Poll of the Day > Geekacea: Dose One Edition

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The Wave Master
02/15/21 8:31:28 PM
#201:


The Thunder Rosa match was the best of rhe night; At least in my opinion. Those ladies wrestled very well, and were fully covered compared to others I've seen on any wrestling promotion. I enjoyed the match, but it is all subjective.

The only other rings I will mention are that Darby Allin's whole gimmick is that he's a goth skater and they wear faded, washed, and ripped black jeans. Those were some of my best friends in high school during the 90's, and holds true even today.

The other thing is suspension of belief; in that when MJF kicks out everyone that the camera person isn't everyone, and doesn't exist at all, and that no one watches back stage segments in wrestling. Yes, it doesn't make any damn sense, but it's wrestling. These people beat the **** out of each other every week without the law getting involved or people dying. Pretending a camera person doesn't exist isn't going to end the suspension of belief. Within the wresting universe it's as common as tables under the ring every week... why? Or a sledgehammer... Looming at you Triple H.

But it wasn't the best week for AEW except a few highlights. Raw and Smackdown were worse if we're looking at the whole business for critique.

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Zeus
02/15/21 9:12:42 PM
#202:


The Wave Master posted...
The only other rings I will mention are that Darby Allin's whole gimmick is that he's a goth skater and they wear faded, washed, and ripped black jeans. Those were some of my best friends in high school during the 90's, and holds true even today.

He wasn't wearing jeans, though. I thought they were jeans at first glance, but he was just wearing jean shorts with black spandex tights underneath (presumably because you don't have the flexibility with jeans). Had he been wearing jeans, I wouldn't have batted an eye (although it's an impractical choice for wrestling).

It reminded me of some Peter Pan shit.

The Wave Master posted...


The other thing is suspension of belief; in that when MJF kicks out everyone that the camera person isn't everyone, and doesn't exist at all, and that no one watches back stage segments in wrestling.

It was Sammy who kicked everybody out. Had MJF asked the cameraman stay, it wouldn't have been so goofy... although I guess it would have been goofy regardless because there was no reason to make a big deal about the phone with the camera there.

The Wave Master posted...
Yes, it doesn't make any damn sense, but it's wrestling.

It's not hard to do wrestling and have it make sense. It doesn't have to be an either/or. "It's wrestling" shouldn't be an excuse for shitty writing. Keep in mind that for years a similar excuse was used for cartoons, up until better-written cartoons started kicking the shit out of the poorly-written crap.

The Wave Master posted...
These people beat the **** out of each other every week without the law getting involved or people dying. Pretending a camera person doesn't exist isn't going to end the suspension of belief. Within the wresting universe it's as common as tables under the ring every week... why? Or a sledgehammer... Looming at you Triple H.

Which is basically why extreme rules wrestling was barely seen until they broke kayfabe.

The Wave Master posted...
Raw and Smackdown were worse if we're looking at the whole business for critique.

And believe me, I'm not going to bother watching either of those to test that theory... well, maybe I'll try Smackdown. I'm not touching Raw, though. I'm drawing a line there, even though the Hulu edit isn't nearly as long as the actual Raw.

I'm honestly not sure how anybody could manage to sit through all of the American promotions on a weekly basis, let alone the international ones.

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Zeus
02/15/21 11:38:56 PM
#203:


I was watching the 2018 elimination chamber match and geez they had some awesome spots involving Strowman. That four-man Shield Powerbomb into a four-man pin that he kicked out of was fucking great. As was Miz climbing the chamber to escape then Strowman climbing after him. There's really nothing like a monster heel played like a monster heel.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
You're kind of missing my point. Because Cornette's bias is so strong, and because he's your main source of information about AEW, you're only hearing about the worst aspects of the company, and they're being painted in the worst possible light, so your own impression of the product is far more biased than you actually realize.

It would be like you watching MSNBC and The Young Turks as your only news sources and being convinced that you fully understand every facet of modern politics.

His "bias" against the company is nowhere near as pronounced as many claim. The stuff he complains about are all logical things to complain about (although a few are clearly style choices). And while you could argue that he might highlight the bad more than the good, that doesn't excuse the bad. If George Clooney was doing a million volunteer functions, but also drowning small animals, I wouldn't hold it against somebody for focusing on that drowning small animals part of his persona because that other shit doesn't excuse it. Or, as was noted in Clash of the Titans, 'A thousand good deeds cannot make up for one murder'

Otherwise it's fundamentally different from TYT, MSNBC, etc, in that when I see the actual thing they're talking about, it's nothing like what they're claiming. When I find an AEW clip -- and somestimes not even the one they're referencing -- it's usually been shit. Instead of exaggerating like the media does, Cornette is understating some of it.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
He felt threatened enough to immediately counterprogram against their show in a desperate attempt to cost them ratings, and his show is regularly beaten by them in the ratings every single week. When you take demographics into account, their show is actually right on par with Raw, his beloved baby.

You mean NXT is beaten by them in ratings. Raw and SD both trounce AEW in ratings. In fact, if you took AEW's rating and tripled it, AEW ***STILL*** would come up short against Raw and SD most weeks.

Raw is the A show. SD is the B show. NXT is the C show. You're making a big deal about AEW beating the C show. The only way you could set the bar any lower would be if NXT was beating it as well.

And your attempt to say, "Well, if you look at the demographics," is just weird.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
Hell, even Cornette and Brian Last themselves have freely admitted that for all that they hate AEW, they still tend to like it more than the current WWE product. WWE really isn't attracting new fans, even NXT (which was the trendy, smark-favored brand for years). Regardless of what you might think of the product, AEW is.

Cornette has repeatedly gone on record as preferring NXT to AEW. And the only new people AEW gets watching the program are people Cornette sends there with his criticisms to see if the program really is as rotten as he claims.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
Cornette's mentioned that the Montreal Screwjob was his idea (though it's up to the individual to decide whether or not he's lying - considering other people have claimed credit for it as well, I'd argue his version of the story seems the most plausible). Or that, at the very least, he's the one who gave Vince the idea.

I've listened to the omnibus and individual Montreal videos a few times in the past, I don't remember Cornette claiming it was his idea (and a few of the videos phrase things in a way that suggest he wasn't really involved). Some of the clips even discuss how he believed that Brett would honor his word.

And on that subject, some of the WWE's performers and staff at the time have gone on record claiming that they think the Screwjob was a work and that Brett was really in on it, so... there's also that craziness.


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Zeus
02/16/21 12:20:44 AM
#204:


ParanoidObsessive posted...
This isn't really a valid argument, considering he didn't really talk about much wrestling other than those two even before the pandemic. He mostly talks about the two most significant mainstream companies, and only really talks about other companies in the context of his own direct personal relationship with them in the past (TNA, MLW, NWA,RoH, etc). And the rest of the time he's talking about anecdotes from 30+ years ago during the territory days (which is where he's the most interesting/enlightening, IMO).

It's the same reason why most wrestling YouTubers don't bother making review videos to cover Impact shows, but will cover WWE and AEW. Because that's where the interest is. He talks about AEW because it's popular enough to justify it. Not because he's got nothing else to talk about and is begrudgingly giving attention to something he otherwise wouldn't be giving the time of day.

Except if he actually wanted attention and to chase the crowd, he wouldn't go with AEW -- a show that can't even pull in a million viewers per week -- he'd focus on either Raw or SD which pull in close to 2m or over 2m viewers per week. (And it looks like lately SD's numbers might even be better than Raw's at times? I guess because it's on Fox now?)

