AEW Worlds End 2023 Preview & Predictions

It's the final AEW show of 2023, and the first of its kind, AEW Worlds End!

2023 was a rather tumultuous year for the upstart wrestling promotion, but AEW achieved some major milestones both commercially and artistically, as well as expanding their PPV calendar to eight shows.  Worlds End was built around the finals of the inaugural Continental Classic tournament, which treated us all to some of the best free-TV wrestling we've ever seen in such a short window.  But there's a lot more to this show, including the presumed culmination of one of AEW's more intriguing storylines, plus a huge No DQ grudge match between two veterans.  On paper this show looks to be about on par with this year's Double or Nothing - not a blowaway lineup but plenty of potential.

Let's dive in, shall we?  There's a Zero Hour battle royal for a TNT Title match but we don't know the participants yet so I won't even attempt a prediction there.

Zero Hour FTW Rules Match: Hook vs. Wheeler Yuta

This one could've been added to the main card, as Hook really needs a proper PPV slot at this point.  Should be a fun No DQ match, I'd guess Hook retains.  Does Jack Perry come back to resume their feud (or is Jack the Devil as I'd previously speculated)?

Pick: Hook retains

Bryan Danielson/Claudio Castagnoli/Mark Briscoe/Daniel Garcia vs. Jay White/Brody King/Jay Lethal/Rush

These are the leftover guys from the tournament, and while there isn't a story here the match should be a lot of fun.  I'm not sure why Rush is on the heel team and Garcia's on the babyface team; surely they should be reversed, no?  Is this like the 1995 Survivor Series Wild Card match?  Anyway Jay White could use a win here after failing to unseat MJF last month and failing to make the tourney finals.

Pick: Team White

WWE Survivor Series 2023 Review: CM Punk is "Home"

WWE Survivor Series 2023, like most WWE PPVs nowadays, was....a show.  Neither bad, nor particularly good.  It was a series of competently worked matches that, like so many McDonald's meals, goes in one orifice and out another, without much joy or artistry.  The most memorable thing about this show was of course the return of CM Punk, but even that was just "famous guy comes out and stands there, crowd cheers."  And the followup to it two days later consisted of Punk cutting probably the least memorable promo of his entire career, as he stood in a WWE ring for the first time in a decade (a decade during which he repeatedly and vociferously attacked WWE and its product), and declared "I'm home."  Oh and "I missed you fans (even though I actually came back to wrestling two years ago and have spent plenty of time in your presence since then)."

But back to Survivor Series, as I stated in my predictions piece, WWE WarGames matches really do nothing for me.  They're a spectacle without any real substance.  Wrestlers take turns getting into the cage, some stuff happens, most of it involving kendo sticks (Can someone explain to me why this random Asian weapon has become WWE's favorite, and why there would ever be a slew of these damn things under the ring all the time?), and then someone gets pinned, so much tamer than one team torturing an opponent until they surrender, as was the original rule.  WarGames simply doesn't need to be an annual event, just like Hell in a Cell doesn't.  Both should be reserved for when a feud between two parties is so heated and bloodthirsty it can only be settled in this foreboding structure.  And there needs to be blood.  Sorry, that's just the reality of the situation.  If you want me to believe in the savagery of the WarGames gimmick, the participants need to look like they've been through a war.  AEW's Blood and Guts conveys this every time, because the matches are a bloody, violent car wreck.  When it's over I buy into the idea that these folks risked life and limb to settle a score.  After a WarGames match is over it's just business as usual.  The mat is pristine and everyone looks like they just finished a game of touch football.  You can't expect me to believe I've just witnessed the ultimate in pro wrestling barbarism.  I've said it before, but traditional elimination matches would suit this company and this event so much better than their feeble attempts at brutality.

AEW Full Gear 2023: The Texas Death Match from Hell

AEW Full Gear 2023 was another strong entry in the company's banner PPV year, definitely not on the level of their best output but a highly enjoyable show nonetheless.  Like all AEW PPVs the matches were all very different and most of them were hits.  The biggest issue with Full Gear had nothing to do with the in-ring, but rather with the booking of the evening-long storyline leading to the main event.

Yes, in order to create some suspense over whether or not MJF would survive the night as AEW Champion, they booked a rather convoluted, logic-defying angle wherein it was doubtful MJF would even be able to compete.  His pre-show tag team partner did indeed turn out to be Samoa Joe, and the duo made pretty short work of the Gunns to retain the ROH Tag belts.  But post-match the Gunns attacked MJF, Pillmanizing his knee and sending him to the hospital on a stretcher.  What followed was an early-show announcement that MJF would be unable to wrestle, and just as Tony Schiavone was about to declare Jay White the new Champion by forfeit, Adam Cole interrupted to say that he would defend the title in Max's stead.  Hold up though, how can a man with a just-repaired shattered ankle get cleared for a title match if Max couldn't?  That part didn't make sense and it cast a bit of a pall over the rest of the show until MJF of course returned to the arena at the last minute.  It reminded me of Attitude Era Vince Russo booking.  What should've happened was simply numerous announcements of "We don't know Max's status," followed by Jay White coming down for his match and announcing himself as the new champion, only to be interrupted by MJF's entrance.  Keep things simple.

