2020 HOF Inductee #2: The Pro Wrestling Mixtape (Vol. 1)
Dec 1, 2020 0:15:33 GMT -5
[beej], Rev, and 5 more like this
Post by Cheeze on Dec 1, 2020 0:15:33 GMT -5
The Pro Wrestling Mixtape (Vol. 1)
Induction by AD
Do you remember what it was like at The MV Zone back in 2016? Everything sucked! Alright, sure--there were talented editors making good videos, blah blah blah... whatever! The point is, things had gotten very stuffy around here. The community that had once prided itself on producing the most unique, creative, and varied kinds of videos found anywhere online had in recent years become very uniform. Everyone was trying to make Masterpieces--with a capital-M. Concepts had become bloated and pretentious. Editing had become overly technical and lacking in originality. The spirit was lost. The soul was fading. The community was on life support.
Then, like a cool, refreshing breeze blowing across a war-ravaged battlefield, came The Pro Wrestling Mixtape Vol. 1! The brainchild of The King himself, BJ Smith, it was a new Multi-Editor Project conceived with one goal in mind: Make Wrestling Music Videos Fun Again! And it was exactly what this place needed to breathe new life into it.
The concept was simple, each editor would pick a wrestler and profile their character however they pleased. But it came with a single mandate: be creative! Take risks! Think outside the box! It was the simple idea and general lack of focus in the structure that freed people up to put aside the pomposity and just do what made them smile. It was a rousing success.
Batting leadoff was everybody's favorite editor, and all-around solid dude, Rev. Setting a tone of positive vibes with the happiest wrestler on the planet in those days, Bayley, he crafted a text-heavy opener that served as both a character profile and an intro to the video as a whole. It is, simply put, the best opening section in any MEP this community has ever produced.
Next up was the mastermind of the project, the venerable [beej]. With highlights of Will Ospreay defying the laws of gravity to match Freddie Mercury's lyrics and a retro faded VHS aesthetic to tie in with the idea of a mixtape, he delivered an exciting and on-theme addition to the project.
The three-spot was occupied by MMV specialist HTW, or Reed Benson if you prefer. Eschewing fancy effects and quick-cut action for a more character-driven approach, he captured the heel persona of Adam Cole to great comic--and surprisingly not-depressing--effect.
Batting cleanup was a relative newcomer with a name nobody was quite sure how to pronounce: Paroxysm. Profiling The New Day through a selection of goofball antics and some Dragonball references that I'm told make sense if you know anything about Dragonball, the still somewhat inexperienced editor proved he belonged in any project or group of editors.
Announcing his presence in a very loud fashion next was future world champion CheeZe. Highlighting AJ Styles through the unique perspective of fan cam footage and a whole lot of shouting and chanting, he delivered one of the most original contributions to the video.
The sixth part of the video was tackled by a real sweetheart of a guy, Bless. Marrying an aged film aesthetic with a fluid modern editing technique in much the same way that his subject, Zack Sabre Jr., weds a traditional presentation with a progressive in-ring style, he strung together clips like only a true student of British chain wrestling could pull off.
Closing things out was yours truly, AD. I chose as my subject the breakout star of Lucha Underground's first season, Pentagon Jr., mixing in-ring highlights with pages from a comic book for artistic effect. And well, I'm not gonna review my own work, but people seemed to like it.
The impact of the finished product was immediate. Reactions were uniformly positive on the board. The wrestling community at large, led by our old friend Chris Hero, tweeted out their approval. New editors started to pop up on the site, drawn by the word-of-mouth. And the ripples continued to spread through the water for years after.
Obviously a whole series of sequels were produced, but the influence didn't end there. Speaking only for myself, my whole run of subsequent wrestling videos were directly inspired by my experience working on this video. I also tried my hand at getting a series of Movie Mixtape MEP's to take off, but it never really caught on with the same enthusiasm; this one was lightning in a bottle. Going beyond my own domain, I daresay videos such as Durty's Bayley tribute "Electric Feel", or The Harmonious Legion's Beatles-infused "Super Dragon's Guerilla Hearts Club Band" wouldn't exist, at least not in their current forms, without the Mixtape series blazing the path. And we all know CheeZe's own take on Pentagon Jr. "Bad Man" wouldn't. Don't we, CheeZe? You know what you did!
If you wanted to break down the history of this website into eras, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to call the last four-and-a-half years The Mixtape Era. And for that--for yanking The MV Zone's head out of its own backside and reminding people that what we do is supposed to be fun--it's only fitting that we honor this video with a place in The MV Zone Hall of Fame.
The Pro Wrestling Mixtape (Vol. 1)