D3 - Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels versus Edge & Bret Hart

[Dave]

The penultimate day of the WrestleZone International Cup is upon and so comes Tag Team Turmoil. 9 tag team matches await us on day 3 of this intriguing competition, with the Rest of the World Team lagging behind by 4 points. Can the team from the U.S.A put the screws to their opposition and claim an unassailable lead? Or can the team from the rest of the world claw back some point and make the final day all the more interesting.

Matches were determined through a random number generator. Boards are open for 1 day for discussion and then polling will begin in 24 hours. Polling lasts for 72 hours afterwards. The winning team gets the point. In the event of a draw, teams will half a point each.

 

[Dave]

This is a tough one to call but in the end I went for the team from Canada.

It's worthwhile mentioning that both of these teams are made up of fantastically decorated competitors and neither team really deserves to lose. But, at the end of day, someone has to and I thought that would be Team USA on this occasion. Firstly, Bret has the number of both of these guys. On the occasions that Bret and Ric met in the ring, I don't remember a single one on one match that Ric Flair actually won. In fact, Bret had his number throughout their time in WCW. He also faced off against Shawn Michaels 5 times in singles competition and came out a winner in 3 of those. When you consider that he is coupled with someone who considered him his idol, and had a storied and glorious career of his own, I think it's enough to take this match.

It really could go either way but I think Bret and Edge would work better as a team and, when fighting for national pride, would get the win.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

This would be a fun match.

In the end, I'd have to go with Canada here. As Dave points out, Bret can take either of these guys, as he's proven on a number of occasions. Couple that with being paired with one of the sneakiest heels to ever step in the ring, and I see them coming out on top.

Don't get me wrong. Shawn Michaels is widely regarded as one of the best ever. And Flair was one of the best heels of all time. But Flair did what heels do a lot: lost.

 

[Dmbfantomas]

Two of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time vs two of the most selfish and self-centered wrestlers that ever lived (character wise. Probably in reality too, but I refuse to let that cloud my judgement.)

Bret and Edge and it's not even close.

 

[klunderbunker]

....am I seeing things here? Like really, why is this close?

Shawn Michaels is better than Bret Hart and there's not much of a way around it. Think back to every great thing Bret did. He had an AMAZING career and stole the show most nights. Think about all that. Shawn did it in basically two different careers. Go ahead and try to top that.

On the other hand, we have the person who single handedly built the biggest career in the Brand Split Era while also devaluing the World TItle more than anyone not named Russo (to clarify, I mean the way Edge was booked, not Edge himself). The other problem: Edge would force Bret to turn on him. Why? Because that's what Edge does. He's the Hulk Hogan of the tag division. No matter what he did, Edge would tick his partners off enough that they would drop him and there's not much of a way around it. Or Edge would leave to sleep with Lita or something.

Then you have Ric Flair, who would likely destroy Edge while sipping vodka.

USA all the way.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

You have to give it to Edge and Bret Hart. HBK and Flair are two of the best single wrestlers of all time. They had some decent runs in tag team wrestling as well. But this is a tag team contest. So you would think the two best tag team competitors would win the contest, right? Look at the tag team careers Edge and The Hitman had and tell me they would lose to anyone in a tag team match.

I'm not saying it won't be hard fought, but I give this to Edge and The Hitman due to tag team experience / success.

Damn some of these tag matches in this tourney would be a blast to see.