THE GREATEST WRESTLING DEBATE TOURNAMENT ON THE INTERNET HAS RETURNED...
After being away from posting regularly on the forums for awhile, i'm back now. And as the official custodian of the Rajah Wrestling forum's greatest tradition, that means that it's time for the Wilfred's Debates to return as well! In the 11 prior installments of this tournament we have seen forum heavyweights fall before the onslaught of newcomers from out of nowhere, we've seen major forum feuders throw down against each other in a storm of words and punctuation, and we seen person after person make their name as a credible and thoughtful poster at the expense of their peers, while people who fancy themselves kings of debate have fallen short time and time again, (I am 0-7, for the record.) In short, Wilfred's debates is how we sort out who is the best of the best here at Rajah. And it's time to put up or shut up.
Now, it has been awhile since we had one of these and there are a ton of new faces around who may not be familiar with it. So here's a few things to know about the debates.
- The tournament is conducted as an elimination style tournament. Think the NCAA Basketball tournament, just with fewer players.
- All debates will be comprised of 3 posts by each competitor, each with a word cap of 250 words.
- Those 6 posts must be staggered. You can't make your next post until the other debator has had their turn.
- Pictures, gifs and videos can be used in literally unlimited amounts to support your point.
- The winner will be chosen equally from 4 sources. 2 judges, a reader write in vote, and a poll which will be posted on the main page along with your debates which will allow the greater Rajah audience to vote on your words.
Now then. The debates are here, and I am looking for 16 worthy souls to engage in a melee of words for the amusement and betterment of this forum.
Are you ready?
The 1st Rajah Debate Official Preview!
Welcome, one and all, to the glorious debut of the Rajah Debates! For years, the best and brightest minds of the Rajah forum have done battle with words about a myriad of fascinating topics from the wrestling world, seeking to answer the questions that plague the wrestling community. Is John Cena actually a good wrestler? What's the greatest wrestling show of all time? Is anyone as good as Bobby Lashley? (No.) But just like we did last year, we're bringing the debates to you and letting you guys act as judge, jury and executioner.
The way this works is simple. Each match will involve a maximum of three 350 word posts from each participant going in order. At the end, you guys and our panel of judges will vote to see who moves on to the next round to get one step closer to Rajah immortality. Over the course of the next month you'll grow to know and root for these brilliant weirdos until we eventually crown a grand champion. And this year we celebrate a new era of the debates with a name change as we seek to expand out to the greater Rajah audience. We're naming it after the name on our metaphorical paychecks, and with any luck this year we'll start a tradition which will come to define our lovely website full of weirdos for years to come.
Now then, at last we have settled on the 16 brave men and...well, just men who will be doing loquacious battle in the Rajah arena this year. For those of you who have never seen these debates take place, or for those of you who are unfamiliar with our contestants, this preview will act as a little primer to get you ready for the show to start! First thing's first, let's take a look at the big board and see who is on the bracket for this year.
I did the seeding in terms of success in past debates on this site, and that determined all of the matchups for round 1. Now let's take a look at some of out combatants!
VS.
Once upon a time Badger was the king and steward of these debates when I was just a lowly poster trying desperately to get out of the first round. Since his Terry Funk-like retirement, he has made the occassional comeback to make sure that there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he is every bit the tenacious badger that he ever was. This year he's looking to become the undisputed emperor of Rajah debates before he rides off into the sunset one last time. He attacks weak arguments viciously, and is an absolutely imposing figure casting a shadow over this year's competition.
Meanwhile, Samuel Hall is a total unknown. A years long lurker, who emerged out of the mist to throw down the gauntlet, Sam has an intensely difficult first test ahead. If Sam can somehow manage to bring Badger down, it will send shockwaves through the entire competition.
VS.
