The 21CW Thread

[Boltinho]

Stars

 

Adam Matravers

Matravers has been one of 21CW’s top names for years, but as a high-flyer, age and physical decline was always coming for him.  Adam is still a brilliant worker, and his jaw-dropping highlights will light up your matches, but Leigh and Wade have overtaken him, and Adam has fallen out of that top tier.

Having said that, with [his real-life wife] Phoebe Plumridge at his side, he’s still got the capacity to be part of one of your top storylines and even challenge for the title if you need a face challenger.

The game starts with Adam battling Edward Cornell and his House of Business stable. That’s a fun feud, but possibly not the best use of your stars outside a couple of big matches.  Both vets can probably do a better job bringing some of the other guys on the roster up to the level you need to maintain popularity.  Adam is a Giving Performer too, and his psych is over 90 so he'll age well.

Adam is likely splitting his time being in multi-man main events with the other big names on the roster, adding some sparkle to your top heels [Leigh, Edward Cornell, maybe War Machine or Bedlam] and then, once you’ve stabilised and you’ve confident of not losing popularity, starting to help develop some midcard talent.

If you run a “Jeff tries to stop someone taking over 21CW” storyline, Adam fits in very naturally too.

 

 

Bedlam

One of my favourite workers from way back when he was a future-debut.

It’s good and bad news for Bedlam.  On one hand, he’s one of your top four heels.  And he’s very much in the picture for a feud with your face champ in the mid-to-near future.

On the other hand, his physicals have slipped a bit, he’s “bulky” and his standard pic just makes him look like an overweight idiot.

None of that is insoluble though, and with a bit of effort, you can get Bedlam in prime shape as one of the top heels on the roster.  He’s not moving past Edward or Leigh in the next few months, but he’s still really useful.

His brawling is in the 70s.  His psych isn't far behind.  He's got 88 menace... Get him in b etter shape and find a picture you like and Bedlam can be a real dark horse.

 

 

Roly Muckletruck

The ex-SNP Squashasaurus is in an interesting spot.  He starts the game feuding with Bedlam, and the storyline blurb suggests that whoever wins that feud is likely going to boost up the card.  That makes sense in a vacuum, but in the meta 21CW story, you don’t need two not-quite guys using up a storyline that’s probably not getting you the grades you need to deliver 80+ shows.

And ROly does have a grades issue.  His brawling is only in the 50s.  His psychology,selling and safety are about the same.  Basics not much better.  Sure it's 21CW and popularity rules [he's low 70s] but it's much harder to get those good match grades with Roly than most of your other stars.  He has the Squashmaster attribute [obviously] but honestly this is about as far as you can get as a face squash-merchant.  To move on he needs to develop... fast.

You’re probably better off blowing this feud off relatively quickly and moving both of them on to something else that might deliver those grades.  Edward and the House of Business trying to recruit Roly… Leigh taking his frustrations at not winning his title back out on Roly… Kathleen Hannah telling him she can make him a star, if only Role does what she says…  Plenty of options there.

 

 

War Machine

Machine is yet another of the early NSW graduates who holds a special place in my heart.  He’s a solid worker with excellent psychology, decent stamina and athleticism for a big man and he has every chance to move up into that top-heel tier.  But he could do with better brawling [low 60s] and selling [barely 50 and the Selfish Performer attribute].

At the start of the game, he holds the 21CW UK title.  And he’s a member of a stable; The Kingsmen [with Cliff King managing him].  So he’s almost there, and has all the potential to get there fairly fast.  Probably more so than Bedlam.  And at that point he’s your #3 heel.

The obvious thing to do is feed him a couple of victims where he can look like a total badass while dominating the UK Title rankings.  And then have him move on and up to bigger things.

We’ll get onto stables later on, but does Machine really need the Kingsmen?  Not really.  Having Cliff as a manager makes sense but having Compton Valance and Langton Herring interfering on his behalf doesn’t make much sense for an unstoppable monster. 

Your choice for Machine is fairly simple:

·         Let him run with the UK Title and treat that belt like a fairly major part of the company.  This way you can bring in some decent faces to keep a storyline hot and hold down the midcard.

·         Get the title off him and move him up into the main event scene.  Machine could absolutely feud with Wade for the World Title.  Or Adam Matravers.  Or even Tommy Cornell.

·         Develop the Kingsmen into an interesting story.  Again, a possible option for a faction trying to ‘take over’ 21CW.

Edited August 21 by Boltinho

[Boltinho]

Well Known

There are 18 wrestlers, and five non-wrestlers in this category.  So I’ll break it down into halves and try and fly through them.

 

Antithesis [Harry Wilson]

Harry has been around a long time, and although he’s fairly useful, he’s a pain in the ass with it.  When his big brother was a big star the familial link was worth it.  Nowadays I strongly suspect many people will let him leave the company.

 

Beast Bantom

Poor Beast.  He spent years in Europe trying to hit the big time, then he moved to 21CW in 2020 and they’ve just let him slip into the midcard.

He’s better than that.  And as a great combination of monster/athlete/in-ring talent he can do more on your roster.

He starts he game as the biggest name in the Three Man Army, in a feud with Crouching Storm, Hidden Sifu and you can probably use both those things to boost him up.  In real terms he’s likely as valuable to you in the next year or two as Bedlam or even War Machine are.

 

Cliff King

Cliff is a really fine manager, and works brilliantly with War Machine.  Not to mention having the current tag champs signed up to his stable.

The problem is that the Kingsmen is only your third-best heel stable.  So how important are they really, and how juicy can their storylines be?

More on how to approach the stables of 21CW in a future post.

