Ask the Prodigal Son - Finnegan Wakefield - Anything

The Council wrote:

When you gonna let me have a match with you so I can fuck you up

I kicked your ass into hiding last season. You already wanna go again Bussy?

If we were to fight - How long until the ring collapses underneath the weight of our genius?

What reason did you choose to have your character specialize in a particular style and be the modern day master and standard bearer of it?

And why exactly did you choose Submission Specialist out of all those styles? (other than having ZSJ as your base and all)

I never got a chance to tell you, but I truly do appreciate the match you wrote between Nas and Finn on Olympus a little while back now. It was an incredible read and it was probably the first match of mine not written by me in a LONG time that felt so incredibly genuine to the Nas character and embodied the way he'd perform in the ring perfectly against an opponent like Finn. So I sincerely thank you for being such a perfectionist and a master of your craft not only for yourself, but for all of your peers as well!

Finnegan Wakefield wrote:

The Council wrote:

When you gonna let me have a match with you so I can fuck you up

I kicked your ass into hiding last season. You already wanna go again Bussy?

All I’m hearing from you is you don’t wanna go again pussy.

Noah Reigner wrote:

If we were to fight - How long until the ring collapses underneath the weight of our genius?

Physical weight, I would be surprised that the ring doesn't just take off with a slight breeze.

Weight of our genius, however, give it until the bell rings as a low-ball.

Nas wrote:

What reason did you choose to have your character specialize in a particular style and be the modern day master and standard bearer of it?

And why exactly did you choose Submission Specialist out of all those styles? (other than having ZSJ as your base and all)

I never got a chance to tell you, but I truly do appreciate the match you wrote between Nas and Finn on Olympus a little while back now. It was an incredible read and it was probably the first match of mine not written by me in a LONG time that felt so incredibly genuine to the Nas character and embodied the way he'd perform in the ring perfectly against an opponent like Finn. So I sincerely thank you for being such a perfectionist and a master of your craft not only for yourself, but for all of your peers as well!

This is going to be long.

I think you have pretty much answered your own question. When I made Finnegan Wakefield as a character, I can't honestly say who I was inspired by, but I wanted to make the scrappy underdog that cut down his opponents slowly. So that when he gets older, moves up the ladder, locking in a submission becomes a baseline "oh shit" moment. But it took a long time to get that to happen. I made him in a fed, you know the one, that didn't really cater to that kind of idea. No one was a practitioner of it and you were somewhat punished for having it be your style of choice. Submission finishers were treated like non-entities for the wrestler because you'd only win or lose by tap out if you didn't promo and it was treated as a punishment. It took coming into OWA and taking matters somewhat into my own hands for it to start becoming something more acceptable. It stopped becoming "oh, you have submissions on your character? That'll just mean I'll slow down the pace a lot as a break from all the heavy action." Which I have always thought was a very closed-minded look on the style.

I am a very narrative-driven guy so naturally, I want it involved in my wrestling. While all the other styles -- powerhouse, brawler, deathmatch, highflyer, etc -- can have narrative-driven components involved, I think submission-based wrestling is one that inherently has a narrative attached. There is calculation, desperation, once a limb is a target it becomes a hindrance and a hurdle at the same time. I think we've grown accustomed, and OWA is no exception, to having spectacle fights that rely on shock factors that border the absurd. Stuff I would actually stop watching wrestling for. I love Mav, really I do, but as a fan if I saw Snoop Dogg run out an interfere in a match and a referee feel obliged to do a tope con hilo on wrestlers, I wouldn't pop. I'd be annoyed that had to be a point of interest, or a factor that takes away from someone winning. Put in the wrestlers shoes, I'd also hate it because it doesn't put anyone but a referee who shouldn't be put over and a random celebrity run-in over the wrestlers, just for shock factor we awfully rely on from time to time. That's not to pick on one instance, it certainly happens a lot and I know I am not the only one who thinks so, we seem to judge on a bell-curve of how shocking a show is versus how good the wrestling story is.

