The London-Verse

[LoNdOn]

I like this! Very Delirious-esque!

 

Ah, he sees through the veil!

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse%20logos/PWD.jpg

 

PWD - First Show

Blake-Trask

 

 

Initial Thoughts

 

Okay, first things first is of course picking an avatar. As this is about PWD and not the user character, this was largely irrelevant to the review itself; all you need to know is that I went with the standard 5/5/5/5 distribution of the user talents. After a minor mishap involving me forgetting to set the right picture folder, we’re up and running as the new head booker of Pro Wrestling Dynamite.

 

The first thing on my agenda is to check out the product, so I can analyse my roster with a better idea of who fits in and who doesn’t. It’s described as ‘Puro Indy’, which translates to Mainstream, Cult, Modern, Realism and Pure at Medium, with everything else at Low or below; an interesting product to be sure, and largely unlike anything I’ve run across in the C-Verse. That gives us the following notes:

 

Wrestlers are rated much more on Performance than Popularity.

Fans will not be keen on gimmicks, especially if they are highly risky.

In fact, they will not be keen on highly risky anything.

Fans will want to see solid matches with clean finishes, so shenanigans are largely out.

Afternoon TV slots and Mainstream TV stations are a no-go.

Sponsorship will be very tough to get.

The Young Lions system won’t be active.

 

Our match ratio is 80%, Face/Heel Divide Medium, and we have neither a Women’s Division or any T&A.

Our TV match lengths are expected to run 8, 12 and 18 minutes for minor, medium and main, respectively.

Last but not least, our match intensity is 60%, and danger 40%.

 

All in all, a slightly tricky product to get your head around, but with a fair amount of flexibility overall. I’ll be using the default product, but some small tests indicated that my new boss, a retired wrestler by the name of Yatori Ono, is very willing to allow me to play around with it, which is good news for those of you that like to make your own tweaks to the companies you use.

 

 

Backstage Personalities

 

The roster is a decent size, being only slightly over the ideal level for a Cult promotion, meaning that I’ll neither have to scramble for new signings nor be too concerned about bringing in a few new faces. (However, with my first show being tomorrow, that’s something that I won’t have an opportunity to do). As well as wrestlers, I also have a full cadre of backstage personnel, whom I will lay out first.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AdoSonota.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KazuyaOtuka.jpg

 

The announce desk is populated by the duo of Ado Sonota and Kazuya Otuka. The former is a PWD veteran (now retired) and B- rated announcer, whilst the latter is a C+ colour commentator. They definitely aren’t a bad set of commentators for a company of PWD’s level, though I’d want to see improvement from both by the time we reached National, lest they become Jason Azaria and Kyle Rhodes V2.0

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KendoSikinara.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/TakaNatano.jpg

 

Kendo Sikinara and Taka Natano are our road agents (the latter is, as a matter of trivia, the company’s default road agent). Neither of them are particularly great, but they aren’t bad either, so they should more than suit our purposes.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YatoriOno.jpg

 

Yatori Ono, my boss, is set as an authority figure. He doesn’t really have the stats for it (60/51/51 in entertainment) so I’m likely to keep him off-screen, possibly making use of him as a road agent, given he’s only a little behind the other two guys in that department.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/RefereeIchiiIto.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/RefereeTadamasaIshho.jpg

 

My referees are Ichii Ito and Tadamasa Ishho, and here’s where I identify a potential problem area. These are not bad referees, but as a Cult promotion, I should probably be angling higher than what these two guys can give me. Ito is 40 and has only a 66 (low C+) in refereeing, Ishho is a lot younger, 28, but is on a middling C at 62. If they can improve, then this won’t be a problem, but at my size, I’ll be shooting for higher match grades than Cs, which means there’s the potential for dinks.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/BobbySweet.jpg

 

Finally, we have one of the oddities of the roster; a manager named Bobby Sweet. He’s unusual in multiple ways: First, he’s American and can’t speak Japanese, second, he has a measure of in-ring ability (he’s not great, but could probably put on a decent match in a pinch) and thirdly… he’s a manager in a performance based promotion. Of course, I need a few angles, but until Sweet learns Japanese, I’m at something of a loss about how to use him – which is a shame, considering his entertainment skills are a high B+ across the board. He’s also the only guy on the roster on a PPA.