Anyway, aside from that mess there was a lot to like about this show, including one of the most brutal Texas Death matches you'll ever see, plus the announced signing of Will Ospreay when his NJPW contract expires in February (Holy shit, the matches this guy can have with everyone on the AEW roster...).

The show opened with the big trios bout, pitting Sting, Darby Allin and Adam Copeland against Christian Cage, Luchasaurus and Nick Wayne.  This was a very fun, energetic six-man, with the main story being Copeland's varied attempts to get his hands on his old partner, which of course never materialized.  The two squads waged a war of attrition that ultimately left Luchasaurus and Wayne incapacitated, and just when it looked like Copeland would get some payback against Cage, Christian ran like a coward into the crowd, ditching his partners.  The three babyfaces then hit Luchasaurus with multiple finishers, capped off by Darby's Coffin Drop.  Copeland covered him for the win, and during the celebration Darby alerted the fans that this was Sting's last-ever match in the state of California.  Good stuff to kick things off.  ***3/4

WWE Survivor Series 2023 Preview & Predictions

Sigh.....I miss actual Survivor Series.  Remember how awesome that gimmick was?  So much fun.  Like wrestling's Pro Bowl game....

Oh, hello there!  Welcome to our WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2023 preview!

Am I the only one who has no real interest in WWE's version of WarGames anymore?  It was fun when they brought it back in NXT because we hadn't seen it for the better part of 20 years, and in NXT's booking in 2017-2019 was so fresh and vital.  But the novelty wore off by the third year of it and now that another company does it better and stays much truer to the original concept, WWE's version just feels stilted and sanitized.  I'd be so much more excited to see Cody's Squad vs. Judgment Day as a five-on-five Survivor Series match, which I know is a lot to ask....AT SURVIVOR SERIES.

This show, like last year's, has a men's WarGames and a women's WarGames, both of which will feel interminably long and feature the same tables, chairs, kendo sticks and watered down WWE violence that, when you think about the bodily risk, is just as barbaric if not moreso than what WWE considers too barbaric (getting bludgeoned repeatedly with a kendo stick seems way more brutal to me than a controlled blade job).  The other inherent problem with two WarGames matches on one show is that the rules are structured so the heels basically *have* to get the man advantage every time or the match just doesn't work.  And that is my main gripe about WarGames in general; when Dusty came up with the concept it didn't occur to him (or maybe it did and he just didn't care) that the match has to play out with the same formula every single time.  Whenever WWE tries to circumvent the heel-man advantage the match is just a heatless clusterfuck.  So you either end up with two matches that play out the exact same way or a situation with a bad WarGames match.  Survivor Series matches are simply better; they can play out in a variety of different scenarios and the two teams don't have to have a blood feud for it to mean something.

All this to say, I'm not particularly excited about WarGames.  But let's look at the lineup.

Carlito vs. Santos Escobar

I cannot believe that in 2023 someone in WWE thought reviving a failed WCW stable from 25 years ago was a good idea - why is the LWO a thing again?  And now because Santos's main rival Rey Mysterio is on the shelf he's fighting a dude who hasn't been relevant since 2007?  Huh?  Couldn't Dragon Lee or Ricochet or Nakamura have gotten a match here instead?  Santos is waiting to fight his real enemy so I think he beats Carlito.

Pick: Santos

Women's World Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Zoey Starks

Man, they didn't even try with the two title matches on this show.  You have two dominant heel champs facing weak babyfaces who don't stand a fuckin' chance.  This will be a short throwaway and Rhea will win.

Pick: Rhea retains

AEW Full Gear 2023 Preview & Predictions

This Saturday it's the fifth(!) annual AEW Full Gear, emanating from Kia Forum in sunny Los Angeles!

For whatever reason Full Gear tends to be a consistently strong PPV every year, and I see no reason to think this will be any exception.  As of now we have eight main show matches and a pre-show match with title and storyline ramifications.  Looks like AEW will reach the 11,000-ticket mark, making this their best-selling show since All In.  The company seems to be finding the right formula of price point, local promotion, and general fan interest to bring in a consistently healthy crowd to their shows, and that's very encouraging.  They just need that one red-hot angle to get everyone talking again.

This lineup looks very strong on paper, as basically all their PPVs do, and numerous matches have a real story to them (in spite of what the beyond-the-pale anti-AEW crowd would have you believe), plus there's the ongoing intrigue of who's behind the Devil mask (I have my theory but we'll get to that).  Should be a helluva fun slate of matches and we also have the just-announced Continental Classic (think G1 Climax but with AEW wrestlers) to look forward to over the next month!

Let's look at the card....

Zero Hour ROH Tag Team Championship: MJF/??? vs. The Gunns

Once again young Max is pulling double duty, as he and a TBD partner will defend the ROH Tag belts agains Austin and Colten.  This will likely be another short match, and the outcome really kinda depends on who the partner is.  All signs point to Samoa Joe, who's offered to help out only if Max gives him another title shot.  That could really go either way, as I could see Joe dominating the match and giving the champs a win, but I could also see Joe screwing Max over.  Personally I think if Adam Cole isn't coming back anytime soon it's probably time to move on from this experiment, as MJF has enough on his plate without a set of secondary tag belts.

