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Never, never book Them after Midnight FEW's first ever show is in the books and it went well enough. The biggest takeaway from it for me is to never again run a show when I'm tired as "one last thing to do before I go to bed". I messed up my notes, forgot some road agent notes, forgot to actualy add J-Ro and Luchadora to their angles in game, and I missed that Gringo Star was still set to debut as tecnico. Now the last one has some knock-on effects. The pairing with Frank is confusing our crowd who expect a strict tecnico/rudo divide, but I'll tough it out as it actually makes for a nice dynamic to write about. It does, however, imbalance the roster which is now short on rudos. I also want to sign a sixth women as a tecnico to balance the women's "division" (we're technically running an integrated product), increasing the number of rudos needed even further. Fortunately, our finances are solid. The expected sponsor income is going up to where we would be sure to make money running one show per month. I do want to grow our popularity fairly quickly, though, and am thinking about running two shows in September. We have a bit of a cushion, after all. So for the next show, I add two new hires. Flash Savage was someone I had been looking at for my initial roster, but he didn't make the cut back then. He's a good combination of skills, basics, and charisma. For the other hire, I'm sort of tempted by importing some Japanese youngsters, but in the end, I settle someone who's both closer to us right now and has better developed basics and charisma in Joy Ryder. Reviewing the roster's gimmicks, I can say we got some decent rolls. Most are at least rated adequate to start with and only a few have drawbacks that need to be kept in mind specifically. Of course there's some people who would get penalised losing to Comedy or Gimmicky gimmicks or taking part in comedy matches, but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean the gimmick effects where wins and losses help or hurt more or penalties to certain stats apply. The only real bust is Sunburst who is not only stuck with a rating of awful, but also gets a large penalty to psychology all while it's also a marketable gimmick. (Funnily enough the other marketable gimmicks are pretty much all rudos.) The next show is scheduled for the first Saturday of September, so let's have a look what's happening elsewhere in the industry. It looks like SWF managed to rebound back to large size. My former promotion expands its roster aggressively - I doubt they can afford that in the long run - and actually crown some champions. Oh, and this happens: Sleep well, sweet prince! Fantastic Entertainment Wrestling presents LUCHA SECRETA 2 TRIOS MAIN EVENT: HEROES VS. VILLAINS Cique Jr (Captain), El Hijo Del Águila & El Hijo Del Neutron vs. Jagged, Scarlet Scarab & Yellow Flash (Captain) Sabra Man Jr vs. Chess Maniac Payaso Jr vs. Jose Flamenco Velvet Suarez (Captain), Christy Higgins & Joy Ryder vs. Concepción Gomez (Captain) & Lilly & Rose Fray Valiente Jr vs. Frank Hammerschmidt Ganymede Jr & Remmy Skye vs. Heavy Metal Anarchy & Flash Savage Sunburst vs. Gringo Star

Lucha Secreta 1 The show starts off with Mayan Idol's iconic theme playing. Coming out in his mask and wearing a cape over a suit, he makes his way to the ring while soaking in the adoration of the crowd. He takes a round around the ring, shaking hands and high fiving fans before finally entering it with a microphone in hand. "Welcome to my ring! I have invited twenty-two of the greatest warriors in the land to battle for my and your pleasure!" He then hypes up the matches scheduled for tonight before leaving the ring and walking towards a throne set up for him to observe the proceedings from. And the first warrior to come out is Christy Higgins. She is fired up and tries to get the crowd to show her some of the love they showed for Idol. Her attempts are cut short, however, as Kate Lilly and Debbie Rose jump her at ringside and start beating her up. Just as they are about to set up their tag team finisher, The Thorn, Velvet Suarez comes out, charging straight at Lilly & Rose to save Higgins. Christy is out for now, though, and the former four time AAA tag champs team up on Velvet. They knock her down and toss her into the ring and the match is officially underway. Christy Higgins & Velvet Suarez vs. Lilly & Rose (Kate Lilly & Debbie Rose) The match starts with a weird dynamic as the established star Velvet Suarez is playing the face in peril while Higgins is still selling on the outside. A first chance to break away from the rudos leads to nothing as Christy is still out. On the second try the hot tag succeeds and Christy Higgins gets in some good offense before the damage she already took and the numbers game take their toll and the heels once again establish their dominance and cut the ring in half expertly. Higgins remembers the rules of a Lucha tag team match though and uses the momentum from being victim of a flying headscissors to roll to the outside, allowing Suarez back in who starts cleaning house and tosses the rudos to the outside. She follows up with a tope, Higgins gets on the top rope and follows up with a crossbody. They roll Debbie Rose back into the ring where Higgins sets her up in the corner for Velvet Suarez' moonsault which wins the match for the tecnico team. Winner: Velvet Suarez (15:06, Moonsault) Frank Hammerschmidt (w/ Gringo Star) vs. Ganymede Jr Ganymede Jr comes out first to a recording of Holst's classic piece "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity". Frank follows, wearing a suit jacket and he has someone in tow. It's Gringo Star who seems somewhat hesitant about being here. Frank talks to him and pulls a couple of bills from inside his jacket and flashes them at Gringo who then proceeds to follow a very smug Hammerschmidt to the ring. Despite Gringo Star's presence at ringside, the first fall proceeds without any shenanigans. Frank and Ganymede grapple and the German gets to show off his technical prowess and soon enough, he locks him in El Amarre and secures a submission to win the first fall in just over three minutes. The second fall starts more explosive. Ganymede Jr keeps his distance know and eventually gets some high-flying offense in and tosses Frank to the outside. He thinks about going for a dive, but Gringo Star positions himself to protect Hammerschmidt and Ganymede rethinks. He brawls with Frank on the outside and seems to get the upper hand. Frank tries to scramble away, Ganymede pursues him, but Gringo Star gets in Ganymede's way. The two mouth off and the referee gets involved. Meanwhile Frank continues around the ring and with the referee distracted, Hammerschmidt simply kicks an unsuspecting Ganymede between the legs from behind. The rudo, satisfied with getting away with that foul, rolls his opponent back into the ring where he lifts him up for the Frankenhammer, a modified Fisherman's Buster, and the 1-2-3 to win the match in two straight falls. Winner: Frank Hammerschmidt by 2-0 falls (7:34, Frankenhammer) As Hammerschmidt gets his hand raised, Gringo enters the ring and hands him his jacket. Frank pulls a bundle of bills from a pocket and counts out Gringo's pay for his services. Then he takes another bill and stuffs it into Ganymede's mouth while doing his best impression of the trademark Ted DiBiase, er, Rich Money laugh. Concepción Gomez & Jose Flamenco vs. Payaso Jr & Remmy Skye While not explicitly a comedy match, this is all about the clash of personalities: the laid back surfer Remmy Skye, the sleazy Jose Flamenco, the super-serious Concepción Gomez, and Payaso Jr, a literal clown. Jose seems preoccupied with trying to impress his tag team partner which leaves him open to be clowned on (pun intended) by his opponents and Payaso's jokes are a winner with the crowd. Once Gomez gets into the action, she takes