So, I've recently been deep into WWE's development system NXT, ever since the first live special NXT Arrival. I've always known about NXT and WWE's developmental, as many of the stars that I like now started there. I first found out about Ambrose from it. Anyway, Arrival was my first time ever watching NXT and I was pleasantly surprised. The Cesaro/Zayn match, while not the MOTY their other clashes were, was still an amazing way to start the show off. Paige/Emma stole the show for me. Two women who really gave it their all. Bo and Neville just never seemed to click to me but the first two matches made up for the rest of the show. I then watched NXT Takeover back in May and that show was EVEN better! Zayn/Breeze, Charlotte/Natalya and Kidd/Neville were all fantastic and told great stories, the standout being Neville/Kidd. It was an amazing showing that made me realize that I needed to be following NXT on a weekly basis even though it's mast taped. So that's what I've done and I got in at the right time.
Kenta, Prince Devitt and Kevin Steen have all signed contacts for NXT. Three of the biggest non WWE names in the world are all coming to WWE's developmental to eventually be put on the main roster. Devitt and Kenta were two of the names that helped me expand my wrestling taste to Japan, to understand the puroresu style and to really enjoy what NJPW has to offer. The series of matches that Okada and Tanahashi had were all amazing. I couldn't wait to watch them and I searched high and low online just to see them. I came to like Devitt's in ring style but I always wondered how he would fare against some of my favorite stars, like Punk or Bryan. Unfortunately, Devitt/Punk is a dream but Bryan/Devitt looks closer to reality.
With those signings, NXT has a stacked roster filled with the future of the company. The NXT Champion Adrian Neville will be the new high flier everyone loves in WWE. He puts on impressive matches and will no doubt be the workhorse when he eventually gets called up. Sami Zayn will take his place as the new internet darling as already in NXT, he's treated like the guy who can't win the big one. He's 0-3 in NXT special events. Tyler Breeze is the new vain gimmick of this generation ala Rick Rude. His size means he probably won't be a WWE World Champion but I certainly think his future in NXT is bright. You have The Ascension, who just lost their tag titles so it looks like a call-up for them is in the horizon. Newcomers Baron Corbin and Bull Dempsey had quick squash matches at Takeover F4W so I expect those two will dominate the main roster one day. And I haven't even mentioned the amazing women's division NXT has with Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks and plenty others. The future is sure bright for WWE and I can't wait to see what's next.
After Takeover F4W, it looks like we'll be getting Neville/Zayn one-on-one at some NXT live special event maybe in December. If you ask me though, these guys deserve a spot on the main card. That Fatal 4 Way was crazy and if they put it on the Night of Champions card, it would have certainly stolen the show. A Survivor Series match between the two would put the spotlight on NXT, which now with all the big names coming to it, would be wise. The NXT guys got time on WWE programming this week. I hope that's not the end of it either.
With new tag champs, we'll obviously be treated with another great match between the Lucha Dragons and Ascension before Ascension is called up to dethrone the Usos. Before that though, I see them being used to push Hideo Itami before they go up.
I think the only thing NXT needs is another singles title. A title to build up the stars not doing anything. I like guys like Breeze and Dempsey but what are they going to do now? Breeze just lost his opportunity to at the NXT Title and it looks like he won't be getting another shot since they're moving in the direction of Zayn/Neville. Bull is just going to keep squashing people. I just think a mid card title would be effective, especially with newer guys coming in and not ready for the main event picture just yet.
NXT is the future. Guys like Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze, Kenta, Devitt and Steen will make this THE must see show of WWE. These guys will make NXT the best thing WWE has in their arsenal. Like I said, NXT NEEDS a presence at Survivor Series. Either a NXT Title match or some kind of inclusion in a tradtional Survivor Series match is a must. Showing the guys off on Raw was the first step, now it's time for the full integration.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Wrestlemania 31
We're steadily approaching March 2015 which is when Wrestlemania 31 will take place. Now that SummerSlam is over, the chatter will begin to see who will have big matches on the card. Who knew last year's SummerSlam would accurately showcase what we would be expecting in the main event of WrestleMania XXX? It was the climax of the long feud between Bryan and the Authority, which saw Bryan defeat Evolution 2014 all in one night. Will this year's SummerSlam be a progenitor of WrestleMania 31? Let's talk who will be involved.
