Thanks, everyone, for being here and contributing to the show. I’ll give you the backstory of GLOBAL another time. But, here is my FIRST show as a fedhead and I want to say I hope you enjoy this one, and the next and many more thereafter. I really appreciate it.
Okay, if I wrote it, I don’t review it. The stuff that was co-written by me – fair game. Let’s crack on:
THE VIEW FROM THE OTHER SIDE: Excellent to see first person in one of the first lines on the very first episode of GLOBAL. You get the picture, but really, I got a kick out of that. Didn’t take long for the F-bomb either, and no worries at all. I thought this was a mighty fine segment overall, really well-written and intrigued me. The last line was on point, too.
MIND OVER MATTER: One thing I like to read (and write) is something that feels real. Don’t always achieve it, but I believe it’s important to have those characters somewhere on the roster, and this ticked that box. It seemed to me like I was privy to a private conversation that could’ve taken place, complete with the Andor reference, a show I need to watch. So far, so good. These two segments may not establish who’s involved yet, but I appreciate the sense of intrigue and the fact that the person has embraced the style. Keep doing it.
4-WAY TAG MATCH: Here we go. I wanted to read this match NOW, and not before. This was my vision a month ago: Pedro writing this match and crowning the GLOBAL Tag Team champions in the opening match. Thank you for doing it, firstly.
Which would explain the placement of the segment, so apologies for that, Pedro. I see what you mean. Teething problems on my part! Next time, next time…
THE MIGHTY DUCKS?! I’m already marking out. What an entrance.
Admittedly, while writing my own stuff, I thought about using ‘legal woman’ and then thought…no. Anyway, moving on.
The paragraph after the first fall (which I always enjoy being a 1-count, by the way) was well-written and that applies to so many of these, even in the early going. A lot of great groundwork being laid.
Smash Siblings has to catch on. Just, so this isn’t a standalone paragraph, the 7-person pile-up was EXCELLENT. Kudos, Pedro.
A lot of really good action in the aftermath, which I won’t dissect move by move, but it has definitely drawn me in.
This is action-packed, admittedly, and over before I realised. A fantastic false finish, which in a sense, threw me for the actual finish. Overall, a great opener with fine pacing, something you’ll hear from me a lot, and I look forward to seeing all four of these teams in traditional four-person action, too. Thank you, Pedro, for kicking the show and fed off, and helping crown The Master Sisters in the process.
BLACK FRIDAY? PERHAPS: I got a major kick out of this. I loved the backstory, and the dialogue…delicious. Well done, my friend
GONE…BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: A nice start-up segment from a character I know PARTICULARLY well, and I am more than familiar with the scene. Full circle, Keith, whose fed I debuted in some 21 years ago. Glad to be able to return the favour, and have you on board.
REMEMBER ME: For the record, Gemini, I thought that was a solid insult. I like seeing this side of Gemini’s personality, as it happens.
SOM V GEMINI: Solid match for what it was, and encapsulated how I view both characters. Some nice commentary/fan interaction sprinkled in, too. Nice touch. Cheers, Chris.
CONSUME: I won’t talk too much about the adverts in future, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this…this one is my personal favourite. Ron Simmons: “DAMN!”
THE ONE: Welcome, Hector. This was going to go much closer to the main event, but I wanted to combine it with ‘The Star’ and it did a nice job of mentioning Dream, which I didn’t follow up in the way I wanted, and I apologise for that. There is time, though! Anyway, it was originally named after the main man in this segment, and he does strike me as a James Mitchell type, and not just because of the past pic base. A really creepy dude, but oddly, I like him a lot.
THE BIG DREAMS OF BIG AUG: Well, anyone who knows me is aware I’m a mark for Seth – not alone in that regard. A BIG inspiration to me in many ways, and a reminder that when I think I’ve got a large cast of characters, well, he’s one of the originals. A cracking concept, AS PER USUAL, and someone who I reckon will be a big hit here. Loved it.
Lazar v Marx: What a BRILLIANT ring introduction for Marx. My goodness. A totally dominant win, as I sort of expected, and it was good while it lasted – that’s not what she said.
Viral Comedy: I thought these two characters really bounced off one another, and in a way, I view them as two heels – aye, it’s more than encouraged here – even if Jerry is listed as a tweener. EZ Rah immediately screamed ‘prick’ to me and I have a hard problem separating Jerry and Scott, which means I think he’s a prick, as well. Only kidding. Both characters came across well, and the segment reminded me of something/somewhere. Anyone would think you’ve written this style before.
