Post by R.W. Randolph on Jul 21, 2011 3:58:59 GMT -5
Since I'm hanging it up for good after Cyberslam, I think it'd be cool to mention all my favorite opponents in my E-Wrestling "Career," in order of my "Career", I guess you could say.
1. Bad City Boy: You never forget your first. BCB was the first notable feud in Extreme Machine's career. The EM- BCB wars tore it up in FCWA and the other fed I can't remember right now.
2. "Sexy" Fletch Johnson: He was a rival in one of the Mega-feds I was in (AOL feds with over 100 members. EULW, ERUW, and another one were others). He always put up good stuff, and he was interesting.
3. "Extreme War Machine" Corey Irons: A guy I have fell out of contact with, but one of my all-time favorite opponents. I only faced him once, in the finals of the Nukin' Da North Tournament. EM vs. Corey Irons. It was the craziest week of RPs in my entire life. I dropped 7 1000+ line RPs (how we judged RP's back then in E-mail feds.) And it was probably the most intense battle I was ever a part of. I lost the match, but if you had ever seen those emails, it was one of the greatest trash-talk series of promos in the history of E-Wrestling. I wish I still had my half of them.
4. Felicia Duarte: She ended up being a fraud, but hear me out. She was the first IWF opponent who pushed me. She was the greatest match I Never had. I upped my game to face her. I learned a completely new style of RPing for me (Story-style, as I was more of a Trash Talk RPer at that point, and still am.) to prepare for the match. I didn't learn until much later that she was plagiarized many of her most notable promos, but I consider her the opponent who made me great.
5. Trent Helms: A great character, if not a great RPer. He was a solid promo guy, to be fair. He was an exciting promo guy who wasn't afraid to take risks. His Super-Saiyan character was fun, and his Dogma 2 promos were underrated. He was a regular victim of Runoff (his record in singles matches was something along the lines of 1-3.), but he helped put Runoff/Visigoth over as a heel. And he helped put over the "Hired Gun" character of R.W. in Colo. He would eventually become a disciple of a later opponent I'm going to mention.
6. Apathy: She IS everything I thought Felicia Duarte was. Easily the best promo person I have ever met. The character's story was incredible. You hear about how Wrestling is a Male Soap Opera? She was easily the Victoria Lord of E-wrestling. Who is Victoria Lord? She is one of the main characters in One Life to Live. Throughout the series of the character's run, she was connected in one way or another to everyone. She was that person in IWF and Colo. ICE never saw her at her best. Near the end of Colo's Run, her stable, Apathy Nation, ruled supreme. Stable mates included Chris Titan, Kristana Vola, Saleem, Syn, Justin Sellers/Sayne, and Devon D'Andre. I faced her mainly with Runoff/Visigoth. She won most of those encounters. I consider R.W. Randolph's "Ostragoth" persona's victory over her one of my finest moments. THAT is how good she was.
7. Syn: Syn IC was the last wife of Apathy. Art imitated life as their handlers were briefly married. Alex is an incredible handler. How good? Another character of his (Sebastian de Lenfent) was the only person to hold a pinfall victory over R.W. Randolph in a singles match in ICE, when I consider the character to be at his peak. If you aren't familiar with how great Syn was, take the greatest qualities of Ric Flair, Raven, and Undertaker during the Ministry of Darkness. THAT was the Syn character. He managed to make a bitch out of Visigoth AND R.W. Randolph during his legendary run in Colo.
8. Justin Sellers/Sayne: One of my closest friends from "the Interwebz." Jim was one of the first people to talk to me when I entered IWF as a complete unknown. Runoff/Visigoth's only real interaction with him was a tag team match with him against Saleem and Syn. He was R.W.'s first real feud as a character. Sellers was swearing off drinking and extreme wrestling as a whole during his last run as Extreme Champion. R.W. goaded him into bringing back his darker "Sayne" persona. Notable moments from this feud included the Original "Bar Room Brawl" (The Second Part of Nocturne-Cross I was a reference to that match), and the Sayne Asylum match where Sayne caved Randolph's skull in with his own shovel. It was a great feud because it led to Sayne finally getting his Colo World Heavyweight Title and it put R.W. on the map as "the Hardcore Hick."
