Ask the Boss

We haven't done one of these in a long time and seeing as I've got a long train journey ahead of me this afternoon hopefully your questions will help pass the time

Feel free to throw me any questions about your own characters, decisions made in the past or even future direction - I will promise to try to answer honestly where I can

What was the thinking behind putting Adamson and Grace together? Was it to put two promoers together in the fight against The Forgotten or have there always been plans for them to tag?

Was it always planned to bring Dicey back to help PJ and for him to betray Dicey so soon

The original thinking was they would be part of 'Team 6CW' fighting against The Forgotten, I knew that the two characters would be so opposite that we could have some fun with promos and segments but I didn't consider them a long term option for the Tag division.

As with a few other stories the team has grown organically and the odd couple pairing works really well and lets them be involved in stories that although have tenuous links to The Forgotten aren't always about fighting Mr Jones as I am very aware that can get stale very quickly and means individual feuds don't get the focus they deserve

Dicey Reilly wrote:Was it always planned to bring Dicey back to help PJ and for him to betray Dicey so soon

Yes - That was always the plan that JJ and I had in mind

Which is story arc that you've planed do you feel has had the biggest payoff

Who do you prefer out of me and Chris?

If Enforcer had been around would he have been part of Team 6CW or The Forgotten?

Was the members of The Forgotten the original ones you planned?

You mention about Harris having a much bigger storyline planned if he was here. Can you diverge more what that would have been?

Will 6CW ever reach a time when midget luchadores are accepted?!

I'll ask a serious question after the gym

Steel wrote:Which is story arc that you've planed do you feel has had the biggest payoff

In terms of planning and just the scale of the idea I always have to go back to the EWF/6CW merge in terms of storyline satisfaction there's a few

Gazzy and Max - The back and forths to the ultimate Gazzy pay off and even to where Max is now as a character
Return of Mr Jones and The Forgotten - Could have been seen as oh no not again but I think it was done really well
Masters and Harris - I'll elaborate a little more later on

Currently I'm really enjoying the dynamic between Max and Grace and the plans we have with Dicey should be fun. The focus for me at the moment is on building up the individual feuds whilst having the underlying threat of Jones as a reoccurring theme but not one that consumes everything - Hopefully we are starting to get that balance right and with the plans we have coming up there should be lots of fun to be had across the roster

Mat wrote:Who do you prefer out of me and Chris?

It's like choosing between my children

Serious question: when you see people make predictions about future storylines/moments does it ever annoy you/make you change plans?

TwisT wrote:If Enforcer had been around would he have been part of Team 6CW or The Forgotten?

Was the members of The Forgotten the original ones you planned?

You mention about Harris having a much bigger storyline planned if he was here. Can you diverge more what that would have been?

Enforcer I think would have been Team 6CW - He'd had problems with Jones in the past and had a real problem with authority so would have had a role much like Costello has at the moment

The original plan was very different and was an idea pitched by Chris - The original concept was a stable of guys who perhaps their handler didn't have time to promo for regularly so as a way to keep them involved this Nexus style group was discussed and it kind of grew from there at the same time we were looking for a way to bring Jones back as we felt that story with Magnusson still had legs and the two ideas came together - As far as the current members I think Phillips, Hokori, Stevens were all in the original line up with Jones the only person who is missing is Harris who was always ear marked as the 'Jewel in the crown' as Jones described him but DP wasn't available so we had to make changes

As above Harris was supposed to have a big story in 6CW - Originally he had been pencilled in for the 6CW title around the time Max was champion I think but when DP left we went with the Gazzy story which we were planning for later. More recently he was due to return in The Forgotten but again that was shelved. Harris is still a big character in the history of 6CW so who knows whether he will one day return but at the moment there aren't any conversations happening about it

xviperx wrote:Serious question: when you see people make predictions about future storylines/moments does it ever annoy you/make you change plans?

It definitely doesn't annoy me as its great to see that what we are doing provokes such interest from you all. I don't think we have ever changed an idea just because somebody may have predicted it happening, more often that view is just one of many differing views

I don't mind people pitching ideas but in all honesty I prefer when it's a high level idea as an idea that's too restrictive removes the fun for us as a creative team and for you as readers. I like to think you trust us enough based on the last few years that we generally know what we are doing and I don't think we've ever done anything to ridiculous that makes you question what is happening. Take Wood as an example I know the limits you set on the character but I hope that over time we have made him a more rounded character with our story developments - There was a time when you couldn't see him being a heel but now I think you'd agree that his current persona fits with everything he has gone through in the past without losing the important personality traits that you wanted to keep

Is he heel?
I completely agree though, my only worry was that Stevens and Wood would be way to similar but I think it just means changing Stevens a little, enjoying both guys right now.

