Casino High Point Nc

WA Government - Lockdown Information
WA Government Infographic - Summary
WA Health - Locations visited by confirmed cases
HealthyWA - COVID Clinic Locations / Operating Hours
Lockdown Rules Summary (ABC News)
ABC COVID Live Blog - Sunday 31/01
Premier's Annoucement:
--- IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING COMMUNITY CASE OF COVID-19 IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AND PERTH, PEEL AND SOUTH-WEST FIVE-DAY LOCKDOWN ---
This morning, I convened an urgent meeting of the Emergency Management Team.
We have a serious update to provide the WA community.
This morning we received news of a positive COVID-19 test result.
That positive result has come from a male hotel quarantine security guard, in his 20s.
The information we have is fast-evolving. As you can understand, immediately our teams moved into place to begin contact tracing and put in place emergency response systems.
This is all underway, and I ask everyone to be cooperative and understanding of what is going to take place.
Here is what we know about the male who tested positive:
He was working at one of the State’s hotel quarantine facilities – the Sheraton Four Points in the city. He had tested negative for COVID-19 on January Friday 15, January Sunday 17 and Saturday January 23 – as part of the weekly testing system in place. When the man was working at this hotel, there were four active cases of COVID-19. Of those four cases, we have at least three confirmed variant strains, two UK and one South African. We are told the guard was working on the same floor, as a positive UK variant case. The guard completed two 12-hours shifts on both the 26th and 27th of January. Exactly how the infection was acquired remains under investigation.
The Health Department contact tracing team has pulled together a list of potential exposure sites of where this positive case has been in recent days. These locations currently include:

• Coles Maylands supermarket on 25 January from 8pm to 10pm
  
• KFC Maylands on 27 January from 6pm to midnight
  
• Mitsubishi Motors car dealership in Midland on 27 January from 7pm to close
  
• Spudshed, Coventry Village in Morley on 27 January from 8pm to midnight
  
• ECU Joondalup on 28 January from 11am to 2pm
  
• Consulate General of India on St Georges Terrace in Perth on 28 January from 12pm to 5pm
  
• Halal Grocery Store in Cloverdale on 28 January from 7pm to 9pm
  
• Venus Ladies and Gentleman Hair Design Maylands hairdressers on 29 January from 1pm to 3pm
  
• Perth Convention Centre on 29 January from 4pm to 6pm
  
• Nedlands Family Practice GP surgery on 29 January from 5pm to 6pm
  
• Chemist Warehouse North Perth Pharmacy on 29 January from 5.30pm to 7.30pm
  
• 7-Eleven Ascot petrol station on 29 January from 8pm to 9pm
  
• Coles Maylands supermarket on 29 January from 8pm 9pm
  
• Puma Service Station in Burswood on 30 January from 11am to 12 midday.
  
• Coles Express/Shell Service Station in Cloverdale on 30 January from 12 midday to 3pm
  
• Pharmacy 777 at Maylands Park Shopping Centre 30 January from 2.30pm to 4pm.
  

People who have been to these venues on these dates and times must get tested.
In addition, people who live or work in the Falkirk Avenue, Maylands area including Coles, Liquorland and the Maylands shopping precinct should present for a test. They must then go home and isolate until their negative test results are returned.
The investigation is on-going by our public health team, and it is likely more locations will be added following further discussions with the man.
Close contacts will be contacted by public health officials and asked to quarantine for 14 days.
More information on testing clinics will be available on our website – the WA Health and WA Gov websites.
The man’s immediate household contacts have been contacted, tested and placed in isolation at State managed quarantine facilities to complete a 14-day quarantine period in a quarantine facility.
All three have tested negative this morning. However, we can expect that they will become positive in coming days.
Genome sequencing is underway on the positive case and results will be known by Tuesday morning.
However, based on the information we have, it appears possible that this new positive case has the highly transmissible UK variant.
The past year has been unlike any other – Western Australia has done an incredible job. It’s something I am so proud of.
But as we have always known with COVID – it can change very quickly.
Today – we need to go back to what we know best, to ensure we limit community transmission of COVID-19 in our State.
Even though it was nearly 10 months ago – WA has experienced community transmission of this virus before.
We all did the right thing and we crushed it.
And it worked.
So beginning at 6pm tonight, the whole Perth metropolitan area, the Peel region and the South West region will be going into a full lockdown.
This lockdown will run until 6pm on Friday.
A five-day lockdown.
It’s crucial we act quickly, to keep the community safe.
We cannot forget how quickly this virus can spread, nor the devastation it can cause.
Following our discussions with the Chief Health Officer and Police Commissioner, the following measures will be put in place from 6pm for people in Perth, Peel and the South West:
People in these regions are required to stay home, except for the following four reasons:

• Shopping for essentials like groceries, medicine and necessary supplies.
  
• Medical or health care needs including compassionate requirements and looking after the vulnerable.
  
• Exercise, within their neighbourhood, but only with one other person and only for one hour per day.
  
• Work, where you cannot work from home or remotely.
  

In addition to this Stay Home rule.
If you do leave home, for one of the four reasons you will be required to wear a mask at all times outside and if you need to work indoors, then wearing a mask in the workplace is also mandatory.
To be clear, mask wearing on public transport is also mandatory.
People in the Perth, Peel or South West region need to stay inside their region for the next five days, unless for an essential reason.
We are strongly encouraging that everyone in this area, who is from another WA region, stay here and do not travel further outside of this area until the lockdown is over.
If you do need to travel outside the region you are in now, that can only occur if you need to return to your place of residence or exceptional circumstances.
The transport of essential goods into this region, is permitted, under our existing transport guidelines.
This lockdown means the following businesses, venues and locations in the relevant regions need to close for the next five days:

• Pubs, bars and clubs
• Gyms and indoor sporting venues
• Playgrounds, skate parks and outdoor recreational facilities
• Cinemas, entertainment venues, and casinos
• Large religious gatherings and places of worship
• Libraries and cultural institutions

Restaurants and cafes will close, and provide takeaway service only.
10 people can attend funerals, weddings are cancelled for the next five days.
No visitors are permitted to your home, unless caring for someone vulnerable or an emergency.
No visitors will be allowed in aged care homes, unless exceptional circumstances.
No visitors to hospitals and/or disability facilities, unless exceptional circumstances.
Elective surgery and procedures for categories 2 and 3 will be suspended from Tuesday, 2 February. Category 1 and urgent category 2 surgery will continue.
For a majority of schools in these regions, school was due to start tomorrow.
That has now been put on hold and schools will be closed until next week – following the lockdown measures.
It is, in effect, an extension of the school holidays.
I have been in contact with the Prime Minister and my fellow State and Territory colleagues to advise them of this situation.
I have recommended that they put a stop to any travel into WA – as an extra precautionary measure.
Border controls are important here – and I 100% support them to ensure we can get through this.
All these measures will be reviewed regularly and the Chief Health Officer will continue to monitor the serious situation and provide more ongoing advice. This is an extremely fast-moving situation.
I know for many Western Australians this is going to come as a shock.
Western Australians have done so well for so long but this week it is absolutely crucial that we stay home, maintain physical distancing and personal hygiene and get tested if you have symptoms.
This is a very serious situation and each and every one of us has to do everything we personally can to help stop the spread in the community.
We have acted decisively and swiftly given these circumstances.
I want to thank everyone in advance for their patience.
In effect, for a short period of time, we are going back to what we experienced in March and April.
This is a highly unpredictable virus. But it is important to act calmly and take sensible precautions.
Leaving your home to purchase food and essentials will be permitted during the lockdown.
I say this, so people understand that you do not need to rush to the supermarket today.
Take care of your loved ones and be respectful of others including those who are working, to keep essential services and supplies ticking over.
Our State is well equipped to handle this situation.
We have systems in place throughout the health system that are swinging into action as we speak.
We have the capacity to manage this situation.
Throughout the pandemic, the response of Western Australians has been second-to-none.
The community has done everything we have asked of them.
They have made great sacrifices, and it has kept our State safe.
I could not be more proud and thankful of the way Western Australians have carried themselves.
Now we’re asking for your help once again.
We will provide further updates as they come to hand.
All relevant information will be posted on websites as it comes to hand.
Thank you WA.