the fight to both her opponents with a lot of courage and, initially, success. Once the tide turns against her, Flamenco does his best to back her up, creating distractions, and interfering. In the end, the tecnicos overextend themselves. As Payaso and Flamenco are brawling on the outside, Remmy Skye has a chance to hit the Skye Diver, but Gomez gets out of the way. Capitalizing on her opponent crashing down hard on his back, she locks in her patented Surfboard Stretch and makes Skye submit. Winner: Concepción Gomez (15:14, Surfboard Stretch) J-Ro gets into the ring with a microphone to introduce us to Fray Valiente Jr. Valiente comes out and joins her in the ring. She asks him to explain to the people who Fray Valiente was and who Fray Valiente Jr is. He explains the story of the original Fray Valiente who was a priest to turned to wrestling to raise money and awareness for the orphanage he ran in Santa Pablo. Now Fray Valiente Jr has taken up the mask to continue the mission because, after all, he is one of the orphans raised there! Fray Valiente Jr vs. Gringo Star (w/ Frank Hammerschmidt) Gringo Star comes out, followed by Frank Hammerschmidt. It seems their "business partnership" is more than just temporary. Gringo seems not to happy to have Frank around, but the youngster is going into hype man mode as if to show he can be useful to Gringo Star. It's a brawler vs. luchador match and pretty chaotic from the getgo. At some point the ref starts arguing with Gringo over something, allowing Frank at ringside to produce some brass knuckles from the pocket of his jacket and punching Valiente with them. Neither the referee nor Gringo have noticed, but Gringo Star takes advantage and pins Valiente after a powerslam to take the first fall. Between falls, Valiente barely recovers. Gringo Star lights him up with punches and headbutts and goes for the Super Bionic Elbow, but Valiente manages to dodge the finisher. He can't catch a real break, though, as Gringo Star continues to beat him up. Finally he decides he's done enough damage and pulls Valiente up for a powerbomb which is countered with Hurancanrana! Valiente hooks both legs! 1-2-3! Valiente takes the second fall to make it an even 1-1! Valiente rallies at the start of the third fall and is all over Gringo Star who seems to be rattled. The fight spills to the outside and Frank tries to get involved and everything gets very chaotic. Gringo takes some issue with Frank taking shots at Valiente who uses this distraction to launch himself onto with a senton atomico from the apron because why not. Valiente now tries to end the match, but only gets a two count. He goes to the top rope and lands his Valiente Splash. 1! 2! Frank pulls Gringo out under him and out of the ring! Valiente reacts by launching himself onto them with a tope con hilo, but Gringo gets out of the way, and Valiente only connects with Frank. Gringo Star takes advantage and beats on Valiente on the outside and back into the ring where he sets him up and hits him with his finisher, the Super Bionic Elbow for the win. Winner: Gringo Star by 2-1 falls (12:15, Super Bionic Elbow) Frank joins Gringo Star in the ring to celebrate. He once again pulls the money out of his pocket and fans out the bills, mockingly fanning air to the fallen Valiente, laughing. He pulls out one bill and it looks like he's going to stuff it in Valiente's mouth, too, but Gringo Star takes it away and stuffs it in his own trunks. Luchadora Original gets in the ring to introduce us to two young wrestlers who carry big legacies: El Hijo Del Águila and El Hijo Del Neutron. The two come out and talk a bit about their forerunners, Águila's grandfather and father and Neutron's uncle respectively, their legacies and the weight it puts on their shoulders. They say trying to live up to those legacies makes them share a bond and that's why they're teaming up. El Hijo Del Águila & El Hijo Del Neutron vs. Jagged & Scarlet Scarab Scarlet Scarab is carrying a big "golden" scarab with a huge "ruby" on it to the ring which both of the rudos seem to venerate in some fashion. The match itself is relatively straight-forward and open. Lots of breathtaking high-flying action interspersed with Scarab occasionally turning to his technical acumen to threaten the tecnicos with a submission. Eventually the rudos manage to isolate and wear down Hijo Del Águila. When Jagged takes out Hijo Del Neutron with a big dive, Scarab finishes the match with his Spinning Arm Breaker on Hijo Del Águila. Winner: Scarlet Scarab (15:53, Spinning Arm Breaker) Cique Jr (Captain), Sabra Man Jr & Sunburst vs. Chess Maniac, Heavy Metal Anarchy & Yellow Flash (Captain) The rudo team seems to have some issues between them. Despite Yellow Flash officially being the team captain, Heavy Metal Anarchy demands his share of the spotlight while Chess Maniac attempts to keep the team on course. The tecnicos manage to exploit this disunity, but the rudos manage to pull themselves together. Maniac and Anarchy manage to occupy Cique and Sabra Man on the outside, allowing Yellow Flash to win the first fall with a gnarly (botched) powerbomb on Sunburst. With Sunburst out, the tecnicos are at a 2 vs. 3 disadvantage, but the rudos' issues rear their head again. At the start of the second fall, Flash and Chess manage to contain the tecnicos, but Anarchy forces himself into the matchup and chaos ensues. In the midst of this, Cique manages to catch Anarchy with a rollup and actually gets a three count, equalizing to 1 fall all. The rudos are furious now and it pulls them together again. They go to town on Cique and Sabra Man, tossing Cique to the outside and then taking turns hitting Sabra Man. Once he his worn down, however, an argument breaks out over who gets to finish him. This allows Cique and Suburst to get back into the ring and hit stereo superkicks on Anarchy and Flash. Chess Maniac knows he's in trouble and is begging off, but the tecnicos aren't fooled. Now the rudo is caught by the tecnicos taking turns. When it looks like Anarchy and Yellow Flash are about to return to the ring, Sunburst and Sabra Man cut them off with dives, leaving Cique to pin Chess Maniac with a bridging German Suplex. Winner: Cique Jr (20:30, German Suplex Hold) The winning team celebrates in the ring while the irate rudos yell at them - and each other - on the outside. The tecnicos go to the crowd and get some high fives to close the show. Prediction Results kanegan 2/6 TheEffect 2/6

Assembling the Cast Now that all other business is taken care of, let's turn to hiring people! First, though, let's have a look at what Mayan Idol wants us to not do: Easy enough. The popularity growth goal is an easy one, MMA Crossovers are not on our radar anyway, and no Daredevils is less restricting than you'd think: only one worker I was interested in actually worked that style. Anyway, here's the hires: I begin with the four men whose contracts EILL let lapse. While expensive in pay, they are simply the most popular unemployed workers currently available and I'm focusing on workers that would be "exclusive" to us. Anarchy shows his Mercenary personality in the negotiations, demanding creative control. Fortunately, a little increase in base pay makes him drop that idea quickly. Chess Maniac is the biggest indie star right now. Only Mario Heroic compares, but he's based in Canada, demands a lot of money to start with, has an Unpredictable personality, and is slightly older, so I skip on him. Compare that to Maniac who Passes On Knowledge and is Easy To Do Business With. Behind them in popularity are El Toro De Oro Jr, Atlantis Jr, and Cique Jr. Toro is a sleazy horndog and thus a ticking timebomb for a supposedly family-friendly promotion that we can easily avoid by not signing him. Atlantis Jr has no such problems, but a very old school mindset that I think will not fit with my long-term vision. Cique is getting up there in age, but a Giving