I may be retired, but that doesn't mean I can't shill for an awesome concept when I see one, and peeps, I certainly see one in Federación Mundial de Lucha Libre. FMLL is run by Ryan Aston, handler of Shawn Hart and his band of merry misfit friends and relatives. Aston is a nut for the art of lucha libre, so you know that this fed will be the real deal.
I know what the biggest reason for not joining will be. "I don't know enough about lucha libre to try it out." It's true, lucha isn't a fully understood wrestling form in America, but both Aston and the handlers in the fed who do know a thing or two about lucha will be more than happy to help along those looking to pop their Mexican wrestling cherry. And as with any new fed, you'll be getting in on the ground floor.
Please, give FMLL a look and a try. I love it when new ideas come along, and this is about as different as it's going to get.
Showing posts with label shill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shill. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thursday, April 02, 2009
TEAM Invitational Tournament Thoughts and Preview
Before we get to the meat of the post, some news. EPW is looking for tag teams. You know how highly I've spoken of the fed in the past, and you know how high esteem I hold Brunk as a fedhead, so you don't need to question the quality of the fed. Also, EPW has always had a strong tag division, even if there have been a dearth of teams, because Brunk is dedicated to having it and putting effort into getting it over. And if you join now, there's a good chance you'll get a Tag Title program sooner rather than later.
Alright, now that that's out of the way, TEAM's fourth annual Inviational Tournament has kicked off. The brackets were announced last night, and play-in matches start today.
I have to say, it's so weird being on this side of things for the first time. I've always been the one organizing, shilling, writing, judging and basically doing everything but RPing. Of course, I helped Shinder shill for it, because even though I'm not the head anymore, I still want people to participate like it's the hottest thing on the block. This will be a good new experience for me though. I can't wait to dig in, especially since comitting to the FFA~! match in the first event he booked and flaming out there.
Onto the field itself, I'm not surprised at the 1 seeds at all. Ryan, Rayne, Nova and Ravager all have impeccable TEAM credentials. I'm surprised that Brunk entered Dan Ryan into this tournament though. I thought that Ryan was all but finished, and that Brunk would try to get Jeffrey Roberts over a little bit more. Roberts has been flourishing in A1E, capturing the Cyber Championship at Sudden Death.
I'm also extremely pleased with my seed. With everyone in the tournament, I think The Phantom Republican at a 3 is about right. I will say though that Doc Silver and Shawn Hart were probably more deserving to get a 2 than Cameron Cruise, although Cruise's success in A1E and EPW recently do give him some cache over the other two, who have more historical successes than recent ones.
Speaking of Hart, I'm very interested to see how his first round match with Horace Tully is going to turn out. Tully is handled by the same guy who does Violence Jack (forget the handler's name), and while he's acclaimed as a writer, I'm not sure how well he'll adapt to the FW style. Still, that's a great match on paper. Same could be said for Impulse against DC Stark. Obi is another narrative-RP mainstay, but I have seen some of his promo-RPs and he's damn good. I think if anyone can give RK a run for his money in this match, it's the Stark-man.
Despite the smaller turnout, I think this year's tournament will be a great success [/Borat voice]. The first tourney only had 32, and I thought that went extremely well. As for who's going to win? Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't think I had more than a decent shot of winning, but being objective, I think this could be Ravager's year to break through and win a tourney. You can never count out Dan Ryan, and it's not like Ryan's been inactive either (I believe he's still competing in NAPW). Nova may be the victim of ring rust here, actually. Jared Wells will also be a big contender if you're looking outside the 1 seeds.
However, I just have a gut feeling. Ravager will claim the first TEAM tournament mantle since D! came out of nowhere and took the first ToC. Of course, given my track record with predictions, I would like to apologize to Allan in advance for jinxing him.
Alright, now that that's out of the way, TEAM's fourth annual Inviational Tournament has kicked off. The brackets were announced last night, and play-in matches start today.
I have to say, it's so weird being on this side of things for the first time. I've always been the one organizing, shilling, writing, judging and basically doing everything but RPing. Of course, I helped Shinder shill for it, because even though I'm not the head anymore, I still want people to participate like it's the hottest thing on the block. This will be a good new experience for me though. I can't wait to dig in, especially since comitting to the FFA~! match in the first event he booked and flaming out there.
Onto the field itself, I'm not surprised at the 1 seeds at all. Ryan, Rayne, Nova and Ravager all have impeccable TEAM credentials. I'm surprised that Brunk entered Dan Ryan into this tournament though. I thought that Ryan was all but finished, and that Brunk would try to get Jeffrey Roberts over a little bit more. Roberts has been flourishing in A1E, capturing the Cyber Championship at Sudden Death.
I'm also extremely pleased with my seed. With everyone in the tournament, I think The Phantom Republican at a 3 is about right. I will say though that Doc Silver and Shawn Hart were probably more deserving to get a 2 than Cameron Cruise, although Cruise's success in A1E and EPW recently do give him some cache over the other two, who have more historical successes than recent ones.
Speaking of Hart, I'm very interested to see how his first round match with Horace Tully is going to turn out. Tully is handled by the same guy who does Violence Jack (forget the handler's name), and while he's acclaimed as a writer, I'm not sure how well he'll adapt to the FW style. Still, that's a great match on paper. Same could be said for Impulse against DC Stark. Obi is another narrative-RP mainstay, but I have seen some of his promo-RPs and he's damn good. I think if anyone can give RK a run for his money in this match, it's the Stark-man.
