Welcome to the second edition of Burning Questions! Mike Lightning and Mean Jean, Jee-S are back with me for round two. Enjoy!
Who is the ONE wrestler in WWE developmental that most deserves to be on the main roster and why?(50 words or less)
ML: This answer to me is simple: Kassius Ohno. Not only does Ohno not belong in developmental, he should have been a member of the Shield when they debuted. Ohno possess everything the WWE is looking for and he has vastly improved his mic skills. He deserves it the most.
JT: Sami Zayn. The performer formerly known as El Generico is an outstanding balance of technical wrestler mixed with high impact-high flyer. His charisma on the mic is unmatched in NXT and he should honestly be competing on the main roster without any need for “development.”
Jee-S: I think NXT has many performers that should be on the main roster, but the one that stands out the most right now is Paige. In a messy Divas division, the Anti-Diva could really make it relevant again. She undoubtedly has the talent and the connection with the fans.
Who is the better overall wrestler from the Hart family, Owen or Bret? Only give ONE answer and stick with it in your argument. (250 words or less)
ML: I’ve caught a lot of heat on this subject before but I’m still unwavering. To me, the answer is Owen Hart. I’ve always felt that Owen possessed something more than Bret in the charisma category. Despite, Bret’s cool, calm and relative chill mannerisms, Owen was the guy who took promos to that level that Bret never could get to. Owen, especially as a heel, was able to show just how better he was on the mic than Bret. Add to the fact that Owen was the better athlete and in my opinion, just as technically sound as Bret overall, and Owen has the whole package. The ring psychology that Owen was capable of executing was uncanny and his ability to make you love him or hate him at the drop of a hat was a special talent that, to me, Bret didn’t have. Owen’s tag team with Yokozuna and his King of Harts gimmick were some of the best things he was able to execute. Even as a face, the crowd loved him and admired him for his ability in the ring and for the way he was able to connect with everyone. It’s unfortunate to me, that after the Bret Hart/WWF fallout that Owen was the victim of that politics and essentially buried with that horrid Blue Blazer gimmick. Owen should have been given his chances as WWF Champion and I guarantee if he had, he would have proven all his nay-sayers wrong.
JT: It’s not Owen’s fault that Bret was the better overall wrestler. Bret was older and came into the company long before Owen and therefore had time to build a better resume much more quickly. Despite Owen being a more versatile athlete, he didn’t go very far with his career after Bret left WWE in 1997. Owen’s run became somewhat stale as a member of the Nation of Domination and then with the Blue Blazer gimmick being brought back in 1999. Though we will never know for sure what would have become of Owen’s career had his accident not happened, what can be argued is that his match quality and career was not going in an upward direction(tag champ with Jeff Jarrett, Nation member, Blue Blazer joke, etc.), and therefore it’s hard to believe that he was ever going to be anything more than a midcard talent in WWE. Bret wrestled more matches than Owen by a large quantity, and Bret delivered more high quality matches than Owen over the course of his career. Therefore, for me, Bret is the better wrestler.
Jee-S: I think the best wrestler from the Hart family is Bret. I started watching wrestling when I was 8 years old; that was in 2001. At that point, I knew absolutely nothing about wrestling, but I was determined to learn. As I started to study more about the sport, I memorized the names of legends, former great WWE champions from the past such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Shawn Michaels…and Bret “The Hitman” Hart, of course. He was the coolest to me because he was the Canadian hero; the hero from my country. And I kept on reading about his five WWE championships, his WrestleMania main events, him being King of the Ring and all of his accomplishments inside the squared circle. For me as a kid, Bret Hart was just one of the best. Then I started wrestling school when I was 18 and I finally understood how hard it was. That’s when I really started differentiating good technical wrestlers from bad ones. And Bret Hart just happened to be a great technical wrestler; for me, he had it all. And to this day, Bret Hart is still better than his brother Owen because of that: his legacy. For me, what makes a wrestler a great one isn’t only his talent as it’s been proven many times, but the character and the legacy he leaves behind counts just as much. But it doesn’t change the fact that Owen was an incredibly gifted wrestler.
Should more members be added to the Shield? Should the Shield be forced to compete in a triple threat match(or against one another in any combination one on one) while they’re a stable and would it hurt the credibility of the group? Who would you book to win if they did have a triple threat match and why?(150 words or less)
ML: The only way I would want more members to be added to Shield is if it’s Kassius Ohno and that’s it. Otherwise, no, they shouldn’t add any more members. The only reason I say Ohno is because he has the basic look that Shield has and he’s just as talented, if not more, than every single guy in the group. Plus, his promo skills have vastly gotten better. As for the triple threat match, the only way that should happen is it’s a Number One Contenders match for the WWE or World Title. Otherwise, they shouldn’t be pitted against each other at all. It would definitely crush their momentum and hurt their credibility. Unless by some magic, the WWE can book, which we know is a hard thing for them to do, flawlessly a match that wouldn’t hurt them.
JT: Despite me wanting another member or two for the Shield(Sami Zayn being my top choice with Kassius Ohno in a close second place), I have a feeling the group will be disbanded before the year is over. I’d be thrilled to see these three have another triple threat match(they did this in FCW at least one time) and to have some sort of prize for the winner(give Ambrose the MITB win and then have him put it on the line against his friends?). Nothing would hurt their credibility as long as they continue to put on high quality matches. I would book Seth Rollins to come out as the winner of any match the group has because of his overall versatility compared to Reigns and Ambrose.
Jee-S: Should there be more members added to The Shield? I say hell yes under one condition: it has to serve the same purpose as it did when the stable debuted. By that, I mean that if there were to be new members to The Shield, they would have to be superstars called up from NXT. It was a great way to make Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns debut and there are a lot of superstars in NXT that could benefit from an angle of that sort. I would be completely against adding established WWE wrestlers in that faction: that would completely kill their identity as a whole. I don’t know how the storyline will end but eventually down the line, maybe a triple threat match could be organized between all three of them and for the sake of the future of the WWE, I hope it’s epic, whoever wins it.
Who will be the next WWE Champion?(2 words or less)
ML: Daniel Bryan
JT: Mark Henry
Jee-S: Daniel Bryan
Make sure to leave your thoughts and opinions below! Thanks for reading!
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