Shane

Spelunky 2 went up on GamePass, so I’ll finally be banging my head against that. Bought Guardians last night, too, but haven’t installed it yet. I just keep doing Isaac runs instead of playing anything else. It’s a sickness, I think.

This is one of those times I’m actually glad to be so friggin’ old. The sheer breadth of wrestling available to me on basic ass tv when I was like 10 definitely shaped me as a fan. WWF was omnipresent, but everything else I was watching was, at least to me at that age, so much more REAL. It wasn’t even necessarily NWA for me. I was immediately all in on World Class and, soon after, Watts’ UWF. Honestly, it’s probably why I was mostly into WWF heels, because at least they had a tiny bit of grit. The only WWF babyfaces I really remember latching onto in the mid-80s were Barry Windham and Tito Santana. I was probably a far more traditional “cheer the faces” sort of kid elsewhere, though.

Not sure how to feel about this…

I wasn’t familiar with Deadlock Pro until these tweets and having it bubble to the surface of YouTube’s algorithm. Watched the first show tonight and had a lot of fun with it. I wish more companies did “TV” on YouTube. This was a breezy 45 minutes and the Rosemary/Everett main event was the perfect cap to the premiere. They drew me in for the foreseeable future.

The fun thing about not watching WWE is that it's still there. Like, if something fucking awesome happens, you can dip back in to watch that match/angle/segment and then go right back to largely ignoring them. Their booking style means that you couldn't possibly be lost, no matter how long you've been away. I haven't watched a full episode of WWE programming in probably a decade now but, simultaneously, have seen most everything that mattered. The only thing I make time for is the Royal Rumble, but that's just nostalgia for me. My playlist project keeps me busy, watching stuff that I know I'll love. Right now, I'm mostly knee deep in a combination of cage matches and Mick Foley footage, but I can put that down and watch whatever at anytime and it's great. I'm not sure I've ever watched more pro wrestling. Both in amount and variety. Realized the other day that I'm about a month behind on AEW, but I watched most of 1984 World Class in that same timeframe.

One and the same. When I was kid, there were any number of pro wrestlers that I found scary. Less so as an adult, of course, but Tank is still a scary dude. Which is funny, since he seems pretty beloved by the folks who've been around him for years.

I miss WIldside.

Unfortunately, Ubi+ will be a separate subscription.

I’m treading water, waiting to pick up Guardians when I have time. I’d get it digitally, but I have Christmas gift cards to spend. Still mostly playing The Binding of Isaac. Repentance is a real bastard. The new alt. path stuff is maybe too hard for me. Well…the final bosses, anyway. Even with 10/10 level runs, they’re still a chore to get through.

The final episode of Portland Wrestling

That one is also amazing and probably one that I'll end up buying! Here's the one I was gifted. Not sure where it came from, though. I figured https://www.ka-tet19.net/, but don't see it listed there. I have a few of their shirts and always appreciate some of the deep cuts.

Hope y’all had a good weekend, holidays or not. I think my favorite gift this year was a t-shirt for The Shining, done in the style of a Black Flag logo. I collect t-shirts, love Stephen King, love punk and love Black Flag/Rollins. It was the perfect collision of my interests. Definitely picked out by my sister in law. She’s a primo gift giver.

I'd completely missed this until today. It was a nice disctraction! 9:53 for me. Thanks for continuing to post these every month. I'm a crossword junkie, so having some themed to another hobby is aces.

Daniel Garcia vs. JD Drake

@thee Reverend Axl Futurementioned this in the indy thread and, as if by magic, the YouTube algorithm blessed me with some video. Jerry Lawler vs. Bubba Dudley from this past weekend.

Well, here’s a game I never knew I wanted! https://www.pcgamer.com/someone-mixed-scrabble-with-battle-royale-and-by-god-it-works/

This doesn’t have Tanaka’s intro, but might be what you remember?

I did not know that Eric Embry was involved in pro wrestling at all at this point, then yet in a booking role. That piques my interest more than it probably should, in all reality. I have a soft spot for Embry. The ESPN-era of World Class/USWA holds such nostalgia for me.

https://www.bodyslam.net/2021/12/12/independent-wrestler-hannibal-assaults-referee-with-a-spike/ So what’s the story with Hannibal/Devon Nicholson? I see the name pop up a lot and he’s all over YouTube with worked shoot garbage with various legends and then stuff like this. I believe this is the dude that sued Abby for bleeding on him, not knowing that Abby had Hep C? It’s just one fucked up thing after another. Not sure I’ve ever even seen him work, though. Sulli doesn’t look very good coming out of this, either.

I started playing Archvale on Xbox. It’s one part 2D Zelda, one part Metroidvania, two parts Enter the Gungeon and a smidge of Forager on top. Charming as hell. The bullet hell stuff hasn’t been too much of a challenge so far, but I’m still pretty early. There’s some challenge rooms that are much tougher, but I’ve muddled through.

I was at the Raw tapings the next night. Notable (?) for the actual debuts of Fake Razor and Diesel after weeks of Ross teasing them. That was also the show where Fonzie ran in, carrying a Sabu Fears Taz sign. There were a few more ECW guys in the stands, but I don’t think they made it on camera. Sadly, this was the only time I got to see Barry Windham in person. He had a super lethargic match with HHH that was just a backdrop for the angle with Mr. Perfect.

Sitting with my wife and cats in a small bathroom waiting to see if any of the tornadoes that’ve spun up around the Nashville area will decide to turn our way is no way to spend a Saturday morning. We may be past the worst of the tornado threat (I hope!), but it sure sounds like a hell of a storm out there. Stay safe, any fellow Tennesseeans on the board!

Still on my Binding of Isaac kick. Just unlocked my first Tainted character after finally internalizing the various steps in the unlock process and I feel great about it. Repentance has been kicking my ass, but I’m finally starting to build muscle memory for new enemies/bosses and getting used to the much faster enemy shot speed. I also got a win through The Chest with Jacob and Esau. I’m sure I’ll get used to them, but it feels like some big brain shit to accomplish ANYTHING with them.

Started playing Townscaper via Xbox Cloud today just because it was newly added to GamePass. Proceeded to 100% it in 25 minutes or so. It’s a fun building “toy,” but not much of a game. No structure or objectives per se…just free building for the sake of creativity. I’ll probably mess around with it a bit more, but I was surprised I got through it so quickly.

It’s my name. Thrilling, creative stuff. Waaaay back in the day, on the original, original board, I briefly posted as “ToryuNoku PRO!” Equally thrilling and creative, but for different reasons!