I'm a little behind on feedback, so I'm going to give some brief reactions to Brawl 68 + 69 before getting into Reloaded 20.
BRAWL 68
-Sully!
-I really, really like the ESEN Insider format. I'm also a huge mark for bringing back and retooling NFW 1.0 characters, so I'm all about WINDY aka Wendy Drewes returning for the first time since she was abducted by Roger Powell in 2002. Themes of bondage was sort of a thing in NFW back then...
-Ahh, the old "ass beating in disguise as a doctor" trick. That's always a fun time. Great segment from the two Jacks!
-Mystery Meat lives!
-The quick recap featuring three name wrestlers as opposed to separate recaps is a good idea. Saves time by getting straight to the point. Instead of selling their movesets, the announcers talk about what's going on with each guy story-wise. Great idea.
-Poor Blaine. He's like Buckner, he'll never live down the Zero that rolled past his glove.
-Langston calls out K2, gets interrupted by Peter Windham. For a while, NFW's midcard was very thin and everybody was either jammed at the top fighting to be the "main event", or bottom-feeding with stupid promos that didn't go anywhere. With Langston and Kuroyama, we have a couple of solid new characters who are on the rise, but currently giving us some really solid mid-card depth. There are some other guys in this category as well, but I thought I'd mention these two specifically.
-Doug Mayfield is hilarious. I need to scam Peter Windham into one of his promos.
-Legion is NFW's Kevin Sullivan. I'm not saying that makes the Graverobbers Meng and the Barbarian, but Legion is the closest thing to Sullivan since Manson.
-Teddy Alexander is over as fuck.
BRAWL 69
-FANFEAST?! This feels like we're feeding the homeless. Even though Eddie sprung for the Gray Goose!
-Miss Black Haircare 1987 aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhahahahahahaha
-How the hell are we gonna have a Thanksgiving feast without a brawl breaking out that results in somebody being thrown through a table of turkey, cranberries, and stuffing?
-OH SHIT NEVERMIND IT HAPPENED!
-Fanfeast receives my vote for segment of the year. Phenomenal. PW's "EATIN PANTS" made me laugh.
-SOL vs. Pilgrim Express was pretty awesome for a Brawl recap.
-Langston vs. PW was fun, but it'd be nice to see some dialogue there instead of having it explained. Then again, if I wasn't such a lazy bastard, I could've written it myself instead of complaining that somebody else didn't write my character's dialogue. Touche.
-120 Seconds w/Calvin Carlton was cool, but will you stab me in the eye with a fork if I admit that I'm a little bored with CC these days? The character just feels stale.
-JB killed Viper. Sorry Biron, I kinda no-sold ya by bringing Viper back the next card! But if it's any consolation, I kinda no-sold Stryfe too when I brought Alex Austin back at Brawl 68.
-Really cool interview with JB. The link to Fiona Love is a cool dimension to his character development, and I think that's a potentially important link that should continue. His chase of Harmen has been top notch.
-Big ol' brawl to cap off BRAWL. Fitting ending considering the Fanfeast melee from earlier.
And now without further ado...
RELOADED XX
-Amazing opening as usual.
-Can't give feedback on something I wrote, so I kick it out to you out there - what did you think of the Peter Windham slavery segment?
-Kerry Kuroyama is over in my book, if nothing else than for coming out to the Melvins. Really solid match - full match, no highlights! Entrances and all! - and a finish that got Kuroyama over without denting Lane with a "legit" loss.
-Post-match promo with Cash/PW/Ramsey was cool, but I'm not feeling them as heels. I just can't imagine the crowd not cheering for Lane and Peter right now. They're too cool/comedic to not have the fans on their side, despite all the heel hijinx. Ramsey is definitely a badass heel though, and I definitely see him in that bad guy/ass-kicker role.
-HOF accomplished something that needed to be done for a while - it ended the Hellfire Club. (Or did it? I mean...it has to be over without JJ, right?) Dorchester has recaptured some of that momentum he had after he turned on Wildstar five years ago, ended JTP's career, and fought tooth and nail in an epic battle with Castor Strife in the Final 4 tournament for the belt. When JJ came around, Dorchester got lost, and the TV title feud with Jack Bryant brought him back, but it's good to see him escape JJ's shadow completely. I like him as TV champ, and I like him in the main event of this card. Now the last thing that needs to be worked out is how to resurrect Blaine?
-Ocho Man Brawl was really a great match. Glad to see Xavier go over big with the pin at the end.
-Strife vs. Stryfe - I'll let you guys tell me all about that. Probably my favorite match I wrote since the last time I wrote a cage match, Bobby Jack Windham vs. 'Electric' Eddie Patton back in NLW. Strife vs. Stryfe is going in a much different direction than you probably would have guessed from the outset...
-MAIN EVENT was solid. Initially I thought it was a bit on the short side, but looking back, this is probably what the acceptable length should be for a Reloaded match. These are not PPVs, but then again we don't do PPVs much around here. Random Rumble will be the first NFW PPV in what, 8 years? Very intense match. When was the last time either Harmen or Dorchester didn't have at least a four-star match?
This was a good last Reloaded before Random Rumble, and I think there are a bunch of good storylines heading into that event that should play out during the match. NFW's stories are very coherent and diverse at the moment, and that's a great thing.
