WCPW Loaded Episode 2: The Rampage Continues

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by Frank Lucci

After a somewhat uneven debut episode, WCPW is back with their second edition of Loaded – featuring Ring of Honor Champion Jay Lethal.

Will the second episode top the first? Spaceman Frank is here with the answers.

Segment I: Intro/Adam Pacitti In-Ring Promo

Sadly, the previous episode’s audio problems still persist as the intro music is way too loud, commentators King Ross and Simon Miller are nearly perfect (albeit a little quiet) and backstage segments are…bad. It’s not the segments themselves, it’s the audio quality that make what could be great promos suffer.

Thankfully, WCPW keep to the Ross and Miller segment/match/backstage formula they used before so it is easy to skip ahead. In addition, some of the wrestler’s entrances can drag, especially when they take up precious minutes in these 15-30 minute videos.

Anyway, Pacitti informs everyone that due to the security guard’s neck being broken (receiving immediate smarky, “Bullshit” chants) by Rampage Brown last week that the piledriver is banned from WCPW. Pacitti hilariously adds that this is “just like other, less successful promotions,” drawing heavy cheers from the fans for the thinly veiled WWE reference. Backstage we get an Adam Blampied and Brown interview that does its job, but is forgettable.

Segment II: The Primate vs. Drake

King Ross has a piledriver protection helmet made of plastic (God, I love him).

Our first match features Drake (a generic looking wrestler with no hair and a beard) battling against The Primate (a larger generic looking wrestler with no hair and a larger beard). The Primate also has a female manager who is so forgettable I won’t mention her again. What we have here is a basic squash match that has The Primate throw Drake around until Drake gets a nasty cut behind the ear that bleeds quite a lot. One spear later and The Primate wins.

Afterwards we get multiple backstage interviews informing us that Prince Ameen will team with Gabriel Kidd tonight. Drake is enraged and encouraged to call out Big Damo by heel manager James R. Kennedy. In other seemingly unrelated news, both “Local Hero” Joe Hendry and Joseph Connors are also mad over their last week losses as well.

Segment III: Joe Hendry and Joseph Conners vs. Prince Ameen and Gabriel Kidd

Ross and Miller’s segment is cut short by another Conners/Hendry backstage segment where they talk about sticking together (which immediately makes me think one is turning on the other). If you watch this continuing from the previous video, that’s four interviews (including two in a row) from the same two people.

Going back to commentary, Ross accuses Miller of being a Trump supporter and a racist for not standing when Prince Ameen enters (which is way more entertaining than the previous four interviews). Hendry sings his own theme song and calls himself a “Global Hero.” Five stars.

We finally get this highly built tag team encounter nine minutes into the video. The faces work the crowd (making a big deal of tagging each other in and out when the crowd chants for it) and in general have a lot of spots concerning high-fives. This is fairly weird considering we got all those interviews about how serious each competitor was for this match. Conners gets worked over until Hendry gets the hot tag. The finish comes after the faces do a double backbreaker spot into Conners “Righteous Kill” DDT, but Hendry blind tags himself in to show dissension. While overall a nice match, this one gets bogged down by all the earlier interviews and it’s many comedy spots.

Segment IV: Ring Of Honor Champion Jay Lethal vs. El Ligero

Unlike the last video, Ross and Miller’s segment is mercifully short and we get to the match quickly – with the added intrigue of El Ligero receiving a future ROH title shot if victorious. El Ligero gets a good pop as does Lethal, who also gets “You are wrestling” chants from the crowd.

Opening with lots of fast-paced back and forth/feeling each other out spots that are pretty excellent, Lethal eventually takes over and mixes headlocks into some nice combination sequences; including a headlock takedown into a dropkick spot. It’s nice to see a champ enjoy himself and interact with the crowd, as Lethal gives several Macho Man “Oh yeahs” to the delight of the crowd.

El Ligero wrestles back control of the match with a quick reversal of a delayed vertical suplex into a hip-toss and cannonball spot on the apron to the floor. “Lucha Dragon” chants from some crass members of the crowd get boos from the respectful remainder. Several quick near-falls show how athletic both men are. The duty finish sees Martin Kirby attack both men, causing the match to end in no-contest.

Lethal puts over El Ligero and promises that regardless of the outcome, he will get a title shot at some point in the future. A great match with a disappointing finish that makes sense given Lethal’s status as a traveling champion from another promotion. This should have been the main event but there’s still the matter of crowning WCPW’s first world champion.

Another backstage interviews sees The Primate getting taunted by “Iron Man” Joe Coffey followed by more Rampage and Blampied bromance.

