411 Fact or Fiction 09.01.11: Punk vs. HHH, Mistico vs. Hunico, More

1. It is way too soon to have the Triple H vs. CM Punk match.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. To me this is a match you save for a really big PPV. So you go with this at Wrestlemania or the Royal Rumble at this point. To do a big PPV match would be way too quick. Unfortunately, Kevin Nash had to be brought into the angle and has added absolutely nothing to the table. Nash for all of his shooty, insider promos has not brought his A-game. And call me a cynic, but I am highly suspicious about his not working Night of Champions. I remember reading reports after Bound For Glory 2005 that Nash’s “wrestling career was over” due to his health concerns that had him pulling out of Bound For Glory 2005. And then later his planned match with Chris Sabin where he was supposed to lose.

Francisco Ramirez: FACT. It is way to soon to have CM Punk and Triple H face off. This needs a slow build, remember those? A slow build which climaxes in the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. I mean really, how much time do we have left? Lets see, faces Nash at Night of Champions, rematch at Survivor Series, is somehow eliminated from the Royal Rumble because of Triple H, and boom we have ourselves an interesting side dish to the Rocky and Cena Wrestlemania main dish. Instead we have ourselves this premature ejaculation of a match, its good, but damn it could of been so much better!

Score: 1 for 1

2. You’re in favor of having Raw & SmackDown wrestlers appearing on both shows.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. Here is the big news flash, this has already been going on for several years. The brand extension has pretty much been one in name only for years. We’ve already been seeing guys doubling up on shows for a considerable amount of time. The brand extension was a failure and they had already stopped doing brand only PPV’s a long time ago. It is time to move on from this as it currently is no longer worth keeping the pretense of the brand extension anymore.

Francisco Ramirez: FICTION. On special occasions it’s fine, but if this is going to be a common occurrence then why the hell do we have a brand split? How about we have the Smackdown guys and the Raw guys throw verbal jabs at each other, with one brand trying to be the dominant one. That way when they do face each other there can be that added tension. Instead of these pointless, once every couple of month, family reunions. If that is what the WWE wants to do, then just end the damn brand split already!

Score: 1 for 2

3. SmackDown should be on Tuesday every week.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. Personally I like it later in the week since that gives RAW a little more time to breathe. I think putting your two big TV shows on consecutive nights is a little too much and a bad idea. I think specials and something different is fine and a good idea every now and again.

Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Fact, fact, fact a thousand times over! Friday is the worst time to be on TV! For many it’s payday, the weekend, and time to get drunk! For others, Spencer Mallard, the Fuj, Wes Kirk, its TNA circle jerk time, regardless of what your Friday ritual is, it might not exactly consist of watching Smackdown on SyFy. That is why I DVR it! Tuesdays? Sounds better to me! Hell Wednesday, or Thursday *Sorry Spencer and Wes* would work as well.

Score: 1 for 3

4. Hunico is the right choice to portray Sin Cara.

Jeffrey Harris: FACT. As long as he can do the role and will protect guys and stop blowing spots and not do the dope. I’m not sure who else is there to play the role in the company at the moment. You can’t just put anyone under the mask. And it is a huge vote of confidence for how much faith WWE has in the mask and gimmick. To those that have a problem with this, in Japan guys played characters under a masked gimmick by multiple wrestlers like Black Tiger which was carried by Eddie Guerrero and Rocky Romero.

Francisco Ramirez: FACT. English speaker, has spent time in FCW, and is way more familiar with the style. Hell Alberto del Rio probably wouldn’t of been as big as he is now if he hadn’t spent time in FCW adjusting to the WWE style of wrestling. Mistico was brought in and immediately placed into a WWE ring. Obviously this has resulted in Mistico having a hard time adjusting and the results have not been what we all had hoped for. Now in Mistico’s defense, he is a world renowned talent, and an excellent luchadore. Many may even argue that having to redo the Sin Cara and Heath Slater match shows that Hunico isn’t the right choice, my rebuttal, it was against Heath Slater! I say give Hunico the benifit of the doubt and let him run with the ball for a while, SPOILERS reportedly he fared pretty well against Daniel Bryan on Smackdown this week. Which hints at what more than likely will be the deciding factor on who will keep the name, a Sin Cara VS Sin Cara feud! Now on a side-note, Hunico originally wrestled as Mystico, claims have been made that he debuted with that name before the CMLL Mistico made his debut. CMLL put a trademark on the name and Mystico became Incognito. Word is the two of them don’t like each other due to the Mistico/Mystico name issue. Now, Mystico/Incognito/Hunico is wrestling as Sin Cara, taking Mistico’s WWE moniker, isn’t life a bitch!

Score: 2 for 4

SWITCH!

