World Wide Wrestling 2e - Core Rulebook

262 Pages·2020·24.718 MB·English

by  Nathan D. Paoletta

ONE NIGHT ONLY
ALL TICKETS HONORED CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE
SECOND
EDITION
One Fall to a Finish for the World Heavyweight Championship
THE THE
VS
CHAMPION CHALLENGER
With Special Attractions
-
HIGH FLYING LUCHA LIBRE

HARDCORE BRAWLS
BLOOD

FIGHTING SPIRIT

GRAPPLING SKILL

ICONIC FEUDS

AND MUCH MORE

THE PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING ROLEPLAYING GAME OF NARRATIVE ACTION
.
BY NATHAN D PAOLETTA
W i de W
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ndpdesign
World Wide Wrestling: Second Edition
A Game by Nathan D. Paoletta
Credits
Game Design, Writing & Layout by Nathan D. Paoletta
The Road Concept & Original Design by Adam Ultraberg
Editing by Ian Williams
Art by Eric Quigley, Ramon Villalobos, JB Roe, Niki P, Gregor Hutton & Yewon Kwon
Essays by Nathan D. Paoletta, Ian Williams, Epidiah Ravachol, Owen Williams, Shelly
Deathlock, Anna Anthropy, Jeff Stormer, Gregor Hutton & Tim Rodriguez
Contributors
The Gimmicks include concepts and mechanics originally designed by Bret Gillan (The
Jobber), Ian Williams (The Hardcore), Alex Isabelle (various) & Adam Ultraberg (various).
Match Stipulations include concepts originally designed by Willow Palacek.
Featured Finishing Moves and example Living Promotions are concepts from backers of
the Kickstarter campaign. Individuals are listed with their contributions.
Powered By
Apocalypse World, by D. Vincent Baker & Meguey Baker
Simple World, by Avery Alder
This game text is copyright © 2020 by Nathan D. Paoletta/ndpdesign. All rights reserved. Per-
mission is granted to copy and distribute any portion of this text to facilitate play of the game,
but not to alter or resell this content in so doing.
Print ISBN 978-0-9863762-6-9 • Printed in China
Illustrations are copyright by their creators and used by permission.
Essays are copyright by their authors and used by permission. Content of the essays are solely
reflective of that author’s views.
This publication is a work of fiction in that it contains fictional characters and enables readers
to create their own original fictional content. However, real-world people and entities are men-
tioned in passing. This publication has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any existing
person or entity, and there is no affiliation between any mentioned and Nathan D. Paoletta/
ndpdesign. Any resemblance of a fictional character presented here to a real-world person,
living or dead, is purely coincidental.
If you obtained this publication in digital form without paying for it and have enjoyed it, please
consider purchasing a copy as well so that I can continue making these games in the future.
Please create and share your own material for playing this game! Join the conversation and find
more resources at: ndpdesign.com/wwwrpg
Acknowledgments
In addition to the many authors, designers and creators of both games and wrestling-related
media, I am indebted to all of the people who have read, played and talked about World Wide
Wrestling since it was originally released. Thank you so much!
✶ Games: Apocalypse World and the culture of Powered by the Apocalypse game hacking
and conversation; Jared Sorensen’s Darkpages; Matt Gwinn’s Kayfabe; Joe Prince’s Pro
Wrasslin’ Battle Royale card game and Contenders RPG; Hero Game’s Lucha Libre HERO.
✶ Podcasts: The Old School Wrestling Podcast, The Attitude Era Podcast, Cheap Heat, The
Art of Wrestling, Wrestling With Depression, The Masked Man Show.
I found the following books to be particularly helpful, educational or just plain good.
✶ Charlton, Chris. Lion’s Pride: The Turbulent History of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Christo-
pher Charlon, 2015.
✶ Leen, Jeff. The Queen of the Ring: Sex Muscles, Diamonds and the Making of an American
Legend. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2009.
✶ Levi, Heather. The World of Lucha Libre: Secrets, Revelations, and Mexican National Iden-
tity. Duke University Press, 2008.
✶ Matysik, Larry. Drawing Heat the Hard Way: How Wrestling Really Works. ECW Press, 2009.
