Post by SoL on Oct 6, 2005 8:02:33 GMT 1
ok, i know i'm not active, but seeing that it's been a year since my fed did a roster split i think i can speak on this, both as a participant and a staff member.
i'm the head booker and participant of the pwa, which a lot of you already visit or have visited. almost two years ago we decided to split the rosters in half, and honestly we were only slightly larger than the one currently here at p2pw.
anyhow, i'd like to address some issues that have been brought up...
first off, as far as breaking up stables and stuff, you don't need to make it like a one person at a time type thing. we had fun with it, we said you could be drafted as individuals, teams, or stables. also, we had the two head writers (i wasn't one of them at the time) do the draft behind closed doors, settle the rosters, then they did a "live" draft on aim, reporting who went where and all that...and even though it was pre determined, they made it like it was real...so every five mintues they would announce like...and with the #4 pick, blitz chooses rocky...it went really well, they even did "trades" and stuff. it was a lot of fun to be a part of, exciting. and again, we drafted people individually, as a team, or as a stable (which at the time the biggest stable was like 3 or 4 people). it all worked out in the end because again, the two writers settled everything a few days before.
ok, about angles and fueds, yeah, some will be ended, but again, this is all about a fresh start, and will also give some of the up and coming young guys a chance to work with the established characters sooner than they would've with the larger roster.
now about the shows...honestly that was the main reason we did our draft, was to make sure that everyone got on the show without it being 12 matches long. now this may be a fundamental difference of the culture of pwa and p2pw, but over at the pwa, briefer is better with our readers...and one show every two weeks is enough for us...actually one of the reasons i had to stop p2pw for a while was because i couldn't keep up with the pace, that's why it trips me out to hear people complaining about the timeliness of the shows, i think the writers do a HELL of a job getting stuff out.
now, let's assume the p2pw culture = pwa culture for a minute. with a split roster, each having 16-18 members, on each show you can have say 6 matches per show, add in backstage segments and special vignettes and you can guarantee that most people will appear on the show in some capacity, even if they don't have a match. and as somone that books i can say that it's still hard to make sure everyone is on the card. we do 6 matches for a regular show, and 8 matches for a ppv, and people are STILL left off the card (we always have around 15-18 actives). bottom line though, this gives everyone a chance to be on the shows regularly...not to down talk p2pw, but when i was acitve, i remember having a match maybe once every 3 or 4 shows...with the split roster you may get an occasional off week, and that's it, you'd never be off the card 2 shows or more in a row.
and from the bookers stand point, anothe thing it does is allow you to really help develop the low card and make them feel relevant. with a large roster you can't do that because you ahve to really make sure you focus on the upper card, and make sure the "money" fueds and angles are taken care of...well with a smaller upper card you are forced to foster thelower cards...seriously, the roster split would benefit the new guys the most, gives them a shot to step up quickly. and when you feel things get stale with your roster and you need a shake up do a trade, that spices things up all the time.
another thing about the shows...why does it have to be a "blitz goes up, then tnt goes up, then blitz goes up, and tnt goes up?" each show should be on their own schedue, regardless of what the other one does...this could lead to a "this brand is better than the other" but if you get two guys to run these feds and keep them fresh then it won't be a problem.
ok, title belts...again, it can be settled that you evenly spread the titles out, and then, create new ones! this works really well, you'll have the traditional belts, and you'll have new ones, again, more opportunity for the new guys.
and as far as ppv's go...you think your ppv's are hot now, the interpromotional ones will be HUGE. champion versus champion? tag champ versus tag champ? pwa does one big interpromotional pay per view once a year and it is the biggest event of the year, real exciting. because only once a year the best from one side can face the best from the other side. this is definitely a good thing.
and finally, as far as new people coming in, again, you can work that out between the two guys taht run the fed. for the pwa we have a rule of whoever needs teh new person more will get the new person UNLESS someone from the brand specifically recruits someone to join their brand...so with that reaper example used in the first post, that person would go to whatever fed reaper goes to because he specifically recruited him. again, there has to be an understanding between the two guys that run the feds for this type of relationship to work, but i'm confident that will happen.
that's pretty much it. like i said we did it two years ago and it's been great...and the people from one brand do particiapte (vote and talk trash) with the other brand and there has definitely been a rivalry created because of it, but it's a friendly one. as long as the powers that be give support to both brands equally all the "we're better than the other brand" talk will just be that, talk and someone's personal opinion. one brand doesn't have to become the weak one if the person running it and the participants don't let it.
