forameus

I'm on the red button thing - are we really drawing one team, then having a wee chat before we do the others? For f**k sake...

Just watched it back. Now that's how you do a promo. The only time I can think of WWE even coming close to that is when they brought Cena back to take the piss out of Reigns, and that was only as good as it was because they threw Reigns to the wolves and he got schooled. That right there was one guy showing he still had it in spades, and the other showing that he is absolutely on top of his game. You can tell MJF just absolutely lives and breathes his character of being an absolute c**t, and it's a throwback to something I love - a heel being a proper unlikeable heel, rather than the "so cool we'll just cheer" stuff. I think Punk strayed a wee bit towards the face stuff of "isn't the place we're currently in brilliant", but he landed some absolute bombs on the guy. Is this a match they'll build for their next quarterly show or more likely one of their minor "big" Dynamites?

That's interesting, take what I said back then. Didn't they usually only open it in set periods? Maybe I'm making that up. Guess it'd be in their interest to open it up - a public sale gets you the price of a ticket, an SSC membership gets you a nice wee sum above the ticket price.

I'd be amazed if they opened up the SSC between now and the start of any new campaign. Nothing confirmed yet, b ut will be interesting to see if they keep up the offer of every SSC member being allowed to buy one extra ticket. If so, public sale tickets are going to be like gold dust. EDIT: Clearly I talk a power of pish. SSC memberships are available right now

Aye, just watched it again and he strolls into shot in front of the scrum, lands a fucking meaty blow on the guy, then strolls away fixing his jacket. Bit much on a guy already restrained by a number of guys. Is hard to have too much sympathy for him though, or for anyone who pays a decent sum to go to an event that is full of wrestlers and thinks "you know what, I think I'm going to go and physically attack a well-loved legend of the business in a ring".

If I remember right, it was a proper snide one as well. You see him strut into shot, looking around, then he leathers the guy in the side of the head as being taken away, then struts away in the opposite direction. Textbook.

That's the thing though, I don't think it's actually possible for them to "f**k it". They'll have sold record numbers, and probably making just as much on FIFA points as they always have. I don't think there will ever be enough people going "nah, that's plenty" for it to actually matter. EA have constantly made the game worse and less enjoyable over the years, have constantly fucked up in weird and wonderful ways, but all the vast majority of the "community" has done is teach them that that's fine, we'll buy anyway. As someone who'd like to have a football game to muck around in for a console, it's a shite state of a affairs. But f**k supporting this travesty.

Guy on Reddit who was there seems to point to the guy being a real headcase. You'd imagine if it's a guy doing it for attention, you'll have him playing up to the crowd once he's eventually taken away. This guy sounds like he was fighting the whole way, and "had beef with Kofi". Kofi! How the f**k does that happen? And good to know that Michael Hayes was ready to set about him if needed like the good old days.

Yeah, that's my thinking. I don't think there's probably as much appetite from them either as they're not - for the most part - complete headcases. I imagine if that case last night had happened in the Attitude Era, it wouldn't have been a couple of referees and security holding the guy while Rollins watched on, it'd be Rollins setting about him before he was dragged off. Hard to argue that that wouldn't be what the guy deserved either. What are these c***s thinking? The weediest, jobber-est person on the roster could kick the shit out of probably anyone in the crowd, and Rollins could likely do it until the guy's a fine mist without breaking a sweat.

I think this one felt particularly egregious though. A channel I watched asked what was worse, this or the zombies pish they had with Miz/Morrison. They made a decent point that although it was absolute cringeworthy pish, it was just one single segment in a show. This one kicked things off in the opening video package. WWE are great at putting together a video that hypes up a match, but that one was like 75% about shilling a film, and then it continued on from there. I don't see an issue with them doing individual segments doing that kind of stuff. The odd time they might actually make them fun to watch. But Survivor Series was a step beyond. I always wonder with this kind of stuff if there's a change in how it's dealt with. In the old days, I expect they were quietly taken backstage, then the roided up roster would probably get in a few beatings before they were eventually kicked to the curb. I expect with most now there's little appetite to dole out justice, so is that just meaning the sort of absolute c**t who thinks this is a good idea feels empowered to act it out? What I'm really saying is do these guys need a proper scheme booting? I couldn't possibly say, but also yes.

It still might be. Apparently everyone on both rosters has been called onto RAW to "get to the bottom of this". Given their track record, it being the Gobbledygooker can't be particularly long odds.

If ever a show summed up a company as a whole, it was that one. Some good matches, some really good performances, but at the same time some really questionable booking decisions, and some oh so WWE shite brings it down Becky/Charlotte was great. Right mix of feeling real without going over the edge, and that bit of scrappiness helps that. Probably the right booking, can keep Charlotte going down that line she's on now. Men's 5 on 5 felt like a proper Survivor Series match. Multiple stories going through it, the right people highlighted, decent length. Only perhaps questionable decision is that given it all doesn't really matter, why not give Hardy the win? He doesn't really need it of course, and he still comes out looking great, but to go all that way and just have him lose, seems like they could have gone the other way. Two great first matches, but then it all starts to go a bit off the rails. Not sure any of the matches after that really stacked up to much Constant. Fucking. Shilling. Think it's a new low for them to start shilling something in the first few frames of their intro. Hell, they brought back Vince himself (along with a cast of jobbers who must have felt dead inside to have to pop for an egg) as an on-screen character purely to sell a movie. And that goes hand in hand with... They just don't really care, do they? They couldn't be bothered building to something they usually love treating big. No big nonsensical invasions (they're always fun even though they're stupid) and no real heat outside of the opener and closer. They seemed more interested in shilling Pizza Hut and Red Notice than they did putting forward the actual wrestling product, and that's pretty damning in an era where AEW are beating the shit out of them in that regard. And finally, after pimping out the Rock's name for 3 and a half hours, and then adding in Brock's before the main event, a fairly decent match ends pretty abruptly and we fade to black. Can only assume they just don't know at this point what direction they're going with Reigns, but given he's one of the only good things about the entire company at the moment, it's a massively flat ending. WWE: We Could Do Well, We Will Sometimes, But Do You Have Anything to Sell?

