No, that's not a typo.
I'm changing Promo of the Month to Featured Promo of the Month. I've had a request to avoid choosing what I feel is the best promo and instead focus on simply featuring a promo from the EPW rp period instead. So the FPOTM may or may not be what I feel is the best promo.
First, to the review.
I think this is the most well-written show I've read since joining EPW. From start to finish, every contributor did an exceptional job with their match. Justin wrote the TV title match and I've already expressed to him how much I enjoyed reading it. I really like the angle we're exploring right now. I like the way he deliberately had Fusenshoff refrain from using weapons as much as possible in the match. It was also a great climax when he finally snapped and the resulting attack from Sean Stevens. I'm really looking forward to what will happen when Fuse tags with Stalker and Stevens at Aggression 40.
The Hart/Cruise/Hiroshi vs. CC and Olvir did an excellent job of both following the story well and boosting the prestige of the wrestlers involved. I didn't see the addition of another 'stablemate' coming at all and I think it'll add a little bit of power to a rising faction in EPW.
Speaking of Wells, I've never heard of the character, but after reading his segment I feel like I have. The background info was a great setup to a character that has already hit the ground running. It was also a nice surprise in a pay-per-view that was very light on segments.
Speaking of newcomers, Damian Stone and Echo will make a nice addition to the tag roster if that's where they choose to get their foot in the door. Their timing is perfect for a division that is dominated by The Forsaken and is coming off of The Kings of the Cage tournament.
The Miles backstabbing of Beast by not showing up was also a great improvisation. After the last show I thought these two were starting to bring it together at the perfect time. Now we have potential for a great feud I think everyone will enjoy if it plays out.
The main event match was long as hell. That said, it was an excellent read. The end was terrific and everything leading up to it was intense. I'm going to assume it was Strawsma who wrote it. Apologies if I'm wrong about the writer, but this seemed like Ryan, who rivals any matchwriter in FW or anywhere else.
I wrote the opening match between Frankie Scott and Omega. I did my best to make it a fun read while also making both characters look good and help these two further the storyline via recommendation.
I was waiting for Lindz to show up at some point in the show, but hopefully next time...
Okay, now my picks for WOTM and FPOTM.
Wrestler of the Month: "Triple X" Sean Stevens
This was a no-brainer. Stevens is the first two-time winner of the EPW World Heavyweight Title and has become synonymous with the cage match. This was a Match of the Year candidate and The Blue-Eyed Badass came out on top. We've yet to see a World Title defense win yet this year and Triple X might have time to take that distinction as well.
Runners up: The Forsaken
Taking on the best the Kings of the Cage tournament had to offer, The First and Felix Red once again establish their stronghold on the EPW's tag division. These guys are steamrolling over and over again every team EPW has to offer. EPW has a competitive tag division by eW standards and this team is without a doubt its centerpiece.
Featured Promo of the Month: Troy Douglas' audio promo
Shinder chose to do this audio promo in the first-person perspective and I'm guessing it was his voice as Troy Douglas. The tone was intense and focused. The timing was perfect and the content was enjoyable to listen to. Douglas prides himself on overcoming his 'choke artist' label and mentioned it again in this promo. He emphasized Tact waltzing into the IC scene at the perfect time and does a good job of using that to his favor. I enjoyed listening to this and while it isn't the first time something like this has been done (see NFW early 2007, I wanna say Dove did a video promo and there may have been others before my time), it was a refreshing change and warranted a little something extra judging-wise in my opinion.
That's it, I know it's long, so if you read this far please comment. :)
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
EPW September/October WOTM/POTM and Aggression 39 Review
Wow, that title's a mouthful.
I picked out the "Promo's" of the month quite a while ago, but unfortunately us match-writers took quite a while to get Aggression 39 up. I'm just as much to blame as anyone as it took me a week longer than I predicted it would too. I'm going to start with my "Wrestler's of the Month" first.
