Tag Archives: fight

Movies and Shows

The Last of Us Season 2: Big Brain Move

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HBO has done it again. First, they hired Bella Ramsey to ward off negative criticism and now the second season won’t be the whole second game. Somehow the company that gave us Velma, apparently can read their audience all of a sudden and know people are tuning in for Pedro Pascal and when his character dies, the numbers with Ramsey in the lead will start to drop. Also, the Last of Us Part 2 was F-ing terrible!

There’s a reason why a third game wasn’t made. Ellie wasn’t fun without Joel. The ending was dumb. Ellie went on a rampage of revenge on Abby because of Joel’s death and didn’t kill Abby in the end? She let her go. Ellie killed tons of Abby’s coworkers just to leave her in the end before she can land the killing blow.

I imagine season 2 will take a lot more creative liberties and spend most of the time on Abby’s story. She was interesting. I do love stories where I get to see the villain’s point of view and maybe try to understand their reasons for their actions. Realistically, HBO needs to put a time table on this and not go the Game of Thrones path of too many seasons.

World War Joe

Wrestling

The Tragic Tale of Baron Corbin

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I know that Baron Corbin is a good wrestler. You know that Baron Corbin is a good wrestler. I don’t think the WWE knows that Baron Corbin is a good wrestler. Corbin made his debut in NXT about 10 years ago, and since then he hasn’t made an impact in the WWE. He won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal (which means nothing now), he was a United States Champion (I don’t recall any big moments from it), he won the Money in the Bank Briefcase (lost it due to punishment) and won the King of the Ring (which means nothing).

You have a guy of Corbin’s size, very athletic, unique look, fun move set, can portray a bunch of different personalities and you not only leave him on the bench, but do everything in your power to make him look like a joke every time he’s in the ring.

Lone Wolf gimmick was good. Seeing Corbin lose all his money and then become rich was entertaining, but it didn’t lead to any World Titles. It didn’t lead to any big factions. He teamed with Madcap Moss, but that ended pretty quickly.

If Corbin does get released or decides to not accept a new deal, I’d like to see him join Impact Wrestling. There he can battle guys like Joe Doering, Black Taurus and most importantly Moose.

Whatever happens with the rest of Corbin’s career, I just hope he’s utilized properly. I think he can do great things in wrestling, but I don’t want to see him reduced to a jobber and a stepping stone for future world champions.

Artwork from Dream by Wombo

Joe

Wrestling

Where Are You Going With This?

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AEW needs a proper developmental brand to help build up wrestlers. NXT makes sense for the WWE. Wrestlers stay there for a few years before going to the main roster after winning championships or being there for long enough that fans will recognize them on the main roster. My issue with AEW’s lack of developmental brand makes me question the path of Captain Shawn Dean.

Dean has a very bright future in the world of wrestling, but I don’t know if AEW even believes in him. He was thrown in a garbage match against MJF, with resulted in Dean winning because CM Punk came in the ring, attacked Dean and technically ruined MJF’s undefeated streak. And this coming week on Dynamite, Dean will be facing MJF again and I’m predicting Wardlow will come out to the ring, which will distract MJF and Dean can get the rollup win. Maybe sparking a tag match between Shawn Spears and MJF vs Wardlow and Dean.

Whatever the outcome, Dean isn’t booked to be a realistic wrestler in AEW. Sadly, I predict Dean will be a roster filler for the most part, we will see him a little more in this MJF and Wardlow feud, but Dean’s roster spot will be on Dark and Elevation helping other wrestlers increase their win/loss record.

What do you think about Shawn Dean’s future in AEW?

Simptastic Joe

Videogames

You Can’t Have Two Endings

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Choosing between multiple endings has become a staple in videogames today. Series like Mass Effect and The Walking Dead let you carry over the decisions from previous games into the new ones. However, those decisions and endings aren’t massively different, but still give the player a feel that their choices matter.

Games like Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath have ruined their sequels because of their multiple outcomes. The ending of Injustice 2 lets you pick the Batman, good ending or the Superman, bad ending. Choosing Batman’s ending means Superman and Brainiac are defeated. Superman is then imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and vows revenge. The Superman ending is massively different. After defeating Batman and Brainiac, Superman uses Brainiac’s mind control ability to control Batman, and seemingly the rest of the Justice League becoming the ruler of earth.

So how would Injustice 3 start? What ending do they start with? Do you get to choose how it starts? Right there you are making 2 massively different games that the events of the previous game are vastly different. Maybe NetherRealm are buying time with their Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League videogame coming out in 2022.

Mortal Kombat hit a home run with MK9 where they reset the timeline and you got to play the game from the beginning and started a more linear timeline. MK10 was even better where they introduced the next wave of MK characters and started to give the old classics their final endings. Then MK11 happened and took away all the progress of the previous two games. The ending of that game, Lui Kang is now in control of the timeline and has the ability to red con the entire series again.

