The Wrestling Doctor 11.11.08: Round Robin

Posted by W.S. Thomason on 11.11.2008

It’s certainly better than the 49,000 times you’ll hear Feliz Navidad over the next seven weeks.

THE WRESTLING DOCTOR

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THIS WEEK'S PATIENT: RETHINKING ROUND-ROBIN

WCW ran its first all-gimmick Starrcade in 1989, a four man and four team round-robin event known as the Iron Man and Iron Team tournaments. The concept was that four wrestlers (or tag teams) competed in a round-robin format, each wrestling the other three in separate matches in the same night (for a total of six matches per event). The winner was determined by a points system, based upon how victory was achieved: twenty points for a pinfall or submission; fifteen for a count-out (a night-of modification most likely made to fit the show's booking); and ten for a disqualification. Five points were awarded to both participants in the event of a time-limit draw or other split decision (each match had a fifteen minute time-limit). No points were awarded for a loss.

The show itself suffered from several problems, the biggest of which was the need for each participant to wrestle three separate matches in one show, few of which could logically be booked short. The shortest match of the match – Ric Flair over The Great Muta – was a poor choice to shorten and proved to be a major disappointment. Another issue was the combination of singles and tag team tournaments at one event; if only a singles tournament had been held, with standard matches in between to fill out the segments between, the show may have been more interesting for the fans and more inclusive of the talent on the roster.

The poor quality of Starrcade 89 resulted in the burial of round-robin wrestling in the US, but maybe the concept deserves a second look. Wrestling may no longer exist if companies dismissed everything messed up by WCW. Reviving an under-used gimmick like the Iron Man Tournament would be an exciting way for wrestling organizations to freshen up their products. This week I want to revisit the round-robin format and look at how the WWE, TNA, and ROH may employ it in today's climate.

In all of the scenarios below I am employing the points system used in the WCW Iron Man Tournament.

WWEThe WWE has the most ways to use a round-robin event since they have the largest roster. One way that McMahon and company could employ the gimmick would be in conjunction with a significant revival the King of the Ring tournament. The WWE has used KOTR in two of the last three years, but both times it was as a distinctly undercard-focused event.

A round-robin tournament could replace the traditional and dated eight-man elimination tournament. The tournament could be a tri-branded Raw vs. Smackdown vs. ECW affair, with each brand hosting a four-man round-robin event on their respective shows over the course of several weeks. The wrestlers entertainers would not be worn out from three bouts in one night, and the tournament could have substantial build towards its PPV final over all three programs.

The final would be held on pay-per-view, and could take several forms. One option would be for the winner of each brand round-robin event facing off in a triple-threat for the KOTR title. Another could be three-man round-robin event held in one night, using the same scoring criteria. The final approach could be a four-man one-night round-robin event including the second-highest scorer of all three groups as a wild card participant. The last option has the same problem as Starrcade 89 of wearing out the talent, but the WWE is not afraid to book short matches on PPV.

TNA I fear that TNA would incorporate some other gimmick into a round-robin tournament – such as each match occurring under a different stipulation or the entire thing held in some bizarre enclosure – but they could put on a great event if they stuck to straight-up wrestling. My other concern is that they would use it as some type of X-Division qualifying event with the result subsequently being ignored.

A round-robin tournament involving Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, A.J. Styles, and Christian Cage could be a one-night affair or could have preliminary rounds played out on Impact. Unlike the WWE, TNA could also host a great round-robin tag team event featuring Beer Money, The Motor City machine Guns, LAX, and Team 3D. TNA also likes to keep PPV matches short – and they certainly would be willing to cram the tournament into one PPV – but holding some matches on TV and having the top two entertainers wrestlers face off at a premier event would be a stronger option.

ROHRing of Honor may be the only company with the roster and unencumbered show time to pull off a very good one-night round-robin tournament. ROH does not necessarily need a concept match to sell its product to its fan base, but a one-night round-robin competition may be something that Adam Pearce could keep in his back pocket in case ROH has to radically re-book a show due to a New England blizzard like they have in the past. A big advantage of the round-robin format is that a company does not need a lot of talent on hand in order to produce a compelling show. Smaller promotions certainly could use the round-robin concept to their advantage.