Category: Viral

Welcome to Wednesday Night’s Alright, my new Uproxx Sports recap of the big events from Wrestling’s biggest night, when AEW Dynamite on TNT goes up against WWE NXT on USA. I’m still finding the shape of this column, but I’m glad to be here with you and writing about two of the best wrestling shows on TV.

Exciting Arrival: Ridge Holland

Ridge Holland’s at Full Sail, which is particularly exciting for those of us who saw him in NXT UK (remember that show?), and know how impressive he is. Even though he lost to Damien Priest, he should be an impressive addition to the roster going forward, and could even make it to the top. The flat cap/nightstick/overcoat gimmick may seem dated at first, but he’s good enough to overcome it. And once you see how he’s built under than coat, and how he can move that body in the ring, it’s hard to deny that he’s got the stuff.

Runners Up

Matt Cardona, the former Zack Ryder, is in AEW now, and tagged with Cody against the Dark Order’s own Beaver Boys. I can’t say I find Matt all that exciting, but I know WWE did him wrong so I’m trying to keep an open mind. Of course, he may not stick around. Backstage reports say he’s currently only signed for five appearances. Cynically, it seems convenient that he’s appearing on Dynamite right when AEW has action figures to introduce. Is that far-fetched? I don’t know, we’ll see if Cardona goes anywhere in AEW.

Nefarious Heel Behavior: El Legado del Fantasma Beat Up Breezango

This was a close one, but Santos Escobar’s faction maliciously taking down the fun-loving cosplay guys really demonstrated what a serious threat they are to the NXT roster. Breezango were the perfect victims, because they’re the most good-natured and fun-loving team NXT has, so attacking them proves that you’re evil and hate fun. Also nobody mentioned Fandango’s blatant appropriation of Hispanic culture, but I suspect it was an unspoken factor. But ultimately, the beating was a message to Isiah “Swerve” Scott, because there’s no stronger message in wrestling than beating up some guys you don’t care about to prove something to a guy you hate.

Runners Up

Santana and Ortiz destroying Trent’s mom Sue’s van was a close runner up in this category, but I feel like heels destroying cars is something we’ve seen a lot of, as much fun as that minivan is. Still, the sheer malice of writing Sue’s name on the hood and then X-ing it out… that’s just mean. Mercedes Martinez and MJF also deserve a mention for interfering in the night’s top two matches (but we’ll get to those).

Thing I Could Have Done Without: Pat McAfee vs. Adam Cole

Honestly, I’m at a loss with this one. Is it just pandemic desperation? Now okay, sure, McAfee isn’t the least likable guy WWE ever hired to sit on preshow panels (that’s Sam Roberts), but I don’t love him on commentary and I can’t even begin to contemplate why he’s now feuding with former NXT Champion Adam Cole. This is one of those angles that WWE starts and all I can do is zone out until the next thing that interests me (a bad habit for recapping, I’ll admit).

Runners Up

Nothing else was quite that bad this week. At first I really didn’t like AEW’s “Debate” setup or the decision to bring Bischoff in for it, but ultimately I thought it was entirely justified once Orange Cassidy started talking. And maybe this is stretching the category (but it’s a category I just made up), but i could live without AEW having just one women’s match that lasted like two minutes. I mean, yeah, they did a great job of leaning into Rebel/Reba’s greatest weakness as a wrestler (the fact that she just barely knows how to wrestle) and make it part of the story, but as usual I’m just left wanting more from that whole division.

Best Promo: Jon Moxley

This is where Moxley spelled out his connection to Darby Allin. He made sure we know that he’d kill Darby if he had to, or at least break him in half and end his career, but Mox would feel bad if anything like that happened. Mox has a human conscience, apparently, it just can’t control what he does in the ring. What makes his promos so great is that Jon Moxley is kind of a cartoon character, but he makes you believe that he absolutely is that character in real life. All he cares about is wrestling (and his wife, but he can’t talk about her on AEW TV), and he doesn’t care if he gets hurt, but he does care if you get hurt, but he needs you to accept that he might be the one hurting you. That’s what you get for stepping in the ring with him.

