No folks, I'm not dead. I'm really not. Just between work and everything else, I've kinda neglected the blog. I don't like doing that, but sometimes, that's how it goes I suppose. I am working on a review for WrestleSTOCK, night 2, and hopefully, I can get that done before NEW and EPW get their next PPVs posted. I do want to say though that both feds should be proud of how the joint card went down. Edmunds, Brunk, Steve, Strawsma and everyone who RPed, wrote matches or had anything to do with the card should be damn proud of it. I really feel it was a rousing success and something that will be remembered in the FW community for a long time.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say a few things, address the communities and such.
First thing's first, I want to make a few apologies. One, I'd like to apologize to Katz, ChrisNova, Jeff, McNic and really everyone in NFW. I've been slacking on the v. 3.0 stuff, and I know people have been counting on me to contribute. It's not for lack of desire to work on NFW stuff, it's just I've budgeted my time really poorly, and I haven't adapted to the new schedule and degrees of freedom Katz has been affording the handlers since the new format has started. Plus, I've totally welched on the WrestleBowl Night 2 review, and really, that's a huge injustice to everyone who contributed to it, especially the UT finalists.
I'd like to extend apologies to Matt Ward, Fergus and the crew at PRIME. I know I left you guys, especially Fergus, in a lurch when I left. It's funny that I always seem to pump up feds that have timely schedules, yet when it comes to competing in a fed that has the excellent combination of punctuality and quality, I came up far short of what I should have been producing as a roster member. I let people down, and I hate doing that. So I'd like to say I'm sorry for that. You guys are running a fine show, and I'm sure that will continue in the future, with or without me.
Finally, I'd like to apologize to all the feds out there that I seem to have given the short shrift on coverage, mainly feds like FUSE and A1E. Please don't think my lack of coverage for your events is an indicator of how your feds are doing.
And now, to part two of the post.
There has been a lot of bemoaning about the state of the hobby lately. I know I've been guilty of perpetuating that with the blog from time to time, but really, with all the doomsaying and such, I really like where eW is at right now. It may not be the "golden age" but if you only want something in its golden age, you're really not interested in that thing all that much anyway, are you? I really do feel like the people involved right now are really involved, and they're making this thing work with very high levels of quality. The feds that are around are producing great results, be they at the punctual rates of feds like A1E and PRIME, or feds going at their own rates, like EPW and NEW.
You can pretty much go to any active fed that's listed in my sidebar here and find good to great writing. In the end, isn't that all you need to ask of any fed you want to participate in or follow? People are interested, people are gung-ho for the projects they are in. There are folks who are dedicated to the feds they're in. There are folks who are spreading across borders and breaking down barriers, challenging themselves in circles where they're not familiar.
I mean, you have guys like ChrisNova who are generally on fire. Craig Maloof is blazing trails both in his PTC home and in FW. Lindz, what else needs to be said about her that hasn't been already? NFW, NEW and EPW are all hot right now. Josh Ray is back pushing the up-and-coming talent in his MWCW. MBE is gaining momentum. Jarret, Phil, Andy and everyone involved in A1E is putting out quality stuff. NAPW and REBEL are still churning out great shows on their indie schedules. Hell, even folks that I've been at odds with in the past, guys like Arrows and William Morgan, are trying out TEAM along with the standbys that I've been able to count on over the past 18 months.
Sure, the new blood is only trickling in, but I'd take what we have right now over floods of new people who come in and flake. We need to stop worrying about the new blood or where all the angle feds have gone or all the doomsaying and concentrate on the positive. We need to concentrate on taking the trickle of new blood and cultivating them into valuable members of our communities. We need to stay positive and keep writing what we're writing. Otherwise, we perpetuate self-fulfilling prophecies of doom, longing for the days of the fWo and CSWA being titans instead of making our own feds that are active now into the feds that we talk about in years future.
I really do think that eW is flourishing right now. I commend everyone who is making that possible, and I think that if we keep up the way we're going right now, this hobby will always be in good shape, no matter what happens with the sport we emulate in real life.
Showing posts with label MBE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MBE. Show all posts
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
The Pros and Cons of Kumquats, Part 1
The first of a fifty-five part series...
...or not. No Katz, no posts about kumquats and their effect on eW, but I will take this opportunity to do some random news and notes.
- First on the list, MBE has made the jump from A1 to FW. I think this is a good move, since there's a broader handler base at FW and because FW is an e-fed site while A1 is more a hodgepodge. Yes, FW guys have come over, Shinder and Strawsma being the most recent examples, but they lean towards going to A1E over MBE.
Still, I encourage everyone looking for a fed to try MBE out. You'll be getting in on the ground floor of the current reboot, and you'll definitely be in good hands. With Jeff Paternostro at the helm, you know it's going to be good.
- Next up, a new addition to the blogring: The Dragon's Eye, written by Karl Brown. Check it out. He only has one entry up so far, but I'm sure he's got many more where that came from.
- Finally, a little self-promotion. After the ToC wraps up, the next big thing for TEAM will be SuperShow VI: Lethal Lottery, and just like the name suggests, we'll be instituting a Lethal Lottery Championship. To decide the titles, we'll have a tag team gauntlet match where all the teams are randomly drawn, and then after that, the winners of that match will take on randomly-drawn teams at each sucessive SuperShow. It's my way of spinning tag team wrestling for TEAM without doing the same ol'-same ol'. So please consider it if you're into tag team wrestling and random pairings.
...or not. No Katz, no posts about kumquats and their effect on eW, but I will take this opportunity to do some random news and notes.
- First on the list, MBE has made the jump from A1 to FW. I think this is a good move, since there's a broader handler base at FW and because FW is an e-fed site while A1 is more a hodgepodge. Yes, FW guys have come over, Shinder and Strawsma being the most recent examples, but they lean towards going to A1E over MBE.
Still, I encourage everyone looking for a fed to try MBE out. You'll be getting in on the ground floor of the current reboot, and you'll definitely be in good hands. With Jeff Paternostro at the helm, you know it's going to be good.
- Next up, a new addition to the blogring: The Dragon's Eye, written by Karl Brown. Check it out. He only has one entry up so far, but I'm sure he's got many more where that came from.
- Finally, a little self-promotion. After the ToC wraps up, the next big thing for TEAM will be SuperShow VI: Lethal Lottery, and just like the name suggests, we'll be instituting a Lethal Lottery Championship. To decide the titles, we'll have a tag team gauntlet match where all the teams are randomly drawn, and then after that, the winners of that match will take on randomly-drawn teams at each sucessive SuperShow. It's my way of spinning tag team wrestling for TEAM without doing the same ol'-same ol'. So please consider it if you're into tag team wrestling and random pairings.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
The Book On... The Spoiler!
Alright, in lieu of doing some show reviews right now (hopefully I can have them read and recapped soon... no promises though!), I thought I'd take this opportunity to enlighten folks about certain characters that I pump up or whose accolades I mention. A lot of times, you hear about how a character is legendary or about all the things he/she has done and yet you don't hear details. It's almost like you go on faith that this character is ZOMG~! important or good. I'm guilty of this more than anyone else since I really do throw out names and expect people to take notice.
So I'm going to start a new feature. The Book On... will be an occasional series running down characters and giving you a history so you know why they're revered in the circles they're revered in. I figured I'd start out in the arena I'm most familiar with, The A1 Feds, and give you some background on the circle's most legendary character...
The Spoiler
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 302 lbs.
From: Parts Unknown
Nicknames and Alias: The Force of Nature, Joe Retro (unmasked)
Description: (from his profile at A1E.ca)
Signature Moves
The Spoilerbomb - This is the second most over finisher in the history of the A1 feds (I'm sorry, but nothing beats the HIDADRIVER~! {oh the humanity} in my book) from where I sit. It's basically the Undertaker's Last Ride done about 100 times harder than Taker would ever be allowed to do it in the WWE. It's usually accompanied by a WHAM!, which amps up the coolness factor by 100 as well. The Spoilerbomb is actually the one move that gave birth to MBE. Dan or someone else may correct me on this, but I believe MBE was born out of a thread at 1Bob talking about how great an edition of Monday Nitro was. Dan came in and started Spoilerbombing people in the way that Sid would use to powerbomb random people, and out of that, a new e-fed was born. This is one of a very select few of finishers that I feel should be overprotected and should only be kicked out of in blowoff matches for huge feuds.
Spoiler Press Driver - Gorilla press to a Rikishi Driver. This is the DEATH move, and a move that I'd be interested to see if it could be pulled off in real life. Probably not, but it at least sounds cool.
Spoilerhold Omega - It's basically a Dragon Sleeper/Camel Clutch hybrid. Pretty nasty submission hold if you ask me, especially done by a 300+ lb. guy.
Spoiler-[insert move here] - All of Spoils' moves can be personalized to him by putting the word Spoiler- in the move somehow. Shooting Spoiler Press, Sweet Spoiler Music, Super Spoilerman Buster, Spoilerline... you get the idea.
Fed History - MBE, A1E, TEAM Events
Title/Award History - MBE World Champion (x6), MBE Tag Team Champion (w/ Andrew Gilkison), MBE Unified Champion, A1E Cyber Champion, A1E Tag Team Champion (w/ Freakfish), 2006 Best of A1E Tournament Champion, 2006 TEAM Dupree Cup Co-Most Valuable Wrestler
Greatest Feud - Freakfish
You can make the argument for BobbyR here, but really, a feud that one-sided isn't a feud as much as it is a bloodbath (Sorry Bob!). With Freakfish though, Spoils had a rival that had a similar aura around him. Not the same in-character, but out-of-character. They were the Lennon and McCartney of MBE, as Bobby Rodriguez once put it. They started out as stablemates in the MBElite, Spoiler as the World Champion and Freakfish as the Unified. After the group splintered, I'm not sure what happened. Dan or Bill could tell you better, but that was before I got to MBE. By the time I had gotten there though, Spoils was out for a bit and Freakfish started his rapid ascent to the top, one that culminated with his World Championship win over Professor Tremendous. For awhile, FF was playing the role of the tweener, lean towards face Champion, taking on challenges from the new Midwest Mafia and such. Then came High Stakes '01, when a resurgent Spoiler earned his way back up to the top. It was a clash of titans, two of the greats in MBE history, battling it out for the Big Gold Belt. It had heat, no question, but it felt more like a dream match main for the biggest event on the calendar, not a blood feud.
And then the finish of that match happened. Freakfish screwjobbed Spoiler and in the process revealed that he was part of an evil syndicate that would put MBE in a stranglehold for the next six months with owner Mr. Amazing! and hired muscle WhiteNoise. Spoiler's rage could not be contained, and he made it his mission to not only take the title from FF, but to break him in the process. The next PPV, Spoiler took the title from FF. Over the next year, they'd go on to feud off and on, culminating in a seminal cage match where FF was injured at Spoils' hand. The Force of Nature had won in the end... or did he? At his HoF induction in MBE v. 2.0, his video feed was interrupted and desecrated by the PbPro contingient led by... you guessed it, Freakfish.
With Bill in retirement, it's not likely that this feud will be rekindled anytime soon. However, the first rule of e-fedding is never say never.
Required Reading - A smattering of Spoils' RP work, just to get a taste of what he's about:
Spoiler vs. Housefly: Icon vs. Icon at Golden Dreams VI
2006 Best of A1E Finals vs. James Irish, Dan Ryan and Big Dog
TEAM Championship of Champions Match vs. Lindsay Troy (c)
Greatest Hits
Spoiler vs. PILE (c - World) vs. BobbyR (c - North American), MBE World and North American Championships on the line (I believe this was at the original High Stakes, and it was the match where the MBElite was born)
Spoiler vs. Freakfish (c), MBE World Championship on the line at High Stakes '01
Spoiler vs. Housefly, Icon vs. Icon at Golden Dreams VI
Spoiler vs. Jason Payne, TEAM Dupree Cup semifinals (MBE vs. NFW)
Plus, pick any of his matches against BobbyR, Hida Yakamo, Andy Gilkison or James Irish
My Take on His Place in eW History
For most people around right now, the lore of Spoiler will always be larger than what they've seen him do, and for good reason. The original MBE was for the most part sheltered from the greater eW world that most of us knew about. Sure, Chad and Steve helped set up the forums on the original 1Bob sites, but outside of those two hooligans :p and the MBE originals, who really took notice? However, the impact of the character in the A1 world cannot be ignored, and even if the rest of the eW world never sees Spoiler march into a fed and dominate it like he did in MBE, his legacy will live on in the influence of that seminal character. As the A1 world becomes fully integrated with FW and as FW serves as a port for people from PTC, WfWA, the angle fed world or wherever, they'll know the influence of the Spoiler. For that reason alone, he deserves to be mentioned in any conversation about great e-fed characters.
