DC FanDome is an entertainment and comic book convention held virtually online in DC Comics's online website under the dominion of the convention's name. The convention was created and announced on June 2020, as Warner Bros. and DC's response to San Diego Comic-Con's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BLACK ADAM
Dwayne Johnson is set to star as the DC Comics anti-hero in this film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
The DC FanDome panel presented concept art of what fans can expect from the Shazam spin-off, including Black Adam's costume.
Black Adam is scheduled to open December 22, 2021.
For me personally, anything that The Rock is involved in that's not directly associated with professional wrestling or The Fast & Furious, my interest drops to zero, but with this character, this is a special exception that I'm willing to take a gamble on. The Rock/Dwayne Johnson looks JUST like this character in his old age and could definitely pull this off for the most part. Sue me, I'm a sucker for the character after adoring his tragic love story with Isis in the pages of the New 52 graphic novel and honestly hoping for a live-action adaptation of that story in some capacity.
WONDER WOMAN 1984
The new era of Wonder Woman begins here. #WW84 only in theaters.
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Fast forward to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big screen adventure finds her facing two all-new foes: Max Lord and The Cheetah.
With director Patty Jenkins back at the helm and Gal Gadot returning in the title role, “Wonder Woman 1984” is Warner Bros. Pictures’ follow up to the DC Super Hero’s first outing, 2017’s record-breaking “Wonder Woman,” which took in $822 million at the worldwide box office. The film also stars Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as The Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Max Lord, Robin Wright as Antiope, and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta.
Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder, Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot and Stephen Jones are producing the film. Rebecca Steel Roven Oakley, Richard Suckle, Marianne Jenkins, Geoff Johns, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo and Wesley Coller are the executive producers.
Patty Jenkins directed from a screenplay she wrote with Geoff Johns & David Callaham, story by Jenkins & Johns, based on characters from DC. Joining the director behind the scenes are several members of her “Wonder Woman” team, including director of photography Matthew Jensen, Oscar-nominated production designer Aline Bonetto (“Amélie”), and Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming (“Topsy-Turvy”). Oscar-nominated editor Richard Pearson (“United 93”) is cutting the film. The music is by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (“Dunkirk,” “The Lion King”).
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents an Atlas Entertainment/Stone Quarry Production, a Patty Jenkins Film, “Wonder Woman 1984.” Set to open in theaters in 2D and 3D in select theaters and IMAX, it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
This film is rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence.
They seem to be going all in with the marketing to sell figures and dolls of that golden armor Wonder Woman. When I saw the initial concept art for the Cheetah I was concerned that she was going to look as fake in computer-generated action sequences as Ares did in the original film and my fears were confirmed here. I have no doubts in Kristen Wiig pulling this off as an actress, but I'm already dreading the action sequences just from seeing the what her "transformed" state will look like. I'm thrilled to see what Pedro Pascal (The Mandolarian himself) will do as Max Lord though. That should at least make up for any other shortcomings that may come up.
As of this posting (9/11/20), Patty Jenkins has announced that the film has been pushed back to a Christmas 2020 release.
THE BATMAN
Robert Pattinson is #TheBatman.
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From Warner Bros. Pictures comes “The Batman,” with director Matt Reeves (the “Planet of the Apes” films) at the helm and with Robert Pattinson (“Tenet,” “The Lighthouse,” “Good Time”) starring as Gotham City’s vigilante detective, Batman, and billionaire Bruce Wayne.
Also in the star-studded ensemble as Gotham’s famous and infamous cast of characters are Zoë Kravitz (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Mad Max: Fury Road”) as Selina Kyle; Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy,” “12 Years a Slave”) as Edward Nashton; Jeffrey Wright (the “Hunger Games” films) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the “Transformers” films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (“The Magnificent Seven,” “Black Mass”) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”) as Officer Stanley Merkel; Jayme Lawson (“Farewell Amor”) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; with Andy Serkis (the “Planet of the Apes” films, “Black Panther”) as Alfred; and Colin Farrell (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Dumbo”) as Oswald Cobblepot.
“The Batman” was written by Matt Reeves & Peter Craig. Reeves and Dylan Clark (the “Planet of the Apes” films) are producing the film, with Simon Emanuel, Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada and Chantal Nong Vo serving as executive producers. Reeves’ behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Greig Fraser (“Lion,” upcoming “Dune”); his “Planet of the Apes” production designer, James Chinlund; editors William Hoy (the “Planet of the Apes” films) and Tyler Nelson (“Rememory”); Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Dan Lemmon (“The Jungle Book”); Oscar-nominated SFX supervisor Dominic Tuohy (“1917,” “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker”); Oscar-nominated sound mixer Stuart Wilson (“1917,” the “Star Wars” franchise); Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (“1917,” “Little Women,” “Anna Karenina”) and costume designers Glyn Dillon (the “Star Wars” franchise) and David Crossman (“1917,” the “Star Wars” franchise); hair designer Zoe Tahir (upcoming “No Time to Die,” “Spectre”); and Oscar-nominated makeup designer Naomi Donne (“1917”).