✶ Shoemaker, David. The Squared Circle: Life, Death and Professional Wrestling. Avery, 2013.
Special Thanks
I still can’t believe so many of you are interested in this game. Thank you for playing.
Liz, for taking me seriously.
My wrestling pals Ian, Bret, Eppy, Ed, John, and Brett.
For specific rules proposed during playtesting: John Stavropolous for Making the X and Ron
Edwards for The Top Spot.
Original rough draft playtesters: John Stavropolous, Tim Rodriguez, Anon Adderlane, and Terry
Romero; Ian Williams and Bret Gillan; Alex Isabelle, Girolamo Castaldo, and others. Thank you all
for your patience dealing with the rough edges, and your insightful and motivational feedback.
Early playtesters & feedback: Jake Baerkircher, Evan Dicken, Dylan Weltch, George Foster Jr, Sakar
and Graham; John Stavropolous and Dylan Clayton; Tim Rodriguez, Adam Swiatlowski, Todd Love,
Darren Watts and Dev Purkayastha; Paul Imboden, Eric Mersmann, and Aaron. Thank you for
bearing with all the extra bits that I later took out!
“Wednesday Night Wars” Beta Playtesters: Ron “Bruto” Edwards, Keith “Keystone” Senkowski,
Eric “Mammoth/Millionaire Marco” Mersmann, Dylan “Atlas the Geek” Clayton and Ed “The
Angel” Blair. Thank you all for your enthusiasm, goodwill, and excellently observant comments.
This game is so much better because of you.
Everyone involved the Dreamation 2014 “ExtermiNation” Event: Epidiah “Brawny James Dio” Rav-
achol, Bret “Moose Johnson” Gillan, Jadzia “The Crimson Bat” Axelrod, Irven “Lyle Lawbreaker”
Keppen, Ralph “Bash Hammer” Mazza, Joe “Joey Crak” Zantek, Jim “The Colonel” Crocker, and
Mark aka “Ballistic”.
Additional feedback & playtesting on the first edition and International Incident: Stras Aci-
movic, Willow Palacek & Co.; Aura Belle, Jason Cox, Joe Zantek, Matthew Caulder, Justin Hunt,
William Nichols & Co., Adam Ultraberg & Co.; Jon Cole, Edward Ortiz, Andrew Rosenheim, Mark
DiPasquale, and Justin Phillips.
Second Edition playtesters: Jonah Knight & Co.; Steven Beebe & Co.: Jeff Otradovec & Co.; Mike
“Plus Ultra” Chuck, Allen “Turmeric Namaste Jones” Cook & David “Rich Dynamite Jr.” Heron;
Anna “~Lash~” Anthropy, Kathryn “The Governess” Hymes, Sean “Rudy Rampage” McCoy & Laura
“Sasha Violence” Simpson; and everyone who sat down with me at a table to try out a new idea.
Thank you to all my supporters on Patreon, who made this game possible in so many ways over
the years and continue to support my design work. You can join them at patreon.com/ndpaoletta
AND A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO MY 1,443 KICKSTARTER BACKERS! THIS GAME
LITERALLY WOULDN’T EXIST WITHOUT YOU
Table of Contents
ABOUT THE GAME 7 MAKING THE ROSTER 43
Welcome to World Wide Wrestling 8 Gimmicks 43
What’s in This Book 9 Fundamentals 48
Know Your Role 10
MOVES 59
HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME 13 To Make a Move 59
The Medium of Play 13 Which Move? 63
How to Start 14 Using Moves 63
The Big Picture 14 What About Backstage? 67
Ready to Play? 15
WRESTLING 69
THE FIRST EPISODE 17 Starting the Match 70
Building the Roster 17 Working the Match 71
Heating It Up 19 Booking, Finishes &
Last Time, Ending the Match 74
on World Wide Wrestling 22 The Rewards 77
Booking the Event 22 Tag Teams 77
And You’re Live 23 Narrating Wrestling Matches 79
Stereotypes in Wrestling & Match Stipulations 82
Handling Them in Play 24 Match Psychology 96
The Basics: The Engine 26
HOW TO PLAY YOUR WRESTLER 99
The Basics: Making Moves 26
The Basics: Momentum 28 Concept & Goals 99
The Basics: Audience 29 Cutting Promos 100
The Basics: Being Creative 30 Wrestling Your Matches 101
The Basics: Wrestling 32 Looking Good While
Making Others Look Good 102
The Basics: The Announcer 33
Pacing the Show 36
HOW TO BE CREATIVE 103
First Episode Quickstart 37
The Big Picture 103
Continuing a Season 109
Episode Structure 111
Overview and basic rules for playing out Advancement During a Season 115
a first Episode of World Wide Wrestling.
Ending the Season 116
Creating Drama in Wrestling 117
Non-Player Wrestlers 120
Creative Committees 122
The rules of play for World Wide Wres-
tling in detail, Creative’s rules, and every-
