EPW/NEW WrestleSTOCK: Night Two

Here we go again! I know I'm late to the game, but hey, better late than never.

Clicky clicky

Beau Michaels and the Cleaning Lady

That was... bizarre. Which only means that it was par for the course for Beau Michaels. I'm wondering how Beau is going to fit into Melton's storyline and future, especially if he keeps the belt past Russian Roulette. It looks like the program after RR is going to be the winner of the contender's match against whomever is Champion, but then again, there's no guarantee Melton walks out of RR as the Champion. Good segment though.

Not So Tactful

Ooh, a mic spot! Larry Tact does the interviewage here with Sammy Baxter... I'm wondering here if Baxter is supposed to be such a dope. Aaaanyway, good spot, the kind of thing that definitely belongs on a PPV/supercard type setting.

The Queen Holds Court

From one mic spot backstage to another one in-ring, this time from Lindsay Troy, Dan Ryan, and later on, Beast. Usually, I don't like these kinds of things on PPV, but I think in this instance, it works seeing that this supercard is also building up towards an EPW PPV, and because if you got swerved out of your panties on night one of a two night event, wouldn't you want to react ASAP, i.e., on night two? Great mic spot as always from Lindz, and I like how they never really dropped the IrishRed/Beast in-charge angle either. Good tension there.

Dahaka/Scott

First match of the evening and it belongs to EPW. Frankie Scott and Nakita Dahaka, but before that match, another mic spot, once again, to explain what happened the night before. Excuse me for gushing, but between NEW and EPW, are you going to find a collective that's better at grasping the concept of a wrestling promo than these guys? You see folks who don't do promos all that often who think of the promo-style as nothing but "trash talk." They look down on it because of that, and then when they try to do it, they fall flat on their face because they only concentrate on insults and in some cases, their insults are worse than the kind you'd hear on the playground in kindergarten. Once again though, Scott delivers with the mic-work.

Onto the match, good, standard fare. The improvement in how the EPW announcers were handled from night one is noticeable and appreciated. Some clever spots in here too, my favorite of which being Scott giving Dahaka a low blow and her shrugging it off and waylaying him. Shocking finish, since I didn't think the Sarge was going to return in that capacity. Good feud setting up between Team PHENOM and James/Sarge, although the issue between Scott and Dakaha clearly isn't over, not especially after the happenings with Delilah. It'll be interesting to see where this all goes.

Payne/File

Wow, a lot of hardcore matches on the slate for NEW over this event. Not a bad thing though. I like how Chaos is the overlord of the whole P­­©X division. It gives it a good, primal feel. One thing I didn't like about this match was Julius' constant gay jokes on Jive. Not sure if I noticed this night one, but they really jumped out to me as being bad in this match. Not bad as in "omg homofobe" but bad as in... they were kinda lame. Solid match regardless though. Really looking forward to Payne and Chaos.

Making His Mark

Tact's planning something big... not sure how what he did here figures in, but I'm sure we'll find out later.

CHRONIC COLLIZION~!

Nice way to gloss over a no-show here. Knee-jerk is to squash the no-show, and yes, that's my preferred method, but this is a good way too, especially if you want the no-show to stick around. Good spot, good for reintroduction.

Truce of the Daymons

Wow, Strawsma was a freaking workhorse for this event, wasn't he? Not as much brawling as night one, but it gets the point across, much like his CC seg before.

Saviors/Jack 'n Hoff

Nice match, although I thought it was too heavy on the "wholesale naming of wrestling moves." Matches aren't called like that in real life, and it kinda trips me up. Still, not a bad match, and I liked the post-match announcement. Should be a bopper.

Tre Day + EPW Tag Titles

First up, it's ICE TRE~! Once again, another stellar mic spot, although having Stevens pull double duty at RR? I'm not totally in tune with the card lineup for the event, but I'm pretty sure he's only in one match. Anyhoo, onto the match...

It was a nice, solid affair. Once again, not a huge fan of the wholesale name-a-move style of calling the action, but the more important thing is they got the spirit of the announce team down. I have to say, the EPW team has been handled much better on night 2. Good set-up with CC~! coming out after the match. Dalekchev has money written all over him though, both with "VJORK" and saying "formerly Crimson Calling" after every time Black says CHRONIC COLLIZION~!

Mr. Entertainment/HAL

I really like how much of a prick Mr. E is. Great old-school heel on camera, although I do think Karl needs to post fewer song lyrics with his RPs :p As for the action, it's solid as usual. NEW seems to have the same problem with spelling out every move, but then again, it's still a minor problem. I really liked the finish, and I'm looking forward to the match at BitUS.

BEAU-tylicious

Once again, Edmunds does the perfect job of both getting the point across and disturbing nearly everyone who reads his Beau interviews. :p Good segment.

Anarky/Beast

This match was pretty short, a quick jaunting read, but I think it works here. Why? The brutality was turned all the way up to 11. The temptation would be to make this match über-brutal and über-long at the same time, but that would have to imply Supernatural Undertaker-like levels of stamina that wouldn't come off as believable. Having Ryan and 'Nark mug the hell out of Beast furthers the storyline AND it makes sense. There were some pretty sweet spots here too, like Beast sending 'Nark through the storefront window. Good match.

Just Checking Up

Serves its point. Good lead-up segment to the main.

Marx vs. GOP vs. Tact vs. Daymon vs. Hart vs. Rabesque

The big one for Night Two. Nice little intro to start things, and we're off. There's some pretty sick action in here. Whoever wrote this match deserves some props. The announce team is well-written, the action and spots make sense, and I love all the cracks at the state of New Jersey :) I liked the attention to detail, which is hard to do in a match with six competitors in it. My favorite spot by far was the ladders tipping over and everyone going KABOOM. The finish was pretty neat too. Good spot of cheating by Marx's camp, and I don't think I've ever seen the co-Champions bit done with the World title before. Great job, and a great way to close the night.

In Conclusion

Fantastic finish to a fantastic concept. Brunk and Edmunds should be lauded for putting this card together and getting it out in quick (for FW) fashion. Everyone who was involved in this card should get a hearty round of applause. So far, THE event of 2007 in eW.

WrestleSTOCK: Night One

Yep, giving this the flagship treatment. Before you flay me, Katz, I will get to Night 2 of WrestleBowl. I'm still trying to get through the last match.

Anyway, flagship review means SEG BY SEG REVIEWAGE for the EPW/NEW Supershow, which should prove as one of the big moments of the year on the FW calendar.

Intro

Solid intro, can't complain about it. Gives the event its due gravity.

Stalker Gets an Appetizer

Good building segment for the match. Things like this may seem overdone, but I can't get enough of them. Interested to see why Stalker is after Daymon though.

Stalker/Hiroshi

BAH GAWD what an opener. I think the length and the intensity of the match fit the RP period very well here. I loved some of the spots, especially the chili to the face and of course, the flaming spin kick through the big screen TV. Absurd spot, but hey, it works. I had a few problems with the match though. One, the matchwriter has a touch of Milleritis... too much CAPSLOCK. Two, the CAPS sections tend to punctuate some pretty egregious spelling errors that might have been hidden better if they were in lowercase. Three, even though I appreciate the attempt at full PBP (my preferred style of reading), I thought that it read too much like a plain-prose transcript with Thomas' PBP. Also, when did Kin Hiroshi go heel? Four... you had Eli Manning make an appearance and NOT take a HLB or an Evenflow DDT? C'mon, the little punk deserves it! :p Despite the flaws though, it was a great opener, and I was thoroughly entertained.

