4Down Weekly - Huge guest star!

4Down Weekly Episode 2

LIVE FROM BIRMINGHAM, UK.

The theme tune rolls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfCPJe8OxAc&feature=g-upl) and the audience cheers as they get ready for BingBong’s 4Down Weekly, Bigger and Better than ever! As the music dies down the voice over says, “Now Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, People of all ages, please put your hands together for your host, the guy that put’s the Bing in BingBong, it’s………BINGBONG!” The audience cheer and BingBong runs out onto the stage to the music of The Hardy Boys and plays to the crowd as the noise calms.

“FINALLY, FINALLY! BINGBONG HAS COME BACK TO BIRMINGHAM! Thank you very much. Welcome everyone to the world of 4Down Weekly, for those regular readers out there it’s a welcome back and for those of you newbies I have one question…Where were you last week? You missed a great opening show. Anyway, tonight on this extended double length episode we have a couple of very special things going on. First of all I will be joined on the stage by the biggest name in the 4Down world, the creator himself, the people’s champion, cletus42o. Then later on I will be announcing the prize for the running competition and opening up the first challenge for you. But first let’s find out what’s been happening in 4Down games. ”

PREDICTION GAMES CORRESPONDENT

A feed shows DangerousDan telling us about what has been happening this week.
“First off let's take a look at how MITB is shaping up. The WWE Championship will be decided as Daniel Bryan tries for about the 100th time to wrest the title from CM Punk. He's got to win eventually … right??? Well apparently the Fourdown players don't think so as he's about a 3-to-1 underdog and I've gotta agree as it's a lot easier to have the prospect of a “cash-in” looming over a face champion. As for who will be doing the cashing in the users have John Cena as a strong favourite. I'm not so sure about that as the entire concept screams Y-2-J to me.
Secondly I wanted to take a look at the BFG series and namely who's going to win it. The users have James Storm leading the pack at roughly 4-to-1 odds. That's hard to disagree with based on his current 9-point lead in the standings and obvious potential for a showdown with Bobby Roode. On the other hand I'm somewhat surprised to see the Pope taking 4th place at roughly 9-to-1 odds. If you really don't want to pick Storm there are better alternatives in the form of Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, and Robbie E (not really bro). Angle would set up an interesting rematch of last year's BFG Final but with the roles in reverse. Joe is definitely a dark horse but there's some chance he gets pushed over the summer (and I just watched him have an awesome match with Bully).”

The report finishes and the cameras are back at the studio where BingBong is sitting on a sofa opposite another sofa which is empty at the moment. The voiceover says, “Now Ladies and Gentlemen it is time to welcome tonight’s guest, the man who made this whole site (literally) it is the one, the only Ultimate Fourdown Legend. So put your hands together for CLETUS !!!!!!!!” The crowd bursts into cheers as cletus42o comes out into the studio, shaking hands with some lucky members of the audience. He sits down opposite BingBong but it takes sometime for the cheers to die down and BingBong to make himself heard.

“Wow, what a reception! But not totally unexpected. You are of course the creator and runner of this fantastic site that has bought all these people together. You know, you are truly a legend in the eyes of all these people. Tell me, What made you want to create this site in the first place?”

“I've always wanted to create a website that people would actually enjoy using ever since I started working as a programmer in 1997 or so (I was 15 back then, that makes me 30 now.. yikes). I've been making websites professionally ever since then, but those aren't my own sites, so they never counted. I wanted to do one on my own - it was always a dream of mine to have a site that was fun for people to visit and that I created 100% on my own.
The actual concept of the site came to me after seeing people running (and me participating in) PPV prediction games on various wrestling forums. It just seemed like such a pain for someone to try to tally up what every user posted and then create some kind of spreadsheet to figure out the results - and calculation errors could always happen, people would try to edit their predictions to cheat if the forums weren't built well or the poster didn't close the thread in time, etc.
So I started working on the code sometime in the fall of 2007 and launched it in January 2008. And obviously I was a big fan of wrestling - I started watching around WrestleMania 6. The first big angle that really got me hooked was when Earthquake "broke" Hogan's back on The Brother Love Show. I did stop watching from sometime between 1994-1997, but started up again right before Survivor Series 1997. From then until about a year ago, I think I missed watching Raw live at most 10 times“

After this there is a round of applause and BingBong says, “Incredible, I can tell you right now that we are all very grateful. Personally I am impressed that you have been doing this so long, over all the evolution of the site you’ve always been there making sure it ticks along smoothly. Are you pleased with how the site has developed?”

