So far, it sounds promising as heaven only knows that we need a GOOD alternative to the WWE-themed games, namely the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw series. Rumble Roses XX was regarded mainly as a guilty pleasure for most wrestling and joshi wrestling fans, Def Jam: Icon was a step too far away from its previous iterations, TNA Impact! was close but no cigar, Lucha Libre: AAA Heroes Del Ring flopped, WWE: All Stars was a blast but wasn't taken serious by the vast majority of players, and the glimmer of hope that us loyal Fire Pro fans had were tarnished by that Xbox Live Avatar game.
Now if SPIKE would port over Fire Pro Wrestling Returns from PlayStation 2 to XBLA or PSN with an online community like Community Creations like the WWE-themed games, I wouldn't touch a WWE title again, EVER. I'm just saying.
If you following Let's Talk Wrestling on Facebook, you would have seen my announcement to start another ongoing series since I have finished my Chronicles of a Fed-Head series (for now...). Wrestling WTF will cover some of questionable decisions in professional wrestling over the years. Our first candidate is AJ Lee becoming the RAW General Manager.
WWE took the most popular women’s act they’d had in years and made her the General Manager of Raw.
It was a bad idea.
Their heart was in the right place, they wanted to give her an even bigger role on TV. But AJ appealed to fans because of her weird, manipulative ways.
Before, when her music struck, something fun was about to happen. When she became GM and her music hit, it would be to announce a painfully predictable match.
Fans liked the Kane, Punk, Bryan love story. The payoff to months invested in that story was her gaining control of Raw.
What?
Then as GM, with no warning, her character became “out of control”. Then she wasn’t. It was a mess.
While Punk, Bryan and Kane continued to be entertaining, AJ fell behind and somehow even became boring. - via Bleacher Report
I know some of my female wrestling friends will be thoroughly pissed off reading this article, but hear me out on this. WWE took the most popular woman they have had grace their programming in YEARS, and dump her into a silly General Manager role? Week in, week out, she comes out looking like someone's 12 year old kid sister cosplaying as Stephanie McMahon on the Smackdown! brand back in 2003.
The better idea would have used her as a WRESTLER and divert her popularity and channel it into the dying Divas division. AJ never seemed to finish that feud between herself and Tamina that never got any closure, plus the feud between her former BFF and fellow Chickbuster, Kaitlyn, never took off until currently when Kaitlyn captured the Divas Championship due to Kelly Kelly, Eve, and the Bella Twins dropping out of the company like flies.
To this day I don't get why WWE would take something this popular and kill the buzz willingly like this without even thinking it through completely. AJ Lee goes from being a role model for girls, to being portrayed as a complete slut - clearly besting Eve Torres' heel antics. It just really disgusts me personally as there's very FEW Divas for girls to look up to in this generation and that's the example AJ is giving young girls, like my niece who adores her and everything that she does.
We can't end this article without talking about how it ends... AJ Lee in an alleged affair with John Cena by Vickie Guerrero, who can't say shit to ANYONE about affairs with other Superstars while acting as GM. I guess we're supposed to forget about her sleeping with Edge during the Smackdown! broadcast while Festus and The Undertaker are fighting in the main event. How did she manage to keep her job after that, but AJ loses her after the accusation? That stupid WWE logic...
But yeah, AJ Lee breaks into a bitch fit afterwards and quickly latches onto Dolph Ziggler as her latest love interest, with Big E Langston picking up sloppy seconds. Seriously, WWE, if I was in charge I would be molding the Divas division around this girl's in-ring talents instead of talents in the bedroom.
Get a clue, WWE. These are the two girls you need to have at the center of the Divas division:
For those wondering, YES that's the very same AJ and Naomi that are reduced to mere eye candy up on the RAW roster.
I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately as we’re fully blown into “next-gen” gaming and I’m confident that I’m going to piss a lot of people off, but at the same time, this is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Note: This is a re-working of an older article on my original blog.
I’m going open with my personal gripe with multiplayer and/or co-op in gaming as it stands. I take care of all of my real-life obligations (college, work, etc.) and I want to wind down and escape reality with a night of gaming. Okay, cool, I pop in the game of choice — for the sake of argument, let’s go with Gears of War 3 — and turn on the X-Box 360. I check my friends’ list and cool the gang is on. I send out invites and get the party going in Horde Mode. Of course, it’s late and we don’t finish in the first night. We all agree to continue again another time. Days, weeks, and months pass and we still haven’t gathered the time to come back together and enjoy this as team again — conflicting work schedules and real life obligations come in the way. Of course, I don’t have no problem with that. My issue is this — why does gaming now insists that our maximum level of enjoyment comes from interaction and playing with other players?
My close friends reading this blog entry are prolly uttering what the fuck, as it’s common knowledge that I’m a member of the fighting game community where it’s a necessity to have interaction with another player to enjoy those games. All jokes aside, the fighting game genre is the biggest to blame where multiplayer is required to have the most fun out of these titles. The single player modes are a commonly afterthought whereas the market thrives off competition against other players. In the fighting game genre, I don’t mind it but with the way that genre is heading, online versus other opponents in these fighters is becoming more and more the norm. I can tell you firsthand that NOTHING online is going to come close to the satisfaction of having that said opponent next to you and you wiping the floor with their candy ass. Playing online 24/7 can be a bad practice in the long haul, as certain tactics and strategies won’t work on an opponent sitting next to you instead of behind a wall of lag. In the FGC (fighting game community), online matchmaking for allies and opponents isn't a necessity, just an asset if you don’t have any other means of finding opponents in your local area or the cash to travel out to every tournament thorough the year. Let’s be real here, not everyone is balling (swimming in cash) like that.
Much could be said about refining the single player experience for fighters, starting from better tutorials for both newcomers and pros alike and more modes to practice these said skills before taking those tactics against another living and breathing opponent. The recent revival of Mortal Kombat received high marks for providing a single player experience that has longevity and substance and NetherRealms have continued that tradition in Injustice: Gods Among Us. The early outings of the Soul Calibur series used to take steps in expanding the solo experience, with its extensive Edge Master mode, carrying players across the globe to obtain EVERY playable fighters’ arsenal of alternate weapons, each having their own special effects and bonuses. Bare-bones fighters such as Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Soul Calibur V have spat on this tradition with the focus entirely on the competitive aspect, while single player modes are near-nonexistent. Skullgirls has taken steps in the right direction with an in-depth tutorial to educate the basics and advanced tricks of the trade, but there’s no escaping that multiplayer/versus play is the norm in this genre.
Let’s look at another genre, shall we? 3rd and 1st person shooters, oh how it disgusts me at times to see what this genre has done to gaming in general over the recent years. Many fans of this genre could care less about the campaigns and/or single player aspects of these games only to jump online upon release day and slaughter randoms in online multiplayer. The developers could package in Duck Hunt as the single player mode and these sheep would buy the annual dosage of rehashed multiplayer chaos religiously. I personally miss the days when single player campaigns in this genre were treated with as much care as the multiplayer aspect. Don’t get me wrong, I know there’s a few exceptions to this case, but let’s face it - it’s becoming more and more the norm that developers in this genre’s main selling points are keeping you hooked to multiplayer.
For example, take Halo: Combat Evolved (original Xbox). The campaign took hours to complete and weaved a compelling story that’s become the foundation for sequels and spin-offs yet to come. After months of waiting then came Halo 2, and disappointed many fans who were looking for another satisfying campaign. Nope, no dice. Halo 2’s campaign is best described as a piss break and utter disappointment, while yet this is the first of many shooters that sacrifices the length of the single player experience only to force you to get your maximum enjoyment out of the title by the multiplayer experience. I’m not knocking that mode as it was highly more enjoyable than the original, but if they were going to put this much effort into the MP modes why not just offer that as a separate title, instead of allowing the other single player experience to suffer as a result? I’m going to expand on this idea more later… (see below)
Another example was TimeSplitters 2 and the original Killzone’s single player campaigns. TimeSplitters 2 used comedy and their Quantum Leap-like narrative to introduce different weapons and subtly educate you on how to use them in it’s Arcade Challenge Modes as well. After completing these modes, you were well-versed and educated to go into the Multiplayer experience if that was your cup of tea, or continue to challenge yourself by besting your own scores and performance. I personally loved the original Killzone for the ability of 4 different playable characters on your team, but each with different means of completing the levels. This offered a level of depth that’s not seen in many shooters, save for those with various player and weapon classes — hello Battlefield 3, Team Fortress 2, and Left 4 Dead… Again, with the original Killzone, multiplayer wasn’t the necessity for your maximum level of fun with the title, more was spent with the option of replaying the game with the other characters while you approach each stage differently (while focusing on each of their individual strengths and weaknesses) on various difficulty settings.
Lastly, let’s take something a bit more modern. Call of Duty: Black Ops’ narrative is heavily influenced by The Manchurian Candidate whereas you’re thrown into one explosive battle followed by the next. But it does little to offer you anything other than grab that weapon, shoot these guys, get to the next checkpoint. Do you learn anything about those oh so special Killperks and special custom weapons you’re going to use in multiplayer? Nope, not at all. Black Ops’ narrative is a fun adrenaline rush, but it doesn’t have a lasting appeal to keep you coming back for more. The only way you’re going to feel satisfied with that $59.99 price tag you paid for at launch is to jump online with multiplayer. Here, it’s essential that you’re not getting your money’s worth if you don’t dive into this mode and interaction.
Let’s visit another genre, sports games. Another year, another shiny new Madden, FIFA, or WWE Smackdown vs. Raw title graces the store shelves. At the end of the day, what are you really paying for? Roster updates — additions and stat tweaks that you possibly could have done yourself. But what they do offer is some sense of a narrative, whether it’s reliving a particular athlete’s road to glory or managing a struggling team to greatness, that is one single player aspect that cannot be ignored. You hone your skills in this solo modes while the multiplayer aspect is only there as an option if you want it to be to test your limits against another player. Again, these MP modes are OPTIONAL but not essential for you getting the most out of your game as a player.
What I’m getting at is this, the farther we seem to advance in gaming, it seems that multiplayer is being shoved down our throats, even when don’t ask for it at all. Not every game needs competitive multiplayer or co-op of some kind. My personal favorite gaming experiences have ALWAYS been single player experiences. You can’t make those moments more powerful by having to share that victory with someone else. That’s like killing Superman and you have to give Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom props for keeping the Superfriends distracted. No, call me selfish but I want my highlight reel of gaming conquests to be my own personal victories. I don’t need anyone hogging MY moment in the limelight.
Let’s look at some hits and misses on multiplayer being slapped onto established franchises:
Bionic Commando (2008) - Most people didn’t even know this was included and it was a clusterfuck of bad ideas. Perfect example of the bad practice of just slapping on a MP mode.
Batman: Arkham City (2011) - Most players weren’t aware that prior to release there was a trailer that got leaked out from Europe, that teased Batman and Joker working together as a tag team in a possible multiplayer mode. No gameplay was shown, but Rocksteady QUICKLY addressed the masses to say they were scrapping the idea. Players were quick to make their voices heard that they did not want ANYTHING like that taking away from the sequel of the best superhero game in recent memory. As a result, that exclusion allowed the single player aspect to shine and earn this beauty a few Game of the Year awards. Good call there, Rocksteady. Unfortunately, it seems that the next game in the series, Batman: Arkham Origins will have a multiplayer component.