Pick: The Gunns

Top Ten Things: David Fincher Films RANKED

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com, where I rattle off ten somethingorothers in some kind of order and explain why I chose said order.

Today I'll be ranking the films of vaunted director David Fincher.  I've been following Mr. Fincher's career since the beginning, when he cut his feature film teeth with the third Alien film.  I was immediately struck by his distinctive visual style; even as a first-time director his films had a unique, noirish look that was bleak, harsh, and compositionally spectacular.  Fincher became one of Hollywood's hottest auteurs only a few years later, and now boasts one of the most intriguing filmographies in the business.  No matter what his films are about I'll always go out of my way to see them; two of the entries on this list remain among my all-time favorite movies.

So let's get started.  Here's how I rank the films of David Fincher....

12. Alien 3

Anyone who knows me is aware I hate this film.  Hate it.  With the raging intensity of a thousand soccer riots.  No sequel has ever pissed me off as much as this one (as documented HERE).  But goddamn if this isn't a beautiful-looking film.  20th Century Fox clearly hired the visually gifted music video veteran Fincher to make the film they wanted to make, hoping he'd just "yes" them to death and they'd have another hit on their hands (Given that the wildly successful Alien and Aliens were both directed by strong-willed visionaries I'm not sure why the studio didn't want the same kinda thing this time).  But Fincher had his own ideas for the film, and it was a combative shoot from the get-go (It didn't help that the studio rushed the movie into production without a finished script), one that Fincher described as a miserable experience.  He has since disowned the movie, declining to take part in a Director's Cut for the Blu Ray release.  Regardless of its unimaginative storyline though, Alien 3 is a visually incredible horror film that demonstrated emphatically Fincher's singular gift for creating cinematically stunning, atmospheric films.

11. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Probably the most disappointing Fincher film besides Alien 3 was this strange, Forrest Gump-esque parable about a man who ages in reverse.  Brad Pitt plays the title character, born as a tiny, frail old man, who grows younger with age.  Button befriends a young girl and the two become soul mates of sorts, until eventually she becomes a matronly figure for him as a little boy.  The film is impressive technically, and boasts fine performances, but aside from the gimmickry of the story there isn't a lot to sink one's teeth into.  I never felt very emotionally engaged, and ultimately the movie felt like an exploration of the gimmick, rather than a story that really needed to be told.  Still, Fincher lent Benjamin Button his usual visual flair, making this worth a look.

10. Panic Room

Fincher's most genre-specific movie was the Hitchcockian Panic Room, about a woman and her daughter being sieged in their own home by a gang of thieves.  This first-rate thriller is a classic cat-and-mouse game, but sets itself apart from lesser films by staying a step ahead of the audience's expectations and occasionally reversing the roles.  Jodie Foster and Forest Whitaker give strong, believable performances as the mother and the head thief, respectively, while Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam have memorable supporting turns.  Also of note, this was one of Kristen Stewart's first roles, as Foster's precocious eleven-year-old daughter.  Panic Room doesn't have the lasting appeal of Fincher's better works, but it's most certainly a well-made example of suspense filmmaking that manages never to insult the audience's intelligence.  It's a smartly-written film for the initiated viewer.

NJPW Power Struggle 2023 Preview & Predictions

NJPW Power Struggle is back after two years, and it just so happens to be this weekend!

What used to be sort of the final PPV stop on the road to the Tokyo Dome is returning on Saturday and there are a couple surefire bangers on tap, plus a major AEW guest talent.  Coming out of this show we should have a sense of what's in store for WrestleKingdom 18 aside from the lackluster-on-paper main event.  Let's take a look...

David Finlay vs. Tanga Loa

Kind of a get-back match for Finlay after dropping the NEVER Openweight Title to Tanga's brother Tama Tonga (who's already lost the title himself to Shingo).  I don't expect a classic here but maybe they'll pull off something solid.

Pick: Finlay

SANADA & Yuya Uemura vs. Tetsuya Naito & Yota Tsuji

This is a preview of the WK18 main event (which has to be the weakest since 2012), but with a couple of the young fellas thrown in.  Seriously, I don't know why they went back to the Naito well for this title match.  With an underwhelming champion like Sanada in there I get putting him against an established name, but NJPW desperately needs some new blood at the top of the card and Yota Tsuji would've been an exciting challenger to kick off a new era (look how rabid the Dominion crowd was for him to beat Sanada).  Are they doing this to set up Naito vs. Tsuji for the February show?

Pick: I'll go with the LIJ fellas to win

George Romero's Living Dead Trilogy: Day of the Dead (1985)

Welcome to the final part of my Living Dead Trilogy retrospective.  If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, check 'em out.....

Dawn of the Dead was such a success the distributor, United Film Distribution Company, signed Romero to a three-picture deal, provided that one of those three films would be a sequel to Dawn.  Romero, fearing that if said sequel wasn't a hit he'd lose the chance to direct the two non-zombie films, opted to save it for last.  His next two movies were Knightriders, a Renaissance faire drama which flopped due to poor distribution, and Creepshow, a horror anthology which was a modest hit but by no means a smash.  As a result, UFDC hedged their bets with the Dawn sequel, only willing to adhere to the original $7 million budget if Romero released it as an R-rated film.  Up to this point George had planned for Day of the Dead to be a massive, sweeping zombie epic, "the Gone With the Wind of zombie films," but refused to compromise the intended violence and gore for an R rating.  Thus the budget was slashed in half and Romero was forced to completely overhaul the project.  The resulting film was initially seen as an underwhelming, depressing letdown after the thrill-ride of Dawn, and made most of its money overseas and on home video.  Amazingly though, Day of the Dead has developed an enthusiastic cult following in the thirty-odd years since, in many ways becoming just as influential as its two predecessors.

