Coastal Zone Dreamin'

[daveyk]

[B]Coastal Zone Dreamin'[/B] It had all started so well. Named the new Head Booker for the up-and-coming Coastal Zone Championship Wrestling. Grand plans for commercial and popular success! 4 shows a month! New talent working well with some of the old talent! The shows had been solid if unspectacular and popularity was growing. The shows had just recently moved to a new venue so we could stop turning people away from the shows. Sure, we'd had more than a few miscues trying to get these hard-headed Modern fans who wanted to see nothing-but-wrestling to warm up to some of the talent by sprinkling a few interviews and videos into the mix. But overall, the shows had gone well. So why had it all gone so wrong? Why was I sitting in Cliff Anderson's office a short 10 months later on a dreary September in 2006 being told it was all over. Could it have something to do with the fact that CZCW had been running at over a $20,000 deficit for about 3 months? Yeah, that probably had something to do with CZCW going out of business. Suddenly, the alarm went off. The room was dark, and Eddie checked the clock. 6am, December 1, 2005. Just the horrible nightmares of a first-time head booker on the day before he actually started work. Phew! Well, hopefully his "second" try would go a little better.

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreaming [B]December 2005[/B] OK, no 4 shows a month for now. Gotta keep costs down while we grow popularity. Apparently this is a marathon, not a sprint. Low-cost wrestlers, and plenty of them to make sure our higher-priced guys work their tails off every time we pay them an apperance fee. And let's see if we can't figure out what these stupid fans of Hybrid wrestling want to see. First things first. The high-priced talent goes. Sorry guys, I know it stinks, but I can't really afford to have 2 high-priced folks working at any single show, so some of you have to go. Besides, our fans want wrestling, so any of you without good Mat, Chain, Submission, and Basic skills are expendable. Unless you're willing to help me train some of the young talent we have and that we're going to bring in. RIFs are hard on everyone. But sometimes they're necessary and they're best done all at once. So in one day, we say goodbye to [B]Jeremiah Moose, Flying Jimmy Fox, Prince Adam, Fox Mask, Jimmy P, Donnie J, Farrah Hesketh, and EMM Moe[/B]. Hated to let Farrah go, and Cliff wasn't too pleased when I told him he'd have to handle color commentary himself for a while. I think he was more upset because he was trying to make time with Farrah. But when I asked him if he'd give me an extra $1,400 budget per show to keep Farrah there, well, he practically kicked her out the door himself. That left a few decent folks on the roster, as well as a few pretty bad, but cheap guys. Of the guys left, [B]Valiant[/B] and [B]Frankie Perez[/B] will be getting the most attention and help. We're going to try to make them the stars of the future CZCW. In the meantime, we needed some stars for now (Somehow I didn't see hanging my hopes on [B]Snap Dragon[/B], [B]Plague[/B], and [B]Remmy Skye[/B]). So we scoured the wires for available wrestlers. [B]Brent Hill[/B] was the key signing. He's going to be the star of the new CZCW until one of the younger guys can take over for him. In the meantime, he has great wrestling skills and a good attitude, so we'll expect some of that to rub off. He's also going to be at most of our shows, acting as road agent for any match he isn't involved in, since we can't afford a dedicated road agent. We also splashed out for a new pair of Main Eventers to compliment him. I'm concerned that I'm over-spending here, but downsides were low, so I decided to take a risk. So joining Brent Hill will be [B]The Insane Heat[/B] and [B]Rick Sanders[/B]. We also signed a pair of decent Middlecarders to help fill out the roster: [B]Marc Speed[/B] and [B]Flemmy Lemming[/B]. And one jobber at the lowest imagineable salary to give these guys someone against whom they can rack up wins, [B]Kashmir Singh[/B]. We also took a look at our title situation. [B]The Coastal Zone Champion[/B] is [B]Snap Dragon[/B]. He's going to lose that to Brent Hill as quick as possible. The [B]Coastal Zone Tag Team Champions[/B] are [B]The Gilbert Brothers[/B]. They're experienced and cheap, so we'll see how much we can use them before deciding what to do with the tag team championship. The [B]Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship[/B] is a high-flying belt in a federation that's gonna keep its feet on the ground and give its fans real wrestling, so we just vacate the title, and change it to a pure wrestling Midcard title. We gotta fill that Coastal Zone Xtreme title, so we make our first big announcement to the fans: The Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament! These folks wants wrestling and not angles? They consider themselves modern purist fans? OK, how about tournament to decide who gets the title? We set up 2 groups of four wrestlers each to start off. [B]Group 1[/B] [list] [*]Kashmir Singh [*]Flemmy Lemming [*]Frankie Perez [*]Jesse Gilbert [/list] [B]Group 2[/B] [list] [*]Marc Speed [*]Joe Gilbert [*]Valiant [*]Remmy Skye [/list] Each wrestler will face the others in their group once. The top two wrestlers in each group (based on record) will advance to a best-of-five semi-final. The winners will engage in a best-of-seven series for the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship. With that announcement, we prepped for our first show. Just 5 wrestlers, and most of them pulling double duty. The main event is a 3-way ladder match in which Brent Hill immediately takes the Coastal Zone Championship Title from Snap Dragon. ---------- [B]CZCW Is Comin' to Town[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 214 [list] [*]Tag Team: Frankie Perez/Brent Hill d Snap Dragon/Insane Heat (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d Flemmy Lemming (D) [*]Brent Hill d The Insane Heat & Snap Dragon ([I]Coastal Zone Championship Title[/I]) (C-) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- At the end of the month, Cliff Anderson shows me the balance sheet. We'd lost $949 this month. It's not good, but it was worse in my dream. We could have almost broken even if we'd left The Insane Heat out of the title match. Still at this rate, I'd have 45 months, rather than 7, before I drove CZCW $20K into debt. With the Coastal Zone Championship Title around Brent Hill's waist and the first match of our Midcarder's tournament completed, we started looking forward to the new year.

