GTT7

Holy crap! I'm updating this blog!

The thing that has gotten me to dust off the "new post" button on this blog rather than the Wrestling Blog (are you reading it yet, bitches?) is GTT7. After taking two years off, many people thought that with the shift from e-wrestling to creative writing that PTC was undergoing, that there'd never be another GTT. Well, Ross and Pete have brought it back, and I have to say, they're doing a great job hyping it and promoting it. Of course, I was supposed to help them promote it, but I got caught up marking out for Chikara and CM Punk rather than PRIME and Joe the Plumber.

If you take a gander around the forum, you'll see that the bigwigs have done a fantastic job of crafting excitement and anticipation for the tournament's start. In an era where hype has become just throwing up a post in an advertisement forum, this is art. It almost made me want to break retirement to join up, almost being the operative word. (gonna tough it out for a year before even thinking about returning, btw)

While it's not much of a post, I figure Ross and Pete deserve a pat on the back for creating a vibrant and lively event surrounding their marquee tournament. Here's hoping that it's a rousing success and that as few people no-show as humanly possible.

Viva GTT!

Feedback Plz: Roderick McRatrick

The last time I took time off/contemplated retirement and then came back, I did so secretly under the guise of a deviously idiotic and amoral character known as Roderick McRatrick. I had people going for awhile, but then I revealed myself, although I'm not sure if it came out naturally or if someone *cough*Lindz*cough* forced it out of me. Ah well.

Anyway, here are some of Roddy's greatest hits. Why am I posting them? Well, because I want feedback. For a guy like myself who's known more for handling comedically biased characters (you could argue Maggot and Captain Suleimon were the only ones that didn't have a built in sense of humor about them, and even that's debatable), Roddy, to me, is my most funny work. Comedy is a lot more subjective than regular e-fedding, so I want to get feedback from all of youse out there. Without further ado:

The Debut of the Ghost of Steve Guttenberg - Scroll down for more hijinks with Homsar of HSR.com fame
Roderick in Japan
Lord Tophattington and All of Roddy's Friends
The Debut of Randy McRanderson
Vs. Dan Ryan!
The Debut of Real Ultimate Power
A Visit to Santa!
Roderick Tools a Future A1E World Champion
Roderick's First Apperance at FWC... featuring POWERMASTER~!

I want honest feedback. How does the character hold up after all these years? I want to know, because in a way, Roderick feels like my best character.

Holy Crap, I Read Three Shows Today!

Seriously, how the hell did that happen? Maybe I'm getting more attentive in my old age ;) But yeah, I guess a slow day at work will give you something to want to do to pass the time that isn't playing flash games on the Intarwebs or bait trolls on message boards. That being said, here are the shows:

NFW Brawl: Kansas City - I've been out of the loop for awhile, although I've heard about the Dorchester Stratton, Cuatro Equis and other stuff, so I was a little bit disoriented. However, I thought it was a fun read, as most NFW Brawl shows are.

PRIME Revolution 200 - If I was out of the loop on NFW, I was lost in deep space on PRIME. I recognized some of the names, but a lot of the backstory was lost on me. Tyler Rayne's gone? Jason Snow is not only in e-fedding, but is the PRIME Universal Champion (I thought he'd have abandoned eW for creative writing sans wrestling a long time ago :p)? Talk about a... culture shock (pun intended). Still, for me not knowing a whole lot of what was going on, I thought it was a good show. I loved the concept as well. I thought the Shakur-as-Rayne swerve was pretty neat too. Congrats to ShadowKat, who won the Power Play BR with Kazys Jankauskas, and now has a banked Uni Title shot. Whoda thunk it?

EPW Aggression 45 - Finally, a fed that I'm not totally lost in, seeing as how it was one of the last feds I handled in before my retirement/hiatus (?!?!). As usual, a good show from EPW, but this week, something was a bit off. For one, the beginning... where did the show intro go? We went right into a match coming back from commercial. And Sarge was on two matches on the card? Weird. Still, a good read and a good effort from all those involved. Congrats to WF for capturing the TV Title as well.

