I've pimped FMLL on here before when it was active, and really, I think it's a great concept. That being said, lucha libre really isn't my thing, so while I had interest in joining it for awhile, I really didn't think I'd do too well or fit in and help give it its own voice. I was always more a puroresu guy myself. Well, someone at FWC is finally trying something that's a little more up my alley.
Enter Isamu League. Headed up by relative FWC newcomers, it's a fed that best tries to recreate a puroresu atmosphere, which admittedly can be very hard. Japanese wrestling is more about the sporting aspect and about what happens in the ring. Angles and feuds are based around matches and rivalries, about respect and that sort of thing rather than outrageous storylines and out-of-ring stuff. Sure, there are more than one flavor of puroresu fed out there, but most of them stress in-ring stuff. Characters and fed atmosphere, though, can range from the most straitlaced of straitlaced (think AJPW in the '90s with Misawa, Kobashi and Kawada) to goofy as all hell (HUSTLE and such characters as Daneshoku Dino, Razor Ramon Hard Gay and Survival Tobita).
Judging from the mission statement, IL will be a sort of hybrid between the traditional Japanese workrate fed and the kind of garbage fed like FMW and Big Japan were/are. In terms of fed mechanics though, they've put forth a very lax RPing schedule, which they basically require one RP every two weeks. This seemingly leisurely pace seems like it's a great fit for the more mature FWC audience.
Where I think they might run into some problems is their RP set-up, where they explicitly say that you won't have to get into promo battles and can write RPs that don't have anything to do with wrestling at all. This might throw some people off, as FWC has always been a more "traditional" community, NFW's presence notwithstanding. Still, I think this mission statement is a positive; the philosophy will allow people to get acclimated and perhaps try something new. Yeah, NFW is another place with a freestyle attitude, but it's harder to work something different in an established fed, or let's put it this way, it might seem harder to the handler. I know Katz, and I know that he, like every other FWC fedhead, pushes on a merit basis. If you write well, you're going to get pushed.
That being said, in a fledgling fed, you might have less pressure to perform right away, and thus might be more prone to try something different. IL could provide the best sort of portal to the PTC/narrative out-of-arena RP style on FWC.
Either way, I'm very high on IL, and I hope people give it a fair shake. I've got something I'm going to try out there, and hopefully you all will like it. In the interim, I'd love some feedback for my character profile :p
Masaharu Keichigawa
Showing posts with label NFW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NFW. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, July 17, 2009
Holy Crap, I Read Three Shows Today!
Seriously, how the hell did that happen? Maybe I'm getting more attentive in my old age ;) But yeah, I guess a slow day at work will give you something to want to do to pass the time that isn't playing flash games on the Intarwebs or bait trolls on message boards. That being said, here are the shows:
NFW Brawl: Kansas City - I've been out of the loop for awhile, although I've heard about the Dorchester Stratton, Cuatro Equis and other stuff, so I was a little bit disoriented. However, I thought it was a fun read, as most NFW Brawl shows are.
PRIME Revolution 200 - If I was out of the loop on NFW, I was lost in deep space on PRIME. I recognized some of the names, but a lot of the backstory was lost on me. Tyler Rayne's gone? Jason Snow is not only in e-fedding, but is the PRIME Universal Champion (I thought he'd have abandoned eW for creative writing sans wrestling a long time ago :p)? Talk about a... culture shock (pun intended). Still, for me not knowing a whole lot of what was going on, I thought it was a good show. I loved the concept as well. I thought the Shakur-as-Rayne swerve was pretty neat too. Congrats to ShadowKat, who won the Power Play BR with Kazys Jankauskas, and now has a banked Uni Title shot. Whoda thunk it?
EPW Aggression 45 - Finally, a fed that I'm not totally lost in, seeing as how it was one of the last feds I handled in before my retirement/hiatus (?!?!). As usual, a good show from EPW, but this week, something was a bit off. For one, the beginning... where did the show intro go? We went right into a match coming back from commercial. And Sarge was on two matches on the card? Weird. Still, a good read and a good effort from all those involved. Congrats to WF for capturing the TV Title as well.
NFW Brawl: Kansas City - I've been out of the loop for awhile, although I've heard about the Dorchester Stratton, Cuatro Equis and other stuff, so I was a little bit disoriented. However, I thought it was a fun read, as most NFW Brawl shows are.
PRIME Revolution 200 - If I was out of the loop on NFW, I was lost in deep space on PRIME. I recognized some of the names, but a lot of the backstory was lost on me. Tyler Rayne's gone? Jason Snow is not only in e-fedding, but is the PRIME Universal Champion (I thought he'd have abandoned eW for creative writing sans wrestling a long time ago :p)? Talk about a... culture shock (pun intended). Still, for me not knowing a whole lot of what was going on, I thought it was a good show. I loved the concept as well. I thought the Shakur-as-Rayne swerve was pretty neat too. Congrats to ShadowKat, who won the Power Play BR with Kazys Jankauskas, and now has a banked Uni Title shot. Whoda thunk it?
EPW Aggression 45 - Finally, a fed that I'm not totally lost in, seeing as how it was one of the last feds I handled in before my retirement/hiatus (?!?!). As usual, a good show from EPW, but this week, something was a bit off. For one, the beginning... where did the show intro go? We went right into a match coming back from commercial. And Sarge was on two matches on the card? Weird. Still, a good read and a good effort from all those involved. Congrats to WF for capturing the TV Title as well.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Your Blogger Answers, Pt. 4
Yet another batch of questions to answer! The first couple from Josh Ray, FW's resident soldier overseas:
Will Sergeant ever find the time to step back into the ring, and if so, who the hell would care? :)
Just two people, me and Franklin, since you two still haven't finished that feud you started :p
What about that Drunken Tiger fellow
No one cares about Drunken Tiger :p
Actually, to answer both questions seriously, I think that if you had time to run both characters, that means you'd be home, safe and sound, and everyone in the extended FW/Blog-following community would love that.
And now, onto the main event. Jarret Aubry, of A1E and EPW fame, submitted these questions:
1) What's left for Tom Holzerman to accomplish in eWrestling?
Well, I think there's still a lot to do. I've said before that I hate it when someone ends a first-run with a character after they've captured their first World Championship, saying "there isn't anything left to do with the character". Biggest cop-out I can think of. But anyway...
First thing's first, remember the cups of coffee I had with the A1E and EPW World Championships, respectively as JA? Well, I do like me some coffee, but that usually means that there's something of more substance to go with it. I would love to get another shot at holding both belts (possibly at the same time?) and going more than just one PPV title defense with them. JA is my flagship character. Although Maggot was always 1a at the very least, it was a character concept my cousin actually came up with that I had just fleshed out. JA really is me and everything that I've done with him, from the gimmick infringement to the far-reaching family tree to the moveset has been driven by my ideas. I want to see that go as far as it can go and I want people to remember me not just for the blog or for TEAM, but for the stuff I did in RP and as an active e-wrestler, especially with JA.
As a handler, I'd also like to reach the top of the mountain in a non-NFW PTC fed and in an angle fed. Both are territories where I've dabbled in to various degrees, and I was probably on my way to reaching big heights in PTC as a member of AWC. Sadly, the fed closed just as I was hitting my stride. Both those kinds of feds present different challenges than in a FW-styled RP fed.
Another thing I'd like to do is spearhead a renaissance in tag team wrestling. I've signed up in NFW as Vive Le Quebec, and when I'm not trying to challenge for the World Championship as JA, I'd like for him to become someone people mention as a quintessential tag wrestler.
I'd also like to win a major tournament, be it the TiT, a GTT or something else that comes up. And of course, as a handler, I'd like to perform excellently in any fed that I join.
Outside handling, I still feel like I have to prove myself on the blog every time I post, be it in opinion pieces like this, show reviews or even breaking news.
2) If you were running A1E or EPW, who would be your Champions (or given the voting nature of A1E, who would you want to push towards being your Champions)?
A1E
World - Troy Douglas
I think the belt's on the right person now. The main focus in A1E right now is the gang war between the AoC and HPSC, but I don't think the World Championship should always be a prop in the main angle. Right now, it's good to have an outsider to the feud have it and then let the World Championship have its own story.
Cyber - Big Wreck
I really think it's time for him to move up the card.
Challenge - Angel of Death
He's a guy whom I think can shine with the different stipulations from week to week.
Tag Team - Various AoC and HPSC members
Right now, A1E really doesn't have a strong tag division, so the belts would be best served being a cog in the stable wars. Make them a central focus in the feud and you push not only the feud but the belts too.
EPW
World - Sean Stevens
Surprisingly, EPW really doesn't have a lot of guys who are bonafide main eventers right now. There's me, but I'm not Godbooking myself the title here :p. There's Westcott, but he's tied up in an angle with Miles, or at least he was. Stevens right now is the biggest main event name that EPW has, and I think if he were to drop it, it should be to the next big name, like say a Jared Wells or a The First or even a Fusenshoff.
Intercontinental - Fusenshoff
He just won the CoC in TEAM for crying out loud. The TV title's a nice belt to have, but I think he's gotta move up the card. The IC title is a good thing to have for an on-the-cusp star, and he could elevate the title in the process.
TV - Omega
Great new character from a seasoned angle fed character getting his feet wet in the FW world. I'm a big fan of Omega, and I think he should have some gold.
Tag - Larry Tact and Cameron Cruise
Again, the tag scene in EPW isn't that strong, but that's why Brunk put the call out. Tact and Cruise would be good anchors for the tag division while it enters a sort of rebirth/rebuilding.
3) What would your A1E and EPW dream matches/feuds be given the current rosters?
a) not involving your characters
b) involving your characters
A1E
a) Troy Windham vs. Marcus Westcott - It hasn't happened before, and it would pit two of the most legendary characters from the CSWA and A1E respectively.
b) Jericoholic Anonymous vs. Marcus Westcott - This feud needs a proper reflaring and blowing off
EPW
a) Shawn Hart vs. Felix Red - That would be the most surreal feud ever
b) Jericoholic Anonymous vs. Olvir Arsvinnar - I think I would have so much fun with this I would never want it to end!
4) Who's got the best theme music in relation to their character?
Nothing is ever going to beat Big Dog, "Bad to the Bone"
5) Predict the next move in the HPSC/AOC feud
Hmm, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Troy Windham isn't really a member of the HPSC and is probably going to reveal that he's either in business for himself or was aligned with Westcott and the AoC all along.
Again, KEEP THE QUESTIONS COMING! And thanks to everyone who's asked so far!
Will Sergeant ever find the time to step back into the ring, and if so, who the hell would care? :)
Just two people, me and Franklin, since you two still haven't finished that feud you started :p
What about that Drunken Tiger fellow
No one cares about Drunken Tiger :p
Actually, to answer both questions seriously, I think that if you had time to run both characters, that means you'd be home, safe and sound, and everyone in the extended FW/Blog-following community would love that.
And now, onto the main event. Jarret Aubry, of A1E and EPW fame, submitted these questions:
1) What's left for Tom Holzerman to accomplish in eWrestling?
Well, I think there's still a lot to do. I've said before that I hate it when someone ends a first-run with a character after they've captured their first World Championship, saying "there isn't anything left to do with the character". Biggest cop-out I can think of. But anyway...
First thing's first, remember the cups of coffee I had with the A1E and EPW World Championships, respectively as JA? Well, I do like me some coffee, but that usually means that there's something of more substance to go with it. I would love to get another shot at holding both belts (possibly at the same time?) and going more than just one PPV title defense with them. JA is my flagship character. Although Maggot was always 1a at the very least, it was a character concept my cousin actually came up with that I had just fleshed out. JA really is me and everything that I've done with him, from the gimmick infringement to the far-reaching family tree to the moveset has been driven by my ideas. I want to see that go as far as it can go and I want people to remember me not just for the blog or for TEAM, but for the stuff I did in RP and as an active e-wrestler, especially with JA.
As a handler, I'd also like to reach the top of the mountain in a non-NFW PTC fed and in an angle fed. Both are territories where I've dabbled in to various degrees, and I was probably on my way to reaching big heights in PTC as a member of AWC. Sadly, the fed closed just as I was hitting my stride. Both those kinds of feds present different challenges than in a FW-styled RP fed.
Another thing I'd like to do is spearhead a renaissance in tag team wrestling. I've signed up in NFW as Vive Le Quebec, and when I'm not trying to challenge for the World Championship as JA, I'd like for him to become someone people mention as a quintessential tag wrestler.
I'd also like to win a major tournament, be it the TiT, a GTT or something else that comes up. And of course, as a handler, I'd like to perform excellently in any fed that I join.
Outside handling, I still feel like I have to prove myself on the blog every time I post, be it in opinion pieces like this, show reviews or even breaking news.
2) If you were running A1E or EPW, who would be your Champions (or given the voting nature of A1E, who would you want to push towards being your Champions)?
A1E
World - Troy Douglas
I think the belt's on the right person now. The main focus in A1E right now is the gang war between the AoC and HPSC, but I don't think the World Championship should always be a prop in the main angle. Right now, it's good to have an outsider to the feud have it and then let the World Championship have its own story.
Cyber - Big Wreck
I really think it's time for him to move up the card.
Challenge - Angel of Death
He's a guy whom I think can shine with the different stipulations from week to week.
Tag Team - Various AoC and HPSC members
Right now, A1E really doesn't have a strong tag division, so the belts would be best served being a cog in the stable wars. Make them a central focus in the feud and you push not only the feud but the belts too.
EPW
World - Sean Stevens
Surprisingly, EPW really doesn't have a lot of guys who are bonafide main eventers right now. There's me, but I'm not Godbooking myself the title here :p. There's Westcott, but he's tied up in an angle with Miles, or at least he was. Stevens right now is the biggest main event name that EPW has, and I think if he were to drop it, it should be to the next big name, like say a Jared Wells or a The First or even a Fusenshoff.
Intercontinental - Fusenshoff
He just won the CoC in TEAM for crying out loud. The TV title's a nice belt to have, but I think he's gotta move up the card. The IC title is a good thing to have for an on-the-cusp star, and he could elevate the title in the process.
