Fans of Jay-Z and Pharrell gave fans a surprising announcement on Thursday that the two legends would be releasing a new collaboration at midnight for their fans to enjoy. Entitled “Entrepreneur,” the song arrived in conjunction with Pharrell’s TIME magazine cover package “The New American Revolution.” But hours before the song’s official release, some fans are already criticizing Jay-Z thanks some lines from the song.
Jay Z today: Why y’all on black twitter? And buying Gucci instead of supporting Fubu?
Jay Z four months from now: I’m very pleased to announce I’m collaborating with Gucci on their black twitter line.
— Aye throw that Boyz II Men on (@DragonflyJonez) August 20, 2020
On “Entrepreneur,” Jay-Z used a line to criticize what he views as the black community’s lacking support on black entrepreneurs. “Why y’all on black twitter?” he questioned. “And buying Gucci instead of supporting Fubu?” Many fans took issue with Jay-Z’s comments and pointed to what they view as an inconsistent stance on such a topic, with some bringing up his controversial partnership with the NFL.
One Twitter user went to highlight this inconsistent stance in a tweet, posing that in a few months Jay-Z would partner with Gucci despite his criticisms of the company on the song. “Jay Z four months from now: I’m very pleased to announce I’m collaborating with Gucci on their black twitter line,” the tweet said.
If you think Jay Z gotta closet full of FUBU or any blakc owned clothing for that matter, then you are an idiot.
jay z for 25 years: “gucci, louis v, richard mille, goyard, fendi, louboutin, cartier, mercedes, in the box seats with the mink on brushing shoulders with the owners”
jay z in 2020: “buy more fubu”
— dr. b. h. scalliwag, ph.d. (@such_A_frknlady) August 20, 2020
Other criticisms of the line were focused on Jay-Z’s choice to use Fubu, a once-popular brand in the black community that is no longer a go-to brand for its preferred audience. Once again, fans challenge his stance as he’s celebrated luxurious brands, like Gucci, multiple times in his career. While Fubu may have just been a metaphor for all black-owned businesses, one Twitter user pointed out that the line in “Entrepreneur” is still inaccurate.
“Black twitter is absolutely a community where black consumers support black entrepreneurs,” the wrote. “He’s off base on all of this. Whether you think he’s speaking metaphorically or not.”
Daniel Tosh is suddenly looking for a new network for Tosh.0 after Comedy Central abruptly canceled it despite a long-term extension of the long-running variety show. The Hollywood Reporter noted on Thursday that Comedy Central is ending Tosh.0 after twelve seasons despite giving the comedian another four seasons earlier this year.
Instead, Tosh.0 will end its run on the network in September.
In a shocking move, the ViacomCBS-owned cable network has reversed course on its January decision to renew the series for four more seasons. Instead, Tosh.0 will wrap its run with its 12th and now final season. The last 10 episodes return Sept. 15.
THR noted that the network is going through a bit of an overhaul of its schedule, including a pivot to more adult animation and news-driven shows like The Daily Show. But it’s rare that a network orders a long-term extension of a show and then reverses it just months later. Which perhaps is why Tosh.0 could reportedly get shopped to other networks to continue it past its now-dozen seasons. That note might provide some solace for fans of the show, but it’s nothing compared to the considerable extension the comedian got in January, which also included work on another show.
The January deal for Tosh.0 was for a whopping 80 new episodes that would have taken the show through its 16th season in 2024. The pact included an overall deal for comedian Tosh. The status of that pact is unclear. At the time, talks were underway for an unscripted series that Tosh would host and exec produce as well as a script deal for which he would serve as an exec producer.
Comedy Central also reversed course on Drunk History this week, as we learned yesterday. That decision ended its run on the network without a final season, though. At lest Tosh’s surprisingly long-running show gets a swan song on Comedy Central before potentially moving on.
The best new hip-hop albums coming out this week include projects from Bodega Bamz, Dee Watkins, Duckwrth, Lecrae, Mulatto, and Nas.
