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Starting new circuits with a backstory

Glum76Posted on 11/19/05 at 22:22:05

I've been playing TNM a long time, and I've probably started and scrapped over thirty circuits without getting to card 10. I've had some long ones too, but more often then not, I start and stop and start again with a new roster.

(I run created feds with a mix of real and fantasy wrestlers. I don't run any "pick up where WWE is at now" circuits. Everything's a fresh start, which is why I've had this problem).

Lately, I've been taking a different approach, and it's helped. After assembling my roster, I group them into levels of overness and use TweakCirc to adjust their heat ratings. Then I write little backstories as though I'm starting the fed after it's been running for a year. In writing backstories, I focus one on the history of the promotion (how it started, who books it, where it runs, who was the first champ), and then I write backstories for two or three feuds amongst some of the top performers. From these backstories, I decide who the current champ is, and I go from there.

Matches mean more when there's a history there,  and this system helps me start a circuit from somewhere other than "we need to crown a champion, and every one's heat rating is 5." Natural rivalries are already present, and I can do turns in the first few weeks that actualy mean something.

Does anybody else use this method of starting circuits? Do you regularly get stuck at the "tournament to crown the first champ" phase?



Snabbit888Posted on 11/19/05 at 23:06:23

I have thought of doing this before, but it doesn't quite work for me.  I find I end up losing interest in the "developing a backstory" phase.  The first few cards are always the hardest, because you never have a good idea of where things are going to go.  Once you get a couple months under your belt, it becomes much easier to maintain.
rey619Posted on 11/20/05 at 00:36:29

I like your idea, cause it's the initial first period that's difficult to overcome. I've ditched a dozen ideas as well because it's all the same in the beginning.. tournaments and round robins and battle royals.. that's why I like to take a company and move from there, mostly because I'm better at taking something half-good and making it good than creating something from scratch.
americamamushiPosted on 11/20/05 at 02:23:49

I have before, but I can't put quite the same creative force into writing a back story as I can say ConWorlding.  Which is wierd since wrestling=my obsession :)  I usually find it's easier and more satisfying for myself to make my new circuit a promotion that is just starting.  I have done it before though.  I actually had a good sort of bare bones timeline going (though hadn't done any simming) a few years ago... right before our old computer fried and we had to get the hard drive replaced.  Nice.  ::)
Rick GarrardPosted on 11/20/05 at 03:03:50

The one thing I have seen with so many circuits that are posted here on the forums is that everyone gives the card that should be the one they build up to as the very first card of their circuit, which means they end up with no place to go with all the blow off matches on their first card.

A good build up to an eagerly anticipated match can turn even a bad match into one that people will feel is passable (unless it's Goldberg vs Lesnar at WM20).

You'd never see Vince McMahon air a PPV without proper hype and promotion for it, although, there has become less and less hype time in the last few years, which I feel has really hurt the "anticipated rematch" type of stuff they used to do in the early days of WrestleManias and SummerSlams.
Glum76Posted on 11/20/05 at 04:17:04

Rick - That's a great point. I guess one of the reasons I dislike starting a circuit with a title tourney is because I "give away" a lot of big matches early without the proper build.

With backstories, you can a couple different feuds already set up, and focus the first few cards on those, which allows you to keep certain wrestlers away from each other until at least your first or second supercard-type show.

For the others who replied - I realize creating a backstory sounds like it takes a lot of work or a lot of creative energy, but it can be simple.

Here's a little backstory that I used to start my most recent circuit:

Fed Name: Ring of Fire

Promotion's First Show: April 14th, 2003

Promotion Based In: Puerto Rico

Style: Pure / Strong-Style.  No gimmick matches, no outside inteference, no ref bumps.  

Current Date (TNM Start Date): January 10th, 2005

Lead Babyface: Carlos Canyetta (Heat: 10)

Secondary Babyfaces: Emilio Fuentes (Heat: 8); Wolf Hawkfield (Heat: 7)' Samoa Joe (Heat: 7)

Lead Heel: Dennis Koslowski (Heat: 10)

Secondary Heel: Hiroshi Hase (Heat: 9); Riki Choshyu (Heat: 8); Cannonball Grizzly (Heat: 7)

Current World Champion: Hiroshi Hase (def. Canyetta to win the title, June 17th, 2004)

