Magnum Opus - Feedback Thread

[Keegan]

Buckle up. Sorry for the delay. I don’t know what all of the fuss is about. That took no time at all…

Okay, okay. I jest.

WELCOME TO MAGNUM OPUS: Scott asked me if there was anything left to do a few days before the PPV aired, and I wanted an opening plus the ‘Prima Materia’ segment I did to really set the stage. He did a grand job, so thank you for that and much appreciated. Great way to kick off between the two segments, I feel. It also incorporated a lot of different characters, and still tied things to a main event, and I feel this is missing in my eW experience from plenty of places. Hopefully, this is a hallmark of a GLOBAL PPV going forward, and why not?

RENT HAS BEEN COLLECTED: Typically eerie, indicative of what can be done here on a regular basis, and a reminder of how dangerous Reyn can be, just hours before one of the most important fights of his career. As Shae was kind of joking the other day, you could imagine him doing it. Most of us go to pick up a bottle of milk from the supermarket, Reyn goes and destroys a father of three in the living room, like you do. Is it even him? That would be a twist and a half.

TWITCH LIVE STREAM PARTY: Excellent concept, delivery and what feels like a set up for something later. I like these girls immediately, in a totally different way to Kerry and Stella, obviously. Some nice little lines, and again, it reminds me of my WWF fandom days in the 90s when they used to make a big deal of their relationship with AOL. Aye, you’re old if you remember that.

THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER: The beauty of having someone else who knows Spanish to help out with El Principe. Read this before the show went up, and I think it’s a cracking piece, showing that you don’t need to finish an arc to start one off on the first show of a new one, which others have done elsewhere. So far, out of Pedro’s stellar cast, pun intended, John J. Truth is probably my favourite.
Other than Stella and Kerry, of course.

ALECZANDER V BIG AUG: Okay, before I get into the match itself, I deliberated over what the opener should be and settled on Aleczander v Big Aug or EZ Rah v Jerry but having heard the planned finish and more on that later, went with the former. Yes, Alfie v Crusader X could have worked, but at the time of putting the show together, I didn’t know Brian was going to write a banger (because I thought I was going to write a stinker instead) and Seth’s as reliable as you can get.

To also go a bit further, you often people harp on about the opener being important and this being a number one contender’s match, coupled with two of the most over characters in the league AND the winner meeting the champion in the PPV’s main event was enough on its own. Then, I thought…Aleczander being the first person to come out at a GLOBAL PPV and potentially winning the first match in history with what he’s going on? TOO MUCH. So, yes, there you go.

As for the match itself.

YES! Even before I started reading, I wanted to say you’ve got two of the biggest guys, size wise, and that’s now what she said, and personalities in the place. Great commentary by the team to set this up.

Seth always comes up with amazing nicknames, and to imagine Aug holding his fingers up as Downtown rattles through them…that brings a smile to my face.

And, with respect to Aug, my attentions now turn to the next entrance and what can I say? Ron Simmons, do the honours for me, please…DAMN! Man.

I love it. We get the elaborate entrance, and Big Aug still jumps the gun. Talk about having your cake and eating it. No food references were intended that time.

FEROCIOUS start, which Seth promised and we all kind of expected, you don’t expect this to start off with hammerlocks and headlocks, do you? So far, so great.

As an additional note, I like that Seth picked Duncan Sullivan as the referee. I could have seen Powell or Snider doing it too, but Duncan’s a fine choice. Not terribly important to you reading feedback, but hey, this is a special show and I apologise if you read it all, because this is going to go some way.

Some wonderful moments in here, and a shining example that ring psychology, no matter what your definition is, showcases the characters in there, as well as being a sporting contest. These two are massive personalities in promos, and matches are an extension of that. This has got fantastic action in its own right, but what makes it even more special is the dynamic between the duo and the dialogue from BOTH of them. Brilliant.
Aleczander seems typically heelish, and I don’t mean that in a bad way, but his lines are still ‘so HIM.’ I love, when going back on offence, he gives it to the crowd. Fucking right. I’d do the same, whether it’s in wrestling, football, basketball or any sport. As Hod said to me: We get the appeal of the bad guy in other realms because we’re wrestling fans. (We’re also boxing and MMA fans, so don’t tell me heels can’t sell pay-per-views. Not just about happy endings, dirty bastards, and babyface champions.)

Not enough people roll out of the rings these days. I’m not being old school, but that is wrestling’s equivalent of time-wasting and catching your breath.

When I started writing multiple matches, I had a penny-drop moment when reading Seth and an honourable mention to Markus, and I’ll be talking about another Gravender in a moment. The pacing, timing (which I’m huge on) and the escalation towards the tail-end of a match, we’re here and yet, you’re never quite sure when it might end. I learned a lot of that from Seth, so thank you for that, and I would advise many of you, experienced or otherwise, to read a Seth match and pick up on things like this.

The Airport Test is a fucking tremendous move name.

What a hot fall on The Golden Touch. I reckon it might have got it, but Aleczander’s ‘I’ve Got This’ made me realise ‘No, you don’t.’ Not a criticism, because it plays to the character, but I reckon I might’ve ‘fallen’ for it more had he not said anything.

I was NOT expecting a Crossbody by Big Aug there, and what a great way to go into a double down after some exhilarating moves.

This is magnificent, it really is. WOW. Well, obviously while I knew who was going to win and guessed at how, the back and forth was first-rate.
And that is why I called it as the opener. Outstanding stuff, and if that’s not a top 3 match of the night, and I say that having fully read the main event already, we’re doing well.

Big Aug reminds me of a younger, more chilled Vig Gravender.

A final note, and aye, this feedback is already out of hand and more than what I wrote on the (disappointing) Domination 2: This was, to me, like Andre and Hogan. NOT Wrestlemania 3 or the importance of it. I know Hulk has inspired Aleczander The Great, but Big Aug being 7’4 for a start and a fun babyface? More like Andre in his prime. No prizes given out for what I view the real-life equivalent of the next GLOBAL PPV being.
Just brilliant. Thank you, Seth.