Day of the Dead takes place a considerable time after Dawn, when the human race is all but wiped out, and only a few pockets of civilization remain, mostly underground.  The story centers around a small military/scientific contingent occupying an abandoned mine, hoping to find some sort of solution to the zombie infestation.  Living conditions are nearly unsustainable and the scientific team is at the mercy of a crazed Captain, who is uninterested in studying the zombies and simply wants to destroy them.  What follows is a power struggle and clash of ideas between the two factions that actually contains more thematic human drama than any other film in the series.

This guy's a whackaloon.

One of the main plot threads concerns the lead scientist, Dr. Logan (a compellingly demented Richard Liberty), who has begun experimenting on zombie specimens, hoping to "tame" them.  His most promising subject is a ghoul called "Bub," who seems to understand/remember how to work basic tools and appears almost civilized.  This subplot exploits a fascinating story element: that the zombies are no longer the bad guys.  Zombies simply act according to their instinctual nature and the only evil left in the world is that which is perpetrated by the survivors.

George Romero's Living Dead Trilogy: Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Welcome to Part 2 of our retrospective on George Romero's Living Dead trilogy.  Check out Part 1 HERE...

With Night of the Living Dead, George Romero and his collaborators stumbled onto an unexpected cult hit, and while it sadly didn't make any of them rich (Due to an unfortunate copyright snafu the film fell into public domain where it remains to this day), they now had careers as filmmakers.  George directed four feature films after NOTLD with little box office success before returning to the genre that put him on the map.

Romero got the idea while visiting the Monroeville Mall, owned by a friend of his.  The facility had a secluded suite of rooms, fully stocked with food and water, which his friend claimed could sustain a person for months in the event of a nuclear attack.  "Hmm, what about a zombie attack?" George replied.  From this simple premise sprang the narrative seedling for his next project, which would go down as the Citizen Kane of zombie films, Dawn of the Dead.

I gotta see this place

Romero's second foray into the zombie genre picks up some time after the events of NOTLD, when the entire country is now swarming with the risen dead, private residences have been declared illegal, the emergency networks have taken over all broadcasting, and society as a whole is just about to completely break down.  Four survivors, two from a Pittsburgh TV station and two from a local SWAT force, escape in a traffic 'copter and set up shop at the Monroeville Mall.  As the outside world crumbles, our protagonists find themselves in a shopper's paradise, the entire plaza at their disposal.

As with NOTLD, Romero peppered Dawn with underlying social commentary befitting the era of its release, in this case 1970s American obsession with consumerism and the futility in trying to find happiness in material goods.  And while not as purely terrifying as its predecessor, Dawn of the Dead was a rollicking, action-horror film with moments of humor and a ton of over-the-top gore.  Where Night was filmed in expressionist black & white, Dawn depicted these grisly events in bright, garish colors, using the mall's ample lighting to save time and money during the down n' dirty shoot (The vast majority of the scenes were filmed overnight while the mall was closed, thus time and availability were limited).

WWE Fastlane 2023 Preview & Predictions

Time for another WWE B-PPV that's sure to gouge another Collision overnight rating, WWE Fastlane!

As of now only five matches have been announced, but I'm sure they'll either add more matches or throw in so much video package and backstage filler the show will reach the three-hour mark.  Anyway they brought back John Cena for this show and put Cody Rhodes on it to try and load it up a bit since Payback was met with much apathy.  I don't see this lineup being much better than that one though.  Side note: the name Fastlane doesn't make sense except as a show on the Road to WrestleMania.  That's where the title originally came from.  Now it's just nonsensical.  And it's not like anyone has nostalgic feelings about the name.  Just change it.

John Cena & LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa

I'm guessing LA Knight's been moved into a feud with the Bloodline guys to set up a match with Roman at the Royal Rumble or something, maybe even at Survivor Series.  But I wouldn't get your hopes up, Knight isn't gonna be the guy to beat Roman.  Like ever.  I get that he's popular and has a fun persona but he simply isn't main event material, he's paint-by-numbers in the ring.  Anyway, Cena's involvement ought to make for a somewhat hot crowd, although they're risking diminishing returns by featuring him so much.  I don't see the babyfaces losing.

Pick: Cena & Knight

Latino World Order vs. Bobby Lashley & Street Profits

Why in the name of hell did WWE resurrect a failed undercard stable from WCW?  Surely you could've called Rey and friends something original that doesn't have jobbers-to-the-stars connotations?  Also am I behind on current events or does this match feel totally out of the blue and thrown together?  And has Lashley been injured or has Creative just not had anything for him do to lately?  This seems like a run-of-the-mill RAW match and will probably be at about that level.  Lashley ain't losing to the LWO.