Obviously, the big news this week is that Nas is finally working with a contemporary producer (who isn’t a ranch-owning Jesus freak), which has many folks excited about the possibilities of a Nas album that isn’t hamstrung by his terrible taste in beats (I’m not so confident — whenever the dude steps outside his mid-90s boom-bap lane, the results have been… shall we say… mixed). But don’t sleep on the major label debut projects from Duckwrth and Mulatto, who’ve both been grinding independently for the past few years and have track records for producing quality material. Mulatto’s also an XXL Freshman, which means checking her out gets you an early boarding pass on her fan bandwagon (fan-wagon?) before she blows up.
The East Coast (but really, New York City) sound has never died. People just stopped paying attention. Rappers like Bodega Bamz prove how much of a mistake it is to sleep on the Big Apple, though. Proudly repping his Latin American heritage and his geographic loyalties, Bamz is one of a few artists not only maintaining the traditional sound of the city, but also updating it for a new era. His upcoming third studio album is ASAP Yams approved (according to Bamz, he actually played these songs for the beloved manager before his untimely demise) so you can safely bet it’s going to be worth checking out.
Dee Watkins — Problem Child 2
Despite the fervor for it 2016 SoundCloud faves cooling off in recent years, Florida remains a hotbed for young talent with a gift for pulling on heartstrings by tapping into soulful melodies and combining them with HD street life narratives. While Jackboy may be some folks’ pick for heir apparent to Kodak Black’s vacated throne, I would give that spot to Dee Watkins, who delivers the goods without the excess baggage. “Savage On The Loose” shows off his gift for direct but subtly clever rhymes and his distinctive flow, both of which will land him on a lot of radars once Problem Child 2 drops.
Duckwrth — Supergood
Initially popping up around the end of the “blog rap” era just as the industry was finally adjusting to the wave of self-made internet stars, LA’s Duckwrth has taken a roundabout path to the limelight. However, taking the scenic route has provided him plenty of space to stretch his artistic reach and it shows on Supergood, which combines soulful grooves to upbeat dance production and savvy, sexy rhymes that set him apart from just about everyone else in the game today. For a prime example, check out “Coming Closer” and “Quick.”
Lecrae — Restoration
Look, I know how y’all feel about Christian rap. You’ve damn near thrown Chance The Rapper under the bus and he’s only like ankle-deep in the subgenre. But give Lecrae a chance and he might surprise you. While he’s certainly about chest height in (by way of comparison, Kanye is in up to his ears, which is why he can’t hear us calling him to come back from the riptide infested waters he’s waded into), he’s proven — with a long discography of quality projects, including 2018’s Let the Trap Say Amen with Zaytoven — that even the squeaky-clean message music he provides can offer enough grit to satisfy even the grimiest of gangsters.
Mulatto — Queen Of Da Souf
Not many reality competition stars ever really become, well, stars after the shows air, but Mulatto turned down the deal offered by The Rap Game‘s Jermaine Dupri at just 17 years old, knowing that she could use the platform to launch a career that would justify the spotlight. Four years later, I’d say she accomplished that goal, dropping a single with Gucci Mane, appearing in Cardi B’s record-smashing “WAP” video, landing in XXL‘s 2020 Freshman Class, and releasing her major label debut — all in the same week. It won’t take much more pushing for her to secure the titular crown to which she’s already laid claim.
Nas — King’s Disease
The most anticipated project of the week comes just two years after Nas’ last “full-length” effort — a hiatus less than half as long as his last one (not counting the super mediocre odds-and-ends collection The Lost Tapes 2). Hopefully, he can keep the anti-vaxx conspiracy theories to a minimum and focus on the parts of his game that remain intact after 25 years — his superior gift for narration, his silver-tongued flow, and his smartly satirical eye for social commentary. If he can stick to the facts, Hit-Boy’s production should be enough to lift this one into the better half of his up-and-down discography — even if he’ll likely once again fall well short of the nostalgic perfection of Illmatic. “Ultra Black” wasn’t a great start, though.
Candy Land is a board game still making an impact on children more than seven decades after its debut, and now it will get its own reality cooking competition.
Variety reported on Thursday that Kristin Chenoweth has signed on for a food competition show based on the Candy Land board game, complete with a royal castle and some unique game-themed twists to the traditional cooking competition.
According to the report, the competition show will feature pastry chefs making wild creations that use the Hasbro game’s candy path setup to go through various places to find ingredients. That means viewers are in for a very elaborate set design.
