AAA appreciation thread: "where are they now"

[Blackman]

This is one of the companies that truly broke down. NOTBPW/CGC/4C didn't REALLY die as they sort of live on in the new mixed-up promotion (not sure how I feel about that yet ). I don't expect a lot of people were crying over this loss, but AAA diaries happened in the past and it has been around since the get-go so I'm sure it has a spot in the vets' heart, at least those that care about women's wrestling. I've noticed people posting they were hoping that the women got more exposure in the C-verse. Unfortunately that didn't quite happen as USPW and CWA (now) have stuck with their divisions. CWA didn't even bother to continue the NOTB title history (that they own FYI; the opportunity for the player to do so is now lost) which is a big blow to some of the women who were stakeholders in that history. In theory - with the integrated changes - there's more potential spots to work, but in practice, there's less active wrestlers in the active/playable promotions.

To save you from figuring out where everyone went and what the significance was of AAA as a company, I've staged a little 2018 reunion before the closure with the 6 most influential workers that came forth of this little promotion after the millenium shift. (I had to rerender them obviously as the artist is long retired from this forum. The renders look younger than they are, but they're meant for CV97)

 

 

 

 

(from L to R)

 

 

Catherine "The Cat" Quine -

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3-time champ & the last owner, who took up a bunch of roles within the company. Cat now left the business, but leaves her stepsister Jaime on top, who is one of the USPW mainstays and one of the top5 most popular workers in the North America.

 

Joanne "J-Ro" Rodriguez -

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4-time champ, CZCW alumni and currently hosting a popular podcast that finally got her some recognition. She's retired but can be brought back as a manager, road agent or colour commentator (for about 400$PPA), which I'll highly recommend, especially as CZCW as her protege works there.

 

Wanda Fish "The Dish" aka Belle Bryden -

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5-time champ (co-record holder with inaugural owner Anne Stardust) and 3-time USPW champ, currently doing the colour in the biggest promotion in the world and still one of the most recognisable names. Would also be an excellent manager (can be used as a road agent, but I wouldn't recommend it).

 

Farrah Hesketh -

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3-time champ who had the longest title reign in the promotion (15 months), cut short with a career-ending injury, which kind of kickstarted Wanda's career. She is the current owner of QAW and will stay there until they fold, filling out whatever is needed there.

 

"The Angel of the Dark" Raven Nightfall aka Raven Robinson-

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2-time champ and 3-time USPW champ. She was the first to capture all 3 titles in AAA. She's still semi-active in USPW and quite over, and wouldn't mind a full-time schedule again, though her love for promo work has taken her to managing male up-and-comers.

 

Sara Marie York -

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3-time champ and 1-time USPW champ and current star of USPW. Great babyface and an amazing asset to any locker room, even when she retires, which I don't think will happen in at least 5 years.

 

 

RECENT ALUMNI (with some rerenders attached that are my personal favorites)

 

 

 

Jaime Quine -

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Became 3-time champ after her stepsister took over as the owner, and I figures she nudged her to make her the focal point (because of course she would ). It secured her a position on the most ludicrous division in the industry, where she is now the (USPW) champ.

 

Cherry Bomb -

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Never got the strap in AAA but did hold the USPW belt. She booked the last events and now moved on to QAW as a road agent. Can also be approached for colour and managing duties and is known across America.

 

"The A-list" Nadia Snow & Demelza Wade -

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The arguably most popular tag team in AAA, which didn't translate itself in a multitude of title reigns. Wade ended up getting the title push twice, probably because she's slightly more entertaining and the veteran, but Snow should get her push soon. She now "holds court" in CWA and is getting over quickly, but still shares the locker room with her friend. Here's some A-list renders from JSilver in case you want to revitalize the gimmick:

 

 

Suzanne Brazzle

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didn't find a follow-up job and seems to be closing out her career in the indies, though a final run with QAW would be a viable option. If your backstage is too dull, consider bringing her in for a manager/road agent/colour position while she's having her last matches.

 

Paige Croft

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saw the closure as an opportunity to head over to Japan in an effort to generate some great matches alongside fellow technicians like Shiori and Megumi. She definitely found her stride and tasted gold already, but is still living in the US and wouldn't say no to QAW I reckon...

