Powerbomb (2020)

 Plot

Matt Cross is an extremely talented wrestler with an uncertain future. While fame and stardom appear on the horizon, years of struggling leave him on the verge of leaving it all behind to spend more time with his family. Things take a dark turn when he is kidnapped by his "biggest fan" who hopes to help his hero grow.

Review

I really liked this movie and I want to say that first. However, the cover is extremely misleading. It makes the film out to be a wrestling slasher flick and Powerbomb is not that. The movie is a family/career drama with thriller elements. That's honestly my big issue with this movie.

Now that I've got that out of the way, let me talk about what this movie has going for it. It's stars one of my favorites, MDogg Matt Cross, as a fictional version of himself. Cross is an indie wrestler from Ohio that's wrestled for many promotions and in many countries. Unsurprisingly, he does a great job of playing himself. He's charismatic and has amazing athletic ability.

Roni Jonah and Cash Allen do a great job as Matt's fictional family and their drama arcs are just as engaging as his captivity. AEW star, Brit Baker, also does a great job as a wrestler turned babysitter supporting character.

This movie isn't going to win any major awards, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check it out. It's a great story about obsession, family, and dreams.

As a side note, because of the global pandemic, Matt hasn't been able to wrestle. If you'd like to support him, you should check out his site, Wrestling Is Forever.

Gaming Material

I've mainly been statting out wrestlers as NPC's, but I thought I'd stat Matt as a PC so you can see how the existing Vigilante City rules work with wrestling.

Name: MDogg Matt Cross

Alignment: Law

Class: Athlete 
Level: 6

Str: 16 (+2)

Int: 12 (+0)

Wis: 12 (+0)

Dex: 18 (+3)

Con: 15 (+1)

Cha: 13 (+1)

Sur: 13

Courage: 16

Critical: 15

Death: 12

Magic: 10

Mental: 12

Poison: 10

Languages: English

AC: 16 (Dex, Wrestling)

HP: 42

Toughness: +2

Move: 13/23 when charging (can run X4)

Initiate: +4

Unarmed Attack

+8 to Melee attacks, d4+3 damage

Skills

Basic Athletics 6 (+14)

Combat Training 1
First Aid 2 (+2)
Fighting: Wrestling
Intimidation 1 (+3/+2)
Parkour 1 (+4)
Persuasion 1 (+2)
Street Smart 1 (+1)
Subterfuge 1 (+1)

Special Traits

+2 to Grab
+1 to damage with thrown weapons
+2 to Terror checks
Seize the Moment: 1
1 extra action

Equipment: Ring Gear

Champions of the Electrocube War Volume 3

Fainting Goat Games has released a third volume of Champions of the Electrocube War. Mike has shared the latest volume with me. You can read my reviews for Volume One and Volume Two.

Here's what you're going to find in this volume:

• Swarm (Class) - This unorthadox class is actually made up of 20+ identical smaller robots, it has some very interesting tactics and defenses
• Fusillade (VK) - an aged hero and unshakable warrior, he has become enamored with the pop culture concept of the American Cowboy
• Beta-Decem (VK) - the this fearless mini-bot serves the Valor Knights a spy
• Manticore (CL) - this selfish engineer and warrior is a bitter rival of Sextus-Null (described in the last volume)
• Voracicon (CL) - These low level warriors are Manticore's primary forces
• Voracicon Swarm (CL) - Voracion's can come together to create a devastating swarm

This is another spectacular addition to the Valor Knights game. Fainting Goat Games has knocked it out of the park again. You can grab the pdf here.

Champions of VCW - Brooklyn Brawler

I've always loved the Brooklyn Brawler. Not sure why, just something about him that I appreciate. That's why he's my next Champions of Vigilante City Wrestling write-up. If you aren't familiar with him, check out this interesting Rolling Stone article.

