BTB Discussion Thread

[Matrix]

DM me, Matrix


On to everyone else…. I hope the community is doing well. I’ve done an absolute shit job of being a regular here and contributing much more than an occasional post.

I’ve loved doing BTBs and Diaries for a long time, but real life has been getting in the way of that for about a decade now.

I go through these cycles where my outside life just robs me of a lot of motivation to read and interact with other writers. I LOVE reading…. But my feedback just isn’t anything really worth saying. I hate “cool story “ and “I’ll be reading” posts that don’t add much to the writer.

How do you guys muster up the energy to read and review when your heart just isn’t into it?

I totally would, however Juice hit me up shortly after my post and I've agreed to work with her already. I appreciate the offer though, I remember you from when I tried to do something on WC and you were very helpful.

As for your question, I really don't think you can. I've had times where I just have no interest in BTB and I drop out all together. Sometimes I think people just need to get away from it and wait until the urge to get back into it strikes them. I'm with you on feedback though I never know what to say to anybody, even more so if it's a long term project I'm just starting to check out.

 

[Order]

So, who has booked or written a Royal Rumble here?

Did you find it hard? How did you pick the surprises and were your Mania matches laid out well before it?

Thought I'd ask with the Rumble this weekend and my next pay-per-view in New Vision when I get the recaps over with.

 

[RDT]

I haven't done it on this site specifically, but I've written a few Rumbles! It's my favorite match to write-up!

Some things I like to do.

I like to visualize the entrances and who's in the ring when that wrestler comes out. I also have a youtube playlist of that wrestler's music. I play it and imagine how it would go.

I try not to put all the big names together, especially at the end. If I have several big names I want at the end I like it so it's like 25-28-30. Also spread out even the upper midcard guys. The real life 1999 Rumble was horrible for not doing this, where #s 3-#16 were pretty much useless and filler.

I like my #30 to matter in some way. I want it to feel like #30 is the favorite regardless of who's in the ring.

I don't mind somewhat lifting what's been done in real life. For example, in a 2005 split I once did I made a trade for John Cena that wasn't announced, he was the perfect #30 for me (with favorite Undertaker cleaning house and standing tall waiting). It was somewhat of a play of what actually happened in 2008.

Define your surprise entrants. Is it the return of a big name? A legendary character? A shocking debut? Make a big deal out of it and explain. As much as we all read these BTBs, I may not remember an injury angle you did 5 BTB months ago. Make a note of it with how you do commentary and such (while not a Rumble, I did just this with my Stone Cold returns angle. Stone Cold was written out with an injury 5 BTB months ago, which was 12-13 months ago in real life! Can't expect people to remember that).

Have some fun/joke spots. It doesn't have to be balls-to-the-wall wrestling all Rumble.

Try to have more than one story (even if it's not obivous going in). Sure the winner is important but if that's all that matters then it's hard to care about the rest of the Rumble. Maybe someone is trying to win from #1? Maybe have an old school Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty old partners going at it deal. Maybe sow some seeds for a future tag team split with one partner eliminating the other. My favorite real life example? Maven eliminating the Undertaker.

I know exactly where I want to go for Mania (or whatever the big show for the Rumble is). And the Rumble should compliment those plans. Back to my 2005 example, when Cena came out, Undertaker was attacked by Christian (who I was pushing) so Cena and Christian ended up going at it. Cena would eliminate Christian, which led to their Mania (or in this case, Winter Classic) match.

 

[Roy Mustang]

So, who has booked or written a Royal Rumble here?

Did you find it hard? How did you pick the surprises and were your Mania matches laid out well before it?

Thought I'd ask with the Rumble this weekend and my next pay-per-view in New Vision when I get the recaps over with.

Yes and no on it being hard as someone who did two on one show. I knew what my WM plans were for the most part and used it to further some of them. I also planned out a lot of the keys spots but did come up with some mid-writing it. Regarding shocks I thought about who would be realistic aka ones at the time (Edge coming back etc.) and also did a predictions contest in the lead up to it for a shock entrance for each match: Mens was David Arquette and Women's was Victoria (who funnily enough I planned to have in the match anyway).

 

[CakeWalker]

its not a Rumble - but currently planning the Battle Riot which is sort of the same thing. And its already a reall challenge on paper

 

[White Rhyno]

Royal Rumbles and War Games type matches are always tough for me.

