WZ Tourney Semi Final: Bret Hart vs. Chris Jericho

[IrishCanadian25]

I am going to vote for Chris Jericho. I can convince myself to do it. And yes, I freely admit it's because he's BY FAR my all-time favorite athlete, let alone professional wrestler. He rivals Martin Brodeur in the history of athletes I absolutely revere.

But let's look at the two men. Of course I do this strictly kayfabe...

Dammit. I just started writing about the opponents both men had in hopes of painint Jericho as having a tougher road. But it's pretty much even. Once I remembered that Hart feuded with Diesel in his prime, Michaels in his prime, Austin pre-prime, Vader, Undertaker, and a few others, I was able to dismiss the losses to The Mountie and Jerry Lawler, as well as the "feud" he had with Del "The Patriot" Wilkes.

On the other hand, Jericho has feuded with and defeated Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Triple H, Kane, Austin, Rob van Dam, and The Rock - ALL IN THEIR PRIMES. He's also had two of the best feuds of all time with Shawn Michaels, is the first ever Undisputed Champion, and has won 7 more Intercontinental Titles than Bret, with his average reign lasting longer.

From the kayfabe sense, this match sets up well for an Underdog like Jericho, just like it did for him at Vengeance when he beat Austin and Rock for the Undisputed Belt. Bret has the sharpshooter? So did The Rock, and Jericho was ready for it and kept out of it. Bret is a great technical wrestler? So is Jericho, and so was Benoit, whom Jericho routinely feuded. And Angle for that matter.

Both men are technically sound. Both men are around the same strength. Jericho has a mild edge in high flying because he goes to the ropes more than Hart does. Jericho has shown he can be an inch more brutal than Bret.

In real life, this is one of the closest matches of all time. Give me Jericho to win and go on to defeat Undertaker or Edge.

 

[D-Man]

Man... this is a tough decision, as most semi-final matchups usually are. First and foremost, I'm with IC... Jericho is by far my favorite professional wrestler EVER. But, I will never take Bret Hart lightly, even though I hate his guts. His years of bitching and moaning after his career was abruptly ended put me over the edge with him. But I digress...

First of all, I'm basing part of my decision on the sheer fact that IMO, Bret Hart was never a believable world champion. Sure, he could wrestle and has tons of stamina and technical skill, but something about him just never truly impressed me. Call me crazy, but that's just how I feel.

Now, I know Hart was great in the ring and he has beaten some strong competitors in the past, but just look at Jericho's resume as IC25 so eloquently posted above. We are in a different time and age, and the competition has completely evolved from what it used to be. I see Jericho's resume > Hart's resume.

Both men came from the same stomping grounds and are tremendous professional wrestlers. I feel their careers parallel each other. But I don't think we've seen the best of Chris Jericho yet. The man is STILL peaking. I think he has tons of fuel left in his tank. So, as a result of this, let's say Jericho and Bret are even in my mind. But when I think about the fact that Jericho is still trucking along and as I imagine the possibilities of his future, I can't help but see him surpass Bret Hart. Especially since I am predicting WM26 - Jericho vs. The Undertaker. If everyone could just imagine the possibilities of the buildup for this match (as well as the match itself), when it's all over I don't see how all of you wouldn't think that Jericho is the top star in this bracket.

VOTE JERICHO

 

[Skillz]

If Jericho can take out the greatest wrestler ever (that would be RVD, kids)

RVD? Not even top 100.

in the last round with ease, surely he can get past Bret Hart in this round.

How do you know it was easy? Because more people thought he would win, doesn't necessarily mean he had an easy victory.

Yes, Bret Hart was a great wrestler, but Jericho is just better.

Wow. The only thing Jericho is better than Hart at is sucking. Oh, and mic skills.

In this scenerio, Jericho is coming off of a match that was basically a squash and Hart is coming off of a much tougher match. By logic, Jericho will be the fresher of the two men.

I thought people voted on who they think will win the match, not how easy the match is for the winner. Every time RVD and Jericho wrestled each other it was close, and RVD won most of the matches. Simple logic tells you that it would have been another close match.

Jericho moves on.

No, he doesn't.

