First real post... Jericoholic vs. Maggot

In the recent sort of push I've made towards spurring discussion about this great hobby of ours, I've come across some feedback for me and my two main characters: Jericoholic Anonymous (or just plain JA at FW) and Maggot. Most comparisons between them end up with people saying that Maggot was the better character. When you think about it, even though I am alot more into my work with JA, even though I tend to put more thought into my work with JA and even though it's generally considered that good comedy is a lot harder to write than straight up serious promos, I'd probably tend to agree.

Maggot works a lot better against the heavier hitters. He's taken more seriously against the better characters. And it really shows in that Maggot had one of the best runs in MBE history and has a lot of people talking in NFW right now. JA gets people talking too, but in the end, when it comes to the big matches, he ultimately fails. Several matches against Chip Friendly, both A1E World Title matches, the EPW #1 Contenders match, the biggest of the big, and JA doesn't come through.

Yet I keep trying so hard to win with JA, even though I know he might not have the power to break through. And people have often asked me why I went back to A1E, or they look at my promos for CSWA and say to themselves "man, this is amusing, but it's ultimately not better than what the other guy wrote."

Why?

It's because I know that Maggot is/was a much better character than JA, but that I also know with a little work, I can get JA to a level that can compete with Maggot. It's more of a challenge.

I mean, think about it. If e-fedding were easy, only the schlubs who put up the same promo over and over again about how they are the greatest technical wrestler ever, or about how they train for 23 and a half hours a day, or about how much they can rip off The Rock, Mankind or Steve Austin and pass it off as edgy and original would be doing it. You wouldn't have characters like Professor Tremendous or Hida Yakamo or James Irish or Joey Melton or Craig Miles. They'd all be some permutation of "insert generic sounding name here" and promoting the cards would be an utter bore.

People do this hobby of ours for two reasons: because it's fun and because it's a challenge. What greater challenge would it be to take a generally inferior character and take him to the same, if not greater, heights than I did with Maggot? What greater challenge would it be to make people take notice of a character who they initially wrote off the first time they read him?

It's not about having a chip on my shoulder. I had one of those before, and it's not fun. It made me quit e-fedding for the better part of a year. It's about proving to myself that I have what it takes. If I don't have what it takes, well, (and this is where things start to get different) if I tell a good story along the way, then it makes up for not taking home the A1E Title at the end of the day.

And it's no sweat off my lucha mask.

But still, that doesn't mean the challenge isn't there. Because it is.

And I welcome it.