 

Clifford Wilson

Dark Angel is a road agent these days.  And a damn fine one.  Pour one out for the Tommy Cornell vs Dark Angel feud from circa 2018.  Even then it was past Angel’s best but still…

Although Wilson is a really good RA, he’s still very popular and you can probably use him as a big part of a storyline or two.  Helping pick Adam up after a loss… helping Jeff keep hold of the soul of 21CW…

He's on the booking team too.  And pretty good at it.

 

Jonathan Faust

One of 21CW’s stars over the years, it’s a bit sad to see Faust down here in the midcard.  He was never a top-tier in-ring talent, and his body is pretty broken these days.

BUT he remains a brilliant entertainer, and he leads one of the top stables in the company in Hellbound. 

Stories about a dark cult are among the easiest to book, so consider giving Faust one last, big storyline to get his teeth into.

With Tommy Cornell needing something to do there’s an obvious answer here…

 

 

Kathleen Lee

With Too Hot departed, Kathleen is currently twiddling her thumbs looking for a client.  Or a storyline.  Fortunately, you have plenty of options.  She’s gold on the mic and a natural for a big ol’ monster heel or a talented guy stuck in the lower card.  Bedlam, the Three Man Army, Landon Mallory… 

If she was good at playing a face then you could build a nice stable around her to go up against the Hellbound or Kingsmen or Three Man Army, but… she is not.  She’s a heel through and through.

All interesting but it also feels like you’d be doing it because you can.  Kathleen is great and a 21CW legend, but given the financial stress, is she someone you absolutely need to keep on?

 

 

Kelly Martin

Lance Martin

Absolutely Flawless are on the of the great underrated teams of TEW.  And especially 21CW.

OK, they’ve never quite had a brilliant, memorable gimmick, but that’s easy to change.  Some facepaint, a couple of masks, some pigeon outfits, maybe a new manager [you’ve got plenty of options] and suddenly you’ve got a reliable, talented team who can hold down the belts or a good storyline.

 

Luke Cool

Phillip Cooper

Luke and Phillip are another pair of 21CW vets who have done great service in being useful, but not exciting.  Again, a big part of that is just not having had the right gimmicks. 

They’re an interesting tagteam in 2022 with the two of them as disgruntled veterans.  Use them to boost up some of your standout guys in between big feuds or make them contenders for the tag titles [they would be very solid champs].  Then after you’ve stabilised the company use them to boost up some guys stuck lower down the card on their way out.  Because clearly neither is worth their fat, written contracts.

 

 

 

Mark Adonis

Adonis is the second member of the Three Man Army and offers an entirely different character to Beast Bantom. 

Beast is older, grizzled and a very good in-ring guy.  Adonis is young, full of talent, great on the mic, but in dire need of popularity.  The obvious answer is to throw them in a tag-team, but Adonis is already the partner of Mass Hulk [who needs even more popularity].

That would be great, except it comes back to the fact that you’ve already got two bigger, badder heel stables in The Hellbound and the House of Business.  There’s only so many faces that can be fed to scary baddies.

Whatever you decide for the stable, Adonis has all the potential to be a star for you for years to come.

 

 

Ricky Storm

Sifu

Crouching Storm, Hidden Sifu retains the award for the worst-named tag-team in 21CW!  Which is a huge shame because they’re such useful workers and NSW flagbearers.

Maybe it’s a me-thing, but they just need some good characterisation and gimmicks to really shine and break out.  A manager here could work wonders too.

Choices for them after they finish up their starting feud with the Three Man Army:

-       Move them into the tag-title picture.  They can be really solid champs

-       Give them another team feud [Cool Cool Cool maybe?].

-       Split them up into solos and give them better, individual characters. 

-       Attach them as backup to one of the top faces.  They’d go well with Adam or Wade or Tommy if one of those guys is going up against one of the big heel stables.

 

Viktor Beskov

Viktor is part of the Red Devils tag team and also the House of Business stable.  Those are fine for now, but he’s got way more talent than anyone else in the group [apart from Edward] and absolutely has the capability to move on and up.  He’s a very fine performer, but not the best entertainer, so he’s another good example of someone who would benefit if one of the heel factions was actually a face one.

Edited August 22 by Boltinho

[Boltinho]

Well Known Part two:

 

 Apollo Prince

Prince is a very talented young man.  He’s got real entertainment skills if his in-ring abilities lag a little behind.  He’s very much on the list for people who can expect a push once you’ve got a little more room to show off more of the roster.  Depending what you do with the UK and Tag titles, he could feasibly get involved with either one.

 

Compton Valance

Langton Herring

The Demolishers are your current tag champions.

Nothing wrong with these guys at all, and I’ve found they tend to have high potential.  But in a company with Absolutely Flawless, CSHS, Cool Cool Cool, The Red Devils it just seems a bit odd. 

There’s not much of a popularity gap, but the Demolishers just aren’t the workers most of those others are.

You can argue that the tag title is a lower-card title, and those other teams are too big for it to be worth their while, but then… why keep so many good, experienced, over teams together on the roster?

 

Canon Kruger

27^th person I’ve got to.  And the first new face on the roster.

Kruger isa 23-year-old Belgian who’s shot to popularity pretty darn quickly on the back of his legendary “Next Evolution” Gimmick. 

What’s that you say?  Pretty similar to how I use Leigh Burton?  Well yeah.  But this is SE.  It’s only a matter of time until that turns into a throwaway feud.

Kruger is decent, and that pop is useful, but he’s not good enough to move much higher up the card yet. 

 

DJ Reason

Reason is another guy who was part of great years in 21CW and has now transitioned to a backstage role.  He’s a great guy and a real locker room bonus.  He could potentially get involved back onscreen, but it’s probably not worth it.

 

Joe Simpson

He is another NSW alumni and he‘s an odd one.  He’s small and scrawny and doesn’t really have an X factor.  But in a company with so many huge, scary bad dudes, a natural-born underdog like Joe is always useful.