i'd like to stress though, the best reason to do this would be for the newer participants a realistic chance to climb the ladder of success quicker and easier...it's all on them.
i'm the head booker and participant of the pwa, which a lot of you already visit or have visited. almost two years ago we decided to split the rosters in half, and honestly we were only slightly larger than the one currently here at p2pw.
anyhow, i'd like to address some issues that have been brought up...
first off, as far as breaking up stables and stuff, you don't need to make it like a one person at a time type thing. we had fun with it, we said you could be drafted as individuals, teams, or stables. also, we had the two head writers (i wasn't one of them at the time) do the draft behind closed doors, settle the rosters, then they did a "live" draft on aim, reporting who went where and all that...and even though it was pre determined, they made it like it was real...so every five mintues they would announce like...and with the #4 pick, blitz chooses rocky...it went really well, they even did "trades" and stuff. it was a lot of fun to be a part of, exciting. and again, we drafted people individually, as a team, or as a stable (which at the time the biggest stable was like 3 or 4 people). it all worked out in the end because again, the two writers settled everything a few days before.
ok, about angles and fueds, yeah, some will be ended, but again, this is all about a fresh start, and will also give some of the up and coming young guys a chance to work with the established characters sooner than they would've with the larger roster.
now about the shows...honestly that was the main reason we did our draft, was to make sure that everyone got on the show without it being 12 matches long. now this may be a fundamental difference of the culture of pwa and p2pw, but over at the pwa, briefer is better with our readers...and one show every two weeks is enough for us...actually one of the reasons i had to stop p2pw for a while was because i couldn't keep up with the pace, that's why it trips me out to hear people complaining about the timeliness of the shows, i think the writers do a HELL of a job getting stuff out.
now, let's assume the p2pw culture = pwa culture for a minute. with a split roster, each having 16-18 members, on each show you can have say 6 matches per show, add in backstage segments and special vignettes and you can guarantee that most people will appear on the show in some capacity, even if they don't have a match. and as somone that books i can say that it's still hard to make sure everyone is on the card. we do 6 matches for a regular show, and 8 matches for a ppv, and people are STILL left off the card (we always have around 15-18 actives). bottom line though, this gives everyone a chance to be on the shows regularly...not to down talk p2pw, but when i was acitve, i remember having a match maybe once every 3 or 4 shows...with the split roster you may get an occasional off week, and that's it, you'd never be off the card 2 shows or more in a row.
and from the bookers stand point, anothe thing it does is allow you to really help develop the low card and make them feel relevant. with a large roster you can't do that because you ahve to really make sure you focus on the upper card, and make sure the "money" fueds and angles are taken care of...well with a smaller upper card you are forced to foster thelower cards...seriously, the roster split would benefit the new guys the most, gives them a shot to step up quickly. and when you feel things get stale with your roster and you need a shake up do a trade, that spices things up all the time.
another thing about the shows...why does it have to be a "blitz goes up, then tnt goes up, then blitz goes up, and tnt goes up?" each show should be on their own schedue, regardless of what the other one does...this could lead to a "this brand is better than the other" but if you get two guys to run these feds and keep them fresh then it won't be a problem.
ok, title belts...again, it can be settled that you evenly spread the titles out, and then, create new ones! this works really well, you'll have the traditional belts, and you'll have new ones, again, more opportunity for the new guys.
and as far as ppv's go...you think your ppv's are hot now, the interpromotional ones will be HUGE. champion versus champion? tag champ versus tag champ? pwa does one big interpromotional pay per view once a year and it is the biggest event of the year, real exciting. because only once a year the best from one side can face the best from the other side. this is definitely a good thing.
and finally, as far as new people coming in, again, you can work that out between the two guys taht run the fed. for the pwa we have a rule of whoever needs teh new person more will get the new person UNLESS someone from the brand specifically recruits someone to join their brand...so with that reaper example used in the first post, that person would go to whatever fed reaper goes to because he specifically recruited him. again, there has to be an understanding between the two guys that run the feds for this type of relationship to work, but i'm confident that will happen.
that's pretty much it. like i said we did it two years ago and it's been great...and the people from one brand do particiapte (vote and talk trash) with the other brand and there has definitely been a rivalry created because of it, but it's a friendly one. as long as the powers that be give support to both brands equally all the "we're better than the other brand" talk will just be that, talk and someone's personal opinion. one brand doesn't have to become the weak one if the person running it and the participants don't let it.
i'd like to stress though, the best reason to do this would be for the newer participants a realistic chance to climb the ladder of success quicker and easier...it's all on them.