NWCW ? Setting up the Promotion

Entry posted by Count_Zero August 3, 2011

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I recently picked up the role-playing game Wild World of Wrestling by Timeout Diversions from DriveThruRPG. The game is from the same people who brought us the underrated RPG WWE: Know Your Role, which I also own and like. As I’m reading through the game, I’m also working on setting up my own little promotion. This is partly with original wrestlers and in a large part with adaptations of real-world wrestlers. But, first, I’d like to do a little world-building and set-up the in-game organization.

North-West Championship Wrestling (NWCW)

North-West Championship Wrestling is a wrestling promotion based in Portland, Oregon, which puts on shows throughout the state, as well as Washington and British Columbia. The promotion is not affiliated the old Portland Wrestling promotion, but is affiliated with a newly resurgent National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), as well as several Japanese promotions, particularly Pro Wrestling NOAH, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). This confluence of promotional ties (partly permitted by geography) allows for wrestlers who have achieved success in Japan to get exposure to American wrestling fans in a way they couldn’t outside of the Indy scene, and without the travel needed to go all the way to the East Coast.

Titles

As of the start of the game, all titles are currently vacant, as the promotion is just starting out. Also, while the main titles from AJPW, NJPW, NOAH, and the NWA will be defended in NWCW, they’re not the primary titles in the promotion.

Title belts pictured are more meant to give an idea what the actual belt would look like, and help inspire players, should you choose to run a game in this promotion.

NWCW Universal Wrestling Championship (Primary Singles Title)

The “Universal” in name is due to the fact that the defense of this title is not limited by weight class. Light Heavyweights/Cruiserweights are just as eligible for this title as heavyweights are. Also, to raise the prestige of title defenses, the title can only be defended at monthly events or Pay-Per-Views.

The practical reason for this is that I realized that from a mechanic standpoint, Low Ki, who was one of the first ROH Heavyweight Champions, is technically a cruiser-weight, and additionally, I wanted the interesting mix of styles that we got when the X Division in TNA wrestling was at its peak.

As far as the title design goes, this belt design reminds me a lot of the old WWE Undisputed Title, but more distinctive thanks to figures in the middle and the use of color.

Benefit: Reroll any one roll once per card, unless original roll is automatic failure/miss.

Bonus Gimmick Enhancements: Desperate Save, Feat of (choice) (2), Popular Appeal, Resources (5), Submission Threshold (2), Stick a Fork in It.

NWCW Television Championship (Secondary Singles Title)

If anyone has learned anything from the history of the wrestling business, it’s that title defenses get viewers. If you’ve learned anything else, it’s that giving away pay-per-view matches (like World Title defenses) on free TV is generally not good. So, the next best thing to do is have a good mid-card title that’s defended on television, to keep people tuning in to the TV show. This also provides a good way of elevating and evaluating mid-card talent, so you can see who’ll get over or not.

For the design, I was in a dead split between the old ECW Television Championship, this one, and the WCW United States championship. However, this one won out due to the use of color (I’ve come to like blue) and texture. Also, the shape of the center piece is something that just works for me instead of the round center piece in the ECW TV Title. It draws the eye more.

Benefit: Reroll any one roll to escape pin or submission once per card with all bonuses and penalties, unless original roll is automatic failure.

Bonus Gimmick Enhancements: Desperate Save, Resources (3), Feat of (choice), Popular Appeal, Submission Threshold.

NWCW Tag Team Championship

Yes, the picture of the globe on these belts is god-freaking-awful, but visually this belt has everything I like in its design. Nice shape that draws attention to the centerpiece of the belt. It has a good use of color and a nice visual texture to it.

Benefit: Reroll one tag finisher once per card, unless original roll is automatic failure.

Bonus Gimmick Enhancements: Desperate Save, Resources (3), Feat of (choice), Popular Appeal, Stick a Fork in It (with tag-team finisher only).

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