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' [B]January 2006[/B] The new year dawns cold and clear and CZCW went straight to work. Brent Hill was going to defend that new title against his Main Event compatriots to prove to the faithful that he deserved it. Having 2 of the more expensive people in each show could cause a problem on the bottom line, but we'll keep an eye on things and adjust if needed. At least one match a show would also be devoted to our Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament. We'll have at least one tag team match each show and then fill in the rest of the show around that. We've changed all our shows to 60 minute events and scheduled one per month at this point. The New Year's Mayhem show featured Brent Hill against Rick Sanders for the belt and the first match in group 2 of the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament. ---------- [B]CZCW New Year's Mayhem[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 218 [list] [*]Valiant/Rick Sanders d. The Gilbert Brothers (E) [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Rick Sanders (Coastal Zone Championship Title) (C) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Brent Hill successfully defends the belt and Valiant opens his account with a win over Marc Speed. Overall a successful show, but when your popularity in your home area is as low as ours, there's hardly anyplace to go but up. We lost $850 this month, essentially Rick Sanders appearance fee. All right, gotta stop using two Main Eventers in a single show unless there's a very good reason. Plus, guys were getting too tired in their matches, so we have to up the number of matches we fight each show so the average length of match goes down. *************** [B]February 2006[/B] Two matches for our Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament in this month's show, and since they're gonna be there fighting solo anyway, the Gilberts will fight a tag team match also. Gotta keep those matches short, I can't stand the Gilberts for more than a few minutes myself, I guarantee the audience doesn't want to see too much of them. We'll put Remmy Skye and Frankie Perez together against them. And we'll let Frankie have a fairly undeserved shot at the title against Brent Hill, mostly just so he can learn some stuff from Brent. ---------- [B]CZCW Valentine's Day Massacre[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 214 [list] [*]Remmy Skye/Frankie Perez d. The Gilbert Brothers (C-) [*]Jesse Gilbert d. Kashmir Singh (D) [*]Joe Gilbert d. Remmy Skye (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Frankie Perez (Coastal Zone Championship Title) (C) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Turns out that Skye and Frankie work pretty well together as a team, gotta make a note of that. The Gilberts, after losing as a tag team surprise everyone in the world by winning their first two matches in the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament! Remmy Skye is particularly embarassed by it, but that's the breaks. Brent Hill and Frankie Perez put on a pretty good show for the folks, with Brent retaining his title. If it weren't for a dreadful match between Kashmir Singh and Jesse Gilbert, the show might have been even better overall. But what did I really expect when I put those two in the ring together? February draws to a close. Cliff Anderson can barely contain his joy when he tells me that we actually made $505 profit this month! Looks like our booking strategy may keep us afloat long enough to get into the black. And the first round of matches in our Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament is finished. The standings so far: [B]Group 1[/B] [list] [*]Frankie Perez (1-0) [*]Jesse Gilbert (1-0) [*]Flemmy Lemming (0-1) [*]Kashmir Singh (0-1) [/list] [B]Group 2[/B] [list] [*]Valiant (1-0) [*]Joe Gilbert (1-0) [*]Marc Speed (0-1) [*]Remmy Skye (0-1) [/list] *************** [B]March 2006[/B] Going through the CZCW financials leads to a brilliant idea. We're bringing in about $1,700 in revenue per show on about 210 ticket sales. We can run a second show every month, and if we can keep our worker costs to about $1,700 per show we can do it without impacting our bottom line significantly. The increased exposure will certainly lead to a faster increase in popularity. A flurry of meetings and it's decided. We'll run a second show every month. Introducing: "CZCW Weeklies"! (OK, a slight misnomer, blame the marketing department who didn't like the name "bi-monthly".) 30 minutes of action, including a match from our Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament. No main eventers, but this is still such a win-win idea, it can't miss! The first show of March is our hour-long show. Two matches from the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament pitting the undefeated wreslters against one another. A CZCW "all-star" tag team match. And a non-title match between Rick Sanders and Brent Hill. We'll just have to watch our budget in the Weekly match, since we're running two Main Eventers here. But Rick Sanders isn't getting used enough, and I'm sure he's starting to get upset...I may have made a few too many promises when I hired him. ---------- [B]CZCW March Lions[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 199 [list] [*]Valiant/Frankie Perez d. Marc Speed/Rick Sanders (D) [*]Frankie Perez d. Jesse Gilbert (C-) [*]Valiant d. Joe Gilbert (D) [*]Rick Sanders d. Marc Speed (C-) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Attendance is a little disappointing there, but OK. Despite having 4 serious guys in a tag team match, the quality was not what we would have liked. Not surprisingly, Frankie Perez and Valiant bring the Gilberts back to earth pretty handily, though the matches aren't much to get interested in. Rick Sanders defeats Brent Hill in a solid, but unspectacular match. And so we move on to the inaugural CZCW Weekly. Valiant and Marc Speed top the bill in a match between two highly regarded midcarders. Flemmy Lemming takes on Kashmir Singh, both looking for their first win in the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament. And a tag team match involves all the night's participants. (Only using 4 workers at a cost of about $1600, counting the referee.) ---------- [B]CZCW March Weekly Simmons Center (SW) Att: 171 [list] [*]Flemmy Lemming/Valiant d. Marc Speed/Kashmir Singh (E) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Kashmir Singh (D) [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C-) [/list] Overall: D ---------- The tag team match is a complete bust. Guys stepping all over each other's feet. Embarassing. Flemmy Lemming gets a win, but in a match this ugly, who remembers the winner? Who's even awake at the end? Valiant and Marc Speed give a little indication of how things are supposed to be done, but they can't salvage the overall effort which is our worst show so far. And attendance of only 171 isn't going to cover even these meager costs. Still, our popularity increased a little, so there's some positives. Once accounting returns the numbers, we're down $582 for the month, which is an OK number but down $1,000 from last month. Not as successful as I was hoping for the new idea, either on the financial front or on the popularity front. But if we can keep losses at this level, we can still hang around for a long time while we wait for our popularity to rise.

[infinitywpi]

Reverse Tidal Booking... why didn't I think of that... pity you dropped the fliers, but at least it means there'll be something unique about your Zone!

[daveyk]

Costal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]April 2006[/B] Attendance was off for our second show. I don't know if that's because the show is only 30 minutes long, because people don't want to see CZCW twice a month, or because we didn't have any marquee guys at the show. So we'll see if we can't find out this month by asking Brent Hill to work the Weekly show. A review of our status makes it clear that we're seriously under-using Rick Sanders and The Insane Heat. Both of them have downsides on their contract and they're not happy with how much I'm using them. I can't say I blame them, so we'll see if we can't start to get them into the mix. Our Spring Bash show features another match in the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament, Rick Sanders and The Insane Heat in a matchup of title contenders, and a tag team match pairing up the marquee wrestlers at the show. ---------- [B]CZCW Spring Break Bash[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 212 [list] [*]Frankie Perez/Insane Heat d. Rick Sanders/Marc Speed (C-) [*]Marc Speed d. Remmy Skye (D) [*]Frankie Perez d. Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Rick Sanders d. Insane Heat (C-) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Frankie Perez gets his second win of the tournament and is now in good position to advance to the semi-final. Attendence is back up to normal, which is good since Sanders and Heat are my two most expensive wrestlers. We'll schedule another match in the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament in our weekly show, plus Brent Hill will go against Flemmy Lemming in a non-title match. I have high hopes for Flemmy, although that name doesn't inspire confidence. I want to give him a chance to work with our best guys to see if he can improve. ---------- [B]CZCW April Weekly[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 193 [list] [*]Valiant d. Remmy Skye (C-) [*]Brent Hill/Remmy Skye d. Valiant/Flemmy Lemming (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Flemmy Lemming (C) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Valiant gets his second win, and Remmy Skye, who had such high hopes going in, falls to 0-2, and looks like he's on his way out at the group stage. Brent Hill and Flemmy Lemming put on a good show together. Attendance is not great, although it's better than our last weekly show. That's the end of the good news for the month, however. We've lost $2,299 this month, and Cliff Anderson isn't too pleased about that. But the loss of money is just a symptom of the larger problem. We simply can't maintain Brent Hill, Rick Sanders, and The Insane Heat at our present size. Rick and the Insane Heat are upset at their lack of shows and they have no momentum. And any attempt to rectify that will have to come at the expense of Brent Hill...we'll be robbing Peter to pay Paul. So, unfortunately, changes are going to have to be made.

[daveyk]

> Reverse Tidal Booking Not sure I get that reference, call me dense ;-) I read your current CZCW diary with great interest as I was trying to learn the game, it's a very good read. It didn't help my first attempt where I drove CZCW out of business in record time. We'll see if I learned anything this time round.

[magichj]

Back in TEW 2004 infinitypw did what was without a doubt the best TEW2004 diary out with the orriginal Welcome to the Coastal Zone. Tidal booking was when you needed to save money by using the same workers in all matches. You'd have two singles matches and then a tag match with all the participants in the earlier singles match. infinity perfected this technique in his early game and saved a lot of money as a result.

