2019's Best Of The Year - Wrestling

Welcome back to the annual 'Fluffies', a silly name I gave these based off my gaming username, but now that we are mainly based on my personal website I'll probably just drop it. I have been doing a type of wrestling award blog post in some sort of capacity since 2014, if you are a new reader, which I'm sure you are, then I would like to briefly intro you to what these are. Simply put these are my way of chronicling my favourite parts of wrestling I watched that year in a series of simple categories. This year I am going to give a brief description of the categories in the post, but this is all just my opinion, there isn't a science to this, it is just a way for me to talk about wrestling.

Disclaimer: I can't watch every piece of wrestling, so if I have missed something or someone you love, I probably didn't see it or maybe I just didn't like them/it as much as you do, and that's ok. Kind suggestions are welcome though, we all love wrestling here.

Male Wrestler Of The Year - Jon Moxley
My favourite male competitor of the year, be that through matches, gimmick, microphone work etc.

Although the first few months of Moxley's 2019 was plagued by a poor gimmick change and story line within WWE, he managed to explode out of WWE into the independent scene in a way that could only be rivalled to CM Punk's exit in 2013. Moxley made his first post-WWE appearance in a shocking fashion at All Elite Wrestling's first PPV event 'Double Or Nothing' and then a mere 11 days later made his first post-WWE match at New Japan's 'Best Of The Super Juniors Finals' in an incredible bout against Juice Robinson. Clearly showing the wrestling audience around the world that he is an incredibly versatile performer, versatile in a way no one had seen before while he was employed by WWE. He kept up this momentum for the rest of year and I found myself enjoy most of his matches this year as you will see in my 'Top 15 Matches Of The Year' later on in this blog.

Runner Ups:

Will Ospreay
Japanese strong style of wrestling is often seen as a very gruelling and physically intensive wrestling style, it leads to exciting matches but has a higher risk of injuries. Japanese tournaments then, are an even more gruelling and physically intensive part of the wrestling scene, usually opting for round robin tournaments with events every night, and with travelling around the country. Will Ospreay found himself being apart of the three biggest New Japan tournaments this year, putting his body on the line, especially with his high flying style, but ultimately resulting in the best matches of year across all three tournaments. When it comes bell to bell, I don't think there was anyone better in 2019, and although I believe Will Ospreay is a top tier athlete in every sense, with New Japan only bringing Ospreay to a full Heavyweight recently, it seems New Japan don't, and that in itself is frightening, Ospreay could be better than he is right now when he inevitably gets that support.

Shingo Takagi
To some, Shingo Takagi may be an odd choice for Wrestler Of The Year, yes he was and has been impressive all his career, but why this year over other competitors like Chris Jericho, who had a career rejuvenation again in 2019, or maybe some clearer main event stars like Seth Rollins or Adam Cole. The simple answer is: this was my first true exposure to the magnetic charisma of Takagi. Similar to Ospreay, Takagi found himself in both 'Best Of The Super Juniors' and 'G1 Climax' tournaments this year, therefore putting on several impressive matches in both. I would argue that Takagi found himself adjusting from junior heavyweight to heavyweight more fluidly than Ospreay. It felt like Takagi's star quality raised this year through these appearances and performances, where the year previous he was more of a tag team competitor for the uber popular 'Los Ingobernables de Japon', this year he felt he rivalled and surpassed his stablemates. I hope to see Takagi's stock rise even further in New Japan, but the obstacle of being more popular than L.I.J's leader Tetsuya Naito may be a barrier that he can never get past.


Female Wrestler Of The Year - Becky Lynch
Same as the male category but for female competitors. The best of the year.

Although there is an argument to be made that the initial wave of popularity that Lynch garnered in 2018 through her 'The Man' persona drastically went down over the course of 2019, it is hard to argue that Becky continues to be the most popular and entertaining part of women's wrestling around the world. 2019 saw her history defining Royal Rumble win and WrestleMania main event, plus a lot of the matches she had were great. It also seems Hollywood notice how popular Lynch is now and how much more she could be in the future.

Runner Ups:

Shayna Baszler
Even though Shayna Baszler has been a consistent on these lists, I have felt that Shayna has been a much more inconsistent performer. This year however, I felt she really reached the soaring heights that she would always allude to. There were a lot of highlights for her throughout the year, but the best section of time has to be the Survivor Series/War Games and eventual loss to Rhea Ripley. All of these marked Shayna as an ultimate tier competitor in my eyes, and although it seems Vince and other WWE backstage didn't fully agree, I think she is one of the best around.

Io Shirai
Io has been a popular joshi star for a long time, but as someone who has yet to delve into that scene I only got to see her talent when she debuted on NXT. When she did I really liked her but she felt like Kairi Sane's friend. She didn't feel like her own competitor. This year she underwent a gimmick change that felt both unique and refreshing. Io was always great in ring but the added character details from the new gimmick has made her a stand out in my eyes.

Tag Team Of The Year - The Young Bucks

Same as Male and Female awards but for the tag team division.

Yet another Young Bucks win. It is really hard for any other team to really make a valid case for The Young Bucks. They are consistent, they are talented, they have incomparable chemistry. This year with AEW debuting, a lot of the top stars have felt slightly weaker, like Kenny for example. But Young Bucks never lost a step.

Runner Ups:

Undisputed Era (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish)
Last year I gave a runner up spot to Kyle and Roderick, but finally it's good to have the band back together with the original reDRagon. Not much more to say here other than these guys are consistently the second best to Young Bucks, when it comes to the top 2 tag teams these two are it.

Lucha Brothers
It feels like it has taken far too long to finally get the likes of Pentagon Jr and Fenix on my end year lists. I was a massive fan of Lucha Underground back during Seasons 1 & 2, but since then I tuned into some matches by Pentagon and Fenix but they weren't anywhere I watched consistently. Impact, sure, but I fell off that horse a long time ago. Finally AEW picked up the two and have been booking them as a team and they have been hot ever since, love them as a duo and singles, can't wait to see where AEW takes them.


Male Breakout Year - El Phantasmo

New star or veteran, this award gives props to a wrestler who broke through and improved massively as a performer.

