Wrestler vs Wrestler

[zhangmeijie 0]

I put this in general wrestling as it will feature WWE and TNA and retired stars. (Such as Hogan and Hart.)

 

Basically this is an idea I have being working on for some years (elsewhere) where I take two wrestlers, then discuss who is the better wrestler in several areas. Picking a winner at the end.

 

Remember Summer 2004? It was the summer of love, no wait that was 1964. It was the summer of not much at all. It was however the summer I started my wrestler vs. wrestler debates, a popular topic which sadly died because I had not got time to continue it.

 

For people who don't know the concept is simple. I, that would be me, take Two wrestlers and debate which one is the better wrestler using several points, I then decide an overall winner based on who won the battle in the most areas.

 

I am going to start off this time with Two Men who know each other well, friends on screen and off. Two Men who have battled each other often and stood side by side just as often, The founding members (Rude and Chyna aside) of DX. Mister Triple H and Mister HBK.

 

HBK Shawn Michaels Vs The Game HHH

 

The main event. The controversial HBK the man who helped define the new ‘Attitude’ era &HHH the man many rightly consider the Man who helped carry WWE after HBK was forced into retirement. (Yes Austin carried WWE but in 1999/0 HHH and Foley damn sure helped.) Putting them together as a team was always going to be interesting and it sure did result in some controversy. It is my opinion that These Two Man have more top 10 (of all time) worthy matches, often against each other, than any other Two Men in WWE history. Only One of them is going to win this ‘bout’ though, I already know which and I hope you enjoy the ride in finding out.

 

 

 

Finisher.

Shawn of course has the Superkick, one of the most overused moves in pro wrestling by the way, but let’s regress a little first. He didn’t always use this move. Let’s return to his days as a Tag team specialist wrestler (as was his nickname at the time.) Back then he used in conjunction with his tag partner Marty Janetty a move called The Rocker Dropper. In singles matches he would also finish off opponents with this move, a move that looked much like Billy Gunn’s Fameouser. This was a good move. Then for a very brief period He used a sort of back suplex move.

 

Returning to modern times & the Shawn that today’s WWE fans know let’s discuss the Superkick. As I mentioned it is a move that is overused it is generally giving to any wrestler when another finisher can’t be thought up. (See Chuck Palumbo & Steven Richards for example.) Overused or not Shawn’s version still excites every time I see it. This is mainly because it looks so different to any other version for a start there’s the version where he stamps his foot to get the crowd going, no other superkick is like this. Other than that it’s just the way he does it & the fact it can come from anywhere that makes this move stand out.

 

The Game has the Pedigree which when done right looks great, but can all too often look silly if the camera angle is wrong and it is obvious that the opponents face has not hit the mat. Ah but let’s not get ahead of ourselves again, Hunter’s first move, and the move He thought Randy Orton incidentally, was the Blue Blood Cutter. Known simply as the B.B.C. (No not the station.) It looked exactly like the RKO and was a nice little move. The Pedigree of course is the move we all know and love and I like it a lot. It has a nice impact and as mentioned looks great when pulled off right.

 

Winner: I do like the Pedigree a lot but really only the Superkick can win in this category.

 

HBK (1) HHH (0)

 

Promo ability:

 

Shawn Michaels, well during his early years as a tag team face he rarely spoke but when he turned heel in 1992 his mic work was acceptably good. When he turned face again in the mid nineties he kept up the good work & was everything but outstanding on the Mic. Outstanding is something that soon caught up with him though & his work with DX was some of the best promo work, this side of Mick Foley, ever seen in a WWE ring. The standout promo for me & one of my all time favourite WWE promo's / skit's was the spoof of The Nation of domination. Shawn played the part of The Rock if memory recalls. (The other Dxer’s played the likes of Mark Henry & D’lo Brown.) This was easily the (intentionally) funniest thing to ever be seen in a WWE ring. As for His current and recent work as a once again DX member. Some of the spark seems to have gone but He still has the intensity when He needs it.

 

HHH, see the comments about DX above. HBK in His DX days would be nothing if it wasn’t for HHH backing Him up and surpassing Him at times. Away from DX the original HHH was a blue blood who talked in a really posh voice and talked down to people. HHH pulled this off quite well but didn’t really have a whole lot to say in those days. His heel promos circ 2000 to 2005 meanwhile varied from been great, but sometimes at the expense of His opponent looking silly (see Booker T) to being long winded and slightly boring. He always delivers something worth hearing on the stick though.

