Wow, a post from me two days in a row. PERISH THE THOUGHT! It seems like the days of me getting two entries up in a day sometimes and getting posts up on consecutive days at the very least is a memory, but hey, I try to give you content.
Anyway, today, I thought I'd offer up a six pack for your consumption, and I think we'll delve back into recent eW history and look back at the six best AWC superstars in my view. This is a mix of objective accomplishments and sheer subjectivity, ie, whom I liked and thought was good rather than who was booked to the moon sometimes. You also have to remember that I was only around for one year out of their two year history, but I do think this is a representative list.
HERE GOES~!
1. Pierce Lavelle - This was a hard choice to make, as I could realistically have put my #2 or #3 here, but I think what clinches it for Lavelle is that he had two separate, strong runs at the top, both as a heel and a face, and that he was around for really the entire run of the fed, save a few month stint when Lara (his handler, who's a she!) had to concentrate on law school. Granted, Lavelle may not have made this list if I was doing it based solely on subjectivity; I often found Lara's writing to be a bit too emo and some of the storylines were a bit outlandish. However, I don't think there's any denying the impact the character made on the fed.
2. The Illustrious Face-Eater/Adam Dick - I'm not really sure if there's anyone who was more dominant at times than the Face-Eater was when he was on. He and Mike Wade pretty much dominated the entire fed for nearly half-a-year, and Facey was the one to end Lavelle's epic TA Title reign. I think what holds Facey back from being #1 was Joe Schmidt's abrasiveness OOC. It started some problems behind the scenes, and to me, that's a big deal. Still, he was the lesser of two evils in his biggest behind the scenes feud (Jeremy Jenkins, who rivals Paul Miller for the most malignant cancer in all eW), and everyone did generally get along with him.
3. Garbage Bag Johnny - Honestly, if AWC had lasted six months longer, he might have taken the #1 spot. He basically couldn't be touched for most of his run, winning Zero 2 Hero and shooting straight to the Transatlantic Title, beating both guys ranked ahead of him at Coast to Coast '06. Not only was he dominating his matches, but he was writing the most consistently entertaining segments on any edition of Fresh~! I think anyone who thinks comedic characters shouldn't be pushed to World Title level ought to read GBJ's best stuff (along with a few other select characters, like Professor Tremendous and James Irish) and then decide.
4. Jack Murphy - In character, Jack Murphy was an AWC stalwart, a guy who won every singles title there was to win, and someone you could count on for a quality segment, a great match or a classic angle. My first exposure to him was when he was running the old-school angle, waging war against the "sports entertainment" element in AWC, and it was brilliant, especially given his surroundings. OOC, Fergus Looney was the heart and soul of the AWC locker room. He helped Hyde out when things got hectic, kept people interested during the hiatus between Twilight of the Gods and Zero 2 Hero, and it was wholly appropriate that he was the leader of the AWC locker room at the final show. He may not have had the best run in AWC, but I'll be damned if he wasn't an integral part of the fed and didn't deserve a spot on this list.
5. Mike Wade - I'm shocked that Mike Wade never won the Transatlantic Title. I had him pegged as the breakout member of the Unfuckables, but it was Facey who went on to be the HYOOOGE star. Still, that's not to say Wade's AWC run was a wash. He held three titles at the same time and had some pretty big wins. He might have gotten his TA run had he stuck around a little longer, but His Swerviness still provided some kicks in-character as the commissioner of AWC.
6. Paddy O'Shea - Many people may argue this one. Darcy Crisis, Alexander Strider, Aimz, Red Rock, Andy Murray, Chainz or the Furious Fists of God might be better suited for this spot, but despite Mick's flakiness, I think Paddy's always been a part of the fabric and lore of AWC. He was huge in the beginning, and towards the end, he was still around and entertaining, mainly as Josh Marquez's foil around the time of Coast to Coast. Sort of a sentimental favorite, but he does have the credentials to be on this list too.
Showing posts with label AWC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AWC. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Friday, December 29, 2006
December's Wrestler of the Month
One last award to give out, and it's the last Wrestler of the Month Award. The following recipient also received Comeback Wrestler of the Year in the Blog Awards. He's getting this WotM for the way he capped off that comeback, with a big Transatlantic Title win in the beginning of said month. If you don't know whom I'm talking about, then let me tell you. He's Darcy Crisis, and he's the last WotM for AWC ever, and the last one for this year. Congrats, Nate.
Honorable Mentions: Tony "the Grin" Gamble (PRIME), Nova (PRIME, NFW), Lindsay Troy (EPW, PRIME, NFW), Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events), Violence Jack (PTC Events), Ember (PRIME, PTC Events), Rocko Daymon (NEW, A1E), Shawn Hart (NEW, EPW)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
January: The Illustrious Face-Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
February: Seymour Almasy (ACW, PTC Events)
March: Yori Yakamo, Jr. (NFW)
April: "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW)
May: The Illustrious Face-Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
June: D! (NAPW, TEAM Events)
July: Joey Melton (PRIME, NFW, UCW, EPW)
August: Tchu (PRIME)
September: Garbage Bag Johnny (AWC)
October: Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events)
November: James Irish (A1E, TEAM Events, MCW Events)
Honorable Mentions: Tony "the Grin" Gamble (PRIME), Nova (PRIME, NFW), Lindsay Troy (EPW, PRIME, NFW), Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events), Violence Jack (PTC Events), Ember (PRIME, PTC Events), Rocko Daymon (NEW, A1E), Shawn Hart (NEW, EPW)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
January: The Illustrious Face-Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
February: Seymour Almasy (ACW, PTC Events)
March: Yori Yakamo, Jr. (NFW)
April: "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW)
May: The Illustrious Face-Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
June: D! (NAPW, TEAM Events)
July: Joey Melton (PRIME, NFW, UCW, EPW)
August: Tchu (PRIME)
September: Garbage Bag Johnny (AWC)
October: Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events)
November: James Irish (A1E, TEAM Events, MCW Events)
Saturday, December 16, 2006
A Mish-Mash of Hodge-Podge
- It doesn't seem like a lot's happened since the last PPV, but EPW's WrestleVerse II is upon us. Despite the sort of minimalist feeling surrounding the PPV, there's a lot going down, specifically with the two main events. Firstly, we've got the ladder match between Lindsay Troy and Troy Windham(-Troy :p) to settle their feud once and for all, and a match between IrishRed and Dan Ryan with six months ownership of EPW on the line. Both come off the heels of hot angles, and I'm sure that EPW will do them justice. If the Home Fed on FWC has one strength above all else, it's execution of its angles from start to blowoff, and that usually means they nail the matches as well.
Some of the undercard may seem like it's a little thrown together (although the Tag Title match, Scott/Dahaka, Foxx/Ninja K and XXX/Bloodhunt have build behind them), but that doesn't mean the matches won't deliver. This card is stacked, and I feel it could be a late contender for show of the year this year, or early one for next year.
- In the wake of AWC's closing, much of the roster has dispersed amongst the feds of PTC. The two feds that have reaped the best windfall from the shutdown are PRIME and FUSE. FUSE was the first to debut a former Clubber when Mike Wade showed up on their most recent edition of KillZone. Wadey should be a fantastic addition to the roster, although it might have been nice to see him reunite with his former tag partner the Illustrious Face-Eater in PRIME. Still, PRIME can't snap up all the talent, and FUSE is a more than worthy home for Wade. Also going to FUSE are Andy Murray, Aimz and the last Transatlantic Champion ever, Darcy Crisis.
Of course, if you add all those names to the recent signings of Clinton Sage, Steve Watson, Johnny Lexicon (who made the jump before AWC closed) and some of these new guys who aren't "names," FUSE, with its already strong roster before the signings, suddenly becomes a major contender to PRIME.
And speaking of PRIME, going to PTC's Big Fish will be Jack Murphy, Garbage Bag Johnny, Pierce Lavelle, Chainz and of course, little old me with Captain Suleimon. PRIME's roster has also ballooned to about 35-40 right now. Usually, I'm a bit leery of feds with huge rosters, but I feel that the way Pete's running the ship right now, it's doable. It might be a bit unweildly, but it's definitely doable. Plus, you have to figure some people on the roster right now aren't going to stick around forever. It's eW folks; there's always going to be an equilibrium reached sooner or later.
- Finally, a little self-promotion. The 2nd Annual TEAM Invitational Tournament will be starting up sometime in January. I'm accepting entries into it as soon as right now. You can sign up here or on the FW Central forums in the TEAM forums. I'll create one specifically for signup later, but for now, check out this thread.
Some of the undercard may seem like it's a little thrown together (although the Tag Title match, Scott/Dahaka, Foxx/Ninja K and XXX/Bloodhunt have build behind them), but that doesn't mean the matches won't deliver. This card is stacked, and I feel it could be a late contender for show of the year this year, or early one for next year.
- In the wake of AWC's closing, much of the roster has dispersed amongst the feds of PTC. The two feds that have reaped the best windfall from the shutdown are PRIME and FUSE. FUSE was the first to debut a former Clubber when Mike Wade showed up on their most recent edition of KillZone. Wadey should be a fantastic addition to the roster, although it might have been nice to see him reunite with his former tag partner the Illustrious Face-Eater in PRIME. Still, PRIME can't snap up all the talent, and FUSE is a more than worthy home for Wade. Also going to FUSE are Andy Murray, Aimz and the last Transatlantic Champion ever, Darcy Crisis.
Of course, if you add all those names to the recent signings of Clinton Sage, Steve Watson, Johnny Lexicon (who made the jump before AWC closed) and some of these new guys who aren't "names," FUSE, with its already strong roster before the signings, suddenly becomes a major contender to PRIME.
And speaking of PRIME, going to PTC's Big Fish will be Jack Murphy, Garbage Bag Johnny, Pierce Lavelle, Chainz and of course, little old me with Captain Suleimon. PRIME's roster has also ballooned to about 35-40 right now. Usually, I'm a bit leery of feds with huge rosters, but I feel that the way Pete's running the ship right now, it's doable. It might be a bit unweildly, but it's definitely doable. Plus, you have to figure some people on the roster right now aren't going to stick around forever. It's eW folks; there's always going to be an equilibrium reached sooner or later.
- Finally, a little self-promotion. The 2nd Annual TEAM Invitational Tournament will be starting up sometime in January. I'm accepting entries into it as soon as right now. You can sign up here or on the FW Central forums in the TEAM forums. I'll create one specifically for signup later, but for now, check out this thread.
Monday, December 11, 2006
AWC closes
For those who don't know, AWC closed tonight. Hyde posted the second half of Triangles (which I haven't been able to bring myself to read yet), and then posted a note about AWC closing on the PTC forums.
The decision stunned me, especially since I was finally hitting my stride. So many other guys were hitting theirs too; it looked like 2007 might have been the year we made a run at the other top PTC feds.
However, Hyde is legitimately busy with schoolwork. College comes first. Real life comes first. That's been my mantra all along, and I won't change it now, even with this devastating blow to the PTC community. I don't agree with the decision to close, but this is Hyde's baby... we can't force him to give it up or continue to work on it. If this is how he wants to end it, then so be it.
Right now though, even in my state of shock, I choose not to remember the time I spent in AWC with sadness. I choose to remember the happy times, the good things, the stories and angles and matches. I'll remember Facey, Murphy, Paddy, Wade, Darcy, Anton, Pierce, Chainz, GBJ, the Fists, Aimz, Ellis, Red Rock, Afeaki... the Stanislav swerve, Prometheus, the Empire, Sasha, Pearl, Chainz going nuts, the Jewel of the Seas...
AWC is dead. Long live AWC.
The decision stunned me, especially since I was finally hitting my stride. So many other guys were hitting theirs too; it looked like 2007 might have been the year we made a run at the other top PTC feds.
However, Hyde is legitimately busy with schoolwork. College comes first. Real life comes first. That's been my mantra all along, and I won't change it now, even with this devastating blow to the PTC community. I don't agree with the decision to close, but this is Hyde's baby... we can't force him to give it up or continue to work on it. If this is how he wants to end it, then so be it.
Right now though, even in my state of shock, I choose not to remember the time I spent in AWC with sadness. I choose to remember the happy times, the good things, the stories and angles and matches. I'll remember Facey, Murphy, Paddy, Wade, Darcy, Anton, Pierce, Chainz, GBJ, the Fists, Aimz, Ellis, Red Rock, Afeaki... the Stanislav swerve, Prometheus, the Empire, Sasha, Pearl, Chainz going nuts, the Jewel of the Seas...
AWC is dead. Long live AWC.
Monday, November 27, 2006
More Random Notes!
- Let us welcome a new addition into the E-fed Blogring.
Sensational!
Yep, Shane Carnes has jumped on the bandwagon. Please prod him and tell him to be more active than the rest of the peanut gallery (Phil, Jeff, Dave, Jarret, looking in all your directions...).
- Please keep Joe Steppel, handler of AWC's Gabriel Afeaki, in your thoughts and/or prayers. He was in a car accident, and has been laid up for a few months now, thusly explaining his absence from the fed. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for him.