Despite the smaller turnout, I think this year's tournament will be a great success [/Borat voice]. The first tourney only had 32, and I thought that went extremely well. As for who's going to win? Well, I'd be remiss if I didn't think I had more than a decent shot of winning, but being objective, I think this could be Ravager's year to break through and win a tourney. You can never count out Dan Ryan, and it's not like Ryan's been inactive either (I believe he's still competing in NAPW). Nova may be the victim of ring rust here, actually. Jared Wells will also be a big contender if you're looking outside the 1 seeds.
However, I just have a gut feeling. Ravager will claim the first TEAM tournament mantle since D! came out of nowhere and took the first ToC. Of course, given my track record with predictions, I would like to apologize to Allan in advance for jinxing him.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Writer vs. Wrestler vs. Wrestling Writer
Before we get to today's blog posting, a couple of quick hits.
- First, A1E has posted Sudden Death. It's actually been up for the better part of a week, but it's a good read. Three title switches, a rebranding of the one belt that didn't change hands and a shocking unmask. Go to the results section and read post haste!
- Second, some shilling. As you may or may not have figured out, I've created a second blog here on Blogspot. The Wrestling Blog will feature the same insight and wit (response from the peanut gallery on that comment: "lol") that you get here, only directed towards the WWE, TNA, puroresu, lucha libre, indies, WCW and other random wrestling-related things. Please check it out and bookmark it if you're a fan of the "real" thing.
Now, onto the post. Over at PTC, another discussion was started as to whether the handlers considered themselves as writers or wrestlers. This is an argument that seems like it's been beaten to death, and I know I've written about it here a lot, but some of the attitudes in that thread bear mentioning.
One of them is that eW is so different than wrestling, and if they were more of the same and the game wasn't so writing-oriented, then e-fedding would be "99% trash talk." My obvious predilection towards defending the art of the wrestling promo RP aside, it made me wonder whether this was actually true. Having watched wrestling for nearly my entire life and having seen the evolution and the OBVIOUS differences between the WWF in 1991 and the WWE in 2009, I can say beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's not.
If you discount the time on RAW, SmackDown and ECW dedicated to recapping what happened on the other shows, movie trailers or running down the card for the next PPV, here's the breakdown of what happens on a wrestling program: wrestling matches, promos, in-ring confrontation segments and segments where people are on camera but they act as if they're not on camera. Of these, there's probably a tie in time used between the confrontation segments and matches. Next is probably wrestling promos and after that are the backstage pseudo-shoot segments. Ever since the Monday Night Wars started, matches and multi-person in-rings have had the most time spent on them. There was a time during the late 90s when the pseudo-shoot segments were dominant over promos, thanks mainly to Vince Russo's "Crash-TV" style, but it seems equilibrium has been reached in that regard.
So what does all of that mean? Well, for one, it means that the "99% trash talk" number is way out of line. If you equate the number of RPs that happen per-week for the average FWC-styled fed to hours of camera time for cutting promos, you'd end up with HOURS of footage, more than what the "real" thing dedicates to single-entity unchallenged wrestling promos. In that regard, the FW/A1E-styled promo feds are wholly unrealistic to how a real wrestling fed works.
Secondly, all those "Crash-TV" style segments that were huge in the Attitude era and still pop up now albeit in more believable fashion to me equate more to PTC-styled RPs. The PTC RP is basically a writing exposition about the life outside of the ring for the character being portrayed. These things don't often times break character/kayfabe, but they're meant to show what the character is like when he/she is not in the ring or in front of a microphone. Isn't that exactly what a PTC RP is? It doesn't break character, but it's meant to get a glimpse into what that wrestler's life is when they're not at the arena? Sure, the "real" example hardly follows the person home or follows them around during their every day travails, but it's very similar in spirit.
Thirdly... whether a wrestling promo is meant to be written or spoken, for all intents and purposes of e-wrestling, it's written down. You still have to write it in order for you to imagine it being spoken. Matches still have to be written. Segments still have to be written. This game is 100% immersed in writing, so I fail to see how someone who is involved in a fed where very high percentages of content are wrestling promos is not a writer.
The fact is, everyone in the game is a writer, and I feel like everyone in the game should at least have some vestige of being a wrestling fan, whether you are one now or you used to be one and don't like the product anymore. In this game, you have to be both a writer and a wrestler. There's no way around it, and there's no real separation between the two. If there were, well, you'd be better off either trying to write short stories or essays for publication if you have no interest in the wrestling portion, or you'd be better off playing Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 over Wi-Fi if you have no interest in the writing portion.
- First, A1E has posted Sudden Death. It's actually been up for the better part of a week, but it's a good read. Three title switches, a rebranding of the one belt that didn't change hands and a shocking unmask. Go to the results section and read post haste!
- Second, some shilling. As you may or may not have figured out, I've created a second blog here on Blogspot. The Wrestling Blog will feature the same insight and wit (response from the peanut gallery on that comment: "lol") that you get here, only directed towards the WWE, TNA, puroresu, lucha libre, indies, WCW and other random wrestling-related things. Please check it out and bookmark it if you're a fan of the "real" thing.
Now, onto the post. Over at PTC, another discussion was started as to whether the handlers considered themselves as writers or wrestlers. This is an argument that seems like it's been beaten to death, and I know I've written about it here a lot, but some of the attitudes in that thread bear mentioning.