Based on characters from DC. Batman was created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. “The Batman” is set to open in theaters October 1, 2021 in select 3D and 2D and IMAX theaters and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
I'm still up in the air on how I feel about this guy playing Batman/Bruce Wayne, especially when Ben Affleck is set to reprise the role in the upcoming The Flash live-action movie (see below).
My biggest concern with this is how many villains this seems to be juggling right off the bat - The Penguin, The Riddler (obviously), and possibly Catwoman all in a single "reboot" film. I thought Hollywood would have learned their lessons from Spider-Man 3, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin...
EZRA MILLER'S THE FLASH
We didn't get a trailer at DC Fandome, BUT they showed off these two production art with Miller's Flash getting a brand new costume and what looks like Michael Keaton's version of Batman in the background.
It was also confirmed that TV’s Arrowverse, DC Universe’s TV shows and DC movies all share the same multiverse, something an episode of TV’s The Flash essentially already confirmed with a short crossover with both film and TV’s version of the hero.
Arrowverse head Greg Berlanti said that particular crossover “[felt] like the beginning of a whole new generation of how we can do these things,” with Warner Bros.’ DC film exec Walter Hamada adding, “moving forward, there’s more opportunities for us to do things like this.”
In that regard, I give DC some props on. They aren't segregating their film and television properties like the Marvel Cinematic Universe did for so long until they completely scrapped their Marvel Television division and axed all of their Netflix Marvel television shows to produce content directly for Disney+. DC could have more fun with this multiverse film than Marvel could possibly dream with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness in a few more years.
ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE
Welcome to #TheSnyderCut. Streaming exclusively on #hbomax in 2021.
All that I'm going to say is that this better be worth all of the hype and waiting, especially after they have been teasing people and dragging this out for so long.
Seeing that DeSaad was going to be the "real" villain instead of Steppenwolf still doesn't really do anything for me, but I can see where they were going with this if they actually went the course with Justice League being a 3-film trilogy instead of one singular film.
THE SUICIDE SQUAD
When James Gunn says, “It’s going to be different from any superhero movie ever made,” he means it!
See more in this official first sneak peek behind the scenes of #TheSuicideSquad! #DCFanDome
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THE SUICIDE SQUAD, A film by James Gunn. Only in theaters 2021.
Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Michael Rooker, Flula Borg, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Steve Agee, Mayling Ng, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Storm Reid, Taika Waititi, Joaquín Cosío, and Juan Diego Botto
This features a STACKED roster of heroes, or rather anti-heroes, to star in this film. If anyone could pull this off, it's James Gunn. The guy definitely made me a believer in his work after seeing what he did with Guardians of the Galaxy for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I'm sure he is going to be able to rehabilitate the Suicide Squad for DC.
All Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It took place on September 5, 2020 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. It was the second event in the All Out chronology.
The event was originally slated to take place in the Sears Center, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, just like the previous edition of All Out were held Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation, the state's equivalent to a state of emergency, since March 9, which banned large public gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the state. Instead, the event was moved to Daily's Place, where all of AEW's events have been held since March.
A completely rotten match won by arguably the worst talent (or lack of) on the entire AEW roster with the second place candidate taking the L here. I have remotely no clue why you would even start your PPV off with a completely "nothing" match like this that does absolutely NOTHING to garner interest in buying the PPV later tonight.
I remember chatting with a friend and saying that Sonny Kiss was great back in Lucha Underground, but I feel that him being associated with Janela is going to only bring him down. Kiss' glass ceiling is going to be whether or not the TNT Network (and more importantly mainstream wrestling as a whole) is ready to accept an extremely flamboyant wrestler (that's not a complete gimmick nor parody) as a serious competitor. He fit right in with the exoticos in Lucha Underground, but it's hard for me to tell what his shelf life is going to be in this company long-term.
Tag Team Match
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen) def. The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver)
I couldn't give a flying fuck about this match. It's the same as every other Private Party match, but just against the bottom of the rung guys in the Dark Order. The boys in PP do some nice spots but their basics STILL need a lot of work.
I LOVE Private Party's finish though.
I still can't help but chant "SPOTS! SPOTS! SPOTS!" during their entrance theme now after making that joke a while back.
Tooth and Nail Match
Big Swole def. Britt Baker (with Rebel) by knockout
I'm sure Big Swole is a nice person outside of wrestling in her personal life, but as an onscreen character and an in-ring talent, she's fucking horrible. I don't see why this company invested so much time into this nothing feud. While I love Britt Baker's heel persona, I'm fed up with all of these "role models" in mainstream wrestling, whether it's Madison Rayne in IMPACT as the "Locker Room Leader", Sasha Banks & Bayley in WWE as the "Golden Role Models", and here with Baker as the "Roll Model". I'm just sick and fed up of hearing that shit. Come up with something else original that not everyone and their grandmothers are using right now. I want to add that as much as I like Britt Baker's heel persona, I never thought her in-ring skills were much to write home about either, despite the fact she has a pretty sick submission finish. Reba's reactions (Rebel) was the best thing about this "cinematic" match - if you could even call it that. If this was supposed to be a dig at WWE's cinematic matches, then they definitely have a lot to learn in terms of cinematography.