So I'm going to start a new feature. The Book On... will be an occasional series running down characters and giving you a history so you know why they're revered in the circles they're revered in. I figured I'd start out in the arena I'm most familiar with, The A1 Feds, and give you some background on the circle's most legendary character...
The Spoiler
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 302 lbs.
From: Parts Unknown
Nicknames and Alias: The Force of Nature, Joe Retro (unmasked)
Description: (from his profile at A1E.ca)
A Mountain of Muscle and Sinew. Wears a red mask with a black "face" with matching red and black tights/singlet combo and black boots that rise up to just past his knees.
Signature Moves
The Spoilerbomb - This is the second most over finisher in the history of the A1 feds (I'm sorry, but nothing beats the HIDADRIVER~! {oh the humanity} in my book) from where I sit. It's basically the Undertaker's Last Ride done about 100 times harder than Taker would ever be allowed to do it in the WWE. It's usually accompanied by a WHAM!, which amps up the coolness factor by 100 as well. The Spoilerbomb is actually the one move that gave birth to MBE. Dan or someone else may correct me on this, but I believe MBE was born out of a thread at 1Bob talking about how great an edition of Monday Nitro was. Dan came in and started Spoilerbombing people in the way that Sid would use to powerbomb random people, and out of that, a new e-fed was born. This is one of a very select few of finishers that I feel should be overprotected and should only be kicked out of in blowoff matches for huge feuds.
Spoiler Press Driver - Gorilla press to a Rikishi Driver. This is the DEATH move, and a move that I'd be interested to see if it could be pulled off in real life. Probably not, but it at least sounds cool.
Spoilerhold Omega - It's basically a Dragon Sleeper/Camel Clutch hybrid. Pretty nasty submission hold if you ask me, especially done by a 300+ lb. guy.
Spoiler-[insert move here] - All of Spoils' moves can be personalized to him by putting the word Spoiler- in the move somehow. Shooting Spoiler Press, Sweet Spoiler Music, Super Spoilerman Buster, Spoilerline... you get the idea.
Fed History - MBE, A1E, TEAM Events
Title/Award History - MBE World Champion (x6), MBE Tag Team Champion (w/ Andrew Gilkison), MBE Unified Champion, A1E Cyber Champion, A1E Tag Team Champion (w/ Freakfish), 2006 Best of A1E Tournament Champion, 2006 TEAM Dupree Cup Co-Most Valuable Wrestler
Greatest Feud - Freakfish
You can make the argument for BobbyR here, but really, a feud that one-sided isn't a feud as much as it is a bloodbath (Sorry Bob!). With Freakfish though, Spoils had a rival that had a similar aura around him. Not the same in-character, but out-of-character. They were the Lennon and McCartney of MBE, as Bobby Rodriguez once put it. They started out as stablemates in the MBElite, Spoiler as the World Champion and Freakfish as the Unified. After the group splintered, I'm not sure what happened. Dan or Bill could tell you better, but that was before I got to MBE. By the time I had gotten there though, Spoils was out for a bit and Freakfish started his rapid ascent to the top, one that culminated with his World Championship win over Professor Tremendous. For awhile, FF was playing the role of the tweener, lean towards face Champion, taking on challenges from the new Midwest Mafia and such. Then came High Stakes '01, when a resurgent Spoiler earned his way back up to the top. It was a clash of titans, two of the greats in MBE history, battling it out for the Big Gold Belt. It had heat, no question, but it felt more like a dream match main for the biggest event on the calendar, not a blood feud.
And then the finish of that match happened. Freakfish screwjobbed Spoiler and in the process revealed that he was part of an evil syndicate that would put MBE in a stranglehold for the next six months with owner Mr. Amazing! and hired muscle WhiteNoise. Spoiler's rage could not be contained, and he made it his mission to not only take the title from FF, but to break him in the process. The next PPV, Spoiler took the title from FF. Over the next year, they'd go on to feud off and on, culminating in a seminal cage match where FF was injured at Spoils' hand. The Force of Nature had won in the end... or did he? At his HoF induction in MBE v. 2.0, his video feed was interrupted and desecrated by the PbPro contingient led by... you guessed it, Freakfish.
With Bill in retirement, it's not likely that this feud will be rekindled anytime soon. However, the first rule of e-fedding is never say never.
Required Reading - A smattering of Spoils' RP work, just to get a taste of what he's about:
Spoiler vs. Housefly: Icon vs. Icon at Golden Dreams VI
2006 Best of A1E Finals vs. James Irish, Dan Ryan and Big Dog
TEAM Championship of Champions Match vs. Lindsay Troy (c)
Greatest Hits
Spoiler vs. PILE (c - World) vs. BobbyR (c - North American), MBE World and North American Championships on the line (I believe this was at the original High Stakes, and it was the match where the MBElite was born)
Spoiler vs. Freakfish (c), MBE World Championship on the line at High Stakes '01
Spoiler vs. Housefly, Icon vs. Icon at Golden Dreams VI
Spoiler vs. Jason Payne, TEAM Dupree Cup semifinals (MBE vs. NFW)
Plus, pick any of his matches against BobbyR, Hida Yakamo, Andy Gilkison or James Irish
My Take on His Place in eW History
For most people around right now, the lore of Spoiler will always be larger than what they've seen him do, and for good reason. The original MBE was for the most part sheltered from the greater eW world that most of us knew about. Sure, Chad and Steve helped set up the forums on the original 1Bob sites, but outside of those two hooligans :p and the MBE originals, who really took notice? However, the impact of the character in the A1 world cannot be ignored, and even if the rest of the eW world never sees Spoiler march into a fed and dominate it like he did in MBE, his legacy will live on in the influence of that seminal character. As the A1 world becomes fully integrated with FW and as FW serves as a port for people from PTC, WfWA, the angle fed world or wherever, they'll know the influence of the Spoiler. For that reason alone, he deserves to be mentioned in any conversation about great e-fed characters.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Ultimate MBE: Sweet Sixteen!
I'm really sorry about delaying this. I sent some queries to Jeff but he got busy and never got back to me. I'll just leave the entries for "Real Life Counterpart" that I can't think of, and then maybe someone can fill them in for me. Here are the second round results:
Spoiler d. LB
James Irish d. FATSEXY
Housefly d. Promo
Andrew Gilkison d. Freakshow
Maggot d. Aussie B
Webweaver d. Jack Gilkison
Professor Tremendous d. Meatbag
Mango d. El Tremendo
Freakfish d. dumi
Duchess d. IrishRed
BobbyR d. Justin Evitable
Paco the Wetback d. Mr. Cable Access Television
Hida Yakamo d. The Great yamada
Mr. Amazing d. Docawesome
PILE d. Sweet Jesus Funk
The Canadian Loonie d. WhiteNoise
And now, the matchups!
High Stakes Bracket
Spoiler (1) vs. James Irish (4)
Spoiler's Real Life Counterpart: Undertaker - Both characters have a mythic aura about them, even with the differences in what kind of mythic is it. They're both big-man workers who don't always work like big men. Both are also multiple time World Champions in their feds and are looked on as first-ballot HOFers.
James's Real Life Counterpart: Mick Foley - It hasn't changed from his U-A1E description, folks :p For the benefit of those who've forgotten: "The clown prince of A1E is very reminiscent of Mick Foley and his Corporate Mankind hijinx. Foley's first World Title win was long overdue, and so's James'."
Housefly (2) vs. Andrew Gilkison (4)
Ha, this match has happened about a million times in A1E.
Fly's Real Life Counterpart: Chris Benoit - Nope, hasn't changed from his U-A1E description either. "They're both smallish, great technical wrestlers. As faces, they make great underdogs, and no matter what affiliation, they're credible Champions."
Andy's Real Life Counterpart: Lance Storm - Another repeat. Srsly. "To invert Andy's A1 sig a bit... Not a great gimmick, but one hell of a worker."
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
Maggot (1) vs. Webweaver (4)
Maggot's Real Life Counterpart: The Sandman - Both are hardcore icons, pain sponges and alcoholics. Both are also iconic World Champions for their respective feds.
Webweaver's Real Life Counterpart: Raven - Though their ring styles are dissimilar, both men are masters of manipulation. They're both grungy in nature as well.
Professor Tremendous (2) vs. Mango (3)
ProfT's Real Life Counterpart:
Mango's Real Life Counterpart:
Lord of the Boards Bracket
Freakfish (1) vs. Duchess (5)
FF's Real Life Counterpart: Ric Flair - They both are masters of the promo and love to live the high life. FF is a more complex worker, and Flair won more World Championships, but they're more similar than not.
Duchess' Real Life Counterpart:
BobbyR (2) vs. Paco the Wetback (3)
BobbyR's Real Life Counterpart: Diamond Dallas Page - Both of them came on later in life, they're both from New Jersey and they both have mastered the Diamond Cutter.
Paco's Real Life Counterpart:
Total Elimination Bracket
Hida Yakamo (1) vs. Mr. Amazing! (4)
Hida's Real Life Counterpart:
Mr. A!'s Real Life Counterpart: Curt Hennig/Mr. Perfect - Both men are considered among the best in their circles to have never won a major World Championship. They're both technical marvels, and both their gimmicks are predicated upon them being THAT much better than the rest of the competition.
PILE (2) vs. The Canadian Loonie (3)
PILE's Real Life Counterpart: Brock Lesnar - Both were great physical specimens with terrific workrates. Both men also had a high peak that came fast with a rapid disappearance afterwards. PILE has Lesnar on the stick, but other than that, it's an almost perfect match.
Loonie's Real Life Counterpart:
Spoiler d. LB
James Irish d. FATSEXY
Housefly d. Promo
Andrew Gilkison d. Freakshow
Maggot d. Aussie B
Webweaver d. Jack Gilkison
Professor Tremendous d. Meatbag
Mango d. El Tremendo
Freakfish d. dumi
Duchess d. IrishRed
BobbyR d. Justin Evitable
Paco the Wetback d. Mr. Cable Access Television
Hida Yakamo d. The Great yamada
Mr. Amazing d. Docawesome
PILE d. Sweet Jesus Funk
The Canadian Loonie d. WhiteNoise
And now, the matchups!
High Stakes Bracket
Spoiler (1) vs. James Irish (4)
Spoiler's Real Life Counterpart: Undertaker - Both characters have a mythic aura about them, even with the differences in what kind of mythic is it. They're both big-man workers who don't always work like big men. Both are also multiple time World Champions in their feds and are looked on as first-ballot HOFers.
James's Real Life Counterpart: Mick Foley - It hasn't changed from his U-A1E description, folks :p For the benefit of those who've forgotten: "The clown prince of A1E is very reminiscent of Mick Foley and his Corporate Mankind hijinx. Foley's first World Title win was long overdue, and so's James'."
Housefly (2) vs. Andrew Gilkison (4)
Ha, this match has happened about a million times in A1E.
Fly's Real Life Counterpart: Chris Benoit - Nope, hasn't changed from his U-A1E description either. "They're both smallish, great technical wrestlers. As faces, they make great underdogs, and no matter what affiliation, they're credible Champions."
Andy's Real Life Counterpart: Lance Storm - Another repeat. Srsly. "To invert Andy's A1 sig a bit... Not a great gimmick, but one hell of a worker."
