BATTLEGROUND COMMENTS!

[Guest Suicide King]

Damn.

 

More later.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

Congratulations to Coy, Duran, and, uhh, whoever wrote that winning tag match.

 

I'll do a more in-depth review when I get around to it.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Initial thoughts...

 

Congrats to Sly.

 

SPIKE WINS!?! OMG!?!

 

Very nice match from Crow.

 

Thank you to Alan for writing a great match. Great stuff man.

 

Congrats, I guess, to Coy. Although I fear you won by no-show.

 

Not sure who wrote the tag match, although I'm assuming it was Toxxic/Liston just because of who won what. All I'll say is it was crazy wicked.

 

Zenon/Kibs is also awesome. Congrats to Kibs.

 

Flesher wins a ladder match. Great stuff from him.

 

 

AND DURAN IS DA CHAMP~! Congratulations man, that was an awesome match.

 

 

More in-depth stuff once I return from school...which I am late for...

[Toxxic 0]

I'm just skimming down this before I go to work, but yeah I wrote that tag match. I haven't seen all the other results, but BIG up to Austin for defeating IL. I only skimmed through it but you did a great job man, your work looks to have improved even since your debut not too many weeks back.

[janusd 0]

I'm just skimming down this before I go to work, but yeah I wrote that tag match.

*starts daydreaming of a promo where Toxxic wakes up in a hospital bed to find Janus and Aecas sitting at his bedside*

 

Seriously, great showing by all involved. I was kinda disappointed there weren't any promos, but that's pot calling the kettle black. Congratulations to all the winners, particularly Duran who WON the title he's never been able to get his mitts on. And let's get some promos in for the promo show, eh?

 

Oh, and a side note - I counted the three falls of the match as three seperate wins/losses. It made sense to me. o_O

[Secret Agent 0]

It's still just one match though. I'll count 1 loss, just like I would count 1 win had it went the other direction.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Whoa Duran, great match!

 

That's all I 've read so far, but since I'm officially inactive (let's hear it for the AP exam!), I'm sure I'll have time to check out the whole thing this week.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

I won? Weird...

 

 

 

Congrats to all winners, and Duran. This is probably all you'll get out of me for now.

[Cuban Linx 0]

I won? Weird...

Winning's pretty easy when your opponent doesn't write.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

It's still just one match though. I'll count 1 loss, just like I would count 1 win had it went the other direction.

Hell yes; I'm not as bummed about losing as I would be if I weren't leaving, but I'll be damned if that counts as more than one loss against me...

[Crowe 0]

SWF Battleground 25/04/2004

---

Crowe’s Comments

 

Post 1 – TNT’s Wicked Cool Hype Package Promo Thing

Post 2 – The Card

Post 3 – Austin Sly vs Insane Luchadore

Post 4 – Stryke vs ‘Hollywood’ Spike Jenkins

Post 5 – ‘La Sensation Senegalaise’ Said vs Tryst

Post 6 – Edward James vs Crow

Post 7 – Landon ‘La Cucaracha’ Maddix vs Alan Clark

Post 8 – Coy ‘Wild’ West vs Todd Royal

Post 9 – Wild & Dangerous© vs The In Crowd vs Aecas & Janus© vs Toxxic© & Liston

Post 10 – Danny Williams Promo

Post 11 – Nathaniel Kibagami vs Alex Zenon

Post 12 – Ann ‘Ichiban’ Onita vs ‘The Superior One’ Tom Flesher

Post 13 – Charlie ‘Grappler’ Matthews© vs ‘The Notorious’ John Duran

 

Out of all the posts above, I have decided to comment on the match that is bolded. I chose this match due to the fact that I found it to be the most interesting and entertaining match prospect going into the pay per view. It’s amazing what good promos and careful planning can conjure. Now, onto the commenting...

 

---

 

The entrance is well-handled, providing some nice little touches that add to the overall fell of the match – especially the part about this feud being all-consuming. I also must applaud the actual writing, it comes across cleanly and it is very legible. The commentary is spot on, which is standard for any match Z is involved in. After the bell rings, the beginning of the match manages to create excitement without being overly dramatic (a fault I will always carry). Great atmosphere, I feel like I’m in the crowd chanting “SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-LENT...” hehe. I mark for the Yakuza Kick that sends Zenon crashing to the outside. I’m liking the dominance of Kibagami, it puts over the fact that Alex has been out of the wrestling game for a while and is obviously rusty. This leaves space for some good spots later and of course, keeps the crowd hot and cheering at the start of the match. Ooo, a new strategy? Heh, this is milking every single possible bit of drama out of a simple situation at its best.

 

“And now Alexander will not even attempt to lock up with Kibagami! This is truly criminal cowardice, Robert! After all his accusation and blaming, all his talk of ‘ending’ everything with Kibagami here on PPV, Zenon is purposely avoiding him. I suppose he only now realizes his impotency,” says Comet, nodding sagely.

 

Very carefully, Riley makes sure to say nothing.

A class piece of commentary there (or lack of).

 

I like this game that Zenon is playing here, the cowardice heel, I wonder how this will be developed from here on in. Alex played possum on the count... but for what reason? He didn’t spring straight into attack to catch Kibagami off guard. I hope you answer my question. Oh! Roundhouse right to the neck sends Silent screaming... I can tell that the neck is yet again going to play a big role in this match. Aha! Zenon played possum on the count was a set up for something more important... possibly the partial awakening of the Silent One within Kibagami. The grimace to smirk has to be foreshadowing. MARK OUT FOR THE MID-MOVE ARM DRAG REVERSAL!

 

Alex is well and truly running out of ideas, and Kibagami is running to his feet. Stalling didn’t work. Possum didn’t work. Surprise worked, but opportunities will not present themselves so often. There is, Alex fears, only one other option.

