Emerald City Classic Night One and Two Review
May 16, 2021 14:16:20 GMT -5
Post by Biggs on May 16, 2021 14:16:20 GMT -5
ECC Night One Review
* JC Keeton's promo to kick off the show had good imagery. I highly doubt that you'd see that chain of events so cleanly in the wild with the animals eating each other one after one after one, but this is “TV” so it works just fine. There's a lot to like here, as the writing was descriptive, but not so much so as to overwhelm the reader, and Keeton's analysis of each of his opponents was true to how his character should view them. I also like the touch about how he rattled off past winners, selling the prestige of the tournament itself. This promo sets a high bar right off the bat.
Rebekah Stevenson vs. JC Keeton: Gonna address the elephant in the room right off and acknowledge it's a shame that Leytrix is on leave. This match was one-sided, with a few brief hope spots for Bekah, but it felt like JC was toying with her in the early going, hitting moves like the Jackhammer and a Brainbuster on the ring apron. Moves like that can finish the match, and JC not even going for a cover on them gives his character a bit of a sadistic edge, which could be an interesting character beat. Well written for what it was, unfortunately soured by real life getting in the way.
* If I could describe Tara Fenix's promo in one word, it's intense. You really get a sense that Fenix doesn't care about the health and well-being of herself, let alone that of others, and that she is a destructive presence. I also thought it was smart of her to not rattle off all her competitors like Keeton did, so it prevents the promos from feeling samey. Simply put, this promo was to follow up her introduction a few weeks ago and tell us exactly why we should care who Tara Fenix is. Mission accomplished.
* Trixie's promo was the polar opposite of what preceded her, presenting her as a fashionista with pluck. Also, how many freakin' Danielson siblings are there!? I did like the details on what Trixie was wearing, as it showed her to be a woman of class and good taste, as well as the camera transitions and fancy editing tricks. The meat and potatoes of the promo running down her opponents was fine, but really, only the bit about Manny stood out, considering their relationship and how she sold her flirtatiousness with him. Solid effort.
Tara Fenix vs. Trixie: Right off the bat, the handshake in the middle of the ring is weird for Tara. Based on what we saw in her promo, and how this match progresses, that seems out of character for her. That nitpick aside, the rest of the match was fantastic, with Trixie playing the babyface in peril to a tee, and Tara showing the kind of aggression and violence you'd expect from how her character was presented in the earlier promo. Trixie being on her back foot for most of the match was a compelling story, and Tara comes off looking strong even in defeat.
* With the Bobby Larson promo, I wanted to sell Biggs' injury a bit more and also have Bobby acknowledge that he's in a rough spot right now. I didn't specify what Bobby's favorite show was, because at the time of writing, the major networks hadn't canceled anything yet, but since it's started, we'll say his favorite show was ABC's “American Housewife.” That's cannon.
* Chris Madison and Jason Cashe have a unique chemistry, and seeing them together brings warm fuzzies to my heart, cause it makes me think back to our days in Action Packed Wrestling together. I also liked the fact that their theme song wasn't allowed to play in Mainstream. Knowing Cashe, it was probably filthy anyways. I really liked how gracious Madison was about his loss to Skye Healy, and loved the tease for Gareth Prichard vs. Chris Madison. Not even knowing the first thing about Prichard, this promo did a good job establishing the fact that they have legitimate heat with one another and makes me want to the see the match. As for Cashe's half of the promo, it was classic Cashe being Cashe. I would have liked a little more interplay between the UWL US Tag Champs, as this felt like two separate promos smashed into one, but it did set out their established team dynamic well, with Madison being no nonsense, and Cashe being nonsense enough for the both of them.
Skye Healy vs. Christina Idol – Mainstream United States Championship: I liked the back and forth early on where the two women exchanged headbutts. One thing I noticed with the match a lot of the sentences started with either “Healy” or “Idol,” with four sentences in a row in the last paragraph starting with “Healy.” The reason I bring this up is that having the same sentence structure throughout the entire match with little variance kind of made the whole match just bleed together. Switching up the first words in the sentence, as well as sentence length, would have helped to make the match more easily readable. The action was great, it just took me a couple of read throughs to get it.
* Healy's post match promo was great stuff. Having her call out Juliana DiMaria was just fantastic, and considering their history, and their respective views on the US Title, the match sells itself. Healy does come off as an entitled b-word in the very best ways, and always sells the fact that she's an arrogant POS. Good stuff!
