The TCW Thread

[Bigpapa42]

Since no one else has kicked one off, might as well.

 

It looks like the big challenge with Total Championship Wrestling this time isn't a total lack of money ($2.5 million in the bank isn't terrible) or an underwhelming champion. Rather, its a very messy backstage situation. And given the changes to how that is measured, the fact that some top talent are total jerks - looking at you, Joey Minnesota - hurts even more.

 

As we go along, I will updating the first post with tips, suggestions, and other TCW-related informatin that may be helpful to anyone running Total Championship Wrestling.

 

 

The Basics

 

Owner: Tommy Cornell

Default Booker: Joel Bryant

Size: National

Money: $2.5million

Product: Performance Over Popularity

 

Tips and Suggestions

 

Product

• Match-Angle Ratio - the default is 90%, which means you don't actually need to run any angles. But given the Entertainment skills of some of the talent, more angles is probably better than fewer. Guys like Tommy Cornell (obviously), Ricky Dale Johnson, Rick Law, and Eddie Peak can deliver quite well on the microphone.
  
• Realism - the default TCW product has Realism at Medium and is Performance Over Popularity. Lowering Realism one level makes it Performance Equals Popularity, which is a bit more suited to the talent available and often seems to provide slightly better grades.
  
• Match Lengths - at default, the TCW product demands fairly lengthy main events even on TV. Your show will be penalized if you don't meet those requirements. Dropping the expected match lengths is an option.
  

 

Business

• Developmental Promotion - with more money in the bank compared to 2010, there is really no reason not to open up a developmental promotion. Especially when you consider that the TCW product needs workers to be a bit more polished in the ring to succeed and you have a couple of promising young talents on the starting roster who could use a spell there. I usually target something in the High Level Small range ($500k, I think) and go with a touring schedule with one show per week (gets the talent more matches without wrecking them physically). Ota always used to take over a promotion I opened in 2010 but not sure who it will be this time around.
  
• Alliance - to start with, TCW is not part any alliance and don't fit into any existing ones. Someone suggested forming one with the likes of NOTBPW and SOTBPW, maybe even Burning Hammer or PGHW. Its an interesting idea and I'm curious if someone tries it. The possible flaw of trying to use talent trades is that much of the top talent in those promotions does not have much popularity in the US... and yes, popularity matters.
  

 

Suggested Signings

 

This section is going to be relatively unneeded for anyone who is familiar with the CornellVerse. It may help anyone who isn't very familiar with it. As a national promotion and the #2 in the CV, you can sign anyone to a written contract who is set as available to work in the USA and who is not already under a written deal (there are a few exceptions). You cannot sign anyone who is not set to be available in the US until you reach International size (this can be adjusted, however).

 

This is in no way intended to be an exhaustive list. Just some suggestions.

 

• Air Attack Weasel - one of my most regular signings due to his A Selling (used to be A*). He is used as a personal jobber for anyone who needs help with Selling - hello Rocky.
  
• Ash Campbell - 24 years old, decent talent, and a legacy. Not a bad prospect. Also has a snazzy new render.
  
• Bob Casey - same usage as the Weasel.
  
• Bulldozer Brandon Smith - he is 29 and still needs some work but a lot of the pieces are there.
  
• Cameron Vessey - a solid young talent with a family connection to a star with an attitude problem.
  
• Casey Valentine - useful enough on his own, but he has some decent tag experience with Vessey.
  
• Davis Wayne Newton - turfed a bit all the way around but he is still talented, promising, and a positive personality.
  
• Dharma Gregg - she is 32 now but still has great Sex Appeal and Entertainment skills. She is also a manager now but makes a good Personality too.
  
• Ed Monton - let's not restrict ourselves to in-ring talent. Now-retired and unemployed, Ed makes a really good road agent (A Psychology and A* Respect). Plus his son is a reasonable prospect you can also sign for another positive relationship
  
• Ernest Youngman - a top prospect, good personality... not much not to like.
  
• Greg Black - there are a handful of reasons to sign him beyond the talent and popularity. Multiple story options involving his former tag team partner, Benny Benson, whether its reuniting them or a feud.
  
• Greg Gauge - still a must-sign and still available. With Sam Keith gone, the storyline potential for that has disappeared but he is still a great option. Signing him and his brother to form a new core tag team is something I do in almost every CV game.
  
