WWE Super Show-Down Preview & Predictions

Why is the word "showdown" hyphenated?  Oh, are they doing a thing because it's in Australia?  Like it's a "super-show" down under?  Shouldn't the hyphen be between "super" and "show" then?  Christ, WWE, get your shit together.

Anyway, it's yet another PPV event in a way overloaded calendar, except this will likely be a glorified house show, much like the Saudi show was in April (and like the next Saudi show will be).  A bunch of matches, some interesting, some not.  What's disturbing is how much time they've spent hyping this Triple H-Undertaker match.  Two guys with a combined age of 102 are supposed to even touch what they did six-and-a-half years ago?  Get real.  And it's all leading to the in-ring return of Shawn Michaels in a month, in a meaningless old timers tag team match.  Chrissake...

Anyway, let's get to these picks; there are ten of these goddamn matches and I only care about five of them.

***The standings haven't moved since last month.  Dan leads with 66%, Dave and I are tied with 63%, and Landon's in the caboose with 57.5%.  With ten matches there's room for a shakeup.***

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy

I couldn't point out either of these guys in a lineup and I don't think I've even seen a Buddy Murphy match in my life.  WWE needs to figure out a reason for anyone to care about this division.

Justin: Buddy's from Australia so I'll pick him for the hometown win.
Dan: Sure
Landon: Murphy
Dave: Really, Buddy Murphy?  Jesus.  Sure, Buddy.

Asuka & Naomi vs. The Iiconics

Remember when Asuka was a star?  Good times.  Now she's literally one of the girls.  This company couldn't get someone over if they spent four years building them up and headlined four consecutive WrestleManias with them.  I'm not sure I'll ever forgive how badly they fucked over Asuka.

Justin: Who gives a shit?  Iiconics get a cheap win I guess.
Dan: Iiconics
Landon: Iiconics
Dave: No clue.  Asuka/Naomi.

John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Elias

Remember when Kevin Owens was a star?  Good times.  Oh wait, I already did that bit.  Owens went from being RAW's top heel for a while to being Elias's sidekick.  Fuck this company.  And fuck this match.

Justin: Cena & Lashley
Dan: Yup
Landon: Cena and Lashley
Dave: Cena & Lashley

NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling 2018 Preview & Predictions

Phew, another NJPW show is upon us.  I need a rest.

Anyway, this Monday is New Japan's biggest show of the season traditionally, King of Pro-Wrestling.  Oddly the company decided to hold off on announcing ANY matches for this thing until Fighting Spirit Unleashed was over, thus only giving themselves eight days to hype/sell out this show in a 10,000-seat venue.  Not the route I would've taken, but what do I know?

KOPW is less stacked than I could wish; the four big matches all look great, but the undercard is your standard multi-man tag fare.

So let's get after it...

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask

I don't know what happened to this division.  The Bucks leave and it goes straight to hell.  Why Sho & Yoh aren't having a dominant title run right now or at least persistently chasing the champs is beyond me.  So it's the Jr. Suzuki-Gun guys against the two old dudes.  I mean, it'll be entertaining but kind of a fluff match.

Justin: SZGN retains
Landon: Where did this match come from? I haven't been paying too much attention recently, was there build to this? As much as I'd like to see Tiger Mask in a defender's position again, Despy and Kanemaru retain.

Great Bash Heel vs. Juice Robinson & Toa Henare

Not much going on here.  Juice just dropped the US Title so he could use a win.

Justin: Juice & Toa
Landon: I still have no clue why Juice lost the title. The amazing win against Jay White was the most momentum Juice had in his career, but the G1 did more damage than help I think, and losing the belt was a cold stop in my eyes. I guess Juice and Henare win here?

Mass Music Review #1: Mission of Burma

Welcome to a new feature called Mass Music Review, where Chris Gillespie, nephew of our own Dan Moore, takes a look back at some of the influential bands to come out of Boston.  Today it's Mission of Burma!

The debut release of Boston band Mission of Burma, the EP Signals, Calls, and Marches has quite the legacy in rock music, as everyone from Pearl Jam, Nirvana, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, and even Fugazi cite the band as an inspiration. Many critics laud it as a landmark in alternative and indie rock, citing its heavy instrumentals harkening to hardcore punk accompanied by thoughtful lyrics and musical sophistication not traditionally found in the fast and loud punk bands littered throughout America at the time (1981, to be specific). The EP features two of the band’s most commercially accessible songs: "That’s When I Reach For My Revolver" and "Academy Fight Song," along with underrated songs like "Max Ernst" and "Fame And Fortune."

The band from left to right: Martin Swope, Roger Miller, Peter Prescott, Clint Conley

Mission of Burma began as a trio with Roger Miller (guitar), Clinton J. “Clint” Conley (bass), and Peter Glen Prescott (drums) in 1979, with their first show being on April 1st of that year at the now-closed Modern Theater. Later that same month, Miller wrote a new song that he believed would be improved by a tape loop (loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, the rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder) and contacted Martin Swope, with whom he had previously written some pieces for piano and tape. This led to Swope contributing to the band’s music more and more until he was considered an integral part of the band, receiving equal credit on the group’s recordings and appearing in group photographs along with the trio.

The band received a lot of help and support from the city, with local magazine Boston Rock printing a lengthy interview with the band prior to the release of their first record and MIT’s community radio station WMBR playing their song “Peking Spring” repeatedly in 1979 until it became their most played song of the year. The band even planned to release the song as a single but felt it had run its course by the time they had signed to Boston-based record label Ace of Hearts in 1981.