“I'm always pleased when a lot of people participate in the PPV games. That's really the focus of the site and why I built it in the first place. I think the biggest surprise was once I built in the blogging system. I only built it really so I could make posts about the games - when they were open, when updates were made, and then the results - and that was really just to help get the site out to the world more easily. (More links in Google, basically) When people other than me started actually posting blogs; that was a pretty big moment. I never expected that to happen, and then for a community to develop here on the site. (The idea was always that Fourdown would be a hub for existing wrestling communities to just come to and play the games, and then go back to their communities to talk about the results from the site) Seeing a community actually start here on the site was a bit of a shock to me but it's been really cool seeing it happen.”

Again the audience applauds as BingBong speaks, “I agree, that must have been such a great feeling for you. Now before we discuss anything else let’s hear from our Fantasy Correspondent, brandoni998.”

4DOWN FANTASY WRESTLING CORRESPONDENT

A report shows brandoni998 telling us about the world of fantasy on Fourdown.
“This Tuesday on Fourdown, a brand-new fantasy show debuts. That show is WWE NXT. WWE NXT is a show that showcases the young, talented, and hungry stars of tomorrow, as well as their pros. These 8 rookies will be fighting for a contract for either GCW Raw or GCW Smackdown. These Rookie and Pro Parings will be:

Pro: Tyson Kidd
Rookie: Seth Rollins

Pro: Ezekiel Jackson
Rookie: Big E Langston

Pro: Michael McGillycutty
Rookie: Richie Steamboat

Pro: Alex Riley
Rookie: Mike Dalton

Pros: The Usos
Rookie: Leakee

Pro: William Regal
Rookie: Kassius Ohno

Pro: The Miz
Rookie: Brad Maddox

Pros: Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks
Rookie: Rick Victor

Pros: Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
Rookie: Xavier Woods

Pro: Jack Swagger
Rookie: James Bronson

If I were you, I'd check this show out because it looks amazing, and will be amazing! Now back to you BingBong!”

The cameras go back to BingBong sitting on the sofa in the studio with cletus42o; BingBong begins to talk.

“Now Cletus, last week I mentioned that since I’d come back I was disappointed with the lack of non-fantasy blogging and surprised by the saturation of the fantasy blogging section. But what I was wondering is what you have found disappointing about the site recently?”

“The biggest disappointment was the 4-UP Fantasy game. I never got a chance to play WWE's official WWE Fantasy game, but always saw people talking about how much they loved it and how they hated that WWE got rid of it. I really thought it would catch on if I built something similar, and while people DID play it, not many people talked about it and it was a lot of hard work each week (for me and the gracious members of the site who entered the data). Though it could just be that I made it too difficult to figure out how to play - but I would have done whatever I could have to make it easier if the interest was made known to me and people asked for improvements. The code is all still there and I could turn it back on one day, but since there are no "feeds" for data for WWE like you could find for major sports, the work involved in tracking what happens on each show and then trying to guarantee the data we've put in is absolutely correct just isn't worth it unless the site were generating any profit. (Not making any profit running the site is not a disappointment though - I lose money running the site, especially considering the prizes - but I just enjoy running a site for wrestling fans to enjoy)”

There is some applause as the voice over announces, “Now it is time for a Blast from the Past and this week features some old WWE footage”

BLAST FROM THE PAST

This week’s ‘Blast from the Past’ features a World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Jeff Hardy with a surprise twist at the end. >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjvavtu3t1g&feature=related
“It is no secret that I am a huge Hardy fan and so for me personally this was so upsetting. Jeff had worked so hard to get into this match and then done so well to win this match. I was just shocked when it happened, absolutely horrified. What did you think Cletus?”