5. Mistico will find success in the United States.

Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Fact, but just barely! Mistico was huge in Mexico, but now he has basically been humbled. Which should light a fire under his ass and will push him. If he doesn’t what’s left? TNA? Yeah, that won’t work, going back to Mexico after his less than favorable exit and basically failing on what otherwise was supposed to be his biggest career move would have to be one of the most humiliating things he ever has to go through. Mistico will find some success, because he has no other choice.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. Right now I will say fiction. Mistico has already shown questionable and integrity and reliability at this point. Not to mention he had a hard time adjusting to the WWE/US ring style. He couldn’t cut it. He was constantly blowing spots and messing things up constantly. He needlessly and continuously puts his colleagues at risk. Now that he’s not Sin Cara anymore, I don’t see him getting near the amount of success he did before in Mexico.

Score: 2 for 5

6. You think less of Ric Flair after reading the Grantland article.

Francisco Ramirez: FICTION. Most of this information isn’t too hard to find. Hell all it really did was put it in detail. Ric Flair himself has stated that he has lived the gimmick, all this shows is the price he is paying for doing so.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. Ric Flair is still one of the best of all time, and I still think there is little that he could do to tarnish his legacy. Now yes, Flair in TNA has been terrible television. It’s been trashy to watch and TNA is just trash in general. However, this does not take away from what Ric Flair has accomplished in this business. Now Ric Flair’s life away from wrestling might not be glamorous and his story quite harrowing and starting to resemble that of Randy The Ram in The Wrestler. But Flair is not the first major star that has had such a turbulent home life. I think some of the things that have happened are sad and unfortunate, but Ric Flair has still done amazing things in the business regardless.

Score: 3 for 6

7. Samoa Joe taking people out of the Bound For Glory Series improves his standing in TNA.

Francisco Ramirez: FACT. Shit, any TV time for Samoa Joe is a good thing. Does it improve his standing as far as what is concerned? The Bound For Glory Series? Sure, why the hell not! Eliminate the competition, get rid of all of them, that way Joe wins with his measly 10 points. TNA, the company as a whole? Well, for now yes, but let us just hope that they still remember this a month from now! Hell at least Samoa Joe is doing something! Remember when Joe used to come out to “Joe’s gonna kill you” chants and all he really did was have great matches and kick ass? God those were the good old days!

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. We’ve seen TNA try this rebooting of Joe countless times. Joe starts beating guys up and getting angry and suddenly Joe is back on the path of destruction. Anyone forgetting how Joe starting The Nation of Violence some while back went? Samoa Joe is an absolute joke. It is despicable, disgusting, and pathetic to see how TNA has squandered what could’ve been a huge, brand new homegrown star. Someone who could set them apart from the WWE. Instead they bungled Joe at every opportunity. Joe is yet another in a long list of potential huge stars and main eventers that TNA could’ve had but instead due to Dixie Carter’s failure as a company head and wrestling promoter that didn’t happen. This is yet another reason why TNA does not deserve to exist. They waste amazing talents like Samoa Joe.

Score: 3 for 7

8. You’re willing to give Jeff Hardy one more chance.

Francisco Ramirez: FICTION. FICTION, FICTION, FICTION! Fuck NO! Jeff Hardy has continued to piss on his career and legacy! Why would anyone give this guy another chance, why? After the debacle he pulled giving us a two minute long PPV main event, why would anyone even consider it? Has he honestly shown any signs of improvement? His court case is still unsettled, which puts his actual freedom in question. Hell, does this guy even want another chance? Does he still have the passion and love he maybe once had for his craft? Or is this just a paycheck for him? If he truly wants another chance have him earn it. Jake Roberts cleaned himself up once and showed improvement, the WWE brought him back in. Jeff Hardy can learn something from that.

Jeffrey Harris: FICTION. Hardy has already gotten and wasted numerous one more chances. His one more chance was really his last WWE run and he really wasted all of that. As far as his behavior, TNA has done nothing but enabled it and there is nothing that will change Hardy at this point. The only thing that makes it stop is two things: Hardy becoming another tragic statistic, or TNA stops enabling him and lets him go and Hardy stops pointing the finger and actually changes. Hardy has done a lot for the business, and it has been rough on him at times. However, none of us would know who he is without the business either. Hardy being allowed back into TNA is symbolic of how much of a terribly run product and company they are because they reward and enable bad behavior and insubordination.

Final Score: 4 for 8

Jeffrey & Francisco bat .500, our best score on one of these things yet. Thanks to both, as they each did a fantastic job and I’m sure you’ll have plenty to say in response to their opinions. Feel free to do so in the comment section…you can vote on who won, answer the questions yourself, or whatever you want. For Jeffrey Harris & Francisco Ramirez, this is Steve Cook saying thanks for joining us, and be sure to come back next week for more Fact or Fiction!