C-Verse Factions Chat

[Po Red5]

I started a custom promotion, Blackjack Wrestling, based in the Great Lakes. We're into year five of the promotion and I've realised my promotion lives and dies on its factions. Starting out with a biker gang themed stable called The Spades and a dark cult known as The Web of Fate, I've gradually added stables. Initially heel factions for the most part but now a few face factions too. 

How does everyone else plan out and use stables? Do you have any favourite Cverse stables and are there any you always use? I really enjoy making the graphics for the stables too, so I'd love to see what else people have come up with.

[Self]

When I started a CGC in 1997 game, with the idea to play through to the company's closing in 2018/19 (but got stuck in 2005) I really wanted to push the idea of stables hard. The DeColt Family are the top babyfaces in the promotion, so it's only natural to have big heel stables to go against them. I even created a Manager's Cup title, specifically designed to encourage groups to form in the undercard. Even with that... stables aren't something that feels natural to me. Alliances, sure. Friendships, absolutely. But I had to keep forcing myself to remember to throw together gimmicky, marketable groups. 

One actual success of forced marketing was The Sea of Monsters. Based on an off-hand comment I made in a diary a decade prior, Lobster Warrior summoned a number of evil water-themed giants from the depths of the seas to battle the DeColts. Lobby was too much of a comedic goof to actually lead, so he was quickly replaced by vampiric Archangel, who added a whole slew of minions and thralls to the team, to the point where he group became overstuffed and collapsed in on itself. Cracking good matches though, when the focus was on Archangel, Luis Figo Manico and a very wet, very undead Larry Wood. 

In thinking about it, a lot of my groups come from heel tag teams that get over (even if just in my head) and there being room for an extra cheating element. A big bodyguard. A talker. A weasel cruiserweight. Whatever the original team lacks, but fits the gimmick. Then how could you not test chemistry with all three of them? Now you have a trio with a gimmick. Express Delivery were a postal service middleweight tag team, until I added heavyweight Canadian Crusher to help them cheat, and they became a cool group. Ted Moore and Thomas Morgan were The Trademarks, a Pinky & The Brain tag team trying elaborate schemes to take over the world (just like they do every night), until I added a smooth talking con man to add some talent in between the ropes in Colin Kennedy, to create The Heist. 

I don't really repeat stables from game to game, unless they're C-Verse canon. I think I prefer groups to sprout organically, and then name them afterwards. 

[Po Red5]

Nice. So, the factions I currently have are as follows:

The Spades - these started as a vehicle for Ernest Youngman, Logan Wolfsbaine and James Diaz, the first three stars when the promotion launched. They're a standard biker gang vibe, think Aces and Eights but didn't outstay their welcome after three months unlike IRL. The membership has varied over time and after a few years is led by James Diaz and Sabrina "Punk Princess" Webb, with two youngbloods forming a tag team and Joy Rider as manager and occasional wrestler / partner for Sabrina.

The Web of Fate - another early stable, this one had been led by Spider Isako in her Dark Mistress / Cult Leader guise since inception. Her first devotee is Original Sinner and while Dreadnought and Masked Marauder were both members they were replaced following an injury to MM and the faction turning on OS. Now the other members are Prowler Igarashi and Shadow Ichimori, forming the tag team Cloaked in Shadows and chasing for the tag straps while Spider plots against the faces and the leadership of the promotion.

The Kult of Violence - these began as a loose collection of wrestlers believing in the sanctity of the ring and a commitment to the craft. With no formal leader and a rotating line up over the years they are currently made up of Christopher Ball, Bradford Peverell, Lucy Stone-McFly and Koyo Kinoshita. They specialise in hard hitting, impactful wrestling with a flair for technical skills and brawling.  

Shimai Kankei - this female only stable is led by Aki Kamio and evolved out of a partnership with Yayoi Kurmochi however added additional members over the years and now sits at five with Allie Perks the other member of note. They're pretty much a midcard act but are popular enough with the fans that they've become a bit of a staple on tv.

The Prime Time - these formed in the wake of Prime Time Jack Pryde as a collection of people he was using to support his rise up the card. Think how MJW used The Pinnacle in AEW. Membership is currently Prime Time Jack Pryde, Pepper Pelton, Zippy Deverell and Flip Simkins. Prime Time spent the early part of my promotion fighting for the Openweight Title, my midcard strap, but have gradually moved up the card with Jack Pryde now on the verge of the main title picture and Flip on the verge of the Openweight.