The dirtsheets are claiming that Roman Reigns VS Brock Lesnar will headline the Showcase of the Immortals. WOW, what a step for Reigns if he can main event in his 3rd WrestleMania. And it will definitely be a risky move for WWE if they do go this route. Daniel Bryan was the first time someone new main evented WrestleMania since Orton closed the show in 2009. Reigns would be in his first mega main event against the man who ended the most prolific streak in professional wrestling. This is big time for Reigns. This is the breakout match. It's funny that it's 10 years after Cena's first WWE Title win at WrestleMania 21. Coincidence? Anyway, it's a match I think the entire WWE Universe wants to see and it would put Reigns in the upper echelon of WWE talent. After that, I'm sure Reigns/Cena would main event SummerSlam 2015. It's going to be hard to keep these two away from each other though. I would like to see Cena/Reigns as the last two in the Royal Rumble to kind of tease the feud, unless they go with Rollings/Reigns. Is it strange to anyone else that they haven't given them the proper feud yet? Maybe it will be a fall thing but that's another classic waiting to happen.
John Cena won't be in the main event of WrestleMania for a 2nd consecutive year, possibly. Cena's role at WM XXX, while could've been much bigger if they had done the match with Taker, was perfect. He went against the sadistic Bray Wyatt and made him look like an absolute star in the process. Cena needs to do the same at WM 31. There are a lot of great up and coming talent Cena can have a good match with. Cena/Rollings my obvious front runner because it would be a classic in the same vein as Cena's great matches with other top indie stars, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. Rusev is another guy I think will be ready come WrestleMania time. Will it be the classic a Rollings/Cena match could be? No, but Rusev has the look WWE likes so I think a match with the golden boy is only inevitable. A rematch with Daniel Bryan would be awesome to see. They could work off of the recent Bellas fallout, but I think that would mean Cena would be a heel which we all know isn't happening. Speaking of that, Cena recently said it will NEVER happen. Come on man! All the greats did it! All of the top faces of the company turned, Cena is NO different. Once Reigns starts his rise to the top, I think it would be finally the time to pull the trigger. The Raw after WrestleMania would be a good field to do it at. It's the most popular Raw of the year and after this year's edition, that's the only ay it could be topped.
Bray Wyatt has risen to the top of the WWE by feuding with big stars on big stages. He defeated Daniel Bryan during his hot streak at the Royal Rumble. He pushed John Cena to the absolute limit at WrestleMania. He defeated the first ever Undisputed Champion at SummerSlam. The man's on a roll. What could he do at WrestleMania 31? Well, put him against one of the only names he hasn't beaten; The Undertaker. I know I know, Undertaker lost this year and his future with the company is shaky following the brutal match with Lesnar. And it seems everyone and their grandmom wants to see him face Sting at WM 31 but that is pointless. He needs to face someone who represents the future and will take over the supernatural gimmick that has gotten Taker over for years. Will it happen? Probably not but Bray Wyatt needs to face someone that will put him over. While Reigns will be ascending to his throne, Wyatt needs something to do as well because I think those two will be running this era when it's all said and done.
WM 31 is still too far away to call all the matches but you gotta make sure the big players are used effectively. With Reigns and Lesnar already booked together, we still need places for Cena, Bryan, Rollings, Wyatt, Ambrose and Orton. These are just some of the guys of the top of the dome. And maybe we'll get some NXT callups by then? Can you say, Neville VS Rollings?!?
The dirtsheets are claiming that Roman Reigns VS Brock Lesnar will headline the Showcase of the Immortals. WOW, what a step for Reigns if he can main event in his 3rd WrestleMania. And it will definitely be a risky move for WWE if they do go this route. Daniel Bryan was the first time someone new main evented WrestleMania since Orton closed the show in 2009. Reigns would be in his first mega main event against the man who ended the most prolific streak in professional wrestling. This is big time for Reigns. This is the breakout match. It's funny that it's 10 years after Cena's first WWE Title win at WrestleMania 21. Coincidence? Anyway, it's a match I think the entire WWE Universe wants to see and it would put Reigns in the upper echelon of WWE talent. After that, I'm sure Reigns/Cena would main event SummerSlam 2015. It's going to be hard to keep these two away from each other though. I would like to see Cena/Reigns as the last two in the Royal Rumble to kind of tease the feud, unless they go with Rollings/Reigns. Is it strange to anyone else that they haven't given them the proper feud yet? Maybe it will be a fall thing but that's another classic waiting to happen.