Unlucky 13 Match

First off... that stipulation is ESS-EYE-SEE-KAY SICK! So you know I love it ;) This was a very fun match, very kitschy, and not a lot of actual wrestling, but who cares? It's garbage wrestling all the way, baby! I might have spaced this match out a little from the opener, because giving two hardcore-themed matches in a row might be overkill. Back to the positives though, I loved some of those one-liners from the NEW crew. Good match.

HPSC vs. Brown/Foxx

Wow, no intros? I know I've harped on overly long intros, but this is a bit much, I think. Big mistake right away in the early action with Neels calling Farnswirth cheap without condoning it. Methinks EPW matchwriters need a tutorial on Neels from these first two matches ;) At least it's rectified quite early. Dean's also not jiving with me in that he seems to be a second PBP announcer. It's a problem I see fairly often, actually. I've seen it in TEAM and NFW too. I wonder if it's because people don't really watch a whole lot of wrestling on TV anymore but still participate in eW (then again, sometimes, it feels like WWE broadcasts have two color commentators rather than a PBP and a color). The action was pretty good, and I really liked how the writer protected the Market Crash and still had Foxx logically be able to kick out of it (where Karl interrupts the count). It was quite a non-face thing for Karl to do, but it was smart, and I think that really brought out the cerebral and techincal nature of the Dragon. A lot of positives and negatives for this one, but it'll do for what it was.

Cat's Meow vs. Wells/Starr vs. Doe/Davis

Again, I'm a huge fan of the Doe/misogyny angle. When I saw Cat's Meow's combined weight, I laughed to myself seeing that probably half the eW characters out there are that weight or above. Actually, no, I mainly chuckled to myself imagining Lamont Hollywood saying "285 pounds? I have bowel movements that weigh more than that." Don't ask me why I thought of that, but hey, this is the same person that brought you Spoils vs. KVC vs. Ryan... VS. THE WORLD~! Aaaanyway, enough about that and onto the match. I thought the action was great and the commentary fit. The writer really played into the angle well, and it really made for an entertaining read filled with psychology. The run-in at the end was nice too. I really do expect big things for Doe now that he's found his way.

And a little something extra from Chaos' opponent tacked on at the end of the match

Nice promo, really gets the interest stoked for who this mystery guy is.

Dope

New guy in EPW. He sounds dark and brooding, but in a different way than your typical generic Goth guy, at least so far. He can write monologue, that's for sure. Interested to see who he is, since he's talking about revenge. I think it's probably a previous character looking to get back at one of the big guys. Either way, a welcome addition to the roster it seems.

James Irish vs. Shawn Hart

Wow. THAT's the EPW matchwriting I know and love. Great action all throughout, and Neels was heels all the way through. I liked how Neels kept harping on the bail-out aspect the whole match. It's definitely something he'd do. Some really cool spots in there too, like Hart with the Cloverleaf on James, and of course, I always mark for the Headbangers' Ball. Always appreciate nods to TEAM happenings too. The end was unexpected and a great way to protect Irish's heat without taking the strap off of Hart. Very interested in seeing where the Scott/Hart team is going to go.

A Woman's Ambition

Hm, a narrative segment. Kinda breaks up the flow of the card, but it's something Karl and Amy have been doing for the last couple of cards now. It does set up something big, a title match between Foxx and Karl Brown. I'm interested at the friendly rivalry aspect of things... wonder if anything huge is going to happen at the match, since this is the kind of misdirection that always results out of these things.

Chaos vs. Mystery Man

And the mystery man is... Trevor Cane. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the name, no offense to Trevor, but the angle was well-thought out, so maybe this will give him a rub. As for the match itself... man, this night is turning out to be CZW levels of gory, isn't it? Gotta hand it to everyone involved here, because tonight would make all the hardcore wrestling fans drool between this match and the opening two. I thought the finish might have killed Cane (literally) a bit, but still, Chaos earned this one.

War of the Daymons

Ummm... I have no idea what to make of that. I guess it's the blowoff to Daymon's angle in EPW over the last few months? Neat way to do things though, although I thought there were way too many wrestling moves in there for it to be an impromptu street fight. It was entertaining though.

JA vs. Stevens

I can in no way objectively look at this match. Once again, congrats to Jamar, you deserved this. I do have to admit seeing the loss deflated me a lot, moreso than usual. It was a kick in the gut after all that unpleasantness with the ToC. It's one thing to lose a match. That's acceptable, people HAVE to lose or else the hobby is really worthless. However... to lose that match AFTER having everything melt down from the ToC... I felt pretty bad as both a booker and a handler. It's not fun. But I'm over all that now. Looking forward to XXX and the Champion (not spoiled for the three of you who haven't read the show yet :p)

Bored of Edukashun vs. the Inner Circle

Well, at least the match was well-written, but then again, what can you do with a double no-show? Planning could have been better; maybe this match could have been night two, especially with Lindz having to worry about defending her EPW Championship on the same night. Ah well, at least they can drag the Tag Title stuff out until Banned in the USA.

Lindsay Troy vs. Joey Melton

If this were "real" wrestling, Troy would be getting super brownie points from the Internet smarks right now ;) Two matches in a row, and away we go. The match stared with Neels channeling Lamont Hollywood and Sammy Benson, which is a bad thing, seeing that Neels isn't supposed to be written with a tenth of the wit of the best color men in eW. That's his charm really, that Neels is a dim-witted heel shill who likes to harp on things repeatedly. We also got a recap of the divorce angle, which set things up nice for the match. I definitely LOLed at Melton coming out to "I Will Survive." Steve always has a way of representing Melton with such a paradoxical self-deprecating bravado... and I can't believe I just used that sentence describing an imaginary match that's the fantasy equivalent of the fakest sport this side of boxing :p The match itself had good action. Reading it more and more, it feels like I'm reading a booth with two Beanfries/Hollywood or Buckleys/Benson. The broadcast booth doesn't feel like an EPW team. Taking that for what it was though, the action was great and it totally felt like a World Championship match. The ladder was a good touch too. The end swerve though... I thought the masked man not being Beast was brilliant... and the twin brother thing was something Steve would only pull off and make work, but I'm still leery about it. I have the utmost faith that this will deliver, especially in angles and segments, where the Melton character excels. However, this angle does seem a bit more like "daytime soap opera" than "male soap opera" that wrestling has been described as over the years. I'm waiting for Donaven Winters to come back from the dead now and claim that Caitlyn Daymon is pregnant with his baby after reading that. Still though, it was entertaining, and the after promo was gold. I wish Steve wouldn't save those diatribes for on-cards and put them in his RPs :p

But in closing, let's give Lindz a big round of applause for her title reign. She pretty much proved everyone wrong, and while her biggest naysayers spend each week thinking of excuses why their big show still hasn't gone up and their forums should remain active, she's on top of the eW world.

In Conclusion

Very, very strong card. Some weaknesses, but a joint card of this magnitude is bound to have them, even with everyone getting up for it. Still, the matchwriting was silky-smooth and easy to follow, the finishes and angles hit on every cylinder and of course, the segments were entertaining and not superfluous. Can't wait to read Night 2.

WrestleVerse II Review

Sure, this is way late. Hell, EPW has even gotten another edition of their flagship TV show Aggression out, but in the spirit of normal Empire Pro card posting, here's your WrestleVerse II review.

The Epic Begins

So we start off with some backstage banter between Foxx and Karl Brown. Kinda uncharacteristic behavior from the normally squeaky clean Dragon, but Foxx resists the temptation. Are we setting up a heel turn for Brown with this, or maybe a sort of romantic type story between the two? Not sure, but whatever this sets up seems more interesting than the actual segment. It'd be harsh for me to say this segment didn't belong on the show, because it did, but I don't think it should have opened the show, especially since it's a PPV event and you either want to open with a match or a really dynamic segment.

