10 Great Americans

We are one day away from when America officially broke away from Great Britain and became our own country!  To celebrate this momentous occasion which has mostly become yet another excellent excuse to barbecue, drink, have the day off work, and watch some fireworks, I decided to tell you about 10 great fictional and non-fictional (somewhat) Americans!  Unlike my lists for Fox programming, I will not be ranking these American heroes in order.  Each of these heroes stand out in their own way while they may have contributed something great towards our country, they may show the merits of a true American, or they’re just entertaining enough to make the list! Let’s get it started!

Hulk Hogan

If you know me personally, do you think I would make such a list like this and NOT include him?!?!? As a child in the 1980s and the early 1990s, I would say the Pledge of Allegiance every day at school and every time my dad would take me to a sporting event I would stand up for the National Anthem.  When I started to watch wrestling around age 7, the first person to stand out of course was Hulk Hogan! While it was definitely the WWE’s (WWF at the time) marketing muscles at work, I was sold that this man stood for everything a true American should be! He was a big dude, he took out opponents just like Superman (who didn’t make my list), he would wave the American flag, and he told all of us kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins! Who wouldn’t want to be like this guy?  Let’s also not forget while the Gulf War was going on, he was also helping America by taking on former American turned Iraqi Sgt. Slaughter!! Also, he happens to enjoy a true American dessert with apple pie! Or as he says it: YAPPA PIE!!!

Guile

Guile, also known as Colonel William F. Guile is one of three American characters on my list which from a Japanese creator!  He’s a member of the U.S. Airforce and has an awesome hair-do! In each adaptation of Street Fighter he is portrayed as a true soldier and a loyal comrade as he is always seeking out his lost friend Charlie.  This is one soldier you do NOT want to get in a fistfight with! In the USA Network cartoon, Britain Secret Service agent Cammy happens to have a crush on Guile and he is completely oblivious of it! She once made an obvious hint by saying “Hey we finished the mission really well! We should celebrate over dinner.” Guile replies, “I agree! Let’s treat the whole gang to dinner tonight!” Guile, are you serious?!?! This is one time you have to let your patriotic attitude go and form your own version of the Allied Powers! Also, Guile's theme goes well with everything.

Mitchell Gorō Tanabe

Technically he is part American and part Japanese.  He is in fact from an anime series called “The Ping Pong Club” one of the funniest yet most perverted non-hentai (though it pushes close) series.  He is definitely the ultimate American stereotype though!  He’s portrayed as dumb for when he does “USA” chants he shouts out with pride “Oosah! Oosah!!”  Another trait of his is that he is muscular jock and in association to being a jock he has the worst B.O. ever!  Despite being the smelliest and dumbest member of the Inachu Junior High Ping Pong Club, next to Takeda, he is likely the most sane, kind, and honorable member of the group.   He is a friend to the end as he offers help to all, will take the blame for a friend, and will make corny jokes in attempt to cheer others up (the last one kind of sounds like myself.)  In my mind, he is a true Samaritan; with his support towards USA (or as he says “Oosah”) he has the heart of a true American!

John Bradshaw Layfield

John Layfield started out as a cowboy, was brainwashed into being a worshipper of The Undertaker, went onto becoming an ass kicking redneck bounty hunter, and finally became the true man that he is today, a self-made stock market investor who went onto a 280-day WWE title reign.  This man has accomplished so many things that a lot of other fellow Americans wish they could have done.  Let’s forget his pro wrestling career (one that consists of 24 championship reigns.)  He started off as a college football player.  He was signed to the LA Raiders in 1990 but was released before the season even started.  He has made many successful stock market investments and even wrote a book about it.  He is entrepreneur as he owns his owns Layfield Energy (a company that makes an energy drink), he invested money into independent wrestling federation OVW when it was having financial troubles, and he regularly makes appearances on Fox News’s “The Cost of Freedom.”  In real life he pretty much encompasses the stereotypical showboating millionaire.  Going back to his wrestling career, he was actually credited as the man who helped started the annual "WWE Tribute to the Troops" show which originally would have the WWE superstars fly out to put a show on for the soldiers of the United States overseas.  It is still going on but the show remains within the U.S.  I’ll admit I wasn’t a big fan of his at first from some backstage stories I read of him being a jerk and I didn’t think he was that great of a wrestler, but with all of his accomplishments and charity work, I have grown great respect towards him.

Martin Luther King Jr.

So we finally arrived at the first non-fictional person on this list. Yes, Martin Luther King Jr. is a phenomenal man! A phenomenal American!  If you went to school you know who he is but I’ll give you a quick summary.  MLK Jr. was a civil rights activist who in 1963 led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  It was a rally in Washington D.C. which encouraged fellow African Americans to rise up and speak out for equal rights in society for many things that were once restricted from minorities.  During this march, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his widely famous “I Have a Dream “ speech that was a key peace in ending a lot of racial discrimination and helping many individuals who were once considered unworthy of opportunities that were restricted only to white Americans.  It’s quite possible that without MLK Jr. many celebrities, political figures, and even president Barack Obama wouldn’t be at where they are today.  I am forever thankful for his contributions as I have many great friends of different races, religions, and walks of life.

Benjamin Franklin

Think about this. What device are you using right now to read this article? Computer? PlayStation 3 or Wii? Cell phone? Tablet?  What controls these devices? Well besides the Internet… Electricity!!!  That’s right, the first discoverer of electricity very well happens to be an American! America F*** Yeah!

Anyway, in addition to being the inventor of electricity, Ben Franklin was a jack-of-all-trades.  He played music, he was awesome chess player, he helped form the Declaration of Independence, was the 6^th president of Pennsylvania, and had many more accomplishments! Are you one of those saying he’s just a show off? Well if you are, you should at least be happy to see him when cash comes your way, he is on the one hundred dollar bill. I can’t complain.

