WWE Money In The Bank 2018 Recap

This is one of my absolute favorite PPVs WWE has! Anything that involves ladders gets me excited because that usually means craziness is going to be involved! This year’s Money In The Bank (MITB) has some really exciting matchups and some that are destined to be disasters, but as always I’m here to recap them and give my personal opinion of them all! So who walked away from MITB with their head held high? Let’s find out!

Bludgeon Brothers (Champs) vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson – Smackdown Tag Team Championships

When was the last time Gallows and Anderson got to be in any type of match with importance? I honestly can’t remember and that’s sad because they’re an excellent tag team! From time to time I’ve enjoyed the fact that Luke Harper finally has a title too, but I think it’s time Gallows and Anderson got some type of a push. Their match in the kickoff show was pretty decent. Nothing too flashy, but it definitely wasn’t boring. Gallows and Anderson got to show off some of their moves but ultimately the Bludgeon Brothers came out on top. I’m not surprised, I just wish there was a little more meat to this fight and I think it’s always bad to put a title fight on the kickoff show. It just undermines the importance of the title belt! If it’s not good enough to be on the actual PPV why should we care? Hopefully Gallows and Anderson get more title opportunities in the future. The Bludgeon Brothers retain via pinfall 7.5/10.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

Remember my recap for WWE Backlash? I said unfortunately I didn’t think it was the end of the Big Cass and Daniel Bryan feud? *Sigh* well here we are again. The story is supposed to make Daniel Bryan look like he has a disadvantage because he’s “a little guy,” but this is Daniel Freakin’ Bryan we’re talking about! He’s never at a disadvantage! And that’s exactly what ended up happening for a majority of the match! Bryan just made a fool out of Big Cass countering everything Big Cass threw at him. Big Cass had a few moments to shine but they were always ultimately overshadowed by Daniel Bryan. At no point did you ever think Cass was going to win and ultimately he didn’t. Bryan hit him with the running knee then put him in the Yes Lock which made Cass tap out yet again. There was no final attack by Cass though so maybe this is the last we’ve seen of this feud? At least they got this fight out of the way first thing! Daniel Bryan wins via tap out 6.75/10.

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn

Two great wrestlers in an incredibly stupid feud! I’m digging the fact that the matches people don’t care about are getting done first though. This story has been so stupid. Sami has constantly antagonized Lashley with tactics such as painfully bad interviews with his sisters and making Lashley run through an idiotic obstacle course. These two deserve a lot better. Their match was as lackluster as their feud. Sami used hit and run tactics while Lashley didn’t do anything overly flashy besides his vertical suplex. It was a surprisingly slow match for how quick both wrestlers can be. It wasn’t even a close contest, Lashley threw Sami around like a rag doll and then pinned him using one hand. Hopefully they’re making Lashley look tough so he can get some better opportunities in the future. Hopefully they also begin giving Sami the types of matches HE deserves as well! Definitely a lowpoint of the night in my humber opinion. Bobby Lashley wins via pinfall 5.5/10

Seth Rollins (Champ) vs. Elias – Intercontinental Championship

Now that the garbage is out of the way we can get to the good stuff! Elias and Seth Rollins are two of my favorite wrestlers in WWE so there was no way it was going to be bad. Elias called Chicago scumbags and the “WE ARE SCUMBAGS” chants returned!! I’m proud to say I was part of the original “We are scumbags” chants, but I love that other cities can get into it! This was a great fight both going at each other full speed. Elias focused on the multiple injuries he had given Rollins over the past few weeks, but the Architect seemed to have an answer for every attack. There were so many moments I thought Elias was actually going to steal the title from Rollins, but in the end it wasn’t meant to be (yet). Elias was in good health and had the size advantage, but just as it seemed like Rollins was completely broken, he managed to steal the victory when the two where rolling each other in and out of pins. It was the first truly great match of the night and I expected no less from these two! Rollins retains via pinfall 8.5/10. 

Sasha Banks vs. Natalya vs. Charlotte vs. Ember Moon vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Naomi vs. Lana – Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Last year was the first MITB match for the Women’s Division and it was wasted on that goof with the weird nose Ellsworth, because that’s what we wanted in the first Women’s MITB Ladder match; a guy to basically win it. The lineup for this match was pretty stacked with multiple women having legitimate chances of winning the briefcase. Ember Moon had the first great move of the match body slamming Sasha Banks into a ladder, the ladder attacks continued through the match with just about everyone getting a taste of steel. In the first few minutes alone this was already an improvement from last year. At one point there were six women at once on two ladders going at it for the briefcase! Even Lana was surprisingly decent and had a cool moment when she put Bliss in the Accolade (the signature move of her husband Rusev). It was clear from the beginning who the crowd wanted to win, fans went nuts any time Becky Lynch or Lana climbed the ladder, but just about everyone came close to winning. There was a pretty bad botch at the end though, Becky Lynch was at the top, had the briefcase essentially unhooked and Bliss was WAY late to knocking her off. But she did, and Alexa Bliss ended up becoming the 2nd Women’s MITB winner! What I appreciated most about this match was just how vicious some of the hits were. A lot of bodies were slammed into a lot of ladders proving (once again) that the women are just as tough as the men! Alexa Bliss wins the Money In The Bank Briefcase 8.75/10.

Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *wipes tear from eye* oh boy I can’t believe this is actually happened. Last year Jinder Mahal was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and DEFEATED Randy Orton AGAIN! What is it with Jinder Mahal and this PPV!? How does he keep getting these PPV matches!? It’s like Vince McMahon looked at this PPV and thought, “Last year’s match with Jinder was pretty bad… how can we make this even worse?” Then Roman Reigns stepped in and said, “Hold my beer.” These are two of the most hated people on the entire WWE Roster, who do you even root for in this match!? I think for the first time in his career, Jinder got LESS boos than his opponent! They hate Roman that much! The crowds chanted just about everything including “Boring,” “NXT,” “Johnny Wrestling,” “This is awful,” and (of course) “CM Punk.” Every time WWE comes to Chicago there’s CM Punk. I think one point they were chanting “Let’s Go Cena” too. I’m surprised I didn’t see any beach balls. The biggest boos came whenever Jinder started the submissions and Roman began his classic “miraculous second wind.” We’ve seen this a million times, it’s not miraculous anymore!!! Jinder’s moves are so generic and Roman does literally the same thing every single fight. He does the Superman punch, yells OOOH, spears his opponent and gets obliterated and miraculously comes back and wins. And let me tell you, all those happened tonight. The crowd reaction was more entertaining than the fight but to be honest, it was better than Sami Zayn vs. Bobby Lashley. Please WWE, never do this again. Roman Reigns wins via pinfall 6/10. 

Carmella (Champ) vs. Asuka – Smackdown Women’s Championship

I had a very bad feeling about this one. I didn’t think Carmella had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning, and I wasn’t convinced it was time yet for Asuka to win. I expected a pretty mediocre match ending with a DQ either by Carmella herself or by the Iconics. The match was OK but to be honest I was impressed that Carmella actually followed through and wasn’t afraid of Asuka. With Charlotte she ran away for half the fight but Carmella fought Asuka head on. Then the absolute unexpected happened. An Asuka lookalike showed up and everyone was confused. Who could that be!? IT WAS THAT GOOF WITH THE WEIRD NOSE I MENTIONED EARLIER JAMES ELLSWORTH. He’s back. Dear God why is he back!? He distracted Asuka long enough to get hit by a super kick via Carmella. Carmella pinned Asuka and now Carmella has officially defeated the Empress of Tomorrow. Thanks to Ellsworth. Why… just why!? Carmella retains via pinfall 6/10. 

AJ Styles (Champ) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – Last Man Standing Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Title

We can all agree that their last match’s ending was an absolute disaster right? I couldn’t believe it ended that way. If something like that happened again this time around there was going to be hell to pay. For a match where the point is beating your opponent to the point they can’t stand, this one took awhile to get going. How is it that two of the best superstars on the roster can be so boring at times. Things picked up though once they made their way out of the ring. Nakamura hit Styles with the Kinshasa on the announce table and threw him through another table in ring. Styles played it well making us all think he was about to lose on the 10 count multiple times. He timed it to the very last second. Styles then retaliated by targeting Nakamura’s knee and even began hitting it with a steel chair. Just when you thought Styles was going to finish off Nakamura, he retaliated with yet ANOTHER punch to the balls. Styles’ balls refused to give up though which led to another Kinshasa to the face. Styles though nailed Nakamura with a Styles Clash of the steel clash which was epic. Nakamura wouldn’t give up though and the match continued. Nakamura even begged for more so Styles basically punted Nakamura’s balls. Believe me, I’m tired of low blows but THAT was pretty legit. Then as if decimating Nakamura’s balls wasn’t enough, Styles hit him with the phenomenal forearm so hard that Nakamura flew through the table! It had moments where it dragged, but you can’t deny how great the finale was! We got an ending that wasn’t garbage! Both put on solid performances and the match was good, but not great. So is this rivalry over? Styles beat Nakamura clean so who knows if we’ll be seeing these two fight again. Styles wins via Last Man Standing 8.25/10. 

Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax (Champ) – RAW Women’s Championship

This was another match I wasn’t sure of. Ronda Rousey will obviously become champion someday, but this was her first singles match; is she really ready to be champion? On the other hand though, do you want her to lose her first singles match? Rousey was surprisingly good in her first fight at Wrestlemania so it was interesting to see how she could hold up on her own. Nia came in like a wrecking ball and instantly began pulverizing Rousey who quickly retaliated with a signature lock of hers. Nia dominated most of the match though and Rousey took way more of a beating this time than she did at her Wrestlemania debut. We got a first for Rousey and she did her first jump from the top rope and hit Nia with a lateral press (our girl is coming into her own!) Then somehow she lifts Nia and does a judo throw! Rousey was on the verge of victory then out of NOWHERE Bliss showed up with her newly won MITB briefcase and beat the crap out of both Nia and Rousey! BLISS THEN CASHED IN AND PINNED NIA TO WIN THE BELT!!! I wasn’t sure about this match in the beginning but this was a PERFECT finish! Rousey still looked strong and is (probably) heading into a feud with Bliss and the Goddess is champion once again!! Couldn’t have written that any better myself! Alexa Bliss cashes in her MITB contract and wins via pinfall to become the new RAW Women’s Champion 9/10.

Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Roode vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Braun Strowman vs. Rusev vs. Samoa Joe vs. Kofi Kingston – Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

This lineup of superstars is STACKED! Honestly I wouldn’t be upset if any of these guys won, they’re all deserving in their own way. The New Day ended up choosing Kofi Kingston to represent them, and the match was underway. To nobody’s surprise, seven of the superstars ganged up on Braun. This is the Monster Among Men we’re talking about though and he brushed them off as if they were made of paper. The match almost got formulaic. The superstars ganged up on Strowman, beat the crap out of each other, went back to Strowman, then back to each other. Rinse. Repeat. Samoa Joe showed himself to be the biggest individual threat to Strowman but watching everyone put their power against him was great. Strowman though rose to the occasion and threw Kevin Owens at least 30 feet off a ladder and then made quick work of the rest of his opponents.  He even bulldozed himself through a ladder like it was made out of paper. Miz ingeniously tried to sneak his way to the briefcase multiple times through the match while everyone else was distracted by Braun. Of course his opponents were too smart to be fooled by that and a new strategy was in order. In the meantime, Balor hit Bobby Roode with a vicious coup de gras from the top of a ladder, and Kofi made a super cool jump onto Strowman’s back. In the end it was the Miz vs. Braun with Kofi on his back duking it out for the belt. The Monster (of course) overpowered the Miz and Kofi and won the MITB briefcase! Maybe we will FINALLY see Strowman rip the Universal Title from Brock Lesnar!!! Like I said, anyone could’ve won this match and I would’ve been happy! That being said, I feel like this was a little short for a MITB match. It had a lot of highly entertaining spots but I wish it lasted a little longer since there were so many talented superstars in this match! Irregardless, it was a great match and a solid end of the night! Braun Strowman wins the Money In The Bank Briefcase 8.75/10. 

Final Thoughts

This year’s Money In The Bank was full of highs and lows. It started out REALLY rough, but once those duds got out of the way, the show finally picked up with the IC Title match and there weren’t as many rough patches after that. The MITB ladder matches, and at one point the briefcase, were the highlights of the night and that’s what matters most for this PPV! It definitely could’ve been better, but honestly there were some great story progressions tonight and that’s one of the things I want the most from a PPV! The next WWE coverage from me will be coming from Extreme Rules, which I’ll be attending!! Until then, let’s all hope the stories go in the right direction! Final Score: 7.5/10

NXT Takeover: Chicago Recap

I love NXT. The roster, the matches, and the storylines are everything that the main roster ought to be. Although NXT is technically the “developmental show” for WWE, I think it goes without saying that almost every weekend there’s an NXT Takeover and a main roster PPV, NXT Takeover is the better show. It’s Money In The Bank weekend, but Saturday night belongs to NXT! Here’s a recap of NXT Takeover Chicago II! Although I give a score for each individual match, it’s only my personal opinion, I’m definitely not a wrestling guru just a guy that loves wrestling!

The Undisputed Era (Champs) vs. Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan – NXT Tag Team Championships

When this feud first began I was disappointed that Pete Dunne didn’t seem to be playing a part in it. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch hadn’t really made a name for themselves yet in NXT, but holy Hell did they bring it tonight! I’m definitely an Oney Lorcan guy now! Both him and Burch put on an incredible fight against the Undisputed Era who were represented by Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch have a pretty sweet signature move and I love the fact that Danny Burch headbutts his opponents. That all being said, The Undisputed Era are one of the best tag teams in the world for a reason. As always they showed perfect synchronicity and having Adam Cole at ringside gave them an unfair advantage, but Lorcan and Burch put up a great fight. Lorcan took a nasty fall where he hit his back off ringside, and the moment he came back I was in disbelief. Though they were close to victory, the Undisputed Era came out on top. It was way more entertaining than I thought it’d be. Excellent opening fight! 9/10 The Undisputed Era wins via pinfall. 

Ricochet vs. Velveteen Dream

 

NXT Takeover: New Orleans gave us one of the greatest ladder matches in recent memory, and these two stars were a big part of that. They had many spots in that match that were absolutely incredible so these two feuding is a dream (puns) come true. The feud began with Velveteen telling Ricochet that anything he can do, the Dream can do better and that story played through the match. Velveteen Dream read Ricochet like a book and was his usual psychological self. Early in the match he began copying Ricochet and doing moves nobody had seen him do before (literally proving he can do anything Ricochet does), but whenever Ricochet starts flying he becomes unstoppable and an absolute blast to watch. Velveteen Dream hits Ricochet with the same Death Valley Bomb he used during the Takeover: New Orleans ladder match and even suplexes Ricochet off the top rope onto the floor which looked PAINFUL. Ricochet then got revenge and used the Death Valley Bomb on Velveteen dream and even mocked him with Velveteen’s signature pose. The ending was a series of 1-Ups from the two, Ricochet did a Shooting Star Press from halfway across the ring, Velveteen Dream attempted an elbow drop from the entire length of the ring, but then Ricochet ended the contest with an INSANE 630. Two amazing wrestlers proving why they’re some of the best in the world. It didn’t matter who won this one, we got the amazing show we were promised! 10/10. Ricochet wins via pinfall.

Shayna Baszler vs. Nikki Cross – NXT Women’s Championship

These two aren’t my favorites in the Women’s Division, but Shayna Baszler has grown on me as a champion. She’s definitely gotten better with time, and Nikki Cross does the “crazy” persona better than anyone I can think of. This match had a bit of humor with how Cross essentially wanted Baszler to beat the crap out of her. After the beginning though there wasn’t much to this match. None of the spots really stuck out, and the finisher where Baszler held Cross in the submission definitely dragged out longer than it should’ve. I didn’t have high expectations for this, and sadly I was right to think so. Definitely the low point of the night, but I’m still excited to see who will be the first genuine threat to Baszler. 6.5/10 Baszler wins via submission.

Aleister Black (Champ) vs. Lars Sullivan – NXT Championship

Takeover continued with NXT Champion Aleister Black defending his belt against Diet Braun Strowman aka Lars Sullivan! Both of these guys always put on a hell of a show so my hopes were high for this one. Black came in hot and began a fast paced assault on Sullivan bringing the monster down fast, but Sullivan easily retaliated to gain the upper hand. The first big spot came when Sullivan climbed the top rope and body slammed Black. Black quickly put up his knee in defense but Sullivan’s massive size just crushed it. That injury played a role the rest of the match, but unlike most “injury stories” in matches, this one looked believably painful. Also, it’s amazing how Black can go from 0 to 100 in just a second. He’s so fast, and Sullivan is surprisingly quick for his size as well. It dragged on a little in the middle but the ending was phenomenal. Black hit Sullivan in the face with his knee then followed up with a Black Mass. Sullivan though shook it off and looked Black in the eye saying “I’m not finished yet.” To which Black yelled out a battle cry and hit Sullivan with another Black Mass to finish the beast off for good. A good, not great match with a very cool ending! Can’t wait to see who challenges the champ next! 8.5/10 Black wins via pinfall.

Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa – Chicago Street Fight 

Gargano vs. Ciampa at Takeover: New Orleans was one for the history books and the feud continued tonight in Chicago where it all began! In the first NXT Takeover: Chicago, Ciampa ended their tag team DIY and betrayed his best friend Gargano starting a blood feud that would last for months due to Ciampa’s injury. That time though only added to the heat between these two and has led to an absolutely amazing feud. Gargano was out for blood this time around leading William Regal to make their match a Chicago Street Fight so they could go all out. The match almost immediately went to the “streets” though with Gargano throwing Ciampa into the announce table (which wrecked poor Nigel McGuinness) and then into the stands. Ciampa though returned the favor with a trip to Suplex City for Gargano and a brutal spot where Ciampa put a chair around Gargano’s neck and threw him into the steel steps. Things started getting kinky though when Ciampa tried to handcuff Gargano, but Gargano defended himself and started whipping his old friend with his belt. Jokes aside, this match made excellent use of weapons and the “everything is legal” stipulation. The two just tore into each other and you really felt these two HATED each other. Things began spiraling further out of control when Ciampa ripped the ring apart exposing the wood underneath (something I have never seen before). Gargano luckily escaped that, but he didn’t escape the trash can lid to the face soon after. Ciampa then dragged Gargano to the entrance ramp and essentially reenacted the moment at the last Takeover Chicago where Ciampa initially turned heel. To rub salt into the wound though, Ciampa took Gargano’s wedding ring, spat on it, then threw it into the crowd. That gave Gargano a second wind which ended up with him putting Ciampa through a table. Ciampa was then getting put on a stretcher and you could see the insanity on Gargano’s face. Gargano snapped and took Ciampa from the medical staff, beat down the WWE staff and unleashed hell on Ciampa. Just when you thought Gargano was going to win, Ciampa somehow with his hands cuffed slammed Gargano head first into the exposed wood of the ring. Ciampa then got the pinfall and won what was a hellacious second chapter to this insane feud. The crowd was shocked and absolutely silent. Nobody could believe the way it ended. I don’t know how they managed to top the first match between these two, but they did. We all know Gargano vs. Ciampa III is coming, and I have NO IDEA how they’re going to top this! 10/10 Ciampa wins via pinfall. 

