Haven’t We Been Here Before? – The Picard Season 3 Pre-Show Ramble

Tonight is the premiere episode of the third season of Star Trek: Picard.

The big TNG reunion season. The final season. The final journey. A clean break from the previous two seasons. That sort of thing. And you know what? Early reviews have been enthusiastic. It’s the best Trek in years. It’s the TNG reunion we should’ve had years. The press has been positive. Perhaps a bit too positive. This shouldn’t be cause for concern. This shouldn’t be raising any red flags. This shouldn’t be raising any shields. But it does on all counts.

The reason being that… I’ve been here before. I’ve seen this all before.

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Smackdown (Feb. 10th, 2023) – Paving The Road Forward

Last time on Smackdown, Sami tried to attack Roman and got his ass kicked. But Roman decides to give Sami a title shot for the next PPV, which coincidentally takes place in Montreal, Sami’s home turf. Meanwhile, no one knows where Jey is and that’s worrying because weezu haz title match.

Well, Jey managed to make to the show and the Usos were able to successfully retain the Tag titles over the team of Braun Strowman and Ricochet. However, Jey is still feeling a bit not-Ucey with the whole Bloodline thing. So elder statesmen Paul Heyman tells Jimmy the Usos should watch the PPV at home and get a “television perspective” on the action. Kinda of a clever way to explain the Usos’ non-presence at the show, since Jimmy’s DOA charges prevents him from crossing the board. As for Jey? Well, he gets a fist bump from Sami. Yes, I’m sure they’re very Ucey with each other.

Meanwhile, Nattie taunts Shayna Bayzler for being a Ronda Rousey rip-off, which isn’t fair because I’d much rather watch Shayna Bayzler be a monster ass-kicker than Cold Ronda any day of the week. Regardless, out comes Ronda, who helps Shayna beat up Nattie. And then Shotzi runs out for the failed saved and gets her ass kicked too. Well, that’s a thing that’s going to happen.

Baron Corbin loses another match and JBL, who was his manager for some reason, ditches him. Corbin tries to say that he’ll do better, but JBL mentions something about not being able to polish a turd. I know the idea is for us to feel sorry for Corbin, but I don’t. This is JBL cutting his losses and not wanting to have his name tied to a loser like Corbin and I can’t blame the guy.

Some guy named Madcap Moss gets an title shot against GUNTHER by winning the four-way main event match. I suggest Mr. Moss get his affairs in order.

Oh, and LA Knight is still around, apparently not having been completely killed off in the recent Bray Wyatt brain fart. Good for him, I suppose.

You know what? I’m not going to complain about this show. There was a bunch of good stuff on the show, a lot of stuff being set up for the future… hey, you know what? I’m actually looking forward to this coming weekend. Hopefully, the weather doesn’t suck.

Marcus “Armake21” Sparacio

On January 29th, 2023, news broke that Marcus Sparacio had passed away due to medical complications, a little over a couple weeks after his 40th birthday.

Sparacio is perhaps best known in the Youtube circles for his series of angry review videos under the moniker of Armake21; one of the first such reviewers to gain a following after the explosion of the Angry Video Game Nerd and the whole angry reviewing cycle. Over the years, he has adopted many other online handles; NicotineAlien, BoxedEntertainment21, TheWaste0Time, and Marc0. He made videos that had him playing games and sometimes even discuss certain topics, but every once in a while, he’d bring back the Armake21 gimmick for a special occasion.

Out of all the angry reviewer types to come out of the woodworks, the one that I gravitated towards the most was Armake21. And for what it’s worth, he was one of the best in the genre because his performances in those videos were such that it blurred the lines between reality and fiction. Whereas most angry reviewers would show mock anger in a completely unbelievable manner that made it obvious that this was just a show, Armake’s anger felt believable, genuine, and sometimes unhinged to the degree where you had to question whether this was an act or was he really that angry? That’s what made his videos so good. Because the idea of angry reviewing is getting pissed off at the most trivial things; that’s where the humor lies. Seeing some guy rage over the fact that he fell off the Deadly Tower time and time again and getting more angry with each passing moment was fucking hilarious.

What added to the persona was when he would talk about more topical things. His rant on copy protection methods fucking over the consumer who buys legitimate copies of games is one that I urge everyone to watch, as it touches on a subject matter that is as relevant today as it was back then, if not more so now. The Decline Of Gaming is another one. Most people remember the absolute railing that he gave to Chris “Irate Gamer” Bores. Those are great rants. Hell, I even enjoyed the one video where he showed people how he made reviews. He only made one, but I actually enjoyed it, if only to see that process in action.

