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entamewitchlulu · 5 years

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Arc V Month Day 12: Favorite Ships

ohohohoho, did you mean my favorite day?? I love talking about ships, I love exploring possible character dynamics whether those are romantic, platonic, sexual, antagonistic, or whatever, and Arc V is FULL of great character dynamics as well as great potential ones that while they never interacted much or at all in canon, I still think would be really fun to play with

I could talk for hours about ships, and I have a LOT of faves within Arc V (arc v was actually the beginning of my multishipping tendencies, before this I was a strict single-ship-per-character type), but for the purposes of time and space I will talk only about my “starter pack” as I like to call it lol. Tho, if you would like to hear my thoughts on any other Arc V ship, please don’t hesitate to drop into my askbox! I love to talk about this >w<

Escapeshipping (Asuka/Osiris Red Girl)

One half of the ship may not even have an actual name, but that doesn’t stop me from being in love with this little rarepair. I’ve always liked the idea of bi Asuka, but before Arc V, there really wasn’t a female character I really enjoyed shipping her with. Arc V came to the rescue by giving her a gf (it also gave Crow a bf...Arc V said gay rights). Even though all we get of them is one flashback, it’s pretty clear that the two of them were close, close enough for the Osiris girl to confide in Asuka her treasonous thoughts and to want to save Asuka by bringing her along in her escape rather than simply escaping on her own. And it’s the Osiris girl’s sacrifice that drives Asuka to be as much of a rebel against Academia that she is. That’s the set up for a powerful tragic love story right there, and we only had half an episode -- that’s pretty epic imo.

Chaperoneshipping (Gongenzaka/Sawatari)

I named this rarepair, so it has a special place in my heart lol. I just think it’s probably one of the funniest, and yet sweetest ships I’ve got for Arc V. The two of them are pretty much diametric opposites -- Sawatari never stops moving or talking and is super full of himself, while Gongenzaka is based on standing completely still and has a pretty healthy understanding of himself and his limits. Every single interaction they had was gold, as the two of them have such different ideals and beliefs, but they play off of each other so well. They’re literally the tol gay + smol gay and I love them and their banter a lot -- plus, I legitimately think that the two of them are pretty good for each other. Gongenzaka can help ground Sawatari but also take care of him when his inevitable loss of confidence spirals back again, and Sawatari can put an exasperated smile on Gongenzaka’s face and help him loosen up here and there.

rest are under the cut so this doesn’t get TOO long lol

Darkrebelshipping (Shun/Yuto)

This is one I haven’t actually paid as much attention to lately, but I still do really enjoy it! It’s a little cliche, but I just find their relationship pretty interesting. It’s clear that they’re close friends who trust each other, but there’s also a lot of friction between them because they have such fundamentally different value systems. They both want the same things, but what they’re willing to do to achieve those things is very different, and seeing how that effects the two of them in different situations is very interesting to me. Plus, I just kind of love how they both look like they would go to Hot Topic together lol.

Moonblossomshipping (Ruri/Selena)

Am I using my own screenshot edit for these two? Yes, yes I am, because despite my deep and abiding love for this ship, they never officially got to interact while not possessed lol.

As the above mentioned lack of interaction notes, this ship is mostly in my head, but I think it has a lot of interesting potential as a dynamic. Ruri and Selena may be parts of the same person, but they have some unique differences that make their potential relationship intriguing. Selena is a very headstrong person who rarely thinks before she acts, acting on an innate sense of justice that may be skewed because she rarely takes the time to closely examine where that image of justice is coming from. She’s an angry and impulsive person determined to prove herself, and yet she’s also very disciplined in other places. Ruri, on the other hand, comes from a much softer world, and from what we’ve seen of her, she also has a strong sense of justice -- though her views on it come from a place of sympathy/empathy and a desire for compassion towards others, rather than Selena’s warrior-like take on making justice happen. That softness + Selena’s sharpness makes for a great contrast, and the fact that their two worlds are pretty much perfectly opposed in the struggle in canon also sets up for some great star-crossed lovers shit which I’m ALWAYS into.

And outside of that? They just are....so pretty. They have the best aesthetic together. I was shipping them somehow before Ruri was even revealed, I am here for the long haul.