- If you might have noticed, there was a request put in for guest bloggers the last time I did Reader Participation Night on here. I sent out the call to both Lindz and Jeff P., but neither one has come up with anything. If you have something you want to get off your chest about someone or something in eW, if you have a show to review, if you want to give props to anyone or if you plain just want to write about writing (always fun!), then drop me a line. Don't feel inhibited; just post a comment or hit me up via PM, e-mail or IM (although I'm pretty scarce on the last one lately), and I'll most likely be amenable to your subject. One thing. No outright fed shills or recruiting calls. While I use the blog now and again for TEAM shilling, well a) it's my blog and b) I also provide tons and tons of non-shill related content. I don't want this blog to be an advertising post for your fed without having any kind of substantial content. Don't get me wrong, I'll be more than happy to let you feature your own fed, but if you're going to guest-blog about your own fed, then please at least take the time to write a substantial puff-piece :p
- This week should be huge with AWC and MBE set to have PPVs posted. AWC will be posting Triangles, their über-gimmicked PPV, and MBE will be crowning a World Champion at Total Elimination. Anyway, if you want my picks for the mains in each one here goes. In AWC, I like GBJ to come away with the Transatlantic Championship, Pierce Lavelle to take the Briefcase of Truth, and for the second year in a row, Jack Murphy to come away with the Grand Slam Package (and that means I think he'll come away with the Frontier-Relentless Championship too... absolutely no disrespect intended to Darcy Crisis, who I think should be shunted right into a main event program with the TA Champion after Triangles. Mega-talented writer, and he should take the next step in 2007). In MBE, I like Justin Evitable over Doc Silver for the MBE World Championship, although it is a devilishly close match. In the Contender's spot, I like Jogi Fresh over Duchess, and I'm looking forward to two MBE originals duking it out in the first program for the newly reinstated Big Gold Belt.
- I'll be taking bets on who the next big name to debut for PRIME will be. With name after name after name debuting in the last few months (Sonny Silver, Jason Snow, Angelo Deville, Rich Rollins, Xavier Kannon - albeit for only one match - Hessian , Ember and now Lindsay Troy, although technically she's only coming back after a short hiatus), it seems like PRIME has reached WWF in 1998 form, the place where everyone wants to be. Should be interesting because there are still a few unknowns left in the JITC Tournament (and if you want my pick for that... Tony "The Grin" Gamble ekes it out).
Sensational!
Yep, Shane Carnes has jumped on the bandwagon. Please prod him and tell him to be more active than the rest of the peanut gallery (Phil, Jeff, Dave, Jarret, looking in all your directions...).
- Please keep Joe Steppel, handler of AWC's Gabriel Afeaki, in your thoughts and/or prayers. He was in a car accident, and has been laid up for a few months now, thusly explaining his absence from the fed. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for him.
- If you might have noticed, there was a request put in for guest bloggers the last time I did Reader Participation Night on here. I sent out the call to both Lindz and Jeff P., but neither one has come up with anything. If you have something you want to get off your chest about someone or something in eW, if you have a show to review, if you want to give props to anyone or if you plain just want to write about writing (always fun!), then drop me a line. Don't feel inhibited; just post a comment or hit me up via PM, e-mail or IM (although I'm pretty scarce on the last one lately), and I'll most likely be amenable to your subject. One thing. No outright fed shills or recruiting calls. While I use the blog now and again for TEAM shilling, well a) it's my blog and b) I also provide tons and tons of non-shill related content. I don't want this blog to be an advertising post for your fed without having any kind of substantial content. Don't get me wrong, I'll be more than happy to let you feature your own fed, but if you're going to guest-blog about your own fed, then please at least take the time to write a substantial puff-piece :p
- This week should be huge with AWC and MBE set to have PPVs posted. AWC will be posting Triangles, their über-gimmicked PPV, and MBE will be crowning a World Champion at Total Elimination. Anyway, if you want my picks for the mains in each one here goes. In AWC, I like GBJ to come away with the Transatlantic Championship, Pierce Lavelle to take the Briefcase of Truth, and for the second year in a row, Jack Murphy to come away with the Grand Slam Package (and that means I think he'll come away with the Frontier-Relentless Championship too... absolutely no disrespect intended to Darcy Crisis, who I think should be shunted right into a main event program with the TA Champion after Triangles. Mega-talented writer, and he should take the next step in 2007). In MBE, I like Justin Evitable over Doc Silver for the MBE World Championship, although it is a devilishly close match. In the Contender's spot, I like Jogi Fresh over Duchess, and I'm looking forward to two MBE originals duking it out in the first program for the newly reinstated Big Gold Belt.
- I'll be taking bets on who the next big name to debut for PRIME will be. With name after name after name debuting in the last few months (Sonny Silver, Jason Snow, Angelo Deville, Rich Rollins, Xavier Kannon - albeit for only one match - Hessian , Ember and now Lindsay Troy, although technically she's only coming back after a short hiatus), it seems like PRIME has reached WWF in 1998 form, the place where everyone wants to be. Should be interesting because there are still a few unknowns left in the JITC Tournament (and if you want my pick for that... Tony "The Grin" Gamble ekes it out).
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Results-a-palooza
First up, we have AWC's Untouchable pay-per-view. I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet, save the intro which is another shot in the ongoing IC battle with PRIME, but when I do, you know I'll post thoughts. I wasn't involved in this event at all, but I've got something big coming up in AWC. You won't wanna miss it.
Next up, it's time for some GTT6 results goodness. Now if you're familiar with the result posting style, you know that they don't post it in wrestling write-up format but by just posting the judges' in-depth (or in some cases, not-so-in-depth :p) feedback. Honestly, I've always thought this hurts the event in terms of showcasing, but it keeps the trains running on time I suppose. Here they are by bracket, the first three.
Piglet
Rabbit
Eeyore
Now, thoughts by bracket.
- Starting with Eeyore, there weren't very many surprises here. Dr. C and Facey both won, although I'm a bit disappointed that Oxios, who's becoming a favorite character of mine in PRIME, and Josh Moody, who has a lot of supporters, didn't show. Of course, I expected the Flyer/Watson match to be close, and it was. I think if PTC didn't know before how awesome either one of these guys are, they know now. It's a shame one of them had to go home, but I can't wear my Dan West fandom on my sleeve and say how much of a bummer it is that he lost because I still haven't read Ford's RP. Still, the Watson piece was fantastic and it just goes to show how versatile a writer Dan is.
- Rabbit, aka the "Sleeper Bracket", and once again, no surprises. Ember, Tigera, the Prophet all advanced. Kinda surprised that Axel Action got shut out, but Bobino does have an IG win under his belt. Another point of contention was the use of Mentok the Mindtaker, who's actually a real character in Harvey Birdman. With all the hullaballoo about plagiarism, I'm surprised they let him in, but I saw that this one is the last time it's going to happen. Honestly, I think if you're going to play someone just as he is on a TV show, then you should RP him in an arena that involves that TV show. People don't try to RP as Hulk Hogan or even a created wrestler character in Star Trek RP circles. I mean, be somewhat original.
- Piglet... Matt, I'm so sorry for jinxing you. I didn't think it would take effect this early, despite the fact that you were going up against VJ. Damn randomizer! I'll make it up to you somehow, even if I have to airlift a case of beer out to where you're at. I wasn't surprised to see Sage win, but I was absolutely shocked to see that Rollins didn't even get a single vote. He didn't lose a single judge last year, and he doesn't win one this year. How screwy is that? Can't say I'm surprised about the other results, but I'm pretty dismayed at the double no-show.
- Speaking of the double no-show, this means at least one person will get a chance for a play-in spot. You've got so many deserving candidates: Tchu, Rollins, Ron Mexico, Axel Action, Hunter Jones, Watson... who is going to get it? Or will it come from one of the 1B losers? When you're going to get someone losing from matches such as YYJ/Sirrajin, Almasy/Kimbusa and K-Wolf/DM just to name a few, then you've really got a deep field to choose from. Right now, it'd be a tossup between Tchu and Watson, mainly for selfish reasons. Tchu because I picked him to win it all, dammit, and Watson because I'm a mark for Dan West and the Watson character.
Finally, we have the business of a returning fed's first PPV back from hiatus. MBE presents Awakenings, and I have to say it was a solid show. For one, it was something different than the "smarkish" writeups we've been seeing for the TV shows.
One huge strength for this card is the angle and feud building and heat retention for everyone involved. Such attention is paid to details for each feud and angle, evident in the main event, the PbPro Quintuple Crown match and the CJD/El Terrible match. I also thought that they did a great job of keeping everyone's heat intact, the shining example here being Justin Evitable looking like a Champ against Doc Silver even in defeat.
However, I think the writeups themselves were a little rusty. Of course, Jeff P. had to write five matches by himself (and I'm still waiting for my Tag Team Championship writeup, dammit!), so that will sap someone for sure, but once again, I'm not a huge fan of the alternating narrative/PBP style. Stick with one, preferably PBP seeing that the banter between Till and Dr. P was OUTSTANDING.
I'd give this a solid 3.5 out of 5, which is pretty good considering it was the first PPV back since the MBE Cup finals, and they got it out in good time. Things are looking up for the fed as long as people get up off their duffs and start joining and RPing.
Next up, it's time for some GTT6 results goodness. Now if you're familiar with the result posting style, you know that they don't post it in wrestling write-up format but by just posting the judges' in-depth (or in some cases, not-so-in-depth :p) feedback. Honestly, I've always thought this hurts the event in terms of showcasing, but it keeps the trains running on time I suppose. Here they are by bracket, the first three.
Piglet
Rabbit
Eeyore
Now, thoughts by bracket.
- Starting with Eeyore, there weren't very many surprises here. Dr. C and Facey both won, although I'm a bit disappointed that Oxios, who's becoming a favorite character of mine in PRIME, and Josh Moody, who has a lot of supporters, didn't show. Of course, I expected the Flyer/Watson match to be close, and it was. I think if PTC didn't know before how awesome either one of these guys are, they know now. It's a shame one of them had to go home, but I can't wear my Dan West fandom on my sleeve and say how much of a bummer it is that he lost because I still haven't read Ford's RP. Still, the Watson piece was fantastic and it just goes to show how versatile a writer Dan is.
- Rabbit, aka the "Sleeper Bracket", and once again, no surprises. Ember, Tigera, the Prophet all advanced. Kinda surprised that Axel Action got shut out, but Bobino does have an IG win under his belt. Another point of contention was the use of Mentok the Mindtaker, who's actually a real character in Harvey Birdman. With all the hullaballoo about plagiarism, I'm surprised they let him in, but I saw that this one is the last time it's going to happen. Honestly, I think if you're going to play someone just as he is on a TV show, then you should RP him in an arena that involves that TV show. People don't try to RP as Hulk Hogan or even a created wrestler character in Star Trek RP circles. I mean, be somewhat original.
- Piglet... Matt, I'm so sorry for jinxing you. I didn't think it would take effect this early, despite the fact that you were going up against VJ. Damn randomizer! I'll make it up to you somehow, even if I have to airlift a case of beer out to where you're at. I wasn't surprised to see Sage win, but I was absolutely shocked to see that Rollins didn't even get a single vote. He didn't lose a single judge last year, and he doesn't win one this year. How screwy is that? Can't say I'm surprised about the other results, but I'm pretty dismayed at the double no-show.
- Speaking of the double no-show, this means at least one person will get a chance for a play-in spot. You've got so many deserving candidates: Tchu, Rollins, Ron Mexico, Axel Action, Hunter Jones, Watson... who is going to get it? Or will it come from one of the 1B losers? When you're going to get someone losing from matches such as YYJ/Sirrajin, Almasy/Kimbusa and K-Wolf/DM just to name a few, then you've really got a deep field to choose from. Right now, it'd be a tossup between Tchu and Watson, mainly for selfish reasons. Tchu because I picked him to win it all, dammit, and Watson because I'm a mark for Dan West and the Watson character.
Finally, we have the business of a returning fed's first PPV back from hiatus. MBE presents Awakenings, and I have to say it was a solid show. For one, it was something different than the "smarkish" writeups we've been seeing for the TV shows.
One huge strength for this card is the angle and feud building and heat retention for everyone involved. Such attention is paid to details for each feud and angle, evident in the main event, the PbPro Quintuple Crown match and the CJD/El Terrible match. I also thought that they did a great job of keeping everyone's heat intact, the shining example here being Justin Evitable looking like a Champ against Doc Silver even in defeat.
However, I think the writeups themselves were a little rusty. Of course, Jeff P. had to write five matches by himself (and I'm still waiting for my Tag Team Championship writeup, dammit!), so that will sap someone for sure, but once again, I'm not a huge fan of the alternating narrative/PBP style. Stick with one, preferably PBP seeing that the banter between Till and Dr. P was OUTSTANDING.
I'd give this a solid 3.5 out of 5, which is pretty good considering it was the first PPV back since the MBE Cup finals, and they got it out in good time. Things are looking up for the fed as long as people get up off their duffs and start joining and RPing.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Friendly rivalry?
In case you haven't noticed in the last few months, AWC and PRIME can't seem to stop mentioning each other in their shows. AWC's most egregious example of PRIME-dropping was when Ignatius Liseux came over for a sip out of a cup of coffee. Every other thing said about him, whether it was in segments written by Richard or in matches written by Jeremy J., had a mention of his former fed in it. PRIME's name-dropping of AWC is far less flattering. Most recently, on ReV 107, a segment featuring Jason Snow, Angelo Deville and Rich Rollins (oh my!) contained lengthy parts of mic spots where AWC was trashed. And then of course, there's the news article on the front page of PRIME's site decrying AWC's risque magazine cover of Teresa Tomas nude. Tomas' handler is planning on writing a counterpiece.
And honestly, I'm not a fan of either instance. I really never have been. It's always sort of grated at me to see mentions of other FW.com feds in various writeups and RPs, whether it was Cameron Cruise and Joey Melton taking their feuds, requisite with cross-referencing of happenings in several feds in one RP/segment, across every fed they were in, to even the most innocuous things, like Edmunds cutting to commercials for competitor feds on NEW shows. When it happens in passing, it's fine. It's when it becomes excessive or the crutch of a feud/segment/RP/whatever that I get a little dismayed by it.