Lt. Surge “The Lightning American”

What do you know? Here is another character of a Japanese franchise that happens to be an American.  Lt. Surge is a former military who has become a Pokémon gym leader.  Truth be told, I have only played the Pokémon Red and Blue games but I happened to enjoy this character.  His appearance comes off somewhat similar to that of Guile’s and uses the electric Pokémon of Pikachu, Raichu, and Voltorb to help him do his battles.  He is a strict man and respects trainers with a lot of heart.  He is a loyal soldier and a faithful trainer to his Pokémon. In one of the games, he is quoted as saying “"I tell you, kid, electric Pokémon saved me during the war!"  I wonder what war he is speaking of? Pokémon was first released in Japan in 1996 so I presume it was the Gulf War.  Can you picture Saddam Hussein trying to stab or shoot Lt. Surge and Pikachu just electrocutes him or perhaps he becomes surrounded by several Iraqis and he throws his Voltorb at them and it explodes for him to escape to safety? Sounds like one hell of a war.

Captain America

Steve Rogers, a man once not seen as suited to join the United States Army underwent the Super Soldier project that made him into the hero known as Captain America.  Marvel’s creation of Captain America was a very popular comic book hero during World War 2 and remains a popular hero to this day.  Just like Superman and Batman, comic book writers and artists are able to adapt the character of Captain America into each decade (usually by having him frozen in ice and being defrosted.) What I find very unique about Captain America in opposition to other superheroes is that he actually carries a shield with him both as a defensive and offensive weapon.  He uses it as a disc to throw at enemies and has many different versions of the shield.  Whether he is fighting Nazis, the Red Skull, or fighting alongside his fellow Avengers teammates, he is always wearing the red, white, and blue.  You really can’t get any more American than him.

Amelia Earhart

I don’t know about you guys, but I felt that this list needed at least one female American represented.  Why not use a real one?  I appreciate Amelia Earhart for being a strong willed woman who decided to fulfill her dreams.  At age 10 she received an airplane ride from a pilot and decided it was her goal to fly airplanes.  She was the first female aviator (known at the time as an aviatrix) to fly across the Atlantic Ocean by herself.  She has made many other conquests but was reported missing at age 39 in 1937 when flying over the Pacific Ocean towards Howland Island.  In my personal opinion, for someone to grow up wanting to do something as early as his or her pre-teens and actually accomplish such a goal, that is living a successful life.  This woman is an inspiration for any American.

Rocky Balboa

The final American on our list is an American character played by Sylvester Stallone.  The Rocky series has grown to be one of my favorite movie series as it is one of the biggest underdog stories.  Rocky Balboa was a debt collector for a loan shark who would train at night to pursue his dreams as a boxer.  Rocky didn’t graduate high school and he only made enough to just get by.  He trained hard in his boxing career to get noticed by the mainstream.  He would have his first big match against World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Apollo Creed.  Throughout the movie series, you will see Rocky grow from rags to riches.  The man may not be the brightest around, but he has a very good spirit and a lot of heart!  I think that the character of Rocky Balboa really symbolizes that even if you aren’t the smartest or the richest, if you set your mind to it, you can make it in America!  “Yo Adrian! I did it!” Also, you have to love the training scenes in the Rocky movies. Personally, it makes me want to step it up more in my routine. Here is the training sequence from Rocky 3, my favorite Rocky of the series.

That is it for my Ten Great Americans article. I really hope you enjoyed it whether you found some of these guys inspirational or just got a good laugh out of them.  If you want to share your thoughts please do.  Fan me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and Be Sure to Subscribe to me on YouTube if you enjoyed this piece or even if you just wish to comment. Have a Happy 4^th of July and Remember, wherever you’re from, be proud of it!

STVO’s E3 2012 Anticipation Pre-Show

E3 is this week and as a gamer I am pumped.  This year, Nintendo will be revealing more details (except for price point apparently) about their newest console the Wii-U as well as new titles for the 3DS, Microsoft will be showing off Halo 4 and Gears of War: Judgment, and Sony will be showing off their new thriller “The Last of Us”, PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale (their answer to Smash Bros.) among many other new PS3 and PS Vita titles.  I am going to be watching all week for E3 and I can’t wait to hear what new titles (and possibly new consoles?) will be revealed.  In this piece, I am going to discuss my top anticipated known titles from the official list (currently from IGN and I’ll do a little speculation.  I’m going to open up with my top 5 most anticipated titles.

Top 5 Most Anticipated Titles Officially Announced (According to the IGN and E3  Official Website Lists)

5. Double Dragon Neon (PS3, 360)

4. Guacamelee (PS3)

3. PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale (PS3)

2. Pikmin 3 (Wii-U)

1. Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3)

Okay, while I’m a gamer and still love picking up games, I must admit, I am getting old. 20+ years of gaming, multiple consoles, I still play, however I have a lot more interests now than I did as a kid (comics/manga, cosplay, conventions, social networking, movies/Netflix, running, etc.)  Unfortunately with the expansion of my hobbies and working full-time, I don’t devote as many hours towards towards games as I used to. Hell, I still haven’t beat Zelda: Skyward Sword (that’s totally unheard of from me.)  Anyway, there’s a lot of great games I’d like to play here, many that are fairly easy to pick up but many that I just have a hard time turning down. Resident Evil 6 is another sequel in one of my favorite series of all-time!  I love the Resident Evil story (no matter what crazy twist it takes.)  The fact you can play as Leon Sinclair or Chris Redfield is awesome and I like the idea of Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2 becoming an adult in the game. I can’t wait for more details and I really can’t wait to play it!

