This Or That (3/5/2015)

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:

Who are you more interested to see at Wrestlemania?

Sting – 67%, The Undertaker – 33%

Where do you think Samoa Joe will end up?

NJPW – 98%, NXT – 2% (Biggest difference in This Or That history. Wow were we wrong!)

More exciting Wrestlemania match potential?

Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton – 59%, Intercontinental title match – 41% (This was voted on when it looked like Ziggler vs. Barrett vs. Ambrose vs. R-Truth.)

Better weird 90’s music artist?

Fred Durst – 64%, Carson Daly – 36%

Worse choice for Wrestlemania main event: The Miz at Wrestlemania 27 or Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31?

Which is truly worse?

Tim:

This is a hard one. I personally believe The Miz is the worst. Just the absolute worst. Both guys do have their fans though. Disgusting isn’t it? Both were forced upon us and were/are believed to be something they are not by WWE management. I do get what WWE sees in Reigns. He is just their type. It’s sad that it is that way and I will never be happy with it but it is what it is. In the end, I think every time WWE makes an inorganic decision from so far within its own ass like they are doing it gets worse and worse. Roman Reigns is a bore and I hate he’s getting to beat Lesnar. The streak ended for this, ya know? Anyway, fuck ’em. A lot of fans seem really defeated lately. It’s pretty disappointing.

Roman Reigns

Joey:

Look, I know Roman Reigns sucks and quite frankly Miz probably is/was better than him but Miz was by far a worse choice. At least you can see WWE and many fans do believe there’s potential in Reigns to be a future top star in the industry. With Miz, it was easy to predict how far he would fall going forward. Sure, he had some momentum (aka any new heel to the main event picture facing John Cena) but homeboy had no business in that main event, especially over CM Punk that year.

The Miz

Tom:

I don’t think Miz was ready for his WWE title run and ‘Mania main event but I think taking a punt on him was at least worth a shot. He was never a particularly good wrestler but he’s always been incredibly hateable and I can understand pitting him against Cena at a time when they still weren’t sure how to handle the negative reactions he was getting.

It was misguided, but I think there was still a certain bravery about going with Miz that year and trying to push a new guy who was getting a decent ctowd reaction, whereas the Roman Reigns push just seems completely insane, forced and contrary to all logic.

Roman Reigns

More embarrassing in 2015: Chris Jericho or TNA Wrestling?

Shame.

Tim:

TNA is not embarrassing because if a tree pees on itself in the woods do humans even get to make fun of it? No. They do not even know it happens. TNA is pretty much nonexistant. Unfortunately, Chris Jericho does exist and he makes sure all of us continue to find him unbearable. HOW DID WE GET HERE?

Chris Jericho 

Joey:

Drunk tweeting defending horrible actions. Coming back for 2 months at a time with lackluster matches while bragging they are MOTY candidates. Fozzy. His podcast monologues. Chris Jericho is definitely more embarrassing in 2015.

Proof:

Game over.

Chris Jericho

Tom:

I wouldn’t say TNA is necessarily embarrassing right now, more just irrelevant. Jericho though? Yeah, he’s a non-stop cringefest.

Chris Jericho

Blue Pants: Yay or nay?

You must have an opinion.

Tim:

I am in no away against a bit of silliness or recurring in-jokes in a wrestling promotion as long as it is done in a legitimately funny way that fits into the vibe of the promotion. I personally think NXT has crafted a nice little world where the silly characters and the more serious personalities can collide pretty well. It’s not like the main roster where they try to have their hand in the supernatural, the goofy, and the serious to the point they break my immersion while watching the product. It is really jarring. In NXT they kind of just let things be and when those silly characters get the chance to open up and show more sides it is really cool. There’s been good and bad but usually the bad comes from the wrestler and not the gimmick. Plus, there is that ever-prevalent thing where if something feels forced it is not going to work.

I think the Adam Rose gimmick would’ve worked nicely in NXT world if the right wrestler was in the role. Bayley’s character was goofy as hell but continues to evolve into a fleshed-out three-dimensional character that is absolutely incredible. I’m still not even sure why this is a thing though. She has blue pants so that became her name. That’s cool, I guess? I don’t know… It’s a recurring jobber name you’ll kind of remember. If she becomes a regular at any point I think she’ll need to break away from that (just as NXT will need to scale back on the silly characters over time as they aim to grow and gain a larger audience) but for now it doesn’t bother me at all and I’m not even a Leva Bates fan.

Yay 

Joey:

Way too CHIKARA-y and not in the endearing way like Jervis Cottonbelly or RD Evans. It’s super self indulgent and makes the program a hard sell to new fans outside of the bubble. As good as NXT can be, the pointless silliness sometimes kills the vibe and this is a prime example.

Nay

Tom:

I don’t really get why it’s happening but it’s cool that things like Blue Pants can happen on NXT. Raw can feel horribly predictable and lacking in any kind of spontaneity a lot of the time, so it’s nice that silliness like Blue Pants can happen on a WWE programme. It’s certainly something that has a limited shelf life, but look, I’m still mildly amused by it for now.

Yay

Better Brad Ward wordplay: Brad Van Dam or Braddy Roode?

We’ve lost it.

Tim:

Braddy Roode is way more funny but Brad Van Dam will always be the true Brad Ward alias. It just fits The Social Media God of Brands so well. BVD 18:86 says “I don’t mind and your ass don’t matter.”

Brad Van Dam

Joey:

Brad Van Dam is legendary. It’s one of a kind. (Get it? Hahahahahaha. That’s more wordplay.) Seriously, Brad Van Dam has lived through the years on the internet while Braddy Roode is simply just another B+ nickname. Not to mention, Brad Van Dam is close to becoming a slang term the way Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera has. A true sign of one becoming iconic. Brad is straight edge, though. So don’t get it twisted.

Brad Van Dam

Tom:

Braddy Roode all day and all night.

Braddy Roode