Pick: Team Lashley

George Romero's Living Dead Trilogy: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Since it's Halloween season and this film is 55 years old now, I thought I'd go back and rewatch the legendary Living Dead trilogy, wherein the humble, gentlemanly indie filmmaker George Romero created one of the most disturbing film series of all time.  An aspiring, self-taught director with a background in commercial work, Romero and his associates decided in 1967 to make a feature film, choosing the horror genre for its marketability on a small budget, and a whole new subgenre was born. 

The result of course was Night of the Living Dead, a bloodcurdling guerrilla-style picture about seven survivors holed up in an old farmhouse during a zombie outbreak.  At a time when audiences were conditioned to expect cheeseball horror and sci-fi movies that were playfully scary but ultimately toothless, Night of the Living Dead was truly a shock to the system.  Here was a stark, brutal nightmare of a film depicting in gory detail people and zombies being shot, bludgeoned, stabbed, and eating human entrails, where none of the heroes make it out alive.  The overall tone is so bleak and upsetting I can't imagine how 1968 audiences took it.  NOTLD became a major hit on the midnight movie circuit, eventually grossing over $30 million worldwide on a $114,000 budget.

Romero also unintentionally pulled off a coup by casting an African-American as the film's lead.  Duane Jones, an experienced theater actor, gave the best audition for a role originally written as a white character, thus lending the narrative a poignant layer of political subtext.  The film's tragic finale, where Ben is mistaken for a zombie and shot, before being dragged out of the house and burned by the redneck law enforcement posse, now paralleled the racial tensions and unrest of the Civil Rights era.  The choice to depict the aftermath in grainy still photos echoes violent newspaper clippings of the time, making it that much more upsetting.

Romero's use of light and shadow is superb

Other cast standouts include 23-year-old Judith O'Dea as the hysterically frightened Barbra and producers (and real-life married couple) Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman as the antagonistic Harry Cooper and his anxious wife Helen.  Given the non-professional status of most of the actors, the performances are by and large quite effective.

AEW WrestleDream Review: The Rated-R Superstar is All Elite!

Another month, another homerun PPV from AEW.  Say what you want about this company - yes they're struggling to move tickets, yes their roster is so big some talents are undeservedly overlooked, yes their storytelling can be uneven and disorganized at times (This is true of all wrestling companies) - but no one can touch AEW when it comes to putting on great PPV events.  No one.  

WrestleDream was a ten-match show with so much variety, where every match achieved what it set out to achieve.  Like simple, old-school, story-driven wrestling?  Check out MJF vs. The Righteous.  Like hard-hitting strong style?  Eddie vs. Shibata.  Like a crazy spot-filled sprint?  Look at the 4-way tag.  Like big, dramatic main event-type matches?  Hangman vs. Swerve.  Like technical wrestling?  Danielson vs. ZSJ.  Trios matches?  Gotcha covered.  Great tag team wrestling?  FTR-Aussie Open.  Violent grudge matches?  Christian vs. Darby.  Oh, and surprise debuts with gamechanging potential?  That's there too.  This is why I love AEW - they actually have something for everyone.  The flow of this show felt a lot like a big NJPW PPV, with lean, shorter matches to start things off, and the longer matches saved for the end.  It felt shorter than PPVs where they shuffle the long and short matches.

The biggest news was of course the debut of the former Edge, Adam Copeland.  After 25 years of being either an active WWE wrestler or a retired WWE Legend, The Rated-R Superstar (Yup, WWE forgot to trademark that one) is All Elite, and at the media scrum afterward (plus a series of tweets) he made it clear he feels free for the first time in many years.  Obviously not content with how he was being used in WWE the last couple years, Copeland now has dozens of fresh opponents to work with, as well as some old favorites.  At 50 years old it would really be something to see him reinvigorate his career the same way Christian Cage has.  His first promo on Wednesday, free of WWE's scripting restrictions, should be something.  After having to fire CM Punk and losing Jade Cargill, this felt like a much-needed win to generate some positive buzz.

AEW WrestleDream Preview & Predictions

This Sunday is AEW's first-ever WrestleDream PPV, set for October 1st to coincide with the 1st anniversary of Antonio Inoki's death, and once again the company has put together a stellar-looking lineup.  They may be struggling to sell tickets but holy jeez does this show look great on paper.

It's the first time an AEW PPV is emanating from Seattle, and somehow despite their top-three Seattle-native stars being heavily featured, only 5600-or-so tickets have moved for this show.  Hopefully they'll get a strong last-minute surge like they did for Grand Slam and end up with a respectable 10k.  Anyway this show by all rights should continue the streak of 9.5-or-better AEW PPVs that began with Forbidden Door.  I've rated two AEW shows 10/10 out of ten so far this year and I'd love to be able to do the same for WrestleDream.  But we'll just see, won't we?

Tony Khan has also promised this PPV will mark the end of an era, whatever that means.  ROH merging into AEW?  PPV streaming deal with Max?  Who knows?

