30:46 You are wild for that one! This was such a wonderful and thorough explanation. I was really struggling with how to book more efficiently without burnout. The part that helped me the most was your storylines & What if sections because I was trying to type out full scripts instead of just being brief. Thanks a ton and I am subscribing.

Love this. I’m currently booking a 04/05 WWE. I immediately signed Samoa Joe and put him alongside Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman and a heel John Cena. At first, Joe and Cena were brought along as muscle to help Lesnar get the title back from Eddie. But, I noticed that Joe’s popularity exploded, going from a lower midcard guy to an upper midcarder in a couple months. So, I decided to give him an undefeated streak which eventually led to a six month run as the United States champion. After nine months in the company feuding with various stars, typically alongside Lesnar and Cena, I had Joe win the World Heavyweight Championship. So now each Joe and Lesnar had a world title. I decided to turn Joe face and I’m currently working a storyline in which Joe and Lesnar will face off for the first time at Mania to unify the world titles. Easily, the best booking I’ve ever had.

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

That sounds awesome! I loved that 04/05 period in WWE, and I think the first save I actually played in this version of TEW was the Ruthless Aggression mod. This is making me want to play it again haha. Love the feedback!

Hey everyone! The link to the spreadsheet template is in the description. Also, I'm going to put together a part two of this series soon looking at how I transfer the booking from my spreadsheet to TEW 2020, the process I use for booking freestyle angles, ways to get better angle ratings, and much more. Hope you enjoy!

I like your setup. My setup has always been to just plot out PPVs in this fashion to use as a guidepost, while most plot points are booked on the fly, just keeping that guidepost in mind. I'll often mentally sketch out on a show-to-show basis how I want my biggest storylines to go, but I like leaving midcard stories or match-ups that are more name-driven than story-driven unscripted. That way, when I get to booking a TV show, I can plug in the plot points I have for the important stories, then look at what the SHOW needs for balancing and a satisfying drama curve. Because those stories aren't built on existing particulars, I have the freedom to shape them to fit the show, trusting that I'll be able to improvise whatever the next step will be. I also like having a few floating comedy characters or plug-and-play gimmicks (including ice man ring generals) on the roster to facilitate quick-and-dirty unscripted booking. Match slots are filled and there's no time for a lengthy angle in the US #1 contenders story? Looks like someone's awkwardly walking in on their opponent having a nonsense interaction with R-Truth.... It's that balance of scripted, narrative-driven stories and free-flowing feuds that makes for a fun booking experience for me. Best of all, at least in my opinion, it makes the finished product feel more like an actual wrestling product, where some of it is serious story writing and the rest is dumb crap we slapped together last minute to fill TV time.

I am happy to see that I am not the only one who organizes their roster like that with an Excel spreadsheet

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

It's the only way I can keep up with huge rosters haha. But even with the small ones, it's nice to have a simple overview with where everyone is at. Thanks for watching!

LETS GOOOO IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE!!! Thank you!!!

@wrestleblake

2 жыл бұрын

Hope you enjoy it! A lot of rambling and spreadsheet talk, but maybe there’s a small amount of helpful info in there somewhere haha. Thanks as always man!

@jediops_

2 жыл бұрын

@@wrestleblake of course! the way you set up your roster and the storyline template are great thanks! Excited for Part 2 as well

This is actually really helpful! I am definitely going to be using this!

@wrestleblake

10 ай бұрын

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.

This was very helpful! Thanks man! 😅

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Glad you found it helpful, Darrelle!

This is super helpful, I don't have a KZread channel but I do have a super in depth TEW WWE save and im trying to find a way to make it a little more organized so i can just sit down and write storylines and this is amazing, is there any way you could put out like templates of your spreadsheet, the storyline template is the one that seems the most helpful. Thanks! Love the series and I love how in depth you go into!

@wrestleblake

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you find it helpful! Just added the link to the spreadsheet in the description. You can make a copy and adjust as needed. Thanks for the kind words!

Good video. I've been passing playing EWR since it came out and I'm still intimated by TEW 😂

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! I loved EWR and might have to play it for the first time in a while haha.

This is really helpful. I always get muddled with storylines - sometimes i forget the previous angles and book something and later realize that I was supposed to booking something else but I forgot the previous angle leading to it. For Part 2: I would really appreciate if you could just do a sample booking and what steps you take in-game to book a show. Just wanted to get an idea on how to get these over 80 ratings of segments which I very rarely get even when I have Roman Reigns or KO Segments - it does not get over 90 like in your save. What am I doing wrong? How you do setup your matches ( time limit, road agent notes that you feel are the most noteworthy or useful road agent notes to get a good match rating) Great stuff as always.

@dasrikk

2 жыл бұрын

I didnt see your tagged message there where you did answer my questions. Eagerly waiting for the real meat in prt 2.

@wrestleblake

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you found it helpful! But yeah, part two will be more hands-on with actually booking the storylines in the game. If I had done that one this one, it may have been a two-hour video haha. Thanks for the kind words!

Thank you so much for going this in-depth. I use a similar structure, but I write things out by hand (it helps me to remember it easier). Thanks for suggesting using the angles that are pre-loaded in TEW as a spark. I hadn't even thought about that. It is a great option for when I am stuck in a storyline or having a hard time getting a story started. Do you stick to your long-term stories pretty closely, or do you adjust quite a bit based on new signings, injuries, etc?

