1981, in wrestling's golden age. Colossal Wrestling was a big name on the East Coast and the Colossal Wrestling American Heavyweight title had one of the most illustrious histories in the sport. The names that rose and fell in Colossal Wrestling's twenty-year history thus far under promoter Richard “Bud” Wilson were many. Already, Colossal boasted local television roundups with its weekly Saturday Slam Fever shows and well-advertised bi-monthly Super Sunday cards. Built on the philosophy of promoting larger-than-life characters while still believing that there should be something for everybody, Colossal was on the verge of going national.
In October of 1980 at Super Sunday, “New Glory” Robin Attica defeated Steven Sage and became the promotion's first black champion. At first, he was hailed as a fan favorite, but his inexplicable turn on fellow favorite Benji Peters made him hated by many. Eventually, a series of spats with booker Tom Franklin would result in Attica being stripped of the title. The intense speculation following this act drew a lot of attention to Colossal Wrestling. If there was ever a time to hit the national market, this was it.
But how? A short time after the stripping of the title from Attica and a great interest in who the new champion would be, Franklin was ready to put forth his solution. There would be a tournament, a veritable Tournament of Titans, to decide the new American Heavyweight champion, which would end with a grand finale match held at the June supercard which would bear the tournament's name.
Robin Attica made his way down to the ring immediately to put his name in the running. Unexpectedly, Tom Franklin stood his ground in the middle of that ring and told Robin Attica off, saying in plain words that Attica would not be taking part in the tournament, that he would not be getting the title back, and that Franklin was the man in charge, not Attica. With Sage having defected to Minnesota Championship Wrestling and Ben Peters injured, there were no longer any clear candidates. So who? Who would take part in this grand contest that would go on to shape the future of the inimitable Colossal Wrestling?
WHAT IS THE TOURNAMENT OF TITANS?
The Tournament of Titans is a tournament, as the name implies, with a gimmick rooted in golden-age wrestling. The idea behind the presentation of the tournament is to mimic a documentary that takes an in-depth look at the tournament and the people involved in it. Thus, the storytelling involved will operate on three levels: the in-ring feuds and stories, the trials and relationships of the characters out of the ring, and historical analysis of the event.
The Tournament of Titans will definitely require a lot of cooperation between players. Developing relationships in- and out-of-ring between characters, handled and not, is important. The idea is to create a compelling narrative through these historical threads. It's competitive, sure, but the competition shouldn't be vicious.
HOW'S IT GOING TO WORK?
It'll be a sixteen-man tournament, so five rounds of play. The applications taken will be considered based not on a first-come/first-serve basis, buton the strength and variety of the character as well as how well I think I'll be able to work with the handler (discussed below). Similarly, many of the elements will be discussed and decided upon according to characters and storylines, including the booking of the initial tournament spots.
When applications are done, there'll be a short period to flesh out the characters in the history. For example, Wrestler A and Wrestler B might decide to have been involved in a feud sometime earlier in the promotion's history and still have some bad blood. This kind of backstory helps make more compelling stories, especially when they can be worked into the matches themselves.
The matches will, on the other hand, be decided based on the strength of RPs. RPing is to be done in the style of a wrestling documentary, which is to say, it should form a short segment of a documentary that centers on the character and their place in the tournament (discussed below). All the RPs will be fit into the “finished product” every week (or two weeks or whatever), so it'll form something like a documentary.
HOW WILL ROLEPLAYS WORK?
The first thing to remember is that you're writing like it's a documentary. It's not a straight-narrative. It's not a monologue. It's a mixture of footage, interviews, narration, etc. The second thing to remember is that the idea is that the documentary is being filmed recently, using people still alive as well as archival footage. People are not only older, but some have died, people have changing relationships, etc. etc.
There are two main objectives with the RPs: first, to create a compelling look at that piece of history, and second, to keep to the documentary style and use it interestingly. Even though you could have an entire section that is just a single take of a promo by the character, that isn't really how documentaries work.
