NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution -- Results & Afterthoughts

NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution took place on December 11, 2014. WWE advertised for Kevin Owens' debut during the event. Corey Graves, who announced on the preshow his retirement from the ring due to concussions, made his debut as a commentator for the event.

Kevin Owens def. CJ Parker in his NXT debut

After watching Kevin Steen, now dubbed Kevin Owens (named after his favorite wrestler, Owen Hart, and a tribute to his own son, Owen), for the past few years in Ring of Honor, I had a lot of faith in his WWE debut. My only concerns are his backstage attitude and keeping his weight down for WWE's preferences. Don't forget what happened to Chris Hero/Kassius Ohno (WWE seems to love these "KO" monikers...) - he got fired because he had a beer gut since he couldn't keep his weight down. 

Getting busted open in his debut was that struck of luck that Kevin Owens needed in his debut to get over with the Full Sail University crowd (and everyone else for that matter) to get over as a legitimate roughneck, bad ass. Regardless, the guy manages to finish the match with a busted nose, thanks to a botched Shotei from CJ Parker, causing the blood to pour out like a faucet. I was a little underwhelmed that WWE made one of his old running/diving move counters into his finisher, Pop-Up Powerbomb. I can't be too surprised as I knew going into this that WWE wouldn't allow him to use the Package Piledriver as a finisher here. 

Baron Corbin def. random jobber while Bull Dempsey watches from the crowd

This has been going on for weeks now and I hope they get to the point with these encounters. Are they going to team up or are they going to feud against each other and finally end these squash matches as NXT is running out of jobbers for both of them. 

Over the last few months, people keep telling me that Baron Corbin has the "it factor" to be a big star, but in all honesty, I'm not seeing it. I'll give it more time into the New Year, but this isn't the 90's anymore and these guys with these "streaks" from defeating waves of nameless jobbers and forgettable opponents don't impress me in the least. I will garner fair judgment of this guy once he has a legitimate threat and wrestles a match that's not a squash. 

Lucha Dragons def. The Vaudevillains to retain the NXT Tag Team Championships

As much as I loved the video vignettes to build up to this match, the match itself left me a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I'm spoiled from watching pure lucha libre from Lucha Underground, but I was hoping from a little bit better from this match. All of these guys are talented, don't get me wrong, but this match felt more like a standard bout on a regular episode of NXT than a title match.

I hope The Vaudevillains don't fall to the bottom of the ladder in terms of contenders to the NXT Tag titles as I wouldn't mind them getting a title run in the New Year. That being said, there's a LOT of budding teams in this division, so both the Vaudevillains AND the current reigning champions, the Lucha Dragons, are going to have to stay on their toes or any one of the other teams may take their spots in this division.

Speaking of which, that brings us to the next match on this card...

Hideo Itami & Finn Balor def. The Ascension

I remember watching this event live and my Twitter feed exploded during Finn Balor's entrance. I personally found it to be hilarious to see the WWE marks' reactions as I can clearly tell who has and has not seen Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) work a match prior to his NXT arrival. That being said, I wouldn't get too excited as reports already confirmed that this won't be a regular thing for Devitt wearing his signature body paint. Much like his run on the indies and more notably for NJPW, it's going to be saved for special occasions, such as these live PPV-style events.

This match wasn't bad at all, but after watching the recap special on NXT that same week earlier that day, it's the EXACT same match they wrestled against the Ascension from their first encounter. Sure, the finish is different, but it's pretty much the same match they wrestled before.

To be honest, I was more entertained at how hard NXT was trolling during this match to cater to the marks than the actual contest itself: KENTA (Hideo Itami) teasing the Go To Sleep (an obvious spot out of spite towards CM Punk, despite KENTA being the innovator of the move) before it was countered and Devitt hitting the Reverse Bloody Sunday (rarely WWE allows popular indy talent to use their same finishers on their programming - i.e. Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, etc.) were at the top of this list of spots they were doing to get a reaction out of people.

