Q&A With Yaz

[Spidey Revivey]

You mean I contributed in some meaningful way?

Now you're just fuckin' w me.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

do you remember that thing I did that took me months to finish?

Is anything ever going to come of that?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

What thing?

Just kidding. I have it all stored. There are plans.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

want me to keep it updated and send it to you every once in a while like I did before?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Let me PM you here after I finish my current train of thought.

 

[a0161613]

When will Mikey turn heel?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

With the exception of a couple of guys, most people didn't really get what I was going for with my first heel run. I think a lot of people were expecting Howard to go heel after Strikeforce split up, so we tried to pull the swerve and have Mikey go heel, and it probably felt forced for most people. I did win the EA title during that time, so it wasn't a complete loss, but it wasn't a great run.

I want to make sure my next heel turn goes better. I have a lot of ideas, some that may even work while keeping Mikey a goofy character, like the idea I have where he walks around 24/7 with a crown and cape and calls himself Player 1 and thinks he is better than everyone.

It will happen again one day, I want it to be a surprise though. So many people predicted that Tastic or Mikey were going to turn when Live Mas won the tag titles at Lethal Lottery last year, that we decided to just have a face/face grudge match at Kingdom Come because everyone saw a turn coming. Predictability isn't always bad, especially in wrestling but I feel like the Mikey heel turn should come out of left field and shock the fed.

 

[a0161613]

You should embrace the video game nerd. He could be Bowser Incarnate.

 

[ShinChan]

Which were your characters in WZCW other than Mikey?

Which one do you love writing the most and why?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Which were your characters in WZCW other than Mikey?

Which one do you love writing the most and why?

I've been Mikey since day one. During the reign of Cerberus, I did write a Russian Special Ops agent named Oleg Rasuptin for a cycle. I didn't really enjoy it, but Mikey was out with injury after being thrown off the top of the Cell by Ty. During that cycle break where he was out, I really missed Mikey. The plan was for me to take a cycle off to recharge my batteries, but I felt it was unfair for a creative member to take time off without stepping down, so I wrote Oleg.

Mikey will always be my favorite. Like I could come up with a new character, debut him in the Lethal Lottery, win, then win the title at Kingdom Come and hold it for a year like Ty did and Lee is doing, and I still wouldn't enjoy the character like I do Mikey. There was a time when the fed was full of these larger than life characters, and Mikey(and James Howard with him) stood out as normal guys. At his core that is what Mikey has always been, just a guy who happens to be a star wrestler. He eats too much, sleeps too much, games hardcore, he cries, he loves. He is just human. I honestly attribute a lot of my success to that fact.

 

[ShinChan]

That was a nice answer.

Has there been someone who you thought should have become a world champion but didn't?

 

[ShinChan]

Another question:

What made you chose Husky Harris as the rep of Mikey? He wasn't repackaged as Bray Wyatt then, so what was the reason you chose him?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Hmmmm. I'm sure I am leaving someone off who was really close and I'm forgetting, but I do have one guy who I always thought would get there.

Going back to my Strikeforce days, James Howard. You can ask a lot of the guys who have been around for my tenure and they will tell you that when Strikeforce first started that Howard was going to be the star and Mikey was going to be a decent midcard act. I don't say it because he was my partner and first friend from the fed, but Shotaro was a truly great RPer when he could commit and focus. Like he would write these great RPs and all I would do was add a fart joke or some nerdy reference and he would carry me to a win. The thing he was great at was making James Howard truly seem like a disgraced yet still dangerous MMA fighter. When we started focusing more on the relationships our characters were in, he did a good job of making them feel real. A lot of guys who gave their characters girlfriends and wives just used them as these generic RPs who they would sometimes have sex with. His fiance NPC, Dinah, was a real developed person. My Lethal Lottery RP from two years ago where I wrote the Howard/Dinah wedding is one of my favorite RPs to date, and I'm glad he allowed me to write that.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Another question:

What made you chose Husky Harris as the rep of Mikey? He wasn't repackaged as Bray Wyatt then, so what was the reason you chose him?

As far as this one goes, I was honestly a fan of Harris. I know that sounds crazy, but I enjoyed his work on his season of the NXT game show. Plus he fit the height and weight I had given Mikey. Ask Dagger, I have a real pet peeve about character reps that don't match the height or weight of the character.