Duskshipping (Dennis/Yuuri)

Here’s another ship that gave me less than half an episode of content and made me go absolutely wild over it. Yuuri and Dennis may have only interacted for a few moments and only twice overall, but there’s something about those moments that still captivates me. The whole concept of Yuuri being this terrifying force that people run to the side of the hall to avoid, even as a child, but then being met by a laid-back, cheerful greeting from Dennis, fascinates me. Dennis isn’t scared of Yuuri at all, in fact, he seems to find Yuuri amusing to some degree. He’s the only character in the entire show who hasn’t immediately viewed Yuuri as some terrifying monster. Part of that may be simply due to Dennis’s cheerful + semi suicidal personality, but I think there might be a little more to it than that, especially since Yuuri doesn’t seem at all annoyed at Dennis’s lack of respect. There’s this sense of relaxation to their interactions, as though they’re used to hanging out, as though they’re comfortable with each other. For people like the two of them -- Dennis, with his self-loathing covered up by a mask of cheer, and Yuuri, with his monstrous, malicious glee towards destruction, that unspoken comfort with anyone, much less people so different from each other, feels very important.

Stealthshipping (Sora/Tsukikage)

This one hit me like a frieght train all at once. For most of my favorite Arc V ships, I got the sense that I would like them early on into their character introductions. Basically from the moment I saw most of them, their first interaction or even their first introduction alone, I had the feeling I was going to love them as a ship. These two? I had no idea I was going to make THIS my favorite ship for the two of them...and honestly, my only romantic ship for either of them. And like, why would I have? Their first interaction is where Sora kills Tsukikage’s brother. Angsty, to be sure, but I barely thought they’d even meet again.

When they did, however, and how it all played out after that, I was smitten. Two soldiers who met on opposite sides of the conflict, who had every reason to hate each other, and every reason to destroy each other, who found themselves slowly, slowly putting that unease aside for the common goal ahead of them, until they became a team to be reckoned with. Sora apologizing for what he did to Tsukikage’s brother and even offering to atone any way Tsukikage wanted as long as he could save Yuzu and Yuya first, Tsukikage putting down his grudge “just for now,” slowly becoming the two of them coming to each other’s aid and fighting like a team? It was so powerful. I definitely need to create more content for the two of them.

Genesishipping (Ray/Zarc)

Let’s be honest, we all ship this one a little bit. They’re the penultimate tragic, antagonistic couple, even if they probably never actually met in the past. They’re perfectly opposed forces, creation and destruction, and Ray is more than willing to come back over and over again to fight Zarc, while Zarc builds pretty much his entire self around being able to defeat Ray again. Plus, considering all of the bonds between their counterparts? It’s obvious that in another life, these two would have been friends, or even lovers, which just makes their actual first meeting all the more tragic. They have a wealth of possibilities to explore, and it’s one of the most popular ships in the fandom for a reason.

Appleshipping (Rin/Yugo)

otherwise known as THE CUTEST OTP....I don’t know what to say about Apple that I or others haven’t said before. They are such a power couple. They’re so sweet and wholesome, but they’re also inherently kind of tragic. They grew up in a world that didn’t want them to survive, but they did. Yugo’s pure love for Rin, and Rin’s motherly nagging, probably out of fear that Yugo’s happy nature might end up with him getting hurt in this awful world they live in, hiding her own deep love for him back, is just such a sweet, beautiful combination. The way they constantly work together and constantly think of each other is just so sweet and lovely, and I love them a lot.

Lustershipping (Yuzu/Masumi)

The ORIGINAL Arc V gays, the one I shipped before I even started watching the damn show. Shallow bit out of the way first, but they’re a pink/blue ship, and their color schemes together are GORGEOUS, which is my weakness.

Past that, though, this is the first pair of significant f/f rivals we’ve gotten in YGO to my knowledge, and I’ve found lately that I’ve become something of a sucker for some brands of rival pairs. They’re antagonistic, but it drives them both to be better, and they shit-talk each other, which is great to see with an f/f rival pair, but they end up being super respectful and even grateful to each other for pushing them to get better and better. And if you don’t think Masumi’s got a crush on Yuzu at the very least, I don’t know what to tell you lol. She gave the girl a ROSE.