They are fun and (depending on the format) can be draining to write.... I had one kill a WWE BTB I was doing. Its a lot of moving parts to keep track of and keep your readers interested in.They created HUGE walls of text I never felt that many people read. I reached the point where the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze .

If and when I ever do a huge multi-man match again... I think I'd do more of a recap style and write out the huge moments to give a sense of place and feel.

 

[Joey Bananas]

So, who has booked or written a Royal Rumble here?

Did you find it hard? How did you pick the surprises and were your Mania matches laid out well before it?

Thought I'd ask with the Rumble this weekend and my next pay-per-view in New Vision when I get the recaps over with.

I wrote one many years ago, I found it fun but it did take a LONG time to write.

 

[Sykotic]

I’ll have to dig out my PDF of the only Rumble I wrote.

RDT hits the nail on the head, you got to have a mixture of elements throughout


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[KOP]

I've done three Rumbles over the course of my career and each one has been exciting and challenging at the same time. It's tough to cover the action when you have upwards of seven, eight, nine people in the ring at one time plus having to try and make it easily readable and flow well.

But I do find them to be easier to write overall and when I finished writing my last Rumble last year it was the first match I completed for the entire pay per view so it really set the tone for the show for me.

 

[Mandalorian]

So, who has booked or written a Royal Rumble here?

Did you find it hard? How did you pick the surprises and were your Mania matches laid out well before it?

Thought I'd ask with the Rumble this weekend and my next pay-per-view in New Vision when I get the recaps over with.

I’ve written out a Royal Rumble for a BTB I never actually got around to starting and I’ve also wrote the FWA’s version of it last year.

I think the key is determining who you want to have highlighted the most, and where you want things to go and how long for. You can have two people who are opposed in the match (constantly tied up and trying to eliminate each other) but it doesn’t lead to anything after the match is over. Everyone should get some sort of shine, but it doesn’t have to be big or memorable for everyone. Everyone should be there to serve some sort of purpose, even if it is just for a comedy throwaway spot.

The same applies for the surprises. A shock Rumble return can create a Wrestlemania feud out of nothing but I think with a legend or something coming back it should make some sort of sense. Like there’s no point bringing Luther Reigns back in 2023 just to have him last a minute in the Rumble? That’s a highly subjective area, though, because you might just want to pop your readers with a creative choice for a one night return that doesn’t lead to anything.

In terms of the match writing, it’s definitely best to plan out all entrances and eliminations in advance, including who goes out when. From this plan it should be obvious to you exactly who is in the match at what point in time. Then with it being a cyclical loop of entrances one after the other, you know whether there’s going to be an elimination in between each. You can break up the writing like that as well. I approached it as seeing like I had 30 lots (or 41 for the FWA one) of a few hundred words to write. It made writing what are very long matches much easier.

 

[Draevyn]

The problem I always have with Rumbles (when I manage to work myself into writing) is that I like to write long hand shows....which means my Rumbles are usually very wordy and even though I know that nobody is going to actually read the entire thing, I can't bring myself to shorten my style. It just doesn't work for me.

 

[Order]

The problem I always have with Rumbles (when I manage to work myself into writing) is that I like to write long hand shows....which means my Rumbles are usually very wordy and even though I know that nobody is going to actually read the entire thing, I can't bring myself to shorten my style. It just doesn't work for me.

You'd be surprised, some people read absolutely everything. I write long-form as well but like with all of these things, I do it for myself more than anything as I feel it tells a better story.

 

[DTP]

I've written about five or six in my time. If you've read my PPV write-ups, you'll know I like my detail. I can send them across if need be as a reference.

 

[Tig]

Yo. Somewhat strange question, didn’t know what the rule surrounding it on WC was and not sure here;

Are there any rules about having to post an actual show on the forum itself? Like, would it be allowed to link a public google doc/pdf that contains the show in the thread on the forum in lieu of copying it over to the forum from the doc?

 

[Order]

Yo. Somewhat strange question, didn’t know what the rule surrounding it on WC was and not sure here;

Are there any rules about having to post an actual show on the forum itself? Like, would it be allowed to link a public google doc/pdf that contains the show in the thread on the forum in lieu of copying it over to the forum from the doc?

Don't see any problem with doing it this way and there's no rules against it my friend.