The Movie Trivia Schmoedown is Collider’s hugely popular film trivia competition. Heavily influenced by pro-wrestling, the Schmoedown features huge characters, shocking storylines, and twists galore. Check it out here!
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Top 10 vs Top That
After the Action/Top 10 match at the Spectacular, John Rocha looked straight down the barrel of the camera and addressed The Patriots: wake the fuck up, because I’m back. At the time, this felt like an exaggeration, since Action folded against an average performance from Top 10. After Top 10/Top That, however, it’s fair to say that the Outlaw is well and truly back. This was the most focused and calm that Rocha has been throughout a match maybe ever, and it paid off. Coupled with Knost’s career best performance, this was a match that Top 10 weren’t losing, despite stiff competition from the inexperienced Top That.
A quick note about the moments before the match: the trailers in Season 5 continue to impress, each one topping the last. While the promos were fairly standard, Knost is promo gold, and always has some great lines to throw in amongst Rocha’s more bombastic hype. Goldman is a particular promo favourite of mine, but it was, of course, in the pre-match that Top That were playing up their lack of interest in their opponents, something that would come back to bite them. We also had Napzok at the announcer desk, and I’m pleased to see that the Schmoedown is able to maintain his heel character without losing him as a commentator.
Onto the match, and of course the big headline was Top 10’s perfect 18 point round one. I’ll get to that. First, though, it’s worth saying that Top That look like a stronger team after this match: back when they were IGN, Goldman failed to put up a decent round 1 score, but here he proved that his performance against DC Movie News was no fluke, scoring 6/8 in round 1. While Vejvoda has always been the more impressive of the two, I’d also like to see Goldman play in Singles (as well as Innergeekdom, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere). Goldman was, I felt, the better of the pair here, as Vejvoda’s place as decision maker for the team led to some rushed and incorrect calls that cost Top That the game.
Moving onto Top 10’s round 1, and because Knost and Rocha were playing a top team, it can be hard to be sure whether the questions were just easy, or if this was a really special performance. I always check Late to the Party’s reaction videos here, since Robert and Vanessa have competed in the Schmoedown, with Robert joining the ‘perfect round and the bonus’ club. The pair scored 10/18, and both missed questions, so I think it’s fair to be really impressed with Top 10’s round 1, especially with Knost, who usually puts up around 5 points in round 1. I think that there is some luck involved here, but also, as a fan of the Top 10 podcast, it does seem pretty clear that the return of the show has improved the pair’s trivia skills.
The big round 2 talking point is, of course, Top That’s decision to give Top 10 biopics as their Opponents Choice. I don’t think that watching the Schmoedown should be a requirement of competing, although competitors should try and watch some matches to familiarise themselves with the rules, but once a competitor knows who they are playing, they should watch a few of their opponent’s matches, or even just check the ‘strengths/weaknesses’ section of the tale of the tape on a recent match. Had Top That spend 5 minutes researching their opponents, they’d probably be walking away with a win here, but as it stands, Top 10 scored 10 points in Biopics, without missing a question, maintaining their perfect game. On Outlaw Nation, Rocha was very clear that Knost doesn’t sit back in his strength categories, and that this is still very much a team effort.
In comparison to Top That’s round 2, which was equally impressive, since they scored 10 in Comic Book Movies (a strength of Goldman’s), what makes Top 10 the more impressive team is the pair’s chemistry. Rocha and Knost always talk an answer out, know when to go to multiple choice, and understand the game. Top That suffered in these regards. Look at the ‘Happy Hogan’ answer. The pair both have the correct answer, but are unsure if the question is looking for more. Rather than consult, or even seek clarification, Vejvoda makes to decision to go to multiple choice, just as Goldman decides to go for it. Unlike Rocha and Knost, Top That aren’t always in sync, and while the pair’s trivia knowledge will probably win them the majority of their matches, if you want to hold the Team Belt, you need a team that functions perfectly. Top Ten is that team, but the bad news is: so is the Patriots.