Only one other option? Alex just used possum again to roll himself to the outside and make Kibagami hurt himself, but this is not it, so what is it? Excellent touch there, having Kibagami move out of the way of the elbow as it once again puts over the fact that Zenon hasn’t been in the ring for a long time (and continues the arm psychology, of course). If Zenon was in his prime, he would have realised that using your worked arm as a means of attack is not a clever idea. I mark for the phrase “world of hurt”. HOLY FUCKING SHIT! THE STEEL TIPPED SINGAPORE MOTHERFUCKING CANE~! Major mark out moment right there. Fucking awesome, Zenon found another opening for a surprise attack and used it, this seems to be an effective strategy against the Silent One. It also has left an opening for Zenon to get some consistent offence... the one thing Kibagami doesn’t want. However, Kibagami once again regains the offence... which I find kinda weird at this point in the match. I personally would have written some wrestling where Zed has a little domination only to have Kibs come back with a devastating counter. But, I think you may be building the underdog bit heavily because it’ll play a big part in the end... we shall see. Ah, it’s falling into place right now with Alex’s resilience causing Kibagami to act irrationally (he should have waited) and thusly, allowing the GALATEA SPECIAL! And now here we have the much needed wrestling moves from Zenon, coupled with an explosive outburst with the steel chair. YES! EXTINCTION LEVEL EVENT ON THE CHAIR, IT HAS TO BE ALL OVER! (Nah... )

 

...

 

SILENT IS BACK! AND HE HAS A FUCKING STEEL TIPPED CANE! THAT’S IT, BAYBEE!

 

...

 

You got to be fucking joking.

 

Zenon is up!

 

YES!

 

...

 

 

But is put down by a single punch?

 

You can’t be doing this to me.

 

NO!

 

That can’t be the finish, dammit!

 

---

 

Hm. What can I say? I’m trying to grasp what I just read. First thing that needs to be said is that it’s a good match that has an extremely high level of emotion and atmosphere about it. A match of epic proportions to say the very least. The match itself and the plot is very much driven by the emotions of the characters, that’s the core and I believe that you’ve manage to create something highly engaging from it. This is the first match I’ve read in a while captured my attention and didn’t allow me to get distracted by other silly things (like Minesweeper, Streets Of Rage or Chat). I am, however, disappointed in the finish. Whilst upon reflection, it is quite appropriate and ends the war (for now) between the two... I just can’t help feeling that I was robbed of that one final wrestling showdown between Alex Zenon and Nathaniel Kibagami. I for one would have loved to see both wrestler standing up against almost impossible odds and THEN a masterful showdown with tons of counters, hard hits and a tongue-biting finish. But that’s just me and I really do have no idea about what you two have planned after this, if you have plans with each other at all or if you’re gonna spring off with angles stemming from this separately. Even though I don’t like the finish, it does leave open many avenues for either character to travel. Moving on, this was never meant to be a wrestling match full of wrestling moves, it was meant to be a violent, emotion brawl, but I would have liked to have seen more wrestling sequences. Perhaps some more Zed offence as well. The psychology was well developed and reminded, which is why I was surprised that the arm psych didn’t play into the finish at all. The neck psych didn’t factor into the finish either, but unlike the arm psych, it had a large role in the character development. It demonstrated just how TOUGH Kibagami really is since he was able get up and win the match regardless of how much his neck was beaten. That was good writing. I don’t know if I was just reading into it too much, but... the two times where Kibs recovered and then mounted lots of offence... I got the feeling that it was the SILENT ONE inside trying to burst out. Was this intentional or have I just smoking too much or am I just hoping for the return of the SILENT ONE far too much?

 

Overall, regardless of my gripe over the finish, I think you guys succeeded in living up to the exceptional build this feud received. The match was engaging, memorable and just oozed atmosphere... and I just love that. The writing was very clean and, ignoring a few careless mistakes here and there, was basically errorless. I do believe more wrestling was required, but you can get away with by arguing that the wrestling wasn’t the driving point behind the match (like all mine are) and that the character emotion was. This is fair enough. Congratulations to both of you.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

I won? Weird...

Winning's pretty easy when your opponent doesn't write.

Nice taking all the fun out of it,

[janusd 0]

It's still just one match though. I'll count 1 loss, just like I would count 1 win had it went the other direction.

Hell yes; I'm not as bummed about losing as I would be if I weren't leaving, but I'll be damned if that counts as more than one loss against me...

Ah, but take my case. My character -lost- a title, and -gained- a title. I can't possibly count that as a single match.

[Guest Aecas]

Three really big congratulations here as its the only thing I feel I have enough nergry to do at the moment.

 

First of all to Sly, that was a very good match to read and congrats at getting your first PPV win!

 

Secondly theres Toxxic for writing that match on his lonesome. If thats not one HELL of an achievement I don't know what it so big props to him for that and I hope you enjoy your break mate.

 

And last but not least big congratulations go out to John Duran for finally stepping up and snatching up the big one. That was a great match to read and you richly deserve the title.

 

Congrats to everyone else who won their matches and I'm now off to get pissed. Gotta love birthdays eh?

 

Oh and one more thing. Boilermaker's off ladders own you all *pimps Taamo*

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

My birthday is in 2 days, mate.

[Guest Fire and Knives]

My match review and overall comments will go up sometime tonight, but before that, I want to address a couple of the bird's comments.

 

My original plan for the finish involved a great deal of wrestling, sick striking sequences, and a ridiculously heated finish involving whatever Demonstar variant I could dream up the day of the PPV. But the more Z and I worked on the match, the more apparent it became that it simply wouldn't be an appropriate finish.

 

Consider the backstory of the feud. Every time Z and Silent faced in singles competition, Z got crushed (in character, at least.) Even when Silent made his face turn and competed against Z in a triple threat, Zenon still never got a pinfall victory over him. So there's that working against him in this match. The other major reason there's no magnificent wrestling is because Zenon doesn't do that and never has. Z always relied more on luck than anything else, and whatever wrestling he did manage was usually WWE-style brawling. A Clan/Carnival sequence late in the match or tactical fights over the Demonstar just wouldn't make sense in terms of the character - even with Mark Stevens teaching him, he couldn't quite get that Octopus Stretch down, so where would he have become this mat-wrestling savant in the meantime? We establish in the first few exchanges that Zenon cannot now and will not ever out-strike Kibagami and we added arm psych on top of that, so where exactly were we going to shove that climatic "You Hit Me, I Hit You, Somebody Screams and Throws A Lariat" sequence?

 

Which brings me to the finish - something we decided on at the last minute with the knowledge that most of the readers would sit up and say, "What the FUCK WAS THAT?!?" Then we decided that we wanted you guys to do that, so we went ahead and stuck it in.