Future Legend Signed

Another segment... I love EPW shows and the segments usually are top notch, but I question the logic of having two to open the show. I felt that maybe this one should have gone first, then the opening match, then the Karl/Foxx seg. This is still a good set-up for a debut, who claims to be an old name. The letters GXW seem to forebode a name more familiar to the old-school FW guys on the roster.

Intro

Very short intro, but I thought it worked. I liked the preamble, I liked the logo and I laughed out loud at Mike Neely's choice of wardrobe. The EPW announce crew is tied for my favorite announce crew in eW, along with Kerry O'Connor and Lamont Hollywood.

Priest vs. Damian Stone

The beginning of this match was very well-written. I especially liked the ole spots, it showed the natural panache that I've been trying to impart in Priest. Commentary really shines in this match, although I feel they made Dean a little more heelish than he should be. I especially liked this line:

MN: Hallelujah! Large men hitting each other!

If only because it made Neels look like a closet fag ;) Very good match, albeit for a match that had as little effort RPing as possible for a match that wasn't a double no-show.

Geishas!

Very short segment that is probably setting up another arrival or something.

Rocko Daymon vs. Kazuo Shizaki

Could have done without the "hey, this is the biggest night of the year because we say so" moment at the beginning of this match. Let the storytelling in the ring dictate that, because outright saying it actually takes away from that. Even with Neels balancing it out, it just seems cheesy.

AS for the match itself, it's great to see other writers adopt the full PBP style, so that's a plus. The minus is that the action to me didn't really back up the pre-match hype. It seemed a bit incomplete, but that could very well be due to a lack of RPing for the match. I'm not sure. I like the post match stuff, hopefully it leads to a bigger role for Shizaki on the card (although with the introduction of the new special assistant on the following Aggression, I think not :p).

That Wasn't the Plan

Another short segment hyping up Cassidy Stewart's client. Something tells me we're getting a debut shortly :)

Nakita Dakaha vs. Frankie Scott

We start with Neels professing his lust for Dahaka and Dean-o calling him a fat-ass. That's my announce team! The intros were both very well-written, descriptive but not overdone... there are some PTC-fed matchwriters who'd do well to take notice of this.

Before the action starts... looks like Cassidy Stewart's client is none other than GXW legend Ice Tre, the most over winless wrestler in the history of winless wrestlers. He comes out and entertains everyone who reads the show with his antics before Scott and Dahaka lay the smack down on. Did I mention this is my first exposure to Ice Tre and he's already become one of my top 10 favorite characters of all time?

We get back to the match now. I like the staredown, a slightly overdone tactic, but an effective one nonetheless. Neels breaking out the Count von Count is priceless too. More people should crib Sesame Street. Once again, I do like the full PBP action, but I think this match has too much Dave Thomas block text. It's my personal preference to break up the PBP man a lot with good color commentary, but I also admit that it's not detracting that much from the match. All in all a good match, very solid, what you'd come to expect from EPW.

Post match angle seems interesting. I guess Scott and Dahaka's feud isn't over yet, although the strap match is one of those gimmick matches that could go either way in terms of feud advancement or blowing off.

Proleteriat vs. Motor City Maniacs vs. Saviors of Wrestling

Starting off with the announcers highlighting the EPW Tag Division, which right now is the only real viable one on FW. NEW and NFW have 'em in the wings, but it's true, Empire's got the most active one, probably second to only NAPW in all of eW.

God bless whoever took this match on, because tag matches are rough to write by themselves. Three-ways... fugheddaboutit! Cool opener though, can't go wrong with mass chaos. Commentary was amusing, but I thought that there was too much of a sidebar with the hot dog stand with no parenthetical action. I think if you go to a sidebar with the commentators, you still have to describe action in the ring in parentheses to show that the world didn't stop because Mike Neely got a hot dog.

On the whole, I thought that this match was a little sloppy. In the past, I could make the excuse for the cluster, but with people busting out cluster matches with the efficiency, at least my expectation level is heightened. Still though, it was a good match.

Foxx vs. Ninja K

Looks like we get a follow up from the opening segment of the show as Karl Brown is accompanying Foxx to the ring here. Like the sell of the build to this match in the beginning. Matchwriters should take note. Solid match if a tad unspectacular. Injury angle at the end.... I hope Tramel isn't leaving EPW, although if he is, I can understand.

Triple X vs Bloodhunt

In terms of action, this is the best match of the night thus far. Crisp transitions, good PBP, although I could have done without the TWO AND 9/10 stuff. Seems overly melodramatic. The pin sequence was pretty neat, although the draw was dissatisfying, especially since it seems Stanton isn't coming back with Bloodhunt. It would have been a better finish with Stevens going over clean.

Post-match... MORE ICE TRE! This time, Stevens lays him out. I don't think this will ever get old :)

Pastries

Mysterious segment, very introspective, bordering on RP-worthy rather than seg-worthy. A lot of questions being asked, and really many of them can be answered through the fed's relative inactivity :p. The payoff for this segment is golden though. It's the return of Kin Hiroshi to EPW, and it looks like he's back to stalk the CCP. I'm a fan.

Shawn Hart vs. Mike Evers

Shawn Hart doing the Macarena... do wonders ever cease? Once again, the commentary shines here. Most of the matchwriters in EPW seem to have a command of the team, and that's what makes it so easy to write for them. Another solid match in terms of action, and the finish was absurd but in a good way. The Whizzinator is something I can just see Hart pulling out.

Team Huddle

A segment to set up Sarge's hiatus from Empire. Kinda anti-climactic and a spoiler to the next match, but I guess it's necessary.

James and Sergeant vs. Blitz

Match time and no James Irish? What's going on here? Sarge is left to get his ass kicked by himself, at least early on. Blitz lays the smack down on Sarge, but then James appears. He was held up by something... what? We don't know yet. James gets laid out and then Blitz picks up the win on Sarge... okay match, and I guess it may set up a few things, but with Sarge leaving, I'm not sure what it is.

Tagalong

I'm guessing there's some angle going on between these two in the longterm, because Foxx is returning the favor.

Karl Brown vs. Steven Shane

This is the most rapid-fire paced match of the night so far. Spot after spot, it's like a pseudo-technical spotfest. Indie-fed chic! I like Foxx's constructive interference here. It's a new wrinkle on getting extracurricularly involved in a match. Good match, but I don't like how every single one of Steven Shane's finishers was killed in this match. If you're going to do that, have Shane kick out of a Dragon's Bite.

Geishas - Sage Advice

More teasing of our Japanese themed friend, plus more of the good stuff with Ice Tre. Short seg, but there's nothing wrong with that.

Dan Ryan vs. IrishRed, Part 1

And one of two main events gets started. We start off with a quick rundown of the feud between the two. Seriously, even though the matchwriting itself has been hit or miss, every matchwriter out there except Katz, JAAAAAAAMMMMARRR~! *shakes fist*, Steve and a handful of others should take note here at how well EPW frames and dresses its matches. Seriously, it's a clinic.

I like the spillover into the crowd and the accidental assault. Both of these men are portrayed as going all-in for the company. They'll go to such lengths to get a company that they won't care that there's a lawsuit waiting for them because of it ;).

I also LOVE the fact that everyone is piling on IrishRed to lose this match. It's something unique, in fact things like these set Match of the Year candidates away from regular matches.

The one thing that's confused me throughout this entire feud... who's the face? Honestly, there have been times when both guys could have claimed either face or heel role. In fact, it's bounced back and forth throughout, including on Aggression 28.

More Ice Tre goodness! Hands down, he's been the star of this PPV so far. I probably would have marked out in my seat to see him hop off the bus, even if he's been all over the PPV so far. Big props for the ballsy bus driver too. This match is freakin' awesome so far.

