Global Backyard Wrestling News
From Bywpedia
| Global Backyard Wrestling News | |
| |
| Details | |
| Acronym | GBYWN |
| Established | 2006 |
| Creator | Cam |
| Key People | Cam (Owner) D.Miller (Scout Chief) |
| Type of site | Forum |
| Formerly | Backyard Wrestling News |
| Advertising | YouTube BYWTube |
| Federations under banner | 200+ |
| Current status | Very Active |
| External links | GBYWN Website |
Global Backyard Wrestling News (GBYWN) formerly known as Backyard Wrestling News (BYWN) is a globally outreaching, backyard wrestling social, media-sharing online forum community devised and owned by Cam (also known as Shawn Kozone) in 2006, who ran his own federation Carolina Xtreme Wrestling that folded in October 2008.
Cam socially impacted the backyard wrestling community despite critics, incorporating game and competitive features such as the GBYWN Backyard Simulation Game and the GBYWN Spring Challenge with assistance from voluntary creative staff, and integrating numerous backyard wrestling promotions varying in style and quality that apply their federation and share media, a privilege previously earned through a "GBYWN Dollars" money system.
As a consistently altering project since its initial stage, it took vast promotion and development to garner wide recognition on a once low-visited site. But after increasingly growing with well over 900+ registered members, it is generally seen by a handful to be the preeminent backyard wrestling social online territory today.
Contents |
History
Origin
In early 2006, Shawn Kozone (only known by that name then) opened a wrestling site called Wrestlezone 4000 in which did news coverage on professional wrestling companies such as World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Non-stop Action Wrestling before hacked, whilst acknowledging backyard wrestling with no initial interest until Dreadvenom (The Frank) of Backyard Wrestling Association lured his preoccupation into the practice as Kozone only knew of BWA.
In March 2006, after creating a freewebs wrestling site entitled 321wrestling under the slogan "we got two words for you, suck it" borrowing a catchphrase from World Wrestling Entertainment's D-Generation X, while in competition with two of his friends' more successful 365wrestling site on freewebs, Kozone closed his site going on hiatus from freewebs, testing Tripod that met his disapproval, sending him back to freewebs in June to create new wrestling site, 500wresting to allegedly overthrow 365wrestling.
His interest furthered in backyard wrestling at the discovery of backyard wrestling site National New Age Alliance (NNAA) operated by The Frank, that promoted several heard-of internet promotions, inspiring Kozone to form his own federation alongside his brother City Boy and friend, Wild Wyatt known as Brutal Backyard Wrestling (later turning into Carolina Xtreme Wrestling). In September, following the folding of 500wrestling, Kozone was prompted to adopt a nickname - Cam (later notorious in the backyard wrestling community), going under ownership of said biggest WWE and TNA news site ever on freewebs, 123pin.
Shortly, Cam formed a backyard wrestling-oriented freewebs subsite, Backyard Wrestling News (BYWN), incorporated to 123pin without expectation of exceeding. When the subsite began surpassing the status of his most successful wrestling site, he immediately terminated it for BYWN.
Backyard Wrestling News
Initially a small known site that had not received much visitation, Cam worked to develop it by providing constant updates and promoting it across countless freeweb wrestling sites, significantly ones based on backyard wrestling appealing to many mixed-aged personnels and practitioners of the underground sport, who used the Freewebs-feature guestbook for means of communication. Interviews, ranking and competitive community features including "Federation of the Week" and "Federation of the Month" took implementation which assisted to grow interest in BYWN.
Not easily succeeding with a plain, non-professional website receiving some accusations and criticism of being of "bland and unprofessional nature", BYWN underwent outlook modification for further attractiveness as changes to BYWN were made giving it a vivid, virtual home-like tailor-made feeling, offering a guestbook, forums (that were initially barely visited), and additional rap music themed in the background for a brief point.
The site comprised of ads supporting then-presidential candidate, Barack Obama, embedded videos of backyard wrestling content and other pictures. The regulation then was to join the community and stay participated for promotional advantages as opposed to just only visit to promote, where applicants were granted full accessibility to promotional rights which once was earned through a money system called "GBYWN Dollars" and federation qualifications. Subsequently, Cam realized the world-wide outreach to few general wrestling fans and backyard wrestlers of the community and renamed Backyard Wrestling News as Global Backyard Wrestling News.
Global Backyard Wrestling News
 Photo snapshot of the GBYWN Forum. |
With such alteration, GBYWN began blossoming with its multiple assembled federations under banner, gaining fandom and favoritism and becoming a household name among all backyard wrestling communities including a community once at its highest popularity, Backyard Wrestling Link. Within the process, Cam acquired a website creative team out of active members and short URL address using bigbig.com in 2007.