After signing with the label, the group released their first single “Academy Fight Song” written by Conley, with the Miller-penned “Max Ernst” (named for the painter) as the B-Side. The production on the single was much more refined and cleaner than the ragged and chaotic live performances of the band. Initially, they objected to such a drastic change but changed their minds after the single’s first pressing sold out quickly. By the end of that year, the EP would sell out its initial pressing of 10,000 copies.

NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed Preview & Predictions

New Japan's PPV schedule is becoming a lot like WWE's, with too many events slated right on top of each other.  I know their top revenue driver is live attendance, but jeezus guys.

Anyway, coming off of three Destruction shows featuring a couple ****1/2 main events, it's another visit to the States, as New Japan returns to the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach for Fighting Spirit Unleashed!  Seems a bit hasty to already be back, and ticket sales are reflecting that a bit.  But hopefully they'll get a decent turnout in the end.

The show itself looks pretty fun, with a couple title matches, the second Jr. Heavyweight semi-final, a great on-paper tag team main event, and a slew of multi-man tags as usual.  So let's get to the picks....

Jushin Thunder Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi & ACH vs. Roppongi 3K

Man, when is RPG3K gonna win back those Jr. Tag belts?  The hell's going on with those straps?  Anyway this should be a fun little opener that will hopefully give Sho and Yoh a win to get them back into contention.  It'll be short but energetic.

Justin: RPG
Landon: RPG3K

The Addiction vs. Hangman Page & Chase Owens

The first of a handful of guest spots on this card, it'll be interesting to see Daniels & Kazarian on a NJPW show.  Again, this should be a fun tag bout with solid work all around.  Page vs. Daniels should be an entertaining pairing.

Justin: I'll go with the Addiction
Landon: Page and Owens

Jeff Cobb, Chris Sabin & Flip Gordon vs. Hirooki Goto, Beretta & Chuckie T

Cobb vs. Goto is the money match here, but Sabin and Gordon should have some nice exchanges with Beretta and Chuckie as well.  I'd say this could set up a Goto-Cobb NEVER Title match, but they had to go and give that belt to Taichi of all people.  The fuck??

Justin: Team Goto
Landon: CHAOS

The History of NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling (2012)

From the guy who loves wrestling "more than I love air" as our friend B-Cuddy puts it, welcome to another series of PPV History, here at Enuffa.com!

This time we're tackling the relatively new annual NJPW event, King of Pro-Wrestling.  Unlike say a WrestleMania or the January 4th Tokyo Dome shows, KOPW has only been in existence since 2012, when the company made its debut on iPPV.  But man, did New Japan kick things off with a bang.  The inaugural King of Pro-Wrestling show garnered loads of praise, winning the Wrestling Observer award for Best Major Show of 2012, as well as Match of the Year.

From then on, KOPW took its place as one of New Japan's "Big Four" PPV events; given its placement on the calendar relative to the Dome, you could liken it to a Survivor Series.  The show has had its share of classic matches and stories, and it's always the most anticipated event of New Japan's fall season, perennially headlined by an IWGP Championship bout.

So let's take a look at the brief but noteworthy history of this annual PPV....

KOPW - Sumo Hall - 10.8.12

The inaugural event is still considered one of New Japan's finest PPVs, no small feat considering how many spectacular shows they've delivered since.  A loaded card featuring numerous championship matches and one for the G1 Climax briefcase (the first year that the G1 winner was guaranteed a Tokyo Dome main event), this show had a ton of star power and variety, and one of the hottest bell-to-bell crowds I've ever seen on a Japanese PPV.  This audience sounded like 80s NWA.

The opening contest was a six-man tag pitting Yuji Nagata and Muscle Orchestra (Strong Man and a returning Manabu Nakanishi) against three members of the CHAOS stable, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Takashi Iizuka.  This match was a wild brawl, with participants tagging in and out quickly and plenty of outside the ring shenanigans.  Of note in some of these bouts was the ringside presence of two young lions named Hiromu Takahashi and Takaaki Watanabe, better known today as Evil.  The action here was solid if unspectacular, but the highlight took place roughly midway through when Ishii and Nagata began chopping the shit out of each other.  Eventually the heels (CHAOS were solidly a group of bad guys at this point) got a cheap victory after Iizuka hit Nakanishi with his iron glove, allowing Yano to roll him up for the pin.  Nothing amazing in-ring, but this crowd was electric from the opening bell.  **

The first really notewothy match was the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Championship, with Forever Hooligans defending against Time Splitters.  This was fast-paced and crisply worked, with both teams getting virtually all their spots in, including the Hooligans teased dissension followed by a hug-out (a hilarious bit they used to do).  Rocky Romero and Alex Kozlov were a great mix of athleticism and heel comedy, while Time Splitters were one of the great underdog babyface tandems.  After fourteen-plus minutes, Romero countered a corner double-team move by pushing Alex Shelley over the top rope to the floor and countering a Kushida powerbomb into a sunset flip, into a roll-up, retaining the straps.  Not the best finish ever, but the rest of the match was splendid.  ***1/2

WWE Hell in a Cell 2018: You've Succeeded Despite Your Best Efforts

Well in spite of its faults and WWE's "best efforts," Hell in a Cell managed to be one of the best top-to-bottom PPVs the company has put on this year.  All seven matches were at least pretty good, a few were outstanding, and most of the booking was inoffensive.  I mean, it's sad WWE's standards have fallen so far, but I'll take a consistently entertaining show from them whenever I can get it.

I should note that Renee Young's presence in the announcing booth is such an improvement over Coachman.  Renee isn't Jesse Ventura or anything, but unlike Coachman she has a passion for the business and actually understands it.  And since Cole and Graves actually like her there's no distracting bickering going on.  So for the first time in ages, RAW's announce team actually enhanced the matches rather than hurt them.  Kudos to Renee for being the first-ever full-time female announcer.