I’d love to play with their continuing relationship more with the pair of them as rivals who eventually become friends before they know it, and then perhaps something more :)

Pendulumshipping (Yuya/Reiji)

And here we are. You all knew it was coming if you’ve been here for longer than 10 minutes, lol. Yuya/Reiji was my fave from the beginning, and it only grew and grew and grew until it became my most important and favorite OTP of everything I’ve ever shipped.

I’ve told the story a million times, but I first began shipping them when Reiji imagined he was dueling Yuya while testing his pendulum cards. What kind of a person do you have to be to move someone as immovable as Reiji, who’s spent his entire life making himself strong and unaffected for the task ahead? What kind of person do you have to be to stick in Reiji’s mind like that? And for a while, it felt very one-sided to me, though I played around with the idea of Yuya eventually returning those feelings -- still, back then, I felt almost guilty about the ship because more than one person called it potentially abusive, and I could see where they were coming from -- canon at that point had shown them as antagonists towards each other after all. And then canon kept trucking along and showed me that it wasn’t just that at all -- a seed of trust was starting to blossom between the two of them. The moment that Yuya called out Reiji’s name by his first name out of concern to see him trapped with the Council, that’s when I realized they absolutely did both have some level of trust in and care for each other. And when Yuya shouted out his trust in Reiji despite Roget’s revelation about Reiji’s father, proving that he did trust Reiji and his judgement after all, and when their tag duel arrived, and Reiji decided he would throw in with Yuya all the way, that he would stand behind him and believe in him til the end and the two of them fought together, that was it. It’s place as my favorite OTP was sealed.

There’s just something so soft and gentle about them, despite their beginnings. They don’t have the same antagonistic air to them that most main ygo protag/rival pairs have to time. Despite their beginnings, they were always on the same side, and it was never about trying to one up the other, even at their last battle -- it was always about working together for a common goal, and making the other better. And I just really, really love that.

#arcvanniversary #long post #lulu talks #this was so much fun to talk about all my ships lol

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jwgammuto · 5 years

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The Good, The Bad, and the WTF for WWE Fastlane 2019

The Road to Wrestlemania leaps over its final PPV hurdle in the often forgettable Fastlane. What did we get in 2019? Onto The Good, The Bad, and the WTF: All The Swerves Edition

The Good: The WWE Title match. The confused Cleveland crowd reacting to the announcement of a triple threat, assuming it would be a battered Kofi (more on that later), gets swerved when Mustafa Ali’s music hits. The crowd, predictably, does not receive poor Ali well. Fortunately for him, he worked his absolute ass off in this match and won them back fairly easily. WWE should be ashamed of themselves for not making this the main event. Not that the Shield return match was offensive, but this was deserving. So many incredible spots. Bryan was at peak heel with screaming “you don’t deserve to be here” while slapping Ali. Mustafa had too many insane moves to name them all here and everybody sold perfectly. The ending with Bryan hitting Ali in mid air looked insane. A number of near falls made this fun and the specter of how much more insane this might be if you added Kofi in four weeks was too hard to ignore. Aside from Recyclable Rowan’s awkward spinning heel kick on Owens, this was near perfection. Bravo.

The USO Penitentiary vs McMiz for the SD tag titles. Finally. They picked a perfect spot for this McMahon turn. I have faith that Shane’s explanation will be fully ego driven and worthy of the family name. I kind of wish the attack would have been more brutal or Shane would have employed Luke Harper to do this, but it still worked. Shane, true to his brand, caught Jey mid/air with a drop kick that looked totally insane. The Cleveland crowd ate up the heel turn in favor of its Favorite Son, but I am a little worried about what you do with babyface Miz after Mania.

Fatal Four Way for the US Title. Rey Mysterio is truly a legend. This dude is still innovating moves at this stage in his career. When he’s in the ring, every move feels reversible in some epic fashion. It’s a joy to watch and they cherry on the cake it how well these other guys sell it for him. This was exactly as high impact and the exciting as we’ve come to expect from these four. Truth’s continued nods to Cena are still hilarious, Joe’s power game melds so well with the other guys’ skill sets, and it really makes for entertaining tv. Glad Andrade didn’t take the loss here because he continues to impress and needs the momentum. As far as I’m concerned, Joe should be the champion until at least SummerSlam.

