Tutorial on Europe

[ajcrible]

Having played several iterations of TEW, I have yet to tackle any non-North American companies (and only one Canadian company - CGC - at that...I have an unhealthy fixation with created-companies originating in the Midsouth -basically recreating WCCW in TEW).

 

I'm interested in playing as a European or British company, but don't want to tackle it without some feedback from people who have already traveled that path. Outside of reading bios and company descriptions (which I've done) can anyone help put the companies and the state of European wrestling into perspective? Who are the top prospects? Big names? What is the chance of actually putting together a national/international company?

[Comradebot]

Having played several iterations of TEW, I have yet to tackle any non-North American companies (and only one Canadian company - CGC - at that...I have an unhealthy fixation with created-companies originating in the Midsouth -basically recreating WCCW in TEW).

 

I'm interested in playing as a European or British company, but don't want to tackle it without some feedback from people who have already traveled that path. Outside of reading bios and company descriptions (which I've done) can anyone help put the companies and the state of European wrestling into perspective? Who are the top prospects? Big names? What is the chance of actually putting together a national/international company?

 

Guess what?

 

I'm THE foremost authority on C-Verse Europe (though probably not counting the UK), and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.

 

Now that I'm done stroking me ego...

 

I'll give you mostly advice on Europe, since my knowledge of the UK scene isn't as strong as others.

 

In Europe, you've currently got the three companies: EWA, UEW, and VWA, which popularity, performance, and balanced based respectively. The continent as a whole doesn't really have too many "stars" save Louis Figo Manico, who starts the game on hiatus. It's because of Manico's hiatus that EWA and UEW exist, and why they're currently at war with each other. Europe USED (up until and including TEW 2007) a Cult sized company called UCR (Ultimate Combat Ring), but Manico got burned out and closed it, with two factions splitting out of it and going to war with each other.

 

EWA is the most awesome company in the game, and I highly recommend them. Okay, that might be biased... they're the only company I've ever enjoyed enough to write a long term diary for (back in 2008), and I highly recommed you look it up. My bias aside... EWA is probably the most challenging company in Europe, at least to start with. They're heavily based on popularity, but don't have any massive stars (most popular guys only have a D), not too many workers that are incredibly entertaining on the microphone, and only a handful that are even half decent in ring. That said, they have the most colorful roster on the continent, an awesome women's division, and a slew of menacing fellows. Indeed, the Johansson Brothers' menace alone is enough to put into angles with other wrestlers in order to build popularity for all involved. Meanwhile, Byron is not only your owner but your all around best worker, meaning you can make him as popular as you wish without fear of UEW stealing him. Oh, and Europe in general has a higher percentage of Super Heavyweights than ANYWHERE else in the world, meaning there's a slew of big monsters you can bring with B- or higher Menace you can bring in and, well... abuse their menace. With a few key thefts (Joey Beauchamp, cough cough), abuse of of menace/sex appeal for monsters/women's division, and EWA can become an unstoppable power.

 

UEW... well, they start with the biggest active star in Europe, Joey Beauchamp, who is also incredibly talented both in the ring and on the microphone (though you're unlikely to get too much use out of that in UEW.) Being performance based, it's far easier to make stars in UEW than it is in EWA so long as they're talented in ring. Hell, just throw Beauchamp against anyone with SOME talent and they'll start to get over. In fact, their roster in general is far more loaded talentwise than EWA in terms of both in-ring and (shockingly) entertainment. They have some truly excellent workers (for Europe, at least) in Beauchamp, Michael Moodie, Inky the Squid Boy, Ali Bloxsome, and Stig Svensson. Oh, and Beast Bantom is one of the best monster heels in the world in my opinion... good enough that you might be able to abuse his menace, even in UEW. Success with UEW long term, however, might be an issue. The talent level in Europe just ISN'T the same as North America or Japan, so your options for stars as you get bigger might become slightly limited. Though, in all honesty, there's plenty of super talented British guys you can probably bring in (Joss Thompson, Adam Matravers).

 

VWA has no connection to UCR, UEW, or EWA, and is free from harrassment from the other two European companies. There roster is young, loaded with potential, and DEVOID of anything resemlbing overness. Heck, there top guys only have Es. But hey, if you really wanted you could sign the top guys from the other two companies (though I typically force VWA into only signing unemployed folks to make it feel more like MAW over in America). Sebastion Koller and Landon Mallory are both incredibly talented considering their age (and for European workers) and are more than capable of carrying the company on their backs. Oh, and Griffin: ring general supreme. Old and can't work a microphone, but he is indeed the Swedish Steve Flash. He's super reliable and can teach some of the less talented folks how to wrestle (like Acheron, who is a super monster heel but utterly lacking in talent). VWA also starts off as the smallest company in Europe, but with good booking it won't be much of a disadvantage.