Britt Baker stabbing herself with her own needle that loaded with numbing agent.
Britt Baker lost the match after falling victim to her own laughing gas/sedation.
At the end of the day, I thought the finish was creative, but Britt Baker buried it when she woke up immediately following the decision. She's a fucking dentist after all, so she should know how long laughing gas/sedation would keep someone under. C'mon, now. In either case, I'm ready for both of these women to move on to another feud.
Tag Team Match
The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) def. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus) (with Marko Stunt)
I hate to admit it, but I honestly liked this match more than the AEW Tag Title match later in this show. It didn't overstay it's welcome and it showed the best of both teams here, even though I wasn't too crazy about how much stuff Jungle Boy was kicking out of at the end. I thought the Jurassic Express should have pulled off the upset towards the end, but of course, the BTE boys had to turn things around for the win. To their credit though, I like seeing them working with a more serious "edge" them now as if they are teasing a heel turn too, much like they have been planting the seeds to the point that it's inevitable with Kenny Omega for the last few months now.
21-man Casino Battle Royale
Winner received a future AEW World Championship match
Lance Archer won by last eliminating Eddie Kingston
Matt Sydal pulled the Joker card and made his AEW debut in this match, only to deliver the first scary as hell moment on this show when he slipped and fell off the ropes while attempting to do a Shooting Star Press. That scared the hell out of me seeing it live and I thought we were watching that guy break his neck from how bad that was. Fortunately, he was fine and was able to complete the match. As of this posting (9/11/20) he hasn't reported any injuries.
Introducing Will Hobbs. One of AEW's best kept secrets tucked away on AEW Dark...
This match marked the standout performance of Will Hobbs. Now where have they been hiding this guy? Dude was on par with Big E's size while showing off Keith Lee's power and ability. This is a guy they should be featuring on Dynamite instead of regulating to Dark every week.
Seems like AEW is just pairing people off to rekindle old Lucha Underground dynamics and/of feuds as that was the exact vibe I got from Sonny Kiss eliminating Jake Hager. Kiss/Janela are already booked to face Hager/Jericho on Dynamite this week as payback from Jericho's brutal attack on Janela the week prior in his "warm-up" match for Cassidy later tonight.
— GIFSkull IV - Banned Soon Due to False DMCA Spam (@GifSkullIV) September 6, 2020
Stupidest bump of the night (up to this point anyway) went to Brian Cage performing a Border Toss on Darby Allin trapped within a body bag full of thumb tacks to land on the corner of the stage/ramp. There was absolutely no reason to do this bump but a million and one ways that this could have ended horribly wrong. This wasn't cool nor amazing to watch. It was just fucking stupid.
I was fine with Lance Archer picking up the win here, but it pretty much spoiled the main event in a sense. You knew that AEW are marks for that New Japan style matches and feuds, so you know that they want to setup the Wrestle Kingdom rematch between Lance Archer and Jon Moxley at Full Gear.
Broken Rules Match
Matt Hardy def. Sammy Guevara
Had Hardy lost, he would have had to leave AEW
The match started out into the stadium arena where the Stadium Stampede Match took place at their last PPV and quickly spilled out into the backstage area/parking area. One thing led to another that set Sammy and Matt up on a raised platform that saw Sammy SPEAR Matt Hardy off the platform, seemingly to go through the two tables that were set up below. What happened instead was their lower bodies hit ONE of the tables while the back of Matt Hardy's head hit the unforgiving concrete below.
This was the moment where I was absolutely disgusted with this company. I've seen wrestling podcasters, journalists, wrestlers, and even the die-hard of their fanbase express their absolute disgust with how AEW handled this situation.
Let me be absolutely fucking clear.
There is NOTHING entertaining about a concussion. Shame on everyone in that goddamn building. pic.twitter.com/ujdOU9Z60I
They needed additional imaging done after his CT. He’s still in the hospital. 1000% concussion. Anyone with eyes could have told you that tho. pic.twitter.com/pvitxewWI5
As of this posting (9/11/20), Reby Hardy (Matt's wife) has reported that Matt Hardy has suffered a concussion when he was checked out at the hospital that evening and was kept for more testing Sunday. On the other end of things, Tony Khan has been removing all of the blame on himself and pointing it towards the ring doctor who checked Hardy out and clarified that Matt was able to continue after administering a concussion impact test. There's no way in hell that they ran an impact test when the match was restarted within the span of 3-4 minutes after Matt Hardy was knocked out unconscious for at least 45 seconds. That tells you right there that there's no sort of concussion protocol in place nor that Tony Khan have the slightest idea of how to administer one, despite the fact that he owns a fucking football team. This entire incident showed me a complete lack of proper leadership and this money mark - that's all what he is at this point to me - only cares about booking his fantasy matches and jerking off to high spots no matter who gets hurt as long as it pops a rating. It's HIS fucking company. He could have easily overruled the doctor to stop this match. Stipulation or not, this match should have been stopped the moment Matt Hardy was knocked unconscious for his own safety. Instead, Khan is giving his company a very bad look not only to his fanbase but to the wrestling industry as a whole for this false narrative that he is painting with how this entire situation played out Saturday night.
