USPW: Hegemony

[DirigoJoe]

OOT- After the first week of June, 2020 in game, Spencer Spade's contract came up... I offered him 5 years for 40k a month. He accepted but... I just couldn't pull the trigger. I want to crush SWF but at the same time it just felt too unrealistic? 

I wonder if there's a kayfabe reason for Money and Packer turning down the contract or not. I figured I could someday get Jack Johnson up to that level and out Spade, Spade? 

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting aside! 

[DirigoJoe]

Oh! And this happened!

 

Was that random of scheduled?! 

[DinoKea]

16 minutes ago, DirigoJoe said:

OOT- After the first week of June, 2020 in game, Spencer Spade's contract came up... I offered him 5 years for 40k a month. He accepted but... I just couldn't pull the trigger. I want to crush SWF but at the same time it just felt too unrealistic? 

I wonder if there's a kayfabe reason for Money and Packer turning down the contract or not. I figured I could someday get Jack Johnson up to that level and out Spade, Spade? 

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting aside! 

Even if it would've been interesting to see what you could do with Spencer Spade, I appreciate not signing a guy because it feels unrealistic.

Kayfabe reason could be anything from not getting name right (having to call him Spencer Club or something) to Spade not being interested in the direction from creative.

[DirigoJoe]

11 minutes ago, DinoKea said:

Even if it would've been interesting to see what you could do with Spencer Spade, I appreciate not signing a guy because it feels unrealistic.

Kayfabe reason could be anything from not getting name right (having to call him Spencer Club or something) to Spade not being interested in the direction from creative.

Spencer Diamond lol. C-Verse leaves a lot of ambiguity about what workers' real names are. Nicky Champion is a stage name. No idea what his name is! lol

Anyway, I wouldn't mind poaching guys from the other members of the big two, but it has to make sense. I grabbed a couple lower level guys and assigned them to be main eventers in the developmental feds I made. More on that later, maybe! 

[DevilofNG]

Glad to see this back. Finally got around to catching up over the past few days. A few things have stood out to me in the return.

1. Frehley's an absolute monster. Loved the ending of the PPV where he just goes absolutely crazy and destroys everyone. I was surprised to see there were no repercussions for that. Could've made for some interesting storytelling.

2. I. Am. Loving. Emily. McQueen. Her commentary is GOLDEN.

3. I'm very interested in the direction you're taking the Alicia Strong/JRo/Pariah angle. There's been some good characterization there.

4. It's pretty cool that you pulled out of the Spencer Spade sweepstakes. Did you start building plans for him or what? I hate when I snatch a guy up, but I don't really have anything solid for him to do. Did he return to SWF?

[DirigoJoe]

29 minutes ago, DevilofNG said:

Glad to see this back. Finally got around to catching up over the past few days. A few things have stood out to me in the return.

1. Frehley's an absolute monster. Loved the ending of the PPV where he just goes absolutely crazy and destroys everyone. I was surprised to see there were no repercussions for that. Could've made for some interesting storytelling.

2. I. Am. Loving. Emily. McQueen. Her commentary is GOLDEN.

3. I'm very interested in the direction you're taking the Alicia Strong/JRo/Pariah angle. There's been some good characterization there.

4. It's pretty cool that you pulled out of the Spencer Spade sweepstakes. Did you start building plans for him or what? I hate when I snatch a guy up, but I don't really have anything solid for him to do. Did he return to SWF?

1.) I feel like James Justice is just so laid back, plus he's one of the boys so getting beaten up backstage or in a run in just comes with the territory. 

2.) I love Emily too. I really think wrestling is best served with a face announcer and a heel color commentator. Belle is solid too, and I figure she's there to provide actual real life experience as she's the only one on the desk who ever laced up a pair of boots. USPW's commentary team is underrated!

3.) I like J-Ro a lot, and convinced her to come out of retirement for this run. I also genuinely think Alicia Strong is the best women's wrestler in the world. Pariah is amazing too, one of the few workers to have white hot momentum. Pariah is really great, and probably the quickest to learn the business in C-Verse history.

4.) I didn't have much of a plan for him beyond strapping a rocket to him and having a headcanon that fans hated and rejected him for it. In the end it felt like he was TOO SWF to hire. Like if WCW had signed Shawn Michaels or The Undertaker during the Monday Night Wars. Besides, I really think I could make Jack Johnson into that guy someday soon. Jackson is in developmental right now, and he's a lot more similar to Spade in terms of abilities than you would think, especially with Jackson being 5 years younger. Jackson also has the "Amazing Heel", "Very Creative" and "Easily Marketable" attributes which I think makes him arguably a better prospect. I'll be able to eat SWF's lunch even if they make Spade into a massive star 😁

[DirigoJoe]

Oh, and yes, re: Spade, he re-signed with SWF for their last offer (over market rate!) I got all the way to the point where you wouldfinalize the contract. I requested a medical report and then I clicked to withdraw the offer instead of accepting it. 

