Comments of Lockdown...

[King Cucaracha 0]

Anyone care to comment on the show we just had? Not only a new World Champion, but a new HCG Champion...me winning my Office Brawl. SpikeBerg's streak continuing. And WC and JD pulling out the promoage.

 

Surely someone wants to comment...

[Ace309 0]

COMMENTS OF LOCKDOWNOSITY~! Part I of hopefully only II!

 

Segment 1: Wild and Dangerous Promo

- Nice little promo to remind everyone about the history between MVS and W&D, and to get the challenge out.

 

Segment 2: Card

- When you come back, bring pie.

 

Segment 3: MVS Promo

- Oooh, that sounds like a challenge.

 

Segment 4: Finally Jerking the Curtain with Spike and Tryst

- I’m down with this slower, submission-styling Spike. I liked the explanation of the knee injury keeping Spike off some of his more speed-requiring moves, and although the match was short, it developed well telling a very basic story. This has potential.

 

Segment 5: Johnny’s Going To Get Laid

- Cute opening. Nothing like repeated cumshot references. (Y) This developed into a nice little TV-style angle that works well with Johnny’s spy character.

 

Segment 6: Tom Flesher vs. Crow

- It was a little rushed, but I hope this turned out well.

 

Segment 7: Postmatch Flesher Promo

- Again, pretty rushed, but I think it did the job.

 

Segment 8: Wayward Sons vs. Janus & Aecas ©, non-title

- This was character involvement central, and as usual, that means it was an enjoyable read. It’s odd to see Janus as a bastard heel, since I’ve always thought of him as a more talented version of Nathan Jones. It’s always disappointing to see opponents reduced to just being opponents, but it’s excusable in this case for two reasons:

-- A) There’s absolutely no way that you could have had a ‘real’ match here without dealing with the Janus/Aecas dynamic, and

-- B) Coy and Clark were given significant offense and really hung in there.

All in all, a VERY enjoyable read.

 

Segment 9: Wildchild vs. Furious Twist of Fate

- Perfectly Acceptable Jobbing™. Not Bonzo Gonzo, due to lack of tag partners, but it’ll do. The MVS attack at the end was indeed sweet.

 

Segment 10: Mike Van Siclen vs. Jimmy ‘the Demon’ Liston, SWF Hardcore Championship

- Pretty solid hardcore wrestling. Again, it’s disappointing that Liston is sort of reduced to being a way for MVS to develop his character, but them’s the breaks. I particularly liked the series of Kendo stick shots at the end, with MVS showing the frustration he’s feeling. I have to wonder, though, if anyone bothered to coordinate MVS’s attack promos with this match.

[Dace59 0]

And here come my comments:

 

Smart in jokes in the Wild and Dangerous promo, we seem to be using them a lot these days. Setting up stuff between WC and MVS. Build up promo to set various wheels in motion, all good.

 

Mike carries that promo on with his heelish bitching and knocking out Gus. Random heel stuff, it gets heat. Good.

 

Feel the confidence for Spike vs Tryst... more smart in jokes as well, nice to see. Spike is still Spike, but the action's far from horrible and it reads well at least. Simple, pretty much squash but at least Spike makes pysch 101.

 

Johnny does what we all do with his fed and has fit women hit on him (And hey, I blatently compenstated with that before). And then just runs his ego at the mention of a title shot... and plays it up well. And we have the old locked in a room with a forklift... classic madness.

 

Flesher starts off with his classic indy spot that leads to a little surprise and the real story of the match... I do so love that formula. Fancy mat work which is another great read. And there's even more injokes to keep things funny. Great cocky top guy heel work from Tom, just makes him that much more hated. Explosive come back from Crow, usual underdog face with a quick soild transistion. And the transistion back plays off the same manner, with time going against Crow. Stomach work... rare up cool, no shock is follows from earlier moves. And Crow gets crushed after the moonsault fails. Flesher continues to make himself look like the man without burrying anyone else.

 

Ahhh the set up promo.. the wheels are in motion people. Mwahahah.

