Marvel Studios continues down the road of "Phase 2" that will inevitably lead to Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron with Thor: The Dark World. This film follows the Asgardian, Thor, after the events of Marvel's Avengers.
Cast:
Chris Hemsworth as Thor Natalie Portman as Jane Foster Tom Hiddleston as Loki Anthony Hopkins as Odin Stellan Skarsgård as Dr. Erik Selvig Idris Elba as Heimdall Christopher Eccleston as Malekith Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Algrim/Kurse Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis Ray Stevenson as Volstagg Zachary Levi as Fandral Tadanobu Asano as Hogun Jaimie Alexander as Sif Rene Russo as Frigga
The Plot (FULL Spoilers)
Eons ago, Bor, the father of Odin, clashes with the Dark Elf Malekith, who seeks to destroy the universe using a weapon known as the Aether. After conquering Malekith's forces, including enhanced warriors called the Kursed, on their home world of Svartalfheim, Bor safeguards the Aether within a stone column. Unbeknownst to him, Malekith, his lieutenant Algrim, and a handful of Dark Elves escape into suspended animation.
In present-day Asgard, Loki stands imprisoned for his war crimes on Earth. Meanwhile, Thor, alongside warriors Fandral, Volstagg and Sif repel marauders on Vanaheim, home of their comrade Hogun; it is the final battle in a war to pacify the Nine Realms following the reconstruction of the Bifröst. In London, Jane Foster's intern, Darcy Lewis, now with her own intern named Ian, take Jane to an abandoned factory where objects have begun to disobey the laws of physics and disappear into thin air. Separating from the group, Jane is teleported to another world, where she is infected by the Aether.
The Asgardians learn that a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, referred to as the Convergence, is imminent; as the event approaches, portals linking the worlds appear at random. Heimdall alerts Thor of Jane's recent disappearance, leading Thor to bring her to Asgard. There, Asgardian doctors state that they cannot remove the Aether, due to its ability to discharge powerful protective energy blasts when it is threatened. Odin warns Thor that the infection will kill Jane given enough time, and that the Aether's return heralds a catastrophic prophecy.
Malekith, awakened by the Aether's release, turns Algrim into a Kursed and attacks Asgard. During the battle, Malekith and Algrim search for Jane, knowing she contains the Aether. When they fail to capture her, they escape, killing Thor's mother, Frigga. Despite Odin's orders not to leave Asgard, Thor reluctantly teams up with Loki, who knows of a secret portal to Malekith's world, where they will use Jane to lure and confront Malekith, away from Asgard. In return, Thor promises Loki that he can have his revenge on Malekith for killing their mother. With the Volstagg and Sif stalling Asgardian soldiers and Fandral assisting their escape, Thor and Loki commandeer a Dark Elf spaceship and escape to Svartalfheim with Jane.
On Svartalfheim, Loki tricks Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Jane. However, Thor's attempt to destroy the substance fails, and the Aether-empowered Malekith leaves with his ship as Loki appears to be fatally wounded while protecting Thor from Algrim. Thor, cradling Loki in his arms, promises to tell their father of his sacrifice. Following Loki's apparent death, Thor and Jane discover another portal in a nearby cave and reunite with Selvig, Darcy and Ian in London. There, they learn that Malekith plans to unleash the Aether to destroy the universe, and that he will do this in Greenwich, the center of the Convergence. Thor battles Malekith, but a portal separates them, leaving Malekith unopposed. Thor comes back in time to help Jane, Selvig, Darcy and Ian use their scientific equipment to transport Malekith to Svartalfheim, killing him before he can destroy the universe.
Thor returns to Asgard, where he declines Odin's offer to take the throne and tells Odin of Loki's sacrifice. As he leaves, Odin's form transforms to that of a grinning Loki.
In a mid-credits scene, Volstagg and Sif visit the Collector and entrust the Aether to his care, commenting that, with the Tesseract already in Asgard, having two Infinity Stones so close together would be dangerous.
As they leave, the Collector remarks, "One down, five to go." In a post-credits scene, Jane and Thor reunite on Earth, while somewhere in London a frost monster from Jotunheim, accidentally transported to Earth during the final battle, continues to run amok.
The Verdict:
I want to start off by addressing the masses that think that Jaimie Alexander should instantly be qualified for playing Wonder Woman/Diana Prince if Warner Bros. decides to get the ball rolling for that DC Comics' film. Her portrayal as the Asgardian-style Wonder Woman, Sif, was fine here, but in all honestly, she doesn't have the body type nor physical build that I think would work for Wonder Woman onscreen. If we're going to be recycling actresses for that role, I say go with Faora from Man of Steel, played by Antje Traue, but that's just me.
Anywho... back on topic. It's good to see that Disney are finally putting those acquired resources from both Lucasfilms and Marvel Studios to good use here. There were moments where I thought I was watching a Star Wars film rather than a Marvel Comics-themed film. The modern-day marvel that is Asgard blew me away in the original Thor, but they managed to outdo themselves here. Throughout this film, I felt like we were getting a visual sampler platter to how Disney's acquisition of Star Wars will play out in 2015 with Episode VII. If this is the standard that we are going to get for Marvel films from here on out, then I humbly accept this.
No, this isn't a screenshot from Star Wars' prequels... this is Asgard in Thor 2.
In terms of narrative, I felt it went by at a rapid pace, but not so fast that it was confusing. To be fair, I was relieved that this film's plot didn't completely directly rip off Malekith's backstory from the comics or his re-imagining from the episode "The Casket of Ancient Winters" from the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes' first season. The story stayed on track with little sidetracking or boring detours unlike those taken in Iron Man 3, and found that perfect balance of seriousness, action, and comedy. Speaking of comedy, both Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis) and especially Tom Hiddleston (Loki) stole the show on gut-busting comedy moments. You could almost say that this film was more Loki's time to shine in the limelight than it was Thor's. At first, I was a little disappointed that Thor's fellow Asgardians (Volstagg, Sif, Fandral, and Hogun) weren't given more time to shine, but came through for Thor when it counted the most. It seemed like they wanted to play off that Sif was a bit jealous of Jane Foster but it wasn't explored enough for my taste. I would guess that if The Enchantress is recruited as one of Loki's followers in the inevitable Thor 3 after the events as this film came to a close, she would play the role of the woman who comes between Jane Foster and Thor's budding romance. Speaking of the ending, you have to wonder if Odin truly is blind in BOTH of his damn eyes if he didn't see Loki's deception coming a mile away when everyone and their grandma called it beforehand.
Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) share a tender moment...
Last but not least, let's talk about the action sequences in this film. Thor: The Dark World opens with a Lord of The Rings-style battle led by Sif (Jaimie Alexander) against the last remaining rebel armies in Vanaheim. Sif easily held her own in battle and even managed to one-up Thor and save his skin in this battle. This trend of kick-ass females didn't stop here as Frigga put up a good fight against the Kursed before meeting her untimely demise. Speaking of the Kursed, good grief that fight between him and Thor was awesome. I felt like Marvel Studios wanted to show Zach Snyder how a real Superman throws down. The chaos didn't end there as Thor's final encounter with Malekith was everything that I was expecting it to be. I was just glad that it didn't boil down to yet another city in ruins in the wake of these modern-day gods bringing their battle to Earth among mere mortals, which is quickly becoming the tired and recycled, cliched trend in these superhero-based films. One aspect I wish they could have explained more for less comic book savvy viewers is why Selvig's equipment worked on Malekith. In the comics continuity, he has a natural weakness to substances made of iron, which dispel and negate his spells. I'm guessing most viewers will just buy into the whole dimensional rift effect was enough to defeat him. (Shrugs) I guess it works in either case, but that's just me being nit-picky about this kind of stuff since I have more than enough friends who complain that this stuff isn't explained well enough for newcomers.
Compared to the lackluster Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World easily blows that film out of the water in almost every aspect. In a way, I am glad that Iron Man 3 started Phase 2 in a quiet and mediocre level. In turn, it makes this film and hopefully, the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy stand out among audiences. At the end of the day, Loki was the star of this film rather than his Asgardian Avenger of a brother, Thor. In every scene that he is a part of, Hiddleston easily steals the spotlight away from Hemsworth. I didn't have a problem with this at all, as we finally have a Marvel villain that's not so easily disposable like Justin Hammer (portrayed by Sam Rockwell in Iron Man 2) or the Red Skull (portrayed by Hugo Weaving in Captain America: The First Avenger), who may make an appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier... If you were a fan of the original Thor or was looking for something more after watching Iron Man 3, then Thor: The Dark World is definitely up your alley. I'm giving this one a 9 out of 10.
I guess I should explain the mid-credits scene, for those who aren't comic book savvy. Without a shadow of a doubt, The Collector is going to be a major player in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film, but the one thing that you should take away from this scene is that the chase for the Infinity Gems, or rather Infinity Stones as they are referred to in this continuity is going to lead to one of Marvel Comics' most historic battles, the Infinity War. I'm guessing that Marvel Studios is going to combine the aspects and storylines from both the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War graphic novels to make this event plausible onscreen. Thanos, who was teased during the mid-credits scene after Marvel's Avengers, wants all of the Infinity Gems for himself to use at his own disposal. That being said, I don't see Thanos showing up and fighting the Avengers himself until Avengers 3 (late Phase 3) or Avengers 4 (early Phase 4 tie-ins). I'm guessing that Marvel Studios are positive that they will have the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer film license properties back under their roof by that point. Otherwise, I'm sure they could still pull this storyline off without them with a few minor tweaks.
It's already that time again? It's time to "become immortal" as you hop into the newest game featuring the Superstars and Divas of wrestling's past and present of World Wrestling Entertainment as the folks at 2K Sports presents WWE 2K14.
THQ managed to survive bankruptcy as 2K Sports is now spearheading the WWE Games' from here on out. Given the amount of praise that 2K Sports has received on their other sports endeavors, wrestling fans shouldn't have anything to be concerned about right? Right? Let's find out in this review.
PRESENTATION:
Graphically, this is the same game you played last year in WWE '13, just with a new menu starring The Rock himself and a bit more polish on some of the character models. This year's in-game Divas definitely look better than the ones provided in WWE '13 by default, but some of the Legends aren't given the same level of detail as a lot of their character models look like they were plucked directly from Legends of WrestleMania. Yeah, I'm looking right at Ultimate Warrior, Shawn Michaels (retro), Andre the Giant, and Hulk Hogan. It's so painfully obvious on their character models. Well, at least some of the character models here don't look as bad as Booker T did in the last two games... (Shudders).
Right off the bat, players will be pleased to know that they can fully customize the tracks that play in the background of the in-game menus, thanks to the new WWE Jukebox feature in the Options menu. That was a welcome addition as that was the #1 reason I couldn't sit down and enjoy Creation Suite in WWE '13 as every other track would loop right back to David Otunga's entrance theme. Players can add custom tracks to the WWE Jukebox as well.
CONTROLS:
The game still controls the same way that it has from WWE '13. General movement is controlled to the left analog stick, while various strategic positioning can be done with the right analog stick. Left trigger/L2 breaks your Superstar/Diva into a sprint. Right trigger/R2 reverses all attacks when timed perfectly to the onscreen prompts. Holding RB/R1 activates the Predator Limb Targeting System. LB/L1 picks up weapons or allows your Superstar/Diva to interact with environmental objects. The various taunts are mapped to the directional pad. The face buttons on the controller allow for strikes, initiating grapples, and performing Irish whips, signature moves, and finishers.
GAMEPLAY:
Note: This is a simple demonstration of how to execute the new and improved Catapult Finishers.
Many of the gameplay features from WWE '13 have been updated or completely revamped. These include the navigation system, allowing for more fluid walking, running and dragging motions. Characters also move faster than before. Before running, characters display "starting up" animations, to prevent players from spamming running attacks. An added adrenaline meter quickly drains down if your character sprints around the ring for a long duration. New motions, such as adjusting wristbands or motioning for opponents to get up, were added. Striking attacks are quicker and harder to reverse. All reversals now result in offensive attacks that actually deal damage to your opponent, to make for quicker matches by avoiding continuous reversal stalemates. Catapult finishers can now be used offensively. Some characters can launch an opponent into the air and catch them for a catch finisher. Seven new OMG moments have been added, allowing certain finishers to be done on two opponents, and allowing players to interact with the arena environment. The near-fall system too has been improved, with more two counts to give the match a more dramatic feel. Few new matches have been added, though a Slobberknocker Mode, adapted from The Streak season mode, had been added as a gauntlet match.
