Post by Cheeze on Dec 28, 2020 15:31:14 GMT -5
SWL
Induction by Pick
Where to begin. Simon is one of my oldest friends on the boards (Not in age—that title belongs to Bert). I vividly remember competing in my first ever competition at a brand new start-up forum flavorfully titled “Revolution Rebirth” in 2012 in the opening match of the dark card against two people—one being the first friend I made on the forums back in 2012: xCMP7x. He had a second match that was placed on the main card in a tag match against Cheeze and Cheeze’s partner, Boss—also known as “asianVIOLENCE” (Yeah, that was really their name). xCMP7x’s tag team partner was a name I was not familiar with at the time. His name was xxSWLxx. They created some forgettable BU freestyle that lost the match, but that’s not the point. I remember this weirdo commenting on my videos over the next few months saying things such as ”great job dude.” At one point he even added me on AIM saying I was the only one he thought of that he didn’t have on there as friend yet. Then we got to talking, and we basically just became friends. We bonded over wrestling, both being relatively new to the whole “editing scene” and talking shit about people. All I’ll say is I’m glad the weirdo added me on AIM almost seven years ago.
I distinctly remember seeing Simon’s work back in the beginning of 2013, such as his Punk video and his Cena video shortly after that. There was a smooth crispness to the way he edited, and the way he went from clip to clip that just seemed so natural to look at. I won’t lie—I was jealous. It was when he released his Shawn Michaels video towards the end of the year which he made in three days that really made me start paying closer attention to his videos and the way he was doing things. All of these editors were going for fancy effects and trying to create “Neo” replicas, whereas Simon was always so damn good at utilizing his “Less is more” style.
It was at the 2013 Vidmas where he and I made our debut. We faced in the opening four-way fray, in which he took the win with his Chris Jericho career retrospective. A year long absence occurred shortly after where he went almost completely dark, and I kept moving. I went on from the mid card to the main event of Vidmas in 2014, creating a video that, whether some people want to admit it or not, shocked a wave throughout the newer generation of editors. I’d like to think that my video made many editors see that they weren’t trying hard enough and we, as a collective community, could start making some fantastic works of art out of this hobby. And that is exactly what I think happened to Simon.
Starting in the Summer of 2015, he released a five minute Dolph Ziggler video that caught the eyes of the entire forum. I remember saying, “I’m glad you finally pulled your head out of your ass and made something I knew you were capable of,” because I’m such a good friend. He would win the Gen-Next championship and from there, there was no stopping him. He continued to release masterpiece after masterpiece—each one better than the last. He would win the MVZone World Championship at Vidmas 2016, and again two years later.
Now, many editors have always been amazed by what Simon has been able to create the last five years. Most editors will take a concept and create something from it. Simon thinks about it a tad more in depth. He doesn’t just focus on the top layer of a concept. He peels back the top layer to see what else can be found. Sometimes, there are two or three more layers to be found, and he utilizes each of those layers into his videos. Take his Ric Flair video for instance: now an average editor would see a J Cole song and think of it as a perfect two minute Ric Flair video and call it a video. But Simon decides to throw in dashes in the middle of it. He jumps to his retirement, then onto Flair’s stint in TNA, showing how Flair can’t let go of the spot light, and has created this character in his own fantasy world. Now an exceptional editor could do that, as well. But Simon doesn’t stop there: he goes on to Flair’s daughter’s career, high-lighting how after all of these years, Ric is still using his own daughter to squeeze himself into the spotlight. It’s an incredibly fascinating take, and quite a creative outlook on real-life wrestling stories. Something Simon has become to master in all of his videos.
The man has done a lot for the community, mostly in his inspiring videos. But also for his help with competitions. He has created some of the most simple, yet beautifully appealing banners to advertise for competitions. He even created MVZone titles for each championship to make winning the title seem a little more real to each of us.
He’s been a leader and a champion. He’s assisted in development for newer editors. He’s established himself as one of the greatest editors of all time. He has gone by many names: SWL, Simon, xxSWLxx, and even SWS. As cliche as it is, it is my honor to induct my friend, inspiration, fellow editor, and my tag team partner into the 2020 MVZone Hall of Fame. You go, girl.
SWL: Find Yourself