God of War: Ascension (2013) - Take a franchise that’s known as a single player action-adventure epic and you toss in a MP element. Many reviews and players have expressed that the game is mediocre at best. The multiplayer element shines at the cost of their established single player experience.
Mass Effect 3 (2012) - BioWare receive hell from its fanbase about the inclusion of non-competitive multiplayer mode, but once news got around that the mode was clearly optional, people settled down for a bit. The beta for MP mode wasn’t so bad and people actually grew to like it. The sad part of this story is that those who don’t have the means to or prefer to solo the game’s story will be FORCED to play this mode if they ever hope to 100% complete everything in the game and obtain the best ending. That’s just low right there IMO. If I'm honest, that reason alone is why I'm like one of the last nerds on the planet who has not finished the fight against the Reapers.
Ninja Gaiden III (2012) - The game already suffers from reviews bashing the new series’ direction with the dumbed-down difficulty and level design and yet Team Ninja adds in a MP element to this game. The co-op option to the Trial Mode is a nice touch but the competitive MP element is a complete mess. If you don’t have any friends who own the game as well you’re screwed as you won’t be able to get 100% completion here either.
Resident Evil 5 (2010) - A few months after release, Capcom adds “Versus Mode” as DLC. It turns out to be the normal Mercenaries Mode but with another team of 2 players or 4 solo players besting each other and the zombie hordes. Sounds good right? Not really. The mode makes the aging RE controls stick out like a sore thumb when you have to stop and shoot at your opponent(s) in a stationary position. You’d have more fun watching paint dry than this.
Resident Evil 6 (2012) - Continuing the trend that was started in Resident Evil 5, Capcom throws another wrench into players' co-op plans. At certain parts of the campaign, the game forces you to split up and team with random other players (if you are connecting online via co-op) before connecting you back with your desired partner. This issue can be remedied by playing solo offline if you don't want any miscellaneous randoms ruining your experience.
Tomb Raider (2013) - Crystal Dynamics slaps on an easily forgettable multiplayer mode. Fortunately, the single player campaign shines on its own to make most players completely forget about its shortcomings. Why the developers even wasted resources on that mode is a mystery while they could have spent that time adding additional post-game content to single player component.
What I’m asking for from developers is to stop shoving that multiplayer element down our throats. If you want to add that element in it’s cool and all, but don’t let your original creative vision on the title’s single player campaign and story suffer in the process. I appreciate options but if I can’t enjoy the game to its fullest unless I play with the masses, then I’m more inclined to pass on the title altogether. I don't know about anyone else, but getting my money's worth on a gaming purchase is NOT measured by whether or not the game has a multiplayer component or not.
With the ongoing trend of MP modes, I think those annual release titles that thrive on just updating MP every year should just do a simple DLC update (include the new maps, weapon balances/upgrades/additions, new classes, etc.) while those who wish for a new content for single player can wait for DLC for that. Those without the net could buy these ‘upgrades’ via cards in retailers that installs these files as well. This way your single original disk purchase last you YEARS instead of until that next fall holiday season. Maybe this can convince the CoD and Halo fanboys to quit selling their souls to these companies…
At the end of the day, we all just want to have fun with our games, but when in-game options turn into requirements and necessities of personal interaction with friends and/or strangers to complete the said game, then our personal escapes into the world of gaming turn into just as much of a taxing task as our real-life daily endeavors. Super Mario saved that Princess all on his own, he didn’t need fuckin’ Luigi’s help and you know it. Luigi is the back-up for if and may if he needs it, and that’s how the multiplayer aspect in gaming should stay - an option for if you MAY want your friends to join it if you wish it, NEVER a necessity.
It's that time again, and you better BELIEVE IT! Naruto and his fellow Konoha ninja are back in a new adventure. The newest entry in the Naruto Shippuden series of games in the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja series of games has arrived on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, thanks to our friends from CyberConnect2 and Namco Bandai, who are known for creating the Dragon Ball Z Budokai series, .hack// series, and more recently Capcom's Asura's Wrath.
Plot Details:
If the players are fans of the manga and anime, then there is no doubt that they will not be surprised by the events covered in the game - especially if they have been keeping up to the series up to date.
The narrative starts with a flashback to the events prior to the beginning of the original Naruto anime, where the Nine-Tailed Fox attacks The Hidden Leaf, while the Fourth Hokage deals with a mysterious masked ninja. From here, the plot goes to cover the events of the Five Kage Summit meeting, Sasuke and Naruto's destined battle (again), up to the sparks of the Fourth Great Ninja War. The masked man that the Fourth Hokage dealt with in the past is at the center of all of these events and acts as the game's main protagonist. Some of these events are not entirely true to the anime nor the mangas but long-time Naruto fans will enjoy the ride from start to finish.
Gameplay:
The game has 80 playable characters including several new, making it the largest cast in the Ultimate Ninja series. The fighting system has been modified, with the Awakening Mode, a state that gave each character enhanced abilities when their health was low, being possible to be used at anytime during a fight, for certain characters. As in the previous games, the player can choose two characters to assist the player character in battle. The assisting characters now can also aid the playable one through the use of thirteen different types of combos. Additionally, the assistants have health bars, losing health whenever they get hit, ultimately being unusable when their health bars deplete. Several arenas have become interactive, making the player automatically lose a fight if they leave a specific area, resulting in a loss via ring out.
The story mode is similar to the ones from Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 rather than the previous game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations as it features boss battles that include quick time events and require the use of strategies to defeat the opponent. The plot starts off by following the ending of Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 but it first focuses on the Nine-Tailed Fox attack to Konohagakure (The Hidden Leaf) with the player first controlling the characters defending the village. From then the game also covers the events from the series' world war adapting most episodes aired on television by the time the game is released. It will also include the "Ultimate Decision Mode" which will give the option to change the result of the battles. These options come in two flavors - "Hero" and "Legend" choices, which
Additionally, the game has mob battles in which the player controls a single character that has to battle a series of enemies.
The Verdict:
The game is split up into three core game modes:
Ultimate Adventure acts as the game's Story Mode, chronicling the events previously mentioned from the anime and manga. After clearing the main story, players are urged to explore the four nations of the Ninja Alliance, completing sidequests, strengthening relationships with other characters, and completing the Ninja Timeline that chronicles key events from Naruto (Boyhood era), Shippuden (First Half), and current.
I personally had a blast with this mode and spent majority of the time I had the game rented out playing through all of the events and frantically looking for the means to unlock them all. I thought the boss fights were all really well-done, save for the final boss fight that's borderline frustrating if you are going for S ranks. CyberConnect2 really have refined their craft for these anime-based games, with their excellence from Asura's Wrath really shining through as this game weaves the story of Naruto's world. Be warned, if QTEs (Quick Time Events) aren't your thing, then you might be turned off from their excessive use across the board in this game's larger than life boss encounters.
The first playthrough will definitely take most players roughly 15-20 hours, but sidequests and unlocking all of the events will take about 30+ hours of gameplay. Most of this gameplay time is spent sitting back watching cutscenes of events that most Naruto fans possibly have already seen the actual anime episodes of already. Fortunately, these rather lengthy cutscenes can be skipped if you wish to do so. My only gripe with this mode is that the events prior to the current storyline that the game focuses on have NO cutscenes, just cards that let you read what happened in those events before completing a relevant battle to that event.
Online Battle is where most fighting game players should feel at home the most. Battles are split between Ranked Matches and Player Matches, plus an Endless Battle-style lobby for fans of Street Fighter IV.
I didn't play many battles online but the matches I did play had a strong and stable connection with no lag at all. For anyone who is looking to spend a lengthy amount of time playing against opponents online, that is a blessing to see that CyberConnect2 didn't skip a beat on this game's netcode.
Free Battle is split into three additional modes:
Versus Mode - This is what you would come to expect for your standard 2 Player local versus mode.
Tournament Mode - Outside of Ultimate Adventure, this is players alternative to even more single player-oriented gameplay. There are several unlockable tournaments of various difficulties and features a multitude of opponents.
Practice Mode - Nothing really special here, but die-hard fighting game purists will appreciate this means to hone their skills before taking their techniques online.
Now, before I give my final opinion on this game, I must admit I have NOT played any Naruto-themed games since Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 and 4 back on PlayStation 2. That being said, I haven't seen much change here, but I'm sure there are plenty of die-hard fans out there that can point out the systematical differences and why this game is better than the previous iterations to date. One thing is certain though. Without a shadow of a doubt, if you are a Naruto fan in ANY way possible, you will love this game's presentation and the massive amount of playable characters on the roster. All of the Jinchuriki (wielders of the Tailed Beasts) are playable, as well as most of the Akatsuki members and even majority of core members of the Ninja Alliance. If you can't find at least one character to love in this game of 80 characters then something is clearly wrong.
For fighting game enthusiasts, there's some depth to be found here - from the insane amount of support/assist configurations to suit a variety of playstyles to the easy-to-grasp yet difficult to master fundamentals. If heavy execution-style combos aren't your strongest area in other fighters, such as Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, that will not hinder you in the least here. Combos are very simplistic and basic for majority of the characters as the game's focus in combat is more on timing and positioning than fancy, high-execution combos.
If you have been playing these games in every iteration to date, then it's a given you're going to buy and enjoy this. There's no reason for you to care what I have to say. Now for the casual Naruto fans or anime fans in general, I have to humbly suggest that they at least give this game a look. After the epic that was Asura's Wrath, it is truly a spectacle to see CyberConnect2 bring the world of anime to life in video games. I wish CyberConnect2 would present more anime-based games in this fashion, such as Bleach or One Piece (hell even Soul Eater...) - both two Shonen Jump properties that seem to get next to no love here in North America when it comes to video games, despite their strong followings. I'm giving this a solid 8 out of 10.
***Bonus Content:***
Much like my Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance review, I'm going to provide a bit of gameplay of myself playing the game. I don't consider myself a pro or anything at this game. This footage is just me merely enjoying the game:
This one features fan-favorite Rock Lee and Lady Tsunade. (Sighs) I know I blew it on that last round trying to do her Awakening, but oh well...
I got revenge for my fallen Tsunade in the previous video. For those wondering, yes, Darui is my main. I took a moment to pause at the character select screen for my fellow Naruto fans can see exactly how many characters are playable. As you can see, I'm still missing about 6-7 characters. Regardless, that's a MASSIVE playable roster. That's why I didn't record any matches with teams/supports (think MvC-style assists) as I have exactly NO idea how all of those function with the in-game relationships and pairings.
One thing I want to comment on that I'm doing to execute longer combos in these videos. When you see a yellow spark when I'm attacking that's a Chakra Dash Cancel (it immediately cancels my action and allows me to reset that combo while maintaining my position in front of my opponent). As long as I have meter, I can continuously keep extending my combos. It's also an excellent means to catch your opponent when they substitute out of your offense as well as you instantly turn around.
This month's issue of Game Informer has been first to release the details on the upcoming Batman: Arkham Origins, the next sequel prequel in the line of the Arkham series of games. This article will enlighten you guys on everything that Game Informer has confirmed and what else has been confirmed over the last few weeks since this announcement.