The only thing AEW has going for it is that it's easier to mock most of the time, although Bray Wyatt's goofy nonsense gets attention at times for how bad it is.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
Though this leads me to another minor tangent - it might be worth an aside that I've never entirely bought into the philosophy that kayfabe is the END-ALL BE-ALL of wrestling anyway, because I honestly can't remember a time when I ever thought wrestling was real in the first place. PART of that might be because I grew up in the Northeast instead of Memphis/Mid-South/etc, where Vince was putting on ridiculous shows (and Hulk Hogan had his own cartoon!), part of it might be because I was always pretty smart/cynical in general even from a young age (and had a skeptical father who tended to encourage that style of thinking), maybe it was because having Mister T and Cyndi Lauper show up (while Captain Lou was hanging out with The Goonies) made it hard for me to assume any of this shit was real, or maybe for some other reason - but I feel like as early as the mid-80s I was blatantly aware that it was all acting and predetermined storylines. I was certainly aware of it by the time the Undertaker was murdered, rose to the Heavens, then reincarnated as two different people and he had to fight himself to reclaim his identity. All while Leslie Nielsen investigated in-character as Frank Drebin.

Even in 1998 and 1999 I still ran into fans who -- despite watching the WWE -- thought wrestling was real. >_> So kay still somehow existed at least a little bit.

And yeah, region certainly mattered because tri-state was big on comedy bullshit wrestling so people were less likely to take it seriously, whereas other parts of the country played it straight. (And this was BEFORE you had things like the Undertaker, even back when Vince Senior was running things... although it's worth noting that Vince Senior -- unlike Junior -- had his limits. Vince Sr supposedly hated the idea of wrestlers getting into entertainment because he was allegedly worried about exposing the business. VKM had the opposite opinion, he always wanted to be the Walt Disney of wrestling so he tried to promote partnerships with the media.) Then you have fucking Mexico and lucha which looks like highly coordinated hokey bullshit, and when wrestlers started bringing that crap into the US and it caught on that helped make wrestling look like crap nowadays.

It's like watching a movie, where you can either get lost in a fight scene or distracted by the hokey dumb shit in a fight scene where your suspension of disbelief keeps getting killed.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
There was a time when Westerns were the most popular genre ever - and then suddenly there was a time when they weren't. Pirate films went from being really popular, to utter cinema death, to popular, and then back again. The popularity of superheroes seems to go in cycles as well, at least in comics themselves. Like it or not, pop culture tastes are always changing. Maybe wrestling (which itself used to peak and dip in cycles!) is simply an idea whose time has passed, and no style of wrestling will ever be as popular again.

The idea that things just happen to get big and then they just happen to go out of fashion is magical thinking. And wrestling isn't like a film genre or tv genre, it's a separate beast entirely. It'd be more comparable to a sport than anything else. And back when it was massively popular and people believed it, it was treated as a sport.

However, when things go from being popular to tanking, there's a usual trend where as something grows you get cheap imitators and knockoffs which choke the market and ruin things, ultimately alienating the fanbase and killing the popularity. Cue the mud shows, which could kill entire territories. AEW is a modern day mud show. It pops for a very small demographic who really love that crap, while turning off everybody else. (Of course, the irony here might be the fact that WWE itself effectively killed a lot of territories by virtue of playing in those territories and making wrestling look like crap, so if AEW's garbage wrestling did hurt Vince by killing wrestling's overall fanbase with its hokey & stupid product, it would be almost karmic retribution.)

But otherwise part of wrestling's overall decline is the WWE's decline. Partly because -- as you mentioned -- of all the hotshotting which threw everything out that you could possibly use to impress people in just a few years, but also because they can't recognize or build credible talent any more.

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Zeus
02/16/21 12:46:21 AM
#205:


LuciferSage posted...
Krull was terrible, and I loved it as a kid.

I enjoyed Krull, but I recognize it was really bad. However, I can enjoy it while being okay with its lousiness because it starred Kevin Sorbo who literally just did that with H:TLJ. And it's a fucking shame that Sorbo's career was effectively cut short, first by illness when it was taking off and then allegedly because of his religious views although, honestly, it was really more the illness costing him time when he was his peak relevance.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
I was a big fan of that film as a kid. It probably helped that I was always into Greek myths in general.

Sam Worthington can choke to death on a sack filled with 1000 dicks, though. The remake is trash.

I loved the original and I'm strangely impressed how the remake can take a much larger budget and make such a worse movie. The design choices were goofy and the story was somehow more of a mess than the original. The special effects were kinda neat, though.

I haven't watched the remake in a while. I might give it another go. The sequel was so kinda forgettable that there are times I'm not sure I even watched it.

Part of the overall problem is that the remake came out at a time when they were doing a LOT of dicey things with fantasy. We also got that Egyptian Gods and Monsters movie around the same time, which I don't think I've seen the full thing but I kinda want to at some point for the setting and effects.

The general problem with the remake is that there was no real sense of magic or mystery. The original mutilated myths like crazy, but there was a sense of lore that so lacking in the remake, probably because it went so barebones with the story so it didn't feel like you were stepping into a different world.

ParanoidObsessive posted...
I kind of stopped doing that sort of stuff once I got older, though I did have a moment about 10 years ago when I made all the rings from Green Lantern/Blackest Night out of plastic piping and a wooden bezel (which I still have displayed in my "gaming lounge").

I geeked out a little when they were selling the cheap plastic ones years ago. I kinda want to get either a legit-looking SC ring or an OL ring, but I hate wearing rings so it'd probably be a waste.

I almost bought the large SC lantern replica, but I finally settled for one of the smaller $30 versions with a matching light-up ring.

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Naruto_fan_42
02/16/21 3:12:37 AM
#206:


Im buying Xenoblade X

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Zeus
02/16/21 4:10:51 AM
#207:


I finished that 2018 Men's Elimination Chamber. I've only seen maybe 4-5 elimination chamber matches, but that one was probably my favorite (if you exclude the aftermath from New Year's Revolution 2006's elimination chamber which, iirc, might have been the first elimination chamber). Most of the performances looked credible, you had a few stories going there, Braun was a fucking beast, and while I wasn't on board with the outcome, it works within the context of the match.
..
I then watched the 2018 Women's Elimination Chamber match (which they referenced throughout the men's match). It was also great, particularly given the way the announcers built up the idea of three team-ups.

Alexa Bliss was fucking awesome in that. Bliss may be my favorite female wrestler at this point, and it's amazing how far she's come over the years. When she premiered in NXT, they had her with that stupid fairy gimmick that played up her background as a cheerleader. Then they flipped her heel and used her as the boss-valet for... I think Dawson and somebody? I can't remember. It was a forgettable tag team that she helped get onto the main roster. In the process, she earned some heel heat from me. There aren't many wrestlers who get that from me (Edge when he first got the title, Cena when he was doing that white rapper gimmick), and it's a lot harder to get that when you know the whole thing is a work. (Go away heat, on the hand, is VERY easy to get -- Mizz, Roman Reigns, etc.) But NXT had built up the Vaudevillains and Enzo & Cass so I actually cared about them (imagine that, making fans care about wrestlers instead of holding meaningless matches where nobody gives a shit about anybody and you have "Fight forever" chants going), and she was running interference for her team. (And even the addition of Blue Pants -- NXT's absurdly over job girl -- couldn't even the score.)

NXT used Alexa Bliss incredibly well at the end and while the main roster transition was a little rocky, she got over well as a heel. I should probably start following her stuff in the WWE, but I know that she's got a shitty storyline going with Bray and RKO.

