Gaiden the Ring: WWE Day of Reckoning Part 5

When Dan is crying about crowds for 20 minutes, he, ironically, sounds like the 8 year old he claims the other fans are. Honestly, when you have some agency over a product as the crowd, and the company hasn't booked a single angle well from beginning to end in four years, why would you cheer something that sucks?

That's straight goofy. You're basically saying people should spend hundreds of dollars to be seat fillers.

Dan is the typical WWE fanboy that loves scumfuck serial sexual assaulter Vince McMahon, and thinks blind loyalty to "The Brand" makes them a better fan.

Also really love Dan talking about Ronda Rousey and how excited he is for her while Abby is clearly upset with it. No social skills strike again.

Good to see that they made some good progress and are nearing the end of the story mode. Props to Alex for trying to at least talk about the great wrestling that happened this week rather then Dan falling back on his usual tirade on crowds which weren't even that bad bar the main event.

KUNG POW IS TERRIBLE WHAT AM I FUCKING HEARING

Alex, my dude. Watch it again. Seriously.

Wrestling crowds are also ruining UFC cards by doing some stupid "woooooo" thing constantly during fights.

@bobafoot17: But tweeting out this shit is enough to completely discredit her in the public eye. This is way more repulsive than transphobia. I will concede that you can be transphobic and still be a good person (lack of exposure, growing up in a devoutly religious environment). Promoting Alex Jones' manipulative horseshit makes you a hopeless moron that I never want to see in the media I watch.

Ms. Rousey can go fuck herself.

I sure hope that Dan posts his manifesto about the Wrestle Mania week. Because it will hopefully illuminate the point he was making at the beginning of the stream. I unfortunately only got to watch the first 30 minutes or so, but Dan sounds completely oblivious to WWE crowds and how the comapny treats its fans. That's remarkable to conisder since he's paid 1000's, maybe 10's of thousands of dollars on 'mania packages over the past couple ofyears. How then can he be shocked that fans continue to reject Roman Reigns? Roman Reigns is a guy that Vince has picked over everyone else to main event that show and contend for and maybe even win for nearly 4 years in a row. Sounds like naivete to just be realizing that as of 4/13/18.

Instead of harping on the negative parts of WWE, I’m going to once again mention the Ciampa/Gargano match because that’s probably the best match WWE has had from a pure storytelling standpoint in a VERY, VERY long time. The combination of storytelling and wrestling in that match was incredible, and might already be the best match (WWE wise) of the year.

did not like abby's reaction to ronda at all that was not cool

@danryckert actually that bollywood movie has Brian lee as fake undertaker!

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but "I just like putting the faith in the creators and the people who are producing entertainment" is a slightly weird thing for a critic (albeit of a different medium) to say.

It's not surprising to me that Ronda is a Sandy Hook thruther

Transformers might be a good Film and 40s because nobody would complain about them ignoring it and talking about other stuff the whole time.

I would listen to Abby and Dan do a mother! spoilercast.

At this point, I feel like Dan should try doing the independent show route for a year. Like, see NXT and Mania, but see the other wrestling out to offer. It's such a fun world outside of WWE for wrestling.

The reason current wrestling crowds "terrorize" the thing they supposedly love is because 20 years ago WCW and WWF competition spawned effectively a magical era of wrestling that has been unparalleled since (aka the Attitude Era from the late 90's into the early 2000's) and the fans now in their 30's and 40's just want to relive that time of their teens and 20's. But due to the internet removing any element of surprise, terrible events leading to the toning down of the violence/edginess, and WWE becoming public with shareholders to please, the product of the last 10-15 years has become increasingly watered down and by comparison, boring to what many fans grew up watching. Also, the wrestlers today just look like they are still trying to fill the shoes of the guys they grew up watching. Whenever one of the guys from the Attutude Era makes a surprise apparance, the current wrestlers in the ring look more giddy and starstruck than the people in the crowd instead of acting pissed off for being interupted or shocked. And that makes it impossible to suspend belief that these guys don't like each other. It's sad that they don't really pave their own path unlike many of the big names from the 90's. The fact that at any time in the year right now, Stone Cold or the Rock's music could hit, and it would get a far bigger pop from the crowd than anyone on the roster of the last 10 years. That just tells you wrestling just hasn't come close to hitting that peak from 15-20 years ago. And why the crowds now just sort of have a love-hate relationship with the current product, still holding out hope it gets back to the "old days" but in the meantime voicing their dislike of the product instead of just walking away and finding a new hobby.

Please dear god don't do the Transformers movies. They aren't good enough, OR bad enough to do voice overs on. They are just fucking terrible.

@frankiebeanz: anyone who posts anything remotely in the area of being a Sandy Hook denialist should fuck off and die. Anyone apologizing for them is walking garbage. Period. Abby is 100% spot on.

A Crank Film &40s would make me so incredibly happy. But bring Jeff B in too!

It sure seems like a whole lot of WWE is problematic to some degree. Why do they keep supporting it? Especially when they seem to be disappointed with most of what they're doing.

