The NEW NAPW operations. (All Read.)

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

Some of you are aware that I am going to school part-time this semester. That, combined with the growing length of ours shows has prompted me to consider an alternative method of operating New Alberta Pro Wrestling without wrecking a good dynamic.

I also want to make NAPW more "realistic" in terms of draw, crowds, venues, and the way we operate shows. Fact of the matter is we will never be perfect, but most indie feds don't run weekly shows. They do shots, a couple weekends a month etc etc.

So here is now NAPW is changing and what it means to you.

========


Starting with the first event after Cold Snap, NAPW is no longer booking separate TNF and Action! programs/cards. However, I am not killing Action! and reverting to one show a week per se.

In all technically NAPW tapes Action and TNF on the same evening. That fact has never affected promos, it's all kayfabe anyways. We have operated with TNF as our "raw" and Action! as essentially an extended "Heat." The new schedule will reflect that distinction more significantly. Here's what I mean.


WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: The card for the next NAPW event will be posted. "Tuesday Night Fights with Action! taping" is what it is. One card of 8-11 matches depending will be booked. The RP period will start Wednesday evening, more or less "as soon as the card is posted."

SUNDAY 10pm: The RP period will end. That gives us three complete days of thurs/fri/sat with most of sunday and a quarter of wednesday, not much different than now.

Match assignments are sent out to writers after the card is judged and booked.

MONDAY: Match writing.

TUESDAY: Match writing finishes, Tuesday Night Fights results go up.

WEDNESDAY MORNING: Action! results go up.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: The card for the next NAPW event will be posted.


How do we run two shows while booking only one card? Here's my idea.

Action! as it is right now is the b-show. It will continue to be that but we're simply going to acknowledge that it's taped before TNF.


The deal is this: Every match has the potential to end up on Tuesday Night Fights versus Action!. When I book the show, I will determine which 5-7 matches end up on TNF and which 4-5 matches end up on Action!. TNF is two hours, Action! is one hour. The match numbers and length will reflect that (within reason I don't want to run a shitty show like Impact.)

Here are my general rules for who ends up on what show.


TUESDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

Big title matches (TV Title is still exclusive to Action!)
Main-eventers and upper-midcard
Grudge matches, blow-offs, matches with BACKSTORY or HEAT
Awesome RP battles

ACTION!
Debut matches
TV Title matches (exclusive baby!)
Mid-card competitive matches
Matches where both wrestlers didn't bother to RP much or at all
Squashes


NOW. Those are GENERAL rules but are not hard and fast.

-Any title could be defended on Action!, even the NAPW title.
-A match poorly RPed for that because of story reasons, has to be on TNF
-Debuts can be on TNF
-A total undercard match will be on TNF because guys are workin' hard and tellin' a story

Those are just some reasons. The point I am making is that of the 10 matches booked each week, there are various factors determining whether the match is on TNF or Action!. If your match ends up on Action!, it's not a punishment. It's just the way things go. Jeff James has been the king of Action! during his TV Title reign and guess what? He owns all of ya'll.

But hey, if you feel you're on Action! an awful lot, then maybe you're just not RPing that well. Or working very hard. Are you in a feud or angle? Are you being GIVEN a feud or angle and doing next to nothing to sell it? You don't have to be the best RPer to get a TNF match... work hard, tell stories, and rock on.


From a technical perspective, this format eliminates the two over-lapping RP periods. Everybody has the same RP period. I think that will be less confusing in general.

We do lose the ability to have "two shows a week." in the sense that I won't be booking people twice for the one card except in rare circumstances. Which means that D-X won't be defending on Action! and TNF because it's technically one show.

However we gain an extra day to write cards, which is waaaay less stressful for all involved, especially if somebody drops the ball writing.


=====


BOOKING

I book NAPW as if it was a real wrestling fed. I am by no means perfect but I try to give everybody from the top to bottom of the card some kind of angle, storyline or feud.

I also welcome ideas from you, the handlers, on storylines. Here's the reality: Many of the best feuds and moments in NAPW have come from the wrestlers themselves, not me. My job is to take ideas and make them fit with other people's ideas and with respect to the other players.

Some of you are content just being booked with what I come up with. That's fine. All I expect from you in that situation is to sell the angles and drive the feud as it goes along.