Dan and Paul Disappoint the Social Club

Good angle to set up the deck being stacked against the Tag Champs in a unique way. I think it's a pretty clever way to get around a no-show, plus PAUL FREEMAN SIGHTING!

CCP vs. HPSC

On the whole, this was probably the best match of the night so far. Not really much to say either way, since it was solid all the way through and it was your basic wrestling match, very well-done. Good to see the Tag Championships getting a write-up befitting a World Championship match. That's how it should be if you're looking to build a tag division. I loved how each character was written within itself, ie, the writer really got the characters, especially the bumbling pain sponge known as Slambo.

After the match, we get the payoff to the geisha buildup during the show, and it's Beau Micheals.... scratch that... BEAUKOZUNA! He brought the San Diego Chicken with him too. You'd think they're there because of Beau's history with Cruise, but apparently, they want Melton. Melton and Beau, programmed together? I'm REALLY looking forward to this. (And yes, everyone who reads the end of that segment needs a bath :p)

Red vs. Ryan part II

We pick back up, and yes folks, this is still your early favorite for match of the year. I mean, they make small talk and then go to the bus bathroom to fight just so the bus driver wouldn't get on their case, the old lady wanting in, blaming the ref for the mess... all BRILLIANT!

Ice Tre In

Ice Tre for Wrestler of the Year.

Red vs. Ryan The Conclusion

They're mysteriously cleaned up... hm.

The action is still top notch, working in slot machines and free drinks. More interfed action, this time with them showing up at a UCW show, and now a sort of reversal with UCDub staff attacking Ryan. This sets up UCW's newest signee... and former EPW World Champion Beast to screw the Boss and help Red win. In retrospect, it should have been a bit predictable, but it's still one great swerve. This certainly makes things a lot more interesting.

Troy vs. Troy - Ladder Match

The opening was a bit long, but it's a PPV main event, and unlike some places that have epic match openings for mid-card free TV matches, this match has earned it with the build into it and the story behind it. I really liked the "Fanfare" into "Beverly Hills" for Troy Diddy; the sheer pomposity of it all works well with his character.

As for the action... all I can say is WOW! Match of the Year Candidate for every reason opposite as to why the Red/Ryan affair is also a candidate. Just wow. Some of these spots, from the most minute like the trading of eye-thumbs in the beginning to the cavalcade of huge spots near the end (like the leapfrog guillotine leg drop off the ladder by Windham and the ZOMG triple jump moonsault off the ladder by Troy, to the very end, where Troy ranas Windham off the ladder while grabbing the briefcase at the same time), amplified the heat in this match. This is THE example of how you make a match of the year candidate through the action.

The swerve at the end... I liked it. I thought it was ballsy, and it plants seeds for a future program, be it over the title or not, between Melton and Troy. For utter shock value, this is your Dis moment.

Concluding Thoughts

I thought this was a solid affair. Not EPDub's best, but it was definitely strong, albeit top-heavy. I thought in terms of matchwriting, things started out pretty slow and gradually picked up the pace. That's really the formula for any wrestling show, but still, you'd like to see the low and mid-cards represented nicely. I also think the earlier matches suffered from the writers trying too hard to make this seem like EPW's big big HYOOGE OMG CUM show of the year. I don't think EPW is a fed that necessarily needs to have a WrestleMania-type show. Every PPV for them has that "event" feeling to it, and there really are no fillers.

Still, it's an overall success. Three really, really fine matches at the top of the card, including two surefire candidates for MOTY (Ryan/Red, Troy2) and a third one that will almost certainly make the honorable mention list (Tag Team Championship). Lots of good returns and debuts, and huge props to Ice Tre for making an immensely entertaining impact on the show.

NAPW Anniversary Attack Review!

I know it's almost a month late, but I promised you guys. Never let it be known that I welch on a promise :)

Anyway, NAPW, the little regional Western Canadian fed that could, celebrated their one year anniversary on Halloween with Anniversary Assault. My anniversary gift to the home of the first ever TEAM Champion of Champions will be a full, flagship review of the contest. Here goes...

Introduction

Good intro. It did its job very well, getting over NAPW and the many faces who've gone in and out over the last year. As always, the banter between Hewson and Jones is amusing. Gotta love the Leisure Suit Larry get up too.

TV Title Match

Wasting no time getting to the action, as The Yellow Chicken, the wrestler formerly known as Carter Owens, defends his TV Title against Jeff Jones of the Royal Foundation. We start with a flashback from earlier in the evening where Jones tells his stablemates to lay off because he wants to beat Owens himself... I smell a swerve?

Chicken's Halloween costume is Jeff Jarrett, replete with his theme song. Brilliant if done for humor, bad if done as a tribute :p Great match action, they did a good job of opening hot with a match that has heat behind it. Great to see the curtain jerker not be a throwaway match. The finish... I would have liked to have seen Yellow Chicken win because of the tarring and feathering in the previous week, but James earned his title win, no need to let needless angling get in the way of a good RP contest ;)

Pure Honor Division #1 Contenders Match

First we get a video promo for the return of Technique. Pretty neat to see that. One of the many things I like about NAPW, they're very old-school.

The next match is for #1 contendership to the Kiniski Cup (ie, Pure Honor Division Championship). Dez Carter and David Banks. Some pretty good action, although I don't know how a shining Yakuza kick is physically possible. Then again, this is e-fedding; we don't have to obey Newton's laws! (MBE faithful will remember a simultaneous Gilkimission/Web of Deceit in a v. 1.0 writeup.) The finish... it's the crooked ref angle! Good execution here, I like how it was subtly played up at first (Hewson mentioning how it looked like the ref intentionally moved into Carter's path). I'd have to say this is a great way to pile heel heat onto Banks in the Pure Honor division. Good, creative booking.

Ring of Prestige Induction: Chris Casino

Next up, a retrospective of Black Thursday 2005. Afterwards, more nod to history as it appears Chris Casino is getting inducted into NAPW's variant on the hall of fame. My thoughts on e-fed HoFs are well known (I hate them), but I guess this is a good way to honor an integral member of the fed.

Good mic spot, mixing in some of his heel schtick with respect towards the fed and thanks for the opportunities.

Dudes Meet Tiffany

Another segment featuring NAPW HoF inductees, this time, the Dudes, who are meeting up with former manager and current squeeze of Bruce Richards, Tiffany MacIntyre. Wistful segment, looks like it might set up something between the Dudes and NAIDX. Stay tuned...

JC Cook/Crusher

Coming back from the break, and Jones is lavishing us with the tail end of one of his many tales. Ah, my favorite part of any NAPW show :)

Hewson thinks we're going to see the Casino match, but instead, we've got two totally different one-time-only alums going at it, Crusher and JC Cook. Good, short match. No need to take away time from the guys on the roster now with alumni matches. Cook wins, but then gets waylaid by another alum, Misery. Cook gives Misery his comeuppance for that attack and the one that put him out months ago with an impromptu victory. The tying up of loose ends was a good touch.

Dudes Induction

Flashback from Joker's Wild into the Dudes' induction into the RoP. Nice, short segment. Didn't come of as well as Casino's though. Looks like the Dudes wont be back, which kinda negates my feelings from their meeting with Tiffany. Thus is life.

Tag Team Title #1 Contenders Match

SAD vs. The Celtic Assassins vs. Stiff Competition... and Stiff Competition starts things off by mocking the Freebirds. That would have gotten nuclear heat in a real life setting (maybe not for an average WWE American crowd, but a smart crowd, which is what Canada is known for, would have torn them a new asshole!).

Match was good for a tag affair. Celts win, and they'll challenge NAIDX. Should be a good feud (or should have been a good feud if it's already blown off in the gap between posting and the review :p).

