Raleigh, North Carolina Overdrive Feedback!

[Nick Watson]

As you can see, I'm not T-Marv. But I'm posting this anyway for anyone who wants to give feedback on the show.

My feedback will be up later today. Go ahead and discuss gentlemen and ladies.

[Nick Watson]

Alright, I will get the ball rolling:

The first segment to open the night was interesting to me. Firstly I know it is to tie up loose ends involving the Havok departure, but the Masked Man being added to this added a bit of intrigue to the situation being played out. Who is the Masked man? Why did he attack Havok? Is the Masked Man a former APW megastar making a return? Or is the Masked Man a new guy looking to make an impact? I really don't have the answers to this, but to be one hundred percent honest...this was an okay hook to start the night. Not the best hook as I don't think the Masked Man was referenced for the rest of the night and there were no other attacks on Megastars, but this was a good way to begin the night for me.

The next segment really played up a change of personality within Level One, I see Level as more of a tweener now (especially after reading his promo for this week and this segment), and enjoyed the change of pace of him giving an up and comer an opportunity (major props to you two, btw). It is clear by this segment that Level One has changed because of his loss and I feel that their will be more character development over the coming weeks heading into Shockwave where there is currently no true number one contender to be seen right now.

Next up is the opener with Level One and Joseph Johnson starting. The whole start of the match was extreme and bloody, the writing of the match was a little weird at time, but I was cool with that as the opening of the match was right up my alley. Then the match really started after a crash and burn from Johnson which allowed Level to roll him into the ring and that is where the match really starts. I will say the start of this match highlighted it well and after a start like that I could see bad blood being formed between Johnson and Level. There were some good spots in the write up and toward the end the writing did improve a bit and I became more and more interested. I did find it weird that after the ass kicking that had been given that JJJ could still help Koryn to the back...but meh! I will nod my head and suck it up because this was a good match to open the show and I will also add a hard match to top. Especially after the build up and hype it was given by one segment, a brutal opening sequence, and a medium length write up. All in all, solid.

The next segment proved me wrong on my whole "not mentioned for the rest of the night" deal, as Duvall and Knox basically have a segment about last weeks Overdrive title match which ended in Evan walking out as champ, and a lot of confusion over the future of the Overdrive championship. It was a good seg and there were some interesting things about it. Accusations being flung out about Knox being the masked man and of course Knox slapping them aside. Do I think that Knox is the masked man? I don't think he is, but I have been wrong with these sort of things before, and I'm sure I will be wrong about them in the future as well. The main gist of this segment was to build up a potential Knox becoming #1 contender to the Overdrive title scenario which would be good as Knox does indeed have unfinished business with Envi way before his loss last Overdrive. The build up is there and I do hope it explodes into something good for Knox and the APW.

The next segment had Jennings calling out Level One and then going on a little tangent about his match that evening. It was a good segment and explained more about Jenning's character for those of us who don't know what he is about. Do I think he will get his match with Level? Maybe. Do I think he is ready for Level? Time will tell. His anti-entertainment part of the segment where he tries to differentiate himself from the likes of Biggs and I was decent and played relatively well into the match that was going to come later in the night. He strikes me a no-nonsense competitor looking to beat people up and win matches. He is not entranced by glory and is simply there for the thrills. This segment played on that and it was good for Jennings. Well played, Jennings, well played.

I'm...confused about the next segment. I don't understand what is going on here in this segment, but I get that this is a continuation of a promo coming into this particular Overdrive. I didn't really get this segment.

The next match can be described pretty easily....too many pins. It broke up the match too much and didn't make the match very readable for me and as such really didn't nab my eye. This was the second match of the night and didn't really do "it" for me, but of course I'm not going to rag on it. To some people this match could have been good, but to me it really didn't gel with what I was expecting.

Another segment from Jennings building up to the feud that is coming, hopefully, between Biggs and Jennings. Really good segment, kinda makes me regret not trying to do a stand alone one myself, but I digress. I can see the hatred for anyone who tries to bring enjoyment to the fans within Jennings and to be one hundred percent honest: I like it.

The next segment is for NewGen Rising. As I look at this segment, I just really didn't feel the "it" factor from this segment, regardless of if I was a part of it or not. It didn't stand out as much as Jennings' segments, Level's, or Knox's segment before it and I think that is what made this segment a dead duck in the water. I'm sure improvement can be made and I will talk to my partners about working out things in a more exciting manner over the next few weeks. I guess it builds into the match after, but still...

The next match was pretty well written and I enjoyed it a bit. I don't like the fact that Niobe kicked out a named move, and Hollywood didn't get to do that, but that is fine. The ending to the match with it being decided by a super kick was rather...meh. But the rest of the match was solid and the ending put a bandaid on that bit by having a NewGen and Black Hand stare down. Still, I do think that both sides need to work on their presentation and differentiate themselves from the stables of the past. Which is a shame...but none the less I feel these two factions have a bright future here on Overdrive.