His role is very likely to combine getting beaten up on TV with wins against lower-card talent on the pre-show and expansion tours.  Which sounds like a recipe for draining momentum.  And it probably is.

 

Sebastien Koller

Seb should have been in the previous roster breakdown [the top half of this group] but I missed him out.

In 2020 he was neck and neck with Wade Orson for being a hot young face who could move up into your big storylines.  He hasn’t really moved on at all in the intervening time but he’s still there.

If you decide to expand into Europe, then Seb is a great asset for you.

 

Yuri Iliakov

The less-impressive Red Devil is still a useful member of your roster.  Particularly if you upgrade the tag belts to being an attractive prize for your better tag teams.  Long-term [assuming Viktor outgrows Yuri] he is less obviously useful, but by that point you’ve probably got enough room for a brand split, or a separate European division.

[Boltinho]

Recognisable

Where I talk about arguably the best monster heel prospect in all of TEW.

And also another great prospect with a "smug pillock" gimmick.

 

Alton Vicious

Riddick Jordan

The Northern Lights are a really solid tagteam.  They’re both very solid in the ring as technical brawlers, with good fundamentals.  Their pop is OK.  They’re youngish. And their SQ points to bigger things. 

 

Andrew Lee

His pop is in the mid-50s, but his SQ [the same as Tommy Cornell’s!], and in-ring skills are plenty good enough to boost him up.  A prime candidate for some juicy feuds with some bigger heels.  A UK Title feud with War Machine would be nice.

 

Beau Bolder

Darin Flyn

Boulder & Flyn.  That’s their tag name.  Which smacks of a Pit Bull Brown idea.

These two have solid fundamentals but lack primary or entertainment skills.  Which probably labels them career tag division makeweights unless you get lucky with destiny.

 

Blackheart

Grave Digger

These two are both big, bald, badasses in a spooky stable under Jonathan Faust.  But they’re not the same…

Gravedigger can be something special.  He has SQ 85 [only one other 21CW wrestler has higher] and menace 95.  He’s 6’11” and muscular [h has the bodybuilder attribute].  His basics are decent too and he’s a Squashmaster.  The other guys in the DB with SQ and menace that high:

-       Gargantuan

-       Marat Khoklov

-       Prometheus

-       Rahmel Goode

All those guys are the wrong side of 30.  2 of them are in their 40s.

Gravedigger has everything he needs to be an absolute superstar monster on a global level.

Blackheart is… well not on that level at all.  He’s a flabby troublemaker in fact.  He’s not a terrible prospect at all.  But the difference between them is night and day.

You should absolutely have a plan from day one for Gravedigger to become what he is capable of.  That might include being part of this tag team for a whole longer.  But probably not much longer.

 

 

Brickhouse Balder

Ah Brickhouse.  He’s not just flabby, he’s obese.  And an agitator.  In my first test game he started a ruckus with Evan Alpass and got beat up.  Evan is 200lbs lighter than Brickhouse.

His stamina is a huge problem.  And as an obese smoker with dodgy knees it might not get that much better.  As much as I love the idea of a French Big Vis and have fond memories of my Apollo Prince/Brickhouse tag-team back in 2020 [lucky chemistry] he’s probably a guy you’ll move on from pretty soon.

 

BW Eddie

BW has been with the company for 9 years and is a solid midcard and backstage guy.  But that’s about it.  He’s the obvious Number Two in the House of Business and he can do a decent job in tag matches with Edward C.

 

Colin Chalke

Respect where it’s due to The Steamroller who was really good back in old skool MOSC.

He’s in his 50s now and a good road agent, but consider using him on-camera.  His pop is in the 40s, but his entertainment skills are really solid.  If you want a natural, non-wrestling opponent to Jeff Nova, or a John Laurinaitis- style commissioner, Steamroller is a good option. 

 

Dangermouth

Edison Silva

Dangermouth has the entertainment skills you’d expect from an MC.  He’s one of several really good, young entertainers on the roster.  His in-ring work needs polish, but he has a bright future even if he’s going to be looking at the lights for a while longer.

Edison is a perfectly fine partner for now, but as his bio says, he’s probably “a bit of a bust”.  Just like BW Eddie he’s fine.  But nothing special.

 

 

Doomsday

I was really interested in Doomsday when he came onto the scene, but those hopes have faded over the years.  He’s got great menace, but not much else.  And those guys are ten-a-penny in 21CW.  Let his contract run down and let him leave.  And maybe bring him back for a few months at a time in the future for your midcard faces to overcome.

 

Landon Mallory

Mallory has been a “next big thing” for about a decade now.  He’s a really good worker.  His combination of brawling, charisma, athleticism, basics and SQ is right up there with Tommy Cornell and Wade Orson. 

But… he’s 33.  If he’s going to do it, it probably needs to happen fairly soon.

A prime candidate for a couple of 2022 feuds to boost him up the roster.

 

Mark Misery

Vicki Company

Mark “The Misanthrope” Misery is a weird one.  He’s 38, has no real charisma or SQ, he’s not that over [mid 50s] and hasn’t really got good top-row stats.  He doesn’t have an interesting gimmick or character.  And he’s basically been a JAG for years in 21CW.

But he’s vital to you now.

Because he’s on the booking team and he’s really good at it [he used to be the RAW head booker].  Not only that, he’s an excellent backstage guy and has the Giving Performer attribute.  He’s likely never going to get a good push, but it’s definitely in your interests to keep him in the midcard with neutral momentum.

Vicki is his wife and has solid entertainment skills.  So, it’s useful to keep her around and happy too.

 

Mass Hulk

This guy is a tricky project.  But the upside is enormous.

He’s only 25, his SQ is 90 [best on your roster], menace is 86, power is 87.  He’s 6’6” and a ripped bodybuilder.  To quote his bio, he is “a huge man with the rippling muscles of a Greek god”.

