80s Mania Wrestling Tournament Results

[Tournament Master]

Has anyone played out the 80MW tournament from the 80MW Part II handbook yet? If so, post your results here. It will be interesting to see how it plays out for everyone.

[throwingtoasters]

We will be holding it at the Tabletop Day event in Burbank!

[walkswithwolf]

Just a short question: Is the Tournament scheduled by Rahl?

[cruefan68]

I loved the idea of the tournament format being included in the handbook. That was very cool. I plan on playing it out exactly so it will be interesting to see who wins and becomes my first 8MW World Heavyweight champion. Not sure when I will get to it but I will try to remember to post results here. The 8MW sets are awesome, really hoping we can get a third set in the future.

[wayne]

Great idea. Have started the tournament using the exact same brackets as in the book. Will update in full once played out. An early shock is the Bug Buster squashes Dark Invader with EXTERMINATION in easily the most one-sided match I've played so far. That one completely surprised me. Deep down I hope Jet Set Strutter prevails but will have to see. He seems to have a kind draw in the opening round!

[Tournament Master]

BTW, as Tournament Master, I did not have a hand in the tournament design but fully approve of the layout. its perfect in how it matches up the Main Eventers and the Curtain Jerkers and keeps feuding opponents from facing each other until the finals.

[TTX]

Might have to do this for online ITT Day as well.

[wayne]

Ok finally got it done. Here is mine. Those dice can sure be unpredictable as plenty of surprises but really enjoyed playing this out. Tournament set across two fight cards. Plus I played a third card in the immediate aftermath of the tournament ...

Card 1 – HEAVYWEIGHT BELT TOURNAMENT – Fairgrounds:

(Just before the card officially goes on air Commissioner Codger is featured in a segment sitting behind his desk with the 80s Mania logo proudly displaying behind him. He rambles on a bit before explaining to all the fans that a 16-man tournament will be held in order to crown a new Heavyweight Champion! His image then fades and is replaced by a cool graphic showing the brackets for the opening rounds. None of the wrestlers knew who they would be drawn against until this very moment)
Opening Round: Ace Arcadium beat Tennis Pro with CHEAT CODE in a thrilling match. There was so much action. Ace accidentally knocked the ref out attempting a move off the turnbuckle. In that time the ref missed GAME OVER and TENNIS RACKET SMASH. Tennis Pro was seriously pissed but continued to serve up some big moves that had Ace and his fanbase worried. Luckily in the end Ace prevailed but will need to take less risks if he wants to go all the way. This isn’t an arcade machine he is playing now; Warhawk defeated Skullgore by DQ in a short match. The creepy Skullgore shows no interest in wrestling inside the ring and keeps dragging the action outside for a brawl. Warhawk being the type that he is obliges and goes after Skullgore but meets the thick end of a chair. The ref won’t stand for it and immediately calls for the bell; Mighty Leo is too strong for the Piranha as he uses a series of Cat Splashes followed by THUNDERSTRIKE to send him packing; Jet Set Strutter stutters to victory against Rad Racer. Rad Racer is charged up and feeling the crowd as he takes it to Strutter. He even stuns Strutter with TAIL WHIP but cannot get the upset win. Strutter even when he is not at his best can pull victories out of nowhere and this is exactly what he did tonight; Lazer overcomes Johnny Kobra with LAZERLOCK. Johnny showed a stubborn resistance but in the end the big crowd pleaser won through; Star Boy defeats Cobalt Commander and even survives POISON POWDER; Hammerhead knocked Arizona Chance out with SOVIET SLEDGE. Poor Arizona was on the end of the 2000 psi punch three times during a long and bloody battle. The big Russian can sure take some punishment as he withstood an incredible opening salvo and picked himself up after LAST CRUSADE threatened to send him back to Mother Russia early; Bug Buster creates a massive upset as he squashes Dark Invader like a bug and uses EXTERMINATION. It’s the most one-sided battle of the round. The crowd absolutely loves it. Dark Invader is furious and claims he felt a disturbance in the aftermath of the match. Is it a co-incidence that Ace Arcadium had showed up in the front row of the crowd during the bout for a closer look at potential future opponents? Ace also wanted to check out Dark Invader in detail as it seems like he could become a natural feud enemy.

