[Mr. Dashbee]

RULES THREAD

Listen, we've been doing this for over a decade now and we can grow and change! There are some new rules and a new "Pre-Draft" process in place to keep us from seeing and doing the same thing over and over. It might mean you can't use your favorite stipulation match this year. It's cool. Spread your wings and fly, butterfly!

You can place draft related questions in here and are free to PM Dashbee as well!

Basic Format: Draft your own wrestling company. 42 Rounds. Random Draft order to be determined. 40 Wrestlers/Authority Figures/Managers/Valets/Announcers etc..., 2 Specialty Picks. Book 5-6 cards. Vote. (Maybe) Win.

Opening Bell: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 at 8:00 PM Eastern.
 

• Picks can be made once Draft List is posted, but clocks do not start until the opening bell
• Pertinent dates will be posted in the draft thread

Lasers and Phasors:
The draft consists of four phases:

• Pre-Draff
  
• Regulation Draft
  
• Add/Drop
  
• Showdown

Pick Pick PickPickPick Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick (Picks and Clock Management):

• Each player has an 8 Hour Clock, beginning at the time of the previous pick
  
• In the event of a missed clock or an invalid pick, the next player is on the clock
• While the player who made the invalid pick may re-pick whenever they have the opportunity
• First missed clock = OOPS!
• Second missed clock = you are placed on 4-hour clocks moving forward
• Third missed clock = DOUBLE OOPS (you stay on the 4-hour clock)
• Fourth missed clock = yeah, we’re skipping you from now on
• In the event of ANY missed clock, you will be auto-skipped until you post in the draft board to indicate you’re back and make your missed selection(s)
• Players can only draft one roster member per pick
• If you have multiple picks on succession, those picks are considered one clock, and if you make less than the full number of successive picks, the missing picks will be skipped. You won’t be auto-skipped when your next turn comes up, and will not incur a missed-pick penalty.
• If you know you will not be available, it is recommended you leave a list with someone. If your list is exhausted, your clock will start and if it expires you will be skipped according to the rules above. If you leave a list with someone, they are picking as you, and any penalties are assessed to the owner of the pick.
• 2018 will be the first year of a regularly scheduled Mandatory Pause (see below)
• If you call your draft, you will be auto-skipped through the end of the Regulation Draft and will have the opportunity to fill any open roster spots during Add/Drop.
• There are 2 spots in the Pre-Draft, and 40 spots in the Regulation Draft
• If trades occur that gives someone more than 2 Pre-Draft or 40 Regulation Draft picks, the picks above the maximum number will be skipped unless subsequent trades open up the need to make more selections.
• Team drafts are allowed. Whenever the team's pick is on the clock, any team member may make a valid selection. Should there be a situation where members attempt to select different wrestlers with the same pick, the first posted pick stands. A similar standard will exist for submitting Trades, Add/Drop transactions & Submitting Cards. The first submission stands.

Where Are My MK Boards?: If someone wishes to volunteer to make MK images, great. Otherwise each roster will be listed below the draft order and updated as often as possible. We all have jobs and lives, so do not rely on the Roster list to tell you exactly who is still "On the Board." If you chose to do the MK Boards, Dashbee will buy you a t-shirt from Pro Wrestling Tees. Seriously. I love the MK Boards!

PRE-DRAFT? What Is This Sorcery???:
The Pre-Draft is new for 2018. The first two rounds of the draft are reserved for “Specialty Picks” to both aid in storytelling and prevent match duplication in the showdowns. For some of you this will be hard. But you can do it!

• During the Pre-Draft, you have two choices at your disposal to pick from these categories: Authority Figure, Specialty Match/Format, and Arena.
• An Authority Figure selected in Pre-Draft can only serve as an authority figure, they cannot be involved in your card in any other way (including announcer). They are there to help you tell the story of your draft, if you choose to do so, without using an early pick on authority figure.
• If you select a stipulation match, no one else can use that match during the showdowns. Traditional singles, tag team, six-person tag team, women’s, and inter-gender matches, and championship matches are not eligible for selection.
• If you select an arena, no one else can use that arena.
  
• You have two picks, and you are allowed to use both of them on the same thing (2 Arenas, 2 Specialty Matches, 2 Arenas) if you choose.
  
• You can waive a pre-draft selection if you don't have a use for it.
• A Pre-Draft item is a tradable commodity, and these picks can be traded.
• This is new, so if you are unsure, please ask!

