[jrider99]

I think I've settled in on what slider adjustments I'm going with (at least until I get better at the game).

I've lowered both momentum sliders and raised both damage sliders (weapon, finisher). I've also lowered the AI reversal rates across the board by 3-4 clicks, with the exception of finisher and foreign object (which I both raised slightly). I'm also going with Hard difficulty instead of Legend.

I've had the best matches with these settings. I can control the match against a lesser opponent, have competitive bouts against similarly matched guys, and need to wrestle a perfect match to have a chance against anyone ranked significantly higher than me. But most importantly, each match has been really, really fun. I'm still seeing plenty of reversals from the AI, but with the lower settings I'm not seeing as many reversals when my opponent is groggy.

I just had a match of the year caliber contest between Orton (me) and Mason Ryan (who, BTW, is an absolute beast). I was in control early, but he rallied and we went back and forth for a while. I continued to work his legs in hopes of slowing him down, and it worked. I was able to regain control and hit all of Orton's vintage moves. I did my wakeup taunt and had him in position for the RKO, but he blocked it and tossed me aside like a rag doll. That gave him a big boost of momentum and he hit me with his finishing move. I used Orton's resiliency skill to kick out of the pin, then triggered my comeback moment. I was able to nail all three phases and got a signature move in return. I hit that, then did the wakeup taunt and nailed the RKO for the win. It flowed just like a WWE match should, and Orton going through his progession of moves at the end looked like it was ripped from an episode of Smackdown.

Obviously my settings aren't going to be for everyone. I'm no expert and I'm sure some of you guys will be able to run circles around the AI on the highest difficulty level. But for me, at least, I'm getting a great challenge and having a blast.