As the title says I’m turning 20 years old. I have learned a lot being a teenager, it’s the prime of our lives, it’s where we finish secondary school, get our first part-time job, choose a university, or leave school and get a full-time job. Personally, I have learnt a lot, most of it is from my own experiences but I wish someone else had told me earlier on before I found out for myself. I wouldn’t say I’m leaving this sub forever; I’ll give myself the “old” tag and give advice where I think I could be of help. I would still like to write the bulk of what I’ve learned here to help you. 1. I see a lot of posts about mental health and suicide and you need to know it’s okay not to be okay. Help is out there I love helping people I enjoy it, so please message me if you need help. I to have felt depressed at times, one major thing about me is that I care too much about what people think about me, if someone has a problem I want to know why. If you’re like this too learn to let things roll of your back and ignore them. 2. Stop worrying about relationships at 13 to 16 years old, at the time of writing this I haven’t had a girlfriend yet nor anything even close, nothing lasted more than a night 2 days at the most. We will all find someone at some point. I have thought about losing my virginity to a prostitute, it might fun, and I shouldn’t regret it, but I probably would. 3. Do well in school, one of my biggest regrets is being too busy trying to be the funny popular guy trying to be everyone’s friend, I failed at both having a huge circle of friends and failed school as well. 4. Your school grades don’t define who you are. There are plenty of options for you to take and still do what you want to do but doing as well as you can in school will make doing what you want easier. 5. Get a part time job once you are old enough. Even if it a volunteer job it will give you much needed work experience that will help you eventually get a paid job. Also looks good on a university application. Try and avoid customer service for your first! 6. Save up your money. I understand once you start working you might be tempted to spend your money on new games or PC upgrades I know I was, and that’s ok, it’s nice to treat ourselves every so often, however even putting just £50 aside each month into a savings account will help massively for when you wish to buy a car, pay for university or pay for when you decide to go on holiday with friends after you finish school and help you get a property for when you wish to move out. 7. If you know what to do you could invest your money in stocks, I wish I’d known to do that sooner, if you can invest £100 each month into shares over a few months or years your portfolio will grow and hopefully if you bought the right shares could make some sweet profit. 8. Carrying on from number 3. Use this time while you’re still at home to travel, I live in the UK so after we did A levels (I did engineering Btec) after saving up for about 2 years my friends and I were able to go interrailing (backpacking as the Americans call it!) through Europe for 4 weeks. But only do this with friends that you know you can have fun with. The people I went with didn’t enjoy going out to clubs and getting drunk as much as I do, so I wish I had gone with people I could do that with. 9. if it, it’s too good to be true it usually is 10. your Parents don’t always know best, if you want to follow a career path and your parents don’t agree do it, you will regret it. Thankfully I have parents that support me in whatever I do, but I know people that do. 11. Don’t hang around people who aren’t your friends. Fake people are the worst people, people like this will uses you, manipulate you and lie to you. 12. It is ok to have no friends, there is a difference between being alone and being lonely. Eventually you will find a small social crowds with whom you will do everything with. 13. As Chris Gardner once said Plan B and C are rubbish, stick to your plan A and you will succeed. 14. People don’t always change; some do I am completely different now than 2 years ago. But some people I was at school with are the same, they are the same dickhead who likes to be funny by putting others down, people like that are stuck in their own little world to scared to realize that they have been left behind due to still being immature. 15. As I said in 11 and 4 if you don’t have fun you will regret it, I promise you, one of the friends I went with told me he regrets not smoking weed in Amsterdam or getting drunk on £1 beers in Budapest and wants to go again to have the experience he didn’t. Life is fun enjoy it while you can. 16. You will probably have that night where you go to a party or a night out in town where you’ll drink too much and get beyond the point of wasted, at the time you’ll feel like shit and regret it but after time for me it was a year it becomes something you and your friends laugh at especially when they tell you all the things you can’t remember. 17. “In game theory, it serves you to be two-faced. Be everyone's friend 'til the moment you're not. Make them love you so much that when they're up against you, their own loyalty will act against their own self-interests”. That's game theory. This was taken from one of my favourite TV series prison break. And I think it perfectly describes social interaction between teenagers and young adults. People will use you and you will use people even when that wasn’t your intention. I’ve been used by people id call my closest friends some did it intentionally some not. 18. Find a hobby there is no such thing as an odd or weird hobby, it allows you to find a common interest with people allowing you to make new friends and meet people, when I turned 18 my hobby was cigars, I’d go to various cigar lounges around London and meet people obviously they were older but the best thing about a cigar is the great conversation that comes with it. That’s just my opinion. 19. You will most likely regret the things you didn’t do not the things you did. Don’t dwell on the past and your previous mistakes focus on the present and the future. If there is someone you fancy, ask them out what’s the worst that will happen? They might say yes worst case they say no. but at least you tried. 20. At a nightclub or festival where your surrounded by people you don’t know, never except a drink from anyone if it wasn’t poured out Infront of you. First time I went clubbing I excepted a drink of champagne from someone I didn’t know in one of London’s busiest clubs I was lucky that it was fine. 21. Never shake someone’s hand sitting down and always grip firmly and make eye contact. 22. In a negation never make the first offer. 23. Take the time to talk to a homeless person, they sometimes have the most interesting stories and lessons to teach. Everyone falls on hard times, someone I spoke to was a veteran and ended up losing his home. 24. Friends come and go 25. Never stop in the pursuit of happiness 26. Loneliness isn’t forever. The most popular person may also feel alone. 27. It might not be a good life, but it’s your life so live it. 28. You can never please everyone, live for yourself and not others I know this is a long post but below I’ve left a summary of all the things I’ve done and experienced being a teenager (2012 – 2021) 11-12: Started secondary school where I made new friends and experienced a whole new environment including no more packed lunches. 12-13: Another year of secondary school, made it into the higher level classes for science and IT, at this point I started to experience bullying for the first time from the same person I was friends with the year before, I also entered my schools coding competition where we competed against the neighbouring school in who could create the best game on scratch. During this year I re-kindled a past friendship with someone from primary school whom I drifted apart from. We remain close to this day. (He won the coding competition with a moon landing game). Joined my school’s car mechanics club too. 13-14 3rd year of school, the bullying started getting worse. Applied for the bronze Duke of Edinburgh award ( for the non-brits here it’s an award scheme where the participant has to take part in volunteering, something physical a skill and finally a hiking expedition) no you don’t get to meet prince philip until you complete the gold award too. Picked my GCSE options. Had my first real crush (this was a fiasco in itself) as well as had my first kiss with someone else (another awful experience). 14-15 Aight cool year 10, time to start my GCSE studies and think about the future. The bullying reached its peak I lost it tried to fight him failed sort of, I got a few punched in before teachers came and pulled us apart, spent the rest of that day and the whole next day internal exclusion room, him too. (was oddly fun ngl), might I add that even the headteacher was aware of the bullying and didn’t care neither did the pastoral manager who when I told her about the first time told me to go away and grow up. Completed my Silver Duke of Edinburgh award. I never completed the last level (gold). 15-16 Woo last year of high school time to sit the exams that so many people think will ruin their lives if they fail. Yes the best you do will allow you to go on and do better things like a good university or doing the A levels you want, but it won’t stop you getting the career you want, you will just need to take a different path to get there like I did. Towards the summer I was getting ready to go on Israel tour my first time away from home for more than a week and to a new country without my family. For those of you that don’t know what Israel tour is, it is when you go to the state of Israel for 3 weeks maybe more depending on the tour organiser and see various sites such as the western wall, dead sea, Masada, ride camels in the desert, live on an army base for a few days as part of a small boot camp type thing (my favourite part) and much, much more. On this though I sadly realised that some people can’t be trusted and will stab you in the back, my “friend” liked the same person I did and instead of saying something to me he just spoke shit about me to her. 16-17 Secondary school, been there done that got the fucking t shirt. After not doing as well as I expected to in my GCSE exams, I had to change my plan slightly. I wanted to go into forensic science to do this I wanted to study level 3 Btec in applied science, but because I had failed 2 of my exams (the important ones) I had to do a level 2 course instead (same subject but lower level) during this year being in a new environment from the last I bought and smoked weed for the first time as well as getting my first hangover. During this year I was able to re sit my exams I passed 1 but still failed the other. I realised that the subject I was doing was no longer my passion. I got my first part time job as a receptionist so I could build my first gaming PC. My other close mate: after helping him meet his first girlfriend which by this point was at the 8- or 9-months mark, the 2 of them wanted to help me find someone. After fancying the same girl for the last 3 years at this point they introduced me to someone else, we were all away on a summer camp together so after being introduced we got talking for the next 4 whole days became really close only for on the last night before the big party for her friend to talk shit about me to her (seems to be a pattern here). A week later I had my second snog (kiss, make out, get with) with someone else (whatever u want to call it), this one was decent this happened to me on the NCS award (national citizen service) it’s like the Duke of Edinburgh award. 17-18 As I said before science was no longer what I wanted to do, so I changed to engineering at a new college (community college for the Americans). As I still didn’t have a C grade or above in my remaining GCSE exam, I had to do another level 2 course to pass. I got a new job as a waitekitchen assistant. started talking to another girl who in many ways she was a female version of me, we agreed on everything and got on well had so much in common it was unreal. My mate sadly broke up with his girlfriend so he was on the market too looking for someone else, I suggested to him that for his 18th he should throw a massive party, he agreed. I saw it as the perfect opportunity to make a move on the girl I was talking too; so, I invited her as my plus one. I got to his house early to help setup the house, she arrived about an hour later. I made a poor miss judgment that night and drunk about half a bottle of Russian standard vodka (no mixers). Being my drunk self I stumbled over to her and we began talking, then guess who comes over to us the same girl who cock blocked me previously and she does the god damn same, I have to admit me being as drunk as I was at That point definitely didn’t help. As you could I lost my shit at the person who yet again ruined something for me I went off on one in front of the whole goddamn party by this point the full force of my drinking hit me, I was unrollable cursing at the bitch who for the second time ruined something I had with someone. By this point the girl I invited left early, and my parents were called to pick me up. FYI the party stared at 8 I was home by 9 30 passed out. The girl I invited never spoke to me again I tried to apologise she didn’t really want much to do with me (understandable). My 18th I went clubbing for the first time and experienced a casino for the first time (played blackjack with £25 walked out with £120(I don’t encourage gambling, only play with what you can afford to lose)). The night club itself was something I didn’t enjoy all too much, main reason being there was only a few of us and the club was full of much older crowd than us, drinks where a fortune too, it was fun I enjoyed being out in the capital with my close mates at that time. It’s all about finding clubs that offer student nights where the crowd will be younger. Summertime, before the majority from my year head to university they all host a second school prom a reunion. This night again I learnt that people can and will be 2 faced if it serves them better. A girl who my mate had been helping me get talking to decided that the night before prom at a separate party he would make out with her himself (I was fine with that; I wasn’t at that party). I got invited to pre-drinks at this girls house the minute I walked in something felt off, it wasn’t until later I knew why; I found out my mate had made out with her the night before, unexpectedly he apologised to me (he didn’t need to, however I told him it was fine and move on) I was still hoping to get with her. 20 minutes later Infront of me the same mate of mine and the same girl were making out again (now I was pissed, first you apologise and then 20 minutes later do it Infront of me and everyone making me look like a mug). And again he apologises I played the bigger man held myself back from sparking him in the face and said that once is a mistake, 2 times is a slap in the face) this mate of mine was coming traveling with me 3 days later we didn’t speak until then. I went interrailing (traveling) through Europe with 4 mates that summer. 18-19 What was supposed to be my first year at university turned out to be another year at community college. This was also the start of where things got bad for me, by this point all my friends have had some sexual experience except me. My social crowd at this point is dwindling slowly at the time I didn’t notice I was just being left out more, (looking back, with some of my friends I was a background friend). I was finally on level 3 Btec engineering and have finally passed my last exam that I needed (took 4 attempts but if at first you don’t succeed try, try again). 19-20 (Present) Ok things are bad, I’ve realised that only 2 of my close mates are my only friends ( I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known, don’t know where it goes but its home to me, I walk alone). I knew for a while since the previous summer that most of the people I trust and call my friends don’t care about me. I only ever spoke to them If I was lucky enough to be invited out on the rare occasion (I would usually have to be the one to make the effort). I wanted to rid of the people who don’t care about me, I never thought for a second 2 of my other close mates (separate from the ones I mentioned in 19-20, they will always be my close mates) would be the ones to go first. One of these mates was someone who I had so many memorise with, we went clubbing together, wingmen for each other, I allowed him to get off with someone at my house while I was asleep in the same room (didn’t know until the morning); and now since the start of the coronavirus pandemic we haven’t spoken or seen one another and is telling people it’s my fault. (he and many others know that if I have done something to upset someone I will always be happy to fix it, I hate beefing with people) I realised he didn’t care for me no more, the memories we had together meant so much to me and nothing to him, he’s part of a new social crowd most of them I know and have also tried to get close with but I was never able to. I know I did something wrong to make all these people pull away from me I just don’t know what, I run so many possible reasons through my head but none make sense or seem big enough to make to a huge social crowd no longer want me around (popularity baffles me, it’s one thing I’ve never been nor able to understand). Now in my FINAL year of college and looking at either looking at going to university to study either Aerospace or Electronics engineering, getting an apprenticeship or I may join the army or the royal air force. I kind of wish I studied law. All I really want for my self is a job I’m proud of, something that when someone asks what I do for a living I can tell them and not be embarrassed or ashamed and not have to lie or exaggerate about it. However, before coronavirus hit the UK badly, I started a new part time job in retail pays very well for what it is, and I get nice bonuses I still managed to keep it through the lockdown. Been predicted high grades for my course more than enough for my university choices and the apprenticeships schemes I want. As I said at the beginning, this isn’t goodbye. I’ll still be here offering advice where I see fit giving my wisdom to those who need it. Also, if any of you need to talk or any advice drop me a message on here and I’ll try my best to help. “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”
-u/randomhuman_23
Edit: i hope this doesn't get lost in new

SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE GAME
This is just a thought I had after finishing the game with "The Sun" ending, and there's a surprising amount of things in this ending specifically that point towards it that it almost seems inevitable.
The epilogue begins with V waking up in his Apartment inside Arasaka Tower, with a naked Panam waiting in the shower and a bunch of shiny new clothes laying around. It's important to note that after this you can speak to Panam and one of the dialogue options is asking her if she wants to visit the Crystal Palace. V talks to Panam and essentially tells her that he is gonna do big things in NC and that he will see her around the next time the time comes. This is important because it sets up how V is still determined to prove himself after separating from Johnny, becoming the owner of the Afterlife, and getting a sweet new AV. After all of this V still wants more and isn't 'happy' yet. Figures.
V continues on to fly to the Afterlife and has a nice little conversation with Delmaine on the way there, not much important info I remember from this conversation. He continues on to ride an elevator into the Afterlife, and what is playing on the screens? An advertisement for Crystal Palace of course. Inside V meets Mr. Blue Eyes and they talk about a job he and V had been obviously preparing for before this. You have a short conversation about if you're ready for this big of a job, and then the reveal comes that you're going to space. Coincidentally enough to heist something from the Crystal Palace.
You spawn inside of the space station and tell the contact that by "This time tomorrow I'll have your data from the Casino, you can count on me." Then V picks up a UNIQUE (and badass I might add) space pistol and suits up in an assumedly top of the line 2077 space suit, and embarks out towards the landmark glistening against the vast darkness of space. After this a cutscene plays, and we end with a shot of Vs face as he flys off to do the job.
Now not only does this do a good job of setting up a location, job, backstory, and style for DLC weapons and armor it also sets up a classic casino heist story with a cold corpo-cynical cyberpunk twist that could branch into anything they wanted to do with the huge locations. It's also important to add that in the game it's described as being absolutely massive, containing 10 casinos and multiple other buildings and hotels so it would be vast enough for a first DLC I believe. Even if they wanted to branch out from there it opens up unlimited opportunities story wise at a very appealing and flashy location, a massive cyberpunk casino floating in space damnit.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk, please leave opinions on this theory below. I'm open to all perspectives, I was a little high writing and coming up with it this so feel free to say it's ridiculous garbage if that's what it is lmao

SPOILERS FOR THE END OF THE GAME
This is just a thought I had after finishing the game with "The Sun" ending, and there's a surprising amount of things in this ending specifically that point towards it that it almost seems inevitable.
The epilogue begins with V waking up in his Apartment inside Arasaka Tower, with a naked Panam waiting in the shower and a bunch of shiny new clothes laying around. It's important to note that after this you can speak to Panam and one of the dialogue options is asking her if she wants to visit the Crystal Palace. V talks to Panam and essentially tells her that he is gonna do big things in NC and that he will see her around the next time the time comes. This is important because it sets up how V is still determined to prove himself after separating from Johnny, becoming the owner of the Afterlife, and getting a sweet new AV. After all of this V still wants more and isn't 'happy' yet. Figures.
V continues on to fly to the Afterlife and has a nice little conversation with Delmaine on the way there, not much important info I remember from this conversation. He continues on to ride an elevator into the Afterlife, and what is playing on the screens? An advertisement for Crystal Palace of course. Inside V meets Mr. Blue Eyes and they talk about a job he and V had been obviously preparing for before this. You have a short conversation about if you're ready for this big of a job, and then the reveal comes that you're going to space. Coincidentally enough to heist something from the Crystal Palace.
You spawn inside of the space station and tell the contact that by "This time tomorrow I'll have your data from the Casino, you can count on me." Then V picks up a UNIQUE (and badass I might add) space pistol and suits up in an assumedly top of the line 2077 space suit, and embarks out towards the landmark glistening against the vast darkness of space. After this a cutscene plays, and we end with a shot of Vs face as he flys off to do the job.
Now not only does this do a good job of setting up a location, job, backstory, and style for DLC weapons and armor it also sets up a classic casino heist story with a cold corpo-cynical cyberpunk twist that could branch into anything they wanted to do with the huge locations. It's also important to add that in the game it's described as being absolutely massive, containing 10 casinos and multiple other buildings and hotels so it would be vast enough for a first DLC I believe. Even if they wanted to branch out from there it opens up unlimited opportunities story wise at a very appealing and flashy location, a massive cyberpunk casino floating in space damnit.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk, please leave opinions on this theory below. I'm open to all perspectives, I was a little high writing and coming up with it this so feel free to say it's ridiculous garbage if that's what it is lmao

Visit the website: https://www.gregfortulsa.com
Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/greg-robinson-for-tulsa-mayor-1#
​
The son of an activist and an accountant, Greg Robinson, II attacks injustice with passion and precision. Like his late father (Greg Robinson, Sr.), Greg is unafraid to speak up for the oppressed and underserved. However, it is his mother (Debra Kawee Goff Robinson) whose strength and selflessness, despite her physical limitations, inspire Greg’s work the most.
A proud Tulsa native, Greg is a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School where relationships with teachers and mentors like Dr. Anthony Marshall, pushed him to cultivate his capacity to create change. At Booker T., Greg assisted in founding The Men Of Power Organization, a student-led, male enrichment program that today operates across Tulsa Public Schools.
Greg’s educational journey as a young Tulsan also includes Eisenhower International School (Tulsa, OK), La Escuela Apostólica (San Luis Potosí, Mexico), and Monte Casino Middle School (Tulsa, OK).
In 2013, Greg earned a Bachelor of Science in History from The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). While at UAPB, under the tutelage of the Director of Student Involvement, Michael Washington, Greg worked to increase access to cultural and intellectual enrichment opportunities through leadership in the Student Government Association and the Gamma Sigma Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. With Mr. Washington as a mentor, Greg and a group of like-minded friends founded The Black Male Achievers (BMA). BMA’s mission is to “Transcend the stereotypes of African-American males by promoting achievement at 212 degrees”. Greg served as the organization’s first President from 2009 to 2010, during which BMA was honored as the “Campus Organization of the Year”.
Greg’s time at UAPB was interrupted when he was hired as an Organizer for President Obama’s 2012 Presidential re-election campaign. After cutting his teeth in High Point, NC for Obama 2012, Greg sharpened his organization and community building skills working as an Organizer across the country at local, state, and national levels. Most recently Greg spent the 2016 election cycle managing hundreds of staff and leading campaigns in Davenport, IA, Montgomery, AL, St. Louis, MI, Oklahoma, and Florida during Hillary Clinton’s historic presidential bid.
Following the killing of Terence Crutcher, Greg could no longer justify fighting injustice across the country while his hometown struggled to rid itself of the problematic mindsets that continue to create generational trauma and distrust among Tulsans.
Upon his return home in 2016, Greg joined Met Cares Foundation (Met Cares, MCF) as a founding staff member, serving as Director of Family and Community Ownership. Met Cares’ mission is to transform the social and academic outcomes of North Tulsa’s families. In 2017, Greg worked alongside Founding Principal Kojo Asamoa-Caesar to open Met Cares’ first school, Greenwood Leadership Academy (GLA) - a neighborhood elementary school in partnership with Tulsa Public Schools.
Guided by the words of civil rights organizer Ella Baker, “Strong people, don’t need strong leaders”, Greg crafted the Met Cares civic engagement approach by building and overseeing a nearly million-dollar grassroots organizing strategy from the ground up. Out of this effort, Greg launched the Parent & Community Action Team (PCAT) and Resilience University to train other dedicated Tulsans on how to interpret data, hold community listening sessions, research solutions and interact with public officials to address critical issues facing Tulsa.
In addition to his work with MCF, Greg is a committed volunteer and mentor at Tulsa McLain High School and currently serves as lead organizer for Demanding a Just Tulsa. Greg also serves as a board member for several organizations in Tulsa, OK including: A Way Home For Tulsa, The Historic Greenwood District Main Street Program, The Terence Crutcher Foundation, The Greater Tulsa African-American Affairs Commission, The 1921 Race Massacre Mass Graves Commission and Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce.
Greg is supported by his amazing wife-to-be (June 2021) Ms. Katelyn Kramer. Katelyn is an immensely passionate and caring educator, serving in various instructional roles within Tulsa schools since 2014. Standing on the shoulders of an amazing family and support network, Greg is an unrelenting warrior in the battle for freedom, justice, equity, and safety for all Tulsans.

The previous post is here. It's getting buried so I figured we would make a new one.
Keep reporting those minimums:

Vegas Strip Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Aria	10	10	Yes
Ballys
Bellagio	10	25	Yes, all tables	)May be lower on weekday nights, $15 has been seen) Poker tables open
Caesars	15	25	No	Poker tables open
Casino Royale	N/A	N/A	N/A	Table Games not open
Cosmo	15/25	50-100
Encore	50	100	Yes, on some tables	Reports of $10 tables during the day
Excalibur	10-15	15		10 crapless, 15 regular
Flamingo	10-15	15-25
Harrah's	15	25	No
Linq	10-15	10-15	No
Luxor	10	10
Mandalay Bay	N/A	N/A
MGM Grand	10	25	Yes, all tables
NY/NY	10	15-25	Yes, all tables
Osheas	Unknown	15
Paris	10-15	15	No	Opened 6/18 - Masks required at tables.
Planet Hollywood	N/A	N/A		No open date announced
Rio	N/A	N/A		No open date announced
Sahara	5	10
Strat	Day	10	Unknown
Treasure Island	5	15
Venetian	10-15	25	No
Wynn	25-50	50-100	Yes, on some tables	Updated 6/16

Downtown Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Binions	5	10		Binions had $5 table several times with little to no social distancing
California	10	10		From 7/15 on Vegas Message Board
The D	10	15	No glass
Downtown Grand	10	10		Checks your temperature before letting you into casino, also NO valet, self-park only.
El Cortez	10	10	Yes, some tables	2 tables
Four Queens	10	10	No	From 7/16 on Vegas Message Board, Four queens had a $5 table in the morning on saturday
Fremont	10	10		From 7/15 on Vegas Message Board
Golden Gate	10	15		From 7/14 on Vegas Message Board
Golden Nugget	10	10		From 7/15 on Vegas Message Board
Plaza	10	10
Sams Town	15	15		1 table

Offstrip Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Aliente	10	10
Boulder Station	10	10
Cannery	5	5		up to 2 tables - now allowing 4 per side
Ellis Island	5	5		1 table
Gold Coast	10	10
Green Valley Ranch	10	10		2 tables open
The Orleans	10	25		up to 4 tables, I was asked to wear a mask
Palace Station	10	10	Unknown
Palms	N/A	N/A		No open date announced
Red Rock	10	15
South Point	5	5		2-3x tables w/ only one $5 buy in
Strat	5	10
Sunset Station	5	5

Other NV Casinos	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Edgewater (Laughlin)	10	10
Harrahs (Laughlin)	10	15	no
Atlantis (Reno)	5/10	5/10		3 tables on weekends
Cal Neva (Reno)	5	5
Circus Circus (Reno)	Closed	Closed		Closed table game pit
Eldorado (Reno)	5	10
Grand Sierra (Reno)	15	15-25
Peppermill (Reno)	10	10	3 craps tables
Silver Legacy (Reno)	10	10
Hard Rock (Tahoe)	5	5
Harrahs (Tahoe)	10	10
Montbleu (Tahoe)	10	15