ROH Tag Team Championship: MJF vs. The Righteous

Well, sadly Adam Cole somehow managed to shatter his ankle last week (That elevated ramp is evil) and will need surgery to fix it.  Thus what was meant to be a regular title defense is now a handicap match.  I'm wondering if the plan was originally Max & Adam vs. The Kingdom, and after Cole got hurt they called an audible to put The Righteous here instead, so Max could beat them 1-on-2; having a newcomer team lose to one guy isn't that big a deal, especially if the one guy is the champion.  Lots of questions surrounding this, like Will The Kingdom get involved? and Will Jay White make an appearance given it looks like Max had him attacked backstage?  Weird and unpredictable cliffhanger to end Dynamite on I'd say.  Anyway I'd book this match to be very short and have MJF win in delightfully underhanded fashion.  That way The Righteous aren't hurt much; they'll have lost due to cheating.

Pick: MJF retains

Ricky Starks vs. Wheeler Yuta

Ricky is coming off two excellent wars with Bryan Danielson and needs a get-back win, and Mr. Yuta will give him a fine contest.  Should be a very good undercard match to keep Starks' momentum going.

Pick: Ricky

Movies of Disbelief: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Welcome to another edition of Movies of Disbelief, here at Enuffa.com!  If you're unfamiliar, MOD is where I examine a film, good or bad, that's based around a far-fetched premise, but find one aspect or scene that not only stretches or breaks the bonds of credibility, but pisses all over them.

Today's subject is a little different though.  As patently absurd, campy and over-the-top as this film is, the part of it I refuse to believe isn't even something that happened in the story.  It's the idea that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was directed by the same guy as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1.  Yeah that's right, Tobe Hooper, the man who in 1974 created a horror masterwork with no budget, no stars, under the worst imaginable filming conditions, somehow followed it up 12 years later with a sequel that basically sprays moldy diarrhea over everything that was great about the original.  I cannot wrap my brain around the fact that the same director made both of these movies.

Before we get into the crime against cinema that was TCM 2, let's just recap the first one a little.  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, loosely inspired by the Ed Gein murders (as well as those of Dean Corll - look up that saga, it's revolting), was shot using grainy 16MM film, on a budget of roughly $150,000.  Like Night of the Living Dead it made use of real rural locations (see Herzog, Werner: "the voodoo of location") and was filmed in a cinema vérité style, allowing the horrific tale to come to life in a way that felt totally authentic and heightened the terror.  We as the audience feel like we're experiencing these ghastly events along with the protagonists.  The cast of unknowns is first-rate, playing the scenes in a casual, naturalistic way and largely improvising the loose dialogue.  By the time everything goes to hell in the second act, we've been given a reason to care about the five young adults.  We're given no background about the family of maniacs - they are simply an evil force of nature, with no discernable reason for what they do; making sense of it would undermine the senseless cruelty Sally endures in the final half-hour.  But despite the film's grisly tone and subject matter, almost all the violence and blood is left to the imagination.  Only once for example do we see chainsaw meeting flesh, and it's when Leatherface (one of the great boogeymen of horror cinema) falls down and accidentally gouges his own thigh.  But the film's timbre is so intense and macabre we think we're seeing more gore than we are.  It's brilliantly understated.  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is far greater than the sum of its parts; all the unconventional elements came together - off-putting locations, genuine performances, innovative cinematography (the closeup montage of Sally's face during the dinner scene is mindbreaking), and unsettling musique concrète-inspired score (courtesy of Wayne Bell and Tobe himself) - to create a fully immersive experience of palpable terror.  It's one of the all-time great horror films.

This guy is terrifying.

AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2023 Review

Well the third AEW Grand Slam Dynamite was another rousing success overall, with an excellent slate of matchups, a super-hot New York crowd, a live gate on par with last year's show, and unfortunately a pair of injuries that hopefully won't prove too serious.

The show kicked off with Eddie Kingston finally getting his rematch with Claudio Castagnoli, this time for both the ROH Title and the NJPW Strong Openweight belt.  These two had a heated slugfest as expected, with Kingston's hometown crowd absolutely rabid to see him vanquish his longtime foe.  The battle of chops and uppercuts escalated to a series of big nearfalls, the most explosive of which occurred when Kingston kicked out of a Ricola Bomb.  Kingston came back with multiple backfists and a Northern Lights bomb for another nearfall.  Finally Kingston hit another backfist and a Kawada powerbomb to win the Ring of Honor Championship.  Claudio shook Eddie's hand before exiting.  Excellent hot opener with a feelgood story.  ****1/4

Second on the show was the first-time Chris Jericho-Sammy Guevara bout, and both men worked their asses off to try and steal the show.  The announcers referenced Jericho's hero vs. fan feud against Shawn Michaels, and it wouldn't be the last time we saw echoes of that epic rivalry.  A couple miscues aside this was pretty dazzling bout, with Sammy often trying to one-up Jericho at his own game, such as going for a top-rope Lionsault and hitting a Codebreaker.  The finish looked spectacular, as after hitting Jericho with a GTH, Sammy went to the top for a Shooting Star Press, but was countered mid-air with his own Codebreaker.  Jericho got the pin and the two friends hugged, but shades of WrestleMania 19, Sammy booted Jericho in the groin, Jericho slid down Sammy's body, and Sammy pie-faced him to the mat.  Just then Don Callis appeared, making it clear Sammy was now joining the Callis Family (and as we'd later find out on Rampage, setting up Sammy & Takeshita vs. Jericho & Omega in the future).  Another really good match.  ****1/4

Top Ten (Eleven) Things: Spinal Tap Songs

Welcome to the only edition of Top Ten Things that goes to eleven!  Today we're ranking the songs of everyone's favorite fictional heavy metal band, Spinal Tap!

