Q&A with Nik Ainu

Q: Why is this decision such a big deal to Godzilla Planet?

A: It’s a big decision, because our fanbase seems to be growing on a consistent basis now, which NessMasta and I are thrilled about. We never actually thought our project would take off like this. We thought, if we were lucky, it’d take a year before we could get a good base going. We are blessed to be in the situation we’re in now. This segment is going to be a huge dedication to the fans. If we go the way of Dream Matchups, the fans will have a say as far as what matches they want us to discuss on the podcast. If we go to the route of MCW, the fans will be able to take control of a kaiju of their choice and make an attempt to request matches against other kaiju and to request title matches. Not to mention they can create factions with other kaiju; they can get together with other members to create some of these factions. A couple of our most popular factions we had in MCW years ago were the factions of t.W.o, which stood for Tokyo World Order, and Seatopia Space Hunter M. This organization would allow fans to interact in just about every possible way. I think it would be awesome for the fans to get tremendously involved and to make things interesting.

Q: Are you leaning one way or the other at this point?

A: I honestly thought I wouldn’t end up making this decision. I thought about voting, but when I saw that my vote would actually tie the whole thing, I decided I’d just let the process play itself out. I didn’t want to have to mess with a tie (laughs). But here we are. I like both ideas, honestly. Problem is trying to decide on just one. Both have tremendous potential and both would be great ways of getting fans involved. Dream Matchups is something that every kaiju fan discusses with other fans. Could Kaiju X actually beat Kaiju Y? That sort of scenario. It is a fun way of trying to decide who could possibly be the big dog in the kaiju world. With a monster wrestling organization, well, who doesn’t like to take control of their own kaiju in a WWE-style gimmick to try and win titles and to work for bragging rights on who’s the best?

Q: When will we learn about your decision?

A: As has been mentioned on our Facebook, Twitter, and even our Web site, I will announce my decision on this week’s episode of Planet X Control Room. NessMasta and I will be recording that tomorrow evening around 8 p.m. Central time. The episode won’t actually be available until either Saturday or Sunday, though.

Q: Are you on the lookout for potential leaks of your decision to the public?

A: We are doing what we can to keep a very tight lid on this. We actually have a lockdown on the Godzilla Planet offices at this moment. People won’t be allowed to go home and see their families until after we have recorded the podcast. We’ve also taken everyone’s cellphones and other communication devices (laughs). No, we aren’t actually doing that, but we are attempting to keep this as much of a surprise as possible for fans. The only person that will probably know of my decision, when I make it, will be NessMasta. I can trust him…or can I…?

Q: So it sounds like you’re going to have your mind made up before the show.

A: I’m going to try and make up my mind before then, yes…but there is no guarantee. Like I said, I wasn’t expecting this to happen. And with about 30-some-odd hours left until we record tomorrow’s podcast, it doesn’t leave a whole lot of time. I want to make a very good decision on this that will benefit Godzilla Planet and its fans for a very long time. I don’t want to be in the process of recording the podcast and still have no idea on what I will choose. It would suck if it had to come down to something like a coin-toss.

Q: When will the new segment debut on the podcast and Godzilla Planet?

A: I haven’t really discussed this with NessMasta yet, but here is how it may go down: If I end up going the way of Dream Matchups, I don’t see why we couldn’t get that up and going by Episode 13. We already have some matchups being requested by MechaGojira on the forums, so we definitely have material to begin working with right away. We’d just need to create an area on the forums so fans can discuss their opinions on the matches. If MCW is the choice, we’ll probably be creating an area for that on the forums as well. However, MCW will more than likely have its own Web site connected to Godzilla Planet. I would have to construct a list of kaiju for fans that will be available for them to choose, which will come on a first-come-first-serve basis. It will give them time to make their decision on which kaiju that want to take hold of while NessMasta and I discuss the construction of MCW and how we’re going to go about figuring out how matches will be decided. These rules will also need to be shown to the fans so they know how we’re doing it. We would want to make it as transparent as possible. We may even be seeking help of some of our fans on possible ideas, and maybe even help, in running the organization if they’re interested. But if I make that decision, we’ll have a special thread on the forums for people to sign-up if they’re wanting to help. Otherwise I’m hoping we can, at the very earliest, get MCW going by late August. But I will still have to talk with NessMasta since he does a lot of the Web page building. We’ll have a better idea, either tomorrow night, or a few days afterwards.

Q: What sort of Dream Matchups have been requested at the moment?

A: King Kong Vs. Sanda, the brown gargantua; King Ghidorah Vs. Biollante; Megalon Vs. Baragon; Megaguirus Vs. Battra just to name a few.

Q: MCW was your guys’ pet project for five years until you decided to cancel it due to having increased responsibilities in your own lives, if you decide to revive MCW, will the new MCW have the same names for its pay-per-view matches and weekly shows?

A: I remember some of the names of the PPVs, but not all of them. I think NessMasta remembers all of them; in fact, he still may have the logos for those. We definitely are going to make an attempt to keep all of those PPV names. There may be a possibility where we may not remember all of them and have to rename them; or to simply replace a few. As far as the weekly shows, we might be only doing one show a week, with the PPV being the final show at the end of each month. If we do just the one weekly show, we may name it after either the old Monday Fallout or Thursday Demolition shows…or it could be something completely new. But there’s always that possibility that we could come up with a new name as well. We may even end up holding two weekly shows as well to keep things interesting and create build-up to the PPVs at the end of each month.

Q: If you went the route of MCW, will the results be talked about on the podcast?

A: My hope is that, if we do go this route, to do a recap of each week’s shows and to preview the next show. If we go that route, we’ll be previewing the following Monday shows; unless there’s a PPV coming up on that particular Sunday. We’d recap the shows and talk about some interesting matches that happened, including some big matches coming up at the next show.

Q: Well, we’ll be heavily anticipating your decision come tomorrow night!

A: Thank you, very much. Take care, now.