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Matchwriting 102

Now, I’m going to take a match I wrote and try and show how I incorporated the basic storytelling techniques into writing it.

A few months back, I wrote a match between “The English Gent” Lawrence Stanley and “The Wolf” Mike Randalls. (Ed. Note: The match is located on CSWA PRIMETIME in Phoenix http://www.fwrestling.com/archives/2000/pt8-14/phoenix5.htm if you’d care to peruse.) For those of you who don’t know the background of the characters, let me explain. Stanley can be compared to William Regal-- a pompous, uppitty, snobbish Brit. But through the course of time, more depth was revealed about the character (through Ross McConnell’s awesome RP). Stanley is indeed snobbish and a jerk, but at the same time he’s fiercely independent, driven and has an incomparable will to not only be the next star of the CSWA (he’s a newer character), but to also overcome his poor, rough-and-tumble upbringing.

Mike Randalls is, in my eyes, the greatest character in the history of FW, and that’s because Jon Katz is one of the best RPers of all-time. To try and capture what Randalls is in a few words is like trying to do the same of Willy Loman from The Death of a Salesman-- almost impossible. Randalls is fearless, quite possibly the best wrestler in the world, comparable to a Chris Benoit or Bret Hart as a wrestler. He’s had epic match after epic match, and has always proven himself to be the top of the world. But he’s also dangerous and warped, and has no qualms about doing anything to win a match, such as driving a wooden stake through a man’s knee in a legendary “I Quit” match. So not only is he good, but he’s also lethal-- he walks the line between “face” and “heel” and is both respectable and disgusting all at once.

So, the two of them had a match to determine the #1 ranking for the CSWA World Title, then held by Deacon.. And I was assigned the match to write.

The initial conflict is, of course, Stanley vs. Randalls. But I also thought that I should put in a bigger theme, a greater conflict. The theme of the match became this: could Lawrence Stanley, the brash youngster, defeat the greatest wrestler of all-time despite his flaws? And could Mike Randalls withstand the rookie’s charge without going over the deep end yet again?

Since Stanley isn’t as developed as Randalls character-wise (only because Ross is newer and Katz has been around even longer than I have been), I thought that he could use something to get over his other character traits-- his independence and will. So, I decided to use the ring introductions and the beginning of the match to try and get this point across.

Stanley was accompanied to the ring by his manager, Lord Alfred, and his lackey, Serf. In many matches before, Stanley used the two to his advantage, to have them interfere and win. But to get the respect he desperately craved, Stanley told them to return to the back.

Randalls came to the ring after this, with his typical focus and determination. And since Randalls is the veteran, I tried to have him set the pace to start the match. But Stanley, who in Ross’ roleplay always notes how much he studies his opponents, was prepared for this. As such, Stanley took control of the match early and came close to almost scoring a number of pinfalls. The young wrestler was showing the master that he was on the same level.

Stanley backdropped Randalls over the top rope, which gave me the first chance to turn the tide. That move was not typical of Stanley, who felt that he needed to do something above and beyond what he normally did (traditional power-based mat wrestling) to win. And Randalls was not used to being at the lower hand of a match so early in it, and realized that he had to step up his intensity to win.

After taking Stanley to the floor and getting control of the match, Randalls showed his aggressiveness by bulldogging Stanley onto the ring steps from the apron and breaking the youngster’s nose.

Soon, the match turned into a brawl between the two, with both men trying to put the other out (Stanley using a chair to bust open Randalls, Randalls dropkicking the chair back into Stanley’s face). What I was trying to show was that this wasn’t just a wrestling match between two men, this was a struggle and both men had to dig down deep.

Soon, Randalls took control of the match back in the ring. This caused me to try and show one aspect of the match I wanted to get across-- Lawrence Stanley proving that he was as good as Mike Randalls. The match built and progressed, and soon Randalls injured Stanley enough to be able to procure The Devastator-- his finisher that has ended many matches. What better way to show that a younger guy was on the same level as the best ever by having him struggle in the most gruesome submission hold of all-time, until he was able to drag himself to the ropes and free himself?

After Stanley reached the ropes, he again dug down deep, and this time managed to get the better of Randalls. This time, he had Randalls on the ropes (chops, forearms built into powerslams and powerbombs) and then finally hit him with the Guillotine, his TR DDT secondary finisher. Surely after all this, Randalls would stay down.

But the veteran can’t lose just like that. He’s the best ever, and he always finds a way-- so he got the shoulder up.

Stanley then attempted to hit FaceDown, his other finisher (inverted powerbomb), but Randalls, the cagey vet, reversed it into a Diamond Cutter-- a quick “out of nowhere” move that can always be used as an equalizer.

Both men were down, and both men had spent everything they had. The referee started to make the ten count, and both men barely beat the count at 9. Mike Randalls and Lawrence Stanley were again toe-to-toe, despite both giving and taking their best shot. Lawrence Stanley had proven his point. He belonged with Mike Randalls, he belonged with the elite. Although he was a rookie, he was one of the best wrestlers in the world, and he proved that.

But alas, he wasn’t Mike Randalls’ superior yet. After rising to his feet, Stanley collapsed and Randalls somehow managed to maintain his balance. He then hooked the Devastator again, and won the match.

The pinfall/submission/end is the easiest way to write a climax for a FW match. It’s where the match builds. So, Randalls winning was the peak of the plot structure.

But that wasn’t the conclusion. There should always be something afterwards.

True to his character, Randalls wanted to take Stanley-- now perceived as a potential threat to the legacy of The Wolf-- out. So, after the match, he again hooked The Devastator, and wouldn’t let go until Randalls was run off.

Then, Stanley rose to his feet and was met with applause from the fans. Randalls showed he still would do whatever it took to remain the best, and he would. But Stanley won the respect of everyone around him, and showed that someday, he could be the top guy.

Hey, I know it’s not Hemingway or Fitzgerald. But I did try to adopt it to stuff I was taught in English class.

So, when you’re writing a match, keep that in mind. FW matches are nothing more than stories. Use what you can and what you already know to try and tell the best story you can.

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