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I_Abibde
02/16/21 11:19:15 AM
#208:


Zeus posted...
I enjoyed Krull, but I recognize it was really bad. However, I can enjoy it while being okay with its lousiness because it starred Kevin Sorbo who literally just did that with H:TLJ. And it's a fucking shame that Sorbo's career was effectively cut short, first by illness when it was taking off and then allegedly because of his religious views although, honestly, it was really more the illness costing him time when he was his peak relevance.

*headscratch*

I think you're talking about Kull the Conqueror here, Zeus, which does star Kevin Sorbo, but has nothing to do with Krull.


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Zeus
02/16/21 2:19:39 PM
#209:


I_Abibde posted...
*headscratch*

I think you're talking about Kull the Conqueror here, Zeus, which does star Kevin Sorbo, but has nothing to do with Krull.

Whoops. Yeah, similar name >_< Looking over the wiki for Krull, I'm sure that I've seen it. I think I would remember if I had, even if I'd only caught part of it on tv.

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The Wave Master
02/16/21 6:25:45 PM
#210:


I managed to beat the bots and secure a PS5. It'll be here some time on Thursday.

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The Wave Master
02/16/21 11:44:24 PM
#211:


Naruto_fan_42 posted...
Im buying Xenoblade X

Nice choice. It's a very solid game.

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The Wave Master
02/17/21 2:55:30 PM
#212:


A new Nintendo Direct is happening in a few hours, and my predictions are; No new F-Zero, No English port of Mother 3, and some exclusive Switch port of an older game that is digital only but you have to buy it before e it goes away forever for some reason. Like Disney putting **** in the vault back in the day.

I'll come back later with thoughts about the Direct, Rush dying, and Troy Aikman and Joe Buck drinking on the dambn job. (The two drinking answers a lot of questions.)

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Zeus
02/17/21 5:38:09 PM
#213:


tbh, unlike a Nintendo Direct is about Pokemon or something that ain't going to happen like a KIU sequel, I never bother with them. The stuff that people post on PotD is generally the most I'll hear about the goings-on as they happen.

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Metalsonic66
02/17/21 5:50:17 PM
#214:


It's happening. Double Dash 2!

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Revelation34
02/17/21 6:11:20 PM
#215:


The Wave Master posted...
Rush dying


He was older than I thought he was.
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The Wave Master
02/17/21 7:24:16 PM
#216:


The Nintendo Direct was a bust for me. Maybe Ninja Gaiden III coming to Switch, and the Salt/Iron game looks cool, and I'll eventually get Bravely Default II, but the rest is just boring.

Splatoon 3 in 2022: Dont care. Never played the first 2 because Nintendo's online is non functional. Same reason I don't own Smash or care for Smash. (Guilty Gear Strive on PS5 looks incredible though)

Skyward Sword HD: They did mostly take out the terrible motion controls, but I've been over Zelda since 1994. I want to get back into the series, but they aren't trying so why should I?

Mario Golf: That looks fun and has the potential to ruin Thanksgiving or Christmas. Plus speed golf is a neat feature. It's a possibility with a price drop.

Overall.. Meh. No new Breath of the Wild 2 footage, taking away the terrible weapon break feature from the first game, No Metroid Prime 4, no Metroid 5 in 2D, no new Mario Kart 9 or F-Zero, and definitely no version of Mother 3 coming to America. Basically just things people other than myself will get excited for, and that's what Nintendo is for me now and has been for years.

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Zeus
02/17/21 8:09:34 PM
#217:


The Wave Master posted...
Skyward Sword HD: They did mostly take out the terrible motion controls, but I've been over Zelda since 1994. I want to get back into the series, but they aren't trying so why should I?

Given I still own but haven't played the original, I'm probably not buying this one >_>

The Wave Master posted...
but I've been over Zelda since 1994.

I loved LBW. PHg and ST were fun despite the controls, although I can't see playing ST again because of all of the shit between dungeons. OoT was reasonably good (wait, you were over LoZ before OoT?). TP had some shit I liked, but it got gimmicky at times and it shorted us a dungeon. Then BotW had a great concept, but its world was so empty and dead. I wished it were more Skyrim than SotC.

I didn't like the idea behind MM, so I barely touched that. I didn't like the direction they went with MC, although I liked the graphics and cast. (Vaati was really neat.) OoS was just okay, while OoA -- which seemed a lot better -- was killed by that fucking rhythm game. Oh, and I never played WW.

The Archery training was a throwaway. I'm not counting stuff like Hyrule Warriors or that co-op game.

The Wave Master posted... Overall.. Meh. No new Breath of the Wild 2 footage, taking away the terrible weapon break feature from the first game, No Metroid Prime 4, no Metroid 5 in 2D, no new Mario Kart 9 or F-Zero, and definitely no version of Mother 3 coming to America. Basically just things people other than myself will get excited for, and that's what Nintendo is for me now and has been for years.

Is a new F-Zero really something people have been clamoring for? I didn't even realize it had much of a following any more. I thought any interest was just based on Captain Falcon being in the Smash franchise.

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Revelation34
02/17/21 8:37:12 PM
#218:


I still need a Switch so if I ever get one I'll buy that since I never played the original Skyward Sword.
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I_Abibde
02/18/21 5:05:13 PM
#219:


No sign of a remake of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, so, to quote the meme, I sleep, though Samurai Warriors 5 is the Real Shit, IMO.

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The Wave Master
02/18/21 5:43:12 PM
#220:


The Playstation 5 arrived today, and it wasn't a brick (like Oreon suggested) or an Air Fryer, (Like Bank Ribber suggested) but instead was an honest to goodness Playstation 5.

The set up was fairly simple and a shout out to Oreon for helping me with the physical set up. I downloaded the software update for the console and what surprised me was that the new Duelsense controller needed a software update too. Kind of crazy.

Overall, it's very fast compared to the PS4, and everything feels very new and smooth. I think smooth is the one word I would use to describe the User Interfacem I need more time to dive into everything, but it's definitely a change, one for the better.

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Zeus
02/18/21 5:59:22 PM
#221:


I'm hoping by the time that I want to buy a ps5 they'll have a design that doesn't make me want to retch. It's one of the ugliest consoles I've ever seen. I don't know why console makers insist on going with weird, funky designs. Unless something needs a special shape to work, just fucking design it to look normal >_<

There's just something so visually off-putting about the ps5 and its weird asymmetrical design where, if I was given one, I'd probably set up someplace where I wouldn't have to look at the fucking thing.


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CyborgSage00x0
02/18/21 9:00:00 PM
#222:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJHY4ggYCk4&ab_channel=ONEMedia

Most of us have likely seen it, but trailer for the new Mortal Kombat movie due in April. Looks actually pretty good, in terms of the action and whatnot. Scorpion/Sub-Zero scene was pretty neat. Wonder how straight-laced vs. unintentional campy it will be, al la the first film.

As for the direct, it was pretty meh for me. There were a LOT of games shown, but to too many I was interested in/details of. I'll be getting NMH3, so it was nice seeing more of that. The Triangle Project game looks pretty solid, the combat looks interesting there. It's Square Enix, so it'll be a slog. Neon White and a few others, like the dodgeball game looked promising. Splatoon 3 seems...too soon? I'll get it, but haven't had time for multiplayer games very much.

No big AAA announcement was a let down, but BotW2 will be shown later. I would expect some Metroid Prime 4 news, too, seeing as how it's also the 35th anniversary of Metroid.

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Zeus
02/18/21 11:30:25 PM
#223:


As I said in Gunsl's topic:

The opening looked kinda crappy, the tattoo thing was interesting, and then it got crappy towards the end. Personally I'm not sure how they keep making the movies suck. Although the franchise's story is unnecessarily convoluted, the bullet point is that it's a fighting tournament with superhuman contenders. Simplest shit in the world. How the fuck do you mess that up?