Of course, my distaste for this kind of name-dropping and cross-referencing stems from real wrestling, where you really didn't mention the competition directly very often. The WWF and WCW took jabs at each other, even as far back as those Hogan/Savage/Billionaire Ted parodies in the WWF back in the mid-90s, back when WCW started to become a much bigger threat in the national market. Both companies went back and forth with subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle yet not explicitally referenced jabs. Once again, I realize that real wrestling sometimes isn't the best thing to emulate, even in this hobby where we make it a point to emulate them to a point. I mean, they've had transvestites giving wrestlers head or cybernetic movie characters doing run-ins. Still, I think general mentioning of the "competition" is a bad thing, even if it's innocuous.
However, this war of words seems to be one-sided and a bit more intense than everything that I've seen precede it. While the folks involved may think it's just some friendly ribbing among people who are buddies in the same community, I don't see it like that at all. On AWC's end, I see their referencing of PRIME as sign of an inferiority complex. It seems like we in AWC only want to do certain things to compete with PRIME, like 1) they're the only fed out there we have to compete with, and 2) like we're actually competiting with them as if this was our livelihood. It seems embarrassing when it's at its worst and just chinsey when it's at its least offensive.
When PRIME fires back, they're merciless. In character, they treat AWC as if it was a minor league, a place to send their superstars as a punishment. It's not seen as an equal fed at all, which makes the back and forth that much more confusing. I mean, WCW was at least seen as an equal to the WWF up until its final days. I really think that the PRIMEates only jab at AWC because they feel AWC is just hanging onto PRIME's coattails and they want them off. I really haven't noticed any other jabs at other PTC feds on PRIME shows, and I'm pretty sure that none of the other PTC feds make it a point to place themselves in direct competition with PRIME or mention them on their shows.
In the end, this only hurts AWC and it may turn people off to PRIME as well. I mean, AWC's unofficial PTC show ratings have been slipping over the last few weeks, whereas PRIME's the most highly rated show. While I feel that the lateness and quality of the last AWC show had the most to do with that, I'm pretty sure that the jabs at AWC aren't helping matters. Neither are the PRIME name-drops on AWC programming.
And I'm also pretty sure that if PRIME keeps putting those AWC jabs in their shows in lengthy promos, it might turn people off to their write-ups. That may seem a bit farfetched, but perceived arrogance can be a huge downfall. I'm not saying that PRIMEates are arrogant, not at all. Once again, I believe all this back and forth is good-natured for the most part. But what things are and how they're perceived can be two different things at times.
Besides, it may just be me, or it may not, but when I'm reading a show, I don't want to see jabs and name-drops of other feds littered around the show. I want to see what your fed has to offer. I want to see how your guys can write about what's happening in your fed. I want to see your stories told. That's what I want.
People say that being locked up in your own little world can be a bad thing. OOC, I agree. But in character... I prefer to see each fed as its own island. Besides, islands are nice. They're more enjoyable than most continental places.
And we're all in this hobby to make it as enjoyable as possible, aren't we?
And honestly, I'm not a fan of either instance. I really never have been. It's always sort of grated at me to see mentions of other FW.com feds in various writeups and RPs, whether it was Cameron Cruise and Joey Melton taking their feuds, requisite with cross-referencing of happenings in several feds in one RP/segment, across every fed they were in, to even the most innocuous things, like Edmunds cutting to commercials for competitor feds on NEW shows. When it happens in passing, it's fine. It's when it becomes excessive or the crutch of a feud/segment/RP/whatever that I get a little dismayed by it.
Of course, my distaste for this kind of name-dropping and cross-referencing stems from real wrestling, where you really didn't mention the competition directly very often. The WWF and WCW took jabs at each other, even as far back as those Hogan/Savage/Billionaire Ted parodies in the WWF back in the mid-90s, back when WCW started to become a much bigger threat in the national market. Both companies went back and forth with subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle yet not explicitally referenced jabs. Once again, I realize that real wrestling sometimes isn't the best thing to emulate, even in this hobby where we make it a point to emulate them to a point. I mean, they've had transvestites giving wrestlers head or cybernetic movie characters doing run-ins. Still, I think general mentioning of the "competition" is a bad thing, even if it's innocuous.
However, this war of words seems to be one-sided and a bit more intense than everything that I've seen precede it. While the folks involved may think it's just some friendly ribbing among people who are buddies in the same community, I don't see it like that at all. On AWC's end, I see their referencing of PRIME as sign of an inferiority complex. It seems like we in AWC only want to do certain things to compete with PRIME, like 1) they're the only fed out there we have to compete with, and 2) like we're actually competiting with them as if this was our livelihood. It seems embarrassing when it's at its worst and just chinsey when it's at its least offensive.
When PRIME fires back, they're merciless. In character, they treat AWC as if it was a minor league, a place to send their superstars as a punishment. It's not seen as an equal fed at all, which makes the back and forth that much more confusing. I mean, WCW was at least seen as an equal to the WWF up until its final days. I really think that the PRIMEates only jab at AWC because they feel AWC is just hanging onto PRIME's coattails and they want them off. I really haven't noticed any other jabs at other PTC feds on PRIME shows, and I'm pretty sure that none of the other PTC feds make it a point to place themselves in direct competition with PRIME or mention them on their shows.
In the end, this only hurts AWC and it may turn people off to PRIME as well. I mean, AWC's unofficial PTC show ratings have been slipping over the last few weeks, whereas PRIME's the most highly rated show. While I feel that the lateness and quality of the last AWC show had the most to do with that, I'm pretty sure that the jabs at AWC aren't helping matters. Neither are the PRIME name-drops on AWC programming.
And I'm also pretty sure that if PRIME keeps putting those AWC jabs in their shows in lengthy promos, it might turn people off to their write-ups. That may seem a bit farfetched, but perceived arrogance can be a huge downfall. I'm not saying that PRIMEates are arrogant, not at all. Once again, I believe all this back and forth is good-natured for the most part. But what things are and how they're perceived can be two different things at times.
Besides, it may just be me, or it may not, but when I'm reading a show, I don't want to see jabs and name-drops of other feds littered around the show. I want to see what your fed has to offer. I want to see how your guys can write about what's happening in your fed. I want to see your stories told. That's what I want.
People say that being locked up in your own little world can be a bad thing. OOC, I agree. But in character... I prefer to see each fed as its own island. Besides, islands are nice. They're more enjoyable than most continental places.
And we're all in this hobby to make it as enjoyable as possible, aren't we?
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Patience
Jeremy J. melts down at the AWC boards
I know this was a locked topic, but he said some pretty nasty things that I wanted to reply to there. Hyde, please forgive me, but also understand that I'm doing it with my own BOOMSTICK rather than doing it on your forums.
Anyway, first off, yes, Jeremy J. should have stayed away from AWC after he got axed. He was told to stop pushing buttons but he kept it up anyway. If you're booted from a fed, why stick around?
Secondly, good riddance. Yes he wrote matches every week, and he wrote them in prolific numbers, but they were often bad and he'd often make his favorite characters look like gods at the expense of other people. Nothing against JJ's favorites, but if I, Ferg, Josh K., Sam or anyone else who isn't slobbered over by the matchwriter puts up a quality RP, then they shouldn't be borderline squashed in a match, and our matches shouldn't be used as personal spankrags for the matchwriter's own whims. I've always felt strongly about this, just ask Roger and the rest of the A1E crew about how big a pain in the ass I can be about writeups :p If we in AWC have to struggle for matchwriters... then so be it, but it's better to have quality matches in a little later than usual than to have a hack write them, screw them up and piss people off in the interim.
Lastly... I'm not going to pick on him completely here, but rather, I'm going to address the overarching point in his puerile little tirade to everyone in the e-fed universe.
Late cards... I know that many folks from the PTC side of things expect to have a regular schedule of a show a week. I know that when you get used to having things so punctual, even a day's lateness can throw some people off. Suffice to say, I used to come from a world like that. Way back in the day, A1E and MBE ran on a weekly schedule. Even after MBE closed, A1E still kept regular, and for the most part still keeps regular today on a biweekly slate. I remember the antsiness that we'd used to have when a card was late.
Then, I got to FW back in 2004. At first, I was taken aback by the relative slowness of card production. It was something new for me, and I was pretty restless in the beginning. That wouldn't last. I started to realize that at times, people had the passion for the hobby and the desire to go, but that real life sometimes had to intervene. The FW crowd had a lot of older guys, holdovers from the P* days when they were all teenagers ten years ago. Now, a lot of them are adults. Dave Brunk has three kids and two jobs. Chad Merritt's always out on business. Jon Katz is working 12 hour days. Sean Edmunds is in law school. Josh Ray's in the Army. Gregg Gethard is getting married and in the process of getting a Masters. JAMARRRR~! *shakes fist* Nicholas is a comic artist. Even myself... I'm working 40 hours a week and I've got a full social life myself. When you grow up, the passion's still there, but the time may not be as plentiful as you want it to be. We're not all in high school or undergraduate college anymore.
Of course, there may be some people at PTC who run things well with the same situations. Those guys are to be lauded, but not everyone can keep up with the pace. What we all need to realize is that this is a hobby and not life. If a card is late, so what, as long as it's worth the wait, who gives a good God damn? Tom Petty might have sung "The waiting is the hardest part," but in the grand scheme of things, it's not all that bad. Someday, you might be in the same shoes as people like Brunk, Chad or Katz.
Now, I know it can be frustrating to wait. I know that I get like that sometimes. But to flip out and start pitching a bitch because one card is late is ludicrous. Disagree with me on the paragraphs before this one. I can respect that, but don't tell me that outbursting over late results is okay. We all have lives, we all have shortcomings... deal with it.
A wise man once said patience is a virtue. This isn't truer in any other walk of life than e-fedding.
I know this was a locked topic, but he said some pretty nasty things that I wanted to reply to there. Hyde, please forgive me, but also understand that I'm doing it with my own BOOMSTICK rather than doing it on your forums.
Anyway, first off, yes, Jeremy J. should have stayed away from AWC after he got axed. He was told to stop pushing buttons but he kept it up anyway. If you're booted from a fed, why stick around?
Secondly, good riddance. Yes he wrote matches every week, and he wrote them in prolific numbers, but they were often bad and he'd often make his favorite characters look like gods at the expense of other people. Nothing against JJ's favorites, but if I, Ferg, Josh K., Sam or anyone else who isn't slobbered over by the matchwriter puts up a quality RP, then they shouldn't be borderline squashed in a match, and our matches shouldn't be used as personal spankrags for the matchwriter's own whims. I've always felt strongly about this, just ask Roger and the rest of the A1E crew about how big a pain in the ass I can be about writeups :p If we in AWC have to struggle for matchwriters... then so be it, but it's better to have quality matches in a little later than usual than to have a hack write them, screw them up and piss people off in the interim.
Lastly... I'm not going to pick on him completely here, but rather, I'm going to address the overarching point in his puerile little tirade to everyone in the e-fed universe.
Late cards... I know that many folks from the PTC side of things expect to have a regular schedule of a show a week. I know that when you get used to having things so punctual, even a day's lateness can throw some people off. Suffice to say, I used to come from a world like that. Way back in the day, A1E and MBE ran on a weekly schedule. Even after MBE closed, A1E still kept regular, and for the most part still keeps regular today on a biweekly slate. I remember the antsiness that we'd used to have when a card was late.
Then, I got to FW back in 2004. At first, I was taken aback by the relative slowness of card production. It was something new for me, and I was pretty restless in the beginning. That wouldn't last. I started to realize that at times, people had the passion for the hobby and the desire to go, but that real life sometimes had to intervene. The FW crowd had a lot of older guys, holdovers from the P* days when they were all teenagers ten years ago. Now, a lot of them are adults. Dave Brunk has three kids and two jobs. Chad Merritt's always out on business. Jon Katz is working 12 hour days. Sean Edmunds is in law school. Josh Ray's in the Army. Gregg Gethard is getting married and in the process of getting a Masters. JAMARRRR~! *shakes fist* Nicholas is a comic artist. Even myself... I'm working 40 hours a week and I've got a full social life myself. When you grow up, the passion's still there, but the time may not be as plentiful as you want it to be. We're not all in high school or undergraduate college anymore.
Of course, there may be some people at PTC who run things well with the same situations. Those guys are to be lauded, but not everyone can keep up with the pace. What we all need to realize is that this is a hobby and not life. If a card is late, so what, as long as it's worth the wait, who gives a good God damn? Tom Petty might have sung "The waiting is the hardest part," but in the grand scheme of things, it's not all that bad. Someday, you might be in the same shoes as people like Brunk, Chad or Katz.
Now, I know it can be frustrating to wait. I know that I get like that sometimes. But to flip out and start pitching a bitch because one card is late is ludicrous. Disagree with me on the paragraphs before this one. I can respect that, but don't tell me that outbursting over late results is okay. We all have lives, we all have shortcomings... deal with it.
A wise man once said patience is a virtue. This isn't truer in any other walk of life than e-fedding.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
September's Wrestler of the Month
This month's award goes to Garbage Bag Johnny. At the beginning of the month, he culminated four months of utter dominance in AWC by capturing both the Transatlantic Championship and Crown, unifying them at last. The next week, he clinched an automatic spot in GTT6, defeating the other two singles title holders in AWC, the formidable Darcy Crisis and Gabriel Afeaki. He's also provided some of the most entertaining segments on AWC television all month and is certainly deserving of this honor.