Wrestler of the Month: Ice Tre
In a show littered with disqualifications, Ice Tre takes home TV Title gold in his second match back. Tre has been as cunning as anyone in his victories lately, always striking at the perfect time. He's a small guy who fights with tremendous heart and likes to downplay his intelligence, but has it in spades. A TV title win is well-deserved here and accepting the open-challenge for a TV Title match proves that the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
Runner-up: Beast
A tournament that started with sixteen men from EPW ended with two coming out as 'Kings of the Cage'. Beast and Miles have been at each other's throats for weeks while still decimating their competition. In this KOTC Final Beast hit his Absolution 2K4 while Miles made sure there'd be no save. Also in an interesting turn of events, Beast and Miles might be warming to each other at the perfect time. Beast ran out to help his fellow King in a battle-turned-brawl against the Fallen's King. They'll need to be on the same page against the dominant Tag Team Champions The Forsaken.
Promo of the Month: Draw- Steven's second promo, thread four MAIN EVENT and Hiroshi's first promo, thread four.
I felt like Stevens amped things up at the end of this promo. I thought the first promo from each competitor was strong, but luke-warm as far as intensity compared to the usual from these two, who can both bring the house down. There was a definite change of pace from Stevens and its a shame we never got a second promo from Miles.
Hiroshi had an exceptional roleplay against The Fallen as his first rp. The checking off list was a nice tough and entertaining. Then he came out aggressive and made fun of 'Stalker's rules'. Overall I thought the promo was creative, had an air of confidence and made a strong argument.
And on to the review....
First I'd like to say, welcome back Aston! Everything involving Shawn Hart was gold tonight whether it was hilarious commentary or the best swerve I've seen in EPW in 2008. What I liked about it wasn't the build-up from show to show (obviously), but the way the Cruise/Hart segment got things started, and particularly the anticipation during the match when Hart gets up, stands between The Fallen and Cruise/Hiroshi, waits for Dahaka and Stalker, then strikes. That part was magic to read and really shocked me.
Like I said before, Aggression 39 had a lot of disqualifications and run-ins. Personally I've never been a big fan of this aspect of wrestling, but if used sparingly it works. I think the show lost a little bit because of this.
Beast running out for Miles was good too. They were quarreling and now they're coming together. I also dug JA hitting the ring, particularly after the referee's ruling of double-DQ. I thought it was fitting that JA would run out after the decision was made.
I am a HUGE fan of Olvir so I feel like anything involving EPW's Pornstar Viking is gold. This match was probably the most well-written of the show for me. It kept my attention throughout. I liked the Douglas/Secong Coming dynamic in this one and would like to see more of the three together in the future.
The Stalker/Lindz seg was good too. When Stalker gets upset I always enjoy the read. The Lindz as owner angle has been very refreshing so far.
I wrote my own match for this one. I hope Justin and Paul enjoyed what I did with their characters and hope it was entertaining for everyone else.
Frankie's win over Omega was a big one for him. Also, I like the feud developing here with Barb. There's a lot of potential in Omega as a nutjob with awesome strength.
I picked out the "Promo's" of the month quite a while ago, but unfortunately us match-writers took quite a while to get Aggression 39 up. I'm just as much to blame as anyone as it took me a week longer than I predicted it would too. I'm going to start with my "Wrestler's of the Month" first.
Wrestler of the Month: Ice Tre
In a show littered with disqualifications, Ice Tre takes home TV Title gold in his second match back. Tre has been as cunning as anyone in his victories lately, always striking at the perfect time. He's a small guy who fights with tremendous heart and likes to downplay his intelligence, but has it in spades. A TV title win is well-deserved here and accepting the open-challenge for a TV Title match proves that the squeaky wheel gets the oil.
Runner-up: Beast
A tournament that started with sixteen men from EPW ended with two coming out as 'Kings of the Cage'. Beast and Miles have been at each other's throats for weeks while still decimating their competition. In this KOTC Final Beast hit his Absolution 2K4 while Miles made sure there'd be no save. Also in an interesting turn of events, Beast and Miles might be warming to each other at the perfect time. Beast ran out to help his fellow King in a battle-turned-brawl against the Fallen's King. They'll need to be on the same page against the dominant Tag Team Champions The Forsaken.