 

 

And yes, it IS possible to get European companies to National or higher status. While technically I never did it myself, as I got bogged down with writing the diary that came from it, I did manage to drag EWA up to Cult and was about a year out from hitting National. It's harder than in America, as having to get Scandinavia with its 80% importance up to C+ importance will demand roughly B+ish shows, but is entirely doable. If that's your goal, then I really do recommend EWA or VWA. With EWA, you can use its popularity based product to eventually get good matches out of ANYONE. Hell, with just C overness I was getting B- matches out of Boris Kiriyakin (who you should look up, and challenge yourself to push!), B+s out of Bam Bam Johansson... twas greatness.

 

Just remember that none of the companies start larger than Small, so it'll be awhile. When you get close to Regional you can speed things up by holding two shows a month... come D/D+ overness in your home region at Regional and you may afford to be more aggressive and hold weekly shows depending on the state of the market (I pulled it off with EWA in 2008!).

 

Unemployed folks to look at (and others to keep an eye on):

 

Scheming Behemoth: Great on the microphone, OK in ring, and MASSIVELY menacing. Unfortunately, the owners of UEW and EWA don't care for him, so unless they randomly die you'll only be able to bring him in with VWA. He's a bit over the hill, sure, but he's one of the biggest "stars" on the independent circuit and a great talent to have in any company. Also, his alternate pic with the armor is really and truly awesome.

 

Louis Figo Manico: Hands down the best, and one of the most popular, workers in European history. He can pull a great match out of ANYONE and can bring up the ratings of your shows a couple grades on his own. Heck, he's even argueably the most entertaining man in the business on a microphone. Unfortunately, he starts on hiatus and you'll have to be atleast Regional if you want any hope of signing him even IF he comes off hiatus. But if he does, sign him. Don't go "oh no, he's in his 40s!" Doesn't matter, best star you can possibly sign: period.

 

Marat Khoklov: Okay, so he's under a long term written deal with SWF and unlikely that it'll ever change, but keep an eye on him anyways. He is Menace personified, and good enough of a worker to put on solid matches so long as he has some popularity to go with it.

 

Haiti Voodude: A sort of "jack off all trades, master of none), he has a bit of Menace, Entertainment skills, and okay wrestling skills, and also a solidly over guy comparitevly. Oh, and a super awesome hat. There's nothing he's magnficent at, but is a bonus to any roster that has him. Heck, with a little work he can even be a star.

 

The Big Bad: Okay, so he's an average at best worker and closing in on 40. He's also super menacing and has terrific star quality. Need a new monster heel? He's your man. (MMAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!)

 

Doctor Insane: The oldest worker in Europe, but... look at those Entertainment skills. Just look at em! He's not great in the ring, but solid enough, but who cares? With a good gimmick he can cut some of the best promos on the continent.

 

Crusher Von Steinberg: Isn't actually available until January 2011 (a year in), but keep him in mind anyways: He starts off with D popularity which means he's an instant main eventer for whoever signs him, is relatively menacing, and can wrestle enough. I personally had an EXCELLENT feud the moment he debuted between him and Bam Bam Johansson in TEW2010 that saw both rocket to C overness in Central Europe.

 

UK Dragon: Incredibly talented, a former UCR champion, popular... need I say more? Any of the three companies can make use of him and they should.

 

Oleg Dorosklov: Another hard one to snag, but also THE most popular worker available in Europe at the start. Indeed, too popular: with B- overness in Europe you'll have to hit Cult before he'll sign, unless he somehow goes unemployed long enough to fall to a low C you'll have to get their first... even so, he's more likely to tour with Japanese promotions, meaning his popularity will never decay. Even so, should you hit Cult he should probably be signed (particularly for performance based companies, though I'm sure he'd fit into EWA with a little effort).

 

And... I'll stop myself there. Looking for something more specific? Feel free to ask. Need to know some good tag teams? A good hardcore guy? Maybe some more monsters (there's no shortage in Europe!)? Again, just ask.