Honorable Mention: The Spoiler (A1E, TEAM), Richard Farnswirth (A1E, EPW), IrishRed (A1E, EPW, UCW, TEAM), The First (UCW), Tchu (PRIME), Seymour Almasy (GCW, PTC Events), Nova (PRIME, TEAM), Jason Payne (NEW, TEAM), Derecho (LoC, TEAM), Darcy Crisis (AWC), Gabriel Afeaki (AWC), Kyle Roberts and Bruce Richards (NAPW, TEAM)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
August: Tchu (PRIME)
July: Joey Melton (PRIME, NFW, EPW, UCW)
June: D! (NAPW, TEAM Events)
May: The Illustrious Face Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
April: "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW)
March: Yori Yakamo, Jr. (NFW)
February: Seymour Almasy (ACW, PTC Events)
January: The Illustrious Face Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
Honorable Mention: The Spoiler (A1E, TEAM), Richard Farnswirth (A1E, EPW), IrishRed (A1E, EPW, UCW, TEAM), The First (UCW), Tchu (PRIME), Seymour Almasy (GCW, PTC Events), Nova (PRIME, TEAM), Jason Payne (NEW, TEAM), Derecho (LoC, TEAM), Darcy Crisis (AWC), Gabriel Afeaki (AWC), Kyle Roberts and Bruce Richards (NAPW, TEAM)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
August: Tchu (PRIME)
July: Joey Melton (PRIME, NFW, EPW, UCW)
June: D! (NAPW, TEAM Events)
May: The Illustrious Face Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
April: "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW)
March: Yori Yakamo, Jr. (NFW)
February: Seymour Almasy (ACW, PTC Events)
January: The Illustrious Face Eater/Adam Dick (AWC, PRIME)
Friday, September 08, 2006
AWC's Coast to Coast 2006!
The Meadowlands and Jolly Londontown
And now, the rundown. Shall we dance?
One Time Pass
We open with GBJ and Pearl Harber meeting about Johnny's "super serum," which turns out to be a ham sandwich smoothie with extra ingredients, after which Johnny takes off for his main event match on a jetpack. Silly segment, but it amused me. It might not amuse you if you're an outsider looking in because the jet pack thing is an inside joke. The bit about the serum though was good because it plays into all the history of the last year in AWC with the Prometheus serum angle and the maker of that serum (a guy who also happens to own AWC) being in attendance tonight to pick who the sole Entertainment manager is going to be.
Motivational Tactics
It's the Coalition's turn to seg it up in the beginning of the show. Somewhat of a wooden beginning. I don't feel anything between Allen and Reno. Things pick up with the introduction of Dawn Davidson. All in all, a decent table setter.
Introduction
First off, I HATE that song, and I hate Staind in general. Personal preference, though :)
Standard introduction, nothing too flashy about it, but it serves its purpose well, getting across the matches for the evening and playing up the hugeness of the event.
Playing God
We get a glimpse into the world of one Dr. Kasidy Drake with this segment. I thought the intro to it was a bit much. It rambled and almost lost me. Get to the point, which is what Dr. Drake has to say, not what's in his office. I mean, setting the table is nice, but focus more on what he had to say, which was something important. We're getting a surprise new AWCer and he's got a choice to make. I thought this could have been played up a little more. Still, it serves its purpose.
Coalition vid
Ah yes, Allen and Reno again. Good hype segment, gives you an idea of what the team is all about.
PWC/Coalition
Our first match of the evening, and it's a tag affair. Some good spots in there, I liked the SuperSuperPlex, but I thought having a 450 splash that doesn't end in a pin is a bit much unless it's a climactic moment in the match. When Krimzon does that spot, it's like... bleh. Same with the near-finish with the ref bump. I think that spot is overplayed. Otherwise, it was a pretty neat match, good opener, sets a good tone for the PPV.
Git-r-done!
Firstly... love the title ;)
Next up, we get a nudity tease, a cab driver trying to get Teresa Tomas to say "git-r-done" and Tiara Bell and Wayne Russell setting up Vetra Vacation #29343. I guess this gives the finish of their match away, but who knows.
Wager II: Electric Boogaloo
In case you don't know, Pierce Lavelle and GBJ have a wager going on whether Ellis Nash is going to turn on GBJ or not and side with Dick. Anyway, this is a fantastic segment, and there's no question in my mind that GBJ carries it. Lavelle's a good straight man/hardass type, but Johnny's retorts to Pierce are gold. "It's guacamole season!" Classic.
Tomas/Tiara
Okay match. The action was good, near-finish bonanza at the end was okay if a bit overdone. Didn't like Jeff Marx in this match at all. The over-the-top sexism didn't work for me because he openly rooted against both of the characters when you had a clear heel/face delineation. He's the heel announcer for a reason. If it were Wayne Russel vs. Teresa Tomas, then it would have worked, but another angle for Marx should have been taken. Regardless, solid match.
Doorbell
Flashback segment featuring Lavelle and Chainz. Obviously, the Champ has something to hide and now, Chainz knows that, although he doesn't know what. Doesn't really say much other than set up some kind of secret scenario, but it serves its purpose well.
Simple Plan
Good segment. Builds on Marquez using Paddy for his own selfish gains with Paddy yet again bungling another task. Simple, predictable, yet effective. The Marquez/Paddy angle is one of my favorite ongoing ones in AWC right now.
Suleimon/Murphy
I wrote this match, so no critique of it from me. However, I'd love to hear what you guys thought of it. Seriously, leave me feedback.
All Aboard
Fun little segment. More Paddy and Josh tomfoolery, always good. I liked GA's portion, builds his character nicely, although maybe he should have been snacking on raw kitten to build up the fercious aspect of his character ;) Good special appearance from Saij too.
Slapped Back
Trouble in paradise between Pierce and Sarah. Something's going down, more secretive talking and such. More table setting.
Parr-tay
More shenanigans on the boat, this time with more of a focus on GA and Johnny Lexicon. Good interactions there.
Alliance Titles
Good match, and good to see the Fists retain. Liked the action, especially the chokeslam/grab and clutch from the stage that wiped out both Sorrow (God, I hate the New Black's individual names) and Liam. What I didn't like was all that bullshit in the middle that passed for commentary. I don't need to see that. It wasn't funny, in a way, it was breaking kayfabe, e-fed style. Plus the Ghost of Steven Smith stuff was excessive. Basically, there was a long break from match action for some stupid shit that had no bearing on the event and that wasn't even funny to boot. No, you don't have that, especially not on your biggest PPV of the year.
Jewel of the Seas
Wow. All I can say is, whatta match. Seriously. For a match that size and of that clusterfuckage potential, it kept my interest the whole time. Big ups to GA for taking the Relentless Championship and to him and Paddy for taking the flag for the East. A lot of really good spots and strats all around. I particularly liked how Afeaki was written, like a combination of a T. Rex and a velociraptor in Jurassic Park. Paddy and Ellis were written well too. I liked their interaction when Paddy was all tripped out and Ellis tried to pin him. Great job, and perhaps a MOTY candidate.
Battlestations
So Mikey O'Reilly gets thrown into the ocean and now the ship's going down. I don't know where they're going with this. Could be interesting, could be disastrous.
Frontier Title
First up, I love how this match is being billed "The War to Settle the Score." It gives such an old-school feel to it. The entrances were pretty boss too, especially Anton's. Gotta love the chariot. However, "Superunknown" didn't click with me as Darce's theme song. I dunno, I guess that track will forever be associated with Freakfish for me, but I can't blame Nate for this, seeing as he's probably never heard of Double F or MBE for that matter.
The match itself, this deserves another WOW. Great end to a great feud. Sure it was a clusterfuck, but with the parties involved, how could it not? It was an enjoyable one, and that's all that matters. Loved the interplay between Anton and Luis during the match. I think that's going to be a great story when they finally break up. The wrestling action was really good too. I'm a huge fan of Anton's offense, the strikes and stuff, how he works so much differently than traditional wrestling strikers. I also enjoyed the spinebuster into a floatover bridge pin combo from Darcy. All in all some good wrestling action as well as fun brawling and clusterage with Luis, Billy Mays and Tony Little.
Bored of Segs
This was the best seg yet. The interaction between Lexicon and his wife was gold, but the interaction between Paddy and Josh was PLATINUM. Seriously.
The New Guy
First up, Ignatius Liseaux in AWC. Wow, this is huge. When I first heard about it, I was a bit uneasy because he just left PRIME and all, but really, what else did he have to accomplish there? Here he's got a clean slate. Plus, it happens in the wrestling industry all the time. A guy leaves one promotion and heads to another one, and the previous promotion gives him a good sendoff. This happened in ECW all the time.
As for the seg itself... I didn't like how they kept referencing previous PRIME stuff constantly. It makes AWC look like it's piggybacking off of PRIME, and that's not the way to go to build a new star up. However, I understand that a lot of it was necessary backstory to go along with why Iggy would make the decision that he looked like he was going to make. The payoff was right out of the Vince McMahon/Steve Austin playbook. A little derivative, but it was at least well-executed.
Chainz/Aimz
Extremely brutal match. Barely any pretense of wrestling there, and that's a good thing. Really captured the visceral nature of the feud. Plus, I'm a fan of any match where there's a swirly involved ;)
Prometheus
Simple recap of AWC's history. Effective.
Transatlantic Three Way
Well, the concept was different. I'll give it that. The action that I didn't think was too over the top was pretty good too, and there were some pretty good humorous spots. I thought it was a good match, but I don't think it was befitting the main event. I don't know, parts of it just seemed too goofy for me to buy it. Still though, there's no doubt there were some really entertaining parts, and of course, GBJ deserves GIANT props for unifying the TA title and crown and coming out as the biggest winner at both the biggest events on the AWC calendar.
A seg
Wow. Just wow. I'm floored by everything being tied together. Harber's heel turn. The revelation that he was the "voice," that he sabotaged Sasha, Lavelle, everything. Great way to end the show. If you're not going to end it with a payoff in the ring, well, then I guess this is the best way to do it. I do have a few problems with it. One, it takes away from GBJ's title win, which, to think about it, was monumental and should have been the hallmark on the show. Suffice to say, I think GBJ has been treated as somewhat of an afterthought in the last month or so. It's understandable seeing the magnitude of this angle, but there's a way to treat everything with equal gravity.
Second, what's the deal with Mike Wade? First, he's a commissioner, which with Harber around as the EM, is a redundant position. Then he goes and turns on everyone not five minutes as The Empire (once again, I can't picture anyone but Housefly, Gladiator, Chameleon, the Fallen Angels and Ted Sullivan as a stable called The Empire, but once again, I doubt Hyde/Lara/Joe Maga/et al. have even heard of A1E, so I have to let that one slide). I know he's called "His Swerviness," but I don't understand the need for this.
Still, it's a very powerful way to end the show. Also, huge congratulations to Adam Dick for his entry onto the AWC Legends Roll. It's well-deserved.
Overall thoughts
All in all, I thought it was a great show. Some slow spots, but basically, everything was enjoyable to read and everything got tied together nicely. It was big, but it was big in its own way. I think though, that most of the writers tried a bit too hard to make it big, and it showed in some spots where various characters were saying "oh, this is the BIGGEST.SHOW.EVAR" and such. It came off a little forced, like it was only big because you said it was. However, the content behind it, especially Jewel of the Seas, the Frontier Title Match and the end angle, backed up those claims very nicely.
If you want a real-world counterpart, this show felt like a WrestleMania from the Rock'n Wrestling days, with an emphasis on personalities and lavish storylines rather than pure wrestling competition storylines. I hate to make the comparison, but this is where it differs from PRIME's CIII, which also had the HUGE show feel but in a different way. CIII was anchored by two bitter feuds over in-ring animosities, and a lot of what happened in the ring had a more old-school NWA StarrCade, ECW November to Remember or WM 2000 or X-7 feel to it. When you compare the two feds, it's like looking at the old Monday Night Wars, where you had WCW and the WWF with two distinctly different feels battling each other. That's a good thing, because if they were both the exact same fed, then the PTC circle would be a little more boring.
Anyway, I should wrap this up. Congrats to Nate, Josh K. and Joe MaGa for their huge title wins, and really, big ups to everyone who contributed to the show. It was the best AWC show I've read since I joined, and I'm glad to have contributed to it.
And now, the rundown. Shall we dance?
One Time Pass
We open with GBJ and Pearl Harber meeting about Johnny's "super serum," which turns out to be a ham sandwich smoothie with extra ingredients, after which Johnny takes off for his main event match on a jetpack. Silly segment, but it amused me. It might not amuse you if you're an outsider looking in because the jet pack thing is an inside joke. The bit about the serum though was good because it plays into all the history of the last year in AWC with the Prometheus serum angle and the maker of that serum (a guy who also happens to own AWC) being in attendance tonight to pick who the sole Entertainment manager is going to be.
Motivational Tactics
It's the Coalition's turn to seg it up in the beginning of the show. Somewhat of a wooden beginning. I don't feel anything between Allen and Reno. Things pick up with the introduction of Dawn Davidson. All in all, a decent table setter.
Introduction
First off, I HATE that song, and I hate Staind in general. Personal preference, though :)
Standard introduction, nothing too flashy about it, but it serves its purpose well, getting across the matches for the evening and playing up the hugeness of the event.
Playing God
We get a glimpse into the world of one Dr. Kasidy Drake with this segment. I thought the intro to it was a bit much. It rambled and almost lost me. Get to the point, which is what Dr. Drake has to say, not what's in his office. I mean, setting the table is nice, but focus more on what he had to say, which was something important. We're getting a surprise new AWCer and he's got a choice to make. I thought this could have been played up a little more. Still, it serves its purpose.
Coalition vid
Ah yes, Allen and Reno again. Good hype segment, gives you an idea of what the team is all about.
PWC/Coalition
Our first match of the evening, and it's a tag affair. Some good spots in there, I liked the SuperSuperPlex, but I thought having a 450 splash that doesn't end in a pin is a bit much unless it's a climactic moment in the match. When Krimzon does that spot, it's like... bleh. Same with the near-finish with the ref bump. I think that spot is overplayed. Otherwise, it was a pretty neat match, good opener, sets a good tone for the PPV.