 

Which reminds me…

 

*sets up house show loop*

 

Interlude for commentary on PWD’s position: PWD are strong Cult, with a 63 in popularity across all of Japan, meaning that the worst of the National push is behind them. It’ll be a while before I can hit that level, but we’re beyond that initial stage of uncertainty. Well… I hope. We’ve only got 2.5 million in the bank – with a sponsorship unfriendly product, we could see that vanish in a hurry. House shows are hence pretty important, though it helps to see that we already have a PPV deal in place. Interestingly enough, and presumably owing to our sister promotion, Dynamite USA, we are also reasonably popular (D+s) in America, which should allow us to land a PPV deal over there too.

 

I’ll assess the rest of the roster from the bottom up, with some initial thoughts.

 

 

Roster

 

Openers:

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/JinSasaki.jpg

Jin Sasaki: Sasaki is only eighteen years old, yet in the high brackets for future potential. His performance skills are B-s, as is his Star Quality, Mat and Chain wrestling. His other top rows (other than stand out Puroresu) are middling to low and his physical skills are average, but with a performance line like that, he’s undoubtedly a future big name.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/EddieSwan.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/CleonLewis.jpg

Eddie Swan & Cleon Lewis: The Modern Day Warriors: These two are easy enough to look at as a duo, being a tag team with a little experience. Both are young, very athletic Americans who are good flyers, though neither can speak Japanese (putting them in the same camp as their manager, Bobby Sweet). They definitely look like future stars, although their performance rows will need touching up for that. They’re also members of the Blood Fighters stable alongside top heel Akira Mizushima.

 

Lower Midcarders:

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/HiroshiTakenaka.jpg

Hiroshi Takenaka: Another young athletic worker with no more than decent fundamentals, he works a super junior style. He isn’t bad, but isn’t great either.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/RikutoMatsuoka.jpg

Rikuto Matsuoka: Matsuoka is a fairly generic pretty-boy. Another super junior, he’s not as good as Takenaka, which puts him squarely in ‘mediocre’ territory, especially since he’s 24. Still, his render is gorgeous.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YoshiTsukino.jpg

Yoshi Tsukino: Another for the ‘average’ pile, a puroresu worker whose main feature is strong resilience. Notably, however, he shows up as our sole Next Big Thing.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YukiInoue.jpg

Yuki Inoue: A brawler with some reasonable high flying skills, he continues the theme of having decent young workers who need to develop their performance row some more, something that is definitely a pressing concern for a 26 year old who is a very negative influence to boot.

 

Midcarders:

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/HarutoKagome.jpg

Haruto Kagome: Part of our most experienced team (that’s actually in the tag division), The Triad, Kagome is your typical “Solid but uncharismatic” tag team worker, though he’s actually got better top rows than you’d expect from this kind of worker. At 30, I’d actually label him as a potential star.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KaitoYamauchi.jpg

Kaito Yamauchi: Yamauchi is pretty much the standout of the undercard, 25 years old, quite popular, C+ performance and entertainment skills, and brushing B-s in some of the top rows, as well as having good star quality. Basically exactly the kind of young worker you’d like to get behind and push, and well borne out by his bio. The only issue? A written deal expiring in seven months – this is the type of guy you really don’t want bigger promotions coming knocking for.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KenichiHamisaki.jpg

Ken’ichi Hamisaki: More charisma based than most of his fellows, that doesn’t necessarily make Hamisaki a bad worker. His performance skills are like the guys in the LMC – that is, fairly average, but in his case it’s made up for by a B- in both star quality and all his entertainment skills. Needs a little touching up, but again, another future star.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Kobayashi.jpg

Kobayashi: Resident psycho (with a BADASS render), though he’s more entertainer than nutcase. Solid fundamentals and entertainment and fairly good brawling, but on the other hand, his stamina is pretty dire, which will hold him back in this type of promotion – especially at 36.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KyouKita.jpg

Kyou Kita: Semi-regular partner of Hiroshi Takenaka, and another sweet render. However his stats are very similar, so he’s probably only in the Midcard by a point or two of overness. Another decent-ish super junior.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/OsamuKoizumi.jpg

Osamu Koizumi: Although he is pretty charismatic, here’s somebody that I don’t think I’d miss if his contract came up. He’s another very negative influence, he’s not that great in the ring and he doesn’t have much star quality either. That’s not exactly a winning combination – not somebody I have many plans for pushing.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/PunkTozawa.jpg