At any rate, I'm annoyed that instead of giving us Johnny Cage, we're getting a new character. It's fucking stupid. Maybe we'll see him in the sequel, provided that this movie doesn't bomb

And I said to your mention of JC's absence in the movie:
Yeah, it's fucking stupid. And it's not even a matter that they wanted to cast an Asian in the lead, because Liu Kang already is Asian. Maybe they wanted to change the backstory and were worried about annoying purists (unlikely), or they just realized that he was the main character in 90s one and wanted to go a different direction.

No Johnny Cage is a shit move regardless.

And, in general, it's just one of those things where these movies play a game of limbo with my expectations. No matter how I low I set that bar, they dive right under it. We've had many fighting game movies and the ONLY really passable one was Street Fighter, and then it was mostly for the camp. (That Bison painting is still fucking dope.)

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shadowsword87
02/18/21 11:31:27 PM
#224:


To me it's less design and more the fact that I just... don't care for the majority of games. I still need to play Bloodborne at some point, but, I'm totally fine waiting.
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Zeus
02/18/21 11:34:46 PM
#225:


tbh, I'm so backlogged I could probably sit out the next 3 generations >_> idk, I just don't feel like a lot of gaming any more. Before it was a matter that I never had that much uninterrupted time. Now I've got the time but I'm just indifferent towards a lot of it.

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shadowsword87
02/18/21 11:44:24 PM
#226:


For me it's a mix of two things:
  1. The AAA market is deeply creative, and, I need a super creative setting/mechanics/story to get me interested in it. Something looking photorealistic isn't interesting to me anymore. It's why I just sorta dropped cyberpunk 2077 when I realized that it was just GTA with neon lights, all of the creative parts of punk seemed to be pulled out.
  2. I don't really pay that much attention to the Greater Gaming Sphere, so I don't hear about cool indie games, or weird nuggets that someone's super invested in. I just sorta dropped off of it, and nothing, aside from, like Hades, has pulled me in, and even that was Pretty Good, Not The Best.
Without the reason why I like games, I just sorta got ignored.

People aren't making RTS games, the strategy games are factory building games, and the story games are interpersonal explorations. The games that were just people hanging out and playing something mindless, aren't super obvious anymore, like, that fucking pirate game everyone was into is awful. People playing Fall Guys, and Among Us, to play with their friends are awful games. I'm seeing people play uno more and more on twitch, there's something wrong with what's being provided.
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CyborgSage00x0
02/18/21 11:59:44 PM
#227:


Zeus posted...
The opening looked kinda crappy, the tattoo thing was interesting, and then it got crappy towards the end. Personally I'm not sure how they keep making the movies suck. Although the franchise's story is unnecessarily convoluted, the bullet point is that it's a fighting tournament with superhuman contenders. Simplest shit in the world. How the fuck do you mess that up?
That looks exactly like what the trailer is advertising, though. The story seems pretty straight-forward.

---
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WhiskeyDisk
02/19/21 12:07:58 AM
#228:


A random aside about woke gaming.

TLoU? Clumsy and Hamfisted. Lauded by the Woke.

Rina's hostess plotline in Yakuza Kiwami? Organic, optional, proportional, and doesn't grind the game to a halt in order to preach?

Haven't heard a word about it since the game came out. Gets a deep message across, doesn't interrupt the game like the second act in every CW show ever, and should be an example of woke done right.

Meanwhile we're giving established characters breast and ass reductions in remakes and calling it a day.

The Yakuza team really did the work. The gamergate set could really take a lesson from the Yakuza team on how to do woke right.

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Zeus
02/19/21 12:19:30 AM
#229:


CyborgSage00x0 posted...
That looks exactly like what the trailer is advertising, though. The story seems pretty straight-forward.

It looks like they're kinda leaning into the character drama too hard, and I'm getting the impression that we're going to have subplots and side plots. Keep in mind that the first MK film also made it look like the focus was on the tournament, then we wound up getting... how many fights? It didn't seems like there were that many bouts.

And where some of the fighting is just taking place wherever, it suggests something broader.

WhiskeyDisk posted... The Yakuza team really did the work. The gamergate set could really take a lesson from the Yakuza team on how to do woke right.

If it's done right, then nobody complains. And if nobody complains, it can't get that much attention. Keep in mind that the feminists who fought in Gamergate weren't even gamers so it's not like they're looking to improve anything, they were just trying to build their personal platforms and brands so they could make money and gain fame without any real work.

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WhiskeyDisk
02/19/21 12:25:22 AM
#230:


Zeus posted...
If it's done right, then nobody complains. And if nobody complains, it can't get that much attention. Keep in mind that the feminists who fought in Gamergate weren't even gamers so it's not like they're looking to improve anything, they were just trying to build their personal platforms and brands so they could make money and gain fame without any real work.

exactly the problem with Gina Carano and the Mandalorian. how many of the "outraged" ever gave a frenchman's fuck about Star Wars? I'm going out on a limb and guessing a vanishingly small percentage.

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Metalsonic66
02/19/21 12:40:09 AM
#231:


WhiskeyDisk posted...
TLoU? Clumsy and Hamfisted. Lauded by the Woke.
lol no

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WhiskeyDisk
02/19/21 12:44:42 AM
#232:


Metalsonic66 posted...
lol no

truly masterful rebuttal, care to elaborate, or shall we hang your totally ingenuous argument on a no, u?

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Metalsonic66
02/19/21 12:46:23 AM
#233:


The Last of Us had an absolutely amazing story. I don't know how "Woke" even comes into it.

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WhiskeyDisk
02/19/21 12:55:04 AM
#234:


yeah, no context around that at all...

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Metalsonic66
02/19/21 12:57:17 AM
#235:


Slow clap bro

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WhiskeyDisk
02/19/21 1:04:32 AM
#236:


Metalsonic66 posted...
Slow clap bro

as slow as Owen and Abby's clapping in TLoU2...

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Metalsonic66
02/19/21 1:07:11 AM
#237:


That was pretty fast. They didn't even take all their clothes off.

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Zeus
02/19/21 1:53:01 AM
#238:


So fair being fair, I decided that since I'd watched last week's AEW (I *think* it was last week's episode, it's not really labeled with the date), I'd also watch that week's NXT, Smackdown, and -- if I can find it -- ROH. (But not Raw, there's only so much I can take.)

Thoughts on the Feb 10 NXT (ep 605)

I guess NXT Takeovers aren't on Hulu any more >_>

First, I loved the light show at the beginning. Very cool.

MSK vs Joaqqin Wilde & Mendoza from some heel faction - 2/5
Good presentation on the entrances. You know, that was one thing I noticed about AEW -- they didn't really do much for entrances on some of those matches I watched (except the main event).

Unlike with AEW, right from the get-go I can tell the faces from the heels. That little stunt at the beginning of the match was a great touch. In general, I enjoyed some of the flourishes and the heels' presence, but... idk, the action was a little sloppy at times. I will mention I loved the part where they kept doing those clothslines into the corner then tagging their partner so they could take turns doing it. It was a great build that made the later dodge look great. In general, the tag-work was pretty solid. Otherwise there was some silliness and stupidity that took away from the match.

Mercedes Martinez promo - 3/5
Short functional promo that got me a bit hyped for the match.

Johnny Gargano promo/skit - 3.5/5
There was some silliness involving a guy coming out in a wheelchair for his broken arm. I guess it's humorous? Once again, we can tell he's a heel from the get-go. The promo cracked me up. I especially loved when Gargano started gesturing with the supposedly broken arm.

idk, I was inclined to dislike it from the get-go, but I wound up getting into it.