Pikmin 3 on the Wii-U should be amazing! I love the first two Pikmin titles from the Nintendo Gamecube as it’s a simple concept but with very challenging yet strategic gameplay.  Pikmin in 2001 looked amazing for it’s time.  Upgrading it to HD will make it look even more realistic in terms of real life environments. Plus I can’t wait to grow an army of Pikmin and have them attack! PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale (I’ll call it PABR for now) looks like they definitely “borrowed” a lot from Nintendo’s incredibly successful Super Smash Bros. series, but it looks like it will be fun it’s own merit.  As long as it plays like/as close to/better than Super Smash Bros, it should be a fun title! I can’t wait to see more characters announced for this title.

The last two titles look like they are easy to pick up games. For those that don’t know what Guacamelee is, it’s a PSN game featuring a lucha libre Mexican wrestler brawling in a Metroid/Shadow Complex like level setting.  From the video I have seen, its animation is very similar to a cartoon like Samurai Jack. It looks like a lot of fun.  Double Dragon Neon is from Majesco and Wayforward (the makers of Contra 4 for Nintendo DS) and is an enhanced version of the original arcade/NES classic.   It is said to be an all-new title in the series but will retain the classic game play with updated graphics.  At the bottom, I have an honorable mentions list. Many are sequels to series I love while Far Cry 3 (I have never played the originals) just looks amazing from the trailer alone.  The Last of Us is a zombie title from Sony/Naughty Dog (makers of Uncharted) so I expect a very awesome game, however I will be picking up Resident Evil 6 first before I play that title.

Honorable Mentions: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Gears of War: Judgment, Mario Wii-U, The Last of Us, Sly Cooper: Theives in Time, Far Cry 3, New Tomb Raider, WWE 13, and New Super Mario 2 (3DS).

My Prediction and Speculations for E3:

·      Nintendo will show off several titles for Wii-U and 3DS.  I believe a new Zelda title will be revealed for the 3DS however I’m predicting Nintendo won’t yet have an official demo or trailer for a new Wii-U Zelda title as Skyward Sword just came out last year.  I do believe they will have a trailer and new details for the new Super Smash Bros. and I believe they will continue the idea of having it a cross compatible title between the Wii-U and 3DS similar to that of the PlayStation 3 and PSVita.

·      While lots of first party titles will be revealed for the Wii-U, I’m predicting on their main first party launch titles will be at least one new Wii Sports title, possibly another Wii-centric title (either Wii Fit, Wii Play, or an all-new Wii series title), Pikmin 3, and the Mario title that is being talked about being revealed. I believe they will learn from the mediocre 3DS launch that they must have some higher profile titles at launch to sell the system and they will believe that a new Mario title will do it.  While it’s possible, I don’t believe the new Wii-U Mario title will be cross compatible with New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3DS.

·      I’m thinking Sony or Microsoft will show concepts or at least tease the idea of a new console launching in 2013.  I just can’t see either company waiting too long for Nintendo to launch a new console and they do nothing about it.

·      Microsoft will attempt to regain their hardcore gaming fans this year at E3 by showing off more titles (including the already announced Halo 4 and Gears of War: Judgment) appealing to the core gamer.  They will continue to show off the Xbox Kinect, but the last two years they put a lot more focus on Kinect than the core Xbox gaming. Perhaps some of their first party titles such as Halo and Gears will include modes utilizing the Kinect.

That is all for my E3 speculation and pre-show thoughts! This week I hope to Tweet and possibly Facebook some E3 info as I find out! With that said, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and subscribe to my YouTube channel as I hope to do some new videos after the week is over (might do one this week depending on how things are going.)  Also, I am currently holding a contest on the Facebook STVO Universe page where the 160^th fan on Facebook will receive a free drawing and a shout out by me to you on my next YouTube video!  The count is currently at 148, so tell your friends to spread the word please?!? :D

Also a special shout-out to my cousin SlashAsterisk on Facebook as well our friend’s event tomorrow in LA. Check out the SMOG Facebook page here for more details!  Until then, have an awesome week and enjoy the E3 Coverage!

WWE Over The Limit Predictions

This Sunday, WWE will be holding the PPV “Over the Limit.”  I guess this one has earned its name due to the “Beat the Clock” matches that were held prior to the PPV even though they only did it for the Raw championship match. Oh well. Anyway the PPV is this Sunday and to be honest I am split on how I feel.  On one hand we have a match that could easily steal the show and if allowed the time, could be a match of the year candidate with CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan and then we have John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis. The last match I am NOT looking forward to at all.  My friends and I will be dining and watching the PPV at Fox and the Hound this Sunday, so if you care to join, please RSVPhere! And now onto the predictions!

Over The Limit YouTube Pre-Show Opener - Zack Ryder vs. Kane: Does anyone still remember this feud? Does anyone want to? I was interested to see where the WWE was going with Zack Ryder being affiliated with John Cena in his feud against Kane, which lead to Zack getting “serious injuries” which had him in a wheel chair and more. Then of course this lead to Eve Torres turning heel by proving she’s nothing but a “hoeski” who was manipulating Zack and even attempted to manipulate John Cena during the feud with Kane.  Honestly, I thought they were going to let the Zack-Kane aspect go because Kane started feuding with Randy Orton.  At Extreme Rules during Orton and Kane’s backstage brawl, the “Woo Woo Kid” came out and started attacking Kane during the match.  Personally, I mostly have been watching just Raw lately but I don’t recall much development in their “feud” being developed since the attack at WWE Extreme Rules. Seems to make sense this match is on the Pre-Show instead of the main card.  Kind of disappointing because aside from Cena vs. Laurinaitis, no feuds have been built that entirely well on TV (the tag-team feud has been decent I suppose.)

