ULTRATITLE Rd. 1 Br. 1 Unofficial Post-RP Predictions Thread!

[Seymour Almasy]

Ace Andrews vs Jay Connor: Le double no-show. LET THE BIG SAUCE MAN GO ON. I'LL EVEN RP FOR HIM!

'Jester' Chad Allen vs Tarrasque: I've seen far, FAR worse than Tarrasque content wise in my eW tenure, so it didn't bother me that much. This RP battle would have fit in the IWO perfectly, so it made me smile a lot while reading it. Tarrasque by a nose.

Jeff Andrews vs Dr. Curiosity: One RP all, this is close, the second from Andrews eliminated Herr Doctor. I'd be happier if I didn't think gideon wins in Bracket Two and could still do insane damage in this thing.

Justin Voss vs Mark Maverick: Voss and Maverick did some good work here, but I think Voss was better enough to take this on. The Big Voss Man to move on here.

'Arrogance' Joey Melton vs Ethan Archer (j): Mr. Lindsay Troy and one of David Walter Smith's least favorite people ever moves along over El Jobbo.

Kin Hiroshi vs 'The Dream' Marcus Davis: Tough RP battle here, and when I'm stuck, I pick my favorite RP as the decider. Muffin Man's first was my favorite of the lot, so Kin Hiroshi to move on.

'Daddy' Jared Wells vs Showtime: Showtime here, I liked the story told and the way he went about his two pieces.

AJ Johnson vs Jace Gryphon: Toss up! I like Jace a tiny bit better though, overall, over the two RPs.

Zero vs Blaine Hollywood: Blaine Hollywood, who did what he wanted to do, IMO, better than Zero did what he wanted to do. Simple as that for my judging two cents.

Dom Jacobs vs El Gordo Grande: THE BIG FAT to move along in this one. Comedy done well can be dangerous, and the character is rock-solid, with the handler able to write him well.

Cobra vs 'The Egobuster' Dan Ryan: Loooooot of ink spilled on this one, and I'm in the pro-Cobra camp in spite of a great GREAT first roleplay from the Ego Buster.

El Lobo Loco (j) vs Spike Saunders: Saunders

The Big Sauce Man (j) vs Sylo: Sylo, in spite of being against the Best Jobber Ever.

Umpiro vs Troy Douglas: Douglas wins here because he had two good RPs while Umpiro had one good RP and one experimental RP that didn't really get there. Douglas is a solid, solid writer to boot.

'Gentlemen' Jonathan Marx vs King Krusher: RPs are similar length, similar quality. I honestly have no idea how to judge this, so I'm glad I'm not. I take KK because "AND THAT SUCKS FOR YOU!" is an awesome/awful/awesome again RP ender.

'Crippler' Cameron Cruise vs Ikan Jobtayoo (j) Triple C moves along.

 

[LQJT86C]

Already made my points and whatnot, but I just want to emphasize out that I never said it was "illogical" to do character development pieces, nor did I say that a roleplay needed to be written in script format. I've written roleplay and narrative, I enjoy both...what I was railing against are a) things that happen in roleplay which are physically impossible and b) things that happen in roleplay that are illogical beyond "suspension of disbelief". Both narrative and script writers have been guilty of this. That's all.

I'll post a little bit of what I told Billy in AIM, and I'm sure it'll get mentioned on the upcoming podcast Thursday when the judges get together. My take:

