Total Extreme Wrestling (TEW) is one of our favorite wrestling games to play. With WWE 2K continuously letting us down, TEW is there to indulge our desires by offering us the most detailed wrestling simulator out there. While the complexities of TEW are what makes it such a hot favorite they can also present a significant barrier of entry to new players.  That’s why we are here to give out some TEW tips to help new players out.

TEW Tips For Beginners

Find Your Main

There are upwards of 50 different product settings in TEW 2020 each with its own unique rules that make them different.  Similar to a game like Super Smash Bros. it is important to find your “main”.  Be that a particular product that fits you or a specific company that you work well with due to their location, financial muscle, etc.  Some people may love running the WWE and putting on shows filled with skits and promos with the aim of building popular global stars, others may enjoy playing as default company OLLIE and trying to resurrect the former Lucha libre giants with a mix of eye-popping wrestling and popular family-friendly stars.  If you want to you can even run an extreme wrestling company filled with blood, violence, and raunchy angles and take them from minnows running shows in front of 10 people to selling out Madison Square Garden.  TEW 2020, and previous editions, are difficult games on their own, trying to work with a product that you yourself don’t want to work with can only make that more difficult so it is essential that you find your main to make the most of this game.

Don’t Be Afraid To Mess With The Settings

TEW 2020 is a very customizable game.  The options menu and “your preferences” section offer around 40 different ways to adjust your game to your liking.  There you can make small changes like removing attribute masking, removing different penalties that affect your show grades, or going full fantasy mode and removing all constraints.  The game is meant to be enjoyed and the vast array of options are just further proof of this.  So don’t be afraid to dive into the options menu and remove things you don’t like or that make the game needlessly difficult for you.  As an experienced TEW player, I can safely say that I have removed the attribute masking for many of my playthroughs to make my life easier when it comes to scouting new talent and you shouldn’t be afraid to do the same.

You Will Fail

There is no doubt about it there will come a point playing TEW where you will fall flat on your face.  Throughout my hundreds of different saves, I’ve had companies go bankrupt, tanked in popularity, and lost important broadcasting deals at the worst times.  You can’t be afraid of this when you jump into TEW though as part of the fun is not knowing whether your new idea will steal hundreds of hours of your life or if you’ll give up in frustration after running three shows.  Some companies are destined to fail in the game no matter how much you try and those companies are best left to patient TEW veterans who can weather the storm before turning things around.

Read More: TEW 2020 Best Mods

Use Other Resources

Depending on how big your company gets and how long your save is it can get difficult to keep up with everything.   Who were you meant to push next? Who has already faced who? Have I done this match too often? those are all questions that will run through your mind as you go through longer saves trying to keep things fresh at the top of your card.  This is where outside resources can help.  Some experienced TEW players have put together and shared actual spreadsheets that they use to keep track of everything.  You can use this sheet to plan out your long-term ideas, keep track of your roster and where everyone currently stands, and keep an eye on the developing talents you have in your developmental territory should you have one.

It’s 2021, there’s no need to keep all that information in your head as you play.  Use the resources that other players have created and keep things tracked with a spreadsheet.

We hope that these TEW tips can help any newer fans jump in and enjoy the game.  It can definitely be an overwhelming experience when you first play but we hope that our tips can help you out and make you into a fan of the game who sacrifices as many hours to play it as we do.