I suppose I’ll get the ball rolling with the actual feedback.
The opening was good, and L1 was good to read on the “mic”, as usual, but there was just something that I felt was missing from this segment. I wish I could be more constructive with that comment, but I don’t really know what I would’ve done differently. I think a part of me is underwhelmed at the idea of Level One vs CJ Gates once again. I can’t blame the parties involved though. Good RPs and a good match always come out of it, but I have a hard time seeing L1 drop the title when his vacancy angle is finally gaining a lot of steam, while Gates on the other hand doesn’t seem to have much momentum-- at least not the kind necessary to build a compelling World Title match.
Don’t get me wrong, though. It’s an interesting angle and it’s one that we haven’t seen before. It’s what I should expect from the L1 character and I’m hoping that in the end, the winner makes the title look fantastic, but so far the WHC has been overwhelmingly devalued on Overdrive with little compensation, whereas on Asylum, I was able to buy it as an equal (though, that may just be me). In the end, this was an above-average segment that was hurt by the fact that it was for an under-utilized World Championship. It didn’t sell me on a Shockwave main event, but it was good hype for the Overdrive main event for the night.
I love Shione Oshima. I don’t care if she’s new. Give her a World Title shot right now.
Styles vs Oshima was a fun match to read. I didn’t get a chance to read Styles’ promo this week, but it must have been impressive. This is a good way to kick off the action, and it’s great to see that we have so many competitive newcomers here, ready to tear up the roster. I’m a sucker for newbies that send in segments.
TWO SEGMENTS! Heh. Zing and Shione using the same font color threw me off, but other than that, it was a nice little introductory segment. Hopefully this leads to something, though, or it serves little purpose unfortunately, aside from showing two Asian-influenced female Megastars at the same time. Heh, also noticed that Harvey and Chase’s font-colors were mixed up at the end. ;D
The Styles and Jennings segment was some good exposure for Styles, and the Black Hand as a whole, but Jennings seemed way too eager to recruit a rook, and Styles was way too eager to join... In real life, this would spell “setup” if you ask me. As much as I would love to see the Black Hand expand, just the way this was written makes me want to see Styles rebel during his initiation phase. Does Black Hand
have an initiation phase? What exactly allows them to be exclusive? Segments like this should be revised so your top heel group doesn’t look like it’s open-invitation.
Also, this gem from Michael Jennings.
made me lol.
Interesting segment from the Black Hand. Knox shows continuity from last week, and the idea that Jennings may be a “loose cannon” in the group is subtly sold here. Also raises some eyebrows for the rest of the night when you realize they’re “watching” someone.
Alright... I really don’t understand why this strange bedfellows match was made. I don’t think much was accomplished, as far as booking, but it was fun to read-- actually, the match was
very well-written. Savage and Hollywood’s exchange is what I was waiting for, but I think it’s too early for an underdog group like this to be fighting, even if it is competitive. Hopefully this can be played off as a wicked abuse of power on Duvall’s part. Oh-- and there were instances in this match where Robina and Zing looked like frickin stars. Everybody that needed to gain something from this match did just that, but I think it’s very, very important that NewGen avoids situations like this.
Short, sweet promo from Mumf. Very different, and as he mentioned in his House Show thread, it’s very post-Ministry Acolytes-esque. I would love to see this lead to a storyline that ends up finding Mumf a tag team partner. Shione and Mumf? Shione, Zing, and Mumf? *Shrug* Mumf is awesome. More Mumf.
My segment, woo!
Jennings/Leon happened. I’m VERY pleased that this transpired, because I was wondering how Roberts felt about the whole Black Hand thing. He was who I thought of when Knox said that the Black Hand was “watching” someone. Anyway, I think Roberts vs Jennings could be interesting after Shockwave. If Roberts is able to snag the Xtreme Title, that would be the perfect championship for the two to feud over.
Knox vs Johnson was a fun match to write, and collaborating with Knox for the aftermath was fun as well. Hopefully everybody enjoyed it.
Another Jennings segment, which WOULD be forgivable, except now all of a sudden, he’s inexplicably angry? If the subject matter was going to upset him, it should’ve been illustrated by Shannon being utilized to ask him a question-- maybe provoking that anger toward Biggs. It was great seeing Biggs and Jennings interact here, but I can’t help but feel that Biggs buried Jennings on the microphone a bit. It’s something that Jennings can come back from, especially since he’s got a ton of credibility right now, but I think the character’s weaknesses were exposed here, in a much more explicit way than they could’ve been. Biggs comes out of this looking like a star, but Jennings loses no heel heat.
Long Island vs Long Island.
. But yeah, the pre-match commentary got me hyped for this one. On top of that, I’m very interested in Mumf, and I’m already sold on Madison being a future top star. What stuck out about this match is that Madison was written as a GREAT heel. The beginning of the match was written as a fight, and even though the two don’t have a lot of history in APW, it was believable. Madison picks up a win and earns the Black Hand even more momentum.
Another segment from me. Woooo! Tables!
Short, sweet pre-main event promo from Smith that also hypes his Shockwave match against Roberts. This was necessary, and these kind of promos
always work when your character doesn’t have a whole lot else going on.
Main event was great! Watson (hopefully all is well with him) no-showing was a bummer, and he was eliminated quickly, but he didn’t look completely weak here. Hades looks like a slimy, opportunistic heel, so both men are protected. The Smith elimination over Roberts, however, is something I wasn’t so sold on. We already have one feud member pin another, so I feel this could’ve been handled differently, especially since it’s more ammo for Smith to use during his Roberts altercation, when Roberts is truly the one that needs “ammo” right now.
It happened again with Jennings and Biggs, and at this point, I think it’s a pattern. If the trend continues then I’ll have to give the writer props for doing something different, but every time, the person that’s been pinned has been the person that needed the momentum. Biggs pinning Jennings here is HUGE for Biggs, and I think Jennings is going to be the quickest to recover from this. His character claims to not care about wins/losses, so it doesn’t hurt here as much. I did like how the team began to fall apart after this, however. It added a different layer to the main event... Semi-predictable, yes, but very effective in how it was handled. Smith’s elimination protected him here as well, but
again, Smith is looking like a god in comparison to Roberts going into this Shockwave match. Would’ve been nice to see Roberts involved in Smith’s elimination somehow... But maybe this plants the seeds for Smith vs Hades? THAT I wanna see.
After this, a classic story was told as the Space Cowboys took on L1 and Hades (with a cameo appearance by M. Jennings) but at the end, a DQ finish doesn’t help me get on board for Gates vs L1 at Shockwave. The commentators also do a poor job at making me believe that CJ Gates is going to defeat Level One. He just doesn’t have that kind of momentum on his side, and it needs to be rectified during the go-home show. These are two of my favorite writers, so I’m hoping that they can turn everything around on Overdrive and at Shockwave, and tell a hell of a story.
Overall, this was an above-average Overdrive. It doesn't sound that way from my review, but I'm just in a nitpicky mood. I think it played out very similar to a WWE program. Some of it was “predictable”, but it’s the kind of stuff that would satisfy the average reader/viewer. There were some surprises, some new faces getting exposure, and some Shockwave matches built upon. I hope we can get a tag match on the PPV card! *Fingers crossed*
Good work, all.