ELP made his New Japan debut this year by joining the Bullet Club and being a part of the Best Of The Super Juniors. Every single match the man had during that tournament was extremely entertaining, he is vastly talented and his heel demeanour and Bullet Club shenanigans in the mix, he comes across as a massive star. As a BritWres fan, I had been introduced to ELP in RevPro as the major fan favourite Babyface, he was impressive then but this new change in character gave him an edge. I got to see ELP wrestle on a RevPro show live inbetween the New Japan video tease being shown and his debut. He came out in his black gear which he would later use over seas, and he wasn't interacting with the fans anymore. He won his match and the crowd started chanting Bullet Club, he got on the mic and tried to wiggle his way around it. But it was all so clear to the fans and he left. It was a fun little thing that he had no reason to do, but made his eventual debut in New Japan a little cooler for me.

Runner Ups:

Lance Archer
Usually a 'Breakout Star' implies a young star who turns heads and people look at and say 'they are the future' but when I created this award, I wanted it to be inclusive of any wrestler who had a year where they showed massive improvement and change, who broke out. For me, I have always liked Lance Archer in New Japan, but he was in a team and overall that team never got to the heights that other teams did in my opinion. Lance is a veteran, but it doesn't mean he couldn't improve in a way that would turn heads. He did a mild change of look, and lent more heavily into his previous heel stuff, but the biggest thing was his in ring matches and his sense of legitimacy. Archer became a lethal agile big man in that squared circle and I love everything about it.

Robbie Eagles
Last year had Robbie Eagles in the Breakout team category with his then stablemate Taiji Ishimori. But this year Robbie went above and beyond, I was afraid that Robbie's time in New Japan was up after the junior tag tournament last year but he came back for the BOSJ and got everyone's attention with his great storytelling and jaw dropping move set. Also during this year Eagles went through a stable transition with a great story including ELP and Ospreay, eventually leading to Robbie taking on Ospreay and joining CHAOS. Following that tagging with Ospreay and being a part of the junior tag division.

Female Breakout Star - Rhea Ripley

Same as Male Breakout award but for female competitors.

Rhea Ripley was a talent in NXT UK the year previous, but there is an inherent lower value to a star on that show in comparison to even normal NXT. So when Rhea made her jump to Full Sail and started making massive waves as a competitor on that show, it didn't go unnoticed. It didn't take long for the Full Sail faithful and everyone at home to be swooned by her swagger and in ring capability, allowing her to stroll so easily into the NXT Women's Championship scene and be the eventually foil to the formidable Shayna Baszler. Here's to hopefully seeing more of Rhea in the main event scene.

Runner Ups:

Riho

Similar to other entries on my year end lists, Riho isn't an unknown quantity in some circles and so the idea of her being a breakout is maybe slightly insulting. But for me, this is my first exposure to her and she is one of a kind. Riho as the innate capability to make an entire arena cheer for her with just the simple movements of her moveset and transitions in-between. Realistically that is all any wrestler ever does, or aims to do, but Riho does this so flawlessly and so convincingly that it's really quite hard to forget that this is pro wrestling. Of course it helps if your face to face with a monstrous opponent, like...

Nyla Rose

Although at times Nyla Rose can seem a tad under experienced between the ropes, she has done more great than awful and the matches with Riho in AEW have proven to be the basis on the fledgling companies women's division. Nyla has come across as a massive threat and completely legitimate while also having an exciting moveset that you've not really seen from a monstrous women's wrestler before.

Tag Team Breakout Year - Private Party

Same as the previous awards but for the tag division.

Although the runner ups for this award are more experienced, Private Party in my eyes have been the biggest breakout. Only been around for a short amount of time AEW snapped up the young guys and they have proven ten fold that they have incredible talent, and with more experience these two maybe just topple The Young Bucks one day.

Runner Ups:

Santana & Ortiz

Santana and Ortiz have been around for a while, and have been impressive for a while. So the idea of this year being their breakout is probably untrue, but from my eyes, Santana and Ortiz have made there presence on the tag team division of wrestling very clear by having some of the best tag matches of the year. Add the fact they are on weekly television with one of the legends of the business Chris Jericho, and it's easy to see why this might be their breakout for a lot of people.

Street Profits

It felt like Street Profits were one of the hidden and forgotten tags of NXT for a long time, there were always rumblings that they were an exceptional team, but NXT didn't give the duo many times to show it on their weekly tv. That was until this year where it felt like out of nowhere the duo made massive waves, and by the time they had won the NXT Tag Team championships they were already starting to get utilised on WWE's main roster. The promos from the two on Raw were starting to become a highlight and their exciting Tag belt win and defences on NXT were turning heads, I'm personally excited to see if they continue this hot streak.

Top 15 Matches Of The Year

The most coveted award in my mind, The absolute best 15 matches that happened in 2019 according to me.

A surprising change this year was when I watched some of the Best Of The Super Juniors for the first time, here you will start to see that reflected. 

Top 5 Feuds OF The Year

One side of wrestling is the in ring work, the other is storytelling, this award gives props to the best stories in wrestling this year.

5. Shayna Baszler vs Rhea Ripley

4. Robbie Eagles, Will Ospreay, El Phantasmo

3. Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson

2. Jon Moxley vs Kenny Omega

1. Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston

Event Of The Year - NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors Finals

What I considered to be the best all around event of 2019, from start to finish.

A show that really just came out of left field for me personally, but the two biggest matches on the card with every other bout being good too meant that it was the most enjoyable show to watch this year.

Promotion Of The Year - New Japan Pro Wrestling

The award for the consistently best wrestling company of the year.

This is no real surprise, yet again New Japan take the award, it will be interesting to see what the inclusion of a full year of AEW will do to this award. They are the best shot at dethroning New Japan for me, but I don't see it happening just yet if we go by the current offering from the new company.

That was the The Fluffies for this year, see you next time, with more of my opinions of wrestling.

Some Thoughts - August to December 2019

The later half of 2019 was a busy period of my life, and as such I stopped writing about the stuff I love, but I never stopped watching/listening/reading. Now I'm going to try and finish off that last half of the year with this mega post, so I can jump right back on the band wagon with 2020. Get comfy because I'm about to info dump.