* Can I just say I'm happy that Bryan Ford got to finally eat a sandwich in peace? Mark out moment right there for sure. One thing I really like about the Ford character is that you can tell that at his core, he's a good guy who unfortunately has a big ego. It's why he can straddle the line between face and heel, because you know his heart is good, but he has a sense of entitlement. His talk about how he “deserves” to be in the ECC was borderline arrogant, yet he was respectful to his opponents (save for Zodiac, but that's thanks to their character history.) The beach/picnic metaphor was just as on the nose as Keeton's mountain top metaphor, but in both cases, it was endearing.
* I really liked the framing device Manny used for his promo. Doing the video game reference acknowledges Manny in character and out, and framing the promo in a way that makes the ECC almost a holy mission for Manny shows how truly important it is to him. We also got to see a different side of Mariano Fernandez, because unlike in the past where he's polite and respectful throughout, this time, he flat out talked down to his opponents and told them to come up to his level. This is huge for Manny to say something like this, and puts it in big bold letters how important the ECC really is to him this year. He has to win it, he must win it, nothing else will do. It reminds me almost of how Shawn Michaels was so obsessed with winning the Royal Rumble to try and get a WrestleMania rematch with the Undertaker. Will Manny's obsession with winning drive him to victory, or will it consume and destroy him? Compelling stuff.
Mariano Fernandez vs. Bryan Ford: Great sense of urgency in this match. Only nitpick is similar to the Healy vs. Idol match, there was a paragraph where 3 sentences in a row started with “Ford does this, Ford does that.” Otherwise, this was a fantastic match with several great momentum swings. I also liked how big time moves were in all caps, as it kind of simulated the announce team yelling at the top of their lungs when something big happened. Even though Ford put out a fantastic promo, I'm not surprised that Manny picked up the win in this one. Quality work from both men.
* Robert Zodiac's promo elicited a strong emotional response from me, as I felt horrible for Zodiac being such a sad mental state. It showed how unhinged Zodiac is, and how tragic of a character he is. Yes, he does horrible despicable things, yes, he's violent and wild, but it comes from a place of pain. Calling the ECC a joke, considering what's at stake, shows how truly lost Zodiac is. Really well written stuff.
Robert Zodiac vs. Cyrus Riddle: This match was as violent as expected, and I liked how much of it took place outside the ring. Made it stand out from the other tournament matches. I'll be honest, the no contest puzzled me, because there wasn't a promo from Riddle, so hopefully there was one and it just didn't get posted. It is an unexpected end to the match, but considering this tourney is RP based, it feels like Zodiac got robbed.
* Cashe is ridiculous and hilarious. I can't think of a Jason Cashe promo I've disliked. In one promo, he had Thaddeus say more than he ever did with Biggs. I am looking forward to Cashe vs. Binky the Bear.
* Quick hit from Kinsley recapping the tourney and Ford getting a few words in. Nothing earth shaking, but these kinds of promos help the show as a whole.
Juliana DiMaria vs Billy Danielson – Mainstream World Heavyweight Championship: While I'm a wee bit disappointed we didn't get promos from either competitor tonight, it's understandable considering real life for Billy (congrats again dude!), and the match should hopefully be able to deliver even without trash talk leading up to it. I liked how Billy offered the handshake and Julianna didn't trust it. It's a good callback to the distrust heading into War Games. As always, it's good to see a sense of urgency in big time matches, and we got that. There was good back and forth, and I liked how Billy slid more into his heelish tendencies as the match went on. Julianna showed good heart in her comeback. Only nitpick I have is when Billy hit “The Franchise” in “the center of the ring,” it makes Julianna getting the rope break seem unrealistic. Considering most wrestling rings are 20x20 or 18x18, it should be at least 9 feet either way from the center of the ring. It's a small detail, but excellence is in the details. Otherwise, this was a main event level match that you'd expect on a normal Mainstream show, so it was good overall.
* Post-match clarification of what's happening with Zodiac and Riddle was good, and considering how Keeton vs Riddle vs Zodiac was teased a few weeks ago, it makes sense to use the tourney to get that feud kick started.
Match of the Night: Tara Fenix vs. Trixie gets the nod. I could have also gone with Manny vs. Ford or the Main Event, but I really liked the story in this match of Tara overwhelming Trixie for most of it, and Trixie showing pluck and determination to get back in it and steal the win from the jaws of defeat. This match makes me want to see Tara Fenix take on Emma Douglas at some point. That would be viciously, fantastically brutal.
Promo of the Night: This one goes to Manny for sure. He had a fantastic framing device that spoke to his character, and sold Manny's motivations for the tournament very well. Props go out to the rest of ECC field, as there wasn't a weak promo in the bunch.
Overall Thoughts: Due to all the ECC promos, this show had a different flow than most Mainstream shows. Match quality was good throughout, but there were a few minor details keeping it from being a home run. Still, a solid triple, and a good start to the two night Double Shot.