I. 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode
WWE 2K14 features a new single player campaign called "The 30 Years of WrestleMania", a nostalgic gameplay mode that recreates nearly three decades of WWE history, including more than 45 matches, classic WWE footage and many legendary characters. Like Legends of Wrestlemania and WWE '13, the campaign revolves around historical stories rather than original ones. The mode features a distinct roster of wrestlers and alternate gimmicks, who wrestled at WrestleMania.
In Wrestlemania mode, matches have primary objectives, required to beat the game, and bonus historical objectives, which result in recreated WrestleMania moments. Sometimes the player must follow a guided sequence of inputs, rather than freely control the character.
In 46 primary matches, the player competes through storylines of various lengths, switching predetermined characters as they are completed. Each chapter has its own title and focus; "Hulkamania Runs Wild" focuses on Hulk Hogan and early WrestleManias, while "The New Generation" showcases the rise of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels in the mid-1990s. The "Attitude Era" chapter brings back some matches from WWE '13's "Attitude Era" mode, as well as some not covered before. The "Ruthless Aggression" chapter focuses on the departure of The Rock, lessened focus on Triple H and rise of Randy Orton and Edge. The final "Universe Era" chapter focuses on the rise of John Cena and the returns of The Rock and Brock Lesnar.
I absolutely loved that 2K14 captures this moment perfectly.
This is the mode that single-handedly warrants me to suggest that players that are fans of wrestling, young or old, to play this game. 2K did a great job with this mode, especially with the first 10 WrestleManias, truly capturing that nostalgic feel for those events. The game even provides a grainy television graphical filter to recreate these events just as we saw them on our old television sets back in the day. It's the small details to stuff, such as the fans throwing trash at Andre the Giant during his entrance and Ric Flair breaking down in tears after Shawn Michaels forced him into retirement, that really make old school fans truly appreciate this mode. I even found myself getting emotional at how accurately they portrayed "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth together in the mix. Sue me... I dare you to find me a better wrestling love story than that with enough emotional impact behind it. Sadly, I felt the mode lost its luster after roughly WrestleMania 13, when it was obvious that this mode just simply transformed into series of WWE and World Heavyweight Championship title matches - and an occasional wildcard match here and there with The Undertaker's few Streak opponents - with little to no story elements behind them, unlike the ones that opened this monumental single player campaign. Many players blame the licensing issues to get particular former WWE Superstars and Divas in the game are to blame, but they still had a lot of great WrestleMania matches to work with from the 30 years of WrestleMania. C'mon... there's no Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker I (WrestleMania 25), Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, and Jimmy Snuka (WrestleMania 25), Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero (WrestleMania 21), Evolution (Ric Flair, Batista, Randy Orton) vs. The Rock & Mick Foley (WrestleMania XX) and the bulk of the card from WrestleMania 29 was worth playing if we had to endure that lame duck Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter match in this mode. Hell, I would have been happy with Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior (WrestleMania VII) than that snoozefest. This mode is commentated entirely by Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. I personally felt that their presence in the earlier WrestleManias deminshes their nostalgia a bit. 2K managed to pull audio from the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage for his pre-match promos, so why couldn't they have done the same for the color commentators of yore? I would have loved to hear the late Gorilla Monsoon in this game on commentary thanks to the magic of importing some of his audio clips from these historical WrestleMania bouts.
- The Streak Mode
The game also has a new mode that is focused on The Undertaker called “The Streak”. The game pays homage to The Undertaker's undefeated 21-0 WrestleMania winning streak. In the mode, the player has the option to defend the streak as the Undertaker, battling wave after wave of opponent. However, the player also has the ability to attempt to break it, playing as all superstars who faced the Undertaker at WrestleMania. in attempting to beat the Undertaker, however, the difficulty is amplified to a level much higher than any point available in any other mode of any WWE wrestling video game.
This mode is unlocked from start, but allows players to experience firsthand in the legendary streak of The Undertaker as they attempt to maintain it or challenge to end it.
-- Defeat The Streak - This is easily the best mode of the two options in Streak Mode, with the challenge of taking down the legendary Undertaker at WrestleMania to end his streak. The difficulty is cranked up to a level beyond Legend difficulty as The Undertaker will reverse your reversals and it will be a grueling task to wear him down to the point to defeat him. To help you out, this match is a No Holds Barred contest, so anything goes, but that also stands for The Undertaker as he will pull out several surprises to defend his legacy. I personally think that The Undertaker should be ramped up to this level of difficulty at any given time when you challenge him in-game at WrestleMania for pure accuracy. No matter what difficulty players are on, it should not be an easy feat to end the Streak at WrestleMania. Defeating the streak with his previous WrestleMania opponents will unlock respective photos in the gallery section of 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode's main menu. -- Defend The Streak - I was completely let down when I found out that this mode is only the series' revival of the Slobberknocker Match from previous years of yore in the WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw-themed games. The only difference here is that you have to play as The Undertaker himself and defeat as many Superstars as possible before eventually getting too worn down and tired to continue. That's a bit ironic, as that's the toll that these matches have taken on the Phenom's body over the last two decades. Sadly, this mode doesn't have the extra excitement and difficulty that was a pleasure to experience in Defeat The Streak. Here, majority of the Superstars barely put up a fight against you until you eliminate 25-30 Superstars. Even when they do put up a fight, the game heals some of your damage after every 5-10 successful eliminations, so it's not that hard. On a side note, can someone give Jerry "The King" Lawler and Michael Cole more lines of commentary in this mode? I heard Lawler say, "The Undertaker is the scariest Superstar on the WWE roster. He's even more scarier than a topless Mae Young!" at least once during every participant that came out during this match. That same line of commentary was in last year's game as I remember busting out laughing the first time I heard it.
II. Online Modes
For those of you having issues with the ongoing "Online Pass" issue that seems to be absent for players who either bought the game from an online retailer or as a digital download, from what I experienced on the Xbox 360 version of the game is that there is an option to opt for a 7-day trial of Online Access. The sad part is that Community Creations are locked out. You can still play Ranked and Player Matches to your hearts' content though. I thought that was nice of 2K to at least give players an option to see whether or not that the online modes would be something that they would be interested in paying for additionally after trying it first-hand for themselves. Regardless, I hope that 2K Sports remedies those issues with the Online Pass for those affected. For the most part, WWE 2K14's online is roughly the same as WWE '13's. For the most part, I didn't experience any of the arsenal of bugs or random disconnections that plagued WWE '13, but I did still thought it was a pain in the ass to kick out of pins online. This has been an annoyance since WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2010 and I'm surprised they haven't addressed this issue. If there is any slight amount of lag between you and your opponent(s), your chances to kick out of pins successfully goes down significantly. That goes double for reversal timing online. I found myself having to counter at least 2-5 seconds earlier than I would normally do so offline.
Community Creations
This is the central hub where the entire WWE 2K14 community shares its creations from the Creation Suite for use by other players. Everything can be uploaded from the Creation Suite to this online archive, with the exception of Custom Championships. I thought that was really odd that they would not allow those to be shared after players were so vocal about getting that mode back into these games in the first place. Despite this shortcoming, players are opted to upload and download any and everything at their hearts' content here.
III. Exhibition Modes
Every mode that is available in My Universe is available for play in single player or via local multiplayer matches with friends offline. All creations from the Creation Suite can be used in these modes, as well as the unlockable characters and arenas obtained from besting the challenges and bonus objectives in 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode.
Divas are still unable to compete in Royal Rumble matches, but they can compete in Extreme Rules matches. Looks like Diva fans aren't getting tossed a bone at all in this game. Speaking of Royal Rumble matches, apparently there is a nagging issue with PlayStation 3 players where entrants stop coming out during the match and when you try to quit the match the game freezes. I personally didn't run into this bug while playing on Xbox 360 version of the game as I completed a Royal Rumble from start to finish without any gamebreaking issues, except for the fact that the game kills audio on some entrance themes, especially custom themes. My only compliant with the Royal Rumble is the camera angle this year is from the side instead of having the camera facing towards the entrance ramp for you can see who is racing towards the ring.
IV. Creation Suite
- Create-a-Superstar
For creation mode purists, this mode has become their bread and butter. That being said, I'm downright disgusted that 2K didn't bother to change this mode in this entry. For the second year in a row, it's a copy and paste from WWE '12. I feel even worse for WWE Diva fans, as there are not even one new part for female creations. Yeah, you read that right. There is NOTHING new for women. If 2K/THQ aren't going to change anything then they should look into a creation suite import tool for future entries. I know it hasn't to be annoying for long-time Creation Suite enthusiasts to waste hours upon hours recreating their same creations from the previous year from scratch. The main draw to this mode for 2K14 is the fact that players have a whooping 100 creation slots to work with. That is more than a welcome addition as I always ran out of room for my own creations after finding my friends' creations on Community Creations. Lastly, what genius thought it was a good idea to remove the ability to edit more than 1 colour on the many facepaints in a Create-a-Superstar?
Superstar Heads
This is a new feature that allows players to choose one of 14 available preset Superstar heads, including John Cena, Paul Heyman, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and among others with more on the way as downloadable content. I personally found this addition to be a bit underwhelming as you can't edit anything on the preexisting head. It just sets on top of generic CAW's body. You would think that 2K would have at least allowed the preset head to import that Superstars' body morphing and let you edit the Superstar completely like a CAW. What I'm getting at is what WWF No Mercy did back on the Nintendo 64. Scrap the Superstar Threads option completely and allow players to edit Superstars and Divas in 4 attire slots as if they were CAWs. The only restriction should be height and body morphing (to an extent, as Superstars' muscle mass has decreased/increased over the years...). Alternatively, 2K could provide a simple system where Superstars and Divas' parts are usable in Create-a-Superstar mode, much like in the previous WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role, where players could mix and match parts for desired results.
- Create-a-Entrance
This is the same creature that we have come to know since the debut of this series, but there are a few minor changes. Preset entrances have a "!!" tag on them to indicate that the entrance uses a prop that will be attached to that Superstar/Diva during their entrance. Another change is that 2K have completely abandoned the concept of labeling the preset entrances for Superstars/Divas not on the in-game roster, with clever surnames, such as Legend Diva (Trish Stratus), Version One (Matt Hardy), Black Widow (Victoria/Tara), First Lady (Maria Kanellis), Paparazzi Princess (Melina), Blonde Bombshell (Torrie Wilson), King of Extreme (The Sandman), and so on. That sounds good and all but here's the bad news. There's a few nagging issues with using custom tracks on this entry. Whereas they got it right in the last two entries where custom tracks did not explode from your speakers like back in WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2011, now the problem is that custom tracks either play too low that you can barely even hear them 2K has removed almost all of the generic titantrons, except for about 6 of them. This problem, along with the removal of Highlight Reels, really limits the options for original Superstars and Divas. That decision really baffled me when you can still save match replays but you can't do anything else with them other than take screenshots. So what was the reasoning behind removing Highlight Reel?
- Create-a-Arena
While there are a lot of new arena parts to toy with since the debut of this feature back in WWE '12, there are a lot of issues plaguing this mode in WWE 2K14. The lack of Paint Tool logo being able to be resized in CAA is hindering a lot of creator's creativity as well as the removal of backgrounds underneath logos.
It seems that 2K failed to address the minitron/walls issue in WWE '13 where our stage designs disappear during entrances, almost rendering the stage design worthless. This was a decision that left many players upset as the former THQ staff (now working for 2K Sports) were told this would be addressed for 2K14.
There is a lack of complete freedom in minitron creation (logos are now duplicated often 3 times across the minitron) such as we had last year. This makes it very difficult to create accurate arenas without looking repetitive. Believe it or not, but there are a lot of passionate creation suite enthusiasts who are upset at the lack of attention to these finer details.
- Create-a-Finisher
This is still the same creature that we have come used to in this current generation of wrestling games. I still wish that they would just add in all of the moves that they have have taken out of the traditional Create-a-Moveset over the last decade can be recreated here.
