The IPW Thread

[Matt_Black]

I've never seen a specific thread for this company, so I thought I'd start one, as I've decided to give them a whirl.

 

The Bad: Small company, and the owner, Gil Thorpe, can be a bit stubborn at times. "I need sexy ladies on my show! No, I won't let you start a women's division!" Also, you have no locker room leaders at the start, Avalanche Takano is isolated by the language barrier, and your starting tag team champs are HUGE pains. The first two issues backstage are easily remedied, as we'll discuss in a moment. Finally, you've got a lot of green, untested talent.

 

The Good: $$$! You start with $2.5 million! Woo-hoo! The only other company nearby of similar status that has more at the start is EMLL; clearly, El Bandido invested wisely. So, a lot of the problems mentioned above are easily fixed. Hire as many locker room leaders as you need! Hire people who speak Japanese! Splurge on backstage perks and throw out bonuses!

 

Further, go ahead and up the production values to match any competitors.

 

Now, let's look at the roster...

 

The Main Event- You've got Aldous Blackfriar, Hustle Muvva, and Frantic Ali, who are all decent, if young, talents. You've also got Lil Henry who's... well, he's big. You're going to need to book him carefully so he doesn't get gassed.

 

The Upper Midcard- Of these guys, Lug Phelan is the one to keep the closest eye and groom for the future. IPW's product is brawl heavy, and he's one of the best brawlers on the starting roster. Fiasco Fierce is charismatic, but depending on the owner goals, you may be forced to cut him, as he's had problems with the law. Get rid of Sanchez Villano, he's a backstage cancer. Finally, the Masked Stranger. He's alright.

 

The Midcard- You have Aldous' stablemates, the Night Terrors, Babau and Moroi. They're good, but they also work for SAISHO, so you've got to keep an eye out for scheduling conflicts. T-Bone Bright is a bright young prospect. E-Z, co-tag champ and partner of Sanchez, is a pain in the hiney in his own right. Finally, you have an evil clown and a cowboy. The former is, along with Lug, Muvva, and Ali, a Decent brawler. The latter is your starting Californian champ.

 

The Lower Midcard- You have ANOTHER evil clown. You've also got the tag team of Barnaby and Rudge. Finally, there's Deadly Deadshot, who's alright.

 

Openers- You've got Keiji "Avalanche" Takano, who's got some upside once you deal with the language barrier, and Stanley Axis, who I often am at a loss as to what to do with.

 

Other Staff- You've got two managers, Cindy (who's dating Hustle Muvva) and Anslem Briggs, Lil Henry's manager. The latter's okay, but you'll need some other mouthpieces. Nemesis is your Road Agent, which is a waste, because he's ridiculously over and has great entertainment skills. Unfortunately, unless you've picked him as your avatar, he refuses to be put into any position where you can actually utilize those talents.

 

You've got two starting storylines, but you don't need to run storylines, so that's good. Furthermore, IPW doesn't use faces or heels, so that will help avoid repetitive booking. (Not that you can't afford to bring in more talent to keep things fresh).

 

So, who else do you guys hire? What sorts of strategies do you recommend?

[King Bison]

<p>Glad to see this thread started! I had considered starting one myself but never got around to it. </p><p>

I think IPW is a truly underrated promotion within the cverse. They have some really solid talent, especially at the top of the card and enough money to do whatever they want while pushing towards growth. Their product doesn’t start out too sponsor friendly but they have enough money not to care which is nice. </p><p> </p><p>

When I play as IPW I like to hold the roster strong for a bit while I wait for the bigger companies to start making some cuts to their talented undercards. Guys like Spencer Spade, Primus Allen and the Masked Patriot are cut from dev by SWF, TCW will ace Killer Shark and Biggs, USPW gets rid of Running Wolf. All great talents that can help IPW and don’t look out of place. </p><p>

As far as talent currently available at the start goes, Hells Bouncer is a good one and he has the DAVE connection with Nemesis. I also like to grab Kip Keenan back because he’s gold and I hate that he left jack Griffith is a solid veteran with not much else going on so I’ll try and scoop him up if I have room for him.</p>

[Matt_Black]

<p>Hell's Bouncer is only a good choice if USPW doesn't snag him first, which I've never not seen happen.</p><p> </p><p>

If you need a hoss from FCW, Mutant is a good backup choice.</p><p> </p><p>

And since you'll need some attractive females on the roster, Dharma Gregg and Roxy Kitten are both good picks.</p>

[Temes1066]

If you're going to grab Mutant from FCW, you should also grab his Tag Team Partner Bull Wrecker as well. As it will mean you'll have another Tag Team (The Wasteland Warriors) and since Bull Wrecker speaks Japanese it will also mean that language barrier issue will be no more.