That seems like an awfully long unrelated rant, but it does speak to what styles do actually get highlighted more in this hobby. I chose one a lot might see as boring, but I try an ungodly level of effort to put over. And there are a lot of people that don't put it over -- specifically people who complain about losing by submission. Again, something I knew going in would become a problem. People don't want to tap out because it makes them look weak. But people tap out in MMA all the time, they are conditioned athletes in a fight and I can assure you even the most badass of competitors have tapped out more than once. Ken Shamrock has lost 4 by submission, Dan Severn 8, Mark Hunt 7 and Minoru Suzuki 9. Tell me any of them aren't still seen as badasses despite submission losses. So choosing the style I did could also be used to cut into the style of others and drive a story forward. Versus a powerhouse, David vs Goliath, the powerhouse tosses him around but he occasionally starts to be broken down as submissions wear his limbs down. Versus a highflyer, ground them and take away their abilities to force them to push through or think up a new strategy. Brawling becomes an MMA fight, Deathmatches have an uncomfortable real feeling to them, you see the point. It compliments a lot of styles in terms of making a story. And I like being that element of a story.

I know I just mentioned I don't like it when people complain about losing by submission, but I am pretty sure everyone I have put over I had to lose to their style. It is not as niche, but inherently I put your style over. I don't know why someone wouldn't reciprocate doing the same in vice versa. And it builds an image. Put Finn in a submission match with someone, the gut reaction is either this is Finn's level and he's clearly got this, or the other person is going to do the seemingly unthinkable. Even if Finn wins that match, the other person will most likely come out of it with cred depending on the performance for hanging on in that style. And god if they win, the pop they'd get for beating Finn in a submission match. Keelan winning by submission at FDII was entirely to get him back on that badass level of main event competitor. It's the same if you were put in a deathmatch with Darkane, for example. You're either a badass in defeat or a bigger one for winning solely because you know Darkane is a standard-bearer of that style. Naturally, it should be rare to do so to preserve the prestige those victories can get, but such is the hobby we are in. It's competitive, so we play competitively for wins. We do have to sacrifice some of that image.

I guess this was a long way of me saying I wanted to make an aura and perception of Finnegan Wakefield. One that put a style over that could work against and with anyone, tell interesting stories without absurd shock factors, focused on the actual wrestling aspect, and will be a vehicle of putting the right people over when the time comes. It's a style that'll never go out of style because it's in the heart of wrestling. The fact it's so closely associated with Finn means I have accomplished that goal to an extent.

Gimme some questions to answer as i take a day break from making trons and doing other fed like activities.

Have you ever dreamed up a gimmick match and if so could you share the details

Mark Michaels wrote:

Have you ever dreamed up a gimmick match and if so could you share the details

I took a long while to think of this and, as boring an answer as it is, no -- I don't believe I have. If I did, I don't imagine it was all that creative like an Elimination Chamber Ultimate X match or something. I think it's very hard in this day and age to create a truly unique gimmick match that isn't just mixing two together, electrifying something, or setting something on fire. Or whatever Vince Russo books in the 2000's.

I love the Cibernetco matches that happen in Mexican wrestling, even if I don't watch it frequently, so I have a match very based on that concept for my INFINITY project down the line. That's as much as I can recall at the moment. Apologies if that isn't the most thoughtful answer.

Do you have a dream partner for Finn?

What particular wrestlers, if any, inspired your character? Not just in terms of promos, but also moveset and style of wrestling.

Noah Reigner wrote:

Do you have a dream partner for Finn?

One particular partner? Not really. I also see Finn as primarily a singles guy despite my OOC love for Tag Team wrestling, but I do eventually want to chase the tag team championships as it is the last belt on the Triple Crown with Finn.

