Fire pro wrestling advance manual

What are fight styles? What do they do? In a madman's attempt to make sense of the hidden values in Fire Prowrestling, I try and explain it in text! Thank you to Jason Blackhart and LordMo for putting this info out on the internet.

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Okay, so. First off, I'm going to thank LordMo from fpwarena and tumblr, who in turn thanked long-time Fire Pro enthusiast Jason Blackhart, for this info. If you want it broken down even further into the numbers and everything, check out his exhaustive tumblr post here [lordmo.tumblr.com] , it even gives some nice numerical breakdowns.

Now then. What exactly does a fight style signify? The game manual gives some very short explanations, and looking through the edit mode UI gives a hint as to what a wrestler's chosen style indicates. Just from that, we can figure out that certain styles have higher affinities for certain types of moves--for example, a technician is better at pinning combinations and suplexes than it is, say, heel moves like poison mist, or lifting power moves like a powerbomb. There's more to it than that, though; your wrestler's fight style provides an extra emphasis on what critical types will work best, as well as how much stamina they use up by being hit by attacks as the match progresses; and ultimately, how much they'll cooperate with another wrestler in creating a proper match structure.

At the risk of sounding like an elitist jerk, I've noticed that there are quite a few masterfully done edits on the workshop, at least visually, but with some WEIRD decisions in movesets, edit points, logic, and skill. I'm not sure if it's a case of misinformation, no information, or just going "hey let me make my favorite wrestler an unbeatable juggernaut," but I'm going to try and explain attack and return styles here, so that there's less examples of Shoot-Style Mankind and Okada on the workshop.

I should also note that these are not a law but merely a loose guideline. Choose what you think works best! But I will note that if you have a pro wrestler, and you give them a K-1 or UFC style fight style and return style, the quality of a match will suffer because they're not going to work a pro wrestling match.

This is also not a strict guideline of what moves should be done, period. Attack Style governs one major thing, which is how much stamina the wrestler has and how much they can recover, outside of the breathing stat. Pick whatever moves sound right, even if they're counterintuitive to a particular style. There are amateur wrestlers in Fire Pro Returns with a lot of power moves--like Rick Steiner, for example. And there are power wrestlers who have high flying moves, like Big Van Vader and Mike Awesome. There are juniors who will do powerbombs, like Jushin Liger, Chris Benoit, and Chris Jericho. There's even a shooter with a frankensteiner, namely Ken Shamrock!

So, let's start things off with a very quick summary of the many styles in game:
Orthodox: an all-round wrestler with no particular strengths or weaknesses.
Technician: highly skilled wrestler who is adept with pinning combinations, suplexes, and feats of agility
Wrestling: an amateur wrestler who can throw dudes around like crazy but not much else
Ground: This is just Yoshiaki Fujiwara. A submission expert to the extreme.
Power: ARGH I WILL POUND YOU RIGHT THROUGH THE MAT. No-nonsense power moves and some heel tactics.
American: A nice catch-all style for the typical WWF/WWE style from the mid-90s onward. It's good at heel chicanery and also feats of agility and showsmanship.
Junior: the modern Japanese junior heavy style made popular by New Japan and kept alive in the US independents. Lots of flashy technical moves, highly agile, and not half bad at submissions either.
Luchador: A traditional Mexican tecnico (babyface) with wonderful pinning cradles, flying moves, and overwhelming the opponent with sheer speed and an endless supply of gas in his tank. Also quite good at exotic "llaves," or stretching submissions.
Heel: Barely mobile garbage wrestling heels. Think Abdullah the Butcher and Mr. Pogo.
Mysterious: It's literally just Great Muta. Highly agile moves and heel tactics backed by technical prowess and ropework.
Shooter: A hybrid fighter with all-around decent stand-up striking and ground game skills, including chokeholds and joint submissions. The first of the classes that will not play nice with pro wrestlers
Fighter: A stand-up fighter who is good at punching and kicking and bad at pretty much everything else. Pretty much just a boxer, kickboxer, or Muay Thai fighter. Will not play nice with wrestlers.
Grappler: A Brazilian Jiujitsu expert who will just take you to the ground to either punch you until you can't feel your face anymore, or force you to tap. Will not play nice with wrestlers.
Panther: Tiger Mask, Satoru Sayama. He's good-to-okay at pretty much everything but sheer power and heel tactics, but is especially good at high risk flying moves, lucha pins, and nasty shoot kicks.
Giant: Late-career Andre the Giant. He can punch and headbutt and use illegal chokes but basically nothing else outside of it.
Vicious: I NO KI BOM BA YE! As is the case with Inoki at the prime of his career, he's good at rough tactics and has a killer sleeper hold, with rather decent MMA skills, kicks, and technical prowess to boot.