The Foundation - these are a collective of workers that are the bedrock on which BJW was built. They're the heart and soul of BJW and the main face faction. Multiple time tag team champions The LA Stars, multiple time COTT champion Miller Fforde, multiple time Openweight champion Nakayama and occasional challenger Spencer Edmund make up the current line up. They have had Foxxy LaRue and Black Diamond in the line up at times, but currently no females are in their line up although they are still aligned.

And finally, APEX - the top of the tree in BJW. Led by Yuta Isona with Naoji Azumi as the deputy, APEX also includes DupliKate and Yvonne Ericks alongside a but for the most part it is Yuta's show. He's the current BJW World Champion and has used APEX to maintain his position.

There were a couple of other factions that are currently inactive but once were important, with the best of the bunch being The Upside, a group led by Foxxy LaRue and Fro Sure. They were the first face faction to come about in BJW but folded when Fro Sure signed elsewhere and left.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Po Red5
Adding image

[Mecha Kaji]

I book 5SSW more closer to modern Stardom and 2010s NJPW, although most of these are the brainchild of my girlfriend, who is more creative than me at TEW:

Akatsuki - Stern and disciplined fighters, favour traditionalist style and code of honour. Fuyuko Higa (leader), Gemini Oonishi, Maki Yoshifumi, Angel Takudome, Sae Akutagawa and Lady Lotus.

Queen's Path - Traditional babyface faction, positive and sportsman-like. Yuma Maruya (leader), HEART Saitoh, Thea Davies, Romi Yamato, Yuiko Matsumara.

JEWELS - Fashionable, rich and arrogant, equally caring about beating and looking better than their opponents. Shiori Jippensha (leader), Kate Lily, Debbie Rose, Machiko Matsuda, Hana Ajibana, Eri Sato.

Nakajima-gun - Very straight forward, vicious heel stable a'la joshi version of Suzuki-gun. Megumi Nakajima (leader, of course), Mirai Kajahara, Monster Ishimura, Selina Svelte, Talia Quinzel, Miwako Katsukawa.

Smash Street - Leaderless gang of delinquents, lawless and rowdy. Not full on heels, more tweeners. Unstoppable Tai, Toku Kijmuta, Yu Hashimoto, Kuniko Matsura, Chiyeko Kita, Etsuko Ariyoshi, Sakura Sada.

There are are few factionless characters at this time as well.

[CQI13]

I tend to start with a bloated roster in a created US touring promotion. Most of my workers are in a stable, with a handful being solo workers.

My user character is Robert Montgomery Sr, and the goal is to run a stable with him of his family (Legacy).

In the meantime...

American Made (Face) - Chris Caulfield, Jack Avatar, Cockroach Carter, Christie Higgins

Varsity Club (Face) - Adam Starnes, Pepper Pelton, Prime Time Jack Pryde, Black Diamond

Southern Class (Heels) - Herb Stately, Jack Griffith, Whisky Jack, Gareth Wayne 

The Outlaws (Heel) - Texas Pete, Texas Hangman, Big Tex Avatar 

Tono-gun (Heel) - Acid, Yuta Isono, Big Boss Emperor, Spider Isako

Team Kamehameha (Face) - Clark Alexander, Big Breeze, Sammy Mahiai, Lily Kalani 

Top Team USA (Heel) - Honest Frank, James Diaz, Willie York, Chris Amerson

Delta Force (Heel) - Sgt Bubba Lee West, Desert Storm, The Silencer, Piper Hale 

Blood Warriors (Heel) - Doug Peak, Dallas McWade, Dean McWade 

Rock City Studios (Face) - Penny Ramone, Charlie Corner, Stan Manna, Rockin' Ryan Turner 

Lucha House Party - Gringo Star, Doctor Técnico, Frankie Carmello 

Model Behavior (Heel) - Raphael, Ozzie Goldstein, Beautiful Bryan Brady, Ashley Keith 

BRAVE Combat (Face) - Yuki Moore, Shuga Amano, and I forget the other 2 members at the moment

Nor sure if I am missing anything off the top of my head. I do expect some people to retire (Caulfield, The McWades, Savage Fury, all of Southern Class) and some people to get poached (my tests usually see Texas Pete get snatched up by USPW depending on what is going on with their roster. But the stables let's me make the easy 6 man tags and mix and match storylines on your shows leading to the big events.