 

Segment V: Noam Dar vs. Rampage Brown

The main event sees the potential WCPW Champion versus the man who will be competing in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic (which is airing a “Bracketology” special tonight on the WWE Network).

The early portion of the match sees Brown imposing his will on Dar as he uses his speed to get out of potentially sticky situations, prompting the crowd to respond with several Star Wars inspired chants for the Israeli Icon. Brown gets firmer control of the match after pushing Dar off the apron into the security barrier. The crowd fires off some more creative chants before they get lazy and simply scream, “Fuck you, Rampage.”

Dar focuses on kicks to Rampage’s legs to try and take the big man down, but Brown manages to rally each time and beat the piss out of Dar. Dar begins laying into Brown pretty heavily and gets a kneebar/ankle lock style submission in, but Blampied causes a distraction so his man can break free. Blampied starts telling Rampage to hit the now-banned piledriver, but Dar turns it into a rollup for a near-fall. Rampage then powerbombs him into oblivion for the win. A solid match with good psychology and storytelling, but the Lethal/El Ligero match was more fun to watch. Big Damo and Jack the Jobber come out for a big brawl to end the episode.

This was an up and down episode of WCPW Loaded. The two big matches delivered, but the first few segments dragged with all the interviews and so-so matches. Hopefully in the future they balance out the segments better and fix those pesky audio problems.

WCPW Loaded Episode 1: A Rampage Begins

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by Frank Lucci

WhatCulture Wrestling has quickly become one of the premiere pro wrestling channels on YouTube and from humble beginnings in late 2014, the channel has managed to eclipse the subscriber count of TNA.

An extension of the WhatCulture.com, the British brand has become so successful that they recently started their own wrestling federation, WCPW (What Culture Pro Wrestling) and have filmed several episodes for online release.

The first episode is broken down into six separate uploads which can be viewed in about an hour and a half. Production wise, the set looks amazing and the video production is top notch. Special mention goes the comic book style drawings of the wrestlers that begin each match. However, the audio is hit or miss. The announcers (King Ross, who is great and Simon Miller, who is…there) come out clear, while everything else from the crowd (interviewers, etc) is muted. This is especially bad during backstage interviews where whoever holds the microphone is the only person who can usually be heard.

Segment I: WCPW Introduction

WCPW General Manager Adam Pacitti starts the show off. He thanks the crowd for supporting the channel and announces he will reveal the WCPW Heavyweight Championship at the end of the show. We also get a backstage segment where Adam Blampied makes fun of Jack the Jobber. Nothing much here unless you’re new to the channel.

Segment II: Alex Gracie vs. Gabriel Kidd vs. Joseph Conners (Triple Threat Elimination match)

This video sets up the formula for each segment after this (logo intro, King Ross and Simon banter, match, backstage interview). The Ross and Simon sections are decent but nothing special and the backstage interviews suffer from the aforementioned audio problems.

As for this match itself, this was a good opener. Each man worked hard, but this was set up to establish Connors as an up and coming babyface and Gracie as the opportunist heel with partner Lucas Archer and manager James R. Kennedy. Conners has a great DDT finisher that he uses to beat Kidd, but Gracie gets DQ’ed when his gang attacks Connors. A good start to the program but pretty forgettable in the long haul. Highlights include the crowd calling Gracie and Archer “bum boys” for having their names on the back of their tights and some good three man spots.

Segment III: El Ligero vs. Martin Kirby

Perhaps the most entertaining match on this episode, as this is all comedy. Both men represent different Nintendo franchises on their gear, as Ligero has different Mario icons on his gear and mask and Kirby has, well, Kirbys. The story of the match is Martin being a ridiculous Bo Dallas type who tries to copy Ligero’s poses. When the two actually wrestle the action is crisp and El Ligero wins with an epic tornado DDT.

Segment IV: Prince Ameen vs. “Iron Man” Joe Coffey

Ameen has a so-so in ring interview before the match, which is helped by King Ross’ commentary. Ross, being King, refuses to sit during Ameen’s speech and hypes his fellow royalty (I like how the announcers and wrestlers actually acknowledge the crowd’s chants, unlike the WWE where most people just steamroll through interviews). When “Iron Man” Joe Coffey comes out, the crowd sings Black Sabbath’s legendary “Iron Man”riff (which I love). Wrestling wise however, this is pretty so-so with an abrupt finish when Ameen walks away from the match and gets counted out. An unfortunate low point in the show.

Segment V: “Local Hero” Joe Hendry vs. Big Damo (Winner faces Rampage Brown for the WCPW Heavyweight Championship)

The main event of the show sees Local Hero Hendry (literally referred to as such) and Big Damo fighting to be Jack the Jobber’s representative. Hendry makes an Adele parody video (which is gold), causing Damo to snap and attack Hendry before the bell.

