Welcome to the International Wrestling Federation! This will be your opportunity to put on the tights and step in the squared circle. The IWF is a fantasy wrestling play-by-mail game in which you create your own unique wrestlers, give them
strategies consisting of wrestling holds, and have them compete against other
wrestlers in your particular league. The goal of the IWF is to give you a fantasy wrestling game that provides a fun and enjoyable experience that epitomizes wrestling realism.
BULLETINS: For every month that you participate in the IWF, you will receive
a bulletin. This bulletin will tell you how your wrestler did in your league, and much more. Each league will have its own unique bulletin. Bulletins are organized into
several components. On the full-color animated front page, you can find which wrestlers won title belts. On the rankings page, you will find the records of all the wrestlers in the league. Next you will find a list of all the wrestling matches in the
league for that particular month, which are arranged in arena cards. Then you will notice a section composed of comments sent in by the league’s wrestlers, a commissioner’s report, an event promoter’s report, and finally, the world famous IWF Promotional Report. (Please read further for more information on all of these.) This concludes the action unique to your league’s bulletin. But it doesn’t end there, however. On the next page you will find the IWF Monthly, which will run down the champions throughout the IWF. And on the back page you will find the
wrestling holds in your division. Finally, you will receive an IWF Match Form, on which you sign matches for your wrestler/s and give them strategies.
LEAGUES AND DIVISIONS: Your wrestler or wrestlers will compete against other wrestlers in your league. Right now we have five leagues, all of which have their own theme: Canadian Pride Wrestling (CPW), United States
Wrestling (USW), Mexican Luchador Wrestling (MLW), Hardcore Blood Wrestling
(HBW), and Sheer Technical Wrestling (STW). New managers will be placed in leagues at the IWF’s discretion, but you will be permitted to create wrestlers in any
one of the other leagues aside from Hardcore Blood Wrestling, plus you can
transfer your wrestlers to another league if you wish. Currently the IWF has 2 divisions. CPW, USW, and MLW comprise the Continental Division. HBW and STW make up the Tough Guy Division. As you can see, the two divisions fit into themes
quite nicely: the leagues in the Continental Division place your wrestler in a specific geographical region; the Tough Guy division puts your wrestler in a certain style of
wrestling (ie, technical or violent). Furthermore, each division has its own
set of hold values. So if you use the same holds in each division, you probably will not get the same strategy total. (Please read further for more information about wrestling holds and strategies.)
WRESTLERS AND WRESTLER CREATION: To get started in the IWF, you will need to come up with a name for your wrestler. Please try to be original and try not to copy what you see on tv. You can basically name your
wrestler anything, although the IWF reserves the right not to admit lewd or
vulgar wrestler names. After you’ve decided what your wrestler’s name will be, simply put that name in next to “wrestler” on your IWF Match Form. All wrestlers created in the IWF are totally free. In addition, there is no limit to the number of
wrestlers you can manage in the IWF. In fact, we definitely encourage managers to have more than one wrestler in a league, so that they can compete for the tag and six belts. You can have as many wrestlers as you’d like (please do not exceed
seven wrestlers in one league, however) in as many leagues as you’d like! So you could create three new wrestlers in MLW next month and four more new wrestlers in CPW the following month with absolutely no extra cost to you!
MATCHES: After you’ve decided on a wrestler’s name and are ready to enter
him into a league, you now need to choose opponents for your wrestler/s. You can challenge any wrestler in the league for an opponent (but you can not
challenge the same wrestler more than once). You certainly don’t need their
permission! Indeed, you can have your wrestlers challenge all of the wrestlers on the front page and on the rankings page. The IWF also has 18 preliminary
wrestlers (listed in the rule book and perhaps in your league bulletin) which
you are free to challenge. These jobbers provide good wrestling experience for young managers, and every manager (not just new managers) is permitted to
challenge them. So in your sixth month in the IWF you can still challenge
the prelims to boost your record and point totals. Just as you can challenge any wrestler in the league, any other wrestler can also challenge you. Moreover, all wrestlers are eligible to sign up against and win any of the five region titles listed on the front page of your bulletin. As you will find on your IWF Match Form, each match signed for in the IWF is $1, whether a title match, a singles match, or a tag/six match. However, the IWF runs a match special every month, where you can get, say, 22 matches for $9 (less than half the regular
price!).