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
Maggot (1) vs. Webweaver (4)
Maggot's Real Life Counterpart: The Sandman - Both are hardcore icons, pain sponges and alcoholics. Both are also iconic World Champions for their respective feds.
Webweaver's Real Life Counterpart: Raven - Though their ring styles are dissimilar, both men are masters of manipulation. They're both grungy in nature as well.
Professor Tremendous (2) vs. Mango (3)
ProfT's Real Life Counterpart:
Mango's Real Life Counterpart:
Lord of the Boards Bracket
Freakfish (1) vs. Duchess (5)
FF's Real Life Counterpart: Ric Flair - They both are masters of the promo and love to live the high life. FF is a more complex worker, and Flair won more World Championships, but they're more similar than not.
Duchess' Real Life Counterpart:
BobbyR (2) vs. Paco the Wetback (3)
BobbyR's Real Life Counterpart: Diamond Dallas Page - Both of them came on later in life, they're both from New Jersey and they both have mastered the Diamond Cutter.
Paco's Real Life Counterpart:
Total Elimination Bracket
Hida Yakamo (1) vs. Mr. Amazing! (4)
Hida's Real Life Counterpart:
Mr. A!'s Real Life Counterpart: Curt Hennig/Mr. Perfect - Both men are considered among the best in their circles to have never won a major World Championship. They're both technical marvels, and both their gimmicks are predicated upon them being THAT much better than the rest of the competition.
PILE (2) vs. The Canadian Loonie (3)
PILE's Real Life Counterpart: Brock Lesnar - Both were great physical specimens with terrific workrates. Both men also had a high peak that came fast with a rapid disappearance afterwards. PILE has Lesnar on the stick, but other than that, it's an almost perfect match.
Loonie's Real Life Counterpart:
Monday, February 05, 2007
Ultimate MBE Second Round
Yes, I am the biggest slacker in the history of slacking, but regardless, the show must go on! Second round matches, all of 'em!
High Stakes Bracket
(1) The Spoiler vs. (8) Londonboy
Spoiler's Greatest Rival: BobbyR - Although Spoils dominated Bobby most of the time, this feud was the most heated blood feud in all of MBE in its history.
LB's Greatest Rival: Webweaver - These guys had some pretty good matches in the later stages of MBE.
(4) James Irish vs. (5) FATSEXY
James' Greatest Rival: Dr. Phantasmo - Exemplifying James' role in MBE more as an announcer, these two had a palpable dislike for each other in the broadcast booth.
FATTY's Greatest Rival: DocAwesome - A bitter feud from the early days.
(2) Housefly vs. (7) Promo
Fly's Greatest Rival: Professor Tremendous - They had a pretty entertaining feud for the World Championship in the days when MBE was between 1Blob and A1.
Promo's Greatest Rival: Victor Molotov - Sure, he was technically from the UXW days, but since there was a merger, I'm counting it. They were two diametrically opposed characters and played off each other well.
(3) Andrew Gilkison vs. (6) Freakshow
Andy's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - Andy played the David to Spoils' Goliath well.
Freakshow's Greatest Rival: Professor Tremendous - The promos for these matches would always be off-the-charts entertaining.
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
(1) Maggot vs. (8) Aussie B
Maggot's Greatest Rival: Freakfish - From the first title match where I was the fresh-faced rook and FF the dominant Champion to the last one, where I held the gold and Double F was trying to get his gold back and everything in between, it was one hell of a ride.
Aussie's Greatest Rival: El Nino - They would be stable mates for a bit, but they're more known as rivals.
(4) Webweaver vs. (5) Jack Gilkison
Webby's Greatest Rival: Londonboy - See LB's entry
Jack's Greatest Rival: Andrew Gilkison - Is there any other? This brotherly blood feud was among the most brutal in MBE history.
(2) Professor Tremendous vs. (10) Meatbag
Prof's Greatest Rival: Housefly - See Fly's entry
Meatbag's Greatest Rival: PILE - They had some brouhahas back in the day, didn't they?
(3) Mango vs. (6) El Tremendo
Mango's Greatest Rival: Hida Yakamo - The juxtaposition here is sublime, the oafish Mango and the sleek Asian Wonder.
El T's Greatest Rival: The TeamT Goat - I think this feud stemmed from the goat eating some of El T's precious antique cans :p
Lord of the Boards Bracket
(1) Freakfish vs. (9) dumi
FF's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - A career defining feud that Double F has tried to continue as recently as Spoils' HOF induction.
dumi's Greatest Rival: Paco the Wetback - A blood feud from the early days.
(4) IrishRed vs. (5) Duchess
Red's Greatest Rival: James Irish - A case where opposites didn't attract, stemming from the Mafia/Misfits feuding days.
Duchess' Greatest Rival: BobbyR - These two have been either at it or allied in some form since the beginning.
(2) BobbyR vs. (10) Justin Evitable
Bobby's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - See Naitch's entry
Justin's Greatest Rival: Doc Silver - V. 2.0 is the key here. Justin and Doc anchored a lot of the new action since the restart.
(3) Paco the Wetback vs. (6) Mr. CableAccessTelevision
Paco's Greatest Rival: Londonboy - That LB got under a lot of folks' skins, didn't he? ;)
CATV's Greatest Rival: Professor Tremendous - So'd the Prof!
Total Elimination Bracket
(1) Hida Yakamo vs. (8) The Great Yamada
Hida's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - The Red and Black Monster seems to be a lot of folks' white whale.
Yamada's Greatest Rival: Freakfish - They had a pretty good back and forth in early 2001.
(4) Mr. Amazing! vs. (5) DocAwesome
Mr. A!'s Greatest Rival: SweetJesusFunk - They were called Strange Bedfellows for a reason.
Doc's Greatest Rival: FATSEXY - See FATTY's entry
(2) PILE vs. (7) SweetJesusFunk
PILE's Greatest Rival: Hida Yakamo - A lot of bad blood here, culminating in a huge cage match in 2001 for the North American Championship.
SJF's Greatest Rival: See Mr. A!'s entry
(3) The Canadian Loonie vs. (6) WhiteNoise
Loonie's Greatest Rival: Hida Yakamo - Another juxtaposition of styles, they had some classic encounters.
WN's Greatest Rival: OUTLAW - A very intense feud.
High Stakes Bracket
(1) The Spoiler vs. (8) Londonboy
Spoiler's Greatest Rival: BobbyR - Although Spoils dominated Bobby most of the time, this feud was the most heated blood feud in all of MBE in its history.
LB's Greatest Rival: Webweaver - These guys had some pretty good matches in the later stages of MBE.
(4) James Irish vs. (5) FATSEXY
James' Greatest Rival: Dr. Phantasmo - Exemplifying James' role in MBE more as an announcer, these two had a palpable dislike for each other in the broadcast booth.
FATTY's Greatest Rival: DocAwesome - A bitter feud from the early days.
(2) Housefly vs. (7) Promo
Fly's Greatest Rival: Professor Tremendous - They had a pretty entertaining feud for the World Championship in the days when MBE was between 1Blob and A1.
Promo's Greatest Rival: Victor Molotov - Sure, he was technically from the UXW days, but since there was a merger, I'm counting it. They were two diametrically opposed characters and played off each other well.
(3) Andrew Gilkison vs. (6) Freakshow
Andy's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - Andy played the David to Spoils' Goliath well.
Freakshow's Greatest Rival: Professor Tremendous - The promos for these matches would always be off-the-charts entertaining.
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
(1) Maggot vs. (8) Aussie B
Maggot's Greatest Rival: Freakfish - From the first title match where I was the fresh-faced rook and FF the dominant Champion to the last one, where I held the gold and Double F was trying to get his gold back and everything in between, it was one hell of a ride.
Aussie's Greatest Rival: El Nino - They would be stable mates for a bit, but they're more known as rivals.
(4) Webweaver vs. (5) Jack Gilkison
Webby's Greatest Rival: Londonboy - See LB's entry
Jack's Greatest Rival: Andrew Gilkison - Is there any other? This brotherly blood feud was among the most brutal in MBE history.
(2) Professor Tremendous vs. (10) Meatbag
Prof's Greatest Rival: Housefly - See Fly's entry
Meatbag's Greatest Rival: PILE - They had some brouhahas back in the day, didn't they?
(3) Mango vs. (6) El Tremendo
Mango's Greatest Rival: Hida Yakamo - The juxtaposition here is sublime, the oafish Mango and the sleek Asian Wonder.
El T's Greatest Rival: The TeamT Goat - I think this feud stemmed from the goat eating some of El T's precious antique cans :p
Lord of the Boards Bracket
(1) Freakfish vs. (9) dumi
FF's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - A career defining feud that Double F has tried to continue as recently as Spoils' HOF induction.
dumi's Greatest Rival: Paco the Wetback - A blood feud from the early days.
(4) IrishRed vs. (5) Duchess
Red's Greatest Rival: James Irish - A case where opposites didn't attract, stemming from the Mafia/Misfits feuding days.
Duchess' Greatest Rival: BobbyR - These two have been either at it or allied in some form since the beginning.
(2) BobbyR vs. (10) Justin Evitable
Bobby's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - See Naitch's entry
Justin's Greatest Rival: Doc Silver - V. 2.0 is the key here. Justin and Doc anchored a lot of the new action since the restart.
(3) Paco the Wetback vs. (6) Mr. CableAccessTelevision
Paco's Greatest Rival: Londonboy - That LB got under a lot of folks' skins, didn't he? ;)
CATV's Greatest Rival: Professor Tremendous - So'd the Prof!
Total Elimination Bracket
(1) Hida Yakamo vs. (8) The Great Yamada
Hida's Greatest Rival: The Spoiler - The Red and Black Monster seems to be a lot of folks' white whale.
Yamada's Greatest Rival: Freakfish - They had a pretty good back and forth in early 2001.
(4) Mr. Amazing! vs. (5) DocAwesome
Mr. A!'s Greatest Rival: SweetJesusFunk - They were called Strange Bedfellows for a reason.
Doc's Greatest Rival: FATSEXY - See FATTY's entry
(2) PILE vs. (7) SweetJesusFunk
PILE's Greatest Rival: Hida Yakamo - A lot of bad blood here, culminating in a huge cage match in 2001 for the North American Championship.
SJF's Greatest Rival: See Mr. A!'s entry
(3) The Canadian Loonie vs. (6) WhiteNoise
Loonie's Greatest Rival: Hida Yakamo - Another juxtaposition of styles, they had some classic encounters.
WN's Greatest Rival: OUTLAW - A very intense feud.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Ultimate MBE: The Next Two Brackets
Before I get into this entry, yes, I dropped from GTT6, and yes, I feel very shitty about it. However, I've run into a pretty busy time in real life right now, and there's no way I'd make the deadline. I did screw things up bigtime, but I'd rather bow out now and give people the heads up instead of flaking out by missing the sandbag deadline.
I'll make it up to you guys somehow else. I don't know how, because I feel so badly, but I will.
Also, a reminder to those who promised me guest blogs, well, the offer's still open. There's no deadline, and as long as I write here, I'll be accepting guest entries. However, I don't want you guys to forget about things, and I'm actually quite interested in seeing what you guys have to say. I've already gotten two fantastic guest entries and a third... well, I'll be nice and say it was interesting :). But if Dave's and Shane's entries are the indication, then I think the readership can benefit from hearing what you guys have to say greatly.
So in short... take your time, but don't forget ;)
And you other bloggers out there... an update would be nice :p
Alright, finally to the reason of the entry, I've been slacking on the Ultimate MBE Tournament, so to keep things moving, I'll do the other two first round brackets in one entry. Remember, if you're going to vote, please be sure to leave your name and a short reasoning behind each vote. Before we get to the new matchups, here's the results from the last one:
Maggot d. Cannibal
Aussie B d. Akira Otsuka
Webweaver d. Torment
Jack Gilkison d. Yori Yakamo, Jr.
