Kaiser: Today I am joined by the Man of Many Pages, the former Pubtalk Member of the Month, and the man behind "The British Rose" Daz... Daz!
To start us off for the first question, I'll go to the start of your PCW career. I think I speak for many people (and certainly for Ali and ShaneOfan) when I say that seeing Daz in the first PCW sign-up thread was a mark-out moment. What was the main reason you signed up to PCW; what are you mostly looking to accomplish with this "One Final Run"?
Daz: Well, I don’t know really. It’d been long enough since WCSF closed down by the time PCW started, that I missed writing. That was the only motivating factor. I hadn’t even considered what I wanted, who I wanted to work with etc. When SKS was doing the WCSF dark matches, I actually wrote a women’s match, because I wanted to do something different. I thought about signing up a female character or two instead of Daz, but felt compelled to bring the old git back. I’m not really looking to accomplish anything for myself, I feel as though I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I can with the character, so I guess I want to help establish other characters.
Kaiser: You have a reputation as being the most decorated sim fed writer in PCW. You've been to various promotions - including SOS, WCSF, IOW - and won many of their championships. What made you get into sim-fedding all those years ago? Do you consider yourself a better writer than you were when you first started, and if so, what areas have you improved in the most?
Daz: I was first introduced to SOS by Zach Zero in 2006. We were friends from an animation forum I was a part of. I didn’t know if I’d have the time to commit, but I always enjoyed writing and this seemed like something I could be good at. I am most assuredly a better writer now than I was then. Without simming, I probably wouldn’t have written a novel which is pretty crazy to think about. I’ve definitely improved as far as promos go, simming and a host of other things I’ve written through the years have helped with dialogue and characterisation. Some of my earlier promos were beyond horrendous.
Kaiser: In the last question I mentioned that you've written for many sim feds. How does PCW compare to those feds overall?
Daz: PCW is a lot like IOW actually. There’s a smaller roster, it’s much more relaxed, there’s a lot of room for comedy along with the serious stuff. It’s just a lot of fun. Maybe it was just me coming from SOS to WCSF, but WCSF always had an air of intimidation to it, and it felt like an uphill battle to get where I eventually did. I don’t think we have that with PCW.
Kaiser: Now I'm gonna ask you to look at PCW purely from a booking perspective. When it comes to our booking, what do you think we've been successful at so far and done a good job with? Similarly, what are some things that weren't so great and could have been handled differently?
Daz: I’ve been a big fan of the booking thus far. Things like Escalation, the whole Daz/Kaiser feud as well as Miller/Foster and the Canadian Wrecking Crew/The Disciples. You’ve done a great job of managing a much smaller roster and keeping things interesting show to show. I think perhaps the only thing I had some reservations about, was possibly the over explanation of the Kaiser/Enmascarado Leon stuff. You wanted to tie up the loose ends so it’s absolutely forgivable, and I’ve fallen into that trap myself when booking, but I think I would have taken a less is more approach to that. Other than that, it’s difficult to really think of something cause you’ve been spot on.
Kaiser: You are responsible for introducing saucernips to Pubtalk, and getting him to sign Matt Sears and Onyx Jaden to PCW. Give us some insight on their SOS history and what kind of future you think they'll have in PCW.
Daz: Sears was Daz’s first real rival and it’s crossed multiple different feds. We’ve had so many matches together, and Sears has yet to beat him. We became partners in SOS as part of an IOW invasion and it was a lot of fun. We’ve always enjoyed writing together, and he’s one of my closest friends, so that definitely helps. He’s a fountain of crazy ideas and he’s been taking care in coming up with stuff for Sears. I’m excited to see what he does, and he’s already pitched an excellent feud idea for down the road, so I’d watch out. I think you can tell already Matt Sears is gonna be a little bit different.
Kaiser: Oblivion was a bittersweet moment for your characters, as Daz did not walk out with the PCW World Championship, but Neo Runway Chic successfully captured the PCW Tag Team titles by defeating Brothers Comeau. How do Neo Runway Chic compare with the famous Team Catwalk?
Daz: It’s a lot different, which is what I wanted when I created them. Team Catwalk had gotten really easy to write to a point. I wanted to mix things up a little bit, which was why I introduced Adrian Dale (side note, that’s my first name and middle name flipped, and the name of a character in my novel – coming in October … hopefully this year not next year lol).
The idea to have them be somewhat at odds when I introduced them was basically covering my own writing, as I tried to find a rhythm, because it’s not the same as it was with Darren Daniels. Chambers has taken more of a back seat so I can establish Dale as a character, and I’m having a lot of fun with the GFW stuff. Also, Dale has the best damn moveset names. I honestly didn’t expect to win the tag titles but was delighted I did. I like being a tag team specialist of sorts and I’d be happy if that’s all I was none for, taking Daz out of the equation.
Kaiser: On Onslaught Episode 8, Daz cut a promo that many people called "the greatest in PCW's history so far". Tell us how you go about writing your promos. Do you have a couple bullet points in mind before you start and then build your promo around those, or do you just start writing and let the greatness flow forth?
Daz: This promo in particular, I was making a sandwich and I just had the first few lines pop into my head. By the time I’d walked back to my room, the whole thing was pretty much there. I was typing as fast as I could, making notes and whatnot, trying to remember it all. That sort of thing happens to me all the time, whether I’m writing matches, promos, something else entirely, It’ll just kind of come to me at the most inappropriate of times. If it doesn’t, I tend to just start writing and see what happens. That’s how I wrote most things actually, except matches. Matches I plan out to the last detail before I even start. I have this reputation for long matches but I never mean to write them that way. I’ll make 2 pages worth of bullet points, and sometimes that’s 6 pages when complete and sometimes it’s 26. It’s impossible to gauge.
Kaiser: Daz is now feuding with SKS/Spencer Miller, while Neo Runway Chic is in a rivalry with Barry and Knight, written by BSM. Which characters or writers would you like to work with in the future?
Daz: Miller vs. Daz is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Sears obviously is someone Daz has a history with. Andrew Logan is back, Daz would love to kick his ass so hard David Logan feels it. We’ve got great characters like Bishop and Magnum, Daz and Omega have never had a real feud. I can see Daz vs. somebody like Zaid being pretty good. Of course there’s Amos Hess. There’s so many characters and writers that you can pair Daz up against and I think you’d get something good.
Kaiser: What is one thing you would have liked to do in WCSF but didn't get the chance to before WCSF closed down?
Daz: Dog Collar Match. Don’t even care if it’s Daz, NRC, who it’s against. I just want to write one damn it.
Kaiser: And last but certainly not least: Daz vs a Broomstick. Can we expect a 20 page classic?
Daz: 30 pages. Minimum.
Kaiser: And that, as they say, is that. I thank Daz for joining me here on this fine Wednesday evening. You can see him in action on the next episode of Onslaught!
