forameus

If you can get a group of people with an agreed time, it'd probably be great, but it's about as unfriendly a game as you could possibly get to play with others. FM Live was your best bet, but they fucked that. Think I was only ever involved in one online game, me and two mates. We managed a few days before one of them took a massive hissy fit over something innocuous, and that was the end of that.

Thing about the Rumble is that the decision on the winner probably depends on a lot of stuff down the line, largely the WM decisions. I don't think it's absolutely set in the way that other years have been, but in all likelihood you expect it'll be Rhodes. It would seem very on brand for WWE to f**k it up though, and do something like having Rhodes win but last eliminating (a heel) Sami Zayn. Or having Rock enter at 30 and win the Rumble, probably eliminating Zayn. For me it's between Zayn and Rhodes. Although just reading that for their big 30th anniversary RAW show next week, that "All generations of the Bloodline will be present". Mad fuckers have gotten Rock, haven't they? The women's rumble...aye, probably Rhea. They've never really had the women's division feel as big as they managed around WM35. Not bad by any means, still good moments, but there's no big story there as of yet. Rhea vs Belair is probably your best bet.

We'll probably get both to be honest, and many more besides. Seems like we'll just get new extremes. Where usually we'd get a couple of days where it gets a wee bit cold, we'll now get a week or two where it dips below zero constantly like we had a few weeks ago. Where we'd usually get a couple of days of absolutely torrential rain, it now won't stop for the week (and then probably freeze on day 8). Only thing we missed this year was a proper snow event like we got all those years ago, although I'm sure it's coming. Then once we get to spring, and the pitches are on their knees having been battered by all that shite for months, we'll get the periods of unseasonably warm weather that kills off the last of the playability.

CM Punk ramping up his jealous ex behaviour to AEW, including a recent photo with Brodie King. Reddit sleuths (aye, the same ones who "got" the Boston Bomber, so massive truck of salt) seem to believe the photo was taken while they were in town for Dynamite, so could well be he was there too. At this stage, with them saying absolutely nothing, I'd say it's more likely than not that he ends up back in the company. Because it'd be a shame if it was just WWE going all car crash.

That's true actually. It would make sense for him to be able to get that break now, not much left for him to do and he deserves it. If it is though, seems a bit of a weird way to do it. I'd have expected them to either properly write him off, or just let him drift off of TV for a little while. Maybe they were trying to go for the "real" angle, but I'm not sure they sold it quite as well. Of course, could come out next week and they do a proper send-off after this, who knows. I'm seeing this a bit more in recent times. AEW can put out some incredible promos, but the odd time they throw out the sort of shite that Vince would find hilarious, but would get roundly panned by most. Not really the Starks one, but the MJF "take-a-shit" one is really poor stuff, "Britt Rhymes with Shit". I assume AEW is a lot more free with letting wrestlers go out and say what they want to say, so I guess it's the difference between Vince having a terrible sense of humour and telling everyone to say what he wants, and some people sometimes not hitting the mark.

In an era where a lot of entrance themes are just a bit bland, it's nice to see one that just fits so well with getting that pop. I'm sure Jim Johnston always talked about makings songs that had that first couple of seconds that really grab you. Stone Cold's obviously, the Rock. Cole's has exactly that. Great pop, and great to see him back. Still think it's going to be difficult for him to really find a place at the top of the card with how stacked the roster is, but hopefully he does. Weird one with Mox after the match, was there something genuine there? Commentary team seemed to have no idea, and not in a way they'd rehearsed. Particularly with those shoot headbutts, which will never not look awful. Great main event as expected, and you have to hand it to AEW. After All Out, a lot of people would've probably expected them to hit a bit of a tailspin. They've now basically gotten back to where they wanted to be with putting the belts back on the Elite, and aside from what's going to happen to Punk, they've tied everything up nicely with little drama. Quite frankly, it's too good, so bring back Punk next week please and give him a live mic.

