Japanese Region, Regional Finals: (1) Lita vs (3) Mickie James

[Bernkastel]

This is a fourth round match in the Japanese region. It is a standard match. It will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.

#1 Lita

VS.

#3 Mickie James
​

There will be 1 day of discussion before the poll opens. It will remain open for 2 days. Spam rules will apply. In case of a tie the winner will be decided based upon how many people have made a case for them in the discussion thread. One per each poster.

Who wins the match up?

 

[Mustang Sally]

A really tough choice between gals from the same era. Both knew their way around the ring and could take bumps better than most other divas.

I'll take Mickie. She seemed better grounded in the ring, while Lita hit more risky maneuvers.

 

[Radical Canadian Goose]

hmmm, the John Morrison of women's wrestling (spot monkey) vs the girl who all redneck men would love to be with, due to her plain (hot) looks and hillbilly personality. I vote Mickie James, even though both are great in the ring. Mickie just strikes me as a better person and performer

 

[Lowdown]

These two are on equal footing. While I like both of them in the ring, I think Lita has more weaknesses than Mickie. Nothing wrong with being a risk taker, but at anytime doing spots can be the downfall for both competitors. Mickie strikes me as being more of the ring general if the two, so she gets my vote here.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Longevity

Lita 331 matches over 10 competing years; Mickie 780 matches over 16 competing years to date.

Win percentage

Lita 61%; MJ 62%

Televised head to head

Lita 5; MJ 2 (it should be noted that all seven of these matches were during Lita's heel run in 2006 and included stipulations like Mickie having one hand tied behind her back, having her legs tied together and being blindfolded)

Reigns

Lita 4; MJ 9


That's the number crunching. On a personal note, I'm voting for Mickie because I think she has been the been the best mainstream female wrestler possibly ever. In ring, on the mic, face, heel - the girl can do it all!

Vote Mickie James

 

[Bernkastel]

So uh....

Category 1 - Drawing power...

Both were very popular. Lita actually so much that she was drawing some better ratings [that we can see through the quarterly hours] than many of the men, during the late Attitude Era. From an objective standpoint I can probably give the edge to her, because RAW as a whole was more popular than Impact, even if Mickie was shown affecting TV ratings in TNA.

Neither drew big attendance numbers. They didn't have the opportunity to.

- Point Lita.

Category 2 - Charisma....

This is difficult to answer. Both oozed charisma to the point where WWE took notice and placed both in rivalries and story lines that the Divas today would never get to have. Both were great and playing a face or heel, and they both always got the crowd riled up. Lita seemed like a more natural talker though, both on camera and off.

Because of that I'll give her the edge.

- Point Lita.

Category 3 - Accolades...

Lita... 4 time WWE women's champion for a combined 160 days.

Mickie... 5 time WWE women's champion for a combined 367 days. WWE Diva's champion for 78 days. 3 time TNA women's champion for 241 days.

This isn't even close...

- Point Mickie James.

Category 4 - Ability...

Lita was a more of a spot monkey and botched allot. By the end of her run, she worked a more methodical style that fit her persona, but she across as sloppy. Her ability to work and sell and all that was great though. Execution? Not so much. Mickie was a great worker, sometimes just as sloppy. But unlike Lita I felt she was more graceful in the ring. Like Trish. Lita's matches felt [and often times looked] like car crashes. Fine, if you like that stuff. But it was over the top. Mickie's ability felt more "all aroundish."

- Point Mickie.

Category 5 - Longevity....

Lita won the women's belt in 2000. She didn't get another reign until 4 years later. The "pond" during that 4 year time period grew exponentially. But it does say something about her popularity that went she got the belt again people still popped like crazy. Mickie was pushed more consistently in the women's division, and came out with a winning record over Lita [10 to 8] during their feud.

In both WWE and TNA, 2 years followed between Mickie's last title reigns. But she developed an impressive resume early on. Makes sense. Her career lasted allot longer too.

- Point Mickie James.

Category 6 - Overall legacy...

