AEW Double or Nothing 2023: Exploding Superkick!

Well as expected AEW's Double or Nothing 2023 wasn't the instant classic this year's Revolution was, but contrary to some of the hyperbolic reviews I've been hearing about it was still a pretty darn good show, boosted by a pair of excellent main events.

After a forgettable pre-show trios match that saw the Hardys and Hook decisively put away Ethan Page (and hopefully this neverending feud), the proper PPV kicked off with the Blackjack Battle Royal for the International Championship.  21 participants made their entrances during the Buy-In, but they gradually filtered into the actual ring.  This was an odd choice but it did allow for the action to be more intricate and dynamic.  Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage in particular stalled for a long time before finally entering the match.  Like a good battle royal should, this match featured nonstop action AND furthered numerous feuds; Ricky Starks interacted quite a bit with Jay White and Juice Robinson, eventually eliminating them both before they returned the favor; Swerve and Keith Lee finally went at it in an official match, with Swerve getting the better of his former tag partner.  Big Bill got plenty of time to shine, making it all the way to the final four.  Ultimately the match came down to Orange Cassidy and Swerve, and they got an extended sequence a la Shawn vs. Taker in the 2007 Royal Rumble, with tons of false finishes and near-eliminations.  Both men ended up on the ring apron and exchanged moves, but it was a lazy kick to Swerve's hand that broke his hold on the top rope and sent him crashing to the floor.  Cassidy retained in another great performance.  This was one of the company's best battle royals to date.  ****

Not faring nearly so well was the Adam Cole-Chris Jericho unsanctioned match, which felt lethargic and lacked the urgency it needed.  The two of them worked hard but somehow the match never got out of second gear after the initial burst of gang violence, and the crowd was pretty much ice cold throughout (The Vegas fans were uncharacteristically subdued for a lot of this show).  Not helping matters was the finish, which involved Cole mounting Jericho and raining down rather soft-looking punches before referee Aubrey Edwards stopped the fight (This was the same finish as Jericho vs. Shawn from 2008).  The one thing that made this look better was Jericho's eye, which had been busted open with a chain earlier in the match.  But the crowd hated the finish and actually booed it despite the babyface going over.  This match was always going to have an uphill battle being on the same card as the later Anarchy bout which it was obviously designed not to upstage, but it just didn't click for me.  **1/4

AEW Double or Nothing 2023 Preview & Predictions

This Sunday it's AEW's fifth(!!!!) edition of Double or Nothing!  Hard to believe this company has already completed high school....

Well it's been a tumultuous few months in the land of the Elite, with ups and downs and ups and downs.  On one hand they've amassed one of the largest crowds in wrestling history for their upcoming All In spectacular at Wembley Stadium (without a single match having been announced, mind you).  On the other hand their domestic ticket sales, including for this PPV, have been struggling.  One one hand they announced a second two-hour weekly show in Collision, centered around the returning CM Punk, on the other, the relationship between AEW and Punk continues to be one of hurdles and strained communication.  We'll see how that all plays out; my wife for one has set the over-under for Punk in AEW at one year, meaning he won't be used on television anymore by then.  I'm hoping for the best of course, but Phil's track record of remaining drama-free since All Out hasn't been great.

But enough about that, let's look at this lineup, which as usual is very strong on paper.  Not the strongest card they've ever assembled but there's plenty here to be excited for and this show should deliver some great matches as AEW's PPVs always do.

AEW Trios Championship: House of Black vs. The Acclaimed/Billy Gunn (presumed)

This hasn't been officially announced yet but they've been teasing it for weeks and I'd be surprised if they left it off the show.  House of Black is pretty much being booked just as I said they should be, as a dominant group of monster heels that doesn't need to cheat to win, hence they crush all competition like monster babyfaces.  A modern-day trio of Road Warriors essentially.  The Acclaimed are a good, over, fan favorite team to challenge them here and put up a really good fight with tons of hope spots.  But in the end HOB will retain, and should continue to do so for a good long while.

Pick: House of Black retains

Matt & Jeff Hardy/Hook vs. Ethan Page/The Gunns

I'd be fine if they bumped this one to the pre-show; not much going on here for me.  I do like the addition of Hook to Team Hardy though, and Jeff is still a star so I get why they felt the need to add him to the lineup.  I'm glad this is a nice easy match type for him - keep Jeff away from ladders and tables for the rest of his career.  Page and The Firm are unfortunately not a hot act at all right now; I'm not sure what they need to be seen as a threat again.  They split that group from MJF pretty damn quick.  Anyway this is really a showcase for the reunited Hardys and Hook, who should be moved into a title program very soon.  Kid's over and has the goods.