TAG AND SIX-MAN MATCHES: Aside from singles matches, the IWF also has tag and six-man compeitition (both of which will be explained in more detail later on). You can sign a tag or six-man match with any wrestlers in the
league. For instance, you can have a tag team of your two wrestlers go up against any two wrestlers in the league. Or you can have your one wrestler team up with another wrestler against two other wrestlers in the league. Or you can have your
two wrestlers sign against two jobbers, etc. In this manner, all combinations for tag and six-man matches are possible, and again, you don’t need anyone’s permission to sign them! In addition, the tag and six-man title belts can currently be
challenged by any wrestlers in the league. So if you enter two wrestlers
into the MLW next month, feel more than free to sign up against the tag champs. And any combination for a tag or six team that you send in is eligible for the tag or six-man belts.
HOLD VALUES AND PICKING A STRATEGY: As the manager, it is your duty to choose which holds you want for your particular wrestler. You will notice a list of wrestling holds on the back of your league bulletin, as well as
13 holds to be filled in on your match form. You must choose any 8 of the
first 30 (hold #’s 1-30) “Set-Up Holds” and then any 5 “Finisher Moves” from holds listed #’s 31-60. The “Set-Up Holds” (hold #’s 1-30) are assigned point values
ranging from 1 point to 30 points. For instance, one of the “Set-Up Holds”
you chose might be hold 13 (Gut Wrench Suplex), which could be worth 28 points. The “Finisher Moves” (hold #’s 31-60) are assigned point values ranging from 31 points to 60 points. So you might choose hold #32 (Butterfly Superplex) and find it to be worth 55 points on a particular month. To reiterate, you choose 8 of the hold #’s 1-30 and 5 of the hold #’s 31-60 for your wrestler. We add up the point totals of the 13 holds you sent in for your wrestler and arrive at a strategy total for
him. Therefore, your objective is to choose the holds that you think will get you the highest possible strategy total, because the higher your strategy total the better your wrestlers will do in match competition (the maximum IWF singles strategy comes out to 502). You can arrange your wrestler’s holds in just about any order you’d like. For example, you might fill out hold #28 (Swinging Neckbreaker) on your match form as your first hold and then hold #6 (Dragon Suplex) as your second hold. And if you have more than one wrestler, you certainly don’t
have to give your other wrestlers the same 13 holds, nor do you need to have
them in the same order. The wrestling holds fluctuate from month to month; nohold can be the same two months in a row. Therefore, you might want to choose a hold
worth 21 points this month and maybe not choose a hold that was worth 26
points last month. As a general tip about picking wrestling moves: the holds worth the most points usually stay good. You can also not use the same hold more than once on a particular wrestler. If you use a hold more that once we will substitute a
random hold. Choosing holds is one of the most fun aspects of the game!
PLOTTING A TAG/SIX STRATEGY: Tag and six strategies are taken from the 13 holds you sent in for your wrestler. We compare the two wrestlers in your tag team going hold by hold from 1-13. Now, the wrestlers’ holds at each
slot are compared for total point value, and the highest value counts toward
the tag or six strategy. For instance, if at slot #1 you had one wrestler with hold #12 (German Suplex), worth perhaps 27 points, and your other wrestler had hold #16 (Insuguri Kick) and it was worth 21 points, the 27 points would count toward
your tag strategy. If at slot 2 you had hold #6 (Dragon Suplex), which was worth 23 points, and hold #15 (Hurricarana), worth 30 points, the 30 points would count toward your tag strategy. So 27 points at slot #1 would be added to 30 points at
slot #2, and so on down the line. Six-man works in the exact same way, with the three wrestlers compared hold by hold.
HOW SINGLES MATCHES ARE WON: The wrestler with the higher strategy total will be declared the winner of the match. If you look at the bulletin we sent, you’ll find this as a sample match result: PCE: California
Executioner pinned HD: Ring Warrior #1 at 22:13 (California Crusher, 8).
The number 8 represents the difference between the strategies of the two wrestlers in the match, so California Executioner had a strategy 8 points higher than Ring Warrior #1. “California Crusher” was the trademark hold sent in by the wrestler (read further for more information on trademark
holds). For any singles match in which the strategy point differential is
less than 11 points, you will find the wrestler’s trademark hold in parentheses (if the wrestler did not send in a trademark hold, we will use the 13th hold they sent in). In wrestling you do not always win with your trademark hold, thus in the IWF if
you win the match more easily you will not win with your trademark hold. If the point difference ranges from 11-23 points, we count backwards on the holds you sent in to find which hold you won with. For instance, if you won a match by 11 points we take your 13th hold as the finisher; if you
won by 12 points we take your 12th hold as your finisher; if you won by 13
points we take you 11th hold as the finisher, and so on. Finally, any match won by over 23 points will be won using the first hold of your strategy.
