MATCH // STANDARD TAG
Short Change Heroes vs. Razor Xtreme & Shade
Grader: Vladimir

Just as a foreword here, I have graded many, many, many, many matches over the years but this is the first XWA one I've called. What is lauded and expected here is a bit different from what I'm used to, so I feel a bit as though it's my first time calling one ever. If any of you feel like there is something I do incorrectly in doing so, please let me know.

Short Change Heroes: Excellent work as always. The two of you are truly cream of the crop and it shows all through this post. The beginning of the contest starts of great, builds nicely, and really established the mindset of these men in such a way that someone who'd never heard of them could pick this up and read it with minimal problem. Throughout the contest, you make great use of the tag team dynamic - Razor and Shade cornering Rob and constantly tagging out to keep themselves fresh against them, the two of them stealthily assaulting the in-ring opponent whenever the opportunity presented itself, even the fact that SCH are this more established unit that knows one another while RX and Shade are thrown together here was noted briefly. There were incredible moments that really made me take a step back and reread them because I enjoyed them so much, the highlight of them really being when Rob dropkicks Razor off of the ring and into the barricade.

That spot, however, bring me over to one of the few complaints I had. Your selling was a bit sub-par. It's largely a non-issue, as there are few big moments that would truly warrant much selling, but this was a big one. Razor goes off of the ring, into the barricade with a huge, incredible spot, but the selling seemed akin to a basic kick to the gut. We have a brief favoring of it, but he's up and back in the match with really no hindrance rather quickly.

That said, I can't really find any flaw in this post. It reads like a written account of a professional match. The psychology, the taunting, playing up the characters, the tag aspect, the feud - it's just incredibly solid and it really highlights why we almost always see Chapman or Diamond headlining the shows.

RX & Shade: Excellent work as well. Just as I mentioned with your opponents, it's a great opening that builds up excellently. You highlighted the feud great, I especially loved it when Razor was taunting Danny to save Rob, just really brilliant move there. Then, beyond that, you've got Danny just becoming more and more aggressive in light of these antics before finally getting a moment to unload on RX before he clocks out in heel fashion and denies Diamond the satisfaction.

Your strongest suit in this match was definitely your description though. Moves are done beautifully with a good blend of calling them by name coupled with more detailed accounts to make the reader envision what is going on, the latter of which I'm absolutely avid about. You made great use of the characters stats early, throwing a few mentions to things such as weight and height and I enjoyed that. It showed that you had really taken the time to read up on your opponents and your partner and consider who they are physically and mentally and incorporate that into the contest. Great stuff, man.

Now for the negative parts, part of which I think you already knew were coming. Smaller things first, I really felt like you could have played up the tag aspect a little more. It wasn't absent and the parts where it was factored in were beautifully done, but I do think a bit heavier usage of it would have been even more entertaining. Not really a complaint there, I suppose, just a 'hey - this kicked ass, do it more' thing. There's one moment kind of nearing the end where Danny rakes Razor's eyes and that kind of made me wince. I know Danny is a tweener, so it's not really uncharacteristic, but it did kind of feel misused in a contest where he's the face side of things (and allow me to note that I didn't knock you for this or the tag thing in my grading, I just wanted to give a nice, thorough feedback).

Lastly, you know this is coming, but the ending was just so abrupt. I was honestly confused for a moment because it's building so beautifully and then all these huge moves start coming out and I sat back and said "Why the fuck is he pulling all this out in the middle of the match?" before it dawned upon me what was going on. The finishers just seemed lined up one after another without much selling - in fact, Shade takes a Sudden Death, falls to the outside and is back up what must have been maybe a minute later. Of course, once I read the note at the end of your post, it confirmed what I was kind of suspecting here - that you'd ended up being very rushed at the end. It sucks, but I do understand it.

The Verdict: As you've probably already guessed from the feedback, this one is going to Short Change Heroes. Razor, man, you still did a hell of a job considering the circumstances and if you and Shade had been able to get this all together and do what you intended, it's hard to say how this would have went. I'm looking forward to seeing what will undoubtedly be an instant classic at KoX between RX and DD.



MATCH // KING OF XTREME ROUND 2 - TABLES MATCH; LIONHEART CHAMPIONSHIP
Mark Storey vs. Vladimir Strife
Grader: Meth

I’m going to apologise, this is going to be a quick/slightly rushed grading as I’m filling in for Snoopz and I kind of want to get some sleep. It may not be as in depth as usual, feel free to shoot me a PM if you would like me to go more in depth about your match or your opponent’s.

