Author: Trafficblast

Resident Evil Village: Here’s What Comes in Each Edition

Resident Evil Village is set to release for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on May 7, 2021. If you buy the PS4 or Xbox One version, the next-gen upgrade is free within the same console family. It will also be available in several editions, so read on to see what comes in each. You can preorder the game now (see it on Amazon, and in the UK).

Preorder Resident Evil Village (Standard Edition)

revillPS4 (includes free PS5 upgrade)

PS5

Xbox One / Series X

The standard edition of Resident Evil Village comes with the game itself, along with the preorder bonus detailed below. Note that the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions are holding steady at $59.99, rather than the $69.99 price of some other “next-gen” games.

Resident Evil Village Deluxe Edition

resident-evil-village-deluxe-editionPS4 (includes free PS5 upgrade)

PS5

Xbox One / Series X

The deluxe edition comes with the game itself, plus the Trauma pack, which following in-game items:

  • Mr. Everywhere
  • Safe Room Music
  • Found Footage RE7 Filter
  • Save Device
  • Albert01Chris
  • The Tragedy of Ethan Winters
  • Max Difficulty

Resident Evil Village Collector’s Edition (SOLD OUT)

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The collector’s edition is available at GameStop and comes with all the digital items from the deluxe edition, as well as the following items:

  • Chris Redfield figure
  • Artbook
  • Poster
  • Box and steelbook case
  • Trauma pack (see deluxe edition above for contents)

Resident Evil Village & Resident Evil 7 Complete Bundle

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If you missed Resident Evil 7 and want to play both games, you can buy the digital-only Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 7 Complete bundle. While on PlayStation you get instant access to Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition (and Village once it comes out), on Xbox you don’t get RE7 early (you have to wait for May 7 to play both games. It’s also worth noting that Resident Evil 7 is available in the PlayStation Plus Collection and on Xbox Game Pass.

Resident Evil Village Preorder Bonus

resident-evil-village-preorder-bonusPreorder any version of the game, and you’ll get the following in-game items:

  • Mr. Racoon Weapon Charm
  • Survival Resource Pack

A couple of retailer-exclusive preorder bonuses are also available:

  • PlayStation Store – Resident Evil Village soundtrack
  • Best Buy – Steelbook case

What Is Resident Evil Village?

Resident Evil Village is a sequel to Resident Evil 7, so once again you play as Ethan Winters, a poor unfortunate soul who arrives at a castle to rescue his daughter only to find a new group of vicious, supernatural characters who are eager to torture and kill him. This includes the tall vampire lady who became a meme the moment she made her debut, as well as her daughters, who are apparently made of bugs that can… go under your skin? It’s all a bit over the top, but that’s what fans love.

Like RE7, Village is a first-person shooter, but this time they’ve added a blocking mechanic that will play a key role in combat. They’ve also added crafting and an RE4-like inventory system. PlayStation 5 owners can download a demo now, but a different demo is planned later for the previous-gen consoles.

Other Preorder Guides

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Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

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New Super Monkey Ball Title Potentially Leaked

Earlier today, a new Super Monkey Ball game titled Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania was listed on The Australian Classifications board, seemingly indicating a new entry in the long-running franchise is coming. If this leak follows the same timeline as the last entry in the Super Monkey Ball series–which was rated by the board on July 16, 2019 and released only three months later–it’s possible game could be just around the corner. The news comes nearly a year after the game was teased by voice actor Matt Brian, who has shared multiple Instagram posts indicating that a new game is in development.

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If confirmed, Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will be the first original Super Monkey Ball game released on consoles in nearly a decade, a welcome sight for weary Sega fans who might have been a bit let down by 2019’s Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD. Despite Banana Blitz HD’s reception, its release could mean something exciting for the next entry in the series: a release across all consoles and PC.