[atomzero]

I've played a quite a lot with European promotions as well, and in addition to Comrade's, here are my talent recommendations (particularly for performance):

 

Merle O'Curle

Rolling Johnny Stones

Joss Thompson

Joey Beauchamp

Louis Figo Manico

C.H. Threepwood

Nigel Svensson

[Remianen]

With all due respect to the 'bot, I think he got a little carried away with the hyperbole.

 

EWA has the only women's division in Europe but that doesn't make it 'awesome' (USPW's blows it out of the water). However, with respect to said division, it does boast a couple criminally underrated talents in Karen Bilous and Miss Information. With just a little bit of investment, they could anchor the middle of the card (and even manage to drag decent matches out of the likes of Anna Ki).

 

One thing I would put forth is the relative difficulty involved in growing the European (and UK) promotions. It requires patience. That's not a suggestion, it's an outright requirement. The work Comradebot did with his EWA diary would've gotten the promotion to National (possibly International) with the same effort, if the promotion was based in the US or Japan. It would also be a good idea to go back and read that diary and look at his underlying strategy. He didn't make a mad dash to Cult like so many people do. He worked his area of strength primarily while occasionally venturing out of that comfort zone. It wasn't because he was 'yella' or scared, it's because that was the most fiscally responsible thing to do. This is especially important for Europe because you don't have multiple areas with 90+ community/affluence/importance.

 

Europe is fun but slooooooooooooooow (compared to much of North America and Japan).

[ajcrible]

What about the UK? How is the British wrestling scene similar or different? Is it easier or equally difficult (or as Remi indicated, 'slooooooooooooow') to rise to National/International?

[1PWfan]

In getting to National and up, the UK is at best slow and at worst downright dangerous. It's slightly similar to Europe, but I can't claim to be an expert so I'll leave it to other to run a full breakdown.

[Comradebot]

With all due respect to the 'bot, I think he got a little carried away with the hyperbole.

 

EWA has the only women's division in Europe but that doesn't make it 'awesome' (USPW's blows it out of the water). However, with respect to said division, it does boast a couple criminally underrated talents in Karen Bilous and Miss Information. With just a little bit of investment, they could anchor the middle of the card (and even manage to drag decent matches out of the likes of Anna Ki).

 

One thing I would put forth is the relative difficulty involved in growing the European (and UK) promotions. It requires patience. That's not a suggestion, it's an outright requirement. The work Comradebot did with his EWA diary would've gotten the promotion to National (possibly International) with the same effort, if the promotion was based in the US or Japan. It would also be a good idea to go back and read that diary and look at his underlying strategy. He didn't make a mad dash to Cult like so many people do. He worked his area of strength primarily while occasionally venturing out of that comfort zone. It wasn't because he was 'yella' or scared, it's because that was the most fiscally responsible thing to do. This is especially important for Europe because you don't have multiple areas with 90+ community/affluence/importance.

 

Europe is fun but slooooooooooooooow (compared to much of North America and Japan).

 

You're right, it doesn't.

 

Everything else combined with it, however, does!

 

And yes, Europe and the UK both take awhile to grow in. Without cheating, I doubt too many could beat me to Cult in Europe (took me about 3 years), as not only did I focus primarily on Central Europe until it was at about a high C-/low C in popularity, and often ran as many shows as I possibly could without bankrupting myself (thus meaning I HAD to get Central Europe all the way up to a C+ before hitting Cult, simply because I didn't have that lovely nest egg most have when they hit Cult.) That said, a C+ in overness will make you money at Cult with EWA

 

UK will likely take longer. South UK has the bonus of being super Important, but the rest of the nation is just as hard as Eastern Europe or Puerto Rico to get overness in, so... you're in for a wait. Then again, whether its your home region or not, you should probably make the South UK one of the two minimum regions to hit Cult with!

 

Speaking of two... Try to get at least three high enough, if you can. I'm gonna experiment with if its possible to get to Cult in the USA with just Puerto Rico and the Tri-State with FCW (just to see if it works, and because FCW is awesome), but building up a third region isn't too hard once you can make oodles of cash with your home region, and there more regions you're over in, the more cash you can bring in.

 

 

So, new challenge for myself: Grow a local European company to National. With Wolfgang Klose as my star.

[Benrollo]

Having had a fun game with EWA in '08, this thread has inspired me to have another go with them in this year's game. I'm just coming up to my first show, and I think I've got a pretty good roster.

 

I'm most looking forward to booking the all powerful stable The Insane Asylum; led by Doctor Insane in his quest to get the World Title away from Byron and featuring; Bam Bam Johansson, Hercules Johansson, Boris Kiriyakin, Scheming Behemoth (deleted the worker relationship with him and Byron), and The Big Bad. Now that's a force to be reckoned with.

