New Feds, Old Feuds

Thanks to everyone for the comments on a couple of my "half in reviews" posts. Today's blog is actually based on the responses to my EPW in review. In particular, the following two comments:

" And, if someone doesn't take the time to read the entire backstory, or inquire about it? I don't feel bad about them not getting it." (Jamar)

"Karl, maybe you should have read the roleplays for those shows too. It was made very clear the history between the two as they built that story up, and roleplay is most definitely a part of fed continuity.

If you don't read the roleplay along with the whole show, you can hardly complain about presentation of a feud." (Dave)

OK, first things first - I did read the roleplays for the shows. Throughout my time as a member of the EPW roster, I read every RP posted in every match. Even today, since I left, I've read every RP - it's taken longer to read them all since I left, but I do still read them.

With the two cards that caused me the most distress, I re-read those RPs several times before making a decision I still maintain was the right one. I left Empire Pro Wrestling because of the Daymon/Stevens segments on the shows, because they were incredibly distressing to read.

Not that they weren't well written - I just didn't like a lot of what was in the segments across the two cards, and didn't see that they made sense.

WHICH is where this post comes in.

You're in a new fed for your character. There's some history between them and another character, but it goes into another fed, and you want to feud with them.

What do you do?

What I think happened with the Daymon/Stevens stuff, is it was assumed people understood the entire backstory. However, one thing I've maintained throughout my e-fed career, is that you shouldn't rely on that kind of thing. To take a real-life comparison - how much reference did WCW make to the "Mega-Powers Explode!" story the WWF ran between Hogan and Savage when the two feuded in WCW?

As I remember it, not much. The feud was one we'd seen before, but it was over something new - Hogan turning on Savage, then leadership of the nWo. I don't actually remember any mention of the "Mega-Powers" feud.

Which made sense - WCW and WWF were in competition. The two could've cut promos harking back to the WWF days, but I don't remember them doing it - they managed to, very quickly, established a reason that was real to the WCW crowd as to why they'd dislike each other so much.

To take an e-wrestling example - Karl "The Dragon" Brown and Adam Benjamin have had a history for a long time. When we first met in EPW, we'd already had a barnstormer in MCW, and I think it was about the same time that Benjamin cost Brown the NWL World Heavyweight Title. Yes, we mentioned the MCW and NWL bits when we met in EPW - but we kept the focus as being EPW; we allowed the story to grow in EPW to the point we wouldn't need to mention other feds, because the history was there in Empire Pro Wrestling.

Between Stevens and Daymon, I did not see the history. Why should Caitlyn, based on what was presented in EPW, decide to taser Stevens? Why would Rocko drug his own wife "for her own protection"? The only part that made EPW storyline sense, based on segments and Role-Plays, was after the tasering when Stevens confronted Caitlyn in the hotel (even though I found the writing there very disturbing, on a personal level for reasons I refuse to go into because I don't want to drag up some bad memories for myself).

The main difficulty, and I've seen this in a lot of feds, is that people assume that the backstory is known. Or, as Jamar states, that we can enquire about it.

I think that's, a) the wrong attitude, and b) very arrogant. I'll be honest. The TV audience isn't going to go digging round for old tapes from feds that've closed down so they're up to date with everything. You as the reader don't write to the author to know the complete backstory of a novel or play/film. You base your decision based on what you see. The wrestling audience would base their reactions on what they had seen/heard - and there was nothing in the Stevens/Daymon stuff which led me to believe that the segments were justified.

I'm not jumping on Jamar, Ryan or Dave here - they knew the backstory. Heck, I've seen feud after feud after feud in different feds start because of "wrongs done in past feds". It's something I've always disagreed with. When Dave and I wrote a couple of RPs against each other in A1E, and I was mentioning Blitz leaving EPW, I made sure to tie it into A1E and how Leonard felt that Dan Ryan didn't know how to run a wrestling company.

With the Stevens/Daymon stuff, the relevance for the EPW audience wasn't clear. As I've said, I'd've had no problem if it'd been a slower-burning feud in Empire Pro - which is why I'd've kept JA as number one contender. You could've built a hatred up between Rocko and Sean whilst running a Stevens/JA programme, and made it something unique - using a feud that's been done elsewhere, a hatred that starts elsewhere, but makes perfect sense to the new audience, with new reasons unique to the new fed/environment the two characters find themselves in.

Like I've also said - with the history in EPW, the feud could move on now at that kind of level, and I wouldn't have a problem. Personally I may dislike some of what's written, but it wouldn't jump out as being odd or uncalled for. But, as a reader, I did not know the backstory. The relevance wasn't explained in segments, or Role-Plays, adequately for me, part of the new audience, to understand it. Maybe it's the part of me that follows Barthe's "Death of the Author" theory, but the intentions of any author are irrelevant - it's what the reader takes from it that matters. So if the reader doesn't understand the author's intention, it's not the reader's fault - the author hasn't done a good enough job explaining. If the author is relying on a history that the reader may not have knowledge of, again, that's the author's responsibility.

By all means, have a feud between characters that've feuded before. I've really enjoyed a lot of them - the Dakota Smith/Maelstrom feud in NWL was excellent, as one example. HOWEVER - this hobby is based, not just in writing, but in PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING. And every feud I've seen in professional wrestling is built into the fed, as part of the fed; no knowledge of feuds between the two characters in other feds required. I honestly think that THAT is the way to go - maybe mention that there is some history. But don't have it as the primary reason for the feud, don't use it as the tinder for the fire. Have it fan the flames, but make sure the flames start, and end, totally in the fed the characters are in at that moment.

I hope that clarified a few things. Next time, I'll be posting a show-review - A1E's latest PPV cycle gets reviewed as Golden Dreams hits the airwaves.

And before I go - congrats to Holzerman on his upcoming wedding :) And the EPW title win. Congratulations, and may your married life be everything you wish it to be.