Final Thoughts 

This PPV was another amazing show WWE should be proud of. With exception to the Women’s Championship, every match was incredible! I wasn’t sure if anything could top Velveteen Dream and Ricochet’s match but then Ciampa vs. Gargano happened. Both were absolute show stealers and to be able to see both in the same night just goes to show how strong the NXT roster is. Gargano vs. Ciampa III will be a must see (whenever that may be) and I’d love to see Ricochet get a title shot in the near future whether it be the North American or NXT Championship Title. Also, I hope Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch don’t get completely overshadowed in the future because they really proved their worth tonight. And for the Women’s Division? I’d love to see someone like Kairi Zayn get a shot against Baszler or even to see Dakota Kai get some sweet revenge. Either way, the future for NXT continues to look as bright as ever! Final Score: 9/10

Ten Songs That Shaped My Music Taste

Everyone’s music taste is completely different. One of my closest friends listens to artists like Nicki Minaj and Harry Styles on a daily basis, while one of my other friends is a pure metalhead who likes bands such as Kreator and Trivium. How’d they get to be fans of those genres? It always starts with a handful of songs. This list is for that handful of songs; the songs that helped shape my taste in music to what it is today. This isn’t my top ten favorite songs, just some of the most influential. It’s a pretty weird group of songs from multiple genres, and while it was hard to limit myself to ten choices, here are the ten songs that shaped my taste in music in the order I experienced them chronologically. Also, if you haven’t heard of any of these songs (most you have, I’m sure) there’s a link at the end of each segment to give the song a try!

“Be Prepared” – Jeremy Irons (Lion King Soundtrack)

Honestly there were a lot of Disney songs I considered to put on this list (a future list maybe?), but I decided to go with my favorite song from the first Disney film I ever saw. “Be Prepared” I think pulled me in at first just because of how cool I thought Scar was. The way he sung it, the comical interlude with the hyenas, and the imagery all only enhanced the song. People always say that Jeremy Irons can’t sing, but when your character is that cool who cares? Then the music itself is so ominous sounding it always stuck with me after the first time I saw the film. This was what made me addicted to not only Disney songs, but musicals in general. The thought of people spontaneously breaking out into song has always brought me joy and I can basically trace the reason all the way back to when I first started watching Disney movies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkU23m6yX04

“Mambo #5” – Lou Bega

This was my absolute favorite song as a little kid. This was the first song I was genuinely addicted to. Looking back on it now it’s pretty hilarious considering what the song is actually about. First grade me didn’t know ALL the lyrics and had no idea it was actually about a guy partying it up with multiple women at once. First grade me just thought the song was really catchy and was fun to dance to. There are a lot of great party/dance songs these days, but none still make me go nuts quite like Mambo #5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK_LN3XEcnw

“Amish Paradise” – Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al was the first artist I got really into. Before Weird Al I only knew individual songs by different singers/bands, but “Bad Hair Day” changed everything. When I first heard Amish Paradise and the rest of “Bad Hair Day,” I got my parents to buy me the CD. It was the first CD I ever bought and it started my obsession with buying CDs. Amish Paradise is hilarious turning Gangsta’s Paradise into a song about how “great” the Amish life is. It was the song that taught me what a parody was and was the first time I had a favorite artist. I owe a lot to Weird Al and I’d kill to see him live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg

“In The End” – Linkin Park

So for years all I listened to was Weird Al, and I was pretty content with that. Then, I started noticing the bands my older brother was into. The first band he bought multiple albums from was this band I never heard of called Linkin Park. The one song you couldn’t seem to escape was “In The End.” It was this weird hybrid (ha) of rock and rap and I couldn’t get enough of it. I’d probably attribute this song to my love for strange combos of music. The Pop Goes Punk albums are something I look forward to every year because there’s nothing quite like hearing a Katy Perry song get turned into metalcore. Many bands have tried to copy Linkin Park’s mix of sound but none ever come close. That hasn’t stopped me though from searching for other bands with great combinations of genres (another is referenced a little later!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVTXPUF4Oz4

Behind Closed Doors – Rise Against

Eventually my brother grew out of his Linkin Park phase (I never did), and eventually his taste in music became very apparent: he liked whatever his girlfriend at the time liked. And by liked I mean he acted like he enjoyed them. When I was in 8th grade my brother would drive us to school and he’d listen to this mix CD his girlfriend made and it was pretty much the CD that helped establish what my favorite genre was. Hilariously though whenever I first heard “Behind Closed Doors” I asked my brother what band that was and he had no clue whatsoever. So I googled some of the lyrics to find the band. I went to the CD store and eventually bought the album Sufferer and the Witness and I will never forget that experience. The store clerk took one look at the album then said “This is an awesome album.” Good Lord was he right. It to this day is still my favorite album and the one I’ve listened to the most from start to finish. I gotta find my brother’s old girlfriend and thank her for making that Mix CD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkPCb-uEjaI

“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” – Panic! At the Disco

That magical mix CD consisted primarily of four artists: Rise Against, My Chemical Romance, Social Distortion, and Panic! At the Disco. For this part of the musical journey I was going to choose either My Chemical Romance’s “The Black Parade” or “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic! At the Disco. Both made albums that are some of my all time favorites, but I heard “I Write Sins” first so it gets the spot. I blame this band for me still liking “emo music,” and I have no shame admitting that! Panic! and MCR have written some incredibly catching songs over the years and I always enjoyed the emotion displayed in their tracks. Emo fans are still secretly hiding all over the world they just don’t like to come out and say it. I will wave the emo music fan flag proudly though! (I just saw Panic! last year and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy0mqXuBMY4

“Fight Fire With Fire” – Metallica

My brother eventually dumped that girl with the magical CD, and he eventually went back to actually deciding for himself what music he liked. I’ll never forget the one trip home where he put in this CD I never saw before. The opening song was this super mellow guitar and I thought “Oh God what is this going to be?!” Then out of nowhere it turned into this insanely heavy and fast metal song! I legit asked him if he switched songs and he said it was the same song with the slow guitar opening. That was the day I learned of Metallica and became a big metal fan. Nothing quite compares to the speed and intensity of metal. It always hits the spot whenever in a bad mood. Fight Fire With Fire is one my favorite metal songs to this day and I will never forget how blown away I was by it’s plot twist opener. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeK1E1HaMdY

Tears Don’t Fall – Bullet For My Valentine

This was the last time my brother had an influence on my music choice. As he continued being the one that drove me to things my music education expanded. What I loved about “Tears Don’t Fall” is that it combined pretty much everything I had grown to like about music (with exception to Weird Al of course). First it had the incredible technical skill and solos of heavy metal, it had the mix of clean vocals and screams that Rise Against had, and it was some deep EMOtional shit like Panic! and MCR. They were the band that kind of solidified my opinion of screaming in songs. Before them I only enjoyed it in Rise Against, but BFMV changed my perspective. After hearing Tears Don’t Fall I got into other bands like Breaking Benjamin, Avenged Sevenfold, and System Of A Down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkEb1vj6ssY

Domination – Symphony X

This discovery came completely out of the blue. It was Christmas morning, I was 14 years old and I had gotten a ton of iTunes gift cards. I was on the music store searching for new music to buy when a name popped out to me in the “Suggested” section. “Symphony X” sounded like the coolest band name I ever heard so I selected the suggested song to give it a listen and it was like I had gotten one final extra Christmas gift! The combination of metal and orchestra was incredible, Domination (and the rest of the album) was simply epic. It sounded like the Final Boss music you’d hear in a video game but it had LYRICS! The singer is still to this day one of my all time favorites, and Symphony X never fails to let me down. Symphonic metal has since then become one of my favorite subgenres to listen to and has helped me to find other great bands like Kamelot, Epica, and Alestorm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hayYZguCt_c

Holy Diver – Killswitch Engage

The final stop in my musical journey (for this list) is dedicated to what started my love for covers. I tend to be pretty picky about covers because a majority of the time they’re either boring, uninspired, or just flat out suck. Killswitch Engage’s cover of “Holy Diver” was the first song to show me that not all covers are bad. Sometimes they can even actually be better! Call it blasphemy but I think this version is infinitely better than the original. Ronnie James Dio would be proud of this cover for sure, it’s just exploding with energy and the vocals are a step above the original. And the added metal breakdowns just bring the whole thing over the top! Since then I’ve found plenty of other great covers (mainly in rock) from bands like Disturbed, We Came As Romans, and Bodycount, but I never would’ve really started looking if I hadn’t listened to this one in the first place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR7dG_m3MsI

There are tons of other great songs that helped shape my taste in music over the years but these ten have been the most influential. Music is such a huge part of my everyday lifestyle now I couldn’t imagine life without it. It’d be so boring!! To anyone reading this though, what’re some of the songs you remember being obsessed with over the years??