Professor Tremendous d. Allworld
Meatbag d. Rat
Mango d. Jogi Fresh
El Tremendo d. Kanna Kirishima
And now...
Lord of the Boards Bracket
(1) Freakfish vs. (16) Vinman
Freakfish' Credentials: World, North American and Unified Champion, in-ring leader of Amazing, Inc.
Vinman's Credentials: Tag Champion, appeared in the first North American Championship match, currently MBE's ring announcer
(8) Tornado DDT vs. (9) Dumi
Tornado DDT's Credentials: World Champion, founding member of the Squalid Beasts.
Dumi's Credentials: Member of first Tag Team Championship team, appeared in first World and North American Championship matches, member of the Beasties
(4) IrishRed vs. (13) Guerilla
IrishRed's Credentials: Extreme Champion, Founder of the MwM, MBE Cup Finalist, current PbPro Quintuple Crown Champion which he won on MBE programming
Guerilla's Credentials: Contender to the Tag Titles with Maggot
(5) Duchess vs. (12) El Nino
Duchess' Credentials: 5x Tag Team Champion, Unified Champion
El Nino's Credentials: Tag Team Champion
(2) BobbyR vs. (15) Saigon Cinnamon
BobbyR's Credentials: World Champion, 5x North American Champion, 3x Tag Champion, Founding Father of MBE and the Beasties, leader of MwM v2.0 as The Red Don
Saigon's Credentials: Tag partner of James Irish back in the day
(7) Cerebral vs. (10) Justin Evitable
Cerebral's Credentials: Unified Champion, defeating a previously unbeaten streaked Freakfish (IIRC)
Justin's Credentials: Extreme, Unified and Tag Champion, runner up in the MBE Championship Series for the World Title in v2.0
(3) Paco the Wetback vs. (14) Tyrone the Tidy Giant
Paco's Credentials: World, North American and Unified Champion
Tyrone's Credentials: Unified and Tag Champion, battled World Champion Housefly to a draw in a title match in his first match
(6) Mr. Cable Access Television vs. (11) AJ Cirrus
CATV's Credentials: Unified, North American and Extreme Champion
Cirrus' Credentials: Tag and Unified Champion, last Unified Champion of v1.0
Total Elimination Bracket
(1) Hida Yakamo vs. (16) Blitzkrieg
Hida's Credentials: 2x World Champion, 3x North American, 4x Tag Team, TV Champion
Blitzkrieg's Credentials: First Cruiserweight Champion
(8) The Great Yamada vs. (9) Jack Blade
Yamada's Credentials: Current MBE Co-Owner, 3x Tag Champion
Blade's Credentials: Unified and Tag Champion
(4) Mr. Amazing! vs. (13) Outlaw
Mr. A!'s Credentials: North American Champion, 2x Tag Champion, former owner
Outlaw's Credentials: Unified Champion
(5) Doc Awesome vs. (12) The Twins
Doc's Credentials: Founding Father of MBE and the Beasties, 2x Tag Team Champion
Twins' Credentials: Tag Team Champions
(2) PILE vs. (15) Tha Eliminat0r
PILE's Credentials: World Champion, Founding member of the MBE Elite, 3x North American Champion, 2x Tag Champion
Elim's Credentials: Member of the MwM
(7) SweetJesusFunk vs. (10) Lady Rebellion
SJF's Credentials: 2x Tag Team Champion
LadyR's Credentials: Extreme and Cruiserweight Champion
(3) The Canadian Loonie vs. (14) Lance Thunder
Loonie's Credentials: North American and Extreme Champion
Lance's Credentials: Extreme Champion, MBE's most beloved jobber :p
(6) WhiteNoise vs. (11) Ravage
WN's Credentials: 2x Unified Champion, member of Amazing, Inc.
Ravage's Credentials: Umm... I wasn't exactly around for his first run :) Someone can fill this one in.
I'll make it up to you guys somehow else. I don't know how, because I feel so badly, but I will.
Also, a reminder to those who promised me guest blogs, well, the offer's still open. There's no deadline, and as long as I write here, I'll be accepting guest entries. However, I don't want you guys to forget about things, and I'm actually quite interested in seeing what you guys have to say. I've already gotten two fantastic guest entries and a third... well, I'll be nice and say it was interesting :). But if Dave's and Shane's entries are the indication, then I think the readership can benefit from hearing what you guys have to say greatly.
So in short... take your time, but don't forget ;)
And you other bloggers out there... an update would be nice :p
Alright, finally to the reason of the entry, I've been slacking on the Ultimate MBE Tournament, so to keep things moving, I'll do the other two first round brackets in one entry. Remember, if you're going to vote, please be sure to leave your name and a short reasoning behind each vote. Before we get to the new matchups, here's the results from the last one:
Maggot d. Cannibal
Aussie B d. Akira Otsuka
Webweaver d. Torment
Jack Gilkison d. Yori Yakamo, Jr.
Professor Tremendous d. Allworld
Meatbag d. Rat
Mango d. Jogi Fresh
El Tremendo d. Kanna Kirishima
And now...
Lord of the Boards Bracket
(1) Freakfish vs. (16) Vinman
Freakfish' Credentials: World, North American and Unified Champion, in-ring leader of Amazing, Inc.
Vinman's Credentials: Tag Champion, appeared in the first North American Championship match, currently MBE's ring announcer
(8) Tornado DDT vs. (9) Dumi
Tornado DDT's Credentials: World Champion, founding member of the Squalid Beasts.
Dumi's Credentials: Member of first Tag Team Championship team, appeared in first World and North American Championship matches, member of the Beasties
(4) IrishRed vs. (13) Guerilla
IrishRed's Credentials: Extreme Champion, Founder of the MwM, MBE Cup Finalist, current PbPro Quintuple Crown Champion which he won on MBE programming
Guerilla's Credentials: Contender to the Tag Titles with Maggot
(5) Duchess vs. (12) El Nino
Duchess' Credentials: 5x Tag Team Champion, Unified Champion
El Nino's Credentials: Tag Team Champion
(2) BobbyR vs. (15) Saigon Cinnamon
BobbyR's Credentials: World Champion, 5x North American Champion, 3x Tag Champion, Founding Father of MBE and the Beasties, leader of MwM v2.0 as The Red Don
Saigon's Credentials: Tag partner of James Irish back in the day
(7) Cerebral vs. (10) Justin Evitable
Cerebral's Credentials: Unified Champion, defeating a previously unbeaten streaked Freakfish (IIRC)
Justin's Credentials: Extreme, Unified and Tag Champion, runner up in the MBE Championship Series for the World Title in v2.0
(3) Paco the Wetback vs. (14) Tyrone the Tidy Giant
Paco's Credentials: World, North American and Unified Champion
Tyrone's Credentials: Unified and Tag Champion, battled World Champion Housefly to a draw in a title match in his first match
(6) Mr. Cable Access Television vs. (11) AJ Cirrus
CATV's Credentials: Unified, North American and Extreme Champion
Cirrus' Credentials: Tag and Unified Champion, last Unified Champion of v1.0
Total Elimination Bracket
(1) Hida Yakamo vs. (16) Blitzkrieg
Hida's Credentials: 2x World Champion, 3x North American, 4x Tag Team, TV Champion
Blitzkrieg's Credentials: First Cruiserweight Champion
(8) The Great Yamada vs. (9) Jack Blade
Yamada's Credentials: Current MBE Co-Owner, 3x Tag Champion
Blade's Credentials: Unified and Tag Champion
(4) Mr. Amazing! vs. (13) Outlaw
Mr. A!'s Credentials: North American Champion, 2x Tag Champion, former owner
Outlaw's Credentials: Unified Champion
(5) Doc Awesome vs. (12) The Twins
Doc's Credentials: Founding Father of MBE and the Beasties, 2x Tag Team Champion
Twins' Credentials: Tag Team Champions
(2) PILE vs. (15) Tha Eliminat0r
PILE's Credentials: World Champion, Founding member of the MBE Elite, 3x North American Champion, 2x Tag Champion
Elim's Credentials: Member of the MwM
(7) SweetJesusFunk vs. (10) Lady Rebellion
SJF's Credentials: 2x Tag Team Champion
LadyR's Credentials: Extreme and Cruiserweight Champion
(3) The Canadian Loonie vs. (14) Lance Thunder
Loonie's Credentials: North American and Extreme Champion
Lance's Credentials: Extreme Champion, MBE's most beloved jobber :p
(6) WhiteNoise vs. (11) Ravage
WN's Credentials: 2x Unified Champion, member of Amazing, Inc.
Ravage's Credentials: Umm... I wasn't exactly around for his first run :) Someone can fill this one in.
Friday, December 08, 2006
New Blood for the A1 feds (and a sad farewell)
IF you've been paying attention, there's been somewhat of an infusion of talent into the A1 family of feds. We've seen the returns of Cross and Beast and addition of Rocko Daymon to A1E in the last few months, but the former are A1E vets, and with the success of Cross and Dan Ryan in the Home Fed, it's not surprising that Strawsma made the jump headfirst. Same with MBE, where Justin Evitable and Jogi Fresh were drawn out of retirement, Doc Silver was drawn from his A1 exile and Ryan Poole, former handler of Liquid Snake, brought in a new character called Jock McCrunk. A lot of old faces. Now I'm not saying that these additions are bad at all. Personally, I think the proceedings between Cross and Beast are Feud of the Year material. Daymon has made a strong statement since coming into A1E, and I think it's a matter of time before he's holding gold. Doc's the MBE Champion while beating Evitable for it; both men are deserving of that honor. Jogi Fresh and Jock McCrunk have been entertaining while they've been around.
However, it's not new blood into the community. Among these guys, the only one who might be considered to be a fresh look is Daymon, because Strawsma is new to the A1 feds. However, I feel that the line between A1 and FW has been so blurred and intertwined that we're almost one, big, mixed up community.
But when I see names like these:
Fusenshoff
Cool Frank Cutta
Ace Mason
The Canadian Luchador
Logan
...it makes me smile. It seems to me like these are all new handlers to the community on the whole, and as someone who's been bemoaning the slow death of e-fedding as we know it in the combined A1/FW world, guys like these coming in embolden me in thinking my fatalistic attitude is wrong.
CFC has been making a splash in MBE for about a month now, and he's the longest running character of the five. The other four have just signed to their respective feds in the last week or so. But getting back to CFC, he seems to be getting into the groove nicely, settling into a feud with Jock, who, if he's around, is always a great feud partner to have.
Now, it's entirely possible that all of these guys are familiar with the A1 world and are just hiding their identities really well. Over at A1, the custom is to have a separate board name for all your characters. It's a lot easier to keep people off guard that way. In fact, I think no one knew that Bill was handling Mr. Amazing! as well as Freakfish until the grand unveiling of Amazing, Inc. at High Stakes '01, a feat that is the greatest testament to the separation of character screen names. So there is a chance that my giddiness is for naught.
But still, it looks like these guys are all new, and that's a good thing. Hopefully, this is the start of a reversal in trend and the next resurgence in eW is about to begin...
...especially when guys like Al Larcher leave the hobby. For those who don't know, Al, who handles Duke and Hoyt Williams, suddenly retired from the hobby this week. Because his announcement hastily followed Sean Williams' departure, I initially thought that it was a joke and he was going to turn around and reveal he was working us. However, it appears to be the real thing.
Of all the guys who could leave the hobby, in particular, the PTC community, Al was the worst case scenario. His light-hearted attitude made people smile all the time. He had a heart firmly entrenched in the old-school, something that made him stand out amongst the community.
I don't know what made him leave the hobby. Something tells me this runs deeper than schoolwork/full-time job kicking his ass or general malaise for eW. I hope all is well in the Larcher household.
I also hope that Al makes his way back to eW someday. Until then, here's to Mr. Larcher, the President of E-Fedding. You will be sorely missed while you are gone.
