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Roman Reigns reached the 1,000 day mark as the WWE Universal Champion on Saturday, and as he crested that milestone mark, he had the opportunity to add the undisputed Tag Team Championships as he and Solo Sikoa faced Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in the main event of Night of Champions.

Late in the match, after spearing the referee clearing the way for the Usos to interfere, it seemed like Reigns just might be headed to holding four belts at once. The Usos ran in and made the save for Reigns, took out Owens, and went into the ring to do the same to Zayn. However, Zayn moved out of the way of a superkick, leading to Solo taking it, which is Reigns saw from ringside.

Reigns jumped in the ring and started pushing them around and berating them for the mistake, which caused Jimmy Uso to snap as he turned on the Bloodline leader in a continuation of the best story going in professional wrestling.

Jimmy superkicks Reigns not once but twice to allow Zayn and Owens to ultimately pin Sikoa and retain the titles. The pop as Jimmy hits Reigns with the first superkick is incredible, before Jimmy tells his brother Jey he’s “doing what you should’ve done a long time ago,” and kicks Reigns one more time while he’s on his knees. Paul Heyman does what he does best from ringside, losing his mind at the latest act of betrayal against the now-1,000 day champion. It is superb storytelling from all involved, and will only add to the excitement about what comes next for the Bloodline as it seems to maybe be splintering for good.

Like a lot of actors who work with Marvel, Elizabeth Olsen was an acclaimed actress who mostly did serious indie fare before she signed up to play Wanda Maxmioff, aka Scarlet Witch. She’s back to character work again, with the new Max show Love & Death, and it’s unclear when — or if — she’ll ever return to the MCU. But she’s worked with them long enough that she has a piece of advice for actors: If Marvel offers you a job, don’t sign on to multiple films. Only say you’re doing one, for now.

“That way you have more control,” Olsen explained on the podcast Happy Sad Confused (as caught by The Hollywood Reporter). “Let’s say you’re like, ‘Oh my God, this was the most fun I’ve ever had and I love this character so much. I want to do it again.’ You now have more creative controls for the next one.”

Olsen’s maiden voyage with the MCU was in a post-credits scene in Captain America: Winter Solider, which set up her character’s big role in Avengers: Age of Ultron. She went on to play the character four more times, including on the TV series WandaVision. The last time we saw her as Scarlet Witch, she was the semi-sympathetic villain of Doctor Strange in the Multitude of Madness.

Should Olsen return to Marvel, it may be her last foray into franchise acting. She said she has no desire to sign up for some other extended universe deal. Instead, by doing the drama series Love & Death, she’s “trying to like, make a left-hand turn a bit … steer back a little bit.”

(Via THR)

When you start up The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom it all feels very familiar to the franchise’s previous game, Breath of the Wild. You start off very weak in a tutorial area, you gain some new powers, the game thrusts a massive quest upon you, and then the training wheels are taken off and you are free to your own devices. How the player chooses to approach this open world is entirely up to them. You can tackle the world’s many shrines, go to the main objectives and try to complete those quests, complete the map, or collect all the Korok seeds. This level of freedom is everywhere in both games and it’s part of what makes them such wonderful experiences. It’s also made the franchise the best it has ever been.

Not everyone is going to agree with that assessment. For many, the formula that Zelda had established with Ocarina of Time back on the Nintendo 64 is their preferred way of playing Zelda, as this newer era of breakable weapons, no consistent direction, and a smaller arsenal of items feeling far more off-putting. People who feel this way aren’t incorrect, because this is a preference and there is more than one way to make a great video game, but they’re going to be disappointed to know that this new formula is going to take hold of the franchise for the foreseeable future. Nintendo has confirmed as much in an interview with GameInformer.