This match is one big brawl, with both men pulling off some power moves – including Hendry hitting a big fallaway slam on the massive Damo. A ref bump causes Jack to become involved as he tries to stop the modern day gladiators from using a steel chair. Both attempts fail, but it is Damo’s use of the chair that helps him defeat the Local Hero. A decent showing that sets up a big hoss match between Damo and Rampage.

Segment VI: WCPW Title Reveal

Pacitti comes back out to reveal the new title, which looks pretty good. However, this brings out Brown and Blampied. They poke fun at Pacitti and hype Brown up as a future champ before Rampage goes on a tear and chokes Pacitti. This brings out a random security guard who gets a piledriver for his efforts. The episode ends with Brown ripping up the cardboard WhatCulture belt.

Overall, this was a good showcase of what we can expect from WCPW. There definitely needs to be some work, but the skeleton of a quality wrestling show is here.

My Experience at MDF 2016 – Part 3: Sunday

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After two days of straight-up metal and hardcore we woke up to the last day of this year’s Maryland Deathfest.

Jason,Herb,Matt and I headed to Panera Bread for lunch. After everyone made jokes out of the fact that the name sounds like Pantera, we went over to Edison Lot.

Author’s Note: Due to the schedule no longer being up and not remembering  what order they played, the bands for the day are surmised according to memory and not time.

Denouncement Pyre

First on were black/death band Denouncement Pyre. I decided to give them a look since they are an offshoot of Nocturnal Graves. The band was pretty decent in both sound and performance.

Shed The Skin

Next on was death metal band Shed the Skin. As soon as I saw Kyle Severn from Incantation and his mustache playing the drums I knew this was going to be good. Thankfully I was right.

Nocturnal Graves

Blackened thrash masters Nocturnal Graves were one of the must-see bands of the day for me and they did not disappoint.

Wombbath

Classic Swedish death metallers Wombshedbath were anther one of the bands I wanted to catch the most on Sunday. While their sound was lacking, they were still fun to see.

Desaster

These German black thrashers put on a very fun and energetic performance (although they didn’t top Nocturnal Graves).

Bongzilla

While I do enjoy stoner doom, I always found Bongzilla to be one of the more boring and generic bands of that genre. Live they were no different as I sat in the shade bored.

Interment

As a big fan of Swedish death metal, I always found this band to be a more generic entry and similar to Bongzilla, their live performance didn’t do them any favors.

Incantation

Being one of my favorite death metal bands, seeing Incantation is always a charm. The last time I was able to catch them was at MDF 2014 and they were one of the best performances of that year. While I feel they sounded better then due to playing at the Rams Head, they still killed like always.

Demolition Hammer

Along with Venom, they were one of my top must-see bands of Sunday (and the whole fest!) and they ended up being the best band of the whole Edison Lot. They sounded great and played all of their classics. It was raining a lot on Sunday but this didn’t stop the crowd from circle pitting as hard as they could.

Satan

The second to last band on the bill was the New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Satan. While traditional metal was never something I was big on (outside of the main bands and a few other exceptions), I can appreciate it when it’s good – and Satan were really good. They had a great sound, great energy and their songs were pretty catchy and memorable.

Venom

The last band of the Edison Lot was a band I was really interested in seeing. Earlier this year, I saw the offshoot Venom Inc. and they had an amazing set. Now it was time to see how Cronos’ band measures up to that version of the band.

While Venom didn’t have as good as a set list as Venom Inc. (Venom’s set kinda had too many later songs), they did play classics like “Buried Alive” and “Warhead.” These staples sounded amazing thanks to Cronos’ vocals. This made both Venom and Venom Inc. experiences pretty even. After Venom finished with “Black Metal” (of course), Herb and I headed down to Sound Stage. After chilling with his friend Greg, I made it in time for the last band.

Doom

I had seen crust punk legends Doom back at MDF 2011. It was about time I’d hear them play a longer set. Just as 2011, they ruled and were a nice end to the fest.

After Doom’s set Jason and I headed back to the hotel (while Herb watched Mystifer). We all went to sleep and already wondered what next year will hold.

Unlocking The Truth: Controlling Chaos

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Unlocking The Truth (left to right): Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse, Jarad Dawkins. Credit: Phil Knotts.

It’s a warm Wednesday afternoon. Fifteen year-old Malcolm Brickhouse skates one of New York City’s East Village streets. His fellow bandmates Alec Atkins, 15 and Jarad Dawkins, 14; strut behind the sound of trucks on pavement and Brickhouse’s leather trenchcoat covering his DGK skateboard, giving him a floating appearance. People are quick to notice as Japanese freelance photographers begin shooting the boys being themselves on a Summer afternoon.

