The "Booking Committee" Thread, 2020 Edition

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

Depending on the gimmicks and how well known they are:

 

- If they don't have a very specific gimmick (like the Undertaker, Kane, etc), and they are well known, I'll just change their first name (Alistair Black -> Malakai Black, Steven Regal -> William Regal, that kind of thing).

 

- If they don't have a very specific gimmick, and are pretty much unknown, I'll decide if their indy name is nice enough to modify the same way I do the big names, or use a variation of their real name, or a combination of some of their indy names. For instance, I've signed a dude named Joe Black to NXT: it's a pretty good name, but there will be a Alistair Black in the future so I'll decide between Joe Blackwail (a variation of his real name), Joe A'Gau (one of his indy names) or a combination (Dante A'Gau for instance).

 

- If they have a very specific gimmick, then I'll try to find something in the same theme. The Undertaker, if signed early enough that he's not known universally as the Undertaker, could become The Mortician or something like that. Amasis from Chikara (the snake guy) could become Ouroboros, Uraeus, etc.

 

- If their indy name is not good, they don't have a really specific gimmick and their real name doesn't sound cool enough, I've been known to use a list of local first names and family names, and find a combination I like the sound of.

[TheCed]

I wanna start a save in 2004 as WWE but in an alternate world in which I don't have to play as Vince McMahon, to avoid going PG in the long run. Any ideas? Considering that Triple H isn't old enough to run the company. Stephanie maybe? With Triple H as the unofficial head of the company pulling strings in the background.

[TheCed]

Vince gets in trouble with the law and has to step away from WWE; you can decide what prompts it, and also whether he ever comes back. His family goes with him: Shane’s business career starts early. Linda needs to support her husband in the courtroom. Stephanie & HHH go on hiatus to care for their young family, with their returns uncertain.

 

In the midst of this chaos, who steps up to the plate but good ol’ JR? Yes, everybody’s favorite announcer goes from HR to the boardroom at unprecedented speed, with King, Heyman, and Johnny Ace helping on the creative side. The changes are immediate and grand: with HHH unable to challenge Goldberg at Armageddon, the decision is made to have Kurt Angle jump to RAW and become the brand’s top babyface and franchise. The match is a barn-burner, definitely the best Goldberg has been involved in since his return. When the big man taps out to the ankle lock, the roof nearly comes off the building. Their jubilation is short-lived; Randy Orton emerges and RKOs Angle in the middle of the ring, setting the youngster up for his biggest feud yet.

 

Meanwhile on SmackDown, Lesnar, Benoit, Eddie and the rest are doing their thing. But now the question is with Angle gone to Raw, how will they fix that gap in the main event? Will rising star John Cena get his big break? Or will SmackDown leader Paul Heyman choose somebody more experienced? All these decisions and more are in your hands.

Now that's an interesting scenario. Thank you.

[The Dynamite Sid]

Thinking about introducing a cruiserwight title for PSW but I don't want to just define it by weight class, would rather play into the chaotic, all action nature of the division (but don't just want to go with generic "All Action"). Any ideas? Right now the best I've got is to just steal Total Nonstop Action

[H3power]

Thinking about introducing a cruiserwight title for PSW but I don't want to just define it by weight class, would rather play into the chaotic, all action nature of the division (but don't just want to go with generic "All Action"). Any ideas? Right now the best I've got is to just steal Total Nonstop Action

 

The chaos division featuring the Chaos Openweight Championship (or just Chaos Championship)

[seminoledozer]

Thinking about introducing a cruiserwight title for PSW but I don't want to just define it by weight class, would rather play into the chaotic, all action nature of the division (but don't just want to go with generic "All Action"). Any ideas? Right now the best I've got is to just steal Total Nonstop Action

SteelStrong championship or Steel City championship. I know it doesn't play off the cruiserweight theme but it emphasizes toughness and a blue collar workhorse aspect.

