For those of you who read my regular ramblings on Facebook should know that I recently finished Kill la Kill and I can't stop raving about it. That's all because I'm a BIG fan of anime that Hiroyuki Imaishi has had his hand on.
Hiroyuki Imaishi is a Japanese key animator and anime director. His style is marked by fast and frantic animation combined with elaborate storyboarding and punchy direction. A former animator and director at Gainax(otherwise known as the studio that Neon Genesis Evangelion made popular - not to discredit the Appleseed and Casshaun: Robot Hunter OVAs for helping that as well), he is currently the co-founder of Trigger.
What I want to do in this article is just look at a few samples (while citing his role in each example) to show why I love his works so much.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!
So don't act like I didn't warn you.
Neon Genesis Evangelion (Key Animator)
If you call yourself a fan of anime and have not seen Neon Genesis Evangelion in its entirety - the original NOT the remake OVAs - then I have NO respect for you as an otaku. This is an anime that has held up to the test of time brilliantly and is highly regarded as one of the best animes of all-time.
FLCL (Animation Director)
Unlike some of the other anime on this list, FLCL is one of the more light-hearted ones on this list. I like to describe it as the anime equivalent of Family Guy, South Park, and The Simpsons tossed into a bender. It's pop culture references such as this is why we love FLCL so much.
It used to be staple part of Cartoon Network's anime block for years, even before and after the revival of their beloved Toonami programming block.
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Director)
I know people are going to complain in the comments about using the English dub instead of the subtitles, but get over it. I don't mind this anime in both versions. It's still freakin' amazing.
This is one of my favorite fights in the entire series, other than the two other notable moments that I dare not spoil for those who haven't seen this anime in its entirety. I will say that the final battle will freakin' blow your mind from how over the top it is.
Cartoon Network's Toonami block is set to debut the series on it's weekend anime block, so if you haven't had a chance to watch this anime in its entirety, do yourself a favor and check this out. Even if you're not a fan of giant robot/mecha-oriented anime, there's something for everyone to enjoy here. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Kill la Kill (Director)
Whereas Gurren Lagann served as Imaishi's spoof on the mecha anime genre, Kill la Kill is a spoof on the "magical/pretty girl transformation" (i.e. Sailor Moon, Cardcaptors, etc.) genre. At first glance, it seems like it's going to be a pretty bare-bones anime in this genre, but you get to Episode 3 where everything is kicked up a notch.
If the video above isn't enough to perk your interest, then the epic opening sequence should convince you even more to give this anime a chance.
If you don't watch only ONE anime in 2014, you need to watch Kill la Kill. This is one of those rare occasions where I have to suggest the subtitled version over the English dub any day of the week too. From the few episodes of the English dub I have seen pop up online after the Japanese version aired in its entirety, the English dub is going to butcher and censor this to hell. Ugh, it's going to be Code Geass R2 all over again...
Welcome to the first entry in a new feature here on Let's Talk Wrestling, where we will be viewing and reviewing various wrestling DVDs in my personal collection. I finally have some free time to finally start making a dent in these DVDs that I have purchased over the years but haven't had the chance to watch until now. I figure I would do you guys a favor and review each one to see if it's worth your time or not.
For those interested in this new feature, I won't be covering WWE DVD releases exclusively. I have various DVDs from TNA/Impact Wrestling, WWF/WWE, SHIMMER, Ring of Honor, ChickFight, and some international DVDs from several other misc. indy promotions.
DVD Match Card:
Note: Matches are graded on a 5 star grading scale.
Mr. McMahon addresses the crowd
Show opens with Mr. McMahon addressing the live crowd in attendance tonight on this Father's Day broadcast, notifying everyone that RAW General Manager Bret "The Hitman" Hart would NOT be in attendance tonight after the vicious assault he received at the hands of the NXT (read: Nexus) Superstars running rampant.
This segment transitions into Mr. McMahon welcoming The Chosen One for tonight's opening match.
Intercontinental Championship Match - Kofi Kingston (c) def. Drew McIntyre to retain
At this point of WWE programming, Drew McIntyre was using his "teacher's pet" relationship with Mr. McMahon to bully Smackdown! General Manager Teddy Long around for the last few weeks. Kofi Kingston wanted to take a stand and fight Drew on Teddy's behalf. Drew forced Teddy to watch at ringside for tonight's match, up close and personal.
Matches like this is why I don't understand why WWE doesn't at least give Kofi Kingston a chance at a main event run. Kofi and Drew put on a solid performance for the opening match of tonight's card, but in all honestly, it wasn't anything to knock your socks off. You're going to see for the duration of this review that this is a common theme that carries on throughout the duration of this broadcast.
Even though he was recently released by WWE, I can see why WWE was behind Drew McIntyre from the start. 2010 was one of those periods of WWE programming where I was a bit "floaty" in my attention span on wrestling altogether, but the more I see of McIntyre's work, it makes me wonder how big of a star he could have been if he didn't land himself into trouble and got all of that bad press with his former real life love interest, Taryn Tarrell (ECW's Tiffany).
Even though the match itself wasn't bad, it seemed like the live crowd were more anxious for the bloody obvious run-in from the recently barred from WWE events, Matt Hardy, to run interference.
If I'm perfectly honest, I wasn't really feeling this whole "slavery" vibe that this Drew & Teddy angle was suggesting between the lines either.
Match Rating: ★★ stars
Savannah interviews the Hart Dynasty
I miss the lovely "Asian Sensation" Savannah.
I almost forgot about Angela Fong (Savannah), who could pass as a kayfabe relative of Gail Kim. From what I heard, she's wrestling on the indies nowadays.
As for the Hart Dynasty, they are dedicating tonight's match to Bret "The Hitman" Hart. God, I almost forgot about that horrible haircut that Tyson Kidd had back then. I loved this trio, but you know how WWE handles Tag Teams - once something gets hot they are quick to split everyone up and doom them to mid-card irrelevance.
Fatal 4 Way Match for Divas Championship - Alicia Fox def. Eve Torres, Maryse Ouellet, and Gail Kim to become the NEW champion
Gail Kim had recently left TNA Wrestling and returned to WWE for a bigger paycheck. She hasn't grown to hate her work environment at this point of her 2nd WWE run as she acts as a mock ring general for this match, governing the pacing.