But yet, you have ass-hats out there like Dave Meltzer is siding with Tony Khan on this decision. Like seriously, how much is that dude paying you to blow him every week in your writing and radio shows dude? Anyone with a fully functioning brain could tell that Matt Hardy suffered a concussion in that match. You could see it in Ref Aubrey's face when it turned pale when she trying to get him to respond. That was arguably the hardest moment to watch as wrestling fan out of my 30+ years of being a fan. When I saw Matt Hardy's head hit that concrete and his body stiffened up like he was frozen, I thought we just saw that man die live on PPV and it legitimately scared the shit out of me for the second time tonight during this broadcast. If I saw a man die on this broadcast tonight, I can guarantee you that I would not have come back to watch this sport again.
For me personally? I'm siding with Konnan and Disco Inferno on this discussion.
Seriously, this should be the last straw and wake up call for every fan out there that fails to realize week to week that these reckless, downright STUPID, and completely unnecessary bumps (especially with or without crowds) aren't needed to make any match any better. That doesn't just go for AEW, but for all of modern wrestling as a whole.
Singles match for the AEW Women's World Championship
Hikaru Shida (c) defeated Thunder Rosa
I was hyped for this match ever since it was announced and they did the mock MMA contract signing for it between both respective champions.
Watching this live was pretty darn tough after the horror show that we witnessed with the Matt Hardy situation, but Rosa and Shida definitely had my favorite match of the evening by far. If you don't watch anything else from this shit-storm of a PPV, go out of your way to watch this match. This is EASILY the best thing on this show and not only the second best women's match in this company's history. That's shocking too when Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb killed it on Dynamite a few days prior to this event.
Another completely unnecessary, reckless bump that could have EASILY ended horribly, like many things on this card.
The only knock I have against this match was the diving senton spot out onto the stage where if Thunder Rosa's head and neck was any closer to those steps from the entrance ramp that Shida would've killed or paralyzed her from the landing. Can ANYONE in this fucking company tell these people enough is enough when it comes to these reckless and completely unnecessary bumps? Seeing that spot really made me mad, especially after what we saw with Matt Hardy in the match prior to this.
Outside of that one knock, this match raised the bar for women's wrestling in this company. I felt sorry for the folks who had follow this act. NWA's Thunder Rosa may have lost here, but she has put on two standout performances in every match AEW has featured her in.
Eight-Man Tag Team Match
Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky, and The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall) (with Allie and Brandi Rhodes) def. The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Colt Cabana, Evil Uno and Stu Grayson) (with Anna Jay)
This was easily the bathroom break match of the night and should have served as the buffer following the Matt Hardy situation. Piss poor match order placement in regard of having these matches following that event. If the crowd was struggling to cope with what had transpired in the last match then they really didn't care about this shit. I know I sure as hell didn't. Hell, I didn't even know that Brodie Lee was even in this match until it started. I thought it was going to be full of more of standard losers of the Dark Order. To be fair though, Stu Grayson and Evil Uno are decent workers. I'll give them that much, but they are saddled with this gimmick that is utter shit, no matter what AEW does to polish this turd.
Can someone explain to me why Brandi Rhodes is already back to managing the Natural Nightmares? She couldn't sell that attack that her and Cody suffered for a few weeks at least? She stayed out for what felt like a goddamn week or two only to show up at the PPV like nothing happened. She only came out here to contribute to some of the run-ins in this match, namely to get some payback on Anna Jay (who strangled her to death during the assault on Cody) - when Allie could have done that to the same capacity. The Nightmare Family has all of these managers and extra sidekicks and associates that they are starting to look as foolish as the Dark Order as the weeks and months have rolled on since the start of AEW. Speaking of friends, Matt Cardona sure looks like he's taking full advantage of not being tested on WWE's Wellness Policy. Scorpio Sky seemed like he was just there to be the extra guy on this mash-up of guys who needed to be in this filler match that should have been relegated to Dynamite the following week.
Jim Ross got a lot of heat online for his wardrobe malfunction comment he made towards Anna Jay on commentary. I laughed hearing it live, but at the same time, it just adds to the laundry list of questionable moments of him on commentary since signing with this company. It just adds to the proof that JR doesn't give a flying fuck working here as long as he's just collecting that fat paycheck while squandering away his own credibility by endorsing this tomfoolery going on in this company with his name and voice attached to it.
And for the record, I can't speak for anyone else, but while I think that Dustin Rhodes has had a career renaissance since the tail end of his last WWE run to now in terms of his ring work, I don't give a damn about seeing him face Brodie Lee for the TNT title on Dynamite. I don't understand why they are rushing this match, along with having Brandi coming back so soon, when they could afford to space this out a bit. Let the Dark Order breathe a bit and garner more big wins if they are so dead set on establish them as this "dominant" faction (laughs), even though they are no less threatening than Aces & Eights (BEFORE Bully Ray was revealed as the leader) at this point.