I am going to vote for Chris Jericho. I can convince myself to do it. And yes, I freely admit it's because he's BY FAR my all-time favorite athlete, let alone professional wrestler.

If your reason for voting for Jericho is because he's your all time favourite wrestler, there's nothing wrong with that. If you like someone that much more than everyone else, then you have to support your guy. Which is what people generally do in this tournament anyway, vote for their favourites.

If Bret Hart went up against Hulk Hogan, I would vote for Bret Hart out of pure loyalty and because he's my absolute favourite, even though I know Hogan should logically and deservedly win. I vote for Hart no matter what, it just helps my case that he actually is better than most. The difference for Jericho however, is that there are plenty of people who are better than him, and Bret Hart is definitely one of them.

and has won 7 more Intercontinental Titles than Bret,

He's also lost 7 more Intercontinental Titles than Bret.

with his average reign lasting longer.

Did you really just say Jericho's average reign is longer? Lol.

Jericho - 312/9 = 35 days

Hart - 290/2 = 145 days

The last time I checked, 145 is more than 35. Although those numbers are quite close, I guess I could be wrong .

From the kayfabe sense, this match sets up well for an Underdog like Jericho, just like it did for him at Vengeance when he beat Austin and Rock for the Undisputed Belt.

Vengeance is overrated. For Jericho to win those matches he needed McMahon interference TWICE, a low blow, Kurt Angle interference AND Booker T interference. He was even tapping to his own finisher before Booker T hit Austin with the belt. It was the luckiest title victory in WWE history.

Bret has the sharpshooter? So did The Rock, and Jericho was ready for it and kept out of it.

The Rock is certainly no Bret Hart when it comes to applying the Sharpshooter, and making opponents tap out to it. When Hart gets Jericho in the Sharpshooter, he would tap so hard he'd make a big hole in the ring.

Both men are around the same strength.

Has Jericho ever bodyslammed and superplexed anyone the size of Vader, or even the Undertaker? Didn't think so. Hart is stronger, not that it's an important factor in who wins this match.

Jericho has shown he can be an inch more brutal than Bret.

More brutal than when Hart made Austin his bitch at WM13? I don't think so.

In real life, this is one of the closest matches of all time.

Not really. Hart > Jericho.

First of all, I'm basing part of my decision on the sheer fact that IMO, Bret Hart was never a believable world champion.

Oh my...

Bret Hart was never a believable world champion? As opposed to who? One of the least believable world champions of all time, Chris Jericho? Hart was a very believable world champion and gave the title a ton of credibility every time he was given it, unlike the career midcarder Jericho.

 

[Blade]

I'm going for Jericho here.
If these two guys were both fresh, I'd give it to Hart simply cause Hart would own Jericho.
But we've gotta take the KotR stipulation into account.

Jericho just beat RVD. Looking at the votes, it was an utter squash. But Hart was probably taken to the edge and back by Rocky. I'm guessing he took at least a Rock Bottom, possibly a people's elbow and then had the sharpshooter locked in as intensely as he could for at least a few minutes before The Rock even thought about tapping.
In Bret Hart vs The Rock, because Hart wouldn't have used anyone to help him win, the match would've gone on for around half an hour cause that's the kind of endurance The Rock has. It takes alot to keep him down for the 3, and it takes even more to make him tap which is what Hart would've done. Hart would've put everything into that match cause I'm guessing after the first 10 minutes of throwing carefully thought out offense at The Rock, he saw it wasn't phasing Rocky and just went all out to try beat him.

Jericho went up against RVD... Yeah, ok. It's safe to say he did not feel a five star frogsplash. Maybe he didn't even feel a rolling thunder. But Jericho would just have to play it safe, wait for RVD to throw a kick and grab his leg, lock in the walls and make RVD tap within seconds.

Now looking at both these guys' endurance, I'd say they're about equal. The most Hart's endurance was tested was the hour long ironman match. The most Jericho's has been tested was Vengeance 2001, where he was wrestling for 35-40 minutes straight.
Yes, Hart was wrestling for longer. But most of that iron man match was very slow paced. And HBK was getting tired as quickly as Hart so Hart could go slower accordingly. Jericho was taking The Rock and Austin all out for 35-40 minutes straight. He took The Rock, the guy that would've taken hart to the limit last round, then he took on a semi-fresh Austin, who'd just had a nice 30 minute break before his 2 matches. Jericho still persevered.