Charlotte def. Sasha Banks to retain the NXT Women's Championship

Before I even talk about this match, I want to rave for the video package that hyped up this match. I swear if more video packages like this were made for the women's division, I think more people would care about the Divas instead of instantly writing them off as the "bathroom break" on every show and PPV event.

As much as I enjoyed this match and was thoroughly entertained to see women's wrestling matter again in WWE's product, I can't discredit Sasha Banks for carrying Charlotte throughout this match. From start to finish, Sasha lived up to her moniker as "The Boss" - carrying the momentum and controlling the pacing of this match.

If you regularly read my live tweets during NXT and WWE programming, you should know that I'm not particularly fond of Charlotte's ring work. I feel that she's improving but she's not that strong of a competitor unless she has someone (namely a veteran) who can control the match from start to finish and hide her flaws. Sasha Banks performed that task flawlessly. I'm skeptical to believe that Charlotte wouldn't be in this position in the NXT Women's division if her daddy wasn't Hall of Famer, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

Despite what I think about Charlotte, this match did what it set out to do. It added another accomplishment to Charlotte's resume as another bullet point by establishing her as strong champion in a division without the "Anti-Diva" Paige. We all know that Paige left some rather large shoes to fill in for the NXT Divas in her absence. Sasha Banks turned a lot of heads as well, establishing herself as a future star in the making. If she either doesn't win the NXT Women's Championship by the end of 2015 or show up on the main roster, then I'm going to be surprised. Like I was telling another friend about this match, Sasha has a lot more "character" (the main thing that keeps AJ Lee over while diluting her mediocre ring work) than the bulk of girls on both rosters and she's not afraid to show it.

(Whistles) With or without Paige, the Divas of NXT continue to set the standard and raise the bar higher in terms of women's wrestling in WWE. If the Divas on the main roster don't step their game up in 2015, then the NXT Women's title will end up being more prestigious than the Divas Championship, no matter how long  or how many times AJ Lee holds it.

Sami Zayn def. Adrian Neville (c) to become the NEW NXT Champion

This was the moment that we have been waiting for. Every time these two Superstars get into the ring together it has been truly magical. Without a shadow of a doubt, this match is going to be on everyone's Match of the Year lists one way or another. This match had everything - superb storytelling, amazing athleticism, and a powerful payoff that sets the stage for the future of NXT for months to come. This sole match had everything that is missing in a lot of WWE's product on the main roster.

If Sami Zayn didn't win this, I would've cried for him. That shows how much emotion was behind this match. As a wrestling fan, I was proud to see these indy greats make their mark on one of WWE's grand stages. The sky is only the limit here for these guys. If you didn't mark out for Kevin Owens' heel turn post-match then clearly you haven't kept up with their history prior to WWE.

(Whistles) If they can top their crazy on/off wars from Ring of Honor, then NXT fans are truly in for a treat for the years to come.

Final Thoughts:

Without a shadow of a doubt, this was my personal favorite WWE Pay-Per-View of 2014 just from my favorites from the independent scene upstaging the main roster talent. This single event proved that WWE has the tools to be amazing again.

This was the wake-up call that the ENTIRE WWE Universe and all of its employees needed. With all of the alternatives on the horizon for 2015 - Lucha Underground, New Japan, Global Force Wrestling, Impact Wrestling on Destination America, Ring of Honor, etc., WWE can't settle with their mediocre "same ol' shit" regime. If they can continue putting on stellar shows such as this, then there's hope for the future of WWE and Vince McMahon wouldn't have to worry about the subscription numbers for the WWE Network nor fear people walking away from his product to the abundance of alternatives.

NXT, keep up the great work. The future is looking bright.

"The Interview" and how Franco and Rogen are the luckiest duo in Hollywood

Sorry to interrupt the usual programming. But I was graciously offered to contribute to this blog and who could pass that kind of opportunity. And of course, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Auguste and I am a 22 year old Political science student from Lithuania. I'm an avid amateur baker who doesn't really eat cakes and pies and also a vain little creature who had a radio podcast and a Youtube show about movies. And that is what I mostly write about, besides ranting about media and popular culture. I can't promise that you'll see me here often, but if you will, you'll know that the movie did grasp my attention, either in a good or bad way.

