My thoughts/feedback that will surely alienate others:
JEFF ANDREWS VS. DOC CURIOSITY: I've been in a few leagues with Doc before and am a fan -- I always like a zany evil type. I've never come across Jeff Andrews. These guys both know what they're doing. But I'm going with Jeff -- two killer notes which set up who he is, why he's there, and how he's going to go about doing what he intends to do. Another note from Doc may have tightened things up but Jeff would probably have gotten my nod anyways. Good work, though, from both guys.
AJ JOHNSON VS. JACE GRYPHON -- AJ's handler managed to misspell "restaurant" in two different ways twice in the opening description. That's not a good sign. The rest of the RP was pretty bad and elementary. Jace's stuff was very good introductory material. My only problem with Jace was mentioning John Cena and Ric Flair. I HATE mentioning real wrestlers, especially when there are entire universes of our own characters to reference.
ZERO VS. BLAINE HOLLYWOOD -- For full disclosure, JN is a very good friend of mine outside of this world. He wrote two completely flawless RP notes. He RPd a manager and a character who could be REAL guys in the WWE or the indies. The RPs had some really funny jokes in there. The descriptions and the like were absolutely perfect. Calvin/Blaine talked up the importance of the Ultratitle and also addressed his opponent. And, most importantly to me, both characters addressed the fictional audience which watches all of these matches. There IS a fake audience that reacts to these fake characters Seriously -- if I was going to show someone how to RP in this style, this is what I would show them.
I am not a fan of narrative style but I will be objective when I see something good -- and there has been so far. And I know this has been build as "The Ultimate Battle Between RP and Narrative" styles. I think Zero's promos were "eh" at best. The first promo was a guy thinking about his backstory while shaving. The second was him being introspective while waiting at an airport. There was a scant mention of the Ultratitle and no mention of Blaine Hollywood.
JN wrote two RPs as perfect as you can write in RP style. Zero's stuff wasn't ANYWHERE as good.
I seriously think Blaine Hollywood could win the whole tournament. And if it were to end today, I think he should.
KIN HIROSHI VS. "THE DREAM" MARCUS DAVIS: Great stuff from good guys. I was a big fan of Kin's when he was really active. The Dream is new to me and someone I'd like to see in the leagues I participate in.
This one was really close. I like how Kin set up why he's coming out of retirement and where he's been and why the Ultratitle is important to him. Davis wrote two quality responses... but they were responses. There wasn't anything there for me other than his trash back to Kin. And it was VERY good, but I'd prefer to see The Dream establish who he was and why he was there a bit. Gotta go with Kin, but Marcus Davis is a very good character.
"JESTER" CHAD ALLEN VS. TARRASQUE -- Loved this battle between two guys I don't know. I love a slimeball manager who has a monster under his control. The first note was a great introduction as to how this monster can take any punishment and has a killer finishing hold. Chad Allen's introduction note was great, particularly with the Emerson, Lake & Palmer reference. The one difference for me was Tarrasque's second note. I like monsters and supernatural characters, but they have to be kept in some form of reality. Throwing a dude in front of a bus broke that too much for me.
But seriously, guys -- this was great stuff. I hope to see both of you again. It's a shame you got paired up in Round 1. Both of you guys could have gone on a run.
COBRA VS. DAN RYAN -- Wow. Just... wow.
Brunk's one of my favorite people in FW. And he's one or two in toughest people I've ever battled with. I thought for sure he had this in a walk. Cobra's first note way bleh -- talking about creating a god "that I worked my butt off for." That's just too bad a juxtaposition. And Ryan's first note was textbook Ryan -- the big, snarky, overconfident prick that just ridicules and belittles everyone. And I get the strategy of the YouTube clip -- just purely dismissing your opponent. But it came off as lazy. The Ultratitle deserves a bit more, IMO.
And that opened up the door for Cobra's response. And... the dude turned it around from a pretty bad first note. This was a total home run response. It was a few sentences away from being a grand slam. I liked that Cobra went from talking about his past to getting super serious and standing up to a bully.
Man... seriously... this could be THE upset. (Of course, I'm predicting my guy to lose Round 1, too.)
It just goes to show that you have to bring it every note to get far in this thing.
"DADDY" JARED WELLS VS. SHOWTIME -- Wells has been around forever but we've never crossed paths too much. I'm new to Showtime. This was a great battle. I love Wells shtick of being wronged and not caring about The Ultratitle except to piss on it. That's a REALLY awesome idea that I wish I had. The first Showtime note was just there for me. Wells second note had a bit of a problem for me -- when he said he respected Joey Melton, but he did address the fictional viewing audience (and, in fact, had them in the RP). I wish it was the opposite approach. Showtime's second note was one of my favorites of Round 1.
Seriously great stuff, guys. A total coin flip but the crowd interaction put it in Wells' favor for me. I really love Showtime's character.
JONATHAN MARX VS. KING KRUSHER -- I started in this hobby in the aforementioned NewGen that anchored this promo. My main guy in that league was Pestilence, who both referenced. This was the best story of this bracket. Both guys have a great history together that they exchanged. This was a total treat for me to read since Paul and Scott are such throwbacks to the hobby.
This is a coin flip. I'm pulling for Krusher to win because he's done the best with the "coming out of retirement" angle so far.
But Scott, Paul, if you're reading -- calm down with the fonts. Both of you have a chance to go on an epic run. Bring the font size down.
DOM JACOBS VS. EL GORDE GRANDE -- Not familiar with either character. El Gorde Grande in a walk. I like the Nacho Libre goofball MExican and LOVE that he went with two languages. That's some time consuming effort. Dom Jacobs RPs were all over the place for me.
UMPIRO VS. TROY DOUGLAS -- Troy Douglas had two very good "I'm overlooked but not anymore" notes. Umpiro has potential as a good funny character. Troy advances.... but TH, please come back.
VOSS VS. MAVERICK -- Awesome, awesome, awesome. damned if I can pick.
Great stuff, guys.
