ACTS of DEFIANCE Discussion Thread: The Mormonstrosity

[BWade]

DEFtv95

GET THEM OUT OF HERE!
Solid Harvey promo, going over his beef with Blackwood. I think it's a little wordy in the middle but Harvey definitely nails the heel shtick. "See, I knew all we had to do was ask a local!" was great. Elise's oblivious nod to the nose. Solid promo segment.

CHOICES/WRESTLEUTA WORLD: CRIMSON LORD © VS. ELISE ARES
Felt like the promo was way longer then it needed to be with a lot of clunky dialog. But that Heart/Boobs gag at the end was great. This was a decent match and we keep seeing that Elise has a lot of fight in her and a lot of guts but keeps winding up on the losing end of things. Hope all this is going somewhere and we get to see it turn around at ACTS. Burns to the rescue, sort of ... which seems like it has to be setting up CL's next challenger. Interested to see where Elise goes from here and whether or not we will see Bruns/CL.

OVERALL
UTA has been running wild in DEF for quite some time now and though beaten and at times broken DEF is still holding on by a thread. With the next show being the go home this card seemed to have served to set up some big things that in turn will set up the PPV. Great effort by all.

 

[Ross]

I'm not sure if this is the best place for role play feedback but I figured it fits because it has to do with this arc. Be warned, this review contains spoilers.

Disclaimer: I do not intend to provide feedback on each and every role play propaganda everyone posts.

THE LAST OF US: CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE REVIEW & FEEDBACK
Well this looks interesting. A nostalgic throwback to those Super Mario Bros. Choose Your Own Adventure Books.

PRIOR TO READING
All I can say is that I better not get an expletive game over. If I do, I will be pissed. Depending on the outcome I intend on reading this series in a few different ways; legit following the story and making decisions I would actually make, possibly going through a second time to change my decisions, and if I feel like I haven’t seen it all or didn’t experience everything, then I will read the ones that remain, should any be left. I want to be able to piece the entire story together and not miss anything... because... I’m a 100% completionist on this quest! I’m only going to cover a part the first time I read it.

FIRST TRY
EXPLAINED
This better not be a Sonic The Hedgehog 2006 series or I’m out dude, I’m out. Just a quick question... can I save my progress through this series... or... ? Yeah... I guess I’ll have to marathon it.

ONE
I’m most definitely waking the hell up. I’ll assume the younger ass clown brother is Conor, waking Tyler, the player, up, so hell yeah I’m getting up because Conor pretty much just woke me up. Off to three.

THREE
The identity of the ass clown brother is indeed Conor and he is way too hyper for this early in the morning. He comes off as a tad annoying here but that’s exactly what you want out of a brother. I have no choice but to go to seventeen here. I’m interested to see just who the heck this developer person is.

SEVENTEEN
Conor wanted to use warp tunnels and so did I. Confirmed, my name is Tyler. Hell no I’m not going back in the house to see if I forgot something. Also, there should be a third option here to send my worthless brother back in to fetch whatever just crossed my mind. Off to five we go.

FIVE
I kind of get the feeling Conor is a little dumb... maybe a little too dumb. I get that he’s a happy dude but Tyler is very direct and to the point and maybe that’s why Conor is so quiet. No cheat codes? Pffffffft. What kind of game is this? It gets worse... no... everything. I like the A for Adult line. Classic. The story is starting to take form here and something tells me this is the story of The Fuse Bros. signing with DEFIANCE... but if I didn’t go back in the house... to maybe grab the contract or something... maybe I just expletive-d myself. No choice here, going to twenty two.

TWENTY TWO
I swear if this is a game over I will break my computer. I like the “it had the best graphics line” here. I didn’t realize how applicable video game jargon was to real life. We check into a hotel and it’s off to fourteen. I like how The Fuse Bros. are familiar with DEF events, because, they’ve been watching it on TV.

FOURTEEN
So the Bros. get up and drive all the way to Louisiana. Hopefully they stopped for some Popeye’s Chicken along the way. I think Conor would’ve liked that. Off to six.

SIX
MARK OUT!!!!!!! The Fuse Bros. arrive at the shady Wrestle-Plex and there’s some fed shout outs that just blew my mind. Totally forgot about 21w... and of course, GCW, which is fondly close to my heart. Represent. And a Flying Frenchie name drop. Cool. Ummm, why would we turn back? We’re playing as The Fuse Bros. after all. If we encounter danger, we’ll just jump on their heads! That’s a thing, right? Off to nineteen.

NINETEEN
Conor telling Tyler to go first because he’s player one infuriated me although, for story purposes, it makes sense. Just the common sense in me doesn’t understand this. Who cares who goes through the door first but to them, it’s all a game. The comment about surviving DEFIANCE but not surviving Conor was interesting. Off to sixteen.

SIXTEEN
I feel like Mario just entered the castle. The Bros. talking about “systems” couldn’t help but make me think about the television series “ReBoot.” Ummm so I got to the end... and I think I don’t have the blue question mark... assuming this was what I chose to not go back in the house for at the start? So it’s off to eighteen with The Last of Us (see what I did there?)

EIGHTEEN
Phew. Made it through eighteen to seven but before we go I just wanted to say I like the 8-bit reference to the character art on the websites.

SEVEN
Despite the fact this assistant to Mr. Dane was rude, I’m going to roll with it, slightly because I’m impatient but I don’t quite believe taking the rude route would get me anywhere and I have a sneaking suspicion Eric Dane won’t make an appearance regardless. Off to thirteen.

THIRTEEN
This was by far the best part I’ve encountered so far and the previous parts were good. It seems like Conor forgot to take his ADHD meds with all the muttering he was doing though. Well, I’m going to sign the papers because I made it this far. Off to twelve.

TWELVE
Some more witty banter between everyone and I signed the contract! Let’s go to ten to see our prize... ?

TEN
Uh oh. I do not have such a screwdriver. To twenty five we go... to die?

TWENTY FIVE
Phew. We avoided whatever it was that was lurking around. Going to twenty three now.

TWENTY THREE
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-EXPLETIVE-HOOOOOOOOOOOO! I WON ON MY FIRST TRY, PEOPLE! LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEE! I AM SO GREAT! This definitely was a lot of fun and I enjoyed making different choices but let’s go back and make some different ones.

SECOND TRY
ONE
Let’s sleep in.

TWENTY
WHAT THE EXPLETIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! THIS IS SUPREME BS!!!! A TRUE GAME OVER RIGHT OFF THE BAT!!!??? I HATE THIS! I HATE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE! THIS IS TERRIBLE! I also want to collect my $200.

THIRD TRY
ONE
WAKE UP!

THREE TO SEVENTEEN
Screw this; I’m going back into the house to get what I forgot.

FIFTEEN
Hells yeah I got the powder blue question mark box. I heavily dislike how Conor’s room is messy. Back to five we go.

