NikoBaltimore

To steal a phrase: "HOLY SHITSNACKS!" I'm betting on Archer being interested in Skinny Pam and wanting to get with her. Be curious to see how that plays out, but I'm calling it.

I have a hard time imagining Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle being Coy and Vance Duke, yet here I am thinking of them as that. Seems fucked up to me after all they've done. Also, Rev Ray makes a helluva point. EC3 as Roscoe works. Spud could be Enos, but man he's just a much more animated version. Spud is the only thing about this that is entertaining to me.

So I've been watching Dukes of Hazzard occasionally on CMT. It dawned on me that either by accident or by design they're portraying Dixie and crew like the villains. You have Dixie as Boss Hog, Spud as Roscoe P. Coltraine, and if you want EC3 can be Enos. Only thing is that there's no equivalent of the Duke boys. Nobody is overcoming her dastardly deeds, they're instead leaving. But for the role of Daisy you can insert Velvet Sky in that spot. It's not the best analogy, but I've heard worse. Sad part is that I think it's entirely by accident and they just don't know what the fuck they're doing with booking this. It's becoming end of WCW bad, but they're like cockroaches. Somehow they're just going to putter along for some time until Panda/Spike says "Fuck it" It might happen soon, could happen much later on. But it's veering into that territory which is a shame. They had some great TV not long ago. Not sure what happened but it sucks.

Skinny Pam? Might have to check that out. Speaking of her, holy fuck was she the star of the episode. Her cocaine-fueled antics were out of this world. I think I have to change my vote, she's far and away my favorite character now. Oh, and then there was Archer fulfilling a dying wish that was quite interesting. Cool twist at the end, can't wait to see them come back as they're awesome.

What also amuses me about that is the blurring of the WWF logo. When Gangrel, Rikishi and Blackman(?) move in front of it it looks like they're being censored.

Have been playing this with a friend. It's fun doing the multiplayer and preferred way to play it. The AI is good to a point, but sometimes they don't know how to get around certain levels unless you control them and get up there. Since I'm not familiar with the lesser-known characters another friend is quick to point out who they are. She's super into them and points out anything we might need to know. So with all that the game is a ton of fun. I've always liked the Lego games with the right theme. The most satisfying characters to play as are the flying characters like Thor and Iron Man. Especially if they have a long-range attack like Human Torch.

I know and understand what a dick move that was from Sherman. But goddamn, I love that guy with no shame. I must have rewound that a good four times, it's so good. An nWo style remix would be amazing. Also, to me a guy like Derrick Coleman deserves to be in the Super Bowl. Also, Daniel Bryan was from Seattle. So it's impossible for me to root for Denver no matter. This is from a guy who has no real home team this year to root for this year, so simple things like this matter.

So now we have Ryback coming out at random points in matches, walking around and doing nothing. All the while the announcers are going on about how crazy he is. Alrighty, then.

Got the DLC and first thing I did was find a better Rude and Dusty. Sure enough I found ones better than the defaults. Rude has Japan gear as an attire, but it's great. Dusty has the 70s afro style going on which I honestly prefer. And out of curiosity looking up NWA, WCCW, Mid South, etc. there's a ton of options. From rasslers to arenas there's a lot to choose from. If you wanted a Universe Mode for any of them you can quite easily do it. It was pretty amazing. What wasn't amazing was trying to look this up. You can't search "NWA" for arenas for example because they weren't tagged properly. Nope, you have to search all areas to find a lot of them. Same goes for most everything else. And if there's a lot of options it's very exhausting going through all of them. Other than that I found damn near accurate versions of the classic arenas so Flair/Dusty will be pretty cool.