Let's break down the strengths and weaknesses of the Orthodox style, shall we? Thankfully, this will be pretty short: This is the default style for a wrestler, and thus the most balanced!

• None in particular, aside from a bit of skill in using comedy moves and pinning cradles
  
• Orthodox wrestlers can run the ropes for a while without getting worn out
  
• As the match goes on, they have decent stamina consumption, with a late match babyface comeback

• None in particular, aside from a lack of skill in heel rough-housing.

• Finisher
  
• Suplex

Orthodox wrestlers are designed to work a back and forth match with their opponent. They start out with a big reserve of energy that slowly runs down, until they get a burst of stamina back at the bitter end of the match, representing a babyface comeback. As the match drags on, they're less likely to be stubborn about irish whips, representing their resistance going down, and also giving a wrestler with a running or counter finisher a better chance to hit their big move.

The vast majority of the cast in Fire Pro tends to be Orthodox in attack style. As mentioned previously, if you're not sure what you want to go with, this is always a good choice!

After Orthodox, the next fight style in the list is Technical. The two styles have some strong similarities, but Technical is a bit less well-balanced.

• A master of contorting themselves and the opponent into a variety of pinning predicaments and technical transitions, such as the Drop Toe Hold, Tiger Spin, and Dragon Screw, with an A rating in technical moves.
  
• Adept with suplexes of all kinds, perhaps to emphasize the archetypal Japanese technician's love of the bridging German Suplex, with a B rating.
  
• They also get a B in Agility, allowing for some mild displays of agility.
  
• Furthermore, they have a B rank in MMA Overall for ground transitions.
  
• Lastly, they get a B with entertainment moves such as the Chair's Illusion.
  
• Aside from all that, they have the same stamina as an Orthodox wrestler, allowing for extended matches.

• Technicians are not well suited to shoot-style kicks, with an EDrating in Kick.
  
• They are also not known for shows of extreme power in lifitng their opponents, so Arm moves get a D rating.
  
• Being a technical babyface, rough-housing and heel tactics are not their strong suit, so Rough moves get a E as well.

• Technical
  
• Finisher

Like orthodox wrestlers, technicians will get worn down and find themselves having more trouble keeping their stamina up to snuff, up until the very end, where they get a second wind. They're a bit more stubborn than orthodox wrestlers in regards to running the ropes, but not by much.

The first of the really hyper-specialized styles, Wrestling Style is one of the three styles that act as a bit of a bridge between pro wrestling and MMA style. Based on amateur-style wrestling, it does a couple of things exceedingly well, and has trouble with the rest.

• As you'd expect, wrestlers specialize in suplexes. Judo throws like the Harai Goshi and Oosotogari are included in this category, for an affinity of A.
  
• They're also quite adept at getting wrestlers onto the ground with the shoot tackle and sprawl, with an MMA Overall affinity of A. However, their punching and submission ratings are just "Okay," so following up in that ground struggle will use up a bit of their stamina reserves.

