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On the March 19 episode of Raw, WWE debuted the “Ultimate Deletion,” a pre-recorded (final?) confrontation between “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. After a wide variety of missteps while booking this feud, the WWE, in a rare instance of humility, allowed Matt Hardy to do whatever he wanted for his latest short film. The result was that #UltimateDELETION was the #1 worldwide trend on Twitter on Monday evening. WWE allowed something outside of its comfort zone to simply “be” and thus reaped the rewards.

I grew up during WWE’s New Generation Era, which meant that every Saturday, I’d cheer as pig farmers, circus clowns, psychotic dentists, and fitness gurus squared off in the ring. It was an age of outlandish gimmicks, when you could wrestle as a Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown survivor, and people would nod their heads and say, “Sure! That sounds reasonable.” It was done with a wink and a smile–an acknowledgement that this was fun, escapist entertainment and not an accurate reflection of the real world.

WWE has lost some of this fanciful, farcical “fun” over the years. Nearly every current superstar portrays an outsized version of himself, rather than a different character entirely. And that’s why left-field characters like Bray Wyatt, a backwoods cult leader who follows the teachings of Sister Abigail–and Woken Matt Hardy, who believes he is an immortal spirit trapped in a human vessel–stand out from the rest of the pack. They hearken back to the sort of free-wheeling, throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks ethos that WWE used to indulge.

It made sense for Hardy and Wyatt to feud with one another, especially leading into Wrestlemania 34. But over the course of several weeks, WWE killed their momentum with a series of lackluster, unimaginative matches accompanied by repetitive promos, where Hardy and Wyatt would trade off laughing at each other. That got stale in a hurry. Fans love Hardy’s Broken/Woken gimmick, which began in TNA, for its variety, randomness, and go-for-broke creativity. And this was not that.

So when Matt Hardy announced that there would be a pre-recorded Ultimate Deletion, even Hardy fans were skeptical, especially if WWE had final say and final cut. But thankfully, the Ultimate Deletion that aired this Monday was fun, weird, and oddly personal; WWE fans will put up with a lot of outlandish BS if the underlying intent behind it is sincere.

The little touches throughout the film, which lasted a little over 15 minutes, were nice; Reby Hardy played Bray Wyatt’s theme on her piano as he made his way to the ring. Hardy alluded to all his signature catchphrases–“I knew you’d come,” “Prepare the battlefield for annihilation,” “Skarsgard, my dilapidated friend!”–without harping on them. The Ultimate Deletion featured both the indoor ring and the outdoor ring from the previous films. Hardy used “boomsticks,” although (probably because WWE is PG) the two men didn’t launch the fireworks directly at each other. There was even a quick glimpse of Matt’s partner-in-crime Brother Nero, who was recently arrested for a DWI.

At its core, despite all the bells and whistles, the Ultimate Deletion was a falls count anywhere, no disqualification wrestling match, which added to its absurdity. And the match itself was very physical and well-worked, featuring stiff lariats and a painful looking apron spot. The straight-faced, official WWE referee, who’s keeping his veneer of professionalism while everything goes to hell around him, was a perfectly underplayed joke.

But most importantly, there was a sense of humor around the whole affair. It was silly and dumb, and rather than playing it straight-faced and selling the segment as a legitimate life-or-death scenario, the Ultimate Deletion let us in on the joke. And in doing so, it respected the audience. No one wants to be talked down to.

Compare the Ultimate Deletion to the Wyatt vs. Orton House of Horrors match, or to the Wyatt Family vs. New Day brawl at the Wyatt Family compound. Both were obvious attempts to rip off the Hardys’ films. Both of those pre-recorded segments had higher production values, slicker editing, and better effects than the Ultimate Deletion. But what they didn’t have was self-awareness. They took themselves too seriously, which is a fool’s errand in this type of narrative framework. Fans don’t care about production values when they can see honest effort–the sort of do-it-yourself scrappiness that the Ultimate Deletion had in spades.

The WWE brass now knows, thanks to social media, how popular these types of segments are. And hopefully, they also know to leave well enough alone, should Hardy want to film another one. In a company so preoccupied with image, polish, and branding, this rare sort of individual, messy creativity deserved the chance to stand on its own. And the Ultimate Deletion did.

FLCL’s sequels come in the form of FLCL: Progressive this summer and FLCL: Alternative this fall, Adult Swim announced.

On June 2, FLCL: Progressive, or FLCL 2 as it’s been known until now, will debut on Adult Swim’s Toonami at 11:30 PM (ET/PT). Progressive follows 14-year-old Hidomi and her classmate, Ide, as they’re pulled into antics to “unlock their hidden potential” by two otherworldly beings, Haruha Raharu and Jinyu. The synopsis promises the return of ATOMSK and a “certain Vespa Scooter.”

FLCL: Alternative, or FLCL 3, debuts sometime in September on Toonami. This season “hands the series over to a totally different team of young creators who will redefine the meaning of ‘sequel,’” the announcement states. Alternative features 17-year-old Kana and her three friends Pets, Mossan, and Hijiri who live ordinary lives until Haruko and a mech fall out of the sky. ATOMSK is also involved somehow in this season.