Git-r-done!
Firstly... love the title ;)
Next up, we get a nudity tease, a cab driver trying to get Teresa Tomas to say "git-r-done" and Tiara Bell and Wayne Russell setting up Vetra Vacation #29343. I guess this gives the finish of their match away, but who knows.
Wager II: Electric Boogaloo
In case you don't know, Pierce Lavelle and GBJ have a wager going on whether Ellis Nash is going to turn on GBJ or not and side with Dick. Anyway, this is a fantastic segment, and there's no question in my mind that GBJ carries it. Lavelle's a good straight man/hardass type, but Johnny's retorts to Pierce are gold. "It's guacamole season!" Classic.
Tomas/Tiara
Okay match. The action was good, near-finish bonanza at the end was okay if a bit overdone. Didn't like Jeff Marx in this match at all. The over-the-top sexism didn't work for me because he openly rooted against both of the characters when you had a clear heel/face delineation. He's the heel announcer for a reason. If it were Wayne Russel vs. Teresa Tomas, then it would have worked, but another angle for Marx should have been taken. Regardless, solid match.
Doorbell
Flashback segment featuring Lavelle and Chainz. Obviously, the Champ has something to hide and now, Chainz knows that, although he doesn't know what. Doesn't really say much other than set up some kind of secret scenario, but it serves its purpose well.
Simple Plan
Good segment. Builds on Marquez using Paddy for his own selfish gains with Paddy yet again bungling another task. Simple, predictable, yet effective. The Marquez/Paddy angle is one of my favorite ongoing ones in AWC right now.
Suleimon/Murphy
I wrote this match, so no critique of it from me. However, I'd love to hear what you guys thought of it. Seriously, leave me feedback.
All Aboard
Fun little segment. More Paddy and Josh tomfoolery, always good. I liked GA's portion, builds his character nicely, although maybe he should have been snacking on raw kitten to build up the fercious aspect of his character ;) Good special appearance from Saij too.
Slapped Back
Trouble in paradise between Pierce and Sarah. Something's going down, more secretive talking and such. More table setting.
Parr-tay
More shenanigans on the boat, this time with more of a focus on GA and Johnny Lexicon. Good interactions there.
Alliance Titles
Good match, and good to see the Fists retain. Liked the action, especially the chokeslam/grab and clutch from the stage that wiped out both Sorrow (God, I hate the New Black's individual names) and Liam. What I didn't like was all that bullshit in the middle that passed for commentary. I don't need to see that. It wasn't funny, in a way, it was breaking kayfabe, e-fed style. Plus the Ghost of Steven Smith stuff was excessive. Basically, there was a long break from match action for some stupid shit that had no bearing on the event and that wasn't even funny to boot. No, you don't have that, especially not on your biggest PPV of the year.
Jewel of the Seas
Wow. All I can say is, whatta match. Seriously. For a match that size and of that clusterfuckage potential, it kept my interest the whole time. Big ups to GA for taking the Relentless Championship and to him and Paddy for taking the flag for the East. A lot of really good spots and strats all around. I particularly liked how Afeaki was written, like a combination of a T. Rex and a velociraptor in Jurassic Park. Paddy and Ellis were written well too. I liked their interaction when Paddy was all tripped out and Ellis tried to pin him. Great job, and perhaps a MOTY candidate.
Battlestations
So Mikey O'Reilly gets thrown into the ocean and now the ship's going down. I don't know where they're going with this. Could be interesting, could be disastrous.
Frontier Title
First up, I love how this match is being billed "The War to Settle the Score." It gives such an old-school feel to it. The entrances were pretty boss too, especially Anton's. Gotta love the chariot. However, "Superunknown" didn't click with me as Darce's theme song. I dunno, I guess that track will forever be associated with Freakfish for me, but I can't blame Nate for this, seeing as he's probably never heard of Double F or MBE for that matter.
The match itself, this deserves another WOW. Great end to a great feud. Sure it was a clusterfuck, but with the parties involved, how could it not? It was an enjoyable one, and that's all that matters. Loved the interplay between Anton and Luis during the match. I think that's going to be a great story when they finally break up. The wrestling action was really good too. I'm a huge fan of Anton's offense, the strikes and stuff, how he works so much differently than traditional wrestling strikers. I also enjoyed the spinebuster into a floatover bridge pin combo from Darcy. All in all some good wrestling action as well as fun brawling and clusterage with Luis, Billy Mays and Tony Little.
Bored of Segs
This was the best seg yet. The interaction between Lexicon and his wife was gold, but the interaction between Paddy and Josh was PLATINUM. Seriously.
The New Guy
First up, Ignatius Liseaux in AWC. Wow, this is huge. When I first heard about it, I was a bit uneasy because he just left PRIME and all, but really, what else did he have to accomplish there? Here he's got a clean slate. Plus, it happens in the wrestling industry all the time. A guy leaves one promotion and heads to another one, and the previous promotion gives him a good sendoff. This happened in ECW all the time.
As for the seg itself... I didn't like how they kept referencing previous PRIME stuff constantly. It makes AWC look like it's piggybacking off of PRIME, and that's not the way to go to build a new star up. However, I understand that a lot of it was necessary backstory to go along with why Iggy would make the decision that he looked like he was going to make. The payoff was right out of the Vince McMahon/Steve Austin playbook. A little derivative, but it was at least well-executed.
Chainz/Aimz
Extremely brutal match. Barely any pretense of wrestling there, and that's a good thing. Really captured the visceral nature of the feud. Plus, I'm a fan of any match where there's a swirly involved ;)
Prometheus
Simple recap of AWC's history. Effective.
Transatlantic Three Way
Well, the concept was different. I'll give it that. The action that I didn't think was too over the top was pretty good too, and there were some pretty good humorous spots. I thought it was a good match, but I don't think it was befitting the main event. I don't know, parts of it just seemed too goofy for me to buy it. Still though, there's no doubt there were some really entertaining parts, and of course, GBJ deserves GIANT props for unifying the TA title and crown and coming out as the biggest winner at both the biggest events on the AWC calendar.
A seg
Wow. Just wow. I'm floored by everything being tied together. Harber's heel turn. The revelation that he was the "voice," that he sabotaged Sasha, Lavelle, everything. Great way to end the show. If you're not going to end it with a payoff in the ring, well, then I guess this is the best way to do it. I do have a few problems with it. One, it takes away from GBJ's title win, which, to think about it, was monumental and should have been the hallmark on the show. Suffice to say, I think GBJ has been treated as somewhat of an afterthought in the last month or so. It's understandable seeing the magnitude of this angle, but there's a way to treat everything with equal gravity.
Second, what's the deal with Mike Wade? First, he's a commissioner, which with Harber around as the EM, is a redundant position. Then he goes and turns on everyone not five minutes as The Empire (once again, I can't picture anyone but Housefly, Gladiator, Chameleon, the Fallen Angels and Ted Sullivan as a stable called The Empire, but once again, I doubt Hyde/Lara/Joe Maga/et al. have even heard of A1E, so I have to let that one slide). I know he's called "His Swerviness," but I don't understand the need for this.
Still, it's a very powerful way to end the show. Also, huge congratulations to Adam Dick for his entry onto the AWC Legends Roll. It's well-deserved.
Overall thoughts
All in all, I thought it was a great show. Some slow spots, but basically, everything was enjoyable to read and everything got tied together nicely. It was big, but it was big in its own way. I think though, that most of the writers tried a bit too hard to make it big, and it showed in some spots where various characters were saying "oh, this is the BIGGEST.SHOW.EVAR" and such. It came off a little forced, like it was only big because you said it was. However, the content behind it, especially Jewel of the Seas, the Frontier Title Match and the end angle, backed up those claims very nicely.
If you want a real-world counterpart, this show felt like a WrestleMania from the Rock'n Wrestling days, with an emphasis on personalities and lavish storylines rather than pure wrestling competition storylines. I hate to make the comparison, but this is where it differs from PRIME's CIII, which also had the HUGE show feel but in a different way. CIII was anchored by two bitter feuds over in-ring animosities, and a lot of what happened in the ring had a more old-school NWA StarrCade, ECW November to Remember or WM 2000 or X-7 feel to it. When you compare the two feds, it's like looking at the old Monday Night Wars, where you had WCW and the WWF with two distinctly different feels battling each other. That's a good thing, because if they were both the exact same fed, then the PTC circle would be a little more boring.
Anyway, I should wrap this up. Congrats to Nate, Josh K. and Joe MaGa for their huge title wins, and really, big ups to everyone who contributed to the show. It was the best AWC show I've read since I joined, and I'm glad to have contributed to it.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Shelf Life, e-fed vs. real wrestling, plus shows, shows and more shows
Before I get to the meat of my blog today, some pimpage.
First in the queue, FUSE's latest show, KillZone 3 is up for your perusal. FUSE has become a fed to watch over at PTC. Jason's got a good thing going here, and hopefully, with the influx of some new guys, they'll climb up and join AWC and PRIME as the cream of the PTC crop.
Speaking of AWC... Divide and Conquer! Once again, AWC turns in a fine PPV effort, punctuated by a brief Unfuckable reunion, new Alliance and Frontier Champions, some big returns and a nice set of backstage brawling segments featuring Chainz and Aimz. Congrats to Mike Wade for making the AWC Legends Roll and farewell for now... please come back soon!
NEW finally came out with their anniversary RAUCOUS. A very solid show, and hopefully it marks a return to regularity for NEW, a fed that when it's running on all cylinders is one of the best around.
And now, the entry for today.
I was talking to Joe Schmidt (handler of Adam Dick) the other day and he told me he was leaving AWC. I was pretty taken aback by it, especially since AWC was losing Wade too. I asked him why, and he said he had done everything there was to do in AWC. That's a good enough reason to leave, I suppose.
But if you look at real wrestlers, guys like Hulk Hogan or Shawn Michaels or Steve Austin, they achieved it all in the real business, but they kept sticking around. In fact, it's the nature of professional wrestlers to keep holding onto their limelight, taking jobs in indie feds just so they can keep wrestling, hoping that people will plunk down money to see them.
In e-fedding, there are a lot of things we take from the real thing, but for the most part, this desperation to hold onto our spots isn't one of them. There have been several people who've walked away or tried to walk away, from just one fed or from the hobby itself. Some were successful, others weren't. However, unless you're The Rock or Brock Lesnar, it's almost unheard of in the real thing.
Why is that? Well, the obvious reason is they get paid, we often juggled this with doing things for which we get paid. Easy enough.
But there's still exploration into why some people can put such short shelf-lives on their characters. Why isn't there a desire to become multiple time Champions? Why don't people try to "do it all" again, using a different route? Perhaps there's life in AWC for Dick as a face, who knows.
Honestly, I think that people have an easier time walking away because most of us aren't ego-driven to the point of needing to prove things over and over again. Once again, we don't get paid for it. We're not slaves to ratings. Theoretically, we do this for fun. So proving that we can do things once is enough, at least with one character.
I think another huge reason is the timetables at which things happen. Normally, wrestler X enters the business and his first World Championship doesn't come for years after the fact. In e-feds, that timetable is shrunk considerably. If it took five years for people to become World Championship contenders in e-feds, then there probably wouldn't be as extensive an e-fed network as there is.
The point is, though, that people walk away. Do I think that guys may come back later in different feds or with different characters? Sure, it happens all the time.
However, one way that our world will never relate to the real wrestling world is that our characters do not have nearly the shelf-life as the real guys do for the most part.
There are exceptions to this though. A1E is the most like a real life fed in this regard. Beast, Big Dog, Fly and even to an extent my own JA have been around forever, through World Titles and without them.
First in the queue, FUSE's latest show, KillZone 3 is up for your perusal. FUSE has become a fed to watch over at PTC. Jason's got a good thing going here, and hopefully, with the influx of some new guys, they'll climb up and join AWC and PRIME as the cream of the PTC crop.
Speaking of AWC... Divide and Conquer! Once again, AWC turns in a fine PPV effort, punctuated by a brief Unfuckable reunion, new Alliance and Frontier Champions, some big returns and a nice set of backstage brawling segments featuring Chainz and Aimz. Congrats to Mike Wade for making the AWC Legends Roll and farewell for now... please come back soon!
NEW finally came out with their anniversary RAUCOUS. A very solid show, and hopefully it marks a return to regularity for NEW, a fed that when it's running on all cylinders is one of the best around.
And now, the entry for today.
I was talking to Joe Schmidt (handler of Adam Dick) the other day and he told me he was leaving AWC. I was pretty taken aback by it, especially since AWC was losing Wade too. I asked him why, and he said he had done everything there was to do in AWC. That's a good enough reason to leave, I suppose.
But if you look at real wrestlers, guys like Hulk Hogan or Shawn Michaels or Steve Austin, they achieved it all in the real business, but they kept sticking around. In fact, it's the nature of professional wrestlers to keep holding onto their limelight, taking jobs in indie feds just so they can keep wrestling, hoping that people will plunk down money to see them.
In e-fedding, there are a lot of things we take from the real thing, but for the most part, this desperation to hold onto our spots isn't one of them. There have been several people who've walked away or tried to walk away, from just one fed or from the hobby itself. Some were successful, others weren't. However, unless you're The Rock or Brock Lesnar, it's almost unheard of in the real thing.
Why is that? Well, the obvious reason is they get paid, we often juggled this with doing things for which we get paid. Easy enough.
But there's still exploration into why some people can put such short shelf-lives on their characters. Why isn't there a desire to become multiple time Champions? Why don't people try to "do it all" again, using a different route? Perhaps there's life in AWC for Dick as a face, who knows.
Honestly, I think that people have an easier time walking away because most of us aren't ego-driven to the point of needing to prove things over and over again. Once again, we don't get paid for it. We're not slaves to ratings. Theoretically, we do this for fun. So proving that we can do things once is enough, at least with one character.