@wrestleblake

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it, Mike! I used to do everything by hand but had so many notebooks that I couldn't remember where things were haha. And yeah, the pre-loaded angles are an easy starting point for a storyline. That's my go-to when I get stuck. As for the long-term stories, I usually have a good idea at the start what the length of the storyline will be. Some may be three PPV cycle, six PPV cycles, etc. This mostly goes back to the big matches I know I want to get to. If there's a new signing available that I want to pair with someone already in a long storyline, then I can adjust as needed. But it's really a mix of trying to build several long-term storylines (a few in my WWE save are almost to the six-month mark) with shorter ones for a nice balance since not every story idea can be extended to multiple months.

Well good lord this is useful

@wrestleblake

26 күн бұрын

Sorry the late response, but glad you find this helpful! Working on an updated 2024 edition that should post soon.

I know its been a while since you made this video but thought I'd give my 2-pence. I set out my roster a similar way but I also colour-code the background of the cell based on the storyline they're in e.g. cena and reigns could both have pale green behind them indicating they are in a story together. Can then use that same colour indicator in the schedule tab to ensure you are covering all your stories by colour and not just a wall of text.

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Been on a bit of a hiatus, so apologies for the late reply! That's a great idea. Hadn't thought of something like that and it would make the process easier.

I would just like to point out that we use spreadsheets in order to play a spreadsheet game. My wife wonders what's wrong with me lol.

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Haha so true, Ed! Wrestling bookers can never have too many spreadsheets....

Interesting method of booking. Does your booking change if you realize the crowd isn't into the story, or do you scrap stories if you come to find out the workers have bad chemistry?

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! And yeah, those are a few things that can change booking plans. Some people I push knowing the segments won't do huge numbers, but that's really the only way to get them where I want them to be from a popularity standpoint. Storylines change for a variety of reasons, whether that be a new idea, a signing or main roster call-up, etc. As for the bad chemistry note, sometimes I'll just push through if it's a short storyline, but usually I'll find a way to send the story in a new direction. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Wish I'd found this sooner. Any advice on a company that just runs monthly shows? Or it's basically the same format just condensed?

@wrestleblake

22 күн бұрын

I know it's been a few months so apologies for the late reply! Took a bit of a break. But yeah, I think the approach is very similar. I mostly do the same format and move through angles a little quicker as needed to build to the next big matches.

Ya know Blake, just when I thought your booking method couldn't possibly get any more stale...you pull the 36 Dramatic Situations by Georges Polti......AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)😂

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

I am laughing way too hard at this haha. When in doubt, go to the 36 Dramatic Situations and boom, creativity is back!

@jp6046

Жыл бұрын

@@wrestleblake True! True! Is this game user friendly? Cause my worry is that if I purchase it, it might be too overwhelming.

@aikitnx

Жыл бұрын

@@jp6046 Yes and no. There is A LOT of buttons and menus, but the game itself does a decent job at explaining stuff, though that's a lot of reading. What I find helpful is starting with smaller companies, when you don't need to worry about all the features at once, and kinda learn them few at a time. That said, the game ain't too expensive

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Somehow missed this comment a few months ago J P. As Tomas noted in his comment, there’s a lot to the game, but it’s easy to get into once you learn the basics. Starting with a small company is the best advice.

i like your process. i use a similar method but on paper. writing it helps me visualize it. Once i have the main plot of the storyline. i will free style it. Some of your methods will help me plan longer than month to month

@wrestleblake

2 жыл бұрын

Love it! Yeah, I usually remember things better when I write it down vs. type it on a computer, so I do a mix of both. A lot of my storylines are just free style beyond the main plot. That's the fun way to do it. Thanks as always for watching!

This is very similar to how I book as well but I try to book a year in advance

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Love it! I usually have an idea of my big matches a year in advance, but don't book that far out in detail.

I have a question Blake, I enjoy your booking set up, but I just wanted to pick your brain on underdog face runs. Have you had success getting a face over by beating him and cheating him over and over until he finally is able to overcome all the odds and gain that victory? Because I feel like he would just lose momentum and pop and not really gain anything once he does overcome the odds, which isn't really how that sort of thing works in real life. I can accept if the game just doesn't do it well, but I wanted to maybe see if you were able to make it work in the past

@wrestleblake

5 ай бұрын

Great question and apologies for just getting to this! It's definitely been hit and miss on trying the underdog face runs. There are some guys who we've had regularly lose big matches as underdog faces, but it has helped their popularity if it's a tainted win with a bigger star (as long as the match delivers). But the bigger issue is what you mentioned about momentum. That's been a challenge if they're losing too many matches, so I try to mix it up by giving them a good run of wins against similar or lower opponents, then maybe they're kept strong in the cheating losses in the bigger storyline. Once they get the victory after that, it should give them a boost in popularity.

I'm watching the video just to see how serious people do it, and while I understand and appreciate it, it's just a nope from me - way too involved

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Haha I don't blame you at all! It's a lot and I don't do it for every save. Some are way more casual than others. This method helps me with the KZread videos, but in no way is it necessary for having fun with random saves.

@aikitnx

Жыл бұрын

@@wrestleblake as I've said, I get it and I appreciate it. But also, given my tendency to start as a backyard fed, I basically gain popularity for existing xD and rarely get past small. But I'm really enjoying my current game, and it may last longer than usual. So I've started watching the series to have some idea of how to put a good show (other than wrestler's than roughly skill+overness adjusted for match type) in case I need to start thinking about it. So far it's been quite helpful. What I haven't figured outis how disciplinary works. Haven't really found any rhyme or reason to that, other than slightly inferring the appropriate action based on their character and previous record. But it still seems relatively random

@wrestleblake

Жыл бұрын

Agreed on that. It does seem quite random on some of those for sure. I think I’m gonna get the local to global challenge at some point. Certainly a huge difference since I play with the big companies a lot haha

But are you from the 1800s is the question? Lol

@wrestleblake

5 ай бұрын

Haha wouldn't you like to know?! 😂