forameus

I still think Taker will flip and end up representing Shane, with a heel going up against him for the Authority. Only problem is that there's not really any really good heels out there for him to go up against. Their top ones are probably Owens (he'll be defending the IC) and Lesnar (already done, and he's facing Ambrose). Like Jamie says, he's advertised for RAW now, so should become clearer next week. It'd be a repeat, but this is where having HHH free would've been good. Not the most original, but the story would write itself, and it'd be a Wrestlemania worthy match.

I have no idea how they'd make it happen - let's say, shenanigans - but what if Undertaker switches sides? What's effectively happened is that Undertaker has been put in a match without being involved in any way. Shane gets taken out next week on RAW by an unidentified heel, and is declared out of WM. It's pretty obvious that Vince was behind it, but no-one can prove it. The week after, Undertaker returns and confronts Vince, saying that he wants no part in fighting to keep the authority in power (because really, why would he suddenly fight for them?). Instead, he wants to fight in place of Shane, against the man who took him out. Then we get a face Taker against a monster heel in Hell in a Cell. Taker wins, Shane is in power, which builds up a program towards Summerslam of Shane vs Authority. Even though none of that will happen, the list of prospects for him to up against is dreadful, heels and faces. They must be absolutely desperate for Cena to come back.

Well Wrestlemania escalated quickly. I had a notification when I woke up of a Youtube channel I subscribe to with a video entitled "Undertaker vs Shane O'Mac for WM?!?!!", and I assumed the dirtsheets were having a field day and just making shit up. But no, went to look at the RAW write-ups, and the crazy b*****ds have actually done it. First thoughts, I actually like it. IF it happens, then we're not going to get a technical masterpiece, but it has that unknown factor. It's hell in a cell, Undertaker isn't going to be stretched to lengths he can't quite reach anymore (Lesnar especially) and it can be a slow-paced bah-gawd slobberknocker of a match. It's one I'd actually like to see right now, although that opinion can change if they ruin the build. Then you think about it a bit more. Shane has come back as the face GM kind of role (or potential at least), the spot I h oped they'd give to Daniel Bryan. I think it's something that they could bring in to breathe some life into a product that badly needs something new for the authority to do, or just to go away for a bit. So in that sense, it's a decent move. BUT, that essentially means that they're trying to paint Undertaker as a heel. I know they teased that with Lesnar and the rampant dick kicking, but is anyone really going to treat Undertaker as a heel at Wrestlemania? Not a chance. What would have made more sense would be for Shane to go after a heel with the same stipulation, then he turns up injured with a few weeks to go. Who replaces him to fight for control of RAW? Undertaker. Which takes me to the last point - the video I watched made a good point that they couldn't really see this match actually happening. Something will happen, Shane will drop out, and then we get a representative against Undertaker instead. Maybe Cena, given he is making vaguer and vaguer comments about working hard to get back. Well they've certainly got people talking, and they needed that post Fastlane.

I know it's totally not what the article is about, but just noticed that Takeover Dallas starts at 10pm Eastern Time, so 3am here? Seems extremely late - are we getting NXT: Too Hot for TV? Be interesting to see how they treat Nakamura. Are they going to change anything, or do similar to what they did with Styles?

Just put a picture of a greeting Mark "Warbz" Warburton in the artificial column. Job done. Seriously though, I don't really care if it would get other teams backs up. I don't particularly care if it displeases our own players. Surely a good quality artificial surface is the way forward. I'd also imagine it would be cheaper long term than doing what clearly needs done to our existing surface. If it's so fucked that we can't deal with one day of bad weather now, then it's clearly in a very, very bad way. Or put down an ash pitch. That'd be brilliant.

You know what'd be pure brilliant? If we actually got to play a game at home. That'd be braw.

And on the fourth day, God sent ice, sleet and a wee bit more rain. Wait til you see what the big yin is planning for the fifth day!

The Undertaker would be a weird one. Would he want to do something like that where he truly leaves Kayfabe? Seems to be one of the last dedicated old school ones. Would love to see it though - he'd be a really interesting interview.

I was going to ask what that was. Looks like the beams from a gymnastics competition - are we working on Pogs agility? The cushion idea...meh, I'm not bothered. Would rather have got one of the scarves if they hadn't run out. Is our next one a nice pipe and smoking jacket combo?

Sounds good. Does well enough for NXT - give them enough time for matches and let them show their skills and they'll be golden.

They're making great strides with the network, and with a few more additions they could make it even better. Will be interesting to see what format they use for the Cruiserweight stuff, but it should be absolute gold. Have it like a house show, stripped down a little, and then let everyone involved just go out and have decent length matches and show what they can do. Bring 16 in, have two matches an episode, give them 20-30 minutes from entrance to bell, gives you eight episodes to a final.

The third one looks very promising - I'm a sucker for completely new areas, makes it feel like a new game. The first one is interesting - hopefully they've taken the feedback on the crafting system so far and build something with a few improvements for that one. Second one...meh, will be a nice addition, but seems pretty small for a title DLC. EDIT: Just noticed that the second one will be priced a lot lower, so a bit more onside with that now. Same with the first, and it gives them time to build up for the main one in May.