Non/NV Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Foxwoods (CT)	15	25
Mohegan (CT)	10-50	10-50		2 were 10, 2 $15, 1 $25, 1 $50. Plus a high rollers table
Harrington (DE)	15	15-25		Must wear mask and face shield
Blue Chip (Michigan City, IN)	5	10		5 minimum prop bets, 5 min ATS bet.
Harrah's Hooiser Park (Anderson, IN)	10	10
Indiana Grand (IN)	10	15	No
Belle (Baton Rogue, LA)	5	10		one half sized table sometimes they open the big one. $5 small table and $10 big late at night
Hollywood (Baton Rogue, LA)	5	10		one half sized table sometimes they open the big one. $5 small table and $10 big late at night
L’auberge (Baton Rogue,LA)	15	15	No
L’auberge (Lake Charles,LA)	15	15	No	1 bubble craps $5 min
Harrahs (Shreveport, LA)	15	25
Margaritaville (Shreveport, LA)	25	25
Ocean Downs (MD)	10	15
Maryland Live (MD)	25	50	Yes	5 tables, 4 per side. Electronic craps 15 min
MGM @ National Harbor	50-100		Yes	4 craps tables 2 were $50 and 2 were $100 mins. Not bubble craps or low roller options.
Firekeepers (Battle Creek, MI)	10	15+	No dividers, only distancing	1-2 tables depending on demand, did see it at $15 during the day $25 on Fri/Sat night. Masks required, no smoking. $3 Bubble Craps.
Four Winds Casino	15	15		Digital craps table 5$ min Tuesday and Sunday night. Did not check bubble craps
Gun Lake (Wayland, MI)	10	15	No	Temp check, masks, usually the crapless table is open
Turtle Creek (Traverse City, MI)	5
Soaring Eagle (Mt Pleasant, MI)	10	15	Yes	5 players per side with glass. Tough to hear dealer.
Hollywood Casino, Maryland Heights (St Louis) MO	15	15		1 regular table & 1 no craps. 4 per side. No outside drinks.
River City (St. Louis, MS)	20	20	Unknown	4 players per side. $20 min. You have to have at least a $20 bet for every throw to "hold your spot"
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, MS)	25	25	unknown	3 tables
Boomtown (Biloxi, MS)	10	10	Unknown	1 table
IP (Biloxi, MS)	25	25
Scarlett Pearl (Biloxi, MS)	15	25	No	Masks required, temp check
The Palace Biloxi, MS)	10	15
Treasure Bay (Biloxi, MS)	10	10
Harrah’s Cherokee & Murphy	15	15	No
Harrahs River Valley (Murphy, NC)	25	25
Harrahs (AC, NJ)	15	15
Hard Rock (AC, NJ	25	25	Yes	2 tables
Resorts (AC, NJ)	15	25	Yes	1 table
Ocean (AC, NJ)	15	25	Yes	4-6 tables
Buffalo Creek (NY)	15	25
Seneca Niagra (NY)	10	15		1 table, can go up to $25
Hollywood (Columbus, OH)	10-15	Unknown	Unknown	2 tables, masks required
Hollywood (Grantville, PA)	15	25	Unknown	2 tables, masks required
Meadows (PA)	10	10		2-3 tables.
Windcreek (PA)	10	10
Mount airy (PA)	10	10
Parx (Bensalem, PA)	15	25		15 but maintaining 25
Sycuan (San Diego, CA)	10	10		Masks required
Barona (So Cal)	5	5		3 tables, dealers managing bets for players.
Harrahs (So Cal)	15-25	15-25		Bubble craps $5 min, Interblock bubble $3 min, 1 electronic table $5 min
Viejas (So Cal)	N/A	15		1 table
Southland Casino Racing (West Memphis, TN)	N/A	N/A	Yes	4 tables all closed. Other pit games open with plexiglas dividers. Bubble craps $5 minimum.

Last update 7/21
Pulled additional info from here.

