When writing a match for Planet Wrestling, one has to consider that thier match will be copied and pasted into a card, which should more or less have a good, unifying flow from start to finish. Part of this unity is having consistency in the format of how the match is presented. Generally speaking, this format is the same format as is used by the Zeus II program, and since we simulate matches on Shockwave, this is why this style has been adopted. If you DON'T use this style when writing your match, it makes my job of pasting matches into the card MUCH more time-consuming and tedious, causing cards to come out later than they need to. So I ask that all match writers, please, PLEASE, PLEEEZE use the format I describe here. If you ever have questions about PW match format, just ask and I'll be glad to lend a hand.

Below is a short, basic, sample match. Following the match, I will refer to different parts of it, from top to bottom, in terms of format. The format "rules" may seem like a lot to remember at first glance, but once you get familiar with them, they almost come to be second-nature.

[The bell rings.]

Pattera - The following match is scheduled for one fall...

[ "Eat It" by "Weird" Al Yankovich plays... "Obese" Hank Albert squeezes in through the entranceway to a chorus of boos...]

Pattera - On his way down the aisle, now weighing in at 611 pounds, from Miami Florida, he is "Obese" Hank Allllllllllllllbeeeeert!!!

[The fans continue to boo as Albert waddles his way toward the ring and climbs in. Suddenly, his music cuts and "Know the Ledge" by Eric B. and Rakhim plays and the crowd bursts to its feet...]

Pattera - And his opponent, from Parts Unknown, weighing in at 253 pounds, he is eXtrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeme!!!

[Fireworks go off as eXtreme runs out from behind the entrance curtains and down the aisle. He slides into the ring and hits Albert with a big discus punch. Jim Pattera slides out and the bell rings.]

*** "Obese" Hank Albert vs. eXtreme ***

Rick - eXtreme starting things off with a bang here and laying right into big Hank from the start with some crushing right hooks, but it's going to take more than that to knock the big man off his feet!

Dave - You're not kidding! Hank Albert has a LOT of weight to anchor him down, so he's not an easy tower to topple! But eXtreme now off the ropes- flying forearm shot takes Albert off balance! He's teetering and eXtreme- WOAH!!! eXtreme hit a springboard crossbody to put Albert on the mat!

Rick - What do you suppose that was? About a 9 on the Richter Scale?

Dave - I don't know, but eXtreme covering: 1... 2... 3!!!

[The bell rings. "Know the Ledge" by Eric B. and Rakhim plays...]

Dave - I can't believe it! eXtreme wins!!

Rick - What a quick match! Let's get the official word...

Pattera - Your winner: eXtrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeme!!!

[The crowd goes nuts as referee Adam Kent raises eXtreme's hand in victory.]

So, format-wise a match should look a lot like that. Now, let's take a closer look at some elements included in there, starting at the beginning. These are things that you should be incorporating into your matches:

1) Square brackets are used for "action" oriented things. These are more or less like stage directions and include sights and sounds that are not described by the announcers.

2) Before the announcement of the upcoming match by Jim Pattera, the bell rings to signify that a match is going to start.

3) All paragraphs are separated by a blank line.

4) Ring announcer Jim Pattera (who would usually be standing in the ring) starts talking, which is denoted by his LAST name followed by a space, a dash, and a space, and THEN the announcement of the match that is to come (note that the number of falls is announced, as would be the type of match if it were something other than a regular match).

5) The challenger's entrance music plays and their entrance is made.

6) The challenger's weight and where he's from are announced, followed, finally, by his name. (This can be jazzed up more, especially for important matches.) If characters are accompanied to the ring by someone, then this would also be mentioned in this blurb, before the wrestler's weight)

7) a) The first music stops and the opponent's music starts playing, b) then the opponent is announced much as the challenger was. c) The opponent makes their entrance.

8) The bell rings to officially start the match.

9) A match header is added with 3 *'s and a space enclosing the fighters' names on each side (if there had been a special stipulation and/ or a title match, it would have been added in after the second wrestler's name something like this: *** "Obese" Hank Albert vs. eXtreme: Trans World Championship Ladder Match ***

10) FIRST NAMES are used for the commentators (followed by the "space, dash and space" which follows the name of anyone who's speaking).

11) Commentary itself uses a fairly conversational style. Some more notes on match writing style here.

12) RICK RICHARDS: Note that commentator Rick Richard's style is more informal and colourful in his commentary, and he tends to use refer to the wrestlers on a first-name or nickname basis more often than does his counterpart, David Deyo (Rick, of course, usually calls him "Dave", though he does refer to him sometimes as "Deyo" or every once in a blue moon as "David"). Although not very apparent here, Rick would have an alignment of Neutral, leaning toward face: as such, he tends to draw attention to the merits of heels on occasion, so long as they're not being TOO nasty or obnoxious. This also means that he'll have tendencies to be disinterested or even not like certain face characters, but it's not very often. He will condone dirty tactics in a regular match, even so much as taking heels' sides, so long as their tactics aren't too extreme. Having been the host of "Rick's Picks" in the past, Rick has (or seems to pretend that he has) a better knowledge of fancy moves, new finisher names, rookies and of the secret goings-on in the federation. When it comes to trouble with wrestlers, Rick may talk big when a troublesome wrestler is out of earshot, but he's is a true coward at heart and might just hop into the crowd if he feels that he's in for a closer confrontation with a hostile wrestler.

13) DAVID DEYO: "You're not kidding!": Dave Deyo's trademark phrase, is used to put an exclamation mark on statements made by his associate, Rick (he doesn't say it ALL the time, though, so don't use it too much...). Dave tends to be more formal and professional in his commentary than Rick and tries to use the last or full names of the competitors more often than not. Though he tries to remain unbiased in his commentary, Deyo's strong "face" nature often shines through as he criticizes the cheating actions of heels, and practically roots for the good guys. Dave places a very high value on his job, so much so that when he's confronted by a hostile PW wrestler, he'll try to avoid confrontation by calming a would-be attacker, and will not back down from his post.

14) The bell rings to signal the end of the match and that's followed by the victor's music.

15) Jim Pattera announces the winner.

Of course, you'd be adding in a lot of stuff between all of that, but that's the essential format that I'd like to see (and I even threw in some extra notes on the commentators that you should follow too).

When you finish your matches up, I'd prefer they be sent to me as a WORDPAD (.doc) format attachment... but if that's impossible, then I'll take it in the body of the e-mail message that you send.

Again, it's important that you stick to the format indicated above: it makes the strain on me much less and cards come out faster as a result.