Tag Team Match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) (with Tully Blanchard) defeated Kenny Omega and Adam Page (c)
I watched this match twice - once live and again a few days later to make sure I didn't miss anything. I don't fault the talents involved, but I didn't think this was a very good match at all. The best tag team match on the card goes to the Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express in my humble opinion. FTR against Omega and Page felt like a styles clash at multiple points in this match. The lack of a pumped, enthusiastic crowd for this match hurt it even more, along with the fact that Omega was half-assing the selling of the limbs that FTR were tirelessly working over. Working over Omega proved to be for nothing when Page was the one who got pinned when it was all said and done. Did I miss something or did they do the exact same finish twice before covering Hangman for the win?
After the match was won by FTR, Omega immediately quit selling his leg (even though he was barely doing it during this match, if at all) and went outside of the ring to get a table. He TEASED using it on Page to complete the heel turn that everyone is anticipating at this moment and thought better of it before storming into the back with the Young Bucks. They seem to be teasing a heel turn for the Elite collectively instead of solely with Omega. I'm fine with that if they are going forward with Hangman being a lone wolf babyface.
Even though I wasn't happy with the match as a whole, I'm glad that the tag team title are with FTR, who can confidently call themselves the first tag team to hold the NXT, RAW, SmackDown, AND AEW Tag Team Championships.
Mimosa Mayhem match
Orange Cassidy def. Chris Jericho by knocking him into the vat of mimosa
Match could be won by pinfall, submission, or fully submerging an opponent into a vat of mimosa
This was just there at this point as I kept looking at the clock in my room. It was past 11PM after this point. I get that AEW doesn't have too many PPVs over the year, but by this point we were clocking in roughly 6-7 hours of AEW content in one night if you watched the Countdown to All Out on TNT, the Buy-In Pre-show, and the Red Carpet specials on YouTube - along with this PPV in its entirety to this point. I was pretty much waiting for the bump into the mimosa and Jericho didn't disappoint in that regard at all.
— GIFSkull IV - Banned Soon Due to False DMCA Spam (@GifSkullIV) September 6, 2020
I legitimately laughed at how Jericho flew back into the mimosa like it was Charlie Murphy kicking Rick James into the mirror. #AEWAllOutpic.twitter.com/yEv4X9MXUS
Moxley was banned from using the Paradigm Shift finishing move
Time and time again and I honestly don't see what's the fascination with Moxley as a world champion. I didn't see it in WWE and I REALLY don't see it here in AEW. Out of the three guys in The Shield - Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley), Moxley was the easily the short end of the stick. I think that it's ironic that while he went off on podcasts and interviews after leaving WWE that he was frustrated with being the "wacky Dean" character on WWE programming, he still gives off that vibe here when he's trying to splice in elements of Stone Cold Steve Austin too. I have tried to give him the benefit of a doubt but there hasn't been a single Moxley match in this company that I have seen that I have been blown away by in any capacity. Ambrose bored me to tears in WWE and Moxley is repeating that trend in AEW. I'm really starting to see why Vince McMahon (much like Brodie Lee) didn't have faith in him as a top draw. This match had a lot of ass-backwards psychology going on, with MJF working majority of the match from underneath as the heel while Moxley was in control as the babyface no less. It didn't make much sense to me, especially when they kept dragging this match along and it was minutes to midnight at this point of the show. Watching this match live, I was just beyond fed up and ready for this show to end.
A Paradigm Shift ends the match regardless of the fact it was banned.
Like I mentioned earlier, the end result wasn't a surprise in the least when you already knew that Lance Archer won the Casino Battle Royal for the future title shot against Moxley. This company isn't stupid. They want to do the Wrestle Kingdom rematch from this year that New Japan can't capitalize on. I will give AEW props for the finish here as that was a nice touch as it gives MJF an out and something to complain about like all shit-eating heels do.
Afterthoughts:
Dear AEW,
PLEASE refrain from anymore stupid, dangerous, and completely unnecessary bumps tonight. I don't want to see any of these hard working men and women to die not tonight or any night. Work smart not stupid. #AEWAllOut
Overall, I thought this was AEW's most embarrassing PPV outing to date. I was downright disgusted with this company by the time it was over. This show, from top to bottom, should be a wake-up call for every wrestling fan thinking that this company does no wrong when that is the furthest thing away from being true.
I'm not the only one saying this either. You got a wealth of people calling out AEW for this bullshit tonight with a few noteworthy tweets below.
Much like several podcasters said or wrote. Last night was a wake up call for everyone who sees a can do no wrong promotion in aew. Nothing is perfect or always 5 stars. Least that being pro wrestling. Tony Kahn and his brain trust crew. Should be taken to task. Nothing to debate
Wait so Matt Hardy was knocked out for a full minute, Aubry tried to end the match, a doctor said he's good & they kept going? They didn't even give him a Z Pack?
AEW operates with the same reckless abandonment that WWE has. It's just what happens when you can throw a billion dollars at a company. But nobody takes issue with it because it's the smart fan's show. But it's the same exact shit.