Then NetherRealm decided to reset the timeline again with MK11 Aftermath where again time travel was the theme. The issue is the endings. You can play as Lui Kang, defeat Shang Tsung, and reset history in a nice happy way. Choosing Shang Tsung’s ending makes him the ruler of the realms and going on a bloody crusade to rule over everyone. Again, two vastly different endings. There is a rumored April 2023 date for MK12, but now we don’t have a clear ending on the previous game so its difficult to tell how the next installment will begin.

Do you think NetherRealm backed themselves into a corner making vastly different endings? Let me know what you think.

SimptasticJoe

Wrestling

Control Your Narrative Promotion?

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When I first heard of the Control Your Narrative movement, I thought this was just a wrestling faction, but I later learned this is going to be a new failing company in the world of wrestling. The company’s 3 main stars are EC3, Killer Kross (Karrion Kross) and Adam Scherr (Braun Strowman). In their mission statement, the men explained what the company is. They first took shots are shareholders and billionaire owners.  Saying that owners collect wrestlers like “toys”. Clearly these men have never ran a company before. The “toys” they are talking about are employees, not friends and not members of a bigger picture. If a wrestler or “toy” is not putting in the work, not loved by the fans and making for lower ratings, then a change will be made. That’s running a business.

The letter than goes on to name drop popular wrestlers that have joined the company. Names like Moose, Matt Sydal, Matt Cardona and some no names. Now, are you telling me that Moose, a superstar in Impact Wrestling who is probably being paid very well, is planning on leaving Impact to join this company?

Who’s paying for this? You don’t have a billionaire owner like Tony Khan or Vince McMahon, you don’t have or want shareholders, so where is the money coming from? The top 3 wrestlers starting this company I imagine have some savings, so they can go a little while without getting a regular paycheck, but the others can’t. Matt Sydal was never a “run the company” wrestler. He has been bouncing around from company to company since he left the WWE. And more importantly, why would he want to leave AEW in any capacity?

I don’t know what to think about this company after reading this letter. I’m very confused with a lot of wrestling companies these days. The WWE looks like the only real wrestling company and the others are just all working together in some way.

Jon Moxley still does shows in Japan and backyard wrestling promotions, but still works for AEW. This move I find incredibly stupid because why would AEW be ok with letting one of their most popular wrestlers go to other places? More importantly, Mox went to some unknown company for his first match after rehab, kinda dulling the moment of his return. Why would Impact Wrestling be ok with Moose playing in this other company. If he gets hurt that’s a MAJOR blow to your company.

The whole promotion just seems like a great faction idea, one that would thrive on grabbing wrestlers who are lost or on losing streaks to be more, but as a company they are failing before they even got started. My prediction gets stronger when I read their website. Apparently, if I’m reading this wrong, fights (not matches) are decided by Tap Out, Knock Out or Can’t Stand……so not wrestling. Is this a better version of Raw Underground?

Another section of the website says “FTN blends professional wrestling, cinema, and harsh reality”. The cinema part throws me off. Because they are going to have live crowds. Are these planned out fist fights? I HATED the cinematic matches during the Pandemic Era for the WWE. I thought nothing had to change with the style, just put on great matches and you captures your audience interest.

If I was running this show, the first thing I would do is write up a REAL mission statement of their promotion, take it to Rumble and do shows exclusively on there. Rumble was ready to give Joe Rogan $200 million dollars to be exclusively there. I wonder how much they would pay for the exclusive rights to a wrestling promotion? I wouldn’t do shows on the road. Like NXT, I would do shows exclusively in one location. Buy a simple warehouse or property you can make into an arena and that solves where it would be. I would put the arena somewhere in the South or mid-West because it’s cheaper to buy property there. Maybe one day take the show on the road, but when you’re stating a new company saving money is key.

The next step does against everything they believe in, getting shareholders. They NEED some big money bankrolling this operation. Let’s say if the Rumble deal happens, they give, let’s say 10 million dollars, you still have a lot of things to buy. The biggest would be the location. I saw just use one because you don’t have to worry about costs of travel and you can control the environment more than using someone else’s building.  

Getting wrestlers shouldn’t be that difficult. Yes, I crapped on Sydal before, but he’s a good wrestler. Not someone who can lead the company, but a suitable wrestler. Moose would be way out of their pay range, but Cardona might be a great addition. The 3 creators would be taking a pay cut for the first few months so that’ll save some money. There are a ton of unknown wrestlers and released wrestlers looking for a shot to be on tv again. If anything, this new promotion might be a way to help them. But that would be a WRESTLING promotion and not a….whatever this is.

I don’t think the Control Your Narrative promotion will be a success. The idea is enough to get some early viewers, but this doesn’t seem realistic and will fail pretty soon.

World War Joe

Wrestling

Why I Love Hook

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Update On AEW Training Progress Of Hook - WrestleTalk

I know its doesn’t make any sense. And I know how stupid it is to say it. And I know there’s no reason why I feel this way, but I love Hook. He hasn’t done anything in AEW except a few cheap shots to unsuspecting opponents. But I believe there is a plan for Hook. Team Taz is starting to look VERY interesting with the addition of Dante Martin, but I still hate that they got rid of Brian Cage. Martin is going to be a major player on Team Taz and now is the perfect time to unleash Hook on the roster.

