Smarks, Smarks, Smarks. How good of you to join me this week. Ever since this article has made its return to the world of e-feds and made its debut in UWF, it has received the best reception it has ever received in its existence. Again I thank you for its continued success. Thank you for reading, for commenting, for liking, and for repping, when it happens.
Now, for those of you wondering why there hasn't been a new article in like a month, allow me to shed some light. Ever since Carolann and I got married in December, we've been saving up and waiting to finally be able to go on a honeymoon. Well, around the time the last edition went up, I found out the time off had been accepted for both of us, so I was more focused on getting through the work days leading up to our honeymoon than I was on getting columns done.
But now I am back from my honeymoon and while I intended to make the return edition the monthly review of the pay-per-view, EoR is wanting to get this place up and moving again as soon as possible as it appears to have gone into cardiac arrest. And who better to make a house call than UWF's resident physician? So, without any further delay, I'm not a doctor but I play one on the internet, and this is my prescription for all your wrestling needs, The Dresden Dose!
The Pokemon fatal-four way and all that good stuff will have to wait for a future Dose to unfold, the only thing I will feature is the interview I did with rawisrey and that's because I've had it for over a month. Lost the one I did with Dod unfortunately, but that means I get to interview him again. Hooray. Anyhoo, here's Rey.
THE DRESDEN FILES
Rey, I'm not sure who should be more honored, me or you. lol In all seriousness, welcome to the Dose.
Honored to be here, it’s nice to be in the dose, you know this place is a lot bigger than it looked on the outside. Like the decorations too nice touch, is that mahogany? I see you have many leather bound books my friend.
It's imperative I keep a sharp mind. I apologize ahead of time for not being able to ask you things spanning your entire five year run, as I've only been around for two of them.
No worries, I mean I would say you should go back and check all the past threads of the efeds in PWMania and study up on the great subject that is known as The Rey but I won’t do that…Mainly cause pwmania is down…However since you got something out of the way quick let me do the same, Apologies if I randomly start to ramble on, while it is a gift in the Promo/TT world it may come off as really talkative in the question and answer booth.
I have seen a lot of your work but we never seemed to cross paths. Swagger/Austin was very close to happening, JBL/Joker Sting was very close to happening, and we've trash talked a bit during Austin's run-ins with the NWO, but there hasn't been a proper RiR/Dres feud. Why do you think that is?
It seems Destiny frowns upon us fighting, you were Kane right? if you remember Kane vs. Muhammad Hassan was also close to happening. I’ll check it off to my rather poor luck with feuds in general, I’ve had great and fun match ups with a lot of great people but my real Feuds are few and far between. However considering how UWF is going, I must say that I’m expecting to really build up some actual feuds now, and Austin is a target because of what he has around his waist.
If you could put together the feud yourself, what do you think the ideal match-up would be?
Jack Swagger vs. Stone Cold was win, I liked claiming I had scared Austin away to build it up for his return. To build Swagger escaping the stunner just to build it up for the big hit, so that was fun. Ideally today I would say something along the lines of a very heated feud; considering Austin and Rhodes have been rather physical with people it could turn into a thing where both are just beating the hell out of each other. That said Y.E.S vs. The Black and White Machine should be a win feud should it happen.
Showdown of Dreams was sort of a taste of what could have been, but I got kind of lethargic about it as it became more and more evident the show wasn't going to happen. How do you feel about the trash talking session we had?
I loved it, JBL was fun to play and to be able to face Austin with JBL was a great dynamic. I wish it had an ending, but either way the journey was fun for me.
Personally, I'm kind of intimidated by the thought of RiR/Dres in UWF, because your Rhodes is incredibly impressive. Would you be intimidated to face Austin or is it something that simply excites you?
I have never been one to be intimidated in e-feds, that is no offense to your Austin but I feel the bigger the challenge the better. Hell when I first started as Test I was lobbying for 10 on one handicap matches, there is a long story behind those but the bigger challenge the better. I mean I don’t want to write novels against people that’s not what I mean what I mean is when you face someone who you know is going to put it all up against you it’s just a lot better once you’re done. So Austin vs. Rhodes is something that yes excites me.
