hijack a shrinking rumble

Con Air - the Flash - WWE Royal Rumble
pop culture dailies 011

012: I can actually find a common theme between these three products: a return to the concepts of yesteryears; a full blown action blockbuster; the fad of shrinking people to ant's size; and one of WWE's (then-WWF) most popular signature concepts pf the company:

Con Air

I've heard of the many classic hits (it's a loose interpretation of the term) from the enigma that is Nicholas Cage and since I've watched the Rock months ago and enjoyed the action romp wholeheartedly, I wanted to give Con Air a try. Even though it was not the same as the aforementioned outing that has been synonymous with his name, nevertheless it is a balls-to-the-wall crime-fueled thriller with an eclectic group of criminals that were too far gone as the main protagonist, Poe, was forced to play along while planning his way out of the mess to, of course, meet his daughter for the first time. Just be cautious of the casual racism, politically incorrect instances and abrasive language being thrown around without a care ... if you based it on the sort of characters are onscreen, it fit the bill at least! I had fun! They were a number of actors that are now a mainstay of the modern industry ...

the Flash s04e12 Honey I Shrunk Team Flash

Well, that's not entirely correct, not all on the team were shrunk by the villain of the day but it certainly presented a tricky situation to the Elongated Man and Vibe but unfortunately it was reserved as a side story instead of the main focus of the episode, just a couple of circumstancing antics and a ticking clock to end a premise full of promise considering it was the premise of a whole movie franchise before. Going back to the Flash himself, his overzealous positivity is infectious for better or for worse as he tried to give incarcerated Goldberg a new lease on life, having hope to get out after being falsely imprisoned. Whether or not this would play into DeVoe's master plan (of course it was!), it was a nice detour and continuation from the previous episode after the recent morbid and depressing progression of death and court ruling, getting back to the jovial nature the series is so famous for compared to other DC CW series. I believe the riot is coming next, especially now Barry's identity is exposed!

WWE ROYAL RUMBLE

Aside from the usual Pay-Per-View formats, Royal Rumble cements its place as the big four with its platform to showcase every wrestler in the roster (and possibly cameos from the past or the future i.e. veteran or up-and-comers), although the some of the most recent iterations were plagued with corporate decisions that went against what the fans want. It's safe to say that it went just as we wanted this year! It was entertaining to see arguably the most talented performers (you wouldn't argue about the Champion, AJ Styles though!) in the current roster put on an exciting 2-on-1 handicap bout and as the dream main event for Wrestlemania is now set in stone (pending any further involvement by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn of course ... or whether or not the fallout from the clash of management between Daniel Bryan with Shane McMahon would continue after this momentary ceasefire and would it involve the WWE Championship somehow). With only a couple of veterans being called in (Hurricane Helms was a gem! And Rey Mysterio looks better than ever, faster and muscular! Changing the outfit into a tight fit definitely helps! If he could reach an agreement to be signed in full time or just part time, I won't even be mad and in fact, I would look forward to it!), it was surprisingly one of the better Rumble in years as a lot of storylines being told throughout the hour that I was happy with how it went and I was elated with the eventual winner! The 2-out-of-3 falls match between the Uso and Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin ended in an unconventional manner and even though it fall short from the excellent feud with the New Day, it was solid wrestling match (especially considering the latter pairing) and understandably had to be cut short to consider the magnitude of having two Royal Rumble events in the same PPV. Another casualty was for the RAW counterpart as the Bar won back the belts after muscling down the relentless Seth Rollins that had to basically fight them singlehandedly after Jason Jordan was concussed earlier and rendered useless for the rest of the match (it was reportedly that he was nursing an injury, but that's still up in the air at the moment). The eventual clash between the giants, Braun Strowman, Kane and Brock Lesnar, for the Universal Championship that had been building up to for weeks before unfortunately didn't get enough time to play with as they rushed through every spot without any slow buildup and time to soak them in. The carnage was what we expected but the duration could be longer. Last but not least, the main event, the first ever Woman Royal Rumble! It's being given the spot as it was a momentous occasion as the final hour was filled with attempts to make it as memorable as they could with current women roster from both brands were duking it out against one and another and of course with returning veterans of yesteryears that made the division and paved the way for them. Lita, Molly Holly, Michelle McCool, Torrie Wilson, Beth Phoenix, Jacqueline Vickie Guerrero (EXCUSE ME!!! The crowd was amazing both in the Takeover as well as in the Royal Rumble ... thank you for chanting "Eddie" for her!), the Bella Twins, Trish Stratus, etc. I apologize if I don't mention any other cameos, I was listing them from the top of my head. Nostalgia trip didn't stop at all and I enjoyed the trip from start to finish as we celebrated them from the past, present and future. With that said, I was sad that only Ember Moon and the Yacht persona, Kairi Sane, were called up (compared to Andrade Cien Almas and ADAM COLE BABY!), with none of the other talents in development i.e. NXT and Mae Young Classic were being given the opportunity to participate in this historic match. There were admittedly some ring rusts from the understandably returning wrestlers and I can't guarantee that it won't be same with the new talents in the same position but I passed it as the one time WWE paying homage to the history and I hope we are done looking backward now and will continue to look forward and forward only, especially considering who won the whole darn thing and who stepped in as a major threat towards all of the roster in the future! Cut her some slack won't you, it is her dream to be a WWE wrestler! I see those awkwardness as part of her charms as she would continue to work behind the scenes and possibly make in-ring debut in the grandest stage of all: Wrestlemania!

P.S. I wish her good luck in her wrestling career! I know, I know, it was a bit lopsided if you compared the three reviews to one another. It shows how much I love wrestling that I could write nonstop on it if I wanted to! Which is why I won't do a full review as of now since I know I would spend days writing them an would overlook anything else that I want to do. Even now I am rambling nonstop! I will stop. Thank you for reading all of these. :-P

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Well, that's all folks! Thank you for your time and please do come back for my future posts! :-)