• Being ground-based grapplers, their legs are made more for explosive tackles, and not for stiff, sharp kicks, so they get an E affinity on any shoot-style kicking.
  
• Though they have the power to toss people around with suplexes and judo throws, the more pro-wrestling sort of power moves--lariats, powerbombs, and chokeslams, for instance--take a lot out of them--moves that use Power, Agility, and Arm as their main attributes are all D affinity.
  
• They're also poorly suited to heel and rough maneuvers, also with a D affinity.
  
• Throwing an amateur wrestler into the ropes will drain their stamina quickly.
  
• And in general, their approach to building a match--in which they go for a quick finish--means that they begin to lose a lot of footing once they've taken damage, with no opportunity for a big comeback.
  
• Lastly, their top rope attacks have a shorter range, and missing with one will deal more damage to them.

• Suplex
  
• Finisher

In the early stages of the match, they're quite stubborn when sent to the ropes, with a good chance of hooking their arms around the ropes to stop an Irish whip; but as the match wears on, their resistance goes down quickly. Speaking of the match flow, their endurance precludes them from holding marathon matches like technicians would. As the match goes on, their stamina consumption ramps up hard and never recovers.

There seem to be relatively few Wrestling-type characters in Fire Pro. The archetypal one, I'd say, is G.O.Bright, aka UWFi and All Japan's Gary Albright. Burt Buckle/Thomas Johnson (Kurt Angle) was Wrestling-type in Fire Pro D and the Game Boy Advance titles, though given his ridiculous stamina, there may be a better type for him out there.

The ground style is an odd beast, one of a few styles pretty much designed for one wrestler alone. It is the second of the MMA/pro wrestling crossover styles.

• With an A affinity in joint and stretch, this is an honest to goodness submission expert.
  
• Being a crossover wrestler, they are also quite good at tackling the opponent to the ground for a mount submission, with an A affinity as well.
  
• And being based on one of the UWF-style pioneers, he is quite decent at technical moves, with B affinity.

• Being a grounded submission expert, they're poor at stand-up fighting, with a D in punching
  
• Furthermore, their kick affinity is an E.
  
• They're also not well-suited to shows of strength and agility, with an E rating in Power, Arm, and Agility
  
• Suplexes take a lot of stamina from them, with a D affinity rating
  
• Rough moves also are a poor fit with a D rating.
  
• As with the amateur-style wrestler, they have poor cardio when running the ropes.
  
• And their stamina fall-off matches the amateur wrestler's, as well.
  
• And to top off the similarities, they have the same reduced range for dives, and increased damage from a missed dive.

• Finisher
  
• Submission

The closest example of an archetypal Ground wrestler is long-time wrestler Joe Kajiwara (Yoshiaki Fujiwara).

The power style is as simple to explain as the style tends to be in a real match -- crush and destroy as quickly as possible, with as brutal of power moves as possible. Having said that, I feel like this is a good time to get into character, sort of.

• SHEER POWER! (A AFFINITY TO POWER)
  
• ARM POWER TOO!! (A AFFINITY TO ARM)
  
• ALSO BASHING YOUR HEAD WITH MY HEAD!! (B AFFINITY TO ROUGH)

• POWER WRESTLERS ARE NOT KARATE MEN! (E AFFINITY TO KICKS)
  
• WE'RE ALSO NOT GOOD AT FLIPPY STUFF! (E AFFINITY TO AGILITY)
  
• ALSO NOT ALL THAT GOOD AT FLIPPY PIN STUFF! (E AFFINITY TO TECHNICAL)
  
• SUBMISSIONS ARE FOR WEAKLINGS WITH SPINDLY ARMS. (D AFFINITY TO JOINT AND STRETCH)
  
• AND THROWING DUDES IS FUN BUT NOT IN THE SUPLEX SORT OF WAY (D AFFINITY TO SUPLEX)
  
• POWER GUYS ARE ALSO NOT UFC GUYS (D IN MMA OVERALL)
  
• POWERFUL DUDES LIKE ME CAN'T JUMP FAR
  
• AND THEY CAN'T RUN FAR
  
• AND IN GENERAL WE PUT ALL OUR GYM TIME INTO MAD GAINS SO CARDIO? THAT AIN'T OUR THING

• POWER.
  