- Create-a-Moveset
Much like Create-a-Superstar, little has changed here from WWE '13. There are lots of new moves from some of the newest additions to the current WWE roster, along with several old school delights from the Legends and alumni unlockable in 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode, with more moves on the horizon as downloadable content.
- Create-a-Championship
2K Sports added onto the feature that was added (or rather brought back from previous titles) back in WWE '13, allowing players to customize their championships even further and allow Paint Tool logos to be used on championships as well. These championships can be used in My Universe and Exhibition Modes.
- Superstar Threads
This mode makes its return in 2K14, allowing players to change the colors of all of the in-game Superstars and Divas' attires in several creation slots. There is a minor issue with coloring some unique items in this mode, such as coloring Hulk Hogan's belt or "Macho Man" Randy Savage's cape. Hopefully this will be addressed in a minor patch.
V. My Universe Mode
The sandbox mode, "WWE Universe", returned, though completely overhauled. The player had been given the option to completely customize their own "universe". Diva-centric custom shows have been made available along with customized pay-per view events having less restrictions, with the incorporation of custom themes, logo and tournaments being available. The rivalry system is credited as the most updated system, with a Rivalry Manager being added to stat-track all rivalries. Long-time fans of this mode should know what to expect from this mode by now. This is your means to create a WWE Universe of your liking, either with all original creations or full of your own customized rosters with the in-game roster spanning multiple time periods in WWE history. The ability to create Diva-centric shows are a welcome addition, but it provides little variety when you cannot set the Divas to go for other titles than the Divas and Women's Championship. The ability to allow them to go for at least midcard titles, such as the Intercontinental or Cruiserweight Championships would have been welcome. Oh well, that's something to wish for in a future update. Regardless, there's still more than enough here to keep wrestling fans busy until WWE 2K15 rolls around.
VI. Downloadable Content
As of this posting date, there is no downloadable content to access other than the pre-order exclusives, but I will take this time to reveal what is in the pipeline for the upcoming months.
ACCELERATOR
Available for a suggested purchase cost of $1.99.
Customize the overall rankings and attributes levels of every WWE Superstar, Legend, and Diva in the game. Also unlocks every WWE Superstar, Legend, and Diva, including alternate attires and all arenas and championships in WWE 2K14.
Scheduled for release on launch day – October 29, 2013 in North America and November 1, 2013 internationally.
nWo PACK
The Giant will be available free of charge!
Available for a suggested purchase cost of $8.99.
Playable New World Order-themed Superstars:
Kevin Nash
Scott Hall
“Macho Man” Randy Savage
Syxx
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig
Scott Steiner
Scheduled for worldwide release in November 2013.
WWE SUPERSTARS AND MOVES PACK
Summer Rae will be available free of charge!
Available for a suggested purchase cost of $7.99.
Playable WWE Superstars and Divas:
Fandango
Big E Langston
Brie Bella
Nikki Bella
More than 30 new moves and taunts:
Koji Clutch
Soda Plunge
Black Widow
Leaping Tombstone Piledriver w/Pin Combo
Inverted DDT
Diving Headbutt
Explosive Dropkick
Elbow/Back Stabber Combo
Rope Flip Armdrag
Double Jump Body Splash
Two-Hand Chokeslam
Lil’ Jimmy
Shoulder Switch Powerslam
Zack Ryder Comeback
Alphamare Waterslide
Rope Hung Kick to Mid-Section
Package Piledriver
Burning Hammer
Butterfly Suplex Armbar
Corkscrew Shooting Star Press
Standing Shooting Star Press
Standing Corkscrew Moonsault
Springboard 450 Splash
Psycho Driver
Rebound Big Boot
Rebound Elbow Strike
Moonstomp
Billy Goat’s Curse
Pumphandle Neckbreaker
Suplex Backbreaker
KO
Hangman’s Facebuster
Cradle DDT
Powerbomb Lungblower
Wrist Lock Lariat
Scheduled for worldwide release in December 2013.
WWE LEGENDS AND CREATIONS PACK
Virgil will be available free of charge!
"Thank God, Virgil's in this game!" are the words said exactly by NO ONE who plays these games...
Available for a suggested purchase cost of $8.99.
Playable WWE Hall of Famers and Superstars:
Bruno Sammartino
“The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes
“Ravishing” Rick Rude
Jake “The Snake” Roberts
14 new Superstar Heads and models to utilize in Custom Superstar:
Alberto Del Rio
Antonio Cesaro
Batista
CM Punk (long hair)
Daniel Bryan (clean cut)
Dolph Ziggler
Goldberg
Kane (no mask)
Mankind
Ryback
Sheamus
The Miz
Triple H (short hair)
Undertaker (long hair)
Scheduled for worldwide release in January 2014.
WWE 2K14 SEASON PASS
Available for a one-time purchase cost of $19.99 (a savings of more than 25 percent versus individual content purchases).
Season Pass Program Exclusive “The Outsiders”-themed Superstars:
Scott Hall
Kevin Nash
All content packs:
Accelerator
nWo Pack
WWE Superstars and Moves Pack
WWE Legends and Creations Pack
Online Badges: More than 10 exclusive options
VII. FINAL THOUGHTS
If you are fan of wrestling, especially the older generation of fans who grew up in the WWF years where Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Ric Flair, and "Macho Man" Randy Savage reigned supreme then you truly owe yourself to play this game to at least experience 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode for yourself. That's almost mandatory. I found myself easily getting lost in the nostalgia and the accuracy of these early events. Like previously mentioned, the mode loses it's luster as the campaign continues into the more current years, but fans of wrestling - both young and old, will find something to enjoy here. While I appreciated the fact that 2K14's gameplay is sped up from its predecessor, it still comes off cartoonish when these games are constantly releasing annually with the sales pitch that it's an accurate simulation of WWE's current product. Basic strike attacks look like people are mashing buttons in a typical fighting game with choppy animations and these choppy animations that were obviously still recycled from the PS2-era WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw titles are hard to time your cues to reversals as a result. While we are on the topic of accuracy and realism, weight detection is almost transparent as any Superstar that has a catapult finisher equipped can lift an opposing Superstar into the air and do a catapult finisher, despite their weight differences. Despite the shortcomings and lack of innovations and new resources for the Creation Suite, players are provided with a robust improvement to My Universe 4.0 that continues to be most players' bread and butter to their long-term enjoyment with this game. As a former player who used to use these games to simulate match results for e-federations, I can appreciate the steps made to make this mode more efficient on that front. Throughout this review, I have listed and broken down the several issues and problems plaguing this game, but you will be surprised on what issue that I have with this game the most - the AI. It's not that the AI isn't too hard nor too easy, it's the fact that the in-game AI is inconsistent. I have tested it on several fronts across multiple difficulty settings, including in 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode, The Streak, Exhibition Mode, and even My Universe, where I have either played matches against the AI or setup AI vs AI matches on the Epic setting. There will be moments when the AI almost brain dead on its offense against you, other times, the AI will reverse everything you throw their way like Grapple Jesus in hopes of creating a spectacle of a match if you can endure this back and forth process until someone caves from the chain of reversals. The latter definitely comes to mind during the last objective in 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode where both John Cena (the player) and The Rock (CPU) have infinite specials at their disposal. Situations like this make the AI have a one track train of thought and strategy, that tends to rarely change its gameplan outside of the norm.
I was hoping that this series' AI would have grown to the point that the AI would have 3 layers of conditioning on how to handle a human opponent, depending on the condition or health status of that Superstar/Diva. The first stage would deal with targeting limbs until one of them caves to moderate damage. This would be dependent on that opposing Superstar/Diva's in-ring specialty - legs for high-flyers, head for brawlers, arms for submission/technicians to reduce their reversal accuracy rate, and abdomen for powerhouses. That's one thing that's not given enough depth in this game. There are consequences for critical damage in each of these areas of the body that can be targeted with Predator technology. I have no doubt that human players will take advantage of this subtle aspect, but it's a shame that the AI doesn't capitalize on this as much as it should. The second stage would deal with maximizing that damage into the critical stage and maintaining momentum on their side. The AI would do that by taunting and doing corresponding actions to antagonize or rally the crowd behind/against them to build up a signature or finishing move. To its credit, the AI in 2K14 does taunt almost after every exchange after leaving it's opponent on the ground before continuing it's offense. That part of the AI logic isn't that bad, but these games are missing the vital aspect of playing the crowd that is such a vital part of wrestling. Ironic that these games are using a combat mechanic that uses momentum shifts but the crowd has no contributing factor to the end result at all. The final stage should be that moment when and where AI opts to finish you off - no matter what it takes. That includes hitting OMG moments, positioning the opponent perfectly for the application/execution of a finishing maneuver, or even getting itself disqualified to make sure it retains in a title match. Once again, the AI in 2K14 attempts to do all of this, but it's not executed consistently. Given this current generation of technology, I know that is a bit much to ask for before the incoming next-generation consoles hit the shelves, but a wrestling fan can dream can't he? On the other hand, it isn't a bit much to ask 2K Sports to give us more variety on commentary. 2K14 recycles 85% of the lines used in WWE '13. And even when commentary does provide a new line of material, it barely manages to capture the action in the ring at the right place and time. I have to be honest here... I'm really getting sick of this pattern with these games. Every year one of these games is announced and for months players speculating and throwing around all of these crazy theories that this is the year that THQ (this time now 2K, but it makes little difference as the bulk of THQ's staff are still on board...) will remedy all of their past mistakes and fix what is wrong with the previous iterations of this franchise that has been plaguing it for the last 3-5 years. Finally, after all of the hype and second guesting, the game comes out and players are immediately letdown that it's the same SHIT as the previous year with a few new bells and whistles. Then comes the bombardment from my close friends and acquaintances that try to sugarcoat the game's flaws and justify their purchase was well-worth their money as they attempt to coax and persuade me into buying the sequel as well. I haven't folded since purchasing WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2011 and I doubt I'm going to do so anytime soon unless 2K does a massive overhaul in the near future. I have been playing wrestling games for well over a decade and a half, so I have very high expectations to what I want in a wrestling game. Henceforth, I have been thoroughly satisfied with just renting each outing and getting my money's worth in a mere rental than dropping the entire $59.99 price tag down on a purchase and then some... thanks to Online Pass ($9.99 extra if it's not included with your purchase) and the Season Pass ($19.99 premium access to all DLC). That being said... if you are a fan of these games, then don't allow my opinion to sway you because you know you're going to go out and continue enjoying these games just the way no matter what THQ or 2K Sports does with this franchise. I'm honestly speaking to the people who are constantly in denial on an annual basis that they are getting ripped off. If you weren't pleased with the last iteration, then don't go racing to the store to buy the sequel. It's basic common sense. It doesn't go for just this game, but for all of these games plagued by sequel-itis and annual rehashes. I had a lengthy conversation with my 16-year old nephew (AKA my wrestling padawan learner who I am passing on my knowledge on this sport to) about the game and the direction that 2K Sports tends to take with their sports titles as he plays a lot more sports-oriented games (especially from the folks at 2K Sports) than I do. When I gave him my thoughts and overview of this outing, he was left feeling a bit underwhelmed but assured me that it sounds like 2K barely had any time to leave their personal mark on this series just yet. That's how I feel about this game - this is still feels too familiar to THQ's typical resume. It has some of their best traits as well of their worst. While I can understand why 2K Sports played it safe with their first outing into WWE games, I can only hope that their future endeavors will see a change for the better, not a continued trend of "been there, done that" with recycled resources and little innovation and improvements. Last year, I gave WWE '13 a 7.75 out of 10 after the Attitude Era Mode surprised and wowed me, along with changes that THQ took to remedy the mistakes made in WWE '12. This year, WWE 2K14 is literally the same entity as WWE '13. 30 Years of WrestleMania Mode is worth experiencing for any fan of this series or wrestling in general. It easily blows last year's Attitude Era Mode out of the water. That, combined with some of the minor tweaks they have done to the game (that obviously aren't cosmetic...) I can give this game a 8.25 out of 10. Is it the best wrestling game ever? It's not even close, but definitely one of the better ones in a while that serves as an acceptable footnote to end this console generation on. That being said, if things don't change next year with 2K15 then this score is going down significantly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know I have been slacking off as of late, but if you guys read my updates over on Method To Madness you would know that I have been sick over majority of this month, so my blogging had to take a backseat as a result. To make it up to you guys, I'm going to do a double-whammy special, as I discuss and review my thoughts over not only the month of September, but the month of October as well. So, sit back and enjoy as this is going to be long write-up, as we have a LOT to cover here, folks.
