The Joke is Dead

Its crazy when you look at the upcoming releases for the superhero film genre and it’s pretty obvious that they’re here to stay until 2020. While Marvel and DC go about building their own respective universes, Fox have decided to firmly hold onto their rights and go about making their own X Men universe. I feel that this would have been the best way to go about things because ever since the franchise’s boom in the 80s and 90s, the X Men’s roster has snowballed to such an insane degree that it’s hard to keep track of even to this day. I remember trying construct a flow chart of it in my mind the other year where there was the main X Men, the original X Men from the 60s, the other X Men led by Cyclops, the all-female X Men (Which was awesome), then there was Wolverine and the X Men, Uncanny Avengers etc. etc. So the fact that the mutants are staying out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is probably for the best not just for legal reasons but also for story purposes. Introducing the aspect of mutants to the Marvel films opens up the avenue for bringing in all sorts of muties and you’ll probably get people complaining about all these characters not being introduced: Gambit, Pyslocke, Domino, Jubilee, Rachel Grey, Kid Omega, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Raphael, Leonard-Oh fuck it.

With the establishment of an X Men exclusive universe, it’ll be interesting to see what storylines and characters Fox will be looking to introduce. One film in particular has been announced to answer the prayers of many. In 2016, Deadpool will be introduced to the big screen and will most likely be a big hit. Wade Wilson’s rise in popularity was extremely intriguing to watch due to its unpredictability. Despite not getting a big solo adventure for a few years, Deadpool was often seen goofing off on the side which provided a lot of amusement and most likely resulted in some new readers. Deadpool could be seen in Marvel’s animated movies (Wolverine vs Hulk), video games (Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions) and even in Wolverine’s Hollywood prequel which we were all so keen to deny its existence after seeing it for the first and only time. Deadpool eventually got to be the star of his own video game and despite mediocre reviews it showed that the anti-hero was most likely rising to new heights of popularity. So why am I slightly concerned about this movie?

Let’s recap on my history of reading comic books. After being interested in the Spiderman and X Men films, I eventually found a Marvel universe called the Ultimate Universe which was designed to bring in new readers due to its continuity free background. While Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate X Men solidified my love for comic books, they were not my first experience. Before all that I found out about this superhero called Deadpool who was super weird but also highly amusing. The first Joe Kelly run back in the 90s kept my interest for a while and it was hard not to become enamoured with Wade Wilson. While it reeked of bad 90s aesthetic it carried this charming sense of self-awareness which allows it to still be readable to this day. After that, I have read very little Deadpool so I’m not going to say that I am an expert or even a fan of his. However, I’d like to think that I have an understanding of what the character was about.

For all of Wade’s gun toting, limb slicing, fourth wall breaking insanity, there was this brutal sense of tragedy underlying everything. We know that Deadpool was a test subject in the Weapon X program and the project eventually drove him “nutty!” but there was so much more to it. Wade had been completely disfigured and unrecognisable from the project; while he had attained all of the assets to become the world’s greatest mercenary he was also robbed of his human appearance which clearly took a toll on his mental health. The story took the time to gaze into how much self-loathing, depression and misery surrounded Wade and how it inhibited his ability to make connections with others. He locks Blind Al in the basement, he emotionally abuses his friend Weasel and has trouble committing to a relationship with Siryn. The insane shift in tone that the book would take was what made it great for me because while it was incongruous it made sense because it perfectly suited Wade’s character. What better way to hide all of your shame and torment by acting nutty and pretending nothing is wrong? Wade acts like a joke because that’s what he feels like – a worthless, insignificant laughing stock who can’t connect with anyone or view himself in a positive light. The fact that Wade’s conception is a god damn parody of DC’s Slade Wilson (Also known as Deathstroke) makes it all the more harrowing to giggle at. Deadpool can be looked at as a comedian in some ways and it’s not all that uncommon for comedians to suffer from poor mental health because it’s their coping mechanism.