Pick: Hardys & Hook

Oscar Film Journal: How the West Was Won (1962)

Welcome to another entry in the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!

It's been a little while, as I took a break after this year's awards ceremony, but the warmer weather put me in the mood for a good ol' Western, in this case the Cinerama extravaganza How the West Was Won!  

One of only two dramatic features shot in the immersive three-camera format, HTWWW is an anthology piece inspired by a series of articles in Life Magazine, and boasting a who's-who of Hollywood stars from the 40s and 50s.  James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Karl Malden, Walter Brennan, Gregory Peck, Robert Preston, George Peppard, Harry Morgan, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Eli Wallach, and narration by Spencer Tracy.  The film covers the early pioneer days through the Old West, depicting the American Expansion period through the eyes of a family of characters, each of the five segments taking place during a particular era.  Each chapter also takes great advantage of the Cinerama format by including an action-oriented set piece that plunges the viewer into the story.

Top Ten Things: Doors Songs

Welcome to another Top Ten Things here at Enuffa.com!  Today we're talkin' about one of the most legendary rock bands of all time, the psychadelic quartet from southern California who emerged in the late 60s with a unique sound, poetically contemplative lyrics, and one of the best, most charismatic front men to ever hold a microphone.  It's the ten best songs by The Doors!

I first got into The Doors mostly thanks to the 1991 Oliver Stone biopic; I had been familiar with a couple of their well-known songs but never really took the time to sit down for a thorough listen until after seeing Val Kilmer's force-of-nature performance as the troubled rock crooner.  After seeing the film I went out and bought the double Best Of album, maybe the best compilation of any band's greatest hits.  Instead of simply being assembled in chronological order the song sequence has a flow to it.  Anyway I listened to that album ad nauseum for years and only within the past decade did I familiarize myself with the rest of the Doors' catalog.  This was a thinking man's rock band with a diverse set of influences that, despite its fairly short run, left an indelible mark on the music industry, inspiring generations of artists and musicans.

Here are, in my estimation, the ten greatest Doors songs....

10. People Are Strange

I first heard this song in cover form in the movie The Lost Boys, courtesy of Echo & The Bunnymen.  I was drawn in right away by the bouncy feel, the honkytonk piano, and the soulful vocals.  It wasn't until a few years later that I heard the original, but "People Are Strange" remains one of my favorite Doors tunes for the reasons above.  Its theme of being an outsider, a stranger in a strange land, sum up Jim Morrison's personality pretty well I think.  He marched to the beat of his own drum and music was his outlet in dealing with loneliness.  The gang vocals in the final chorus seem to illustrate the idea of other outsiders finding solace in each other, unifying to take on the world.

9. Tell All the People

The Soft Parade might be my second-favorite Doors album, after the self-titled one.  It's just such a weird left turn, with the addition of strings and horns on nearly every song and major stylistic departures from the band's trademark sound.  Case in point the opener, "Tell All the People," a symphonic rock anthem with dense horn kicks and vocal harmonies (a rarity for a Doors tune).  This song sets the tone perfectly for an album that goes into very unexpected places and shows a band experimenting like crazy.

8. The Unknown Soldier

Jim Morrison's sound poem about the Vietnam War and its round-the-clock news coverage, "The Unknown Soldier" features drastic dynamic changes and unusual sound effects to create a grim atmosphere.  The song goes from sullen eulogy to midtempo rocker to military march to double-time climax.  This is one of the band's most redolent and atpyical tunes. 

7. The Soft Parade

But the title track off the fourth album has to be their strangest song of all.  "The Soft Parade" is an 8-minute, multi-section suite that's all over the place musically (Is that a harpsichord??) and features Morrison's most bizarre lyrics.  Like John Lennon did with "I Am the Walrus," Morrison seems to simply be playing with words that conjure weird imagery, the songwriting equivalent of Salvador Dali ("Catacombs/Nursery bones/Winter women growing stones").  This epic track is the perfect summation for The Doors' most adventurous album.

Top Ten Things: Marx Brothers Films

Welcome to Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com, where I talk about things.  Ten things.  The top ten things.  See?