Card 2 – HEAVYWEIGHT BELT TOURNAMENT – Fairgrounds:

Added Attraction, Arizona Chance won against the Piranha by DQ decision in a gruelling tussle. Both guys were eliminated early but keen to get straight back into the action. Arizona says before the match “I’ve dealt with all sorts of snakes and critters on my adventures, the Piranha poses no threat to me. He’ll be like a fish out of water inside the ring”. Trouble was it wasn’t so simple as a couple of painful Piranha Bite’s seemed to slow him down and he was lucky to get the DQ victory when the Piranha got carried away. The fans were chanting ‘Rematch, Rematch’;
Second Round: Ace Arcadium beats Warhawk with CHEAT CODE. Warhawk plays the heel in this match as he uses some borderline legal military moves. Ace high fives fans on his way back to the locker rooms but is met at the end of the runway by Dark Invader who urges Ace to give in to his feelings “Join me and I will show you what the Shadow Side is all about”. Ace pauses before catching Dark Invader unaware with a windmill punch which sends him sprawling. The fans go wild but clearly we have the beginnings of the fed’s very first big feud; Mighty Leo defeats Jet Set Strutter by DQ. Two of the favourites were drawn together early. How cruel we have to lose one before the final rounds. Strutter tries every trick in the book for an advantage and the referee soon grows tired of his antics. After repeated warnings he opts to disqualify him. It’s an unpopular decision as it robs the tournament’s final stages of one of it’s stars and although Strutter is a heel many fans secretly like to root for him such is his talent and style; Star Boy eliminates Lazer. The two fan favourites start by shaking hands but Lazer soons shows he can be a bit nasty when inside the ring. Star Boy manages to use his Luchador skills to turn the tide in his favour and stuns Lazer with a SOMERSAULT KICK. Lazer is just stunned long enough for Star Boy to pick up the three count. No comments from Star Boy afterwards as “Honest” Al tries to grab him for an interview. The youngster simply refuses to talk; Hammerhead leaves Bug Buster seeing stars after SOVIET SLEDGE nearly takes his head off. Unfortunately the underdog could not prevail a second time. Hammerhead is making a surprising march towards the final. He will be favoured to beat Star Boy;
Third Round: Mighty Leo makes the championship match beating Ace Arcadium by DQ. Both have looked unstoppable to this point and proved very evenly matched in this one until several heels decide to show up and ruin the match. Skullgore, Dark Invader and Cobalt Commander all make an appearance amid deafening boos from the small crowd. They start menacingly circling the ring. Ace cannot resist trying to take them on and knocks the ref flying as he dives outside. Security quickly intervenes as the heels start to overwhelm Ace. Leo then decides to join the battle causing them to back off. The heels have stumbled badly but will be looking to fightback in future cards and they were clearly sending a message ‘Don’t Mess With Us’ with tonight’s attack; Hammerhead wins through to the final over Star Boy. His punching power is too much for Star Boy who gets levelled with SOVIET SLEDGE. Hammerhead has been carrying the heel flag through the latter stages but it’s clear he prefers to carry the Russian flag as he waves it proudly in the ring. Rumblings that Warhawk is sick of seeing it displayed and wants to do something about it;
Final: Hammerhead defeats Mighty Leo to become the Heavyweight champ. Epic battle where much blood was spilt. Hammerhead started strong and battered Leo with ferocious punches but Leo clung on despite being hit with both SOVIET SLEDGE and RUSSIAN SICKLE. Showing tremendous spirit Leo fought back and absolutely savaged Hammerhead using Giant Paw Swipes and his Lion’s Claw to cut the Russian open. Hammerhead’s turn to show similar powers of endurance to hang on and even got his foot on the ropes after being hit with THUNDERSTRIKE. It looked only to be a matter of time before Leo finished him once for all but then everything changed. Leo set him up for a charge into the turnbuckle but Hammerhead moved out of the way and Leo went right through to the post and ended up in a heap outside. Hammerhead dragged the badly hurt Leo back into the ring and summoning the last bit of strength left picked him up for a devastating one-handed choke from which there was no recovering. The whole place went quiet as Hammerhead was proclaimed tournament winner and handed the belt. Within hours of the tournament ending Warhawk issued a first challenge to Hammerhead. He promises to rescue the Heavyweight belt from ‘Dirty Russian Hands’.

