Q & A with the Amazing Huang

Why are you amazing?
Check my profile page on the Legends list. I'm the first player to score over 1,000 pinfall victories, over 500 submission victories and over 250 wins by knockout in one career run before retiring. I also have four title reigns, three of which are undefeated. I'm also only the fourth nonpaying member to achieve Legend status.

Other guys have scored more wins by KO before you reached 250.
True, but I like the symmetry of my specs: 1,000, 500 and 250.

You won four titles before retiring. I'm sure others have won more.
Probably, but I'm not concerned about that. Many players go through VOW without ever winning a championship. Others are only able to win it after they've reached SSWO. I managed to win a belt in every league except LAW.

And why didn't you win a belt while you're in LAW?
I thought about going for a LAW belt after I retired and restarted, but I just didn't want to wait that long for the outcome.

You must have had some memorable feuds during your stint as a Trad.
I wouldn't necessarily call them feuds. It depends on who my opponents are.

I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us who you consider to be your best opponents?
Not a chance.

Which of your four title reigns are you most proud of?
That's like asking which of my children I'm most proud of. I hold each of my four championships special. My first title win (SPWA Traditional) was sweet, because I beat a guy who was caught using multis to boost his stats and wins to become so successful at the time. I hold my PWO World title special, because it proved my character can indeed do well against the best the PWO had to offer at the time. My two SSWO Trad titles were the icing on the cake for me.

It must have felt good to retire with the title still under your name.
Yes it did.

Congratulations on winning the SPWA Tech title, by the way.
Thanks. I also won the SPWA ladder tourney, but Joker kept my from taking the title. I guess it's just as well; I claimed my 1,000th pinfall win over him when I was a trad.

How is your stable coming along?
Well, the Hub is looking for new members right now. I think we have three slots available for anyone who wants to join. You must be a player who has never given money to this game. Anyone interested can submit applications to Goblok Fastwit (15151).

That's the main requirement for joining the Hub?
Yes. The Hub prides itself on being a stable comprised completely of nonpaying players. We want to show that you CAN be successful in VOW even if you're not giving money to the game. Buying AP just helps your character mature faster, but it doesn't improve your luck at all. I know paying players who have deleted successful characters just because they lost a few matches to guys one or two leagues below them.

And you're proof that a a nondonating player can be successful in VOW. How is the game the second time around for you?

A lot better. The damage bonus is certainly going a long way for my guy, though I've only had one match against another Legend (i.e., Joker), and lost that one. I don't think I'd do well against serial retirees like Bubba or hick bob, but I think I can do well against the other first-time retirees.

Is being a Tech a lot better than being a Trad?
If you compare stats, a Tech has three higher stats than a Trad at the same level, at least when we reach PWO and SSWO. I remember reading somewhere that the different styles have their own "peak periods" in VOW, like how one style would do better as a LAW, while another style would do better as an SPWA, and so on. I'm doing much better in VOW the second time around, but I can't just credit all that to my being a Tech. The damage bonus helps out quite a bit. And I know more about this game compared to a year ago, so my decisions are likely different from the choices I would’ve made 12 months ago, or even six months ago.

Do you think you’d be as successful as other Legends, like gatcholio, Scorpion or Bubba?
It’s hard to say. I do want to achieve more than what I did in my first run in VOW. I think I’m doing well so far. If I can achieve the same level of success guys like gatcholio have accomplished, cool. But I’m more interested in trying to improve what I’ve accomplished on my first run in VOW.

Do you see yourself walking away from VOW one day?
I think it’s fair to say that every player in VOW will leave the game sooner or later. I don’t see myself leaving VOW right now, but who knows what tomorrow will bring, right? I’ll leave when I decide I’ve done everything I wanted to do in VOW, though I haven’t exactly decided what "everything" is. I’m playing it by ear much of the time, to be honest.

Singled Out (Oct. 8, 2005)

Who do you think is the unluckiest wrestler in your league, and why does fate hate him?

Burning Rubber in Shanghai (Oct. 16, 2005)

It's Formula One weekend in Shanghai. Some of you know I live in China, and while I do not live in Shanghai, I am watching the race on the local networks. They're running some pre-race festivities, including a small song-and-dance parade. Complete with an official "Formula One Shanghai" theme song.