For those WWE Diva fans who seem to act like the current crop of WWE Divas, namely Paige and AJ Lee, are among the best Divas the division has ever seen, go back and watch this match. All four of these Divas looked solid in the ring and despite the fact that Eve Torres was still pretty green at this point, the entire match came along together perfectly. Compare this match to a current Divas match, let's say for example Night of Champions 2013, where AJ Lee defended her Divas Championship against Naomi, Brie Bella, and Natalya (a strong candidate for highlighting on Maffew's Botchamania...) and you can't deny that this was golden era of WWE Divas during this time frame. I felt like this generation of WWE Divas were the first group of Divas to walk out of the shadow that eclipsed that division in Lita and Trish Stratus' absence.
There were a lot of great spots in this match, including a Camel Clutch (Eve) and Boston Crab (Gail Kim) combination submission hold and an apron Diving Hurracanrana countered into a Faceplant-style Facebuster on the ring apron by Alicia Fox to Gail Kim.
Alicia Fox stole the win in an upset victory, stealing the win right from underneath Eve Torres' nose and becoming the Divas Champion for the first time in her WWE career. Diva fans should note that tonight was the first time that Eve added her signature Diving Moonsault to her repertoire.
Match Rating: ★★ ½ stars
The Big Show and Rey Mysterio chat backstage
The Big Show warns Rey Mysterio that he doesn't care that if he has to take out his own friend to get the gold tonight. Mysterio retorts that he has the biggest HEART out of anyone in that match.
Even if I haven't seen this PPV beforehand or read the results, I would have considered Rey's statement to be a DEAD giveaway that Mysterio was going to win tonight.
Evan Bourne def. Chris Jericho
"Hang in there, kid. I'm going to make you look like a million bucks tonight."
Before the match, Chris Jericho cuts a promo about having to knock others off the top of the mountain throughout his entire career. He considers himself to have a target on his back now that he is at the top of the mountain at this stage of his career. Keep in mind that this is still the full-blown "Honest Man" Jericho gimmick at this stage. That being said, he's speaking the truth. Jericho's entire career saw him as an underdog until his unexpected win that allowed him to become the first holder of the WWE Undisputed Championship.
Great chemistry between Evan Bourne and Chris Jericho in this match. If you don't want to watch any other match on this DVD, watch this one. This was definitely one of the best matches in Evan Bourne's entire WWE career right here. I loved absolutely every second of this match.
Since he's been "future endeavored" I would love to see Evan Bourne/Matt Sydal in TNA's X-Division. This match proved that he was ready to hang with high profile opponents if he was given the opportunity. In an environment where the X-Division isn't dominated by Christopher Daniels, Kazarian, AJ Styles, Alex Shelley, nor Chris Sabin, Sydal's talents could really shine here, especially now where TNA is slowly rebuilding this division from top to bottom. This former Dragon Gate alumni could be an asset to feature against in upcoming Wrestle-1 talents coming in from Japan.
Match Rating: ★★★★ stars
Kane swears revenge for the disappearance of The Undertaker
Kane is shown going apeshit on The Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, and CM Punk in this recap clip.
For those wondering, this is clearly in the middle of the Straight-Edge Society story arc for CM Punk as he's wearing the SES-branded lucha libre-inspired mask after losing his hair vs. mask match against Rey Mysterio.
Fatal 4 Way Match for World Heavyweight Championship - Rey Mysterio def. Jack Swagger, CM Punk, and The Big Show to become the NEW champion
Most of you guys reading this review will probably laugh, but I COMPLETELY forgot that Jack Swagger was a high profile champion at one point of his career. I just remember him dropping the ECW Championship on the floor on live television and his career ended up the same way.
CM Punk ushers Serena and Luke Gallows backstage during his entrance, implying that he got this on his own.
Overall, this match is a spotfest and straight to the point. For those like myself who are familiar with the traditional Fatal 4 Ways with The Big Show involved, this is how it went down: The Big Show carefully picks his spots while everyone else gangs up on him throughout this contest.
The ending saw CM Punk having the match won, but Kane's interference scared him off while Rey Mysterio capitalized on the situation and pinned Swagger to become the new champion for the second time in his WWE career.
Match Rating: ★★★ stars
Todd Grisham interviews John Cena
At this point of the PPV, I can understand why people hate on John Cena so much. This was almost like deja vu to present-day WWE with John Cena holding the championship!
United States Championship Match - The Miz def. R-Truth to retain
The Miz comes out to the ring first, remixing the lyrics to R-Truth's entrance theme to his own cheesy lyrics.
Offense starts off with a LOT of Shoulder Blocks by R-Truth. You would think that he was going for Cena's 5 Moves of Doom, but nope, the match drags to a crawl from here. The rest of the match goes on in a sluggish pace and I think they wasted time on this match that should have been contributed to the World Heavyweight Championship match instead.
I NEVER thought that R-Truth and The Miz had any chemistry in the ring together and this is proof of that. This isn't a bad match, but I found myself watching this in fast forward than in real time just to prevent myself from falling asleep.
There was one spot I loved though that I wish they could've went for the finish with, but they choose to drag this out longer than necessary. Miz went for his patented Flying Clothesline in the corner, but Truth moved out of the way to leave Miz hanging in corner in a mock Tree of Woe position. Truth then capitalized on the situation with a corner variation of his Scissor Kick.
Match Rating: ★ ½ stars
Edge decrees that he WILL become the next WWE Champion
By this point in Edge's career, he was Lita-less and La Familia-less, but he was STILL the Rated R Superstar.
WWE Tag Team Championship Match - 6-Man Tag - Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, DH Smith, and Natalya) def. The Usos & Tamina to retain
Even though this was one of Tamina's first matches in WWE, she didn't come off green as fuck in it as one would expect. Natalya and Tamina kept things simple for the most part and left most of the action to the boys.