And the less reputable ones furiously backpedalling and trying to change the narrative they originally spun. Tale as old as time.

Yeah, that's the bit that's getting me. With a broker announced, I'd be amazed if they had properly secured a buyer with a deal signed enough to talk about in less than a week. By all accounts the process was likely to drag on into months, let alone weeks. Of course, SA could be offering an eye-watering amount of money that makes the bidding process irrelevant, but I've no idea if that's even allowed with a publicly traded company. Can you just f**k that status off and go private whenever you want? Do you just pay off the shareholders? f**k knows. And that's the second "doubt" part, because as soon as the dirtsheets have to talk about something that isn't rooted firmly in wrestling, and move into legal territory, they almost uniformly make a complete arse of themselves. If they've done that here and it doesn't end up happening...well, nothing will happen, because people keep reading into them weirdly. But if this is to happen, it's interesting to wonder what happens to WWE long term. I expect they'll still be largely hands-off like they are with the likes of Newcastle. They'll front the money, they'll reap the suds of the sportswashing, but I don't think they'll suddenly jump in and make all women wear T-shirts again. We'll get a few more events over there. We'll almost certainly get a Wrestlemania there. But day-to-day, I don't think a Saudi owned WWE really makes much difference to the product. The danger there is obviously Vince. If he punts HHH (or more likely he walks with Steph) then the only hope is that he tries to follow through on what was already in place. But if he's willing to burn all the bridges just to get back into power...yeah, that ain't happening. What a mess.

Those Saudi rumours seem to be jumping the gun more than a little bit. I don't think sales can happen that quickly no matter what skullduggery is undertaken. That's not to say it isn't going to happen, but it wouldn't be the first time the dirtsheets went in two footed several hours too late (or early in this case). The Stephanie news is mental though. Wonder if it's jumping or being pushed. Hard to see HHH staying around in that case, particularly if he's going to get power stripped from him. What a mental time for WWE.

It's grimly fascinating to imagine what a Saudi-led WWE looks like. Obviously we've got a window into it with the shows over there, but they're basically a company/client relationship. If the client than becomes the company permanently, what happens? Does everything WWE do just get "bigger" and more overblown with money getting chucked at it?

Did they not get a significant rise in the days after he left? To be honest, I haven't kept up with it in much detail, but it seems like the weekly product is better, although not coming close to the likes of Dynamite (I have zero interest in watching RAW or Smackdown, just like before). I think the stock price rose again when Vince hinted he was coming back, but that's likely because there was talk of a sale, rather than because of him. Plus the markets are just a load of absolute pish anyway, just a bookies for the sort of wankers I used to have to work for. The last part is probably true though. I expect if HHH had come in and gotten everything absolutely spot on and turned every aspect of WWE into an absolute must-watch, then Vince would still believe those decisions were wrong in some way. He'll believe they need him.

If AEW wanted to be slaves to patter, they bring CM Punk back next week and tell him he's allowed to say whatever he wants, just so both companies can have their moment in the bin. Remains to be seen just what this will mean, but sadly I wouldn't be surprised if he's angling to basically get his old job back and be in charge of absolutely everything. If he was a sane (lol) and reasonable (double lol) man he would let the company be run how it has been previously, because clearly you can see it's a better product, then just sit with overall control in a hands-off manner. But that's just not him really, is it? I expect he'll end up slipping back to his old self, and we'll be back pretty much waiting for the guy to die in his chair in gorilla position. What a mess.

The Iron Man match stip is an interesting one. Obviously Danielson could go two hours if they really wanted, but interesting to see how they book it. Does MJF have it in him for them to put out a classic? Hopefully he wins it relatively clean and the story isn't just him cheating to win. I expect that's something Danielson will be happy to do for him. I do fear for the whole show though - are they really going to massively drop the number of matches to accomodate, or are we going to be reaching WM35 proportions for the show? I think they've got better with it, but it's something that's bothered me since I started watching. I wonder if it's a deliberate thing to try and make it seem like a fast-paced show, rather than just a necessity to get through it all. No matter if it's intentional or not though, it's jarring. The best wrestlers know when to stop and just let the moment ripple across the crowd and let it build, and I'm not sure anyone is getting that opportunity when 5 seconds after something happens, they're already queueing up the next segment.

