Inside The Tights

[bearkg88]

Im looking for two people to take part in the next itm. Shoot me a pm

[bearkg88]

All right. Got my two! Questions for discussion will probably be sent out tonight after Raw!

[wrestlingfan66513]

New Inside the Tights starts now!

Future schedule also

Now-Torphy
15- SE Zero
16- KingSteam
17-Jman
18-JosephBanks

If you don't see your name pm me and I will add you on. I lost track of the latter names and want to get everyone on before I do re interviews

[wrestlingfan66513]

Welcome to another edition of Inside the Tights. First off thanks for supporting the show as I looked back, the shows have been improving since I first started this and thanks for all the replies. I know some people get a little sour over some the past answers the guests have given but the whole point of a talk show is to get an honest opinion. With that done, last week Van gave us a great interview but my next guest may have given one of my favorite interviews on here. Let's go Inside the Tights with Torphy!

First off welcome to the show and it's a great pleasure to finally have you on. Let's get formalities out of the way first, introduce some of our new viewers to your characters and tell us a bit about them?


First of all, thanks for having me. I've been waiting for my chance for a while as I just love to talk about myself. This is going to be a long one, so I apologise for that.

The first character that readers may or may not be familiar with is Arthur Lansdale. He was my first creation for EWNCW and is still going strong right now, despite my attempt to have him retired around 6 months back when I told Eddie I was bored of the character, he talked me out of it and so I decided to stick it out. Basically the idea behind Lansdale was to create a heel British character that was effortlessly easy to hate, the kind of guy if you heard him talking like he does in a pub you'd waddle over and punch him in the face, and I believe i've managed that. Add to the Lansdale character his old valet, Rebecca Ravensdell, inspired by Grind Bastard, she was essentially just the female version of him. He hates everyone, except arse kissers. You're fat? He hates you. Dress differently? He hates you. Don't speak 'proper' English? He hates you. Do you fly off the top rope? He hates you the most! He wants to change the world, mold everyone into a mirror image of himself. Although in EWNCW he is going through a little transition right now, with his background being revealed and his working class roots being exposed. Is this a true face turn? You'll have to wait and see, you may be surprised.

Now, my second creation, none of you are going to know or remember. Hell I wish I couldn't remember, they were god awful. It was a tag team for BWA, Alex 'Atom' Bomb and Nick Fusion, Atomic Blast. They were cheesey, they were bland and their names screamed early 90's WWE. I got bored REAL quick of these guys and dropped 'em. These were the only creations of mine that I didn't feel emotionally invested in, and i'll explain my emotional investment in my characters a little later on. Don't expect an Atomic Blast revival any time soon!

Next up, my favourite creation(s) by far, every second of writing for this duo was fantastic, Erebus and Doctor Jarvis Cole. Initially designed for EWNCW, I decided the character of Erebus was better suited to the brutal style of HWA and offered him up to Broc, after a quick chat I decided a mouth piece was needed and in came Jarvis Cole. Briefly, Jarvis Cole is based on Dr Hugo Strange of the Batman comic series, I was playing Batman Arkham City at the time and I was enthralled by the character. Erebus is also inspired by the Batman comics, Strange himself created many monsters like Erebus, but I mostly associate him with a mute Bane. Cole is a Geneticist masquerading as a Psychiatrist, commiting heinous and despicable experiments on Erebus, turning him into what he describes as the ultimate weapon. He has him wrapped around his little finger and controls him with a neural shock chip inside his brain. Erebus brought a new brand of brutality to HWA and I genuinely believe was about to go nuclear before the plug was pulled. Eddie probably still lies awake at nights after my little outburst at him over the way he booked a match including Erebus haha. He was right though, my expectations were a little too high and at the time I hadn't taken into account how others might feel to being squashed. Will Erebus ever return? Truthfully, I don't think so. He was about to return in IWA right about now but I pulled him for reasons i'll keep to myself.

Another short lived character was Noah Philips. Never had a match, appeared one one show I think in EWA. He was a split personality creation, I thought he could have been huge, he was kinda like Charlie Haas when he was gimmick stealing. Destruction has a similar character right now in IWA as Oscar Layman, he's hilarious and you seriously need to read his stuff if you haven't already. I left EWA as I thought they were chatter boxes and I couldn't be arsed reading through 20 new pages when I woke up.

