So, FEEDBAG:
- The best way to bring a fitting conclusion to a joke that has been steadily lowering itself into the ground is a dream sequence. Honestly, my first thought when you were dropping hints that people you'd asked to check the coding saw "Hornet wins" was the IGC final. Not sure why. I'm terribly paranoid in that way. Still, it was a rather cute end to a running joke.
- I'm a big fan on "how did we get here" intros and always appreciate the attempts to keep even new readers in the loop about the events that have brought us to the Ultratitle finale. So good jorb there.
- Y'know, I actually appreciated having everyone's themes there and ready. Sometimes I'm too lazy to seek out themes I don't know but I just plain didn't have an excuse here.
- I really felt that Harmen/Flair was tight in the RP thread. I mean obviously the ranked judging system leaves that a little bit topsy turvey but I think all three Ultratitle matches throughout the show met up suitably with the efforts that each individual had put into the big finale RP thread. I'll admit going into this show, this was the match I was most interested in (can't think why that would be). Pete, I'm going to repeat this no doubt, but the match was excellent. The pace built as it needed to and the split second pin really met up to the level of competition involved. This was kind of a feeling of nostalgia running throughout the show, justly so. So many nice moments bringing things around full circle. If I gush anymore at the moment though, I may vomit.
- Fun segment from Melton here. I don't know if I'm surprised or not by the Dan Ryan appearance, it certainly makes sense in the context. Still, another chance to build into the matches more and this certainly did that.
- The only Ultratitle match of the evening not to end in some kind of cradle. Felt that again, this matched how the RP thread was going. I think this match was kind of the odd one out in a way, the others seemed to have more of a steeped in history feel to 'em. Not that this takes anything away from the match, it doesn't, but it was something I noticed. Also the least brutal match, more of a head-on wrestling bout. It was interesting as these matches broke down, in both of the semis, you would have to err on the side of caution with skullduggery while that didn't seem to matter as much when we hit the final. This match felt, as did the segments building up, more of a farewell to Melton.
- P. sure I know who be that Reise guy! There are two ways I suppose you could look at that segment, one would be "why did this happen" and the other would be "hey, that's good promotion work for Bodycount". I'm more in the latter camp. I love tall dudes wrecking shit. One of the most basic booking principles in the rasslin'
- I think all the Melton segments were a well deserved build to a fitting farewell. I also learned more about the Troy Windham/Melton encounter than I probably ever needed to!
- Gotta commend the TSWF guys for this match. When you're trying to get your fed out there on the big stage on a show like this, read by lots of people cross-fed, I think it's far more sensible to do a match that is built around generating future interest in your storylines rather than just having a one-off moment. I feel their job getting involved in something like this is not really to have a blow-off but rather to gain new readers and really, a storyline driven, interference laden cage match seems like the perfect fit for a situation like that.
The board ate some of my feedback. From memory:
- I said earlier that going into the show I was really most interested in Flair/Harmen, I thought the finale would be cool but I wasn't sure if I would feel as invested in it. Castor and Ivy's interviews during the show done a hell of a job to develop and increase my interest. They really made Castor/Flair feel like a match a long time in waiting and something worth reading. Really it felt like Castor/Melton was the outsider as far as the Ultratitle matches went. It was more along the lines of your "I'm better than you off" than "history in the making". Castor/Flair by the end of the show certainly felt very far from that line of thought.
- I have on many occasions sang Voss' praises as a match writer, especially when it comes to all things IGC. He just does a wonderful job with it. If anyone was reading this match and thought like I did that it was an excellent match that done all the talent involved justice then you should really consider diving in to the next IGC show. You too could have your character involved in a great, great match. I honestly feel like Voss wants to make the IGC work and if he can deliver so highly on a stage like Survivalism, I think he deserves a few guys poking their noses in for the next show he runs.
- When I was talking to Voss while he was working on the match, he was very much undecided on a winner, I really don't think it was an easy decision for him, I'm honoured he chose me though. I've sang Ben's praises enough this week, I don't want to make him blush again but I don't know where or when but I'm very open to another Ocho/Atken affair.
- I did warn you I would praise you again Pete but Castor/Flair was one hell of a final. The match is what an Ultratitle match should've been, it was brutal, it was competitive, it was close, it had false finishes, it had LADIES~! Hell, it even had a good ole fashioned ring implosion. It really pushed the narrative that these guys were fighting for something that was meaningful to them, even causing them to build up respect for each other as the match developed. It just told a great story. I can't say much else. Now, much like Joey deserved his moment at the end of Castor/Melton, Flair certainly deserved his. It was interesting that with everything that happened, despite being the winner of some MAD CASH MONEY, Strife was the only one who really didn't have a "moment".
- I'm not sure where the end of the show is going but I'm certainly intrigued. I'm wondering if Ryan/Strife III will finally avoid the curse of the time limit draw. Certainly wasn't the kind of end to the Ultratitle I was expecting anyway. Perhaps that first round loss really did drive Dan Ryan insane, especially followed by a loss to Atken
- LINDSAY TROY. I WAS WARNED ABOUT THIS BEFORE!
Overall, Pete, awesome, awesome job. Obviously this ended up falling in your lap but you made sure that the Ultratitle was brought to a fitting conclusion and that everyone who put effort into RPing, judging, irish jigging... whatever they offered, that it didn't fall by the wayside and I'm sure everyone involved appreciates that.
Now obviously, I would love to see something like this happen again. The Ultratitle allows a lot of people to get involved, hell, I got involved as an outsider who missed sign ups and came back to FW just after the first round was rolling. Everything that was happening then allowed me to gain interest in feds, looking at places I'd never popped in to before and really I think it's a great tool to generate interest for all the FW feds and affiliates. The problem of course is you don't want to dive into it and have the whole thing fall on you again, so it's a tricky balance to get right.
Hooray!