Again, I don’t know everything about Deadpool but his portrayal in the media doesn’t strike a chord with me. We see him spouting “hilarious” one liners in that cringe worthy form of humour known as “randomlol”. “Oh hey, Chimichangas are so funny! Lol, you’re so funny Deadpool, I like it when he winks at the camera and shouts gibberish”. Not everything is a miss with the way he’s portrayed because I quite enjoy Nolan North’s voice portrayal of the character and Ryan Reynolds also had a nice attempt at trying to play Wade for 5 minutes in X Men: Origins but it was clear that the studio wasn’t interested in fairly representing Deadpool. So is there hope that they will do the character justice in 2016? The only way we can see is by giving the studio a chance but I want to let it be known that Wade’s insecurities and self-hatred are just as fundamental as his comedic exterior. I’m afraid the film will just omit the heavier parts in fear of turning off viewers who just know Deadpool for being “randomlol”. A few months ago I found out that when Joe Kelly was interviewed, he stated that when initially writing Deadpool the creators were certain that the whole thing would eventually collapse so they were comfortable in just doing whatever the hell they wanted. I wonder if that’s what gave them the opportunity to create the tragic yet silly tone that the story flipped between. Now that Deadpool has an established reputation, it can be slightly worrying to see if the upcoming film will stay true to the original formula.

But if it has Deadpool punching Kitty Pryde 70 feet in the air I suppose I can’t complain much. 

I also recommend this video by youtube personality ComicDrake who voices his disinterest in the Deadpool character.

NXT Rival: Everyone Gets a Powerbomb

In 2012, if you told me that the top stars in WWE's developmental program would consist of Prince Devitt, KENTA, Kevin Steen, El Generico and PAC I would have scoffed at your ludicrous fantasies and wouldn't think twice. Yet even in 2012, there was still a strong presence of talents that honed their craft on the independent scene. There was a time in WWE when signing independent talents was a ill thought notion; the signing of CM Punk in 2005 may have generated an excited buzz of chatter amongst hardcore fans but our expectations fell when we deciphered that he was only there for the sake of it, with no grand plan or momentum. Fast forward a few years later and the best talent that WWE has includes Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, Paige etc. Don't get me wrong, having an extensive resume from the independent circuit doesn't automatically qualify you for a successful career in WWE, just ask Chris Hero. However, it's nice to see WWE acknowledging that it's good to consider individuals who have gained valuable experience around the globe beforehand. Now, we've all had our rants and tirades on how WWE doesn't push the right people on their main brand but underneath all of the unfocused, myopic mess is a sound developmental brand that stands by old school philosophies and has drawn the attention of not only fans but many veterans such as Edge, Paul Heyman and Mick Foley.

NXT celebrated their fifth Take Over special titled "Rival" or as Triple H probably wants to call it: "We're really, really, really sorry about the Royal Rumble". I was not a follower in the movement to cancel my WWE Network subscription because the entertainment value of NXT is more than worth the price of admission. While only lasting two thirds the length of a standard WWE Pay Per View, Rival still managed to gather a lot of hype from it's exciting card and managed to knock it out park, which is now the standard for the Florida based brand. The opening match saw Tyler Breeze and Hideo Itami square off in a bout that debuted Breeze's newest prop, the selfie stick. WWE has a habit of throwing last minute matches to pad out their cards but NXT still manages to make their last minute matches make sense, which is more than WWE's answer that is nothing more than "becauselol". The match did a good job of showcasing the strengths of both men, as I feel that both of them are in need of a strong program at the moment. Breeze's methodical psychology was highlighted as he targeted Itami's legs which are largely seen as the puro star's main asset. This only made Itami look even more badass when he was able to suffer through the pain and kick the holy hell out of Prince Pretty. We seem to be getting a clearer idea of whoever Breeze's stalker is, who appeared to be some random blonde lady that managed to hop over the guard rail. Itami is looking more and more comfortable in working the WWE style now, which was also evidenced in his great match with Finn Balor a week prior. Hopefully both men will get a little more TV time in the future because this match was a very exciting way to start off the show.

We've all heard how fantastic NXT usually is but it's obvious that nothing is perfect. The two matches that followed Itami/Breeze clearly showed a dip in quality and while they weren't exactly bad, it's clear that certain individuals need a bit more work. The NXT Tag Team Championships were put on the line as the reigning champions Blake and Murphy wrestled the Lucha Dragons. Blake and Murphy are a team that haven't impressed me so far and their recent victory in gaining the titles did little to enthral me. They remind me of a team stuck in the early 90's: "We're not going to be held down by your rules, man! Xtreme to the end! Don't be a narc! Check out our matching tights and long hair, we're just too cool for school." I can't help but think of the time Chris Jericho and Lance Storm teamed in Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the Thrillseekers and somehow creative thought it would be a good idea to steal that gimmick. I know I'm being facetious but I was actually hoping that the duo could flip my opinion around and make me a fan - that certainly did not happen. What did happen was some awkward botching and noticeable miscommunication as Corey Graves tried to pass it off as "Ring Awareness". I've been supportive of Hunico stepping in to replace Sin Cara after Mistico's less than stellar run but watching him mess things up more than once was hard to ignore. Not only that but even Kallisto was off his game which was an unusual sight. After the botches, I felt that Murphy and Blake still didn't shine all that much in the end due to most of the heavy lifting being done by the Lucha Dragons. I enjoy the frogsplash being utilized as a finisher once again but I'm still left unconvinced. Blake and Murphy are still finding their feet and have trouble standing out amongst much more charismatic tag teams such as the Vaudevillains and Amore/Cassidy.