 

Feel all the tension between Aecas and Janus.. and the lovely Aecas taking on two men at once... for a while anyway. Really nicely worked with all that's going on between Aecas and Janus, while Aecs tries to fight mat and the Wayward Sons just make the most of it with smooth tag combo goodness. And then Janus just screws everyone over... the plot thinkings. And great work making the tag champs not really look weak and the screw ending having a real reason.

 

A random ex JLer to take on Wildchild? Still, he gets to show off his spots. Little squash match. But the real reason is form MVS to kill WC and take him out of action... hmmm beatdown.

 

Mike carries on his dick act, trying to bitch out Liston for the Hardcore title. Brawlness with both guys just leveling each other really. Textbook back and forth stuff, Mike channelling and mocking Wildchil was great heel stuff though. And a pissed off beat down caps it all of nicely and plays Mike's character up.

 

The Eel makes a random apperence....only to get plasteed by Toxxic. This is a beatdown show, big time. You can almost feel Toxxic's ego from here in the promo. Which means it's good. And Toxxic puts himself up as a roadblock...and seems driven to be a bigger heel than anyone around. And it all works around his inferiority complex.

 

The Office battle is just a clusterfuck..and as with all of them these days, well written and fun. Gotta love the paper cut spot, and just the big spot trade offs that go round in fun. Maybe over kill on the Superkicks, but hey it keeps things going. Nice big bumps as well, where they're needed. I thought I was gonna see a staple gun shot but no luck. Still, Maddix shows again he's a great upcoming talent.

 

Ahh, now something interesting in a very different way. We see Kibs being Kibs.. and break out a 1000 word headlock. The River Dragon does all the controlling and looks strong and like the older lion.. all the way to the sudden momentum shift

Todd gets a young lion run and comes close to winning, but then it all falls apart. Young vs Grumpy Old...nasty.

 

And the main event: Really tense and built opening... but what else would you expect. And the pendulm is swinging already, with the hard knee shot beeing paced out and turned into a jumping forearm. The same rapid elbow spots, and the boune of the barrier/neckbreaker drop combo, which gets reversed this time. Building on the foundations... of course. And we have the favourate DDT onto the floor. Again Duran gets made to look like a complete monster. And that leg drop comes into play again, from Duran/Grappler... are we smart or are we smart people? Duran showing off Uber heel stuff, pulling Williams up from a cover. The vain fight backs that are almost for nothing.. feel the heat. Breaking the Mutoh scale is just there to really hype up the drama. And playing of their match again, Danny almost wins with a cradle.. but no luck. Big swing on the BFT counter and the cover... building up the final eve more. But in the end, elbows rule all. Great main event, and Duran looked like a monster all the way though.

 

Good work people... we own!

[Guest Goodear]

No Star ratings Dace? You wound me.

 

Plotting out the tag match was a toughie for me and Clark Bar, since it was obviously one of those situations where we weren't going to be the major focus of the match. So we played around a biut with the concept and as Tom mentioned, we sort of gave Janus a more thoughtful and menacing streak in order to avoid him and Aecas just ripping each other's faces off. It was tough though not to take on a feeling of Clark and Coy as being heels taking advatange of the situation and I think we accomplished that by just having Aecas being so dominant. I was actually advocating Janus being the one to take the chair shot at the end of the match to give Aecas a bit more vengeance, but I think this way worked out a bit better with Janus getting the solid 'win' after getting bounced around last week a little.

 

I'm a egomaniac and only talk about myself. Happens.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

sonofabitch... I read your PM as Aecas TAKING the shot... d'oh.

 

oh well...I guess it all worked out in the end.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

Todd Cortez vs Nathaniel Kibagami

 

Make no mistake, the headlock sequence was good. However, it would seem that Kibagami is suffering from Kobashitis. By that I mean, the work is good, he's just playing the wrong role in the match. Since the 70s and probably even before than, the control sequence has not been seen as a sign of dominance but weakness almost desperation. It's something that is reserved for extreme under dogs or over matched challengers.

