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Intro/Welcome: As usual, did a good job of summarizing what happened last time and building up the matches to come.
Cruise/Deacon/Dane: Match was solid. Justin's style is more descriptive than commentary-based, but he does a good job with it. My biggest gripe with this match was the non-finish. Three guys put in a lot of work to RP for the match, and there should be a winner. I'm of the Paul Heyman/ECW mindset that matches should always end with a winner and a loser.
JJ Wins Award!: I nominate this as my favorite seg title ever. And the best part was he didn't even f*ckin' win anything! Doctor Randalls? Came out of left field but was hilarious.
JJ vs. Bryant: These guys are continuing the tradition of really strong TV title feuds, and I'm liking it. Bryant is really chasing that belt down, and I can't wait to see the payoff. Peter Windham in the MRS. WULF costume doing karate was F*CKING AWESOME! I think he got more heat on this show than my other character did lol.
Dorchester vs. Dan Ryan: The commentary on this was great. Loved the Monty/Ryconik line joke being worked in. The action was good and whatnot, but there probably could have been more psychology worked out with JTP as special ref and all the guys on the outside. With that said, I know we were pressed for time, and Biron just needed to get this out. Plus a lot of that was dealt with in the aftermath. Anyway, I was entertained!
Aftermath ("What Did JJ Do?"): OK, so if you were "in the crowd" you definitely got your wacky action fix from this. JTP fighting Randalls = CLASSIC. Randalls fighting Troy = CLASSIC. Nova fighting everybody = AWESOME FUN TIME. Peter Windham = WClan punching bag! A good time was had by all.
Championship Preview: Amazing job. Really worked in the history of both Impulse and Castor really well, and it's this sort of attention to detail that makes it all fun for me in the end. NFW is definitely a league that remembers it's history and weaves it in with the present to tell a story.
Impulse vs. Castor Strife: I wrote the match, and to date it's my favorite (not just cause I won- I didn't write that part). My intent was to tell the story of this feud through match strategy alone, and I think that was achieved rather well. I dunno, you tell me. We all know Castor has the strength advantage over Impulse, and Impulse has the catch-wrestling edge. Impulse has the gas tank, and Castor likes to dominate early. Could Castor overcome his problems with long matches in the past, and avoid scrambling with Impulse? Could Impulse slow the pace and wear Castor out? In the roleplays, Castor said he was going to wrestle with the best technical wrestler in the world, and beat him at his own game. Well, he failed...sort of. It was no bluff: he did indeed try to beat Impulse at his own game. And while Impulse still outwrestled him from a technical standpoint, Castor came in with vastly improved wrestling and mitigated this advantage the best he could while also having the cardio to go a long time (37 mins!). He must have shocked Impulse by one-upping him on the mat from time to time, and this caused some urgency for his opponent. Now Impulse starts speeding up the pace, looking to make his mark and not simply outlast and beat a tired Castor, but to WIPE HIM OUT. And in the end, it was this game of psychology that ultimately worked to Castor's benefit. He did well enough at Impulse's game to bait him into playing his own, and this is what led to the victory. Had Castor lost, he would have gone out on his shield having taken a big (but necessary) risk in order to bring home the championship. The intent here was, win or lose, to garner Castor some more sympathy with the crowd. It's not that he's so much a face now by way of changing his attitude, but aspects of his personality previously unknown are coming to the forefront due to changes in the NFW landscape, and many fans are now able to sympathize with his motives/intentions.
As for the part I didn't write, I thought the finish (given the Castor wins scenario) was absolutely perfect. In his match years ago with Shane Southern, Castor lost his opportunity at the belt by taking two Party's Over superkicks. This time, Impulse hits him with one Sudden Impact superkick. Now they're up, and he's going for a second. History is about to repeat itself, but this time Castor evades and hits probably the best setup to his finish ever (STO backbreaker into Director's Cut). Unbelievable!
I will say though, I might not have opted to have Castor get his leg on the rope after getting hit with a Sudden Impact. Again, just my match-philosophy here, but I am very much against the kicking out of finishers except under rare circumstances. However, this was match had a lot of buildup and hype, was a long time coming, and so this really wasn't a bad circumstance at all for such a thing. Obviously it makes my character look super strong, and Impulse got hit with just about everything and it took a crazy finish to beat him. Both Castor and Impulse leave this match with a lot going for them.
Final Thoughts: Just want to say that Pete has pushed me like no other handler before, and Impulse is the reason Castor Strife is as good as he is right now. He forced me to get better - A LOT better. Either character could have won and I would've been happy knowing the right guy had the title. You haven't faced a challenge in this hobby yet til you've faced a motivated Pete Russo. When the RP thread ended, I was content knowing it was my best work, and whatever happened after that would be fine by me. I'm honored to have been put over such a great character and given the NFW World Title. In all honesty, I never thought I'd win it, at least not with Castor Strife. He's my favorite character, but I can see how a lot of people would be hesitant to put a character like that over, especially with the type of gimmick he's got going at the moment. Once again NFW shows a willingness to take a chance on something different (as they did with JTP and characters before him), and I'm grateful for that.
PSYCHOTIC PORN GUY IS CHAMPION! WHERE DA EASTERN EUROPEAN CONCUBINES AT?!