forameus

I gave it a go on the trial last night, and...have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm absolutely shite at the game, sitting it at the lowest possible difficulty with the screen looking a mess with all the assists, but it's really good fun. Plenty of stuff to do offline to stop me going online and getting all the enjoyment stomped out of me. I cannot get the hang of defending at all (probably just as much to do with mashing R2 from muscle memory given that was sprint in FIFA), but starting to work things out going forward.

How are the NHL games? I've obviously done FIFA and have no interest in going back, done Madden in the past, and it was...fine. But getting really into ice hockey, as is my son, so wonder if it could scratch that itch of a pick-up-and-play sporting game without the obvious cynicism EAFC brings. I know they're both EA games, but is the approach any different? If their version of FUT is just as bad, is it worth getting to play the offline modes? Reading reviews, the main complaint seems to be that it isn't much of an upgrade, but given I've had no experience of the games previously, shouldn't be an issue. Think I get a 10 hour trial with EA Play so maybe give that a shot unless it's a complete mess.

If he can come back from this one, he needs to be treated as a special attraction and have his appearances limited, and even then it seems like a big risk to both WWE as the paymasters, and Punk as a 45-year-old man who presumably wants to not have a completely fucked body when he finally decides to call it a day. Still, at least this time he managed not to turn an injury into an opportunity to set everything on fire at a press conference. Although maybe having him do that might not have been the worst thing given what actually happened.

I didn't, but such was how boring the match was, it had completely slipped my mind. His matches are just background noise now. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Reigns retains at WM. Absolutely the wrong decision, but could still see it. Yeah, that does seem to be the case now. To be honest, one of the better decisions they've made. Lesnar - at least at the moment - is radioactive and unlikely to appear for a while, if at all, so if you don't want to rebook the entire match for someone else, having someone like Bron come in is probably as seamless as you could make it. And if that means Bron goes up against Dom in Australia, then maybe this could end up being a Kingston style situation when he was never meant to be there. Good for him.

It definitely did look like McAfee had no idea he was going in. I'm not sure he's that good an actor. I did wonder whether Brock was supposed to go in there given how late it was (usually all the spots like that are done and dusted by the time you get to the latter stages), but it makes sense if Bron was brought up to basically be Brock lite and destroy everyone. Even that final spot post-elimination seemed very Lesnar

Yeah, that was a disappointing show all round. Women's Rumble probably edges it for the best, but even that wasn't exactly mind-blowing. One thing I will give them credit for now though, that's the first women's Rumble they've had where they haven't had to delve down into the depths to try and make up 30 entrants. Comfortably filled out the field with decent talent and had a fair few left over. Definitely needed that one more big surprise towards the tail-end to really elevate, but they all did a good job, and Bailey winning is absolutely the right decision. Four-way match was...there, I guess. Everyone gets their shit in and Reigns comes out on top. Shock. The complete lack of any further intrigue beyond that just continues to highlight how his run is being so badly handled. That was one of the cleaner wins in memory (although to be honest, maybe there was interference and I've forgotten about it already because it was all so tedious) but for all their talk of how dominant he is, every single match is the same. They really need to write themselves an ending very soon. US Title match...again, it's fine. I can't fucking stand Logan Paul. He's clearly very, very good at this, but that's not going to change the fact that he's an odious little c**t. At least they're presenting him as such. Quite liked the booking of the ending so credit to them for that. Assume it's now a repeat at WM (or probably EC) with some kind of stipulation. Men's Rumble was probably the most disappointing. Not bad by any means, but that's almost worse for them. 2015 is probably one of the worst of all time, but it's watchable because of it. This one is just background noise, and I'm struggling to really remember anything really good coming out of it. Apart from R Truth, who, as someone else said, was the best part of two Rumble matches and the pre-show, and deserves at least an hour set aside for him on every show. Was quite surprised Rhodes won, although I think it is the right decision, and an exciting closing sequence. But it doesn't make up for the rest of it being so boring.

I will never not see Meltzer as a complete gimp. By all accounts, his wrestling knowledge is extremely strong, and seems like he writes a good article when it calls for it, but he can't seem to contribute beyond that without making himself look like a complete dildo.

Having Hogan open your show after the week they've had is certainly a choice.

