PREVIEW -- Monster Hunter: World - Devil May Cry Collaboration

I need this costume/armor set like yesterday... Damn that looks bloody awesome in this game. I might actually buy the gestures/taunts for it too just to use guns.

WWE Fastlane (March 11, 2018) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Fastlane (2018) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the SmackDown brand. It took place on March 11, 2018, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It was the fourth event under the Fastlane chronology. The 2018 event was the final SmackDown-exclusive pay-per-view and subsequently the final brand-exclusive pay-per-view under the second brand split as following WrestleMania 34, all WWE pay-per-views will be dual-branded, featuring wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Rusev

I caught the tail end of this one, but from what I saw it was better than what I was expecting going in to say that they booked this match at the last minute. I hope whenever they do the next Superstar Shake-Up post-WrestleMania they do something with Rusev, Aiden English, and Lana. They need to quit squandering a potential main event player they have sitting on the sidelines here. As for Nakamura, it was a no brainer to give him the win here as he has to look strong going into WrestleMania. It just seems like they are biding their time on his time to shine before WrestleMania, where they (hopefully) make him look like a rockstar in his first WrestleMania match.

United States Championship Match - Randy Orton def. Bobby Roode (c) to become new champion and become the latest entry in WWE's ongoing list of Grand Slam Champions

There were some good moments in this match and a lot of slow bits too. Call me cynical but Orton and Roode just don't click well. They were teasing the RKO reversal from the top rope almost the entire match as even the crowd was ready to see it coming the multiple times that Roode kept going from off the top rope. I kept saying to myself, "Roode's going to get RKO'd out of the air..." I just knew it was going to happen as Roode isn't known for high flying offense and mostly kept his arsenal ground based.

I can't be mad at WWE taking the belt off Roode as that run was a flash in the pan anyway. Orton has more name value going into WrestleMania so I can understand why they went with Roode dropping the title to Orton here. Either they are going to have Orton drop it back to Roode at 'Mania or (groan) drop it to Jinder Mahal...

Carmella and Natalya def. Naomi and Becky Lynch

Nothing really to write home about this match other than the shock I had at Carmella picking up the win. They must be setting up the Money in the Bank winner to fail whenever she cashes in as WWE's mantra is usually to job out the MITB holder until they cash in for their big win. If they are setting up Asuka to win the title from Charlotte then Carmella can definitely count that out if she thinks she has a chance to cash in on Charlotte.

SmackDown! Tag Team Championship Match - The Usos (c) vs. The New Day ends in no contest after the Bludgeon Bros. (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan) laid waste to both teams

Going into this match I had little to no enthusiasm to see this match, despite the fact I knew that this would have been arguably the sleeper hit of the evening. Don't get me wrong - I have nothing against New Day and the Usos' in-ring talents. I'm just sick of seeing them feud. Their promos for this match have been great, but I don't want to see the Usos drop the titles to anyone until or after preferably WrestleMania. This has been the best run of their careers and no need to waste that push on dropping the belts to the New Day for the millionth time.

Seeing the former Wyatt Family members lay waste to the opposition here was the best thing I've seen from any portion of WWE's tag team division in months. Superb booking here. If they can find a way to shoe in Haas and Benjamin... err Gable & Benjamin into the mix too and have a Fatal 4 Way for the SmackDown! Tag Team Championships that's NOT on the damn preshow for WrestleMania then you can call me a happy camper.

SmackDown! Women's Championship Match - Charlotte Flair (c) def. Ruby Riott (w/ Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan); Asuka challenges her post-match for WrestleMania

I hate to knock both ladies here as this wasn't a bad match by any means, but good Lord Charlotte is a far cry from her father in terms of ring psychology. These matches where she takes the bulk of the abuse in the match and barely working her opponent's legs only to win off the Figure Eight drives me nuts. After the Alabama Slam/Modified Electric Chair Slam into the corner, it would've made more sense to win off a Natural Selection than slapping in the submission. I mean, c'mon she was working Ruby's head more than her legs in this match so that just made me throw my hands up in terms of psychology here.