Next up, Malcolm Adonis. Another character close to my heart as he's completely based on myself. Well, alright clearly he's not but he's the confident side to my personality that I don't really possess, and it sort of manifested itself here. Brash, egotistical, arrogant and self loving, perfect heel right? Wrong. In ICW where he debuted everyone thought he was a face due to how funny I wrote him, trust me I was trying really hard to make him really jerky. But ICW closed, IWA opened and I relaunched him as a face and haven't looked back since. A highlight of my efedding career has easily been Shining Lights feud with him, great writing by the both of us, and great booking by Bear. He's also in a tag team with Kyojin on Brutality, if you've never worked with Eddie then you've missed out big time, he lives up to the hype!

Finally, my new favourite in the absence of Erebus, Dean Ambrose. Based on the gimmick the actual Ambrose had when he was Jon Moxley in the indies, IE Heath Ledgers Joker. I thoroughly enjoy writing for him, and my feud with THBK as The Rock and in a way Destruction as Shane McMahon has been awesome, great writing by both and excellent booking by Destruction. Keep an eye on him, as I plan on making 2013 the year of Ambrose.

One of the reasons you are a favorite of mine is like K2J, you both can create a wide variety of stars and produce gold with each promo. What is your thought process when you are writing for each character and why did you create such diverse superstars?

With the exception of Atomic Blast every single one of the characters I have created have something in common. I can identify with them on a personal and emotional level, essentially they are extensions of my own personality. Arthur Lansdale is my hatred for people who look down on others in a bigoted manner because they are different or don't share the same values. He is my two fingers, a mockery to the people who he represents, he comes across like such an arse hole because I actually hate him, as stated earlier I'd definitely smash a glass over his head in a pub given the chance.

Erebus is my love for science fiction, I am a huge fan of horror movies and a guilty pleasure of mine is actually cheering on the bad guy as he butchers his way to hell. As well as Bane from the Batman comics, inspirations come from Jason, Freddie, Hell Raiser and of course The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Cole himself also has a little Hannibal Lecter in him. But in addition to this, Erebus represents a battle with mental illness, a subject which I am all too familiar with having spent a short time in the care of a therapist myself. She was nothing like Cole, in fact she was the polar opposite, never once did she lock me up and put a chip in my brain.. I think.

Adonis is the guy I aspire to, he's the kind of person I wish I could be with women. Confident, self assured, comical and charming. He's like an alter ego to me, where i'm quite meek and withdrawn, Adonis is in your face, and he doesn't care how many people he ticks off, as long as he's having fun and is happy. But he's also my chance to tell jokes, to just make people laugh, and that's one of the characteristics that I do actually possess in the realm of reality.

So like I said, I identify with all of my characters and that's the thought process that goes into them as I write. Would I find them entertaining? Would I feel happy to talk about them at the proverbial water cooler? And if the answer's yes, then I write down what's on my mind. Also, when there are so many top quality writers on EWN such as K2J, THBK, Bear, Eddie, Destruction, TT and so many others then it spurs me on to try and reach the same heights.

Now the reasons for such variety is a simple one, I like acting. I'm not an actor in any sense of the word, but I enjoy creative writing. I like to get into the mind of another character and visualise the world through their eyes, it's the same process that helps me to come up with ideas for them. If I can picture their thought processes clearly, then everything becomes easy. Besides, I would get very bored doing the same thing over and over.

[wrestlingfan66513]

What have been some of your personal favorite moments in efedding, both things you were involved in and things you were just observing.

I'll tackle this question from a personal point of view first. I enjoy most of whatever i'm involved in, it's just a pleasure to cut a promo every week or so and develop a character more, create new plot lines or simply progress a story to the next level.

In terms of favourite moments that I was involved with, I haven't really had any truly phenomenal or impactful opportunities, I have no titles to my name.. except for my worst creations Atomic Blast sort of being given one.. sods law. But that small detail aside, it was a good feeling to win a high profile feud with Shining Light, that entire story line is probably my favourite to date as Adonis and Light were two characters that not a lot of people thought could result in the success we had. We made that story our own and developed it further than what was planned, Bears booking was also a big help with getting the feud to such a high level of quality. Another favourite moment of mine was Eddie requesting the use of Erebus in ICW, that recognition from him that he rated the character highly was a big compliment. And I guess finally it was nice to get a nomination for best newcomer in the recent yearly awards, though I certainly felt i'd done more than enough to get multiple. A little sour grapes there for sure, but that's the way I feel.