Final Grade: B+
* JC Keeton's promo to kick off the show had good imagery. I highly doubt that you'd see that chain of events so cleanly in the wild with the animals eating each other one after one after one, but this is “TV” so it works just fine. There's a lot to like here, as the writing was descriptive, but not so much so as to overwhelm the reader, and Keeton's analysis of each of his opponents was true to how his character should view them. I also like the touch about how he rattled off past winners, selling the prestige of the tournament itself. This promo sets a high bar right off the bat.
Rebekah Stevenson vs. JC Keeton: Gonna address the elephant in the room right off and acknowledge it's a shame that Leytrix is on leave. This match was one-sided, with a few brief hope spots for Bekah, but it felt like JC was toying with her in the early going, hitting moves like the Jackhammer and a Brainbuster on the ring apron. Moves like that can finish the match, and JC not even going for a cover on them gives his character a bit of a sadistic edge, which could be an interesting character beat. Well written for what it was, unfortunately soured by real life getting in the way.
* If I could describe Tara Fenix's promo in one word, it's intense. You really get a sense that Fenix doesn't care about the health and well-being of herself, let alone that of others, and that she is a destructive presence. I also thought it was smart of her to not rattle off all her competitors like Keeton did, so it prevents the promos from feeling samey. Simply put, this promo was to follow up her introduction a few weeks ago and tell us exactly why we should care who Tara Fenix is. Mission accomplished.
* Trixie's promo was the polar opposite of what preceded her, presenting her as a fashionista with pluck. Also, how many freakin' Danielson siblings are there!? I did like the details on what Trixie was wearing, as it showed her to be a woman of class and good taste, as well as the camera transitions and fancy editing tricks. The meat and potatoes of the promo running down her opponents was fine, but really, only the bit about Manny stood out, considering their relationship and how she sold her flirtatiousness with him. Solid effort.
Tara Fenix vs. Trixie: Right off the bat, the handshake in the middle of the ring is weird for Tara. Based on what we saw in her promo, and how this match progresses, that seems out of character for her. That nitpick aside, the rest of the match was fantastic, with Trixie playing the babyface in peril to a tee, and Tara showing the kind of aggression and violence you'd expect from how her character was presented in the earlier promo. Trixie being on her back foot for most of the match was a compelling story, and Tara comes off looking strong even in defeat.
* With the Bobby Larson promo, I wanted to sell Biggs' injury a bit more and also have Bobby acknowledge that he's in a rough spot right now. I didn't specify what Bobby's favorite show was, because at the time of writing, the major networks hadn't canceled anything yet, but since it's started, we'll say his favorite show was ABC's “American Housewife.” That's cannon.
* Chris Madison and Jason Cashe have a unique chemistry, and seeing them together brings warm fuzzies to my heart, cause it makes me think back to our days in Action Packed Wrestling together. I also liked the fact that their theme song wasn't allowed to play in Mainstream. Knowing Cashe, it was probably filthy anyways. I really liked how gracious Madison was about his loss to Skye Healy, and loved the tease for Gareth Prichard vs. Chris Madison. Not even knowing the first thing about Prichard, this promo did a good job establishing the fact that they have legitimate heat with one another and makes me want to the see the match. As for Cashe's half of the promo, it was classic Cashe being Cashe. I would have liked a little more interplay between the UWL US Tag Champs, as this felt like two separate promos smashed into one, but it did set out their established team dynamic well, with Madison being no nonsense, and Cashe being nonsense enough for the both of them.
Skye Healy vs. Christina Idol – Mainstream United States Championship: I liked the back and forth early on where the two women exchanged headbutts. One thing I noticed with the match a lot of the sentences started with either “Healy” or “Idol,” with four sentences in a row in the last paragraph starting with “Healy.” The reason I bring this up is that having the same sentence structure throughout the entire match with little variance kind of made the whole match just bleed together. Switching up the first words in the sentence, as well as sentence length, would have helped to make the match more easily readable. The action was great, it just took me a couple of read throughs to get it.
* Healy's post match promo was great stuff. Having her call out Juliana DiMaria was just fantastic, and considering their history, and their respective views on the US Title, the match sells itself. Healy does come off as an entitled b-word in the very best ways, and always sells the fact that she's an arrogant POS. Good stuff!
* Can I just say I'm happy that Bryan Ford got to finally eat a sandwich in peace? Mark out moment right there for sure. One thing I really like about the Ford character is that you can tell that at his core, he's a good guy who unfortunately has a big ego. It's why he can straddle the line between face and heel, because you know his heart is good, but he has a sense of entitlement. His talk about how he “deserves” to be in the ECC was borderline arrogant, yet he was respectful to his opponents (save for Zodiac, but that's thanks to their character history.) The beach/picnic metaphor was just as on the nose as Keeton's mountain top metaphor, but in both cases, it was endearing.
