Upon writing this, I realize I’m just a tad bit behind when it comes to reviewing all of the FWF content that has been released up to this point! But within the next few days, that is a fact that shall be turned to fiction. Although I am no expert, I will do my best at deciding a definitive winner between Matt Cardona and Brian Myers in this Figure Wrestling Federation challenge that they have sparked up on their wonderful podcast (The Wrestling Figure Podcast! Check It Out!). I must express that these are all going to be my Opinions and should not be accepted as Fact or anything. The whole purpose of this thing is to have fun, and I can assure you that I’m doing just that!.
Before Jumping into the nitty gritty, I’ll explain my thought process on how I intend to rank these episodes over one another. As the episodes of the actual shows release, I’ll be taking the “Segment by Segment” approach. Since there is 11 segments…there is sure to be a winner, though a possible tie for a week isn’t unheard of. How I decide who wins each segment is pretty simple…”Which Segment Would I rather Watch?”. Taking into consideration, the building….possibilities and overall how I would be reacting if the show that is being described were to be in front of me on my screen.
It really is just that simple. I’ll decide which segment was the most valuable to it’s show as a whole…which one has more of a lasting impact…which one had more entertainment value..and ultimately, how invested I was in the segment. Predictability, Star Power, Match Description, Iconic Moments, Story building value….It all comes into play, and as stated earlier….It all comes down to my preferences. I look forward to rating both shows…and even though I’m going to predict a winner by the end of this “article”, Iwill be completely unbiased going forward.
Now Before I reveal the Rosters of Both Turmoil and Thrillzone while also analyzing them…I would insist that you give the draft video a watch:
Alright! Now that You’ve been given the last warning to watch the Draft, I’ll reveal the full rosters so they can be easily compared by myself as well as any of you whom may be reading this. I decided to leave out the specific figure that was drafted since they can figure swap any time they’d like.
Matt Cardona (TURMOIL):
- Stone Cold Steve Austin
- “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan
- Edge
- Taz
- Diesel
- The Undertaker
- Sting
- “The Game” Triple H
- Goldberg
- Rob Van Dam
- Diamond Dallas Page
- Christian
- “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner
- Sycho Sid
- Ken Shamrock
- Raven
- Rey Mysterio Jr.
- Billy Gunn
- Chyna
- Ultimate Warrior
- British Bulldog
Brian Myers (THRILLZONE):
- Bret “The Hitman” Hart
- The Rock
- Owen Hart “Black Hart”
- Chris Jericho
- Scott Hall
- “Macho Man” Randy Savage
- Shawn Michaels
- Mankind (All Mick Foley Characters with it!)
- Jeff Jarrett
- Ahmed Johnson
- “The Franchise” Shane Douglas
- Goldust
- Brian Pillman
- The Giant
- Booker T
- Chris Candido
- Bam Bam Bigelow
- Billy Kidman
- “Road Dogg” Jesse James
- Roddy Piper
- Yokozuna
Now after viewing these rosters, I’m going to do everything in my power to predict the winner just based off of these rosters here. At the end of the day, It’s futile because the rosters will only continue to grow as the weeks and months trudge on, but upon viewing the base of their shows…I believe I can at least make a fun guess. I should say that this Guess is not going to be predicted by someone who should be viewed as a “Wrestling Expert”…in fact…it’s a fan judging what I would refer to as “Two Wrestling Experts”. I’m just a Mark who has opinions, which is what this will be heavily based on. The choices will be made taking all of the following into consideration:
- Balance of Star Power, Mid-Card Talent and Versatility.
- What the Possible initial Tag Division Looks like
- Balance of Egos (Dysfunction in the locker room and how your locker room would function with a balance of people whom are “Willing to take the pin”. I think this is a factor that Matt is referring to when he refers to as building a “Television Program”.)
- Bookability
As you can see, all of the basis is all speculation really…and it all really should be me predicting which side will be more creative. But What is the fun in that?
Immediately looking at the two lists, I really am surprised that Broski let a couple of names get as far as they did in the running (his boy Macho Man and Shawn Michaels are the two that I’m focused on). He seemed to sacrifice Star Power to build certain divisions. He chose Edge and then immediately talked about the tag division, showing that he was focusing on the show as a whole as opposed to just picking up the biggest names possible. This could also be attested to the fact that in the initial draft, he’s the only one who walked away with a female star…which, as bad as this sounds…probably isn’t the biggest deal when it comes to “Attitude Era” timed storylines.
I get the sense that Thrillzone is going to be more oriented on The Wrestling Aspect of Storylines more than anything, as the list seems to be filled with more “Technical” wrestlers as opposed to Turmoil who has more of what I would refer to as “Spectacle Wrestlers”. By this, I mean that he has superstars that have a higher name value but are most likely going to produce a shorter match (Goldberg, Hogan, Ken Shamrock, Ultimate Warrior, and those types). As enticing as high level matches may sound on paper, this fed might very well come down to who has the more memorable Moments..images and happenings that would show up in video package after video package. In that regard, I have to give that particular “edge” (tee hee) to Turmoil.
Even though it was a mock show, we have to take a look at the Ruthless aggression shows and see that the general consensus was that Brian Myers (Thrillzone) was able to push forward more compelling stories and ultimately run a more successful Fed. But upon turning it into an actual competition, It would be hard not to take Matt’s competitive nature into account and know that he’s most likely studying and taking this very seriously. You can tell he’s improving by the difference in Draft Quality as a whole. But we have to ask ourselves, can he seriously improve THAT much to overthrow Thrillzone? My immediate response would be “NO”.
I think with a pretty even Name valued draft across the board, both sides have an equal chance to not only build notoriety with already proven stars…but make their mark as they re-write history and build future stars of their own. We have enough nastalgia to enjoy these already established stars…but the secret to winning this fed (in my humble opinion) is building new factions and stars that people can cling to and pop for….And upon knowing Brian’s ability to write captivating storylines, while having possible stars like Ahmed Johnson, Chris Candido, and Shane Douglas…I think that is the key to him winnning this whole thing.
My initial Prediction: Thrillzone is going to take it all this year!
But again, I love listening to the passion and creativity from Both Brian and Matt, and know well enough that this could honestly go either way. So without further ado….I look forward and say…”Let the Games BEGIN!!!”
The Zanman Podcast 