All-Star Showdown V Discussion Thread

[FGA Office]

First off, thanks to Benny and Bondo for helping out with the scores. Special thanks to Von for being an alternate judge/tiebreaker.

Second, thanks to Benny for writing Salem/Yun, Annie/Molly and Izzy/Dom

Thanks to Snoopz, TJ, Jerry, Bryce, Kevin, Allison, Sasso, Cannon and Cory for their segemnts and contributions to the show.

Lastly, thanks to everyone that was able to RP for the event.


Discuss!

[Izzy Anders]

First and foremost, it has been said, but it needs to be said again. Those RPs that were put out for this event were nothing short of amazing. All the different styles that come together to make the roster really makes FGA one of the most dynamic federations in e-fedding right now. As I have now been here a good year, I can say that everyone really deserves any and all praise they get. For those who win, you rightfully deserve it. For those who lose, I can totally tell you that you lost my hair. It was a shame and a blessing that Malik didn't show. A shame because Malik has been CONSTANT fire since winning the Pride Championship and only gotten better over time. It's a blessing because his RP would have made that World Title match MUCH harder to judge. 

But that aside, I can also say that the match quality for this event was consistent across the board. The undercard matches were treated with enough respect to be called show-stealers, but they never had a chance after we got past Izzy vs. Dom. Chandler v. Page and the World Championship match were so damn stellar that they should be IMMEDIATELY considered for MOTY candidates. The drama heading into each of these matches and the individual stories that they crafted throughout were all too engaging to not care about. If you didn't care about any of these matches, you need to read harder. Because they were fire as well. Zero's descent into total madness along with the constant humor/heat of The New Kings was fun. It didn't just turn into a generic tag team vs champion kind of feud that you would see in anything else. No one turned on each other. Zero didn't look like a fool. It was great. 

Chandler vs. Page's feud had everyone feeling a certain kind of way. Never have I seen such heat gravitated towards one character. Page's consistent ways to be so menacing, dark, and cowardly always makes his stuff compelling. Hell, this might have beaten out the stuff in the Cordy feud a while back. And that's saying something. Chandler's whole fight with letting his rage overtake him or keeping in control was also nice. I have more to say on that when I get to their match. But without further ado, let's talk about the matches themselves.

Salem vs. Yun

These are two of my favorite characters that I want to see get more expose. Salem trying to become a solid contender has been an interesting, if not frustrating thing to witness. She has lost title matches, but has always taken huge wins. Her series with Page were engaging and I'm so happy that she didn't lose any of the momentum. Yun is also kind of a tragedy as coming in, I thought Yun would win out that Triple Threat for the MAL championship a while back. So this match was kind of a nailbiter for who would get ahead and move on to a bigger set of things. It's bittersweet, but the match itself was really fun. Heel!Yun has been amusing to read, due to her complete disrespect that's quite refreshing. It's akin to several heels, but I just love the somewhat Naito-esque flavor that was added. So I hope that Yun recovers and become a threat to Annie's MAL belt. 

Taylor vs. Storm

Ayyy, I love how this match was given the notion of "showstealer". Even though they're not exactly at the FGA World Title level in FGA yet (even though, they will be), the respect given to their World Champion status was sweet. Thus, it gave the match a bigger vibe. I'm happy to see Storm get the win, even though Taylor had the clear advantage going in. I wonder how Taylor will take it; her story has been geared towards keeping the momentum from EXODUS rolling in some regard. Now with this loss, I wonder how she'll handle it. Storm, on the other hand, needs to stay consistent and keep these high profile wins rolling. Maybe he'll be a sleeper during the FLC? But the match itself was nicely paced, I love the focus on Storm's new moveset. I also liked that Savannah busted out almost every move in her arsenal to stop Storm, but it was just one mistake that ended her.

• FGA WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH • 

(c) Ricky Valero and Luke Jackson vs. Status Quo

It's crazy seeing Luke actually be able to overpower someone for once. The dynamics given to each character in this match was pretty cool. In addition to that, I'm glad that my original prediction of some screwy ending was avoided. It was a clean match that had a feel-good moment in the end. I hope that this doesn't lead to a breakup because I do like how Next Level has overcome several horrible things to become a stronger team. With the Suspects and #RubyWay waiting, we're about to hit the FGA Tag Team Renaissance. Love it.