Marcus fell off the radar a few times and when he came back a few years ago and he did videos that were just him playing games… those were some good videos. It was just a guy playing games and having fun. It was a stark contrast from the guy who once wrecked a copy of Bomberman Act Zero. And in a way, it was a nice bit of storytelling in hindsight; the angry young man who raged to the heavens found peace and emerged from the darkness an enlightened man.

I never knew the man, never spoken to him. All I know of him are through his videos and his occasional comments on various Youtube videos. And yet his loss feels like I’ve lost a friend that I hadn’t seen in years. It probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but when you watch someone for as long as I have – whether it was his newer stuff or whether it was revisiting the classic material hosted on the ArmakeArchive Youtube channel – well worth checking out to revisit some classic Armake videos – you feel as though that person has been a part of your life in some indirect fashion.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Marcus’ family and friends.

Thanks for the memories, Marc0.

Godspeed.

Student Prank To Cancel Class For Nintendo Direct Is A Terroristic Threat In America

Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/02/random-students-nintendo-direct-joke-leads-to-increased-campus-security

So, a professor got an e-mail that something is going to happen today and that for the good of humanity, they should cancel class. Concerned, the professor called the police and after a thorough investigation, discovered that the e-mail came from a student who intended as a joke to get classes cancelled so that he can watch the upcoming Nintendo Direct airing or whatever the fuck. The end result is that the cops will have increased security and canine patrols protecting the students from further dumbfuckery such as this.

I’m not going to rail on the professor for taking the precautionary measure of calling security to investigate this thing. I am going to rail on the dumb shit who decided to pull this prank off in a world where social media has degraded the overall intelligence of the human population to what can be charitably described as the lowest common denominator. Listen, don’t you fuckers realize that video games is the root of all violence and terrorist action in America? It’s on the mainstream news, so it must be true.

Morons.

IMPACT Wrestling Hard To Kill 2023

Yes, we’ve used this banner three times before. And yes, if I watch next year’s Hard To Kill PPV, I will be using it again. Now that we got that out of the way… yes, I got around to watching Impact’s first 2023 PPV recently. It seemed like a bit of a tradition that we’re doing here, so may as well continue it for all it’s worth. I had heard some good things about the show and figured, “Why not?”

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Smackdown (Feb 2nd, 2023): The Road Begins…

Yes, I watched Smackdown. And indeed, I’ll be watching Smackdown next week.

So WWE will be holding their Elimination Chamber PPV in Montreal in a couple weeks… and also a Smackdown the night before. I’ll be attending both shows and I figured that I might as well watch Smackdown to sort of get up to speed on what’s going on. After the PPV, then I’ll go back to my regular inattentive self.

Now you’re wondering why just Smackdown? Why not RAW as well? Well, what’s happening on the RAW side that’s worth a damn? Cody vs. Roman is a lock for Mania, Rhea Ripley is challenging Baby Flair for the Smackdown title, and there’s going to be an Elimination Chamber match for the U.S. title as well as an Elimination Chamber match to determine who is challenging for the other Women’s title. That’s all I need to know; I don’t need to sit through three hours of RAW to get up to speed on that count and if anything happens that’s worth a damn, I’m sure it’ll be mentioned on Smackdown anyway, so it’s not worth the hassle.

But mainly, the big story is taking place on Smackdown. And Smackdown is also taking place in Montreal, not RAW. Therefore, I will only watch Smackdown because that’s where the hot stuff is happening.

And also anything involving Bray Wyatt… well, you can’t win them all.

So we’ll be adopting the ol’ five point format; basically, I’ll bring up five points worthy of mention and that’ll be it. Considering that the good stuff is happening on this show and WWE is on fire right now, I’m sure I could come up with at five talking points… turns out I can only come up with three worth talking about… and none of it involves Bray Wyatt.

Thank fuck for that.

Point #1 – Braun Strow Man and Ricochet to Challenge Usos For Tag Titles
So, for those who don’t know, the team of Braun Strowman and Ricochet came to be because Braun had a shit match with some big dude in Saudi Arabia and bragged about it on Twitter while putting down the flippy flops. This resulted in him jobbing to Ricochet and both guys apparently became buddies. Okay, fair enough. So these guys won a tournament, beating Gunther’s associates in Imperium in then finals to earn a shot at the Usos’ tag titles. The match is set for next Friday. I would ask why they’re not doing the PPV, but then I remembered that one of the Usos (I think it’s Jimmy; I don’t recall) has some legal issues that prevent him from coming into Canada – the PPV is taking place in Montreal, by the way. So there you go. That’s something.