Blackheart & Embermoon vs Candice LaRae and... Hartwall or something (members of The Way) - 2/5
Candice LeRae seems talented, wasn't as impressed by the others... and I had to do a double-take when I heard Candice described as a "19 year veteran." Wtf? She looked maybe 30. I wound up checking the wiki and she's 35. Something seems flaky there.

Finn Balor promo and recap - Meh
Why is Finn back on NXT? Did he completely flop on the main roster? Pete Dunne seems pretty cool, though.

Kushida vs Austin Theory (The Way) - 3/5
Kushida seems pretty talented. That low german suplex on Austin was really neat. Honestly, I was going to say 2.5 before the ending. Johnny Gargano's "It's a miracle!" was great. Of course, the stuff *after* that was a little silly.

Toni Storm promo - 4/5
One again, great promo / package. Had me interested in the match.

Io Shirai promo - 3/5
Ehhh... fucking closed captions had "[Speaking foreign language]" over the fucking subtitles telling me what Io was saying. And other than it not being in English and therefore losing some impact, it was a decent promo.

Thatcher & Ciampa vs Grizzled Young Veterans - 4/5
I'd heard Ciampa mentioned now and again and was interested in seeing him compete. The start was... meh. Just some out of the ring crap. Once they got into the ring, it was a pretty good fight. Ciampa looked pretty impressive. The GYV also seem pretty good. Very solid heel team.

I looked up Ciampa because he looks ancient and was shocked to learn the guy is only 35. Wtf?

At any rate, it was an all-around good tag team match, right down to that ending. No complaints other than maybe the beginning.

Overall - 2/5

I clearly didn't pick a great episode for watch. This was the go-home episode before a big show where most of the matches were tag-team, there were a lot of packaged promos for the PPV, etc.

It was interesting enough that I might get back into NXT. The only reason I stopped before was that I fell behind and had wanted to catch up. One of the bigger things it has going for it is that it's just one hour >_>

Also is Wade Barret just retired from competition at this point? I don't see anything about him having suffered an injury, and he's still a young guy.

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Zeus
02/19/21 3:41:55 AM
#239:


Next up was the Feb 12th episode of Smackdown. They're making a big deal over this Thunderdome thing, which I guess looks cool. Of course, the video fans thing looks even sillier and more distracting than on NXT

Opening / Reigns promo 3/5
I hadn't seen Roman Reigns since he finally got his heel turn, but his faction has a good look. Apparently he's with Heyman, who can put just about anybody over, as well as Jey Uso. I guess Roman is the Universal Champ.

I hadn't been keeping up with any WWE storylines, but I guess Edge won the RR and is delaying on picking who he wants to fight at WM. Good handling.

It's nice to see Roman as a heel (well, again), which seems a better pick for him. I loved the I'll beat him so bad they'll have to put him on a Legends contract. They'll have to use him as a WWE Ambassador. (Considering Edge is a face at this point, I guess he's going to job to Roman at WM.)

I fucking loved Heyman's shit. That was a nice spiel. On the whole, that was a reasonably good opening promo, but I guess if I'd been following it week-to-week I might not be as approving.

Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs King Corbin & Sami Zayne 3.5/5
I was kinda surprised to see Rey's son there. Otherwise I like Zayne's new gimmick. Zayne is a good promo now. It's nice to see him as a heel.

Boring Corbin seems to have improved a bit. It's weird seeing him bald, but his hair had made him look goofy. They pretty much changed everything about the guy, which was for the best.

Of course, Dominik stole the show there. He's got Rey's agility but he's bigger and has good look. I can see this guy being huge at some point.

Decent match overall. I kinda expected the outcome from the second it was booked (also wtf at Sonya DeVille in an executive role?).

Big E vs Shinsuke Nakamura 3.5/5
I've always liked Big E. He's got a great look, good personality, and is very talented. He seems like the kind of guy who could have succeeded in any era... and apparently he's only gotten better. His mic-work is a bit better, he has even more charisma, etc.

Of course, before we get to his match, there's an interruption where we see some stuff between Sasha Banks (I like the hair and new look). I love Sasha, but wtf? And then there was ANOTHER interruption. Ugh. Wtf, WWE? If you have a guy in the ring, stay on the guy.

Apollo Crews comes out and argues with Big E. Last time I saw Apollo, I liked his agility but he was weak on the mic.

The actual opponent was Shinsuke, who had been super-hyped when I last watched WWE. He's an interesting pro wrestler, but I was kinda indifferent towards him. Regardless, it was two very talented wrestlers who put on a pretty good match... well, until the end (One of Shinsuke's kicks went wide, but that was the only really obvious issue I saw.)

Seth Rollins comes back 1.5/5
Why'd they empty the locker room and have everybody come around the ring for this? Seems stupid. Otherwise the segment mostly felt like filler. At any rate, apparently they brought everybody out just so they could walk out on Seth.

I guess he's coming back as a heel? Was this the gimmick he left with?

...also I just realized that the show is halfway over and I've only seen TWO matches. Wtf?

Bayley vs Liv Morgan (of the Riott Squad) 3.5/5
Wait, Bayley is a heel now? Wtf? >_> Now THIS I didn't see coming? And are they just flipping everybody now? The whole This is my show shit is the same crap they tried with Paige that went over like a lead balloon.

Liv Morgan was pretty impressive. Bayley was great as always. It was a good match, and as long as it needed to be... the only problem is that they're freeing up time and doing NOTHING with it. Instead of more wrestling, we're watching the Street Prophets give a replica belt to a NASCAR driver. Wtf?

The Street Prophets vs Chad Gable & Otis 2.5/5
My only experience with them in the past was some shitty comedy they did with a WWE Legend at one point. (Oh wait, one of them is Angelo Dawkins. I remember him NXT. I think he had a string of shitty gimmicks?)

...and while the Street Prophets are in the ring, the announcers are fucking talking about the Super Bowl. Wtf?

Chad Gable I remember a little of. I don't think I've seen Otis before. Otis is surprisingly agile for a guy his size. He's short, but goddamn is he wide. He reminds me a little of Bull Demsy, except bigger and stronger. All in all, it was a decent enough match. There was some clumsy shit at times.

Sasha Banks talks with Bianca... and Nia Jax, etc 2.5/5
Sasha's ring entrance was nice. It was neat watching her and the Street Prophets dance, nice little touch.

This is probably the first I've seen of Bianca Belair. Kinda like the personality.

Nia looks even worse than before. I don't really know what the fuck is going on at this point, but I'm not complaining. It was a weird segment, but okay.

Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs Cesaro & Daniel Bryan 3/5
I liked how Daniel Bryan's suicide dive backfired. I'm so fucking sick of suicide dives. In general, Ziggler has been criminally under-used over the years. He's an incredible talent... although I guess Cesaro is in a similar boat. Decent enough match, but wtf was with that shit afterward? And why the fuck did they have Seth randomly attack Cesaro if they weren't going to do anything with that. I was expecting him to come out and interfere, leading to an angle between Seth and Cesaro at Elimination Chamber, possibly one that Seth would win and "convert" Cesaro into some new faction. But no, they're not doing anythign with that.

Oh, and Kevin Owens is a face now? They really did flip everybody... wtf >_<

Overall - 2.3/5

Well, what do I say? For a wrestling show, it felt like there wasn't that much wrestling... which, come to think of it, was one thing that turned me off the main roster WWE shows. Had that time been used for promos to hype up matches and get me to care about *anything*, I would have been fine. However, I saw a lot of the WWE whoring itself out to other sports, etc, and then a bunch of recaps. Offhand, I only remember that AEW episode I watched as having maybe 1-2 recaps (and the wedding recap wasn't terrible, although I understand the wedding event was poorly received).