This had to be pretty early in The Usos' careers as in terms of ring gear, they were marketed EXACTLY like Umaga and 3 Minute Warning before them. I have to admit, looking back it was pretty surreal to see The Usos as heels and DH Smith still with the company. Speaking of DH Smith, he had VERY little involvement in this tag team match. Natalya and Kidd did the bulk of the work here.
My favorite spot in the match came in from one of the Usos countering Kidd's Diving Tornado DDT into a Samoan Drop onto the barricade.
The ending came after both teams took themselves out at ringside while Tamina went for the Superfly Splash on Natalya. Tamina missed the mark, which allowed Nattie to pick up the win with a Discus Clothesline.
I thought it was odd that they didn't try to win the match with the Sharpshooter to say that they were dedicating the match to Bret "The Hitman" Hart.
Match Rating: ★★ ½ stars
Fatal 4 Way Match for WWE Championship - Sheamus def. Edge, Randy Orton, and John Cena to become the NEW champion
Before the match, John Cena is interviewed once more before his big match after seeing not one, but two different champions lose their gold earlier tonight:
"I stand before you as champ because I have earned it. This (implying towards the title) is my LIFE, my passion." - John Cena
Seriously, how can you hate this guy? He's like Superman, he's so damn genuinely good that it makes you sick, but let's be serious here. Wrestling needs pure babyfaces in an era where everyone wants to be "cool" as tweeners or blur the lines because they don't know the difference between being heel or babyface and change alignments on a weekly basis.
As for the match itself, I hate to say it, but this was second worst match on the card behind Miz vs. R-Truth. Now when I say worst, I don't mean the match itself was bad. I mean that it was an average, bare-bones contest that left a lot to be desired.
The best part of the match came the Nexus attacked everyone in the ring and left bodies scattered in and out of the ring. Sheamus took advantage of the confusion and picked up the win, becoming the WWE Champion for the second time in his young career. Sheamus didn't even have a chance to enjoy the win as the Nexus chased him out of the arena, leaving Cena, Edge, and Orton down and out as the event came to a close.
It was very awkward to end this PPV in this manner. There was NO commentary after the Nexus' interference. If it was a technical issue, one would think that WWE would at least try to dub in some commentary on the DVD release, but nope. If I was watching this live, I would have been going "Who are these losers and why should I care that they are ruining this main event?"
All in all, it was sad to see the main event turn out to be a drag, especially with John Cena, Edge, and Randy Orton putting Sheamus over to reception from this crowd that seemed like they could care less at this result either way.
Match Rating: ★★ stars
The Verdict:
WWE Fatal 4 Way 2010 wasn't a bad PPV, but it wasn't a great one either. It felt like a drawn out episode of Monday Night RAW or Friday Night Smackdown! that was supposed to set up a PPV but the harsh reality of the matter is that this is the PPV it's supposed to be settling up. As a result, the entire event as a "meh" vibe from start to finish. Nothing really stands out as spectacular or blows the roof off of the arena in terms of one would expect out of PPV-quality excitement. I'm giving this DVD a 7.5 out of 10.
If you can find it for a mere $5, then that's acceptable, but I highly suggest not paying anymore than that for this event.
What's up, guys? Remember when I said I wanted to do these "This Month In Wrestling" write-ups a bit more frequently? Well, I figure it's easier for me with my hectic schedule to just periodically write about occasional shows of WWE, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and occasional independent promotions that catch my interest from time to time instead of trying to write about EVERYTHING within a span of a month. Otherwise, I'm going to go nuts and you guys are going to get less new content from me.
WWE Battleground 2014
**PreShow** Singles Match Adam Rose (w/ Summer Rae, Layla, and the Rosebuds) def. Fandango
Nothing really to say about this match other than apparently that Summer Rae and Layla are being used as jobber "enhancement" packages. What exactly is Summer Rae and Layla's gimmick now, hitting on every WWE Superstar that's NOT Fandango? C'mon, let's kill this angle already...
**PreShow** Singles Match Cameron def. Naomi
Just as I predicted this was short and sweet. Naomi was able to get some offense in before Cameron sneaked in with the win.
Is Cameron receiving her new fashion sense from Alicia Fox? Hmmm...
One thing I wanted to point out... Do you guys think it's a pure coincidence that Cameron's new ring gear is similar to Alicia Fox's? I think not. WWE is possibly teasing at a future pairing of those two, despite recently dropping Alicia's "bat-shit crazy" gimmick. Am I alone in thinking that they only scrapped that since AJ's back now?
Singles Match Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins - No Contest (Triple H cancelled the match)
The Fonz REALLY wants Happy Days reruns back on TV, guys.
I thought it was pretty random for Triple H to cancel the match but just have an in-ring segment that ended in a brawl between Ambrose and Rollins before Triple H and security separated both sides and escorted Ambrose out of the building. I guess they are trying to milk this for what it's worth.
C'mon guys, the show wasn't THAT bad. I was reading comments reacting like this was the worst PPV ever...
The live crowd and fans online seemed pretty mad about the lack of their former Shield idols not in competition.
Singles Match Chris Jericho def. Bray Wyatt
This match lived up to my expectations, but I was legitimately surprised that Chris Jericho walked away the winner. I guess WWE wants to establish that Jericho has the ability to win, despite being a part-timer like RVD, who just seems to be back only to lose to the young, up-and-coming talent. Unlike most WWE fans, I don't feel like the loss hurts Bray Wyatt, as people tend to forget that heels have to lose at some point.
Despite the fact that Vince McMahon has openly stated that WWE doesn't have heels or babyfaces, you can't just magically make the concept disappear.
Singles Match Rusev (w/ Lana) def. Jack Swagger (w/ Zeb Coulter) via Count Out
If I were perfectly honest, I loved the repeated camera cuts to Lana at ringside during this match than the actual match itself...
I don't see how or why after watching the match twice (since I missed it during the initial broadcast) I don't see why the media blew Lana's promo out of proportion and found it to be an insult in reference to the Malaysian airplane crash incident. I swear, the world is so touchy about EVERYTHING on television nowadays sheesh... To think they are whining about something said on a wrestling broadcast is even more stupid. Let's just cross our fingers that WWE's sponsors don't force them to scrap this gimmick like we have seen with Muhammad Hassan and Daivari.
