Puroresu Thread 2016

[Infernalmiko]

This is a continuation of the TEW 2013 Puroresu Thread.

 

Much of this is still true. Tokyo is still far and away the center of pro wrestling in Japan. If there is ever a 100/100 region in the game it'll be Tokyo. Respect is still important, and the indy scene is still sleazy fun. The biggest change is the internationalization of Puroresu. New Japan, the #1 romotion in Japan by a wide margin, has made expanding into the Mexican, US and other foreign markets a key part of their growth strategy. On the Joshi Puroresu side Stardom has made a point of holding shows in California, creating an official English webpage and creating a subscription channel on youtube. How well this expansion will work we'll see. It already got the WWE's attention enough that they signed away several of NJPW's stars and is trying to hire away all the other main eventers as well.

 

The internet has also allowed even smaller promotions than ever before to broadcast shows. NicoNico is a video sharing site that has been at the forefront of this. If you can draw 50 fans to a packing lot you can have your show on NicoNico.

 

I plan to start a 5SSW game as soon as the full game releases? How about everyone else? I might also look at BHOTWG. I'm not sure about them no longer touring, but not every promotion in Japan tours, so it may not be a big deal.

 

Puro Threads:

PGHW

BCG

BHOTWG

WEXXV

5SSW

[Jaysin]

If I was trying to get a feel for GCG and BCG, what real world promotion should I watch?

[Yokai]

If I was trying to get a feel for GCG and BCG, what real world promotion should I watch?

 

Probably NOAH or old school AJPW.

[Use Your Illusion]

If I was trying to get a feel for GCG and BCG, what real world promotion should I watch?

 

I suppose Pro Wrestling NOAH? Alternatively Wrestle-1, which is Keiji Mutoh's promotion (hence Kudo being very similar to him).

 

Both GCG and BCG are quite different from each other though.

[Jaysin]

BCG and GCG have identical products. So that's why I lumped them together.

 

I was thinking of how to try and incorporate some super juniors into it without venturing too far from their base product.

[Use Your Illusion]

Puro promotions are definitely my fave. I've got two saves ready with PGHW and BHOTWG for when the full game releases. I found Pride super easy to get up and go with, BHOTWG is quite bloated and has quite a bit of deadweight. In saying that KC Glenn is fn' MONEY and all of your top workers will let you know that. I always steal Matthew Keith wherever I am, and already have him at Upper Midcard as he just never loses. Grooming both of those two for top spots definitely.

 

Even though it doesn't 'do storylines', I run them anyway. New Japan most definitely has long running storylines and I tend to base them from there.

 

Still bringing in Buddy Garner of course, he is always down for a good deal and can bring it like previous games.

[Infernalmiko]

I suppose Pro Wrestling NOAH? Alternatively Wrestle-1, which is Keiji Mutoh's promotion (hence Kudo being very similar to him).

 

Both GCG and BCG are quite different from each other though.

 

Product wise most of the puroresu promotions are pretty similar. Realism is Key, Pure is medium. Intensity is high and danger between 15% and 40%. I'd compare GCG/BGC more to post split AJPW with a mix of 80's AJPW. Kudo joining GCG is clearly influenced by Muto going to AJPW. The difference between BCG and GCG is more philosophical instead of ring style.

[Sudo_Nym]

How do you book tours? Do you do squash matches or match up main eventers? Lots of six man tags? How much of the roster do you use on any given show? How many shows a week?

[Lex Star]

I don't know anything about Puroresu in the C-Verse, because I play almost exclusively in North America. What I do know though is that when I hit National, if he's available, Razan Okamoto will be immediately signed and sent to development "To work down there" and get North American exposure (and learn English) before debuting on the Main Roster. His stats really lend themselves well to being a good draw for any National+ and he could theoretically be the Figurehead for ANY product, even USPW or SWF.

 

I have tried a few Japanese games, where I make a small or regional company of my own, but I never could get into them really. Maybe 2016 will be the year I stick with a Japanese game.

[Infernalmiko]

How do you book tours? Do you do squash matches or match up main eventers? Lots of six man tags? How much of the roster do you use on any given show? How many shows a week?