Anyway, this match could be okay but since it isn’t on the PPV itself I don’t really see the WWE having Zack Ryder pull off an upset victory here.  I wouldn’t object to the idea though only because the mid-card for the WWE has been very weak in recent weeks. Anyway, I’ll go with Kane on this one. I won’t complain either way because I like seeing Kane as a dominant monster but it would be nice to see Ryder get another chance in the higher mid-card.

Who I Want To Win: Zack Ryder               Who I Think Will Win: Kane

WWE Tag Team Championship Match – Kofi Kingston & R-Truth © vs. Jack Swagger/Dolph Ziggler: Kofi and Dolph… These two seem like they’re stuck together for eternity. IMO, one or both should be a lot higher in their careers but on the bright side, at least these two work well together!  Anyway, from a viewer’s stand point I’m very confident this will be a fun to watch match regardless of the time these two teams get.  I’m also happy to see that the WWE Tag-team championship title is being on defended on PPV again as the last time I can remember it happening was WWE TLC. Anyway, I don’t see the “JackDolphs” winning this one as Kofi/R-Truth just won the titles and there are other legitimate teams that can take their belts away including “Tidus O’Neil/Darren Young,” the revamped “Epico/Primo” led by AW, or even the Usos.  One can hope that the WWE will build one of these teams to be a threat?  I’m thinking one or two things will happen following the match: Dolph and Jack Swagger have some tension following the match when they lose or A.W.’s crew (at least Epico/Primo) will run in following the match and attack Kofi/R-Truth saying they want their titles back.

Who I Want To Win: R-Truth/Kofi           Who I Think Will Win: R-Truth/Kofi

WWE Divas Championship Match - Layla © vs. Beth Phoenix: Eh not much to say here really. Both are pretty ladies, they will either put on a decent or boring match.  I’m predicting Beth will win her title back, possibly have a rematch with Layla at No Way Out and hopefully Kharma will return to have the feud we want to see.  Other than that, let’s move on.

Who I Want To Win: Beth Phoenix           Who I Think Will Win: Beth Phoenix

World Heavyweight Championship Fatal Four Way – Sheamus © vs. Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Chris Jericho: Alright, now this is a match I can get behind!  Originally planned to be Sheamus vs. Alberto Del Rio as Alberto has been getting in altercations with Sheamus prior to his rematch with Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules.  I suppose the WWE felt that their feud wasn’t exciting enough and decided to add Randy Orton and Chris Jericho to the feud to spice things up when Eve Torres added them to the championship match. Personally, I’m all for this decision.  It should be interesting where they will head with this.  For me, I want Chris Jericho to win this match as he made a big return earlier this year but hasn’t really had any victory to justify his return to the WWE.  If he wins this match, he can establish himself as the top heel on Smackdown and could have a feud with Sheamus and/or Randy Orton taunting himself as the best. After Chris Jericho and Sheamus were the final two in the Royal Rumble match earlier this year I thought to myself “man that would make a great feud.”  Right now it seems like with the confrontations on recent TV that Randy Orton and Sheamus have had that those two may start a feud soon. One that may turn Randy Orton heel once again. I wasn’t a big fan of their feud from 2010, but maybe they’ll deliver this time around?  As for Alberto Del Rio, I like the guy and was a big fan of him when he debuted, but he’s been awfully stale for a while now.  Maybe they can figure something interesting for him to do to make him stand out?

Who I Want To Win: Chris Jericho                                    Who I Think Will Win: Sheamus

WWE Championship Match – CM Punk © vs. Daniel Bryan: Okay, I’ll admit the build for this feud has been relatively weak.  Most of CM Punk’s interaction has been with John Laurinaitis (seriously, Johnny L is conflicting with Big Show/John Cena/Punk, ugh..) and then Daniel Bryan has been more focused on AJ Lee.  They’ll have some altercations on Raw, but where are the promos where they rip into each other? That’s what’s missing! It’s okay though; these two don’t really need a big storyline to tear it up in the ring. They’ve had amazing matches on the indies scene and even on Raw and Smackdown earlier this year they tore it up together with what little time they were given.  WWE, do not make this an “18 second match”, hell give it at least more than 5 minutes. Seriously, if this match doesn’t get more than 5 minutes and there’s more on the card following it, I will be tempted to finish up my food, ask for the check then leave.  I’m really hoping this feud continues beyond this PPV but there is a possibility it won’t so if it doesn’t, please let these two tear up the house! I don’t care who wins, I just want to see them rip it up and put on an awesome show! This match is the main reason I decided to go out to watch this PPV, honestly if it weren’t on the card I’d consider skipping this PPV.  So even if every other match sucks on this card, if WWE at least let these two deliver, I’ll be a happy customer!

Who I Want To Win: Either, I guess more towards Punk though.       

Who I Think Will Win: CM Punk

That’s all for my WWE Over The Limit predictions thread! I can’t wait until Sun…. Aw no! There’s this match… :Groans:

Main Event – John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis: Remember when John Cena said he may be taking time off soon following his match with Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules? No, I don’t either.  Seriously though, I thank god I only pay $3 to $5 to go and watch the PPVs at a sports bar as opposed to paying the full $40 to $50 for a PPV.  Also think of the people who bought their tickets to the Pay-Per-View and hearing this is the main event.  I’m sorry to complain. I know that Vince McMahon vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin was easily one of the most successful/popular feuds of all-time and Vince McMahon was not a wrestler, but trust me, this is no McMahon/Austin.  I will give the WWE credit that they got me and other people hating John Laurinaitis but to me it’s getting towards “Change the Channel” hatred.  Aside from the HHH/Paul Heyman interactions, the fatal four-way match, and thinking about CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan, the last few weeks of Raw have been pretty weak and I think I can primarily blame it on this feud.  I respect John Cena the person and he can even tear it up in the ring, but this is nothing more than filler. Honestly, he defeated Brock Lesnar just so we can see him feud with Johnny L? I really think Brock Lesnar should have given Cena a serious injury, have him stay out for two months, have him get in a rematch with Cena when that time passes, and Cena gets his victory back.