Promo of the Month: Draw- Steven's second promo, thread four MAIN EVENT and Hiroshi's first promo, thread four.
I felt like Stevens amped things up at the end of this promo. I thought the first promo from each competitor was strong, but luke-warm as far as intensity compared to the usual from these two, who can both bring the house down. There was a definite change of pace from Stevens and its a shame we never got a second promo from Miles.
Hiroshi had an exceptional roleplay against The Fallen as his first rp. The checking off list was a nice tough and entertaining. Then he came out aggressive and made fun of 'Stalker's rules'. Overall I thought the promo was creative, had an air of confidence and made a strong argument.
And on to the review....
First I'd like to say, welcome back Aston! Everything involving Shawn Hart was gold tonight whether it was hilarious commentary or the best swerve I've seen in EPW in 2008. What I liked about it wasn't the build-up from show to show (obviously), but the way the Cruise/Hart segment got things started, and particularly the anticipation during the match when Hart gets up, stands between The Fallen and Cruise/Hiroshi, waits for Dahaka and Stalker, then strikes. That part was magic to read and really shocked me.
Like I said before, Aggression 39 had a lot of disqualifications and run-ins. Personally I've never been a big fan of this aspect of wrestling, but if used sparingly it works. I think the show lost a little bit because of this.
Beast running out for Miles was good too. They were quarreling and now they're coming together. I also dug JA hitting the ring, particularly after the referee's ruling of double-DQ. I thought it was fitting that JA would run out after the decision was made.
I am a HUGE fan of Olvir so I feel like anything involving EPW's Pornstar Viking is gold. This match was probably the most well-written of the show for me. It kept my attention throughout. I liked the Douglas/Secong Coming dynamic in this one and would like to see more of the three together in the future.
The Stalker/Lindz seg was good too. When Stalker gets upset I always enjoy the read. The Lindz as owner angle has been very refreshing so far.
I wrote my own match for this one. I hope Justin and Paul enjoyed what I did with their characters and hope it was entertaining for everyone else.
Frankie's win over Omega was a big one for him. Also, I like the feud developing here with Barb. There's a lot of potential in Omega as a nutjob with awesome strength.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
EPW WOTM and POTM
Here's the first ever Wrestler of the Month and Promo of the Month.
This is for August 2008.
Wrestler of the Month: JA
Let's just say I didn't stay up all night trying to pick this one. JA won the World Heavyweight Title at Aggression 38, beating "Triple X" Sean Stevens in a match that seemed to have everything. He survived a meat-hook stabbing and multiple Fallen interferences to take home gold. On a side note, Tom Holzerman was less than a month from his marriage date, and still managed to pull off wins for JA AND Priest & Eisenkreuz.
Runner-up: Craig Miles
Miles single-handedly defeated one of the best tag teams in EPW, Second Coming, to move his team (with Beast) to the KOTC Finals. He took one hell of a beating and used his in-ring expertise to sneak out a win. It's a testament to the talent of these two wrestlers that despite rarely seeing eye-to-eye, they've been able to dominate the competition on their way to the KOTC Finals. It's especially impressive that Miles' first match in EPW was Round One of the KOTC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Promo of the Month: MAIN EVENT: World Heavyweight Title match- Thread #7, JA's third promo.
I felt this was the best promo during the Agression 38 promo period. It was very aggressive and biting. It had just the right amount of sarcasm and there was a lot of KOTC talk, which was appropriate because we're in the midst of it in '08 while the tournament itself has so much history for Stevens, JA and Dis/Troy. The Melton rebuke was strong. Overall, I felt this was the best roleplay of August because it challenged Triple X and was exceptionally tight, leaving no mistakes for Stevens to exploit.
This is for August 2008.