WWE has a COVID outbreak yall go crazy. AEW let's Jerich wrestle after playing a concert stating "he passed the test" but it can take 2 weeks for symptoms to show & there have been 500 cases from that event, plus they've invited fans back. But it's all good.
WWE has made gimmick matches the center of their PPVs. So people continuously have to up the ante and it leads to injuries. AEW is doing the same exact shit. Matt Hardy should have never been allowed to do something like that at his age in the first place.
Without a shadow of a doubt, All Out (2020) will live on as a complete embarrassment for this company. The honeymoon period is CLEARLY over and we need to stop giving AEW a free pass when it comes to constructive criticism and grade them in the same capacity as IMPACT, WWE, or any other promotion under the sun. A lot of stupid shit went down on this show and AEW along with Tony Khan should be called out for it, no matter how much you may love the talent that works here or want to see an alternative "topple" WWE. If Khan expects AEW to survive long term and no one doesn't end up killing themselves on his programming then he needs to really start telling these guys and girls NO when it comes to some of this reckless abandon that I see on these shows on a regular basis. It's not cool - it's goddamn stupid and that's exactly what we need to be calling it as.
As of this posting (9/11/20), the All Out fallout edition of Dynamite has come and gone. Matt Hardy appeared on Dynamite, accompanied by his wife, Reby Hardy with their infant child in the crowd, and thanked all of the fans for their support in that dire situation on Saturday night. He apologized for scaring everyone, his family included, for putting them through that traumatic experience, but I felt that Tony Khan should have made a rare appearance on-camera and apologized not only to Matt Hardy, but Reby Hardy as well, for allowing that match to continue when Hardy wasn't in any shape to continue it just to do the finish spot. Instead, Khan continues to brush this whole situation under the rug and sweep all blame away from himself. If you go onto AEW's Twitter page, you will notice that they have removed all traces of Matt Hardy's infamous fall off their account. Between how this company has mishandled that situation and the stupidity that allowed on this program on a regular basis, I can't see Tony Khan as nothing more than a money mark. I'm sorry, but he hasn't shown me anything to make me think any different.
During an interview on Dynamite, Kenny Omega clarifies that everything between himself and Hangman Page is fine, but the more he talks it seems to be that he's teasing a return of "The Cleaner" from his days in New Japan while the Young Bucks seem to be going "all in" on this heel turn for The Elite. Omega needs to do something as compared to a year ago, his stock value in wrestling has drastically gone down. He's nowhere as the high profile free agent that was in high demand this time last year. Being a giving performer in this business is one thing, but you don't be so giving that it's detrimental to your own career. Omega and the Bucks should have taken the reigns at the start, much like Chris Jericho and THEN put over guys to bring them up to their level. One year later, it seems like it's going to be all for nothing when only the AEW die-hards still think those guys are in high demand anymore.
Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford revealed that Miro - the former "Bulgarian Brute" Rusev in WWE - is their "best man" for their pending wedding. Miro came out to the same song and dance as every other ex-WWE guy coming into this company or IMPACT Wrestling for the last decade and a half, saying how they were misused and denied a brass ring. I'm sorry but I'm not feeling sorry for him with that shit. Same goes for a lot of ex-WWE talent. No one held a gun to your head and MADE you sign those renewal contract deals for all of those years you stayed there. Don't be mad now that the checks stopped coming in. That was your own stupidity. The best way to get back at WWE is to rub your newfound success in their faces, not constantly bring up the past looking for some sort of a pity party. Rusev, now Miro, had a lot of high-profile matches for WWE. I can't say that they completely misused the guy when his ultimate downfall was him and his own wife, Lana, went to TMZ and told him about their real life wedding when they were in divorce storyline on camera. I don't blame WWE for burying him for killing kayfabe on what was a great gimmick and pairing at the time. In regard to Miro in AEW, I don't have any high expectations for this lackluster debut. All I'm going to say is that it's "nut up or shut up" time.
FTR held a "celebration" of sorts on Dynamite to celebrate their win with the entire tag team division, but I was more surprised that they didn't get their faces dunked into that sheet cake that they brought out. Instead, all of the tag teams at ringside were able to enjoy it at their leisure. That definitely has to be a first for modern wrestling that a cake was shown on television and not ruined in any capacity. On a positive note, I'm anxious to see who FTR works with next in hopes of elevating this tag team division because that mess with Hangman and Omega didn't click at all.
NWA's Women's Champion Thunder Rosa walked away from All Out in a losing effort, but I think between her match on Dynamite and on All Out, she opened a LOT of people's eyes who weren't aware of nor familiar with her talents prior to her appearances for this company. I'm glad to see that she's getting a chance to defend her title next week on Dynamite with one of her fellow Lucha Underground alumni, Ivelisse. Meanwhile, Shida seems to be pegged to resume her feud with Nyla Rose yet again. AEW signed Tay Conti from the Deadly Draw Women's Tag Team Tournament this week. She lost to Rose on Dynamite, but I hope we see more of her. She's still pretty green, despite being trained at the WWE Performance Center, but she shows a lot of promise, especially more than a lot of the other women in that division.
