@smarkmouth
Friendly Neighborhood
This idea has been turning around in my head. It's not a thought that's been provoked by anything on WWE programming lately, nor is it something I anticipate can be integrated any time soon. Just an idea I want to put to paper, really.
So the idea, as title suggests, is a tag team tournament, but with a twist. 8 tag teams participate (perhaps 4 from each brand), and each team is determined entirely by lottery. Random names are paired together. We may get a few casual allies (Rusev and Sheamus), a mega star dragging along a lovable jobber (Cena and Slater), a leader taking the opportunity to attempt to grow his ranks (Wyatt and Corbin), or bitter rivals forced to put their differences aside (Owens and Zayn).
Each member of the winning team is offered a choice; Unite or Divide. This choice is done simultaneously, and anonymously to one another (perhaps presented on the stage with twin podiums, where the choice is keyed in). As the choice is binary, and each star makes their own choice , this yields three possible results.
If both choose to Unite; The team is awarded with a shot at the Tag Team Championship
If one star chooses to Unite, and the other chooses to Divide; This is effectively a betrayal. The star choosing to Divide is awarded a shot at the World Championship, and the star who chose to Unite gets nothing.
If both choose to Divide; Neither superstar is awarded anything, or perhaps penalized in some other way.
Anyone familiar with game theory may have recognized this as the prisoner's dilemma, which is a principal I don't think I've ever seen applied to wrestling. However, I think with some fine tuning, it fits. I think it would be fun to watch these relationships develop through the tournament, and the climactic action naturally being a shocking betrayal or turn, or a feel good moment of success. There is the risk of rendering the tournament meaningless (if both choose to Divide), but there's merit in that, too. That is if the penalty is something more creative than I suggested.
Anyway, that's that. Again, not really a talking point. Just needed a bit of brain drain.
So the idea, as title suggests, is a tag team tournament, but with a twist. 8 tag teams participate (perhaps 4 from each brand), and each team is determined entirely by lottery. Random names are paired together. We may get a few casual allies (Rusev and Sheamus), a mega star dragging along a lovable jobber (Cena and Slater), a leader taking the opportunity to attempt to grow his ranks (Wyatt and Corbin), or bitter rivals forced to put their differences aside (Owens and Zayn).
Each member of the winning team is offered a choice; Unite or Divide. This choice is done simultaneously, and anonymously to one another (perhaps presented on the stage with twin podiums, where the choice is keyed in). As the choice is binary, and each star makes their own choice , this yields three possible results.
If both choose to Unite; The team is awarded with a shot at the Tag Team Championship
If one star chooses to Unite, and the other chooses to Divide; This is effectively a betrayal. The star choosing to Divide is awarded a shot at the World Championship, and the star who chose to Unite gets nothing.
If both choose to Divide; Neither superstar is awarded anything, or perhaps penalized in some other way.
Anyone familiar with game theory may have recognized this as the prisoner's dilemma, which is a principal I don't think I've ever seen applied to wrestling. However, I think with some fine tuning, it fits. I think it would be fun to watch these relationships develop through the tournament, and the climactic action naturally being a shocking betrayal or turn, or a feel good moment of success. There is the risk of rendering the tournament meaningless (if both choose to Divide), but there's merit in that, too. That is if the penalty is something more creative than I suggested.
Anyway, that's that. Again, not really a talking point. Just needed a bit of brain drain.
