Oh, what would wrestling be without angles and storylines to place them in. It gives the fans something to discuss and debate over. I mean, sure it's nice to see Randy Orton come back from suspension and whip the Undertaker for the title. After all Orton is younger, faster and not hurt right now, so in a fair one-on-one "REAL" fight, he'd probably be able to pin the Undertaker. But since this is sports entertainment, plausible storys and in-depth  angles would have to be in place to "explain" how and why Orton would win the title.

But is this really necessary in E-Wrestling? Is all this in-depth soap opera stuff necessary before allowing wrestlers to hookup in the ring? Well, maybe for Feds that class themselves as "Angle" feds. You know, the ones that put more emphasis on building a great story, than figuring out who the better roleplayer is. Right now, I'll just leave them out of this discussion/rant. I'm just talking about stories & angles within "roleplay" Feds.

Roleplay feds claim that they are setup to let players write their own material and promos for their own characters. All the stories, bios and background history is written by the wrestlers themselves and this material is used by their opponents when battling it out in roleplays against each other. As roleplays are posted a story usually develops (mostly by ooc co-operative decisions between handlers). Now, using whatever judging method feds come up with, they somehow decide whom the better roleplayer was for that match, and award them the victory. This method, in comparison, is more closely related to how they determine winners in a real-life boxing match, than in a real-life wrestling match... the better, more prepared fighter wins.That being said, no storyline or angle should ever come into consideration when awarding a win, in any roleplay fed because the story doesn't matter only whom the better writer was, right? Wrong. A lot of so-called RP feds also have a rule that usually states that although RP's usually decide the winner, "SOMETIMES" a win may handed out for "ANGLE" purposes. I shutter everytime I read that in the rules section of an RP fed.

Now, althou it's never happend to me I have seen this rule cause a lot of headaches and concern. In one fed (nameless to protect the guilty) I was in, this rule seems to have been abused a bit. Now I may not be exactly an RP expert, but I can tell a shaft job when I read one  I remember a few RP battles where the obvious winner (in my opinion at least) ended up losing. In those cases, it seemed to set up a rematch next week to continue the feud, so I'm guessing that the so-called "LOSE FOR ANGLE PURPOSES" was involked in those cases. In this same fed, during the same time frame, I remember when a former staff member was squaring off against a newbie to the fed. Well, the newbie ended up winning, even thou his RP's were short and rather off topic. I remember being told by this former staff member personally, that he had requested "NOT" to be given the win, so that this newbie could win a title and thus, boost his cofidence level. Another case, maybe a reverse one this time, of that "STORYLINE/ANGLE" rule coming into play? Seems like it to me.

Those examples bring up the point; what is the use of giving your all and coming up with great material, busting your hump, and using a lot of great ideas, if your roleplay may not even be a factor in your match? Further more, what is the use of doing so, if others have wins given to them, just for "angle" purposes, while you have to earn yours the hard way, but out doing your oponent?

To me, storylines and angles should be formed by who wins the match, not the other way around. If two wrestlers are involved in a feud and one is a better Rper, having them lose just to continue having them fight, doesn't seem very fair at all. In a lot of ways, it's stupid. I mean, really now, look at the old MVP/ jeff Hardy feud. Hardy has done most of the winning in that storyline, so what do the writers do? Do they have MVP win one every now and then? No, they explain away the loses by having MVP claim he was "injured" or Ill" the last time they met. In other words the outcome was determined first, then the storyline build around the outcome second. That my dear sports freaks is the way to do storylines & angles in a competitive federation. So the next time an owner or staff member PM's you and wants you to drop a match to someone for "angle" purposes...tell 'em no-way! Tell 'em you'll come up with something "after" you win to explain why you are dominating the feud... it'll save your won/lost record from taking an un-necessary hit.