One of them is that eW is so different than wrestling, and if they were more of the same and the game wasn't so writing-oriented, then e-fedding would be "99% trash talk." My obvious predilection towards defending the art of the wrestling promo RP aside, it made me wonder whether this was actually true. Having watched wrestling for nearly my entire life and having seen the evolution and the OBVIOUS differences between the WWF in 1991 and the WWE in 2009, I can say beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's not.
If you discount the time on RAW, SmackDown and ECW dedicated to recapping what happened on the other shows, movie trailers or running down the card for the next PPV, here's the breakdown of what happens on a wrestling program: wrestling matches, promos, in-ring confrontation segments and segments where people are on camera but they act as if they're not on camera. Of these, there's probably a tie in time used between the confrontation segments and matches. Next is probably wrestling promos and after that are the backstage pseudo-shoot segments. Ever since the Monday Night Wars started, matches and multi-person in-rings have had the most time spent on them. There was a time during the late 90s when the pseudo-shoot segments were dominant over promos, thanks mainly to Vince Russo's "Crash-TV" style, but it seems equilibrium has been reached in that regard.
So what does all of that mean? Well, for one, it means that the "99% trash talk" number is way out of line. If you equate the number of RPs that happen per-week for the average FWC-styled fed to hours of camera time for cutting promos, you'd end up with HOURS of footage, more than what the "real" thing dedicates to single-entity unchallenged wrestling promos. In that regard, the FW/A1E-styled promo feds are wholly unrealistic to how a real wrestling fed works.
Secondly, all those "Crash-TV" style segments that were huge in the Attitude era and still pop up now albeit in more believable fashion to me equate more to PTC-styled RPs. The PTC RP is basically a writing exposition about the life outside of the ring for the character being portrayed. These things don't often times break character/kayfabe, but they're meant to show what the character is like when he/she is not in the ring or in front of a microphone. Isn't that exactly what a PTC RP is? It doesn't break character, but it's meant to get a glimpse into what that wrestler's life is when they're not at the arena? Sure, the "real" example hardly follows the person home or follows them around during their every day travails, but it's very similar in spirit.
Thirdly... whether a wrestling promo is meant to be written or spoken, for all intents and purposes of e-wrestling, it's written down. You still have to write it in order for you to imagine it being spoken. Matches still have to be written. Segments still have to be written. This game is 100% immersed in writing, so I fail to see how someone who is involved in a fed where very high percentages of content are wrestling promos is not a writer.
The fact is, everyone in the game is a writer, and I feel like everyone in the game should at least have some vestige of being a wrestling fan, whether you are one now or you used to be one and don't like the product anymore. In this game, you have to be both a writer and a wrestler. There's no way around it, and there's no real separation between the two. If there were, well, you'd be better off either trying to write short stories or essays for publication if you have no interest in the wrestling portion, or you'd be better off playing Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 over Wi-Fi if you have no interest in the writing portion.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Quick Hits II: PRIME CS mini-review, HOW stuff, tourney shilling and MOAR!
- CultureShock, which is PRIME's answer to the Royal Rumble, was posted over the weekend. It was a two-night affair, but given that the second night was dedicated mostly to the 60-man battle royale known as the Dual Halo, well, it fits. The backdrop for the event was Russia, which I thought was a cool little spin. Maybe this will pave the way for someone to do a Communist Russian character? Maybe, maybe not.
Night One
Night Two
Congratulations go out to Jason Snow and to Garbage Bag Johnny for winning the PRIME Universal Championship and the Dual Halo respectively. All-in-all, I thought it was a solid event, with the matches written with PBP elements being easier to read and all, but that's always the case.
- Just another reminder, signups are open for the 2009 TEAM Invitational Tournament. They close March 31st, so you do have time to get in, but we've got a little more than 25% of the spots filled so far with some primo talent. I know there's a lot of noise about GTT being resurrected, but the TIT will get off the ground before GTT does, and it's a totally different-styled tournament, so if you're crafty, you can have room for both on your palate.
- Speaking of all that noise about GTT... I'm all for it. PTC has been lacking that tournament for awhile. Furthermore (to avoid making this item sound redundant from the last one!), the braintrust has floated out the idea of a round-robin styled tournament this year. Normally, being the e-fed conservative that I am, I might shirk at the reinvention of what had become a standard for the PTC community, but hey, it's been gone for more than 18 months now, and I think that if you can't get 64+ for the event, why not shake it up a bit so it can last a little longer and in turn, feel epic like it did before without having to inflate it with scouting for new talent that might not "get" the PTC style.
- High-Octane Wrestling made some waves last week debuting their HOTv subsite, which is dedicated to their weekly television program. It's drawn rave reviews for coding and I think the content on it is pretty swanky. Good job all around to everyone involved in the fed.
- Finally, this is a call to all you faithful blog readers out there. If you would like to participate in something new for the blog, please let me know. I want to keep the details hush-hush right now, but it involves reader participation and interactive perspectives on eW from the people who choose to participate.
Night One
Night Two
Congratulations go out to Jason Snow and to Garbage Bag Johnny for winning the PRIME Universal Championship and the Dual Halo respectively. All-in-all, I thought it was a solid event, with the matches written with PBP elements being easier to read and all, but that's always the case.
- Just another reminder, signups are open for the 2009 TEAM Invitational Tournament. They close March 31st, so you do have time to get in, but we've got a little more than 25% of the spots filled so far with some primo talent. I know there's a lot of noise about GTT being resurrected, but the TIT will get off the ground before GTT does, and it's a totally different-styled tournament, so if you're crafty, you can have room for both on your palate.