Otherwise the big advantage to the WWE is that I know at least half the talent going in. I may not have watched Smackdown in maybe 3 years, but there were only a handful of people I didn't know and they were paired with ones I knew. It kinda makes it easier to pick up the show. The other thing is that, unlike AEW, most of these guys are fucking talented. I'm looking at the wrestlers from tonight and I'm not seeing any Joey Janellas or that midget who jobbed to Lee Johnson. Smackdown has a pretty deep bench.... the problem is that they don't use them that much.

The opening segment was good, but it went a bit long. We only got 5 wrestling matches in the show (were more in the actual broadcast?), and most were of a reasonable length so it meant that there was a lot of non-wrestling, but not the good kind of non-wrestling (like stuff that gets you hyped for a match). No, instead we had throwaway segments like Seth Rollins coming back, and people would walk out to the ring then we'd see backstage shit. Wtf?

All in all, though, I liked the episode enough that I'm tempted to watch another one.

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The Wave Master
02/19/21 9:15:35 AM
#240:


There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll start with, "The Last of Us."

I don't claim to be 'Woke." I'm a black, handicapped man, living in South Mississippi, that is married to a very white country girl. Seriously, she grew up in the country, on basically a farm. She canned fruit during the summer for fun. Sorry, went on a mini rant, but I wouldn't call myself "Woke" in any fashion.

Now, do I have different life experiences than a lot of you? Absolutely. But being discriminated against outwardly and subtly is my life. Therefore, while I'm not gay, I morally identify with their struggles. Discrimination doesn't have to be just white or black; it can be LGBTQ, straight, or rich or poor.

My point is that no one is "Woke" for liking the plot of TLOU 2 or not liking the plot. But until recently the LGBTQ community was ignored in the media representation or played up for laughs or scorn. Same for my people in movies and television shows. We were either gang bangers or drug dealers or unemployed vagrants. I'm not a huge fan if Tyler Perry, but at least he portrays black people with nuances and layers and normal successful people. It's why Black Panther will always get love in my house until the end of freaking time, same with Coming to America.

So when Naughty Dog makes a layered LGBTQ story I don't get all up in arms because how often does that happen?

Furthermore, if the people that claim to love TLOU as a series know, Ellie has always been a lesbian (look at the DLC from the first game.) Then why would you be upset or surprised this is a minor plot point in the next game, or lose your mind over Abby and her story in the sequel. TLOU has always been a series about the LGBTQ community.

And that's the dumb part about this outrage. Because the third game will get made and it's going to be even more heavy into the LGBTQ community. If you have a problem now it's not going to get better later. There's even a bigot Ellie ignores at the beginning walk through section of the second game. So, you bigots out there can feel representation too.

Now if you have an issue with graphics (you don't) or the gameplay (you don't) then that's different, but if you're upset that there's a story where two fictional characters smash fictional body parts together then I can't and don't want to help you. But representation and diversity is good, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

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I_Abibde
02/19/21 10:36:28 AM
#241:


Neither of the TLOU games caught my interest, so the controversy passed me by.

Zeus posted...
All in all, though, I liked the episode enough that I'm tempted to watch another one.

Dare I challenge Zeus to try watching episodes of Main Event (available on Hulu)?

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-- I Abibde / Samuraiter
Laughing at Game FAQs since 2002.
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WhiskeyDisk
02/19/21 11:58:50 AM
#242:


The Wave Master posted...
There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll start with, "The Last of Us."

[*SNIP*]

Without getting into a whole big thing here Wave, there's an organic way to do things, and then there's the "Very Special Episode" way of doing it. You can deliver a message without being hamfisted and preachy about it.

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The Wave Master
02/19/21 2:57:24 PM
#243:


WhiskeyDisk posted...
[*SNIP*]

Without getting into a whole big thing here Wave, there's an organic way to do things, and then there's the "Very Special Episode" way of doing it. You can deliver a message without being hamfisted and preachy about it.

But I'm not wrong, and I'm tired of this topic coming up every few weeks.


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Metalsonic66
02/19/21 3:07:08 PM
#244:


WhiskeyDisk posted...
[*SNIP*]

Without getting into a whole big thing here Wave, there's an organic way to do things, and then there's the "Very Special Episode" way of doing it. You can deliver a message without being hamfisted and preachy about it.
Good thing TLoU doesn't have that problem

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Zeus
02/19/21 4:28:43 PM
#245:


TIL: MtG "super drops" are a thing

https://secretlair.wizards.com/us/smittensuperdrop

I think I've ever seen these kinds of cards before or something similar to it (which may not have been actual license product and instead a fan thing), and wondered what was up with it.

At any rate, they seem to be weird as hell limited collectibles with variant art and a different style. While the concept is interesting, the prices are outrageous (probably so as to not to mess with the secondary market?). At first I thought it was a bit much for a collection of cards, but then I learned that each thing was only a few cards which became a definite "NOPE!"

Some of the previous ones are kinda neat:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/announcing-secret-lairs-secretversary-superdrop-2020-11-25

The Wave Master posted...
My point is that no one is "Woke" for liking the plot of TLOU 2 or not liking the plot. But until recently the LGBTQ community was ignored in the media representation or played up for laughs or scorn. Same for my people in movies and television shows. We were either gang bangers or drug dealers or unemployed vagrants. I'm not a huge fan if Tyler Perry, but at least he portrays black people with nuances and layers and normal successful people. It's why Black Panther will always get love in my house until the end of freaking time, same with Coming to America.

Generally speaking, I dislike labels and find most claims of "representation" patronizing. I've occasionally mentioned that I suffer from OCD. However, I've also had to suffer from idiots lauding shows like Monk and films like As Good as it Gets which praise the "representation" offered to obsessive-compulsives. I'd like to personally walk to up to every OCD "ally" who praised this shit and tell them a loud "fuck you" to their face. I don't need representation and, even if I did, that's not the way I'd want it done. Both performances were at least somewhat played for laughs (which was one problem) and exaggerated beyond any realistic standard, considering that they embodied pretty much every possible trope instead of just a few key ones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with them doing anything for whatever reason even if I don't agree with it, but don't piss on my cupcake and call it frosting.

And whenever anything is pushed as part of "representation," I'm probably not going to bother checking it out even if it interested me before because fuck those virtue-signalling assholes trying to make a big deal over shit.

And, not for nothing, but much of the time "representation" is used as crutch for not providing quality. It's what the Feige Ghostbusters reboot tried to use a shield and write off criticisms.

I_Abibde posted...
Neither of the TLOU games caught my interest, so the controversy passed me by.

I own 2 copies at this point -- one I bought for the ps3 and the other which came with my ps4 bundle -- but I haven't bothered to play it. My interest there was solely because of Ellie's likeness (which apparently they strongly adjusted in TLoU2)


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shadowsword87
02/19/21 5:34:29 PM
#246:


Zeus posted...
TIL: MtG "super drops" are a thing

https://secretlair.wizards.com/us/smittensuperdrop

I think I've ever seen these kinds of cards before or something similar to it (which may not have been actual license product and instead a fan thing), and wondered what was up with it.

At any rate, they seem to be weird as hell limited collectibles with variant art and a different style. While the concept is interesting, the prices are outrageous (probably so as to not to mess with the secondary market?). At first I thought it was a bit much for a collection of cards, but then I learned that each thing was only a few cards which became a definite "NOPE!"

