Lorne Malvo

Sam Elliot and Peter Capaldi both have voices I could listen to for hours.

If anyone listens to the Empire/Pilot podcasts, I always find James Dyers voice weirdly soothing and comforting. Beth Webb from the old Pilot TV podcasts too, although a big part of that could be that I fancy her.

Fucking hell lads. He's had a few dodgy promos but he's still absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world with an insanely great body of work. Let's not write him off based on a shite Jericho segment.

3 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

I can't stop thinking about how bad that Golden Jets segment was. It's infused in my brain. What is it about Ricky Starks that makes veterans completely shit the bed? Edge did it and now Jericho.

Is Ricky Starks not very well liked backstage or something? This is pure conjecture but it seems everytime he does a segment with one of the vets they have to try and dunk on him someway, but it just leads to them getting flustered and rambling like a twat.

14 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

I zoned out after the Golden Jets segment and couldn’t get back into the rest of the show. I can’t remember anything about the Rush-Lethal or Switchblade-Briscoe matches. Zoned back in just enough to see Swerve lose* and zoned out again just in time to avoid having to pay attention to the Devil. Not a vintage Dynamite.

Yeah, this was similar to my experience with this show too. I'm not sure what it is but every so often they put on a Dynamite which, for all the technically sound wrestling and good matches, just feels a bit soulless and empty and for me this was absolutely one of those. It just felt like the whole show lacked any momentum or oomph. 

Jesus, never send Omega out there with a live mic again unless he's got Callis by his side. Terrible segment.

Are they turning Swerve face do we think? Excalibur mentioned he's got the most fan support and him getting cheated here garners more sympathy for him. I wouldn't mind them revisiting Hangman/Swerve a few months down the line with the roles reversed.

Actually, the best scenario for AEW right now could be building the show around a heel Elite. Have Omega turn on Jericho (playing on the 'you can't trust Jericho' thing mentioned here) and have Bucks/Hangman turn with him. Hangman hasn't done the heel thing yet in AEW, Bucks are at their best as dickhead heels and it means no more Omega babyface promos. 

Fuck it, have Omega be the Devil while we're at it. 

I still think the two worst characters are Andy and Jim. Andys personality changes from season to season, he's not a consistent character at all and I don't think the writers ever got a grip on who he really is.

Jim is the biggest cunt going.

I've been making more of an effort to keep up with TV shows this year and have been keeping track of what I've watched. These are the 2023 shows I've watched;

Happy Valley (Series 1-3) - Incredible piece of work. All the plaudits will rightly go to Sarah Lancashire but Siobhan Finneran is terrific. The last series wrapped some things up too neatly and left some strange threads unresolved but overall it was brilliant.

The Last Of Us - Another fantastic show. The Bill and Frank episode has been hailed as a masterpiece but I also thought the last two episodes were of a similar quality. Absolutely perfect ending too.

Lockwood & Co - It was perfectly fine in that Doctor Who-esque Saturday teatime way. Nothing special but decent enough. Picked up as it went on so shame it got cancelled.

Secret Invasion - Started off promising then got gradually shitter. Last few episodes were bottom-tier MCU. Wank.

The Mandalorian (Season 3) - Typical Disney+ Star Wars show that is fun enough but takes forever to get where it's going. Enjoyed the focus on Bo-Katan more this season but it's still essentially 'Mando does side quests then fights Giancarlo Esposito' and they really need to change the formula up next season to stop it getting stale.

Ahsoka - Boring. These shows take so long to get to the point. Can confirm Mary Elizabeth Winstead still incredibly hot in green alien makeup. 

It's Always Sunny (Season 16?!) - They're miles away from the glory years by this point but every episode still raises a few laughs. The high point is the Dennis mental health episode. The low point is the Bryan Cranston episode which is one of the worst they've done.

The Bear (Season 1-2) - Honestly, the first season was a bit of a letdown after all the hype. It was good, but it didn't blow me away and at times it felt like it was a bit too much in love with itself. The second season was incredible though. Seven Fishes and the finale were both stand-outs but I absolutely loved the Ritchie and Marcus episodes. 'Forks' is probably my favourite episode of any TV show this year, Ebon Moss-Bachrach broke my heart.

Hijack - Just a good edge of the seat thriller, really enjoyed this. Let down by a terrible last ten minutes but still, I had a lot of fun with it. 

