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!

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.

Shillings and such

Some new feds, some new projects, some pimpings and everything else that's good in the world of endless promotion. First though, I haven't forgotten about the WrestleVerse review or the Ultimate MBE Tournament. This weekend, I should have stuff up. I've just been swamped with TEAM stuff and RPing for PRIME (both the Dual Halo and the Tag Championship match), so hopefully, we'll have some goodness going.

As for TEAM, tonight, we find out who the other eight wrestlers are who made it to the Sweet Sixteen. I'm personally excited to write the results, and I think now, things will kick into high gear. Remember to make make predictions and leave feedback, both for the last EPICENTER writeup (for which I've gotten none so far =[) and for the RPs.

Onto more important things...

- Rebel-Pro Wrestling is the newest "e-fed indie" on the block. It's based out of North Carolina, and if you recognize names off the roster right away as being from NAPW, don't be alarmed. It's the Alberta indie's sister fed. Brion (Chris Casino's handler) is the booker here, and I believe it's his first foray into fedheading, so wish him luck. This also spells a change in NAPW schedule from weekly to a more "indie" feel, running shows here and there like an ROH. I'm intrigued by the switch-around, and hopefully neither fed will suffer from it.

- Next up is a new FW fed, Premier Championship Wrestling. This is the brainchild of Al Larcher, the man who has brought us the Williams family and lots of good, fun eW radio shenanigans. This is only a temporary name, since Al has found a real life fed with the same name, but the premise will remain the same; indie-styled wrestling in and around the Chicago area. A lot of eW indies popping up nowadays, eh? I actually like that trend, seeing that national is a) overdone, and b) unrealistic in the vein that you don't just start up a company and expect it to be national overnight. But as I did when Al was kicking around this idea at PTC, I'm giving this fed the E-fed Blog Seal of Approval.

- I was remiss not to tell you guys about this fed when I told you about the forums it's related to, Wrestling 3:16. World Wrestling Revolution is the anchor behind W3:16, and it's taking the NFW hybrid approach. However, the way Aidan/Al explained things, this is going to be a "game-driven" approach. Not sure what that means exactly, but I'm willing to observe for myself.

- If you haven't heard by now, PTC is combining the Global and Extreme Championships into one title. Normally, I don't like the condensation of titles unless necessary, but I think this is necessary. Wrestling interest is on a downswing, and the title divisions as they were were not conducive to getting out multiple defenses in a year. They rearranged the divisions (now just division), appointed Ben "Pants" Morrow as the head, and they'll just worry about one title. Hopefully, they'll make the rounds in each PTC fed at least once every six months and have a few I-fed events so that this title becomes a dynamo. I am a bit leery on the match though. It's too big, in my opinion. You have each Champion (Global Champ Clinton Sage and Extreme Champ Dusk) plus Jason Snow (as GTT6 Champion) plus the IG Champion at the time (whoever that is) PLUS fed representatives from XUW, WWA, Global and GCW. That's eight people, about five or six too many. I'd rather see one big unification match between Dusk and Sage and then have the rest of the competitors in the match receive their shots. Snow first, unless he's unable to do it because of real life concerns (which I think is the case right now), then you go into the fed reps. That's just me though, and either way, I think this match should be a great success.

- One bit of sad news, ENN is going to be closing. Brian Jenkins announced it this week, and I think it's a shame. I know that there wasn't a lot of activity there, but that's across the board on most eW hubs anyway. I thought the news page was a good thing, plus the Ray Rosa shoots were a great idea that just never took off. I thought maybe that ToC '07 might have provided a spark, (now that TEAM has taken off a little more) but I guess this is for the best. Fare thee well, ENN. You had a good run while you lasted.