The attention and aura the kids give off is interesting. Passerby don’t seem to worry about it, being used to all sorts of things that bustle through the bowery; but they do glance here and there (and they should) as these are no ordinary Brooklyn high-schoolers.

Brickhouse, Atkins and Dawkins are Unlocking The Truth – a young heavy metal band who only a year ago had gotten out of a monumental deal with Sony and have been slowly but surely taking the world by force after being discovered by Eric Clapton’s drummer Steve Jordan during a 2012 Washington Square Park performance. Tonight marks the first of several intimate release shows for their debut album “Chaos” (available now from iTunes, Spotify and other online retailers via Tunecore) at The Studio of the one and only Webster Hall.

The boys are clam, cool, collected and hungry. They’re more concerned about what to order from the Chinese food menu than how many friends, family and fans will come to see them. They’ve already mastered the art of crowd control by playing to tens of thousands at Coachella, Vans Warped Tour and one-off gigs with the likes of Metallica, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Marilyn Manson (who the boys find extremely funny; had the most beneficial backstage advice for them, offering life lessons, business tips and visited them regularly instead of the usual “don’t do drugs” cliche’).

“He was much more open with us,” Dawkins said. “He would come in our dressing room here and there and talk about what he went through and what we should watch out for in this business. He’s really funny.”

Backstage, the young rockers hang out in the empty venue, messing around on their phones and jokingly teasing one another as teenagers do. Tired of sitting, Brickhouse busts out the 8.5” DGK (his other weapon of choice due to the artwork and company vibe) and skates around the venue to scope the place out for a minute before event staff inform him it’s not permitted to be on a board inside. While he doesn’t remember what got him into the action sport initially, skating calms his nerves. His favorite pro is none other than the multi-champion son of a comic Paul “P-Rod” Rodriguez, who is known for pulling off flawless contest runs and has one heck of an inward heelflip; Brickhouses’ favorite trick. The opening band’s sound check starts up and the guitarist heads back to the dressing room to rejoin his friends before they take the stage.

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The early days, the city streets would soon become festival stages.

The openers are decent – a cross between Alice In Chains, Nirvana and the Stone Temple Pilots. No one remembers their name, but they do well and show a good amount of energy and charisma. The fans in attendance are not for them, but for the boys. Family and friends are catching up and piling in until the set comes to an end. Annette Jackson, Brickhouses’ mother and Unlocking The Truth’s co-manager stands in the back and hustles the boys merchandise – a bevy of T-shirts, stickers and posters to the adoring public. A strong but tiny fireball, Jackson is a Supermom in every sense of the word.

“It feels good supporting our son Malcolm and his goals of becoming one to the best bands and a music producer,” she says. “It’s very expensive, very time consuming and a thankless job, but we always say our prayers and thank the good Lord for blessing him and to never let us take our blessings for granted.”

One piece of “Truth gear” is noticeably absent, however. There are no physical copies of “Chaos” present as Jackson doesn’t want to risk an individual leaking the album two days before its release. The boys have worked too long and too hard to let someone else let the cat out of the bag.

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Unlocking The Truth ripping it up at Coachella.

When the Brooklyn metal band signed a whopping $1.8 million, five album deal with Sony in 2014, things changed immediately (because of their ages, they had to get the Supreme Court’s approval to ink the contract). At the request of producers, the band decided vocals would be essential to their then-instrumental arsenal. There were talks of auditions with various singers, but they never surfaced when Brickhouse stepped up to the plate shortly after the decision was made. After taking lessons to this day from Melissa Cross, a vocal teacher for major label artists better known for her “Zen of Screaming” DVDs; Brickhouse now performs double-duty on guitar and vocals simultaneously.

“Someone has to sing. You can’t be a big band and not have a singer,” he said . “We were thinking of getting a girl singer, but it just didn’t happen. We even tried him (Atkins), but it didn’t work out, so I just said “I’ll sing.”

In addition to the new sound, a plethora of publicity, commercial spots and dream gig offers knocked on the boys proverbial doors. In the blink of an eye, they’d made it to the big leagues well before graduation. While they were still treated the same by their peers, the rest of the world was another story. Everything was happening all at once for the trio and the instant fame was more than they could handle at the time. After an intense legal battle, Unlocking The Truth would be released from their contract with Sony roughly a year after their initial signing.

“A lot of it was between our parents and laywers. It wasn’t the contract that made us leave. It was the pressure of dealing with fame. It was just a thing of too much too fast. I miss it now, but we’re trying to get it back at our own pace,” Brickhouse says.