When second character privileges were introduced here in UWF, I thought that you would pick up Swagger. Why didn't the All-American American make a comeback?
Swagger has been one of my favorite people, and Swagger alongside Tyson Kidd and Muhammad Hassan were strong contenders for my second character. But I felt like going with something new, while Spotlight please I’m serious faced Jack Swagger is concerned if for whatever reason some other fed pops up I’m probably going to be picking him up tbh.
Do you think it's easier to play a face or a heel and why?
It depends on who you are, but from my point of view it’s just like I told someone who asked me “Is there anyone you CAN’T play†to which I answered “easy, any faceâ€. Haha, Idk why I just can’t play a face. I need to have heat, I’ve planned on face turns albeit short ones which would only drive a heel turn, but I never pull the trigger because I’m just better as a heel. Writing the words “The crowd cheers†after something I say seems weird, so to that reygard Heel is Easier because there isn’t a set way to be heel. Sure you can garner cheap heat and that’s all fine and dandy, but you can also just be a bad guy or you can be cocky or you can be someone claiming to try and help the fans and a whole lot of other things. But as a face it almost seems like you have to be Squeaky clean and or jokey, or else you’re a tweener. Just overall it’s easier to “pull off†being a heel than it is a face, that of course is just my opinion.
How do you trash talk and promo so much as two characters and not get burnt out or run out of things to say?
I don’t know really, I think the point with my characters is that because I’m a heel I need to be hated. And the way it turned out is that the way I’m hated is because I won’t shut up, Sandow with his impartment of wisdom and Rhodes with his crazy rants. I can just talk, and keep talking and because of that I can spread it out over promos. That’s the difference, the promos are like a story that I’m creating myself, whether it be attacking a camera guy or picketing with Daniel Bryan it’s a story while trash talks is you vs. this guy and you want to beat This guy so I can just pop out promos and trash talks easier. As far as not getting burnt out, well there was a time I played 6 people and wrote for two shows at the same time. I’ve been used to the juggling act, I’m not saying I’m great I’m just saying I can play multiple people and play them equally because that was the way I learned how to efed. Let me tell you the time I was Just Cody Rhodes in UWF I couldn’t wait for second char privs to get put on, I think I’d get burnt out more just playing a single person than I would playing multiple people cause you can change your style with multiple people. Sure it’s twice the work, but it evens out.
Recently Rhodes has been speaking as if the NWO is going to split soon, is this an idea you were given by one of the writers or are you running with the idea yourself?
Most of what Rhodes spews out comes from my mind; the nWo split up thing is something I thought up of because Cody Rhodes is in an unstable part of his mentality. Now I tread on that path very lightly because I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes, I don’t want my two partners to really feel like Rawisrey doesn’t want to team with them it’s more of Cody Rhodes is so out of his mind that even those closest to him can’t fully grasp him and in Rhodes head everyone is against him. So to have two people not against him makes him wary, it’s a lot of thinking I put into my characters which is why I’ve had Rhodes act the way he has. It becomes a problem because I don’t want the writers thinking when Cody Rhodes says “I’m being screwed by those in charge†that it’s directed at them from me. But people know that, which puts my mind at ease.
Besides the man himself, where do you draw inspiration for your portrayal of the "Grotesque" Cody Rhodes?
I really don’t know, a lot of it is Cody. But it’s more of a sense of being cheated by those in charge and therefore going “crazy†because of it, now I love Itchy we started out best buds in our e-fed careers I inducted the man into the hall of fame. But some of the booking Rhodes went through was questionable as far as title shots, contender matches, cash ins, and never being in a main event. A lot of stuff happened that people would often complain about, and I used that to my advantage as Rhodes and since then have just kept that mold. I draw inspiration from the idea of me being cheated, and most of the time I gave the okay myself to lose but Cody Rhodes didn’t… you know what I mean. So it’s more of a sense of I look for a reason to complain for the tiniest reason, blow it out of proportion, and have Rhodes talk about it.
Is it more fun playing "Dashing" Cody Rhodes or "Grotesque" Cody Rhodes and why?
