Now for the horror that is Steve Twist’s view on matches and match writing. (For most of you I would suggest you listen especially if you didn’t listen to Dar which you should have done.)
Ok I’m not going to beat around the bush with what exactly the elements and such are for a good match since Dar has already stated that. Instead I’m going to discuss what makes a match a good or great match. That my friends has to do with psychology, description, actually being able to read it, flow, and creativity like Dar said but isn’t as dependent on length as you would usually think.
Most matches you have read here in the BTWF that have been good are usually of a longer length then what an average match would be but really it isn’t because these matches are long that they are good. You see a very good example of this are matches from the current Small Fry Champion Xunkai. Sure he hasn’t written a match with more then 10 paragraphs probably but his matches are filled with the action the Small Fry Division should be about, some noticeable psychology that shows how the wrestlers are specifically targeting areas of their opponents body, decent description that may not always give you the most clear picture of what is happening but you still know what is happening and can make up the little bit more with your imagination, good spelling and punctuation thanks to a spell checker, and a good flow that you can follow and use to get a feel for what is happening in the match. This kind of match that is 6 paragraphs long I would gladly take over one that is 13 paragraphs long and bores me half to death.
Another person who is very good at making an entertaining match is our current BTWF World Heavyweight Champion Big Daddy. This is a guy who has a very, very good sense of flow in his matches. This means that he can pick up the pace and slow it down whenever he needs to and keeps you captivated while doing so. Hell he doesn’t really pack his matches with moves either that I have seen others do but he uses every move, hold, punch, kick, chop, and just about anything else you can do in a match so well that he doesn’t have to have a fast paced spotfest to pull out a really good match. This guy really exemplifies the style heavier wrestlers should be using. He rarely does high spots which is good since when he does use them they are more important. He uses the ring very well. He doesn’t just use the ropes to throw people at them or the corners to climb up and jump off at people. His matches may not be action packed to the brim but they sure don’t have to be to be entertaining thus this guy is the complete package and someone to look up to in match writing and promos.
Now we move onto someone who has a very different style, in my opinion, from the previous two. Darson Grays is someone who likes a long match despite who his opponent may be. Now that can kind of come back and bite him in that a** on some occasions or it can give him a ****+ classic like in his extremely long Ironman match with Big Daddy. But you have to admit, long match or not, he can put up an entertaining match. My biggest gripe with his style is how packed full of moves his matches can be but he has been getting better with that and it is something that is really nothing too bad to ever deduct from a match rating on. With Dar though there is always psychology and in-depth description that you may not get with some people and it makes the matches more enjoyable. Sure those with short attention spans may have a hard time staying into his matches that is until they see how they are packed with moves that make it interesting. That is where the “overuse ? of moves actually can make up for itself. The way his style is currently it makes it so any weaknesses actually come together and covering each other, making them almost into strengths. There are ups and downs in this style but I don’t think I have seen a down from this guy yet so I’m just going to say keep up the good work as I move onto my last person.
That last person is of course me. Yes even though it sounds like I’m bragging it is true that I’m responsible for some classics here in the BTWF and have helped found this federation with my match style. I sure wouldn’t have guessed that I would be this good at writing matches when I first came to the BTWF but I think the same can probably be said for the other three guys I have mentioned. Now I’m guessing you all want to know the big secret behind how I keep my matches entertaining and make them so good but really, just like with these other three, there is no magic answer to this. Instead we will examine my writing style and figure out what makes it entertaining. First off is that, in my opinion, it is a very easy read with good spelling and grammar and a very good flow that is easy to follow no matter who you are. My matches are also far from formulaic most of the time also which makes them very creative and keeps a person wanting to see what will happen next. For example none of my matches with Omega is the same despite a few reused spots. The same can be said that there is no way one of my matches with Omega is the same as my match with Jack Frost, or my Fatal Four Way match that was at fadetoblack. Just like my wrestler I’m able to constantly keep my style fresh and make my matches interesting. Now going deeper than entertainment value you will notice quite a bit of psychology in my matches that is very direct and to the point which gives the reader the knowledge of it instead of having me hit a bunch of moves targeting someone’s back but never pointing out they are selling the back. That is the one thing that there always is about my matches, no matter how many spots I use, is that they always have the psychology that is needed to show the match isn’t just moves thrown in a blender and set on puree.
Now I by no means have perfect matches and I’m willing to admit that. There are times when I can overuse spots, use submissions and then switch which body part the person is working on, use ref bumps and blood to make a match more ‘interesting’, and make it so my guy seems to totally control the match through most of it (which happens when I’m going against opponents who don’t give me any kind of real style or move list to use and I don’t want to just give them whatever). Now all these things don’t always make the match bad and some can add to it but what I am saying is no matter how much you respect me or anyone of these guys we aren’t perfect and by no means should you try and totally mimic us. You should develop a style that works for you that works effectively and entertains people. If you can brawl really well then use that over a technical match. Use your wrestler’s style instead of just throwing moves together and make it make sense.
Now to say a little bit more about my style for those whose questions don’t seem to be quite answered yet. I’ve said about how I don’t think match length is what makes a match but a lot of people will say that I can write really long matches. The reason for this is if you look at my matches they open at a good slower pace instead of people just rushing to whatever. Through out my match I continually up the pace and slow it down as I need to but by the end of the match I want to read it and say “this has a really good pace, psychology, and is really entertaining ?. If I’m not entertained by my match then others won’t be and really what I want to accomplish when writing a match is to make it enjoyable for people to read and for them to want to actually read my matches. Despite what ratings I have given to my matches or have had others give to me for my matches I would rather have a fun to read *** match then a boring until the end where it heats up but very well structured **** match. Luckily I haven’t had a problem with that yet and hope to not have one anytime soon but I just wanted to clear that up to people out there who either like my matches or think they are rated too high or low.
Anyway I think that about wraps it up and I really hope that you have gotten the point that I tried to make here about making matches fun to read.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Examples of the matches mentioned above can be found at this link:
BTWF's MatchesThanks to Schevia for sending this too me.
Reply
