By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

”The Pull List” is a new feature column that will take a look at the most noteworthy topics in wrestling, comics, and videogames along with reviews and commentary on the topics covered. This will either be a weekly or bi-weekly feature on the site going forward..

WRESTLING

WWE BEAST IN THE EAST: BROCK SMASH

It’s good to see WWE adding special events to the WWE Network. If you missed this one celebrating Independence Day last weekend, it’s well worth checking out for The Adrian Neville-Chris Jericho and NXT Champion Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor matches, which were both fantastic. You might want to skip the main event with Cena & Ziggler teaming up to face Kane & Barrett, which was a 20 plus minute snoozer. The match that caught my attention most on the show was the Brock Lesnar-Kofi Kingston match.

We’ve seen Lesnar booked unevenly on Raw. A lame apology to the announce team for wiping them out on the Raw after WrestleMania upon his return from “suspension” didn’t do Brock any favors. Then Seth Rollins and The Authority put a beating on him the next week.

WWE fans needed a reminder of just how powerful Lesnar is. No, destroying J & J Security and their Cadillac didn’t really do much to remind fans of the destructive power of Lesnar. Let’s be honest, that axe didn’t obliterate that car, which was the effect that was needed for the segment to be impactful.

Althought “Beast in the East” wasn’t well-promoted, nor was Lesnar’s match advertised on TV, his match against Kofi Kingston reminded me of why squash matches are so great. Lesnar simply destroyed Kingston in their match. He laughed at Kofi when he dropkicked him, took him on a tour of suplex city, and then finished him off with an F5.

The destruction wasn’t over there though. Lesnar saw that Kofi was still stirring after the match and delivered another German suplex. The fans wanted Lesnar to nail Kofi with another German, but he picked him up and nailed him with an F5. The rest of the new day then ran down to the ring and Lesnar obliterated them for good measure as well much to the delight of the fans.

The path of destruction Lesnar left behind was impressive. It’s not something WWE can do with Lesnar given his limited dates and it was only touched upon briefly on Raw this past week, so if you didn’t see “Beast in the East,” it’s well-worth checking out to see Lesnar at his best as a character.

NJPW DOMINION: OKADA AVENGES A PAINFUL LOSS

When A.J. Styles captured the IWGP Hvt. Championship by beating Kazuchika Okada in his first match in NJPW with the help of Bullet Club in March of 2014, it wasn’t a popular move in Japan. The reaction to Okada after the match was cold from fans and Styles wasn’t over either. Both men went on to recover with Styles winning the fans over during the G1 Climax 24 Tournament with a strong string of strong matches and Okada winning the tournament and going on to face Tanahashi for the IWGP Hvt. Championship at “Wrestle Kingdom 9” earlier this year.

NJPW tells stories that go full circle and one of the obstacles Okada had to overcome was to beat Styles for the IWGP Hvt. Championship, which he hadn’t been able to do since losing the title to Styles. This past weekend, Okada toppled one of the obstacles in his way, as he beat Styles to become the new IWGP Hvt. Champion heading into G1 Climax 25 later this month.

The match between Styles and Okada was excellent and played off their previous matches. Bullet Club constantly interfered during the early stages of the match until the ref, Red Shoes, kicked them out of throwing crotch chops at Styles and then Bullet Club, which was sold hilariously by Nick Jackson, who fell down in disbelief.

The match was built around Styles going for the Styles clash and Okada going for the rainmaker down the stretch. They had some incredible back and forth counter sequences leading to an insane finish with Okada finally hitting a rainmaker, lifting up Styles for another rainmaker only for Styles to counter it, but then Okada slipped around him and hit a German followed by a second rainmaker for the win.

Okada’s win sets up the possibility of him facing Tanahashi at “Wrestle Kingdom 10” next year. Okada’s last stumbling block to becoming the ace of NJPW is beating Tanahashi at “Wrestle Kingdom” with the IWGP Hvt. Championship on the line, which he has never been able to do.