[The Celt]

1. Importance isn't very fair at all in the UK; If you're one area of the UK buys into something the rest will as well. Making the North, Scotland and Ireland less important that the rest of the UK mystifies me greatly.

 

2. Does Menace get guys over super fast on a pop heavy setting even in small promotions with no "superstars" to drag them up?

[Remianen]

1. Importance isn't very fair at all in the UK; If you're one area of the UK buys into something the rest will as well. Making the North, Scotland and Ireland less important that the rest of the UK mystifies me greatly.

 

2. Does Menace get guys over super fast on a pop heavy setting even in small promotions with no "superstars" to drag them up?

 

1. It's very fair. What you're saying is kinda like saying 'if it works in New York, it'll work in Des Moines' which isn't really true. South UK is far more important, both in the view of outsiders as well as business types locally, than say Dublin or anywhere else. The reason is similar to why the Tri State is more important than the South East (London for one, New York for the other). Population centers tend to draw more money than rural (or even suburban) areas by their very nature, after all. That's not to say that the other UK regions aren't important, but they don't have the same draw as the region that includes London (population center).

 

2. Yes. Menace appears to have a different weight than say Sex Appeal, meaning a worker's menace accounts for more in a segment's rating than his/her overness. While I haven't tested it extensively yet, I think Sex Appeal has a 50% weight while Menace has an 80% weight. So, if a diva has say 100 sex appeal and 0 overness, a sex appeal based angle she's in alone will rate 50 while Emma Chase with her 100 sex appeal and 90 overness will get a 95. Menace seems FAR more useful at the low end than sex appeal, due to that (apparent) weighting (though my estimate might be off. I'm pretty sure a worker with 100 menace and 0 overness wouldn't rate out an 80 (B), though I don't think it would be that far short of that).

[atomzero]

Personally, I tweaked my world so that it was easier/possible to get promotions in the other large areas to National. It's still not as easy as U.S. or the others, just easier.

[ajcrible]

Personally, I tweaked my world so that it was easier/possible to get promotions in the other large areas to National. It's still not as easy as U.S. or the others, just easier.

 

What tweaks did you make? How much difference in time/ease was there in growing European and UK regions?

 

Oh, and Comradebot, you mentioned in your earlier post that you could give some info on the tag team scene in Europe. Who are some of the better and more experienced teams? Any potential teams (outside your diary ones) that you may recommend trying out?

[atomzero]

What tweaks did you make? How much difference in time/ease was there in growing European and UK regions?

 

Oh, and Comradebot, you mentioned in your earlier post that you could give some info on the tag team scene in Europe. Who are some of the better and more experienced teams? Any potential teams (outside your diary ones) that you may recommend trying out?

 

Well, I noticed that, in the U.S., in order to make National, the lowest region that you'd have to make it up to 71% importance in was at 85% importance overall. I made sure that every area was made up of at least 75% regions with 85% importance or more, and then bumped up the lower local regions by the same amount that I had to get the others up to 85%. Local areas at 85% or over already, I left alone Here are my new importance levels for the areas in question (not all have changed):

 

UK

South UK 95%

Midlands 85%

Ireland 85%

North UK 85%

Scotland 80%

 

Europe

Central Europe 90%

Mediterranean 90%

Scandinavia 85%

Eastarn Europe 80%

 

Australia

Eastern Australia 90%

Western Australia 85%

New Zealand 85%

Central Australia 65%

 

I only changed the areas where it was nearly or completely impossible to make it to National. I haven't played enough yet to see how much it changes things, but so far, it doesn't seem to have thrown anything out of whack.

[Remianen]

I only changed the areas where it was nearly or completely impossible to make it to National.

 

At the default settings, there is no place in the entire world where it is impossible to make National. Not a single area. Some areas take more time/effort to get there, but they can ALL get there.

[Comradebot]

What tweaks did you make? How much difference in time/ease was there in growing European and UK regions?

 

Oh, and Comradebot, you mentioned in your earlier post that you could give some info on the tag team scene in Europe. Who are some of the better and more experienced teams? Any potential teams (outside your diary ones) that you may recommend trying out?

 

Well, obviously theres the ones (mostly in EWA) that are already signed, namely The Addams Family, The X Force, and Double Dutch.

 

But outside of them...