Just recently on Raw during the promo that was primarily Cena doing Ace Ventura impersonations on Johnny L, they announced that no current WWE superstars can interfere on behalf of John Laurinaitis and if they do he will be fired.  This sounds like an instant victory for John Cena right? Come on guys, it’s pro wrestling, there’s gotta be a catch! A lot of people are speculating a non-contracted WWE star of Batista to return, personally I just don’t see it.  Others (and myself for awhile) were thinking Brock Lesnar would do the run-in but like what’s been mentioned, he is primarily focusing on HHH at this time.  The other scenario is the recently “fired” Big Show.  Why would the Big Show help the man who fired him? It’s wrestling silly, he’s going to help John Laurinaitis out of an ass-kicking from John Cena and get his job back! Then he’ll either be a giant under the control of Laurinaitis or he’ll just be heel on his own once again.  If this is the scenario, I’m just hoping it will let The Big Show have a legit 2-3 month world title reign otherwise to me this is all just pointless. I watch wrestling to see wrestlers fight wrestlers, not have silly BS like this match likely will be. Anyway, I’ll predict a victory for John Laurinaitis.

Who I Want To Win: John Cena   

Who I Think Will Win: Definitely not the viewers. So John Laurinaitis.

Alright, that is all for my WWE Over The Limit predictions! Please follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more updates! Also if you’re in the area, please join my friends and I for WWE Over The Limit this Sunday atthe Fox & The Hound!

STVO Wire #5 (5/18/12)

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a STVO Wire, but here I am back with an all-new edition! I hope everyone’s week has been going well and I’m sure many of you are looking towards the weekend and probably have heard some news in at least one of  your interests that may delight you or come off as a big story.   I know I sure have!  Before we get to my news and opinions, I have a few things I’d like to talk about including a tribute to a talented singer and a quick recap of Anime Central (sorry, long overdue) as well as the Cosplay Prom.

Let’s start off with my tribute:

In Memory of Donna Summer

For those of you who may not know, Donna Summer, age 63 passed away May 17^th in her home after a battle with cancer.  She performed many hit songs including “Bad Girls”, “Last Dance”, and “She Works Hard for the Money”.  In addition to her talented music career, as a big fan of the sitcom Family Matters, she had a few guest star roles as Steve Urkel’s relative “Aunt Oona…. From Altoona.”  With this passing, may I wish her eternal happiness and bless her family, friends, and fans. While I was already planning, I will be very proud to be participating in the Batavia, IL Bridge Walk for Cancer this Saturday! I will be proud to participate for her and many others who have suffered from Cancer or are currently.

Anime Central and Cosplay Prom Recap

·      Okay, let’s get it started off with my long overdue review of Anime Central 2012.  I’ll keep this short because if you’re a friend of mine on Facebook or if you know me, I can go on for hours of what an awesome time I’ve had (it’s pretty rare you’ll hear me say that I found it just alright or had a bad time.)  There were a lot of great friends, fun events, awesome cosplays, and a lot of laughs!  I had a lot of fun with events such as the Pre-ACen Mitsuwa meet-up, the Late Night Meet Up at Shoeless Joe’s Rosemont, the Mortal Kombat Martial Arts Demonstration (see video below), the Batman Photoshoot, the Crystal Ball (I’ll admit they could have done a little more to justify the $25 price tag, but my group made it fun), and a whole lot more.  Sometimes I hear people complain “Anime Central is no longer about the Anime” or “It’s a Party Con! They don’t care anymore!”  I could not disagree anymore with those statements.  Like many of my good friends and I have discussed “ACen is what you make it! If you can’t have fun, then you probably shouldn’t attend.”  I found plenty of anime-related panels, the 24-hour video room was ALL-ANIME (I happened to watch a little of the Puss N Boots anime film featuring Pero the Cat, classic!), and there were many impressive anime cosplays.  Anyway, we’re 1 year away from next year’s event and I find myself counting down the days.  I want to thank all my friends for making it an awesome time for me and give a big thank you to the staff for putting on an awesome event this year.  I understand many are upset about the Masquerade and many are after the Soap Bubble crew for it being cancelled completely.  While I don’t think the event should have been cancelled, I don’t think the Soap Bubble staff is to blame.  The first person to blame is the person who pulled the fire alarm and I think the panels running prior to the Masquerade event should have been better timed.  I won’t blame them for the person pulling the alarm or the Masquerade being cancelled, however I think next year either they or the Anime Central staff should be more on top of making sure these guys get out on time.  The Masquerade was supposed to start at 4:00 PM but I passed by the area and it was 6:00 PM and people were STILL in line to get in.  I hope this will be resolved for next year. Personally I believe it will. Now to wrap up my piece on ACen, below is a video I made of the Mortal Kombat Panel I went to!