I will judge. If I need to get a few other judges to help me out, especially in the early rounds, I'll do so, but it'll definitely be one judge per match. If you are seriously concerned with winning above all else and therefore extra concerned that it's not going to be fair because there aren't multiple judges, well, I don't know if I can help you.
HOW WILL APPLICATIONS WORK?
It'll be a short application, just telling me about the character in general terms. Keep in mind that there'll be a definite fleshing out and tweaking of the character once we get in to help them work with other characters, so if you're not into that, this probably isn't going to be for you. Don't gimme a character that you're using in feds now unless that guy is 52 now.
Two things to keep in mind are the time and variety. Nobody was doing imploding 450 splashes in 1981, so don't. There were no wrestlers with giant neon green liberty spikes in '81, so don't. Don't be extra constrained, but I'm trying to keep things fairly realistic considering the time frame. And for the other, I can't have 16 Hulk Hogans any more than I can have 16 Shawn Michaels(es?). I want a variety in characters, young and old, hoss and high flier, different nationalities, etc. And keep in mind that you've got the opportunity to present a character that has died in the years since this tournament occurred.
About acceptances, there are two main things: firstly, whether or not your character's intriguing, and secondly, whether or not I think I can work well with you. Does this mean that people I know will have a better chance of getting in? Absolutely. I'm not in this to give myself a chore. But I won't take only my friends if I can help it. What I want is to get people I know and people I think are good together to make this work.
WHAT'S THE TIMEFRAME?
The summer, ideally, running into the early fall. I'm flexible as to when exactly this happens and it'll be discussed with the people who are in it. The rounds should happen quickly, anywhere from weekly to bi-weekly, with RP periods of at least five days.
Do people have other feds they're dedicated to? Sure. Is this my problem? Not really. Apply if you think you have the time to do it. If you don't, don't sweat it. As I said, after all the applications have been sorted out, there'll be a discussion on exactly how things will play out time-wise, so we'll try to accomodate for people's needs.
WHERE DO I APPLY?
Head over to http://titans.supremepixels.com/application.htm to find the application and send it to me at the e-mail address provided. Applications are being accepted up until June 15th.
You can find the website at http://titans.supremepixels.com.
In October of 1980 at Super Sunday, “New Glory” Robin Attica defeated Steven Sage and became the promotion's first black champion. At first, he was hailed as a fan favorite, but his inexplicable turn on fellow favorite Benji Peters made him hated by many. Eventually, a series of spats with booker Tom Franklin would result in Attica being stripped of the title. The intense speculation following this act drew a lot of attention to Colossal Wrestling. If there was ever a time to hit the national market, this was it.
But how? A short time after the stripping of the title from Attica and a great interest in who the new champion would be, Franklin was ready to put forth his solution. There would be a tournament, a veritable Tournament of Titans, to decide the new American Heavyweight champion, which would end with a grand finale match held at the June supercard which would bear the tournament's name.
Robin Attica made his way down to the ring immediately to put his name in the running. Unexpectedly, Tom Franklin stood his ground in the middle of that ring and told Robin Attica off, saying in plain words that Attica would not be taking part in the tournament, that he would not be getting the title back, and that Franklin was the man in charge, not Attica. With Sage having defected to Minnesota Championship Wrestling and Ben Peters injured, there were no longer any clear candidates. So who? Who would take part in this grand contest that would go on to shape the future of the inimitable Colossal Wrestling?
WHAT IS THE TOURNAMENT OF TITANS?
The Tournament of Titans is a tournament, as the name implies, with a gimmick rooted in golden-age wrestling. The idea behind the presentation of the tournament is to mimic a documentary that takes an in-depth look at the tournament and the people involved in it. Thus, the storytelling involved will operate on three levels: the in-ring feuds and stories, the trials and relationships of the characters out of the ring, and historical analysis of the event.