[ctessier197]

I posted about this in the "What's Going on in Your Game?" thread, but I'm so stumped that I'd like to hear what others think about how to handle the situation:

 

I caught up to real life/I booked this past week's episode of Dynamite, with the tag team battle royale. O'Reilly and Fish won in IRL and in the game, but in my save, O'Reilly broke his jaw during the match!

 

The broken jaw injury means that O'Reilly can keep wrestling despite being hurt, but A) it's a broken jaw, I wouldn't feel right sending him out there with an injury like that and B) I worry it'd affect the match rating. To be fair, Revolution is stacked enough that I could get away with a lower score in this match, but still.... If I pull O'Reilly (and Fish) from the match, I'm not sure how to replace them. I'm leaning toward finding a way to have the Young Bucks take the spot; they were the last eliminated etc., and this would help further their brewing rivalry.

 

---

 

Not sure what to do here. Having The Bucks blatantly abuse their power would be tough because IRL, Tony Khan would probably stop them. I thought about doing a tag team match with the last few teams from the first battle royale, maybe a gauntlet match, but when what would I do about the second battle royale, which is set for Dynamite? That seems redundant, to do another tag-based match on the same show....

[The Dynamite Sid]

I posted about this in the "What's Going on in Your Game?" thread, but I'm so stumped that I'd like to hear what others think about how to handle the situation:

 

I caught up to real life/I booked this past week's episode of Dynamite, with the tag team battle royale. O'Reilly and Fish won in IRL and in the game, but in my save, O'Reilly broke his jaw during the match!

 

The broken jaw injury means that O'Reilly can keep wrestling despite being hurt, but A) it's a broken jaw, I wouldn't feel right sending him out there with an injury like that and B) I worry it'd affect the match rating. To be fair, Revolution is stacked enough that I could get away with a lower score in this match, but still.... If I pull O'Reilly (and Fish) from the match, I'm not sure how to replace them. I'm leaning toward finding a way to have the Young Bucks take the spot; they were the last eliminated etc., and this would help further their brewing rivalry.

 

---

 

Not sure what to do here. Having The Bucks blatantly abuse their power would be tough because IRL, Tony Khan would probably stop them. I thought about doing a tag team match with the last few teams from the first battle royale, maybe a gauntlet match, but when what would I do about the second battle royale, which is set for Dynamite? That seems redundant, to do another tag-based match on the same show....

 

I did see your post in the other thread actually and my gut reaction was that I would still just book ReDragon and play up what a tough badass Kyle is for competing with a broken jaw. There should still be enough in the match for it to be a hot opener for the show, even with the penalty.

 

I'd have ReDragon fail to pick up the win and it gives them an excuse to have a return match later. You can also get an angle out of ReDragon blaming whoever it was in the battle royale that broke Kyle's jaw, saying that they cost them the titles (if you don't actually know whose fault it was then you can pick just about anybody so that's good too).

 

I'm a big believer in turning a negative into a positive and I think that's a good way to go with this one. You can get some good mileage out of this rather than just axing your plans - especially since you already had to do that for the main event

[ctessier197]

I did see your post in the other thread actually and my gut reaction was that I would still just book ReDragon and play up what a tough badass Kyle is for competing with a broken jaw. There should still be enough in the match for it to be a hot opener for the show, even with the penalty.

 

I'd have ReDragon fail to pick up the win and it gives them an excuse to have a return match later. You can also get an angle out of ReDragon blaming whoever it was in the battle royale that broke Kyle's jaw, saying that they cost them the titles (if you don't actually know whose fault it was then you can pick just about anybody so that's good too).

 

I'm a big believer in turning a negative into a positive and I think that's a good way to go with this one. You can get some good mileage out of this rather than just axing your plans - especially since you already had to do that for the main event

 

I really like this idea, and I'll roll with it, thanks! The explanation makes perfect sense. KOR is a tough dude so I could see him working through it. Plus, assuming I have the Bucks win the other battle royale, it would set up a tease of the eventual Bucks vs. reDRagon match/Fish and KOR would have an easy excuse for their loss.