NJPW likes to throw twists and turns into their booking. When looking at G1 Climax 25 this year, the most interesting narrative to me will be whether or not Tanahashi wins the tournament for the right to face the IWGP Hvt. Champion at “Wrestle Kingdom 10.” There’s no guarantee Okada will still be champion after the G1 Climax this year, as he could lose the title after the tournament.

For Okada’s journey to the top of the NJPW mountain to be complete, he needs to beat Tanahashi on NJPW’s biggest stage. If it doesn’t happen this year, it will eventually happen down the line, although it seems like the timing for it to happen in 2016 seems right given that there’s no guarantee Tanahashi will be able to perform in big singles matches beyond the next few years given the wear and tear on his body.

2015 MOTY LIST

This is a running list of the best matches of 2015 that I’ve seen so far this year. I still have things I need to catch up on and watch, so I will be adding new additions to this list throughout the year.

(1) Kota Ibushi vs. IWGP IC Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, NJPW, “Wrestle Kingdom 9," Jan. 4, 2015. (*****)

(2) IWGP Hvt. Champion HiroshiTanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada, NJPW, "Wrestle Kingdom 9," Jan. 4, 2014.(*****)

(3) British Cruiserweight Champion Will Ospreay vs. Matt Sydal, RPW, “Summer Sizzler 2015," June 14, 2015. (****3/4)

(4) IWGP Hvt. Champion A.J.Styles vs. Kazuchika Okada, NJPW, "Dominion," July 5, 2015. (****3/4)

(5) Chris Hero vs. Timothy Thatcher, "WWN SuperShow: Mercury Rising 2015," March 28, 2015 (****3/4)

(6) NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe, NJPW, "Wrestling Hinokoko," April 29, 2015. (****3/4)

(7) EVOLVE Champion Drew Galloway vs. DGUSA Champion Johnny Gargano in a Title vs. Tile match, "WWNSuperShow: Mercury Rising 2015," March 28, 2015 (****3/4)

(8) WWE World Champion Brock Lesnar vs Rollins vs. Cena, WWE, "Royal Rumble 2014," Jan. 25,
2015. (****3/4)

(9) The Bullet Club (A.J. Styles & Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. ROH (ACH & Cedric Alexander & Matt Sydal, ROH, ROH TV, aired Feb.15, 2015. (****3/4)

(10) Kevin Owens vs. John Cena, WWE, "Money in the Bank, “June 14, 2015. (****1/2)

(11) Kevin Owens vs. John Cena, WWE, "Elimination Chamber," May 31, 2015. (****1/2)

(12) ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe vs. ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal, ROH, "Best in the World 2015," June 19, 2015. (****1/2)

(13) Adam Thornstowe vs. Willie Mack, King of the Indies 2015Finals, "King of the Indies 2015: Night 2,"March 28, 2015. (****1/2)

(14) Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee, EVOLVE, "EVOLVE 43," May 30, 2015. (****1/2)

(15)WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (vs. Seth Rollins) WWE, "WrestleMania 31," March 29, 2015. (****1/2)

(16) WWE World Champion Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose, WWE, "Elimination Chamber," May 31, 2015. (****1/2)

(17) Bullet Club(A.J. Styles & Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson & Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson) vs.
ROH All-Stars (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe & Hanson & Raymond Rowe & Roderick Strong) in a 10 Man Tag match, ROH , "Global Wars 2015: Night 1, May 15, 2015.(****1/2)

(18) Never Openweight Champion Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii, NJPW, "Wrestle Kingdom 9," Jan. 4, 2015. (****1/2)

(19) WWE World Hvt. Champion Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns, WWE, "Payback," May 17, 2015. (****1/2)

(20) IWGP IC Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto, NJPW, "Wrestling Donkatu 2015," May 3, 2015. (****1/2)