During the show, the Bloodline addressed Jey’s absence. If you’ll recall at the Rumble, Jey was the only one who didn’t participate in the group’s beating of Sami after the match. He simply walked away. Now there’s a number of things you could do with Jey; possible singles run, maybe try and go for Roman himself… but in terms of the story being told, there’s only one direction that makes the most sense. Which leads me to my next point…

Point #2 – Rey Beats Dominick In A NASCAR Race
Yeah, so they do this vignette where Rey Mysterio and convicted felon Dominick bicker for a bit at a race track and both decide to have a race. Rey wins the race, prompting Dominick to whine about how Rey cheated and if Mommy was here, he’d win. Well, that was certainly a thing that happened. On the bright side, I’d much rather see Rey and Dominick Mysterio race each other on a NASCAR speedway than watch another shitty Bray Wyatt match.

Point #3 – Roman Accepts Sami’s Challenge, Will Defend Title At Elimination Chamber
So let’s start with the big takeaway; Roman Reigns addresses the crowd, stressing that he’d rather talk about Cody (who won the Rumble and thus deserves his attention), but the crowd wants Sami. So Roman talks about Sami being greedy until Sami comes out and attacks Roman. Roman flees, but Sami challenges Roman to a match for the Undisputed title, only to get ambushed by Jimmy and Solo. Roman taunts Sami and blames him for tearing apart his Bloodline before accepting Sami’s challenge for a title match. And he will defend the title in Montreal at the Elimination Chamber PPV where Roman can embarrass Sami in front of his family, friends, etc.

Roman is so angered by Sami’s betrayal that the mics have trouble keeping up. That’s twice in a row these mics fail to capture the noise. It’s like they’re not used to a hot crowd… and given the television that they’ve produced over the past few years, I can’t blame the mics.

Most folks figured this would be the way things would go and you know what? I approve. If you’re going to give Roman a challenger at the PPV, may as well make it the hometown guy with the huge following and further that story along. Most people would’ve liked to have seen this match at Mania, possibly even see Sami be the one to end Roman’s two-year reign as champion. Those people are fucking dumb.

Look, I like Sami. He’s a talented guy. He’s got a wave of momentum on his side. He’s being pushed farther than he has any business being pushed. This is pretty much the hottest run of his career. I am beyond stoked that he’s getting a title shot on home turf and I am all but certain that Sami could very well have a run with the WWE title at some point. That having been said, Sami Zayn is NOT the guy who should be ending Roman Reigns’ run as champion, especially on a B-level PPV with Wrestlemania on the horizon. He can have a good match in Montreal, he can come close, and then you can have Jey Uso show up, screw Sami out of the win, and then do the thing where Kevin Owens makes the big save, he and Sami reunite and challenge the Usos for the tag titles.

THAT’s the story being told. Roman isn’t the endgame; he’s just a peripheral player in the story being told. And the story being told is KO and Sami getting back together, challenging the Usos for the tag titles at Mania, and possibly winning the titles. It’s the story that makes the most sense. I don’t care if it’s predictable. That’s not the important thing. The important thing is the journey. And if the journey and the story being told makes sense and feels important, then the endgame being a foregone conclusion isn’t something to begroan; it’s something to anticipate.

The way I see it, I’ve got two matches to look forward to this year at Mania; Cody vs. Roman… and KO/Sami vs. the Usos. For the first time in a long time, I’m actually excited about Wrestlemania. Please don’t ruin that feeling with a kneejerk reaction that makes no sense.

Oh… and there were a couple women matches. Flair retained her title. And Nattie is in the chamber. Meh.

State Of The Blog – February 2023

A bit late to the party, but I’ve been busy with other stuff. Here’s your monthly state of the blog.

Game Review Notes
The next couple weeks will see three reviews uploaded each, which should bring the count to 950 game reviews done. After that, game reviews will be up every Tuesday and Friday… barring any prevailing circumstances, of course. This week’s batch of reviews will cover a trilogy of games, while the following week’s trifecta reviews will begin the journey through a storied Nintendo franchise. I had a much different plan in motion for the next couple weeks, but I had an epiphany of sorts and shifted gears to something that won’t break my brain.

Sunday Gimmick Table
There will be a new Sunday Gimmick Table next Sunday and it’ll involve something I’ve touched on in the past. That’s as far as I’ll go. As to what comes afterwards? Who knows?
General Blog Notes
The PPV Musings page has been updated with links to the recent Musings that I’ve posted over the past couple years. So everything should be up to date. Beyond that, I’ve been easing up on the phantom posts. There’s stuff on the side, but I’m holding that off for much later down the road. You’ll see why eventually.
Not much else to add here. There’s some other stuff in the works, but whether it comes to fruition is another story.