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' Ahhh, thanks, that makes sense. I've heard references to the epic TEW 2004 diary, but never seen it (is it still available?). *************** [B]May 2006[/B] May starts with a shakeup at CZCW. Aware that we can't sustain our three current Main Eventers, [B]Rick Sanders[/B] and [B]The Insane Heat[/B] are both let go. Luckily for CZCW, both men are professionals and there are no long-term hard feelings. We'll keep our eyes on both of them and on the bottom line, and when the time is right, perhaps we'll come back to them. In their place, we bring in a bunch of no-namers that can provide cheap labor at our shows and allow us to get the decent guys we do have into as many matches as possible. [B]Shooter Sean Deely[/B], [B]Steven Parker[/B], and [B]Sammy the Shark[/B] all join CZCW at the lowest possible salary. We also add a Midcarder who we've had our eyes on, [B]Jacob Jett[/B], since he's not very expensive. He gives us an option to Frankie Perez and Valiant if one of them doesn't look capable of becoming a star for the CZCW. Valiant's contract came up for renewal, and of course we renewed. It cost us a little extra, but we're hoping he's worth it. The last thing we did was try to organize our tag-team division. Most of our tag teams are made up of low-level guys thrown together, since I was only ever able to find one decent pairing of the higher level guys anyway. That higher level pairing is named [B]Face Time[/B], and consists of Frankie Perez and Remmy Skye. We're going to put the belt around their waist as soon as possible and ride them to see if we can get anything from the tag-teamers. Other tag teams formed this month, to join Face Time, The Gilbert Brothers, and The Nightmares, include [B]Rough and Tumble[/B] (Steven Parker, Kashmir Singh) and [B]Shooter Cutter[/B] (Flemmy Lemming, Shooter Sean Deely). With the shakeup completed, we settled on the schedule for our first show. Face Time are scheduled against The Gilbert Brothers for the Coastal Zone Tag Team Title. The Gilberts are also in action against Flemmy Lemming (the winner advances!) and Marc Speed in the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament, which wraps up the group stages of the event tonight. Finally, we're arranging a series of matches between our top contenders (Brent Hill, Remmy Skye, Plague) to see if we can find something good on which to build at the top of the organization. ---------- [B]CZCW Mother's Day Mayhem[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 236 [list] [*]Face Time d. Gilbert Brothers [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Jesse Gilbert (C-) [*]Marc Speed d. Joe Gilbert (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague (C+) [*]Remmy Skye d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Remmy Skye [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C) [/list] Overall: C ---------- Our most successful show to date, including a doozy of a match between Brent Hill and Plague, which certainly gives us some ideas for next month. And the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament ends its group stages: [B]Group 1[/B] [list] [*]Frankie Perez (3-0) [*]Flemmy Lemming (2-1) [*]Jesse Gilbert (1-2) [*]Kashmir Singh (0-3) [/list] [B]Group 2[/B] [list] [*]Valiant (3-0) [*]Marc Speed (2-1) [*]Joe Gilbert (1-2) [*]Remmy Skye (0-3) [/list] Remmy Skye is a surprise loser in Group 2, especially losing that badly, with Marc Speed the beneficiary of his misfortune. So now the semi-finals are set: [B]SemiFinal 1: Flemmy Lemming v Frankie Perez[/B] [B]SemiFinal 2: Valiant v Marc Speed[/B] So, with that in mind, we move to our Weekly show, the backbone of which remains the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament, but we're also going to be watching costs carefully and using only 4 workers for the show. Face Time will make it's first title defense, against Shooter Cutter. Frankie Perez and Flemmy Lemming will face off in their first match of the best-of-five series. And Remmy Skye and Shooter Sean Deely will pull double-duty. ---------- [B]CZCW May Weekly[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 137 [list] [*]Face Time d. Shooter Cutter [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (D) [*]Remmy Skye d. Shooter Sean Deely (E) [*]Frankie Perez d. Flemmy Lemming (D) [/list] Overall: D ---------- 137 people? And a "D" overall rating, with Shooter Sean Deely and Remmy Skye stinking the joint to the rafters. We're going to rename the "Weekly" to the "Weakly" show. Frankie Perez takes an early 1-0 lead in his semifinal matchup, though the match was pretty awful. Not surprisingly, we lose $1,402 this month, with the only good news being that it is $900 less than last month. *************** [B]June 2006[/B] There's a flurry of meetings to discuss the fate of the "Weekly" shows. They are not helping our bottom line, attendance stinks, and they are, generally, doing nothing for our popularity. So much for "the idea that can't miss". I convince everyone to give the idea one last month, and if I can't turn it around in June, we'll pull the plug until we can more easily justify the shows. We add another team into our roster of tag teams: [B]West Side Story[/B] (Sammy the Shark & Jacob Jett), and then prepare for the month. After their titan struggle last month, we announce a series of title matches between Brent Hill and his closest rival: Plague. We need to start generating some interest at the top of our organization and if these two can put together a series of matches like that one, it could help us out a lot, as well as validating my faith in Brent Hill. Beyond that, Face Time will defend it's tag team title, and we'll have matches in both of our Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship semi-finals. ---------- [B]CZCW Surf Slam[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 211 [list] [*]Remmy Skye d. Rough and Tumble (C-) [*]Face Time d. Rough and Tumble [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Flemmy Lemming (D) [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C ---------- Attendence is where it should be, and, buoyed by another excellent match between Plague and Brent Hill (in which Brent defends his title), the show is a success. Frankie Perez takes a daunting 2-0 lead in his semi-final, which will hopefully be over mercifully soon, since both matches in it have been terrible. Valiant takes a 1-0 lead over Marc Speed, and Face Time defend their tag team title. The Weekly show will center around a possibly deciding match between Flemmy Lemming and Frankie Perez, with a low-level tag-team match and a match-up between two lesser-know wrestlers. Costs for this show will be very low, which is the goal. ---------- [B]CZCW June Weekly[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 190 [list] [*]Shooter Cutter d. Rough and Tumble (D) [*]Steven Parker d. Shooter Sean Deely (D) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Frankie Perez (D) [/list] Overall: D ---------- Attendance is better, though still on the low side, but the quality of matches between our Midcarders and Lower Midcarders is (perhaps predictably) not helping our popularity. Flemmy Lemming and Frankie Perez engage in another dreary match, though Flemmy pulls one back and is now behind 2-1. Our financials show that the cost-cutting was somewhat successful, and our losses were only $527, which is a manageable level, if the shows were also helping our popularity. But, they aren't doing that, so we're better off cancelling the rest of our weekly shows until times are better for the CZCW. So next month, we go back to one show per month...

[Goldberg]

Who is your ref? Are you still using Pee-Wee? Go with Rob Perkins, much cheaper. Any ref with ref skills of C or above will not hurt your matches... Also Joss Thompson would be cheap, has great skills, but also has good chemistry with Marc Speed. Those two always gets me good ratings in my game. Two good technical workers. And Joss does color comentary when not in the ring. Just an idea. Great read!

[infinitywpi]

[QUOTE=daveyk]Ahhh, thanks, that makes sense. I've heard references to the epic TEW 2004 diary, but never seen it (is it still available?). [/QUOTE] I swear you people are going to give me a swelled head. It's over on the .400SS forums, lemme try and find a link... [URL=http://www.400softwarestudios.com/invboard/upload/index.php?showtopic=60707&hl=]Now Entering the Coastal Zone[/URL] That takes it up to... 2009, I believe, when I suffered intense burnout. The dynasty continues in [URL=http://www.400softwarestudios.com/invboard/upload/index.php?showtopic=69962&hl=]Welcome to the Coastal Zone[/URL] but I don't think I quite get to 2010 before I flame out again and decide to wait for TEW2k5.

[daveyk]

[QUOTE]Also Joss Thompson would be cheap, has great skills, but also has good chemistry with Marc Speed.[/QUOTE] Heh, this diary is lagging a bit behind the actual game, and Joss Thompson entered the picture recently, so stay tuned to see how it turns out. Does chemistry stay the same game-to-game? My limited sampling seems to indicate that it is somewhat randomized each time you start a game. But I could be wrong. Thanks for the links, infinitywpi!