 

The early matches in the card are usually young lions against veterans and each other, so they can build up experience by losing while their opponents get easy wins. Sometimes i'll do lower mid vs lower mid to liven things up, but mostly squash. Mid card is more even matches and the spare main eventers getting wins over more credible opponents. This is also a good place for a young lion to start getting a push, probably teamed with a veteran. Top couple of matches are tag or six man matches with an upper mid on each side so there is a job boy. I don't follow this exactly, but it's a good general guideline.

[Hashasheen]

Booking for puroresu is pretty easy, though I will say I consider it far easier to do so under the touring schedule because you can have a month or two off to plan and bring in signings. As an example, here's a generic version of a script I tend to run across the first month of a three month tour.

 

Month Prior To Tour:

 

1. "Run" a press conference noting whose been signed on for tours, whose become a loyalist, whose leaving, some big matches or titles matches. It gives you milestones to reach during the tour, as well as helps fleshing things out as you book backwards from the final show of the tour.

 

2. I usually arrange a working relationship with one company during this time, and sign three to five of their guys for the touring schedule. As part of the working relationship I say that these wrestlers will have the opportunity to challenge for my championships as part of their tour runs, but have to be worth yof it. This allows me to spend a month teasing them getting their no.1 contendership matches on the first annual big show I have, which then leads down the line into title matches at the second annual big show, and maybe a rematch at the final annual big show.

 

3. Tournaments. Tournaments of any sort are an easy way to build simple stories. I like to use a singles round robin tournament and a tag team round robin tournament usually, but you can also use a single elimination or tag team elimination tournament, do a feature for your young lions or just do a one-night one-off to shake things up.

 

4. Title Changes. Japanese championships traditionally take a while to change hand if singles matches are a company rarity, and I try to take that into account with my booking. A champion will rarely lose their first title defense unless there's a strong impetus for it, and with maybe a dozen big-name title defenses a year at most then you can really stretch out a reign.

 

5. Don't fear the singles match. Even outside of tournaments there's always a chance you can have singles matches with a plan in mind. If you have two tag teams feuding for the championship, you can have them work four different single matches in the lead up to the tag match, splitting the difference as you see fit. You can have veterans squash young lions, or aging midcarders get a respectful last shot at a defending champion or even bring in outsiders for a couple of one off fights simply for the sake of leaching their popularity. Just remember not to burn out your top matches in the pursuit of pop gains, and that you're in the promoting game as much as you are the booking game.

[Shinsuke]

Any thoughts about how to work the new TEW16 tv deals into traditional touring schedule?

 

It seems with a "normal" tv deal for a weekly tv show, we would have to actually book a weekly tv show instead of footage from regular tour shows being aired. I was wondering if it would not be much more realistic *not* to have a weekly tv show but to sign a tv deal for events and air the occasional weekly event via this option.

 

I have not gotten around to trying it but seems like a viable option to me. Opinions? Has anybody given this approach a shot already?

[Lukiep8]

Yo yo yo yo yo.

 

Can anyone confirm if the touring system has been fixed and is somewhat realistic, or is it the same as last time?

 

I could check myself, but motivation....

[BHK1978]

Seeing how people mentioned 1980's AJPW in this thread, I was wondering if someone could post their thoughts on what the product settings would be for 1980's AJPW and New Japan.

[Lukiep8]

Both products changed drastically throughout the 80's, so when in particular?

 

When Choshu went to All Japan it changed the product considerably, and when he returned to New Japan it changed New Japan considerably.

[BHK1978]

Both products changed drastically throughout the 80's, so when in particular?

 

When Choshu went to All Japan it changed the product considerably, and when he returned to New Japan it changed New Japan considerably.

 

I was thinking 1985. I was reading up on it and was trying to figure out when the MMA influence entered into the product (Late 80's-early 90's I suppose).

[JurassicPower]

I'm making a joshi mod for Cornellverse. It'll change none of the default companies or characters but it will add nearly 200 more young workers with low stats who may or may not amount to anything depending on how they're nurtured. It'll be named Cornellverse: The New Generation. If it's a success, I'll continue it by expanding on the puro scene.

