Digital Mayhem 2008 Spoilers/Discussion Thread

[igiul283]

Jaime is Champ! Seth Stern Returns! What will Happen in Episode 7?

[Goldash]

May 25, 2008 20:48:28 GMT -5 projectzerox5 said:

Oh MY GOD!!! Excellent PPV GoldenAsh

Who's GoldenAsh? Just kidding man glad you liked it.

[DevildrummerX]

Digital Mayhem = EPIC!!!

[Goldash]

All right, here's what I think will become a tradition for URWL events...I'm going to give MY two cents and opinions on every match. For this event, I was very careful about what I posted...here's why:

Match 1: Barry vs. Salvatore
I felt pretty good about this match until I watched it. A lot of repetitive moves, which I'm trying to get away from, mar this match in my mind. The best part of this match (other than the non-wrestling activity) was the "surprise" Love Clutch at the end. It had a realistic buildup, I thought.

Match 2: Hikari vs. Cecilia
I thought the match was pretty good. Standard opening match fare. It could have worked as the first match of the evening and provided a good start to the event, but I decided to do the surprise return of Barry White first instead to get people right into it.

Match 3: Aleksandar Kuleshov vs. Merle Haggard Jr.
I tried to make Kuleshov a bit more well-rounded in this contest and not just using the same attacks. Also, Merle puts up a good fight in this contest so it doesn't seem like a squash. There isn't really a winner before Kuleshov hits the "Rush" and the Triangle Hold.

Match 4: Busiwa Tanao vs. Trent Tail
My all-time favorite match in SVR. It was fun to play from beginning to end and, based on the comments on YouTube, it was fun to watch. What I like about it, after watching, is that you honestly feel both characters are desperate. I tried for a dual turn in the match but I'm not sure if that comes across. One viewer on YouTube was confused by why the fans were cheering Tail at the end of the match and not at the beginning...why? It was because Busiwa basically was the most desperate man out there, willing to break character and not only take out the referee (in the most embarrassing moment of the event IMHO) but use weaponry to get the win. Other than that, I thought this match went very well...a lot of reversals, near-falls, long submission attempts...I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but it had a "Wrestlemania match" feel to it. We used to do the "Na Na Na Na" chant back in the days of the old URWL (and before the WWE used it explicitly...McMahon/Bischoff included...) and I thought to bring it back for the first time after Busiwa lost. Originally, I had Busiwa win and tried to come up with changes to his character but they were generic and insubstantial...so I changed the outcome, made a better match, and, well, you'll see what happens...

Match 5: Kelsey MacDonald vs. Jesse Slash
I thought this match was average despite what a lot of viewers said...I hated the ending and probably will forevermore...it was a weak move, I admit. My plan, originally, was to have Kelsey go up by a big lead and have Jesse slowly regain it until the very end. I regret not having the match end 4-3 and have Jesse basically fight through the entire match to narrow the gap instead of doing it in the short time I did it in. Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess, and the next time I do an endurance match, I'll have a plan in mind before playing the match...and also make lots of time to render it. ;D

Match 6: CobrA vs. Taurus
It's definitely one of my favorites on the event but IMO it's not as good as the Taurus/Scorpion match in Episode 6 was. The Cordaro interference was planned from the start, as I wanted both of these guys to have a proper match to settle their differences...either at Popular Demand or at Asphyxiation 2008. I didn't feel like Taurus and CobrA had much animosity toward one-another to set something big up between them, and that's why I set up a spur-of-the-moment match after the results of Episode 6. I thought, though, that the Cordaro run-in was a great way to reintroduce the fact that nothing had been settled between the both of them. As for CobrA retaining? Well, you'll find that out soon enough.

Match 7: Blood Invitational 3
Don't shoot me, Fusion, but I originally had you winning the title in a singles match. I made this a four-way dance because of a few angles I wanted to set up with Commander and Fusion after the event (no, they're not feuding with one another). Anyway, I've always liked four-way dances and this one picks up where the HighFlyer Title four-way dance left off...it's a good match. It wasn't close to being the best match of the event, but it was fun to watch.

