Booking for popularity

[Krazy Killian]

Ok, so my major problem here is booking matches for popularity. Can someone give me a 101 so I know exsactly how to get the most out of 2 over but appaulling main event workers?

[Irish Wolf]

Yeah I suck at it too. I was doing a Cverse 97 game and built toward a Sam Strong vs Rip Chord main event for my first PPV. Strong is. A* overness A* momentum A gimmick rating. Chord is A overness A* momentum A gimmick rating. The feud had an A* momentum. I ran the match as the main event expecting and A but got a B- instead and its not like either of those guys were lacking in ring skills either. I just really suck at overness based booking.

[Comradebot]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Apupunchau@optonline" data-cite="Apupunchau@optonline" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28593" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Yeah I suck at it too. I was doing a Cverse 97 game and built toward a Sam Strong vs Rip Chord main event for my first PPV. Strong is. A* overness A* momentum A gimmick rating. Chord is A overness A* momentum A gimmick rating. The feud had an A* momentum. I ran the match as the main event expecting and A but got a B- instead and its not like either of those guys were lacking in ring skills either. I just really suck at overness based booking.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Ouch. No clue what you did wrong there. Remember what road agent notes you used? Was it maybe overshadowed a super awesome segment immediately beforehand?</p><p> </p><p> If I can get an A out of Terry Lambert versus Marcus McKing, you should be able to get solid results out of Strong and Chord in 97. If they still have the stamina (sorry, no 97 on this computer yet!), have them call a match in the ring, slow built, open, for as close to the expected main event match length as possible.</p><p> </p><p> And be careful with awesome segments before the main event. Usually, it isn't a big deal unless your workers are far better in angles than they are in the ring (which can cause a sizeable penalty if the match is a letdown).</p><p> </p><p> OH, and crowd burnout... that could've caused it too.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> To the first guy... some of the stuff above should help you, too. Ideally, you should have at least one guy in the match with solid performance skills. Even with oodles of overness, T-Rex vs. Giant Redwood will suffer from no-selling and lack of psychology. That said, should you do a feud with a pair of super over guys with lacking ring skills, you need to:</p><p> </p><p> 1. "Protect" the match, by making sure the segment immediatly before it won't massively overhadow it.</p><p> </p><p> 2. High prestige matches can take attention away from the lack of talent.</p><p> </p><p> 3. Play to their strengths. If they don't have good "top row" stats, do NOT tell them to go all out. Slow building, even with a pair of guys not that talented, is a better strategy. If they don't have the stamina to slow build, or are both just too lacking in psychology to do it, then keep the match short and use neither note.</p><p> </p><p> 4. Good gimmick grades and high momentum will help. Try to aim for em!</p><p> </p><p> I once got a B match out of T-Rex vs. Bruce The Giant by having them in a 10 minute cage match for the USPW title by doing these things. Both are pretty awful in the ring, but with overness and very, very careful booking it's doable. It'll take practice, but is well worth it just so you can say "I once got a B match out of T-Rex vs. Bruce The Giant".</p><p> </p><p> And now to wait for someone to tell me they got an A...</p>

[D-Lyrium]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Comradebot" data-cite="Comradebot" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28593" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> 1. "Protect" the match, by making sure the segment immediatly before it won't massively overhadow it.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Make sure the preceding segment doesn't suck a nut, though, because a cold crowd going into the main event is probably worse than a burnt out one in terms of match rating (but not necessarily overall show rating).</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28593" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>2. High prestige matches can take attention away from the lack of talent.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Can they? I'm fairly sure match prestige is only used for filtering by the user. That's what the help file says anyway, and that's the way it was in '05 and probably '08 too. Do you get any notes about it? I've never noticed any, but having said that I don't tend to use high prestige matches often due to the promotions I run.</p><p> </p><p> DO use match styles to your advantage though. If you have ageing mat technicians with great psychology, basics and selling and decent technical stats but hardly anything else, having them Slow Build an Ultimate Submission Match would be a great idea. Likewise, if you have two veteran brawlers in the Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper mould, a Slow Build Cage Match would be better.</p><p> </p><p> Two young flashy spot monkeys that can't wrestle but for some reason got really over would be best served by a House of Fun match (or, if you've edited your matches like I have, a High Flier Ladder match where the emphasis is on the high spots, as opposed to a regular ladder match from the default DB).</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28593" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>3. Play to their strengths. If they don't have good "top row" stats, do NOT tell them to go all out. Slow building, even with a pair of guys not that talented, is a better strategy. <strong>If they don't have the stamina to slow build</strong>, or are both just too lacking in psychology to do it, then keep the match short and use neither note.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Surely a lot of the point of Slow Build is to give an advantage back to older, more psychological workers who know how to work a match really well but often can't keep up a pace over a long period? Stamina should be the least of your worries if you're Slow Building a match that isn't of totally epic length.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28593" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>It'll take practice, but is well worth it just so you can say "I once got a B match out of T-Rex vs. Bruce The Giant".<p> </p><p> And now to wait for someone to tell me they got an A...</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I got a D- out of Dusty Bin vs. Stretch The Chicken Boy once. Proportionately, I think I win. ¬_¬</p>

[Greg McNeish]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Comradebot" data-cite="Comradebot" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="28593" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>3. Play to their strengths. If they don't have good "top row" stats, do NOT tell them to go all out. Slow building, even with a pair of guys not that talented, is a better strategy. If they don't have the stamina to slow build, or are both just too lacking in psychology to do it, then keep the match short and <strong>use neither note</strong>.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> This is correct in that you shouldn't use Slow Build or All Out, but you shouldn't leave this blank, with two unskilled workers. That's what the Overbook note is for. Distract the crowd from how awful the wrestling is, with lots of bells and whistles.</p><p> </p><p> Two guys that are feuding brawl out from the back, up the aisle, into the ring, back out the other side, and out through the crowd, all while the match continues; the power goes out during the match, forcing them to wrestle under the emergency lighting for a minute, before power is restored; a ref bump, bringing out a replacement ref, who is then knocked out, bringing out another ref, but it's not really a ref, it's really Lex Luger under a mask....</p><p> </p><p> Overbooking is exactly what the doctor orders, for matches where nobody can carry the other.</p>