SQUAD GOALS
This was a really good seg for a cold open -- Dan Ryan and Lindsay Troy not only bringing their promo A-games to bear against Eugene Dewey, but making their motivations crystal clear in defining exactly how Mr. Nerd Rage screwed them out of their DEF*MAX tournament spots. The beauty of how all of this transpired over the last few shows is, you can do all sorts of rematches to settle many scores. Also, that Batman bit that Evan quoted was truly inspired. Great stuff.
RUN-DOWN
Good hype piece as always.
DEF*MAX TOURNAMENT PLAY-IN MATCH - CURTIS PENN vs. FRANK HOLIDAY
Jon did a fantastic job writing this, and I did a few tweaks to the match. The Penn and Jane Katze promo leading into the match was effective, laying out Penn's objection to having to wrestle a second time against someone he already beat once, and adding to the intrigue of whether Jane can recruit him into her stable. Again, just like I commented in the opening segment, the outcome here puts Penn and Holiday in a tie, which leaves things wide open to pick this up again in the future.
THE ONLY ENTRANCE THAT MATTERS
Another "just arriving to the venue" segment, short and to the point. Eugene Dewey switching to comic book villain T-shirts was a clever touch.
GEARING UP
I already told Ben how much I loved this, and I'll repeat it here too. Anything this beautifully random gets my seal of approval any day. What, exactly, IS Henry Keyes? A time traveler? A cyborg? And does he ACTUALLY have an HONEST-TO-GOD AIRSHIP parked outside the Wrestle-Plex? I smiled through this whole segment and imagined it as a scene from Full Metal Alchemist or something. My favorite segment of the card by far. WANT MOAR!
KENNY FREEMAN vs. JAKE DONOVAN
Donovan's turn to the dark side has been an interesting change for the character, especially as Blue has been supplementing on-card segments with RPs for character development. Nicely done! Kenny Freeman has been a little tougher to quite nail down as a character up to now, but in terms of being a good babyface foil for the newly converted Malachite to play off of, it's been coming along well enough. Pretty intense match from start to finish, doing a good job of demonstrating how much more vicious Jake has become of late.
THE MAIN EVENT ARRIVES
The third "just arriving to the venue" segment, which comes two matches into the card! I guess when you've got Jane "As Seen In Sexy Secretaries IV" Katze repping you, who gives a shit about being on time? Technically, only HALF of the main event arrives in this segment, nawmean? Frank got there early to take a good, long crap and enjoy the craft services. There just weren't live cameras around at the time.
THE COMMON DENOMINATOR
One of the things I've enjoyed about Ryan Matthews's campaign against Troy Matthews is how he ONLY refers to him as his real name, David Troy. (It's in his bio.) Really strong promo here establishing, 1) that Ryan Matthews is an incorrigible asshole, 2) that his fixation on Matt Troyhews is not going to end without significant mayhem ensuing, and 3) that he's a sharp-as-a-tack tactician about maneuvering the situation the way he wants it to go. I also loved the confrontation with Ty Walker, calling back to the breakup of Hookers 'N' Blow. Intrigue...
TROY MATTHEWS vs. RYAN MATTHEWS
Really good match here. I fully bought into the false finish involving Kelly Evans and the medics, and the comeback of Troy Matthews. But of course, Ryan Matthews comes out on top, gets his contract, and roars back into DEFIANCE on a roll.
PREPARATION IS KEY
Evan and Damien have done a really impressive job of balancing out the fact that Dewey and Box are "associates" working for the same cause, against the truth that they still aren't 100% on the same page. Loved Eugene talking tough to Bronson only to back off as soon as he realized he pushed it juuuust a bit too far for Box's liking. This is a very interesting dynamic, and I always enjoy these segs. Great work.
MALACHI vs. HARMONY
Angus going boob-crazy over Harmony every time out is creepy as hell, but that's good ol' Angus, DEFIANCE's pervy uncle. Now, judging by the fact that Malachi kept Abigail and ditched Joseph, one can only assume what he REALLY wants when he insists on recruiting Harmony. That's right: WOMBS TO BEAR HIS OFFSPRING. I'm also assuming that's NOT his plan for Jake Donovan. I could be wrong. Anyway. Good match, fun miscommunication at the end leading to a big win for Harmony in her PPV debut. I shudder to think how many shades of grey Malachi is going to put Abigail through for ruining the match.
TIME TO GET PHYSICAL
Craig killing it as usual with this David Noble promo. Only thing I could criticize is... No Olivia Newton John? Boo. Just kidding.
With consistently strong "mission statement" style segs like these, Craig has quickly brought Noble to the fore as one of the top characters in DEFIANCE right now.
SOHER TITLE MATCH: DAVID NOBLE vs. MUSHIGIHARA
After weeks and months of Mushigihara running roughshod over DEFIANCE and, in particular, David Noble and Frank Holiday in a campaign to become the SoHer Champion, THIS is the kind of blowoff match you want and need. The Japanese monster dominating for huge swaths of the match. The babyface champion rising up through sheer will, busting through Mushi's seemingly unbreakable armor, overcoming the odds, and getting the win to retain the belt. This is a tremendous match, all the way back from the build, through the development of the feud, and finally to the execution. Both characters still look extremely strong coming out of it. Loved it.
WORDS AND DOORS
Another powerful LT promo. What else is there to say? She's a main event level player and she's staking her claim. Great work.
THE FIRST TIME IS THE BEST TIME
The SoHer Champion... The FIST of DEFIANCE... Pure electricity.
FIST TITLE MATCH: EUGENE DEWEY vs LINDSAY TROY vs DAN RYAN
I really envy folks who can write a really good, cluserfucky kind of multi-person match like this, where the pacing and flow are well-thought out and keep building toward the finish. This was awesome stuff. The concept of the heel champion being outnumbered by two babyfaces is a good one but it was smartly subverted by Troy and Ryan not hesitating to go at each other, too, as each of them is highly ambitious in their own right, and definitely wouldn't hold back when the top belt is on the line. Damn you, Bronson Box! Like he WOULDN'T show his mustachioed face and back up his associate? I liked how Dan Ryan, despite treating Lindsay Troy like any other competitor while the match was in full force, dropped everything and went back to brother-in-law mode as soon as he saw she was in serious trouble after Box's interference. (I was going to say "after she got Box-cocked" but that sounded dirty.) Good character moment there. The champ's record-setting title run continues, as it should, and you know there'll be hell to pay in the near future!
THE WARGOD COMETH
Good pre-main event hype segment with Jane Katze and Bronson Box. But why you gotta abuse poor Christie? She's a beautiful woman of average intelligence who's only trying to do her job! Still, as if we needed more reasons to dislike Jane & Co., here you go.
DO IT
Craig and I wrote this.
DEF*MAX TOURNAMENT FINALS: BRONSON BOX vs. FRANK HOLIDAY
Evan and I wrote this. We had a blast conceiving this showdown and I hope people enjoy it.
SO YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER?
WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAA DUSTY GRIFFITH RETURNS! This was a markout moment from start to finish, from Eugene and Box punking out Holiday, to Ryan and LT running in for the save, to the HYOOJ REVEAL and the baddies getting run off. A quick but notable moment between Ryan and Holiday, calling back to their tournament match. Oh, and Billy Pepper manning up and trying to take down Eugene on his own? Are you KIDDING me? Totally awesome. There's so much here to build on, the future looks mega bright. A fabulous finale to an epic PPV. Excellent work by all involved.
