In the coming weeks and months the PCW staff will be conducting interviews with different writers. Everyone was really enthusiastic about being quizzed by I felt it was only fitting to kick off proceedings with the man running the show and the writer for the PCW World Champion - KaiserGlider! So without further adieu...
WCSF was your first venture into the world of sim-fedding, what is it that made you sign up?
Unfortunately this isn't going to be a very interesting answer. As I remember, I was scrolling through the Index page of WWE-Club, noticed the WCSF section and thought it would be cool to give it a try. I wasn't really familiar with any of the characters until I debuted. To this day I have no fucking idea why I didn't sign up to WCSF sooner. If I had signed up a year or two before I did, I could have had the chance to work with a lot more people and have some great feuds.
What or who inspired you to create Kaiser Cavanah and why do you think he became so popular, so quickly?
Cavanah isn't one of those characters where I can point to a wrestler and say "That guy was my inspiration for Cavanah". He's influenced by a lot of wrestlers. In his early days it was mostly Chris Jericho and Edge, as he progressed into a bigger player it was probably Triple H and Punk added in to it with Jericho. Kaiser's run so far with the PCW World Heavyweight Championship had a lot of inspiration from Kevin Nash. I was watching videos of Nash in WCW and TNA, and the guy's a lot more hilarious than people realize. He might be one of the funniest wrestlers of all time. One of my goals with being the world champ is to have a memorable reign. I wanted Cavanah to be a heel world champion that really pushed all the possible boundaries of being a top heel, and went all-out with it as best I could.
As for the second part of your question, I think Cavanah became popular quickly for two reasons. One, it was his personality to be over-the-top and try and get as much people to notice him as possible. He's a guy that came into WCSF with a big chip on his shoulder, wanting to test his mettle against "these so called main eventers you got here". That's just the way he saw it.
Secondly, I think Cavanah's Corner had a lot to do with Kaiser's rise. At the time I was thinking of ways he could get over, how he could stand out from the rest of the rookies, etc. I've always been a big fan of Jay Leno-like talk shows, so I was like "what if I just talk trash about the other rookies and make fun of their gimmicks?" Looking back, it was a a bit controversial and I was careful not to cross too many lines, but at the end of the day I had a blast doing it, people seemed to enjoy it, and it took off, getting Cavanah over pretty good in the process.
Do you have a favorite feud ever?
At first I was gonna say Shane Evans, but I think my recent feud with Daz might be my best one. I think we booked it pretty damn well. It was a big time feud from any perspective and had its share of cool/memorable moments like Daz's PCW debut, him and Kaiser finally coming to blows when the Escalation match was announced, Kaiser stealing the world title from Daz at Escalation, the Dazaster Driver through the table, their awesome contract signing before Oblivion, and then the match itself.
My feud with Evans was amazing too. Kaiser going from losing the International Title to Dylan Kyle, then going into a depression, snapping and beating the shit out of Evans, thinking he had everything under control until Evans beat him at Revolution. Then we had a good Last Man Standing match at Meltdown, and then Evans came back and beat Cavanah in the finals of the Battlefield Tournament, Cavanah winning the title back the next night. It was a pretty big feud.
Well, I seem to be rambling on. Let's go to the next question.
How about a favorite match?
I'd say with Shane Evans at the last Revolution. We both went all out, gave it our all and it turned into a hell of a match. Another great match I had was with Dylan Kyle when I dropped the International Title to him. The story of that match was great, and it led to a great finish and a great moment. I really tried to put Kyle over as much as I could. What happened later was a shame. A damn shame!
When you first found out you were going to be winning the WCSF World Title, how did that feel?
Actually it wasn't like this big "holy shit!" moment because at the time I figured I was gonna be winning the title pretty soon anyway. But that being said, it DID still feel really good seeing it in fine print when the segment was PMed to me.
If you could bring any character back from the past to work with Kaiser, who would it be and why?