[King Bison]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Matt_Black" data-cite="Matt_Black" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45904" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Hell's Bouncer is only a good choice if USPW doesn't snag him first, which I've never not seen happen.<p> </p><p> If you need a hoss from FCW, Mutant is a good backup choice.</p><p> </p><p> And since you'll need some attractive females on the roster, Dharma Gregg and Roxy Kitten are both good picks.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I’ve actually never had a problem losing Hells Bouncer early in the game, Roger Cage on the other hand I have yet to ever actually successfully book him on a show before he gets snagged up! </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Temes1066" data-cite="Temes1066" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45904" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>If you're going to grab Mutant from FCW, you should also grab his Tag Team Partner Bull Wrecker as well. As it will mean you'll have another Tag Team (The Wasteland Warriors) and since Bull Wrecker speaks Japanese it will also mean that language barrier issue will be no more.</div></blockquote><p> That’s a great suggestion that I’ve never considered! </p><p> </p><p> A guilty pleasure signing of mine for any small company I play is Lion Heart. He’s an ok brawler who serves me well as a generic face for low to mid level fueds. Mostly I just like the guy but someone to consider to job to your heels if you play storyline driven like I do.</p>

[Matt_Black]

<p>I've signed Roy Edison for the locker room leader role, JOJI because he speaks Japanese and is a positive influence, and the Good Ol' Boys because they're an experienced tag team that won't overwhelm the rest of the roster with their overness (like Death Row), and they're decent brawlers besides.</p><p> </p><p>

After that, I agree with going on a freeze until more workers get released or walk out from other companies.</p><p> </p><p>

Finally, I'd recommend joining COTT. While you've got the money to be aggressive, the first few months might be a bit rough, as the Southwest is a crowded Region. CZCW and GSW, plus the spillover pop from AAA and (eventually) QAW makes it a 5-way race.</p><p> </p><p>

Finally, GSW will make offers to all your guys, but as long as you're aware of scheduling, that will only help you long run. "No, please, don't give my guys more pop and experience." Besides, they don't have as much money as you do, so let them go crazy and drive themselves to bankruptcy.</p>

[Temes1066]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Matt_Black" data-cite="Matt_Black" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45904" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Finally, I'd recommend joining COTT. While you've got the money to be aggressive, the first few months might be a bit rough, as the Southwest is a crowded Region. CZCW and GSW, plus the spillover pop from AAA and (eventually) QAW makes it a 5-way race.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Joining the COTT is a double edged sword, as while it means that CZCW doesn't affect you in Regional Battles, it also means you can't hold shows in the South West, as members of the COTT can't hold shows in the home region of other members.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Matt_Black" data-cite="Matt_Black" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45904" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Finally, GSW will make offers to all your guys, but as long as you're aware of scheduling, that will only help you long run. "No, please, don't give my guys more pop and experience." Besides, they don't have as much money as you do, so let them go crazy and drive themselves to bankruptcy.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Actually, since you start at War with GSW, if your wrestlers sign for GSW they automatically leave your company.</p>

[Matt_Black]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Temes1066" data-cite="Temes1066" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="45904" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Joining the COTT is a double edged sword, as while it means that CZCW doesn't affect you in Regional Battles, it also means you can't hold shows in the South West, as members of the COTT can't hold shows in the home region of other members.<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Actually, since you start at War with GSW, if your wrestlers sign for GSW they automatically leave your company.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I will cheerfully admit to being wrong about the latter (could have sworn some of my guys were pulling double duty, but no- GSW made several offers, but my guys stayed loyal! Bless their hearts.) The former, though? That only applies if it isn't also your home region. You can run shows in a member's home region if that is also your home region. Or, if you can't, no one in COTT has complained about it, since I've run shows exclusively in the South West since joining.</p>

[Gtact420]

<p>I'll share my two cents on IPW,</p><p>

As a small company, the company can be carried by 2-3 good wrestlers. The biggest problem with IPW is that the main event scene is not good enough to compete at the regional battles. Only Frantic Ali is good enough to main event. Aldrous and Hustle may be useful later on depending on their rolls. And Li'l henry is far off. </p><p> </p><p>

However, since you are medium modern as well, you can also use high fliers to begin. The masked cougar and fox mask can help you win the regional battles early on. Remmy Skye and Storm Spillane are also great if you want a deep roster. If you want to stick to brawlers Jake Idol and Bradford Peverell are geat options. Furthermore, the luchadors from OLLIE will also be useful once OLLIE grabs the broadcast deal. </p><p>

With 2.5 mil. in the bank, you can blitz through to cult size if you want. You can start a weekly show and bleed your cash out. But once you hit mid lvl regional, you'll easily make that cash back. The biggest advantage of blitzing </p><p>

early is that you get the opportunity to take over the likes of PSW when they go bust. Which in turn means easy growth.</p><p> </p><p>

BTW, given the lack of hardcore wrestlers, you can start an alliance of your own to get trade going. EMLL, APW, PSW and FCW will definitely join</p>

[Historian]

I've never actually booked IPW, but it's been on my radar as a potential company to go with (where I would play as Nemesis so that I could have him in whatever role I see fit). Being that I've not booked a whole lot of brawl-heavy companies, what do you guys find is the best watch from a match aims/booking philosophy to get the most success out of IPW?