• Zero vs. Blaine Hollywood was a clinic done by Jamar and Andy that everyone in the hobby should read. The styles were completely different and in each case they left me wanting to see more of the character. Blaine is the ultimate trash talker. Zero isn't.
• The idea that Logic and Physics are somehow the pinnacles of this hobby and form the ring we "wrestle' in is ludicrous. I'm the first one to say that Lindsay Troy shouldn't be able to body slam a 350-pound guy. But physics isn't at play in this discussion. And arguing that it isn't "logical" to do a character development piece that isn't defined as on-camera because it doesn't have a (FADEIN) tag borders on illogical.
• What this is about is style. WWE could have easily done a Zero-like return for Brock Lesnar. Show him training in his home, hunting, whatever, with an internal monologue running that shows the reason he made his decision to come back. Does WWE have to TELL the audience that they can't really hear Lesnar's internal thoughts?
• And this context (the Tournament) is vastly different than a league, whether RP or Angle. It's a contrived context that is forcing characters together with no huge impetus behind them. Both Blaine and Zero gave us insight into their impetus. Blaine's is crystal clear and out there. Zero's is part of the story and is still hidden from view. Other characters gave us 1500 words on the titles they've won and why they're here -- am I supposed to consider that the audience might boo them out of the building for that?
• By the way, Jamar gets points for doing promo rp without any actual words to react to from his opponent. If you haven't figured it out yet, the judges do consider who roleplays first and who goes last. It's harder to go first, and it's certainly harder to have a trash talker respond to someone who isn't talking.
• The judges were clear that the style wasn't the issue for the tournament -- it's about telling a good story and doing it in a coherent way. Both guys in this one match did. There were lots of others who did or didn't. We suggested that you needed to frame roleplay in the context of the tournament and your opponent. Andy did that by drawing us in to want to know more about why Zero was returning, and he did it in a SUBTLE way (note how I put that in caps for those of you who have never seen that word before -- in Erik Mateo language it's SUTTLE). Andy's taking a risk and doing a slow burn. Blaine never met a microphone he didn't want to swallow, and Jamar is playing that up as well. Other handlers took risks in different ways -- and tomorrow or Thursday we find out whose paid off in the eyes of the judges.

 

[Showtime]

I dunno, I think El Lobo Loco is gonna bring back Ricky Martin in a big way.

 

[BigPimpin]

Ace Andrews vs Jay Connor: Le double no-show. LET THE BIG SAUCE MAN GO ON. I'LL EVEN RP FOR HIM!

This. And don't worry I'd post if he were a serious dude.

 

[TH]

Since I'm not judging this bracket, I'll oblige.

- Andrews/Doc: I'm a fan of the Good Doc's, but I don't think it was close after the first two RPs. It seems clearer to me that Doc is a far better character when he's the protagonist of a story rather than a guy talking about beating the other guy. Andrews however? That intro promo was awesome. It was a great intro to the character and really had purpose and fire. The second promo of his was gravy.

- Johnson/Gryphon: Was this as wrestling match or a dick-measuring contest? It'd be one thing if either one had panache, but yeah, that wasn't the case. I'd flip a coin and advance Gryphon because I thought his first promo was the best by a slight margin out of the four offerings.

- Zero/Hollywood: I kinda agree with Billy here. Zero didn't give me a sense of anything. I thought his prose was a little lacking, didn't draw me in. I'm not as hype about Hollywood here as both Gregg and Billy are, but it's hard for me to say that I wasn't entertained. Calvin Carlton isn't an icon around these parts just because of happenstance. I'd advance Hollywood here easily.

- Hiroshi/Davis: I thought this was a close matchup if a bit uninspiring. I'd go with Hiroshi here because his first RP was a good retrospective, very thoughtful. Davis' first reply was a bit paint by numbers, and I really wasn't too much a fan of the two that followed.

- Jester/Tarrasque: Jester gets points from me for quoting ELP. I also liked the Duracell line. I think he takes this easily. He has a far better flow to his promos and he didn't have to resort to homicide to get his point across.

- Cobra/Ryan: After the first two RPs, I would've given this match to Ryan decisively, but judging Cobra's two against Ryan's one (fully recognizing that the second one was a mistake), I think Cobra kinda pulls out the upset. I loved what Ryan did in his promo. For those who think he "disrespected" the tournament, well, you probably don't know the resume of the Ryan character and more importantly, the character tropes. He's a cocky jackass. He's SUPPOSED to talk **** and poke fun. I dunno what it is. Brunk is like the kid who plays King Joffrey in Game of Thrones. Really nice guy, but he's so awesome at playing a jerk that the dude should always get all the awards. Still, here, I'd give Cobra the edge.

- Wells/Showtime: This was a highly entertaining match of two very contrasting styles. On one hand, you had the buddy comedy dynamic of Showtime and Proteus, and it was really clever. The nerd references scratched all the right itches. On the other hand, Wells' reads so charismatically. He really gets pro wrestling. In the end, I think the second promos decided this. Showtime's was meatier for me. I'll go with Showtime here.