John Cena won't be in the main event of WrestleMania for a 2nd consecutive year, possibly. Cena's role at WM XXX, while could've been much bigger if they had done the match with Taker, was perfect. He went against the sadistic Bray Wyatt and made him look like an absolute star in the process. Cena needs to do the same at WM 31. There are a lot of great up and coming talent Cena can have a good match with. Cena/Rollings my obvious front runner because it would be a classic in the same vein as Cena's great matches with other top indie stars, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. Rusev is another guy I think will be ready come WrestleMania time. Will it be the classic a Rollings/Cena match could be? No, but Rusev has the look WWE likes so I think a match with the golden boy is only inevitable. A rematch with Daniel Bryan would be awesome to see. They could work off of the recent Bellas fallout, but I think that would mean Cena would be a heel which we all know isn't happening. Speaking of that, Cena recently said it will NEVER happen. Come on man! All the greats did it! All of the top faces of the company turned, Cena is NO different. Once Reigns starts his rise to the top, I think it would be finally the time to pull the trigger. The Raw after WrestleMania would be a good field to do it at. It's the most popular Raw of the year and after this year's edition, that's the only ay it could be topped.
Bray Wyatt has risen to the top of the WWE by feuding with big stars on big stages. He defeated Daniel Bryan during his hot streak at the Royal Rumble. He pushed John Cena to the absolute limit at WrestleMania. He defeated the first ever Undisputed Champion at SummerSlam. The man's on a roll. What could he do at WrestleMania 31? Well, put him against one of the only names he hasn't beaten; The Undertaker. I know I know, Undertaker lost this year and his future with the company is shaky following the brutal match with Lesnar. And it seems everyone and their grandmom wants to see him face Sting at WM 31 but that is pointless. He needs to face someone who represents the future and will take over the supernatural gimmick that has gotten Taker over for years. Will it happen? Probably not but Bray Wyatt needs to face someone that will put him over. While Reigns will be ascending to his throne, Wyatt needs something to do as well because I think those two will be running this era when it's all said and done.
WM 31 is still too far away to call all the matches but you gotta make sure the big players are used effectively. With Reigns and Lesnar already booked together, we still need places for Cena, Bryan, Rollings, Wyatt, Ambrose and Orton. These are just some of the guys of the top of the dome. And maybe we'll get some NXT callups by then? Can you say, Neville VS Rollings?!?
Video Game Ramblings/Future Releases
So, summer is almost over, which means that a slew of video games will soon be releasing! There are a lot of AAA game releases as always such as Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Far Cry and many more. Whatever your poison is, you're sure to be playing something by the end of the year. I know I will be. Currently, I'm putting most of my time into Tales of Xillia 2 right now. I have about 25 hours an I'm enjoying it. My controller is acting up so I'm taking a break from it while I wait for a new one to come in the mail. I want to have that beat by the 16th since that's when Fairy Fencer F comes out. I don't know too much about the game but I've seen the battle system in action and I really enjoy what I see. Hopefully the length and extra content make it a valid purchase. There seems to be a lot of niche JRPGs coming out as the end of the PS3's lifespan. Ar Nosurge Ode to an Unborn Star, Tears to Tiara II, and Natural Doctrine just to name a few. I haven't really gotten into a strategy RPG for awhile so I'm looking forward to trying either T3 or ND.
They FINALLY released footage (well, an anime cutscene of the presumed main character, who I don't know is a guy or gal. It's a guy btw, I checked) from the upcoming Persona 5 and also announced that it's coming to both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. I don't know how to feel about that just yet until I see footage of the actual game. If the PS4 version is way ahead of the PS3 version, I'll be upset. I would've just preferred it come out on PS3 first then a port to PS4 eventually. That seems to be all the rage now anyway! That one minute only piqued my interest all the more for what is easiest my most anticipated game release in the coming year. I can't wait to see what mature themes this series takes on next.
As the year winds down, we're a month away from the new Smash Bros releasing! Well, at least on the 3DS. While I'm really waiting for the console version, I can't wait to play either one. I know they probably said this about Melee and/or Brawl but for real, this roster is easily the best in the series so far. All of the newcomers? Fantastic additions. Seriously, EACH one. I'm going to try them all. I've never been so conflicted as to who I'm going to play with first. Usually, I'll go with a favorite in fighting games. In WWE, it's the guy who I like the most. In usual fighting games, it's the guy who looks the coolest or I'm pretty familiar with. In Smash Bros 4, it's going to come down to who's locked and who isn't. If Mega Man, Sonic, Pac-Man, Shulk and Little Mac are all locked from the get-go, then I'll have to go with either Luigi or Mario as my first pick. Wait, hasn't Luigi been locked in the past games? Maybe not Luigi...Well, I'm going with either Mario or Link as characters I KNOW will be unlocked from the start so I'll pick them. I loved unlocking characters in Melee and I hope that form of unlocking is back. Brawl's character unlock was ok but I prefer doing specific tasks to unlock something rather than just by meeting the characters, talking to them and then they're unlocked. I loved the one on one battles and not knowing if you were actually going to unlock them or not because they were tougher than you anticipated. Ah, good times. I don't think the whole roster has been revealed JUST yet and even if it has, DLC could still be in the works. With Mario Kart adding Link and others, why couldn't SSB? How about Bayonetta? Or a new character from the Xenoblade Chronicles X? Or Daisy? Nintendo has plenty of characters left and could add a dozen more. Going back to not seeing the full roster, I still think there are many names they haven't revealed yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my favorite Smash Bros character of all time, Mr. Game and Watch. He's such an abstract character with a fantastic moveset. If there is any character that I can claim that I main, it would be Game and Watch. GAW, Snake, Luigi and Sonic were my top in Brawl. Hopefully, after the 3DS version comes out, we'll get a solid release for the Wii U version.