Performer who Passes On Knowledge and is a Road Agent in the making has a place on our roster. Then I hire the five men on the Creative Meeting's Hidden Gems list. To be fair, outside of Flamenco they'd all have been on my radar anyway. Flamenco will need a gimmick makeover, but he Passes On Knowledge and is a Giving Performer which are both good traits to have around. Next on my shopping list are the only two unemployed female wrestlers in Mexico. Fortunately, they are quite good and decently popular. It's time to staff up the, uh, staff. Two good and unremarkable ref and an announcer. Soto is not as good as the other two available options, but cheaper and not a sleazebag like Benito Seaz. Luchadora Original is a decent color commentator, popular, and another person who can work as a "stealth" road agent. It's J-Ro! She's got the popularity and the entertainment skills. Her roles are initially color commentary and on-screen personality. For now, I plan to use her as a sort of interviewer for angles and keep the option of using her in more involved manager-type roles open. After all these signings are finalized, I take a look at our wrestler count. We stand at 14, two shy of the necessary 16 for a Tiny promotion. Since injured workers won't count towards the total, I like to go with 18, but I'll end up overshooting that number by a bit. I take another look at the Hidden Gems list, but most of the names on there have some warts. El Toro De Oro Jr's name is on there and I've already covered his issues. Soda De Uva Jr is another horndog. Felipe Caballero is good, but has an Insecure personality which I personally don't like dealing with, although he might be worth it; I'm on the fence. Mustang Blanco Jr is Prickly and Has A Temper which is a combination I definitely don't want to deal with. That leaves Ganymede Jr who is showing his lack of experience and seasoning, but I'm sure it will come with time. Since that doesn't even take me to 16, I return to my shortlist. I take a gamble on Remmy Skye not causing a scandal, showing up, and not being too inconsistent. El Hijo Del Neutron and Sabra Man Jr are just good workers. So is Gringo Star whose style adds something different to the roster as well. While that would be enough workers, I wanted to have some more women wrestlers, even if I have to import them from the US. Higgins is a total package and it's baffling she remains unsigned. Lilly & Rose are a veteran tag team, 4-time AAA tag champs, and good workers in their own right. So that's the FEW roster heading into the first show. I name it Lucha Secreta with the idea that until we get a broadcasting deal everything is sort of non-canon, at least in my head. Here's what the card looks like: Fantastic Entertainment Wrestling presents LUCHA SECRETA 1 A SPECTACULAR TRIOS MAIN EVENT! Cique Jr (Captain), Sabra Man Jr & Sunburst vs. Chess Maniac, Heavy Metal Anarchy & Yellow Flash (Captain) El Hijo Del Águila & El Hijo Del Neutron vs. Jagged & Scarlet Scarab Gringo Star vs. Fray Valiente Jr Concepción Gomez & Jose Flamenco vs. Payaso Jr & Remmy Skye Frank Hammerschmidt vs. Ganymede Jr Christy Higgins & Velvet Suarez vs. Lilly & Rose (Kate Lilly & Debbie Rose)

Taking Stock So let's get settled in with this new promotion. It's currently rated at Tiny and has a nice little war chest of 200k. It is based in the Centro region alongside Big dog EILL and the venerable OLLIE who are close to jumping to Medium and are cooperating with the Empresa, accepting developmental workers from them. In the general landscape of wrestling, not much has changed in the first seven months of the game. BHOTWG rose to Big size and SWF fell to Medium. The Eisen's response to that was to rethink their approach and decided that copying USPW and their Family Friendly product was the way to get back on track. Which leads me to my biggest issue with FEW: the product. We, too, are starting with Family Friendly Pro Wrestling as a product. I (and Mayan Idol, according to his business preference) don't like that it's not explicitly Lucha Libre, but as the company description tells us, FEW was sold to the sponsors as a show "that an entire multi-generational family will attend and every member will find something to enjoy." It's also a bit of a fad, as not only SWF, but also EWA have adopted this style. I want something unique to make us stand out. An even bigger strike against this product type is the match ratings. It's heavily favoring popularity (30:70 performance vs. popularity) which is a problem. While EILL have let the contracts of four lower carders (Yellow Flash, Heavy Metal Anarchy, Scarlet Scarab, and Jagged) lapse who are all more popular than the top indy talent Chess Maniac and Mario Heroic, the rest of the top unemployed talent are topping out in the 30-40 range. A more balanced product would help us immensely. So let's have a look at our options. A Lucha Libre based product that is attractive to sponsors. If we scratch all product that are merely "attractive" and not "very attractive" to sponsors from the above list, we're left with: Family Friendly Pro Wrestling: see above Telenovela: While the idea of going all in with this and riffing off Frank's TV role is attractive, this product is even more focused on popularity and it would be a year to change it with growth penalties for the company all the while. Lucha Libre Entertainment: Very balanced (match ratings 40:60-60:40), but this is also EILL's product and I want something to differentiate us from other companies. PG Rated Sports Entertainment: Also heavily biased towards popularity (30:70), so this is not an option. Classic Sports Entertainment: Also very balanced (40:60-60:40), but again not explicitly a Lucha style. It's also the product that CILL use and while they're based in the west and on the cusp of growing to Small, I still want something to set our company apart from the other promotions, at least in Mexico. Episodic Lucha Libre: The last one left and it looks like a good choice. Almost balanced (40:60-55:45), entertainment-focused (storylines and gimmicks are important), and Lucha Libre style where apuestas are a big deal. Next let's think about Production. Right now, we're at the lowest level in all categories. That's fine, but soon enough, we will run into regional battles. OLLIE has a broadcasting deal with Canal Dos, meaning their production is at least at Professional/In House/Minor Licensed. There's no way we can afford to (or should) try to match that. While it would allow us to get a broadcasting deal with El Canal Del Hombre Dos right away, they're a internet free-to-air broadcaster, so we'd get nothing but exposure while paying 25k a month for music alone. All other active broadcasters in Mexico would require us to be at least Small size, but there is one more thing. In a couple of months, WrestleWorld Lucha will open. Their production requirements are also steep, but not quite as much (Semi-Pro/Hired Pro/In House) and with a popularity requirement of 25 in 1 region only, we'd qualify for it pretty soon. For now, we will run a couple of shows to see how finances actually shake out, but if I think we can afford the production costs or at least not burn through our war chest too quickly, I want to get onto that new platform. Speaking of finances: we're starting with level 3 merchandising which is the last level that doesn't cost monthly maintenance and are expected to get close 10k from our sponsors this month. The economy is currently 39 and rising, so that should improve fairly quickly as we grow. The wrestling industry is 48 and falling, however. In the end, the only change besides the product I make right now is increasing the music to Generic to avoid potentially getting caught running Small Time music. For now my plan is to run a month or two and see where we actually stand financially. During these months, there will be shows of course. The next step is to assemble a roster.