The six-episode series features five groups of cake and sugar artists, who create showpieces in order to get a chance to win a grand prize of $25,000. The players must make their way through “Candy Land,” seeking out different flavors and unique ingredients as they try to reach their ultimate destination: King Kandy’s Castle.
It sounds a bit like the gimmick from the Netflix cooking competition Crazy Delicious, in which contestants get their ingredients from a Willy Wonka-style set where items grow on trees and everything (that they show you, at least) is edible.
And Chenoweth, who has appeared on Food Network for Trisha Yearwood’s Trisha’s Southern Kitchen,” mostly just seems excited about getting out of life in quarantine.
“I’m so excited for the world to see these talented confectionery artists and the incredible set,” Chenoweth said in a statement. “And I can’t wait to wear a dress again.”
A great stoner once said, “why smoke it, when you can eat it?” That stoner was me, just now. The popularity of edibles has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic as an increasing number of stoners opt for edibles over flowers and concentrates. Since edibles have all of the anxiety-reducing, pain-alleviating, hunger-inducing, and euphoria-producing qualities found in a jar of fresh bud without any of the harmful effects of inhaling smoke into your lungs, they are by far the healthiest way to get a dose of THC into your bloodstream.
Thanks to our new lockdown lifestyles, we need to be courteous in a way we’ve never been before with the people we share a space with. Your non-pot-smoking roommates who previously used to never be home may now be with you the majority of the day, and they might not appreciate you making the entire building smell like Snoop’s tour bus. So instead of taking your huge glass-on-glass bong outside to toke up, why not just pop an edible from the comfort of your own room?
To help you figure out which edibles are worth your time (and money), we’ve compiled a list of all the edibles that we’ve been munching on this summer with a particular emphasis on gummies and hard candies. Why gummies and hard candies? Because it’s summer, and we don’t need a chocolate-y mess on our hands or a pastry that’s going to sweat in its packaging into an unappetizing state.
So let’s dive into our favorite Cannabis edibles for some end of summer snacking!
One of the major drawbacks of gummy edibles is that while they look almost identical to their non-THC containing counterparts, meaning you can’t exactly kill a handful of gummies as you would with a normal pack of candy. If you do, you’ll get way too high. But not being able to indulge your sweet tooth just doesn’t feel right when you’re dealing with candy, which is why we’ve really been digging California dispensary Caliva’s Deli Nickels Gummy Rounds. At just 5mg of THC per gummy, Deli Nickels feature a mild enough dose that they’re great for beginners. At 20 gummies per pack, they’re weak enough that experienced smokers can pop a handful of three to five and enjoy the best experience the candy and cannabis worlds have to offer.
The gummies resemble sugar encrusted coins — we’ll let you guess which coin — and come in your choice of Passionfruit, Mango, Sour Green Apple, and Mixed Berry. We highly recommend the Mixed Berry as the best of the bunch!
We know we said we’d be focusing on gummies for this list, but we had to throw a bar-shaped bone out there for all you chocolate lovers. We included KIVA’s chocolate bars on our CBD roundup but where this brand really shines is in its THC bars. The full line consists of nine different flavors which include Toffee Crunch, Churro Milk Chocolate, Mint Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate, Raspberries and Cream, Espresso, Blackberry Dark Chocolate, regular Dark Chocolate, and Milk Chocolate. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of those choices. But if we had to choose just one, we’re going with the Blackberry Dark Chocolate every time.
The Blackberry Dark Chocolate bar has 54 percent dark chocolate infused with bright and rich berry flavors resulting in a harmonious explosion across your palate that will have you feeling stoned before you start to feel the effects of the full spectrum high.
No, this is not the same MOXIE that makes that odd-tasting old fashioned cola — we checked. This MOXIE is a pretty well-known brand in the cannabis space. They produce flowers, mints, lozenges, and our favorite product Cannabis-Infused gummies. Made using the Sativa strain of the same name, what makes MOXIE’s Pineapple Express gummies so good is the fact that they are water-soluble, which should lead to faster absorption and therefore, faster effects. Anyone who is familiar with edibles knows the pain of waiting for the magic to kick in, MOXIE speeds that process up a bit and tastes good in the process. What more can you ask for?
