Clairo

WWE January 1985 - January 2011 WWE World Heavyweight The Miz (1x), cashed in Money in the Bank on Randy Orton WWE Intercontinental Finn Bálor (1x), def. Hiroshi Tanahashi at Battleground 2010 WWE United States R-Truth (1x), def. Jeff Hardy at Armageddon 2010 WWE Television Kevin Owens (1x), def. Shelton Benjamin on Monday Night RAW #862 WWE Tag Team The Briscoes (Jay/Mark), def. Cesaro & Drew McIntyre on the first RAW of 2011 (#865) WWE Women's Asuka (1x), def. AJ Lee at SummerSlam 2010 Let both Hardys go, roster is way too top heavy, but gave them a nice send-off on the first RAW of 2011 where they made up. Gonna push to WrestleMania and then do a brand split for the first time in the save. Let's see if I can stick with it lol. End of Year Awards 2010 Wrestler - John Cena (1x) (WWE) Team - Cesaro & Drew McIntyre (1x) (WWE) Young Wrestler - AJ Lee (1x) (WWE) Veteran Wrestler - Akira Nogami (2x) (2009, 2010) (NJPW) Female Wrestler - Asuka (2x) (2009, 2010) (5SSW / WWE) Independent Wrestler - Super Crazy (1x) (MWA) Company - WWE (23x) Most Improved - DWL (1x) (randomly generated company) Match - CM Punk def. AJ Styles at Over the Limit 2010 Card - WWE WrestleMania 26 Manager - Paul Heyman (1x) (WWE) Announcer - Michael Cole (3x) (WWE) (2007, 2009, 2010) Colour - Jesse Ventura (12x) (SHIMMER) Referee - Billy Dalton (7x) (ECW) Top 10 1. John Cena (WWE) 2. CM Punk (WWE) 3. Finn Bálor (WWE) 4. AJ Styles (WWE) 5. Cesaro (WWE) 6. Hiroshi Tanahashi (WWE) 7. Drew McIntyre (WWE) 8. Sheamus (WWE) 9. Akira Nogami (NJPW) 10. Randy Orton (WWE)

WWE January 1985 - September 2010 WWE World Heavyweight Randy Orton (5x), def. Sheamus at SummerSlam 2010 WWE Intercontinental Finn Bálor (1x), def. Hiroshi Tanahashi at Battleground 2010 WWE United States Jeff Hardy (1x), def. Matt Hardy at WrestleMania 26 WWE Television Cody Rhodes (1x), def. The Big Show on Monday Night RAW #846 (August 2010) WWE Tag Team Viva La Raza (Eddie/Rey) (3x), def. The Young Bucks at Over the Limit 2010 WWE Women's Asuka (1x), def. AJ Lee at SummerSlam 2010 Men's Money in the Bank The Miz (1x) Women's Money in the Bank Brie Bella (1x) Story over the summer was/is The Nexus (Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Kyle O'Reilly, Jay Lethal, Evan Bourne, Shad Gaspard, Wes Brisco) causing mayhem. Sheamus capitalized and won the world title in a Fatal Four Way in June, but Orton, who recently returned from filming a TV cameo and turned face, took him down. Meanwhile The Nexus beat Team Cena in the main event of SummerSlam after the (re)debuting Abyss attacked Cena. Booked myself into a bit of a corner by making this the first year to have a women's MITB, but wanted to do it anyway since it was the first time MITB had its own PPV. Poor Brie Bella will be a failed cash-in because I'm planning on giving Asuka an extended reign. Very excited for what I'm cooking with the women's division over the next two years, had this story laid out for a while now. Oh and also Kenny suffered a "Upper Thoracic Spinal Cord Compression" in the MITB match. Surgery lowered the recovery time to 3 months, so don't know if it's career ending, but if it is I'm gonna have to cheat to bring him back. Even though I usually love these curveballs, he's a worker I really want to keep using lol.