If you feel you don't have anything going on, well, ask yourself. Have you given me much to work with? Have you submitted an idea? If you did, was your idea good for NAPW or just yourself? I don't book angles designed to expressly get one person over by making other wrestlers look like shit. I don't believe in parity (read: Everybody gets their job back), but reality is that a feud should build both men and not in the end make one guy look like a loser. Lots of guys have LOST in NAPW and come out looking better than they did before. It's WRESTLING.

Use the rankings. There is no mathematical formula behind them, but they're also not pointless. If you'r enot ranked, why? Have you been winning? Have you even been active or visible? The rankings are used to get the people I want to challenge for titles... but hell, if you want to challenge a champion, or say "Hell with this I want the #1 contender slot" I'm not going to say "you've won four straight matches in the TV Title division, eh, you're not the contender yet."

Don't stress the hell out about rankings though, because they change every week. Worry about your storylines, RPing and feuds.

The best feuds in NAPW have been built through roleplays. D! vs Ravager was an on-and-off feud for the entire first year of NAPW... because both men kept it going. They built insane heat and hate between the two characters. That's not going to change. I can book the best shows in the world with hot angles, feuds and swerves, but if the wrestlers don't react/respond/sell those angles then it doesn't matter. If your guy gets bloodied, beaten and assaulted and you don't sell it, well I have a hard time getting behind you.

I can look at the booking til Cold Snap right now and tell you what storylines I've come up with, what storylines are from people, etc etc.

In a situation as right now, when I have about eight new people to get involved, there's going to be a lot of competition. That's fine. I want to see what people can do, who their characters are; that way I can figure out where to put them division wise and who they could feud with.


But final word? I want and like ideas. Sure they don't all get used but damn if a lot do get used.


======


The final thing is simply: Thanks to everybody who has stepped up and I hope you continue to do so. My one concern is that if I need a break anytime, there's nobody or no group of people who could step up and run NAPW --- even just off the boards.

My goal would be to build up a staff group that could run NAPW in the event that I ever step down or simply need some time off. We'll see how that goes.


Thoughts and comments welcome. These aren't drastic changes or anything, but they are changes.

[Clint Zellor]

I'd be able to help...I have alot of experience running feds.

["Outlaw" Patrick Kidd]

the only thing i see becoming a major issue heree really is match writing. SInce you have pretty much 10 matches all due around the same time your going to need more amtch writers, where when the shows were seperate and a few days apart people could write a match for each, but now they would ahve to write two matches in the same time they would write one and some people don't have the time to do that or wnat to write more than one match at once.

I'm also still confused on as whether the bookings will say which matches are on which show or if that will be decided later, because it seems like ur saying whoever puts in the elast rping effort that week will go on action. Also having a second show so close to the first doesn't really seem to make sense to me. If your going to have one rp time for both shows, and have the writing for both shows due at the same time might as well jsut have one long show just change tuesday night fights to a three hour show or move the big show to wednesdays if need be for your schedule and jsut have the lesser amtches as aprt of the undercard and have that the TV title always maine vents the first hour. If your not going to have storylines that cross into both shows to me it really seems to make action obsolute with the changes, jsut my opinion looking at it on paper, but i'm willing to sit back and give it a chance for a few weeks and see hwo it goes and give more feedback.

[Stylin' Kyle Roberts [REBEL]]

Well, this way, Ryan can pretty much determine which matches belong where and we can wait on writing the Action matches a day or two if need be.

[Ryan Ro [NAPW]]

a)Action! is easier to write. It's easier to write four action matches than four TNF matches.
b)I don't like the concept of one, ten match card unless it's a PPV. Two hours with that many matches doesn't work, and I'm striving for a sense of realism to NAPW operations. Reading wise it's bloated.
c)I want to still have two shows. This is a new take on doing it.
d)Gives a bit more motivation to up your game.

We also have that extra day to match write now. Monday is free from any RPing or show posting. So it's more realistic to get more match writers, and get a couple guys writing one match for TNF mon-tues and then bombing out a twenty minute action special.

It may or may not work but the single RP period and extra day to write will take off a lot of the deadline pressure.



Come the fall we might expect a new, more drastic change... but that's not anytime soon. Who knows how things will shake out.

[Chris Casino]

as always I can slap together a match when needed. all I ask for in return is some sweet sweet monkey love.

[Stylin' Kyle Roberts [REBEL]]

Sigh. I'll get the monkey.