As for the post-match angle that saw Asuka immediately come down to point at the WrestleMania sign, I wasn't surprised in the least. Out of all of the women on the main roster who have been spared Asuka's wrath, it's Charlotte who has somehow dodged the bullet to cross paths with the Empress of Tomorrow until now. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that they were going to have Charlotte drop the title to Ruby when they were building her up for this pending match. The only thing that would have stopped this match becoming reality would be some freak accident/injury between now and WrestleMania in April. Besides, out of the two reigning champions on RAW and SmackDown!, everyone knows that

WWE Championship Match - AJ Styles (c) def. John Cena, Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, and Dolph Ziggler to retain

This match wasn't bad, but it was very telling that AJ Styles was going to retain because he out of the mix for the bulk of the match. When I noticed that, it was very telling that they were going with the safest means possible to avoid any possible injury from the Phenomenal One here. You knew Baron Corbin wasn't winning this and Dolph Ziggler sure as hell wasn't going to win it, especially when John Cena's in the damn thing too. Owens and Zayn were there just to play off their bromance that's been the focus of SmackDown! Live for the last few months (and main reason I haven't cared to watch honestly...)

PREVIEW -- VENOM - Official Teaser Trailer

After the steaming pile of crap that was Spider-Man 3, I thought Hollywood wouldn't want to touch anything related to Venom for while... From this teaser though, we might get something genuinely good here. I'm going to remain skeptical until we get a full blown trailer. This definitely isn't enough to make me care about this.

PREVIEW -- Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp - Official Trailer

To say that this is dropping later this summer FOLLOWING Avengers: Infinity War, I guess they are missing out on the whole galactic power struggle for a big reason. I wouldn't rule them out (along with Captain Marvel) missing out on whatever the Avengers sequel for 2019 is going to be though. I'm glad that we're finally going to see Evangeline Lily in that Wasp costume too. I enjoyed the first Ant-Man a LOT and I'm looking forward to more of the same in the sequel.

PREVIEW -- "Batman Ninja" trailer (English language)

This anime-style featurette debuted at WonderCon this past weekend, but I've been sitting on this trailer for a few weeks now - along with so much other stuff I've been meaning to talk about.

It is scheduled in the United States for a digital release on April 24, 2018 and a physical release on May 8, 2018, and in Japan for a theatrical release on June 15, 2018.

It definitely looks cool that's for damn sure. Ever since Cartoon Network did those DC Animated Shorts with one of them being Feudal Era style Batman short, I wanted to see more of that and I'm glad that we're getting something in the lines of this. From what I'm hearing this is made by the same team behind Afro Samurai, so if anything it's going to look amazing above all else. 

PREVIEW -- Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn Announcement Trailer

I couldn't even watch this trailer without laughing. If you thought that was funny then the product description on GameStop's site will have you busting a gut like I did:

The world is on the brink of disaster. Demonic celebrities have taken over the planet. Only one man can save us: a poor Chinese orphan named Shaq Fei Hung.

In Shaq Fu, players take control of the unstoppable Shaquille O'Neal as he fights his way through the hordes of Hell and Hollywood. Defeat dozens of enemies, as Shaq learns new moves, travels to unique locations and battles the legions of the damned. At the end of each journey, Shaq must face down a powerful boss ripped straight from tabloid headlines and bent on our destruction.
Will he triumph? Of course, he will... It's Shaq.

• Fight your way through the streets as none other than Shaq Fu himself, voiced by the real deal, Shaquille O'Neal.
• Battle outlandish celebrity bosses with special skills, power-ups and some old-fashioned martial arts.
• Master devastating combos and let Shaq rip against his enemies
• Wield Katanas, shuriken and baseball bats
• Travel to locations around the world and use each unique environment against your enemies.
• Power ups with every nickname Shaq has ever had from Big Daddy O to Big Diesel.
• A Legend Reborn is the spiritual successor to the original Shaq Fu dubbed the worst game ever'. A Legend Reborn aims to right this wrong and restore the legacy of Shaquille O'Neal.

(Dies laughing at "restore the legacy of Shaquille O'Neal) I dunno about all that...

PREVIEW -- Solo: A Star Wars Story Official Teaser

It looks promising, I'll say that much. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it like I did for Rogue One, but it might get a watch within that first week or two after it drops.