As for that Dustin Rhodes vs. Brodie Lee match for the TNT Championship, I walked out of the living room and did the dishes in the kitchen over watching the bulk of that match. Naturally (no pun intended), Dustin lost. Who didn't see that coming? They aren't going to take that title off of Brodie Lee after that massive injury angle they did with Cody to write him off television. He's probably isn't going to lose that title until Cody is ready to come back. I doubt we have to wait long as they were airing vignettes for him during All Out and he's being advertised for appearing on another television show, so we know he's not hurt. It's not like this company keeps up much kayfabe to begin with.
Kate Bishop joins our expanding roster in Marvel’s Avengers: Kate Bishop – Taking AIM, a post-launch Operation in the Avengers Initiative.
As a master archer, Kate has the smarts, the talent, and the witty attitude that makes any enemy she faces quiver in fear. #Reassemble
I understand that they wanted to add someone associated with Hawkeye to justify his addition to the game later, but why her right off the bat? I feel that Hawkeye should have been on the launch roster to begin with anyway. It just seems weird that they would go with adding her this fast when there's already so many other highly sought after Avengers that should make the list first and foremost. After Chadwick Boseman's unfortunate demise I would be racing to get Black Panther/T'Challa in this game in some capacity.
But I get it though, Kate Bishop is a pretty popular character when people think of Hawkeye these days.
It's time to assemble.
Live your Super Hero dreams in Marvel's Avengers on September 4. #EmbraceYourPowers
I remember seeing this commercial while I was watching WWE NXT on the USA Network last week and thought it was pretty awesome to say that I still have remotely no interest in picking this game up at launch. I stand by my opinion from the open beta last month. I wasn't particularly impressed with what they had to offer, but I wouldn't be opposed to picking it up to play the campaign's narrative down the road whenever the game hits the bargain bin or on sale.
Welp, shit's finally hit the fan as Fatalis officially arrives in the New World. Ever since the arrival of Safi'jiiva, the NPCs in-game have been dropping not-so-subtle clues about his arrival as the end of all things, so this monster rightfully deserves to be the last obstacle in players' wakes at the conclusion of Iceborne's expansion and more importantly, for the lore of Monster Hunter World as a whole. I'm sure that the devs have some insane tricks up their sleeves for this battle as they didn't bother to drop any details about this fight - AT ALL. I don't know why I have a feeling that this is going to be Extreme Behemoth all over again. Unlike most people, I didn't think Alatreon was as bad as the wealth of complaints that stemmed from the mechanics of that battle. Simply put, Alatreon was an elemental DPS check from start to finish. Otherwise, you were wasting your time and efforts. The common complaint from the community was that elemental damage has been nerfed across the board and relegated as a specialty that very few weapon classes can truly capitalize on to optimize the battle properly. That's partially true, but the majority of the complaints were coming from players who were too comfortable and too lazy to give up their precious Master's Touch-focused and/or high raw damage DPS builds to try something different. In that regard, I hope the developers have something similar in mind to piss off players even more and to enforce more less common strategies to topple this beast. This is supposed to be the apex predator in terms of everything in the franchise (at least that's the impression that I get from Monster Hunter veterans), so I'm looking forward to the devs to pull out all of the stops and not pull any punches on this one. Alatreon was definitely the kick in the nuts that everyone needed and I want to see more battles in the vein of that one in terms of difficulty.
Developer Diary: The Final Stand imminent! You won't want to miss this one...
Like I mentioned on Facebook and Twitter, it made me sad to realize that this is actually the final developer diary and last round monster additions to the game.
How could anyone not look at that final montage at the end of this stream and not get sentimental after spending the better part of two years with this game. You buy this game and have the entire wealth of content for that game right out of the box with the developers supporting it from the start to the end of the base game's life for FREE, with regular updates right up to the paid Iceborne expansion and still continuing to do the same for the expansion. It makes sad that we're winding down to the end of this journey. I have made a wealth of friends from this game - either from hunting together in-game, talking about it on social media and/or Discord, and as well as streaming over on YouTube/Twitch. I'm going to continue to ride this out to the end, even though most people I know have already moved on to other games and only pop in for the new updates, but I'm always going to be willing to jump back in and help friends out if they need a helping hand with the grind. I freakin' love this game and I hope Capcom doesn't make us wait long for the sequel.
Payback was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Networkevent produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDownbrand divisions. It took place on August 30, 2020 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. It was the sixth event in the Payback chronology and the first to be held since the 2017 event.
The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan) def. The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce)
Didn't watch, but as of this posting (9/1/20), the IIconics were forced to disband due to losing to the Riott Squad the following night in a rematch on Monday Night RAW. I'm all for that since Peyton Royce deserved to go on her own for a while now. She's clearly the more talented of the two in-ring. Let Billie Kay serve as enhancement talent on one of the other brands post-draft.
Singles Match for the WWE United States Championship
Bobby Lashley (with MVP and Shelton Benjamin) def. Apollo Crews (c) by submission
The first thing I uttered after the finish was "WTF is the FULL Lashley?" Decent match, I guess, but they did the right thing here and put the title on Lashley, who should have been challenging Apollo in the first place. MVP should have been the mouthpiece from day one. I don't need to see him still wrestling in 2020. Isn't the whole point of the Hurt Business is to rehab Lashley and elevate him back to his former greatness with Shelton Benjamin?
