How To Make An E-Wrestler!

President's historally have picked certain wrestlers above others.  Although role-playing may have been one factor a strong e-wrestler basis was the other.  A good wrestler isn't a good wrestler, he has a gimmick that suits him.  The following is how I personally would make an e-wrestler and click send on an application form

 

Name
Name's are important and will vary from character to character.   First, if you are going to have a serious character have a serious name.   Examples of serious characters would be Goldberg, Al Snow, Steve Austin, and Tommy Dreamer.  Chances are you're going to need to use a real name for a serious character.  The problem is most people have an ungoing imagination with names.   First use two names, eventually you can drop one but you need a first and last name for a serious character.  Second you need names that go together.  When Steve Austin first joined wrestling in WCW as Stunning Steve Austin he was going to use Steve Williams, his real names.  Steve and Williams don't go together, ask Dr. Death Steve Williams he knows better than anyone.  Steve Williams picked up Austin after the capital of his state.  Say the name in your head and out loud.  If they seem to go together than it is good.  Many actors have changed their names simply because they go together.  They should also be simple names.  We don't need another Joe Balukamamajoejoe as much as it might go together fans must be able to pronounce and spell your names, or they can't make chants.  Also you should look for common names.   Look at your phone book and look through a certain letter section and see if there are so many of a certain name and pick that name.  First names are easy, there are a such thing as 'international names.'  Some of them would be Chris, Paul, George, John, Luke, and Peter.  Just remember, they shouldn't rhyme either.  So what about the less serious characters?  Use gimmick names.  Real names don't stick for a not serious wrestler.  The Destroyer, the Mutilator, the Advocate, adding the infront of a gimmicky wrestler could help a lot,, it gives it a certain persona.   Well if you're bored, and you want to come up with a good name, look into your local dictionary.  It's that book which reads D I C T I O N A R Y on it, yes I know it's probably dusty since you never use it but look through it and look up definitions.   Look at catchy words, see what they mean.  Words with good meanings can make good characters.  One time I discovered a "lighter" was a type of boat.   I used that, think about it a guy named "Lighter."  It has a ring to it and can be used in more than one ways.  So when thinking about a name.   Remember it's not just a name, it can shape your entire character.

Weight/Height
How heavy and how tall you are can affect a lot of things.  Your weight and height must be at a good rate.  It's not often you see guys who are 7'1" at 100 pounds.  Sorry guys there are no twig wrestlers out there.   Even Doug Gill, who portrayed a jobber who had a 'defeated streak' is more ripped than that.  Also, your weight and height will affect your finisher.  The heavier you are the more likely you are to stay on the ground.  I'll tell you what there aren't many guys out there 6'7" that do high flying moves.  So picture your character in your head.  Think about how you want him to be shaped.  Should be be ripped, fat, or slight skin and muscle.  When you're thinking about weights look at current wrestlers, go to the federations web site and look at thier bio, look at their height and weight.  Compare and don't copy.  A few pounds off could do it.   Your height and weight can also affect your gimmick.  Do you believe Goldberg would have made a successful entertainer had he not been ripped?  Or would Yokozuna not have ben the greatest sumo in WWF had he not been fat?  Or even would Crash Holly have been so successful had he not been so slender.  Wrestlers height and weight do matter.  So do the height and weight last.  That way you have your character all down and realize what kind of height and weight they will be.