I'm not a hardcore Star Wars fan by a long shot, but I'm curious to see how they portray Han Solo's backstory and history prior to the original trilogy.

WWE Elimination Chamber (Feb. 25, 2018) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Elimination Chamber (2018) (also known as No Escape (2018) in Germany) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the Raw brand. It took place on February 25, 2018, at T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas Valley, in Paradise, Nevada. It was the eighth event under the Elimination Chamber chronology and the final Raw-exclusive pay-per-view under the second brand split as following WrestleMania 34, all WWE pay-per-views will be dual-branded, featuring wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. The 2018 event was also the first to feature a seven-man Elimination Chamber match, the first event to include a women's Elimination Chamber match and the first Raw-exclusive pay-per-view since the 2016 reintroduction of the brand extension to not feature any cruiserweight division matches.

Six matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. In the main event, Roman Reigns won the first-ever seven-man Elimination Chamber match to become the number one contender against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 34. On the undercard, Alexa Bliss retained the Raw Women's Championship in the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match, and Asuka defeated Nia Jax to extend her undefeated streak and to keep Jax from being added to her WrestleMania 34 championship match. The event was also notable for Ronda Rousey signing her WWE Raw contract, where she had a confrontation with Chief Operating Officer Triple H and Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon, which was the former's first appearance since the night after Survivor Series.

Preshow/Kickoff Match: Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson def. The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel)

For once, I actually had the preshow/kickoff streaming live on the Network. Much like the bulk of this broadcast, there wasn't really much to write home about this one. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel were clearly here to take the L.

First Ever Women's Elimination Chamber Match for RAW Women's Championship: Alex Bliss retains after def. Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Sonya Deville, and Mandy Rose

Let's be honest here, Absolution was in this to be the sacrificial lambs to the slaughter. I was fine with this match for the most part, but I had a small issue with how they did the last four eliminations. I would have had Mickie James survive at least until Alexa Bliss got into the match then have her confidence shattered (the shots of her facial expressions/reactions throughout this match were great) when it boiled down to every woman for themselves. Then once Mickie James was eliminated, you do the Sasha Banks turning Bayley spot and go with Alexa Bliss retaining as planned. The best part of the match for me personally was Mickie James running the train on everyone that ended with that Diving Lou Thesz Press she does as her signature to eliminate Sonya Deville. That's why I was disappointed when she got eliminated shortly after that burst of fire from her. The other highlight was Bliss getting the heck out of dodge as soon as her pod opened and she was climbing all over the Chamber to get away from Sasha and Bayley. I would give Bliss props on that Twisted Bliss from the top of the pod, but the modern day Chamber has so much padding around that thing at ringside that it's like working in the normal ring anyway. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that the talent is MUCH more protected in this match than were a decade and a half ago when it first came into fruition, but damn a lot of the drama is taken out of it as a result when you can clearly see all of that safety padding all around the ring and between the pods.

In all honesty, it wasn't a bad match at all for the ladies' first time in this match type. They played it a little too safe for my taste, but then again, there's no need to go nuts in the first one of these.

The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) def. Titus Worldwide (Titus and Apollo Crews w/ Dana Brooke) to retain the RAW Tag Team Championships

This was pretty much your bathroom break match right here. No offense to everyone involved here, but there was just no helping that fact. People weren't into this one - even though Cesaro and Apollo did their best to keep it interesting. Not even oogling Dana Brooke at ringside didn't make me want to care about this match in the least.

There's no doubt in my mind that this feud is merely filler for whoever is going to step up to challenge the Bar at WrestleMania for the RAW Tag Team titles. I got my money on The Revival taking that spot as that could be a very fun match to watch.

Asuka def. Nia Jax

Not a bad match, but definitely nowhere as good as their past encounters. Nia made up for her loss with great post-match attack while managing to still look strong following the loss to Asuka. I have no doubt in my mind that Asuka is going to challenge Charlotte for the SmackDown! Women's Championship, leaving Alexa Bliss to have to defend against Nia Jax to have her world crumbling down against her. If anything, that match will be worth it just for Bliss' facial reactions going into it.