Caliber's Induction

Sole Survivor flashback into Caliber's induction. A little vanilla for my taste, but it still gets the point across. Hewson reminds us that evil owner R. Joseph Winchell drove him out of the fed. Could be a beginning for a comeback. Who knows, since no one ever really stays retired in this game anyway.

Royal Foundation/Bruno & Mr. Canada

Mr. Canada! Any relation to Kid Canada? ;) Total rehash of the Hogan/Mr. America angle it seems, with the aforementioned Rex Caliber being strongly hinted at being Mr. C. Rehashes are okay if they're well-played out, and this one seems fun so far.

Match action's pretty good, and the end is how a feud should be paid off.

Kiniski Cup Match

Onto part 2! Kiniski Cup holder Simply Beautiful is dressed up as the least Pure Honor-esque wrestler of all-time, Hulk Hogan. Amusing. Action starts off with the crooked ref from earlier in the night standing in the ring. Hewson is indignant, but Johnston Rawk, North T. Gunderson's (the challenger) partner in crime, lays him out. Nice way to get a nuisance out of your hair, eh?

Gunderson comes out as a Killer Klown, and of course, SB comes out as Hogan. Like the schtick for both guys. As an aside, I like the Halloween stuff. I think it adds to the aura of the show. I like how the crowd is split down the middle for this one. It's a refreshing change from heel/face for every match. Good finish too. I like how these guys run their Pure Honor division. They don't fall into the trap of letting it get boring.

Static Induction, Static/Casino

Another flashback, and then Static comes out for his induction into the Ring of Prestige. Seemed a little ho-hum... Casino's induction speech was the only good one thus far.

Swerve as we find out fan favorite Lobo will officiate the match between the two heels. Nice match with the face getting heat on both of them at the end.

Kryenik's Induction

Another flashback, and our next induction is interrupted by Dextro, who cuts one hell of a "why not me?" promo. He gets interrupted himself by the original honoree, Sick Billy Kryenik, who cuts a mean promo himself and announces he's coming back. I sense this is a huge coup for NAPW. Good segment, so far, it's the best of the HoP ones.

Title Match

Great matchup. I have to say, usually, I don't enjoy the mixed narrative/script style, but I think it worked well here. Props to whoever wrote it for making it look smooth despite the clusterfuckage nature of it. I especially enjoyed the finish, great way to start a title program in that scenario. I would have gone with Cartwright attacking Bickle, but the handshake works too.

Mr. Canada!

Next up we have an amusing segment with Winchell and Mr. Canada. I like this angle, no matter how bad it "pays homage" to the Hogan/Mr. America angle. The writing is fun, and that's all that matters.

House of Horrors

The match itself, like the title match, flows very nicely. I like all the stories being told here, and I thought the emphasis on NAIDX as a team was really nice. There's no surprise in NAPW sending 6 teams to this MCW tag team tournament (more on that in a later entry!). Ravager wins here, but the real story is what happens afterwards, which was one of the best finishes to a PPV I've ever seen.

The D! heel turn floored me. Absolutely floored me. It's a shame he's retired now, because him as a heel has some salivatory possibilities. I liked how the scene with the Dudes and Tiffany actually was leading to something in this segment too. Wow, all I have to say is great cap to a great show.

Final thoughts

Of all the shows I reviewed this year, this perhaps had the best matchwriting. For a supercard/PPV, that's very, VERY important. The segments were a bit off, but that's because most of them were shortish HoP inductions, and only two of them (Casino and Kryenik) were noteworthy. Very solid show though, and this definitely is one of the favorites for Card of the Year.

A1E's Golden Dreams

Just like I promised, a thorough rundown of the biggest show on A1E's calendar. Unlike CIII or CTC though, this one's mostly all matches. I think there may be two segments on the card. This is the one event where it feels like the matches are king and everything else is a jester. A1E is very good at making their PPVs center around the action in the ring, one of the many positives they've got going for them. Anyway, onto the action, shall we?

Intro

The video montage and the pick for opening song are choice here. Nothing says "mega pro wrestling event" like KISS (that's not sarcasm either). They've got that big arena rock sound that fits perfect with a wrestling event. The trendster in me says they should have picked a more contemporary song, but I'd like to kick my inner-trendster's ass every time he rears his ugly head.

I'm not a huge fan of the litany of celebrities though. I mean, you never saw DeNiro or Scorsese at WrestleMania, and the Clinton that showed up to WM VIII was an imposter :p. I know that WM has had celebrity guests in the past, but it wasn't this litany of über-stars. I think if they had kept it to maybe two Yankees, Spike Lee and someone else of lower-key status, they might have been on to something.

I must admit, I marked out at Sal's pimp suit :)

JA/Hida

Ooh, my match :)

I like how Sal and Kayla opened things up with the main event-to-curtain jerk transition. It plays into my angle very well. In the past, the A1E matchwriting crew was very slow to include such nuances in the write-ups, but this is one place where they've improved exponentially in the last 18 months or so.

One thing I'm baffled at though is the positioning of Hida as A1E's "MVP." Unless this is a storyline device that Jeff gave in, I'm not sure why Sal would get behind him as such. Maybe someone like Farnsy or another strong heel, ie, Spoiler, but I don't think Hida should be called that just yet.

As for the action, it was pretty tight. It showed good psychology from Hida, a wrestler who would go for a body part and break it down. The writer also captured JA pretty good too with an all-for-broke, head-droppy style. The finish leaves future heat between the two wrestlers, although I don't know if either Jeff or I have plans for a feud right now. Still, the door's open.

Damon/Duchess

Two things right off the bat that put me off to this match. One is sort of a recurring problem with continuity and segueing between matches. The intro to the match is Kayla Wilson saying that we just watched a great match between Hida and JA, when seconds before, she was blasting Hida and calling the match tainted. If there was going to be no segment between the two matches and perhaps just an implied advertisement for Warfare or ShopZone or whatever, then I think you still need to have Kayla be somewhat angry, or at least have the lead in from the first match be something like this:

"Folks, after witnessing Hida Yakamo stealing a match from JA, we're going to move onto our next match."

Then you could have had Sal come in and defend Hida's actions before going into his thoughts about Duchess and Damon. You don't need to change around any more than just a few words, and the intro becomes ten times more effective.

The next thing that bugged me was this line:

SS: Well, you have to realize Kayla, Damon is used to facing much more challenging opponents than Duchess when he went on to wrestle in UCW for awhile.

I understand that Damon being that much better than Duchess was trying to be put over here, but you never, NEVER EVER EVER have any of your announcers/company men say that there are more challenging opponents in another fed. It doesn't matter if the guy doing it is a heel or if he's a former manager of the guy in question trying to apologize for his shortcomings, you never put over your competition like that. No, never. I know it's easy to lapse like that since we're all friends here and since the rules for us are totally different than the rules for WCW/WWF/ECW back in the heyday, but there should still be some semblance of kayfabe maintained here.

Match was standard fare. Solid effort, and I liked the Hollywood 90210 spot. Other than the two miscues in the beginning, this was a nice match.

Anarchy/Douglas&Daymon

Eh, this match was just kinda there. I liked the end sequence, but the rest of it was just blah.

Irish/Eliminat0r

First off, I think the Kayla and Sal banter here should have gone in the beginning of the first match, but I was impressed by how well they got across the gravity of the event without sounding forced or cheesy. The intros were also very well-crafted, and really, every match should have had something like this.

I also must say I was a huge fan of Elim's entrance and subsequent kidnapping and face-licking on Erin. Very amusing way to make James want to burst out of his nice guy role and kick some ass.

Onto the action, and I really liked in the beginning having James outsmart and outgrapple the much larger Elim. The strategies and implementation of moves in this match is superb, the best of the night thus far, but it felt too short... the match was over and I was left wanting more. But I guess that's a good thing, at least better than having some boring slobfest that goes on far too long. Other than that, job well done here.