Now it’s not going to be easy, because his brawling is poor-going-on-average, and he needs plenty of work to even be an OK wrestler.  But partnering with Mark Adonis and being around Beast Bantom will help him.

You don’t need to figure out a plan for him right now.  Just give him plenty of time in the ring and the spotlight as he develops.

 

Michael X

Above I write that Joe Simpson has a 21CW job for as long as he wants it because a skinny guy fighting against all the monster heels running around is good telly.  Michael is exactly the same, but when you need a tag-team to do that job instead of just a single guy.

I’ve put them both in comedy masks and facepaint over the years, but I’ve come to the conclusion that pushing them is a bit of a waste of time.  Just keep them where they are doing what they do.

 

Phil Harmonic

A huge favourite back in 2020, Phil has developed by getting given the great gimmick of “smug pillock”.

Hmmm. 

He’s a good-to-great entertainer [at just 20 years old], has very solod fundamentals and looks promising in the cruiserweight top-row stats.  But maybe the most interesting thing going is that he has the Comedy Match Worker attribute. 

If you can’t envisage a Smug Pillock working heel comedy matches, then Sports Entertainment in the UK might not be for you.

 

Pit Bull Brown

21CW’s head booker and resident “Man Who Never Gives Up”.  He’s my normal choice as an avatar.

He’s a “physical wreck” and never had much entertainment skill, but it’s Pit Bull!  Get him on camera somehow.

 

Ruin

Another weird guy.  He’s not very good at anything [beyond menace] really.  But because of his TV exposure on ‘CSI Claudius’ he’s moderately over.

As a member of Hellbound, he’s a prime candidate to take some falls from whichever face Faust and his crew are going after to even things out a bit.  Don’t expect good ratings for it though.

Rinse his popularity until his contract is up and let him walk.

Oh – he does have the Horndog attribute.  Which is potentially amusing.

 

Welsh Dragon

In the right fed, Welsh Dragon is probably an amazing prospect.  CZCW.  ACPW. HIW.  But not in 21CW.

He can fly about and look good getting beaten up, but he’s probably just never going to get that over without any entertainment or SQ.

Maybe put him in a tag-team [Rhys Pendragon is an obvious choice]?

[Boltinho]

Unrecognisable

The bottom 9 workers on your roster.

But wait!  Don’t skip over this.  There are some absolutely golden prospects down here.

The issue with most of these people is their contracts.  They’re all earning thousands a month with his lot costing you about £70 grand a month as a unit.  Which makes no sense at all.  You can hire all of them on chickenfeed handshake deals and use them as much as you want.

 

Evan Alpass

A real mixed bag.  He’s a good athlete with solid fundamentals and a good look, but no killer app that helps him stand out.  If he gets a great destiny roll he can turn into something.  But he’s probably a guy to rotate in on short contracts to get beaten up for a while.

 

Forrest Charmer

ALERT!  This guy is a future stud.  As his bio says “A lot of observers foresee him eventually not just being the premier heel in the company, but possibly all of wrestling”. High praise indeed.

His SQ and sex appeal are in the 80s.  Hs charisma is in the 90s.  His mic skills are in the 70s.

His fundamentals are all very healthy and will grow fast.

His top-row stats are not there yet, but you can develop him easily.

He has the Amazing Heel and Easily Marketable attributes. 

This is definitely a guy you want on a long-term written contract [he’ll head back to the US if you don’t] and he needs development but he can easily develop into a top draw for you.

 

Gorilla Lee

Emmett Askey

Gorilla: high menace, not much else.  Stop me if you’ve heard this before.  OK he can brawl a bit, and he’s got some good basic skills but even so he’s not even in your top 5 monsters.  How do you even book your 7^th-best monster heel at the bottom of the roster?

Emmett Askey is a decent manager, but is a 100% heel.  Cool.  But you’ve got Cliff King, Kathleen Lee and Vicki Company.  And Jonathan Faust.  And Edward Cornell.  You’re not short of heel stable-leaders.

I want to like both these guys, but they’re costing you $20k per month and providing a pale shadow of what others are giving you.

 

Hargreaves

Hargreaves is Phil harmonic’s weaselly butler.

Fun idea, but Harmonic does not need a manager.  So you’re just paying a few more grand for a funny image that doesn’t help.

Cool if you were financially stable but you are not.

 

Kris Knightly

21 years old.  Good SQ and sex appeal.  Comparable in-ring skills to Forrest Charmer.  Similar, but nowhere near the same.  If you get lucky, he might develop into a useful guy.  Maybe he can be Luke Cool one day.

But in the short-term he’s likely getting beaten up by faces who need momentum and put on a short-term contract cycle.

 

Rhys Pendragon

21 years old.  Solid skills with loads of room to grow.  Good SQ and sex appeal.  21CW sneakily has a lot of these guys, don’t they?  A bit like when the first couple of years of NSW grads came through.  And look at them now.

According to his bio, Tommy Cornell took Rhys under his wing, and he’s seen as one of the next generation of major stars.  It’ll take work and time to get there, but it’s possible.

 

Smiling John Smithie

Smiling John is 25 and solid.  But [just Like Mark Misery] he’s a dull as dishwater heel who is really there to make your faces look good.  Useful? Sure.  Pushable?  Not so much.  And you’re paying him $8,500 a month.

 

Vinny Vigilante

Another dull jobber who’s only around to make your midcarders look good.

Let his contract run out, give him some time away.  Hire him back on a short-term handshake deal. Repeat.

[Boltinho]

Overall roster thoughts:

At first glance it seems like 21CW has not moved on much in personnel terms.

Hot Stuff left.  Adam Matravers and Jonathan Faust slide down the card.  Leigh and Wade moved up.  There’s still a ton of bald monsters.