GLOBAL SIT DOWN: Talking away from here the other day, and going back to Domination 5, I was giving Brian his props for the way he writes promos. He sells others perhaps better than anyone else I’ve handled with, Darring being the perfect vehicle for that in many ways. Steve Blaine is the perfect interviewer for him and he makes both characters sound major threats, which they are. A terrific ‘final hype’ piece with a final line to boot. It keeps things bubbling right now, and I mean this in a nice way, the character and handler are super salesmen. The type I’d buy from, not ignore.

THE CASE FOR…ALL THREE: While we’re at it, this is a nice follow-on from the sit down, I feel. I don’t review anything I wrote, but Hector graciously stepped up and co-wrote with me, that’s why it’ll get a mention here. A big thank you to him, and I had more in mind for these segments when I initially conceived the idea of a commentator rooting for each guy, but time got the better of me, and Hector did a great job in helping me here, and also showing the Jabari Crossover character some more.

GUNNINGHAM: I have to say this was so surreal, and I should know better given who wrote it, but always, always well-written and it made me smile a bunch of times, so well done.

WHO BUYS THAT CRAP? I participated in this, so I won’t talk about my side. Blair directed it, though, and I felt it moved the story on with Button considerably, and developed the character as well. Plus, Darren Best is the type of guy to point this out and try to protect Button from afar, and Crusader X is likelier to get nastier with Darren than Alfie, so this was well handled.

PIERSON V THE WALL: I always look forward to Pierson matches, because I know I’m going to see something different to anything else on the show, and again, I’d advise anyone to give these a look if you want to try and incorporate more into what you can do here in GLOBAL.

Before I get started, and I have told this Chris when his matches have often been overlooked, and it’s not just to be nice, there are legendary characters and wrestlers, namely Jake and Raven for me, who were really good in the ring, but never had MOTY contenders of 5-star classics. Now, I’m not saying Pierson can’t have great matches, far from it, but his match against Public was fantastic for what it is. And that’s what I’m expecting here.

The commentary is on point, for a start. Superb. I also like how Xiang’s presence/importance is highlighted, and that’s what Chris himself means when referring to the bios for little details.

I knew Pierson, who having reacted to Referee Powell’s size against Joe Public, was going to do the same with The Great Wall. Good to see. And, there was the dial back to it immediately afterwards. I got a kick out of that.

Since the show went up, I’ve seen/heard things about whether it was right that Pierson was fed to The Great Wall. I trust my former fedhead, and this match is still clearly about Pierson, which I knew going in, but reading it…perhaps, due to me being armed with that information, I see it more clearly. I don’t know.

Great exchange between Allie and The Mark, and the latter reminding us Daniel Dream managed to conquer TGW. It’s not the only enjoyable 2-pronged interaction, though, and that’s clearly a reference to Pierson and Manny, who are both very entertaining.

Death and Life to you…NICE reference back to a previous show. At the end of the match, I feel it did well rebuilding ‘The Wall’ for the umpteenth time, so thanks for that Chris, but this match is/was about Pierson, and did its job of selling both. So smartly told and well written.

THE ANGEL AND JERK INTERVIEWER: It’s safe to say that Pedro NAILED The Bro for dialogue and attitude. Loved Angel’s reply when her experience was called into question and fabulous fire shown thereafter. Throughout the entire arc, I’ve seen Angel not as an angel, but as a scrapper/fighter and it should be a cracker when I read the street fight shortly. Excellent last line, too. Kudos.

ANGEL V BIANCA: Really good introduction to set the match up, and a VERY fun spot to start things off, too. I could picture the whole thing and enjoy the dynamic Angel and Bianca share, and I reckon we may see it again in the future, regardless of what happens here.

Honestly, I stop more often to review things ordinarily, but I’m just sitting back and enjoying it. Glad to see a one-count in the middle of the match, and an appropriate response, as well. Commentary has generally been very good throughout, as an aside. These two feel so different, yet so evenly matched and in real life, I could imagine them embarking on a whole series of matches, a la RVD-Lynn or Tajiri-Super Crazy for ECW fans, and each one being entertaining yet different in their own way.

Great that this has spilled over into the stands, and such. Seems that would be down Angel’s street, Bianca’s not so much willingly, but I have the impression she’ll surprise us here in sequences and can back up the brashness.

Oh yes, this is turning nasty. Loved the finger-to-the-lips, which gets another airing later on, Bianca’s banter, couple with ‘her mask’ falling as this gets progressively messier. In fact, there’s so much to enjoy here, and I’ve just exchanged messages with Pedro about the swirlie, and so that’ll get an honourable mention here. On a much smaller scale, another appreciated one-count for multiple reasons.

I was thinking Catfight long before Pedro evoked memories of Joey Styles. Just didn’t want to say it, but it certainly is one, and in a good way.

Brilliant counter from Bianca that I didn’t see coming in the form of a Brazilian Kick. A smartphone for evidence? Pretty smart, and again, something I didn’t expect to read in the middle of the match. Quite a few things are jumping out like that in this fight.

Great drama with the 10-count. The finish was FANTASTIC. I thought it was going to go on a little bit longer, but that doesn’t mean I thought the match was too short, and more a testament to not realising how time quickly had passed. This lived up to expectations and was a highly enjoyable and wildly entertaining brawl in a match where I could’ve seen and understood either woman winning, and it could be run back in the future, and I’d love to see that.

THE JOKER AND THE QUEEN: Given that I know the handler is fond of a certain character from the 90s, which is far from identical but may have traces, I expect to see a blend of humour and darkness to The Jester. A fine debut, someone and something that would certainly irritate Bianca, especially coming off a high-profile loss, and a nice set-up to the upcoming angle, and again showing not everything has to wait for Domination 6 to get started. Interested to see where this leads.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO LET THEM GO: I had more of a hand in this in terms of writing, but it was all directed and mostly done by Blair, so I’ll still review it. The mask doesn’t fall as much here until the end, and Amber Lee felt like the perfect way to save the inevitable Alfie/Crusader X confrontation for the match itself in a great ‘To Be Continued and Cliffhanger’ type of moment. Again, I enjoyed it and now for the match itself.