Back in the old days of Rajah the wrestling forum was split into 3 sections, WWE TV/PPV, WWE Wrestling and General Wrestling. As tends to happen, each forum developed its own regulars who regularly disparaged the denizens of each of the other, but by far the most mocked group of posters were the odd crew who populated the WWE Divas thread. Eager for women's wrestling to the extreme, there were a number of posters who literally never posted outside of that thread, and were commonly considered by elitist fuckpuppets to be weirdos. Therefore it was quite a surprise one year when the_man_diva, one of the Divas Thread regulars, signed up to join the debates a few years back, and in one of the coolest things ever to happen on Rajah TMD went beast mode and ran the table, not just winning the championship, but doing it in style, and proving that these debates are an equal proving ground for anyone with a keyboard and a burning desire to win. This year he makes his comeback against a stacked field, but we have all learned better than to be against TMD.
lotjx, on the other hand, is one of the great mysteries of this forum. Sometimes lotjx will reel off a series of interesting insightful posts and sometimes he'll post like a drunk 6 year old has hacked his account. But entering into this competition, there is no better first round matchup for him than against the first man who shocked the world. If lotjx wins this whole thing, I am being entirely serious when I say that it will change the trajectory of his reputation on this site. Something in me thinks he can do it. But now he has to prove it.
VS.
Defrost is an asshole. With a debating style seemingly engineered specifically to frustrate and confuse anyone who comes in contact with it. He will cut down your carefully constructed arguments with a single sentence and leave you there, jaw agape, trying to find a response. He also one of this forum's top contrarians, who is ready and willing to go the extra mile to disparage any and everything you love. He is an assassin with the range of skills and knowledge to make your life a living hell. Good luck.
Peter Griffin hates Defrost like Donald Trump hates fine dining. If he is not careful, Defrost will cook him and eat him for dinner. Well done with ketchup.
VS.
Psycho is a man whose enthusiasm for just about everything in the wrestling world is matched only by his competitive nature and love for games of this sort. Despite entering the debates a number of times, he's never had that defining moment or run that he'll be remembered for, and he's hungrily seeking that this year.
How much of Donald is a persona? After years of posting with him, I still don't feel like i'm equipped to answer that. Is there a deeply shrewd and intelligent mind at the center of all of the irreverent posts? If so, then people in this tournament are in a lot of trouble.
VS.
Rip is a veteran. He has a great deal of experience. He is stately. He's old, what i'm trying to say is that Rip is old. But don't use that as an excuse to take this grizzled bastard lightly, because he was wrecking foolish young folks and dominating debates for years before your dad forgot to pull out. He hasn't been to the promised land in a long time, and perhaps even more than Badger he might be seeking that one definitive win to finally put these whippersnappers in their place.
Nash Diesel is not going to win this tournament. But if he does, we'll name it after him.
VS.
BIG BAMMA FAMMA, (not what it actually stands for,) has been a prestigious poster on this here site for years, and has dabbled in debates before. Like many in this year's competition, he a has a lot to prove and a long hard road ahead of him to get to the title, but BBF has a grab bag of wits and wile that may make him the single biggest wild card in this entire tournament. If you're putting money on an underdog who can win the whole thing, this may be your best bet.
BGMaverick has been around the block a long time, but it was only recently that he really emerged from his shell and started posting a ton, giving us a glimpse of a passionate guy who is happy to argue loud and long about just about anything, and who has a good head on his shoulders. He's never been put in a position to succeed or fail on his own words like this, and i'm very excited to see what he comes out with.
VS.
Kangus' seeding here is something of an insult to a guy who regularly makes it far into the competition, and who is one of the hardest outs in Rajah debate history. Kangus will absolutely not make it easily for you and is known for harrying his prey and taking apart their arguments piece by piece until nothing is left. Frankly, the only reason I can think of that he is ranked this low is because chaos makes the debate master very very happy. Hmm.
Honey_Badger, or as we're going to affectionately call him in this tournament "Badger Jr." is maybe the most high profile breath of fresh air the forums have had in a long time. He's now new as such, but of late he's been everywhere and has been seen to be both thoughtful and interesting in his approach to posting and debate as well. He has made it clear that he is here to win, and is excitable as all hell when it comes to competition. He's going to have his hands full with kangus, but if he can get past him, he's got a straight line to the trophy.
VS.
The other entries I have broken down separately, but these two have a similar enough backstory that i'm going to break them down together. Both of these two are debate veterans, both in the Rajah debates, and in the lesser known Fiction Fight debates as well. Both are very capable, but have rarely stood out throughout their time in the debates. I very much want to see a distinctive performance from one of these guys here, because I can't help but feel if they can shake off that early round curse, they will be very, very dangerous in the rounds to come.
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Originally Posted by mth
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