Tag Title Match

Yawn with the intros. More generic banter and celebrity sightings.

Match itself wasn't too much to write home about, but then again, not a very good RP effort from the challengers at all. I don't blame them for shorting this match, but at least the action was okay. I wonder if Ryan and Dog are going to face any stiff competition in the near future? Does anyone want the A1E Tag Belts?

Chip/Slambo

Nice recap by Sal at the beginning of the match to run down the animosities. Honestly, I think if all the matches had something like this and maybe one sentence about the match before it, the entrances could work a lot better. Plus, Lilian should be announcing everyone, not just in random matches. More on this later.

The match itself was really good for a middle PPV match in a series along a prolonged feud. Judging from the finish, it looks like this feud is quite a ways from being over. That's a good thing, as even though most feuds should finish up at your flagship (seeing as it's like New Year's Eve for your fed), it's cool to carry over one or two. Besides, Chip and Slambo is a feud that I don't have a problem seeing continue.

Taking the pulse

Now this is how segments on the card should be done. This is a straight hype piece for the sub-main event (and arguably the biggest match on the card). Interviewing the fans gives it such a "real" aura. Fantastic work.

Triple Star Championship

I hate to keep harping on the intros, but I feel this one was done half-right. I like how they had Bob Sheppard come out and do the ring intros for this match. I think that's the kind of celebrity you need for a wrestling event. In theory, I liked Mr. A! coming out with the Mets, but once again, I just think the star power was too great. I don't know, I'm probably crotchety, and this probably doesn't matter in the long run, but I think it sort of cheapens the show. I mean, you insert DeNiro and friends in the crowds and people think you're trying to mask the quality of the event by having all these stars come. It wouldn't do this event justice because I feel it's a very strong card so far.

The match itself, I like the intensity and I like Red using his smarts and attaching that bag, and then having the face crew come out and light all those tables. Personally marked out for Mr. O!'s appearance as well. It was also good to see Red win this match, because every time you turn around, he's getting beat by Mr. A! I mean, it's no fun to see one guy winning all the time in a long term feud like that.

Cyber Championship

This is how you do an intro. Seriously folks, take note of this match and use it as a formula if you have to.

This match is the best on the card so far. I think the psychology behind having two Anti-Crosses works well. My one qualm is that they didn't give the poor jobber a name. Jobbers are people too :p

Now, for the revelation... wow. Didn't see that one coming at all. Honestly, I thought it was Lindsay Troy because of the history she had with Cross, but Beast... man, that's a shocker. I hope this isn't over, because I'd love to see what Cross is going to do now.

Spoiler/Fly

Well, they certainly treated this like the match of the night. Lots of big spots, lots of underdoggedness from Fly, lots of brutality from Spoiler. I think this match was a little hard to read following the total mindfuck that was Cross/Anti-Cross. Matches with lots of extracurriculars are easier to read, I think, than just straight wrestling matches. However, I think if you invest the proper attention to this match, you'll be rewarded.

Also, I think there's nowhere else for Spoiler to go than to the World Championship. Hopefully, he gets there sooner rather than later and doesn't get to miss out on his shot when he's really hot enough to get it like another Dan West character did.

World Championship Match

I thought this match was largely unsatisfying, especially the finish. I think you needed to blow this feud off right here right now with Andy getting his heat back in a major way. If he wasn't going to win the title, that's fine, but I think maybe he should have cleaned house after the match. From what I understand, he's not getting the return program, so why not let him stand in the middle of the ring with glory at the end of this match?

I think it's a bad idea to continue this feud. I think that your main event level feuds kinda need some kind of closure after your flagship, and this match reeks of continuance (yes, I stole that phrase from William Morgan and no, I'm not sorry for it). I also think that if this was going to be the booking of it after the voting came in, I think there could have been some kind of switch in the match order so that Spoiler/Fly, a match with a much more definite outcome and better atmosphere should have closed the show.

Overall thoughts

Honestly, A1E's bugaboo continues to be segues and flow. By and large, the matches seem to be very good in and of themselves, but when you read the show all the way though, it can be pretty irritating to see discontinuities. Some parts were good in this regard, but others needed some help.

I think this was a good show, not a great show, but definitely not a bad show. I think the pieces were there for it to be great and befitting of being A1E's flagship. There was some great action. Particularly, I thought the TST, Cyber Title and Spoiler/Fly matches were all top rate and should get some love for MOTY when that time rolls around. I also thought that JA/Hida and James/Elim were pretty good writeups for what they were. But it doesn't help when the end of your show falls flat like that and you still have problems going from one match to the next.

I think A1E needs to have someone just go through and make sure that everything flows after its put together.

Other than that, it was a very good show. Congratulations to Dan for his big dream match win, and to Jarret and Shane for their title wins.

AWC's Coast to Coast 2006!

The Meadowlands and Jolly Londontown

And now, the rundown. Shall we dance?

One Time Pass

We open with GBJ and Pearl Harber meeting about Johnny's "super serum," which turns out to be a ham sandwich smoothie with extra ingredients, after which Johnny takes off for his main event match on a jetpack. Silly segment, but it amused me. It might not amuse you if you're an outsider looking in because the jet pack thing is an inside joke. The bit about the serum though was good because it plays into all the history of the last year in AWC with the Prometheus serum angle and the maker of that serum (a guy who also happens to own AWC) being in attendance tonight to pick who the sole Entertainment manager is going to be.

Motivational Tactics

It's the Coalition's turn to seg it up in the beginning of the show. Somewhat of a wooden beginning. I don't feel anything between Allen and Reno. Things pick up with the introduction of Dawn Davidson. All in all, a decent table setter.

Introduction

First off, I HATE that song, and I hate Staind in general. Personal preference, though :)

Standard introduction, nothing too flashy about it, but it serves its purpose well, getting across the matches for the evening and playing up the hugeness of the event.

Playing God

We get a glimpse into the world of one Dr. Kasidy Drake with this segment. I thought the intro to it was a bit much. It rambled and almost lost me. Get to the point, which is what Dr. Drake has to say, not what's in his office. I mean, setting the table is nice, but focus more on what he had to say, which was something important. We're getting a surprise new AWCer and he's got a choice to make. I thought this could have been played up a little more. Still, it serves its purpose.

Coalition vid

Ah yes, Allen and Reno again. Good hype segment, gives you an idea of what the team is all about.

PWC/Coalition

Our first match of the evening, and it's a tag affair. Some good spots in there, I liked the SuperSuperPlex, but I thought having a 450 splash that doesn't end in a pin is a bit much unless it's a climactic moment in the match. When Krimzon does that spot, it's like... bleh. Same with the near-finish with the ref bump. I think that spot is overplayed. Otherwise, it was a pretty neat match, good opener, sets a good tone for the PPV.

Git-r-done!

Firstly... love the title ;)

Next up, we get a nudity tease, a cab driver trying to get Teresa Tomas to say "git-r-done" and Tiara Bell and Wayne Russell setting up Vetra Vacation #29343. I guess this gives the finish of their match away, but who knows.

Wager II: Electric Boogaloo

In case you don't know, Pierce Lavelle and GBJ have a wager going on whether Ellis Nash is going to turn on GBJ or not and side with Dick. Anyway, this is a fantastic segment, and there's no question in my mind that GBJ carries it. Lavelle's a good straight man/hardass type, but Johnny's retorts to Pierce are gold. "It's guacamole season!" Classic.

Tomas/Tiara

Okay match. The action was good, near-finish bonanza at the end was okay if a bit overdone. Didn't like Jeff Marx in this match at all. The over-the-top sexism didn't work for me because he openly rooted against both of the characters when you had a clear heel/face delineation. He's the heel announcer for a reason. If it were Wayne Russel vs. Teresa Tomas, then it would have worked, but another angle for Marx should have been taken. Regardless, solid match.