[DirigoJoe]

on Demand on Reverie it's...

 

USPW American Wrestling!

May, Week 3, 2020

(Click the link to view show)

[DirigoJoe]

Spoiler, there's an injury in this week's episode and... I thought a lot about maybe restarting the game and running the show again, but I decided not to. I liked the challenge of working around and injury and thought it gave the game a sense of stakes and realism. Get well soon [SPOILER]! 

[DirigoJoe]

on Demand on Reverie it's...

 

USPW American Wrestling!

May, Week 4, 2020

(Click the link to view show)

[DirigoJoe]

USPW Declaration of Independence Prediction Contest!

 

Running Wolf, James Justice and Mystery Partner vs. The Force, Sterling Whitlock and Dusty Ducont
(1 pt for winner, 1 pt for guessing the mystery partner!)
 

USPW Tag Team Championship Match
The Ring Generals vs. Jett & Moor (C)

USPW National Title Match
Zeus vs. Roger Cage (C)

USPW Women's Championship Match
Joanne Rodriguez vs Pariah (C)
 

Enygma vs Tyson Baine
 

USPW #1 Contender's Match
Rick Law vs. Kirk Jameson vs. Nicky Champion vs. Joss Thompson

 

USPW Championship Match
Rich Money vs. Steve Frehley (C)

Bonus Point: Thoughts on the diary so far?

 

[DinoKea]

PREDICTIONS

Running Wolf, James Justice and Cameron Vessey def. The Force, Sterling Whitlock and Dusty Ducont
 

USPW Tag Team Championship Match
Jett & Moor (C) def. The Ring Generals

USPW National Title Match
Roger Cage (C) def.  Zeus

USPW Women's Championship Match
Pariah (C) def. Joanne Rodriguez
 

Enygma def. Tyson Baine
 

USPW #1 Contender's Match
Nick Champion def. Rick Law, Kirk Jameson and Joss Thompson

 

USPW Championship Match
Steve Frehley (C) def. Rich Money

Bonus Point: Thoughts on the diary so far?

Diary hqs been good so far, love the presentation and you're building up stories and characters well

[Chaos Zarak]

Running Wolf, James Justice and Mystery Partner vs. The Force, Sterling Whitlock and Dusty Ducont

(1 pt for winner, 1 pt for guessing the mystery partner!)

This has to be the mystery partner team of wolf, justice and mystery partner American patriot

USPW Tag Team Championship Match

The Ring Generals vs. Jett & Moor (C)

As much as I like the ring generals there is no way they will be taking the titles from Jett and Moor. Champs retain

 

USPW National Title Match

Zeus vs. Roger Cage (C)

Touch choice here and possibly more Bias from my own game (where Zeus had a great destiny roll and became a major star without trying) but I want to see Zeus take the belt...

 

USPW Women's Championship Match

Joanne Rodriguez vs Pariah (C)

 Pariah to retain and give her a big boost.

 

Enygma vs Tyson Baine

 I feel this could go either way... The way you have been booking seems like baine might throw the match to get under enygmas skin further... Leading to a bigger match down the line. Enygma wins.

 

USPW #1 Contender's Match

Rick Law vs. Kirk Jameson vs. Nicky Champion vs. Joss Thompson

Another tough call... Based on money's books notes Joss has a shout and it would make sense to book champion Vs frehley for IDS... I will go with Joss Thompson gets the win here and the shot at Americana but Champion Vs Frehley for IDS.

 

USPW Championship Match

Rich Money vs. Steve Frehley (C)

Frehley to retain... Money is good but frehley seems like the star of your game so far.

Bonus Point: Thoughts on the diary so far?

I have enjoyed your booking and the push of the tag division has been a highlight for me. I love tag wrestling so seeing them get the spotlight has been great.

