Post by Roberto Verona on Mar 12, 2024 0:54:09 GMT
Purpose
The original IWF Gladiators concept in 2014 was a short tournament to provide handlers with an opportunity to essentially “test run” a gimmick or character concept without the pressure of a long-term commitment. Although it didn’t become a permanent feature in the fed it was always something I wanted to look at reincorporating in the future with an established “brand” with historic roots to the very beginning of IWF.
The purpose of the new IWF Gladiators Division is to provide an environment for handlers to develop new characters or reinvent old ones within a low-risk environment that produces on-screen talent for bookings to help enhance main roster characters and establish the new generation of performance centre talent. In kayfabe the IWF Gladiators Division will be a way for the company to showcase the next generation of wrestlers on television to establish members of its performance centre by testing them against each other and more established names – very similar to the way that WWE runs NXT.
The division will allow handlers to establish characters “on screen” and gradually develop them through storylines that will provide them with a platform and richer canon recognised history to take forward higher up the card. The entire purpose really is to provide you with the opportunity to develop new characters with less pressure who you can take forward with more of an established background onto the main roster.
I know personally throughout the years many handlers have had a plethora of ideas for new characters they’d like to try but just haven’t pulled the trigger on. Whether they were concerned that the commitment may impact their more established wrestlers or because they felt a lot of pressure for these new characters to hit the ground running, these interesting potential concepts never saw the light of day.
It doesn’t need to just be for new characters either, it is also a perfect opportunity for handlers looking to do a “reset” on an older character or try out a gimmick change as well within a much more relaxed environment. I think everybody has been in a position where a character – for whatever reason – just isn’t clicking or has perhaps reached the end of whatever story cycle you had planned for them. The IWF Gladiators Division is a great opportunity to try to re-invent them rather than taking the frustrated root of permanently shelving a character who maybe just needs to be worked on without the subconscious pressure of the main roster.
The secondary purpose of the division is to provide active enhancement talent for main roster characters to help develop existing storylines or build up their momentum. Remember – the purpose of the IWF Gladiators Division is not to worry about wins or losses, but to develop new character ideas or reinvent existing gimmicks in a low-pressure environment. Once you’re ready to graduate your character to the main roster they will be able to join the more competitive environment and be booked accordingly.
This means that Gladiators booked against main roster talent are more likely to lose – with the exception of angled finishes or if the main roster member failing to roleplay, in which case they will be awarded victories. These bookings will work both ways, Gladiators are here to provide main roster characters with somebody to bounce off from for their roleplay (which “jobbers” or NPCs may not do), this effort needs to be reciprocated by the handlers of the main roster characters. If you fail to show up for bookings against Gladiators, you will be at risk of losing.
How will it work?
Unlike NXT, the Gladiators will initially be a part of the main television shows – Sacrifice and Odyssey – rather than their own standalone show booked on a separate day. Gladiators will receive two types of bookings – against one another on a new pre-show called Coliseum or against established main roster characters on the main cards of Sacrifice and Odyssey.
Coliseum will be a summarised pre-show exclusively for members of the IWF Gladiators Division to compete exclusively against one another. Matches on Coliseum will have a 500 word limit for “trash talk” but an unlimited word limit for “character development.” In basic terms, “trash talk” is the promo section of a roleplay where you directly address the match, your opponent or wider ambitions and the “character development” is the story driven elements where you develop the gimmick through dialogue with secondary characters or dramatic set pieces.
This word limit will subject to change depending once we’ve had an opportunity to see whether it is the right size or not. The level of detail Coliseum will enjoy will also be subject to change depending on the level of support staff to avoid any over-extension.
Gladiators booked on the main show will largely be used as enhancement talent for established main roster characters to help build their momentum and further existing storylines. Characters booked on the main show will be afforded a larger word limit (set on the card itself) to continue their development without any competitive pressure – this includes matches between Gladiators (the smaller limit is for Coliseum only unless otherwise stated).
Handlers who wish to transition their Gladiators towards “graduation” to the main roster are encouraged to discuss this with myself so we can organise this appropriately (i.e. we could begin to involve them in a storyline with a main roster character which brings them onto the main roster). Bare in mind that this your choice, you can always keep them permanently in the Gladiators Division if you wish, you will never be forced to graduate them and you can always “demote” characters as well.