Today what's on my brain is the Marx Brothers.  You know 'em, you love 'em.  Groucho!  Chico!  Harpo!  Zeppo (sometimes)!  Born Julius, Leonard, Adolph (later Arthur), and Herbert, the Marxes (along with a fifth brother Gummo) honed their craft for years on the Vaudeville circuit before gaining notoriety with three Broadway hits, and from there they swept the nation as movie stars.  Boasting incredible onscreen chemistry fueled by Groucho's unparalleled wit, Chico's hilariously sleazy Italian con man persona, and Harpo's astonishing gift for pantomime, the Marx Brothers left an indelible mark on both cinema and comedy, with a 15-year film career that spawned numerous timeless classics.

Here are the Marx Brothers' ten best films, according to me....

10. The Big Store

The Marxes' intended final film was this 1941 farce set in a department store whose co-owner has hired private detectives (Groucho, Harpo & Chico) to investigate a plot by the store manager to murder her nephew.  It lacks the urgency and inventiveness of their prime years but does include its share of silly set pieces one would expect from a Marx Brothers movie.  The Marxes would come out of retirement to make A Night in Casablanca in 1947 (after Chico revealed he owed large gambling debts), but The Big Store was billed as their swan song.

9. Room Service

Based on a 1937 play, Room Service was the only Marx film not written specifically for the brothers.  It concerns a stage producer and his ragtag crew going to any lengths necessary not to be evicted from their hotel room before their play's opening performance, and while fairly screwball, features the Marx Brothers at their most restrained.  This was also the first Marx film to abandon the traditional character relationships between Groucho, Harpo and Chico.  In this film Harpo and Chico's characters work for Groucho and the three are in cahoots from the start; in this respect as much as any other, Room Service doesn't quite feel like a Marx film, but it does at least feature a little of their trademark onscreen mischief.

8. Monkey Business

The first Marx film not based on a play was their third overall, about four stowaways who run amok on a cruise ship and fall in with two separate warring gangs.  Monkey Business is a rather odd film, in that a story arc is put into place but multiple threads are left unresolved, such as the protagonists evading the authorities, Groucho's romance with Thelma Todd's character, the aftermath of the kidnapping and rescue of Joe's daughter, etc.  Also notable about this film is the lack of musical numbers other than Chico and Harpo's instrumental solos.  Monkey Business is definitely my least favorite of the Paramount movies and I can't help wondering why they didn't instead make a film version of I'll Say She Is, particularly given the way they shoehorned in the Maurice Chevaille bit from that play.  Still this movie isn't without its charm.

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

It's a rarity when the third part of a trilogy achieves the same level of greatness as the first and/or second, but James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy finale does just that, in some ways eclipsing aspects of his first two "volumes."  

For this third chapter, we catch up with our beloved gang of intergalactic misfits on their recently adopted homeworld of Knowhere (a makeshift space-city cobbled together inside the disembodied head of a god).  "Starlord" Peter Quill is still mourning the Endgame loss of Gamora, or at least the Gamora he knows and loves, as a past incarnation now exists in present day but of course remembers nothing of their relationship (The film has a lot of fun with this thread).  Suddenly Knowhere is attacked (out of....nowhere) by Adam Warlock, a genetic creation of the Sovereign (the prissy, easily offended golden folk from Guardians 2), who wreaks havoc on the city and nearly kills Rocket.  The Guardians are unable to use their "medpacks" to try and save his life, as they learn his heart contains a built-in killswitch activated by any attempt to heal it.  The team's primary mission is now to infiltrate the company that created Rocket and learn the override code so they can save him.

Top Ten Things: WrestleMania Followups

Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Things, here at Enuffa.com!

Today I'll be talking about some slightly-hidden gems given the unenviable task of directly following WrestleMania.  Every year 'Mania seems to play out like a season finale of sorts, with long-running angles and feuds being resolved, and new stories beginning.  But with no off-season, WWE marches right on to the next PPV (formerly In Your House and Backlash, now Extreme Rules) and has to assemble a show that could easily come off as anticlimactic given its position on the PPV calendar.  Some years though, the 'Mania followup PPV has actually outclassed The Show of Shows and presented one or more Match of the Year candidates.  Backlash 1999 and 2000 for example were far and away superior to 'Mania 15 and 16 respectively.  Ditto for Extreme Rules 2011 and 2012.  Not so much for Payback 2017....

Here now are the Top Ten Matches from Post-WrestleMania PPVs.