ALFIE V CRUSADER X: Thank you very much, Brian, and that’s BEFORE I read it properly, because I did have a sneak peek when the match was first submitted in what feels like a long time ago now. Well, compared to most, it was, anyway.

I swear ‘Impact Wrestling’ style is a vehicle to get a TNA X Division reference in. That aside, the analysis so far has been excellent, and I like how this one has started out in terms of action, ‘skipping’ the entrances compared to other matches, and being more about wrestling and respect, at this juncture. It’s a feud, for sure, but whether it gets there or not, and it has the potential to, it’s not heated. It’s bubbling, and this reflects that. The athletic contest and the story are one here.

The Mark echoes my thoughts, as I didn’t expect Crusader to go technical early on, but I’ll tell you what – it makes a lot of sense, and I know that better than anyone, having created Alfie. I’d be tempted to do the same.

Awesome action and counters, it has to be said. While I would have referred to Alfie’s signatures by name, in a way by going for the standard wrestling names, it places the emphasis on the action itself and isn’t as distracting, so it’s an appreciated little wrinkle and befitting of the occasion. Then, Allie goes and mentions ‘The Weakest Link’ and how Alfie has cute names for his moves. Okay, having our cake and eating it…cool stuff.

Great near-fall on The Red Button. It’s one that could fool ‘the in-universe’ fans if they knew more about Button before GLOBAL, and then Parasite’s End not long afterwards. Oh, he got me with the false finish! THAT is a false finish. Wow, boy, did he ever. WELL DONE on that one.

It's layered when you have a ‘proven’ finisher in the sense that it’s the only weapon that we’ve seen X use, which is in part down to me, ‘kicked out of’ even it was the use of the ropes, but Brian handled it magnificently, and it allowed Crusader X look more badass in victory, and Button in defeat.
The commentary to close, and the interaction between X and Alfie, was also perfect, and I could not have asked for more.

A wonderful effort, Brian had a good feeling having written it, and I can see why. A lot of fun, both looked GREAT during and after the match, and plenty to unpack. Plus, there’s more to come for these two, further to the stipulation established in the previous segment.

VIRAL COMEDY RECAP: No other name would have done, and this was fantastically done. This match was one to look forward to anyway, but again, video packages still get you in the mood, even if you know what’s preceded it. Honestly, the video packages have done an awesome job of selling the matches, and Kyle, Scott and Shae later down the road deserve an awful lot of praise.

AND…Where’s the MATCH?! Oh, there is one, but not what I was expecting, and for that, yes, GAFFE 43 from the fedhead. That should’ve led into EZ/Jerry.

TRIPLE THREAT TAG: Brilliant dynamic between number 2A and 2B on the three-person commentary team.

I’m most happy to see Metal Militia here in case Pedro or anyone else was wondering.

The entrances/introductions seem to take up quite a portion of this match, and ultimately builds it up to be more than what it is. I’m happy for it to be part of the show, even if I certainly get where Scott was coming from in his assessment, as well.

What it does very well, and this ties in with my glowing praise of Seth earlier, besides Pedro being a brilliant and accomplished writer, is ramp up the pace and go right for the jugular. It takes advantage of the 3-team, 6-person dynamic in the right way and places the emphasis on a quick tempo, because if this were real, many of us knows The Dirty Birdz, some of us Metal Militia and I don’t know on Tits ‘N’ Asses, the team – and beyond, for that record. On a serious note, it doesn’t have the tension/familiarity that many other matches have on the show, simply because quite a few of us don’t know between 2 and 4 characters involved in the match, therefore making it an entertaining exhibition.

The commentary was great, though and the result – right. Hopefully, the writer and readers closest to the contest were pleased with the end product. Decent. Metal Militia are also a fabulous addition to the tag team division, 100%.

TWITCH STREAM 2: Short and sweet, but still plenty of personality on offer and the segment made me smile, which I’ve mentioned in other instance tonight, but that’s not always the case. I really like United Roxx, I mean Trouble Roxx.

DARREN BEST V SON OF MALTA: I feel even worse that I didn’t put Brian’s stuff in, because he goes about his business in such an unfussy way, going to previous shows to use entrances. APOLOGIES!

No pressure, I get that I’m looking forward to this match more than most people, and I reckon Shae and Chris fall into that category, as well.

Superb selling of the Maltese Cross from a writer who is familiar with the SOM character in his own right, just in case you didn’t see his DOMINATION 5 thoughts. ‘The thing is, Skip, let me tell you, Skip…blah, blah, Skip.’ So sorry, I don’t know what came over me there.

I like Allie’s nugget. I reckon The Mark may like Allie’s nuggets, even more, or does he? Answers on a postcard. Seriously though, Brian captures commentary so well and for someone who loves it, hence it’s no surprise, he does it differently to everyone else and it still goes over so well. Fair play.

It's not really personal between these, as Allie alludes, and they don’t have a lot of history with each other, but they’re certainly only a step or two away from one another on the ‘Six degrees of separation’ scale. But they’re both proud, credible and technical wrestlers who can ‘fight’ and it’s a great clash of styles on paper and that’s how it plays out here. Some spots also read like Malta’s the veteran and Best the less experienced, which is true. Well done.

GREAT chop exchange. Not long afterwards, the tempo really RAMPS up and there’s a flurry of near-falls that are something to behold. Brilliant to see a talented match writer enjoying himself in multiple matches and expressing that. There’s an art to this, folks, and quite a few artists have been out in force tonight, and no, I don’t include myself in there.

I got a kick out of seeing the Superstar Kick, a tribute to SVJ.

