Author Archives: Doc

Wrestlemania XL Weekend

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One of my favorite weekends of the year has come around. It is Wrestlemania weekend, where there are a bunch of events over the next 48 hours +.

Wrestlemania XL takes place in Philadelphia this year and the two-night event is packed full of amazing rivalries and battles.

They revealed the Wrestlemania XL set, and it looks great.

The weekend kicks off right now with Friday Night Smackdown. Mere moments ago, Big Bronson Reed won the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. There did appear as if there may have been a couple of mistakes in the battle royal, yet I enjoyed the match. It looked like Otis was supposed to have caught Tazawa on the floor but Ivar overthrew him and Tazawa hit hard on the floor. I am also not sure that Omos was intended to be eliminated during the commercial break. I think Omos lost his balance and tumbled out too.

After Smackdown tonight is the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Tonight’s inductees include Paul Heyman, the U.S. Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda), Lia Maivia, Bull Nakano, Thunderbolt Patterson, and Muhammad Ali. It is an interesting group this year, headlined by Paul Heyman, whose ECW was a Philadelphia mainstay. Also notable is the induction of Mike Rotunda, father of Windham Rotunda aka Bray Wyatt who died this past year. That should be very emotional. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, I believe, will be inducting his grandmother Lia Maivia, the first woman promoter.

NXT’s Stand and Deliver kicks off the action on Saturday with the best of the NXT brand. Ilya Dragunov defends his NXT championship against the Don of NXT, Tony D’Angelo. Perhaps the biggest grudge match of this PLE is Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes.

Then Saturday night, Wrestlemania XL kicks off with Saturday night show, which is headlined by Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and The Rock in what is being billed as the Greatest Tag Team Match of All-Time. If the faces win, then the Cody-Roman match on Sunday night is one-on-one, with no Bloodline, and Cody has a chance to win the match without any interference. If the Bloodline wins, then the Sunday night match is Bloodline rules, and anything goes. It is a remarkable build for this tag match with all of the stakes up for grabs.

Night One Matches at Wrestlemania 40

  • The Rock & Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins
  • Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
  • Intercontinental Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
  • Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
  • Six-Pack ladder match for Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Finn Bálor) vs. Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) vs. DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) vs. A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller)
  • Bianca Belair, Naomi & Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka & Kairi Sane)
  • Rey Mysterio & Andrade vs. Santos Escobar & Dominik Mysterio

Night Two Matches at Wrestlemania 40

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
  • World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
  • WWE Women’s Championship: Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley
  • United States Championship Triple Threat: Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
  • LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
  • Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. The Final Testament (Karrion Kross & The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar)

I’m going to be doing several posts over the weekend. I am very excited. I may do a prediction post some time tomorrow before the big night’s action.

UPDATE: Dragon Lee got jumped on Smackdown and now Andrade is in the tag team match. Calling it right no, Carlito did the attack hoping to be in the tag match instead. Count on it.

The X-Files S4 E8

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Spoilers

“Tunguska”

The X-Files is back to using the black oil in some horrifying manner. The mysteries of what the black oil is and what the government knows about it is the driving force behind this story.

Alex Krycek returned to cause trouble for Mulder and Scully. Mulder winds up in a Russian gulag and Scully winds up before Congress, being threatened with contempt of Congress if she does not reveal Mulder’s whereabouts.

Mulder and Scully get their hands on a rock that contains the black oil, to the chagrin of Cigarette Smoking Man.

There were some fun scenes in this episode including a handcuffed Krycek dumping a thug from Skinner’s apartment balcony. The thug, a courier for CSM, fell to his death. This show provided some real strength to the character of Krycek as he really outmaneuvered Mulder.

That final scene with the black oil dropping onto a confined Mulder, creeping beneath his face to cover his eyes in blackness was devastating.

This was a part one, and it was a tough one to stop on, but I did not have time to continue the part two before Smackdown.

Twin Peaks S2 E18, E19

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Spoilers

“On the Wings of Love”

“Variations and Relations”

Those pesky owls.

They just aren’t what they seem.

I did not remember the trip into Owl Cave to find some mysterious petroglyph, but it fits right into the magical woods around Twin Peaks.

Storylines are beginning to come together and the newly reinstated Cooper is on the case. Windham Earle continues to be very creepy as he has been stalking Audrey, Shelly and Donna.

Some odd things going on…

I am starting to feel pity for Leo. He was such a horrendous character during season one, but since he got captured by Earle, he has really come to bad side of karma.

Ben Horne is another character whom I suddenly want to root for. It is difficult to believe his change of heart, but I really want it to be more than just a way to stick it to Catharine.

I am not a huge fan of the new relationships that the show had forced upon us. Cooper and Annie felt pretty rushed. I had little connection with Audrey and John either. It seemed a long way to keep Cooper and Audrey apart.