For those unfamiliar with the first entry in the series, simply titled Super Monkey Ball, it was the first Sega title published on a Nintendo console due to the failure of the Dreamcast. The puzzle game received high praise from critics, with GameSpot’s review stating “GameCube owners couldn’t ask for a better party game to play with friends.” In addition to providing a fun multiplayer experience with mini-games such as Monkey Target, the series also boasts a challenging single-player campaign.

It’s also worth mentioning game director Masao Shirosaki expressed interest in including Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima in the series’ next entry back in a 2019 interview with Crunchyroll.

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New Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix Lifts Its Loaded Dice Curse

Developer Larian Studios has released a new hotfix for Baldur’s Gate 3. Hotfix 10 is aimed at balancing the loaded dice feature added in Patch 4. Previously, turning on the feature could accidentally doom you to terrible luck.

The perk of loaded dice is to ensure that you’re not completely reliant on chance. If you get a string of bad luck, the loaded dice will favor you to have a few good rolls. However, folks have been complaining that the loaded dice are too weighted to the adverse effect as well, forcing streaks of bad luck on players if they happen to get several good rolls in a row.

“We noticed in your feedback that the RNG wasn’t feeling fun for you,” Larian Studios wrote in a blog post. “We’ve seen the dice described as being harsh, cursed, rigged and someone said the RNG was downright evil. We want you to have the best experience possible when playing the game and so the changes in [April 15’s] hotfix are here to help with your hit chance, if you’re playing with loaded dice.”

So from now on, loaded dice will only ever bend your luck in your favor. So if you get a streak of bad luck, the loaded dice will throw you a bone and give you some good rolls. And if you’re on a hot streak and only getting good rolls, the loaded dice will now just do nothing. It won’t punish you and curse you with bad luck. “This change also applies to NPC’s and enemies, so the effects on the relative challenge of combat should be minimal,” Larian Studios wrote.

The full patch notes for Hotfix 10 are listed below.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix 10 Patch Notes

  • RNG:
    • Disable the failure RNG debt for combat rolls
  • Stability:
    • Fixed crash when examining a deactivated entity (like the Bulette disappearing).
  • Larian Launcher:
    • Added game pages for D:OS and D:OS2
    • Added a button for players to verify game files after a crash
    • Double clicking via LMB on the game selection section (Top left) no longer makes the launcher details disappear.
    • Update the bottom logo to add interactivity + make it clear it leads to larian.com
    • Selecting a game using RMB no longer causes the player to be stuck on one game
    • Added continue button so you can load your most recent save directly from the launcher

Now Playing: Baldur’s Gate 3 – New Druid Gameplay

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The Division Movie Still Happening, But Might Have A New Director

It’s rumored that Netflix’s upcoming movie based on Ubisoft’s The Division will no longer be directed by John Wick’s David Leitch, and now one of the key creators on the project has weighed in. Producer Kelly McCormick, who is married to Leitch, said she was unable to confirm whether or not Leitch remains attached to direct, or, as the rumors are saying, if Skyscraper director Rawson Marshall Thurber has stepped in to take over.

“I cannot confirm or deny but either would be awesome as the director,” she told Collider.

Leitch’s busy schedule was referenced as one potential reason why he might not be able to direct The Division, and would instead produce instead. McCormick alluded to this busy schedule, saying she and Leitch have now wrapped up production on the star-studded action movie Bullet Train but the work isn’t done yet–there will be 30 weeks of editing on it.

While it seems technically still possible that Leitch could direct The Division, given his workload, it wouldn’t happen anytime soon. That said, McCormick pointed out that work continues on The Division’s script right now.

“We’re finishing production on Bullet Train now and we’ll be in edit for 30 weeks,” she said. “The Division, we’re writing at this time. We’ll see how that script turns out.”

Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain remain attached to star and produce The Division’s movie. According to the latest reports, Thurber is now co-writing the script for The Division movie with Ellen Shanman and potentially Leitch and McCormick.

As for The Division game series, Ubisoft will continue to support the 2019 game this year with new content. The studio that made the game is also working on an open-world Star Wars game.