A *gasp* News Post?

Criminy!

- As what accounts to "old news", NEW and WFW have merged. I cryptically referred to the merger in a previous post, but now it's official. I think it's a good move. Paul Miller has always had loyal RPers for WFW, and now that he has help with Sean Edmunds (who has completed law school and should have more time), the fed can help with this mini-renaissance that FW.com's leagues are undergoing.

- In what is huge news, Pete Speer over at PTC has announced that GTT, PTC's premier tournament, will be coming back from hiatus this year. As a former participant, critic, fan and follower of past tourneys, I have to say that this is exciting news. Will it lure some former PTC fed RPers out of retirement and perhaps back into active competition? Maybe, maybe not, but even if it's just an outlet for currently active handlers to do something, it'll be a success.

- Another bit of PTC news, Pete has also posted the first bit of hype for PWN, which will presumably be his first foray into fedheading since stepping down from PRIME in 2006. This piece is actually portrayed as a news story from the '50s and it implies that PWN in character would have been around for at least 80 years or so. The idea is fantastic, but my fear is that much like Mat Waters' much hyped and promoted One World Wrestling, this fed will peter out after a few shows. Let's keep an eye on this, and hopefully, it will become the next PTC stalwart fed.

Moves I'd Like to See More of, Pt. 1 - Submission Finishers

E-wrestlers are so creative in the ways they come up with finishers, scour the indies for lesser known moves or just add their own flair to existing moves to make them unique. Even with that reputation in tow, there are still a bunch of moves out there that I think could get over in e-fedding. Today, I'll give you three submission holds that would be awesome finishers for any technical-minded grappler:

London Dungeon


58 seconds into this video and you'll find Nigel McGuinness' signature submission hold. It's a great ending move for a guy who likes to work the arm.

Hammerlock Beast Choker
I couldn't find a Youtube of this, but I think this could be a great choke-out move. Basically, the user puts the victim in a hard hammerlock, floats around to the front and puts the victim in a front chancery. The user grabs the hammerlock with the same hand used to put the victim in the chancery, pops back in a DDTing motion and proceeds to induce the tapout.

Horns of Aries


In the same vein as Cattle Mutilation, but a much more effective looking move. Why this hasn't caught on yet, I don't know.

El Plagiarismo

Most crimes are forgiveable. Most crimes are rehabilitatable [sic]. In the most general sense, if you screw up, you can be forgiven and reaccepted. There are exceptions, the most notable being those found dead to rights as being a plagiarist at PTC. Given that most PTC feds foster a different kind of writing than what you'd find at FW or other promo fed circuits, plagiarism is a much, much larger problem there.

When a plagiarist is brought to light, well, it can get ugly, quickly. More often than not, the plagiarist isn't really welcome in any PTC-related fed or event. Example, this thread where a returning guy by the handle "Educator" is trying to make friendly with the community. He was perhaps the most infamous plagiarist in AWC history, using stolen work to gain all the top titles in the fed.

So, no one should be surprised at the reception he's gotten thus far, and you know what? I don't blame them one bit. There are certain things you should understand about this game and about the environments it is played in. You don't go looking for a second chance at PTC if you've stolen someone's work. I mean, it doesn't matter if you've stolen it from a fellow e-wrestler (which to me, is the ultimate in unforgiveable crimes) or from some author on the Internet somewhere. Don't expect them to want to take you back if you've done that in the past.

I mean, to some it may seem irrational, but plagiarism isn't easily monitored. Once someone is found out to be a plagiarist, the fedheads and interfedheads have to now check every single one of his/her work against Google. Really, anything else, fed cancers, shooting, etc. is easily monitored, and it's easy to see if people change or not.

And for all those who think that plagiarism doesn't really hurt anyone, well, think again. The Jewish religion has been the center of a worldwide conspiracy because of a plagiarized work. Have you ever heard of the book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion? It's a book that's regarded as the manifesto for Jewish world domination, trumpeted by anti-Semite groups everywhere. It's also a raging fake, a plagiarism of a satirical book about Napoleon III.