Finisher
Finisher's are important.  If you notice a trend in finisher's they're either entertaining to watch or very quick.  The best finisher's are the ones that can be done on anyone.  This is why the Steiner Recliner, Stunner, and People's Elbow were so successful.  These three moves combined two of the most important elements in sport in one.  So why don't you do the same?  Finishers are usually better done quick.  For the majority finisher's can't be too long drawn and boring.   Yes, I'm talking about the very quick finisher's.  When Mankind came to the WWF he had the Mandable claw, a move that could be done on anyone and knock them unconscious in reality.  The problem with his finisher is that it took too long to win the match.  Stun moves are always good.  If your finisher requires only 4 seconds to complete than you've just marked your point.  One of the greatest finisher's I've ever seen is caught between the Flying Forearm and the Clothesline from hell.  Both could be done on anyone and both could have been done very quickly.   These finisher's also applied to the gimmick.  Now entertainment is another issue.  Entertainment is why submissionists, high fliers, and hardcore wrestlers are still around and it varies by division.  For finisher's there must be some kind of call sign, the submission can't be took basic either, and it must appear to be causing immense pain, if not, you've failed.  High fliers must do death defying stunts, they need call signs as well.  These stunts for the best high fliers must involve the ropes, a spring board bulldog, hurakurana off the tope ropes, missile drop kick, moonsault, any of these would be good.  Now hardcore wrestling is a bit different because it is new.  For the most part you need simple moves.  The DDT is a simple move, the body slam, the take down, drop toe hold.  The only difference is you need to add in a hardcore element, you need to add the table, add the steel chair, the ring bell, what ever.  There is no single wrestler out there that is hardcore that I can think of that has a finisher that takes a minimum of 5 seconds, they can do theirs under that time.  Some guys think powerboms off the top ropes are good, well they're not.  Buh Buh Ray Dudley does it but he has a tag team partner to help him.   Most importantly it must go along with your gimmick.  Triple powerbombs are nice but are well over too long drawn.  If you want a good finisher look to the basics and put a slight modification on it.  Jeff Jarrett turned the Russian Leg Sweep into a easily over finisher, can you do that?

Attire/Appearance
Most President's expect you to know that your attire and appearance are the same thing, even though they're not.  A good attire has to apply to the gimmick.   Ever application I get is always baggy jeans and/or baggy clothing.  It's seems so lame in one e-fed that you'd have half of them wearing baggy clothes.  But there is a way around this.  You can use the classic gear.  This is your tights or "gear" with your attached or none attached top.  The other alternative is to look at today styles.  Some people can look at your prom suit, or your cold day sports suit and use it as an outfit.  Hell it worked for Mike Tyson when he went to the WWF as an official.  If you're a gangster and trying to serious don't use casual, use a stereotype.  Stereotypes are the greatest tool in wrestling.  Surely that one group may see it as out of date and dumb, but everyone else would know it as fact.   Stereotype:  All Mafia members are Italian.  Little stereotypes help create an appearance.  So describe from head to toe what you are wearing.  Tell every little detail from head ware to the color of your wrestling boots.  When you've completed that move into specifics on how you look.  Tell if you're ripped, skinny, fat, normal.  Tell your race are you black, oriental, white, latino, etc.   Compare yourself to another wrestler and tell how you're different.  When someone reads an appearance they can use it against you so, make sure you know what you're wearing and what you look like!

Theme Music
I stress the word theme.  Your music has to go along with your gimmick.  I'm sure Mankind wouldn't have taken off going to ring side to Sweet Dreams by the Eurethemics.  You need music that suits your character.  Big time wrestling promoters have had problems with this over the years.  They've been ridiculed over the dumb themes they give their wrestlers.  The most recent one would be Undertaker who was given Rollin' by Limp Bizkit and American Badass by Kid Rock.   Surely they fit his new bikertaker gimmick, but they took away from his mic work.   If you want cool music look towards two groups.  You have your raps and your rocks.  A combo of both isn't that bad either.  Seriously I'd look away from the popular media, Teen pop and top hit rap isn't all that great for theme music.  Old music is sometimes the best music.  Metalica, Nirvana, Def Lepard, Mega Deth, and Ozzy Ozborn are some more reputable older artists who have recorded some of the best hits around.  Another one would be Jimmy Hendrix but some of his music is too old and the lyrics are too out of date.  Rap, I'd look towards Wu-Tang Clan, Red Man, Busta Rhymes, well the list goes on.  But if you don't want to be, just somebody else, I suggest going for an independant artist.  The guys who've never hit the top hits.   Napster, an MP3 downloading too recently became a great interface for independant artists, I suggest looking at their Discover section going through the rock and raps, download them, listen to them, and see if you like them.  Make sure that it keeps in gimmick though, choosing your music may determine who our wrestler is!