Note: I will NOT cover WWE Main Event, Superstars, and Smackdown! unless I see something notable of interest worth commenting on as Smackdown tends to recycle the same matches from RAW on Monday nights. I'm also trying a new format where I do provide FULL results for the flagship shows - RAW, Impact, and NXT, but I will not comment on EVERY match/segment. I also apologize at the lack of NXT footage as it seems that Dailymotion and Hulu embedded videos seem to cause Blogger's coding to glitch out. Thank WWE for stripping YouTube of almost any type of NXT-related footage.
RAW (9/2/13 -- Labor Day Special)
- Big Show is called out by Stephanie McMahon
HBK gone broke angle all over again, but The Big Show balling like a baby. So much for Big Show's "ironclad contract" drawn up by Cough Drop AKA Johnny Ace... Matt Fowler on IGN brought up a good point about angles like this - why is it that the worst case scenario when you lose all of your money in these wrestling storylines is the unemployment line or flipping burgers? Let's be realistic here. A LOT of wrestlers have talents or alternatives to fall back on if WWE or professional wrestling in general doesn't work out. For example, Spike Dudley/Brother Runt was an acclaimed English professor before he started going through tables in ECW. He currently has a respectable job as an accountant now with a wife and kid.
For the sake of this angle though, I can buy into it a bit. Stephanie McMahon hugging The Big Show as he cried like a child reminded me of that image that's floating around the 'Net of Stephanie as a child hugging Andre the Giant. People can say what they want about Stephanie but she's STILL one of the best (if not the best currently) authority figures in WWE. Triple H can't get out of that "wrestler" archetype, so you can't take him serious as an authority figure at all, but when Stephanie looks at you like you're lowest level of scum on the face of the Earth, it hits home each and every time.
- Primetime Players def. 3MB
Meaningless push for PTP. Besides, can you even call this a push by defeating 3MB?
- Randy Orton def. Cody Rhodes (Job on the line)
A valiant effort by Cody Rhodes, but this was his write-off from TV angle as he was off to get married to the lovely Eden Stiles. Don't have too much at home with her, Cody.
- CM Punk vows to break Paul Heyman at Night of Champions
-Natalya vs. Naomi vs. Brie Bella for #1 Contender Spot to Divas' Championship - Ends in no contest after AJ attacks them all.
Bravo, AJ Lee. This is a step in the right direction. She talked all that shit about being better than the rest then it's about time that she proved that she's a fighting champion by showing that she doesn't give a damn who ends up winning this match and earning the right to challenge her.
- Main Event: Big Show def. Daniel Bryan - Show is forced to do what Triple H and Stephanie say. Bryan is assaulted by The Shield, Big Show, and Randy Orton in front of WWE roster watching at the top of the entrance ramp.
I know Daniel Bryan has to be sick of getting beat up at the end of almost every RAW broadcast as the WWE roster watches at the top of the entrance ramp. I had to laugh at the arrival of Triple H though as everyone on the ramp stopped chatting with each other out of character and snapped back into shape as the COO and Stephanie walked past.
Impact Wrestling (9/5/13)
- Chris Sabin loses to Mike Knox after Aces & Eights bring in hammer
After being screwed by Aces & Eights left and right, Sabin can't seem to take it anymore...
Sabin freaks out backstage to Velvet Sky. What's more interesting about this segment is that TNA is FINALLY acknowledging that they are a couple in real life. I'm anxious to see what is going to come out of this in the long haul.
- 12-Man Gauntlet for 20 points in BFG Series - AJ Styles wins
I can't be too surprised that AJ Styles was going to win this, especially given his real life situation with his contract expiring soon. It's pretty much deja vu from last year when Jeff Hardy was literally handed the winning spot for he wouldn't jump ship back to WWE. With all of the stupid storylines and angles AJ Styles has been forced to put up with as of late, I'm glad he's being rewarded with the main event spot.
- Sting def. Bully Ray (Non-Title Match)
This was almost an exact copy and paste from their final encounter for the TNA Championship, but with Sting coming out on top here.
- Mr. Anderson revealed to be Bully Ray's next opponent for title
I loved every second of this. We get to see "Asshole" Mr. Anderson one more time as he challenges for the TNA Championship. It's about time that we finally see Aces & Eights starting to fall apart from within. With Bully Ray being the only one holding gold (and Tessmacher, if I may add...) has to definitely make the other members jealous.
RAW (9/9/13)
- Edge returns for in-ring segment - Christian left beaten up by The Shield
Life must suck to be Christian. Ever since he returned to WWE, his career has been hit with speed bump after speed bump with constant injuries and setbacks. Seeing Edge without long hair is a bit surreal though, but I got used to it by the end of the segment. From the way Edge was acting, it seemed like he was ready to go for a comeback to the ring. The sad thing about this segment is that WWE didn't go anywhere with this. As of this writing, Christian hasn't returned to WWE programming.
- Kofi Kingston def. Curtis Axel by count out - Heyman is worried about Night of Champions
I know I'm going to get heat for saying this but what the hell... Curtis Axel is a failed experiment. Heyman would benefit from dropping his association with him and invest in supporting other talent, preferably some up-and-comers on NXT. If it were up to me, I would have him behind either Kassius Ohno or The Ascension.
- Dolph Ziggler jobs to Wyatt Family
Apparently, WWE is under the impression that Ziggler is Superstar who will never be able to draw, so he has been losing left and right, despite putting on some solid performances in his matches.
- Booker T doesn't hate on what Big Show did as a sellout
This segment bothers me more that I'm a black man watching WWE's product. Booker T has to play the part of an "Uncle Tom" since he is scared of losing his job as well, despite the situation being wrong. Boy, you gotta love this subtle racism that is ever-present in their product.
- Natalya, Brie Bella, and Naomi def. Layla, Alicia Fox, and Aksana while AJ Lee is on commentary
Here's where I piss off the AJ Lee marks in this write-up... Sure, AJ rules this division on the microphone, but she STILL hasn't done a damn thing to impress me in the ring. She comes off as all bark and no bite. AJ's commentary served as the distraction to the ongoings of this match as she owned Jerry Lawler at every possibly during this segment. If you ask me, if they are going to allow Divas to do commentary then there should be multiple Diva matches throughout the 3-hr. RAW broadcast. It's too distracting to have a verbal catfight going on commentary and expect your audience to pay attention to the match in the ring as well. It's either one or the other.
- Santino returns and defeats Antonio Cesaro
Santino is back, and I'm cool with that, but nowhere in hell should Cesaro be jobbing to him.
- Randy Orton def. Goldust (failed to regain Cody's job)
Color me impressed. Who knew Goldust still had it in him to go like this? Sad to see him fail at the same task that Cody Rhodes couldn't complete himself, but it's great to see that Goldust is being given an opportunity in the spotlight like this. Goldust lost a lot of weight and looks the best he ever has in his career. I heard he has been doing that DDP Yoga that has been doing wonders for folks in the wrestling community.
- Daniel Bryan def. Dean Ambrose - The Big Show refuses to get involved allowing Daniel Bryan to topple Orton to end the show
The seeds of doubt have been planted as The Big Show doesn't want to help Orton grow his victory garden prematurely. I like how WWE gave us a shimmer of hope that Daniel Bryan's chances of winning isn't completely hopeless.
TNA No Surrender PPV on SPIKE TV (9/12/13)
- AJ Styles def. Austin Aries in BFG Semi-Final
This match was a wrestling fan's wet dream come true right here. I wished they booked this match later in this show as it was hard for the rest of the show to measure to this high standard that they started this TV special PPV broadcast with right off the bat. Both of these men showed why they deserve to be in the semi-finals of this year's BFG series.
- Magnus def. Roode in BFG Semi-Final
This is the match that I felt that should have opened the show. There was more playing with the crowd here that would have worked to open the show rather than pass as mediocre aftermath to the stellar opener that both AJ Styles and Austin Aries did beforehand.
- Bully Ray def. Mr. Anderson to retain TNA World Heavyweight Championship in Last Man Standing Match
This was a stellar send-off or TV write-off for Mr. Anderson as he was getting his contract renegotiated. There were several moments where it looked like Anderson could have stole the title from right from underneath Bully Ray's nose and it was great to give fans a last look at Anderson's favorable "Asshole" gimmick again.
- BFG Finals - AJ Styles def. Magnus after E.G.O. (Daniels, Kazarian, and Roode) gets involved.
I know Magnus has the talent, but at this stage it is a failed experiment to push him so fast towards the main event. Magnus should start at the bottom - preferably in X-Division or back with Samoa Joe in their defunct tag team and start building him up slowly. He's definitely a potential top player but there is no need to race him to the top only to fail, much like WWE's own Ryback.
- AJ Styles promises to shock Dixie Carter next week on Impact
WWE Night of Champions 2013 (9/15/13)
- Primetime Players wins Tag Team Turmoil
- Impromptu Intercontinental Championship Match - Curtis Axel def. Kofi Kingston to retain
The IWC (myself included) complained that what's the point of having Night of Champions when all championships aren't on the line for the entire week leading up to this event. Fortunately, Triple H remedied this mistake during the live PPV broadcast and booked this match. While I'm not a fan of Mr. Instant #1 Contender Status AKA Kofi Kingston getting a title shot, I can't deny that it was a good match between the two. Axel barely hung onto the title here. Heyman has a right to be worried. I think Axel needs to go home and study his dad's old matches and reevaluate where his own career is going.
- Aksana, Alicia Fox, and Layla all abandon AJ Lee prior to her Divas Championship title defense.
C'mon... we all knew this was coming. AJ has treated the "non-Total Divas" Divas as her disposable lackeys for weeks now, so it wasn't a stretch to see them abandon her prior to her title match after running her mouth off the handle that she is "all that and a bag of chips." I thought this added a great dynamic to the match and more pressure on AJ to deliver in this defense.
- AJ Lee retains Divas Championship def. Natalya, Naomi, and Brie Bella
If this match wasn't a strong candidate for Botchamania then I don't know what is. (Whistles) I was vastly disappointed in this match because WWE dropped the ball (as usual) with what could have finally put their Divas division on the map with 4 of their strongest competitors (on the main roster anyway...) in a match against each other. I have seen people point fingers at the Total Divas girls, but everyone was to blame on this match being a complete mess. To say that AJ Lee is reigning champion, she put up a weak and lackluster defense against these odds as she spend majority of this match out cold on the floor until the finish. Naomi showed off exactly how green she is in terms her ability in a stacked match like this. That goes double for Brie Bella who played the part of punching bag along with AJ. To say that Natalya was the veteran Diva in the match didn't mean a thing in the slightest as she looked as inexperienced in this disaster of a match as the rest of the Divas. The referee for this match needed to be fired as well for there should have been a count for Brie covering and pinning Naomi's shoulders to the canvas with her own body while Natalya stood there clueless before applying in the Sharpshooter. Last but not least, let's talk about the finish. Why does Natalya of all people is the one to submit? Why couldn't it be one of the weaker Divas, like Brie or Naomi? Instead, WWE kills any ounce of this feud continuing coherently right here. AJ is back to square one without a solid, strong challenger for her title. AJ Lee marks, defend her all you want, but AJ is just as weak as her opposition. Until she goes against a true competitor who really challenges her and forces her to step her game up outside of cowardly antics and relying on back-up, she will continue to look like an even more pathetic placeholder for the Divas Championship than Kaitlyn was before her. Kaitlyn was forced to step her game up when AJ Lee stood in her way as a challenger and AJ is going to have to find an opponent who will do so for her if she hopes for anyone to continue to care about her title reign.
- RVD def. Alberto Del Rio via DQ, ADR retains World Heavyweight Championship by default
Since RVD hasn't given WWE a clear answer on whether or not he was signing a contract extension of course they were going to job him out. This match wasn't bad, but it's pretty mediocre by RVD standards. It seems like him and Alberto Del Rio have next to no in-ring chemistry at all.
- The Miz def. Fandango
No one cared nor wanted to see this match. Moving on...