The Revival vs Power and Glorious vs BlackOChet for the Raw Tag Titles. Another great match that was given the proper time and storytelling. Everyone looked strong at one point or another. Ricochet predictably did insane things that only this guy is capable of, Aleister Black blew people up with kicks and knees, Gable continues to be as fluid as anybody in the company in the ring, and The Revival played their part perfectly by selling brilliantly and taking advantage when the perfect moment came. SHATTER MACHINE! 1-2-3. And still. The melee after included a visibly frustrated Roode hitting the Glorious DDT and Black/Ricochet eventually standing tall after clearing house but Dash and Dawson still have the belts. Not sure I could have booked this better myself.

HugBoss vs Samoan Pain Train for the womens’ tag titles. This makes the Good column for exactly one reason and that’s Bayley. I tweeted this last night and stand by it. Bayley is an absolute workhorse and has been on fire for about three months. She really shined in this match. I don’t know if they’re protecting Banks given her injury history or they’re purposefully booking her like this for an angle, but Bayley is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for this team. Pretty good match though with the champs retaining and Nia not hurting anyone. Win/Win. After the match, the situation devolved and ill discuss that later because it’s not “good”.

The Shield vs The Legion of Mediocrity. We all knew this was going to be a Shield/Roman lovefest so I was prepared to roll my eyes for 25 minutes or so. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. I maintain that Baron Corbin, while a dick, is really a very talented and smooth performer in the ring and it showed in this match. This thing was all over the place and honestly a little overbooked but was still enjoyable. Plenty of big moments from Ambrose, Rollins, and even *vom* the BIG DOG (my god I hate Cole). Rollins leaping out of the stands was nuts. Reigns looks like he’s about back to what we’ve come to expect from him ring wise. And Dean still wrestles like his hair is on fire. If Ambrose is to leave the company, that will be sad because I like Dean, but on the bright side, we’ll never have another Shield Bros reunion. Everyone involved in this feud is a capable individual performer, split this nonsense up and give them all some direction. This thing has particularly hurt McIntyre.

Elias owning the Cleveland crowd all night with mic drops.

The Bad: NakaRusev. There is 100% no reason to have these guys together as a team just to lose. Remember when Nakamura won the Royal Rumble and was fighting for the WWE Title for months? Or when Rusev was arguably the most over performer on Smackdown with Rusev Day? At minimum they should be winning pre show matches against the New Day.

Lacey Evans/Rando RKO/AJ spot. This really felt like an attempt to cram some shit in and give some small stories some face time just for the sake of doing it. AJ and Randy could have waited until Tuesday and Lacey’s bit would have been better served during the Asuka/Rose Title match.

Speaking of which. A show with so many great things going on really left a bad mark on Asuka’s legacy and the SD women’s title here. Rose is nothing special in the ring and it showed. Asuka looked pretty sharp but didn’t get much besides the insane spinning heel kick that won it. I can’t imagine Creative thinks anyone is terribly interested in a Rose/Deville split. All I can gather is that they want to push Deville and get Mandy some more heat but they can do that outside the title picture. The deepest fear here is a WM triple threat with these three. *Snooze*. Asuka tapped out Becky Lynch just a couple months ago. Do better.

The WTF: Lynch vs Flair. What a colossal waste of time and energy. I can’t wait for this to be over. While I did enjoy Flair taunting Becky in classic heel fashion, watching Lynch hobble around and believably have a chance to win anything is pathetic. Everyone knew this would end with some sort of Rousey interference that led to a Lynch win. It felt unnecessary. Also, is Lynch just going to be miraculously healed by April? Because she’s been limping since the Royal Rumble and it only seems to get worse since, you know, she constantly being kicked in the knee. Ronda simply coming down to get Charlotte DQ’ed was lazy. Ronda would have been better served to just come down, knock out the ref, destroy them both, and leave Becky lying on Charlotte’s fallen corpse for the “win”.

Kofi in what equates to a wrestling hate crime. I don’t really get the compulsion to make Kofi look like a desperate character who overcame all the odds. They have that story barely hanging on by a thread with Lynch. He’s already crazy over with the crowd and positioned to get a shot. The only reason for Vince to book him in a complete destruction of a handicap match like this is to get heat on himself. Is that the point? Does anyone on earth not know what a huge dick Vince McMahon is? We’re all assuming Kofi is going to be in the title picture at Mania. This isn’t making that journey more fun or interesting. The guy already earned it. He’s over. Doesn’t need your help, Vince.