[unsure whether this is an oversight, as the profile says she "headed to Japan", but I guess it makes sense for tours]

 

Steph Blake & Zoe Ammis

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were AAA regulars. Only Ammis got signed to CWA and is not getting over thàt much to secure a title run in that stacked division. Blake was the third and last Triple crown winner in AAA (after Wade) and is likely to retire with that highlight unless the player intervenes. These renders from JSilver are more true to the originals for the C-verse vets out there:

 

 

"Good Lookin' Bunny" Kathering Goodlooks & Jessica Bunny,

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as can be expected, had trouble finding an entertainment-based promotion. Katherine is the youngest and is still a talent. CZCW might be a fit there, but it's a bit of a gamble. Renders from JSilver:

 

 

"Lilly & Rose" Kate Lilly & Debbie Rose

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are underrated tag team specialists and imho would be a great addition to any division. The problem is the existing divisions are quite small, so QAW seems to be their only hope, unless Belle's influence in USPW increases to get them to sign Debbie. And Kate is one of the flashiest women in the business. They got nice updated renders, so sign them, damn it!

 

"Miss Reliable" Wendy Anderson

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worked a lot on her match structuring and got rewarded with a USPW contract and seems to be just fine without The Cat being around to guide her.

 

[anybody got a good rerender for her?]

 

"Wild Times" Vixxen & Devil's Daughter

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were already split up. The younger half still works the indies as a manager, but is not a great pickup and probably won't make it as a road agent like Vixxen.

 

"The Uprising" Talia Quinzel & Selina Svelte

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also went to Japan, where their tandem of mat-based wrestling and power-strikes goes over well. As a result, they won the tag team GP in 5SSW.

 

Christy Higgins

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has turned to a life of partying, but it's unsure whether that will result in her being picked up by a reputable promotion. She still got "it" and at 32, she's still hitting her stride.

 

 

 

"The Violent Violet" Simony Sentinel

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got a kickass render to go along with her surprising signing to ACPW. She's not the toughest cookie in the drawer, so time will tell if she can hang with the bigger men on the roster.

 

"Miss Perfect" Sarah Taylor

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has already seen her share of belts at 25yo and is one of the bigger female talents. Her signing to QAW wasn't exactly a surprise and she's dead set on getting main event opportunities soon enough.

 

Tracy Brendon left the business after starting a family. She could've pulled some strings with her husband and continue as a manager, but I guess she didn't feel like it.

 

 

Steffi Chee got back to AAA after going pretty much anywhere, but is too old to realistically find another job.

Ellie May Walton is one of the only female "grifters". She's not that good, so good luck if you want to risk having her around.

 

 

OLDER ALUMNI

 

 

Grace Harper was a 3-time champ and 1-time NOTBPW champ and has worked for CGC in the past (according to CV97) and still can't let go of the business. If you hire her she might pass on her knowledge to a rookie female worker you should consider it. She can do pretty much everything except refereeing. Rerender from Trell:

 

 

"Core Strenght" Victoria Stone & April Appleseed (CV97 lore only!) could've dabbled in the tag division at one point and are good friends in that mod. I think canonically they are supposed to have good chemistry instead as opponents but whatever. Both have left the business to become teachers, though Viccie - being a Stone - might return at one point should the family be in need.

 

 

 

--------------------------

 

That pretty much covers it. Do you guys have any remarks on the closure: is it a good thing or not for the business?

 

the 'older' renders:

 

[Matt_Black]

A couple other notable alums who are hanging around-

 

Golden Delicious

Jana Marie Bowen

Christina Charlston

Candy Floss

 

There's also the two new graduates who debuted between games.

[Blackman]

Yes, that's true. Kornishkova looks very promising and I'll be sure to follow her as she's got the party animal personality in a mostly men's promotion.

 

Golden Delicious is one of the few "sleazy" workers. But apart rom JMB, who is rather old, the talent is quite limited in these workers. And I was focusing on potential signees instead of these, who realistically won't find a job anymore.