Some of the previous ones are kinda neat:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/announcing-secret-lairs-secretversary-superdrop-2020-11-25

WotC is seeing if they can very subtly and slowely cut out the gamestore, they're selling cards directly to the consumer while giving product away to big box stores, like amazon at gamestore-prices, not consumer prices.
All of the secret layers have been "conveniently" a few dollars below the current market value, because WotC can't acknowledge the secondary market, because then they have to admit they're selling gambling to children.
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Zeus
02/19/21 9:23:40 PM
#247:


Because I wanted to try to find that Japanese women's tournament, I wound up watching an episode of AEW Dark... only to realize midway through it was in a different video. I can't complain too much, though, it was a reasonably good episode.

AEW Dark 2/16 notes

Moxley vs Jobber
Fast, but sloppy match against a job guy. Some of the job guy's stuff just looked terrible. On the plus side, it was a short match.

Bear Country vs Chaos Theory
Very impressed by Bear Country. Big, strong wrestlers, very old school feel. Got to see a few classic power moves, which is always nice.

The Chaos Theory guys look and act like goofs, but some of their tag team moves are amusing.
Was kinda surprised to see them beat Chaos Theory, since I thought Chaos was being pushed? It was the right play, though. Chaos Theory seem like a joke.

Butcher and the Blade (with Bunny) vs Sage Scott and... it doesn't matter
Kinda like Bunny's weird-ass laugh. Their team's horror vibe is kinda neat, with them coming out to the ring with masks that remind me of various home invasion movies (and, I suppose, Bioshock). It was a pretty quick match B&tB looked dominant. Other than the presentation, nothing really stood out (either good or bad).

Within the first 19 minutes, there were THREE matches. That's an improvement over any of the other wrestling programs I watched recently. (In the case of SD, the matches were reasonably good, but there was was more non-wrestling than wrestling. For AEW Dynamite, you had some fluff but then you also had the matches going long and often looking like shit. As for NXT, it wasn't a good sample episode, since the last episode before a major show for NXT is always shaky.) Were they amazing matches? Not really, but they were good enough. Even the Moxley match was kinda watchable (and this time the problem wasn't necessarily Moxley).

Renee Michelle vs Shanna
Shanna's ring entrance was whatever. Once again, this kinda feels like it'll have a predictable outcome, considering Shanna got an entrance whereas Renee Michelle was already in the ring.
Lot of arm drags and athleticism, which was kinda fun. Those arm drags looked sloppy. Shanna did a pretty good job of selling those hits from Renee. The camera work made a lot of it look better than it probably was. I'm not sure why they're this much better on the YT show than the broadcast one where I was constantly seeing things miss... although maybe Dynamite is live? I'll have to look into that later.
I wasn't overly impressed (especially given that botch at the end that even the refs called as a botch), but it was alright.

Eric James & DSK vs Alex Reynolds and John Silvers (Dork Order)
Again, one side gets a ring entrance, the other doesn't (and, like Renee, is mentioned as having their AEW debut). That's a pretty obvious job.

And the Dork Destroyer is probably one of the worst finishers I've seen in pro wrestling. It looked like the job guy had suplexed the two of them. Wtf? Why do these idiots think that's a good finisher? I watched the fucking thing three times and it STILL looked like they were taking the move instead of giving it.

I imagine any wrestling promoter with any amount of experience would tell them to never use that move again. Ugh, fucking AEW...

And fucking Dork Order, for that matter. What a goofy ass stable. Tazz and whoever were putting over John Silver, but the guy is tiny. And their end pose and that chant, wtf? Get these guys back to the indies. Send them to a developmental. Do something with them, but don't even put them on YT. The really awful thing is that I know these guys have been on broadcast because I saw them for a backstage skit during AEW Dynamite (and that was a complete throwaway).

The Inner Circle and the Briefcase commercial
I only mention this because Sammy can't act for shit and I swear this guy looks like Justin Bieber. Why are they pushing him? (Unless the group has two Justin Bieber lookalikes.)

Baron Black & John Skyler vs Jurassic Express
I like Jungle Express's entrance (although it needs the video package to make it work). It's kind of a cute concept. Jungle Boy looks like he'd be more at home in a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or Jesus Christ Superstar, but the guy seems talented. And wtf is up with that name? That's some TNA shit right there. Luchasaurus is kinda sloppy, but he's huge and looks intimidating.

Of course, I'll mention that the match was shorter than the fucking ring entrance. It was a decent squash in that it showed off a bunch of what Jungle Express can do.

Vertvixen vs Tay Conti (with Anna Jay)
Tay Conti is cute, but otherwise neither wrestler stood out... which is understandable for one of them. Not a great match, but when you're filling 5 minutes, it doesn't really matter.

Commercial for Young Bucks: Killing the Business
Killing the Business is a little too on the nose, isn't it? >_> If not the business, they're certainly killing a billionaire's bank account.

Eddie Kingston vs... eh, who the fuck cares
For some reason the announcers were talking a lot about tripping when getting into the ring, so I'm wondering if the job guy did that or if referenced some previous event with Eddie Kingston. I was disappointed by Kingston. For some reason, I thought he was supposed to be good. He doesn't seem all that talented. The job guy was way worse, though, with his punches clearly not connecting. I tuned out midway through and stopped watching.

KC Navarro vs Ricky Starks (w/ Hook, repping Team Tazz)
Ricky Starks has a goofy vain gimmick going. That was the shits. They spend a ton of time on the entrance, then Starks delivers a spear for the win. He's much too small and thin to make that seem credible. The fucking recap was great.

Brandon Cutler vs Misterioso
Love Cutler's cool dragon ring attire and entrance... although the 1d20 in the intro looks goofy. Misterioso looks badass. Of course, the actual fight was lucha so... meh.

Ryzin vs Powerhouse Hobbs (w/Hook, repping Team Tazz)
Hobbs looks stupidly out of shape. He's paired against a guy with a 0-4 record. Another fast job.

Fuego Del Sol vs Nick Comoroto (part of Nightmare Factory?)
Comoroto looks like an actual wrestler. He reminds me a little of either Randy Savage or Jim Duggan. This is the kind of guy I'd rather see on Dynamite.

Overall 3.5/5
Despite being a YT show, AEW Dark was worlds better than AEW Dynamite. What gives? Why would you put the better stuff on YT? I don't fucking get that. I will say that most of the matches weren't exactly competitive, so it might that they're putting more of the strictly job matches on Dark.

And while the work wasn't the best (and a few matches barely count as matches), it's an hour that's pretty much just wrestling AND it fit in a lot of matches. I think they did 12 fights? That's kinda neat. I can see myself watching something like this on a regular basis, although I might get bored of the format. Even the matches where one guy kinda sucks aren't terrible because they're short.

I_Abibde posted...
Dare I challenge Zeus to try watching episodes of Main Event (available on Hulu)?

I find your challenge intriguing... but first I'm going to watch that AEW women's tournament.

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There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.
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Zeus
02/19/21 11:33:07 PM
#248:


Alright, so I watched the round 1 of the Japanese bracket for the AEW Women's World Championship and... well, meh. (By the way, I think the last thing I'll bother listing my thoughts on will be the WWE Main Event episode. I haven't been able to find an ROH episode to check out, so I'm not even bothering with that.)

First off, the thing was shot in what looked like a warehouse with curtains up. I thought there was no audience, but later on they referenced that some people were there. Where, exactly, I do not know.

The Magical Girl Yuka Sakazaki vs Mei Suruga I'm not rating this shit/5
Mei is adorable. I love the weird insect wing cape. Yuka is also cute, but her entrance is nowhere near as fun or dramatic. Otherwise it's so weird because you don't have titantrons, etc, they're just coming out from behind a curtain.