Ranking Every Rock On The Range Lineup From Worst to Best

There are two weekends that I look forward to every year more than any other: Wrestlemania weekend and Rock On The Range. For those that don’t know, Rock On The Range is an annual rock and heavy metal festival held in Columbus Ohio the third weekend of May. What began as a one day event with 14 bands has grown into a three day goliath featuring 60 bands! If you’re a rock or heavy metal fan you can’t do much better than an event like Rock On The Range and it’s an event that I’ve loved the past eight years! Sadly this year I wasn’t able to go, but since Rock On The Range is this weekend I thought it’d be fun to rank each year by the quality of their lineup! For this ranking I’m going by overall quality not quantity. Some of the older shows that had fewer bands will outrank the newer ones. More isn’t always better! Also, this is just my personal opinion, musical taste is obviously completely subjective so if you read this and think “Wow this moron got the list totally wrong” that’s cool! Just comment on what lineups you think are the best! Finally, I haven’t gone to Rock On The Range every year since it started, but I know of like 90% of the bands that played all these years so I’m basing the ranking not on their performances at the show but rather how good/bad I perceive them to be!

12. 

This was the very first Rock On The Range and only featured 14 bands. Although there are some great bands on the lineup such as ZZ Top, Evanescence, Papa Roach, and Breaking Benjamin there are just as many bands that you look at and either think, “Who?” or “Oh God no.” The big names in this lineup though were enough to bring enough fans though and started the fandom that would create the largest rock festival in the country!

11.

The second Rock On The Range had a major improvement in the lineup! So much so that it spanned into two days! Some of my absolute favorites played this year such as Disturbed, Shinedown, and Seether. The thing that drags this down the most for though are the headliners. Kid Rock and Stone Temple Pilots? No thanks. Stone Temple Pilots have had an amazing career don’t get me wrong, but they just don’t do anything for me personally.

10. 

OK, the list stops going in chronological order after this I promise! This is where Rock On The Range really started taking off in my opinion. The two headliners are absolute legends (Slipknot and Motley Crue) and then when you look down the list there are still a lot of talented bands that although weren’t big in 2009, grew in fame and are some of the biggest names in rock and metal now! This festival could be one of the reasons why! You know you’ve got a good lineup when bands like Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, and Alice In Chains are opening acts!

9. 

This year had a lot of heavy hitters like Avenged Sevenfold (they show up a lot) and Slayer, but again two of the three headlining bands are pretty lousy. Kid Rock just doesn’t fit into this kind of festival to me and Guns and Roses aren’t the best live. I’m sure some are disgusted at reading that but again this is just my opinion! There’s lots of good lesser known bands here too that help even out the two less than stellar headliners. Also this Rock On The Range featured Staind which I THINK was the last year before their singer Aaron Lewis left to pursue a country music career (*shudders*). It’s been years Aaron please come back! I miss your angry depressing songs!

8. 2018

There’s two main reasons why I didn’t go to Rock On The Range this year.

1. I’m still poor from my Wrestlemania Weekend (worth it).
2. The lineup this year is pretty much garbage.

That is of course except for the headliners. There’s A7X AGAIN (them being here is a running joke for Rangers) along with grunge legends Alice In Chains, and they even got the almost mythical band Tool to come out of hiding! Heck, they got Maynard Keenan’s other band A Perfect Circle to even play! After you look at the first two rows of each day though the lineups are pretty bad. I always look forward to the lesser known bands because they normally end up being pleasant surprises. With a few exceptions like The Fever 333, there really aren’t any particularly great smaller bands. Although Rock On The Range is like a tradition for me, I was OK with missing out this year.

7. 

This was the first Rock On The Range to span into a three day event! Although Friday only featured a few bands and was more of a pregame than anything. Incubus is the main reason this year isn’t higher up on the list. Don’t get me wrong I like a lot of their songs, but they are so different live. They had ZERO energy when they closed their night out and I can’t think of another time I saw a closing band make so many fans leave the show early. This year though was the one that converted me into a Rob Zombie fan. Having never seen him live before, I stuck around because I thought surely he would put on a better show than Incubus, and hot damn was I surprised. He knocked my socks off with his theatrics, pyrotechnics and catchy songs. Also lots of great bands as you read down the list so you can blame the halfway ranking on Incubus.

6. 

This was the first Rock On The Range I went to. I randomly saw it advertised on Facebook and was blown away by how many of my favorite bands were on the lineup. I live three hours away from Columbus, but that road trip was worth it to see bands like Disturbed, A7X, Bullet For My Valentine, Alter Bridge, and Hollywood Undead. This was a great Rock On The Range lineup the full way through, but if I’m being honest, A Perfect Circle was a pretty lousy closer for the whole weekend. Before this festival I had never heard of A Perfect Circle, but when I heard it was fronted by Tool’s singer I had high expectations. The show this band just puts on is weird and it really took all the energy out of the weekend whenever they finished the set.

5. 

No A7X this year! Instead we got three excellent headliners in Disturbed, Rob Zombie, and Red Hot Chili Peppers played the festival for their first time! Bands like Deftones, Between the Buried and Me, Sixx AM, and At The Drive In were bands that either hadn’t played Rock On The Range before or hadn’t played in a long time so it was refreshing to hear some new material from well known bands! A lot of the bands towards the bottom of each day’s lineup are pretty forgettable. There are some good smaller acts though like Red Sun Rising, Avatar, and Crown The Empire. Also this lineup has the Butcher Babies which is just unforgivable.

4. 

If only I had Facebook in 2010 I may have heard of Rock On The Range this year. If I had I would’ve gone in a heartbeat because this lineup is STACKED. All of the last four are epic. This was the first year to feature my absolute favorite band of all time Rise Against! To find a band I’d consider “bad” you have to go almost all the way down to the bottom of the lineup and even some of THOSE are bands I love! Limp Bizkit as the closer though is the major blemish on this lineup. I mean anyone that likes Limp Bizkit only likes them ironically right? Nookie is poetry in song form (tee hee) but besides that there’s not much to say about Limp Bizkit that’s positive.

3.

These last three get really nitpicky so I apologize for that. This year in my opinion had the best trio of headliners the festival has ever had. All three are legendary bands that’ll be remembered and loved for years to come. The bands towards the bottom of each lineup are very hit and miss though which is partly why I put this year behind the #2 and #1 spot. Also the Saturday lineup for this year definitely got the short end of the stick. With exception to Judas Priest, Godsmack, Papa Roach, and In Flames there really aren’t any “must see” bands. There are a couple good not great bands and some bands that I actively avoided this year.

2. 

Last year’s Rock On The Range is one I will never forget. It started a year ago today. I was so looking forward to seeing Soundgarden headline Friday. Then the literal day before the news came: Chris Cornell took his own life. The entire festival was dedicated to him, and a lot of bands did Soundgarden, Audio Slave, and Temple of Dog covers in his memory. Sad memories aside, this lineup is incredible. From top to to bottom again there aren’t many bad bands on this lineup. This year though earns bonus points for FINALLY getting Metallica to play! Punk legends The Offspring along with the infamous Primus also made their Rock On The Range debuts. There was a good combination of long time Rock On The Range favorites, and newcomers to bring in new fans to the festival. That and the tribute to Chris Cornell made this one of the best Rock On The Range weekends of all time. However, there is one that puts this just ever so slightly better in my opinion.

1.

 

This was the year where Rock On The Range reached its final form and became a full three day festival experience, and the lineup pulled no punches featuring legends like Smashing Pumpkins, Alice In Chains, and Korn. This was also the only year Soundgarden played Rock On The Range and they were an amazing end to an already epic weekend. Most probably wouldn’t pick this lineup as the best, but for me personally it’s a gold mine. Every single row, even the very bottom, feature multiple bands that I love and own music from. You can’t see every band at a festival like this, so choosing who to see and not see was incredibly difficult. It was like choosing which child you liked the most! I always have a blast at Rock On The Range, but this year was particularly good to me and my musical preferences!

 

So that’s my ranking of each Rock On The Range based on the quality of their lineup! Although I’m not going to this year’s festival I’m already thinking about how great next year will be! I’ll just rob a bank or something so I can go to both Rock On The Range and Wrestlemania I guess. I’ll figure it out.

To Infinity & Beyond: Avengers – Infinity War

Two weeks is a long enough wait before talking about a movie right? I think so, but if you disagree then WARNING!!!! Infinity War Spoilers ahead! You have been warned! 

It’s finally here, the beginning of the climax for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe! I still vividly remember seeing the original Iron Man in theaters. What started out as one small movie has now expanded into an 18 story epic that has all been building to this! This is Infinity War.

Plot

The Mad Titan Thanos has begun his rampage across the universe in search for the six Infinity Stones to complete his Infinity Gauntlet. With all six Infinity Stones Thanos plans to erase half the universe’s population to bring balance to life. Two Infinity Stones are currently on Earth putting it in the cross hairs for Thanos and his “Children” to wreak havoc. It’s up to Earth’s mightiest heroes and the Guardians of the Galaxy to join together and prevent Thanos from completing his universal genocide.

Villains

When a villain has been built up since 2012, it had better live up to the hype, and it’s clear within minutes of the film that Thanos is everything fans have been hoping for. Josh Brolin does an incredible performance as the Titan making him both horrifying and oddly relatable at the same time. Let’s set the record straight: Thanos doesn’t want to eliminate half the universe’s population to rule over it as its leader. No, Thanos believes eliminating half the population will preserve life for the entire universe. The universe is finite in its resources and must be kept in check. In Thanos’ eyes the only way to save the universe is to cut down the population. I personally think making it rain potatoes would be sufficient but what do I know? Like Kilmonger before him, Thanos is a villain that you can’t really argue with. The problem he is trying to fix is one that you can’t deny. Sure his methodology may be a bit off, but in his eyes he’s the hero. That’s what makes him one of the best villains the MCU has ever conceived. Thanos will literally do whatever it takes to complete his mission (more on that later). He’s also a terrifyingly powerful villain. He manages to beat the Hulk in mere seconds, survives attacks that would kill basically anyone else, and defeats literally all the Avengers and half the Guardians of the Galaxy all at the same time.