[christmas_ape]

 

Running Wolf, James Justice and Mystery Partner vs. The Force, Sterling Whitlock and Dusty Ducont
(1 pt for winner, 1 pt for guessing the mystery partner!)
I'm going to go really out there and predict a new signing... Sammy Bach

USPW Tag Team Championship Match
The Ring Generals vs. Jett & Moor (C)

USPW National Title Match
Zeus vs. Roger Cage (C)

USPW Women's Championship Match
Joanne Rodriguez vs Pariah (C)
 

Enygma vs Tyson Baine
 

USPW #1 Contender's Match
Rick Law vs. Kirk Jameson vs. Nicky Champion vs. Joss Thompson

 

USPW Championship Match
Rich Money vs. Steve Frehley (C)

Bonus Point: Thoughts on the diary so far?

I've been enjoying it, it's good to see a USPW diary on the boards I think sometimes the bigger promotions can be daunting and a lot of work but I'm finding this easy to follow. This card itself shows how much storyline you've got going on at once. 

[DevilofNG]

Running Wolf, James Justice and Mystery Partner vs. The Force, Sterling Whitlock and Dusty Ducont
Not sure who the partner could be. I imagine it's somebody from outside the company. Perhaps it's Jackson or one of those new lower level guys from the big league's time.
 

USPW Tag Team Championship Match

The Ring Generals vs. Jett & Moor (C)

Wouldn't be surprised to see the Ring Generals win here but it would be solely for shock purposes. Jett & Moor continue the reign.

USPW National Title Match
Zeus vs. Roger Cage (C)

Cage wins again.

USPW Women's Championship Match
Joanne Rodriguez vs Pariah (C)

I think this is our title win on the show. Sets up a showdown with Alicia Strong although I would prefer Pariah to retain.
 

Enygma vs Tyson Baine

Baine battles for a while here before laying down for Enygma. This will truly break him.
 

USPW #1 Contender's Match
Rick Law vs. Kirk Jameson vs. Nicky Champion vs. Joss Thompson

Dude's getting a push. Pins Law to go one on one with Frehley.

 

USPW Championship Match
Rich Money vs. Steve Frehley (C)

A dominating win for Frehley here.

Bonus Point: Love where we're going with this. So many storylines, and one of the best parts is that they are always intersecting.

[DirigoJoe]

19 hours ago, christmas_ape said:

I've been enjoying it, it's good to see a USPW diary on the boards I think sometimes the bigger promotions can be daunting and a lot of work but I'm finding this easy to follow. This card itself shows how much storyline you've got going on at once. 

Thanks! I'm trying to make it interesting and I've got a lot of balls in the air, I just hope I'm keeping it cohesive and coherent 😅

I'm excited for Independence Day Slam as a season finale, then I have permission to end all the current storylines and start fresh in that long stretch of like 7 TV shows before the next PPV Event 

[DirigoJoe]

I'm dropping the show tomorrow so if there's any last minute predictions, get them in!

[DirigoJoe]

On Demand on Reverie it's....

(Click to view the show)

[DirigoJoe]

Show's up! I don't know how to do spoiler tags so I'll give people a chance to look at the show before I post the results of the contest!

[DirigoJoe]

Exclusive Interview With USPW World Champion Steve Frehley, Only on USPW.com!

Lionel Greenwood: "Good morning, Mr. Frehley and thank you for offering your time to us today to do this interview!"
Steve Frehley: "I didn't offer nothin, fool. Apparently this company loves making us jump through a bunch of hoops so let's get on with it."
Lionel Greenwood: "This is your second reign as World Champion, your last reign was over a year, 13 months if memory serves..."
Steve Frehley: "I should still be champ. Enygma got lucky, now he's off on some demonic nonsense. I'm the best this company has, and I should be champion. That's all there is to it."
Lionel Greenwood: "No one can deny that you're one of the..."
Steve Frehley: "Did I stutter? You got hearing problems? Not one of the. Not among the... THE BEST. I can whip anyone in this company!"
Lionel Greenwood: "W...w...well what about Nicky Champion?" 
Steve Frehley: "Look man... I'm getting upset so let me take a deep breath. I'm not trying to beat up some glasses wearing dork today...Nicky Champion is tough... I gotta give him his props, but compared to me, he ain't nothin. He's the #1 contender right now, and I'm hearing that I'm gonna have to wrestle him AND Money at Americana. I'm fitting to whoop both of them. I might even stack them on top of each other and pin both at once."
Lionel Greenwood: "You certainly don't lack for confidence, Mr. Frehley."
Steve Frehley: "Look man, you wouldn't understand because you ain't never been elite at anything, but when you're the best, you tell somebody. Ain't no one gonna advocate for you. You gotta do it yourself. You got any more dumb questions?"
Lionel Greenwood: "Just one... You mentioned Nicky Champion earlier, he's the most decorated wrestler in USPW history..."

At this point Mr Frehley struck Lionel Greenwood cutting the interview short.
 

