Technico Support

Conversely, I used to go to wrestling matches (WWF and Crockett) and AHL (Baltimore Skipjacks) games at the Baltimore Arena as a kid. It’s now apparently the CFG Bank arena and has been remodeled, killing all its charm. It used to have a really characteristic ceiling and that’s gone now, from what I can tell. It was definitely one of them and you’re exactly right, that was the context. They were alluding to AEW hurting their pay scale by outright saying they were paying guys above their worth. What a couple of assholes.

My only rebuttals are: 1) This is corporate America we're talking about here. If they can cut pay to keep the line going up, they will. To me, it's very likely that the existence of a well-paying alternative means WWE would have to pay better. Without AEW, they'd only need to pay more than something like New Japan or TNA, right? 2) Didn't HHH himself bitch about AEW throwing off WWE's payscale? I believe this was around the time Swerve left.

"Redundancy consultation process" is some of the most amazing corporate bullshit bingo ever. Bet you ass whoever kicked off the redundancy consultation process isn't going to be the ones losing their job. At the same time, folks, this is the games industry. I only worked in it for 4 years (LOL my name is in the MobyGames listing for two commercial games which is hilarious) and saw 2-3 rounds of layoffs. Projects ramp up, people get hired, projects finish, people get fired. Everyone is a temp and nobody wants to believe it.

I guess I should re-read the book, because I read it like 25 years ago and can't remember shit about it.

Gemini says that HTM claimed: But That's where I draw the line...not about to ask AI about Jimmy Valiant and glass coffee tables.

Styles' son should work a match where he teams with one or both Dudleys so they can do a spot where they say "AVERY! GET THE TABLES! And store them away in a sensible spot and maybe put away some chairs while you're at it. Thanks!"

"He's asleep!"

Goth audience crossover? Maybe they need a place to sell all the shit that doesn't move in September and October? Pretty weird that a company whose only business is two-month popup stores is buying a year-round business. EDIT: ahhhh. It's actually Spencer's who owns Spirit and is buying Hot Topic, which makes more sense.

That makes more sense, because Danielson's gold watch win and subsequent two month, two defense reign was such a nothingburger and a real hallmark of AEW's post-Punk, aimless period.

Sting was amazing. So was Luger, only slightly less so. Both were done so dirty by those in power in WCW. This is it right here. Arik and AJ are both assholes for participating in the "do everything in public for the dopamine hit that comes from getting the backing of total strangers" world that social media created. Arik didn't need to call this kid out publicly and AJ didn't need to insult Cannon publicly, either. Neither one is acting like a functioning adult. I have no idea what this kid did or didn't do on this show, but everyone else here is a verifiable asshole.

I liked him as Tommy End the times I saw him in PWG, because he was just an ass kicker and didn't do promos or anything. The more "personality" that was added to his character, the worse it got. Do you have to splint that?

And if this turns out to be a worked shoot to build to an Arik Cannon/Hijo de AJ match, everyone involved can fuck all the way off and anyone who buys tickets is dumb.

THE PAY (your dues) COMMUNITY!?

Long term, I can see WWE keeping a core handful of top guys and cycling out the longer term midcarders/forcing pay cuts, and rotating in lower-paid NXT people to occupy the midcard. It’s short sighted, but that’s how corporations do it nowadays.

Every time I see this, my brain reads it as KMFDM and I wonder what Scorsese has to do with 80s industrial music.

Bishop Kaun has a Monkeypaw Productions tattoo on his leg. Dude must really love Get Out. I mean I do, too, but damn.

Yes! Fewer MBAs, more Jerry Bruckheimers!

That reminds me of how I put off seeing The Lincoln Lawyer forever because I thought it was a historical piece about Abe’s attorney.

It’s a fun one but as a guy who despises timed levels, the extra challenges where you have to do all the tasks over again in a certain time limit sucked. Aside from that, though, awesome game! Fun with a second player, too. My daughter and I played through it and had a blast.

The “which luchador does Roman get to squash in Mexico?” tournament! El Fiscal? Is he El Hilo de Irwin R. Shyster?

Add that to the list of the most fortuitous injuries in wrestling history. We ended up with Brody King's awesome babyface run and Julia in the Triangle of Madness, instead of the House of Black's reheated nachos.

There was a spot where Ciampa argues a bit with Aubrey, and then she completely goes insane on him, which set up Andrade's comeback. Was he supposed to have shoved her or something? Because all he did was get in her face a little, which made her reaction incongruous and weird. And then Andrade sprinted past her with the double knees and she did this silent movie quality "whew! I'm okay! I'm okay" pantomime that was so over the top.. I swear to god I'm not one of these anti-Aubrey incels, but she's really a bit much a lot of the time.

Triple H style return, denim vest over leather jacket

I damn near rage quit when I was running away from a wall of water and dying over and over when I suddenly realized I, after multiple camera switches, that I was supposed to run toward the camera. There was no indicator that this was an L-shaped hallway, you just needed to figure it out. All these fleeing character sections are so maddening because there's only one way to succeed and you have a split second to figure out what that way is. It feels less like Uncharted and more like Dragon's Lair in that regard.

Finished Uncharted 3 earlier in the week. Good but flawed. From all accounts, it was a rushed and somewhat troubled production. The good: Even better gunplay and shooting controls than the second one. Not excellent, but a step up. Much better melee combat. A non-maddening final boss fight (but see below), which was an improvement after part 2's fight, where you're just fleeing an invincible enemy and shooting trees Mostly cool puzzles Some really incredible setpieces and levels (the ship graveyard and subsequent sinking ship levels were amazing) The bad: Two great main characters are written out halfway through (one actor had to leave the production for a film role) One of the main enemies was clearly set up to be supernatural (a djinn, probably), but then he just...wasn't Final boss fight was just a simple melee combat section Final level was too similar to Uncharted 2's finale. Another magical city, sudden addition of supernatural enemies (just a hallucination this time, though), magical city is destroyed as Drake and friends flee the destruction and the city falls apart around them Awful escape sections (flaming building, mutant spiders, water, crumbling city) where the camera is fixed on a weird, "cinematic" angle and you're forced to die and retry repeatedly to figure out the one exact way you need to run Sections where it's totally unclear what you're supposed to do and then you realize (or are told) there's a hidden RPG over there you need to use (boat chase, wooden gate, tanks) The "wandering through the desert" section. I hate "gameplay" that should have been a cutscene. And Drake is near death after being stuck in the desert, but then discovers some enemies and turns back into John Wick. He doesn't even get a drink of water first! I read that the writers of this one came up with setpieces first, then wrote the story around them as a way to get from one setpiece to the next. That makes a ton of sense, especially when you realize the whole shipyard/sinking ship sequence, while awesome, was 100% unnecessary. Sully was never really kidnapped and Drake washes up in the same place he was before those chapters started. I still recommend this game despite the problems. It's very fun overall. I'd rank the original trilogy 2, 3, 1. If you've never played them but want to, maybe just skip 1 and watch a YouTube playthrough. 4 was excellent but I played it so long ago I can't remember it well enough to rank it.