Tag: Wrestling

With WWE Next Gen, The Struggle is Real

Who’s ready to rumble? Secrets about how WWE will evolve is revealed in this Reality TV Program simply tiutled WWE Next Gen.

WWE Next Gen Promo PosterDebuting on Roku
April 1st, 2024

Anyone who has followed WWE’s NXT knows it is a platform to test new talents not only on the wrestling ring but also on screen as performers. It started in 2010 as a television program which aired on different networks over the years, and some may wonder how some individuals got here? WWE Next Gen aims to answer that, and show how tough it is to become a celebrity wrestling superstar. It’s really about how to present yourself to others and anyone watching this reality TV program may well learn a thing or two on when it’s okay to be a douche and when it’s not.

Unlike past talents who fought tooth and nail to the top, before the WWE existed, these recruits have the assistance of industry legends like Shawn Michaels, Big E, and Matt Bloom to help mentor them. Morgan Belvedere is not from their world, and she’s a different type of intermediary. They are here to see if Brayden Ray, Breanna Covington, Jonah Niesenbaum, Caleb Kelly, Nicky Rodriguez, Julian Baldi, Christyan Reid, Kevin Feder, Aaron Jenkins, Sara Fiorvento, Kennedy Smith, Lina Ducharme, Taylor Arenz, Keyshawn Leflore, Olena Sadovska, and Darrel Mason have what it takes.

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The Bungle With Paramount Plus’ Rumble And Where to Find It Online

There’s a decent enough story in Rumble to keep me interested, and at the same time, there’s another theme I wished could have been explored.

Rumble Film PosterWWE Studios‘ doesn’t make a lot of animated films, and when they do, viewers recognise why it’s often about selling the parent’s company style of entertainment. Make it kitschy, and they will come.

The last work had their best known wrestlers teaming up with Scooby-Doo and the gang. They were decent enough such that two films (Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery and Curse of the Speed Demon) got made! But with their latest, Rumble, what’s presented isn’t anything I haven’t seen before.

Originally released to Paramount Plus last year, this CGI film wasn’t able receive the attention it so deserves. Now that it’s widely available (it arrived on home video in late October), and is streamable on services like Netflix (arriving in Canada Dec 15, 2022) and Amazon Prime USA, it’s possible to see what the fuss is about. I enjoyed it for the kaiju moments–which was sadly very brief–more so than its nod to the universal monsters of yore. Thankfully there are plenty of Easter eggs to laugh at. But not everyone will spot them all. For example, there’s a blink and you’ll miss “Mini Cthulhu” scrolling past.

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The Nail in the Coffin is not Firm on the Fall and Rise of Vampiro, a Wrestling Legend

Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro is a very deep, insightful and tear-jerker of a documentary about this wrestler as a family man.

Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of VampiroBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available through: Rogers, Telus, Shaw, Bell, Cineplex and also on iTunes Apple TV

According to Vampiro (aka Ian Richard Hodgkinson), pro wrestling originated in Mexico. A few talents from the WWE got their start there. Lucha Libre, as it’s known, is its own unique world and Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro is a very deep, insightful and tear-jerker of a documentary about this wrestler as a family man. It’s less about the world he’s still involved in, but more about how much he loves Dasha, his daughter.

In his better years, this wrestler flew back and forth from Ontario and Mexico City, from his home life to work, just to earn a living so to help his family out. It’s not just with his daughter, but also his mom. This piece doesn’t dwell too much on all the reasons on why he left the nest, but instead focuses on those lessons he learned as he navigated the harsh realities of life so that he can prepare his own little bird for the eventuality. He won’t be around forever, especially with the way he’s abused his body as this film unfolds.

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The Legend of Baron To’a is Returning to Ringside Soon!

Uncle Otto (Nathaniel Lees) tells his nephew everything that’s happened since he left. He’s also adamant that unless the young man recovers the championship wrestling belt that his father left the family (a symbol of a life he left behind), he will not sell his share of the house. The obstacles he faces are not just from within the family but also out.

The Legend of Baron To'aBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Film Festival 2020

Coming soon to:
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
October 15, 2020 at 12pm PT to 18th
Geolocked

For the latest screening updates, please visit TLoBT’s Facebook page.

The historical context nestled within The Legend of Baron To’a may well hide a deeper meaning. I found a lesson which speaks about early European-Tonga relations when New Zealand was being settled. No first encounter is ever perfect. This film’s introduction from two of the actors making an apology to the Royal Family and the Tonga suggests to viewers (who know the back history between these two nations) shouldn’t get offended in this satire.

Newcomers unfamiliar with this country will get an interpretation based on how a gang of ruffians can disrupt life in the suburbs. Thankfully, it only stretches a block or two. John Argall and Owen Black’s take had a context director Kiel McNaughton must have liked. When the Europeans first landed, the relationship between the Māori were largely amicable. But as land was sold and traded, tensions rose. Just how this relates to the Tonga isn’t fully clear, though it’s easy to assume Baron To’a’s name borrows from and plays with how to represent this sovereign nation.

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