 

Zenon's been out of the ring for almost two years. He is not conditioned to wrestle a PPV match, much less a Last Man Standing match. Kibagami could've believeably wrestled another ten minutes or so because he has that kind of character and he's got that kind of moveset - twenty-five minutes into the match, he doesn't need to pick you up if he's exhausted; he'll just kick your goddamn teeth in. What we wanted to do was establish that Zenon has a breaking point - he reaches it when Kibagami gets up from the Extinction Level Event on the chair. He freezes - he's run out of options. He probably could've dodged the first of those cane shots, but seeing Kibagami get up just wastes him. After the cane breaks, he's out on his feet, and Kibagami decides to put him down the easiest way he knows instead of breaking out something he doesn't need to use, like the Downshifter or a Dangerous Backdrop. While Kibagami certainly contributes to Zenon's loss, Zenon does ultimately beat himself - he simply won't get up again. Writing anything more elaborate than the finish we used would've taken attention away from that idea.

 

K.

[Toxxic 0]

Well, I'll TRY and do a brief match-by-match analysis and commentary.

 

Sly va Luchador

Well, I mark for my name being mentioned so many damn times for starters. I'm not sure it should have been, but still. And to be fair, Sly is undefeated when he actually writes, I believe... and has two wins over Jake and one over Rickmen. Word.

As for the match... well, I don't think Riley will EVER pull for anyone but the heel (except possibly Tom Flesher). And he CERTAINLY wouldn't support Rickmen. But hey. The flow seems a little disjointed in parts, but I can't really determine why. The middle bit where Rickmen has Austin on the ropes seems like a reversal of the normal situation with the heel trying to fight his way back into the match, not sure if that's a good thing or not. I LIKED the end though, as it proves that you don't have to have one be-all-and-end-all spot to finish a hardcore match - repeatedly pasting someone with a chair can do it. Austin seems to be the man of unusual finishes - keep going man, you're doing great. All you need now is some sort of promo or backstage interaction to build up your character in relation to the other wrestlers.

 

Spike vs Stryke

And Spike shoots on himself in the opening few sentences... then proceeds to have a lot of fun with the fact that the two wrestlers' names sound alike. It makes the narrative a bit repeptitive, but I guess you can't help that. And OK, I'm starting to lose track of who's doing what now... Well, a well set-out match but the thing that really niggled me was not one mention of which commentator was saying what. Yeah, I can guess... but still. But hey, nice return Spike and 'twas a good match even tho Stryke didn't show.

 

Said vs Tryst

WHAT THE FUCK!? KING!? And Card has revealed that he is from Nottingham, not Canada as I thought... and... I have NO CLUE what just happened there, except that Card (the real-life Blue meanie) wanted to go out with a bang...

 

Crow vs James

"premonition vitamins"? That says it all really. Nice one Crow.

 

Clark vs Maddix

"I'm right here, moron!" Good line. Good match. And for once, the empty arena makes it realistic to have audible conversation between wrestlers. I mark for Maddix, but the curse of the Floppy Disk probably hurt him. Yes, the comments are getting shorter. But you see, the further up the card the better (by and large) the writers are, so i need to say less. See?

 

Todd vs Coy

That song is AWESOME

 

Tag Match Of Death

Phew. And I can rest in the knowledge that I am now someone, having beaten Wildchild.

 

Kibs vs Z

Best match writing of the night so far, in my opinion, and i count my lucky stars that Kibs no-showed against me... but I still want a piece of him someday. Oh, and this read like a squash - although maybe that's because it was obvious what the outcome would be.

 

Tom vs Annie

"Lord knows we don't have to be Spartan about our language."

"We may in fact be Trojan."

 

Best. Historically-orientated exchange. Ever. And a NASTY shot at the Barracuda later on...

 

Duran vs Grappler

All goodness. And Duran wins clean. I LIKE it.

[Sly 0]

Sly va Luchador

Well, I mark for my name being mentioned so many damn times for starters. I'm not sure it should have been, but still. And to be fair, Sly is undefeated when he actually writes, I believe... and has two wins over Jake and one over Rickmen. Word.

As for the match... well, I don't think Riley will EVER pull for anyone but the heel (except possibly Tom Flesher). And he CERTAINLY wouldn't support Rickmen. But hey. The flow seems a little disjointed in parts, but I can't really determine why. The middle bit where Rickmen has Austin on the ropes seems like a reversal of the normal situation with the heel trying to fight his way back into the match, not sure if that's a good thing or not. I LIKED the end though, as it proves that you don't have to have one be-all-and-end-all spot to finish a hardcore match - repeatedly pasting someone with a chair can do it. Austin seems to be the man of unusual finishes - keep going man, you're doing great. All you need now is some sort of promo or backstage interaction to build up your character in relation to the other wrestlers.

 

I was trying to make a comparison between our two characters. And yeah... it did run a bit long... but I was having fun writting it, so I kept going with it.

 

I'm still trying to get used to writting commentary. I'm having trouble with it, as you can tell.

 

Aaaaand I pulled the majority of the match out my ass in like two hours, so I'm going to take the win and run.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

... And I can rest in the knowledge that I am now someone, having beaten Wildchild...

(Y)

 

Give yourself a pat on the back, Toxxic; you wrote a helluva match. And you now have more wins over me than the last three World Heavyweight Champions... combined...

[Above Average 0]

I may be one of the few people that saw the finish to Silent vs. Z coming and I enjoyed it throughly. It was foreshadowed, subtley set-up and well hinted at, throughout the match. In fact, I've parroted on numerous occasions that people bumping off punches for nine counts might be a very effective tool for similar stipulation matches. You guys just took that to the extreme. Maybe I realized the finish because, quite frankly, I would have tried to lead to my final sequences the same way. Whether or not I could have done it, though...

 

And I can't hold much fault in match build, up to the final sequence or the finish.

 

I will however hold fault in the final sequences to the finish. A head drop -- a Finisher no less -- onto a chair should finish ANY match, no matter how much you've hinted that it won't, in my opinion. It killed some of the drama, and believablity you had set-up. Ring rust, internal storylines for each character, previous injuries, even the amount of time and pacing of the match. Well, pacing until you got to that final sequence, which seemed rushed. Maybe I should read it again, but I'd like to know how much time you felt elapsed, between the two major events. I honestly think -- and I know that this match was about breaking cliches, like a finisher onto the chair MUST win the match, and nobody can win off a punch -- that there was a better way to lead Zenon into his stupor for the finish to occur.

