📅 Year and Promotion

Part of the game is knowing which year you want. The reel is asking which version of the wrestler you booked. If that year was quiet, injured, light on qualifying matches, or not booked like a top star, that wrestler will not score like their strongest run. A name can be legendary and still have a lower score in a specific year.

Example: Kenny Omega in NJPW 2018 against Kurt Angle in WWF 2001 can land around 6.75★ as a main event. Keep Kurt the same but swap Kenny to DDT 2010, and the same match idea falls to about 4★. That DDT year has Kenny ranked #11 in its pool with 6 qualifying matches, not #2-in-NJPW Kenny.

Kurt works the same way. Hold Kenny at NJPW 2018 and change Kurt from WWF 2001 to TNA 2014: the main event drops to about 3.25★. That is TNA-2014 Kurt, ranked #18 with 8 qualifying matches, not WWF-2001 Kurt at the top of his run.

⭐ Star Power

This counts the most. Each wrestler is judged by how high they ranked in their own promotion and year. The game blends their best form with their typical form, so a one-night fluke doesn't fool it and a steady ace gets full credit. Women are ranked among women and men among men, so a top star is a top star either way. The bigger the name in their scene, the more they lift your match.

⚖️ Even Matchup

Closely-ranked pairs score higher than squashes. Two near-equals who could believably trade the win feel like a real fight; a superstar steamrolling a jobber doesn't. Book opponents who belong in the ring together.

🎬 Card Position

Where a match sits on the card matters. The main event amplifies a great match while the opener gets less of the spotlight. The top slot is worth about ¾★ more than the opener for the same match, so put your strongest pairing on top, not first.

💪 Workrate

Wrestlers who worked a lot of matches that year give a small boost. They were sharp and carrying the load. It's a minor nudge, not the heart of the formula, but it can tip a close call.

✨ Elite Pairing

Put two genuine top-of-their-scene wrestlers together and the match earns extra on top. The bonus only shows up once both names are big, so a true dream pairing gets rewarded and an ordinary good match doesn't. This and everything above make up the quality of the match, which tops out at 6★.

🏆 Hall of Fame: the push to 7★

A Wrestling Observer Hall of Famer adds the final push toward the seventh star, and that push scales with how good the match already is. A legend in a great match matters a lot. The same legend in a squash barely registers. Book two HOF legends into a strong match and you can reach a 7★ 🏆, the highest the game goes.

📊 The Show Grade

Your final grade adds up all five matches on a curve where the top is genuinely hard to reach. Five strong matches grade as a strong show, and an excellent card climbs from there. The very top grade is reserved for a card stacked with Hall-of-Fame-aided near-7★ matches, so chase a high average across the whole show. One blow-off with four throwaways won't cut it.