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Fallout 76 Season 4: Armor Ace in Cold Steel Details Revealed

Bethesda has provided some broad details about Fallout 76‘s Season 4 content drop, Armor Ace in Cold Steel, coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on April 27.

The new season sees players rejoining Armor Ace and the Power Patrol to take out Commissioner Chaos and his goons the Yukon Five. This quest line drops alongside the Locked & Loaded update, which includes more SPECIALs loadouts, improvements to the CAMP and Shelter system, and an all-new Daily Ops expansion.

Season 4 also features 100 ranks for players to run through, as well as rewards to claim when making it through the ranks. This includes mannequins and other objects for CAMPs, new power armor sets, more weapon skins, and additional cosmetics like backpack flairs and tadpole badges.

While waiting for Season 4 to go live, Fallout 76 players can participate in a double S.C.O.R.E. XP event from APRIL 15-19. Players will earn double the rate of S.C.O.R.E. points for each completed Daily Challenge.

Bethesda unveiled its 2021 roadmap for Fallout 76 earlier this year. It outlines what’s next for the online multiplayer open-world shooter after Season 4: Armor Ace in Cold Steel and the Locked & Loaded update, including some mysterious change planned for Season 6 this fall.

Now Playing: The Worst Game Launches Of All Time

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SNL’s Pete Davidson To Star In Netflix Joey Ramone Biopic

Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson has been cast in the titular role of Netflix’s I Slept with Joey Ramone, according to Entertainment Weekly. The upcoming biopic “chronicles the life of the iconic frontman of the Ramones,” and the project and casting choice have both been announced on the twentieth anniversary of Ramone’s death.

The movie is an adaptation of Mickey Leigh’s–Ramone’s brother–2009 memoir of the same name, and is being co-written by Davidson and his frequent collaborator, Jason Orley (Big Time Adolescence, Pete Davidson: Alive From New York), who will also direct the film. The adaptation is being made with the cooperation and support of Ramone’s estate.

“I Slept with Joey Ramone is a great rock anthem that will make an equally great rock biopic, set apart by a universal story of family,” said Adam Fogelson, chairman of production company STX Films. “Pete is perfect for this role and we’re excited he and Jason will be bringing this icon of rock to life… [Leigh] has irreplaceable memories of and insights into Joey Ramone, having supported him when no one else would and witnessed him overcome adversity in the most dramatic way.”

Phrased that way, Davidson’s interest in the role–and the public’s way into seeing him as the musician–makes complete sense. While mostly known for his role as a performer on SNL, Davidson has also recently been branching out into bigger dramatic parts, including The King of Staten Island in 2020 and Netflix’s Motley Crue biopic The Dirt in 2019. On the horizon, Davidson will appear in The Suicide Squad this August.

Core Is A Roblox-Style Sandbox Game, And It’s Out Now On The Epic Games Store

Manticore Games has just launched Core, a new sandbox game powered by user-generated content, allowing players to explore a multiverse full of different activities and stories to uncover. In 2020, Core launched in open alpha for PC players, allowing them to dive into the game’s many portals. But now, the game is out on the Epic Games Store in early access.

To celebrate the launch, Manticore Games has also released a brand-new cinematic trailer, showcasing the game’s many locales–all of which are player-made–along with some scenes that tease what’s to come with the future of the game. Coinciding with the early access launch of Core, Manticore Games and Epic have a set of exclusives for new players who download the game. These store-exclusive downloads include new hero characters to play as and player mounts to ride while exploring the Core’s Multiverse.

For the uninitiated, Core is an expansive sandbox that hinges on the conceit of exploring a massive multiverse of worlds that have their own unique experiences, gameplay modes, and narratives to see play out. Think of it as a blend of Fortnite’s colorful and cartoon-like style, the complex creation tools from Media Molecule’s Dreams, and the scope of Minecraft and Roblox. Core is interesting because it manages to tie each of its worlds together, which can be accessed from the game’s hub world where players can meet and venture off together. These worlds include familiar stages shooter levels and racing worlds but can also include more inventive concepts where players can meet up to explore cities and alien planets, or socialize with other explorers.

