Outside of Tournaments: League Alternative part III
by Drew “Darth Weasel” Barton
Raw Deal Staff Writer
darthweasel@hotmail.com

If you have read the first and second installments then you probably have a pretty good grasp of what you will see in this one. The template for each Title Belt is very similar. The differences lie within the cards required to be in the Arsenal. With just a little bit of experimentation you will quickly discover the different belts play so differently it is almost like having 5 or 6 different games with the same cards, and that feel expands exponentially when you take into account the sanctioned tournament formats such as All Axxess and Afterburn.

The rules templates for each of the Title Belts, unless specified otherwise, have the following elements in common. First, the Title Holder must always play the Title as a Backstage card. It does not count against his Pre-Match, cannot be blanked, and can be used for cards such as The Title is on the Line and Title Belt Clubberin’. Second, the Title Holder can change no more than 6 Arsenal cards and no more than 2 Backlash deck cards between Title defenses. Third, only Singles Superstars are allowed to compete for the Title. This means no Tag Team Superstars, Enforcer based Superstars, or “Dream Team” (The Dangerous Alliance, the Home Team, etc.) Superstars can be played. This is primarily for flavor purposes.

To earn a Title shot, you must successively defeat three consecutive and unique opponents. In other words, you can have as many matches as you wish against the same opponent, but only the first victory counts towards your total of three consecutive wins, and it can be lost if you subsequently lose a match. This insures varieties of opponents are played and keeps a larger number of people involved.

The Title must be defended at least once a month and must be defended at every Pay Per View. If no opponent has qualified then the Commissioner will choose the opponent and, barring that, the Champion can hand-select their opponent.

Except where noted, keep the above stipulations in mind for each of the other titles. Last time we looked at the Cruiserweight title. This was largely because the Cruiserweight Title stands out as a grouping that encourages a different style of play. The first belt we will look at this round also encourages a diverse method of play. That would be the women’s division, or if you prefer, the Divas.

The requirement to compete is brutally obvious…you must be a female wrestler. We had one person suggest that in the case of Gail Kim/Molly Holly only the cards for one or the other can be used, although others thought both sets of cards should be used. Part of the rationale was again to distinguish the various belts but in the women’s division it can seem as if there are few options so some people prefer to allow the pseudo-Tag Team of Gail Kim/Molly Holly and others suggested allowing Sable and Stacy Keibler. One thing to consider is allowing the Enforcer based Superstars moves you back into the realm of more standard builds such as Run the Gauntlet and many of the male Superstars and fundamentally alters the make-up of the division. For flavor purposes I recommend against it. As with all other suggestions posited, find what works best for your local players.

Arsenal construction also has one simple requirement. You must include 10 cards in the Arsenal that can only be packed by Female or Diva characters. While it sounds simplistic, this requirement actually has the effect of vastly diversifying the decks as people use cards they normally wouldn’t. You will quickly find that these requirements encourage a great deal of diversity among the league.

Next up is the first of the Tag Team Titles. If you have the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Title Belts it is the perfect opportunity to dust off all those Tag Team Superstars such as The Dudleyz or Brothers of Destruction. Only Tag Team Superstars can compete for the belt. Otherwise it functions as the above and there are no specific Arsenal requirements. This allows the big fans of Tag Team Superstars an opportunity to play and you will quickly discover the flavor to be had as cards such as Little She Devil are rediscovered.

If you prefer more interactive Tag Team action then find the rules that were updated a few months ago. They can be found on the Comic Images website and give you the structure. It is recommended you play for either the Raw Tag Team Title Belts or the Smackdown Tag Team Title Belts….or both if you have enough players.

Each Arsenal must contain at least 10 Tag Team logo cards. Additionally, each Arsenal must contain at least 5 cards branded with whichever logo the Title Belt you are competing for has. You will find this requires careful Arsenal construction and creates some interesting situations.

By now you can probably anticipate how the Raw Intercontinental Title Belt and World Heavyweight Title Belts will be distinguished. In each case you must have 10 cards with the Raw logo in your Arsenal. It is tempting to reduce the number for each X number of Raw Pre-Match or Mid-Match cards but I recommend against it as that tends to tilt the balance of power towards Premiere Raw Superstar decks. In fact, if your League gets too intensive on those you might need to restrict or eliminate the use of that card in this division, although you might find it adds a certain flavor to it. One of the beauties of this league is the very different feel each division has. In a similar vein the United States Title Belt and <WWE> Championship Belt require 10 Smackdown cards in your Arsenal.

There are other obvious ways to differentiate divisions. The WCW Title Belt can only be competed for by people who wrestled in the WCW prior to their purchase by the WWE. Of course, with the near constant back and forth, that allows a wide variety of Superstars as well. The <ECW> Logo Championship Belt is great fun if every match has the Chicago Street Fight played in a community Backstage area. Additional flavor can be added by including re-usable Chairshots, Garbage Can Lids, Tables, Tables, Tables, Kendo Sticks, and so forth to the community Backstage area that return there after each use whether successful or not.

Of course, you might want at least one belt that has no such limitations. What could be more perfect than the <Raw Deal Logo> Championship Belt? This belt has no Arsenal restrictions, no Pre-match restrictions, and does not get played to the Backstage area. In fact, the only special rule is that you must PACK the <Raw Deal Logo> Championship belt….but you can pack other belts as well, as can your opponent. A fun second belt is the Hardcore Belt. Every match the holder is in, regardless of whether it is one on one, triple threat, Tag Team, Royal Rumble or something else, is automatically a Title defense. This leads to a LOT of Title changes which can help build excitement.

There are many more options you can develop but for now let’s take a look at how you might set up a league. After all, not all belts can be even and you need some sort of power structure.

At the top is the WWE Undisputed Heavyweight Title. The Title holder is restricted by whichever “ladder” he climbed to reach the top. The #1 contender is either the World Heavyweight Title Belt holder or the <WWE Logo> Championship Belt holder. They qualify by holding 3 consecutive Title defenses. You will find that sometimes neither has qualified for the title shot by the time of the monthly Pay Per View and other times you will find that both have. In these cases a Triple Threat match is held for the title. However, when one of the two “major” title holders has qualified and the other has not then it is a one on one match.

The #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Title Belt is the Raw Intercontinental Title holder. The #1 Contender for the <WWE Logo> Championship Belt is the US Title Belt holder. To earn a shot they must have 3 consecutive successful title defenses.

On the side you can have a World Federation Tag Team Title Belt, Cruiserweight Belt, World Wrestling Federation Women’s Title Belt, Hardcore Belt, WCW Title Belt, and <ECW Logo> Title belt divisions. As normal, 3 consecutive successful Title defenses allow them a shot at a higher level belt, perhaps in this case the Spinner Belt. The <Raw Deal Logo> Championship Belt will be overpowered if you do not keep it separate from all other belts except perhaps the Hardcore Title Belt.

As you can see, there is strong motivation for non-title holders to play a lot of matches. There are also benefits to the lower Title Holders for defending their titles frequently as this in turn allows them opportunities to move up the ladder towards the more prestigious belts. With a commissioner booking matches you can then evolve into feuds, stables, and more until you have a full blown Raw Deal Wrestling Federation that is as much fun as rolling with the Gangstas on a Segway.