LOVELY when Darren is going for Best of Both and then Best Submission Ever in quick succession. Stellar. Then, Son of Malta with a hell of a near fall. I sense this one is nearing its natural conclusion.

So, it proves, but while I knew who was going over due to my position, as a reader, it wouldn’t have been the first time Brian had got me. That was another one to savour. Superb, and a big thank you.

OLD WILLY: That’s what she said. NOW, I get why I was called ‘a man of culture.’ I thought he might’ve been on something when he said that. It’s
a cracking concept and, yes, very, very well-written.

EZ RAH V JERRY DAVID: If you’re going to have ONE match on the first PPV do away with entrances, this is the one in which to do it. The way it has been played, how personal it is, the stipulation, saving the company millions of dollars because of how elaborate Jerry David’s entrance is, it worked.

Fuck me, this has started off with some ferocity and I’ve got visions of HTM on The Snake Pit. I know the word count of this in advance, and wouldn’t have expected a short match, so how this is going to be topped? My goodness. Again, all complimentary on my part. They just feel like they were made to kick the shit out of each other, and cue a bizarre reference from me here, Sensational Sherri was, well, sensational at that with Luna Vachon and then Madusa, or how I pictured Angel and Bianca going earlier on.

This is a sizzling start. The counts are perfectly timed, they haven’t gone too early too quickly, no jokes Scott, and yet, it also feels like they’ve taken a hell of a beating early doors. It’s going to take a lot to keep either man down. This could be special and spectacular.

Oh, I spoke too soon. A NINE COUNT?! I knew about the ‘injured penis’ barb beforehand, but it really was an excellent exchange leading up to that, and it also dawned on me that we’re not hearing from the commentators, which I’m also 100% okay with. The action is more than enough in its own right.

BRUTAL chair shots on Jerry, and EZ breaks the count up. Boy, JD Sports is in major bother here. Oh, he was playing possum. I reckon he might have recovered a little bit later than that, but I’ll roll with it.

The paragraph about their hatred for one another summarised and sold a lot building up to this. Take the time out to do that, ladies and gentlemen.

As soon as I saw ‘seven feet of glass,’ I thought this has to be part of the finish, one way or another. Well prepared. I knew the outcome going in, and while some might be disappointed by a draw, which I get, I love that this is going to go another arc. Some feuds outstay their welcome, but besides Scott being a prominent member of staff, I trust he and Kyle as handlers who plan, write and submit ahead of time to keep the momentum going, and being somewhat privy to some of their plans in the second arc, I am really looking forward to their blow-off bout. It’s hard to top a Last Man Standing match that feels personal, but they can and WILL do just that. This, once again, was a lot of fun and top, top match on a show that has had its fair share of contenders. Outstanding.

MAKING A WISH COME TRUE: I have a soft spot for this guy, and had to laugh when I heard what was in store. This segment was so unnecessary – and I loved it. If he’s going this route, Chris, I can picture him teaming with your namesake. I’m doing it for the kids…

MASTER SISTERS V THE RICH FAMILY: Not badly-written by any means, and I feel Crash’s frustration. I wish I’d been around to help last Saturday, but alas. In the future, we’ll work together. Thank you for giving it a go, and don’t be too disheartened. I appreciate it’s only the second match you’ve written, and the action that’s there is decent.

THE INVENTION OF THE COWBELL: This is even more ridiculous, for better or for poorer, than ‘Old Willy.’ A great way to sell the pay-per-view name, though, my friend, between an artist, writer and composer trying to finish off their masterpieces. Muy bien. Didn’t know Doritos spoke Spanish, but there you go.

ACT III: This was written late in the day, not that you’d know it. I had a hand in naming it, and giving Shae some pointers on what to look for, but give him ALL of the credit. We’ve had some strong cases for why video packages should be done more often in this hobby, something I’ve always advocated, and this did not disappoint. I can see why it got so much praise, and I’ll salute Shae for taking the time to put together a tremendous piece ahead of the most important match in GLOBAL history to date, and no matter what happens, ever likely to be.

MAIN EVENT: Here we go. There’s a lot to follow, to top, take in and process here. Fortunately, I’ve already read this once, but I’m glutton for punishment, so here goes again. Not the first near 10k match I’ve read multiple times, and probably won’t be the last.

A bit of backstory before I get into it: Discussing a finish for this felt like I was shooting ‘Wrestling with Shadows.’ I’ll address any criticism later on, and accept any flak coming my way too. I just want to say in public that I did not make a decision on who the GLOBAL Champion would be until after Domination 5, and one day, I’ll discuss that more on a podcast.

It's typical of Reyn to jump the gun, though an interesting turn of events that Reyn and Darring would decide to side with one another and go after Dream, which I’m sure the GLOBAL board would be bellowing at.

Quinn was right when he said plenty had happened before it officially got underway, and there’s more fixed to come, too.

Having read Reyn pretty extensively, he doesn’t normally hit Spears that early on, but it doesn’t come across as that much of a shock and I figured Shae would start things off hot, and it works.

The sheer amount of big moves by all three were insane, and even more so that it still didn’t feel like the match peaked too early. I felt, running some bits of commentary, Quinn and company wouldn’t have been able to keep up, and can imagine a real-life crowd, already stoked, would be SUPER into the start of this.

Even though a lot of the big moves didn’t quite connect, there’s enough flashy offence in between to keep things ticking over and the moves not coming off, coupled with the attempts, make a lot of sense psychologically. The great Jake, not his first reference in my review, said he didn’t understand why wrestlers wouldn’t at least try and bust out their big moves early, because you’re trying to win, and in fairness, he did tease the DDT very early on a regular basis. So, this all worked wonderfully well.

It's tricky, and Shae and I have discussed this before, writing a triple threat match without degenerating into two singles matches, like tags I guess, but the dynamic is paying off exceptionally in the early going, and of course, that continues.

I wasn’t expecting to see Ascendant’s Wrath at all, let alone fairly early, and again, indicative of the occasion it is that we should see such a move, and I expect Dream and Darring will have other moves up their sleeve we don’t normally see.