• Joffy Laine - inconsistent but a bright prospect. Good Entertainment skills.
  
• Joss Thompson - has the skills to be a really good midcarder, at least, but almost no popularity in the US.
  
• KC Glenn - immensely talented, young, and mentored by Joey Minnesota. Why wouldn't you sign him?
  
• Kirk Jameson - 26 years old, A star quality, and a good personality. His psychology needs some work but he is often-signed by many people for good reason.
  
• Matthew Gauge - see his brother.
  
• Nigel Svensson - bringing a bit of international flavor, the Swede needs some work on his Psychology but would make a good tag worker at least.
  
• Quentin Queen - graduated from the TCW School but wasn't signed. Has potential.
  
• Remmy Honeyman - just like his bio says, he won't be a star but he is a valuable guy to have around.
  

 

This is obviously not an exhaustive list. Tons of other prospects such as Matt Hocking, Mainstream Hernandez, the Cali Dragons, most of the rest of the MAW roster... There are some guys who have potential but need some real work on their Performance skills (having Psychology below D+ to start) before they can be of real use to TCW.

 

Positive Influences

 

With a relatively problematic backstage rating, this is an area to watch. One of the changes in TEW 2013 is that backstage influence works on a scale related to their position on the roster. So a jobber who is a great influence will not offset a main eventer who is a terrible one. One option is assigning user talent points to areas that will help. Another option is targeting talent that will help. There is a link at the bottom of this post that Jaded put together, and here is a list of workers who have a postiive relationship with a current TCW wrestler, also put together by Jaded.

 

Available

 

• Benny Benson - Greg Black (best friends) - Max tag experience with Benson, reasonably young, pretty popular still, and excellent stamina. What's not to like?
  
• Bryan Vessey - Cameron Vessey (blood relative) - Good performance skills, still young, and decent experience in a tag team with Casey Valentine, who you could also get reasonably cheaply. Looks like a decent hire.
  
• Danny Fonzarelli - Darkness Warrior (loyalty) - A* experience with Fonzarelli, but little else to recommend him.
  
• Eddie Peak - Doug Peak (blood relative) - Unlikely to set the world alight, but has maximum tag experience with his brother and could be worth bringing in
  
• Joey Minnesota - KC Glenn (mentor) - A must have, surely?
  
• Joshua Taylor - Tracy Brendon (married) - If you build a women's division, Tracy is a definite pick. If not, then her sex appeal/star quality/mic skills/charisma would make her a decent enough manager.
  
• Tommy Cornell - Edward Cornell (blood relative) - Eddie is unknown in the US but has the performance skills to go far. My main worry would be that if you signed him Tommy might actually give you an owner goal to push him.
  
• Warlord Pain - Warlord Agony (best friends) - Agony is fairly useless but looks like he'll sign for about $8k a month. If you're desperate to boost backstage, could be worth bringing him in and trying to build him up as a road agent? (Blake Trask pointed out that signing him on a PPA might be a good idea as its less costly)
  

 

Currently Unavailable

 

• Benny Benson - Art Reed (strong friendship) - Currently on a written with PGHW.
  
• Bryan Vessey - Larry Vessey (blood relative) - Currently won't sign for TCW, presumably as he's head booker on NYCW.
  
• Edd Stone - Jeremy Stone, Victoria Stone-McFly, Duane Stone (blood relatives) - All currently on written contracts with NOTBPW.
  
• Giant Tana - Kanishoki (blood relative) - Currently on hiatus.
  
• Koshiro Ino - Haruki Kudo (protege) - Currently only works in Japan.
  
• Ricky Dale Johnson - Charlie Thatcher (best friends) - Currently on a written with USPW.
  
• Troy Tornado - Stevie Grayson (strong friendship) - Currently on a written with CGc.
  

 

 

• Useful Links

Jaded's List of Postive and Negative Locker Room Influences

[LoNdOn]

Not too happy that Sammy Bach isn't higher up the card to be honest, however, he is a face which presents quite a nice option to give him that much deserved push to the main event scene where he can feud with Wolf for the title.