[Editor6]

The NEO split in Burning Hammer ended and things went absolutely nuts afterwards:

NEO-X

Heihachiro Sakai (leader), Atsumori Takemura (deputy), Sensational Dragon (deputy), Rebel Run X (Jin Miyamoto & Hijo del Relampago), Michio Gensai, Ryushi Sato, Yasuhiko Taira (support)

Most of the original group is back under the NEO-X banner. Taira was the leader until his in-ring skills fell off a cliff, and he was taken down by his old partner Masuno at Night of the Burning Hammer 2023. Sakai ascended to the leadership (and is world champion as of February 2025), with Takemura and SenDrag as his seconds. But there's been some bubbling tension between leader and chief deputy.

Those familiar with the NEO split in TEW 2016 will notice quite a few names missing:

American Revolt

Matthew Keith (leader), KC Glenn (Deputy), William Hayes (deputy), The Ring Generals (Dean Waldorf & Marv Statler), Reaver, Giant Brody (currently in rehab), Rob Reynolds, Leftie Wilkes, Andre Jones, Duke Freeman (both pending)

Keith blamed his former partner Tatsuya Toshitara for being left out of the NEO reunification. So he turned on him and formed an all-American group, which eventually propelled him to the world title. Glenn dropped the "Helikaon" moniker and won two more Junior titles under his real name before getting injured at The Burning Path 2025.

GuiltyKill

Toshitara (leader), Brute Kikuchi, Taro Shionoya, Black Iron Corps (Fujio Narahasi & Azumamaro Kita), Chomei Sugiyama

After being betrayed by NEO-X and Keith, Toshitara tried to form an alliance with Hiroaki Nakasawa, but it never got off the ground because of his bitterness and anger. So after fighting Nakasawa, he assembled his own group of tough, underutilized, technically-oriented men. (That is their contrast to Senmatsu-gun, who are mostly outsider, rule-breaking brawlers) There's something missing here, IMO -- the group's been mostly an afterthought.

Line in the Sand

Elemental III (leader), MYSTIC Dragon, Tanyu Toshusai, TomoYuno (Tomonaga & Yunokawa)

Seeing all of this, Nakasawa and Elemental III gathered some of Burning Hammer's true born and banded together to deal with the new threats. Nakasawa left the company in some disgrace after a social media scandal, leaving the others scouting for like-minded loyalists to aid their cause. Though Toshusai isn't a true "true born", he is the nephew of an all-time Burning Hammer great. Nakasawa became a backstage mentor to Takemura, and even tried to recruit him to the group, perhaps knowing that he would chafe if Sakai was named the new leader. That situation will resolve with Takemura eventually leaving NEO-X and taking over the leadership here.

Slaughterhouse

Kinnojo Horri (leader), Yasunobu Masuno (leader), Hirokumi Saito, Marihito Masuko, Avalanche Takano, Haranobu Kobayashi, Prometheus

Described as "a bit of a bust", that changed when Horri, who was part of the now-defunct NEO Prime, joined in 2023 during his sixth and final world title reign. Being co-leaders with Masuno has been surprisingly harmonious so far. Takano and Kobayashi were brought in for some much-needed youth.

Senmatsu-gun

Munemitsu Senmatsu (leader), Ieyoshi Shimakage (deputy), Gonkuro Kamioka, Kazunori Yamura, Toju Munkata, Chaos Khan, Eikichi Itou

Not a lot about Senmatsu-gun's methods has changed. They have ruled over both tag divisions in the past (Senmatsu and Shimakage are the current heavyweight tag champs), but Yamura missed a year due to injury and came back as a middleweight, bringing PUNK Nasty Club to an unexpected end, or at least an extended hiatus. Itou is another former WEXXV wrestler.

The New Golden Army

SUKI (leader), Lion & Eagle (Lion Genji & Eagle Kawasawa), Namboku Makuda, Mabuchi Furusawa, Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno

Was revived in mid-2023 under SUKI's leadership. Makuda is the only member of the original group here. They continue to bring in the last of the GCG wrestlers. Furusawa and Toshusai had a legendary tag team run before splitting to join their respective stables.

Potential future stables:

ROYALE: Planning to base this one around Shogun Watoga and Big Boss Emperor.

Unnamed SATO/Kiyotaka group, since the auto-booker likes pairing these two and Murai Enomoto together.

A lot of the juniors remain unaffiliated, which is something I have to fix. There are also a lot of young heavyweights coming that need homes and people to affiliate and train with. But it's not the easiest thing to put people in the right group.

