Tuesday, December 22, 2009
EPW awards: Match of the year
With the year ending, I figured I'd give out my awards for EPW, starting with match of the year, I'll have a poll up for this, so ya'll can tell me how right/wrong I am about things.
So I put my 4 match of the year nominees up for your votes, and here's where I rank them.
#4 Sean Stevens Vs JA Vs Rocko Daymon: This is #4 for me because the build up for it was rushed, literally put together at the end of the last Aggression before Wrestleverse III, and the Rp was only 1 promo apiece from all three parties, and in the end, JA retired after the match and Rocko went on a downward spiral, so really only Stevens got a long term boost from the match. Still it was as good a match as I've written and did establish Stevens as the man in EPW, so it's on the list.
#3 Layne Winters Vs Copycat: Good Rp (For the time, which was during the horrible period when the forums kept crashing) built up by the match on the card before, and a great read from Straw, just a classic match, if this had been for the World Title instead of the TV Title, this would have been match of the year for me. Copycat didn't suffer for coming up short and Winters is positioned as a break out star in EPW.
#2 Sean Stevens Vs Marcus Westscott: Again great Rp while the forums were wacky, and a Straw epic that was on par with the ladder match at #3. This one truly cemented Stevens as a juggernaught, and was a fitting end to Westscott's run in EPW. This would be #1 if not for the fact that Westscott's build into this match got screwed up by Miles and Ice Tre vanishing and for the fact that Westscott retired.
#1 Sean Stevens Vs The First: "Oh You WHORE you!" was Billy's reply when I told him my rankings. And well, I did write this match, and my guy was in it, but it's my blog and I'll plead my case. I'm not going to say the match itself was in the ballpark of the two Strawian epics at 2 and 3, but the thing is, for EPW's history, this was the most important match of the year. Much as Forrest Griffin and Stephen Bonner wildly swinging at each other was UFC's most important fight (Or so Dana White's revisionist history tells us) this is the match that launched First's main event singles push and established him as a threat to win the World Title, and it had Stevens win and keep the belt, which was something a defending champion hadn't done in forever. Both guys got over from this match, and they are from the looks of things heading towards an even more epic re-match.
And if you don't buy my reasoning, well at the very least I'm not an awful person like Billy who makes people quit this hobby.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh you poor delusional man. Westcott/Stevens is the obvious choice and still you parade your non-PPV loss to the champ as the MOTY. Someday, buddy.. someday you can join us here in the real world. :P
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't read much Empire, I did read that RP thread and I still think the First should have gone over even though it was his first title shot. Hell of a match too...
ReplyDeleteYeah, Mike... you totally screwed Stevens/Westcott here. A lot of good came out of First/Stevens but that wasn't because of the match, per se... as much as it was because you ran with it. First's main event rub has more to do with you, than the match. Westcott/Stevens didn't have the traditional weekly face to face, "I'm gonna kick your ass" build, but their were promos cut, and subtle cheap shots taken that bled over into the RP thread. Plus, Westcott represented EPW's past, Trip represented EPW's present, toss in the fact that they had a match in TEAM that Westcott won, clean, during Trip's first tour as EPW champ, and I don't think you need much more buildup.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Paul? Thank you for your opinion on who you think should've won that First/Stevens match. It is greatly appreciated. *blank stare*