Given the setting and the way they're acting, I don't necessarily have the highest hopes when it comes to their actual performance... and, from the production values, I didn't have the highest hopes for the coverage either. And I was right on both counts. The footage is choppy because it's just some guys wandering around the ring with camcorders. The actual fighting is silly stunt shit, although some of it is cute (like that Oklahoma Roll into a pin attempt or something.)

The match was terrible, but I kinda enjoyed it. The performance was mostly lousy, but I liked how they reacted and sold the moves. I'm not sure I could watch something like this on a regular basis (which I mention only because these girls from some Japanese women's promotions so, in theory, if I cared enough I could watch more of stuff like this.)

I think my favorite parts were the double missed drop kicks, Mei trying out a scoop slam (which is hilarious since she's fucking tiny), that array of weird holds Mei placed on Yuka while she was on the mat, and the sliding lariat.

I was kinda disappointed by the outcome. I was really liking Mei by the end.

Veny vs Emi Sakura 3.5/5
Talk about a difference in competitors. The first match was between two cute schoolgirl-ish wrestlers, whereas these two are older and more serious-looking.

When they introduced Emi Sakuara and mentioned she'd trained two of AEW's champs, it kinda felt like the match and tourney might favor her.

...and unlike the first match, right away it looks like these women might be talented, serious wrestlers. (And I made that note *before * the oddly impressive-looking hair throw.) And their style of fighting is helping with the production, since shit doesn't look as choppy.

All things considered, I was pretty impressed by Veny. Emi was surprisingly decent as well, executing a few wrestling moves I haven't seen in a while.

The headbutt shit was stupid. It looks like they were waiting and posing to be hit. Very sloppy shit.

All in all, a pretty solid match. I think I might look up more of Veny's stuff.

Maki Itoh vs Ryo Mizunami 2/5
I was most interested in seeing Maki in the tourney, simply because of the feud she had going with Cornette. I had watched a clip of her at another promo, which made her look like shit so... my expectations for her ability were pretty low. Her ring entrance was cute, but she's a former idol so... kinda expected. It basically gives her a legit gimmick.

From the photos, I thought Ryo might be a guy which confused me. If this was an actual fight, Ryo would kick the crap out of Maki in seconds so it's not a credible match-up.

I like how Maki sold the hell out of that forearm shot.

For a while, things actually really good. They were playing the match in a somewhat realistic manner, with Ryo no-selling many of Maki's attacks and Maki over-selling Ryo's hits... but then they had to fuck it up. Towards the end, it looked they were striking in an equally effective manner, which breaks any suspension of disbelief when you see the two of them. Not to mention that a lot of Maki's strikes just looked sloppy.

And I should note that Maki's hard forehard gimmick doesn't really work when earlier in the match I could have sworn she had been struck in the head and sold.

On the whole, Maki's performance was a lot better than I had expected it'd be. There's nothing particularly impressive about Ryo.

Aja Kong vs Rin Kadokura 1.5/5
Rin's entrance was probably the weakest I've seen so far. She doesn't have much energy. Aja came out to the ring looking like a monster. Not sure why she's carrying around that trashcan. Kinda silly. Her ring attire is really fucking cool. During the introductions, Rin looks bored.

Once again, at a single glance it's pretty obvious who should win a match like this. Aja Kong is a foot taller and probably a hundred pounds heavier than Rin.

Just noticed there are only 7 or 8 minutes left... this is going to be a squash match, just like it should be. Aja is no-selling everything.

I liked Aja's casual pin attempts. I don't get why where are so many near-falls. It just seems kinda stupid. It was a kinda-lousy match. Every near-fall had me wondering why this wasn't over already.

Overall thoughts:
The only match that felt like a complete waste of time was Aja Kong's, since it dragged on for longer than it needed to. Emi vs Veny was pretty damn good. Maki vs Ryo was entertaining, even though it had problems. I enjoyed watching Mei fight Yuka, but that was pretty lousy. The pacing sucked, the camera wasn't adequately following the action, and Mei had a habit of seemingly breaking holds for no rhyme or reason.

And, while I love elimination tournaments, the selection of competitors was iffy. I'm kinda curious whether or not they're going to book the winner of the Japanese side to win the tourney. That would make the most sense logically, but they're not showing these matches on broadcast which suggests this side isn't being taken seriously.


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There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.
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Zeus
02/20/21 12:31:05 AM
#249:


Alright, so for Main Event, I figured I had to do the Feb 10th episode because that's apples-to-apples even though the description looks far less interesting than the Feb 17th episode. (I mean, ffs, it's advertising Dana Brooke. I doubt she's any better than she was before.)

I can't recall if I've ever bothered to watch an episode of Main Event and, until I_Abibde suggested it, I had forgotten the thing existed. Needless to say, it's going to be a new experience.

The immediate plus I'm noticing is that it's only 46 minutes so even if it's lousy, it won't be long.

Dana Brooke vs Peyton Royce 1/5
Dana has the same entrance music, the same kind of entrance, and I'm hoping not the same level of talent. She's been wrestling for... maybe 3 yeas since I last saw her? Surely she must have improved in that time.

Peyton Royce is really cute. I don't remember her. I'm looking at wikipedia and she was signed to NXT in 2015 and had some on-air (?) appearances during that time, so I must have seen her, I think? Meh.

As for the match, it was pretty lousy. They repeated some of the same shit like Dana getting shot into the corner and using it to leapfrog back and did a *lot * of basic shit. Granted, I've watched over 2 hours of wrestling so far tonight, including a lot of women's wrestling, so maybe my expectations are a bit high.

Edge promo ???/10
I like Edge. It's nice that he's wrestling again, particularly given that I thought an injury took him out years ago. Edge has really aged.

At any rate, I'm not sure whether I'm watching a recap from SD right now or if this supposed to be happening now. The ring has the SD logo. It's weird because they presented it like Edge was just coming out or something.

Charlotte & Lacey Evans recap
Oh, so Main Event is just recaps of other shows with some C-card matches. I guess it's nice that they're still using Ric Flair? Charlotte still looks great. She has more presence and authority.

That Raw match looked like horseshit, though. The ref called for the stop waaay too soon. That was coordinated.

Humberto Carillo vs Ricochet 2/5
It's a cruiserweight match, not really something I care about. The match itself wasn't great. It was fast-paced nonsense which looked cool at times (like hitting each other with kicks at the same time), but I was as bored as the announcers half the time.

The biggest problem was that there were a few points when they should have just ended things, but kept going. And after Humberto kicks out of some big impressive moves, he gets beat by a shitty move. Ugh.

Recap of Drew vs RKO on Raw
This might be a stupid question, but why is ANY of this on Main Event? Wouldn't anybody who watches WWE have already seen the Raw and SD segments on Raw and SD? Why bother putting it on Main Event like this?

It looks like it was an okay match.

Overall 0.5/5
This wasn't worth watching. I can't imagine how anybody can watch *all * of the WWE's shows without going crazy. Raw is basically 3 hours (Hulu iirc only has 90 minutes usually?), SD is 2 hours (or 90~ without commercials), NXT is like an hour, Main Event is 45 (or an hour with ads?), and then there's 205 Live, as well whatever else they have.

Oh, and I was looking at the read-ups for all of the Main Event episodes and it looks like Humberto is in like each one. Wtf?

Main Event was 45 minutes with maybe 15-20 minutes of wrestling, and maybe 5-10 on top of that if you could the recap stuff. So even though it was only 45 minutes, it felt longer than SD or Dynamite.

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There are precious few at ease / With moral ambiguities / So we act as though they don't exist.
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Naruto_fan_42
02/20/21 3:07:34 AM
#250:


Im up to date on WandaVision now and my hatred for Wanda grows stronger with every episode.

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