Music

PUP - PUP (4/5)

I finally got round to listening to the debut record of PUP, I thought it was apt as the new album was coming out, and I was seeing them live a little later in the year. You can clearly tell from this album that it isn't as tight as their second or third records, but even despite that PUP still brings you screeching pop punk anthems, the band hasn't managed to create a cohesive album experience like they would later on, but it doesn't mean they lack any potential singles. That is what this LP kind of feels like, a collection of incredible singles.

Fave Tracks: Reservoir, Dark Days, Back Against the Wall, Factories.

Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops (4.5/5)

The audacity of TFS to release a new album the next year after releasing their incredible debut, not only that, but to release it and it be as good if not better than the previous. TFS still have their sound here, but it isn't without experimentation. One of the most notable changes here is on the track 'Who's my Eugene?' where Liddiard steps back from the lead vocals role for the first time and it instead goes to Erica Dunn who is usually in backing vocal duty with Fiona Kitschin. Also sonically the track feels a little funkier than anything on the previous record. For me, this album wasn't as instantaneous love as the debut, but I found by the time I started loving the album, I was in LOVE with the album.

Fave Tracks: Paradise, The Planet Of Straw Men, Who's My Eugene?, The Happiest Guy Around.

Billie Eilish - when we all fall asleep where do we go (4/5)

First hearing about Billie Eilish mean't my snobby side kicked in, look at this uber young, talented popular singer/songwriter that creates hip-hop/pop/something or other songs, everyone loves her, this means I must hate her. I listened to the album just through pure buzz, really expecting to hate it. I liked 'bad guy' but nothing really clicked with me at all. So I put it down and said that was a job done. But the hype for Billie never dissipated, which led me to rethink my finality on listening to her. A friend of mine started telling me that he was loving the album, I asked him what really convinced him about her, he said that seeing a live performance really changed how he listened to the album afterwards. So I went ahead and watched her short set at Glastonbury on iPlayer, he was right. I loved the performance, I thought she was incredibly talented and doing something completely different in the modern charts. I re listened to the album and everything that didn't click suddenly did. I looped that album over and over again, now I listen to her tracks regularly. Billie is the next big change in popular music.

Fave Tracks: bad guy, you should see me in a crown, my strange addiction, bury a friend.

Tool - Lateralus (3.5/5)

Lateralus is considered one of the greatest Metal albums ever made, as a self proclaimed metal fan I really should've come to this sooner. Regardless I listened to it this year. What I found is a band I really like and an album that I really like, but also an experience I have never had before. This is the firt time I have had an immediate connection with a band and on more listens have liked the record less and less. It is so strange, I still think all of this album is great, but I find after my third or fourth listen I started getting tired of the LP. I'm not totally sure why that is, regardless it has led me to the 3.5 rating.

Fave Tracks: The Grudge, The Patient, Schism.

Brockhampton - Ginger (4/5)

Brockhampton come back with a record that feels so satisfying after everything they have been through, especially the previous record being a little lacking as well. Finally the emotions of the bands loss and betrayal come into the frame and give off an extremely catchy, sad and dense album. I had another great situation of the right album coming around at the right time. I started listening to the record in the winter months which felt apt due to the depressing nature of the LP and the time of my life at that point. It helped me through my own feelings. A great record from the world's best boy band.

Fave Tracks: SUGAR, HEAVEN BELONGS TO YOU, ST. PERCY, DEARLY DEPARTED, BIG BOY

slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain (3/5)

I'm glad I listened to this album, I quite like slowthai and his style, I like his lyrics and I think he has great things to come. That all being said, as an album I wasn't massively enthralled, nothing was bad on here I just didn't fully gravitate to all of it, there are some great tracks but overall I just think it is an ok/good album.

Fave Tracks: Northampton's Child, Drug Dealer, Doorman.

Movies

Fyre (3.5/5)

If this films aim was to make me think one guy was a slimey, disgusting, bag of trash. THEN IT WORKED!


Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (2.5/5)

A funny and goofy film with prime Jim Carrey that is let down with the ending stretch playing a trans person for laughs. Obviously hasn't aged well at all.


Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End Of Evangelion (5/5)

I love this show and I love this film, it gave me a new outlook on life and changed my world view in a way I didn't think a mech robot show could when I first started watching the series. Heart wretchingly sad as well.


Jackie Brown (4/5)

Out of Tarantino's filmography it is easy to see why this is the one that is overlooked. It doesn't have the traditional hallmarks of Tarantino movies. Instead it weighs itself on the less 'in your face' ones where almost the violence, gore and flashy directing take a back seat to dialogue and story. I honestly think this is one of his best films, it feels like a pulpy detective/crime TV show from the 60s/70s and it is such a breathe of fresh air from his other films, but it still has that extremely captivating dialogue that you instantly recognise as Tarantino.


Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood (4/5)

Another outstanding film from Tarantino, a snapshot and love letter to the crazy place that was Hollywood in 1960s. The movie is mainly a story about a pair of actors trying to evolve in an industry that is leaving them behind, with the underlying narrative of the Manson murders of 1969. A really great piece of cinema for lovers of cinema.


Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2 (3.5/5 & 4/5)

I watched Kill Bill 1 on it's own not really knowing anything about it, just knowing people loved it, and I found it horrendously disappointing, it sets up this large epic and it feels like it barely touches it in anyway, it left me feeling completely dissatisfied, although there was moments I really liked I was upset about it feeling so short. I left it for a while and I came back to it with the intention of watching Kill Bill 2 immediately after, a double feature. The movie holds up much better this way, but I also found, that everything I wanted to see in the first movie came in the second, and that's where the story felt like an epic martial arts action flick of revenge. As such I think I will always prefer the second film, although it is clear that this should have been one film.


The Image Revolution (3/5)

As a movie the production, editing etc feels extremely low budget, to the point where i think i could've done better. But as a movie displaying interviews and talking about a topic that interests me it is a solid movie that is very interesting.

Inglorious Basterds (3.5/5)

A great fun movie, and Tarantino to a tee, but it is also my personal least favourite of his filmography. A very good movie but just didn't land as strong as others have for me.

