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WWE Super ShowDown 2020: Predictions & Analysis

The problem with these Saudi shows happening twice a year is that I’m sort of running out of things to say about them. I will say the placement of this one is really weird. I’ve said plenty of times that I don’t think there should be a PPV between the Rumble and Mania, but to put one of the big “Wrestlemania-sized” shows in there? Seems a little bit redundant if you ask me.

As it stands, the card for this show actually looks pretty decent for the most part. I’m sure it’ll fall victim to the usual issues of these shows, but I’m going to maintain a cautious optimism about the quality of the show because…well for the sake of my own sanity to be perfectly honest.

Let’s get predicting, shall we?

Andrade vs Bobby Lashley vs AJ Styles vs Rey Mysterio vs Erick Rowan vs R-Truth
(Tuwaiq Trophy Gaunlet Match)

Jesus Christ, talk about pointless…

Seriously, what is the point? It’ll be mentioned for one, maybe two weeks after the fact (if that) and then we’ll all move on completely forgetting about it so very quickly. Couldn’t it have at least been for the US title or something instead of a totally pointless trophy? I looked up what Tuwaiq is and while I don’t understand the exact geological terms, it’s essentially a big canyon, it’s like having the “Grand Canyon” trophy, or the “Death Valley” trophy and while that second one actually sounds pretty awesome, my point still stands that this whole thing is pointless and stupid.

I’m not even sure the match will be all that interesting to watch either. If Andrade & Styles get some time in the ring together that should be pretty good and I imagine Rey & Andrade will also go on a bit of tear against each other, but I expect this to be more along the lines of the Tag Gauntlet match from Crown Jewel last year. A bunch of quick pins with little action between until someone inexplicably wins.

Speaking of winners, I’m not overly confident but given the rumours that a match with The Undertaker is on the horizon, I’m going with AJ Styles.

Roman Reigns vs King Corbin
(Steel Cage)

Oh, thank the lord! I thought we were going to get a break from this feud for five fucking seconds, you had me worried there WWE, good to know you’re still pushing on with this.

I made a big song and dance in the last entry about it being a pointless match, but when it comes to this one, I mean come on, who’s honestly still invested in this story? At least with their match at the Rumble, I could understand the desire to cap it off with Roman getting his win back so he could move on to bigger and better things, but at this point, what is there for anyone to gain from winning this match? If Roman wins, then it means basically nothing because he’s already beat Corbin several times over in various forms of matches and if Corbin wins, it’ll feel like a massive anti-climax and we’ll probably have to suffer through more of this bollocks until Elimination Chamber.

On top of that, it’s in a Steel Cage, which means it’s virtually guaranteed to be a snooze fest and an absolute cluster fuck with all kind of people needlessly getting involved. Roman Reigns is going to win, because if he doesn’t then I may sigh so hard that all of the gas in my body gets expelled at once and I’ll suffocate.

Seth Rollins & Murphy(c) vs The Street Profits
(Raw Tag Team Championships)

Well, there’s not going to be a great deal of tension in this one, but it should at least be fun.

When Rollins & Murphy first won the Raw tag titles, I was a bit sceptical. I thought it would’ve served AOP better to have the titles and I worried that it would continue the descent of the titles to be totally forgotten amongst a singles feud between Owens & Rollins, but actually, I think things have been going pretty well. Rollins is doing a great job of making his heel persona this time around feels different to what it was during his initial turn in 2014/15, he’s still got that slight cowardly edge, but it doesn’t dominate his character and it feels a lot more calculated. He’s surrounded himself with other tough guys, not because he doesn’t want to fight his own battles, but because it protects him from babyfaces like Owens getting one over on him every week, and most importantly, it’s actually working.

Compare this to Corbin’s alliance with Ziggler & Roode and you can see exactly why that doesn’t work. It’s partly because Roman is out-smarting them at every opportunity, but also it feels like there’s no cohesion between them as a unit. They’re not brothers in arms fighting for a common cause, they’re just three people who don’t hate each other at the moment. Looking back at Rollins, Murphy & AOP, it’s clear to me that there’s a lot more thought behind this and at least some semblance of a long-term goal, so I’m quite happy with how things have been going.

…what was I here to talk about again? Oh yeah, the match. Not really much to say if I’m honest, Seth Rollins & Murphy are definitely winning and it wouldn’t surprise me if it ended up being a glorified squash. That said, if Street Profits are actually given a chance to make this competitive, then I think it could easily be a match of the night contender; fingers crossed, I guess.

The New Day(c) vs The Miz & John Morrison
(Smackdown Tag Team Championships)

Don’t get me wrong, I like John Morrison, but was bringing him back just for this really worth it? I understand that there isn’t exactly much room for him in the singles division at the moment, but when I envision John Morrison’s return, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.

I’ll admit though, I’ve enjoyed watching his reunion with The Miz and it’s clear there’s still some great chemistry between them. Whether that chemistry extends to the ring remains to be seen, but I have confidence that these guys will pull something great out of the bag. As it stands, I don’t think there’s a better team for them to go against right now than The New Day. From a character perspective, they have that comedic edge that Miz & Morrison can bounce off of so well and when it comes to the ring, they’re easily the best in WWE right now, so a good-to-great match is all but guaranteed.

When it comes to picking a winner, I’m not as confident as I probably should be, but I’m going with The Miz & John Morrison to pick up the titles. Morrison losing his first big opportunity following his return would make the whole thing feel extremely pointless and it’s not like The New Day have anything to lose right now and in fact, having them chasing the titles going into Mania might make for a more compelling story.

