619 Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 (edited) Deep Impact Wrestling thankfully lived to fight another edition of TEW, but there's even less in the bank than usual... DIW 2022 PROFILE ACTIVE ROSTER OTHER EMPLOYEES CURRENT CHAMPIONS DIW Championship: Shogo (first reign, 78 days, 2 defences, 28 prestige) Australian Championship: Tim Burr (first reign, 15 days, 0 defences, 18 prestige) Tag Team Championship: Creeper and Writhe, Forever Evil (second reign, TBC days, 1 defence, 20 prestige) ---------- Mods, I hope including limited screenshots is okay but please remove if not. I wanted to make the first post as informative as possible but haven't viewed any of the other 2022 discussion threads yet to compare approach as I've only checked out DIW so far and am avoiding spoilers. Edited July 28 by 619 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
619 Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 (edited) My first impressions... POSITIVES The workrate title I like that the direction that felt natural in 2020 has played out with Shogo, Boo Smithson and Mace Mueller now established as the three most over wrestlers in the company. Convenient departures Dumfrey Pinn, Chopper Rourke and The Bad Truckers are major losses culture-wise, but they can’t go for long in 2022 so you’d likely need to wind them down anyway. Congratulations to Pinn on grabbing that PSW bag though. Lou Brookmyre retiring surprised me most, but The Comedian has that workload covered. Bob Shrunkle was the only other exit. The old guard can still go By contrast, the older guys we’re left with in Smithson, Mayhem Mulhoney, Cesar Sionis and Angus McMiller if needed should all be able to survive a 10-minute main event at least for the foreseeable. Stable-less Blitz and Mace I feel bad for Chopper getting an unceremonious exit after such long service, but it’s pretty good to have Blitz Simpson and Mace Mueller ready to go as solo stars without having to tell the stories of their separation from The Barracudas and Pinn Enterprises. New blood It’s great to see Con McReady rising with two Australian reigns and strong history and friendship with DIW Champion Shogo. Two new stables (The Dog Pound and The Wild Hunt) should change things up and The Comedian’s nephew Jake Thornton (a logical Stooge pick?) arriving adds an interesting wrinkle. CHALLENGES Even less money Down from $27,500 in 2020 to $2,000, and now having to pay whichever of The Comedian or Big Jim Teasdale you play as a salary too. Poor atmosphere Despite one positive and 14 mildly positive influences to 8 mildly negatives, plus four positive relationships, locker room morale has tanked from 76% in 2020 to poor. The big-name exits were a while back so I haven’t found an obvious reason for the slump. Perhaps it's just the financial situation and lack of growth (NSW popularity is down from 25 to 24). And the whole having The Comedian for a boss thing. Establishing the stables It probably shows I fixate on perception and popularity too much and am too cautious, but having to establish two stables of men currently Recognisable or below seems tricky with only a limited pool of people their level or below to put them over. I'll probably pick one to prioritise. Crazy Blue dilemma My go-to Milton Hittlespitz story in 2020 was the underdog finally getting his hands on some DIW gold. However, the new line in his profile about not being trusted with titles makes me think it’s not believable to strap him up if playing as Comedian or Big Jim, so his direction will require more thought. Edited July 28 by 619 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AboardTheArk Posted July 28 Share Posted July 28 The finances part is completely brutal (though I'm sure there's workarounds) but the roster situation is a godsend. Shedding half the useless fat contracts, two new Actually Good prospects leading stables to make the company interesting, no one has signed Rob Edwards off the FA scene, Mace is somehow still there which is crazy. I think a pretty big part of a DIW save/diary would be making Comedian take the workrate pill as RAW/APW put on the most barebones wrestling possible and Shogo/Boo are saving the company. Hardcore Evolved anyone? Deathmatch/Slobberknocker even now that Deathmatch products are fixed? I think Milton can get his reign, he just isn't necessary to carry the company now and it can be his gold watch for literally wrecking his body (provided the finances of the company don't spell doom). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
619 Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 Agreed, reading the Hardcore Evolved product description, that definitely feels like a logical direction to move with those main eventers. I hadn't noticed yet that Rob Edwards is still a free agent 😲 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiPlus Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 I have to say I am absolutely in love with the two new stables. The Dogpound being led by an absolute monster and with a lot of pedigree in their blood line is huge. While Lycan Nightshade looks like he has "star" written all over him. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lions Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 (edited) I remember going back to 2010 following Jingo's dynasty (that was almost 15 years ago, wild) and my thought was that DIW needs to pivot into work rate guys holding the top title and try and emulate ECW if they wanted to start to grow. Boo coming in as champ in 2020 with Shogo and Mace fighting for the Australian title was a start but I'm surprised and happy to see Shogo, Mace, and Blitz as the top guys. Blitz going solo and the Truckers leaving the tag division definitely stings but to my surprise Forever Evil got a huge glow up. In game canon it seems like DIW has a history of producing great tag teams so I'm happy to see that continue. Tim Burr is another guy who had some good development. I would have half expected Rad Masteroff to take off like Forever Evil did, I think he's the future of DIW if they can keep him and stay afloat long enough. Con McReady making the jump is almost unsurprising to me because I have always found him to be very talented for his age + I find myself thinking of 619s version of him as the "canon" version... I will look forward to pummeling them into closure like I have done every long term save so far (but I'll feel a bit worse about doing it this time I think). Edited July 29 by John Lions 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha2117 Posted July 29 Share Posted July 29 In sims APW gets raided by RAW and they then tend to raid ZEN and DIW a bit. I would expect to lose a couple of people early on thanks to the RAW raiding knock on effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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