It Chapter Two (3/5)

Movie is fine. As a follow up to a great movie its disappointing but its not outwardly awful. There were some strange decisions made but also some absolutely amazing moments. No where near as scary or as charming as the original but it was fine i guess.

From Dusk Till Dawn (3/5)

First half is a weird creepy version of a Tarantino movie and the second half is ALL Robert Rodriguez. It's fun because when Tarantino's character dies in the movie, that's when the switch between the two halves happen. Almost like a meta nod to the making of the film. It's a weird one.

Ad Astra (3.5/5)

Lots of lovely world building and some real solid acting but fails to retain attention for me once it slips into 'One Man Mission' mode. Maybe feels too much like DEEP SPACE MOVIE than carving out its own thing? Still enjoyable.

The Hateful Eight (4/5)

A wonderful western movie that is mainly based in one building and follows a range of characters and their relationships with each other, an exceptionally great movie, Samuel L Jackson as the stand out in this one.

Dracula (1931) (3/5)

An enjoyable old flick for its age, and a classic story, definitely a fun thing to watch around Halloween season.

Frankenstein (1931) (3/5)

Another wonderful classic film, felt bad for Frankenstein's monster. Also Fritz is a dick!

The Mummy (1932) (3/5)

I preferred this movie to the previous two classic horror monster movies from Universal. I love the way Boris Karloff plays The Mummy and Zita Johann's overall performance from normal fancy lady into possessed mummy god thing.

The Invisible Man (1933) (3/5)

Way goofier and funnier than  the other classic horror moves so far, but still a great 70 minutes.

The Wolf Man (1941) (3.5/5)

By far, heads and shoulders my favourite out of all these movies, the story is compelling, the acting is great, especially Lon Chaney Jr. He Was extremely likeable even when he was doing things that weren't that likeable. Great movie.

Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) (3/5)

Another fun classic, I think a lot of it is decent but some of it seems slow and plodding. I can totally see why Del Toro wanted to remake this and how this inspired what he eventually made 'The Shape Of Water'

Joker (3.5/5)

I'm not a massive fan of the movie on a whole but it's another one of those strange cases where enough of it was likeable to get this score. I love Batman, and his rogues gallery, but I feel like this doesn;t really have the spirit of Batman at it's core, and that might be a plus if it didn't feel like an empty, hollow Scorsese rip-off. At least Joaquin Pheonix was good.

Alien 3 (3/5)

Although clearly the weakest out of the first three films, it is still a fun a different movie with the core ideals of the original film still in place. Campy but fun.

The Blair Witch Project (3.5/4)

I can see why this was such a major film for horror and how it has evolved a whole different type of horror genre. But in the years that have pasted it seems the climax of the movie has become tepid in the face of modern horror, regardless the movie is still a great watch and frightening.

Alien Resurrection (2.5/5)

It seems I may have watched a Dvd version that had a slightly better cut of the movie than the theatrical release, that has made it a much tighter film overall. Which has kinda given me the view of this movie being a overtly ridiculous clusterfuck that I loved to watch, though objectively I have to say, it's a poor movie.

Your Name. (3.5/5)

An emotional and romantic little anime feature, music is incredible and has an interesting premise.

Zombieland: Double Tap (3/5)

I thought this was on par with the first movie until the final big sequence where they clearly made it too long and in the editing room tried to cut it shorter, resulting in a sloppy and confusing sequence of quick cuts. Took all the wind out of the momentum of the movie until they got back on track with the ending. Also, I have never seen such a young actor get worse at acting the older theyve gotten, its usually the other way round and I can see why shes got the least amount of screen time in the movie.

But for the most part this movie hits the funny notes it hit previously with the stand outs again being Harrelson and Stone. Also I wondered if they were gonna use another Metallica song for the intro, and they only went and bloody picked the best one.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2.5/5)

I may not have seen any other Terminator movie before. But why would you hinge future sequels to this movie on the two worst actors in the movie. The most blockbuster ass blockbuster.

Prometheus (3.5/5)

Yknow, vibe and visuals really get you through this plot holed movie. Also super risky, weirdly super into it.

Climax (3.5/5)

There's not much I can sit here and say that will describe this movie accurately, I'll just say I really like it and it's also the worst.

Alien: Covenant (4/5)

This movie has made me love all the other movies in this series more. It's like all the best parts of Prometheus, made better, and then took out all the plot holes and rough parts of that movie. I love this movie and I also love Katherine Waterston.

Inside Llewyn Davis (3.5/5)

I'm so sad. I'm so hopeless. Thanks Llewyn Davis for reminding me that I'm you and I'm a fuck up. Thanks for that, Llewyn.

Polar (1/5)

Imagine John Wick, but awful in everyway.

Dolemite Is My Name (3.5/5)

Considering I know little to nothing about Rudy Ray Moore, this movie was a really feel good in a way I really needed right now and I thought Eddie Murphy nailed it. Man this one really hit the spot!

Velvet Buzzsaw (2/5)

I really like the concept of this movie, especially the art setting, but the way it begins compared where we end up, i don't understand why this was even made? The initial weird, different character driven exposition stuff was kinda admirable, and interesting, but considering it went from that to... bad horror movie, tells me that, along with the visuals, this movie had no direction whatsoever.

The Cabin In The Woods (3.5/5)

Think about a movie that capitalises on its stereotypical preconceived plot and then adds the most incredible world building with a sprinkle of comedy. Delicious.

Triple Frontier (3/5)

An alright war/heist flick but kinda bland and forgettable in the long run.

Booksmart (4.5/5)

I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm laughing, I'm crying, life is beautiful, life is awful. Fuck.

Gone Girl (3.5/5)

Felt like the back end started to slow down after a pretty high peak and left the ending, although crushing, less impactful than it could have been.

Sorry We Missed You (4/5)

A movie that feels less like a feature of fiction and more like a documentary on class in the UK, powerful and meaningful. It got shafted at all the award shows, and it deserved to be put on a pedestal and shown off to the world. Everyone should watch this.

The Great Hack (3/5)

An interesting doc though I feel like it floats over the actual issue more than I would've liked. Regardless a good watch.