Runners Up

As I said before, Orange Cassidy’s promo redeemed the debate segment. It was funny when he rattled off a bunch of knowledge about ocean levels, but he stepped it up when he finally addressed Jericho, the disingenuousness of the debate, and how much he actually cares about their upcoming match. AEW has done a masterful job of building up Orange Cassidy little by little, with the kind of patience we rarely see in televised wrestling. Debate trappings aside, this was a huge step in that process.

The Best Friends also had a nice moment reacting to the destruction of Sue’s van. I’m really torn about their upcoming match, because I’d rather see Santana and Ortiz win, but now I also want to see them have to apologize to Trent’s mom on speakerphone.

Best Match: Dakota Kai vs Rhea Ripley

NXT has once again proven itself the place to go for top-shelf women’s wrestling. Kai and Ripley are two intense and hard-hitting opponents, plus they have longstanding beef: It was Rhea not initially choosing Dakota for her WarGames team last fall that led to Dakota’s heel turn during that match. Commentary made a point of reminding viewers of that history, but you didn’t really need it to enjoy the story these women are telling in the ring. Obviously Rhea is bigger and stronger, but Dakota’s better at kicks than anybody, and quick enough to apply some of those kicks to Rhea’s head before Rhea had a chance to bring her strength to bear.

Still, even after Kai showed she’d stand a chance of winning this match clean, she got some help from Mercedes Martinez, who kicked Ripley behind the ref’s back. Martinez is working for the Robert Stone Brand, but it looks like they’re just continuing their own feud with Rhea, not acting out of any particular loyalty to Dakota.

Runners Up

Darby Allin versus Jon Moxley was the other standout match of the night. Moxley has made it clear that he sees Allin as a younger version of himself, and that sums up this match pretty well. We’re used to the intensity of Jon Moxley, but things can only get amped up that much further when he’s facing an equally intense younger version of himself. This wasn’t the first match between these two, and it’s certainly not the first time we’ve seen this story about how Darby is fearless and talented and looks great even in a loss (to be fair, he is very good at telling that story).

This did feel like something coming to a head in Darby and Mox’s relationship, however. There have been hints in the past that Mox considers Darby a potential protégé, and judging by the end of this match we’re going to see that develop further. Sounds like a great idea to me. Moxley could use a friend in AEW, and Allin’s the perfect choice to play a skater Robin to his back-alley Batman.

MJF’s involvement (and by extension Wardlow’s) also continues his feud with Moxley, but thankfully it didn’t play a major role in the outcome of this match.

That’s all for this week, let me know what you think in the comments, and feel free to suggest other categories I can include!

While speaking to supporters, President Donald Trump claimed that his Democratic opponent Joe Biden will “hurt God” if elected. The bold accusation that suggests the former vice president somehow possesses the supernatural strength to injure the Almighty Creator of the Universe was made during a campaign stop in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday.

“He’s going to do things that nobody ever would ever think even possible,” Yahoo! News reports the president as saying. “Because he’s following the radical left agenda– take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God. He’s against God. He’s against guns. He’s against energy, our kind of energy.”

You can see video of Trump saying Biden will hurt God below:

As usual with the president, Trump’s warning that Joe Biden is capable of punching God in the face wasn’t the only odd statement to come out of the campaign stop. Trump mistakenly referred to Thailand as “Thighland,” which caused the term to immediately start trending on Twitter.

You can see the viral Thighland moment below:

Needless to say, folks immediately went to town reacting to the president’s latest faux pas and wondering where exactly they can find this mythical thigh-based paradise.

Of course, some of the reactions got a little too real.

The Thighland fiasco arrives on the heels of the president’s recent interview with Axios. The president’s unusual answers on the COVID-19 crisis coupled with reporter Jonathan Swan’s very confused facial reactions went instantly viral once the interview became available on Monday. For days, embarrassing clips from the interview were shared across social media, but now, the president can breathe easy because, clearly, Thighland is the new hotness — until Trump’s next public remarks.