Match 8: GWN/DFS
I wanted this match to be much better. I actually had recorded the GWN doing more synchronized moves (which I wanted to do in a tag match for a LONG time in a nod to The Eliminators), but this time suplexing the Syndicate off two ladders set up near both announce tables. The only reason I left it out is because Yukes thinks a suplex off a ladder can't break a table. I thought it'd be embarrassing, so I took it out. Finally, I hated the ending of the match and I could have ended it after Adrien suplexed McAndrew out and was the only man left in the ring. I thought that would have been a great buildup. I was even thinking of cutting to the footage of Wes pulling the belt down (despite Adrien being on the ladder) just to end it there. I even wanted to recreate that scenario and just edit in a cutscene of Adrien bringing down the belt...but I didn't. I just left it the way it was, and I thought the match suffered only because I wanted to drag it out. With that being said, I hate doing tornado matches in 2008...the AI becomes as stupid as Dan Quayle at a spelling bee.

Match 9: Akina vs. Scorpion
I loved the way this turned out but I must've re-recorded this match five times before I got the result I wanted. Before capturing, I rehearsed the match on the 360 between myself and an unresponsive opponent on the second controller just to try out some bumps. I then knew how limited the game is compared to a game like DOR 2 where any move can be done on top of a table. I wanted to have Akina do an uncharacteristically high-risk move (like Lesnar at WM19 without the botch) through a table. It turned out I couldn't do it because the game would cut to a generic cutscene of an elbowdrop through a table. I also wanted to try a vertical suplex off a ladder through a flaming table but that too is impossible in SVR2008. Every time I tried it, the table would magically move after the suplexed wrestler made contact with it...so, knowing I couldn't do that, I just tried to put on a good match. I guess it turned out pretty good but I still think Tail/Tanao is a much better match. The swinging neckbreaker outside the ring was completely unintentional as well...it's one of those "Emo/Stern" moments that just happened...and I must admit, I marked out big time when I saw it as the match was capturing. Like I said, it's probably my second favorite match of the event.

Main Event: Emo vs. !nterogative
I honestly thought this match could have used a re-record. The pacing was terrible, and that's why I cut out an entire part of the match before I posted it on YouTube...the original second part of the match (the one I cut out, not the one on YouTube) simply blew...it was probably the most boring thing I've ever produced. And this was in a fucking Main Event!!! Because of that, I chose to cut that whole section out and start from when Emo starts getting the fans back into the match. A lot of things are left unseen because of this (Emo getting busted open and !nterogative taking apart the tables at ringside) but I thought the match could do without it. With that being said, the removal of the second part tightens the pace up and makes the ending of the match come a bit quicker than I wanted, but it's all right. I spared all of you the most boring ten minutes in URWL history. The ending was my way of reigniting the Emo/Stern feud, but it originally wasn't supposed to happen that way. My original plans were, instead of arriving in the first match against Salvatore, I would have had Barry come out in the Main Event and throw !ntero off the cell, weakening !ntero to the point that Emo could easily pin him and win, reiginiting the feud between Barry and !ntero. This seemed like a logical way to end the event given the history between Barry and !ntero but I thought the Stern ending really gave Emo an instant target instead of placing him in matches with wrestlers he never really had any history with before Stern eventually returned. The "Stern ending" sets up a feud that I, along with many of you (I'm thinking) would like to see as the main draw given Stern's time in DWA and the constant replies I get on the Rantboard and on YouTube about his return every time I mention his name. All I know is...he's back now!

[Main_Event_Quality]

I finally watched it all without any knowledge of the winners and losers (except the Slash/Kelsy match thanks to Goldash himself), and I felt like I was watching a real live event. The presentation is awesome. Great job. I each match was good except Barry/Salvatore, and I'll post a response to all the matches later as I'm tired as hell right now. Great cpv. You really will have a hard time topping this one.