Nia and Tamina pick a fight with the Glamazon and eventually Natalya too. No.

Overall this was a wonderfully surprisingly good PPV. Not everything was great but holy cow was the good stuff great. Particularly given its proximity to the biggest show of the year, this was well done and I’m ready for the final push to the Granddaddy of Them All. 4.25 Hogan Belt Whips. I think the pre show starts in a couple of hours. Who’s ready?

#WWE #wwefastlane #pro wrestling #blog

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trekwithtaylor · 6 years

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Country #101 - Japan Day 3

The Tokyo Drizzle

Well, it was quite the first day of the trip! We got a relatively early start to the day and, after having spent plenty of time researching the metro and trains last night, I was ready to start the day and take on Tokyo’s transit. Our hotel was just a short walk from the nearest metro station. After finding the correct entrance we ran into a bit of an issue (the machines don’t take foreign cards) but it was actually pretty entertaining because a little peephole opened up and an actual person handed me my card back. It was pretty cool, honestly! We found an ATM, bought a 1-day card that covers all of the trains in the city, and were on our way. Now that we had everything figured out the transit was a breeze for the rest of the day!

Our first stop of the day was the Asuka neighborhood which is home to the Sensō-ji Temple and other historic and significant buildings. It was a great first stop as it was about as traditional of a Japanese sight as we would see all day. It was so interesting to see my first Buddhist temple (of many to come) and to begin to learn about the different practices. I also really enjoyed walking around the Asuka area and looking in the cool little stalls. Our next stop was to grab a quick bite to eat. We headed to Ichiran Asakusa which served ramen and other small dishes. You ordered out of a vending machine (which was super cool) and then received a ticket. The food was then brought to the table! We shared one large bowl with a few sides. I have to say, for my first real ramen, it was pretty tasty!

The next area that we visited was Ueno Onshi Park. Unfortunately, by this time, it had started to rain, and our supposedly beautiful walk through the park was quite wet and dreary. But I could see that it was a very nice park when the weather is nice! After wandering around Uneo Oshi Park, we took the metro to our next destination, Akihabara, where Edward really wanted to make a stop. The area is basically one huge shopping area for all things associated with anime, manga, and video games. He wanted to buy his friends a few small presents, and I also enjoyed taking in the overstimulation of the area. It was crazy but really cool, too! We went to a few different stores and the number of figurines of different characters was truly amazing. They had everything!

After Uneo Oshi Park and Akihabara we realized two things: that we needed to get out of the rain, and that I needed a new rain jacket. I got a new coat for this trip but realized once it started to pour that the hood basically did not work at all. So we hit two birds with one stone and made our way to the Ginza area, which is basically the High Street of Tokyo. We decided to visit Uniqlo in Ginza as it is home to their flagship store, which is actually one of the ten largest flagship stores of any brand in the world. And I could definitely tell! Once inside it was ten floors of clothes. And it was quite a cool store as well! I found an inexpensive, lightweight jacket, and we also bought a few inexpensive t-shirts. They had Shanghai Disney t-shirts which I figured would be much better to buy inexpensively now than to actually buy at Disney. So it was quite the productive little stop! And by the time we left the rain had let up as well. It was a win-win!

Our next stop was just a short walk down the road to the Kabukiza Theater. I’ve heard the story from my grandmother many times of her visit to the Kabukiza Theater over 30 years ago, so it was cool to see it for myself! We bought a ticket to a short 30-minute act of the play that was ongoing. I really appreciated the ticket setup where you can just see a short snippet to get a glimpse of the theater and the shows. It was a traditional Japanese show (completely in Japanese) but we were able to follow along with the English pamphlet. After the show, we visited the Tsukji Market which is famous for its fish market, though it was mostly closed up by mid-day when we visited.