That is an outlandish example, but really, if I were running a PTC fed or a writing event at PTC, why the hell should I want a plagiarist involved? Regardless of what you think about the offense, PTC takes it seriously. If you don't like their stance, then go somewhere else and either try to start fresh or pull the wool over their eyes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

FMLL

I may be retired, but that doesn't mean I can't shill for an awesome concept when I see one, and peeps, I certainly see one in Federación Mundial de Lucha Libre. FMLL is run by Ryan Aston, handler of Shawn Hart and his band of merry misfit friends and relatives. Aston is a nut for the art of lucha libre, so you know that this fed will be the real deal.

I know what the biggest reason for not joining will be. "I don't know enough about lucha libre to try it out." It's true, lucha isn't a fully understood wrestling form in America, but both Aston and the handlers in the fed who do know a thing or two about lucha will be more than happy to help along those looking to pop their Mexican wrestling cherry. And as with any new fed, you'll be getting in on the ground floor.

Please, give FMLL a look and a try. I love it when new ideas come along, and this is about as different as it's going to get.

The Finishing Touch

I've been around the e-fed circuits for almost a decade, and when you see as many feds and as many e-wrestlers as I do, you get exposed to a lot of different philosophies on wrestling movesets and finishing moves. Many of them are ports of famous wrestling finishers, mostly uranage/Rock Bottom clones, Stunner/Ace Crusher/Diamond Cutter variants, simple powerbombs, superkicks and over the shoulder piledrivers. Sometimes you get a run on finishers that are hot at the time, like the *ugh* Canadian Destroyer.

Although this is a point I've made before, I'll say it again: it's perfectly natural and acceptable to borrow moves from our favorite wrestlers. I mean, we wouldn't be in this game if it weren't for those guys, right? Since wrestlers usually outlast feds in our game, it's acceptable, if a little annoying, to see multiple guys with the same finisher. Usually, if you have a finisher, you've had it before you entered a certain fed where another tenured guy there has it. However, I like it best when someone either creates a move or picks one that's so rare or out there that it makes you mark out just reading the profile. Other moves just fit their characters so well that it doesn't matter how many other people do them.

The following is a list of my favorite e-fed finishers of all-time, not including my own. These are in no particular order.

Spoilerbomb The Spoiler - This was the move that birthed MBE all those years ago and by proxy, pulled me into e-fedding (in that MBE inspired A1E and well, yeah). Brutal powerbomb finisher that really fits the man in red and black.

HIDADRIVER~! (oh the humanity) Hida Yakamo - To me, this was probably the most mythical of finishers just because it had its own catchphrase. It's a running Splash Mountain (ie, sitout Razor's Edge). It seems like the kind of move that you'd see pulled out at the Tokyo Dome in minute 45 of a GHC Championship match.

The Judas Cradle Beast - I love a good submission hold, and this was really the first one that I latched onto. It's a weird, funky hold, sort of a cross between a backwards-applied figure four and an Indian deathlock.

Point of Impact Euclid - I really never got into the brainbuster as a match finisher until recently, like two or three years ago, but I always dug this variation on it. It's a brainbuster, but on the way down, E would drop his elbow across the victim's throat. Devastating all around.

Hell on Earth Liquid Snake - Another common move with a slight variation. This was a Pedigree, only at the end, Snake would turn his body slightly, jamming his knee on the back of the victim's head. I have no idea how this move could be performed safely, but it would look brutal as hell, something that the late Misawa would probably use if it were used in real life.

North of Sanity Craig Miles - I've always been a mark for Randy Savage's top rope elbow drop. People discount the elbow drop, but really, if you got an elbow, even from a stationary opponent dropping down on you on the canvas, your chest would be CAVED. The contrived part about the People's Elbow was the five minutes of set-up, not the payoff. Okay, end tangent. I think if anyone could deliver this move with as much pomp and urgency that Savage did, I'd picture it would be Miles, who in character (and some might say out of character) is legit insane.