(Via Yahoo! News, Slade on Twitter & Timothy Burke on Twitter)

Kevin Parker remains as busy as a bee this summer, following up reminiscent remixes of songs from his Tame Impala album The Slow Rush with the lyric video for album standout “Is It True.” The video accompanies the funky, danceable single with suitably low-fi visuals, screened on an old-school box television set with delay and distortion effects giving it a truly psychedelic vibe. It’s a similar look to that of Tame Impala’s live shows, a sort of consolation for the group not being able to tour this year due to a global pandemic.

Despite the pandemic, though, Tame Impala has remained active, delivering an acoustic live performance of “On Track,” an 18-minute remix of “One More Year,” and a trippy late-night performance of “Is It True” for The Late Show. Outside of promotion for The Slow Rush, Parker also helped 070 Shake remix her Modus Vivendi track “Guilty Conscience” last month and collaborated with British musician The Streets on his new mixtape, None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Life Alive, contributing vocals to the single, “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better.”

The Slow Rush is out now via Island Records Australia.

Watch Tame Impala’s “Is It True” video above.

A League Of Their Own is officially coming back, this time as a TV series on Amazon Prime. The Hollywood Reporter said on Thursday that Amazon Prime has ordered a series created by Broad City‘s Abby Jacobson based on the beloved movie about women’s baseball during World War II.

Jacobson and Will Graham created the show, described as a “reinterpretation” of the 1992 movie that starred Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell among others in one of the most celebrated sports movies of all time. According to Hollywood Reporter, the show will expand on the Penny Marshall film to explore how prejudice and equality have impacted women in sports:

“Twenty-eight years ago, Penny Marshall told us a story about women playing professional baseball that up until then had been largely overlooked. We grew up obsessed with the film, like everyone else. Three years ago, we approached Sony with the idea of telling a new, still overlooked set of those stories. With the help of an enormously talented team of collaborators, an amazing cast, and the devoted support of Amazon to this project, we feel beyond lucky and excited to get to bring these characters to life,” Graham and Jacobson said in a joint statement Thursday. “It took grit, fire, authenticity, wild imagination and a crackling sense of humor for these players to achieve their dreams. We’re hoping to bring audiences a story with all of those qualities.”

The film’s reworking for Amazon has been in the works since 2018, and last year word was that D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place) would join the cast as well. She is, indeed, part of the team, featured in art that Amazon shared and cited as part of the cast. The project also apparently got Marshall’s approval before her death in 2018:

Sources say Graham and Jacobson reached out to both Penny Marshall (before her passing in December 2018) and Davis ahead of time to get their blessing for the Amazon take, which will — like the film — explore themes including prejudice and equality, among others. (The original movie included one short but important moment during which a Black woman throws a ball back to Dottie in a scene that briefly illustrated the segregation that existed at the time.)

The experiences people of color had in baseball is largely ignored by the film, save for that moment. So there’s plenty of material to work with there and a much more diverse cast will explore those themes in the new adaptation. THR also reported that surviving members of the AAGPBL — which were featured in the original film — consulted on the series’ creation and will continue as the show is made.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

The Rain: Season 3 (Netflix series) — This sleeper apocalyptic series comes to an end with a deluge of hope, years after deadly rain decimated Scandinavia’s population. Simone and Rasmus are at odds on how to put the virus to bed, and now, there are amped-up special affects and superpowers on the table. This fantastic series might feel too timely (in 2020) if you’re starting from the beginning, but if you’re been watching all along, you’ll find a wonderful end to a series that transcends most apocalyptic fiction today.

An American Pickle (HBO Max) — Seth Rogen‘s dual roles have arrived, and the end product is both touching and hilarious to witness. Rogen plays a 1920s Jewish immigrant who falls into a vat of pickle juice and is perfectly “brined” for 100 years, so suspend your disbelief and enjoy the surprising amount of nuance here. It’s both an interesting match-up and a truly inspired Jewish version of Encino Man.

