I managed to dig through some of my old files and found a really old interview I had with Adam Jennings back in 2005! Adam Jennings is the solo game developer of a game called Promotion Wars, which is a professional wrestling booking simulator that allows you to run the everyday activities of a wrestling company. This is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) wrestling simulator that exists on the internet, free to download throughout the years.
As of now, it seems as though Promotion Wars has gone through a restoration project due to the diligence of its fans the game has acquired throughout the years after a long hiatus, and still gets updates to this day by Adam Jennings himself, which is pretty cool! I always found myself installing Promotion Wars on any new computer or laptop I had back in the day, running different real life wrestling companies like WWF or WCW the way I saw fit and booking whoever I personally wanted to win the World Heavyweight Title. I figured this would be a really cool addition to my website (and super nostalgic) since this pre-dates really any type of Twitch livestreaming or hardcore gaming and dives more into that era of my life.
I was honored that Adam took time out of his day to answer a few of my questions through email and have just held onto this interview throughout the years. Maybe some old school wrestling fans or Promotion Wars fans might enjoy seeing this!
You can find out more information about Promotion Wars and download the game by heading here: https://pwremastered.com/
Croakitoad: You and your game dynasty was actually nominated on a fan’s Top 100 Video Game list. Keep in mind this list is for “video games,” not wrestling SIM games. How do you feel about this?
Adam Jennings: Very surprised, and immensely flattered. Maybe they haven’t played many other games!
Croakitoad: When you first created what we all now call Promotion Wars back in the day, did you ever expect to have this many people supporting, or backing you and find this many friends on the internet?
Adam Jennings: When I first worked on Promotion Wars, I never even intended putting it on the internet – it was just a personal project. As I got closer to completing it, and I had the idea of putting it on the net, I was only expecting to get a few comments on a forum and then that would be it. I didn’t even have a web site. How it has turned out has completely blown away my expectations. I’m still amazed there are people who call themselves fans of my game, let alone people who make their own web sites dedicated to PW!
Croakitoad: There’s a lot of people out there who love to make moderations to Promotion Wars and change things up on the original game mode you made. Do you sometimes feel robbed when people change some of your programming to the game for their own satisfaction?
Adam Jennings: Well, none of the actual programming of the game can be changed. Only the information the game uses, like stats and images, can be changed. I’m glad that people do change it, and with each new version I’ve tried to make more of it edittable to the player. Its a vital part of the games lifespan to have lots of different scenarios and stats updates available to the players. It makes sure there is always something fresh about playing the game, rather than feeling like you’ve done everything that can be done.
Croakitoad: I’ve been a member and reader of the Promotion Wars forum for a while now and I’ve noticed you’ve got a lot of support and friends. Have you ever made any sworn enemies between the debut of the first Promotion Wars and current day?
Adam Jennings: I’m sure I made plenty of enemies back in 2001-2002. When I put PW onto the internet for the first time, I was still fairly new to the internet and to programming. Going from that, to so many people on the internet knowing me, and talking about me and my game on different web sites, being involved in running a message forum for the first time, making web sites for the first time, doing a lot of programming stuff for the first time, having the pressure of people waiting for me to finish making a game for the first time, and getting so many emails every day… its was an overwhelming experience, and like most things people to for the first time, I made mistakes. I handled some things badly, and it made a lot of people turn against me. Luckily, the enemies from that time have all moved onto something else now, so PW life these days is a lot more peaceful!
Croakitoad: An interesting question here.. Everybody knows you are the sole man in charge when it comes to the programming of Promotion Wars. Has anybody ever tried to take credit for what you accomplished?