Bayley(c) vs Naomi
(Smackdown Women’s Championship)

After Crown Jewel last year where Saudi Arabia finally allowed a women’s wrestling match to take place in their country, I can only hope that they’re going to slowly but surely loosen up the restrictions on what these women can do in the ring. Nevermind the fact that WWE are congratulating Saudia Arabia for doing this, even though they’re still a number of centuries behind the rest of the world, I’m hoping that this will actually get to be a match, rather than an over-glorified training routine.

Don’t get me wrong, the match between Evans & Natalya at Crown Jewel was absolutely an important and necessary first step, but you can’t deny that they wrestled an extremely safe, by-the-book and boring match that was entirely designed to be as inoffensive as humanly possible. If this happens here it would be an incredible disservice to these two great performers who I think, given the chance could put on a really great match.

I have absolutely no idea what the plans are for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at Wrestlemania (and if the dirt sheets are to be believed, neither do WWE) but I think it would make the most sense to have Bayley go in as champion. I know Naomi has the heat of the return, but there’s been basically nothing in the way of build to this match, so a Naomi win would seem very strange and out of nowhere.

Brock Lesnar(c) vs Ricochet
(WWE Championship)

You know that scene from the first Avenger’s film where The Hulk smashes Loki into the floor over and over? Yeah, that. That’s what’s going to happen.

I’d love to live in a fantasy world where Ricochet gets a chance to look competitive against Brock and essentially spends 10 minutes flipping circles around the Beast, but let’s be real, it’s just not happening. This match isn’t going to last very long and it’s going to consist of Ricochet’s internal organs being turned to paste before Brock Lesnar walks out with his title.

The Fiend Bray Wyatt(c) vs Goldberg
(Universal Championship)

No! Not again. Please don’t do this to us again.

This match is in a weird position because my perspective on whether or not it’s a good idea depends entirely on the outcome. If this is a chance for The Fiend to get a really strong win before facing off with Roman at Wrestlemania, then I think it’s fantastic and will benefit The Fiend even past him inevitably losing his title to Roman at Mania. However…if the result of this is Goldberg carrying the title in Wrestlemania, then I’m absolutely against it.

I actually think Goldberg vs Roman could be a pretty fun match for Wrestlemania, but it’s not worth sacrificing everything that has been built up around The Fiend for. I’ve said this so much over the past 8ish months, but The Fiend is something unique and special and has all the potential in the world to go down as one of the all-time great gimmicks in wrestling, but it won’t happen if he’s unceremoniously sacrificed to Goldberg here.

As for match quality, it could go either way. I don’t think it’ll be very long, but we’ve seen a whole host of short but good Goldberg matches since his 2016 return. Maybe it’s just denial, but I refuse to accept the fact that Goldberg could be Universal Champion TWICE in the space of 4 years in the modern era. I’m going with what I believe must happen, which is The Fiend Bray Wyatt retaining.

And there you have it! Thank you very much for reading these predictions, be sure to leave your own predictions either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back here Friday, where I’ll be running down all of the matches

10 Best Speeches From Doctor Who

The Doctor is someone who uses words as their weapons, their whole philosophy is about using the smart way to defeat the villains, avoiding guns at all costs. So it’s natural that someone as old and intelligent as The Doctor is going to come out with some cracking words of wisdom from time to time.

I honestly can’t think of another show that so consistently pulls out such powerful and meaningful speeches that are able to draw that raw emotion out of me like Doctor Who can, so I thought that while I’m taking a short break from ranking all of the series, it would be a great idea to look through and discuss what I think are some of the best speeches from Doctor Who.

To be clear, the episode surrounding the speech doesn’t have much of an impact as to where each speech landed. Even if the rest of the episode was fairly rubbish (which I could say about a couple of episodes on this list) the speeches are being judged for the speech alone, not what surrounded it and also this is limited to modern Doctor Who, because I haven’t seen enough of the classic series to make a fair judgement. Also, I didn’t specifically limit this to only speeches made by The Doctor…it just ended up that way.

10 – The Turn of the Earth – Rose

You know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving?
It’s like when you’re a kid, the first time they tell you that the world’s turning and you just can’t quite believe it ‘cos everything looks like it’s standing still.
I can feel it.
The turn of the Earth, the ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven miles an hour, and I can feel it.
We’re falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world and if we let go…
That’s who I am.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that when rebooting Doctor Who for a new audience, while still looking to retain the show’s history and everything that comes with it. The team at BBC Wales had a mammoth task. Would a modern audience care about Doctor Who? Would anyone even get it? In just 45 minutes this show had to explain a 40-year history of an entire TV show and convince everyone to stick around for more, so the biggest hurdle is answering that question, who is The Doctor?

On a basic level, that’s easy, they’re an alien who can change their face and travels around in time and space, but who are they…really? What do they stand for? How do they see the world around us? and, most importantly, why should I care? This speech is the perfect answer to every single question I’ve posed in this entry. It encapsulates everything about who The Doctor is, their intelligence, their wisdom, the way they view the universe and how they can show us that universe.

I defy anyone to watch that speech and not be fascinated by the delivery. The way in which The Doctor slowly lowers his voice with every line, pushing in closer and closer, like he’s speaking directly to you, totally enrapturing you with his words, even though he’s just stating facts. The intensity and the intrigue that makes this show great is all rolled into one and from that moment onwards, you know exactly who The Doctor is and what they stand for and you’re ready to follow him across the universe.

9 – Look me up – Forest of the Dead

Don’t play games with me.
You just killed someone I like, that is not a safe place to stand.
I’m The Doctor and you’re in the biggest library in the universe,
…look me up.

This one is quite short and sweet, but it’s so powerful that I couldn’t leave it off.

A trope that would eventually become overused in the Moffat era is the idea of The Doctor being this universally known figure that strikes fear or love into the hearts of every living being. I understand that The Doctor is thousands of years old and has been all over the universe in every different time zone, but when you think about how the universe is infinitely large and lasts for trillions of years, The Doctor hasn’t exactly been around for very long in the grand scheme of things, they’ve barely even begun to explore the universe when you really think about it, so the idea that everyone will know who he is doesn’t quite sit right with me.