Punk Tozawa: Another of our crew of ‘decent, not great’ workers – he’s a step above the people lower down the card, but only a single step, and I’d be worried for his future if he wasn’t that little bit better, considering he’s 28. Still, without improvement, he shouldn’t be allowed much further up the card.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/TaroMaki.jpg

Taro Maki: Our other Midcard standout, B to B-s in entertainment, good aerial and technical skills, C+s in performance – he’s more or less a slightly older Yamauchi, not that I’m complaining.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YamatoMori.jpg

Yamato Mori: Much the same kind of case as Kyou Kita – he’s not substantially better than the guys lower down than him, so there’s probably little in it keeping him in this card position, though he’s got strong physical abilities and star quality to at least bolster his claim to the spot.

 

Upper Midcarders:

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/DEMONTsukuda.jpg

DEMON Tsukada: Definitely one of the most striking characters on the roster so far, he also isn’t half bad in the ring, being a good all-rounder – even his brawling is quite strong. Appropriately he’s on Talk the Talk, Ring Generals AND Show Stoppers, albeit at the bottom of those last two lists. Tsukada looks like a fun guy to play around with and has the talent to justify a push, too.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/DiscoMachine.jpg

DISCO Machine: An entertainer with more charisma than ability, Machine isn’t dire in the ring, but he could definitely improve. High brawling shores up middling performance skills, and with an entertainment row to die for, it’s clear that here’s a guy who earns his keep more on the mic than between the ropes. There’s definitely more than enough room for him on the roster.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/HayateUeda.jpg

Hayate Ueda: The other half of The Triad, and see his partner for much of the details. They’re a pair of very similar workers, so it’s not much of a surprise they’re a team. Younger than Kagome, he’s definitely got promise.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KenMiyamoto.jpg

Ken Miyamoto: I’m… not completely sure why Miyamoto is up here. He’s physically great, and he has star quality, but his performance stats aren’t anything to write home about and his top rows are no more than on par with a lot of the guys beneath him. Definitely not 100% worthy of his ‘next big heel’ label.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KurouFujimoto.jpg

Kurou Fujimoto: Stylistically, Fujimoto stands out from the pack in PWD in that his strengths are brawling and technique, as opposed to the super junior mix of much of the rest of the roster. He has definite potential, and at 30 years old, is just coming into his prime as well.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/ShinyaKurosawa.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse%20Belts/PWDNextLevel.jpg

Shinya Kurosawa: Our current Next Level champion, and looking at his skills, definitely deserving of it. He’s a real oddball of a character (he has black feathers around his neck, for pete’s sake!), but apparently that translates to a pretty great statline. Flashy, athletic, charismatic, reliable in the ring and only 25… this is what you call a future star.

 

 

Main Eventers:

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AkiraMizushima.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse%20Belts/PWDOpenweight.jpg

Akira Mizushima:The main man, our Openweight champion. THE most popular guy on the roster and justifiably so, as he also has the most ability; B+s in most performance stats (an invaluable 81 in psychology), B-s and Bs in technical and brawling stats. He might not be great aerially, but I can already tell that Mizushima is going to be our MVP. A little strange though that he is stated to have ‘joined’ the Blood Fighters faction when the stable’s other members consist of a jobber tag team…

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/DRAGON.jpg

DRAGON: Mysterious masked man DRAGON is almost the evolved form of our undercard super juniors. He lacks entertainment skills, but he has the second highest star quality on the roster, is wonderfully athletic and a great flier with the technical skills to back it up. Not only that… but another B in psychology. Great worker.

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Kato.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Yosano.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse%20Belts/PWDTagTeam.jpg

Kato &Yosano: Our reigning tag team champions, two thirds of the face Heritage Warriors stable, and a booking problem in the making. Simply put; they’re a 100 experience tag team and too good for the tag team ranks. They’re streets ahead of the other teams on the roster. They’re both Show Stoppers, Yosano is both a Ring General and can Talk the Talk, they’re #4 and #5 on the Franchise Players list. They’re both really good workers and therein lies the problem… how are they supposed to credibly drop the belts when no other team is anywhere close to their level?