 

I won't say it wasn't 'dramatic', or effective, but I wasn't down with it. Bah, and I completely see the logic on why you did it too. I know all too well about how hard it is to effectively write that intangible 'it' factor (heart/fighting spirit/will to win, whatever you may call it) because I attempted to base my character around it and I know there is a thin line to travel -- Danny's wonderfully written Ironman match beat mine out, when we had a similar plan and I'm glad it did, because I wrote maybe my best match at the time, or ever for that matter and his match had elements to it that I never even could've thought of, which helped me write my own character better -- but I digress. While some of those attacks on Mak should have obviously won him a fall, nothing was on the level of a weapon assisted finisher. But then, this is a different character, in a different situation. I really want to believe it wasn't bordering on going way over the top, and that's why it sucks that I dislike this. Oh well, thats just the way it is sometimes. I'll give it some time and maybe I'll like it more, if Z or you, bitch about me being overly critcal.

 

I'll give another match the long winded Franchisable comments, in a while.

[the.weej 0]

Relatively quick comments, since I haven't read the whole show yet, and will at least try to make an effort to later. First note that I edited in TNT's intro a little while ago, since he sent it to me after I'd gone to watch a movie last night, and then decided, "Fuck it, I'm tired" and headed off.

 

Anyway. First thing to note... Crowe, if that's truly how you feel how about the finish and the match, then I believe Kibagami and I have succeeded in everything we set out to do. Suh-weet. We intended the match to be totally driven by emotion and not really by the wrestling--logistically, it was never going to be a dramatic showdown where the advantage kept shifting from side-to-side and each guy kept breaking out new, amazing stuff to get back into it. Kibagami was really supposed to dominate from the start, and Zenon was supposed to have to be the smartest motherfucker in the building to try and get close to winning. I'd tend to agree that it never really, totally felt like Alex had the best chance, but que sera sera. The punch to the face finish wasn't my original idea, but Kibagami really didn't like my original idea, so we went with that. The idea was to create the most bitter, unfufilling ending possible--the sort of thing that left an awful taste in the mouth of everyone who read it. It really goes to hammer home the point that Alex was wrong. It was completely his fault, what had happened to him, and he was indeed his own worst enemy. And, realizing that, he just... gave up. I say we did our job.

 

As for where we go from here.... well... shit, even I don't know. I'll come up with SOMETHING before Friday, I hope.

 

Right, onto some notes about the matches I marked. First, the tag match... I wanna go on record with something here: All the matches were good for what they were, but man, what they were was a mess. That thing was a bigger clusterfuck than I thought it'd be, and I s'pose I've learned my lesson with booking experiments, heh. That said, I liked Toxxic's the best of the three on readability more than anything else. It ended up being the determining factor in everything, where the most readable, tightly wound match would end up winning. It's a little unfortunate that it came down to that, but it was really a necessity. I though the In Crowd turned in another very, very good effort, and I think in return I should, y'know, book you guys in a straight up regular tag match sometime. As for W&D, the biggest detriment to the match was the size. I think you could've lopped almost 4k off of that match and had it read much, MUCH better. I couldn't decide whether I really liked it or not either. Parts of it were very good, and parts of it were extremely difficult for me to read. ::shrug:: For once, my thoughts on these matches are difficult to put into words. There's just... so much to all of them, god.

 

Now, Duran v Matthews... fantastic match, Duran. Not the best PPV main event I've ever read, but honestly, there's only so much you can do with a straight up singles match--you can write great stuff, but in the PPV format, it's limiting. That said, I thought you did an outstanding job with everything in the match, especially the atmosphere. Atmosphere is a great driving point for high profile matches; the ability to create drama and the overall feel within the prose that 'this is a big match' is invaluable to a main event writer, and I think you chose the perfect time to break out with it here. The commentary, the choice of moves, the way everything was described... it all oozed atmosphere. The wrestling itself was on par with Grappler's, if not a little bit better. It wasn't the strongest suit to the match, becaus as SS mentioned to me himself, there is only so much you can do with two hosses in the same ring who wrestle very similar styles. I liked the finish, too--simple, but simple was the name of the game here, and it worked to your advantage. Grappler was a little too heavy handed with how he handled everything building up to the finish, and it was one of the reasons that I ended up going with your match over his. So good for you, Duran! You worked very hard to get to the top of the heap, so I really have to give you props for it. Strangler and Va'aiga come close, but this is probably the biggest most 'unlikely success story' we've had in the fed since Divefire, so you need to hold onto that belt now.

 

And I'm out until later. Expect a 'card' for Storm up sometime today, such as it will be.

 

-Z

[the.weej 0]

Oh, Mak, my refuting of your criticisms, if I may:

 

Kibagami wrote that part. Not me.

 

 

-Z

[Rawknight 0]

Said vs Tryst

WHAT THE FUCK!? KING!? And Card has revealed that he is from Nottingham, not Canada as I thought... and... I have NO CLUE what just happened there, except that Card (the real-life Blue meanie) wanted to go out with a bang...

Read it again Mike.

 

I'm not going out with a bang. I'm STAYING with a bang.

 

Cards always been from Nottingham, he just lived in Canada. And noone ever asked what the voice sounded like so you never knew

[Dace59 0]

This is gonna kill me but here come my FULL comments. As with before, the star rating reflects the quality of the match as a real match, not the quality of your writing. How this all works out will see if I carry this on or not.

 

Opening Hype:

It's there now and it's cool.