Let's start things off with Game Informer's cover reveal trailer where they discuss some of the details of this game:
I trust in WB Montreal to continue to impress me and my fellow gamers as they take on the massive responsibility of continuing the Arkhamverse with this title. That being said, I still say there's room for improvement in this series. FYI I plan on updating that article with more suggestions as I continue to cook them up.
Also, if you want to find out more information than that found here, be sure to pick up the latest issue of Game Informer and check out their featurette on the game on their site.
The Story
Damn, right... That's DEATHSTROKE!
About F'N time he appeared in these games.
The events of Arkham Origins are set several years before Batman: Arkham Asylum, in the middle of winter in fictional Gotham City. Batman is an experienced crime-fighter, but has not yet become the veteran superhero portrayed in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, having battled with criminal foes such as gangsters and robbers, but on a snowy Christmas Eve he is confronted with far more dangerous enemies: super villains tasked with killing Batman. The sadistic and brutal Black Mask has placed a bounty on the superhero, which attracts the attention of the best assassins and super-villains in the world, and Batman must discover why the villain harbors a deep hatred for him. Black Mask is the most powerful man in the city, possessing vast wealth and resources, and controls Gotham's criminal underworld, having eliminated his opposition and begun consolidating his power. His mask conceals his identity, allowing him to operate publicly as Roman Sionis, head of Janus Cosmetics. Black Mask's henchmen help instigate a rise in crime and gang activity in the city. A much younger Captain James Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department are wary of the new superhero in their midst, and are not his allies with corrupt cops actively working against him. Arkham Origins will feature the debut of the assassin Deathstroke, Alberto Falcone, and the return of the Penguin and Batman's butler Alfred Pennyworth from Arkham City.
Old Gotham, the segment of Gotham City which will become the Arkham City prison, is not yet walled off or ravaged by flood, and contains slums, lower buildings, a large shopping mall, and docks where Penguin's ship The Final Offer is stationed. Across the bridge from Old Gotham is New Gotham, the more modern metropolitan area of the city filled with towering skyscrapers.
A more detailed look at the creative process of crafting Origins' narrative, look no further than here.
The Nemesis of Arkham Origins
Few comic and game fans had trouble recognizing characters like the Joker and the Riddler in previous Arkham games. These are villains long established in the popular Batman mythology of films, cartoons, and comics. Arkham Origins pushes a lesser-known rogue into the limelight, but serious Batman comic fans will be the first to tell you that Black Mask is an exciting choice. Who is Black Mask, and what is his role in the upcoming game? Here’s your primer, both for understanding Black Mask in the wider Batman fiction, as well as how he fits into the Arkhamverse.
Black Mask has a long and sordid history within the Batman comics; the moniker has even applied to two separate individuals over the years. The Black Mask presented in Arkham Origins is the original character, an evil, sadistic individual by the name of Roman Sionis. In the original comic fiction, Sionis showed up as Black Mask in 1985. Sionis was the son of a wealthy socialite couple in Gotham, much like Bruce Wayne. Unlike Wayne, Sionis’ parents were angry, treacherous, and controlling, and they passed some of their worst traits onto their son. Sionis would end up murdering his parents, later donning an ebony mask fashioned from his father’s casket – symbolizing his new identity – while simultaneously taking over as head of his father’s business, Janus Cosmetics.
Black Mask remained a fixture of the Batman comics in the coming years. In one of the more striking and memorable moments of the history between the characters, Black Mask returns to his family home to wipe out any traces of his old life as Roman Sionis. As he sets a fire in his old bedroom, Batman’s attempts to save him from the fire send the villain tumbling into the flames, where his black mask is permanently scorched onto his face. Over the years, Black Mask establishes himself as one of the most ruthless and outright evil Batman rogues, disfiguring faces, torturing and murdering those close to his enemies, and for a time, leading the forces of organized crime in Gotham. In a final brutal conflict, Catwoman ends up killing Sionis, setting the stage for a new character to take up the mantle of Black Mask.
Though little is known about the plot points at play in Batman: Arkham Origins, it’s clear that Warner Bros. Games Montreal has taken a lot of the original fiction into account and is eager to introduce him to gaming audiences that might not recognize him. “We realize that Black Mask is not necessarily as prominent in people’s minds as some other classic Batman villains, so we realize we also need to do work to explain why he’s really cool and make him felt in the game,” says creative director Eric Holmes. “It’s not something people bring a lot of baggage to when you see the Black Mask, so we have to do the work to make him scary.”
In the upcoming game, Roman Sionis is publicly the head of Janus Cosmetics, but secretly is the up and coming head of the Gotham mob. “Black Mask is new money. He’s rich. He’s very, very powerful. He’s made it,” explains Holmes. “He’s known for being brutal and sadistic. And particularly at this point in the Arkham franchise he has enormous resources. He is the number one gang leader in Gotham. And has easily the most power in the city.” He is slowly but surely taking out his competitors within the organized crime world, and as the game begins he’s solidifying his power in the city. In the Arkham universe, the masks that Black Mask and his cronies wear act as a shield for their far more public personas. No one knows that Roman Sionis is Black Mask, and Sionis is able to maintain power within the city by exploiting both identities. “Roman Sionis is suspected for a lot of things, but nothing’s pinned on him,” says Holmes. “The Janus Cosmetics company is his background. He inherited a family business related to cosmetic chemicals and ran it into the ground, and then turned it around into a huge criminal enterprise selling drugs. You see Sionis branding even in Arkham City. The steel mills are Sionis facilities. His money primarily comes from the drug trade.” Black Mask takes a perverse enjoyment from the pain he inflicts on the people of Gotham. “His thing is torture. That is what gets his rocks off,” Holmes continues. “And he’s really good at it.”
Black Mask stands out from the Dark Knight’s gallery of villains for his purely malicious sensibilities and attitude toward Batman. “The sadistic nature of Black Mask is a fun thing for us to play with – the lengths to which he’s willing to go to get what he wants,” says senior producer Ben Mattes. While Black Mask’s motivations may eventually reveal themselves to be even deeper, it’s clear from our early glimpse of the game that Batman’s death is high on his list of priorities. Arkham Origins’ Black Mask carries a deep hatred for Batman, and that manifests as the central threat facing Batman in the game. Black Mask seeks out a cadre of the world’s best killers, and promises each a reward for bringing down Batman. “It’s basically Batman’s worst nightmare,” says narrative director Dooma Wendschuh. “We have eight of the best assassins in the world who’ve come together to Gotham City for one night, Christmas Eve of all nights, to kill the Bat.”
Black Mask may not as well known as Penguin or Mr. Freeze, but the dark tone of the character and his connections to the Gotham underworld fit perfectly with what we’ve seen of Batman: Arkham Origins. While the original comic version of the character has plenty of reasons to hate Batman, those details remain shrouded within the Arkham storyline. Why has Black Mask suddenly taken such an interest in the death of the Dark Knight? We’ll have to wait for the game’s release to find out for sure.
Want to know more about Black Mask? Here’s our recommended comics reading list: Batman #386, #485-486, #518, #688-697, and Detective Comics #553.
Arkham Origins will feature similar gameplay to its predecessors. The Remote Claw is a new gadget which allows Batman to target two objects (reminiscent of the grappling hook in Just Cause 2) and pull them together allowing him to knock enemies together or hit them with objects. The game introduces a fast travel system, allowing Batman to remotely summon his plane, the Batwing, to transport him to other areas of the game world quicker than gliding or grappling can allow. Enemy tower installations prevent Batman summoning the craft in some areas and must be first disabled using various gadgets and abilities to make the Batwing available: the Batwing is not player controlled. Players can compare this concept to the tower takeover objectives in the Assassin's Creed series.
Arkham Origins offers side missions including: "Crime in Progress", where Batman can assist the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) to improve his reputation by accomplishing tasks such as rescuing police officers from a gang or preventing an informant being thrown to his death; "Most Wanted" allows Batman to pursue villains outside of the main story. The Dark Knight system offers tasks of escalating difficulty that promote improvement in stealth and combat. Completing side missions is rewarded with experience points and upgrades to Batman's equipment. The game features an emphasis on Batman's detective skills: Batman can scan a crime scene using his detective vision to highlight points of interest and holograms act out theoretical scenarios of the crime that occurred. The crimes can be reviewed on the Batcomputer in the Batcave at will, allowing the player to view the scene from different angles, in slow motion or pause it while looking for clues to advance and solve the crime. Small and large crime scenes are spread out over Gotham City.
I found it to be VERY ironic that I recently read this after seeing it on the new arrivals rack at my local comic book shop a few weeks prior to this game's announcement. Black Mask had a VERY brief appearance in the beginning of Arkham City that most players weren't aware of, but most will remember him being an exclusive boss at the end of one of the Riddler's Revenge DLC Challenge Rooms of the same name.
If you get a chance to read this, pick it up. It's a great read on his origins and what he was up to over the course of the last two games' timelines.
I was hoping that he would have had a bigger role in these games and now he has the chance to shine. It's cool to see that the other mob bosses are getting represented here too, with Falcone already being confirmed, but I hope Rupert Thorne makes an appearance in this game as well.
While we're on the subject of villains, here's my picks for this game to be included: Firefly, Man-Bat, and any of the members of the League of Assassins (Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Lady Shiva, David Cain, Merlyn, White Ghost, etc.). Those are MUSTS for this game as it's a given that we are going to be treated with Bat's first encounters with The Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, The Riddler, and some of his other more popular rogues.
What intrigues me the most of all about the announcements so far is that Deathstroke (better known to as Slade to fans of Cartoon Network's Teen Titans cartoon) is in the game. Sure, most comic book fans know him as DC's answer (or complete rip-off to) to Marvel's Deadpool, but the masses don't know that Deathstroke is one of the few villains that has beaten Batman on multiple occasions - clean - with his superior combat ability. The few times Bats has defeated him it's been with the help of the Justice League or others supporting him as back-up. I have a feeling that Deathstroke is going to have a key role in this game, especially if he's the assassin who ends up beating him for the bounty.
On the other hand, we have something else to think about. We have Azreal's warning from Arkham City to consider here. Shame on you if you never completed this simple side-quest: "I bring a message: dark days are coming, Batman. The Prophecy is coming true, you are the warrior who will close the gates of Hell, you are the one who will save this day, and in doing so, events will occur that you cannot stop, from the ashes of Arkham the fires will rage and Gotham will burn, and you, you will burn too."
One could argue that he is referring to Ra's al Ghul's influence in Arkham City, as Ra's al Ghul is referred to as "demon from Hell" in different interpretations of his character and persona, but I don't want to look at it from a simple-minded perspective. It seems like there's more to it than that. Ra's isn't the type of villain like The Joker where (for the most part) his schemes are one flop and it's done and over. He has that A through Z mentality where he has multiple lengths to go about to obtain his means. Where Joker thinks about taking over one simple little city, Ra's always has global domination on his mind. Black Mask may be the figurehead of all of the villainy in Origins, but you can say the same about Hugo Strange in Arkham City before both Joker and Ra's were revealed to be the ultimate puppet masters behind that narrative.
