forameus

End of April is rumoured as of yesterday. Sounds like they're wanting to get it out the door so they can start concentrating more on their next new game. I never did get that far into Blood and Wine when it was released. Think I got to the first big monster, and it repeatedly battered through me every single time. Planning to go right back to the start and do another playthrough, complete it using that. There was a good example last night when I was playing Fallout 4. No direct spoilers, but there was a fairly major character dieing. I get the feeling it was supposed to be this huge, emotional moment, but the wanderer and the soon-to-be-dead traded comments, then there was an unintentionally funny final line before they just slumped down dead against the wall. Compare that to the Witcher, and the difference is clear. I posted a few pages back about my favourite side quest in the game where you had to get a black pearl for a guy whose wife had been lost to dementia. That quest - which probably took about 20 minutes - has more emotional impact and better writing than any moment in Fallout 4. Bethesda built a fantastic game world, put a whole load of effort into it, and then added some great things around the edges to give a wide (but not particularly deep) game. They then spent very little time comparatively in filling out what happened in the World beyond "go here, kill this, get reward". It's a shame, because they're definitely capable of something great. It's clear ProjektRed put a lot of effort into crafting the entire experience. They put time into voice acting, they put time into the story, and they put time into making sure that every quest had its own little quirks. I never really thought at any time like I was just performing filler quests. Everything seemed like it mattered. It's a truly wonderful game.

Tonight's episode is going to be wholly dedicated to the 2-out-of-3 falls match between Zayn and Samoa Joe. Should be a wonderful match, despite the ending being obvious if you've read spoilers for Takeover. When has there ever been a WWE product where they've given an entire episode over to one match? I know RAW is 3 hours, so that's unrealistic, but it's pretty rare for them to do something like this.

Isn't he off-screen because he's recovering from surgery? The real surgery that was covered up by the fake surgery. He'll be back on RAW on Monday, where he'll get one over on HHH, then the next two weeks it'll be the other way around leading up to Reigns winning at WM.

He won't be back at Roadblock. HHH will retain through either a disqualification or some other shenanigans, but Reigns won't be there. They'll get that match out of the way, and he'll be back on RAW.

While I'm usually spitefully against 4-4-2, Pogba and Doolan would be good together. The problem is that I don't think we have the players behind them to make it work. If our midfielders got up to support whoever the lone striker is more then Pogba's knockdowns would probably be more effective.

Would be good if they went out on a limb and kept Owens vs Zayn, but added a Money in the Bank match for others not on the card. Maybe even make it for a shot at the Intercontinental, rather than the WWE title. That way you get a lot of people onto the card, with a tangible prize on offer. Of course it might then dilute the actual Money in the Bank PPV, but then theming PPVs was always a terrible idea anyway.

The round-up of RAW on Bleacher Report seemed to suggest it was a pretty good one, at least by the matches themselves. Ambrose looking strong on the go-home eliminates the tiny possibility that he might go over at Roadblock - just a question of how they book it now. Are we now getting Jericho vs Styles again at WM? That'd be so very meh. It'll be a good match, but...meh. Zayn vs Owens should be good though, presumably that's now a lock, unless they just throw him into a multi-man.

I can't remember who it was that said it, but one of the Wrestling podcasts I listen to said that some of Shane's opponents have been surprised at how well he works for a non wrestler. OIt was probably Kurt Angle, and probably only because he let him throw him through plexiglass 400 times.

If you're comparing it to FO4, you'll be blown away. Nothing against that one, but in my opinion it was completely blown out of the water by the Witcher on most counts. The writing is absolutely brilliant, and they've clearly put a whole lot of effort in there. It also looks absolutely beautiful. The voice did annoy me at the start, but that goes away once you get further in. The voice acting for everyone (and I mean everyone) but Geralt is spot on.

Shane vs Lesnar... not that I'm laughing at the idea itself, more what would happen during that. I know Shane's mental, but he's not that mental. It'd be like Angle vs Shane 2: Plexigass Boogaloo. Actually, I want to see that now. Yeah, it could just be in the run-up to the show, but I think they should bring it back very sparingly. You're never going to go back to the "proverbial crimson mask" days, but in the culmination of feuds it should be used for the big spots. Lesnar and Undertaker showed how to have a proper PG hell in a cell match. That's the interesting part. WWE is at its best when you can see either side coming out on top - when it's predictable it can still be good, but means that they need to put in more work. That never goes well. I did originally think Shane would go over, but with that leaked show title from post Extreme Rules suggests that they might stretch the story out until ER, then have Shane take over. I don't think they'd bring him back like this and then just have Taker win, and Shane disappear again. There's too much been put at stake.

I hate you for getting my hopes up around that But like someone else said, big omission. Surely it'll get added as part of one of the DLCs.

Or do they capitalise on what Reigns has become, and have a "face" vs face feud. let's face it, they could treat Reigns the way they have been, and he'll still pretty much be the heel in the fans eyes, and the face in the company's eyes. It doesn't really matter who goes up against him at this stage from the top of the card, they're going to get cheered. Brock, Ambrose, Kevin Owens...there isn't one person on the roster that would get booed. Have him win at Wrestlemania fair enough, but spend the night after doing the smug face routine - talk about how you're the best, and have the fans turn further. That'd be a smart decision in their current situation, which could have been completely avoided if they'd just done the sensible thing and treated Reigns like the silent badass he was in the Shield from the start. Or, you know, go absolutely mental and have Reigns spear the Rock after he wins the title and turn heel.