thing for a full Season of play.
BUILDING YOUR PROMOTION 125 THE PROMOTIONS 190
Simple Promotions 125 Promotions by Reach 190
Living Promotions 127 MOAT Wrestling 191
Promotion Advances 130 Ninth Circle of Wrestling (9CW) 192
Invasion Angles 138 WTF?! Wrestling 193
Custom Moves 142 Penny Ante Wrestling (PAW) 195
Custom Gimmicks 145 Prom Night 197
Valiant Pro Wrestling 198
GOING BEYOND THE RING:
Kanawha Pro Wrestling 200
THE ROAD 147
World Wide Wrestling 202
Revisiting Stats 148
Badlands Wrestling 204
Moves on the Road 148
“The Battle”
Hitting the Road 149
Battle of the Brands 206
Invasion Wrestling Alliance 208
THE WORLDS OF WRESTLING 158
The League of Prestige 209
The Worlds of Wrestling 158
The Art of Play 159
THE GIMMICKS 211
Talking About Talking About
The Basics 211
Wrestling 161
The Moves 212
How to Let Wrestling
Audience 212
Make You A Better Roleplayer 163
We’re All Players in Advancement 213
The World’s Greatest LARP 165 The Rest 213
Being a Wrestling Fan 168 The Ace 214
A Short History of Professional The Anointed 216
Wrestling 170 The Anti-Hero 218
Professional Wrestling Is the The Call-Up 220
American Dream 173 The Clown 222
Lucha Libre 175 The Fighter 224
Héroes y Más 178 The Hardcore 226
Puroresu 179 The Jobber 228
The Splendor of Puroresu 182 The Luchador 230
Catch Wrestling 184 The Luminary 232
World of Sport: The Manager 234
A Moment in Time 186 The Monster 236
Indie Wrestling 188 The Provocateur 238
The Technician 240
The Veteran 242
Optional rules, customization tools,
examples and resources for learning more
about wrestling and roleplaying. THE MOVES 244
Basic Moves 244
Mythic Moments 246
Role Moves 246
In-Ring Moves 246
Match Stipulation Moves 248
Specialist Moves 251
Audience Moves 252
Road Moves 253
Glossary of Terms & Concepts 257
Gimmick & Move quick references.
PAGE 6 ✶ WORLD WIDE WRESTLING: THE ROLEPLAYING GAME
About the Game
A
b
o
u
t
introduction T
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Welcome to World Wide Wrestling: Second Edition! Just as the sweet science of pro- a
m
fessional wrestling continually adapts to a changing world, World Wide Wrestling has e
evolved with the benefit of over five years of magnificent stories and epic feuds. This I
N
edition incorporates player experiences over the years into a consolidation of all of the
T
material released since its original publication in 2015.
R
Revisiting a game is a different experience than creating it. For World Wide Wrestling, it O
involves not only looking at the game as a set of systems to edit and optimize, but also
D
examining my relationship with professional wrestling and what inspired me to make a
U
game about it in the first place. The pro wrestling landscape has changed a lot while this
C
game has been out, as has my engagement with wrestling fandom. As the consensual
T
hallucination of kayfabe evaporated in the always-on social media era, I find that both
I
O
the highs and lows of pro wrestling are more starkly exposed than ever.
N
As I write this in 2020, professional wrestlers are the most athletic they’ve ever been.
Turn on any televised show or go to any live event and you’ll see breathtaking maneu-
vers and incredible sequences in the ring which would’ve been unimaginable 20 years
ago. The current generation pushes the limits of what can be done in amazing ways.
However, the world’s biggest wrestling company is very much a big business rather than
just a “promotion,” one which makes unconscionable ethical decisions about where
to perform and what to pay lip service to in the name of market dominance. Individ-
ual wrestlers build incredible characters that reflect the concerns of our time, leaning
into the dissolution of the barriers between performer and character to great effect; in
the turbulence of this artistic foment local wrestling cultures struggle to keep abusive
members out of their communities.
None of that means that professional Wrestling in the Pandemic Age
wrestling is any less powerful an art form
Between when I started writing this introduction
than it’s ever been. Wrestling continues to and the publication of this book, the COVID-19 pan-