- Speaking of all that noise about GTT... I'm all for it. PTC has been lacking that tournament for awhile. Furthermore (to avoid making this item sound redundant from the last one!), the braintrust has floated out the idea of a round-robin styled tournament this year. Normally, being the e-fed conservative that I am, I might shirk at the reinvention of what had become a standard for the PTC community, but hey, it's been gone for more than 18 months now, and I think that if you can't get 64+ for the event, why not shake it up a bit so it can last a little longer and in turn, feel epic like it did before without having to inflate it with scouting for new talent that might not "get" the PTC style.
- High-Octane Wrestling made some waves last week debuting their HOTv subsite, which is dedicated to their weekly television program. It's drawn rave reviews for coding and I think the content on it is pretty swanky. Good job all around to everyone involved in the fed.
- Finally, this is a call to all you faithful blog readers out there. If you would like to participate in something new for the blog, please let me know. I want to keep the details hush-hush right now, but it involves reader participation and interactive perspectives on eW from the people who choose to participate.
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.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
More on PTC
Just in case you didn't know, Pete Speer announced last night that PTC was dropping the interfed aspect and becoming more of an eW-based hub (for now) for forums and interfed activities. Did I just contradict myself? No, not really. What I mean is, they're dropping the interfed requirement for participation, ie, no longer do you have to be in a PTC fed to vie for PTC titles. It's more of an open interfed. I find it slightly amusing that after all the inspiration I've taken from PTC over the last year for TEAM that they're using a trick out of my book ;) Seriously, I have no idea what to think about it yet. Part of me wishes they kept the I-fed requirement, because it was part of their identity, but another part thinks that if this is the path to survival and, more importantly, flourishment, then hey, let's do it like this, eh?
So folks who want to test your mettle in the storyline style of RPing, now's your chance. Well really, you've always had a chance, since the only things that were PTC-exclusive since I've been blogging have been the Global and Extreme titles. Still, the principle behind everything is more of a welcoming one. This is not to say that in the past, PTC has been exclusionary in practice, but I can see how they may have come across as exclusionary in perception. But yeah, come on over and test your mettle in the Infinite Gauntlet, or even make your bones in the Free Agent forum, which is now open to all feds.
A great chance for you to get in on the ground floor in the new PTC is the Chris Williams Memorial Cup, an "e-fed indie" tournament. It's being run by Jay, the handler of Jay Phoenix/Ember, and yes, there is that pesky write-about-wrestling requirement, although everyone who participated in round 2 of the ToC last year can do that ;)
Speaking of the ToC... it's coming sooner than you think. If you're eligible or think you might be eligible when the time rolls around... why don't you give it a thought or two? :)
So folks who want to test your mettle in the storyline style of RPing, now's your chance. Well really, you've always had a chance, since the only things that were PTC-exclusive since I've been blogging have been the Global and Extreme titles. Still, the principle behind everything is more of a welcoming one. This is not to say that in the past, PTC has been exclusionary in practice, but I can see how they may have come across as exclusionary in perception. But yeah, come on over and test your mettle in the Infinite Gauntlet, or even make your bones in the Free Agent forum, which is now open to all feds.
A great chance for you to get in on the ground floor in the new PTC is the Chris Williams Memorial Cup, an "e-fed indie" tournament. It's being run by Jay, the handler of Jay Phoenix/Ember, and yes, there is that pesky write-about-wrestling requirement, although everyone who participated in round 2 of the ToC last year can do that ;)
Speaking of the ToC... it's coming sooner than you think. If you're eligible or think you might be eligible when the time rolls around... why don't you give it a thought or two? :)
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Return of Random Notes
Because it's been a long time since I did these... too long.
- First up, some shameless self-promotion:
Read the EPICENTER for TEAM SuperShow III!
Leave me feedback for said show!
Then sign up for a match on the next SuperShow and if you really liked me, volunteer to write a match!
Yep, the finals are set for TiT, we have a new Champion of Champions, and once again, an NAPW guy is the first to hold a TEAM Championship. It's important that you leave honest feedback, because once again, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong if you guys don't call me out on it.
Speaking of the next SuperShow, right now, I have a bunch of unanswered challenges going on over there. So before you go making challenges, see if you're being called out. I'm probably going to cap it at some point, but once again, you can always participate in the FREE FOR ALL~! match. Now that that's out of the way...
- Speaking of NAPW, a bit of news out of their camp. The talk in the eW world is that tag team wrestling is back, but in the Canadian indie fed, you could argue that it never left to begin with. NAPW's tag team division was one of the best in the land, and now, they'd like for you to partake in it. It's an event called TAGSTRAVAGANZA II! It happens 5/22, and the details are there as you follow the link.
- Staying with that family of feds, NAPW's sister fed REBEL Pro, they're having an open invitational event of their own. This one is geared towards singles wrestlers and is a battle royale for a shot at their Championship. Open-invitational battle royale... groovy! Once again, follow the link for more details. The event happens 5/8, so throw your hat in the ring now.
- I'm pleased to announce some additions to the blog family of feds. First off, we've got Problem Solver South Park Wrestling, a fed that's loosely based off the hit show South Park (duh). I had some reservations about it, but it seems alright from glancing over it. Plus, Kevin Healy, Fusenhoff/Ace Mason's handler, gives it a glowing review, and I hear they're timely with all their shows, which is rare in the world of eW these days. Second up, it's the Superstar Wrestling Circuit, a new RP fed in the world of angle feds. I'm not certain, but I think it's run by Antoine of Malik Roland fame, although I could be mistaken. There are some familiar names and heavy hitters on the roster, and I think it could be a force in the W316 world.