Anyway, all in all, great stuff.
Kingdom Come: A nice introductory piece, and I apologise for putting this in the wrong slot. It’s probably too close to the next segment too, which again, sorry. I like the premise of the stable, something I almost did myself in the past, but these guys will do it better.
Rupert comes across as an arsehole immediately, and someone who I’d get a kick out of in real life, akin to Regal. Great collaboration all round.
A Square Go, Aye: I wrote the first part, which was piss-poor, but thankfully, Shawn came in and saved it for me with some very good mike work from ‘Oor Davey,” which was also present in the previous segment.
Davey Boy v Ryan Ansell: Not a long bout by design, and it achieved exactly what I wanted for it. I’ve really enjoyed Davey’s personality throughout the last three pieces, and his one line in here tickled me for some reason. Cheers, Shawn.
Getting Your Flowers: Wow. Where do I start? The segment name – I wanted to do for my own character, Ade Flowers. The gimmick – I had something similar in mind, though nowhere near as theatrical or entertaining. He’s just better than me. Great piece of work…by a great piece of work, and a character I have always liked, going way back. Thank you very much, Seth.
Legends Never Die: I thought this was refreshing, given the rest of the show, and was sold the moment Brian told me it was going to be a press conference, something I like away from wrestling, being a boxing fan. Having seen Darring in SCW up close and personal, I have come to expect top-notch stuff on a regular basis and this was a lovely, little piece to try and establish Darring here too. I knew I wanted him in the main event as soon as he signed on, which we booked WEEKS ago, and this fanfare makes him sound like a big deal – which he is. Thank you and welcome Brian, and I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay here.
Prime Time Viewing: I promise it’s coincidental that the two segments Brian wrote ended up being next to one another. Welcome to the hobby, Dogi, and thanks for the questions. Bellamy has got a lot of potential here as a character, something we’re going to explore, for sure. Talk about two handlers at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of experience, but the characters were all newcomers and they both got their digs in. I thought there’d be no way I enjoyed this more than the press conference and I’m not sure I did, BUT the fact I am even asking the question is testament to the job Brian did in terms of having fun and running with the segment. A grand job.
From A to So Be It: April graciously co-wrote with me, and not the last collab from me for the night. Alfie and Amber meshed very well together, and this was not the original plan for either character, with both slated for singles matches. However, that didn’t happen for GOOD reasons, and then late the other night, I decided to kill two birds with one stone, and run the match idea that appears later on by April. It also has a knock-on effect for something later on the show, more to come, but this segment flowed well I thought, and April should take the lion’s share of the credit for that. Thank you, April.
Old School v New School: And, Courtney co-wrote this one, as well. I love how fiery Valorie can be, and yet so honourable, too. No US spelling here, lads and lasses. This also flowed well, and I’m going to credit my writing partner for that here, as well. Cheers, Courtney.
The X-Factor: While I’ve skipped a few segment for obvious reasons, my third collab appears consecutively here. This is what I was alluding to with saying there was a knock-on effect. Shae proposed the idea to me several weeks ago, and we eventually got round to writing it, Blair and I. I’d like to thank Blair for doing the majority of the work here, to the point of directing me on what to say for Alfie, and a confession: I only did that THIS MORNING, more on that later too, and we’re off to the races with a storyline I’m looking forward to playing just a small part in. Welcome to the hobby, Blair, and please check Blair’s YouTube channel out, as well. I loved the Ospreay video.
MAIN EVENT: Thank you for taking the time to write this, Shae, and for making my vision a reality in the main event, as well as helping GLOBAL go from a concept we discussed on Skype to being here for its first show. We’re here, and you’re a massive part of that, which I’ve told you, and want to repeat here. I hope you enjoyed writing the match, and also enjoy reading this show. You deserve to.
I’ve already mentioned Brian/Darring. Hector’s ‘Daniel Dream’ character is one I’ve admired from afar, and when I knew we could get him here, I was delighted. There’ll be more to this match on Domination 2, by the way, not in terms of action, but fallout. That’s my fault.
Onto the match itself…
Off the bat, a great dial back to where Darring had a secret opponent that I didn’t allude to, and I’m glad I didn’t. Cracking call. A fine job in using The Mark to berate the crowd for not giving Darring his props and giving a rundown on why Daniel Dream’s a big deal.