I don’t think I could choose, I’d say pure fun Dashing Cody Rhodes, but e-fed trash talk fun Grotesque. Because Dashing I had fun with those Dashing Tips I had, the character was just a fun character. Grotesque is fun for a whole other reason because Dashing is Fun in character as well like Cody Rhodes himself is having fun being so damn dashing, Grotesque is crazy and in and of itself is fun just he isn’t having fun. I’ve recently built up a pain is my fun thing, wonder where I’ll go with that, but I don’t think I could fully choose one over the other. However the thought of being Dashing worries me after being this character for so long so if I ever do realize my Reydemption that Cody is so fond of talking about I think I’m going to play Cody where he’s still rather unstable just a whole lot cockier about it…but that’s all for the future.
Personally I would love to see someone pick up Goldust so we can have the Rhodes Brothers feud we never got in WWE. Do you agree and who do you feel could do him justice?
That’d be fun, especially now Goldust would be like “What’s happened to you†me being all crazy and all, as far as who could do him justice that’s up in the air. How many successful Goldust have there been, it’d be a hell of a lot fun to see though.
Everyone may not know this, but I wrote for you in CWF when you played The Great Hassan, a trio that featured Daivari, Khali, and Muhammad Hassan. What made you decide to pick up this trio?
Hmm idk it just seemed like a good fit no? I’ve always liked the big bodyguard type dynamic, I’ve wanted to use it several times. This is one time where it worked and I was allowed to do it, I loved my time as The Great Hassan.
Do you feel as though more could've been done with the group or Hassan on his own?
A little, but I can’t fully just say more could have been done because frankly I had to leave in the middle. So it isn’t anyone’s fault, but I thought Hassan could have been a big time player and towards the end there I think I was about to be put up there. I mean the idea of Hassan leading these two men as if a prophet, Khali being unstoppable, and Daivari being a martyr of sorts was a fun time. And I still don’t think it reached its full potential.
Who is the toughest opponent you've ever faced?
Hmm that’s a tough question…Itchy was pretty hard…the question is just hard cause there hasn’t been an opponent that I consider Tough because the tough ones seem more fun…and there have been a plethora of tough matches but most are multi-man I seem like a magnet for multi-man matches so I can’t really list any of those as a Tough Opponent…I’ll go with Chase.
What character were they playing and what was the background behind the match and/or feud?
A.J Styles, it was my title reign as Dolph Ziggler new champion of Warzone and Styles first one to get a shot at the ppv. It was tough because I’m not saying I’m great, but I am pretty fast as far as getting a tt up, and Chase was able to keep up and the toughest matches are those where people keep up with me. Like Itch, like the Royal Rumble, if you are able to trash talk as fast as I do you pretty much have it won because I’ll be thrown off and start losing confidence the later I go in the tt, I did however pull that match out.
Your Swagger versus Aniking's Swagger, who would win and why?
Doesn’t that depend on whose writing? Ba Dum tsst. Hmm idk, Anikings Swagger while great didn’t seem to last all that long by that I mean compared to my Swagger. But that was for other reasons, I’d say he wins… Swagger while one of my favs never stayed on top for too long in e-feds except for one world title reign, so there may be a reason for that so Ak.
What inspired you to pick up Damien Sandow?
As I said I wanted something new, I remember I first saw Sandow on Smackdown doing those backstage promo things and didn’t think much of it. But when he started holding the mic as a wine glass and I started listening to what he said more it became more interesting. So by the time 2nd chars were invoked I was in Sandow mode so that inspired me to pick him up, I think a couple minutes before Lewb wanted him too.
Raw or Smackdown and why?
That’s not fair, unlike Slim I am on both shows. I’m also in staff that means I could get in trouble with either side, hmmm Smackdown or Raw. Well I’m going to go the statistical route and going with Raw, why? Because as a whole Raw has been better to me than Smackdown, this of course reyferring to all of e-fed history as I’ve succeeded more when on a Raw brand than on a Smackdown Brand, however Damien Sandow looks to change this.
Lastly, I'm not a doctor but I play one on the internet...