Round 3 was another tie, with both teams hitting their 2 and 5 point questions. Top 10 won this match in round 1, and Rocha also mentioned on Outlaw Nation that, had he and Knost swapped who answered which question, they’d have played a perfect game (although they wouldn’t have tied the scoring record, as they wouldn’t then have had a shot at their 5 point question). Matt Knost again came in clutch, answering the 5 point question. If Knost can perform like this going forward, Top 10 might well be unbeatable. Let’s hope this isn’t a fluke (unless you’re a Patriots fan, in which case – better hope it’s a fluke)!
I’ll talk more about the post match interviews in a second, when I look at what’s next for each time, although I will mention quickly that Brad Gilmore did an excellent job as the post game interviewer. I’m a fun of his work on the rundown, so it was nice to see him here! Speaking of the Rundown, Frank Janish’s stat segment let us know that Top 10 had just played the most accurate team match ever, with a 96% accuracy rate. It’s impressive that Top That were even able to take Top 10 to the final question, with the pair hitting an 84% accuracy rate, their most accurate match yet. As I said before, Top That looked like a more deadly team, even in defeat, now that Goldman is putting up above average scores.
Top 10
We know that the pair will be playing The Patriots, in what will surely be the final meeting of the two teams, should Top 10 lose. Of course, if Top 10 win, The Patriots are owed a title shot, although I suspect that we might see contracts come in to play here – I’m predicting that, if The Patriots lose, Emma Fyffe will activate her #1 contender match contract, which Thadd will reveal will force The Patriots to play the Shirewolves (now part of Emma’s faction) in a #1 contender match. That certainly seems more exciting than just rolling straight into Top 10/Patriots 4. Still, that’s for the future.
Knost was again calling out Harloff – there has to be a way to get the pair to play again – the Knost/Harloff rivalry is one of the most low-key yet brilliant that exists in the Schmoedown. Perhaps the Schmoes will return one day, as a singles match seems unlikely. Speaking of singles, I expect that Harloff is booking Knost a match as quickly as possible, following his performance here. I know that Bateman is scheduled to play Dale the Dude (probably in a move to prevent Bateman from going 0-2), but after that, Knost vs Bateman is the singles match that both storyline and the rankings are crying out for! If not, then Knost must surely play Andrew Ghai at the end of his suspension. Beyond that, Knost could play Mantz and rekindle the Rocha/Mantz rivalry, or even JTE, should Little Evil lose to Rocha in March.
Speaking of Little Evil vs Rocha, I assume that this match will proceed Patriots/Top 10 III, and if so, this is now a must win for both competitors, as whoever loses, their team will surely look like the underdog going into the team title match. Sneider vs Ellis will be another key indicator (more on that later), but at the moment, JTE vs Rocha is probably the biggest match-up we have announced this season (just beating out McWeeny vs Bibbiani).
Top That
Biopics?
What next for Top That? As mentioned above, the pair could both have promising singles careers, and Goldman would likely make some noise in Innergeekdom (there’s a second 5 way coming up soon, in which I hope Goldman takes part). But which team should the pair play next? Looking at teams with similar records, there are no obvious matchups, since Top That don’t really have any rivals. Except, that isn’t true: Top That have beef with Team MODOK, who currently sit at 5-3, and are scheduled to play Above the Line for a title shot. Should MODOK come up short, Atchity and Drake should find themselves with a rematch on their hands. This would make a lot of sense, since the chance to avenge a loss is exactly what Top That need – they would have a reason to care about and understand their opponents. MODOK don’t have many rivals either, so the two teams are surely a rivalry made in heaven. Vejvoda could make his singles debut against Atchity, which Goldman could play Drake, and I would throw Atchity into an Innergeekdom 5 way that includes Goldman, since both have strong knowledge in the IG categories. Building a Top That/MODOK rivalry would be the perfect way to relight the Top That fire, regardless of who won their match. Of course, MODOK would need to lose to Above the Line, but if that happens, this seems perfect!