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Rare studio head Craig Duncan chats about his life and career, including his time running Rare. He discusses how Sea of Thieves arrived at its pirate theme, whether they might let other studios work on classic Rare IP, the Kinect years, and much more. Check out the video above for the entire interview!

If you’d rather listen than watch, here’s an audio-only download link of the full episode.

Here is a preview clip, with Duncan discussing how the Rare team considered vampire and dinosaur themes for Sea of Thieves before finally settling on pirates:

And if you missed it, here’s the last episode of Unfiltered, in which Diablo creator David Brevik discusses how Diablo came to be, what his never-finished version of Diablo 3 was like, and much more:

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Not long after the recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo will again host a stream dedicated to upcoming games. This one, the Nindies Showcase Spring 2018, will focus exclusively on indie games headed to Nintendo Switch.

The stream begins today, March 20, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 4 PM GMT. In advance of the event, we don’t know how long it will be or exactly which games will show up–Nintendo only said it will consist of the “hottest upcoming indie games for Nintendo Switch.” You can find out what those are through the YouTube embed below.

We’re not expecting major news from this event, as Nintendo packed many of its own announcements into the earlier Nintendo Direct. The biggest reveal during that was of course Super Smash Bros. for Switch, but we also learned about a ton of other games on the way for both Switch and 3DS.

Whatever we do end up learning about, we’ll report back with all of the details. Previous Nindies events have unveiled some excellent-looking games, so while this may not be home to any of Nintendo’s own big franchises, we may still get a peek at some exciting games that are just around the corner.

Rockstar is continuing its weekly support of Grand Theft Auto V with another update for GTA Online. This week marks the start of the Southern San Andreas Super Sports Series, a “massive” multi-week series of updates that will introduce new racing modes, vehicles, and more to GTA Online.

The Super Sports Series kicks off with the debut of Hotring Circuit, a new racing mode that Rockstar describes as “an homage to Vice City’s classic Hotring mixed with the Cunning Stunts of GTA Online.” Hotring Circuit is a multi-lap race that up to 30 players can participate in. To celebrate its launch, Rockstar is offering double GTA$ and RP for playing the new mode from now until March 26.

Hotring Circuit is tailor-made for one of the five new cars arriving in GTA Online this week: the Declasse Hotring Sabre. That vehicle is available for purchase now from Legendary Motorsport alongside two new Super-class cars–the Overflod Entity XXR and Cheval Taipan–as well as the Vulcar Fagaloa and Vapid GB200. You can take a look at all of this week’s new vehicles in the gallery below.

If you need more space to store all of your new cars, this week’s selection of deals features discounts on vehicle storage. Players can also save on car upgrades this week, with discounts on engines, brakes, spoilers, and other customization options. You can find the full list of this week’s GTA Online deals below.

The Premium Race this week is Threading the Needle. As always, everyone who participates in the race will earn triple RP, while the players who finish in the top three will receive a big GTA$ payout. This week’s Time Trial is Down Chiliad. Players who manage to beat the target time will be rewarded with a nice GTA$ and RP bonus.

This is only the first part of Southern San Andreas Super Sports Series. On April 3, Rockstar will introduce Target Assault mode to GTA Online, in which eight teams of two players race around a track and shoot at targets. Beyond that, the developer plans to roll out 10 new Special Vehicle Races and two new Adversary Modes. You can learn more about some of the content coming soon to GTA Online on Rockstar’s official website.

This Week’s GTA Online Discounts

Properties

• Executive Office Garages — 30% off
• Custom Auto Shops — 30% off
• Penthouse Suites — 30% off
• 10 Car Garages — 30% off

Vehicle Upgrades

• Engines — 25% off
• Turbo — 25% off
• Brakes — 25% off
• Transmission — 25% off
• Suspension — 25% off
• Spoilers — 25% off
• Bullet Proof Tires — 25% off

When Yakuza 6 was delayed, the sting was eased somewhat by news that we’d be getting a demo to play in the meantime. This would allow players to check out the upcoming game’s prologue and then transfer their progress to the full game. It turns out that, through a glitch, players could access and play the entire game through the demo, forcing Sega to pull it from the PlayStation Store.

The demo has now been fixed and is back on the store for PS4 owners to download–grab it here. It’s still a huge download–36.53 GB–and allows you to carry your save game file into the final version of Yakuza 6 once it’s released. You just won’t be able to play past the opening stages using this demo.

In addition to the demo, there’s also a free PS4 theme for users to pick up on PSN here. This is not directly related to the demo, so if you are planning to wait for the full release to play, you can still grab the theme. It’s called a “locations” theme and is a dynamic one that showcases–you guessed it–various spots you’ll visit in Yakuza 6.

Yakuza 6 originally released in Japan back in December 2016 and is finally due out in the West on April 17. In our Yakuza 6 review, Edmond Tran says the game “reins in its scope, but doubles down on what has made the series great. It’s a unique and fascinating representation of the modern Japanese experience, worth playing even if you’re a newcomer.” Next up for the series beyond this is Yakuza Kiwami 2, a PS4 remake of Yakuza 2 that releases in August.