I did think it was funny that Gordon Cole could easily hear Shelly even though she spoke in her normal voice. It wasn’t enough to base a relationship on, but it did make for a good scene.

The whole Miss Twin Peaks storyline is shaky. Ian Buchanan with the white bandage across his nose from the weasel bite from ep. 17 was funny.

X-Men ’97 S1 E4

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Spoilers

“Motendo/Lifedeath-Part 1”

It was a strange week on X-Men ’97. They had two stories inside the one half hour timeframe. The first one was Motendo, a Jubilee focused episode versus Mojo and the second was the beginning of the story of Storm and Forge, which was teased at the end of last week’s episode.

I believe both of the two parts, though enjoyable, suffered together. They both felt a little rushed and could have easily been full 30 minute episodes on their own.

The two halves were very different as well. The Jubilee part was full of action and video game Easter eggs, while as the Storm/Forge part was intended to be more emotional. Both had its positives, but I just felt as if the two did not flow together well.

It was cool to see Mojo again, and him moving into the world of video games makes perfect sense. I could have used more of the older Jubilee or more with Roberto. I did like how Jubilee and Roberto’s relationship took a step at the end of this section.

I wanted more with Storm as well. The connection between Storm and Forge did not feel fully realized.

Still it was an enjoyable half hour, but it was definitely the weakest of the four episodes this season.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of April 1 (no kidding)

Here we go with the best comic covers of this week. It is the week of April Fools Day but none of this is a joke.

Bronze Medalist

Sand and Twitch Case Files #1

Cover art by Kevin Keane and Todd McFarlane

The background characters from the Spawn universe have their own book and the pair of them standing before the darkness of Spawn and the red cape. The rain was a nice touch.

Silver Medalist

Antarctica #10

Cover by Willi Roberts

The finale of this Image book sports a beautiful cover with red and black tones. The form stands out as does the title in its vertical line.

Gold Medalist

Deadpool #1

Cover Art by Inhyuk Lee

Beautiful foil variant cover of the brand new Deadpool series. Is this the 90s? No because every fifth comic does not have a foil cover. It makes the ones we get all the more special. This is a stunning cover with the return of the Merc with a Mouth.

Shogun S1 E7

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SPOILERS

“A Stick of Time”

When Toranaga was awaiting the arrival of his brother and his brother’s forces, I thought to myself, what if his brother betrayed him. However, I immediately dismissed that possibility.

Then, I found out that I was right.

Saeki became the fifth regent, turning on Toranaga in the process. He gave his brother an offer, return to Osaka and face his fate or to die on the field of battle.

He gave him until the sundown the next day to decide.

Toranaga agreed to return to Osaka.

This led to Toranaga’s son to Nagakado launching an attack on Saeki while he was at the brothel with the courtesan Kiku. This led to the accidental death of Nagakado. Whoa. I did not expect that.

Tough show. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, as I was not sure what was going to happen and it was compelling. John is really getting frustrated with the situation too.

This has been so good so far. Can’t wait to see where this goes.

Man from Atlantis S1 E8

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Spoilers

“Giant”

This was a really fun episode of Man from Atlantis. I had been hoping for a break from Mr. Schubert, as played by Victor Buono, for awhile now. He had been in all of the run of the series, since the end of the TV movies. This was the episode that finally gave us a break from Schubert. And in his place, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!

The former Lakers star appeared as a giant named Thark. Water from the ocean was being drained through a vortex into another world where Thark was mining gold. Another person named Muldoon was trying to steal the giant’s gold.

This was a weird episode, but I did like it quite a bit. At first, it looked as if Kareem’s giant character was monstrous, but he turned out to be friendly and helped Mark stop the flow of water. When Thark learned that the water, which was invisible in this world, was a danger to Mark’s world, he immediately went to help him.

I really like how Mark deals with his conflicts. Many action heroes would head into a confrontation with the giant using physical threats, but, even after getting thrown around by Thark, Mark just spoke to him and used his words to convince him that he meant him no harm.

There was an ironic lesson to be learned for Muldoon too as he wound up stranded in this odd location with Thark. Muldoon had come back after deserting Mark to help them close the vortex, but the show still had him pay for his greed. I felt bad for Muldoon.

This was a step up from last episode’s offering. I thought Kareem did a good job in his role, which was admittedly fairly simple. The sci-fi concept of the ocean containing portals to different dimensions is an intriguing idea. I wonder if they were going to use this idea eventually to deal with the origin of Mark Harris and where he came from had the series continued.

Twin Peaks S2 E17

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Spoilers

“Wounds and Scars”

The fallout over Josie’s bizarre death happened in this episode as Harry went into a dark place. I do remember that aspect, but I am not sure what else was done with Josie’s death. I did like the Cooper/Harry bromance that was displayed here. The fact that Josie weighed 65 pounds from the autopsy was a detail that I did not recall that was cool.