So take their equal endurance, take away the The Rock match from Hart's and the RVD match from Jericho and Hart wouldn't be able to keep up with Jericho.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I'm glad Hart is winning here. As a huge fan of both these men I think this would be an amazing match, especially if it was done in the primes of both of them. Both have had some fantastic matches, which is why I can't vote specifically on quality or personal preference. However, when I look at the careers of both these men and then ask myself who I think deserves to win the tournament as a whole, I can't put Jericho over Hart. Maybe one day Jericho could earn that, somehow influencing the business. But I think Hart has done that more than Jericho at this point and therefore deserves to go through.

 

[NSL]

I like Hart...But, how the hell is he winning? He just had a close match with Rock, and Jericho basically squashed RVD.

I've said on an even ground, that Hart could pull out a close win over Jericho, but this isn't even. Hart isn't close to 100%, while Jericho is still relatively fresh. Jericho should win a good match here, and it should be alot closer than 45-32...

For shame WZ...For shame...

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I still don't see why everybody is basing their argument for Jericho on the fact that he won by a more margin than Hart. Jericho being "relatively fresh" means that he faced a jobber and not RVD. I bet RVD gave Jericho a hell of a time just like Rock did Hart. The margin of votes shouldn't heavily determine which wrestler advances and which wrestler doesn't.

Say that Funaki beat some no-name by 50 votes and HHH beat Steamboat by 2 votes. Are you going to vote Funaki because he is "relatively fresh"?

 

[Thriller Ant]

The margin of votes shouldn't heavily determine which wrestler advances and which wrestler doesn't.

Say that Funaki beat some no-name by 50 votes and HHH beat Steamboat by 2 votes. Are you going to vote Funaki because he is "relatively fresh"?

In this case, I believe it does. By that logic, you can say that when a guy wins his opening round match by shutout it was just as close as a match where they win by 1. The Funaki/HHH comparison you use doesn't apply here. You have one of the best professional wrestlers ever, against a career jobber. Of couse Trips will win. Here in this match, however, you have 2 men who are very evenly matched.

Even if you don't take into account the margin of victory, let's look at the moveset for the men who lost last round. RVD uses a lot of kicks and other striking moves that are used to stun an opponent long enough for Van Dam to hit the Frog Splash. The Rock, on the other hand, uses a lot of high-impact/power moves, such as the spinebuster and Rock Bottom, that will leave any opponent sore for a long time. Based on that alone, not even the margin of victory, Jericho will be in better shape than Hart.

Jericho has beaten some of the best technical wrestlers ever, like Angle, Malenko, and Benoit, when they were fresh. The quicker and more rested Jericho will have Hart tapping to the Liontamer in a great matchup.

 

[Skillz]

we've gotta take the KotR stipulation into account.

Yes, we do, which is why Hart will win. Hart has won 2 KotR's after all. How many has Jericho won?

Jericho just beat RVD. Looking at the votes, it was an utter squash.

Wrong. Looking at the votes, and the participants in the match, more people thought Jericho would win. There is a difference between people thinking Jericho would win, and the match being a squash. When will people understand this?

When Austin destroyed Skinner 60-4 in round 1, that was clearly a squash because Skinner is complete shit and is nowhere near as big of a star as Austin. The difference with Jericho and RVD, compared to Austin and Skinner, is that Jericho and RVD are very close to eachother in terms of how big of a star they are, their accomplishments, etc. AND they have wrestled multiple times in close matches where RVD won most of the time. Even though Jericho is a much better professional wrestler than RVD (probably why he won by such a large margin), in kayfabe they are very close, which means they would have had a close match.

Everyone in the Austin/Skinner thread basically said that the match would be over in 10 seconds, hence a squash match. No one in the Jericho/RVD thread said "Jericho will win in an absolute squash" or anything to that effect. But what a lot of people did say was "this will be close, but Jericho takes it in a great match" or something similar. Jericho DID NOT beat RVD in a squash, everyone get it through your heads.