 

This goes back to Hansen controling the Destroyer with the headscissors, Jumbo controling Terry Funk with the armbar, and later Tenyru hanging on to Jumbo with the headlock, and most famously Kawada's use of the headlock against Jumbo.

 

As possibly the most experienced vet in the fed, who also happens to be a big heavyweight, Kibs controlling a cruiser with a headlock makes no sense. Sure, you can play the Kobashi/Honda defenders argument; it shows how strong he is....that he can win with something as simple as a headlock. Yeah, just like one head drop kills you, and a second wakes you up so that you can hit a Lariat.

 

In short, good simply structured match. If this was real, it would be fairly obvious that it was almost a carry job. Kib's controls, lets Cortez hit his spots, than Kibs takes over and takes it home.

[Dace59 0]

No Star ratings Dace? You wound me.

It was just an experiment. I think I was more reviewing a match than commenting on it when I did that and my ratings are more subjective than I'd like.

 

Still, wont stop the rest of the comments.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

There was actually going to be alot more arm work, but my computer time was wearing thin.

 

 

 

And I got my computer back. (Y)

[Toxxic 0]

Todd Cortez vs Nathaniel Kibagami

 

Make no mistake, the headlock sequence was good. However, it would seem that Kibagami is suffering from Kobashitis. By that I mean, the work is good, he's just playing the wrong role in the match.

But in Kib's stats it clearly states that he'll lock a headlock or front facelock onto a cruiser to slow them down and control the match. Can't argue with that.

 

I LOVED the headlock.

 

I also loved the Office Brawl. Hell, the whole show was good but the Brawl ruled all. Landon is Gold. How many times do i need to tell you people?

[Hank Kingsley 0]

Duran was screwed!

[Ace309 0]

Duran was screwed!

Pardon?

[Chuck Woolery 0]

In response to Tom: We did indeed try to coordinate our segments (us being me and WC), but I misunderstood his PM (he said 'before your match' -- I didn't realize he meant literally 'before my match'). So, it would've come off better had I not been a dumbass, but it's still good, I feel.

[Hank Kingsley 0]

I'm trying to bring the kayfabe, Taamo. I assume most people aren't used to it, though.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

But in Kib's stats it clearly states that he'll lock a headlock or front facelock onto a cruiser to slow them down and control the match. Can't argue with that.

 

I LOVED the headlock.

 

I also loved the Office Brawl. Hell, the whole show was good but the Brawl ruled all. Landon is Gold. How many times do i need to tell you people?

Than the problem goes beyond the match, and is rooted in Kib's stats. Nothing wrong with wearing down a cruiser, but hanging on to the headlock off the ropes is a bad spot for him to be using, considering who he is.

[Ace309 0]

I dunno, Dan. I'm not anywhere near as well-versed with the history of the spot's symbolic status as you are (although it does stand out very well, the side headlock coming to mind in the Misawa/Jumbo matches), but to me, when I was proofing it for Kibs, it just read as an established veteran with a jerky streak being a jerk to the new cruiser who got thrown in against him. Kibagami being who he is, it seemed to me that being battered from his match on the pay-per-view gave him an additional reason to just avoid doing any work and let Cortez exhaust and frustrate himself working to get out, which is something that he would do anyway because he's grumpy.

 

Basically, if this makes any sense to you, I envision the whole headlock sequence being executed with Kibs wearing a brick face, a "Well, back to the grind" expression, and occasionally sighing disgustedly at the prospect of having to do something to reassert his position.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

I dunno, Dan. I'm not anywhere near as well-versed with the history of the spot's symbolic status as you are (although it does stand out very well, the side headlock coming to mind in the Misawa/Jumbo matches), but to me, when I was proofing it for Kibs, it just read as an established veteran with a jerky streak being a jerk to the new cruiser who got thrown in against him. Kibagami being who he is, it seemed to me that being battered from his match on the pay-per-view gave him an additional reason to just avoid doing any work and let Cortez exhaust and frustrate himself working to get out, which is something that he would do anyway because he's grumpy.