* I really liked the framing device Manny used for his promo. Doing the video game reference acknowledges Manny in character and out, and framing the promo in a way that makes the ECC almost a holy mission for Manny shows how truly important it is to him. We also got to see a different side of Mariano Fernandez, because unlike in the past where he's polite and respectful throughout, this time, he flat out talked down to his opponents and told them to come up to his level. This is huge for Manny to say something like this, and puts it in big bold letters how important the ECC really is to him this year. He has to win it, he must win it, nothing else will do. It reminds me almost of how Shawn Michaels was so obsessed with winning the Royal Rumble to try and get a WrestleMania rematch with the Undertaker. Will Manny's obsession with winning drive him to victory, or will it consume and destroy him? Compelling stuff.
Mariano Fernandez vs. Bryan Ford: Great sense of urgency in this match. Only nitpick is similar to the Healy vs. Idol match, there was a paragraph where 3 sentences in a row started with “Ford does this, Ford does that.” Otherwise, this was a fantastic match with several great momentum swings. I also liked how big time moves were in all caps, as it kind of simulated the announce team yelling at the top of their lungs when something big happened. Even though Ford put out a fantastic promo, I'm not surprised that Manny picked up the win in this one. Quality work from both men.
* Robert Zodiac's promo elicited a strong emotional response from me, as I felt horrible for Zodiac being such a sad mental state. It showed how unhinged Zodiac is, and how tragic of a character he is. Yes, he does horrible despicable things, yes, he's violent and wild, but it comes from a place of pain. Calling the ECC a joke, considering what's at stake, shows how truly lost Zodiac is. Really well written stuff.
Robert Zodiac vs. Cyrus Riddle: This match was as violent as expected, and I liked how much of it took place outside the ring. Made it stand out from the other tournament matches. I'll be honest, the no contest puzzled me, because there wasn't a promo from Riddle, so hopefully there was one and it just didn't get posted. It is an unexpected end to the match, but considering this tourney is RP based, it feels like Zodiac got robbed.
* Cashe is ridiculous and hilarious. I can't think of a Jason Cashe promo I've disliked. In one promo, he had Thaddeus say more than he ever did with Biggs. I am looking forward to Cashe vs. Binky the Bear.
* Quick hit from Kinsley recapping the tourney and Ford getting a few words in. Nothing earth shaking, but these kinds of promos help the show as a whole.
Juliana DiMaria vs Billy Danielson – Mainstream World Heavyweight Championship: While I'm a wee bit disappointed we didn't get promos from either competitor tonight, it's understandable considering real life for Billy (congrats again dude!), and the match should hopefully be able to deliver even without trash talk leading up to it. I liked how Billy offered the handshake and Julianna didn't trust it. It's a good callback to the distrust heading into War Games. As always, it's good to see a sense of urgency in big time matches, and we got that. There was good back and forth, and I liked how Billy slid more into his heelish tendencies as the match went on. Julianna showed good heart in her comeback. Only nitpick I have is when Billy hit “The Franchise” in “the center of the ring,” it makes Julianna getting the rope break seem unrealistic. Considering most wrestling rings are 20x20 or 18x18, it should be at least 9 feet either way from the center of the ring. It's a small detail, but excellence is in the details. Otherwise, this was a main event level match that you'd expect on a normal Mainstream show, so it was good overall.
* Post-match clarification of what's happening with Zodiac and Riddle was good, and considering how Keeton vs Riddle vs Zodiac was teased a few weeks ago, it makes sense to use the tourney to get that feud kick started.
Match of the Night: Tara Fenix vs. Trixie gets the nod. I could have also gone with Manny vs. Ford or the Main Event, but I really liked the story in this match of Tara overwhelming Trixie for most of it, and Trixie showing pluck and determination to get back in it and steal the win from the jaws of defeat. This match makes me want to see Tara Fenix take on Emma Douglas at some point. That would be viciously, fantastically brutal.
Promo of the Night: This one goes to Manny for sure. He had a fantastic framing device that spoke to his character, and sold Manny's motivations for the tournament very well. Props go out to the rest of ECC field, as there wasn't a weak promo in the bunch.
Overall Thoughts: Due to all the ECC promos, this show had a different flow than most Mainstream shows. Match quality was good throughout, but there were a few minor details keeping it from being a home run. Still, a solid triple, and a good start to the two night Double Shot.
Final Grade: B+