Author: Trafficblast

WWE Smackdown Superstars Stuck In Saudi Arabia

Update: WWE has released an official statement on the flight delays from Saudi Arabia and how Smackdown will be handled tonight. 175 WWE talent and crew boarded a charter flight that had mechanical problems and never took off. Everyone on the plane was stuck inside for more than six hours during this time.

Other WWE superstars booked a separate charter in order to make it to tonight’s Smackdown in Buffalo, New York, but they will not land until after the live broadcast. WWE exclaimed that tonight’s show will feature Daniel Brian, Miz, Carmella, Nikki Cross, Dana Brook, and additional surprises. The wrestlers stuck in Saudi Arabia will leave later tonight.

This may be a good week to watch Smackdown, believe it or not, as fans should get a chance to see more midcard talent that gets lost in the shuffle at times. Additionally, we may even see talent from NXT or Raw show up, depending on the deal between WWE and USA and Fox networks.

Original story below…

If you’re planning on watching tonight’s episode of WWE Smackdown on Fox, be prepared to not see some of your favorite superstars. After an issue in Saudi Arabia following the live event Crown Jewel, many wrestlers are stuck in the country.

According to multiple reports from Dave Meltzer and PWInsider, a flight for WWE talent leaving Riyadh, Saudi Arabia–after its annual Crown Jewel event–and headed to Buffalo, New York has been delayed and everyone has been sitting on the plane for hours due to a mechanical issue. As talent has already gone through Saudi customs, they can’t leave the plane, unless they want to go through customs again.

Reportedly, these stuck wrestlers are trying to find another way home, but the problem is that it’s already a 13 hour flight, minimum, and many of the flights leaving the country make stops in Germany or England before flying to the states, making the trip a day long. Smackdown starts at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT, so there is no way these wrestlers stuck in Saudi will make it back in time.

According to PWInsider, Brock Lesnar left on his own private plane. WWE does have other talent who did not go to Crown Jewel like Sami Zayn, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, and the vast majority of the women’s roster, among others.

There have been a few matches and events being promoted for tonight’s Smackdown, which probably won’t happen. While Miz didn’t go to Saudi Arabia, Bray Wyatt did, and there is a decent chance that he didn’t get out of the country in time to make it to the show, so we may not see the new Universal Champion on Smackdown tonight. Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin was also being promoted, and considering both men were at Crown Jewel, you can count this one out.

The only match that will for sure happen is the women’s tag match: Bayley (c), Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville vs. Nikki Cross, Carmella, & Dana Brooke. Regardless, WWE has a deep enough roster to make the show work, even with a dozen members of its roster missing.

Smackdown airs on Fox on Fridays at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT.

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Classic Horror Anthology Books Of Blood Is Coming To Hulu With Surprising Producer

Writer and director Clive Barker is the man behind Hellraiser, Candyman, and Nightbreed, and one of the most revered names in modern horror. It’s now been reported that his classic ’80s six-volume anthology Books of Blood will be adapted into a movie for Hulu, with Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane producing.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie will feature three stories, based on Barker’s books. The cast includes Anna Friel (The Girlfriend Experience) as a psychologist who meets a man who claims he can speak to her dead child, Britt Robertson (Under the Dome) as a woman who cannot stand any sound, and Yul Vazquez (Russian Doll) as a hitman hunting for a mysterious book. It will be directed by Brannon Braga, who will be making his feature debut, having helmed several episodes of McFarlane’s sci-fi show The Orville.

This isn’t the first time that Books of Blood has been adapted for the screen. The movies Candyman, Midnight Meat Train, and Rawhead Rex were all based on stories from the collection, while an adaptation of the wraparound story, titled Book of Blood, was released in 2009.

Farlane isn’t the only actor and writer best known for comedy to get involved with horror over the past couple of years. Danny McBride co-wrote last year’s hugely successful Halloween reboot and has also written next year’s sequel Halloween Kills. In addition, Chris Rock developed the story and will star in the next Saw movie, which hits theaters next May.

For more, check GameSpot’s guide to the biggest horror movies of 2019, as well as everything hitting Hulu in November.