Yes, a theme song. Fortunately, it's nothing like Bob Holly's racecar song from the Wrestlecrap years.

It's an elaborate parade, though. It's got dancers in Chinese opera garb. Guys with giant masks of the F1 drivers, and they even hired Jacky Chan to sing a song for the crowd. Yes, Jacky Chan is also a trained singer, and he's got albums in the Chinese-speaking world. .

Good Match (Oct. 26, 2005)

You see this post all the time on the chat. "Good match." Or "Thanks for the match." Folks say they say that as a sign of sportsmanship; that they respect their opponent enough to compliment him after the match.

You'll have to pardon me if I am somewhat skeptical about that.

You see, I've long suspected that many players just compliment their opponents for a good match only when they win. You destroyed someone in an LMS, then you thank him for a "good match?" Do you even stop to consider that the other man might not see it as a good match, because he lost horribly?

The way I see it, a lot of folks here just say "Good match" as a backhanded way of saying "I destroyed you and I want everyone to know about it." Not everyone does it, but the ones that do usually stay silent when they lose the match.

It's easy to compliment your opponent for a good match when you've not just won the fight, but owned the other guy. Do you thank someone for the match when you lose, and take a ton of stat damage as a souvenir? How many of you actually thank your opponents for a "good match" regardless of the result?

Some would say that they thank everyone for their matches as a sign of respect to their opponent. I don't see it that way. It's not that I don't believe in sportsmanship; it's more because I doubt if people actually mean it. If you respect your opponent, why take the time to thank them for a "good match" after beating them? Why call attention to yourself and your opponent? Would you like it if the roles were reversed and he thanked you for the match after he knocks you out?

I respect my opponents, which is why you don't usually see me publicly complimenting them after our matches. I respect them enough to not tell the whole world I beat them. I respect them enough to not prick their ego unnecessarily.

First Thought for November (Nov. 1, 2005)

Players who brag about which Legends they've beaten don't have much else to brag about.

Bad Day (Nov. 14, 2005)

It's about 1:50AM as I write this. Truth be told, I haven't had a good day today. A lot of stuff didn't pan out on my end of things today (the best laid plans of mice and men and all that stuff). And now...I learn that Eddie Guerrero died just as I was about to log off VOW and head to bed. They found him in his hotel room in Minneapolis. The same way they found Brian Pillman, and Davey Boy Smith, and Curt Hennig, and Yokozuna. All those years ago.

This is a shitty day.

Godspeed, Eddie.

The Jobber (Nov. 23, 2005)

Sometimes I check out the tournaments of other wrestlers, to see who are the strong competitors I could face one day. One guy in particular got my attention:

http://vow.plit.dk/cgi-bin/vow.pl?_cmd=ShowTournament&TournamentId=36&Round=56

If you've played VOW long enough, you'll know that wrestlers always have a chance to beat opponents with much more experience and moves. It's happened to everybody. What isn't common is that a wrestler would be able to win a title from a higher league. I've been competing in VOW for about 16 months, and in all that time I only know of one instance where a wrestler has become a champion of the league above him: Robb Stark, a PWO who became the SSWO Power Champion.

Which makes The Jobber's achievement a bit more remarkable. Not only has this LAW (as of today) managed to win the SPWA Traditionalist Title, he has managed to successfully defend it. This may not necessarily be on the same level as Barry Horowitz getting a win on PPV, but the Jobber's achievement is a rare feat to replicate here in VOW. Granted, the Jobber may just be enjoying an incredible run of good luck in the tourneys, and he could lose the belt in the next tournament, but no one can take this accomplishment away from him.

It doesn't matter if it's luck, or if the current crop of SPWA traditional wrestlers simply stink, the Jobber has done something very, very few competitors have been able to do. Good job..

Remember When... (Jan. 7, 2006)

Heidenreich was still a crazed heel reading really crap poetry? Before he upped and molested Michael Cole? And Cole liked it, but Heidenreich went on with his life like it never happened, staying in the closet while Cole was left hanging?

No? You don't remember that? It never happened?

A shame. That would've been the WWE ripoff of Brokeback Mountain right there.

Then again, you never know what the WWE writer monkeys have in the works.

Random Thought (Mar. 7, 2006)

Random Since PLIT is a Danish company, does this mean we WON'T have any Muslim players joining us anytime soon?