- No DQ Elimination Match - CM Punk def. Curtis Axel, but loses to Paul Heyman after Ryback makes the save
Wrestling needs more silly matches like the Heyman/CM Punk bout. That was comedy gold until Ryback had to come out there and ruin it like only he could as the ultimate buzzkill. I should start calling him "Filler Lesnar" since that's literally his role now since Brock Lesnar ran out of appearances for the duration of this year.
- US Championship Match - Dean Ambrose def. Dolph Ziggler
Another strong outing by Ziggler (as usual), but he couldn't get the job done.
- Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns def. Primetime Players to retain WWE Tag Team Championships
Let's be honest here, no one didn't expect PTP to win the belts here. There was little to no build-up for them and most crowds aren't behind them 100%, despite Darren Young's open-arms support for no holding hiding his sexuality.
- Daniel Bryan def. Randy Orton to win WWE Championship
Clearly the upset of the night, as Daniel Bryan beat Orton clean without any interference or shenanigans.
Okay, now that's out of my system, let's talk about this. For me, this Bryan/Orton feud is done no matter what WWE does next. Why you ask? Bryan beat Orton clean - no bullshit roll-up, no cheating, nor interference whatsoever. WWE dropped the ball here as they gave us the definitive ending to this feud 3-4 months early. It would have made perfect sense to have Orton win here then continue Bryan's title chase for the next 2-3 months before capturing the title at HIAC or Survivor Series.
RAW (9/16/13)
- Triple H vacates WWE Championship
Of course... Triple H has to be the wet blanket and deliver the buzzkill that Bryan's win last night was "tainted." No, Hunter. This feud was tainted from here on out. Orton got beat clean at Night of Champions and we get this weak extension to this storyline.
- Brie, Naomi, Cameron def. Alicia Fox, Layla, Aksana - AJ and Nattie on commentary
I am going to be perfectly honest when I say this, but WWE Divas on commentary during their matches is horrible. It turns into a huge verbal catfight with the normal commentary team trying to get their spoon fed lines from Vince out there while the Divas struggle to comment and reply to every childish remark thrown in their direction. As a result, it distracts away from what is going on in the ring as the commentary team aren't selling the match to us at all. It's sad as this was a decent match by WWE Diva standards and it's easy to overlook that with Natalya playing the part of the sore loser and AJ constantly firing back catty remarks to everything that comes out of JBL and King's mouths like she's trying too hard to be the female equivalent of CM Punk.
- Stephanie and Triple H want to see the "old" Randy Orton
Why am I having a vision of Orton breaking into that little shack that Bryan and Brie showed Cena and Nikki on Total Divas and doing what Triple H did to Orton in their feud? Oh wait... that's going to happen sometime in this feud. Quote me, folks.
- Randy Orton vs. The Miz
In typical hometown hero fashion, The Miz jobs in front of his parents. Miz's dad looks like a hippie and his mom looks like she just came home from getting a facelift from the discount plastic surgeon. I think this beating would have more sting if WWE paid Maryse to be standing at ringside to watch this. I guess that wasn't going to happen since Maryse was reported with a stalker while she was working for WWE at live events.
- The Usos win #1 contenders match vs. Tons of Funk and Real Americans
Umm... okay, cool, but isn't this their second or third #1 contender's match and they STILL haven't managed to defeat The Shield not even once? I rather see a serious feud between Tons of Funk and The Usos honestly. Give the Real Americans the #1 Contender spot.
- Daniel Bryan def. Roman Reigns via DQ, but Superstars save him from pending post-match beatdown from the Shield
This was cool and all, but the thing I don't get is why Daniel Bryan was so welcoming for all of this additional help when the WWE roster stood back and watched him get his ass kicked by The Shield and Randy Orton for the past month? I would have been like "Man, fuck you guys."
On a sidenote, Seth Rollins must have been taking Dolph Ziggler's Overselling 101 class...
Impact (9/19/13)
- Jeff Hardy def. Manik
Heel Chris Sabin attacks Manik post-match as Velvet Sky looks shocked as as everyone else in attendance that her boyfriend went heel. If you ask me, heel Sabin is going to flop harder than Matt Bentley with Traci Brooks in tow. That girls' boobs were more over with the crowd than he was. Babyface/heel Bentley couldn't get over for shit solo, but as long as Traci was out there with him he could get a pop. I see the same thing happening with Sabin's heel turn. Chris Sabin has always been better booked as babyface. Besides, TNA has FAR too many heels right now and even less babyfaces strong (read: marketable) enough to challenge them. As for the match itself, I was very glad to see Jeff Hardy finally being utilized in X-Division, rather than instantly injected into the main event circle at every turn. If TNA allows Jeff Hardy to do for what Rob Van Dam did during his brief tenure in TNA before diving back into WWE waters, then this could definitely lead to the revival that this division has been needing over the last few years.
- ODB def. Mickie James for Knockouts Championship
This match signaled the curtain call for Hardcore Country's duration in TNA. It wasn't as great as I was hoping it would be, but still good by TNA standards. According to her many post-departure interviews, she's not ruling out a return to TNA much like Tara (Lisa Marie Varon), who has already been snatched up by Ring of Honor to feud with Maria Kanellis and has a pending reality TV show in the works centering around her restaurant, The Square Circle, but Mickie James has merely stated that she's not retiring anytime soon - just merely taking a break of sorts while she sorts out the next phase of both her music and wrestling careers.
ODB's championship win is followed by two comedy matches after BroMans challenge EY and Joseph Park to singles matches.
- Eric Young def. Robbie E
- Joseph Park def. Jessie
I really wish TNA would kill this gimmick. Joseph Park is literally the TNA version of Festus who goes ape-shit at the sight of blood, much like Festus' video game counterpart in WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 after the Hardcore Resurrection ability kicks in.
- Aces & Eights intervention "Bros before Ho's"
Real talk for a second... The best thing about Aces & Eights right now IS Tessmacher. If you're paying attention to anything other than her (or Bully Ray's excellent promo skills) in this segment then something's very, VERY wrong...
- Gunner def. Hernandez
When was the last time we saw Hernandez in competition? (Scratches head) Then he just loses just like that? Wow, I would be re-evaluating my career right now if I were him. He's already 40 and not getting any younger. If he doesn't hit his peak and find himself in the main event scene soon then he is just going to be yet another guy wasting away in midcard hell for the rest of what is left of his wrestling career. If you ask me, he's far too talented to settle for anything less.
- E.G.O. def. Main Event Mafia
With Aces & Eights slowly dissolving, I hope this current iteration of MEM goes the way of the dinosaurs as well. Sting is really showing his age the more and more he tries to hang with the younger guys in the ring, while Samoa Joe and Magnus could be utilized in other divisions of the TNA roster.
- AJ Styles and Dixie talk face-to-face - Dixie shocks the world by going heel and cutting off the lights during segment to end the show.
We have CM Punk...err AJ Styles dropping a pipebomb before going face-to-face with Dixie Carter who surprises everyone by taking a complete heel turn. As much as I have seen people hate on Dixie Carter and this company over the last few months, I'm GLAD she did a heel turn. That was a stroke of genius for whoever cooked that up. Now people are just fueling the fire to get her over as the top heel authority figure.
RAW (9/23/13)
- RAW opens with the 10 Superstars who came to Daniel Bryan's aid being "rewarded" by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon with matches tonight.
If you don't know, but I'm an avid reader of Lance Storm's blog. If you're not reading his blog then do yourself a favor and take a moment and read some of his insightful posts, especially this one detailing his version of tonight's broadcast.
It made little to no sense to me why that this broadcast seemed to be punishing the members of The Shield, when they are affiliated with Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Shouldn't have been the other way around with each of these "reward" matches being set up to wear down the competition for the 11 on 3 main event where most of those Superstars wouldn't be able to compete at all so it would be more fair for The Shield to come out on top?
- Alberto Del Rio def. Kofi Kingston
- The Wyatt Family def. Primetime Players
So much for that push, huh? I remember watching this segment and I could figuratively hear the toilet flush as PTP's push went down the drain.
- RVD def. Randy Orton by DQ
Post-match beatdown as Orton takes out his aggression on RVD. ADR chimes in as well to add insult to injury.
- The Big Show as a special guest on MizTV
Miz gets knocked out without question from Stephanie by The Big Show. And no one complained about this either. Hell, The Big Show didn't even cry after having to punch Miz. I think he wanted to do everyone a favor on that one...
- Randy Orton taunts Brie Bella backstage
Boy, if Randy Orton couldn't come off more as a rapist here, then WWE might want to change their TV rating. Seriously though, I think Orton is just jealous that he's not able to take a Bella Twin home and bang them between shows. Maybe we need to start referring to Orton as "Randy the Rapist" from here on out?
- AJ complains to Stephanie McMahon about her match
How can you NOT like Stephanie McMahon? I have gone FAR too long without her on WWE programming on a regular basis. And just how she owns AJ in this mere 2-minute segment speaks volumes. Steph still has the magic when it comes to intimidation whether it be between Superstars or Divas.
- Fandango def. Santino Marella
- Cameron, Naomi, Natayla, The Bella Twins def. AJ Lee, Layla, Aksana, Alicia Fox, and Tamina Snuka - Brie gets the pin on AJ
I'm sharing the match for a different reason than you would think. This is a perfect example on how much WWE cares about their women's division. This match is scheduled as interlude as they help pull CM Punk out of the wreckage after the attack from Ryback before the commercial break. Commentary didn't even care to introduce the Divas during their entrances as they are all fixated on the replays from Ryback's attack to CM Punk.
- Main Event: 11 vs. 3 Handicap Match - Daniel Bryan, The Usos, RVD, Primetime Players, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, Justin Gabriel, and Dolph Ziggler def. The Shield
This was a crazy main event to end this oddly booked RAW broadcast. 11 Superstars against The Shield is a bit of overkill as it seems like Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were rewarding these Superstars and punishing The Shield rather than the other way around. This would have been a different story if the Superstars who were forced to wrestle earlier tonight were already tired and too beaten and broken to put up a good fight here, but that wasn't the case at all here.
NXT (9/25/13)
- The Ascension won a tag team turmoil match to become the #1 contender’s for the NXT Tag Team Championship. Other teams involved were CJ Parker/Tyler Breeze, Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore and Alexander Rusev/Scott Dawson (now going under the team name “Legionnaires”).
- Sasha Banks w/Summer Rae b. Bayley with a neckbreaker. After the match, Summer Rae grabbed a microphone and told the crowd to get ready because soon her and Fandango will turn the Full Sail Arena into their own personal dance floor. Emma came out and the heels scattered.
About time that NXT recognized Summer Rae's partnership with Fandango on their programming instead of acting like activities on the main roster don't exist and vice versa. Bayley is just TOO damn adorable. I wanted to hug that girl after her hairband got broken. I have to admit that Fishface... err Sasha Banks' new meanstreak is something else. I don't watch NXT as much as I should, but Jesus H. Christ the crowds are totally into their Diva matches. The WWE Divas on the main roster definitely need to take notes.
- Aiden English b. a local wrestler in a squash match.
- Sami Zayn b. El Local with a kick. After the match, NXT Champion Bo Dallas came out and congratulated him on finally learning something from his tutelage. Bo says he is almost ready to return to the ring to defend the NXT Championship, but says he first wants to host the first-ever “Bo Dallas Invitational” as a warm-up. Sami accepts the challenge, but Bo says everyone is eligible but him.
For those who don't know, El Local is Ricardo Rodriguez. Why isn't he wrestling on the main roster with this gimmick? That dude really surprised me that he's able to work like this.
As for Bo Dallas, I hate this fool. I don't mean that in a good way either. He's not a good heel nor is he good at anything else. He just screams douchebag. Every time he says it's "Bo Time" I think about getting a biscuit at Bojangles. He should really consider being their company mascot or something...
- WWE COO Triple H came out and announced that effective immediately, Dusty Rhodes has been relieved of his duties as the Commissioner of NXT for the time being, saying it’s best for business given the recent events surrounding Cody Rhodes’ firing. Triple H then announced that a General Manager has been appointed and introduced that person, who was JBL. JBL welcomed everyone to the “new era of NXT run by the wrestling god”.
I'm perfectly fine with this. More JBL on my TV is a good thing and "best for business."