In a press release following the game’s launch, Manticore Games chief creative officer Jordan Maynard stated the following: “Core’s games showcase what’s possible when the power of creation is made accessible to anyone,” he said. “We built Core to open gaming to a new wave of creators from all backgrounds. That new generation is already publishing amazing experiences that rival those of big studios or that big studios wouldn’t even think of making.”

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Last year, I got to see an early build of the game in action, and even then, it showed great promise for its potential as a platform for creativity within a growing community of players looking to make a game of their own. This similar conceit has seen a lot of popularity in recent years due to the growing success of games like Fortnite and Minecraft, along with films like Ready Player One, all of which give context to its meeting of different worlds coming together in a new medium. With Core’s launch, there’s now another game on the block looking to experiment with the multiverse concept, and it’ll be interesting to see where Manticore Games, along with the community of players taking advantage of the creative engine, can take the game from here now that it’s in everyone’s hands.

Now Playing: Core Games – Official Early Access Cinematic Trailer

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Call Of Duty Warzone Could Use More Than Just A New Map

Call of Duty’s long-teased Warzone event may finally come to fruition on April 21, with a nuke threat that might bring an end to the map of Verdansk as we know it. A fresh battleground would definitely spice things up, but I think Warzone needs more than just a different map.

Originally, the rumor mill was brewing with talks of Warzone getting a completely new, Cold War-themed map based in the Ural Mountains. Now, leaks and teases have surfaced to show Warzone is likely getting a 1980s-themed reskin for Verdansk. Regardless of whether we time travel back to the ’80s or get surprised with a completely new map, there are some ways to improve the quality of life for Warzone.

For being such a huge contender in the battle royale space, Warzone can oftentimes feel very stale. Personally, I expected more drastic changes to be implemented with Black Ops: Cold War’s integration, but we mostly just got the Cold War weapon pool added into the mix. A lot of what I’d like to see is simply geared towards keeping Warzone fresh for future seasons.

Warzone needs more impactful map updates. Verdansk got a train and subway system last year, but adding additional transit didn’t make a huge impact on the map. The landscape isn’t much different now than it was on day one. I’m still waiting for a Fortnite-style event that shows a point of interest get demolished and replaced. At the very least, developer Raven Software should add some new points of interest and landscape changes, so the map feels like it evolves over the seasons. Otherwise, players just drop in a few familiar spots, and half the map just goes untouched until the circle of gas forces the fight there.

In addition to map changes, I’d love to see more events. Warzone is over a year old now, and we’ve only seen two major events: the really exciting but limited-time Black Ops: Cold War teaser mode, and the Halloween-themed “Haunting of Verdansk” event. The Haunting of Verdansk was a great seasonal event that brought nighttime modes with added tension and jump scares. I want Warzone to have fun with more seasonal events in the future.

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Warzone also needs more frequent gun balancing to keep the meta fresh. Far too often we’ve seen one or two overpowered guns take over the gun meta for weeks on end. Season 1 was dominated by the DMR 14 tactical rifle and the MAC-10 submachine gun. Currently in Season 2, lobbies are filled with players running with Cold War’s FFAR 1 assault rifle. It’s hard to even consider other gun options right now, as the FFAR 1 offers the best combination of speed and fire rate, and the right attachments can make it feel like a no-recoil laser beam. I’d love to see the developers step in quicker to balance guns. Warzone just feels more interesting when there’s a good mix of guns in play.

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And assuming Warzone keeps all the same bells and whistles, just on a different visual landscape, the developers should consider removing the Stim, which is a piece of tactical equipment used for quick healing. Unfortunately, players keep finding ways to abuse the equipment for infinite heals to cheat their way to a victory royale. Warzone’s “Stim glitch” is definitely one of the game’s most notorious exploits, and the equipment isn’t even vital to the game. If it can’t permanently be free of exploit, just remove the Stim equipment from the game.

