twiztor

not only were ICP at ringside, they actually rapped the Oddities to the ring that night! i assume it was cut out of the Network version due to music copyright. the Oddities were such a weird group. It never made sense. WWF never even TRIED to make it make sense. But somehow, it still kinda sorta worked? i dunno. there was zero reason for this to even exist at all. semi-interesting sidenote, the ICP never got paid for their WWF appearances. they had negotiated a deal that would have WWF air a commercial of/for them, but WWF just.....never aired it. which led to ICP leaving. SummerSlam '98 was a good show. not even sneaky good. just actually good. well told stories, good action, everything played out reasonably well or better. love it. i have a lot of love for fun things like the Lion's Den match. not an all-time classic or anything, but added some variety to the show and made it feel more important somehow. Or maybe it was because to me, the UFC was still this mythical quasi-legal hardcore fighting tape. my local rental store(s) didn't carry the tapes, so i lived vicariously through second third fourth hand stories and magazine mentions.

update: i am home. still alive and in one piece. temps were lower than expected and there were no major issues. fishing was OK as well. the drinks were (as always) my highlight.

if done well (.....) this could make for a super fun chaotic show and it would be damn near appointment tv for me. But when Adamle was actually in the role, he was just the annoying kind of dumb, not the entertaining kind of dumb. Raw was largely shit at that point with or without him though. Legends of the Hidden Temple x Lucha Underground is the crossover i didn't know i needed until right now.

i'm going ice fishing this weekend. if you remember from my post last year when i went (https://deathvalleydriver.com/forum/index.php?/topic/2346-stuff-not-good-not-bad-juststuff/page/82/#comment-1271226), my leg got ran over and it was pretty gnarly. well, it's as healed as its gonna get. a pretty badass scar but no lasting damage. anyway, the ice isn't very thick but is supposedly safe. temps in the 40s the whole time. we'll see how that all works out. anyway, i'll be drunk for the next few days. see you on the other side. if i never post here again, i probably didn't make it this time. otherwise you're stuck with me. time will tell.

the fact that Rumble Johnson ever fought at Welterweight is terrifying.

i thought he'd be better at this sort of thing after solving racism a couple years ago. --just having a small bit of fun, since everything else about this whole situation is depressing and fucking horrible. i hope everybody that was actively involved loses their job and faces the full extent of the law. same for anyone that played a part in covering this (and the likely many, MANY other examples of this sort of thing) up and/or keeping it under wraps. for anybody that chose to look the other way, i hope they deal with severe consequences as well. but most of all, i hope none of these people can sleep at night because their conscience eats them alive. This was terrible behavior all around. BE BETTER.

i thought Letterman was more of the top 10 lists? i definitely remember Leno doing his headlines bit. not that i recall. during Goldberg's first WWE run, Bill was on Raw while Kurt was on SD! and this was in the first year after the brand split, where they stuck pretty close to the separation. i think Angle had mainly retired (? maybe he was just still in TNA?) by the time Goldberg made it back. also, yes. Bret Hart's WCW theme is not good. it would sound better if somebody was trying to make a legally-distinct version of his WWF theme using unpracticed kazoo noises.

goodbye Vince. rot in piss.

i think just The Exorcist back in 2006 (6/6/6)

BIG NEWS! interesting to see how this works out.

look out folks, Smelly is SHOOTING~! unrelated to the above, i don't know what the biggest week of WCW is. off the top of my head, i'd probably start by looking at Nitro 100 where Luger racks Hogan. according to https://thehistoryofwwe.com/wcw-results-1998/ that would indeed be the one! also you would have been treated to a pre-Thunder dark match featuring Blitzkrieg's first WCW appearance! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p81Sg45Rs_g&pp=ygUeYmxpdHprcmllZyBhbWVyaWNhbiB3aWxkIGNoaWxk

i thought Christian/Dustin was fine, but mainly BECAUSE it is so different of a matchup than what AEW usually offers. i side much closer to @Technico Support on the overall take though. i also want to third @Sparkleface for the Statlander callout. i am in agreement 100%. i haven't liked Jeff Hardy matches in 20 years. it has nothing to do with his DUIs and other drug issues, although those certainly don't help.