 

[ShinChan]

I just read that RolePlay of yours and loved it.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I have a real pet peeve about character reps that don't match the height or weight of the character.

Thank God it's not just me.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

God you must've hated Big Dave.

 

[Lee]

What's been your favourite thing of the last year for you:

A) As Mikey Stormrage
B) As head of creative
C) As a WZCW fan?

 

[Dagger Dias]

God you must've hated Big Dave.

I do but only in the image rep sense. The idea of a "gigantic Evan Bourne" breaks my brain when trying to picture his matches or segments in my mind.

 

[Bernkastel]

I do but only in the image rep sense. The idea of a "gigantic Evan Bourne" breaks my brain when trying to picture his matches or segments in my mind.

Huh, I never had any problems picturing a giant Rey Mysterio for Grand Mystique.

 

[The Doctor]

I'm glad Spidey brought up Big Dave so I didn't have to.

 

[Ty Burna]

The reason why Big Dave's rep was Matt Sydal was because Phoenix (the poster) always made the same guy in WWE games, like I'm sure all of us do, Sydal's face as the closest to his creation's face. He couldn't find a big man that was close to that, and back in the day we mostly just used faces for our graphics in WZCW, so he felt getting the face right was more important than the body.

It's sort of similar with Criss Angel for my rep. Though not as large of a discrepancy as Big Dave was, Criss Angel is like 6'0" on a good day (ironically my actual height) and 175 pounds soaking weight. Tyrone Blades is 6'3" and fluctuates from 225 to 240 pending on what version of the character we're looking at. Either way that's at least a 50 pound difference and is significant. However the face and look was most important for the selection of the rep, which was suggested by Phoenix to me even though he had no idea who Criss Angel was, and so I went with that as my rep.

 

[Lee]

So yeah fuck you Yaz

 

[Dagger Dias]

Huh, I never had any problems picturing a giant Rey Mysterio for Grand Mystique.

The mask helps. I always pictured him as Big Show wearing a Rey mask lol

 

[Richard Blonoff]

What's been your favourite thing of the last year for you:

A) As Mikey Stormrage
B) As head of creative
C) As a WZCW fan?

A) Despite sometimes feeling like people get sick of Mikey, I have solidified myself as a true threat in the last year. If you count the year as KC to KC, I'll have gone from defeating Tastic in a grudge match, to now main eventing the big show. My only PPV loss in the last year was when I lost the title to Black in the triple threat, but I managed to win it back at the Lottery, so like I said I've really established myself as one of the best we have at the moment.

B) In the past year I think my favorite thing as HoC has been how quickly Prophet and Dagger took to the team. When you bring in first timers, it is always a gamble, but both guys have been great at the job. A close second is how level the playing field has become among RPers. We have a few guys who stand out as the top guys, but everyone on the roster is capable.

C) I think as a fan of the fed, in the last year I have loved seeing how some of the long reigning guys have reinvented themselves. You look at guys like yourself, Ty, Tasty, even Prophet, guys who have a lot of years on their characters, and they have managed to keep it fresh. Be it a timely turn, or a new edge, or a complete gimmick change, there have been some veterans who have extended their shelf life and as a fan of WZCW, I like seeing those veterans still getting it done. February will mark five years for me, and I feel like that is nothing compared to some of you guys, so to see you still kicking is great.

The reason why Big Dave's rep was Matt Sydal was because Phoenix (the poster) always made the same guy in WWE games, like I'm sure all of us do, Sydal's face as the closest to his creation's face. He couldn't find a big man that was close to that, and back in the day we mostly just used faces for our graphics in WZCW, so he felt getting the face right was more important than the body.

It's sort of similar with Criss Angel for my rep. Though not as large of a discrepancy as Big Dave was, Criss Angel is like 6'0" on a good day (ironically my actual height) and 175 pounds soaking weight. Tyrone Blades is 6'3" and fluctuates from 225 to 240 pending on what version of the character we're looking at. Either way that's at least a 50 pound difference and is significant. However the face and look was most important for the selection of the rep, which was suggested by Phoenix to me even though he had no idea who Criss Angel was, and so I went with that as my rep.

I never knew the story behind it Big Dave and his rep. I assumed there was something logical behind it, but it was before my time.