WWE 1985 - 2010 WrestleMania 26 The 26th WrestleMania is done and dusted, and I thought I'd celebrate the occasion with a quick write-up of the event. The WrestleMania pre-show saw Alyssa Flash (Cheerleader Melissa) win the Women's WrestleMania Battle Royal after last eliminating Natalya, and Drew McIntyre win the Men's WrestleMania Battle Royal after last eliminating Kofi Kingston. Daniel Bryan def. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn The opening contest of WrestleMania 26 saw two WrestleMania debuts, as Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn stepped onto the grandest stage for the first time. While Bryan is already a veteran, one gets a feeling Owens and Zayn are only getting started. Sarah Stock def. Gail Kim Tensions between the two women started coming to a head around the Elimination Chamber PPV, when it was Stock who retaliated and took out Kim after she eliminated her from the chamber match for the Women's Championship. Jeff Hardy def. Matt Hardy (c) in an I Quit Match for the WWE United States Championship The Hardys split amicably in 2008, but a spontaneous reunion during the 2010 Royal Rumble match was cut short when Jeff accidentally eliminated his brother. The vindictive United States Champion then took his revenge, assaulting Jeff with a steel chair and crushing his WrestleMania dreams. This lead us to this I Quit Match, where Jeff was able to capture the US Title for the first time. AJ Styles def. Batista When Batista snapped and attacked Rey Mysterio, who was "SUPPOSED TO BE HIS FRIEND!!!", AJ Styles came to the rescue of the man who he once held the Tag Team Championship with. 41 year old Batista is slowly on his way out of the WWE, and AJ Styles was able to secure a major WrestleMania victory after losing his world championship in the main event of last year's edition. The Young Bucks def. The Bar (c), The Elite (Kenny/Finn) & The Briscoes in a Ladder Match for the WWE Tag Team Championship Moving Money in the Bank to its own PPV left space for a massive spotfest on the WrestleMania card. But this one had a shocking twist: perhaps it was jealousy, or perhaps he had other motives, but Finn Bálor prevented his partner Kenny Omega from winning the gold for The Elite, instead flipping his ladder over and aligning himself with the Young Bucks to help them win the tag titles for the second time. This story is only just beginning and will be a massive part of the company going forward. Too Sweet. Dakota Kai def. Melina Unshaken by Melina's attempt to drive a wedge between the two, Dakota sought to prove she was every bit as capable of a singles wrestler as her friend and former tag partner, the WWE Women's Champion AJ Lee. In her first singles match at WrestleMania, Dakota was able to secure a massive upset victory over the former 3x Women's Champion. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) def. Katsuyori Shibata to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship A bitter rivalry reheated. The two former tag team champions turned enemies were 1-1 before WrestleMania 26, with their last singles match taking place at Payback 2008, 1 1/2 years ago. This time Tanahashi was able to prevail once again, retaining his Intercontinental Championship that he has held since November. Edge def. Chris Jericho This very personal match was set to headline the event, but plans changed after Jericho sustained an injury before his planned world championship win in December. Edge & Jericho dominated the tag team scene over the summer of 2009, but when Edge (kayfabe) hurt his lef during a title defense, Jericho took out all his frustrations on his tag partner, further attacking his injured leg and breaking up their alliance. 3 months later, at the Royal Rumble, an enraged Edge returned to the shock of Chris Jericho. Eliminating himself and the man who put him on the shelf, the two entered a blood feud that culminated when Edge defeated his former tag team partner with a Spear. The Undertaker def. CM Punk For months CM Punk had been running his mouth about one thing and one thing only - The Streak. His calls were finally answered when The Undertaker struck him down with a thunderous chokeslam on the first RAW after the Elimination Chamber PPV. 5 weeks later, and The Undertaker vanquishes the Straight Edge Savior with a Tombstone Piledriver. 18-0. AJ Lee (c) def. Trish Stratus to retain the WWE Women's Championship Dubbed the "Generational Bout", this match saw Trish attempt to capture her 8th Women's Championship after winning the Women's Royal Rumble for the third time. Though competitive, the two never crossed the line during the build to this highly anticipated match. This trend continued when Trish raised AJ's hand after the match that saw AJ pass the one year mark of her reign with the women's title. Brock Lesnar def. Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match The Beast arrived in the WWE in the summer of 2009, targeting John Cena and defeating him in the main event of SummerSlam. The next night on RAW, he was confronted by The Game. After a huge brawl, Lesnar locked in the Kimura, breaking Triple H's arm and putting him out of commission for 2 months. When Triple H made his triumphant return, he captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the 8th time. Lesnar re-emerged after the Royal Rumble, and was confronted by the reigning world champion. Another wild brawl ended with Triple H planting The Beast with a Pedigree on the announce table. This would prove costly for The Game, as Lesnar broke into the Elimination Chamber during Triple H's title defense, costing him the title. John Cena def. Randy Orton (c) for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship The beneficiary of the aforementioned Elimination Chamber incident was none other than The Viper, Randy Orton, who captured his fourth world championship at the February PPV. At the Royal Rumble, John Cena managed to outlast 29 other men, earning the right to face the world champion at WrestleMania. After scandals, getting removed as the figurehead, and crushing losses to Lesnar, McIntyre, and Batista over the last year, John Cena was able to overcome the odds and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time since 2007 in the main event of WrestleMania 26.

