The Ultimate Guide on How To Succeed in the XHCWF: The Road Map to Greatness

This guide is not a guide on how to role-play, although I will touch upon that, we already have a guide on that. This guide is not a guide on how to create a good wrestler; we already have a guide on that. This guide will show you how to become great and ultimately succeed in the XHCWF. Now you should feel overly privileged because this guide is exclusively written by me, the President and Founder of this awesome organization, Michael Williams. Now don’t be confused, the knowledge base from which this guide is founded upon is filled with experience and relations with many other e-feders and fed heads, but I have decided to compile them all and then add some more, because let’s face it, who better to tell you how to win in this fed then the head right?

Well, first off, let me tell you a little about myself. I started in the e-wrestling world back in august of 1998 as, yes you guessed it a wrestler, in the now defunct (written while smiling) S.A.W.F. My first stint in the S.A.W.F. lasted about 3 months, I quit when I saw that you had to pay. In between stints, I wrestled for a few low life feds and won a few championships. I then went back to the S.A.W.F. in March of 1999 (will find that many things in my life revolve around March because it’s my birth month therefore my rededication month.), this stint lasted all of a month. I then wrestled for about six other feds in the course of April 1999 to about February of 2000. I won many various championships, but I then I realized that the championships didn’t mean anything because the federations were crap and the opponent role-players were crap. So I decided to quit wrestling and go into administration. In a matter of about 7 months, from March (there goes that month again) to October 2000 I had held everything from Commissioner to CEO in about five feds. By this time in my career, I had learned a lot on the administration page so I decide to form my own fed. I founded the H.W.E.F. or Hell’s Wrestling, E-Fed, in November, and it lasted all of a month. Right before Dec. 25th (I won’t call is Christmas for you non-religious people), I shut down the fed, in reality I didn’t know what I was doing! I studied up, found a new host (was on angelfire) and Opened the XHCWF in February of 2001 (what… not March… just wait), we officially organized on Monday MARCH 5th, 2001 (ahhhh, that’s better) and we’ve been around ever since. Granted, we’ve had our ups and downs, our various administrations changes and struggles, be we have prevailed and will prevail for many years to come!

First off, I’d like to discuss of at least briefly touch upon role-playing. Role-playing is the first of several fundamental keys to becoming successful. Without a strong element of role-playing, you will undoubtedly fail!

Before I go further everyone must read the how to role-play section. That phenomenal guide will help you beyond belief.

Now the most common misconception about role-playing is that it should me long. That is sooooo wrong; I can’t even begin to express how wrong that is. Quality over Quantity, I think in any fed, is standard. Now don’t get me wrong, a one to five liner isn’t going to cut it either simply because you can’t fit any good quality in a role-play that small, BUT a 3000 word role-plays aren’t any better if it is crap! I can guarantee that a person with a 5000 word rp that is filled with crap, redundancy, lack of focus, spelling and grammatical errors, and profanity every other word, will LOSE to someone with a 500-1000 word rp that is strong and focused, uses correct spelling and grammar, and has meaning and purpose.

Another tip to being successful with rps is to write the out first, put the pen to the paper and write!!! Then type it our in MS Word, Word Pad, Claris Works, something with spell checker, and even better a grammar checker. I know that it’s time consuming but I only require 1rp a week and the time spent writing will be well worth it.

Start your rp with a outline, this is the most effective way to have a clear, focused, non-redundant rp. In your outline, IDENTIFY your target; DO NOT PICK your target. You should figure out who the REAL problem is. The person doing all the talking may not be the problem, but look deeper, look into who is the real problem. For example, if a newbie is talking about how he’s going to wipe the floor with you thanks to his new contract and that if he does a good job he’ll get a raise, look deeper then him. Look at the person not being directly identified, look at who’s giving him the contract, and the raise if he beats you good. OR sometimes the person doing the talking is the problem i.e. a manger speaking for his client, the manager says his client hates you and is going to crush you and the client never says anything but does as he’s told. Now at first glance everyone will think that the wrestler is the one with the problem with you right… wrong, the client is probably just a puppet to get to you and the manager is the one with the problem with you. We seriously have to stop taking everything at face value, sometimes there is a deeper meaning then what is on the surface. Remember though, now a days, a lot of the time, the person doing the talking is your target, just analyze the situation first!

Now that you’ve identified your target, study them. In the case where your target is not your opponent for the match then you’ll need to pull double duty. You’ll need to not only study the rps and matches of your opponent for the match, but more importantly, you’ll need to study the role-plays of your actual target, find his our her problems and weaknesses and pick away at them in you rp.

***** HUGE NOTE: Email the President, Vice President, or Commissioner with particular moves or things to do in your match, strategic things, that may give you that edge! AND is might even score points with the head honchos to show them you are taking this seriously.*****

But don’t stop at just reading rps and matches, go and read their bio and background history, look at their physical attributes and see that the can work to your advantage, look at their promos bought, all of theses thing will help you win!

You have now figured you your “who”, now you have to figure your what. “What are you going to concentrate on?” I realize that you have a million and one ideas flowing through your mind, maybe an in-ring promo, a backstage interview, a training regiment, or even a character development plot.

***** HUGE NOTE: Although we only require on role-play a week, multiple role-plays of good quality is a plus! Not only will it score points with the administration, it will increase your chance of winning your match.*****

But each role-play must be focused on one thing and have one theme, and you have to find which style makes since for the match or time that you have. Let’s think about it, does it do you any good to do a character development rp when you have a very important match tonight, the role-play deadline is in 20 minutes, and you haven had the opportunity to role-play yet this week? It would be best to show that you are focused, ready and warmed up in a backstage interview. On the other hand, how about earlier in the week, a day or two after FNI, but two weeks from your next match, you are in an angle with someone trying to expose you as a drunkard. Why would you do a backstage interview for a show that is little less then two weeks away? You should do a character development angle; show people your character getting worse, or maybe going to rehab before he is exposed. You have to make since of what and where you’re doing something before you do it!