Part 1 is HERE, if you're curious.
This is the first half of my reimagining of Episode VIII. I wanted to fit it all in one post, but it got a little long.
I promise: I'll post the second half as soon as it's finished.
FAIR WARNING:
Full disclosure: I'm one of the Star Wars fans who liked The Last Jedi. In fact, I'd go so far as to call it my favorite movie in the Sequel Trilogy.
No, I don't think it was perfect. No, I don't think you're a bad person if you didn't like it. But as I said in my last post, I firmly believe that the single biggest problem with the Sequel Trilogy is that it felt more like an extended tribute to the Original Trilogy than a meaningful continuation of its story; I also happen to believe that The Last Jedi was the major exception to that rule.
Love it or hate it, it's hard to deny that The Last Jedi charted its own course, and it was anything but a safe slice of fanservice. It developed the central characters of the Original Trilogy in bold ways, it went out of its way to shake up the classic Star Wars formula, it explored an array of ambitious themes, and it actively avoided following the same plot structure as the Original Trilogy.
It's also easily the most visually unique entry in the Sequel Trilogy, with multiple striking set-pieces that look absolutely nothing like anything in the Original Trilogy. The desolate island planet of Ahch-To, the swanky resort/casino of Canto Bight, and the red deserts and crystal caverns of Crait were nothing if not original.
I'm not here to argue with people who disliked The Last Jedi; I think we're all pretty sick of arguing about that film by now. But I will tell you up-front: of my three reimaginings of the Sequel Trilogy, this one will be the least changed from the source material. Consider yourself forewarned.
The story so far:
Thirty years after the death of Emperor Palpatine, an uneasy peace reigns over the galaxy.
The New Republic, a democratic regime founded by the heroes of the victorious Rebel Alliance, rules over most of the galaxy from the capital world of Coruscant, its mighty space fleet patrolling the spaceways from the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim. But in the wake of the mysterious disappearance of the legendary Jedi Knight known as Luke Skywalker, the future of the galaxy appears uncertain.
Despite the New Republic's best intentions, most of the galaxy's wealth is concentrated in the hands of an elite group of traders and industrialists who profited from the rebuilding of the Core Worlds after the devastation of the Galactic Civil War. Since those dark days, divisions between rich and poor have left the vast majority of the galaxy's population living in squalor, leading to simmering tensions in even the most civilized worlds. On most habitable worlds, the New Republic keeps order with the aid of well-armed Planetary Security forces, who often use brutal methods to quell unrest and root out suspected radical groups.
Amid this world of tension, an underground society known only as "The Resistance" claims to champion the ideals of Luke Skywalker, who once stood as a beacon of hope against the forces of tyranny and injustice. Some view the Resistance as dangerous radicals, but others see them as idealistic crusaders keeping the values of the old Rebel Alliance alive.
Visually, this era of Star Wars is inspired less by pulp science-fiction of the '30s and '40s (Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, John Carter of Mars, Lensmen, etc.) and more by cyberpunk fiction of the '80s and '90s (Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, etc.). The Resistance aren't an upstanding crew of gallant freedom fighters—they're a morally ambiguous band of tattooed street punks who can usually be found hanging out in seedy night clubs at the heart of densely populated cities. "Planetary Security" aren't styled after goose-stepping Nazi Stormtroopers or SS Officers, but after modern-day American SWAT teams or riot cops. Rey didn't grow up on a Tatooine-esque desert planet covered in scrapyards, she grew up in the shantytowns of a sprawling planet-sized city.
If you need a visual reference: think this, or this, or this.
Anyway...
In the Unknown Regions, the splintered remnants of the fallen Galactic Empire fight a long guerrilla war in the darkness of space, regularly launching surprise attacks on unprepared worlds in the Outer Rim as they spin plans to return the Empire to its former glory. Of the dozens of terrorist groups who continue to champion the Imperial cause, among the most merciless is "The First Order", an elusive band of fanatics led by the masked warrior Kylo Ren and his mysterious mentor known only as "The Oracle".
Not too long ago, Kylo Ren and his companions (known as "The Knights of Ren") embarked on a mission to the desolate backwater planet of Eravana, looking for an aging old hermit called Lor San Tekka. As it turned out, San Tekka was a former member of the Jedi Order who was among the last people ever to see Luke Skywalker alive—and he possessed valuable information that held the key to revealing his old friend's whereabouts.
In a brutal raid, Ren and his companions murdered San Tekka, took the encrypted map that he kept concealed in his necklace, and killed all witnesses in the nearby village that San Tekka guarded in his twilight years. But in the aftermath of the raid, one of Ren's loyal Stormtroopers—designated "FN-2187", but nicknamed "Finn"—suffered a crisis of conscience, and resolved to leave the First Order to defect to the New Republic. Believing that he could buy a new life with information on Luke Skywalker, he stole San Tekka's map and fled to the nearest inhabited world: a densely populated planet called Jakku covered by sprawling cities.
Much to his dismay, Finn soon learned that it wouldn't be so easy to outrun his past. Not long after he arrived on Jakku, he found himself fighting for his life when the local Planetary Security force recognized him as a member of an Imperial loyalist group and tried to kill him on the spot. Soon after that, he learned that many of the New Republic's power-brokers were perfectly content to let Luke Skywalker stay in exile, viewing him as a dangerous revolutionary who would provoke unrest among the common people.
While on the run from Planetary Security, Finn crossed paths with Rey, an orphaned young woman who was abandoned by her parents in the city's squalid shantytowns when she was just a girl. With the help of Rey and her trusty droid companion BB-8 (whom she built from spare parts), Finn sought out the local Resistance chapter in a seedy nightclub, knowing that they didn't share the New Republic's feelings on Luke Skywalker. Upon realizing that Lor San Tekka's map really did lead straight to Skywalker, the Resistance pledged their help in decoding the map, and offered to give Finn and Rey safe passage to their safehouse on the planet Takodana. After the Resistance made a call to a certain space pilot loyal to their cause, roguish Resistance agent Poe Dameron pledged to accompany Finn and Rey on their journey.
With both Kylo Ren and Planetary Security hot on their trail, Finn, Rey, and Poe made a mad dash to Jakku's local spaceport, determined to make their rendezvous with the Resistance's pilot. Much to their surprise, they discovered that the pilot was none other than Han Solo, who had gone underground and joined the Resistance along with his faithful co-pilot Chewbacca. During the journey to Takodana, Han revealed that Kylo Ren was actually his son Ben Solo, a former pupil of Luke Skywalker who turned against him and destroyed his academy. While Han didn't know Luke's whereabouts, he also revealed that Luke vanished shortly after Ben's betrayal—possibly because he felt responsible for it.
On Takodana, where the trio met Han's estranged wife Leia Organa—who had also gone underground and joined the Resistance—the Resistance set about decoding the map. Before they could, though, the Resistance's safehouse fell under an orbital strike from Kylo Ren, who had managed to track them to Takodana. Entering the safehouse with his Stormtroopers, Kylo took the encrypted map and captured Rey, then departed for his hidden fortress on the planet Ilum. Determined to reclaim the map and rescue Rey, Han took Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca to Ilum in the Falcon, secretly planning to confront his son and convince him to return to his family.
After being interrogated by the First Order for information on Luke Skywalker, Rey miraculously managed to escape from her cell in Kylo's fortress by taking advantage of her latent sensitivity to the Force. Later, as Han entered the fortress with his companions in tow, he called out to his son by name after recognizing him from a distance—but Finn and Poe were forced to watch helplessly as a visibly conflicted Kylo ignited his lightsaber and stabbed his father through the chest, killing him.
While making her way through the fortress in search of a way out, Rey accidentally stumbled upon Kylo's personal quarters, where he kept a shrine dedicated to his grandfather Anakin Skywalker, the man once known as "Darth Vader". Among the relics in the shrine was the distinctive black helmet that Anakin wore after his turn to the Dark Side, but also the lightsaber that he wielded as a Jedi—which was inherited by Luke Skywalker. Desperate for a weapon to defend herself, Rey took the lightsaber and instinctively ignited it when Kylo cornered her outside the fortress. In a fierce lightsaber duel, Rey surprisingly managed to hold her own against Kylo, and narrowly managed to escape with her life when Finn and Poe spotted her and picked her up in the Falcon.
Rey, Finn, and Poe returned to Takodana with the map in hand, and finally managed to decode it, revealing that Luke Skywalker was on the distant ocean-covered planet of Ahch-To. But Leia, who had sensed Rey's budding sensitivity to the Force, urged Rey to make the journey to Ahch-To without her companions, hoping that Luke could teach her the ways of the Jedi and help her master her new abilities. Heeding Leia's advice, Leia boarded the Falcon with Chewbacca and R2-D2 as her co-pilots, and set course for Ahch-To.
After a long flight over Ahch-To's endless seas, she landed on a strangely familiar island, which she seemed to remember from her dreams. On the island, a mysterious figure in a hooded robe stood before a lonely stone temple, seemingly waiting for her. When she held out Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to the mysterious figure, he removed his hood—revealing the face of Luke Skywalker.
And now, our story continues...
STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII — THE LAST JEDI (Part 1)
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
(cue the fanfare)
At the center of the New Republic, legendary freedom fighter Leia Organa returns to the capital world of Coruscant. Accompanied by her two newest companions, Leia prepares to call the galaxy to arms as a new war looms on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Kylo Ren—the man once known as Ben Solo—gathers the forces of the sinister First Order for a desperate attack on the heart of the Republic, determined to strike back against the forces of the Resistance who once defied him.
In the dark days to come, only the last of the Jedi can restore hope to the galaxy in the face of tyranny. After ten years in exile, Luke Skywalker must confront his destiny...
After a long journey through space, a starship drops out of hyperspace in the orbit of a planet at the heart of the Galactic Core. At the bridge of the starship, Leia Organa looks down upon the surface of Coruscant—the world where her father once trained as a Jedi, and where her mother once represented her people as a member of the Galactic Senate. Nearby, Poe Dameron and Finn look down at the capital of the New Republic as their loyal companion BB-8 excitedly chirps and beeps.
Finn, who was born on a backwater planet on the Outer Rim, is visibly awestruck at the sight of the planet. Poe, a hard-bitten member of the Resistance with no love for the New Republic, looks down on it with disdain.
"This is it?" Finn asks.
"Yeah, this is it," Poe says cynically. "The bright center of the universe..."
Leia breathes deeply as her starship descends, preparing to dock at the spaceport.
"A long time ago, I swore I'd never come back to this cess-pit," she says. "I hate to break a promise. But if we're gonna bring down the First Order, we're gonna need help. Something's coming—and I've got a bad feeling about it."
In the darkened halls of his starship, Kylo Ren confers with his companions—the seven masked warriors known as "The Knights of Ren"—as he prepares for a meeting with his mentor "The Oracle". For the first time, we hear Kylo address the seven warriors by name, and it immediately becomes clear that Kylo (once called "Ben Solo") isn't the only one of them who cast aside his birth name. His companions (in no particular order) call themselves "Tarmin Ren", "Mokkar Ren", "Kadori Ren", "Shakar Ren", "Darro Ren", "Yandoss Ren", and "Vorjall Ren".
As soon as we learn this, it becomes instantly clear that the surname "Ren" holds some personal significance for Kylo and his seven companions, and that each of them chose to take it. But what does it mean?
"There are hard days coming," Kylo tells his companions. "The Force is strong with me, but I am no immortal. If I don't survive the battle to come, you must keep our crusade alive. Long ago, we swore an oath to each other. We swore that this war would only the beginning. Soon, we will embark on the final path toward ultimate power. But until then, you must stay on Ilum and await my return. Stay, train, and remember our oath."
As the Knights of Ren bid farewell to Kylo and board a shuttle bound for their fortress on the planet Ilum, Kylo steps into the personal chambers of the Oracle.
The Oracle's skin is deathly pale, his limbs are long and distorted, half of his face is covered in a horrific burn, and electrical wires extend under his skin like nerves. Upon seeing him in person, we see that he's strapped to a reclining chair and attached to a life-support machine, and is seemingly too frail and injured to stand. When he speaks, his voice warbles and reverberates with electronic sounds. A holographic monitor above his head displays his heartbeats and brainwaves, and seven armed warriors dressed in identical red armor—his Praetorian Guard—surround him at all times.
"My worthy disciple..." the Oracle breathes.
"It's coming, Oracle," Kylo says. "The day that you foresaw. The death of the New Republic draws near."
"And yet, my visions tell of something else," the Oracle says. "Skywalker lives. The seed of the Jedi Order lives. As long as it does, hope lives in the galaxy."
"It won't matter," Kylo says. "I'll burn down everything he built. If Skywalker would return, let him rule over dust and ash."
"You forget, boy... I know of what you seek. You and your companions. This war is only the beginning. And when the day comes to seek out the ultimate power, you will not find it without me."
"I've forgotten nothing, Oracle," Kylo says, bowing. "And I promise you this: when that day comes, the New Republic will not stand in our way."
On the planet Ahch-To, we rejoin Rey.
On a barren rock at the center of an endless ocean, she approaches Luke Skywalker and presents him with his father's lightsaber—the noble weapon entrusted to him by his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, which was seemingly lost forever on Cloud City.
Luke steps forward and accepts the lightsaber, clasping it in his metallic hand. For a moment, he seems overcome by memories of his past. But as soon as that moment passes, he nonchalantly tosses the weapon over his shoulder, then walks away without a word. Perplexed, Rey tries to follow him, even as she gradually realizes that the legendary "Sky-Walker" has been changed profoundly by his time in isolation.
A far cry from the dashing, handsome war hero worshipped by the Resistance, Luke's hair and beard have grown long, his face is wind-burned, and he dresses in weather-beaten robes. At the top of a hill, she sees a simple hut built of mossy stones, where Luke has apparently lived for 10 long years without a soul for company. As he trudges up to the top of the hill, walks into his hut, and slams the door in her face, he never once glances back at his old lightsaber.
Undaunted, Rey follows him into his hut, with Chewbacca following close behind. Luke does his best to blow them off, but Rey persists, following him around the rugged island as he goes about his daily chores. After telling Luke about her recent experiences, Rey insists that she won't leave until Luke trains her in the ways of the Force. Although Luke is devastated to learn of the death of his old friend Han Solo, he stubbornly refuses to train Rey. Having clearly become bitter and jaded in his old age, Luke insists that his training couldn't do Rey any good.
"Something inside me has always been there," Rey says. "And now it's awake. And I'm afraid. I don't know what it is, or what to do with it. And I need help!"
"You need a teacher. I can't teach you," Luke says. "I will never train another generation of Jedi. I came to this island to die. It's time for the Jedi to end."
Rey is utterly shocked to hear Luke so callously reject the Jedi, but she still can't bring herself to abandon her mission. When night falls, she goes to sleep outside Luke's hut, planning to ask him again in the morning.
Later that night, Luke creeps into the Millennium Falcon while Rey sleeps, and he finds himself overcome by his old memories as he walks through the familiar hallways of the spaceship that once took him on a fateful journey to the Death Star. While on his way out, he unexpectedly bumps into his trusty old droid R2-D2, who is ecstatic to see his master again after ten long years. Artoo pleads with Luke to leave his self-imposed exile and return to the Republic, but Luke still refuses—until Artoo tugs at his heartstrings by playing the holographic message from Princess Leia that once spurred him to leave Tatooine to fulfill his destiny. As Luke hears the familiar words "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi—you're my only hope!", he realizes that he can't deny who he truly is.
He promises Rey that he will begin training her at dawn, but tells her that he will only give her three lessons on the Force.
Back on his starship, Kylo Ren strides from the Oracle's chamber and walks into another room. The room is empty—but when he presses a button on the wall, the lights dim, and the room is filled with a massive hologram. Kylo suddenly finds himself at the center of a massive auditorium filled with shadowed figures, all of them dressed in the traditional colors of the old Galactic Empire. Some of them dress in blood-red armor, others in crisp black naval uniforms, others in white robes; in one corner of the auditorium, we see a group of men in grey chainmail with faces covered in black tattoos.
"Who summons us?" one man calls out in a mocking voice. "Another pretender to the Imperial throne?"
Kylo steps into the light.
"I am Kylo Ren—master of the Knights of Ren, and Supreme Commandant of the First Order!" he responds. "I am no pretender, and I have come to claim no throne. Only my destiny."
Cruel laughter fills the room.
"And what of you?" Kylo asks. "Make yourselves known."
One by one, the leaders of the various assembled groups step out of the shadows and announce themselves.
"The Commander of the Crimson Legion stands present!"
"The Admiral of the Black Fleet stands present!"
"The Sovereign of the Dark Chosen stands present!"
"The Lord of the True Sith stands present!"
In our last adventure, it was well-established that the First Order are just one of many terrorist organizations formed from the splintered remnants of the fallen Empire, and they've been fighting a protracted guerrilla war against the New Republic while hiding in the Unknown Regions. Now, for the first time, we get a real idea of just how many Imperial loyalists groups are really hiding out on the fringes of the Galaxy. And for the first time in a long while, the leaders of the most powerful groups have come together to discuss an alliance.
Some of them are partisan soldiers, others are Dark Side cultists, others command pirate space fleets, and some are adept warriors who practice the secret martial disciplines once wielded by Palpatine's elite Royal Guard. They all have their own private missions and agendas, but they all share a common dream: the eradication of the New Republic, and the rebirth of the Galactic Empire.
"The New Republic has spread like a cancer. It is a parasite, corrupting the heart of a galaxy that was once great," Kylo says. "On Coruscant, where the Imperial Palace once stood, the bureaucrats of the Senate rule over a kingdom of beggars and thieves, bowing to the whims of the weak and the cowardly! But I know the same sacred truth that Palpatine knew: the Galaxy belongs only to the strong!"
A murmur of approval echoes through the room—but one of Kylo's invited guests remains skeptical.
"And you mean to challenge them, do you? Shall the fleet of the New Republic bow to a half-grown boy?"
As an answer, Kylo pulls a familiar object from the folds of his cloak and holds it up to the light. His guests gasp in shock as they get a good look at it. It's Darth Vader's helmet!
"They will bow to the heir of Darth Vader!" he calls, his voice echoing through the chamber.
"Who are you, Ren?" the skeptical guest asks. "Who are you, truly?"
A sly smile crosses Kylo's lips.
"Once, my name was Ben Solo," he says. "My father was a lowborn smuggler. My mother, raised by the Queen of Alderaan, was the daughter of a Jedi Knight. His name was Anakin Skywalker—but you knew him by another name."
Kylo ignites his lightsaber as he holds Vader's helmet aloft.
"I fight in the name of my grandfather, who once led the Empire to victory. I remember those who came before me. And when the time comes, I ask only that you take what is yours."
After a long silence, someone finally speaks.
"What do you propose?" he asks.
Once again, Kylo smiles.
"Stay vigilant for word from Coruscant," he says.
On Coruscant, Leia disembarks from her starship with Finn, Poe, and BB-8 in tow, and she's promptly greeted by mobs of spectators—some of whom clearly adore her, and some of whom apparently despise her. Since she went underground and joined the Resistance years earlier, Leia hasn't been seen in public in a long time, much less on the capital planet of the New Republic.
A short distance away, Leia's destination looms above the crowds. It's the Galactic Senate Chamber—the building where Palpatine declared himself Emperor over half a century ago. She doesn't say a word, but the implication is clear: Leia has come to address the Senate on the threat of the First Order. Just like her mother, who once appeared before the Senate to call for aid on behalf of her people, Leia plans to call for aid against those who would keep Palpatine's dream alive.
Inside the Senate Chamber, a massive multi-species delegation of planetary representatives has gathered to hear Leia's testimony. Before she approaches the platform at the center of the chamber, she orders Poe and Finn to wait on the sidelines for her.
"It's been seven years since your last public appearance," one Senator says, as Leia takes the stand. "What urgent matter begs the attention of a princess?"
Derisive laughter echoes through the chamber, but Leia stays passive.
"I was a princess once," Leia says pensively. "I was a rebel. A diplomat. A smuggler's lover. It never really mattered to me. At heart, I've only ever been a soldier."
"Once, perhaps," the Senator fires back. "This is peacetime, Your Highness. Have you forgotten that?"
"I don't forget many things," Leia says. "Can you say the same?"
A murmur of unrest echoes through the chamber. The Senator, unamused, proceeds forward.
"Speak your piece, Your Highness," he says coldly. "You have the floor."
True to his word, Luke gives Rey her first lesson in the Force in the early morning hours, encouraging her to reach out with her feelings while meditating at the top of a mountain. As Rey feels herself mentally connecting with the life around her, Luke tells her that the Force pervades all things, and all things achieve balance through the Force. Life and Death, Light and Darkness, Birth and Decay, and all of the forces that shape the universe itself. Rey realizes that she feels that same Force within herself.
While the Force once gave the Jedi great power, Luke believes that the Jedi were undone by their arrogance when they convinced themselves that the Force belonged to them. As he tells Rey: even if the Jedi die out, the Force can never truly fade away—and the people of the Galaxy don't need the Jedi to teach them how to connect with the Force.
"And this is the lesson," Luke says. "The Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die the Light dies is vanity. Can you feel that?"
But Rey's lesson suddenly takes a dark turn when Rey senses something truly powerful and truly evil: a dark cavern beneath Luke's island temple, where the Dark Side of the Force gathers and festers. Something in the cavern calls out to her, promising to answer every question that she's asked herself since she was young. Despite Luke's warnings, Rey finds herself drawn to the darkness, forcing Luke to cut her lesson short.
Visibly disturbed, Luke realizes that Rey's connection to the Force might be stronger than he realized—and she might be more susceptible to the allure of the Dark Side than he feared.
"That place was trying to show me something," Rey says.
"It offered you something you needed," Luke says. "And you didn't even try to stop yourself! I've seen this raw strength only once before, in Ben Solo. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now."
As Luke strides away, Rey contemplates the unsteady ground beneath her feet, wondering what the cave was trying to show her.
"I think my report speaks for itself," Leia says, at the conclusion of a short speech before the Senate.
"Yes, quite..." the Senator says. "A terrorist base on Ilum? A fanatic with a lightsaber?"
"A fanatic with a lightsaber and an army," Leia corrects him. "Kylo Ren is more than a terrorist. He has ambition. He has charisma. And he has power. Power like I haven't felt in years. Not since..."
Leia's voice falters as she remembers her first encounter with her father as an adult. She doesn't finish her sentence, but her thoughts are clear: "Not since I stared Darth Vader in the face."
"By all means, Your Highness..." the Senator says, rolling his eyes. "Indulge us with your murmurings about ripples in the Force!"
Mocking laughter echoes through the chamber. It's immediately clear that few of the Senators take the Force seriously, dismissing it as an ignorant superstition.
For the first time since she arrived on Coruscant, Leia raises her voice. Anger flashes in her eyes as she silences the laughter with a single word.
"QUIET!" she yells. "Don't you ever forget: I fought on the frontlines with the Rebel Alliance! I gave everything I had to their cause, and I nearly died for it! I haven't forgotten what I fought against. Thirty years ago, I learned the true meaning of evil, and I stared it down and held my ground. The Dark Side isn't a fairy tale. Believe in it, or don't. It'll rip your heart out just the same."
Sufficiently goaded, the Senator rises to his feet.
"You would dare befoul this chamber with your superstitious clamor?" he fires back. "And shall we be lectured on evil by the daughter of Darth Vader?"
All around the chamber, Senators audibly gasp. Leia stares down her adversary from across the length of the room, and his lips curl into an arrogant sneer. He has mentioned her greatest shame—the one that she could never overcome.
"We haven't forgotten the past," the Senator says. "We remember what happened when the Jedi were allowed free reign. We remember what happened when the people of the Galaxy vainly put their faith in the Force. And we remember the Jedi who sat at the Emperor's right hand. Rest assured: the past will not repeat itself. If the Jedi would die, then let them die."
Leia's lips tremble as she struggles to speak.
"The Jedi aren't dead," she says. "There's one left. And he won't stay gone forever."
"Luke Skywalker..." the Senator says derisively. "You say that you've foreseen a dark future for this Republic. So tell us, Your Highness: when that future comes, will one old man be enough to save us?"
Leia takes a deep breath.
"For all our sakes, I hope so."
Kylo Ren's starship drops out of hyperspace, accompanied by dozens of First Order ships. As the fleet courses through the darkness of space, we see that they're flying in formation around a strange-looking starcraft that doesn't look quite like anything we've seen before. Its body is elongated, it's covered with transparent viewing windows, and glowing orbs endlessly spin around its midsection, pulsing and crackling with powerful energy.
At the bridge of his flagship, Kylo sits behind a control panel. In the viewing window, a planet comes into view.
It's Coruscant. Kylo Ren and the First Order have come to the capital of the New Republic.
"Remember the plan," Kylo says to his officers. "And ready the Star Hammer. We've only got one shot at this!"
In a pristine Planetary Security station at the heart of Coruscant—similar to the one we saw on Jakku—uniformed officers monitor a series of holographic computer banks, which display Coruscant's defense grid of armed orbital satellites. Suddenly, one by one, the computer monitors begin flashing bright red.
"Something's not right..." a Planetary Security officer says, suddenly worried. "We're losing contact with our orbital defense grid!"
As his starship enters Coruscant's orbit, Kylo keys a command into a computer panel.
Back in the Planetary Security station on the surface of the planet, a look of abject horror crosses one officer's face.
"No..." he breathes. "That's not possible!"
"What's going on?" his commander asks.
"It's our defense grid... We can't get a signal through, but our satellites are still moving on their own! They're turning—and they're aiming at the surface of the planet!"
In an instant, the commander realizes what's happening: someone has hacked Coruscant's defense grid, and they're attacking the planet with its own defenses!
The commander begins barking orders to his subordinants.
"Send a message to every security station on the planet: the capital is under attack!" he yells.
In the Senate Chamber, Leia and the Senator stare each other down. But before either of them can say another word, the building shakes, and the ground rumbles.
Outside, a massive barrage of laser-fire rains down from the sky as the hacked satellites fire at the surface of Coruscant. Within moments, the center of the city is in flames. Buildings buckle and collapse, and the screams and cries of dying civilians echo through the streets.
Inside the Senate Chamber, a Planetary Security squad rushes inside and orders the assembled Senators to evacuate. As the terrified politicians prepare to follow the Planetary Security officers to the nearest spaceport, one of the officers points to Leia.
"You! Come with us, Your Highness. We have orders to evacuate you separately!"
Leia gestures to Finn and Poe, who look around in terror and confusion as Coruscant collapses around them.
"I'm not leaving alone," Leia says. "They're coming with me!"
Together, Leia and her companions make a mad dash to the spaceport as chaos erupts all around them. In the skies above Coruscant, the First Order's warships come into view as they unleash a hellish artillery barrage on the buildings below.
After a long run to the spaceport, the Planetary Security officers direct Leia to her ride off of Coruscant. To her surprise, it's not a civilian transport—it's the Comet Chaser, a warship in the New Republic space fleet.
"You've been designated a critical asset by New Republic High Command!" the officer says. "You have intelligence on the First Order. That means we want you by our side."
They board the Comet Chaser. Evading enemy fire, the warship takes off into the sky to join the unfolding space battle.
But the worst is yet to come...
In Coruscant's orbit, Kylo's elongated spacecraft—the mighty Star Hammer—charges its central reactor, and the glowing orbs spinning around its midsection begin to speed up. On the bridge of his starship, Kylo lays his hands on his control panel and begins making a complex gesture with his hands. The spinning orbs around the Star Hammer's midsection begin to speed up—and somewhere in the distance, a massive object approaches Coruscant...
Back in the Planetary Security station on Coruscant's surface, one of the monitoring computers goes haywire. Heads turn as it begins beeping a shrill warning siren.
"Something's coming..." one of the officers says. "Gravity fluctuations are off the chart! Whatever it is, it's big!"
When he realizes what he's looking at, the commanding officer's mouth hangs open in shock.
"No..."
In the orbit of Coruscant, we zoom in on the Star Hammer as it shoots a burst of iridescent blue energy into the distance and hits Coruscant's moon. Finally, we realize what the Star Hammer is doing: it's an advanced superweapon that controls gravity, and it's caught Coruscant's moon in a powerful tractor beam. Now, as the First Order rains destruction down on the the New Republic's capital, it's preparing to hurl the moon at the surface of Coruscant, forcing the two celestial bodies into a massive collision that will wipe out all life on the planet.
As the moon moves inexorably toward the surface of Coruscant, hundreds of civilian transports take off, desperately attempting to flee to freedom.
On the surface of Coruscant, all Hell breaks loose as the moon comes into view, looming large over the seas of panicking civilians on the ground. Earthquakes tear through the surface of the planet, the ground splits open, and buildings collapse by the dozens.
The Republic space fleet can repel an enemy space fleet, but they can't fight the raw power of gravity. Somewhere in the distance, Republic starships attempt to fight their way through the First Order's battle lines to take a shot at the Star Hammer and stop the moon—but it's already too late.
As the Comet Chaser carries them into space, Finn and Poe can only watch in awe and horror as the moon slams into Coruscant, obliterating the New Republic's capital within moments.
Far away, on another starship, a man dressed in Imperial colors watches the destruction of Coruscant unfold on a holographic viewscreen. As we soon see, it's the same man who skeptically dismissed Kylo at his gathering.
Suddenly, Kylo's face appears in his viewscreen as he sends him a transmission from Coruscant. He leans in close, staring coldly.
"Do I have your attention now?" Kylo asks.
TL;DR: My version of The Last Jedi begins with Kylo Ren and the First Order forming a massive alliance of terrorist groups who continue to champion the cause of the Galactic Empire. While Rey trains with Luke on Ahch-To, Finn and Poe accompany Leia to the New Republic capital of Coruscant, where Leia attempts to warn the Galactic Senate of the threat of the First Order. Despite her best efforts, Leia's warnings are ignored by the Senate, who dismiss her visions of the rebirth of the Dark Side as superstitious prattle.
In the middle of Leia's speech before the Senate, the First Order launches a shocking attack on the capital, using an experimental weapon known as "The Star Hammer" (which controls gravity) to hurl Coruscant's moon at the surface of the planet, wiping out most life on Coruscant. Amid the chaos, Leia narrowly manages to escape in a New Republic warship with Finn and Poe—but the First Order's attack turns out to be the first step in a coordinated assault, signaling Imperial loyalists all across the Galaxy to emerge from the shadows and attack the Republic.
Additionally: the Knights of Ren have names, and it's established that they all use the surname "Ren"—hinting that the name holds some personal significance for them. And in a conversation between Kylo Ren and his mysterious mentor "The Oracle", it's hinted that Kylo's war with the New Republic is just the first step in a quest for ultimate power.