- Keeping with things in South Park land, Mr. Healy also has a blog, the Damn Yankee blog. Give it a whirl if you're thinking about following or if you do follow PSSPW.
- Here's a random question... when are they going to announce the PTC Wrestler of the Year for 2006? It's getting a bit late in the year, and I hope that Ross and Pete didn't forget about things. If they did, it's understandable, seeing both of them have been very busy lately with real life stuff. If they need some help organizing things, I'll volunteer. PTC needs its WotY, dammit!
- Finally, I'm going to end with a surprise of sorts. It looks like WFW is FINALLY getting back on track after more than a year of inactivity. Normally, I'd say that with the combination of inactivity and the general fall from grace that its fedhead took in the last year or so, this fed wouldn't have a chance of surviving. However, there's something to be said about the loyalty of the roster. Guys love this fed for whatever reason. Miller has guys in there that won't even touch other FW feds let alone anything outside of that shell, and the roster regulars have an undying devotion to the fed, even if some of them (like Aston and Edmunds) have had pretty bad dust-ups with Miller in the past. It just goes to show that having a great nucleus of handlers can go a long way and can make up for other deficiencies. For the roster's sake, I hope this is for real. Say what you want about Miller (and believe me, we all have), but I truly believe that FW is a better place when WFW is active.
- First up, some shameless self-promotion:
Read the EPICENTER for TEAM SuperShow III!
Leave me feedback for said show!
Then sign up for a match on the next SuperShow and if you really liked me, volunteer to write a match!
Yep, the finals are set for TiT, we have a new Champion of Champions, and once again, an NAPW guy is the first to hold a TEAM Championship. It's important that you leave honest feedback, because once again, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong if you guys don't call me out on it.
Speaking of the next SuperShow, right now, I have a bunch of unanswered challenges going on over there. So before you go making challenges, see if you're being called out. I'm probably going to cap it at some point, but once again, you can always participate in the FREE FOR ALL~! match. Now that that's out of the way...
- Speaking of NAPW, a bit of news out of their camp. The talk in the eW world is that tag team wrestling is back, but in the Canadian indie fed, you could argue that it never left to begin with. NAPW's tag team division was one of the best in the land, and now, they'd like for you to partake in it. It's an event called TAGSTRAVAGANZA II! It happens 5/22, and the details are there as you follow the link.
- Staying with that family of feds, NAPW's sister fed REBEL Pro, they're having an open invitational event of their own. This one is geared towards singles wrestlers and is a battle royale for a shot at their Championship. Open-invitational battle royale... groovy! Once again, follow the link for more details. The event happens 5/8, so throw your hat in the ring now.
- I'm pleased to announce some additions to the blog family of feds. First off, we've got Problem Solver South Park Wrestling, a fed that's loosely based off the hit show South Park (duh). I had some reservations about it, but it seems alright from glancing over it. Plus, Kevin Healy, Fusenhoff/Ace Mason's handler, gives it a glowing review, and I hear they're timely with all their shows, which is rare in the world of eW these days. Second up, it's the Superstar Wrestling Circuit, a new RP fed in the world of angle feds. I'm not certain, but I think it's run by Antoine of Malik Roland fame, although I could be mistaken. There are some familiar names and heavy hitters on the roster, and I think it could be a force in the W316 world.
- Keeping with things in South Park land, Mr. Healy also has a blog, the Damn Yankee blog. Give it a whirl if you're thinking about following or if you do follow PSSPW.
- Here's a random question... when are they going to announce the PTC Wrestler of the Year for 2006? It's getting a bit late in the year, and I hope that Ross and Pete didn't forget about things. If they did, it's understandable, seeing both of them have been very busy lately with real life stuff. If they need some help organizing things, I'll volunteer. PTC needs its WotY, dammit!
- Finally, I'm going to end with a surprise of sorts. It looks like WFW is FINALLY getting back on track after more than a year of inactivity. Normally, I'd say that with the combination of inactivity and the general fall from grace that its fedhead took in the last year or so, this fed wouldn't have a chance of surviving. However, there's something to be said about the loyalty of the roster. Guys love this fed for whatever reason. Miller has guys in there that won't even touch other FW feds let alone anything outside of that shell, and the roster regulars have an undying devotion to the fed, even if some of them (like Aston and Edmunds) have had pretty bad dust-ups with Miller in the past. It just goes to show that having a great nucleus of handlers can go a long way and can make up for other deficiencies. For the roster's sake, I hope this is for real. Say what you want about Miller (and believe me, we all have), but I truly believe that FW is a better place when WFW is active.
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.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
A1E's Tag Team Tournament Challenge
Remember way back when I blogged about Jarret taking over A1E and said he had a big announcement on the first Warfare after Bloody New Year? Well...
Here it is.
For the benefit of those who don't like the clicky-clicky treatment, basically A1E has thrown out there an open challenge to any tag team in the eW universe, regardless of the fed you're in. Big Dog and Dan Ryan, the current Tag Team Champions, have held the titles for almost (over?) a year now, and the challengers are getting pretty thin. Although the announcement included a decree allowing all wrestlers to hold singles gold and the Tag Titles at the same time, this is still one of the best ways short of doing a fed-wide Lethal Lottery to jumpstart the division. Any team is eligible. Any team. That's right, your tag team is eligible if you want it to be :p
Now, to keep this from being an out-and-out shill for the home company, I'm going to list a few teams that I'd like to see come out of the woodwork for this event.