Isn't It Romantic (2.5/5)

Maybe it's my shit sense of humour but this got a couple of chuckles out of me and I think the general premise is fun, but it's not a good movie, however it is surprisingly watchable overall.

The King (3.5/5)

It's not some superb piece of cinema, but I love the setting and I found all the acting to be very good, sure this is probably Chalamet's weakest performance, and sure Robert Pattinson had a questionable accent, but honestly enough of it is compelling to me for me to ignore that stuff. It was a really interesting and enjoyable watch.


The Ritual (3/5)

The World's End but depressed and spooky.

The Red Sea Diving Resort (1/5)

I haven't watched something so excruciatingly dull and boring. A bad cast led by a boring Chris Evans performance doesn't help either. The story isn't even that compelling. If you combine all that, it also really doesn't help that the messaging in this movie is essentially a propaganda movie for Israel, which is worse when you realise they are a main causer of refugees being held captive and abused in the world right now. But anyway the movie was bad.

The Knight Before Christmas (2/5)

Is this dumb? Yes. Is this silly? Yes. Is this very low budget? Yes. Is this another crappy Hallmark Christmas film? Yes. Did I still find it enjoyable? Yes.

Klaus (3/5)

Beautiful looking movie animation and design, as a movie, decent and fun but a bit average. Though the music choices were a bit weird.

Dumbo (1941) (3.5/5)

I wish I had someone who was as kind and loyal to me as the mouse is to dumbo

Midnight Sun (2/5)

I made way too many inappropiate jokes about death during this

Beautiful Boy (4/5)

A movie of two halves, from perspectives of a father and a son, and the battle of addiction. A stressful and agitating watch that also has a melancholy and dream-like glaze over everything. Much like the title, it is beautiful.

Cyberbully (1/5)

Hahahahahahahaha How The Fuck Is Cyber Bullying Real Hahahaha Taylor Just Walk Away From The Screen Like Taylor Close Your Eyes Haha

Ford v Ferrari (4/5)

A tremendous feel good film with a great visual direction, allowing for an amazing sense of speed which is all you really want out of a movie about fast cars and racing.

Dumbo (2019) (2/5)

Millie:
Happy 😐
Sad 😐
Excited 😐
Scared 😐
Shocked 😐

Danny DeVito:
hilarious and fun then has no lines for the rest of the movie

The Report (3.5/5)

This is so incredibly dense and interesting. Laser focussed on delivering a gripping political drama with performances that are incredible. Unfortuneately, I feel like this movie might be in the charity shop in a year just because of just how niche the movie is, I dont think there is many people out there looking for this kind of movie.

Alita: Battle Angel (3/5)

Yo someone should make a Motorball video game, where the campaign is Alita rising through the qualifying to get to the champions league.

Someone should hire me.

Tall Girl (0.5/5)

I'm so glad this movie told me I can be a creepy weird stalker to the girl I like and manipulate her situation that she'll eventually like me.

Lady and the Tramp (3.5/5)

I swear too god he was saying bitch

Knives Out (4/5)

The most fun whodunnit you'll see around, an all star cast who are all great especially Daniel Craig who you can tell is having the time of his life and the leading lady Ana de Armas who I'm really happy to see gets such a great role here. Rian Johnson basically cements himself as one of the best current story tellers, with this and Last Jedi, for me it's indisputable.

I Lost My Body (4/5)

A beautiful and unexpected ride, when I played this animated feature on netflix that night I knew nothing about it and came out of it loving it. 

Let It Snow (2.5/5)

Yo they should've just done that Stuart/Jennie movie rather than the other bad storylines

Lady and the Tramp (2019) (3/5)

Surprisingly good, cgi much better than it should be, comedy was much funnier than it should've been, additions and slight changes to the story don't feel awkward or bad, overall a good remake unlike Dumbo

The Lion King (4/5)

Yeah this is exceptional and I'm amazed i recognised a lot of this from that one time i watched it as a kid.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (3.5/5)

Why was this as funny as it was? Seemingly a perfect mix of right actors, right roles, right script.

The Lion King (2019) (3/5)

Its a word for word remake of the original. So why? Regardless, its fine. But didn't hold a candle to the original. Hopefully this will be forgotten in time.

Catfish (3.5/5)

Extremely sad. Also 2008 is massively cringe.

6 Underground (0.5/5)

Michael Bay is like the antithesis of a director

The Irishman (4/5)

Just a great long dramatic epic, full of great stuff, it feels like the culmination of Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino, Pesci - Crime films.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (3.5/5)

Tries to do too much when it wasnt neccessary, could be fixed by a longer edit to make each scene breathe a little more, or a rework of the script to tighten the story and cut the fluff. But when the movie is good, its great. Character arcs and moments makes the movie and multiple decisions means it doesnt shit on The Last Jedi like I thought it would.

The Dead Don't Die (3/5)

I just kinda wish it was more of a straight up dry, meandering, awkward, parody critique of zombie movies rather than any of this additional character and story stuff that add nothing.


The Two Popes (3.5/5)

A beautiful and hilarious story about two popes discussing life, policies and religion. Also I dont know why but I love how its shot. Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins are both excellenet.


Little Women (2019) (5/5)

I have no words for the type of feelings I get when I watch this movie. It's a perfect film in my opinion, I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't stop crying.


Cats (0.5/5)

Ever since T.S. Elliot put pen to paper he has forever made sure the human race will hate the pet cat.

Games

Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock (5/5)

Another case where I played a lot of a game but never actually finished it. Personally, I believe this is the best plastic rhythm game, I think there are lots of really great games in this genre from both Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but when it comes down to game play and track list, for me this is the pinnacle. When it comes to the progression from Guitar Hero II to this, everything is relatively the same with the biggest changes being art direction, graphics and the career mode. I think this is the de facto 'I wanna play one of these right now', this is the one I will slot in over every other one. At least that's what I'm saying right now. I still have a fair few games from this Guitar Hero/Rock Band series that I have never even touched.

