Overdrive 5/2 Feedback

[Johnny Rebel]

Show is posted!

Thanks to Jules, Aubrey J. Parker, Envi and A.C. Smith for writing matches.

Big thanks to Delikado, Level-One, A.C. Smith, Evan Envi, C.J. Gates, Buckson Gooch and Havok for sending in segments. If I missed anyone, please let me know!

[Evan De Parker]

Before I read this, I want to apologize for the confusion in the Envi/Cindy segment. Somehow the line about Duvall (before Evan goes on about a mysterious "he") got deleted near the beginning of the segment but it still flowed pretty well, so it ended up looking like I was talking about Shadow for half the segment instead of Duvall. Oops.

Also... Started using the wrong commentators in the opening match and THOUGHT I caught everything (even previewed) but a Dick Harris line still made it in there.

Lastly, sorry for the lack of coding in the Envi/Havok segment. I didn't know Havok's code and had asked the writer to incorporate it but it appears that we were all a bit pressed for time today. Hopefully none of this detracted from the overall enjoyment of the product!

[Jules]

My two pennies.

I don't always pay attention to the opening credits and the signs. But I did this week and I should more often, the Rebel and Delikado signs had me smiling.

I wasn't quite sure what was going on in the opening contest, maybe I missed a trick somewhere. At times it felt a bit like the crowd were protesting, like it was a NJ moment. I don't know. Just had a weird vibe to it for me. People know my thoughts on this so need to expand, but I'm not so much a fan of what I call 'lazy burying' using adjectives like 'boring' or 'irrelevant'. I know it's about heel heat, but I would have accepted it if Evan had said 'this is boring, look at these people, they are half-asleep', then Evan gets heat from the crowd, and the burial is put in context. Just a thought. The match, what there was of one, was good, as Evan's matches always are, but it all just felt a bit peculiar to me. Were there no-shows? Like I said, maybe I've missed something here and I read it all wrong.

I loved the Delikado and Level-One segment. The contrast in the two mindsets was pitched absolutely perfect. How anybody can ever say they don't like whatever gimmick Delikado is running is beyond me. He makes everything work and it is pure entertainment. The Devil-One line really got me. I love Jimmy Gooch as the naive sorcerer's apprentice too.

I'm fine with the Evan and Havok segment, it's a good whiny heel promo, and there is good chemistry between them. I can't stress this enough though, I really didn't like Duvall coming out and telling Havok he would be jobbing to Mr. Dangerous. It's a straight up violation of kayfabe, the kind of which shouldn't pass. It destroys the suspension of disbelief, plus I always think of e-fedding kayfabe not involving the idea of 'works'. Everything is real in e-fedding world, the wrestlers are real competitors, not athletes performing a sports spectacle. If Duvall said Havok would be booked to fight Mr. Dangerous and no-one else every show for the next six months, I'm fine with that--- actually think that does the same job, but with some credibility. But insider terms don't belong in segments, just as you wouldn't see anyone breaking kayfabe in such a way on a real professional wrestling show.

This probably sounds like I'm busting balls, but this sort of thing is a big e-fedding no-no to me. I say it constructively and feel it would be dishonest for me to no-sell it in any way.

A.C. coming out for commentary was a great way to turn things around, and get the crowd back into. Some excellent commentary to sell the dynamics here and give the rationale for A.C. being on commentary. It's another good match, but I have to admit the commentary is drawing me in here. Not because the action is weak, but because the commentary is so damn good. I really liked the thread running through it, the whole Evan Envi/Harrison thing. It's easy to look at A.C. is doing and say 'he's no selling Evan Envi', but he's not, far from it. He's selling that Evan Envi is a scumbag to him, but implying there may be some redemption through Evan Harrison. This really appeal to me, because the feud I had with Evan as John Dionysus built on a similar notion. This is why I love the Evan Envi character, it's these incredible layers he has, and it's great that people like Smith are as fully invested in that as anybody else. Rich, it's so damn rich!

Is it just me or would anybody else love to see a full-scale feud between A.C. Smith and Johnny Rebel? For me, Rebel is a natural foil for Smith, and he's one of those established megastars that I think A.C. deserves a good run against. Please, please make it happen guys. Really great job by AJP, especially as she swooped in and picked this up at the last minute.

Look at this segment from C.J. Gates and you should see clear as day the importance of C.J. Gates at the top of the card. There are so many egos, so many madmen on Overdrive, we need someone like C.J. to anchor it down, to give the fans some hope, someone they can identify with. I love the perspective C.J. brings to all his promos, and in his own under-stated way he did a really nice job selling the tag match. Well done Ceej!