 

Basically, if this makes any sense to you, I envision the whole headlock sequence being executed with Kibs wearing a brick face, a "Well, back to the grind" expression, and occasionally sighing disgustedly at the prospect of having to do something to reassert his position.

No, it's not symbolic since it does have a literal purpose. It makes sense that someone who is less experienced or overmatched couldn't just go out there and kick ass, the only thing they can hope to do is control their better wiser opponent. Than the vet gets to look experienced and wise since he's the one who's smartly working out of everything the youngster can throw at him. If your truely stronger than your opponent, than you wouldn't have to desperately hang on to any one move, you can do whatever you want.

 

If it's because Kibs is broken down and weaker than Cortez that's fine, but that's not the impression I got from the match, especially by the casual way he won it. It's just like everything that's wrong with Kobashi/Honda, though it's slightly better since at least Kibs didn't outfly Cortez like Kobashi outwrestled the mat specialist

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

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:: shrugs ::

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:: walks off into the sunset ::

[Crowe 0]

Yeah, I have to agree with Dub Cee there.

[Guest Fire and Knives]

I suppose I should weigh in on the meaning of the headlock segment since, you know, I wrote it.

 

Yes, the headlock is stupid in Kobashi/Honda, but this isn't Kobashi/Honda. Kobashi doesn't have the sketchy streak that Kibagami does and Honda is not facing Kobashi in his first singles match. What the headlock means in Kobashi/Honda doesn't affect the headlock in Kibagami/Cortez because they're two different headlocks in two different matches with two entirely different sets of participants. The only solid comparison you can draw is that the headlock is really long.

 

The headlock is there to illustrate Kibagami giving absolutely no respect or quarter to Cortez because he's green as all hell and Kibagami doesn't need anything other than a headlock. If Cortez is unable to extract himself from something so simple as a headlock, why in the blue hell should Kibagami bother exerting himself any more? Kibagami does not need to kick his head in at that point because he is so totally in control. He even vaults over Cortez in the corner to demonstrate just how superior and bored with the rookie he is. Granted, this overconfidence eventually costs him when he hangs on to the headlock too long and Cortez gets the gamengiri that kicks off his big run - but he doesn't have anything approaching a real threat to Kibagami in his arsenal, and when he breaks his concentration for the briefest of moments, Kibagami spikes him on his head, punts him around, and snuffs him out with the Demonstar (which he doesn't need) simply because he can do it.

 

The match is a microcosm of Kibagami's situation in the fed at the moment. He's back on track following his match at Battleground and he's going to be kicking the shit out of anybody that gets in his way en route to the title he feels he deserves. It just so happens that a match with a rookie like Cortez is the best and easiest way to express that goal in the context of a single match.

 

It's either that or I did it because I think it's pretty funny to win with a match that includes a 1000-word headlock. Fuck Tom and his 750-word abdominal stretch. Fuck that noise.

 

K.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

"Yes, the headlock is stupid in Kobashi/Honda, but this isn't Kobashi/Honda. Kobashi doesn't have the sketchy streak that Kibagami does and Honda is not facing Kobashi in his first singles match. What the headlock means in Kobashi/Honda doesn't affect the headlock in Kibagami/Cortez because they're two different headlocks in two different matches with two entirely different sets of participants. The only solid comparison you can draw is that the headlock is really long."

 

No, both involve a veteran wrestler behaving like an underdog agianst somebody that he shouldn't. It's even worse here, because this is Cortez's first singles match is it not, not to mention that he's not even in your weight class. That's where the comparision comes from.

 

"The headlock is there to illustrate Kibagami giving absolutely no respect or quarter to Cortez because he's green as all hell and Kibagami doesn't need anything other than a headlock."

 

This is the same argument people used to justify the headlock in Kobashi/Honda. Are you sure you think the headlock in that match is stupid? If he wants to beat him with the headlock that's cool, but the way he keeps going back to it makes him look desperate. For the part, the headlock is notpresented in a "I'm so much better than you" way.

 

Off the top of my head, the nip up spot was the only time it was effective, but the rope run is just...ugh.