Super Mario Maker 2 (3.5/5)

Always heard great things about the original game but as a non-Wii U owner I never get to experience the game. I was hoping for a sequel for the Switch and I was hoping for story mode in the vain of a 2D Mario game. I got both of these in Mario Maker 2 and I was delighted with it. From a story mode perspective I think the game is great, and also shows you everything you can do with the level building, it really gets the creative mind going about how to build a level and the numerous ways you can combine the mechanics the level building gives you. The other side to this coin however is the lack of intuitiveness on the level building side. I personally have no other frame of reference for the level building, but it is just fiddly enough in docked mode to be a bit annoying when trying to make your level. This kind of leads me to believe if you were an avid player of the previous Mario Maker, then the level building here would almost be unbearable. I don't think it would be too bad if the touch screen functionality was still in the game, but what I've heard is that it has changed there too. It's especially evident when you realise that the release of the game didn't have a wide spread bundle with a stylus, only certain countries and certain areas. For me, I find building a level to be a great thought process, and maybe too much of a chore in practice. I try to dip in every once and a while and fiddle around, it is not completely devoid of fun, but I would much rather play all the levels that the experts online have been making.

The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (2.5/5)

As a lover of Until Dawn and these type of story choice, character games, Man of Medan was an exciting start to the new 'Dark Pictures Anthology', unfortunately, the game falls into the traps of Hidden Agenda, rather than the positives of Until Dawn. It is clearly a step up from Hidden Agenda, but playing it through with the two player online co-op, it felt like all our choices really lead to nothing, the ending felt extremely abrupt. Although the fact we were seeing different things and getting spooked in different ways, I also felt it wasn't used as effectively as I would want it too. I hope with the next game in this anthology they go for a more intuitive uses for the different mechanics and games modes they've added in this time around.

Life Is Strange 2 (3/5)

As a franchise I just love Life Is Strange, even with this new direction and new set of characters, it stills feels like Life Is Strange to me. This time around they improved on graphics and improved on writing, but although I still enjoyed the game overall, I feel like there was a distinct lack of something special that the original game had in droves. As such, you just kind of wish there was more pulling you towards Life Is Strange 2, every fan of Life Is Strange should definitely check out the game, but maybe limit the expectations. For me, if you're looking for more Life Is Strange in the vain of the original game, Deck Nine's Life Is Strange: Before The Storm is the route to go.

Persona 5 (5/5)

I finally did it. I beat Persona 5. Persona 5 is easily one of the greatest games of all time, but for someone who has never sunk 100 hours into a game before, it was a struggle to keep my momentum going consistently. As such it meant I dipped in and out of the game for over 2 years. But that final stretch to finally beat the game this year made me fall in love all over again, just like I did back when I booted it up. There's nothing I can say here that hasn't already been said by better writers, reviewers and content creators. But I can say that I wish more turn based JRPGs existed in modern games and I wish a confidant system, with almost a visual novel styled format like here in Persona 5, appeared in more games as well. These two highly in-depth, completely separate game play loops, to me, are the key to why this game, and this franchise, is so beloved and so revered.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (3.5/5)

Luckily for me I finally got round to playing the original Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare this year via the remaster, so I got to see the kind of changes made from that game to this game. For me I haven't played a newly released Call Of Duty since Black Ops 2, but I heard a lot promise from this new one and so I finally bit the bullet and got the game. Campaign wise I thought it was a little lack luster, I liked it and it definitely wasn't bad, but I still found the original Call Of Duty 4 to be the superior game on that front. Truly though, this game shines in it's multiplayer, maybe it's because I haven't played multiplayer of one of these in a long time, or maybe it is just that good, but playing the online, with all the different modes and maps felt extremely liberating and also nostalgia filled. I was transported to my younger days on the 360 while simultaneously getting addicted to the numerous different modes to play over and over again.

Wrestling

G1 Climax 29

Another great tournament this year, just absolutely the best of the best. It wasn't devoid of stinkers but there was so much good stuff that it is hard to be very angry. Ospreay and Shingo being moved up was a great call, Shingo felt in his element and Ospreay got to have classics with most of the Heavyweights. Lance Archer is now one of my favourite wrestler in the world right now. Just completely changed his whole vibe and it has brought on new life for him and great matches. Ishii as always was the MVP and now I have to believe that New Japan wouldn't be so stupid not to put the belt on this man soon. Jon Moxley has become one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet, not too bad for someone considered to be the least talented in ring from The Shield. Juice, my fave, had a barn burner of a tourney, the man is incredible and I can't wait for him to be reaping the rewards of his hard work. SANADA majorly disappointed this year for me, consistently botching and making mistakes, not putting a lot of effort into his matches and seemingly becoming very predictable with his matches. Ibushi, however much I love him, hasn't had a major tournament either, felt slightly underwhelming, and especially in regards to his selling of his ankle injury, aka not selling it really at all. Overall though this was one hell of a tournament.

MOTY Contenders: Shingo Takagi vs Tomohiro Ishii - Night 16 (8/8/19)

Fave Matches: Jeff Cobb vs Shingo Takagi - Night 12 (1/8/19), Tetsuya Naito vs Juice Robinson - Night 12 (1/8/19), Zack Sabre Jr vs Lance Archer - Night 13 (3/8/19), Tomohiro Ishii vs Toru Yano - Night 14 (4/8/19), Jay White vs Jon Moxley - Night 14 (4/8/19), Tetsuya Naito vs Shingo Takagi - Night 14 (4/8/19), Jay White vs Juice Robinson - Night 16 (8/8/19), Lance Archer vs EVIL - Night 17 (10/8/19), Zack Sabre Jr vs KENTA - Night 17 (10/8/19), Will Ospreay vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Night 17 (10/8/19), Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi - Night 17 (10/8/19), Taichi vs Tomohiro Ishii - Night 18 (11/8/19), Juice Robinson vs Jon Moxley - Night 18 (11/8/19)


NXT Takeover: Toronto

Overall slightly better, but still feels like NXT is in a stunted area. Tag Title match was superb and was the highlight of the night, Street Profits really shone in ring, which I felt I forgot because of their hilarious segments on Raw. But they really showed their chops here. Io Shirai/LeRae was also very cool but it felt like a little bit of a special squash match, which is fine because I'm sure we will get a rematch down the line, but the focus was really on Io and how different and interesting and cool she was. Triple Threat was pretty good, Women's title was extremely disappointing, especially Yim, and the main event came across as a bit too self indulgent and was so invested in giving itself massive grandeur that it kinda took any grandeur away.