[Tew101]

For me booking face champions is little bit of an issue. It becomes formulaic and harder to extend programs. I was wondering what storylines of ideas people do to keep babyface champions fresh in an entertainment type product.

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

I've been stuck trying to find a solution for a problem I have, but have yet to find something that pleases me, so I thought I'd ask you guys.

 

First of all, for a bit of context: I'm in January 2022, and Brock Lesnar is WWE champion while Roman Reigns is Universal Champion, as in real life. However, I plan to have them both lose the title before Wrestlemania, and have an all-out war between the Bloodline (with an unexpected ally) and Lesnar (who'll get allies of his own).

Basically, at the Royal Rumble, I'll have champions face each other (so, Universal vs WWE, US vs IC, Raw Tag vs SD tag, Raw Women vs SD Women, and probably WWE Women Tag vs NXT tag in preshow or something). Lesnar will win the Universal vs WWE, because the Usos will be too tired/hurt by their own match. However, Reigns will not let it rest, and at Elimination Chamber, the Usos (and possibly Reigns himself) will intervene in the Raw Elimination Chamber so Lesnar will lose his title to Kevin Owens (who will then defend it at Mania against Edge, the man who'll eliminate him in the Rumble despite a great showing of Owens).

Because I don't want Reigns to keep his title, Lesnar will also cost him the title the next Smackdown.

 

The problem is this: my Royal Rumble winner is a face, and the only "good" challenger for the title at Mania is also a face that I can't (nor want to) turn. And I need Reigns to lose the title before Mania so the Royal Rumble winner can win it there without Reigns needing to fight him.

However, that means I either have to :

• give a one month title reign to a random SD heel (so, Zayn, Sheamus or Corbin) or a Raw heel I'll transfer
  
• have the title go vacant somehow
  
• have the Royal rumble win the title in a non-clean way, making his win at the Rumble essentially useless
  

If anyone has a good suggestion that does not include Reigns having a match in both days of Mania, I'd be grateful because I really have no idea. Oh, and also I don't have a PPV between Elimination Chamber and Mania anymore, so it means the Reigns title loss must occur either at the Elimination Chamber (but then it'd mean a Face vs Face at Mania) or in a weekly show.,Whether he loses it to someone or the title goes vacant (which to be honest would be better for long term booking purposes) isn't important.

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

I don't want either of them to stay champion, as I'll have them in a long storyline that will continue after Wrestlemania (and will help build other people) and I don't want the belt to be "stuck" between the two for months, basically.

 

The best hypothesis I have for now is to have the current General Manager vacate Reigns title due to his behaviour during the Elimination Chamber matches, and after that Reigns would be even more furious at Lesnar. The only problem I have with that is that it'll make a precedent and I don't want every heel to lose their title for attacking their opponent in another match.

Of course, I could just have Steph (the new owner) fire Pearce for that, because she'd see that as a proof he can't manage his locker room properly, and it'd lead nicely into the other "big" non-title Mania storyline I'm planning (a "GM-War" of multiple people vying for the post). But so far I haven't found a proper way to do it with more than 2, max 3 people (while I have 10 potential GMs ) so I'm not sure I'll actually have said storyline yet.

[The Dynamite Sid]

I've been stuck trying to find a solution for a problem I have, but have yet to find something that pleases me, so I thought I'd ask you guys.

 

First of all, for a bit of context: I'm in January 2022, and Brock Lesnar is WWE champion while Roman Reigns is Universal Champion, as in real life. However, I plan to have them both lose the title before Wrestlemania, and have an all-out war between the Bloodline (with an unexpected ally) and Lesnar (who'll get allies of his own).

Basically, at the Royal Rumble, I'll have champions face each other (so, Universal vs WWE, US vs IC, Raw Tag vs SD tag, Raw Women vs SD Women, and probably WWE Women Tag vs NXT tag in preshow or something). Lesnar will win the Universal vs WWE, because the Usos will be too tired/hurt by their own match. However, Reigns will not let it rest, and at Elimination Chamber, the Usos (and possibly Reigns himself) will intervene in the Raw Elimination Chamber so Lesnar will lose his title to Kevin Owens (who will then defend it at Mania against Edge, the man who'll eliminate him in the Rumble despite a great showing of Owens).