On the prediction leagues, if everyone predicts the same outcome because it's a bit obvious, are you tempted to change the outcome to keep us on our toes?

Marky wrote:On the prediction leagues, if everyone predicts the same outcome because it's a bit obvious, are you tempted to change the outcome to keep us on our toes?

No as for me that just shows it makes booking sense - Fir me Not everything is about springing surprises with results although we do try and have the odd one to keep you on your toes - I think that a lot of the feuds are open enough that even though you have an inkling who will win there is still that niggling doubt in your mind

Most of the time where a result is obvious it is because someone is no longer around - Most big matches where both people are promoing it isn't easy to pick a winner as shown I think with the prediction league results

How and when did you lose your virginity

Ask your mom.

Is there a storyline you felt could of been better if done a different way in hindsight?

Fernando wrote:Ask your mom.

DENISE KENNY IS A SAINT!!!!

Dicey Reilly wrote:

Fernando wrote:Ask your mom.

DENISE KENNY IS A SAINT!!!!

That's what they all say..... Why do you think you are getting this push now....

#SexualFavours

Yeah....push

Dicey Reilly wrote:Yeah....push

give it 6 months and her hard work will have paid off....

Fernando wrote:Ask your mom.

Is there a storyline you felt could of been better if done a different way in hindsight?

There was a storyline early on involving a golden contract - That was rubbish and wasn't thought through to the end so actually taught me a valuable lesson in planning stories fully

Overall I am happy with the majority of stories to be honest - Nothing jumps out as absolutely awful although on hindsight some of my own creations should have been better thought out
Altair - Ex Russian spy turned wrestler
Enigma - The original plan was to have him like The Hurricane where it was obvious who he was under the mask, I even planned to use Brianstorm by the Arctic Monkeys as his music but the story changed a lot from the original inception as I had planned for him to be the son of a famous wrestler although I hadn't decided who

At times I think I may have been too open to allowing people to stay around when they weren't promoing and also need to not always see a returnee as needing a spot in a ME story to be a success but I'm still very much learning at this so see any little bump as an opportunity to improve

Hopefully there hasn't been too many times when people have read shows and thought WTF

Dicey Reilly wrote:Yeah....push

Finally getting that push down the road of alcoholism and sexual deviance

What character exceeded your expectations based upon their character sheet the first time you saw it?

Was burning McCoy a difficult choice to make?

Is there any reason we dont have the chatbox open for show days?

Can you give me a question to ask you?

TwisT wrote:What character exceeded your expectations based upon their character sheet the first time you saw it?

Was burning McCoy a difficult choice to make?

Honestly based on purely how out there the character is initially I would say Joshua but then you explore the backstory you had built up and you could see the various options that would become open that I think so far we have only scratched the surface on

Other examples I would say Nate Nack, Thunder because of the niche area the character is derived from. Bam as a concept was hard to get to grips with but like most of these the starting point of the character isn't that important as the strength of the promoers meant that an idea can go a long long way once feuds develop and as I've always said interesting character flaws come up that others can use in back and forth a that give a character longevity

No - The plan was always to burn McCoy but I'm not sure if how we chose to do it was the best way but at the time I agree that the doll had to go to cement Joshua's allegiance to Jones

LL Cool Nay wrote:Is there any reason we dont have the chatbox open for show days?

Can you give me a question to ask you?

We stopped asking I think is the simple answer to that one - I'm sure if enough people wanted it we can start using the box on show days again?

Do you like to choose certain people to write certain times of matches or certain types of segments?

Do you, like I, think that promoers should not write segments for their own characters unless absolutely necessary?

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Do you like to choose certain people to write certain times of matches or certain types of segments?

Do you, like I, think that promoers should not write segments for their own characters unless absolutely necessary?

Yes I think over time I have started to understand where people are best suited however I am more than happy for people to try new things if they want to write for a specific character or a match type they haven't before - There are also certain types of segments I would always keep for myself or indeed for you Chris if they contain big events that would perhaps spoil things for a roster member

I do try to avoid having promoers write segments for their own characters as I agree it's nice to have somebody else tell the story in the show however if it's a new character I will ask for them to write a vignette or promo to use. Sometimes it's unavoidable because of limited availability but yes as a general rule I agree with you

What is your plan for the overall expansion of the fed? Currently the roster is manageable, active members are on the rise and 6CW has got to be bigger than ever. Do you see a time where we go to weekly shows? Or begin to add new ideas and events? From a storyline perspective, how is Engel viewed by mr jones?