That said, this is the one context where it absolutely makes sense, The Doctor even justifies it in this very speech. They’re standing in a place where almost all the knowledge of the universe is held, of course there’s going to be books on The Doctor, probably a whole skyscraper’s worth.

I often thought Tennant’s intensity was one of his weaker points in his role as The Doctor but this is an example of him absolutely nailing it. Once again, there’s the way he starts of angry and loud, but slowly quiets to almost a whisper, but a whisper that’s burning with rage and intensity. I can feel the chill go down my spine as he says the “look me up” line and if I were the Vashta Nerada, I’d back off too.

8 – Coward or Killer? – The Parting of the Ways

DALEK EMPEROR: Hail The Doctor, The Great Exterminator!
DOCTOR: I’ll do it!
DALEK EMPEROR: Then prove yourself Doctor, what are you? Coward or Killer?
DOCTOR: Coward…any day.

Another short one, but one that manages to wrap up an entire character arc in a sentence.

The Ninth Doctor is one that’s struggling with the very depth of inner turmoil. They’ve only recently ended the Time War, slaughtering billions of their own people in order to save the universe and now they’ve discovered it was all for nothing, because here the Daleks are, as strong as ever. Yet before them stands his chance to do it again, to finally wipe them all out for good, except there’s still that catch, that catch that means if they finally kill the Daleks and end the war, they murder everyone on planet Earth.

The performance of this moment is something extraordinary when the Dalek Emperor asks them that question and forces them to face this horrible choice again. The look on their face, the way their eyes dart between the plunger as they tense up, gathering the strength to push down…only for their whole body to suddenly relax as they take their hands off the plunger and simply declare “coward”.

The pure emotion at that moment is so tangible, it’s like a weight has been lifted off of The Doctor’s shoulders, finally having processed exactly what it was they did on the last day of the Time War. The acceptance that they did the wrong thing that day, even if it was for the right reasons and this is their way of making up for it, for putting themselves at peace. It’s the moment where The Doctor finally lets go of his anger and rage from the Time War, even accepting the fact that it’s his time to die, which is truly the ultimate sacrifice for a character like The Doctor.

7 – Change – The Time of The Doctor

We all change. When you think about it, we’re all different people all through our lives and that’s okay, that’s good, you’ve got to keep moving forward, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.
I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear.
I will always remember, when The Doctor was me.

When it comes to tear-jerkers, this one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

While I had problems with it, I loved Matt Smith’s time as the Doctor. He brought the exact kind of energy that the show needs, that inherent silliness of everything about Doctor Who, but still being able to reel you in with menace and dramatic speeches. He was able to contrast the Doctor’s more serious and light-hearted personas so well that I think he gave some of the best performances the show has ever seen.

So when it was time for him to bow out of the role, you could bet your bottom dollar he’d crank out one final performance for the ages, which came in the form of this speech. Instead of making some grand statement or gesture, he quiets down his delivery and lets out a very personal speech that clearly reflects Smith’s own feelings on his time playing the Time Lord.

It’s undeniably cheesy, but the sentiments on how people change as they go through their lives does have a truth to it and it lines up with the words of wisdom that The Doctor would go on to espouse once Capaldi took up the mantle. Speaking of…

6 – Where I Fall – The Doctor Falls

I’m gonna be dead in a few hours, so before I go, let’s have this out, you and me, once and for all.

Winning? Is that what you think it’s about? I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun. God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works because it hardly ever does.. I DO WHAT I DO BECAUSE IT’S RIGHT! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind! It’s just that.. Just kind.

If I run away today, good people will die. If I stand and fight, some of them might live. Maybe not many, maybe not for long. Hey, you know, maybe there’s no point to any of this at all. But it’s the best I can do. So I’m going to do it. And I will stand here doing it until it kills me. And you’re going to die too! Some day.. And how will that be, have you thought about it? What would you die for? Who I am is where I stand. Where I stand…is where I fall.

Stand with me. These people are terrified. Maybe we can help a little. Why not, just at the end, just be kind?

Many times throughout the series history, various villains have tried their best to cast The Doctor in a negative light and challenge his true morality, but it’s moments like this when their back is truly up against the wall, where we get to see how much of a hero The Doctor really is. One of the best character arcs in series 10 was that of The Master (or Missy) finally growing a genuine connection with The Doctor, with The Doctor inching closer and closer to bring The Master around to their own way of thinking, to make them a good person and this moment is what finally ticks it over in her mind.

Although the concept wasn’t used to its full potential, bringing John Simm’s Master back into the fold was a brilliant idea (even if every single trailer for the series totally spoiled it). It gave us a real contrast of who The Master had progressed as a person compared to the days of The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords and the inner conflict of Missy was clear for all to see. She was letting her former-self drag her back into her mad & evil ways, so The Doctor decided enough was enough. He was going to make one final plea to their best friend, in order to hopefully bring them over to stand together.

Even though The Doctor directs this plea towards John Simm’s Master, it’s clear who they were really trying to appeal to. Missy’s face as The Doctor goes from shouting, to the brink of tears, to near begging is such subtle, yet masterful acting that it reminds me how much more credit Michelle Gomez deserves for this role. What’s more is that the fake-out is written in such a brilliant way, because even though Missy initially rejects this, the penny later drops and they decide to do the right thing, like a true hero would: Without Witness and Without Reward.

What’s more, is it presents The Doctor in the most heroic light they’d been presented in since their identity crisis in series 8. It’s the distilled essence of who I think The Doctor is beneath their many incarnations, the ideals and principles with which he travels the universe and, as I’ve said, what makes him stand out as a hero, despite what many villains have tried to make him believe.