I don't necessarily believe that this game will entirely be a prequel, especially on the note that the Harley's Revenge DLC ended on (my full review here). I doubt Rocksteady would want to close the book on that chapter of the Arkhamverse just like that. The Joker's death really hit Batman harder than anyone could have imagined and from Oracle and Robin's descriptions during that DLC, we have no choice but to believe that it's going to affect his crime-fighting mentality later down the road. My prediction is that this game is a reflection of sorts, as Batman attempts to piece everything together from the past up to present day for the series can continue to move forward. With Paul Dini stepping down as a writer to the Arkhamverse, who knows what direction they will take next in this storyline at all. Also, keep in mind that he did NOT have anything to do with the Harley's Revenge DLC or any DLC for Arkham City, but has mentioned that if he sees anything Batman-related that peaks his interest he might jump on board again.
Regardless, I hope this is going to continue the successful legacy of the Arkhamverse as the paramount of superhero-themed games, despite the fact that they are going for the cheap way of going about for a sequel and giving us a prequel instead of continuing the present day narrative.
If you guys want to exchange ideas or discuss theories over this new game, feel free to post in the comments.
Sup guys, I know I tend to update this blog at lot more frequently than Let's Talk Wrestling but that's mainly because I have a LOT more to say here on the other end of nerd culture. Plus, if I'm honest, there's WAY too much mainstream wrestling in one week to comment on everything of interest.
Still, I have a few pet projects that I'm going to share to you guys early details that I'm working on for this blog that are upcoming over the next few weeks:
- Bi-Monthly updates to The Arena, featuring tutorials and videos on most current generation fighters on the market today.
To be honest, I'm still up in the air on whether or not that I'm going to cover Injustice: Gods Among Us yet. I thought I was going to be able to find enough content to keep things fresh with Guilty Gear XX Accent Core but I'm going to kill that section, along with the Killer Instinct one soon as a result.
- The first things on the agenda to be updated are a series of in-depth character tutorials for Tekken Tag Tournament 2, featuring Sergei Dragunov, Alisa Bosconovitch, JayCee (Julia Chang), Kazuya Mishima, and Heihachi Mishima. These videos are NOT my own creation, but credit goes to the folks at Level Up Your Game and Avoiding The Puddle.
- In-depth tutorial for Jill Valentine in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
These updates won't be limited to just what was mentioned above.
REVIEWS for the following games:
Beyond Good & Evil HD
BioShock: Infinite
Black Knight Sword
Dust: An Elysian Tail
Lollipop Chainsaw
Mark of the Ninja
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3
Some more gameplay sessions of various games spanning multiple consoles and genres, including:
Batman: Arkham City
Bayonetta
God Hand
Mega Man series
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Shinobi/Nightshade
Soul Calibur series
Super Punch-Out!!
Urban Reign
As I mentioned on Facebook, I'm open to requests as well.
I Suck At Fighting Games Episode 2 will be up later this summer.
Currently, there's no particular date in mind as I'm set on finishing my backlog of gaming in other genres first before I decide to focus back on fighting games again.
With Batman: Arkham Origins already set into motion and details are coming out of the woodwork, Rocksteady has passed on development of the game to WB Montreal entirely. While the new studio is leaning on Rocksteady for support and guidance, I still have my personal concerns and ideas that should be implemented and addressed to ensure the success of future Arkham themed games.
I. Freeflow Combat Changes/Improvements
Bring back the Ultra-Batclaw in Freeflow. Hands down my favorite combo starter in Arkham Asylum. The basic Batclaw in Arkham City is a mediocre replacement (starts up FAR too slow and the long recovery), despite on how cool the Batclaw Slam is.
Add in the ability to cancel attacks using the Evasion button in Freeflow Combat. The worst thing that could happen when you are garnering a massive amount of points in combat is stringing a series of Critical Strikes in succession, only to make the mistake of directing your next attack towards an armored or stun rod-wielding foe. What I'm asking for is a last second evasion to cancel that action, much like the Webzip cancel in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows - a counter prompt pops up when your incoming attack is about to intercepted so this grants you the option or redirecting it towards another unlucky adversary. This spares players the embarrassment of losing all of those points for that one simple mistake that is bound to happen when the screen is littered with multiple opponents. This change would improve Catwoman's gameplay in Freeflow considerably alone.
There should be multiple ways to take down Armored Thugs, Titans, Shielded Thugs, and Knife-Wielders. The same canned methods are getting rather stale. The Ultra Stun to Beatdown is cool, but very time-consuming in mobs of opponents. Using Lieutenants to damage Titans is very hard to garner into Freeflow combos and I think players would benefit from still having the ability to disorient Titans again with the Batarang like in Arkham Asylum. Maybe add in a special x30 or x50 special takedown that works on Titans and Lieutenants only. With a multitude of options to take down these individual opponents, Batman doesn't have to rely so heavily on the Disarm & Destroy takedown like in Arkham City. If Catwoman is going to continue being playable in future sequels, she should have more options at her disposal to take care of these opponents as well. If it was up to me, I would allow the Batclaw quick gadget to snatch away enemy shields too in Freeflow.
The Bat Swarm takedown is a fan-favorite in this game, but I would prefer to have the Throw takedown back from Arkham Asylum. While I agree that Bat Swarm has a multitude of uses, that include easy setups for Ground Takedowns, but at the same time, it doesn't last as long as one would expect. Either extend the stun effect and radius, or give me back the Throw for dealing with mobs. Currently, Robin is the only character who still have this takedown from Arkham Asylum.
Disable single Ground Takedowns in Freeflow. While we have access to the Multi-Ground Takedown it really kills the point of having a solo version. I would be perfectly content with that move being limited to just Predator actions while freeing up that input for a new gadget or takedown. Most players (save for perfectionists) don't go for it regularly because it's so unsafe to do in the heat of battle.
Remove Remote Mines/Explosive Gel from Freeflow. They have little to no effectiveness in combat and it's more of an annoyance to plant one and wait for enough foes are around it to detonate it without losing your combo string. What's even more pathetic is that this gadget does little to no damage to Titans. My suggestion to improve this move would be to enable an ability that allows you to slap a mine/spray the explosive gel on the Titan to weaken him.
More attention to the other playable characters. Rocksteady made a huge selling point with Catwoman, Nightwing, and Robin being playable in Arkham City but all three were mediocre at best compared to The Dark Knight himself. All three of these characters are missing the precious Disarm & Destroy takedown that is vital to survival on the Extreme challenge rooms, where these rooms are armed to the teeth with Batman's hardest foes from the single player campaign. Someone explain to me why is Catwoman's Critical Strikes and overall movement just as the same, if not slower at times, than Batman's? Don't even get me started on her piss poor hit detection on her Whip attacks for Stun... Why does Robin have the slowest Beatdown animation out of all of the playable characters and Nightwing lacks glide attacks because he doesn't have a cape? Hello, Nightwing's "wings" are underneath his arms if we're going by both the comics and the animated series. All I'm asking is that Rocksteady stops taking the cheap way out when giving us additional characters. Either give them the same options and variety as Batman (or even more variety in some cases) or don't bother with them at all.
II. Predator Mode Changes/Improvements
Incorporate Smoke Bombs into Predator gameplay, especially in rooms where all guards are armed. For the past two games in the series, this gadget has been limited to just for escaping or hiding from armed foes. I would love to be able to use this traditionally like Batman is known for, dropping a few of these into a crowd and taking out everyone before the smoke clears.
There should be a bonus for the players who are more comfortable with the stealth-oriented sections than combat. By now it's a given that most players who enjoy this series fall into two categories: those who excel at the combat but not the stealth sections, or those who excel at the stealth sections but struggle with the combat. There's few players like myself who enjoy and excel at both. Perhaps the game could give more EXP for players who are more creative with their gadget use in these sections - setting traps and multiple gadgets being used than just simply taking out everyone with silent takedowns. More of the bonus objectives like in the Riddler's Revenge Predator Challenges would be a plus.
If Catwoman is going to continue being a playable character, she is going to require some more options to make her truly unique and set her apart from Batman.Arkham City gave her a decent foundation to start with but she requires a lot of work to be effective when Batman can do everything she can but better and with minimal effort. I suggest a good start would be to assign her an Isis (her pet feline) helper that can be controlled much like the Remote Batarang. She can let Isis go into vents and small openings to help her get into inaccessible areas (much like those where Batman has to hack the doors open) while using Isis to distract foes much like the Sonic Batarang.
Don't forget before you guys get mad after reading this. You guys BEGGED for me to finish this story, so don't get mad at me for finishing my side of it and it hurts a lot of people's feelings and opens old wounds.
First of all, I would like to thank my readers for sticking it out with me on this recap of this journey. I know I should be spending more time in this blog discussing other outlets of pro wrestling instead of the drama of what transpired in one e-federation but I feel that this is a tale that needed to be told for all of those involved to gain closure.
I. The Infection Spreads
After MCB's departure, all of the hostile threats and uproar over her retirement mysteriously vanished. At this moment, my staff consisted of the following:
Administrator - myself Co-Admins - Raven, Pinky (Kirsten) Misc. Staff - Sam (Samuel), Justice, Kameron (Kam), Adam
Immediately following MCB's departure, Kam began requesting to allow her to come back. Of course, I turned him down. Despite of him being homosexual IRL, they were close in-character. Naturally, I allowed him to pick up Melina since that would have ruined the Motor City Machine Guns' team (Melina was acting as their manager and still caught up in the feud/rivalry with Amiee Vaughan), especially with the program that Shine It On Mew as still doing off and on with them. I didn't think much of it at the time, but over time Kam and I began to chat regularly.
As I reflected on this matter over the years, I think the one catalyst that urged my staff to stab me in the back was that I allowed Litablaze (or her so-called roomie) to return, under the handle of Psycho-Shaman. Go ahead and soak that tidbit of information in for a second as I'm sure not many members were aware of that. Mind you, I didn't this from my staff members. I openly told my staff that I would have him/her under a microscope at all times and would instantly have the boot out of the door if he/she caused any trouble. Apparently, I guess the Fanclub shouted "Treason" on me and devised a plot of their own to bring MCB back on their terms.
Why did I let this poison back into my federation? I'm a firm believer in second chances and my fed had grown a lot since those humble beginnings and being the perfectionist that I am - I wanted to remedy my previous mistake as a rookie fed-head. I ended up finding out the hard way that not everyone deserves second chances, but at the same time, my staff members don't have the right to 'override' me and make that decision for themselves either. Last time I checked, this was an e-federation not the damn Supreme Court...
II. Changing of the Guard
One major secret that I never told any of my members at the time was that as I was getting closer to graduation, I was urging to quit all of this and TRY to live a normal life. I was at the point of my life where everything was looking to go my way - I was dating a nice girl IRL, graduation was right around the corner and as naive as I was at the time, thinking that everything was going to end like those Hollywood love stories (Sue me, people - hopeless romantic here) where everything ends happily ever after.
Boy was I ever wrong about that... To save you guys the melodrama about my personal life, things didn't go according to plan. Sure, I graduated but all of that BS they tell you in college about the rest of your life is laid out for you afterwards is a load of horse shit. But yeah, I was still in the mindset of thinking that if I got away from all of this, I could do something better with my life.
Regardless, I sought out to see who would be best suited as my successors in running my federation. Naturally, I was down to Pinky and Raven as they helped me enough as it is with the ongoings around the forum and match writing. At this point, ZXWWF had 2 brands. Xplosion (RAW/main roster) then VWA (our own mock developmental territory, dubbed the "Virtual Wrestling Alliance"). This is when and where the egos came out, as most people who were drafted to the VWA considered it a sign of disrespect. Others took it as the golden opportunity to reinvent themselves or try new things with their characters.