9. Chris Schutlz: He was 1/3rd of Colo's "Golden Generation," along with myself and Dylan Cage. Good RPer and solid promo guy. I won most of the encounters we had, but he did the most to help define the R.W. Randolph character out of any of my opponents. This character sold just how complex R.W. was, his love for the business despite his brawling style, etc. And my favorite part of his work? "I was the best wrestler in that match and all it got me was a shovel to the head." That line put over R.W.'s weapon of choice, like I mentioned in my previous OOC post. That helped make the shovel such a vicious tool in both Colo AND in ICE. His ICE character had an unfortunately short run, but I kind of hoped he would have come back. He would have had 2 feuds ready for him (R.W.'s heel hook started the damage to the knee, Dylan Cage's assault afterwards put him out for good). Which leads me to...
10. Dylan Cage: You had to know he was coming. R.W.'s history with Dylan is complex. Randolph's Hired Gun Character's first Boss was Dylan Cage, working over Ashe. Randolph and Cage worked well together at the time: Cage the photogenic superstar, R.W. his polar opposite Thug. I don't have to mention just how good Dylan is. I've done it quite a bit already. Our first match as opponents was at the finals of Colo's last Tournament. Cage won it, but barely. They faced each other one more time in Colo, during a three-way cage match with Schulz. Schulz won the match because Randolph kicked out of a Power Cosmic (usually a 630, but in this case a 990 splash) as he was escaping. Their relationship ever since was very complicated. Cage hated him but had a deep down respect for him. R.W. was deep down a huge fan of his but felt he should have accomplished more than he did. In character, I called him the "Heir Apparent," because I considered/consider him the best person I have ever RP'd against. And with this, you know why I want Dylan involved in my last match.
11. Kenji Yamada: My first ICE feud was with Jayson Black, but I consider Yamada a great opponent. The promos were incredible on both ends. R.W. being the Broken Saint who considered his main objective to keep Kenji from being a threat in the Roulette match to Chris Titan or Devon D'Andre, and Kenji openly dismissing R.W. while deep down being horrified of what he brought to the table. It would be the first "Deathmatch" R.W. would be involved in, but the "Hardcore Hick" was ready for this one. The match itself wasn't really the "Deathmatch" Yamada's handler had in mind, but it was a great contest that showed just how vicious he was. In the end though, R.W.'s tendency to over-perform his objective shined through as he destroyed Yamada to ultimately become the final Alias Champion, and what little was left of Yamada was a non-factor in the Roulette match. He kept the title as the "Deathmatch Championship" to sell his brutality (and ultimately set up a rematch that never happened).
12. Tsukino Meiou: He and R.W. had a series of matches. R.W. won all of them, but they were incredibly physical and R.W. loved the matches. On the "Intertubez," me and Andrew talk regularly. The Slop Matches are one of the results of those conversations. But ultimately, we had a great series, and it benefited R.W. in ICE greatly. Out of these matches, a mutual respect formed between Meiou and R.W., planting the initial seeds for the Three Amigoes in PWE.
13. Chris Jacobs: One of PWE's greatest feuds started here. The first tag match was between Jacobs and SdL (who Randolph was feuding with at the time) against R.W. and some guy who almost NEVER promo'd. That was the first win. The second match was between SdL, Jacobs, and Christopher vs. the Broken Saints. One of the biggest matches in the Dynasty-Saints feud. The Saints won this one. Third encounter was the match before Chris Titan and his match for Cyberslam IV (correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure I am.) It was considered a huge upset, but R.W. defeated Jacobs. Next major encounter was at Summer Slaughter, the last match in ICE history. R.W. shattered Jacobs' ankle in that match and won it. The feud would carry over into PWE's early days. Randolph introduced the woman who would end up being his wife, and Jacobs' torment of her led to early success and the double turn which made R.W. a face. This led to All-Star Weekend where Jacobs destroyed R.W. twice in as many nights. SummerSlaughter '09, 1 year after the vicious ankle injury to Jacobs, R.W. finally got his revenge.