 

Austin Sly vs Insane Luchadore

Open with the usual hype what's to come later on bit. Nice comments about Toxxic [sly vs Toxxic with Toxxic as a face would draw IMO] Not really focused on the match, but gives an air of general banter and speculation to the talk. Little start o get IL and Sly going at each other and the fight is on. Short and fast opening, pretty frantic. The description isnt flowerly, but it's solid and carries the feeling the match is more like a fight, which fits really. It's back and forth without much real selling, but it seems like a fight and they dont move away from that idea of the fight. Sly with a table bump and gets beaten though the crowd. Classic hardcore and nothing over the top. A brawling come back from Sly, but again this match is just like that, and it makes use of the stage for a hardcore spot. Using the WM17 ending, Sly just beats IL down with a bunch of chair shots to end the brawl. Not fantastic, but soild. No huge "this is ppv" bumps, but it's the opener. Sly's had a good start as a write and can certainly go places. *3/4 (*** Hardcore wise)

 

Stryke vs ‘Hollywood’ Spike Jenkins

Spike digs at himself in the opening comments [you really are a mashocist man]

Pretty thin opening, not much detail on anything. Spike's taking the piss with the rope running spots, but at least it's an attempt at satire on wrestling action and it's not completely terrible. Rope run and basic reversal spots to an indy stand off, which actually fits with the 'action' so far. More rope running, Stryke with a basic brawl come back. Same spotty back and for trade offs, which aren't that bad most of the time, just not supported. Quick finisher counter to finisher for the end. With more actuall support in description, that wouldn't have been that bad. *

 

‘La Sensation Senegalaise’ Said vs Tryst

Shoot comments to start the match [feel the smarkness people, feel it]. Very grim line about the Somme. Chris Card finally shows his true home town. And King is back.. [and he's here for our souls!] Said's gone as King gloats like he should. Texting promo...that's just true heel tactics right there. A really differnt touch. It's anti crowd stuff, like Corino/Cactus anti hardcore. Big anti american rant as only a real English man could do. No match, but eh, there was something worth popping for. ***

 

Edward James vs Crow

Comet and Riley bitch as ever, playing up James' situation. Brings up Crow's history with big men, but almost makes it seem like it will be too easy for him to start with. Crow basicly just shows off, and his expereince lets him out pace and out move James all the way. But then James catches up with the game and starts to smack Crow around in the usual power/flying game and it makes James look like a threat in the match. Crow makes a transiation a quickly with speed and using flying attacks to further the power/flying battle. The superhero stick and sockpuppers make for good reading, doesnt really help the match, but it's funny. Again Crow comes back with his speed, keeping the basic idea of the match going. The description keeps everything going nice, though sometimes it makes it feel like Crow is going to just crush James, but at other it gets James over as a danger to Crow. James follows up the belly to belly on the floor , and the simple back work gives him controll, very effectively. Some of the second person lines fit nicely to the smarky slight shoot comments that get made from time to time. Nice Shining Das Wunder Kick, to the 'now we'll both sell together' ten count. The action then kicks into high gear, sort of seems out of place, but well writen and following on from most of the other events in the match. Even after the back work, Crow can fly is way out of trouble and just kick James down. A little more emphism on the spinebuster and the powerbomb attack Crow's already damaged back would have worked. And Crow picks up the win, flying once and and spike James with that Murderous DDT. A nice return to form with Crow and pretty good all round. **1/2

 

Landon ‘La Cucaracha’ Maddix vs Alan Clark

Well, this one's had enough hype, so let's go. Alan standind with just the ref and yelling builds up some tension, like looking for the killer in a horror movie. Play off the Superkick he used before in his promo, Maddix finally breaks the tension build and the match is under way. The whole differnet feel of the match is put over with comments out the lack of crowd... and it just feels almost epic [like a big final fight out in the middle of some feilds rather than at a material arts tournement with a huge crowd] The conversion between Alan and Maddix takes the place of commentry and works far better, with both men showing off feelings to each other. It also adds a sense of tense to the battle, they can't just dive in fight none stop, not in this one [also reminds me of the Street Figer movie, the good one, the animated one]. The opening spots with the tree of woe dropkick and the first non cover make Clark seen very heel, but otherwise make a great situation. It doesn't feel like a wrestling match, just an epic fight with wrestling moves. There's no really selling, not yet anything, but the stop start nature and the two men also holding off from each other means they have enough time to recover inbetween. And it keeps that almso horror movie atmosphere. The tension builds and builds, spikes then suddenly there's not big pay off and you're still building. The attack with the fire extinguisher is a big moment though and nice brutal high light and then is mirrored with Clark's sudden spear. Some of the facelock and suplex might have been done with exansion into more ideas though. The elbow drop from the apron, not a huge spot normally, but it's built and it feels big, like a lot of the moves here. Maddix gets really frantic, and the way the action is, with the two taking to each other, the idea of the heel and doing anything to win goes over far more than nromal. The frantic roll ups in the ring continue this. The action is still basic, but fits there story and feels like it's not just covering old ground. The possible finisher in the Dyer Maker is isnt enough in this sort of match, and it's not the cover with everything type of battle. Now it's a wrestling match, and every big moment is broken off into more build as it doesnt connect or get the job done. Goes a bit spot fu with the trade offs, breaking from the flow of the fight before hand. Well, that was something, very interesting. Very good story [though not really the match, but it wasn't ment to be a match like that], even if the spot fu stuff would have been better to start with it ending in the fight. **1/4

 

Coy ‘Wild’ West vs Todd Royal

Some back story banter to build the match up [God this ppvs are LONG] Classic big Todd ego entrance fitting for the PPV. Nice slow teasing start till Todd kicks into action only for everything to stop again. Coy starts off with old school headlock love, slowing Todd down and getting him down while Royal has to fight his way out every time. Royal finally escapes with some classic heel help from his manage [Did I say this fed was on an old school kick or what?] Todd just starts to hammer away, basic heel control stuff that works so well here. Coy brawls his way back to control, with his size advantage. Todd has to go back to brawling to escape West's holds again. The neck work is simple, and stands out with Coy's style, so it works very well. Megan is once again used to give Todd the advantage, playing up Todd's character some more. Todd starts to work over Coy's leg, taking advantage of it's previouis damage and to set up the figure four. So far it's all old school, with all the little things in the main focus and it's making for a good match. More leg work, and Todd is just setting out to destory the knee, but it's not oversold, as to think West should be giving up really soon. And even at the spinning toe hold, Todd is still just showing the last affects of the opening headlocks. Coy tries to transition back with a suplex, but his knee gives and he takes the rolling suplexes [a spot Ejiro used to explain transistions and it's very fitting] The leg psych is soild, but not over worked, so it's not stretched with flashy work and holds together. Todd gets rolled up as he goes for a figure four, playing off classic Flair and Jarret spots. Todd as to go back to other routes and the headlocks came back into play, connecting to the start of the match fantasticly. Then Megan finally pays for her interfernce in pay off for early matches and in the match. Todd's rage justifies the breaking from his plan as he stomps away on West. Todd goes for a Dragon Suplex as a big fuck you, but it costs him and the STF goes back to working the neck. With no one to save him, Todd has to tap out. I love the making simple simple like headlocks a big match focus. A really good example about how your match opening can still be important at the finish. And wrestling wise, good soilld fight with psych from both sides that holds up through out. ***3/4