The festivities began with Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton in the Cell.  Now, it made basically zero sense for this match to be in the HIAC format, but these guys made the most of it, sidestepping the type of Cell brutality WWE no longer allows for a few new ideas.  This was worked like an old-school No DQ match, methodical but rugged.  The usual Hardy high spots were sparse, but in their place were things like Orton wedging Jeff's head between ladder rungs and stomping the ladder, both guys whipping each other with Jeff's studded belt (which perforated Orton's back in several dozen places), and of course Orton taking a screwdriver and twisting Jeff's pierced earlobe (which made me cringe like I was watching thoracic surgery).  At the end of the match Hardy set up two ladders and a table for his leapfrog spot, but instead climbed to the ceiling, swung like a gymnast, and dove for the table.  Problem was Orton had moved (way too early), and Jeff crashed through the table.  The referee inexplicably called for medical help, despite this hardly being the worst bump we've seen in one of these matches.  But Orton insisted he count the pinfall, and he did so.  Then Jeff got stretchered out.  The injury angle was goofy and absurd considering Hell in a Cell is supposed to be the most brutal match type, but overall I liked this match a lot.  Not too shabby for a match I didn't care about.  ***1/2

Next up was Charlotte vs. Becky for the Smackdown Women's Title.  This match was intricate, fast-paced, and really well-worked.  A few slip-ups aside the action here was crisp and athletic, reminding us all what a women's match was supposed to look like post-Women's Revolution.  Months of Carmella train wrecks robbed us and the division of serious contests, so it was refreshing to see these two get the chance to tear it up.  The crowd was into it too, solidly behind Becky (despite her being positioned as the heel).  After 14 minutes Becky countered a spear with a rollup to upset Charlotte and capture the title.  What I wanted to see next was Becky extending her hand to try and renew their friendship, only for Charlotte to reject her and turn heel.  That would've been in line with fan reactions to this feud.  But instead, stubborn WWE booked the opposite, where Charlotte went to congratulate Becky and was rebuffed with extreme prejudice.  Whatever, at least the match was really good.  ***1/2

The show stealer took place third, as Dolph & Drew (Drolph ZigglIntyre?) defended against Seth & Dean.  This 23-minute match started out basic but quickly built in pacing and intensity, with the final third chock full of wild near-falls.  All four guys worked their asses off and the crowd went right along for it, buying nearly every false finish.  This is the kind of match that revives a dying division; imagine going from Matt & Bray vs. The B-Team to this, in the span of two months.  After throwing basically everything at each other, Seth superplexed Dolph, floated through and went for a Falcon Arrow, but was interrupted by Drew's Claymore Kick.  Dolph fell on top of him to score the pin.  Goddamn helluva match and easily the best thing we've gotten from this Seth-Dolph feud.  ****1/4

WWE Hell in a Cell 2018 Preview & Predictions

And we're back!  Welcome to another round of WWE Predictions here at Enuffa.com!

This month is WWE's Hell in a Cell PPV, where the most demonic structure is used not so much to settle a blood feud, but to fulfill an annual obligation.  Everyone's on the edge of their seat!  This year we have two Cell matches, neither one of which really warrants the Cell gimmick.  And we have a very personal regular match that might've actually lent itself to an appropriate use of the Cell.  But what do I know?

I will say this show looks quite good on paper, which is more than I can say for most WWE shows lately.  I certainly don't care about every match on here but even the ones I'm not that interested in have potential to be solid.  So there's that.

Let's get to it.

***Dan is in the lead with 65% accuracy (43/66), Dave and I are tied in second with 62% (41/66), and Landon is pulling up the rear with 56% (37/66)***

Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The New Day vs. Rusev Day

It's the battle of Days!  Whenever I have a battle of days, sick days usually win.  Anyway, I'm disappointed to once again not see The Bar going after the belts, but maybe they're saving Cesaro & Sheamus for another time.  This match doesn't interest me much since I don't see Rusev Day as a serious threat so soon after the New Day won the belts.  This'll be ok I guess.

Justin: New Day retain
Dan: Yup
Landon: New Day
Dave: New Day

Hell in a Cell: Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Really?  THIS warrants a goddamn Cell match?  This recycled feud from ten years ago, based on essentially "I'm jealous because Jeff is more popular than I am?"  Cheer up Randy, at least you're not Roman.  Meanwhile AJ and Joe have had a very personal feud over the WWE Title, but they just get a regular match.  Makes sense.  Is anyone terribly invested in Hardy-Orton, because I sure ain't.  As I feared when Orton got involved with Jeff, Nakamura, the US Champion, has been reduced to an afterthought.  Fuck this place.

Justin: Orton wins
Dan: Seems pointless to even have this match but I guess RKO.
Landon: Wait, this is actually happening??  Uhh.....Randy?
Dave: Orton I guess

Mixed Tag Match: Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse

I don't care much for this.  Maybe my concept of mixed tag matches is stuck in the 80s, but aside from Ronda's debut at this year's WrestleMania I can't remember any truly strong examples of this match type.  A feud that's been main eventing Smackdown week after week should culminate in something better than what has traditionally been a sideshow throwaway match.  Remember Savage & Sherri vs. Dusty & Sapphire?  That's the first thing that comes to mind when I think "Mixed Tag."  Maybe the Danielsons and the Mizanins will redefine it here, I don't know.  But I'm not terribly excited about this.