@turboman: The thing with the Fallon Fox kerfuffle is that people were using their intuitions in a situation in which intuition meant jack-all. The fact is that Fox was on HRT for years longer than necessary to decrease muscle and bone mass to levels comparable with AFAB athletes. The weird overreaction people had was borne from ignorance.

Hormones are a hell of a thing.

If they're going to do a Transformers movie it better be the '86 one.

Yikes. Wrestling really is a minefield.

I don't care about wrestling at all but I love watching these when Abby is on

Finally someone challenges Dan on The Rock. For years I have wondered why everyone at the site seems to just agree with his assessment of that movie being one of the best ever.

Right on Abby, The Rock isnt that great and is kinda boring.

WWE might be the only entertainment company i know. Where the fans want the head of the company to die in hope for change. that's how bad WWE is.

A mixture of nostalgia from the older fans and WWE being the only real mainstream option for the younger fans. WWE has been a bad product for years, and has done a good job of holding back great talent of reaching their true potential because the boss is an ego maniac (proof: NXT has produced several "can't miss" talents, but when they go to WWE they're not special anymore. Bayley should've been the next John Cena).

Listening to Dan and other Wrestling fans talk about Daniel Bryan is a lot like what they THINK it's like watching Roman Reigns.

When they started to float Film & 40's ideas, I wanted them to talk about the Fifth Element.

I feel like it's never going to happen, but I want to believe. That movie turned 20 years old last summer and during that time Alex noted it. I can't remember his full response on twitter, but he shared a good link to a retrospective story about that movie. And in my memories, Alex was pretty reluctant to 40's that film.

I don't want to seem overly mean but at this point in Dan's tenure at Giant Bomb my brain really goes into a white noise mode whenever any podcast or video feature grinds to a halt in order for the staff to pick into Dan's brain to figure out his thought patterns. I didn't really knew Dan before he joined GB so at first I was kinda getting irritated at the way he argued because it seemed to me like he was being purposefully contrarian just to get a rise out of people. That belief changed in me after some time but now I find the whole process a tad tedious.

I feel kinda conflicted on this because I remember what a blast it was listening to the Ricky Gervais Show and discovering the strange, beautiful oddity that was Karl Pilkington. I have a hard time articulating why I have such differing opinions on two people who are genuinely off the beaten path when it comes to their approach to life. Maybe it has something to do with how Dan tries to be extremely insistent about his views, the stuff regarding brand loyalty and his general unquestioned appreciation for the products of late capitalism? I don't know. I'm a bit tired I guess.

Great content, keep up the good work GB East crew.

Keanu Reeves filming 40s needs hardball and the replacements

Alex is totally right about "Dark Knight." Way over-rated. The whole boat scene? I would say the ONLY good Nolan Batman is "Begins." To great, elongated montages make up the first half of that movie.

Also, great show. For some reason the conversation was captivating.

@ericsmith: May the gods forbid anyone from talking about anything that makes anyone uncomfortable... Ever!

How to you talk about Keanu Reeve movies and not mention A Scanner Darkly? Well... fairly easily actually, but it's still an omission!

@mechanized: Kung Pow didn't age too well. There's a few quotes I still use to this day, though.

@michiganjack: why not read the comments first?

Oh, and Abby's opinion of A Quiet Place makes me like it even more. Fair enough to her actually backing up her not totally liking it though, as opposed to just saying "eurgh" in response to others (see GOTY)

So proud of my son

I'm surprised by how many people are here defending angry fans yelling at live performers. Fans who yell at creators of things they like for taking their creation this way instead of that are dicks. Who cares if the creators are "wrong". It's their prerogative to do whatever they want with the thing they make, even if it means that they "fail". Besides, by what measure are they wrong? Clearly not their own, or they wouldn't be doing what they are doing. If you as a fan don't like it, stop patronizing the creator. Unless they are demanding the fan's guidance, they are under no obligation to heed your petulant cries.

As for the silly comparison of fans yelling over live performances to media critics: critics aren't literally shouting over live performances to voice their displeasure. Plus, critics - good ones, anyway - are voicing their opinion of the work as a statement, not a demand for change. "I didn't like this" is materially different from "I don't like this, and I am demanding that you change it."

Fans who feel that the thing they like needs to be tailor-made for them are totally eschewing the creator's personhood in favor of the work they create, which is childish at best, and inhumane at worst. Fuck them.

The feature would be called 'Keanu Reels'

Shit, Dan's totally going to win the lottery.

@mechanized said:

even as a kid I knew that movie was trash.

They should've mentioned somewhere that there would be spoilers to a movie that I am actually interested in seeing. Guys pay attention to this stuff come on!

Here's another F&40s candidate: Equilibrium.

Guys, tell me if I'm wrong here. The whole Cena/Undertaker surprise fight seemed to me like a completely manufactured drama, planned months in advance. Am I too cynical or is Dan naive?

I should mention that I'm very much not the audience of the "product", so I don't know how it actually went down on camera.

Isn't taxation of lottery winnings simply a way to disincetivize using fake lotteries for large tax-free payouts outside the employment system?

Good job Alex!! Quite the trek.

I don't even like wrestling let alone know anything about it and I enjoy this series. It's fun!! Especially with the crazy storylines/moments Dan recalls. Very good. Keep em coming Alex. :)