Ash vs Evil Dead
Perhaps it’s because I’m a Brit, but I’ve never watched Ash vs Evil Dead, so I don’t really have a lot to say about the celebrity angle of this match. However, as most Schmoedown fans understand, celebrity matches are the best ways to find new Schmoedown viewers to eventually turn into fans, so celebrity matches are always exciting. On top of this, Harloff knows that Schmoedown fans will have a great time regardless of how the celebrities do when regular competitors are included. To that end, we have Schnepp and Seibold competing in horror trivia, and this is exciting. While Schnepp has struggled in the regular Schmoedown, horror is one of his areas of expertise, so he should make some noise here. I’m excited to see Witney play a celebrity match – in the past, only established names like Rocha, Sneider, Chandler and Wolfe have played in celebrity matches, but Witney has only played two matches. He has obvious character potential, so I’m excited to see that he wants to get more involved with the Schmoedown. A strong performance here would lead nicely into Witney’s singles debut, whenever that happens.
Harris vs Hall
Let’s move onto this week’s other big match, Harris vs Hall. I was really pleased to see ‘The Professor’ in costume, there are a few interesting questions that the character has brought about in this performance. Round 1 was the perfect start to the match – Hall pulling out a surprise perfect round and bonus (with the help of some lucky guesses) made this a competitive game without making The Professor look like he was bad at the game. I like the fact that Harris is playing his ‘potential students’, although I have to ask: is he now officially a heel? I consider him a tweener, but by pitting him against likable underdogs, it might be a while before Harris can escape the boos. I suspect that, like me, many people will be rooting for him simply because his character work is so strong, and throughout the match Harris was on his game, responding with character-appropriate lines and retaining his superior attitude.
My question, however, is about round 2. Harris gave Hall Classics as the Opponents Choice wheel wedge, but then failed to steal 2/3 questions that Hall missed. Did The Prof chose Classics for character reasons? The broader question is: if you commit to a character in the schmoedown, what happens if the strengths of the character aren’t the strengths of the guy behind the character? It’s too early to say that Harris doesn’t know his Classics, but he’ll need to. If he were to spin Classics and have a bad round, it would damage the character. Similarly, what happens if Harris were to spin Comic Book Movies, only to dominate the category? The question of character and category is one that I suspect may become an issue somewhere down the line….
However, The Professor did win this match, and while his 63% accuracy rate was a little disappointing, it’s important to remember that Harris defeated Bernardin, himself no pushover, pretty handily in his first match. Hopefully this match will simply become a win in The Professor’s record after a few more matches. The character is strong, but a loss to one of his students early in the character’s development could throw a spanner in the works. For now though, let’s just enjoy what was a really fun and surprising match!
Harris
He’s made it known that he wants Cobbster next, but the larger question is: where is Harris’ ‘Schmoedown class’ going? What will come of all this? After Cobbster, will Harris be playing the likes of RB3 and Ace? Or better, both of them? To keep the idea fresh, I’m hoping that, after defeating Cobbster, the Professor challenges RB3 and Ace to a team match. The pair could form a team around their ‘Meaning Of’ podcast, while Harris could introduce Duralde as his teammate and fellow Professor. Sure, we’ve seen Duralde before, but he’s not be exposed enough that it would be a problem to give him a character now, and with his wealth of knowledge, he would be ideal as the newest member of the faculty.
As for the question of where Harris’ class idea is going, I’m really not sure. Will he eventually form a faction of ‘Schmoedown students’, and take the league by storm? It feels like there is something else going on here, but I can’t put my finger on exactly what that might be….
Hall
Here’s a question that I didn’t think I’d have to ask: what next for Cody? Had he lost the match in the fashion that I expected, we probably wouldn’t have seen him back, but Hall impressed, especially in round 1, but also in round 3 where he went 2/3. Had the wheel gone in Hall’s favour, and we might have had a seriously impressive score on our hands. I think that Hall’s performance here warrants a storyline-driven matchup, and at 0-2, there’s no one better for Hall to play than Eliot Dewberry, who sits at 1-3. As one half of the Wildberries, Dewberry’s stock is up right now, and the storyline would be pretty easy to sell – as his fantasy update partner, Cody expected to be made Macuga’s teammate, and feels that he has been spurned in favour of Dewberry. Hall wants to prove that Macuga made a mistake by taking down one half of team Wildberries. Hell, if he wins, he could be looking at playing Macuga himself!