However, it's not new blood into the community. Among these guys, the only one who might be considered to be a fresh look is Daymon, because Strawsma is new to the A1 feds. However, I feel that the line between A1 and FW has been so blurred and intertwined that we're almost one, big, mixed up community.
But when I see names like these:
Fusenshoff
Cool Frank Cutta
Ace Mason
The Canadian Luchador
Logan
...it makes me smile. It seems to me like these are all new handlers to the community on the whole, and as someone who's been bemoaning the slow death of e-fedding as we know it in the combined A1/FW world, guys like these coming in embolden me in thinking my fatalistic attitude is wrong.
CFC has been making a splash in MBE for about a month now, and he's the longest running character of the five. The other four have just signed to their respective feds in the last week or so. But getting back to CFC, he seems to be getting into the groove nicely, settling into a feud with Jock, who, if he's around, is always a great feud partner to have.
Now, it's entirely possible that all of these guys are familiar with the A1 world and are just hiding their identities really well. Over at A1, the custom is to have a separate board name for all your characters. It's a lot easier to keep people off guard that way. In fact, I think no one knew that Bill was handling Mr. Amazing! as well as Freakfish until the grand unveiling of Amazing, Inc. at High Stakes '01, a feat that is the greatest testament to the separation of character screen names. So there is a chance that my giddiness is for naught.
But still, it looks like these guys are all new, and that's a good thing. Hopefully, this is the start of a reversal in trend and the next resurgence in eW is about to begin...
...especially when guys like Al Larcher leave the hobby. For those who don't know, Al, who handles Duke and Hoyt Williams, suddenly retired from the hobby this week. Because his announcement hastily followed Sean Williams' departure, I initially thought that it was a joke and he was going to turn around and reveal he was working us. However, it appears to be the real thing.
Of all the guys who could leave the hobby, in particular, the PTC community, Al was the worst case scenario. His light-hearted attitude made people smile all the time. He had a heart firmly entrenched in the old-school, something that made him stand out amongst the community.
I don't know what made him leave the hobby. Something tells me this runs deeper than schoolwork/full-time job kicking his ass or general malaise for eW. I hope all is well in the Larcher household.
I also hope that Al makes his way back to eW someday. Until then, here's to Mr. Larcher, the President of E-Fedding. You will be sorely missed while you are gone.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
MBE Total Elimination
It's up!
I have to say, thoroughly enjoyable read. I thought it was a great show from a matchwriting standpoint, and a fantastic show from an angle standpoint. Congrats go out to Stanton for capturing the MBE World Championship with Doc Silver. That, surprisingly enough, wasn't the biggest thing that happened.
All the HoF stuff was jaw-dropping. From A kicking the shit out of Ryuji after the Red stuff to Promo joining that alliance, I thought everything was executed well. Fedheads take note, if you're running a fedwide angle, take it from Bill and Jeff (especially Bill), seeing as MBE was known for them back in the day. They prove they still have it.
I also don't know who's handling Ravage, but hopefully, it's the guy who originally handled him. If it is... then it proves that no one, and I mean no one, stays retired in this hobby forever without making at least one comeback. It would be great for MBE if that was the case, seeing as Kev was one of the great handlers from v. 1.0, and it's good to see a mix of old (myself, Andy, Brian, Shane G., Jeff, Bill, Chris [Justin's handler], Mat H., Jean) and new (Stanton, Shane C., the dudes who are handling Mason, O'Malley and CFC).
Of course, more new handlers to MBE would be nice, but right now, we've got something good.
I have to say, thoroughly enjoyable read. I thought it was a great show from a matchwriting standpoint, and a fantastic show from an angle standpoint. Congrats go out to Stanton for capturing the MBE World Championship with Doc Silver. That, surprisingly enough, wasn't the biggest thing that happened.
All the HoF stuff was jaw-dropping. From A kicking the shit out of Ryuji after the Red stuff to Promo joining that alliance, I thought everything was executed well. Fedheads take note, if you're running a fedwide angle, take it from Bill and Jeff (especially Bill), seeing as MBE was known for them back in the day. They prove they still have it.
I also don't know who's handling Ravage, but hopefully, it's the guy who originally handled him. If it is... then it proves that no one, and I mean no one, stays retired in this hobby forever without making at least one comeback. It would be great for MBE if that was the case, seeing as Kev was one of the great handlers from v. 1.0, and it's good to see a mix of old (myself, Andy, Brian, Shane G., Jeff, Bill, Chris [Justin's handler], Mat H., Jean) and new (Stanton, Shane C., the dudes who are handling Mason, O'Malley and CFC).
Of course, more new handlers to MBE would be nice, but right now, we've got something good.
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).
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Ultimate MBE: Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
Yes, I'm on blog overload tonight. Anyway, before we move on, here are the results for the High Stakes bracket:
Spoiler d. Cthulhu
LB d. Tillrules
James Irish d. Star Rider
FATSEXY d. Mr. Hyde
Housefly d. The Behemoths
Promo d. LuvGun
Andy Gilkison d. The Artist
Freakshow d. Dan Ryan
Alrighty, now, the Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket. NOTE: When voting, please include your name somehow (an identifier... anything) AND a brief description of why you voted the way you did. If you don't provide both, your vote will be deleted and discounted! Thanks for paying attention.
Now...
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
(1) Maggot vs. (16) Cannibal
Maggot's Credentials: MBE World Champion, 2x North American Champion, Unified Champion, Extreme Champion
Cannibal's Credentials: Extreme Champion
(8) Aussie B vs. (9) Akira Otsuka
Ausland's Credentials: 2x Tag Team Champion, 2x Extreme Champion, NA Title Tourney runner-up at High Stakes 2001
Otsuka's Credentials: Tag Team Champion, member of the All-Asian Alliance
(4) Webweaver vs. (13) Torment
Web's Credentials: 2x North American Champion, defied laws of physics with Web of Deceit locked on Andy Gilkison at the same time as a Gilkimission
Torment's Credentials: Tag Team Champion
(5) Jack Gilkison vs. (12) Yori Yakamo, Jr.
Jack's Credentials: 2001 Lord of the Boards, Unified Champion, North American Champion, last Extreme Champion
YYJ's Credentials: current MBE owner, Tag Team and Unified Champion
(2) Professor Tremendous vs. (15) Allworld
Prof's Credentials: 2x World Champion, 3x North American Champion, 2x Tag Team Champion, Unified and Extreme Champion, first Sole Survivor, leader of Team Tremendous (which means at some point, he's bossed around Allworld!)
Allworld's Credentials: Tag Team and Unified Champion
(7) Rat vs. (10) Meatbag
Rat's Credentials: Extreme Champion
Meatbag's Credentials: Founding MwM member, first Unified Champion, TV and Tag Team Champion
(3) Mango vs. (14) Jogi Fresh
Mango's Credentials: Founding MwM member, first Extreme Champion, North American and Tag Team Champion
Jogi's Credentials: Unified Champion, currently top contender for MBE Championship
(6) El Tremendo vs. (11) Kanna Kirishima
ElT's Credentials: Last North American Champion, Tag Team Champion, 2x Extreme Champion
Kanna's Credentials: Only holder of Survivor Championship in its MBE tenure, 2x Tag Team Champion
Spoiler d. Cthulhu
LB d. Tillrules
James Irish d. Star Rider
FATSEXY d. Mr. Hyde
Housefly d. The Behemoths
Promo d. LuvGun
Andy Gilkison d. The Artist
Freakshow d. Dan Ryan
Alrighty, now, the Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket. NOTE: When voting, please include your name somehow (an identifier... anything) AND a brief description of why you voted the way you did. If you don't provide both, your vote will be deleted and discounted! Thanks for paying attention.
Now...
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
(1) Maggot vs. (16) Cannibal
Maggot's Credentials: MBE World Champion, 2x North American Champion, Unified Champion, Extreme Champion
Cannibal's Credentials: Extreme Champion
(8) Aussie B vs. (9) Akira Otsuka
Ausland's Credentials: 2x Tag Team Champion, 2x Extreme Champion, NA Title Tourney runner-up at High Stakes 2001
Otsuka's Credentials: Tag Team Champion, member of the All-Asian Alliance
(4) Webweaver vs. (13) Torment
Web's Credentials: 2x North American Champion, defied laws of physics with Web of Deceit locked on Andy Gilkison at the same time as a Gilkimission
Torment's Credentials: Tag Team Champion
(5) Jack Gilkison vs. (12) Yori Yakamo, Jr.
Jack's Credentials: 2001 Lord of the Boards, Unified Champion, North American Champion, last Extreme Champion
YYJ's Credentials: current MBE owner, Tag Team and Unified Champion
(2) Professor Tremendous vs. (15) Allworld
Prof's Credentials: 2x World Champion, 3x North American Champion, 2x Tag Team Champion, Unified and Extreme Champion, first Sole Survivor, leader of Team Tremendous (which means at some point, he's bossed around Allworld!)
Allworld's Credentials: Tag Team and Unified Champion
(7) Rat vs. (10) Meatbag
Rat's Credentials: Extreme Champion
Meatbag's Credentials: Founding MwM member, first Unified Champion, TV and Tag Team Champion
(3) Mango vs. (14) Jogi Fresh
Mango's Credentials: Founding MwM member, first Extreme Champion, North American and Tag Team Champion
Jogi's Credentials: Unified Champion, currently top contender for MBE Championship
(6) El Tremendo vs. (11) Kanna Kirishima
ElT's Credentials: Last North American Champion, Tag Team Champion, 2x Extreme Champion
Kanna's Credentials: Only holder of Survivor Championship in its MBE tenure, 2x Tag Team Champion
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Ultimate MBE First Round: High Stakes Bracket
Same drill as for U-A1E... cast your vote in the comments section and give a reason why you're voting the way you are.
High Stakes Bracket
(1) The Spoiler vs. (16) Cthulhu
Spoiler's Credentials: 6-time MBE World Heavyweight Champion, former Unified and Tag Champion (with Andy Gilkison), first class MBE Hall of Famer
Cthulhu's Credentials: Leader of the Social Misfits
(8) Londonboy vs. (9) Tillrules
Londonboy's Credentials: Former Unified Champion, challenger to the World Championship
Tillrules' Credentials: Former MBE Commissioner, current PBP announcer, former Cruiserweight Champion (despite being well over weight limit), finalist in two North American Championship tournaments
(4)James Irish vs. (13) Star Rider
James' Credentials: Former MBE PBP announcer, former North American Champion
Star Rider's Credentials: Former Unified and Tag Team Champion
(5)FATSEXY vs. (12) Mr. Hyde
FATSEXY's Credentials: First ever North American Champion, one of the most over characters in early MBE, was turned on by Mr. Amazing!
Mr. Hyde's Credentials: Former Tag Team Champion
(2) Housefly vs. (15) The Behemoths
Housefly's Credentials: Former World and North American Champion
The Behemoths' Credentials: Former Tag Team Champions
(7) Promo vs. (10) LuvGun
Promo's Credentials: Last MBE World Champion of v. 1.0
LuvGun's Credentials: 2-time Unified Champion
(3) Andrew F'n Gilkison vs. (14) The Artist
Andy's Credentials: the heart and soul of MBE, 3-time Tag Champion, former North American, Television and Extreme Champion, challenger to the World Championship
(6) Freakshow vs. (11) "The Ego Buster" Dan Ryan
Freakshow's Credentials: 3-time former Tag Team Champion
Ryan's Credentials: MBE Cup Tournament winner
High Stakes Bracket
(1) The Spoiler vs. (16) Cthulhu
Spoiler's Credentials: 6-time MBE World Heavyweight Champion, former Unified and Tag Champion (with Andy Gilkison), first class MBE Hall of Famer
Cthulhu's Credentials: Leader of the Social Misfits
(8) Londonboy vs. (9) Tillrules
Londonboy's Credentials: Former Unified Champion, challenger to the World Championship
Tillrules' Credentials: Former MBE Commissioner, current PBP announcer, former Cruiserweight Champion (despite being well over weight limit), finalist in two North American Championship tournaments
(4)James Irish vs. (13) Star Rider
James' Credentials: Former MBE PBP announcer, former North American Champion
Star Rider's Credentials: Former Unified and Tag Team Champion
(5)FATSEXY vs. (12) Mr. Hyde
FATSEXY's Credentials: First ever North American Champion, one of the most over characters in early MBE, was turned on by Mr. Amazing!
