Cornell-Verse 2016 Prediction Thread

[Pteroid]

Matthew Keith will get signed to SWF while his brother Greg Gauge will be picked up by TCW, forcing the two brothers to compete for rival companies

 

Not to be outdone, USPW signs Sam Keith...then find out he doesn't wrestle anymore.

[Kitarzu]

Koshiro Ino returns to Japan and he's the frontrunner of the Modern Japan Movement. His feuds against his mentor Haruki Kudo, Toshiharu Hyobanshi and Magnum Kobe redefined the wrestling scene in Japan.

[Oregano Jensen]

After the events of today's diary, I strongly suspect that one of the new UK promotions will be led by none other than renowned scumbag Ken Flanagan.

[mattman1624]

I'd certainly like to see GCG rise to cult level after all these years without the player having to get them there.

[Wheelz316]

What about the World Wrestling Association, the franchise of training camps? In the current default database, it's set to open in 2015, so they should be active in the new game.

Do you think, it will be more than just a few dojos all over the world? I think it might be a new alliance in 2016 with a ton of money behind them and could possibly be a big player in the cornellverse.

What do you think?

 

It won't be World Wrestling Association. It's WOMEN'S Wrestling Alliance. The members are AAA, CWWF, 5SSW, and two new promotions Ladies of Australian Wrestling, and Federacion Femenil de Lucha Libre. At least, I hope it is. I do it every year in my games.

[LigerLiger]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="macosxjunkie" data-cite="macosxjunkie" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="40720" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>WWE did this far worse than WCW ever did with Mistico/Sin Cara</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> You (don't) know,I never liked Mistico,but,yeah,he deserved better.</p>

[RingRider]

In attempt to appeal the Supreme Network to the widest (and now International) level audience possible, SWF is once-again "family-friendly" and rated PG having lowered the Risque parts of their product.

 

This helps PSW and CGC who see a gap in the marketplace...

[Guest Asaemon]

Veteran Ted Brady finally gets his big break as "The Walking Ted". Half man and half bear, and after being bitten by a zombie he now hungers for your brains....

[tywood2022]

The ideas I am seeing here about Operation Lullaby doing any damage to the SWF are pretty absurd. The whole plan is hairbrained at best. Unless they improved significantly in 2016, I don't see any of the workers getting signed. They are outsider RIPW workers at best. If SWF is meant to partially mirror real-life WWE, then I don't expect any damage to happen to SWF financially or popularity-wise with this scandal. I mean, we are aware of the independent contractor issue now, yet WWE still thrives.

 

I also need to address Christian Faith and Angry Gilmore leaving SWF. I don't have the game in front of me and can't double-check their personalities, but these are two of the most loyal workers the SWF have. Unless some major fallout happens, I don't see either leaving. Unless someone else can step up, they are the two locker room leaders of the SWF. Also, I never even got a hint that Gilmore is not content with his role. He's not the top guy, but he is still the cornerstone. The fact he is ranked #4 in 2012 shows that they are definitely using him well. That being said, pushing him to the top and giving him the world title is always fun in 2013. I wouldn't mind doing it again in 2016.

 

What I can see happening: I like the idea of Vengeance having a last run in USPW, but only if Scythe is in a good position to take over his role. Someone brought up Khoklov going to USPW, but I don't see how they could afford that. I can't really see Khoklov anywhere but SWF, PGHW, or BHOTWG. I would like to see Christian Faith as an Occasional Wrestler instead of officially retired (a la Undertaker or Triple H), but only because I never got to his retirement and that would make me sad. I still see Jack Bruce being the top dog in SWF, but definitely hitting time decline. I never thought of his ring work as being overly demanding, so I definitely don't see him being retired.

 

So who is in a position to move up to the main event scene? Valiant is an obvious contender. Gilmore should, but history says he won't. In every SWF save of mine, Rogue completely outshined the other Chase Agency members. I could definitely see him up there over Brandon James or Huntington. Des Davids is too limited, but he should be at UM in the midst of a successful singles run. Captain Atomic has the same problem of Lobby: his gimmick is not main event material. With the new nepotism features, I could see them featuring this by having Eric Eisen back in a strong place in the card.

 

As for an SWF Network or a new, better developmental territory, I think the game will leave it to us to make these changes. Replacing RIPW was always one of my first moves in 2013. It's pretty obvious, especially when Professor Nero retires after a couple months. I just don't see the game immediately putting you in a place of completely controlling two companies because not everyone may want that (I absolutely do).

 

If you can't already tell, I spent about 99% of my time with the game in SWF, so I don't have too many ideas for the rest of the C-Verse. I see TCW staying about the same and USPW falling to cult without several major additions to the roster. NOTBPW falling to cult is obvious, but I could see the same happening to CGC unless Vibert actually managed to change what I could only see as very stale booking. Maybe I see this because the Canadian industry fell in pretty much all of my games. In the UK, either a second major contender or a few independent promotions would naturally rise up in my opinion. That's about all I got.