Portable RPGs are coming in strong in November with two major series releasing new installments. First, it's the Tales series coming out with Tales of Hearts R, a remake of the Japan only DS game, Tales of Hearts. I know next to nothing about TOHR. I just did a Google search to see gameplay and it looks pretty sweet. In terms of differences, I see this is more focused on aerial combat. I like that looks of that. It's important for Tales games to all be distinct in their own way and if aerial combat is this games distinct trait, I'm fine with that. As great as TOX2 is, I can't help to imagine what a new Tales game in a new universe would have been like. I won't have to wait long apparently with Tales of Zestiria releases next year. So far, it looks to be the most ambitious Tales yet and the fact you get into battle RIGHT from the field, that's something new for the series. Anyway, TOHR will definitely take up all my travel time come November....
..THAT IS until the other big portable RPG comes out 2 weeks later. Persona Q mixes the popular Persona 3 and the even more popular Persona 4 together into one huge installment that apparently plays like the critically acclaimed Etrian Odyssey with known Persona game elements. As noted, Shin Megami Tensei/Persona (since it's own thing now) are my favorite RPG series right now and as I eagerly await the arrival of the series on current gen consoles, this will certainly be a good filler until then. Once again, I don't know too much about the story or other elements of the game but it's Persona, it's a JRPG and it's releasing soon. I'm hype!
2014 hasn't been the year 2013 was. 2013 had some serious blockbusters in Tomb Raider, Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, and my Game of the Year, Bioshock Infinite. Surprisingly, I BEAT all of those games! And they were all fantastic and really did a good job of closing out the seventh generation of gaming on a high note. 2014 just hasn't had those slew of games. And they all released at different times. Tomb Raider and Bioshock in March, Last of Us in June and GTAV in September. This year, it seems like all the big releases are either in the fall, like always, or pushed back until 2015, like Batman and Evolve. I just feel this year is lacking the big blockbusters. I've enjoyed many games released this year, like Danganronpa, Tales of Xillia 2, South Park, Lords of Shadow 2, Demon Gaze and the amazing Dark Souls II but unfortunately, those games don't carry the same AAA status of the games of 2013. They're still awesome and I enjoyed them all very much, especially Danganronpa and DS2, my two favorite so far. Anyway, the games are coming people, you just gotta wait!
2015 is approaching and that looks to be a great gaming year. February is going to be hard on a lot of gamer's wallets. The Witcher 3, Evolve, The Order and Dying Light ALL release in that month. The shortest month is getting the biggest games. Also, we got Mortal Kombat X in April, along with Batman, Dead Island 2 and Uncharted 4 all supposedly coming out. And I personally can't forget three games I've been looking forward to for awhile, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Zelda on Wii U and of course, Persona 5. I'm expecting Zelda in November, Xenoblade in May/June and Persona 5 in October. Just guessing...
They FINALLY released footage (well, an anime cutscene of the presumed main character, who I don't know is a guy or gal. It's a guy btw, I checked) from the upcoming Persona 5 and also announced that it's coming to both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. I don't know how to feel about that just yet until I see footage of the actual game. If the PS4 version is way ahead of the PS3 version, I'll be upset. I would've just preferred it come out on PS3 first then a port to PS4 eventually. That seems to be all the rage now anyway! That one minute only piqued my interest all the more for what is easiest my most anticipated game release in the coming year. I can't wait to see what mature themes this series takes on next.