[Blake Trask]

<p>The whole bad match thing asides... actually my main disappointment is that Rocky Golden isn't better. Three years spent main eventing and his stats have barely increased at all. He's spent three years wrestling Tommy, Wolf, Vessey, Keith, Minnesota and has only improved a marginal amount?</p><p> </p><p>

But yeah, the backstage is atrocious. Clearly Charlie Thatcher was holding the entire thing together!</p>

[Bigpapa42]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="LoNdOn" data-cite="LoNdOn" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Not too happy that Sammy Bach isn't higher up the card to be honest, however, he is a face which presents quite a nice option to give him that much deserved push to the main event scene where he can feud with Wolf for the title.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> One thing I noticed about Bach is that his gimmick rating is pretty meh - C- I think. And its too early to change it. Didn't check to ensure that's from the data but I presume it is. That will make it tougher to get him some momentum. </p><p> </p><p> Despite the roster staying relatively static, I like where TCW is. They still offer plenty of storyline ideas and have endless potential. There will still be a bit of a challenge in addressing that locker room, as I mentioned, but still some young talent out there to develop as the next generation of stars.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blake Trask" data-cite="Blake Trask" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The whole bad match thing asides... actually my main disappointment is that Rocky Golden isn't better. Three years spent main eventing and his stats have barely increased at all. He's spent three years wrestling Tommy, Wolf, Vessey, Keith, Minnesota and has only improved a marginal amount?<p> </p><p> But yeah, the backstage is atrocious. Clearly Charlie Thatcher was holding the entire thing together!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Golden always seemed to improve a lot in any 2010 TCW game I played - the value of that high Star Quality. Don't have the game in front me, but he's relatively solid outside of the Selling. Outside of that, his Performance skills are roughly where Law was at the start of 2010. That isn't bad at all. Not ideal for TCW but not bad. I will still probably still bring in a designated jobber for him - Air Attack Weasel once again playing the role of Frodo Jobbins.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<p>yeah I went on a mass hiring spree of friends initially but I dont think that will be the case in the future.</p><p> </p><p>

Though Greg Black is a signing that works in every phase of the game for TCW. He's a good backstage influence, best friends with Benson, and a good worker who already has max tag experience with Benson.</p>

[Bigpapa42]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>yeah I went on a mass hiring spree of friends initially but I dont think that will be the case in the future.<p> </p><p> Though Greg Black is a signing that works in every phase of the game for TCW. He's a good backstage influence, best friends with Benson, and a good worker who already has max tag experience with Benson.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I thought of the addition of Black as well. Seems a bit predictable to put them back together as a team - thought with obvious upsides. If I do sign him, might debut him, then have him turn on his former partner and set up a nice long blood feud. Or having them team together for a short bit and have Elmo turn on Black...?</p>

[Blake Trask]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Bigpapa42" data-cite="Bigpapa42" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> Golden always seemed to improve a lot in any 2010 TCW game I played - the value of that high Star Quality. Don't have the game in front me, but he's relatively solid outside of the Selling. Outside of that, his Performance skills are roughly where Law was at the start of 2010. That isn't bad at all. Not ideal for TCW but not bad. I will still probably still bring in a designated jobber for him - Air Attack Weasel once again playing the role of Frodo Jobbins.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> It's less that I think he's a poor worker (I have long championed that Rocky is-not-as-bad-as-people-say), and more that I think that he should've improved more than he had done from 2010 to 2013. Like I said, he's been main eventing for what by all accounts seems to be pretty much that entire time period, yet hasn't become any better rounded and is only somewhat better as a performer.</p><p> </p><p> So yeah, I'm not being like "Urgh, he sucks", I'm being like "You should be better than you are". If I <em>played</em> those three years Rocky's psychology would be a solid B by now, maybe pushing B+ if he had good destiny and I worked at it. I'm not saying that everyone should develop as much as they would've done had a human been playing or the game world would be ridiculous, just that's a particular example when the stats actually feel off to me.</p>

[3rdStringPG]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Bigpapa42" data-cite="Bigpapa42" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I thought of the addition of Black as well. Seems a bit predictable to put them back together as a team - thought with obvious upsides. If I do sign him, might debut him, then have him turn on his former partner and set up a nice long blood feud. Or having them team together for a short bit and have Elmo turn on Black...?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I like the former suggestion better. Black's heel performance is B+, so he'd be the ideal guy to turn. Since Benny Benson is more over than Greg Black in TEW 2013 (by a good 10 points, I believe), this could be a nice way to set up Black as the jealous partner who can't stand all the attention Benny is getting these days. Also, I wouldn't gamble on turning Benny into a heel due to his mediocre performance as a bad guy - only 52/D.</p>

[D-Lyrium]

One thing to watch is that, if you don't change it, your matches involving main eventers need to be 35 minutes minimum to avoid penalties.