“I don't have any real lasting memories of that, though of course I remember it happening. I have never been a fan of Jeff Hardy at all so all I know is I was ecstatic that it happened!”

“Ah well, we have a difference of opinion there…

The two continue to talk about Jeff Hardy as we go to a report from our WWE correspondent word2k9.

WWE CORRESPONDENT

“For this week's edition of 4down Weekly, I'm focusing on Raw since there was so much I want to comment on.
Raw starts with a big downer as we find out Vickie Guerrero will be our GM this week. Surprisingly, she does a solid job all show. Now if only she was an off-screen character. In what has been a recurring theme, the WWE Champion is in the opening match, but he gets beaten by his MITB opponent, Daniel Bryan. It looks like Kane is taking himself out of the storyline because he "dumped" the anorexic mental patient. We get a big man match and we all know how well those go. Big Show continues his roll and decimates the Funkasaurus. Santino makes Jack Swagger look foolish. I think it’s time for Thwagger to take an extended break from wrestling....or get fired. That's fine with me too. Cena cuts a Star Wars/WWE promo. Not the worst Yoda impression I've heard, but far from the best (kind of like Cena's wrestling ability). The divas have an abomination of a battle royale. Sycho Sid looked great compared with that. Ziggler and Del Rio have an entertaining heel/heel match, which is rare. Jericho returns, showcasing his superior wit. And the show ends with the return of the colossal clutch!”
The report ends showing a video of the return of Chris Jericho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGsNNCopIss and BingBong is talking with Cletus.

“Thank you for that report word2k9 I hope that with the return of Y2J WWE will pick up once more, Cletus, What is your opinion on the WWE at the moment?”

“Unfortunately WWE has lost my interest substantially over the last few years. I'm sure part of it is that I'm getting older and they started targeting a younger audience. John Cena generally being the primary focus hasn't helped, either. I liked him as a heel, but can't recall having any interest in anything involving him after his face turn except for the following things - the matches with HBK, the match with Umaga, his match with RVD, and then the very beginnings (but not the endings) of the angles with Nexus, CM Punk, The Rock, and Brock Lesnar.
If John Cena either turned heel or took an extended vacation, I could see myself getting interested again. Although their other big star, Randy Orton, isn't someone I've cared that much for, either. Though for sure CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Chris Jericho are guys I enjoy watching. The problem is I can't really name anyone else anywhere near the level of those guys - and that's simply due to poor booking on WWE's part. Which has been an issue for a long time, but as I've said in the past, I dealt with it while Shawn Michaels was still an active wrestler!”

“Hmmmm, interesting comments there, now I’ve had an email given to me of someone who wants to ask you a question. Here it is, Cletus, who is your favourite wrestler of all time and why?”

“I think I just answered that one above, but it's Shawn Michaels. He was the complete package in every way. The attitude, the attire, the ability in the ring - oh, and of course, the entrance music!
I wouldn't REALLY want to do this, but if I had to pick one wrestler to watch every major match involving that wrestler in a day, there's no way it wouldn't be HBK. I can't even think of a single bad match he was in. And if I had to guess one, it would be with Khali, but if I remember right, he actually made that match "passable" which was a feat in itself. And his match with Hogan was one of the greatest matches ever. (For comedy reasons, of course - Michaels was amazing in that match)”

After this answer music rolls and we go to a live feed of Mitch176 and the first report from our site banter correspondent.