[March]

1. SWF has a women's division. Also, following in the footsteps of WWE, they have signed some big name stars from other parts of the world. SWF also has their own Hall of Immortals.

 

2. TCW and NOTBPW have merged to create a powerhouse to rival SWF.

 

3. Another company (XWA?) replaces RIPW has SWF's feeder promotion. It is in the same mold as NXT.

 

4. USPW go out of business after being bought out by SWF. A few of their stars (Nicky Champion, Devine, Running Wolf, Howard, Rayne, their best women's wrestlers) stick with SWF. WPL emerges in it's place with many of their veteran stars, along with some alumni of MAW and CZCW.

 

5. Rip Chord is dead at the start.

 

6. SOTBPW is still the top dog in Mexico, but Ollie has become bigger in the Southwestern US.

 

7. There is a new MMA type promotion. TIER-1?

[RingRider]

Who do you think the best overall worker will be in the new database?

 

I expect Champagne Lover to be dethroned...

 

My choices are Ugaki or Kozue from PGHW or maybe Wolf or Jay Chord in TCW.

[Sudo_Nym]

I would love to see Wolf vs. Jay to be the big storyline in TCW. Maybe Rocky will be upset that he's being passed over in favor of Jay and will take a deal in USPW, which is a more natural fit for his style anyway.

[Remianen]

1. SWF has a women's division. Also, following in the footsteps of WWE, they have signed some big name stars from other parts of the world. SWF also has their own Hall of Immortals.

 

This is exactly what I suspect, which is why I think AAA and QAW's rosters will be decimated (at least the top of the roster). I don't see SWF reaching into Japan to pluck Higa away from 5 Star so it's mainly going to be US based workers. Wouldn't be surprised to see USPW has lost someone (Tiffany Jade or Melody) but if SWF has a women's division, it's going to be built on the backs of AAA and QAW. Mostly QAW since AAA's top workers are a bit long in the tooth (read: old) for SWF. Someone like Grace Harper or J.Ro would seem perfect fits with their sex appeal and star quality but they're mid-30s (40 for Grace) so I think Sara Marie York and *cringe* Zoe Ammis will be taken (maybe Tracy Brendon and/or Talia Quinzel too). But QAW's roster would lose a lot more (Danielle, Foxxy, Alina, Charity, Pamela, Hellcat, etc).

 

We'll see. I have a list of 8 workers I'd be okay with building the promotion around so whatever happens, I'm ready.

[TheOmniWarrior]

I have a gut feeling my favorite worker Mikey James is gonna be locked up in my least favorite company TCW. He's waaaaaaaaaaaay too good to be stuck on the indies and he was already in dev for SWF before... TCW is the most fitting place for him.

[Psycho Sam]

I get the feeling that SWF will decline somewhat thanks to a series of injuries to many of their guys (such as Faith) and will have to elevate new stars to not only combat that, but also with the older guys. (this sounds too much like WWE but it'd be interesting to see SWF have to deal with something similar, and could allow for a wide variety of strategies to try and get SWF into the top spot again).

 

also: someone could say something racist? not at the beginning, but probably as a future event, again leading people to have to deal with this. Someone probably big enough that you'd have to tank a hit.

[Devilb0y]

I have a gut feeling my favorite worker Mikey James is gonna be locked up in my least favorite company TCW. He's waaaaaaaaaaaay too good to be stuck on the indies and he was already in dev for SWF before... TCW is the most fitting place for him.

 

Wait, when was Mikey James in RIPW? I don't remember that at all.

[Self]

This is exactly what I suspect, which is why I think AAA and QAW's rosters will be decimated (at least the top of the roster). I don't see SWF reaching into Japan to pluck Higa away from 5 Star so it's mainly going to be US based workers. Wouldn't be surprised to see USPW has lost someone (Tiffany Jade or Melody) but if SWF has a women's division, it's going to be built on the backs of AAA and QAW. Mostly QAW since AAA's top workers are a bit long in the tooth (read: old) for SWF. Someone like Grace Harper or J.Ro would seem perfect fits with their sex appeal and star quality but they're mid-30s (40 for Grace) so I think Sara Marie York and *cringe* Zoe Ammis will be taken (maybe Tracy Brendon and/or Talia Quinzel too). But QAW's roster would lose a lot more (Danielle, Foxxy, Alina, Charity, Pamela, Hellcat, etc).

 

Back before TEW'13 I was hoping that SWF would launch a women's division, but in the classic early-2000's mould. Hot girls who can barely wrestle. BAbes of Sin City on a global stage. I thought it would be a nice counter-point to the workrate promotions out there. In the last few years women's wrestling has changed however, at least in WWE, so I don't know how much I'd predict/want that now.

[Genadi]

If TCW has been bought out by SWF like I fear I will riot.

[gord]

Wait, when was Mikey James in RIPW? I don't remember that at all.

