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The Insight: Twice in One Day

By: Tim Sim

Hello again and welcome to this edition of “The Insight.” By the time this is posted, we are just days away from the fourth running of the Schmoedown Spectacular. Our “grand showcase” that concludes what has truly been “The Magic Season.” As a certain reactor that goes by Jeremy Hastings have said, “A lot can happen in a year, but it can all change in one night.” That quote rings true for almost every time Spectacular has been put on stage, especially when it comes to those who play in multiple matches. For this edition, I take a look at the aspect of Schmoedown Spectacular where competitors in this showcase were in for more than one match. This is because of two certain Schmoedown Pros that have the potential to be in at least two matches: Ben Bateman and William Bibbiani. One of them will be working hard this Saturday to do well with what he will be given. To see how it can happen for Bateman or Bibbiani, we need to take a look at competitors that have before played in two matches at Spectacular: John Rocha, Samm Levine, and Clarke Wolfe. The common pattern we have seen from them is this: they each have gone 1-1 in their Spectacular matches.

Our first look is into John Rocha’s matches at the first ever Schmoedown Spectacular back in 2016. At that time, “The Outlaw” himself was rising in popularity as the first true superstar of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown when it transitioned to league play. Coming into Spectacular, John Rocha was close to his title shot for the singles title but fell short to the 2016 Ultimate Schmoedown winner Mark “Baby Carrots” Ellis, where he was placed in the #1 Contender match against Mark “Yodi” Reilly for the second time. Also, he and his partner Matt Knost back then took the team titles from Team Schmoes as the decorated Team Top 10. It was clear when those two events happened that “The Outlaw” will play in two of the five matches at the first Spectacular, something that Chairman and then-Commissioner Kristian Harloff was both concerned and curious about.

In Rocha’s first match, he and Knost were defending the team titles against JTE and Jeff Sneider of The Patriots. It was a match that truly went the distance with Rocha giving one of his best performances, but the final answer by Sneider was enough for them to edge above Team Top 10 to take the title belts. This marked the beginning of the run for what many argued to the best team in Schmoedown history. As for Rocha, as disappointing as it was for him to lose the title belts, he had to move on and prepare for his rematch against Reilly. In his second match, Rocha rebounded and played his dominant game over Mark Reilly to earn his singles title shot against then-champion and then-rival Dan Murrell. That led to him later next season to claim the Singles Championship for the first time.

The next one is through Samm Levine’s matches at the 2017 Schmoedown Spectacular. Coming into that year’s “Grand Showcase,” Levine was the first pro to win both Ultimate Schmoedown Tournaments. That meant that he was going to be in two championship matches in one night. A daunting challenge, but one that “The Inglorious One” is not unfazed about with Drew McWeeny at his side.

In Samm’s first match at Spectacular, he and his teammate McWeeny as Above The Line faced the dominating Patriots of JTE and Sneider for the Team Championship. That went for all five rounds in the most thrilling match of that night. However, Samm’s and Drew’s inability of recalling “Remember The Titans” kept them from ending The Patriots’ title run early, with JTE and Sneider successfully defending the belts for an entire season. It was déjà vu to Team Top 10’s close loss to them the year before. However, just like Rocha, Levine had to move on and prepare for his Singles Championship match against Kristian Harloff. That main event match saw Samm, putting on a TKO performance against Harloff who struggled that night to win one of his two title shots as the Singles Champion. Overall, a still good outing by Samm Levine in the Schmoedown Spectacular.

Finally, we go to Clarke Wolfe’s matches at last year’s Schmoedown Spectacular. By that time, a pattern was clearly forming. Those who compete in two matches go 1-1. Before Spectacular, she and her partner Rachel Cushing won the vacant team titles as the superteam known as The Shirewolves. Also, Wolfe was the runner-up in the Singles Tournament in one of the most painful moments in Schmoedown history where one word costed her the Singles Championship match to Ethan Erwin. As a result, she will not just defend the team titles in that event, but also face against Dan Murrell for the second time in a #1 Contender Match for the singles title in New York.

In Clarke’s first Spectacular matchup, she and her teammate Rachel defended their titles against a very powerful team in Mark Reilly and Ben Bateman of Who’s The Boss. That matchup was one of the very best of 2018, with both stacking right answers from every round and every question. It all came down to the final question where The Shirewolves answered correctly to retain the team belts and silence all of their critics. Soon after that, Clarke was riding that victory wave to her #1 Contender match for the singles title shot against Dan Murrell. Despite a strong start to stay competitive with her opponent, Clarke couldn’t keep up with the might of Murrell from the midpoint onward. That eventually led to Murrell winning the title shot against the Singles Champion in New York at the start of this season. Even though she also ended up at going 1-1 for the night, Clarke was proud of what she had done and contributed to a really memorable Schmoedown Spectacular.

What we can take away from their multi-match performances is this: it is very difficult to go to Spectacular and win both matches. “The Grand Showcase” is indeed the showcase of the very best of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown. As hard as they can try to prepare for having a multi-match day, it truly takes a toll. That was also true for Mike Kalinowski in one day where he had to win both his Singles matches to play for the Singles Championship in Manhattan, but a critical mistake kept him at bay. That was the closest that someone was at winning two matches in a day. 

But there was one that was the first to pull off this feat. It was no other than Dan Murrell himself. It was at Collider Collision of 2017 where he won the singles title in the Triple Threat Match, and successfully defended it against Samm Levine when he used his free title shot that he won from Free 4 All. Keep in mind that both of his matches lasted for five rounds, which makes this achievement even more amazing. This is something that adds to Murrell’s status as the GOAT, and the measuring stick for what to reach for when attempting to win multiple matches in a day.

That is something Ben Bateman and William Bibbiani must consider when they step onto the stage at this year’s Schmoedown Spectacular. Their first matchup will be against each other in the Ultimate Schmoedown Singles Finals for five rounds, and whoever wins that match will face the Singles Champion Paul Oyama for the belt in the main event (that being for five rounds as well). Whoever that challenger may be, he must be prepared unlike before to go for more than one match. There is a possibility that Bateman or Bibbiani can be the next one to win both matches, but as we have seen in the past it’s most likely that one of them will go 1-1. What it means that Oyama will most likely defend his singles title for the second time.

However, there is also one cravat to this story. As of this writing, Bibbiani’s team Shazam! is still in the Teams Tournament. If he and his partner Brendan Meyer win the entire tournament, there is also the possibility that William Bibbiani will have to compete in three of the five matches of this Saturday’s Schmoedown Spectacular! That is a new can of worms to open up, and one where I would leave it to the stats man Frank Janisch to crunch the numbers on this impossible possibility of winning three in one day. However, if that happens, it will truly be a history-defining moment to witness for everyone around the world that loves the Movie Trivia Schmoedown.

So, what do you think? Could it finally happen at “The Grand Showcase,” or will it be just like before with one of them going 1-1? Let me know and see y’all next time for the next edition of “Insight.”