And...One Final Idea

[JStarr]

Now that the board is back, and we're getting closer to the final four (hopefully) getting their entries submitted, what does the future hold for the King of the Dome brand? Well, I want to solicit opinions on an idea that I think will be slightly less labor-intensive than what we've been doing this past month and change.

Remember the Royal Rumble competition? Dukes' DOA Elimination Chamber comp? Well, picture different variations on many of wrestling's great gimmick matches every other month, as part of a year-round competition tying together the ability to extemporaneously put together a great gimmick match and the ability to produce memorable diary work.

Here's what I'm getting at:

--Every odd-numbered month, 10 competitors and two alternates will receive an assignment of a different gimmick match. Could be a TLC match, could be a Texas Death Match, whatever. There may be restrictions of eligible workers, or we could go completely fantasy and free-for-all. It could be modern-day, it could be set in the '80s. Competitors will receive that info before they choose to sign up.

--As usual, entries would be PM'd to me and posted anonymously. Fan voting would decide the winners. Ties would be broken by order in which I received the entry. If a competitor is unable to submit their entry, an alternate will be pulled in to take their place. If there is no alternate entry to replace the original writer, whether due to the alternates not doing the work or being the third entry to pull out, that writer gets muted for five days. Alternates who don't submit and cause someone else to get a suspension will get the same penalty.

--In the even-numbered months, diaries come into play. The challengers may be asked to post their favorite promo from their diary, or maybe their WORST show. We get back to the old-school KOTD style a bit, as it used to be all about the best show. It will be pointless to post these anonymously, as most will be easily recognizable. So, voters will be asked to submit their top three choices (again, out of 10) and a short reason why. Accent on short, as requests like this used to kill old KOTD comps, but it must be something stronger than just "DMN RoxXXx!" or some such drivel.

--As I mentioned, this is year-round. Therefore, a points system comes into play. Winning a comp nets a writer 20 points. 2nd gets 18, 3rd 16, and so on down to 10th getting two. Alternates will also get two points just for doing the work, as well as a spot in the following month's challenge. The top three finishers each month also get guaranteed spots the next month, if they so choose. There is no penalty for pulling out in advance.

--Each January will bring another Rumble comp, and the winner gets a guaranteed spot in March's Money in the Bank comp along with the top six overall finishers. Winner of that challenge will be crowned that year's King of the Dome.

--In addition to continuing to host KOTD, this forum would also host any other battles that may arise. These can be done unranked, meaning battlers post their own entries and voting is open, or ranked, meaning under KOTD procedures. Ranked battles will net the winner 10 KOTD points, and any losers would get a smaller number dependent on number of competitors (in case of Triple Threat battles like the one we had with Downward Spiral and...um...the other two guys who were in the battle that is now no longer in Q&P).

Questions? Concerns? Rain on my parade? Let 'em fly.

[DMN in the House]

So, in the odd numbered months, you get entered without signing up, and thus risk a week's muting without your consent? I HAVE to be reading that wrong.

[MDP]

I'll assume there is a sign up of some sort.

[oldskool]

....worth a shot, I guess. I mean, one competition write-up and one from-the-vault C&P job every two months shouldn't be something people quit from.

I have the gut feeling that if it manages to make it a full year, some nobody would win merely by being one of the longest-running nobodies in the competition, and the whole thing will just get shit on.

As far as the 'gimmick months': I'd rather see the Rumble be an open invitation to anybody, just to make it a bit more interesting in the long run. Face it, if somebody not in the competition can come in and beat all of them in a one-battle writeup, can you really argue that they don't belong?

November would be a nice time for Survivor Series rules; split them into five-a-side teams, each team picks one of the two alternates to be "their" alternate, and you do it tournament style: each team has the same set of rules, each team member does a write-up for said rules (have this part end by the 15th, let's say). The decided on winners from each team get a point bonus (5? 10?) and go on to a set of different rules in a sudden death one-on-one matchup; winning guy gets 20, winning team gets 15, loser gets 10, losing team gets 5.

I'd go so far as to give the "present" KOTD tournament winner some points, to fill the King of the Ring PPV gap we lost. just based on when it's 'starting'.

[zero]

Personally, I think the only issue is this is a bit too in-depth. A year-long commitment is a lot to expect, even if it is just one post or a copy and paste every month. I would say divide the idea into four seasons at least to keep it fresh. I mean, once someone falls behind, there's little incentive to keep participating.

Edited July 10, 2008 by Zero

[FireDoughnut]

Whatever it is... I'll play

[Thrilla]

I'm game.

[JStarr]

So, in the odd numbered months, you get entered without signing up, and thus risk a week's muting without your consent? I HAVE to be reading that wrong.

There are always signups. Nobody's getting their arm twisted to get into anything. But once they're selected, they're in for that month.

....worth a shot, I guess. I mean, one competition write-up and one from-the-vault C&P job every two months shouldn't be something people quit from.

I have the gut feeling that if it manages to make it a full year, some nobody would win merely by being one of the longest-running nobodies in the competition, and the whole thing will just get shit on.

If all we get is "nobodies" entering, then the "somebodies" really have nothing to complain about.

As far as the 'gimmick months': I'd rather see the Rumble be an open invitation to anybody, just to make it a bit more interesting in the long run. Face it, if somebody not in the competition can come in and beat all of them in a one-battle writeup, can you really argue that they don't belong?

If 21 people decide to enter, that'd be a lot of reading that many people just wouldn't want to do, and voting would plummet...just like the least few "old-school" KOTD's.

November would be a nice time for Survivor Series rules; split them into five-a-side teams, each team picks one of the two alternates to be "their" alternate, and you do it tournament style: each team has the same set of rules, each team member does a write-up for said rules (have this part end by the 15th, let's say). The decided on winners from each team get a point bonus (5? 10?) and go on to a set of different rules in a sudden death one-on-one matchup; winning guy gets 20, winning team gets 15, loser gets 10, losing team gets 5.

A nice idea, until you got to the second set of rules part. Maybe divide everyone into teams, and the winner's team get an extra couple of points each as a bonus. Top finishers on each team have the option to do a winner-take-all ranked battle on their own sometime during December?

I'd go so far as to give the "present" KOTD tournament winner some points, to fill the King of the Ring PPV gap we lost. just based on when it's 'starting'.

The final four will each get points (winner=30, 2nd=20, 3rd=10, 4th=5) and a spot in August's challenge, should they choose to accept it. That'd be the first diary-based challenge, lest anyone freak about having to write again so soon.

Personally, I think the only issue is this is a bit too in-depth. A year-long commitment is a lot to expect, even if it is just one post or a copy and paste every month. I would say divide the idea into four seasons at least to keep it fresh. I mean, once someone falls behind, there's little incentive to keep participating.

In selections each month, I'll usually lean toward the guys who could use the points, to try and keep the thing tight near the end. And, the guys that are in front will usually get their rest that way if they didn't make top-three the previous month.

[oldskool]

If 21 people decide to enter, that'd be a lot of reading that many people just wouldn't want to do, and voting would plummet...just like the least few "old-school" KOTD's.

Maybe if it was a really short entry, like just a promo or something, it could work, but anything else would definitely take too long & stall the voting, I agree.

[Essa]

One way of fixing that could be assigning some sort of division structure to it, with a judge running that particular division. So, say if twenty people signed up, you could split them in something like four divisions of five or five divisions of four, and then have a separate judge to judge each division. It might get a little bit tricky as the shit moves on, but it could be a decent starting point.