Lurker > Strife2

*Strife appears on the video screen, ragged, sweaty, and torn down. He grabs sips of water, breathes deep, and then prepares to speak*

Last week was supposed to be my moments to shine. A second match against Bang, and unstoppable chick who knew how to beat me. I thought she was done for, but she put me down with ease and humilated me. I swore I would bounce back, only to come up short for Cibernetico. Maniac and Kora punked me out. So I realized something after returning to the dressing room.

All these scare tactics, all this hardcore bluster, all that don't amount to jack shit if my body, mind, and skill aren't honed and taken to another level. Fact is, I'm getting older, slower *looks*, a lot fatter...but instead of letting that beat me, I gotta do the right thing. I gotta train the right way, I gotta keep shit simple, straightforward, and do it so no one can beat me. Because the simplest way to "scare" someone is not by making veiled threats. It's by kneeing them in the face, punching them until they bleed, or choking them out. So I came up with a plan.

No more of this weak ass hiding behind weapons and letting them do the work. At the end of the day, I have to do the dirty work myself. So, if Tom is gonna offer me to bring some backup, then I'm going to bring people who can teach me how to win the hard way. And I know just the three people to do it.

First up, to keep my reflexes and instincts in check, but focus more on kicking the shit out of people, I'm bringing a guy who kicked malaria's ass and made WWE blowhards his bitch. My first pick is the Lethal Weapon, STEVE BLACKMAN!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjimaroQtLY

To that same tone, I need a guy who knew how to throw people around way larger, make them tap, and get in the zone and tap into anger and agression when he needed to. A man who lived through hell and never backed down, even against WWE's top stars, former IC champion and King of the Ring, KEN SHAMROCK!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbItDLhx0m4

And just in case I fight Bang again, I feel I'm missing something. I'm missing the knowledge of how a female fighter's brain works. Doesn't matter what size you are, doesn't matter how you look. If you can punk someone out with ease, it doesn't matter. And I think I know just the person. She made UFC and WWE both bow down and proved people wrong, and if Bang wants another round with me OR her, she's welcome to try. ROWDY RONDA ROUSEY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvcVCK0PpyY

So yes. My new fight team and three celeb picks are

Steve Blackman
Ken Shamrock
Ronda Rousey

Even if it takes me several beatings and losses to learn my lessons, this team is going to teach me how to make BBWL my bitches. I won't settle for anything less than the best, and I will wreck each and everyone in my way.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Wild traded Donato to SJ for a third, and Dubnyk deal definitely seems possible at this point. What would they get for a shit goalie on a "meh" contract to be a backup? I dunno. Rumors say a late first, but I highly doubt that.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Rumors say Dubnyk and Donato to San Jose, but it's not "done" yet. Kinda shocked San Jose wants Dubnyk, even as a backup, but whatever.

If the Wild get a draft pick back, cool.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Also, holy shit at Bang taking a loss in anything, even a multiperson match.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Damn

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Um...what?

I know he's a year out from UFA and older, but the Wild NEED scorers not rid themselves of them.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Brodin gets 7y/$42m....holy balls.

Spurgeon: 7.75m
Suter: 7.5m
Brodin/Dumba: 6m a piece

$27m for a top 4. Wonder if Dumba's days are numbered.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

So...she comes my way again? heehehhehehehhehe.

I would like to show her my collection of tables, chairs, steel pipes, barbed wire, and other lovely implements of destructions. If she wants competition, then she knows full well the kind of dance of death I shall provide her. What she needs to understand is no amount of pain will be good enough to satisfy me. She took me to the brink once. But I saw her fight with fire in her eyes. She will need to bring that yet again to put me away. If not, I shall cut her historic reigns short.

Come prepared to suffer for your treasure, or prepare to go home bloody and broke.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Well, I wouldn't mind another winger, but it certainly sounds like Fiala and Kaprizov are default top liners. At this point.

Not that I wouldn't welcome even more scoring depth. Lord knows Parise can't stay 1st/2nd line forever. They need a scoring centerman though. Staal kinda dropped a little, and Galchenyuk was NOT worth the 5 mil price tag. Kunin/Ek?...nah.

Not sure what the Wild would do even with Laffy. But then again, scorers don't grow on trees, and if any team has proven bereft of scoring talent consistency, it is them.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

News sites and Twitter buzz seems to be "Anywhere but Edmonton and Toronto" at this point.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Though, to make me feel better, I laughed that some guy called "Wacey Rabbit" was also drafted...