[Infernalmiko]

I can't comment on how changes have effected the game yet. I'm playing with mod stuff while letting all the patches come out.

 

Both NJPW and AJPW early on had higher Traditional since Face/Heel was used, with the Americans usually the heels. Going into the 80's AJPW had alot in common with American pro wrestling, with slower builds, frequent tainted endings and use of heels. But Americans as heels was starting to go away by this point and when Choshu came in 1983 with his faster paced Lariat Pro Wrestling style. Later on UWF forced another shift with it's emphasis on clean, decisive finishes.

 

If you want a broad overview check out this article on Strong Style and Kings Road.

[Infernalmiko]

Added links for BCG, BHOTWG, and WEXXV. Will probably do a 5SSW thread this weekend unless someone beats me too it.

[White Dolphin]

<p>Apologies for the necrobump on this, but I have an interesting question......</p><p> </p><p>

What is generally considered an acceptable ratio of singles matches to tags to run on a given card? Obv it might vary from promotion to promotion, but from what I'm seeing in the NJPW diary being run and some of the IRL card descriptions, its not uncommon to have a card containing like 2-3 singles bouts and then 4-6 tags.</p><p> </p><p>

The reason I ask is I'm heavily considering running a BHOTWG diary, but I'm the kind of guy that wants to use everyone in my fed on a card to make them better and keep them sharp. With a 64 man roster, and running a 10 match card, if i run like 6 singles/4 tags I'm not gonna have enough room on my preshow to fit the remaining 25-35 workers that easily. Obviously he CVerse Japan feds and IRL Japan feds aren't perfectly aligned by any stretch, but would it be ok to run something like 3 singles/7 tags?</p><p> </p><p>

Also, is it common for wrestlers to never wrestle a singles match for months, and just stay rooted to their tag team/stable unit for in-ring appearances?</p><p> </p><p>

Also, how often are Triple Threat/Fatal Four Way matches run?</p>

[Rainmaker]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="White Dolphin" data-cite="White Dolphin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="41337" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Apologies for the necrobump on this, but I have an interesting question......<p> </p><p> What is generally considered an acceptable ratio of singles matches to tags to run on a given card? Obv it might vary from promotion to promotion, but from what I'm seeing in the NJPW diary being run and some of the IRL card descriptions, its not uncommon to have a card containing like 2-3 singles bouts and then 4-6 tags.</p><p> </p><p> The reason I ask is I'm heavily considering running a BHOTWG diary, but I'm the kind of guy that wants to use everyone in my fed on a card to make them better and keep them sharp. With a 64 man roster, and running a 10 match card, if i run like 6 singles/4 tags I'm not gonna have enough room on my preshow to fit the remaining 25-35 workers that easily. Obviously he CVerse Japan feds and IRL Japan feds aren't perfectly aligned by any stretch, but would it be ok to run something like 3 singles/7 tags?</p><p> </p><p> Also, is it common for wrestlers to never wrestle a singles match for months, and just stay rooted to their tag team/stable unit for in-ring appearances?</p><p> </p><p> Also, how often are Triple Threat/Fatal Four Way matches run?</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> 1. The ratio of Tag/Singles matches are completely dependent on the company/booker. As you noted, NJPW run a large amount of 6-man, 8-man and general tag matches due to having a large roster and a stable warfare in their company constantly running. NOAH tend to favor 2 on 2 tag matches. DG are renowned for having glorious 6-man matches. And so and so on for different promotions. With BHOTWG, I'd personally reccommend the NOAH way as they are pretty much NOAH in C-Verse form but with the big roster you might want to look into 8-mans. The ratio (singles/tags) I run for my Real Japan Pro Wrestling (Real World) save is around 3/5 for TV and 5/6 for PPV's and Tours.</p><p> </p><p> 2. A lot of lower down guys will pretty much remain in the tag team division until it's time to be brought into the Main Event or compete in singles specific tourneys. It's why you have guys like Finn Balor/Prince Devitt who go through half a dozen tag championship reigns before being over enough to be brought into the singles scene. So yes, it's normal.</p><p> </p><p> 3. Not very often at all.</p>