OPENER / RYAN PROMO
The "rundown" was written in FB chat. Fun tidbit. I agree with the above comments that Ryan should probably have been presented with a little more heel flourish. He, like 80% of the roster/especially the "main event" characters, are all riding the fence with the alignment. Because Cool-brutal-bad-ass-grit-beef slammin' characters regardless of alignment = cheers in DEF. BUT... Ryan should still be getting a majority just
"boooo, hiiiisssss, fuck you" type of reactions. Good segment.
BOX / NATAS STUFF
I <3 you Murr. I got turned which ways and was working on the wrong match(es), when I needed to dive into Mushi / Box and the finals he stepped up and wrote more than a lions share of this puppy. Natas' style is PERFECT for the D.O.C. so this one really fit the whole jist of the card. The Onslaught division is the perfect place for Natas to "live."
"BOBBY DANE" / MUSHI STUFF
I can see the point of each of these "pre match statements" needing to be in a similar format... but I sort of like how each one took a kind of different shape. I like that EVERY match isn't just bang pow beef slammin'. It's why I want bobby Dean to stick around DEF for eternity, he's a fantastic booking tool. Mushi walking into the next round WAY fresher than Box after getting knocked around by Natas... considering how rebooked / f'ed in the A this card went through it's a nod to what good writers and what fans of wrestling everyone that puts finger to keyboard around this joint really are.
KEYES / HORRY STUFF
Would have liked to heard from Horry pre-match. Keyes always seeming distracted with "ill humors" and "foul winds" happening behind the scenes or in "his world" is such a fantastic deus ex machina for why Keyes is sort of a "part timer"... if and when we can really dive into Keyes again as a character, that day can't come too soon. Match was a liiiiiittle short for my taste. Needed like one more little peak and valley before the end spot which was solid as hell. Otherwise, good writing. Very clear characterization of what a straight bad-ass Sam is. another character who fits into the D.O.C. division like a damn puzzle piece.
ALECZANDER / FDJ STUFF
The pre-match statement segment was kind of wasted here. Another thing sort of lost in the wash of recent happenings. Sucks, as I'd love to have heard way more from the SMB's and a few random yarbles from Frank. It is what it is, moving on. The match itself was fuckin' great, plain and simple. Honestly, take a scoop full of this one's length and add it to the previous match and both would have been SPOT on in terms of length goes. But otherwise solid solid stuff. I'm happy so many people "get" what the D.O.C. stuff is all about. Yay.
I WANT MY BRIEFCASE
Talk about adding a fantastic new thing to play with to the DEF toy box. I haven't had a character boner after reading a segment on one of our shows since Keyes debuted. Cecilworth Farthington coming in to work an angle with Jack the jobber Hunter, another one of my favorite new toys? Shit yes. Bring on the chuckles boys. My body is ready.
(love the thought given to the long break of segments to give the competitors time to "rest" between rounds.)
DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING!
Mikey gets a lions share of the segment, attacks the heart of DEF, draws DATHEELHEAT. Harm comes out and ends up looking like a royal bad ass agreeing to an impromptu title defense. This is a perfectly written, entertaining seg that had an actual purpose. The potential of Mikey Unlikely in DEF is eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeendless. I'm so goddamn happy with the Utah imports man, Jesus Christ. The Hollywood Bruvs and Farthington are SUCH pure heels for DEF it's opening a lot of.... ahem... and
alignment possibilities for... ummm...
other members of the roster going forward. Moving on...
I BLOW IT UP VIA SATELLITE
*puts fist up against the monitor* Talk about making something great out of next to nothing. lol
BOX / MUSHI - SEMI FINAL
I wrote this one. Watched Ishii / Shibata matches on New Japan World on a loop til I was done.
COMMENTS FROM ANGEL TRINIDAD/DUSTY GRIFFITH
Good promos, sucks this all got caught up in the drama llama stampede. But all's well that ends well. Great writing is great writing. Movin' right along.
HORRY / FDJ - SEMIFINALS
Interesting sort of smooshing the "pre-match comments" segment in with the entrances. I'm usually pretty okay with that sort of stuff, but it could have been split apart with its own heading I think. Which would have maybe made it easier to see the match itself needed maybe one more little scoop full of action, as it was on the short side. But that's the joy of these Onslaught division matches, you can sell short with the right level of brutality.
UNANNOUNCED SOHER MATCH
We need to do more bookings "on the fly" like this. In fact, we need to do a lot more. I love seeing two or three big booked by the boss type matches on a card and the rest of the matches all "getting put together that night" like WWE always tends towards. Just a wrestling trope we've fallen out of utilizing as much as we should I think. For anyone that doesn't "get" Harmony, go YouTube some matches from Candice LeRae, LuFisto and current Grand Champion of CHIKARA Princess KimberLee.
Mikey Unlikely:
SLEEPER HOLD!! MAKE DEFIANCE SAFE AGAIN!!
Fuckin' love you, man. Also love the schmozy ending to death. Mikey and his clique pulling off a title coup, FDJ big brothering Harmony. Excellent wrassle' fightin', guys.
THE VIEW FROM V.I.P.
As soon as Murr and Lindz decided to merge their pre-match comment segments together I knew it was going to be solid as hell. I love the idea of these three kicking back watching the show together. The teaser hype at the end for everyone to "tune into DEFtv" was great. Remembering we're
"selling the fans on next show" with everything we're writing is tantamount to anything else we're doing. That's the heart of wrestling,
"oh you think this is good? Well stay tuned... "
D.O.C. FINAL
This was me. Stole the crucifix elbow thing from Daniel Bryan Danielson, obvs. I just liked the idea of the almost comical "holy fuck Frank did an actual move" followed by just brutal ruthlessness from Frankie. Remind everyone, yeah he's sort of a silly character at times but that there's a reason he's in this tourney.
A WARNING FROM THE REAL WORLDS CHAMPION / RYAN COMMENTS / MAIN EVENT
Grouping the seg from earlier in here to avoid repeating myself. I've been hot and cold on this one, another angle that took a tumble with the recent events. Love the Flair/WWF call back with the pixelated belt. Honestly I would have loved more background work on this one, some extra news bits or something. Sometimes angles get swallowed up a little when they live exclusively on cards. This one needed a little selling that just wasn't provided. Props to Justin, the old man and especially Murr on producing a great main event despite the "real life" circumstances.