 

Wild & Dangerous© vs The In Crowd vs Aecas & Janus© vs Toxxic© & Liston

Toxxic... you long winded bastard you [in other words, congrats mate] Big but fast intros to get everyone into the ring. Banter and build to bring things into focus for the match, just to highlight some of the best issues going on. Fast openign clusterfuck of spots like you'd expect, and Aecas trying to play cool as Janus is in psycho mode. A great job of keeping the action hot and everything going at the same time as much as is possible. It's spot tastic, but what else would you expect from at match like this, it's entertaining importantly.Wildchild quickly falls to a suped up version of Toxxic's finisher, as he should, while everyone is taken care of. Done as well as it could have been there. The description holds this together, easy to follow, you know what's going on with everyone, which is what you need in this sort of match. The double take flash backs are a good way to cover action you can't describe at onces, keeps things from being clutterd. [Yes I'm skimming on this one, sorry Toxx] Stuff like Todd trading counters with W&D just shows how spotty this is, but it's fast and it's inventive, which really counts writing wise here. There's the needed everyone hits there dives spots, and Aecas being used as a press slammed lawn dart just owns. I'm not sure if there should event be legal people in a hardcore match, which is a technical rule problem, but it keeps some order to the match. Everything ties in, as Aecas gets his hands on Toxxic in the hardcore fall to try and get revenge. But his revenge means he doesnt get the Hardcore title match, very fitting. Poor Jimmy being left high and dry after Toxxic's bump. I dont think I've seen anyone in a tag match being taken to the back in the middle of the match for a while, I like. Then Liston says fuck this and gets out of dodge. Puts over how dangerous Janus is, and makes the final fall easier to take care of. Everyone is working together to take Janus down now. Great description, jokes and the style helps keep this thing together and make it a great read. In the end, the power and toughness of the Trinity win though and they regain the tag titles. Now that was a fantastic effort just to get the match to work, a cluster fuck but a fun one. **

 

Danny Williams Promo

Danny's stating he wants the title shot he think's he should have. Quick, simple, and the one thing Duran worried about past his match. *

 

Nathaniel Kibagami vs Alex Zenon

[Ah, last laps] Well, this has also been highly hyped on the last show and here it comes down. Intro brings it all to bare and leaves no doubt about what's coming. Big grand intros, just to start the rollercoaster going up. Most of this is covered far better by Kibs' own comments. Like the opening showing that Zenon just can't get into a strike battle against Kibs and win. Kibagami is just killing Alex, sending all that rage right back to bite him in the ass. Then that leads straight into all the avoidance stuff, and the ride is still going up and up. Everything brings up Alex's need of luck and the fact he can't go toe to toe here. He plays posum to get all the break he can and annoy Kibs. Then when Zenon does go to attack, it just gets reversed. Zenon then goes for the only opening, the neck and he does for it as hard as he can. But two can play posum as Kibagami does as well, just to show Zenon it's far from that easy. Once again Zenon just eats all his rage and ends up on the mat. It's all like one bit loop, and not the straight up blood honour brawl I'd expected. It draws in all the story connecting these two, and focuses it through the in ring action. With Zenon's desperates efforts for a sleeper hold just reenforce the power gap between the two in the ring. The Benoit/Eddie spot from J Cup 94 works the same way, as Alex tries to take the high road, but that can't work for him either. All that rage and so little outlet. Untill he starts to personally introduce Kibs' face into the apron many times, and this is a huge crashing point, has it all snapped here? No, as Zenon's arm gets smashed again and it all works against him still. It almost looks like Austin/Rock from WM17 will go down again, but this is Kibagami and this is one mother of a match, it's not over heat. This just reads like hatred, everything goes around it, it's all explained to that end and works towards it. Huge effort from Zenon, dropping another big bomb on Silent, but still isnt enough to turn the tide. So he goes postal, but at this point, it seems like one man trying to hold back the sea almost. Zenon goes for what should be the A bomb, should be it, all the rage, all the hate, one last full on murderous assault. And it's JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH! This is just like the classic The Man vs The Punk matches, Zenon's fighting with all he's got, but he doesn't have enough. And then the A Bomb rage comes back to kick Alex in the teeth and Kibagami just muderates him on the spot. But even then, not everthing ends with big bombs. One punch ends it all, finally. This is emotion through and through. Everthing moves to the brawl, to the fight. This isn't Indy, who can make the biggest head drops, this is who has the bigger spirit, who has the pride. Just fantastic to read. Truely awesome. It's going to be remembered. ***1/4

 

Ann ‘Ichiban’ Onita vs ‘The Superior One’ Tom Flesher

[Almost there!] Everything gets set up at the start, the ladder, Allison out there, all ready for the battle. Flesher just goes to work rubbing dirt into Ann's face as it where. Flesher's going for the leg, and he's taking it easy and heelish so far. Just like the Smarkdown tag match, Tom sets about crushing Onita and being a dick as he goes, with the lazy taunting. But Onita fights back with a blitzing attack, this is going to be another show of spirit I think. Tom goes for the simple low risk high pay of take downs, but Onita is fighting her way free from them, for now. Tom's keeping it simple, real classic heel. Low risk, work over Onita and just hurt her, dont take chances. Ann fights out of a German attempt and nails Flesher where it hurts, making it look like a fighter vs wrestler encounter. Tom makes his usual round of smark and out of kayfabe comments, hitting on some really nice issues, while keeping it all fitting to the match. And Tom goes back to dismantling Onita, taking her apart with simple moves and just wearing her down. Headlocks R Us are going great buisness tonight as Flesher continues the weardown stragergy with one, forcing Ann, the figher, to waster her energy fighting out. Oninta starts to fight back, using the spirit to take control of the match with a dropkiss. But she goes to climb far to soon and Flesher gets her down and crushes her again. Flesher doesnt make the same mistake as he just uses the ladder for a weapon. It just shows Tom as his usual superior self, working Ann over and being the smater man in the ring, carrying right over from their other recent matches. Ann fights here way back into control, all the action following perfectly, as you'd expect from Tom. Ann goes for the old crush rush tactic that worked on her, but she can't pull it off as she misses the yakuza kick. The commentry brings up just what Tom is doing and makes it all so clear. And Ann's fighting spirit does take over on the ladder, just dragging Tom off and throwing him down. Just fighgint to hold on. Finisher from the ladder, should be it, should all be over now. But Allison gets invloved, and all that hard work and fighting spirit that has been built up is crushed.