 

You really can't afford length penalties, your backstage is screwing you enough as it is. ¬_¬

 

If it's any consolation (it should be, I'm terrible) my show ratings in the demo were B, B-, B, B- with a B+ PPV. Tommy only wrestled on two of my TV shows and the PPV, and I never lost enough popularity for it to be mentioned in the post-show notes. I checked at the end of the month and the B+ PPV made up for any minute losses I may have taken as I ended 0.2 up on the starting popularity. That's basically all early TCW can hope for. ¬_¬

[Devilb0y]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blake Trask" data-cite="Blake Trask" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The whole bad match thing asides... actually my main disappointment is that Rocky Golden isn't better. Three years spent main eventing and his stats have barely increased at all. He's spent three years wrestling Tommy, Wolf, Vessey, Keith, Minnesota and has only improved a marginal amount?<p> </p><p> But yeah, the backstage is atrocious. Clearly Charlie Thatcher was holding the entire thing together!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> This was my first thought as well. Was really hoping Rocky would be in a position to hold the title without a little help from others this time around.</p><p> </p><p> In terms of backstage, it seems like EVERY backstage environment has been nerfed. TCW's starting rating is about 10% better than SWF's, but they're both pretty poor. I like it this way though, it means the likes of Rick Law become incredibly valuable not just for what they can do in the ring but for what they mean backstage.</p>

[Teh_Showtime]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Devilb0y" data-cite="Devilb0y" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This was my first thought as well. Was really hoping Rocky would be in a position to hold the title without a little help from others this time around.<p> </p><p> In terms of backstage, it seems like EVERY backstage environment has been nerfed. TCW's starting rating is about 10% better than SWF's, but they're both pretty poor. I like it this way though, it means the likes of Rick Law become incredibly valuable not just for what they can do in the ring but for what they mean backstage.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> is it really? TCW's default backstage is around 40 and in my swf game their backstage was 74. I did have diplomacy and leadership maxed for the SWF game though</p>

[Devilb0y]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Teh_Showtime" data-cite="Teh_Showtime" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34911" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>is it really? TCW's default backstage is around 40 and in my swf game their backstage was 74. I did have diplomacy and leadership maxed for the SWF game though</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Hmm, I'm saying this from memory so I could be wrong (and I've since changed a bunch of stuff in my SWF game so I can't check it), but as I recall SWF start around 43% and TCW start at just over 50%? That's with Leadership at 5.</p><p> </p><p> EDIT: Changed 'Diplomacy' to 'Leadership'</p>

[D-Lyrium]

Leadership (not diplomacy until you actually deal with incidents) helps the backstage rating quite a bit. TCW and SWF don't start that far apart if you use the same character traits for both games.

 

Using Inspirational Leader for both, SWF starts at 66% and TCW at 54%.

[Jack Avatar Fan]

<p>I'd like to think that forming an alliance and then bringing in a star that can buff up the backstage environment would be a good idea. </p><p> </p><p>

Hiring Steve Flash seems to be a forgone conclusion at this point. He can really make a difference.</p>

[Bigpapa42]

Steve Flash is a good shout. Dread should make a decent Road Agent. So should Ed Monton, though I can't recall if he has a positive personality or not. Given the sliding scale of influence, though, adding a couple good personalities is not going to offset the jerkbags.

 

Might consider turning new relationships to high and hope they are mostly positive...?

[Jaded]

If you're looking to boost the backstage environment quickly, just made a list of the friends and relatives of TCW's current roster. (Name of the TCW guy is first, then his friend or relative, then the relationship, then my thoughts on signing them.)

 

Available

 

Benny Benson - Greg Black (best friends) - Max tag experience with Benson, reasonably young, pretty popular still, and excellent stamina. What's not to like?

Bryan Vessey - Cameron Vessey (blood relative) - Good performance skills, still young, and decent experience in a tag team with Casey Valentine, who you could also get reasonably cheaply. Looks like a decent hire.

Danny Fonzarelli - Darkness Warrior (loyalty) - A* experience with Fonzarelli, but little else to recommend him.