 

So we have established that both Men can talk, but which DX’er can out talk the other? Very tough call but I am going to give the nod to HHH.

 

HBK(1) HHH(1)

 

Gimmick:

 

Yes the one area that can make or break a career in a company.

 

Shawn had mostly played himself in the early days as a singles wrestler a slightly coc ky Texan heel & more to the point a ladies man. Other than in his DX days he has played that role ever since the only difference being that he was a slightly coc ky face rather than a heel & these days the ladies man part is played down. (He found something or other…) During his DX days he added another angle to his character, comedy. DX were involved in some of the funniest & often controversial angles of the time from showing up at a WCW event to the Cooking ahem wieners. 2002 to 5 Shawn still played himself although the comedy angle had long being dropped little else had changed. Since the DX reunion of course He is now once again Comedy induced.

 

HHH debuted as mentioned above as a Blue Blood, William Regal alike snob. The character was good but HHH didn’t really suit it. Still He started to get over, more so as they downplayed this aspect and made Him more of a everyman character. Then of course came DX with HHH as HBK did playing an extension of Himself. For much of the 2000’s He played the killer Heel type that baby faces would try to knock off the top spot, only to usually fail. Or even if they succeeded it wouldn’t be for long. Now of course He is back to the fun loving playing Himself character.

 

I can’t decide the winner here, and I don’t want a draw so a toss of the coin gives HHH the nod.

 

HBK(1) HHH(2)

 

Fan following:

 

 

Hard category to pick a clear winner in because regardless of when each was heel or face the crowd loved them & / or loved to hate them. The chant so & so sucks should never be taking for real heel heat the chant is usually there because the crowd really do think the wrestler in question sucks. However when during his DX days the crowd chanted Shawn / Hunter sucks, & worse, it was because they were genuinely over as a hated heel not because the crowd thought they sucked. The same of course can be said of the singles heel time in the early nineties for HBK and this decade for HHH. HBK maybe has the edge because during his earlier days he was always slightly more popular than HHH was in His. Still during their run in 1997/8 when they were both headline faces in DX (ok so HHH was really an upper mid carder.) it really was impossible to tell which one had more fans just watch any show from the era again it’s impossible to tell who had more support in their co appearances. Still I think HBK has had more important & more headline money making matches, mind you even that’s debatable. Still HBK will get the nod here.

 

HBK (2) HHH (2)

 

Move sets & Basic in ring ability:

 

Both are great wrestlers & both are capable of carrying a Rock (& I don’t mean Dwayne Johnson) to a good match. Only one of them can work a great technical match though.

 

Looking at HHH first he had a selection of moves which he always used to tell a story in ring. He would always use the same moves to tell a story. Shawn meanwhile used slightly more highflying moves augmented with a basic move set. Both were just as capable of wrestling a brawling, speedy or hardcore style depending on the opponent(s) in question. Only HBK though can work a technical masterpiece. As yes the opponents HHH could have a good match with anybody half decent such as Kevin Nash & Henry Godwinn when giving an equally good opponent such as Benoit or HBK Himself was capable of 5 star matches every night. (His best match & one which most fans have long forgotten was against Owen Hart at WM.) Shawn too can work a good match with a lesser opponent he carried Sid for example to his best ever work. Just like the Game when paired with an anyway half decent opponent such as HHH Himself he can have a 5 star match seemingly without even trying.

 

However & this will upset HHH fans on his off days (or year see 2003) HHH was no match for Shawn on his even fewer off days. HHH for example could not carry some opponents to a good match where as I believe Shawn could have with the same people. In other words I believe Shawn has being more consistent then HHH overall & Shawn deserves this category more than the Game for that one reason.

 

Or does he? While Shawn might be better at carrying lesser talent is he better at having a good match with equally good talent? Did Shawn for example ever have a feud as good as HHH vs. Foley or HHH vs. Rock? Debatably I say he never had a feud as good as either so for that reason the Game should win. As this one is impossible to sort out I am going to give the nod to HHH, as I was always a bigger Game than HBK fan myself.

 

HBK (2) HHH (3)

 

The bottom line:

 

The Bottom Line.

 

So there you have it and as hard as it may be to accept HHH beats HBK overall, therefore HHH is the victor. It was not an easy desecion either Man could have won, and either would have deserved it. So thoughts, opinions, rebuttals?