(21) A.J. Styles vs. Adam Cole, ROH, "War of the Worlds 2015: Night 1," May 12, 2015. (****1/2)

(22) The Bullet Club (A.J. Styles & Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. The Kingdom (Adam Cole & Michael Bennett & Matt Taven), ROH, "Best in the World 2015," June 19, 2015. (****1/2)

(23) Finn Balor vs. Adrian Neville, NXT, "Takeover Rival," Feb. 11, 2015. (****1/2)

(24) ROH World Tag Team Champions ReDRagon vs. The Young Bucks, ROH, "13th Ann," March 1, 2015. (****1/2)

(25) Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito, "NJPW Cup 2015 Final," NJPW, March 15, 2015. (****1/2)

(26) A.J. Styles vs. Will Ospreay, "High Stakes 2015," RPW, Feb. 15 2015. (****1/2)

VIDEOGAMES

EVOLVE (available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC)

EVOLVE is an asymmetrical multiplayer game with four player-controlled hunters taking on one player-controlled monster from developer Turtle Rock Studios and published by 2K Games. This game features a steep learning curve, so thinking you can simply step into the shoes of the monster in an online match during the featured Hunt mode and wipe out your competition is just wishful thinking. You’ll be about as effective as Brock Lesnar was when he took a four on one beating from The Authority on Raw recently if you don’t put the time in to familiarizing yourself with the various strategies needed to be successful depending upon your role in the game.

There are three different types of monsters that players can choose from and 12 different hunters. It takes a long time to level them up through the progression system from my experience. This may seem like a limited selection of options, but with the unique capabilities of the hunters and the monsters, it’s hard to get bored playing this game once you level up through the progression system and unlock all of their abilities.

The game takes places on the planet Shear and the basic storyline is that the planet is under attack from alien monsters. William Cabot, a former planet tamer, is tasked with saving the day and he puts together a team of hunters to combat the monsters. Each of the hunters has a different set of skills, so it’s important to keep that in mind when putting together a team to combat the monster. The same goes for the monsters, although I was partial to the ground and pound stylings of Goliath when playing.

When playing as the monster in the main mode, hunt, you have to level up by eating various creatures on the planet. Once you level up through the three stages, you reach max level, which makes it much harder for the hunters to take you down. You have to be very careful as the monster to move slowly and cover your tracks in order for the hunters to not find you quickly. I appreciated how much thought went into the strategies on both sides of the coin to be successful as a monster and a hunter.

The hunters can end the game at any point by killing the monster, but the monster can win by either killing or the hunters or by destroying a power relay after reaching stage three. The most satisfying part of the game was eating each of the hunters after reaching level three as a monster as opposed to going for the power relay.

Online play worked smoothly when I played with five players on PS4. The environments and graphics are fantastic. Shear really comes alive during each session, especially with various creatures lying in wait to disrupt both the hunters and the monster. There’s also a lot of snappy dialog from the hunters, which helps flush out their personalities the longer you play the game.

The frustrating element of the game was getting the strategy down right when approaching the game as a hunter or a monster. The hunters are a little easier to get used to, as each person has a particular ability that helps the team find and then take down the monster, but the training modes didn’t really prepare me for what I was in store for once I went online and played with or against other people, particularly when it came to playing the role of the monster.

Overall thoughts: (7.0) – This was an enjoyable and unique game. Besides the hunt mode, there are several other modes to play online as well that are challenging and enjoyable. EVOLVE also has a ton of DLC, including new hunters, maps, and skins. You can play offline as well to practice, but that didn’t make the game any easier in my view. If you don’t familiarize yourself with the map, you’re going to get very frustrated playing this game. It’s hard to find a multiplayer online game that brings something new to the table, but EVOLVE achieves that successfully.

