Wrestling With Roleplay

[Luncha_Libre]

I don´t need commentary very much. I grew up with commentating in my native tongue and always found for example Jerry Lawler tiresome at the commentary, even at his best times. I like the commentary of style Booker T though, which many people hate

FWIW, I love Booker T's commentary. I find his verbal tics amusing, but the thing I really like about him is that he actually tries to put people over, regardless of if they're pushed or not. It's not something a lot of commentators even try to do, anymore, especially ones trying to do their best (worst) Bobby Heenan impression. But my gripes with commentary are a whole other thing ...

I get what you're saying about move mechanics, too. I feel like a bear hug works best to highlight a size difference, or after the victim has been thoroughly worked over. Of course, watching a doomed babyface fight their way out of the hold is always a fun one for the crowd. As for things like the hurricanrana, all I can really suggest is watching more lucha. It seems cliche (watch lucha promotions for the lucha move), but guys in CMLL and AAA show off a lot more variety in how they can use leverage and momentum to pull that move off, than we see in a lot of other places. El Hijo del Vikingo is really good, for that.

I don’t think it’s more Heels ‘forget’ as it is they don't want too. Considering heels are generally focused on winning they lack the care to grandstand and impress fans for the most part. M

Anyway while I sometimes suck at it my main idea when it comes to wrestling role play is the role play, trying to tell a story was something I did on other sites (not wrestling related) and while I’ve always loved wrestling I feel mostly comfortable in stuff like that more then I do wrestling matches weird as that sounds given the circumstances XD. Though I can confidently say I feel like I’m improving on that end and I do want to get better at the wrestling aspect of this since that’s just as crucial if not more then the story stuff. As far as kayfabe goes I always say it less like a thing that exists in this world and more just a kind of guideline of how to let yourself be seen. Take MMA for example some of those people like Chael Sonnen is one of the biggest shit talkers when it came to fights but are a bit more humble about it away from the environment and he’s not alone in this regard , there not playing a character in the same sense as a wrestler would but they are trying to make themselves stand out or look larger then life which is how I feel a lot of my characters are, playing caricatures of themselves to garner an interest either through being very aggressive or very boisterous (which is probably why the closest thing I have to a face on my roster is a borderline tweener XD)

Yeah, I get this. I have been trying to do more stories with my characters of late. I kind of think I need to spend a bit more time in the non-ring areas of LAW, but fortunately things have been picking up in that area, for me. Also, I like your take on kayfabe as it relates to MMA. Like, Chael Sonnen is a good example, and I also think Conor MacGregor is someone that likes to wind people up before a bout. Some of my characters have a 'larger than life persona' that they like to work with, and that affects how I play them- which moves they will/won't use, what opponents they choose to go after, what wins/losses mean to them, etc.

I'll be honest here, I came here for the lewdness primarily, not so much the realistic (or unrealistic) pro wrestling. (Never quite watched pro wrestling really) However, after some time, I started getting a ton of fun just out of writing my characters. Right now especially Yuuki and Elise come to mind, where just writing their perspective and the way they behave and act has been just so much fun even in non-lewd threads. Of course, that's not to say I dislike my other characters.

I completely get the problem of not knowing enough moves, in my case not just grappling but similarly in strikes/aerials or pretty much anything due to my lack of pro wrestling knowledge. Especially as for Yuuki for example I know want to give her a good aerial repertoire but I simply don't know moves she could use. That I feel like is the biggest problem with my rp, since due to not knowing too many moves or wrestling strategies I'm often at a loss for what my girls could do in a situation if they were to attack, without repeating myself too much.

Glad you've been having fun writing your characters! I think lewdness if a perfectly valid reason to be here- I mean, that's what at least movst of us probably showed up for! Honestly, I spent quite some time on wikipedia and YouTube looking up moves, when I was stuck for ideas. I've been amazed by how many "the top moves of" several indie darlings, which seem to basically be clips of every move they've ever done

Per the Irish Whip thing, personally, I just try to sell that the rebound is to close the distance quickly and try to attack the opponent, not fully knowing what the person Irish Whipping the other has planned.

A weird pet peeve of my recently have been holds and hold counters. I've been watching a ton of British Wrestling in recent months, and seeing a ton of chain grappling from people is really awesome, especially since I am trying to sell GASTER as hold heavy...

...problem being I don't know too many holds outside of what I see on NXT UK or NXT or the like (and no combat sports whatsoever) so that leads me to not fully knowing how to counter specific holds outside of a rope break. I figure something out occasionally, and I did manage to have a very counter heavy thread with Winner recently...but I dunno. It's been bugging me lol

I don't know if this would be helpful, but have you watched any old World of Sport? Because that old catch style stuff might be something to check out, if you haven't. Or, if you have, I have no problem just shutting up and carrying about my business Also, thanks for some other ideas on the Irish whip problem, that is very helpful.