She tries to fight back, but Tom brings the Unprettier into play once again and it looks to be over. But the fire still burns, and that spirit that is been built justifies her getting back up. But only for one last bump, the final crushing Tom has built up to, Boilermaker from the ladder. To cap it all off finally. Fantastic match. Really sweet. ****1/2

 

Charlie ‘Grappler’ Matthews© vs ‘The Notorious’ John Duran

[The home run stretch!] Long intro, build it all up, this is the main event of a PPV after all, and the capping of a titanic fued that's been made for so long now. Headlocks R Us starts off making another killing in this one as well. Duran seams to have pulled out a few pages from Danny's play book, and he's carrying on this run that makes him seem such a threat. Duran is taking him down and working him, more of the crushing wave tactics. The commentry backs up all the psych and allows Duran to follow the game plan he wants to, making it all the better. But this is the title match, and Grappler is playing his own games as well, and it keeps him looking like a strong champ, and it all plays between them, as Grappler even mirrors Duran's attacks on him. The submission just brings all the tension to a hightlight, and everythings riding, so no one's going to be tapping out just yet. Duran tries to domination Charlie, just wear him down and crush him, but it doesnt work perfectly, but moving from the knee to the torso opens up a new line of attack that Duran follows very well. This is another great writen peace, with Duran holding everything together and picking up little bits here and there that fix it all together. The bearhug counters just work around this even more. It ends up with a huge end push, Duran risking it to fly through the air to try and win. No good, so he goes for the Point Break, but that does work either, the champ is fighting all the way to the end. And then a Piledriver on the floor shifts it all back and Duran looks to be beaten. And at the end of it all, the Blunt Force Turma, FINALLY puts Grappler down. Duran catches the world title after an epic. Brilliant match. ****3/4, MOTN.

 

Over all, a fantastic read guys, awesome PPV, with highlights in many ways and styles. Everyone did really well. May nor brilliant star rating wrestling all the way around, but you're not always looking to do that. Certainly match writing wise just great.

 

Dace

[Guest Fire and Knives]

I will however hold fault in the final sequences to the finish. A head drop -- a Finisher no less -- onto a chair should finish ANY match, no matter how much you've hinted that it won't, in my opinion. It killed some of the drama, and believablity you had set-up. Ring rust, internal storylines for each character, previous injuries, even the amount of time and pacing of the match. Well, pacing until you got to that final sequence, which seemed rushed. Maybe I should read it again, but I'd like to know how much time you felt elapsed, between the two major events. I honestly think -- and I know that this match was about breaking cliches, like a finisher onto the chair MUST win the match, and nobody can win off a punch -- that there was a better way to lead Zenon into his stupor for the finish to occur.

I don't think you're being overly critical - I think you're just reading it in the context of this match and this match alone, and if you do that, it does look rather silly. However, there's a lot of background that played into the decision to use that move that way.

 

The reason I decided to write the ELE on the chair is exactly the reason you seem to be taking issue with it - it should've finished the match. I needed something that absolutely, positively should've put Kibagami out of the match in order to justify Zenon breaking down. As far as the character is concerned, Kibagami's beaten the Air MacPhisto and a sit-out Riot of the Blood in a Last Man Standing situation before, both of them from Edwin MacPhisto - nothing Zenon has in his arsenal, chair-assisted or not, is going to put Kibagami down, but he has to try it or he doesn't stand a prayer, as evidenced by the ass-whipping that is visited upon him shortly thereafter. Think of the first time Kawada spiked Misawa with the Dangerous Backdrop to no avail. Maybe it should've kept Misawa down - but at that point, he was still The Man, and Kawada wasn't going to beat him regardless of what moves he brought to the table.

 

K.

[Lightning Flik 0]

Hi. I'm the guy that continually has problems with his life, and I finally got my PC fixed (thankfully could get a spare power supply for my PC). Go me, go.

 

Before I give my review of Battleground, I just need to add that I'm looking for another job as my current one isn't really hiring me for an actual job. So yah. Life as me, sucks. At least more than anyone here.

 

Edit: I'm also sorry for fucking up my computer. That was my fault, I accidently overclocked the damn thing and poof. I killed my own pewter. Misinformed about the CPU Speed I had, and well, shit happens lots to me apparently.

 

Review

 

Anyways, so the show op- *a special puff of smoke later and low and behold, the wonderfully childish alter-ego (also alter-gender) of myself, Choko, appears*

 

Choko: NO! Choko wishy to helpy Fliky withy reviewy!

 

Dammit, Choko. NO. I can do my own reviews without your strange assistance!

 

*Choko holds up a huge, but very cute mallet and wields it with all the menace in the world, and frankly, everyone should fear the look of insanity of her face*

 

Choko: Choko smashy Fliky withy hammy inny meany spotty iffy Fliky no letty Choko do reviewy.

 

Ok, ok, ok. I'll let you... Wait a minute!? When did we go from the position of "helper" to "reviewer".

 

Choko: Fliky wanny getty hitty withy hammy?

 

...um, no. I'd really not like to get hit with the mallet.

 

Choko: Too baddy! *Choko smacky Fliky withy "Hammy of Powy" inny meany spotty. Fliky go bye bye inny sky fromy blowy.*

 

WAHHHHHHHH~!!!!! I'm outta here again~!!!! *does the little Team Rocket disappearing sky trick*

 

Choko: Weee!!! Choko writy reviewy nows!

 

*the most cutiest squeel is heard, although, it kinda curls your blood to think that something can possibly be that cute*

 

 

Reviewy: Battlygwoundy

 

Hiyas!!! I Choko! Choko be ... 'thery halfy of Fliky. Choko getty reviewy! Yah!!!

 

Austy vs. Luchy

Choko likey openy matchy. Givy biggy ups to Austy. Matchy be funy and goody and nicy! Yah!

 

Stryky vs. Spiky

Choko likey funny stuffy Stryky does. Stryky runny miles onny miles and itty funny! Heheheheheheh. Choko noddy atty Riley, as Choko hatey indy stancy toos. HATEY HATEY HATEY it. Choko notty really likey endy as endy haddy no buildy on it. Choko thinky goody matchy alls aroundy.

