The Anatomy of a Good Faction Wars Team -- Part Four

IV. Adaptation

"The wrestling industry is an ever changing industry." - Walt Florio, former GM of Stacy's Freak


"There are always diamonds in the rough on any given week." - Walt Florio, former GM of Stacy's Freak


"Problems get harder and harder to deal with due to the lack of depth, but you just have to search for that diamond in the rough in free agency and hope they can pull you through." - Greg Jovi, eGo Busters GM

Adaption is the name of the game in Faction Wars. Very few teams survive to make the playoffs without adjusting their rosters as the season wears on. The key to a successful season is to develop a solid core of players - Florio suggests two main eventers, while Jovi believes a core of three successful players is necessary.

From there, a GM needs to adapt his roster, playing to the strengths (or, occasionally, weaknesses) of his core. For some GMs, this means building a team of decent midcarders that can be relied upon most weeks; for other GMs, this theory is taken more literally - they build and rebuild their team on a near-weekly basis, filling holes and sealing cracks that will just reopen the following week.

"Don't be afraid to make roster moves and take a chance in hopes [of finding] a possible diamond in the rough for that given week, if someone has an announced match or something of the sorts." - Walt Florio, former GM of Stacy's Freak

During Faction Wars 1.0, the week-to-week rebuilding was considerably easier, as the WWE and TNA previewed their upcoming week's cards in advance. During the first season of Faction Wars 2.0, the two companies (WWE, especially) have kept their cards close to their chest. The effect this has on the constant rebuild is that a general manager has no idea what matches are on tap for the week, and any weekly free agent pick-ups made are typically gut feelings.

An example: the Nasty Boys vs. Team 3D tables match that took place on a recent Impact. In general, none of those four players have given a GM any reason to pick them up this season. Had their match been previewed ahead of time on TNAWrestling.com, Brother Ray and/or Brother Devon could've been picked up by a team. As a result of their gimmick match win, each man scored 6 points, and placed in the weekly power rankings. But, as a result of the match not being advertised ahead of time, they each scored 6 points as free agents.

However, despite the inability to week-to-week a roster as well as in the past, a GM can still seek out solid players. Prior to their closure, ECW consistently brought in new performers who would receive "the new guy push" (see: Archer, Vance). Tournaments, future title shots, and surprise returns also lend themselves to finding diamonds in the rough.

"Sometimes you can't cash in right away. Like surprise returns, like Frankie Kazarian. It happens, nobody knows about it, and the points are buried in free agency. But the wrestling companies usually follow up on things like surprise returns, so you can cash in the next week. Or the next." - Jason Coellner, The !@#$ers GM

One final key to adapting a roster: pay attention to the schedule. There have been instances in Faction Wars history when RAW or Impact has expanded to three hours. During the time period when Impact was only one hour, and the Impact Rule was in play, that needed to be taken into consideration (especially on TNA PPV weeks, when the Impact Rule was not in effect).

A TNA midcarder is more valuable in a TNA PPV week than a WWE midcarder. Same holds true for WWE PPV weeks. These instances can be used by general managers to their advantage, making their team stronger even if it's just for one week.

"Obviously pay-per-views and multiple shows or extended shows play a huge part in who you play and where. I think my core pretty much stays the same though. That's where it pays to read Gerweck and check the stats often." - Greg Jovi, eGo Busters GM

Adaptation has also led to the creation of a Faction Wars exclusive: The 8:01 All-Stars. Any time a player is picked up for the sole purpose of their point production for a single week, and then dropped after the start of RAW (8 p.m. Central, Faction Wars' weekly deadline), they earn the distinction of "8:01 All-Star."