My commentary in between this and the fantastic Uncle Slam/Powerbomb combination wasn’t too dishonest, guys. I was reacting to the match as if I were Lucas Quinn on commentary.

Happy to see some 1-counts going in. I’m going to skip forward, following on from some stunning action, and say the Spear into the ring steps – OUCH. I’m actually glad to see this moved spammed a bit, particularly in this instance.

The Springboard Van Terminator with all 3 – YEP. No, I’m not Jumpin’ Jack Farmer. That was a holy shit moment, and it’s not like it came out of nowhere. This has been unrelenting, in your face and full of counters, impact moves and finisher teases from the get-go.

Then, you get the Uncle Slam into the ring post. JESUS.

Superb tease on another Spear and thereafter, the American Revolution which, to quote my mother, somewhat, ‘Will I-will I not?’ And, yes, he does! At last. I made Lucas ‘break character’ upon reading that.

Brilliant near-fall with Reyn breaking up the pin on a Darring Roll-Up, which almost struck again, and yet, you could/would have bought it.

I LOVE the sequence before The American Dream is locked in. It’s about to get overshadowed, though.

Okay: I have to address it, even if I’ve spoken about it privately. I originally agreed to interference, and then thought about it some more and didn’t like the idea before (again) agreeing to it, so I’ll take the flak. For what it’s worth, Shae handled it better than I thought he would, a compliment among many above, but part of me did think ANY interference would hurt it being the first GLOBAL Championship match, PPV main event and I banked on that type of response coming from someone somewhere and I can’t argue. It’s why I deliberated the decision for days, talking to various people about it, and I agreed to it because of something that I hope will pay off down the road. However, we give feedback on a show-to-show basis, it’s reactionary, visceral and even with what comes down the pike, people are still entitled to feel that it was still wrong. Maybe it was. Freddie Rich is my character, there’s a long rivalry with Reyn, and I did feel closer to the time that his interference, him being a midcarder, would/could hurt the main event. Yes, that may have factored into Allie’s commentary! It was also to sum up genuine shock because, of course, they’re not privy to what happened during the ‘Rent Has Been Collected’ segment. So, if anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I’m sorry.

As a result, I know the intention was from Darring/Dream to have a Shawn-Taker Royal Rumble ending, which has become a trope in itself, and it’s a great tour de force, and it had to be as a minimum to make up for Freddie laying Reyn out. Did it get you back on board? I hope it did. While clearly knowing the result, I still got a surprise when the pinfall came, testament to the extraordinary action in what was the MOTN AND MOTA, interference, or no interference. Well done, Shae, you definitely delivered here.

So much so, he turned his match ahead of schedule for me to add commentary, and I added 3,000-3,5000 words to it without realising and just by reacting, which is something, but I deserve zero credit at all. All Shae. A massive thank you, well done and congratulations from me.

When booking Domination 1 3 weeks out, I had a feeling Darring and Dream would be back here. The arc has been challenging, more days than others, and I knew it would be coming in. Ultimately, it has been rewarding and this is arguably the most satisfying of all, particularly because it was a very, very good show from top to bottom, well received and well read, even if I understand the complaints of it being ‘too long.’

Certain aspects of GLOBAL haven’t gone the way I’ve wanted, though, I didn’t expect to be the head of a fed with so many handlers and so much interest early on and while the feedback argument will rumble on, as it should, there are feds I’ve been part of that would’ve been delighted with the response we have had. I’m proud of that. Can we do better? Absolutely. With that, and the shows.

There are teething problems, for me as much as anyone, and an active community and feedback helps us try and fix those.

This PPV was special for me, and it’s fantastic to savour it as a success, because the first one as a booker was bittersweet. But, onwards and upwards, I expect the next PPV to be even better and the season finale to be better still. It won’t happen arc on arc, however, our collective aim is to fulfil that and there’s a lot to look forward to, improve on, celebrate and be content with all rolled into a shorter second arc.

Let’s try and avoid too much of a hangover going into Domination 6.

A big thank you to everyone who wrote for the show. Match writers, take a bow.

To my staff – the ship sinks without you.

I had fuck all to do with the presentation, yet I’m still incredibly proud people loved the way it looked, me included, and that song is stuck in my head. That might be part of my ‘Room for Improvement’ section.

I won’t get into the best match, line or grade each match. Just know I am immensely proud of this being a superb 12-match card, and yes, I’ll take the odd ‘WCW Thunder’ en route.

Thank you so much.

[Queen Bianca]

BEST MATCH: The Main Event, an excellent match, felt that any of them had a strong chance to take it home.
BEST SEGMENT: Global Sit Down is just a well-written segment all around.
BEST ANGLE: Twitch Watch Party I am just a sucker for this kind of stuff; quite frankly, I liked it over the course of the show.
BEST LINE OF THE NIGHT: Carnivore Mentality I don't know why, but that clicked with me.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: Nothing really, I would like to see the tag team division get hotter; I feel it could be a strong part of Global, honestly.

[THEHopper]

Hey all

You know how I do....I read the segment or match and then record my thoughts. I have been busy so I have not read anything other than what I wrote for the show before this moment.

The only thing I know in advance is the show is huge.

So let's get to it....

WELCOME - This was a great video package to start the show. Loved it completely. It set the mood and got me excited for the card, and that is exactly what it was designed to do.

PRIMA MATERIA - LOVED this! The great open and setting up of the show by the announce team really gave this a big show feel. Introductions of sorts and I love the way the announcers interact. And it was absolutely a riot how Quinn was goaded into reading the team name "Tits N Ass" This was a great start to the show.

RENT HAS BEEN COLLECTED - It was nice to see a call back to Freddie Rich being attacked. If this doesn't play a role in a match somewhere, then it was not needed....I'm truly hoping it leads to Reyn inserting himself into the tag title match to screw with the Riches some more.