HOW TAG/SIX-MAN MATCHES ARE WON: The tag or six-man team with the higher strategy will be declared the winner of the match. Once again, tag and six-man strategies are determined by adding up the higher point
value at each hold, from 1 to 13 (see above for more information). In the
parentheses next to tag matches you will find the trademark tag finisher of the first wrestler on the winning team followed by the strategy differential between the two tag or six teams. As an example: Javier Rodriguez and CLAN: The Cuban Warlord outwrestled Lionheart Chris Jericho and the Shooter Dean Malenko at 17:37 (Spanish Fly, 13). “Spanish Fly” is the trademark tag finisher of Javier Rodriguez, and the team of Rodriguez and the Cuban Warlord were 13 points better than Jericho and Malenko.
ROOKIE PROTECTION: To give our rookie managers time to get experience in choosing strategies for their wrestlers, all rookie managers’ wrestlers cannot be challenged for their first three cycles in the IWF, unless they win a title.
Next to your wrestler on the rankings page you will find a number inside a
parentheses. This number will indicate the amount of cycles remaining of protection, where you cannot be challenged by veteran wrestlers.
RECORDS AND RANKINGS: A wrestler’s record indicates how well he does against the other wrestlers in his league. It tells you how many times he has won, lost, and tied. In the IWF we rank wrestlers to show how your wrestler is
doing against the other wrestlers, as well as to determine which wrestlers
are eligible for specific title-shots. Records play an important part in ranking wrestlers. When you get your league bulletin, inside you will find a rankings page. There you will find your wrestler's rank determined by Win+Losses+Title Points=Ranking Points. Wrestlers are ranked by total points, highest to lowest. Title points are added on to the wins-losses difference and are as follows: 25 pts
for Heavyweight Title, 15 for Jr Heavyweight, 8 for Region Champs. Your
wrestler will also get 5 points for winning the tag or six-man belts, and 10 points for winning your league’s battle royal. Thus, rankings reward both activity of the wrestler (wins-losses), as well as a wrestlers’ success (+ title points). The
wrestlers in your league that have won singles titles are found on the front page, not on your rankings page. The wrestlers ranked #1 and #2 are reserved to the Heavyweight and Jr. Heavyweight champions from the prior cycle (a cycle is the same as a month). You will find that the wrestlers ranked from #3 on down are the active wrestlers in your league, and they should decrease proportionately as you look down the rankings page. Inactive wrestlers (wrestlers who did not mail in any matches for a particular cycle) are placed after all the active wrestlers have been listed. Finally, if two wrestlers have the same rankings point total, the wrestler with more wins will be ranked ahead.
TAG/SIX RECORDS AND RANKINGS: The tag and six rankings are composed in the same way as the singles rankings, with rankings points going from most to least. The system is as follows: wins-losses+ 5 points for winning
the tag belts. The tag and six teams listed on the rankings page must be
registered by the manager (limit of two tag and six teams registered per manager). Simply tell us to put your tag or six team into the tag and six rankings. Further, you are free to give your tag and six teams a name. In the arena cards your team will be referred to as the name you gave, but on the tag an six rankings everyone will see which wrestlers are on that team. If your team goes inactive for a particular month, it will drop off the tag or six rankings completely, because we do not list inactive teams on the tag/six rankings. But your team’s record will certainly be preserved. At this point any team can challenge for the tag or six belts in your league, whether ranked or not. There may be a rule change on this in the coming months, however.
BATTLE ROYAL: Every IWF league runs a battle royal competition every month, and it is only $1 per wrestler to enter! The winner of your league’s battle royal wins 10 bonus points, which will help his wrestler ranking! To determine how
your wrestler does in the battle royal, we add the point values of your first
five holds. And then we compare that five-hold strategy total (the maximum battle royal strategy is 140) to the other wrestlers who entered the battle royal. The wrestler with the highest five-hold total wins the battle royal, the wrestler with the
second highest total finishes second, and so on. In addition, it is completely random as to which wrestler throws you out of the battle royal.
HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: This is the most prestigious title a wrestler can win an IWF league. Only the wrestlers that have demonstrated excellence in the ring are eligible for this title. As such, the only wrestlers eligible to win the
Heavyweight title are the league’s current region champions, the Jr.