TV - Omega
Great new character from a seasoned angle fed character getting his feet wet in the FW world. I'm a big fan of Omega, and I think he should have some gold.
Tag - Larry Tact and Cameron Cruise
Again, the tag scene in EPW isn't that strong, but that's why Brunk put the call out. Tact and Cruise would be good anchors for the tag division while it enters a sort of rebirth/rebuilding.
3) What would your A1E and EPW dream matches/feuds be given the current rosters?
a) not involving your characters
b) involving your characters
A1E
a) Troy Windham vs. Marcus Westcott - It hasn't happened before, and it would pit two of the most legendary characters from the CSWA and A1E respectively.
b) Jericoholic Anonymous vs. Marcus Westcott - This feud needs a proper reflaring and blowing off
EPW
a) Shawn Hart vs. Felix Red - That would be the most surreal feud ever
b) Jericoholic Anonymous vs. Olvir Arsvinnar - I think I would have so much fun with this I would never want it to end!
4) Who's got the best theme music in relation to their character?
Nothing is ever going to beat Big Dog, "Bad to the Bone"
5) Predict the next move in the HPSC/AOC feud
Hmm, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Troy Windham isn't really a member of the HPSC and is probably going to reveal that he's either in business for himself or was aligned with Westcott and the AoC all along.
Again, KEEP THE QUESTIONS COMING! And thanks to everyone who's asked so far!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Your Blogger Answers, Pt. 3
This batch from people who don't know how to follow directions and posted it in the thread at FW instead of in reply here :p
First up is Scott Franklin, the hard-luck but solid mainstay of such feds as EPW and LVW:
1- What do you think/feel a tag team should do to get noticed in FW today?
Well, the first thing they/he/she have to do is be good. RP well, write good segments, get into decent stories. Second thing is cohesion. Anyone can just get into a tag match and RP separately, but it takes a certain amount of teamwork to really get yourself noticed. Take for example the Cameron Cruise Project. It wasn't successful because both members did well in RP; they were both committed to the concept of team and worked together in nearly every aspect of the game. That's why they could very well be the best e-fed tag team of all-time, and if not at the top, in the top five at least.
2- Which would be better... a new gimmicked team or two veterans getting together for a run at something new?
Both can do well, but quicker success is usually attained with two veterans getting together, just because both of the characters are already established. While a newish team would have to both establish chemistry and character, the veteran team would only have to get the chemistry going if the characters are already mainstays.
3- Any ideas for guys out there looking for a good team gimmick to use?
There are almost as many team concepts to use as there molecules of nitrogen in the atmosphere. That is to say the possibilities are almost infinite. To tell you the truth, I'd love to see a sort of Communist revival stable featuring a lead man and a backing tag team. Those are the kinds of gimmicks that I think work so well in wrestling, obvious send-ups of foreign boogeymen. While the Arab villain might still be somewhat sensitive, the Russian (and Chinese or Cuban) heel still has enough material to draw from to work, and people still do try it. Hell, even in the WWE, Vladimir Kozlov was over as a Russian monster heel.
4- What teams of two veterans would you like to see team up?
Spoiler, Dan Ryan and Kodiak Vic Creed in a triad
No, seriously, right now I'd probably go for Ravager and Fusenshoff. They'd have a good in-ring chemistry of contrasting styles, while out of the ring, a stern, no-nonsense Ravager would provide a good foil for the reckless, alcoholic Fuse.
5- Frankie Scott was wondering, once he can settle his life down and is able to make a major push toward a title run in the tag ranks... Who would be an ideal partner for him to make a title run?
If we can put out an APB on Shane Carnes, find him and drag him back to e-fedding, a Steven Shane/Frankie Scott tag team called "Phenomenally Sensational" would be pretty cool.
Next up, it's James Varga:
1. Who do you think will be the next big star or stars in NFW?
Well, if Randall Knox isn't considered a big star yet, I'll go with him. If he is, then Brand New Day has a good chance to shake up the tag division and put Jamar and Gregg on notice. Also, this new guy signing up called Unicorn Mask sounds like he could be interesting. I've got my eye on him.
2. What do you think of the sudden influx of tag teams in NFW?
I think it's great, because tag team wrestling can be a very, very fun part of the game, especially for those looking to respark their interest after they've "achieved it all" in the singles ranks. For NFW to be the tag team hub of FWC is a good thing, and if EPW gets its tag division kick started, maybe an interpromotional tag team tournament involving those two, A1E, the PTC feds and whomever else wants in could be in order?
3. Who are the hottest stars now on FW?
Joe the Plumber comes to mind first, seeing as he's at the top of the heap in NFW and doesn't look to be going anywhere. Sean Stevens as well, since he's the EPW Champion and just won the #1 contendership to the CSWA UNIFIED Championship. Jared Wells seems to be the featured star in Anthology, and finally, I like Randall Knox after capturing the TV title and taking off the Impulse mask in NFW.
4. Any match predictions for round one of the TiT?
Can't really say until I see who shows up and who doesn't. However, I'll give you predictions as to the matches I think will steal the show should both guys RP:
Big Wreck vs. Mittens T. Cat - This one should be comedic gold given both the characters involved. I'm interested to see how Wreck reacts to Mittens the most.
Duke Williams vs. Chris Bagwell - Two of the best shit-talkers from PTC squaring off.
Impulse vs. DC Stark - It'll be interesting to see this matchup, the reserved RK against the bombastic Stark. Should be a good contrast in styles.
Shawn Hart vs. Horace Tully - Again, I'm interested to see how Tully handles the FW arena, and his first test isn't an easy one. Hart has gotten a 1 seed in this tournament before, and he could go a long way before he's knocked out.
Again, thanks for the questions so far, but please, KEEP 'EM COMING!
First up is Scott Franklin, the hard-luck but solid mainstay of such feds as EPW and LVW:
1- What do you think/feel a tag team should do to get noticed in FW today?
Well, the first thing they/he/she have to do is be good. RP well, write good segments, get into decent stories. Second thing is cohesion. Anyone can just get into a tag match and RP separately, but it takes a certain amount of teamwork to really get yourself noticed. Take for example the Cameron Cruise Project. It wasn't successful because both members did well in RP; they were both committed to the concept of team and worked together in nearly every aspect of the game. That's why they could very well be the best e-fed tag team of all-time, and if not at the top, in the top five at least.
2- Which would be better... a new gimmicked team or two veterans getting together for a run at something new?
Both can do well, but quicker success is usually attained with two veterans getting together, just because both of the characters are already established. While a newish team would have to both establish chemistry and character, the veteran team would only have to get the chemistry going if the characters are already mainstays.
3- Any ideas for guys out there looking for a good team gimmick to use?
There are almost as many team concepts to use as there molecules of nitrogen in the atmosphere. That is to say the possibilities are almost infinite. To tell you the truth, I'd love to see a sort of Communist revival stable featuring a lead man and a backing tag team. Those are the kinds of gimmicks that I think work so well in wrestling, obvious send-ups of foreign boogeymen. While the Arab villain might still be somewhat sensitive, the Russian (and Chinese or Cuban) heel still has enough material to draw from to work, and people still do try it. Hell, even in the WWE, Vladimir Kozlov was over as a Russian monster heel.
4- What teams of two veterans would you like to see team up?
Spoiler, Dan Ryan and Kodiak Vic Creed in a triad
No, seriously, right now I'd probably go for Ravager and Fusenshoff. They'd have a good in-ring chemistry of contrasting styles, while out of the ring, a stern, no-nonsense Ravager would provide a good foil for the reckless, alcoholic Fuse.
5- Frankie Scott was wondering, once he can settle his life down and is able to make a major push toward a title run in the tag ranks... Who would be an ideal partner for him to make a title run?
If we can put out an APB on Shane Carnes, find him and drag him back to e-fedding, a Steven Shane/Frankie Scott tag team called "Phenomenally Sensational" would be pretty cool.
Next up, it's James Varga:
1. Who do you think will be the next big star or stars in NFW?
Well, if Randall Knox isn't considered a big star yet, I'll go with him. If he is, then Brand New Day has a good chance to shake up the tag division and put Jamar and Gregg on notice. Also, this new guy signing up called Unicorn Mask sounds like he could be interesting. I've got my eye on him.
2. What do you think of the sudden influx of tag teams in NFW?
I think it's great, because tag team wrestling can be a very, very fun part of the game, especially for those looking to respark their interest after they've "achieved it all" in the singles ranks. For NFW to be the tag team hub of FWC is a good thing, and if EPW gets its tag division kick started, maybe an interpromotional tag team tournament involving those two, A1E, the PTC feds and whomever else wants in could be in order?
3. Who are the hottest stars now on FW?
Joe the Plumber comes to mind first, seeing as he's at the top of the heap in NFW and doesn't look to be going anywhere. Sean Stevens as well, since he's the EPW Champion and just won the #1 contendership to the CSWA UNIFIED Championship. Jared Wells seems to be the featured star in Anthology, and finally, I like Randall Knox after capturing the TV title and taking off the Impulse mask in NFW.
4. Any match predictions for round one of the TiT?
Can't really say until I see who shows up and who doesn't. However, I'll give you predictions as to the matches I think will steal the show should both guys RP:
Big Wreck vs. Mittens T. Cat - This one should be comedic gold given both the characters involved. I'm interested to see how Wreck reacts to Mittens the most.
Duke Williams vs. Chris Bagwell - Two of the best shit-talkers from PTC squaring off.
Impulse vs. DC Stark - It'll be interesting to see this matchup, the reserved RK against the bombastic Stark. Should be a good contrast in styles.
Shawn Hart vs. Horace Tully - Again, I'm interested to see how Tully handles the FW arena, and his first test isn't an easy one. Hart has gotten a 1 seed in this tournament before, and he could go a long way before he's knocked out.
Again, thanks for the questions so far, but please, KEEP 'EM COMING!
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Your Blogger Answers, Pt. 2
The second batch of questions is here! First, we get some more queries from "The Rage":
1. E-wrestling will probably never die, and if it does it would go out with a whimper, like a slow death. Do you agree or disagree?
Never die is a strong statement to make, but I think as long as wrestling is around and it's still moderately popular, e-fedding will be around in some form. I've actually seen more of an uptick in it lately than normal in the communities I follow. It's mostly old guys coming back after a hiatus, but that's better than people leaving and not coming back.
That being said, there's a wealth of feds out there that we all probably don't know about that are thriving, very much akin to our "old days". If PTC, FW and eWZine can manage to tap into those communities without seeming like we're elitist, then we can definitely see a boom again.
2. This isn't 2000 anymore or the era of angelfire and geocities, what would you say to the new fed head who wants to make a new fed?
Again, the angelfire/geocities crowd still exists most likely. Regardless of that, I'd say the following to that prospective fedhead:
- Don't be discouraged if people don't join your fed right away.
- Base your selling points around the quality of writing rather than Poser, website design or other cosmetic stuff.
- Be fair in your judging and don't just reward your friends for signing up
Simple enough.
3. How did you start in efedding?
I'm not C&Ping the anecdote, becuase like Healy said, it's TMI.
Anyway, I post at a site called A1Wrestling. The site had this mock Presidential election, and two posters named token_canadian and The Canadian Hitman were running on a ticket. TCH and I used to IM back and forth, and he tried to get me to vote for their ticket. I used to bust his balls about it because there was no way I was voting for a hoser ticket. After the election was over, we kept in touch, and he persuaded me to join this small, fledgling e-fed on the site called A1E.
The rest is history.
4. Will RPG ever make a comeback? Or do you think that GTT has effectively replaced RPG?
I wasn't around for RPG, so I couldn't say. That's a question better aimed at Ross or Pete.
Alright, next up is Kevin Healy, who only had one, very simple to answer question:
Will we ever see the Holzerblog Wrestler of the Month again?
Kev, you must not read very good :p
http://angloluchador.blogspot.com/2009/04/wrestler-of-month-march-2009.html
In the words of the immortal Perry Saturn, you're welcome ;)
Next up, it's FOOOOOOOOOORD~!, who asked the following questions:
1.) Any chance of trying to handle in FWO land once more? I remember you got right in as the place faultered.
He's right, at the very end, I tried to go in with the Thrillbillies, but that ended when I lost interest and the fed didn't really take off after that supposed reboot.
Aaaanyway, right now, I'd say my plate isn't full, but I think if I added an angle fed to the mix, it would overflow. It's a lot of work to be in one, and right now, I have full-time committments to A1E, EPW, LVW and NFW and part-time committments to TEAM and the CSWA. Granted, among that group, only A1E runs a schedule resembling regular, but the thing about the FW feds is that the cards all tend to be in RP at the same time.
However, never say never. As long as the fWo is around, there's always a chance that I'd show up there.
2.) How did you feel having to give up TEAM? Do you look at TEAM now and wish you were running it still? Not because of who replaced you, just because of your emotions.
Frankly, I felt good giving it up. I mean, yeah, it was my baby and everything, and no one should be happy to give a baby up for adoption, but at the end of the day, I felt like I couldn't give TEAM the proper attention it deserved on the administrative side. I didn't want to do it half-assed, but I wanted it to continue on, because I feel it's a great thing for the FW community to have.
Of course, I wish I still had time and inspiration to run it, but you'd have to add about 8 hours to the day and make matchwriting a much more enjoyable process for that to happen, but for right now, I like where it is. I also think it'll be good for me to be on the other side of the fence here for once.
3.) If you had to retire one of your characters, who would it be and why?
Benoitholic Anonymous, if only because I'd have trouble finding a new name for him. I think we were all hit hard as wrestling fans when that news broke about two years ago. I may be the only person in eW that it's affected directly like this. However, I've had an idea for a reboot of the whole Anonymous family anyway that I've been kicking around for awhile. It's just a matter of whether I really wanted to do it with JA being active in two feds and being a part of the CSWA in a limited role.
4.) If you could choose a character from another handler and force him to retirement, who would you choose?
