USPW Tips

[MVP]

So I have a game going on with USPW for a couple of months, but I still haven't been able to notice a big popularity improvement, I seem to be stuck in a rut, and I'd like to ask you all how to properly run USPW, who to focus on, who to hire, who to fire, anything is appreciated.

[Guest The Aussie]

Rule no 1 of USPW; Turn Bruce the Giant heel. A feud between him and James Justice will be a lot better than a feud between either of the two and Peter Valentine. Rule 2; Pursue any one with decent popularity or entertainment skills that come onto the market. Rule 3; As most of these guys are under a written contract, always use your most popular guys that you have avaliable on [U]EVERY[/U] single show. With how much you pay on some of the contracts, you need to not be hemmoraging money for no particular reason.

[Benneto]

[QUOTE=MVP!;478540]So I have a game going on with USPW for a couple of months, but I still haven't been able to notice a big popularity improvement, I seem to be stuck in a rut, and I'd like to ask you all how to properly run USPW, who to focus on, who to hire, who to fire, anything is appreciated.[/QUOTE] yeah im currently playing as them and i cant get anything above a C+ show

[MVP]

[QUOTE=The Aussie;478544]Rule no 1 of USPW; Turn Bruce the Giant heel. A feud between him and James Justice will be a lot better than a feud between either of the two and Peter Valentine. Rule 2; Pursue any one with decent popularity or entertainment skills that come onto the market. Rule 3; As most of these guys are under a written contract, always use your most popular guys that you have avaliable on [U]EVERY[/U] single show. With how much you pay on some of the contracts, you need to not be hemmoraging money for no particular reason.[/QUOTE] I'll try to follow these 3 rules thanks. Would anyone else like to add anything? :)

[Bigpapa42]

I can't say 100% that this applies to USPW, since I haven't really run them. But its something I learned with both TCW and SWF and it should apply to any promotion. When it comes to angles, use your workers to their strengths. It seems obvious, but it often means writing your own angles to do it fully. There's no use having a worker in a segment rated on entertainment or overness if they lack either. If they have a bit of menace or sex appeal, use that. And use managers who can at least talk a bit for those who lack anything at all.

[FINisher]

Lots and lots of angles I guess. They are almost purely rated on overness, right? So good angles with top workers who have the entertainment skills :)

[Comradebot]

[QUOTE=FINisher;478562]Lots and lots of angles I guess. They are almost purely rated on overness, right? So good angles with top workers who have the entertainment skills :)[/QUOTE] The only problem is USPW starts with only an 80% match ratio... which is truly insane, all things considered. Still, there's plenty of good advice here. As it is, you're not going to get shows at the start, because with a couple of exceptions you simply don't have enough popular workers. Use these guys (Bruce, Justice, Sam Strong) in excess at the beginning, and make sure to involve other guys in angles with them as they'll leech some overness in the process. But the key is to make sure that these guys are the central focus of your shows. Just be careful with them, and don't job them out. Sam Strong has A* overness, so use it. Put him in angles, and despite the fact he's retired he is a more than capable in-ring competitor... so maybe once every few months have a storyline that forces him into the ring. And definetly play to your strengths! Sex Appeal isn't the way to go, as the USPW crowd isn't big on TnA. But they are chock full of Menace. I don't have my game in front of my, but I know T-Rex has either a high A or A*, Bruce the Giant has A*, and a few other guys like Jumbo Jackson are pretty scary just to look at. Stick T-Rex with a talented manager (I suggest replacing Sheik Mustafa, as he really isn't all that good on the mic) and have him hype T-Rex while T-Rex stands in the back and is set to be rated on Menace. Believe me, the angle should be golden. In the process, T-Rex will learn to speak for himself should you wish for him to do so, and he'll start to gain overness. In my 07 game I was getting A* angles and B+ matches out of the talentless behemoth. And one thing I can't stress enough: Keep Peter Valentine strong! He's loyal to Sam Strong, so no matter what happens odds are not only do you have him on board due to his loyalty (and the fact Strong will resign his contract himself) and if you play with owner goals odds are Strong will force you to push him. I know, its painful. Still, his microphone skills are passable and one of the only skills that age can't erode. So hey, throw him in some angles with James Justice and Sam Strong and you can build his Entertainment skills and overness at the same time. With any luck, he might actually not be getting old yet and be able to develop so in-ring skills as well (in 07 I was lucky in that regard). And in USPW, being over is enough, while being entertaining is icing on the cake. I see alot of people job him out, and then you're stuck with a guy with no talent OR overness to speak of that you're forced to keep on board. He doesn't have to be your star, but he should be close to the top of your roster. Other than that, follow alot of the advice that you've been given already. USPW is a project company. You can't pick it up like SWF and expect instant success (well, SWF is harder these days according to those who played it in 07). There's plenty of talent that's waiting in the wings to carry the roster once the old guys retire, but they need time to build. Let them grow naturally and use the ancient folks while you still can. It's a really fun company to play as, and I wish you the best in your efforts.