R.B.I. BASEBALL 15 (available on PS4 and Xbox One

R.B.I. Baseball 15 brings back the similar arcade-style gameplay and mechanics of the game I enjoyed as a child when I played it on the 8-bit NES, but unfortunately this game has a lot of glitches and ultimately offers a shallow gameplay experience. The graphics are adequate for this style of game, but nothing that will blow you away on a next-gen system. The game is only available via download on PS4 and Xbox One. Although the game only costs $20, it doesn’t provide a lot of entertainment to keep you coming back for more.

You can boot up the game and play a season of varying lengths with a fairly accurate roster for each team. The parts of the game that are fun are limited. Pitching is fun, as you can control the ball depending on how you move your thumb stick. You can throw a fastball, curveball, or even a pitch that moves from side to side as it approaches the plate.

Hitting is ordinary. It doesn’t feel like you’re packing a punch when you get an extra base hit or a home run. Hopefully for future editions of the game they pack more punch into the hitting animations and crowd reactions.

When it comes to the fielding is when things take a turn for the worse. You can’t dive to catch balls that seem right within your grasp, which is baffling. There are only errors when it comes to fielding, so it’s odd to see outfielders never fail to hit a pinpoint throw to home from just about everywhere. Fielders never drop a throw either. Another thing that was irritating was starting pitchers running out of gas too quickly and rarely making it out of the fifth or sixth inning.

Sim elements don’t come into play other than having to manage your pitching staff. Fielders don’t get fatigued and trades aren’t allowed. It would really liven up the game to enable trades and roster maneuvering if fatigue and injuries came into play, but you’re going to be dealing with the same 25-man roster in this game unless there’s a roster update in the future.

The default fielding mode can be an annoyance and you might not find your throws going to the base you expected, but there is an alternate setting where you can map the bases to a specific button, which is a nice feature. There were several odd glitches as well. One in particular that stood out is the random out where you think you’ve bunted or hit safely, but you end up being called out. These random glitches don’t ruin the game and don’t crop up in every game, but when they occur it can be very frustrating.

Overall thoughts: (5.5) – There’s a foundation here for a fun game if some improvements are made with fielding and hitting, especially the presentation of hitting, which needs to pack more punch to provide a game experience that will want players coming back for more. The pitching interface is fine, although it would be much better if you didn’t have to go to your bullpen so quickly. Adding depth to this game should definitely be on the list for next year. If you’re looking for a game to pick up and play, especially with the limited options when it comes to baseball games these days, this is worth a look, but otherwise I would recommend waiting until improvements are made.

COMICS

THE WALKING DEAD: ISSUE 144

***spoiler warning for those that haven’t been keeping up with The Walking Dead comic series***

I will only include minor spoilers for issue 144

The Walking Dead has been of the most consistent and satisfying comics to read over the past year. Rick’s recent battle with Negan was a huge highlight. In wrestling, there’s rarely any satisfying good vs. evil storylines, but The Walking Dead successfully explores this conflict story arc after story arc with successful results.

Recently lead protagonist Rick Grimes has established a community called Alexandria and a threat has come in the form of The Whisperers, which walk among the dead by covering themselves in human skin. The daughter of the leader of the Whisperers, called Alpha, was captured by Rick’s camp and his son Carl, took a liking to her. Carl ended chasing them and in the last issue Rick was in pursuit of Carl to bring him back to Alexandria.

Issue 144 is a blazer of an issue, as it ends Vol. 24 and completes the third compendium in the series. Rick’s confrontation with Alpha in the issue and her explanation for why The Whisperers operate the way they do is terrifying and writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard are at their best for this climactic issue.

The final pages of issue 144, which set up the conflict for the next volume, are stunning to say the least. Kirkman does a fantastic job of taking Rick and his group through trial after trial as they try to establish a new life for themselves in a damaged world filled with evil.

If you’ve fallen behind on The Walking Dead comic series, I highly suggest getting caught up, as the recent story arcs have been compelling and issue 144 features a climactic final scene that will be a big hallmark in the series going forward.

***
Check my Twitter page later today for an EVOLVE videogame giveaway on Xbox One.

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