• also finisher.

WHIPPING ME TO THE ROPES IS USELESS. I WILL NOT PLAY BY YOUR "RULES" AND "REGULATIONS" BECAUSE I EXIST TO CONSUME ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD. . BUT EVENTUALLY I'LL START PLAYING ALONG A BIT BECAUSE THIS IS WRESTLING.

I BETTER GET ALL MY MOVES IN BEFORE THE OTHER GUY CAN MAKE A COMEBACK BECAUSE I SPENT ALL MY TIME BUILDING UP BULK AND NOT REALLY ON THINGS LIKE "RUNNING FOR 2 MILES WITHOUT GETTING WINDED."

Moving on from Power Style, we have American Style, which is a pretty nebulous, catch-all style for (what else?) American wrestlers.

• American wrestlers love to brawl and cheat to win, so they get an A affinity in Rough
  
• Though not high flyers, they're pretty good at body splashes, dropkicks, and the like, with a B in Agility
  
• They can pull off pinning cradles without breaking much of a sweat, with a B in Technical
  
• And, if they have some silly gimmicks, they have a B affinity for Entertainment spots.
  
• They can dive from the top a bit farther than orthodox wrestlers, but not to the range of juniors or luchadores
  
• And they can run the ropes without much stamina loss

• American wrestling's not really known for joint locks, so they get a D in Joint attacks
  
• They also aren't really known for strong, shoot style kicks, with a D in Kick
  
• And they also get a D for Power moves.

• Finisher
  
• Technical

They have similar cardio to an orthodox or technician wrestler, where they have a second wind right at the end of the match, but are a bit more resilient when it comes to the ropework aspect than either class. When they're beaten down, and on the cusp of their 0% health comeback, they will be more likely to resist irish whip attempts altogether.

Being an American-style wrestler, this is the one style with a vastly increased odds of scoring a critical from their finishers.

A good representative of the style would be Luck Rapier/Great Mojo (The Rock).

The junior style is another flexible style that accommodates a variety of areas of expertise. As the catch-all for the modern New Japan junior heavyweight, and US independent wrestlers, it gives you a wide berth to work with.

• With an A affinity in Agility, they can do all manners of flying moves, dropkicks, etc. without much of a hit to stamina
  
• They also get an A in technical for pinning moves like ranas and victory rolls
  
• They can play to the audience with comedy spots well, with B affinity
  
• They're also one of the better wrestling-type classes overall for wrestlers with a variety of submissions, with B affinity in stretch and joint moves
  
• Along with Luchadores and Panther-type wrestlers, they have the longest top rope move range and take the least damage from a missed top rope dive
  
• They have an endless fount of stamina for running the ropes constantly, allowing for a very dynamic match flow.

• Being smaller wrestlers, it takes a lot to do power and lifting moves -- they have E affinity in both Power and Arm

• Finisher
  
• Technical

Their stamina curve is like the orthodox attack style, with the exception that they get a HUGE last-minute burst of energy at the end of the match to help set up a dynamic finish. Also, their ropework stands out, as they will always bounce of the ropes when whipped, without fail.

The second of the three lightweight character classes, luchadores and juniors have some overlap in affinity, but the luchador is a bit more oriented towards the traditions of lucha libre style.

• Like Juniors, Luchadores can bounce off the ropes and come off the top with little problem - their Agility affinity is A
  
• They too are also proficient with complex pinning cradles, with an A in Technical.
  
• Unlike the Juniors, they specialize in one type of submission--stretching moves, with an A affinity.
  
• They have a B in Entertainment for comedy spots, as well.
  