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE:
1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000

1-1-2001	1-8-2001	1-15-2001	1-22-2001
1-29-2001	2-5-2001	2-12-2001	2-19-2001
2-26-2001	3-5-2001	3-12-2001	3-19-2001
3-26-2001	4-2-2001	4-9-2001	4-16-2001
4-23-2001	4-30-2001	5-7-2001	5-14-2001
5-21-2001	5-28-2001	6-4-2001	6-11-2001
6-18-2001	6-25-2001	7-2-2001	7-9-2001
7-16-2001	7-23-2001	7-30-2001	8-6-2001
8-13-2001	8-20-2001	8-27-2001	9-3-2001
9-10-2001	9-17-2001	9-25-2001	10-1-2001
10-8-2001	10-15-2001	10-22-2001	10-29-2001
11-5-2001	11-12-2001	11-19-2001

• With the defeat of the Alliance at Survivor Series (more on that in a bit), the WWF basically reset the whole promotion and also brought back Ric Flair and Jerry Lawler, all of which led to the first positive ratings boost Raw has had in quite awhile. The Invasion angle, after being arguably the biggest flop of an angle in wrestling history, came to an end where WWF won in a confusing mess of a main event. With the exception of the one successful Invasion PPV, all the potential money in doing a WWF vs. WCW feud was completely squandered due to an incredible string of dumb booking and bad business decisions. But that's allegedly in the past now and Raw this week felt like one of those old WCW/Vince Russo company reboots, with the old storylines being dropped and everything starting fresh. Dave hopes this goes better than the 3 times Russo tried to reset WCW.
  