I like Hart...But, how the hell is he winning?

Because he's better.

Hart isn't close to 100%, while Jericho is still relatively fresh.

People are always so keen to argue based on kayfabe reasons. And what so many people keep saying is that "Wrestler A" had the easier match in the previous round so he'll go through because he's fresher. That logic is so stupid because more often than not, what actually happens in kayfabe is the complete opposite. The wrestler who is more beat up (always seems to be the face) usually ends up overcoming the odds and being victorious. Bret Hart did just that at KotR '93. On his way to the final he wrestled two matches, against two good opponents, for a total of 30 minutes. While his opponent wrestled one match against a jobber that lasted 5 minutes.

I'd expect the Hart/Rock match to have lasted 20-25 minutes, and the Jericho/RVD match to have lasted 15-20 minutes. Which gives Jericho a 5-10 minute rest advantage over Hart. Bigelow had a 25 minute rest advantage over Hart, and Hart still won.

Jericho should win a good match here, and it should be alot closer than 45-32...

Bret Hart WILL win a good match here, and it should be by a far bigger margin than 49-41.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Yes, we do, which is why Hart will win. Hart has won 2 KotR's after all. How many has Jericho won?

How many times has Hart beaten Steve Austin and the Rock in one night? Plus, Jericho is 5-2 in KOTR matches, which isn't that bad either.

Wrong. Looking at the votes, and the participants in the match, more people thought Jericho would win. There is a difference between people thinking Jericho would win, and the match being a squash. When will people understand this?

When Austin destroyed Skinner 60-4 in round 1, that was clearly a squash because Skinner is complete shit and is nowhere near as big of a star as Austin. The difference with Jericho and RVD, compared to Austin and Skinner, is that Jericho and RVD are very close to eachother in terms of how big of a star they are, their accomplishments, etc. AND they have wrestled multiple times in close matches where RVD won most of the time. Even though Jericho is a much better professional wrestler than RVD (probably why he won by such a large margin), in kayfabe they are very close, which means they would have had a close match.

Everyone in the Austin/Skinner thread basically said that the match would be over in 10 seconds, hence a squash match. No one in the Jericho/RVD thread said "Jericho will win in an absolute squash" or anything to that effect. But what a lot of people did say was "this will be close, but Jericho takes it in a great match" or something similar. Jericho DID NOT beat RVD in a squash, everyone get it through your heads.

Please explain to me what the fuck this means. You tell me that when Stone Cold won by a huge margin, it was a squash, but when Jericho does, it's a close match? I understand that RVD is better than Skinner, but it makes no logical sense to treat the two any differently. The fact is Jericho won by a huge margin, and kayfabe tells us that he had an easy match. I understand if you don't want to take it into the equation, but don't pick and choose results to fit what you want. By the results, Jericho beat RVD in a glorified squash, and I'm going to proceed under this assumption.

People are always so keen to argue based on kayfabe reasons. And what so many people keep saying is that "Wrestler A" had the easier match in the previous round so he'll go through because he's fresher. That logic is so stupid because more often than not, what actually happens in kayfabe is the complete opposite. The wrestler who is more beat up (always seems to be the face) usually ends up overcoming the odds and being victorious. Bret Hart did just that at KotR '93. On his way to the final he wrestled two matches, against two good opponents, for a total of 30 minutes. While his opponent wrestled one match against a jobber that lasted 5 minutes.

So, first you say that Hart will win because he got beat up by RVD, now you say that Jericho is fresh and that's why he'll lose? Jericho will win as the fresher man. The Rock's offense consists of high-impact moves focusing on the back. Jericho's finisher is a submission that puts a lot of pressure on said back. Even if they are both worn out, Jericho is the quicker man, and will still have that advantage over a tired and hurt Bret Hart.

I'd expect the Hart/Rock match to have lasted 20-25 minutes, and the Jericho/RVD match to have lasted 15-20 minutes. Which gives Jericho a 5-10 minute rest advantage over Hart. Bigelow had a 25 minute rest advantage over Hart, and Hart still won.