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]July 2006[/B] We're only doing the one 90 minute show this month, so everything goes into it. Face Time make another title defense, against West Side Story. In the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship semi-finals, Flemmy Lemming and Frankie Perez engage in yet another potentially decisive matchup (and if history is a guide, a depressingly bad matchup) while Valiant and Marc Speed have their second matchup. Brent Hill and Plague have their second title matchup, which we can only hope is as good as their previous matches. ---------- [B]CZCW Battle on the Beach[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 206 [list] [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Sammy the Shark (C-) [*]Face Time d. West Side Story [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Remmy Skye d. Jacob Jett (C-) [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Frenkie Perez (C-) [*]Plague d Brent Hill [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- Brent Hill and Plague, once again, engage in a barn-burner (well, by CZCW standards anyway), and lift the entire show. In that match, Plague takes the belt from Brent Hill, marking the first time since he joined CZCW that someone else has had the belt. In other matches, Face Time successfully defend their tag team title, Valiant takes a 2-0 lead over Marc Speed, pushing him to the edge of elimination, and (in the first watchable match of their series), Flemmy Lemming evens his best-of-five series against Frankie Perez at 2-2. We've still lost $307 this month. But if we keep having shows of this quality, the increases in attendance and ticket prices will move us into positive financial territory long before our financial situation grows dire. *************** [B]August 2006[/B] August will be a continuation of the policies from last month. One big show with something for everyone. Plague and Brent Hill meet again, this time with the belt around Plague's waist, can Brent Hill take it back? Face Time take on The Nightmares in a Coastal Zone Tag Team title match. Valiant attempts to put away Marc Speed and advance to the final of the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament. And Frankie Perez battles Flemmy Lemming in the deciding match of their semi-final...the winner of this match gets a chance to battle for the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship. ---------- [B]CZCW Wave of Fury[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 222 [list] [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Primal Rage (C-) [*]Face Time d. The Nightmares [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Remmy Skye (C) [*]Marc Speed d. Valiant (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Flemmy Lemming (C) [*]Plague d. Brent Hill [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- Another great show, thanks in large part to the efforts of Brent Hill and Plague in a match which sees Plague defend his title. Face Time also successfully defend their title. Marc Speed pulls a match back against Valiant, and is now down 2-1. And Frankie Perez defeats Flemmy Lemming in a good match by almost any CZCW standard, taking the series 3-2, and advancing to the tournament final. Brent Hill also has a good match against Remmy Skye, demonstrating that we may be able to get good work from all three of our Main Eventers, which is worth noting for the future, when the title series between Plague and Brent Hill ends. We've lost only $99 this month. But the best news is that our Marketing Department's research indicates that public familiarity with our product is growing along with our popularity! In particular, interest in the Brent Hill/Plague matchup and the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament have risen dramatically recently. At our month-end meetings it is decided to try reinstating the Weekly shows. It is believed that the costs will now be offset by a small increase in ticket prices and the increased attendance that we expect to follow our rise in popularity. We can therefore afford to put a few more Midcarders and Upper Midcarders into the Weekly show, which will hopefully help raise the overall quality of the show. *************** [B]September 2006[/B] The first bit of business for September is contract renewals. [B]Brent Hill[/B] is up for renewal. Thankfully he doesn't yet realize just how critical he is to the success of CZCW and only hits us up for a small increase, which we grumble about for show, but pay gladly. We also approve small increases for [B]Kashmir Singh[/B] and [B]Marc Speed[/B] to keep them on board. [B]Flemmy Lemming[/B], however, presents an interesting dilemma. We're very fond of Flemmy and his skills. But he just doesn't seem to be working out well for us. His matches against fellow Midcarders Valiant, Marc Speed, and Jacob Jett have all been marked by a distinct lack of chemistry. And his first few bouts against Frankie Perez were extremely bad. He and Frankie did manage to have two excellent matches to close off their series, but how can I keep a guy on board when most of his matches against the guys in his area of the card are about as fun as sticking forks in your eyes? In the end, Flemmy is so cheap that we decide to renew and see if we can't find some way to fit him into the organization. With contracts behind us, we turn our attention to September's Weekly show. We're going to limit the show to 4 wrestlers, with a tag team match and then two singles matches. But this time most everyone at the show is a Midcarder or better. Also, we'll have a tag team title match between Face Time and West Side Story to attempt to jazz up the evening. ---------- [B]CZCW September Weekly[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 199 [list] [*]Face Time d. West Side Story [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Jacob Jett d. Remmy Skye (C) [*]Frankie Perez d. Sammy the Shark (D) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- The show is a success, given the limited goals we have for the Weekly show. Attendance is where it has generally been all along (though we expected a rise to go along with our rise in popularity), and the show's quality, while below what our main shows have been doing, is still good enough to increase our popularity. We did make one booking error, making the match between Frankie Perez and Sammy the Shark our evening's Main Event, and it was not able to live up to that. We'll start paying more attention to the order of matches from now own. The Labor Day Brawl will use more of the same formula that has made our two most recent shows successful. Brent Hill and Plague continue their epic struggle for the belt. Face Time defends its title again. Valiant attempts to close out his Coastal Zone Xtreme semi-final against Marc Speed. And, for good measure, Frankie Perez and Flemmy Lemming reprise their match-up from last week to see if they can't re-capture some of that magic. In addition, we'll put Flemmy into the ring against Brent Hill to start the evening off. First of all, we're going to try to start each show with a "marquee" matchup to rev the crowd up, and build to a crescendo in the evening's finale. Second, we want to try to improve Flemmy by pitting him against our best wrestler. ---------- [B]CZCW Labor Day Brawl[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 198 [list] [*]Brent Hill d. Flemmy Lemming (C) [*]Face Time d. Shooter Cutter [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C) [*]Remmy Skye d. Shooter Sean Deely (C-) [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Flemmy Lemming (C) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- Attendance is average, but that's the only disappointment. Brent Hill re-takes the Coastal Zone Championship Title in yet another sterling match against Plague. Face Time defends their title. Valiant polishes off Marc Speed 3-1, and advances to a final matchup against Frankie Perez for the Coastal Zone Xtreme title. Frankie Perez and Flemmy Lemming catch lightning in a bottle a second time while Brent Hill and Flemmy get the evening off on a great note, and the overall show continues our roll of good fortune. While our new popularity isn't translating into attendance yet (apparently attendance is a lagging indicator of popularity), the market has at least been willing to bear the increase in ticket prices, which means we were able to produce two quality shows and net out the month with only a $111 loss. We head into the 4th quarter of 2006 with all indicators of success pointing in the right direction...

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]October 2006[/B] Early in the month, we spot a new talent who may fit in at CZCW, so we sign him to a contract, just to add another decent low-cost worker to the pool. At any rate, [B]Michael Gallagher[/B] joins the CZCW, no special plans for him, we'll just see how things go. The hope for October is to build on our recent run with two shows. The Weekly show comes first, and will still feature 4 wrestlers, but with 4 matches this time out to see if an extra dose of the Midcarders can do anything for us, and to make sure we end the evening with the best two wrestlers in the ring together. Shooter Cutter and West Side Story duke it out in a tag team matchup and the evening ends with Flemmy Lemming and Jacob Jett in the ring together. ---------- [B]CZCW October Weekly[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 215 [list] [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Sammy the Shark (D) [*]Shooter Cutter d. West Side Story (D) [*]Jacob Jett d. Shooter Sean Deely (D) [*]Jacob Jett d. Flemmy Lemming (D) [/list] Overall: D ---------- Well, attendence is good, but the show is terrible. Nobody stands out...everybody is equally bad. Sigh, we're back to this again with the Weekly show? Perhaps it was a mistake not having any matches related to the Coastal Zone Championship or the Coastal Zone Xtreme tournament on the card? Oh well, can't dwell on it, gotta move forward. A good show at Hallowe'en will more than make up for that effort, and we have a chance to make money this month since the Weekly brought in over 200 fans. So the Hallowe'en show will feature another title matchup between our two mainstays: Plague and Brent Hill. After taking the title back last week, this rivalry is getting very intense. Face Time make yet another tag team title defense. We'd like to have started Valiant and Frankie Perez on their Coastal Zone Xtreme series, but, due to a snafu in the booking office in which someone mistakenly advance booked semi-final match-ups for this show, we feel obligated to go ahead with a pair of meaningless matches. ---------- [B]CZCW Halowe'en Terror[/B] Simmons Center (SW) Att: 158 [list] [*]Remmy Skye d. The Gilbert Brothers (D) [*]Face Time d. The Gilbert Brothers [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C) [*]Frankie Perez d. Flemmy Lemming (C) [*]Plague d. Brent Hill [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- So much for our momentum heading into the 4th quarter. The show's quality is as good as ever, with Plague and Brent Hill continuing their run of good form (Plague takes the crown back from Brent after just one month), our Midcarders doing good work, and Face Time defend their tag team title yet again in a solid, if unspectacular match. But only 158 people show up? It seems that maybe we're not ready for two shows a month, since the second one always seems to draw less than the first. On the plus side, we only lose $523 this month, despite the dreadful attendance for the Hallowe'en show, so it could have been worse. But, once again, I'm scratching my head and trying to decide what to do about the under-performing Weekly show. *************** [B]November 2006[/B] More meetings to discuss the fate of the Weekly shows and, once more, we cancel them. Instead, we're going to move our show into a larger space, The Snake Pit, to see if that might translate into more ticket sales. In order to sweep the latest Weekly show flip-flop under the mat, the Marketing department goes into high gear advertising our two most important series: [B]Brent Hill and Plague for the Coastal Zone Championship[/B] and a best-of-seven between [B]Valiant and Frankie Perez to crown the new Coastal Zone Xtreme champion[/B]. From what the marketing department tells me, fan interest in both of these matchups is running high, so hopefully we can get some butts in seats. So, CZCW embarks on a new era in a new facility with their Thanksgiving Feast at The Snake Pit. Action on all three CZCW titles is planned. Brent Hill and Plague continue their title showdown, with Brent looking to take the title back from Plague once more. Frankie Perez and Valiant get started on their Coastal Zone Xtreme series. Face Time is in action for the tag team title yet again, this time against The Nightmares. The rest of the evening is filled out with guys pulling double-duty against the lower-level guys. ---------- [B]CZCW Thanksgiving Feast[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 415 [list] [*]Brent Hill d. Remmy Skye (C) [*]Face Time d. The Nightmares [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Insane Machine d. Michael Gallagher (D) [*]Frankie Perez d. Primal Rage (C-) [*]Valiant d. Frankie Perez (C) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- A new record for attendance, almost twice as many people as we've ever had before. The players feed off the audience and make it worth their while to have come out to see us. The matchup between Brent Hill and Remmy Skye (booked to build up some extra momentum for our other Main Eventer as we look forward to a time when someone else gets involved in the fight for the Coastal Zone Championship) gets the evening off on the right foot. The tag team matchup and the middle-of-the-card matchups, while not spectacular, at least keep things generally in the right direction. The show reaches its climax as Valiant takes a 1-0 lead over Frankie Perez and Brent Hill snatches "his" title back from Plague. After the show, Cliff graciously awards everyone a week's break to spend some time with their families over Thanksgiving, especially since Christmas would be a working holiday this year as CZCW geared up for its double-whammy Christmas/New year's shows. My break was interrupted, however, by a phone call from Cliff asking me to come into the office. When I arrived, my stomach sank at the, by now, familiar sight of the CZCW financials splayed out on Cliff's desk. He tossed the summary report at me as soon as I sat down and waited. I couldn't believe my eyes...CZCW had turned a profit of $2,077! Anticipating my next sentence, Cliff spoke: "I want to see you repeat that performance for two months before we even start talking about the Weekly shows again. Just to prove it ain't a fluke." *************** [B]December 2006[/B] The excitement of turning a hefty profit had to be quickly mastered, and business resumed if we were going to make our profitable status semi-permanent. Once again, action on all three CZCW titles is planned. Brent Hill and Plague match up yet again...I'm getting bored with these two fighting over and over, but the crowds are lapping it up, so let's not "fix" it just yet. Valiant takes his 1-0 lead into the series against Frankie Perez for the Coastal Zone Xtreme title. And Face Time make another title defense, this time against West Side Story. That and a few other surprises in store. ---------- [B]CZCW Is Comin' to Town[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 460 [list] [*]Jacob Jett d. Remmy Skye (C) [*]Face Time d. West Side Story [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Michael Gallagher d. Sammy the Shark (E) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Valiant (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Valiant (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C ---------- We set another new record for attendance with 460 people interrupting their egg-nog slurping to see the CZCW in action. Unfortunately, the show does not eclipse our recent efforts in terms of quality, though I feel partially to blame for booking Michael Gallagher and Sammy the Shark against each other...I suppose I should have predicted that match would have people looking for the exits. Frankie levels their series at 1-1, though the match is entirely forgettable. Thank goodness for another excellent effort from Brent Hill and Plague, in which Brent defends his title and insures that the show helps our popularity somewhat. Cliff doesn't even have to call me to come in from the Christmas break this month. I'm waiting in his office when he shows up with a $5 espresso in one hand and the CZCW financials in the other. The news is entirely good. Our profits this month total $2,658. I bite my tongue about the Weekly shows and head back to my office where I begin pondering how I can make 2007 even better than 2006.