Up to this point the only “Children of Thanos” that we knew were Gamora and Nebula, but Infinity War gave us the rest when they introduced Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, and Cull Obsidian. They only said their names maybe once in the entire film, but don’t worry you remember them because of their actions. Squidward… I mean Ebony Maw is particularly memorable due to him having a larger amount of lines. All four though are great villains that prove to be a formidable opponent for both the Guardians and the Avengers. They may be minions to Thanos but they are not to be taken lightly, they defeat the Avengers and Guardians multiple times throughout the film up until the final battle. They also bring a majority of the action sequences in the film and they lead to some great pair ups with different heroes in the MCU, you can’t ask for much more than that when their primary role is to make Thanos seem ever more menacing.

Best Scenes

I could honestly compile a top ten list of the best moments from this movie alone, but I’m going to limit myself to two best scenes this time. This first one though is one that I think everyone saw coming: The Battle of Wakanda. Without a doubt the best battle in the entire MCU. The Children of Thanos invade Wakanda in order to capture Vision and steal the Mind Stone from him so the Avengers team together with the Wakandan tribes to stop Thanos’ plans. The battle has everything: Hulkbuster armor, a badass beatdown by some of Marvel’s best ladies, an insanely cool entrance by Thor, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot, and even a lot of laughs. The two funniest bits by far are whenever Groot introduces himself to Captain America and all he can muster to say back is, “I am Steve Rogers.” At that point, the kid from Brooklyn had seen just about everything. Another hilarious moment is when Winter Soldier picks up Rocket Raccoon and uses him as a new weapon and Rocket then asks Winter Soldier how much he’s paying for his robot arm (because of course he would.). Then of course the ending is one of the most heart wrenching, emotional sequences you’ll find in any film, not just in the superhero genre. Thanos wins at the end of the battle and snaps his fingers killing half the universe and we the audience are forced to watch characters we’ve grown to love, die right in front of us. Not only that but every single BFF/Bromance in the MCU lost someone. Cap lost Bucky, Rocket lost Groot, the Guardians lost literally everyone, and worst of all, Tony lost Peter Parker IN HIS ARMS. The Battle of Wakanda is something I’ll never ever forget.

This picture isn’t from the scene, but this scene is kept so secretly you can’t find any pictures for it! 

The second best scene in the film concerns the mystery of the Soul Stone. Up to this point there were absolutely ZERO hints as to where it could be. People had theories and speculations, but we had to wait until Infinity War to get our answers. Turns out the only person who knew the location of the Soul Stone was none other than Gamora. Thanos tortures Nebula to get Gamora to reveal the location of the Soul Stone and Thanos forces her to take him there. They travel to the far away planet of Vormir and are met by the “Stonekeeper” who warns Thanos of the power of the stone. It’s at this point audiences started to think “Man this guy sounds familiar I can’t put my finger on it…” then the Stonekeeper’s identity was revealed!

…RED SKULL!!!!! When I wrote about Captain America: The First Avengers I said we were probably never going to see this guy again, but holy shit was I wrong and I am 100% OK with that! Red Skull warns Thanos that in order to get the Soul Stone he must show that he understands the stone’s power. He must trade the soul of someone he loves for the soul stone. That trade comes by hurling a loved one off a cliff. It’s at this point Gamora beings to laugh and cheer mocking Thanos that after all the years of work, the Universe itself ruined his mission because he loves nothing in the Universe. It’s at this point Thanos looks to her with tears in his eyes. Gamora laughs surprised he’d cry in defeat which is when Red Skull says this,

“Those tears aren’t for him.”

Thanos does love something: his daughter Gamora. Though heartbroken Thanos doesn’t hesitate to grab his beloved daughter and throw her to her death. From start to finish the entire scene was shocking, heartbreaking, and completely out of nowhere. Nobody saw this one coming.

Stan Lee Cameo

Again, Marvel is doing a good job of keeping spoilery pictures off the internet so instead of a photo of the actual cameo, enjoy this cameo from Deadpool 2! This amusing small cameo came at the beginning of the film. The Children of Thanos arrive at Earth with their ship and Peter Parker asks his friend to distract everyone else on the bus so he can escape as Spider-Man. The kids start screaming that they’re going to die at the sight of the ship which is when Stan Lee, the bus driver says, “What’s the matter haven’t you seen a spaceship before!?” We’ve been at this for 18 movies now guys, spaceships are almost an everyday occurrence in New York.

Post Credits Scene

We find Nick Fury and Maria Hill in New York when suddenly the effect of Thanos’ genocidal snap begin. Vehicles begin crashing, helicopters falling from the sky, and chaos ensues. Confused, Fury calls for backup with a Code Red. Suddenly though, Hill calls out to Nick and it’s clear she’s dying. Fury runs to his vehicle to grab a pager but then notices he’s beginning to fade as well. His last words being, “Mother f….” Nick hits the button on the pager and it falls to the ground. It shows the pager ringing and then received with a logo Marvel fans should find all too familiar: Captain Marvel is on her way!  There’s still hope!

Final Thoughts

This movie has been ten years in the making and it was worth every second of waiting! I honestly can’t think of anything negative to say about it I loved it the whole way through. It gave us so many great pair ups such as Tony Stark and Doctor Strange, Thor with the Guardians, and Bruce Banner and Shuri. Thanos certainly lived up to the hype as well being both terrifying and understandable. The movie almost shows Thanos as the hero! At the end of the film once he kills half the universe we see him retired enjoying peace and smiling as the sun rises. Marvel ALMOST has you rooting for this guy after he kills almost every hero we’ve come to love over the years. Yes the ending is literally soul crushing and difficult to watch for diehard fans, but those same fans had to know going into this that the film was going to end that way. Now the one year wait for Avengers 4 is going to be absolutely brutal, but we’ve got Ant-Man and the Wasp along with Captain Marvel on the way to keep us busy until then.

Thanos Meme

The only play the Avengers have left! Maybe if Tony gives Thanos a stern talking to he’ll surrender????

 

WWE Backlash Recap

The end of Wrestlemania is basically the season finale for WWE’s storylines. Not including the Greatest Royal Rumble, Backlash is the first PPV of the new “season” of WWE! Now that my Infinity War marathon is over, I’m trying to write something once a week, and I’ve decided that I’m going to include a WWE section on my blog! Primarily I’ll be recapping PPVs from both the main roster and NXT! Nevertheless, here’s a recap and my personal opinion of each match on the Backlash card! Reminder, these are my opinions, I’m not some wrestling guru; just a guy that loves some wrasslin’!

Bayley vs. Ruby Riot 

This was a pretty generic match with the outcome you’d expect. Before the match Bayley asked Sasha to bury the hatchet and be ringside to give her some backup against the Riot Squad. Sasha turned down the offer, and as expected there were a bunch of moments where Baylet got hit by the other Riot Squad members while the ref wasn’t looking. Besides Ruby Riot’s move where she threw Bayley into the turnbuckle, there wasn’t much that stuck out. It was a kickoff show match though so you can’t expect much out of it. 6/10 Ruby Riot wins via pinfall. 

Seth Rollins (Champ) vs. The Miz – Intercontinental Championship Match

Similar to Wrestlemania, Backlash decided to start the night off with the Intercontinental Title match! No Finn Balor this time though, only Rollins and the Miz! These are two of the most popular superstars on the roster so putting them together is instant success. Miz continues to be the ultimate heel and had some great spots with Rollins. I’m not sure if it’s possible for Rollins to have a bad match he’s just so versatile with his moveset which makes all his matches so exciting. At one point he pulled a Shane McMahon and nearly jumped the entire length of the ring to frog splash Miz, it just shows how athletic he is. The most dramatic point came when Rollins hit his knee off the post and Miz put him in the figure four lock. Rollins though gets an evil look in his eye and turns the lock on the Miz. The two go back and forth on the lock until Rollins makes it to the rope. Going into the match it was obvious that Rollins would win. If Rollins lost, both the Intercontinental and US titles would be on Smackdown making RAW super boring, but this fight did a pretty great job of making you second guess what the outcome would be. 8.75/10 Rollins wins via Pinfall.

Nia Jax (Champ) vs. Alexa Bliss – RAW Women’s Championship Match

Speaking of ultimate heel, Alexa Bliss holds that title proudly for the Women’s Division. These two had a great match at Wrestlemania, and the two again had a pretty decent showing at Backlash. Nia Jax repeatedly tossed Bliss around like she was a piece of paper, but Bliss responded with some smart moves such as attacking Nia’s legs and knocking her off the top post when the opportunity presented itself. In the end though, Nia was never in any real danger of losing the title so the match as a whole wasn’t as exciting as one would hope. 7/10 Nia Jax wins via Pinfall. 

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy (Champ) – United States Championship Match

Next to Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe, this is the match I was most excited for! A championship match where either of the two could win because they were on the show (yay proper booking)! These two put on a solid match. Hardy got to do some nice aerial moves while Orton countered with his slower style. There weren’t any RKOs though which is always a downer. Nevertheless, Jeff Hardy had a sweet finish to close out the match to retain the title. Considering a year ago Orton was fighting Jinder Mahal, I’d say this year was an improvement for Mr. Orton. 8/10 Jeff Hardy wins via Pinfall 

Filler in a Pay Per View is never a good sign, but this one might just get a pass since it included some of WWE’s best Superstars.