Nova, so the rest of us could win some damn titles :)
Seriously though, it'd be very hard for me to tell someone they had to retire a character because even the ones that have been around forever are still being handled in a way where they're kept fresh. Take for example Hornet. You'd think he'd be stale as all hell right now, but Chad still finds a way to keep him interesting and to keep the story around him interesting.
Of course it helps when you're on the "one-card-every-18-months" cycle :p
5.) If you could build a federation around one handler, who would it be?
Jon Katz. No seriously.
Katz has given all of his eW time to making NFW into the juggernaut of insanity that it is today, and God bless him for it (maybe I'm thanking the wrong supernatural being... hail Satan for it?). What he and JAAAMMMARRRRRR~! *shakes fist* have done with the place is nothing short of amazing.
However, he's proven that he still has the RP touch when he went through last year's TiT with Mike Randalls. Right now, I'd start the fed, hand the ball to Katz, giving him the choice of either Randalls or Craig Miles and tell him to run with it. I don't think anyone would disagree with that, except Katz himself. Just because he's onery like that.
6.)What do you think of Ben/Tom Mason's radio shows through EWZine.com?
I haven't really given them a proper listen, but I think the idea is fantastic. Just like I had this cockamamie idea to blog about this game of ours years ago, these guys are taking the concept of podcasting/streaming radio about it, something I think is long overdue. And the fact that they get guys like Travis, Chad and others to appear on the show lends so much credence to it. Even if I don't get a chance to listen to it, kudos to them and I hope they keep on trucking.
Finally, we get to the "epic gentleman", whom I can assume is Ben Zezu judging from his questions:
1) What do you make of the activity, or lack thereof at PTC?
Meh, the activity's there. It's just concentrated either in the writing games they have or in the off-topic forums. I think that the eW forum is dead for the same reason why I've been resorting to gimmicks to get great content on the blog here. Everything that could have been said about eW has been said to some degree, sometimes several times.
I mean, how many times are you going to post a debate on whether vampires belong in e-fedding? Or how many times are you going to post about how awesome you think RPer So-and-So is? Of course, these conversations do become fresh after years of not being brought up, but I think people are to the point where they don't want to discuss the game, they want to play it. I think that bodes well for the feds that exist now as well as any start-ups that come into play.
2) Who is your favourite fWo character of this current comeback, old and new?
I have to say that I've been a bit lacking on the fWo coverage, but I do want to get into it. I've always enjoyed the fWo and the different breath it brought to the communities it touched. That being said, looking at the roster, the short list of characters I'm looking forward to following are Flyer, Impulse, Lowell, KSZ and K-Wolf.
3) Have you managed to follow ACW since it's return, if so, what are your thoughts? If you haven't, why not?
Barely, but it's not from lack of interest. You know that I spent some time there soaking up the angle fed experience, and I loved it. It's mainly lack of time and lack of convenience. I'm still trying to get my web surfing habits away from Facebook and message boards and more towards reading fed material so I can get a more balanced view of eW. ACW is definitely at the top of the list though.
4) In an average eW day, what sites do you visit?
FW, PTC and the A1E site. Some days I'll mosey over to Stanton's blog and see what he's got cooking over there. Again, I'm trying to beef that up a little bit so that I can give the angle feds and GCW a bit more play.
Again, thanks for asking, and please, KEEP ASKING! I love answering questions, even the ones that detail trying to nail cyber poon! :p
Also, bonus points go to Josh "GBJ" Kalvaledge for getting the Project Discovery Channel reference!
1. E-wrestling will probably never die, and if it does it would go out with a whimper, like a slow death. Do you agree or disagree?
Never die is a strong statement to make, but I think as long as wrestling is around and it's still moderately popular, e-fedding will be around in some form. I've actually seen more of an uptick in it lately than normal in the communities I follow. It's mostly old guys coming back after a hiatus, but that's better than people leaving and not coming back.
That being said, there's a wealth of feds out there that we all probably don't know about that are thriving, very much akin to our "old days". If PTC, FW and eWZine can manage to tap into those communities without seeming like we're elitist, then we can definitely see a boom again.
2. This isn't 2000 anymore or the era of angelfire and geocities, what would you say to the new fed head who wants to make a new fed?
Again, the angelfire/geocities crowd still exists most likely. Regardless of that, I'd say the following to that prospective fedhead:
- Don't be discouraged if people don't join your fed right away.
- Base your selling points around the quality of writing rather than Poser, website design or other cosmetic stuff.
- Be fair in your judging and don't just reward your friends for signing up
Simple enough.
3. How did you start in efedding?
I'm not C&Ping the anecdote, becuase like Healy said, it's TMI.
Anyway, I post at a site called A1Wrestling. The site had this mock Presidential election, and two posters named token_canadian and The Canadian Hitman were running on a ticket. TCH and I used to IM back and forth, and he tried to get me to vote for their ticket. I used to bust his balls about it because there was no way I was voting for a hoser ticket. After the election was over, we kept in touch, and he persuaded me to join this small, fledgling e-fed on the site called A1E.
The rest is history.
4. Will RPG ever make a comeback? Or do you think that GTT has effectively replaced RPG?
I wasn't around for RPG, so I couldn't say. That's a question better aimed at Ross or Pete.
Alright, next up is Kevin Healy, who only had one, very simple to answer question:
Will we ever see the Holzerblog Wrestler of the Month again?
Kev, you must not read very good :p
http://angloluchador.blogspot.com/2009/04/wrestler-of-month-march-2009.html
In the words of the immortal Perry Saturn, you're welcome ;)
Next up, it's FOOOOOOOOOORD~!, who asked the following questions:
1.) Any chance of trying to handle in FWO land once more? I remember you got right in as the place faultered.
He's right, at the very end, I tried to go in with the Thrillbillies, but that ended when I lost interest and the fed didn't really take off after that supposed reboot.
Aaaanyway, right now, I'd say my plate isn't full, but I think if I added an angle fed to the mix, it would overflow. It's a lot of work to be in one, and right now, I have full-time committments to A1E, EPW, LVW and NFW and part-time committments to TEAM and the CSWA. Granted, among that group, only A1E runs a schedule resembling regular, but the thing about the FW feds is that the cards all tend to be in RP at the same time.
However, never say never. As long as the fWo is around, there's always a chance that I'd show up there.
2.) How did you feel having to give up TEAM? Do you look at TEAM now and wish you were running it still? Not because of who replaced you, just because of your emotions.
Frankly, I felt good giving it up. I mean, yeah, it was my baby and everything, and no one should be happy to give a baby up for adoption, but at the end of the day, I felt like I couldn't give TEAM the proper attention it deserved on the administrative side. I didn't want to do it half-assed, but I wanted it to continue on, because I feel it's a great thing for the FW community to have.
Of course, I wish I still had time and inspiration to run it, but you'd have to add about 8 hours to the day and make matchwriting a much more enjoyable process for that to happen, but for right now, I like where it is. I also think it'll be good for me to be on the other side of the fence here for once.
3.) If you had to retire one of your characters, who would it be and why?
Benoitholic Anonymous, if only because I'd have trouble finding a new name for him. I think we were all hit hard as wrestling fans when that news broke about two years ago. I may be the only person in eW that it's affected directly like this. However, I've had an idea for a reboot of the whole Anonymous family anyway that I've been kicking around for awhile. It's just a matter of whether I really wanted to do it with JA being active in two feds and being a part of the CSWA in a limited role.
4.) If you could choose a character from another handler and force him to retirement, who would you choose?
Nova, so the rest of us could win some damn titles :)
Seriously though, it'd be very hard for me to tell someone they had to retire a character because even the ones that have been around forever are still being handled in a way where they're kept fresh. Take for example Hornet. You'd think he'd be stale as all hell right now, but Chad still finds a way to keep him interesting and to keep the story around him interesting.
Of course it helps when you're on the "one-card-every-18-months" cycle :p
5.) If you could build a federation around one handler, who would it be?
Jon Katz. No seriously.
Katz has given all of his eW time to making NFW into the juggernaut of insanity that it is today, and God bless him for it (maybe I'm thanking the wrong supernatural being... hail Satan for it?). What he and JAAAMMMARRRRRR~! *shakes fist* have done with the place is nothing short of amazing.
However, he's proven that he still has the RP touch when he went through last year's TiT with Mike Randalls. Right now, I'd start the fed, hand the ball to Katz, giving him the choice of either Randalls or Craig Miles and tell him to run with it. I don't think anyone would disagree with that, except Katz himself. Just because he's onery like that.
6.)What do you think of Ben/Tom Mason's radio shows through EWZine.com?
I haven't really given them a proper listen, but I think the idea is fantastic. Just like I had this cockamamie idea to blog about this game of ours years ago, these guys are taking the concept of podcasting/streaming radio about it, something I think is long overdue. And the fact that they get guys like Travis, Chad and others to appear on the show lends so much credence to it. Even if I don't get a chance to listen to it, kudos to them and I hope they keep on trucking.
Finally, we get to the "epic gentleman", whom I can assume is Ben Zezu judging from his questions:
1) What do you make of the activity, or lack thereof at PTC?
Meh, the activity's there. It's just concentrated either in the writing games they have or in the off-topic forums. I think that the eW forum is dead for the same reason why I've been resorting to gimmicks to get great content on the blog here. Everything that could have been said about eW has been said to some degree, sometimes several times.
I mean, how many times are you going to post a debate on whether vampires belong in e-fedding? Or how many times are you going to post about how awesome you think RPer So-and-So is? Of course, these conversations do become fresh after years of not being brought up, but I think people are to the point where they don't want to discuss the game, they want to play it. I think that bodes well for the feds that exist now as well as any start-ups that come into play.
2) Who is your favourite fWo character of this current comeback, old and new?
I have to say that I've been a bit lacking on the fWo coverage, but I do want to get into it. I've always enjoyed the fWo and the different breath it brought to the communities it touched. That being said, looking at the roster, the short list of characters I'm looking forward to following are Flyer, Impulse, Lowell, KSZ and K-Wolf.
3) Have you managed to follow ACW since it's return, if so, what are your thoughts? If you haven't, why not?
Barely, but it's not from lack of interest. You know that I spent some time there soaking up the angle fed experience, and I loved it. It's mainly lack of time and lack of convenience. I'm still trying to get my web surfing habits away from Facebook and message boards and more towards reading fed material so I can get a more balanced view of eW. ACW is definitely at the top of the list though.
4) In an average eW day, what sites do you visit?
FW, PTC and the A1E site. Some days I'll mosey over to Stanton's blog and see what he's got cooking over there. Again, I'm trying to beef that up a little bit so that I can give the angle feds and GCW a bit more play.
Again, thanks for asking, and please, KEEP ASKING! I love answering questions, even the ones that detail trying to nail cyber poon! :p
Also, bonus points go to Josh "GBJ" Kalvaledge for getting the Project Discovery Channel reference!
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Your Blogger Answers, batch number one
Well, with the first two commenters, I got enough questions for a full post, so let's get started! Of course, you can still submit your questions for me to answer. In fact, I encourage it. I beg you to ask me questions, PLEEEEEASE~!
Anyway, our first commenter identified himself as "The Lurker Below" and submitted these queries:
1. Do you think any of the play-ins for the TIT stand a chance against their respective top seeds?
Well, the stock answer is that this is e-fedding, not college basketball. Upsets happen more often here mainly because the criteria for victory are so subjective and are dependant on the judge and, more importantly, how well one guy performs in a session. In basketball, if one guy has an off-night, the team can still win. In e-fedding, well, you are the team.
That being said, I can't say that I'm all that familiar with any of the work of the play-ins past their first round performances. However, among the guys who showed up, some impressed and some need work, and if you need work going up against Dan Ryan, well... you know.
2. Do you think PTC's GTT7 will be a success or not? Do you feel that changing the format of said tournament will do any good, when it's tradition has always been single eliminations.
I don't think that format will have anything to do with the success. Rather, it'll be the committment of the handlers involved. that being said, with the high number of no-shows that usually come with a GTT, it'll make it that much harder to pull off a round-robin the way it should be pulled off rather than with maybe one guy advancing because he's the only one that RPed for his region.
However, I think it was the right idea to change things up. They haven't held GTT for over a year, almost two. The landscape of the game has changed, in that I'm not sure how much "new blood" they'll get into the PTC community. We're talking about maybe having 32 or 64 as opposed to the 128+ they've gotten in the past. For the TiT, 32 and 64 works. For GTT... maybe trying something different is the order of the day.
3. Why do you think it's so hard to find an event where both promo style writers and narrative story wrters can compete and be judged fairly? It seems that in FW, promo styles are king, and in PTC it's storyline, and anyone who does differently, puts themselves at a disadvantage
Mainly because of stubbornness on both sides of the coin. Of course, the number of crossovers has been pretty good over the years, but you'll find that the mainstays on either side would rather keep to themselves and write in their style.
I'd like to think that with the ToC, I gave people the most all-encompassing tournament option around, and hopefully, Shinder keeps that going as part of the TEAM tradition. It's too bad there aren't other people as entrepreneureal (sic) as that in other communities.
4. Excluding the big brands, and always famous places like fWo and PRIME, what's a solid fed(s) with a good roster and atmosphere, but maybe not a lot of limelight, that you would like to see more people check out or apply to?
Big is a relative term, but I have three in mind that are off the beaten path, so to speak. And by off the beaten path, I mean they're not located on or affiliated with PTC or FW:
A1E - My home fed and one that's been open for about 10 years now. The roster is great, even without the recent addition of Troy Windham. The atmosphere is welcoming for the most part. It has a rich tradition and history that developed almost independant of the FW circuit until a few years ago, and the roster is smallish, so you can go in and make an impact right away.
NAPW and Rebel-Pro Wrestling - They're sister feds on the indie-scale. One is based out of Alberta and the other North Carolina. A lot of great and quirky talent resides here, and just because they're indie in scale doesn't mean they're small-time in talent. D! won the first ever Tournament of Champions, and Ravager currently holds the Challenge Championship. In fact, he's the only guy who's held it and his reign is approaching two years now. Also, the atmosphere is warm and it's probably the most grassroot duo of feds you'll find.