<p><span style="font-family:'Century Gothic';"><span style="font-size:24px;"><strong>The Story so far</strong></span></span></p><p> </p><p> For this <a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=547205" rel="external nofollow">Road To Glory</a> challenge, I created a wrestler with the Quick Skill Creation settings as a Technician. Got some good rolls on Charisma, Star Quality, and Sex Appeal; the latter two actually were above the 75 point cap of the RTG rules and had to be reduced to that.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="2SPB8vb.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2SPB8vb.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <img alt="ZmL8MPA.png?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ZmL8MPA.png?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> My Lucky Dip for user talents were also VEEEEERY lucky. It seemed like I was off to a good start.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="wHuH10S.png?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wHuH10S.png?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> The company I created for the challenge was named, fittingly enough, Glory Pro Wrestling, based on a logo I found in one of my folders.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="lWCq7OF.png?2" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/lWCq7OF.png?2" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Keen eyes will spot the minor edit to the default CornellVerse I made: returning Luis Figo Manico to the business with a new promotion. In my mind, he has quietly scouted a promising young talents and has felt the itch of running wrestling shows again, building them around this prospect. We're running out of Amsterdam because even the game calls out Western Europe as a strong area with lots of spillover (and no company set up there yet) and because Amsterdam is on top of the venue list, saving me a click for every show I run. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="r1W9iPB.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/r1W9iPB.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> The economy doesn't look too rosy to start with, but by summer it had turned around.</p><p> </p><p> The initial roster ends up with Frank, Etsuko Arihyoshi, Landon Mallory, Konrad Makinen, Merle O'Curle, and Walker van Cleer as active wrestlers, Dwayne Hewitt as referee, and Louis Figo Manico as owner and road agent. Following Chisoku's advice, I'm running one hour shows with two singles matches, a tag team match between the same four wrestlers, and an angle featuring my character.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="l0X4wm5.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/l0X4wm5.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <img alt="wK8IZNP.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wK8IZNP.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> The first show immediately hits two of the RTG achievements:</p><p> </p><ul><li>First Step - Earn a Match Grade of 50 or More With Your Wrestler<br /></li><li> Fresh New Indie - Produce an Event Card of 50<br /></li></ul><p></p><p> This gives me two rolls for "THE MYSTERY BOX" changes to the game:</p><p> </p><ul><li>27. “RTGdow” Everyone is in the industry is talking about your recent performances, add “Flavour of the Month” to your attributes<br /></li><li>42. “They Love Me… They Hate Me…" You have gotten better at making the fans cheer for you or boo you. Can increase either your Babyface or Heel Performance by one stage (Base -> Better -> Amazing etc.) = I chose "Better As Babyface"<br /></li></ul><p></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="cO6apcT.png?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/cO6apcT.png?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> While the advice for RTG is usually to run two shows per month, I found myself capped to 1 point per month in multiple tests. So I just ran monthly events, except in June where I didn't get an increase even on two attempts. I don't quite understand why, but I roll with it.</p><p> </p><p> Then August comes and with it the news of Mayan Idol opening a new promotion.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="CbuFRyc.png?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/CbuFRyc.png?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <img alt="1mXuRZA.png?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/1mXuRZA.png?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> While I put in an application for the booker spot, I didn't expect it to be accepted. I didn't have much luck in past CVerse games with applications and this character is particularly unproven. But it is accepted and although a part of me wanted to stick with my original promotion, the lure of a bigger promotion with a nice little war chest was too appealing.</p><p> </p><p> This gives me another achievement: </p><p> </p><ul><li>Hello World - Work for a Tiny company<br /></li><li>38. “Casting Call" You have been cast in a small TV show, next stop Hollywood! +5 points to spend across Charisma and Acting. Also add TV Actor to Misc for your character. If previously your character had "TV Actor" add "Movie Star" = I put all 5 into charisma<br /></li></ul><p></p><p> <em>(If you look at the rolls, you can see where the intro narrative came from. </em><img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><em>)</em></p><p> </p><p> And just like that, an 18 year old kid from Germany who went on holiday in Mexico had become head booker for an upstart Lucha promotion.</p>

reserved for roster, champs, and stuff

<p><span style="font-family:'Century Gothic';"><span style="font-size:24px;"><strong>Table of Contents</strong></span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><ol style="list-style-type:decimal;"><li><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2491634" rel="external nofollow">Intro</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2491637" rel="external nofollow">The Story so far</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2491834" rel="external nofollow">Taking Stock</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2491879" rel="external nofollow">Assembling the Cast</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2492073" rel="external nofollow">[show] Lucha Secreta 1</a><br /></li><li><a href="http://www.greydogsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2492098" rel="external nofollow">Never, never book Them after Midnight</a><br /></li></ol><p></p>

"Excuse me, señor! You are German or do my ears deceive me?" the man with the slicked back hair and the expensive shirt asked. The young man was taken aback. Sure, he stood out with his blond hair, but what could this guy want. Was he a criminal preying on someone who was clearly a tourist? Frank nodded cautiously. "Good, good. Now don't take this the wrong way, but you're a good looking guy." Frank did not know how to take this. "I work for a production company. We have a long-running series on TV here, a telenovela. And part of the story is an evil German corporation. No offense." "None taken," Frank replied, his interest suddenly piqued. "We are looking for someone to play a young representative of that company for a couple of episodes." "I'm here on holiday, I don't know if I have the time." The man waved away the objection: "It would be done in two days of shooting, three days tops." And just like that, an 18 year old kid from Germany on holiday in Mexico had secured a guest role on a popular telenovela. Mayan Idol's eyes were drawn away from the screen of the computer in front of him to the television across the room. His wife was watching another of the endless parade of telenovelas on El Canal Del Hombre. Usually, he'd just tune out the sound and focus on the work in front of him and these days there was a lot of it, but something he saw from the corner of his eye had piqued his interest. The blonde young man making a dramatic entrance, threating the family with the repossession of all their belongings in a thick European accent - he looked familiar. The retired wrestler tuned out the sound again, his eyes focused on that face as he slowly got out to get closer to the TV, all the while wracking his brain trying to remember where he knew that face from. Then it clicked. The kid had been the talk of the wrestling business earlier this year. He made an explosive debut with a small company in Europe, having notable matches with stars like Landon Mallory and Merle O'Curle and looking like a future star. How on Earth did he end up on his TV? Louis was not happy. "The plan with Glory Pro has always been to be *your* promotion. You *are* going to be a star and I'm providing the platform," he told Frank without hiding his immense disappointment. He had gotten a tip from an old friend about this talented trainee and after getting a good look at him, he knew that he was going to be money. Louis Figo Manico, once the promoter of UCR, had decided to return to the wrestling business solely to make a star out of Frank Hammerschmidt - and making some money for himself along the way, granted. He knew Frank had already made up his mind, though. "And a recurring role on a telenovela and a promotion that wants to put me on TV is a great way to accelerate that," Frank insisted. The young man had indeed already made up his mind. He couldn't begrudge his mentor his disappointment, but this was too big an opportunity to let loyalty get in the way. Manico knew that without having to discuss it explicitly. He was gone. Frank was going to Mexico and he would be left behind with nothing to show but an upstart wrestling promotion with little recognition beyond its home base Amsterdam. He had let Frank do all the booking and business, run the show almost completely, only lending his own respected name to the project. It had been less than a year and already his project had gotten away from him. I (re)started a Road To Glory challenge game which I was going to chronicle in the Road To Glory thread. In August 2020, FEW opened in Mexico at Tiny size which I was allowed to jump to. I put in an application, not expecting it to be accepted. As you can see, it was, however, and I decided to take the plunge, skip the grind that is the first couple of years with a 0/0/0/1000 company, and have some fun. Then I did the "mystery box" roll for working for a Tiny company, rolled "TV actor" and suddenly I had a narrative as well, so I'm turning this game into a diary.