At this point of the show Elias came out with guitar in hand, called New Jersey a toilet and did what he does best: piss the crowd off. Seriously why hasn’t this guy gotten more wins/title opportunities. New Day interrupted him with instruments (and pancakes) of their own and played their own song. Elias was about to restart when Aiden English broke out into a rap announcing Rusev Day! Elias tried to restart AGAIN, but was interrupted by No Way Jose who had Titus Worldwide in his entourage of dancers along with the Fashion Police. After everyone stopped, Elias YET AGAIN tries to start only to get interrupted by the GLORIOUS Bobby Roode and then hit with a Glorious DDT. As far as fillers go, this one was at least funny. Rusev deserves better though.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass

And now the fight everyone has been waiting for! Daniel Bryan vs. The Mi… wait. Big Cass? BIG CASS!? WWE has been building heat between Daniel Bryan and The Miz for months and months and now that Bryan can fight again we are gonna have him feud with BIG CASS!? The story behind this feud is pure silliness: both were medically cleared the same day and Big Cass was overshadowed by Daniel Bryan (shocker). That being said, just seeing Daniel Bryan in the ring again is a treat. Big Cass isn’t a bad wrestler by any means, he has some good moments in the fight, but the story is just something the WWE Universe doesn’t want. This match up really is kind of a lose lose situation. Daniel Bryan wins, then Big Cass looks weak just after his return to the ring. Big Cass wins then the WWE Universe hates Big Cass for beating Daniel Bryan. Overall it was just an OK match that nobody really cared about. 7.5/10 Daniel Bryan wins via Pinfall, but Big Cass attacks Bryan from behind. Unfortunately this probably isn’t the last we’ll see of this feud. 

Carmella (Champ) vs. Charlotte Flair – Smackdown Women’s Championship Match

Since winning Money In The Bank nearly a year ago, Carmella really hasn’t had any time to shine so seeing her steal the Women’s Title from Charlotte after Wrestlemania was a breath of fresh air. Going into this match I was almost positive it was going to end in a DQ via the Iconics attacking Charlotte, but I was gladly proven wrong! I hate that Carmella is being portrayed as one of those champions that avoids fights and literally screams in terror at the competition, but thankfully we only had to deal with a small portion of that. The rest of it was a genuine match between the two and I am shocked to say that Carmella had a clean win! 7.75/10 Carmella retains via Pinfall.

AJ Styles (Champ) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – WWE World Heavyweight Championship, No DQ Match

Why isn’t this the main event of the night? Seriously we have a pointless tag match happening after this! Also, why is Nakamura obsessed with hitting AJ Styles in the balls? Besides the constant nut crushing, I’ve been happy that Nakamura is a heel and I’m even happier to see these two feuding still. A No DQ stipulation usually leads to a pretty epic match and this was no different. There were some great moments like Styles taking the nastiest crash into the steps I think I’ve ever seen, Nakamura getting hit with a chair and said chair deflecting back to AJ’s face, and AJ FINALLY getting revenge and smashing Nakamura’s balls. Then the ending happened. AJ and Nakamura exchanged nut shots again and both were unable to get up after a 10 count so the match was declared a no contest. An awesome match with the absolute stupidest ending I’ve seen in a long time. The feud could’ve continued with a much better ending aka anything other than that. 7/10 No Contest. 

Bobby Lashley & Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn

What’s the story of this match? All these big names didn’t have a match so they decided to put this together. Braun deserves so much more than being in a glorified filler match. The match was exactly that until the ending where Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens began fighting and throwing each other into the ring meaning soon we’ll (hopefully) be getting a feud between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn soon. This was just a match filled with superstars that should be doing bigger and better things. 6.5/10 Bobby Lashley & Braun Strowman win via Pinfall.

Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe 

I’m sure the WWE Universe loved the beginning of this match. Before the bell even range Samoa Joe unleashed hell on Roman Reigns and beat the snot out of him throwing him into all three announce tables at ring side. After the bell rang it was more of the same, Joe smacked Reigns around and the crowd (and myself) loved it. However it wouldn’t be a Roman Reigns match without a miraculous comeback from him with his signature, spear, Superman punch, and “OOOOOOOH” yell. They’re all there, but what brought the match down was the overuse of Joe putting Roman in dragged out submissions. It’s OK to have them, but these were dragged out for way too long where it seemed like nothing was happening. I get it’s part of their “story building” but the story shouldn’t bring down the actual match. The ending had some great back and forths but unfortunately the wrong person won. 6.75/10 Roman Reigns wins via Pinfall

Final Thoughts

I didn’t expect much from this PPV, and sadly my fears were right. It was overall a pretty mediocre PPV. The only great match from start to finish was Rollins vs. The Miz. The US Title match was good, but the other matches were all just average at best. Daniel Bryan should be in a better feud, or at least be making Big Cass look good. Instead we got the exact opposite. Styles vs. Nakamura ended up being a complete waste, and the final match had some spots that dragged on forever. I’ve only been watching WWE for four years, but I don’t think I’ve ever watched a Backlash PPV where I thought “Wow that was really good!” Maybe someday that’ll change, but not today. 7.25/10 

To Infinity & Beyond: Black Panther

This is it. The final chapter before Infinity War begins! We were already introduced to T’Challa as the Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, but he has finally gotten his own solo movie! The MCU has taken us to Asgard, the world of magic, and deep space, but now it’s time to introduce another piece of the Marvel Universe that fans have wanted to see. It’s time to finally see Wakanda!

Plot

After the death of his father at the hands of the Winter Soldier, T’Challa returns to Wakanda and is crowned as the new king and is given the title of “Black Panther.” Being king, as you’d guess, is no easy task particularly when Wakanda is home to the greatest technology and strongest metal in the world: vibranium. When both an old and new threat emerge from the shadows, T’Challa’s beliefs and skills are put to the ultimate test.

Villain

As stated earlier, Black Panther faces off against both an old and a new threat. The old villain is none other than Ulysses Klaue who we first saw in Avengers: Age of Ultron. If you remember though, Klaue had his arm sliced off by Ultron himself. However, Klaue is back with a new sound wave blasting arm cannon that causes quite a bit of trouble for Black Panther. He’s still his hilarious yet crazy self from Age of Ultron, but it was great to see his more villainous side this time around. He has some great moments in the film, and it’s clear to see why he has given the people of Wakanda trouble for over 30 years.

The big bad though is Wakanda native and cousin to T’Challa, Erik Killmonger. Killmonger’s father was T’Challa’s uncle who seemingly abandoned his people to start a life of crime. That, however, was not the case. Killmonger’s father, N’jobu left Wakanda because he believed that others from African descent needed help; help that Wakanda could easily provide. T’Challa’s father T’Chakka caught up with N’jobu and killed him to preserve the secret location of Wakanda. And thus, the villain Killmonger was born. Killmonger spent his whole life training, learning, and fighting in the army so that he would be ready; ready for the day that he could become the new Black Panther and use Wakanda’s resources in a way that would help African people all around the world. It took a long time, but Marvel finally made an MCU villain that is on par with Loki. Not only is he a well-developed character, Michael B. Jordan does an excellent job portraying him. Also, he’s the type of villain whose motives aren’t that despicable. His motives are actually quite honorable. He has seen how cruel the world is to people like him and he thinks his people deserve better. It’s not even like he goes about becoming the Black Panther in a sinister way either. He competes in the same ritual battle for the title of Black Panther as T’Challa did in the beginning of the film. When I saw the previews for this film, I was so worried that he was just going to be yet another evil clone of the hero cliché that Marvel is famous for. I’m so glad to say this isn’t the case. He is a relatable villain that will be remembered as one of Marvel’s best for a long time.

Best Scene

Am I allowed to say the entire movie? No? OK. My personal favorite scene has to be when Killmonger first arrives in Wakanda and tells T’Challa that he wants the throne. The two go to the battle ground and Killmonger just has this great set of lines about how he has spent his whole life training for the moment that he could become the new Black Panther. He mentions in the film that he gave himself a scar for every kill he ever made, he then takes his shirt off to reveal his entire body is covered in those scars. Killmonger and T’Challa then have an epic fight that ends not only with T’Challa’s defeat, but also the death of T’Challa’s advisor Zuri. This is also the part of the movie where Killmonger reveals that T’Challa’s father wasn’t as noble as everyone thought he was, and how T’Challa’s father was essentially the reason Killmonger became the way that he was. It also helps that Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. George are incredible actors and enhance both their characters to new levels.

Stan Lee Cameo

In the beginning of the movie, Black Panther gets a lead as to where Klaue will make an appearance next. He takes two of Wakanda’s best badasses, Okoye and Nakia with him to South Korea. They enter into an underground gambling ring and Black Panther spots the American that Klaue is meeting with: CIA agent Everett Ross (last seen in Civil War)! T’Challa meets him at a poker table with chips in hand. Klaue arrives soon after and T’Challa quickly leaves. Before Everett can say anything else, Stan Lee awkwardly walks over saying “You know what, I’m just gonna slide these chips over here and I’m gonna keep them company.”

Post Credits Scenes

Marvel was kind enough to give us two! The first has T’Challa making an announcement to the world that Wakanda will finally be sharing its resources and technology with the world. He gives an inspirational speech about how we are all more alike than we are different. He continues with the speech until someone interrupts him asking how a “third world country” like Wakanda can possibly help the world. T’Challa finds Everett in the crowd and they both start to laugh.

The second scene takes us back to Wakanda to find “the other broken white man to fix” that Shuri mentioned earlier in the film. As we know from Captain America: Civil War, the other broken white man is the Winter Soldier himself Bucky! Although Bucky is missing an arm, he seems to be in a much better mental state than when we last saw him in Civil War. The Wakandan children refer to him as “The White Wolf” and it’s clear that he’ll be ready to help in the war that’s coming.