As for the match itself, my only complaint was that I wish Rusev sold the damage to his ankle, thanks to the Patriot Lock, more post-match. Instead, we found him doing his usual post-match antics and celebration without a hitch - even taking a moment to gawk at Lana and completely breaking character in the process. (Laughs) I know she's hot, man, but c'mon... at least wait until you two get backstage for that.
WWE Divas Championship Match (C)AJ Lee def. Paige to retain
I'm not saying this because I want to get heat from the AJ Lee fans, nor am I trying to play favorites to Paige. I have to admit this was Paige's WORST PPV outing to date. Why you ask? Botches left and right from both Paige and AJ Lee from start to finish. Neither Diva are completely to blame for this mess, but I think a better match for this PPV would have been AJ Lee defending the title against another Diva while Paige accompanied AJ Lee to the ring and watched at ringside to play up the "Best Frienemies" vibe they have been working for the last few weeks. The only reason I can think of on why that WWE didn't go that route was that it would have been received as a repeat of last month's title defense where Cameron accompanied Naomi to the ring in her title match opportunity against Paige, only to turn on Naomi that following week.
Those who were that "Best Frienemies" crap would come to an end during this event were sadly disappointed as both Paige and AJ's friendship showed no signs of deteriorating. The Tornado DDT counter was a nice spot, along with the counters to both the (botched) Black Widow and Scorpion Cross Lock. What's up with AJ doing her Shining Wizard like a Bronco Buster now, where she throws her crotch into her opponent's face? She might as well call that the Crotch Rocket...
The Miz wins the WWE Intercontinental Championship - Battle Royal Match
I know EXACTLY how you feel, Ziggler.
This match had a lot of fun spots, but The Miz killed all of the buzz in the room after throwing out Dolph Ziggler after it seemed like he was finally going to win it big for once. Oh WWE, you guys are going to have to stop doing this to Ziggler. Eventually, people are going to stop caring completely and lose faith just like WWE creative apparently has.
The Miz made it a little obvious that he was going to be the buzzkill in this match from how many times Cole referenced that he wasn't eliminated, but I was under the impression that he was going to continue his feud with United States Champion Sheamus. Oh well, I'm guessing that WWE is going to unify both the US and Intercontinental titles at some point then.
WWE Tag Team Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls Match (C)The Usos def. Erick Rowan & Luke Harper
This was EASILY and by far the match of the night. It's sad that business didn't pick up after this excellent performance by both tag teams. I was a little shocked that The Usos managed to retain after the string of near-falls and close calls in this match.
WWE has to do one of two things to make sure this feud doesn't become stale: 1) don't have the Wyatts lose so much that people lose faith in them winning the gold 2) introduce more tag teams into the mix for this won't become stagnant, much like how The Shield single-handedly buried every tag team on the roster last year.
It wouldn't hurt to have the tag team bout later into the card instead of first, followed by a completely lackluster card like tonight's ended up being.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Fatal 4 Way Match (C)John Cena def. Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, and Kane to retain
Here's the one that I don't get. You guys KNEW John Cena was going to win this, so why are you mad? Kane's sure as hell isn't going to win it. After the lukewarm reception Randy Orton got after Tables, Ladders, and Chairs last year to unify the belts, you can bet your sweet ass WWE aren't going to give the title to him anytime soon (unless Cena gets injured and they need another plan to fall back on...). Last but not least, let's talk about Roman Reigns. I don't care about much you guys get weak at looking at Roman Reigns or jerk off to him from marking out for him like the rest of The Shield members, but you can't deny that they he's still TOO new (read: green) to put into that position.
They raced and elevated Paige to a high position and most Diva fans are already acting like they are sick of her. WWE made the same mistake with Sheamus with his instant title win against John Cena. Now look at him, forever in mid-card hell with the likes of The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Dolph Ziggler, and Alberto Del Rio. Quit complaining and wait it out. Roman Reigns' time will come in due time. If anything, it would more likely be the WrestleMania story for XXXI next year. Besides, if Reigns won now, you KNOW it would be just as a transitional champion to drop the title to Lesnar at Summerslam so hold your horses, guys.
July 21, 2014
Much like the post-BattlegroundMonday Night RAW after 2013's event, this one served as "damage control" after the lackluster reception from the fans. Triple H opened things off, speaking DIRECTLY to the internet wrestling community (IWC - since I refer to that acronym a LOT on here).
It's cool to see Triple H address the marks directly as it's always the same song and dance. People bitch, moan, and complain about WWE's product after threatening to stop watching, but they are STILL watching because they are too lazy to find any alternatives that would suit their tastes.
Roman Reigns def. Randy Orton and Kane
To be completely honest, I thought this was going to be Reigns' feature match for Summerslam next month, but oh well, WWE apparently wants to book this tonight on RAW. I'm not complaining. It just seemed like they jumped the gun on this one. From the way how this one ended (and the events later on this card), I think that's going to turn into a 1-on-1 match between Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. You can count on Kane ruining that in some shape or form and it turns into a triple threat for Summerslam.
Alicia Fox, Eva Marie, Rosa Mendes, and Cameron def. Nikki Bella
This was over in an instant with all of the heel Divas beating Nikki Bella into submission. Oh, if you want Nikki had a nip slip during this match, so feel free to look that up if you're that hard for seeing a 1/4 of an nipple.
Brie was watching the match from the audience since she bought a ticket to tonight's event. Stephanie, being the AMAZING heel she is, took the opportunity to rub salt into the wound of her sister's loss only for Brie to fire off her "trademark" BITCH rebuttal to Stephanie. Steph retorts with a slap to the face before security escorts Brie out of the building, kicking and screaming.
Bo Dallas def. “LeBron James” (Damien Sandow)
The crowd loudly boos Sandow dressed as LeBron James. Sandow is wearing James’ Miami Heat jersey, but Miami is crossed out and Cleveland is written in. Sandow says he took his talents back home. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your piss-break match.
