Lorne Malvo

Eddie Guerrero and Daniel Bryans title wins to me felt like elevating them to main-event status at the time, regardless of how much WWE dropped the ball next. Whereas the Kofi title win just reeked of 'we haven't built any new stars up, lets stick the title on a midcard guy whose been around a decade'. I'm not sure why it was different but it felt very much like they were demoting the title rather than elevating the man.

25 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

or whoever the 2022 equivalent of Kane is,

Bray Wyatt surely.

42 minutes ago, Supremo said:

I’m not even trying to be a dick when I say this, but bar the Sami and Roman thing, can anyone even pinpoint any particular highs so far? 

I only skim through the shows every now and again so haven't seen the vast majority of Trips WWE. But a hight point for me is the resurgence of Sheamus. He's been one of the more consistent and dependable guys for them over the past decade but never got the acclaim that people like Ziggler and Kofi get, but it seems the audience are really into him now. 

Other than that, I find a lot of it to be a case of the Emperor's new nose. 

Shit fantasy booking time!

I'd like to see MJF beat Mox clean, getting the handshake and Mox stamp of approval at the end, then the Elite return and kick the shit out of Mox/MJF. Do an injury angle with Mox so he can finally enjoy his holiday, Elite can claim they're getting revenge for Hangman's injury (if they want to bring shoot-shit into it), and the next 4 months can be Elite vs MJF and BCC matchups with an MJF vs Omega title program in there somewhere. I don't know where the Firm fits in but they're shite anyway.

I don't think it'll happen as Elite will most likely return as faces, but for me there's still a lot they can do as a heel unit.

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris - If you like these type of 'Sunday-evening watch it with your mam over a cup of tea' type films, this is right up your street. If not you'll hate it. I find them to be quite a guilty pleasure so I had fun with it. I also watched Mr Malcolms List which ticks this box too.

The Black Phone - It's fine. Ethan Hawke is having a load of fun. This 70s/80s IT/Stranger Things setting is getting really overplayed though.

Vengeance - Loved this. It has a lot to say and never quite went in the direction I expected. Looking forwards to seeing what BJ Novak does next.

Nothing Compares - Incredibly one-sided documentary (these things always are) about Sinead O'Connor. It's okay, but it's more of an hagiography than anything. I never realised how gorgeous she was in her prime!

Halloween Ends - Out of all the possible routes they could've gone to wrap this mess up, they chose the worst. Nonsensical and terrible.

Jurassic World Dominion - I put off watching this for a while because I'd heard bad things. I quite enjoyed it though. It reminded me of Jurassic Park III in just embracing how daft the whole thing is, but whereas that was a fun little B-movie this just decided to see how many different types of blockbuster they could cram in. There's an espionage bit, an Indiana Jones-esque bit, a Fast and Furious bit. Way too overlong though.

Wild Men - This is great. A black comedy about a husband and father who runs away from his life to live in the wild, and gets caught up with a drug smuggler, it's got a hint of the Coen Brothers in there along with a little Martin McDonagh. There's a recurring joke about a police dog that makes me smile everytime I think about it.

Matriarch - The story is nothing new but it's done well and the cast are all good to great. A much better mother/daughter horror than Umma from earlier this year.

Ticket To Paradise - you see George Clooney and Julia Roberts in a rom-com and you know exactly what to expect. I have quite a high tolerance for these kind of things so I thought it was okay. Quite staggering how unlikable the two leads are, mind.

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time - I loved this. I may be a little biased as it's a subject I inherently find interesting anyway, but I thought it did a brilliant job at outlining Vonneguts life and what shaped his writing, while also being a touching look at friendship, relationships and aging. Much recommended.

Philip Larkin and Sylvia Plath at our school. Although I have come to appreciate both now.

There's some poetry I enjoy, and Frank Skinners podcast on the subject is good listening. It also introduced me to Caroline Bird and Donna Stonecipher, both good modern poets.

Simon Armitage is rank though.

55 minutes ago, Nick James said:

What's the difference (other than the press conference) between Punk and say, Sasha Banks? Don't get me wrong, I think Punks a prick as much as the next guy, but Punk is being ostracized where others are being championed? 

I can't speak much for Sasha Banks as I wasn't watching WWE any of the times she went home. But if I can compare Punk in AEW to Punk in WWE, in WWE I always though his grievances were legitimate. Even when he was champion, he was positioned several rungs below John Cena feuding with the likes of Big Show or John Laurinitus. Yeah, he had a huge title run but when you're not main-eventing and not being presented as the top guy, does that really matter? A lot of the time it looked like he was working hurt (which was confirmed later) and he got dicked around by Triple H and Nash when he was the hottest guy on the roster. I could completely understand all his frustrations in WWE.

