Read this full blog post at the author's site
OK, not exactly the best topic. Kinda self-indulgent, but hey, I'm allowed. I'm writing this blog
In all seriousness, though, I think it's nice to take stock of what you've done in the previous 12 months, and try and set some goals for the coming year. Nothing major, just see where things are going so you don't lose sight. So that's what this post is. What I've done, and want to do, with each character.
BLITZ
First up, my tag team. 2007 was a pretty fun year for them. I took them out of Empire Pro Wrestling for reasons I don't want to get into, and had them focus on A1E. They've not done as badly as I'd thought they would, actually - of my 'big three' characters (Blitz, "The Dragon" and Mr Entertainment), they've always felt my weakest, so I was fully expecting to see them get buried. But surprisingly, they've got a positive win/loss record as far as I recall. My one gripe is probably how things turned out in EPW (I'll get into that another time, maybe), and given how they're doing right now, that can't really be seen as a big issue. What I want to do with them depends on how things go at Bloody New Year, and if anyone has an open/inter-promotional Tag Team tournament. I think if Blitz lose at BNY, I won't mind them taking a couple of steps down the card, I'm sure a storyline can be found for them, and it's always nice in a tag-team division to have more than one story fans can focus on. Something where not every team has as the end-goal of the feud being "tag team titles" or "tag team title oppertunity." Maybe something like "Beat crap out of these guys" or something. Something simple, basic, and fun. That in itself can be helped by a tournament appearance in a strong field.
Karl "The Dragon" Brown
Brown... he didn't really do much in 2007. He held the EPW Intercontinental Championship until the end of October, an almost 24 month reign, but I wasn't really happy with most of what I did with him. I felt he was getting tired and stagnant as a character - something Amy'll tell you about since I complained to her enough about it, lol. Even with him dropping the title, there was only one story that he could do that made any sense, and it's one I'd've loved to do (but, like Blitz, we saw how that went down, lol). Brown couldn't have moved into the World Title scene for several PPV cycles, realistically (if asked, I'd've always said give JA, then Kin Hiroshi, then Rocko Daymon, shots at the belt, in that order, then maybe look at Brown). He didn't do too badly in the Dupree cup, but I wasn't that pleased with my work in that tournament either. So, 2008, I'm probably not going to do a lot with him. As a character, he's tired. He's grown repetitive, and I've written him pretty much into a corner where the only way to progress is to give him a rest. So once the latest TEAM Supershow is published, you won't be seeing him around for a while. Larry Tact part 2 will be his last match for the time being, until I think he's rested good and proper. I've already got a few ideas in mind for when he gets used again though. They'll be fun to try and pull off.
Mr Entertainment
Ah, the New ERA WHADAHTT Champion. 2007 was a slow year match-wise for him, but life's like that sometimes So moving ahead, with him, I think he's found his level. I never meant for him to main-event regularly - maybe the very occasional TV show. So I think that really what I want to do with him, just keep him in the upper-mid card, using him perhaps to put over guys on their way to the top.
Otaku
The other man who left EPW in 2007, never really got off the ground as a result. He had a good showing in the Lethal Lottery Championship match in TEAM though. Two matches, one win, one loss. In 2008, I'm actually going to keep him around as a TEAM competitor, and if somewhere looks like it'll benefit from the depth he can give as an undercarder (lower to mid card), I'll make him a more regular character. He's a fun character who I can change as much as I want, since his entire gimmick is based around cosplay and being a bit of a geek, so it wouldn't look daft for him to be a heel one match, face the next, since he's just keeping in character. But he's one of those characters, I know, I have to be careful with - it's easy to play him too sillyly.
Lord Coyner Pollard (insertrestofnamehere)
Now, here's where things are going to get interesting. I've just debuted him in NFW, and he doesn't have a set direction right now, but over the course of the year, he's definitely going to mature and find his voice. I've seen a lot of people try this type of character, and to be honest, no-one has succeeded as far as I'm concerned. That's not me being mean, and some people have said they thought those characters were brilliant, but the thing that's always struck me as weak is these characters are meant to be stereotypes and parodies, but they're being done by people who don't really know how to play the character straight first. It's like Tom's Phantom Republican character - I couldn't do that type of thing, because I'm not American and don't encounter Republicans who're that extreme, ever. I doubt many people in the US have the same connection at a cultural level with Lords, earls, dukes, etc., that I do living in Britain - I can be a lot more subtle just because I'm more used to the pageantry associated with things like the opening of Parliament, or the Last Night of the Proms, or a coronation (though the way Elizabeth is going I'll never see one in my lifetime). That's what I'm going to be trying with Lord Coyner Pollard - to bring a bit of subtlty to a character-type which always seems to fall a bit flat when I read them.
So there you go. Nothing ground-breaking, nothing huge. I've actually found a level in this hobby I'm happy on - I don't want to go into big, main-event level things on a regular basis, I just fancy staying here and building more of a foundation, having fun at the same time.
2008 should be a fun year. Especially with the whole EPW/A1E angle that's on-going.