 

[mmaaddict]

Anytime I play with TCW I find myself building a stable around Jay Chord pretty quick. 

In my current save I signed Cameron Vessey and started a Legacy stable that features Chrod, Vessey, and Greg Gauge, and then included the tag team of Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol as they seemed to fit the group and I wanted to push them as a tag team.

 

[Irish Wolf]

EMLL

Aumento de la Oscuridad (Darkness Rising)

Samael El Accusador, Trickster, Charron, Malefic

Samel El Accusador is leading a group of other denizens of the dark universe as they try and extinguish the light from the prime world

 

Ejército Estigio (Stygian Army)

Hijo Del Mephisto, Hellspawn 666, Slayyer

El Demonio is the exiled prince of the demonic realm Stygia. He had been saying something from this home realm was coming and it turns out to be be another demon prince, and his brother, Hijo Del Mephisto. Mephisto lead two members of the Stygian Army to try and take the prime world by force.

 

La Llama Viva (The Living Flame)

Pyromaniac, Pájaro Del Fuego, Amazing Fire Fly

Light has always been the foe of darkness and La Llama Viva stand against Samael El Accusador and his minions from the Dark Universe

[Properly Promoted]

On 12/16/2022 at 11:05 AM, Mecha Kaji said:

I book 5SSW more closer to modern Stardom...:

This is how my post was going to start. Current factions are as follows:

1. ANTI+ : Founded by Devil Karube (now working as an agent); now run by Megumi Nakajima. Similar to your Nakajima-Gun [Chiyeko Kita, Eri Sato, Monster Ishimura, Toku Kijmuta, Mio Takasu]
2. Fit Squad: Gaijin crew led by Missy Masterson (until Charity Sweet signs and returns from maternity leave to do a coup angle) [Faith McGee, Selina Svelte, Talia Quinzel]
3. Game Changers: Renamed by Yu Hashimoto from the original EOE (Excellence of Execution) after feuding for and winning the top title from former leader and tag partner Shiroi Jippensha. [Hana Ajibana, Maki Yoshifumi, Kaori Mochizuki, Kaori Takenouchi]
4. Queen's Destiny: Similar to your Queen's path with Yuma Maruya as the founding leader. [Machiko Matsuda, MAYA, Emiko Miyoshi, HEART Saitoh]
5. RAID: New group started by Paige Croft. Heavily influenced by technical, high-flying and lucha. [Kaede Sugiyama, Yukiko Matsumara, Pinky Perez, Electric Dreamer, Estrella Blanca]
6. Stars: (Unoriginal name, I know.) A little similar to your Akatsuki with Fuyuko Higa as the leader. [Gemmei Oonishi, Asami Okubo, Nami Genda, Tiffany Jade]
7. The EOE 2.0: Shiori Jippensha's new faction after being kicked out of the faction she founded, following her loss to Yu Hashimoto. [Miwako Katsukawa, Sae Akutagawa, Romi Yamato, Rika Tsujimura, Rina Kasahara]

How long in game time have you played this save? I lost Etsuko Ariyoshi to a career-ending injury a while back.

[KingAj]

On 1/6/2023 at 11:40 AM, Editor6 said:

The NEO split in Burning Hammer ended and things went absolutely nuts afterwards:

NEO-X

Heihachiro Sakai (leader), Atsumori Takemura (deputy), Sensational Dragon (deputy), Rebel Run X (Jin Miyamoto & Hijo del Relampago), Michio Gensai, Ryushi Sato, Yasuhiko Taira (support)

Most of the original group is back under the NEO-X banner. Taira was the leader until his in-ring skills fell off a cliff, and he was taken down by his old partner Masuno at Night of the Burning Hammer 2023. Sakai ascended to the leadership (and is world champion as of February 2025), with Takemura and SenDrag as his seconds. But there's been some bubbling tension between leader and chief deputy.

Those familiar with the NEO split in TEW 2016 will notice quite a few names missing:

American Revolt

Matthew Keith (leader), KC Glenn (Deputy), William Hayes (deputy), The Ring Generals (Dean Waldorf & Marv Statler), Reaver, Giant Brody (currently in rehab), Rob Reynolds, Leftie Wilkes, Andre Jones, Duke Freeman (both pending)

Keith blamed his former partner Tatsuya Toshitara for being left out of the NEO reunification. So he turned on him and formed an all-American group, which eventually propelled him to the world title. Glenn dropped the "Helikaon" moniker and won two more Junior titles under his real name before getting injured at The Burning Path 2025.

