This Or That: Reality Era Edition (7/1/2014)

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:

Which ladder match are you more excited for: WWE Championship match or MITB briefcase match?

MITB briefcase match – 69%, WWE Championship match – 31%

Which rising babyface will fans turn on first: Roman Reigns or Michael Elgin?

Michael Elgin – 84%, Roman Reigns – 16%

Who do you side with in their Twitter beef: Taz or Lance Storm?

Lance Storm – 55%, Taz – 45%

Which would you rather do: see Transformers: Age of Extinction or go to the dentist to have a cavity filled?

Go to the dentist to have a cavity filled – 65%, See Transformers: Age of Extinction – 35%

This week, get ready for the script to be torn up, because things are getting REAL. So real that we’ve had to recruit regular correspondent and resident of The Blast Zone Nightlife (@AnimeKing420) to weigh in on things.

NOTE: We strongly advise that you have the following song playing while you read the questions and cast your votes, it’ll set the right tone.

Who do you side with in the Reality Era WWE war: Triple H vs. Kevin Dunn?

Reports are flying that WWE’s long-time head producer Kevin Dunn has been scuppering Triple H’s attempts to get his NXT babies over, but is he right to do so? Who do you side with?

 

Tim:

I think both men have their issues. Most of my problems with Triple H stem from his ego but I never doubt that he doesn’t love pro wrestling. I think he at least has a vision for what he thinks the product should be. I’m not saying things will be a lot better once he is fully in charge but a change is going to be nice. I’ll fully admit I am ready for a Triple H-ran WWE product just for something that has potential to feel different. He has and continues to bring in a decent amount of talented workers to NXT but the a big problem is usually how those talents are written on TV when brought to the main roster. I’m not saying I have ever had any hope for Adam Rose and Bo Dallas. Their characters are one-dimensional goofs. In a vacuum, I enjoy NXT but the gimmicks have to be more inviting and less in-joke ridden when they come to the main roster. I don’t know how much of that is Triple H’s fault.

I see Kevin Dunn as someone who is worried about his job once Triple H does take the helm. He seems like one of Vince’s yes-men and a member of the old guard. I know Triple H has played his fair share of politics and it’s always disgusting to hear about or see, but I am actually pretty curious to see his vision with no restraints from Vince McMahon and the rabid shit-heads he surrounds himself with. Is Triple H one of those politicking shit-heads? In a way, yes… but I have the feeling Triple H cares more about the future of pro wrestling than Vince McMahon’s buddies.

Triple H

Joey:

Not sure how to pick here as I dislike what I hear about Kevin Dunn and some of the NXT call-ups, specifically Adam Rose’s bit. That being said, I have to pick Kevin Dunn here. Even if his time is up once Triple H gets full power, he likely sees it coming and is just making things difficult to stick it to Hunter before he gets the axe sledgehammer.

I don’t have a horse in this race but I think I have to pick Kevin Dunn based off how impressive his burying skills are. Less than a month into Adam Rose’s big debut and he’s not even on TV! That’s just an amazing feat done to the king of burials. Kevin Dunn gets the win here.

Kevin Dunn

Tom:

I can understand not being convinced by a lot of the NXT grads that have made it to TV so far, but I’d still rather watch a hundred Adam Rose segments than anything to do with Kane ever again. Give me new things to watch! Even if some of it is terrible or takes a little while to catch on, it’s worth it for the stuff that works – for example, I am strongly considering buying a Bo Dallas shirt in the future and that is NOT something I ever expected to have to deal with.

Triple H

Nightlife:

God, this one’s tough. On one hand, you have a guy who takes every possible opportunity to put himself over as one of the greatest stars of all time, very frequently at the expense of up-and-comers, and who had that absolutely dreadful 2002-present run, but on the other hand, you have a buck-toothed moron who ruined the only chance WWE ever had to put on a legit explosion match. After much consideration, I have made my decision. As an unabashed FMW fan and blood mark, put me on Team Levesque.

Triple H

Which company do you side with in the Reality Era wrestling war: ROH vs. TNA?

With the two companies squabbling over talent and switching venues, which company do you side with now that things are getting REAL?

 

Tim:

This is intriguing. It could be good for both. If you can’t reach the heights of number one to have a competition with it then number two vs number three could be very awesome for creativity. They both need this. They both need to feel they have to strive to do better. Unfortunately, I don’t see TNA ever really doing anything smart or interesting without a load of flat-out stupid story-telling. They’ll get desperately ridiculous instead of desperately fresh and exciting. They’re too far gone. ROH still has a shot and has always shown signs of creativity. It’s had it’s ups and downs but I still see moments of greatness.

ROH 

Joey:

The heart of TNA was AJ Styles and I can’t look at that product the same if they would choose to let him go. Things were bad before he left but I always gave them a chance to right things, being a wrestling fan hoping for many extra options on television. Seeing Styles, Daniels, Kazarian and Sabin all leave the company they were the heart of shows all you need to know.

Meanwhile ROH has all the aforementioned names aside from Sabin, which is still possible, AND Matt Sydal returning with a bunch of talented and varying talent. ROH has entertained me a lot this year. TNA has not entertained me at all and their roster just gets weaker by the month.

ROH

Tom:

I think ROH has been pretty good lately and is capable of greatness given the talent like Sabin and Sydal that they’ll be able to start using but there’s something so interesting about TNA’s mad way of dealing with their steady decline. TV becomes unwatchable? BETTER BRING IN TOMMY DREAMER AND THE DUDLEYS AND GET TAZ TO CUT A SHOOT PROMO ON HOW THEY’RE BRINGING BACK REAL WRESTLING (YEAH… HE SAID IT!) TO AMERICAN TV. They just continually copy and rehash and make big dramatic statements about reboots and so on while pushing the genuinely fun stuff like Spud and EC3 to the sidelines.