Mr. Hyde's Credentials: Former Tag Team Champion
(2) Housefly vs. (15) The Behemoths
Housefly's Credentials: Former World and North American Champion
The Behemoths' Credentials: Former Tag Team Champions
(7) Promo vs. (10) LuvGun
Promo's Credentials: Last MBE World Champion of v. 1.0
LuvGun's Credentials: 2-time Unified Champion
(3) Andrew F'n Gilkison vs. (14) The Artist
Andy's Credentials: the heart and soul of MBE, 3-time Tag Champion, former North American, Television and Extreme Champion, challenger to the World Championship
(6) Freakshow vs. (11) "The Ego Buster" Dan Ryan
Freakshow's Credentials: 3-time former Tag Team Champion
Ryan's Credentials: MBE Cup Tournament winner
Friday, November 17, 2006
The E-Fed Blog Presents: The Ultimate MBE Tournament
Here's the official bracket announcement. The first voting entry goes up tomorrow.
High Stakes Bracket
(1) The Spoiler vs. (16) Cthulhu
(8) Londonboy vs. (9) Tillrules
(4)James Irish vs. (13) Star Rider
(5)FATSEXY vs. (12) Mr. Hyde
(2) Housefly vs. (15) The Behemoths
(7) Promo vs. (10) LuvGun
(3) Andrew F'n Gilkison vs. (14) The Artist
(6) Freakshow vs. (11) "The Ego Buster" Dan Ryan
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
(1) Maggot vs. (16) Cannibal
(8) Aussie B vs. (9)Akira Otsuka
(4) Webweaver vs. (13) Torment
(5) Jack Gilkison vs. (12) Yori Yakamo, Jr.
(2) Professor Tremendous vs. (15) Allworld
(7) Rat vs. (10) Meatbag
(3) Mango vs. (14) Jogi Fresh
(6) El Tremendo vs. (11) Kanna Kirishima
Lord of the Boards Bracket
(1) Freakfish vs. (16) Vinman
(8) Tornado DDT vs. (9) Dumi
(4) IrishRed vs. (13) Guerilla
(5) Duchess vs. (12) El Nino
(2) BobbyR vs. (15) Saigon Cinnamon
(7) Cerebral vs. (10) Justin Evitable
(3) Paco the Wetback vs. (14) Tyrone the Tidy Giant
(6) Mr. Cable Access Television vs. (11) AJ Cirrus
Total Elimination Bracket
(1) Hida Yakamo vs. (16) Blitzkrieg
(8) The Great Yamada vs. (9) Jack Blade
(4) Mr. Amazing! vs. (13) Outlaw
(5) Doc Awesome vs. (12) The Twins
(2) PILE vs. (15) Tha Eliminat0r
(7) SweetJesusFunk vs. (10) Lady Rebellion
(3) The Canadian Loonie vs. (14) Lance Thunder
(6) WhiteNoise vs. (11) Ravage
High Stakes Bracket
(1) The Spoiler vs. (16) Cthulhu
(8) Londonboy vs. (9) Tillrules
(4)James Irish vs. (13) Star Rider
(5)FATSEXY vs. (12) Mr. Hyde
(2) Housefly vs. (15) The Behemoths
(7) Promo vs. (10) LuvGun
(3) Andrew F'n Gilkison vs. (14) The Artist
(6) Freakshow vs. (11) "The Ego Buster" Dan Ryan
Wednesday Night Warriors Bracket
(1) Maggot vs. (16) Cannibal
(8) Aussie B vs. (9)Akira Otsuka
(4) Webweaver vs. (13) Torment
(5) Jack Gilkison vs. (12) Yori Yakamo, Jr.
(2) Professor Tremendous vs. (15) Allworld
(7) Rat vs. (10) Meatbag
(3) Mango vs. (14) Jogi Fresh
(6) El Tremendo vs. (11) Kanna Kirishima
Lord of the Boards Bracket
(1) Freakfish vs. (16) Vinman
(8) Tornado DDT vs. (9) Dumi
(4) IrishRed vs. (13) Guerilla
(5) Duchess vs. (12) El Nino
(2) BobbyR vs. (15) Saigon Cinnamon
(7) Cerebral vs. (10) Justin Evitable
(3) Paco the Wetback vs. (14) Tyrone the Tidy Giant
(6) Mr. Cable Access Television vs. (11) AJ Cirrus
Total Elimination Bracket
(1) Hida Yakamo vs. (16) Blitzkrieg
(8) The Great Yamada vs. (9) Jack Blade
(4) Mr. Amazing! vs. (13) Outlaw
(5) Doc Awesome vs. (12) The Twins
(2) PILE vs. (15) Tha Eliminat0r
(7) SweetJesusFunk vs. (10) Lady Rebellion
(3) The Canadian Loonie vs. (14) Lance Thunder
(6) WhiteNoise vs. (11) Ravage
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
The Rundown: MBE
In preparation for the epic Ultimate MBE tournament, I give you the latest in this occasional series of fed-reviews, the venerable senior A1 fed itself.
The Site
Well, they're just a forum at A1 now, but I have it on good authority that they'll have a site soon.
The Champions
World: To be decided at Total Elimination in a match between Doc Silver and Justin Evitable
Tag: The Thrillbillies
Before closing in 2003, MBE had two other titles: The Unified and Survivor Championships. AJ Cirrus was the last holder of the Unified Championship (which is called as such because it's an amalgamation of the Cruiserweight, Television, Hardcore and North American Championships, all added at different stages), and Kanna Kirishima was the only MBE holder of the Survivor Championship. Followers of A1E will duly note that A1E had a title by the same name up until about summer of this year. That lineage is the same as MBE's since Kanna brought the title to A1E, and A1E duly recognized it as a title of their own.
Latest Event: WNW, recapped Meltzer style
The Skinny on Recent Happenings (note, this is all an in-character description... we had OOC discussion about the events in the first couple of paragraphs before, and I'd like to think all those issues are dead, buried and forgiven)
Before you can know what's going on now, I will take you back to 2003, a magical time when the Curse of the Bambino still lived, Britney Spears was still single and hot, and yours truly was teetering on the edge of e-fed retirement. In the spring of that year, the demand for e-fedding at A1 got pretty low. There were also three feds on the site, A1E, MBE and the third fed, UXW. By the time April/May rolled around, the leaderships of the two feds decided it would be in their best interest to merge and combine rosters. For about three or four months, MBE plodded on, and along the way, Promo defeated Paco the Wetback to unify the MBE and UXW Championships, while AJ Cirrus won the Unified Championship.
In September, feeling that MBE was stagnating, Promo and Cirrus jumped ship for A1E, taking the titles with them. MBE was crippled and decided it would be best to shut down. Many of the MBE faithful held deep grudges against the two superstars. Among them was one Andrew F'n Gilkison. When MBE reopened and Cirrus and Promo came back to roost, Gilkie was waiting to meet them head-on. The first major battle in the war happened at the first PPV, Awakenings. Gilkison defeated Cirrus in a last-man standing matchup.
Gilkie was then on a collision course with Promo first through the double elimination MBE World Championship Tournament. Their match on the 10/25 WNW was brutality defined. The next week, Promo cost Andy his match against Justin Evitable through interference. The hate between these two wrestlers is very tangible, and their match at Total Elimination should be a barnburner.
Speaking of the World Championship, the recently completed Tourney has come down to Justin Evitable and Doc Silver. This is not the most surprising result, but it's also not without interest. Justin's been in-and-out of MBE over the years, and has never risen above the midcard. Silver has made several enemies over on the other fed on A1, and it's remarkable that he'd even enter another fed on the same site. Still, there's no denying that these two deserve their shots. Two other folks who deserve their shots are a surging Jogi Fresh and the stalwart Duchess, who will face off for the Number One Contendership for the MBE Championship at TE.
The feud between the Thrillbillies and the Sheffield Wednesday Lot will come to a head at Total Elimination as the Billies will team with Jimmy Donovan and defend their MBE Tag Team Championships in an elimination match against the entire Lot, Nate, Mac and Juen Lee. This feud has been simmering since before Awakenings, and it boiled over at the first WNW after the PPV, when the Lot assaulted Jimmy Donovan, and the Billies made the save. This brawl was the last straw in a series of brawls between the two factions, and Yoshihiro Yamada ordered a no-contact clause between the two up until Total Elimination, where they'd face off in the six man elimination match. Since then, the Lot has been doing their best to play mind-games with the Billies, but the Southern Boys would have none of it.
Who to Watch For
Justin Evitable Yes, it's an extremely cheesy name, but Justin's evolved into a solid character who's finally showing the staying power he needs to make it to the main event. In these beginning stages of the MBE Reboot, that staying power is crucial. His work with Yori is pretty damn entertaining, and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the World Title in a minor upset over Doc.
Jock McCrunk Ryan, Jock's handler, was my favorite guy to promo against back in the day. He's finally back with Jock after a couple year hiatus, and once he shakes off all the ring rust, watch out. The McCrunk character is great in premise, and he's got the talent behind him to ride to the top somewhere down the line.
Jogi Fresh Another mainstay from the old days, Jogi's another one whose handler is coming back from a longish hiatus. He's done a much better job shaking the ring rust, and he's a threat now to win it all. If only he can get past that sneaky Duchess...
Promo What happens when you've got the biggest bullseye in the fed on your back? Well, you tend to be the most interesting personality and the most readily accessible for a hot program. Promo carries a lot of baggage for a lot of characters, and the feuds shouldn't run dry for a long time.
The Sheffield Wednesday Lot What can I say? I'm a mark for hooligans. Easily the best new character concept I've seen this year. Hopefully, Bill and Jeff can devote the time needed to this group to make it super-entertaining.
The Site
Well, they're just a forum at A1 now, but I have it on good authority that they'll have a site soon.
The Champions
World: To be decided at Total Elimination in a match between Doc Silver and Justin Evitable
Tag: The Thrillbillies
Before closing in 2003, MBE had two other titles: The Unified and Survivor Championships. AJ Cirrus was the last holder of the Unified Championship (which is called as such because it's an amalgamation of the Cruiserweight, Television, Hardcore and North American Championships, all added at different stages), and Kanna Kirishima was the only MBE holder of the Survivor Championship. Followers of A1E will duly note that A1E had a title by the same name up until about summer of this year. That lineage is the same as MBE's since Kanna brought the title to A1E, and A1E duly recognized it as a title of their own.
Latest Event: WNW, recapped Meltzer style
The Skinny on Recent Happenings (note, this is all an in-character description... we had OOC discussion about the events in the first couple of paragraphs before, and I'd like to think all those issues are dead, buried and forgiven)
Before you can know what's going on now, I will take you back to 2003, a magical time when the Curse of the Bambino still lived, Britney Spears was still single and hot, and yours truly was teetering on the edge of e-fed retirement. In the spring of that year, the demand for e-fedding at A1 got pretty low. There were also three feds on the site, A1E, MBE and the third fed, UXW. By the time April/May rolled around, the leaderships of the two feds decided it would be in their best interest to merge and combine rosters. For about three or four months, MBE plodded on, and along the way, Promo defeated Paco the Wetback to unify the MBE and UXW Championships, while AJ Cirrus won the Unified Championship.
In September, feeling that MBE was stagnating, Promo and Cirrus jumped ship for A1E, taking the titles with them. MBE was crippled and decided it would be best to shut down. Many of the MBE faithful held deep grudges against the two superstars. Among them was one Andrew F'n Gilkison. When MBE reopened and Cirrus and Promo came back to roost, Gilkie was waiting to meet them head-on. The first major battle in the war happened at the first PPV, Awakenings. Gilkison defeated Cirrus in a last-man standing matchup.
