Keeping signings/people coming back from retirement a surprise

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

Hello,

Something that has been bothering me a tiny bit in my current save is that, essentially, the wrestling journalists seem to be all-knowing and it is therefore impossible to hide anything you do.
You want to hire someone and have them debute without anyone expecting it ? The whole world knows it unless you do so on the day of the show, and the only surprise left is when they'll show up on the shows.
You ask someone to come back from retirement so they can have a surprise return at a PPV ? You instantly get an article that tells everyone your sorker is back in business, and there's a good chance someone will try to hire them if you're asking them to come back before you offer them a contract.

Now, I understand that in 2022, it's very very difficult to keep those sorts of things secret, but it happens, and when playing historical mods, it should even happen a lot. Would it be possible to add a clause or something when hiring/re-signing someone or talking with someone to ask them to keep it secret ? There would then be a chance people will talk without our permission (which might also lead to someone getting fired 😛), or the return/debut could happen and be an actual surprise, giving the segment a better boost. Similarly, other companies could still think said worker is retired and not offer them a contract (and obviously, they could do it too with this time the player being the one left in the dark).
Finally, there could also be carefully orchestrated leaks so people would know you've signed a big star, but not know who: you'd then get articles giving potential names, stuff like that.

Basically, add some randomness to whether a surprise will actually be one or not, and even if its effect is mostly cosmetic, it would make it more interesting and realistic. As it stands, the better way for me to have veterans come back to the ring is to modify their profile in the editor, so there's no article and my own kayfabe is kept intact 😛

[Adam Ryland]

Those articles aren't literally things that are being published that the people in the game world are reading, they're just a fun way of communicating data to the player. So they don't have any of the impacts, like tipping off rivals or spoiling surprises, that you listed.

[ArcheoOutOfNowhere]

Uh, I actually didn't know that, good to know. Thanks !

[KevEnoch]

Still, the one thing I miss from the old EWR game is that every wrestler had the option of a debut angle, and they often gained overness based on that debut. Whether it's a big name from another company defecting, or a new character with a cleverly written vignette establishing their character, that first appearance can pop a crowd or get them interested. Hell, these days MOST of the big crowd reactions are some variation of this.