New attempt is off to an auspicious start. Knocked out two achievements on the first show with a main event where both teams turned out to have Great chemistry. e: It's August and a new Tiny promotion pops up. e2: This is gonna be FUN!

Well, that's just great. I wanted to back up my save after completing year 3 and managed to completely delete it instead. Remember, kids, Shift+DEL is a dangerous habit! Edit: Might as well post my unedited notes anyway Roster expansion, starting with the second show of August 2021: Magnus Cage - left EWA for some reason, may not be super skilled in ring, but can develop and already has decent charisma Moonsault Master - comes with 14 popularity in Western Europe and decent fundamentals, was unemployed and should be able to do a decent job in the midcard Raffaello Ricci - 23yo Italian newgen, comes as #2 Hidden Gem (behind Aud Valkyrie's regen who I'll keep on eye for the future), has sound fundamentals for a rookie and I should be able to hang onto him for a good while to see him develop Bret Heartbreak - Byron hasn't pushed his son to the moon yet, but I will Jason Dempsey - solid hand with good fundamentals Paolo Gandalfini - I wavered back on forth on this one, but starting with 22 pop in Western Europe, he's the biggest star I'm comfortable signing, not one for the long term, though, as EWA will probably lock him down the day they hit Medium size Konrad Makinen - excellent talent with good fundamentals, good in-ring skills and some charisma to spare - and UEW is farther away from being able to hire him exclusively Lars Brecher - great veteran technician who starts with 15 pop in Western Europe Merle O'Curle - I think I was wrong to pass on him initially, but in the expanded roster his declining stamina can be hidden much easier and he can double as road agent just fine Pavel Vanzycha - another great talent with 16 pop in Western Europe Ralph Grimm - despite being 35 he doesn't seem to have hit his peak yet, not the greatest in-ring, but great fundamentals Zofia Jankovic - one of EWA's biggest star (only eclipsed in Central Europe by Byron, Gandalfini, and the Johanssons), absolutely great get at a good price + a rookie regen ref hit tiny in mid-September and finally remember to upgrade music to "not illegal". we no longer play Bruce Springsteen at our monthly event "Glory Days" or Paul Engermann at "Pushing The Limits" 28. “I lost my smile” You are going through a tough time, add “Personal Issues” to your attributes ELPF open in October 1st show of November has me in a 73 match, so close... second attempt to farm a 75 fails because I forgot Landon was working through an injury... It's actually Moonsault Master who is cooked, his stamina is atrocious and he's replaced with Serena Ventura End of 2021: 24. “Aerial Assassin” You have devoted yourself to climbing that turnbuckle, +5 to your Aerial or Flashiness skill (all 5 into flash) Landon and Walker make the Power 500 at 490 and 497 respectively economy is terrible (47 and falling), putting the squeeze on us financially a bit, but we're holding steady and we're still running very cheap tickets feb 22: increase ticket prices to cheap as it's more money, not quite as much as normal, but not too far off (it actually makes not a dent in our attendance) mar 22: finally hit the 75 match on the second show of the month, now that Walker and Landon are both fit again after injury; the show itself falls short at 73 20. "My Only Addiction is Wrestling" Add "Straight Edge" to your character's addictions. Change any current addictions to Former. Future rolls that roll addictions will be lost (and unable to be rerolled) at the end of march it's the first request for a raise from paolo for a mere 60 bucks to 170 p.s. i'm also upgrading merch to level 4 because it should bring in at least the same with the upgrade april 22: unexpected, but the main event of the first show hits a whopping 81 rating, giving the otherwise underwhelming show a surprising 75 at the end 38. “Casting Call" You have been cast in a small TV show, next stop Hollywood! +5 points to spend across Charisma and Acting. Also add TV Actor to Misc for your character. If previously your character had "TV Actor" add "Movie Star" (all 5 points into cha) oct 22: first show sees us hit 25. ready for wrestleworld, but i'm holding off until the end of the year, waiting for the economy to recover some more (also for organisational purposes) tue 3 nov 22: paolo opines magnus is charismatic and gonna be star dec: magnus causing rifts after i fixed their hatred to strong dislike (after meddling it down from initial simmering tension, granted) end of year: no power 500 for frank (i didn't make a push for it anyway), but good representation: 414 landon, 421 andriy, 441 walker, 470 lars, 487 ralph, 491 kondrad, 492 paolo - all of their best matches happened in GPW! roll: "Marching to their own beat" You are now a few sandwiches short of a picnic, add "Plays Offbeat/Unstable Well" and “Scatter-brained” to their attribute oh god, scatterbrained is baaaaaad img-skillprogression pop still capped at 42, been up against it for over a year. size-related? several stars are at the same level, although lars and zofia have broken through recently economy is recovering nicely, sponsorship money was down to 3.1k from 4.2k at its best, now it's even more than that. feeling good about wrestleworld which we can get now, we're just at 25 (it's been a year for pop gains)

Frank Hammerschmidt Jan 2020 - Jul 2021 Yeah, Chisoku, your videos have some great advice and I took it and ran with it. Unfortunately, my first attempt got me bankrupted due to a combination of being too aggressive with finances while both Economy and Wrestling Industry were tanking, but now I've hit the point where I'm out of the woods with the second attempt and feel comfortable posting updates. Meet Frank and ignore what the bio says about his style. I changed it to Technician and made him a Flabby Lightweight and forgot to update it. My promotion is called Glory Pro Wrestling. I found the logo in one of my image folders. I think it's a real world promotion? The name is fitting for the challenge, though, so I took it. We're running Fast And Furious as product. Keen eyes will spot the minor edit to the default CornellVerse I made: returning Luis Figo Manico to the business with a new promotion. In universe, he has quietly scouted two promising young talents (Frank and Wes Stryker) and has felt the itch of running wrestling shows again, building them around these two prospects. We're running out of Amsterdam because even the game calls out Western Europe as a strong area with lots of spillover (and no company set up there yet) and because Amsterdam is on top of the venue list, saving me a click for every show I run. Following Chisoku's advice, I built a six-man roster. Alongside my character and Wes Stryker, I signed Landon Mallory, Walker van Cleer, Andriy Boronin (usually well-behaved so far), and Ronny de Veuster. Ronny's spot originally was going to veteran Merle O'Curle, but when he wanted a limited role in negotiations, I knew he was already cooked in this save. Wrestling Industry started medium-low and falling, but the economy rolled high eighties and rising, making this a (relative) breeze with finances so far. I've played up to August 2021 and have recently gotten out of debt, upgraded merchandising to level 3 and still making plenty of money ahead of the jump to Tiny and building up some reserves ahead of hitting 25 pop and getting on WrestleWorld. Frank's skill progression so far. He's grew and got in shape and is now an Average Middleweight. His popularity in Western Europe is at 42. I hit both 50 match rating and 50 show rating early in year 1, giving me "Better As Babyface" and "Hot New Move" (which is still going over a year later). The 2020 year-end roll netted me “They Love Me… They Hate Me…" again, bumping it to "Amazing Babyface". Meanwhile, GPW sits at 15 pop in Western Europe and I decided to post now as I'm taking some time to think about possible roster additions in preparation of hitting Tiny.