 

Desperately hanging on to a headlock on the rope run isn't the most effective way to show your dominace, punting him around and casualy finishing him did. Toying with him during the nip up spot did.

 

I will say that this was a good match, but it would have been more effective had Cortez been the one desperately trying to keep Kibs in check. Not saying he had to use a headlock, there are thousands of ways to get the same point across.

[Guest Fire and Knives]

Desperately hanging on to a headlock on the rope run isn't the most effective way to show your dominace, punting him around and casualy finishing him did.

Your argument assumes that every time somebody hangs onto a headlock, it looks like desperation. This isn't much of an argument; this is your perception of what the headlock means. Other people seem to see very different things in this headlock. I eagerly await your factual, objective explanation of how your perception is superior to everyone else's.

 

If I had casually punted him around for the majority of the match and shown even less respect to his offense, I likely would have lost. I wrote the best match I could get away with while keeping the illusion of competition intact.

 

K.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

"Your argument assumes that every time somebody hangs onto a headlock, it looks like desperation."

 

Hanging on to a simple move at all costs certaintly comes off like a sign of desperation to me. If he's so dominate why is he willing to absorb punishment and go the extra mile to keep it on? It's not the best way to show superiority over someone, it just doesn't appear to be the actions of a confident man.

 

Refusing to use anything but a simple headlock comes of as being precautious, like Kibs is timid about taking the fight to the crusierweight. Like he's scared of making a mistake, and is sticking to the basics. And yes, traditionally it's always been used as an underdog spot.

 

"This isn't much of an argument; this is your perception of what the headlock means. Other people seem to see very different things in this headlock. I eagerly await your factual, objective explanation of how your perception is superior to everyone else's."

 

Oh god not this bullshit, whatever. Always nice to see words getting shoved into my mouth. You'd be better off waiting for it to snow in hell or something stupid like that.

[Toxxic 0]

If I had casually punted him around for the majority of the match and shown even less respect to his offense, I likely would have lost. I wrote the best match I could get away with while keeping the illusion of competition intact.

I have to say, I think that says it all. If this was a worked match and Kibagami was the calling wrestler then holding onto the headlock might have come across as making him look weak. But this isn't the case - kibagami was writing to beat an entirely different match.

 

The fact was that squashes don't win unless they're facing no-shows in the SWF, so he had to give Cortez some respect and some offence. So he couldn't toy with him all match. And it would have looked strange to stop toying with him deliberately. Keeping the guy grounded because the Kibagami character simply COULDN'T BE BOTHERED to do anything more flashy worked fine for me.

[muzz 0]

I cannot believe you're arguing about it.

 

Oh I pray for a simpler time...

[janusd 0]

I cannot believe you're arguing about it.

You aren't the only one.

 

*sits with Muzz*

[Kaertos 0]

No kidding. To be honest, I'm not sure if I am more disheartened about there being a 1000 word headlock in a match or that people have spent more words than that examining its meaning in the context of past matches and with these characters. I'm all for comments and hey, if that's what you want to talk about and all, have at it. But it seems a little, well... off-kilter to me.

 

Particuarly on a show where we crowned a new WORLD CHAMPION!

[Guest Goodear]

John Duran vs Danny Williams

 

Talk about a weird oversell, but the knee in the ropes has to be the longest most overblown start to a match I may have evcer seen. In a federation like this one, it seems like Danny makes this strike out to be the most dastardly thing you have ever seen in your life. But its just a knee to the chest off a rope break, and we've seen it a million times before and I just see it warranting, "Oh what a bad champion" comments from The Comet.

 

You know, when writing against Danny in the past I was always left with the same questions... how the hell are you supposed to beat him realistically? Does anyone else ever get the impression that its a character that doesn't have any flaws? Maybe its just me... but I like my heros to have a bit of a soft spot that can be used to draw some drama out of it. But here we have Danny being strong enough only to get muscled around because John's bigger, quick enough to hit a springboard elbow, and have the striking advantage with the elbows. I personally would never have Danny kip up again... it doesn't fit the way the character has felt in the past.