I think another huge reason is the timetables at which things happen. Normally, wrestler X enters the business and his first World Championship doesn't come for years after the fact. In e-feds, that timetable is shrunk considerably. If it took five years for people to become World Championship contenders in e-feds, then there probably wouldn't be as extensive an e-fed network as there is.
The point is, though, that people walk away. Do I think that guys may come back later in different feds or with different characters? Sure, it happens all the time.
However, one way that our world will never relate to the real wrestling world is that our characters do not have nearly the shelf-life as the real guys do for the most part.
There are exceptions to this though. A1E is the most like a real life fed in this regard. Beast, Big Dog, Fly and even to an extent my own JA have been around forever, through World Titles and without them.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
May's Wrestler of the Month
We have our first repeat winner.
Adam Dick/The Illustrious Face-Eater has garnered his second Wrestler of the Month Award, partially for his AWC work, but mostly for his ownership in PRIME. Up until recently, he has held PRIME's Internet, Five-Star and Tag Team Championships (he recently lost the I-net title). Add that to his Transatlantic Championship in AWC, and you've got one hefty resume for the month of May. Congrats to Facey!
Previous WOTMs:
April - "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW)
March - Yori Yakamo, Jr. (NFW)
February - Seymour Almasy (ACW, PTC Events)
January - Adam Dick (AWC)
Adam Dick/The Illustrious Face-Eater has garnered his second Wrestler of the Month Award, partially for his AWC work, but mostly for his ownership in PRIME. Up until recently, he has held PRIME's Internet, Five-Star and Tag Team Championships (he recently lost the I-net title). Add that to his Transatlantic Championship in AWC, and you've got one hefty resume for the month of May. Congrats to Facey!
Previous WOTMs:
April - "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW)
March - Yori Yakamo, Jr. (NFW)
February - Seymour Almasy (ACW, PTC Events)
January - Adam Dick (AWC)
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Some updates
- The Ultimate A1E Tournament voting on the Allen Thomas bracket concludes tonight. I'll put my own votes in a comment to that entry, and then we'll move on with the next bracket first round tomorrow or Saturday. On my glancing over the votes, no matchups really seemed close except for Torgo/Drifter, which surprised me. But regardless, we move on, so who knows what surprises lay ahaed.
- UCW's Civil War was posted, and it was a pretty good read. Great job by Shane and Dan to get a good show out after the server problems. There's a temptation to sort of put out a sluggish card after such problems and after RP for the card was so sluggish (I'm one to talk, seeing as how I only RPed once as Benoitholic... I'll get out more matierial with him as I get more comfortable with him, I promise!), but the steak of the show matched its sizzle. Joey Melton and Mr. Incredible... two surprises and two great additions to the UCW roster.
- Still more at ENN, and a little self-promotion here too, TRASH TALK~! I'm hoping this will help build up the RPs for round one by giving everyone some material. Big ups to everyone who trash talked so far, especially to Devin, who opened up with a phenomenal trash talk with Lord Lowell and really got things going. Shane G., Bryan and of course, Bill have also gotten up some really, really good material.
- Last, but certainly not least a huge, huge, HUGE congratulation goes out to Garbage Bag Johnny for winning AWC's Zero 2 Hero tournament. He faced some stiff, and I mean STIFF competition, and there really isn't anyone better to be carrying AWC's banner right now. Also, huge props to everyone who wrote and contributed to the tournament, especially to Mike Wade, Joe Schmidt and Fergus the Loon for concocting a brilliant swervy angle with Wadester turning on Adam Dick. This is a must-read segment. All in all, this write up has gone a long way into establishing Z2H as the premiere event on the AWC calendar, and hopefully, it will garner the attention in the PTC world and all across the e-fedding universe as one of the big, mark-your-calendar events.
- UCW's Civil War was posted, and it was a pretty good read. Great job by Shane and Dan to get a good show out after the server problems. There's a temptation to sort of put out a sluggish card after such problems and after RP for the card was so sluggish (I'm one to talk, seeing as how I only RPed once as Benoitholic... I'll get out more matierial with him as I get more comfortable with him, I promise!), but the steak of the show matched its sizzle. Joey Melton and Mr. Incredible... two surprises and two great additions to the UCW roster.
- Still more at ENN, and a little self-promotion here too, TRASH TALK~! I'm hoping this will help build up the RPs for round one by giving everyone some material. Big ups to everyone who trash talked so far, especially to Devin, who opened up with a phenomenal trash talk with Lord Lowell and really got things going. Shane G., Bryan and of course, Bill have also gotten up some really, really good material.
- Last, but certainly not least a huge, huge, HUGE congratulation goes out to Garbage Bag Johnny for winning AWC's Zero 2 Hero tournament. He faced some stiff, and I mean STIFF competition, and there really isn't anyone better to be carrying AWC's banner right now. Also, huge props to everyone who wrote and contributed to the tournament, especially to Mike Wade, Joe Schmidt and Fergus the Loon for concocting a brilliant swervy angle with Wadester turning on Adam Dick. This is a must-read segment. All in all, this write up has gone a long way into establishing Z2H as the premiere event on the AWC calendar, and hopefully, it will garner the attention in the PTC world and all across the e-fedding universe as one of the big, mark-your-calendar events.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Two HYOOGE PPVs and a few of my favorite characters -- NFW East
Before we get to the character pimpage, it's time for some PPV action.
First up, ACW delivers BIG TIME with Honor and Glory. Seriously, I think this comes close to, if not surpasses, Legends II. 2006 is at least starting off well for ACW. Check the SotF main event, and major props go out to Mike Renner, Michael Dupin and Sean Williams for writing this bad boy, and check out the Spirit of ACW 2/3 falls match between Andy Sharp and Max Danger, and again, mad propers going out to Seth Silver and Dupin. I'd also like to solicit a little feedback for those of you who aren't narrative-impaired to check out my Suleimon/Republican match and give me feedback and criticism on it, because I need it like a junkie needs smack.
Next up, there's AWC Bloodlust, another good read. Props go out to Josh Young for writing the Suleimon match well (although I'm a bit bummed at the loss... but hey, losses build character), and big congratulations go out to Jack Murphy for winning the Transatlantic Championship and to Taso for capturing the Alliance Titles with Celestial Fury (Butterfly Hamada and The Green Grappler). Also, a bittersweet moment as we say farewell (at least for now) to Paddy O'Shea from AWC. He will be missed.
And now, a few of my favorite characters from NFW East. I was going to do NFW on the whole, but it's really like two different feds under one banner. So I'll split it up by conference. Once again, in no particular order...
Yori Yakamo, Jr. Seriously, one of the funniest characters I've ever read. I don't know what it is about overt perversion and sexuality or blasphemy that is so funny, but really, every YYJ promo is a MUST-READ, and I don't say that about many characters. What he's doing for comedic characters in the NFW East this year is truly a great thing, because comedic characters deserve World Titles too, dammit.
Beau Michaels Once again, outrageous factor over here. NFW East is home to a lot of over-the-top characters, and Beau is no exception. I often stare at my screen in amazement at the balls Edmunds has to post some of the things he does at Beau, but most of the time, it's well-written and entertaining.
Felix Red Strange bird, this one is, but hey, I can't say I'm not enjoying the whole Kooter thing he's got going. As freaky as his promos and segments are, there's something strangely alluring about them that you can't seem to avert your attention elsewhere when your eyes hit the words. I mean, sometimes it just doesn't make sense, but you still keep reading. That's Felix Red.
Michael Manson You can't say enough about the way McNic's handled this season. There's such an allure to some folks to try and plug on and defend the UT with all the fury of someone trying to repeat, but instead, he's taking out time to help other folks get their storylines over and in the same vein, is playing up a major, major change to his character (albeit a temporary one) to make things more interesting. I'll admit to not being the Manson character's biggest fan in the past, but this season, he's been on, and I've gained an all new respect for the character and the handler.
Kin Hiroshi Kin will always be an underrated character wherever he goes because he's not afraid to try new stuff, but at the same time, he's also not going to be the flashiest or the biggest name (despite being around for a good while). Well, I will go on record to say I appreciate Kin, and I think he's been doing some good, under-the-radar stuff in the East since he came back. His match with Kevin Powers in week 2 was a good shock to the roster, and his stories with addiction and his harassing of Doc Silver for his NFW Title shot have been compelling and amusing respectively.
First up, ACW delivers BIG TIME with Honor and Glory. Seriously, I think this comes close to, if not surpasses, Legends II. 2006 is at least starting off well for ACW. Check the SotF main event, and major props go out to Mike Renner, Michael Dupin and Sean Williams for writing this bad boy, and check out the Spirit of ACW 2/3 falls match between Andy Sharp and Max Danger, and again, mad propers going out to Seth Silver and Dupin. I'd also like to solicit a little feedback for those of you who aren't narrative-impaired to check out my Suleimon/Republican match and give me feedback and criticism on it, because I need it like a junkie needs smack.
Next up, there's AWC Bloodlust, another good read. Props go out to Josh Young for writing the Suleimon match well (although I'm a bit bummed at the loss... but hey, losses build character), and big congratulations go out to Jack Murphy for winning the Transatlantic Championship and to Taso for capturing the Alliance Titles with Celestial Fury (Butterfly Hamada and The Green Grappler). Also, a bittersweet moment as we say farewell (at least for now) to Paddy O'Shea from AWC. He will be missed.
And now, a few of my favorite characters from NFW East. I was going to do NFW on the whole, but it's really like two different feds under one banner. So I'll split it up by conference. Once again, in no particular order...
Yori Yakamo, Jr. Seriously, one of the funniest characters I've ever read. I don't know what it is about overt perversion and sexuality or blasphemy that is so funny, but really, every YYJ promo is a MUST-READ, and I don't say that about many characters. What he's doing for comedic characters in the NFW East this year is truly a great thing, because comedic characters deserve World Titles too, dammit.
Beau Michaels Once again, outrageous factor over here. NFW East is home to a lot of over-the-top characters, and Beau is no exception. I often stare at my screen in amazement at the balls Edmunds has to post some of the things he does at Beau, but most of the time, it's well-written and entertaining.
Felix Red Strange bird, this one is, but hey, I can't say I'm not enjoying the whole Kooter thing he's got going. As freaky as his promos and segments are, there's something strangely alluring about them that you can't seem to avert your attention elsewhere when your eyes hit the words. I mean, sometimes it just doesn't make sense, but you still keep reading. That's Felix Red.
Michael Manson You can't say enough about the way McNic's handled this season. There's such an allure to some folks to try and plug on and defend the UT with all the fury of someone trying to repeat, but instead, he's taking out time to help other folks get their storylines over and in the same vein, is playing up a major, major change to his character (albeit a temporary one) to make things more interesting. I'll admit to not being the Manson character's biggest fan in the past, but this season, he's been on, and I've gained an all new respect for the character and the handler.
Kin Hiroshi Kin will always be an underrated character wherever he goes because he's not afraid to try new stuff, but at the same time, he's also not going to be the flashiest or the biggest name (despite being around for a good while). Well, I will go on record to say I appreciate Kin, and I think he's been doing some good, under-the-radar stuff in the East since he came back. His match with Kevin Powers in week 2 was a good shock to the roster, and his stories with addiction and his harassing of Doc Silver for his NFW Title shot have been compelling and amusing respectively.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
A few of my favorite characters -- AWC
Once again, in no particular order.
The Furious Fists of God I don't know what it is about not-so-subtly white supremacist Christians, doing the work of the White Lord, that is so appealing, but this tag team is so funny and entertaining. They're very well-written, and barring writer burnout, they should be the team to beat in 2006 across any fed.
Mike Wade Having read through so many GTT5 and AWC RPs, a lot of the folks who are main eventers or superstars write in such a dense, serious style. It works for some, it doesn't work for others, but they all seem to want to try and write dramatic novels on the way up. That's not really so with Wade, and that is über-refreshing. I mean, anyone who can write an RP based around parodying Eminem's "Stan" is aces in my book. Plus his segments with his Unfuckable partner Adam Dick are must-reads on any card. Join the parade~!
Chainz Murder angles aside, Chainz is one of the best sadistic heels in the game. He has a proclivity to go a little too far at times, but you always get the sense that he's a monster and he's doing monstruous things. He's a very well-written character as well.
Adam Dick Cut from the same cloth as Mike Wade is, and of course, that's a good thing. A little more serious than Wade, but that's alright. He's always an entertaining read for me. Love the Transatlantic Crown too.
Paddy O'Shea I like that he's a classic babyface in a world where classic babyfaces are very hard to come by. Plus, he's got a bigger cock than you.
The Furious Fists of God I don't know what it is about not-so-subtly white supremacist Christians, doing the work of the White Lord, that is so appealing, but this tag team is so funny and entertaining. They're very well-written, and barring writer burnout, they should be the team to beat in 2006 across any fed.
Mike Wade Having read through so many GTT5 and AWC RPs, a lot of the folks who are main eventers or superstars write in such a dense, serious style. It works for some, it doesn't work for others, but they all seem to want to try and write dramatic novels on the way up. That's not really so with Wade, and that is über-refreshing. I mean, anyone who can write an RP based around parodying Eminem's "Stan" is aces in my book. Plus his segments with his Unfuckable partner Adam Dick are must-reads on any card. Join the parade~!
Chainz Murder angles aside, Chainz is one of the best sadistic heels in the game. He has a proclivity to go a little too far at times, but you always get the sense that he's a monster and he's doing monstruous things. He's a very well-written character as well.
Adam Dick Cut from the same cloth as Mike Wade is, and of course, that's a good thing. A little more serious than Wade, but that's alright. He's always an entertaining read for me. Love the Transatlantic Crown too.