I could just take the easy answer and say Alyssa because, of course right? But if I were to go into a tag team I'd rather it be someone who I can channel some character change from. Say, if I teamed up with Darkane for example, they're night and day and some of those tendancies of Darkane would rub off on Finn. Or teaming with Reigner or Baker Wakefield might become a little bit more on the asshole nature. I think if they can provoke a natural change in the character when the time comes, they'd be an idea partner. Not necessarily looking to team with a Finnegan Wakefield of a different flavor.

Morrighan McDonnell wrote:

What particular wrestlers, if any, inspired your character? Not just in terms of promos, but also moveset and style of wrestling.

Daniel Bryan/Bryan Danielson, first and foremost. Early Ring of Honor was my absolute shit when I was getting bored of the WWE product in about 2008 and wanted to expand my knowledge of wrestling. His bouts with Takeshi Morishima, Homicide, and Nigel McGuinness who I also got a lot of inspiration from, made me love this gritty technical wrestling style that incorporated sharp strikes. I basically thought Bryan Danielson with a little bit more European influence to him, but by the time I was making Wakefield I was primarily only watching Dragon Gate and New Japan so, some of that leaked in there too.

Chris Hero is another big one. He was the dude I jumped to when I was discovering independent wrestling. He was such a tall bloke who was agile and struck like lightning at the time, and had a really cool look about him. Again, very gritty technical wrestling with some stiff strikes but he was very agile, so I drew to him as I did with Danielson. He was going to be the original base for Wakefield when I started conceptualizing him, but then he got fat and... Didn't really want Wakefield to be fat.

Then the obvious Zack Sabre Jr. Originally he was just going to be the picture base for him because I thought his style was, although really good at the time with good technical wrestling and a few good strikes, he wasn't breaking any new ground Danielson or Hero were at the time. He has since gotten very meme-like and name a lot more out there now so that has influenced me a bit.

I don't think promos are inspired by one or two individuals. I think I just draw from if Finnegan were to monologue, this is what he'd say and I put it to paper. So he airs all his thoughts out there. I don't think one person could influence that. I try and make him sound a little more educated than I actually am though.

If you were to get inducted into the OWA Hall of Fame today, who would you want to induct you and why?

Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling...go.

Favorite match in OWA that you weren't involved with?

How much longer till Alyssa dumps you because she's too successful to associate with you?

Jeff X wrote:

If you were to get inducted into the OWA Hall of Fame today, who would you want to induct you and why?

Mount Rushmore of pro wrestling...go.

Favorite match in OWA that you weren't involved with?

How much longer till Alyssa dumps you because she's too successful to associate with you?

Tarah owes me one.

Stone Cold, The Rock, Undertaker, Ric Flair. Not the most creative list but I'd argue the most influential characters in wrestling.

There are waaaaay too many good ones. I'm gonna say Tarah vs Kenny that got match of the year. That was really solid.

Fucking, any day now mate.

Working on the last of The Clash GFX so, gimme something to not make it as mind numbing.

Keelan, is it frustrating being confused for Finn all the time?


What's been your favourite tron to make so far?

You're sick of the the pencil/twig/noodle comparisons and you decide you can't be ZSJ anymore. Who do you change pic base to so people shut the fuck up?

What's been the hardest tron/GFX for you to make?

Obviously you're a huge technical wrestling guy. On the flip side of that, what's your least favourite style of wrestling?

Matt Miles wrote:

Keelan, is it frustrating being confused for Finn all the time?

I will not dignify this, Cage. Fuck off.

Matt Miles wrote:

What's been your favourite tron to make so far?

I couldn't really choose a favorite since I wouldn't produce something if I didn't like it, especially since they're not done by commissions. I think Darkane's, Elijah's and Cage's were the most rewarding.

Matt Miles wrote:

You're sick of the the pencil/twig/noodle comparisons and you decide you can't be ZSJ anymore. Who do you change pic base to so people shut the fuck up?

I'm pretty much with ZSJ until I'm done honestly. If i *had* to change, Daniel Byan is the only other person that comes to immediate mind.

Matt Miles wrote:

What's been the hardest tron/GFX for you to make?