5 – A Story – The Rings of Akhaten

Okay, then. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll tell you a story.

Can you hear them? All these people who’ve lived in terror of you and your judgement? All these people whose ancestors devoted themselves, sacrificed themselves, to you. Can you hear them singing?
Oh, you like to think you’re a god. But you’re not a god. You’re just a parasite eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them. On the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow. So, come on, then. Take mine. Take my memories. But I hope you’ve got a big appetite because I have lived a long life and I have seen a few things.

I walked away from the Last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time. No space. Just me.
I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a mad man. I’ve watched universes freeze and creations burn. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe. I have lost things you will never understand. And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze.
So come on, then. Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!

This speech isn’t some grand statement about who The Doctor is. It doesn’t cap off some great story arc, hell, it doesn’t even resolve the episode. It’s just one person opening their heart and letting everything thought in their brain flow out into the open.

The brilliance of this speech all comes from the atmosphere around it. The Long Song is a pitch-perfect backing to this speech, its slow and smooth pace perfectly complements the first half of the speech, where The Doctor runs down Akhaten, doing what The Doctor does best and using their words as weapons to defeat the enemy. The song then swells into a big chorus as The Doctor stands there, allowing Akhaten to feed off of them, letting all of their pent up misery and torment out.

It’s these kinds of moments that remind us of the kind of emotional trauma The Doctor has to deal with every single day and it’s done in the best way possible. When the show has tried to properly focus in on the idea, it very rarely pulls it off in a satisfactory way (see The Waters of Mars & the whole of Series 8), so instead the best way to touch on it is to weave it into a greater story like this. Even better than that, The Doctor is weaponising that pain here, not using it to fuel an attack, but using it to trick a parasite into overfeeding themselves on his emotion. Admittedly, that idea is slightly undermined by the fact that this doesn’t even work and it takes Clara and her leaf to save the day, but that’s a fault with the episode, not this speech.

Even though it may not have some greater meaning in the grand scheme of Doctor Who, the raw emotion on display is so powerful that I always get choked up when I give this one a re-watch.

4 – Guess Who? – The Pandorica Opens

Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe. But bad news, everyone,
Because guess who? Ha! Listen, you lot, you’re all whizzing about. It’s really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I. AM. TALKING!

The question of the hour is, who’s got the Pandorica? Answer, I do. Next question. Who’s coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me. No plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else. I don’t have anything to lose! So, if you’re sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, and then!
Do the smart thing…let somebody else try first.

There are two sides to this speech depending on whether you’re watching The Pandorica Opens for the first time or whether you already know the twist and this speech seems brilliant either way.

If this is your first time watching the episode then this is the speech of a hero, this is The Doctor facing down every foe they’ve ever faced and essentially saying “Come at me” only for them all to run away. It’s cathartic it’s triumphant it sets The Doctor is the light of an absolute hero and puts a smile on your face as he bats away countless old enemies like they were nothing.

Then, there’s the side that comes when you know the twist of the episode, that actually, the whole thing’s a trap and letting The Doctor think he’s in control is the whole point. There’s this bittersweet irony to the whole thing when you imagine that the creatures up in those ships must be looking down at The Doctor, thinking he’s the king of the universe and laughing at his hubris.

This whole speech has a strange dual meaning behind it, showing how forcefully The Doctor can use his words as weapons, while also totally tearing down his character and pointing out the fact that The Doctor always assuming he’s the centre of the universe can lead him blind to the facts that are staring him right in the face. Whether you want a feel-good moment or an ironic tear-down of The Doctor as a character, this is a speech that’s got you covered.

3 – I’m Coming to Get You – Bad Wolf

DOCTOR: No.

DALEK: Explain yourself!

DOCTOR: I said no.

DALEK: What is the meaning of this negative?

DOCTOR: It means no.

DALEK: But she will be destroyed.

DOCTOR: No!

DOCTOR: Because this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to rescue her.
I’m going to save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek fleet and then, I’m going to save the Earth, and then, just to finish off, I’m going to wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!

DALEK: But you have no weapons, no defences, no plan.

DOCTOR: Yeah. And doesn’t that scare you to death? Rose?

ROSE: Yes, Doctor?

DOCTOR: I’m coming to get you.

I’ve talked a lot about The Doctor having his “hero moments” so far in this list, but I believe that The Doctor has never seemed like more of a hero than he has at this moment, even if he’s being motivated by hatred and rage.

You’ve got to take a look into The Doctor’s mindset during this speech, earlier in the series they thought the Time War was finally over, the last Dalek in existence killed itself and all of the sufferings they’ve gone through, and all of the horrible things they did seemed like maybe they might’ve been worth it to finally rid the universe of the terror of the Daleks. Now, they’ve just discovered that not only did more escape the Time War, but they’ve multiplied and now there are hundreds of thousands of them. This is a person who very recently wiped out his entire race just to get rid of the Daleks and now they’ve learnt it was all for nothing, how would you feel in that situation?

Ecclestone’s acting during this scene is top-notch, the minute movements in his facial expressions put forth this feeling of someone who is having to suppress so much rage, guilt and fear all at once. In the moments before this speech, they flick between mild joking and serious threats, their head is not in the right space and it shows. I almost get this feeling like they’re going to explode in a fit of rage and totally lose their mind – I know I would – but the don’t. Instead, what they do is channel it all and use it to fuel their drive and desire to do the right thing, as Rose would later say “To stand up and say no”, quite literally in this case.

The way the music swells as The Doctor decides to defy the Daleks’ demand, the way they don’t even raise their voice on the first “No”, it’s just a cold statement of intent, a statement that they’ve had enough of dealing with the Daleks’ shit and they’re not going to tolerate one iota of it this time around. They call the Daleks’ bluff and they tell them exactly what they’re going to do, only to totally ignore the Daleks in the end and simply tell Rose “I’m coming to get you” like they’re just picking her up from karate class, no big deal.