And speaking of cheaters, it’s hard to discuss ways to improve the Warzone experience and not at least mention the need for better anti-cheat solutions. Activision and Raven Software have been vocal about the latest anti-cheat efforts, but it seems to be a constant battle. I hope to see a stronger fight against the cheaters for Season 3 and beyond.

My last wish is probably unlikely, but I’d love to see Black Ops 4’s Blackout map return as a secondary option for Warzone. This wouldn’t be completely outlandish since the developers did reskin Black Ops 4’s smaller Alcatraz map as the now Cold War-themed Rebirth Island map. Rebirth gives a nice change of pace and scenery, and I think having the option to flip flop between an ’80s Verdansk and the vibrant Blackout map would be a nice contrast as well. This would be great to see happen even if it was only available for a limited time, especially while there are other battle royale games like Apex Legends that juggle multiple maps just fine. And there are likely players that never got to experience Blackout because it wasn’t a free-to-play game.

Warzone is one of my favorite battle royales, but compared to some of the competition, it definitely falls short in the updates department. To truly stay fresh, I think Warzone needs to bring more than just fancy neon lights and bomber jackets for Season 3. If the developers can come out swinging with a new map and bring more impactful seasonal updates, year two of Warzone can be even stronger than the first.

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New On Hulu May 2021: Marvel’s MODOK, Shrill, And More

In May, Hulu is offering up plenty of reasons to stay at home with fresh content arriving throughout the month. This includes new movies, series, and classic catalog titles.

Starting with the original content, May 7 will see the return of the comedy series Shrill for its third and final season. Starring Saturday Night Live’s Aidy Bryant as Annie, the show–which is based on Lindy West’s 2016 memoir of the same name–has steadily been a quiet, but sharp and funny show about “an overweight woman who wants to change her life–but not her body.” This last season sees Annie “energized by her breakup with dud boyfriend Ryan and her newfound momentum at work… but does she actually know what she really wants?”

Later in the month on May 21, the series premiere of Marvel’s MODOK will air. Infamously one of the comics giant’s weirdest villains, Patton Oswalt will voice the titular Mental (Mobile/Mechanized) Organism Designed Only for Killing in a similarly and decidedly weird reimagining of the character in a new stop-motion sitcom. After “years and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes,” MODOK is ousted from his own evil organization, AIM, while also “dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life.” The series recently announced its cast also includes Jon Hamm, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Hader, and Nathan Fillion.

For classic content, May is bookended by some pretty great picks that may have gone under most radars after all these years. On May 9, the 2012 film Robot & Frank hits Hulu–Frank Langell stars as an aging jewel thief whose son buys him a robot, which he at first resists, but ultimately warms up to when he realizes the mechanical pal can restart his career as a cat burglar. On May 31, The Donut King comes to Hulu–it’s a wild documentary about the rise and fall of a Cambodian refugee who “escaped genocide and overcame poverty to build a life for himself… baking America’s favorite pastry.”

For more information, check out our guide to Hulu pricing, plans and channels for 2021.