As the year winds down, we're a month away from the new Smash Bros releasing! Well, at least on the 3DS. While I'm really waiting for the console version, I can't wait to play either one. I know they probably said this about Melee and/or Brawl but for real, this roster is easily the best in the series so far. All of the newcomers? Fantastic additions. Seriously, EACH one. I'm going to try them all. I've never been so conflicted as to who I'm going to play with first. Usually, I'll go with a favorite in fighting games. In WWE, it's the guy who I like the most. In usual fighting games, it's the guy who looks the coolest or I'm pretty familiar with. In Smash Bros 4, it's going to come down to who's locked and who isn't. If Mega Man, Sonic, Pac-Man, Shulk and Little Mac are all locked from the get-go, then I'll have to go with either Luigi or Mario as my first pick. Wait, hasn't Luigi been locked in the past games? Maybe not Luigi...Well, I'm going with either Mario or Link as characters I KNOW will be unlocked from the start so I'll pick them. I loved unlocking characters in Melee and I hope that form of unlocking is back. Brawl's character unlock was ok but I prefer doing specific tasks to unlock something rather than just by meeting the characters, talking to them and then they're unlocked. I loved the one on one battles and not knowing if you were actually going to unlock them or not because they were tougher than you anticipated. Ah, good times. I don't think the whole roster has been revealed JUST yet and even if it has, DLC could still be in the works. With Mario Kart adding Link and others, why couldn't SSB? How about Bayonetta? Or a new character from the Xenoblade Chronicles X? Or Daisy? Nintendo has plenty of characters left and could add a dozen more. Going back to not seeing the full roster, I still think there are many names they haven't revealed yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my favorite Smash Bros character of all time, Mr. Game and Watch. He's such an abstract character with a fantastic moveset. If there is any character that I can claim that I main, it would be Game and Watch. GAW, Snake, Luigi and Sonic were my top in Brawl. Hopefully, after the 3DS version comes out, we'll get a solid release for the Wii U version.
Portable RPGs are coming in strong in November with two major series releasing new installments. First, it's the Tales series coming out with Tales of Hearts R, a remake of the Japan only DS game, Tales of Hearts. I know next to nothing about TOHR. I just did a Google search to see gameplay and it looks pretty sweet. In terms of differences, I see this is more focused on aerial combat. I like that looks of that. It's important for Tales games to all be distinct in their own way and if aerial combat is this games distinct trait, I'm fine with that. As great as TOX2 is, I can't help to imagine what a new Tales game in a new universe would have been like. I won't have to wait long apparently with Tales of Zestiria releases next year. So far, it looks to be the most ambitious Tales yet and the fact you get into battle RIGHT from the field, that's something new for the series. Anyway, TOHR will definitely take up all my travel time come November....
..THAT IS until the other big portable RPG comes out 2 weeks later. Persona Q mixes the popular Persona 3 and the even more popular Persona 4 together into one huge installment that apparently plays like the critically acclaimed Etrian Odyssey with known Persona game elements. As noted, Shin Megami Tensei/Persona (since it's own thing now) are my favorite RPG series right now and as I eagerly await the arrival of the series on current gen consoles, this will certainly be a good filler until then. Once again, I don't know too much about the story or other elements of the game but it's Persona, it's a JRPG and it's releasing soon. I'm hype!
2014 hasn't been the year 2013 was. 2013 had some serious blockbusters in Tomb Raider, Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, and my Game of the Year, Bioshock Infinite. Surprisingly, I BEAT all of those games! And they were all fantastic and really did a good job of closing out the seventh generation of gaming on a high note. 2014 just hasn't had those slew of games. And they all released at different times. Tomb Raider and Bioshock in March, Last of Us in June and GTAV in September. This year, it seems like all the big releases are either in the fall, like always, or pushed back until 2015, like Batman and Evolve. I just feel this year is lacking the big blockbusters. I've enjoyed many games released this year, like Danganronpa, Tales of Xillia 2, South Park, Lords of Shadow 2, Demon Gaze and the amazing Dark Souls II but unfortunately, those games don't carry the same AAA status of the games of 2013. They're still awesome and I enjoyed them all very much, especially Danganronpa and DS2, my two favorite so far. Anyway, the games are coming people, you just gotta wait!
2015 is approaching and that looks to be a great gaming year. February is going to be hard on a lot of gamer's wallets. The Witcher 3, Evolve, The Order and Dying Light ALL release in that month. The shortest month is getting the biggest games. Also, we got Mortal Kombat X in April, along with Batman, Dead Island 2 and Uncharted 4 all supposedly coming out. And I personally can't forget three games I've been looking forward to for awhile, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Zelda on Wii U and of course, Persona 5. I'm expecting Zelda in November, Xenoblade in May/June and Persona 5 in October. Just guessing...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)