Dallas does a victory lap at ringside as the crowd loudly cheers him on and chant, “Bo!” Bo was a massive heel on NXT and now people are receiving him as a babyface now? Ugh, I really don't get WWE crowds. I still say the guy needs to be handing out BOjangles chicken and biscuits as part of his gimmick.
The Highlight Reel with special guest Bray Wyatt
The Highlight Reel set is up in the ring. The commentators talk about something that happened with Chris Jericho and The Wyatt Family on the WWE App. “Miami… we’re here.” Apparently, the Wyatt Family have attacked Chris Jericho backstage and Bray Wyatt has hijacked the Highlight Reel.
Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz
Without a shadow of a doubt, this was the match of evening. In the words of Ziggler himself, "Follow that!" I enjoyed this thoroughly from start to finish (or rather multiple false finishes) and it managed to serve as damage control for The Miz's buzzkill actions at Battleground to steal the win from Ziggler in the first place. Why the FUCK is Miz mad at the loss? He still has this to go home to...
Having Maryse Ouellet in your bed every day is a MUCH better prize than any championship IMO...
Seriously though, I hope Dolph Ziggler and The Miz keep this going. I wouldn't have a problem with seeing this two go at it again with the title on the line.
Paige and AJ Lee def. Natalya and Emma
You guys who follow me on Twitter are letting me down. We have to get #AJsHusband trending during AJ Lee's matches at least ONCE. After CM Punk's interview declaring that he's NEVER EVER EVER EVER coming back to wrestling you would think people would stop chanting his name now... I would kill to be the one who gets to do his first post-WWE podcast interview. I would just set up the microphones, grab a bag of popcorn, sit back, and let him know the floor is his and he's welcome to get anything and everything off of his chest.
Anywho... this match isn't about CM Punk, so let's focus on the task at hand. Nice exchange between Natalya and Paige in this match. If you haven't seen their bouts against each other on NXT last year, then you are truly missing out. I personally find those to be some of the best matches that Paige has worked in her short WWE career. If WWE wants Paige to shine, she's going to need a dancing partner like Natalya to bring out the best of her ability.
I want to enlighten people about Paige's post-match antics that many have been referring to as a heel turn. No, AJ Lee got played. Paige merely gave her a taste of her own medicine in terms of mind games and had it blow up in AJ's face for once. Paige warned AJ since her return that "This was HER house" now. The skip was a nice extra pinch of salt into the open wound too.
Obviously, they are building up to a rematch between Paige and AJ at Summerslam, but I'm honestly not going to care if this more brutal/offense-heavy Paige is just going to pummel AJ into submission (while she sells like a ragdoll in the process as usual...) only for AJ Lee to walk away the winner again with an application of the Black Widow out of nowhere.
This is exactly why AJ Lee can't remain babyface in this feud. She has to revert to the cowardly heel she was before she took her vacation for this feud to click. That was the magic that made Lita and Trish Stratus' feud legendary in the eyes of Diva fans. Paige can get fans behind her with her more aggressive style while AJ Lee can resort to her CM Punk-Lite tactics to sway people into her favor like before. This feud has the ingredients to be amazing, but WWE has to give them the platform and more importantly, screen time, to succeed.
Zack Ryder w/ Summer Rae and Layla def. Fandango
Lucky bastard... First Ziggler gets the threesome and now Ryder gets his sloppy seconds.
Just like on the Battleground pre-show, Summer Rae and Layla continue to prove my theory about them being used as jobber/mid-card "enhancement" devices. Otherwise, we know there wouldn't have been a snowball's chance in hell of Ryder getting a win here.
Flo Rida performs his hit songs, “Good Feeling,” “Wild One,” and “Let It Roll.”
The thing I don't get is why did WWE invite Flo Rida back? Wasn't this the SAME dude who got booed out of the building at WrestleMania the other year? To say he got pyro (despite WWE's constant budget cuts) and enough screen time for THREE damn songs is absurd.
Three men in suits confront Stephanie McMahon at ringside and arrest her for the crime of letting Flo Rida perform on tonight's broadcast of battery after attacking Brie earlier tonight. They put handcuffs on her, and Brie Bella confronts her. Security holds her back as Stephanie says she will pay for this. They then escort Stephanie to the back. The crowd goes wild with “YES!” chants.
You have to be stupid to think that whenever Brie Bella comes back she's going to ride the coat tails off those "YES" chants to a Divas title win. This is obviously leading to a match between Stephanie McMahon and Brie at Summerslam, but I think the swerve will be Nikki Bella going heel to save her own skin against Steph's abuse of power. She can easily play off the fact that it was Brie's fault that she had to put up with all of those horrible matches in Brie's absence.
One thing I love about Steph is that when she's getting humiliated she plays that shit up completely and always makes these segments a pleasure to watch. It's moments like this is why she is the best Diva in WWE today. If she was an active competitor on the roster, she would be perfect.
Ryback and Curtis Axel def. Big E and Kofi Kingston
Wait, what? Rybaxel are winning matches now?
Double what? Xavier Woods is finally relevant again? This is MUCH better than that canned bullshit that they have him doing on NXT with CJ Paker. Bring on this Nation of Domination 2.0 - I'm ready for this shit. About time we make black guys matter again in WWE.
Rusev w/ Lana def. The Great Khali
Lana is ready to play up the heel heat that her and Rusev received by TMZ and other media outlets from their promo on Battleground, but they are interrupted by The Great Khali? That was random as FUCK.
Hell, I'm not complaining. Anytime I get to see Lana's fine ass on my TV I'm okay with it.
Cesaro def. Dean Ambrose via DQ
This match sounded great on paper, but the execution was bad. If this was supposed to be the "apology edition" Monday Night RAW to make up for Battleground, then they should have had Ambrose and Cesaro on the same team against Rollins and Slater. Ambrose would chase Rollins off (as usual), only to leave Cesaro alone to beat the holy hell out of Slater for the upset he pulled at Battleground.
Neither Superstar lost any momentum from this end result, but Cesaro doesn't have much going for him period after being eliminated from the IC Battle Royal at Battleground AND officially losing Paul Heyman as his manager.