 

I updated the post as I made an oversight: Raven is actually the first to win the AAA triple crown. I never knew that.

[Capelli King]

needless to say we totally misjudged where Mike wanted to take the womens wrestling. Basically the biggest USA company went bankrupt. Frankly speaking, i was a little disappointing.

[Blackman]

needless to say we totally misjudged where Mike wanted to take the womens wrestling. Basically the biggest USA company went bankrupt. Frankly speaking, i was a little disappointing.

 

The hilarious thing is that the splash screen of "US" you see upon starting a 2020 game says "women's wrestling is on the rise", almost like a cruel jest to women's wrestling supporters. I literaly got excited upon reading that, but failed to find AAA in the list, then NOTB. It almost made me laugh hysterically.

 

Fact is that the top women HAVE gotten more over, but this is to be expected. Let's evaluate. I'll take the TriState area as a reference but it doesn't matter as it's all the same.

 

Alicia Strong 33y (72), Melody 39y (69), Tiffany Jade 30y (66), SMY 35y (62), Jaime Quine 32y (62), Raven Nightfall 43y (60), Pariah 30y (59)

 

This is 2016:

 

Alicia Strong (60) Melody (56) Cherry Bomb (52) Raven Nightfall (52) Tiffany Jade (46) J-Ro (43)

 

It is a nice rise, but the problem is that there' a pretty big gap between these top stars, who aren't getting younger, and the ones below. Melody and Raven are very close to calling it quits. I'm sure you can push Sara into a nice long feud, but what after that? Pariah was a nice suprise to see, but it remains to be seen if they are actually serious with her. There's almost no way for the future to emerge as the amount of roster spots has severely diminished (not in theory as I mentioned, but in practice). Someone already mentioned women aren't being hired by integrated companies, because of course they aren't.

 

So let's recap: with arguably the 2 most prestigious women's titles (NOTB & AAA, USPW is still relatively new) put on the shelves forever, women's wrestling is not exactly "on the rise". Quite on the contrary.

[Matt_Black]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Blackman" data-cite="Blackman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47833" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> Someone already mentioned women aren't being hired by integrated companies, because of course they aren't.<p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> What do you mean they aren't? Both ACPW and CZCW start with several women on the roster.</p>

[Jaysin]

I expected with the real life women's revolution/evolution that AAA would make the leap to at least Cult in the CVerse. Little gutted that's not the case.

[Matt_Black]

On the other hand, it IS nice to see several indy shows a month, and women make up half the card, depending on the region.

[Blackman]

What do you mean they aren't? Both ACPW and CZCW start with several women on the roster.

 

Of course they are, because they were contracted when the db was created.

 

A company using integrated, like in previous games, seems to prefer hiring women when they are significantly better than the men. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to be the case again I'm hearing.

 

The indy shows do kind of save it, so in the end it doesn't really matter that much. Personally I don't care that much, but it was just sad to see them go. It makes a bit of sense, as Reverie would've shown fans in the NS pretty much a similar product, for free. I just felt there would be a market for a women-only fed, especially with such nice characters. The database mentions QAW as a reason, but that doesn't make sense at all as it's not even televised and would impossibly steal attendance, being so far away.

 

Makes me wonder why SMY was never poached. USPW is superpowerful and can do whatever they want. They never bother, and all of a sudden, once AAA folds, they sign her like some charity act? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

[Thane of Fife]

Makes me wonder why SMY was never poached. USPW is superpowerful and can do whatever they want. They never bother, and all of a sudden, once AAA folds, they sign her like some charity act? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

Her bio says that she had a long-standing offer from USPW, but didn't take it until (relatively) shortly before AAA closed (November 2016, I think). So I think they tried to poach her, but she was loyal to AAA for at least a while.

 

As for AAA, I expected that it was going to close, but I thought that it would be the jump to Cult that killed it, not... whatever happened.

[Kosmos412]

In my head canon and how I will likely edit my Cverse universe, they will have merely gone on a hiatus for 2 years before re-opening in 2020.

[Matt_Black]

The database mentions QAW as a reason, but that doesn't make sense at all as it's not even televised and would impossibly steal attendance, being so far away.