Baron Corbin and Bull Dempsey was another match that was nothing to write home about. The gimmick that these two men possess are actually quite intriguing; one is a lone wolf who sees other people as nothing but obstacles in his path while the other is an old school brawler who refuses to adapt to modern, photogenic aesthetics. The only problem concerning Bull Dempsey is that his old school brawler persona has been usurped by the vastly superior Kevin Owens. It appears that the bookers might not be interested in Bull anymore as he was booked to look like a chump throughout this entire feud. Baron Corbin is still trying to find out what works for him but it might benefit him to work with smaller guys like Breeze or Balor to emphasize his stature. Both men wrestled in an extremely underwhelming No DQ match that hardly took advantage of the stipulation. This feud has come to a whimpering conclusion and it will be satisfying to see these two move onto better storylines. Concerning these two matches, I understand that NXT is still a developmental system, so I'm aware that these guys are still discovering their characters and what works for them. These were hardly bad matches but were clearly outmatched by the three matches that follow.

The finals of the Number One Contender's Tournament met a climatic finish, as County Wicklow's Finn Balor took on Newcastle's Adrian Neville. It's amazing to see how easily Balor has settled into WWE programming and his presence and work rate are reasons enough to solidify him as a promising top star for years to come. The story of the match didn't have much build up to it and relied more on the encounter itself; Balor's intimidating war paint was brought out once again to throw Neville off his game, while Neville tried to avoid falling prey to mind games. While the match started off slow, it quickly built up to an exciting battle that included many near falls and false finishes. These close calls were frequent enough to generate heart pumping excitement without crossing into the "overkill territory" which a lot of indy promotions fail to grasp the concept of. Balor has a ton of momentum and will most likely be main eventing come the next special which is well deserved.

Keeping the lively atmosphere going was the Fatal Four Way for the Women's Championship. I've always been a big supporter of women's wrestling but I've had to get my fix from other promotions such as SHIMMER Women's Athletes and Joshi Puroresu in Japan. NXT not only has a credible women's division but also gives them enough promo and ring time to get them over with the crowd and establish successful talent. Most multi-competitor matches such as Triple Threats and Fatal Four Ways have trouble making an impact. This can be due to the fact that there isn't much of a story other than "Hey, here's four dudes duking it out" as the actual matches tend to be 1 vs 1 encounters of various in ring combinations while the other two wait outside the ring, pretending to be hurt. This title match managed to fire on all cylinders as it boasted enough story elements to capture my interest: the friendship between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch leading to their inevitable clash, Bayley's new found killer instinct and Charlotte's eagerness to prove her worth as a fighting champion.

The match itself managed to rise above the standard pitfalls that usually plague the stipulation. Competitors didn't stay out of the ring for too long and were back in the action by the time you realized they were gone. This match also featured a lot of clever spots that were simply awesome to witness such as Sasha's double kneestomp in the corner, the Belly to Bayley off the top rope and the combo of suicide dives. Sadly, I felt that Becky Lynch wasn't able to get enough ring time, despite the Dublin lass being a very good in ring wrestler. She's mostly shackled to playing Sasha's BFF at the moment but she might be able to shine more in the future. Sasha was arguably the MVP of the match and is easily my favourite female wrestler in the WWE. It's admirable to see her humble start in NXT and gradually build on her "BOSS" persona which was blossomed into one of the most entertaining parts of the show. It was extremely fulfilling to see Sasha win her first championship, which she has thoroughly deserved. Here's to a good reign, Miss Banks, and I have no doubt that we'll be seeing more fantastic women's wrestling from NXT in the future.