In that same year, World Backyard Wrestling arrived as a community to attempt to rival and desparage GBYWN, but had shortly fell through the cracks. In July, Breakfall.net premiered online primarily focused with Australian backyard wrestling federations as GBYWN accomplished a rival relationship with them overtime, who criticized GBYWN's talent level as opposed to their own and once proceeded to write gossip columns to ridicule their operation, most notiably, the "GBYWN Dollars" feature.
Moreover, Breakfall.net ceased to be as commercialized and interactive with special features and competitions, a fact that remained additional to other communities including Backyard Wrestling Link which is scarcely heard of today, ultimately making for the preeminence of GBYWN that persisted on presenting system rankings, games and competitive competitions throughout its activity. To even heighten the conversing experience, the "GBYWN Shoutbox" (chatbox) came into play after a consensus to have the site solely on its forum, which gradually turned into a portal-site forum.
At a time, the community endured denigrating issues when members (which few had "mod powers") felt unjust and cheated out of the GBYWN Power 25 feature managed by Cam, which led to premature action taken at the perpetual deletion and sometimes offensively profane abuse of the boards that looked to tarnish its reputation and drive Cam at the brink of discarding the site. Moreover, the problem was resolved between Cam and the members in which personal conflicts had also lain between. Following renewals and a redesign to the forums, Cam discontinued most of all features that arose problems helpfully alleviating his work and now adheres to the forums continuously introducing new ideas with the help of creative.
Features and Challenges
 The GBYWN Spring Challenge 2009 banner. |
GBYWN has utilized a number of features and challenges in maintaining a socially-attractive, virtually home-appealing mixed-age-group community filled with mostly backyard wrestlers allowing members to converse, share media and promote themselves. A chat box entitled the “GBYWN Shoutbox”, one of many other features formerly used on its website, is an applied addition to the forums which gives all personnel, interactive conversing privileges within the forum community.
Many of other competitive features incorporated into the community had only precipitated disputes between the backyard wrestlers, who cited some decisions as “unjust” and “inaccurate” leading to its disuse, coupled with the fact that it weighed in heavy on the hands of community owner, Cam, who was generally responsible for its updates that required to be alleviated to bring equilibrium between his life responsibilties.
With that, GBYWN retired features such as the GBYWN Power 25 which was a ranking board accused as being a biase system that rewarded backyard wrestlers for victories rather than skill. “GBYWN Dollars” which stood for a money system, that was once temporarily implemented to give those representing their federations who partook in community games, contests and activities such as the fantasy wrestling "GBYWN Backyard Simulation Game", unofficial dollars eligible for purchasing promotion for their federation, however, is now used as forum reward points that can be used towards things such as graphics. Cam had also retired "GBYWN Weekly" and "Monthly Awards", prior to abandoning in the use of the main site, now only serving as a redirect link.
Site features
- GBYWN Backyard Simulation Wrestling Game: A fantasy wrestling game which allows one to become a GM and manage bookings of events in their fantasy league that appear in typewritten results involving backyard wrestlers from various real-life backyard wrestling federations.
- GBYWN Dollars: Stands for a money system, which was once implemented to reward unofficial dollars to those representing their federations who partook in community games, contests and activities eligibility to purchase promotion or a right. It has recently been brought back and is being used as a reputation scale, whereas, posts made by all in the community are approved or disapproved on a "+" or "-" vote that arise and decrease reputation within.
- GBYWN Pro Wrestling Game: A game that rewards points for casting predictions on pro wrestling bookings.
- GBYWN Cribz: A feature that allows members to record videos based on their personal living.
- GBYWN Columns: A blogging feature used for members to advertise and discuss feelings.
- GBYWN Power 25: Was a ranking system that promoted ascension on grounds of victories and popularity more than ability and eventually stirred controversy in the community leading to its discontinuation.
Challenges
- GBYWN Spring Challenge: This is the biggest aunnual competition in GBYWN occuring around spring, permitting any and everyone involved within to partake. The concept behind the competitive feature is that participants record and submit a match of any kind that must be full-length, which will be judged by special personnel of the community known as "Big Bros" upon review based on varying factors such as wrestling ability, psychology, match flow, and overall entertainment value. Previously, decisions were only made solely by Cam.
- GBYWN Tag Team Challenge: An annual challenge which bases on Tag team matches. The best tag match is rewarded.
- GBYWN Promo Challenge: An annual challenge that emphasizes competition on promo skills. The best promo is rewarded.
- GBYWN Talent Show: A contest that allows participants to showcase any ability in or outside of backyard wrestling.
BYWTube
 BYWTube Logo. |
In recent wake of copyright owner's over-effective action of requesting mutation and removal of videos containing infringement on YouTube, backyard wrestling videos have become victimized as a result for possessing unpermitted borrowed material from various bands and music artists. As a back-up source, Cam created Backyard Wrestling Tube (BYWTube) on a custom social media-sharing network, Ning, that is steadily gaining more members.