[DirigoJoe]

on Demand on Reverie it's...

 

USPW American Wrestling!

June, Week 1, 2020

(Click the link to view show)

[DirigoJoe]

Spoilers for Declaration of Independence but no one guessed Angry Gilmore as the mystery partner and I think he fits perfectly. Really fits in to what USPW needs. 

And, unlike Spade, I think signing him away from SWF made sense. He's older, he's not quite the elite worker he once was... so coming to USPW to work a slower pace style and fewer dates just seems to work. 🙂

[DevilofNG]

Another great show with some bangers near the end. As I've said before, I love where these stories are going. I didn't realize we were so close to the season finale. Would've gone with Nicky Champion to win fourway. Are Americana and Independence Day Slam meant to be so close together or am I looking at it wrong? Anyway, I'll post my thoughts on the big storylines below. 

Did not see Gilmore coming. Might've been kinda close with my vague prediction lol. Interested to see how you write him going forward. Most people take him in a sort of Stone Cold direction. Not necessarily with the booking, just the intense character work. 

We've gotta have that money Joanne Rodriguez vs Alicia Strong match on a big show. Should be an absolute banger. I wonder how Pariah will figure into this.

This Enygma/Baine thing is getting really weird. It truly is an Enigma. It would be a real swerve if Enygma was in on it the whole time.

Champion deserved to win. He is the man after all. Money did better than expected there. This certainly sets up some interesting stories for the next two big shows. 

 

 

 

 

[DirigoJoe]

On 5/30/2023 at 9:49 PM, DevilofNG said:

Another great show with some bangers near the end. As I've said before, I love where these stories are going. I didn't realize we were so close to the season finale. Would've gone with Nicky Champion to win fourway. Are Americana and Independence Day Slam meant to be so close together or am I looking at it wrong? Anyway, I'll post my thoughts on the big storylines below. 

Did not see Gilmore coming. Might've been kinda close with my vague prediction lol. Interested to see how you write him going forward. Most people take him in a sort of Stone Cold direction. Not necessarily with the booking, just the intense character work. 

We've gotta have that money Joanne Rodriguez vs Alicia Strong match on a big show. Should be an absolute banger. I wonder how Pariah will figure into this.

This Enygma/Baine thing is getting really weird. It truly is an Enigma. It would be a real swerve if Enygma was in on it the whole time.

Champion deserved to win. He is the man after all. Money did better than expected there. This certainly sets up some interesting stories for the next two big shows. 

 

 

 

 

I really appreciate the comments! 

Not sure how much thought was put into USPW's schedule, but I kind of like it? They have this big end of the year blowoff and then a long time to set up storylines before the August show. I plan to introduce some new players in that time, like what WWE does after Wrestlemania. 

I think Angry Gilmore might be losing his edge. 🙂

USPW is the center of the C-Verse for women's wrestling. They're the only one of the big 3 with women wrestlers, which in my headcanon is a big reason for their success. Sam Strong probably only made a women's division because he had a daughter who could wrestle, but it's worked out. I imagine a lot of women and girls gravitate to USPW because they showcase women's wrestling. (I think there's a lot of reasons besides cash that USPW became the dominant company in the world but that's a story for another day!)

The Enygma/Baine thing IS pretty weird. I'm a little worried I had a lot of interesting stuff going on up to this point, and I won't be able to capture lightning in a bottle again. It's very silly but the stuff with American Patriot is my favorite storyline. Emily McQueen is so convinced he's Brandon Smith despite Brandon Smith losing a loser leaves town match!

Champion is like John Cena and I want to be careful not to make him so dominant that he gets boring. Having a foil like Steve Frehley really helps. I also think it's really cool that the highest paid wrestler in the world, and one of the most recognizable stars in the world is a Native American. I also like, that at least in my game, that's not really part of his character. He doesn't wear war paint or head dresses, or have his heritage tied into his gimmick. He's just a guy who happens to be Native. I think he wants to put a lot of distance between him and the Tom E Hawk gimmick. 

[DirigoJoe]

Behind the Curtain with... Joss Thompson

 

J-Ro: "Alright, I'm here interviewing one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling AND my co-worker at USPW, Joss Thompson!"
 

Joss: "Thanks for having me Jo!"
 

J-Ro: "Of course! I'm a USPW newbie, but you signed on in 2015. You were here right after the 'Black Wednesday Betrayal' so you've seen USPW go from the little company that could to being a global superpower!"