Stop And Smell The Draft Picks: The last handful of years have moved too fast. This year, we will institute the Mandatory Pause! No picks can be made during a Pause, allowing us to ensure all rosters are up to date and to give people time to develop and tell their stories (if they chose to).

Pause Times:

• 12:00 Midnight eastern Sunday night to 8:00 AM Monday (8 hours in total)
• 12:00 Midnight Wednesday night to 8:00 AM Thursday (8 hours in total)

In addition, there will be no clocks over the weekend. Clocks will stop at 12:00 Midnight Friday night through the start of the Pause as 12:00 Midnight eastern Sunday night, and restart at 8:00 AM on Monday. However, picks can still be made until the Pause begins.

There will be no pause on the day the clocks begin, since it's a Wednesday.

Updated Roster Standards:

• Each player has 40 total roster spots to be filled during the Regulation Draft, in addition to two optional Pre-Draft spots, as well as 5 additional selections during Add/Drop. Not counting the two Pre-Draft selections, the maximum roster size of 45 wrestlers/announcers/referees/etc.
• 2 of your picks are for announcers. Announcers cannot do anything but announce on each card submitted. Announcers may change from card to card. Your announcers may be ring announcers, commentators, backstage interviewers, etc. They cannot be selected during the Pre-Draft rounds.

Arena Picks: With the advent of the Pre-Draft, you are no longer required to pick an arena. Unless picks in the Pre-Draft rounds, any arena is open to you to use. Your arena must exist on this planet and be able to realistically host a pro wrestling event. Questionable arenas should be cleared through Dashbee.

Wrestler Eligibility Players can draft anyone who has participated in professional wrestling but can only use them in the way they were used:

• Wrestler - Participated in at least one verifiable career match
• Performer (Authority Figure, Announcer, Valet / Manager)
• Crew Member (Referee, Timekeeper)
• Special Guest (Musical Acts, Guest Speakers, etc...)
• You may use someone for a position lower than their level of participation, but not above. Guest Hosts are considered Authority Figures. Announcer includes Ring Announcers and Television Commentators.
• If multiple people have portrayed a character, you must make clear who you are drafting (you draft the wrestler, not the character)
• If a person has portrayed multiple characters throughout their career and are drafted, you can use any of those portrayed characters.
• Anyone drafted must have participated in an actual Professional Wrestling federation or a professional wrestling match with documented proof. For 2014 (and so far beyond), animals who are documented as participating in a match (Terrible Ted, Chloe, etc.) and other questionable but verifiable entities (Abraham Lincoln) can be drafted. Don't like it? Vote against those who pick and use them. This still means no e-fed characters, no Randy "The Ram" from The Wrestler, no Nacho Libre, no Ready To Rumble, etc. No inanimate objects (Moppy, Mr. Socko, etc.), and no God. Dashbee holds final say on these picks, and getting approval ahead of time is recommended. Pitch the idea with your proof.
• Professional Wrestling Only. Wrestling in a backyard or other makeshift venues does not make one eligible. Selling tickets to "events" or airing matches on YouTube or Public Access does not make one a professional and they are therefore not eligible to be drafted. Again, if you are unsure, please ask.

I Changed My Mind!: Add/Drop begins at Noon Eastern the first weekday* after the draft is completed in full and will be open for 72 Hours before being closed for the start of the Showdown. This will pause each evening at 12:00 Midnight and re-open at 8:00 AM the start of the next day. This will allow us to keep the rosters up-to-date. This may be altered depending on the timing of the end of the draft.

• During Add/Drop, players may add any undrafted, eligible people until they reach 45 total roster members
• Dropped roster members are considered free agents and are therefore able to be added by other players
• Once the add/drop begins, it is first-come/first-served
• Once The Showdown begins the rosters are locked and cannot change
• There will be no add/drop between showdown rounds
• Additional Pre-Draft items cannot be added during add/drop, unless you are adding one that someone dropped and you either don’t have two pre-draft items or are dropping one

Be Reasonable Clause: If I determine someone is floating picks to circumvent the above rules, I reserve the right to nullify said picks and declare their roster set until Add/Drop.

Trading Post: All trades must be placed in and confirmed by all involved parties in the Trading Block thread. Trading can involve draft picks and/or roster members, and may be done throughout the entire draft period. Trades giving one player a distinct advantage over the others, or involving "All of Player 1's picks for all of Player 2's picks" will be rejected.

How Do I Win? Rule: We are adjusting the showdowns to help you plan out your draft. Yes, we stole this from the recent OO Draft!

