RedTwoster

I cant wait to play this with my daughter for the first time, I really hope she at least comes close to feeling the same sense of wonder that I did when i first played it.

I really wish I cared about this style of match. It's a rare week where I'm not even slightly buzzing for Dynamite and AEW. I'm not sure I've ever properly enjoyed a War Games-style match. That opening portion where there can't be an outcome is so boring to me, just drama-free. They can do the wildest of wild spots during that time, but I don't feel invested. The other thing is, with two Blood and Guts matches to roll through, I'm hoping we don't get much of a pause in the build for Full Gear, which I've enjoyed - I want to see more than a quick segment hyping the trios match and also more from Mercedes/Shafir, which has been absolutely electric so far. But hey, not everything AEW (or any wrestling company) does has to be for me. I imagine a lot of people are far more excited about this than I am, and with Full Gear looking like it'll be another home run, I can hardly complain.

I (justificably) gush about @FLips brilliant gaming posts all of the time, but @Jazzy G's gaming posts are fast catching up as some of my favourites on the forum. Really brilliant stuff. Bit of a blast from the past for me this week, as I've been playing Wiz 'n' Liz on the Mega Drive. There's nothing quite like it even now, you frantically run around catching 'wabbits' who turn into letters allowing you to spell words, as you compete with a timer (it's also bags of fun in multiplayer mode) - it's better just seeing it really to get a grasp as to what it is, but I'd love to see someone bring this gem back. I could have posted this in the retro gaming thread, but it's not the only game I've been playing... Is it Super Meat Boy? Celeste? Nope, it's Love, Eternal and in spite of being comparable to those two games in some ways, it's a very unique beast. It's a horror game and an ultra-hard platformer all rolled into one. The narrative is really strong, and it's a weird game in that it's short, but I suspect a lot of people will never finish it and find out how the story ends because of its difficulty. That's a shame too, I thought it was excellent. I do like this kind of platformer anyway, but the story alone is good enough to stand by itself, without any of the gameplay. It's cheap, so worth a try if you like that kind of thing.

You know how some people suggested Kenny Omega should have retired after the Will Ospreay match at All In as he'd never top it? Well, this guy applied that logic here, and never returned to the store. What a way to go out, 20-years later and I'm still talking about it.

I don't know if this counts as 'dropped' but back in the day, when I worked in retail, a colleague of mine was pulling a pallet of alcohol - whisky, although I can't remember what kind - out into the booze aisle of the supermarket we worked for at speed, so that the night shift could work it and he could go home. Unfortunately, pulling a pallet full of alcohol at high speed around a corner is - as it turns out - a really bad idea, and even though the booze was clingfilmed to keep it in place, it toppled into the shelving, bringing them down and smashing dozens of bottles. I couldn't tell you the exact number, but there was glass everywhere, much of the whisky was destroyed and pretty much everything on the row of shelves was - even if it didn't smash, it was so tainted by the liquid from the other bottles that you couldn't possibly expect someone to want to pay full price for it. The person had been working fast because they wanted to go home and, in spite of what happened, they did just that - immediately leaving the mess they had created, running upstairs to grab their stuff and sprint out of the store to go home; leaving me, a cleaner and a few others (including a poor checkout worker who happened to pass by in that moment) to close off the aisle and start what was a monumental clean-up job.

You big cynic. Remember when people said Adam Copeland's nail bat was dumb because he'd never use it? You're going to feel so silly. (...I actually don't mind his rhetoric, when it's immediately followed by Moxley absolutely dismissing it, it's very amusing) Totally with you on this. They have no charisma or presence whatsoever, and as a result they can't bounce off Thekla in the way you would want any stablemates of hers to do. I think they're missing a trick by not turning Thekla pretty much immediately, you have a Toni Storm or Hangman Page-level babyface act just waiting to happen with her. Turn Statlander to balance things out (and heck, she's better as a heel anyway) and job's a good 'un. I've said it before, but they remind me of MJF and Stokely's extremely short-lived stable. White is significantly better as a babyface, and the same is probably true of Juice. The Gunns are good either way and I'd like to see them re-enter the tag division. There must be a reason for it, but they strike me as one of the more underutilised acts on the AEW roster. It's surprising that they're not being pushed as a featured act in the tag division, they're certainly good enough.