New to Hulu in May 2021

Available May 1

  • Are You The One?: Complete Seasons 4-6
  • Bad Girls Club: Complete Seasons 7, 9, 10 & 15
  • Blind Date: Season 1, Episodes 1 – 45
  • Dating #NOFILTER: Complete Seasons 1 & 2
  • I Am Cait: Complete Season 2
  • Married to Medicine: Complete Seasons 1 – 6
  • Shahs of Sunset: Complete Seasons 1- 6
  • Texicanas: Complete Season 1
  • (500) Days of Summer (2009)
  • The A-Team (2010)
  • The Age of Adaline (2015)
  • Almost Famous (2000)
  • An Elephant’s Journey (2018)
  • Any Given Sunday (1999)
  • The Assassin (2015)
  • Betrayed (1988)
  • Blast From The Past (1999)
  • Blue Chips (1994)
  • Bound (1996)
  • Burning (2018)
  • The Crazies (2010)
  • Cyrus (2009)
  • Dances With Wolves (1990)
  • Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings (2018)
  • Dinosaur 13 (2014)
  • Fascination (2005)
  • Goodnight Mommy (2015)
  • Grace Of Monaco (2015)
  • Grudge Match (2013)
  • Gundala (2019)
  • Hannibal Rising (2007)
  • Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)
  • Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004)
  • The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
  • Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia (2013)
  • How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
  • I Am Legend (2007)
  • I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
  • The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
  • The Iron Giant (1999)
  • Knowing (2009)
  • Lost in Hong Kong (2015)
  • Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
  • Machete (2010)
  • The Man From Nowhere (2010)
  • Midnight Heat (1996)
  • Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)
  • One Fine Day (1996)
  • The Outsider (1980)
  • Predator (1987)
  • Predator 2 (1990)
  • Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
  • Reservoir Dogs (1992)
  • Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
  • Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
  • Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
  • Sahara (1984)
  • Shattered (1991)
  • The Spy Next Door (2010)
  • Step Up 2 The Streets (2008)
  • Step Up 3D (2010)
  • Train to Busan (2016)
  • True Lies (1994)
  • Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
  • Vantage Point (2008)
  • The Virgin Suicides (2000)
  • The Wailing (2016)
  • Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2009)
  • We Were Soldiers (2002)
  • What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993)
  • Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008)

Available May 2

  • Flight (2012)
  • The Iron Lady (2011)

Available May 3

  • The Legend of Baron To’a (2020)

Available May 4

  • Pikwik Pack: Season 1A, Episodes 1 – 12
  • Love Sarah (2021)

Available May 5

  • Shadow in the Cloud (2021)
  • Skyfall (2012)
  • Warrior (2011)

Available May 6

  • The Unicorn (2018)

Available May 7

  • Shrill: Complete Season 3 Premiere (Hulu Original)
  • Little Fish (2021)

Available May 9

  • Robot & Frank (2012)

Available May 10

  • Wander Darkly (2020)

Available May 13

  • Saint Maud (2020)
  • Some Kind of Heaven (2020)

Available May 14

  • MLK/FBI (2021)

Available May 15

  • A Perfect Ending (2012)
  • Cowboys (2020)
  • Good Kisser (2019)
  • Mosquita Y Mari (2012)
  • Reaching for the Moon (2013)
  • The Mountain Between Us (2017)
  • Tru Love (2013)

Available May 18

  • Supernova (2020)

Available May 19

  • Red Dawn (2012)

Available May 21

  • Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.: Series Premiere (Hulu Original)

Available May 22

  • Neat: The Story of Bourbon (2018)

Available May 25

  • Baewatch: Parental Guidance: Complete Season 1
  • Escape from the City: Complete Season 1
  • Farmer Wants a Wife: Complete Seasons 7 – 10

Available May 26

  • Mr Inbetween: Season 3 Premiere (FX on Hulu)

Available May 27

  • Madagascar: A Little Wild: Complete Season 3 (Hulu Original)
  • The Bold Type: Season 5 Premiere (Freeform)
  • The Bachelor: Complete Seasons 20 & 23 (ABC)
  • The Bachelorette: Complete Season 12 (ABC)

Available May 28

  • PLAN B (2021) (Hulu Original Film)
  • The Vigil (2021)

Available May 31

  • The Donut King (2020)
  • The One I Love (2014)
  • The World To Come (2020)

WWE Releases: Here’s What Happened To Future Endeavored Wrestlers In 2020

WWE has begun its 2021 annual layoffs from the company, resulting in many popular superstars being “future endeavored.” While the pain of seeing your favorite wrestler being let go from the company may sting right now, there is hopefully a light at the end of the tunnel for most of these wrestlers who will continue their careers.