Because I don't want Reigns to keep his title, Lesnar will also cost him the title the next Smackdown.

 

The problem is this: my Royal Rumble winner is a face, and the only "good" challenger for the title at Mania is also a face that I can't (nor want to) turn. And I need Reigns to lose the title before Mania so the Royal Rumble winner can win it there without Reigns needing to fight him.

However, that means I either have to :

• give a one month title reign to a random SD heel (so, Zayn, Sheamus or Corbin) or a Raw heel I'll transfer
  
• have the title go vacant somehow
  
• have the Royal rumble win the title in a non-clean way, making his win at the Rumble essentially useless
  

If anyone has a good suggestion that does not include Reigns having a match in both days of Mania, I'd be grateful because I really have no idea. Oh, and also I don't have a PPV between Elimination Chamber and Mania anymore, so it means the Reigns title loss must occur either at the Elimination Chamber (but then it'd mean a Face vs Face at Mania) or in a weekly show.,Whether he loses it to someone or the title goes vacant (which to be honest would be better for long term booking purposes) isn't important.

 

 

 

Can't you just have a heel win the Royal Rumble?

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

I technically could, but my planned winner isn't getting any younger and it's probably his last chance to win it before I start giving this kind of victory to younger stars.

 

On the other hand, I've decided on a set of action: my Rumble winner (that I'm keeping secret in case my friend decides to read this post ) will keep his win, Reigns and Lesnar will keep their losses (Lesnar because of the Bloodline, Reigns because of an irrate Steph McMahon who'll then fire Pearce for his lack of control on the Bloodline) and the title will be won at Mania by the Rumble winner.

However, I'll not have the potential GMs have a storyline, and will instead just have people vote for whoever they feel would be the two best GMs amongst the 10 candidates, and then randomly choose which one goes to RAW/SD based on the draft.

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

Well, the thing is, I'm not much more satisfied than you are to have Reigns's... well reign end up like that. However, I need to have Reigns lose the title by Lesnar's intervention (so Reigns also has a legitimate reason to want to destroy Lesnar rather than just pretend it was a fluke and continue as if nothing happened).

 

Now, since Reigns is a heel, I need a face to win because I don't want to have the two Elimination Chambers end up with someone disrupting it (not to mention ideally, I want to use the Raw one for the US title, and turn Damian Priest, but that could wait). So it's either have Reigns go against a face in the Main Event, or a triple threat, or a random open challenge in the following Smackdown if I don't want to vacate the title, right ? But at the same time, since the winner I picked for the Rumble and a long reign is also a face, it means I have to find a heel in any case (and turning the face isn't a solution because down the line, once Reigns is done with Lesnar, I want Reigns to come back at said winner).

 

Therefore, I need at least a heel that is credible as a World Champion, and possibly a face. The solutions I've (more or less) excluded are:

• the Rumble Winner challenges Roman without waiting for Mania, and wins because of Lesnar: the man is too badass for that, so it'd be supremely disappointing.
  
• the only faces I could make win that "cheaply" (and that aren't already in a storyline for Mania) are Titus, R-Truth, Ricochet, Mansoor, Gulak or Drake Maverick. I like most of them but not to the point of giving them a run at the title (well, I'd love to for R-Truth but that ship has sailed)
  
• I could make returning Keith Lee be the face to beat Reigns but he deserves much better than a cheap win caused by Lesnar
  
• I could also make Kalisto win (since the whole challenge for this save is to make Lucha House Party a legendary stable), but it'd be way too soon (especially since he'd lost him after a month)
  
• have a heel win in a triple threat where Lesnar intervenes, but again I don't have many choices with only Jinder Mahal, Ridge Holland, and Veer Mahan free, none of which I want anywhere near a world title
  
• a return I could build in a month, which leaves me with Gargano or KENTA, who both deserve better than to be cannon fodder
  
