How E-Fedding Helped Me Regain My Confidence

As wrestling fans, we all dream of either being a wrestler or booking our own wrestling promotion, or both. It’s something that will often occupy our daydreams, before realising the amount of hard work, pain and anguish it takes to even be a moderate success in the wrestling world. But for the last 30 years or so, there has been a much safer, pain free alternative to this wild fantasy that has existed in one way or another. I am of course talking about the time-honoured tradition of E-Fedding.

For those who are unfamiliar, E-Fedding is a subset of role-playing that is based entirely within the wrestling world. There are a litany of promotions online, each boasting a unique, varied roster and lore. You find a fed, create your character, start cutting promos on a forum and hope that you’re booked onto a show. Matches are then written, with victors being determined by the quality of one’s promo. It’s an old school, text-based RPG that is run by real people and is centred on grappling.

I’d heard of E-Fedding, but never actually given it a try. Knowing that there are many established feds out there (some even dating back to the 90s), I wanted to dip my feet into a newer promotion so that it would be easier to get a sense of who all the characters were and what the stories were about. I stumbled across a Reddit thread that contained a number of feds promoting themselves to people looking to join one. This was where I found the Omega Wrestling Alliance (OWA), and it’s been a hugely stimulating part of my life for the last three months.

I had no idea what I was doing when I first signed up for OWA, but went ahead and made my character. I am Nate Cage, a cult leader with a military background who cuts promos from a dimly lit “war room,” it’s as 80s as you can get. He also looks an awful lot like Bobby Fish, as we use real life wrestlers as picture bases to give a visual idea of what our characters’ appearance is. I initially thought that it would be a simple process of me creating a character, being booked onto shows, writing my promos and then waiting a week. This was before I joined the Discord server and found a sense of community and belonging that I haven’t had in some time.

Immediately upon joining, I was welcomed by Kenny, a man who has now come to be a dear friend (and is apparently Marty Scurll). He rather excitedly pitched an idea to me that would see my character joining his faction, Wolvesden, with an arc planned to stretch over an entire year. I instantly accepted, and before I knew it, we were the inaugural OWA Bloodline Tag Team Champions. Here I was, an E-Fedding rookie, holding gold with a beloved veteran who nobody in the chat had a bad word to say about.

As time went on, I got to know everyone in the fed and was guided through by people who had been at it for years. Before long, I was being entrusted with writing matches and segments, which I relished the opportunity to perform. I look to people like Kenny, who is so enthusiastic about each and every idea we have. I look to Gareth, who was keen to point out my errors in writing promos when I first started in an effort to make sure I reach my full potential. These are not faceless fake wrestlers on the Internet, these are my friends.

The community spirit of the fed makes it so special. It has had the most universally positive effect on me as a person. We have so many talented people on board who all encourage and help each other with a true friendliness behind it. There’s Tarah, who makes the most unbelievable posters and graphics to promote shows (and gets an extra shout-out for providing the very images in this article). Oasis and Nas, the head writers who organise complex weekly instalments of our in-universe television show out of passion for the craft.

All of this drive has driven me as well. I’m now in a position where I’m writing thousands of words a week, discovering new ideas and reigniting my love for creativity. It’s an amazing feeling and the support I’ve received from my E-Fed peers has spilled over into my real life as well. My self-esteem has never been great, but I’m at a point where I want to push myself, where I feel I’m on a positive path somewhere.

Not only am I a part of a team, I’m a part of a family. In a mere three months, I’ve seemingly made friends for life. Peers who know who I am and what I want from life. People who will gladly read a pitch I want to send them and who trust me with creating narratives for their own characters. There are in-jokes with my mates, both in the realm of banter and sheer tomfoolery. Axl, Sav, Rev, Keelan, Nate, Aaron, Aria, Nico and so many more have brought me laughter and thought. We’re a close-knit unit, and I feel like I’ve been a part of it for much longer than I actually have.

These positive changes in my life, this boost of confidence, E-Fedding has played a major part. I’ve been smart so as to not let it take over my day-to-day activities, but I’m active enough that I get something out of it. Striking that fine balance is the key. Whenever I look to the fully detailed wiki page I made for my own wrestler and the fleshed out backstory he has, I feel pride in my creation.

E-Fedding isn’t perfect, I’ve heard stories from my ragtag crew of older promotions that led them to create the OWA. But if you love this mad sport that we all devote so much of our lives to, you would be wont to give it a whirl. In a short space of time, I feel more confident, creative, and inspired than I can remember feeling in years. It will not solve all of your problems, but it may very well lead you to finding something in yourself that has long been dormant.