The main event of the show consisted of the NXT Championship being defended by Sami Zayn against his life long friend, Kevin Owens. Unlike the previous two matches, this bout was much more story driven and featured less crazy spots and swerves. Both men played their roles brilliantly which is illustrated the fantastic chemistry they possess. In my honest opinion, Sami Zayn is everything that WWE want John Cena to be. Adding to that idea, I also believe his matches at Rival and R Evolution are everything that WWE have been trying to do with Cena for 10 years while miserably failing at it. Sami Zayn is the lovable underdog hero that walks into high pressure situations, facing insurmountable odds yet managing to pull everything off when it comes to the crunch. He stays loyal to his fans and credits them for his success and often has a smile on his face because there's nothing he loves more than putting on a show for the audience. The thing that WWE can't get through their impenetrable skulls is that in order to maintain an underdog character you have to face the fact that they don't always win. On this night, Sami Zayn lost his championship and it was simply heartbreaking to watch.

Despite only wrestling two matches within two months in NXT, Owens has been firmly established as the show's newest monster. I hate to keep doing this but I can't help but compare this moment to WWE's past mistakes. In 2009, Sheamus won the WWE championship despite only being present on the main brand for a few months. This drew a lot of criticism from fans and only hurt the poor fella in the long run. Sheamus' win against John Cena looked like a complete fluke, so his victory was completely meaningless as they continued to book him like a chump. In 2012, Brock Lesnar returned to the WWE, standing as a harrowing figure from John Cena's past. In his first match since coming back, he completely dominated Cena for the entire match....until Cena won out of nowhere. This also caused a vocal uproar because it made no fucking sense and marred Lesnar's monster persona.

NXT has upstaged WWE by successfully pulling off two similar finishes in one match; Kevin Owens won the match despite being new to the company and the way he won was by brutally pummelling the former champion into unconsciousness. The finish protects Zayn well as he refused to kick out of the onslaught of powerbombs he received while also highlighting Owen's image as a ruthless killer, willing to do anything to win the championship. One can only revel in the giddy anticipation that surrounds the inevitable Owens vs Balor match. It's nice to see wrestling done right and despite not having the biggest budget or the most screen time, NXT proves that it doesn't need any of that because they have their priorities straight. People have dismissed Triple H's creative vision as a one off that only appeals to internet smart marks but I fail to see what's so esoteric about NXT's strengths. If sensible booking, forward planning, logical character motivations, championship prestige and good in ring wrestling is for smart marks, then I might as well be the fattest, sweatiest, basement dwelling, neckbeard smart mark there is.

Also, am I the only one who was reminded of this during the main event?

Batman vs Superman vs Iron Man vs Captain America

2015 is a year to get hyped for superhero movies, mostly due to Marvel’s big climax of their second phase with Avengers: Age of Ultron. From the debut of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to the band getting back together it’s easy to get excited. 2016 is when things really heat up because it’s the year when the DC and Marvel cinematic universes start to deck it out with their respective titles. Marvel will be giving us characters like Doctor Strange while DC will introduce us to the Suicide Squad. There’s even bigger things on the horizon though as the two major films that year will be Captain America 3 and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. To cut straight to the point: Which film looks more promising?

The parallel themes shared between these two movies is the concept of superheroes fighting superheroes. The premise is pretty simple when you look at DC’s movie due to the title: Batman vs Superman. Captain America 3’s plot might not be all that obvious if you’re not too familiar with Marvel comics. Captain America 3’s subtitle is “Civil War” and the film will be based on the comic book storyline of the same name. After a tragic battle involving rookie superheroes results in a number of civilian deaths, the idea of registering superheroes is brought up. This act would make superheroes similar to something similar to civil servants, due to having to answer to the United States government as well as being held responsible for problems such as collateral damage. Any superheroes who aren’t registered with the government are basically considered outlaws and are just as guilty as the criminals. Ironman is the one leading the cause for registering superheroes while Captain America voices his stance against the act entirely. Surrounding heroes pick sides which eventually heightens into a high stakes war - a “Civil War” if you will.

The storyline was actually heavily criticized by many comic fans because of its questionable motivations regarding certain characters. Personally, I agree with these complaints and I felt that the pacing of the story was very uneven and just decided to wrap itself up with an ending that comes out of nowhere. That being said, the premise of the story is very interesting and can bring about a well-balanced discussion. It’s obvious that the battles between various heroes can bring about so much large scale destruction that it could ultimately do more harm than good. On the other hand, you have the issue of the government cherry picking their own good guys and tarring everyone else with the same brush. The idea of Tony Stark pushing this bill is extremely believable in the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: his creation of Ultron will most likely cause him enough guilt to come up with this concept in the first place. In Captain America 2, Rogers showed that he wasn’t a military puppet and had the balls to stand up for his own beliefs. This isn’t all set in stone but it looks to be the way that Marvel is headed. Hopefully, Marvel Studios can tweak the story a little bit in order to craft a more satisfying tale. The fact that we’ve grown familiar with these characters over time and have seen them lock horns (Such as Tony and Cap in the first Avengers movie) will make the inevitable battle all the more exciting.

