This Or That: Early Summerslam Thoughts (7/29/2014)

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 @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:

Better bad-ass tag team?

The Road Warriors – 57%, The Steiner Brothers – 43%

Better Attitude Era tag team?

Edge and Christian – 66%, The Hardy Boyz – 34%

Better high flying tag team?

The Young Bucks – 70%, Motor City Machine Guns – 30%

Better sitcom soulmates?

Troy and Abed from Community – 63%, Jim and Pam from The Office – 37%

Which Summerslam upper card match are you looking forward to more: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena or Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose?

Two feuds! One choice! YOU DECIDE!

Tim:

Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins is going to be great, I’m sure. I am looking forward to it a good deal. Lesnar vs Cena should be a spectacle. The first match between the two is one of my favorite matches in WWE history. It was the one time I ever felt like Cena really did “overcome the odds” properly without ever taking me out of the moment. I am expecting a classic here with a great atmosphere.

Brock Lesnar vs John Cena

Joey:

I know it’s a guarantee that Rollins vs. Ambrose will deliver when it happens on PPV so that’s a safe bet where as Cena vs. Lesnar can be hit or miss. I’m still taking the WWE Championship match because their match at Extreme Rules 2012 was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Brock is the most credible guy in pro wrestling and Cena is the face of WWE so we’re gonna get that “big fight feel” WWE strives for and could get something very special. On the other side, we’ve seen many great “workrate” matches this year and Rollins/Ambrose will be among those as excellent matches but maybe not as special or memorable years from now.

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

Tom:

Man, I’m surprised that it’s a clean sweep in our picks here but I’m going to have to go for Brock/Cena too. My anticipation for Rollins/Ambrose hurts from them not having a preceding PPV match – this is clearly a feud that’s going to burn out for a while longer so I’m expecting some sort of a fuck finish to keep things rolling along.

Meanwhile, Brock and Cena’s first match together was maybe my favourite WWE match from the last five years and I’m fascinated to see how their rematch goes and if they can capture lightning in a bottle again. I’m expecting that they’ll add some kind of no DQ stip to it because Brock’s always at his most fun when he’s out of control.

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

Which Summerslam Divas match are you looking forward to more: Paige vs. AJ or Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella?

Two high profile Divas matches on one PPV, but which are you most excited for?

Tim:

So, this is crazy. Two matches featuring WWE female wrestlers that I actually care about on one show?! Madness. They’ve both been booked pretty well but I would be lying if I didn’t get super into the Stephanie McMahon/Brie Bella stuff on the last Raw. It’s been built up pretty damn good. I didn’t even think Brie’s line-delivery was all that bad compared to usual. AJ vs Paige will be the better match and I was super excited about Paige fully turning heel. It was well done. However, I think I have a little more excitement and curiosity about seeing Stephanie getting in the ring against Brie Bella.

Stephanie McMahon vs Brie Bella

Joey:

Two matches consisting of female talent with interesting stories going into the 2nd biggest PPV of the year. What world is this?! I know Paige and AJ are better wrestlers but I find myself digging the Stephanie vs. Brie angle. It’s mainly due to Stephanie’s excellent work as a heel character as last few months of RAW shows how hated she is with an Attitude Era level pop as she was arrested. Obviously the match won’t be technically sound but it should be interesting to see a somewhat long term angle with interest from the majority of the fan base play out on a big show. Aside from Lesnar/Cena and Rollins/Ambrose, this is my most anticipated match.

Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella

Tom:

GOD DAMN IT ANOTHER CLEAN SWEEP. Stephanie is fucking tremendous and I’ve got an enormous soft spot for high profile McMahon matches. I think Paige and AJ could be very good, but man, I want a big old heap of soap opera dumped on my face.

Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella

Which Summerslam match would you rather be removed from the card: Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton or Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho?

Make it stop.

Tim:

I have to go Bray Wyatt vs Chris Jericho. I feel like there are way more interesting matches for both men to have. These two had absolutely zero chemistry and the storyline has no real reason for this match to exist. With Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton, I can’t think of a possible match for either man I’d care to watch so might as well put them against each other instead of spreading out into Randy Orton vs (insert a wrestler here) that I don’t have any hope for and a Roman Reigns vs (insert wrestler here) match that I don’t think will be entertaining. That would be two possibly boring matches to sit through instead of just one.

Bray Wyatt vs Chris Jericho 

Joey:

Neither of these matches are appealing to me but I have no interest in seeing Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt again. The BattleGround match was what I expected unfortunately and I’d like to see Bray move on to something else. It feels like a huge mistake that could stop Wyatt’s momentum with the crowd sort of the way Cesaro’s long string of matches with RVD slowed his down. Reigns vs. Orton is more tolerable as a placeholder to round out the card before Reigns moves on to Triple H.

Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho

Tom:

HOORAY, FINALLY WE HAVE SOME DISAGREEMENT. The last Jericho / Wyatt match was a real dud but I think they can still have a decent match together. I don’t have such hopes for Orton / Reigns – the pairing is just really unappealing to me and I think the best Orton can get out of Reigns is something thoroughly mediocre. I’d love to be proved wrong, but I don’t think I will be, especially since WWE has a nasty habit of giving Orton matches far too much time.

Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton

More refreshing cold drink on a hot summer day: Iced tea or lemonade?

Delicious refreshment is a must in these summer months, but which will you choose?

Tim:

Let me tell you something, reader. I love a good lemonade. Pink. Yellow. I don’t care. I will go off on a glass of lemonade. Especially homemade. BUT… I’m fixing to have to get incredibly real here. Nothing that isn’t water is more refreshing on a hot Summer day than an iced tea. Un-sweet, sweet, with a lemon in it, or even with a splash of lemonade in it. It can not be beat. You don’t see me pouring a dab o’ tea into a lemonade. Lemonade is inferior.

Ice… d T… ea
Joey:

This is tough as both are great on a scorching hot Summer day. I prefer iced tea as a drink in general but lemonade is just clutch when you need a cold drink. My main lemonade memory was at a baseball game sitting right under the Sun sweating my ass off in early August and paying almost $10 for a large glass of ice cold freshly squeezed lemonade. Best drink of my life.

Lemonade

Tom:

I like iced tea BUT I am continually disappointed and confused by America’s misconception of tea in general so it’s going to have to be lemonade. THAT’S IT.

Lemonade