Wrestler of the Month: JA
Let's just say I didn't stay up all night trying to pick this one. JA won the World Heavyweight Title at Aggression 38, beating "Triple X" Sean Stevens in a match that seemed to have everything. He survived a meat-hook stabbing and multiple Fallen interferences to take home gold. On a side note, Tom Holzerman was less than a month from his marriage date, and still managed to pull off wins for JA AND Priest & Eisenkreuz.
Runner-up: Craig Miles
Miles single-handedly defeated one of the best tag teams in EPW, Second Coming, to move his team (with Beast) to the KOTC Finals. He took one hell of a beating and used his in-ring expertise to sneak out a win. It's a testament to the talent of these two wrestlers that despite rarely seeing eye-to-eye, they've been able to dominate the competition on their way to the KOTC Finals. It's especially impressive that Miles' first match in EPW was Round One of the KOTC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Promo of the Month: MAIN EVENT: World Heavyweight Title match- Thread #7, JA's third promo.
I felt this was the best promo during the Agression 38 promo period. It was very aggressive and biting. It had just the right amount of sarcasm and there was a lot of KOTC talk, which was appropriate because we're in the midst of it in '08 while the tournament itself has so much history for Stevens, JA and Dis/Troy. The Melton rebuke was strong. Overall, I felt this was the best roleplay of August because it challenged Triple X and was exceptionally tight, leaving no mistakes for Stevens to exploit.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Aggression 38 Review, Fuse's WOTM and RP of the Month
First thing, I talked to Dave about doing a "Wrestler of the Month" and "Promo of the Month". I hope anyone who follows this blog will check again, probably tomorrow, to see my picks. Obviously this is just my own POV. Promos are so subjective, and I'm happy to listen if you want to argue your case for a particular rp. Also, if you think I'm full of sh*t and know nothing about what a good rp reads like, feel free to keep it to yourself.
Just kidding.
Feel free to let me know what's up. I can take it.
Now, on to the review.
After 37, I felt like we didn't have enough segments. After 38, I felt there were way too many. That said, it would've been hard to cut any of them because they were pretty much all good. I really liked the PSA at the beginning and thought it was a nice 'return' segment for Ice Tre. Beast's segments were entertaining, and I especially enjoyed Miles' dialogue spots. The Troy/Miles/Beast banter back and forth was the segment of the night. Miles getting dragged out of Troy's office was my mark moment. I'm most looking forward to Cruise/Hiroshi and what that becomes.
I wrote a segment for the show too that never went up. I blame my idiot co-worker who thought it was a good idea to put Linux and its .odt word processing file system on the community cpu. I worked with Justin (Stalker) on the seg, and he had problems with it too. I'll post it on the OOC forum.
Match-wise, the main event was far and away the best match. Kudos to whoever wrote it (Ryan, I'm looking in your direction). Both Jamar and Tom deserved a win with their showing, and the match was worthy of the rp period. I especially liked Ice Tre dropping from the rafters and fixing Stevens' crown properly on his head before the home run swing.
Justin did a fine job writing my match. Tact/Douglas was a fun read too, and I'm glad Tact won because Adam and Tact's handler really compliment each other well. That PPV match will have a great promo period.
Lindsay's doing a fine job as head honcho. She's really getting involved with the segments, which makes it more fun for her and everyone else too. Please keep it up if you read this Lindz.
Please check back for more; likely tomorrow or in the next couple of days.
Just kidding.
Feel free to let me know what's up. I can take it.
Now, on to the review.
After 37, I felt like we didn't have enough segments. After 38, I felt there were way too many. That said, it would've been hard to cut any of them because they were pretty much all good. I really liked the PSA at the beginning and thought it was a nice 'return' segment for Ice Tre. Beast's segments were entertaining, and I especially enjoyed Miles' dialogue spots. The Troy/Miles/Beast banter back and forth was the segment of the night. Miles getting dragged out of Troy's office was my mark moment. I'm most looking forward to Cruise/Hiroshi and what that becomes.
I wrote a segment for the show too that never went up. I blame my idiot co-worker who thought it was a good idea to put Linux and its .odt word processing file system on the community cpu. I worked with Justin (Stalker) on the seg, and he had problems with it too. I'll post it on the OOC forum.