Justin: The Bryans stood tall at the end of Smackdown which usually means The Mizes win here.  But Miz also won the first match of this feud at SummerSlam.  So it's a coin flip.  Heads.  I'll pick the Bryans.
Dan: Miz & Missus
Landon: Daniel and Brie
Dave: The Mizes

NJPW Destruction 2018 Preview & Predictions

It's September, and that means it's time for New Japan's triple PPV!  Destruction will once again emanate from three different cities on three different days, with only one or two really important matches on each show.  With that in mind, Landon Wayne (@LSWayne21) and I are back with our picks for the top nine matches of the tour.

It goes without saying, but NJPW offers an incredible product.  2018 has been, by and large, just as much a banner year for New Japan as 2017 was (financially moreso), with numerous five-star matches, fantastic major shows, and an absolutely stellar G1 tournament.  The fall months are typically when things wind down a little and build toward the Tokyo Dome, but that doesn't seem to be happening this year.  The Destruction shows feature two of the biggest and potentially best matches of the year, both of which could've reasonably been saved for King of Pro-Wrestling in October.  I'm curious how big that show is going to be, given the scheduled Destruction main events.

Anyway, let's get to the picks....

Destruction in Hiroshima

Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, Evil & Bushi vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taka Michinoku & El Desperado

These shows, as always, have no shortage of multi-man tag matches, so I limited this preview to the biggest few.  This one pits the active members of LIJ (Hiromu Takahashi is sadly out with a neck injury until mid-2019) against four of the Suzuki-Gun thugs.  All three Destruction shows feature this feud in some form.  This'll be fun and chaotic, with both stables making liberal use of rulebreaking tactics.  I'll go with SG to win the first round.

Justin: SG
Landon: SZGN

Hiroshi Tanahashi & Great Bash Heel vs. Kazuchika Okada, Jay White & Yoshi-Hashi

A preview of the briefcase match in Kobe, Tanahashi will team with his old pals GBH against Okada and two of his stablemates.  I suspect we'll get a Tanahashi-White rematch in October since White did defeat Tana in the G1.  Stands to reason I would say.  With that in mind I think White scores the pin on someone here.

Justin: CHAOS
Landon: CHAOS, who is still trusting Jay White for some reason

IWJP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Oh man.  This match stole the entire G1 tournament for me.  What in god's name are Omega and Ishii gonna to do each other when the title is on the line?  This is basically an automatic five-star match.  If The Greatest Match Ever hadn't already happened at Dominion I'd say this had a good shot at Match of the Year.  Might have to settle for second-best.

Justin: Omega retains obviously
Landon: Omega retains, but there's this shred of me that still wants Ishii to win.

The Jaws Movies, Ranked

by Dan Moore
@SouthieDanimal

In honor of the Jaws franchise all being available via streaming, here now are all the Jaws flicks ranked in order, from worst to best. Bear in mind, I have an unhealthy obsession with one of them. I’ll let you decide which.

JAWS 3

Easily the worst of the bunch. This one was made back when 3-D was the next hot thing but also the next hot garbage because the technology SUCKED. Bland performances, forgettable 3-D effects and the worst use of Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossett Jr. ever.  You wanna see these two masters go at it, go find a movie called Enemy Mine that has Quaid in a bad fake beard and Jr. covered in makeup resembling some sort of fish pussy. It’s TREMENDOUS.

A homeless man and a squid walk into a bar...

JAWS 2

The least offensive of the sequels. It’s got most of the original actors playing their original parts. Even though Roy Scheider was forced to make this movie against his will, he doesn’t phone it in. His Chief Brody is still a determined and downright awesome public official. Sure, it’s ridiculous. Here comes another killer shark eating folk around Amity whilst the local bureaucratic bigwigs don’t believe the Chief. The funniest parts about this one are when Brody goes to the Mayor and tells him they might have a shark problem AGAIN. Larry Vaughn wants NO part of this insane man’s ramblings about a great white eating more people. Just get the fuck out of his office so he can get a handy from Tabitha the secretary.

Jesus Christ, again with this shark shit, Marty??

TV Review: Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - Season 1

by Michael Drinan

@mdrinan380

Amazon’s new series, Tom Clancy’s: Jack Ryan, is the latest version of the “Ryanverse” that includes Tom Clancy’s best selling novels and the films The Hunt for Red October (1990), Patriot Games (1992), Clear and Present Danger (1994), The Sum of All Fears (2002) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). Let’s just say, the “Ryanverse” has been a little shaky since 2002. 

John Krasinski is the latest incarnation of Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst who uncovers a suspicious trail of bank transactions from Lebanon. He presents the findings to his new boss, James Greer, which begins a pretty cantankerous working relationship that causes Greer to throw Ryan into the field to chase down an ambitious and fanatical Islamic fundamentalist named Suleiman.

The show is a fun ride showcasing both the analytical, information gathering side of CIA work while mixing in some action sequences and explosions with a few twists and turns. Even though there are some scenes throughout the series that seem a little cartoonish, it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of watching it play out. The characters are fleshed out with great care in a way where you don’t really need to be told outright their backstory or what’s going on in their heads, you can just pull it out from what you see on the screen. 

Krasinski, in my opinion, makes a really good Jack Ryan and I hope he continues playing him. It is said that this version of Ryan is drawn from Harrison Ford’s take on the character which is exactly how I want him to be played, very straight forward, professional, emotional but not irrational. He’s vulnerable but keeps his head and works the problem out. There is one fight scene in the entire season and Krasinski doesn’t overplay it. He fights like a former Marine turned CIA analyst would fight. There’s still that everyman, regular guy charm about Krasinski that shows perfectly in this role, because Ryan is a regular guy. All this show does is make me like and appreciate Krasinski’s talent as an actor even more. 