Hooks time in AEW reminds me of Pacman Jones in TNA Wrestling. Jones wasn’t allowed to touch any of the wrestlers, but somehow had matches where he won by distracting wrestlers by throwing money at them or from outside assistance. Hook is being billed just like that, but will soon be in the fold. I would copy his father, Taz’s, move set. Just go all in on suplexes, submissions and power moves.

ftw on Twitter: "My favorite moments of the Street Fight. @MrGMSI_BCage @starkmanjones @TrueWillieHobbs @730hook #AEWRevolution https://t.co/ZnFcDIevOh" / Twitter

I think the first feud I would have for Hook would be against Orange Cassidy. Cassidy can make anyone look good with his sloth style and since Cassidy is a fan favorite, you’ll have a great crowd for that match.

But what do you guys think of Hook and what feuds would you like to see him in?

Simptastic Joe

Wrestling

Omos The Next Giant?

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The Undertake said “There will never be another Andre (The Giant), but this guy is as close as we’ve come, and that’s a big statement…Omos is special” has the Undertake ever heard of Braun Strowman? I could argue that Strowman is the best big man since The Big Show, who when the Big Show was starting out he was compared to Andrea The Giant.

Omos is ok to me. I think him teaming with AJ Styles has resulted in Styles looking weaker as of late. The pairing seems more like a comedy gimmick rather than a team that will dominate. If they want to put Omos in that top tier of wrestlers than maybe a feud with Styles would be best. Have them win the tag titles, lose them as a result of Styles. Maybe a miscommunication where he hits Omos and then simply have him turn on Styles. Not the most original idea, but it would be effective.

Then have them fight at WrestleMania, make Omos the winner and keep his momentum going from there. I do agree with the Undertaker where if there was someone to eventually be in that Andrea Class then it can be Omos, but you have to book him as the face of the company. Maybe a feud with Roman Reigns would be interesting to see.

But what do you guys think of Omos so far and what would be the best way to make him a superstar?

Simptastic Joe

Movies and Shows

Terminator: How Do The Machines Lose?

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I’ve been binging the Terminator movies randomly and a weird question popped in my mind at 3 in the morning. How do the machines lose? I know the original movie, and I mean original original movie, was about how Skynet’s plan is to send a terminator back in time to kill resistance leader John Connor’s mother, thus killing the future savior of humanity.

Then the second movie comes around and Skynet sends another terminator back in time to kill John Connor. And then the third one comes around to Skynet sending back another terminator to kill Connor and his lieutenants. Needless to say the plot of the Terminator franchise repeat themselves alittle.

Now back to the question. How do the machines lose in the future? In the first Terminator, the machines sent back a T-800 model played by the hulking Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that movie, the T-800 was unstoppable. It killed an entire police department with no trouble. It got hit by cars, shot, blew up and kept coming. Ultimately being crushed under a hydraulic press, but before that it did a ton of damage.

 The movie even showed what Earth looked like during the war with the machines. We aren’t doing very well in that fight. What’s left of humanity is hiding underground and barely able to fend off the massive robot army.

In the sequel, we have another T-800 return as a good guy and we are introduced to the T-1000, a robot comprised of liquid metal who can shapeshift, form his arms into swords and other weapons and take endless amounts of damge. Again, we get a glimpse into the future of hundreds of T-800s walking across the destroyed cities of the world. The T-800, even though he’s a good guy, goes through an entire SWAT team, taking bullets to the face and keeps coming. And the T-1000 finally met its end after being outsmarted, but for most of the movie he was winning.

In the third movie we are introduced to the T-X which is comprised of a metal skeleton and has the liquid metal on top. This lets it use the same spike arms and also be able to shoot out laser beams and use other gadgets.

So the point I’m making, is how does a robot army lose the battle. This isn’t like Mel Gibson rallying the famers against the British. This is clearly a no-win situation. As we’ve seen in the previous films, we are losing this battle.

In Terminator Salvation we actually get a movie centered around the battle for the humanity against the machines. And in that one we are shown massive Terminators the size of buildings, motorcycle robots and massive air crafts that take hostages.

The Terminators get deadlier with each film and even though Dark Fate was terrible, I thought the concept of a Terminator who can separate from its liquid metal to make 2 Terminators was a cool addition.

And with the last 2 movies in the franchise were reboots, I don’t think the creators actually have a realistic way the humans win. Even copying the Terminators concept of going back in time to stop Skynet and Legion before it ever gets started is a concept that would get old fast.

Its sad to see a franchise that started off so strong go downhill in just a few short movies. Unless they throw some serious money into the script or have a solid, multi movie plan, then this series will never return back to its glory days.

Let me know what you guys think about the Terminator franchise moving forward and what changes need to be made.

Simptastic Joe