• So anyway, let's start with Ric Flair. He had verbally agreed to a deal with WWF on the night of Survivor Series to accept a buyout from WWF on the remainder of his Time Warner contract. The deal wasn't officially signed until about 3 hours before the Raw where he debuted, at which point Flair officially signed with WWF and Time Warner released him from his remaining WCW deal. It was a photo finish because WWF didn't know if Flair would get the release in time and they didn't really have a backup plan if he didn't. With WCW no longer in business and no more WCW office staff, the Time Warner people are left handling all the old WCW contracts and because of that, things were moving more slowly than normal. As seen on Raw, the plan is for Flair to play an adversary to Vince McMahon, with each of them owning 50% of WWF, which will ultimately lead to the long-talked about brand split, with Vince in charge of one side and Flair the other since they can't get along as co-owners. Flair has had on-and-off again talks with WWF ever since WCW folded back in March but the hold up was always Flair not wanting to walk away from his WCW contract, which guaranteed him big money until Feb. of 2003. In recent weeks, the XWF had also spoken with Flair about buying out his contract so there was some pressure there and ultimately, WWF apparently made a good enough offer for Flair to accept it. He will turn 54 years old in a few months and signed a 3-year contract. He's expected to work some matches, but only on big shows and his first match won't be for a few more months because he wants to get back in the shape he wants to be in, since he hasn't really wrestled in a long time. Flair's return, in Charlotte NC no less, got the huge pop you would expect and Flair later told Dave it was one of the top 3 or 4 biggest highlights of his career.
  

WATCH: Ric Flair returns to WWF in 2001

• Then there's Jerry Lawler, who had actually agreed to a deal with XWF and even worked their television taping last week. When the decision was made to blow off the Invasion angle, it meant Paul Heyman would be taken off television. They would need a new announcer for Raw and the natural choice was Lawler. He has been close to coming back several times over the last few months, but there was always opposition within the company from some people due to the way Lawler kinda nuked his bridges behind him when he left. If you don't recall, Lawler was extremely vocal with his displeasure over how WWF fired his now ex-wife Stacy Carter and the heat got so bad that WWF pulled their developmental deal away from Power Pro Wrestling in Memphis because of their Lawler connections. After Stacy Carter left Lawler (for former WWF developmental wrestler Mike Howell), he began mending fences with the company. They actually asked Lawler to come in a couple of weeks ago, but by that point, he had already agreed to do the first round of XWF tapings as well as appear on WWA's tour of England. Lawler actually signed a contract with XWF which has a non-compete, but his longtime friend Jimmy Hart asked Lawler to work the tapings and then if he still wanted to go to WWF, they wouldn't try to stand in his way. Lawler said the decision wasn't easy because he had committed to XWF and enjoyed working for them, but he also recognized that at this stage in his life, he needed to accept the job that was most stable for his future and XWF is anything but a sure bet. Much like Flair, there was some last-second contract wrangling and he didn't actually sign his new 3-year WWF contract until just before Raw went on the air. He's making roughly the same $250,000 per year he was making before he quit the company last time. Lawler went out on the air having not seen Survivor Series or really without having watched much WWF television at all this year and had zero knowledge of any of the current storylines so that was mostly left to Jim Ross to get over for most of the show while Lawler cracked jokes. Lawler's new deal still allows him to take independent bookings and coincidentally enough, Lawler will still be working with Jimmy Hart to promote local shows in Memphis, which will act as something of a developmental territory for XWF.

WATCH: Jerry Lawler returns to WWF in 2001

• Raw also saw the departure of Mick Foley. As noted in the past, Foley hasn't been happy with the direction of the company for awhile and a couple of weeks ago on Raw, he cut a promo alluding to all his issues with how the company has been dropping the ball, which was more shoot than scripted. Even though Foley seemingly left the company in kayfabe 2 weeks ago, Vince legitimately wanted to give Foley a real proper send-off, since he's literally never had the chance to do that with any of his top stars (most top guys who leave the WWF usually do so on bad terms behind the scenes). So they had a pre-taped segment on Vince's private jet, with Foley and Vince talking about everything Foley has given to the business and then when the plane landed and Foley walked off, in a sitcom-like goodbye, Vince smiled and said, "Have a nice day." Dave feels like it was a pretty clumsy goodbye and paled in comparison to how, say, NJPW for instance treats its retiring legends. But better than nothing, he supposes. It was long expected that after Foley retired from in-ring competition that he would stay with the company in an ambassador role, but turns out that is still pretty restricting. Foley wanted more control over his ability to do non-wrestling projects and the WWF contract meant they largely owned and controlled whatever he wanted to do. So Foley is off to go do....whatever he wants now. Dave says he can write more books, but without the WWF machine to help promote them, it's going to be a tougher hill to climb.
  
• During the WWF quarterly investor call, Linda McMahon surprisingly made very few excuses for WWF's current business struggles and basically admitted that they just haven't been producing good television. Dave runs down all of WWF's business declines over the recent quarter, the company projections for the first quarter of 2002, profit and revenue numbers, comparing quarters from this year to last year, merchandising and licensing, and all that fun business/stock shit. If numbers are your thing, this story is for you. One interesting thing to note is that, due to the decline in PPV buys and the increase in TV rights fees, that means that television is now the top priority and the company's leading source of revenue (it remains that way to this day). Because of that, WWF has to be careful not to alienate sponsors anymore, which is why things aren't nearly as risque now as they were in, say, 1999. Because TV is now the top priority and they can't afford to take too many risks. During the call, Linda first talked about the business being cyclical and made some other excuses for low attendance (9/11), the failing WWF Times Square restaurant (9/11) and things like that. The usual excuses. But then she admitted that the WCW Invasion angle had been a failure and blamed that for much of the company's recent issues. Which, well...yeah. However, when talking about why the angle failed, she first blamed it on a skill level difference in the performers (basically saying that the WCW wrestlers weren't as good as WWF stars) and poor audience response to the WCW stars (specifically the night of the infamous Buff Bagwell/Booker T match on Raw). She also blamed "creative confusion" behind the scenes (in other words, the fact that plans were changing on a daily basis, which is something that falls squarely on her husband). Linda used a football analogy explaining why they dropped the angle, basically saying it failed and they had to back up and punt. With the exception of RVD and Stacy Keibler, all the other members of the WCW/ECW group have been temporarily written off television. Many of them are understandably nervous about their futures. Some will be fine but Dave thinks some are right to be worried. Aside from Booker T, almost none of them would be that terribly missed if they were released. But with the plan still being to do a brand split and running 2 touring groups simultaneously, they are going to need a lot of wrestlers. Most of them are still working house shows, despite being "fired" on TV after the Survivor Series loss.
  
• Oh yeah...Survivor Series is in the books. It was pretty much a one-match show with the WWF vs. The Alliance main event being the only reason anyone cared and the storyline is that everyone's jobs were on the line. For the undercard Alliance wrestlers, many of them really did feel that way. With all the big stars in one match, the rest of the show wasn't great. But the main event delivered and then some. Edge beat Test to unify the Intercontinental and U.S. titles, thus ending the history of the U.S. title, which was dropped. Dave talks briefly about the history of that title (it comes back about 2 years later). The Dudleyz beat the Hardyz to unify the WWF and WCW tag titles, which is also the end of those belts and their history dating back to 1975. Matt Hardy was legit injured in the match when his face slammed into the cage and nearly knocked out his front teeth and he ended up needing a brace put in to keep his teeth in place at the dentist the next day. There's also a chance he suffered nerve damage from a deep cut to the gums. Trish Stratus won the WWF women's title that has been vacant ever since Chyna left the company months ago. Chyna was never acknowledged on commentary and it was never really explained why the title was vacant. Former ECW women's wrestler Jazz debuted in the match and Heyman put her over huge on commentary. And the main event was a 4.5 star show-stealer that was wild, out of control, and just crazy enough to be riveting. Now, 10 months after ECW really died and 8 months after WCW really died, their names were "officially taken off life support and allowed to die with no dignity after a branding manslaughter," as Dave so eloquently puts it. And with that, WCW and ECW are finally, truly dead.
  
• Speaking of truly dead, the XWF television tapings are complete and it's uncertain what their future is. They filmed 10 episodes of TV and the situation with Hogan is still confusing. After initially pulling out of the XWF, Hogan showed up as a surprise and wrestled Curt Hennig at the tapings, which was Hogan's first match in over a year (since he left WCW). The match was said to be about what you'd expect from those 2 at this stage in their career wrestling in front of a few hundred fans in a free theme park studio. Hennig was managed by Bobby Heenan, who even took a bump for the first time in years. Hogan did a promo after saying he's planning to win the XWF title but it's unknown if any of this will ever air even if they do get a TV deal. Hogan reportedly did the match as a favor to longtime friend Jimmy Hart, who is hoping to use the Hogan footage to dangle in front of TV execs to secure a TV deal. Hogan is said to be torn because he wants to be back in the spotlight and wrestling again, but he also doesn't want to be associated with another failure and XWF is by no means a sure thing. XWF is planning to film more TV shows in January and are claiming they want to run a full 145-date house show schedule in 2002. Attempting to do that without viable TV is suicide though. They're also hoping to get guys like Sting, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash when they're available, but that's not a sure bet either. They're also filming segments with celebrities like Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, and Willie Nelson who will appear on the show. So that's basically where we're at with XWF (amazingly, I can't find footage of this Hogan/Hennig match anywhere. Looks like it may have never aired).
  
• Martha Hart threatened a lawsuit this week against Diana Hart over Diana's new book "Under The Mat." Martha's lawyers demanded a public retraction, apology, and for the book to be removed from print and taken off bookstore shelves no later than Nov. 28th or else a lawsuit would be filed. Her lawyers also demanded that Diana Hart and her co-author Kirstie McLennan and the companies that published and distributed the book negotiate an out-of-court settlement. Martha is alleging the book is "filled with distortions, misstatements, and unjustified slurs that attempt to destroy the reputation of my family and me, and undermine the memory of Owen. I have no choice but to deliver a formal libel notice." Dave notes that Diana Hart has pretty much alienated herself from the entire rest of the Hart family, including members of the family who have usually been on her side. Diana responded to the lawsuit threat calling Martha a rich bully who is trying to silence her. "Martha has the money to fight me on it and I don't," she responded in an interview. "Maybe she thinks that's how she'll win this but I know what I've written is true." Dave says the book negatively portrays Martha throughout the whole thing and also painted a negative portrayal of Owen's marriage to her. As mentioned last week, Diana recently appeared on a late night talk show to promote the book in Canada and seemed totally out of it, which drew comparisons to the infamous Farrah Fawcett/David Letterman interview a couple of years ago. This week, Chyna was on that same talk show and the host mentioned Diana's recent appearance and joked that he didn't think Diana could have even read her own book, much less written it. Anyway, Dave wouldn't be surprised to see Diana get hit with more lawsuits because the book is just outrageous and full of obviously libelous material and he's shocked any publisher dared put it out to begin with.
  