Mindy’s Edibles Fruit Chews/Gummies
THC:100mg (2-5mg per serving depending on tin size) Price:$18
Mindy’s edibles come from the mind of James Beard award-winning chef Mindy Segal. Mindy’s Edibles are serious business. As you chew through the gummies, fruit chews, hard sweets, or chocolates she crafts, you’ll seriously start to question whether or not you’re even eating cannabis. We recommend the Gummies only because they’re by far the easiest to find. But if you can get your hands on a fruit chew, don’t hesitate!
As you’d expect from a James Beard level chef, Mindy’s edibles come in fancy flavor names like Glazed Clementine Orange, Lush Black Cherry, and Cool Keylime Kiwi, providing a sensory experience that pairs a little too well with your heightened senses. When the high does come on, you will be tempted to eat more. Not for increased effects but because they’re so tasty.
Atlas Edibles Nimbus Dark Chocolate/ Pecan and Hazelnut
We couldn’t resist the chance to recommend just one more non-gummy snack on this roundup. We had to pick these Nimbus dark chocolate and pecan hazelnut cannabis-infused granola clusters. Made using a hybrid strain, Nimbus’ small granola clusters offer all the uploading effects of Sativa and the calming and relaxing properties of Indica, striking a perfect balance between stress relief and feelings of (sometimes) intense euphoria.
The only thing we don’t love about this brand is that the clusters come 8 to a bag, you’re going to be left wanting more. Every. Time. If hybrids or Dark Chocolate Pecan isn’t your thing, Atlas also makes an Indica infused Mexican chocolate and a straight Sativa with cashew and cayenne.
If sour candy is your jam, you can’t go wrong with Stiizy’s Sour Straws. They resemble chopped Sour Punch Straws but are better in every way. Instead of causing a headache a half-hour after eating them, these babies get you high. Stiizy makes their sour straws in Blue Raspberry, Green Apple, Strawberry, and an assorted pack with all three. It really does pull you straight back into any nostalgia you might have about hitting up the corner store for some candy in your youth.
If the chocolate bars, granola, and gummies on this list just aren’t scratching your edible cannabis itch, we’ve got one last option for you. Heavenly Sweet’s Sriracha Crackers are one of those edibles that suffers from the fact that it’s an edible responsible for delivering THC into your system, and not just a fun snack that you can grab a handful of. Heavenly Sweet’s crackers are like Cheez-Its … only they’re actually good. You’ll be absolutely tempted to throw a handful in your mouth, chomp away, and call it a day. Please, do not do that, no matter how hard it is to just have one.
Pro tip: keep this out of the pantry, away from the actual Cheez-its in order to avoid a lost day (like I might’ve) that’ll leave you feeling nauseous, confused, and make the room spin. In the event that you do go too hard on these, remember (as is the case with all edibles) the experience will pass. Just drink water and try to relax.
It’s been a rollercoaster morning for rideshare drivers and passengers in California today after Lyft announced in a blog post that it would abruptly suspend service in the state on August 21st at 12:00 am PST and then reversed course by the afternoon. The decision comes in response to a court decision that requires both Uber and Lyft to reclassify their drivers as employees, a move that both rideshare companies have said would lead to a suspension of service in the state as they restructure and rehire their respective workforces. According to CNBC, the lawsuit was filed by California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra and alleged that both companies had dodged certain expenses for workers by falsely classifying them as contractors rather than employees, despite not meeting the requirements laid out in the state’s Assembly Bill 5.
A judge ordered that both companies would immediately have to classify their workers as employees, but an appeals court decision from this morning granted a brief extension and now both Uber and Lyft have until 5 p.m. PT on August 25th to file written statements agreeing to the procedures required by the order.
“While we won’t have to suspend operations tonight, we do need to continue fighting for independence plus benefits for drivers… that’s the solution on the ballot in November, and it’s the solution drivers want because it preserves their ability to earn and use the platform as they do now.” a Lyft spokesperson said in a statement following the appeal’s court order.