From the market, we headed to the metro to make our way across town to Chidorigafuchi Park to attempt to see the cherry blossoms. We were, unfortunately, quite disappointed as they were not yet in bloom. We must have missed them by just a few days as it is technically the beginning of the season. We then tried to visit the National Garden which unfortunately was closed earlier than it had listed online. After two failed stops our next stop was thankfully just barely still open. The guard was very nice and let us and another few tourists in right before he closed the gate to visit Meiji Jingu Shrine! It was quite an eerie walk up the long pathway to the shrine as the sun was going down and it was starting to rain again, but it was cool all the same. The shrine itself was very interesting to see and was a highlight of the day. I’m very thankful to the guard for allowing us to visit! It was a rushed visit but we were able to see the entirety of the shrine and take pictures as well.

While our walk up to the shrine had been eerie, our walk back out was downright creepy. There were no other people in sight, it was getting quite dark, and, all of the sudden, sirens started to blare in the distance. Given our current location in the world I could think of two things: either there was an earthquake or North Korea had done something. But after searching online for any explanation we still have no idea what that was about. Anyways, creepy sirens aside, we then made our way back to the metro to visit Takeshita Street, a pedestrian street lined with cute stores and unique foods. We were determined to try two different delicacies: the giant rainbow cotton candy and the creme brulee crepe!

The giant cotton candy was our first stop at a store called Totti Candy Factory. It was truly giant! It was so crazy and very fun to attempt to eat. We were both quite the mess afterwards! We then stopped in a few adorable shops (where I bought some cute socks and a little Monsters Inc. outfit for one of my dogs… I am such a sucker for cute things) and then found the crepe shop that serves creme brulee crepes! Unfortunately, we were almost out of cash for the day so we decided to just split one. It was so good I could have eaten many by myself - I definitely recommend them! We had them at a place called Com Crepe Sibuya.

By this point in the day we were both struggling to even walk. My feet were killing me and we still had plans to go to the Samurai Museum. I somehow convinced Edward that our feet (and sanity) were more important to maintain since we still had a whole week ahead of us, so we then made our way to the Shibuya Crossing Intersection instead. It was so cool! I had, of course, seen the crossing before, but I couldn’t believe how crazy it actually was, especially with the unfortunate weather bearing down. There were people, and cars, everywhere, and the district itself was very cool and filled with shopping and tons of light up signage. Edward had picked out a spot for dinner but we unfortunately could not find it anywhere until we finally found a sign saying it had closed. We were now reaching peak exhaustion and just wandered into the restaurant next door. We had been searching for somewhere serving Japanese food but somehow ended up in an Italian restaurant (the signage outside was very deceiving). I offered to leave if Edward wanted to find another spot, but he was so tired he had no desire to try and find somewhere else. So, we had Italian food. It was okay but the best part was definitely just being able to get off of our feet.

After quite the busy day in Tokyo we then took one final metro ride back to our hotel. We are exhausted and have to wake up relatively early to fly to South Korea in the morning. It was definitely a short visit to Japan, and there is so much more that I want to see in the future, but the good news is that we both are seriously planning on being back for the Olympics in 2020. So, despite the lingering rain all day, thanks to Tokyo for a great day: we can’t wait to be back soon!

101 countries down, 94 to go

Read about my second day in Japan here.

#Tokyo #Japan #Country 101

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ayyfour-blog · 6 years

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Wrestlemania 34 preview!

It's been awhile since we've had a blog post, and aside from the NFL off season drama by Le'Veon Bell, my Steelers haven't provided much action (per usual).It's time to transition folks- Yes, this is still primarily a Steelers Blog, but lets not limit it to just that anymore. No, no, it's time for you to hear my random thoughts on ALL sports. Welcome to the new era of the blog.

Wrestlemania 34 extravaganza!

Wrestling has always been something that kept my interest over the years. As with many others, the Attitude Era captured years of adolescence and teen angst and turned them into something I could really enjoy. Wrestling was an escape I could turn to weekly when I wanted to watch some ridiculousness that was the "male soap opera". Okay, enough defending my inner nerd, let that fucking freak flag fly! Let's get to some wrestling action, Bah Gawd!

Wrestlemania 34 is upon us this Sunday, and like many other wrestling nerds I will happily be playing WWF No Mercy on the N64 at 4pm, turning on the "kickoff show" at 5pm, and my eyes will be bleeding with a pounding headache at 12pm when the Undertaker decides to take step-after-step on a 700 yard ramp that he makes it halfway to the end of before they decide to finally just yell fucking cut and allow me to sleep. I love Wrestlemania and the WWE but this 7 hours worth of a show needs to end. Raw being 3 hours takes up too much of my time at this point, let's cut out the casual eyes matches and just get down to the nitty gritty. Prepare for another rant below..