Nate Cage's titantron. By a fucking landslide. I don't know why I decided to make it more complicated by using the music video version of the song instead of the actual one, maybe just because I thought Cage would be the kind of dick to keep those scratches in, but that took multiple hours of headache.

Matt Miles wrote:

Obviously you're a huge technical wrestling guy. On the flip side of that, what's your least favourite style of wrestling?

Deathmatch wrestling. Not for the turned-up nose reason of It'S gArBaGe wResTliNg but because that's something I would only ever really consider a treat when I do watch it. It's just a little hard for me to find enjoyment in if I already saw Sick Nick Mondo hit with a weedwhacker. Whatever Will Ospreay does can be eye-rolling too, depending on the opponent.

If Finnegan could perform a submission on anybody in OWA without any added bells and whistles who would it be?

How long have you made trons?

Was this latest promo cycle one of the toughest you've been in?

Say Finn was in a deathmatch and he HAD to use a weapon of choice, what would it be?

Darkane wrote:

If Finnegan could perform a submission on anybody in OWA without any added bells and whistles who would it be?

Like, put someone in a shoot hold? I feel Keelan and Nas are too easy of options. I think the true babyface answer is to choke Nate Cage to death. Or just unconscious, I guess.

Darkane wrote:

How long have you made trons?

Prior to the OWA show intros and an unfinished intro to my defunct VANGUARD project, Alyssa's was my first attempt at a titantron. I have no prior education with graphic design and video editing, so I just play with sliders and settings until I find something I like. I am very much learning as I go, which is why they don't look as good as most of the guys who make them on YouTube. But you know, I don't think anyone is going to complain about a free titantron.

Darkane wrote:

Was this latest promo cycle one of the toughest you've been in?

No lie, immediately after I dropped my last promo I was in the council chat and said "That may have been the most brutal promo cycle I have ever been in." I went into this trying extremely hard, and promoing is already a process that takes hours at a time because I am a self-cynical perfectionist. I tried making it easier by pacing myself, setting drop dates so that I could take my time and breath with them, but there were definitely times I was sitting for hours with my head in my hands looking at a promo thinking of the perfect way to respond. Especially when you're trying to spread it out to everyone, something I found impossible with such a large field and such a relatively small canvas space to do it.

It got easier with inspiration interacting and creating captivating narratives with the likes of yourself, Senn, Yaga, Jeff, Miles, etc, and overall that made the experience fun, even if I am sweating the results something fierce. I am already dreading next year.

Darkane wrote:

Say Finn was in a deathmatch and he HAD to use a weapon of choice, what would it be?

This is a real head-scratcher. I originally had an idea if I were to be added to an Extreme Elimination Chamber match I would just bring the most pointless weapon to possibly feed into some comedy spot but ultimately never actually use it like a water pistol or a whoopie cushion. If I HAD to use a more legitimate weapon, I'd probably want something very narrative-driven, like something he'd inherit from someone else or an instrument that was used on him for great pain such as the steel chair Cage stomped around his throat last season.

To give a decisive answer, in the current state of things I could see Wakefield using handcuffs, which I would think could lead to some creative spots where an opponent is rendered vulnerable or used to make a submission hold a tad more torturous. Could possibly have him do some Houdini fuckery with them if they were ever used on him for a holy shit moment.

In need of break entertainment.

I gotchu. 

Simpsons Sad Boi vs Synthwave Doomer? 

What's it like living in Australia? 

How does it feel being free from mac n cheese boi? 

Would you rather knife fight a kangaroo or fight 10 rabid koala bears? 

The Stick N' Cyka connection when?

Michael Bishop wrote:

I gotchu. 

Simpsons Sad Boi vs Synthwave Doomer? 

I am a Simpsons Sad Boi through and through. Simpsons is too deeply rooted into my culture and life to be anything but.

Michael Bishop wrote:

What's it like living in Australia? 

In the more main cities of Australia, I don't imagine it's much different than walking around in, say, California in the U.S. I live in the middle of nowhere Australia so I am away from anything good. The closest McDonalds is an hour away from me.