Read this full blog post at the author's site
OK, not exactly the best topic. Kinda self-indulgent, but hey, I'm allowed. I'm writing this blog
In all seriousness, though, I think it's nice to take stock of what you've done in the previous 12 months, and try and set some goals for the coming year. Nothing major, just see where things are going so you don't lose sight. So that's what this post is. What I've done, and want to do, with each character.
BLITZ
First up, my tag team. 2007 was a pretty fun year for them. I took them out of Empire Pro Wrestling for reasons I don't want to get into, and had them focus on A1E. They've not done as badly as I'd thought they would, actually - of my 'big three' characters (Blitz, "The Dragon" and Mr Entertainment), they've always felt my weakest, so I was fully expecting to see them get buried. But surprisingly, they've got a positive win/loss record as far as I recall. My one gripe is probably how things turned out in EPW (I'll get into that another time, maybe), and given how they're doing right now, that can't really be seen as a big issue. What I want to do with them depends on how things go at Bloody New Year, and if anyone has an open/inter-promotional Tag Team tournament. I think if Blitz lose at BNY, I won't mind them taking a couple of steps down the card, I'm sure a storyline can be found for them, and it's always nice in a tag-team division to have more than one story fans can focus on. Something where not every team has as the end-goal of the feud being "tag team titles" or "tag team title oppertunity." Maybe something like "Beat crap out of these guys" or something. Something simple, basic, and fun. That in itself can be helped by a tournament appearance in a strong field.
Karl "The Dragon" Brown
Brown... he didn't really do much in 2007. He held the EPW Intercontinental Championship until the end of October, an almost 24 month reign, but I wasn't really happy with most of what I did with him. I felt he was getting tired and stagnant as a character - something Amy'll tell you about since I complained to her enough about it, lol. Even with him dropping the title, there was only one story that he could do that made any sense, and it's one I'd've loved to do (but, like Blitz, we saw how that went down, lol). Brown couldn't have moved into the World Title scene for several PPV cycles, realistically (if asked, I'd've always said give JA, then Kin Hiroshi, then Rocko Daymon, shots at the belt, in that order, then maybe look at Brown). He didn't do too badly in the Dupree cup, but I wasn't that pleased with my work in that tournament either. So, 2008, I'm probably not going to do a lot with him. As a character, he's tired. He's grown repetitive, and I've written him pretty much into a corner where the only way to progress is to give him a rest. So once the latest TEAM Supershow is published, you won't be seeing him around for a while. Larry Tact part 2 will be his last match for the time being, until I think he's rested good and proper. I've already got a few ideas in mind for when he gets used again though. They'll be fun to try and pull off.
Mr Entertainment
Ah, the New ERA WHADAHTT Champion. 2007 was a slow year match-wise for him, but life's like that sometimes
So moving ahead, with him, I think he's found his level. I never meant for him to main-event regularly - maybe the very occasional TV show. So I think that really what I want to do with him, just keep him in the upper-mid card, using him perhaps to put over guys on their way to the top.Otaku
The other man who left EPW in 2007, never really got off the ground as a result. He had a good showing in the Lethal Lottery Championship match in TEAM though. Two matches, one win, one loss. In 2008, I'm actually going to keep him around as a TEAM competitor, and if somewhere looks like it'll benefit from the depth he can give as an undercarder (lower to mid card), I'll make him a more regular character. He's a fun character who I can change as much as I want, since his entire gimmick is based around cosplay and being a bit of a geek, so it wouldn't look daft for him to be a heel one match, face the next, since he's just keeping in character. But he's one of those characters, I know, I have to be careful with - it's easy to play him too sillyly.
Lord Coyner Pollard (insertrestofnamehere)
Now, here's where things are going to get interesting. I've just debuted him in NFW, and he doesn't have a set direction right now, but over the course of the year, he's definitely going to mature and find his voice. I've seen a lot of people try this type of character, and to be honest, no-one has succeeded as far as I'm concerned. That's not me being mean, and some people have said they thought those characters were brilliant, but the thing that's always struck me as weak is these characters are meant to be stereotypes and parodies, but they're being done by people who don't really know how to play the character straight first. It's like Tom's Phantom Republican character - I couldn't do that type of thing, because I'm not American and don't encounter Republicans who're that extreme, ever. I doubt many people in the US have the same connection at a cultural level with Lords, earls, dukes, etc., that I do living in Britain - I can be a lot more subtle just because I'm more used to the pageantry associated with things like the opening of Parliament, or the Last Night of the Proms, or a coronation (though the way Elizabeth is going I'll never see one in my lifetime). That's what I'm going to be trying with Lord Coyner Pollard - to bring a bit of subtlty to a character-type which always seems to fall a bit flat when I read them.
So there you go. Nothing ground-breaking, nothing huge. I've actually found a level in this hobby I'm happy on - I don't want to go into big, main-event level things on a regular basis, I just fancy staying here and building more of a foundation, having fun at the same time.
2008 should be a fun year. Especially with the whole EPW/A1E angle that's on-going.
Read this full blog post at the author's site