[Goldberg]

Just a tought... did you switch to JIT merchandise or are you still at conservative(default)? That alone made my merchandise expenses in my USPW game go from over $20,000 to less than $2,000... no kidding... think about it if you haven't done so already. Great read as usual!

[daveyk]

JIT Merchandise I switched to JIT production last evening, and it saved me about $2K in the first month I tried it. Thanks for the suggestion!

[mattg71]

Great read. I'm new to the game so this may be a dumb question, but are you finding certain road agent notes are lifting your matches more than others (like all out, open match, etc.), or are you not using any notes? Have you thought about picking up Willie York when he becomes available? He's rated "A" in MMA Crossover, and seems to be the only unemployed worker with that as his main strength early in the game. In a previous CZCW (which I quit and deleted as I ran the fed into the ground in just 3 months), he always seemed to get the "clicks with..." match note whenever he was paired up against face main eventers and upper midcards. Might not fit in with your finances though. One other thing I've done early is sign a working agreement with MAW (they're the only ones who will sign a pact right off the bat) as half their roster is filled with C+ or better technical wrestlers it seems and it has helped in filling in roster spots and one shot appearances when I need a fresh face or heel for a change of pace.

[daveyk]

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it. [QUOTE]are you finding certain road agent notes are lifting your matches more than others[/QUOTE] I haven't been able to find a direct correlation between the notes and performance per se. My typical pattern with notes is: - [B]Open[/B]: when a low-level jobber isn't involved and I want both guys to get some advantage from the matchup - [B]Keep Strong[/B]: when there's a significant difference in level, for the higher level guy (not sure I'm using this correctly, but I just recently started playing with it) - [B]Protect[/B]: when there's a significant difference in level, for the lower level guy - [B]Call in Ring[/B]: when I have someone with Psychology of over B- (or so) in the match, otherwise, [B]Script[/B]. - [B]All Out Match[/B]: In general I reserve this for 3 occasions: The first 1-2 matches of the evening, to get us started right. Any Title match. The last 2-3 matches of the evening, to close with a bang. Willie York: I'll take a look at him. [QUOTE]sign a working agreement with MAW[/QUOTE] I haven't signed any agreements yet, it's an area of the game I haven't explored yet. But I may have to start looking into it, if things keep going well, since I figure I may attract unwanted attention from the larger promotions for guys I don't want to lose.

[mattg71]

Thanks for the sequence on your notes. I'm going to try out your sequence and see if it makes a difference in any of my matches (many of which I don't pass notes on except who I want to win and how).

[Goldberg]

Whats the point of a working agreement if neither can sign written deals? With or without the working agreement, you can still sign all of MAW's roster anyway. So no point whatsoever. At your level, War seems like the only company relationship that would change anything. Parent, you are too low for anyone to accept... and the other two agreements are useless at your level since you can't "steal" workers away from anyone and no chance of SWF or TCW ever signing a working agreement with a low fed like CZCW. Open I use when, say, a midcarder that I want to push higher is facing a maineventer or uppermidcarder that I don't care much for. Therefore the top guy wins, and remains happy, but the less over worker puts up an even fight and gains overness. When is the next game post? Can't wait to read more.