10. The Shield vs. Evolution - Extreme Rules 2014

This dream match of sorts was a wild, action-packed example of faction warfare.  The Shield had recently turned against The Authority, and Triple H retaliated by reassembling his most accomplished stable, now consisting of three former WWE/World Champions.  Now I had hoped for an 8-man WarGames-style match including Daniel Bryan and Kane, and I still think WWE dropped the ball by not booking that match after it was so perfectly set up the night after WM30.  That said though, this six-man delivered huge and further established The Shield as the most dominant faction in years.

9. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar - Extreme Rules 2012

Brock Lesnar's WWE return was an absolutely huge deal.  After an eight-year hiatus Lesnar reappeared on RAW the night after WrestleMania 28 and left John Cena laying in a heap.  A No Holds Barred match was immediately signed for Extreme Rules, and would be the first signature "Brock Lesnar" match, where he employed both pro wrestling and MMA techniques to create a unique, big-fight atmosphere.  The match began with Lesnar brutally bloodying Cena with hard elbows to the forehead, marking the first WWE use of significant "color" in several years.  This groundbreaking fight showcased a dominant Lesnar performance until the very end, when Cena evened the playing field with a chain and got a shocking (and in retrospect terribly ill-advised) win over the returning Beast.  It took some time for WWE to properly use Lesnar during his post-UFC run (His record after one year back was 1-2!), but fortunately they soon remembered that Brock Lesnar is supposed to destroy everything in sight, and worked much harder to preserve his drawing power.

8. Mankind vs. Big Show - Backlash '99

After a tremendously disappointing first-time matchup at WrestleMania XV, Mankind and The Big Show redeemed themselves with this brutal Boiler Room Brawl.  The inaugural Backlash event one-upped 'Mania 15 in every way, and this match was everything the first encounter wasn't.  Mankind brought his typically high pain threshold, taking a brutal table spot and cutting his hand on a pane of glass before escaping the boiler room.  Not only did this match steal the show at Backlash '99 but I consider it the far better of the two Boiler Room Brawls.

7. Randy Orton vs. Cactus Jack - Backlash 2004

Another Foley classic, this time Mick donned the red & black flannel and trimmed way down to resurrect his original in-ring persona, Cactus Jack.  Randy Orton was just gaining traction as a future main event player, and Foley made sure he looked like a million bucks.  This outlandish, violent Street Fight featured barbed-wire bats, thumbtacks, falls off the stage, and buckets of blood.  The enduring image for me is of Orton taking a bump, barebacked, on a pile of thumbtacks.  Simply one of the most grisly moments I can recall in a wrestling match.

WWE Backlash 2023 Preview & Predictions

Back to business as usual with WWE these days since Vince more or less forced himself back into power.  Yeah I know Triple H is officially running Creative still, but the 78-year-old boss is still tearing up scripts he doesn't like and rewriting shows on the fly, mostly with nonsensical results.  Oh, this Saturday is Backlash...

Imagine how monumental the big match on this show would be if WrestleMania had had the correct finish.  Instead it's just a match with nothing really at stake.  Good news though, Cody Rhodes now gets to go after WWE's THIRD World Title!  Yay!  As Jim Cornette (who I almost never agree with) said, "What sense does it make to say 'Our champion is so good no one can beat him, so let's just introduce a new title?'"  This reintroduction of the World Title is so unfathomably stupid I can't even wrap my brain around it.  Not only are they saying no one else in this company is in Roman's league, but they're also saying "Even though Roman isn't around enough and you all deserve a fighting champion, we aren't going to vacate the title due to inactivity or split the two existing belts up again, we'll just make ANOTHER belt for everyone else to fight over while Roman stays home."  Pure, unadulterated idiocy.  Added to which, the new belt is ugly.  I mean real ugly.  Rather than just resurrect one of the most beloved belt designs of all time, they bastardized it and slapped a giant, honkin' WWE logo in the middle of it.  Does every belt in this company need the logo to be the biggest object on it?  I know other companies do that too, but they do it with some tastefulness.  WWE is incapable of subtlety in design.

Alright enough bitching about the meaningless title, let's look at this card....

Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn/Matt Riddle vs. The Usos & Solo Sikoa

Pretty darn good six-man to kick things off here (I have no idea if this'll be first but it should be) and continue the Tag Title feud.  The crowd should be very hot for this and Riddle will benefit from being involved with two of the company's most popular babyfaces.  This being WWE I suspect 50-50 booking will apply.