Says in his bio he was there from 2006-07.

[Woodsmeister]

Im hoping late 2015 SWF bought out TCW bringing over their roster so we can book an inVasion angle.

[Bad Collin]

If TCW has been bought out by SWF like I fear I will riot.

 

If it means Cornell starting a father/son run workrate promotion in the UK I am on board with this.

 

Total British Wrestling

[RingRider]

If TCW has been bought out by SWF like I fear I will riot.

 

I'd be shocked if this happened.... USPW being bought out is far more likely... but I doubt either would occur.

[terrybgoode]

This is exactly what I suspect, which is why I think AAA and QAW's rosters will be decimated (at least the top of the roster). I don't see SWF reaching into Japan to pluck Higa away from 5 Star so it's mainly going to be US based workers. Wouldn't be surprised to see USPW has lost someone (Tiffany Jade or Melody) but if SWF has a women's division, it's going to be built on the backs of AAA and QAW. Mostly QAW since AAA's top workers are a bit long in the tooth (read: old) for SWF. Someone like Grace Harper or J.Ro would seem perfect fits with their sex appeal and star quality but they're mid-30s (40 for Grace) so I think Sara Marie York and *cringe* Zoe Ammis will be taken (maybe Tracy Brendon and/or Talia Quinzel too). But QAW's roster would lose a lot more (Danielle, Foxxy, Alina, Charity, Pamela, Hellcat, etc).

 

We'll see. I have a list of 8 workers I'd be okay with building the promotion around so whatever happens, I'm ready.

 

Ahaha, let's be fair here: to those of us keen on the lovely and dangerous CVerse ladies, we're spoiled for choice in about every regard. It's why I find it so hard to stay away - I never find a roster anywhere else packed with so many great workers whose renders and ascribed personalities I adore.

 

I'm actually pumped to see who gets a big break in SWF's doubtless diva-tastic division; I'll be floored if it's not a much-improved Charity Sweet, she fell a bit sadly flat for me with the in-ring skills I value so highly, but Adam isn't limited by a duff destiny roll, after all...

[combolock]

Who do you think the best overall worker will be in the new database?

 

I expect Champagne Lover to be dethroned...

 

My choices are Ugaki or Kozue from PGHW or maybe Wolf or Jay Chord in TCW.

 

Tommy Cornell.

[Oregano Jensen]

If TCW has been bought out by SWF like I fear I will riot.

I just don't see any of the major US companies going under. Think of it this way: each company represents a different way to play the game, so cutting companies limits the game's versatility. The companies that have closed in previous editions of the game, for the most part, have either been replaced with similar options or didn't work that well to begin with.

 

UEW closed, but was replaced with three fairly similar (but more defined) promotions. INSPIRE was insufficiently differentiated from the other stiff, workrate-based Japanese promotions. (If you want to stretch things a bit, you could say it split off into WMMA... the 'worked MMA' aspect wasn't quite an ideal fit for the game's rules.) BSC was a weird hybrid promotion that didn't quite work out of the box. The smaller UK promotions closed in order to make 21CW into a new way to play the game -- a large promotion with no competition in its nation, in which the challenge is maintaining size and viewer interest in a relatively small region with somewhat limited worker overness and talent. (Kind of like a larger-scale version of APW before RAW/DIW/ZEN opened.)

 

I mean, the one exception I can think of is DAVE, but that was relatively early in the cycle. (And we've seen PSW evolve over the years from a deliberately crap version of DAVE, filled with has-beens and untalented garbage workers, to a promotion with some formidable main-event talent and as many legitimate prospects as any promotion out there.)

 

Looking at it that way, TCW is definitely safe -- they're the only one of the big three offering a more in-ring-based style. They're different from NOTBPW on the other end of the spectrum, though.

 

You could argue that, of SWF/USPW/CGC, one of them is expendable... but I'd consider them three very different promotions, if not in terms of product then certainly in the way they play. SWF is the no. 1 promotion in the world, with more talented workers than they know what to do with -- but because they're no. 1, they have to take everyone's best shot.

 

USPW is no. 3, and moreover, they have a real shortage of talented workers. (And strict content limitations, and an institutional bias against lightweight or even middleweight talent, if you choose to play them canonically.)

 

CGC falls between the two -- they have some very talented workers, but a lot of them are trapped behind the DeColts/Elite rivalry -- which is certainly still viable, not least because of mic skills/star quality. Still, many of its principals are aging, and half of them aren't anything special in the ring, so the path forward for CGC isn't about choosing who to push like SWF, or completely reworking a stale main event scene like USPW. It's about managing that transition... you have enough talent to succeed without major signings, but not more than enough, and some of it will need to be cultivated. (They're also in Canada, which is a different experience than playing in the US even if the worker pool is basically the same.)

 

Anyway, that's how I see it. I could be wrong, but I'd be shocked if they closed any of the major North American promotions.