Let's be honest here, Heyman being Cesaro's mouthpiece wasn't doing him any favors to begin with as Heyman was clearly heel while Cesaro was playing up his babyface support after departing from the (at the time clearly heel) Real Americans. I fear that Cesaro is going to go into obscurity like the rest of the EX-Paul Heyman Guys (who aren't named CM Punk...), Ryback and Curtis Axel. I REALLY want to be wrong here, guys.
Triple H decides who John Cena will face at Summerslam
No one wanted to see Randy Orton face John Cena at Summerslam, especially not Roman Reigns, who hastily eliminated him out of the equation. Enter: Paul Heyman who suggests that Triple H adopt Plan C - Brock Lesnar.
WWE's only other "pure" heel (other than Stephanie McMahon), Paul Heyman, takes the mic and reminds us all exactly why we hate Brock Lesnar. Like my good friend, Brandon Ewing, said on Facebook during that broadcast, seeing that replay of the Streak ending was like "reliving Vietnam for wrestling fans" and I can't agree any more. Heyman GUARANTEES that Lesnar will prevail at Summerslam. Hell, after a promo like that you would think that Summerslam is the following Sunday.
Even though WWE is trying to play this up like Cena hasn't faced Lesnar before, I think it should end up in a match that will be remembered for the ages. That being said, tonight's Cena-less Monday Night RAW wasn't bad at all. I'm definitely looking forward to next week's show.
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No need to get bent out of shape, WWE fans. I got my WWE Battleground predictions right here.
I know I haven't been up to speed on writing a lot lately, but I intend to remedy that.
**PreShow** Singles Match Cameron vs Naomi
Naomi is obviously the better athlete in the ring, but I feel like that Cameron is going to sneak by with a cheap win just to keep her relevant. Much like Summer Rae and Layla's feud from the last few months and a LOT of matches on this card that will more likely carry over into Summerslam, I doubt this is going to be a one-and-done affair.
With this being the ONLY match on the preshow card, I expect that Cameron and Naomi will have a quite a bit of time to work with to showcase both of their abilities - Naomi with her ringwork and Cameron with her heel antics.
Singles Match Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins
I'm sure this highly-anticipated match is going to live up to the hype, but I think this is going to be a straight-up brawl from one end of the arena to the next before even getting into the ring at all. We'll probably see The Fonz get the win here, only for Rollins to attempt to cash in Money in the Bank on Cena later tonight and fail before continuing this feud throughout the remainder of the year.
Singles Match Chris Jericho vs Bray Wyatt
I think this match will end up being the surprise hit of the evening, with the fact that there's been very little hype nor build towards this match outside of Bray's redundant promos and gang-up attacks by the Wyatt Family. I see this being like Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt from earlier this year and will serve as another reason why Bray Wyatt is a guy that WWE should have NO doubt placing into the main event scene.
I honestly don't see Jericho gaining no momentum at all here. Bray Wyatt has everything to gain here. Between this match and the one later on the card, I say this is the night for the Wyatt Family. A follow-up rematch at Summerslam would do this feud some generous favors.
Singles Match Rusev vs Jack Swagger
There's talks floating around saying that this might switch up into a Tables Match, but either way this should be interesting to say the least. About time that Swagger has a good feud going where it doesn't look like he's going to lose miserably while at the same time, Rusev doesn't look like he's going to automatically have yet another squash match win underneath his belt.
It's going to be something else to see how WWE adjusts this feud after the real life dynamic of the Mayalasian plane crash incident and Russia's involvement in that tradegy. I would hate to see Rusev and Lana lose their push just because the networks get on WWE and force their gimmick into the same position that saw Muhammad Hassan and Daivari back during his premiere feud against The Undertaker.
WWE Divas Championship Match (C)AJ Lee vs Paige
I personally feel like WWE hasn't propelled this feud and marketed it as strongly as they should have. Much to the fans of both AJ and Paige, I want to be proven wrong and see this as a feud I want to care about. I do applaud WWE that they are continuing to have multiple ongoing Diva-centric storylines, despite the fact that AJ Lee has returned. Like I had to correct some AJ marks earlier this week, you can't throw that excuse about "Divas don't have enough time on TV" when WWE is obviously running four Diva-themed angles right now, so they have the TIME. It's just that WWE hasn't put the effort nor passion behind this feud at all.
Paige: "I'm hugging you right now because you are DEAD to me at Battleground..."
This is the time where that "Best Frienemies" crap comes to an end. The second that bell rings, Paige is going go ballistic on AJ. I see this as the typical AJ Lee title defense - she gets beat on for the entirety of it, selling like a ragdoll before half-assing applying her own submission and winning with the Black Widow to retain. I think WWE will use this match to show off a more offensive-heavy Paige - one that many of her fans who followed her on NXT will be more eager to get behind.
WWE Intercontinental Championship - Battle Royal Match Diego vs Sin Cara vs Titus O'Neil vs Zack Ryder vs Heath Slater vs The Miz vs R-Truth vs Xavier Woods vs Rob Van Dam vs Alberto Del Rio vs Fandango vs Ryback vs Curtis Axel vs Big E vs Dolph Ziggler vs Cesaro vs Bo Dallas vs Sheamus vs Kofi Kingston vs The Great Khali
Why the fuck is half of Los Matadores in this? If they were going to do that, then toss Hornswoggle and El Torito in there instead! Whatever... Let's analyze this logically, shall we? According to who's who in terms of jobbers, guys in mid-card hell, and guys who WWE refuse to push, you can guarantee The Great Khali, Kofi Kingston, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Xavier Woods, R-Truth, Titus O'Neil, Zack Ryder (laughs hysterically), Heath Slater, Diego, Fandango, and Dolph Ziggler aren't going to win this. That leaves Cesaro, Bo Dallas, Alberto Del Rio, Rob Van Dam, Sin Cara, Sheamus, and The Miz left as the remaining possible options.
As much as I would LOVE to see Ziggler get a credible/noteworthy win underneath his belt right now, I doubt WWE is going to simply brush his ongoing feud with Fandango underneath the rug while Summer Rae and Layla are still rubbing it in Fandango's face on Smackdown! that they left him for Ziggler.