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/NaokiNakamura.jpg

Naoki Nakamaura: The former best friend of our champion, and fittingly, the second most popular, second most talented guy in the locker room. He hits B+s for his technical skills, and boasts a B in brawling. His performance stats are B-s for the most part, although he too hits a B in psychology. Overall, another guy who I can tell is going to be invaluable to the cause, though I hope he and Mizushima can stay out of time decline, they’re both 34…

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/NoburoNakano.jpg

Noburo Nakano: An 85 in star quality and 79 in menace officially makes him the man with the best look on the roster and our resident badass heel. His skills aren’t that great, considering the calibur of the other main eventers, but he’s definitely no slouch either. At 28, a few improvements could see him become huge.

 

 

Overall, I love the upper card of PWD so far. The promotion exploded into life especially with the main event, which I felt was filled with the workers with by far the strongest characters. However, my main problem so far has been that so much of the undercard just… blend into one another. So much of the roster just seems to be populated by decent-but-not-great young Japanese Junior workers – something that isn’t completely helped by the fact that many of them share very similar skill sets. I get the feeling that the top of the card will be a lot of fun to book, but the rest will feel a bit of a chore. We’ll see if I’m right!

 

 

The Show

 

Alrighty, roll on the show!

 

We’ve got two hours to fill for PWD Explosion – a pretty generous allowance for a Cult promotion and one which makes sure I can get the most out of my roster. Given almost everyone is on a written contract, I might as well use everyone I can.

 

Standing locker room morale is a touch over 80%, bolstered by Ado Sonota deciding to start singing power ballads before the show, something which made me crack up. Serious announcer doing karaoke? I can dig it.

 

Almost everyone on the roster is a positive influence, oddly enough – I’m not sure if a lot of the guys in the back just have similar personalities, but there aren’t many people who don’t tip the scale one way or the other. On the other hand, we have no fewer than FOUR very negative influences; Cleon Lewis, DRAGON, Osamu Koizumi and Yuki Inoue, though DRAGON is the only one out of that group I would consider a tough fire, should he start causing trouble. DEMON Tsukada is also a negative influence, something I’ll have to keep an eye on.

 

Otherwise, we have no relationships in the back (which surprises me, I’d expect a couple between certain workers), so we’re at a solid 80 and unless anything major happens, should probably stay there without a huge amount of difficulty.

 

--

 

The show:

 

We draw 3,616 fans to a 5,000 seater arena, which certainly isn’t bad for a promotion of our size (although Economy is unfortunately only in the E range right now, probably dragging the gate down).

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/NoburoNakano.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YoshiTsukino.jpg

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Noburo Nakano defeated Yoshi Tsukino in 8:01 by pinfall with a Rolling German Suplex. Grade: 69/C+

 

- Definitely not a bad opener. A main eventer tackles our next big thing to ensure he gets plenty of exposure, and the abilities of the two workers carry this to a level above Tsukino’soverness.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Kato.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Yosano.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Kobayashi.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/PunkTozawa.jpg

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Kato &Yosano defeated Kobayashi and Punk Tozawa in 9:31 when Kato defeated Kobayashi by pinfall with a Perfect Driver. Kato &Yosano make defence number 1 of their PWD Tag Team titles. Grade: 60/C

 

- An easy victory for the tag champions, who are main eventers, if you recall. The thrown together tandem of Kobayashi and Tozawa delivered about as well as expected, making this a fairly reasonable match all-told.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/DRAGON.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/JinSasaki.jpg

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, DRAGON defeated Jin Sasaki in 8:27 by pinfall with a DRAGONconrana. Grade: 62/C

 

- DRAGON wasn’t doing anything else, so to avoid ticking off our negative influence of a main eventer, he takes on the guy at the very bottom of the card. Jin’s minimal name value drags the grade down, but his skills drag it back up. Definitely a guy deserving of a push.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/HayateUeda-2.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/HarutoKagome-2.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YamatoMori.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/RikutoMatsuoka.jpg

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, The Triads defeated Yamato Mori and Rikuto Matsuoka in 9:38 when Haruto Kagome defeated Rikuto Matsuoka by submission with a Triad Clutch. Grade: 52/D+

 

- Our first bomb, unfortunately. Given how this was quite deliberate filler, I’m not entirely surprised by the relatively poor grade. Even so, so long as we can avoid too many more of these on the card, it isn’t a disaster… the guys involved just aren’t quite popular enough yet.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/DiscoMachine.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/ShinyaKurosawa.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/TaroMaki.jpg