FIVE TO TWENTY TWO TO FOURTEEN TO SIX
Even though I think turning back will result in a game over, let’s explore. Off to nine.

NINE
Got the screw driver. Moving on to sixteen.

SIXTEEN
Seeing that I have the blue question mark, we will go to eleven next.

ELEVEN
So basically the question mark box was a snack box... with real mushrooms. Cool. 500 BONUS POINTS!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! Back to twenty one.

TWENTY ONE
I want to get pissed off here but only to see number two. I reserve the right to return to this moment and go to thirteen if two ends in a game over.

TWO
Game over. I knew it. Those mushrooms must’ve made Tyler mad. The jOlt jab was funny but now it’s time to go back to twenty one.

TWENTY ONE TO THIRTEEN
This time I won’t sign the papers. Off to four.

FOUR
This video game stuff kills me. Requesting a “demo” is spot on gold. Classic. I mean, this stuff has been clearly thought out over a long period of time and the timing and usage of everything is great. Wait... wait... just expletive wait... DID I GET A GAME OVER!?!?!? DID I JUST GET ANOTHER MOTHER-EXPLETIVE GAME OVER!? So... I didn’t officially sign with DEFIANCE but it says Game Over? What does that mean?

FOURTH TRY
Let’s just start at thirteen with all the same decisions made from the previous try.

THIRTEEN TO TWELVE TO TEN
This time I have the screwdriver so let’s go to eight, which is the last part I have yet to visit.

EIGHT
Holy hell I UNLOCKED AN ACHIEVEMENT! This part totally felt more like a Gage Blackwood promo, and fittingly so because there was an achievement waiting for me at the end of this. Plus, with so many parts, it’s cool to see one dedicated to someone else. Cool. Off to twenty four.

TWENTY FOUR
And victory awaits for me once again. Nifty.

OVERALL
I must say that I like the length of each part. None is overly long, which keeps the pace steady but also changes the story rapidly. A less is more approach to writing is something I want to pattern myself after and this is the best of both worlds; 25 choices but they aren’t daunting to navigate through. No one wants to read a 25 part role play that contains 5 pages of text per episode. No one. This might be pushing it but a link to the next role play at the bottom might have been a cool touch to add. It didn’t take much to just click back and find the next one though so no biggie here. This really paints the picture that these two NEED each other to survive. Conor is over reliant on Tyler and is a bit of a wuss, HOWEVER, Tyler probably needs Conor more not just so he has someone to boss around but so he has someone to look after and feel his existence has meaning. Not really a gripe but not every part ended with a choice, which is understandable for story coordination and whatnot. I’m sure this was hard to plan and I think it turned out very well. 500 Bonus points to the writer for trying something unique, which I encourage everyone partaking in this craft to do. We are, after all, creative writers telling entertaining stories more than anything else.


I highly recommend everyone take at least one try to read this series. When I got a game over, it made me want to go back and try again. Really excellent work. May I have some more?

 

[Roland]

This might be pushing it but a link to the next role play at the bottom might have been a cool touch to add.

Actually that's genius. I'll edit that in right now. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Ross]

Uncut 34 Review & Feedback

GEARS OF WAR: EMULSION COUNTERMEASURES
Good promo that really shows The Fuse Bros. concern for their upcoming match at Acts of DEFIANCE.

THE DEBUT EDITION OF FDN
The news setup was cool. I especially like how most of Stevens’ segments run. I like his comparison of donning the reaper suits to that of the Power Rangers. I’m not a huge fan of swearing but I understand it is part of the character and it fits here. Good segment. I wonder, can I subscribe to this news network?

THAT’S MORE LIKE IT
I liked this. Gage puts on a front, whether intentional or through an adrenaline high until he gets to be alone in the closet, where he starts to show the pain he was feeling. I’ll admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of Blackwood the first few times I read about him but the writing is well done and I feel there is a set story progression mapped out for him. Slowly but surely, I enjoy seeing him come out of his shell.

KILL THE REAPER
This was a good, quick segment where Unlikely trash talks Douglas. I am intrigued to see how this feud ends up. Douglas has been SOHER Champion for a good bit and while I (kayfabe) like him more than Unlikely, I think it’s time Unlikely gets a run with it and Douglas can move on to bigger and better things... like the FIST.

I HAVE TO
Oscar Burns cuts a good promo here with Warner. It’s obviously apparent he isn’t scared of CL and nor should he after earning his shot. It’s about time someone dethrones the Messiah of Pain.

I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET OFF MY LAWN
Whoa, a brawl breaks out! I really, really hate these Dibbins d-bags. Stop picking on these BRAZEN guys and go play a game of horseshoes and get drunk or something.

LESS IS MORE
The title reflects its content. I’m interested in becoming more familiar with the Impulse character as I know the handler’s impeccable reputation precedes him.

YOU... AND ME.
Great way to end the show by announcing Ares versus Harvey. This might be one of the matches I am looking forward to the most come Acts of DEFIANCE.

OVERALL
If this is what I can expect from Uncut on a continual basis then call me hooked. These shows might just be stopgaps between bigger shows but I find this really drives the story deeper.

STAR OF THE SHOW: Impulse. I know he was barely on the show but the short segment left me wanting more. I wanted to hear from him. It just gave me a feeling of something shrouded in mystery and I want to find out more!

ROSS’ MUST READ CHARACTER: Oscar Burns. I chose him because he has shown confidence against all odds. His fearlessness is mark-out worthy and I think the Burns versus CL match at Acts will outdo expectations.

 

[CrimsonScott]

DEF 96

THE CATALYST
The Reapers strike, Douglas seems to have more than just Mikey on his plate these days.

GEARS OF WAR: FOUR-PLAYER CO-OP
Talking in gamer code, is a interesting twist to a character. Its starting to grow on me a bit, but a nice setup for a possible 8 man tag for AOD

OUTWITTING THE ENEMY
Hearing about another 8 man tag for AOD, kind of took me out of it. Considering Hoss/FuseBros seem to be heading for the same type of match. I digress though, it was a nice trap setup for Charlie’s Aces. So a nice setup for the matchup at AOD.

ANGEL TRINIDAD VS. ROOSEVELT OWENS
Nice matchup between these two. Should be interesting to see what is going to happen at AOD

THE ANGER
Douglas looking to get a hold of some reapers, here. He is bloody and pist off, can only imagine his state of mind going into his upcoming match later tonight.

CRIMSON/KRUGER/BURNS
Enjoy

THE WALK
Douglas seeing RED so to speak, taking it to the Reapers and I guess their second in charge Reaper Red. The SoHer clearly has had enough of the beatings he has taken from these men and is out to end it with them.

SCOTT DOUGLAS © VS. REAPER RED
The brawl continued, and we are even graced by even more reapers. Douglas winning by DQ after being attacked by Yellow, Purple. Match was what it was flowed well.