The rest doesn't matter. Jericho beat Stone Cold after having about 2 minutes of rest after his match with the Rock.

Bret Hart WILL win a good match here, and it should be by a far bigger margin than 49-41.

Hart will lose. He just got done getting his ass kicked by the Rock, while Jericho will be fresher and have his speed advantage magnified. The Lionheart will run circles around Bret until he can lock in the Liontamer and have the Hitman tapping out.

 

[Skillz]

[QUOTE="Lionheart" Thrill Jericho;1155506]How many times has Hart beaten Steve Austin and the Rock in one night? Plus, Jericho is 5-2 in KOTR matches, which isn't that bad either.[/quote]

Forget that crap about how he beat Rock and Austin in one night, it was the single luckiest title victory in WWE history. Plus, Hart is undefeated in KotR matches, which is better than Jericho. He also won a tournament to become WCW Champion, beating Goldberg, Sting and Benoit along the way. Bret Hart in tournaments is unstoppable.

Please explain to me what the fuck this means.

Maybe you should read it again and try to understand it.

You tell me that when Stone Cold won by a huge margin, it was a squash, but when Jericho does, it's a close match? I understand that RVD is better than Skinner, but it makes no logical sense to treat the two any differently.

Look at who Austin's opponent was, a fucking nobody. Look at who Jericho's opponent was, someone who has defeated him many times. Therefore it makes PERFECT logical sense to suggest that Jericho's match was far from a squash.

The fact is Jericho won by a huge margin, and kayfabe tells us that he had an easy match. I understand if you don't want to take it into the equation, but don't pick and choose results to fit what you want. By the results, Jericho beat RVD in a glorified squash, and I'm going to proceed under this assumption.

Kayfabe tells us, that by looking at the history of Jericho/RVD matches, they are anything but squash matches. Once again, votes are based solely on who people think will win, NOT how close the match is. Is that really so hard to understand?

So, first you say that Hart will win because he got beat up by RVD,

What?

now you say that Jericho is fresh and that's why he'll lose?

I'm saying that a much more tired Bret Hart has beaten a much more fresher Bam Bam Bigelow. It's in the record books, check it out. If Hart can beat Bigelow under those circumstances, he can and WILL beat Jericho under these circumstances.

Jericho will win as the fresher man. The Rock's offense consists of high-impact moves focusing on the back. Jericho's finisher is a submission that puts a lot of pressure on said back. Even if they are both worn out, Jericho is the quicker man, and will still have that advantage over a tired and hurt Bret Hart.

This is all irrelavent because a prime Bret Hart would NEVER tap out, or get pinned by a career midcarder like Jericho in a high profile situation like this.

The rest doesn't matter. Jericho beat Stone Cold after having about 2 minutes of rest after his match with the Rock.

Jericho beat The Rock after McMahon interference and a low blow. He beat Austin after Kurt Angle intererence, MORE McMahon interference, AND Booker T interference. In terms of kayfabe and who looked stronger, Hart's win at KotR '93 is far greater and more impressive than Jericho fluking wins against Rock and Austin, then having one of the worst title reigns of the decade.

Hart will lose. He just got done getting his ass kicked by the Rock, while Jericho will be fresher and have his speed advantage magnified. The Lionheart will run circles around Bret until he can lock in the Liontamer and have the Hitman tapping out.

Lol, do you really think a prime Bret Hart would tap out to a career midcarder like Jericho in such an important match? Not a chance in hell.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Forget that crap about how he beat Rock and Austin in one night, it was the single luckiest title victory in WWE history. Plus, Hart is undefeated in KotR matches, which is better than Jericho. He also won a tournament to become WCW Champion, beating Goldberg, Sting and Benoit along the way. Bret Hart in tournaments is unstoppable.

I'm pretty sure every Money in the Bank cash-in with the exception of RVD is luckier.

Maybe you should read it again and try to understand it.

Arguing is more fun than reading

Look at who Austin's opponent was, a fucking nobody. Look at who Jericho's opponent was, someone who has defeated him many times. Therefore it makes PERFECT logical sense to suggest that Jericho's match was far from a squash.