When you think about people… cheating is fun! [laughs] They like it! Finding that shortcut is enjoyable. People will look for an easy way to do something if they can avoid struggling. We want to make sure that is something that stayed in this game. When thinking of games in the past that we’ve worked on, where there was a puzzle to solve and only one answer, that’s kind of the past way of developing games. Now, I’m happy that we’ve arrived at this method where we’re giving people lots of options, and there are many answers to a single problem, and all of them can potentially be correct. I feel happy that we’ve arrived at this type of development style.

That freedom that producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi talk about is why this current form is the best Zelda has ever been. No longer are players constrained to a single path that the game forces them on. Players are now able to approach every single decision they make with a results-over-process kind of mindset. Why does this make the franchise the best it’s ever been? It’s the creativity it inspires. In previous games, the reward for finishing a puzzle was a feeling of accomplishment and the opportunity to move on to the next puzzle. In this new formula, players’ reward for puzzles is that they came up with a solution that works. Sometimes it’s the way the developer intended, but other times they found a solution that works better for them, and it’s great that players are rewarded for this instead of punished.

A great example of this in Tears of the Kingdom is the Korok’s. Spread throughout the world are Korok spirits who have been separated from each other and the player is tasked with reuniting them. Typically when you find one you’ll have the tools necessary to get them where they need to be usually by building some kind of contraption. Of course, the player doesn’t actually have to build the contraption. Multiple times I’ve simply picked them up and brought them to where they needed to go. Other players have used those devices for…other means.

As funny as it is to see how players are choosing to “rescue” the Koroks, it’s also leading to a natural next step in player freedom: conversation around the game. One of the most fun aspects of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom has been the community that they have created. Players sharing their own experiences with one another, showing off secrets, or helping each other out to solve puzzles is the kind of thing that an open formula like this creates. There is a sense of camaraderie among players as they all get this feeling like they’re playing through the game together that isn’t there when everyone is going through a linear experience. In an internet that becomes increasingly hostile to anything that could be considered a spoiler, it’s nice to be able to share a game with your friends and not be worried that you’re ruining their own experience in some way.

Tears of the Kingdom is a phenomenal game. Not that anyone is shocked by that, but it also is a legacy defining moment for the Zelda franchise. Breath of the Wild was considered this incredible departure from the norm by Nintendo as it bucked a formula that, at the time, they had been falling back on for 19 years. There is a huge amount of risk that comes with that, and it could have very easily been a one off as the developers chose to go back to what was familiar in the sequel. They didn’t do that. Instead, they iterated on it and made a game that is arguably better but follows that same formula. Breath of the Wild established the new formula and Tears of the Kingdom solidified it. The result is the best The Legend of Zelda has ever been.

It’s been a busy month for Houston rapper Monaleo. On top of dropping her full-length debut project, Where The Flowers Don’t Die, she revealed that she welcomed a newborn baby last week. Still, she is finding time to keep fans fed.

In tandem with the release of Where The Flowers Don’t Die, Monaleo dropped the video for one of the project’s standout tracks, “Wig Splitter.”

In the video, she is seen streaming live on Instagram, in the fashion of a “get ready with me” type video. As she applies make up and switches up her looks, she stands on guard in her home, letting her opps know that while she is, in fact, with child, she hasn’t softened.

On the song itself, she delivers jaw-dropping, raunchy bars, one of the most memorable being “He wanna eat it and save the rest for later like a meal prep.”

Monaleo has long been open about her struggles with mental health, and in an interview with Rolling Stone, she shared that she often uses comedy as a healing mechanism.

“I’ve been through really heavy things and I could very easily dip into those serious topics,” says Monaleo, “but I think just kind of joking about things really does help me cope.”

You can see the “Wig Splitter” video above.

Where The Flowers Don’t Die is out now via Stomp Down. Find more information here.

Friday, May 26th marked a sad anniversary: It’s been a year since the unexpected passing of Ray Liotta. The beloved actor was 67. At the time of his death, the Goodfellas star was engaged to Jacy Nittolo. On Friday Nittolo posted a moving tribute to her late fiancé.