Alignment
Aligment is very simple, are you a face, or are you a heel or are you a tweener?  Being heel or face will give you one advantage.  The advantage is that you will climb faster and you can lock to one definite style of role-playing.  Being a tweener is harder and it's harder to climb up the scales.  Tweeners such as Bret Hart have struggled to stay at the top, not to mention climbing to the top.  Tweeners in todays world are all around us, but, to be a successful tweener you must be acting based on the alignment of your opponent.  So my suggestion be a face or heel, be a tweener if you're ready to take on that much responsibility

Gimmick
Some people have basic gimmicks that just tell you what they do and not how they act.  Things like he is hardcore, he likes hurting people.  A good well written gimmick would need your motive, your cause, and your personality.  Gimmicks are getting harder to find as Vince McMahon, Vince Russo, and Paul Heyman collect up all the good ideas and use them.  Truly original gimmicks may appear on wrestling in a year or so.  So how do you find your gimmick.  Well you could reflect on your character and enlist everything about him, how he acts, cravings, wants, needs, everything about him.  As a creationist, I like making up guys that are different from others.   One nice way is to base your characters off of TV or Movie characters.  I've seen a guy use a character from a soap opera once and succeed with it.  The final way is to watch "The News."  Yes the dreaeded program of youths across the Americas.  There is always something on the news.  Focus on one thing on the news.  Wars, Special reports, elections, and anything that draws great attention are usually the best.  Once you focus on one thing research it as far as you can.   Once you have this material mold it into a wrestler so that all pieces fit together.  Once you have this you have a great gimmick.  Make sure it's something that strikes you as quasi-exciting or else using him will get boring to you and for us to read, make sure it's something that is big, I based a character off of an Iraqi missile crisis, that was exciting.  Make sure that he has motives and has no leaks of attack.

Wrestling Background
Wrestling background plays it's importance, traditionally before a promoter accepted a wrestler you'd have to send a tape of you wrestling.  Well with a wrestling background we want to know more.  How was your child hood?  Why did you start wrestling?  Where did you train?  Where did you go?  A lot of good questions.  When looking at wrestling backgrounds try to use former e-feds you were in, and if you weren't in any than pick out well known indy feds like Stampede, APW, UWF, and CZW.  Make sure that your background is in the right order.  Also put down connections you have with certain wrestlers and promoters.  Were you friends with certain friends and promoters.  Were they your greatestest enemies.  Did you win any titles in other federations.  Speaking of titles, do not gloat about world titles in federations.  Look towards lower titles.  It looks more impressive to see a guy excelling when he was a small champion before.  That's the story on Chris Jericho.  Make sure it's all in order and make sure that it all makes sense, not everyone can be Mick Foley, SORRY!

Other Info
Some feds ask for other info.  This is a general field.  It can be everything from pre-sucking to the Prez, to a list of moves.  Fill in this piece with stuff not asked in the application

Wrestling Style
This is obvious, make sure your wrestling style matches with your height and weight.  There aren't many power houses that are really fat, there aren't many tall high fliers.  There aren't many heavy high fliers.  There aren't very many light extremists.  Certain things add up and when picking your style make sure they do!

Hometown
If you're smart you wouldn't answer parts unknown.  Mick Foley picked Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, and that's an actual town.  Pick a state (or Country) and look through the different names, make sure the State has similar qualities to your character.  Like their aren't many black people in Misissippi.   There aren't many voters in Florida (had to stick it in somewhere) so you must pick a proper hometown.  Remember, your hometown declares where you are the hero, you can make it the Big Apple or the Small Potatoe (which I have named Boise Idaho).   Homtowns play great rolls, find one and keep it!

Sample Role-Play
Always give your best on a sample role-play.  My policy is that every who writes a sample role-play enters our e-fed and we develop them from there.   When writing a role-play never say, just let me in and I'll do one, or I can do better than this one.  Do your best. Think if you were going to a job interview, you never say when half done presenting yourself, I'm about double what I look like at the moment so can I have the job?  So the question is why do you do it in the sample.   If you're going to do a sample do it to the best of your ability for maximum placement values.