·      Last Saturday, I attended the Cosplay Prom presented by Anime Midwest! I met up with a lot of cool friends and made new ones there as well.  Personally, I preferred this event to the Anime Central Crystal Ball.  My reasons are: 1. It was $10 versus $25, 2. The DJs running the event honored more requests (which at CB they honored… zero), 3. There was a good mix of songs/dances, and 4. The crowd was a little more enthusiastic.  If you’re not buying any of these reasons for why I liked this event, well perhaps it’s because thanks to this event I will be attending Anime Midwest in Lisle, IL for free this July! How did I accomplish this awesome achievement?  Well first, I broke out my “Goofy White Boy Dancing TM” and following that my new friend Matt and I were the last two people on the dance floor picked by the judges. We were the Prom King and Queen and to get our free badges, we had to do a slow dance.  For a free badge to an anime convention, I’d say it was worth it! Can’t wait for July!

Now onto the news….

DA NEWS

·      Movies: From IGN.com (http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/05/17/news-sin-city-sequel-has-a-release-date): Sin City 2 (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) has been officially announced for a release date of October 4, 2013.  Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller will be co-directing once again and Rosario Dawson and Mickey Rourke will be returning.

My Take: Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!!! It took 7 years but we are finally getting the details on a second movie!!! I loved the first movie a lot and am pleased they are not cancelling the production of the movie. Also they got two actors I really liked to return.  Here is hoping they will be able to create a solid continuation.

·      Wrestling: From WWE Superstar John Cena’s Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/johncena):  “STARTING Monday Night July 23 @USA_NETWORK WILL BE ADDING A 3RD HOUR TO @WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW - PERMANENTLY. #3hourRaw”. You read correctly,  WWE Monday Night Raw will become a full 3 hours starting July 23^rd

My Take: I love wrestling, but I’m not sure what to make of this move yet. Every now and then the WWE does 3-hour Raw specials but while sometimes they can deliver big (such as Old School Raw) many such as the last one before WWE Extreme Rules failed to deliver.  I know USA Network has been trying to convince WWE to make Raw a three-hour show for a long time now and it looks like the WWE has decided to cave in.  One thing I cannot stand with the current format is the amount of TV time that people such as John Laurinaitis (yeah yeah, he’s the top asshole on Raw we’re supposed to hate him) and John Cena (yeah yeah, we’re supposed to cheer him) are getting. Then we usually have several replays from “earlier in the night” as well as reaps from the previous week. I’m all for them giving a quick synopsis, but they need to lay off (last three hour Raw, they played the Brock Lesnar “I’m an Ass Kicker” promo multiple times.)  Now if the WWE is interested in extending the match length of their top stars and squeezing a few more lower card guys on television, I’m all for this decision.  For right now I’ll cross my fingers and hope for the best!

·      TV: From Adult Swim.com (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/toonami/): On May 16, following up the success of this year’s April Fools joke of Toonami being back on Adult Swim, Adult Swim has announced that “Toonami is Back Bitches on May 26^th!!”

My Take: As a fan of Toonami since about 1997, I am thrilled! I remember watching Voltron and Thunder Cats and the block being hosted by Moltar, yes peeps, I’m that old.  I always appreciated Williams Street’s creativity, interactivity, and freshness of making an action block and of course, the show, promos, and Steve Blum and Peter Cullen doing voice work for the block were phenomenal.  I’m hoping Adult Swim will allow the block start at 8:00 PM Central and go on. I’m also hoping this isn’t just “eh let’s keep everything the same and just paint “Toonami” over it.”  After thinking it over, I think Adult Swim should let whatever anime programs with new episodes remain, bring back a few old shows, and take out Cowboy Bebop and Big O… for now (I love both, but they have aired an on AS multiple times for nearly a decade and they’re not going to leave the channel forever.) Time to have some fun and make a schedule with a repeat hour late at night (trust me, while I’m doubtful AS will let it start at 8PM, I think there’s a better chance of that then letting Toonami have a different show in all hours with no repeat.) Also keep in mind that I’m pretending that Funimation/Viz/etc. is not bound by any contracts to not let any show play. All times are Central.

8:00 PM – Teen Titans/Justice League/Justice League Ulimited Cycled (Hate Teen Titans, but it was popular on Toonami)

8:30 PM – Megas XLR

9:00 PM – Samurai Jack

9:30 PM – Sailor Moon

10:00 PM – Dragon Ball Z

10:30 PM – Yu Yu Hakusho

11:00 PM – Bleach

11:30 PM – Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

12:00 AM - Durarara!!

12:30 AM – Tenchi Muyo! (Pick Any)

1:00 AM-4:59 AM – Repeats of 9PM to 12:30 AM Programming

5:00 AM – Voltron

5:30 AM – Gigantor

Something for fans new and old! Only Toonami!

This Week at The Movies

Now in 6 Words or less, my thoughts on the movies coming out this weekend!

BattleShip: More like Bull Shit.

What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting: Next time, use protection.

The Dicatator: Go away Sacha Baron Cohen.

So What Am I Doing?

Currently Playing:

·      Legend of Zelda – Skyward Sword: Yup… Still playing.

·      Kid Icarus Uprising: Little by Little.

·      Bio-Mass on Facebook: Very addictive puzzle game.

·      Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – Episode 2: Very fun so far!

Watching:

·      Slayers: Old school and funny anime series.

·      Game of Thornes: I haven’t technically started watching yet however a friend has recently loaned me his season 1 box set! Will definitely watch soon!

·      Elfen Lied: A friend told me about it and I’m very interested.

·      Fullmetal Alchemist: I’m going to finish this series! One of these days! It’s so awesome!