have the power to tell pure, human sto- demic erupted and changed everything—including,
ries on a grand stage in a way no other of course, the place, function, and wisdom of live
events. Televised weekly wrestling shows with no live
medium can. In some ways, as the worst
audience feel just as strange to me now as when they
real-world behavior is exposed, it high-
started, even as freedom from the live crowd has cre-
lights the potential of wrestling to be so ated opportunities for companies to experiment with
much greater. The power of a game like more cinematic approaches to big matches and sto-
this is that every player and group can use rylines. However, this period has thrown into stark
relief how critical the audience is to what I find most
it to emphasize and explore what you find
fun and compelling about professional wrestling.
most compelling about wrestling!
World Wide Wrestling assumes that your Episodes are
My goal with this second edition has been in front of live audiences as default. If you’re inter-
to smooth the path toward playing your ested in playing out shows without crowds, check out
wrestling truth. Material from the Inter- Empty Arenas & Empty Arena Matches (p. 91).
national Incident supplement and the var-
ious digital extras is now integrated with the core rules of the game, making it easier to
bring anything from specialist roles on the roster to life on the road to your table. One
of my favorite things about World Wide Wrestling is how players who aren’t into real-
world wrestling have found it easy to play and enjoy. Many of the revisions are aimed
✶ PAGE 7
at giving even more support to the wrestling-curious in ways that also aid quick pick-up
games, all without sacrificing depth in long-term play.
If you’re already a World Wide Wrestling veteran, you’ll recognize everything here. There
aren’t any huge surprises or big changes to the basics, but hopefully you’ll appreciate
the new material and enjoy the evolved rules. If you’re picking up the game for the first
time, this text is still written and organized to give the basics first and then expand your
play options—you can get right into the game with just How to Play This Game (p. 13)
and The First Episode (p. 17) and then go from there.
Now go play!
Welcome to World Wide Wrestling
World Wide Wrestling is a game that creates professional wrestling pageantry and
action. It’s about feuds, Championships, betrayal, and righteous victory. It’s about the
clash of good and evil on the grandest stage. It’s about whether you’ve got what it takes.
And, in the end, it’s about what the audience thinks of your efforts.
You don’t need to know much about real-world wrestling in order to play this game
well! All you need is a concept for an entertaining character. Wrestling is the drama
of personal conflict, exaggerated to become mythic. This game plunges your wres-
tler into these feuds, guiding you through the drama as it escalates in more and more
crowd-pleasing ways. Storylines get complicated by two concurrent threads always
going on. One is the “on-screen” crafted story, told by larger-than-life wrestlers, man-
agers, valets, and authority figures in the fictional wrestling universe you create at your
table. The other is the “legit” story that happens off-camera, as the professional enter-
tainers wearing the spandex politic backstage in order to advance their careers, attract
more eyeballs to the product, and do what’s best for business.
This game is for both wrestling fans curious about roleplaying games and experienced
gamers who want to see what this whole wrestling thing is about. Either way, if you’re
reading this you probably already know how to enjoy the “double life” of a wrestling
character, either from the wrestling side or from the RPG side. The characters in this
game are professionals at playing roles, so you’ll play the role of someone playing a
role! It’s not difficult. Focus on the wrestling first. As you get used to how the game
works, you’ll start blending the legit with the kayfabe and playing with the boundaries
between wrestling character, “my character, a wrestler,” and yourself as an audience
member to the unfolding game.