In terms of my favourite moments that others have provided i'll just list a few without explanation as otherwise this paragraph is going to be another essay. HWA's version of the Royal Rumble.. can't remember what it was called but it was fucking sweet. IWA's Insane Asylum match, JBW under new management and at least attempting to get back to business, WWEs King of the Ring tournament, HWA vs Clique and many others.

Now, I know this wasn't the question, but there have been many moments where i've thought.. Really? Really? Really? I won't go into them as I don't want to offend, but lets just say there have been some pretty piss poor booking decisions during my time here. I find it discouraging that overall quality comes second to loyalty and closeness of friendships in some areas around here. Mini rant over.

A while back you offered to start up an efed and you and Rob took up a vote to who would do it and the public went with Rob's idea. What went through your mind when that happened and what caused you to back out of it? What were your feelings when that debacle occurred?

Firstly, they didn't go with Robs idea, the idea that won was a collaboration. Also just to point out my idea got more votes than his.. so there haha. But I won't lie here, I thought my thunder had been stolen after making an initial pitch, getting a good response and then for another idea to come in and overshadow what I felt was a good opportunity to bring the good old days back. I didn't want a vote, but diplomacy had to win out otherwise things could have become sour between two people who had only just started talking again after much unpleasantness during the past. I expected the result to be honest, the guys around here wanted a collaboration and I agreed to it in principle. Then things went wrong.

After discussing with Rob what he and I both wanted, I decided to have a think about whether I was happy with the situation, I wasn't. I didn't like the creative structure he wanted, I didn't like being "The Overlord" sitting atop his throne whilst the peons slaved over a show and then took credit for their work. I didn't like how my own plan, despite having a higher approval rating, was taking a back seat to another cookie cutter fed that was about titles and story lines dictating ones success. So I pulled out, gave a crappy excuse to stay diplomatic and walked away.

I was really down about the whole affair, I felt like not only was my thunder stolen, but that I had effectively been swept aside in favour of something else when I believed my own idea stood up well enough on its own. I left EWN for a couple weeks after announcing it, I had a sour taste in my mouth and just didn't want to stick around.

So I know the above all sounds like I'm shitting on Rob here, but i'm honestly not trying to. Truth is we both had good ideas and the stronger character and personality won out, perhaps if I was a little more confident in myself things could have played out different, we'll never know. But Rob is a good creative mind, it's just a shame SRW never got going and was itself pushed aside for something else.

Do you think the efeds are returning into their golden days now or what do you think needs to be done for improvement?

This is the part where I pretty much lose any friends I might have on here, if you're faint of heart or pregnant, please look away now.

So honestly? Nowhere near. There's only one fed at the moment putting out weekly shows, on time, every time. And that's IWA. WWE is in a rut right now in my honest opinion and has been for the last 2-3 weeks (comment pre-summerslam). EWNCW is still feeling ropey to me, TTC was a poor acquisition to their creative, remember his failed attempt at a fed last year and the fact he holds up WWE Fed week after week? BITW? With a name like that could you be any more pretentious? Try becoming the best on EWN first. JBW looked to be getting there but has stalled again, no idea on the details but i'm sure they're working their arses off to get it going again. And this is one of the things that ticks me off the most, tardiness in all aspects. Late shows, late promos etc just ruin things for me, we as fedders are in no position to make demands of volunteers but I like a regular fix, ya know?

I think a little more character development needs to be done, people need to expand on the reasons why everyone should give a damn about their characters. I won't lie, I skip some promos as I know it's gonna be exactly the same as it was last week. Stop doing the same generic, tired IC work, "Omg ur a new guy? lol come back when u've done somethin worthy of me! trololol", that line right there or anything along the same lines does my freaking head in!. It's like someone is asking the other to give him a reason to IC with him, when in reality why should this new guy IC with YOU and YOUR attitude.

This paragraph is going to be directed towards creative. Please, for the love of god, start rewarding quality over quantity, and quality over loyalty. I look at guys like Benny, Destruction, Wrestlingfan, Super Dave, Grind and few others who produce the goods week, after week, after week and aren't getting anywhere near the recognition they deserve. Some of the champions we've had on here have boggled my mind. Broc and Sully are gone but the politics remains. Don't hate me for my opinion.

Short and sweet, shows are too long!

