Jay Kenny in the Gunfight Battle Royal @ Lights Out - "12 Angry Men"
Set nearly entirely in the deliberation room of a courthouse, 12 unnamed jurors each representative of a man in the Gunfight Battle Royal, verbally go back and forth while trying to determine whether a rough-and-tumble cowboy accused of murdering a rich man wearing two expensive pieces of jewellery at the biggest festival in the country. In what is seemingly an open-and-shut case, a charismatic young juror slowly turns the other men to his way of thinking - his biggest resistance coming in the form of a young, street-raised, Englishman who sticks to his guns despite the turning tide. An exploration of personalities, prejudices and stereotypes with a look at how words can be the most powerful and moving things humans have at their disposal.
Somehow forgot it, but I remember seeing the title and IMMEDIETLY marking the fuck out getting flashbacks of year one criminal law for one of the better moments of the shitshow that was COVID law school.
I honestly don't think I have anything which can touch what was already nominated. But in the spirit of the thread, I'll give a couple of nods for Katsu. I think none of them will win or even be nominated, but I guess it is some positivity and reflection.
Carnal Contendership:
"Through the Dragon's Gate"
The birth of Katsu and probably was the moment I felt I was really beginning to "click" with her. I had the idea for weeks and I used my vignettes on TV to sort of lead up to it. I took the classic legend of The Dragon's Gate where koi who would climb a waterfall become reborn as a dragon and made
Vampyra Katsu ascend it. But her hurdles weren't more "Oh, I have to climb this mountain" but more coming to grips with things she's guilty about. Lying to her family about wrestling, that shock with them finding out, and eventually having her finally make amends with her family and choosing to shed the mask tied to it, forced on it, and pick something she believes in. 4th place, ending up behind some world title caliber handlers was a big confidence booster.
Fallout 031:
Bottom of the Ninth: vs Cyrus Truth:
Maybe a minor change or two or even a judge more that loved baseball, maybe would have won, but I remember this promo fondly because I decided to go the google docs route and it opened up a lot in terms of improving presentation of a promo and I ended up showing Katu's final family member off, having a wholesome exchange along with telling a story of Katsu wanting to rise up against pressure, using possibly one of the greatest moments in baseball history in the past decade, to tell it. Ohtani who Katsu is probably a huge-ass fangirl of, bottom of the ninth, going against his Angels teammate. Someone regarded as the best player in baseball in Trout against the new face. Or in this case, a Legend (Cyrus) against someone hoping to be next in Katsu. Had fun with writing it and enjoyed Cyrus' promo against me.
18th Anniversary:
Locked In
First world title match, apart from me changing something last minute and it resulted in some typos early on, was very happy with the effort. A grand idea and I did some more things with Google docs and I think there I managed to make it all work. Obviously lost, finishing third, but I think I'm happy with it since it was just before my 1 year anniversary in the fed and looking at my first couple promos and then, I was happy with my improvement.
Here's hoping once I'm ready to come back, I can keep it going and maybe try to reach the lofty standards I've been seeing from you guys.
Other promos I remember fondly, both promos in the Night One Back in Business Main event. Chris Peacock's promo which won him the world title against Golden, going full Zombie. Then Trixie against MvH (Meltdown 31 I think) just because it was a moment I realized "Shit, Welsh is getting damn good," and Sully's TV title contender promo in which KDS went through multiple different TV shows which resulted in me nearly pissing myself laughing at a Ramsey impression.
Edit: Also Cyrus Truth's promo from BIB. Might not have won, but it was a flashback for me and was pure RAW emotion.