DavidB6937

I've never been a huge Top Gun fan. I liked it but it's not something I've watched that many times, so I really wasn't bothered about it getting a sequel.

But Maverick is one of the best examples of why we need cinemas in a long time. There will always be a place for movies like it and the spectacle and experience on a big screen is everything I could ever want from that.

I have to be very picky with my time and cinema visits and I'm really glad I took the chance on it.

I hope you land on top of a chippy.

It's a curious one regarding replacing typically white cast roles because I always see a couple of different arguments:

1) It would be incredibly powerful to cast a black person as something as big as James Bond.

2) It's almost lazy and glosses over the bigger issue which is the lack of creation of similar roles for black people.

As a white middle aged man, I'm not in the position to say what's right/wrong there. I do tend to lean towards the second one just because I think there needs to be a drive in opportunity and creativity, but again I'm not the person it would need to happen for. I can't say what would be more impactful or powerful or important for moving forward.

We've seen it all when it comes to Doctor Who over the years - race, gender, whatever else.. you'd think it'd be a lot easier to accept when it's an alien role but apparently not. So no surprise there's always similar debate about James Bond, if not worse in some ways.

Arguably I suppose it needs to be both - a more open minded world when it comes to casting/writing AND re-casting. Although there's obviously far more nuanced discussions to be had when it comes to what roles/properties and the best way to approach them.

But yeah, it's daft that such casting decisions have been going on historically for years and yet in many ways we're more backwards and closed minded now in certain sectors than ever.

I think the thing with AEW - for me anyway - is that it was an opportunity to almost start with a clean slate and do things "right". For all WWE may be trying to do now, we know there's multiple dark clouds hanging around various people and they'd have to do a total clean out in order to really set things completely right. And that's blatantly not going to happen.

But I guess if you know enough about the wrestling business then maybe you just accept that no company is going to be completely clean and maybe the hopes were too high for AEW. It just feels like a lot of us were really rooting for it to be the decent alternative that showed you could do things right in the industry. I know they've done a lot right but the cracks started to show and the questionable decisions started to creep in and it has obviously been a lot of pressure for TK from different directions and it does take its toll.

It's silly really but it does feel a little more disappointing knowing the chance they had when it was launched and became successful. It has managed to achieve a lot but it has been dragged down into a lot of shit that many hoped it would avoid.

Firstly, thank you to @Devon Malcolmfor that post. It's one of those things I'm absolutely aware of but have no personal link or knowledge of, so that insight is invaluable to people like me. And as much as many of us try our best and try to understand, it's those more informed and experienced perspectives we should all be learning from. Same with race or gender discussions for example. There's only so much you can really understand from a white privilege male perspective despite believing you're open minded and supportive. 

Secondly - and this is where the tricky personal stuff comes in - the Harry Potter series has played a huge part in my life. I've made many friends because of it. It has brought me closer to my mum and her favourite place in the world is the studio tour. We've always made it our thing to go there every year. And our eldest daughter loves it too.

So thinking about letting it all go is something I really struggle with. I know a lot of people feel the same. Probably in the same way about walking away from WWE when you've watched it for nearly your entire life. It's tough. I guess I have been justifying it by thinking well I'm not paying for stuff because I like JK or anything like that. But having read stuff on here, I get why that's incredibly problematic while still claiming to want to be an ally. So it's definitely something I need to try and reevaluate somehow.

Honestly I'm just disappointed. The whole thing just feels a bit sad.

AEW was always meant to be an alternative. A place where the best wrestle and fans could just go and watch exactly that. To share that love of professional wrestling and ENJOY it.

To see it being dragged down to this level and actually become more WWE than WWE itself in 2024 is just ridiculous beyond belief.

If TK thinks this is the best way to get eyes on the product then that's a real step in the wrong direction for me. I really can't be arsed with it all.

Don't get me wrong. I love the debates on here and its a big part of why I enjoy reading stuff on here daily. But damn sometimes I think wrestling just needs to be enjoyed for what it is and not overanalysed. Not everything is written and built to be picked apart from bottom to top. Sometimes things are just done because they're cool and enjoyable and that's really the end of it. And that's actually enough for the majority of the audience I think. At least at an event like this where people go in wanting the spectacle and the crazy randomness of whatever WWE want to throw out there at their biggest show. So if the Undertaker shows up and people love it then that's surely enough. WWE will always have that history to play with. Its one of their biggest strengths.

Decent enough show I thought. Nothing spectacular but a solid show that built on existing momentum. Part of me loves the surprises etc but they're in rare form with a LOT of over talent across the roster. It's really great to see.