On the DC side of things, we have Batman and Superman fighting each other. When a Batman/Superman crossover was announced it made perfect sense for them to go this route. You get the big time crossover appeal while setting up a future Justice League film down the line. The only problem I had was the big ol’ “vs.” logo punctuated between them. This is when the doubt crept in and since then I’ve been unable to shake it off. What made me groan more was when Zack Snyder showed a sample of the animated version of the Dark Knight Returns as a way to get us hyped up for the movie. You may remember me praising this story back in my John Cena piece and I still stand by what I said. However, I feel that while the Dark Knight Returns is a very good Batman story, it’s not really a great Superman story. Clark is portrayed as a government lackey and while he isn’t an outright villain, it’s not a fair representation of the iconic character. There’s a Superman story called Red Son where Batman is a Russian Bolshevik-esque terrorist (Long story) so it’d be weird if this was the most recent depiction of the Caped Crusader in DC’s cinematic universe. Yet we might get the warped perception of Frank Miller's Superman governing the script in the upcoming 2016 movie.

I’ve been doing some diligent research (such as reading Wikipedia articles) and discovered that The Dark Knight Returns won’t serve as too much as an influence to the story. But there’s still the worry of Superman being represented as a symbol of “The Man” for Bruce to take down. On the other hand, perhaps Supes won’t be written in this manner but then it’s hard for me to think why they would be fighting in the first place. I’ll confess that I’m not a huge DC buff but there are stories I enjoy, one in particular was the Batman/Superman comic series written by Jeph Loeb. It did a good job in displaying the dynamic between the two. Batman’s intellect was a good pairing for Superman’s strength and Clark’s hopeful outlook balanced out Bruce’s cynicism.

While Batman is a symbol to strike fear in the hearts of his foes, Superman serves as a symbol of hope who tries to rescue those who have done wrong. The relationship between the two has always interested me much more than a battle. Hopefully, the film will set up a premise that would make sense for them to fight each other but I’m afraid that it’s just running on its name value. All in all, Captain America: Civil War seems to have more depth to it at the moment. Perhaps Batman vs Superman will look much more promising when it comes to closer to release day. Honestly, I’m more excited for the Wonder Woman cameo than anything else.

But if there’s some kind of ‘Kryptonite spray’ in Batman’s utility belt then consider all things forgiven, Warner Bros. 

Wrestling With Creativity

When WWE’s main video game series was announced for the next generation of consoles I was quite excited and hoped that it might be enough to push me into buying a Playstation 4. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions generated a “meh” response which made me slightly concerned for the future of the series. The next gen instalment garnered a more positive buzz but when reading about WWE 2K15’s features I couldn’t muster up any excitement at all. The big black hole that sucked away all excitement was its laughable amount of CAW slots, going from a whopping 100 to only 25. When removing its breadth of creative opportunities, WWE 2k15 had nothing but an updated roster with a few specialty wrestlers to pad out the numbers. When looking back at the previous two games, I had to consider what made me truly attach myself to the yearly franchise. 

For a few years, I was gradually growing tired of the WWE video games. It became a more acceptable routine to buy one game bi-yearly instead of every year. Seeing as the same features get recycled in each iteration it was best to just get all of the content from the previous games in one package. Smackdown vs RAW 2010 introduced a new concept which made it a day one purchase for me. Due to the growing popularity of online play, it was obvious that WWE wanted to hop on the bandwagon but they took it one step further and added Community Creations. It blew my mind that I could download created wrestlers from other users on the network in such a short time. I remember 10 years ago when I had to print off pages of CAW formula from the internet and spend hours tapping in each individual feature in order to create a wrestler that didn’t make it into the game. Now I could yank dozens of wrestlers off the network and enjoy the hell out of it.

