Booking Philosophy: Are you purely face vs. heel?

[the_faction]

95% of the time I book heel v. face, but in the situation of a #1 contender's match or title match or a dastardly Commissioner I'll do the exception.

The big difference is in the actual match psychology:
When faces match off they don't ever have anyone at ringside and they refuse to use (lv) or out of the ring(c) as much as possible until someone gets thrown out then I start playing fast and loose with out of the ring depending on the character archetypes.

For heels they'll still use (lv) and have people at ringside, but NOT use the outside the interference but will use a Manager/Wrestler Distractor Rating and I play that off as them being subtle or sneaky in their interference, but no so overt as a true interference roll.

[stu]

Appreciate all the feedback folks, some good discussion here! I think, for me at least, it somewhat boils down to how things used to be in Japan (I say "used to", as I really don't follow the modern Japanese scene much, so can't speak to that). It was much less to do about feuds in the classic sense as it was about rivalries for a variety of reasons, such as grumpy Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Misawa when Misawa was coming into his own. This appeals to me, as it can open up more possibilities.

I know, I know....its up to you promoter! But, don't be surprised someday if you see an Alpha Force vs. Max Shield match in my GWF...could happen!

[Swarm]

Security Squad (OT & Code Destroyer) were awesome for me but failed to win the GWF tag belts 3 out of 3 times. So that tension followed them around constantly. When GODSEND was doing all his whimsical stuff putting good guys versus good guys and bad guys versus bad guys, he booked OT versus Code Destroyer for the IP belt. That quickly became a legit feud with bad feelings. Was a lot of fun. Then it worked out great in 2136 when OT went face in the storyline and took one last whipping from Code Destroyer.

[Deleted]

I've been running a somewhat strict face/heel divide after transitioning my fed over to being more like 80s WWF, but I'm not opposed to the idea of running a face vs. face or even heel vs. heel title match if it makes sense.

[pikemojo]

I tend to think face vs. heel feuds make the most sense. I could see heel vs. heel working out OK. I think it's very easy to understand two bad guys not liking each other, since we don't like them either. Face vs. face is a little tougher. I could see a respectful rivalry working, sorta like Booker T and Chris Benoit's best of 7 series of matches in WCW.

[ajcostello]

I tend to prefer babyface-v-heel booking for the purposes of drama and storylines because the storylines are what makes pro wrestling more compelling to me than legit combat sports. Even the UFC stole elements of pro wrestling's dramatic booking (so to speak) back when I still watched by making sure we all got to see the personalities of Ronda Rousey and Chael Sonnen... and how many people I knew couldn't wait to see someone... ANYONE... kick their teeth in.

Even back in the 80s, there was so much drama to the idea of the unbeatable monster (heel) "Iron Mike" Tyson that it was thrilling to watch. Nowadays I can't tell you the name of a single pro boxer because they all seem to have the same (boring) personality. Skill in the ring (or Octagon) is all well and good but there isn't really enough going on to make me take notice.

And that's why, in a nutshell, my feds/promotions use storylines, babyfaces, heels, and commentary.

Oh, and managers.

Managers can make things crazy fun.

And also? We have the randomness of the dice to add flavor and drama.

Now, in certain circumstances, I'll book face-v-face or heel-v-heel. Mostly for title shots or as pairings in tournaments. Or other unique storyline instances.

[Humanoids4eva]

I stick to faces vs. heels for the most part. Occasionally, I have heel-heel or face-face on the undercard or when trying to decide a contender. Have had faces go for title against face champions, but usually when the face champion(s) has torn through other challengers.

Heel vs Heel matches and series are more common since I can envision this easier.

[Sam Fain]

I'm mostly a face/heel guy too. Though I have two exceptions - my Classics fed has had plenty of contests that throw that dynamic out or at least tend to be more subtle about it. My indy fed(s) is/are the same way. It can be a lot of fun to have a face/face title match that starts as a purely athletic contest but spirals into something else. You might even get a heel turn out of it that you don't expect. That said, my legends, CWF, & GWF tend to mostly face vs. heel with maybe some rare exceptions here and there. This is especially true for CotG as I'm a fairly by the book promoter.

[Pete]

I'm actually sort of the opposite of Dustin--I'm primarily all about heel vs. face in COTG, *except* if somebody is a clear title contender, in which case I won't hesitate to book a Hero vs. Hero or Villain vs. Villain title match. Also, when Desolation Factor were on their record-setting tag title run I almost had no choice but to throw Heroes in against them because they kept running over all the Villain teams (until they lost the belts...to Transevolver. Talk about an anticlimax...)

Also, just like in Japan I ran an annual round-robin league, both singles and tags, and usually in two blocks. Whether it was one block or two, though, it would be split almost evenly between Hero and Villain teams--the key selling point in these tournaments besides prestige and rankings and money was that it'd guarantee match-ups like the GameMasters against the New Order, or Thunder & Overkill against the Watchmen, that would rarely happen otherwise. Which happened to be a selling point in '90s All-Japan as well, seeing Misawa and Kobashi face off against each other (or Misawa & partner vs. Kobashi & partner) even when they were part of the same stable.

[zanysteve]

In my feds ,rankings decide feuds.My top Champion (ie #1 ranked) wrestles the #2 ranked wrestler a minimum of two times per ranking cycle . If the match result is tied or their is controversy , the rubber match will headline the PPV Card.
Meanwhile , the #3 wrestles #4 in two or three matches , #5 vs #6, #7 vs#8, etc...

The federation has three cards per ranking cycle (or six cards in split tour).The fourth (or seventh) card is my PPV and is used to break tied rubber matches.


Example World Champion:Champion

Card A is a TV Taping : World Champion faces #8 in a non title match.

Card B : World Champion faces #2 for a title usually in a normal rules match.

Card C : Title Rematch of Card B , depending on previous result , some sort of speciality match favoring one of the wrestler.

Card D is a PPV : Depends on the previous results, if both wrestlers have a win each , a rubber match is held.This is main event speciality feature.

A minor title is also decided in this fashion ( say a TV Champ )