Lesson 12: As a roleplayer, don't be afraid to evolve and more importantly don't be afraid to fail.
That's one thing that all wrestlers (fictious/RL) should strive for, is to continue to evolve your craft in and out of the ring. Otherwise, your characters will become flat, stale, and boring.
I have seen and known several roleplayers for years and many of them are VERY talented but just limit themselves for the most part, sticking with the same mold of character that they are most comfortable with, just because it's easy and they are use to succeeding with that recycled gimmick. Much like fans' increased boredom with John Cena as face, you can't play the same type of character on and on and on without injecting any new elements to that character. "Oh I'm a prima donna bitch who hates everyone" or "I'm the douchebag that fell off the CM Punk or Team Xtreme bandwagon" - yeah, you're REALLY original there, kiddo. You and EVERYONE else (Insert sarcasm).
It was about this time in ZXWWF's history that I decided to help Cheeka with an angle that I'm sure that no one who has been part of that federation has forgotten - the infamous Cheeka brainwashing a comatose ZX and convincing him that they are to be wed, instead of Mariah. This drove Mariah to into a Mariah Carey-like insanity. Cheeka and ZX ruled ZXWWF like HHH and Stephanie McMahon with it leading to Cheeka even capturing the VWA Divas title in the process.
"But why did you give Cheeka all of these opportunities, Z? Looks like favoritism to me, bro..." Common assumption here when I decide to take a moment out of my free time of running a federation to take a few members underneath my wing and give them a push in the right direction. I did the same thing with the X-Terminators, The Legion (more on this later...), and several other stables throughout my e-fed career and I'm proud to do it again. One thing I can't stand to see is members getting caught up into their own successes in a federation and neglect to help out their aspiring and fellow members of the fed. Just like with RL wrestling, you're only as good as who you beat. If you don't make your opponents and adversaries look good then your character(s) looks like chicken fodder as well. Oh, you're some big shot because you beat a bunch of random losers in a federation that no one hasn't heard about? Big freakin' deal. I'll care about your 'successes' in my federation when your storyline and/or feud literally steals the show.
Before I go further, I guess I should say a bit about Cheeka herself. Much like majority of the members in the fed, I met her through Caws.ws. She initially joined under a masked luchadora gimmick by the name of Yuki Suzuki before getting unmasked and going with her character that was more heavily influenced by her RL self and wrestled like a hybrid between Lita and New Jack, going by the name of Katrina "Cheeka" Mendoza. About the handler herself though? Cheeka's one of the most sweetest and kindest individuals I have come to known during my tenure as a fed-head, but if I could name one flaw she has it's a lack of confidence in her own talents. It really hinders her from doing a lot of great things with her incredible degree of creativity in roleplaying for e-feds. Over the years, it really frustrates me to no end to see her continue to doubt herself, and literally drop the ball on storylines and angles as a result. If I can get any message into her head and drive it in there with a nail and a hammer, it's that to stop F'N doubting yourself. You have the ability to hang with the best with this and anything else you put your mind towards. You're only failing yourself if you give up without even trying at all. I honestly don't have the patience to keep being a broken record and keep constantly repeating that to you, but I hope you see that someday.
One of the reasons that contributed to me getting sick of this federation was Cheeka literally bailing on our angle. Maybe I put too much pressure on her to deliver or maybe I was more pissed off at myself that wasted a lot of my own creativity and free time collaborating on this angle, but that was one of my last straws that broke this work horse's back. Rarely I get really excited about an angle that requires a lot of collaboration with other members in feds, but it's even more frustrating to have all of this excitement for the success of this angle only for your dancing partner to drop the ball and kill your buzz completely. It's a complete shot to the knee.
Another reason that I was getting sick of this federation came from a different flavor, known as The High Rollers.
The Dead Man's Hand - The End of the High Rollers
Figured that theme was appropriate for this chapter...
By this point in the efed's history I was really butting heads with the last two head-cheeses that were part of the High Rollers, Jericho and Ashley Massaro (Lina). The common argument between us was the complete failure of the Resistance vs. The Legion angle in the federation when the 'veterans' of ZXWWF faced off against the 'new breed' of sorts. Justice was in a role similar to Sting, playing off both sides while the veterans honestly couldn't get on the same page to pull through over The Legion. While The Legion played the part of TNA's Main Event Mafia while "The Resistance" (consisting of several ZXWWF veterans, including Amanda Cortez, Victor Philips, and Chris Jericho) played the part of TNA's Frontline. Much like TNA's Frontline the group flopped - hard. The Rollers blamed it on me that I didn't give them 'free reign' of control of the stable like with my own.
Here's what people really don't get about "large" stables in e-federations: They will NOT work out unless they are handled by staff members of the e-federation. The last thing you want is a D-Generation X/nWo style stable that does whatever it wants in your e-federation without your approval. That lack of 'control' shows how little control you have as a fed-head. Stables can be done, but at the same time there has to be communication.
Lesson 13: A lack of communication in e-federations speaks volumes. If you don't reach out and get to know your fellow members you are missing out limitless storyline and feud potential. Even in RL no wrestler is a one man/woman show. For every great performer in this sport, there's someone next to them to helped them shine as well.
That was the issue that hindered the Resistance and made it look like The Legion were wiping the floor with them with ease. Is it my fault that my group was a single unit while the other group (for the most part) acted like individuals? No, it was the lack of communication on their stable's behalf that lead to the stable to be 'squashed' by The Legion. No, I wasn't playing favorites, no I wasn't taking out my distaste for the Rollers on the Resistance. It honestly came down to the fact that Victor, who was pretty much the closest thing they had to a leader, couldn't hold the frontline alone.
Now there was another argument with Lina I used to my advantage to test my successors. Shortly after VWA got off the ground, Lina and I got into an argument over AIM. Some rather 'harsh' and 'colorful' things were exchanged between us, namely with her obviously pointing out all of my shortcomings as a fed-head up to this point. I'm pretty sure she was on that time of the month as even Jericho was scared at her after this exchange. Sure, what she sad stung I'll admit that, but I wasn't going to sit there butt-hurt about it. Just hearing someone flat out call me a failure just solidified my decision on putting my exit strategy into motion.
Here's what I said in-character and OOC after VWA/Xplosion (5-21-10):
Justice smiles proudly and claps as ZX makes his entrance on the stage. “Goodevening, ZXWWF nation, we’ve had a spectacular showing for our firstshow in the road to ZXWWF ‘Mania, but unfortunately, I have decided tonot join everyone along for that ride. Going into effect immediately,I’m stepping down in control of the two feature brands on a leave ofabsence.I thought the vacation would have helped after Nowhereto Run and I even had Sensational Mary attempt to make sense of what’sgoing on around here. I tried… I really did… but you know, I just can’ttake this anymore.And for the record, this isn’t a shoot or awork for the cameras. To prove how serious I am, I’m naming Kirsten andRaven officially in charge during my leave of absence. ‘Pinky’ willcompletely run the business and housekeeping matters related to FridayNight Xplosion – match cards, scheduling skits, etc. while Raven doesthe same for VWA. Yes Baby Rae, after breaking all of my TVs and nukingmy cars, you win. So tell D-Mob to stay at home. Pinky, don’t have toomuch fun.And my dear Legion, I have not forgotten about all ofyou… after all we have strived for over the past few months, I can’tjust abandon you all. Just call this me recharging my batteries. That iswhy I’m leaving the group in the hands of the one person who has keptmy dream alive from day one. Justice, you’re officially the leader ofthe Legion from this day forward. I know you won’t let me down.”
Justice jaw hits the canvas about the same time as the microphone.
“ZXWWF Nation, I hope you enjoy the build-ups on the road to ZXWWF ‘Mania Vbut that is all from me here tonight. And no I’m not taking anyquestions… that is all.”
As ZX heads backstage, Justice runs out of the ring and back up the ramp after the "Fighting Dreamer".
Don’t worry, I’m not losing my mind, Katie. Let’s just get out of here.
A small mob of wrestlers are seen storming towards ZX's office, demanding answers and explanations. One of the backstage interviewers grabs a camcorder and follows. When the mob gets to the office, they start shouting and banging on the door. The interviewer tells everyone to relax and he pushes in front of them to knock gently on the door. After knocking, the interviewer quietly opens the door.
Inside the office, sitting lengthwise on the leather couch is Justice. In her lap is a visibly distressed ZX. He is leaning back against Justice, with his head nestled comfortably in her cleavage while Justice massages his temples. Justice hears the interviewer get ready to speak and responds with a curt Sod off!
As the interviewer gets ready to speak again, and a few of the wrestlers start pushing their way into the room behind him, Justice lashes out.
Bloody hell! I said SOD OFF!
Justice's right arm quickly whips around to the end table behind her and grabs the telephone sitting there. With impressive force, she launches the phone directly at the interviewer's head. He ducks but the phone bouncesoff the door, ramming some of the wrestlers standing there. Everyone decides that it is best to leave for now as tonight’s show comes to a close.
OOC: I guess after these results I have some explaining to do, huh? To staff, I apologize for the suddenness of this announcement without any prior warning, but to everyone I apologize. What I said in character was the truth. I’ve tried to keep up and follow what’s been going on and it’s just not sticking in the least. I’ve tried to let some of you on staff know that but you took it as a joke and didn’t hear my pleas of help. I can only blame that on myself though. Those of you concerned about Mariah’s future need not worry as I’ll continue playing her like a normal member of this fed while I get my bearings back. I’ll be still around to ‘advise’ and help Pinky and Rae where I can and I ask that you all show them the same respect that you all show me as the figures of authority. For a future note, there will be NO draft/trading Superstars/Divas until AFTER ZXWWF ‘Mania V which is scheduled to be up on June 18th. My RL is hell right now and the stress of dealing with that while attempting to fathom what to do here is too much for me to handle. I thought the vacation would’ve helped but I’m more behind, lost, and just plain out of it completely. I dunno guys, maybe it’s b/c I don’t watch WWE and TNA anymore and I need to find my spark in wrestling again, but something’s definitely missing in me where I can’t click with this stuff anymore.
This was pretty much half the truth. I wanted to "test" my staff in the driver's seat and see what changes around my federation. Plus, I figured if they thought they were in full control, the rats would come out of hiding to greet the new 'head cheese'. The sad part is, staff never was in full control as I was watching through several members' own accounts without their own knowledge. Seriously, those folks really need to stop using such easy to figure out passwords...
I'll come clean and say I did the same thing in UFWA too to see how my 'successors' were carrying on with my so-called legacy, but that's a story for another day I suppose...
Back onto the Rollers, after my 'vacation' I come back to find that the Rollers, Psycho-Shaman, and G are all in this huge he said-she said bullshit drama that was pouring out of the roleplay boards and into storylines. I quickly nipped this in the bud by suspending everyone involved for two reasons: 1) I wasn't up for sorting out the full details of this immature drama and 2) all of the individuals involved were already skating on thin ice within the fed anyway. Of course that didn't sit to well with the Rollers.
Sam exposes the High Rollers:
jericho, lina, g, they were ganging up on morrison and talking about me & you. chee has honestly been out of it at least with me. but now they are doing the same kabooki dance talking to rhino and i'm not going to have it again. mater and i don't even talk any more behind this stupid crap and i'm sick of it.
those three are poison and their "i'm your friend" act is killing me. this is twice that i've heard about jericho and lina talking to people and it's the same song and dance each time. it's sad when i can finish their sentences when talking to others.