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Another Anthem Lead Is Leaving BioWare

Anthem continues to lose its lead voices as another public-facing figure departs BioWare following the live service game’s rocky launch.

Chad Robertson, BioWare’s head of live service, announced on Twitter that he’s leaving the studio after 14 years of service. “Star Wars: The Old Republic, Anthem, the Austin studio, and BioWare are in good hands; you can expect great things ahead,” he said. “I’m very excited about the next step of my journey in the game industry and look forward to sharing that soon.”

Robertson is the second Anthem lead to depart BioWare following the game’s launch, after lead producer Ben Irving left the studio back in August. Irving took over Anthem’s post-launch plans when the original creatives moved on to other projects, with Robertson seemingly replacing him in August–albeit with no change of title. Back in September, Robertson said the studio was ditching the game’s “Acts” structure so that BioWare could address some of the “core issues” people were experiencing, opting instead to release future content as seasonal updates.

Robertson has served a variety of roles at BioWare, including Head of Technology and Studio Director at BioWare Austin.

Now Playing: Anthem Video Review

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First-Party Nintendo Switch Games are On Sale

Halloween is behind us, which means the retail world can start leaning into the Christmas season and the sales and savings events associated with the biggest spending season of the year. Walmart has already kicked off its Christmas sales, and while a majority of them are just repackages of already-live price drops, there’s a great chance to save on first-party Nintendo games.

Nintendo Switch Game Deals

Super Mario Odyssey for $43.94

Super Mario Maker 2 for $43.94

The D&D vs Rick and Morty Game is Just as Wild as You’d Expect

This has been a busy fall for Wizards of the Coast’s D&D team. Having just released a new campaign in September’s Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus and preparing to publish another alongside a new setting expansion in Eberron: Rising From the Last War, the team is also getting ready to launch an adventure and starter set based on the hit TV show (and crossover comic series)  Dungeons & Dragons vs Rick and Morty.

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HP Omen X 2S Gaming Laptop Review

Multiple monitors usually bring ultra-productive office setups to mind, but a second display can be convenient when gaming, too. In fact, HP is banking on it: their new Omen X 2S gaming laptop (See it on Amazon) adds a 6-inch display above the keyboard, so you can chat with friends, control your music, or watch Twitch streams while you game.

Not only that, but it’s packed with some powerful internals, including an i7-9750H CPU and the Max-Q tuned version of the RTX 2080, which you can use to drive all 144Hz of the 15-inch, 1080p G-Sync IPS display. For $2,099, that’s not too bad, especially when you consider the novelty of that second screen.

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Mario Kart Tour Multiplayer Beta Is Coming In December

Nintendo has announced a multiplayer beta for Mario Kart Tour that will be held in December, but you’ll need to be a Gold Pass subscriber to get involved.

The beta was announced on Twitter, and will allow players of the mobile racing game to try out the real-time multiplayer mode during an as-yet unspecified time period in December. But players must be subscribed to Mario Kart Tour’s Gold Pass to take part, which costs $4.99/£4.99 per month.

NASA Releases Stunning “Galactic Ghoul” Photos

In the spirit of everyone’s favourite scary holiday, NASA has released several photographs of beautiful yet slightly spooky space phenomena.

The eerily stunning images shared on NASA’s official Twitter and Instagram accounts, were captured by several different programs across the agency.

The first features an incredibly menacing image of our sun, resembling a creepy burning face and was taken by NASA’s Heliophysics Division’s Solar Dynamics Observatory which specifically monitors the sun.

Unboxing the Death Stranding PS4 Pro Limited Edition Bundle

Death Stranding is making its way to the PS4 on November 8, and alongside it will launch a limited edition PS4 Pro bundle with an exclusive console design.

You can check out that limited edition PS4 Pro in the video unboxing above, in which Max Scoville and I show off the Death Stranding-themed PS4 Pro as well as the limited edition orange translucent DualShock 4 controller.

You can check out IGN’s Death Stranding preorder guide to find out where the PS4 Pro special edition may still be available, as well as which other versions of the game you can preorder ahead of its launch.

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