[Vc0m]

I have not tried to watch World of Sport, actually. That does seem like a good idea. Thanks dood

[CaptainL]

There's definitely some hidden gems in some of the older promotions that don't get much talk nowadays, and I've found watching how they do things can really help give a new outlook on how to approach certain topics and do them differently while still being grounded in something that's been proven to work. Personally speaking here, despite not having been alive for it I'm a big fan of the old school NWA and WCCW stuff from the late 70s and early 80s, and I've tried to channel some of that, particularly in how I write heel promos. Back before the internet and social media lifted the curtain a bit, heels could really get the crowd worked up. If I write a heel doing something that would have gotten an old lady in the front row to hit her with her handbag, I feel I've done my job. Of course, I should probably be catching up on joshi to get some more insight on what would be more setting-appropriate, but there's only so much time in the world...

On a side note, I don't know if anyone watched the recent Crockett Cup, but I totally want LAW to have banners like these for championship matches now.

[Vc0m]

On a side note, I don't know if anyone watched the recent Crockett Cup, but I totally want LAW to have banners like these for championship matches now.

I love this

[LtLukas]

So, I wanted to start a thread where folks could discuss their love of wrestling, vs their love of role play. Is there anything that you see in wrestling that you have a hard time replicating in roleplay? LAW matches are meant to be straight competitive vs. kayfabe, how does that affect your character decisions? Do you have any questions about why something makes sense in the context of wrestling, while it makes no sense at all in a legitimate combat sport?

This is really interesting. In terms of what I see in wrestling that is hard to replicate in roleplay, it is the more human elements. Like, moves are going to get botched, wrestlers are going to get worn out, and people doing promos are going to say something stupid on accident. Sometimes I feel like my characters are doing too much, and going above and beyond what a normal human being should do. But by the same token, if I wrote about normal people, that would be kinda boring. Finding the right mix between having a superheroine in the mix and having someone who is physically inept is really hard.

Regarding kayfabe, all competitive all the time. Some characters with dual personalities could pull it off, but that is not where I am at. Everyone tries to win all the time. That illustrates a lot of my characters' decisions.

Regarding something making sense in wrestling, but not in sports, well, because it is not a sport. Wrestling is anime for rednecks. The goal is to tell a story, combat is just a means of achieving that.

[Taskmaster12]

“Wrestling is anime for rednecks” stealing that.

[Fairy Dragon]

I feel like the not doing botches mostly ties into it being the only thing that can kind of happen when its planned or if its character. Like I know characters who were intentionally made silly on another side that screwed up to show how new they were but they usually told there partner first about it rather then doing it spontaneously. I had a somewhat similar situation in a match recently where my opponent screwed up a tag and just ended up going flat on there face. But botching certain moves otherwise can be a bit hard to convey that its botched or how your partner is supposed to react to it. Of course its also just something that probably doesnt come up when people do matches.

[Satoshi]

“Wrestling is anime for rednecks” stealing that.

So anime is wrestling for nerds?

[Luncha_Libre]

This is really interesting. In terms of what I see in wrestling that is hard to replicate in roleplay, it is the more human elements. Like, moves are going to get botched, wrestlers are going to get worn out, and people doing promos are going to say something stupid on accident. Sometimes I feel like my characters are doing too much, and going above and beyond what a normal human being should do. But by the same token, if I wrote about normal people, that would be kinda boring. Finding the right mix between having a superheroine in the mix and having someone who is physically inept is really hard.

Regarding kayfabe, all competitive all the time. Some characters with dual personalities could pull it off, but that is not where I am at. Everyone tries to win all the time. That illustrates a lot of my characters' decisions.

Regarding something making sense in wrestling, but not in sports, well, because it is not a sport. Wrestling is anime for rednecks. The goal is to tell a story, combat is just a means of achieving that.

That makes sense. Honestly, I hate comparing wrestling to combat sports, makes it a lot less fun. I guess I just like to see where other people stand on it. I like getting into the character's heads, so I enjoy thinking about the 'why's' of doing flashier, less practical moves. Also, I've RP'ed with some folks who really don't care about 'realism' whatsoever, and roll with things as long as it's entertaining. Otherwise, tho, I've RP'ed with some folks (not here, fortunately), who hated ever having to sell a top-rope move, because of a "why would you ever leave your feet in a fight" kind of mentality, which kind of makes some things much less fun, and certain character types a lot less fun to play. Also, with regards to botches ...

I feel like the not doing botches mostly ties into it being the only thing that can kind of happen when its planned or if its character. Like I know characters who were intentionally made silly on another side that screwed up to show how new they were but they usually told there partner first about it rather then doing it spontaneously. I had a somewhat similar situation in a match recently where my opponent screwed up a tag and just ended up going flat on there face. But botching certain moves otherwise can be a bit hard to convey that its botched or how your partner is supposed to react to it. Of course its also just something that probably doesnt come up when people do matches.

Yeah, trying to work in a botch can be tough. I've had some of my characters do it to convey a lack of experience (honestly, what kind of bimbo botches a tag ), but I've also worked in a few things where I've described the character making a sloppy effort at something. Scrambling to attempt a grapple, or going for a wild attack. Normally, I try to do that to show how exhausted they are, or to sell an injury that they've picked up that makes their movements less practiced, or is making them panic. I think a lot of wrestling fans just think of botches as being accidents, or something that happens due to being sloppy or poorly trained, and they kind of forget that from bell to bell, wrestling can be insanely exhausting