When you word it like that, it does make sense. You are the one who brought up the votes that fuck with your argument.

Kayfabe tells us, that by looking at the history of Jericho/RVD matches, they are anything but squash matches. Once again, votes are based solely on who people think will win, NOT how close the match is. Is that really so hard to understand?

Is it really so hard to understand the fact that if 75% of voters think Jericho would win the match, that he probably wouldn't have too much trouble.

What?

Austin is out, so no more "What?" chants.

I'm saying that a much more tired Bret Hart has beaten a much more fresher Bam Bam Bigelow. It's in the record books, check it out. If Hart can beat Bigelow under those circumstances, he can and WILL beat Jericho under these circumstances.

Teehee, more fresher. Bad grammar FTL. Anywho, Bigelow and Jericho could not be any more different. Bam Bam was big and slow, which meant that Hart wouldn't have to expend his valuable energy chasing him around the ring. Jericho, on the other hand, is the quicker man when both of them are at 100%, so the fact that Hart is tired will only increase that advantage.

This is all irrelavent because a prime Bret Hart would NEVER tap out, or get pinned by a career midcarder like Jericho in a high profile situation like this.

You are calling a 5-time World Champion a career midcarder? That's only 2 less than Hart, not to mention the fact that Jericho is one of only 4 Grand Slam champions in WWE history. I guess Bret never got around to doing that during his amazing career.

Jericho beat The Rock after McMahon interference and a low blow. He beat Austin after Kurt Angle intererence, MORE McMahon interference, AND Booker T interference. In terms of kayfabe and who looked stronger, Hart's win at KotR '93 is far greater and more impressive than Jericho fluking wins against Rock and Austin, then having one of the worst title reigns of the decade.

A win is a win. He still took on the Rock and Stone Cold in back-to-back matches and won. People keep talking about the interference, but no one else has ever done anything like that. In '93, Hart beat Razor Ramon, who was never anything in WWF, Mr. Perfect, who was struggling and left WWF a couple months later, and Bam Bam, who won as many WWF championships as I have.

Lol, do you really think a prime Bret Hart would tap out to a career midcarder like Jericho in such an important match? Not a chance in hell.

He sure will. Hart has been tenderized by the Rock, and the fresher man will wear down the Hitman until he is tapping out from the Liontamer.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'm heavily leaning toward Bret Hart in this match-up. By heavily leaning, I'm pretty sure I'll be voting him as well.

I don't follow the logic of "Bret had a war with Rock, and Jericho seemingly coasted against Rob Van Dam". If anyone has ever seen any Jericho/Van Dam matches, they'd see that they were anything but one-sided and coast worthy. Each man knows each other inside and out. Just because Jericho had a bigger fan base, doesn't mean he squashed Van Dam.

On the flip side, I'd say if anything, Hart is better conditioned for this type of match than Jericho. I'm not buying into that Undefeated in Tournaments crap, either. He is, and thats difficult to refute but all things can come to an end, sooner or later.

The reason I'm firmly solid in Hart winning this, is because Bret Hart has taken out the Chris Jericho's before him. Jericho is nothing more than a weaker version of Shawn Michaels. He's a smaller, less talented version. And unless McMahon is going to rush down and ring the bell, when Jericho slaps on a Sharpshooter - or this is an Iron Man match that gets thrust into Overtime that Hart didn't know would happen.. I don't see Jericho winning.

The Liontamer/Walls of Jericho is a very strong finishing submission, but of all the moves it can be reversed into, a Sharpshooter is the prime one. Just picture Hart grabbing Jericho's leg, sweeping him out and dropping him, only to get up, still holding the legs and putting Jericho into the Sharpshooter.

The difference between the two moves is also this.. Hart's Sharpshooter, when applied correctly can NOT be countered out of, or moved to the ropes in. Jericho's Walls is an elevated boston crab, if he puts too much arch on it, you can roll up and under, completely getting out of the hold all together. If he doesn't put enough arch into it, then all that truly needs to be done is just using leg strength to kick out of the hold, or crawl to the ropes.