IWF World Television Championship
As announced on Sacrifice (12th March 2024), contenders for IWF World Television Championship will be selected by IWF members (“the fans”) through a weekly poll in advance of the next card – restricted to one vote per member – from a pool of selected characters from both the main roster and the Gladiators.
The belt will be defended each week on Sacrifice or Odyssey (the televised weekly shows) under their specific rules with a 1000 word limit for “trash talk” and an unlimited word limit for “character development.” This may be subject to change, but the idea is to create a competitive title without a huge increase in workload for those running Gladiators prematurely.
This means that it may be defended under intergender rules on Odyssey, but will be restricted to the gender of the champion on Sacrifice – unless the handler specifically opts out of intergender for that character, in which case the contenders will be selected according to Sacrifice rules regardless of the show. Likewise, handlers who are not ready for their characters to potentially transition to a more prominent booking can effectively “opt” out of being eligible to win the belt in private to myself (it doesn’t mean you can’t be in title matches – you just won’t win).
On PPVs, multi person number one contender’s matches will be held to determine the contender for the following television show – to maintain the distinction that it is a belt “defended on television.”
Going forward the IWF World Television Championship will evolve to operate as a pathway between the Gladiators Division and the main roster, allowing handlers to either showcase their Gladiators in a more prominent position or transition them to the main roster. It will also allow main roster characters who’ve yet to become established – or who would like to work with the next generation – the opportunity to compete for a belt and be involved in storylines surrounding the Gladiators Division and build up their IWF canon.
It is important to note that this will be gradual transition – the current belt is held by a prominent main roster member, but over time it will evolve into a “gateway” belt between the Gladiator’s Division and the main roster. The transition towards weekly television defences and elected contenders will be the first stage of this evolution.
Launch
The division will not be launching until after High Stakes (deadline Tuesday 2nd April for card posted on 3rd April) – this means that you have until next month to work on any new ideas you may have, move any pre-existing characters or sign-up older characters you’d like to resurrect and begin to reinvent.
If you have ever considered running a new character – or just want to be involved in running low pressure enhancement characters – now is the time to give that some consideration! Remember the idea is to have fun and try out new ideas without the pressure of a main roster competitive environment.
The original IWF Gladiators concept in 2014 was a short tournament to provide handlers with an opportunity to essentially “test run” a gimmick or character concept without the pressure of a long-term commitment. Although it didn’t become a permanent feature in the fed it was always something I wanted to look at reincorporating in the future with an established “brand” with historic roots to the very beginning of IWF.
The purpose of the new IWF Gladiators Division is to provide an environment for handlers to develop new characters or reinvent old ones within a low-risk environment that produces on-screen talent for bookings to help enhance main roster characters and establish the new generation of performance centre talent. In kayfabe the IWF Gladiators Division will be a way for the company to showcase the next generation of wrestlers on television to establish members of its performance centre by testing them against each other and more established names – very similar to the way that WWE runs NXT.
The division will allow handlers to establish characters “on screen” and gradually develop them through storylines that will provide them with a platform and richer canon recognised history to take forward higher up the card. The entire purpose really is to provide you with the opportunity to develop new characters with less pressure who you can take forward with more of an established background onto the main roster.
I know personally throughout the years many handlers have had a plethora of ideas for new characters they’d like to try but just haven’t pulled the trigger on. Whether they were concerned that the commitment may impact their more established wrestlers or because they felt a lot of pressure for these new characters to hit the ground running, these interesting potential concepts never saw the light of day.
It doesn’t need to just be for new characters either, it is also a perfect opportunity for handlers looking to do a “reset” on an older character or try out a gimmick change as well within a much more relaxed environment. I think everybody has been in a position where a character – for whatever reason – just isn’t clicking or has perhaps reached the end of whatever story cycle you had planned for them. The IWF Gladiators Division is a great opportunity to try to re-invent them rather than taking the frustrated root of permanently shelving a character who maybe just needs to be worked on without the subconscious pressure of the main roster.
The secondary purpose of the division is to provide active enhancement talent for main roster characters to help develop existing storylines or build up their momentum. Remember – the purpose of the IWF Gladiators Division is not to worry about wins or losses, but to develop new character ideas or reinvent existing gimmicks in a low-pressure environment. Once you’re ready to graduate your character to the main roster they will be able to join the more competitive environment and be booked accordingly.