Honestly, there was not much more in this episode. Windham Earle stalked Donna. They held a fundraiser at the Great Northern to fight Ghostwood and Dick had a weasel bite his nose. Norma’s sister Annie arrived and met Cooper. Audrey and her new boy toy connected. Ed and Nadine prepared to divorce and Nadine and Mike snuck into a room at the Great Northern.

Just not much there in this episode. Without the scenes with Cooper and Harry, this would be a totally dismissible episode.

Cooper spoke with Major Briggs and the Log Lady about stuff that happens in the woods. The Log Lady has a mysterious mark on her leg that was similar to Briggs’ mark on his neck. They both made a reference about the owls.

Not much of an episode.

Moonlighting S5 E10

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Spoilers

Note: [The numbering of these Moonlighting episodes may be off. I am following along Hulu with the episode numbers they have provided, but most place I have found online list this as episode 9. ]

“Perfetc”

What was that?

I do not know what I just watched, but I found it to be a total misfire among a season that has mostly done a decent job of trying to get Moonlighting back on track.

I legit hated this.

It felt totally off kilter. The characters were acting in manners that they would never act and changing behavior from one scene to another. There was way too much use of Herbert Viola in just a ridiculous set up after another for no reason.

David started off being late because of a bowling tournament. Um… what? He arrived in a bowling shirt.

The case they were working on was bizarre and made no sense. The entire set up was dumb. The pay off was ridiculous and the stupid chase scene only made it worse.

I think this may be my lest favorite Moonlighting episode ever.

The X-Files S4 E7

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Spoilers

“Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man”

“Life is like a box of chocolates. A cheap, thoughtless, perfunctory gift that nobody ever asks for. Unreturnable because all you get back is another box of chocolates. So you’re stuck with this undefinable whipped mint crap that you mindlessly wolf down when there’s nothing else left to eat. Sure, once in a while there’s a peanut butter cup or an English toffee. But they’re gone too fast and the taste is… fleeting. So, you end up with nothing but broken bits filled with hardened jelly and teeth-shattering nuts. And if you’re desperate enough to eat those, all you got left is an empty box filled with useless brown paper wrappers“

This monologue came from the season four, episode seven of the X-Files, out of the mouth of the Cigarette Smoking Man, and I loved it. It was not the kind of monologue one expected, taking a famous quote from Forest Gump and warping it into a view of life considerably more negative.

The episode featured a telling of the back story of CSM, played by William B. Davis (and a younger version played by Chris Owens). In the show, CSM is given credit (or blamed depending on how you look at it) for the assassination of JFK and Martin Luthor King Jr, as well as many other historical moments. However, it is implied that the story may or may not be accurate, as Lone Gunman Frohike stated that he found this story in an old magazine of his.

This article is a fictional tale written by CSM himself, though, as he said, the ending had been changed. Exactly what was changed was not included keeping us uncertain about the accuracy of the episode.

I liked the way they leave it uncertain as it felt sort of doubtful that one man could be behind all of the things CSM was given credit for.

The main purpose of the episode is to show just how dangerous Cigarette Smoking Man was and continue to set him up as the big bad for the series, while potentially humanizing the character a touch. Imagine the pain and death that could have been spared had the magazine just published the story he wrote as he had intended it.

The episode also gives the actual cigarettes as a symbol for the evil that CSM does, as he was preparing to resign, he crumpled up the cigarette pack and once he realized that his life was not changing, he purchased a new pack right away.

I had always wanted CSM to be killed by Mulder, multiple times over the series so far. This provides even more context to the villain.

Man from Atlantis S1 E7

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“Hawk of Mu”

This episode was probably my least favorite one so far, certainly of the regular weekly series if you discount the TV movies.

Schubert is back again and, although I love Victor Buono here. I would really like a new villain to step forward. They added a daughter for Schubert who has taken a liking to Mark.

According to IMDB, “Schubert’s tracking of a mysterious power source causes a blackout, at the center of which, Mark discovers an ancient statue of a hawk. When he rescues Schubert’s daughter Juliette from drowning, the villain learns of the hawk and steals it to discover the secret of its power.“

I thought the conclusion of this episode was fairly lacking, though I did like the scene where Mark tricked the local law enforcement to spray him with a hose as he was trapped inside their cell. He had been dehydrating and Mark knew he needed the water.

Other than that, I found this episode to be a step down from the last couple. It is not terrible by any stretch, but just nothing major.

A&E Biography: WWE Legends- Roman Reigns

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It is Wrestlemania week and WWE programming is kicking into high gear.