The key perspective you need to remember is that you’re playing a character who’s
trying to entertain an audience. This concept is shorthanded as the imaginary viewing
audience. The imaginary viewing audience embodies the idea that your wrestling char-
acters are always on-screen. The folks who pay good money to be entertained are the
ones who ultimately determine the success or failure of your individual wrestlers and
of the promotion as a whole. In addition to using this audience as a fictional conceit,
some of the rules keep track of how engaged the imaginary viewing audience is with the
product you present. Are you pleasing your audience? And if not, what will you change?
There’s also a non-imaginary audience—you and your friends! The goal of the wrestlers
in your game is to gain popularity and acclaim. The goal of you and your fellow players
is to entertain each other and enjoy each other’s creativity.
PAGE 8 ✶ WORLD WIDE WRESTLING: THE ROLEPLAYING GAME
Most of the time, your descriptions of action and the dialogue you put into your wres-
A
tlers’ mouth is seen by the imaginary viewing audience, both live at ringside and broad- b
o
cast over the airwaves or the internet. Sometimes, a scene will take place “off-camera.” ut
T
This means you’re free to express the real lives of your fictional wrestling characters h
e
and explore their interactions as coworkers and professionals with clashing personal G
a
m
agendas. As you learn more about the wrestlers’ off-camera lives, conflict will arise with e
the booking decisions that are made in order to please the imaginary viewing audience.
I
N
The friction between the real and the performance, the backstage and the ring, the per-
T
son and the mask—that’s where the game really shines.
R
What’s in This Book O
D
This book contains everything you need to play at a level that matches your interest in
professional wrestling and your experience with roleplaying games. U
C
To start, you can play a one-shot Episode with:
T
✶ Chapters 1 & 2: How to Play This Game (p. 13) and The First Episode (p. 17), I
O
which includes a First Episode Quickstart (p. 37).
✶ The 15 core Gimmicks (p. 43)—full Gimmick sheets start on p. 211. N
✶ The Basic Moves (p. 244), In-Ring Moves (p. 246) and the Announcer Role
(p. 70).
Then, if you want to continue playing a Season with the same wrestlers, you add:
✶ These four key focus Chapters on the game rules: Making the Roster (p. 43),
Moves (p. 54), Wrestling (p. 69), and How to Play Your Wrestler (p. 99).
✶ Chapter 7: How to Be Creative (p. 103), which includes everything for Cre-
ative, including Continuing a Season (p. 109).
To include the Promotion itself as a living, changing entity that responds to the success
and failures of the wrestlers, you can add:
✶ Chapter 8: Building Your Promotion (p. 125), or pick one ready to play from
The Promotions (p. 190). This brings along, among other things:
✶ Mythic Moments, enabling truly legendary action in the ring (p. 130).
✶ Specialist Moves, for specialist wrestlers on the roster (p. 132).
✶ Audience Moves, reflecting the crowds attracted to your shows (p. 136).
If you want to play out the lives of your wrestlers
Using This Text
between Episodes, you can add:
✶ Chapter 9: Hitting the Road (p. 149), show- This is both a reading and reference text.
If you read it straight through, it starts
casing what happens outside of the arena
with the basics to get playing right away,
If you want to get deeper into the world of pro wres- then goes through everything for long-
term play, and finally to helpful resources
tling, how roleplaying and wrestling play off of each
for those new to wrestling, roleplaying or
other, or both:
both. This means that some information
✶ Chapter 10: The Worlds of Wrestling (p. 158) is repeated in different sections where it’s
contains overviews of wrestling history, global relevant. The cross-references and col-
or-coded tabs on the right-hand pages are
styles and essays from wrestling experts and
meant to help find information on the fly.
roleplaying pros on how it all comes together.
Finally, quick references for all of the Gimmicks and Moves start on p. 211.
WHAT’S IN THIS BOOk ✶ PAGE 9