Heavyweight Champion, and those wrestlers ranked in the top 10. The Heavyweight champion must defend his title against all of these contenders every month in order to retain his title. Thus, it is often quite difficult for the Heavyweight champ to retain his title. The Jr. Heavyweight Champion, the Region Champs, and the top five wrestlers are all granted free title shot opportunities for the Heavyweight belt the following month. Wrestlers ranked #6-#10 can sign up against for the heavyweight title by writing “Heavyweight Champion” on their match form and by sending in $1 to pay for that match. After winning the Heavyweight crown, the following cycle the champ will attempt to defend his title in a “stepladder format,” starting with the Jr. Heavyweight Champ, the 5 Region Champs, the
top 5 Ranked Wrestlers, and then any wrestlers ranked 6-10 that have signed
(paid) to face him.
JR. HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: This is the second most prestigious title within an IWF league. This Champ gets the first shot at the current Heavyweight Champ the following cycle. Again, because this title is rather prestigious, the
amount of wrestlers eligible to challenge for this belt is limited. All
singles champions and wrestlers ranked #’s 1-15 in the rankings are eligible to challenge the Jr. Heavyweight champion, but they must sign up and pay $1 for the match.
REGION CHAMPS: There are 5 Region Titles in every league. Often these
regions will be dictated based on the “theme” of a league. For example, Canadian Pride Wrestling’s (CPW) region titles are based on Canada’s geography.
These titles are equal in worth, and each gets a free shot at the Heavyweight
Champ the following cycle. Any wrestler in the league, either on the front page or on the rankings page, is free to challenge these champs for $1 apiece.
TAG/SIX-MAN TITLES: Any team may challenge for the tag or six-man belts. Even teams that are not registered (that don’t appear on the rankings) can currently challenge for tag or six belts. We would like each tag/six Man team to
submit a “team name,” but this feature is purely optional. This name will
be used in the bulletins and on the front cover and will make the IWF seem that much more realistic. If you choose to do this, make a note on the application or on the match form if you do it in the future.
UNCLAIMED TITLES: No wrestler can win more than one singles belt any
particular cycle. As a result, sometimes a wrestler wins a higher title, but no one beats him for his old belt. Since he can’t win two singles belts, he must vacate the
belt that is lower down on the title page. If this arises, then we will award the vacant title to the wrestler with the highest strategy total (this wrestler must not have an existing title, though). When we open new IWF leagues, we will award titles
based on highest strategy totals within the league.
IWF-WIDE TITLES: Every IWF bulletin you receive will include an IWF Monthly.
This will run down all of the IWF-Wide Titles, include wrestler and manager rankings, and provide information about the latest IWF happenings and rule
changes. The name of the wrestler and the manager will often be listed in
the Monthly, as well as other important information (who the wrestler had to beat to win the title, how many points he won by, how many free matches were won,
etc.) Here is a run-down of the IWF-Wide Titles:
DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIPS: Each Heavyweight Champion in a division will face off, and whoever has the highest strategy will win this major IWF-Wide Title.
WORLD CHAMPION: Now that the Division Champs are crowned, they will square off to determine the World Champ! The World Champ will receive 25 free matches!
INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: Each Jr Heavyweight Champ in the IWF will face off and whoever has the highest strategy will win this coveted title. The Intercontinental Champion will be awarded 15 free matches!
IWF-WIDE REGION CHAMPS: There will be 5 of these, and one for each region. It will be worked like this: whoever has the highest strategy total of all the East Champions within the 5 leagues, will be known as the IWF-Wide East
Region Champ, and the same can be said for determining the other 4 region
champs.
GLOBAL CHAMPION: After the 5 IWF Region Champions are found, they will
square off to determine the prestigious Global Champion (IWF-Wide Champ with highest strat). The Global Champ will be awarded 10 free matches!
ULTIMATE ROYAL: All the battle royal winners will square off and the one
with the highest battle royal strategy will win the Ultimate Royal Championship. He will win 5 free matches!
ROOKIE CHALLENGE: We enter all of our rookie managers into competition. The rookie wrestler with the highest strategy will win the Rookie Challenge and will win 5 free matches!
WORLD TAG/SIX: Every tag champ in the IWF will face off to determine the IWF World Tag Team Champions. The same for the World Six-Man Champs. The tag and six team with highest strategy will win these belts, and point concentration will be used to break ties (please see below). Note that the maximum tag strategy is worth a 524, and the maximum six-man strategy is worth a 531.