Adam Ryland
10-30-2004, 02:07 PM
I thought it might be nice to describe a WreSpi match, so that people can get an idea of some of the subtleties involved. I'm not going to do a play-by-play description, as it would take too long, so instead here's a written report on how the match went.
The match was a regular exhibition singles match, no managers or run-ins, between two of the best in the game: NOTBPW's Dan Stone Jr. and BHOTWG's Haruki Kudo. I was controlling Stone, the computer controlled Kudo.
The Fighters
Stone is one of the best technical wrestlers in the game, and also has pretty impressive high flying abilities for a middleweight. He also has excellent stamina and toughness. His custom move set is one of the most focussed in the game, as it is especially built to target the legs, setting up for his main finisher, the Ankle Lock.
Kudo (also known as Hooded Kudo, although he is without the mask for this match) is a Strong Style fighter, who mixes high stamina and toughness with good all-round skills. His custom move set is made up mainly of stiff forearm and knee strikes combined with suplexes and the occasional high flying move. His finishers are the Kudo Lock (a Death Lock STF variation) and the Kudo Kutter (springboard face crusher).
The Match
The opening featured two distinct strategies. Kudo fought in an upright manner, mainly relying on kicks and forearms to keep me reeling. I on the other hand began with one strategy in mind, which was to begin to weaken the legs. Therefore, I attacked by mixing up some kicks to the legs with quick takedowns. Whenever Kudo was on the ground, I went to my selection of leg locks to continue the punishment. After 10 minutes, things were still pretty even - Kudo's legs were down to 80%, whereas i'd lost 10% to my head and body.
We both fell to Medium energy levels at about the same time, which meant we each had access to some new moves. This brought up one of the first WreSpi touches, as Kudo noticeably changed his approach at this point. Whereas he had begun with just low level strikes to weaken me, he now upped his intensity and started throwing in some bigger moves to try and press his advantage. This led to a different pattern for the next 10 minutes; while the first ten had been about 50\50 in terms of attacking, the next ten moved more toward 70\30 in my favour. This was because I remained with my low level strategy of "takedown and leg lock", while Kudo started trying more risks. Of course, while Kudo hit less moves, his were more powerful, and so he didn't need to hit as many to cause as much damage as me.
The 20-30 minute period saw the first big advantage, as I hit a lucky Belly To Back Suplex and locked on an Indian Deathlock. This did some serious damage to Kudo's knee. This damage meant he lost access to some of his moves. With his knees so badly hurt, he lost access to some of his key strikes, such as his Spinning Back Kick. This is a key part of WreSpi, as targeting a body part actually has serious ramifications for the opponent.
On 31 minutes, there was another key moment, as Kudo hit a running knee into the corner, busting me open. The resulting blood loss meant I was liable to get dizzy occasionally and lose what advantage I had.
As we hit 38 minutes, we entered the final stretch, and two of the previous key points came into play. Incidentally, at this point, we were both Tired, but not Struggling or Exhausted. This was because we both have high stamina. A lesser worker who had weak stamina would be Exhausted by this point, and would so be relatively easy to beat, as a lack of stamina affects performance late in a match.
The first key point to come into play was Kudo's leg damage. After 38 minutes of being punished, they were in terrible condition. This not only meant any leg submissions I applied would be more effective, but also meant that he could no longer execute some of his big moves like the Moonsault. It also made a big impact; as he tried to suplex me, his knee buckled due to the damage, and I collapsed on top of him for a near fall. This is because body part specific damage is taken into account with certain moves.
The finish came from an earlier point, the blood loss that I was experiencing. After delivering Rolling German Suplexes, I became dizzy, which allowed Kudo to fight back, delivering two successive Kudo Kutter's to get the three count.
Conclusion
This match shows a few of the small things that make the matches very realistic: my targeting of Kudo's knees eliminating some of his big moves, and also causing him to be unable to complete a suplex; the blood loss that caused me to become dizzy at a critical point in the match; the way that wrestlers can change their strategy mid-match to take into account new moves or situations.
There are of course plenty of other things like this that didn't occur in the match. I didn't cover the referee's involvement with the match, what would happen if two people with totally different styles fought each other, or how you might change your strategy against certain opponents. Hopefully I might get a chance to do a few more of these, covering some other bouts, and get into more detail about the stuff that was missing in this match.
