WWE Survivor Series: five things we learned

Wikimedia Commons / Miguel Discart

No. 1: Brock Lesnar is no longer "The Beast Incarnate."

Ever since Lesnar's return to WWE, creative crafted a narrative that he was basically an unstoppable force. For years Lesnar mowed through opponents with ease (for the most part), and the fantasy booking of a rematch with Bill Goldberg became a reality weeks ago. Goldberg had not competed in 12 years. All it took was a few minutes, two spears and a jackhammer to dismantle that narrative. Fans took their displeasure to social media.

Needless to say, WWE has left their fans scratching their heads yet again.

Photo from wwe.com

No. 2: WWE values Roman Reigns more than Kevin Owens.

This is not new information that WWE favors Reigns more than any superstar on their roster, but it is somewhat disturbing that Owens' stock has never been higher -- especially since teaming up with Chris Jericho. Owens has proven he is more than just talented in the ring. His promos and mic skills make him a complete package. Reigns on the other hand lacks even an average skill when he's on the mic or cutting promos, and many times his in-ring work is good because of who is working with him. The WWE Universe has voiced its opinion of Reigns with overwhelming boos, but in the 5-on-5 match WWE booked Reigns as the last man standing for Team Raw before losing by pinfall to Bray Wyatt. The current United States champion is very possibly going to have another push to main event status as the road to WrestleMania approaches, and that may continue to be met with disgust from the WWE Universe until Reigns turns heel.

Photo from dailyddt.com

No. 3: Bayley will get a push for the women's championship.

Bayley is slowly being groomed to be not just the face of the women's division, but the next No. 1 contender for the championship that is currently held by Charlotte. After Bayley scored the victory for Team Raw, Charlotte attacked Bayley moving the storyline in a new direction immediately. Since the brand split, the women's division has been somewhat stagnant to capitalize off of the momentum it built during the women's revolution. Monday Night Raw has not been able to build the storylines it once was capable of doing when there was a full roster to work with, but there should be less pressure to for Charlotte and Sasha Banks to carry the load by adding Bayley into the mix. Also, Banks can transition to a more natural babyface role by inserting Bayley into the equation as the face and a viable contender. This may happen at Roadblock: End of the Line, but it certainly should happen for the Royal Rumble.

Photo from lazygamer.net

No. 4: The status quo for the cruiserweights will continue.

This summer's Cruiserweight Classic (CWC) gave subscribers to the WWE Network phenomenal entertainment over the course of several weeks, and things appeared to move in a direction where SmackDown Live would gain control over the cruiserweight division after Survivor Series. The Brian Kendrick and Kalisto gave the WWE Universe a wonderful match, but Baron Corbin interfered costing Kalisto the championship. SmackDown Live's general manager Daniel Bryan was so upset with The Lone Wolf's actions that also cost the blue brand's opportunity to takeover the division as Monday Night Raw will keep the cruiserweights. Raw has not been able to replicate the magic the CWC made, and the lack of excitement from the WWE Universe has been noticeable. It would have been to the cruiserweight division's benefit to be on SmackDown Live as Bryan -- technically a fellow cruiserweight -- would be the perfect person to handle it since he was a commentator for the CWC, but the status quo remains for now.

Photo from voicesofwrestling.com

No. 5: Cesaro and Sheamus are a legitimate threat to the New Day.

Arguably the pleasant surprise of Survivor Series. The 10-on-10 tag team elimination match gave fans plenty of action from tag teams old and new, but Cesaro and Sheamus emerged as the team that locked up a win for Monday Night Raw. Stephanie McMahon was ecstatic, and rewarded The Swiss Superman and Celtic Warrior with a tag-team title match opportunity for the Nov. 21 Raw. It's very possible the New Day's early exit is just an anomaly, but Cesaro and Sheamus can be a serious threat to ending the reign of Raw's current tag team champions. WWE has failed to utilize Cesaro -- who is already over with the crowd -- properly in singles' competition, but they have been more successful when he is part of a tag team. Maybe New Day's Survivor Series performance was just a hiccup they will retain on Raw. Just don't be surprised if we end up with new tag team champions because Cesaro and Sheamus are at their peak right now.