<p>Frank Hammerschmidt - 2003 (Year 3)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="James The Animator" data-cite="James The Animator" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41290" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The only mistakes I think you made are giving yourself low athleticism and stamina. Athleticism governs all of your in-ring stat caps, and stamina makes sure you don’t get winded quickly.</div></blockquote><p> Thanks and I hope you'll have fun with your own game! As for your suggestions: I agree on athleticism. Stamina rises at a nice pace as long as you keep having matches that make you "visibly tiring towards the end". I thought other physical attributes would rise maybe not quite as fast as stamina, but at least faster than they do. If had to do it again, I would definitely invest into more athleticism.</p><p> </p><p> Anyway, 2003 is in the books in my game. Not a highly remarkable year. CWA rose to small size and the economy is humming - thanks to a global boom starting in July - so I'm making a solid profit every month (despite extending four contracts and the raises that went with that) and the bank account is at 38,277 on January 1st. Both economy and wrestling business have peaked, though, and are on the way back down, so I won't get too fanciful in terms of finances. I have upped my production values to match my regional rivals, however, and we've been ranked #1 in the regional battle for a year despite being the smallest of the four competitors. Only in December EWA managed to eclipse us. The other two competitors, GWF and ACW have declared hostility.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="Q1kzbU2.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Q1kzbU2.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Nothing bad can come off something so good!</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="itPlXAv.jpg?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/itPlXAv.jpg?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> CWA's roster has seen a little turnover. Naofumi Yamamoto got signed to written deal by New Japan in September. I brought in Jayson Paul (JTG) to bring the roster back to 16 wrestlers. In November, Matt Cross quit. I mismanaged his morale for too long and had started to give praise to Jay Lethal instead of him. Partly because Jay is turning in excellent performance, partly because Matt's performances have slipped a bit. His replacement is a recently debuted Eddie Kingston. I also signed Bobby Lashley who is yet to debut; I wanted an extra wrestler because I think I'm getting tired of Dru Onyx picking fights backstage and showing no progress in the ring despite being an "exceptional" prospect.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="ixk45gH.jpg?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ixk45gH.jpg?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Creatively, I spent the year mostly on autopilot and testing for tag team chemistry since. The only real story I had was pushing Lance Hoyt up the card in the first half of the year, winning the summer tournament and dethroning my character as the champion. I wanted to cultivate him as the big monster heel who will eventually be beaten by me. Before I lost the title I brought in Luc Poirier for a one-shot. Poirier worked for the original CWA as "Rambo" and was their last champion. I won a title match against him to fully establish the title's lineage - at least in my head. <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Speaking of my character. The yearly roll came up 17: “Nose To The Grindstone” You have devoted your holiday season to training in the ring +5 any top row skill of your choice. I chose Mat Work. Apparently CWA's international locker room uses English as its lingua franca since Frank has already up fluency. He also makes his first appearance in the Power 500, at #440.</p><p> </p><p> <img alt="ixk45gH.jpg?1" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ixk45gH.jpg?1" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> And for those curious about the game world: <a href="https://pastebin.com/xRPhR4u1" rel="external nofollow">2003 - YEAR IN REVIEW</a> (Pastebin)</p>

Frank Hammerschmidt - 2002 (Year 2) Early in January Frank Hammerschmidt becomes established as CWA's figurehead and netting us a small, but not insignificant bonus. He's still struggling against the other, slightly more popular main eventers Matt Sydal and Matt Cross. My financial disciple holds and I run monthly shows, always following the same pattern: - A promo on B - B promo on A - Match A vs. B - C promo on D - D promo on C - Match C vs. D - E promo on me - my promo on E - E vs. me for the title - generic promo by me The winners of the first two matches move up the card for the next show, the losers move down. It's a quick and easy scheme, allowing me to progress through the months quickly. The mod loading fast also helps, of course. (I call this formula the "Zoofights Food Chain". It comes from a game where I started unemployed and ended up in New Zealand, hiring a bunch of animal-themed wrestlers (Bee Boy, Fly Girl, Koala Mask, among others) and renamed the rest (Boa Johnstrictor!) and invented this scheme to hold our monthly show "Zoofights!" to determine who could "move up the food chain" and claim the "Apex Predator" title. Fun times, but then Gedo stepped down as New Japan's booker and I got accepted for that job.) By the end of March, my miserliness finally pays off. Our bank account is in the black. Only for a couple of days as the next show is coming, but threat of bankruptcy has been fought off sooner than I anticipated. Even though Europe's economy is about to hit rock bottom (F- and falling), but the wrestling industry remains strong despite that (C and rising). After our event in May, we stay in the black even after the show's costs and I start looking at expanding my roster to prepare for an eventual move to small size. (For now I locked myself at local to avoid production penalties, but we're not actually close to that yet anyway.) In June, two new, unknown youngsters make their debuts in CWA: Jay Lethal and Kenny Omega. For these two, I break my rule of "only hire people with demands under $200 before negotiations", but 200 and 210 is not that far off anyway. On the same card, I drop the title to Matt Sydal. Our summer tournament in July is our first show better than D+. A straight C show, main evented by the tournament final of Matt Sydal beating Ace Steel (who cheated to win against me in the semi-finals ). In September I regain the title by accident. I forgot to set a winner in the title match and despite having simmering tension with me over a backstage incident, Matt decides to do the job. Well, he does sort of make me look bad since I did set the finish to be by cheating, but it ends up me holding the opponent's tights to win. Oh well. Over the next couple of months, I continue