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Fantasy wrestling


Fantasy wrestling is an umbrella term representing the genre of role-playing and statistics-based games which are set in the world of professional wrestling. Several variants of Fantasy Wrestling exist which may be differentiated by the way they are transmitted (through websites, message boards, e-mail, postal mail, face-to-face, etc.), the method in which the storyline is determined, (via roleplay, "angles", strategy- or statistics-based systems, etc.) and how the roster is composed (are characters created by the players, are real wrestlers "imported" into the game, etc.).

Fantasy wrestling's roots lie in the play-by-mail wrestling games often featured in professional wrestling magazines that became prominent in the mid-to-late 1980s during one of professional wrestling's boom periods. By the late 1980s, fantasy wrestling games had started to appear on the Internet. In the early 1990s, the advent of national bulletin board services like Prodigy, AOL, and Compuserve allowed players to use e-mail and bulletin boards to more easily trade information and post roleplays. As technology progressed and the internet evolved, fantasy wrestling enthusiasts took advantage, using websites and newsgroups to connect and build broader communities for gameplay.

In order to begin fantasy wrestling, one must create a custom character. Some people will elect to use pro-wrestlers over their own, custom characters; this can be either allowed or rejected by the administrator of the federation. Usually, one will decide the following: physical appearance (height, weight, sex; these can be copied through "renders" - images of pro-wrestlers - or through their imagination/CAW mechanics through wrestling games), moveset (style, signature moves, finishing moves, etc.), fan reaction (heel or face; booed or cheered), and entrance music. Once this is all decided, the character is named and the player can begin to promo in the federation. Some players create multiple characters, either for choice for playing or to freshen the experience/start new.

Early versions of the game began in the 1980s using play-by-mail formats. Based on the moves and any strategies applied the adjudicator would then decide the outcome. Play-by-mail leagues often included a 'pay to play' model where handlers paid a fee per match and/or 'strategy' applied. The later expansion into email was a natural progression, often using the same mechanics as the pbm format.


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