• vacate the title, have the Rumble winner in a 4-Way for the title (by combining him, Zayn who I have set to win the IC title after Mania, and an existing McIntyre-Rollins feud), but I agree with you a title vacated for kayfabe reasons is a title wasted
  
• have two people beat Reigns at the same time (so, probably Rollins and McIntyre) but I can't find a way that doesn't make them (or at least McIntyre) look like they didn't deserve the win nor make Reigns looks like he lost clean
  
• have Rollins win "by Lesnar" in a heel vs heel match (which I dislike a lot) and have a month-long reign, which again would be supremely disappointing, and would leave McIntyre completly unoccupied at Mania
  

 

If you can find another solution (or good arguments for any of the above solutions) that doesn't make Reigns look "weak", preferably gives me a good reason to have Steph decide new GMs are needed, and does not require me to change my pick for the Rumble winner, I'm completly down. There is a reason I'm asking here for better ideas than my own, you know

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

I'm planning on using Lesnar (and Reigns) as means to massively push newcomers/returning lowcarders, hence why I need the two to face one last time at Mania: Lesnar is tired to have the Usos intervene and realises that as better as he is than the three, it'd help to have someone take care of the Usos.

So he gets someone to find him back-up (I'm strongly considering to use Robert Stone as his new lawyer who's terrified Brock will kill him), namely AOP. Reigns then realises that his tactic won't work if Lesnar has help, brings Jacob Fatu, Lesnar have Stone (or whoever else) hire yet another man (probably Killian Dain, if I can't think of anyone else) and the storyline occupy both far from the titles until Summerslam (or earlier).

Then Reigns can go back in the title scene (and maybe lose again so Fatu tries to become the new head of the table), Lesnar can be done with the endless rivalry with Reigns and terrorise other people, and I'll use those months without the two of them in said title scene to build new stars to be on their level (or just under).

 

As for Lashley, he's injured but the randomizer I used to imagine what my Rumble would look like had the New Day and the Hurt Business (with MVP instead of Lashley) be next to each other for all entrants, so I figured I could have the two stables fight, with Alexander/Benjamin and MVP doing the heating up and Lashley making his return the week before Mania for a safe match that doesn't need too much to write.

Lashley however will probably the one to retire Lesnar, if I can't get the Beast to sign a contract that doesn't cost me a kidney to use him to build the new stars of tomorrow.

[mmaaddict]

Not necessarily a booking question as much as a strategy one, but...

 

I am starting a save with CWA. They have a pretty decent size roster with 56 and I'd like to add a few favorite young guys of mine as well. They only have the one weekly show which I have already changed from 90 minutes to 2 hours.

 

I am thinking of adding a second weekly show that will just be one hour, but a way to get more guys on TV. I can't decide if I should make it an A show, or a B show though. I don't want it to just be a feeder show, but I worry a little about being able to maintain enough high end matches to get good ratings on two A shows per week.

 

Thoughts?

[Editor6]

I've been stuck trying to find a solution for a problem I have, but have yet to find something that pleases me, so I thought I'd ask you guys.

 

First of all, for a bit of context: I'm in January 2022, and Brock Lesnar is WWE champion while Roman Reigns is Universal Champion, as in real life. However, I plan to have them both lose the title before Wrestlemania, and have an all-out war between the Bloodline (with an unexpected ally) and Lesnar (who'll get allies of his own).

Basically, at the Royal Rumble, I'll have champions face each other (so, Universal vs WWE, US vs IC, Raw Tag vs SD tag, Raw Women vs SD Women, and probably WWE Women Tag vs NXT tag in preshow or something). Lesnar will win the Universal vs WWE, because the Usos will be too tired/hurt by their own match. However, Reigns will not let it rest, and at Elimination Chamber, the Usos (and possibly Reigns himself) will intervene in the Raw Elimination Chamber so Lesnar will lose his title to Kevin Owens (who will then defend it at Mania against Edge, the man who'll eliminate him in the Rumble despite a great showing of Owens).