TWITCH LIVE STREAM WATCH PARTY - This was a fun little piece and I like the idea of a Twitch live stream during the event. To me, this one ups what we see in real life about trending on Twitter and etc. I enjoyed it a lot and actually hope we see them 3 or 4 more times with little live snips of the twitch feed. It would be a great way to react to what is going on.

PRINCE AND THE PAUPER - Here are my problems with Truth's racial rant and epithets...1) they don't belong in the game. It doesn't matter what amount of melanin you have in your skin in real life, nor does it matter what skin color your character has....words like this shouldn't be uttered on the telecast. It is not needed and used to be a direction we avoided. #2 reason is that the handler well knows that this is not something that ought to be allowed because they have been part of discussions on these sort of things away from the limelight of public knowledge since Global began. If this is the direction truth is going to be taking, I would caution Keegan on allowing it. In SCW the handler ran a team called Border Control and I don't remember them using straight out epithets in their segments. Be better and more creative.

NUMBERS DON'T LIE - This is a harbinger of the future....and it seems that we not only get a little look into how the main event and a few other matches took shape for this card, but that we may also be doing some travelling away from "The Globe" arena. It seems like Global may live up to its name in full! Fun little piece of story there.

BIG AUG VS ALECZANDER - The ONLY negative in this match....and I mean the ONLY one.....is its placement. The leadoff match for an event like this should never be farther down then the third slot. (I do not count the welcome to magnum opus as a true "slot" in this case) Have a segment from a wrestler, then the welcome by the announcers....run those two in either order you want and then get this match out there for the world! IT WAS A FREAKING BANGER!!! Seth has always been a favorite of mine from nBW and etc but he really showed out here. I loved the Doritos crossout....that was a chuckle from me right off the bat. I love both of these characters and all the way through this match. I love that we were privy to what they said throughout. "I'm supposed to slam you!" LOL "Ask Him Duncan Hines" LOL Aleczander is pure gold. This match had great action and was exactly what you want an opener to be. Aleczander is #1 contender and regardless of who wins the main event, we are in for a cracker jack second arc with him as challenger. Great stuff!

GLOBAL SIT DOWN - This is how you do it. This is a sell job and a half. This is what we all should strive to do. Sell the importance of whatever you are doing. Sell the importance and weight of the title you are chasing. Sell the fact that the fans should care, period. Darring is giving a masterclass on creating interest and selling what is happening in the main event. Great stuff from Brian and we all need to learn and be doing.

CASE FOIR DARRING - I love this "case for" interview. I really do. I don't like how it got placed right after his interview segment. This could have been moved down to the spot where Dream's was and Dream's moved here. Just strange placement in my eyes. Overall I loved this idea of a "case for" segment and hope the other 2 are equally good.

AMBER VS KID - I'm a Kid Chameleon mark. Have been for years and Keegan knows this. Amber is the one female that has the height to be legitimate in an intergender contest. The only drawback is her weight I think if she were in that 200-ish range (think Gabi Garcia in the MMA world) she could be dangerous in many ways. I loved that Kid got the upperhand and Allie had to fight back. That this was a more back and forth effort here. Solid match, really and Kid takes the loss as Amber continues to win. This match was a TON better than their first one, but the wink at the end by Kid really makes me think there is more coming to this story.

GUNNINGHAM - I can't help wonder if we are getting Danvers in Global as well as Doritos. This seemed split into two separate segments and the last time I saw this happen with Doritos it led to Danvers appearing and them having some combo segments back int he day. Be interesting to see how it all plays out as Doritos is easily one of the strangest characters I have ever seen in e-w.

HEALTH FANATICS VS PTA - OK, the beginning of this match has me annoyed with the quotation marks. A proper quote is in the " marks and not the single ' The only time a single ' is used in a quote is if someone is quoting someone else while they are speaking. The same goes for nicknames.... "Too Cool" Chris Hopper is how we do nicknames.... not 'Too Cool' Chris Hopper (unless, I would guess you had someone speaking about him). Once I managed to get past that and start getting into the match, i was pleasantly surprised with it. Tag matches are tough because they can fall into a formulaic script at times. I enjoyed the fast pace pin attempts that showed both teams being physical freeaks.....and they should be as often as we saw them both in gyms for segments. LOL PTA wins and I truly believe these two ought to be tag champions. "They’re douchebags, but they got the job done and they’re a team to watch." - The Mark is right on with that one.

CASE FOR DREAM - I love this kind of segment. All hype for the main event throughout the show without having announcers scream about it during other matches. Really good idea and writing for these.

WHO BUYS THAT CRAP? - The Crusader X story is actually interesting to me. I like seeing Darren Best and the nod to the history he has with Alfie and more recently with X, but this segment really sparked when Alfie and X started jawing. Alfie is one of those guys that you want on your side, but you also want to see him get smacked because of his mouth sometimes. This got me excited for the match with him and X later on, and that is what it is supposed to do.

PIERSON VS THE GREAT WALL - I wrote it and had a reason for going the route I did. This character is created for 2 reasons....1) to have someone with the bio that could work int he "TV show" style fed Keegan was setting up and 2) Help me figure out how to fit in within just such a league. That is why he is different, and you haven't seen anything yet.

ANGEL AND THE JERK INTERVIEWER - Blatant Eddie G rip off aside (Lie Cheat and Steal), I find it funny that the same handler who blatantly wrote a racial slur earlier int he show is now semi-bleeping out the Spanish word for Bitch. This segment was a miss for me. I didn't understand why there is a Latin teen doing this instead of an actual Global interviewer as it really doesn't get set up to explain. I don't know. I haven't seen anything from Bianca, so my guess is the handler chose his winner and wrote a segment for her. It really didn't sell the street fight as well as it could and should have.

ANGEL VS BIANCA STREETFIGHT - Match went everywhere. That was expected. Not my cup of tea on the whole, but it did what it was supposed to do and that was give a nasty battle to finish the arc between these two. Angel wins.