not a great card. lots of decisions that weren't particularly exciting. thoughts: i root for Priscila Cachoeira because of the "Zombie Girl" nickname. but she clearly doesn't belong at this level. 4-6 ufc record isn't great. in a division as devoid of talent as WBW makes it even worse. she was a bloody mess. Taveras/Sidey was easily FOTN. i know it's not eligible for that award due to Taveras missing weight, but that was a banger. was super confused when Charles Jourdain started celebrating after the split decision call. the way Woodson just shrugged and started to walk out had me thinking i had the fighters mixed up for the entirety of their fight. Mike Malott went to the Chael Sonnen school of "dominate a fight but find a way to lose in the last minute". once that ground position was reversed, he was DONE. i want to feel bad for him, but that was 100% on him, so i don't. how could Pennington not finish Bueno Silva, who obviously had zero energy and was eating punches like M&Ms? and these are two of the top three women in this division? WBW sucks. DDP 2, 3, 4. not sure how this won fight of the night. Strickland was super happy to be conservative and just land that piston jab. DDP was flailing and missing badly a lot of the time. there was a feeling of building tension through the fight, but round 5 was the only time i was outright excited here. i really like Dominick Cruz on commentary. Feels like he's the only one who provides actual analysis. I don't know if he's (officially) retired, but i hope he gets more opportunities in the booth. He seems be have been de-emphasized the past few years. DC will occasionally do this on wrestling/takedowns. i like Joe Rogan, but he's just an "OOOHHH!" machine now and brings the worst out in DC as well. Bisping is pretty mediocre to me. Paul Felder does pretty well. that being said, Cruz had a weird focus on 'damage' for this event. like, they run down the official criteria every event, and damage specifically isn't one of them. but he also wasn't wrong, which probably should be viewed as more of a knock against the judges.

i thought it was pretty great. i'm a huge fan of the 80s series. and i thought the 2002 reboot series was also excellent (and in some ways a marked improvement, which i pretty much NEVER say about remakes. ESPECIALLY about 80s cartoons!) The word i remember hearing from Kevin Smith pre-debut was that this series was a direct continuation of the 80s series, which it is definitely NOT. but yes, i definitely recommend it if you're a fan of the He-Man universe (and like Vile said, as long as you can look past all of the hatred thrown it's way because of the "woke"/"anti-woke" bullshit)

no doubt, that definitely tested my dedication. If they had relaunched with a new #1 when Taylor's run began, i probably would have stopped. as it stands now, my compulsion for completion keeps me on the hook until this volume ends. or they kill/replace Dick, whichever comes first.

i watched Blade Runner (the Final Cut) per the discussion here. it was fine. i liked it well enough, but everything's so devoid of energy. it makes the film feel a lot slower than its pace actually moves at. i mean, i get that they were playing off the question about humanity (who's more "human", the emotionless man or the passionate android), and i do feel like that portion worked. I certainly don't understand the belief that many have of Deckard being a replicant (other than people missing the point that i just alluded to) as it's pretty clear that's not the point at all. i dunno. a solid movie. maybe 6.5/10? it certainly looked wonderful with the cyberpunk/futuristic aesthetics. felt like more flash than substance to me, though.

TIL that Rock Band 4 was still being supported. Apparently they've released over 2800 songs! i think the newest game i have is Guitar Hero (4) World Tour for the PS2. but i DO still have all the instruments.

Nightwing will start featuring legacy numbering with April's #113 / #300. Pretty cool, as i've been collecting Dick's solo adventures as Nightwing practically since the beginning.