The next segment was sort of a history lesson for those who didn't know what had happened before. Biggs had been cheated by Jennings and he doesn't seem to mind that (mainly because he used to cheat all the time!), but he takes offense to the attack after. This had classic Biggs written all over it and was very good. Then Jennings being added to this segment was icing on the cake (did I say I like the Jennings character yet? Well, I do.), and the attack set up for a really good match that is coming (hopefully) at Shockwave and built up the handicap match that I was a part of.

Leon Roberts get his number one contender-ship to the Xtreme title for Shockwave. He had a typical heel approach to the segment and I do hope he can bring more than that in the coming weeks building up to his match with A.C. Smith at Shockwave. But I was impressed and I do think he sold himself well, as did Smith who came out in typical fashion, and sold his superiority and veteran talent really well.

Next up is a quick interlude before the handicap match. With Hamilton introducing a new member to Jennings entourage. He gets some heat and at this point even I can say that Jennings has just too much for the show tonight(and not in a bad way either).

Next up is the match that I had known was coming for most of the week, but the people waiting for the match had probably not predicted. The handicap match:

This match was intriguing from start to finish, but I knew the outcome in advance. There was no way I was going to beat a 2 on 1 as it wouldn't make sense for me to walk out a winner over two of the best heels on the show right now. But none the less the match was amazing. It played to the treachery of Jennings, the brutality of Hades, and the resilience of Watson relatively well and did its job of selling my character regardless of the outcome. As the match went on, there were several spots mostly by Jennings that were pretty damn good. The choking, the applause at ring side, and Jennings playing to his "who gives a crap about the rules" mentality as he tries to chase Nick at ringside. The one thing I did not like about this match was who pinned who. I don't like Hades going over Nick here as it sort of dampens the feud and where it is heading and a pin by Jennings here would have been a much better thing and a much more recoverable thing. Now that my one gripe is out of the way. The match was done right, do I think it was match of the night? If I was a selfish man, I would say yes, but I'm not selfish. I do think this is in the top two and that is fine with me, however sooner or later, I do hope that I can actually win a match.

The next match had been planned for a while and was a wager match. It was good, but the thing that caught my eye was the after match festivities. Level One giving Gates the championship is a weird and yet unexplained twist in the new era of Level One's character. I have no idea what is going on here, but it had me intrigued as it happened, and at the end it had me scratching my head as to what the hell was actually going on. I will also note an epic lack of C.J. Gates tonight...I miss the cowboy hat speaking on the mic...*sniffles*

Then we have the Main Event, this match has been "sort of" hype by Leon and Smith heading into the Main Event, but that little tid-bit of hype didn't even equate to the magnitude of the match that was coming. There were so many spots and to of course go over all of them would take me a while to actually do, so instead I will say this: This was the match of the night and it was filled with the Xtreme things that an Xtreme match needs. It was a four star match in my book and was really solidly written. The things that detract from it are there though. Spacing with the counts on every count to add dramatic effect works sometimes, but here it just drew away from the action that was going on. There was no need for it. Secondly, no after match confrontation? No Leon Roberts and Smith standing face to face with Smith raising the title over his head in dominance as he looks his challenger dead in the eyes while the fans cheer him? Nothing? Just go right to logo? Well alright.

All in all, this was a 3.5/5 Overdrive. There were solid matches and extremely good matches but there were things that I would have liked to see like Gates saying something about being handed the title or confrontation at the end of the show. There were also a few weak segments, but I do expect that they will become better. All in all, solid performances by everyone involved, and congratulations to the winners.

Match of the Night: Main Event Xtreme Match
Runnerup: Handicap Match
Man of the Night: Jennings (He is the show...so much involvement)
Where did he go?: C.J. Gates
Strongest Segment: Anything to do with Jennings.
Runner Up: Level One's Opening Segment

[President Jeff]

Tmarv, when you get a second, can you post who did segments

[T-Marv]

Got a segment from Jennings, Knox, Level One, CJ Gates, Leon Roberts, AC Smith, Amy zing, Madison, Niobe Martin, Jace Savage, Reya Serra, Biggs, Wyatt I'm sure there's others I missed.

[Tommy Knox]

Madison, Niobe, Jace,

[T-Marv]

thanks got em

[Michael Jennings]

Reya and Biggs

[Victor Hades]

I appreciate the feedback from the main-event and kind words about Hades, Nick!


Yeah with the main-event my tablet fucked up the spacing and for some reason it spaced waaay more than expected. the ending afterwards i wanted to add more effect to but didnt get any instructions or input so i left it for segments as i was told but meh i hope i helped!!

Shockwave honestly from top to bottom looks like its going to be amazing.

[Wyatt Crash]

I posted a segment, too. Sorry if it was confusing, it was a continuation of a promo I did.

To explain briefly, I'm working on a storyline that involves some APW staff bringing in an image consultant to boost Wyatt's ratings with fans. Will review this show after work.

[T-Marv]

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