Now, usually I write about movies that I’ve particularly enjoyed. And usually I do it in my native language. But I just had to jump on the bandwagon of the still scolding hot release of “The Interview” and write an honest opinion. Because I can do anything. I bet you my Christmas presents that almost everybody knows about this comedy and the controversy surrounding it, but just in case, I’ll fill you in.

“The Interview” is a so-called “satirical” political comedy directed and created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, with the screenplay being written by Dan Sterling. Yes, these are the same guys who brought to you “This is the End”. Another lad stemming from the same gang is James Franco, who takes the role of our co-protagonist, sharing the spotlight with the previously mentioned Rogen.

The premise is quite simple. Dave Skylark (Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen), who both work on a celebrity gossip and interview show “Skylark Tonight”, manage to get an interview with one of the most talked about leaders in the world, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Soon before their flight the CIA catches up with our journalists and instructs them to “take out” the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Agreeing to take part in this hostile mission, Skylark and Rapoport arrives at Pyongyang, the nation’s capital, and try to complete their task, of course not avoiding mishaps and other jaw-droppingly ridiculous situations.

After suffering from one of the biggest hacker attacks and information leaks seen in quite a while, “Sony” was more than skeptical about releasing “The Interview”. And the threats made by “The Guardians of Peace”, of attacking movie theaters across the U.S., who would premiere the film on December 25th didn’t make this decision any easier. Cinema chain after cinema chain dropped out of the deal, cancelled premieres as our main stars Franco and Rogen announced that no scheduled press conferences will take place. It seemed like the movie was almost a lost cause. But the big heads of “Sony Entertainment” decided to move along with the scheduled Christmas day release, but in digital format. The movie can be rented or bought on “Youtube”, “Google Play” and also limited, independent theater screenings are currently taking place. Soon after, the movie leaked to torrent websites as well. But the question still lingers in the air like a bad pun - “Is the movie worth it?”.

I can confidently say… No. Today I watched the entire thing and now I think that both Franco and Rogen are annoyingly lucky schmucks. The movie is less than mediocre. It just appeared at the right time and the right place. “The Interview” succumbs to the very popular genre of knock-you-on-the-head-with-a-freakin’-shovel comedy, where most of the jokes circle around human anatomy, bodily fluids and accidents resulting in physical handicaps or death. I don’t know if the humor in me died after watching “Bruno” or I never had it in the first place, but this type of comedy, if you could even call it that, had never made me even giggle. It just makes me want to sob in a corner. But hey, maybe I’m just too mean spirited to understand.

The acting doesn’t help this movie either. Seth Rogen is playing the same character he was playing since his breakthrough in cinema. An exaggerated version of Seth Rogen. At one point during the film just for a second you do start to see a glimpse of brain work, when Rogen’s character questions about the current state of the media and that maybe he should change his career path. But after that he pops in some “Ecstasy” and everything in the movie is back to normal. Franco’s larger than life and also insultingly dumb Dave Skylark seemed like a parody of Taran Killam from “Saturday Night Live” doing a parody of Bravo’s Andy Cohen. And this is the moment where I can say something nice about this movie. “Skylark Tonight” with such guests as Eminem, who “revealed” that he is homosexual or Rob Lowe acting out the revelation of his embarrassing baldness reminded us of something we see every single day. The creators tried to shed light on the current state of media, where the lines between news and entertainment are non-existent. If it doesn’t have shock value - it’s not news. But, I’ll repeat myself, they TRIED. Nobody said that they succeeded to achieve that goal.

Not all acting in the movie was making me cringe. Both Randall Park and Diana Bang, playing Kim Jong-un and his assistant Sook respectively, managed to put out plausible performances with the given quite horrendous source material. The under-developed character of the Supreme Leader seemed like a combination of cliches and stereotypes that the Western society has about North Korea. The movie also played on gender stereotypes, making fun of a male enjoying songs by Katy Perry and drinking Margaritas. Everything seemed rushed, characters were either under-developed or just plain useless. Lizzy Caplan, who played CIA agent Lacey was most definitely used for her looks, because she had around less than 10 minutes of screen time and very little dialogue. This movie wanted to be a social commentary about dictatorship and the fall of modern media. Yet, all we got was “butthole” jokes and a CGI explosion burning up the leader of North Korea.

