I am way late on this...
Previously/Welcome - The historical throwback was a great way to open the show, especially given Castor's surprise challenger. If you read the opening, the old school references throughout the show should make a little more sense. I think a Lowell card is more a treat for the few of us who were around during NFW 1.0, but like always, the translation to the here and now was pretty good. NFW is a league that celebrates it's history, one of the most important qualities a league can possess in my opinion. NITPICK: In the opening montage, JJ Deville is shown hitting a Slacknife on Castor. While I would love to think it was the Slacknife he pinned him with and not his own finisher The Director's Cut, we all know it didn't go down like that. But hey, I'm all for altering history.
Know Your Role - Troy being pissed at JJ for the Dan Ryan angle really sold the depravity of it. I like that Troy called JJ's move in predicting he would soon turn on him. Great foreshadowing, which is a theme we saw throughout the show.
Know Your Responsibility - As someone who used to play a ton of Halo, this really had me laughing lol. This seg really got over the fact that Eddie is swamped and not taking care of business. The best of the few segments that attempted to do this, and really...I don't think a lot of the other stuff was needed after this.
Beggars and Choosers - Solid segment where tag partners split up. It's nice to see a fun, old school style segment like this on a Reloaded, that doesn't revolve around main event caliber stuff. Lots of back and forth dialogue on the show, and this one was actually, IMO, some of the best. Had a real conversational flow, and I've always liked the Bobby Jack character. Hoping this goes somewhere, i.e. a feud between Bobby Jack and Christian (Cameron now?) Cruise.
Moves to be Made - More foreshadowing. Definitely something brewing between Dynasty and Jack Bryant, and I'm interested to see what that is and how/if it affects Dorchester. I would like to see this story move forward a bit, as it seems like we've seen this type of segment out of Dynasty multiple times.
Castor vs. Bloodhunt/Dane Shopping Network - Been wanting to do a surprise match between Castor and Bloodhunt for a while now. The intent was to do a 'returning injured legend' spot, where people expect him to get killed and he surprises everyone with a valiant effort. Lots of history here, as Castor was just starting out when Bloodhunt was in his prime. As for the post-match segment, I thought it was hilarious. This is an idea Justin and I developed together, and he wrote it quite skillfully. If there's one thing I'm a mark for, it's wrestling segments dropping pasty white boys in the hood. NOTE ON NAZI PARAPHERNALIA: So...why does Castor own authentic Hitler dinner plates? Simple: he's notorious for spending large sums of money on black market antiquities, and Hitler dinner plates are among the most sought after (and highly illegal) items. He also owns items that were pillaged from museums in Iraq and Egypt. When I did the "Castor is drowning in debt" angle in PRIME, the dinner plates were Exhibit A in how he's spent his money like a total idiot. So yeah, no racism/anti-semitism intended...just a running theme for a man who should never have been handed a credit card! Also Justin, you spelled DER FUHRER wrong.
Jack Bryant vs. Dorchester - OK so they brawled out of the curtains, and the match ended. Entertaining read, but did I overlook something here? I probably did!
JJ Apologizes - Great segment! JJ having to apologize for costing the NFW it's sponsors is awesome, and whoever thought of that is a genius.
GG took it to a whole other level, and JJ ruining the apology at the end was crazy. NOTED ABSENCE: Where the heck is Dan Ryan in all this? Did Brunk leave, or is Danny Boy costing NFW money behind the scenes? I am integrate the sponsorship angle into my next promo with Castor, in a big way.
OF COMINGS AND GOINGS AROUND - Even though it wasn't terribly important to the show, this was my favorite segment. Nova and Harmen are f*cking hilarious. When Harmen rushed past Impulse's locker room because of the feud they had 4 years ago I laughed my ass off. The subtle humor here is genius, and these two play off each other so well. I didn't know much about the team prior to this, other than it being two awesome characters teaming up. Now they are my favorite tag team. Please keep this going!
Impulse vs. JJ - Match was excellent, and the best part was that I REALLY had no clue as to how this would end. What a tough match to book! Based on RP, either guy could win (I did like JJ's promos more), and based on straight up booking, a loss here hurts either guy. I did not envy the decision-makers on this one. In the end, the decision to have JJ win via cheating instead of clean as he promised was wise. Given the chickensh*t antics he constantly pulls, JJ really has no business getting a clean win over Impulse right now. That would hurt Impulse too much and would be a net negative to the league, so the finish here was more than appropriate. The one thing I didn't like was Calico Rose superkicking JJ. How does that look when Impulse's woman has gotten one-up on JJ more than he has? It looks like his lady friend can take care of business better than he can. There was really no reason for it, and on top of that, it makes JJ look like even more of a p*ssy. Not a major complaint though. I want to see Impulse go in a new, unexpected direction. His circumstances are starting to a grow a bit stale.
HOF - Some of Troy's best material in a while! The OKC minority ownership stake line was hilarious, and I hope he continues with that schtick! Best part IMO was that the segment really sold Troy's desire, near desperation to get his match with Randalls. And I love that Randalls isn't giving it to him just yet. What is his price? I'm interested to see.
TRIPLE CROWN MATCH - Whole lot of action here. Probably a bit too much going on here at once, but that was kind of hard to avoid at the get-go. The entire ending sequence was fantastic, and I was truly convinced that Deacon was going over, so Rook's victory was a fun surprise (should we be surprised at this point? Rook seems to always come out on top!). I am a fan of match dialogue, but I think Pants went a little overboard with that at times. All in all, I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Can't stress enough how much I liked the finish, so kudos to Pants for that.
Burning Questions - Great dialogue, but I kind of didn't get the point. Why is Randalls pissed at Eddie, exactly? Because he's let paperwork pile up? What pissed Randalls off so much about how the show was run? Troy getting a HOF segment? Again, I might've missed something obvious, but it just kind of perplexed me.
Overall I really liked the show. Nothing but solid storyline progression that leads me to believe something big is coming up. 4 out of 5 stars!
