Off-site Screenshot test poster

I (don’t) respect you, bookerman! – Let's Play Total Extreme Wrestling 2020

What is Total Extreme Wrestling 2020?

Total Extreme Wrestling 2020 (or TEW 20) is a pro wrestling booking simulator, latest in the line of simulation games created by Adam Ryland, the man behind Extreme Warfare Revenge and the TEW series. The latest, eight iteration of the long running series, TEW 20, was released in May 1st 2020. It is the best (quotation needed) wrestling sim on the market.

Here’s the game in a nutshell: you take control of a wrestling company in the role of a booker* (or an owner) and run the day-to-day operations which include:

- Putting together wrestling shows
- Hiring talent
- Making sure no one farts in the locker room
- Keeping an eye out on finances

And more! Sounds exciting, right?

Cool! Can’t wait to see some photorealistic slamming and grappling action!

Uh, no. The game is almost entirely text-based. While visually barebones (or just plain ugly), the core mechanics of the game are strong, especially if you are a wrestling fan and/or willing to use your imagination a bit. We don’t even get fancy dots rolling around the ring, we don’t have the budget of an ACTUAL sports sim!

So you’re going take the reigns from Vincent Kennedy McMahon and run WWE to the ground?

Once again, no. The base game is not set in our own universe, but the CornellVerse. Ryland’s creation of characters and companies has been running since the first TEW release in 2004. Created out of necessity (the EWR games were freeware and could get away with real world wrestlers and companies, TEW went commercial and to avoid massive license fees, we got a fictional database), but it’s not just an afterthought.

Growing and developing over the years, sometimes influenced by the stories told by the players themselves over at the game’s forum, the CVerse is a rich and balanced environment for some fantasy booking. That’s why I prefer it over RW mods. You grow to like these characters, even if they are just a few lines of text and a bunch of numerical values.

So, what EXACTLY are you doing here?

I’ll be picking up a a promotion from the CVerse and run it until we’re satisfied/broke. There is no “end” or a set goal. You set your own goals, whether it is to try to completely revamp the company or drive every company in existence out of business. On the way, I’ll try my best to introduce the mechanics of the game and hopefully create some interest in this particular bunch of Excel sheets in disguise. Being a wrestling nerd, I’d like to share one of my favourite games with every one of you. I’ve been playing different iterations since 2013 (and even dabbled with a demo around 2011-ish) and while I can’t consider myself an expert, I’d say I’m pretty experienced with the game at this point.

Pardon my French, but you keep saying ”we”?

Yes, we. I’ll try to sprinkle in some good ol’ Goon participation every once in a while. I’ll ask your input in certain creative decisions, hiring/firing situations and whatever else comes up during the game. Consider yourselves members of the booking committee, if you will. I will probably need all the help I can get.

Do I have to be adept at wrestling lingo?

No, not at all. Hell, I'm barely adept at English! I’ll try to explain the key terminology as we go along. You’ll be talking about faces, heels, swerves, turns and ring psychology in no time.

*booker /noun/ (the person responsible for the creative direction of the company, the head writer)

*to book /verb/ (to put together storylines, matchups and wrestling shows)

*booking committee /noun/ (a bunch of writers banging their heads together to figure out who does what and why)

For wrestling discussion/ideas you can check out our very own Punch Suplex (Tokyo Joshi) Pro (title subject to change), where Goons discuss wrestling daily.

The Thread Rules~

- Don’t be a dingus

Update schedule:

I’ll try to keep up weekly updates, try being the key word here.

Table of contents:
1. insert witty title here

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