Seth Rogen, James Franco and the rest of the crew can thank their lucky stars for this hacking scandal. If the circumstances would have been any different nobody would have even noticed this project. But now, thanks to all of this fuss, everybody and their grandmother will download the movie, just to see what was all this hubbub about. And now, “The Interview” will be cemented the history of cinema as the film that almost started a war over a few cheap gags. You couldn’t even imagine better marketing results. I suggest a movie about the international relations between USA and Russia next. With extra shart jokes this time.

Power Rangers Super Megaforce: Legendary Battle Finale vs. Super Sentai Goseiger & Gokaiger Hero Great Battle 199 Special

Last weekend (November 21, 2014), Nickelodeon aired the highly-anticipated season finale to Power Rangers Super Megaforce that was advertised to act as reunion of sorts for ALL twenty seasons prior as part of Saban's 20th anniversary for Power Rangers.

This "reunion" finale was done similarly to Toei's own 35th anniversary of Super Sentai during its Gokaiger vs. Goseiger crossover special.

Introduction:

I know that I don't talk Power Rangers/Super Sentai much on here (or EVER until now...), but a good friend of mine inspired me to do so after our rather lengthy discussion about the franchise as a whole over the last few weeks.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a closet mark for the show after all of these years. With the news of this highly-anticipated "reunion" for the 20th anniversary, I was even more excited for this season. I know most people (my close friends included) have fallen out of the loop over the years since they've either "grown up" or lost interest, but screw it - I have more than enough embarrassing things on my nerd resume, so liking Power Rangers/Super Sentai isn't going change most people's opinions of me.

(Laughs) Besides, you're the ones reading this blog so who's the nerd now, hmmm?

Please note, that I'm fully aware that there's an "extended cut" of the Legendary Battle that's supposed to air at a later date, but I'm going by this initial standard release for the sake of this discussion. I heard that they used more footage from the finale of Gokaiger and Hero Great Battle 199 and gave more dialogue and scenes to the veteran Rangers as well. I'll do a follow-up/revision to this article when I get a chance to see that in its entirety.

Production Information: 

"Power Rangers Megaforce" was trademarked by Saban Brands in 2011 during the run of Power Rangers Samurai. Casting sides released in April 2012 match with the blue and silver rangers of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. On 11th June 2012, it was revealed that the season will be based on Tensou Sentai Goseiger. The official name was then revealed as "Power Rangers Megaforce". The second season, titled Super Megaforce, will incorporate elements from Gokaiger. That makes Megaforce the first hybrid adaptation since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

On June 17th, 2013 the official press release unveiled the plot of Power Rangers Super Megaforce:

"The upcoming season of Power Rangers Super Megaforce focuses on the Rangers' mission to defeat a massive alien army Armada that was sent to conquer Earth. To face this threat, Gosei, a supernatural guardian who has protected Earth for centuries, gives the Rangers special morphers and keys, which allow them to morph into Super Megaforce Rangers. The Rangers also have an added special ability to morph into any team of Power Rangers from the past. These super-sized adventures can only mean one thing: the all-new Power Rangers Super Megaforce has arrived!"


Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (translated as Pirate Squadron Gokaiger) is the 35th season of the Super Sentai series and celebrates the 35th Anniversary of the franchise. The season's motif is pirates and follows the story of five young space pirates in search of the "Greatest Treasure in the Universe".

Its footage and anniversary theme is currently being adapted into the second season of the 2013 Power Rangers series, Power Rangers Megaforce, dubbed Power Rangers Super Megaforce.