The fact that they’ve allegedly started to try and poach ROH talent and interfere with their business just adds an extra bit of flavour to all the madness. Even though I’ll side with ROH when it comes to their squabbles, I’m fascinated to see what becomes of TNA so let’s go with them.

TNA

Nightlife:

It’s no secret that I absolutely loathe the current TNA product. From the marginalization of great talents like Seiya Sanada, TJ Perkins, Extreme Tiger and Robbie E, to the baffling “babyface faction vs. heel authority faction” feuds in which two separate babyface factions square off against two separate heel authority factions, to a certain writer who shall remain nameless putting his Netflix queue in a pro wrestling ring, TNA is a pretty awful company right now.

However, I’ve never cared for ROH. I have only ever watched three ROH matches to completion: Low Ki vs. Amazing Red from 2002, the CZW/ROH Cage of Death, and the Dragon Gate 6-man from Supercard of Honor. Outside of those matches, ROH just does absolutely nothing for me, and it never has. So I choose: NEITHER.

N/A

[yop_poll id=”36″]

Which Reality Era faction is most deserving of the ECW legacy: Tommy Dreamer’s ECW vs. Ezekiel Jackson’s ECW?

At TNA’s recent tapings in New York, Tommy Dreamer, Taz and the Dudleys played the usual nostalgia card… only for prominent WWECW figures Ezekiel Jackson and Snitsky to show up to challenge them. Yes, really. Of the two factions, which do you think can TRULY claim the REAL ECW legacy?

 

Tim:

I have been watching the old ECW PPV’s again recently and I have to say, I still love it in a “this is awful garbage” kind of way. There are some great matches and even better talent betwixt all of the horribly-aged storylines. I think I’m going to have to go with Big Zeke’s ECW simply because it hasn’t been overdone. It’s dumb as hell but it’s better than anymore OG ECW stuff being shoved into my eyeballs in 2014.

Ezekiel Jackson’s ECW

Joey:

As much as I’d love to joke and pick WWECW, New Jack is the difference maker. New Jack should destroy everyone on both shows and reign supreme. Tat ScyFi just had too much pasta for my liking. Give me the loud mouth, nonsensical violence of ECW.

Also, Rob Van Dam in ECW was one of the greatest things in wrestling. AND I can’t forget Sid would destroy jobbers and curse them out in the old ECW so I’m selling myself out if I allow myself to say differently and have it exist in the history of the internet.

Tommy Dreamer’s New Jack’s ECW

Tom:

The more we see the ‘ECW originals’ play upon their history and the ECW name, the more embarrassing it becomes and the more attractive WWECW seems in comparison. Honestly, I’d much rather see Zack Ryder, Yoshi Tatuse, Big Zeke and Snitsky tool around for an hour each week rather than deal with more reunions and tributes clogging up the world of wrestling.

It’ll be amazing to see how Zeke and Snitsky are used when they show up on TNA to confront Dreamer and his pals  – I can’t imagine how they’ll explain it, given they can’t reference ECW. I’m anticipating a LOT of winking at the camera and comments about how “we all know where they came from” from Tenay and Taz.

Ezekiel Jackson’s ECW

Nightlife:

How can you not love someone whose REAL NAME is “Rycklon?” The last ever ECW World Heavyweight Champion is the true star of this feud, even if he was only around for one taping. I can only hope that when the TVs air, Rycklon is wearing a Geordi La Forge-esque visor and speaks exclusively in rhyme.

Ezekiel Jackson’s ECW

What should be the official sugar-based confectionery of the Reality Era: Caramel or Fudge?

CANDY! SUGAR! REEEEEEAL!

 

Tim:

I am not big on sweets. I like a good pie, froyo, or Sour Patch Kid here and there, brothers. I don’t go in on that a lot. That doesn’t mean I’m not VERY opinionated about this.

Let me tell you, I could do without the fudge. Chocolate is a little lame to me. Too rich and too mainstream for these taste buds. Give me caramel, bub. It’s smooth and subtle. It enriches your mouth for just the right amount of time and if you get too wild ‘n out, it doesn’t leave as dark of a stain on your wardrobe. Now I can get down with that, partner.

Caramel

Joey:

I’m a huge fan of fudge and only lukewarm on caramel. One of my goals this Summer is to find a local place that makes really good fudge! It’s been a while since I had it but it’s definitely among my favorite sweets.

A sweet bonus (pardon the pun HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) but Superfudge by Judy Blume was one of my favorite childhood books. It’s clearly the only choice here.

Fudge

Tom:

FUCK FUDGE. Crumbly, overly sweet bullshit. Sure, caramel is sweet too but at least it’s got some substance and chewiness to it whereas fudge comes across like an ingredient that you’re not meant to eat by itself – it’s basically baking sugar in solid form.

Caramel

Nightlife:

Caramel all the way, brother. I love chewy confections – the more of a workout it gives my mouth, the better. Caramel is just TOO SWEET™ and very chewy. I’ve had lots of fudge, from cheap crap to supposedly “gourmet” brands and everything in between and I’ve found that it is highly overrated.. Yeah, I said it. That’s how you know I’m for REAL.

No, I’m not done talking! Don’t cut to commercial! THE PEOPLE *waits for pop* want to hear me talk! And I’ve got some choice words to say about a certain person on THIS VERY WEBSI-

*Nightlife has been escorted from Wrestling On Earth by security for going off the script*