While I wouldn't usually trust much of what big Dave says when he gets going, this is going to be the big question. Part of what made the Network so brilliant was the wealth of content that it brought, and that you could pretty much drop into any era in WWE (or owned companies) history and watch pretty much anything from it. We saw when Peacock took over that different companies start to have different ideas into what's appropriate, and stuff was censored, but I guess Netflix probably doesn't have too many issues with this given they host stuff worse without much issue. But the question will be whether they're interested in having the whole back catalogue, or whether they're even capable. In pure terms, how big is WWE's catalogue compared to Netflix? I wouldn't imagine they are a whole lot different, but say it's even half the size, would Netflix be able to or want to increase their content immediately by 150%? Obviously more content is better for Netflix selling their product, but it's a lot to add that will likely appeal to a tiny slice of their membership. To be fair, if they announce that the Network is dead, Netflix is taking over, and Raw, Smackdown, NXT and all PPVs will be live with catch-up and no delay, I'll be delighted. I don't think I've used the Network for anything other than watching the most recent PPV on catch-up for a long time, so to be able to drop that and keep Netflix would definitely suit. If they add even part of the archive, even better. EDIT: And, like FifeArab said, get right in amongst documentaries. They do far too few of them for how good they are. Get one of those WWE24 ones for every big 4 show, and pepper in a few more if there's a story worth telling.

Worth noting that it seems like Gibraltar have a manager who is absolutely at it, and only in the job due to friends in the FA. I think that France result was blamed not only on them being absolutely pish, but because a lot of the players really, really don't want to play for the manager. So hopefully he's still in place in June and McGinn can get 14 so he can break the record. Then we can start sharing the goals around.

That would be absolutely terrific banter from WWE. I know he's probably not as known to your average WWE fan as others might be, and there might be a language barrier, but he's carried NJPW for near enough a decade, and it's not like this is the NXT of Nakamura's era.

That Netflix news is interesting. If it means that we essentially get the same service that the Network is giving us, plus RAW, Smackdown and NXT, then that will be great. Means I can drop the Network and keep Netflix, happy days. I wonder if there's going to be a delay on things though, then the Network still around for live? Remains to be seen. No-brainer for WWE though to be able to completely offload the requirement to handle the Network and still have control over their output. Good deal for Netflix too to have constant new content that people will happily subscribe for alone. Yeah...he just about survived the last one, which you can maybe argue for if he makes it clear it was a different time etc and show some contrition. He seemingly didn't do that at all, even facing down a number of black wrestlers. But they still bring him back, because a lot of wrestling fans are happy to separate the art from the artist. Fair enough for them, I can see their point. But this adds a few more cases of racism on top of some pretty horrible stuff. I'm sure they were pretty dismissive of the guy who is now in a coma with serious brain damage because of that accident, and instead wanted to talk about starting up a reality show for the son. He's a massive part of their history, and fine if you want to retain that without celebrating him, but if I was HHH I'd be getting someone to put a quick note towards Terry and tell him that he's never appearing on anything even tangentially related to WWE ever again. Let AEW pick him up once they're bored of Flair.

Yeah, fair point. I doubt they would suddenly flit to that, but I guess it would take the match down a path it doesn't need to go down given this field is probably one of the most open ones since that time they decided to put everyone in including Lesnar, Goldberg and Undertaker (hopefully a better ending this time though). Although if we are thinking along those lines, does that eliminate anyone who wouldn't be going for Reigns from winning? I guess it depends how they handle Rollins injury. If he comes out on Monday and drops the title, then do they really have the choice of the winner be either Reigns or "whoever has the title in April"? Probably depends what their plan was before the injury. I think it was probably being given to Punk, so maybe book it that he gets the title match at mania but gets to pick his opponent? Then Drew comes in and kicks the shit out of him for 2 months to set that up. I'd definitely take that, particularly if it's with Rhodes/Reigns (because surely Rhodes has to win then...) or Rock/Reigns (because it'll be a fascinating watch).

f**k it, put the title up in the Royal Rumble match. If the plan was always to give Punk (or anyone else) the win to set up a match against Rollins, then just have the title be on the line and add an extra sizzle. With 2 months to go until WM, if it does turn out to be a minor injury, you could always play out the originally planned match but with Rollins trying to win it back instead. Or just let him go away and have a well-deserved rest, and start another program.

I was heading to Amsterdam on one of those awful stag weekends where you only know a couple of people and the rest are arseholes. We landed in Amsterdam, and one of our number was stopped at customs and invited to step away by a rather large police presence. Instead of being the international terrorist he might have been, it was an old speeding ticket that I don't think he had been aware of, and think it was similarly close to the edge. Fine paid, and off he went. Although truth could've been worse given how much of an arsehole he was that weekend.

I think RDR2 has a bit of a shit honour system given how strong the rest of the game is. It ends up being quite a chore to be a properly horrible c**t for the game with the law system, and the boosts you can get to your honour are incredibly strong compared to those that can kick it down. I think greeting townsfolk and throwing back fish you catch get you a bigger boost than the drop you get for massacring a town. Would have been better if it was a little looser and let you play properly as an outlaw and maybe spend a little less time chasing down witnesses because you've bumped into someone in town. My favourite way to play was being a proper horror right up until the "diagnosis", then claw it back until you're in good honour at the end of Arthur's story. Seems like that's how they would have written it if it was a linear story.

