The other side of the coin

I really couldn't have been more pleased with how well BigDog took off. What was even more surprising was how much I actually enjoyed writing. I guess it's a matter of writing about something you're interested in rather than writing about whatever a teacher or professor tells you.

After running with BigDog for a while, I began to wonder if I could actually do the same thing with a character that was NOT essentially me. Could I take someone who was so unnatural to me and make them a star? I have to be honest. After having some of the guys playing heels rip into me, I was itching to have a little fun throwing stuff back at them. But what kind of character to create?

I've always been a fan of Ric Flair. Most who know me know that I grew up watching Memphis wrestling, and it was always a big deal when Flair came to town to give Jerry Lawler his annual title shot. Once we got cable and I started catching the NWA on WTBS, it became apparent to me just how great he was.

Another of my all-time favorite heels was "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. I always just loved how smooth he was outside the ring, how he felt like he was so far above everyone else. And then the technical ability he had in the ring was second to none.

And so, I mixed the two together and Richard Farnswirth was born. He has Flair's limousine-riding, jet-flying lifestyle. And he has DiBiase's bodyguard and penchant for trying to buy people off. And then over the years, I've molded him away from just an amalgam of those two characters into his own personal one.

When I was ready to bring Farnswirth into A1E, I made the decision to try and get him in without anybody knowing who was behind him. I had a lot of friends in A1E by this time, and I was curious to see if I could succeed in a voting fed without people knowing it was me. I had to know if it really was the writing that was getting over.

Farnsy made his debut at the 7/3/01 TNW (I'm as surprised as anybody that there was only 5 months between their debuts. I thought it was longer than that.) facing one of JA's creations in Captain Suleimon. Within a couple weeks, Farnswirth became the first ever Triple Star champion when he won the 1st ever (and still the only) Boiler Room Brawl. It seems I do have a knack for long title reigns as Farnsy held onto that belt for nearly a year as well.

Along the way, Dan West and I had been talking, and we both really enjoyed each other's work (despite him constantly beating BigDog). We thought it would be cool to put together our own little faction, and the Highland Park Social Club was born. We brought in Ken Cloverleaf when he was very new to A1E, and then we brought in Andrew Gilkison (a heel turn we were hoping would breathe a little life into him as he had been slumping after getting so close to winning the world title).

The first life of the HPSC wasn't quite as successful as we'd hoped. Though Chip had quite the reign with the Cyber Title and Farnsy owned the Triple Star Title for nearly a year, we just never quite had the type of cohesion we wanted. And then, as things have a way of doing to pretty much everyone at one time or another, life started to get busy for both Dan and me.

I had just moved to Chicago and was starting a new job. Dan was having kid #463. I just couldn't spend the time necessary to run two characters, and since BigDog was wearing the World Title at the time, it became an easy decision as to who was going to go on the shelf. So, the HPSC was dismantled. Farnsy went back to Wall Street, Chip went back to the community center (that guy is ALWAYS giving back to the community), and Andy actually took a hiatus from the hobby entirely.

Farnsy was in hibernation for quite a long time. Who knows how long he'd have stayed there if Dan hadn't come back to me and said he was looking to being Chip Friendly back to A1E. It was too good a story to let pass by. I simply had to come back with him and reform the HPSC. And so, a year and a half hiatus was ended with Farnswirth returned at Mercury Rising in 2004.

Something was different about Richard when he returned. Somehow, I was able to get much more into the character than I ever had before. From day one, BigDog was easy to write because he was just me. But Richard, Richard I always had to think about. But somewhere along the line, that changed. Finally I was able to slip in and out of his character as easily as I did BigDog. And I think that familiarity was the point when Farnswirth really began to blossom.

From that point on, it's been a steady march up the card. A solid run through the #1 contender tournament, and then a really fun program with Housefly. Then, before you could blink, Richard Farnswirth was A1E World Heavyweight Champion. Two world title reigns with two different characters. Definitely an accomplishment I'm proud of.

Now, let's just see if I can go get that big fiery belt back again.