I don't think a weekly show is on the horizon, if the roster grows we may have to see how we manage the cards but I think the current format works well - I would like to see more additional content like the podcast and the project Edd and Liam are working on is great for increasing activity and interest amongst members - It's a fine balance as the priority has to be the main show and I know people do this as a hobby so free time is at a premium

Jones likes to be in control and not knowing what Engel is going to do next makes him uneasy - He needs to find a way to use Engel in a financially profitable way but I don't think Engel is the 6CW poster boy that Jones wants

Outside of the storyline I think your promos have been awesome since you came back and you're a massive asset to the fed

Go on from the response to Engel's first question, is there any content you think would fit well with in the confines of our little community that someone, (ie me), could do to add to our over all experience?

And I'd also, like to ask if when I returned, if the current spot Thunder is the spot, you saw him in?

Is there any plans for a Yarmouth blade return?

Thunder87 wrote:Go on from the response to Engel's first question, is there any content you think would fit well with in the confines of our little community that someone, (ie me), could do to add to our over all experience?

And I'd also, like to ask if when I returned, if the current spot Thunder is the spot, you saw him in?

I would like to build back up the Behind the curtain content so magazine style stuff and also 'reality' content - Think WWE network

Based on your promo past I knew if you stuck around you would be pushing for a top spot and I'm glad to have been proven right - The character is one I can relate to and was part of the reason for me creating Enigma

Steel wrote:Is there any plans for a Yarmouth blade return?

No - He did approach me with an idea for a crossover with the fed he was in but nothing ever came of it - 6CW is an inclusive fed so I will never say no to anyone as long as they are committed and are willing to put the effort in

Damn it you mean we missed out on seeing Derek trotter grace the halls of 6cw

Do you already have most of this year planned out, or are things still very much open to change?

I've been thrown into the mix Steel and have already pushed some changes

Steel wrote:Do you already have most of this year planned out, or are things still very much open to change?

Rough plans but nothing that isn't changeable - I always have a card in mind for next couple of PPVs but it's never set in stone and without fail will change in someway

What the most frustrating parts of the creative process.

Have you ever had an idea for a segment/ story hat you thought was awesome and then instantly disliked once yiu sawbin context in show.

How much does the feedback after rach show affect future storylines/ character direction.

LL Cool Nay wrote:What the most frustrating parts of the creative process.

Have you ever had an idea for a segment/ story hat you thought was awesome and then instantly disliked once yiu sawbin context in show.

How much does the feedback after rach show affect future storylines/ character direction.

The most frustrating part is the wait between the idea being discussed and it coming to fruition in print

The golden contract, Brian/Enigma was better in my head, Magnussons attack and the Nate hit and run were very different stories originally to how they have played out

I wouldn't say it changes things wholesale but we do take note of what people are saying also where things catch fire suddenly whether that be in promos or in the show we will start to push it more than we may have originally planned - Let them fight, Max and Grace and Dicey and Wood for example

A selfish one: If Edward Plague had stuck around...where do you think he'd be by now?

A non selfish one: what type of character do you feel is missing from 6CW that we see in a company like WWE? Is there a type of character you'd like someone to bring in?

Do you see a time when the GM/owner isn't a big part of storylines and only has a bit part role? Or do you think it is too important a storyline tool?

We've discussed this before and I think Plague would have evolved into more of a psychological threat, perhaps move away from the cult/religious side and find a proper niche for himself - I'm sure one day there will be a time we return to the story of Edward Plague

I think in terms of coverage we are very lucky with the wide range we have - Perhaps we are a little heel heavy but that's probably to do with the major story at the moment

If I had to pick one character type it would be a guy with a Heyman type speaker - Jax Cutler and Hathaway had a great dynamic so perhaps there is room for someone like that again it would also add an older figure who might rub Jones up the wrong way

Yes I definitely see a time when the GM doesn't play as strong a role in 6CW, obviously the GM is a key figure in match making etc but perhaps it doesn't always have to lead to a power struggle for control of the company

That type of story has played a big part in both 6CW and 6WF history but I think a period of stability where the GM is fairly a straight arrow or where he doesn't really favour anyone so the playing field stays level because of it

I'd be interested to hear all your views on that one as well as in WWE and other companies the GM battle has probably been used more than others so are we just reflecting a wrestling company that we find familiar because of what we've grown up with?

If you could bring back a GM from the past who would it be and why?

My memory is terrible so I don't remember a lot of them - Magnusson as there's still probably a story to tell, Alex Walker (If he hadn't already done ReGenesis)

Dubs

Who would you like to see back what would be the biggest OMG moment

Gerard Dubois would be a shock return as would Oliver Keane or Drake