Sunday the 24th of January saw two very different wrestling promotions on opposite sides of the world put on very similar shows. Â ICW held their Square Go, at Glasgow’s famous Barrowlands, while the WWE hosted the Royal Rumble in Orlando. Â Both shows are based around a Rumble style match and I was lucky enough to attend one and to watch the other (although I did have to stay up until 4 am so I don’t know how lucky that was). Â The question is, how did they compare?
Where Next?
There is an unsettling feeling in the air right now, rock and metal heroes seem to be dropping like flies and for the first time, we are about to see an enforced changing of the guards.  In the last few months, we have lost Lemmy, Scott Weiland, David Bowie and now today the sad news of Glenn Frey of Eagles fame.  We are reaching an age where the rock and roll bands of yesteryear are getting old and their members are passing away.  So the question is, what next?
Where do you fit a Bullet Club?
It is looking more and more likely that part of The Bullet Club is making their way to the WWE, possibly in order to team up with former leader Finn Balor. Â It also appears that joining them will be Shinsuke Nakamura, no not Celtic’s former freekick taker, that’s Shunsuke. Â Instead, he’s the former NJPW Intercontinental Champion, having been stripped of it because of this very move. Â Put him alongside AJ Styles and the tag team of Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows and you have four incredibly talented and successful wrestlers making their way into the WWE. Â So what do you do with them?
The Revenant (2016)
The Revenant’s gruelling shoot is already crossing over into Hollywood myth and legend. Â It endured everything from freezing temperatures to an unusual lack of snow in Canada and saw more than one crew member either walk off the set or be fired. Â All to bring us the story of Hugh Glass, (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is buried alive and left for dead by his fellow trappers after he is attacked by a grizzly bear. Â Somehow he survives to pull himself out of his grave and give chase, seeking revenge on those that have wronged him. Â So the question is, was it all worth it?
Wrestlemania Fantasy Booking
Wrestlemania is fast approaching and I fancy doing some fantasy booking! Â Now, as always with these things, this is totally invented and should in no way be taken as fact. Â It’s just me filling some time by guessing Wrestlemania cards. Â So let’s do it.
Room (2016)
There are minor spoilers for Room in this review, although they are all revealed in the trailer. Â If you want to know nothing, you should probably stop here. Â It’s brilliant, go see it.
To call Room harrowing is the mother of all understatements.  At the start of the film, we find Brie Larson’s Ma living in a garden shed barely bigger than a closet, imprisoned by ‘Old Nick’ who kidnapped her seven years previously.  In that time, she has grown to be dependent on him and has also had his child, Jack, who is now five years old.  Despite the circumstances of his birth, she has grown fiercely protective of him, letting Nick nowhere near him and raising him best she can in their horrifying circumstances.
David Bowie and Searching for Heroes
If I am being perfectly honest, I can’t call myself a David Bowie fan. Â The sole Bowie album in my collection is a Greatest Hits compilation and while it is a pretty comprehensive one, I doubt it does him justice. Â However, love of his music or not, I had a lot of respect for the man and while I may not have had the personal reaction to his passing that I did to someone like Lemmy, it was still a sad day for music.
The Danish Girl (2016)
The Danish Girl marks the second year in a row that Eddie Redmayne has been caught up in all that award’s business due to a transformative performance.  While last year’s Theory of Everything saw him playing Stephen Hawking, The Danish Girl has him step into the life of Einar Wegener, who went on to be known as Lili, after she became the first person to undergo gender reassignment surgery.
Wrestle Kingdom 10
Before I get into this, it’s confession time. Â Wrestle Kingdom 10 was my first experience of New Japan. Â I’ve seen matches here and there and I’m obviously aware of Nakamura, Okada, and Tanahashi while you’d have to be living under a WWE-sized rock to have missed Bullet Club (although even that seems to be changing). Â But until now, I have never sat down and watched a full New Japan show. Â So here’s my thoughts.
Guns N’ Roses
The first time I heard the stomp of ‘Paradise City’ was the moment I thought this rock and roll stuff might be for me.  It was a long walk round to cementing that opinion, with a little detour through emo, but it turned out to be a good assumption and the rest of my life was shaped.  Yet, for the last few years, I have not given a shit about Guns ‘N’ Roses.  I have no time for Axl’s crap and while I still listen to the music, Chinese Democracy being the obvious exception because who can be arsed, the idea of them as a live entity held nothing for me.  Because again, who can be arsed?