GuiltyKill

Toshitara (leader), Brute Kikuchi, Taro Shionoya, Black Iron Corps (Fujio Narahasi & Azumamaro Kita), Chomei Sugiyama

After being betrayed by NEO-X and Keith, Toshitara tried to form an alliance with Hiroaki Nakasawa, but it never got off the ground because of his bitterness and anger. So after fighting Nakasawa, he assembled his own group of tough, underutilized, technically-oriented men. (That is their contrast to Senmatsu-gun, who are mostly outsider, rule-breaking brawlers) There's something missing here, IMO -- the group's been mostly an afterthought.

Line in the Sand

Elemental III (leader), MYSTIC Dragon, Tanyu Toshusai, TomoYuno (Tomonaga & Yunokawa)

Seeing all of this, Nakasawa and Elemental III gathered some of Burning Hammer's true born and banded together to deal with the new threats. Nakasawa left the company in some disgrace after a social media scandal, leaving the others scouting for like-minded loyalists to aid their cause. Though Toshusai isn't a true "true born", he is the nephew of an all-time Burning Hammer great. Nakasawa became a backstage mentor to Takemura, and even tried to recruit him to the group, perhaps knowing that he would chafe if Sakai was named the new leader. That situation will resolve with Takemura eventually leaving NEO-X and taking over the leadership here.

Slaughterhouse

Kinnojo Horri (leader), Yasunobu Masuno (leader), Hirokumi Saito, Marihito Masuko, Avalanche Takano, Haranobu Kobayashi, Prometheus

Described as "a bit of a bust", that changed when Horri, who was part of the now-defunct NEO Prime, joined in 2023 during his sixth and final world title reign. Being co-leaders with Masuno has been surprisingly harmonious so far. Takano and Kobayashi were brought in for some much-needed youth.

Senmatsu-gun

Munemitsu Senmatsu (leader), Ieyoshi Shimakage (deputy), Gonkuro Kamioka, Kazunori Yamura, Toju Munkata, Chaos Khan, Eikichi Itou

Not a lot about Senmatsu-gun's methods has changed. They have ruled over both tag divisions in the past (Senmatsu and Shimakage are the current heavyweight tag champs), but Yamura missed a year due to injury and came back as a middleweight, bringing PUNK Nasty Club to an unexpected end, or at least an extended hiatus. Itou is another former WEXXV wrestler.

The New Golden Army

SUKI (leader), Lion & Eagle (Lion Genji & Eagle Kawasawa), Namboku Makuda, Mabuchi Furusawa, Ichiro Mitsukuri, Koyo Kinoshita, Ryobe Uno

Was revived in mid-2023 under SUKI's leadership. Makuda is the only member of the original group here. They continue to bring in the last of the GCG wrestlers. Furusawa and Toshusai had a legendary tag team run before splitting to join their respective stables.

Potential future stables:

ROYALE: Planning to base this one around Shogun Watoga and Big Boss Emperor.

Unnamed SATO/Kiyotaka group, since the auto-booker likes pairing these two and Murai Enomoto together.

A lot of the juniors remain unaffiliated, which is something I have to fix. There are also a lot of young heavyweights coming that need homes and people to affiliate and train with. But it's not the easiest thing to put people in the right group.

 

This sounds really cool, just started a BHOTWG game and im 'borrowing' some of these ideas. I have a habit of making everyone be in a stable, so started splitting the Juniors into existing stables.

 

On 1/6/2023 at 2:32 PM, mmaaddict said:

Anytime I play with TCW I find myself building a stable around Jay Chord pretty quick. 

In my current save I signed Cameron Vessey and started a Legacy stable that features Chrod, Vessey, and Greg Gauge, and then included the tag team of Jackpot Jordan and Jake Idol as they seemed to fit the group and I wanted to push them as a tag team.

 

Im guilty of this also, do it every time. I look for 2nd gen characters and dump them with Chord.

[Mecha Kaji]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:07 PM, Properly Promoted said:

How long in game time have you played this save? I lost Etsuko Ariyoshi to a career-ending injury a while back.

This incarnation is currently only on the 2021 as my original save got lost with my old laptop, which died. It's a packed multiplayer game, with all 8 player slots taken up, so progress moves very slowly as a result.

My partner mostly books 5SSW, although I do chip in with her sometimes.