Singles Match
Big E def. Sheamus
These two guys tried here, but they had already had a series of decent matches over on SmackDown! so this was pretty much rehashing familiar territory. I was the under the impression that Sheamus still had some nagging back issues so I found myself cringing that he took that bump down to the floor from the ring apron off that Spear out of the ring spot that Big E loves doing. I'm surprised that dude hasn't sprained his wrists or something from doing that so much all of these years. I can totally get behind this Big E that's all business when the bell rings.
I'm going to keep saying it though - he needs to leave the goofy shit at home if he really wants to take this singles push somewhere though.
Singles Match
Matt Riddle def. King Corbin
I couldn't give a flying fuck about this. Corbin lost and that's all what matters in terms of sensible booking.
Tonight, I prove that Matt Riddle is a failure in a WWE ring. By the way…he’s already proven that he’s a failure at home. #WWEPayback
Corbin won the match though when his tweet was read on-air and the exact moment where Riddle's happy expression sank right down the drain was priceless.
I see people complaining about bringing up his real life infidelity allegations into a WWE storyline but I'm looking at it like WWE bringing up Jeff Hardy's alcohol and drug abuse into storylines recently. It's nothing different for them. This is their brand of being "edgy" and "real" in 2020. It's definitely in bad taste but they think are exposing "insider" stuff by airing dirty laundry on television.
Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax def. Bayley and Sasha Banks (c) by submission
I didn't think this actual match was very good at all. There were tons of botches, not just from Nia Jax, but from Sasha and Bayley attempting to move her around the ring. The best thing to come out of this match was the very creative submission finish from Shayna Baszler by using Sasha's own arms to choke out Bayley for the win.
Man, that was an awesome finish. Can't say the same about the rest of the match leading up to it though.
I busted out laughing that commentary wasted absolutely NO time in saying "NO BELTS BANKS" after the decision. I couldn't understand why Nia was overjoyed during the post-match interview when she contributed absolutely jackshit to the finish here. They should've handed both belts to Shayna and let her be a single woman wrecking crew - unless she has Marina Safir and Jessamyn Duke as her lackeys on the main roster (full-time) now.
Singles Match
Keith Lee def. Randy Orton
Can't say that anything here was memorable nor noteworthy, but in terms of the pattern is smart booking tonight, the right man won with Lee going over on Orton. I guess this confirms the rumors and predictions that Orton is going to take that title from Drew McIntyre, which would set Lee in a prime position to challenge for said title in the near-future.
Tag Team Match
Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio def. Seth Rollins and Murphy
This wasn't anywhere close as their match at Summerslam the weekend prior, but it's to be expected that these guys can't hit two homeruns in two PPVs mere weekends apart. On top of that, Rey Mysterio suffered an injury in this match, so that probably played a factor in that as well. This wasn't a bad match, but I was a little underwhelmed, especially given the high stakes of their previous match. Dominik still shined here like before, but Rollins and Murphy's antics are getting old at this point. Murphy ate the pin here, so it's obvious that this feud isn't over when it should be at this point. They could have given the Mysterio family the win with the feel good moment to capitalize on the name of the PPV but they didn't with Rollins not being the one to eat the pinfall here. I don't see why they should milk this feud out for a few more months. It's not like WrestleMania is around the corner or anything.
No Holds Barred, Triple Threat match for the WWE Universal Championship
Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) def. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (c) and Braun Strowman
The tale of the tape to setup this match all night was the cliffhanger reveal at the end of Friday Night SmackDown! was that Paul Heyman was now managing Roman Reigns. If there's any doubt in anyone's minds, but the "Big Dog" is now officially a heel. He was refusing to sign the contract for this match until it was tailored to his specifications. The story had the commentary team acting like there was any doubt that he was going to sign it to be a part of this title match. Strowman and The Fiend came off even bigger dumbasses in all of this when they were fighting in this match like it was a one-on-one contest until Roman Reigns came out and wrecked shop like this was a Money In The Bank cash-in.
Going into this match, I was convinced that Roman and Heyman were going to be revealed to being the masterminds behind Retribution, but in retrospect, I'm glad they weren't. What the hell does Roman have to be mad about? That wouldn't have made a lick of damn sense. I rather this reveal for Retribution be something big for a lot of NXT call-ups or misused main roster talents anyway.
Paul Heyman raising the hand of his new client in victory.
Afterthoughts:
This wasn't a flat out god-awful show, but it wasn't a particular exciting show either, especially to serve up as a follow-up last weekend's NXT TakeOver XXX and Summerslam events. Despite the wealth of smart booking decisions on this show, it ultimately felt completely unnecessary. They could have done most of what they have done here later this month at Clash of Champions or on the weekly RAW and SmackDown! shows to pop a rating. As a result, I was left feeling like a vast majority of this show was a complete waste of time, especially for the majority of the undercard.