I might be being dense, but I see Nisbet coming on at half-time for German, and that's it. Nothing about 17 minutes.

The final 17? Or did he get injured?

Injuries mainly. The one constant throughout the year - apart from general poor storytelling - is injuries. Rollins, Cena, Bryan, Cesaro, Kidd, Sting, Orton, Nikki Bella...all out for long spells. I don't really watch RAW, just read the recaps and the watch the snippets WWE upload, but I can count on one hand the number of times I've thought "that'd be a good watch" the day after. RAW seems to generally be a bit shit. They've picked it up largely for PPVs with a few exceptions.

Yeah, probably. Can but hope. They like the route of going down the worst possible avenue for a number of their talents.

Anyone else think they might actually go through with Ambrose in the main event of WM? I know it's still massively unlikely, but with him dropping the IC title, the booking is pointing to it being a cheap way of getting it off him. Put it this way, if they don't have Ambrose win, and Reigns does the predictable, then they have made a very questionable decision. Why have him lose the title on the go-home episode? I suppose it could be just a way of getting the title on Owens, rather than away from Ambrose, which is even worse. Could be a triple threat at Mania with Reigns and Ambrose?

Aye, the game we decide "aye, we really need two up front and one less man in midfield" is going to be against Hearts.

Was something maybe said as well as the grab? You can't really see Titus in the video I've seen, but Vince definitely reacts to something. Much as he's absolutely mental, he's a professional, and he's unlikely to lash out out of character when he knows the cameras are on him. Surely if Titus is just grabbing his arm to say something light-hearted, he wouldn't react like that. Maybe he asked for a shot of Stephanie, or Roman Reigns. Maybe he said that he looked odd on the cover of Muscle and Fitness. Or maybe I'm wrong, and Vince's reaction to anyone touching him is to lash out and then suspend them for ages.

They've painted themselves into a corner with how they painted the Shield since the split. If you play off a classic Triple Threat match as being Heel vs Face vs Someone in Between, then the way it should be is almost the complete opposite with this group. Rollins was built as a heel, and although he was a pretty good one, he was booked dreadfully and will probably come back as the high-flying super-face when he returns. Reigns is built as Cena 2.0, when arguably he could be a brilliant monster heel Ambrose is built as...not really sure. He's probably the one they've gotten closest to correct in that sense, but they've never really booked him beyond being a token face, more down to Reigns than anything else. If they managed to get Rollins back healthy, a Summerslam main event of a heel Reigns vs face Rollins vs Stone Cold-style middle-ground Ambrose would be brilliant. They're very unlikely to turn Reigns, and if they turn Ambrose now, people are just going to cheer him anyway. Can you imagine them booking a Reigns vs Ambrose feud right now? Reigns as the superman getting booed out of the building by those supporting the "heel"? A turn could be in the offing at Fastlane.

I did my first scribe mission finally, and assumed that they'd be one of the indestructible NPCs. The location was crawling with Gunners, including one on the roof with a Fatman. I'd been there before, so knew what was coming, and sprinted away. Looked back only to find the mini nuke hit perfectly, one dead scribe. My new playthrough is rekindling my enjoyment for the game. I don't know if it's just me looking at it with a more experienced eye, but I'm finding my luck a lot better this time. Have gotten around a third to a half way through the main quest, and done a few side quests that I didn't manage last time, and yet I've managed to grab 26 fusion cores around the wasteland. I remember really struggling last time for them, so maybe just getting lucky as to where I've found them. Also playing it more sensibly by not stockpiling all the rubbish I've picked up and actually trading. Built up a full carry weight (plus whatever dogmeat can take) then head to Diamond City to sell it all, trading back any particular ammo or supplies I need. Just building up levels enough so I can start turning my weapons into the brutal 100+ damage wielding machines that I had last time, and about to start setting up shops and supply lines between settlements.

I doubt they'll do much in the way of new areas - that'll be a massive undertaking. Weren't the NV and F3 DLC completely based within the existing World? They'll just slap a few new weapons and enemies into it with a different plot and call it a day. Actually, come to think of it, I'd really like them to make one DLC kind of like Hearthfire in Skyrim. Overhaul a few of the niggles you see in the settlement building now you've got a vast amount of feedback on it, and let you build monster settlements. I'd probably be more interested in that than just another story, given that story-wise they've been pretty weak this edition.

I think there's a fair chance there'll be some kind of underwater stuff in the DLC, given that a harpoon gun was found in the game files. Obviously, could have just been a file there for testing, or a canned feature, but given how much water there is on the map, it'd be a nice way to keep things on the current map. I imagine we'll get three (wasn't that confirmed?) Maybe one that's purely plot based on the current map. One underwater that explores a few new locations, then something completely different, maybe in the Mojave or NCR. That's what I'm hoping for anyway - imagine it'll just be three new plots within the same map though.

NXT will be a brilliant show, that's become a given. But WM31 managed to be a good show despite having an absolutely dreadful build. They'll pull out a good show for WM, different to NXT rather than better or worse.