2. Wrestlers
The wrestlers are of course the most important part of the game. EWD has space for 300 in it's data file. To begin with you get three options :
Add : Create a new wrestler. Please note that you can only have 300 wrestlers, so you may need to delete existing wrestlers before you can add more.
Modify : Edit an existing wrestler. If you click on an "empty slot", this function does the same thing as "add".
Delete : Remove an existing wrestler.
Once you've selected an option, you will be given a list of wrestlers. You can click on "next" and "previous" to navigate the lists. If you select "add" or "modify" then you will be taken to the wrestler edit screen.
The first screen you see is the "statistics" screen. To edit a data field simply click on it.
Name : This is in the top left hand corner. Clicking on it will allow you to edit the name of the wrestler, a shortened version (for the play-by-play), their sex, and finally their age. The age is how old they are at the start of January 2001. If you do not know a wrestler's birth month, then select "unknown" and EWD will select a random month each time a new game is loaded. You can find "unknown" either one selection "back" from January, or one "forward" from December.
Employer : This is right next to the "name" box. Clicking on it allows you to select who their starting employer is. The first three are whichever three companies you have set as the regular promotions (usually WWF, WCW and ECW), "Other Promotions" means they are currently employed, but by a different promotion (i.e. - not one of the three listed above), and "none" means that they are currently not employed by anyone. If you select one of the "big three" then you will then be asked if the wrestler is on a development deal - this is where the wrestler is under contract with the company, but is not being used on TV. Instead he is being developed by the company in a "feeder" league until he is ready to come onto TV. Famously, the WWF put Big Show on a development deal shortly after WrestleMania 16 so that he could lose some weight. Very few wrestlers are under these sorts of contracts, and almost all who are work for the WWF.
Attitude : This is an indication of how easy they are to work with. A wrestler with a low rating will be likely to get into fights backstage, and will generally be difficult. A wrestler with a high rating won't cause you much trouble. For example : Scott Steiner would get a very low rating, Tommy Dreamer would get a high rating.
Heat : This is how "over" the wrestler is, or in other words how much they can get the crowd cheering or booing. For example : The Rock would get a very high rating, Brooklyn Brawler would get a low rating.
Charisma : This is how charismatic they are surprisingly. A charismatic wrestler will be able to lift the crowd just by raising an eyebrow, a wrestler with no charisma will have to let his wrestling do the talking. For example : The Rock has high charisma, Chaz hasn't.
Fitness : This is a measure of cardiovascular condition. A wrestler with good fitness will be able to wrestle all night, a wrestler with no fitness will be exhausted very quickly. For example : Tazz has great fitness, Viscera doesn't.
Push : This is how much of a promotional push this wrestler has. A "push" is how much they are winning - a wrestler who is getting pushed will be winning matches, a wrestler who isn't will be losing. For example : Steve Austin is pushed, Brooklyn Brawler generally isn't.
Country : This is the wrestler's nationality. You can pick from US, Canada, Japan, Europe or "other" if they are from elsewhere.
Talent : This is an overall rating of how talented a wrestler. Generally, this value is equal to their highest rating out of brawling, technical, speed, lucha and hardcore.
PLEASE NOTE : There has been some confusion in the past over the next five categories. They are not ratings of how good the wrestler is at winning matches of that type, but rather how talented they are at producing matches of that type. For example : although Crash Holly rarely wins technical matches, he still produces great matches in that category, and so would get a high rating.
Brawling : This refers to basic punching and kicking matches, such as Steve Austin spent most of the late 1990's doing.
Technical : Technical matches are full of suplexes and submission holds, the kind that Dean Malenko is a master of.
Speed : These are US style high flying bouts, using lots of daredevil moves. Jeff Hardy and Shane Helms would get high ratings in this category.
Lucha : This is the Mexican style made famous by Rey Misterio Jr, Psicosis and Juvi Guerrera. It consists of lots of high flying hurracarana-based moves.
Hardcore : The weapon based anarchy made famous by ECW. Masters of hardcore wrestling are Al Snow, Raven and Tommy Dreamer.
Finisher : This is the wrestler's signature finishing move. Once you have filled the name in you will be asked if it is a submission move or not. A submission move is a hold designed to make the opponent submit - examples are the Crippler Crossface and the Walls Of Jericho.
Others : By clicking on this button you will be able to specify whether the wrestlers talks (as oppose to being silent), and whether they ever "tap out" (a wrestling term for submitting.)
Clicking "next" takes you to the second wrestler edit screen.
Specialist : A wrestler can either be primarily a singles or tag team wrestler. Singles wrestler will have an advantage over tag wrestlers during singles contests, with the reverse also being true. 90% of wrestlers are primarily singles.
Weight : A wrestler can either be lightweight, middleweight or heavyweight. Lightweight wrestlers are the only ones who can compete for lightweight-designated titles. In general, the weights are as follows :
Heavyweight : 250lbs +
Middleweight : 250-220lbs
Lightweight : Below 220lbs
Role : A wrestler can either be face, heel or neutral. A face is a "good guy" who the fans cheer for, a heel is a "bad guy" who gets booed, a neutral (or "tweener") is a wrestler who is not clearly defined as either good or bad. True neutral wrestlers are rare in US wrestling.
Wages : This is how much a wrestler is paid per month. There is a guide to wages on-screen when you click on this button.
Team : This is the tag team that the wrestler is aligned with. When two wrestlers with the same team name are put in a tag team match, they wrestle under that team name. When you have filled in the team name, you will be asked if you want to specify a special tag team finisher move. Some regular teams have special double team moves, like the Dudley Boyz "Dudley Death Drop", that only they use.
Stable : A "stable" is a collection of wrestlers who share a common goal or enemy. Putting wrestlers in a stable increases the chance that their partners will come out and help them during matches. Examples of famous stables are The Four Horsemen, The New World Order or D-Generation X.