And this…well this is my preyscription for all your…wrestling needs, ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, Children of All Ages I give you…The often commented, but Never duplicated, This is…*drum Roll* The Dreysden Dose
Decided to jazz it up for ya…You’re welcome
I have had a lot of fun interviewing you guys so far. Since I lost the interview, as I discussed earlier, Dod will be a future interview subject. Next edition's guest will be none other than Andrew. That will be very interesting if you know our history. Anyhoo, who's ready for some Summerslam?
Summerslam is just three days away, and I'm pretty sure the deadline is sometime on Friday so we're getting down to the wire now guys. A stacked card from top to bottom, each one promising to be an epic in its own right, let's take one final look at the card.
Starting off with the Raw side of things, we have the singles match between The Undertaker and John Morrison. No one knows exactly why these two were booked against each other on the fly the night of their Raw debuts, unless I missed something, but it gives both Dod and SBS something to do and gets both men on the card.
Right now Dod is ahead in the trash talking count, and I feel it's going to stay that way as Dod's second TT was two weeks ago and there has been nothing else. Wish there would have been more trash talking between these two to make the match feel more special but I think SBS as Undertaker is not long for this e-fed world if my sources are correct, so that would explain the one trash talk. Dod wins his UWF pay-per-view debut as we all wonder what's next for the "Tuesday Night Delight".
This match, like Morrison and Undertaker, feels like it was a bit thrown together too, which makes two pay-per-views in a row that Roode is in a random encounter. However, much like Roode vs. MVP, Roode vs. Storm is delivering in the trash talking department and making this match feel like something special. The two are going back and forth like the real James Storm and Robert Roode.
Right now EoR and Chriss are tied at three trash talks a piece, and while it's possible they could both get at least one more in, I'm not sure they're going to. I like EoR's Roode but I'm feeling Chriss' Storm in this particular encounter more, there's big things in the future of the "Tennessee Cowboy" if the passion to fed remains.
I can't tell you how happy I am that planting seeds for a feud between these two worked out, I have a sense of accomplishment about the whole thing. Right now Lewb has three trash talks and Rated R Superstar has two, so right now Bully is winning but Daniels could easily come through with a final rebuttal before the deadline. Since the feud seems to be ending at Summerslam, I'm curious what's next for both Bully Ray and Daniels. I think Rated R Superstar is taking a month off, that's not confirmed though.
UWF Television Championship
I'm surprised that the Television Champion himself, Shane McMahon and the Corporate Ministry, has not shown up for this match at all. It's good to see a new face in CoreyCZ, I hope that he sticks around and remains active. I feel like awesome_miz has this one, but with him getting ready to switch characters, I'm not sure what will happen with the Television Championship.
I am so happy the BDC has stuck with Jarrett long-term as he is easily one of the best characters in UWF right now. Lub continues to impress as RVD but I feel like Jarrett is too much of a threat to the European Championship to not walk away with it.
Unfortunately Sam did not show up as Goldust so your winner and STILL the Hardcore Champion, Curt Hawkins!
Blizzard and Prodigy are both having the best runs of their e-fed careers right now, absolutely phenomenal stuff from both men in recent months. DiBiase is a great champion but even with Big Show's muscle, the hunger of Cena cannot be stopped and he will be putting the World Heavyweight Championship around his waist come Sunday.
Much like the King of the Mountain match last month, this thread has delivered. A lot of people feel very strongly that Batista's got this one in the bag, but I myself am going with Jeff Hardy, really feeling this storyline going on with him right now.
Again, it's really cool that everyone's predicting another successful title defense. Who knows if anymore trash talking will be done, I know Albo and Chase were both supposed to today and then we'd decide if we were each doing a fourth, but so far I've seen nothing from either guy so who knows if what you see in the thread currently is it or not.
This thread makes me wonder what could have been if S.C.A.R. were booked like an actual tag team. Actually teaming with EoR has been awesome and this thread has been a lot of fun. Who knows if we'll retain the belts or not, I do know I'm looking forward to it tremendously especially because of the added stipulation and special guest referee.
Well folks, that's going to do it for this edition of the Dose. I hope I've succeeded in getting you more pumped for Summerslam, even if it's just a little. I will be back on Monday with the Summerslam review. Until then, the doctor is out!
