tbarrie

Does the movie at least demonstrate awareness on the part of its creators that Sherlock actually had a smarter brother in the canon?

Mycroft got his own movie?

What rumours would those be?

I'm going to guess that it's a variant on the Klingon Bird of Prey. Do I win anything?

Random thought on last week's Dynamite: I loved the revelation that, if the ringside doctor rules you unable to continue, but you then headbutt that doctor into unconsciousness, the match goes on. It only makes sense, really. You've clearly demonstrated that you are in fact able to keep fighting.

Who is this random doctor to offer official "Stinger" status? Did she discuss that with Sting first? Because only Sting can decide that.

It was an Owen Cup match. Since Ospreay is probably going to win the tourney and challenge at All In, then yeah, having Davis go over here would present some booking problems going forward.

Others can possess a towel but have to lose track of it. Taz is the only hoopy frood allowed in wrestling, dammit!

I've been in Europe for a week, and just yesterday (or maybe Friday evening?) finished watching the show. Of course, it can be hard to avoid spoilers in this day and age, especially when Google's Android app shows you a bunch of click bait headlines whenever you open it. (And travelling in 2026 without doing web searches would crazy. It might be time to switch to Duck Duck Go.) So I learned early on that the show had ended with a heel turn. I was therefore terrified that Hangman had in fact returned and helped cement an MJF victory. That would have made NO NARRATIVE SENSE whatsoever, but would totally be the sort of thing some promoters would do for pure shock value. So I was worried. Then Tuesday or Wednesday I saw more click bait letting me know that MJF would be defending the world title against Rush on Dynamite. This improved neither my mood nor my optimism. But now let's discuss the actual show. Which was pretty great! I'm still pretty bummed that MJF didn't get shaved (and sort of wondering if, with the number of new eyeballs apparently on the show, it was a mistake not to deliver on that). But at least we didn't get there via narrative nonsense. Darby finally succumbing to the beatings he's been taking every week is fine. I'd personally rather he had gotten past MJF only to be destroyed by Rush on Wednesday, but I'm not going to trash the booking because it didn't conform to what I imagined. And pretty much every other match did meet my expectations in every way that matters. My irrational hopes for the Stadium Stampede actually came true, as they pivoted away from the tedium of the Anarchies and back to the fun of the first two Stampedes. I was surprised nobody became a bloody mess in the 'I Quit' match, but was perfectly fine with the absence. Maybe it's just been too long since I saw most of the show, but I really can't think of any serious complaints. Good stuff.

Logically there should be no difference, of course. But I enjoyed the first two Stampedes and have never enjoyed an Anarchy, for the reasons I stated. It is, of course, entirely possible that this is a coincidence and using the Stampede name doesn't indicate they'll be returning to the style of the earlier matches. But one remains hopeful. Oh yes. I do sort of vaguely recall that third match. Thanks.

Personally, I consider Stadium Stampede the far superior of the two Battle in a Big Building matches. My recollection is that both Stampedes to date have been a fun combination of insane spots and comedy bits that were genuinely funny, whereas the Anarchies have been pretty much non-stop ultraviolence. I found the latter tedious. Of course, I also sort of recall that I disliked the first Anarchy enough that I barely paid attention to subsequent ones. So I could be mischaracterizing wildly.

So does anybody think Darby has a chance of retaining? I still think Hangman returning to prevent some sort of MJF bullshit victory and Darby then winning would make a lot of sense. The problem is the Owen is starting, and it would seem kind of strange for eight top guys to be going through a tournament to get a world title shot at the same time Darby is handing them out every week to whoever asks. (I mean, it's kind of strange for those two things to happen at all in the same company. But to have them going on concurrently just kind of draws attention to it.) On the other hand, they have already set Rush up as Darby's next weekly challenger.

I sort of feel I should throw "The Lethal Swirl" into the discussion of worst faction names ever, but it's so hilariously absurd I don't have the heart.

No link? Did it not occur to you that other people might want to rip their own eyeballs out?

Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsushima for me. Haven't started Ghost yet; played a bit of Spidey but felt I wasn't mowing down mooks as easily as Spider-Man should be able to, so I resolved to start over on a lower difficulty. Haven't gotten back to it yet.