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]January 2007[/B] The New Year brings with it a series of storms, both literal and figurative. Our booking strategy to date has worked out well for CZCW, and we're significantly in the black the past 2 months, and trending towards an overall profit since I took over. But the extremely heavy reliance on just a few guys (Brent Hill, Plague, Valiant, Frankie Perez) has caused dissension in the ranks. At least half the roster is mad at me to one degree or another. Insane Machine, Snap Dragon, Primal Rage, Marc Speed, Joe & Jesse Gilbert, Shooter Sean Deely, Sammy the Shark, Steven Parker. All upset with how much they are being used. I grant you, most of them have a point, although we had larger concerns at the time. But now that we're on decent financial footing, and assuming I can revive the Weekly show next month, we'll start trying to address their concerns in the next 3 months. I know I'm going to lose a few of them, since there isn't enough time to win back their trust before their contracts run out, but we'll see what we can do. The new year, as always, brings with it the [B]Annual Awards[/B]. [list] [*]Wrestler of the Year: Tommy Cornell [*]Young Wrestler of the Year: Sensational Dragon [*]Veteran Wrestler of the Year: Optimus [*]Female Wrestler of the Year: Thunder Hike [*]Promotion of the Year: Supreme Wrestling Federation [*]Most Improved Promotion of the Year: North of the Border Pro Wrestling [*]Match of the Year: Yoshimi Mushashibo d. Mito Miwa (PGHW Night of HONOUR) [*]Card of the Year: PGHW Night of PRIDE [/list] Not surprisingly, CZCW doesn't get any recognition, or place a wrestler in the Top 100. But, there's always next year... Our goal for this month is to make around $2K profit again, so I can reinstate the Weekly show in February. We put together a show that will, hopefully, unruffle a few feathers, while still producing both quality and cash. Face Time get a break from their non-stop title defenses, but Brent Hill and Plague are back at it as are Valiant and Frankie Perez. ---------- [B]CZCW New Year's Mayhem [/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 446 [list] [*]Snap Dragon d. Sammy the Shark (D) [*]Shooter Cutter d. West Side Story (C-) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Shooter Sean Deely d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Jacob Jett d. Steven Parker (C-) [*]Valiant d. Frankie Perez (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C ---------- Our heavy use of the lower-level guys costs us in terms of the show's quality, though attendance is right where we want it. Brent Hill and Plague continue their epic struggle with another high-quality match in which Brent defends his title. Valiant takes a 2-1 lead in the series, but for some reason, I can't get any consistency from Valiant and Frankie Perez in terms of match quality. Still, the show enables us to turn a profit of $2,045, so the Weekly shows are back on, starting next month. *************** [B]February 2007[/B] Well, since our Marketing Department is hyping the return of the CZCW Weekly shows, we'll dump out some bad news and hope it gets lost in the noise. The damage is too far gone to convince [B]Shooter Sean Deely[/B], [B]Sammy the Shark[/B], and [B]Steven Parker[/B] to stay with CZCW. Of the three, only the loss of Steven Parker bothers me (and that just a little bit). But we'll keep our eye on Steven and try to re-hire him when he cools down. A few months of unemployment and perhaps underuse won't seem so bad. In their place, we pick up two new low-level guys: [B]Rolling Johnny Stones[/B] and [B]Joe Simmons[/B]. In addition, we resign [B]Jacob Jett[/B] and [B]Valiant[/B], both with small increases, since both are necessary to our future plans. At this point, I take some time to look at the current state of the roster, and make sure everyone is where we want them. [list] [*]Main Eventers: Brent Hill (H), Remmy Skye (F), Plague (H) [*]Upper Midcarder: Jacob Jett (H), Insane Machine (H), Frankie Perez (F), Snap Dragon (H), Marc Speed (H) [*]Midcarder: Primal Rage (H), Valiant (F), Flemmy Lemming (H), Steven Parker (H) [*]Lower Midcarder: Joe Simmons (F), Jesse Gilbert (H), Joe Gilbert (H) [*]Opener: Michael Gallagher (F), Kashmir Singh (H) [*]Enhancement Talent: Rolling Johnny Stones (F) [*]Tag Teams: Face Time, Gilberts, The Nightmares [/list] We have a preponderance of heels (a 3:1 ratio) at the upper regions of this federation. Our next round of hiring will try to rectify some of that situation. In the meantime, we meet with Brent Hill and agree to turn him into a Face character in the next show. That way our fans will have a good guy Champion to root for. Also, we need one more tag team, so we pair Jacob Jett and Snap Dragon and call them the [B]High Fliers[/B]. Pretty lame high fliers by normal standards, but for the CZCW, they are the best we have. And so, we head into February with two shows planned. Brent Hill is going to start making a series of title defenses against other folks in the CZCW, while we await the outcome of the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship series. Once a champ is crowned there, we'll get together with the Marketing folks and come up with a way to best exploit both titles and generate some further interest. The Valentine's Day Massacre show, once again, goes into our new digs at The Snake Pit. We get our newest tag team into action against Michael Gallagher and Kashmir Singh, as we continue to search for a partnership among the lower card workers that can justify itself. At any rate, we'll start to build some cachet for the High Fliers before they go into action against our reigning champs, Face Time. Valiant and Frankie Perez square off, with Valiant ahead 2-1, and Brent Hill generously extends a title shot to Jacob Jett, based on his efforts against Frankie Perez. ---------- [B]CZCW Valentine's Day Massacre[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 460 [list] [*]Frankie Perez d. Joe Simmons (C-) [*]High Fliers d. Michael Gallagher/Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Michael Gallagher (C) [*]Jacob Jett d. Valiant (C-) [*]Snap Dragon d. Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Valiant d. Frankie Perez (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Jacob Jett [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C ---------- A solid show. The High Fliers open their CZCW account with a win. Valiant takes a commanding 3-1 lead over Frankie Perez. And Brent Hill gives Jett a taste of the way things are done at the upper levels in a rollicking title defense. Beyond that, big sighs of relief as attendance for the main show remains at the desired level. That should give us enough cash to cover the Weekly show and still turn a profit. And if the Weekly show can finally show some legs, we could be in for a good month. The Weekly show is booked into the smaller Simmons Center. We expect to sell out all 300 seats, if our current attendance figures are any guide. Once again, we're going to try to keep costs down by only booking a few guys into the show, at least this first week. Toes into the water first. Face Time makes another title defense, they've had a hammerlock on the belt ever since they won it from The Gilbert Brothers. This time they take on a pairing of Marc Speed with Joe Simmons. We'll see if we can pair a Midcarder and a Lower Midcarder and find a decent tag team pairing. At the top of the card, Remmy Skye and Plague square off while Frankie Perez takes on Marc Speed. ---------- [B]CZCW February Weekly[/B] The Simmons Center (SW) Att: 246 [list] [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Face Time d. Marc Speed/Joe Simmons [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Plague d. Flemmy Lemming/Rolling Johnny Stones (C) [*]Remmy Skye d. Rolling Johnny Stones (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Plague d. Remmy Skye (C-) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Face Time defend their title for the 10th time. The show manages to help our popularity, although it is definately a poorer effort than our main show. Plus, attendance is a bit disappointing. With our main show drawing over 400 people, we fully expected to sell out the 300 seats at The Simmons Center. Perhaps attendance is related in some way to the size of the auditorium? A quick check of the monthly figures shows a profit of $2,721. That's good news, obviously, but we definately have the sense that we're not optimizing our efforts. So we spend some time analyzing the situation. First off, we've turned a long term profit, being over the $25K we started with. So we have some leeway to mess around. Second, The Snake Pit costs $1,000 per show, while The Simmons Center costs $200. At our present ticket prices, that's about 50-60 more ticket sales to justify the cost. If just booking the show into the larger venue creates ticket sales anywhere near what we get for our main show, then we can easily justify the move. So a memo is drafted instructing the staff to book both shows into The Snake Pit in March. Third, booking the Weekly show as a smaller show with as few as 4 workers hasn't seemed to be working. So a decision is made to increase the level of intensity for these shows and begin including more and better workers into the show, while still remaining somewhat conservative. With a steady $2-3K in profits each month, and the potential to draw larger crowds to the Weekly show, it's time to take some risk. No longer will the Weekly show be the red-headed step child! That said, there are a lot of guys still very mad at me. Of those mad, two are a concern: Snap Dragon and Insane Machine. I don't really want to lose either, so next month we have to start re-gaining their trust in a big way. *************** [B]March 2007[/B] The first order of business is to sew up [B]Plague's[/B] contract. He and Brent Hill work so well together that we have to have him around. The second order of business is to advertise a 4-way Title series. Plague, Snap Dragon, and the Insane Machine will face off with a chance at Brent Hill's title awaiting the winner of their series. That will get both Snap Dragon and Insane Machine involved in multiple shows, plus get them involved in one of the CZCW's main events. Hopefully this is the start of winning them back. Finally, the Marketing Department hypes the fact that Valiant, with his 3-1 series lead, could win the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship at any of the events this month. You wouldn't want to miss the inaugural crowing of the Coastal Zone Xtreme champ, now would you? The March Lions show is booked. Plague and Insane Machine will take each other on as the first match in the title series. Brent Hill also takes on Snap Dragon, in a preview of a possible title matchup, although the Title is not on the line this time. Valiant and Frankie Perez each warm up early in the evening against a lesser opponent in preparation for their match. The Coastal Zone Xtreme belt will brought to ringside where it will be on display in anticipation of a possible coronation for Valiant. ---------- [B]CZCW March Lions[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 476 [list] [*]Frankie Perez d. Jacob Jett (C) [*]Valiant d. Primal Rage (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Michael Gallagher (C) [*]The Nightmares d. High Fliers (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Valiant (C-) [*]Plague d. Insane Machine (C) [*]Brent Hill d. Snap Dragon (C+) [/list] Overall: C ---------- Frankie Perez digs deep and refuses to allow Valiant to win the title this week, making the series 3-2 in Valiant's favor. The match saw several opportunities for Valiant go by the boards. He looks dispirited when he leaves the ring, casting a sideways glance at the title belt as it is carefully packed away. Plague looks as dangerous as ever against Insane Machine, announcing to the world that he has no intention of surrendering his status as the #1 contender for the Coastal Zone Championship. Plague is now 1-0 while Insane Machine is 0-1. Despite losing, Snap Dragon gives a good account of himself against Brent Hill, intensifying interest in his chances for a title shot and providing a warning for Plague not to look past him. Attendance is growing steadily, so hopes are running high for the upcoming Weekly show. Our last show drew 260 people, so we're looking for anything over 300 as our target. The main draws for the March Weekly show are Face Time, making their 11th title defense and Valiant with his second chance to close out the series and take the Coastal Zone Xtreme belt. ---------- [B]CZCW March Weekly[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 326 [list] [*]Snap Dragon d. Rolling Johnny Stones (C-) [*]Remmy Skye d. Michael Gallagher (C-) [*]Face Time d. Rolling Johnny Stones/Michael Gallagher [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Remmy Skye d. Snap Dragon (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Valiant (C-) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- Face Time defend their title, as expected. Valiant, showing signs of nerves after falling short last time, loses to Frankie Perez, who grows in confidence as he levels the series at 3-3. Their next match will decide the matter and allow CZCW to crown the Coastal Zone Xtreme champion! And attendance is enough extra to justify the switch of venue. The monthly profit is up to $3,305 this month. So we deem the experiment a success and hastily dash off a memo to permanently switch all shows to The Snake Pit until further notice. Meanwhile, Marketing cranks up the intensity for our next month in which we're sure to crown the Coastal Zone Xtreme Champion, and in which Brent Hill will take on whatever challenger emerges from the crowd, with the title on the line.