Impact (9/26/13)
- Eric Young, Joseph Park & ODB def. Bro-Mans & Gail Kim
This was a fun match to start off the show. EY and Joseph Park have some great comedic chemistry, but to this day I still say the biggest ball that TNA dropped was on Eric Young when he was the heel leader of World Elite. I know TNA has to have their comedy roles, but that missed opportunity to put Eric Young over as a credible heel really would have put him on the map as a solid competitor, especially after his bouts with Jeff Jarrett at the time. While I do enjoy the kayfabe coupling of him and ODB, it just makes me wish that TNA would have ran with that concept and see where it where it could have ended up.
Good to see Gail Kim and ODB wasted little to no-time picking their feud back up now that Mickie James is out of the picture.
Speaking of which, the Knockouts division is looking pretty scarce as of late. Taryn Terrell has confirmed her pregnancy, so that explains her abrupt absence from the company, while Velvet Sky and ODB are their remaining babyfaces left to deal with Brooke Tessmacher, Lei'D Tapa, and Gail Kim. I personally would suggest calling up some of the girls from OVW back to TNA, especially Taeler Hendrix (she is very talented in the heel run) or maybe give Sojo Bolt another shot on the main roster.
- In-ring segment between Austin Aries and Kenny King
I haven't laughed this hard during a wrestling segment in ages, especially King's line about "Homeboy, you don't want none of this.." which led to a stellar bout between the two afterwards. In my opinion, we don't get to see enough Kenny King on Impact.
- Austin Aries def. Kenny King
- X-Division Championship Match - Manik def. Chris Sabin (w/ Velvet Sky)
Sabin uses Velvet as a shield like a coward. Let's be real for a second. Why should Sabin be heel if he has a hottie like Velvet Sky as a girlfriend? What the hell should you be mad at the world about? C'mon, really? Despite Sabin's cowardly antics, its good to see the midcard scene get this much attention throughout the broadcast.
- Main Event: Mafia Event Mafia (Sting & Samoa Joe w/ Magnus) def. Aces & Eights (Wes & Knux)
Bully Ray piledrived Wes to the mat and ordered a reluctant Knux to strip him of his vest. One by one, TNA is slowly removing the eye sores in Aces & Eights off of television. I would be perfectly fine with the group only consisting of Bully Ray and Tessmacher with Knux as an enforcer. If they cut out Knux too, then I'm fine with E.G.O. acting as Bully Ray's hired help as well.
- Hulk Hogan/Dixie Carter segment - Dixie rips up AJ Styles' contract
Dixie Carter gave Hogan the ultimatum - either join her or else. I'm loving this heel turn for Dixie. The whole "redneck/ghetto" authority figure
RAW (9/30/13)
- CM Punk def. Big E Langston (return)
My biggest issue with this match is why did the returning Big E Langston job to CM Punk? They don't have anything for the guy after his feud with Dolph Ziggler and this is how they welcome him back into the mix?
- Kofi Kingston def. Fandango
- Randy Orton taunts Brie Bella (again)
Randy the Rapist strikes again... These segments keep getting creepy and creepier... WWE loves pushing the envelope on that PG-rating, huh?
- Los Matadores (w/ El Torito) official WWE debut - def. 3MB
This is simply Primo and Epico repackaged as "Fernando and Diego" while El Torito is Mascarita Dorada from AAA and CMLL respectively. Not bad for a repackaging. It could be a LOT worse. Yeah, I'm looking at Tons of Funk. Still, it doesn't excuse the fact that this gimmick is a bit racist.
- R-Truth def. Curtis Axel
That was the shocker of the night for me. When was the last time R-Truth beat someone, let alone a champion no less? Everytime he popped up on RAW it screamed squash match.
- Brie Bella def. Alicia Fox
I have to say that I'm surprised Alicia "Botch" Fox still has a job. Has anyone ever thought about pairing her up with Sin Cara? You could call it "Bundle of Botches." Just some food for thought. Seriously though, this match is just filler to make Brie look strong in anticipation of her inevitable title match against AJ Lee.
- The Big Show can't take it anymore
The Big Show swears he's had enough and wants to punch Triple H live on air tonight. Apparently, this has been boiling over since last week's Smackdown! taping, so RAW is just recycling the bit.
- CM Punk fakes an injury during Ryback and Heyman's bromance
I won't lie... I thought CM Punk was legitimately hurt here after jumping the barricade. Everyone involved in this angle played their parts to perfection, unlike during the Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Paul Heyman, and Brock Lesnar mess from last year. Great acting from everyone involved here.
- Alberto Del Rio def. Zack Ryder
- The Shield def. The Usos & Dolph Ziggler
- Santino Marella def. Antonio Cesaro
Really? They let this happen AGAIN?
- Verbal Confrontation between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan
(Yawns) Blah, blah, blah... YES! YES! YES!
NXT (10/2/13)
- Santino Marella & Emma def. Fandango & Summer Rae
This match was comedy gold. If Emma gets called up to the main roster, she definitely needs to be paired up with Santino.
- Luke Harper def. Kassius Ohno
- The Ascension def. NXT Tag Team Champions Adrian Neville and Corey Graves to become the new champions. After the match, Graves turns on Neville.
I guess we're finally going to see PAC (Neville) in singles competition now. The IWC has been begging for it for ages now, so NXT are about to give them what they wanted.
- NXT Champion Bo Dallas came out for the invitational he laid out last week. He defeated his first opponent, an unknown worker, with a spear. Antonio Cesaro and Leo Kruger came out and argued about who would face Bo next. Neither ended up facing him. Lastly, “El Local” defeated Dallas with a kick and then unmasked himself and it was actually Sami Zayn. Bo then threw a fit in the middle of the ring.
Good throwback to El Generico for Sami Zayn. I loved that bit.
Impact (10/3/13)
- Manik & Jeff Hardy def. Chris Sabin & Kenny King
This match itself wasn't all that but the announcement afterwards that had Samoa Joe announce that he is the latest addition to the Ultimate X Match at Bound For Glory made it even more interesting to me. That match has the potential to steal the show with the amount of starpower behind it.
- Gauntlet Match: Magnus vs. All 3 members of E.G.O. - Defeats Daniels and Kazarian, Loses to Roode
To his credit, Magnus performed well against the members of E.G.O. It was a wise decision to make him lose against Roode as it doesn't hurt his credibility as a strong main eventer. They seem to want to hit the point home that Magnus isn't at that level yet, but getting there, so when he does finally jump that last hurdle it's going to be special.
- Lei'D Tapa debuts and interferes in #1 Contender Match for Knockouts Championship
Lei'D Tapa takes out Velvet Sky while Tessmacher bails. Say hello to the new iteration of Awesome Kong, folks. This is the new powerhouse that the Knockouts division has been lacking since Kong's departure for WWE.
- Samoa Joe def. TNA Champion Bully Ray via DQ
Glad to see Samoa Joe is slowly becoming relevant again in this company instead of hanging around on the sidelines doing nothing.
- Hulk Hogan quits TNA!
I have been thoroughly enjoying these segments with heel Dixie over the last month and it came around full circle here. Dixie invited Hogan to ride the "Dixie Train" only for the Hulkster to quit and walk out on the company as the show ends with Dixie clinging to his leg like a spoiled brat. Say what you will, but Dixie has definitely won me over with her heel persona.
WWE Battleground (10/6/13)
- Preshow: Dolph Ziggler def. Damien Sandow
Nothing notable here, but commentary was making a big deal that Sandow was hurt after the bout which lead to many to believe that he was playing possum just to lower expectations that he wasn't going to cash in MITB tonight.
- World Heavyweight Championship - Extreme Rules Match - Alberto Del Rio def. RVD
This was pretty tame, especially by Extreme Rules match standards. RVD really let me down in this one as this is his home field advantage and this was little more than an average bout between these two. After the condition that RVD left ADR in after the match, you would think that Sandow would come out and cash in MITB. Well, he didn't and no one never explained why.
- Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro & Jack Swagger) def. Santino Marella & The Great Khali
Introducing the "Cesaro Swing" in action...
- Intercontinental Championship - Curtis Axel def. R-Truth
I was really surprised that Axel didn't drop the gold to R-Truth. Axel has gotten very stale as of late and I wouldn't be surprised if he loses the title by the time this article goes up.
- Divas Championship - AJ Lee def. Brie Bella
Horrible, horrible match. That's all I have to say about this.
- Goldust and Cody Rhodes (w/ Dusty Rhodes) def. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns to win their jobs back
Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the match of the night. The Rhodes Family needs to consider coming out to Dusty's theme 24/7. It really seems to hype up the crowds, especially given the state of the US economy... This match really saved this PPV from being WWE's worst PPV of the year.
- Bray Wyatt def. Kofi Kingston
I think Bray Wyatt has been watching too many Exorcist movies before his matches... Seriously though, him and Kofi had a much better match than what I was expecting to come from this going in. I thought it was going to be a typical Wyatt Family style squash match as Luke and Harper don't play fair in the slightiest and Kofi doesn't have any friends to pull him out of a jam.
- CM Punk def. Ryback
I was fine with this match until I facepalmed at the finish. Whoever's decision it was to decide that CM Punk win this match with a low blow like a Diva needs to be slapped. I could understand if he hit the low blow and did his finisher. No Punk pins the guy off of it and wins. And WWE wonders why people wanted refunds after this shit?
- WWE Championship for vacant title - Daniel Bryan vs. Randy Orton ends in no contest after The Big Show KOs both Superstars, ending the PPV in no contest
Before this main event, the live PPV stream suffered a blackout for roughly 10-15 minutes and left people wondering if we were getting a main event at all. Eventually, the show came back on with WWE holding off the main event until everything was back on air. The finish to this event didn't remedy the angry customers as WWE left us without a WWE Champion. The ending here made absolutely no sense. If The Big Show is going against The Authority (i.e. the stupid official name for combined forces of The Shield, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and Randy Orton) then why did he deck BOTH Randy Orton AND Daniel Bryan? Wouldn't it made more sense just to deck Orton and drag Bryan over his corpse to win the title? Boy, you gotta love that WWE logic sometimes...
RAW (10/7/13)
- Dolph Ziggler def. Damien Sandow
- Eva Marie (in-ring debut), JoJo, Natalya def. Aksana, Rose Mendes, Alicia Fox
As hot as Eva Marie is, she wrestles a HOT MESS. According to the dirtsheets, this match was to "embarrass" her publicly to humble her prima donna attitude backstage as she is apparently hated by her peers. As usual, JoJo sits back and does nothing... Natalya ends up doing all of the work and still manages to pull a win out of her ass. I bet more than anything that this match was a work for an episode of Total Divas.
On a side note, it's nice to see Rosa Mendes back from rehab. Too bad she missed out on the repackaging of Primo and Epico. I still thought she was a nice fit with them, even more so back when her and Zack Ryder were an item back on ECW. Yeah... I remember that.
- Los Matadores def. 3MB (again)
- CM Punk & R-Truth def. Curtis Axel & Ryback
- Randy Orton def. Kofi Kingston
- Ricardo Rodriguez def. Alberto Del Rio after Vickie Guerrero announces that ADR will defend his title against the returning John Cena at Hell In A Cell
Most people weren't upset with this match's result, but more with the news that John Cena was coming back earlier than expected from injury. Let's face facts people. The World Heavyweight Championship is currently at the same level of prestige as the United States and Intercontinental Championships and that's just sad. It should be an equivalent to the WWE Championship not lower than that in prestige. From the way that I see it, John Cena going for this belt is a blessing in disguise. 1) It frees up the WWE Championship from being in his grasp yet again. 2) More new faces, like Daniel Bryan can get the opportunity to rise to the occasion to win the WWE Championship. 3) John Cena holding the World Heavyweight Championship will get more people to tune into the blue brand. 4) When someone from the blue brand does defeat John Cena for the gold, it's going to have more weight to it.
I am concerned about Cena's health after rushing back from injury so soon. WWE seemed to be struggling without centering every broadcast around him. I hope he doesn't end up re-injuring himself and end up putting himself on the shelf for good.
- Fandango def. Zack Ryder
- Antonio Cesaro & Jack Swagger def. Santino Marella & The Great Khali
Over the last few weeks, Cesaro has been gaining popularity with the use of his Giant Swing maneuver being used on several Superstars. (Sighs) You can tell who are bandwagon fans to Cesaro and haven't seen him do this move until now.