I'm using a modified version of Risky Business with future workers from Fleisch's 1992 mod. When I needed female workers to bolster my women's division in the 90s, I imported some from the 70s CVerse mod.

WWE January 1985 - January 2010 WWE World Heavyweight Triple H (8x), def. CM Punk (c), Batista & Rey Mysteria at Bragging Rights 2009 WWE Intercontinental Hiroshi Tanahashi (1x), def. The Miz at Survivor Series 2009 WWE United States Matt Hardy (1x), def. James Storm at Armageddon 2009 WWE Television Drew McIntyre (1x), def. Christian on Monday Night RAW #813 WWE Tag Team The Bar (Sheamus/Cesaro) (2x), def. Chris Jericho & Edge at Breaking Point 2009 WWE Women's AJ Lee (1x), def. Mickie James at WrestleMania 25 End of Year Awards 2009 Wrestler - Hiroshi Tanahashi (1x) (WWE) Team - Chris Jericho & Edge (1x) (WWE) Young Wrestler - Drew McIntyre (3x) (06, 07, 09) (WWE) Veteran Wrestler - Akira Nogami (1x) (NJPW) Female Wrestler - Kana (1x) (5SSW) Independent Wrestler - Antifaz Del Norte (1x) (MWA, PdM) Company - WWE (22x) Most Improved - Wrestlicious (1x) Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 25 Card - Survivor Series 2009 Manager - Candi Devine (5x) (99, 01-03, 09) (GLOW) Announcer - Michael Cole (2x) (07, 09) (WWE) Colour - Owen Hart (1x) (WWE) Referee - Jesus Gonzalez Garcia (2x) (08, 09) (MWA) Top 10 1. Hiroshi Tanahashi (WWE) 2. AJ Styles (WWE) 3. Edge (WWE) 4. CM Punk (WWE) 5. Chris Jericho (WWE) 6. Daniel Bryan (WWE) 7. Akira Nogami (NJPW) 8. Triple H (WWE) 9. Randy Orton (WWE) 10. Batista (WWE)

Not a whole lot of competition. ECW is still around and is the #3 company (behind WWE and my developmental NXT), and I keep feeding them and TNA workers. Also the next generation of workers I'm currently using or planning on using, like Omega, Owens, Zayn, Balor, all got their start in ECW. Rollins and Moxley are currently in TNA. Chris Masters is the current ECW World Champ, and Nigel McGuinness the current TNA World Champ. Rick Martel is the current ROH World Champ, but ROH are only Tiny and not really relevant in this world. The 5 most popular workers in the world are Orton, Batista, Taker, Cena, and Trish. Cena got hit with a prostitution scandal a week before WM24, but it finally blew over a couple of months ago. Other than that WWE has been smooth sailing. Chris Jericho vs. Edge is set to headline WM26. In Japan, Misawa just became NJPW's booker. They're the top dog followed by 5SSW and NOAH. AJPW went out of business in 2001, which is a bit of a shame, but I wasn't paying attention. Kenta Kobashi is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion in his 2nd reign, Thunder Hike the current 5SSW World Champion in her 6th reign, and 21 year old Kazuchika Okada the current GHC Heavyweight Champ in his first reign.

WWE January 1985 - November 2009 WWE World Heavyweight Triple H (8x), def. CM Punk (c), Batista & Rey Mysterio at Bragging Rights 2009 WWE Intercontinental The Miz (1x), def. Kofi Kingston (c) & John Morrison at Payback 2009 WWE United States James Storm (1x), def. Bobby Lashley at Over the Limit 2009 WWE Television Christian (8x), def. John Morrison on Monday Night RAW #806 WWE Tag Team The Bar (Sheamus/Cesaro) (2x), def. Chris Jericho & Edge at Breaking Point 2009 WWE Women's AJ Lee (1x), def. Mickie James at WrestleMania 25

WWE January 1985 - March 2009 WWE World Heavyweight AJ Styles (2x), def. Christian at No Mercy 2008 WWE Intercontinental Rey Mysterio (1x), def. Kane at Survivor Series 2008 WWE United States Bobby Lashley (1x), def. Alberto Del Rio at Payback 2008 WWE Television Daniel Bryan (4x), def. Jeff Hardy on Monday Night RAW #776 (Feb '08) WWE Tag Team The Dirt Sheet (Miz/Morrison) (1x), def. MCMG (Shelley/Sabin) at No Mercy 2008 WWE Women's Mickie James (4x), def. Candice Michelle (c) & Trish Stratus on the first RAW of 2009 Royal Rumble Randy Orton (1x) Royal Rumble (Women's) AJ Lee (1x) Took a longer break, but I'm still somewhat chugging along with this save. Been toying with the idea of starting a fresh save and maybe trying my hand at booking two companies at the same time, but still unsure.

