Once upon a time, Empire Pro Wrestling was accused of being A1E South. Nevermind the fact that many of its early characters included Suicide, Jonathan Marx, Troy Douglas, Adam Benjamin, Karl Brown, Rob Sampson and Christian Sands, ie, guys who had little to nothing to do with anything remotely resembling A1E. The fed had Beast as its Champion. Lindsay Troy, Cross (two people who made their starts and names in FW feds, not in A1E as is commonly misunderstood) and JA came in were very successful right off the bat. Then, after that, guys like IrishRed, The HPSC and James Irish came over.
Yet, something's been happening along the way. More and more people from different corners of the e-fed world have been coming into EPW. From EUWC land, you have Classy Mike C and Sanket Desai. Stanton ran Armando Montezuma and now is going to try his hand at Bloodhunt. Guys like Ben Biron, Ken Peters, The Sergeant and Mike Evers have come from virtually unknown parts of the e-fed world. And of course, EPW has recently scored one of the most talented writers from LoC, Ninja K.
Yes, EPW has "diversified" the roster. Although looking back at it, they've always been diversified. The only reason that it seemed like A1E was "taking over" EPW was because EPW was the only place where A1E guys could have a chance and it was the only place they felt comfortable taking a chance. Was this because of some clandestine relationship between A1E's "shadow government" and Brunk? No. It's because of goodwill, trusting in people and not relying on secondhand information to make judgements about people.
None of this would have happened if Brunk listened to the FW folks who were disenchanted by their stays in A1E and didn't join.
None of this would have happened if Jarret just brushed Brunk off like he was one of those FW "malcontents."
None of this would have happened if Brunk held prejudice against those who weren't FW homegrowns.
And do you know why people who made their time in A1E did well? Not because Brunk had some secret hard-on for them or for the A1E name. Remember Brunk quit A1E because he was disenchanted with certain things in the fed.
Peeps like Jarret, Lindz and Xandor did well and are doing well in EPW because they have the talent to get over and carry their spots. If that weren't the case, do you think the FW mainstays who kept aboard would have stayed? I mean, I can tell you from working with the guy that Jarret is one of the most gifted e-wrestlers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and his work, be it with Beast, Gladiator or even Big Wreck, is top notch for the most part.
Still, the unwarranted label has worked well in EPW's favor despite the apparent negative connotation. It's made Brunk work harder to get a more diverse roster in place. Now, EPW's gone from having a great roster into having an almost dream roster.
All that just because a few people happened to think that EPW was becoming a little too much like A1E. Funny how an apparent negative can turn into a huge, definite positive, eh?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Tom,
To this day, I feel like people still hold it against me for comments made both in and out of character about this sorta thing. Likewise, to this day, I still regret being that naive, unprofessional, and jealous.
But my recent time in A1E and this post have really helped me come to realize that the involvement of players like Jarret, Lindsay, and Xandor have taken Empire Pro, a fed I was with in its earliest stages, to an entirely different level. The roster is diversified, the angles are great, and as far as I know most of the people are happy there.
I look at EPW now and realize just how immature and wrong I was not to long ago, and I somehow feel that nothing I do or say could ever repair the bridges I've burned.
So to Tom, A1E, and EPW... sorry for being such a dick. Then, now, and years to come (though I'll try my best to see that doesn't happen).
Godspeed to everyone.
Ryan, I know you're probably the most famous person to make the comparison, but you weren't the only one. I also don't think anyone holds a grudge for that promo either. No bridge is burnt too badly if you communicate.
It wasn't you who inspired this post. It was just a conversation I had with Brunk plus the realization that we got all these new guys on the roster that made me post it.
NO hard feelings, and as always, keep up the good work :)
We had a conversation about this not long ago, Ryan. Although, maybe you were drunk at the time. LOL.
You didn't burn any bridges. We hit a point where we needed to part company for a while and get perspective. Sometimes when you can't see eye to eye, it helps to back away and move on to other things for a while.
You also expressed interest in coming back, and you should know that door is open.
Issues or not, you've always been one of my favorite writers. Glad to see you in A1E, and as I said already - EPW is open to you if you decide to try and remend that bridge.
Post a Comment