I sort of sat back and got caught up in reading the match, but besides our philosophical differences in line breaks, Shae did a super job in capturing the essence and attitudes of Darring and Dream when they were allowed to ‘shine.’
Nice roll-up reversal sequence.
Seems like Jimmy Mann, inadvertently, is the closest to getting the strategy correct. Honestly not what I had in mind.
One thing the power display puts an exclamation point on: What makes Dream a particularly good mystery opponent, so simply and I didn’t give this TOO much thought when putting the match together is, he’s a heck of an all-rounder who’s agile, can wrestle and has strength, as well.
Some typos that I didn’t catch, so that’s on me as well, but some very good use of commentary. It adds flavour here, admittedly, though I don’t think it does by default. Call me defiant. I was originally going to do the commentary for the main event. Fortunately, Shae took care of it instead, so cheers again.
The finish of the match feels like it’s starting about 8-10 pages from the end, which is a massive positive, and indicative of a change I want to make to my own match writing. Fair play, and not the first time I’ve seen Shae do this.
I’m skipping a lot of offence here, but will revisit it: Allie’s line about why they both need this – ON POINT.
I thought the home stretch was superb. Shae and I discussed the finish weeks ago, and he deserves a ton of credit for taking the match on a load of twists and turns before pulling the trigger on it.
I was going to write a segment immediately after the main event. It can keep. I’m happy that the main event closed the show.
OKAY…
A confession: I screwed up the deadline, and thought I had given you 24 hours more than what I actually said. So, I was pleasantly surprised when a lot of stuff was turned in early, and then realised why! Sorry, guys. That’s got nothing to do with this being my first merry-go-round as chief. It was a big blunder on my part, and reflected in the deadline for Domination 2. So sorry. It did also play a part in why this show came out later than it should have. I hadn’t finished my own writing, and I wasn’t alone, because one or two others understood what my original deadline was SUPPOSED TO BE, not what it actually said, so everyone, I was in the wrong.
I am usually not a deadline-hugger. I was here. I wrote an awful lot too close to the deadline, including a record-equalling day (along with when a certain SCW Iron Man match landed on my lap just 4 days out from deadline) on Monday in which I got paid to write part of a match (no students showed up for the first lesson, and I took my pen drive.) So, lessons learned.
I’ll be writing less and editing and observing more for next show. Some things to be mindful of:
PRESENT tense.
NOVEL style.
They’re the most important things.
Besides that, I’ll come up with some consistency on move names. I tend to go capitals, others don’t, and then I started going lower case when I saw most wrestling sites don’t. Whatever fits the majority, there. I’m not married to either, and will go with whichever, but let’s have one – lower OR upper case.
Question: Should we include the characters’ names in the title of segments? This is where pic bases would work better, but I’m not a fan and never have been. Plus, we did okay in SCW without art. In time, perhaps we can use the WWE2k game (I’m going to buy a copy to play about with the arenas) to use the CAWs as opposed to pic bases, posers or micros.
Tell us where you want your segments or matches ahead of time, please. This could be subject to change, but not by much. If you ask for Segment 10, and we need something else there, we’ll put it 9 or 11.
Last thoughts on the show: An enjoyable foray, hopefully. I’m going to work on some things between here and now. I appreciate the effort from everyone, and a big thank you from me. More deadlines to come, as we work towards our first PPV, and hopefully, some revelations and debuts on Domination 2. All feedback, positive and negative, helps. I know my stuff’s shit, so if you can’t read the whole thing, and I mean this part sincerely, give feedback to your fellow handlers. They’re the ones who benefit the most (and tell us staff members who is ‘over’ with you as a handler base.)
On feedback, don’t take an all-or-nothing mentality. If you can’t get through everything, giving one or two people feedback is better than nothing at all.
In the meantime, you’ll get feedback on every segment from me. I tried to operate that way as a handler and as a number 2, so there’s even more reason for me to preach that here. It’s the least I can do. This concludes my writing for Domination 1. Excuse me for a moment: THANK FUCK FOR THAT.
Once again, thank YOU so much for being here, making it worth it, and for your interest, engagement in the chat, encouragement, and enthusiasm. I thought long and hard about ever returning after SCW closed 2 years ago, and I wasn’t alone in that regard. To be honest, I was only coming back for one thing and you know what that is if you’ve got this far. Right now, it feels pretty good to be back. Long may that continue. However, no matter what, I’ll always be glad and grateful we got to do Domination 1.
They say you always remember your first time.
Cheers, everyone.
