How do YOU write matches?

[rep]

In the "ACW is dying" topic, the subject of a "how to write a match" guide came up and it had me thinking of all of the different people who could write one and how different they would be. So instead of flooding the board with "How to write a match like Jake Steele" or whoever would post one, why not drop your philosophy here?

I would write the match with the first few moves being the face getting a little bit of an upper hand on the heel, then have a turning point where the heel dominates for the rest of the match, until the ending where the face comes back and wins it. Of course, this would change if the heel were to win. I would probably have the opposite but rather than the face dominating the match I would have areas where the heel comes back attempting to cheat and failing, but at the end one of his tricks works.

I also love to incorporate outside people in to a match anytime I can. Whenever I write a match I like using managers and stablemates. When I write a feud, more than two people being involved is a must. In a tag team feud I can get away with no other people involved other than a manager on either side. Not only does it give the feud more possibilities for "holding off on the big match for a PPV" matches, but it involves more people in the fed and makes it much more fun when you have a ton of people who all have good ideas that you can take and shift in to different parts of the story.

[Kim Jong CP]

I don't really have a standard "how I write the matches" but I can give some insight I would hope.

Beggining: I'm not predisposed to any start, usually it's something basic to give someone the advantage and he then maintains it for a paragraph. After that usually I like to swing the momentum with either a mistake or a counter, although sometimes I will have the advantage retained and lead to a near fall. From there it really depends on the participant but I like to have something "happen" here, whether it's a dirty move, or an impressive one that helps change the flow of the match heading into the middle of it.

Middle: Here I have the classic heel beatdown. If the face had control I either have the heel resort to illegal tactics or if that isn't in his nature something like pulling the ropes down on a lariat attempt or ducking out of the ring, something...anything to get the advantage in his court. From there it's a paragraph, paragraph and a half, couple of nearfalls, before the classic comeback, the face taking control of the match, however sometimes I also like to have the first comeback cut off, and then make the second one BIG with everyone down for a long count

End: Finally the face is in control and seems to be nearing the win, he controls the match for a bit and then hits a signature, near fall and looks for his finisher. Sometime he hit's it out of the blue, sometimes it doesn't happen. Heel takes control for a bit and does much the same, often winning the match or sometimes out of nowhere the face counters with his finisher. If none of the above happens I repeat the same with face in control and sometimes the heel taking the win out of nowhere.


With all of this said though there are alot of things that I didn't mention that sometimes you like to throw in, roll-up's, complete control matches etc. Really I found the way to improve your match writing was to just write matches. If you look at my first match as opposed to some of the other's I've written, it's easy to see the marked improvement. I would suggest if you wish to improve to write opening matches and slowly work your way up. Also don't be afraid to ask others for opinions on spots when you're writing the match to see if they work, and if you get stuck don't be afraid to ask.

[Jake Steele]

Yeah...I don't think he was asking for help on how to write matches, dude. He writes matches better than most actually. He was trying to see how everybody else writes their matches, their philosophies and mindsets as they write them if you will. Which you did in the first part, so...

*claps*

I'll post mine in a few.

[Kim Jong CP]

Apr 23, 2009 21:43:22 GMT -5 Jake Steele said:

Yeah...I don't think he was asking for help on how to write matches, dude. He writes matches better than most actually. He was trying to see how everybody else writes their matches, their philosophies and mindsets as they write them if you will. Which you did in the first part, so...

*claps*

I'll post mine in a few.

I knew that, I was just saying it as a general statement to everyone. I can't remember if it was you I asked earlier in the week on a spot and what not.

[El Shadowo]

With me, I don't think I have a set structure for matches, in that I feel each one needs to be different depending on the story being told. I don't think it's a great idea to layout a match in a formulatic way cause if you do, you risk wasting the people involved.

In a general sense, I try and make matches as back and forth as possible, rather than having the "face winning, heel winning" and then the "face comeback" or "face comeback but fails and loses" idea. The begining generally has to be thought up based on the people involved; no point having a brawler engage in a catch-as-catch-can scenario. No point having a chicken shit heel being brave. The middle then goes back and forth, and then the ending has as many near falls as I can fit in without making it ridiculous.

I also tend to be a big fan of people kicking out of finishers, which I know doesn't make the people involved happy. I just feel that when a finisher is kicked out of, it makes the ending more unpredictable.

[rep]

There are a ton of different ways to make an ending unpredictable, I think kicking out of finishers is pretty lame unless it's a big PPV title match or a feud ending match.

I also really hate back and forth matches and a ton of near falls. If the face gets a lot of offense in the match, then why does it make it exciting when they make a comeback?

Like Kevin Sullivan said... when you build a hot air balloon you have to keep adding the heat (heel offense) until you're ready to take it back down (end of feud).

[El Shadowo]

I wouldn't do the kick out idea all the time. That would of course ruin the effect of kicking out of the moves. But I think there's some people get to stuck up about their finishers and people kicking out.

