ZEN: Art of Wrestling

[James The Animator]

Welcome to the first post of my informal ZEN diary! This isn't going to be a large-scale project, meaning there aren't going to be predictions or anything like that. This is just a simple recap of my ZEN shows. To catch up with my current storylines (I'm in Week 2 of February), I recommend you read my posts on the ZEN thread. I will have the first post (with photos!) uploaded fairly soon.

[James The Animator]

<p><strong>ZEN Way Of The Scholar</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>

Saturday, Week 2, February</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>

Reliquary of Scale, New Zealand</strong></p><p> </p><p>

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So, basically, this segment is showing that there may already be problems within the new version of F.E.A.R. Halloween Knight and Lone Shark are talking about who should challenge Pumpkin Jack to become the ZEN Master. Shark argues that he deserves the shot because he picked up the pin in the tag team match. However, HK insists that he should get the title shot because he was the champion before Pumpkin Jack. Eventually, Cyanide defuses the situation by asking HK to make Shark's match with Devilfish a #1 Contender's Match while HK challenges Pumpkin Jack tonight. This sounds good to both men, and F.E.A.R. get motivated for their upcoming matches.</p><p> </p><p>

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This was a pretty good match. Black Flash has been a good performer in ZEN, so I decided to have him win the match to challenge Damian Dastardly for the ZEN Conceptual title at Way Of The Healer. In addition, I had Shaolin take the pin, so Man O' War wouldn't be miffed like he would have been after Way Of The Dreamer if Damian Dastardly had beaten him clean.</p><p> </p><p>

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Now we've got a bad match! This match basically affirmed that the Horror Show has returned, and they're going to put younger teams over. I was really hoping that Killer B getting the pin would bring his popularity back up, but it ultimately did nothing for him. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Next show, I'll probably have the Australian People's Party beat the Horror Show to help increase their legitimacy.</p><p> </p><p>

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This was a pretty good match. I was a bit concerned about The Sky Kings losing popularity, so I kept them both strong and had C-W-A run in and beat up Vertigo (ignore Guru Vishni, that's supposed to be C-W-A). However, this match had the unintended side effect of getting Warp-Jump incredibly over, and the game now recommends that I push them as main eventers. They're decent young wrestlers, but I don't want to push them that much yet.</p><p> </p><p>

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Here's an even worse match! This one was pretty thrown together. I really wanted to boost Trevor Feather back up, as his popularity dropped a lot after losing to Black Flash at the last show. However, his and Pink Spider's only increased by 1 point each. Thankfully, the APP gained a point in popularity from this match. I've done well with them, and I'm thinking they could be Warp-Jump's next rivals.</p><p> </p><p>

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What an up and down show this is! We have a crappy match followed by the absolute epic Last Man Standing grudge match between Devilfish and the Mirror Universe version of his best friend, Lone Shark. Cyanide's interference helped push F.E.A.R., but this is honestly Lone Shark's feud now. Both of them were tired by the end, but they put on a great contest, and in retrospect, this should have been the main event.</p><p> </p><p>

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This match here was the official debut of Hugh de Aske in ZEN. I had high hopes for him, and he did not disappoint. This was a Comedy match, and both men did well. I thought this would function as a match for Dastardly while he waits for his next title defense, as well as a showcase for de Aske. I have plans for de Aske, and this match helped improve his popularity, which is ideal. Overall, a successful match.</p><p> </p><p>

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Unfortunately, completing the up and down aspects of this show, we have the disappointing match of the night. I expected the Knights Temple/Horror Show and 6-Man Tag matches to be bad, but this one was upsetting. I made the unfortunate discovery that HK and Jack have bad chemistry in this save, so it looks like that puts the kibosh on HK ever winning the title back. EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention that all ZEN Master title matches will be 2 Out Of 3 Falls in this save, just so the title will stand out from the others a bit more</p><p> </p><p>

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This angle is pretty self-explanatory. F.E.A.R. beat up Pumpkin Jack after the match, and Lone Shark stands over Jack and poses with the ZEN Master title. This helped to set up their match at Way Of The Healer, which I imagine will be Jack's best match yet.</p><p> </p><p>

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Overall, Way Of The Scholar was a decent show. I was hoping it would do better, but the main event really brought it down. Like I said before, I knew the Devilfish/Lone Shark match would be better (especially with instructions to "steal the show"), but I couldn't justify having that match headline over the ZEN Master title. I'm looking forward to our next show, and Lone Shark challenging for the title should help that be our best show yet.</p>