Here’s what happened to most of 2020’s WWE Black Wednesday releases, as many of them found new homes at various other promotions. So while it may hurt now, let’s see how things turned out for others in the same situation. However, it’s going to be a little bit of a wait to see what happens since WWE has a no compete clause in its contracts, so be patient.

Drake Maverick

While there were many huge names in WWE lost their jobs in 2020, nothing was more emotional and heartbreaking than the passionate video Drake Maverick put out on Twitter after he was let go. However, he was still slated to compete in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Title Tournament, which took place after his release. Maverick made it into the finals and his release became part of the story. Maverick didn’t win the tournament, but Triple H offered him an NXT contract after the tournament concluded.

The Good Brothers

Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson have bounced around a lot since their WWE release, but in the best way possible. On July 18, the duo appeared at Impact’s Slammiversary PPV, and from there, they became a stable part of the Impact roster. Additionally, the two have hosted two PPV events on Fite titled Talk ‘N Shop A Mania–a over-the-top, ridiculous, comedic wrestling event that is well worth the price of admission. Currently, Gallows and Anderson are teamed up with AEW’s Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks on AEW’s weekly programming. Yes, they’re crossing over between promotions, but you probably already knew that.

Deonna Purrazzo

Purrazzo was working her way up the WWE ladder appearing in the Mae Young Classic then to NXT then to Monday Night Raw. It was at that level she got released. Since then, Purrazzo is a leader of the women’s division on Impact. At Slammiversary, Purrazzo defeated Jordyn Grace to become the Knockouts Champion. She lost the title once since then, regained it, and most recently retired Jazz at Hardcore Justice. Her release from WWE was a huge win for Impact.

Heath Slater

The former 3MB member was involved in a very fun storyline after he popped up on Impact’s Slammiversary. He declared himself a free agent, trying to catch the eye of executive Scott D’Amore, in hopes of getting a contract with the company. He’s also been partnered with his old tag team buddy from WWE Rhino again. And for those recently release, Heath has some words for them.

EC3

The company that gave EC3 his name, Impact, was the first post-WWE stop for the wrestler. He was involved in a feud with Moose for a short time, but that was it for him at Impact. In October, EC3 appeared on Ring of Honor television, and in February, he signed a contract with the promotion.

Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder

Better known as Brian Myers and Matt Cardona. The duo are currently working together again at Impact–along with their podcast The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast. While Myers has been with Impact since July 2020, Cardona took a different path. Cardona first popped up on AEW’s Dynamite which led to a PPV match at All Out later in the year under a limited appearance deal. Reportedly, Cardona currently has that same deal with Impact as well. It’s just nice to see him and Myers reunited on TV again.

Rusev

Happy Rusev Day! Rusev’s–known as Miro now–release came as a major shock to many wrestling fans. In September 2020, Miro popped up on AEW as the best man to Kip Sabian to his upcoming wedding. Miro has leaned in heavily to something from his personal life: he loves video games. On many episode of Dynamite, Miro and Sabian can be seen ringside or backstage playing arcade games.

Aiden English

Many released from WWE have found happiness outside of the ring. Matthew Rehwoldt, formerly known as Aiden English, found himself on YouTube and Twitch, finding a new passion for the world of gaming, podcasting, and talking to people online. He recently started the interview series Straight Shooting, where he talks to fellow wrestlers–this YouTube channel also has a lot of content based around Rehwoldt’s other passion, whiskey. Matt recently released a video on YouTube discussing his feelings of being released during the pandemic, one year after is happened.

Many other of these released wrestlers found themselves in Impact, AEW, ROH, or the indies. And honestly, it’s a trying time for wrestlers and wrestling as a whole since there’s still a global pandemic happening, and wrestling is very much a live experience. So while seeing your favorite stars get let go may be a huge bummer and hurt, there will be something new and exciting for them in the future, just like what happened with those let go in 2020.