Remember when wrestling used to have a Win/Loss record? I feel like this was more of something that took place in TNA's heyday, but the WCW really capitalized on Goldberg's streak. I miss that in a way, why can't it be run more like a league? The top record gets the title match. Period. Add some storylines here and there, but just showing up and declaring a title match doesn't cut it for me anymore. I get it, its storyline and moment driven, but I'm a sports nerd, goddamnit, give me some fucking stats or KISS MY ASSSS! (sorry, having Vince McMahon flashbacks at the moment). If only there was a way the WWE could incorporate both into a show....

This years Wrestlemania actually provides the opportunity to capitalize on the win/loss record, although not quite in the manner I've wished for, as it still mostly revolves around storyline. The win-less Curt Hawkins very well may get his chance to get his first W Sunday, Asuka is looking to defend her streak since her developmental days at NXT, and the Undertaker finally gets a chance to get his final and well-deserved win against John Cena in a dream match.

The Matches

Womens Battle Royal

This is a Kickoff show special and more than likely will be only paid attention to if it comes down to Sasha vs Bayley. Otherwise, this is second screen viewing while you're finishing up playing video games, Russian roulette, or whatever one does during the pre-game. I also bet we get some shitty "hey Bayley" song going during the match, because the fans will be bored enough from the beach ball by the time the actual showdown occurs. Sahsa wins.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal This is going to be another kickoff show sleeper, Dolph Ziggler has to be pissed to be in this matchup but likely will go over with a win. Big Cass could have an emergence in this match, but it also is likely that we see him as Braun's partner for the WWE Raw Tag Title match. Also very likely to see a Bray Wyatt return, Jeff Hardy (hopefully as brother Nero) return, and Kane. Goldust would be cool to have a Wrestlemania moment after his confrontation with Cena and awesome promos, but.. Matt Hardy Wins.

Cruiseweight championship- Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali One more kickoff show match. I'll be about 6 slices of pizza deep and sicker than hell from all the Oreo's. To be honest, I haven't watched much of the cruiser weights (are they on Raw, Smackdown, or do they still have their own show anyway?). I've heard great things about Mustafa Ali and am going with him because of this. yeah. Mustafa Ali wins.

MAIN SHOW! (THANK GOD)

Raw Tag Title: The Bar vs Braun Strowman and_(?)_

As I stated earlier, I think it would be awesome to give Curt Hawkins a chance to win. The giant wrecking machine takes the guy that can never catch a break, the undersized and underutilized talent in Curt Hawkins and carries him to his first victory. At Wrestlemania. For a title. The pop for this would be unreal, and those two would be completely over for a good while. But this is the WWE, so the other scenario is we get the return of Big Cass. Cass has no story line after Enzo is gone, so let's throw these two giants together and see what happens..

Strowman and Big Cass new champions.

Smackdown Tag Titles: Bludgeon Bros', USO's, Booty O's The Uso's vs the New Day have had classics each time they faced off. It was a complete bummer when the Bludgeon Bros interrupted the last match. I get it- but the WWE is trying to force the Bludgeon Brothers down the throats of the crowd. I get the tactic they've been using for a "slow build", but it's so easy to see this coming when they feed them jobbers week-after-week. They interrupt some of the WWE's premier talent to injure and shake up the tag team scene, however, this team is not over with the crowd and frankly can't keep my interest to watch a match. Especially with the atheletic-ness of the two teams that run the show in Smackdown. Unless they put on some sort of epic and fast beat down, I can't see this team getting over. But its the WWE, it's time for a shake-up, so.. Bludgeon Brothers win

US Title Match- Orton vs Roode vs Mahal vs Rusev Not alot of interest in this match whatsoever. Roode's face personality is about as interesting as Orton's, each made such a better heel. Orton was a complete master of a heel and his program vs HHH was epic when he basically kidnapped the McMahons. Roode was a pretty good heel in NXT and because his music is awesome WWE turned him face. A good song and entrance don't mean shit without character development.. which leads me to Mahal's title run. The build to this was awesome, but the quick escalation and shitty promos led to one of the worst title runs in WWE history. The story lines drew little interest and the story of "we dont like him because he's different" was completely played out. I feel like a face Jinder would actually go over pretty well, in a Rusev sort of way. But he's not Rusev. And never will be. ITS RUSEV DAY! Rusev wins! (exclamation because I'm excited about this one)