Backstory:
Canyetta started the promotion after leaving the American Puroresu Council in early 2003 due to dissatisfaction with a contract extension offer. After running things behind the scenes for eight months, he sold the company so he could wrestle full time, and won the title from Riki Chosyu. Shortlly after losing the title to Hase (Chosyu's ally), he was injured in a match with Dennis Koslowski and was out for five months. Koslowski has become the company's lead heel, bragging about taking Canyetta out of action. The TNM circuit starts as Canyetta is three weeks away from the long awaited grudge match with Koslowski. While Canyetta has been out, his protege, Emilio Fuentes, has been fighting off Koslowski and partner Cannonball Grizzly. Hase, meanwhile, has been defending his title in a series of matches with top contender Wolf Hawkfield.

Snabbit888Posted on 11/20/05 at 04:37:38

One reason I am not a fan of the backstory idea myself is that with the way I run things, a lot of my feuds come to me "accidentally" through the TV shows I do and such.  Some of my hotter feuds came about based on things TNM gave me early on (see. Eddie vs. Jericho).  I like the backstory though, but it seems a little too bare bones for my taste.  What's going on in the undercard?
Glum76Posted on 11/20/05 at 04:45:32


Snabbit - I run the undercard much like you do, just setting up matches and building feuds based upon what TNM gives me.   When I'm starting out, I'll usually write up a "preview" in the comments section for the first big supercard, and I'll toss in a couple of backstory notes for the undercard guys to hype their match a little.  

One thing I try to do with any circuit I run is to stick to a strict TV show format.   In the circuit I described, I have a  taped "profile" segment where I use the interview integrator and do a combo promo / backstory for an undercard wrestler.  This allows me to keep building onto the overall backstory by adding a history for everybody as I go.  
YunPosted on 11/20/05 at 06:18:04

There's no "wrong" way to run TNM, really. That said i probably couldn't do this, cause I always run unbooked. I just know I'm gonna come up with some convoluted back story, and TNM is gonna contradict everything I've written in one card.  ;)
91Posted on 11/20/05 at 11:26:01

The problem I'd have with the backstory idea is that if I came up with a good backstory, I'd be regretting not being around to book all that stuff in the first place and I'd probably end up starting again whilst making sure to run everything this time, whereas if it was a bad backstory, it would sort of defeat the point.
JoeDesertratPosted on 11/28/05 at 07:12:28

I started with one circuit that had both men and women wrestlers and because of the unwieldy size of the circuit spun off most of the women wrestlers into their own circuit. After a few buildup cards I added the last few remaining women wrestlers from the original circuit to the new women's circuit in a "reunification" card with the titles from the old circuit against the newly created titles.
I used the "spinoff" method a couple more times with a couple other circuits and eventually dropped all the men's circuits.
I combined the women from the one mainly men's circuit that still had women with newly created women wrestlers from a one-off idea with my main women's circuit to create a second women's circuit. Although this circuit is supposed to be a "minor league" as far as talent is concerned they have fared increasingly well in the annual "PPV" match between it and the main women's circuit.
I recently created a third women's circuit with limited contract lengths and more "pure" wrestling as a sort of developmental but equal in potential talent circuit. Mostly this is to use wrestlers that won't sign contracts with the other circuits.
rey619Posted on 11/28/05 at 11:07:18

I gather these are fantasy circuits? Or where did you find enough women wrestlers to make 3 circuits?
JoeDesertratPosted on 12/04/05 at 20:28:20

I gather these are fantasy circuits?
I started with all "real" wrestlers but I now usually create my own. The lack of info available for Japanese and past female wrestling stars (theme songs, pictures, etc) makes working with only them less fun. My criteria for creating a wrestler now is finding a theme song or short video clip or just coming up with a gimmick for one.

The created wrestlers range from superhero types like Wonder Woman or Xena or Buffy the Vampire Slayer who can compete on an equal footing with "real" wrestlers like Manami Toyota or Wendi Richter to celebrity wrestlers like Carmen Electra (finisher, the Electra Shocker, similar to a Diamond Cutter) or Jennifer Lopez (finisher, the Big Butt Bump) or Anna Nicole Smith (finisher, the Gold Digger, similar to a tombstone) who are meant to be jobbers for the "real" wrestlers although they occasionally pull off surprises.

Any new tv shows or movies featuring action female stars are a good source for new wrestlers. As is any celebrity who gets so much publicity that they become annoying. Then they're just asking to get thrown in the ring. ;D