Because I don't want Reigns to keep his title, Lesnar will also cost him the title the next Smackdown.

 

The problem is this: my Royal Rumble winner is a face, and the only "good" challenger for the title at Mania is also a face that I can't (nor want to) turn. And I need Reigns to lose the title before Mania so the Royal Rumble winner can win it there without Reigns needing to fight him.

However, that means I either have to :

• give a one month title reign to a random SD heel (so, Zayn, Sheamus or Corbin) or a Raw heel I'll transfer
  
• have the title go vacant somehow
  
• have the Royal rumble win the title in a non-clean way, making his win at the Rumble essentially useless
  

If anyone has a good suggestion that does not include Reigns having a match in both days of Mania, I'd be grateful because I really have no idea. Oh, and also I don't have a PPV between Elimination Chamber and Mania anymore, so it means the Reigns title loss must occur either at the Elimination Chamber (but then it'd mean a Face vs Face at Mania) or in a weekly show.,Whether he loses it to someone or the title goes vacant (which to be honest would be better for long term booking purposes) isn't important.

 

What's the Rumble winner doing at Elimination Chamber? Because...

 

This title vacancy-GM war angle sounds needlessly complicated in my opinion. What I would probably do is have Roman lose the title in the SmackDown Elimination Chamber to open that show. I’d probably have Drew pin him, because he is the only guy on SmackDown who is near his level. That doesn’t mean Drew has to win the whole match, though. Then the Raw Elimination Chamber can be the main event, and Roman can interfere to cost Brock the title. This is basically a re-run of No Way Out 2009, except Roman doesn’t win the other title at the end. But based on everything you’ve said so far, you have booked yourself into a tight corner, and there isn’t much you can do to get out of it, so this is my best suggestion.

 

This is pretty close to what I eventually came up with. I agree that the way it's played out, both Roman and Brock have to lose at EC. I asked about the Rumble winner because I think the move may be to put him in Roman's Chamber match, but have him get eliminated cheaply by the eventual winner, giving him motivation to go after the new champion.

 

(Aside: This problem really illustrates how the Fed's insistence on Roman-Brock All The Time IRL has put them into a corner it can't get out of.)

[djskeemask]

 

Just curious if you guys have some ideas on how to go about pushing him so hard. I love this guy (Great O-Khan) IRL, so I have no problems taking the hints from a few of my top stars. IDK if he is ready to break out of the Empire yet as he seems to work well with the rest of the members. Thinking about releasing Aaron Henare from the roster altogether. So I thought about bringing Minoru Suzuki into the Empire to replace Aaron. Then, having Suzuki & Great O-Khan team together. Ultimately, O-Khan would get fed up with Suzuki and turn face. That's where Minoru's match promises would come in. Thoughts? Suggestions? My roster is the same as real life and a few additions, can add worker(s) if you think necessary. (As long as it meets the bosses requirements, he's fairly strict.)

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

What's the Rumble winner doing at Elimination Chamber? Because...

 

This is pretty close to what I eventually came up with. I agree that the way it's played out, both Roman and Brock have to lose at EC. I asked about the Rumble winner because I think the move may be to put him in Roman's Chamber match, but have him get eliminated cheaply by the eventual winner, giving him motivation to go after the new champion.

 

(Aside: This problem really illustrates how the Fed's insistence on Roman-Brock All The Time IRL has put them into a corner it can't get out of.)

 

I wasn't a big fan of having the Rumble winner in the Elimination Chamber, since essentially he has no reason to go there: in kayfabe, if he wins he doesn't really have a challenger and if he loses, it makes him look bad. Now, obviously, in a booking sense, he could indeed just lose by someone cheating or everyone teaming up against him, but I had plans for the non-Reigns Elimination Chamber.