Fave Matches: Street Profits vs Undiputed Era, Io Shirai vs Candice LeRae.


WWE SummerSlam

I thought overall it was a fairly weak show but this launching point actually got interested into watching regular WWE again, which is where I really am enjoying the show again. But here at this event I only liked a couple of matches but nothing truly special here apart from The Fiend and Rollins/Lesnar.

Fave Matches: Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon, Bray Wyatt vs Finn Balor, Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar.


NJPW Royal Quest

I got to attend this show live and I have never had such a visceral reaction to any wrestling show ever, specifically at this show it was the main event. I still intend to rewatch the whole show again on demand too. But yeah this show ruled and the main event is in the conversation for MOTY for me. So expect to see that in the end of the year list.

Fave Matches: Birds Of Prey vs Ishimori/El Phantasmo, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Zack Sabre Jr, Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki.


AEW All Out

This felt like the kick up the ass AEW needed just before their TV debut, nothing MOTY worthy in my opinion, but almost every match was decent to really good on some level. Which is exactly what you want. I am mostly surprised by the Young Bucks/Lucha Bros and Jericho/Hangman as for me nothing before these matches indicated to me that they would be any good, but they were both pretty good, The best Tag match these two teams have had so far and this is Jericho's best match since his hardcore bout with Omega at Wrestle Kingdom. Also can't forget the decent match between PAC and Omega, you could tell they wanted to continue and do more, and bring it up to a Main Event MOTY calibre match but the early placement meant they were a bit constrained. I also really liked Cody/Spears, though I really am a Shawn Spears mark so it shouldn't be a surprise. But best match of the show goes to the hardcore triple threat where MYBOY Jimmy Havoc finally got a showcase and finally got a win on AEW. Very very cool!

Fave Matches: Private Party vs Angelico & Jack Evans, PAC vs Kenny Omega, Jimmy Havoc vs Joey Janela vs Darby Allin, Cody vs Shawn Spears, Lucha Brothers vs Young Bucks, Chris Jericho vs Adam Page.


WWE Clash Of Champions

Overall a fairly forgettable PPV, I personally quite enjoyed a couple of matches but I know that wasn't all common consensus. Luke Harper's return was something I was really clamouring for, with the No DQ match itself actually being very enjoyable. Becky and Sasha had a great brawl (not as good as their 5 star from NXT). And I personally enjoyed the slower paced Orton/Kofi title match, thought it was a nice ending to their feud. And of course, the Fiend's attack on Seth Rollins setting up for the big title match we all wanna see.

Fave matches: Becky Lynch vs Sasha, Roman Reigns vs Erick Rowan, Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton.


Brock Lesnar vs Kofi Kingston on Smackdown

What more can be said, the "match" was such a tone deaf portrayal of Kofi and his character. If the ending angle is to see Cain Velasquez challenge Brock for his new title, which I think everyone can agree was the presumed direction WWE were going to take befoe the match even started, then why would you have Kofi, a people's champion, lose in such a unsatisfactory way. The man had a great run as WWE champion and I'm glad we got to have it, but this type of match indicates to me that WWE never really thought that highly of Kofi in the first place. If Kofi got to have a quick but at the very least back and forth match with Lesnar, similar to the first Reigns match, Goldberg, Rollins, Balor and Bryan matches, this is a completely non issue. But the disrespectful way of tossing out your 6 month champion is just heartbreaking. You would hope Kofi would still be in the main event picture after this but everything else here indicates the opposite.


WWE Hell In A Cell

Woof. Regardless of the hideous main event, that I actually thought started very promising, The show itself was actually alright. Legitimately was very into the Becky and Sasha HiaC and I thought the Roman/Bryan vs Rowan/Harper was the best WWE tag match in a very long time. Also Corbin and Gable have had a bunch of great matches together in NXT and now in the King Of The Ring Tournament, and their match here was also good fun! But yeah the main event kinda ruined the overall vibe of a alright show.

Fave Matches: Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks, Bryan/Roman vs Rowan/Harper, Chad Gable vs Baron Corbin.


AEW Full Gear

Overall this was a great show all round, I honestly liked most of the matches, it would probably be easier to list the ones I didn't like. Jericho/Cody was a great match but also a superb angle for a new Cody/MJF feud, very exciting. Young Bucks and PnP had a great match, Hangman and PAC had a good one, The tag title match was a lot of fun. But of course, for me, match of the night and the first AEW MOTY contender, Omega vs Moxley in that thrilling Lights Out match. This was superb, I know it sounds like opinons are mixed but I was hooked on this one and seeing Kenny's interpretation of a No DQ match against someone who is a known former death match guy, it was just a great night, I loved a lot of the different weapon spots and honestly they left it all out in the ring that night. Loved it.

MOTY Contender: Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley

Fave Matches: Young Bucks vs Proud and Powerful, Hangman Adam Page vs PAC, SCU vs Lucha Brothers vs Private Party, Chris Jericho vs Cody.


NXT Takeover: War Games

NXT has finally hit its stride in full force. You now can clearly see the effects the Wednesday Night Wars are having on both brands, and in this case NXT. They had a wonderful night of wrestling with the final War Games match being a MOTY contender for me. The women's division feels out of this world, the Finn Balor return wasn't exceptional but he is clearly on a higher level than where he was before on main roster. I thought the triple threat was a very lackluster  But the two War Games matches really made the night, Dakota Kai's turn on Nox was unexpected and a great angle. Owens as the mystery last man for team NXT was another lot of fun, and both matches tore the roof off.

MOTY Contender: Team Ciampa vs The Undisputed Era

Fave Matches: Team Ripley vs Team Baszler.


WWE Survivor Series

Survivor Series over the past couple years has had a (fairly) decent track record, 2016 was exceptional, 2017 was poor, 2018 was good, and 2019 is good once again! The premise of the show is much better than any other brand warfare WWE did in history, and this time it's the first time NXT has been included, and I personally thought it made the whole show that much better. The main centre points of the show were the multi-person brand warfare matches, men and women. I also was a fan of Bryan and The Fiend. Overall a good PPV!