Wendell Pierce is also a joy to watch as James Greer. Even though there are sharp contrasts to James Earl Jones’ take on Greer in the films, it works very very well. He doesn’t take any bullshit and isn’t interested in having a friendship with Ryan at all, but you can tell here and there throughout the season that he does care about him and likes him a lot. There is one scene where he calls Ryan at 3 a.m. for a briefing with the President and tells him to wear a tie. When Ryan walks into the briefing room, filled with CIA officers, he notices everyone is dressed casually and noticing Greer with a slight smirk on his face once the prank hits home. Just like Krasinski, I hope Peirce continues in this role. He does a great job with the character.

There are some things that had me rolling my eyes. Having the CIA chase down an Islamic fundamentalist turned terrorist as a premise is a little played out. During the first episode, when it revealed who they were after, I sarcastically said out loud “Of course it’s an Islamic terrorist we’re after.” Hopefully they can find a more creative plotline for the second season. Also, I wish they would show a little more of the analyzing data and collaboration with other officers instead of cutting to out in the field to hunt down a lead. One of the most interesting moments in Patriot Games is Ryan at the CIA headquarters going through leads and scenarios with his team of CIA analysts, pouring over files and photos. That’s mostly what happens in Zero Dark Thirty and that was just as thrilling as any action sequence. It would allow the show to expand on characters and the plot a little more. 

All in all, the first season of Jack Ryan was really good. Aside from the slight changes to some of its characters, it still maintains that Clancy feel. It made me want to watch Patriot Games and Hunt For Red October just get more Jack Ryan! Everything from the acting to the writing was good. If you’re into the Jack Ryan character and the stories, I recommend giving this series a go.

I give the first season **1/2 out of ****

Girls Night In #1: Grease (1978)

Join us for a special PNI spinoff, GIRLS NIGHT IN!  Our friend Shannon crashes the party, joining Kelly to talk about one of their all-time favorite movies, Grease, while Justin, having never seen the film in its entirety, rains on everyone's parade....

Thanks for watching - click Like and Subscribe, and join us on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter (@EnuffaDotCom)!

Dissecting Rolling Stone's Top 100 Bob Dylan Songs

By Mike Drinan
@thesurfacenoise

Alright, so Rolling Stone put out a list where they ranked the 100 greatest Bob Dylan songs in celebration of the man’s 75th birthday, and for anyone who is suspicious of the list (because RS has put out some horrid lists) let me just say it’s not completely horrible. It’s not perfect but I only really got upset at one entry which is pretty unbelievable.

Before we dive in let me explain something. I view the rankings of songs very general. I don’t wage wars and get all moody because one song was put three spots above another. I have a range of ten spots in which I allow wiggle room for interpretation. Going to war over placements within ten spots, in my opinion, is simply splitting hairs. It doesn’t really matter. However, over ten spots then it’s fair game to bitch and moan.

Rolling Stone segmented the list with five groups of twenty songs, so I’ll give a summary of each group. Alright, let’s dive in!


100-81

The list kicks off with “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" from Street Legal. This group is made up of some pretty deep cuts. At #96 is “Farewell, Angelina”, a song that appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 and is a favorite of mine, with a great melody and very powerful, evocative imagery in the lyrics while also containing a despair for leaving the woman he loves. I think it should’ve been ranked higher but that’s my personal bias talking.

The 80s are rife with underappreciated Dylan songs. Starting at #88 with “Tombstone Blues”, followed up with “Most Of The Time” (#87), then “Meet Me In The Morning” (#86) which is one of my favorite songs off of Blood on the Tracks and ending with “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)” (#82). A good collection with my only problem being “Meet Me In The Morning;" that should be in the fifties somewhere.

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Daniel Bryan's Staying in WWE - Five Things I Demand

Sigh.....it's official.  Daniel Bryan has committed to spending three more years in the WWE penitentiary.  I can't say I'm surprised, but I am disappointed.  I have so little faith that this company will ever fully appreciate this one-of-a-kind talent or use him to his full potential ever again, that it's hard to get excited about this situation, despite what I'm sure was a big money deal for him.  I just hope he got the lighter schedule he was hoping for, and I hope he took that goddamn company for every penny he's worth.  But there's something seriously wrong when I'm actually sad about one of my favorite wrestlers on the planet staying in the biggest wrestling company for the most money.  This is how creatively backwards the WWE machine has become.  It's not the way this is supposed to work.  The idea of Bryan being at the forefront of the "All In" movement, participating in next year's WrestleKingdom, the MSG show, and especially the G1 was so promising, it feels like he'll always be in the wrong place at the wrong time now.  I was hoping he'd at least take a year of free agency and pull a Chris Jericho, and maybe WWE would make him a bigger offer to come back next year.

Well, enough mourning I guess.  Since Bryan's sticking with the three-ring circus, here are some things that need to happen for him, that WWE better not screw up.


1. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 35

This feud with Mizanin is just getting started, so let's do it properly.  We're getting a mixed tag match at Hell in a Cell (pretty lame if you ask me), and then in Australia there's a #1 contender match between the two.  So the logical move from there I guess would be for Miz to win and defeat AJ Styles for the belt at Survivor Series (though I still want to see a proper AJ-Bryan match as well).  Then Bryan should win the Royal Rumble (since he was robbed of that honor in 2014) and challenge Miz at 'Mania, giving him both another big WrestleMania moment (it doesn't have to be in the main event slot necessarily) and a real WWE Title run, something he still hasn't had.


2. Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles for the WWE Title at a later PPV

Since Bryan's return these two have only had one match, on Smackdown, that lasted 13 minutes and ended in disqualification.  Either shortly after WM35 or maybe at SummerSlam 2019 let's see these two for the belt in a real 25-minute match.