• FGA MID-ATLANTIC LEGACY CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH • 

(c) Annie Zellor vs. Molly Reid

I guess this match was shorter because of the arrival of THE LORD AND SAVIOR, SKYLAR CLOUD, but at the same time, I do wish the match was longer. I guess the comparison to the Tag Title match was what made it a bit obvious. The fact that there were hugs in the match made me go "aww" and this is really a face vs. face match. I'm now sitting here wondering how the loss is going to affect the two heading into the mess with THE LORD AND SAVIOR and Sara. Molly having to tap out was a shocking moment, because I really wasn't expecting it. I was expecting this match to end with a cute rollup.

• GRUDGE MATCH • 

Izzy Anders vs. Dom Harter

I don't know if you all cared or not, but I really liked that Benny kind of kept this one...subtle. In comparison to the Chivalry is Dead match, this one was more of an emotional trainwreck. It's obvious that I felt more towards this match, but at the same time, I thank Benny for taking good care of Izzy over the span of this feud. I wrote the ending and I would love some feedback if the effect got through to people. This feud wasn't as fire as others (because of me, probs), but at the same time, the payoff was relieving. Hat's off, Benny. Face!Dom is going to be lovely to witness.

• PRIDE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH • 

(c) Johnny Karma vs. Fujiko Mine

This is the best wrestling match on the show. From a pure wrestling perspective, this was obviously going to take the cake. This was the best match because of how well it was written towards the two's stories. Fujiko's evolution into the next card bracket was beautifully executed. If she would have lost this match, it might have hurt a little bit. Karma's always fun to read because of how stressed his experience factor is. Also, there were two submissions in this match. Wow, that's not something I've seen yet. Karma's direction after this is the payoff of this match to me. Yes, Fujiko winning was the crowning moment, but at the same time, where does Johnny go from here? Back to the Pride title or upward? Both people came out looking like champions and everything is beautiful. 

MAIN EVENT 

• CHIVALRY IS DEAD • 

Chandler Scott vs. Jimmy Page 

This match was a fucking war. Something about this match just clicked. The story going into it was amazing. The beginning was amazing. Then the whole match after that opening moment was just brilliantly painstaking. By that, I mean, every bit of violence portrayed in this match made me...twitch. The brutality of the writing made this match seem not like just a hardcore match. I legitimately felt the want for bloodshed from both men. That opening moment with the shirt made me gasp. Page is the best damn heel I've seen in e-fedding, bar none. Carmine is a close second, but Page is the only person who has made me gasp with the crap he pulled. If that's all coming off Steven's dome, then that's some scary thoughts he got going through there. Each blow was sent with disrespect and malice. Unlike Izzy vs. Dom, this match was meant to be an execution for both men. The stakes were too damn high. If Chandler lost, it would have been a tragedy. If Jimmy lost, then you could only worry if he was going to come back like he was chanting.

The dedicated moments made this match powerful to read. The t-shirt, the spitting, the weapon shots, the duct tape, Page's masochistic mentality, the NAIL, the glass, and finally, Page's crazed want for Chandler to end him. This drifted on that border of match and murder. And what made it all the more better was that it didn't seem forced. It was natural. Also, you could believe that Page or Chandler would do the things that they did and not care. I was expecting that shard of glass to end up in someone.

Chandler's whole duality really came full circle. The question was if Chandler was going to snap or not was properly answered with none of the answers given. Chandler merged both mentalities into one fulling dedicated to ending Jimmy Page. Page's whole cross between wanting to literally kill Chandler and wanting him to end him was frightening. There's not many characters that portray masochism and selfishness like Page. What makes it worse? You could almost feel a shred of sympathy for him. So in the end, Page was a villain, but he dragged Chandler pretty damn close to hell with him. The ending was interesting in its own right. Will Page come back like he always does or not? If he does, what is left in his sadistic mind? 

And how far into a dark place did Chandler go? Will he come out of it or is he just as hollow as, say, Izzy or Page? Masterful work here.

MAIN EVENT 

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH 

FGA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 

(c) Zero McHannon vs. Sunshine Scandalous Tony Carmine vs. Johnny Cannon

Finally, we get to the main event. 

First and foremost, kudos to whoever wrote the match by handling Tony the way they did. Clever. Fucking clever.

The match itself hit the same World Championship quality, but it didn't reach Cyncity vs. Zero I. That's still solidly ahead for MOTY, but this is a contender in some regard. Mainly, the stories of both men going into this match was what sold it for me. Cannon's crying in his RP, promising he was going to bring the belt to his son truly shined in this match. With every kickout, you know that it was not his own selfish wants. In this moment, Cannon was fighting for his son. That's beautiful. 