HBO Max Summer Comedy Specials (HBO Max) — The hottest new premium streaming service is digging deeper into the stand-up comedy game with specials dropping every Thursday. Today will see the first batch of specials, including a multi-act special from the HA Comedy Festival hosted by Latinx comedian Anjelah Johnson, who welcomes special guests Danny Trejo, Eva Longoria, and Eugenio Derbez. Solo sets from Rose Matafeo, Beth Stelling, James Veitch are also dropping.

The Oprah Conversation: How To Be An Antiracist (Apple TV+) — This brand new episode will present a discussion with bestselling author Professor Ibram X. Kendi (about his book, How To Be An Antiracist) on how white readers can confront and dismantle their own racist beliefs.

World’s Most Wanted (Netflix series) — This docuseries’ first season will profile five of the most wanted criminals on the globe, who have managed to avoid capture despite world wide investigations and massive rewards hanging over their heads.

The Speed Cubers (Netflix documentary) — If you’re looking for competition without the squeaking shoes, look no further than this true story of the rivalry/friendship of the two reigning Rubik’s Cubers (Max Park, age 17, and Feliks Zemdegs, age 23) on the planet.

Killer Camp (CW, 8:00 p.m.) — More fiendish group activities are afoot, which sound truly harrowing. I don’t think it sounds like much fun for people to toss wet dodgeballs at their opponents and retaliate with blood-filled buckets, but hey, people can enjoy this hot mess vicariously.

Cake (FXX, 10:00 p.m.) — A showcase featuring both live-action and animated comedy programs of varied length that are equal parts thought-provoking, laugh-inducing, artistic, authentic and raw.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon (NBC 10:00 p.m.) — Matthew McConaughey, Jaden Smith

Though Ava Max has yet to release an album, the singer has already secured a major-label deal and shared a handful of successful singles. Now, Ava is gearing up for her debut record Heaven & Hell. Recently the singer shared the empowering and dancefloor-ready bop “Kings & Queens” but now Max reimagines the single by calling on singers Saweetie and Lauv to join in on the track.

For the alternate version of “Kings & Queens,” Lauv drops his signature lovelorn lyrical delivery to instead sing with an Auto-Tuned edge. “She’s a queen and I’m just lucky to get close to the throne / I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy, but she’s taking me home / No damsel in distress, don’t need to save her / She’s a goddess, I will never try to change her,” Lauv sings.

Saweetie’s verse arrives later and further contributes to the self-assured message. “Shout out to the girls from the ‘burb to the trap / I don’t need a man for shit, put myself on the map / And they thought I was done / I ain’t even hit my peak and I’m still on the run,” Saweetie spits.

Listen to “Kings & Queens Pt. 2” above.

Heaven & Hell is out 9/18 via Atlantic. Pre-order it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Not unlike their time-traveling adventures, Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan are having a bit of a trouble landing a release date for the latest installment, Bill & Ted Face the Music. However, this time around, the most triumphant duo are actually hitting theaters earlier than announced.

In an interesting move given the significant amount of uncertainty around opening theater chains across the U.S., Bill & Ted Face the Music has bumped its release date up from September 1 to August 28. However, the highly-anticipated reunion is still doing a simultaneous VOD and theater release, so it’s not like Orion Pictures is banking too heavily on audiences flocking to theaters especially with high-profile films like Mulan and Tenet abandoning August.

Along with the release date change, Orion also dropped a brand new behind-the-scenes video that emphasizes the most excellent rapport between stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. According to the filmmakers, “every actor who could play 18-years-old” auditioned for the parts of Bill and Ted during casting for the first movie. Reeves and Winter were brought back the most and paired with other actors, but soon, the producers noticed that the two had a struck up a friendship and were constantly talking in the background. That’s when they knew they found their heroes.