AEW has established that triple threats are No DQ. interesting side fact, there was a triple countout on an episode of WCW Saturday Night (1/30/99) between Kidman, Rey Mysterio Jr., and Psychosis. it's the only time i remember seeing a finish like that.

i liked when they were leading up to the trios titles introduction and we saw novel use of the tag rules/10 counts on tag partners entering the ring. Stuff like 'guy 1 tags in guy 2, guy 2 immediately tags in guy 3' so all 3 guys get some legal triple team action going on. And yeah, it definitely felt heavier on the action. Then again, i liked the "House Rules" from HoB too. maybe the Acclaimed + Billy Gunn are just having a garbage reign?

my vote is, as always, for the Hobo Army.

for me, Castlevania 2 is the least of the NES trilogy. It's not a great game, but i also wouldn't call it a bad one. Yes, it's cryptic-ness is legendary for a reason. But outside of a few moments (notably the Ferryman as well as the cliff) i found it relatively straightforward. Each of the "castles" were actually very easy. and navigating to the next town wasn't overly difficult. i sat down to play Metroid a few years ago during the COVID lockdowns. Got out my pen and paper and drew maps. absolutely loved the game. played through the GB sequel (meh) and Super Metroid (loved it!), but both just led to me wanting to play the OG again. it is one of my favorite NES games. OG Zelda is my favorite game of all time. it is insanely cryptic. If i hadn't owned it and combed every inch of that game when i was kid, i would not love it nearly as much. So much of what i love about that game is the work i put into solving and mastering it. that's a monumental ask in 2024, especially with the accessability of the internet. very true. i rarely recommend these games that i love, because it's rare that somebody just coming to them would find the same magic that i did. i think everybody has their own "line" that represents what they can appreciate/like/enjoy/love. i LOVE the NES. and i can appreciate the Atari 2600, but i have no interest in playing it for more than a round or two. It's just too simplistic. OTOH, i also have no interest in newer AAA games. The more overall games i play, the more i realize that i vastly prefer 2d to 3d. i bought a 3ds to play ALBW when the game launched (2013? has it really been 10 years?!?). man, it felt less like a sequel or homage of LTTP and more like a ripoff. It felt incredibly easy (i don't think i died a single time) and many of the puzzles were stolen directly from its SNES "inspiration". I realize i'm in the minority, but it really felt bland to me. i rank OOT as an all-time great game, but i haven't played it since the n64 was current, and i have no desire to go back and tarnish those memories.

gonna need to see a list. i know you love your top 10s. i'll contribute with my top 5: Grant Morrison (crazy ideas that they consistently pull off flawlessly. really deep concepts that still make sense when given a lot of thought.) Kurt Busiek (rock solid stories. everything he does with stalwart characters builds on what came before. and Astro City is just phenomenal!) Alan Moore (my introduction to "deep thought" comics. Watchmen and MiracleMan alone would put him on my list) Stan Lee (gotta give love to the man who started the whole Marvel U. also credit to Jack Kirby. but this is about writers) Ed Brubaker (his Captain America run hooked me, and i've since read most of his Image series and i love them all) so many more people could have gone on this list. Claremont's X-Men run alone is X-Traordinary. Jim Starlin's "Infinity Gauntlet" is one of my top two stories of all time. Roy Thomas WAS '70s Marvel. J.M. DeMatteis is quintessential '80s Marvel.

nobody is jumping out at me for the Manzarek role, but as for Densmore.... have we already forgotten that "Matt Classic" (fka Colt Cabana) is already employed by AEW? i really like the idea of a group like that, but also gotta agree that Garcia and (especially) Starks should not be a part of it. But i'm struggling to think who else could fit in easily. Griff Garrison? a heel turn for Action Andretti? ironcially enough, i could see this working for Brian Pillman Jr.

yes. yes it does. currently -5° but "feels like" -20. We got 12+" of snow on Tuesday and another 10+" on Friday. According to the local weather: "Tonight (WIND CHILL WARNING): The wind calms down a little bit down to around 5-15 mph out of the west. This helps with the drifting snow, but also allows temperatures to plummet. Lows are expected to be anywhere from -18 to -23 degrees. Wind chills with just a little bit of wind are around -35 to -45 degrees. Skies are partly cloudy. Bundle up and stay warm tonight!" Tomorrow's high temp is expected to be -2°.