That's back from his Ring of Honor days for the bandwagon fans, who haven't seen his pre-WWE work. As much as I like Cesaro, I think he is wasting his talents in the tag team division, especially as part of the Real Americans. This should be the guy who should be feuding with Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship. Also, if I may add, they shouldn't have never broken him and Aksana up. It gave her something to do much like Summer Rae with Fandango.
- Goldust, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan def. The Shield
- Triple H restarts the match and The Shield gets the win after Randy Orton hits RKO from out of nowhere on Daniel Bryan and rolls him back into the ring
- The Big Show fights off The Shield and decks Triple H to end the broadcast
That was the moment I was dying to see since the start of this angle with The Big Show being forced to work for the "Authority". The only thing that was missing was the Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! NES sound effect when Triple H was KOed.
NXT (10/9/13)
- Charlotte w/Bayley b. Santana Garrett. During the match, Sasha Banks and Summer Rae came out to mock Bayley. After the match, Summer Rae grabbed a microphone and said she and Sasha run NXT. NXT Women’s Champion Paige storms out but is attacked by Banks and Rae until Emma runs down to make the save.
Santana Garrett had a NXT tryout and TNA tryout later this month before the Bound For Glory PPV. Whichever company signs her are going to be very fortunate. The girl is the total package - she can work the microphone, can actually wrestle, and she has a marketable look. I'm crossing my fingers on TNA to sign her as they are desperate for a strong new babyface among their current sea of strong heels in the Knockouts division.
Boy... Charlotte looks JUST like her dad (Ric Flair) in the face. I dunno if that's scary or a good thing...
- Antonio Cesaro b. Leo Kruger with the Neutralizer. After the match, Cesaro hit a knee from the top rope to the back of Kruger’s head.
- Mojo Rawley b. Danny Burch - Legionnaires w/Sylvester Lefort b. Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore. After the match, Legionnaires continued to assault Cassady until Lefort eventually stopped them.
Impact (10/10/13)
- Austin Aries def. Jeff Hardy
Samoa Joe in Ultimate X? Thank you, TNA. Thank you, TNA. You guys have officially sold this PPV for me off the Ultimate X Match alone.
- ODB def. Jesse via DQ
- Brooke Tessmacher def. Velvet Sky
I'm glad to see Tessmacher back into the mix of the Knockouts division. After the mass releases and firings at the end of the summer, the division is starting to look pretty scarce. Whatever happened to Ivelisse (NXT's Sofia Cortez) joining Aces and Eights too?
- Sting & Magnus def. Bad Influence
- E.G.O. Hall of Fame
This was one of the funniest segments in LONG time. Do yourself a favor and check this out, folks.
- Handicap Match: AJ Styles def. Knux & Garett Bischoff
RAW (10/14/13)
- Randy Orton def. The Miz
Miz stop putting yourself through this abuse. As long as Orton is Triple H and Stephanie's poster boy, you're not getting your dignity back anytime soon.
- Fandango def. Santino Marella
- Los Matadores def. Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre
Even though we are seeing this match for what seems like the 5th time within the span of a month, I'm starting to like this tag team, especially El Torito's antics. It's a damn shame that Primo and Epico have to put up with this retardly racist gimmick to get themselves over.
- Ryback def. R-Truth at 5:44 (Beat the Clock)
- The Real Americans def. Tons of Funk
- Tamina Snuka def. Brie Bella
Isn't this how most of those girl-on-girl flicks start? All jokes aside, AJ returns to TV following her concussion symptoms that were diagnosised after Battleground. Good to see that AJ's back with a clean bill of health.
- CM Punk def. Curtis Axel at 5:33 (Beat the Clock; non-title)
- Alberto Del Rio def. Daniel Bryan via CO (non-title)
- Cody Rhodes and Goldust def. The Shield to become the WWE Tag Team Champions
Yet again, we have another KO blow from The Big Show to thank for an impressive ending to this episode of Monday Night RAW. I'm surprised that WWE allowed The Shield to lose the Tag Team titles on a non-PPV broadcast. Where does The Shield go from here? Do they lick their wounds and get the titles back down the road or is this the early signs that the team is going to split up by the end of year?
NXT (10/16/13)
- NXT Tag Team Champions The Ascension b. Adrian Neville and Corey Graves to retain. After the match, Graves attacked Neville and laid him out.
- Tyler Breeze b. CJ Parker with a roundhouse kick.
- Sasha Banks and Summer Rae b. Emma and NXT Women’s Champion Paige when Summer hit her finisher on Paige.
- Sami Zayn b. NXT Champion Bo Dallas to become the new champion; however, NXT General Manager JBL came out and demanded the match be restarted because Bo’s foot was on the bottom rope.
- NXT Champion Bo Dallas b. Sami Zayn via roll-up after Zayn hit his head on an exposed turnbuckle to retain. The crowd was electric throughout a majority of the match.
I have to be a bit nit-picky about this with Zayn. They are pulling the same "cocktease" that WWE is doing on the main roster with Daniel Bryan and the WWE Championship. I guess they expect fans are going to hold out and really blow their loads when the win is legit. I beg to differ though, as if you keep toying with the fans' emotions then eventually they are going to stop caring either way what happens.
Impact (10/17/13)
- Robbie E def. Hernandez, Eric Young, and Christopher Daniels in a Four Corners Match
Really? Robbie E wins a match? I wasn't behind this guy since they fired Cookie (Becky Bayless).
- Samoe Joe def. Chris Sabin via submission. Post-match attack by all participants for Ultimate X at BFG.
Nice tease for the match at Bound for Glory. Sunday can't come soon enough.
- Gunner def. Knux
- Kurt Angle/Robert Roode verbal confrontation
Great face-to-face encounter to set up BFG.
- TNA Champion Bully Ray def. Magnus
If TNA is looking to build up Magnus, then I hate to be one to point it out for them but it's NOT working. I hope his match with Sting at BFG does the trick. Otherwise, it's do or die time.
- Contract Signing between Bully Ray and AJ Styles
I have been trying to stay out of the negativity of the comments concerning TNA being up to the highest bidder, but I couldn't help but laugh when Styles slapped that briefcase to the floor and how fast Dixie Carter was scrambling to pick up that money like that was the last bit of her allowance that her rich parents gave her to spend. In all seriousness though, I thoroughly enjoyed how heated this segment was between Styles and Bully Ray -- even though I caught myself checking out Tessmacher during the bulk of the ordeal.
Smackdown! (10/18/13)
- Big Show comes to the ring through the crowd and says hes filed a lawsuit against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Maddox and Vickie come back out to confront him. Show says he has nothing to lose and hits Maddox with the knockout punch.
Holy shit! Brad Maddox sold that punch better than Triple H did.
- CM Punk defeated Big E Langston. After the match, Paul Heyman comes out to the ramp with Curtis Axel & Ryback. Axel & Ryback go to the ring to beat Punk down, but Big E Langston makes the save.
Huh? So NOW WWE are going to give the guy the face gimmick he should have had when he debuted as part of the main roster?
TNA Bound For Glory 2013 (10/20/13)
- AJ Styles defeats Bully Ray (c) for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
I guess that's why they call that move the Fosbury Flop...
The match itself wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that great either. We all knew that AJ Styles was going to come out on top as the TNA Champion, despite the potential screwjob that was teased by Dixie Carter and Bully Ray near the end of the match.
- Magnus defeat Sting
While watching this match live, I thought that Sting looked like he was sick while wrestling this match. I know he is getting to the end of his line in terms of wrestling and it shows here. He barely could make it through the entire match in his hometown crowd. I think there's more to this that they aren't letting on as it seemed like they ended this match prematurely.
- Ethan Carter III defeats Norv Fernum
For those who don't know, EC3 is none other than NXT's own Derrick Bateman. I wish he brought Maxine with him to TNA as I think she would fit in perfectly with the current crop of Knockouts. EC3 is the kayfabe nephew of Dixie Carter. Nothing worth noting in this squash match other than EC3's vicious finisher, which is the same move that Dean Ambrose is currently using as part of The Shield. In all fairness, Bateman has been using the move for the entirety of his career - independently and while part of WWE's NXT roster.
- Bobby Roode defeats Kurt Angle
Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the match of the night. Roode and Kurt stole the show with this one. I had to stand up and applaud them after this legendary performance. I really hope that Kurt Angle isn't working hurt again like he was back on WWE's ECW roster.
- Gail Kim defeats ODB (c) and Brooke Tessmacher
Swerve of the night... I thought Lei'D Tapa was going to come out and hand all three Knockouts their asses but I was honestly shocked to see Tapa allied with Gail Kim. That was a vicious powerbomb to Tessmacher to the ring, which reminded me of that time when Hernandez dealt the Border Toss to Gail Kim. I'm anxious to see where this goes as I'm very excited they aren't rushing the inevitable Gail Kim vs. Lei'D Tapa match that we all know is going to be a revamp of the Awesome Kong/Gail Kim rivalry.
- Kurt Angles rejects Hall of Fame induction
I have seen people around the IWC on various message boards saying that making this into a storyline hurts the credibility of TNA's Hall of Fame. Get your faces out of your asses people. I think it's a compelling drama. Kurt Angle wants to get his "house in order" before accepting the induction. He just came out of rehab for having yet another DUI and is on a personal quest to become TNA Champion again. You can't blame the man for wanting to clean up his act before being inducted. You don't want the TNA Hall of Fame to look like WWE's own, where wrestlers hastily take the inductions then continue to publicly embarrass WWE with drunken appearances (Ric Flair) and every type of bad PR you can think of (Sunny) coming from all angles.
- BroMans (w/ Mr. Olympia) defeated James Storm and Gunner (c)
This was the biggest facepalm moment of the PPV. Why, TNA, why? I don't mind Storm and Gunner losing the titles but why to these guys?
- Abyss returns to TNA
With Abyss' return, maybe this means that this silly Joseph Park gimmick can finally come to an end.
- Chris Sabin defeated Austin Aries, Manik (c), Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe
As the show's opening match, I was really let down on this match. So much wasted potential here. There were a few average spots, but it seemed like they didn't rehearse this match beforehand as they all seemed to be pretty awkward working with the limited space they were given to work with. With the star power lined up in this match, there should be no excuse that this match should have been one of the best matches of the night.
- Preshow: BroMans defeated Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez and Eric Young and Joseph Park.
RAW (10/21/13)
- The Big Show interrupts Stephanie McMahon and Triple H's announcements for Hell In A Cell
More confusing WWE logic... How do Stephanie and Triple H NOT know how The Big Show gets his own via satellite/Skype call on their broadcast? Whatever, moving on...
- Daniel Bryan def. Dean Ambrose
- Santino (dressed as Elvis) def. Heath Slater
Why is Santino doing this now? Halloween isn't until NEXT week.
- Randy Orton def. Dolph Ziggler
- The Bella Twins def. AJ Lee & Tamina
Gotta give Brie a shimmer of hope that she might win at Hell in a Cell on Sunday. Notice how Nikki Bella took things easy in her first match back from injury.
- The Wyatt Family def. The Miz & Kofi Kingston
The Wyatt Family have been targeting these Superstars for the last few weeks now, so finally Miz and Kofi had a chance at revenge. Sorry, no dice boys.
- CM Punk & Big E Langston def. Curtis Axel & Ryback
They really are selling that point home that Axel is a lost cause... I'm liking this face turn for Big E Langston more and more. Let's see if he succeeds where Bobby Lashley failed at being WWE's marketable black man.
- The Real Americans def. Tons of Funk
Zeb Coulter is still being haunted at this event that transpired on Smackdown!
I guess El Torito got a little horny...
- The Shield vs. The Usos ends in no contest after The Rhodes Family gets involved
- Contract signing between Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels, ending with The Big Show driving into the arena
Triple H really could have sat this segment out. Those stern looks from Stephanie while HBK looking lost in his old age really sold this PPV match for me. We know BOREton is going to do his same ol' song and dance while Daniel Bryan has the entire crowd on his side at this point.
NXT (10/23/13)
- Alexander Rusev and Sylvester Lefort defeated Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady when Rusev made Colin tap out. Rusev also hit Lefort during the match. The woman from the week before came out and watched Rusev again and followed him to the back.
The folks at Diva-Dirt identified Rusev's manager as the newly signed CJ Perry, who is going by the name of Lana on the NXT roster.