• Dave wants to take a moment to thank all the people involved with helping to promote his new "Tributes" book. He spent the last week in Toronto doing promotion on all the news stations, radio appearances, several TV shows, Off The Record, some afternoon talk shows, book signings, Q&As, and more. He thanks all those people, the publishers, the readers, etc. The book is available at most major bookstores throughout North America now as well as Amazon. In its first week, the book outsold both Diana Hart's book and Kurt Angle's book in Canada. To be fair, Dave admits that Angle's book has been out for a couple of months already, but it was still on the bestseller list until just a week or two ago. But still, Dave's pretty proud of how this all turned out and is eternally grateful to everyone who helped and yada yada.
  
• The voting is open for the 22nd annual year-end Observer Awards. Needless to say, 2001 was an interesting year. The wrestling bubble burst, ECW and WCW went extinct, and WWF went from being the most successful company in the world to...well, still the most successful company in the world, but they had the greatest angle of all time handed to them and fumbled it and as a result, business collapsed. Anyway, Dave breaks down all the categories and what they mean and all that fun shit. Cast your votes now!
  
• Carlos Colon's younger brother Noel Colon was shot and killed in San Juan, Pureto Rico last week in his office. Noel worked as the president of a transportation company and had just fired an employee. That employee left and then returned with a gun and shot Colon 4 times in the head and chest. Colon was rushed to the hospital but died there (no word if Carlos helped cover this one up too).
  
• Hayabusa is still hospitalized. He was expected to be moved to a rehab facility but got sick with pneumonia in the hospital, which apparently isn't uncommon for people who basically can't move for long periods of time.
  
• Lots of drama coming out of the King of the Indies tournament a few weeks ago that was held by APW in California. For starters, APW lost more than $10,000 on the show so that's bad news. And then there was a lot of arguments over who should win. APW owner Roland Alexander at first wanted Low-Ki to win the tournament but then Christopher Daniels pushed for Donovan Morgan to win because he's the local guy who has to help carry APW. So Morgan was going to win. But then, the owner changed his mind again and decided American Dragon should win (which he ultimately did). This, along with some bickering over who would run APW's training school, led to Morgan and Michael Modest apparently quitting and planning to open up their own wrestling school and promotion.
  
• Chyna was scheduled to play the starring role in a stage production called My Darling Judith, but the play was cancelled just before its opening. No reason given, but Dave suspects poor ticket sales.
  
• Hey, the XWF has its own section now! Anyway, a bunch more notes from the recent tapings: Nasty Boys became the first tag team champions. Rena Mero is the commissioner and with Roddy Piper running the show and they teased friction between them, which is supposed to lead to a Piper heel turn eventually. Piper also hosted a Piper's Pit segment, which they called "In Your Face with Rowdy Roddy Piper" because they can't legally call it Piper's Pit. Low-Ki worked the tapings, using the name Quick Kick. Juventud Guerrera won the cruiserweight title. They also set up a mixed tag storyline with Jerry Lawler and a new valet named Kitten against Simon Diamond and Dawn Marie, but with Lawler now back in WWF, who knows what will become of that. Former WCW women Leia Meow, Gorgeous George, and Nitro Girl Chiquita are doing a Charlie's Angels gimmick. Buff Bagwell was supposed to come in as one of the top babyfaces, but the crowd brutally booed him and chanted "Bagwell sucks" and "You got fired!" so on the taping for the next episode, they had no choice but to turn him heel. And then they did a promo thing referencing his being fired from WWF and the rumors of his mom calling in sick for him and all that shit. Dave says that's fine for the internet crowd, but this is a company that is allegedly trying to land a national TV deal and compete with WWF, and Dave doesn't like that they're referencing obscure stuff like that which most wrestling fans know nothing about (much less a crowd of tourists that were mostly just looking for somewhere to sit down for a little while and got begged into being part of a wrestling audience). Booking for the minority of internet hardcore fans is Russo-type shit and Dave hopes they don't make a habit of it (XWF isn't around long enough to form any habits). Vampiro appears to be getting pushed hard as one of the top stars. And a couple of matches sucked so bad that they re-taped them the next day.
  
• As for the XWF in general, the reports have been mixed. Everyone involved had nothing but great things to say about how well-run and organized things were and everyone was treated well. The matches were said to be pretty bad considering most of the roster are either green bodybuilders or washed up 80s stars. Jerry Lawler was said to be fantastic on commentary while Tony Schiavone was, well, Tony Schiavone (people these days tend to forget how much 2001 Tony didn't give a single iota of a fuck about wrestling anymore). Of all the wrestlers, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels reportedly impressed people the most, which doesn't surprise Dave at all. Roddy Piper was more coherent than he ever was in WCW, while Rena Mero got shockingly little reaction, to the point that even people backstage were surprised at how not over she was.
  
• Notes from Raw: as mentioned, Heyman was "fired" from commentary and replaced by Lawler. It was a way to totally write Heyman off as an on-screen character, and he will continue to work backstage as a writer. Dave says they should bring him back eventually as a heel manager because good lord, can that guy cut a promo (they do indeed bring him back about 6 months after this, as Brock Lesnar's manager). Trish vs. Lita was arguably the worst 2:44 of wrestling in a major promotion that Dave has seen all year. Then a Dudleyz vs. RVD handicap tables match went sideways when the table didn't break as originally planned and they had to improvise some spots to finish the match. Then they had a segment with Vince firing Shane and Stephanie. First Shane came out, said he lost to a better man, and walked out. The original plan was for Shane to be humiliated and dragged out kicking and screaming, much like Heyman and Stephanie were, but Shane didn't want to do that and Vince ultimately agreed. Also, among the wrestlers privately (because no one dares say it publicly), there was some heat on Shane because he took everyone's finishers the night before and was carried out of the arena, but showed up on Raw not selling anything. Then they did do the kicking and screaming and crying gimmick with Stephanie being dragged out. Shane will be strictly behind the scenes for now, but Dave expects Stephanie back on-screen sooner than later since Triple H is returning soon. Then, Vince McMahon made William Regal literally kiss his ass (the debut of the Kiss My Ass Club) with Vince actually showing some of his bare ass and Regal kissing it. Dave found this whole thing pretty awful and he apparently wasn't alone, as viewers tuned out of this segment in massive numbers according to the ratings. And then the Flair debut to end it.
  
• Notes from Smackdown: they hyped up the December PPV with Michael Cole reading lines that were clearly edited into the show during post production where he teased that they would have a unification match and crown the first ever undisputed champion in the 100-year history of professional wrestling. For starters, that's obviously not true. But even if it was, Dave is just amazed that WWF actually acknowledged that pro wrestling existed prior to 1984. Sharmell Sullivan debuted on the main roster after shockingly little time in developmental as a backstage interviewer. Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle was a really good match and for once, Undertaker actually went out of his way to sell for Angle and treated him like someone who is on his level.
  
• Dave also reviews Smackdown from the previous week since I guess he didn't get a chance before because he was out of town doing book publicity tour shit. Anyway, he says the much-talked about Paul Heyman promo was indeed one of the best promos he's seen in a long time. In regards to the entire Invasion storyline, Dave also says, "Got a feeling this angle will historically be looked at as the single greatest botched angle in wrestling history." (18 years later and....yup. I don't think there's even a close 2nd place) Dave thinks it's sad to imagine how great this angle could have been if they had Heyman delivering these kinds of promos the whole time and really building the Alliance up as equals to WWF, but alas. Dave also seems to think the "What?" chants are getting annoying and notes that people were even doing it at the XWF tapings.
  
• Remember how company president and COO Stuart Snyder was fired a few weeks ago? Dave has more details. Snyder was actually brought in to help WWF expand into other forms of entertainment, such as WWF-produced movies and the failed WWF casino idea in Vegas. Snyder actually didn't have much knowledge of the wrestling business, but Vince wants the WWF to be an overall entertainment conglomerate, not just wrestling. But with business plummeting right now, they decided it might not be the right time for that kind of expansion and Snyder was let go. Also, Snyder was said to be pushing hard for WWF to settle their conflict with DirecTV, but Vince refuses to budge on that issue and refuses to settle and that was a touchy issue with them. Vince has never been good about backing down from a fight publicly, even when it's the smart or right thing to do.
  
• Torrie Wilson appeared on the Howard Stern show this week. She mentioned that she recently got engaged to Billy Kidman. Dave says that's gotta be rough on Kidman, because the WWF sees Torrie as a potential megastar while they clearly don't have any plans for him. That sort of thing can put a lot of pressure on a relationship. Anyway, that's all Dave seems to know. He didn't actually see or hear it. But DDP was also on the show with Torrie. Here's the full interview and it's basically what you'd expect when Howard Stern has a hot chick in front of him:
  

WATCH: Torrie Wilson & DDP on Howard Stern (2001)

• In OVW, Rico Constantino lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Prototype, which means Constantino is finally going to be moving up to the main roster. He got a standing ovation from the crowd afterwards and thanked them for their support. Dave thinks it's going to be interesting to see how his run in WWF goes. Constantino is already 40 years old and that's a tough age to be starting out in the WWF, but he's also really good and well-rounded at all aspects of the business, so who knows.
  
• Mike Awesome suffered a torn ACL and it couldn't have come at a worse time. Awesome says he's trying to avoid needing surgery and is getting a second opinion but with all the rumors of Alliance guys being let go soon due to all the company layoffs, it's a pretty bad time to be sidelined with an injury. Wrestlers in the past have continued working with torn ACLs so it's not unheard of, but it's definitely not the best idea.
  
• The first major review of the upcoming Scorpion King movie starring the Rock is in and it's very negative. Ain't It Cool News reviewed the film calling it a "sad, cliched, poorly acted, horribly written and sadly directed piece of garbage." So.....not great. The movie comes out next year.
  
• Lita was on the cover of TV Guide in Canada and was interviewed. She said her worst injury in wrestling was a dislocated collarbone and shoulder blade from being power bombed by Eddie Guerrero outside the ring.
  
• On his website, Kurt Angle made a post saying that his wife's recent comments about RVD (that he was too dangerous and keeps hurting her husband) were just her opinions as a fan and not his. However, for what it's worth, Kurt Angle was on ESPN a few weeks ago and mentioned a wrestler who had broken his nose in a match recently and then said he would refuse to dignify the guy by even saying his name on the show. But he was clearly talking about RVD. Definitely seems to be some heat between him and Angle.
  
• You may have noticed that William Regal has been suffering bloody noses pretty much every time he wrestles lately. His nose is smashed and infected and bleeds with pretty much any physical exertion and he now needs surgery on it to fix it. But he can't get the surgery until they treat the infection.
  
• DDP was on a radio show doing an interview and admitted that he ended up missing out on about $500,000 by taking a buyout and signing with WWF rather than sitting home and collecting the rest of his WCW contract. Given how his WWF run has gone, probably not the wisest decision in retrospect.
  

WEDNESDAY: Yuji Nagata to face Mirko Cro Cop, more on WWF essentially resetting the company, Chyna on Howard Stern, and more...

► Observer Rewinds remaining: 5