SHOWTIME!The Promo Guide
500-Word Hard Limit
The promo itself may not exceed 500 words. This is a hard limit.
+250-Word Setup Allowance
Up to 250 additional words are available for setup and formatting only — scene, location, visual context, how the camera finds the character. Not extra promo space.
The Format
The promo itself has a 500-word hard limit.
There is also an optional allowance of up to 250 words for setup and formatting: scene establishment, location, relevant visual details, how the camera finds the character, or other presentation context.
That optional allowance is not an extra 250 words for the promo. It exists to frame the performance, not to hide another speech outside the limit.
Why Micropromos?
Television moves quickly. Attention is valuable. Not every thought needs three paragraphs to arrive.
The format asks you to decide what matters most. Every sentence should earn its place.
Write the Character
Do not write a generic wrestling promo and simply attach your character's name to it.
What does this person notice? What do they avoid? How do they talk when they are angry, confident, embarrassed, frightened, amused, or lying? What do they want?
Voice matters more than length.
Make It Accomplish Something
A promo should do at least one useful thing: reveal something, change something, establish a problem, answer a challenge, create anticipation, expose a contradiction, or make the audience want to see what happens next.
It does not need to solve everything.
Say Less. Mean More.
Do not waste words explaining what the reader already understands. Trust the audience to connect dots.
Concision is not emptiness. A short promo can still be funny, emotional, threatening, strange, subtle, or deeply personal.
Tone Is Yours
Not every promo has to be deadly serious. SHOWTIME! has room for comedy, awkwardness, arrogance, sincerity, absurdity, menace, and everything in between.
The question is not whether your tone is serious enough. The question is whether it feels like your character and whether it belongs on the show.
Other People's Characters
You may talk about another character. You may challenge them, insult them, threaten them, allude to them, or throw verbal jabs.
You may not write their dialogue, thoughts, actions, decisions, or reactions as if you control them without their involvement or approval.
Where to Submit
Submit your promo as a post inside your designated match location in the respective show's forum.
Deadlines
Know your deadline. Deliver before it. If real life gets in the way, communicate.
The production can work around a problem it knows exists. It cannot reliably work around silence.
Take the Risk
The goal is not to produce the safest possible promo.
Try something. Let the character be strange. Let them fail. Let them be funny when everyone expects anger, quiet when everyone expects a speech, or honest when a lie would be easier.
You do not have many words. Use that limitation as a creative tool.
Write with purpose. Protect the other performers' agency. Deliver your material. Give the production something worth putting on television.
Make every word count.