In AEW, he's had the red carpet rolled out for him, been treated like an absolute legend, gone over against some of their hottest young guys in MJF and Darby, been fast-tracked (by AEW standards) to a title run, then when he went out with an injury he came back to a second title run instantly. But none of that was good enough for him and he had to throw his toys out of his pram, and why? Because the man who prides himself on being Mr. Pipe Bomb shoot-promo couldn't handle one line from Hangman that 99% of the fucking audience didn't pick up on anyway!

Punk is probably my second favourite wrestler of all time but I've lost a ton of respect for him. I'd have him back in a heartbeat because he's that good but I don't think I'd ever be fully invested in his stuff again. 

20 hours ago, Nick James said:

The Elite probably stormed into Punks dressing room brandishing 2 controllers and wanted to sort it out like real men, in the battlefield of WWF No Mercy. 

CM Punk is the kind of bloke who would claim the reversal system is broken just because he's not very good at it.

Really fun match on Dark between QT Marshall and Dante Martin. Mostly bringing it up just to comment on the turnaround QT Marshall has had now he's not over-exposed on Dynamite every week. He's an absolutely perfect pre-show/Dark wrestler who can constantly show his arse and lose to rising stars yet he's good enough in-ring that it doesn't look like they're beating a complete joke.

I know he gets battered on here alot but I think in his current role he's fantastic.

Sorry for the massive image and double post

End of the Bray Wyatt promo very reminiscent of this:

17 minutes ago, Chris B said:

If Hey EW was on Dynamite or Rampage, I would understand your point more. You're actively watching RJ City's output, deciding it isn't for you, and keeping watching every week by choice, despite knowing exactly what it is.

You're assuming an awful lot. When his stuff gets posted on here I skip through it. Other than that I've probably watched 2 full episodes.

2 minutes ago, Chris B said:

It's also incredibly easy to avoid, so I'm not sure why it annoys people who don't have to watch it so much.

I mean, this stands for pretty much everything. If Adam Cole pisses people off so much, just fast-forward his segments.

I will admit RJ City's line to Eddie Kingston along the lines of 'people say you're one of the most honest wrestlers, how do you fake that?' got a good laugh out of me. And the Taz episode was good, but Taz is always good value in AEW. I just find for every good one-liner there's 10 minutes of tedium.

2 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Does it though? This is the wrestling equivalent of Mrs Merton. Now, if this was on TV, I could see some of your argument, but this is supposed to be 10 minutes of fluff to be entertaining on a sunday morning which takes wrestlers out of their characters. If you watch it and then feel differently about a wrestler, I get it, but as long as it is not impacting the actual wrestling shows, who cares?

Yeah, that's fair enough. It's not really canon so doesn't really matter. I just find the blokes whole act a bit insufferable and it's Monday morning so I'm allowed to be a bit grumpy.

Is it only me who can't stand that RJ City act? I just don't know what the end point is. Him winding everybody up and making them look like dickheads without ever getting any comeuppance? Some handle it better than others (Regal compared to Ruby Soho, for example) but when even Eddie Kingston comes out of them looking a bit daft, it probably does more harm than good.

1 hour ago, WeeAl said:

As it is, the TBS/women's title's would benefit from being combined, as would the three ROH male singles titles. Absolutely pointless that a promotion without a TV show (existing entirely within another promotion) has, what, five championships?

I reckon they might unify the TNT and ROH TV title - Joe and Wardlow interacting the past month or so might be the start of that happening somewhere down the line.

12 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

Not sold on him as a face though.

I reckon it might be a one-off thing while they're in Canada. I'd be really surprised if he's a face going forwards, he's a fantastic heel.

I'm the opposite with Punk. No matter how good he could be, I'd constantly be thinking 'whats the point investing in this, the moody cunt will probably fuck off or get injured after this show' every week.

1 hour ago, Keith Houchen said:

I was in the car at a red light, a pair of workmen were clad head to toe in hi vis and tucking into a Greggs walked over the crossing.

Nice to know @jazzygeofferz is doing well.

All of the Grudge films (American and Japanese) are varying levels of shit so you haven't missed out on much. 

4 minutes ago, AndyDemmo72 said:

 He's a horrible human being, a selfish b@$ta@rd and a bully!

You're right, you are.

I quite like Scream 4. 2 is decent too. I actually find the original to be one of the weaker entries in the series, I watched it last year and thought it had aged poorly.

6 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I know of a couple of older wrestlers who charge wear and tear on their gear and things of that nature.

That's as carny as they come. Incredible.

9 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Jet Set Radio Future,

I've been eyeing this up as it looks right up my street. Doesn't come cheap though!

I decided to buy an original Xbox over the weekend. It's one console I never had growing up. What would you recommend?

It came with a decent batch of games already;

There's a few there that I remember loving on the PS2, especially THUG, Black and Mercenaries, so I'm looking forwards to getting stuck into them. But are there any lessor-known games I should seek out?