Loki (Season 2) - Not a patch on the first season. A poor year for the MCU TV-wise.

Only Murders In The Building (Season 1-3) - I unashamedly love this. While each season follows the same pattern and seems to lag in the middle before picking up and ending strong, the third season may be the best yet. Steve Martin and Selena Gomez both great but Martin Short is the MVP, he's a treasure. The 'Pickwick Triplets' song has been stuck in my head for weeks.

You (Seasons 1-4) - Not sure how I've managed 4 seasons of this. It's shit but addictively so. Features the worst characters making the most stupid decisions, terrible dialogue and one of the all-time worst voiceover jobs but I still watched it all. The plot goes into 'oh, fuck off!' territory during season 4. I'll definitely watch season 5.

Currently making my way through Ted Lasso, Succession and rewatching Barry too. There's just too much TV though isn't there?

Two minor annoyances wrapped up in one. 

1) People getting the name of simple films/tv shows wrong.

2) Me being too polite and British to correct them in fear of looking like a know it all little shit.

I've had to listen to my manager talk about the new Netflix film 'Leave The Whole Wide World Behind' for hours today. 

As much as I think this is just Punk on best behaviour during his probation period, I genuinely hope it works out for him this time and he can find happiness in WWE. A generation of up and comers learning from one of the best can only be a good thing. WWE have got a boost and people talking, Punk seems happy and AEW have got a headache off the roster and the TV product hasn't really missed him. Him joining WWE may work out best for everyone in the long run.

*I'm talking in terms of storylines and personal preference, not arsed at all about ratings/metrics/etc. 

25 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

 I absolutely loved my Wii U, although it's become less important to me over the years given that almost every major exclusive it had has been ported to Switch or elsewhere. 

The Wii U was the last time I really sunk a lot of time into video games. It hads some absolute little gems on there but like you say, most made the jump onto the Switch.

I'd highly recommend Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for anyone who hasn't played it. Genuinely one of my favourite games of the last ten years (granted, I don't play much anymore!)

2 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Fantasy booking general elections. A new low for the forum

Big Boss Man's gonna win the next one.

1 minute ago, Snitsky's back acne said:

Agreed. I don't watch the shows outside of PPVs and the odd clips on YouTube but has Rollins voice always been that annoying? 

Yes, going all the way back to his Triple H's lapdog 'best for business ha-ha-ha' cackling phase which was one of my most hated title runs ever.

1 hour ago, RedRooster said:

Rayman Legends is also really fun - it's weirdly underrated; I'd go as far as to call it one of the best 2D platforms ever, but it has somehow been slightly forgotten about. 

 

Is this the one which had levels timed to music? So you'd be running along and every jump would correspond to a drum beat, for example? I remember loving that on the old Wii U.

https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-news/michael-owen-liverpool-real-madrid-newcastle-premier-league-270307-20231211

Dislikes: Films

Likes: Throwing an apple in the bin

What a strange, strange man.

14 minutes ago, The Curious Orange said:

 Dan Moriarty

That's a BritWres name if I've ever heard one.

I'm loving this Continental Classic so far. Actually punched the air when Kingston beat Claudio.

Wardlow manhandling Willie Mack was one of the best outings for him this year. He looked an absolute beast.

Omega/Page was a nice little belter. I didn't expect them to reference the Tony Nese ROH feud at all so Page coming into it injured from the contract signing was a nice surprise. 

Having Daddy Magic and Cool Hand lose in front of that crowd made me feel like I was watching WWE circa 2018. Not a cool move!

Keith Lee is the king of feuds that ramble on forever and never really go anywhere. He needs some solid direction in 2024 that goes beyond 'sometimes wear a cape', 'dresses like a pastor' or 'uses big words.'

That main event was an absolute war. Danielson is a madman. 

I do agree with @Mr.Showtime - the face/heel divide can sometimes be a little bit too muddy for my liking. I don't know if anyone pays attention to the face/heel 'tunnels' anymore but I'm lowkey fascinated by how little sense they make at times. Danielson came out of the face tunnel against Garcia (who is ostensibly a heel but everyone loves him anyway). Then on this show he came out of the heel tunnel to face Andrade, who has kind of been a face since his return but was absolutely a heel here. That's without getting into the CJ/Miro business which just complicates things even more. Pick a lane!