But it's not all bad, there are a load of positives and we ARE getting into a position where we can confidently say it's a lot better than it was. We have some guys around here that just ooze quality day in, day out. Tommy Thunder, Eddie, Jman, Bear, THBK, All of the guys in the previous paragraph, K2Jelly, Asher. And we have a bunch of guys with the potential to get there too. Shaz, Vandarius, B Mac, Scribbler and others.

We have a lot of great storylines going on right now, Jman and Kyojin? Epic. Jericho and Aries? Amazing. Ambrose and Rock? Brilliant. We have amazing characters, Mr Smyth, Ronaldo Romulus, Chris Divine, Mike Hawk and tons more that i'm too lazy to remember.

So, to sum this question up, we're not there, we have more work to do, but we're getting closer for sure.

[wrestlingfan66513]

With a lot of newer guys coming in, do you have any advice for them?

When I came in I didn't really have anyone take me aside and give me a run down of how things worked around here and it meant I had a bit of a slow start, so if any new guys do trawl through this thread and reach mine then here's what i'd tell them.

Take criticism on the chin, this applies from day one to day one million. If someone feels you could improve then give them a chance to explain, they might have something quite interesting or intelligent to say. On the other hand, if someone's being insulting without offering up genuine advice on how to improve, ignore that idiot, they're probably threatened by how good you are. People are going to ignore you, you can't be friends with everyone on here because some people are just arse holes with attitudes, like me, so don't lose any sleep at night if lets say you're a part of a group promo and someone doesn't mention you but says everyone else involved was great, chances are they're just annoyed there's someone just as good as them around... Yeah.

Don't get annoyed that you're not someones cup of tea, as I said you can't be friends with everyone and you sure as hell can't please everyone, we all have different tastes. Steer clear of drama, and don't spam fed discussion threads with babble, it discourages people from IC work for fear it may get buried under a mountain of nonsense. As much as you can, be polite and courteous (rich again!), you're not always going to get the same back as like I said some people are arse holes, i'm one of em so don't take it personal if I make a snide comment, it's my way of blowing off steam and I never actually mean it.

Now, onto the good stuff, how to make a good character, this is what you wanted right? Just be unique, don't create a carbon copy of an existing wrestler whether it be on here on in real life. Make an idea your own, be explosive and adventurous with your creativity (within reason, a satanic group of people who can make others levitate and explode is way too far.. for example). Don't be half arsed, plan their back story properly, give them something that relates to you in some way, try and see the world through their eyes and take your time. If you're making a heel then be heelish, don't be Mr fifty shades of grey, make people hate your character. If you're making a face, DO be Mr fifty shades of grey, nothing is worse than a boring face that is just too afraid to compromise his integrity once in a while.

Rich coming from me, but IC as much as you feel comfortable with, some guys are gonna ignore the new guy but it's the best way to get your new character out there and recognised. Never take anything personally from an IC comment, it's IC and should stay that way, also never answer an IC in an OOC way, there's just no point to it. Finally, just start slowly and enjoy yourself, if you feel you want to go faster then by all means go for it, just don't expect people to see it your way.


Is there anything you want our viewers to look out for in the future?

I really would have loved to have teased an Erebus return here but he's not coming back, as I alluded to earlier I doubt I would ever be happy settling for less than an explosive return to action, and I doubt many feds would be willing to accept what I wanted (and rightly so, some of you would be getting your arses buried, plain and simple). I think creating unstoppable monsters is fun, but not exactly fair on the guys you expect to just lie down for you as you roll your way to the top.

Keep an eye on Hot Wasabi on Brutality, I think we've got a chance to be the next Jesting Madness in how big we become. Incidentally we're feuding with JM right now so keep an eye on that too, should be a cracking feud with some excellent promos from all involved.

Arthur Lansdale is going through a transition in EWNCW as stated previously, is it a face turn? Is he just lying to his dad? Will he be back dressed as Batman? Tune in to find out! Speaking of Lansdale, over in JBW he's as mean as always, expect him to play a fairly large role over the next few months on Zero Gravity.

I forgot to mention him earlier, but keep an eye on Sting in the WWE Fed, it's been a slow start but it's picking up pace now, so fingers crossed we're going somewhere with that!

Alright.. and now.. it's time for me to announce.. that I was lying earlier and Atomic Blast are reuniting to take on the world! I felt dirty just saying that, they're not coming back, they're dead and buried in my back garden.

