TCW: A Quiet Retirement

[Zeel1]

Originally Posted by Hyde Hill

TCW! TCW! TCW! from zero to 1 promising and one established writer should be fun.

That's me, right? 'Cause I don't know if Tuesday Night Wars counts..


So this is that competition I was promised? Looks stiff..this may be bold of me, coming from a rookie, to a...non..rookie, but dare I say "BRING IT!", good sir?

[juggaloninjalee]

T-C-W equals G-O-L-D!!!

I love TCW diaries since it is my favorite promotion to play as. Should be interesting to see where you go with this.

[Astil]

Originally Posted by Zeel1

That's me, right? 'Cause I don't know if Tuesday Night Wars counts..


So this is that competition I was promised? Looks stiff..this may be bold of me, coming from a rookie, to a...non..rookie, but dare I say "BRING IT!", good sir?

Yeah, I think that's you. Yours is promising.

Also, will we see any Dangerous kids here?

Perhaps a zombie Hype? Please? Zombie Hype vs. Space Force Tuna for the World Championship...


...


...please?

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by Astil

Yeah, I think that's you. Yours is promising.

Also, will we see any Dangerous kids here?

Most of the answers to these questions are going to be 'wait and see'. That said...

No, Richard, Adrian and Kate Dangerous are all elsewhere and busy. From Horatio's viewpoint, they're over now, they don't need Dad's help, and they should be allowed to stand on their own.

From my perspective - this isn't about them. I debated on whether or not to use Horatio for this diary, and while I eventually went with it, I don't want to make this PPPW Redux. There is one worker not currently under TCW contract who, if I signed, would revert to their PPPW gimmick, and that wasn't one I came up with so much as a spin on it I refined.

No Zombie gimmicks. No Space Tuna, hilarious as the alt is. Giant Tana actually won't be around for a while. (He's not the only one. Texas Pete is... Elsewhere, too.)

There is only one guy who's departed who will not return; Genghis Rahn's contract came up in the first two months and he opted not to re-up with me, jumping to the SWF. Which annoys me, as I had plans for him - witness the Turisas facepaint alt Marcel was good enough to make, and which sadly will not be showing up.

Everything else is coming up as we go...

[James Casey]

Originally Posted by Bigpapa42

Been waiting for this. You know I'll be reading.

Ditto - and purely going off ^ this guy's diary, I'm fond of works that start once the writer has their feet under table, so to speak. Should be interesting to see how much things have changed in the last few months...

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by Zeel1

So this is that competition I was promised? Looks stiff..this may be bold of me, coming from a rookie, to a...non..rookie, but dare I say "BRING IT!", good sir?

So long's we both entertain, that's all anyone can ask for, I figure. I doubt we'll be going in *quite* the same directions...

[Bigpapa42]

Originally Posted by Phantom Stranger

So long's we both entertain, that's all anyone can ask for, I figure. I doubt we'll be going in *quite* the same directions...

You know, even if the booking was pretty much identical between two diaries, I think the presentation and writing would likely make them different enough. Which has always been an idea that would love to see explored at some point by some good writers...

[angeldelayette]

Like with everyone else, looking forward to this and will add in comments as you go.

[Phantom Stranger]

Any diary worth its salt has Notes pages near the front. I'm just filling these in last. And that tends to happen, too, I've noticed.

I wrote what you are going to read over the space of a couple of years in what I'd intended to be my retirement, very aware that if I did anything worth noting in my new job Tommy Cornell was going to ask me, one day, to write an autobiography – or let someone write it, anyway – to go out in TCW colours. I had other ideas.

I've got my study* just the way I like it these days (don't worry, this is going somewhere) and there's a bookshelf just to the side of my desk, in easy reach. Most of what's on it are autobiographies from people I've known in the business, and frankly, the good stories I was involved in have all been taken before I even thought about starting. Since I think anyone interested in my story is interested in the story of the territories, I don't see the point in asking you to pay for it again.