14. Masaharu Tanabashi: R.W. had faced and defeated everyone in ICE up to this point, and 'Bashi had won his last ICE Universal Title. It came down to the two hottest commodities in ICE for a unification bout between the Alias and Universal Titles. I had met this character once in Colo as Runoff, but it wasn't that good of a series of promos from either of us, I barely remember it. The first match was great, and R.W. won the ICE Universal Title in it, under shady circumstances. Masaharu wasn't happy about it, but not as much as R.W. was. Randolph was so pissed upon seeing the replay that he demanded a rematch. It occurred in a Steel Cage. R.W. and Tanabashi beat each other bloody, but in the end, R.W. retained the title officially, but in his mind he earned it outright. R.W. would still be a heel during his early PWE run, but he considered 'Bashi and Meiou (2 of PWE's biggest faces) to be his closest allies. Out of this whole thing and the emergence of Jacobs, R.W. became a Face.
15. Tomoko Hanahara: Tommy is another one of my favorite opponents. We met in an epic encounters R.W. had at ReVolution, in the Semifinals of the '09 Road 2 Glory. R.W. gave her the first lost in her PWE career in that night in one HELL of a match. This would have been the best match of the night except for another match that I will discuss later. This match set the stage for Tommy becoming PWE's 3rd and best Universal Champion. Not saying that as an egomaniac, but Keiko was incredible here. She continued to bring her A-game and delivered consistently. I faced her once with Runoff, who was a jobber character but one with an interesting concept. She won this match easily. We met again at CyberSlam V with R.W. This time, Tommy came out on top. At Destiny was the final meeting. If R.W. lost, he would end up retiring. he trapped Tommy in the Clock-Out and she passed out from the pain, giving R.W. his first Universal Title Reign. All three matches were incredible, and easily the best series of matches I ever had.
16. Lee Stone: I only face him once. But remember when I said only one match was better than Hanahara-Randolph I? This was that match. Stone had a difficult time against Lunatic, and R.W. walked through Hell itself to get to the finals. R.W. was threatened by Stone's presence since his debut, as he knew that Stone would be the only true threat to him becoming the first PWE Universal Champion. Lee fucking schooled me promo wise, I won't pretend he didn't. But I felt it was a great match. He was the best person to be PWE's first Universal Champion.
17. K-Money: I faced him the first time at Clash I. We ended up drawing in a cluster-fuck match for the Universal Title. K then fucking schooled me at Crowning Glory. K did 2 separate multi-page promos during his run at the top. I was the first. Lee also did a multi-page promo at ReVolution. I didn't care much for the feud at the time, but it was a good way to send R.W. out at the time, and it helped make K the biggest bastard in the company at the time. The feud didn't seriously end there, as his group the N.O.W. caused R.W. to ultimately become the Head of Talent Relations. R.W. ultimately learned to respect K, but he knew at the end of the day who the best wrestler in PWE was. So he planted the seeds for Cage-Money at Cyberslam VI. I loved the promos he put out, that's why I want to face him, Stone, and Hanahara one more time before PWE goes out.
18. Cross: An underrated promo guy. I LOVED the matches he and Roshan had. The two tag matches where we were both partners and opponents were incredibly fun. Some of the most fun matches I took part in writing. The two Vicious Title matches were incredible as well. We each wrote one. And we both lost the matches we wrote. The first match I was inspired by the first Bar Room Brawl between Sayne and Randolph. That match was a great combination between the Benoit-Sullivan Falls Count Anywhere wars and those fun WWF Hardcore-Title matches. Cross' handler kept that spirit up in the re-match: Home Depot Demolition. It was a Vicious Title match that, while Violent, was entertaining and a show-stealer. Roshan won that one, and it ended up being Cross' last PWE match, but it was a great contest. If he is down for one more, I'd love to put him in one with Ro' for old times sake.