THE AWNSER
Saw the title I am not sure if this was meant to be a typo, or the actual title? Awesome swerve! This adds even more dimension to Douglas/Unlikely/Reapers story. The UTA playing Reapers, in essence framing The Reapers, and beating Douglas good friend down...which can only get some sort of response from The Reapers. Really looking forward to Douglas/Unlikely at AOD.

Keeping Tabs
Another meeting between Cayle and Ryan. Bit of a backstory on why Ryan joined Mikey, not too much though. I can just picture Dan just admiring the bruised Murray with a snicker. How much more can Cayle take? Heart will only get you so far, eventually your body will give out. Its been a great story of a fighting champion and a survivor.

DEF VS. UTA TWELVE MAN TAG
What a clusterfuck this was, interesting write up. I felt though the entrances could of been more condensed by just having the leader of each side come out to their music and be followed by their team, instead of the music playlist. Just a tiny nitpick

CUZ I'M A WINNER.
Harvey just oozes confidence in this segment, and Cayle has alot of work cut out for him if he is to survive tonight against him. Only issue I saw with it Jay sort of dismisses the UTA guys who faced Cayle the past few weeks, and only says DEFIANCE guys as though they were his only challengers. Aside from that great segment

OVERPOWERING THE ENEMY
Ace’s Wild with a vicious assault on Butcher, nice ending twist before AOD possibly leading to a 8 vs 7 now?

CAYLE MURRAY © VS. THE JAY HARVEY
Well rounded wrestling type match, felt the ending was kind of sudden though. Given Jay’s expression you would expect him to kick out. Elise continues to poke and prod Jay.

 

[BWade]

DEFtv96

It's the GO HOME folks!

THE CATALYST
Wrote this with Mikey.

RUNDOWN
Wrote it, hacky as it may be. I picked up that 'Gus deal from a Drunk Bro's segment awhiiiile ago. I don't think anyone really even gets it anymore but every once in awhile I like to have Darren toss it out there because in my mind he knows Angus hates it.

GEARS OF WAR: FOUR-PLAYER CO-OP
First time I read NPCs it through me off a little bit, almost like breaking E-Rasslin' Kayfabe or some such but after thinking about it for a second; it works perfectly. In real life that'd be nothing more than a video game reference. I also get the feeling Conor is on the spectrum. Abed from Community-ish.

"he can't just skip intros, he HAS to play through." Loved that line. and "Princesses?" Great promo. This makes me feel like the big Twelve Man deal should've been titled LAN Party. This sells the PPV and had some good humor in there. I NEED Fuse Bro's interacting with PCP - that'd be gold.

OUTWITTING THE ENEMY
All the Charlie Ace/Ace's Wild stuff has been great for the past three arcs now; but I will say the rotating cast of characters - Brazen and other wise have made it hard to keep up with at times. Also see: my drinking. That being said this sets up the PPV match wonderfully and I can't see any reason why Ace's Wild won't be on the top the tag team division in short order.

ANGEL TRINIDAD VS. ROOSEVELT OWENS
"Say things now, Quimbey, and get to the HOSSFITE!." Solid HOSSFITE indeed and again, much like any good Go Home, it really hammers down on the PPV match. Everyone comes out looking strong as we move to the PPV! "NEVER doubt what OUR HOSS OVERLORDS can do, heathen!" Also ... Flying Hossbody is fantastic.

THE ANGER
Wrote it.

CRIMSON LORD VS. FLEX KRUGER/DEFBACK/ VS. BURNS
As we've come to expect from the giant green vested Crimson Lord, a squash. It's fine enough for what it is. Most importantly it is the seg way into selling that sweet sweet pay per view, which works. I will say though there are some some typo issues within that probably could have been sorted with a once more over.

Lord has been on a demolition course for the whole arc bowling over folks and the segment that follows the squash serves well to set up some doubt that maybe he has some competition - or his reign of squash will continue. But you have to tune in to find out. The fan response to Oscar's Shut The Fuck Up perfectly embodied my no verbal response while reading it. Took me by surprise. Burns gets a little long winded but it works. Lord does my least favorite big man thing and talks a lot but all in all - it's dialogue logistics to get to the following match.

The match it self it solid and Burns is literally saved by the bell. So again we have hope and also doubt - maybe a little more doubt than hope, but regardless I think this three piece segment is a strong reason to want to see what happens at ACTS.


THE WALK/SCOTT DOUGLAS © VS. REAPER RED/THE AWNSER
Wrote it with Mikey and Stevie. Also misspelled the title of THE ANSWER. Probably could have used a once more over.

Keeping Tabs
No caps on the title ... boss man. Great segment, Ryan back in the picture really helps to raise more questions and spur along the fall out of this UTA Invasion. No clue what he is up to or what this may mean but I'm certainly interested. Really dug this one from the opening description of Cayle to the natural feeling dialogue.

DEF VS. UTA TWELVE MAN TAG
For such a match, I really appreciate the abridged entrances. This serves as the big surprise return of Mushi and he's hot after Ross. The oddest man in UTA, Lisil cuts him off though. This turned into utter chaos quickly but the action was well written and not to difficult to keep up with the goings on. Reaper's have been busy (or presumed to be busy) tonight and Impulse's return would be a hell of a sell for the PPV. Just when it may have felt the focus of this entire Invasion angle may have been reigning slightly this really knocks it out of the park.

CUZ I'M A WINNER.
A little show of power from WrestleUTA, serving almost as a self affirmed pep-talk for Harvey's upcoming match. If DEF had commercials this is certainly something I could see just before a break to hype up the Main Event.

OVERPOWERING THE ENEMY
Same as if above was heading to commercial, if this was straight out of one - it'd be perfect. And as I've mentioned several times though out; this continues to sell the PPV. Solid attack segment.

CAYLE MURRAY © VS. THE JAY HARVEY
The opening really sells (if previous segments hadn't already) Murray's condition. Solid action to start off this match and although I somewhat expected something to break up the action I didn't think it'd come this quickly. Didn't expect the roll up either but it sells. Leaves Harvey looking competent and Murray wins with out actually cheating. Although I like some of the mentions of uncharacteristic viciousness. Gives off the feel that Murray is a injured dog backed into a corner - and although not evil as Calico Rose would describe it, he certainly isn't going to lay down and die. This clearly sets up Harvey/Elise for the PPV, which is solid as well.

SOUL
The fall out segment was great. Harmen out of nowhere and now we see where this is headed. Perfect way to sell two matches with one ... stone? Only thing I didn't dig was the spray paint deal. I like it as a heel tactic. It's a super effective one - falls RIGHT in line with everything that has been going on here but - we all know what the but is ... Even though it's twenty years ago, I just don't know if it's something that could ever be realistically done again without feeling like the original but cheaper. Hell THEY even did it more than once and each time it was less effective than the time before. But much like ... much of this it's just personal preference. Beyond that I dug the segment and the "WE REMAIN" closer.