Brooklyn Brawler
Armor Class:11
Hit Dice: 3
Move: 12
Attack Damage: Unarmed (1d4+1)
Special: A natural 20 attack roll against the Brawler immediately KO's him
Bonuses: +1 to Melee Attacks
Grab: +2 (13)
Morale: 7
Terror: -
HDE: 3
Equipment: ring gear, cigar

Wrestle Massacre (2020)

Recently released Wrestle Massacre is a wrestling themed indie horror slasher. Being back on my wrestling bullshit and loving horror, I decided to pick it up.

Plot

Wrestle Maniac follows the unfortunate life of awkward groundskeeper, Randy. The sweet, but inept, man is treated like shit by most folks in his life and just dreams of becoming a wrestler, like his father. After a disastrous humiliation at a wrestling school and being berated by his father, Randy Snaps and because a wrestling killer.

Review

I' m just going to go out there and say it, even by bad movie standards, this isn't a good movie. The acting is stale, the criminal subplot is stupid, and a lot of the humor is juvenile and low hanging and edgy. The treatment of women is dodgy at best. The ending also through me for a loop.

That being said, there is some good in this, if you're a wrestling fan. The star, Richie "Cuban Assassin" Acevedo is really good in the role of Randy. He makes him likable before he snaps. After Randy snaps, he also does an amazing job channeling super stars of the past while giving some excellent practical effect kills. Randy's kill scenes are definitely the best part of the movie. It's unfortunate that other than the opening, it takes nearly an hour to get to the point he goes on his rampage.

For wrestling fan, the movie has quick cameos by the Sandman, Tony Atlas, and Manny Fernandez. It also has slightly larger roles from Nikolai Volkoff and Jimmy Valiant. In addition, Renee Dupree has an important role (and an unfortunately awkward sex scene).

If you are a wrestling fan and want to watch a wrestling themed horror flick, you might enjoy this one. I'm glad I added it to my collection, but I don't see myself watching the full movie again. I'll just skip to the carnage.

Gaming Material

Wrestle Massacre Belt

This horrendous belt is crafted from the flesh of Randy's victims. It is preserved by the magic of his demonic patron. Like other championship belts this belt deals 1d6-1 damage and provides a +1 bonus to AC while worn. In addition, anyone wearing it gains a Terror score of 10.

Sorry about the crappy photo quality but I couldn't find a pic of
this online so I had to take a pic with my phone.

Champions of VCW - Jimmy King

Once again, I'm playing around with wrestling based content for Vigilante City. I still want to release a wrestling supplement for the game. To get some practice, I'm going to stat some fictional wrestlers (which sounds silly because all wrestlers are part fiction). 

I'm going to start with Oliver Platt's champion from 2000's Ready to Rumble. I will admit that despite my love of wrestling, I watched this film for the first time last week. It's not a good movie and honestly it makes fun of the people that would actually like it (wrestling fans). It was cheesy as Hell, had too much literal potty humor, and too many homophobic jokes. All of that being said, I still liked the movie. It was a nice time capsule of wrestling when I was really growing into a fan. It's not aged well, but it gave me a nostalgic smile.

Jimmy "the King" King
Armor Class: 12/13 (when wearing title)
Hit Dice: 4
Move: 12
Attack Damage: Unarmed (1d4+1) or Scepter (1d6+2) or WCW Championship Title (1d6)
Special: Outsmart +1 (1/day), Allies gain +1 to Melee Attacks while in 30' of King
Bonuses: +2 to Melee Attacks, + 3 to Climb checks
Grab: +4 (14)
Morale: 5
Terror: -
HDE: 4
Equipment: Crown, WCW Championship Title, Ring Gear, King's Scepter

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Grab is a new addition to the stat blocks for wrestling related characters. The first number is the character's modifier if they are attempting to grab. The second number is the DC for someone trying to resist the character's grab.

Succubus Sunday - Jenny

Jenny is a succubus from Earth 616 and cousin to Deadpool’s ex-wife. You can learn more about her here.

God(zilla) is Love

This is an adorable video and shows that Godzilla is a good parent. The video was recently shared by the official Toho Godzilla Twitter account.