Creativity knows no age, though I won't be doing this forever. Eventually I'll move on like so many other have. But for the foreseeable future, that's not happening.
As promised, here comes the next update!!! 8 characters...7 male and 1 female.
Believe it or not, Arseniy here is my 1st Russian character in over 15 years. The last one I made went by the name of Vasily Rasputin, but I gave the character to my brother @Thr33X a few years ago. Never made one again, until now. Arseniy "The Arsenal" Volkov is a different take on the Russian Grappler gimmick. Most Russians (including Vasily) are portrayed as being from downtrodden, militaristic backgrounds. They see westerners as weaklings. They're stoic, unfeeling and emotionless. Arseniy is none of those things. Arseniy is the son of a powerful Russian oligarch and retired Combat Sambo champion Arcadiy Volkov. Raised in wealth his entire life, Arseniy has received the finest training from the best instructors and schools in the world. A prodigy of multiple martial arts including Sambo, Judo, TKD and BJJ to name a few, he prides himself as "the most complete combat athlete on Earth". He's brash, arrogant and loves flaunting his wealth and status. But he can back every ounce of his bravado up as he's an athlete unlike none other, winning every tournament he's ever competed in. He now sets his sights on professional wrestling, to further bolster his status and show the world what he already believes...he's the best, period.
Arseniy was a spur of the moment creation, as on twitter @White Leather Jacket made mention of Russian character gimmicks and I came realize...I had no Russians. Well...no Russian males anyway. A day later, I had Arseniy completed. All art assets on him is AI generated, including his face texture. His move-set was painstakingly crafted to be combat centric. He performs like a fighter, not a wrestler. His attires are cut and dry, the 1st being a vale tudo based look, the 2nd being the traditional combat sambo uniform with his logo work adorning it. Arseniy is going to be a focal point of my new generation of talent, and I look forward to evolving the character further.
"The Natural" Dylan Brody is among my "2nd generation" of characters, dating back to 2002. Dylan himself is a 2nd generation wrestler, being the son of one of Simon Fierhart's oldest friends and allies Dan "The Boulder" Brody. One of Simon's 1st students, Dylan has come a long way since his debut, undergoing many character changes. But what hasn't changed is he's one of the 1st "hybrid" characters I've made...being a bigger, stronger character capable of moving like a crusierweight. In recent years, I've altered his look from bein Randy Orton-esqe to something more akin to Buddy Matthews. Since turning him heel, he's maintained a consistent mean streak and has become a more cerebral character. I debated redoing his art using AI, but if it ain't broke...don't fix it.
Unlike Dylan, Gabe's undergone a complete overhaul...including his gimmick. 2 years ago when I changed his last name to "Niyol" (Navajo for Wolf) from Dezba, I went for a more wolf themed motif for him. This year I double down on it, as he's now known as "The Red Wolf" Gabriel Niyol. Embracing his heritage as a Navajo warrior, I went with an attire as similar to Tatanka's as I could get seeing as of all years THIS is the one 2K decide to remove his creation parts from CAW mode. So no loincloth of head dress. (That pissed me off, but what can you do, eh?) Like all of my updated characters, the art assets are AI generated. I'm really digging the way he came out. Between the ropes he fights similarly to his mentor Simon Fierhart, swapping out Simon's more violent moves for moves that better fit Gabe's free-flowing style. He still uses the Tomahawk as a signature though. That's never changing...lol.
This one is near and dear to me. Jonny Pyro is a character created by one of my oldest friends in the CAW community...who went by the same name as his character. We all pretty much started our journeys as creators at the same time me, my brother, JP, WLJ, @The 1 Man Horror Movie, @The Scorpion, and so many other now retired creators back in the early 2000s. By now the story of VWE is well known, but @lilsting10...creator of one of VWE's top characters Chris Lionheart put out a call here as VWE was looking for new talent, and we all answered. Pyro (character name John Pryor) would come to be one of the most prominent of our 1st class of E-fed characters, building a mythos and history over the next several years in VWE, LXW, XWA, TNB and other feds. Of note, JP and my own Jayson Jones were fast friends as characters, representative of how his creator and I became friends away from CAW making. But as time passed and everyone got older, our hobby of role playing dwindled. JP's creator got married, had kids and started his own business. By 2008, he pretty much retired from the scene...leaving a lasting legacy with his character that's still felt through many of us old schooler's creations.
Well, 2 months ago I caught up with JP on Facebook and we chatted it up. We talked about the old days, and I asked him for permission to bring Pyro into the modern era. He graciously gave me the go ahead, and what you see here is the end result. I decided to base 2023 Pyro on his last known attire, which was from 2008. I added the obvious age to him (he's 38) and created AI generated assets for him. Since the character Pyro was more of a prize fighter type, I didn't want to go to flashy, since this is a Jon Pryor returning to wrestling after a long layoff of being a family man. Rather than give him lots of ink, I decided to just stick with his signature dragon tat on the right arm, and gave him a new Detroit "D" on the left paying homage to his hometown, the Motor City. As far as his moves...that was tricky seeing as the way moves work...and even WHAT moves are in the game are different from SVR2008. So I did as best I could trying to recreate his move-set. Like I said, JP was a brawler at his base, but also had a lot of technical prowess and could take to the air when needed, so I tried to replicate his old style...along with a few new tricks. All and all I'm happy to bring the character forward, and share him with all of my fellow OGs who remember his significance to our community.