For the 35th Sentai series, Toei decided to go big with a major series that acknowledged the past while developing a something new and interesting. Following on their success of Kamen Rider which crossed over elements and concepts of the 9 previous Heisei Riders as well as matters throughout franchise history, they devised a series where similar concepts and cameos would emerge, setting up a world where a team of Sentai heroes used the powers of the previous 34 teams, using the idea that they were aliens who had no idea about the Sentai legacy and their powers were "pirated" versions of all the other teams.

The original intent was to have only teams who were going to give a notable power that would help the Gokaiger appear in cameo, most notably the previous four teams and several other notable teams, as well as a film with several others appearing in cameo. However, the tragedy of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011 lead to a major outcry to create a series which helped people cope with the tragedies and inspire hope to all people. After one weird fluke, Sentai alumni appeared in many of the episodes in response, unexpectedly leading to changes of story preventing more character development but ultimately letting one actor from all 34 previous series appear throughout the entire series' run.

If you haven't seen Goseiger vs. Gokaiger Hero Great Battle 199, then you're in for a treat. The FULL special length episode can be found below in its entirety with English subtitles.

The Verdict: 

Note: Once again, I am fully aware that there's an extended cut of the Legendary Battle for Super Megaforce, but this is going by my personal gripes with the original standard version of that finale to this season.

Much like a lot of other long-time Power Rangers' fans, I found this "reunion" to be VERY underwhelming. The advertised Rangers of the past were brought back in the last 3-5 minutes of the episode and had VERY little involvement in the final battle. In comparison to the reunion in Gokaiger (shown above), this was a rather weak attempt by Saban. I didn't feel as much love and passion go into this reunion as it did in Gokaiger. I really wish Saban would quit cutting corners when it comes to translating/remaking these series for audiences outside of Japan.

The first 3-5 minutes of the Goseiger/Gokaiger team-up blew that ENTIRE episode for Super Megaforce out of the ballpark. That's a damn shame too as you can tell that's where Saban cut select footage from for that finale from. C'mon, if you're going to use the footage, why not use ALL of it?

Where do I think they went wrong?

(Laughs) Where to begin? I'm no "expert" on all things Power Rangers and Super Sentai by any means, despite what most of my close friends may think, but I'm willing to give this a shot.

I felt that the cast of Megaforce should NOT have been given both the powers of Gokaiger and Goseiger

If Saban were smart, they would have split Megaforce up into two separate seasons, with two distinct casts. As you can see, Goseiger (Megaforce) were "angelic" Rangers on Earth and Gokaiger's Rangers were pirates from another planet who just happened to acquire the Ranger keys, much like the Silver Ranger's origin in Super Megaforce.

Combining Goseiger and Gokaiger into a single entity seemed like a missed opportunity. Now Saban can't do these many team-up specials like the Hero Great Battle 199. After seeing both teams in action, I'm sad that we won't get to see the Gokaiger team in outside of Japan. I don't know any better way to explain it, but that team has so much more swagger (read: stylish) in their mannerisms and fighting styles than Goseiger. From the little I've seen of their individual personalities, I'm sure that I will take the opportunity to watch all of Goseiger and Gokaiger separately just to see how they differ from their English adaptation in Megaforce and Super Megaforce.

The cannon finisher in Hero Great Battle 199 was a missed opportunity as well. Once again, combining both Goseiger and Gokaiger into a single series didn't do Saban any favors. Let's not forget that Robo Knight "died"  (despite reappearing during the finale without ANY explanation...) so that's another reason this wasn't possible.

Gokaiger has a team-up "versus" special with Kamen Rider (Masked Rider for those who are as old as me and remember that) and if Saban is serious about trying to renew interest in that series outside of Japan (despite Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight being cancelled during its syndication run in the United States), that would have been another reason to split up Goseiger and Gokaiger as two distinct seasons.

The Legendary Rangers should have had more screen time or contribution to the narrative

The theme of Hero Great Battle 199 is to never lose hope, spanning across generations of people and most importantly the Sentai teams. The Gokaiger and Goseiger teams were ultimately reminded of that in their darkest hour and rewarded for their combined efforts. In this narrative, the Legendary Rangers are used to hit this point home harder periodically throughout the film.