Made famous of course by the 1984 Rob Reiner "mockumentary," Spinal Tap's three core members are David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer).  The largely improvisational masterpiece This is Spinal Tap lampooned the world of hard rock n' roll, taking no comedic prisoners and delivering some of the all-time great metal-related, "too close to home" comedy bits.  Who can forget Nigel's wireless unit picking up the control tower at the Air Force base?  Or Derek setting off the airport metal detector with the foil-wrapped cucumber stuffed down his pants?  Or undoubtedly the most famous bit, Nigel's custom Marshall head whose dials all go to 11?  The film is an absolutely hysterical satire of the rock industry, featuring totally authentic performances from the entire cast and a flawless script.  It's simply one of the most quotable films ever made.

But what sets This is Spinal Tap apart from other fake documentaries is the legitimacy of the musicians.  McKean, Guest, Shearer, and the rest of the band played their own instruments, and along with Rob Reiner, wrote all the songs.  And despite the lyrics being mostly tongue-in-cheek (and brilliantly funny), this band put out some pretty great hard rock tunes, including a full album's worth featured in the film, and a follow-up eight years later (which in my opinion is the better of the two records).  McKean and company are all great comedic actors but I'll be damned if they aren't accomplished rock n' rollers too.

So here are the best songs ever recorded by England's loudest band.......This list goes to eleven.... 

11. Christmas With the Devil

A title that dates back to the production of the film, "Christmas With the Devil" is exactly the type of song its moniker implies; a Satanic Christmas carol complete with jingle bell accompaniment and morbidly descriptive lyrics.  "The elves are dressed in leather and the angels are in chains," intones David to kick off this Sabbath-esque dirge.  Featured on the second album Break Like the Wind, this might be the most purely "metal" sounding of all their tracks.  Notice also the word "Hallelujah" sung backwards in the bridge.  Hilarious.

10. Rainy Day Sun

Another song from BLTW, "Rainy Day Sun" is meant to be one of the band's late 60s recordings, from when Spinal Tap were a psychedelic hippie band.  With heavy Beatles influences including some backtracked vocals and snaky string accompaniment, this song captures the spirit of the era, lending some tangible depth to the band's fictional backstory.

9. Just Begin Again

A power ballad duet from BLTW, "Just Begin Again" features a guest appearance by Cher and makes use of deliberately trite love song lyrics like "Life is just a meal/And you never say when," and "Life is just a show/Go reload your gun."  And despite the silliness of the words, this song is actually poignant and powerful, led by two strong vocal performances.

8. Rock n' Roll Creation

In the context of the film this tune is from the "pretentious, ponderous collection of religious rock psalms" known as The Gospel According to Spinal Tap.  Melding biblical elements with hard rock tropes, "RNR Creation" has one of the more evil-sounding main riffs in the catalog, mixed with simple but memorable vocal harmonies.  This song was featured in the unforgettable movie scene where Derek gets trapped in his "body snatcher" pod for the duration of the tune.

NJPW Destruction 2023 Preview & Predictions

While wrestling tribalists bicker and name-call over who's better between AEW and WWE, we're all forgetting that NJPW has a two-part PPV coming up this weekend and two weeks later called Destruction.  And there's some fine stuff lined up for the initiated fan....

The 9/24 card is roughly half a proper PPV show, with a handful of warmup tag matches before the important stuff, but the 10/9 show is a true main-card lineup, unusual for the Destruction series.  Let's take a look, shall we? 

Night 1 - Kobe

KOPW Championship: Taichi vs. Sho

Alright, so the KOPW Title is stupid and should be discontinued, but Taichi vs. Sho on paper is a pretty good matchup, barring the inevitable overuse of House of Torture interference.  I'm still hoping against hope that stable is disbanded.  I think Sho probably captures the title here and Taichi probably wins it back later.

Pick: Sho

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Bishamon vs. TMDK

This should be a fine tag team battle, as Goto and Yoshi-Hashi have become a damn good team, and TMDK are excellent.  Bishamon have held the titles since early June so a title change could certainly happen here; these belts have jumped around like crazy over the years.

Pick: TMDK

AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2023 Preview & Predictions

Time for the third annual AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, NY!

As with the first two Grand Slams, the Wednesday lineup is quite stacked and promises to deliver multiple bangers.  Now if we can just get people to buy these damn tickets again....  As anyone who's been following the business side of things is aware, AEW's live attendance numbers in the States are in bad shape.  Lately both Dynamite and Collision have been struggling to draw 3000 people to NBA arenas, and I'm not sure what needs to happen to make this product hot again.  Back-to-back Show of the Year-caliber PPVs, one in front of over 70,000 people hasn't done it.  The MJF-Adam Cole storyline hasn't done it.  The focus on young stars hasn't done it.  AEW needs something that galvanizes the fanbase and gets a real, positive buzz about the company again.  Maybe all the backstage drama surrounding CM Punk's firing turned some people off (and I'm sure his cult of fandom that refuses to hold him accountable for his actions simply stopped buying tickets).  But the company needs an Austin vs. McMahon, not in terms of the boss vs. talent story, but in terms of a white-hot angle unlike anything wrestling fans have seen before.  That and a more focused presentation.  

