NXT LEVEL #345 - GHOSTS OF THE PAST
POP OF THE NIGHT: (What was the moment, in segment, that you enjoyed the most and why?)
HAVE YOUR SAY: (How did you like your characters portrayal and what are your thoughts on your current storyline? What, if any, improvements could be made?)
POP OF THE NIGHT: I popped for the interference of the current crop of character on the roster. I didn't know much about what was going on, or who was who, but I recognized the final segment as a big twist that
HAVE YOUR SAY: As a reader who can't really relate to much of the content, I thought as a stand alone show it was very entertaining. I entered with zero knowledge of the characters but came away with a good understanding of those I saw. Mike Lane and Errol Flint and their terse relationship was clear. The loss of the wife/daughter aspect was clearly a sticking point. Red River Jack came across very manipulative, as did DTR and The Asylum were very clearly insane.
The show was in my humble view a very good stand alone event. I wish I knew more about the characters involved so that I could've popped more at what I'd seen but I had a good experience none the less.
POP OF THE NIGHT: It's honestly hard to pick just one moment from a show like this. I did really like the closing segment for a number of reasons (namely, the way it put a bow on things when it comes to celebrating the history of OSW), and I really enjoyed the overarching story of the night and how certain segments in particular helped build that up. The opener really helped set the tone for that!
HAVE YOUR SAY: Overall, what a show this was! A really nice overview of our history with some fun moments and some crackin' matches!
Loved seeing Sharkie back one more time in "The Inmates," it'd been a looong time since we saw that side of him so it was really interesting to see the Asylum interact with bMf. RIP Pyre in this universe tho, lol. Great, great segment there.
GGs to Mel, glad we got to have a Newton/Simon match in 2024 haha. Hell of a promo (hell, all the promos this week were awesome IMO, and similarly a nice walk down memory lane to give these a read!)
Was also really cool seeing Simon back in action segment wise, really enjoyed the dynamic between him and bMf on this show as well as Simon's part is defending The Butcher's OSW in the overarching tale of the head-to-head stuff!
I'll wrap this up the way I started it: loved the idea of giving us a taste of what was past with a twist (a la Ctrl-Alt-Delete or OSW Forever), with an ending that felt fitting given the current state of OSW as a concept. Awesome show overall!
POP OF THE NIGHT: Although it was great to see all of the old faces back under one roof, the segment entitled Don't Trust Reason took the plaudits from me. Just when the chips looked like they were truly down for Mike Like and Errol Flint's OSW, the cavalry in the form of the Scarecrow and Brent Kersh rolled into town and cleaned house of the turncoats.
Given their patchy history, I found myself popping, big time, for the Hayman and Enforcer standing side by side in a somewhat rare moment. They, along with the Shadow, may have ultimately lost the war on the night but this battle certainly belonged to the Founding Fathers of Old School Wrestling.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Not much to say on this front given that Blackveil was always going to be a bit-part player during GOTP. That said, I enjoyed the writing swerve this week and was happy to get a W notched up - something that I found difficult to do during my run as The Bride in the early days of Volume II.
POP OF THE NIGHT: Them
I popped at the end of the night. I didn't expect to see any of the current crop of characters on this night, so for them to invade at the end and for Zeus to step out and claim ownership was a great way to top off a very fun night.
Opposing Forces
I liked this bit of transition from one match into the other. The flutter into a Scarecrow appearance is something I still wish I was around more for in the past, and it's moments like this that is why.
The Inmates
Wow, this was one brutal way to send a message. I didn't expect this in the slightest.. the way The Asylum burst in and without word held down Zero and Storm while Crowley brutally murdered Pyre right in front of them. Brutal. Brutal. Brutal.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Not much to personally say here this week. It was a fun event and it was nice to be able to revisit Deathnote again. All and all it was nice to see some of the former characters being revisted this week, and the story throughout the night flowed well. Happy to have been on the winning side of that.
POP OF THE NIGHT: (What was the moment, in segment, that you enjoyed the most and why?)
DON'T TRUST REASON
I loved the betrayal of his own OSW by DTR and the Family. That was a massive pop on the night, only to be instantle outdone by the flutter and the Scarecrow arriving with Brent Kersh in tow to bust some ass. Excellent emotion and character work there.