Sheamus is already United States Champion, but that would be a crazy twist to have him win BOTH titles and finally unify those two mid-card titles. We can thank Dean Ambrose for fueling the idea that the US title doesn't need to defended at all... You'd have to be high to think RVD would win this (See what I did there?) and Sin Cara has just as much of a chance of the rest of the guys in the jobbers/mid-card hell/no-push crew, but you'd never know, WWE might reward Hunico for his hard work as the current Sin Cara. Stranger things have happened. Alberto Del Rio could use the win to stay relevant, but isn't he still on his way out of the company sooner more than later? Cesaro was Heyman-less at this week's Monday Night RAW, leading everyone to speculate that Heyman is ready and poised to bring Brock Lesnar back into the fold while Cesaro is set to turn babyface - just like how everyone wanted in the first place after he won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Winning the IC title here won't do him any favors as he's already over and people tend to forget why championships like this exist in professional wrestling: "they exist to get people over who couldn't otherwise." The Miz hasn't done anything notable since his return was upstaged by Chris Jericho's own return, but he has managed to keep things interesting in the ring as of late with his feud with Sheamus. WWE possibly plans on having The Miz beat Sheamus for the US title sometime down the road, so there's no point of him winning the IC title here. Bo Dallas is still on his winning streak since debuting on the main roster from NXT and a title win here could repair his tarnished pride after losing the NXT Championship.
If I were to put money on anyone in this, it would be on Bo Dallas to walk out of Battleground as the new IC champion.
WWE Tag Team Championship - 2 out of 3 Falls Match (C)The Usos vs Erick Rowan & Luke Harper
I will be VERY surprised if Rowan and Harper don't win the Tag Titles here. The Usos have managed to dodge the bullets all the way up until now, but in a 2 out of 3 Falls Match, the Usos can lose but still manage to look good in the process. At this stage, I see the Usos and Wyatts feuding like Impact Wrestling's own Beer Money and Motor City Machineguns for duration of the year, exchanging the titles back and forth in a series of high impact bouts into Wrestlemania season.
If I'm perfectly honest, this is my most anticipated match on the entire card because WWE is finally starting to care about the tag team division on the main roster. Otherwise, we wouldn't see them in a high-profile match such as this.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Fatal 4 Way Match (C)John Cena vs Roman Reigns vs Randy Orton vs Kane
You would have to be stupid to bet on anyone but John Cena here, especially after the posters for Summerslam were leaked, featuring John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar being advertised. Cena will do his typical same song and dance, overcoming everyone's biggest guns to retain the title. We're guaranteed to get another failed cash-in from Seth Rollins as well, only for Dean Ambrose to ruin it before Brock Lesnar makes his highly-anticipated return and lays out Cena to end the event to set the stage for Summerslam.
Kane has be on a downward spiral ever since his lackluster feud with Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton has been struggling to stay relevant after Evolution has dissolved. There's not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that the Authority's two goons in this match have a chance of leaving with the gold. If I were to guess, I think Kane and Orton will have a falling out in this match that will lead to the duo facing one-on-one at Summerslam. Alternatively, they could end up facing Roman Reigns to continue his babyface push in a 2-on-1 handicap match.
I'm sure we are going to get the usual display of power from Roman Reigns as well, but it's a bit premature to strap him with the gold at this point.
Looks like I'm not the only one who is waging a war against insomnia...
It's roughly 3:28AM on Saturday morning and I'm looking at the last date where I published a new article on here. It was dated on May 23, 2014, reviewing X-Men: Days of Future Past. Since then, I haven't been really focused or had the drive to write anything new - hence my current lack of new content. Sure, I've been still actively posting new posts on Facebook, but it seems like everytime I start on something new here, something gets in the way to sidetrack me.
I'm going to change that now. If I can't think of a set article to write about here, I'm just going to write and rant about stuff on my mind at the moment. That way you guys get an idea of what's going on in this looney bin that I call a brain and there's something new to check out here.
Movies and TV Shows I've seen but haven't bothered to review:
Agents of SHIELD Season 1 Finale
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Avengers Assemble Season 1 Finale
Beware the Batman (Complete Series)
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods (2013)
Frozen (2013)
Hulk and the Agents of SMASH
Kill la Kill (literally JUST finished this tonight...)
Soul Eater
The Legend of Korra - Book 3 Premiere
Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors (Season 3)
Movies and TV Shows I've recently started but haven't finished:
Black Lagoon
Blue Exorcist
Digimon Fusion (Xros Wars)
One Piece (I have a LONG way to go to catch up...)
Space Dandy
Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist
Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 animated series; Season 2)
Yu-Gi-OH! Zexal
X-Men (anime)
Video Games that I've finished but haven't bothered to review:
Batman: Arkham Origins
Batman: Arkham Origins -- Cold, Cold Heart DLC
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Crackdown
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light
NIER
NIER -- World of Recycled Vessel DLC
Sonic Generations
Video Games that I've recently started but haven't finished:
Bastion
Black Knight Sword
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Charlie Murder
Dark Souls
Front Mission Evolved
Hydrophobia
I Am Still Alive
Mass Effect 3
Mega Man Powered Up
Mega Man 9
Ranger X
Remember Me
Resident Evil 6
The media titles listed above are just a mere sample of stuff that I have found myself dabbling in here and there.
Fighting game fans will be shocked to know that I haven't even purchased Ultra Street Fighter IV yet. I did watch and thoroughly enjoyed watching Evolution Championship Series 2014 last weekend, but sadly I wasn't bothered to want to write a full article about it. Sure, it was impressive that Luffy became "king of the pirates" and won the tournament for Ultra Street Fighter IV while Justin Wong finally established himself as the king of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but that drive to write about it wasn't just there. I didn't even feel like covering those huge upsets that saw Infiltration and Daigo Umehara get eliminated off-stream. Like how the HELL you don't stream their matches when they were former champions?? Ugh, whatever. I was more impressed with some of the games with smaller entry numbers, such as Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and BlazBlue that managed to have more excitement than both Smash, USF4, and UMvC3 combined.