As a result, I put them all into a feud to hopefully iron this mess out for good. Apparently that was Lina's last straw:
Lina's departure
I've known you've been tired of me for a while and it's pretty obvious you don't want me around here. My time here is done I'm not wasting my time with this match as it's schemed to be a get out of here or bow down to me match. I've been tired of being jobbed by you whenever I get a title shot anyway and the bitter person you've become. Bye.
I didn't regret seeing her leave in the least. She expected everything in the federation to be handed to her on a silver platter and when it wasn't she turned into a prima donna bitch. It's not my fault that she didn't actually start working for her wins until she dropped Ashley Massaro (Seriously how are you whining about losing when you are handling her of all people...) and picked up Raven (not Rae but the male wrestler of the same name). Her roleplays improved tremendously but by this time it was too late as her attitude held her back.
Mischief Makers
Now I would be selling this story short if I didn't mention Underneath and G in this story at this point. Underneath I met through Caws.ws via Michaela Ouellet (read: rip-off of Maryse) handler known as Aimee (don't confuse her with Aimee Vaughan's handler as they are two totally different people). This Aimee currently acts as co-admin for ICW, Caws.ws' official e-federation off their forum. Before that, she had a short period in ZXWWF, offering to help with match writing. Of course, she was one of those 'unique' individuals who think they are only good enough to write their own matches and burying whoever is involved in the process.
Over my time running ZXWWF, I noticed a LOT of my writers doing that over the years, but at the end of the day, I'll take the full blame for that bullshit. Like I said several times in this chronicle, I don't mind using my own original CAWs to put my members over if they deserve it, but if people are jobbing out their fellow members just to get themselves over, then we have a problem. To this day I still find that rather shady of people who ask to be match writers in my federations when 90% of the time they only request to write the matches they are involved in. Sure, I get that you know your character(s) and angles better than me, but at the same time, you can't sell your dancing partner (opponent) short.
But yeah, back to Aimee... When I noticed what she was doing and stopped acknowledging her requests, that's what made leave, claiming that she was 'too good' for this federation. No honey, you left because I didn't spoon feed your ego like the fools in ICW do. To her credit, she's a remarkable roleplayer but at the same time, that alone isn't going to force me to allow her to have her way in my federation.
That's another common trait I tend to notice in federations. The more talented the roleplayer, the bigger the ego OOC (out-of-character). It's not the norm for everyone with talent, but it's enough to notice that huge ego overshadowing the rest of your roster.
Underneath was a HUGE Mickie James fan, but started things off in the federation playing Daffney. Yes, one of my top 5 all-time favorite female wrestlers. Was I biased? No, the dude had a knack for playing her. Daffney would feud with Amanda before he dropped her to resume the federation as Mickie James, who he wanted all along. I believe Mickie was taken when he first joined up so wanted to kill time until she was free later down the road.
Underneath was a really nice guy, but most people would remember mainly as a kiss-ass. He reminded me of that one guy we all know from school who goes out of his way to please everyone and tries to be their friend in anyway possible. To his credit, I felt that he deserved all of the success his characters garnered. He did what I expect most of my members to do - take the initiative on approaching/engaging other members for potential angles and storylines and put everything he had into his roleplays and promos.
I'm always going to be skeptical to overly-friendly people as my experiences from life in general has taught me not to trust most people as far as I can throw them. Sue me - the older I get, the more dark my thought process has become when it comes to life. I've seen a lot more bad come from this world and it's people than good.
My biggest issue with Underneath didn't come from him directly, it was mostly from his brother, G. G has a reputation from Caws.ws from being its resident wise guy and smart ass of the mouth. You know, that one kid who acts like a douchebag online on every message board just to look like a bad ass or cool to everyone else. G's mouth got him in trouble on several occasions until his brother and good friend, Cheeka, encouraged him to behave himself.
Being friends with Underneath created an annoyance between me and G honestly. Since him and Underneath were brothers and lived together, they shared the same computer. So here's my pet peeve in motion here: You would start a conversation with Underneath but when it was his time to get off the computer, G would come on and continue that conversation as if he was eavesdropping and vice versa. I doubt there's any internet etiquette about online conversations but I would assume most people would like the respect that if I start a conversation with you and only you, then you would keep it between me and you.
Other than that, that was really my only big deal with G as I had to keep him underneath the microscope like the Rollers and Psycho-Shaman, but at the end of the day, I should have been looking at my own staff members at bit more closely.
The Last Few Pieces of the Puzzle
I started this chapter mentioning that Kameron and myself were chatting regularly and hit it off as friends, but the Diva Search contest for that year really had me beginning to doubt his loyalty. We both were fans of Shelly Martinez and that's who he entered into the contest that year. Ironically, the roleplays for her in the contest were too familiar. It was too familiar to Mrscenabatista's style. So I began to doubt if she was really gone. Plus, the irony of the matter was that Shelly looks like the picbase that MCB was using prior to her departure.
On a side note, ironic that I got this shortly before ZXWWF 'Mania V in my inbox. Note the date and time:
Jun 22, 2010 at 2:48am
Sigh. Okay, I really, really, really am sorry for bringing this up again. Final time I'll do it, I swear. But MrsCenaBatista can actually access the forums, so her IP address isn't banned. And so in that case, I just want to ask again if there would be any chance of letting her back?
Proboards' IP banning system is weird I'll say that much, or maybe staff (only people with enough admin power to do so was me, Pinky, and Raven) was doing it behind my back. I thought it was rather odd that TammyLynnSytch (Willo) had her IP banned randomly. I wouldn't have known about that until she contacted me via AIM and told me. I never questioned my staff members about that, but I kept a note about that then more coincidences were occurring.
It wasn't no secret that if you weren't part of the several cliques across the forum you weren't going to get into any feuds or angles on ZXWWF unless I set it up, but after I allowed both Pinky and Raven to run the shows independently it was then when I started getting PMs from several individuals who were not part of those affiliation of cliques that they would submit in segments and skits for the shows but they would never air as part of the results. I didn't take it to heart after the first 1-3 messages but when it was an ongoing issue that's when I started to wonder what was really going on.
I can't remember who I was chatting with exactly but I just remember a newer member tipping me off by saying that Candi (MCB's real name) showed them the ropes and was helping them out on staff. That's when I removed all doubt that my staff members were playing me and started matching MCB's IP to not just 1-2 accounts, but majority of the individuals on staff and it's not hard to figure out who either. At this point, I was done trusting them at all as I was pretty much surrounded by a pack of liars.
We Are Legion
The Legion was hands-down my favorite stable out of my entire tenure in ZXWWF to be a part of. It came to me after the episode of Justice League Unlimited by the same name, whereas the Legion of Doom unofficially debuts in the series' final season. At this time in ZXWWF's history, I was noticing that if certain members weren't in a particular clique of friends (the Fanclub, of course) they would not find themselves to be involved in any storylines or angles.
For example, Justice and Kirsten were set to feud over the Gen-NeXt division title, but Kirsten just randomly flakes out on the feud and pairs off with one of her friends in her own angle, leaving Justice with nothing to do on the shows thereafter. We would find out after ZXWWF closed its doors that Kirsten was bitter about Justice ending the partnership between her and her sister, Nicole, to pursue singles endeavors. I thought that was pretty fucked up (in both scenarios honestly) so I asked Justice to work with me on an angle. At the time, TNA Wrestling was doing their Main Event Mafia angle and I thought it was cool that they were running with the idea that the stable consisted of all former champions. Of course, we didn't go with that route. Instead, The Legion were mostly portrayed as heels but metaphorically were we were unsung heroes, setting out to correct the wrongs in ZXWWF. Yeah, we thought of that WAAYYY before the boys in WWE's The Shield cooked it up.
Since I haven't said anything about Justice throughout the duration of this chronicle I'll say it now. Justice may have had our differences on perspective and opinion over the years, but at the end of the day Justice has my undying respect and faith for sticking with me in e-federations for so long. Besides, only Justice could work that magic with that character no like any other. I still laugh at her 'accent' though when I read the roleplays but I guess that's always going to be part of the fun with her.
The Legion consisted of myself (ZX), Justice, Lise Starr, Dean Maddoxxx, and AJ Styles (handled by Pinky at the time). Why let Pinky in? To be honest, to make her think she still had some sense of control and eavesdropping on what I was doing creativity in the fed when she didn't. The Legion was Justice and I's baby in a sense and it was definitely a blast to work with Maddoxxx and Lise for the first time as they were looking to re-establish themselves (Maddoxxx had recently rejoined and Lisey was fairly new coming from Caws.ws' RPG boards).
My Last Hurrah
By this point I was fed up of constantly trying to encourage my members to keep their shit together and keep their storylines going but if you go back into the records and look but EVERY angle leading into 'Mania V that year was related to or circulated around getting laid or being in a relationship. So, I honestly gave up with trying - I made up my mind to end this shit. Besides it was the lesser of two evils. I could have easily release/suspend EVERYONE on staff (along with their non-staff friends in the several cliques across the board) without question for allowing MCB to participate in the fed behind my back along with everyone associated with them, but no I rather let those individual dig their own graves while I focused on the positives. There you have it folks - months in advance prior to ZXWWF's closure I had already emotionally checked out.
Over the last few months, I have gotten rather close to Karen Beth Zurich (KBZ or Karensene on Caws.ws) and Lise Starr, so naturally we devised an angle between all of our girls. After the angle with Cheeka, I really thought I didn't have it in me to do another in-depth Mariah-related storyline, but I was more than honored to work with Lise and KBZ.
What transpired between KBZ, Lisey, and myself was an angle that no one saw coming. It started with Lise eliminating Mariah out of the Diva Riot match (think Royal Rumble for Divas). This sparked a heated rivalry between the two. If you want to read about the angle in-depth, you can read it off of Mariah's wikia here. In the end, KBZ was playing both girls as fools as KBZ was playing off her and Lise's rivalry from other fictitious federations while this was golden opportunity to make our rivalry into a triple threat. Unknown to the masses in ZXWWF, Lise Starr and Mariah's heated rivalry would be the kayfabe reason why they signed on to joining GZWA as KBZ had signed her contract to join the company before embarrassing them both on the last broadcast of ZXWWF.
Curtain Call
When ZXWWF 'Mania V came around, there were only a handful of people who knew that I was going to announce the federation was closing. I didn't ask for any extra help as I was pretty damn sure that uproar on this metaphorical atomic bomb that I was going to drop during this broadcast was going to blow up in my face. I only told the following that I was ending the federation in advance: Shine It On Me, Lise Starr, KBZ, Justice, and Bella. That's it, and I was impressed that no one spilled the beans prematurely. No offense to anyone else at the time, but those were the only individuals I was 100% sure who weren't 'tainted' in a sense, by what the Fanclub were doing behind my back. I could have told more people but I honestly wanted to see how people would react - both good and bad. The individuals I did tell in advance I told them to keep their mouths closed as I was ready to embrace the full responsibility as the villain this matter.
