Thursday, June 6, 2024

Time for a Slobberknocker - Legends of Wrestling




I recently got back into the Legends of Wrestling game from Filsinger Games. It's a card and dice game with wrestlers from all eras, even way back in the early 20th century. Heck, it even includes a few from the late 19th century! That doesn't mean you won't find wrestlers from recent years as well, and some sets feature wrestlers all from the same era (like Legends V, which is about the 90s, and has Davey Boy Smith, Curtis Hughes, and Big Van Vader).

Personally, I'm a fan of technical wrestling, especially the Vintage era (early 20th century, up to the 50s), so a lot of the wrestlers I use are from that era. I don't have the main box set because I already have the rules to play the game. 

Instead, the sets I use are:

Legends III (AWA)
Legends IV (Hardcore)
Legends VII (Vintage)
Cauliflower Alley Club II
George Tragos Award sets I, II, IV.
Olde Wrestling I and II (and indie fed that acts like a vintage one)
A few Special Edition cards.

LOW is played using d6. Each card has stats and moves on the back, and you roll to see what each wrestler does and how his opponent reacts. For throwing opponents into the ropes, fighting outside the ring, etc., you refer to game charts. The main rules also have several special matches, such as tag team and battle royals.

My fed is called the Shooters All-star Grappling Alliance, or SAGA for short. It's based off an idea years ago where my friend and I split a fed, with each of us picking a show. Mine was called Saga. Once we decided to run our own feds, I just kept the name but spelled it out to mean something. 

This is my return card. I stopped in 2022 because I kept getting sidetracked with other projects, games, etc. My last card had John Pesek defeating William Muldoon in less than a minute to win the World Title, though I decided it was because Muldoon landed wrong and got hurt). Originally, it was supposed to be a big feud, but now I just gave them a rematch.

I did use Mythic GME here and there, mostly asking, "Did Wrestler A attack Opponent B or C?" "Will there be a rematch?" Stuff like that.

Here's the card:

Heat Plex

The Tri-Town Arena
Morgantown, NC
 
Dark Matches:
A. Matt Cross defeated Pampiro Firpo in a Blood Rumble qualifying match.
B. Nicolas Valentino defeated Marion Fontaine in a BR qualifying match.
 
Actual event:
 
Gordon Solie invited Jim Ross to the commentating table. Shon Maxx, the current COO of SAGA (though he prefers CMM or Chief Mischief Maker), joined as color commentator. However he said the main job was theirs; he just wanted a front row seat to the action.
 
1. Paul Orndorff Pinned Masa Saito after a Jumping Piledriver.
 
2. The Stranglers defeated the Flying Redheads when Evan Lewis made Billy Red Lyons tap to the Strangler's Headlock. Lyons hurt his neck and is out for 2 cards.
 
Several wrestlers were shown drawing their numbers for the Blood Rumble. Commissioner Teddy Long supervised to make sure no one pulled any little tricks.
 
 Judge Hugo Black, Representative Gavin Volstead, and Senator Cameron Sheppard all seemed disappointed by their numbers. but then Volstead reminded them that they didn't actually have to fight each other. Black them pointed out that if they worked together and won the Rumble, they could pressure Long into giving them shots at the World and Tag Team titles.
 
3. The Monsters (Gorilla Monsoon and Butcher Vachon) beat Thunder + Lightning (Thunderbolt Patterson and Lightning Rod Fenton when Monsoon pinned Fenton.
 
The Great Gama and the Terrible Turk drew their numbers. Both grinned widely but said nothing. 
 
4. William Muldoon defeated John Pesek to regain the World Title, 2 falls to 1 in a Vintage Rules match. Muldoon pulled out a quick pin for the first fall. Pesek made Muldoon tap to win the second fall. And Muldoon pinned Pesek after 15 minutes of back and forth action to win the third fall. After the match, neither man offered to shake hands. Instead, they exchanged angry nods of respect.
 