Doorbell

Flashback segment featuring Lavelle and Chainz. Obviously, the Champ has something to hide and now, Chainz knows that, although he doesn't know what. Doesn't really say much other than set up some kind of secret scenario, but it serves its purpose well.

Simple Plan

Good segment. Builds on Marquez using Paddy for his own selfish gains with Paddy yet again bungling another task. Simple, predictable, yet effective. The Marquez/Paddy angle is one of my favorite ongoing ones in AWC right now.

Suleimon/Murphy

I wrote this match, so no critique of it from me. However, I'd love to hear what you guys thought of it. Seriously, leave me feedback.

All Aboard

Fun little segment. More Paddy and Josh tomfoolery, always good. I liked GA's portion, builds his character nicely, although maybe he should have been snacking on raw kitten to build up the fercious aspect of his character ;) Good special appearance from Saij too.

Slapped Back

Trouble in paradise between Pierce and Sarah. Something's going down, more secretive talking and such. More table setting.

Parr-tay

More shenanigans on the boat, this time with more of a focus on GA and Johnny Lexicon. Good interactions there.

Alliance Titles

Good match, and good to see the Fists retain. Liked the action, especially the chokeslam/grab and clutch from the stage that wiped out both Sorrow (God, I hate the New Black's individual names) and Liam. What I didn't like was all that bullshit in the middle that passed for commentary. I don't need to see that. It wasn't funny, in a way, it was breaking kayfabe, e-fed style. Plus the Ghost of Steven Smith stuff was excessive. Basically, there was a long break from match action for some stupid shit that had no bearing on the event and that wasn't even funny to boot. No, you don't have that, especially not on your biggest PPV of the year.

Jewel of the Seas

Wow. All I can say is, whatta match. Seriously. For a match that size and of that clusterfuckage potential, it kept my interest the whole time. Big ups to GA for taking the Relentless Championship and to him and Paddy for taking the flag for the East. A lot of really good spots and strats all around. I particularly liked how Afeaki was written, like a combination of a T. Rex and a velociraptor in Jurassic Park. Paddy and Ellis were written well too. I liked their interaction when Paddy was all tripped out and Ellis tried to pin him. Great job, and perhaps a MOTY candidate.

Battlestations

So Mikey O'Reilly gets thrown into the ocean and now the ship's going down. I don't know where they're going with this. Could be interesting, could be disastrous.

Frontier Title

First up, I love how this match is being billed "The War to Settle the Score." It gives such an old-school feel to it. The entrances were pretty boss too, especially Anton's. Gotta love the chariot. However, "Superunknown" didn't click with me as Darce's theme song. I dunno, I guess that track will forever be associated with Freakfish for me, but I can't blame Nate for this, seeing as he's probably never heard of Double F or MBE for that matter.

The match itself, this deserves another WOW. Great end to a great feud. Sure it was a clusterfuck, but with the parties involved, how could it not? It was an enjoyable one, and that's all that matters. Loved the interplay between Anton and Luis during the match. I think that's going to be a great story when they finally break up. The wrestling action was really good too. I'm a huge fan of Anton's offense, the strikes and stuff, how he works so much differently than traditional wrestling strikers. I also enjoyed the spinebuster into a floatover bridge pin combo from Darcy. All in all some good wrestling action as well as fun brawling and clusterage with Luis, Billy Mays and Tony Little.

Bored of Segs

This was the best seg yet. The interaction between Lexicon and his wife was gold, but the interaction between Paddy and Josh was PLATINUM. Seriously.

The New Guy

First up, Ignatius Liseaux in AWC. Wow, this is huge. When I first heard about it, I was a bit uneasy because he just left PRIME and all, but really, what else did he have to accomplish there? Here he's got a clean slate. Plus, it happens in the wrestling industry all the time. A guy leaves one promotion and heads to another one, and the previous promotion gives him a good sendoff. This happened in ECW all the time.

As for the seg itself... I didn't like how they kept referencing previous PRIME stuff constantly. It makes AWC look like it's piggybacking off of PRIME, and that's not the way to go to build a new star up. However, I understand that a lot of it was necessary backstory to go along with why Iggy would make the decision that he looked like he was going to make. The payoff was right out of the Vince McMahon/Steve Austin playbook. A little derivative, but it was at least well-executed.

Chainz/Aimz

Extremely brutal match. Barely any pretense of wrestling there, and that's a good thing. Really captured the visceral nature of the feud. Plus, I'm a fan of any match where there's a swirly involved ;)

Prometheus

Simple recap of AWC's history. Effective.

Transatlantic Three Way

Well, the concept was different. I'll give it that. The action that I didn't think was too over the top was pretty good too, and there were some pretty good humorous spots. I thought it was a good match, but I don't think it was befitting the main event. I don't know, parts of it just seemed too goofy for me to buy it. Still though, there's no doubt there were some really entertaining parts, and of course, GBJ deserves GIANT props for unifying the TA title and crown and coming out as the biggest winner at both the biggest events on the AWC calendar.

A seg

Wow. Just wow. I'm floored by everything being tied together. Harber's heel turn. The revelation that he was the "voice," that he sabotaged Sasha, Lavelle, everything. Great way to end the show. If you're not going to end it with a payoff in the ring, well, then I guess this is the best way to do it. I do have a few problems with it. One, it takes away from GBJ's title win, which, to think about it, was monumental and should have been the hallmark on the show. Suffice to say, I think GBJ has been treated as somewhat of an afterthought in the last month or so. It's understandable seeing the magnitude of this angle, but there's a way to treat everything with equal gravity.

Second, what's the deal with Mike Wade? First, he's a commissioner, which with Harber around as the EM, is a redundant position. Then he goes and turns on everyone not five minutes as The Empire (once again, I can't picture anyone but Housefly, Gladiator, Chameleon, the Fallen Angels and Ted Sullivan as a stable called The Empire, but once again, I doubt Hyde/Lara/Joe Maga/et al. have even heard of A1E, so I have to let that one slide). I know he's called "His Swerviness," but I don't understand the need for this.

Still, it's a very powerful way to end the show. Also, huge congratulations to Adam Dick for his entry onto the AWC Legends Roll. It's well-deserved.

Overall thoughts

All in all, I thought it was a great show. Some slow spots, but basically, everything was enjoyable to read and everything got tied together nicely. It was big, but it was big in its own way. I think though, that most of the writers tried a bit too hard to make it big, and it showed in some spots where various characters were saying "oh, this is the BIGGEST.SHOW.EVAR" and such. It came off a little forced, like it was only big because you said it was. However, the content behind it, especially Jewel of the Seas, the Frontier Title Match and the end angle, backed up those claims very nicely.

If you want a real-world counterpart, this show felt like a WrestleMania from the Rock'n Wrestling days, with an emphasis on personalities and lavish storylines rather than pure wrestling competition storylines. I hate to make the comparison, but this is where it differs from PRIME's CIII, which also had the HUGE show feel but in a different way. CIII was anchored by two bitter feuds over in-ring animosities, and a lot of what happened in the ring had a more old-school NWA StarrCade, ECW November to Remember or WM 2000 or X-7 feel to it. When you compare the two feds, it's like looking at the old Monday Night Wars, where you had WCW and the WWF with two distinctly different feels battling each other. That's a good thing, because if they were both the exact same fed, then the PTC circle would be a little more boring.

Anyway, I should wrap this up. Congrats to Nate, Josh K. and Joe MaGa for their huge title wins, and really, big ups to everyone who contributed to the show. It was the best AWC show I've read since I joined, and I'm glad to have contributed to it.