Seems these days that more often than not, big releases from big developers are releasing in absolutely terrible states. When was the last time we got a hyped AAA game releasing with no issues whatsoever?

Mario Odyssey is a must. Absolute joy from start to finish.

So at present if the rules don't change, we've got a number of players potentially missing the final if they get booked? Surely makes sense to level the playing field for everyone.

I agree they're unlikely to change given the system kind of just works but with one round instead of two in the playoffs, but I'd like to see them involve more sides in the playoffs to give a bit more to play for. But then having said that, this campaign seemed like there was a lot more to play for going into the final games than there has been in the past, so probably doesn't need touched.

Yeah, I was purely talking about playoffs, but it's similar for the groups. Seeding makes sense. Whilst I'd quite like to see everything go open draw for the pure unbridled chaos, it doesn't really work in a serious football competition. It's certainly not comparable to splitting countries up for political reasons.

No, it's to give a sense of reward to those that have performed better in the previous stage. We deserve to be seeded for doing better than, say, North Macedonia.

I've not bought it - to be honest, don't have a big enough sense of nostalgia for any of the games to warrant it - but have seen all the reports of just how much of a complete mess it was on all levels. Even pulling it because they'd left unlicensed music files in there. Absolute amateur hour stuff. Rockstar always strike me as getting away with a hell of a lot. They've delivered GTA5 and RDR2, the latter of which in particular is a classic, but their approach to in-game currency for me is just as bad as EA and friends, yet they seem to get a pass. Wonder if that will start to change.

Max Payne 2 is an absolute cracker. I remember playing the demo what felt like hundreds of times because it was the first I'd played with proper physics. Remember being properly amazed that you shot a can and it rolled away. Remember 3 being not quite as strong but still fairly enjoyable.

Fair enough point, was just suggesting a reason why they might not want to do it. Personally I'd tell them to get on with it, and a neutral venue with no fans if they don't like it.

On the teams being kept apart, I don't have much of a problem with it when it comes to the initial qualifying groups, as I don't think it really gives anyone an advantage or disadvantage and doesn't lead to any potentially hostile situations. But when it comes to cases like this, where numbers of teams involved are smaller, you can argue it does bring an advantage to have those two split up. Surely there's a solution there to keep an open draw for a one-off match? Only negative I'd see is that if you're going down the route of neutral grounds, it erases the advantage that Russia have supposedly earned in getting a home draw, which puts them at a disadvantage. Suspect it's just a case of "let's split them up and we don't need to worry".

By the time WC qualifying comes round, aren't we up to something like 453 teams in the main tournament anyway? Qualifying will likely change again (although probably unlikely to affect pots, as I expect we'll just get the usual 10 groups of 5 or 6).

Danielson is just so good in everything he does. He's got the potential to be your sympathetic uber-face like he did around WM30, but he can be just as good playing the heel as he did during Kofi Mania. Hell, he can play both roles in one match like he did at Survivor Series against Brock. I doubt many could have pulled out doing that heel turn just a week before, and then manage to straddle that line while Brock tried to f**k his neck up. Away from the ring too, he just seems like such an incredibly nice guy who just fucking loves it. Look at that Championship Ascension farce they had with Cena/Orton, and try not to smile at his big hairy face erupting in that grin. And try not to smile through the tears as he gives a "that's what she said" during his own retirement speech. I've not been so invested in someone coming back into the ring as him, because as a person he just seems so genuinely in love with what he's doing. Hopefully he stays healthy and can keep doing it. Pretty sure they've come out and said that he was exactly that. Wouldn't be surprised if he did the same for Rowan too, given he was pretty rudderless after the Wyatt stuff.

My second AEW PPV, and...aye, it was obviously very good. Still think there's a few areas they could still really improve on to take a clear spot at the top of the industry, and they were pretty clear during the show. In-ring, obviously it's consistently better than their rivals. WWE can put on great matches when they can be arsed, but it's by no means consistent and usually offset by absolutely baffling decisions. Presentation though...they're definitely getting there, but a lot of aspects are bordering on disappointing. One that jumps out to me is the video packages. I don't watch the weekly product, so only really get to know what's going on via the odd post on here. I don't really watch weekly WWE either, but difference comes that when we get to a PPV, unless it's an absolutely nothing match, you're going to get a short video that gives you a rundown of why we're here. THey're not always great, but when they are, they can elevate the match even further. Take Punk/Kingston. A great match, but people were talking prior to it how they were absolutely sold on it in the lead up. But for those like me (and maybe I'm a tiny minority) you wouldn't know it from the package. Punk says a few things, then we're straight in. Even Omega/Page, which I understand was one of the most perfectly built, long-term stories in wrestling let alone AEW, they didn't really stick the landing. That's the sort of story we'd have likely had one of the epic video packages for in WWE (and then granted, probably a far more disappointing match afterward). As well as that, for me they need to do something about throwing back to the commentary team. Whenever they did, you're met with them sitting in this weird, shitty looking grey box, with the slumped ghost of JR sitting in the middle. I'm not going down the Vince route of believing you can't put his face on TV, but they could surely make it look more big-time than they are. So as not to sound like a complete moaning dick, other than the above, a great show from top to bottom. Imagine it'll be significantly better than whatever WWE manage to shit out next weekend.