Pick: Bloodline

Smackdown Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Zelina Vega

First off, why does WWE keep having the two women's champs switch places AND BELTS in the Draft?  So stupid.  Rhea is now going to be on RAW but she's listed as the SD Champion for now.  Second, Zelina??  Really?  That's who you came up with for a challenger?  Christ...  Rhea wins, obviously.

Pick: Rhea retains

Top Ten Things: Metallica Songs (10-1)

Alright, here we go.  Metallica's Top 10 songs of all time.  The best of the best.  According to me anyway.....

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

10. Enter Sandman

Yeah I know, it's overplayed as shit.  It's everywhere.  You can't watch a single play in a football game without a snippet of this song blaring out afterwards.  It probably doesn't need to ever be on the radio again.  I don't care.  "Enter Sandman" is a fucking all-time great rock n' roll song.  From a simple tritone-based riff Kirk Hammett shat out at 3am one night, the band extrapolated an entire, world-changing song.  Think about it, "Sandman" is essentially the one riff, over and over, in various forms.  Yes there are little adornments and adjustments tacked on, but sweet Jesus did they get a lot of mileage out of very little content.  On top of its stunning economy of songwriting, this tune has one of the most instantly hooky choruses of the decade, some absolutely gorgeous vocal harmonies (that sadly didn't get pushed high enough in the mix), and just an infectiously heavy midtempo groove.  And holy shitballs that guitar tone....  "Enter Sandman" is the song that launched Metallica into metal godhood, and if not their best song it has to be considered their most culturally significant.

9. Frantic

The one true classic from what is universally considered Metallica's worst album, "Frantic" is an absolute monster of a song that set the tone for the visceral, ugly psychotherapy session put to music that was St. Anger.  The main riff is a devlishly clever single-string line that, like the "Sandman" riff, was ripe for variation.  Move that same riff up a couple strings and arpeggiate it, and you have the chorus.  James' vocals capture the nu-metal aesthetic better on this song than on any of the album's other tracks, and also include one of my favorite Metallica lyrics (also courtesy of Kirk), "My lifestyle determines my death style."  Time eventually makes victims of us all, the one predator we can't outrun.  If every St. Anger song had this kind of raw, brutal energy I think the album would've been much better received.  Alas, "Frantic" was a sort of lightning in a bottle, the one piece of this bizarre experiment that worked unequivocally. 

  

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2023 Preview & Predictions

Tomorrow is Wrestling Dontaku 2023, one of NJPW's lesser annual PPV-type shows, and as with most such shows it's comprised of about half important matches and half throwaway tags, so we'll just look at the main stuff.

There are a few promising bouts here, particularly the main event....

Strong Openweight Championship: Kenta vs. Hikuleo

Hikuleo is more or less fresh off running Jay White out of the country and it's landed him a shot at, ironically, one of the US-based championships.  Kenta won this title at Battle in the Valley and has only defended it twice.  I could see this going either way but I think Kenta needs to keep it for a while to help establish it.

Pick: Kenta retains

IWGP TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb

This should be fantastic.  ZSJ and Cobb are always great, pretty much regardless of who their respective opponents are.  I could see Cobb capturing the title but it seems like ZSJ will hold onto it for a while to really make it feel special.  This one could even go to time limit.  He's the Lord Steven Regal of NJPW!  Possible show stealer right here.

Pick: ZSJ retains

Top Ten Things: Metallica Songs (20-11)

We're almost to the cream of the crop in the Metallica song catalog, here's the second tier of tunes!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

20. Fade to Black

Metallica's first "ballad" appeared on their second album, and also marked the earliest accusations of the band "selling out."  Yes, how dare a metal band write something melodic??  The idea!  Anyway, "Fade to Black" was inspired by an incident in Boston where most of the band's gear was stolen after a show, prompting James to pen the song's depression-themed lyrics.  The song alternates between shimmery, chill-inducing 12-string acoustic guitars and Metallica's signature blazing electric sound, and features some of Kirk's most ambitious solos up to that point.  This still holds up as a classic.

19. Orion

Cliff Burton's most significant songwriting contribution came in the form of this sprawling instrumental, one that featured the prodigious 24-year-old's four-string chops more than any song since "Anesthesia."  Cliff made use of his extensive music theory knowledge to lend the song absolutely gorgeous guitar and bass harmonies, and stole the show near the end of the classical-tinged waltz section with a beautiful harmony-laden solo.  Hearing his work on this song makes his untimely death that much more tragic; imagine what else he could've contributed to the band if he'd had more time.  "Orion" is one of the great rock instrumentals and a unique accomplishment in the Metallica catalog.