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Though, to be fair, even if they got the #1, I wouldn't trust the Wild with it. The last time they got such a high pick, they got Benoit Pouliot. I'm going to look up that draft again just to cry.

Edit: All I had to see were the names "Carey Price and Anze Kopitar" and I already gave up.

Edit AGAIN: Rask, Neal, Stasny, Oshie, Quick, AND Letang too? OH FUCK OFF!

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

That means Toronto gets tomorrow's first pick, right? I don't buy "odds." What I buy is "RIGGGGGGGGGGGGED"

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Wow. Now I don't feel so bad...The Wild at least made the 2nd Round a couple times...

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Well, the Wild season ended with a thud. But in a weird way, it just means things can finally move on. Fiala was amazing for as cheap as his contract is, Koivu and Galchenyuk getting dumped (one would hope) is about $10 million off the cap, and Suter, Spurgeon, and Staal (Parise to a lesser extent) are still "good enough." to hold things together while hopefully Fiala keeps the hot streak going. Stalock seems to have taken over for Dubnyk permanently, so that could be another way to save money.

Dumba was a downer, but the injury really screwed things up. I have no idea about this Kaprizov guy though. He better be Gaborik 2.0 for all the time the management won't shut the fuck up about his "IMPENDING AMAZING ARRIVAL OMFG HYPE!" train. But hey. If he can replace Zucker's production or exceed it, fine. Apparently, the defenseman they got in the Zucker trade is a good pickup too...who knows.

I think the reason I'm less pissed than usual is even if the team didn't move in the standings one way or another, the team seems to have woken up and at least bothered to CHANGE. For years, it was a misguided young core of up and down talent that never seemed to get better, nor was bad enough to be worse. But most of those guys are gone. Fenton's run was a disaster, but at least he and Guerin did what Fletcher couldn't: see the writing on the wall.

Might still take another year or two, but there's movement at least.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Crews was made champion because 30-50% of the roster was sick, injured, or stayed home.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Reigns and Lesnar aren't there, so he probably doesn't recognize any wrestler enough to care about what they do.

Now, if Kofi looked like Shelton, that'd be a different story.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I dunno, but video gamers throwing shit fits at a reviewer for giving BOTW a 7, to the point they DDOS his site...well adjusted people.

Well adjusted...

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Now they can figure out how to stop Twitter nerds to stop sending death threats to actors.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I'd just like it if numbered scores for a subjective medium weren't a thing, but logic hurts I guess...

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

WWE is 10 years, if not 20 behind the social curve though. They wouldn't pander to "equality" unless someone threatened to nuke Vince's house.

Who am I kidding? Vince would shoo the nuke away for interrupting his workout....

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Tag...team?

I don't think Vince knows those words.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

WWE is dumb for never picking up Ivellise, even after the Bill Demott thing. She was one of my favorite LU wrestlers, and would definitely bolster the WWE women's roster. But hey, AEW didn't do a dumb.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Dolph said in promos: "He'll pick the stipulation at the time of the match to keep Drew guessing."

So WWE actually ON THE SHOW for once, gave an in kayfabe reason why not to say shit. Dolph is a scrub. We know he's a scrub. But for once, I think they did the right thing. He wants the theoretical advantage over a guy who has been unkillable.

...

I just said WWE made logical booking. Somebody shoot me.

*Edit: Might have been leaked, but lol dirtsheets*

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Great reporting there dirtsheets.

Like the Anthony Barr situation. Was gonna sign for the Jets, went to sleep, woke up going 'um fuck that' and then re-signed with the Vikings.

Except this time, I wonder if she should have...

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Maybe the fact Riddle is a stoner dude bro who is a bit of a dick.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Ardyn chews the scenery, which helps mask the plot's miscues a fair bit. As stated, the game REALLY suffers midway, but Ardyn trolling your dumbass all game is worth it. He commands your attention. The bros of course play off each other well too, so I was still invested in the goings on once the game stopped fucking around and railroaded towards the ending. Until he comes into clear view though, many of the characters kinda suffer. Lunafreya in particular SHOULD be a big deal, but is always kept apart from the player. It's like being told you're supposed to feel for someone, but they are always in a glass box or something.