Gilkie was then on a collision course with Promo first through the double elimination MBE World Championship Tournament. Their match on the 10/25 WNW was brutality defined. The next week, Promo cost Andy his match against Justin Evitable through interference. The hate between these two wrestlers is very tangible, and their match at Total Elimination should be a barnburner.
Speaking of the World Championship, the recently completed Tourney has come down to Justin Evitable and Doc Silver. This is not the most surprising result, but it's also not without interest. Justin's been in-and-out of MBE over the years, and has never risen above the midcard. Silver has made several enemies over on the other fed on A1, and it's remarkable that he'd even enter another fed on the same site. Still, there's no denying that these two deserve their shots. Two other folks who deserve their shots are a surging Jogi Fresh and the stalwart Duchess, who will face off for the Number One Contendership for the MBE Championship at TE.
The feud between the Thrillbillies and the Sheffield Wednesday Lot will come to a head at Total Elimination as the Billies will team with Jimmy Donovan and defend their MBE Tag Team Championships in an elimination match against the entire Lot, Nate, Mac and Juen Lee. This feud has been simmering since before Awakenings, and it boiled over at the first WNW after the PPV, when the Lot assaulted Jimmy Donovan, and the Billies made the save. This brawl was the last straw in a series of brawls between the two factions, and Yoshihiro Yamada ordered a no-contact clause between the two up until Total Elimination, where they'd face off in the six man elimination match. Since then, the Lot has been doing their best to play mind-games with the Billies, but the Southern Boys would have none of it.
Who to Watch For
Justin Evitable Yes, it's an extremely cheesy name, but Justin's evolved into a solid character who's finally showing the staying power he needs to make it to the main event. In these beginning stages of the MBE Reboot, that staying power is crucial. His work with Yori is pretty damn entertaining, and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the World Title in a minor upset over Doc.
Jock McCrunk Ryan, Jock's handler, was my favorite guy to promo against back in the day. He's finally back with Jock after a couple year hiatus, and once he shakes off all the ring rust, watch out. The McCrunk character is great in premise, and he's got the talent behind him to ride to the top somewhere down the line.
Jogi Fresh Another mainstay from the old days, Jogi's another one whose handler is coming back from a longish hiatus. He's done a much better job shaking the ring rust, and he's a threat now to win it all. If only he can get past that sneaky Duchess...
Promo What happens when you've got the biggest bullseye in the fed on your back? Well, you tend to be the most interesting personality and the most readily accessible for a hot program. Promo carries a lot of baggage for a lot of characters, and the feuds shouldn't run dry for a long time.
The Sheffield Wednesday Lot What can I say? I'm a mark for hooligans. Easily the best new character concept I've seen this year. Hopefully, Bill and Jeff can devote the time needed to this group to make it super-entertaining.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Ultimate MBE: Seeding discussion
Finally have everything in here tagged for her comfort... err, I mean your convenience. So peruse at your will.
Onto the meat, we all remember the Ultimate A1E Tournament that hijacked the blog for the better part of two months in the summertime. Now, it's the senior A1 fed's turn to get the Ultimate Tournament treatment, and what better time to do that than now, while on the comeback trail. Speaking of said comeback trail, have you at least given thought to joining MBE yet? Trust me, the atmosphere is fantastic, you'll interact with handlers that you can't find anywhere else on any other eW circuit, the booking is rock solid and you'll definitely find the writeup style to be at least a change of pace from the norm.
Anyway, onto the tournament, we can't hold one until we get the seeding down. Like we did for the A1E shindig, I'm going to have everyone and anyone who was ever involved in MBE help decide the seeding for it. I'll post a thread over at A1 and we'll start discussing it there.
Of course, feel free to post thoughts here. Oh yeah, and don't forget to check MBE out :p
Onto the meat, we all remember the Ultimate A1E Tournament that hijacked the blog for the better part of two months in the summertime. Now, it's the senior A1 fed's turn to get the Ultimate Tournament treatment, and what better time to do that than now, while on the comeback trail. Speaking of said comeback trail, have you at least given thought to joining MBE yet? Trust me, the atmosphere is fantastic, you'll interact with handlers that you can't find anywhere else on any other eW circuit, the booking is rock solid and you'll definitely find the writeup style to be at least a change of pace from the norm.
Anyway, onto the tournament, we can't hold one until we get the seeding down. Like we did for the A1E shindig, I'm going to have everyone and anyone who was ever involved in MBE help decide the seeding for it. I'll post a thread over at A1 and we'll start discussing it there.
Of course, feel free to post thoughts here. Oh yeah, and don't forget to check MBE out :p
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.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The E-Fed Blog presents: Ultimate MBE!
Because I want to spur discussion about something other than GTT6 ;)
Reader Dan West, living with no less than 20 other living things in his Delaware Valley house that poop, asked about doing another one of those Ultimate tournaments, and although he didn't specify which fed, I'm pretty sure he was hinting at MBE. So, in order to give the people what they want, I'm presenting to you...
The Ultimate MBE Tournament
Much like I did with U-A1E, I'm going to go with 64 of MBE's best. I'll probably end up posting some discussion about this in the A1 Efed Smarts and Marks forum, but the seeding will be up in about a week or so. Same deal, I post matchups, you vote for them.
Anyhoo... I've still got two requests from the original entry to do, plus a fresh one that I got this morning. The status on all of those:
-Feud recaps... I may start doing those regularly, but I'll definitely do one in the next week.
-Guest bloggers... I'm still waiting on receiving the content from the two guest bloggers I commissioned (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!)
-And I got a good request from someone in chat this morning about the politics of being a fedhead. I'll tackle that this week too, or at least I'll try.
So anyway, look for the Ultimate MBE stuff at A1, as that'll get started sooner rather than later.
Reader Dan West, living with no less than 20 other living things in his Delaware Valley house that poop, asked about doing another one of those Ultimate tournaments, and although he didn't specify which fed, I'm pretty sure he was hinting at MBE. So, in order to give the people what they want, I'm presenting to you...
The Ultimate MBE Tournament
Much like I did with U-A1E, I'm going to go with 64 of MBE's best. I'll probably end up posting some discussion about this in the A1 Efed Smarts and Marks forum, but the seeding will be up in about a week or so. Same deal, I post matchups, you vote for them.
Anyhoo... I've still got two requests from the original entry to do, plus a fresh one that I got this morning. The status on all of those:
-Feud recaps... I may start doing those regularly, but I'll definitely do one in the next week.
-Guest bloggers... I'm still waiting on receiving the content from the two guest bloggers I commissioned (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!)
-And I got a good request from someone in chat this morning about the politics of being a fedhead. I'll tackle that this week too, or at least I'll try.
So anyway, look for the Ultimate MBE stuff at A1, as that'll get started sooner rather than later.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
MBE's Rebirth
Wednesday Night Warfare... in Meltzer-speak
My first impression of the writeup style was negative. I felt it was a little too hard to follow, a little dense, a little too much like reading Meltzer, who for all his prowess at reporting news is a HORRIBLE writer. I read through it a bit again though, and then I started to get it a little better. I think maybe it's because I'm so used to seeing results a certain way. You may remember that I really didn't like the way ACW/fWo/LoC and the angle feds of their ilk wrote matches at first, but now, not only do I enjoy those kinds of matches, I find myself preferring to write in that style. This style indeed is innovative when it comes to e-wrestling.
The other huge plus is that it helps keep things moving at a good pace if it's easier for Jeff to write than matches altogether. It did seem like there was a lot of action going on for what should have been a recap. That was good in a sense because you get leave a lot less to the imagination when it comes to official interactions. You don't have guys filling in blanks in promos that may embellish what would have happened in the match had Jeff wrote it out completely to his vision. However, I think they should be careful not to put too much in the recaps or else they'll become as unweildly as writing regular cards.
As for what happened in the show, I thought there was some good groundwork being laid. Yamada's speech was effective, although waiting three months for a Champion makes me a little antsy. That anxiousness is outweighed by the old-school feel of slowly building to a climax. That and the fact that the title is being decided by a league play set-up. That will be sweet in and of itself.
I also have to say that they hit a homerun with the YoROBOT/Cox/Silver/Dildo ridiculousness. It might have been a lot funnier if it was fully written out, but I feel enough of it came through in the writeups to leave an effective mark on the readers.
All in all a solid effort, and I'm looking forward to seeing what lies in MBE's future.
My first impression of the writeup style was negative. I felt it was a little too hard to follow, a little dense, a little too much like reading Meltzer, who for all his prowess at reporting news is a HORRIBLE writer. I read through it a bit again though, and then I started to get it a little better. I think maybe it's because I'm so used to seeing results a certain way. You may remember that I really didn't like the way ACW/fWo/LoC and the angle feds of their ilk wrote matches at first, but now, not only do I enjoy those kinds of matches, I find myself preferring to write in that style. This style indeed is innovative when it comes to e-wrestling.
The other huge plus is that it helps keep things moving at a good pace if it's easier for Jeff to write than matches altogether. It did seem like there was a lot of action going on for what should have been a recap. That was good in a sense because you get leave a lot less to the imagination when it comes to official interactions. You don't have guys filling in blanks in promos that may embellish what would have happened in the match had Jeff wrote it out completely to his vision. However, I think they should be careful not to put too much in the recaps or else they'll become as unweildly as writing regular cards.
As for what happened in the show, I thought there was some good groundwork being laid. Yamada's speech was effective, although waiting three months for a Champion makes me a little antsy. That anxiousness is outweighed by the old-school feel of slowly building to a climax. That and the fact that the title is being decided by a league play set-up. That will be sweet in and of itself.
I also have to say that they hit a homerun with the YoROBOT/Cox/Silver/Dildo ridiculousness. It might have been a lot funnier if it was fully written out, but I feel enough of it came through in the writeups to leave an effective mark on the readers.
All in all a solid effort, and I'm looking forward to seeing what lies in MBE's future.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Taking a verbal dump
Seriously, you go away for a weekend and you get so far behind. Seriously, I'm still trying to catch up. Lots of shows to look at, including NEW's RAUCOUS, NAPW's Friday Night Action, FUSE's KillZone 04, KingPRO's first show (more on them later) and of course, NFW's Midnight Madness Week 10. The biggest show, however, came from EPW.
Yep, remember when I previewed Unleashed? Well, it was finally posted on Friday. I just got through it tonight, and let me say that it was worth the wait. Why? It wasn't so much for the matchwriting in general. I thought that missing two matches is a bit much for a PPV we've had two months to get together. A bit much indeed. I don't blame the Brunkster for posting the card as is though.
But for the stuff that happened, plus the major matches, which include the main event, which was phenomenal (and which I got the order of elimination completely CORRECT!), the Tag Title Match and the Cruise/Foxx match, were very good, smooth reads. I also liked the returns of the Troys, both Douglas and Windham. Plus, I think it's safe to say that Joey Melton has become one of the MVPs of EPW (along with Lindz), because every time he's got a segment, my eyes are glued to the screen.
So go read. Now.
In addition to the shows, we have news of some new feds coming along. First up was the aforementioned KingPRO wrestling, which is set to bring competition-based puro-style wrestling to the e-fed world. The fed is headed by Obinna, who handles Anton Assault in AWC and who is a general friend to the E-fed blog. If anything, give the fed's site a quick perusal and at least think about joining. It's a great concept, especially if you want to go in the tag division. It kinda reminds me of the Lethal Lottery, only done on a regular basis. That has the makings for great stories and pairings.
The next one is a fed near and dear to my heart. The great and venerable MBE is coming back full-time, under the guidance of Jeff Paternostro. MBE heads will remember him as Hida Yakamo, while NFW neophytes will recollect him as the handler of Yori Yakamo, Jr. Of course, Dan West, Bill Dempsey and probably Bobby Rodriguez will have some hand in running it, so you have that vintage MBE flavor going for it. The rub is that Jeff wants to start fresh with a bunch of new characters. Of course, old MBE characters are welcome, but in order for the fed to get off the ground, we can't rely solely on the history. I think it's a great idea, and if you have new character ideas you want to try out, or if you have a character that you've been using but haven't used in MBE in the past, then come aboard.