Both Uber and Lyft are supporting the passage of Califonia ballot initiative Proposition 22, which would exempt rideshare services from the requirements laid out in Assembly Bill 5, while still offering benefits to their drivers. Critics of the ballot initiative argue the Prop 22 hurts rideshare workers by not guaranteeing them the state’s minimum wage for hours worked, and enables Uber and Lyft to avoid paying into social security or offering health benefits.
While both Uber and Lyft will continue operating until at least August 25th, it’s unclear if service will remain uninterrupted in the state prior to Prop 22’s fate.
The Houston Rockets dominated Game 1 of their first round series with the Oklahoma City Thunder, as James Harden went off for 37 points and the Thunder’s offense stalled out. The expectation was things would be closer in Game 2, and that was the case, as the Thunder hung around but were never able to take control of the game, as Houston’s ability to get hot on offense let them make enough runs to pull away for a 111-98 win.
Houston did so without much help from James Harden, making the victory all the more impressive as their superstar guard had just 21 points (thanks to a late flurry to put the game away) to go along with nine assists and five rebounds. With Houston taking firm control of the series with the win here are our takeaways from Game 2.
No Team Has Bought Into A System More Than The Rockets
I don’t know if there’s a coach who is better at getting a team to fully buy into what he wants them to do more than Mike D’Antoni. It takes commitment from the front office to give him the right players, but he’s proven, whether with the Seven Seconds or Less Suns or here in Houston, that when allowed to do his thing without interference he will get complete roster buy in.
Houston’s small-ball experiment was laughed at initially, but there’s no denying what the Rockets are doing right now. On offense, it’s a lot of what they’ve done for years, just taken to another extreme, with nothing but drives to the rim and kickouts to the three-point line with their five-out sets. It’s the defense, however, that is most impressive to me. The only way for this to work is for everyone on that team to sell-out totally with the effort they give on the defensive end, and they’ve done exactly that.
Houston isn’t a great defensive team by any stretch, but they are as high energy on that end as you can ask for. Look at this possession, where P.J. Tucker makes me tired just watching him tag in and out of the paint, putting Luguentz Dort under pressure and leading to a Nerlens Noel midrange fadeaway at the shot clock buzzer — always a good result for a defense.
The Rockets defense has been stifling, this is an amazing possession here. Look at the work from PJ Tucker, he jumps in the lane early for help which allows to get out quickly. Granted you aren’t going to worry about Dort from three but he closes pretty well anyways. pic.twitter.com/DfyBpaWC6k
It’s one thing to get guys to agree to hoist threes and watch James Harden cook. It’s another to get them to commit to 48 minutes of flying around on defense in order to make things work in even the slightest way. Their switching and blitzing and pressure they apply to every pass makes initiating offense against them tough, even if you can eventually get to a relatively good look.
OKC Has A Gem In Luguentz Dort
This isn’t exactly news to Thunder fans, but in case anyone needed a national showcase of Dort’s defensive abilities to be sold on him as a top-level defender, you got it on Thursday afternoon. Dort gave Harden everything he could handle and managed to not only limit his shooting but also kept him off the free throw line, which is maybe the most impressive contribution any defender can make when checking Harden. The Thunder might have to tinker with lineups that remove Steven Adams when Dort’s on the floor because it gives the Rockets two guys to kind of hide on defense, but playing Dort against Harden is a must the rest of the way in this series after a Game 1 where Harden shredded every other Thunder wing when Dort was out with injury. It’s not always going to lead to as poor of a shooting night for the Rockets star, but the pressure he was able to apply to Harden made him uncomfortable and forced the others to beat them. The problem for OKC is, that happened.
Houston Has That Extra Gear
While there are times where the Rockets can go cold and things can get ugly, what separates them from the rest of the mid-seed contenders in the West behind the L.A. teams is that they have the highest ceiling when things are going right. The Thunder desperately need to find some offensive consistency in this series because they can’t get into the vaunted “game of runs” with a team that thrives on hot streaks like Houston. There were multiple times in Game 2 where the Thunder would be close or even have a slight lead and the Rockets would explode with an 11- or 13-0 run to suddenly take control. That happened in the fourth quarter with Harden on the bench, and once the star entered the game it became closing time and he helped Houston put a nice bow on the win.
