Going to National - Now What?

[mcorey]

Finally I have USPW in the 30-day period for National. My questions are what do I need to do that is different from Cult? I have started signing many of my stars to written contracts.

I have house shows running at 3-4 days a week. I don't think I am ready to handle booking for two TV shows yet, but if I immediately need to get a 2nd show then so be it. Currently, my TV/PPV schedule is a 5 region rotation which are the regions I am most over. If I am going to keep the one TV show (and not add a new one), do I need to start rotating the other regions into my TV/PPV schedule or should I keep with the 5 I have now unless one of the others gains more popularity? Should I add a TV show visit outside the US?

What about the other business issues, like merchandising - should I switch to the custom method? Change music to the best? DVDs, etc? First time at National and I want to stay at National. Thanks.

[Bigpapa42]

Immediately adding a second TV show is probably a bad idea, to be honest. Unless you have a loaded and very popular roster as it is. If not, you will risk over-extending yourself. That commonly happend to the SWF and TCW on 2008 - they got a second show, started putting on C and C+ shows, and fell down to Cult.

The only second show I would worry about adding for right now would be a B show possibly. If you are looking to build up young new talent, that is. If not, its not worth it.

Rotating through your most popular regions should be fine, if you have TV coverage in the rest.

Doing shows outside the US is a bad move unless you and your talent have the popularity in that region to make it work. Deciding to run Canada or Japan just cuz can cause terrible show grades, decline in popularity, Cult, etc.

[juggaloninjalee]

Do the same thing you have been doing but make sure you also get a B show to showcase your less over guys and possibly new talent. Before you know it you could be one of the top 3 companies in the world!

[ampulator]

It's good that you are signing your stars on written contracts - if you ever happen to fall back down, at least they are locked up with you. Also, as for a second TV show.. definitely not a second A-show, at least not at first. a B-Show? Maybe. However, on TV, if you need more TV time, you can now edit it to be higher. You are going to need it, sooner or later.

[The-619]

You can now sign any available workers above the popularity of 75 or 76 (I think that's the right one). I highly recommend getting a B show to build younger talent, it works great for me because it doesn't matter how poor the show is you can keep giving your up and comers TV time.

[Eidenhoek]

If your roster is big enough, you could try a brand split. Hardly necessary, but that would allow you to have two TV shows running (and two separate house show circuits).

[The-619]

Originally Posted by Eidenhoek

If your roster is big enough, you could try a brand split. Hardly necessary, but that would allow you to have two TV shows running (and two separate house show circuits).

I doubt he would have a big enough and popular enough roster though, because I made it to USPW and would have failed miserably if I did a brand split.

[mcorey]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Looks like I should start a B show. With a B show do I need to do a brand split? Also my stars won't get mad if they are not on the show, correct? I have managed to keep Justice all this time, so don't want to upset him. What push level do you have on the B show? Do you sometimes have a Main Eventer appear on the show? If he does will he get upset if it's not every week? What about the Women can they be good candidates for the B show?

Thanks again.

[juggaloninjalee]

From my experiences without looking into it too much a B show can be booked with upper midcarders main eventing and your main eventers won't get upset. Also it shouldn't improve your promotion overness in the area either. The B show is used for 2 things... getting workers stats up and giving lower card guys more time on tv so in a few months they can be on your A show and won't hurt your ratings too much.

I still use main eventers on mine, and try to further some of my storylines as well. I never let a champion lose his belt on my B show. Usually my main event is a main eventer on each team and a midcarder too. So face main event teaming with face midcarder vs heel main event and heel midcarder.

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by mcorey

Thanks for all the suggestions. Looks like I should start a B show. With a B show do I need to do a brand split? Also my stars won't get mad if they are not on the show, correct? I have managed to keep Justice all this time, so don't want to upset him. What push level do you have on the B show? Do you sometimes have a Main Eventer appear on the show? If he does will he get upset if it's not every week? What about the Women can they be good candidates for the B show?

Thanks again.

A B show is a great asset if you are have young talent that you are looking to develop and get over. If that really isn't a focus, then the B show is less valuable and may not be worthwhile (they don't make any money for you, typically).