- Aiden English defeated Jason Jordan. He sang before and after the match. Roses were thrown for the encore and I also saw William Regal standing and applauding for the encore.
- Paige defeated Summer Rae via Paigeturner. Sasha was removed from ringside during the match and attacked Paige after it. Emma made the save. Emma at one point inadvertently hit Paige and the two had words after the match.
Not a bad match, but I want to comment more on the fact that I noticed that the very same people in the IWC that were raving for Paige to win the NXT Women's Championship are now currently sick of her as champion. I can guarantee that those will be the same people who will be bitching whenever she does lose it. If these repeated altercations between Paige and Emma are going to lead to another title match, I hope it's better than their initial encounter for the gold. That's all I ask. Their original match was great, but I have seen both of those girls do SOOO much better prior to that match, which left me a bit underwhelmed as a result.
Impact (10/24/13)
- Dixie Carter and Bully Ray "welcome back" AJ Styles to TNA
You would think that AJ Styles would finally shave and stop looking like a hobo after winning the championship. All jokes aside, this was a good opening segment.
- TNA World Title: AJ Styles (c) def. Bully Ray to retain the title
Not bad, but it was essentially a rehash of their Slammiversary bout.
- AJ Styles walks out on Dixie Carter
I'm dying to see how this plays out. I hope TNA takes the ball and runs with this better than WWE executed their version of Ring of Honor's "Summer of Punk" angle.
WWE Hell In A Cell 2013 (10/27/13)
- Hell in a Cell kickoff match Damien Sandow defeated Kofi Kingston
- Cody Rhodes and Goldust (c) defeated The Shield (Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins) and The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) in a triple threat tag team match for the WWE tag team championship
That was an insane but well-executed spot. It's a damn shame that the rest of the PPV didn't have this much hype and energy as this opening match. I'm still baffled on why WWE would book this first after the well reception for the last few Rhodes Family vs. The Shield encounters.
- Fandango and Summer Rae defeated the Great Khali and Natalya
To say that this match sparked off the two Divas' arguing over Twitter is rather odd, but it speaks volumes for Summer Rae if creative thought highly of her to be part of tonight's PPV event. If you are not aware of her matches back feuding with Paige on NXT, then do yourself a favor and check those out. Summer Rae has a methodical technical meanstreak that has been missing among the current crop of WWE Divas. She has a strong submission-based game that takes advantage of her long legs to torture her opponents. Sadly, that aspect wasn't featured in this match as she was forced to cower in fear of Natalya's veteran expertise as part of this storyline. I would love to see a serious competitive feud between these two Divas in the long run.
- Big E Langston defeated Dean Ambrose (c) by countout in a match for the WWE United States championship
Big E was originally scheduled to face Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship, but Axel was reported injured at a house show over the weekend, so the match had to be called off. WWE booked this impromptu replacement during the PPV broadcast. I can't complain about this match in the least as Big E Langston managed to show why he is a former NXT Champion. Dean Ambrose didn't come across as pushover either as there were a lot of great spots in this match, namely the one where Big E's offense sent both Superstars crashing down to ringside.
- CM Punk defeated Ryback and Paul Heyman in a handicap Hell in a Cell match
It was literally a repeat performance from their match at Battleground as the Hell in a Cell structure added nothing to this contest. Paul Heyman added the swerve that he rode a cherry picker to the top of the structure and watched the entire match from above. CM Punk gave everyone what they wanted afterwards and beat the holy hell out of Heyman at the top of the cell to bring this feud to an end... for now.
- Los Matadores defeated The Real Americans (Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro)
- John Cena defeated Alberto del Rio (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship
I wasn't surprised in the least that Cena would win the championship, but I was more surprised that Sandow didn't cash in MITB immediately afterwards.
- AJ Lee (c) defeated Brie Bella by submission Singles in a WWE Divas Championship match
This was a better outing than their match at Battleground, but that's not saying much. Brie has been trying to channel her inner Daniel Bryan, but she is struggling to come off as a believable babyface against the mass appeal of AJ Lee, who WWE are having issues trying to distinguish between babyface or heel to their live audiences. I cringed when Nikki Bella pulled Tamina off the ring apron and she planted her entire face on the apron on the way down. Boy, that looked painful. Speaking of Nikki, can someone tell her to shut the fuck up during Brie's matches? Hearing her shout "C'MON BRIE!!!! BRIE MODE!!!" over and over isn't doing anything for me, nor the live crowds to get her over.
- Randy Orton defeated Daniel Bryan after Sweet Chin Music from HBK after Daniel Bryan delivered the Flying Goat to Triple H
This was nothing special than their last two encounters, but with added clusterfuck finish that managed to top the ending at Battleground.
RAW (10/28/13)
- Damien Sandow attacks John Cena and cashes in MITB briefcase
The IWC (internet wrestling community) collectively screamed with glee as Sandow targeted John Cena's surgically repaired arm and shoulder and did what I thought he was going to do last night during HIAC after Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship to begin with.
- World Heavyweight Championship - John Cena def. Damien Sandow to retain
While I can understand why the "Unwashed Masses" are pissed that Damien Sandow lost to John Cena, I can't fathom the level of hate here. Immediately following Sandow's loss, I saw people flooding message boards and Facebook that they were "done" with WWE. Like hell, you toolboxes will be tuning back in next week. If you were really done with WWE, you would be searching the internet (or other TV channels) for wrestling alternatives. Like I have said many times before, the average fan is far too lazy to accept that as an option. They rather bitch, moan, and complain before they even try to digest the idea that there are other wrestling outlets than WWE.
Damien Sandow has been showered with loss after loss since winning MITB, so it was no surprise that he would be another failure in the record books. It's rather ironic that he lost to the man who was the first to lose with MITB in the first place. One thing is certain though, as Cena should be the one saying "You're Welcome" to Sandow backstage. He single-handedly gave Sandow the best WWE match of his career to date.
- HBK explains his actions to Daniel Bryan
I'm surprised Bryan didn't target the same arm that Brock Lesnar broke with the Kimura Lock back during that horrible "SHAARGHHWWWWNNN!!" angle during the Lesnar/Triple H feud last year...
- Backstage, Daniel Bryan is assaulted by the Wyatt Family
- The Shield def. Big E Langston & The Usos.
Holy shit. 'Nuff said...
- Los Matadores (w/ El Torito) def. 3MB
- AJ Lee & Tamina def. The Bella Twins
- Kane def. The Miz
For those who don't know, Kane returned during HIAC and took out Miz. Kane calls out Stephanie McMahon post-match. I guess this means that Kane is ready to play the same part for Authority that he did back during the Corporation days...
- Street Fight - CM Punk def. Ryback - Post-Match attack by the Wyatt Family
I think it's official, both CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are being quietly swept into a feud with the Wyatt Family, who seem to be getting the push that The Shield were getting for the past year.
- Real Americans def. Cody Rhodes & Goldust
- Natalya w/ The Great Khali & Hornswoggle def. Summer Rae w/ Fandango
Why are we still seeing Natalya STILL being paired up with The Great Khali when it was established on Total Divas that Natalya just married Tyson Kidd? Kill this kayfabe coupling already...
Edit: As of Nov. 4, 2013 episode of RAW, Natalya FINALLY teamed up with her husband Tyson Kidd against the team of Fandango and Summer Rae.
On a side note, Summer Rae needs to throw that gold dress in the trash and wear her NXT ring gear in her matches on the main roster.
Sure, she looks like Maryse and Stacy Keibler after doing the DBZ fusion dance, but I can live with that.
- WWE roster watches from the stage as Randy Orton holds his coronation - The Big Show crashes the party
I'm confused here... So, is Daniel Bryan out of the championship race? Is The Big Show the new Stone Cold Steve Austin in this storyline now? (Scratches head) I think WWE needs to just go ahead and book The Big Show vs. Triple H or alternatively Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan vs. The Big Show for the WWE Championship and keep things simple.
NXT (10/30/13)
- JBL was backstage and talked about Sami Zayns accusations of JBL screwing him over. He said Sami wont be here for a while and he wont be until they decide he comes back.
- Alexander Rusev defeated Sylvester Lefort in quick fashion. The woman from the last two weeks accompanied him and introduced him.
- Leo Kruger. defeated El Local via tap out.
- The Ascension squashed two unknowns in a non title match.
- Mojo Rawley squashed Shawn Spears.
- Luke Harper defeated Kassius Ohno via Discus Lariat in about 14 minutes.
Impact (10/31/13)
- Dixie opens the show by disassociating AJ Styles and TNA Championship that he "stole" from being part of her company. She follows up with introducing a tournament between 8 former champions (James Storm, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Robert Roode, Austin Aries, and Chris Sabin) for the vacant championship
Yes, I know that's only seven champions mentioned, but we'll get to that later... This is already starting to sound better than WWE's version of the Summer of Punk angle.
- Backstage assault on Mr. Anderson by Bully Ray and Brooke Tessmacher
I loved this segment, especially Tessmacher taunting Anderson as Bully Ray beat the shit out of Anderson before security dragged him out of the building.
- TNA Tag Team Championship Match - BroMans def. James Storm & Gunner to retain
I can't believe that TNA allowed BroMans to retain here... If anything, I'm positive this is going to lead to Storm and Gunner splitting up.
- Dixie Carter lifts Sting's ban from competing for the TNA Championship and allows him to compete in Gauntlet Battle Royal for last spot in the tournament
(Rolls eyes) Really? Sting needs to go sit his ass down somewhere. He doesn't need to be wrestling anymore. If he wants to stay involved, then allow him to act as Magnus' personal mentor/mouthpiece.
- BFG Rematch - Ethan Carter III def. Norm Fernum
- Magnus wins Gauntlet Battle Royal after tossing Sting over the top rope
Interesting...
- Knockouts Championship Match - Gail Kim (w/ Lei'D Tapa) def. ODB
(Plays violin) We knew ODB wasn't going to regain the title that easily. I'm sure ODB is going to be the first one to fall to Lei'D Tapa's path of dominance.
- Bad Influence "solves" the mystery of the on and off again appearances of Abyss and the missing Television Championship
Bad Influence didn't solve anything but found themselves at the end of a beating from Abyss, who came to the aid of Eric Young who happened to be dressed as Joseph Park for Halloween.
- BFG Rematch - Robert Roode def. Kurt Angle via CO
Without a shadow of a doubt, this match steals the show. It is just as good as their bout at Bound For Glory. If you enjoy a match like this, but STILL find something to hate on TNA about and wish for their demise then something is clearly wrong. I don't even consider you a wrestling fan if you can't get behind a company that puts on a high caliber match like this. TNA loves to play with our emotions with these "injuries" on poor Kurt Angle...
Closing Words
(Whistles) I have to admit this was a rather interesting two months of wrestling. I don't know what's going to happen in the next month, but let's all hope it won't be another 2-month wait for another write-up. Thanks for your patience, true believers.
The Asgardians learn that a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, referred to as the Convergence, is imminent; as the event approaches, portals linking the worlds appear at random. Heimdall alerts Thor of Jane's recent disappearance, leading Thor to bring her to Asgard. There, Asgardian doctors state that they cannot remove the Aether, due to its ability to discharge powerful protective energy blasts when it is threatened. Odin warns Thor that the infection will kill Jane given enough time, and that the Aether's return heralds a catastrophic prophecy.
I guess I should explain the mid-credits scene, for those who aren't comic book savvy. Without a shadow of a doubt, The Collector is going to be a major player in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film, but the one thing that you should take away from this scene is that the chase for the Infinity Gems, or rather Infinity Stones as they are referred to in this continuity is going to lead to one of Marvel Comics' most historic battles, the Infinity War. I'm guessing that Marvel Studios is going to combine the aspects and storylines from both the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity War graphic novels to make this event plausible onscreen. Thanos, who was teased during the mid-credits scene after Marvel's Avengers, wants all of the Infinity Gems for himself to use at his own disposal. That being said, I don't see Thanos showing up and fighting the Avengers himself until Avengers 3 (late Phase 3) or Avengers 4 (early Phase 4 tie-ins). I'm guessing that Marvel Studios are positive that they will have the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer film license properties back under their roof by that point. Otherwise, I'm sure they could still pull this storyline off without them with a few minor tweaks.