Zero, on the other hand...phew. Cory needs an applause for going even further into Zero's descent. We have the number scale, but Cory really embodied that in Zero's mentality as of late. He went from scorned to egotistical to nigh-evil to literal scum of the earth. I've seen it first hand before with Luke, but in this regard, it's somewhat tragic. You see where it sparked from. You know WHY Zero's the way he is. It makes all the more sad as a reader to know that he's only going to get worse if he lost. 

And then he did. 

As much as we're laughing now about the BROTHER ZERO stuff, I'm legitimately scared about what Zero's going to do now. This all gave the match more importance. It wasn't just for the championship, it was the mental stability of two men...two fathers. It's things like this that makes matches more important. Because these are words. We can see the sequences, but we have to remember...e-fedding is essentially wrestling novella. We're more connected to this emotionally, due to the fact that we have to write and read the internal and external processes of these people. 

This isn't the end like with Izzy vs. Dom or possibly Page vs. Scott. This is just the beginning.

And by god, it's only going to get worse.

*cough*

In the end, ASSV served as a soft reset to FGA. In the proverbial Cannon Era, we're going to see new stuff, but at the same time, it's going to derived from the consequences of what happened on this show. Furthermore, we have some new faces to add onto things. Izzy's gone, Page may or may not be dead, and Tony "retired". Zero's about to get worse and we have Skylar. It's interesting to see the faces actually have control of FGA.

Fantastic show, yawl. FLC's next. I look forward to reading and now judging you guys' work. ♥

[Jerry]

...ditto? ^^^ lol

Match of the show for me - Storm Vs Taylor. Great win for the Storm character. Looking forward to see what he comes up with next.

Again, loved the Sara Cochrane interruption during the Dupree celebration.

Tag team match was fantastic. I want to see Ricky and Luke stick around in the tag division, I think they add too much strength to go off in singles. Rematch clause! I demand on their behalf. Lol.

Page and Scott was brutal... Page almost comes off sympathetic after that ending. I know he's done a lot of bad things over the years, but I do feel it could open up a possible face turn. I might be crazy though.

I am displeased if Carmine is gone for an extended amount of time. I really liked the character. Same with Izzy. 

Great win for Cannon, I'm anxious to see how Zero responds.

Interesting seg from RubyWay in response to Status Quo. Should be an epic feud if that's where it goes.

Great show from top to bottom.

Also, want to see where Dom Harter goes from here. I know what his goal is, but I don't see a match with Annie from what Benny has said.

Edit: Christ, how could I forget the Pride Title Match. Those were both fantastic roleplays, I wouldn't have wanted to judge that. Does Karma go after Cannon now? Muahahaha!

[Fujiko Mine]

I'm going to go ahead an echo the sentiments that were given by both Von and Jerry, but I really can't heap enough praise on the attention to detail given by all our matchwriters, yawl. They really pay attention to nuances of different wrestlers and make every match feel special, and not just a rehash of 'wrestler 4837348 vs. wrestler 348573489'. Case in point, Dom randomly throwing out the boobplex, in retaliation for Izzy stealing his finish. Stuff like that makes me smile greatly. I think that's a big part of why FGA is head and shoulders above the rest.

MAL title was a nice read, as was Taylor/Storm. Interested to see where they split from here, as well as what Salem does now that she's beaten Yun. (PS: More Yun plz)

The tag team scene makes me happy, and I can't wait for the rematch between TNL and SQ.

Chandler vs. Jimmy was an absolute war, as stated. Jimmy better not be gone though! Also, hoping the Tony character comes back soon; as I really enjoy the dynamic he brings.

Huge thank you to the writer of the Pride title match. It'll be one I'll be re-reading for a long, long time.

Glad to see Skylar up here, and I'm enjoying the Sara Cochran character as well.

World title match was a good one. I'm very intrigued to see the paths taken out of that, with Tony on the shelf, Cannon as champion, and Danny back in the fold. Also, Zero's next move will be closely watched.

It's a great time to be in FGA, yo. This was an amazing show from top to bottom.

[sasso]

Top to bottom one of the stronger FGA shows I've read, imo. A lot already got covered, but it felt like a big time event. I'll also say that I'm glad that Scott vs Page delivered the way it did, because there's a fine line between a brutal anything goes match and a corny late 90s garbage match. Glad it ended up being the former not the latter, because that build up deserved a great payoff.