All three feds get press on the blog, but not a lot of people think to go there as their first choice. They should though.
5. Are tag teams in efedding a thing of the past, or a thing that can only work by creating outrageous angles? Do you feel as if people don't feel as proud to handle tag teams as they do singles? Or is it the lack of a community? or the perception that single(s) championships > team titles?
I don't think they're a thing of the past, but I think it's a lot harder to handle a tag team well than it is a single wrestler. Notice the people handling tag teams nowadays... they're usually older, more mature handlers who've done the singles thing and are looking for something else in wrestling. They're also handlers who remember when tag team wrestling wasn't treated as an afterthought or a joke by the WWE and TNA and are looking to recreate some of the classic tag divisions.
I will tell you this though, NFW has a bumpin' tag division right now, and EPW is looking for tag teams. I can tell you from experience following the latter fed that Brunk treats tag teams right. The people are out there. It's just a matter of folks dropping their preconceptions and going for it in the tag division.
6. In hindsight, when looking back at first opening TEAM, is there anything that you'd change? If so, what?
Well, when I first ideated TEAM, it was totally different from what it became. But assuming that you meant when I did the first TEAM Invitational Tournament... well, there's only one thing I'd change. I wouldn't have invited the malcontents from the WfWA into the ToC in 2007. They had a lot to do with my e-fed related malaise that followed in the wake.
Now, onto "The Rage" who asked the following queries:
1. Who do you think advanced to round 1 of TIT?
Well, certainly not Masked Violator 2, Josh Anderson or Brian Larsen *snicker*
Anyway, Shinder's going to have a tough time deciding who'll take the vacant Anderson/Larsen spot, or whether he's going to go for a bye in that situation. Although Lance Spencer went 3 to 1 on Nate Dakota, I thought Dakota was good enough to make the match close.
In the other contested play-in, I really wasn't feeling either guy... sorry "Rage" but in my honest opinion, I thought that you fell a little flat, but that the potential was there. Still, I wouldn't feel right advancing one loser and keeping the other one home without giving them a chance to do a one-RP shot for it.
2. PTC vs FW in a trash talking contest. (ICly of course) Yay? nay?
Yay if only because the guys who would come out would do it well. I'm not sure who'd do it though. Some of the PTC guys that we'd all want to see might stay home because they would feel it a waste of their time or that they'd get smoked. Some of the FW guys might stay home because they wouldn't take it seriously. But among those that I think might come out for it, it could be fun.
But then again, wouldn't the TiT count as a "trash talking contest"? ;)
3. A big, I mean big 256+ or 512 member roleplaying tournament from feds from every circle, even those email feds, and pay to play, because I hear writers from email feds > web feds. Think it could work?
Of course it could work, but it would take a dedicated group of people to run it and for all the competitors involved not to expect even short-form writeups until the later rounds. IE, it would be really, really fuckin' hard to do.
Alright, hope that answered all your questions... remember, KEEP 'EM COMIN! I'll keep answering these questions as long as you keep asking them!
Anyway, our first commenter identified himself as "The Lurker Below" and submitted these queries:
1. Do you think any of the play-ins for the TIT stand a chance against their respective top seeds?
Well, the stock answer is that this is e-fedding, not college basketball. Upsets happen more often here mainly because the criteria for victory are so subjective and are dependant on the judge and, more importantly, how well one guy performs in a session. In basketball, if one guy has an off-night, the team can still win. In e-fedding, well, you are the team.
That being said, I can't say that I'm all that familiar with any of the work of the play-ins past their first round performances. However, among the guys who showed up, some impressed and some need work, and if you need work going up against Dan Ryan, well... you know.
2. Do you think PTC's GTT7 will be a success or not? Do you feel that changing the format of said tournament will do any good, when it's tradition has always been single eliminations.
I don't think that format will have anything to do with the success. Rather, it'll be the committment of the handlers involved. that being said, with the high number of no-shows that usually come with a GTT, it'll make it that much harder to pull off a round-robin the way it should be pulled off rather than with maybe one guy advancing because he's the only one that RPed for his region.
However, I think it was the right idea to change things up. They haven't held GTT for over a year, almost two. The landscape of the game has changed, in that I'm not sure how much "new blood" they'll get into the PTC community. We're talking about maybe having 32 or 64 as opposed to the 128+ they've gotten in the past. For the TiT, 32 and 64 works. For GTT... maybe trying something different is the order of the day.
3. Why do you think it's so hard to find an event where both promo style writers and narrative story wrters can compete and be judged fairly? It seems that in FW, promo styles are king, and in PTC it's storyline, and anyone who does differently, puts themselves at a disadvantage
Mainly because of stubbornness on both sides of the coin. Of course, the number of crossovers has been pretty good over the years, but you'll find that the mainstays on either side would rather keep to themselves and write in their style.
I'd like to think that with the ToC, I gave people the most all-encompassing tournament option around, and hopefully, Shinder keeps that going as part of the TEAM tradition. It's too bad there aren't other people as entrepreneureal (sic) as that in other communities.
4. Excluding the big brands, and always famous places like fWo and PRIME, what's a solid fed(s) with a good roster and atmosphere, but maybe not a lot of limelight, that you would like to see more people check out or apply to?
Big is a relative term, but I have three in mind that are off the beaten path, so to speak. And by off the beaten path, I mean they're not located on or affiliated with PTC or FW:
A1E - My home fed and one that's been open for about 10 years now. The roster is great, even without the recent addition of Troy Windham. The atmosphere is welcoming for the most part. It has a rich tradition and history that developed almost independant of the FW circuit until a few years ago, and the roster is smallish, so you can go in and make an impact right away.
NAPW and Rebel-Pro Wrestling - They're sister feds on the indie-scale. One is based out of Alberta and the other North Carolina. A lot of great and quirky talent resides here, and just because they're indie in scale doesn't mean they're small-time in talent. D! won the first ever Tournament of Champions, and Ravager currently holds the Challenge Championship. In fact, he's the only guy who's held it and his reign is approaching two years now. Also, the atmosphere is warm and it's probably the most grassroot duo of feds you'll find.
All three feds get press on the blog, but not a lot of people think to go there as their first choice. They should though.
5. Are tag teams in efedding a thing of the past, or a thing that can only work by creating outrageous angles? Do you feel as if people don't feel as proud to handle tag teams as they do singles? Or is it the lack of a community? or the perception that single(s) championships > team titles?
I don't think they're a thing of the past, but I think it's a lot harder to handle a tag team well than it is a single wrestler. Notice the people handling tag teams nowadays... they're usually older, more mature handlers who've done the singles thing and are looking for something else in wrestling. They're also handlers who remember when tag team wrestling wasn't treated as an afterthought or a joke by the WWE and TNA and are looking to recreate some of the classic tag divisions.
I will tell you this though, NFW has a bumpin' tag division right now, and EPW is looking for tag teams. I can tell you from experience following the latter fed that Brunk treats tag teams right. The people are out there. It's just a matter of folks dropping their preconceptions and going for it in the tag division.
6. In hindsight, when looking back at first opening TEAM, is there anything that you'd change? If so, what?
Well, when I first ideated TEAM, it was totally different from what it became. But assuming that you meant when I did the first TEAM Invitational Tournament... well, there's only one thing I'd change. I wouldn't have invited the malcontents from the WfWA into the ToC in 2007. They had a lot to do with my e-fed related malaise that followed in the wake.
Now, onto "The Rage" who asked the following queries:
1. Who do you think advanced to round 1 of TIT?
Well, certainly not Masked Violator 2, Josh Anderson or Brian Larsen *snicker*
Anyway, Shinder's going to have a tough time deciding who'll take the vacant Anderson/Larsen spot, or whether he's going to go for a bye in that situation. Although Lance Spencer went 3 to 1 on Nate Dakota, I thought Dakota was good enough to make the match close.
In the other contested play-in, I really wasn't feeling either guy... sorry "Rage" but in my honest opinion, I thought that you fell a little flat, but that the potential was there. Still, I wouldn't feel right advancing one loser and keeping the other one home without giving them a chance to do a one-RP shot for it.
2. PTC vs FW in a trash talking contest. (ICly of course) Yay? nay?
Yay if only because the guys who would come out would do it well. I'm not sure who'd do it though. Some of the PTC guys that we'd all want to see might stay home because they would feel it a waste of their time or that they'd get smoked. Some of the FW guys might stay home because they wouldn't take it seriously. But among those that I think might come out for it, it could be fun.
But then again, wouldn't the TiT count as a "trash talking contest"? ;)
3. A big, I mean big 256+ or 512 member roleplaying tournament from feds from every circle, even those email feds, and pay to play, because I hear writers from email feds > web feds. Think it could work?
Of course it could work, but it would take a dedicated group of people to run it and for all the competitors involved not to expect even short-form writeups until the later rounds. IE, it would be really, really fuckin' hard to do.
Alright, hope that answered all your questions... remember, KEEP 'EM COMIN! I'll keep answering these questions as long as you keep asking them!
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Ask Your Blogger, Mk. 2
Okay okay, before I get into this round of easier reader participation, just a reminder to those whom I contacted from the last thing that I wanted to do... hang tight. I'm a hard guy to get a hold of on IM these days, but we'll get started with "Project Discovery Channel" sooner rather than later. Why is it called Project Discovery Channel? For one, I particularly enjoy the episode of the Simpsons the reference comes from (bonus points to the first person to correctly identify said episode, the character it comes from and the context), and two, why not?
Aaaanyway, a long time ago, during Blog Run Mk. 1, I fielded questions from YOU, the blog reading public and answered them on this here page. Well, I'm gonna do it again, figuring that it's an easy way to get good content on here at a time when I don't really have a lot of opinionated things to say about eW (that should change as the summer heats up and more shows start coming out), and well, because NFW's doing it too. Yeah, JN, Renner and Pete Russo have all opened up threads where you ask them questions about eW and they answer them. Also, Theresa Quaranta's handler posted a thread where he demanded you don't ask him questions, but that's neither here nor there.
Aaaanyway, because I'm a soulless, unoriginal bastard and because I really like answering questions and expounding on why I feel the way I do concerning this great game we play, I'm opening up the floor. Ask me anything, and I'll answer those questions here on this blog.
GET 'EM ROLLIN'!
Aaaanyway, a long time ago, during Blog Run Mk. 1, I fielded questions from YOU, the blog reading public and answered them on this here page. Well, I'm gonna do it again, figuring that it's an easy way to get good content on here at a time when I don't really have a lot of opinionated things to say about eW (that should change as the summer heats up and more shows start coming out), and well, because NFW's doing it too. Yeah, JN, Renner and Pete Russo have all opened up threads where you ask them questions about eW and they answer them. Also, Theresa Quaranta's handler posted a thread where he demanded you don't ask him questions, but that's neither here nor there.
Aaaanyway, because I'm a soulless, unoriginal bastard and because I really like answering questions and expounding on why I feel the way I do concerning this great game we play, I'm opening up the floor. Ask me anything, and I'll answer those questions here on this blog.
GET 'EM ROLLIN'!
Friday, April 03, 2009
NFW Crash 47
Crash POST'D~!
Nope, it wouldn't be The Blog without me posting about the NFDub and incurring Katz's wrath now, would it? Actually, I probably wouldn't incur Katz's wrath with this post because I enjoyed the show immensely. A lot of big stuff going on, and I liked the swerve at the end with the new Championship belt. Mayfield's the kind of egomaniac who'd do that, and it really furthers the feud between him and JTP, which could very well be the feud of the year when December 31 rolls around.
Congrats to Impulse for the TV title win as well, although the unmask might have meant a lot more to me had I been around when Randall Knox was in his heyday.
Nope, it wouldn't be The Blog without me posting about the NFDub and incurring Katz's wrath now, would it? Actually, I probably wouldn't incur Katz's wrath with this post because I enjoyed the show immensely. A lot of big stuff going on, and I liked the swerve at the end with the new Championship belt. Mayfield's the kind of egomaniac who'd do that, and it really furthers the feud between him and JTP, which could very well be the feud of the year when December 31 rolls around.
Congrats to Impulse for the TV title win as well, although the unmask might have meant a lot more to me had I been around when Randall Knox was in his heyday.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Quick Hits: The Blogdome Grows Againe and Shows
Happy Monday everyone! Hope everyone's weekend was alright and that their favorite basketball teams made the NCAA tournament. I know I only seem to update on Mondays now, but hold tight, I still need to find my groove. For now, some quick hits:
- Unbeknownst to me, but Ross has taken the keys of the Official PTC Blog. Good to see it still around, and right now, the top post is about GTT making a comeback. I'm all about that. GTT is the premiere PTC-style RP tournament, and given the mini-resurgence e-fedding has experiencenced in the last year or so, I think the time is right for the tourney to come back.
- Just when you thought it was safe to discount the eW blog movement, another one has sprung up. Jared Wells Blog is the new edition, done by, of course, Barry Clark. It's an in-character blog, it seems, and he starts out by calling out NFW World Heavyweight Champion Joe the Plumber. Now that's a dream matchup!
- Keep your eyes peeled for A1E to post Sudden Death soon. It features my flagship character's return to an A1E ring as a guest referee in the Cyber Title match, Troy Douglas fighting for his career and for the A1E World Championship against Marcus Westcott, and I hear Nathan Houston's gonna have an announcement concerning a new title, which I'm sure will need people to fight for it (subliminal message... JOIN A1E!). As with all A1E PPVs, this will be a must-read.
- Speaking of tournaments, the TEAM Invitational Tournament is taking entrants for this year's shindig! This year's different because I'm competing in it, not running it. We've got some good names in tow this year so far, so put your name on the list if you want to join us.
- Unbeknownst to me, but Ross has taken the keys of the Official PTC Blog. Good to see it still around, and right now, the top post is about GTT making a comeback. I'm all about that. GTT is the premiere PTC-style RP tournament, and given the mini-resurgence e-fedding has experiencenced in the last year or so, I think the time is right for the tourney to come back.