[theunholyicon]

Good to see you are trying to rely on something OTHER than Brent Hill vs. Plague in the last couple shows. I was getting sick of the other shows being that main event constantly. Sure, it works, but it only gets two guys over, and noone would want to see that as many times as it was. Sure, Best Of Seven, special occasion or something, but not that much.

[daveyk]

Agreed That Brent Hill/Plague thing actually was a best of seven storyline, I just decided to put the title on the line each time rather than just at the end. But even so, I agree that it's time to branch out and get some other people involved.

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]April 2007[/B] The end of an era for CZCW, as the [B]Gilbert Brothers[/B] leave. Joe's contract (or was that Jesse, I can't tell them apart) ran out and he was too upset at his lack of use to consider re-signing. I did a spit take when I noticed that someone had signed them to contracts of different lengths...whose bright idea was that? Since they have no value except as a tag team, we decide to pull the band-aid off quickly, and terminated Jesse's contract (or was that Joe, I can't tell them apart) at the same time. That wasn't the last bit of bad news for the day either. Apparently my hastily drafted memo was drafted a bit too hastily. Someone in the office got confused and booked the Main Show into the Simmons Center and the Weekly show into The Snake Pit. And by the time the mistake is noticed, there's nothing we can do to change it. So we swallow our anger and call a meeting. I use tiny words and even a PowerPoint slide to insure that everyone knows that all our shows go into The Snake Pit until further notice. To make matters worse, marketing misspells "Franky" on the posters announcing the deciding match in the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tourney and we have to throw away a whole batch of posters and run some more. Ye Gods! I am surrounded by incompetance! Administrative headaches dealt with, finally, we turn to planning for the shows. For the Spring Break show, we sandwich the deciding match pitting Frankie Perez against Valiant between matches to decide who gets a shot at the Coastal Zone Championship and Brent Hill's defense of that title against Marc Speed. When someone wonders aloud what happens if Brent Hill loses the title before the other guys get their chance, I snap back that whoever holds the title will defend it, and everyone decides to just leave me alone. Plague is taking on Snap Dragon this month. A win by Plague will assure him of yet another shot at the title. Snap Dragon has to take on both Plague and Insane Machine in the same evening. A pair of wins and he'll be assured of the title shot. Insane Machine's chances are on life support. ---------- [B]CZCW Spring Break Bash[/B] The Simmons Center (SW) Att: 300 (SOLD OUT) [list] [*]Marc Speed d. Jacob Jett (C-) [*]Plague d. Michael Gallagher (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Frankie Perez (C+) [*]High Fliers d. Marc Speed/Michael Gallagher (C-) [*]Snap Dragon d. Plague (C+) [*]Frankie Perez d. Valiant [I](Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship Title)[/I] (C) [*]Insane Machine d. Snap Dragon (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Marc Speed [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C ---------- Plague has been reading his own press clippings and underestimated Snap Dragon, which costs him the match and forces him to await the other result before knowing his fate. While Snap Dragon retreats backstage for a rest, The Coastal Zone Xtreme belt is led out in procession ahead of Frankie Perez and Valiant, both of whom look eager for battle. And they are. In a match that see-saws wildly between the two men, Frankie Perez emerges victorious and is crowned the Coastal Zone Xtreme Champion! The crowd barely has time to settle before Insane Machine and Snap Dragon enter the ring. Snap Dragon looks worn from his efforts against Plague and is unable to mount an effective effort, losing to Insane Machine, meaning that everyone has 1 win and 1 loss. Since we've already advertised the upcoming title match for the Weekly show, a decision is quickly taken to throw all 4 men into the ring together and let them sort it out. In the final match of the evening, Marc Speed makes a good account of himself, but Brent Hill is clearly sending a message to his 3 rivals that he, and his title, are not to be trifled with. We approach the Weekly show with budget concerns. The Spring Break show sold out, but we left money on the table because of the venue error. We've got to have Brent Hill, Plague, Snap Dragon, and Insane Machine at the show, to fight for the title. So we leave our Upper Midcarders at home (giving everyone a break from Valiant and Frankie Perez) and fill the card with lower-level guys getting a chance against the big boys. ---------- [B]CZCW April Weekly [/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 429 [list] [*]Plague d. Joe Simmons (D) [*]The Nightmares d. Flemmy Lemming/Joe Simmons (C-) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Insane Machine (C-) [*]Plague d. Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Primal Rage (C) [*]Brent Hill d. Plague, Snap Dragon, Insane Machine [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C) [/list] Overall: C ---------- The overall result is a decent evening, climaxing in the Coastal Zone Championship title match in which Brent Hill emerges victorious, and retains his title. We turn a profit of $2,017 this month. And we've proved the basic point that we can support two shows a month and we can use our higher-priced guys in heavier rotation and not only remain afloat, but move forward. So we begin to contemplate the future. We've come to an end of the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship tournament and crowned a midcard champion who now needs to prove he belongs there. We've established Brent Hill as the star we wanted him to be with a main rival and several minor rivals. We've got a decent tag team with a stranglehold on the championship just waiting to be broken. Seems like a perfect time to make some changes...