• Like the Junior, their cardio is off the charts -- they can run forever, and will get that late match babyface comeback.

• Luchadores are not strikers. Both punches and kicks have D afffinity.
  
• They also aren't known for suplexes, so they get a D affinity in that as well.
  
• Shows of power and lifting strength will drain them quickly, with an E affinity in Power and Arm.

• Technique and Finisher both have equal chances of happpening

As the match goes on, a luchador will get EXTREMELY exhausted, before pulling off a last minute comeback to activate their emergency reserves. Like the junior, they will always bounce of the ropes when thrown, to set up for things like tilt-a-whirl backbreakers and ranas.

Heels are a fun style, oriented around breaking the opponent's spirit and making them bleed first and foremost. If you want finesse, you'll need to look elsewhere.

• Heels will cheat to win, using both brawling moves and blatant, illegal moves to damage the opponent both physically and mentally. They get an A rating in Rough.
  
• They're pretty good at comedy spots when needed, with a B rating in Entertainment.
  
• Because they have an A rating in Rough, they can use weapons with less consequences than other styles
  
• Lastly, if you enjoy everyone hating you, performances while using Heel fight style will get you booed.

• Heels are not fancy -- technical moves get an E affinity
  
• Shoot kicks are also out of their wheelhouse with an E rating
  
• Top rope dives and other agility moves use up more stamina -- They have a D rating in it
  
• They lack the skill to effectively do joint locks, and as such using Joint moves will use up more of their stamina
  
• Speaking of which, because they work such a lazy style, they have pretty bad cardio and tire out quickly
  
• They cannot fly far off the top rope, and take more damage from missed dives

• Finisher
  
• Power

Heels start out strong out the gate, but as the match drags on, they begin running out of steam until the end, where they can barely catch their breath between moves. What's worse, because they are so limited in their skill scope, they struggle to do big moves without gassing themselves.

Typical Heel wrestlers are Master Togo (Mister Pogo) and Abdul the Danger (Abdullah the Butcher).

MUTA! MUTA! MUTA! THE GREATESTO . MUTA!

• Heeling it up with poison mist, hidden weapons, biting, and chokes -- Rough moves get A affinity
  
• They are also quite agile, with A affinity for Agility-based moves like the Rolling Solebutt and Rounding Body Press
  
• They are also quite technical, with a B rating for moves like the Frankensteiner and Dragon Screw
  

• They're ill suited to submission holds, with a D in joint and stretch moves
  
• Using power and arm moves will also use up more stamina, with a D rating there as well
  
• They have a D in MMA Overall, since the Mysterious style representative is not known for going all shooty on people
  
• Lastly, if you're a face-painted ninja, you have no time for joking around -- Mysterious style has an E affinity in Entertainment moves.

Although Muta was mostly a heel, he had his moments of working as a babyface, so he too gets the same stamina/health curve as the Orthodox style.

The last of the MMA/pro wrestling crossover styles, and the one that is the least wrestling-flavored, the shooter style is a hybrid fighter with no particular expertise in MMA. As such, it can be seen as the MMA-specific equivalent to Orthodox.

• None in particular -- though he has a B rating in every MMA-related attack parameter: strikes (punch and kick), submission (stretch and joint), suplexing, and MMA Overall.

• Not suited to rough strikes -- D affinity in Rough
  
• Anything wrestling related, like Technical, Power, Agility, Arm, and Entertainment, get an E rating.
  
• Poor running stamina -- sending him to the ropes drains his stamina quickly
  
• Poor match cardio in general.
  
• Short diving distance and more damage from missed dives.

• Strikes
  
• Submissions

Being from a sport where matches are done in short rounds, they tend to peter out quickly in a wrestling match, even with a B rating in so many types of moves.

Hey, I thought this was a game about grappling.