Disco Machine is in the ring giving an interview. Shinya Kurosawa comes out and enters the ring. After some back-and-forth insults, he attacks, laying Disco Machine out. Taro Maki comes out from the back, hits the ring, and cleans house, saving Disco Machine. Grade: 40/D-

 

- Um… oops. I thought Machine’s charisma would do better here and was proven soundly wrong. Lesson learned. Don’t put midcarders in angles in this promotion.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/TaroMaki.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/YukiInoue.jpg

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but not much in the way of heat, Taro Maki defeated Yuki Inoue in 8:26 by pinfall with an Exploder. Grade: 55/C-

 

- This is pretty much what I expected here. Taro is a very able worker, but he doesn’t quite have the popularity to improve the rating, especially when his opponent is Inoue – who as I mentioned, I don’t rate very highly.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KurouFujimoto.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KenichiHamisaki.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KyouKita.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/HiroshiTakenaka.jpg

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, Kurou Fujimoto and Ken'ichi Hamisaki defeated Silver Rising in 10:40 when Ken'ichi Hamisaki defeated Hiroshi Takenaka by pinfall with a Shiranui. Grade: 57/C-

 

- Kurou and Ken’ichi are a couple of guys I could see myself getting behind in time, and they could well work out as an odd couple tag team to shore up the division a little more. They beat Silver Rising (Kyou Kita and Hiroshi Takenaka) to give both sets of guys something to do, and boost the momentum of the heels.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AkiraMizushima.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/KaitoYamauchi.jpg

In a bout that featured great action and average heat, Akira Mizushima defeated Kaito Yamauchi in 14:34 by pinfall with a Mizushima Driver. Grade: 73/B-

 

- And in the semi-main event, business appropriately picks up – our best worker against our best up and comer makes this a great match waiting to happen, and both men deliver. Akira and Kaito also both got improvement notes, which makes me a happy camper indeed. With guys like Akira at the top of the card, getting good grades off the force of main events should be pretty straight-forward.

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/NaokiNakamura.jpg vs http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/DEMONTsukuda.jpg

In a bout that featured great action and a good crowd, Naoki Nakamura defeated DEMON Tsukada in 19:58 by pinfall with a Naoki Bomb. Grade: 78/B

 

- Unfortunately I asked a little much of the psychology involved here, as I stated Call in Ring and got the ‘match drifted a little’ note. I think without that note, we could’ve had a much stronger B grade for the match. Still, best thing to end the show on is the best match, right?

 

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/NaokiNakamura.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/NoburoNakano.jpg

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AkiraMizushima.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/EddieSwan.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/CleonLewis.jpghttp://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/BobbySweet.jpg

As Naoki Nakamura celebrates, Noburo Nakano comes out and attacks him! After beating him down, he looks to the ramp, where The Blood Fighters emerge! Akira Mizushima has a microphone, and announces that the group is bringing in the baddest man in PWD, Noburo himself. The crowd boos the house down as we go off air. Grade: 60/C

 

- Support roles rated on overness should NOT DINK THE GRADE FOR LANGUAGE BARRIER. Eddie and Cleon did not do any talking in the segment. Why is the grade penalised so badly for the language barrier? That’s very, very annoying. Even so, the angle fulfils its storyline purpose of getting another legitimate threat into the Blood Fighters stable, making them more credible against the Heritage Warriors. 3 vs 3 makes for a decent faction warfare storyline, but less so when it’s 3 face main eventers vs 1 heel main eventer and 2 heel jobbers. In any case, could’ve been better, could’ve been worse.

 

Overall show grade: 70/C+, with the notice that angles hurt the rating.

 

 

Aftermath

 

We make a decent amount from ticket sales (bearing in mind I forgot to add the +$4 across the board) and seem set to continue on decently. Improvement will require better shows than this, but for a first offering, I don’t think this was too bad at all.

 

The first show doesn’t alter my perceptions of the roster a whole lot. The main event cadre are clearly going to be the guys carrying the shows, but that isn’t such a bad thing in most cases. Akira will be able to have a good match with just about anyone and can carry angles too, which is pretty much what you want from your main guy. Nakamura isn’t quite as good on the face side of things, but I don’t doubt he could pull a good rating from the majority of the heels. The Midcard could do with some more beef as it stands and some of those lower-level juniors just need to flat out get better in order to distinguish themselves from the pack, but overall, I can see PWD being a fun promotion to book with enough challenges to keep it very interesting.