- Marx/Krusher: I saw this as a manifestation of styles in promo form. The brawler, Krusher, swung wildly, and Marx, the technician, countered and took him apart. I like the Gentleman here.

- Jacobs/EGG: Yeah, EGG wins here pretty easily. I don't think Jacobs really brought anything more than a CM Punk impersonation, and not even a good one. EGG had room to improve, but I liked the idea and execution of his character quirks.

- Umpiro/Douglas: I rule, Shinder drools! In all seriousness, it was my first real match RPing with the character, and I was still working out kinks. I fully expect to lose, but next year, maybe not so much.

- Voss/Maverick: Maverick's shtick here feels very just sort of there. Voss was on point. Point goes to him.

 

[Starbreaker]

Ace Andrews vs Jay Connor: The winner will be a loser from a different match, it seems.

'Jester' Chad Allen vs Tarrasque: Based on the guidelines from the judges on the podcasts, I cannot see Tarrasque advancing. Regardless, I was impressed by Chad Allen. I thought he was not overly twisted, with the potential for more character depth to come. He's my dark horse for this bracket, actually -- as long as he can skate that thin line between compelling crazy and overboard.

Jeff Andrews vs Dr. Curiosity: I thought Dr. Curiosity was entertaining, but Andrews did a good job keeping focused and had a little more in this one. Andrews advances.

Justin Voss vs Mark Maverick: One of the best reads of the round for this bracket. I thought both guys were keyed into their characters, and played their strengths well. I'll give the edge to Voss because I enjoyed his intensity and presentations a little more. Props to both handlers, though.

'Arrogance' Joey Melton vs Ethan Archer (j): Arrogance melts archers.

Kin Hiroshi vs 'The Dream' Marcus Davis: This was another close match. I haven't had the chance to read a lot of Kin's work, but he's real good at mixing funny with serious. Having said that, Marcus Davis impressed me in how he retorted Hiroshi. I thought he steered the conversation into his favor by the end. Davis takes it by a thin margin.

'Daddy' Jared Wells vs Showtime: Good stuff from both; Wells with the smash-mouth and Showtime with comedy. I thought Showtime was just a little slower out of the gate. 'Daddy' rages on.

AJ Johnson vs Jace Gryphon: I wasn't a big fan of AJ's stuff, and Jace Gryphon had a more appealing style for me. Gryphon advances.

Zero vs Blaine Hollywood: A tremendous contrast of styles, I'm anticipating the judges' decision, and to hear how they reached said decision. Personally, I thought Zero was pretty unique and offered something very different for the dance. Blaine Hollywood was excellent for straight trash talking. Again, based on the guidelines that the judges were looking for, I feel like Blaine will win. Just one person's take, though. I could see this having been the most intriguing match of the bracket, this round.

Dom Jacobs vs El Gordo Grande: I have to say, rewriting subtitles of translated language into an RP is very tough. You run the risk of people thinking you are providing no additional content to what you've already written. At the same time, you could say the bulk of the content is in the translation. Point is it was a bold decision, and not something I've often seen, especially for an entire RP. It probably wouldn't have been as effective if the promos didn't have me laughing out loud quite a few times. But I'll admit, they did, so credit goes to Mr. Rivera for running a great concept. I'm curious to see the Round 2 encore.

Cobra vs 'The Egobuster' Dan Ryan: I can see how the second Ryan RP was meant as dismissive, and also that in a 2-RP limit round of a tournament, it can be viewed as uninspired effort. But just using Dan Ryan's submitted profile as a defense, uninspired is an incongruous description. Cobra's RP's were bold, but came off as too whiny for my taste, and lacked enough believability to take down a titan in his own realm. It's also tough -- not impossible -- to use personality traits that your opponent openly embraces as his, against him. Dan Ryan advances.

El Lobo Loco (j) vs Spike Saunders: If El Gordo Grande had fallen flat, his future may have included a (j) like El Lobo Loco! Spike in a breeze.

The Big Sauce Man (j) vs Sylo: I want to see how Sylo does in this medium.

Umpiro vs Troy Douglas: For a character TH submitted on a whim, Umpiro has raw potential. I was laughing out loud again from some of Umpiro's lines. I would like to see him compete elsewhere, but Troy Douglas outdid him in this match. I guess you could call Douglas a 'dark horse,' but I don't. He's just rock solid, consistently good. I could see his road going a ways deeper before its end.