• They punch well
  
• They kick well
  
• They have a B in rough moves, for the occasional headbutt

• They cannot adequately do anything wrestling-related, or ground and pound related either for that matter. The only thing they don't have a D or E in is MMA Overall.
  
• They will NOT play nice with wrestlers. They have a high chance of outright no-selling a whip attempt, and even if the irish whip is successful, they stop in the ropes.
  
• Bad cardio
  
• Along with grapplers, they are tied for the shortest dive distance and most damage taken from missed dives

Fighters are pure strikers through and through, with punches, kicks, elbows, and knees as their forte and, for that matter, only area of expertise. K-1 fighters, boxers, and the like will be FIghters.

As mentioned above, this is the first of the MMA clases that simply will refuse to work a wrestling match with a pro wrestler. Irish whips are completely useless against them.

Furthermore, their stamina is the worst of any class of wrestler outside of Giant. They will tire quickly in the course of a match as they take damage.

Come at me, bro, I do BJJ, bro.

• They have an A in MMA Overall for ground tackling
  
• They also have an A in Punches for ground and pound!
  
• They are submission experts, with an A in joint and stretch
  
• And last, they can use rough techniques with an A affinity.

• They are not pro wrestlers. Any pro wrestling stat will drain their stamina quickly with an E affinity.
  
• Their kicks and throws are weak, with a D rating
  
• They quickly run out of breath if they do running moves
  
• And because they go all out, their stamina is short lived.
  
• Along with fighters, they have the shortest dive distance and take the most damage from a missed dive.
  
• And like fighters, they will NOT work a wrestling match with a pro wrestler.

• Submissions

Just like fighters, they do not play nice with pro wrestlers. They will yank their arm away at an attempted irish whip, and grab the ropes every time that they are successfully sent TO the ropes. And like fighters, they have very poor stamina--they go all out in a fight, expecting it to end in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes. Anything longer than that and they're spent. Their late-match stamina IS a bit better than a fighter's though.

Omae wa, Tora ni nare!

• Superhuman stamina reserves
  
• A affinity in Agility, Technical, and Kicks
  
• Not half bad at submissions--both joint and stretch--and MMA Overall, with a B affinity in all three
  
• Has long dive range and low damage from missing a dive
  
• Can run forever without getting winded

• Very few, but being a hero of justice means that they have an E affinity in rough moves
  
• They also get an D in Power and Arm moves.

• Finisher

Behold, the most situational of fight styles in Fire Pro.

• Choking and headbutting dudes -- they have an A with Rough techniques
  
• They can punch and chop people well enough too, with a B in Punch.
  
• When combined with the Giant return style, it effectively locks off most of the moves in-game from use against that wrestler

• They have D and E affinities for everything else.
  
• They have very low stamina -- even walking tires them quickly.
  
• As a fight style, it's basically useless without its corresponding return style.

• Finisher
  
• Power

On the bright side, giant-style wrestlers with power criticals can score them relatively easily. Unfortunately, that takes a lot out of them too.

For those with Burning Fighting Spirit, there is Vicious Style.

• Being Victory Musashi/Antonio Inoki
  
• Having vicious stretch submissions -- A affinity
  
• Having a vicious Knuckle Arrow and Choke Sleeper neck crank -- A affinity in Rough
  
• Kicking Muhammed Ali in the shins - B affinity in Kick
  
• Joint submissions and Technical moves also get a B affinity
  
• Being the purveyor of Strong Style different-style matches, Vicious Style gives you a B in MMA Overall
  
• Good cardio

• Arm moves will drain your stamina easily, with an E affinity
  
• Agility moves are not an option, although there's always the Enzuigiri. D ranking in Agility.
  
• Power moves are also ranked D.
  
• And being so serious in defending the honor of pro wrestling, you have no time for comedy moves -- E ranking in Entertainment spots

• Finisher

He'll run the ropes pretty regularly up until the very end of a match, where he gets his second wind, gets that babyface fire, and begins no-selling stuff.