Jericho's Codebreaker might have a much better chance, but even that is in perfect set-up to be countered and reversed directly into a Sharpshooter.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I'm heavily leaning toward Bret Hart in this match-up. By heavily leaning, I'm pretty sure I'll be voting him as well.

Let's see if I can change that.

The reason I'm firmly solid in Hart winning this, is because Bret Hart has taken out the Chris Jericho's before him. Jericho is nothing more than a weaker version of Shawn Michaels. He's a smaller, less talented version. And unless McMahon is going to rush down and ring the bell, when Jericho slaps on a Sharpshooter - or this is an Iron Man match that gets thrust into Overtime that Hart didn't know would happen.. I don't see Jericho winning.

Jericho is a lot like Shawn Michaels. You can question the overtime, but Hart still lost to the smaller, quicker man when they were both worn out. Sounds a bit like this match, huh? I would go as far as to say that Jericho, in his prime, was a better technical wrestler than Michaels, in his prime. That means that Jericho would be better equipped to work on Hart's already sore body.

The Liontamer/Walls of Jericho is a very strong finishing submission, but of all the moves it can be reversed into, a Sharpshooter is the prime one. Just picture Hart grabbing Jericho's leg, sweeping him out and dropping him, only to get up, still holding the legs and putting Jericho into the Sharpshooter.

The same goes in reverse. Jericho can grab Hart's leg when he tries to wrap Chris' legs around it, and set up the Liontamer.

The difference between the two moves is also this.. Hart's Sharpshooter, when applied correctly can NOT be countered out of, or moved to the ropes in. Jericho's Walls is an elevated boston crab, if he puts too much arch on it, you can roll up and under, completely getting out of the hold all together. If he doesn't put enough arch into it, then all that truly needs to be done is just using leg strength to kick out of the hold, or crawl to the ropes.

The Walls of Jericho is not a good move. The Liontamer, on the other hand, is just as hard as the Sharpshooter to get out of. Not only does Jericho have your legs, but he has his knee in one of three places:
1. Your back, adding more torque.
2. Your neck/head, making in impossible to roll out of, and adding more pain
3. Next to your head, once again, adding more torque

Go back and look at the video I posted earlier, and look at how he had it locked in on Malenko. Tell me that a man who just went through war with the Rock and the wear-and-tear of this match could roll out of that.

Jericho's Codebreaker might have a much better chance, but even that is in perfect set-up to be countered and reversed directly into a Sharpshooter.

I'm using WCW as his prime, so the Codebreaker doesn't apply. If he does use it, however, Jericho can use the Liontamer counter I mentioned earlier, or a easy roll-up.

 

[Thriller Ant]

It's time for me to try and rally for Jericho. The man is the first Undisputed Champion ever. People have been saying that he only won due to interferance, but the fact of the matter is Jericho pinned the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin back-to-back in one night with no rest. That is at least as impressive, if not more, than Hart's King of the Ring victories.

Jericho, in his WCW prime, was exponentially quicker and more agile than Bret Hart. This advantage will be even greater due to the wear-and-tear Hart received in his match with the Rock. The Rock uses high-impact moves that focus on the back, which helps Jericho, who's finisher is a submission that puts incredible amounts of pressure on the back.

Hart also just went to war with the Rock. He is going to be tired and sore from the punishment he took. If we take the votes as indicators of the match, then Jericho had a fairly easy time with RVD last round, meaning that he will be the fresher man. A fresh Jericho will be able to use hit-and-run techniques to keep Hart off balance until he is worn enough to get locked in the Liontamer.

VOTE JERICHO!

 

[Theo Mays]

This would be an awesome match. I would love to see this battle with both these guys in their prime. In the end I'm going with Hitman in a exhausting match. I don't see Jericho giving up to the Sharpshooter and I highly doubt Hart gives in to the Walls of Jericho. So I'm going to say neither submission is going to do the role of winning, they'll just add some punishment. Hart wins with a roll up of some sorts. Say his knee is bugging him and he is laying on the mat and Jericho goes to pick him up, but Hart gets him in a small package and scores the win.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Hart is tired, and Jericho is the quicker man anyway. Hart is also sore from his match with the Rock. Vote Jericho!