Card 3 – Weekend Wrasslin’ – Banquet Hall:

(“Honest” Al interview segment – Jet Set Strutter – Al suggests to Strutter that he didn’t live up to expectations in the recent tournament. Strutter grows increasingly irritated by Al’s questions as he is more concerned with showing the crowd what a great talker he is and how he has more style in his little finger than the rest of the roster put together. Al rudely interupts by asking Strutter why he thinks style is so important which is the final straw. Strutter takes Al’s cap off his head and throws it on the ground before wiping his feet on it, he then grabs Al by the collar and starts finger pointing at him for showing a lack of respect. Mighty Leo is running a wave of popularity in the fed and takes it upon himself to come out and assist Al. Strutter says “This ain’t none of your business buddy” but Leo insists when a man is being threatened just for doing his job then it is his business. Strutter issues a challenge “How about we go settle this in the ring tonight?” to which Leo obliges. Big drama!)
Heavyweight champ, Hammerhead beats Warhawk after slamming into him with a move from the top turnbuckle. Hammerhead towered over Warhawk as they met in the centre of the ring before the bell. In broken English he is heard to mutter ‘I Must Break You’. Such was the level of domination in the match that there are accusations that Hammerhead is being helped by performance enhancing drugs. Warhawk was overheard saying to a doctor attending to his wounds that those punches felt unnatural. The cold war is far from over; Lazer defeats Cobalt Commander in a classic battle after LAZERLOCK. Cobalt Commander nearly won this match after starting in dominant fashion but Lazer showed why he is considered one of the main eventers as he cameback strong; Mighty Leo again wins against Jet Set Strutter by DQ. Hold onto your hats folks as this feud is breaking out. After the dramatic interview segment earlier there was a lot of heat on this one. Strutter was the master of taking the steam out of the match by going outside. Just as it looked as if Leo was gaining too much momentum Strutter played for the DQ. He’d rather lose in this manner than get pinned. In his own arrogant mind he is still unbeaten because nobody has put his shoulders on the mat for a three count; Arizona Chance beats Tennis Pro in a classic bout. Arizona Chance made much of the running but Tennis Pro used some cheapshots and downright shoddy tactics to turn it round and give himself an edge. It looks bad for Arizona Chance as Tennis Pro slams down on him with TENNIS RACKET SMASH but the referee refuses to count after an illegal move. Tennis Pro goes crazy and berates the ref which allows Arizona Chance to recover. He uses the whip to grab that racket out of Tennis Pro’s hand as his back is turned and take him down from behind. He then nimbly scales to the top buckle and dumps a fistdrop on Tennis Pro’s head for the pin. Arizona pulls the headband from Tennis Pro and tosses it into the crowd; Ace Arcadium wins a long battle against Johnny Kobra. Ace hobbled to the ring still injured after the previous heel attack and seemed to struggle. His reflexes weren’t quite so good as CHEAT CODE didn’t do as much damage as he hoped and Johnny Kobra was able to kick out. Ace seemed to be a bit unhappy with himself but he eventually overcame his injury to use GAME OVER and beat Johnny; Dark Invader pulverizes Rad Racer. The early attacks and risk taking of Rad Racer rattled the Dark One early on but it always seemed inevitable that he would be caught and pummelled eventually. Basking in victory on the runway Dark Invader appeared to manhandle fans who tease him about the ‘Shadow Side’. Commissioner Codger immediately comes on air after the final matches on the card to reprimand Dark Invader “Our fans who come to watch the matches should never feel threatened. Therefore as a warning to all wrestlers I have decided to suspend Dark Invader for 3 fight cards”.

