by Halzikar
Since WBPLW started, no one has asked me about how I set up feuds or storylines.
And there’s a good reason for that: since the matches are simmed without me having any control over the outcomes, I can’t actually construct storylines ahead of time. What that has done, though, is create a challenge for me. I have to articulate storylines as they happen, or quickly build them after the fact.
It’s an interesting creative challenge. I won’t compare it to on the spot improvisation, because I honestly think it’s too structured to meet that label. That doesn’t mean it’s not sometimes a little taxing to pull off. At the All Hallow’s Anarchy show, the Twitch Title was up for grabs in a match between Victor von Focht (the champion) and Randolph P. Checkers (the challenger). And the match ended in about two minutes. That irritated me. I wanted this great, back-and-forth, absolute brawl of a match, and we got… about two minutes that didn’t even end with a pinfall or submission. Now, credit is due, Phuzzy beat me to this one. He quickly and expertly spun the idea of Focht being wily enough to hit his finish (The Siegebreaker) on the floor to get in the room so Checkers gets counted out.
WBPLW is a lot of fun. Obviously, right? Otherwise, I wouldn’t keep doing it. It also pushes me to keep trying to come up with new things to be interesting and different. I can’t use the same phrases for everything when we do commentary, but I do use some of the same because people do like hearing familiar phrases. (“Feel the yearn of the edge of the ledge…”)
I had set some rules early on. Anyone could challenge for the Heavyweight title (currently held by Beeplechan, sigh), but only streamers could challenge for the Twitch title. Anyone could challenge for the tag titles, and anyone could challenge for the Auxiliary title, and that’s good because the Aux title is defended every show. (I thought a throwback to the WCW TV title would be fun.) And what I’ve found is that the sim does not like title changes very often. If we do a run where someone gets hot and wins the challenge matches to become the number one contender to a title, the sim may say, and I’m quoting “Hell nah, I ain’t doing that.” And then, there goes a month or two of build. From my side, that’s frustrating. From the watchers’ side, well, you’ll have to tell me.
I’m trying to strike an interesting balance right now. We have enough people on the roster that I can’t feature everyone every show. Heck, I can’t feature most of the roster every show. So, I’m trying to do a revolving series of appearances, where someone will appear for a while and then get a break. (So if you don’t see your favorite one week, well, just hang on, okay?) But, with the longevity we’ve had, I don’t want to repeat matchups, but the sim might argue with me.
In any event, it’s a show I enjoy doing. I have the blessing of some great people who are on-board with helping me. I intend to keep going as long as I can manage it, but please, do leave some feedback sometime. You can do it in the Youtube comments. I do look there to see if anyone leaves anything (a wrestler looking for outside validation, what?).
Thank you all, and I hope you’re having fun!
– Halzikar
– Brodie Lee forever
Halzikar, the self-declared Lariat King, hails from parts unknown and manages the WBPL wrestling league Sunday evenings on WBPL-76. Legend says he threw a car off Hell in a Cell and plunged sixteen feet through an announcer’s table.