The main difference is the people. In Australia, no one cares about political correctness. We are openly rude and our culture is admittingly trashy, but it's fun. The biggest culture shock when I came to America was that people were nice. I am used to going into restaurants, people asking me what I want, serving it to me, fucking off until it's time for the cheque. In America, they talk to you like you're family because they live off tips. Which we don't.

Michael Bishop wrote:

How does it feel being free from mac n cheese boi? 

Admittingly, a little sad. I can say it here, Keelan is one of my closest friends in this community and he has never done me wrong in my life. I rag on him for leaving shit last minute but when we write together, it's some of my best work. I wanted to give him a proper send-off, some circumstances didn't happen for the perfect one, but he went out making a big change on my character to carry around for a while. I think that's the best you can ask for.

Michael Bishop wrote:

Would you rather knife fight a kangaroo or fight 10 rabid koala bears? 

I am confident that MAYBE I could take on the Kangaroo. The 10 Koalas?! Nah. They will swarm and claw and they'll do it slow.

Michael Bishop wrote:

The Stick N' Cyka connection when?

I don't deserve to team with the future Hall of Famer like that.

On Average how long does it take you to make someone a Tron? 

Which do you prefer Promo work or GFX Work?

Give the Following OWA Stars a New Playby:
Jeff X:
Aria Jackson:
Alyssa Grace:
Darkane:

How hard was it to think of those new Playbys?

Eon Blue wrote:

On Average how long does it take you to make someone a Tron?

It's hard to give them an average because the variables of finding high-quality footage and the edits take varying amounts of time. Alyssa's took 2 hours to make while Cage's took 10. I'd say around 4 would be an average.

Eon Blue wrote:

Which do you prefer Promo work or GFX Work?

It varies, but I do enjoy GFX work more because I am a very visual person. I even try and see Finn delivering promos when I write them, which is why they take so fucking long. Promo work feels the most rewarding when I can bounce off my opponent well.

Eon Blue wrote:

Give the Following OWA Stars a New Playby:
Jeff X:
Aria Jackson:
Alyssa Grace:
Darkane:

Jeff X: Jay Briscoe.
Aria JAXON*: Jade Cargill.
Alyssa Grace: Toni Storm.
Darkane: Vincent (ROH)

Eon Blue wrote:

How hard was it to think of those new Playbys?

Alyssa's because I was hard at the concept :weary:

Darkane's because I have known him almost 6 years as Raven so it's hard to see him as anyone else in my mind. Jeff always seemed torn between Orton and Briscoes so that's engraved and Aria as Jade I could see more so now as a retired person despite knowing her equally as long.

Is it not gay if you keep your socks on? 

Michael Bishop wrote:

Is it not gay if you keep your socks on? 

If my Rugrat socks keep it from being gay...

Do you anticipate anything maybe career wise with your video editing or is just a side hobby?

Are there any promoers that have legitimately pushed you and/or gave you a lot of trouble?

Which event(s) in your efed tenure did you have the most fun promoing for?

Do you have any pet peeves in regards to promos or things that you're not a fan of people saying/doing?

Any dream matches that you'd like to see in which you're not apart of?

Is there anything that you've learned from when you started as Finnegan to the present Finnegan? I.E: The difference between Finnegan 2015 to Finnegan 2021?

I had to really sit down and think on the answers to these questions, so I apologize for how long it took me to get to it.

Darkane wrote:

Do you anticipate anything maybe career wise with your video editing or is just a side hobby?

If I ever got a job offer to pursue it, I would take it. Of course, I would feel the need to study more into video making because -- in my opinion -- I am an amateur in the field. I have met people who got professional jobs editing movies and network television graphics so, I knew there were jobs for it, but I live in the smallest towns in Australia where such jobs are few and far between. At the moment, it's just a side hobby. I know I COULD make money off it by taking commissions, but I feel if it's free the quality doesn't have to be high and only has to bend to my personal preferences.