So, what I'm heading for once I've solved another issue is something in between: at Elimination Chamber, Reigns has a triple threat match because two challengers have the same time in a Beat the Clock challenge.He ends up losing because he's over-confident, however there are shenanigans because both McIntyre and Rollins have pinned him. Hence nobody knows who's the winner but they both get the rub of "beating" Reigns, yet don't get the title. Therefore there's a rematch at Smackdown where this time Lesnar intervenes and at Mania there's a match to finally decide who is the legitimate champion between McIntyre, Rollins, the Rumble Winner, and potentially a second heel if people do not stop injuring themselves, while Reigns can't participate because he lost twice, cheaply or not.

And I swear to whatever divinity wants to hear it that I won't have another Reigns-Lesnar feud in years once I'm done with the "Bloodline vs Lesnar & allies" one.

 

Anyway, as for my other "issue", it's a small question but I'm stuck between two options with some signings I was "forced" to do in the booking challenge between my friend and I: I try to follow what NXT 2.0 is, and so avoid hiring indy darlings as much as I can. Basically, I'm hiring workers with high SQ and under 25 or 30 if they are really really great (so, people like Juicy Finau, Queen Aminata, etc), relatives of WWE legends (Bianca Carelli, etc) or people from niche markets, kinda like Dante Chen for Singapour (Taonga, Georges Khoukaz, etc).

However, like I said there are people I'm forced to hire, and I don't know what I should do: the former way would have been to send them straight to NXT (like Nakamura, Zayn, Owens, Ciampa, Gargano, Cole, etc did) for a year or so, but how would WWE treat people that do not fit the new era of NXT 2.0, yet aren't popular enough to start straight in the main roster ? People like Robbie Eagles, Dralistico, VENY, Maya Yukihi, or even Dalton Castle, who are already well know by people who live and breathe wrestling in the indies and abroad, but who are complete unknowns to the regular WWE fan ?

Basically, do I still send them to NXT, because that's how it used to be, or do I have them straight into the main roster, even if their pop mean they'll tank for a bit ?

[djskeemask]

I wasn't a big fan of having the Rumble winner in the Elimination Chamber, since essentially he has no reason to go there: in kayfabe, if he wins he doesn't really have a challenger and if he loses, it makes him look bad. Now, obviously, in a booking sense, he could indeed just lose by someone cheating or everyone teaming up against him, but I had plans for the non-Reigns Elimination Chamber.

So, what I'm heading for once I've solved another issue is something in between: at Elimination Chamber, Reigns has a triple threat match because two challengers have the same time in a Beat the Clock challenge.He ends up losing because he's over-confident, however there are shenanigans because both McIntyre and Rollins have pinned him. Hence nobody knows who's the winner but they both get the rub of "beating" Reigns, yet don't get the title. Therefore there's a rematch at Smackdown where this time Lesnar intervenes and at Mania there's a match to finally decide who is the legitimate champion between McIntyre, Rollins, the Rumble Winner, and potentially a second heel if people do not stop injuring themselves, while Reigns can't participate because he lost twice, cheaply or not.

And I swear to whatever divinity wants to hear it that I won't have another Reigns-Lesnar feud in years once I'm done with the "Bloodline vs Lesnar & allies" one.

 

Anyway, as for my other "issue", it's a small question but I'm stuck between two options with some signings I was "forced" to do in the booking challenge between my friend and I: I try to follow what NXT 2.0 is, and so avoid hiring indy darlings as much as I can. Basically, I'm hiring workers with high SQ and under 25 or 30 if they are really really great (so, people like Juicy Finau, Queen Aminata, etc), relatives of WWE legends (Bianca Carelli, etc) or people from niche markets, kinda like Dante Chen for Singapour (Taonga, Georges Khoukaz, etc).

However, like I said there are people I'm forced to hire, and I don't know what I should do: the former way would have been to send them straight to NXT (like Nakamura, Zayn, Owens, Ciampa, Gargano, Cole, etc did) for a year or so, but how would WWE treat people that do not fit the new era of NXT 2.0, yet aren't popular enough to start straight in the main roster ? People like Robbie Eagles, Dralistico, VENY, Maya Yukihi, or even Dalton Castle, who are already well know by people who live and breathe wrestling in the indies and abroad, but who are complete unknowns to the regular WWE fan ?