Match-wise, the main event was far and away the best match. Kudos to whoever wrote it (Ryan, I'm looking in your direction). Both Jamar and Tom deserved a win with their showing, and the match was worthy of the rp period. I especially liked Ice Tre dropping from the rafters and fixing Stevens' crown properly on his head before the home run swing.
Justin did a fine job writing my match. Tact/Douglas was a fun read too, and I'm glad Tact won because Adam and Tact's handler really compliment each other well. That PPV match will have a great promo period.
Lindsay's doing a fine job as head honcho. She's really getting involved with the segments, which makes it more fun for her and everyone else too. Please keep it up if you read this Lindz.
Please check back for more; likely tomorrow or in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
EPW Aggression 37 Review
Exactly one month to the day that the rp period ended we have Aggression 37. It's the start of the King of the Cage tournament, along with an extra Tag Team title matchup with Troy Douglas and Larry Tact facing the champs, the Forsaken.
This match was a fun one to read. It was well-written as the Champs looked like they should, while Douglas and Tact showed their disdain for each other, possibly setting up a feud between the two.
My match was similar in style, with Hart and Fusenshoff not really meshing. The week of the rp period I was working 40 hours, finishing up Finals week for two accelerated summer courses, and just didn't have time to rp until Sunday night. I couldn't even rp then because Aston beat me to the punch. I didn't check the boards again until Wednesday to vote for the TiT Finals match, and by then it was too late to post during the 24-hour extension. As a result, Fuse was Tea Bag-pinned in our match. I supposed I deserved it. I'll just pretend it didn't happen and never sign-up for a show when there's a 95% chance I'll be too busy.
I've apologized profusely to Ryan and Aston already for no-showing.
I wrote the Fallen vs Second Coming match. It was fun to re-read after writing it three weeks ago. Hopefully Justin, Adam and Patrick enjoyed it too.
The Lindsay Troy/XXX segment was the highlight of the show. Rocko dropping the title was a shock. I'm hoping Lindsay wrestles in a few matches because I really enjoy reading her promos.
I was also hoping to see some kind of segment from Miles or Beast. This show was kind of dry segment-wise, and it probably could've used it with so many tag matches. Luckily the show went up today instead of last weekend. I'll be able to sign-up for the next show. I won't be tea bagged again, you can count on it.
This match was a fun one to read. It was well-written as the Champs looked like they should, while Douglas and Tact showed their disdain for each other, possibly setting up a feud between the two.
My match was similar in style, with Hart and Fusenshoff not really meshing. The week of the rp period I was working 40 hours, finishing up Finals week for two accelerated summer courses, and just didn't have time to rp until Sunday night. I couldn't even rp then because Aston beat me to the punch. I didn't check the boards again until Wednesday to vote for the TiT Finals match, and by then it was too late to post during the 24-hour extension. As a result, Fuse was Tea Bag-pinned in our match. I supposed I deserved it. I'll just pretend it didn't happen and never sign-up for a show when there's a 95% chance I'll be too busy.
I've apologized profusely to Ryan and Aston already for no-showing.
I wrote the Fallen vs Second Coming match. It was fun to re-read after writing it three weeks ago. Hopefully Justin, Adam and Patrick enjoyed it too.
The Lindsay Troy/XXX segment was the highlight of the show. Rocko dropping the title was a shock. I'm hoping Lindsay wrestles in a few matches because I really enjoy reading her promos.
I was also hoping to see some kind of segment from Miles or Beast. This show was kind of dry segment-wise, and it probably could've used it with so many tag matches. Luckily the show went up today instead of last weekend. I'll be able to sign-up for the next show. I won't be tea bagged again, you can count on it.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Pending business
I have a bad feeling about this.
Next week is midterms. I work too, like every week.
That said, I know both Supershow 9 and Agression 37 are likely to go up this weekend. That means next week I'll be in two very important matches for Fuse's wrestling career (IF Fuse/Hart move on to the next round, which I don't deserve even if Hart does, but you never know.).