Farmer Burns, Frank Gotch, and George Hackenschmidt drew their numbers. Burns expressed concern because it was his very first SAGA event. But after seeing Burns' number, Gotch tapped him on the shoulder and told him he'd be all right.
 
5. Blood Rumble - Winner gets a shot at the World Title at a future event:
 
 
- Sheppard was #1. His ally, Hugo Black, was #2. The two stood in the ring and waited for the next opponent.
- Henry Irslinger was #3. They double-teamed him, but he held them off.
- Volstead was #4. They triple-teamed Irslinger and eliminated him.
- #5 was Jeff King. Again, they triple-teamed and tossed him out.
- #6 was Fritz Von Goering. He held on for a minute but lost the numbers game and was tossed out.
- George Hackenschmidt entered at #7 and cleaned house. He easily tossed all 3 men out.
- #8 was Matt Cross. He and Hackenschmidt shook hands and grappled, with Hack tossing him out.
- #9 was Boris Malenko. He attacked Hack immediately, and the two fought back and forth.
- #10 was Nikita Koloff. He helped Malenko attack Hack and they wore him down.
- #11 was Baron Von Rasche. Before he could enter, Hack eliminated Malenko and Koloff. However, Malenko grabbed his chain, jumped onto the apron, and choked Hack. The Baron threw Hack out, and Malenko and Koloff used their chains to brutalize Hack. Frank gotch ran out and saved his friend, and he led Hack to the locker rooms.
 
- #12 was Jim Londos. Baron attacked him immediately, and the two fought back and forth.
- Ox Baker entered at lucky #13. He helped Baron go after Londos, who did his best to fight back.
- #14 was Frank Gotch, who walked out only once he knew Hack was okay.
- Londos eliminated both Baron and Ox. He and Gotch then exchanged moves for a minute.
- Abdullah entered at #15. He quickly bloodied both Gotch and Londos.
- Tim Curtis entered at #16. Abdullah went right after him and quickly sent him flying.
- Dan Severn entered at #17.
- Abdullah eliminated Gotch after blinding him with an eye rake and clotheslining him over the top rope.
- Severn eliminated Londos with a German suplex over the top rope.
- Greg Valentine entered at #18. After shrugging off Abdullah's attacks, he hoisted the bigger man over the top rope and to the floor.
 
- Bob Roop entered at #19. 
- George Tragos entered at #20.
- Valentine was eliminated by Severn.
- Roop was eliminated by Tragos.
- Dick Hutton entered at #21.
- Nicolas Valentino entered at #22.
- Great Gama entered at #23.
- Severn suplexed Valentino over the top rope.
- Gama used the Gama Throw to toss out Tragos.
- The Crusher entered at # 24. He went right after Gama, and the two went back and forth.
- The Terrible Turk entered at #25. He and Gama fist-bumped and double-teamed Crusher. After a few minutes, Turk helped Gama eliminate Crusher.
 
-Turk tossed Hutton into the third row.
- Cowboy Scott Casey entered at #26.
- Wilbur Snyder entered at #27.
- Stanislaus Zbysko entered at #28.
- The Destroyer entered at #29.
- Martin "Farmer" Burns entered at #30.
 
- Turk sent Casey flying.
- Snyder locked Turk in an abdominal stretch. He then turned it into a waistlock suplex and flipped Turk over the top rope.
 
- Severn reversed a turnbuckle charge and flipped Gama out of the ring.
- Destroyer used a Sensational Suplex to eliminate Severn.
- Burns used the Iowa Backdrop to eliminate Destroyer.
- Zbysko easily tossed out Snyder.
 
-This left Zbysko and Burns. For several minutes, they fought back and forth. Burns then attempted to lock in a half nelson, but Zbysko powered out, grabbed Burns in a hammerlock, and then choke slammed him out of the ring.
 
Winner of the Blood Rumble:  Stanislaus Zbysko (I guess I better get used to writing that name!)