to expand the CWA with cheap talent as our income keeps growing. Emil Sitoci, Lance Hoyt, Arik Cannon and Puck (another one I never heard of before, but was recommended by Hidden Gems) make their debuts. I also start breaking from the formula outlined above and start booking more free-form and starting to explore tag teams, checking for chemistry. I keep denying any and all requests at pay raises. Matt Sydal, Matt Cross and Jack Evans morale is kept tanking because they're still turning in praiseworthy performances every month and praise them I do. Archadia not so much and after his second denied pay raise, he hands in his notice in early October. Although he was projected to become an exceptional worker and a major player, I never really got behind him in the same way I got behind the other talent. I suspect the "never heard of him before" played a role in that as the rest of the roster is pretty much well-known these days IRL. Also in October, I start getting notices about regional battles. We come in 2nd out of 4, somehow, and 1st out of 5 in November and December. We're putting on well-received cards, but everyone else is much bigger and more prestigious than us and our production is still at minimal levels. Is the wrestling that good? At the November show, we hit our first segment in the B range as I deliver a B- promo, hyping a title defense against Jack Evans. As the end of the year draws near, I start getting nervous about my owner goal not falling below our initial #51 in the company rankings. The mod has a lot of companies open up and I start getting nervous I might blow this critical goal. Fortunately, the chickens come home to roost for a lot of companies in November and December. One of them is wXw which is great news not just because they were a local competitor. They also employed Sydal and Cross and caused me some headache by making them gain more popularity through their shows as I try to keep up with my character. Also in December, we mark our first even with over 100 in attendance. 104 paid to see the best match of my career so far, a C- rated title defense against Jack Evans. This is where our roster stands at the end of the year. We added Arik Cannon, Afa Jr., Johnny Curtis (the future Fandango), Dru Onyx, Naofumi Yamamoto (a.k.a. Yoshitatsu) and the Swedish Erik Isaksen for some extra local color. Still very cheap, but I expect this to change in 2003. Finances are doing well. Extremely well, in fact. Europe's wrestling boom continues and the industry is now at A and still rising. The economy is also recovering nicely, currently at E and still rising. 2002 - YEAR IN REVIEW JANUARY WCW lose Sting and Kevin Nash to WWE, also they choose not to extend contracts with Ric Flair and Lex Luger Paul Heyman joins WCW (as an Authority Figure) MOTYC: Kurt Angle d. Steve Austin by count out, WWF RAW is WAR, Mon Wk4 Jan 2002 FEBRUARY IWA-MS close doors MOTYC: The Undertaker & The Rock d. Big Show & Chris Benoit by DQ, WWF RAW is WAR, Mon Wk4 Feb 2002 MOTYC: The Rock d. Kane, WWF Smackdown!, Tue Wk4 Feb 2002 MARCH New Japan fall to Cult size XPW close Scott Hall joins WCW after his contract with New Japan had expired MOTYC: The Rock d. Big Show, WWF RAW is WAR, Mon Wk2 Mar 2002 WrestleMania XIX is held in a sold out Yankee Stadium, Chris Jericho retains the WWF Championship against Eddie Guerrero in the main event APRIL APW close UPW close MAY NWA:TNA open Freddie Blassie and JJ Dillon pass away "WWF Has To Get The "F" Out" and becomes World Wrestling Entertainment (another little event added by the mod makers) MOTYC: Kurt Angle & Kane d. Triple H & Chris Jericho, WWE RAW is WAR, Mon Wk4 May 2002 JUNE ROH and MLW open WWE sign Booker T away from WCW MOTYC: Eddie Guerrero vs. The Rock no contest, WWE RAW is WAR, Mon Wk4 Jun 2002 UK promotion Extreme World Wrestling receive $10 million left to them by an unkown fan in his will JULY The Undertaker wins WWE King of the Ring (I imagine the crown keeps falling off when he drives on his bike. ) Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling is bought out by WWE AUGUST MOTYC: Kenta Kobashi d. Mitsuharu Misawa, NOAH Flames Clean Souls, Wed Wk3 Aug 2002 Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch get engaged SEPTEMBER Triple H and Stephanie McMahon get engaged OCTOBER European Wrestling Association open their doors in Central Europe Panda Energy buy TNA, injecting a lot of cash into the company WWE starts a The Rock vs. Sting storyline NOVEMBER WWE buy JAPW DECEMBER wXw go out of business WWE buy CZW. Yep. They're buying every struggling promotion in America at this point. After having been hit by a big scandal about possible Yakuza ties earlier this year, FMW finally has to declare bankruptcy AWARDS Wrestler of the Year: Chris Jericho (WWE) Company of the Year: Pro Wrestling NOAH Tag Team of the Year: Mistuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH) Match of the Year: Kenta Kobashi d. Mitsuharu Misawa, NOAH Flames Clean Souls, Wed Wk3 Aug 2002 Show of the Year: WWE Backlash, Sun Wk3 Apr 2002 Young Wrestler of the Year: Samoa Joe (Zero-One, Pro Wrestling IRON) Veteran Wrestler of the Year: Sting (WWE) Female Wrestler of the Year: Takako Inoue (GAEA) Most Improved Company of the Year: Xtreme Latin American Wrestling (X-LAW) Independent Wrestler of the Year: Road Warrior Hawk Manager of the Year: Paul Ellering Announcer of the Year: Jim Ross Colour Commentator of the Year: Bobby Heenan Referee of the Year: Red Shoes Unno CWA in the Power 500: #270 Matt Sydal (v269), #292 Matt Cross (^360), #500 Jack Evans (-) IN MEMORIAM "Classy" Freddie Blassie, JJ Dillon END OF YEAR ROLL: 42. "Step Into The Light" You get your 15 minutes of fame. +5 Pop across entire base country. I feel bad because so far it's been 2/2 rolls that give exactly what I need. It feels like cheating, even though it's legit. random.org is feeling extremely (suspiciously?) generous. The pop boost solves the issue with Cross and Sydal being slightly more popular than Frank and he's now undisputed figurehead of the company. With wXw out of business, I should be able to keep them from eclipsing me again. Here are Frank's skills at the end of 2002. With the boost from the yearly roll, he's now at a straight D popularity in Central Europe and F+ in the rest of Europe, except Iberia (due to the spillover setup of the region) where he's slightly behind with an F. PLANS FOR 2003: - I'm going to remove my size limit. I expect the massive winter tournament event in January giving us a nice boost, both in finances and popularity, so we can make the jump. I will have to up some production values, but I think I can get away without matching everything to our rivals. - Pay rises will be coming. It looks like the two Matts are starting to see through my "praise, not pay" scheme. Also the contracts of Sydal, Cross, Steel and Evans expire at the end of the year. - Roster size will stay stable. I plan no expansion unless absolutely necessary.