- Just when you thought it was safe to discount the eW blog movement, another one has sprung up. Jared Wells Blog is the new edition, done by, of course, Barry Clark. It's an in-character blog, it seems, and he starts out by calling out NFW World Heavyweight Champion Joe the Plumber. Now that's a dream matchup!
- Keep your eyes peeled for A1E to post Sudden Death soon. It features my flagship character's return to an A1E ring as a guest referee in the Cyber Title match, Troy Douglas fighting for his career and for the A1E World Championship against Marcus Westcott, and I hear Nathan Houston's gonna have an announcement concerning a new title, which I'm sure will need people to fight for it (subliminal message... JOIN A1E!). As with all A1E PPVs, this will be a must-read.
- Speaking of tournaments, the TEAM Invitational Tournament is taking entrants for this year's shindig! This year's different because I'm competing in it, not running it. We've got some good names in tow this year so far, so put your name on the list if you want to join us.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
eW Six Pack: Best E-Fed Gimmicks Ever
Gimmick.
For some, it's a dirty word. Gimmick? I don't need a stinkin' gimmick to get over in eW. For others, like me, it's their bread and butter. I don't think I've had a character that didn't start out as a total gimmick that I've gotten over huge. Arguing the benefits of gimmicks vs. characters that are the handler turned up to 11 is a post for another day.
This post is for the best gimmicks in eW that I've at least seen, in Six Pack form. Now, a few disclaimers. One, best gimmick doesn't necessarily mean best quality. A handler could have a mediocre gimmick, but RP the hell out of it and be a top talent. Plus, most handlers run characters that are part "real" and part gimmick anyway. Two, well, there is no two, only Zuul. Now, without further ado...
The Six Best E-Fed Gimmicks Ever
1. Olivir Arsvinnar, Porn Star Viking - I want to know what was going through Strawsma's mind when he came up with this. Actually, scratch that. I'd probably be deathly afraid of what I'd find there. In all seriousness though, this is the kind of absurd gimmick that could only work in eW, which is usually populated by those smarky Internet fans whose quirky senses of humor give us characters like The Illustrious Face-Eater and Professor Tremendous. Just to give some background to the folks who don't know and are new to the blog (where I've raved before), Olvir is like Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, only instead of a caveman, he's a Viking seafarer unthawed in the modern ages. Vikings are good at a few things, some of them being pillaging, drinking, screwing and fighting, all good qualities to have if you're a professional wrestler. Well, maybe not the screwing part, but it helps with the gimmick.
It doesn't hurt that Strawsma's warped mind is the perfect vehicle for this character to roar on all cylinders, or to get in the mood of the character more, to row with the might of a thousand rowers in a Viking longboat. When Olvir is on, there isn't really a character more entertaining to read.
2. Slambo the Clown, e-Wrestling's Answer to Pennywise - This is the Bill Dempsey edition that teamed with Prisoner 187 and the HPSC, not the one that was P-187 in what was the seminal swerve in the early history of A1E.
Anyway, the evil clown gimmick was done in the WWF back in the '90s with Doink. As an aside, I always thought Doink was underrated as a heel. It got a bit too kitschy when he became face, but that's neither here nor there. Now, if you think Slambo mk II was a play off that character, you'd be sorely mistaken. Slambo wasn't really an evil clown as much as he was psychotic, downtrodden, almost subhuman. He was really a clown who was everything that a clown wasn't for most kids (who weren't afraid of them growing up :p).
There was always an underlying innocence behind every Slambo RP, like there was a gentle child behind the savage exterior, and even though he never won a World Championship (while Bill achieved that with Freakfish), I always thought Slambo was his greatest success as a character.
3. Dr. Curiosity, Mad Scientist of the Squared Circle... Literally - This is the prime example of a gimmick that can only really work on eW. If it were tried in the "real" thing, it'd come off contrived and really fuckin' goofy. However, in the e-fed universe, where in-character writing isn't limited to on-camera stuff and is often times better-written than the more outlandish stuff you see on camera for one of the big promotions, it's gold in the right hands.
Andy Hewitt's hands were, and still are, more than capable of turning lead into gold, and I bet Doc C has tried that at one point. The Good Doctor got his start in XUW, which was PTC's resident nuthouse, but he parlayed that success into a crossover smash in the fWo and more recently, NFW.
4. The Codemaster, The Blackest Brother in the Kingdom of Hyrule - Now here's a gimmick that I thought would have worked huge in the WWE. A guy who's so delusional to think that he's a video game overlord... classic. Although Mike Renner will be known for a lot of things in our extended circle before his time's up, this bombastic, video-game trivia spouting villain will rank as his most colorful character (and for a guy who created the traveling geek squad known as Mega Job... that's something).
I think what helps is that Renner probably has an unhealthy addiction to video games and video game characters. I mean, this is the guy who penned (sprited?) the webcomic In Wily's Defense. All in all, whatever fed Codemaster lands in should be grateful to get him and will always get entertaining segments that are satisfying on every level to giant nerds such as myself.
5. El Magick-O (blogger's note: the "O" is for orgasm), The Sexual Wrestling Magician - LVW was such a great concept for a fed because the city itself lends itself to gimmicks. I mean, a crapload of casinos there have some kind of theme going for them, from the Pirates of the Caribbean to scaled-down models of European landmarks. The acts that populate the stages at the lounges there often times are laden with gimmicks. You could find anything to watch in Vegas if you really wanted to, and I truly believe that LVW was a microcosm for that, something that let people try things they'd never try in another FWC fed. This is the fed that gave us the aforementioned Olvir Arsvinnar, Eastern European strongman Hans Novak, a character that was a wrestling Elvis impersonator and in the later days, an actual "dog-boy".
Aside from Olvir, the standout gimmick to me was El Magick-O (the O being for orgasm). Not that there was anything really groundbreaking about it, but it was almost the perfect gimmick to be played in a fed based out of Las Vegas. Of course, the sexual aspect was just icing on the cake, but coming from the warped mind of Mike McNichols, well, that's to be expected.
6. Lowell Dot Com, The Shillin' Villain - A devious, constantly scheming manipulator who sells advertising space on his ring attire? Handled by Devin Woods, who probably huffs as much glue as Charlie from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia but writes wrestling RPs instead of rock operas about Dayman?
Sign.Me.Up.
For some, it's a dirty word. Gimmick? I don't need a stinkin' gimmick to get over in eW. For others, like me, it's their bread and butter. I don't think I've had a character that didn't start out as a total gimmick that I've gotten over huge. Arguing the benefits of gimmicks vs. characters that are the handler turned up to 11 is a post for another day.
This post is for the best gimmicks in eW that I've at least seen, in Six Pack form. Now, a few disclaimers. One, best gimmick doesn't necessarily mean best quality. A handler could have a mediocre gimmick, but RP the hell out of it and be a top talent. Plus, most handlers run characters that are part "real" and part gimmick anyway. Two, well, there is no two, only Zuul. Now, without further ado...
The Six Best E-Fed Gimmicks Ever
1. Olivir Arsvinnar, Porn Star Viking - I want to know what was going through Strawsma's mind when he came up with this. Actually, scratch that. I'd probably be deathly afraid of what I'd find there. In all seriousness though, this is the kind of absurd gimmick that could only work in eW, which is usually populated by those smarky Internet fans whose quirky senses of humor give us characters like The Illustrious Face-Eater and Professor Tremendous. Just to give some background to the folks who don't know and are new to the blog (where I've raved before), Olvir is like Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, only instead of a caveman, he's a Viking seafarer unthawed in the modern ages. Vikings are good at a few things, some of them being pillaging, drinking, screwing and fighting, all good qualities to have if you're a professional wrestler. Well, maybe not the screwing part, but it helps with the gimmick.
It doesn't hurt that Strawsma's warped mind is the perfect vehicle for this character to roar on all cylinders, or to get in the mood of the character more, to row with the might of a thousand rowers in a Viking longboat. When Olvir is on, there isn't really a character more entertaining to read.
2. Slambo the Clown, e-Wrestling's Answer to Pennywise - This is the Bill Dempsey edition that teamed with Prisoner 187 and the HPSC, not the one that was P-187 in what was the seminal swerve in the early history of A1E.
Anyway, the evil clown gimmick was done in the WWF back in the '90s with Doink. As an aside, I always thought Doink was underrated as a heel. It got a bit too kitschy when he became face, but that's neither here nor there. Now, if you think Slambo mk II was a play off that character, you'd be sorely mistaken. Slambo wasn't really an evil clown as much as he was psychotic, downtrodden, almost subhuman. He was really a clown who was everything that a clown wasn't for most kids (who weren't afraid of them growing up :p).
There was always an underlying innocence behind every Slambo RP, like there was a gentle child behind the savage exterior, and even though he never won a World Championship (while Bill achieved that with Freakfish), I always thought Slambo was his greatest success as a character.
3. Dr. Curiosity, Mad Scientist of the Squared Circle... Literally - This is the prime example of a gimmick that can only really work on eW. If it were tried in the "real" thing, it'd come off contrived and really fuckin' goofy. However, in the e-fed universe, where in-character writing isn't limited to on-camera stuff and is often times better-written than the more outlandish stuff you see on camera for one of the big promotions, it's gold in the right hands.
Andy Hewitt's hands were, and still are, more than capable of turning lead into gold, and I bet Doc C has tried that at one point. The Good Doctor got his start in XUW, which was PTC's resident nuthouse, but he parlayed that success into a crossover smash in the fWo and more recently, NFW.
4. The Codemaster, The Blackest Brother in the Kingdom of Hyrule - Now here's a gimmick that I thought would have worked huge in the WWE. A guy who's so delusional to think that he's a video game overlord... classic. Although Mike Renner will be known for a lot of things in our extended circle before his time's up, this bombastic, video-game trivia spouting villain will rank as his most colorful character (and for a guy who created the traveling geek squad known as Mega Job... that's something).
I think what helps is that Renner probably has an unhealthy addiction to video games and video game characters. I mean, this is the guy who penned (sprited?) the webcomic In Wily's Defense. All in all, whatever fed Codemaster lands in should be grateful to get him and will always get entertaining segments that are satisfying on every level to giant nerds such as myself.
5. El Magick-O (blogger's note: the "O" is for orgasm), The Sexual Wrestling Magician - LVW was such a great concept for a fed because the city itself lends itself to gimmicks. I mean, a crapload of casinos there have some kind of theme going for them, from the Pirates of the Caribbean to scaled-down models of European landmarks. The acts that populate the stages at the lounges there often times are laden with gimmicks. You could find anything to watch in Vegas if you really wanted to, and I truly believe that LVW was a microcosm for that, something that let people try things they'd never try in another FWC fed. This is the fed that gave us the aforementioned Olvir Arsvinnar, Eastern European strongman Hans Novak, a character that was a wrestling Elvis impersonator and in the later days, an actual "dog-boy".
Aside from Olvir, the standout gimmick to me was El Magick-O (the O being for orgasm). Not that there was anything really groundbreaking about it, but it was almost the perfect gimmick to be played in a fed based out of Las Vegas. Of course, the sexual aspect was just icing on the cake, but coming from the warped mind of Mike McNichols, well, that's to be expected.
6. Lowell Dot Com, The Shillin' Villain - A devious, constantly scheming manipulator who sells advertising space on his ring attire? Handled by Devin Woods, who probably huffs as much glue as Charlie from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia but writes wrestling RPs instead of rock operas about Dayman?
Sign.Me.Up.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
September's Wrestler of the Month
This month's winner is no stranger to this award. He won it twice last year, and now, he's set to take his unprecedented third WotM. He's been a force in PRIME and he's also been doing well for himself in the Dupree Cup, but he's winning this award mainly for taking home the first ever "e-fed indie" tournament held in the post-interfed era of PTC, the Chris Williams Memorial Cup. He is The Illustrious Face-Eater! Everyone give Facey a round of applause.
This month's runner-up is "Triple X" Sean Stevens, whose tear in EPW has finally netted him the World Championship. He's also been relatively active in NFW. Give Trip a round of applause as well!
Honorable Mentions
Ice Tre (EPW), Dan Ryan (EPW, A1E, NFW, TEAM Events), Stylin' Kyle Roberts (REBEL, TEAM Events), Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events, TEAM Events), James Irish (A1E, EPW)
Previous Winners
January: Dan Ryan (A1E, NFW)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
March: Nova (NFW, PRIME)
April: Dan Ryan (2) (A1E, NEW, TEAM Events)
May: Big Dog (A1E)
June: Lindsay Troy (PRIME, EPW, NFW, TEAM Events)
July: Nova (2) (PRIME, TEAM Events, NFW)
August: Lindsay Troy (2) (PRIME, EPW, TEAM Events)
This month's runner-up is "Triple X" Sean Stevens, whose tear in EPW has finally netted him the World Championship. He's also been relatively active in NFW. Give Trip a round of applause as well!
Honorable Mentions
Ice Tre (EPW), Dan Ryan (EPW, A1E, NFW, TEAM Events), Stylin' Kyle Roberts (REBEL, TEAM Events), Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events, TEAM Events), James Irish (A1E, EPW)
Previous Winners
January: Dan Ryan (A1E, NFW)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
March: Nova (NFW, PRIME)
April: Dan Ryan (2) (A1E, NEW, TEAM Events)
May: Big Dog (A1E)
June: Lindsay Troy (PRIME, EPW, NFW, TEAM Events)
July: Nova (2) (PRIME, TEAM Events, NFW)
August: Lindsay Troy (2) (PRIME, EPW, TEAM Events)
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Apologies and the state of eW from my eyes
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.
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.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
July's Wrestler of the Month
This month, the honor goes to Nova. It is a bit of cheating, since a lot of his June accomplishments are fresh in my mind, but let's give it up for the man. He's the hottest thing on either circuit, tearing it up both in PRIME and in TEAM events, winning both the ToC and the CoC. Add all that to him being one of the crown jewels of NFW's version 3.0, and he's the clear-cut choice.
This month's runner-up is Ravager. Despite losing his NAPW World Championship on the last day of July, Ravager still had two title defenses, his 10th and 11th defenses. Plus he held onto the TEAM Challenge Championship in another heated defense. Congrats to both Nova and Ravager for the good month!