In my 1985 WWF save, Andre went on a hiatus at the beginning of 1986. He came back on Monday, Week 4 of June 1987, and got injured that same week on Friday, which put him out of commission for another year. When he finally started actually working again, he became embroiled in a prostitute scandal in December 1989. The Rock in the same save was pretty similar to Ricky in yours, he left to film a TV show in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Wasn't too big of a deal though since I actively wanted it to happen anyway.

WWE January 1985 - September 2006 WWE World Heavyweight AJ Styles (1x), cashed in his Money in the Bank Contract on Kurt Angle on RAW the night after SummerSlam 2006 WWE Universal Eddie Guerrero (1x), def. Batista (c) at Day of Reckoning 2006 WWE Intercontinental CM Punk (1x), def. Samoa Joe at WrestleMania 22 WWE United States Shelton Benjamin (1x), def. Charlie Haas in tournament final at Day of Reckoning 2006 WWE Television Hiroshi Tanahashi (2x), def. Bobby Lashley (c) & Mark Jindrak on Monday Night RAW #657 WWE Tag Team DX (HHH/HBK) (2x), def. Mattitude Deluxe (Matt Hardy/Rob Conway) at Day of Reckoning 2006 WWE Women's Lita (2x), def. KALI (random gen) at Day of Reckoning 2006 Accidentally ended Melina's year-long+ Women's Championship reign prematurely in what was to be a filler defense on RAW before SummerSlam because I picked the wrong winner. Decided to run with it but it'd definitely be a head scratcher decision in-universe. Brought back US title again, and former 4x Tag Champs Benjamin & Haas met in the finals of a 16 man tournament. Eddie is on his farewell run. His contract runs out in 4 months and I won't be renewing it. I want him to join ROH but they're probably too small for him so I'll have to do some editing.

Sure, Kurt...

WWE January 1985 - June 2006 WWE World Heavyweight Samoa Joe (1x), def. John Cena at Judgment Day 2006 WWE Universal Jeff Hardy (1x), def. Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 22 WWE Intercontinental CM Punk (1x), def. Samoa Joe at WrestleMania 22 WWE Television Charlie Haas (1x), def. Rob Van Dam on Monday Night RAW #643 WWE Tag Team Gold Bond (Colt Cabana/Justin Gabriel) (1x), def. WGTT (Benjamin/Haas) at WrestleMania 22 WWE Women's Melina (1x), def. Mickie James at Over the Limit 2005 Money in the Bank AJ Styles (1x) Introduced a second world title. Suit wearing "Best in the World" Chris Jericho made for a fine first champion and held it from September to Mania in April. Jeff Hardy won the Rumble and chose Jericho to give the title some initial prestige. It's still very much the 1B to the WWE Championship's 1A, and that likely won't change anytime in the future, but I like the flexibility it gives me in the main event picture. Women's roster is a bit thin at the moment, but I'll introduce a second women's title sometime in the future too.

I can only echo what Zero said. Planning ahead is obviously important to book cohesively, but don't be scared to deviate from your plans if the game gets boring. The game can get frustrating when you're months, maybe even years ahead in your head, or on a spreadsheet, and it just devolves into a bunch of clicking to play catch-up. And that's not to say pull a Vince McMahon and throw all your plans over board every other week, but try to mix it up every once in a while. And always try to have something to look forward to. A debut, turn, reaching a particular point in a longer storyline, anything. As far as general tips for a longer save, try to make the game world your sandbox. Don't just look at your own company, but follow the others aswell. Help them not go out of business so the world doesn't get stale, maybe add a new player and play them for a week or so just to hire specific workers, etc. What I always like doing is establishing a new division/title in AI companies and then just follow how they book it. Like in my real world save, I gave WCW a TV title and set it to always defend on every weekly show. It was madness. What I've always liked doing in the C-Verse is give TCW and SWF their women's titles, and setting "Women's Wrestling" to medium in their product, and seeing how the world evolves from that.