 

[THEjayharvey]

ACTS of DEFIANCE

intro - yes, it was.

man down - solid face promo to set-up the 8 man tag match... 7 man tag. i wish this segment and the upcoming tag match would have gotten swapped. start off the night with a nice tag match to set the tone.

dibbins vs adler and krueger - nothing like a nice tag match to get the show started off with a bang, dilly dilly.

mushi-mushi-mushicackagoogoo vs lisil jackson - this match was the definition of slugfest. then completely out of character for jackson he goes all out heel in his "good bye" speech. since i've heard some things, i realize why this is happening. now it could have been handled a tad "neater" than just telling people to go fuck themselves because of the role he had to play in the invasion but it's fake pretend wrestling and things just happen even in actual product.

soul survivor - god damn mikey unlikely is awesome. really good segment here. mikey and crimson were on point with a little humor thrown in. crimson seems focused and mikey stands by his champ, your champ, the people's champ.

ross vs blackwood - this was an entertaining read. it was funny and brutal. loved how the guys fucked up angus' car. loved the metal detector skit as well. i just wasn't a fan of them fighting in the road with cars around... or when chris ross died at the end.

coming up next - i felt that a recap of the feud was apt. i also didn't want to do a bunch of copy and pasting to add shit people might have read before. hope you enjoyed.

ares vs harvey - 2 guys named bill doing shit 2 guys named bill can do.

pep talk - obvs harmen needs no such thing as a pep talk. harmen is on his game, telling mikey how it truly is. loved it.

aces wild vs synz and thugz 4 hire - exciting match that had some good moments. loved the "fake tag" moment, something you don't see too often anymore. When Victorious makes his return you think this is gonna put his team over the top, but swerve... ace's wild walks out with the win. they are growing in strength and look to be a formidable group here in the company.

special attraction - yep. nothing really to say other than impulse is back and reap is gonna reap.

big ass tag team match - lots of near falls and saves in this one. this match was very good and put everyone over well. the tag team division has been the highlight of this arc and this match summed all that up imo. i see bigger and better things for everyone involved going forward.

wrestleuta world title match - wow. burns got his ass handed to him for most of this match and even like they mentioned in commentary he was fighting the 10 count the whole match. burns took it to crimson lord and had some great spots. just when it looked burns was gonna win, crimson's cock holster (i think was the phrase) intervened and cost burns a victory but the match continued and crimson lord had the whole defiance roster against him. crimson got his comeuppance and we have a new wrestleuta world champ. good match guys, a real banger.

the future - i don't know if impulse's comments are shocking or not. his hatred for the reaper co is so strong he'd rather see wrestleuta with the defiance tag titles than reaper co. nice little segment to break up the action.

hoher vs soher - this match had it all... excitement, violence, comedy, and a happy ending depending on which side of the fence you are on. the story told was a good one. solid back and forth, mikey's blase attitude factored into his downfall, and scott douglas is quickly becoming/is the next face of defiance after this.

character unlocked: clyde fox - YOU GUYS ARE ALL WEIRD.

I wanted to say something weeks ago, the new hires imo should have been jumping on posting segments/promos/vignettes on either deftv shows or uncuts to hype their debuts. this is a practice i've tried to maintain with all my characters because in the real world, you are going to see packages for a new hire/signee w/e. unless it's some huge name and they go after a companies big star in a big "wow/wtf moment". most people's debuts are hyped. just my 2 cents.

reaper co. vs team wrestleuta - this match confused me... i'm sure it's for storyline purposes but why put the titles on the reapers just to take them right off them less than a month later? the reaper's have looked super strong in most cases since i started my tenure until tonight.

tale of the tape - nice recap. great minds think alike.

fist of defiance - jack harmen has some real anger issues, huh? what a war. jack harmen destroyed a lot of defiance property. both harmen and murray did their best to murder each other and this would have been a sick match to have witnessed if it was real. harmen went all out but the squid boy shows why he is the top dog. if murray loses the belt tomorrow, this reign has been a tremendous success. he's beaten all comers, and come out on top against all odds.

this ppv seemed to have defiance gain more of an advantage, which was expected imo. defiance won most of the major matches (sans tag team) and basically won the entire show expect a couple of matches. wrestleuta is looking a little weak now that defiance is looking stronger and more unified. defiance owns every title but one, and did what wrestleuta couldn't and that's take their main title away. wrestleuta is going to have to respond to all this. they're losing bodies after this ppv and aren't looking good imo.

this arc was a good one, murray's gauntlet and the tag division major highlights. impulse's return is a nice addition, because he could throw the scales even more in defiance's favor.

 

[Roland]

FEED(ME MORE)BACK

Overall this show was excellent. Writing was really, really well done. Proud to be here. I don't need to get into the writing aspects of things too much because it was all good. From a storyline standpoint, I was a little disappointed... in myself just as much as anything else lol. I use the term disappointed lightly and maybe that's the wrong word to even use. Everyone here in DEFIANCE is bloody amazing and the backstage atmosphere is great. Anyway, I'll get to what I mean later and explain.

MAN DOWN
Great, quick opening and good use of characters.

THE DIBBINS VS. GUNTHER ADLER & FLEX KRUGER
Wrote this. God bless Mikey for The Dibbins, they are great. I think this fell a little flat. I had written it without knowing it was the opener beforehand. I might have created more tension and action otherwise, as I initially was writing it to kind of bring the crowd down haha. It's clear none of these guys would truly be over. The Dibbins can get there, though.

MUSHIGIHARA VS. LISIL JACKSON
Wow! Shock of the century! Mushi loss coming back from injury! I thought he was going to murder Jackson! Truly stunned. Then Jackson quits! This blew my mind, great stuff. Also perfect length for its placement. Makes you really feel for Mushi, even though I personally feel like I would boo Jackson.

SOUL SURVIVOR
Not much to add here, love the UTA interactions. Love the Mikey character.

CHRIS ROSS VS. GAGE BLACKWOOD
So begins my disappointment or whatever I need to call it, lol. I echo Will's comments. Going near the road I could have tossed. We had other plans but they changed. I wanted Blackwood to lose here. For the most part, I thought this card would be filled with UTA murdering DEFIANCE, looking like the final nail is there. But we went with this ending. While I don't mind the whole Chris Ross giving Blackwood that cocky look before he's "killed", we still could have gone in a different direction. Like I said, plans changed and I think we will eventually revisit something here and THAT, hopefully, will leave me happy.

COMING UP NEXT...
Good lead in, need more of these on PPV shows.

ELISE AREA VS. THE JAY HARVEY
Excellent stuff. Truly, like The God-Beast match, just a perfect outcome for this show. Credit to both "Will's". Jay Harvey, amen, THE Jay Harvey can be built like a god damn star soon. I would put him next in like for the SoHER though. He can be built up so well for the DEF crowd.