During the Sony days, a six song EP (titled “Free As You Wanna Be”) was recorded by Disturbed producer John “Johnny K” Karkazis that eventually got scrapped after things didn’t work out. This would be a blessing (and omen) in disguise as Karkazis would be a necessary contact the boys needed to make when they would record “Chaos” with him over the course of a week.

“We were in a rush, but it worked,” Dawkins said. “He (Karkazis) is very fun to work with, a very good guy. He has over 20 years of experience, he’s wonderful at what he does and he’s passionate.”

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The Chaos cover: proof that hard work pays off.

The house lights fade to black and Unlocking The Truth take the stage to a screaming horde of Truth Seekers commissioned by the Metal Gods. For the next 45 minutes, the lads initiate phase one of their plan for world domination. It’s their night and everything goes down like an ice cold beer after a hard day’s night. Brickhouse and the gang come out of their offstage shells alive with songs like “Monster,” “Take Control” and the album’s title track, “Chaos.” Brickhouse sweeps away on various ESP guitars– an endorsement he’s absolutely ecstatic about while Atkins and Dawkins lay down the heavy semi-latin grooves that make for a strong musical core. They call for mosh pits – which on any other evening would already be in full swing, but with the amount of family and friends in their Sunday best (despite the actual day of the week) the demand goes mostly unheeded. A sign of respect for the maturing monsters of rock.

After a wildly energetic performance, the boys take the time to thank everyone in attendance for their support, tell jokes, goof around and even bring close friends onstage. The crowd roars their approval – the loudest being Brickhouse’s devoted father Tracey, who travels with the band and never misses a gig. As the house lights come back on, the boys celebrate their achievements with their adoring public.

“Our son is giving everything he has to reach his goals and make his dreams come true,” said Jackson.

As Unlocking The Truth take their leave, the joy in their eyes tells the whole story. Three rockers from Brooklyn with a vision who’s shared identity is not just a name – but a manifesto.

“I plan on doing this my entire life,” Brickhouse says. “It’s what I love. I can’t picture myself outside of making music. I don’t like school and I can’t have an office job.”

Manopera! Episode 20: MITB 2016 – Suspensions and Speculations

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In light of Roman Reigns’ shocking suspension, our hosts break down the former WWE Champion’s possible return scenarios, review Money in the Bank 2016 and continue to speculate on the upcoming brand split.

Dark Souls III – Farewell to an Epic Friend

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FromSoftware’s titan of a series has finally come to an end; not with a whimper – but with a bang.

Dark Souls III arrived in April to the delight of millions of fans worldwide just itching to spew curse words at their TV’s. After an absence from Dark Souls II, FromSoftware’s main man Hidetaka Miyazaki returns to his rightful place as director of the project this time around (and it definitely shows). From the complex yet simple level design to the extremely deep combat mechanics, Miyazaki-san’s presence is most certainly felt in the latest (and final) installment.

Dark Souls III begins in the future of the Souls timeline, after Dark Souls II and well after Dark Souls. The cycle that players have been a part of since the beginning has gone askew, with different timelines and dimensions now all converging on one point. Dark Souls III’s plot can be very confusing to newcomers, especially those who have not played the previous installments and their respective DLCs, so it is definitely a good idea for those new to the series to at the very least read a plot synopsis up until this point. The story for the most part remains fairly open-ended (as the previous games have), so that the player can speculate and figure out the plot for themselves. By doing this, FromSoftware has managed to create a tight-knit community that is able to openly debate not only the mechanics of the game, but the plot as well.

The setting this time around is Lothric, which is clearly influenced by all the previous souls games, including Bloodborne and Demon Souls (two games with similar mechanics to Dark Souls but with different plots and settings). The level design is breathtaking, with plenty of gorgeous vistas that one can easily get lost in. Miyazaki’s influence is perhaps best felt in the level design, which shift away from the numerous checkpoints of Dark Souls II back to a more “shortcut” based design. Rather than having bonfires to rest at/warp to spread around everywhere, Souls III requires the player to be a bit more observant, looking for hidden paths, ladders and elevators that allow for massive skips in the level. The levels are also massive, with numerous branching paths and plenty of hidden secrets to explore.

Combat has also been changed again for DS III, taking elements from Dark Souls, DS II and even Bloodborne; creating a hybrid system which works very well. There does seem to be some balancing issues however, with magic, dark magic and miracles being slightly underpowered compared to previous installments. Pyromancy works very well and with a bunch of new spells mixed in with the classic favorites, there is definitely something for everyone. Weapons are also still a bit unbalanced, with early game strength weapons being almost useless versus the faster dexterity-based weapons. However, late-game really balances out the different weapon types, making numerous builds viable in late-game PvP.