[FINisher]

Yeah, just change it to atleast 70% or even 60%. Same thing applies to 21CW aswell, or any other SE promotions. EDIT: And oh yeah, use lots of long angles (6min and longer!)

[MVP]

Wow, thanks a ton for such enormous response, I will take everyone's advice in consideration when booking USPW! Again, thank you all for the tips.

[TEWFan]

Yeah, and just reading this advice has encouraged me to try them myself. I basically got ruined in my TCW game, but I know I can make it, so I want to take some time off TCW and try it again sometime. USPW will be my next project then.

[Benneto]

a thing ive been trying and is paying off is i shortlisted all the SWF & TCW wrestlers and SWF have dropped down to cult and ive been stealing some of there people they have on PPA

[foolinc]

1) Turn either James Justice or Bruce the Giant heel to balance the top end of the roster. Either one works, but personally I turning Bruce in the same manor of Andre, using Shane Sneer in the role of Bobby Heenan and of course James in the role of Hulk. 2) Change the USPW Women's Division so that it's integrated. While I haven't tested it in TEW 08, in 07 you could easily "over book" women no matter how high their popularity. By changing the setting to integrated (and upping the Women's belt to midcard) you can give the matches their due time and make the best use of the talented young woman that somehow came out of Sam Strong's loins. Plus, I'm pretty sure TEW still has issues with men and women tagging with each other unless it's set to integrated, and with the size of USPW it's one of the ways to keep storylines going. 3) Do not job out Bruce or James. Your roster will get the rub from them by being in promos and loosing to them so there isn't a real reason for jobbing them out (unless Bruce's contract is about to run out). For example after 4 TV shots and a PPV, Shane Sneer was able to improve his popularity from a D to a C-. Besides helping the roster's popularity, their segments and matches will be keeping your shows from tanking.

[Purple Cowboy]

[QUOTE=TEWFan;478618]Yeah, and just reading this advice has encouraged me to try them myself. I basically got ruined in my TCW game, but I know I can make it, so I want to take some time off TCW and try it again sometime. USPW will be my next project then.[/QUOTE] Yikes - I hope that doesn't mean your South of the Border dynasty is dead. I was really interested to see where you took that one! Back on topic, I have to agree... thanks for all the tips I can't wait to give USPW a run out this evening!

[Gigas]

Turn Sam Strong into a color commentator instead of Road Agent. This allows you to use him for longer than 5-10 minutes a show. Spam the hell out of Sam Strong. If you use a legend killer gimmick with Bruce and Sam, Bruce almost always shoots up to an A. Do the same with James Justice. Sign Jumbo Jackson and Jungle jack. They do incredibly well in USPW. Acid and Shawn Gonzales dont hurt either. And amazingly enough, in month 1 of my game, I was able to get a PPV contract with Japan. That doesnt hurt.

[1PWfan]

Use the user character: someone with high skills in entertainment and overness can really come in handy with USPW. Pimp Nicky Champion's @ss out: as Sam's protege he's likely to stay the distance, so use him every chance you get to get him over. In my game I had him teaming with Justice and Caulfield, romancing Alicia and defending Sam Strong against Phil Vibert in a war for control. If you set his potential to excellent before you start that helps. Sign Queen Emily, and pursue Vibert or Nemesis if they come out of hiatus. They all have decent mic skills and overness, and Vibert in particular can make a great heel figure to face off against Strong, although if you go for Nemesis you can run a one-off match, Nemesis vs. Strong. Lastly, don't sign people like Acid who are trouble in the locker room, you've got enough to go with. What you need are guys like Steve Flash that can keep order and counterbalance Valentine and the younger guys

[Ping von Erich]

Adrian Garcia makes a fine color replacement, he and Danny more often than not have good chemistry, as do Danny and Queen Emily. Sign Dharma Gregg.. I suually use that cute "bubble gum" alt in the database and rename her Dharma Force.. Jim Force's niece. In my game Jim Force is my go to angle man with Dharma at his side, comedy gold. And really, with USPW, that's the key.. think 'haha' not serious. The comedy promotion stat is high for a reason. I have the aforementioned Force family, Madman Boone running around dressed as a zombie, Des Davids having football flashbacks spearing random people backstage, Citizen X touting the end of society as we know it, Champagne Lover courting Alicia Strong (much to the chagrin of her father), Roger Dodger running around as my ultra camp hairstylist The Amazing Winkie, and in the midst of it all my user character Takayuki Avatar (TAKA for short) working the Lance Storm ultra straight man role. Comedy my friend, comedy.. Loves me some USPW.

[sheepy]

Also, and this is probably the most important thing with USPW in my opinion - Promotion Pacts!!! Non agression with the SWF and working agreement with TCW. If you don't get these in place then your roster will likely lose Caulfield and Devine (two very good workers) within the first two weeks.