But actually 21CW is positioned for a generational shift.  They’ve done well with their vets, but all those guys are on the slide.  Or about to be.

______________

Wade [33] and Leigh [29] are leading the way of a fantastic swathe of talent coming through.

Bedlam [30], War Machine [29], Ricky Storm [29] Sifu [31], Seb Koller [34] and Viktor Beskov [29] are all there or thereabouts.  

Just behind them are Andrew Lee [27], Apollo Prince [26], Conan Kruger [23], Mark Adonis [25], Mass Hulk [25], Grave Digger [27] and Landon Mallory [33].

And then in the lower card you’ve got Dangermouth [22], Evan Alpass [24], Forrest Charmer [22], Kris Knightly [21] and Rhys Pendragon [21].

That’s an outrageously positive pipeline of talent that’ll last for decades of success.  Not to mention that 21CW are so dominant in the UK that you’ll hoover up any other talent that appears too.

Sure you’ll need to start bringing in European and North American talent to expand, but all companies have to do that to grow around the world.

______________

Playing as 21CW gives you a real short-term / long-term challenge.

-       Right now you need to get to 80+ shows and get roster costs down.

-       Over time you need to keep your production line of talent churning upwards.

From initially seeing the setup and thinking “same old guys, same old money problems” I’ve changed my mind quite a bit.  This roster is enormously exciting.

[Boltinho]

21CW tag team division

The blurb tells us “21CW have traditionally had a very strong tag division, so the 21^st Century Tag Titles have been quite prestigious for much of their history”.

And the prestige for the title is actually slightly higher than the UK title.  Which is held by War Machine, one of the top 4 heels on the roster.

___

You start the game with 11 established teams on the roster.

In order of popularity, they are:

1.    Crouching Storm, Hidden Sifu        [69]

2.    Cool cool cool                                 [67]

3.    Absolutely Flawless                         [62]

4.    The Men of Steel                             [62]

5.    The Red Devils                                 [61]

6.    The Underdogs                                [62]

7.    The Demolishers  (c)                        [58]

8.    The Northern Lights                         [54]

9.    Boulder & Flynn                               [51]

10. The Dark Pact                                    [43]

11. Grime & Punishment                        [42]

So of course, your champions are The Demolishers.  The 7^th most over team of 11.

Now fair enough, there’s only 11 points of pop between your top 7 teams, but this is a title that [allegedly] has fairly decent reigns.  Before the Demolishers, the Northern Lights held it for 182 days.  Before them the Red Devils had them for 91 days.  Boulder and Flyn [your 9^th most over team] held the belts for 280 days!  That reign must have really sucked.

The Demolishers are a decent team.  Both are pretty over and talented workers [although Langton Herring clearly has more about him], but it’s a weird booking decision to give them the belts.  To keep them “Very strong” it makes much more sense to get them on any of CSHS, Cool X3, Absolutely Flawless or the Red Devils.

And it’s not just about verisimilitude.  As I keep banging on about, you’ve got high standards to live up to with 21CW.  In particular you need five Hot storylines.  One of them being a feud over the tag titles is just obvious.

 

 

___

The future of the division.

Great news here – you’ve got a brilliant base. 

A lovely combination of really solid teams [AbFlawless, the Devils] vets on their way down teaming together [Cool X3], homegrown tag specialists [CSHS, Men of Steel] and talented young teams trying to break through [Demolishers, Northern Lights, Boulder & Flyn].  There’s more than enough to build this division into the traditional very strong one.  Even before you realise that some of your teams [The Red Devils, The Dark Pact] are part of your big Heel Stables and probably involved in other things.

Obviously, you need to keep it fresh.  But on ongoing churn of turns, new vet teams, hiring new lower-card teams and searching for chemistry will keep you in a great place for ages.

The 21CW roster has some real shining stars in it.  And a tried-and-tested way of developing them is of course to put them in tag-teams.  Give serious thought to testing out all these dudes looking for chemistry:

 

Andrew Lee

Apollo Prince

Canon Kruger

Evan Alpass

Forrest Charmer

Kris Knightly

Landon Mallory

Phil Harmonic

Rhys Pendragon

Welsh Dragon

 

Pretty much any combination of these guys can turn into the next CSHS for you with the right development.

 

___

Tag PPVs

Youve also got two tag PPVs on the schedule:

·         The Cornell Cup in April is a tag tournament.

·         Partners in Crime is scheduled for May [but move it back later in the year so these two are not together].

It’s your choice as to how you want to use those. 

The Cornell Cup has very high prestige [not far off the 21CW World title] and was won by Tommy and Edward in its first year, but the last two winners have been AbFlawless and CSHS.  With Hot Stuff in 2019.  So, is it for specialist tag-teams?  Is it for you to put some big names teaming together for glory into it?  Both are entirely valid

Partners in Crime is totally open, but when I’ve run it, it’s been [kayfabe] random teams drawn out of a hat.  I’ve used it to try and spread some popularity around a little bit and justify some unusual pairings with existing storylines sprinkled on top.  And having teams who don’t really want to work together is fun.

NB

Dangerous Liaisons is your third multi-team PPV.  But it’s a trios event.

[Boltinho]

Tag additions?

If you feel like adding some more talent [bear in mind you’re bleeding cash, so you need to be getting rid of workers, not adding more] these are some potential teams I like the idea of:

 

Bret Heartbreak could easily come in and partner one of your hot young talents.  Forrest Charmer or Kris Knightly would be fun.  Konrad Makinen might fit too.

Dwayne Dark has developed really nicely.  And would be a coming home.  Put him with War Machine if you want them in the midcard?  Or possibly with Landon Mallory?

The Damned could make a fun unhinged team with Doomsday or Conan Kruger.  Doomsday and pretty much any Scot from SNP would help too.

Hafthor Melsted is intriguing even though you have many like him.  Could see him with Mass Hulk?  Nigel Svensson and Mass Hulk would be good too.