40 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Steady on, lads. We’ve been here before with Our Phil. It was all stage dives and smiles in AEW until it wasn’t. Wait until one of those empty-headed dumb fucks in NXT refuses to take his advice. It’ll be muffins at dawn.

Yeah, it's easy to forget now but his first year in AEW was all 'aw shucks, its great to be here!' and putting over Jungle Boy of all people in interviews.

Besides, it's hardly like he's going to turn up on NXT with a face like a smacked arse on his third week back with the company.

Fuck it then, the re-release of I Know Where I'm Going! is my film of the year. 

Danielson being an absolute prick to his opponents after the match is an interesting wrinkle. Especially when he was courting Garcia to join him last year. Interested to see if its going anywhere or Bryan just enjoying heeling it up.

Fantastic match. The rest of the show was nothing special - it had Matt Sydal on it, for one. Danhausen isn't clicking the same since his return either. I think when he's bouncing off a straight man it's fine, but when he's paired with somebody else a bit zany like Serpentico the humour falls abit flat.

2 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

I never understand these Sight & Sound lists because they always include stuff (Poor Things, for example) that aren't even out here until the next year.

I hate when critics do this. It just reeks of 'haha, I got to see this film before the rest of you!'. Fuck off.

They really need to stop filming ROH matches after Collision. People performing infront of rows of empty seats is a terrible look. When people have sat through your Danielsons and Kingstons, it's a lot to ask of them to stick around for the Renegades and Lee Johnson when they're thinking of hitting the bar or catching the last train.

I'm not sure what's wrong with just making this an hourly show filmed before Collision where the crowd would be hotter. Instead you've got this weird mix of pre and post show matches so the crowd looks fine for one match then wank for the next match. Sometimes you can have too much of something.

Anyway, this show has settled down to being fairly dull again after a strong few weeks, but there were some highlights worth checking out. Athena and Starkz had a tremendous brawl to start things off. I think Khan might be tempted to have Stark upset Athena at Final Battle but I think he should hold off. As good as Starkz is in-ring, she still doesnt have the character work down and has that thing of grinning through everything so it's hard to take it seriously.

There's never been a feud less deserving of an I Quit match than Tony Nese vs Ethan Page, and Tony Khan hosting contract signings can get in the bin because he's absolutely terrible on camera, but I really enjoyed their segment. It's a testament to how good Page is that he's got me invested in a Tony Nese match.

They could do a lot worse than having Kyle Fletcher winning the TV title and building the next 4-6 months of TV around him. 

Biggest news coming out of this show is that it's going to be BCC vs FTR & Mark Briscoe at the PPV. Banger!

10 minutes ago, 69MeDon said:

 

For all the reports of "negativity" in the company, AEW is still the love of my life.

I think not reading reports/backstage scuttlebutt etc is an absolute blessing. I don't have Twitter and I don't follow any wrestling-related stuff online at all, the only wrestling newz/information I see is on here. So it blows my mind when I read things about AEW being so terrible backstage and how that effects peoples enjoyment of the shows.

I am completely ignorant to all of that stuff and for the most part I love the shows. People should give it a try. Keeping off 411Mania for a month isn't that hard.

I thought this was a pretty good Dyno. Mark Briscoe being eliminated breaks my heart but Jay Lethal is also out, so swings and roundabouts I guess. Also enjoyed the other CC bouts, Mox vs Rush may be my fave match of the tourney so far.

Really enjoyed the main event. The finish was executed horribly but the actual match was a belter. It reminded me of a WWE match from the mid-00s, nothing mind-blowing in the ring but it told a great story and the action was believable. I often used to find Copeland a bit too corny to buy into him but I didn't feel that at all here, I was completely invested in the early stages of the match with him just kicking the shit out of Christian then that little weasle bastard targeting the neck to turn it around.

I don't mind the Devil stuff but hopefully it is either wrapped up by Worlds End or we get some progression. That MJF/Hangman interaction was ten times more interesting than the Devil storyline.

Can't wait for Danielson/Garcia!

Found an Indian food shop near me that does big vegetable samosas for 40p each! Ordered a tenner's worth just to snack on through the week. They're absolutely delicious and filling too. Top tier snack.

I've always absolutely loved this theme. It screams pompous heel perfectly. 

🎵And you would be there toooo.....🎵