Beyond this, the Professor storyline could easily be incorporated: Harris could show up to support his student, while rolling his eyes at the ‘frat boy’ Wildberries, who would have great promo material in making fun of the ‘fusty’ Professor. Dewberry vs Hall, let’s make it happen!
Innergeekdom: Jandreau/Hlavac/Carlson/Donica/Marchi – Preview
Let’s get onto the match previews! Up first, Tuesday’s Innergeekdom 5 way. I don’t know too much about Mark Donica or Keetin Marchi (although my limited research showed that both have a decent geek knowledge base), so it’s the other three that I’ll be focusing on here. What I will say about any new IG competitor is that the real test isn’t about how well you know the categories you’re strong in; it’s about how you fair in the categories that you don’t know so well. Knowing your Comic Book Movies might get you through a couple of rounds, but if you want to win, you need to be at least proficient in almost all the IG categories – we’ll see if there are new stars made on Tuesday.
The only one of the five with previous IG experience is Jandreau, but don’t let his 1-1 record fool you: Coy is answering at a pretty naff 35% accuracy rate. His knowledge of the game might give him something of an edge, but if he wants to win, he’s going to need to double that answer rate. I am glad to see him back though, as Coy seemed genuinely excited to play again after his loss in the 4 way match. If there’s one thing I love, it’s a competitor that loves the Schmoedown, so I hope that he’s been studying, and can surprise us all on Tuesday.
Turning to who I think is probably the favourite, Adam Hlavac has previous in the Schmoedown, having lost two team matches with the former IG champ Hector Navarro as a part of Team Superhero News. This experience may prove vital, and from what I can tell, Hlavac’s IG knowledge is vast. In his Superhero News matches, Hlavac’s promo work was fairly solid, and if he wins, there’s obvious storyline potential, what with his being Navarro’s former partner. Maybe Halavac feels betrayed, since Navarro joined Schnepp on Team Heroes without ever consulting Hlavac. We’ll see. He’s the only one playing on Tuesday that seems like he could be a potential title threat at some point down the line, so I’m hoping for big things from Hlavac.
Finally, we have the wildcard, Mike Carlson. I’m a big fan of his from his many appearances on Movie Fights: the guy is hilarious, so I hope that this is the start of his journey into all areas of the Schmoedown. There’s a great opportunity to build a really fun character here, and while I don’t know how well Carlson covers all of the IG categories, if things go his way, he could be pulling off an upset here. He’s definitely the guy that I’ll be rooting for here.
Prediction:
1st – Hlavac
2nd – Carlson
3rd – Marchi
4th – Jandreau
5th – Donica
Sneider vs Ellis – Preview
Oh boy, this is a big match. Ellis vs Sneider. If Ellis loses this one, it could be the nail in the coffin for his Singles career, while Sneider needs the win to make the Patriots look like dominant Champions ahead of playing Team Top 10. It’s worth remembering that Ellis lost every match he played in 2017, in both teams and singles, as well as a pretty muted performance in the Free For All. Sneider has played in big matches and pulled out big wins, but has never been able to string together enough wins to challenge for the title. Sneider’s dominance in teams surely makes him the favourite, and while personal circumstances mean that his performance at Spectacular was subpar, he needs to play big here to prove that such a performance was just a fluke.
Expect Sneider to make a big play about facing another Schmoe, and refer to his loss to Harloff as a cheat. Baby Carrots may laugh it off, but he knows that he’s playing for his singles career. The winner of this match is likely to be thrown in to the Rocha/JTE/McWeeny/Bibbiani mix. If Ellis loses, his only viable option in the near future is Team Schmoes, who may return to face Deep Cuts for the Commissionership. There’s a lot on the line here, most of which we probably won’t even find out about until after the match.
Prediction: Sneider wins
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RANKED: Denis Villeneuve Films
TOP 10: Christopher Nolan Films
SCHMOEDOWN: Cushing/JTE/Kalinowski Review and Top 10/Top That Preview
FAVOURITE FILMS: The Incredibles
The Schmoedown Breakdown 
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