 

The Youth Bandits (Cannonball Logan and Ian Vincible)

Foreign Legion (Pierre and Jacques DuPont)

The United Nations (Herman The German and Kirk The Turk)

German Machine (Ralph Grimm and Lars Brecher), both of whom have a really good foundation that, if built on, could make either rookie pretty awesome

The Fashionistas (Gianfranco Morelli and Roberto Milano), and Roberto Milano is a legitimate singles star if pushed.

The Elimination Agents (Genocide and Suicide Agent), who are almost unheard of outside the UK, but are still a talented duo with experience

The Party Animals (Trance and Rave) another primarily British duo unheard of in the rest of Europe, but can work there, are just on the right side of 30 still, and are respectably OK workers

The Nigerian Hit Squad (Rashid and Rahabad Lawal), pretty limited wrestlers, but both are incredibly menacing AND they have A* tag experience, which will help cover their flaws

 

That's just about all of them (at least of note). That said, there ARE several talented British tag teams that can also work in Europe, and you can find most of them by looking at the UK companies.

 

And just to remind, there is no shortage of Menacing people in Europe. Bad News Bruno, Boris Kiriyakin, The Big Bad, Bigger Dan Ewe (aka Daniel Jones), The Nigerian Hit Squad, The Snowman, Kalu Owusu (who you should look up, as he's actually talented)... and several others. Tis truly a paradise for someone who loves monsters like I do...

[Comradebot]

At the default settings, there is no place in the entire world where it is impossible to make National. Not a single area. Some areas take more time/effort to get there, but they can ALL get there.

 

It's true, though Australia most certainly leans on the side of "almost impossible".

 

It won't stop me from trying with RAW, however. I figure eventually pumping up my Negotiating skills will allow me to get longer (and hopefully written) contracts, meaning I won't have to worry as often about jobbing a guy down to B/B- overness so he doesn't walk out.

 

Still, Europe makes Australia look like a cakewalk. Aussieland is, hands down, the hardest place to get to National in. Very little great talent, only ONE Super Heavyweight and a handful of Big Heavyweights by default, required to get the 70% Importance New Zealand to a C+ in Importance... and as RAW, I'm stuck with almost no positive relationships, a useless prick of a boss, can't expand your TV show to other markets, and the boss wont' even allow you to have a working agreement with other companies (and I SOOOO wanted one with 21CW!!!)

[The Celt]

1. It's very fair. What you're saying is kinda like saying 'if it works in New York, it'll work in Des Moines' which isn't really true. South UK is far more important, both in the view of outsiders as well as business types locally, than say Dublin or anywhere else. The reason is similar to why the Tri State is more important than the South East (London for one, New York for the other). Population centers tend to draw more money than rural (or even suburban) areas by their very nature, after all. That's not to say that the other UK regions aren't important, but they don't have the same draw as the region that includes London (population center).

 

I get what your saying, but then I wonder why then does the game have separate stats for community size and affluence?

 

Also, I get why some areas need different importance, like the Tri-State is completely different from Puerto Rico or the Pacific North West. But the UK circuit doesn't really have those massive differences in Culture, Wealth and Population (Well, England does hugely outweighs the rest of the UK, but since it's divided into three parts that lightens the load).

 

I think it's more that the rest of the UK needs a slight bump in importance; the average importance of any given area is something like between 80% and 85%, and every UK area outside the Southern UK is like 75% with Scotland coming in at 75%. I believe the UK has the lowest importance in the game outside of Australia's "black hole" of Central Australia.

[atomzero]

At the default settings, there is no place in the entire world where it is impossible to make National. Not a single area. Some areas take more time/effort to get there, but they can ALL get there.

 

Alright, then ignore the word "completely," and focus on the word "nearly." It's that simple.

 

EDIT: My numbers were off. I stand corrected.

[Comradebot]

Alright, then ignore the word "completely," and focus on the word "nearly." It's that simple.

 

But it's not "nearly" impossible to get to National in Europe. Quite doable, and you'll only need to do slightly better than in America or Canada or Japan.

 

In fact, the only one I'd call "nearly" impossible is Australia. But I'm looking to find a way to beat that!

[atomzero]

But it's not "nearly" impossible to get to National in Europe. Quite doable, and you'll only need to do slightly better than in America or Canada or Japan.

 

In fact, the only one I'd call "nearly" impossible is Australia. But I'm looking to find a way to beat that!

 

Yeah, now that I do the math again, you are right. Still, UK would require 87%, which is nothing to sneeze at. I still like it the way I changed it. I like the more even playing field, and if you look at my numbers, you'll see my changes were not all that major.