Final Thoughts

Next to Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther is the best superhero origin movie in the MCU. I give a slight edge to Black Panther though because it has everything a film needs to be truly great. The cast of actors alone is impressive, but their performances are even greater. The story itself is above and beyond the typical superhero movie by being both thought provoking and relevant to current events. The villain is the best Marvel has produced in the last 14 movies, and the action is memorable from beginning to end. My generation didn’t really know who Black Panther was unless you read the comics, but I’m glad that Black Panther is finally in the mainstream and is a hero that’ll be in the spotlight for years to come.

I can’t believe this marathon is already over! Seems like just last week I was watching Nick Fury tell Iron Man he was part of a bigger universe! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them! I’ll most likely do a spoiler free write-up for Infinity War once it comes out, and I’ll probably continue these articles for Ant-Man and the Wasp and Captain Marvel before Avengers 4 comes out. Now here’s to hoping Infinity War doesn’t suck!

Thanos Meme of the Week

“This week on Triple D we’re visiting a local dive planet called Terra that’s serving up some KILLER Infinity Stones that are out of bounds!”

To Infinity & Beyond: Thor – Ragnarok

Thor has definitely had some of the weakest films in the entire MCU. The first Thor was a subpar origin movie that was saved thanks mostly to an excellent villain, and Dark World was undoubtedly the worst in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel had to do something bold if they were going to revive Thor both as a character and as a trilogy, so what did Marvel do? They made one of the most wildly entertaining films to date. This is Thor: Ragnarok!

Plot

After Ultron used the Mind Stone and nearly wiped out humanity, Thor left Earth to search for the other Infinity Stones. Infinity Stones seemed to be popping up left and right in the recent events, but Thor couldn’t find any more in his travels. Instead he came across the demonic being known as Surtur who planned to bring Ragnarok (the end of Asgard). After defeating Surtur and returning home, Thor discovers that Odin has been replaced by Loki as ruler of Asgard! Thor forces Loki to take him to Odin who has been on Earth this whole time. With the help of Doctor Strange, Thor and Loki find Odin just before he dies. He warns his two sons of their sister Hela who Odin hid from them due to her frightening power. Hela will bring the true Ragnarok and it’s up to Thor and Loki to stop her. Upon first meeting though Hela is far too powerful and sends Thor and Loki to the planet Sakaar ruled by the Grandmaster. Now a prisoner, Thor must find a way to return home and prevent Ragnarok.

Villains

Hela is the Goddess of Death. She was Odin’s first born and the two fought together to conquer all of the realms. None stood in their way, but one day Odin grew fearful of Hela so he banished her to the realm of the dead for millions of years. The day Odin died though, she was free and wanted revenge on Asgard. She obliterated the entire Asgardian army, killed Thor’s friends, the Warriors Three, and destroyed Thor’s hammer Mjolnir like it was made of glass. Her power is connected to her home Asgard; the longer she is there the more powerful she becomes making her essentially immortal. She can also create weapons out of thin air making her power limitless as well. Basically there’s no real way to defeat her, the most Thor and the others can do is summon the equally powerful god Surtur to distract her long enough for the people of Asgard to escape. While she may not be as great of a character as Loki, she is definitely one of the better characters in the MCU mostly because of her abilities and origins as a character.

Surtur is the ruler of the realm known as Musphelheim and was banished there after Odin defeated him and stole his Eternal Flame (the source of Surtur’s power). Just by glancing at him you can tell he’s an extremely powerful being. The fact that he is able to stand toe to toe against Hela should be proof enough of that. Although he does not have a lot of screen time he was definitely a memorable character and could very easily be a foe the Avengers face in the future.

Best Scene

I was tempted to say the battle between Thor and Hulk on Sakaar was the best scene in the film, but I just can’t pick that over Thor’s arrival on the Rainbow Bridge at the end of the film. Thor and Hela are battling it out and it’s clear that Thor is outmatched. Hela has Thor pinned down (literally via knives) and says “I’m the Goddess of Death, what are you the god of again?” To which Thor begins to fully utilize his powers as the God of Thunder. He then arrives on the Rainbow Bridge to help the Asgardians escape on the ship Loki brought from Sakaar. Thor, Valkyrie, Hulk, Heimdall, and Loki begin kicking ass on the Rainbow Bridge to the tune of Led Zepplin’s “Immigrant Song.” It’s an incredibly epic scene that spawned many spoofs the rest of the year. All over YouTube people were taking epic action scenes and adding “The Immigrant Song” over it.

Stan Lee Cameo

Thor is about to fight in his first battle in the Grandmaster’s Contest of Champions and he is forced to get his haircut. The barber of course is Stan Lee and he warns Thor, “Now don’t you move, my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be.” Thor then confidently threatens Stan by saying “By Odin’s beard you shall not cut my hair, lest you feel the wrath of the might Thor!” Stan then reveals the size of the many blades he has to cut Thor’s hair to which Thor then whimpers “Please kind sir, do not cut my hair!” which then causes Stan to let out an evil laugh.

Post Credit Scenes

Thor and Loki are talking about heading back to Earth and Loki asks if he thinks it’s a good idea for him to come back (since he tried to enslave them all). Thor replies that it probably isn’t, but it’s alright because he thinks the “worst is behind them.” At that very moment a look of horror falls on Loki’s face and Thor looks confused himself. They look out the window and find a massive ship in front of them. Anyone with a functioning brain should know who’s on that ship. That’s right, Thanos is officially here.

In the second post credits scene, Grandmaster emerges from a ship surrounded by those that revolted against him. Grandmaster then says some hilarious lines:

“I gotta say, I’m proud of you all. This revolution has been a huge success! Yay us! Pat on the back, pat on the back, come on! No? Me too, because I’ve been a big part of this. Can’t have a revolution without someone to overthrow so you’re welcome. And uh… it’s a tie.”

Jeff Goldblum was an absolutely amazing Grandmaster and I really hope we get to see him again in future films.

Final Thoughts

As stated earlier, Thor hasn’t had the best run of movies. Besides Avengers, one can’t really say he’s been in particularly good films. That being said, everything changed with Ragnarok. According to the film crew, most of the dialogue was improv’d by the cast and because of that, there was plenty of excellent comedic moments. You can just tell that Chris Hemsworth and the others are having a blast in this movie because everything is so unique, funny, and memorable. Thor went from having two of the weakest films in the MCU to having one of the absolute best. You can’t watch this film without smiling. Rolling Stone magazine put it best: “It’s the most fun you’ll ever have at a Marvel movie.”

Thanos Meme of the Week

Don’t worry Thanos you’ll be showing up very very soon. Just be gentle…

To Infinity & Beyond: Spider-Man – Homecoming

Spider-Man has been on the silver screen multiple times over the years, and has had a successful run of movies (for the most part). Spider-Man was owned by Sony though so that meant he could never be a part of the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eventually though Sony and Disney were able to cut a deal that allowed Disney to use Spider-Man in the MCU. He made his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War, but it’s time to talk about Spider-Man’s full film debut in the MCU. Spider-Man’s back home!

Plot

After Iron Man recruited him to fight Team Cap in Berlin during Civil War, Peter Parker has been itching to prove himself to the Avengers. However, Tony Stark hasn’t returned any of Peter’s calls and he has been stuck doing menial tasks such as helping lost old women and stopping bicycle robbers. That all changes whenever Peter comes across some thugs using weapons infused with alien technology. Tony tells Peter to stay out of it, but Peter thinks this is his big opportunity to prove that he is worthy of fighting alongside the Avengers. Little does he know that he’s about to get in way over his head, and that he has a lot to learn before becoming a true hero.

Villains

Adrian Toomes owned a salvage company and was assigned with cleaning up the destruction left from the Battle of New York eight years ago. While removing the alien tech the Department of Damage Control stepped in and confiscated it all. Well most of it, Toomes had one truck’s worth of alien technology and decided to put that to villainous use. With the help of someone known as the Tinkerer and some others he builds a winged suit and becomes the Vulture. What makes Vulture stand out from the myriad of other villains in the MCU is that he’s got good motivation for his actions. Throughout the first 2/3 of the film, Vulture sticks to mostly selling weapons on the black market aka smaller crime. You realize he’s not really evil, he just wants to provide for his family. However, once Spider-Man starts getting in the way of his illegal deals, he gets darker. He begins to get bitter towards superheroes, believing they don’t care about “the little people,” and all the little people are good for is cleaning up after them. Also, he threatens to murder Peter and everyone he loves so that’s nice. He also attempts to steal all of the Avengers gear from Avengers Tower during their move. His suit is powered by alien tech so he’s definitely a considerable threat too. What makes Vulture a good villain though is mostly his character, story arch, and the fact that he’s played by the excellent Michael Keaton.

Vulture also has two underlings that fans of the comics will instantly recognize: Shocker and the Tinkerer. Tinkerer is the main man responsible behind fusing all of Vulture’s gear with alien technology while Shocker is more of the muscle behind the job. He was responsible for selling the technology to criminals, and he was equipped with a larger powerful gauntlet that, you guessed it, shocked whoever it touched. It was cool to see both characters in the film, but they don’t have a particularly large amount of screen time.