I tried to understand the logic of that statement replied to when it's relating to pre-determined fighty soap operas, and I got a nosebleed and had to lie down. I'd say the big moon-faced c**t would do the same, but I expect that type probably thinks it's brilliant he got dressed down online.

"Here Tony, I've got a great idea. 'ken how everybody loves Judas but hates me? Just play Judas ALL THE TIME!" Think that speaks volumes about how Jericho sees himself. Would be the easiest thing in the world to film some write-off for him, particularly with Omega down too. But not only is he forcing himself onto TV, but just constantly trying to brush away the fact that a lot of people are just tired of seeing him, and a fair few of them will be outright hostile.

I particularly liked him entering the Royal Rumble, grabbing a ladder, immediately climbing up to the briefcase that wasn't there and acting shocked to his core before being eliminated. I'd give him something on every single show they have. Granted you might get over-exposed to him, but he's not going to be around forever, despite still looking like he's in his late 20s. He's in a unique position where it seems like everyone really respects him and enjoys working with him. Vince with his weird sense of humour fucking loved him. Brock seems to love him. Seemingly not a bad word said about him. Let him work.

Ha! You're absolutely right, he's got a past for it. But it has seemed at least since AEW came to life that they've largely sat back and haven't really got involved. Any of the involvement in "the war" seems to be more business decisions, rather than jumping on twitter to try and score points. I expect if Vince was attitude-era age in this current area of social-media, it would be an absolute massacre. Modern WWE though doesn't seem like it works that way.

Khan jumping on Twitter would be fine if he wasn't in the position he was in. He's essentially Vince McMahon for AEW, and even at his most coked up and mental, Vince would never be seen to do that. Nor is anyone else in power in WWE. I don't think someone with that level of power acting like your average Squared Circle redditor is really that good a look for that company. It's all a bit wee guy, particularly when WWE's usual reply is either completely ignoring it, or getting their wrestlers to laugh at them.

But is international football quite the draw it once was for players? I imagine back in the day it was basically the pinnacle, the honour of all honours. To some players it probably still will be, but I'd imagine a lot are just happy to get the break for a few days while all their pals disappear off to play more football. If you then remove the allure of playing for "your" country, given these players are only Scottish technically, I could see why they wouldn't be immediately desperate to join up, even if it means never playing international football. So with Anderson, it might not necessarily be a switch back to England, but a realisation that he can't really be arsed. Putting thoughts into his head of course, I could be talking complete pish.

It's nothing without MJF also being there. None of the elements of it are bad in any case, but the best one of the group isn't going to be ready for a long time. Strong is good, but probably not someone you're getting super excited for. Taven and Bennet are...there. Wardlow has had any credibility he did have erased over the years, and he'd be a pretty underwhelming option to take the main title. Particularly if all you're doing is rehashing the Christian/Luchasaurus storyline. Injuries have fucked them massively. Can't have MJF back because he'll likely be under the knife soon. Can't have Cole actually advance much because his ankle's fucked. And can't really have them just drift into the background because it's supposed to be your flagship story. If they can get Cole and MJF back and healthy enough to at least blow off that part, it'll be relevant again. Cole does look wonderful in all black though, so that's something.

Darby is such an odd watch. He seems like he'd be a proper c**t to spend any time with in real life, despite being a fan favourite and being really good in that role. But mostly, it's just abject fear watching him, because surely at some point he's going to run out of lives and get at least a serious injury. There's only so far your opponent can go to protect you, and in a sport where it's literally inches between a great, safe spot and paralysis, he has gotten lucky so many times. The knee on the outside looked brutal, in fact any time he comes out of the ring at pace, it looks brutal. Is he just being saved by weighing as much as a bag of sugar? Decent enough episode again, but a few questionable decisions on booking. Looks like the Continental Classic has gone from being a more than decent tournament that they can run once a year to being a full-blown belt that gets defended, because...reasons, I guess. Kingston now has three belts he should be actively defending, compounding a problem that AEW have always had. And another problem they often have is that they can't seem to let go of feuds. Hangman/Swerve ended just about as perfectly as it could in one of the most brutal matches I've ever seen. Yet they close out a New Year show with revisiting it. Why? He's got legitimate gripes with Joe and Cole, so it's not like there's nothing for him. How are you supposed to top what they've already done?

I know they're trying to make these big PLEs abroad even bigger, and maybe it's just thinking in the old terms, but it seems fucking mental not to be doing Rock/Reigns at WM. Even if it was a show in a friendly time-zone I wouldn't understand it, but your largest market will have to tune in live at an even more unfriendly time than we have to watch normal shows.