Tagging up
Sept 2, 2022 15:16:11 GMT -5
Post by OrochiGeese on Sept 2, 2022 15:16:11 GMT -5
*An announcement is posted to the UBL website. It’s letter head reads “From the desk of Arthur Wingate”*
“Greetings to all of our fans, wrestlers, and personnel,
I sincerely hope that your summer has been enjoyable. If it has been enriched in any way by the return of Universal Battle League activity, I am truly gratified.
Recent events concerning the Universal Battalion Championship have merited a response from me.
First, it was an easy decision to accept JET Hamada’s request to place him in Block C of the Infinite Continuum Championship league. Tetsu Gushiken’s wish to opt-out deserves to be honored and he is thriving as a coach in the Basic Training program. While I do hope he returns to active competition in the future, his career trajectory is up to him. JET is on the same level as Tetsu, as further demonstrated by his defeat of Yoshirozuna. On a further note, if JET had not held the Universal Battalion Titles at the time the Continuum League started, I would have recommended that he take part in it. I believe he will prosper in this League, even considering the enhanced competitiveness of Block C.
Second, I wish to congratulate Naja Mask on the completion of a legendary career spanning over twenty years, made even more impressive at the end by the loyalty he showed to his friend Barton. Naja and Barton became synonymous with the Universal Battalion Championships and so I understand Naja’s desire to retire after a successful defense. I am also pleased to see the success that Naja is having as a coach in the Basic Training program and glad that he is able to once again work with Barton on a common goal.
Third, we clearly need to crown new Universal Battalion Champions. Before I announce the method for doing this, I wish to address something crucial in the make-up of the division itself. It is disheartening that this is the second time in the past few years that our Champions voluntarily relinquished the Titles to move onto other career goals. That is not meant to criticize the goals or those Champions but, rather, as an admission that the nature of the tag division needs to change. We need to have Champions that want to hold the Titles they have won. That principle applies to every Championship that we have but, specifically, to the Universal Battalion titles due to recent events.
I plan to rectify this problem starting now. While I understand the draw of holding a singles Championship, we can not allow that goal to distract from the integrity of the tag titles. I am introducing a new rule to encourage tag teams who are dedicated to winning and continuing to hold the Universal Battalion Championship for as long as possible.
From now on, no team can directly challenge for those Championships unless they agree to stay in the tag division for a stipulated period of time following one of two outcomes resulting from a title match.
- If they fall short in challenging for the titles, we will make note of the date of the match. Neither teammate can challenge for a singles title until an entire year after that date has passed.
- If they successful win the titles, the milestone will be marked once they eventually lose them. At that point, they cannot challenge for a singles title until an entire year has passed since that date has passed.
Certainly, no one will be forced to stay in the tag division who does not wish to compete there. Any wrestler that decides to pivot to singles competition is welcome to. But regardless of their success, they have to wait until the stipulated time in order to challenge for a singles title or join any tournament or league with direct Title implications.
Any one is welcome to form a tag team or even challenge others to a tag team match. If your motivation for forming a tag team is to compete with rivals or punish enemies, I take no direct issue with that. But you will not be eligible to win the titles unless you commit to the aforementioned rules. Tag teams that challenge for the titles have to want to be Champions for as long as their skills can reasonably support their reigns. They should not use the titles just to punish their enemies, even if they have legitimate reasons for wanting to do so.
I bear absolutely no ill will toward JET Hamada and Naja Mask for dethroning El Exilio for the motivations that JET mentioned. I do believe that they legitimately tried to protect the Titles by taking them away from El Exilio. And I agree that relinquishing the titles at this time was the right decision n order to respect them. But we cannot have this situation repeat, nor the one that Sun & Moon found themselves in, so these new rules are necessary.
Now let us turn fully to the future. The quest to crown new Universal Battalion Champions will be realized through a tournament that will occur during the Dimensional stream.
Here is a list of the current teams that are being considered but is not a final list:
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. – Land Storm and Laser Sight
Watanabe Kai - Kenichi Naito & Mr. Shikori
Maritime Foxes - Joseph Paladin & Yuji Dancer
HipHopBots – RapBot3K and Dissmastah Droid
Peregrines - Peregrine II & Hijo de Peregrine II
Jimmy Nails and Mickey Grinds
Barbershop – Billy Case and Norman Deere
"SwashbuckLAWLers" - Jack Flint & Henry Bailey
Armo Halla & Hjalmar Susi
We will have more information on the participants and the tournament bracket in the coming months.
After a string of successful Dimensional shows, we will be coming to you next with Continuum IV and the “Summer School” event from Basic Training. I hope that you enjoy your holiday weekend.