JOKER & THE QUEEN - The Jester appears and seems to console Bianca after her loss, but this ends up being almost like an invitation to war. Like her "real" opponent just showed up and what just happened was nothing to think about. This could have been better, but it is the one thing for Bianca that actually has a trend up for her in this next arc. It was an interesting way for this to klick off.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO LET THEM GO - The timeline on this one had me a little frazzled. I know the segment led off with "last week after the match", but we have seen a segment that happened tonight where X, Best, and Alfie all were involved. So why is this necessary since whatever was discussed here should have informed the earlier segment. I'm not 100% that this was needed at all, but any excused to get Alfie and X on the screen, I guess.

ALFIE VS CRUSADER X - I was really into this match. and while I knew it probably wouldn't I was so hoping Alfie was getting the pin after the red button. This was a great showcase for Crusader X as he took the beating and gave it right back all the way through. Alfie really is a great foil for him and X is perhaps the quietest contender in Global. At some point he really is going to break out and mark his spot. Great match here and I enjoyed it

VIRAL COMEDY RECAP - Is it wrong that when I read "Low blow from Jerry" I read it in Seinfeld's voice? It affects the entire dynamic LOL I love this storyline and EZ has become a guy that looks good for Global's future as well. This got me excited for their match later, and again that is what you want it to do.

DIRTY BIRDS VS METAL MILITIA VS TNA - Metal Militia....I remember when they were only the Trailer Park Boyz LOL Love that they are here for real and this match seemed to be on simmer early and slowly heated up. That is where having multiple tag teams instead of just one team against one other team makes things great. The action got better and better and honestly while I wish the Militia had won, I knew they wouldn't. Dirty Birds win and seem to start putting their names in for tag contendership.

TWITCH STREAM WATCH PARTY II - I liked the Twitch Party vibe and think it could be something we could have seen multiple times. (for instance, having it appear during the street fight and even switching the view to show the stream as they reacted to what was happening) This was a fun dynamic added to the show and I really liked it.

BEST VS SON OF MALTA - Great match as Malta has been our "early gatekeeper" and this match helps showcase why we use him this way. Best is an interesting opponent here because of his interaction with Crusader X and Alfie. I was hoping to see them show up during this match some how, but I also get why they didn't. A lot of technical reversals and genius showed by both in this match. I loved seeing Darren counter out of potentially bad holds and the way the Maltese Cross was sold at the end was perfect. Great stuff here all around.

OLD WILLY - Doritos segment again. I'm all for Scott enjoying himself with this character (and he can be enjoyable) but if you are complaining about show length this is one of the reasons why. Doritos may eventually wrestle in Global (not sure honestly) but he gets a ton of space for segments that are not needed when we had several segments that were slotted before the first match on a PPV style event! This could have been saved for the next show without a doubt and nobody would have been hurt by it. Was it a good read? Yeah it was interesting and all, but was it necessary? I don't think so.

UMLDI (?) - The font made it tough to read the word for some reason and this will hopefully have a reason as I do not see anything worthwhile with it.

EZ VS DAVID - No entrances, but I loved it. Only time I have felt in Global this truly fit (Angel vs Bianca could have gone this route with the street fight stip, but didn't) as EZ won't even let David get his entrance. This was gold. As I read this, I started feeling like Jerry David is almost pulling a mikey whipwreck of sorts. Taking the beating of a lifetime....but I know David gets his licks in here and there as to where the former ECW star rarely (if ever?) had an offensive move. It just seemed like he went into rag doll mode after awhile in this match. EZ had moments of "playing ricky morton" as well....this was a fun and heated match.....and there is nobody that walks away with the upperhand or bragging rights. This one is begging for another arc and man will it be fun to see.

MAKING A WISH COME TRUE - I wrote this and had a blast. I believe we will see more of Gemini as I'm really enjoying this Ron Simmons-esque take on him (wihtin reason lol)

MASTER SISTERS VS RICH FAMILY - Right off the bat - "they await the people that they need to win to finally reach their goal." I guess you meant need to beat, defeat, etc. Oof. The only other negative I will point out is that the Best of British appear in the end and play a role in the finish. I wish title matches, especially at the first PPV were decided by those involved. This match was NOT the dregs. It was not anywhere close to the worst match in Global history. This was written by someone and it was only his second match period. So great work really considering that. I will be happy to work with you on a match you want to write in the future. There is promise here if you want to work on it.

CASE FOR REYN - I loved all 3 of these and each one made a compelling case and sold the main event well. Great job all around on all 3!

INVENTION OF THE COWBELL - And here we go again. What is this actually leading to? Was it funny? Yes I laughed and was waiting for a Will Ferrell style cowbell riff lol However this was unnecessary and just added length to an already lengthy show.

JED VS VITALITY - The match is well written, as I expected and it was also not the thrashing that Jed received the last time they faced off. But I am not sold on Vitality as a character, much less someone who could or should beat someone like Jed, even if his Achilles heel is that he is a straight forward technical wrestler. It is what it is....

ACT III - This was a fun little video hype segment for the main event. Once again the sell job for this match throughout the show has been stellar.

MAIN EVENT TRIPLE THREAT - This match has so very much that I could discuss. The reversals that show off the technical abilities of all 3 men and their will to win. The back and forth that gave all three men the look as if they would be walking out the first Global champion. All of this was very well thought out and put together. Shae is really, REALLY good at this part of the e-w game. He can put together truly cracking matches. The commentary added by Keegan was great and made that aspect of the entire show consistent and a true bright spot for the event as a whole.

My issues for some of this was the obvious cut and pasting of names into movement sections....

SEAN DARRING PULLS ‘Carnivore’ Daniel Dream OUT THE RING!!

For instance. And then we have the messed up quotation marks again that detracted for me a little, but it is a small thing in the grand scheme. My biggest problem was that at its core this match still didn't end with a clean ending.

Oh sure, Darring did get the victory in the ring with Dream's shoulders on the canvas for the pin....but the end is marred by a man keeping Reyn from breakign it up. Who would do it? Big Aug? Aleczander? A myster contender we haven;'t met with history here?