HAVE YOUR SAY: (How did you like your characters portrayal and what are your thoughts on your current storyline? What, if any, improvements could be made?)
That ending was pretty freaking badass, with Zeus coming out and signing both contracts. He took over the show and seeing Apokalypsis used to drive his point was pretty outstanding. At the end of the day, Zeus is the one of the OSW leaders who will do absolutely what must be done to get his way and only his way. A great show throughout and really nostalgic to see everything come together the way it did.
Awesome little trip, and really creatively done!
POP OF THE NIGHT:
DON'T TRUST REASON. This seg took the cake for me. DTR is such a snake (no pun intended). I felt in reading this like I should have seen it coming, but I didn't. It was a great segment to see, and then Crow and Kersh showed up for the save. These characters and this segment were early OSW in a nutshell. It just felt like a blast from the past, and it was great to see. Especially DTR just turning on Jensen for the heck of it!
HAVE YOUR SAY:
I don't have anything groundbreaking here. This show was a really fun blast from the past, and a look into where OSW came from. To see all of these characters show up and interact just made me want to see a short run where we can mix and match all these guys. Volume 3.5, if you will. But either way, I loved reading this show. I smiled at the end when the V3 boys and girls showed up to kick ass. All other things aside, I'd say the Titans are probably a level up in terms of fighting from the realistic Earth 1 characters, some supernatural characters aside of course.
Lovely show. Thank you Zac. I loved getting to do this for a week. It invigorated my roleplaying I think, just getting to feel those characters in my head again.
And thank you Dean for piecing together this fun show from what Zac booked.
Lovely time.
POP OF THE NIGHT:
The whole show was a nice little alternate continuity with both volume one and two interacting with each other quite nicely. But if I had to choose one moment in particular? I have to go with the ending. Having the Arcadian Titans appear to break shit and take names is a badass moment that helps solidify a new era of OSW and makes the new stars look like unstoppable forces. And Zeus signing both contracts at the end to make the fed his? Awesome. I know this was a noncanon show, but it makes me wish that this was canon to the Arcadia canon somehow. Fun show all around.
HAVE YOUR SAY:
Ether - Aw man, I hoped that the match would be a bit more than a slightly extended squash. I get that the segment beforehand showed off that both TGK and Ash Williams were pissed that Cories and the younger Williams are dead, but I can't help but feel like they should've gotten some more blows in than punches. Oh well.
Heath - Not a lot to say on this front. I expected to lose with Heath given I haven't really found a groove with that character and Deathnote posted a damn good promo on his end. Wasn't quite expecting the Outcast to represent Flint in the whole match though. You'd think Errol wouldn't want a loser like Solman to represent his team in the least bit, given how often he lost, but I guess he knows a bit more than I do on that front.
POP OF THE NIGHT:
Definitely giving this to Them for just getting me to pop for seeing three volumes worth of characters in one segment. Yeah, as Dean mentioned the story for the show wasn't some amazing thing, but it was a succinct and thoroughly enjoyable blast from the past. The final segment however was just a fan service filled cherry on top in my opinion. Cade and Attano taking down Hawk and Storm? Apokalypsis taking on the Asylum? And, of course, Zeus showing up just to claim OSW for himself.
HAVE YOUR SAY:
Tag: I'm in agreement with what Damo said in regards to this, I don't have any more to say on the subject.
Lee Crowley: God damn it feels good to review Crowley segments again. I gotta say, I fucking loved him killing Pyre. Like, it was sadistically gory and had this been a canon show would have 100% been a character defining moment for him. I loved watching him feel like the leader of the Asylum here too. Just a fantastic showing for my boy here and lots of good screen time.
POP OF THE NIGHT: I do have to say while Don't Trust Reason was a good bit, I think my personal favorite goes to The Inmates. The Asylum was something that had mostly finished up by the time I started, with each of them going their own ways. So to see even just a little bit of that, and to murder Pyre of all folks, was just a delightful moment to say the very least.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Honestly it was a blast just to get back and write with King Arthur. With the new style and less limit I think he would've been one of the ones that I could've pushed onto more. So to get this opportunity, and to be the first one wrecked by the Crow, was just an absolute delight.