Financial issues mostly, since they kind of served as a "retirement home" for my former top stars and gave out way too many juicy contracts. They were actually on the brink of bankruptcy since mid 2000, but I always edited them more money. Finally decided to just let them close down. Their roster basically wasn't even worth pillaging (too old for the direction I'm going) so I'm not doing an invasion angle or anything like that either. Their last 5 world champions were 50 year old Randy Savage, Stanley Rodriguez (a random gen), Terry Daniels, John Nord and John Tenta, despite having Austin, Sting, Goldberg, even Nash, Bret, or Yokozuna on their roster. So I guess the AI booking was a bit bleak too.

WWE January 1985 - May 2005 WWE World Heavyweight John Cena (1x), def. Triple H at WrestleMania 21 The champ is here and it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Triple H's stranglehold over "his" World Heavyweight Championship was finally broken by Cena at WrestleMania 21, and as The Game is slowly phased out of the world title picture, Cena is here to stay. The company will revolve around him for the next couple of years, as our first figurehead since Bret Hart, and third since starting the game (Hogan -> Bret -> Cena), has finally arrived on top of the mountain. WWE Intercontinental Samoa Joe (1x), def. Rob Van Dam on Monday Night RAW #573 (Dec 2004) Joe was introduced to the main roster as Triple H's "Destroyer" at SummerSlam 2004, but quickly made it clear he doesn't take orders from anybody, splitting from The Game and going on a tear, that included a dominant Survivor Series perfomance and an undefeated run in singles competition that's still going to this day. His last victim was none other than "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair at WrestleMania 21. Putting on mid-2000's ROH bangers in the upper midcard, Joe is one of the most valuable members of WWE's young roster. With his arch rival CM Punk out of action with a (kayfabe) injury caused by Joe, who knows what the future holds for the Samoan. WrestleMania 22 IS headed to Chicago... WWE Television AJ Styles (3x), def. Nigel McGuinness on Monday Night RAW #589 (April 2005) With AJ's tag team partner Rey Mysterio out for 9 months with a spine injury, The Phenomenal One decided to try his hand at singles competition. A standout perfomance in the first ever Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21 only further served to raise his stock in the eyes of the WWE Universe. WWE Tag Team World's Greatest Tag Team (Benjamin/Haas) (3x), def. Ganbou-Ki (Shibata/Tanahashi) at Night of Champions 2004 When the former members of Team Angle split from their mentor in the summer of 2004, they took on a meaner streak, and haven't let up since. Now in the 7th month of their title reign, they show no signs of slowing down. With the tag division a bit thin on the face side, there doesn't seem to be much competition. But the recently called up Motor City Machine Guns (Sabin/Shelley) have been putting on impressive performances and may soon challenge for the tag titles. WWE Women's Mickie James (2x), def. Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 21 Two former allies collided for the coveted Women's Championship at WrestleMania 21, as Mickie James, who won the Women's Royal Rumble, managed to overcome her former best friend Trish Stratus in the highest rated women's title match since the days of Manami Toyota as champion. With fresh talent like Melina, Gail Kim and Shelly Martinez lined up, challengers for the women's title aren't in short supply. And down in NXT, Natalya Neidhart, Michelle McCool, Candice Michelle, Sarah Stock and many others are waiting in the wings. And even record 6x Women's Champion Trish doesn't seem to be done just yet. Money in the Bank Edge (1x), def. RVD, AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Christian, Chris Jericho, & Kane in the first ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania Battle Royal The Big Show (2x) WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal Lisa-Marie Varon (1x) End of Year Awards 2004 Wrestler - Mitsuharu Misawa (2x) (2000, 2004) (NJPW) Team - World's Greatest Tag Team (Benjamin/Haas) (1x) (WWE) Young Wrestler - Randy Orton (2x) (2003, 2004) (WWE) Veteran Wrestler - Solar (1x) (NJPW) Female Wrestler - Wendi Ross (random gen) (1x) (WCW) Independent Wrestler - Thunder Hike (3x) (2001, 2003, 2004) (5SSW) Company - WWE (17x) Most Improved Company - PWG (1x) Match - Stone Cold & Goldberg def. Hercules Hernandez & Kevin Nash on WCW Thunder (lol) Card - SummerSlam 2004 Manager - Yukari Omori (1x) (5SSW) Announcer - Jim Ross (11x) (WWE) Colour - Jesse Ventura (11x) (WCW) Referee - Frank Morrell (3x) (MSW) Top 10 1. Mitsuharu Misawa (NJPW) 2. Wendi Ross (WCW) 3. Keiji Muto (NJPW) 4. Kenta Kobashi (NJPW) 5. Joanne Rodriguez (WWE/WCW) 6. Kurt Angle (WWE) 7. Catherine Quine (WCW) 8. Chris Benoit (WWE) 9. Triple H (WWE) 10. Chris Jericho (WWE) WCW went out of business in January 2005, their top stars (Austin, Goldberg, Sting) retiring or finding work in Japan. Others like JBL found a new home in WWE.