Irwin Gutmann makes an obvious German team with Sebastien Koller.  Clubber Kohl would work too.

Ferdinand Arneaux or Aurelian Bradley could maybe help unlock Brickhouse Balder? But balder is probably a lost cause.

 

 _______

 

And some obvious teams to bring in on short or medium contracts:

The Black Country Boys

The Wild Springboks

The Funke Boys [ex Davey Celtic+London]

The Johansson Brothers [European expansion]

The Foreign Legion

[TakumiIrohamarvelous]

Boltinho's breakdown here might single handedly push me into a 21CW save 😅

[Boltinho]

13 hours ago, TakumiIrohamarvelous said:

Boltinho's breakdown here might single handedly push me into a 21CW save 😅

Great to hear.  it's a super fun company.  In years past it was just seen as this weird little thing, but I think it's got much more popular to play as them.

I'm planning on doing some testing to work out how easy/hard it really is to produce grades to maintain/grow.  I think it's really tricky to stay where they are now.  But it may well just be that I suck at the game.

I'd love to hear how everyone else has got on in the first few months playing as 21CW.

 

[Charasmatic Enigma]

13 minutes ago, Boltinho said:

Great to hear.  it's a super fun company.  In years past it was just seen as this weird little thing, but I think it's got much more popular to play as them.

I'm planning on doing some testing to work out how easy/hard it really is to produce grades to maintain/grow.  I think it's really tricky to stay where they are now.  But it may well just be that I suck at the game.

I'd love to hear how everyone else has got on in the first few months playing as 21CW.

 

Great overview of the roster @Boltinho! Really lays out the challenges/opportunities well.

I had a quick mess around with them on the demo, and I think (more than any other company) that the rolls you get on time decline on your aging stars dictate how you will fare. Anecdotally, my current RTG save is the first time I've ever seen 21CW not haemorrhage money. Looking at their matches, Tommy Cornell is 37-1 for the year and still putting out 90+ rated matches regularly. This has kept their pop hovering around 81/82 - which seems to make their set up manageable. Most saves I seen they job Tommy out and he averages in the 70's, so he must have got a good time decline roll. Wade Orson is also averaging an 89 match rating, which helps!

21CW is a challenge I might jump into, but I want to get a bit more comfortable with the mechanics first.

[Boltinho]

16 minutes ago, Charasmatic Enigma said:

21CW is a challenge I might jump into, but I want to get a bit more comfortable with the mechanics first.

This!

I'm planning on doing some testing ASAP.  I'm sure Tommy can deliver 90+ matches week in, week out without some of the player restrictions.  But I strongly suspect that I can't get him to do the same thing.  😀

[Boltinho]

21CW storylines, planning, expansion

 

As I’ve said above, at the start of the game you need to concentrate on keeping 21CW where they are.

Your pop is 80, and to deliver shows and matches at that level you need to be outperforming where all but your very your top workers are right now.  Consistently. 

You also need five [ore more] storylines to be Hot or better.

These two things obviously go together, because hot storylines can fuel match and angle, and therefore show success.

So, what storylines can get hot?

 _____________________

 You’ve got a handful of workers who can carry a Hot storyline on their own.  Obviously you can have more than one of them in it and it’ll be easier, but there’s only so many top guys.

Wade Orson

Edward Cornell

Leigh Burton

Tommy Cornell

Wade has the World title, and therefore one of your top hells will probably be challenging for it.  Leigh starts out as his opponent, and if you end that feud at World War [your February Season Finale] Edward is the obvious next challenger.

This tier gives you two starting storylines.  Wade vs Leigh.  And Edward [and his stable] vs Adam Matravers.

 _____________________

 Your next tier down is:

Adam Matravers

Bedlam

Roly Muckletruck

War Machine

As above, Adam is in a starting storyline with Edward Cornell.  And Bedlam and Bedlam and Roly start out in a programme too.

 _____________________

 So out of your 8 top wrestlers, you’ve got just 3 starting storylines.  You can easily add two more with Tommy Cornell taking on someone [whoever it is it’ll be great] and War Machine defending his UK Title against someone.

That’s five storylines, but it’s all of these guys in a programme.  As you progress through the game you’ll probably want some of them to have some cooling off time after big moments.  So four feuds from 8 top guys is probably realistic.  Which means you need more from the rest of your roster.

And not just one more, you need to have a few more live stories to ensure you always have at least five of them hot.

 _____________________

 One is really obvious, the tag titles.

As discussed above, these belts are important in 21CW.  Even though the title history shows a bunch of low-level teams holding them for months at a time.  You can stick with the Demolishers [which also makes the Kingsmen a real powerful faction] or go with AbsFlawless, CSHS, Cool X3 or the Red Devils.  Who are all great options.

In fact this division is so strong you can probably keep a 2^nd hot tag storyline going that’s not for the belts. 

 _____________________

 On top of that I strongly recommend using some of your very over non-wrestlers to carry storylines.

Jeff Nova has high-80s pop.  Cliff Wilson [Dark Angel] is high 60.  Kathleen Lee is 70s, a great entertainer and has nothing to do right now.

 _____________________

 And lastly: stables.

Some of these are obviously tied up with the other storylines.  But you’ve got four heel stables in 21CW.  Which frankly seems too many.  But whatever.

All should obviously be involved in a storyline.  Otherwise, what’s the point in a stable?

The House of Business [obviously centred around Edward C] is trying to take down Adam, and I love Edward as a challenger for Wade.

The Kingsmen start the game with the UK title [War Machine] and tag titles [Demolishers].  Cliff King is very capable of holding down a hot storyline.  And even two [although obviously he can’t officially be in both].

The Three Man Army [Beast Bantom, Mark Adonis and Mass Hulk] is an interesting idea.  And they start with a fun feud against CSHS, but honestly I’m not sure I see the point in them given the other active heel stables.