Best Scene

Peter Parker confronts Vulture in a warehouse after learning he plans to steal all of the Avengers’ gear. Vulture though isn’t phased and remotely sends his suit after Peter. At least that’s what it seems. Really though Vulture was destroying the support beams in the warehouse around Peter which causes the roof to collapse and trap Peter. At this point, Peter no longer has his super suit given to him by Tony, so he has no help in trying to escape. Peter panics and screams while he is unable to move, but it’s clear that nobody is coming to help. It’s at this point that Tony’s words echo in Peter’s mind: “If you’re nothing without the suit, then you don’t deserve it.” Peter then uses his own power to lift the debris on top of him and frees himself. It’s an emotional and powerful scene that makes you want to stand up and cheer. It’s the point in the movie where Peter learns how to truly be worthy of the title of a hero.

Stan Lee Cameo

In a montage early in the film, Spider-Man is swinging throughout Queens stopping small crimes. At one point he finds a man that is seemingly breaking into a car. Peter stops him but the man says that it’s his car. The alarm goes off and people in nearby buildings start yelling at Spider-Man for causing a ruckus. One of them is Stan Lee who says “Don’t make me come down there you punk!!!” Another lady says hi to him and he says “Marjorie how are ya!? How’s your mother?” Stan Lee threatening to beat up that punk Spider-Man is nothing short of amazing.

Post Credit Scenes

Vulture is walking down a hall in prison when he’s stopped by Mac Gargan, the man Vulture was making a weapons deal with during the big ferry action sequence. Gargan has some serious scars from his fight with Spider-Man, and asks Vulture for Spider-Man’s identity. Vulture though refuses to give up Spider-Man and the two part ways. Gargan, for those who don’t know, is actually a pretty big Spider-Man villain known as Scorpion so it’s pretty obvious we’ll be seeing him again sometime in the near future! Spider-Man has the best rogues gallery of any hero in my opinion so I’m always excited to see new villains show up in his films!

The second post credits scene is without question the best post credits scene the MCU has ever done. Throughout the film Peter watches this hilarious educational videos featuring “international criminal” Captain America. The final post credits scene gives us the best educational video yet:

“Hi, I’m Captain America. Here to talk to you about one of the most valuable traits a student or soldier can have. Patience. Sometimes, patience is the key to victory. Sometimes, it leads to very little, and it seems like it’s not worth it, and you wonder why you waited so long for something so disappointing… How many more of these?”

Fans waited for the entire end credits to be met with the biggest troll the MCU has ever had. It was amazing, hysterical, and slightly infuriating but you have to appreciate a good troll.

Final Thoughts

This was a great return for Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man series was cut short for it being… kind of lame so it was great to see Spider-Man come back with big success. Tom Holland is an excellent young Spider-Man and is one that fans will love for years to come. The villain is great and I love how the whole film is on a smaller scale. There’s no world ending threat, it’s just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man stopping a heist. This was never meant to be a movie where Peter saved the world. That all being said, I think this movie is a TAD overrated. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, but I definitely wouldn’t consider it one of the MCU’s best by any means. Tobey Maguire will always be my favorite Spider-Man and the first two films are still some of my favorite superhero films of all time so I never expected this to outdo them. Nevertheless, it’s great to see Spider-Man where he belongs: in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! Just in time too because Thanos will be arriving in the very near future!

Thanos Meme of the Week

To Infinity & Beyond: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Last week things got pretty strange with the introduction of sorcery and other dimensions, and this week we are continuing this wacky ride by revisiting our favorite group of misfits. It’s time to check back in with the Frickin Guardians of the Galaxy (Read: Not as Frickin).

Plot

Ever since stopping Ronan the Accuser, the Guardians of the Galaxy have been doing what they do best: a little bit of good and bad. Most recently though, the Guardians helped an alien race known as the Sovereign defeat the Abilisk; a monster that has been eating the power source of the Sovereign known as Anulax batteries. The Guardians save the Anulax batteries in exchange for the Sovereign’s prisoner: Gamora’s sister Nebula! However, Rocket Raccoon steals some of the batteries for himself and the Sovereign retaliate. The Guardians are nearly killed when they are saved by a mysterious ship. The pilot? None other than Peter Quill’s father Ego! Ego invites his son and the rest of the Guardians to his home planet, but it becomes clear to Gamora early upon arrival that something is off. Meanwhile on another planet Yondu is exiled from the Ravagers, but he and his crew are hired by the Sovereign to bring back the Guardians. Upon learning that Peter Quill is with his father, Yondu abandons his crew and attempts to rescue the Guardians from what could be their biggest threat yet.

Villains

Ego the Living Planet is a Celestial. Celestials are ancient beings that existed long before most life in the galaxy did and are known to be capable of manipulating matter and energy. When Ego was born he created an entire planet in his image. However, Ego quickly became lonely and began to wonder what his purpose was in the universe. That’s when he came up with The Expansion. Ego traveled the universe planting parts of himself on various worlds so that one day he would be able to merge and become those worlds as well. To do that though, he would need another Celestial so Ego impregnated organism’s from each planet he visited in the hope that one of them would bare a child with Celestial genes. The children that were born without Celestial powers were murdered by ego along with their mothers. That’s right, Ego murdered thousands of children and mothers in his attempt to merge with every planet in the universe. Among the casualties of Ego’s expansion was Peter’s mother. Ego is a genocidal maniac with a god complex that’s so powerful hardly anyone in the Universe could stand toe to toe with him so yeah, he’s a pretty great Marvel villain. One of my favorites in the MCU if we’re being honest.

Best Scene

I never thought this would happen, but Marvel manages to make you sad about the death of Yondu. A major plot point in Vol. 2 is that Yondu seems to go out of his way to make sure that Peter is safe. It becomes obvious that Yondu truly grew to love Peter like a son. It doesn’t become anymore clear than his final sacrifice at the end of the film. Peter is battling Ego with his new Celestial powers with the full intent of dying in the explosion that Rocket and Groot set. The bomb goes off, but Yondu swoops in last minute and saves him. However he only has the gear for one of them to survive in space. Yondu tells Peter, “He may have been your father boy, but he wasn’t your daddy. I’m sorry that I didn’t do none of it right, but I’m damn lucky you’re my boy.” Yondu flies into orbit, gives Peter the gear needed to survive then slowly dies in front of his son. It’s arguably the most emotional scene in the MCU since Cap said goodbye to Peggy in The First Avenger. Also in case you were wondering, that’s three parents that Peter has seen die now…

Stan Lee Cameo

Yondu, Kraglin, Rocket, and Groot are using warp speed to travel across the galaxy to get to Ego’s planet (which is a hilarious trippy moment). While travelling they zip past Stan Lee sitting on an asteroid telling the Watchers about his time as a FedEx employee aka his past cameos in the MCU. It’s a great fourth wall breaking cameo that also confirmed that the Watchers (some of the most powerful beings in the comics) were in the MCU. It also raised the theory that Stan Lee showing up in each film is more than just an Easter egg. Could Stan Lee actually be an informant for the Watchers? Guardians Vol. 2 certainly seems to believe so!

Post Credits Scenes

The gauntlet of post credits scenes! There are FIVE of them!

Kraglin is practicing using the trademark arrow weapon that Yondu used. He has little success at first but eventually the arrow fires off impaling Drax who lets out a hilarious yell of pain. Kraglin then runs off in fear.

Stakar (the one who banished Yondu from the Ravagers) meets with other Ravagers. Stakar says, “You know it’s a shame that it took the tragedy of losing Yondu to bring us all together again, but I think he’d be proud knowing we were back as a team.” The other Ravagers nod in agreement excited to be back together! Now if you’re like me, you had no idea who these people were at first, but to the super die hard fans, this group is known as the ORIGINAL Guardians of the Galaxy from the comic books! Super cool scene for true Guardians fans!

The Sovereign high priestess is deeply upset that the Guardians managed to escape. An underling arrives to tell the high priestess that the council is waiting for her. The high priestess says the council is perturbed by the waste of resources used in her attempt to capture the Guardians but she is not worried. They have this discussion:

High Priestess: “When they see what I have created here, their rocks will dissipate.”

The underling asks, “It’s a type of birthing pod ma’am?”

High Priestess: “That, my child, is the next step in our evolution. More powerful, more beautiful, capable of destroying the Guardians of the Galaxy. I think I shall call him… Adam.”

AKA ADAM WARLOCK!!! Adam Warlock was a huge component of the Infinity Gauntlet story line in the comics, and although he supposedly isn’t showing up in the Infinity War movie, it’s still awesome to know that he’ll be on the big screen soon enough!

The next scene shows Peter checking up on Groot who is no longer a baby but rather a teenager ripe with teen angst! Peter tells Groot he needs to stop playing video games and clean his room and Groot mocks him calling him boring. Peter then says to himself that this must be how Yondu felt raising him.

Next we go back to Stan Lee who is still telling the Watchers about his cameos in the MCU, the Watchers though get bored and begin to leave. Stan calls out to them saying “Hey you were supposed to be my lift home! Hey ah gee, I’ve got so many more stories to tell!” You certainly do have a lot more stories to tell Stan!

Final Thoughts

I’m in the minority when I say this but I think this is the superior of the two Guardian movies. The first one while truly amazing is missing one thing Vol. 2 has: an excellent bad guy. Ronan the Accuser serves his purpose as a bad guy but he’s a pretty straightforward villain. Ego is far more memorable of the two both due to Kurt Russell’s portrayal of him and Ego’s actions. Also this film managed to change the fanbase’s opinions on Yondu. People hated him in the first film, but James Gunn had us all bawling over him in Vol. 2. The comedy of Vol. 2 is also better, there are more bigger laughs and that’s primarily because of Baby Groot! Vol. 2 in my humble opinion took everything that was great about the first movie, and made it even bigger and that’s why it’s one of my absolute favorite films in the MCU.

Thanos Meme of the Week