“A year ago today I was on a flight home from the Dominican Republic by myself in shock. My entire world unexpectedly turned upside down,” Nittolo wrote on Instagram. She recounted how a stranger comforted her by sitting next to her and not saying a word. “She gently grabbed and held my hand the entire flight as I cried and looked out the window. When we landed she looked at me and said everything is going to be ok. Your going to be ok.”

“It’s been a heavy year of pain, heartache, healing, growing and accepting what is,” Nittolo wrote. “Learning to smile at what was. It supposedly gets easier with time. No time will change a loss so great.You just learn to live with it and keep going, trusting that all will be ok.”

It took almost a year for Liotta’s family to publicly reveal the cause of his death: As per TMZ, it was “respiratory insufficiency, pulmonary edema — a.k.a. fluid in his lungs — and acute heart failure.” He also suffered from “atherosclerosis — a thickening of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining — something that often leads to diabetes and other health issues.”

Liotta passed away in his sleep while filming the movie Dangerous Waters in the Dominican Republic. One of what turned out to be his final films, Cocaine Bear, was released earlier this year.

(Via HuffPost)

After a dismal showing in the first round, losing in five games to the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after five seasons with the organization.

Budenholzer led the Bucks to a championship and their best stretch of regular season success the franchise has seen, but aside from that title run, the Bucks had not often lived up to expectations in the postseason. As such, they wanted to find a new voice that could provide a different message to the team, particularly on offense where they have had a tendency to get bogged down in the halfcourt in the playoffs.

On Saturday, word broke that the team was down to its final two after Nick Nurse bowed out of the process, with the decision looming between Nurse’s lead assistant in Toronto, Adrian Griffin, and Warriors assistant (and former Nets head coach) Kenny Atkinson. Ultimately, the Bucks decided on Griffin as the man to lead them forward, hoping he will be able to reinvigorate the team going into the 2023-24 season.

Griffin began his coaching career in Milwaukee as an assistant under Scott Skiles for two years before bouncing around with stints in Chicago, Orlando, and Oklahoma City before joining the Raptors staff in 2018. This will be Griffin’s first head coaching job, but he’s been a leading candidate to make the leap to the first chair on the bench for a few years. With Griffin in place, Milwaukee can now move forward with making their decisions on key players like Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton, as they both could enter free agency this summer.

The Bucks making their hire also could set off a domino effect, with Phoenix and Philadelphia in similar positions as contenders seeking new head coaches and now have one fewer team they are competing with for top candidates.

This month marked the second anniversary of Olivia Rodrigo‘s debut album, Sour. The album made Rodrigo an instant star and household name, boasting hits like “Deja Vu,” “Good 4 U,” “Traitor,” “Brutal,” and of course, her breakthrough single, “Driver’s License.”

It goes without saying that fans are anxious for new music, and it looks like a new era may just be imminent.

On the album’s proper anniversary (May 21), Rodrigo shared a note via her fan newsletter, which read, “I’m taking today to reflect on all the amazing things that have happened since Sour and looking fORward 2 all the things to come.”

In the note, fans immediately notice that the letter “O” and “R” and the number 2 were bolder than the rest of the writing.

Today (May 27), Rodrigo may have shared another hint. On Instagram, Rodrigo posted a mirror selfie of in what appears to be a dressing room.

In the background is a calendar, which, oddly appeared to be turned to June. On the last day of June is a purple heart, which has sent fans into a frenzy, sharing theories as to when Rodrigo plans to kick off the OR2 era.

You can see some of the fan reactions above.

Donald Trump may be frontrunner for the Republican presidential ticket in 2024, but he’s also up to his ears in legal trouble. Last month he became the first POTUS in American history to be indicted on criminal charges. A few weeks back he was found guilty of defamation and sexual misconduct. He has even more woes en route. Superfan Sean Hannity has assured MAGA types that he could still run for president from the slammer. Now one of his critics is taking that idea even further.