Eddie Peak - Doug Peak (blood relative) - Unlikely to set the world alight, but has maximum tag experience with his brother and could be worth bringing in

Joey Minnesota - KC Glenn (mentor) - A must have, surely?

Joshua Taylor - Tracy Brendon (married) - If you build a women's division, Tracy is a definite pick. If not, then her sex appeal/star quality/mic skills/charisma would make her a decent enough manager.

Tommy Cornell - Edward Cornell (blood relative) - Eddie is unknown in the US but has the performance skills to go far. My main worry would be that if you signed him Tommy might actually give you an owner goal to push him.

Warlord Pain - Warlord Agony (best friends) - Agony is fairly useless but looks like he'll sign for about $8k a month. If you're desperate to boost backstage, could be worth bringing him in and trying to build him up as a road agent?

 

 

Currently Unavailable

 

Benny Benson - Art Reed (strong friendship) - Currently on a written with PGHW.

Bryan Vessey - Larry Vessey (blood relative) - Currently won't sign for TCW, presumably as he's head booker on NYCW.

Edd Stone - Jeremy Stone, Victoria Stone-McFly, Duane Stone (blood relatives) - All currently on written contracts with NOTBPW.

Giant Tana - Kanishoki (blood relative) - Currently on hiatus.

Koshiro Ino - Haruki Kudo (protege) - Currently only works in Japan.

Ricky Dale Johnson - Charlie Thatcher (best friends) - Currently on a written with USPW.

Troy Tornado - Stevie Grayson (strong friendship) - Currently on a written with CGc.

[Bigpapa42]

Nice work, Jaded. Was already looking at Greg Black, Cameron Vessey, and KC Glenn. Didn't think of hiring Taylor's wife - she might be a good choice to manage him.

[Jaded]

Nice work, Jaded. Was already looking at Greg Black, Cameron Vessey, and KC Glenn. Didn't think of hiring Taylor's wife - she might be a good choice to manage him.

 

I'm trying to get a few lists put together that may help people because I'm holding off standing a 'proper' game until the retail version is out. Coming next (probably in a new thread) a list of a decent amount of the good/bad influences which will hopefully help out anyone struggling with a low backstage rating.

[Bigpapa42]

I'm trying to get a few lists put together that may help people because I'm holding off standing a 'proper' game until the retail version is out. Coming next (probably in a new thread) a list of a decent amount of the good/bad influences which will hopefully help out anyone struggling with a low backstage rating.

 

I was actually thinking of editing your list into the opening post as I think people will find it helpful. Would you mind?

[Jaded]

I was actually thinking of editing your list into the opening post as I think people will find it helpful. Would you mind?

 

Not at all! Editing the opening post with stuff as it comes up is a really good idea.

[Blake Trask]

An even better way of hiring Agony...

 

Just get him in on a PPA. Nobody will sign him because he has no backstage roles, and you can get him for about a $1200 downside. I think he's worth it for the boost.

 

Also I think Larry would take a PPA so it's not a bad quick fix... although I'm pretty sure Larry is himself a negative influence.

[Jaded]

An even better way of hiring Agony...

 

Just get him in on a PPA. Nobody will sign him because he has no backstage roles, and you can get him for about a $1200 downside. I think he's worth it for the boost.

 

Also I think Larry would take a PPA so it's not a bad quick fix... although I'm pretty sure Larry is himself a negative influence.

 

Great spot on the PPA thing! Larry won't sign, at least not at the start - can't even get to the negotiating screen. And you're quite right, he is a negative influence.

 

Oh, for other people who can boost your backstage rating, there's a list of positive and negative influences in this thread. (Contains all American and Canadian workers currently in work, I'll add the unemployed guys once I get a chance.)

[TheGunman]

Thanks for some useful advice. Will come in handy when I restart my TCW game (dropped to Cult due to the backstage killing my ratings and USPW shockingly managing one really good show).

 

And to think that I was preparing to job Benny Benson out and then ditch him originally! Now I might actually need him due to his friendship with Black being one of the few options to improve that backstage rating right away.

[Tempest Kane]

Great thread, very useful and to be honest deserves a sticky or atleast to be linked in a sticky of other such useful threads!

[Jaded]

Great thread, very useful and to be honest deserves a sticky or atleast to be linked in a sticky of other such useful threads!

 

It's linked in the Promotion Tip Thread index, people can keep bumping that if it helps.