He'll almost certainly lose the HHH match. Actually, that's not true. He'll probably win by disqualificataion because of some dastardly heel gimmick. No way is HHH dropping it before Mania. As for Lesnar, I think they might actually have Ambrose go over there. Does Lesnar really need the win? What would it achieve? However, having them beat the absolute shit out of each other for twenty minutes, Lesnar getting most of the offense in, and then having Ambrose pick up a gutsy win would do far more. They could essentially replay the Reigns/Lesnar WM match, as Ambrose is much more believable in the role Reigns was playing. I was going to get up and watch RAW back rather than just read up what happened this morning, but glad I didn't now. Sounds like a shiter.

I thought Lesnar was in some way involved in that? Or was that spoilers when it was announced, and Lesnar is going to get involved following next week's RAW or something?

Bleacher Report has gone a bit odd and not showing their usual round-up of RAW. As such, I'm flying blind a bit. What happened at the end with Ambrose? Are we getting a title match on RAW between them? Was the Rusev Body Slam challenge a load of shite? Did they completely waste the Taker appearance? Reaction seems to be flitting between "he can get hype up with just a few words" and "well that was fucking pointless"

Personally I'd have them debut at Takeover Dallas, have them start out there. Not that it wouldn't be a big moment if they came to the main roster straight away, I just think they could make more of it, and get the chance to shine in NXT more.

Balor mentioning it first mainly. If they are going to debut, they should do so with no build-up first. Realised on reading my post back that it seemed like I said it was a waste putting it on RAW. Didn't mean that. One thing on the Balor Club thing - the T-shirt references "Bulletproof". What price on Balor building up his club, then Nakamura leading the Bullet Club in NXT? Balor vs Bullet.

Finn Balor put up a close-up photo of what looks like a Balor Club T-shirt, with just one word. Monday. Maybe he just really likes Mondays, or maybe we're getting Balor Club on RAW? Seems unlikely, and if it was true, seems like a waste of a huge surprise.

Probably because of games like Saturday. On a high after beating an admittedly poor St Johnstone side, and we probably should be getting a result there too. And we get cuffed. With how tight the league is, Dundee United picking up points, and given two of our games in hand are against Hearts and Aberdeen, I can see why some are nervous. We should be fine though. Hopefully Saturday was just a blip

Yeah, a whole three weeks later or something I more meant that immediately after the match where the stipulation had been hyped on one side, did it ever get effectively canned post-match? I can't think of any.

At this stage it doesn't make sense, but I bet this time next week, post-RAW, it'll make more. There's plenty of ways they could make it believable and have the match take place as planned (because they kind of have to now unless they want to really make a lot of work for themselves). I think the important thing is to not paint Taker as the heel who wants to do the authority's bidding, but the guy who has to do it or else. Have Taker come out and refuse the match, and as he's leaving, Vince threatens him with something. Maybe he says that if he doesn't wrestle, he's done in WWE, and that he will never be given a spot in the hall of fame. I know that seems like small fry, but in kayfabe terms, that's the ultimate honour surely? If he wrestles for the authority, then he carries on as normal, win or lose, no questions asked. You could then have the match play out as a professional deadman spending portions of the match reluctantly dominating. Destroying Shane before the inevitable comeback. Because that's the thing - I can't really see Shane losing this one if it stays as is. It's such a huge angle, with such a big change to the product, that it would almost feel like a massive cop-out if Shane just loses. Whenever they announce matches like this, where there's a huge stipulation on one of the wrestlers, how often does it go against that stipulation? Genuine question, as I can't remember any. Ric Flair had to beat Shawn Michaels, and didn't. Shawn had to beat Taker and didn't. Authority had to win at Survivor Series to stay in power, and didn't.

Could well end up being host. Would make the most sense. He's not going to wrestle, and being in someone's corner would either lead to him just being a cheerleader, or stealing the spotlight. Have him open the show, maybe do a segment with someone later on. Job done. In fact, if Vince is at ringside (cellside) for the Taker/Shane match, have him come down at the moment that Vince is threatening to derail the match, stunner him, and then leave. Pop would be enormous. Of course it would make absolutely no sense, but who cares.

Surprised at that, but then I suppose it was supposed to be on BT wasn't it? They're hardly going to be raging they can't show us when they have Champions League on. Nae class. After Motherwell and Saints, that's three games we're unlikely to get much from. After that though, four very winnable fixtures. Then we'll have five tough fixtures, cos we'll be pure top 6.

And of course, by saying Austin, I meant HHH, and was just testing...aye Yes, Rock vs HHH was pretty good, not Austin. That was around the time he was "hit by a car" and went for surgery, wasn't it?

I watched that not that long ago. The Stone Cold vs the Rock part was actually a pretty good match I thought, the Triple Threat once Big Show was out was OK too. Far too over-booked in the end. The idea was alright, execution was dreadful. Maybe Sting isn't as fucked up as initially thought, and Shane will bring him up to play the face to Undertakers "heel". I don't think its the Undertaker as a heel that's the big issue - he could play it, and very effectively. It's the fact that by doing that, he's aligning with the authority effectively. Why would he do that? Sure they could have him come out next week and spin a line about how McMahon has promised him something if he wins, but would it be believable?