I am hoping to update this list after the Universal Title Match, Slopmatch, and the final run. All in all, I can say that I have no regrets in E-Wrestling.
anyhow, post your favorite opponents thus far. I'm curious.
1. Bad City Boy: You never forget your first. BCB was the first notable feud in Extreme Machine's career. The EM- BCB wars tore it up in FCWA and the other fed I can't remember right now.
2. "Sexy" Fletch Johnson: He was a rival in one of the Mega-feds I was in (AOL feds with over 100 members. EULW, ERUW, and another one were others). He always put up good stuff, and he was interesting.
3. "Extreme War Machine" Corey Irons: A guy I have fell out of contact with, but one of my all-time favorite opponents. I only faced him once, in the finals of the Nukin' Da North Tournament. EM vs. Corey Irons. It was the craziest week of RPs in my entire life. I dropped 7 1000+ line RPs (how we judged RP's back then in E-mail feds.) And it was probably the most intense battle I was ever a part of. I lost the match, but if you had ever seen those emails, it was one of the greatest trash-talk series of promos in the history of E-Wrestling. I wish I still had my half of them.
4. Felicia Duarte: She ended up being a fraud, but hear me out. She was the first IWF opponent who pushed me. She was the greatest match I Never had. I upped my game to face her. I learned a completely new style of RPing for me (Story-style, as I was more of a Trash Talk RPer at that point, and still am.) to prepare for the match. I didn't learn until much later that she was plagiarized many of her most notable promos, but I consider her the opponent who made me great.
5. Trent Helms: A great character, if not a great RPer. He was a solid promo guy, to be fair. He was an exciting promo guy who wasn't afraid to take risks. His Super-Saiyan character was fun, and his Dogma 2 promos were underrated. He was a regular victim of Runoff (his record in singles matches was something along the lines of 1-3.), but he helped put Runoff/Visigoth over as a heel. And he helped put over the "Hired Gun" character of R.W. in Colo. He would eventually become a disciple of a later opponent I'm going to mention.
6. Apathy: She IS everything I thought Felicia Duarte was. Easily the best promo person I have ever met. The character's story was incredible. You hear about how Wrestling is a Male Soap Opera? She was easily the Victoria Lord of E-wrestling. Who is Victoria Lord? She is one of the main characters in One Life to Live. Throughout the series of the character's run, she was connected in one way or another to everyone. She was that person in IWF and Colo. ICE never saw her at her best. Near the end of Colo's Run, her stable, Apathy Nation, ruled supreme. Stable mates included Chris Titan, Kristana Vola, Saleem, Syn, Justin Sellers/Sayne, and Devon D'Andre. I faced her mainly with Runoff/Visigoth. She won most of those encounters. I consider R.W. Randolph's "Ostragoth" persona's victory over her one of my finest moments. THAT is how good she was.
7. Syn: Syn IC was the last wife of Apathy. Art imitated life as their handlers were briefly married. Alex is an incredible handler. How good? Another character of his (Sebastian de Lenfent) was the only person to hold a pinfall victory over R.W. Randolph in a singles match in ICE, when I consider the character to be at his peak. If you aren't familiar with how great Syn was, take the greatest qualities of Ric Flair, Raven, and Undertaker during the Ministry of Darkness. THAT was the Syn character. He managed to make a bitch out of Visigoth AND R.W. Randolph during his legendary run in Colo.
8. Justin Sellers/Sayne: One of my closest friends from "the Interwebz." Jim was one of the first people to talk to me when I entered IWF as a complete unknown. Runoff/Visigoth's only real interaction with him was a tag team match with him against Saleem and Syn. He was R.W.'s first real feud as a character. Sellers was swearing off drinking and extreme wrestling as a whole during his last run as Extreme Champion. R.W. goaded him into bringing back his darker "Sayne" persona. Notable moments from this feud included the Original "Bar Room Brawl" (The Second Part of Nocturne-Cross I was a reference to that match), and the Sayne Asylum match where Sayne caved Randolph's skull in with his own shovel. It was a great feud because it led to Sayne finally getting his Colo World Heavyweight Title and it put R.W. on the map as "the Hardcore Hick."