And lastly The Hellbound.  Who start the game without a live feud but are arguably more important than the Kingsmen and Three Man Army.  Faust is still a key 21CW player even if his ring-work is not what it was.  And Grave Digger is such a potential talent.

 _____________________

 So to sum up, this is where your storylines can come from:

1.    Major star vs major star over World Title [ie Wade vs Leigh]

2.    Major star vs someone else [ie Edward vs Adam]

3.    Star vs someone else [ie Bedlam vs Roly]

4.    Star vs someone else [ie War Machine vs xxx]

5.    UK Title feud [assuming the UK title is held by a midcarder]

6.    Tag title feud [ie Demolishers vs xxx]

7.    Other tag team feud

8.    Non-wrestler led feud [ie Jeff or Kathleen]

9.    1 other stable-led feud [ie the Hellbound vs xxx]

 

 

 

 

 

[TakumiIrohamarvelous]

I booked my first TV and yeah the not enough hot storylines thing kicked my ass since you start with less than 5 as is. Will definitely try and cheese it a bit with Nova/Cliff carrying another one to keep things balanced

[Boltinho]

Just doing some show testing.

I ran my ME [Tommy+Wade vs Cool X3] the first time and got an 83.  I thought "great - maybe 80+ shows are doable!".  The whole show got a 78.

Reran the show [to see how tidying up scripting people etc works] and the ME got a 70.  The whole show got a 67.

That's quite a big difference!  

And I don't just mean numerically.  

It's the difference between maintaining size  and not getting kicked of TV, and going into a tailspin.

Ulp!

[TakumiIrohamarvelous]

On 8/23/2024 at 12:33 PM, Boltinho said:

Just doing some show testing.

I ran my ME [Tommy+Wade vs Cool X3] the first time and got an 83.  I thought "great - maybe 80+ shows are doable!".  The whole show got a 78.

Reran the show [to see how tidying up scripting people etc works] and the ME got a 70.  The whole show got a 67.

That's quite a big difference!  

And I don't just mean numerically.  

It's the difference between maintaining size  and not getting kicked of TV, and going into a tailspin.

Ulp!

Don't feel as bad about my horror show first TV now lol. Feel like there's a real dice roll or two that have to go your way to get the high ratings 21CW needs

[Boltinho]

Yeah it's tough.

I've got 2 high 70s shows so far in my "real" game [posting it as a diary] which makes me a bit more confident.

But it's still going to be a week by week struggle for the first couple of months I think.  So far I'm not impressed at all by the likes of Roly, Bedlam, War machine, AbFlaw, Hellbound. Basically all the midcard needs boosting up!

And I suspect World War will have to be a bit more conservative than I'd like to avoid it tanking.

[Boltinho]

Ugh.

Creative finish idea went badly in my BoBW main event.

Dropped it down to a 70.

Which put me in 'lose pop across british Isles and tv broadcaster unhappy' territory.

Even though I had 2 other 70+ matches on the card.

Feels harsh to have such a bad impact of a sensible gamble with no real control.

I mean... are wrestling fans really so fickle they'll throw such a hissy fit over one finish?

[JD Gans]

Question, did they go out of business for anyone else in their save?  I'm doing a local to global with a company based in Midwestern USA but 21CW went out of business I'm not sure if it was right at the 3 year mark of the save but it was pretty close.  What could cause an AI company who thought was set up pretty good to just bleed money like that?

[elmiticomark]

55 minutes ago, JD Gans said:

Question, did they go out of business for anyone else in their save?  I'm doing a local to global with a company based in Midwestern USA but 21CW went out of business I'm not sure if it was right at the 3 year mark of the save but it was pretty close.  What could cause an AI company who thought was set up pretty good to just bleed money like that?

21CW and PGHW seem to be going belly-up in a few saves.

 

21CW has some weird, expensive contracts to keep guys under written... which usually leads to sinking.

 

Honestly, I like 21CW staying alive and [apologies, but... ] TCW NEEDS TO FOLD.  That company has missed the boat on so many potential stars (Callum/Laine this game, Keith, Glenn, on and on and on, but PGHW or 21CW will close while this dog with no pony show keeps kicking... MEH)

Edited August 26 by elmiticomark
Yah, that's a hot take. I had looked at 21CW's contracts after they were mentioned... I hope that gets cleaned up, that company benefits the game being active imho (unlike, sadly, TCW)

[alpha2117]

52 minutes ago, JD Gans said:

Question, did they go out of business for anyone else in their save?  I'm doing a local to global with a company based in Midwestern USA but 21CW went out of business I'm not sure if it was right at the 3 year mark of the save but it was pretty close.  What could cause an AI company who thought was set up pretty good to just bleed money like that?

I think the big thing with 21CW is they have too many people on big contracts and unless the economy and heat in wrestling stuff goes very much your way they can start bleeding money.  The British Isles talent pool is sort of shallow too which makes it harder to refresh your talent if you do have to cut guys loose when their contracts come up. It's obviously easier as a human to survive than it is for the AI as a human understands things like raiding the European feds for cheap talent to replace guys on expiring contracts or maximising Event income and the like.  The AI will put events on in unprofitable venues that fail to cover the costs of the contracts involved etc.   The AI doesn't really understand asking people who aren't available in your region to make themselves available so you can sign them and stuff like that.  Surviving as a human playing 21CW is doable because we can think creatively and solve the problems but in a lot of watcher games they just lose a lot of cash because the AI doesn't necessarily think outside the box like we can.

[alpha2117]

13 minutes ago, elmiticomark said:

21CW and PGHW seem to be going belly-up in a few saves.

 

21CW has some weird, expensive contracts to keep guys under written... which usually leads to sinking.