3. Daniel Bryan vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

One of the primary reasons Nakamura jumped to WWE was for the chance to wrestle Daniel Bryan.  Then Bryan was forced into retirement a month later, and it looked like that dream match would never happen.  But now both guys are active members of the same roster, on the same brand, and WWE would have to be complete idiots not to book this as a major feud.  Doesn't have to be for a championship necessarily (though if Bryan does win the title at 'Mania this would be a good program for next spring), but it does need to be presented as a huge deal and kept free of the stupidity that more or less sank the AJ-Nak feud.  Just put them in a ring together and let 'em go.


4. Daniel Bryan vs. Samoa Joe

Just like with AJ Styles, this is another potentially great match we haven't gotten a proper look at in WWE.  Bryan and Joe had a tremendous feud in Ring of Honor 12 years ago, and since they're both on Smackdown at the same time it would be silly not to take advantage.  If Joe fails to unseat AJ for the title this fall, maybe in a year he could be the guy to dethrone Bryan.  Or maybe you book Bryan vs. Joe later this year, from November through February.  Either way this needs to happen.


5. Daniel Bryan vs. Finn Balor

As of now these guys are on separate shows, but since Balor's doing basically nothing on RAW, let's get him moved to the blue brand sometime soon.  This would be an excellent first-time match that would raise Balor's profile and give Bryan someone suitable to work with.  It's another case of "They'd have to be insane not to."


If at least three of these five things happen over the next year or so, and WWE doesn't saddle them with stupid gimmicks or bad finishes, then they'll have somewhat restored my faith that they deserve a unique star like Daniel Bryan.  If not, then I guess I'll be counting the days till September 1st, 2021 when his contract is up again.


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WWE 2018: Welcome to the "F*ck the Fans" Era!

Man, it takes some serious pigheadedness to look at the top two babyfaces on your flagship show and then turn heel the one who ISN'T getting booed.  But that's what Vince has done.  For nearly the past year Braun Strowman has been getting better babyface reactions than anyone on RAW not named Seth Rollins (How Seth still isn't Vince's pick for the top star is beyond me), and now that he's been positioned to feud with Roman Reigns for the Universal Title, they decided he, and not Roman, should be the heel.  And to protect Roman from getting skewered by the fans they've reunited The Shield, the only proven formula to guarantee he gets the reaction they want.  Man, if you have to trick your audience into not booing your top babyface, what the hell does that tell you?  Like, how manipulative was that SummerSlam main event?  They put Strowman out there at the beginning to prevent the crowd from showering the match with "We want Strowman" chants, they had him announce that he would cash in after the match to keep the fans glued until the finish, and then when the cash-in didn't happen they quickly went off the air so the home audience wouldn't see the crowd turn on the result.  Has any other wrestling company needed this kind of Machiavellian maneuvering to make it look like their guy is the fans' favorite?

I do not understand Vince's over-the-top spitefulness with this Roman experiment.  This shit's been going on for four years and the fans by and large have shown little indication they'll ever accept Reigns as their top guy.  No matter how many alternatives the fans have provided to Vince - Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman - he refuses to simply admit he was wrong and go with the flow.

And yet turning Roman heel and making him a murdering asshole would get exactly the kind of crowd reaction Vince wants for Roman.  Turning The Rock heel worked in this way, turning Tetsuya Naito heel worked for New Japan, turning Hogan heel worked in WCW when his Hulkamania shtick got old, it's basic wrestling logic.  When the babyface is getting booed, you turn him heel.  If the crowd continues to hate him, good, that's his job.  If the crowd starts to love him, perfect, you have yourself a hot new top star.  But no, let's turn Braun.  Because if anything'll change people's minds about Roman it's encouraging them to boo the guy they actually like.  When did Vince McMahon's brain and logic become so separated?

Sadly there's basically zero chance any of this will change until Vince is gone.  Fox is paying WWE obscene amounts of money starting next year, and as long as WWE delivers acceptable ratings they have no incentive to ever listen to their audience again.  It is so baffling to me that any entertainment company would have such a flagrant disregard for what its fans want.  No other company would be able to exhibit this kind of behavior and still expect to be profitable.  In ten years when they make documentaries about this era in WWE they should dub it the Fuck the Fans Era.


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Brewery Reviewery: Throwback Brewery (North Hampton, NH)

Welcome to another edition of Brewery Reviewery here at Enuffa.com!  This past weekend we ventured up to North Hampton, NH to check out Throwback Brewery for some libations and good eats.

Throwback Brewery

7 Hobbs Rd

North Hampton, NH

603-379-2317

Located at historic Hobbs Farm, the all-women-owned Throwback makes use of all local ingredients to brew their beer and create a tasty menu of comfort foods.  The tasting room/restaurant is inside the old farmhouse and has a welcoming rustic feel.  There's also an outside seating area for those warm summer nights.  Visitors can seat themselves, fill out an order form for both food and drinks, and submit it at the bar for quick service.  Orders are named after whatever bobblehead toy the bartender gives you (in my case it was Superman).  Plus the background music consisted of a classic rock playlist featuring The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Elton John, among others.  Hard to go wrong there.

The food menu includes starter plates, sandwiches, rice bowls and salads, all reasonably priced.  Not wanting to gorge myself on food that day I went with the maple-braised carnitas tacos, stuffed with shredded beef, goat cheese yogurt, pickled shallots, cabbage, cilantro, and jack cheese.  These were deeply flavorful and textured, and hit the spot nicely.

My wife had the grilled cheese (made adult-sized from the kids' menu) with a side of sweet potato fries and honey mustard.  I only had a bite of that but it was buttery and delicious.  And terrible for me I'm sure.

I love me some tacos

For drinks we each had a 4-beer sampler with three common choices.

