Post by [beej] on Nov 29, 2014 1:22:15 GMT -5
(artist's rendition of what Awesome Dude may look like in reality.)
Awesome Dude
Everyone inducted this year into the HOF have been long-standing pillars of this community. However, in an editing sense, Awesome Dude is the only one to have been around and active consistently from the beginning. Not only that, but AD continues his path of greatness, never experiencing a slump as most editors naturally go through.
My first exposure to AD was as one half of the Tag Team Champions (with Matt Daniels), The Awesomest Tag Team In History. They were a great team that complimented each other well, but it was when AD went into solo competition afterwards that MVZ truly discovered what a rare gem he is. In my eyes, AD's first sign of true greatness was his Malenko vs. Mysterio video used at the 2007 Merry Vidmas Bash. I remember watching that video and realizing that I could never edit like that...still can't to this day. It is then when I began to retroactively study this man's body of work, and not surprisingly, I discovered that AD was always an incredible editor. Two of his earlier videos that stick out in my mind are his tributes to Sting and The Steiner Brothers. These foreshadowed AD's incredible ability to make his videos far more than "wrestler tributes" and more of character studies through editing technique and song choice.
A lot has been said about the absolute masterpiece that is Awesome Dude's "Just A Thought." In my mind, he reinvented the style of editing seen on this site, and paved the way for most of the editors currently competing and enjoying our community. It is a perfect video in every sense, and the second greatest video to ever come from this site. For more gushing about this video, click here.
I was honored (and terrified) to have the privilege of facing AD in the 2008 Vidmas main event for the vacant World Title. Knowing that I could never go toe-to-toe with him on pure editing skill, it made me approach my video in a completely different way. That match and just being considered good enough to face AD are true highlights of my editing career.
I could write for hours about AD's contributions to the world of wrestling editing, but he proved every bit as talented when producing MMV's. In my opinion, he's the best to ever do it on this or any other site. AD stepped up and organized a few editions of our Project[Cinema] video series when I was unable, and those five videos are what I'm proudest of from my time at this site. Truth be told, AD's participation in said videos are most of the reason why I continue to organize them in the first place. He never ceases to amaze me with the ease and precision in which he tells his story; whether it's a twenty second section in a project or a full blown four minute wrestling character study.
I honestly don't have enough good things to say about Awesome Dude. I'm thrilled that he continues to edit here, and that he still considers me a worthy opponent for the upcoming Vidmas competition. He's the greatest pure editor to come from this site, he's a constant source of great feedback and advice, and he's a friend.
It is my absolute honor to induct Awesome Dude into his rightful spot amongst the greats in the MV Zone Hall Of Fame!