 

I hate comebacks that come out of nowhere. I really do. Its like a switch went off and Danny decided to fight back despite that he was getting pulled up a few minutes ago and it was seemingly the only thing keeping him from getting pinned. But now he's hitting Duran hard enough to knock him on his ass almost from nowhere? I don't know.

 

Anyway... negative comments all around for some reason. I really didn't OMG HATE it like it seems above. The elbow sequences at the end of the match were totally solid and the description of the action has great all the way through. The blood loss part of the story coupled with John being a bully gave it a nice structure that worked exceptionally well although I would have probably written it a million times differently. But hey, you've beaten me a zillion times so who am I to judge?

[Dace59 0]

Ejiro, there's something that keeps striking me as really differnet about the way Danny writes himself as a wrestler now.

 

I think it sticks out that he wants to take the move and fighting kayfabe of the fed in a different direction to what most people know or use.

 

But Danny isn't lacking on having his ass handed to him in matched, but with the strong characters people use, the balance between the beat down, possiblity of a loss and the comeback seems to be really off.

 

Williams as a character is definatly seeming very strong.. you could it's because he's removing most of the grappling part form his character, but is it a fair balance? I'm guilty of having a legitimatly whorish character, Dace is really strong, really tough, really technical and well versed in pretty much everything but high flying.

 

As for the Headlock spot, I'd have to argue perversion of symbolism. Different things mean different things in different places if they are made to and have a soild history and build to it. This is however, just an idea I used to explain how different moves and ideas are treated differently in various fed and styles around the world.

[King Cucaracha 0]

I think somebody needs to try and rationalise my match.

 

Seriously.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

"Talk about a weird oversell, but the knee in the ropes has to be the longest most overblown start to a match I may have evcer seen."

 

I kind of see Duran's knees as the equal of Danny's elbows. I also wanted to make Duran look strong and deadly from the start.

 

" seems like Danny makes this strike out to be the most dastardly thing you have ever seen in your life. "

 

Thanks that was I was going for.

 

"You know, when writing against Danny in the past I was always left with the same questions... how the hell are you supposed to beat him realistically? "

 

I don't think your gonna find alot of realism in pro wrestling. I never had a problem writing myself to lose against TNT, Dace, Francis, and countless others.

 

"Does anyone else ever get the impression that its a character that doesn't have any flaws?"

 

I'm not sure what you mean here, I can guess though. For a while I tried to establish some injuries, but I didn't want to limit other people's offense by forcing them to conform, so now I just leave it up to them to do what they want when on offense. It's open season, do as wil. Like if I have a bad knee, Ejiro's entire offense is based around the arm, so you'd be scratching your head even more.

 

"Maybe its just me... but I like my heros to have a bit of a soft spot that can be used to draw some drama out of it. "

 

Well, I have tried very hard to make Williams look inferior to his opponents in the past three matches. He got by with fluke roll ups in the last two, and in this one Duran kicked his ass around the ring for the majority of the match. ]

 

"I personally would never have Danny kip up again... it doesn't fit the way the character has felt in the past. "?

 

He was a heel in the past too, and total techncial guy even further back. As a face, I've tried to give Williams more high flying. I am guilty of making Williams very well rounded, but that's only because I love to write so many different types of matches.

 

"I hate comebacks that come out of nowhere. I really do."

 

Well, Duran stalled alot, and went for his finisher which he's used on Danny before. So it's kind of like Williams came up with a couner to it. Duran was also using alot of punching in the match, so it makes since that Williams finally caught on. There's a double k.o spot, and Williams is still too weak to take over, allowing Duran to go for an ill advised big move that he ends up taking alot of punishment trying to set up.

 

 

"Its like a switch went off and Danny decided to fight back despite that he was getting pulled up a few minutes ago and it was seemingly the only thing keeping him from getting pinned. "

 

I would have liked to have used a bigger more epic comeback, but the last 2000 words or so was last minute rushed in addition to the match coming close to going over word limits. So I would agree that it could been better.