Probably my TV moment of the year. That was absolutely fantastic. I want to see more of James Blunt on TV, he was very enjoyable to watch.

As long as I care about a title, I don't mind that it exists. The Continental title does feel valuable, but I don't think it should be defended in random matches - put it up for grabs in the Continental Cup and Continental Classic each year, and that's it. Hype it up as being a unique title that you only have two opportunities to hold each year, and each one involves a shitload of work. As I mentioned in the Full Gear thread, I think the National Title is beyond salvage. It elevated Mark Davis when he held it, but outside of that, it's been held by people who feel beneath it. I'd get rid of it. That would leave me with the World Title, the International Title and the TNT title as far as men's belts go. I'd add an Intergender Tag Title - I think you could do something really good with that, having men and women who wouldn't typically interact do just that. Imagine seeing Toni Storm and Jon Moxley or MJF face off? Talking of MJF - imagine the shithousery you'd get from having him team up with someone like Thekla or Mercedes Mone? Would Ospreay and Windsor be better than The Brawling Birds? Dunno, but you'd probably see them team up. I'd also be tempted to add a Super Heavyweight Title, or maybe a Brawlers title instead to reduce the limitations of the former. AEW does a big man match well, and a title like that would allow for more of that kind of thing. What leaves me slightly hesitant is that AEW has less in the way of that kind of wrestler on their roster than they once did, with Big Bill/Cass, Miro and Hobbs all moving to WWE. Not that they couldn't be replaced, but I don't know if it's worth it. If I did introduce another men's title, I'd probably unify the International and TNT titles.

It is, and it's really weird to see him clean shaven. Who are the two women in between Bianca Belair and Lio Rush? I don't recognise them at all.

Didn't they have to plead their case to become Traitors rather than be murdered? I may be misremembering, but he could have been open and simply said he didn't think he could do it. Having said that, maybe the reality of it was more difficult than how he envisioned it in that moment. He had very little time to think. I don't think he 'Wilfed' the other Traitors intentionally either. I imagine he didn't really think about the consequences of his perfume comment. He may well have meant that this wasn't actually how he murdered Ross Kemp, which is true. I'm not convinced by the idea that it was him throwing Maya and Kenny under the bus, even if that comment is what doomed them.

I honestly think it's impossible to add any level of credibility or prestige to the National Title - I could see them putting it on someone like Dragunov in an attempt to elevate it through banger match after banger match, much as Orange Cassidy did the International Title. But I don't think it's possible. I'd still like to see them ditch it.

I did too, particularly the final few episodes. Ultimately, it's a broken format (there's really no point getting rid of Traitors until the end as you just make the game harder for yourselves - get rid of shitty players instead) but it's more about how people respond to the role they are given rather than the game itself. Maybe you don't find out much about the personal lives of these celebrities, but you do get an insight as to who they are as people. I don't quite understand why James Acaster signed up for the show in the first place though, knowing he could become a Traitor. And then when he was offered a spot in the turret, I don't know why he didn't just turn it down. That said, he was very interesting to watch throughout and his moral conflict (even though I'd argue that the moral thing to do is play the game to benefit your charity) added a different dimension to the show that we've not seen before. Ultimately, I'm glad that the two people who won did; the money going entirely to refugees was just lovely. And good on Maya Jama for donating the sum to her charity anyway. She seems a good sort.

Honestly, with Moxley’s hilarious reaction I thought it actually worked - he’s essentially a cross between Scrappy Doo and Jay from The Inbetweeners. I liked the way that all played out.

No, but by saying anything like that at all, it created the paranoia that was needed to make sure both Maya and Kenny had no chance of winning.

Better than Shiloh Hill, Tristan Angels, Newman Capote and Tavion Heights.* *most of these are real

If you want to get a taste for the kind of thing he does, watch Halloween Havoc. I did this morning, mainly to see who the up-and-comers were, particularly on the men’s side which, at face value, seems very weak. Realistically, you only need to watch one of the ‘hilarious’ Halloween/Danhausen skits and that’s what he does in a nutshell.

