Category: Musings

A Perhaps Ironic Quote From Mr. AJ Lee

“The thing about it is, this entire industry is based on men solving their problems in between these ropes. This is the company that gives you Hell In A Cell, this is the company that gives you the Elimination Chamber… I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but “unsafe working conditions?” I thrive on that! Hell, this is professional wrestling, this ain’t ballet!”
 
— CM Punk, WWE Monday Night Raw Oct. 10, 2011

Random Thoughts On… The New WWE Brand Split

So WWE recently announced that starting July 19th, Smackdown will be going live on Tuesdays. Not only that, but they are re-introducing the brand split so that each show – RAW and Smackdown – will have their own rosters, their own creative teams, their own storylines, and that sort of thing. I’m skeptical that they’ll be able to pull this off. It’s no secret that Smackdown has been relegated to a fourth-fiddle show that occasionally has stuff worth watching, but is generally skippable fare. Even with the talented Mauro Ranallo and a refreshed Jerry Lawler providing commentary, it feels like Smackdown is just something to fill time rather than anything worthwhile.

With the new brand split, maybe things will be shaken up and more folks will be showcased. It’s no secret that the brand split of 2002 set the stage for some folks to showcase their skills and even become big stars in their own right. Guys like Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, and others were able to make a name for themselves during this era and for a time, both shows felt like different properties. If you were more into sports entertainment, you’d watch RAW. If you prefered a purer wrestling product, you’d watch Smackdown. And I’ll tell you what; during those initial years, Smackdown was the better show as it had great talent, great matches, and generally better stories while RAW, on the other hand, had HHH as world champion and nobody gave a shit.

Now how the split will unfold, when will the draft take place, how will the titles be distributed, will they split the World title into two (god, I hope not – I like having one World title as it makes it feel special) – the details haven’t been leaked, but I’m more concerned on whether they’ll actually make a genuine effort in trying to make Smackdown its own thing with its own feel rather than just second-rate RAW with another bunch of people. Ideally, I’d like for them give Smackdown a far different dynamic from RAW, similar to how NXT has a far different dynamic to the main WWE product… but that’s just speculation. Right now, there’s a split, Smackdown goes live in July, airing on Tuesdays on USA… that’s all we know. So as more gets revealed, if I feel like talking about it, it’ll be on the blog… or maybe wait till next episode; either way works for me.

Random Thoughts On… Star Trek Beyond Promotion

Star Trek Beyond, the thirteen overall Star Trek film and the third entry in the current reboot film franchise that comprised the 2009 film as well as 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, just had their second trailer come out a couple weeks ago, which gives us a bit more background in regards to some of the plotpoints.

I won’t touch on the trailer too much, but it is certainly a better sell of the film than the teaser was. You know, inxay on the Beastie Boys helped – you have a more classical sort of movie trailer music here – but there were little bits of character moments that were shown ever so briefly, the opening spiel between Kirk and McCoy seems very much like a Star Trekkish kind of moment. I like the design of the starbase; I thought that was pretty cool and am looking forward to seeing more of it. And I’m definitely getting a sort-of NX-01 vibe from the new ship, which is the USS Franklin and I’m guessing it’s supposed to be more of a scout ship than a proper thing, but who knows? Still not thrilled about the Enterprise going down, but at least there are glimpses of the ship putting up a fight before being disassembled like a cheap model kit.

But honestly, I was pleased with the trailer and I thought it did a better job of telling me about the movie than the first one did and while my going was a sure thing, I’m actually a little more optimistic about this one. And I’m pleased that the folks behind the trailers took the criticisms to hard and crafted a trailer that attempts to properly portray the tone and the direction that the filmmaker hope to acheive with Star Trek Beyond. It is certainly a better second trailer for a film than the second trailer for some other film that has gotten somewhat negative reactions.

I’m also pleased, especially after voicing my concerns on the lack of press for Star Trek Beyond, that they’re finally started to shoot out some material for the film. A few posters including a really nice one based on the poster for the Motion Picture – said poster is my desktop wallpaper, by the way – and there’s also a few more promotional stills. Those who attended the fan event last weekend also got a glimpse at a couple key sequences in rough form and reaction has been positive.

So they’re finally starting the push towards July and I hope this movie ends up being as good as they’re making it out to be.

New Star Trek Beyond Trailer… Now This Is More Like It

Janet Maslin once started her 1982 review of Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan with the words, “Now this is more like it.” The same can be said for this second trailer, which does a far better job of selling the upcoming (3rd in the current series/13th overall) film than the controversial teaser released months ago. Your mileage may vary, but as far as I’m concerned? This is more like it.