The Rockets may have the biggest gap between their floor and ceiling of any of the teams most consider contenders, but that’s also what makes them so dangerous. If you cannot take advantage of those cold spells they’ll absolutely run away once they get hot, because make no mistake, the run is always coming and if you haven’t put some distance between you and them, they’ll take firm control of the game.
A video created by Global Democracy in 2011 shows how a female model with a normal, healthy body can be quickly transformed into something physically unattainable with just a few mouse strokes.
The video was part of a campaign to have mandatory disclaimers on all airbrushed photos of models because of the negative psychological effect the images have on young girls.
Although the video is almost 10-years-old, the issue has only become worse with the advent of social media platforms such as Instagram that present unattainable images of Photoshopped women to young girls.
Instagram draws young women to “compare themselves against unrealistic, largely curated, filtered and Photoshopped versions of reality,” Matt Keracher, author of a 2017 report on social media’s effect young people’s mental health.
Although new media platforms have created a tidal wave of Photoshopped images of unattainable beauty, there have been some efforts to help curb the amount of digital manipulation in the media.
Since then, France and Israel have both passed laws that require photos of digitally manipulated models in the media to have a disclaimer.
Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things to do because nicotine addiction keeps people in denial. Smokers either tell themselves they’ll be the lucky one who avoids the health consequences of smoking or they procrastinate, halfheartedly believing they will quit next week, next month or next year.
One of the keys to helping people quit, is to put them in a position where they are forced to take an honest look at themselves and their habits.
A 2012 anti-smoking ad made by Ogilvy Thailand for the Thai Health Promotion Foundation is known as one of the greatest ever because it uses the smokers’ love of children to help them confront their habit.
In the video, two small children, armed with cigarettes, ask adults if they can borrow a light. Out of concern for the little ones’ health, the smokers tell the kids all about the dangers of smoking.
“If you smoke you die faster,” one man tells a little boy. “Don’t you want to live and play?” “When you smoke you suffer from lung cancer, emphysema and strokes,” another says.
The smokers cannot help but feel hypocritical talking about the dangers of smoking to a child while holding a cigarette.
The ad ends with a touching twist.
Smoking Kid – Best of #OgilvyCannes 2012 / #CannesLions
Welcome to Wednesday Night’s Alright, my Uproxx Sports recap of the big events from wrestling’s biggest night, when AEW Dynamite on TNT goes up against WWE NXT on USA. At least, that’s what usually happens. This week AEW was pre-empted by the NBA, so NXT was all we had.
Exciting Arrival: Jessi Kamea
Admittedly, Jessi just appeared to job to Dakota Kai as part of the build to Kai’s TakeOver match with Io Shirai. Still, she’s so much fun and has so much charisma in her appearances on the WWE Performance Center YouTube channel that I’m always happy when she shows up. She used to have a Nerd gimmick, but she’s traded it in for the standard WWE Women’s Division “hottie with colorful hair” deal, which is kind of a shame, but like, I get it. Nobody’s going to look at the post-NXT, pre-heel-turn careers of Bayley and Sami Zayn and think that being a nerd in WWE is a good idea.
Anyway, hopefully in time we’ll see more from Jessi, but this week she gets roundly pummeled by Dakota Kai, leading into a confrontation with Io Shirai and the return of Kai’s strapping henchwoman, Raquel González. I liked that Dakota has Raquel’s help against Io only after showing that she could defeat somebody like Jessi without any help. Kai exists outside the coward/capable dichotomy of WWE heels, which makes her a lot more fun to watch.
Nefarious Heel Behavior: Cameron Grimes
All Grimes really did this week was show up during the main event, act obnoxious, and sit atop a ladder. The thing is, though, Cameron’s very good at being obnoxious. Everybody makes fun of him, but I have to admit at this point I’m on board with his backwoods carny gimmick. He’s not just another simple hillbilly in wrestling, he’s the guy who runs a Museum of Oddities out of the back of his filling station. The guy who says, “Behold, the legendary unicorn!” and then shows you a goat with a missing horn. I don’t know what the future holds for him and his top hat, but right now I’m enjoying it.