The years went on after that while my interest in the series ebbed and flowed. WWE 13 grabbed a lot of fan interest due to the raging nostalgia boner that it proudly displayed. Along with a dedicated story mode to educate fans about the best of the Attitude Era, the game also had a fantastic roster that was almost an exact replica of the original Smackdown game (And also had Brian Fucking Pillman). Let’s not forget the number of championship titles and arenas to play with. Before we go any further, let me clarify something: I like the Attitude Era but unlike some fans I don’t think that it’s the holy incarnation of Jesus Christ in wrestling form. A rumour popped up earlier in the year that hinted WWE’s consideration of setting up The Rock vs Triple H for Wrestlemania 31. Seriously? Fuck that. I saw that match 14 years ago many times; they wrestled in a 60 minute Iron Man match for Christ’s sake, I want new wrestlers and new ideas. However, I do enjoy a little nostalgia in my wrestling video games. I’m much more attached to WWE’s current video game style of simulation rather than the “arcadey” fighting style back in the day. While it’s easy to watch old PPVs it’s harder to enjoy the older video games due to their obvious signs of age. That made it all the more enjoyable to see old 90’s crew in modern day graphics from Stone Cold and Mankind to even Gangrel and Val Venis. The fact that I could sprinkle in some other wrestlers that didn’t make the cut by visiting the Community Creations made it even more fantastic. My attempts at created wrestlers suck balls but some people online can be artists when it comes to recreating recognizable faces and move sets.

WWE 13 was usurped by WWE 2K14 which is, in my mind, the best wrestling game since Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain. A lot of people harped on the reuse of old gameplay mechanics but I still found the matches to be exciting. What grabbed my eye the most was the staggering depth regarding the roster and arenas. After the Attitude Era retelling was so successful, WWE decided to bring out the big guns and provide a history of Vince McMahon’s baby, Wrestlemania. Seeing as we needed to cover 30 years of wrestlers and venues, it was so satisfying to see all of the content provided: Hogan, Savage, Steamboat, Andre, Warrior, Bret, Shawn, Yokozuna, Flair, Diesel, Ramon and so much more. Every Wrestlemania arena too? It felt like I was being spoiled. WWE 2K14 also carried all of its creative features from the previous games such as Create-An-Arena and the extremely deep Create-A-Wrestler with 100 slots. After many sessions on the Community Creation servers, I found myself with not only a varied roster provided by the original game creators but an even wider array of wrestlers from the players themselves. This led to a mix of wrestlers from the eras of Rock ‘n’ Wrestling, The New Generation, Ted Turner’s WCW, ECW and a recreation of the roster from WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain. The fact that I could import the original theme songs for the custom wrestlers tickled my nerd bone even more. The creative opportunities allowed us to play various incarnations of our favourite wrestlers. Yes, you can download Sting but you had so many of his attires on offer: 80’s Surfer Dude, 90’s Crow Sting, Red and Black Wolfpac, that weird Joker phase he had in TNA….although you probably wouldn’t want that last one. I was reminded of the old Fire Pro Wrestling games where it was possible to create anyone through the crazy amount of features to use.

The point is, the game didn’t shackle itself to the limitations of what was currently happening in the wrestling world and doesn’t exactly feel like a product of its time. WWE 2K15 just looks like another modern day update of what’s currently going on nowadays and that’s not entirely a bad thing. Yes, there’s updated gameplay mechanics and a new career mode and that’s probably all well and good. But I’ve realised in recent years that I like to be able to jump into any era and recreate any product I want. It’s not just the usual suspects like retro Flair or Hogan, I like to pad out my rosters with contextual jobbers like Buff Bagwell or Stevie Richards. WWE 2k15 features a Showcase mode retelling the Shawn Michaels and Triple H feud which WWE has always greatly overvalued. I’m sure it’s fine but it’s only a fraction of what we were getting a year earlier. With only a quarter of the CAW slots that was originally on the table, I can’t find myself wanting to jump in to WWE 2K15’s bed when I’m still snuggled up in 2K14’s multi-coloured duvet.

Even Eva Marie gets a CAW! For...some reason...

I understand how they want to push out a game that promotes their current roster but for just once, I’d like to see them bring out a game that embraces custom content entirely, with a crazy amount of creative features for nerds like me. It wouldn’t have to be a yearly title, just a dedicated creative community and enough imagination to keep it relevant for the next few years. It’s just a thought - one that would make me consider buying a next generation console. I want my crazy amount of retro rosters, dagnabbit. From big time main eventers to bottom of the card jobbers. I wonder if there’s a Jeff Farmer CAW out there somewhere. Remember that guy? Probably not…

By the way, WWE, if you’re looking to hype up your next game and makes lots of money you might want to consider a new match type. It starts with “War” and ends in “Games”…and rhymes with “Smoregames”…..jus’ saying….