• Our 14 players will be divided into two divisions
• The initial stage will consist of five rounds, and everyone will submit a card for each round.
• You will be “paying” to see each card. You’ll be given $200 to spend on each round, with a maximum of $40 for any one card, no minimum per card. You will bid on every card, not just your division. You must spend all $200 per round.
• Submit a new card for each Showdown Round. If you do not wish to “fantasy book, fine, you still must change at least 1 match per card. If your card has no changes, you will be DQ'd in that round.
• Players are encouraged to start their own "Federation Threads" and tell the story behind their cards. Quite often, a good story can be the difference in how people vote.

John Quincy Adams Rule: Pun will be asked to serve as our tie-breaker. If he cannot be reached in 24 hours, I will select a Non-Drafter who has not voted in that poll to break the tie.

Super P-Cup and Tag Team Cup: Unless someone wants to pick this up, I am suspending it for a year.

This Is Not A Democracy Rule: I will make the final decisions. All decisions will be made with The Integrity of the Draft in mind.

Go Ahead, Take Your Ball And Go Home Corollary: By making your first pick you agree to every rule and possible decision. If anyone has a problem with a rule or a decision, their only recourse is to quit. Should any player or team drop out during the drafting process, I will assign another drafter to assemble a roster and cards in their place.

Gator (Used To) Like Being Difficult And Dashbee Is Okay With It Rule Abraham Lincoln is notstill eligible to be drafted.

The Pun's House Motto Applies: Don't Be Douchey!

[Chris Eco]

I have a question on the definition of professional wrestler for this year.

It’s often been said WWE is really a tv show about professional wrestlers, rather than a wrestling company. Increasingly, there are TV shows who present themselves that way - the biggest one now is GLOW, but there are other movies et al where an actor wrestles a professional wrestling match within the confines of the movie. Can those actors who wrestle a full match (Iike Alison Brie) be drafted? If not, is there a rule-like distinction I can keep in mind? (“Lucha Underground” strikes me as almost more a TV show than a “wrestling company”).

[DevSop]

I believe this came up during The Wrestler. Randy the Ram/Mickey Rourke was not eligible but that was then and this is now so I'm good with whatever.

[qingfabulous]

On the topic of stuff like GLOW or The Wrestler - I'd vote they are not available unless they showed up on an actual wrestling promotion afterwards for a live event or TV taping.

On something like Lucha Underground - sure it's a TV show. But it's also a TV show that features actual wrestling matches shot in front of a live audience. Not to mention the vast majority of it's wrestlers are also featured in other promotions like AAA or Impact. Perhaps you could make a case for Dario Cueto being disqualified but even he's factored into matches as either the guy the screams "RIIIIIIIING THE BELL!!!" or actively screwing people over at the end.

[DevSop]

Mickey Rourke wrestled actual matches for the filming of The Wrestler. There was one in Ring of Honor and one at Combat Zone but they weren't sanctioned by the promotion really. They were legit movie filming things as moves and parts of the match were filmed over and over again.

[The Canadian Content]

We’ve always gone by “must have wrestled a match for a professional wrestling company” in the past. Given the Lincoln exemption, I don’t know what’s up this year.

[Mr. Dashbee]

The biggest issue with something like GLOW is that it's a finished product. Alison Brie didn't wrestle a match from beginning to end. The match can stop, start, be recut, refilmed, etc. Lucha Underground stars still perform from bell to bell.

And outside of Dario Cueto, everyone performing in the ring in Lucha Underground has wrestled elsewhere, and continues to do so today.

Brie isn't eligible.

Apr 14, 2018 16:55:06 GMT -5 Chris Eco said:

I have a question on the definition of professional wrestler for this year.

It’s often been said WWE is really a tv show about professional wrestlers, rather than a wrestling company. Increasingly, there are TV shows who present themselves that way - the biggest one now is GLOW, but there are other movies et al where an actor wrestles a professional wrestling match within the confines of the movie. Can those actors who wrestle a full match (Iike Alison Brie) be drafted? If not, is there a rule-like distinction I can keep in mind? (“Lucha Underground” strikes me as almost more a TV show than a “wrestling company”).

[Sportsguy]

Never mind, nothing to see here. Just re read the rules so ignore the question that was here.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Can stipulations be traded like any other asset?

[Mr. Dashbee]

Apr 15, 2018 11:50:42 GMT -5 The Jewish Cunthead said:

Can stipulations be traded like any other asset?

Good question. Updated the rules - these can be traded.

You can also waive a Pre-Draft pick if you have no need for it. If you waive your first, you still have the second at your disposal (in case you change your mind). Once you waive a pick, you cannot go back.