This Or That (8/26/2014)

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, @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 would you rather see face Brock Lesnar at WM 31?

Roman Reigns – 55%, The Rock – 45%

Which beloved fan favorite will be more loved next year?

Dean Ambrose – 91%, Bray Wyatt – 9%

Which push do you hope this is the end of more?

Jack Swagger – 52%, The Miz – 48%

Better side dish?

French fries – 67%, Mac and cheese – 33%

Which return would get you more excited about Wrestlemania 31: CM Punk or Steve Austin?

Which retired popular wrestler would you rather see back at Wrestlemania 31?

Tim:

I’m totally down with one last Steve Austin match but I’d prefer to see CM Punk come back. He’s really pretty good at this wrestling thing and I think his return would be an awesome sight to behold. There are a lot of interesting ways they could go with why he left. Austin would most likely give us one match while I could see Punk doing a limited run and giving us some good to great matches.

CM Punk

Joey:

As much as I’d enjoy seeing Steve Austin have one more match for the nostalgia, I think Wrestlemania 32 in Texas would be the ideal scenario for him if he was in shape and healthy enough to. However I still would pick CM Punk either way due to the circumstances.

Punk is still young enough and not too far removed where he could be more apt to perform at his best. But more so, I think the way CM Punk left and the aftermath of his absence gives you such a great story. They’ve worked before in the past and were scheduled to work again but the CM Punk vs. Triple H program with true shades of REALITY would be among the most must see television in WWE history if done right.

Give me Phil vs. Paul at Wrestlemania 31, brother.

CM Punk

Tom:

Part-time CM Punk would be fascinating to see but I’d rather see WWE settle into a Punk-less state for a while before he comes back. Let the chants for him die off completely before you drag him back into the mix, y’know?

Meanwhile, Stone Cold seems to have settled into a new life as wrestling’s Dad-King of Podcasting, but I really would love to see him back in the ring one last time (assuming he’s able to have a match without risking serious injury). Given the right opponent, I think he could still have something pretty special, though the window for that big return match is getting smaller every year. Let’s have it happen now, Punk’s got ages left to realise that wrestling’s where he belongs.

Steve Austin

Better recent WWE production: Paul Heyman’s DVD or The Shield’s WWE Network special?

Which popular WWE documentary did you enjoy more?

Tim:

Paul Heyman’s DVD is definitely worth checking out. I think it’s one of the best WWE DVDs around but The Shield special was INCREDIBLE. It encompassed what I think The WWE Network should be focused on. If you hadn’t ever heard of these guys before they debuted it helped you gain some new and interesting backstory on them. That’s very valuable and WWE needs to do more stuff like this.

As a fan it was pretty neat to see all of the indie stuff used and to hear people delve into that a little bit. Most of the WWE DVD documentaries are about history or an established member of wrestling but The Shield’s documentary was about three up-and-comers and highlighted them while it still really mattered for their career.

The Shield’s WWE Network Special

Joey:

Both were spectacular and nearly flawless for what they were but I’m siding with The Shield documentary. Don’t get me wrong – I love Paul Heyman. Genuinely, the man is as entertaining as a non-wrestler can be and I even won free video games from a Twitter contest he ran but he is a liar. Likely the greatest liar of all time, you can’t ever really trust what he says about others or himself. So many of his stories are embellished or a flat out fib that it adds a little bit of a flaw to it.

Meanwhile, The Shield documentary showed the honest truths from back in the indie days of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. The independent wrestling mark in me was extremely entertained seeing WWE produce a special that basically featured a chapter on ROH missing the boat on a Seth Rollins/Tyler Black title reign until it was late. The Shield documentary was stellar and I’ll likely be watching it multiple times.

The Shield’s WWE Network special

Tom:

I loved both productions, but while the Heyman documentary is another example of a very well done WWE doc, the Shield special felt like something newer and, more importantly, like a justification for subscribing to the Network. The lack of original programming is one of the most frustrating things about the Network, especially when it seems like they’re able to turnaround really good shows like this in a relatively short timeframe – the Bryan documentary was also great, and also came out really soon after Wrestlemania was over and done with.