So to bring everything to a close, I would just like to state that I don't expect everyone to enjoy what i've said. Some may be annoyed, some might feel happy to get a mention, this is just my version of the truth, my opinion, and how I feel about this place. Feel free to send me a PM and curse me out. Peace.


That's it for this installment of Inside the Tights. As always, leave an feedback and comments about anything you want.

[BennyTheBall]

Torphy is an amazing. Brilliant wrestling mind, very creative, very approachable and shrugs off anything negative. The epitome of what an efedder should be.

'nuff said.

[Destruction]

Torphy is an amazing. Brilliant wrestling mind, very creative, very approachable and shrugs off anything negative. The epitome of what an efedder should be.

'nuff said.

This, pretty much. That was a terrific read, and Torph's is always the promo I look for in the show. I gotta say, I am absolutely loving the way Ambrose is being written for right now, and how he's got no titles is beyond me.

And cheers for all the compliments. Why do I get the feeling that this is just because I wrote a load of positive stuff about you in my interview .

[No_1eddiefan]

Torphs bro! Great interview and insight into your mind.

Thanks for all the mentions of me. It's an honour to be tag teaming with you dude.

[Tommy Thunder]

I think former EWNCW reporter Guy Smith can sum this one up:



I love Torphy. That's all there is to it. I really miss having him on creative since at least with him I'd get a straight up honest opinion on things.

Now, I know this wasn't the question, but there have been many moments where i've thought.. Really? Really? Really? I won't go into them as I don't want to offend, but lets just say there have been some pretty piss poor booking decisions during my time here. I find it discouraging that overall quality comes second to loyalty and closeness of friendships in some areas around here. Mini rant over.

Do you think the efeds are returning into their golden days now or what do you think needs to be done for improvement?

This is the part where I pretty much lose any friends I might have on here, if you're faint of heart or pregnant, please look away now.

So honestly? Nowhere near. There's only one fed at the moment putting out weekly shows, on time, every time. And that's IWA. WWE is in a rut right now in my honest opinion and has been for the last 2-3 weeks (comment pre-summerslam). EWNCW is still feeling ropey to me, TTC was a poor acquisition to their creative, remember his failed attempt at a fed last year and the fact he holds up WWE Fed week after week? BITW? With a name like that could you be any more pretentious? Try becoming the best on EWN first. JBW looked to be getting there but has stalled again, no idea on the details but i'm sure they're working their arses off to get it going again. And this is one of the things that ticks me off the most, tardiness in all aspects. Late shows, late promos etc just ruin things for me, we as fedders are in no position to make demands of volunteers but I like a regular fix, ya know?

I think a little more character development needs to be done, people need to expand on the reasons why everyone should give a damn about their characters. I won't lie, I skip some promos as I know it's gonna be exactly the same as it was last week. Stop doing the same generic, tired IC work, "Omg ur a new guy? lol come back when u've done somethin worthy of me! trololol", that line right there or anything along the same lines does my freaking head in!. It's like someone is asking the other to give him a reason to IC with him, when in reality why should this new guy IC with YOU and YOUR attitude.

This paragraph is going to be directed towards creative. Please, for the love of god, start rewarding quality over quantity, and quality over loyalty. I look at guys like Benny, Destruction, Wrestlingfan, Super Dave, Grind and few others who produce the goods week, after week, after week and aren't getting anywhere near the recognition they deserve. Some of the champions we've had on here have boggled my mind. Broc and Sully are gone but the politics remains. Don't hate me for my opinion.

Short and sweet, shows are too long!

But it's not all bad, there are a load of positives and we ARE getting into a position where we can confidently say it's a lot better than it was. We have some guys around here that just ooze quality day in, day out. Tommy Thunder, Eddie, Jman, Bear, THBK, All of the guys in the previous paragraph, K2Jelly, Asher. And we have a bunch of guys with the potential to get there too. Shaz, Vandarius, B Mac, Scribbler and others.

We have a lot of great storylines going on right now, Jman and Kyojin? Epic. Jericho and Aries? Amazing. Ambrose and Rock? Brilliant. We have amazing characters, Mr Smyth, Ronaldo Romulus, Chris Divine, Mike Hawk and tons more that i'm too lazy to remember.

So, to sum this question up, we're not there, we have more work to do, but we're getting closer for sure.

Every word in the above is the truth. 110% agreed.