Honorable Mentions
Donovan Astros (NAPW), Larry Tact (NEW, TEAM Events), Rocko Daymon (NEW, A1E, EPW, TEAM Events), James Irish (A1E, TEAM Events, EPW), Joey Melton (EPW), Tchu (PRIME, PTC Events, TEAM Events), Stylin' Kyle Roberts (REBEL), Foster Nackedy (PTC Events), "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW, NFW), Kin Hiroshi (NFW, EPW, TEAM Events)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
January: Dan Ryan (A1E, NFW)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
March: Nova (NFW, PRIME)
April: Dan Ryan (2) (A1E, NEW, TEAM Events)
May: Big Dog (A1E)
June: Lindsay Troy (PRIME, EPW, NFW, TEAM Events)
This month's runner-up is Ravager. Despite losing his NAPW World Championship on the last day of July, Ravager still had two title defenses, his 10th and 11th defenses. Plus he held onto the TEAM Challenge Championship in another heated defense. Congrats to both Nova and Ravager for the good month!
Honorable Mentions
Donovan Astros (NAPW), Larry Tact (NEW, TEAM Events), Rocko Daymon (NEW, A1E, EPW, TEAM Events), James Irish (A1E, TEAM Events, EPW), Joey Melton (EPW), Tchu (PRIME, PTC Events, TEAM Events), Stylin' Kyle Roberts (REBEL), Foster Nackedy (PTC Events), "Triple X" Sean Stevens (EPW, NFW), Kin Hiroshi (NFW, EPW, TEAM Events)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
January: Dan Ryan (A1E, NFW)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
March: Nova (NFW, PRIME)
April: Dan Ryan (2) (A1E, NEW, TEAM Events)
May: Big Dog (A1E)
June: Lindsay Troy (PRIME, EPW, NFW, TEAM Events)
Monday, July 30, 2007
The Book On... Nova!
Note: I've been sitting on this for over a week. I'm just going to post it and edit in what I need later.
He's been tearing it up bigtime in the last couple of months, and odds are, if you're in PRIME or in a former PTC fed, you know who he is. But if you're from FW, A1 or somewhere else "over here," you may be wondering who this dynamo called Nova is coming in and winning everything he can get his funkadelic ass into. The ULTRATITLE and Tournament of Champions are two really big prizes, and he's netted them both. It's only fair that everyone, not just the PTC crowd, knows who this gifted and charismatic performer is.
Nova
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 256 lbs.
Hometown: "The very center of Earth's Core, in the heart of the Chronic! The P.Funk! The BOMB!" -- George Clinton... I think that's somewhere around New Orleans if you ask me :p
Nicknames and Aliases: The Rising Star, the Risen Star, The Star-Screaming Mushroom-Eating King of Hallucination Nation
Description: - A picture is worth 1000 words:
Poser by Mat Waters
Signature Moves:
Bourbon for Breakfast - Imagine a fisherman's buster, only inverted; a rear-mounted, Curtain Call-type move, only with Nova hooking your leg and dropping you straight down on your head. Absolutely sick sounding, and surprised that I haven't seen this one done in Japan yet. Then again, I don't think I've scoured the vid-clip puro sites 100% thoroughly yet.
Cosmic Teardrop - Classic WWE-styled crowd popper from the sounds of it, something a cruiser might do. The opponent is facedown on the mat, and Nova grabs his legs, whips him up like an inverted wheelbarrow, grabs onto the shoulders when the victim is upright and sends him back down in a sort of Edge-O-Matic dealie. Sounds like a momentum changer as a face and a "rub-it-in" move as a heel.
Dying Star Drop - Nova's original finisher, a simple Fame-Asser. Probably a product of the 90s, when all those dX finishers were the rage, but it's definitely one that fits in Nova's moveset.
Caesarian Section - Simple enough, a scissored Dragon sleeper. It's not listed in his PRIME bio, but it would have fit the heel Nova really well, especially since he had listed his other arm was free for pounding about the stomach and chest areas.
Fed History: PRIME, NFW, PTC and TEAM Events, Advantage Wrestling, New Era Wrestling (not Edmunds' current one!), Universal Wrestling Federation, First Blood Wrestling, Xtreme Wrestling Coalition, Empire Wrestling (not Brunk's one!), other minor stops here and there.
Title/Award History: UWF World Heavyweight Champion, AW North American Championship, AW World Champion, NEW National Champion, PTC Extreme Champion (2x), PRIME Five-Star Champion (2x), PRIME Intense Champion, PRIME Universal Champion, NFW ULTRATITLE Champion for Season 2, TEAM Tournament of Champions '07 winner, Blog Wrestler of the Month for 3/07, other titles from the minor stop feds
To get a better handle on the history of the Nova character from the handler's POV himself, click here and follow the "History" link on the right sidebar.
Greatest Feud: I really can't say anything with any great accuracy. I'll get the 411 from Josh K., Matt Ward or one of the other PRIMEates soon and edit it in.
Required Reading:
The Tournament of Champions provides the best starting point:
The ULTRATITLE Finals RPs against Yori:
I hate the way the PRIME site is laid out so that you can't link to certain pages no matter how hard you try. Therefore, follow this link again. This time, click on "Promo Library" and scroll down for his list of PRIME RPs, including the one that won him the Universal Title at King of Kings.
Greatest Hits:
Nova, Tony Gamble, Jason Snow and Sonny Silver vs. Lindsay Troy, Danny Ferguson, Tchu and Killean Sirrajin - War Games Match, PRIME Overkill - Nova is the sole survivor and winner.... then gets laid out by Snow, Gamble and Chainz
Nova vs. Tchu (c) - PRIME Universal Championship Match, King of Kings - The Rising Star becomes Risen
Nova vs. Yori Yakamo Jr. - NFW WrestleBowl 2, Night 2, ULTRATITLE Finals - Nova comes of age "over here"
Nova vs. Vangelus Olsig (c) - PRIME ReVolution 101, Intense Championship Match - Nova ends the over-one-year-long reign of Olsig
Nova vs. JTF (c), Ozric Mortimer and Tyler Lopez - PRIME ReVolution 50, Five-Star Championship Match - Nova's first taste of PRIME gold
(Super)Nova vs. Big Poppa, Bronx and Rock Startling - AW Sole Survivor, AW World Championship match - Nova's first (?) World Championship
My Take on His Place in eW History: Nova, along with Lindsay Troy, is going to go down in history as the greatest cross-circuit character in these "early" days of interaction between PTC and FW. He's come "over here" and excelled at everything he's done thus far, and the thing is, it's not like he was King Shit over at PTC either. His rises here and there came at around the same time. To me, that's amazing. Most people take one area, dominate, and move on. I also think he does tons for comedy characters. Even though he's not totally a comedy character in and of himself, there are a lot of lighter-hearted elements in his RP and his demeanor. It goes to show that you don't have to write mafia epics, zomg so important pretentious texts or über-serious promos about the game or hurting your opponents to be accepted. It allows more people to go in and be themselves instead of forcing something they're not in order to succeed. It'll take something pretty heinous for him not to be remembered as one of the all-time greats.
He's been tearing it up bigtime in the last couple of months, and odds are, if you're in PRIME or in a former PTC fed, you know who he is. But if you're from FW, A1 or somewhere else "over here," you may be wondering who this dynamo called Nova is coming in and winning everything he can get his funkadelic ass into. The ULTRATITLE and Tournament of Champions are two really big prizes, and he's netted them both. It's only fair that everyone, not just the PTC crowd, knows who this gifted and charismatic performer is.
Nova
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 256 lbs.
Hometown: "The very center of Earth's Core, in the heart of the Chronic! The P.Funk! The BOMB!" -- George Clinton... I think that's somewhere around New Orleans if you ask me :p
Nicknames and Aliases: The Rising Star, the Risen Star, The Star-Screaming Mushroom-Eating King of Hallucination Nation
Description: - A picture is worth 1000 words:
Poser by Mat Waters
Signature Moves:
Bourbon for Breakfast - Imagine a fisherman's buster, only inverted; a rear-mounted, Curtain Call-type move, only with Nova hooking your leg and dropping you straight down on your head. Absolutely sick sounding, and surprised that I haven't seen this one done in Japan yet. Then again, I don't think I've scoured the vid-clip puro sites 100% thoroughly yet.
Cosmic Teardrop - Classic WWE-styled crowd popper from the sounds of it, something a cruiser might do. The opponent is facedown on the mat, and Nova grabs his legs, whips him up like an inverted wheelbarrow, grabs onto the shoulders when the victim is upright and sends him back down in a sort of Edge-O-Matic dealie. Sounds like a momentum changer as a face and a "rub-it-in" move as a heel.
Dying Star Drop - Nova's original finisher, a simple Fame-Asser. Probably a product of the 90s, when all those dX finishers were the rage, but it's definitely one that fits in Nova's moveset.
Caesarian Section - Simple enough, a scissored Dragon sleeper. It's not listed in his PRIME bio, but it would have fit the heel Nova really well, especially since he had listed his other arm was free for pounding about the stomach and chest areas.
Fed History: PRIME, NFW, PTC and TEAM Events, Advantage Wrestling, New Era Wrestling (not Edmunds' current one!), Universal Wrestling Federation, First Blood Wrestling, Xtreme Wrestling Coalition, Empire Wrestling (not Brunk's one!), other minor stops here and there.
Title/Award History: UWF World Heavyweight Champion, AW North American Championship, AW World Champion, NEW National Champion, PTC Extreme Champion (2x), PRIME Five-Star Champion (2x), PRIME Intense Champion, PRIME Universal Champion, NFW ULTRATITLE Champion for Season 2, TEAM Tournament of Champions '07 winner, Blog Wrestler of the Month for 3/07, other titles from the minor stop feds
To get a better handle on the history of the Nova character from the handler's POV himself, click here and follow the "History" link on the right sidebar.
Greatest Feud: I really can't say anything with any great accuracy. I'll get the 411 from Josh K., Matt Ward or one of the other PRIMEates soon and edit it in.
Required Reading:
The Tournament of Champions provides the best starting point:
The ULTRATITLE Finals RPs against Yori:
I hate the way the PRIME site is laid out so that you can't link to certain pages no matter how hard you try. Therefore, follow this link again. This time, click on "Promo Library" and scroll down for his list of PRIME RPs, including the one that won him the Universal Title at King of Kings.
Greatest Hits:
Nova, Tony Gamble, Jason Snow and Sonny Silver vs. Lindsay Troy, Danny Ferguson, Tchu and Killean Sirrajin - War Games Match, PRIME Overkill - Nova is the sole survivor and winner.... then gets laid out by Snow, Gamble and Chainz
Nova vs. Tchu (c) - PRIME Universal Championship Match, King of Kings - The Rising Star becomes Risen
Nova vs. Yori Yakamo Jr. - NFW WrestleBowl 2, Night 2, ULTRATITLE Finals - Nova comes of age "over here"
Nova vs. Vangelus Olsig (c) - PRIME ReVolution 101, Intense Championship Match - Nova ends the over-one-year-long reign of Olsig
Nova vs. JTF (c), Ozric Mortimer and Tyler Lopez - PRIME ReVolution 50, Five-Star Championship Match - Nova's first taste of PRIME gold
(Super)Nova vs. Big Poppa, Bronx and Rock Startling - AW Sole Survivor, AW World Championship match - Nova's first (?) World Championship
My Take on His Place in eW History: Nova, along with Lindsay Troy, is going to go down in history as the greatest cross-circuit character in these "early" days of interaction between PTC and FW. He's come "over here" and excelled at everything he's done thus far, and the thing is, it's not like he was King Shit over at PTC either. His rises here and there came at around the same time. To me, that's amazing. Most people take one area, dominate, and move on. I also think he does tons for comedy characters. Even though he's not totally a comedy character in and of himself, there are a lot of lighter-hearted elements in his RP and his demeanor. It goes to show that you don't have to write mafia epics, zomg so important pretentious texts or über-serious promos about the game or hurting your opponents to be accepted. It allows more people to go in and be themselves instead of forcing something they're not in order to succeed. It'll take something pretty heinous for him not to be remembered as one of the all-time greats.
Friday, June 29, 2007
June Wrestler of the Month
Yep, it's that time again. Yeah, the month still has about one-and-a-half days left on it, but the only other show that would have any major bearing would be WrestleStock, and that's still in delay. So without further ado, June's WOTM is...
"Queen of the Ring" Lindsay Troy
Lindz became the first character to hold a major World Championship for a PTC fed (PRIME) and an FW fed (EPW) ever. She also made her first successful defense of the TEAM Championship of Champions this month, and notched an entertaning win over Kodiak Vic Creed at NFW WrestleBowl 2. Congrats, Lindz!
This month's runner-up is the man Lindz beat for the Uni TItle in PRIME, Nova. He bounced back from that defeat to be the sole survivor for his team at PRIME's OverKill, where he pinned Lindsay Troy. Oh yeah, and he also won the ULTRATITLE. Any other month, and he'd be the WOTM, but he came close, and there's no shame being second to Troy, especially in a month where she made history.
Honorable Mentions: Kin Hiroshi (NFW), Shawn Hart (NFW), Joe the Plumber (NFW), Big Dog (A1E), Dan Ryan (A1E, EUWC, TEAM Events), Ravager (NAPW, TEAM Events), Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events), Eddie Mayfield (NFW), Craig Miles (NFW), Easton Hall (PRIME)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
January: Dan Ryan (A1E, NFW)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
March: Nova (NFW, PRIME)
April: Dan Ryan (2) (A1E, NEW, TEAM Events)
May: Big Dog (A1E)
"Queen of the Ring" Lindsay Troy
Lindz became the first character to hold a major World Championship for a PTC fed (PRIME) and an FW fed (EPW) ever. She also made her first successful defense of the TEAM Championship of Champions this month, and notched an entertaning win over Kodiak Vic Creed at NFW WrestleBowl 2. Congrats, Lindz!
