Saturday, May 10, 2008

American Pundit Fighting finally has some competition

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Consider me flattered. It looks like there's another Political Wrestling federation on the block, the 'BCEW'. Otherwise known as Buckland County Extreme (Political) Wrestling.

political championship wrestling
'PCW Political Championship Wrestling' banner
Technically American Pundit Fighting focuses on the Punditocracy. Using wrestling as an analogy to deconstruct the psychology and presentation of modern punditry. Though I can only speculate, BCEW looks a bit more like 'Fantasy wrestling' not unlike 'fan fiction' for non wrestling fans. I'll let The BCEW's 'About' section speak for itself:
BCEW combines political satire and professional wrestling. Written in the style of Paul Heyman and the old ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling), BCEW is Political, Hardcore, Extreme, Wrestling or PHEW- which coincidentally is also an accurate description of the current state of American politics...

BCEW is set up similar to your typical pro wrestling show except that instead of the good guys vs. bad guys (or 'face' vs. 'heels') it's the left vs. right.
I must say I've been waiting for some competition. It'll allow me to set up a feud and become an authentic Wrestling Commissioner by being obnoxious and combative. For a site like mine that focuses on Politics with a Wrestling analogy you'd think it would be more satirical and irreverent, instead it's been all too earnest and more like media studies. This is not altogether bad, but this new competition might just be the catalyst to bringing a more 'humorist' approach to the site.

Expect some changes in the future, particularly the inclusion of me - Jim Stark as an animated character. I plan to write more personal pieces for the APF. In wrestling terms it will be like when Vince McMahon emerged from behind the commentators desk, morphing from his role as an impartial observer to becoming a prominent in-ring persona, the villainous Chairman of the WWE.

Like McMahon, expect 'Commissioner Stark' to have an epic feud with the denizens of BCEW. Wrestling fans will know what happened to WCW and ECW, the upstart rival federation of the WWE. The competition in the marketplace elevated the quality of all the brands, captivating the mainstream and enjoying immense popularity. Whilst the competition initially threatened the WWE's dominance both competitors were ultimately crushed then bought out. Expect the same of BCEW. Though there was eventually a downturn in popularity with the lack of competition I can worry about crossing that bridge later. There federation doesn't even have animated characters and art like we do.

Game on!

Go visit the competition, BCEW or Political Championship Wrestling
Go to the Wiki page on Fantasy Wrestling

2 comments:

Swamp Pirate said...

First off, let me say that I'm glad I stumbled upon your site. I'm pleased that someone else has found the similarities in politics and professional wrestling.

Just to clarify, BCEW became PCW (Political Championship Wrestling) effective our 5/6-Hoosier House Party blog entry.

From what I've read here, APF takes a more analytical and technicial view of politics in a wrestling context.

You're right. PCW is pretty much fantasy wrestling with political figures (and non-political figures) interjected into the story lines. And that's what I enjoy about PCW (BCEW), creating and weaving storylines

Obviously, I'm a huge Paul Heyman/ ECW fan and a political junkie of sorts so the marriage between the two seemed only natural.

To answer your question, yes, BCEW began in March 2005 on my Buckland County website. Then we moved it in August 2006 to a blog at Blogspot (www.bucklandcounty.blogspot.com) and then added a blog on Wordpress in March 2008.

Congrats on the site.

J.D.

PunditFight said...

J.D you are ruining the narrative!! We are suppose to hate each other, it looks we have some wok to do.