WWE January 1985 - September 2004 WWE World Heavyweight Randy Orton (1x), def. The Undertaker at SummerSlam 2004 WWE Intercontinental John Cena (1x), def. The Big Show at WrestleMania XX WWE Television Rob Van Dam (1x), def. Christian on Monday Night RAW #540 WWE Tag Team Ganbou-Ki (Shibata/Tanahashi) (2x), def. Brutal Bruisers (Finlay/McGuinness) at SummerSlam 2004 WWE Women's Trish Stratus (5x), def. Lisa-Marie Varon at WrestleMania XX Not much has changed. Orton is the youngest world champion in WWE history, since I feel that's an integral part of his character, but he's already losing the title to Triple H at the next PPV.

WWE January 1985 - April 2004 WWE World Heavyweight Triple H (6x), def. Batista at Survivor Series 2003 WWE Intercontinental John Cena (1x), def. The Big Show at WrestleMania XX WWE Television Rob Van Dam (1x), def. Christian on Monday Night RAW #540 WWE Tag Team Ready to Fly (AJ/Rey) (3x), def. WGTT (Benjamin/Haas) (c), Ganbou-Ki (Shibata/Tanahashi) and Beer Money (Roode/Storm) in a four-way-tag at WrestleMania XX WWE Women's Trish Stratus (5x), def. Lisa-Marie Varon at WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX Battle Royal Booker T (1x) WrestleMania XX Women's Battle Royal Gail Kim (1x) Royal Rumble 2004 Chris Benoit (1x) Royal Rumble 2004 (Women's) Trish Stratus (2x) WrestleMania Main Events (all for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship): WM1 - Hulk Hogan (c) def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper WM2 - Hulk Hogan (c) def. Paul Orndorf WM3 - Hulk Hogan (c) def. Ric Flair WM4 - Randy Savage def. Ric Flair (c) WM5 - Hulk Hogan def. Andre the Giant (c) WM6 - The Ultimate Warrior def. Hulk Hogan (c) WM7 - Ricky Steamboat def. Ric Flair (c) WM8 - Bret Hart def. Randy Savage (c) WM9 - The Undertaker def. Bret Hart (c) WM10 - Bret Hart def. Owen Hart (c) WM11 - Sting (c) def. Andre the Giant WM12 - Shawn Michaels def. Bret Hart (c) WM13 - Sting def. Shawn Michaels (c) WM14 - Mitsuharu Misawa def. Shawn Michaels (c) WM15 - Owen Hart def. The Rock (c) WM16 - The Rock def. Triple H (c) WM17 - Hulk Hogan def. The Rock (c) WM18 - Triple H def. The Rock (c) & Kurt Angle WM19 - Eddie Guerrero def. Kurt Angle (c) WM20 - Triple H (c) def. Chris Benoit And now begins the countdown to John Cena's coronation...

The long-term storytelling is absolutely what keeps me playing. Building new stars falls under that umbrella for me. It's rewarding to have long term projects finally pay off. Looking over my notes and seeing the early beats of stories like, for example, Owen's rise throughout the 90's and seeing them come to actual fruiton ingame is very fulfilling. My actual favorite part is the alternate history I've created in general. I've always been a fan of title lineages for example. There's ups and downs, and sure, not every push worked out, nor did every plan come together as well as I'd hoped, but I live with it and run with it. That's the beauty of the game for me. It's also really interesting to see the game world develop alongside me, even if the AI doesn't always play along.