SITE BANTER CORRESPONDENT

“Yes ladies and gentlemen, your resident asshole is dishing out the banter from the week, who else would be suited for this job eh? Well I don't do pleasantries, so I'm going to kick straight into first gear and get on with the show...
First up we have the monthly WWE PPV debates, people are vexed, other people aren't. slicedcheese22 isn't happy about the (currently) 4 man MITB match for the WWE Title contract, can't say I blame him to be honest. "If Cena wins we riot" seems to be the approach of some to this, while others feel that having one "main event" calibre MITB match and one "Up and Comers" MITB is a good idea; we'll just have to wait and see.
Moving onto WWE Gamma Championship Raw (Does anyone else still get confused between Gamma and Gamma Championship?). slicedcheese22 gave the show 6/10 and brandoni998 got vexed, I'm sure it was in jest, but don't "fire" a guy over a difference of opinion (Even if it was a joke, which I'm sure it was), it makes you seem weak.
kaihtafc has also been the centre of something I found interesting, that he wants to begin representing Fourdown on a Podcast/Internet Radio Show. No one else seemed to jump on the idea, but I for one think it's a very good idea. Good on him. Oh and Kai misses Blake... So do I god dammit, so do I!
Apart from this the week has been relatively quiet, obviously I can't cover everything because our host doesn't want to give me any more time than I have *shoots BingBong an evil look*... Probably scared that I'll outshine him on his own show or something.
That's it from me folks, see you next week, now go and have an argument or something for me to talk about.”
The cameras go back to BingBong in the studio.

“Believe me mitch you outshining me is the last thing I’m worried about. You have a limit so that the Fourdown Universe doesn’t have to listen to you for too long. Anyway I’d now like to hand over to the mysterious voice in the sky to clear up the rules about the competition and announce the grand prize!”

COMPETITION TIME

The main lights go off and white lights flash on and off as a couple of spotlights roam around the studio and the voice over says, “Right, there was some confusion last week with the competition feature. Basically each week there will be a question or challenge posed. Depending on the nature it will either be the first answers or the best answers that win points. The person with the most points by certain date will win the grand prize which this season is……AWEEKLY FEATURE ON 4DOWN WEEKLY. So if you win you will get a regular spot on the show where you can do whatever you want, you have your own segment each week. This prize will be awarded to the person who has the most points by 31st August.

To kick it off this is the first question (based on the Blast from the Past segment and the upcoming MITB PPV I thought this would be appropriate):

WHAT WAS THE DATE OF THE FIRST EVER TAG TEAM LADDER MATCH AND WHO WON IT?

For this comment or send me a PM but not both otherwise you will be disqualified. The first five correct comments will get an extra point and the first five correct PMs will get two extra points but remember there is a point just for answering correctly. Enjoy.”

The voiceover finishes and the crowd claps and murmurs as we go back to Cletus and BingBong on the sofas.

“Well Cletus, it has been an absolute honour having you on the show with me and I’m sure everyone reading will have enjoyed your appearance here. I’d like to finish by asking one final question, What would you like to see on this site in the future?”

“I wish I had the time to redesign it. The one thing I think the site suffers from most is that people don't know how to do what they want to do. Then I kept adding things (and later possibly removing them) which certainly didn't help. I'd like to clean it up and make it a very streamlined site. It's the one thing that I want to do more than anything, and while I'll do little things here and there these days, until I have the time to redesign it, not much is going to change.
As far as new features, there's not really anything I want to add other than make what's there now better. And you could name anything on the site and I'd say I want to improve it - private messaging, profile pages, ways to order matches and questions on the PPV prediction game pages differently (right now, it always does matches first, then questions, but some questions are specific to certain matches, so it'd be nice to group those questions under the match).
And of course I had talked about adding Ring of Honour recently, but got very little response from people on that, and even tried reaching out to Ring of Honour to see if they would want to get involved in any way. So while it'd be nice to offer ROH fans a place to predict their PPVs without dealing with the whole "post your picks on a forum and hope the organizer handles it correctly", it hasn't seemed like there would be much in it for me to do it other than spending a lot of time building it out!”

“Thank you so much Cletus, you’ve been great, let’s hear it for cletus42o”

The crowd cheers the loudest they have done all night as Cletus42o leaves the stage and the lights dim as we go into the final segment of the show.

BINGBONG’S TWO CENTS

“Wow, has this been a great show or what? I’ve had the creator right here with me, I’m still shaking! Anyway since this show has been a double length feature I don’t want to drag it on by saying too much so I hope you’ve enjoyed the show, goodnight Fourdown Universe …Until next time…”

The theme hits as the audience cheers and BingBong leaves the stage.
The show ends and the credits roll.
[¬BB¬]