Also, how many games are going to be out of reach of people if they don't have these top-end GPUs? Are there any? Or is it just that you can't play some major titles at the top possible settings? With the way gaming is nowadays, with all kinds of weird, low-spec indie titles getting made and receiving rave reviews, I'm not sure there's going to be the same need to have the best hardware for most.

I first played the original on a demo disk ('member them?) on PS1, which contained just the first few parts of the school section. I think it was before they were told to put certain changes into the game, because the child-sized but clearly alien looking monsters were replaced with basically school children with long claws. Not surprised they were told to change that, as it certainly ratcheted up how terrifying it all was. I really hope they can make something out of those. Silent Hill deserves better than to slide right down the drain after the start it had. 1 and 2 were classics, and I'd argue that 3 was up there too. With the advances in graphics and everything developers can do nowadays, someone with imagination and talent could make something great given the chance.

HHH's cardiologist blanking out his calendar. Have to feel for the guy after the few years he's had. Looked like he'd finally landed on his feet, and had got the company really trending in the right direction, and now you've got a mad old leather purse with an HGH habit just not wanting to let go. It would be absolutely catastrophic if he came back in any position of power.

I dread to think what tickets will be like for that given it'll sell out in seconds. I missed Clash at the Castle and felt a bit disappointed (until I actually watched it), but the O2 would just be so much more convenient.

Just saw the clip too, bit of an anti-climax to go in to what sounded like not much pop at all (although that's more cultural than anything related to her) and then managed to botch the one move (although again, seems to be down to Kairi rather than her).

Ooooooft...if that is the plan, deary me. I don't necessarily mind them blowing everything off at the Rumble, but that's if Zayn wins the titles. Freeing Reigns up to have the match with Rock then get a well-earned rest. If Reigns has the titles, the Rock match just becomes so, so pointless. Do you have a part-timer who will probably get injured and be more interested in doing movies have the top two titles in your company? Or do you just have Reigns retain? Neither is particularly attractive for a variety of reasons. I don't really like the double-duty idea. I think it dilutes whoever wins on Night 2 because they're now not the one to dethrone Reigns if he loses both. If he wins one, I still think that winner ends up feeling lessened as they're only getting half the gold. The Summerslam idea maybe has legs if you're absolutely intent on having Reigns face Rock, but I still think he should be beaten at WM. He's had a tremendous run, and the time's right for it to end. I think the only real course of action is to run Reigns vs Sami at WM, pay off that story, and then give him some time off. Then build to Rock vs Roman at a big show in the future. WM40 would certainly be made bigger having that. TL;DR, and not going around the houses, I expect they'll f**k it too. After Clash at the Castle, I can see HHH making a poor decision.

Ah, the 100%...I completed it a couple of weeks ago, had always got pretty close, but just ran out of steam towards the end. Think I made it to 90.7% or something before giving up. But this time I looked at a guide to doing it which set out the sort of order you could do it in to make things easier. Previously I'd ended up with long lists of challenges left with nothing to break it up, so I'd fully recommend doing it that way if you're trying it. It really breaks things up. I think by the time I finished the epilogue I had something like 95% and just a little bit to clean up. Unfortunately, one of the things I had to clean up was the Exotics quest. I FUCKING HATE THAT QUEST. I'd put it off and put it off, even though the guide told me to start doing it in like chapter 2. So I spent hours trekking back and forth between apparent spawn points of those fucking birds, watching nothing appear, saving, reloading, resting, not finding anything...fucking maddening. And then once I got 30 of those feathers, I found out there was another three fucking sets of things to collect. Other than that, it was the hunting requests stuff that most gave problems, particularly on the wee birds that were an absolute nightmare to spot. I think I chased that robin up and down the river for hours. I didn't find the gambling ones too bad comparatively, as I was chipping away at them while doing story missions.