Speaking of Tekken, Harada announced Tekken 7 and I'm like "cool" but at the same time, I want them to make this one more accessible like how Capcom did with Street Fighter IV. It's do or die time for Tekken. I know Harada doesn't want his flagship series to fall the way of Soul Calibur has in recent years, especially with it's anniversary coming up.
Man, I called myself trying to play online on Tekken Tag 2 after EVO and got royally spanked online. I really want to enjoy that game, but I just need to break down and find a hardcore movement/backdash-cancelling guide or something. My fundamentals are straight garbage.
As for movie/TV show reviews, I like to write those while they are fresh on my mind. As a result, I feel bad that I didn't write those up. Beware the Batman is in reruns on Cartoon Network's weekend Toonami block, but I can confidently say that I'll get a review done before the entire series finishes airing as I doubt they are getting another season. Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) I really want to review, but I'm personally waiting until after Toonami reaches Episode 13 as I'm pretty iffy on my reception of the series with English voices as I watched it entirely in Japanese with English subtitles. On top of that, I have to be really careful on what I say in that review since I have read the mangas (like all of them up to date) and I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't. It's another anime, much like Soul Eater and Deadman Wonderland, where I get pissed off trying to write about it as it seems like a complete cop-out to make fans race out to read/buy the mangas to find out what happened next. I guess it's too much to ask for animes to wait until they finish up before they get an anime based off of them. Everyone wants to go that Shonen Jump route and don't know how to end their shit... Ugh.
Oh yeah, I heard DBZ: Battle of the Gods is getting a North American movie theater release. Seriously, download this shit and watch on your own computer. This is NOT worth watching in the theater. If you really want to support DBZ, then be my guest then.
I know I've dogged Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Hulk and the Agents of SMASH for a while now, but Disney/Marvel have changed them up a bit for the better. SMASH is definitely the best of Disney's Marvel-centric animation block - even managed to pull a Planet Hulk-style storyline recently along with introducing the Inhumans, but Avengers Assembled got interesting at the end of Season 1, where they teased the coming of Thanos for Season 2 after a climactic battle with the Red Skull who possessed the Tesseract (Cosmic Cube). Season 3 of Ultimate Spider-Man starts off with Spidey working as an active member of the Avengers, but quickly changes gears as Spidey wants to form his own set of "New Warriors". This season's plot then shifts into a race between Spidey and Taskmaster to recruit the aspiring new heroes/villains that are appearing in New York City. So far, The Vulture, Cloak & Dagger, Agent Venom (Flash Thompson), Squirrel Girl, and Iron Spider (Amadeus Cho) have appeared in this season. Drake Bell's annoying ass is still voicing Spidey, so you still have to put up with that. Other than that, Spidey's hanging out with those three losers from the first two seasons (this series' iterations of White Tiger, Iron Fist, Power Man, and Nova) even less here. That's a GOOD thing in my book.
While Legend of Korra's second season was a bit of hit or miss for me, I think Book 3 is off to a great start. Airbending isn't so rare anymore after the events of Book 2, but this season introduces an older Prince Zuko, along with Toph's other daughter as we FINALLY get a bit of backstory on my favorite character, Lin Beifong. There's vicious group of new antagonists, who all have mastered a different type of bending who want to capture Korra at all costs. On top of all of that, this season is focused on showing more of the world in this timeline, namely showing how corrupt Ba Sing Se has become after the war with the Fire Lord. While the live-action TMNT movie looks like hot garbage, the 2012 cartoon has been rather interesting. The core of Season 2's plot focuses on Karai finding out the truth about her standing in the vendetta between Shredder and Splinter. I personally love Shredder's new lieutenant, Tiger Claw, who reeks of so much awesome in this season.
As for gaming, I honestly haven't given a flying fuck about anything new recently. I should be caring about that upcoming Destiny beta and I even got invites to both PlayStation NOW and Incarnates: Rise of the Imperfects betas/alphas, but I don't have the means to enjoy them. I don't have a gaming rig to run Incarntes, I don't have a PlayStation 4 to try the PS NOW service, and I don't have the cash for Destiny. As a result, I'm stuck still plowing away at my gaming backlog.
Sonic Generations was easily the best Sonic game I have played in a LONG time. It was great to see Sega finally get back to the roots of what makes a good Sonic game. Batman: Arkham Origins was okay, but the game left me craving to go back to Arkham City even more. There's too much "been there, done that" and I cannot stress enough on how much of a glitch/bug-filled mess this game is. I'm going to eventually write an in-depth review after I get chance to run a few games of multiplayer with friends. The Cold, Cold Heart DLC is definitely worth a look for players who loved the Mr. Freeze boss fight from Arkham City. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons sported some innovative controls, but had a rather predictable ending. I wish it was a bit longer too as I was just left with the feeling of "That's it??" once you get to the end. After Crackdown was free on Games on Gold, I was addicted to that for about 2 weeks straight. Who knew jumping around like a superpowered cop could be so fun? Sadly, the game becomes TOO easy after you get the Homing Rockets and Cluster Grenades, save for like the last 2-3 crime lords. I finished Dust: An Elysian Tail like AGES ago, right before my laptop and external hard drive all decided to die on me simultaneously. I wanted to record/capture some footage of gameplay but so much for that since the old laptop died. I get pissed off every time I think of that... As for the game itself, I definitely recommend it to action/adventure gamers, but especially to over-the-top action fans/fighting game enthusiasts. There's custom combos and a few parries to make things a bit more deep if you're willing to invest time into the combat system. A few months ago at E3, it was announced that Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light was getting a 4-player co-op sequel and I'm glad. The original title was a blast to play and I humbly suggest that to old and new Tomb Raider fans. There's something for everyone - hidden artifacts to award players for exploration, various combat upgrades and hidden weapons for beating the preset best scores per level, and more. I finished NIER about 2-3 years ago, but the problem is that there's 4 different endings that build onto the game's narrative from the previous playthrough. I just haven't bothered to get the requirements to get the last two endings. I'm proud of myself for not reading the spoilers on those yet.
As for the games that I haven't finished, I'm just taking my time as I have been watching more stuff on TV and on the computer than actually taking the time to use my gaming console for anything other than watching stuff on Twitch TV or a random DVD or two from the local Redbox.