Anyway enough bad news, fortunately Dynamite's ratings have held steady (Collision's have yet to reveal a pattern since Punk's departure) and this week's show should get a boost because it's a special two-part event.  Let's look at the lineups.

Dynamite

Chris Jericho vs. Sammy Guevara

It's a first-time meeting between these Inner Circle buddies, and the idea is for them to get out their frustrations with each other so they can go back to being tag partners and chase the titles.  Somehow though I don't think they'll end up working things out.  To me this feels like the start of a feud that will lead to more matchups.  Sammy really needs the win here as he's had the most trouble of all the Four Pillars in gaining traction.  A clean win over Jericho would signal that he's poised to be more than Chris's sidekick.  The match should be quite good as both guys will be motivated like crazy.

Pick: Sammy

AEW Women's Championship: Saraya vs. Toni Storm

The former Outcast partners clash for the big belt, at the very venue where Saraya made her AEW debut last year.  Saraya's had very few singles matches since coming in, so this will be an interesting test.  Storm is so good she should be able to make up for any holes in Saraya's game.  The title win at Wembley felt to me like an honorary one, just as Hikaru Shida's win a few weeks earlier turned out to be.  With Storm tapping in to a new, highly entertaining character I could see her taking back the gold here.  Then again a loss would feed into said character, and Ruby Soho could interfere.  I suppose if Saraya retains that keeps this story going, with Toni becoming more and more unhinged.  This is the hardest one for me to pick.  Could there be a Mercedes Mone sighting?

Pick: I guess Saraya retains

Top Ten Things: Iron Maiden Songs

Welcome to another Enuffa.com Top Ten Things, where I pick my ten favorite somethingorother and bug all of you about it.

Today it's my ten favorite Iron Maiden songs! 

One of the most influential metal bands of all time, Iron Maiden was formed in the mid-70s by bassist Steve Harris.  Over the first few years the band went through various incarnations, hiring and firing band members with a frequency that would make Spinal Tap cringe.  Finally in 1980 they released their self-titled debut album and immediately gained a strong UK following, in competition with the burgeoning punk scene.  Bands like Maiden, Diamondhead, Venom, Motorhead, and several others formed a musical zeitgeist called The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (which influenced literally dozens of bands here in the States).  Maiden was soon forced to sack lead singer Paul D'Anno due to his increasing drug issues, and his replacement was diminutive onstage firecracker Bruce Dickinson, who brought incredible vocal range/power and athletic physicality to the role of frontman.  Their third album The Number of the Beast was a No. 1 smash hit in the UK and propelled Iron Maiden to international stardom.  A slew of successful albums followed, containing scores of classic songs, until Dickinson left the band in 1993 to pursue a solo career.  His successor Blaze Bayley recorded two albums to a rather tepid reaction, and in 1999 Dickinson was coaxed back into the fold.

Over the past 20+ years Maiden has released numerous albums and embarked on several hugely successful world tours, and they remain a chart-topping worldwide phenomenon.  Their music has evolved a bit over the years but they've always maintained their signature galloping energy and  literature-inspired lyrics.  Their onstage enthusiasm continues to defy the band members' advancing age, and they routinely deliver an amazing live concert experience.  A side note: historically just as mythical as the band's music are the album covers and other associated imagery.  For years artist Derek Riggs created some of the greatest cover art in music history, featuring the band's undead mascot Eddie the Head.  A few of my favorite Riggs pieces are the covers of Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, and Live After Death.

But enough about that; here are my picks for the Top Ten Iron Maiden songs of all time.

**Note: While I like and appreciate some of their 21st Century work (their latest album Senjutsu is probably their best since Bruce returned), for me the classic Maiden period was 1980-1992, so all ten picks fall into that timeframe.**

10. The Trooper

Probably the most noteworthy song on 1983's Piece of Mind (Dickinson's favorite album), "The Trooper" kicks off with a start and stop feel, over which Bruce barks a defiant battle cry ("You take my life but I'll take yours too/You fire your musket but I'll run you through").  The band then dives into charging pace as the wordless chorus takes over.  What other lasting metal tunes boast a refrain consisting of nothing more than "Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!"

9. The Prophecy

Yeah I know this is from "The Clairvoyant,"
but I couldn't find a "Prophecy"-specific piece of art.

The first of two entries from Seventh Son, "The Prophecy" opens with a gentle clean guitar arpeggio before exploding into a heavy triplet groove.  Dickinson regretfully howls out a warning message to an unnamed group of villagers of their impending doom, which then goes unheeded.  "The Prophecy" is simple but tremendously hooky, jumping from a minor key verse into a major key chorus.  I also love the baroque acoustic guitar outro.

8. Iron Maiden

The one non-Dickinson song on this list is the self-titled final track of the self-titled debut album.  An uncomplicated, nihilistic metal anthem, the lyrics of "Iron Maiden" dare the listener to partake in the graphic violence of the band's music, despite the music's oddly cheery tone.  This song is akin to Metallica's "Whiplash;" simply an ode to the brutality of metal.