PEP TALK
Been a big fan of these since the Mikey-Hightower interaction. Love all UTA world building. That being said, Hightower should have had a huge role here! He fought for the FIST last time!! Dammit Mikey!

ACES WILD VS. NICKY SYNZ & THUGZ 4 HIRE
I love how this lives in its own "bubble" if you will. It's great to have that side aspect from hardcore UTA vs. DEFIANCE. I've enjoyed all this stuff. I like how this reads a little different for me too than the rest of the card. Hope it goes longer.

SPECIAL ATTRACTION
Quick but interesting. I can't help but think plans changed here too. It's good to see Impulse back but I'd like him near the top or to do something big. Pete probably never pulls the trigger on this lol but I want a heel turn.

TEAM HOSS/FUSE BROS VS. NO JUSTICE NO PEACE
Seth and I wrote. Happy with things. However, maybe the match result should have been different here, too. Even though NJNP are true "NPC's", they are aligned with the UTA. I'm more okay with this outcome and much more disappointed in the route I took in the Blackwood match. Fuse Bros. are new. Team HOSS is legit. A loss would hurt them way more. Their losses will come.

(also noted Brian's comments on The Fuse Bros. using the term NPC for characters. It's a tough spot because if this was WWE, they would call everyone NPC's. Hell they would have a "You're an NPC" t-shirt). But since that's an eW term too I'm like wtf! I think I'll only use that term now for characters who are definitely NOT NPC's. And use it sparingly.)

CRIMSON LORD © VS. OSCAR BURNS
Great match, edge of your seat stuff right here. However, I would have not taken the title off Crimson Lord. Not yet. Have Oscar do that on the next arc. I guess it comes down to me having different expectations on how this card would go. I got my hopes up UTA would truly "bury" DEFIANCE on this one, making it look like all hell has frozen over once and for all. They hold all the titles. All the power. We're all fucked. What next? I guess that's my key in all of this. No doubt, though, because I had no clue where the night was going I was right into this one. You guys killed it in terms of drama.

THE FUTURE
Needed more Impulse so happy here.

MIKEY UNLIKELY © VS. "SUB POP" SCOTT DOUGLAS ©
Again another match that brought it in the writing department. Had me every line. Great stuff. While yes, I would have followed with the Mikey victory, this is maybe the one title match I would have kept the title on a DEF guy. Douglas is a great character. Though I can't help but think he should be moving up the ladder (pun intended) shortly. Thinking further, you could have kept Douglas the solo DEF title winner and then lose it on tv.

CHARACTER UNLOCKED: CLYDE FOX
Wish this was higher up the card, but it had to be after The Fuse Bros. match and I think it was the only slot where it made sense. Yes, we're all fucked and noted on the vignettes for new characters. I agree. But I'm also going to ambush any new character coming in so The Fuse Bros. can unlock them. Like you said, I'm weird. I think there's a place for some comedy and I am determined to hit a balance between comedy and seriousness with The Fuse Bros. eventually.

REAPER CO. © VS. KENDRIX & SCOTT STEVENS
Beautiful. Love it. Best outcome on the show and something I'm really excited for. However, I do think Stevens should focus a little more on the here and now and not Cayle. He can get there eventually. But he should see these tag titles as THE FIST and forget about Cayle soon, if that makes sense. For now, anyway.

TALE OF THE TAPE
Like I said, this should be done more.

CAYLE MURRAY © VS. JACK HARMEN
Gonna Jericho list this:

1.) You guys melted my screen. Epic stuff in a night of lots of that.

2.) OMG popped like crazy for the NES being used. Holy fuck. JACK HARMEN HAS COMMITTED LARCENY OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE. The Fuse Bros. would be pissed. Also I might have Conor make a comment he can't find his NES anymore.

3.) Murr is a bloody champ for jobbing out his past star character Andy Murray, which is sometimes hard to read on my end knowing that character was a top guy for so long. But everyone goes out on their backs when they're close to retirement. Just a credit Murr is willing to do that with his self-titled guy (whom I'm convinced is much smaller in real life than he is lol).

4.) Murr has gone above and beyond with this but also really building up all the UTA mid card with "almost-wins" last month. As a result, I thought this was the time to pull the trigger on him losing the title, for a month or so. Like I said, coming into this arc I thought the final nails would be put in DEF (until they ultimately come back and banish UTA to the wastelands). In my mind, that's the way you do the WWF vs. WCW and NXT vs. WWE. At least 2-3 arcs of complete misery. And you can't really establish UTA as THE threat without a few titles and definitely the FIST. I thought this was it. Harmen made sense. He's a star in his own right, maybe a bigger star than Cayle just based on longevity. Now I'm left asking... now what? Which is obviously a good thing but dammit I wanted that nail! I'd be asking "now what?" then, too.

And again, I'm as much to blame as anyone. I put zero nails in my coffin on ACTS and really disappointed in myself for going with the change on Blackwood-Ross.

OVERALL
I think everyone deserves credit. I would have gone in a different direction, but ultimately that's because I cared. And a credit to everyone for that. So that, in itself, getting investment from the readers is great.

Even though I would have had UTA come out on top for most of the big matches, looking at that route, the outcomes are more formulaic. Get beaten on MAXIMUM DEF, get murdered on ACTS, finally overcome and kill UTA next PPV. But on the bright side, when it comes out this way... no clue what's happening next. Whoever takes the belt off Cayle will be even MORE of a star than before. So there's 0 hope loss. Just being honest with my thoughts.

Finally, I think I will be happy with this if I see a huge heel turn and I still get my UTA payoff. Although now it might be dragging. I want Impulse to turn to the darkside. Does Andy Murray turn? Maybe that doesn't make sense since he was killed by them.

Anyway, that's all!

 

[CrimsonScott]

ACTS OF DEFIANCE

MAN DOWN
Story: Continuing Nicky and friends story with Ace’s Wild talking about Butcher injury.
Follow: It kept to the main concept currently for these men.
Build: Decent build.
Overall: Nicky and company are determined to beat Ace’s Wild even if its without Butcher.

THE DIBBINS VS. GUNTHER ADLER & FLEX KRUGER
Story: This told a great story, with Flex still suffering from the beating he took at DEFTV 96. Also Gunther selling his beating from Ross. Flex pretty much was left out of the match making it a handicap match for the most part.
Follow: Found the match rather easy to follow.
Build: Have to be honest I really have not followed anything with the Dibbins, or this spontaneous matchup that makes me wonder why its on a PPV card?
Overall: Pretty decent opener, It was more interesting than I thought it would be. When you keep consistency thats a big plus.