The match was a regular exhibition singles match, no managers or run-ins, between two of the best in the game: NOTBPW's Dan Stone Jr. and BHOTWG's Haruki Kudo. I was controlling Stone, the computer controlled Kudo.
The Fighters
Stone is one of the best technical wrestlers in the game, and also has pretty impressive high flying abilities for a middleweight. He also has excellent stamina and toughness. His custom move set is one of the most focussed in the game, as it is especially built to target the legs, setting up for his main finisher, the Ankle Lock.
Kudo (also known as Hooded Kudo, although he is without the mask for this match) is a Strong Style fighter, who mixes high stamina and toughness with good all-round skills. His custom move set is made up mainly of stiff forearm and knee strikes combined with suplexes and the occasional high flying move. His finishers are the Kudo Lock (a Death Lock STF variation) and the Kudo Kutter (springboard face crusher).
The Match
The opening featured two distinct strategies. Kudo fought in an upright manner, mainly relying on kicks and forearms to keep me reeling. I on the other hand began with one strategy in mind, which was to begin to weaken the legs. Therefore, I attacked by mixing up some kicks to the legs with quick takedowns. Whenever Kudo was on the ground, I went to my selection of leg locks to continue the punishment. After 10 minutes, things were still pretty even - Kudo's legs were down to 80%, whereas i'd lost 10% to my head and body.
We both fell to Medium energy levels at about the same time, which meant we each had access to some new moves. This brought up one of the first WreSpi touches, as Kudo noticeably changed his approach at this point. Whereas he had begun with just low level strikes to weaken me, he now upped his intensity and started throwing in some bigger moves to try and press his advantage. This led to a different pattern for the next 10 minutes; while the first ten had been about 50\50 in terms of attacking, the next ten moved more toward 70\30 in my favour. This was because I remained with my low level strategy of "takedown and leg lock", while Kudo started trying more risks. Of course, while Kudo hit less moves, his were more powerful, and so he didn't need to hit as many to cause as much damage as me.
The 20-30 minute period saw the first big advantage, as I hit a lucky Belly To Back Suplex and locked on an Indian Deathlock. This did some serious damage to Kudo's knee. This damage meant he lost access to some of his moves. With his knees so badly hurt, he lost access to some of his key strikes, such as his Spinning Back Kick. This is a key part of WreSpi, as targeting a body part actually has serious ramifications for the opponent.
On 31 minutes, there was another key moment, as Kudo hit a running knee into the corner, busting me open. The resulting blood loss meant I was liable to get dizzy occasionally and lose what advantage I had.
As we hit 38 minutes, we entered the final stretch, and two of the previous key points came into play. Incidentally, at this point, we were both Tired, but not Struggling or Exhausted. This was because we both have high stamina. A lesser worker who had weak stamina would be Exhausted by this point, and would so be relatively easy to beat, as a lack of stamina affects performance late in a match.
The first key point to come into play was Kudo's leg damage. After 38 minutes of being punished, they were in terrible condition. This not only meant any leg submissions I applied would be more effective, but also meant that he could no longer execute some of his big moves like the Moonsault. It also made a big impact; as he tried to suplex me, his knee buckled due to the damage, and I collapsed on top of him for a near fall. This is because body part specific damage is taken into account with certain moves.
The finish came from an earlier point, the blood loss that I was experiencing. After delivering Rolling German Suplexes, I became dizzy, which allowed Kudo to fight back, delivering two successive Kudo Kutter's to get the three count.
Conclusion
This match shows a few of the small things that make the matches very realistic: my targeting of Kudo's knees eliminating some of his big moves, and also causing him to be unable to complete a suplex; the blood loss that caused me to become dizzy at a critical point in the match; the way that wrestlers can change their strategy mid-match to take into account new moves or situations.
There are of course plenty of other things like this that didn't occur in the match. I didn't cover the referee's involvement with the match, what would happen if two people with totally different styles fought each other, or how you might change your strategy against certain opponents. Hopefully I might get a chance to do a few more of these, covering some other bouts, and get into more detail about the stuff that was missing in this match.