Adam Jennings: Not that I’m aware of, although I did see somebody advertising their upcoming sim once – named Promotion Wars 2. This was before I’d attempted PW2 myself, and someone had just taken it upon themself to start making a sequel to it themselves. I emailed them and they respectfully agreed to use a different name. Then there was a time when a certain person whose name I forget now, but he became infamous on the PWSE site for announcing huge new games, promising graphics better than an X-Box game – and it turned out he hadn’t even began learning to program yet. Anyway, this guy once emailed me proposing that we work together on Promotion Wars 3. I declined, and he then told me that he was already about 25% complete with it (after about 2 weeks) and seemed put out that he’d have to scrap it!
Croakitoad: What’s your favorite video game of all time? Do you have an exact reason why this is your favorite pick?
Adam Jennings: I don’t know if it would count as a video game, but my favorite game of all time would be the football management game for the PC, Championship Manager 97/98. It was the most addictive game I’ve ever played, and was a big influence in Promotion Wars.
Croakitoad: What did you find to be the hardest part about building the Promotion Wars franchise. Was it the frustrating times dealing with obsessed fans, or did it have anything to do with the programming? Or.. could it have been the time juggling Promotion Wars with your life happenings?
Adam Jennings: The most difficult thing was probably adjusting to all the new situations I found myself in. The actual programming of PW 1.0 wasn’t too bad, because there was no expectation or pressure. Trying to then make a new version while dealing with the sudden popularity and spotlight, and trying to keep everybody happy by answering their questions and giving them as regular updates as I could without giving away too much or lose their interest by not updating enough… struggling with the programming and knowing that people were getting fed up of waiting… It was a hectic time, and not one I’d ever like to experience again.
Croakitoad: Everybody knows that Promotion Wars and Extreme Warfare Revenge have pretty much been the top dogs in the wrestling SIM game genre. Do you hold any grudges against EWR or Adam Ryland? Has anybody tried to start some negative politics between you two?
Adam Jennings: There was a definite rivalry between the games back in 2000/2001 – EW 9000 was the number 1, then PW came and overtook it in popularity, then Adam R hit back with EWD, and I think we were pretty neck and neck around then. It would have continued with PW2 against EWR, but things fell apart for PW and EWR went on to unheard of success. It was only natural during that time for each game to develop its own loyal group of followers who saw either me or the other Adam as the ‘enemy’. I think Adam R and myself both played up the rivalry between us a few times, though there was never any issues between us. If the WrestleXpress event in Coventry had gone as planned, Adam and I had actually agreed to meet up after the show. I commend Adam on the amazing success he’s had with EWR, and now to be making a living from it with TEW. The better man won the “war”.
Croakitoad: I just thought about this and found it pretty funny myself. Have you ever wondered the coincidence of the creators of Promotion Wars and Extreme Warfare Revenge both having the same first names?
Adam Jennings: It was a regular topic back in the day, to the point where people wondered if it was possible to have a successful wrestling sim if your name wasn’t Adam!
Croakitoad: Finally, a question that every interview with you has probably asked and you are probably getting tired of it. Do you have an exact timeframe when you may just out of the blue start working on the next building block in the Promotion Wars era?
Adam Jennings: Its a difficult thing to answer. There is lots that needs to be done to the PW series, but its been a long time since I had enough time to sit down and do it. Work on version 1.3 started in August 2003, and the final thing wasn’t released until October 2004. Its a big time-eater to fit around full time work and the increasing responsibilities of getting older. At some point, things will probably settle down more, and I may be able to give PW my full attention again. The problem is, I have no idea when that time will be, until it does actually arrive. What you can be sure of though, is that there is plenty more I want to do with PW, and we’re far from seeing my idea of the perfect Promotion Wars game.
Well, there you have it! A very old interview from the dusty vaults that I wanted to share with everybody! I hope some fans out there of wrestling or Promotion Wars gets a kick out of reading this nostalgic piece and I do want to thank Adam for taking the time to answer a few of my questions back in the day! I wish nothing but success for the future of Promotion Wars, and in today’s indie game climate, I could totally see the game being added to Steam at some point if the community really pushed hard enough for it to make a huge return!