MUSHIGIHARA VS. LISIL JACKSON
Story: Wasn’t much of a story told during this match.
Follow: The match was easy to follow.
Build: This was one of those matches, that just seem to just be made. I really felt it really had nothing in the line of a build. Or even a desire to want to see these two go at it.
Overall: It was a well written match lots of near falls, and a surprising win for Jackson, only to turn his back on the WrestleUTA. Makes you wonder if this is the end for Lisil, or we will see him again. He didn’t exactly start waving the DEFIANCE flag after he turned on the WrestleUTA.

CHRIS ROSS VS. GAGE BLACKWOOD
Story: Ya not much of a story here just two men who hate each other.
Follow: Again the follow of the match was easy to follow.
Build: Probably the best build of the arc. I thought these two were going to get it on last arc. But having them develop this bitter hatred over the span of 2 arcs I felt really made this match a must see.
Overall: This was a brutal war, as I expected. The tease of going into oncoming traffic though I could of done without, if I were to speak realistically here pretty sure traffic might slow down or even come to a stop if they saw two men beating the hell out of each other on the curb to the street. This match however did not disappoint and was rather brutal. All I could think of was RAW 25 though, where the guys in the bingo hall had to watch the show on a titan tron lol. But nice piece of work fellas, great pay off!

ELISE AREA VS. THE JAY HARVEY
Story: Classic face/heel vibe here story wise, leading to Jay focusing on the fingers of Elise for revenge for breaking his nose, and a fake finish.
Follow: Again no issue here, flowed very well. Again helping with being able to follow the match for those not familiar with these two another great video montage of the two.
Build: Had a decent build, wish I saw just a bit more build toward this match, seemed to start off really slow and finally picked up steam toward the end of the arc.
Overall: Catalina, just was all over this match. I don’t think Jay would of beat Ares had she not been by ringside. Thats a great heel manager/valet there! No matter how much PCP tried to nullify her, that devilish vixen found a way to help her man. Jay going all mobster on Elise hand breaking her fingers showed that vicious streak Jay has. Seeing the replay also was a very nice touch wish people do this more. It really brings the reader in as though they were actually watching it on tv. Although the finish was a bit meh, all in all another nice write up.

ACES WILD VS. NICKY SYNZ & THUGZ 4 HIRE
Story: Aces made it a handicap match, and took full advantage of it. Butcher eventually hobbled himself back to the ring to even it up.
Follow: This one I kind of was having a hard time following. Just not too familiar with all the guys in the match up sometimes I was wondering who was on which team.
Build: This was a well develop build for these guys.
Overall: Match was a decent write up, it kept to the point of the story and did what was needed to be done.

TEAM HOSS/FUSE BROS VS. NO JUSTICE NO PEACE
Story: This was all over the place, but told a decent story.
Follow: As with a lot of the 8 man tags, it got to a point where it was hard to follow.
Build: Another decent build for these teams as well.
Overall: Aside from the difficulty following it the match was put together nicely. I am getting use to The Fuse Bros’s dialog and references and its growing on me which says a lot considering was not a big fans of theirs. Not going to lie though I was begging for Hoss to turn on the Fuse Bros. Team Hoss strikes me as a team not really into the animating type of team like the Fuse Bros.

CRIMSON LORD © VS. OSCAR BURNS
Enjoy

IMPULSE VS. REAPERS + SEGMENTS
Story: Impulse out for revenge against all the Reapers, eventually getting Red.
Follow: No issues here
Build: Established build, might not of been here when the Reapers first initially took out Impulse.
Overall: Impulse segment after Lord/Burns given the exciting ending fell flat for me since it was not even mentioned. Felt this segment should of been put before Lord/Burns. Just took all the boom out of Burn’s victory. Just a simple grats to Oscar would of sufficed. Only nitpick there, the segment i realize was meant to hype up Douglas/Unlikely which did what was needed to be done. The match itself was good with even Cally getting involved something I have rarely seen her do (at least from the UTA). Impulse is back and is ready for some action.

MIKEY UNLIKELY © VS. "SUP POP" SCOTT DOUGLAS ©
Story: Mikey focusing on Douglas back throughout the match, seemed to be the main story of the match aside from unifying the championships.
Follow: I had no trouble following this match either, had a good flow to it.
Build: This had a great build, with a great surprise toward the end. However in the beginning I was thinking Douglas was going to have a Reaper at AOD. Felt a bit confusing at first, I knew Mikey was in the scene but was not seeing a lot from the two in the beginning.
Overall: The ending got to say have never seen that before. Absolutely loved it, another brutal match but you come to know that when its a ladder match. Bit of no continuity again here, no mention of Oscar’s win here. Would of helped with the continued story of the card thus far of DEFIANCE finally on the offensive.

CHARACTER UNLOCKED
Story: Introduction to the new guy
Follow: Promo was not hard to follow
Build: ---
Overall: It was a good introduction, I do agree with what Will said in his beef. Some Vigs could of helped build this unveiling up a bit. Fuse Bros look like they have another player now.

REAPER CO. © VS. KENDRIX & SCOTT STEVENS
Story: JFK/Stevens use The Reaper’s trick against them.
Follow: No issue here
Build: This really had no build, I can see Kendrix have a beef, and well Scott is just your run of the mill asshole. But aside from the invasion story really no clue why he was even in this match.
Overall: This was not what I expected, and seemed a bit rushed. The Reapers seem to not have any offensive. It seemed more of a jobber match than a actual PPV match. I can see getting the titles off Mikey, and The Reapers being transition champions. Just expected a better fight out of them.

TALE OF THE TAPE
Story: A history of Cayle Murray from becoming the FIST to the present time.
Follow: Easy to follow, and did shed some light on the hard road Cayle has traveled as champion.
Build: --
Overall: This type of segment is always a breath of fresh air, sometimes you can forget everything a certain character has gone through, this type of segment helps refresh your memory. This did give a bit of build to Jack being his next for Cayle.

CAYLE MURRAY © VS. JACK HARMEN
Story: Harmen’s shoulder and Jacks ribs. They stayed true to the story for both guys.
Follow: You guys sort of lost me as I tried to picture what exactly happened to the ring ropes
Build: Cayle’s build was awesome, it was nice seeing the way he survived the bounty. Jack being the last kind of disappoints me. I would of expected it to be Mikey. Only issue with the build from me is you really had no idea who Cayle was facing at AOD until the last card. But you never really get a confirmation. You would assume it would be Jack but Then it gets announced on the site, which honestly I wonder if people still go to.
Overall: This was a awesome Main Event, I do have one complaint and maybe i missed it earlier. But when did this turn into a No DQ match. The use of weapons in the ring should of called for a DQ immediately. There were a few times I was trying to figure out what exactly Jack was doing to Cayle in the ropes. Again it was hard for me to follow where you guys were going with that sometimes. Although the ending I could follow and they played a valuable part of the story in the end. Aside from a few issues, great write up you two.