The event itself went off without a hitch. And to be honest, I did NOT simulate not one bit of this damn PPV, even though I told my staff members otherwise. I was already mentally checked out on the federation before even the match card went up. Instead, I went down the line of people involved in angles/feuds building up to this event and I went across the board and rewarded the individuals that I felt deserved to be recognized on ZXWWF's last broadcast.
Genesis won the Money In The Bank briefcase Back in ZXWWF, I didn't get to know Genesis at all, unlike I have now that he's part of my current federation. Regardless, he was a talented roleplayer and always distanced himself from the cliques and the Fanclub. I'm pretty sure he didn't know the bulk of this drama was going on behind the scenes when he joined those last few months prior to this federation closing. Contrary to popular belief, I do reward hard work when I see it.
James Storm def. John Cena I had an issue with Storm's handler before for playing far too many characters under one account and after I exposed him/her on that folly, Storm really came around. Solid roleplays on a consistent basis and didn't cause not an ounce of trouble - that I knew of anyway.
Michelle McCool def. Trish Stratus I'm not a McCool fan, nor a fan of Trish at all, but McCool's handler was talented at her craft. She definitely deserved this one.
John Morrison def. C-Money Despite all of the past issues that I had with this individual (Litablaze/Psycho-Shaman), I wanted to show my appreciation for him turning himself around in the last few months of the federation.
Amiee Vaughan def. Debra & Talia Summers to become the last woman to hold the VWA Divas Championship Despite all of her interesting storylines and angles, none of Shine It On Me's characters never won the 'big one', so this was my departing gift to her at the end of ZXWWF. Debra's handler (Old School Kane) and Talia Summers were both very talented handlers as well, but it was far past due for crazy Amiee Vaughan to wear the gold.
Raven def. D-Mob TBH I didn't care how this one ended at all if I'm coming clean on events on this card... Looking back, the whole connection of Def Jam Vendetta characters to my own in the e-federation was pretty lame now that I'm reflecting back on it.
Brutus Magnus def. Tyler Black to become the last Superstar to hold the VWA Championship Oh wait, this isn't over yet...
Amanda cashes in her Championship Challenge from winning at Riot Control to challenge the new champ and becomes the official last champion (and woman) to hold the VWA Championship From what I have heard, Kirsten was mad as fuck that her sister (who was handling Magnus at the time) was 'robbed' out of the title here. As a result, I was told that she made Amanda's life a living hell in UFWA after ZXWWF ended. I don't get why Kirsten was so upset, everyone knew that Amanda had a title shot in the air waiting to cash in MITB style. Pinky do us all a favor and get over yourself hun. If your sister put in the work instead of expecting everyone to 'carry' her to the top, then maybe she would have been as successful as you here. From all of the crazy shit that Amanda has gotten herself into over the years, from forfeiting the Women's Tag Team belts immediately after winning them (that was sooooo damn double facepalm worthy on my end) to marrying Gabriel Wingue to putting her body on the line in so many insane and death-defying matches over the years, she deserved to finally win the big one.
Samuel Chatman def. CM Punk The irony of this situation right now is that I'm playing CM Punk in my current federation, whereas the individual who literally called me the lowest scum of this planet after this federation ended was handling him at the time in ZXWWF. Sam really helped me out a lot over the short time that he was part of my federation and I figured a good send-off match was the least I could do, especially since I didn't let him know about my 'exit strategy.'
Poison Rose def. Maryse, Melina, Taylor Wilde, and Natalya to become the Undisputed Vixen Champion I'm going to be completely honest on this result - I absolutely hated it. I let staff do this decision here as they 'claimed' to have an angle lined up for this. Maryse wins fair and square, then Kirsten screws her out of the title, granting her RL friend who was handling Natalya at the time, the title. For the record, Nattie's was damn good at roleplaying, but was she ready for a title win? No. Then we have Raven reversing that decision, naming Rose the champion. I don't have anything against Rose's handler at all, but my disgust in this match comes from this rivalry between Kirsten and Raven who seem to always have to one-up each other. Kayfabe or not, it's getting old ladies. Your poor decision making took everything away from the ladies who busted their asses in this match.
Chris Jericho def. AJ Styles to become the last Superstar to hold the Gen-NeXt Championship I'm pretty sure this was the shocker of the night and the last slap in the face for Kirsten I bet. Jericho had stepped his game up since Lina's departure and really stood out on his own. Kirsten was doing a mediocre effort as Styles at this rate as she wasn't even pulling her weight in The Legion at this point. I don't regret putting Jericho over and rewarding him for sticking around in the least.
The Beautiful People (Angelina Love & Velvet Sky) def. No Remorse (Casey Cortez & Shelly Martinez), Tough Love (Jasmine & Melanie Storm), and Vicious Fury (Victoria & Ivory) to retain the Women's Tag Team Champions Throughout ZXWWF last few years, many have claimed that I played favoritism on TBP's handlers. If you actually read their roleplays they were amazing. That's not biased, that's truth. If I'm honest, Tough Love were more popular in the fed for their HLA theme than actually wrestling, then the other two teams didn't manage to make as strong of an impact as TBP were doing on a continuous basis.
Mickie James def. Daizee Haze in a 30 min. Ironwoman Match Underneath (Mickie James' handler) had a reputation for ass-kissing his way to the top of roleplay-based federations. Did he get over with that here? No, he actually had to work for it like everyone else. I would be lying if I didn't admit that this was a hard match to call. Nicole (Kirsten's sister who was handling Daizee Haze) did start pulling her weight as Daizee Haze so I won't discredit her from that as her roleplays were pretty solid as Ms. Haze.
Lise Starr def. Mariah in a Last Woman Standing Match I'm going to be biased for a second and admit that this was my favorite match on the card. Not because this was the angle that I put the most effort in, but how this magic that Lisey, KBZ, and myself finally came to its conclusion. Many people saw this as another point in Mariah's career where she couldn't win the big one, but I saw it as the one time she was pushed beyond her limit and then some. The reveal at the end of Raisha Saeed's true identity is still my favorite part to this match.
Jimmy Jacobs & Future Legends (Samoa Joe & Cheerleader Melissa) def. The Embassy (Marcus Brett & Motor City Machine Guns) to retain the Deathmatch Championship & ZXWWF Tag Team Championships in a Winner Takes All Match
As much as people tried to slap the reputation on me that I didn't like Marcus Brett, that's not the case at all. By this point, I was just sick of Pinky's friends only feuding with each other as if they were the only ones in the federation.
Justice def. Victor Philips to become the last individual (and woman) to hold the ZXWWF Heavyweight Championship Two of my most loyal members going at it for the gold in the last championship match for the federation. This was another one that was really hard to call. In the end, it was pleasure seeing them both going at it for the coveted jewel of this promotion.
The results ended with the following message from myself:
ZX's Post-Mania Speech ZX: For four years, ZXWWF has been proud to bring you, the ZXWWF fans, the best competition available in the wrestling world. Tonight, after sitting amongst all of you and watching the entire show from start to finish, I don't think we have disappointed in the least. Don't get me wrong, I'm not just speaking for the Legion, either. Before I arrived here tonight, many people kept asking me, "Z, who's being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year? Who's it gonna be? Is it gonna be TriXie Callaway? Gabriel Wingue? Mistress Amy?" I have a better answer for that question - who isn't being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year? The crowd has a mixed reaction from the ZXWWF Founder's words as Chief Investor Sensational Mary ushers the crowd to allow him to continue. In my eyes, the ENTIRE ZXWWF roster -- BOTH Xplosion and VWA -- are legends in their own right, and they should be remembered and recognized for their worth for their parts on the ZXWWF roster tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, join me in giving the roster an applause. At that moment, the locker room floods out down the entrance ramp and around the ring, everyone from the General Managers, Interviewers, Superstars, Vixens, and Divas beaming with pride from the applause given to them by the ZXWWF Founder, Chief Investor, and thousands of fans in attendance. Thank you, everyone, for you time, commitment, and faith you have put into my small dream that has exploded into a phenomenon. No, AJ, I'm not just talking about you -- everyone in ZXWWF is a spectacle to behold. But the time has come for me to stop being selfish and keeping you all to myself. As of tonight, I'm formally ending all ZXWWF programming and releasing all ZXWWF contracts. The crowd erupts into chants of "Please don't do this!" as Sensational Mary has already ordered security to keep some the raging fans and roster members at bay. For those wondering why, no, I'm going crazy or have amnesia again. This isn't a work or some clever, traditional ZX ploy to get you to watch the shows next week. A few months ago, the lovely "Voluptuous Vixen" and ZXWWF's last Heavyweight Champion Justice, and myself, formed a group called the Legion, with the intent in mind to remind the wrestling world that there will always be a "legion" of REAL wrestlers who won't be ignored or pushed out of the way for the modern-day shenanigans found in "other" promotions. That legion has become my "legacy" that I'd like to pass onto the rest of the wrestling world. Let's face it - my Legion has brought out the best in everyone they have encountered and faced, whether they like it or not. If you want proof, look no further than tonight's PPV matches and around this arena - the ZXWWF roster is my legacy that I'm proud to say I've watched grow and flourish. I look around this arena and I look at my legacy with faces of sadness, anger, and disappointment, begging me to answer their questions of what happens next? I'm only human, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm going to answer that with one of my favorite quotes -- "The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions." The path towards the future is in each of your own hands. Now for me, I'm taking this lady's hand and settling down... The ZXWWF Founder pulls Justice into the ring, with his arm around her waist. I think it's long past time due for that... I do want to add one more thing. If any of you need another leader to follow, you don't have far to look for them... Kirsten and Raven... each play the part differently but effectively. Their remarkable leadership on Xplosion and VWA is proof enough of that. While sitting back at home for the past few months, I see they could run their own companies better than I've done this one myself. I'm more than confident in that fact. But again... your future's are in your own hands now. ZXWWF nation, friends, and family, I would formally like to bid you all adieu and good-bye at this last ZXWWF taping. Thank you for your time and faith in us over the years and good night.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this was my formal curtain call to ZXWWF.
To this day, I'm still laughing at some of the foul and nasty things that people have said to me when I announced the end of this federation. I would be lying if I said there was nothing but bad things said to me. For example, Rhino (also played) PMed me and literally put it that I was the lowest creature on this planet for ending this e-federation after everything people have put into it. He wasn't the only one who showed complete disgust for my actions and as a result, I was pissed. I don't regret my decision for one damn second if that's the gratitude I got for running this e-fed. In the end, I got the last laugh. All of the egos are left to consume each other in the spin-off promotion to ZXWWF while I was left to start over in peace.
If I'm honest for a moment, I'll say this - I don't owe anyone anything after what has transpired. I gave my fellow fans of wrestling a part in my characters' world, gave up my free time on multiple occasions to deliver the best results of my ability, sacrificed my sanity on multiple occasions babysitting some of the monsters in that federation, and the only thanks that I got was a spit in the face by the majority of the members? Yeah, I don't regret trashing that entire federation only to start over anew for an instant. To say that I was so bad at being a fed-head and how horrible my federation was, there were enough people flocking back to it like roaches, even when I kicked them out on several occasions.
Oh, what the heck, why not let you guys imagine, I'm going to take the opportunity to let you guys see what one person told me first hand:
From alexfailingatlife (Samoa Joe):
BTW, I never got to thank you. I mean, for letting me be a part of such an incredible fed. I loved the time I spent here and I felt I was given great opportunities. So thanks man.