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]May 2007[/B] Before we go making changes, let's take care of everything in the "if it ain't broke" category. [B]Brent Hill[/B], [B]Frankie Perez[/B], [B]Remmy Skye[/B], [B]Marc Speed[/B], and [B]Kashmir Singh[/B] are all re-signed. Obviously we can't lose our two title holders, so Brent and Frankie are re-hired. Remmy Skye and Marc Speed have both been valuable and we have plans for both in the future. If Kashmir were asking for more money than he is, we'd think twice, but since he isn't, we re-hire him. Next we hit the wires and look for new talent to join CZCW and shake things up. [B]John Maverick[/B] joins us and is immediately placed into the roster as a Main Eventer. We're thinking that if he and Brent Hill work well together, we can transition him into a role as Brent's main rival. In the meantime, his presence allows us to move Remmy Skye into an Upper Midcard role, which feels more comfortable for him in any case. [B]Jack Giedroyc[/B] is also brought in. He's gonna be exhausted commuting back and forth from the UK every week, but he adds some needed depth in the Midcard area...especially since Flemmy Lemming has done nothing to justify our faith in re-hiring him some months ago. Finally, we add [B]Frankie Dee[/B] as a Lower Midcarder. A series of uncomfortable meetings makes it clear that Primal Rage, Snap Dragon, and Insane Machine are all still pretty mad at me. I've pretty well given up on Primal Rage, we barely need him anyway, although he is half of our most experienced tag team. But I still have hopes that we can convince Snap Dragon and Insane Machine to stay with us. To that end I drag them over to the Marketing department where I show them our latest PR blitz: The [B]Coastal Zone Championship Series[/B]! Once per month, in a single show, the 4 top contenders will face off in a mini-tournament for a chance at the Championship in the evening's main event! Brent Hill is the champion. The 4 top contenders: Plague, John Maverick, Snap Dragon, and Insane Machine. They both look a little distrustful, but at least that announcement ends the meeting and allows me to work on the schedule for our Mother's Day Mayhem show. The first four matches, to get the evening off on a raucous note, will be from the Coastal Zone Championship Series. John Maverick makes his first appearance against Plague, while Insane Machine and Snap Dragon face each other. With that many expensive guys in action in one show, we fill out the rest of the evening with guys lower on the card. ---------- [B]CZCW Mother's Day Mayhem [/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 476 [list] [*]Plague d. John Maverick (C+) [*]Insane Machine d. Snap Dragon (C) [*]Marc Speed d. Michael Gallagher (C-) [*]The Nightmares d. Rolling Johnny Stones/Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Marc Speed d. Primal Rage (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Kashmir Singh (C) [*]Insane Machine d. Plague (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Insane Machine [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- A large crowd comes out to witness the inaugural Coastal Zone Championship Series event. John Maverick gets the crowd on its feet in a rousing early match against Plague, though Plague ekes out a win to advance. In the other matchup, Insane Machine gets past Snap Dragon. With a Plague/Insane Machine matchup to decide who gets the title shot, half the crowd is atwitter at the prospect of yet another Brent Hill/Plague matchup, while the other half is looking for the exits at the same prospect. Neither group need worry. Not only does Insane Machine surprise Plague to earn a shot at Brent Hill, but he and Brent are at their best, with Insane Machine pushing his opponent to the limit before Brent finally emerges victorious. After just one show, fan interest in the Coastal Zone Championship Series is running high. We're tempted to throw together another one in our Weekly show, to keep the momentum going. But, Cliff looks aghast when he sees the bill from the Mother's Day show. So we settle for an underpublicized version of the same idea, this time for the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship Title, featuring Valiant, Jacob Jett, Marc Speed, and Flemmy Lemming vying for a shot at Frankie Perez. This will also be a critical show for Flemmy Lemming. He continues to have poor matches against everyone in his area of the organization. Face Time also make their first appearance in 6 weeks, for their 12th title defense. ---------- [B]CZCW May Weekly[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 325 [list] [*]Valiant d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Flemmy Lemming d. Jacob Jett (C-) [*]Face Time d. Flemmy Lemming/Jack Giedroyc [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Remmy Skye d. Jack Giedroyc (C-) [*]Valiant d. Flemmy Lemming (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Valiant [I](Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship Title)[/I] (C) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- The attendance figures are good. Face Time make their 12th title defense. And Frankie Perez and Valiant meet for a good title match which sees Frankie Perez affirms his hold on the title. Despite the mediocre show, our popularity is still helped, which is more attributable to our small size and the fact that most directions are "up" from here. Flemmy Lemming looks bad once again against Jacob Jett and Valiant. And we're already considering his position with CZCW when the trainer comes into the office to announce that Flemmy hurt his neck during the show. So we decide, "what's a little more bad news?" and Flemmy is let go. Not surprisingly, given the expense of the Mother's Day show, our profits are down, but only a little bit. $1,789 flows in this month, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Next month, I'm going to try to figure out how to have a solid show for both shows each month.

[daveyk]

Coastal Zone Dreamin' *************** [B]June 2007[/B] A consistent problem at CZCW is that our Lower Midcarders, Openers, and Enhancement Talent have pretty dreadful matches against everyone they enter the ring with. That's kind of OK if I decide to pair them against one another for some reason, since I expect that. But it'd be nice if the Midcard and Upper Midcard talent could have respectable matches against these guys. So we decide to begin a gradual process of upgrading our talent at the bottom of CZCW. The goal is to raise the talent up at least one level, starting at the bottom. With that in mind we hire [B]Joss Thompson[/B] and [B]Duberry Excess[/B]. Being a pack rat, we keep [B]Michael Gallagher[/B] around, re-hiring him when his contract is up. We thought long and hard about dumping him, since we'll slowly attrit our worse wrestlers away through contract non-renewal. But, not knowing if the plan is solid yet, I decide to buy myself some time, and Michael comes cheap, so what the heck. Second order of business is what to do about raising the quality of the Weekly show. The Coastal Zone Championship Series event went over well, fan interest in it was higher than I expected, and the first show in which it appeared was the level I am shooting for. But I can't yet afford to run my Main Eventers in every show. So, unimaginitive as it may be, we start a second version of the series, this time the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship Series (and fixed the typo on the name of the series in our last post). Frankie Perez holds the title at present. Valiant, Jacob Jett, Remmy Skye, and Marc Speed are the challengers. The main show will be devoted to the Coastal Zone Championship Series, the Weekly show to the Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship Series. At the Surf Slam, the 4 challengers to Brent Hill square off for a shot at his title. This time around, John Maverick is paired against Insane Machine and Plague, smarting from his last loss, is paired against Snap Dragon. The winners of these two matches will fight later in the show, with the winner of that match advancing to take on Brent Hill for the title. The losers have to pull a thankless double shift against guys lower on the card to fill out the middle of the evening. In addition, Brent Hill warms up against Jacob Jett, since the two of them have had a few good matches against each other previously. ---------- [B]CZCW Surf Slam[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 486 [list] [*]John Maverick d. Insane Machine (C) [*]Snap Dragon d. Plague (C) [*]High Fliers d. The Nightmares (C-) [*]Plague d. Kashmir Singh (C-) [*]Brent Hill d. Jacob Jett (C+) [*]Insane Machine d. Joe Simmons (C-) [*]John Maverick d. Snap Dragon (C+) [*]Brent Hill d. John Maverick [I](Coastal Zone Championship Title)[/I] (C+) [/list] Overall: C+ ---------- John Maverick, looking to establish himself with the CZCW faithful, emerges from the pack with a convincing win over Insane Machine and a solid win against Snap Dragon. One month into his CZCW career and he's got his shot at Brent Hill and the Coastal Zone Championship. The two men square off for the longest match in CZCW's young history. Brent Hill, especially, is not in shape for it. Both men manage to give a good account of themselves, nonetheless, and Brent Hill is forced to use everything he knows to hold onto his title. In non-match news from the show, we get several comments that commentary is not keeping up in the better matches we put on. This isn't too surprising in the color commentary, since poor Cliff is forced to do both jobs himself. But it also happened in the regular commentary as well and is the first time we've gotten the comment. We're going to file this away under the category "a nice problem to have" and deal with it later. And, the biggest news of all, Marketing reports that [B]CZCW is now Regional in size, and our popularity has increased once again in the SouthWest[/B]. I don't really know how being considered regional will help us, but that can't be considered bad news. The rise in popularity is obviously a good thing. If my previous experience holds true here, attendance won't rise immediately, but it won't matter because ticket prices increases will insure greater prosperity. Still, I'm leery of making any assumptions just yet, so I decide to hold to my plans for the Weekly show, rather than bringing the big guns out for two shows this month. Valiant will take on Jacob Jett, with the winner to face whoever emerges from the matchup between Remmy Skye and Marc Speed. All leading up to a title shot against Frankie Perez at the end of the evening. In addition, we're gonna give Face Time a stiff challenge for the title against Marc Speed and Jack Giedroyc. ---------- [B]CZCW June Weekly[/B] The Snake Pit (SW) Att: 641 [list] [*]Valiant d. Jacob Jett (C-) [*]Remmy Skye d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Face Time d. Marc Speed/Jack Giedroyc [I](Coastal Zone Tag Team Title)[/I] (C-) [*]Jacob Jett d. Marc Speed (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Jack Giedroyc (C-) [*]Valiant d. Remmy Skye (C-) [*]Frankie Perez d. Valiant [I](Coastal Zone Xtreme Championship Title)[/I] (C-) [/list] Overall: C- ---------- A huge crowd by our standards, almost twice what I would have expected. Face Time defend their title for the 13th time. And Valiant picks his way past his rivals to earn yet another title shot, but Frankie Perez proves to be too much for him, and the title remains in Perez's hands. For the first time, a show does nothing to help our popularity in the region. But the increase in ticket prices and attendance raises our profits for the month to $12,987. We decide that there are no more excuses. From now on, the Weekly show will be considered fully equivalent and we're going to put the money we're making to use insuring that the fans get what they are paying for.