OVERALL
The last half of the show where the championships matches were. There was a lot of continuity issues. It felt like the match was the first title match of the card, Think Angus said we stopped Total Dominance of Defiance in the Main Event. That clearly would not be true considering UTA got the Tag Titles back, Douglas retained, and Oscar won..how would that be Total Dominance if Jack won? I think in the future the handlers in championship matches need to get together and connect each others matches as they are placed in the card to keep a steady flow overall for the show. Aside from that I enjoyed almost every match, the championship matches clearly did not disappoint.

 

[Seth]

MAN DOWN
I am in agreement with Will that this part probably should have come after the opening tag team match, but other than that, this painted a good picture to recap the goings on between Aces Wild/Synz and Friends. This did what it needed to do.

THE DIBBINS VS. ADLER/FLEX
I know Roland said he was disappointed with this, but I actually liked that the Dibbins won this match, thus putting the rest of the night in doubt that we could be seeing more UTA domination for the night. I like that The Dibbins won and could have a fun gimmick of "they're stupid, but stupid like a Fox!"

MUSHIGIHARA VS. LISIL JACKSON
Great seeing Mushi back and the match was a well-written, hard-hitting affair that I could definitely see playing out in real life. That being said, I get there were circumstances for Lisil leaving, but I really think Mushi should have taken the duke here if that was the case. Lisil winning and resigning from UTA (if he isn't sticking around and there's more to the story than I know) without follow-up and Mushi losing yet again? Not a fan of. But I do want to reiterate I loved the match as it was.

SOUL SURVIVOR
When I finished reading this, I was rooting for Crimson Lord to flail that Burns fuck alive. That being said, I am ashamed of myself that I didn't offer up any final Burns words of wisdom before his match, either (though I did do that on UNCUT, I still should have done it here). Mikey and CL owned this segment and they were game for later on in the night. Good stuff.

CHRIS ROSS VS. GAGE BLACKWOOD
This has been one of the really better built-up feuds since this has been going on for a while now. It has been really fun watching Gage Blackwood's transformation from "good hand/no personality type" to "extra violent" when he has been pushed to the brink by Ross (and a little Jackson) thus far. The stuff with Angus' car and the metal detector was hilarious and the ending was befitting to the "end" of the Chris Ross character for now. I hope if he comes back, these two pick this off and we do for sure get a definitive "winner" as it were, but this was an excellent blow-off ot this feud for now and look forward to seeing what happens to Gage coming off of this after.

COMING UP NEXT
This was a nice way to recap the goings-on between the Battle of the Bill characters, which has been fun as a whole. Though Elise has come up short once against THE Jay Harvey before, she has stuck it to him at least twice to set the tone for this match...

ARES VS. HARVEY
...And my favorite match up to this point, which did a fantastic job of KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) booking. Dickhead heel against underdog face is hard to fuck up and Billy and Will did a GREAT job playing to both Harvey/Catalina's strengths with Ares refusing to go quietly the whole time. This is one of those that I would almost like to see continue to where Elise finally gets her big singles victory over Harvey, who has been unstoppable, less a blemish to Cayle Murray. I don't have a single bad thing to say about this one - great work.

PEP TALK
Man, Harmen has been on another level these last few shows, and it has been great. Good segment here and I kind of wonder what happens if Harmen wins the title. I haven't seen a whole lot of the dangerous side to Harmen and I fucking love it.


ACES WILD VS. NICKY SYNZ & FRIENDS
I haven't given too much feedback on account of me being an un-feedbacking asshole, but the rise of Aces Wild has been a fun mid-card story and seeing them rise to prominence over this arc has been fun. I think for its spot on the PPV, this was perfect as far as action, it did a good job making Synz and company (and the surprise Butcher apperance) make them look like they would get far, only to be stopped short. I'm looking forward to seeing what Damien has planned for the group later on.

SPECIAL ATTRACTION
And Impulse gets some (shockingly easy) payback on the Repears for taking him out. I am a mixed bag on this as I'll have more to say on The Reapers a little later with the tag match, so I'll wait until I get to that point to cover my overall thoughts. But for what this was, very strong return for a former SoHER and FIST champion.

TEAM HOSS/FUSE BROS. VS NO JUSTICE NO PEACE
Credit to Roland who pretty much handled the meat and potatoes of the match. I hope we did a good enough job separating this from the earlier eight-man tag to make this one stick out and I feel like we did, but that's up to everybody else to decide. I will say I had fun doing this one and had fun tackling the ending stretch.

WRESTLEUTA WORLD TITLE: CRIMSON LORD (c) VS. OSCAR BURNS
We came in (okay, CL's handler did) with a great gameplan for this one and I would like to think this paid off well. He tackled the major majority of this match so I can comment on this being hell for Burns and I liked how he had to fight from the bottom at the very start. Larver antagonizing Angus and DDK throughout was a hilarious touch. I enjoyed the hell out of this match and how it played out for the most part and hope folks did to.

That being said, this is where I echo his sentiments and say I think this should have come off like a bigger moment through the rest of the card, but that ends up being one of the pitfalls of not knowing exactly how things turn out so that can't really be blamed on anybody. That minor gripe aside, I had a lot ot fun doing this and enjoyed this arc.

THE FUTURE
Short and to the point.

SOHER LADDER/HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE TITLE MATCH
Holy shit, I am genuinely shocked that Douglas won this one. This was a great war and the ending was creative as hell with the red carpet being Mikey's undoing, haha. And I think after months (maybe a year or more?) of Angus bashing grunge jokes, the payoff with Angus personally greeting him at ringside was hilarious. Goddamn, DEFIANCE are coming back hard in this show.

CHARACTER UNLOCKED: CLYDE FOX
I liked the segment placement, good way to add some levity to a hotly-jampacked top of the card where everybody has busted one another's ass so far. Clyde Fox looks like a really fun character and I think pairing him off the bat with like-minded (Sort of) characters like The Fuse Bros was a good introduction.

DEFIANCE WORLD TAG TEAM MATCH.
NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS! THERE'S HOPE FOR THE UTA ALLIANCE YET!

That being said, I find it REALLY odd that The Reapers just sort of got their asses handed to them on this show more or less unless I suspect I'm missing something (probably am), but it's good to see the UTA have scored a major victory getting the Tag Titles back in their camp. Where do we go from here?

Well, Fuse Bros and Team HOSS are probably going to be saying hi to the new champs (I hope, anyway). Outside of not knowing much about the fate of The Reapers, I can say the tag division is off to a fucking hot fire and with new UTAH champs, teams like Fuse Bros, Team HOSS, Aces Wild, The Dibbins, NJNP, could all make plays for the belts. There's a lot of ways this can go.

TALE OF THE TAPE
Another great way to recap all that has gone down with the bounty and the Rise (and simultaneous fall) of Cayle Murray fighting his heart out for DEFIANCE. I laughed at Harmen getting Rick Rolled by the PCPS, which tells me that their issue may not be done.