·      Trigun: Attempting to re-watch. You see I start to many series at once, use the internet too much, and when I get home late just feel like watching goofy comedies. J

·      Dark Shadows: Okay, I saw this movie for free tonight.  Prior to seeing this movie, I was not impressed by the trailers despite being from Tim Burton! I felt it looked like more of the same from him and it looked too goofy.  Johnny Depp actually did an awesome job as usual and the support cast was pretty good as well.  I loved the cameo by Alice Cooper as well! The evil witch in the movie played by Eva Green was both sexy and an interesting character in how she functioned.  The movie did have some funny moments, it was a decent movie, but by no means a movie I recommend even a hardcore Tim Burton/Johnny Depp fan to rush out to see. From what I’ve heard, if you liked the “Dark Shadows” television series from the 60s-70s, you may want to dodge the movie because this is more of a comedic take instead of the serious horror take of the original series.  Overall, I give this movie a 6 out of 10.

Coming Up:

·      Vacation in LA! Seeing family and friends!!! First week of June!

·      This Saturday, I will be participating in the Batavia, IL Bridge Walk!

·      WWE Over the Limit Prediction Piece Coming Up Later Today! Stay tuned! And also, be sure if you are in the Aurora area or able to go, come join my friends and I for WWE Over the Limit at Fox at the Hound!

·      Anime Midwest in the first week of July!

·      Hopefully other big news on the way! Stay tuned!

Support My Pages:

-       Facebook Fan Page: Like My page today if you haven’t already. You will receive updates, random discussion, and other various links on when I update my page or post a new video.

-       Twitter Feed

-       YouTube Page: Please subscribe and encourage others to do so.

Facebook Goodies

Hello everyone, I know I do my primary marketing of this site on Facebook and I "assume" most of you find the updates for this site on there but in the event you may not and have found me on Twitter, through a friend, or whatever method (to those I say thank you for helping spread the word!) I have created two all-new photo albums on the STVO Universe Facebook Page. 

The first album is all of my cosplays I am currently doing and a few from the past! Please check all of those out on my page at this link: Cosplays I Have Done

The second album is a look at various drawings I have done throughout the years: STVO Art!

Look, comment, and share! I always like hearing back from what you guys think of my works.  Also if you use Twitter or YouTube, I do stuff on both of those pages too! Here's my Twitter and here is my YouTube Channel. 

Now for some quick outside promotion. These sites are from some very cool people I have met and share some similar interests as myself.  So please give them a look and if you comment or contact them, tell them STVO sent you! :D

The Fan Riot
Progressively Agressive
The Daily Hey Now
Little Brass Bird

WWE Extreme Rules Report from Rosemont

Hello everyone, STVO here! I apologize for the late report of this and Anime Central 2012 (which will be out this week!)  I just want to let you know if I haven’t already that April 26-29^th was one amazing weekend!  I wish it were still going on as for the most part reality can really bite.  Post con-depression did get to me for a while, but it was good to see everyone and it was real nice having a rather exciting wrestling event following the epic weekend. Since it has been over a week since Extreme Rules has moved on, I’m not going to make this report long as there likely have been many other reports that are already on the web, but I’ll give you some of my insight.

 The Pre-Extreme Rules YouTube match of Santino Marella vs. The Miz opened up the show.  It was a decent match and as I predicted Santino would make the Miz lose by performing the Cobra to end the match.  It’s kind of depressing to see The Miz go from WWE Champion/main eventer to “dark match”/pre-show opener.  Santino was pretty over with the Chicago crowd for the most part.

Randy Orton vs. Kane was a very good way to open the show!  Kane and Orton battled all over the arena. My group and I were at the very top, we knew they wouldn’t battle to the top but we were trying to encourage them with “go up top!” chants.  Oh well, we actually had a very good view for the whole event!

 

Back onto the match, I knew Orton would win and am fine with the result, but as a fan of Kane I definitely was rooting on the Big Red Machine.

Brodus Clay’s entrance had the crowd and myself on their feet!  My section and I were dancing and singing “Somebody Call My Mama!” It’s real funny though, while the crowd was hot for Brodus’s entrance, as soon as the match started, there were surprisingly several “Dolph Ziggler” or “Let’s go Dolph!” chants.  Sorry Funkusaurus, I guess we were just using you for your entrance theme. L  Looks like that doesn’t matter though, Brodus won the match anyway.  Honestly, what is with these once main-eventer/future main-eventer heels losing to comedic faces? I like the Brodus Clay character but even I felt that Dolph Ziggler should have won this match, as he is a solid superstar and really should be closer to the main event scene.  I mean he was just feuding with CM Punk at the beginning of this year!!

Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes was for most part unmemorable in my opinion.  There was a real nice spot with Cody pulling off a nice reversal kick off of a table stacked against the ring post to the Big Show.  The ending while it makes sense was real corny.  Big Show came close to land on a table on the outside. He prevented his fall by holding onto the ropes but stepped on the table and broke the table with his weight resulting in Cody Rhodes to win back the Intercontinental Championship.  While the title will likely help Cody more than The Big Show, the fluke victory was a little too cheesy for me.   The crowd and I did root Big Show on for his post-match beating onto Cody by putting him through two tables!

Okay, so I was really tired from the convention and was getting a bit restless and on top of that getting pretty hot from being in cosplay at Extreme Rules.  By the way, I think that will be my last cosplay at a live stadium event (unless it’s more comfortable.) Got many funny looks and one picture request, but other than that, too much work. Because of all this I decided to get a drink and some food to keep me up so I missed a good portion of the Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus match because the people working the concessions were a little slower than I was wishing. Oh, let me show you some pictures of my friends and myself at Extreme Rules. 3 out of 5 of us were in cosplay, haha.