Paddy O'Shea I like that he's a classic babyface in a world where classic babyfaces are very hard to come by. Plus, he's got a bigger cock than you.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
A huge post about AWC
Alright, I'll trust blogger not to eat this post like it did earlier when I tried to save it to draft.
Anyway, before I get to the meat, I might as well pimp some of the latest shows for you to read.
First in the queue, we got LVW's Championship Madness, which of course is an all-around good effort. Seriously, check this fed out. You will be hooked. Most character/gimmick driven feds rock, and LVW is no exception. The only qualm I had with the show was the DQ finish being used in two tournament matches. I prefer pin/submissions in those situations, be they clean or Dusty. But those qualms were outweighed by the appearance of the GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE~!~!~!
Next up, UCW hits with their latest edition of Revolution. Solid effort, a little shortish, but it had some good stuff going on. Just want to take some time out to give props to both Brunk and Siegel for the Ryan/Cruise feud. They're in just about every fed, yet I think they're both at their most intriguing here.
Finally, we get to AWC FRESH~!. This week's show, very segment heavy, but with a roster that size and with everyone with at least one story to tell, it's understandable and expected. Two major things going on here. One, Mike Wade becomes the Frontier Champion, his third concurrent title. Triple Champion... impressive.
Second was Chainz's controversial and graphic angle to end the show. On this blog, I predicted that Chainz would cause a mid-level riot, but I never thought it would be this soon into the new year. For those who don't know, Chainz, the character, is a degenerate mysogynist, a sexual predator and a part-time pedopile who's spent time in the can for rape (I think). The angle involves him showing graphic footage of him killing Ellis' Nash's sister, delivering their stillborn baby and committing necrophilia on her, all this after Chainz had found out she was cheating on him and was going to abort their baby, partial-birth style.
Now, I can almost see most of you recoiling in horror at the angle. I kinda did too, but I didn't think it was that bad at all, at least the idea behind it.
Chainz is a lowlife scumbag as a character, so we should expect him to do lowlife, scumbag things. And since wrestling is by nature a business that is over the top. What Chainz did was extremely over the top. But honestly, it might have been too much so, at least in the way that it was presented. It came off very Katie Vick-ish, at least with the admissions of murder and necrophilia being open and graphic.
What Mike Sloan (Chainz' handler) should have done was not written the part where he was describing what was on the tape he was showing Ellis. Maybe have it so that the "Technical difficulties" screen was showing to both the "TV audience" and to us, the reading public. Showing Ellis' horror after seeing the video would have conveyed the same effect as showing the video, and it would leave a lot of gray areas as to what happened.
Despite the criticism, I think Mike should be commended for pushing the envelope, but he pushed a little too hard this time. He shouldn't be flogged too hard at all. We all make mistakes, but they all turn into learning experiences. Honestly, Chainz is one of my favorite characters, period, and I hope he doesn't rein in too much with what he's doing with him.
The other AWC note I wanted to touch upon was a topic that came up on their OOC board: how to deal with a waiting list.
If it were up to me, I wouldn't even consider having a waiting list for any fed I ran. I guess I "grew up" around a culture in A1E and MBE where everyone was welcome, no matter how grammatically or aesthetically bad your writing was.
But then again, A1E at its height had 20 handlers doing 25-30 characters (and that might be generous). Perfect size for a fed. They didn't have the amount of people wanting to get in like AWC (and most PTC feds) do. I know that I wouldn't want to have 50 handlers making Fresh shows almost unbearable to read due to the sheer size of them, so I kinda understand where Hyde's coming from.
In a perfect situation, everyone on your waiting list would be of equal stature and talent and you could let them in on a first-come, first-serve basis. But as most of us in this hobby know, no situation is perfect.
Which is why a straight waiting list system will never work if you want to keep harmony and quality high.
You need to run a selective waiting list process. Go with guys you know will bring the goods, or guys that people you trust refer to you. When you want to give someone new/unknown a chance (and believe me, as a struggling recent grad trying to find work, I'm all about giving the unknown quantities a chance), make them prove their way into the fed. Have them do stuff to get in your good graces: writing matches, talking about wrestling theories and stuff like that, brainstorming angles, getting to know the person in an OOC light. Odds are, if they write a good match, or if they know a bunch about wrestling, or if they link you to stuff that is just fantastic storytelling or anything else positive, they'll be a positive impact on the fed.
But letting folks in blindly... that could lead to disaster in large feds where waiting lists are necessary.
Anyway, before I get to the meat, I might as well pimp some of the latest shows for you to read.
First in the queue, we got LVW's Championship Madness, which of course is an all-around good effort. Seriously, check this fed out. You will be hooked. Most character/gimmick driven feds rock, and LVW is no exception. The only qualm I had with the show was the DQ finish being used in two tournament matches. I prefer pin/submissions in those situations, be they clean or Dusty. But those qualms were outweighed by the appearance of the GENTLEMAN OF LEISURE~!~!~!
Next up, UCW hits with their latest edition of Revolution. Solid effort, a little shortish, but it had some good stuff going on. Just want to take some time out to give props to both Brunk and Siegel for the Ryan/Cruise feud. They're in just about every fed, yet I think they're both at their most intriguing here.
Finally, we get to AWC FRESH~!. This week's show, very segment heavy, but with a roster that size and with everyone with at least one story to tell, it's understandable and expected. Two major things going on here. One, Mike Wade becomes the Frontier Champion, his third concurrent title. Triple Champion... impressive.
Second was Chainz's controversial and graphic angle to end the show. On this blog, I predicted that Chainz would cause a mid-level riot, but I never thought it would be this soon into the new year. For those who don't know, Chainz, the character, is a degenerate mysogynist, a sexual predator and a part-time pedopile who's spent time in the can for rape (I think). The angle involves him showing graphic footage of him killing Ellis' Nash's sister, delivering their stillborn baby and committing necrophilia on her, all this after Chainz had found out she was cheating on him and was going to abort their baby, partial-birth style.
Now, I can almost see most of you recoiling in horror at the angle. I kinda did too, but I didn't think it was that bad at all, at least the idea behind it.
Chainz is a lowlife scumbag as a character, so we should expect him to do lowlife, scumbag things. And since wrestling is by nature a business that is over the top. What Chainz did was extremely over the top. But honestly, it might have been too much so, at least in the way that it was presented. It came off very Katie Vick-ish, at least with the admissions of murder and necrophilia being open and graphic.
What Mike Sloan (Chainz' handler) should have done was not written the part where he was describing what was on the tape he was showing Ellis. Maybe have it so that the "Technical difficulties" screen was showing to both the "TV audience" and to us, the reading public. Showing Ellis' horror after seeing the video would have conveyed the same effect as showing the video, and it would leave a lot of gray areas as to what happened.
Despite the criticism, I think Mike should be commended for pushing the envelope, but he pushed a little too hard this time. He shouldn't be flogged too hard at all. We all make mistakes, but they all turn into learning experiences. Honestly, Chainz is one of my favorite characters, period, and I hope he doesn't rein in too much with what he's doing with him.
The other AWC note I wanted to touch upon was a topic that came up on their OOC board: how to deal with a waiting list.
If it were up to me, I wouldn't even consider having a waiting list for any fed I ran. I guess I "grew up" around a culture in A1E and MBE where everyone was welcome, no matter how grammatically or aesthetically bad your writing was.
But then again, A1E at its height had 20 handlers doing 25-30 characters (and that might be generous). Perfect size for a fed. They didn't have the amount of people wanting to get in like AWC (and most PTC feds) do. I know that I wouldn't want to have 50 handlers making Fresh shows almost unbearable to read due to the sheer size of them, so I kinda understand where Hyde's coming from.
In a perfect situation, everyone on your waiting list would be of equal stature and talent and you could let them in on a first-come, first-serve basis. But as most of us in this hobby know, no situation is perfect.
Which is why a straight waiting list system will never work if you want to keep harmony and quality high.
You need to run a selective waiting list process. Go with guys you know will bring the goods, or guys that people you trust refer to you. When you want to give someone new/unknown a chance (and believe me, as a struggling recent grad trying to find work, I'm all about giving the unknown quantities a chance), make them prove their way into the fed. Have them do stuff to get in your good graces: writing matches, talking about wrestling theories and stuff like that, brainstorming angles, getting to know the person in an OOC light. Odds are, if they write a good match, or if they know a bunch about wrestling, or if they link you to stuff that is just fantastic storytelling or anything else positive, they'll be a positive impact on the fed.
But letting folks in blindly... that could lead to disaster in large feds where waiting lists are necessary.
Monday, January 30, 2006
January's Wrestler of the Month
Well, I figure that since one of my goals with the blog is to make the e-fed world smaller, I might as well try to do some kind of awards to try and recognize who's been doing what in this circle I've created. And so I guess a month is as good a time-frame as any to do it, so here it is, the first Wrestler of the Month for 2006. And January's award goes to...
Adam Dick, aka the Illustrious Face Eater (AWC)
Dick gets the award this month because he ended arguably the most impressive reign in e-fedding over the last year: Pierce Lavelle's Transatlantic Championship run. He added the most prestigious title in AWC to his Alliance Title that he co-holds with "His Swerviness" Mike Wade. They've started the New Year off right for AWC, and Dick especially deserves some praise for the work he's done.
Honorable Mentions
IrishRed (UCW, A1E) - UCW Championship win, runner-up in Pier Six
Beast (A1E, EPW) - A1E Championship win
Seymour Almasy (ACW) - Big ACW Championship win at Legends
Adam Dick, aka the Illustrious Face Eater (AWC)
Dick gets the award this month because he ended arguably the most impressive reign in e-fedding over the last year: Pierce Lavelle's Transatlantic Championship run. He added the most prestigious title in AWC to his Alliance Title that he co-holds with "His Swerviness" Mike Wade. They've started the New Year off right for AWC, and Dick especially deserves some praise for the work he's done.
Honorable Mentions
IrishRed (UCW, A1E) - UCW Championship win, runner-up in Pier Six
Beast (A1E, EPW) - A1E Championship win
Seymour Almasy (ACW) - Big ACW Championship win at Legends
THE E-FED BLOG 100TH POST EXTRAVAGANZA~!
Oh yeah, 100 posts. I didn't think I'd make it this far, but now that I have, let's hope that there are hundreds and hundreds more.
So what am I going to do for this monumental occasion? Well, first, let's link some shows! I haven't read them all fully yet, so no quickie reviews.
Holla, holla, Midnight Madness, week 6... NFW, down Mexico way... beware, thar's teabagging in them thar pages :p
NEW Era Raucous... first show of the new year for NEW... hopefully it's the first of many!
AWC Fresh! (Tilde omitted for fear of jobbing :p)... I got through less than half of this show last night before I realized I had an ACW deadline to meet. Amazingly long promo from the Unfuckables to start, which was Triple H-esque, but unlike a Levesque Borination Special, it had more than a few good moments.
ACW Courage 88... self-shill here, check out the Suleimon and GOP matches, and lemme know what you think about the angle I have between them. I love feedback, even if it's negative/constructive.
And now, to the meat of the post...
For my 100th entry, I thought that I would recount the most shocking, controversial, imoportant, best-written, etc. moments I've experienced in e-fedding history. The key part of that is moments I've experienced, firsthand. So sorry NFW fans, no Hurricane Eddy Love moments, cuz in fairness, I didn't realize that firsthand. I read it months later, so the importance wasn't as dramatic on me.
But anyway, this is in no order except for maybe chronological...
MBE Comes to A1 Before Message Board Entertainment came to A1Wrestling.com, the perception was that it was this foreign, elitist fed where only the friends of those in charge were the ones who'd get pushed. I heard this from a few people, like Janitor and Lady Rebellion. But I really didn't pay them that much mind. I mean, Janitor told me I'd never amount to anything in MBE unless I played politics.
Meanwhile, I was one of the longest reigning MBE Champions of all-time, and I don't think I had to do any backstage convincing to do it. But that's neither here nor there.
I was really one of the only ones who believed that MBE wasn't this fortress, this ivory tower. I wasn't deterred by going back to 1Wrestling.com, a site that everyone at A1 either left after being fed up with Ryder and his WCWocracy or were booted for speaking their minds. Others were though.
But then, MBE moved and came to A1. I don't know the exact reason; Dan West might be better to ask. However, what I do know is that when MBE came to A1, more A1E faithful tried it out, and the haters who thought it was this big, insular party found out that MBE was actually more egalitarian than A1E was. They found out that you didn't have to brownnose to certain folks to succeed.
And to think, all it took was a change of scenery to get that message across.
A1E's Tag Team Championship Match Usually, when a match nowadays goes 4 or 5 plus promos apiece, it's considered hyperactive. People wonder where folks get the free time to get up all those RPs.
Yet I remember a time when if you didn't put up at least five, you were slacking.
Well, Beast, Necromancer, Liquid Snake and Mikey F'n W certainly weren't slacking when they faced off to determine the first ever A1E Tag Team Champions. In fact, they kinda went insane to the tune of 58 (I think that was the final number) total promos.
Fifty-eight.
I'm sure Jarret, Mat, Ryan or Mike would pretty much look back at that match and wonder "How in the hell did we get all that activity?"
I mean, even for that time, when things were different, 58 was a big number.
God, I miss those days.
Amazing, Inc. Honestly, there aren't very many things in this hobby that absolutely floor me. When I found out that Bill Dempsey was also the handler for WhiteNoise and Mr. Amazing!, as well as Freakfish, well, I was floored. How he was able to keep that secret for as long as he did, well, in this day and age of everyone needing to know every little fact before it's dissemenated, it was shocking.