Indubitably,
- Arthur Wingate
“Greetings to all of our fans, wrestlers, and personnel,
I sincerely hope that your summer has been enjoyable. If it has been enriched in any way by the return of Universal Battle League activity, I am truly gratified.
Recent events concerning the Universal Battalion Championship have merited a response from me.
First, it was an easy decision to accept JET Hamada’s request to place him in Block C of the Infinite Continuum Championship league. Tetsu Gushiken’s wish to opt-out deserves to be honored and he is thriving as a coach in the Basic Training program. While I do hope he returns to active competition in the future, his career trajectory is up to him. JET is on the same level as Tetsu, as further demonstrated by his defeat of Yoshirozuna. On a further note, if JET had not held the Universal Battalion Titles at the time the Continuum League started, I would have recommended that he take part in it. I believe he will prosper in this League, even considering the enhanced competitiveness of Block C.
Second, I wish to congratulate Naja Mask on the completion of a legendary career spanning over twenty years, made even more impressive at the end by the loyalty he showed to his friend Barton. Naja and Barton became synonymous with the Universal Battalion Championships and so I understand Naja’s desire to retire after a successful defense. I am also pleased to see the success that Naja is having as a coach in the Basic Training program and glad that he is able to once again work with Barton on a common goal.
Third, we clearly need to crown new Universal Battalion Champions. Before I announce the method for doing this, I wish to address something crucial in the make-up of the division itself. It is disheartening that this is the second time in the past few years that our Champions voluntarily relinquished the Titles to move onto other career goals. That is not meant to criticize the goals or those Champions but, rather, as an admission that the nature of the tag division needs to change. We need to have Champions that want to hold the Titles they have won. That principle applies to every Championship that we have but, specifically, to the Universal Battalion titles due to recent events.
I plan to rectify this problem starting now. While I understand the draw of holding a singles Championship, we can not allow that goal to distract from the integrity of the tag titles. I am introducing a new rule to encourage tag teams who are dedicated to winning and continuing to hold the Universal Battalion Championship for as long as possible.
From now on, no team can directly challenge for those Championships unless they agree to stay in the tag division for a stipulated period of time following one of two outcomes resulting from a title match.
- If they fall short in challenging for the titles, we will make note of the date of the match. Neither teammate can challenge for a singles title until an entire year after that date has passed.
- If they successful win the titles, the milestone will be marked once they eventually lose them. At that point, they cannot challenge for a singles title until an entire year has passed since that date has passed.
Certainly, no one will be forced to stay in the tag division who does not wish to compete there. Any wrestler that decides to pivot to singles competition is welcome to. But regardless of their success, they have to wait until the stipulated time in order to challenge for a singles title or join any tournament or league with direct Title implications.
Any one is welcome to form a tag team or even challenge others to a tag team match. If your motivation for forming a tag team is to compete with rivals or punish enemies, I take no direct issue with that. But you will not be eligible to win the titles unless you commit to the aforementioned rules. Tag teams that challenge for the titles have to want to be Champions for as long as their skills can reasonably support their reigns. They should not use the titles just to punish their enemies, even if they have legitimate reasons for wanting to do so.
I bear absolutely no ill will toward JET Hamada and Naja Mask for dethroning El Exilio for the motivations that JET mentioned. I do believe that they legitimately tried to protect the Titles by taking them away from El Exilio. And I agree that relinquishing the titles at this time was the right decision n order to respect them. But we cannot have this situation repeat, nor the one that Sun & Moon found themselves in, so these new rules are necessary.
Now let us turn fully to the future. The quest to crown new Universal Battalion Champions will be realized through a tournament that will occur during the Dimensional stream.
Here is a list of the current teams that are being considered but is not a final list:
J.U.S.T.I.C.E. – Land Storm and Laser Sight
Watanabe Kai - Kenichi Naito & Mr. Shikori
Maritime Foxes - Joseph Paladin & Yuji Dancer
HipHopBots – RapBot3K and Dissmastah Droid
Peregrines - Peregrine II & Hijo de Peregrine II
Jimmy Nails and Mickey Grinds
Barbershop – Billy Case and Norman Deere
"SwashbuckLAWLers" - Jack Flint & Henry Bailey
Armo Halla & Hjalmar Susi
We will have more information on the participants and the tournament bracket in the coming months.
After a string of successful Dimensional shows, we will be coming to you next with Continuum IV and the “Summer School” event from Basic Training. I hope that you enjoy your holiday weekend.
Indubitably,
- Arthur Wingate