As for the ME. Well, it didn't have the X-factor, but a couple of reasons really. I didn't want to give away too much ahead of the Mayhem PPV, plus I was really stretched for time in the end to get it done and in before 7pm EST. I got a couple of requests, I hope I fulfilled them for people. Sorry about that coding error at the start. Not sure how I overlooked that, especially as I did review before wrapping in [ code ] and sending to Rebel. Oh well!

Good show. I believe next week is the go-home. There are a couple of feuds that could do with a really big push, just to really build up the excitement. But listen, we all know Rasslemania season can be a bit of burn out, and with real life shit going on, it can be tough. Admire everyone's work as always.

[C.J. Gates]

May 3, 2013 7:04:27 GMT -4 Jules said:

Good show. I believe next week is the go-home. There are a couple of feuds that could do with a really big push, just to really build up the excitement. But listen, we all know Rasslemania season can be a bit of burn out, and with real life shit going on, it can be tough. Admire everyone's work as always.

According to the tour schedule, that was the go home show.

Which might have explained something. If it WAS the go home show, and people didn't realize it, it explains why it lacked something. I can't say what, but for the last Overdrive before the PPV...something was missing. Or maybe that was just me. It seems like some of the feuds could do with another week to really sell them.

To piggy-back off of Jules' comments, when Duvall came out to day "jobbing to Mr. Dangerous", that stuck with me. Much like Jules, to me that kind of breaking of kayfabe is a bit of a pet peeve, especially when the same effect could have been achieved by saying "you're going to be losing to Mr. Dangerous every week". No need to rewrite the phrase, just change that word. While "losing to" might not be a huge improvement, it still removes the jobbing word but still point to it.

As for the matches, I enjoyed them. Lots of interesting stuff done in them, from the Envi interruption to the AC commentary. Even the ending of the ME was good, although maybe that was what was missing. Who knows.

Other than that, nothing really to add. There was still that something missing for a go home show so who knows, maybe they will add an Overdrive next week (though it doesn't give much time to RP for Mayhem afterward).

Well done to everyone and props to those that wrote matches. I know there was a struggle to get them picked up, so kudos to everyone that managed to do one. Much appreciated.

["The Real Deal" Ellis Graham]

As a pure spectator:

I was confused by the chants during the first match, but when taken in context with Envi's rants later, it made sense.

I totally agree with the jobbing to Mr Dangerous in principle, but I'm also willing to forgive it as an inside joke. I, too, harp on realism, but at the end of the day, the "audience" is 90% APW guys and we all probably got a chuckle out of that.

Speaking of Envi/Havok, it was certainly odd booking of heel vs heel but, for what it's worth, the three of them (plus AC) turned it into something special with their combined efforts.

I am always entertained by PD30 (let's see if I can get that to stick for a nickname) and tonight was no exception. L1's semi-no-selling of the sheer ridiculousness was spot on and made for one of them unintentionally funny moments that, at least for WWE, are the moments everyone remembers years later. I can see "Devil-One" lasting a while.

I think CJ's persistent excellence shows WWE where they went wrong with Cena. The top face should be an underdog who can overcome the obstacles, and CJ always nails it in that respect.

I know Callahan is having technical difficulties right now, but when he gets back, if he retains at Mayhem, he's got an uphill battle to be the top face on OD even if he's champ because he's still the new guy and from what I can tell CJ is up to top form right now.

I actually liked the finish. For Callahan, taking the fall showed that the belt is in jeopardy (though the commentators arguing over if he'd've kicked out of two finishers if not for Gates' splash helped maintain Callahan as a threat to retain as well) with the other three ending up on an even keel as equal threats to win the title. Especially assuming this is the go-home for Mayhem, I think that was the perfect ending.

As far as needing an extra week, the only feud I saw that could even possibly need any extra is Envi vs Gooch, but that's only because Envi has managed to be so prominent across the show that he just doesn't seem to be laser-focused on Buckson. That aside, as a fan I would know that A: Gooch brings it every night, and B: Envi has no intention of letting Lady Overdrive get a divorce, so that one probably doesn't need a ton of build.

I actually really liked the show, and it set up for Mayhem. I think that's something very different between the top shows and Meltdown: OD & A have to move towards a climactic single night, whereas Meltdown has the luxury of resolving issues more quickly, making for a totally different show dynamic, something that guys need to think about if they get drafted.