9. Chris Schutlz: He was 1/3rd of Colo's "Golden Generation," along with myself and Dylan Cage. Good RPer and solid promo guy. I won most of the encounters we had, but he did the most to help define the R.W. Randolph character out of any of my opponents. This character sold just how complex R.W. was, his love for the business despite his brawling style, etc. And my favorite part of his work? "I was the best wrestler in that match and all it got me was a shovel to the head." That line put over R.W.'s weapon of choice, like I mentioned in my previous OOC post. That helped make the shovel such a vicious tool in both Colo AND in ICE. His ICE character had an unfortunately short run, but I kind of hoped he would have come back. He would have had 2 feuds ready for him (R.W.'s heel hook started the damage to the knee, Dylan Cage's assault afterwards put him out for good). Which leads me to...
10. Dylan Cage: You had to know he was coming. R.W.'s history with Dylan is complex. Randolph's Hired Gun Character's first Boss was Dylan Cage, working over Ashe. Randolph and Cage worked well together at the time: Cage the photogenic superstar, R.W. his polar opposite Thug. I don't have to mention just how good Dylan is. I've done it quite a bit already. Our first match as opponents was at the finals of Colo's last Tournament. Cage won it, but barely. They faced each other one more time in Colo, during a three-way cage match with Schulz. Schulz won the match because Randolph kicked out of a Power Cosmic (usually a 630, but in this case a 990 splash) as he was escaping. Their relationship ever since was very complicated. Cage hated him but had a deep down respect for him. R.W. was deep down a huge fan of his but felt he should have accomplished more than he did. In character, I called him the "Heir Apparent," because I considered/consider him the best person I have ever RP'd against. And with this, you know why I want Dylan involved in my last match.
11. Kenji Yamada: My first ICE feud was with Jayson Black, but I consider Yamada a great opponent. The promos were incredible on both ends. R.W. being the Broken Saint who considered his main objective to keep Kenji from being a threat in the Roulette match to Chris Titan or Devon D'Andre, and Kenji openly dismissing R.W. while deep down being horrified of what he brought to the table. It would be the first "Deathmatch" R.W. would be involved in, but the "Hardcore Hick" was ready for this one. The match itself wasn't really the "Deathmatch" Yamada's handler had in mind, but it was a great contest that showed just how vicious he was. In the end though, R.W.'s tendency to over-perform his objective shined through as he destroyed Yamada to ultimately become the final Alias Champion, and what little was left of Yamada was a non-factor in the Roulette match. He kept the title as the "Deathmatch Championship" to sell his brutality (and ultimately set up a rematch that never happened).
12. Tsukino Meiou: He and R.W. had a series of matches. R.W. won all of them, but they were incredibly physical and R.W. loved the matches. On the "Intertubez," me and Andrew talk regularly. The Slop Matches are one of the results of those conversations. But ultimately, we had a great series, and it benefited R.W. in ICE greatly. Out of these matches, a mutual respect formed between Meiou and R.W., planting the initial seeds for the Three Amigoes in PWE.
13. Chris Jacobs: One of PWE's greatest feuds started here. The first tag match was between Jacobs and SdL (who Randolph was feuding with at the time) against R.W. and some guy who almost NEVER promo'd. That was the first win. The second match was between SdL, Jacobs, and Christopher vs. the Broken Saints. One of the biggest matches in the Dynasty-Saints feud. The Saints won this one. Third encounter was the match before Chris Titan and his match for Cyberslam IV (correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sure I am.) It was considered a huge upset, but R.W. defeated Jacobs. Next major encounter was at Summer Slaughter, the last match in ICE history. R.W. shattered Jacobs' ankle in that match and won it. The feud would carry over into PWE's early days. Randolph introduced the woman who would end up being his wife, and Jacobs' torment of her led to early success and the double turn which made R.W. a face. This led to All-Star Weekend where Jacobs destroyed R.W. twice in as many nights. SummerSlaughter '09, 1 year after the vicious ankle injury to Jacobs, R.W. finally got his revenge.