It's such a missed opportunity. FF7R reaffirmed that SE shouldn't have even tried the open world format. Remake kinda forced you in an area, in a story path, and then maybe 3 times gave you "sidequest city." XV just said, "We have a framework of a plot, and a hell of a villain, but fuck all to do with them." Go here, kill a thing, level up. The open world helps buld the camraderie of the bros. The open world gives you a car that functions as a historical FF Jukebox. All cool things, but none of the sidequests feel earned. Just busy shit to level you up.

I would still play it, but realize that two types of games that don't coexist were haphazardly thrown together to give the illusion of "modern storytelling." It is still affecting, but only because the characters themselves keep you glued to the screen.


---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Hey, needlessly edgy can sometimes be awesome.

*Tales of Berseria*

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

So what you're saying is she won't be in a title match feud on TV for more than the span of a month?

wow.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Ys continues to impress lately. VIII was really fucking good, so I'm hoping they don't disappoint here.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Other brand superstars have challenged for titles before. I can say Sasha is kinda getting away with a loophole because "LOL INTERBRAND CHAMPION BOTH SHOWS," but weren't Bray and Randy fighting for titles despite being seperated in the draft?

I know someone did. Maybe someone last year too.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Yep. That's Vince McMahon for you. For a guy whose program endless slathers shit branding in your face, he has a massive distaste for real names, fake names, two or three word names, or anything that doesn't just feel like it "exists" in this plane of existence.

WWE in a nutshell. It's kind of a marvel some of the performers (Edge and Orton for example) can overcome some of this fucking nonsense on a weekly basis.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

oof


---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Unless it's in their future endeavors

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Also, in a cruel coincidence, Cornette's newest Youtube podcast got auto-uploaded 2 hours after this mess started. Oops.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

As much as I applaud the need to speak up about atrocities, the mob mentality that happens whenever this goes on is a bit weird. Twitter is like a cesspool and blight on the earth. Cancel Culture is a blessing and a curse.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

How is WWE still in business?

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Hope people go, "PLEASE WATCH THE TWO BEST WRESTLERS DOING ACTUAL WRESTLING ON OUR WRESTLING SHOW ABOUT WRESTLING" and help ratings.

Cause maybe someone told Vince that legend shows finally dried up.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Starting to get some momentum finally.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

The only way WWE could get me to pay for their shows these days is if they actually sent wrestlers TO my house for watch parties. Though NXT would probably still be good...

It would be a missed opportunity if they don't have the original stage set.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

I wouldn't go that far. It hasn't descended into AEW MARK" and "troll poster loser" insults yet.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Bryan Alvarez had a source who flat out said, "she should be fucking fired." So yeah. Totally on her. If you're own company says you suck to the media, then oof. No association to the Rock saves you from being a complete trainwreck. At least...one wonders where the line is.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

He's smart then. Money. THINK OF THE MONEY.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

One has to wonder what "getting heat" even means anymore when people like Ricochet are saying, "You're trying to be a "bad guy on TV.""

So Ryker doing it the old school way leads to shit like this now. Is anyone even a heel or face anymore?

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Looks like Ryker did a Twitter dumb. Why support Trump on Twitter NOW of all times? Owens, Ricochet, Ali, and others doing the equivalent of "Cane yanking idiot off stage."


---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Sorry, but Nia lost all benefit of the doubt when she couldn't even get a tree slam right, and the Bayley thing, and the punch to Becky's face...and for the time she did something to Charlotte and...

You know, fuck it. If you can't not injure people every six months, than that's on you.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Given that Kairi's ceiling is, "Asuka's run-in buddy" or "Asuka feud because DUR JAPANESE,' it's hard to find a place for her unless she's on a separate brand. I'm just shocked Vince got convinced to give Asuka more than one title after the Charlotte thing, much less all the accolades she accrued "NOT BEING CHARLOTTE". I doubt he gives two shits about "another Japanese girl." being on the roster.

Remember, this is the same guy who called Michael Tarver Shelton in a team meeting.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

So, Seth can manage to not hut Rey throwing his fucking eye into the steps, but Nia can't even manage being safe. I'm shocked she doesn't injure someone just walking into them.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Minnesota actually has very limited numbers of COVID, but lol at NHL bringing it here. Would like the work though.

If not, that means the Hockey Lodge is done. Probably done working there too. 3 jobs is a bit much to stretch me thin.

Would be nice to get back to just being a fan...as cynical and angsty I get.

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass

Wait...news?

Wild in a "playoff?"

Ok.

*Falls asleep until it happens*

---

"Evening caress, Always yearning, I must confess, The stars aren't burning"
Copernicus - Candlemass