Colossus III

Thanks to my busy schedule and such, I haven't been able to slog through Colossus III completely until now. Let's go segment by segment, shall we?

Obligatory Pre-Match...

Good little segment. I think I'm smelling some reverse psychology here from Dick. Gotta love Tony Danza showing up too. All we needed was some MOOOOONA~! and it would have been perfect.

Introduction to CIII

Rehashing of past Colossus mains and hype for Sirrajin/Tchu. Served its purpose well.

Tag Title Match

Holy shit, those intros were long. Christ I thought the GCW intros were excessive. However, before you guys rip me apart for the comparison, Pete and Lindz, I have to say that a) they were at least befitting the magnitude of the event, b) were entertaining to read and c) they weren't longer than the match itself. So I'm okay with them.

Speaking of said match, I thought it was a good, brisk opener, and the Worth turn on Ferg was very well done even if it wasn't totally unpredictable.

One thing that bugged me about this match and a bunch of others... I really hate the "PRIME THAT SHIT!" chant. I don't know what bothers me about it. Part of it seems like it's a bush-league chant for the fed that is purported to be the best and finest around. Part of it is that it just reeks of trying to recreate the "ECW! ECW!" chant. I mean, no fed, e-fed or real life that I know of has a chant that includes its initials in it that I like. I guess it's because for me, ECW's the only fed that did it well, and it's the only fed for which it felt organic. I don't know. It's a matter of taste. Don't take it hard, guys.

Ron Perlman

I liked this segment a lot. Usually, feud advancing segments on PPVs fall flat for me because the matches should be the ones advancing the feuds, but of course, this one was starting/advancing a NEW feud. Good way to take the focus of the tag belts away from the A-list and into a new direction. Very interested to see how well B&P and the Covenant mesh together.

WHAT?!

This was about as good as you could do for a no-show outside of squashing the guy to holy hell. Even though it technically advances the feud past the PPV blowoff point, which is normally bad, I feel like this segment was necessary. Ivan/Titan needs to be blown off in the ring, decided by RPs, not by one RP and one no-show. Plus, it's Ivan being Ivan. What's not to love?

WATCH Match

This was a big disappointment. Not from a matchwriting standpoint, but from a no-show standpoint. A lot of guys whom I thought would do well in this thing (The Covenant, Team Baked, Hiroshi, Kingfisher) didn't show, and it took a lot away from the writeup in turn, seeing that only Damien Cruz and Adam remained.

Still, the match had okay flow. It kinda read like a cross between an ACW/angle fed type match and a regular PRIME/A1E style PBP mixed in with dry narrative describing what's being done in the match. It worked somewhat. Maybe with a little refinement, Pete'll find the elixir that guys in ACW were looking for (a good mix between their narrative style and PBP) before they closed.

Playing with fire

Good, straightfoward heat-building segment.

HYPE!

I like the idea behind the segment. I thought it was well-written. However, why couldn't this have gone on ReV 103? Something like this seems like such a production, it should go naturally on a television show. From what I've heard about the match itself (remember, I'm reviewing as I go along here), it seems like overkill to have anything more than your standard wrestling promos on the card to build further.

Once More, with Feeling

I've been on record before as saying I don't like this angle at all. Unless Bryan is really dying of cancer (in which case, it's therapeutic, and if he is, then God bless him and I wish him the best), then I don't think it should be on the show. It's a big downer, and I don't think it's entirely in good taste to exploit a disease like this as a wrestling angle. Plus, any segment that begins with the line "I picked out my urn last week..." I do e-fedding to get away from my fears and depressions. Reading things like that just puts me down, and I don't want that.

Winters/Gamble

First thing's first... Gamble's theme song is gold.

There was also a lot of good banter in this match between Nick and Richard. "Las Vegan? Is that like Las Vegetarian?" and Richard's rare flash of verbal eloquence. THe action was well-written too. I really liked the finish too, turning Gamble's cheating ways against him. Good close to a good feud. Hopefully Winters will run with the title, and Gamble gets elevated after this. His character is gold and I expect big things from him.

Change Your Mind

Wow, this was a very powerful segment, sans the Delray part. Normally, I like Reggie Delray, but I'm used to seeing him in comedic A-list segments. This segment had Ferg in full dick mode, clamping down on the über-face, and Delray makes it unnecessarily silly. Still though, he couldn't dampen the symbolism.

Lamen/Ferguson

Once again, not a huge fan of the cancer stuff. Not going to beat this with a stick though. It's there, I can't do anything about it, so why rag on it incessantly? I loved the refrence to YouTube and "JACKED UP!" referring to Delray getting planted on his ass though. Alright, enough with the intros. Bringing out Sandusky as a counter balance to Richard's dickedness was a good move. Adds to the specialness of the match. Some of this banter was really good. Especially the Floyd Landis zinger.

The match strats for both Ferg and Lamen here were good too. I like how Ferg's trying to break the weakened Lamen and Lamen's using his "hyper-kineticism" to outpace Ferg. A lot of really good action peppered in the match too, and I enjoyed the finish of the match. I guess I can look past the cancer stuff and appreciate the good guy's final farewell to the PRIME ring here.

TiVo

A very good segment, but seeing the two characters behind it, I'm not surprised. The only thing that bugs me about it is that I think Lindsay is running the risk of being overexposed, co-mingling with The Covenant, Killean, the A-List, Gamble and Tchu all in the past month or so. However, sowing seeds with Gamble is a good idea just in case the Covenant doesn't stick around that long.

Nova/Facey

Oh, the match was awesome. I loved the intros, the interactions between Nova and the drunk bitches, the bong shot, ladder antics. Even the hot air baloon finish... it was an á propos end to a silly but entertaining feud. I even liked the respect angle at the end.

But spontaneous combustion? There had better be a pretty good explanation for this in the coming weeks or else the post-match stuff makes utterly no sense.

Bittersweet Conflict

Good, straightforward segment. Looking forward to the Ferg/Worth feud as long as it's they put a new wrinkle on the management/wrestler feud that's been done so many times before.

Shell-Shocked

I liked this segment, seeing that it advances the Facey madness with Ferg slipping out with the Intense Title.

Tsonda/Noble

Richard: w/e Nick.

Nick: Did you just say double u slash ee?

Richard: lol yea u need 2 b kewl lik me! Rofl!

That exchange made me smile. As for the rest of the match, good, standard PPV fare. Ballsy finish, but I really liked it though. I could picture in my mind all the steam just going out of the crowd. Plus I'm a mark for (somewhat) clean finishes.

Coming Undone

This is how a hype segment for a match on-card should be done.

Daddy/Daughter

Good character building segment, plus it adds an aura of violence to the match. The subtle stuff... you pick up on it, and it makes things a lot more impactful when they happen.

Iggy/K-Wolf

The colossus of Colossus... the entrance was well-put together. Good retrospective on their animosity. The match itself... man, it was one hell of a long read. As with any really, really long match, parts dragged, but all-in-all it was a very well-done, action packed match, befitting of two of PRIME's best. It's a shame to see Iggy go, but I guess that's all Richard's got for him I suppose. When it's your time, it's your time, and this was a great way to send him out.

Sunset

More hammering home of Iggy's departure... good read.

MAIN EVENT~!

The only thing I might have done here was switch the length and gravity of this match with the previous match. I mean, this match was very good and befitting a main event, but this match also had four years of animosity behind it. I can understand though not having two mammoths in a row seeing as I guess Iggy deserved to have that length behind him.

Length isn't everything though, and the title match had a lot of other things that make a main event great. Lots of high impact stuff, well-written passages and a climactic ending. Can't ask for anything more.

Total

I'd have to say on the whole that this was a very good read. You could tell that they put the time and effort into making this their biggest show of the year. Congrats to all the winners and appreciations to everyone who contributed.