Speaking of blasts from the past, Lavar Justice is a character I last made waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2014. Originally based on Tough Enough contestant (and American Gladiator) Jesse "Justice" Smith, I made the character as the enforcer for a stable called the "Black Empire" consisting of him, Jeff "The BAM" Bambridge and Solomon King as rivals of Jayson Jones. Hell, I completely FORGOT about the character before I got access to an old image hosting account I had, where I'd uploaded pics of him. Pretty much decided "yea, I'll show you some love" from there...and this is the end result. I don't actually have a direction for the character since he's been out of the loop for so long, but I'll probably switch things up for him...making him an ally of Jay-J now.
The youngest of the original Fierhart siblings...Ryan Fierhart in recent years has become one of my top babyfaces. And why not? He looks the part. He's one of only 4 characters on my roster to be a grand slam champion. He's ALSO the husband to Ashley Diamond, now being married for 10 years, and having a 4 year old daughter. In fact, the marriage to Ashley...who was revealed to be the half sister of Helena, Kastor and Pollux Troy back in 2009 offset the over 100 year feud between the Fierhart and Troy clans. While they've made piece with the revelation, the bad blood between their older brothers...who have decades of history against each other, still lingers. At 34, Ryan's in the prime of his career and has long since stepped out of the shadow is his legendary older brother. With rivalries against the likes of Dylan Brody, Scott O'Dell, Kastor & Pollux Troy, Blake Evans, Cannon Webb and countless others...he's firmly set the tone as being one of the most competitive talents CAW has to offer.
Ryan's another one of my 2nd gen characters from the early 2000s. Originally created as pretty much a clone of Edge & Christian...he's long since evolved into a completely different character. Like Dylan, I didn't change anything aside from the layout of his attire, going with long sleeves instead of the elbow pad/wristband combo. His face texture is based on actor Charlie Hunman, and he's your classic speedster in the ring. Like Gabe, his moves are derivative of Simon's, swapping out the violence for more showy, flashier moves.
The "Red King". The "Usurper". By any other name, Sean Trueth's evolution from being a bright eyed babyface to becoming one of the most feared strikers in wrestling has been a legend in itself. One of the 1st graduates of Dru Mercer's Monster's Den wrestling academy, Trueth has tons of upside...but failed to deliver. Within 4 years, he'd bowed out of wrestling. He'd travel to Japan to learn of his roots, being half Japanese...where he'd learn he's the grandson of one of Japan's most fearsome warriors, Masato Tennouji...the man who gave Simon Fierhart the moniker "Kichiku-Kan"... The Destroyer. For the next few years he'd train under his grandfather, learning the ways of his family's art "Hakai-Ken"...the Fist of Destroyer. In 2018, he'd return to wrestling a new man, and cut forth a swath of destruction in his wake. Fully embracing his warrior routes, Sean Trueth has set out on a path to earn the one title that matters most to him...the title he believes is his birthright. But in order to earn it, he has to face and defeat "The King In Black" himself.
Trueth's character arc is one I've been evolving over the years, and it's soon coming full circle. When I redesigned Trueth to be a "boss level" character a few years ago, it was always my intention to eventually make him a rival of Simon's. Current day Sean is fixated with the notion that he is the true "Destroyer"...so that's naturally put him at odds with both Simon and the man Simon gave the moniker to himself...Ethan Bain. Sean's face texture is based off of actor Taylor Lautner, and his attire is pretty much the same as years past since I brought him back in 2018. In the ring, he's a vicious shooter using a plethora of martial art based offense. His goal is to hurt you...badly. And he does it with samurai-like precision.
We round this update up with LITERALLY my newest creation...as I just finished her a day ago. Victoria Jackson, aka Vikki Jaxx...is part of the graduating class of "The Foundation" that produced Connavar and IcONYC. Vikki was a troubled young woman with no past, as she was abandoned as a infant and raised in NYC's foster system. Her penchant for fighting constantly landed her in trouble, and she was never able to find a real home until she was 17...a mere year before she aged out of the system. That home, would be the home of Latoya Jones, Jayson Jones' older sister. At the time, her new foster brother & sister Cleo & Prentice was attending their uncle's new wrestling school...and reluctantly Vikki began joining them. It's there that she fell in love with the process. In wrestling, she could find an outlet for the chaos that existed in her core. Over the next few years, she'd train and perfect her persona, which was heavily influenced by another who she'd come to know as her "uncle and aunt"...Evan Slade and Fiona Weinstein-Slade...aka Synergi. Finding her love for wrestling merged with her love for metal music...Victoria Jackson would soon become Vikki Jaxx, driven by an unwavering need to "Bring Chaos To Order".
So yea, Vikki's heavily inspired by the character from Mass Effect 2 & 3 Jacqueline Voght...aka Jack. Saw the character and instantly fell in love. Jack is a heavily tattooed, chaotic, foul mouth, brooding badass...and conversely so is Vikki. I decided I would make her a babyface...pretty much the opposite of her tattooed contemporary Holly Woodz, with her other contemporary Perxephone riding the middle. Unlike her contemporaries...and other characters of this ilk...Vikki's not a brawler. In fact, she's quite technically sound. As a character, I've for big plans for her...which obviously ties into the long term plans I'm formulating for the 4th generation of characters I'm slowly developing.
And that's it. All 8 characters are available for download on all platforms. You will need ALL available DLC packs for them. Tags are of course CAW23 and OZCAW. Next on the docket...the female characters I mentioned;
Aimee LeBlanc
Celeste Engelbrecht
Lakoda Rose
Shannon White
Venera Kalashnikova