The New and Improved DX - Yes, I know they're broken up by rule in NAPW, but that doesn't mean they can't team elsewhere ;). They've been the dominant tag team of the last 6 months in eW, and I think they'd be at the very least co-favorites to win should they enter.
The Cameron Cruise Project - Cruise is already in A1E, and Melton's been there before. Despite Steve leaving on somewhat bad terms, I'm sure that Jarret and co. would be more than receptive to a reconciliation and such.
Silver and GOLD - Even though this means Lindz would have to answer the yearly call for her to re-enter A1E :p, I think this would be a fun pairing. Lindz has history with the Tag Straps, and Seth's probably one of the best pure promo guys in the business.
The Furious Fists of God - Seeing that I just recently turned Sam on to the Dark Side of Wrestling Promo RPs :p and that the Fists were natural trash-talkers in segments in the departed AWC, I think this might be a good idea. Sure, their gimmick is a bit controversial, and the A1 world has bristled at outwardly racist characters before (I got more flak about letting Johnny Morgan run in UXW than Bryon probably got, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again if I had the chance), but I still think they'd be better welcomed than not.
Rob and Jacob Franklin - Rob's been one of the newer additions to eW in the last year, and he's shown some promise. Don't believe me? Read this. He's giving Dan Ryan a much more stiff challenge than anyone would have expected. I think he should give this a run.
The Sheffield Wednesday Lot - Don't let the fact that they're not terribly over in MBE fool you. They're booker run characters. This is one of the funnest, most creative gimmicks I've seen in awhile, and if Bill and Jeff really put their minds to it, they could walk out the A1E Tag Team Champions
Here it is.
For the benefit of those who don't like the clicky-clicky treatment, basically A1E has thrown out there an open challenge to any tag team in the eW universe, regardless of the fed you're in. Big Dog and Dan Ryan, the current Tag Team Champions, have held the titles for almost (over?) a year now, and the challengers are getting pretty thin. Although the announcement included a decree allowing all wrestlers to hold singles gold and the Tag Titles at the same time, this is still one of the best ways short of doing a fed-wide Lethal Lottery to jumpstart the division. Any team is eligible. Any team. That's right, your tag team is eligible if you want it to be :p
Now, to keep this from being an out-and-out shill for the home company, I'm going to list a few teams that I'd like to see come out of the woodwork for this event.
The New and Improved DX - Yes, I know they're broken up by rule in NAPW, but that doesn't mean they can't team elsewhere ;). They've been the dominant tag team of the last 6 months in eW, and I think they'd be at the very least co-favorites to win should they enter.
The Cameron Cruise Project - Cruise is already in A1E, and Melton's been there before. Despite Steve leaving on somewhat bad terms, I'm sure that Jarret and co. would be more than receptive to a reconciliation and such.
Silver and GOLD - Even though this means Lindz would have to answer the yearly call for her to re-enter A1E :p, I think this would be a fun pairing. Lindz has history with the Tag Straps, and Seth's probably one of the best pure promo guys in the business.
The Furious Fists of God - Seeing that I just recently turned Sam on to the Dark Side of Wrestling Promo RPs :p and that the Fists were natural trash-talkers in segments in the departed AWC, I think this might be a good idea. Sure, their gimmick is a bit controversial, and the A1 world has bristled at outwardly racist characters before (I got more flak about letting Johnny Morgan run in UXW than Bryon probably got, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't do it again if I had the chance), but I still think they'd be better welcomed than not.
Rob and Jacob Franklin - Rob's been one of the newer additions to eW in the last year, and he's shown some promise. Don't believe me? Read this. He's giving Dan Ryan a much more stiff challenge than anyone would have expected. I think he should give this a run.
The Sheffield Wednesday Lot - Don't let the fact that they're not terribly over in MBE fool you. They're booker run characters. This is one of the funnest, most creative gimmicks I've seen in awhile, and if Bill and Jeff really put their minds to it, they could walk out the A1E Tag Team Champions
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Shilling!
So yeah, I'll admit I haven't exactly been the most active blogger in the last week or so. I've been pretty busy with lots of things; computer problems, wedding planning, football and last but not least, shilling my ass off for the TEAM Invitational Tournament.
I see a lot of people shilling stuff on various boards in the advert forums. I don't know how successful they are. I'd imagine the ones with snazzier presentation at the very least snag one or two guys from the main boards, but I can't imagine that most of them are that successful. The reason I think that is is because in order to be a successful shill, you've gotta know people.
Knowing people alone, though, won't get you your desired results. For one, you've gotta know your market. What's the supply of handlers? What's the demand for a certain event or fed? If you're looking to start a hardcore narrative written angle fed, you don't go to A1's Efed Smarts and Marks forum or to FW. If you're looking for longterm committments to a fed that involves a lot of writing in short intervals, you don't go to Sean Williams, Dan West or myself first. However, if you're looking to start a long-form storyline RP fed in a community such as PTC, where two feds recently closed, one went on hiatus and another one is looking to close in about 15 months, then you might get a response.
Another thing would be intestinal fortitude. You can't be intimidated by names or think that people on your buddy list aren't going participate in your fed or event because it's just not prestigious enough. Everyone you know should be a target. Who knows, you might get many of the names on your wishlist. It's all in asking. The worst they can do is say no.
But what if they don't say no, but don't say yes? You have to be persistent! You can't let the people who say "I'll get back to you" not ever get back to you. Get back to them regularly until they give you a yes or no. Now, you can't be too persistent. I mean, if you bug someone like a blue-assed fly, they're more predisposed to say no. Also, don't keep bugging someone who's already said no to your invitation. If they don't want in, they have a good reason probably. Maybe they don't have time, maybe that kind of RPing isn't their bag or maybe they're just having a rotten spot of health in real life.