Intercontinental Title Match- Miz vs Balor vs Rollins The worst thing about this match was the fact that Rollins lost the gauntlet match that built to this. Seth finally had his chance to completely go over with the crowd since his return vs HHH, but they couldn't capitalize. Speaking of going over, Miz is one of the best heels in the biz. He does not deserve the fate he is about to receive, but I cannot see him coming out of this match the title holder. Which is a shame, he is set to be the longest running IC champ in history, but the kids love Balor Club and Shield T shirts! I really miss heel Rollins, and Balor Club was always a heel faction. Fuck it, turn em all heels! Rollins wins

Raw Womens Championship- Nia Jax vs Alexa Bliss We all know what's going to happen here- Nia is so fucking pissed at Alexa for calling her fat that she disembowels her and gets DQ'ed Alexa wins by DQ, Mickie gives her the "v-trigger" and starts her weird lesbian phase once again.

Smackdown Womens Championship- Charlotte vs Asuka This match will be fucking awesome and should honestly co-main event with Nakamura vs Styles. Charlotte is the best in the game and I really miss her heel run. She was sooo good at being a bitch, and her feud vs Sasha was incredible. I look forward to a great match and cannot wait for this one. The only issue I'm going to have is once Asuka's streak finally gets it's title to show her greatness....

Asuka wins, Carmella cashes in MITB and wins

Yes, Carmella is going to capitalize on the epic match we just saw with a Seth Rollins-esque Wrestlemania cash in

Daniel Bryan and Shane vs Sami and KO This match has had one hell of a build, whoever is writing for Smackdown has something right. No matches have long builds anymore, this has been coming since Sami helped KO at Summerslam by saving him from a Shane Hell in the Cell Elbow-through-a-table-signature-hyphenated-move. I can see Daniel winning and either a heel turn by himself or Shane, leading to a Summerslam feud between Shane-O-Mac and DB. Shane and Daniel win

Rousey and Angle vs Stephanie and HHH Get some popcorn and shotgun a few beers, this is gonna be a shitshow. As you know, Rousey's mic work has been as cringe worthy, if not more so than Kurts. HHH vs Kurt itself would have been a great match, then Stephanie vs Ronda could have been the ultimate popcorn match, but we're getting them both combined for some God-awful reason. Unless Ronda literally breaks Stephs arm in two like she forgot this shit isnt' real, I'm skipping this one. But just for the hell of it.. Ronda breaks Stephanie's arm, Rousey and Kurt win

WWE Title Match- Styles vs Nakamura Dream match for most, but it would be really nice to see what Nakamura is really about in the ring So far there's been a ton of hype and catchphrases and epic intros, but its time to deliver. AJ did it last year, let's bet Nakamura does it this year. Nakamura wins

Universal Title- Brock vs Roman This is the least interesting main even since Goldberg vs Brock's rematch. I barely have any interest and the build to this has been way too predictable. The only redeeming promo so far has been when Heyman told the WWE exactly what Brock thought of everyone, this sets up for an opportunity to turn Roman face, at least for one night, and win the WWE title uninterrupted. And with no more Brock, does Heyman serve as the mouthpiece for Roman? Roman Reigns wins

Other Stuff thats gonna happen.. Kid Rock's being inducted into the WWE hall of fame. I had no reasoning behind this until I realizerd it was a possibility the Undertaker would be back one more time. This sets it up perfectly, Kid Rock comes out, plays a shitty song, gets booed a little, then boom. You hear a couple power cords, Kid Rock screams "I am the American Badass" and you hear a Harley rev up. Yes folks. the last appearance of the Undertaker is the American Badasss. He gets the Win vs John Cena and rides off into the sunset. So that's it. Oh, of course must watch TV comes with the Raw and Smackdown after Mania, so you gotta stayed tuned those next few days to see what major changes the company has in store for 2018.

In the famous words of D-X, are you ready!?

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