Frank Hammerschmidt - 2001 (Year 1) I haven't posted here in years, but I recently discovered this challenge and after losing interest in my last game, I decided to give this a try. Or three, honestly. My first two went badly as my initial company went bankrupt because I started to spend more before I got out of the initial hole. In my third try, I was back in the black after one and a half years. This is the one I'll post about since it looks like it's gonna work out. Sorry if I'm a little wordy or going overboard with the pictures, but I'm a) genuinely excited about this game and b) trying to make my reasoning behind what I do clear and since a lot of it comes from this thread, also serves as a sort of summary. I'm using the The Mod Squad's New Blood (Jan 2001) mod, simply because that's the one I found that's closest to my IRL 18th birthday, so I live vicariously through this character as if I had chosen to become a pro wrestler before even finishing school: I've been ready through this thread and picked up some pointers. I geared myself to be pretty much ready to become a figurehead right out of the gate. I pushed Psychology to the allowed max so I could road agent matches I'm not in. I'm a pennypincher, average at motivating and leadership because those always matter, but not exactly creative or diplomatic because those only come into play once in a while. The company is a revival of the defunct Catch Wrestling Association. Since the logo was already in the picture pack that came with the mod and CWA was based here in Central Europe, it was an easy decision to use it instead of agonizing over a company name and logo. The product has been geared to be favorable towards sponsors while being performance > popularity (which will work better at this small level with cheap, but unknown workers). No Face/Heel divide allows for more flexibility with small rosters. It's also a personal preference, just like integrated women's wrestling because I don't like the undifferentiated "women's division" push. Our owner is the cheapest referee available in Europe. Many thanks to this thread for pointing out using the owner position for the "expansive" personnel. Since we're going into debt early one, he'll work for free for quite a while. His initial goals are reasonable. No monetary goals (phew!), just be more popular in Europe and do not fall below #51 in the company rankings after two years. Some blocks, but nothing crippling (psychopaths, older than 42, law problems). I pretty much immediately make myself permanent main eventer and the company figurehead, figuring I would grow the "slightly lacking" stats and the popularity over the one year I'll need to get established in that role. My initial roster of my owner/referee, my character and five wrestlers. Since I already sunk two failed attempts into this, I used my knowledge to sign Jack Evans and Matt Cross again who have deliver excellent performances right out of the gate and to avoid Amazing Red who was a complete asshole, constantly picking fights with colleagues and fans. Matt Sydal fits in nicely, although he's occasionally annoying everyone by preaching his religion. Ace Steel is a 9 year vet who works for cheap and Archadia - who I had never heard of before - came recommended by the "Hidden Gems" screen. The common thread between them was that their initial demands were under $200 even before negotiations. I start by running a round robin tournament over the first two and a half weeks of January, mainly to find any chemistry (Archadia and Ace Steel, Jack Evans and me each have great chemistry together). I get the most wins, ahead of Ace Steel, who I would then face to determine the new CWA World Heavyweight Champion. Ace Steel would win, in order to set up a title chase. Starting in February, I started running one event per month, early in the month as of this thread's advice. At the May event, our first D- rated show, I capture the title. Also in May, Otto Wanz, the owner of the "old" CWA becomes the head booker of the newly formed Italian Championship Wrestling. I smell a rivalry coming. In July, we run a summer tournament as a complement to the winter tournament I ran January. This one is a single event, though. Three 1vs1 matches, winners advance to a triple thread for the trophy. Ace Steel pins Sydal for the win while I watch. (At this point, I had the idea of running with me being unable to win a tournament as an unofficial storyline.) Matt Sydal and Matt Cross would end up working for wXw as well which created two problems: 1) they would also gain popularity in Central Europe through their shows (and they are a touring company on top of that), making it harder for my character to be the most popular and an effective figurehead 2) their exposure means they will have pay rise requests. For now, I bite the bullet and accept 1 and deal with 2 by outright rejecting any requests which is alleviated by showering with (well-deserved) praise after every show. (Economy E- and falling, Wrestling Industry D and rising after this event) One of the neat things about this mod are the many narratives. Some are just flavor (Oscar winners, "Wrestling fans disappear" as TEW is released), but some have impact on the game as well. The Rock's movie career will boost his popularity, Panda Energy buys TNA for a big cash influx, or 9/11 causing a global economic downturn right here. Considering that Europe is starting at "low and rising", this is a setback on our path to profitability! Fortunately, the wrestling industry is not really affected, but the economic downturn will sting. (2008 will be even worse.) 2001: PRO WRESTLING AWARDS AND YEAR-IN-REVIEW Wrestler of the Year: Steve Austin Company of the Year: Pro Wrestling NOAH Tag Team of the Year: Edge & Christian Match of the Year: The Rock d. Triple, WWF, RAW is WAR, January Show of the Year: King of the Ring 2001, WWF, June (A* show, headlined by an A match between Jericho and Angle) Young Wrestler of the Year: Jeff Hardy Veteran Wrestler of the Year: Tatsumi Fujinami Female Wrestler of the Year: Aja Kong Most Improved Company: Michinoku Pro-Wrestling Independet Wrestler of the Year: Rey Misterio Jr. (who fell victim to a ruthless round of WCW cost-cutting) Manager of the Year: Dutch Mantell Announcer of the Year: Jim Ross Colour Commentator of the Year: Bobby Heenan Referee of the Year: Hiroyuki "Red Shoes" Unno CWA in the Power 500: #269 Matt Sydal , #360 Matt Cross April: ECW is disbanded after being taken over by WWF June: NJPW take over All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling July: NJPW takes over OZ Academy, WWF buy ECCW, probably paying more for it than for ECW due to the extra C September: NJPW buy BattlARTS December: Kevin Nash (and Vampiro) jump ship to WWF, Sting bidding war (ends up with WWF), free agent Rey Mysterio Jr. to WWF WCW survives the year In memoriam: Mighty Inoue, Nick Bockwinkel, Haruka Eigen, Del Wilkes, Lou Thesz Turns out the impact of 9/11 on our company has been minimal. I can't even make a TSA joke about my mostly American roster because most of them has relocated to Europe by now. In year 2, I plan to keep budget discipline and not expand my roster before the account is in the black again. My random roll for the year: 53. "Casting Call" Hollywood is calling you with a "Major Role", add +10 between your Acting and Star Quality. Add Movie Star to your character (Other Genre) So this is how Frank is looking after the adjustments. Popularity in Central Europe is at a solid E. The roll was pretty much perfect to get past the "(-) Slightly lacking in Star Quality" figurehead penalty I still hadn't overcome. I also got an event sometime in March that turned my body type average and gave me a slight boost to sex appeal. I had no idea that could just randomly happen to a user character. And since I've already played through 2002, I'll start my write-up for that right now.