Not all of my inbox messages were this pleasant. You can go look at the ZXWWF forums' last few topics for proof of that...
Last but not least, do I have any regrets?
Yes and no. I mainly regret losing a lot of members who were not caught up in the thick of this drama from behind the scenes. Off the top of my head, Jillian Hall, Michelle McCool, and that kid who picked up Cody Rhodes all were showing promise prior to ZXWWF's closure. I don't know what happened to them afterwards.
I really miss having Jasmine (Cheerleader Melissa) and her sisters who handled (The Beautiful People and Natalya) respectively. Tons of talent between those girls, then I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I miss Jasmine doing those amazing PPV banners for ZXWWF's match cards. I'd kill for someone to do that regularly for GZWA...
Debra (Old School Kane), James Storm, and Samoa Joe (alexfailingatlife) were great roleplayers too. I believe they are still affiliated with UFWA. Really hurt to see them go.
I didn't get to know Genesis (friend of Shia Storm) prior to ZXWWF's closure, but fortunately, fate brought him to GZWA currently.
Last but not least, I miss having a full match writing staff (laughs), writing the bulk of everything yourself is pretty damn taxing. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I love the small, but determined and talented group of individuals I have in GZWA, but I'd love to have a full-time writing staff again.
So... What Happened Next?
Well that's a story that some of the other former ZXWWF members can tell better than me. For me, I opened my new federation, Ground Zero Wrestling Association, shortly after closing ZXWWF. Why "GZWA" you ask? Much like ZXWWF's name, GZWA's is a joke of sorts too. It's literally "ground zero" from the ashes that the mess that those clowns who ruined ZXWWF left it in. It's my fresh start in my role of being a fed-head again.
As for the others? The bulk of my former members went Kirsten and Raven to start up a new federation to continue where ZXWWF left off, called Ultimate Future Wrestling Alliance, or UFWA. It's no secret that I laughed hysterically for a LONG time when I heard it was called UFWA. Apparently no one told them that UFWA stands for United Farm Workers of America. Dead serious there, look that shit up.
That's exactly what I think of MCB coming 'clean'...
Mrscenabatista coming 'clean' and my 'acting' (read: sarcasm). Please note, that she had a clever excuse for everything I tried to make her come clean about:
mrs.cenabatista says: 05:06:59 I know im late & probably the last person you want to talk to, but I saw th closing and I just wanted to give you an overdue thanks for opening the world of roleplaying to me & for being a great shoulder to cry on I say: 05:13:51 thanks... mrs.cenabatista says: 05:15:14 I get it still bad blood, but yeah after being away I realize a lot of things and kids put a lot of stuff into perspective so, I apologize for acting immature. I'l leave you be now, sorry for bothering I say: 05:16:06 kudos and props for being mature enough to even say something mrs.cenabatista says: 05:17:31 well, like I said having kids throws a lot into perspective so once I got into the rp game again and heard you were closing I felt the need to say something I say: 05:19:41 I don't regret my decision for one second... like the killer Jigsaw said, so many people are so ungrateful for the gifts they have been given mrs.cenabatista says: 05:20:14 decision for closing? 05:20:49 I don't blame you, maybe my opinion but people are more selfish these days and some aren't lucky enough to snap back from it I say: 05:21:15 that decision and every last decision I've made in my life... why live with regrets? I've come to terms that I'm going to hell a LONG time ago mrs.cenabatista says: 05:22:09 well im young it's barely hitting me now haha I say: 05:25:05 when you've IDed several friends coming home in body bags and had others' brains scattered on your body... you wake up on how black and white this world is mrs.cenabatista says: 05:26:03 well are you atleast happier now that the fed stress is gone? I say: 05:26:52 50/50 mrs.cenabatista says: 05:27:12 meaning? I say: 05:27:42 50% happier 50% about the same from the heat I get from closing mrs.cenabatista says: 05:28:08 fuck'em they'll never understand beside the fed heat have you been good? I say: 05:28:37 peachy mrs.cenabatista says: 05:30:16 a hint of sarcasm there? I say: 05:31:41 ?? mrs.cenabatista says: 05:32:16 the peachy bit, sorry when I usually hear that it's meant with sarcasm or irony I say: 05:34:36 its neither actually... don't try to analyze or play shrink on me, not worth your time mrs.cenabatista says: 05:35:13 I'm not...I was just asking how've you been I say: 05:36:55 peachy = slang term for being "just fine" mrs.cenabatista says: 05:37:20 well im glad you've been good I say: 05:37:35 Btw, you didn't have to ask Kam to campaign to get you back into ZXWWF mrs.cenabatista says: 05:38:57 thing is I didn't ask him, the first time yes, but that last round wasn't on me. I'd been talking to kam and he said he wanted me back at zxwwf, I told him you'd already said no but if he wanted to ask again to go for it I say: 05:39:19 it was about 2-3 more times mrs.cenabatista says: 05:39:44 really? I say: 05:39:55 only thing you had to do was had the gusto to properly ask yourself mrs.cenabatista says: 05:40:14 well like I said I didn't go around asking anyone to campaign after the first time. 05:40:35 As I recall I did ask but you denied me 05:41:00 hence why I told kam you'd said no I say: 05:41:15 and it turned into a campaign as an end result mrs.cenabatista says: 05:42:03 well I'm sorry about that I say: 05:42:27 mrs.cenabatista says: 05:42:49 ? I say: 05:43:15 ^clapping as that's the gusto I'm talking about 05:44:02 You told me before that you didn't have a good bone in your body... and the kindness was just a mask mrs.cenabatista says: 05:44:21 like I said I do remember asking you straight out to come back but you'd turned me down I believe that statement stands 05:45:05 Not a good bone at all, but those bad bones enclose around a halfway working heart I say: 05:46:46 answer this question... why let the plague back into the village while it's already quarantined? mrs.cenabatista says: 05:48:34 thank you for comparing me to the plague, but the point I was trying to make was that I had asked it wasn't as though I was sniveling behind others do my dirty work I say: 05:49:39 truth be told my trust and faith in countless people in that fed are just gone or near zero 05:50:04 all prolly have worse to say about me, I'm sure you're thinking it right now mrs.cenabatista says: 05:51:01 no in all honesty I was thinking about king of the hill, but im sure they do. People always have something to say and 90% of it not positive I say: 05:52:12 at the end of the day we had our fun and it was good while it lasted... we should all just keep it at that and go our own separate ways mrs.cenabatista says: 05:53:44 well I did have fun whilei was there I say: 05:54:37 still wanna kno why I denied you? mrs.cenabatista says: 05:54:50 sure I say: 05:54:59 2 other people beat you to it mrs.cenabatista says: 05:55:10 huh? I say: 05:55:24 kinda went in order of a pre-campaign before the main event mrs.cenabatista says: 05:55:49 what do you mean? I say: 05:56:24 2 other people... who names you should know already campaigned for you back before you said anything so 3 strikes and you were out 05:57:02 IMO caving into a popular demand is a sign of weakness mrs.cenabatista says: 05:57:23 so becaused 2 people asked for me back before I did, you denied me? 05:57:40 Ha, you know me i'd hardly say I was popular demand I say: 05:57:49 in the same day within the span of a few hours 05:58:14 just too convenient for my taste mrs.cenabatista says: 05:58:35 convenient? I say: 05:59:00 same demand/request back to back in one day 3 times just screams a no mrs.cenabatista says: 05:59:19 I can honestly say I could prolly guess who the people were but I only asked one person to ask for me back 06:00:17 may I ask why you instilled such policy? just because of the caving/popular demand bit? I say: 06:01:49 no at least 7 others I've kicked out did similiar methods mrs.cenabatista says: 06:03:17 No use dwelling on the past I suppose 06:04:01 well at least you're doing well since you closed up shop 06:04:43 Did you go back to school or are you completely through with it all I say: 06:04:58 working on the masters mrs.cenabatista says: 06:05:24 have you started this semester yet? I say: 06:06:27 nope mrs.cenabatista says: 06:06:45 ah well good luck in school I say: 06:06:55 good luck being a mommy mrs.cenabatista says: 06:07:38 yeah i'll need all the luck I can get twins are a handful I say: 06:08:04 no they aren't you just need to wear a bra mrs.cenabatista says: 06:08:30 lmao nice one 06:08:51 but my minis are quite a handful I say: 06:09:22 that's what the kids are calling boobs and cocks now? Damn I'm getting old... mrs.cenabatista says: 06:10:20 I know I told you I was pregnant, but yeah I had twins back in april I say: 06:11:40 congrats mrs.cenabatista says: 06:11:58 thank you I say: 06:15:00 Not trying to be offensive here or blunt in the least, but seriously what were you expecting from me talking to me tonight mrs.cenabatista says: 06:15:54 Acceptence of an apology & thanks 06:16:33 Like I said I really put things into perspective I say: 06:16:44 you've gotten what you wanted mrs.cenabatista says: 06:16:54 not like I'm going to get anything out of trying to kiss your ass or anything 06:17:06 is that your way of brushing me off? I say: 06:17:21 no just replying to the statement 06:18:14 Not brushing you off just stating the obvious mrs.cenabatista says: 06:18:50 well that's all I was expecting, I'd seen that you had said you were getting nothing but shit from everyone else so I figured even though you probably didn't want to talk to me I might as well show some sort of appreciation I say: 06:19:45 where did you see that at? mrs.cenabatista says: 06:20:01 on zxwwf I say: 06:20:19 how so? everything is hidden from non-members mrs.cenabatista says: 06:21:16 I know you don't want to hear it but if I ever needed one of my old roleplays kam would let me log in 06:21:45 so towards the end afteri heard about the closing I scrambled to get the last of my stuff for my archives and had seen that post I say: 06:22:34 not surprised really... I have a list of everytime someone else used someone else's account to login along with the IP addresses of anyone else who were in the fed previously/recently a member 06:22:47 doesn't hurt to have hacker friends.... 06:23:08 just wanted to see if you were gonna be honest with me mrs.cenabatista says: 06:23:32 it's me I knew you knew 06:23:51 what'd you expect? me to lie? I say: 06:24:16 no, I knew you couldn't stay away mrs.cenabatista says: 06:24:47 stay away? 06:25:02 it's not like I salivated over the new stuff 06:25:23 I was reading my backstage rps or getting my promos I say: 06:26:58 no crime there at all mrs.cenabatista says: 06:27:16 I thought not I say: 06:44:30 heading to bed... good chat, good luck in whatever you plan on doing in RPs and such, and tell the vultures to wait up I'm gonna walk into traffic for they can finish me off. I have nothing to say, no excuses or regrets
Let me explain how this chick is full of shit on 'needing to login' and get her old roleplays back. She saves them all on her personal website, coded and everything. So take this as a heed of warning for anyone from ZXWWF who wants to talk to me like you've done no wrong and you're CLEARLY blowing a smokescreen of bullshit in my face, then I'm going to do the same. I can feed you just as much bullshit to satisfy your little egos.
After reading this chronicle from start to finish, I hope I have enlightened my former members about the situations they 'thought' they known about so well. As for my fellow fed-heads, I hope you have learned from my mistakes and strive for the best in your own e-federations.
If anyone has any questions or feedback on anything that happened that was mentioned in this chronicle or anything not mentioned, just leave a comment below.