One mechanic that still remains shrouded in mystery is the poise mechanic. In previous Souls games, poise was a measure of how many hits your character could take before you were “staggered.” In DS III however, it’s unclear exactly what poise does, as there doesn’t seem to be any difference in armor types when it comes to how fast someone is staggered. There is speculation among fans that poise somehow effects how many frames of “hyper armor” one has when doing certain moves, which makes the character temporarily unstaggerable (although it has not been confirmed or denied by FromSoftware yet). This mystery just adds to the mountain of information players are still attempting to sift through and decipher months after the initial release.

Another strong point of Dark Souls III is its multiplayer. Up to six player “phantoms” can be summoned at once, which is a mechanic originally introduced in Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, but has since been improved upon. Depending on the area, hosts can summon up to three friends for co-op with two more slots open for other players to “invade.”

The way that covenants work has also been improved, with special equipable items to signify one’s covenant, making it easier to switch on the fly between your different covenants (covenants are factions within Souls that award you special items based on your co-op or player vs. player participation). Speaking of covenants, another improvement is the addition of the Mound Makers covenant (essentially a “neutral” covenant). In previous games, it was basically the host and his co-op phantoms versus any invading red phantoms. In DS III, the host can summon or be invaded by a purple phantom, who can either co-op with the host OR kill him. Purple phantoms also receive rewards for attacking other phantoms of any color, so it’s actually beneficial for them to keep the host alive. This adds a whole new layer to the multiplayer which was not present in the previous games. However, multiplayer does still have its quirks. Although greatly improved over the other games in the series, there is still some issues with lag which can effect the outcome of player duels. There has also been an ongoing problem with hackers on the PC version, with even innocent players being banned just for accidental interaction with hackers. FromSoft is currently still working on these problems and have been slowly improving the situation, so it’s likely within the next few months they will be fixed for the most part.

Overall, Dark Souls III is an amazing experience, both for fans of the series and newcomers. From the gorgeous levels to the extremely in-depth combat mechanics, there is something for any hardcore RPG player. Those craving a challenge will also love Dark Souls III. It pulls no punches in its difficulty level, harkening back to the days of the NES and games like the original Castlevania. With DLC currently in development, tons of replayabilty and awesome endgame content, Dark Souls III will certainly keep fans playing for quite a long time.

Spaceman Frank’s Money in the Bank 2016 Predictions

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Official Money in the Bank 2016 poster. Credit: WWE.com

by Frank Lucci

Oh Money in the Bank. Considered to be on the level or just below the Big Four Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series), oftentimes the event is one big tease.

We get excited over who gets the Money in the Bank contract and will most likely get a run with the WWE World Heavyweight title, but considering how recent winners have fared when they’ve actually cashed in (Sheamus, Rollins, etc.) it’s been either a blessing or a curse depending on the Superstar. With a whopping ten matches scheduled for this year’s event, this could be a down year for the PPV. Nonetheless, Spaceman Frank is here to predict what will happen at Money in the Bank 2016.

MITB Kickoff: The Lucha Dragons vs. The Dudley Boyz

A recent edition to the pre-show will feature the Dudleys again being wasted on another meaningless and directionless feud with a team that frankly should have broken up once Kalisto won the United States Championship. Neither team has done much and with a sudden influx of tag teams (none of whom seem to be doing anything significant other than The New Day and Enzo and Cass) there is no reason to care about this match. Can we get a continued singles run for Kalisto please? The Dudley Boyz will pick up the win because they are the veteran team and are due for a victory.

The Golden Truth vs. Breezango

For whatever reason this feud is still a thing. While I’m all for lower card guys getting storylines to work with, this has been stretching out two weeks of plot devices in what has felt like three years. Fandango should replace the recently released Adam Rose in the Social Outcasts and Tyler Breeze might as well join The New Day since he is a regular on Xavier Woods’ UpUpDownDown YouTube channel. Meanwhile, The Golden Truth has some potential as a veteran tag team with oddball personalities, but they can’t even get into the Fatal Four Way for the tag belts because of this atrocious angle. Breezango wins because somebody has to win and it might as well be the super handsome guys.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin

On the plus side these guys have managed to get off the pre-show. On the negative side these guys are still stuck feuding. Either man could have spiced up the Money in the Bank ladder match, but instead we have to see the same match we’ve been watching since WrestleMania ended. Ziggler wins to finally end this and make him look strong in time for the brand split.

Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus

Yet another match featuring wrestlers thrown together with minimal story (at least this is a fresh pairing) because both men need something to do until the brand split. Crews has been getting the Breeze treatment since joining the main roster and Sheamus has done nothing even though he has a major role in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Rocksteady-err Sheamus wins because of said movie while Crews continues to just be happy he was invited to the party.

Charlotte and Dana Brooke vs. Natalya and Becky Lynch

Instead of having Charlotte defend her Womens Championship, she’s dealing with her new BFF Dana Brooke being a klutz of a partner while Nattie and Becky are just kind of there. Despite having a wide range of competitors to challenge for the title, this match exists as an extension of the never ending Charlotte vs. Nattie feud.

The WWE is currently very, very guilty of beating dead-horse storylines (see Ziggler and Corbin), maybe because the upcoming brand split but also probably due to laziness. Anyway, the Spaceman thinks Charlotte and Brooke pick up the win because Nattie can never have nice things.

The New Day (C) vs. The Club vs. Enzo and Cass vs. The Vaudevillians (Tag Team Championships Match)

This match should be pretty exciting based on the promos alone and each team can deliver in the ring. It would be nice if The New Day won out and carried the belts for a full year, but I don’t see that happening. Instead, The Club will walk away with the gold. For one, they’re the only tag team in the match without a fun side, making them a wildcard in this match. Second, with The New Day now as faces and the two recent NXT callups still finding their footing The Club is prime for a championship win. They need the titles to help make their group more legit and the epic New Day vs. Enzo and Cass feud that will eventually happen can take place without the championships being on the line.

Rusev (C) vs. Titus O’Neil (United States Championship Match)

An epic hoss fight, these two are capable of having a fun match that will probably be around seven minutes long. Many feared that O’Neil would be punished after his suspension, while others feared Rusev would be buried by a returning John Cena after his newfound title win.

Thankfully neither scenario seems to be the case. Rusev will keep the gold here, as I see this as a way for the WWE to test the waters on a Titus title run to see if he can take his awesome hot-tag fire and ignite a singles push. 

Then again, MITB takes place on Father’s Day. Would it not be a wonderful swerve if the WWE gave the 2015 Celebrity Dad of the Year award winner his first singles title instead of another tie?

Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro vs. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens vs. Alberto Del Rio (Money in the Bank Ladder Match)

The marquee matchup of this event has been hampered somewhat by the fact that one: we’ve seen all the competitors (especially Zayn, Owens and Cesaro) have matches against each other on every single Raw and SmackDown! in the past few weeks and two: it seems unrealistic that anybody besides Ambrose or Owens will win the match.

Ambrose has flirted with the main event scene since The Shield broke up and winning the briefcase could help him finally ascend to the next level. Owens fits the bill of the classic sneaky heel Money in the Bank winner who can cash in on a wounded babyface. Overall, Ambrose fits the bill best and needs the briefcase more than anyone else.

John Cena vs. AJ Styles

The WWE is fast-tracking this dream match, which I honestly thought would be a big-money SummerSlam encounter rather than a B PPV headliner. The battle between the two faces of two very different companies finally happens and people have been quick to assume that Cena will be the victor.

Both men have managed to sell this matchup solely on mic work and even more important we have not seen Cena job out The Club on Raw or SmackDown! (as he is known to do), thus preserving their status as game changers. Since this is the first encounter between the two icons, I see Styles taking this match for the OMG IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED pop (just like Owens’ clean win over the Cenation leader last year), leading to a bitter grudge match at SummerSlam.

Roman Reigns (C) vs Seth Rollins (WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match)
This match is heavily overshadowed by rumors that the top championship in the company will become two world titles due to the brand split. This is especially poignant considering that Rollins has been pretty justified in his rage towards Reigns, who he sees as an unworthy champion considering he never beat Rollins (who was forced to relinquish his title upon injury last year).

With the WWE continuously in a bind with Reigns as champ, having shenanigans occur during this match offers the company the chance to have their cake and eat it too. Some sort of DQ/non-finish will occur, giving WWE an excuse to split the titles and allow them to have Reigns be one champ while Rollins can hold the gold for the smark crowd on the secondary brand.

Louis R. Pisano and the Making of a Hollywood Sequel Story

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In 1975 the cinematic world of Hollywood changed forever.

A then-unknown Steven Speilberg would direct a horror film by the name of “Jaws” that unexpectedly brought in a record number of ticket sales; thus creating the first-ever summer blockbuster.  Due to its huge success, the studio decided to make a sequel simply titled “Jaws 2.” Released 38 years ago today, Jaws 2 naturally was a big success thanks to the original. Though still a well-liked film, people tend to forget how important it actually was to the film industry as Jaws 2 set the template for not only horror franchises but franchise films altogether.