Every time I watch it, it gets me PUMPED and it created one of my favourite cliffhangers I’ve ever seen this show pull off.

2 – War – The Zygon Inversion

DOCTOR: So, let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you’ve killed all the bad guys, and when it’s all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you?
The troublemakers.
How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?

…

…

KATE: Yes, I’d quite like to know that, too. You set this up. Why?

DOCTOR: Because it’s not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought, right there in front of you. Because it’s always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who’s going to die! You don’t know whose children are going to scream and burn! How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does until what they were always going to have to do from the very beginning. SIT! DOWN! AND TALK! (sigh) Listen to me. Listen, I just, I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It’s just a fancy word for changing your mind.

CLARA-Z: I will not change my mind.

DOCTOR: Then you will die stupid. Alternatively, you could step away from that box, you can walk right out of that door and you could stand your revolution down.

CLARA-Z: No! I’m not stopping this, Doctor. I started it. I will not stop it. You think they’ll let me go, after what I’ve done?

DOCTOR: You’re all the same, you screaming kids. You know that? Look at me, I’m unforgivable. Well, here’s the unforeseeable. I forgive you. After all you’ve done, I forgive you.

CLARA-Z: You don’t understand. You will never understand.

DOCTOR: I don’t understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war? This funny little thing? This is not a war! I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine. And when I close my eyes…I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight…until it burns your hand, and you say this. No one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will have to feel this pain. Not on my watch!

I have plenty of problems with Capaldi’s time as The Doctor, which I’ll get more into when I eventually cover those series. However, the one thing that I don’t think many people could deny is that Capaldi himself is easily one of the best pure-actors to ever fill The Doctor’s shoes. Whenever the writing was up to the high standards you’d expect from the show, Capaldi’s acting was on another level completely. I was tempted to put the whole of Heaven Sent on this list for that exact reason, but I think this is the scene where that raw talent and understanding of The Doctor is on full display.

Capaldi came in just after the Time War arc of the show, and arc that had been running in the background since the show’s return in 2005 and even though The Doctor now knows that they didn’t do the awful thing they thought they did, that doesn’t stop those memories that burnt into their mind for hundreds of years feeling real and burning on his conscience and Capaldi does one of the best jobs of capturing that feeling since Ecclestone’s near breakdown in Dalek.

His general sentiments on the whole concept of the war feel so very real in this speech. The futility of it all, the fact that the outcome is always the same and that even if you win, it ends up not mattering shortly after that anyway; a statement that’s mostly backed up by history when you look at it. Doctor Who as a show has never been afraid to take a stand and make a statement about how we can change the world, and this is absolutely the best way to do it (Series 12, take notes).

Capaldi’s performance perfectly captures the desperation in his plea as he uses every word and emotion he can conjure just to cause that little moment of doubt in Bonnie’s mind so he can get through to her. Every word that comes out of their mouth is brimming with the raw power of emotion, the way their voice builds up into shouting only to fall back into quiet pleading like they really are trying everything they can think of in order to get through to her.

It’s so well-written and passionately performed that everything comes together just right to always put me into that emotional mindset as The Doctor pleads with Bonnie.

1 – Everybody Lives – The Doctor Dances

You want moves Rose? I’ll give you moves.

Everybody lives Rose. Just this once…everybody lives!

Do two lines count as a speech? Oh well, my list, my rules.

This moment is not only my favourite moment in all of Doctor Who, but it may just be my favourite moment from anything that I’ve ever watched.

I’ve professed my love for this episode before, but I really want to highlight just how fantastic (pun very much intended) of a moment this is. The way how everything seems so very hopeless in the build-up to this, you can see it in Ecclestone’s performance in the lead up to this moment and also afterwards when The Doctor tells Jack that he “doesn’t need the bomb”, that they clearly had some sort of plan, but he really wasn’t sure about it, so for the miracle of the situation turning out how it did make it all the sweeter.

The slow build of hope as the nanogenes activate when Nancy & Jamie embrace. The quick switch of emotions and you think that Nancy’s going to be turned into a gas-mask zombie, only for The Doctor to suddenly clock on to what’s happening. We’re given that glimmer of hope as The Doctor pleads with the nanogenes to figure it out only for the absolute catharsis of the moment where The Doctor lifts the mask off of Jamie and cries out with joy.

It then leads to this moment just afterwards, where The Doctor gets to feel like a true hero, for the first time in a long time. It’s one of those bittersweet things about what The Doctor does, is that even if they defeat the bad guys and save some people, others always die before they can get to them. When you pile that on top of the fact that this is a version of The Doctor who is still freshly tormented by his actions in the Time War and you realise exactly what this must mean for The Doctor, that despite all odds, despite thinking they were probably going to have to kill all of these innocent people with the bomb, everybody lives. He’s done the one thing that he’s never been able to do before and save everyone. Even though he had originally intended to leave Jack for dead, he ended up riding this wave of ecstasy (along with a push from Rose) to save him too.

While I wouldn’t call this the most heroic moment for The Doctor (I’ve already talked about that) I think it’s probably the moment where they feel the most like a hero, or at the very least, that they’ve absolutely, 100%, without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt done the right thing; a feeling I don’t think they get to feel very often.

It’s euphoric, it’s emotional and it’s just such a pure moment that I will always shed a tear when going back to watch this one.

And that’s it! Thank you very much for reading, please let me know what your favourite speeches are either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back next Tuesday where I’ll be covering WWE Super ShowDown!