Snake's Amazing Run in the middle of 2001 Ryan Poole was one of my best friends in e-fedding in the beginning. Our characters (JA and Liquid Snake) were always linked in A1E since we debuted the same week and then faced off the week after Golden Dreams Zero in an epic match (we each posted like 9 promos apiece, building a history out of nothing.... the good ol' days of e-fed sponteneity), and then were involved in matches and angles. But Ryan had a tendency to flake out at times. In the summer of 2001, when A1E held its first ever title tournament, the odds-on favorite to win was Beast. I mean, he was riding the hot angle with his SIN feud, and really, it seemed like he was ready to take his run with the A1E Title.
Well, as is the case in any RP fed, the best laid plans of mice and men can be laid to waste by a really hot character. And there was no one hotter than Snake during that tournament. He was putting out stuff that was better than anything he had done previous or anything he would do again. I mean, this was something you had to be around for. He went into the tournament final against Beast, who'd barely survived his semifinal match with Mr. Hyde (my all-time favorite e-fed character), and just smacked him around.
Riding the wave of momentum into Golden Dreams I, Snake went in and just did the same thing to Fly that he did to Beast. I mean, I don't think it was all that close.
But then, after he won the title at GD, Ryan burnt out again. Mr. Hyde won the title easily at the next PPV, and Ryan just faded into the background, making spot returns here and there. That is not to discount Nick's efforts with Hyde, because he was a good Champion who I thought could have been one of the all-time greatest Champions had he more faith in his abilities and better computers at the time (one of his reasons for dropping out after he lost the strap to Big Dog was that his own computer was crapping out on him). But really, Snake could have been in that pantheon too.
It's a damn shame to see wasted potential like that, but that's life, y'know?
MBE closes :( All good things must come to an end. This is a truism. But still, it didn't ease the sting of MBE closing when it finally had to shut its doors.
But really, it was inevitable. The founding fathers (Dan West, Bill Dempsey, Jeff Paternostro, Bob Rodriguez) were all too busy to run the fed like it should have been run. I was burning out on e-fedding at the time. The other guys who were coming in and trying to run it weren't ready to run a big time fed yet, especially one with the tradition of MBE.
We got a good run out of the final card, a giant battle royale featuring a who's who of folks who had participated in MBE. But still, it was sad to see it go.
At the time, us folks at A1Wrestling didn't know of many other places outside of that realm to go. Or if we did, we didn't trust them at the time because of the Mike Stanton Experiment gone awry in A1E. It took me a good two years and a heart-to-heart talk with Dave Brunk before I could be ready to venture off A1.
And now I'm the e-fed maven.
But I'm off topic now.
Vote rigging and mistrust This was a very ugly period in A1E history. You basically had two sides: the A1E originals and Lindz and her FW folks who came over. Of course, not all of them were involved in the rigging. Paul Miller and Tom Siegel just came over and got lost in the shuffle, and Miller even complained about Jonathan Marx being fed to GUNS all the time.
But I think everything that went down could have been attributed to both our stubbornnness to adapt and their stubbornness to adapt as well.
I'm really glad things are better now, but you can't help but wonder if things might have been different had we all just tried to have gotten along...
Torment and the World Championship For the record, I don't blame Justin for everything that happened. In fact, I kinda feel bad for him, that his moment in the sun was tainted because Dave no-showed Euclid.
Personally, I don't think that any title should be changed on a no-show. I'd be much more comfortable holding the title up, but I wasn't in charge in A1E then.
At the time, I didn't think the A1E Title could return to its former prestige. But I was wrong. I think A1E has done an excellent job listening to its members and making changes for the better. But this was another ugly period.
Manson Wins! Manson Wins! I wasn't around much for Season 1 in NFW, but I think just from the reactions of everyone involved, hearing and seeing what everyone had to say, it was a watershed moment for NFW.
I mean, not many people thought that they would even finish Season 1, but they did, and it ended with Michael Manson taking on Shane Southern... the DREAM NFW match. Neither the RP nor the match as written disappointed, and this is from a person who really didn't have the grasp of the history. But I could sense it.
And that's what makes Jason's needing to leave e-fedding altogether that much more sucky. I mean, he was just involved in a huge match, and he finally made his big heel turn, and life just caught up to him.
I've worked with a bunch of folks on FW since I got here... but I don't think that my experience will be complete unless I get a chance to work with J-Mart. Hopefully he comes back.
Dis What else needs to be said about this that hasn't been said before? Seriously, this ranks up there with finding out that Bill was Mr. A! all along, and the subterfuge involved was the same level. Hell, I was fielding PMs from this Dis character and all along, I was talking to her in IM without knowing she was behind it all.
Honestly, as long as this corner of the e-fedding world exists, people will be talking about this angle. It was that impactful.
So what am I going to do for this monumental occasion? Well, first, let's link some shows! I haven't read them all fully yet, so no quickie reviews.
Holla, holla, Midnight Madness, week 6... NFW, down Mexico way... beware, thar's teabagging in them thar pages :p
NEW Era Raucous... first show of the new year for NEW... hopefully it's the first of many!
AWC Fresh! (Tilde omitted for fear of jobbing :p)... I got through less than half of this show last night before I realized I had an ACW deadline to meet. Amazingly long promo from the Unfuckables to start, which was Triple H-esque, but unlike a Levesque Borination Special, it had more than a few good moments.
ACW Courage 88... self-shill here, check out the Suleimon and GOP matches, and lemme know what you think about the angle I have between them. I love feedback, even if it's negative/constructive.
And now, to the meat of the post...
For my 100th entry, I thought that I would recount the most shocking, controversial, imoportant, best-written, etc. moments I've experienced in e-fedding history. The key part of that is moments I've experienced, firsthand. So sorry NFW fans, no Hurricane Eddy Love moments, cuz in fairness, I didn't realize that firsthand. I read it months later, so the importance wasn't as dramatic on me.
But anyway, this is in no order except for maybe chronological...
MBE Comes to A1 Before Message Board Entertainment came to A1Wrestling.com, the perception was that it was this foreign, elitist fed where only the friends of those in charge were the ones who'd get pushed. I heard this from a few people, like Janitor and Lady Rebellion. But I really didn't pay them that much mind. I mean, Janitor told me I'd never amount to anything in MBE unless I played politics.
Meanwhile, I was one of the longest reigning MBE Champions of all-time, and I don't think I had to do any backstage convincing to do it. But that's neither here nor there.
I was really one of the only ones who believed that MBE wasn't this fortress, this ivory tower. I wasn't deterred by going back to 1Wrestling.com, a site that everyone at A1 either left after being fed up with Ryder and his WCWocracy or were booted for speaking their minds. Others were though.
But then, MBE moved and came to A1. I don't know the exact reason; Dan West might be better to ask. However, what I do know is that when MBE came to A1, more A1E faithful tried it out, and the haters who thought it was this big, insular party found out that MBE was actually more egalitarian than A1E was. They found out that you didn't have to brownnose to certain folks to succeed.
And to think, all it took was a change of scenery to get that message across.
A1E's Tag Team Championship Match Usually, when a match nowadays goes 4 or 5 plus promos apiece, it's considered hyperactive. People wonder where folks get the free time to get up all those RPs.
Yet I remember a time when if you didn't put up at least five, you were slacking.
Well, Beast, Necromancer, Liquid Snake and Mikey F'n W certainly weren't slacking when they faced off to determine the first ever A1E Tag Team Champions. In fact, they kinda went insane to the tune of 58 (I think that was the final number) total promos.
Fifty-eight.
I'm sure Jarret, Mat, Ryan or Mike would pretty much look back at that match and wonder "How in the hell did we get all that activity?"
I mean, even for that time, when things were different, 58 was a big number.
God, I miss those days.
Amazing, Inc. Honestly, there aren't very many things in this hobby that absolutely floor me. When I found out that Bill Dempsey was also the handler for WhiteNoise and Mr. Amazing!, as well as Freakfish, well, I was floored. How he was able to keep that secret for as long as he did, well, in this day and age of everyone needing to know every little fact before it's dissemenated, it was shocking.
Snake's Amazing Run in the middle of 2001 Ryan Poole was one of my best friends in e-fedding in the beginning. Our characters (JA and Liquid Snake) were always linked in A1E since we debuted the same week and then faced off the week after Golden Dreams Zero in an epic match (we each posted like 9 promos apiece, building a history out of nothing.... the good ol' days of e-fed sponteneity), and then were involved in matches and angles. But Ryan had a tendency to flake out at times. In the summer of 2001, when A1E held its first ever title tournament, the odds-on favorite to win was Beast. I mean, he was riding the hot angle with his SIN feud, and really, it seemed like he was ready to take his run with the A1E Title.
Well, as is the case in any RP fed, the best laid plans of mice and men can be laid to waste by a really hot character. And there was no one hotter than Snake during that tournament. He was putting out stuff that was better than anything he had done previous or anything he would do again. I mean, this was something you had to be around for. He went into the tournament final against Beast, who'd barely survived his semifinal match with Mr. Hyde (my all-time favorite e-fed character), and just smacked him around.
Riding the wave of momentum into Golden Dreams I, Snake went in and just did the same thing to Fly that he did to Beast. I mean, I don't think it was all that close.
But then, after he won the title at GD, Ryan burnt out again. Mr. Hyde won the title easily at the next PPV, and Ryan just faded into the background, making spot returns here and there. That is not to discount Nick's efforts with Hyde, because he was a good Champion who I thought could have been one of the all-time greatest Champions had he more faith in his abilities and better computers at the time (one of his reasons for dropping out after he lost the strap to Big Dog was that his own computer was crapping out on him). But really, Snake could have been in that pantheon too.
It's a damn shame to see wasted potential like that, but that's life, y'know?
MBE closes :( All good things must come to an end. This is a truism. But still, it didn't ease the sting of MBE closing when it finally had to shut its doors.
But really, it was inevitable. The founding fathers (Dan West, Bill Dempsey, Jeff Paternostro, Bob Rodriguez) were all too busy to run the fed like it should have been run. I was burning out on e-fedding at the time. The other guys who were coming in and trying to run it weren't ready to run a big time fed yet, especially one with the tradition of MBE.
We got a good run out of the final card, a giant battle royale featuring a who's who of folks who had participated in MBE. But still, it was sad to see it go.
At the time, us folks at A1Wrestling didn't know of many other places outside of that realm to go. Or if we did, we didn't trust them at the time because of the Mike Stanton Experiment gone awry in A1E. It took me a good two years and a heart-to-heart talk with Dave Brunk before I could be ready to venture off A1.
And now I'm the e-fed maven.
But I'm off topic now.
Vote rigging and mistrust This was a very ugly period in A1E history. You basically had two sides: the A1E originals and Lindz and her FW folks who came over. Of course, not all of them were involved in the rigging. Paul Miller and Tom Siegel just came over and got lost in the shuffle, and Miller even complained about Jonathan Marx being fed to GUNS all the time.
But I think everything that went down could have been attributed to both our stubbornnness to adapt and their stubbornness to adapt as well.
I'm really glad things are better now, but you can't help but wonder if things might have been different had we all just tried to have gotten along...
Torment and the World Championship For the record, I don't blame Justin for everything that happened. In fact, I kinda feel bad for him, that his moment in the sun was tainted because Dave no-showed Euclid.
Personally, I don't think that any title should be changed on a no-show. I'd be much more comfortable holding the title up, but I wasn't in charge in A1E then.
At the time, I didn't think the A1E Title could return to its former prestige. But I was wrong. I think A1E has done an excellent job listening to its members and making changes for the better. But this was another ugly period.
Manson Wins! Manson Wins! I wasn't around much for Season 1 in NFW, but I think just from the reactions of everyone involved, hearing and seeing what everyone had to say, it was a watershed moment for NFW.
I mean, not many people thought that they would even finish Season 1, but they did, and it ended with Michael Manson taking on Shane Southern... the DREAM NFW match. Neither the RP nor the match as written disappointed, and this is from a person who really didn't have the grasp of the history. But I could sense it.
And that's what makes Jason's needing to leave e-fedding altogether that much more sucky. I mean, he was just involved in a huge match, and he finally made his big heel turn, and life just caught up to him.
I've worked with a bunch of folks on FW since I got here... but I don't think that my experience will be complete unless I get a chance to work with J-Mart. Hopefully he comes back.
Dis What else needs to be said about this that hasn't been said before? Seriously, this ranks up there with finding out that Bill was Mr. A! all along, and the subterfuge involved was the same level. Hell, I was fielding PMs from this Dis character and all along, I was talking to her in IM without knowing she was behind it all.
Honestly, as long as this corner of the e-fedding world exists, people will be talking about this angle. It was that impactful.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
More shows
This has been a pretty active week for e-fed shows.
Two shows, two new big Champions crowned.
First up, let's hit up AWC and FRESH~! Big show for them, their return from holiday break, and really, it might get my nod for show of the week. A lot of good stuff on here, especially when concerning the Unfuckables. I was very much amused by the Zeldaesque chicken swording, and big ups to Adam Dick, the Artist formerly known as The Illustrious Face Eater, for winning the Transatlantic Championship.
Next up, we have UCW's New Year's In Hell. A lot of good action here, including the revelation of UCW's new face, plus, more big ups to IrishRed for winning the UCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Two shows, two new big Champions crowned.
First up, let's hit up AWC and FRESH~! Big show for them, their return from holiday break, and really, it might get my nod for show of the week. A lot of good stuff on here, especially when concerning the Unfuckables. I was very much amused by the Zeldaesque chicken swording, and big ups to Adam Dick, the Artist formerly known as The Illustrious Face Eater, for winning the Transatlantic Championship.
Next up, we have UCW's New Year's In Hell. A lot of good action here, including the revelation of UCW's new face, plus, more big ups to IrishRed for winning the UCW World Heavyweight Championship.
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