Woken Matt Hardy def. Bray Wyatt

WWE has done nothing to make me care about the Woken/Broken Matt Hardy gimmick in their company. After Anthem gave the Hardys free reign over it, you would think that WWE would have went balls to the wall with it, but week-in, week-out it's the same old shit. I don't know why they keep dragging this feud out for. Bray Wyatt is almost at the point of Dolph Ziggler where no one cares about him when he has these feuds as even Ray Charles can see that he's not going to win. My only guess on why they keep dragging this feud out is that they are end it with a Final Deletion style vignette at WrestleMania and if they are going to keep milking this that long then it's going to be a LONG 45 days until WrestleMania. Seriously, anything has to be better than that House of Horrors match between Bray and Orton last year though...

Ronda Rousey WWE Contract Signing

It took only two appearances and they've already brought Rousey down to the level of everyone else on the roster not named John Cena, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar where Stephanie McMahon has slapped the dignity out of whoever she wants under her thumb. Rousey was no different here, even though she shows up on RAW the following night looking like Goku after Frieza killed Krillin looking for an apology. Rousey seemed like she had completely no idea what to say during that segment while Triple H and Stephanie were doing their damnest to sell her as a big deal to this crowd. Kurt Angle didn't come off much better as he stood there looking like he was spacing out until Rousey called him out. If they are building towards a Rousey and Kurt versus Steph and HHH match at WrestleMania then they are definitely off to a bad start. The stupidest thing they did here was having Rousey sign the contract anyway after hearing how Stephanie and Triple H were belittling her from Kurt Angle. It's not like they held a gun to her head and made her sign it anyway. For me, that part made not one bit of damn sense. Rousey could've torn up the contract and told Triple H and Stephanie to shove it.

After the March 5th episode of RAW, the show kicks off with the announcement that Rousey and Kurt will be facing Triple H and Stephanie at WrestleMania, but goddammit that attack on those two looked so bad. I get it - Kurt's not as spry as he used to be after all of those neck surgeries and spending the last part of his golden years in TNA/Impact Wrestling, but Ronda Rousey's so-called Samoan Drop looked horrible on Stephanie there. It was bad enough that it was looking like she was about to yank Steph's arm out of the socket to force her to stand up for it. It was also very telling that Stephanie was wearing street clothes/casual wear instead of her usual dolled up business suit/dress/skirt combos with heels so you knew she was ready to take a bump or two.

First Ever 7-Man Elimination Chamber Match for WWE Universal Championship #1 Contender Spot to headline WrestleMania versus Brock Lesnar: Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Seth Rollins, John Cena, Elias, and Intercontinental Champion The Miz

I don't see why people were saying this match was inferior to the women's chamber match that kicked off this show. Outside of the bloody obvious finish (the trend with this ENTIRE card to be quite honest...), this match was a lot of fun to watch. It kicks off with Elias in concert despite the fact that he was the one who earned the right to enter the match last. It were up to me, I would've had Elias playing all night in the pod like that one Rumble Match where SES CM Punk was trying to recruit people between eliminations. The MVP of this match was Braun Strowman. I thought I was going to die laughing when everyone hit that man with all of their finishers only for him to kick out at 1. Strowman definitely has The Big Show beat in that regard in terms of endurance. I remember The Big Show being put through something along the lines of that during Survivor Series 2005 and he went out like it was just another day in Jobberville. If you don't see Braun Strowman as a star here after this performance then you clearly need your eyes checked. Massive mistake on WWE's front to go with Reigns again, even if he had to hit Strowman with like 5-7 signatures/finishers like it was a WWE video game to keep him down.

If Vince wants everyone to shit all over his WrestleMania main event and walk out, then be my guest. I damn sure don't have to like it. I get it - Brock Lesnar could be out of the door after WrestleMania and they want him to drop the title to Reigns like they wanted in the first place before Rollins cashed in Money in the Bank at WrestleMania a few years prior and pissed in Roman's Cheerios.

I just don't understand why Vince is so dead set on Reigns as "the guy" when it's so obvious that people aren't going to accept him. On top of that, you got two other guys who are over like Rover on RAW - Seth Rollins (especially after running the gauntlet that week prior to the Chamber) and Braun Strowman - that would make much more sense logically in terms of booking. Alas, like the joke goes online, "If you're looking for logic in WWE programming, then you're running a fool's errand."