 

Trysy vs. Saidy

Choko be Trysy fanny! GO TRYSY GO! Wooo wooo! Hehehehehehehe... Nani??? Swervy!!! SWERVY!!! KINGY RETURNY!!! Choko biggy Kingy fanny than Trysy fanny, so alls hails Kingy!!! *bowy Choko to Kingy* Kingy evilly evils man. Choko likey goody evilly evil men. Nani? Goody evilly evil men be cools! Thatty be why Choko likey Kingy! Kingy be cools atty cools! Um... No matchy, but KINGY RETURNY!!!!

 

Eddy vs. Crowy

Choko be saddy that Fliky no writy likey Fliky wanty to, but Choko happy Crowy showy ups! Choko says thatty Crowy usy lots of stuffy Choko notty getty. Likey Riley hatey Eddy, but Riley teachy Eddy??? Nani? Choko no getty. Choko do likey thatty Crowy givy Eddy nicky. Thatty be nicy of Crowy. "Lionyhearty" Eddy Jamy. Choko likey. Choko likey matchy too. Matchy undyraty for psychy as it had lots and lots and lots of goody psychy. Nicy finishy! Biggy ups to Crowy for goody matchy.

 

Supy vs. Matrixy

Choko know thatty notty be who inny matchy, but Choko no cary 'bouts thatty! Choko justy wanny givy biggy proppy for match of cools! Landy getty ally rilly up and Clarky plays alls cools! Many reversy and muchy storys ... Choko heady justy spinny! Choko lovey itty alls!!! CHOKO WANTY MORY!!!

 

Westy vs. Slavy of Choko, Toddy!

Why Toddy Choko slavy? Simpy. Toddy servy as Choko slavy to spready alls Choko Love©!!! ...wha? Toddy no do thatty? BAD TODDY~!!! Choko hurty you for notty spready Choko Love©! Ahemy. Choko reviewy matchy. Rights! Choko ready matchy and matchy justy flowy so welly! SO MUCHY GOODY~!!! Choko canny justy munchy onny alls goody! *mimiy munchy of goody* Mmmy... Choko happy Westy wony! Yah Westy!!!

 

Taggy Matchy of Silly!

Choko... Canny Choko commy onny this goody? Choko thinky notty. Choko justy says matchy be so goody, itty greaty! Yahs...

 

Fliky: I'd just like to say, I have read this damn thing and Choko is correct. I can't even put into words the chaos that this is. Shit, Battleground this match is! Just congrats to Toxxic, Liston, Aecas and Janus.

 

Choko say bye bye. *smashy Fliky withy "Hammy of Powy" again*

 

Fliky: NOT AGAIN~!!! *blinking little star in sky type of pose*

 

 

Zenny vs. Kibby

Choko canny only say matchy have no psychy (wells, psychy no lotty), but itty justy draggy you inny and nevery letty go!!! Sos goody! Goody jobby!!! *munchy, munchy, munchy onny matchy*

 

Anny vs. Tommy

BOOS~!! Ally be slutty! Ally be slutty! Iffy Choko sissy diddy thatty, you know whatty Choko do? Choko hurty sissy with "Hammy of Powy"! Goody matchy! Choko no likey how Anny has no one for Anny. Choko thinky Choko be friendy to Anny, to maky Anny notty 'lone. 'lone is notty funy.

 

Worldy Matchy For Tinny!

Choko getty so sleepy now... So muchy ready, thatty alls be so goody thatty itty justy maky Choko sleepy. MUSTY MOVY ONNY!!! zzz...

 

Fliky: Considering Choko is now asleep, I'll just continue in from here.

 

...hm? Choko wakey! Choko wakey! *smashy Fliky withy "Hammy of Powy"!*

 

Fliky: ...I'd scream cheddar chesse murder, but I really should've seen th- *blinked out again*

 

Fliky be outty! Choko reviewy notty Fliky reviewy! BYE LOSEY!!!

 

Go Grappy! GO GRAPPY!!! Hehehehehehe... Ooo! Douby takydowny!!! GO GRAPPY~!!! Timey outty inny wrasslingy? o_0 Why so many matchy have 'thery usy movy setty? Thatty justy notty righty. Maky sensy, but notty righty. OOOO! They hurty so baddy eachy 'thery! CHOKO LOVEY ITTY~!!! WOWWIE~!!! DURANY WINNY FAIRLY~!!! YAH~!!! Choko likey happy endys.

 

Wells, thatty be itty for reviewy. Hopey you enjoy! Bye bye!

 

*somehow Fliky ...ahem, Flik is back all bandaged up and walking on a crutch but walks into the scene*

 

...least I could do for you guys. Give you guys a Choko review. She and I apologize for it not being up to the standards we try to bring, but that just drained us. Emotion, pain, glory, the stuff had it all.

 

Choko: Fliky! Choko wanty icy creamy! Getty Choko icey creamy righty now!

 

*Flik facefaults*

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++

The End

Copyright 2004

Choko Entertainment Incorporated

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Edited April 27, 2004 by Lightning Flik

[Crowe 0]

My brain hurts from reading that post.

 

*tries to decipher Choko's comments*

[Coffin Surfer 0]

Matthews vs. Duran

 

I thought this was an excellent match. The match was built extremly well with them gradually progressing into more threatening moves as the match moved on. It's nice to see the limb work used as a device to move on to bigger things rather than the overused done to death big finish where the leg or back gives out. The bearhug was built to well, and Duran coming up with different escapes for it everytime was a nice touch.

 

It's not without faults though with a few awkward transitions sticking out in an otherwise great outing. Most notably is when Grappler fights out of the Gutwrench Suplex to take over. There's no real reason for him to suddenly fight out of the suplex and transition back to offense. Why is it Duran can toss him around one minute, and all of a sudden, now Grappler can put the breaks on and stop him. It would come off better if he was recycling a move he had done used or was attempting to land a big bomb that's a step up from the midrange suplexes.

 

Still, I must say that this is one of the better matches I've read here.

[janusd 0]

I could understand every part of what Flik wrote.

 

 

Help me....

[Lightning Flik 0]

I could understand every part of what Flik wrote.

 

 

Help me....

Choko corrupts another poor soul! She'll love hearing that.