Seriously, MBE was perhaps the best fed I've ever been a part of. I think we can recreate the magic if we get the ingredients right.
Back with another entry tomorrow, hopefully with THE CONTENT~!
Yep, remember when I previewed Unleashed? Well, it was finally posted on Friday. I just got through it tonight, and let me say that it was worth the wait. Why? It wasn't so much for the matchwriting in general. I thought that missing two matches is a bit much for a PPV we've had two months to get together. A bit much indeed. I don't blame the Brunkster for posting the card as is though.
But for the stuff that happened, plus the major matches, which include the main event, which was phenomenal (and which I got the order of elimination completely CORRECT!), the Tag Title Match and the Cruise/Foxx match, were very good, smooth reads. I also liked the returns of the Troys, both Douglas and Windham. Plus, I think it's safe to say that Joey Melton has become one of the MVPs of EPW (along with Lindz), because every time he's got a segment, my eyes are glued to the screen.
So go read. Now.
In addition to the shows, we have news of some new feds coming along. First up was the aforementioned KingPRO wrestling, which is set to bring competition-based puro-style wrestling to the e-fed world. The fed is headed by Obinna, who handles Anton Assault in AWC and who is a general friend to the E-fed blog. If anything, give the fed's site a quick perusal and at least think about joining. It's a great concept, especially if you want to go in the tag division. It kinda reminds me of the Lethal Lottery, only done on a regular basis. That has the makings for great stories and pairings.
The next one is a fed near and dear to my heart. The great and venerable MBE is coming back full-time, under the guidance of Jeff Paternostro. MBE heads will remember him as Hida Yakamo, while NFW neophytes will recollect him as the handler of Yori Yakamo, Jr. Of course, Dan West, Bill Dempsey and probably Bobby Rodriguez will have some hand in running it, so you have that vintage MBE flavor going for it. The rub is that Jeff wants to start fresh with a bunch of new characters. Of course, old MBE characters are welcome, but in order for the fed to get off the ground, we can't rely solely on the history. I think it's a great idea, and if you have new character ideas you want to try out, or if you have a character that you've been using but haven't used in MBE in the past, then come aboard.
Seriously, MBE was perhaps the best fed I've ever been a part of. I think we can recreate the magic if we get the ingredients right.
Back with another entry tomorrow, hopefully with THE CONTENT~!
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Reader Participation: MBE Memories
For those in my readership who've been in MBE, well, you all know what MBE was and you have your own opinions of it. For most of us who've been a part of the fed, it was the first or second fed we were ever a part of, and it was one of those things that happened only once in a lifetime, something so perfect that if you tried to recreate everything the way it was, you couldn't even come close.
But for those who haven't been a part of it, like an AWCer who thinks it was a PTC fed, or for those like Katz whose only exposure to it was the MBE Cup, where certain snafus took place, it's this mythical land that's probably too good to be true.
I mean, there's a cliché that says "Distance makes the heart grow fonder." This is true when the distance is measured over time instead of in inches and meters. That certainly holds true for MBE, seeing that especially towards the end, many of us had our problems with the fed.
But I don't think there's any denying that at its height, MBE was a great place to be a handler.
Now, I could sit here and rattle off all my memories about MBE, and at some point, I probably will, but I would be doing an injustice, seeing that I wasn't there from the very beginning, and I also was only but one of the players who made MBE tick.
So here's what I'm asking you. I want everyone who reads this and who was a part of MBE at any point in their e-fed careers to e-mail me their reflections upon their MBE experiences. They can be good experiences or bad ones... Lord knows that despite the whitewash I've given the granddaddy of the A1 circle might not be the same picture everyone else paints. But I want them for a future entry.
I want to hear from everyone. Dan, Bill, Jeff, Bobby, Roger, Andy, James, Shane... anyone who at any point was involved. Drop me a line. Send me your testimonials via e-mail (tom DOT holzerman AT gmail DOT com), A1 or FW PM, or IM. Basically, anywhere but here in the comments section, because I want these to be their own entry. ;)
But for those who haven't been a part of it, like an AWCer who thinks it was a PTC fed, or for those like Katz whose only exposure to it was the MBE Cup, where certain snafus took place, it's this mythical land that's probably too good to be true.
I mean, there's a cliché that says "Distance makes the heart grow fonder." This is true when the distance is measured over time instead of in inches and meters. That certainly holds true for MBE, seeing that especially towards the end, many of us had our problems with the fed.
But I don't think there's any denying that at its height, MBE was a great place to be a handler.
Now, I could sit here and rattle off all my memories about MBE, and at some point, I probably will, but I would be doing an injustice, seeing that I wasn't there from the very beginning, and I also was only but one of the players who made MBE tick.
So here's what I'm asking you. I want everyone who reads this and who was a part of MBE at any point in their e-fed careers to e-mail me their reflections upon their MBE experiences. They can be good experiences or bad ones... Lord knows that despite the whitewash I've given the granddaddy of the A1 circle might not be the same picture everyone else paints. But I want them for a future entry.
I want to hear from everyone. Dan, Bill, Jeff, Bobby, Roger, Andy, James, Shane... anyone who at any point was involved. Drop me a line. Send me your testimonials via e-mail (tom DOT holzerman AT gmail DOT com), A1 or FW PM, or IM. Basically, anywhere but here in the comments section, because I want these to be their own entry. ;)
Thursday, November 03, 2005
A1 Draft Analysis, Part The Fifth
Last round of "team" breakdowns.
Jarret Aubry's Canadian Championship Wrestling Federation
Jericoholic Anonymous, Andrew Gilkison, Cross, Christian Sands, Chip Friendly*, Canadian Hitman, Canuck, Jogi Fresh*, Tariq Ismail, Mindkiller, Vladimir Vlachinko, Suicide, Johnny Morgan, Porter, Rob Sampson, Jared Justice, Tom Adler, El Tremendo*
Traded Away
Chip Friendly, Jogi Fresh, El Tremendo
Gotten in Return
Prisoner 187, BC Steele, Mikey F'n W
Free Agents
Craven, Kid Canada
Quite the draft haul for Mr. Beast here. A very solid draft all around.
Best Pick Cross is definitely the best pick here at the top of the third round. He's won the top two A1E titles and getting him in round 3 is a pretty good bargain.
Sleeper Picks Johnny Morgan was definitely my favorite UXW character ever and a very underrated, controversial character as well. Great pick where Jarret took him. Tom Adler is another fine pick, and I'm actually surprised Jarret knew who the hell he was ;)
Questionable Picks Well, never let it be known that I'm too much of an egomaniac, because taking Jericoholic Anonymous in the first round is not a very good choice. I'm a mark for myself as much as anyone is without becoming dangerously and Triple H-ly obsessed, but JA wasn't even my best character. Maggot was. I think Ken Cloverleaf would have been a better pick here, and I don't even think anyone would have objected to an ego-pick of Beast here either. Tariq Ismail is another guy taken just a bit too high. Good character, but hasn't really done anything of note yet (and now with Jeff retiring AGAIN, he probably won't), so a 9th round pick was a bit expensive on him.
Overall Grade B... One of the better drafts, a lot of value in many rounds. The lack of a credible A1E/MBE main eventer outside of Cross is made up by the strong upper mid-card/fringe main event A1 and main event FW guys taken at strategic spots.
Jon Boice's Trusted Warriors and Teammates
Duchess, IrishRed, Lindsay Troy, Craig Miles, Kanna Kirishima, Necromancer, Londonboy, Diva, Akiko Kanazawa, Vreck Stone, Druid, Jim Dandy, Jeffery Bellview, Donald James Havok, Quentin Beck IV, Benoitholic Anonymous, Suicidal Killer, Two
Free Agents
Allen Thomas, The Hummer Driver
Definitely an intriguing draft, especially after the shaky first two picks.
Best Pick The best pick in this draft happened in round 3 with Lindsay Troy. Thought she might have gone in round 2, but round 3's a very good round to get a former Triple Star and Cyber Champion in A1E, as well as a World Champion in the unofficial third A1 e-fed, EPW.
Sleeper Picks Definitely Craig Miles, who's a star on two circuits and even made an impact in the MBE Cup. Vreck Stone has always been a cult favorite of mine as well.
Questionable Picks Well, the Duchess/IrishRed sandwich picks were pretty out there, but it was already established that Jon had misunderstood what the draft concept was, so he gets a pass on those. Akiko Kanazawa might have been gotten a little later, and Jim Dandy probably would have lasted to free agency.
Overall Grade B-... Just based on how he set things up, it's a solid roster. No main eventers, but given the style of booking that was set forth, I don't think main eventers are needed.
Jarret Aubry's Canadian Championship Wrestling Federation
Jericoholic Anonymous, Andrew Gilkison, Cross, Christian Sands, Chip Friendly*, Canadian Hitman, Canuck, Jogi Fresh*, Tariq Ismail, Mindkiller, Vladimir Vlachinko, Suicide, Johnny Morgan, Porter, Rob Sampson, Jared Justice, Tom Adler, El Tremendo*
Traded Away
Chip Friendly, Jogi Fresh, El Tremendo
Gotten in Return
Prisoner 187, BC Steele, Mikey F'n W
Free Agents
Craven, Kid Canada
Quite the draft haul for Mr. Beast here. A very solid draft all around.
Best Pick Cross is definitely the best pick here at the top of the third round. He's won the top two A1E titles and getting him in round 3 is a pretty good bargain.
Sleeper Picks Johnny Morgan was definitely my favorite UXW character ever and a very underrated, controversial character as well. Great pick where Jarret took him. Tom Adler is another fine pick, and I'm actually surprised Jarret knew who the hell he was ;)
Questionable Picks Well, never let it be known that I'm too much of an egomaniac, because taking Jericoholic Anonymous in the first round is not a very good choice. I'm a mark for myself as much as anyone is without becoming dangerously and Triple H-ly obsessed, but JA wasn't even my best character. Maggot was. I think Ken Cloverleaf would have been a better pick here, and I don't even think anyone would have objected to an ego-pick of Beast here either. Tariq Ismail is another guy taken just a bit too high. Good character, but hasn't really done anything of note yet (and now with Jeff retiring AGAIN, he probably won't), so a 9th round pick was a bit expensive on him.
Overall Grade B... One of the better drafts, a lot of value in many rounds. The lack of a credible A1E/MBE main eventer outside of Cross is made up by the strong upper mid-card/fringe main event A1 and main event FW guys taken at strategic spots.
Jon Boice's Trusted Warriors and Teammates
Duchess, IrishRed, Lindsay Troy, Craig Miles, Kanna Kirishima, Necromancer, Londonboy, Diva, Akiko Kanazawa, Vreck Stone, Druid, Jim Dandy, Jeffery Bellview, Donald James Havok, Quentin Beck IV, Benoitholic Anonymous, Suicidal Killer, Two
Free Agents
Allen Thomas, The Hummer Driver
Definitely an intriguing draft, especially after the shaky first two picks.
Best Pick The best pick in this draft happened in round 3 with Lindsay Troy. Thought she might have gone in round 2, but round 3's a very good round to get a former Triple Star and Cyber Champion in A1E, as well as a World Champion in the unofficial third A1 e-fed, EPW.
Sleeper Picks Definitely Craig Miles, who's a star on two circuits and even made an impact in the MBE Cup. Vreck Stone has always been a cult favorite of mine as well.
Questionable Picks Well, the Duchess/IrishRed sandwich picks were pretty out there, but it was already established that Jon had misunderstood what the draft concept was, so he gets a pass on those. Akiko Kanazawa might have been gotten a little later, and Jim Dandy probably would have lasted to free agency.
Overall Grade B-... Just based on how he set things up, it's a solid roster. No main eventers, but given the style of booking that was set forth, I don't think main eventers are needed.
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