I'm back, and I'm better than ever! Got a knack for making things better.

Actually, I'm not better at all, medically speaking. If anything I'm worse. But on the plus side: I HAS INTERNET NAO. Again. So whooo! *does Flair Flop* Ow, my chest.

Thanks to my tricky internet situation I've been out of the fedding loop since early autumn last year, meaning I've missed some developments. I've also realised how much I've not missed all-nighters working on results, unreadable contract apps, and wrangling people's match ideas into a workable card without relieving oneself on anyone's dreams too much. But that's fedding for you! We do it because we love it, and not because we're all hopeless addicts. No sir.

While I was away, a number of interesting feds have sprung up. Prime among them is True Glory Wrestling, which made RoughKut's top ten e-feds a couple of months ago and is recommended by my buddy James, former owner of the much-missed Phoenix Wrestling Enterprise, which is good enough for me. TGW runs a weekly show and monthly PPVs and the front end is incredibly slick, with an easy-on-the-eyes colour scheme, simple and effective graphics and a great, easily navigable layout. There looks to be a decent range of talent there, and results are fairly well written, although the matches are a little on the short side. Overall it's a very stylish promotion and while it's not doing anything especially new, it does what it does well.

In the spirit of the aforementioned late Phoenix Wrestling Enterprise as well as the short-lived, Chikara-influenced New Revolution Wrestling Association, comes the excellently monickered Death Company Wrestling. It's still building to its first show, and already has a great OOC community going. Fedhead Boomtax is never short of inspired, unique ideas, and DCW promises to be crazy, anarchic and very funny. Not everybody will 'get' DCW, but those who do should have a blast. Also hosted on the DCW board is another promotion, Nic Cage Championship Wrestling. Mere words can't be employed in the expression of how much PURE CONCENTRATED AWESOME is in NCCW but suffice to say, it supplies over 250% of your RDA of Nic Cage.

One very intriguing fed which both opened and closed during my time away was Virtue, brainchild of noted hyperweirdo Ripplemagne (I mean that in a loving way, Ripp) which is every bit as unique as its progenitor. It's set in 1985 which already makes it genius, with all of the trappings that entails - small arenas, no Tron or pyro, terrible mullets and sweet electronic entrance music. It's currently out of commission as Ripplemagne has computer issues, but if it comes back (as is threatened), it has the potential to be truly radical to the max, as I believe was the vernacular in the mid eighties.

Another fed with a great gimmick is Unleashed. It's all based around underground, unsanctioned fighting with more influence from MMA than wrestling, with win/loss records kept on display and match cards presented like a genuine company. It has a tremendous sense of style and professionalism and is also possibly the fed with the highest overall level of writing talent within its membership I've ever seen - it seems to be a magnet for the most scarily awesome roleplayers I've ever had the fortune to get my ass handed to me by.

Femme Fatale Wrestling shares a lot of the same handlers as Unleashed, meaning the overall quality should be high. As the name implies, this one is all about the ladies, and while I've never exactly been noted as a fan of character segregation in e-fedding, I thoroughly applaud any fed which encourages people to break out of the 'white 20-something American male' default character in any regard. They're currently seeking tag teams, so those of you with any all-female teams should very definitely check it out. If I had the time, I'd be signing up for sure.

Finally, a real wrestler fed to close us out. ECW Hardcore Revolution has a pretty unique approach for a real wrestler fed, in that it's indy - specifically, a modern update of the pre-Invasion ECW of old, with a roster featuring some true hardcore legends (including Iron Shiek, Terry Funk, New Jack, Mayumi Ozaki, Steve Corino and... er... Colin Delaney). Shows are wild, free and untamed, much like the hair of current ECW Champion Brian Kendrick. God he's sexy.

Indie Grand Scheme Of Things

The question of whether fedding can or should have a larger unified canon is a long, complex and often tedious one. I'm not aware of any groups of feds bigger than about 5 or 6 that fully recognise each other as part of the same single wrestling world with no contradictory canon between them.

Personally, I'd like to see it. CAWS only - otherwise you get twenty Undertakers and CM Punks running around - but a decent-sized group of feds with a proper structure and relationship, so you have a couple of global-sized ones at the top, then a handful of national sized ones, and then a whole load of niche and regional companies. This would open up the potential for transfers, interpromotional events and make being 'world champion' really mean something.

What I really, really mainly want to see out of something like that most is a proper indie circuit. I'd like to take my character into occasional matches in, say, Wrestling Asylum and Phoenix Wrestling Enterprise without her actually being a full-time member of either promotion's roster. What would be really, really cool is if for example she had a big feud in PWE and once it was done disappear for a while - during which time she puts in more appearances with WA, maybe goes for a title run say.

But then, I try to keep my characters' canons the same between feds, and I know not everyone does. Baby Dogg's home is Global Extreme Wrestling (which I see as RoH in terms of popularity and mainstream recognition) but her day job is Championship Wrestling Federation (TNA-ish level - or would be if it wasn't on hiatus right now) and between the two, where is she meant to find the time for a third, if it has to be full time by default? John Waylon's Psychotic Championship Wrestling had its flaws but in hindsight, the one-show-a-month approach it had actually made a lot of sense.

As it stands, to be in a few promotions at once and thus really feel like a part of a broader wrestling world, here's both the OC problem of having the time to do 5 or 6 matches a week (been there, done that, bought the brain meltdown) and the IC problem of, how the hell is she meant to work four matches a night in different states or even countries? It's stretching it with just two frankly.

If anyone has any thoughts on this subject please let me know.