I know it was partly because it was in London but being in such an enthusiastic crowd for MITB was just a total vibe shift compared to other WWE events. And that enthusiasm has carried on through so many crowds in different areas and countries. It really does make such a difference. Even the crowd for Raw was actually mostly into the show rather than trying to get themselves over. Over the years they became the worst crowd to watch and WWE had to try and push them as "ooh look at these crazy fans! They'll do anything they want!" it's never a good thing when they're more interested in creating their own entertainment than what is in front of them.

There's very little of that now. Not a huge amount of dead crowds. They tend to be into most things these days to some degree.

But yeah obviously part of that Rock/Cody stuff with the belts was super awkward. Terrible idea. Somehow worse than that time there was that weird tug of war with the belt. I'd like to forget that and just remember how the crowd loved Cody. How Cody is so genuine and overcome with everything right now. And how Rock managed to pull something fucking fantastic out of an originally stupid idea for Mania.

Will be interesting to see where they go with Smackdown and what Roman's direction is now.

That main event was a real life version of that excited Vince meme really wasn't it. Only they're finally able to book shows everyone can enjoy and not just that old bastard.

Knackered now though. Thought I'd be skipping through night 2 but ended up watching the whole thing and the press conference, and then read 10 pages of arguing about crying. I didn't film my tears so I assume that passes the genuine test.

Honestly thought it couldn't get any better and then I read Scorchy isn't watching anymore? Best few days ever!

41 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Torrent? I haven’t torrented anything since I found out there are easier ways to Watch the Wrestling.

Yeah I tried that first but the connection was being annoying on the hotel WiFi so I just left it to download and watched it later.

Well after all the support I gave the Usos for them being a worthy Mania match, they certainly did their best to prove me wrong, Awful match. Whoever booked that and did the agent role should be fired. Shite.

Happy tears for Sami.

Surprisingly decent showing from The Rock but definitely too long.

Not much nostalgia or surprises so hoping we'll get some tonight.

Had the same problem. Ended up having to torrent it. Ridiculous.

So is "where the best wrestle" the official new slogan now? 

I definitely watch when I've got time. Always watch the bigger events. I think they've got a good bunch down there. Will be interesting to see who gets the post Mania call ups. There's a few that haven't got much left to do in NXT like Melo that you'd assume would be pretty set.

On 4/2/2024 at 9:41 PM, FUM said:

As much as I know people still love Sami, they’ve really taken away what got him to the level he did last year which was the comedy combined with the vulnerability for me.

You want comedy? You've got comedy!

I really want him to leave AEW. Not only because he's overexposed completely but because I want to see him worm his way back into WWE and see what BS he spins. He'll make CM Punk look like the most honest guy in the world.

You have to believe the upturn in quality in WWE and consistency has meant a lot of fans who may have abandoned ship for AEW haven't. Its very difficult to say how much crossover there is but people only have so much money. And if there's a choice it'd be a lot easier if one of them was shit. But with both delivering hot products right now it's probably not surprising the bigger name would win out in many areas.

7 hours ago, Browser Brady said:

If you like Married at First Sight then you’ll enjoy the current series of the Australian version.  It’s got it all.

I'm a couple of episodes behind but it's always entertaining. Pure chaos. I love how I forget the happier couples are even there because they barely get any screen time. Jack has such a punchable smirk. Sadly he has played Tori so well. Tim is deeply self loathing and unhinged. Just saw Ben be an absolute twat. So much drama everywhere and not even from who I thought. I had Lauren down as the most annoying one at the start. And then the new frat boy. But they've been surprisingly alright.

Kross getting a Mania match is upsetting.

First the Punk interview. Now this. Loving the chaos.

Just seen there's a second season of The Jinx coming up which seems mad to me but I absolutely fucking adored the first one so I'm in.

43 minutes ago, Scratch said:

The other half of their target audience, the really young kids, probably don’t care about who wins and how they got there, so I suspect they’ll keep it as it is. That said, I’ll always remember the names Phil Norman and Eunice Huthart. No 10-year-old kid will give a fuck about Finlay Anderson though.

I definitely felt this way but my two daughters remembered all the contestants and who they beat and what they did. So clearly they made an impression somewhere.

Plus he's got a reality show with Bianca. He's doing alright. It's a shame he's stuck in the shit right now but yeah I'm not sure where he'd fit in anywhere else either. A solo midcard run with the US title wouldn't be a terrible first step.

5 minutes ago, Jazzy G said:

Apparently the losing finalists picked up injuries during the final. You can see one of them twisting their ankle during The Edge. If they'd been at 100% throughout I don't think it'd been as close as it was. That short filming schedule didn't do anybody any favours. Hopefully they take a little more time to film the second series. Rumour has it there's a celebrity christmas special coming as well. Who would be good on that? Do they trot out some of the older Gladiators for a crack?

Make Barney do it. I wanna see him destroyed in every way possible.