 

 

Remember, that was before TEW 2020 came out; they were still operating under the old system of spillover and regional battles.

[Rhysrob]

<p>I was surprised at AAA closing for sure— I had high hopes that the C-Verse would catch up with the ‘revolution’ and have a more prominent women’s wrestling scene world wide (UK, EU, Aus...) but it seems designed to keep it very subdued which is disheartening. </p><p> </p><p>

Fingers crossed regens and random workers save the day!</p>

[Matt_Black]

I don't think the state of Women's Wrestling, at least on the Western Hemisphere, is that bad. All the companies that have women's divisions have increased the size of their rosters by a fair bit. QAW has a much larger roster compared to 2016. ACPW and CZCW have integrated rosters with several women on the card. Women are much more represented on the indy shows, some indy shows being nothing BUT women.

 

It's disheartening that there aren't more companies for women, and AAA being dead hurts, but I also don't the women's scene in the C-Verse looks overall to be in a much better position than 2016.

[lavelleuk]

This was actually the biggest shock to me, bigger than SOTBPW or the Canadian scene. In the mod I released for TEW2016 AAA were heading to cult, on tv with a powerful network behind them. I was expecting similar for TEW2020 and it feels like a huge missed opportunity, at the very least having womens wrestling gain popularity gives more options for games to run.

 

I'll be releasing my mod again on the new game anyway so AAA will live on in that lol

[Jomosensual]

Tracy leaving the business hurt me in my soul. She was one of my top stars in the womens division early to help make up the popularity gaps and then when everyone caught up she was basically the Candice LeRae of TCW, fighting with Joshua in the tag division and making a few singles runs here and there against the men. Was a real fun thing to book last time.

[Matt_Black]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jomosensual" data-cite="Jomosensual" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="47833" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Tracy leaving the business hurt me in my soul. She was one of my top stars in the womens division early to help make up the popularity gaps and then when everyone caught up she was basically the Candice LeRae of TCW, fighting with Joshua in the tag division and making a few singles runs here and there against the men. Was a real fun thing to book last time.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> God, YES. She was fantastic. Great at face or heel, and while not great at any one thing, she was good at so many things. You needed a brawler? She could do it. High flier? Yup. Technical wrestling. Yup. Good on the stick? Yup.</p>

[Blackman]

The scenarios I had in my head were: Cat secured some big deal that either integrated the company into a bigger one (probably NOTBPW) or gave them a small TV show weekly.

 

Or maybe they got raided and there just weren't any stars left but her little sis.

 

As for the state of the women in general: I really thought there was a chance QAW could be integrated into TCW in their struggle for relevance.

 

Remember you can always buy the rights for the championship for a mere 5K and start over. A bit disrespectful it's got less prestige then the 4C hardcore championship (really? ), but it's still there.

[Doctor Crunch]

About the only good thing about AAA being gone is that there are a ton of good to great women available for hire in North America.

[Matt_Black]

The scenarios I had in my head were: Cat secured some big deal that either integrated the company into a bigger one (probably NOTBPW) or gave them a small TV show weekly.

 

Or maybe they got raided and there just weren't any stars left but her little sis.

 

As for the state of the women in general: I really thought there was a chance QAW could be integrated into TCW in their struggle for relevance.

 

Remember you can always buy the rights for the championship for a mere 5K and start over. A bit disrespectful it's got less prestige then the 4C hardcore championship (really? ), but it's still there.

 

Yeah. The only problem is you'll have to call them AAA2 or something, because you can't revive stuff aside from titles after the fact. (Maybe that's something to suggest for the next game; I mean, if Cody can bring back Bash At The Beach...)

[Remianen]

Blackman, I could not possibly disagree with you more.