14. Masaharu Tanabashi: R.W. had faced and defeated everyone in ICE up to this point, and 'Bashi had won his last ICE Universal Title. It came down to the two hottest commodities in ICE for a unification bout between the Alias and Universal Titles. I had met this character once in Colo as Runoff, but it wasn't that good of a series of promos from either of us, I barely remember it. The first match was great, and R.W. won the ICE Universal Title in it, under shady circumstances. Masaharu wasn't happy about it, but not as much as R.W. was. Randolph was so pissed upon seeing the replay that he demanded a rematch. It occurred in a Steel Cage. R.W. and Tanabashi beat each other bloody, but in the end, R.W. retained the title officially, but in his mind he earned it outright. R.W. would still be a heel during his early PWE run, but he considered 'Bashi and Meiou (2 of PWE's biggest faces) to be his closest allies. Out of this whole thing and the emergence of Jacobs, R.W. became a Face.
15. Tomoko Hanahara: Tommy is another one of my favorite opponents. We met in an epic encounters R.W. had at ReVolution, in the Semifinals of the '09 Road 2 Glory. R.W. gave her the first lost in her PWE career in that night in one HELL of a match. This would have been the best match of the night except for another match that I will discuss later. This match set the stage for Tommy becoming PWE's 3rd and best Universal Champion. Not saying that as an egomaniac, but Keiko was incredible here. She continued to bring her A-game and delivered consistently. I faced her once with Runoff, who was a jobber character but one with an interesting concept. She won this match easily. We met again at CyberSlam V with R.W. This time, Tommy came out on top. At Destiny was the final meeting. If R.W. lost, he would end up retiring. he trapped Tommy in the Clock-Out and she passed out from the pain, giving R.W. his first Universal Title Reign. All three matches were incredible, and easily the best series of matches I ever had.
16. Lee Stone: I only face him once. But remember when I said only one match was better than Hanahara-Randolph I? This was that match. Stone had a difficult time against Lunatic, and R.W. walked through Hell itself to get to the finals. R.W. was threatened by Stone's presence since his debut, as he knew that Stone would be the only true threat to him becoming the first PWE Universal Champion. Lee fucking schooled me promo wise, I won't pretend he didn't. But I felt it was a great match. He was the best person to be PWE's first Universal Champion.
17. K-Money: I faced him the first time at Clash I. We ended up drawing in a cluster-fuck match for the Universal Title. K then fucking schooled me at Crowning Glory. K did 2 separate multi-page promos during his run at the top. I was the first. Lee also did a multi-page promo at ReVolution. I didn't care much for the feud at the time, but it was a good way to send R.W. out at the time, and it helped make K the biggest bastard in the company at the time. The feud didn't seriously end there, as his group the N.O.W. caused R.W. to ultimately become the Head of Talent Relations. R.W. ultimately learned to respect K, but he knew at the end of the day who the best wrestler in PWE was. So he planted the seeds for Cage-Money at Cyberslam VI. I loved the promos he put out, that's why I want to face him, Stone, and Hanahara one more time before PWE goes out.
18. Cross: An underrated promo guy. I LOVED the matches he and Roshan had. The two tag matches where we were both partners and opponents were incredibly fun. Some of the most fun matches I took part in writing. The two Vicious Title matches were incredible as well. We each wrote one. And we both lost the matches we wrote. The first match I was inspired by the first Bar Room Brawl between Sayne and Randolph. That match was a great combination between the Benoit-Sullivan Falls Count Anywhere wars and those fun WWF Hardcore-Title matches. Cross' handler kept that spirit up in the re-match: Home Depot Demolition. It was a Vicious Title match that, while Violent, was entertaining and a show-stealer. Roshan won that one, and it ended up being Cross' last PWE match, but it was a great contest. If he is down for one more, I'd love to put him in one with Ro' for old times sake.
I am hoping to update this list after the Universal Title Match, Slopmatch, and the final run. All in all, I can say that I have no regrets in E-Wrestling.
anyhow, post your favorite opponents thus far. I'm curious.