Mine consisted of Rhubarb Wit (a Belgian White ale), Oma's Tribute (black lager), Stout #3, and Hobbs Farmhouse Saison.  Kelly had the Wit, Stout and Farmhouse but also went with Oh Snap, a ginger molasses porter.

Beer Brawl: Slumbrew vs. Aeronaut (plus Downeast Cider and Cambridge Brewing Company)

Welcome to another edition of Beer Brawl, here at Enuffa.com!  

This past weekend my wife Kelly and I visited not one, not two, not three, but FOUR breweries in and around Somerville, MA, and thought we'd share something of our experience.  You may recall that last year we hit up Night Shift and Idle Hands, formerly in Everett.  In that showdown we overwhelmingly favored one over the other, but this time the winner wasn't quite as decisive.  So let's get to bidness....

200 Terminal St. Charlestown, MA

Our first stop was the strangely situated Downeast Cider House, located literally under the Tobin Bridge.  Downeast offers tours of their facility but we arrived during a rush and were informed there was a 1-2 hour wait.  So instead we enjoyed the outdoor drinking area, featuring several lawn chairs, high tables and a game of cornhole.  We first sampled the four available varieties and then settled on a full pour of our respective favorite.

I've only recently begun venturing into the hard cider realm, and a year ago I wouldn't have given it a second look.  But as someone who suffers from mild gluten intolerance I've been attempting to expand my alcohol options.  While many ciders are too sweet for me, I have managed to find a few I enjoy.

Original - Downeast's flagship cider is exactly what you'd expect; a mixture of sweetness and tartness with a refreshing bite.

Cranberry - This was my least favorite of the four since I'm not much of a cranberry guy.  But the cranberry was fairly understated.  I wouldn't go out of my way for this one but I wouldn't refuse it either.

Maple Pecan - My favorite of the four, much to my surprise.  The maple flavor doesn't kick in until about a second after you take a sip, and it doesn't bash you in the face either.  Really interesting combination.  We bought a growler of this one and I also had a full pour of it.

Lemonade Ginger - I had mixed feelings about this one.  I love lemony things, and I enjoy a bit of ginger.  I found the ginger flavor maybe a tad too prevalent.  This seems like a cider I could only drink in small doses.

Kelly's Take: I loved them all.

The Lemon Ginger was one of my faves, but even better when combined with the Cranberry as suggested by the barkeep.  (Yes, I said barkeep).

Cool atmosphere, worth going under the Tobin for.

I liked how fresh each one tasted, and how simple each one was.  Did not at all seem overprocessed, or tinny tasting like some ciders can be.

Parents' Night In #11: The Princess Bride (1987)

Kelly & Justin are back with another classic film to talk about.  If you don't like The Princess Bride you just may be a joyless bastard.....

Watch, enjoy and SUBSCRIBE!

Brewery Reviewery: John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House (Framingham, MA)

Welcome to another edition of Brewery Reviewery, here at Enuffa.com! Today I'll be talking about a place I hadn't frequented since a lifetime ago.....

John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House

1 Worcester Rd.

Framingham, MA

Welp, it had been a good fifteen years since I last visited John Harvard's Brewery & Ale House, and back in 2003 I wasn't a drinker of real beer.  Thus the only JH microbrew I enjoyed at the time was their American Lager (I think that was the name), which was essentially a glorified Budweiser clone.  Now that I actually understand what good beer tastes like, it seemed time to revisit this chain establishment.  And goddamn if John Harvard doesn't have some hella good stuff on tap....

The old-timey decor fits right into the colonial theme.....

First off, the food.  Their menu is loaded with comfort choices, from burgers to pizza to chicken pot pie to meatloaf (my wife's choice on this particular occasion - deliciously grilled no less).  After enjoying their homemade beer bread and soft pretzels with spicy mustard and beer cheese (How do you type out the "Oh my sweet lord this food is delicious" kiss gesture?  MMMWAH!!!)  I went with the pastrami panini, topped with cheese and served on a grilled bun with fries.  This was a spectacular sandwich, complete with French au jus for dipping.  The lean pastrami was tender and flavorful, and the portion size was just enough to get satisfyingly full.  I'd order this meal again in a heartbeat.

Well, hello delicious.....

The History of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV

Unsurprisingly NXT upstaged the main roster yet again, with a strong TakeOver special the night before SummerSlam.  While probably not the best Brooklyn special (The original is still at the top of the pile for me, on the strength of its double main event), number 4 delivered five decent-to-excellent bouts with scarcely an ounce of fat (aside from perhaps the overly long main event).

The show opened with a blazing tag team battle, as Roderick Strong and Kyle O'Reilly faced Moustache Mountain.  This had almost nonstop action throughout its 18 minute running time, with nearfalls galore.  Undisputed Era had the superior technical acumen, but Tyler Bate and Trent Seven showed off deceptively overwhelming power.  The two teams traded potentially match-ending moves until the champs outmaneuvered the challengers and hit Total Elimination for the win.  Splendid opening contest.  ***3/4

The weakest match for me was Velveteen Dream vs. EC3.  I like Dream quite a lot and feel like he already has the complete package - loads of charisma and crazy athleticism; he just needs a little more seasoning.  I don't feel the same way about EC3.  His overly muscular build makes him clumsy and stiff, like John Cena circa 2004.  He looks great and has some charisma I guess, though it doesn't seem effortless like Dream's.  But he just doesn't move all that well.  Dream going over here was the right move.  **1/2