Cinema Anniversary: Casino Royale's 10th year

Daniel Craig in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures' Casino Royale 2006

Action movies have been a staple of an audience's movie catalog, and among them are the Arnold Schwazenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis classics.
Superhero movies have joined and are considered the baby brother of the genre, and westerns have the action audiences enjoy yet are considered to be grandpa's action movie.
The spy movie has left a large impression on many generations because one can imagine how awesome it would be to have all the cool toys, fastest cars, freshest threads, hottest women and craziest danger to endure.
The James Bond franchise hits these notes in virtually every movie that has been made, and 2006's Casino Royale -- featuring Daniel Craig as the new Bond -- did exactly that.
Before landing the job as 007, Craig was best known for his roles in Layer Cake (2004) and Munich (2005), but inheriting Bond made Craig an international superstar.
Casino Royale even introduced Bond fans to Eva Green as this installment's "Bond girl" and her career flourished since then.

Eva Green and Craig in MGM and Columbia Pictures' Casino Royale

What made Casino Royale so special is that it served as a prequel to all other Bond films since this was Bond's first mission as 007.
The objective: get into the Texas Hold 'Em poker game ($10 million buy-in and $5 million rebuy) at Montenegro where Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) -- a banker for international terrorists -- plans to win $101.2 million to keep his reputation on the good side of the terrorist market. M (Judi Dench) sends Bond with Vesper Lynd (Green) to prevent Le Chiffre from winning, but it proves to be more dangerous than originally thought.
The movie showed the audience Bond's initial mission to become 007 when he had his first two confirmed kills. Then, the opening sequence had the iconic gun-barrel camera shot that always led to the opening credits that played along with "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell.
Bond gives us the high-energy on-foot chase scene in pursuit of a parkour athlete shortly after that and the tone is set.
Follow that with some insubordination towards M and how things are done at MI:6, and our secret agent has you hooked, and all you want to know is what else he will do to get the job done.
The stunts and action sequences in Casino Royale are arguably the best the franchise had seen up to that point.

   
Throughout all of the chases and fight scenes, perhaps the most memorable parts of the movie could be at the poker table when Bond tries to read Le Chiffre for a tell and gets it wrong losing the $10 million the British government provided for him to play. When Lynd makes the executive decision to not give Bond the $5 million rebuy, Bond discovers he isn't the only operative at the table.
Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) is a CIA agent with the same mission as Bond and offers to stake Bond because he thinks Bond can beat Le Chiffre. And so after some disciplined poker, Bond becomes a threat to Le Chiffre.
The moment of truth comes with a pot that would very well end in either Bond succeeding or failing his mission.

Craig and Mads Mikkelsen in MGM and Columbia Pictures' Casino Royale

And what is a Bond movie without the deathtrap that on occasion threatens the family jewels? No doubt a major ingredient in the formula of nearly any Bond film in the past. Also, don't forget the funny aliases -- especially the ones using innuendo for female characters.
The contrast compared to almost any other Bond movie is that 007 actually falls for the girl (Lynd), and we learn how he became so indifferent towards females in the future.
In the end, Bond always gets his man.
So if you're an avid Bond fan or just plain curious about its greatness, one of the must-see chapters of the film franchise is Casino Royale. And why not celebrate it on its 10th anniversary (Nov. 17, 2006) with a gin martini?
Just make sure it's shaken, not stirred.

Craig in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures' Casino Royale

 *some information was cited from imdb.com and movieinsider.com

The Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant "divorce" by the numbers

USA Today Sports / Kyle Terada

Now that NBA fans saw act one of the Russell Westbrook versus Kevin Durant rivalry, the missing ingredient -- head-to-head play -- has been added to the pot for this dish to simmer until fully cooked.
You already know that Durant got his first victory over his former teammate last week. You know that Westbrook was playfully prepared upon arriving to Oracle Arena with his official photographer outfit (Durant is an avid photographer). But what don't you know?
There is a lot of information to sift through so let's begin with Westbrook and Durant's time together.
According to statmuse.com, as teammates Westbrook and Durant have 527 games played together, Westbrook has 66 games without Durant and Durant has 40 games without Westbrook.
Together is the far greater sample size so that will be the starting point.

