Many people who are entirely new to the concept of e-wrestling apply to Planet Wrestling every year. This page is geared especially to players who have never been involved in e-wrestling, to give them a crash course on the basics of what we're looking for in a Planet Wrestling roleplay. Learning the ropes of roleplaying in e-wrestling comes gradually to most, slowly to others, and very quickly to a lucky few. Hopefully the information here will take some of the twinge out of the growing pains...

Making a comparison to the pro wrestling you've very likely seen on TV, a roleplay (also called a RP or a "flash") generally consists of the character speaking his or her mind somehow, be it in some sort of interview, or something like one of the WWF's sessions where a wrestler rants about an opponent (or whatever) backstage or in the ring.

Of course, since we're not using cameras, audio or video in playing the game of e-wrestling (at least, not in Planet Wrestling, anyway), these end up being written by the players, and are the primary point of judging who will win or lose matches, depending on which roleplayer puts out the better set of roleplays for a given match. Three of the biggest keys to roleplaying well are being original, making good argumentative points, and staying in character.

As for being original, without the budjets that constrain a pro wrestling show that you'd see on TV, you can have your wrestler set up in just about any scenario that you can imagine (providing that it's at least somewhat believable). Sure, you could just do backtsage interviews and in-ring rants about your opponent, but you also have the option to go futher than that: following your wrestler through their everyday life and the situations that go along with it is what many players choose to do to liven things up and maintain readers' interest.

Just about anything is at your disposal to help spice things up: from your wrestler training at the gym, to interacting with the fans, to making a guest appearance on Mad TV, to shopping for groceries, to watching old matches, to doing their laundry, to deep sea fishing, to hiking in the woods, to attending lavish parties, to co-starring in a major motion picture, to rock-climbing, to hang-gliding, to running a maraton, to doing Tai-Chi, to cutting their toenails, to brushing thier teeth, to kniting a sweater, to eating a sandwich, and of course, much, much more... Little is really out of range, provided that it's in the realm of good taste and that it's at least sort of believable and not too outlandish (for example, your character isn't likely to ever be able to fly like a superhero, travel in time, make frequent visits to Jupiter, lift an adult elephant over their head, or have other superhuman powers).

The ONLY real exception is writing a roleplay that involves a play-by-play or some description of your wrestler actually wrestling -- this is something you should likely avoid. Wrestling matches are written by our match writers, not you, and you should keep it that way. It's your job to show us the REALLY interesting side of your character (i.e., what they're like OUTSIDE of the ring), not how they wrestle entirely on your terms.

Once you have an idea of what you want your character to say and/ or do, you have to write it up, of course. I like to think of this as if you're writing a short play, including what your character says, what they do, and how they're doing it. The most basic roleplays usually include only what your character says. This may work well for you, but for most roleplayers, it's a good idea to eventualy try to move beyond merely writing the words coming out of their wrestlers's mouth. Generally speaking, at least some use of description makes for better roleplaing.

For example, you may want your wrestler to say something, but often, just as important as what they are saying is how they're saying it, be it quietly, loudly, quickly, slowly, sacastically, nasally, jokingly, or whatever. Such details help inject some flavour into your roleplaying, conveying some sense of emotion. And if you're to have your character actually doing something while they're located somewhere, you may as well set the scene.

Below is an example of a fairly basic roleplay from a Planet Wrestling fan favorite called Airborn. You don't need to follow the format used here, but notice that this format conveniently divides actions, mannerisms and scene-setting from the characters' spoken words, and furthermore lets you know who's speaking. Anyway, here we go:

I wouldn't expect a roleplay nearly that good out of a complete newcomer, but what you see there has a lot of the basic elements that you'll likely be trying to work towards as you improve in your roleplaying in Planet Wrestling. Notice that I set the scene, added some other actions and mannerisms (listed within square brackets); that it's easy to identify who is speaking; and that you can tell what each character is saying, and more importantly, what they're actually meaning. On top of this, a good point is made (that Airborn's faught big men before, and that it's nothing new to him), and Tommy Glide, with his expressions of disbelief, helps add a little comic relief to the piece for good measure. Note that I didn't run a spellcheck here: I know I'm an OK speller as a general rule... Still, since you'll more or less be competing against other players, it's probably to your benefit to run a spellcheck on your roleplays before you send them out. It reflects better on you, and all of that.

Well, that should give you a general idea of the kinds of things we're looking for. Try to remember to keep things fresh and original to maintain interest, and remember to stay in character (in other words, don't have your character regularly doing things that contradicts their personality). Once you feel you have a handle on the information on this page and that you're doing OK in terms of roleplaying, remember that there's ALWAYS room for improvement. If you're interested in imporving your skills, it's suggested that you look through some of the hints, tips and suggestions that you'll find on our PW Roleplaying Advice page. Good luck!