[TTX]

First Round (the rest will have to wait until Strutter is properly installed into the any wrestler selection)

Ace Arcadium finally put away Tennis Pro with Cheat Code (+3). Pro dominated early smashing Ace over and over with his tennis racket, and looking like he was going to pull off the upset, but in the end, Ace finally got it together, pounded Pro down and then hit the Cheat Code to take the fall.

Skullgore put away Warhawk following a rollover with a handful of tights. Warhawk decided to take a chance by doing a deathjump but Skullgore managed to recover and slid through grabbing Warhawk's trunks for additional leverage to win.

Mighty Leo squashed Piranha with Thunderstrike. This wasn't much. Piranha did get an Outlaw Choke, but when he went for a turnbuckle toss, Leo drilled him wtih a lariat and then wore him down with the Lion's Claw before using the Thunderstrike to score the three count.

Jet Set Strutter crushed Rad Racer with the Six-Figure Leglock. Strutter dominated the short match as he quickly took Racer off his feet and then locked on the Leglock as Racer quickly submitted to avoid damage to his leg.

Lazer put down Johnny Kobra with the Lazerlock (+2). Kobra dominated early but Lazer came roaring back and took him down with a military press slam and then clamped on his finisher. Kobra nearly made it to the ropes but Lazer locked it in tighter and Kobra passed out in the hold.

Cobalt Commander narrowly avoided a Starboy upset, winning with Poison Powder. It looked like Starboy was going to take the match but Commander just kicked out at the last moment. He then battled back, went a bit dirty then used the powder to overcome the challenger.

Arizona Chance took down Hammerhead after Warhawk distracted Hammerhead allowing Chance to roll him up. This was a brutal back and forth match and it looked like Hammerhead might take it after the Soviet Sledge but Warhawk distracted him and the referee allowing Chance to come back and win.

Dark Invader pinned Bug Buster with The Corruptor. This was a war as it looked like Invader was going to squash him like a bug but Bug Buster made an amazing comeback until somehow Invader pulled The Corruptor out of nowhere to win.

[wayne]

Great first round write up Troy. Looking at your descriptions and what happened in mine it strikes me that Tennis Pro is very underrated. The guy is a maniac and although he has lost both his matches in my fed his matches have been great with a really unpredictable feel. It's very early but Hammerhead is the big surprise using his punching power and endurance to compensate for limited ring skills. Both Ace Arcadium and Mighty Leo have looked very strong and are getting biggest pop from the crowds. Lazer and Warhawk also pretty over with the fans. Dark Invader has dissapointed struggling to deal with two curtain jerkers. Jet Set Strutter has stumbled, I guess he will be a slow burner but I can really see him dominating the belt at some stage. He is just full of charisma and my favourite character (so far). I plan to pair him up with Big Boss, JR in the near future which might just give him that edge needed. Not sure about other managers just yet, I love their gimmicks but not seeing any fits so far. Maybe I need my storylines to progress more.

Early feuds that I am trying to build, Hammerhead-Warhawk (obviously!), Ace-Dark Invader (Cobalt Commander and Skullgore in the mix), Jet Set Strutter-Mighty Leo (offbeat feud). Like the interview spots where it feels like spontaneous feuds could develop. Not looking at tag straps coming in til their are more teams but will throw Ace and Leo together as an occasional superstar duo to battle the bad guys in special scenarios. Am toying with getting the Neon Express in but not keen at the moment paying a load of money on Prime just to get a couple cards. Food for thought.

Will look forward to reading how the rest of your tournament plays out!