All in all a good role-play is going to affect several things, one, it will give great influence as to who will win the match, two it will affect the match quality, the crowd reaction thus affect the overall rating of the match (which affects the payout) and three, and most importantly, it will affect how everyone wrestler or not views your character.

Ok so I’ve covered the aspects of role-playing, but a good role-play can only do so much is you don’t have the character to back it up. This is where fine-tuning comes in. Some wrestlers need not talk, example, WWE’s Mark Henry. Wrestlers like Mark need to have a charismatic manager to speak for him. If your character’s charisma rating is low then he or she probably sucks on the mic and should have a manager doing the talking. Or maybe your character is losing heat because they have out grown the need for a manager, then it’s time to lose them.

Another scenario is a 150-pound man always trying to power bomb people. It ain’t gonna happen. However, there are several fine tuning techniques that will get the critiques off your back. One, this is the easy one, change your moves. Obviously if he can’t pull off a power bomb or any other power move, he should look to finesse moves, or high flying moves. But if you really want to have your character perform the power moves then another option is the promo route. Ask the federation administration to have your character be injured during a match.

***** HUGE NOTE: Asking the administration for an injury during the match for the cause of time for character development is a plus. It shows that you care about the development of your character.*****

During your time out for an injury, that 150-pound man could seriously bulk up. Realistically, although it is hard, he could feasibly gain 100 to 150 pounds. And you would use promos for this. The down side is you would need a lot of money saved up because as we all know promos cost money, and you won’t have the opportunity to earn any on an injured leave. An alternative option is to transform on screen. Show the wrestler drink protein shakes, and doing weight gain regiments. The last option available is the change your gimmick to the “funny man who tries to pull off big moves but knows he can’t but still wins his matches anyway” gimmick. This is not recommended. It doesn’t work for everybody (I know it worked for “The Hurricane” but barely). But it’s and available option.

Ok so what about the big 500-pound man who wants to fly? Again it reasonable, (did you know that the Big Show can do a moonsault?) either you can mat them (meaning lose the top ropes moves and tack them with power moves), or you can have them drop some weight so they can move easier. Another options is having them graduate top rope levels, such as first a flying lariat or elbow drop or leg drop, then onto stuff like a missile drop kick, a flying body splash or a frog splash, and onto a moonsault. The last option available is the change your gimmick to the “funny man who tries to pull off high flying moves but knows he can’t but still wins his matches anyway” gimmick. Again, this is not recommended. It doesn’t work for everybody (I know it works for “Ric Flair” but barely). Nevertheless, it’s and available option.

More fine-tuning hints:

~Have a technical base, people love a wrestling match that contains actual wrestling. But if it doesn’t fit your character then what can you do?

~Be different in your history and bio, everyone doesn’t need to be an orphan at the age of 6 and had to survive on the gritty streets of the Bronx. And make sure your history and bio has something to do with your style.

~Tag teams will get people noticed (Jennety and Michaels). However, don’t always look to out shine your partner, it is good to see a team that can work together as equals, but sometimes you can’t help it, your partner just sucks. Or you might want a partner to out shine you, but you then you come from behind as the undiscovered jewel. Lastly you might be the tag team for life type and don’t desire singles fame or championship. But remember if you are this type, you have to find a partner like you!

~Stables or factions aren’t for everyone (Justin Credible). In order to survive in a faction you must be unique and you have to be able to stand out on your own.

~Championships aren’t the end all or be all! Look at RVD he was still a superstar even before holding a major title.

~ Sometimes a physical change, such as a change in wardrobe, hairstyle/cut, weight gain, or loss can give your character the right look and feel to give them the spark they needed.

~ Keep your gimmick fresh and going. If we don’t notice your gimmick, we won’t notice you.

~Most importantly, buy promos. There is no way in the XHCWF can you advance your skill set without buying promos

You now know the basics of wrestler fine-tuning, How about a few other points to help you succeed.
Become a team player. Learn to accept your losses when needed, even if you deserved to win. If your angle calls for you to lose at this point accept it, don’t complain, complaining only pisses people off and shows them that you are all about you and that you don’t see the big picture. Communicate OOC with other handlers, create new angles, new alliances with them for your characters.

*****HUGE NOTE: It shows a lot to the administration when handlers come up with their own angles and the administration doesn’t have to do it by themselves.*****

Another part of being a team player is to venture off into helping in other areas of the federation. Offer to write your match FAIRLY or if it is too much of a temptation to write your match fairly the write a match for people you are indifferent to. Offer to write and article for the magazine or to host a radio show. These aspects will give you a better view on the inner workings as well as help develop a higher respect for the administration and their work as well as for the federation itself.

Throughout everything, I’ve said in this guide I have yet to mention the most important aspect of it all, enjoy yourself. If you don’t enjoy the game, the sport of it you can’t succeed. You will become so enveloped in winning and becoming huge in the e-wrestling world that you will lose track of the fact that it’s a game, it’s a sport, and you only play the two to have fun and to enjoy yourself.

I sincerely hope you have enjoyed and learned a lot from this guide, and I pray that it will lead you to success and greatness here in the XHCWF. Please email me if you feel that I’ve missed a critical aspect, and even if I didn’t please just email me, I’d enjoy getting to know you and becoming friends with you.

Michael W. Williams, III
XHCWF President and Founder
Prez@xhcwf.com