'Gentlemen' Jonathan Marx vs King Krusher: The only word you really need to encapsulate this match is, Vintage. Old-school reigns and it's a shame the draw pitted these two in Round 1. I'll give the edge to Marx. I would also like to second the person who fantasy-booked King Krusher Vs Umpiro. Please book it!!

'Crippler' Cameron Cruise vs Ikan Jobtayoo (j): I feel Ikan Jobtayoo suffered from some forced-bias... Cruisin'... and some potentially compelling match-ups for this guy, depending on if he can keep from jumping the shark, and survive.

 

[BMorris]

May as well toss in my predictions, which may not match up with the bracket as I decided not to tinker with it much after reading RPs.

Ace Andrews vs. Jay Connor: Sad both guys no showed.

Chad Allen vs. Tarrasque: Both characters have some solid work but the Tarrasque stuff really crossed the line in my eyes. Allen takes it.

Jeff Andrews vs. Dr. Curiosity: Curiosity was a fun character but his one RP didn't blow me away. Andrews didn't blow me away either, so two solid RPs to one solid RP win out. Andrews wins.

Justin Voss vs. Mark Maverick: Really good work from both guys but I think Voss did just a little more bit more with his work, enough to give him the edge.

Joey Melton vs. Ethan Archer: Melton wins with the atomic wedgie!

Kin Hiroshi vs. Marcus Davis: I liked both guys' work. I've always been a Hiroshi fan, though, so I give him the nod in a close matchup. Hey, a little bias is gonna kick in somewhere.

Jared Wells vs. Showtime: I liked the humor Showtime exhibited. Wells has always been a rock solid character, but I still think Showtime has the edge here.

AJ Johnson vs. Jace Gryphon: Both guys did a little too much talking themselves up in their first RP -- and in Gryphon's case, he went too long for my tastes. Both did better with the second RPs, but I'd give it to Johnson for a first RP that was slightly better than Gryphon's.

Zero vs. Blaine Hollywood: Motivation, intent, hype -- that's what I look for in an RP. Blaine had all three. Zero had two of the three. This isn't a style argument in my eyes -- no question Zero pulled narrative off very well, but the lack of hype for the match hurts. I take Hollywood.

Dom Jacobs vs. El Gordo Grande: Gordo caught my eye with his first RP. He pulls off a humorous character very well. Jacobs is solid but Grande gets my vote.

Cobra vs. Dan Ryan: Ryan's first RP was far superior to Cobra's but Cobra's second RP was far better than Ryan's. The question is... of the two strong RPs in the thread, which strong RP was better? I think it was Ryan and give him the edge. That being said, what Chad said elsewhere about how difficult it is to be the one to start a thread could weigh in Cobra's favor.

El Lobo Loco vs. Spike Saunders: Saunders wins with the purple nurple!

Sylo vs. The Big Sauce Man: Sylo takes it, but please send the Big Sauce Man out into the Andrews/Connor match to get a double pinfall so we can all say "BIG SAUCE MAN WINS! BIG SAUCE MAN WINS! BIG SAUCE MAN WINS!"

Umpiro vs. Troy Douglas: Having a character debut in a tournament is tough because it takes time to find any character's voice and motivation. Can't fault Umpiro for effort but Douglas wins.

Jonathan Marx vs. King Krusher: Solid but not strong RPs from both characters. It's close but I think Krusher holds a very slight edge.

Cameron Cruise vs. Ikan Jobtoyoo: Cruise wins with the "I got your nose" trick!

 

[DBrunkGXW]

No! You guys don't get it!

I AM DISRESPECTFUL!!

 

[John Doe]

No! You guys don't get it!

I AM DISRESPECTFUL!!

Uh yeah, I should just post our AIM convos.

 

[Spike Saunders]

but please send the Big Sauce Man out into the Andrews/Connor match to get a double pinfall so we can all say "BIG SAUCE MAN WINS! BIG SAUCE MAN WINS! BIG SAUCE MAN WINS!"

I second this.

 

[Justin]

I love how much love the Big Sauce Man is getting.

I remember when Brian actively handled that guy.

Didn't he have a partner named Mild Sauce at some point?