Using Chromecast for any other device is flawless, haven't had any problems. With the computer it's been okay. It definitely is laggy. You can type something in and it takes a second to show up on the TV. For video it's been rather hit and miss. I've had times where it crapped out on me while watching of all things the network announcement. Watching CES had similar issues. It also depends on the video quality. If it is at 720p only it might have issues. If you have the option to bring that down for slower connections it could be better. Come to think of it I hope that's an option, can see potential issues running 720p with weak wifi signal. It hasn't been mentioned, yet I imagine it's a given. In the meantime a tablet or sitting at the computer will be my option until Chromecast support is added. Roku is a helluva device from what I've seen. If I had one I'd be quite happy with it. As for Hulu Plus, I'd cancel it if it wasn't good for non-wrestling shows. My fiancee and I use that and Netflix enough to justify keeping it. So we already laid out who's paying for what so that will help. Also, if you subscribe to the Observer, Bryan and Dave have covered this quite a bit. Pretty fascinating discussions about it.

Okay, no way is the Baltimore crowd last week worse than last night. I know it was a nothing show for the most part, but man was the crowd dead. I am happy they turned Daniel back, but felt if they had better direction they could have done this a bit longer. Bray might have been a bigger star if there was more buildup. The proposed idea of him and Cena was intriguing as if Bryan was under Bray's spell Cena could have stepped in and that would have been something for WM. On the other hand I'm cool with the idea that this was a two-week ploy by Bryan to get Bray in a cage. If they explain that then that's just as well for me. As much as can be said about that crowd though, they totally redeemed themselves ten-fold for that ending. Bryan escaping Sister Abagail was cause for excitement. When he slowly did the Yes motion and they went with him that was such a fucking cool visual. That's gif-worthy if there ever was one. I think the Michigan State deal helped speed this along a lot. Why try and quell that anyway? And in terms of momentum it was the wise move. Also, that Usos promo was pretty damn cool. As was that beyond awesome Roman Reigns dropkick to the apron. That guy is going to be a fucking star and the crowd is really taking notice. It's amazing how I was more into Ambrose and Rollins initially and gave no shit about Reigns. But man is he making the most out of this. I'm happy they're strapping the rocket on him and to an extent Big E. This might be the year new guys get to the top and it leads to sustained momentum.

So At Midnight did Hashtag Wars and the topic was wrestling TV shows. People on Twitter are going nuts sending tweets in for that. Saw a few wrestlers taking part quite a bit too. Pretty funny to see.

I just checked out a couple episodes online. There's a ton of 80s stuff out there, 70s footage is raw but good. I could only hope by the end of the year we see some of it on the network.

I would be beyond excited for the SNME shows. If the theme is "Obsession" and not some weak dub over that would be the icing on the cake. Getting into wrestling I'd watch that with the most excitement growing up. I'd also love to compare WWF shows and NWA/WCW shows from the 80s. If they do regular shows for both companies it'd be fascinating to find both shows from the same time frame. A lot has been done about Monday Night War, but comparing them would be very fascinating. I'd also love to see the option to add videos in an Instant Queue like Netflix does (or Hulu with the "Shows you watch" category) It'd be darn near essential really if I'm going to be watching a lot of stuff.

You know, this wouldn't necessarily get rid of piracy altogether. It would just lead to a different type of it. Those that have Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, etc. can just easily give the login to whoever they wish. One person can pay for it but you can have multiple people using the service. Use a generic login and that's it. It's technically not stealing, yet you can have a few people leech off ot if with one person paying. I don't believe there's some kind of regulation in place for any of these services, but it is something to think about with their projected user base. If they're looking for that magical break even number, if enough people go this route it might put a little damper on that number. What would stop me from giving my login to a friend who longs for the Attitude Era and somebody else who wants to host Wrestlemania? It technically is possible. As for Chromecast support will be there eventually for it. That's cool for me, I love using that. In the meantime using Google Chrome you can just cast out the tab it's on to the TV so it'll work just as well. But once they bring that functionality in that'll make things a bit more convenient, especially if the computer is a bit of a distance away. Smart TV support would be ideal as well, but I'll take whichever way brings the awesome to my TV.

Well, they just posted Mae Young passed away. That's sad to read. It's been stated a lot recently about how tough she was, but dammit to take a power bomb from Bubba in her 70s is astounding. Even mores when she demanded he didn't go easy on her. I knew it wouldn't happen, but I was honestly rooting for her to reach 100 so she could face Stephanie. RIP, Mae.