Runners Up
Well of course Candice LeRae interfered with Johnny Gargano’s match against Ridge Holland. Although that didn’t keep Johnny from taking a really scary-looking bump in that mach, it did help him win. Then Johnny showed back up after Cameron in the main event, causing general chaos as the whole thing descended into that pre-gimmick-match Go-Home Show brawl that they love to do. There was another big heel on this show, but we’ll get to him in the next category.
Thing I Could Have Done Without: Still not feeling Pat McAfee
Look, I don’t want to be a jerk about this. Pat’s promo this week certainly wasn’t bad, nor was Adam Cole’s response. I’m just bummed out that they’re doing this angle at all. Non-wrestling athletes and personalities getting involved in angles and having matches on big shows used to be the exclusive domain of the Main Roster. It was the sort of thing we thought of NXT as too good for. NXT was the brand about wrestling, not guest stars from football and boxing. Now here we are: NXT’s on USA, there’s heavy competition for ratings, and the former longest-reigning champion in NXT history is fighting an NFL punter turned podcaster. It’s not what I want.
Runners Up
Speaking of bummers, we can see now for sure that Velveteen Dream is still a major player on NXT, despite, you know, all that. I want to believe that WWE knows more than we do, that it’s absolutely clear to them that the accusations against Dream are false. I want to believe that, but WWE has given me no good reason to trust them in these matters. So here I am watching Velveteen Dream, whose wrestling I used to really enjoy, and think “Gosh, I really hope he’s not a sexual predator, because if he is he’s definitely getting away with it.”
Best Promo: Johnny Gargano
I’m including an online-only promo this week, since we’re short on content. And anyway, this is great heel stuff from Johnny and Candice. I recommend watching it twice — once to focus on Johnny, and again just to watch Candice’s face as she reacts to every single word he says. There’s something about these two as a heel couple that’s different from Johnny and Taya in Impact or Miz and Maryse in WWE (or even Johnny and Miz in WWE), and I think I’ve put my finger on it. Johnny and Candice are a good-looking couple, but it’s never about that with them. They don’t present themselves as glamorous people we should be jealous of. They’re nasty little rat people who fight dirty and are too disconnected from reality to be enviable. You don’t want to be them, you just want to get away from them before they decide you’re in their way.
Runners Up
Tegan Nox clearly hasn’t figured out that she should stay away from Candice, since she gives a backstage interview about how she wants to spend time with her and try to patch up their broken friendship. I don’t think that’s going to go well for you Tegan, but I do look forward to the match it immediately leads to.
Dakota Kai also did a nice job of calling out Io Shirai, doing her best to refute what Io said last week about Kai still being a scared little girl. I love a heel who’s confidence is in question even if her bravado never lets up.
Best Match: Aliyah and Mercedes Martinez vs Rhea Ripley and Shotzi Blackheart
The biggest head-bangers of the post-Ruby Riott NXT Women’s Division teamed up to take on the Robert Stone Brand, and it was great. Rhea and Shotzi work well together, but the dynamic I’m really feeling is between Aliyah and Mercedes. Aliyah kind of fawns over Mercedes while Mercedes barely seems to notice Aliyah, or Robert for that matter. It’s clear that Stone and Aliyah realize that Mercedes is their ticket to wins and cash, and that they need her more than she needs them. This angle could be just the thing to build Mercedes up while justifying her losses, until eventually she beats up Aliyah and Robert and goes on a hell of a run by herself.
Anyway, this was a fun match with enough talent divided between three of its participants to more than make up for the fourth. NXT’s women’s division can seem overcrowded at times, but the matches and most of the storylines continue to be impeccable.
Runners Up
Breezango teamed up with Isaiah “Swerve” Scott to face all three members of Legado Del Fantasma, and that match was really good too. I’ve been a fan of Swerve since he was Killshot on Lucha Underground, and he meshes nicely with Breeze and Fandango, two talented wrestlers who are clearly thrilled to get to wrestle on a weekly basis. I assume this is leading to a singles match between Swerve and Santos Escobar (Killshot vs King Cuerno!), and I’m definitely looking forward to that one too.
That’s all for this one-show Wednesday. I know this isn’t the last time Wednesday Night Wrestling is going to be reshuffled by so-called “legitimate” sports, but we’ll figure it out as we go along
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Kakarot
(@_Lawbytheway) August 20, 2020
