Okay, Brunk... prepare to get feedback-handed by the STRAWS...
OPEN SEGMENT
Good follow-up on the Copycat revelation, and good statements delivered by Stevens. Having him be the one to do it, and in person, seems appropriate. I also hope this is a hint toward Cat returning some day for whatever reason.
INTRODUCTION
The highlight package between the First and Cruise to start the show off was pretty cool. It's that real wrestling technique of recapping events from shows past that could go back as two years in case somebody just dropped in and started picking it up two weeks ago. Now they have a frame of reference to see the story between both guys in the main event.
BURNS SEGMENT
I'm glad Eddie Burns hasn't gone away for good yet, and his matters with the First are at the forefront of his concerns. Seems like everybody wants a piece of the champ.
REZ/NARK MIC SPOT
I seriously LOL every time I hear that ridiculous embed song. On another note, I can check "give Neels a seizure" off my list of things I've always wanted to do.
ANIMEZING DRAGONS VS. REZIN/ANARKY
You know, I thought this was a really well-written match. I definitely enjoyed reading through it. Felt like Brown and Otaku got some pretty nice face appeal through this match. I likewise approve of Anarky and Rezin depicted as brawling bastard heels. If I had one criticism, it felt like this match went on a little longer than what would be expected from an opening non-title tag match. I say this only as a way of saying that whomever wrote this match could definitely make an epic main event on a future show.
JONES SEGMENT
Nicely written, and an unexpected continuation from Copycat. I kinda like the idea. What happens when Aaron goes into a match being refereed by his dad?
CAITLYN SEGMENT
lol... I like how this went over like a point-for-point response to my feedback on the last card. It was still a good run-down of Stalker's history in Empire Pro, for the people who perhaps still don't fully comprehend just how long and how much he's been raising hell in this federation. Impulse in the roll of the innocent nice guy being dragged into having to listen to Caitlyn's drama I find pretty hilarious. It will be interesting to see how she further gets involved in the brewing feud between Impulse and Stalker.
TV TITLE MATCH
Good match, and an awesome win for Larry Tact. I think he'll make a great TV Champ, which is not to speak less of Mahogany or previous champs. The TV Title division is actually a pretty competitive scene. Mahogany trying to mack on ladies during the course of the match gave me a good chuckle, and I liked the way Tact responded and eventually got the better of him. Compared to the first match, this felt relatively short and slightly understated... probably my only real gripe. I still think the finish sold the moment over pretty well.
KING TEASER
Badass, in a blue-eyed way.
SHANE TEASER
Hope to see more of these leading up to the next PPV. The spots are so far doing their job in making me excited for a Steven Shane return.
INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH
Nice, quick match, with a finish that keeps building the animosity. I kinda felt like more of Wells' character could have come across in this match, especially with it being his return to the Empire Pro ring. Hopefully, he gets involved with the Impulse/Stalker drama on the next show.
FIRST SEGMENT
Good pre-match champ pump-up speech. I must have missed the part where The First gave open opportunities to everybody owed a title shot, cause it seems like every match he's had up to this point was booked almost before the in/out threads even went up. But hey... it's not like Sean Stevens rewrote entire history books by superkicking people in the faces left and right. As long as he holds the belt, the World Champion's reality is ALL of reality.
STEVENS SEGMENT
Probably gets my nod for the segment of the night. Sean Stevens as a veteran superface is exactly what Empire Pro needs at this point. With whom he gets involved with and in what ways is something I'm interested in seeing in coming cards.
MAIN EVENT WORLD TITLE MATCH
Good match-up, good length, and pretty clever finish for something that will continue a World Title program into the PPV. I kinda like that the First is still not above using short-cuts to defend his title, regardless of what other people say about him. Cruise's rant at the end of the match was a really spot, probably one of the crowning moments for the character in his long EPW career. I'm glad to see a latent talent finally being pushed in a big way, so grats to Stanton and Siegel for their work so far. That being said, sorry in advance for when I f*ck it all up for you.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Good show. I probably would have considered swapping the order of segments around to help with the flow, but that's a minor "how I would have done it" thing. As was said, like the last show was a PPV response, this seems to be kick-starting the next run of major storylines and bringing in some new interest. Disappointed to see that Layne Winters and Mr. Sunshine missed on this show, but hopefully they'll be back in some form or another by the PPV.
MATCH OF THE NIGHT - Rezin/Anarky vs. the tag champions really stood out to me.
SEGMENT OF THE NIGHT - Again, I really liked the Sean Stevens return speech. As polarizing as he's been over the years, I think he finally realizes that the fans are always going to love him for being overexceedingly awesome. He could kick the pope in his face and get away with it. They'd just make HIM the pope.
FACE OF THE NIGHT - Tact gets the prize for his title win, but Otaku gets the nod for being superheroic throughout his match and keeping the champions looking strong.
HEEL OF THE NIGHT - I'll give this to Stalker, for ruining Jared Wells' shot at the IC Title and continuing to harrass Caitlyn. Cruise was a close second with his strong showing against The First and his speech at the end of the match, but I felt he could have been employed in at least one more seg earlier in the show to build up to what would happen later.
BEST MOMENT - THE KING IS BACK! TAKE A KNEE!