This month's runner-up is the man Lindz beat for the Uni TItle in PRIME, Nova. He bounced back from that defeat to be the sole survivor for his team at PRIME's OverKill, where he pinned Lindsay Troy. Oh yeah, and he also won the ULTRATITLE. Any other month, and he'd be the WOTM, but he came close, and there's no shame being second to Troy, especially in a month where she made history.
Honorable Mentions: Kin Hiroshi (NFW), Shawn Hart (NFW), Joe the Plumber (NFW), Big Dog (A1E), Dan Ryan (A1E, EUWC, TEAM Events), Ravager (NAPW, TEAM Events), Jason Snow (PRIME, PTC Events), Eddie Mayfield (NFW), Craig Miles (NFW), Easton Hall (PRIME)
Previous Wrestlers of the Month
January: Dan Ryan (A1E, NFW)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
March: Nova (NFW, PRIME)
April: Dan Ryan (2) (A1E, NEW, TEAM Events)
May: Big Dog (A1E)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
WrestleBowl 2, Night 1
NFW posted WrestleBowl 2, Night One after a long wait, and after an even longer wait, I review it!
Holla!
Well, after reading the card, I can understand why people who’ve been following the fed for the last two-three years might be a little peeved. The cornerstone feud of the West, Craig Miles and Eddie Mayfield, and it’s resolved in a bait and switch. No one said I quit, and instead, they beat the crap out of each other for ninety minutes just to reunite. At the very best, it didn’t make sense for them to destroy each other like that just to swerve the entire world and exact revenge on Anne Mystic, right?
Well, I don’t think so. I thought it was BRILLIANT. Sure, this is the kind of ending that I might have panned if the WWE did it, but then again, when the WWE pulls off these kinds of swerves, they’re usually so ham-handed that the whole ordeal leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth. This one though, sure, I’d have to say that initially, I was a bit baffled as to why Miles and Mayfield would pull a ruse such as this, but then I thought about it a little more. What would be the most dick ending you could come up with, the one that would establish both men as super-heels after the match? You play the whole thing as a ruse, that the Professionals never really broke up, and you piss everyone off. I mean, Craig Miles is the Dean of Thermodynamics at the Professional Heel Academy. Do you think he’d really pass up the opportunity to make everyone think he was going face and then pull the ultimate heel move? Hell no. This whole feud is the ultimate case study for how to piss off fans and faces alike.
Think about it though. Was there any real reason why Mayfield should have hated Miles with the white hot intensity that he claimed to when he revealed himself? He wasn’t invited to participate in NFW, and Miles had the PHA, which Mayfield saw as a rip of his own persona. Okay, so I could see the bad blood, but it doesn’t strike me as something to want to kill someone over. The swerve wasn’t immediately obvious, but it still seemed like something weak to build a feud over.
This payoff though, it pretty much sets up a million different angles for people if they are sticking around. It gives Eli Flair a reason to come out of retirement. It gives Sean Stevens a reason to come into NFW, since his main squeeze Poison Ivy was played for a fool. Tom Adler was treated as a pawn in the game. Troy Windham too. Hell, nearly everyone in the West had a stake in the Miles/Mayfield war. There are so many options for 3.0 that come from this match, and really, whose heat was damaged? Before anyone starts making comparisons, this nowhere comes close to warranting the outrage of All-Star Week in Season 1, and even so, Katz has shown that he had a direction from that so-called debacle.
The only thing that I feel detracts from this is that the Sopranos had a similar “WTF?!” ending, a sort of confusing ending that had the potential to polarize everyone. The only thing is, for as long as Katz and JAMMMAAARRRRR~! *shakes fist* have been planning this, there’s no way that they saw the end of that show and said, “Hey, let’s do something similar.” Besides, Katz has probably been writing that match longer than he even cared to realize the Sopranos was coming to an end.
But that’s enough about that. The rest of the show...
First off, hats off to Mike Dove for winning the NFW World Championship with Kin Hiroshi. Like I said before, long overdue, although he has a tough test Night Two against Jason Payne and Mittens T. Cat. Not out of the woods yet. The match was well-written too, two MOTY candidates to close the show. Night Two has a hard act to follow. I also hope that the finish of the match doesn’t mean Felix Red is really “dead.” He’s such a part of NFW right now, it’d be a shame to see him go for now. If I did have one criticism of the match, it’s the announcers. Even in the hands of a capable writer, I’m less than enamored to read Paul Shiro. The Mad Hatter’s okay in the hands of someone familiar with the style that he should be written in, but once again, after you read Hollywood and O’Connor as written by someone like Katz, Jamar or someone else who really gets them, it’s a definite difference. I don’t think they took away from the match all that much, but I guess my distaste writing for them (I actually stopped writing NFW East matches because I hated doing that announce team) does take away from enjoying them as written by someone else.
The Tag Team situation is very interesting. Once again, controversial decision to end the match with the Tag Titles on NPCs (which is how I understand the Original ShowStoppers as being right now), but it does set up a hot situation with the Cameron Cruise Project, the Blue Rogues and the new Gethard team (at least I hope Gethard is handling them). Hopefully, Bobby Nickens’ new team can step up too. I may even make a foray into the tag realm as well.
The Monkey match was what it was, absurd filler. Really, with the combination of Dan’s genius as Professor Tremendous and Katz’s insanity, this should have been expected. Yes, it’s totally unbelievable, not grounded in reality, but who cares. It’s comic relief done by master handlers, and it delivered exactly what it should have, laughs and plenty of them. Also, the Beau/Ryan stuff established what it had to establish from that feud.
One more thing, I’m glad to see that Eli Flair had a proper send-off. With the super competitive nature of eW and RP feds, it’s pretty rare to see impromptu matches on the card like that. Big ups to both Pete and Brunk for delivering an unexpected twist and another match to look forward to on Night Two.
All in all, a great show. Hopefully Night Two packs as much of a punch or more, but then again, you have Yori and Nova. I somehow doubt that Katz is going to shortchange that match.
Holla!
Well, after reading the card, I can understand why people who’ve been following the fed for the last two-three years might be a little peeved. The cornerstone feud of the West, Craig Miles and Eddie Mayfield, and it’s resolved in a bait and switch. No one said I quit, and instead, they beat the crap out of each other for ninety minutes just to reunite. At the very best, it didn’t make sense for them to destroy each other like that just to swerve the entire world and exact revenge on Anne Mystic, right?
Well, I don’t think so. I thought it was BRILLIANT. Sure, this is the kind of ending that I might have panned if the WWE did it, but then again, when the WWE pulls off these kinds of swerves, they’re usually so ham-handed that the whole ordeal leaves you with a sour taste in your mouth. This one though, sure, I’d have to say that initially, I was a bit baffled as to why Miles and Mayfield would pull a ruse such as this, but then I thought about it a little more. What would be the most dick ending you could come up with, the one that would establish both men as super-heels after the match? You play the whole thing as a ruse, that the Professionals never really broke up, and you piss everyone off. I mean, Craig Miles is the Dean of Thermodynamics at the Professional Heel Academy. Do you think he’d really pass up the opportunity to make everyone think he was going face and then pull the ultimate heel move? Hell no. This whole feud is the ultimate case study for how to piss off fans and faces alike.
Think about it though. Was there any real reason why Mayfield should have hated Miles with the white hot intensity that he claimed to when he revealed himself? He wasn’t invited to participate in NFW, and Miles had the PHA, which Mayfield saw as a rip of his own persona. Okay, so I could see the bad blood, but it doesn’t strike me as something to want to kill someone over. The swerve wasn’t immediately obvious, but it still seemed like something weak to build a feud over.
This payoff though, it pretty much sets up a million different angles for people if they are sticking around. It gives Eli Flair a reason to come out of retirement. It gives Sean Stevens a reason to come into NFW, since his main squeeze Poison Ivy was played for a fool. Tom Adler was treated as a pawn in the game. Troy Windham too. Hell, nearly everyone in the West had a stake in the Miles/Mayfield war. There are so many options for 3.0 that come from this match, and really, whose heat was damaged? Before anyone starts making comparisons, this nowhere comes close to warranting the outrage of All-Star Week in Season 1, and even so, Katz has shown that he had a direction from that so-called debacle.
The only thing that I feel detracts from this is that the Sopranos had a similar “WTF?!” ending, a sort of confusing ending that had the potential to polarize everyone. The only thing is, for as long as Katz and JAMMMAAARRRRR~! *shakes fist* have been planning this, there’s no way that they saw the end of that show and said, “Hey, let’s do something similar.” Besides, Katz has probably been writing that match longer than he even cared to realize the Sopranos was coming to an end.
But that’s enough about that. The rest of the show...
First off, hats off to Mike Dove for winning the NFW World Championship with Kin Hiroshi. Like I said before, long overdue, although he has a tough test Night Two against Jason Payne and Mittens T. Cat. Not out of the woods yet. The match was well-written too, two MOTY candidates to close the show. Night Two has a hard act to follow. I also hope that the finish of the match doesn’t mean Felix Red is really “dead.” He’s such a part of NFW right now, it’d be a shame to see him go for now. If I did have one criticism of the match, it’s the announcers. Even in the hands of a capable writer, I’m less than enamored to read Paul Shiro. The Mad Hatter’s okay in the hands of someone familiar with the style that he should be written in, but once again, after you read Hollywood and O’Connor as written by someone like Katz, Jamar or someone else who really gets them, it’s a definite difference. I don’t think they took away from the match all that much, but I guess my distaste writing for them (I actually stopped writing NFW East matches because I hated doing that announce team) does take away from enjoying them as written by someone else.
The Tag Team situation is very interesting. Once again, controversial decision to end the match with the Tag Titles on NPCs (which is how I understand the Original ShowStoppers as being right now), but it does set up a hot situation with the Cameron Cruise Project, the Blue Rogues and the new Gethard team (at least I hope Gethard is handling them). Hopefully, Bobby Nickens’ new team can step up too. I may even make a foray into the tag realm as well.
The Monkey match was what it was, absurd filler. Really, with the combination of Dan’s genius as Professor Tremendous and Katz’s insanity, this should have been expected. Yes, it’s totally unbelievable, not grounded in reality, but who cares. It’s comic relief done by master handlers, and it delivered exactly what it should have, laughs and plenty of them. Also, the Beau/Ryan stuff established what it had to establish from that feud.
One more thing, I’m glad to see that Eli Flair had a proper send-off. With the super competitive nature of eW and RP feds, it’s pretty rare to see impromptu matches on the card like that. Big ups to both Pete and Brunk for delivering an unexpected twist and another match to look forward to on Night Two.
All in all, a great show. Hopefully Night Two packs as much of a punch or more, but then again, you have Yori and Nova. I somehow doubt that Katz is going to shortchange that match.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Ask your blogger!
Alright, time to do the reader participation thing again. We did reader-suggested topics, guest columns and now I'll answer any and all questions you have for me. Just comment here and I'll answer them on the blog to the best of my knowledge.
To keep this from being a supershort entry, some notes:
- Go ahead and make some predictions on the ToC. You can do that right here. Just make a quickie prediction and a confidence level. This is for the purpose of making odds for vBookie.
- If you haven't noticed at any of the hubs, I posted a really, really long survey. If you haven't answered yet and have 20 mintues to a half-hour free, please answer it. I just love seeing what people think about eW, all the different ideas and all the questions that everyone, regardless of community, seem to be in unison about. I plan to post a similar topic every month on the hubs... although future ones won't be nearly as long as the survey :)
- Even though I haven't read the show yet, I got the spoilers from it and I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Mike Dove on winning the NFW World Championship as Kin Hiroshi. The trend of good guys winning World Titles continues into 2007, and by my reckoning, there isn't anyone in this hobby more deserving of winning the big one right now than he is. This is long overdue, and it couldn't happen for a nicer guy.
To keep this from being a supershort entry, some notes:
- Go ahead and make some predictions on the ToC. You can do that right here. Just make a quickie prediction and a confidence level. This is for the purpose of making odds for vBookie.
- If you haven't noticed at any of the hubs, I posted a really, really long survey. If you haven't answered yet and have 20 mintues to a half-hour free, please answer it. I just love seeing what people think about eW, all the different ideas and all the questions that everyone, regardless of community, seem to be in unison about. I plan to post a similar topic every month on the hubs... although future ones won't be nearly as long as the survey :)
- Even though I haven't read the show yet, I got the spoilers from it and I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Mike Dove on winning the NFW World Championship as Kin Hiroshi. The trend of good guys winning World Titles continues into 2007, and by my reckoning, there isn't anyone in this hobby more deserving of winning the big one right now than he is. This is long overdue, and it couldn't happen for a nicer guy.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Busy busy busy
Yeah, work hit me hard again this week, so I haven't been able to review all the shows I wanted to yet. I did try to get the scoop on the poop for WfWA's International Wars, PSSPW's School's Out, NAPW's Badder Blood and of course, the biggie, NFW's Night One of Wrestlebowl. I feel bad because I promised more show reviews, but I just got hit with another round of digs in Jersey, two hours commute easy and no wireless access.
Still, I'm not too busy to throw out some congratulations. First to Lindz, for capturing the PRIME Universal Championship, becoming the first handler to my knowledge to be able to pull of a World Championship in both PTC and FW. Secondly, I'd like to throw some props out there to Bobby Nickens (Chris Storm, Guy Boudreaux) and Samantha Spinks (Tessa Windsor), who turned an eW relationship into love. After four years of dating, they got engaged recently. Congrats guys, always good to see love wherever it springs up.
More shillage on my part, I'm taking apps for the Tournament of Champions, and if you're interested in seeing if you're eligible, check out the threads at the various eW hubs that I frequent. If you're not eligible and you want in, there's a prime opportunity to get a spot through the FREE FOR ALL~! Match in TEAM's SuperShow V. If you're not eligible and you'd rather not do the FFA~! route, then I need good judges.
Also, a note to all those who are RPing for SSV... You have a little more than 48 hours to RP. If you've got something, now's a pretty good time to put it up.