If you keep all those in mind, you'll be successful recruiting for your happening. I mean, I thought I was going to struggle to equal last year's number of folks for the TEAM Invitational (32), and as it stands right now, I only need five more to double that total.
You just gotta know how to work the crowd ;)
I see a lot of people shilling stuff on various boards in the advert forums. I don't know how successful they are. I'd imagine the ones with snazzier presentation at the very least snag one or two guys from the main boards, but I can't imagine that most of them are that successful. The reason I think that is is because in order to be a successful shill, you've gotta know people.
Knowing people alone, though, won't get you your desired results. For one, you've gotta know your market. What's the supply of handlers? What's the demand for a certain event or fed? If you're looking to start a hardcore narrative written angle fed, you don't go to A1's Efed Smarts and Marks forum or to FW. If you're looking for longterm committments to a fed that involves a lot of writing in short intervals, you don't go to Sean Williams, Dan West or myself first. However, if you're looking to start a long-form storyline RP fed in a community such as PTC, where two feds recently closed, one went on hiatus and another one is looking to close in about 15 months, then you might get a response.
Another thing would be intestinal fortitude. You can't be intimidated by names or think that people on your buddy list aren't going participate in your fed or event because it's just not prestigious enough. Everyone you know should be a target. Who knows, you might get many of the names on your wishlist. It's all in asking. The worst they can do is say no.
But what if they don't say no, but don't say yes? You have to be persistent! You can't let the people who say "I'll get back to you" not ever get back to you. Get back to them regularly until they give you a yes or no. Now, you can't be too persistent. I mean, if you bug someone like a blue-assed fly, they're more predisposed to say no. Also, don't keep bugging someone who's already said no to your invitation. If they don't want in, they have a good reason probably. Maybe they don't have time, maybe that kind of RPing isn't their bag or maybe they're just having a rotten spot of health in real life.
If you keep all those in mind, you'll be successful recruiting for your happening. I mean, I thought I was going to struggle to equal last year's number of folks for the TEAM Invitational (32), and as it stands right now, I only need five more to double that total.
You just gotta know how to work the crowd ;)
Monday, December 18, 2006
The ENNies
It's almost time for the year end awards season. Of course, I'll be handing out my Blog Awards, and various feds will be voting on their awards too. There will definitely be interfed hubs handing out their awards too, but there's one in particular that's been doing this for the last two years. ENN, run by Brian Jenkins, might seem like it's not an active hub right now, but their ENNie awards are pretty prestigious. They're voted on by some of the best minds in all of eW, albeit minds that are confined to a certain circle.
This year, I'd like to see more people from all over take part in the nomination and voting processes. I know a lot of people have their own awards, but a centralized awards ceremony will give a lot more credibility to achievements throughout the year. The more voices heard, the stronger the reaction.
The cool thing about the ENNies is that it's written up like an awards show. The writeups themselves can have their memorable moments, most notably, Professor Tremendous accepting Troy Windham's Heel of the Year Award on his behalf.
We're in the nomination process right now. If you'd like to participate, go here. If you're not a member of ENN right now, you'll have to register, but that'll only take a second.
So participate and help give eW a more prestigious year end awards ceremony.
This year, I'd like to see more people from all over take part in the nomination and voting processes. I know a lot of people have their own awards, but a centralized awards ceremony will give a lot more credibility to achievements throughout the year. The more voices heard, the stronger the reaction.
The cool thing about the ENNies is that it's written up like an awards show. The writeups themselves can have their memorable moments, most notably, Professor Tremendous accepting Troy Windham's Heel of the Year Award on his behalf.
We're in the nomination process right now. If you'd like to participate, go here. If you're not a member of ENN right now, you'll have to register, but that'll only take a second.
So participate and help give eW a more prestigious year end awards ceremony.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
You want old school?
This message goes out to EVERYONE, but...
It seems that the buzz on both EWN and especially on PTC is that people wanna go back to the old school. Back when RPing meant trash talking and not writing page after page of storyline stuff. I keep trying to say that there's a whole world out there dedicated to old school, where in their minds, time has stood still, right here at FW Central.
Well, if you guys really want to hit up the old school, there isn't any better time to do it than now. Chad Merritt and Sean Edmunds are giving out the chances of a lifetime in their respective feds, the granddaddy of them all, the CSWA and the newer school NEW. They're holding ALL COMERS WELCOME events with gold and shots at gold on the line. I hate to sound like a used car salesman, but that's right, you can walk right off the proverbial street and come away with a piece of CSWA gold or a shot at the NEW World Heavyweight Championship.
On the CSWA front, it was announced that the fed's landmark event, Anniversary would have only two matches, but these two matches would comprise of an event called the Gold Rush. The in-character description of this is that there's going to be five rings, set up so that there are four outer rings and one inner ring. It's basically going to look like the five on a die. In the middle ring, UNIFIED Champion Troy Windham stands alone. On the four outer rings, any and all comers will compete. In three of the outer rings, there will be the three CSWA singles Champions below the UNIFIED holder (Jericoholic Anonymous, Greensboro; Jay Phoenix, Presidential; Kin Hiroshi, United States). In the fourth ring, there will be no Champion. Now the winners of each battle royale in each of the outer rings will advance to the midle ring. In each of the three rings that has one of the secondary Champions, the winner will also come away with that title belt. In the ring with no Champion in it, the winner will receive a sort of "Money in the Bank" that he can use as a shot to ANY CSWA Championship if he doesn't succeed in the second part of the match.