I'm gonna lowball you here and say Sean O'Kane. I always loved working with O'Kane because he was one of my first feuds and that character was always such a great foil for Cavanah. I think he would also fit in extremely well in the environment of PCW, because O'Kane is just a no-nonsense asskicker and he likes to cuss a lot in his segments. Which as you know is not as frowned-upon in PCW as it was in WCSF.
Another one is Mike Maverick. Cavanah's never really had to go against a completely despicable person like him before. It would be interesting to see which one of them would out-asshole the other. It would be like Maverick vs Devine, except... dare I say... even better?
You've risen from simply a writer to PCW's chief of staff fairly quickly if I do say so myself, what has that transition been like?
Chief of Staff? That has a nice ring to it. I think I'll start using it. Anyway, as for the question. When I was a writer, it was always about taking what's being given to me and making the most of it. Making my stuff as good as possible. When you're a writer, especially a newer one, you sort of have tunnel vision. You always want your segment or match to be the best, to stand out the most on the show. So you hold nothing back, you always give it your all. At least that's how it was for me in WCSF, and I'm sure that's how it is for some of our PCW writers.
When you're a booker, it's different. You can see the big picture. You know where feuds are going, where characters are going, what's happening on the rest of the show, etc. Now I have a different perspective on my segment or match. Oblivion is a good example. One of the reasons I didn't want to have a lot of finisher kickouts in my match with Daz was that I knew what Cavanah was doing on the next PPV, and I thought that would be a more appropriate match to have more finisher kickouts. Daz however, doesn't know what his character is doing next. To him all that matters is taking what's being given to him right now, and making it as good as possible. It was that way for me when I was only a writer. So, long story short, the transition from writer to booker is that your perspective changes and you can see the big picture.
In an ideal world would you prefer to be booking the shows or not having a clue what is going to happen?
Damn it Nick, that's a tough question. In an ideal world, everyone on the forum would be involved in the fed, everyone would turn in their segments before the due date, and Tim, Brett, Hanley, and Taj would be booking. I would be booking a smaller show like Ascension or Uprising, because a smaller roster is easier to work with and I do still want to book something. Cavanah would wrestle on the main show. So that way, I would still be involved in a creative part of the fed, but I wouldn't know what's going to happen with the big storylines. I think something like that would be a good arrangement for me, haha.
Kaiser Cavanah became the first ever PCW World Champion and went on to retain his title against Daz in what I'm sure we'd all agree was a dream match-up, what was it like working with the man of many pages?
The Man of Many Pages. That's a good description if I ever saw one, haha. Top shout mate! Working with Daz was everything I expected it to be, and perhaps more. He pretty much played his role perfectly in our feud. On the contract signing segment before Oblivion, I wrote what I thought was one of Kaiser's best promos, sent it off to him, wondering if he could match what I wrote. He did so to say the least; he had an outstanding promo of his own. That's the kind of guy Daz is. He's been around sim fedding for a long time. When it comes to the technical aspects of a match, the fucker can't be matched. I think he's the best promo guy in PCW as well. So, the bottom line is that working with Daz was fun. We both brought our A-game and made the Cavanah/Daz feud exactly what it should have been.
Is there anyone on the PCW roster that has stood out and particularly impressed you thus far?
The first name that pops into my head is Zaid. Here is a guy that clearly wants to have a successful run in PCW and has hit all the right notes so far to ensure that happens. Going to the veterans, Nick Foster has impressed the fuck out of me so far. I think most people would share that opinion.
Anyone on the current roster you're desperate to work with?
The person I'm working with at the next PPV.
The Master - future World Champ?
Absolutely. The Master = Ratings.
Finally, what can we look forward to in the coming weeks and months in PCW?
Funny you should ask, because I'm super excited about the next couple of shows. There's going to be some cool moments for sure. After all, with The Master there what more could you want?
There we have it, I'd like to thank Kaiser for being our first interviewee and look forward to seeing him take on the questioning hat with all you lovely people. Cheers!