As for the comeback, I think it works to an extent. But John Cena is the perfect example of how you can take that good idea and ruin it by doing it in every match. I remember listening to an interview with Al Snow where he said if every match on the card has the same paint-by-numbers formula, then the fans will quickly get bored by it. If every match goes the same way, then it loses the effect and the comeback becomes less special. Thats why I try and do matches with equal offence. Because for me, in a competition where both sides are shown as equals, it's harder to guess who will come out on top.

[rep]

But Hulk Hogan is a perfect example of why the formula should be followed. To top it off as well, John Cena wasn't a failure at it, it was just that some people felt as if they were rebels and wanted to be cool. If they really wanted to make an impact on the show in terms of making changes they should have been silent. That would have gotten the belt off of him.

But that's an entirely different discussion. Of course every match on the card won't be the same formula, but a great percentage of the greatest matches to ever take place have used that formula. It isn't about doing a ton of back and forth attacks or doing cool moves, it's about getting the crowd emotionally involved and there's no better way to do it than to take the guy that they like (the face) and beat his ass for a loooong time, so much so that they get pissed off and will pay to see him get his revenge.

This is starting to move away from match writing and more in to professional wrestling logic though, but it still stands in a monumental way. As Thunderkiss said in another topic, art imitates life. In art, you must do as the real life does. When I do it, I put a different spin on it every time, but I always use the basic formula.

[El Shadowo]

I know its moving into wrestling logic but I think thats a good think actually. I think to write great matches, you need to understand logic and have a basic wrestling philosophy.

I'd also like to point out that this is why its a good idea to get loads of different people to write matches. Everyone is going to have their own way of thinking when it comes to laying out matches, and if everyone can write with different styles, it leads to a diverse and hopefully great show.

[xs3]

I do the same tired formula every match (unless it's a squash).

Opponents neutrally fight, face gets advantage, heel gets advantage, heel submission, face comeback, finish.

That is why I don't like taking matches that often, tbh.

[Jake Steele]

When I first started writing matches, I was really awful at it, so I used a bunch of spots, weapons and anything that would try and take people's attentions away from the actual horrible writing that I was doing.

As I progressed though, I started to look more at movesets, and take in their philosophy inside of the ring, which is why I love movesets that explain how their character works in the ring. Even if that's not included, I take the moves from their moveset, and begin to write them as how I feel they would work in the ring against certain opponents.

For example, when I write a match for The Senator, I take into account that he's more of a MMA-styled competitor, and I have him use kicks and takedowns more often then punches and high impact moves. I would build up to his more high profile moves as the match progressed. Yet if I am writing for someone like Lee Homicide, I have him use more of the Luchadore, Puro style. He's a face, so I would have him use as much high flying moves and flashy moves without it getting ridiculous, and just enough for the person reading to get excited by what he does next. Which also makes it easier for the heel in the match to take advantage of a slip-up while trying to show off, and getting the advantage.

I also follow the whole face comeback technique, most of the time, usually when I feel it's needed. If I feel the face and the heel are on completely equal levels of skill, I would moreso have it be hand and hand with each other, though I would have it be pretty clear at points that the heel has more of the upper hand, and he plans on keeping it that way. I'm also a sucker for near-falls, and kicking out of finishers too, but that's for later.

Look at my Genocide match which I wrote with Fallen Souls, which I had to use plenty of psychology for. Both of us had just had a prior match with each other, but Thunderkiss and Lee were thrown in to seperate us some for the Main Event. I used that effect for my writing. I started it as a straight up fight, I wanted revenge and Fallen Souls had his own motives. I got the early advantage, FSX showed a spurt or two of fight, but I kept my face momentum on the inside and outside of the ring, building up the eventual misfire spot, and FSX taking the lead. FSX kept it for most of the match, even going as far as threatening he would destroy the ref if he had counted him out, building more heat for himself.

His tactics misfired with a moonsault spot through the announce table, which led to a medics running out spot. I would then find my way back to my feet, and pull FSX down the ramp, off his stretcher, threw him back into the ring and set up for my Knee Kick. The "hopespot" turned sour as he reversed and the first finisher of the match, which was kicked out of. After that, it was another misfire by FSX, the beginning of my actual comeback where I hit my finisher and near-falled, FSX hitting his finisher, me kicking out for the second time, and then I hit my finisher out of nowhere as he attempted a third Soul Transfer, end match.

I think that's an alright example of how I would write a match, not my best work but it's a pretty good example and my most recent Main Event work.

[VorteX]

Interesting stuff. As I start writing matches I'm going to try to incorporate some of this in there, they may not be great at first, but as someone said (Senator?), you only get better at writing matches by writing matches.

[BK London]

Good, that's how I write matches.

[Dan White]

What BK said tbh. I don't really delve too deep into matches. If I can think of a good story for the match (WWE'd) then I'll do it, like at OE4 where I wrote the match so it was basically Fallen Souls and Sarin letting their wrestling do the talking since they didn't have a well built-up feud. Or for me/Train the other week when I wrote the match where the story was that Train being the large bastard that he is, it took me everything I had to take him down.

But if I can't think of a good story to tell in the match then it's somewhat generic, admittedly