[Ping von Erich]

[QUOTE=sheepy;478827]Also, and this is probably the most important thing with USPW in my opinion - Promotion Pacts!!! Non agression with the SWF and working agreement with TCW. If you don't get these in place then your roster will likely lose Caulfield and Devine (two very good workers) within the first two weeks.[/QUOTE] True true. I sign a non aggression pact with SWF, and working agreements with TCW and NOTBPW.

[Nachtfalter]

[QUOTE=Ping von Erich;478812] Des Davids having football flashbacks spearing random people backstage [/QUOTE] That one cracked me up. Pure gold. In the advice department, I would definitely pay attention to the guy who wrote about using T-Rex for his menace. But that doesn't only go for T-Rex, it goes for Redwood and for bunches of cheap free agents with high menace. My basic USPW formula (well, for the main events, anyway) is to have a face champion (Caulfield in my case, I have a strange dislike of James Justice) defend against freakish heel monsters that I build up pretty much solely with angles that are based on menace (e.g. the "Monster unleashed" ones that come with the default data). After the champ is done with an opponent (e.g. has faced him three times) you can job the monster out to up and comers like Nicky Champion. If they lose (or, to put it positively, transfer) their overness rather quickly just fire them after a few months. If you notice them staying rather over despite losing, you might wanna keep them around for another go at your champ after six months. I think this booking formula is ideally suited to USPW, given that they're so old school. After all, it's pretty much what the WWF did with Hulk Hogan in the 80's (and WCW 1994/95, but let's quickly forget that). Obviously, I don't stick exclusively to the monster opponents. Caulfield also had a series of matches against Valentine and a heel-turned James Justice, guys that don't exactly qualify as being monsters. But I use those two rather as aces in the hole if I don't manage to get my newest monster signee up to B-popularity level in time for Caulfield to face them.

[Purple Cowboy]

I found this thread too as a reference: [url]http://67.19.230.90/~arles/forum/showthread.php?t=34041[/url]

[takertitan]

this is gunna make a lot of people cry, i know. What do you do with Peter? I jobbed Sam to him! Yeah, i know. But since Sam and Peter are best friends, Sam will job to him. Instant B- Main Eventer.

[MVP]

[QUOTE=Ping von Erich;478812]Adrian Garcia makes a fine color replacement, he and Danny more often than not have good chemistry, as do Danny and Queen Emily. Sign Dharma Gregg.. I suually use that cute "bubble gum" alt in the database and rename her Dharma Force.. Jim Force's niece. In my game Jim Force is my go to angle man with Dharma at his side, comedy gold. And really, with USPW, that's the key.. think 'haha' not serious. The comedy promotion stat is high for a reason. I have the aforementioned Force family, Madman Boone running around dressed as a zombie, Des Davids having football flashbacks spearing random people backstage, Citizen X touting the end of society as we know it, Champagne Lover courting Alicia Strong (much to the chagrin of her father), Roger Dodger running around as my ultra camp hairstylist The Amazing Winkie, and in the midst of it all my user character Takayuki Avatar (TAKA for short) working the Lance Storm ultra straight man role. Comedy my friend, comedy.. Loves me some USPW.[/QUOTE] I think I'm gonna steal some of your ideas, the Des Davids one is hilarious. By the way the tips have definitely helped me. In a new USPW save I started, I'm currently going for James Justice vs Peter Valentine at the first ever USPW PPV, then Bruce, who helped James fend off against Rex and Valentine, turns on him, setting up a huge feud between Justice and Giant. I also have my user character (Jack Avatar) feud with Kirk Jameson (or should I say Luis Basora? ;)) to help him develop his skills. I'm also bringing in Acid, Steve Flash, Kirk Jameson, DWB, and Mainstream Hernandez, hoping to have them fill the gaps and DWB replace the Hillbilys. All in all, I'm definitely getting better at booking for this promotion, thanks everyone for the great response to this thread.

[Ping von Erich]

[QUOTE=takertitan;479010]this is gunna make a lot of people cry, i know. What do you do with Peter? I jobbed Sam to him! Yeah, i know. But since Sam and Peter are best friends, Sam will job to him. Instant B- Main Eventer.[/QUOTE] How far does Sam's overness drop? I'd be afraid of ruining him, as he's golden in angles and stuff.

[takertitan]

i gave peter 2 draws, so his overness went up a bit before the loss. Sam dropped to A but a month later he is back up around A/A* again throughout the states.

[Gigas]

In my game I scrapped the tag division. Does anyone have any good ideas for a new singles belt? I use the TV belt as just that, a belt that is defended on TV. I also changed the womens belt to midcard status. Im guessing a 3rd midcard belt would cause issues? If so, the TV belt might be moved down to lower. I could just bring back the USPW National but it seems redundant with the USPW TV.