Photo from fullhdpictures.com

Westbrook averaged 20.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. Durant averaged 28.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Westbrook shot 43.7 percent from the field, while Durant made 48.9 percent of his shot attempts. As far as 3-point shooting goes, Westbrook was 30.4 percent while Durant hit 38 percent from downtown.
To be fair, Westbrook is not known as a shooter but rather a scorer, and Durant's strength offensively is his ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor.
Yet, Westbrook was taking an average of 16.7 field goals -- making a low percentage -- and 6.5 free throw attempts per game and only scoring 20.7 per game? One would think that having Durant on the floor would help Westbrook be efficient, but he was not.
Despite the ball being in Westbrook's hands for a majority of the time, Durant found a way to score more points efficiently. The strongest weapon for the Thunder did the best he could when he actually got the ball. The ball-centric, shoot-first point guard did not.

Associated Press / Alonzo Adams (from forbes.com)

Both Durant and Westbrook missed a good chunk of time due to injury (Durant more than Westbrook), but the sample size is sufficient.
When Durant had to lead the Thunder without his floor general he responded by increasing his production. In those 40 games, Durant averaged 32.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He also improved his field goal percentage to 51.5 percent (38 percent on 3-pointers) and distribution with 5.5 assists per game. The Thunder went 27-13 (67.5 winning percentage) in that time.
Westbrook had 66 games to showcase his abilities, and he did not waste it. During that stretch he bumped up his scoring (28.6 ppg), rebounding (7.3 rpg) and passing (8.5 apg). And of course Westbrook was taking more shots (22.8 per game) but was only making 42.3 percent from the field. Oklahoma City went 38-28 (57.6 winning percentage) with Westbrook minus Durant.

Associated Press / Ben Margot (from forbes.com)

The final piece to evaluate in this comparison has data, but it is not yet a large enough sample to make a true conclusion. It's like trying to figure out who is getting the better deal between Frances and Robert on HBO's Divorce without letting it play out, but let's look at it anyway.
In Westbrook's six games as the sole leader in Oklahoma City, the Thunder have gone 5-1. The Golden State Warriors have played seven games with Durant, and their record is 5-2. 
The Thunder is getting the best version of Westbrook in his NBA career so far as he sports a 33.2/9.0/9.7 slash line (points/rebounds/assists), and they are all career bests. 
Westbrook is shooting more than he ever has too as he's averaging 24.8 field goals, 5.7 3-pointers and 11.3 free throw attempts per game. Both overall shooting (44.3 percent) and 3-point shooting (41.2 percent) are the highest they have ever been, but Westbrook's also turning the ball over more than he has ever done too.
Durant is also the best version of himself in his short time in the bay area. The former league MVP is scoring 28.9 points per game off of 57.6 percent (40.6 percent from 3-point range) while taking less shots per game (17.9) while playing a career-low of 35.2 minutes per game.
Again, the sample is so small, but that is what we have to look at so far.

Photo from nbalead.com

All the data in the world isn't enough to figure this out, but one more thing can help (technically two); your eyes.
My eyes have shown me a happy and frustrated Durant in Oklahoma City. I realize he was mostly happy for the majority of his time there -- with Westbrook and the city -- but the end showed me a burnt out Durant. He didn't hate the team, the city or Westbrook.
He was ready to be the player he wanted to be, and the Warriors sold him on what they could do.
Westbrook has not shown much change at all. He still plays with the same energy, physicality and chip-on-his-shoulder mentality. He didn't look like he felt guilty about hogging the ball with Durant around, and now he can keep playing that way without some of the judgment the media threw his way.
They both can focus on being who they have always wanted to be.
Durant can now be a 1A/1B option on offense, and this edge that fans and the media have wanted to see from him has come out; a killer instinct if you will.
Durant is smiling again, and he should be.

Photo from Getty Images (gq.com)

*other information was obtained from basketball-reference.com and espn.com