish. Jelly’s slightly superior because you can have it moulded into fun shapes, but I still get a bit fed up with it after a few spoonfuls.

Jelly