NXT Takeover: Portland: Every Match Ranked

Another Takeover, another great night of wrestling. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to discover that the show last night was just as good as they always are. I was worried the addition of a 6th match would mean that one of the matches get slightly shafted, but instead, the length of the show was simply extended to make room, which is fine with me and I don’t think 3 hours is too long of a show, especially when compared to Raw & Smackdown PPVs. So let’s not waste any more time and take a look at the matches.

6 – Dakota Kai def. Tegan Nox

Interesting how on one show we can have examples of two match-interferences, one of which was to the match’s benefit, the other its detriment, no prizes for guessing which one this was.

The action between Nox & Kai was great stuff, as I mentioned in my predictions, this whole build has done a great job of making both women seem like legitimate contenders in the women’s division and the brutality on display here has capped that off perfectly. I know I’m not normally a fan of weapons matches but I think this one kept the pace fast enough to hold my interest.

The interference at the end feels to me like a case of short-term loss for long-term gain, which is ultimately a good thing, but it doesn’t stop it from bringing this match down. It didn’t help that I – and seemingly the whole arena – had no idea who it was that interfered in the match, but I kind of like that, it immediately creates intrigue surrounding them and it lets them have a real ground-zero for a new character. That said, I’m not sure giving Dakota a lackey is the greatest idea, especially when you consider that we’ve already done that story very recently with Baszler, Duke & Shafir.

I have faith in the NXT creative team to make it feel like something different, however, until I see proof of that, I shall remain wary.

5 – Finn Balor def. Johnny Gargano

I know, I know. This match was fantastic, but there was so much good stuff on this show and I just couldn’t put this above the other matches from last night.

I think one of the main reasons I dropped this one is because it didn’t quite live up to my (admittedly, very high) expectations. I think because of Johnny’s injury, it lost a little bit of steam and the match as a whole just felt like it was missing something. What exactly that something is, I can’t quite put my finger on, but it dropped my enjoyment of the match just a bit.

That said, the match was still really good. I know people have soured on Gargano slightly, but I honestly don’t know where those people are coming from because I don’t think he’s lost a beat. These two matched up about as well as you’d expect them to and the action was, fast, hard-hitting and full of spectacle as a result.

Against, what I said in my predictions, I actually think Balor winning is the better idea now I’ve considered it. Gargano has had his status reinstated by what happened in the main event, so giving Balor this win to give him that boost in credibility after his return & subsequent heel turn was definitely the right way to go.

4 – Rhea Ripley(c) def. Bianca Belair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

This match is actually a really great look into how far Bianca Belair has come over the past year.

When Belair got a title shot against Baszler this time last year everyone viewed it as an opportunity to proves she belongs in the uber-high quality of the NXT Women’s division and she succeeded. Now, a year later she has another opportunity and it’s clear that she’s easily on par with any other competitor in the NXT locker room. In an era of NXT where the majority of stars are wrestlers who come in with a wave of indie support & hype behind them, looking back I’ve loved watching Belair become the fantastic performer she is today.

I had a lot of fun watching this match. Rhea has settled into her role as champion so easily that it only further proves how worthy of a successor she is to Shayna Basler’s crown. The chemistry here was stellar and there was such a wonderful sense of flow to the whole thing that kept my attention ticking over from one spot to the next. I don’t really have anything special to say about it, it was yet another great performance from two great performers and I’m very excited about what Rhea & Charlotte have in store going into Wrestlemania.

3 – Adam Cole(c) def. Tommaso Ciampa
(NXT Championship)

Oh! That’s the direction they’re going in, alright, you’ve got my attention.

This match was exactly what I’d hoped it would be and honestly, I think that’s the best thing I can say in its favour. This easily had the strongest story going into it and both guys feel like huge stars in both their presence and in the ring. There was a subtle brutality to this match, even though there wasn’t a great deal in terms of big “OMG” spots. Probably helped by that fact that Ciampa looks ripped, this felt like a real hard-hitting fight between two men who genuinely despise each other.

Despite Ciampa’s overwhelming presence and being the one with all the steam behind him currently, Cole made sure that he wasn’t forgotten as the champion and just in general, this match really cemented both of these guys as two of the biggest stars NXT has ever had. This fed into the finish, where we got a bait-and-switch with the interference, as Cole used all his greatest hits in terms of using underhanded tactics to try and win the match. The Undisputed Era getting involved, the low blow, the ref bump; it felt like a real swan-song for Cole’s title reign and right up until Gargano showed up, I was certain Ciampa was going to win.

Gargano’s arc over the past three years has been so interesting to watch, it’s like when Ciampa’s around, Gargano just can’t help but become the worst version of himself. It’s almost like some kind of deeply ingrained trauma inside his mind that just turns him into a completely different person whenever Ciampa gets involved. There are so many pieces involved here and I’m not sure exactly how they’re all going to come together, but I’m very excited for wherever this whole thing ends up.

2 – Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne def. The Undisputed Era(c)
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

In my predictions, this was easily the match I was the most negative about and when it comes to the character stuff, I stand by what I said. I liked the caddy they drove themselves & the trophy out on, but I was not a fan of the “Fish” stuff. I understand why other people would find it funny, but it’s just really not for me. When it comes to the in-ring stuff, however, that’s the kind of stuff I live for.

In the past, I criticised the fact that Riddle & Dunne have a distinct lack of chemistry in the ring and while I still wouldn’t say it was perfect here, it was absolutely much better than it has been in previous matches. This match was back-and-forth the whole way through which is where I think tag matches are at their best, there was never a chance to settle into the groove of the match because as soon as one team established control, it somehow got broken and stuff started going mental again.

Something I think this match did particularly well was towards the finish when it kept me guessing as to who was going to win right up until the referee hit for three. It continued that form that I talked about earlier, I was never allowed to settle into the finish which meant that the excitement just kept building and building until Dunne & Riddle finally got the win. Despite what I said in my predictions, I’m actually glad the titles changed hands here because I think a shakeup in the tag division is absolutely in order because it’s really lacking in major talent right now. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get on board with their odd-couple pairing, but as long as they keep churning out matches like this, I really don’t mind.