Vladimir: Seems you listened to JHalc’s previous grading and went straight to the hardcore aspect of the match. I’m not particularly bothered about the utilization of a stipulation in a match (if it’s a no-DQ match and you don’t want to use weapons go right ahead, you’re limiting yourself anyway) but others might so it’s good to keep your bases covered. Anyway; despite calling an Irishman and Englishman (twat) I think you did an excellent job of representing Storey’s character for what he is – an in-ring veteran fully capable of going toe-to-toe with virtually anybody he competes against. His newfound aggressiveness that accompanied his heel turn also shows, the Nail in the Coffin onto the standing chair and Crave the Rose onto thumbtacks really displays this and brings in the tournament’s focus on the hardcore and extreme aspects of wrestling. You said yourself, your descriptions weren’t on-par with your usual stuff, but hell, even then they were pretty good – better than the average eFedder. You paint a picture in all of your matches, and even if the picture didn’t have some of the finer details I could still see the full image so there’s no real complaints to be had. I do have a slight complaint in terms of the selling though. In terms of selling in the immediate, it’s impeccable and really well thought out and executed but honestly, in the long term it’s kind of lacking. I'd like to see more reference to past spots and big moments of the match. Vlad took a hell of a lot of big hits to the head in the match, he should really be favouring this and both wrestlers ended up with bloodied faces, a couple references to the effects of this in the latter stages of the match would have been nice. Also wouldn’t mind references to the progress of any whelps forming from the kendo-stick shots through the match. Little shout outs like that, you know? I must say, these types of matches are where you excel. Yeah, you’re a good writer anyway, but given free-reign over a hardcore environment and you become a very good, very creative writer often times coming up with unique situations others would be hard-pressed to think up let alone accurately describe in writing. This obviously makes for an entertaining read and the ending was to die for, there’s not many people who would use the “any type of table” rule of a Tables match quite like that to get the win, most stick to the tried-and-true typical presswood table.

Mark: I’ve read a lot of Vlad’s stuff and known him for a little while (not as long as many suspect however) and I would have had no idea that this was almost a homecoming, so I’m definitely not going to mark you down for playing it as a heel vs. heel. A little side note; “Round 2 of the King of Xtreme Tournament, pitting two of last round’s winners” seems a little bit redundant. But that’s just a nitpick and has little to do with the rest of the grading. In your first paragraph I kind of feel there’s some words missing. “Mark flails his left arm to his Vlad, but it is of no use. Instead, he switches to reaching a stance, pushing himself from the mat to his feet.” I’m honestly a little confused here so I’m just going to move swiftly on. It’s a proof-reading error and I can’t really fault you for it; shit happens and you had the pressure of posting before the deadline so, yeah. Just a heads up. As with Vladimir’s match you’ve represented both characters brilliantly. Both are veterans, both are highly aggressive and both are very well balanced when it comes to wrestling ability. Vlad’s a cocky bastard and Mark seems to be too. Honestly, there couldn’t have been a better match-up at this point. Again, the same with Vlad on the selling. The selling of the moves is good, but the long-term effects aren’t brilliant. The toll the match takes on the body of each wrestler, references to past attacks. If Storey strikes Strife in the face and chest with the steps, how’s this going to affect the victim through the match? Will his breathing be affected? Will his offense be affected? You kind of pre-maturely referenced this kind of thing with “in an attempt to nullify any thought Mark had about using his MAS Ace Crusher finisher later on” so more of that type of stuff throughout the match would be appreciated (at least by me). I loved “approaches the steel steps and kicks them, breaking the top step from the bottom ever so slightly, enough to allow him to lift the stop set”. It’s little details like this most people miss and these details add to the tone of the match for me. It’s all about creating an image, the better it’s described the clearer we, the readers, can see it so even though it’s not a move or whatever being described it still adds to the match. That said, I honestly feel that at times the descriptions of your moves can be a little bit lacking, which almost makes it feel like they have little impact. I understand it can be a pacing thing but even brief descriptions can be effective rather than describing the lead up to and then naming the move. “pull him in for a quick clothesline” is fine, but “pull him in and lunging forward with his arm outstretched for a quick clothesline” is better. The personality of each superstar shines through the words and you had some good, solid spots throughout the match without turning it into an unnecessary spotfest which a lot of people do when presented with this sort of match. You had a decent “quick turnaround” finish for your ending and I can’t knock it.

Verdict: I’m going with Vladimir Strife. His ending was something unique and really outshone Mark’s ending here. Plus, his move descriptions are excellent (which is scary as they weren’t as good as they have been). There’s a hell of a difference between the writing styles here. Vlad rarely names a move, and yet because of his descriptions we still know what move is being written about. That’s a hell of a skill and combined with his flair for the unorthodox and a solid, established character puts Vladimir over in this match.

MATCH // KING OF XTREME ROUND 2 - TABLES MATCH
Jake Evanston vs. Xtreme Icon

Xtreme Icon wins and advanced to Round 3 via No-Show

MATCH // KING OF XTREME ROUND 2 - TABLES MATCH
Akira Kobayashi vs. James Carlisle

Akira Kobayashi wins and advances to Round 3 via No-Show

MATCH // TRIPLE THREAT
Insano vs. Ace Andrews vs. Big Jim

Big Jim wins via No-Show

Results are done