Well, I suppose I'll lead things off then:
Opening segment: Worked fine, outlined some of what’s going on in First’s world for this show and looking ahead at the PPV. Quick and to the point, always a good thing.
Intro: Only critique, is this now KING OF THE CAGE: TAG TEAM EDITION 2012-13? Still says 2012. You asked for nitpicks, I picked a nit.
Willard v. Mahogany: Pretty even matchup, until the emergence of Boogie Smallz (had a feeling that guy wasn’t going away). Kind of funny to me that there was an RP point about how they had faced each other a bunch already, and then the result of this match is there’s no resolution. Cracked up at “No boring moves! Only good ones!”
Go Shopping: So what you’re telling me is, if MJ2 goes shopping there, he can no sell death? Done.
My seg: Laughed at the name Brunk affixed to it. Tried to recap a bit of what MJ2’s motivations are for people who didn’t read the RP thread.
MJ2 v. Cameron Cruise: Congratulations to Siegel. I honestly wasn’t expecting a win here, considering it’s my debut EPW singles match and Cruise won the world title at the last PPV (even if it was for 3 minutes), but I was happy to have a strong showing here. “I love this song…it’s my jam” is the line of the night for me.
This is Kush: No comment.
Time to Boogie: Solid segment. Only criticism is the length - felt like the security guards gave Boogie an awful long time to air his grievances before wheeling him out of there. Then again, restraining a monster like him probably would take a long time! Strong words for Ryan, and this feud ain’t over. Excited to see what happens next card.
Aaron Jones v. The First: This was my match, which as many of you know was hastily put together at the 11[SUP]th[/SUP] hour. Hope it was alright, all things considered. Oh, and Dis is back, y'all. INTRIGUE~
Everyone Loves Chips: Everyone DOES love chips!
From Boy to King: Surprised to see First as the speaker here, but then again I have only been around when First has been universally reviled and wouldn’t say a kind word towards just about anyone. Keep on shilling the DVD! I like that this has been continuing.
The Last Nighthawk: Good to see that Christian Light’s a full-fledged roster member. Solid promo. Trying to put Boogie Smallz in his rear view mirror since he’s not on the roster, but ready for him if he’s coming. The stuff towards the end about going after any title was maybe a little generic, but there wasn’t anything bad about it.
Dirk Dickwood Presents v. Team VIAGRA: Congrats to Colin for the win here. Loved the storyline of the match, which followed a lot of the RP battle - DDP going after Tony Davis as the weak link, him furiously/desperately trying to make his mark once and for all (to the point of harming his team). The wording on how the spiked piledriver from DDP occurred at the end was a little confusing to me, but that could be me reading it incorrectly.
Happy Meal: Did not click the video after seeing the horrifying frame. I’m guessing the punchline is “angry meal” or something of that ilk.
Not the Bad Guy: I don’t know a ton about the Steven Shane character, but you always need to have a guy who refers to himself in the third person. He strikes me as a very deep-brooding character with his own moral code (albeit a warped one). A bad guy always needs that - a real reason to be doing the bad things he does. Dug it.
Can’t Help It If I’m Rich: Matilda, you hussy!
In fairness, I’m sure it was a pretty spectacular thong Mahogany was wearing. I would be speechless too. I would have liked to see some references to the beatdown that Boogie gave Rich earlier in the night for continuity’s sake (black eye, ice pack, something), but probably no way the writers would have known about it when submitting the segment. Still can’t shake the feeling that Matilda turns into the Big Bad of EPW soon.
Animezing Dragons v. Alexander/Turner Jr.: Match of the night by far. Big time props to Alexander and Turner for pulling off the upset! Karl’s an excellent writer and it was a really hard fought battle. The matchwriter did a good job of making the title change feel like an important moment. I love the Red-Neck-Breakers as a team name suggestion, but then again, I’m a big time sucker for puns.
Conversation: This one confused me for a bit. Perhaps more will be revealed next card? This is the kind of segment that might have needed more resolution on THIS card to make sense, in my opinion. Otherwise, why do we care about Cameron Cruise talking to Dan Ryan? It needs purpose. I expect more to revealed, and quickly.
Offering: Interesting conversation between Rezin and Anarky here on how to deal with this big main event. I love the dynamic between these two, and will be interesting to see where they go after the result of the ME.
Rezin/Anarky v. Stevens/Impulse: My biggest critique is probably length; I know many of these matches weren’t expected to be epics by any stretch, but for the Bracket of Death final, it sort of felt a little off to me. It sounds like Straws and JLevinson may have some critiques of their own that I’m missing, but that was the biggest one to me. Glad some emphasis was placed on the new entrance theme of Stevens, and the cage-breaking spot had a lot of interesting potential (especially considering the conversation Rezin and Anarky had before the match about the prospect of cage escape victory); if the matchwriter knew about that ahead of time, it could have led to a much more drawn out moral dilemma to the match and fleshed it out a bit more. Again, probably difficult to make that happen.
Match of the Night: Animezing Dragons v. Alexander/Turner Jr., easily.
Face of the Night: Tricky call, but probably Stevens and Impulse for standing tall and surviving the Bracket of Death to close the show.
Heel of the Night: Those tricky devils in Dirk Dickwood Presents!
Moment of the Night: New tag champs crowned.
Bam.