The feature also shines a light on actresses Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine, who play Bill and Ted’s daughters, respectively. Taking after their dads, the two girls are aspiring musicians who hope to have better success than the Wyld Stallions. But perhaps the most fascinating part of the behind-the-scenes videos are the few shots of Lundy-Paine who is virtually a dead ringer for an early ’80s Keanu Reeves. If the John Wick movies are still around in 30 years, there’s your replacement right there.

(Via Orion Pictures)

Grammy Award-winning singer Lizzo is coming to a home theater near you. The “Good As Hell” singer has secured a first-look television contract with Amazon Studios, meaning Lizzo will be developing a project for them in the coming months.

According to Variety, Lizzo will be working with the streaming giant to draft and product an upcoming TV series. Though Lizzo has yet to unveil any more details surrounding the project’s storyline, the singer has confirmed the project has been greenlit.

In a statement about the deal, Lizzo expressed her excitement to make her vision come true: “I’m so excited to partner with the amazing team at Amazon. Thank you to Jen Salke and the rest of the team for making this dream come true. I can’t wait to get started and share my vision with the world.”

Head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke echoed Lizzo’s anticipation about the upcoming series: “Lizzo is one of the most exciting, creative, joyful artists in the industry, and it is such a pleasure to announce this new deal with her. She has such a unique perspective and we’re so excited to hear her ideas for new content that our Prime Video customers are sure to love.”

If Lizzo were to star in the forthcoming project, it would mark her debut TV appearance. Lizzo made her big-screen debut in Hustlers, which also starred Cardi B and J. Lo, but the singer has yet to make an appearance in a TV show.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Pandemic or not, the 2020 MTV VMAs are going on, as the awards ceremony is set to take place at the end of the month, on August 30. So far, a lot of info has been revealed about this event, like who is nominated and who will be performing. Today, one more piece of the puzzle was revealed: The host for this year’s awards is Keke Palmer.

The actress, singer, and TV personality made the announcement in a way that is sure to please fans of ’00s Nickelodeon. Bringing back her titular character from her show True Jackson, VP, she (as herself) got on a video call with Jackson (herself). As the two versions of herself caught up, Keke told Jackson about her hosting gig, which made Jackson do a spit-take. Palmer asked Jackson to help her with her look for the show, then she launched into an informative rap and dance about her hosting gig.

Jackson will be far from the only star in attendance. Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande will both be a big part of the night, as they co-lead the nominations with nine each, followed by Billie Eilish and The Weeknd, who each have six nods.

Watch the announcement video above, and find the full list of this year’s nominees here.

After postponing the Mulan reboot indefinitely, Disney has officially moved what was intended to be a late March blockbuster onto Disney+ as a premium ($29.99) VOD rental offering on September 4. Even though the movie will also theatrically debut in select countries like China, as one might imagine, most theater owners are not thrilled by the decision, and a French cinema owner recorded a video to make his perspective clear.

Tensions are certainly high after months of shuttered doors on multiplexes, and following the Mulan announcement, CNBC quoted Doug Stone, president of Box Office Analyst, as saying, “Every exhibitor I have contact with feels like this is a sucker punch to the gut…” And Deadline’s Tom Grater tracked down this cinema owner, Gerard Lemoine, who runs an indie joint, Cinepal in Palaiseau, south of Paris. He at least seemed pleased with his burgeoning viral notoriety (at over 600,000 views and counting):

“My video exceeds my expectations a little… By losing Mulan, we lost the possibility of offering our audiences a long-awaited film that would have helped us after these past hard weeks. It is also a bad message to send to the public [who had been expecting a theatrical release].”

Lemoine further explained how disheartening it has felt to lose the release after helping to promote Mulan for months, to no avail. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is still planning on rolling out Tenet globally, including in some U.S. markets, beginning in a few short weeks, so Lemoine’s fingers are undoubtedly crossed on that front.

It’s worth nothing that CEO Bob Chepak classified Disney’s decision as a “one-off” and in no way a predictor of how the studio will handle streaming and theatrical windows in the future, with any other individual movie or beyond the pandemic. As of now, Black Widow‘s still scheduled for a November release in theaters.

(Via Deadline & CNBC)