First and foremost, major kudos to J the Ripper and Mad Dog. The beauty of IGC as a fed is it gives you freedom to try all sorts of new and unique ideas, and I think all three of us did just that. It could have gone either way, and it's an honor to have gotten the W in that matchup. Hopefully Christopher Ryan Eagles is able to put up some writing in future cards, because I've heard good things about the guy.
Some stream-of-consciousness thoughts as I re-re-read the card:
- The whole intro made this event feel like a big deal. The signs, the fans, the whole atmosphere was awesome. I liked the creative details used in the description of the video intro graphics. That's always something Voss gets right in these cards - the details. That, and everyone gets put over here, as well as the Intergalactic Championship as a big fucking deal.
- I like August Monday, but I always miss painGRILLE when he's not there.
- Triple Threat match starts with mad chaos, which I think can be expected when you consider the characters in the match. I am a Magnus Destructo mark - he hits just the right level of absurdity and danger to make me simultaneously laugh at him and fear him. Jack Harmen, of course, is always phenomenal - I secretly was hoping after the card went up that there would be an end result of an Ocho/Harmen match, just because that thing could be all the fun. Didn't know Aran Thompson very well before the RP thread, but I liked what I saw. No idea how Voss picked a winner, because everyone brought it.
- I always pop for Willy Wonka references. And absurdly long hashtags.
- A small critique: the commentators talked about how it was inevitable that their table would get destroyed, but it never did! DESTROY THAT TABLE!
- Phil Atken, for all his talk about how he really wanted Magnus Destructo in his RP, shows his true fear for possibly the most unpredictable wrestler in the field. I liked the ending a lot, and Magnus looks like a juggernaut here. It's easy to make the guy who has to wrestle twice in one night an impossible underdog, but he looks almost like a favorite in this moment. It's cool to have that before the main event.
- I told Voss this on AIM, but I really dig that the briefcase was dangling over concrete and not over the middle of the ring (as most TLC matches have). Adds a real element of danger and allows for some more unique spots you wouldn't normally see (more on that later). I am a big fan of adding unique twists to matches like this.
- I would have been horrible in writing this match because in a multiple no-show scenario, I would have buried the no-shower. Voss, on the other hand, gave Eagles several spots to look credible and it really benefits the match. Shows why he's on the level he's on in terms of matchwriting.
- Holy shit Sylo is terrifying. I think my balls twitched the first time the prospect of a Sylo/Destructo match was brought up. They would need THE BIGGEST RING
- Psyched to have the first canonical IGC cult following.
- SO MANY HIGH SPOTS
- I loved the "Everyone's fighting and fighting and fighting and wait what the hell is Ocho doing?" moment when Ocho was setting up the launch pad, because sometimes when I RP I get that feeling about Ocho. Everyone's embroiled in fights and Ocho's just living in his own world sometimes
- ACTUALIZAAAAAAAAR and literally everyone has died. It's probably good that there are a few weeks or months between cards, because holy shit these matches were brutal. A 20 foot Actualizar onto a 300+ pound dude on concrete = every rib is now bruised. But worth it! Bonus points to Voss for secretly guessing correctly that Ocho comes from a good Catholic household.
- I HAVE THE TRIFORCE SORT OF
- Phil showing some solid character depth here. He's still got those instincts from his past as a perpetual loser and terrified that this enormous, psychotic demon beast is about to face him, and then he remembers how he's a champion and he's a legitimate dude now.
- Destructo is every Metalocalypse character and also the devil rolled into one.
- Atken, you sneaky sneaky bastard
- OCHO/ATKEN II. Tell your friends. It's going to be a big deal.
Guys, you want to be a part of this fed. It is just all the fun in the world, and Voss's matches speak for themselves.