1 – Keith Lee(c) def. Dominic Dijakovic
(North American Championship)

So THIS is what an all-out hoss fight is supposed to look like…I like it!

Quite simply, these guys went all-out and unleashed just about everything they could possibly think of to do and it was just fantastic fun to watch. it proves that big-guy fights don’t have to be slow, plodding affairs full of tests of strengths and grunty pushing. This match had such a different feel to everything else on the show, it was able to have an incredible sense of spectacle to all the big spots, while still maintaining a sense of a hard-hitting fight.

Not to mention, it helped to make an absolute star of Dijakovic. I know most of the NXT faithful know that he’s a great wrestler, but this was his first match on a big show like Takeover and I’ll be very surprised if he didn’t turn some heads. I could sit here listing all of the awesome spots that filled this match, but let’s be honest, you’ve already seen the gifs. I didn’t even know it was possible for people the size of Lee & Dijakovic to pull off some of the stuff they did last night, but quite frankly, I’ll never see gravity in the same way again.

It had just about everything you could want from a big match like this (both figuratively and literally) it was loud, proud, impressive and, most importantly, an absolute blast to watch, easily the best match of the show.

That’s all folks! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article, please let me know what you thought of the show, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back on Saturday, where I’ll be running down the best speeches from Doctor Who!

NXT Takeover: Portland: Predictions & Analysis

It’s been far too long since we’ve had one of these. I know World’s Collide happened and it was a very good show, but it just didn’t have the same feel or level of pure quality that a good old fashioned NXT Takeover event does. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but something about that show just didn’t quite click for me. Regardless, we’ve got this to get excited about, so let’s not spend too much time complaining.

Tegan Nox vs Dakota Kai
(Street Fight)

If I’m remembering correctly then I’m pretty certain this is the first time in quite a while that an NXT Takeover event has had more than one women’s match on the show. For a while, this was understandable, as there wasn’t much in the way of talent depth, but now looking at NXT Women’s division, the whole damn show could be women’s matches and it would be brilliant.

This match, in particular, has got me quite excited. I don’t really know much about Kai & Nox, but I’ve been getting quite invested in them since their feud began at Wargames. Now Shayna Baszler seems to be bowing out of NXT, there’s a lot of room up at the top for heels in the women’s division and I think Dakota Kai is going to be a great fit for that role. As for Tegan Nox, I just hope that NXT management has learnt from the mistakes they made with Io Shirai and keep Nox going as a believable face because as much as I’ve like Io since her heel turn, it very much felt like a move born out of desperation.

When it comes to picking a winner, this is a simple situation of picking who I think has the most to gain from the win right now, which is easily Dakota Kai. Although her heel turn was a good few months ago now, this is the first major match she’s had since it happened and it would be a bit of disaster for her to start taking major losses this early and there’s all the potential in the world of Tegan Nox to have a Gargano-Esque redemption story following a loss or two in the coming months.

Johnny Gargano vs Finn Balor

Out of all the matches on this show, I think this one has had the best build.

It was disappointing that we had to wait a couple of months longer than we expected to get this match thanks to Gargano’s injury, but they were able to recover the story well and I think a great deal of intensity has been added to the feud thanks to Balor’s new shift in character and Gargano’s hunger to re-prove himself. The history of Balor in NXT has been played into it, but what I think is most surprising is how starkly different Balor’s character is this time around, he truly feels like a different person to the one we’ve seen on Raw & Smackdown for the past few years.

Naturally, this match should be brilliant. While I’ve never been blown away by a Finn Balor match, I always find them very enjoyable and when he’s matching up with a wrestler like Gargano, I’m certain we’ve got a potential match of the year on our hands.

It’s a tough call as to who will win this one. Balor needs a solid win to cement his return, otherwise, he could quickly fall back into old routines. Though at the same time, I think Gargano is going to be a major part of major storylines going into Wrestlemania season (I’ll talk more on that in a little bit) and he really needs a big win after spending the past year having a bit of an underwhelming time. I’m picking Johnny Gargano because, unlike Balor, I actually have a pretty clear picture in my mind of what I think the next couple of months are going to look like for him and it requires a win here.

The Undisputed Era(c) vs Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

It seems like such a weird thing to say given the men involved, but I’m really not feeling this match. Don’t get me wrong, I think Fish & O’Reilly are a fantastic tag team and both Dunne & Riddle are among my favourite singles guys in WWE right now, but I just don’t really buy them as a tag team. Unfortunately, there’s not much else they can be doing right now and if the Dusty Rhodes Classic achieved anything, it was highlighting the fact that NXT US has literally only one decent tag team in their ranks at the moment, so it was kind of necessary.

I’m sure this will be a brilliant match, but after so many years of the NXT Tag Team division being full of cohesive teams that felt like natural partners, to have two guys whose characters don’t align in the slightest (and not even in an “opposites attract” sort of way) seems like such a letdown.

Weirdly though, I kind of think they might win. It seems like Undisputed Era’s reign at the top of NXT is starting to crumble, so taking those titles away from them might be the direction they’re going in right now, not to mention that if Undisputed Era retains, then who have they got left to fight? Unless we’re just going to keep bringing in NXT UK teams for them to fight, the only direction we can go at this stage is rehashing old matches. The other possibility is that Riddle turns on Dunne, in order to inject some life into Riddle’s quickly stagnating character, not to mention there’s a bit of a lack of heels at the top of NXT right now thanks to Undisputed Era being the be-all and end-all of the division.

There are compelling arguments for both scenarios and I honestly can’t say that I think either one is more likely than the other, so I’m instead going to go with what I want to happen and pick The Undisputed Era to retain.