Darkane wrote:

Are there any promoers that have legitimately pushed you and/or gave you a lot of trouble?

This is the hard one. I think the original ones to push me back in the day was High Rollerz because it made me thing, okay, if I go about my promos in such a light-handed way I will look like too much like those early territory jobbers that just approach shit with "go-get-em" attitudes, and I think at the time I was more a nervous wreck who was afraid to push buttons. They were guys that just would push buttons so I think that was my wake-up call to start pushing back. Jon McAdams was easily another one that made me really explore a mean-streak to Wakefield and actually influenced me to start approaching him as a cerebral promo. Same can be said when I got my first crack at the main eventers with A Certain Australian currently elsewhere. He really inspired me with some of his promo philosophy.

As much as I shit on the feud with Goose for how many times we faced each other in a short time, that grind to think of new promos at the time definitely made me think of different ways to say the same things that needed to be said, but really burned me out several times to the point I started pushing out whatever I could just so that I did.

OWA set a completely different standard when I came in, I was really at my wits-end and did what I could with some internal reluctance which only continued when I came back in Season 2. Season 3 until now has definitely been some of my best work and that's because I started seeing the standard set and thought yeah, I need to keep up and overtake people.

Darkane wrote:

Which event(s) in your efed tenure did you have the most fun promoing for?

Immediately what comes to mind is last years Clash because that was the most fun cycle I recall having. Second would be Finn vs Eon vs Noah for the Television Championship, the event name is escaping me at the moment, but that was a lot of fun to see two guys really stepping their games up to run that page with me. I guess if I had to pick a third, it would be against that certain Australian I like. Not Keelan. Fuck Keelan.

Darkane wrote:

Do you have any pet peeves in regards to promos or things that you're not a fan of people saying/doing?

God. As far as pet peeves go I probably have a few. I really dislike the promos where it's clear the writer isn't trying, scraping by on short word counts, but at the same time I hate these long as fuck promo styles that try and rack up a high word count but don't really say anything. Be it through an unnecessary amount of cinematics or conversation between character and NPC that really fits more a CD piece than a promo battle. I am fine with a little, but when it gets excessive I just CTRL + F to find my name and read from there. I also really don't like the echo chamber promos where characters (face or heel) ignore hard fact of a story or past encounters just so they look bulletproof their entire career. It's rarer nowadays, but when it happened and I had to promo against it, I was promoing against brick walls.

There are probably some more minor things like egregious grammar and spelling mistakes, but I misspell shit and probably don't have college grade grammar myself, so I'd be a hypocrite to tell people to correct theirs.

Darkane wrote:

Any dream matches that you'd like to see in which you're not a part of?

These are just some I want to see, even if they have happened before.
Jacob Senn versus Darkane.
Noah Reigner versus Graham Baker. (Seems VERY possible now.)
Alyssa Grace versus Stephanie Matsuda.
Dulce Torres versus Aria Jaxon.
Hana Nakajima versus Tyler Wolf.
Arata Asukura versus Jason Long.
Rebecca Filth versus A Shower.

Darkane wrote:

Is there anything that you've learned from when you started as Finnegan to the present Finnegan? I.E: The difference between Finnegan 2015 to Finnegan 2021?

I have been a career-long babyface in efedding and I have grown to appreciate how hard it is to try and be a babyface when it comes to promoing. It's fucking difficult. Only now with the right story I can justify myself being the face while still talking shit about people and calling them cunt, but before? Fuuuuck, writing promos where I wasn't trying to come across as a total dick was hard. I am also a major control freak with some major harsh criticisms revolving around things I make, do or are done with me in this hobby, I'm still trying to ease off that a bit, but before if even the slightest thing was done wrong in my eyes, like Finn throwing a Superkick, I would immediately be there saying "yeah, Finn wouldn't do that." I haven't completely mellowed out because I am still a tryhard to my own detriment, but that's another thing that has changed in the last six years, I try a lot harder to tell a good story as that is what I love most in wrestling.