This means that Gladiators booked against main roster talent are more likely to lose – with the exception of angled finishes or if the main roster member failing to roleplay, in which case they will be awarded victories. These bookings will work both ways, Gladiators are here to provide main roster characters with somebody to bounce off from for their roleplay (which “jobbers” or NPCs may not do), this effort needs to be reciprocated by the handlers of the main roster characters. If you fail to show up for bookings against Gladiators, you will be at risk of losing.
How will it work?
Unlike NXT, the Gladiators will initially be a part of the main television shows – Sacrifice and Odyssey – rather than their own standalone show booked on a separate day. Gladiators will receive two types of bookings – against one another on a new pre-show called Coliseum or against established main roster characters on the main cards of Sacrifice and Odyssey.
Coliseum will be a summarised pre-show exclusively for members of the IWF Gladiators Division to compete exclusively against one another. Matches on Coliseum will have a 500 word limit for “trash talk” but an unlimited word limit for “character development.” In basic terms, “trash talk” is the promo section of a roleplay where you directly address the match, your opponent or wider ambitions and the “character development” is the story driven elements where you develop the gimmick through dialogue with secondary characters or dramatic set pieces.
This word limit will subject to change depending once we’ve had an opportunity to see whether it is the right size or not. The level of detail Coliseum will enjoy will also be subject to change depending on the level of support staff to avoid any over-extension.
Gladiators booked on the main show will largely be used as enhancement talent for established main roster characters to help build their momentum and further existing storylines. Characters booked on the main show will be afforded a larger word limit (set on the card itself) to continue their development without any competitive pressure – this includes matches between Gladiators (the smaller limit is for Coliseum only unless otherwise stated).
Handlers who wish to transition their Gladiators towards “graduation” to the main roster are encouraged to discuss this with myself so we can organise this appropriately (i.e. we could begin to involve them in a storyline with a main roster character which brings them onto the main roster). Bare in mind that this your choice, you can always keep them permanently in the Gladiators Division if you wish, you will never be forced to graduate them and you can always “demote” characters as well.
IWF World Television Championship
As announced on Sacrifice (12th March 2024), contenders for IWF World Television Championship will be selected by IWF members (“the fans”) through a weekly poll in advance of the next card – restricted to one vote per member – from a pool of selected characters from both the main roster and the Gladiators.
The belt will be defended each week on Sacrifice or Odyssey (the televised weekly shows) under their specific rules with a 1000 word limit for “trash talk” and an unlimited word limit for “character development.” This may be subject to change, but the idea is to create a competitive title without a huge increase in workload for those running Gladiators prematurely.
This means that it may be defended under intergender rules on Odyssey, but will be restricted to the gender of the champion on Sacrifice – unless the handler specifically opts out of intergender for that character, in which case the contenders will be selected according to Sacrifice rules regardless of the show. Likewise, handlers who are not ready for their characters to potentially transition to a more prominent booking can effectively “opt” out of being eligible to win the belt in private to myself (it doesn’t mean you can’t be in title matches – you just won’t win).
On PPVs, multi person number one contender’s matches will be held to determine the contender for the following television show – to maintain the distinction that it is a belt “defended on television.”
Going forward the IWF World Television Championship will evolve to operate as a pathway between the Gladiators Division and the main roster, allowing handlers to either showcase their Gladiators in a more prominent position or transition them to the main roster. It will also allow main roster characters who’ve yet to become established – or who would like to work with the next generation – the opportunity to compete for a belt and be involved in storylines surrounding the Gladiators Division and build up their IWF canon.
It is important to note that this will be gradual transition – the current belt is held by a prominent main roster member, but over time it will evolve into a “gateway” belt between the Gladiator’s Division and the main roster. The transition towards weekly television defences and elected contenders will be the first stage of this evolution.
Launch
The division will not be launching until after High Stakes (deadline Tuesday 2nd April for card posted on 3rd April) – this means that you have until next month to work on any new ideas you may have, move any pre-existing characters or sign-up older characters you’d like to resurrect and begin to reinvent.
If you have ever considered running a new character – or just want to be involved in running low pressure enhancement characters – now is the time to give that some consideration! Remember the idea is to have fun and try out new ideas without the pressure of a main roster competitive environment.
Well howdy there pardner.