Keith Lee(c) vs Dominic Dijakovic
(North American Championship)

For the longest time, I was not a fan of Dijakovic he seemed to me like just another hoss that didn’t bring much to the ring other than a fairly impressive physique. Over the last few months, those assumptions I made of him have been utterly destroyed as he’s put on some great matches with wrestlers of all shapes and sizes.

Combine a guy like Dojakovic with someone like Keith Lee who, I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say, has it all. He was criminally underused for the longest time in NXT and Survivor Series finally woke everyone (myself included) up to the fact that he’s an absolute beast and a brilliant wrestler that deserves the world. Now Lee has himself a championship, I can’t think of a better way than to show off just how good he can be than by putting up against one of his best opponents in NXT right now.

These two have fought several times before and it’s always been great stuff, their chemistry is impeccable and they’re always able to add something new to their matches so that it doesn’t feel like they’re stepping over old ground. Now they’ve finally been given the opportunity to put it all on a much bigger stage, I can’t imagine they’ll waste it. I’m expecting big things from this one, both from a literal and metaphorical standpoint.

That said, I think it’s quite easy to pick Keith Lee as the winner here. He’s only just won the title and he’s got all the momentum in the world right now, so losing the title like this would be an absolutely terrible move. Admittedly Dijakovic does need a big win to fully legitimize him, but that win can’t be at the expense of Lee.

Rhea Ripley(c) vs Bianca Belair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

When this match was first announced, I really wasn’t interested. I adore Rhea Ripley and thought her title match against Baszler was one of the best matches of last year, but this felt like such a placeholder match it’s believable. I mean, I still stand by that a little bit, there’s no way Bianca’s winning this match, but the build has been exciting enough so that I am actually interested in seeing the match play out now.

A large chunk of this switch in opinion was Belair’s great performance in the Royal Rumble a few weeks ago, she went on an absolute tear and reminded me that she is actually just as good a talent as any other wrestler in the NXT women’s division at the moment. There was also that great promo on NXT TV last week where she inserted herself in-between Charlotte & Rhea’s bickering and reminded everyone that, despite Charlotte’s insistence that she wasn’t a threat, she’s could easily take that title from Ripley and be staring Charlotte down at Wrestlemania soon.

That said, there’s absolutely no situation in which she takes the title away from Ripley on Sunday. Ripley is absolutely the biggest star in NXT right now, she’s only just won the title and now she’s got a Wrestlemania match against Charlotte Flair looming in a couple of months. Rhea Ripley is keeping that title around her waist and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise.

Adam Cole(c) vs Tommaso Ciampa
(NXT Championship)

Ooooh boy, this is gonna be a good one. Ever since Ciampa returned I have been gagging to see this match, so now it’s finally happening, I am sufficiently excited.

Cole has been a fantastic champion during his reign, all of his matches have been must-watch and this will absolutely be no exception. WarGames proved that Ciampa hasn’t lost a beat during his time away from the ring so this match should do nothing but reaffirm his status as the best of the best. The build to this match has been great too, it’s clear that Cole and The Undisputed Era can sense that Ciampa might spell the end of the Golden Prophecy so they’re attacking with all their might to try and beat him down before the match and hopefully that’ll carry over into the match itself too.

While I’m not entirely confident in this pick, I feel fairly certain Tommaso Ciampa is going to pick up the win here for two major reasons. For one thing, it feels like the culmination of his return & redemption story to sit atop the NXT throne once again, but also, with an NXT Women’s title match already being planned for Wrestlemania, I think it’s likely that we’ll see the men’s title get the same honour and quite simply there is no bigger NXT Title match for Wrestlemania than us finally getting the finale in the Ciampa vs Gargano saga, one year after the match was cruelly taken away from us. I think seeing that match at Wrestlemania would mean so much to both guys and everyone like me who’s seen the whole story unfold from the beginning and in order for that to happen, Ciampa has to take the win here.

10 Best Tracks From Pokemon Soundtracks

2021 UPDATE: Since I’ve got nothing better to do, I’ve decided to start streaming over on twitch.tv/strongstylesmark. At 2PM GMT Tuesdays & Thursdays I’ll be trying out indie games I’ve never played before, and at 6PM GMT on Saturdays, I’ll be playing games I love. I’ll be starting Saturday 16th January, so please come over and give me a follow to be notified when I go live!

In case you haven’t noticed, I quite like video game music. I’ve covered my favourite music pieces from the wider gaming world a couple of times, along with an article entirely dedicated to the best of Octopath Traveler’s soundtrack, so now it’s Pokemon’s turn.

As a franchise that has spanned over 20 years, there’s been a lot of different styles of music, be it thanks to technical limitations or theming choices, the Pokemon franchise has just about every style of music you could possibly want in its main series games. I’ve had many of these tracks on playlists of mine for years and today’s the day that I run down my favourites.

10 – Jubilife City – Diamond/Pearl/Platinum

Listen Here (Daytime Version)
Listen Here (Nighttime Version)

Jubilife City’s theme is a very nostalgic one to me. For those unaware, my first ever Pokemon game was Platinum and Jubilife was the first big city you’d reach in that game and this music made it feel just wonderful.

Not only is it a jolly tune to welcome you into the big wide world of the Sinnoh region, but the melody finds a way to capture the sense of activity and liveliness a big city like this would have, without making it seem massive and crowded in scale. Jubilife is a big city, but it’s also a peaceful city, not like Castelia City where people in suits are marching back and forth everywhere you look.

The nighttime variation on this theme leans further into the sense of peace with a down-beat saxophone in the background of the main melody instead of the faster piano bringing an overwhelming sense of calm to the track. I can almost feel the atmosphere of a quiet city being lit only by street lamps and the lights from people’s houses and that slight sense of melancholy that I get from seeing a city at night.