The Tournament of Titans will definitely require a lot of cooperation between players. Developing relationships in- and out-of-ring between characters, handled and not, is important. The idea is to create a compelling narrative through these historical threads. It's competitive, sure, but the competition shouldn't be vicious.
HOW'S IT GOING TO WORK?
It'll be a sixteen-man tournament, so five rounds of play. The applications taken will be considered based not on a first-come/first-serve basis, buton the strength and variety of the character as well as how well I think I'll be able to work with the handler (discussed below). Similarly, many of the elements will be discussed and decided upon according to characters and storylines, including the booking of the initial tournament spots.
When applications are done, there'll be a short period to flesh out the characters in the history. For example, Wrestler A and Wrestler B might decide to have been involved in a feud sometime earlier in the promotion's history and still have some bad blood. This kind of backstory helps make more compelling stories, especially when they can be worked into the matches themselves.
The matches will, on the other hand, be decided based on the strength of RPs. RPing is to be done in the style of a wrestling documentary, which is to say, it should form a short segment of a documentary that centers on the character and their place in the tournament (discussed below). All the RPs will be fit into the “finished product” every week (or two weeks or whatever), so it'll form something like a documentary.
HOW WILL ROLEPLAYS WORK?
The first thing to remember is that you're writing like it's a documentary. It's not a straight-narrative. It's not a monologue. It's a mixture of footage, interviews, narration, etc. The second thing to remember is that the idea is that the documentary is being filmed recently, using people still alive as well as archival footage. People are not only older, but some have died, people have changing relationships, etc. etc.
There are two main objectives with the RPs: first, to create a compelling look at that piece of history, and second, to keep to the documentary style and use it interestingly. Even though you could have an entire section that is just a single take of a promo by the character, that isn't really how documentaries work.
I will judge. If I need to get a few other judges to help me out, especially in the early rounds, I'll do so, but it'll definitely be one judge per match. If you are seriously concerned with winning above all else and therefore extra concerned that it's not going to be fair because there aren't multiple judges, well, I don't know if I can help you.
HOW WILL APPLICATIONS WORK?
It'll be a short application, just telling me about the character in general terms. Keep in mind that there'll be a definite fleshing out and tweaking of the character once we get in to help them work with other characters, so if you're not into that, this probably isn't going to be for you. Don't gimme a character that you're using in feds now unless that guy is 52 now.
Two things to keep in mind are the time and variety. Nobody was doing imploding 450 splashes in 1981, so don't. There were no wrestlers with giant neon green liberty spikes in '81, so don't. Don't be extra constrained, but I'm trying to keep things fairly realistic considering the time frame. And for the other, I can't have 16 Hulk Hogans any more than I can have 16 Shawn Michaels(es?). I want a variety in characters, young and old, hoss and high flier, different nationalities, etc. And keep in mind that you've got the opportunity to present a character that has died in the years since this tournament occurred.
About acceptances, there are two main things: firstly, whether or not your character's intriguing, and secondly, whether or not I think I can work well with you. Does this mean that people I know will have a better chance of getting in? Absolutely. I'm not in this to give myself a chore. But I won't take only my friends if I can help it. What I want is to get people I know and people I think are good together to make this work.
WHAT'S THE TIMEFRAME?
The summer, ideally, running into the early fall. I'm flexible as to when exactly this happens and it'll be discussed with the people who are in it. The rounds should happen quickly, anywhere from weekly to bi-weekly, with RP periods of at least five days.
Do people have other feds they're dedicated to? Sure. Is this my problem? Not really. Apply if you think you have the time to do it. If you don't, don't sweat it. As I said, after all the applications have been sorted out, there'll be a discussion on exactly how things will play out time-wise, so we'll try to accomodate for people's needs.
WHERE DO I APPLY?
Head over to http://titans.supremepixels.com/application.htm to find the application and send it to me at the e-mail address provided. Applications are being accepted up until June 15th.
You can find the website at http://titans.supremepixels.com.