 

Honestly, I like 21CW staying alive and [apologies, but... ] TCW NEEDS TO FOLD.  That company has missed the boat on so many potential stars (Callum/Laine this game, Keith, Glenn, on and on and on, but PGHW or 21CW will close while this dog with no pony show keeps kicking... MEH)

The thing is it's sort of realistic they have overpaid people to stop them going across the pond.  Human players can fix that stuff by choosing the right venues for Events and thinking outside the box when refreshing the roster over time but the AI struggles to think outside the box so it struggles to make the decisions that you need to make to get 21CW through a more difficult period.

As for TCW they go into rebuild mode in a year in a lot of watcher games I've seen.  It will take them a while to waste 10M though.   They feel like a wounded animal most of the time and start to drop lower on the totem pole.  

[elmiticomark]

2 hours ago, alpha2117 said:

The thing is it's sort of realistic they have overpaid people to stop them going across the pond.  Human players can fix that stuff by choosing the right venues for Events and thinking outside the box when refreshing the roster over time but the AI struggles to think outside the box so it struggles to make the decisions that you need to make to get 21CW through a more difficult period.

As for TCW they go into rebuild mode in a year in a lot of watcher games I've seen.  It will take them a while to waste 10M though.   They feel like a wounded animal most of the time and start to drop lower on the totem pole.  

Yah, I think I was just surprised at the contract length/amount for 21CW talent but; I had a flash back to when I tried to raise VWA up to dominate Europe... I had signed everyone to exclusive handshake before writtens because injuries/missed nights.... 21CW is "Big Boy" mode so they don't want their workers being poached and unlike RAW, there seems to be at least more competition to sign workers (esp those on the midcard).... so there is a bit of psychological sense to it (the old adage:  never put someone on TV unless you got them under contract)

 

I've just been so disappointed w/ TCW on the other hand.  So I know the game won't do what I did and go out and nab up every very good worker without an exclusive written contract so it'd negate how I'd break the mask law and bring in Mr Lucha, Extraordinario or El Mitico, or go to NZ and snatch up Dastardly... but Youngman not being signed, nearing 30---along with Wolfsbaine, CLM, Perez, and Smooth... IDK.  I mean, TCW signed Bradford Peverell... did the agent sent to watch him not see Joffy?  Nelson Callum is stateside but ends up getting paid in Canada... Sayeed Ali is a brawler and just excellent usually... I get why no Rich and Famous (roids), but again... eh... I mean, even Hell's Bouncer usually ends up better (in my sims) than Killer Shark....  There's just so much that company leaves to be desired.  I was glad when Greg Gauge ended up on the roster, but it's like, in most 2020 runs... Matthew Keith's contract with BHOTWG came up between 20-22, so did KC Glenn's... both of those workers just scream "TCW", instead, we get Bradley Blaze and Quentin Queen [Queen makes a lot of sense*] (don't get me wrong, they're not bad characters, it's not like they signed 4 more Titans).

 

It's just so meh at this point... like, I hope SUKI or Torii or anyone, really, just anyone, will be on that roster... Fonz, Chance, Devine, those were all cool workers... ten years ago.  I guess maybe they're working more on the Impact model than the AWA model.  Fairplay... but, ehhhhmeh... (this is such an issue for me because TCW and MAW were the two I always, always hitched my wagon to... and the development deal stoked me up big time when they had that in place and a note for an "aging roster"... i edited this a bunch because i'm at work and have to open a V-Machine to look at the rosters/etc... I guess when I've ran over 20 sims rn--this is the reason there's all kinds of "Global Wrestling Federation" screen shots of varying repute/output, and the DSPW ventures [ugh I wish I had the patience, that's a diamond mine)... It's just sad, like, you had so many chances.  Matthew Keith's contract upon opening IX suggests he resigned in the 2 years between... and TCW can't even make a try?  In 2020, I was sadenned that VWA has a "very very very rich and ruthless owner" but only comes out with a couple hundo quid for the game, like ok... but TCW should've already began their rebuild... like, Youngman, Blackfriar, maybe a luchador breaking their mold, something.  I dissed Queen and Blaze, they're good workers, but Youngman in a work-rate company is a top star... I would pair him and Nelson Callum as The Syndicate's tag team arm and feud them with Extraordinario & Mr Lucha as Dos Luchas---two styles represented via lucha, not just the spanglish translation.... And now it's like, well, yeah Matt Hocking is good, of course, but IDK... just so so so so much left to be desired.  Maybe the X release will pick up on things people do here to raise TCW up, because it needs something to justify it staying open (while not being reduced to a 68 or below pop) while the rest of the world crumbles.)  Ok TCW long rant edit over lol.

Edited August 26 by elmiticomark
edit: workers not mentioned that should've been: Jayson Van Pelt, Jacob Jett, even, let's be honest; if it weren't for the "Keeping Tabs" note, no, but because of that THE SILENCER... all of them would've been wonderful to find on TCW's roster

[elmiticomark]

I just wanted to add, on a very petty note, sometimes I see 21CW go bankrupt and I go "good, thats what you get" and it's solely on the fact they signed Landon Mallory and I couldn't have a true prime time ready centerpiece for Continental Championship Wrestling from the Netherlands!

[Boltinho]

2 hours ago, alpha2117 said:

The thing is it's sort of realistic they have overpaid people to stop them going across the pond. 

If it was just Leigh/Tommy/Ricky/War Machine/etc I'd be fine with this logic.  Maybe even the top 20-25 wrestlers.

But are the North American big boys really coming in for Luke Cool?  Or Harry Wilson?  Or Compton Valance?  Or Michael X?  Or SMiling John Smithie?  Or Gorilla Lee? Or Vinny Vigilante?

2CW is paying a good couple of hundred grand over the odds for mid- and lower-card talent who absolutely no-one else is going to want to nab.