WWE January 1985 - January 2004 WWE World Heavyweight Triple H (6x), def. Batista at Survivor Series 2003 WWE Intercontinental The Big Show (1x), def. Randy Orton (c) and Edge at Armageddon 2003 WWE Television Christian (6x), def. KENTA (c) and Owen Hart on Monday Night RAW #526 WWE Tag Team Ganbou-Ki (Hiroshi Tanahashi/Katsuyori Shibata) (1x), def. Beer Money (James Storm/Bobby Roode) at Survivor Series 2003 WWE Women's Lisa-Marie Varon (4x), def. Joanne Rodriguez at Survivor Series 2003 End of Year Awards 2003 Wrestler - Eddie Guerrero (1x) (WWE) Team - Shinya Hashimoto & Kenta Kobashi (1x) (NJPW) Young Wrestler - Randy Orton (1x) (WWE) Veteran Wrestler - Akira Maeda (1x) (NJPW) Female Wrestler - Jaguar Yokota (6x) ('80, '81, '88, '89, '97, '03) (WWE) Independent Wrestler - Thunder Hike (2x) ('01, '03) (5SSW) Company - WWE (16x) Most Improved - NXT (2x) ('01, '03) Match - Keiji Muto def. Mitsuharu Misawa at NJPW World Tag League 2003 Card - WrestleMania XIX Manager - Candi Devine (4x) (GLOW, ECW) Announcer - Jim Ross (10x) (WWE) Colour - Jesse "The Body" Ventura (10x) (WCW) Referee - Billy Dalton (5x) (WCW) Top 10 1. Eddie Guerrero (WWE) 2. Kurt Angle (WWE) 3. Chris Jericho (WWE) 4. Chris Benoit (WWE) 5. Triple H (WWE) 6. Mitsuharu Misawa (NJPW) 7. Keiji Muto (NJPW) 8. Rob Van Dam (WWE) 9. Akira Maeda (NJPW) 10. Solar (NJPW) Entering the save's 20th year, making this by far my longest and most rewarding TEW game yet.

WWE January 1985 - September 2003 WWE World Heavyweight Batista (2x), def. Chris Jericho (c), Eddie Guerrero, Rob Van Dam, Triple H & Kane in Elimination Chamber Match at SummerSlam 2003 WWE Intercontinental Toshiaki Kawada (3x), def. Jeff Hardy at Bad Blood 2003 WWE Television John Cena (2x), def. Christian at SummerSlam 2003 WWE Tag Team Ready to Fly (AJ Styles & Rey Mysterio) (2x), def. World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) at Judgment Day 2003 WWE Women's Trish Stratus (4x), def. Gail Kim on Monday Night RAW #507 (July 2003)

WWE January 1985 - June 2003 WWE World Heavyweight Eddie Guerrero (1x), def. Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XIX WWE Intercontinental Jeff Hardy (1x), def. Toshiaki Kawada at WWE Monday Night RAW #500 WWE Television Test (4x), def. Chuck Palumbo at Judgment Day 2003 WWE Tag Team Ready to Fly (AJ Styles & Rey Mysterio) (2x), def. World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) at Judgment Day 2003 WWE Women's Allison Danger (1x), def. Jo Lemont (random gen) at Judgment Day 2003 Wanted a big feel-good moment for RAW 500 so I put the IC title on Jeff instead of Kawada/Cena later down the line. The episode was basically entirely centered around a recently unmasked Kane's rampage, so the big babyface title victory is a much needed bit of light.