As per Mediaite, noted conservative Trump critic and Lincoln Project honcho Rick Wilson went on SiriusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show, where he and his host talked about what on earth it could take for Republican voters to finally ditch the guy who inspired a failed insurrection. Wilson was not optimistic, especially considering his accident-prone main challenger is trailing behind him in the polls.

“I have to plan for the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is that Donald Trump will be the nominee in the Republican Party once again,” Wilsons aid. “There is very there are very few paths to get a Ron DeSantis or any other of these jokers in the in the field over the finish line in the primary.”

He was frank about what it could take to stop him. “I mean, Trump has to be dead or in jail,” he said, adding, “And even in those cases, he still might win the primaries.”

Wilson wasn’t entirely doom and gloom. He said the DeSantis-Trump beef “presents a great Lincoln Project opportunity messaging moment.” He argued that “if I can keep them fighting as long as humanly possible, if I can make it as bloody and painful and loud and noisy as possible, there is a way to split off more of those voters than we were split than we got off in 2020.”

Then again, if DeSantis clinches the ticket, that wouldn’t be great either, since he, as Wilson puts it, is an “insane authoritarian.” Anyway, buckle up for yet another migraine of an election season.

(Via Mediaite)

Diddy, Fabolous, and City Girls are living the life of luxury on their new single, “Act Bad.” It appears that Diddy and Yung Miami of City Girls celebrated their collaboration in style.

In a clip Miami shared to Twitter, she is seen shopping at various stores, purchasing items like clothes and handbags, handing the cashiers credit cards and stacks of money. The video clip is synced with a portion of “Act Bad” — Miami’s verse, on which she raps. “He wanna sponsor my act bad / Double R, black bag, Tom Ford, black tags / Walkin’ out Chanel with a black bag / Yeah, it’s givin’ body bag, listen up, scallywags”

Though Diddy was reportedly declared a billionaire back in October of last year, he appeared to be worn out by all the shopping. It appears he covered the bill for the day, as Miami said “Thank you papiiiii” in her tweet.

But by the end of the day, it seemed like Diddy was just happy it was all over. He doubled down on his visibly frustrated reaction by sharing a screenshot of the video clip, in which he looked tired, but relieved to get out of the store.

You can check out the clip and Diddy’s hilarious reaction above.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were once the most successful teammates in the NBA, winning six championships together with the Chicago Bulls in the 90s. However, in recent years, the relationship between the two has soured, in large part due to Pippen’s frustration with The Last Dance and how he was portrayed in the documentary.

With that as a backdrop, Pippen made a recent appearance on Stacey King’s “Gimme The Hot Sauce” podcast and ripped into Jordan during a discussion of LeBron James and all the things he does for his teammates. Pippen called Jordan a “horrible player” prior to Scottie’s arrival with the Bulls.

“I’ve seen Michael Jordan play before I came to play with the Bulls. You seen him play. He was a horrible player. He was horrible to play with. He was all one-on-one. He was shooting bad shots. And, all of a sudden, we become a team and we start winning. Everybody forgot who he was.”

There’s certainly some truth to Jordan having to grow as a leader and teammate to become a winning player, needing to learn to have the necessary trust in the rest of his team to win championships. That said, to call him a “horrible player” is rather ridiculous.

It’s mostly sad to see Pippen and Jordan reach this point, but it’s also not particularly surprising. Jordan has never been particularly good at managing his friendships in his post-playing career (see: Barkley, Charles) and Pippen has long felt he doesn’t get his just due for what he brought to those Bulls title teams. You can tell this comes from a place of hurt just by going back five years to Pippen talking about the LeBron-Jordan debate, where he said you can’t compare them because it’s unfair since Jordan was utilized differently on the Bulls. Now, he’s no longer in the business of keeping up the Jordan mystique and seems determined to instead chip away at it.