What’s more, The Shield special struck the balance between reality and kayfabe fantastically, which isn’t often something the WWE manages for documentaries about ‘current’ stars. They’ve always seemed happy to go behind the scenes for storylines and stars who’ve since departed, but it’s rare that they’ve managed it so well for guys who are right at the forefront of things right now, and it was really cool to see.

The Shield’s WWE Network special

Which are you anticipating more: PWG BOLA or NXT Takeover II?

Which popular upcoming show are you more excited about?

Tim:

BOLA should be incredible but I usually don’t start anticipating their events until I can order the DVD. If I was going to see it live I would be ecstatic and my answer would be completely different. NXT isn’t perfect by any means and can be quite boring or irritating with how they handle their gimmick-heavy characters. Then there is the times where it is just fun and you’re always anticipating some of the good talent they have showing up onscreen.

I have gotten super excited about watching the last two NXT specials and this is no different. I can’t help but wonder if they’ll debut KENTA, Steen, and/or Devitt in a big way but I am keeping my expectations in check because it’s probably too soon and they’ll probably just debut as everyone else has. Either way, there are usually at least two really strong matches on these shows and watching it live helps the anticipation factor for me. BOLA should be the better show, though.

NXT Takeover II

Joey:

NXT’s TV episodes are not something I typically enjoy but the 2 hour LIVE specials usually deliver a big time match or two. I’m kind of wondering about Fergal Devitt and Kevin Steen’s debuts as they seem to be getting a lot of hype and kind of tied together in their and others promoting of the two. I can see them debuting as a tag team or doing something interesting together that night.

However, I’m still siding with BOLA. There’s just so much talent stacked for these shows. 95% of the best independent wrestlers in the world together for three days has to deliver, no? I’m extra excited to see returning wrestlers like AJ Styles, Chris Sabin, Daniels, Kenny Omega and debuting ones like Drew Gulak, Biff Busick and Zack Sabre Jr. I personally feel the roster has gotten a little stale in how alike so many guys are that it’s cool to see different people integrate themselves in the PWG world.

PWG BOLA

Tom:

While I’m almost completely confident that BOLA will be fantastic and I’m not a huge fan or regular viewer of NXT, I’m still more interested in Takeover II. I think it’s unlikely that any of the recent signees will do much of anything there BUT the idea of getting a first glimpse of how they’ll use Steen, Devitt and KENTA is really exciting to me.

NXT Takeover II

Which would you rather watch in full: The MTV Music Video Awards or Transformers: Age of Extinction?

You once voted that a root canal would be more enjoyable than seeing Transformers: Age of Extinction so we put the MTV Music Video Awards against the reigning champ of pain.

Tim:

I have not and will not watch either of these but if I had to I’d go with Transformers because there is something about MTV Awards that kind of gets to me in a weird way. It’s a “this world is a dark place and there is no hope” kind of feeling. That’s probably strange but yeah. Transformers will just make me think “this is a really awful movie.”

Also… I don’t know if anyone has thought of this but remember when MTV actually played music videos? They really did. I’m surprised not more people are mad about them not doing that. It’s MUSIC television, right?! While I’m here and on my soapbox, do you remember the 90’s? Well this will probably take you back and really make you thi-*internet goes out*

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Joey:

I’ve seen neither of these but reading the livetweets of the MTV Video Music Awards made it feel like it was among the worst things one could put on television. As much as I’m anti-Michael Bay, I would much rather see another shitty Transformers film. I feel like with Transformers, my mind would be more prepared to suffer a disaster, albeit a long one.

With the MTV Music Awards, it’s broken up into chapters of hell. Each performance, each award speech, each likely horribly cheesy written joke per presenter, it would just be extreme torture. I’ll take one long death over dozens of small deaths that you have to continue reliving.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Tom:

I’M NOT FUCKING WATCHING TRANSFORMERS.

MTV Music Video Awards