FIST TITLE MATCH: CAYLE MURRAY (c) VS. JACK HARMEN
Like the ladder match, I was SHOCKED that Cayle retained here as this had all the makings of Harmen taking the title which would have been a great moment for the UTA and at least helped them break even in the four title matches (which shows that DEFIANCE has SOME fight in them, but UTA comes back more dangerous than ever).

Cayle winning, however, is not a bad thing as he's been positioned as THE fighter in this. I think this made Harmen look like such a badass even in defeat and most of his opponents (to me) have come out looking better than the did before mixing it up with Cayle. And what's more, having recently helped with a bounty angle in another fed I'm in recently... not once did anybody say that the bounty was OVER, did they?

DEFIANCE certainly struck back hard on this show, but I don't believe the UTA takeover is over yet.

I think this overall was a decent show. I think like was said before, maybe a little more communication on the top title matches to make things flow a little better altogether but nothing that I think overall hurt the night.

 

[Ross]

Acts of DEFIANCE Review & Feedback

RUNDOWN
Yay. Hype and promos.

MAN DOWN
Nice spin on the numbers disadvantage by saying the heels need it, which adds a dimension of confidence to Synz and company.

DIBBINS VS. ADLER & KRUGER
So The Dibbins are family, yet one is from West Virginia and the other is from Texas lol. This was a great opening match with plenty of action. I like the incoherence of The Dibbins wrestling style and strategy, which is probably better suited for an angelfire indie fed. They get under my skin so easily. Surprised to see them win but they are over with me, which again agitates me.

MUSHIGIHARA VS. LISIL JACKSON
Another good match. The action was varied enough throughout the match which kept it interesting. I especially liked the comment that Mushi was “wearing his heart on his sleeve and his company on his face” literally. Jackson showing his hand after the match that he has been essentially forced to do UTA bidding didn’t dampen the UTA’s victory at all. It just shows how much of a powerful stranglehold they have on everything. Even the disheartening in DDK calling the three hit home with me.

SOUL SURVIVOR
I thought this was a good segment. Even though he’s heel, Unlikely comes off to me as someone who is a chronic jokester so it was unique to see him with such a serious attitude. Call it a PPV moment but it seems like Unlikely cuts the garbage when all the marbles are on the line. I liked what CL said here too. The wheelchair was a nice touch.

CHRIS ROSS VS. GAGE BLACKWOOD
Really entertaining match. This had plenty of good spots and I was itching for a well written parking lot brawl, which this essentially was. I like the seamless transition from the start of the match to the action and all the mayhem that followed. Blackwood comes out of this looking like a complete badass and even though Ross appeared to lose, he looks good from the violent battle too. I liked the car spot. Looks like Angus will have to buy another Camaro. Whoever would own such a vehicle deserves to have it ruined by wrestlers.

COMING UP NEXT...
Pre-match fluff.

ELISE ARES VS. THE JAY HARVEY
Solid action throughout the match. I especially liked how Ares blew kisses and winks at Catalina, obviously. Anyways, another DEF talent falls at the hands of the UTA. The finish was nice. I like how the ref only saw The D move Harvey’s foot off the ropes and not when Catalina put it on.

PEP TALK
This was a short but sweet segment that sets the stage for Harmen.

ACES WILD VS. NICKY SYNZ & THUGZ 4 HIRE
Injecting Butcher into the matched got me hyped... only to bring me right back down. Actually, come to think of it, I think this was brilliantly executed. Nicky Synz and Thugz 4 Hire might have been able to win on their own, or at least, the appearance of such was given. Butcher unintentionally serves up the win due to his pre-existing injury. This was a pretty good match with an even better finish.

SPECIAL ATTRACTION
It was just that; a special attraction. Impulse seems to exude this unparalleled energy and this was highly entertaining to read. The knee cracking spot got me to cringe a bit and not because it was badly executed. I just can’t handle some of the blood and guts stuff.

TEAM HOSS & THE FUSE BROS. VS. NJNP
Another solid match with plenty of action. All these PPV matches are delivering on lots of good wrestling. Surprised to see the good guys win here after a trend of mostly baddies getting it done but I’ll take it. Team Hoss and The Fuse Bros. pulled out some pretty incredible moves at the end.

CRIMSON LORD VS. OSCAR BURNS
CL was relentless with his attack to start things out. Plenty of big moves leading to plenty of near ten counts. Burns battles back a bit but each time he does it seems like Lord has the answer. Seeing the whole locker room clear out to prevent a pretty beaten CL from leaving was a neat touch too and led to more opportunities for Burns to do damage. Congrats to Burns on becoming the new WrestleUTA Champion. Lord put up a good showing but it was Burns that ultimately comes away with the win. Great match.

THE FUTURE
This seg just goes to show how much Impulse despises the reapers by stating he rather see UTA guys with belts.

MIKEY UNLIKELY VS. SCOTT DOUGLAS
I liked the use of the ladder here, especially the Russian leg sweep off the apron which broke the ladder in two. I really like how Unlikely is the owner of the UTA yet he isn’t competing in the main title picture. I feel this really elevated this feud as well as the status of Scott Douglas. The hair product spots were funny. Wow! Another devastating blow to the UTA that started out the show with such promise. They’ve lost their two top belts in the last two contests! Congrats to Scott Douglas on becoming the true HERITAGE.

REAPER CO. VS. KENDRIX & STEVENS
The night vision goggled attack was cool. Kendrix and Stevens soften the blow a bit for the UTA but still, they are reeling big time after Lord and Unlikely fell. Still one chance remains for the UTA to salvage the night if they can steal the FIST away from Cayle.

TALE OF THE TAPE
A good recap and stage setting for what appears to be the final battle in the DEF vs. UTA war.

CAYLE MURRAY VS. JACK HARMEN
Oh my. The rick-rolled entrance of Harmen, and his reaction was priceless. I also liked the use of the UTA announcers coming out for a moment. A Nintendo under the ring? Did The Fuse Bros. leave it there or something? There was so much great stuff in this match like the epic exchanging of punches back and forth or the complete destruction of the ring which ultimately led to Murray winning via an amazing submission sequence. The ending was especially well written.

OVERALL
Ummm who had the bright idea to book a PPV on Super Bowl Sunday? That said, I know we stole a ton of viewership away from the NFL. It’s hard for them to compete with us and they should know better lol. So it looks like the war is over... or is it? With DEFIANCE pretty much defeating UTA where it counted most. This was a huge show and I think most of it was really well done. I look forward to contributing this arc and beyond.

STAR OF THE SHOW: Oscar Burns. I know Murray is on an epic run with the FIST but I picked Burns because I feel he really got the ball rolling in terms of DEF momentum by capturing the UTA Title and toppling Lord. Both wins were equally as impressive.

ROSS’ MUST READ CHARACTER: Cayle Murray. This is where I can fit Cayle in. His impressive reign includes victories over pretty much every major heel the UTA could throw at him. I wonder what is next for him.