(For those wondering: Dread neatly covered my time in Japan as we overlapped almost exactly, during my SWF time I went drinking with Sam and Rip so either one has the stories you want and more besides, Mike Nero's book is THE definitive story of the TWL and gets in most of the PPPW stuff that wasn't, as I write this, just on TV.

The Crippler in Danger: Promotional image from CPW, 1985 (Author's own collection)

(Preston Holt's book has all the good stuff from CPW and tops it off by pointing out exactly how much I screwed him over when I walked out, and Jackson Andrews covered my time with George and Dan in Canada pretty well. Heidi Brooks has known Maggie for years, and my home life shows up in her book from time to time, including how we met.

(Mexico? Nothing happened in Mexico I can legally admit to.)

So, knowing Tommy, I wanted something different. Most of the rest of my shelves are sports books of one kind or another, and there are a few really good reads out there where one journo or another has shadowed a coach over a playoff season, and you really get a sense of what matters to their decisions.

Everyone admits wrestling's faked these days, and while I'm not exactly alone in thinking that's a shame, I'm also not alone in thinking it was inevitable. It occurred to me that the booker (in wrestler-speak, the guy who puts the shows together and determines where the feuds are going) could benefit from something similar, but as our storylines often take a lot longer than a playoff to play out, there was no way a journalist would spend the time they needed.

I figured I'd do it myself. What's coming was written from the start with the idea it'd make a book, which is why I often go quiet on upcoming story details where if I were doing this level of detail just for me I'd put them in.

I've gotta thank Tommy, Joel (Bryant, the booker before me and still part of the creative team) Cliff Anderson and the guys at Coastal Zone, and the rest of TCW Creative; the legend Sam Keith, Karen Killer, Jason Azaria's encyclopedic wrestling brain (but not the rest of him) and my old buddy Floyd Goldworthy. Without them, this book would be very different.

* - Study, noun, a place you can hide when your wife has been right too many times already today. Maggie's smarter than me, so mine gets a lot of use.

[FlameSnoopy]

Interesting. I must say, that this is THE diary to follow for me.

[G-Prime]

My thought process, as I scanned through the Dynasty forums: "Cool, NWA:RtG got updated *click*... And MoSC *click*... Evolution of Greed *click*... Hey, a TCW diary... Nah, I don't have time, maybe later... Wait, does that say Phantom Stranger? I'm there! *click*"
And now, when my entire morning gets thrown off, and I'm late to class, I'll know who to blame. Great work so far mate, always good to see Horatio.

[angeldelayette]

Maybe you can pull a coup like TCW just did in my diary and sign Sean McFly!

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by angeldelayette

Maybe you can pull a coup like TCW just did in my diary and sign Sean McFly!

Chances are that some NOTBPW big name will come loose soonish - it tends to happen.

Those I'd go for, and there are a select few other big names I'd be happy to sign in. (And a couple biggish names get signed in the last three months of Joel's time.) Other than those, I'm looking to mostly bring in people that don't make it to the National+ diary scene (and in some cases, the diary scene) much and see if they can be made to have what it takes.

That said, I have to resist signing Shooter Sean every time I open the game.

[foolinc]

Originally Posted by Phantom Stranger

Chances are that some NOTBPW big name will come loose soonish - it tends to happen.

Those I'd go for, and there are a select few other big names I'd be happy to sign in. (And a couple biggish names get signed in the last three months of Joel's time.) Other than those, I'm looking to mostly bring in people that don't make it to the National+ diary scene (and in some cases, the diary scene) much and see if they can be made to have what it takes.

That said, I have to resist signing Shooter Sean every time I open the game.

Why won't you sign Sean Deeley again? He's not used that much in diaries and fits TCW. I'm all for signing lesser knowns, but don't punish the Shooter!

[juggaloninjalee]

I love the idea that you are gonna try to go away from the typical path of signings in TCW.