For me the match of the night was Adam Cole vs. Ricochet.  Cole for me has been a little underwhelming in-ring.  While he's compelling from a character standpoint there wasn't anything about him mechanically that stood out to me.  In this match though his big thing was counterwrestling.  He played the crafty ring general, always aware of where he was and what his opponent was about to do.  Ricochet meanwhile got to show off his insane aerial offense.  The spot of the entire night was Ric going for a springboard moonsault and meeting a kick to the face - just mindboggling and perfectly timed.  After 15 minutes Ricochet won the match and the North American title with a 630 senton (I dunno how you even practice a move like that - one bad landing and you'll never do the move, or potentially walk, again).  Super match.  ****

Brewery Reviewery: Liquid Riot (Portland, ME)

Liquid Riot

250 Commercial St.

Portland, ME 04101

liquidriot.com

Last week my family and I ventured up to Portland, Maine for a Sea Dogs game (They're the Red Sox AA team - go up for a game if you get a chance) and to check out some local breweries.  We did the obligatory stop-off at Shipyard but also did a tasting and a light lunch at Liquid Riot, a brewery/distillery and resto-bar right on the water, with indoor and outdoor seating (we opted for the latter).

Inside the venue has kind of a utilitiarian, industrial feel, with visible HVAC and bare cement floors, complete with a full view of the brewery floor behind the bar.  There is very ample seating both at the bar and around the room, plus pool tables in case you fancy a game of billiards.  The outside seating consists of a back deck overlooking the docks - nothing fancy out there and the view is a bit obstructed by other seaside businesses, but on a nice day you could do worse.

Our lunch consisted of two shared apps.  The first was house cut fries, which come with two sauces - we went with ketchup and beer cheese.  The cheese wasn't the most flavorful - it was inoffensive but fairly bland; I've had better in this department.  The fries however were quite good, freshly made and seasoned with sea salt.  The other app was the veggie nachos, which seemed rather phoned in to me - they were topped with black beans, avacado, cherry tomatoes (whole ones, which I found odd), cheese sauce (never a proper substitute for freshly grated cheddar) and a few other things, but the toppings were a bit skimpy and the dish didn't have much personality.  I'm not sure how their various sandwiches, sliders and fish tacos are, but the apps left something to be desired for me.

Fortunately the beer was the main attraction (I don't drink whiskey), and Liquid Riot has some fine craft libations to offer.  Below are the five beers I tried, followed by my take on each:

WWE SummerSlam 2018: Was This PPV on Shuffle?

Well.....that was certainly anticlimactic.  We have a new Universal Champion folks.  And after three-and-a-half years of buildup to get here, his coronation match lasted....six minutes. 

This SummerSlam was frustratingly inconsistent and suffered from repetitive booking and a nonsensical match order, despite a few of the bouts being quite good.  It oddly peaked in the middle of the show, and although it never dragged like the last two SummerSlams, by the end I walked away mildly unsatisfied.

In the predictions piece I said Brock vs. Roman should be kept short to prevent the crowd from shitting all over it, and that was probably still the right move.  But what a nothing match this was.  First off, Braun Strowman interrupted the ring introductions to announce that unlike other MITB holders, he wasn't a coward who would cash in when the champ's back is turned.  "Cool" I thought, "he's adding himself to the match like a monster babyface realistically would."  Nope.  He just stated that he's cashing in after the match.  So how's that really any different than cashing in when the guy's back is turned?  You're still a fresh challenger facing an exhasuted champion.  How is that not cowardly?  It turned out to be a moot point anyway, but really think about this for a second.  This is why Money in the Bank needs to go away.

Anyway, Brock vs. Goldberg in 2017 proved you can have a red-hot sub-five-minute match that is memorable and that the crowd will eat up.  But after the first thirty seconds of Punch-Spear, this match was a buncha fluff.  Brock got a guillotine choke, hit a few suplexes, attacked Braun Strowman with a chair to prevent him from cashing in, and then got speared out of nowhere to lose the belt.  The indestructible Brock Lesnar, who earlier had taken three SuperPunches and two spears but still had it in him to counter with a guillotine choke, got pinned from one spear after controlling the second half of the match.  This was the most anticlimactic title change since Cena beat JBL in 2005, and nowhere near as good as either WrestleMania match between these two.  Strowman was clearly put out there to prevent "We Want Strowman" chants and get the crowd hyped for a possible cash-in, but what does it say about your main event when you have to trick your audience into not booing it?  This more or less sucked.  *1/2

NXT TakeOver Brooklyn IV Preview & Predictions

Hard to believe we're already at the fourth annual Brooklyn TakeOver event.  The 2015 edition, the first-ever NXT special to emanate from a full-size arena, raised the bar very high for the upstart developmental brand and began a nearly unbroken tradition of NXT specials overshadowing their main roster counterparts a day later.  NXT continues to be the one aspect of WWE programming that consistently works, and they just keep chuggin' along despite very high turnover (as the main roster raids their talent only to bury most of it).

Anyway, this Saturday's Brooklyn special promises to be potentially the best one yet, with five big matches that look great on paper.

Velveteen Dream vs. EC3

The uber-charismatic, high-flying Velveteen Dream is this year's surprise hit in NXT - an over-the-top personality who can actually back it up once the bell rings.  Ethan Carter has oddly not been featured much on TakeOver specials thus far, I wonder if he's being quickly groomed for a call-up, given his jacked physique.  This match will be a clash of styles but should be a quite entertaining undercard attraction.

Justin: I think EC3 gets a win on his way to a near-future main roster debut
Landon: EC3

NXT Tag Team Championship: Undisputed Era vs. Moustache Mountain

This'll be a great technical tag showcase.  All four of these guys have impeccable grappling credentials and they've traded the belts back and forth once already.  I'm looking for non-stop action amid dazzling European-style mat wrestling.

Justin: I think the champs retain this time
Landon: Undisputed Era