Not to mention my CC title shot is against Ravager, arguably the most consistent rper in FW. This guy will stack on you in a heartbeat and never leaves any wiggle room. He'll also be coming off his biggest FW match to date, win or lose. I've been looking forward to this match for months.
During the rp period for Round One of King of the Cage I had Finals for the first half of Summer semester. I didn't rp because Sunday was my first real chance, but Aston beat me to the punch. There's nothing worse than no-showing a match.
So today's Friday. Next Wednesday and Thursday are the midterms. One is Criminal Justice, which should be cake. International Economics is going to be a lot of work. At least I can see it coming this time. I think I'm prepared for this.
On a side note, nothing really to report. I've been thinking about talking to Dave regarding this blog and EPW. I was thinking about doing a wrestler of the month or sending questions to handlers in EPW to get a closer look at the men behind the characters... its just a thought.
Next week is midterms. I work too, like every week.
That said, I know both Supershow 9 and Agression 37 are likely to go up this weekend. That means next week I'll be in two very important matches for Fuse's wrestling career (IF Fuse/Hart move on to the next round, which I don't deserve even if Hart does, but you never know.).
Not to mention my CC title shot is against Ravager, arguably the most consistent rper in FW. This guy will stack on you in a heartbeat and never leaves any wiggle room. He'll also be coming off his biggest FW match to date, win or lose. I've been looking forward to this match for months.
During the rp period for Round One of King of the Cage I had Finals for the first half of Summer semester. I didn't rp because Sunday was my first real chance, but Aston beat me to the punch. There's nothing worse than no-showing a match.
So today's Friday. Next Wednesday and Thursday are the midterms. One is Criminal Justice, which should be cake. International Economics is going to be a lot of work. At least I can see it coming this time. I think I'm prepared for this.
On a side note, nothing really to report. I've been thinking about talking to Dave regarding this blog and EPW. I was thinking about doing a wrestler of the month or sending questions to handlers in EPW to get a closer look at the men behind the characters... its just a thought.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Aggression 36 & King(s?) of the Cage
I defended my title via countout against Beast at Aggression 36. Jarrett and I have very similar rp styles. We're both relentlessly aggressive. I made a major mistake in the rp period because I misread his first rp (and I even read it twice). I'll admit I was lucky to get the win and it wasn't as rewarding as it should've been to survive one of the very best this hobby has to offer.
Jarrett amazes me with his dedication to A1E. It's such a tightly run ship over there and he's the head honcho. I'm completely loyal in making sure I give everything feds ask of their handlers in EPW and TEAM. That takes up more time than I can give to a third fed. If that wasn't the case, Fuse would be in A1E looking for adversaries to put him out of his misery. ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fusenshoff is teaming with "The Phenom" Shawn Jessica Hart, PhD. in Kings of the Cage. Aston opened my eyes to his talent in the 2007 TiT. Our styles are VERY different and it's going to be our greatest strength in this tournament. I PMed him because I'm fully confident we'll win this thing if we both do our best.
That said, Fusenshoff is a lone wolf. I'm going to have to come up with something to make this partnership valid. This will force me to create an angle, which is good because I've just been fighting with no storyline so far for Fuse.
Jarrett amazes me with his dedication to A1E. It's such a tightly run ship over there and he's the head honcho. I'm completely loyal in making sure I give everything feds ask of their handlers in EPW and TEAM. That takes up more time than I can give to a third fed. If that wasn't the case, Fuse would be in A1E looking for adversaries to put him out of his misery. ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fusenshoff is teaming with "The Phenom" Shawn Jessica Hart, PhD. in Kings of the Cage. Aston opened my eyes to his talent in the 2007 TiT. Our styles are VERY different and it's going to be our greatest strength in this tournament. I PMed him because I'm fully confident we'll win this thing if we both do our best.
That said, Fusenshoff is a lone wolf. I'm going to have to come up with something to make this partnership valid. This will force me to create an angle, which is good because I've just been fighting with no storyline so far for Fuse.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)