The weekly A&E Biography documentaries featured the current Universal Champion, the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns.

Usually I do not watch these A&E docs, not because they are not interesting, but because of time. However, I had seen an interview with Paul Heyman on the Rich Eisen show and Eisen commented about the A&E doc, saying that Paul Heyman was the director and producer of the doc. I have always been a fan of the genius of Heyman and it intrigued me to see him direct this doc about a performer that he had such a connection to.

Hearing about the rise of Joe Anoa’i, aka Roman Reigns, through the years of struggle with fans who did not want him shoved down their throats, to bouts of leukemia to his eventual ability to be himself and go to the top of the profession was excellent.

Again, there are many of Roman Reigns’ contemporaries that speak about our tribal chief during the documentary. Everyone from Seth Rollins, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn spoke about Roman.

But even more impressive was when Heyman brought together some of the greatest of all time to speak about Reigns. These legends included John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, the Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Some of the best interviews came from Reigns’ family, clips involving his late brother, who wrestled as Rosey in the WWE, and other family members of the Bloodline.

This was a fascinating look at one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling today.

Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal

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The WWE has always done exceptional documentaries. The new doc about the late great Windham Rotunda, better known to the world as Bray Wyatt, is about as exceptional as it comes.

Windham Rotunda shockingly passed away in 2023, something that no one expected or saw coming and it left a massive hole in the world of WWE. This documentary gives the story of Windham Rotunda from his early days to his final days inside the squared circle.

Narrated by the Undertaker, Becoming Immortal did not just focus on the positive moments of Windham’s life, but also the challenges that he faced as he worked his way through the world of sports entertainment. Though many said how difficult it was to work with him, everyone admitted what a creative genius Windham Rotunda was.

Comments from so many of Bray Wyatt’s contemporaries spoke throughout the doc, including Triple H, Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Braun Stroman, Sami Zayn, Big E, LA Knight, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Alexa Bliss and Erick Rowan.

However, the most emotional moments are provided by Windham’s younger brother, Taylor Rotunda, known to the WWE audience as Bo Dallas, as well as other family members of Windham, including his father Mike Rotunda, uncle Barry Windham, his first wife Samantha and his second wife JoJo. The recollections of this group of people about the final days of Windham’s life were absolutely heart-breaking and brought tears to my eyes.

It was so clear how much Windham Rotunda was loved by everyone around him. Jason Baker, who was one of Windham’s closest friends, was one of the creative forces behind the masks and outfits for the character of Bray Wyatt. His insights into Windham Rotunda were very powerful as well.

Seeing some of the art Windham did during the time when he had been released from the WWE was amazing. It displayed such an amazing truth about how talented and creative Windham Rotunda was.

As a fan of Bray Wyatt, this was tough at times to watch, but I am very pleased that the documentary was shown. It is available on Peacock.

4.6 stars

Twin Peaks S2 E16

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“The Condemned Woman”

The ending of this episode of Twin Peaks was the weirdest I can remember. It was the resolution, kinda, of the storyline of Josie Packard. The one where she just dies before having her ‘spirit’, shall we say, trapped in the bed stand drawer. We see Killer Bob again, taunting Cooper and we see the dancing dwarf from the Red Room dancing on the bed. Did Bob imply that he killed Josie?

What was even stranger was I do not think they mention this Josie story again in the rest of the show. If they do, it is just in passing.

Just not sure how this was intended to play into the overall story of the White Lodge, but it was certainly intended to do so. I wonder if there were contract issues with the actress playing Josie that led to this bizarre twist. (FYI- doing some research, I found that the actress Joan Chen, who played Josie had asked to be written out so she could go film a movie, Turtle Beach, which was a critical and financial flop).

Of course, we learn about Josie’s shooting of Agent Cooper and how the husband she thought she killed, Andrew Packard, was actually alive. It was heavily implied that she had killed Jonathan and we see her kill Eckhardt, who was angry with her over her supposed betrayal since Andrew was alive.

Windham Earle took a bit of a backseat this episode, though he was trolling Donna, Audrey and Shelly as his “three queens” for a gathering of “the angels.” He had sent each an invite to the Roadhouse and part of a poem torn into three. Earle continues to be a big time creeper.

He also continues to taunt and torture Leo, which Leo deserves completely.

James is still a dumbass. He and Donna kind of broke up as James is still out there doing God knows what with the Walsh case. Donna needs to move along. She is way too good for him.

Nadine tells Ed she wants to split up and that she had a night of love with Mike. Ed is surprised, but Nadine said that he and Norma had done it. Ed say, “Well, there’s that.” LOL

Norma stands up to Hank, who is in jail for multiple crimes and parole violations. She will not support his lie of an alibi. Yay! You go girl. I think my memory is that she caves… but I hope I am wrong.