Memphis Death Certificate Jeff Garvin - There was a time in the 90s when the piledriver became garden variety in real wrestling. Then Steve Austin got paralyzed and you never saw it again except from Jerry Lawler. Maybe that was the best thing that could have happened to its mystique stateside, because really, a piledriver should be death. It should be treated like it is in Mexico... borderline illegal. That being said, this move is on here more because of the name than because of my admiration for the move. It really gets across the seriousness of the move.

Uraken~! the School Girl - tSC was always known as "the workrate fed" of all the angle feds back in the day. Now, if you're, say, ROH and you're labeled that, it's a good thing. If you're an e-fed and you're labeled it, well... let's just say tSC in its day had match writeups that made Charles Dickens look terse. Still, the profile pages were a sight to behold, a veritable workrate mark's dream. Of these, the oddest was the School Girl, a dinky little Asian chick on a roster of big male wrestlers. However, what made her believable was her finisher, the Uraken. I'm a mark for this move in real life. It will fuck your day up something else. Looking back, this was the only finisher that really could have been credible on tSG. She couldn't believably slam, suplex or power even the lightest men, but her fleet-footedness would have put a wallop behind that spinning backfist.

NyQuil Driver D! - This was the move I used as D!'s de facto finisher throughout the initial Tournament of Champions. It really is a sick move if you think about it, and all it is is a tweak on an existing move. It's basically Edge's Edge-o-Matic only done out of a sleeper hold. Brutal, brutal stuff.

C-4 Karina Wolfenden - Imagine a vertebreaker. Okay, now imagine it being done out of a springboard backflip. This is the epitome of a "death move".

Humility Bomb Dan Ryan - I almost didn't put this on here just because I already led off with the Spoilerbomb, but in all actuality, they're different moves and are attached to different mythos. While the Spoilerbomb is correlated to the Last Ride, this bomb, to my understanding, is more like a sheer drop powerbomb on the head and neck. This move runs neck and neck with the following one as the most over finisher in the FW circuit's history.

Slackknife Troy Windham - A sharp contrast to the Humility Bomb in that it's a lightning quick strike that capitalizes on stunning an opponent for a quick win rather than a move bent on destruction of a body part after a long war of attrition, just in the same vein as Windham is a cocky character whose speciality is getting out one liners and crowing heartily about his accomplishments while Ryan will break you down cerebrally. Wow, that was an epic run-on sentence for two epic moves :p Anyway, the Slackknife is basically an inverted stunner, like a Rude Awakening, but only done a lot quicker and in the stunner style.

Mjollnir Blow Olvir Arsvinnar - I've always pictured Olvir as the sort of wrestler the smarks would loathe if he were real. Lumbering, slow but powerful and possibly stiff. He'd the Nordic Goldberg of FW, insanely over due to his animal charisma. He may not work well, but his signature moves look good because that's all he'd really concentrate on perfecting. The Mjollnir Blow is a Polish Hammer to the chest with a roar for effect done after. While it's not listed as one of his finishers, no one can deny that a huge Viking clubbing both his hands balled together in a MEGA FIST on your chest at terminal velocity would look real enough to make everyone believe that chest is now caved and the match could be finished. I'd love to see Strawsma make this Olvir's finisher, especially when done out of the Irish Whip.

Smile For Me Tony Gamble - Talk about a move that fits the character. Gamble's face is disfigured on one side to make it look like he's smiling all the time. You could say he's got half-a-Joker going on. This move is a play on that, a Texas Cloverleaf with a fishhook applied to one side of the face. It fits so well with the character's mafioso paranoia.

Bulimia Nervosa Bomb Dos Equis - Flying double stomp to the stomach... BRILLIANT! Why more people, both in real life and e-feds, don't try to use this as a finisher is beyond me, but I guess I'm glad it's so underused. It makes this application more special.