Fortunately I finally was able to watch a replay of this match.  A lot of this should have been what happened in their WrestleMania match.  A very entertaining match but I have one slight nitpick: Why did Daniel Bryan get disqualified in this match? First off Daniel Bryan was only kicking Sheamus (I guess he went against the referee’s orders, but really?) and second off this PPV is called EXTREME RULES!  Wasn’t the original theme of this event supposed to be that every match is under Extreme Rules so anything goes?  I know a slight nit pick, but you might as well call the show Backlash instead of Extreme Rules if you’re going to do that.  Anyway, I enjoyed the match with the fact that they made it seem like Daniel Bryan had the major advantage including making Sheamus pass out during his match.  The crowd leaned more towards Daniel Bryan in cheers but many fans also chanted “18 seconds” in response to “Daniel Bryan.” There were also fans chanting “Yes” followed by other fans chanting “No.”  It was very much a similar “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” moment for Daniel Bryan.

The next match was hilarious to me.  Hilarious in the sense that you know WWE wants this guy to be massively over but right now it isn’t currently working.  Ryback (Skip Sheffield turned Terminator) squashed two jobbers.  I do have a problem with this match being on the main PPV card because this is something we typically expect only to happen on a show like WWE NXT or perhaps Smackdown.  I actually do like Ryback as he has some very impressive strength and I enjoyed Ryback’s previous character of Skip Sheffield.  The fans were chanting “Goldberg!” during the match, which was seriously hilarious!  Maybe it’s just me, but perhaps before Ryback’s matches, maybe HE should be cutting a promo instead of the jobbers? The jobbers aren’t going to be on the roster full-time, why do they have more personality than Ryback?  Maybe Ryback can say something like “I’ll go easy on you, but I can’t promise you won’t be injured.” It’s not great, but it’s probably better what they’re currently doing.  

CM Punk made the crowd really hot when he came out and went on to defeat Chris Jericho.  Easily the biggest pop of the night.  While I’m perfectly fine with CM Punk continuing his reign as the top champion in the WWE and am happy he has been the longest reigning WWE champion in recent history, I wonder where they are going to go with Chris Jericho?  Is Chris Jericho okay with being in a similar position he was in previously before he decided to take off from the WWE?  As of this Monday night on Raw, both he and Randy Orton were added to the World Heavyweight Championship match at Over the Limit against Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus.  Personally, I hope he gets another world title reign but with the rumored Fozzy concert tour he’ll be doing this summer, I’m not sure how likely that will be.

Layla vs. Nikki Bella was a match that a good majority of the crowd could not care any less about.  I remember that a lot of us were anticipating the return of Kharma to be Nikki’s mystery opponent.  No offense to Layla, she is beautiful and a decent talent, she and most of the other Divas are not very exciting to watch on TV.  In fact, a couple of us started randomly chanting for TNA Knockouts like Gail Kim, Velvet Sky, ODB, and Mickie James. 

Finally, the main event of the night happened.  John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar ended the show.  Brock Lesnar dominated the majority of the match.  While the fans were already chanting “Cena Sucks” and “Let’s Go Cena” most fans weren’t as hyped for Brock when he first came out.  It wasn’t until Brock started manhandling John Cena that more cheers began (I personally was going wild for Brock throughout the whole thing.)  There was one moment where several of us believed Brock had an injury.  Brock jumped up and showed no injury was had and we went wild in cheers for him.  Eventually John Cena came back in the match by using a chain on him and giving him an attitude adjustment in the middle of the ring to win the match. This win lead to my group and I leaving even when Cena gave his post-match speech.

Here’s the problem I have with this.  You sign Brock Lesnar to a limited appearance $5 million contract for one year.  You start off his return as a powerhouse and even have him dominate John Cena in the majority of the match.  Then Cena pulls a “Super Cena,” wins the match, and then talks about how he will be taking time off in the near future possibly.  Look, I get that Cena lost to The Rock earlier in April and could have used a big win, but I think Brock Lesnar could have used this win a lot more than Cena could have.  If it were me booking I would have had Brock win the match, cause Cena to be taken out on a stretcher (this was one of the rumored scenarios for this match allegedly), then they can resume the events of Lesnar attacking HHH on Raw and “quitting WWE” already.  How many of you guys really want to see John Laurinaitis vs. John Cena at Over The Limit? I sure as hell don’t.  I think they should have had Brock injure Cena, give Cena 2 months off, have him return in July and challenge Brock Lesnar to a match at Money in the Bank where Cena could have got his win back and have HHH and Brock Lesnar go at it at Summer Slam.

I don’t think things are doom and gloom for Lesnar, not by a long shot.  They can be however if he continues to lose most of his matches.  I get that WWE hired him to help put over stars and that’s fine but you’re attracting a much wider audience with Brock Lesnar now! When I told former WWE fans that he was back, they had a sparked interest and even some of the UFC never WWE fans were interested in this development.  Again, as long as they use Lesnar right, he doesn’t have to plow through every opponent, but he shouldn’t lose too often, then I think he will be $5 million well spent.  Personally though, if they plan to job him to HHH, Randy Orton, and CM Punk the next few times he wrestles, then I personally think it is time they write Lesnar off as a $5 million loss.

Overall Show Opinion: Even if Extreme Rules didn’t come off as good on TV, going to a live event makes a PPV or even a Raw that much better because you get to join in the cheers, you get to hear/see the pyro and live entrances, and it’s overall a larger than life feel.  But like last year, Extreme Rules is usually a PPV that will deliver the goods.  Aside from a few filler matches, we received three excellent matches of John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (IMO way better than Cena/Rock), Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus, and CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho.  Randy Orton vs. Kane was a hot opener to a great show as well.  While the Lesnar losing decision has me puzzled, it still didn’t change me from enjoying the show.  Overall I would say it’s an 8 out of 10.

BTW, I bought a Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan Shirt.

If you enjoyed this review and want to continue following me for new updates, please like STVO Universe on Facebook and follow my page on Twitter!