Still, I'm not too busy to throw out some congratulations. First to Lindz, for capturing the PRIME Universal Championship, becoming the first handler to my knowledge to be able to pull of a World Championship in both PTC and FW. Secondly, I'd like to throw some props out there to Bobby Nickens (Chris Storm, Guy Boudreaux) and Samantha Spinks (Tessa Windsor), who turned an eW relationship into love. After four years of dating, they got engaged recently. Congrats guys, always good to see love wherever it springs up.
More shillage on my part, I'm taking apps for the Tournament of Champions, and if you're interested in seeing if you're eligible, check out the threads at the various eW hubs that I frequent. If you're not eligible and you want in, there's a prime opportunity to get a spot through the FREE FOR ALL~! Match in TEAM's SuperShow V. If you're not eligible and you'd rather not do the FFA~! route, then I need good judges.
Also, a note to all those who are RPing for SSV... You have a little more than 48 hours to RP. If you've got something, now's a pretty good time to put it up.
Monday, April 16, 2007
NFW WrestleBowl 2: THE PREVIEW
Yes Katz, there is a Santa Claus :p
Anyway, WrestleBowl marks the end of a long and arduous journey of NFW's foray into the innovative season format. Two seasons, and the only time people wanted to send mailbombs to Katz was the infamous All-Star Week of Season 1. For those who experienced it, you know what happened. For those who didn't... you probably don't want to know what happened. :p Either way, that Katz made it this far with this cast of characters is a surprise but not a surprise at the same time. Katz is among the most knowledgeable fedheads around, and the folks who stuck around are generally good sports. It's still mind-boggling to think that a normally fed-killing backlash that happened after that event actually galvanized a fed and made the finale of the first WB the most anticipated eW match of the last three years: Shane Southern vs. Michael Manson.
Two years and change later, and neither one stands to make their repeat performance. In fact, in a testament to the appeal of NFW across the boundaries of the FW world, the two finalists this year didn't hear much about FW.com until after the second season of the ULTRATITLE began. In the East's corner, there's the incomparable Yori Yakamo, Jr., sex-magnate, time-traveller and occasionally good wrestler. He hails from the A1 world, where vote-based feds rule and controversy, both in fed and on the regular boards, was about as common as Michael Jackson "allegedly" molesting young boys at Neverland Ranch in the mid 90s. In the West's corner, there's Nova, legendary competitor in the PTC circle, a rare talent who can adapt seamlessly from "their" style of writing to "our" more familiar wrestling promo format.
Take that, those who thought we'd see either Michael Manson godbooked to the Final by his own handler or that Felix Red, handled by someone for whom that same handler thinks the world of, was anointed to be the East Champion from day one. Either result would have been fine with me, since both characters were rocks for the Conference from day one, but I knew from the jump that McNichols' bad rap was unearned, and that he'd make the right choice. Same with the West. Shame on anyone who thought Katz or JAAAMMMARRR~! were going to somehow rig the conference so that Craig Miles or Eddie Mayfield, whoever won the feud, would be the ones who'd represent the West. This season has put to bed any notion that NFW was an unfair place to be. The Conference Champions, and each runner-up, decidedly deserved their spot throughout the entire season and especially in the playoffs.
Onto the match itself... it's a contest between two guys with over-the-top comedic promo styles. In Manson/Southern, you had two guys with a ton of history behind them going toe to toe, blow for blow. If there ever was a diametric opposite to that matchup, it's this one. Yori and Nova had some history; they met in the Dupree Cup, as Nova, repping NFW, defeated Yori, repping MBE. That lone matchup was surely not basis for the RPs. Both competitors told tales of how they'd end up getting to Dallas for the UT final. If you want me to call the match, you're crazy. It's too close for me to say. Yori's series made me belly-laugh, like most of his RPs do. However, Nova's series was more solid as a story. I could see this match going either way, but regardless, the man who wins would have deserved it.
Transition into v. 3.0 is another huge theme for WB, and part of that transition will be the introduction/re-emphasis of title belts. The NFW World Championship, which has always been in the mix, will now replace the UT as the main prize, and we have two matches spread across both nights. The competitors include current Champion Felix Red, hot contender Kin Hiroshi, bizarre newcomer Mittens T. Cat and the man dubbed too hot for eW, Jason Payne. Not your usual suspects when it comes to World Championship contenders, but who said that NFW was anything conventional? I think the best example of this was when Dove pulled out this gem for the match:
A video promo... that's right, a video promo
Seriously, click that link and watch. Even if you don't read RPs, you owe it to yourself to view a piece of eW history. I'm not aware of anyone else who's actually cut a promo like a wrestler on camera before, so this is innovation. Watch it, not only because it's the first, but because it's damn good too. Despite not being on-camera as Hiroshi, Dove effectively gets across the storylines and heat of the match as nervous agent Michael LeQuan Flash Dove, worried about his client locking himself in the bathroom. It's not Rock delivery. So what? He brings it like you'd imagine an agent would. Now, am I going to say he deserves the match just because of this? No, that wouldn't be fair to Katz or to the other guys who didn't think to do this. However, I do think that it should be given special consideration, especially since he's going above and beyond here.
The other title being reintroduced after being made inactive for v. 2.0 is the Television Championship. We've got Battle Royale action going for this. I participated, but I'm not winning it. Seriously, I think it's between Shawn Hart and Joe the Plumber (yes, you read that right :p), and it's good to see new blood wanting to continue on in NFW, despite the fact that the season format is coming to an end.
The epic feud between Eddie Mayfield and Craig Miles comes to a close here, and I have to say that it's lost a lot of steam since the BRUTAL match they had week 2. A lot of it is because of folks like Eli Flair, Nova, Kodiak Vic Creed, Joey Melton, Guy Boudreaux and Lindsay Troy making huge waves in the conference over the course of the season, and when your non-booker characters step up like that, it's not a bad thing at all. Still, the one centerpiece feud, the reason why the conference was created, should have been pushed a little harder over the months. Still, I'm interested to see how it all ends.
Speaking of things ending, Michael Manson's long and storied career comes to an end with his former vineyard mentor Joey Melton coming a calling. It's perhaps the most fitting matchup that he could have that doesn't involve Hornet. Kudos on a great career. It's a shame to see Manson go, but everyone has their time that they feel is right.
Also on the card, there's Kodiak Vic Creed against Lindsay Troy, the Tag Titles are making a return as the OSS take on the Cameron Cruise Project... in an aside, I'm glad to see that the tag division is coming back and that Katz says there are loads of teams signing up to take it on... Professor Tremendous vs. a duo of monkeys (match of the year!) and Dan Ryan vs. Beau Michaels. All in all, it should be a damn entertaining card at the very least. All matches have the potential to be MOTY candidates, especially in the able hands of NFW matchwriters, whom I consider to be the best lineup in all eW.
Anyway, WrestleBowl marks the end of a long and arduous journey of NFW's foray into the innovative season format. Two seasons, and the only time people wanted to send mailbombs to Katz was the infamous All-Star Week of Season 1. For those who experienced it, you know what happened. For those who didn't... you probably don't want to know what happened. :p Either way, that Katz made it this far with this cast of characters is a surprise but not a surprise at the same time. Katz is among the most knowledgeable fedheads around, and the folks who stuck around are generally good sports. It's still mind-boggling to think that a normally fed-killing backlash that happened after that event actually galvanized a fed and made the finale of the first WB the most anticipated eW match of the last three years: Shane Southern vs. Michael Manson.
Two years and change later, and neither one stands to make their repeat performance. In fact, in a testament to the appeal of NFW across the boundaries of the FW world, the two finalists this year didn't hear much about FW.com until after the second season of the ULTRATITLE began. In the East's corner, there's the incomparable Yori Yakamo, Jr., sex-magnate, time-traveller and occasionally good wrestler. He hails from the A1 world, where vote-based feds rule and controversy, both in fed and on the regular boards, was about as common as Michael Jackson "allegedly" molesting young boys at Neverland Ranch in the mid 90s. In the West's corner, there's Nova, legendary competitor in the PTC circle, a rare talent who can adapt seamlessly from "their" style of writing to "our" more familiar wrestling promo format.
Take that, those who thought we'd see either Michael Manson godbooked to the Final by his own handler or that Felix Red, handled by someone for whom that same handler thinks the world of, was anointed to be the East Champion from day one. Either result would have been fine with me, since both characters were rocks for the Conference from day one, but I knew from the jump that McNichols' bad rap was unearned, and that he'd make the right choice. Same with the West. Shame on anyone who thought Katz or JAAAMMMARRR~! were going to somehow rig the conference so that Craig Miles or Eddie Mayfield, whoever won the feud, would be the ones who'd represent the West. This season has put to bed any notion that NFW was an unfair place to be. The Conference Champions, and each runner-up, decidedly deserved their spot throughout the entire season and especially in the playoffs.
Onto the match itself... it's a contest between two guys with over-the-top comedic promo styles. In Manson/Southern, you had two guys with a ton of history behind them going toe to toe, blow for blow. If there ever was a diametric opposite to that matchup, it's this one. Yori and Nova had some history; they met in the Dupree Cup, as Nova, repping NFW, defeated Yori, repping MBE. That lone matchup was surely not basis for the RPs. Both competitors told tales of how they'd end up getting to Dallas for the UT final. If you want me to call the match, you're crazy. It's too close for me to say. Yori's series made me belly-laugh, like most of his RPs do. However, Nova's series was more solid as a story. I could see this match going either way, but regardless, the man who wins would have deserved it.
Transition into v. 3.0 is another huge theme for WB, and part of that transition will be the introduction/re-emphasis of title belts. The NFW World Championship, which has always been in the mix, will now replace the UT as the main prize, and we have two matches spread across both nights. The competitors include current Champion Felix Red, hot contender Kin Hiroshi, bizarre newcomer Mittens T. Cat and the man dubbed too hot for eW, Jason Payne. Not your usual suspects when it comes to World Championship contenders, but who said that NFW was anything conventional? I think the best example of this was when Dove pulled out this gem for the match:
A video promo... that's right, a video promo
Seriously, click that link and watch. Even if you don't read RPs, you owe it to yourself to view a piece of eW history. I'm not aware of anyone else who's actually cut a promo like a wrestler on camera before, so this is innovation. Watch it, not only because it's the first, but because it's damn good too. Despite not being on-camera as Hiroshi, Dove effectively gets across the storylines and heat of the match as nervous agent Michael LeQuan Flash Dove, worried about his client locking himself in the bathroom. It's not Rock delivery. So what? He brings it like you'd imagine an agent would. Now, am I going to say he deserves the match just because of this? No, that wouldn't be fair to Katz or to the other guys who didn't think to do this. However, I do think that it should be given special consideration, especially since he's going above and beyond here.
The other title being reintroduced after being made inactive for v. 2.0 is the Television Championship. We've got Battle Royale action going for this. I participated, but I'm not winning it. Seriously, I think it's between Shawn Hart and Joe the Plumber (yes, you read that right :p), and it's good to see new blood wanting to continue on in NFW, despite the fact that the season format is coming to an end.
The epic feud between Eddie Mayfield and Craig Miles comes to a close here, and I have to say that it's lost a lot of steam since the BRUTAL match they had week 2. A lot of it is because of folks like Eli Flair, Nova, Kodiak Vic Creed, Joey Melton, Guy Boudreaux and Lindsay Troy making huge waves in the conference over the course of the season, and when your non-booker characters step up like that, it's not a bad thing at all. Still, the one centerpiece feud, the reason why the conference was created, should have been pushed a little harder over the months. Still, I'm interested to see how it all ends.
Speaking of things ending, Michael Manson's long and storied career comes to an end with his former vineyard mentor Joey Melton coming a calling. It's perhaps the most fitting matchup that he could have that doesn't involve Hornet. Kudos on a great career. It's a shame to see Manson go, but everyone has their time that they feel is right.
Also on the card, there's Kodiak Vic Creed against Lindsay Troy, the Tag Titles are making a return as the OSS take on the Cameron Cruise Project... in an aside, I'm glad to see that the tag division is coming back and that Katz says there are loads of teams signing up to take it on... Professor Tremendous vs. a duo of monkeys (match of the year!) and Dan Ryan vs. Beau Michaels. All in all, it should be a damn entertaining card at the very least. All matches have the potential to be MOTY candidates, especially in the able hands of NFW matchwriters, whom I consider to be the best lineup in all eW.
Friday, March 30, 2007
March's Wrestler of the Month
No, I'm not dead. Just really busy, both with real-life and eW stuff. I can't forget the Wrestler of the Month, and this month, the award goes to Nova! Nova won the NFW Western Conference, and he retained his PRIME Universal Championship at Culture Shock. Congratulations are in order for the Rising/Risen Star!
The runner-up award goes to his opponent at WrestleBowl 2, Yori Yakamo, Jr.. He won the Eastern Conference and made it to the Sweet 16 of the TEAM Invitational Tournament.
Honorable Mention
Tchu (PRIME), Lindsay Troy (PRIME, EPW, NFW), Danny Ferguson (PRIME), Bruce Richards (NAPW), Simply Beautiful (NAPW, A1E, TEAM Events), Jason Payne (NFW, TEAM Events), Fusenshoff (MBE, TEAM Events), The Canadian Loonie (TEAM Events), Dan Ryan (A1E, EPW, TEAM Events), Ice Tre (EPW)
2007 Winners
January: Dan Ryan (NFW, A1E)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
The runner-up award goes to his opponent at WrestleBowl 2, Yori Yakamo, Jr.. He won the Eastern Conference and made it to the Sweet 16 of the TEAM Invitational Tournament.
Honorable Mention
Tchu (PRIME), Lindsay Troy (PRIME, EPW, NFW), Danny Ferguson (PRIME), Bruce Richards (NAPW), Simply Beautiful (NAPW, A1E, TEAM Events), Jason Payne (NFW, TEAM Events), Fusenshoff (MBE, TEAM Events), The Canadian Loonie (TEAM Events), Dan Ryan (A1E, EPW, TEAM Events), Ice Tre (EPW)
2007 Winners
January: Dan Ryan (NFW, A1E)
February: Clinton Sage (FUSE, PTC Events)
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