This importance was not forgotten by two devoted fans named Louis R. Pisano and Michael A. Smith when they wrote a book titled “Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel.” Released last September by BearManor Media, the project took five years to complete and contains interviews with just about every Jaws 2 cast member one could imagine. The book also talks about the original plans for the film and how Jaws 2 is the most important sequel in cinematic history. In this exclusive interview, Pisano shares how his and Smith’s vision came to life for this book that all Jaws and movie fans alike should dive into.

The Bonesaw: What made you decide to write “Jaws 2: the Making of the Hollywood Sequel?”

Pisano: We decided to write this book because “Jaws 2” is a much maligned film that really doesn’t deserve to be. The film is clearly a competent and entertaining follow up to what was at that time the biggest film ever, “Jaws.” However, sequels were a foreign concept in film in 1977/1978. They weren’t  a mainstream trend in motion pictures as they eventually became after the success of Jaws 2. Jaws 2 also left a historic mark on the motion picture industry much in the way the original did. The film’s teaser poster art featured the “All New” text which also appeared on future film sequel posters such as “Halloween II.” The film’s tagline “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” also became famous, often closely imitated in many later films and has even become a synonym of sorts used in language when a circumstance leads you to believe something counter-intuitive.

Much in the way that the original created the summer blockbuster as a form of Hollywood business and left its mark on pop culture, Jaws 2 essentially created the notion of a film sequel as another new Hollywood business. In fact, the word “blockbuster” itself was born because of Jaws (referring to the massive ticket lines that stretched for several city blocks). Jaws 2 started the sequel as a movie business which is now almost the norm. Dozens of sequels are released every year now in cinemas as standard fare – not the case in any way back in 1978.

We felt that Jaws 2 – because it follows in the shadows of the near-perfect original, has been unfairly underappreciated for the wrong reasons. We wanted to present the fact that Jaws 2 had just as significant of an impact on the Hollywood movie business as the original.

The Bonesaw: How were you able to contact all these cast members for interviews?

Pisano: The embryonic stages of acquiring contact with all of the contributors to the book happened when I was seeking out autographs from the entire cast of Jaws 2 for my personal collection. Over the course of a couple years I eventually found all the “Amity Kids.” I reintroduced many of them to each other and from there it pretty much snowballed. They all even got together for a cast reunion in California a few years back.

My co-author Michael A. Smith had also been heavily involved in film research for years for his Mediamikes website and had many, many important connections in his network that were invaluable to the book in terms of securing interviews. Also as we were working on the book and news of its release spread on the internet, we were fortunate enough to actually have some of the contributors contact us out of the blue. We were very lucky that all of these things led to us finding every living cast or crew member to participate in the book.

Bonesaw: What was your first experience with Jaws 2? What do you like most about it?

Pisano: My first experience with Jaws 2 was seeing the Lou Feck novel cover. Having already been fascinated by Roger Kastel’s masterpiece original Jaws image of the Benchley novel, the Feck Jaws 2 image was eye candy to me. Then of course, I saw the actual film in the cinema. I remember the audience reactions and the screams. The movie scared me enough, but the screams added to that fright and from there it became a cherished memory and created my love for this underrated and gutsy film.

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Lou Feck’s “Jaws 2” novel cover.

Bonesaw: Have you ever watched any of the old Jaws rip-offs? If so, which one’s your favorite?

Pisano: Funny question because my good friend John Campopiano is a huge Jaws rip-off fan! He holds an annual gathering among all of us local Jaws fans called “Rip-Off Fest,” so I’ve had the privilege of seeing many, many Jaws rip-offs over the years thanks to him.

However, my favorite one has to be the infamous “Great White” (also called “The Last Shark”). The reason? When I saw the ads on T.V. as a kid, I thought, “it might be Jaws 3!” So for the nostalgia of that film and the fact that it did very closely resemble Jaws – even outright robbing actual scenes from Jaws and Jaws 2! For all it’s awful glory, Great White is my favorite Jaws rip-off film.

You can purchase “Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel” from AmazonBearManor Media and where other books are sold.

Manopera! Episode 19: NXT TakeOver – The End (Sort of)

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Chris and Spaceman Frank discuss NXT TakeOver: The End, Will Ospreay vs. Ricochet and the bizarre TNA Slammiversary angle between Matt and Jeff Hardy.

Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 35: Jess-O-Lantern

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Deep in the heart of New York City’s underground music scene lies a spooky songstress known as Jess-O-Lantern. In this episode, Jess talks her humble musical beginnings, the unique line of work she’s in and much more.

Check out Jess-O-Lantern on Bandcamp and FaceBook.

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