Workers don't care about being on a B show. You also don't need a brand split, but it can be a way to organize things.

As for who to use on the B show, its pretty much open. Nothing wrong with using a main eventer, especially if they are a really good worker who can help develop younger talent or a star who needs some development themselves. Its really no good to give away big matches on the B show, as they don't help you at all. I will often use upper card talent to give them easy wins, especially if they are guys who often job on the main show.

[juggaloninjalee]

Originally Posted by Bigpapa42

A B show is a great asset if you are have young talent that you are looking to develop and get over. If that really isn't a focus, then the B show is less valuable and may not be worthwhile (they don't make any money for you, typically).

Workers don't care about being on a B show. You also don't need a brand split, but it can be a way to organize things.

As for who to use on the B show, its pretty much open. Nothing wrong with using a main eventer, especially if they are a really good worker who can help develop younger talent or a star who needs some development themselves. Its really no good to give away big matches on the B show, as they don't help you at all. I will often use upper card talent to give them easy wins, especially if they are guys who often job on the main show.

Perfectly said!

[milamber]

What's a good rating for a "B" show if I'm averaging B/B+ for my 2 "A" Shows and B+/A for my PPVs?

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by milamber

What's a good rating for a "B" show if I'm averaging B/B+ for my 2 "A" Shows and B+/A for my PPVs?

The B show grades are irrelavant, to be quite honest. It just doesn't matter, at least for your promotion. Even if you get constant A and A* grades with your regular A show, pulling Ds with your B show doesn't hurt your promotion. What you get for grades really depends on how you are using it. If you use upper card guys a fair bit - even just beating on your openers - you can get solid grades. If you really only midcarders or below, grades are likely to be lower. Neither approach is wrong. Striving for strong grades on the B show is a bit counter-productive, if you are doing matches which would grade well for you on the A show, but I guess it depends on why you are putting those matches on the B show...

[Remianen]

Originally Posted by Bigpapa42

As for who to use on the B show, its pretty much open. Nothing wrong with using a main eventer, especially if they are a really good worker who can help develop younger talent or a star who needs some development themselves.

Or someone you don't have anything for and still want to keep active (and/or don't want to 'future endeavor').

Originally Posted by milamber

What's a good rating for a "B" show if I'm averaging B/B+ for my 2 "A" Shows and B+/A for my PPVs?

As BP said, and to paraphrase a certain Brahma bull, it doesn't matter what grades you get. The fact of the matter is.......it's only for developing talent. Lemme give you an example.

Let's say you have a worker in development, right? S/he has improved to the point where they're too good for the dev promotion. BUT, they're not quite good enough to debut under the lights of the big show. What do you do with that worker? You put them on the B show and let them build a following (read: gain some overness/polish). That way, they're not mad for being kept in development longer than they needed to be and you get a good idea of who on your main roster that worker works best with (via chemistry notes from house shows and matches).

Now that you're National, you should be focused on securing your power base and ensuring the future of your promotion. That means, in my view, getting one or two developmental promotions and filling those promotions with talent you wish to develop for the long haul. I believe you should operate your promotion much like a professional sports franchise. When one of your "stars" goes down (to injury, retirement, or unrealistic contract demands), you should have someone waiting in the wings, chomping at the bit to take that worker's spot. The best situation you could possibly be in, again in my opinion, is to have your main event full of workers who could headline a PPV. Better to have too many than too few, in my view.

[Candyman]

Originally Posted by Eidenhoek

If your roster is big enough, you could try a brand split. Hardly necessary, but that would allow you to have two TV shows running (and two separate house show circuits).

This. If I have enough workers, I'll do a brand split so I can have 2 (or, better yet, 3) house show circuits going, even if the brand split is never mentioned on TV. Cover more regions, make more money.

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned, you could start expanding internationally. That doesn't mean hold TV shows there (don't do that), but getting PPV and TV deals, if you don't have them already. You should be able to get deals in Canada, Mexico, and Japan due to decent popularity from spillover. You can get PPV deals right away, but of course you can only get TV deal during the negotiating periods, and note that you can only do one per negotiating period.

But as far as staying at National, the most important thing is just keep doing what got you there. Running good shows, getting good ratings.