Does raise some very interesting questions around WM. Obviously no-one really knows, but if they are wanting to get the Rock in, they could f**k one of the best home-grown stories they've had since Bryan and WM30. If he is slated to face Roman, how do you fit Zayn in? Arguably not in any meaningful way that doesn't involve some complicated double-duty and dilutes the story. Only thing I could see working would be having Reigns lose to Zayn at the Rumble, but that seems like a waste too. HHH is going to want to pull out all the stops for the Rumble, let alone for WM itself. He could really put down a marker for his first WM season, and although having Rock return would do that, having Sami Zayn lifting the titles as they fade to black would surely be the choice to make.

In other Wrestling Twitter news, CM Punk decided that the best way to act having probably assaulted several co-workers, would be to put up a chart showing that his return video has more YouTube views than anything else. Guy comes across as such an insecure tool at times. Also, looks like Sasha Banks is away. She'll be at Wrestle Kingdom in the coming days, then heavily rumoured to join AEW after. Interesting decision given the relative state of the women's division there, but she definitely didn't seem happy in the latter time with WWE, and I guess it does give her a lot more chance to go and do other things.

^^^ Only felt safe returning to WWE once Vince was gone with that barnet.

I know I'm in the minority, but I have never got into these games. I've tried (I think) two of the Dark Souls titles, and Bloodborne, and none of them grabbed me. I never really found the gameplay loop that interesting,

I think it's somewhere in the middle with Punk. I don't think he was absolutely brilliant, but think it would be harsh to describe him as average. He's definitely not on the level of some of the most talented, but then I don't think he was ever going to be. He was out of the business for a long time, part of it getting his head kicked in in UFC, and he's a fair age now to be coming back into it completely fresh. I think he started out pretty solid, but his first injury came at a pretty awful time, and it all led into his first love - being a moany c**t. But at the end of the day, you can be the absolute best in the ring, absolutely incredible, but the sort of charisma Punk can bring is not really something you can teach. I'd far rather watch a spiky Punk-style wrestler who can sell you on a feud from the first few lines of the first promo, than a technically brilliant match that struggled with everything outside. From memory, was Punk's feud with MJF absolutely brilliant from a purely in-ring perspective? Probably not, but it made up for it in everything else that makes wrestling brilliant. I think, from a pure money perspective, they would be fools for not considering bringing him back. There's so many programs he could still do from when he first came back, let alone the ones he created with his antics. But the big question mark comes with what he brings back with him. His conduct at the All Out scrum was probably enough to get most people in deep water with management, but the aftermath sunk him deeper. The Bucks and Omega seem like they'd always be the more liked party, particularly as they don't seem to have done much wrong. If you bring Punk back, how much of the roster welcomes him back with open arms? FTR seem to be the main ones, but if you're going to piss off a lot of people, is it worth it? There's a lot of less-than-household names on the roster who made people nearly forget that the Elite and Punk were even gone in the aftermath, and I'd imagine bringing him back just to make money doesn't really send a great message. But on the other hand, you stick to your principles, you buy out the contract and let him go because you can't face working with him again, put away the chances of making all that money...does he then swallow all that pride and go back to HHH and end up in WWE again? Now I think that's the most unlikely scenario, as he's probably not exactly short of a few bob, and can find plenty of things to do with himself that don't involve wrestling at his age (drawing comic books and looking at AJ Lee seems like a nice way to spend his life), but there's probably going to be that fear from AEW. A year-long contract culminating with Punk finally main-eventing Wrestlemania would make a lot of money for WWE and for Punk.