The theme of Megaforce that was carried on from start to the finale in Super Megaforce was "never give up." That was highlighted in the finale of Megaforce and throughout the duration of Super Megaforce. I could see that Saban could have written the narrative in the finale to show the Legendary Rangers doing their part to assist in fighting off the invasion across the globe in different locations. Then again, that's more time and production costs and we are painfully aware how cheap Saban is...

Oh wait. Here's an idea. How about instead of bringing back the Legendary Rangers in a traditional team-up and just use the footage from Hero Great Battle 199 where Goseiger and Gokaiger battle the older Sentai teams as a means to see if they are "worthy" and rise to this final challenge? Afterwards, Gosei can be like this unlocks the ability for them to call the other Rangers (despite canon or not) to heed the call to battle by their side?

Sadly, the only thing that gets in the way here is that Goseiger and Gokaiger are two different teams and wouldn't work with Super Megaforce's finale.

The Lack of Nostalgia in the Megazord Battle against the Armada was Disappointing

I don't know about you guys, but I know I can't name EVERY Megazord in that picture. It looks cool as fuck though.

That being said, having the Megaforce Rangers clear through the bulk of the Armada's forces with only their two main Megazords and the auxiliary Zords did nothing but make me even less impressed with the Armada's show of force. The Armada had overwhelming numbers but their forces were more pathetic than Rita Repulsa's Putty Patrol. I'm pretty sure the Machine Empire from Zeo would have given Megaforce a better fight than this.

Once again, Hero Great Battle 199 did it MUCH better.

The Final Confrontation versus Emperor Mavro was EXTREMELY lame...

There's no other words for it. After all of that hype to him taking over the Armada, he went down easier than Vrak, Prince Vekar, AND all of their underlings/generals. Come on, Saban. You guys really have to stop cutting corners on these finales. You delivered big time on Samurai's finale but half-assed this when it's supposed to be the 20th anniversary season?

Once again, let's compare this to Gokaiger's finale versus Mavro's counterpart in that series, Emperor Ackdos Gill:

What the hell, man? This is like day and night in comparison. It took literally a dozen (or more) of the Legendary Ranger powers to damage Gill and even then they had to resort to "powered up" versions of other Rangers' past, along with Gokai Silver's Gold Mode. Even that wasn't enough and the Gokaigers resorted to a kamikaze blow to end Gill for good.

What did we get with Mavro in Super Megaforce's finale? It only took two Rangers (Red & Silver) to defeat Mavro, who barely put up a fight period to begin with and he died when his flagship went down. If they were going to make both Prince Vekar and Emperor Mavro pushovers, then the resurrected Vrak should have been their final opponent. To be honest, Vrak was portrayed as a much stronger opponent than anything else the Armada's forces threw at the Rangers in both seasons of Megaforce and Super Megaforce combined.

Final Thoughts

All I wanted from this 20th anniversary "reunion" and season finale of Super Megaforce was to feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, Saban let me down - big time - in terms of this reunion special. Sure, I got to see some of the older Rangers come back, such as my some personal favorites, Tommy (MMPR Green Ranger), Wes (Time Force Red Ranger), and Karone (Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger), but as a whole, the entire episode didn't live up to the hype. It's a mediocre finale for Megaforce, but also serves as a subpar homage to the 20 years of history of the Power Rangers franchise. I know that I'm not alone in believing that Saban could have done something so much better than this.

In comparison, you can tell that Toei (creators of Super Sentai) have a lot of love for their product and brand, especially it's history. You can tell that from everything from start to finish after watching Hero Great Battle 199 special. If Saban took the time and energy to commit to something like that, I believe that this 20th anniversary reunion would have been one to remember.

Despite my disappointments with this 20th anniversary reunion, I'm pretty sure I'm going to check out the next season, DinoCharge, regardless. Saban just really let me down after all of this hype behind this season and the history going into it. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to take the time to revisit more seasons of Super Sentai and see exactly how much better those were than their Saban-made counterparts.