Fave Matches: Men's Survivor Series Match, Women's Survivor Series Match, Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt.

Book/Comics

Batman Vol 10: Epilogue (3/5)

I dont think this is essential to the Snyder/Capullo run, and actually think some issues sour the amazing ending of the previous book. But some issues rule and some don't.

Star Wars Aftermath: Life Debt (4/5)

Far superior to the first book, the writing feels much more coherent and the actual character work is the biggest highlight. They feel like living and breathing characters with real affection for one another. It means actual twists and moments between them hit much harder than they ever did in the original.

Spider-Man: Life Story (4/5)

A really interesting take and spin on Spider-Man and I would personally love to see this done to more characters down the line. It is written cleverly to incorporate a whole spectrum of the characters history and recontexulise it to a character that has been aging ever since his debut. Watch Peter grow into an old man in the last issue was very entertaining. A cool read. Do it with Batman tbh.

Daredevil (Zdarsky) Vol 1: Know Fear (4/5)

Takes a really interesting look at Matt Murdock and his obsession to be Daredevil. This book puts him an interesting and tight spot which means the book ends in an unknown direction for the sequel. Zdarsky really pulls out the gripping dialogue here and done of the panels from Checchetto are iconic.

Jon Moxley Shirts I designed + My thoughts on current wrestling merchandise

Let's talk about Pro Wrestling shirt designs. I'm a graphic designer and the pro wrestling shirt industry has annoyed me for a little while now. I feel like I finally had to say something after AEW started producing designs that were as bad as some of the worst stuff WWE have released.

Shirts in pro wrestling is a topic I find really interesting just because of their possible uses within the actual program, most notably factions, but also if the wrestler wears their own merch like in WWE, that becomes part of their attire. So when it becomes the attire, people will want to also buy it, so when you create a design for a shirt you have to put into consideration that the design will have to feel appropriate to the wrestler wearing it and suits them, but is also appropriate for a fan to wear on a daily basis. I could list a bunch of shirts and do a whole post pointing out what is bad about them. But what it comes down to is those two things, that these designs don't feel appropriate to the character and aren't thought about real world use.

So I came up with some guidelines that every shirt designer for wrestling should implement, and to prove my point, I am also gonna use these guidelines to create some Jon Moxley shirts as I feel his merchandise has been a little lack luster in my opinion. Notice I'm using the word 'guideline', these aren't rules, this is art you can do whatever, but I think these are just things you need to consider.

1. It has to be Iconic
For me every designs aim is to be iconic, iconic means memorable, which you want if its something you want to sell or have a wrestler wear a lot as part of attire.

2. Conveys Character or brand
I want the design to feel like that wrestler would wear it or encapsulates that wrestler. Stone Cold wouldn't wear a neon pink Dolph Ziggler styled shirt. Same goes for a fan, I don't want to buy a neon pink Stone Cold shirt, Stone Cold has never worn neon pink and he doesn't come across as someone flashy, who wants to stand out and is flamboyant, using a pink shirt sends that message.

3. Everyday appropriate/subtle
When I buy a shirt, I will wear it as part of my wardrobe. If your shirt is a 'I'd only wear this at a wrestling event' then I think you're doing it wrong. My main gripe is outlandish colours or text that says something that can be perceived as inappropriate. I think this may be personal preference though as I have seen lots of fans wear stuff I would never touch.

4. Target the correct audience
What the buyer wants is completely based on who that person is, their age, gender, what they like, what they do, etc. Creating a Target Audience for your product is what every company does. It's why, even when I loved John Cena's run as US champion in 2015, I wouldn't buy his shirt because it was aimed at the younger demographic.

I would now talk about all of my prep for creating Mox's shirt designs, but I think that would be a bit long and tedious so instead I'm going to just show you my mood boards and scamping (sketching) in images then talk through each idea I had.

Mood Board/Research

Scamps (Sketches)

Mox Symbol

This idea spawned from the icon design New Japan use at the beginning of Moxley's titantron video as well as the video package before his debut in New Japan. I believe this is a very iconic and malleable design that can be the logo for Mox and a corner stone of his merchandise. WWE use a similar method with their superstars and shirt designs, it's something that I think WWE get right in regards of shirts. Create an logo for the wrestler and then iterate on that design over their career creating new merchandise. So here I have taken that approach and created a couple of different iterations of the design already. The initial normal logo is notable as to get across what the symbol is (the letters MOX combined into a symbol) but it doesn't feel a lot like Moxley yet, I then created iterations of a scratched variant and a brush stroke variant, both feel much more like Moxley. The brush variant in particular playing off the DA logo Moxley had as Ambrose in WWE. I also used this brush variant as the base for another design including barbed wire, this was to reference a similar design from Moxley's WWE days as well only here using his trademark orange instead of the red.

Explicit MOX Violence

In an attempt to create a design that reflects upon all of Moxley's career while looking into the future, I created a new and updated version of a classic design that has been iterated on by different companies. My twist would be to use a more manic effect that illustrates Moxley's character changes and his attire. When I conceptualised and created this design Moxley didn't have a version of this available. Between me finishing this design and posting it, AEW have released a design that comes from a similar concept. I personally prefer my version, but it is all personal preference.

Paradigm Shift

This would be an AEW design as they use the 'Paradigm Shift' name. As such, I thought a design that cheekily digs at WWE and specifically Moxley's time there, fits within AEW's mentality so far. So here I decided to use the image of a broken shield to indicate the paradigm shift in Moxley's career. The shape of the shield is a direct reference to the newer and most recognisable Shield shirt that Moxley wore at the tail end of his tenure at WWE.


Death Rider

This design is aimed at New Japan's version of Moxley, where they used a lot of Motorcycle gang motifs inside his nickname and jacket that was used within their video packages. I wanted to create a design that leaned into the motorcycle gang and felt authentic to that. I did some research into motorcycle gang jackets and based my design around that. I think this design could easily be used in a hoody format or an actual jacket, if they would want to create more expensive goods.

If you read this far sincerely thank you, I'm @oliverkidsleydesign on Instagram if anyone is interested but I would love to hear your thoughts on these designs or just wrestling shirt designs in general.