Nope

That man is Freddie Rich.

I love Freddie Rich. I love the Rich family. I love writing them and using them in SCW and here as well. They are a fun group of dudes to write with their family dynamic.

But there is no way in all of heaven and earth that he belongs sticking his nose in the main event of a PPV for a championship's initial crowning.

Keegan knows this and even agrees with this.....ask him.

This cheapened everything that was done to build this up and it cheapens all 3 men involved when the one who makes the true difference is a mid card tag teamer who.....had someone run in and cause the finish of his own match earlier in the show. So let's add the second infuriating fact to the finish is that it was yet another run in that causes an end to a match.....and it happened in BOTH FREAKING TITLE MATCHES ON OUR FIRST PPV!

I'm not going to go into it here about all the discussion and "negotiations" that went on to arrive where we arrived at as the match started to head for home. But this confirmed my suspicions and fears when it was assigned.

This match was actually a classic until those last several hundred words.

CREDITS - I actually liked having this at the end. It was nice and let people know who wrote what. (or for some who they want to either kill or ignore in talking about the show. LOL)

=================
OVERALL THOUGHTS
=================

Overall the event gets a solid 6.5 out of me.

It was a great effort all around.

Segments could have been placed better as we had far too many before the first match and then one between each match later on.

Too many doritos segments that were not needed. I realize we felt like we were segment light as the show was coming together.....but all the extra fluff from this non wrestler was too much and added to the length.

The racial stuff coming out of Truth is wrong and shouldn't even be around here.

And the main event finish was disappointing.

I still feel it was a good overall outing for the league.

[pdbnb]

OK, I want to address a couple of things here.

1. I know what word bothered you, Hop. I debated whether to censor it or not use it, and then (erroneously) thought it was not considered a slur, just an unpleasant term. My bad. For what it's worth, I have asked Keegan MULTIPLE times about MULTIPLE things to make sure I don't offend anybody with Truth. Seems like I already failed. This time it was an accident. I will do better. In the meantime, I might ask Keegan to censor it. For what it's worth, Truth IS getting his ass kicked for his views (spoiler? It's the character's whole gimmick, so not sure if it is a spoiler or not.)

2. I went to look at the list of interviewers and there was a Russo clone called The Bro, who I thought would be fun with Angel. Guess two big loud distinctive personalities don't mesh, since nobody really appears to have liked the segment. I'll make sure Angel talks to somebody else next time. Also, her curses were part censored because THIS segment was technically on camera. The other one technically wasn't, so I let Truth swear.

See, guys, this is why REAL feedback (i.e. not just gushing) is important and useful.

[THEHopper]

Also to clarify....

my rating for the show is not based on the same criteria I might judge a Domination. PPVs are a higher standard for me.

And Pedro....totally get it. I know you understand how to skirt around these kinds of things (I watched you do it with BC back in SCW). Thanks for taking the feedback in the spirit in which it was intended.

[Seth]

Feedback is owed by me after lacking the last two shows. For what it's worth I have tried to keep up on things. I will add my own general thoughts after this portion.

First off, thanks to Keegan for trusting me with the opening match and hopefully you all enjoyed it! A BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT match is different than a usual opener, but I hope that it worked for the first match. Now I know my match had interference as well in the opening since we are calling attention to it in the title matches and I had it planned so apologies in that regard, but I hope the rest was good!

BEST MATCH: For me, it's a toss-up between the World Title match and Rah/David. Rah/David had one of the best all-round feuds of the arc and some funny moments. The World Title match had three of the top stars in GLOBAL competing and the writer(s) did a REALLY great job fleshing things out with action moving at a decent pace before we got to the finish.

Special shout-out to the Crusader X/Alfie Button match as well! Crusader X gets the rightful win here after really stepping out from the pack as kind of an odd character to being one of the more compelling characters.

BEST SEGMENT: The Case segments. Excellent pieces of business to really sell the importance of how big being the first GLOBAL World Champion is and what it means for each participant. Don't see this type of thing done too often and more of it in big matches like this would be awesome.

BEST ANGLE: Both the Twitch Party and the Case for segments were great little add-ons for a big show I haven't seen much of done anywhere else and I'm good with having these types of things be the buffers between matches (more on that below).

BEST LINE OF THE NIGHT: "Fuck you, kids." I am down for Gemini being a funny, bitter asshole, haha.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT: I'll touch in some things here and this is just my feedback. In no way is it meant to be mean.

I was somebody that was asked about Freddy Rich's involvement in the big show. I didn't have a problem with it then, but now having time to reflect, it did feel like a bad move in hindsight. It's out there and can't be changed at this point, but it should be said. For the first World Title match, it should have been a big feel-good moment (or a bad moment, depending who won). Rich could have come after him later and with all due respect because I love the Rich Family, but Freddy hasn't really been used in a top role and I get the story being payback for his father being attacked, but still.

WAY too many segments to kick off the show and WAY too many segments on a big show like this that I feel like they didn't need to be there. One... MAYBE two at the most. Not six before the opening match.

I get the need for buffers. You absolutely need those between matches. But I think going forward, I'd like to see more unique buffers like the Twitch Party, the "Case of" segments, or tried and true last minute interviews between matches, feud recap packages are the way to go.


Despite those things in mind, I think by and large this show did the majority of what a newer organization should do and do well -- establishing personalities and Championships. Now that GLOBAL has had a little time to get itself off the ground, I'm excited overall for what comes after.

[Alex Reyn]

Sorry about the wait. Here is my review of our first ever PPV.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t-Wvdo ... sp=sharing

[Legend]

Sorry about the wait. Here is my review of our first ever PPV.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t-Wvdo ... sp=sharing

Good work, as always, Shae. Enjoy the in-depth review and the use as another medium to share your thoughts. I want to echo again - Great job on the Main Event, and thank you for putting some context into your reasoning on the interference and the match process itself.