WWF WWE January 1985 - January 2003 WWE World Heavyweight Kurt Angle (3x), def. The Undertaker at Armageddon 2002 I have decided to go with a different route regarding the world title, opting to keep it a little bit more workrate based for now. The initial plan was to cap off the Evolution storyline at WrestleMania XIX, instead I pulled the trigger early and had Batista go over Triple H at SummerSlam 2002, one year after the angle started. It turns out Batista has negative chemistry with HHH, Angle, and even Jericho, so I went ahead and called his planned lengthy run off, having Angle give him his first pinfall loss at No Mercy 2002 due to interference from former Evolution member Mark Jindrak. Angle would then have to defend his championship in the Elimination Chamber at Survivor Series 2002, where he would eventually fall victim to The Undertaker. I mostly did this because "American Badass" Taker hadn't held the world title yet, so I figured I might aswell give him a quick run, before Angle won it back a month later at Armageddon with the help of his newly formed Team Angle (Haas/Benjamin). WWE Intercontinental Toshiaki Kawada (2x), def. Edge at No Mercy 2002 Coming off the most dominant WWE Television Championship run of all time, Kawada would set his sights on even more gold. He has since defended the title against Edge, Benoit, and in a Fatal Four Way involving Edge, Benoit & Matt Hardy at Armageddon. The plan is for this run to continue until Cena is ready. WWE Television Kane (1x), def. Christian on Monday Night RAW #480 (Dec 2002) In August 2002, Un-American Christian defeated United States Champion Mick Foley to unify the (failing) US Championship and the Television Championship. Plagued by injuries from the start, my reboot of the US title in August 2001 was a failure. Luckily, the Un-Americans angle was there to save me. Christian and his allies Lance Storm and Alex Wright tossed the title into the trash on RAW, retiring it again. He would eventually get his comeuppance at the hands of All-American Kane on the last RAW of 2002 in a Street Fight. WWE Tag Team Ready to Fly (AJ Styles & Rey Mysterio) (1x), def. Holy Demon Army at Night of Champions 2002 This was the Holy Demon Army's farewell run, since Taue can't go anymore. AJ & Rey can provide good matches with everyone and will serve as a solid centerpiece for a rebuilding tag scene. The Hardys are no more, E&C are no more, and I'm currently building up tag experience for teams like The Brutal Bruisers (Finlay & Nigel McGuinness), Benjamin & Haas, and La Resistance (though Dupree is already in rehab for hard drugs). Scott Steiner & Test aswell as the Un-Americans serve as good foil, and NXT is brimming with young tag teams that I don't want to call up just yet. WWE Women's Lisa-Marie Varon (3x), def. Gail Kim at No Mercy 2002 When Trish Stratus got injured during her third run with the women's title, I decided to vacate it and hold it up in a battle royal. Mimicking Gail Kim's real life debut championship win, I called her up from NXT and had her win the thing. Naturally, this annoyed some of the women, seeing as she wasn't quite over enough. In the wake of this Lita, who got the short end of the stick and was Gail's first feud, walked out of the company. She was already angry because Christian cheated on her (lol) with Cutie Suzuki (gotta love TEW) and she felt isolated backstage. I turned this into a storyline and turned Gail heel by having her brag about running Lita out of the company. Varon came to her on-off tag partner's defense, turning face, and starting a program with Gail, which would end with her winning the women's title for the third time. Not quite sure yet where this leaves me for WrestleMania, since the original plan was Trish vs. Lita, but that's the beauty of the game. End of Year Awards 2002 Wrestler - Kurt Angle (2x) (2001, 2002) (WWE) Team - Scott Steiner & Test (1x) (WWE) Young Wrestler - Mickie James (1x) (WWE) Veteran Wrestler - Bret Hart (2x) (2001, 2002) (WWE/WCW) Female Wrestler - Manami Toyota (1x) (WWE/5SSW) Independent Wrestler - Pirata Morgan (1x) (AAA) Company - WWE (15x) Most Improved - AAA (1x) Match - The Rock def. Triple H by DQ (No Way Out 2002) Card - Survivor Series 2002 Manager - Candi Devine (3x) (WCW) Announcer - Jim Ross (9x) (WWE) Colour - Jerry "The King" Lawler (2x) (WWE) Referee - Kyohei Wada (4x) (NJPW) Top 10 1. Kurt Angle (WWE) 2. Chris Benoit (WWE) 3. Triple H (WWE) 4. The Undertaker (WWE) 5. Bret Hart (WWE/WCW) 6. Shawn Michaels (WWE) 7. Eddie Guerrero (WWE) 8. The Rock (WWE) 9. Chris Jericho (WWE) 10. Manami Toyota (WWE/5SSW)

Very true, but the WM XIX main event is already planned to be Triple H vs. Batista 2 years earlier than their real life feud to give Batista a bit of time in the limelight before Cena takes over once I get to 2005 (I only have 1 world title after all). I've been running a slightly condensed version of the Evolution storyline since SummerSlam 2001 and Batista must win the 2003 Royal Rumble to set it all up the way I'd like it to, so sadly there's no place for Rock in the WM main event. In my head, he's basically a part timer now since he's supposed to be conquering Hollywood, though I will sporadically use him much like WWE did during that time. He'll forgive me since he main evented the last 4 WrestleMania's anyway!

Thank you for the unbiased opinion, Edge

WWF January 1985 - March 2002 WWF World Heavyweight The Rock (5x), def. Chris Jericho at Armageddon 2001 WWF Intercontinental Eddie Guerrero (1x), def. Rob Van Dam at Judgment Day 2001 WWF United States Vacant, Tournament currently in progress, will conclude at WrestleMania X8 WWF World Tag Team Edge & Christian (6x), def. Billy Kidman & Stevie Richards at Survivor Series 2001 WWF Television Toshiaki Kawada (3x), def Jeff Hardy on WWF Monday Night RAW #429 WWF Women's Lisa-Marie Varon (2x), def. Mickie James at No Way Out 2002 Royal Rumble Kurt Angle (1x) Royal Rumble (Women's) Trish Stratus (1x) WM18 plan throughout the entire last year was Jericho (c) vs. Rock, with Rock winning the Royal Rumble, but Jericho has been working hurt (shoulder injury), so I decided to shift away. He will now wrestle HBK while Rock defends in a triple threat against Angle and HHH. As it stands, it looks like Rock may go the entire game without a Royal Rumble win, since I plan to reduce his role post-WM.