Joss: "Absolutely, but can we retire the phrase 'Black Wednesday Betrayal'? I mean my God, if SWF somehow signed Nicky Champion and Justice and Enygma away from USPW people would call it a brilliant business move not some kind of betrayal. SWF's PR team remains undefeated."

J-Ro: "You're so right. Dawn, Steve and Rick got this kind of rep as mercenaries for leaving.., but anyone would happily leave their job for more money, better working conditions..."

Joss: "For sure, and they've all done pretty well for themselves all while benefitting the company. Think everything worked out all around."

J-Ro: "Your departure from 21CW, you rightfully don't get the same flak for, and you were a major player over there."

Joss: "Yeah, I think Tommy Cornell joining later the same year I left helped take the sting out of things. Truthfully though, I loved working in England. The fans there are passionate about wrestling, they chant and sing at shows... it was just time to come home. I put in 11 years over there. I was just ready to come back to the States."

J-Ro: "Was it hard to adjust to driving on the right side of the road?"

Joss: "Yeah, a little! It felt kind of funny but you get used to it real fast."

J-Ro: "Circling back to earlier, you've been at USPW during a time of tremendous growth."

Joss: "(Teasing) Yeah, just a bystander to all that growth."

J-Ro: "Ha! No, for real, you've been a part of that growth! You didn't let me finish! What would you say is the biggest reason for USPW's success?"

Joss: "Whew, that's a tough one. We have an excellent roster. We have the best women's wrestling in the world. We appeal to a wide audience... there's a lot of factors, but at the end of the day I think it's that we're not micromanaged. Everyone knows Allen Packer is the founder and CEO of Reverie who owns the USPW... but I've literally never met him. I'm sure he's a cool guy and all, but I think that's a good thing. He's supposedly a huge fan of wrestling but he's never backstage milling around. He's not suggesting finishes to Rich or Robbie, you know?"

J-Ro: "For sure. Sometimes less is more when it comes to owning a business."

Joss: "Exactly, it's like in sports. If your owner is in the GM's ear trying to influence who gets signed or drafted, who gets traded... that's a recipe for disaster. Reverie hires smart people and lets them work. Robbie was running things and he did a great job. At least in my opinion. There was that incident a couple years ago where Nicky got color and Robbie lost the book. I didn't agree with the decision... but at the same time they just put Rich in charge. They didn't clamp down on us and introduce a bunch of rules. They let us keep operating pretty much as we had been. And Robbie is still involved. He's brilliant. If you need help with a finish, he's got you."

J-Ro: "I know what you mean. Robbie Sanchez is a pro. Can I ask you, what happened in that incident anyway?"

Joss: "Well, I wasn't involved so anything I say is second hand... but you know us, in USPW we're not gigging. Sometimes it's okay to get color in a match but it's not really part of our product, and that's fine. Anyway, Steve jumps Nicky in an angle and it's backstage. The cameras are in close so you gotta lay it in. It's pretty violent and intense. Then Steve picks up Nicky to drop him face first on this equipment box backstage, and they're all sweaty, there's baby oil... Nicky's hand slips off the box where he's gonna brace himself and pow... forehead into the corner of the box."

J-Ro: "Oof, wow."

Joss: "Yeah, so Nicky got some hardway blood there and it's just pouring out. They had to have Steve get pulled away by security so they could cut the angle short and get Nicky stitches. Anyway, it was violent and intense and a little scary before we even got to the blood part. Kids seeing their hero absolutely pouring blood? The network didn't like that. I don't blame them, but I also don't blame Robbie for it, but what can you do?"

J-Ro: "You mentioned about the kids and the family friendly nature of USPW. What do you say to people who deride USPW as a product for kids."

Joss: "First of all, kids are awesome? Why would that be a bad thing? But second of all... we're not really. We're making an old school product that tells a story while limiting damage to our bodies. It's adult to jump off a cage onto an announcer's table? Why? We all know it's a work in the first place. Why hurt yourself? And that spot doesn't make any sense anyway. Same with suicide dives. In kayfabe a headlock makes a lot more sense as a way to hurt your opponent than jumping over the ropes to torpedo someone. But the thing about wrestling is that, there's something for everyone. There's places that do a stunt show every night and show off work rates. There's places that basically do a soap opera every week. There's strong style. There's comedy matches... I truly believe USPW has something for everyone. Maybe the 18-25 demo wants a different style product but when they have kids and grandkids they're going to want to bring them to a USPW show."

J-Ro: "Well said. I love seeing grandparents with their grandkids at shows. Making the next generation of fans..."

 

J-Ro and Joss continue discussing MOSC, 21CW, his training in the wrestling business and a variety of other topics.