I'm sold on this. If there was ever a case of "Shut up and take my money!" this would be it. The price of two PPVs is great, but all that content past that? AND all the WWF/E, WCW, and ECW PPVs? Oh, sweet jeebus that's awesome. I'll be lucky if I catch anything outside of wrestling at this point.

So this was taped yesterday and Kaitlyn gave her notice today. Sure seems like AJ knew at the time. Was really interesting to watch as it was a nice moment in between AJ acting crazy.

I wish I could give more likes for the nWo Rodman video.

Oh, man, I'm gonna miss Kaitlyn. That sucks. If it's true and she left on good terms then more power to her. As for the Michigan State Yes chants, here you go:

Was at the show last night. The crowd only reacted on the side the camera was facing them. Everywhere else it wasn't much of anything. I got the side with the hard camera stationed there, so no signs or anything like that. Just lots of sitting on hands. At the time you're just going to react as you would and enjoy it. But looking back it is kind of sad that some of the stuff they were doing and it didn't get much of any reaction. Anyway, thought it was a darn good show. Enjoyed seeing Flair and the tag match. Seeing Goldust being awesome in person was a sight to see. Think it's weird Brie seems not affected at all by Bryan's situation. The Wyatt thing is weird because why have tension already? A week or so of them trumpeting him as the chosen one would have been fine before doing that. It was insanity choosing Slaughter when Arn was there. But if they'd make Arn dance I'm not sure how I'd take that. I really enjoyed Piper's Pit. Dean trading verbal barbs with Piper was really great. Didn't expect to see NAO with Punk. Loved the Brock segment, was happy with the kimura spot and enjoyed the bit with Big Show. I'm not sold on Big Show/Lesnar though, but as a segment it was good for me. Got a laugh out of Bad News Barrett. Saw Rikishi at a local show in a flea market last month so that made me chuckle. Speaking of which Too Cool match was pretty fun. Rikishi did move better at the local indy show, but it was still good seeing them. Loved Mean Gene's bit with the hotline. The Punk/Reigns match started off slow but picked up near the end. Had a good buildup to it and it was a good idea having Reigns win. The dissension is going to escalate now with that. When Jake came out it was such an insane moment. The crowd didn't react as much as I hoped, but fuck it I enjoyed it immensely. Such a mark out moment seeing Jake. Didn't even notice DDP foreshadowing it earlier by subtly making a mention of his "disciple". Good for Ambrose smiling like a fool.

I like Rawley. I'm a bit biased because he did do lots of amazing stuff while at University of Maryland ( I do live in Baltimore after all) But past that there's definitely that special something to him. This finisher sucks, but I have a feeling that when called up that will change. He's going to be a great ambassador for WWE, and with time he'll be be pretty damn good overall. Hell, I'd rather he get called up over guys like Bo anyway.

I normally don't do this for DLC characters. But for Rude the first thing I'm doing is getting a quality CAW and slap on the move set and entrance. Problem solved, no way am I using what they did with him.

Catching up on some NXT things: -Fucking hell Regal/Cesaro was amazing on so many levels. I saw the buildup but disregarded it really. Forget that and go on just that episode. The promos, especially Regals, the little things in the match, and the post-match handshake. Holy fucking hell it was just beautiful, poetic even. Regal's promo gave me massive chills. -Kruger changing his gimmick is beyond dumb. Yeah, in his spot who'd he be to turn something down if they asked him? But to just give up everything is stupid. I liked his promos when he started the Kruger gimmick much better. Wish he would have done that throughout the gimmick, shame he hasn't said much. This gimmick he's doing now sounds really bad. -I'm not surprised about the Pitbulls. But it sucks because I like Eddie. Met him a couple times and he's just a really cool guy. I was hoping to hell with Davey, they'd give Eddie a shot. But it was a package deal and Davey fucked up. Goddamnit Davey.

Is it me, or does his finisher look more like the Gory Stretch than the Aregntine Backbreaker? Could have sworn that was his finisher. He looks okay, but something seems off to me.