Lita will always be remembered as a popular innovator. Her ability to perform high flying moves. Badly sometimes. But her championship reigns were short and forgettable. She wasn't a good champion. Mickie on the other hand was popular, and a great champion. Second only to Trish in the modern era.

And that's were Mickie has the edge. She will be remembered as a great champion. Lita will be remembered as an innovator. And while innovation is great, Lita had many imitators. Even in that era. Molly, Victoria, Jillian. All could perform high risk offense. She wasn't unique. Mickie on the other hand was one of the greatest champions ever...and that trumps innovation IMO.

- Point Mickie.

So 4 categories to 2 categories. I give my vote to Mickie James.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm supporting Mickie all the way through this tournament and that won't change here. I love Lita and think she's equal to Mickie in talent but Mickie crushes her when it comes to title reigns. Combine that with personal preference and Mickie knocks Lita out of this tournament just like she knocked her out of WWE.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I'd argue that Lita is the bigger star and when she was active she was more popular than Mickie has ever been, but as a performer Mickie is far and away better than Lita ever was.

She's much more well-rounded, and stronger than Lita who was really just a spot monkey- albeit an extremely spectacular one. Her moonsault and Lita-carana were phenomenal. But Mickie was technically a far better wrestler, which is proven by the number and length of her title reigns. She was someone you could build a women's division around, Lita never was. Mickie's beaten the best in her era in both WWE and TNA when both divisions were at their strongest.

Vote Hardcore Country.

 

[nightmare]

Here is what I always though about Lita....

If not for stealing some of The Hardy's thunder, then I dont think Lita would have ever gotten as far as she did. Sure she represented something fresh in WWE at the time, but if not for Jeff\Matt- Lita would have just been your basic luchadora or run of the mill female indy wrestler. Need proof? No-one really cared about her ECW stuff or the fact she was paired with Essa Rios. Nothing too impressive. Plus her rivalry\friendship with Trish helped carry her further than she would have gotten by herself most likely. I liked her, but that was never really for what she did on her own.


Mickie James has more titles & has done more across the board in her career than Lita. Hands down the better talent & certainly deserves the win here.

 

[Mustang Sally]

.... Lita who was really just a spot monkey- albeit an extremely spectacular one.

Want to relate a Lita story that illustrates the "spot monkey" facet that punctuated her career.

Remember Rico Constantino? He had a "gay" gimmick in WWE that got some mileage on Smackdown about 10 years ago. He was an adequate wrestler with a big belly that prevented his movements from coming off as graceful, but one thing he did always stuck out in my memory.

Rico was standing outside the ring in a mixed tag match, waiting for Lita to perform her Hurricanrana, flying off the top rope and wrapping her ankles around his neck to execute the flip. Problem was, she flat out missed her target and had launched herself head-first toward the announcer's table.

Somehow, Rico grabbed her ankles as she sailed by him, wrapped them around his neck and flipped himself into a somersault, simultaneously halting her momentum toward the table. Yes, the move still looked horseshit, but Rico (1) saved the planned spot and (2) saved Lita from injury.

I mention all this because as exciting as Lita could look, she was always one step away from disaster. I remember her flying head first out of the ring in a match against Trish after her neck surgery (they still show that sequence in flashback) and having her land on her chin and neck. It scared the living hell out of me.....and now, when it comes to a choice between flashy Lita and solid, effective Mickie, I'll take the latter lusting after Trish Stratus and bringing effective matches than waiting for the next Lita mishap.

 

[Reflection]

My vote goes to Mickie James because she is my all-time favourite female wrestler... I no longer have fantasies about her because I'm a grown man now (ahem)... but I still love her a lot. Apart from the Piggy James angle, her Hardcore Country theme song, and the story by Kenny Dykstra, everything else about her has been admirable.

 

[Alex]

I love both women equally but honestly I love the high flying stuff of Lita more. Yeah she botched more but she was exciting to watch.

Mickie is the better wrestler overall but I'll still go for Lita