Now, in that aforementioned second part of the match, it's a five-way dance amongst Windham and the four winners for the biggest prize in all of e-wrestling, the UNIFIED Championship, which represents not only the CSWA but about 50 other leagues from the old-school Prodigy days.
Does that sound tempting enough for you? No? You want something a little mor straightforward? Well then, have I got the solution for you!
NEW's BattleBRAWL, which is like their Royal Rumble, has opened entries to all-comers as well. If you win, you get a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, currently held by Jonathan Marx. It'll be you vs. 29 other competitors, some of the best the FW world has to offer. Add that to the fact that Edmunds is a terriffic fedhead who's gotten some pretty big name talent from across the spectrum to compete for him. Not only does he have the FW elite, he's also got Kyle handling Turk, the LoC Underground Champion, there in the short term as well as Sean Williams, who you may know better as Seymour Almasy, Thanatos, Kenjiro Ito or Logic, handling a sumo named Ozeki.
And on top of that, Edmunds will be doing something that I think takes a lot of patience and passion for the game to do. He's going to a "live broadcast" of the BattleBRAWL results via an AIM chat room. He's set up seperate screen names for all of his announcers and he's going to do it like it's a real live wrestling show in a chat room. I think this is woth joining and following just for that.
Seriously folks, you can't go wrong entering either event. I know I'm going to have a ball with the Gold Rush, and I would be having one with BattleBRAWL, but I'm not participating. Why? Because I'm going to be in the NEW World Title match at BattleBRAWL. So there's another added bonus. If you win BattleBRAWL, there's a good chance you might be facing ME for the NEW World Championship, and I know there's more than a few of you out there who'd like to take me down a peg or two ;)
So if you really want to go old school and you want a chance to win some gold, try Gold Rush, BattleBRAWL, or what I strongly recommend, both! Trust me, you'll have a blast.
It seems that the buzz on both EWN and especially on PTC is that people wanna go back to the old school. Back when RPing meant trash talking and not writing page after page of storyline stuff. I keep trying to say that there's a whole world out there dedicated to old school, where in their minds, time has stood still, right here at FW Central.
Well, if you guys really want to hit up the old school, there isn't any better time to do it than now. Chad Merritt and Sean Edmunds are giving out the chances of a lifetime in their respective feds, the granddaddy of them all, the CSWA and the newer school NEW. They're holding ALL COMERS WELCOME events with gold and shots at gold on the line. I hate to sound like a used car salesman, but that's right, you can walk right off the proverbial street and come away with a piece of CSWA gold or a shot at the NEW World Heavyweight Championship.
On the CSWA front, it was announced that the fed's landmark event, Anniversary would have only two matches, but these two matches would comprise of an event called the Gold Rush. The in-character description of this is that there's going to be five rings, set up so that there are four outer rings and one inner ring. It's basically going to look like the five on a die. In the middle ring, UNIFIED Champion Troy Windham stands alone. On the four outer rings, any and all comers will compete. In three of the outer rings, there will be the three CSWA singles Champions below the UNIFIED holder (Jericoholic Anonymous, Greensboro; Jay Phoenix, Presidential; Kin Hiroshi, United States). In the fourth ring, there will be no Champion. Now the winners of each battle royale in each of the outer rings will advance to the midle ring. In each of the three rings that has one of the secondary Champions, the winner will also come away with that title belt. In the ring with no Champion in it, the winner will receive a sort of "Money in the Bank" that he can use as a shot to ANY CSWA Championship if he doesn't succeed in the second part of the match.
Now, in that aforementioned second part of the match, it's a five-way dance amongst Windham and the four winners for the biggest prize in all of e-wrestling, the UNIFIED Championship, which represents not only the CSWA but about 50 other leagues from the old-school Prodigy days.
Does that sound tempting enough for you? No? You want something a little mor straightforward? Well then, have I got the solution for you!
NEW's BattleBRAWL, which is like their Royal Rumble, has opened entries to all-comers as well. If you win, you get a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship, currently held by Jonathan Marx. It'll be you vs. 29 other competitors, some of the best the FW world has to offer. Add that to the fact that Edmunds is a terriffic fedhead who's gotten some pretty big name talent from across the spectrum to compete for him. Not only does he have the FW elite, he's also got Kyle handling Turk, the LoC Underground Champion, there in the short term as well as Sean Williams, who you may know better as Seymour Almasy, Thanatos, Kenjiro Ito or Logic, handling a sumo named Ozeki.
And on top of that, Edmunds will be doing something that I think takes a lot of patience and passion for the game to do. He's going to a "live broadcast" of the BattleBRAWL results via an AIM chat room. He's set up seperate screen names for all of his announcers and he's going to do it like it's a real live wrestling show in a chat room. I think this is woth joining and following just for that.
Seriously folks, you can't go wrong entering either event. I know I'm going to have a ball with the Gold Rush, and I would be having one with BattleBRAWL, but I'm not participating. Why? Because I'm going to be in the NEW World Title match at BattleBRAWL. So there's another added bonus. If you win BattleBRAWL, there's a good chance you might be facing ME for the NEW World Championship, and I know there's more than a few of you out there who'd like to take me down a peg or two ;)
So if you really want to go old school and you want a chance to win some gold, try Gold Rush, BattleBRAWL, or what I strongly recommend, both! Trust me, you'll have a blast.
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