Basically, do I still send them to NXT, because that's how it used to be, or do I have them straight into the main roster, even if their pop mean they'll tank for a bit ?

 

Why not just vacate the title due to a kayfabe injury. Or perhaps he got beat down in a real life mugging (ala Shawn Michaels in the 90s). That seems an easier route. Battle royals for a new title holder always go over well in my games.

 

As far as new hirings, if you are using RWC, sign Great O-Khan, from NJPW, if available. The AI loves him, as do I. Great look and decent ability. I've had 4 promises from some of my best talent to put him over. And that's just in the last month. So far, with the 3 people left (after I used all the matches for the first guy), I've got 9 matches left under promises. His popularity is rising and his momentum is through the roof. If you can't sign him, look to align yourself with NJPW for trading or add them to the WWE Universe Alliance.

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

Well, being injured and forced to vacate the title wouldn't leave him free to have a Wrestlemania match and a "Bloodline vs Lesnar and allies" storyline right after, but yes, I do agree that if I had to simply vacate the title, that's probably what I'd do.

 

As for Great-o-Khan, I'm not so much asking who I should hire (I may have gone a tiny bit overboard with that already ), so much as how people think WWE would use people like the ones I listed: straight to the main roster, one year in NXT as it used to be, etc ?

But thanks for the suggestion nonetheless, I might sign him in another save one day !

[djskeemask]

Well, being injured and forced to vacate the title wouldn't leave him free to have a Wrestlemania match and a "Bloodline vs Lesnar and allies" storyline right after, but yes, I do agree that if I had to simply vacate the title, that's probably what I'd do.

 

As for Great-o-Khan, I'm not so much asking who I should hire (I may have gone a tiny bit overboard with that already ), so much as how people think WWE would use people like the ones I listed: straight to the main roster, one year in NXT as it used to be, etc ?

But thanks for the suggestion nonetheless, I might sign him in another save one day !

 

I guess I misread it. But when I hire a Star/Main Eventer from another company, I give him a shot on pre-show or post-show with the main roster to see how his performances rate, then go from there. For example, if his performance is around 50 or more, I will keep him on the main roster. I signed Great Khali to New Japan and his performances are only around 20 at tops. So I sent him to development. If they are borderline, I make a judgement call. If I find chemistry in post/pre-show matches, I keep them in those matches but send them to my Performance Center. It helps their stats grow at a better rate as they get more experience than just being in development. Relatives are a good idea, but I would hire both relatives and use one in a managerial role or a father/son tag team or stable similar to how Billy Gunn is using his kids in AEW.

 

Check out NJPW's recent shows. They have some AMAZING talent. Also, even though it is Kevin Kelly (who I'm not a big fan of), they have English commentary now. It is WAAAAAY easier to follow along. There are easy ways to watch them with certain sites which I won't go into due to legal reasons.

[Editor6]

So here's my dilemma.

 

Playing Burning Hammer in 2023. Among the many changes is that NEO is kind of reunified under the NEO-X banner and Taira's leadership, with Takemura and Sensational Dragon (who I added) as deputies and Heihachiro Sakai as the designated heir apparent.

 

Well, that time has come. Taira is cooked in the ring to the point where I can't even envision him getting carried to a tag title reign. He's in "only big tag matches on PPV" territory at this point. So it's time for a new leader.

 

But I don't know how to get there. I'm not sure beating this version of Taira helps either Takemura or Sakai at this point, and I don't want to start off with them fighting each other or threatening another NEO split this soon. (We may get there eventually, but not now.) I've also basically decided that Masuno will be the one to finish off Taira at Night of the Burning Hammer, which is a month away.

 

TL;DR: How do I pass the NEO torch, and to who?

[ctessier197]

Who would you say are some of the most popular/best trios in NJPW? Planning a trios tournament for an AEW save and with the increased collaboration between the two lately, I figured it'd make sense to include some NJPW representatives.