I decided to watch this, to get an idea as to who the rising stars in NXT might be right now. That was potentially the worst show, I’ve seen all year. It encapsulated everything I hate about WWE ‘humour’ - the mist Vince McMahony non-Vince McMahon show anyone could book. For those asking what HBK’s booking is like - for the worst extremes, give the bulk of this show a watch. I look forward to whatever non-finish they come up with for Waller/Punk next week.

A fairly inconsequential Collision this week. Watchable, but skippable. Two particular highlights for me though - Nick Wayne’s fantastic vignette that @Supremo shared, and Jon Moxley completely no-selling Gabe Kidd’s ‘I’m mad, me!’ promo threatening The Dogs, before going on to cut a typically brilliant promo himself. Marina cut a very good promo too and with Full Gear being as close as it is, I’m starting to wonder if they’ve made a mistake by running this match so early in Mercedes’ reign. Give it a few more months and I think you have a bigger match in the sense that a Marina win seems more possible. It still feels like an enormous match and Marina does not come across as someone who could mot be World Champion. Then again, maybe this is a test to see if her ring work can live up to her presence against one of the best in the world. I’m really excited about this match whatever the case, and if Marina holds up her end of this, you absolutely have someone who could be main eventing alongside Mercedes, Willow, Toni and Thekla. Paul Wight is a surefire nominee for non-wrestler of the year for me. He’s brilliant on commentary, what a great addition to the team he’s been. I want Renee Paquette to finally get her flowers this year, although Wight deserves recognition for how good he is. I wonder if The Hurt Syndicate appeared because they’re going to be in a storyline, or if it was just to remind people they exist? It’s a shame that they seemingly have the same attitude to losing as Miro and Malakai Black, in a different reality it would be fun to see Lashley in the CC, or watching him wrestle the likes or Ospreay, Page and Darby. The fact we didn’t even get the MJF match is all sorts of strange. He should be adding a different dimension to the upper card, rather than existing in a parallel universe in the way he does.

But the difference is that this is a billionaire’s passion project, not a business with the sole intent of making profit - heck, CM Punk complained that it ‘wasn’t a business’, the counter-culture, rebellious capitalist that he is. It doesn’t have to make mega-money, at least, not as long as it’s in the hands of Tony Khan. He could clearly keep it running at a loss if he wanted, but even a MyAEW future would almost certainly make it sustainable at the very least. But it’s hard to see a future in which that would happen, they’re doing really well right now. Even if Skydance dumped them tomorrow, someone would pick them up.

I honestly wonder if it even matters anymore. AEW has a consistent, dedicated and almost guaranteed audience so someone would snap them up - but even in a worst case scenario MyAEW seems like a viable platform - particularly if they get it added to Amazon Prime and Apple TV as an app. If they’re not on TV in the States - which seems unlikely to me - I genuinely don’t think it’ll make a noticeable difference to anyone watching on these shores.

Because the word I've scrubbed out was in common parlance up until relatively recently, I’ll assume you weren’t aware that it’s rightfully now considered a slur. This Special Olympics page is pretty old, but it explains why it’s worth editing your post.

Talking of The Conglomeration, is Mark Briscoe injured or something?

I've tried them in the past but I find that they go a bit too far in the other direction - nothing quite hits the happy medium of Champ Man 01/02 or the early FM games for me. Maybe they've developed the simplified version to the point that it now does though, it's been a while for sure. It might partly be down to my lack of time these days too - maybe it's one to pick up again in several decades time when (...or if) I retire!

I kind of dialled out of the series when it became far too complex to enjoy anymore - there were far too many elements added that just weren't fun (for example, training and the tactics becoming much more in depth than I could be bothered with) - how is it on that front?

Oh yeah, they're absolutely nightmarish. Not quite as bad as the Dark Side of the Moon in Mario Odyssey, though - I couldn't even bring myself to keep trying with that level.