[LoNdOn]

A BIG thank you to the gracious Blake_Trask for writing this review. A thoroughly comprehensive read that I hope you will all enjoy.

 

One more review for PWD should be on the way in the next couple of days, so keep an eye out for that.

 

Please let me know what you think of the review and of course pat Blake on the back for her fantastic work.

[Derek B]

Nice review, and some of those renders are awesome in case you didn't already know that Naked-London.

[BHK1978]

I have been floating a few ideas around the old noggin' (English slang for head) for ways to promote this mod and I think I may have stumbled upon a good one.

 

I'm thinking about getting a board member to book one show as the recently completed PWD promotion and post their thoughts on the event and roster in general in a review of sorts. This would give the board a greater insight into what the promotion will have in store when the London-Verse is released. Instead of giving my view on the company as a creator, it might be more beneficial if an "outsider" with a fresh pair of eyes did this to give the perspective of someone who will see the universe as a brand new entity so to speak.

 

I would like to hear feedback on this idea and anybody interested in booking a show and writing a report, please get in contact with me via this thread or PM.

 

Cheers.

 

I think this is a great idea, you might want to post these reports in the diary section. That way you can open it up to an audience that might not check the mod section.

[LoNdOn]

Nice review, and some of those renders are awesome in case you didn't already know that Naked-London.

 

I'm hardcore, I'm hardcore!

 

Thanks Derek, glad you like the renders.

[LoNdOn]

I think this is a great idea, you might want to post these reports in the diary section. That way you can open it up to an audience that might not check the mod section.

 

Thanks man. I was actually considering doing this as a place to store all the reviews.

 

I think I may just do that.

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/Riddle.jpg

[Astil]

A very nice little gloss over of one of the London-verse companies. If for nothing else than the amazing renders, I will be downloading (although I suspect I will spend a lot of time playing it)

[LoNdOn]

A very nice little gloss over of one of the London-verse companies. If for nothing else than the amazing renders, I will be downloading (although I suspect I will spend a lot of time playing it)

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement although Blake_Trask deserves the vast majority of the credit for the write-up.

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/LucianVonFlue.jpg

[juggaloninjalee]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/LucianVonFlue.jpg

 

This guy looks like a potential main eventer in a bigger promotion!

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AJBennett-2.jpg

[LoNdOn]

This guy looks like a potential main eventer in a bigger promotion!

 

He is indeed in a big promotion but that is all I will say for now. Have to wait until the next Promotion Review to see exactly where he is.

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/MrFlawless.jpg

[TheEnforcer]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/MrFlawless.jpg

 

Y2J? Great work!

[Rone Rivendale]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AJBennett-2.jpg

 

Almost looks like an alt for Fluffy.

[ChrisKid]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/MrFlawless.jpg

 

Reminds me of Marc DuBois

 

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/AJBennett-2.jpg

 

Dig this render

[LoNdOn]

Y2J? Great work!

 

Hmmmmm, I can see what you are saying there. However "Mr. Flawless" is a lot closer to another grappler in style and gimmick............I fear I have said too much.

 

Almost looks like an alt for Fluffy.

 

Sadly not. The gentleman in question is the lead vocals of a goth band. Also he is extremely pretentious about it.

 

Reminds me of Marc DuBois

 

 

 

Dig this render

 

Thanks. I can certainly see the similarities.

[jhd1]

Hmmmmm, I can see what you are saying there. However "Mr. Flawless" is a lot closer to another grappler in style and gimmick............I fear I have said too much.

 

Sebastian Curtis! I'll not spoil it for everyone else, but I'm assuming Curtis and Flawless share a common influence?

[ChrisKid]

Sebastian Curtis! I'll not spoil it for everyone else, but I'm assuming Curtis and Flawless share a common influence?

 

i get the "Curtis" reference

[LoNdOn]

Sebastian Curtis! I'll not spoil it for everyone else, but I'm assuming Curtis and Flawless share a common influence?

 

They most certainly do.

 

The character has been on my "To render" list for months now! Finally got him done last night.

 

EDIT: Do not try to eat a sandwich and type at the same time. Typing suffers as a result of the delicious Thai chicken.......

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/MarcusStill.jpg

[juggaloninjalee]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/MarcusStill.jpg

 

He looks like a rugged old school brawler.

[LoNdOn]

http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx252/LoNdOn_BeAsT/London-Verse/PrinceJagadev-2.jpg