 

The C-Verse women's scene is FAR better off now than in 2016. It's not even close. You're looking at raw popularity but what about skills? Skill development with the women, without editing, was glacial unless you could land a Strong/Easter/Rodriguez/Allen. There were only a handful of workers you could effectively use to improve other workers in-ring. Remember that not all products make popularity the be-all, end-all. Besides, popularity has always been easy to generate and that hasn't changed. Adding integration to male dominated promotions solves that problem. The women in CZCW and ACPW get to work with MUCH better in-ring workers with a far more diverse range of styles and thus have more opportunities to improve. THAT is a WIN. AAA never moved (up) in any save I played in TEW16, unless I was running them. Not a single one. We're talking 325 completely separate save games. I've seen 5 Star get to Cult but AAA was always Regional. The very definition of dead weight. When I hit Global with QAW, they typically didn't even have a large enough roster to even run shows, even with shared workers from 5 Star (restricted areas off). If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.

 

For years I've moaned about the stagnation in the women's scene in the C-Verse. This is a MUCH better state of affairs. With the addition of training camps (and funneling new workers through them) and especially performance centers (which allow you to bootstrap workers AND theoretically increases the number of debutants), the body count should be decent. More than that, the QUALITY of new workers will be more consistent (again, theoretically).

 

To quote the great philosopher, Dave Chappelle, yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in..........

[Matt_Black]

Blackman, I could not possibly disagree with you more.

 

The C-Verse women's scene is FAR better off now than in 2016. It's not even close. You're looking at raw popularity but what about skills? Skill development with the women, without editing, was glacial unless you could land a Strong/Easter/Rodriguez/Allen. There were only a handful of workers you could effectively use to improve other workers in-ring. Remember that not all products make popularity the be-all, end-all. Besides, popularity has always been easy to generate and that hasn't changed. Adding integration to male dominated promotions solves that problem. The women in CZCW and ACPW get to work with MUCH better in-ring workers with a far more diverse range of styles and thus have more opportunities to improve. THAT is a WIN. AAA never moved (up) in any save I played in TEW16, unless I was running them. Not a single one. We're talking 325 completely separate save games. I've seen 5 Star get to Cult but AAA was always Regional. The very definition of dead weight. When I hit Global with QAW, they typically didn't even have a large enough roster to even run shows, even with shared workers from 5 Star (restricted areas off). If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.

 

For years I've moaned about the stagnation in the women's scene in the C-Verse. This is a MUCH better state of affairs. With the addition of training camps (and funneling new workers through them) and especially performance centers (which allow you to bootstrap workers AND theoretically increases the number of debutants), the body count should be decent. More than that, the QUALITY of new workers will be more consistent (again, theoretically).

 

To quote the great philosopher, Dave Chappelle, yes they deserved to die and I hope they burn in..........

 

You'll also note there are far fewer unemployed female wrestlers in 2020, at least in North America. In part, yeah, quite a few retirements, but even then, people seem to be getting work. Part of the reason I always wound up with such huge rosters in AAA and QAW is because I felt obligated to give people regular work.

[Remianen]

You'll also note there are far fewer unemployed female wrestlers in 2020, at least in North America. In part, yeah, quite a few retirements, but even then, people seem to be getting work. Part of the reason I always wound up with such huge rosters in AAA and QAW is because I felt obligated to give people regular work.

 

YES!

 

And another great feature added is that workers who aren't exclusive can still work independent shows! That gets them even more work and leads to a heightened improvement curve (theoretically. Can't amass enough data to be sure until we can play for more than two months).

 

While I still have an enormous roster, it's mainly to develop managers moreso than in-ring workers.

[Matt_Black]

YES!

 

And another great feature added is that workers who aren't exclusive can still work independent shows! That gets them even more work and leads to a heightened improvement curve (theoretically. Can't amass enough data to be sure until we can play for more than two months).

 

While I still have an enormous roster, it's mainly to develop managers moreso than in-ring workers.

 

Oh, yeah, all the indy shows are great for scouting, both your own workers ("Hey, this worker did much better in this show, I'm going to rethink how I book them") and people you're thinking of hiring.

 

Technically, I know people did that in 2016, too, but the indy shows were much more infrequent and, since I tend to play companies with a focus towards women's workers, maybe I'd see a women's match on the indy scene in an area I can hire once a year or so.

[Remianen]

Performance Center is going to be tasty. Sucks you have to wait a whole year to get it up and running but the way it's described, max it out and it'll pop out little Emma Mays and Velvet Suarezs and Christy Higgins galore.