Digital BW, The Print

Are there any rules or guidelines for choosing paper based on the tonality of an image or its contrast level? 

The reason I ask is that I have an image that looks good on the screen. It is relatively low contrast and I thought it might look good on a matte paper. I printed a small test print and it looks like mud. I'm sure I can work with both the image and the paper and find a combination that works, but I'd be interested in knowing if there rule for paper selection that could be used as a starting point.