Everyone knows that any social gathering is enhanced by games and alcohol and our nerd group has a tradition in both.
For any match featuring four or more people, we introduce the dreaded shot round...
The Rules
A sober member of the group gives each competitor a number - for example:
1. Mark Davis
2. Kyle Fletcher
3. Jack Sexsmith
4. David Starr
We then take it in turns to choose a number and that is your wrestler for the match.
Whichever wrestler eats the pin or submission in this tag match or is counted out between Aussie Open and Sexy Starr has lost the shot round. The nerd who had that wrestler is then permitted to buy the shots for the other nerds in their shot round.
There can be a scratch if we get a double DQ or a double count out, which is wanted by some if this is the third or fourth of the night! Things can get messy.
With a round costing around £15 there is an awful lot riding on any tag match, so you end up really aggressively supporting your delegated wrestler. Any tag out is celebrated and a late kick out is met with gasps of exasperation and relief.
To say it is an integral part of our evenings out sounds silly but it truly is... especially if there is more than one tag match on the card! Everything matters more when there is shots on it!
Caveats
Elimination multi-man matches are slightly different in that eliminations are celebrated wildly by those who had that wrestler, whilst the fear of being the final elimination drags on for what seems an eternity if your grappler is still in the ring towards the end. This is because the final wrestler eliminated is the loser in these match-ups and can end up costing you a fortune.
It's a desperate man that claims a scant consolation of this is he gets the choice of which spirit is getting downed...
Wrestler Knowledge
We often mention to our heroes that this is a game that happens and my favourite is when Lee moaned to David Starr that it was a hat-trick of losses now for the Wezz Brother thanks to the fact Starr kept on getting pinned.
His reaction of 'So you are telling me all of these guys are getting free drinks off you because of me?' followed by fist bumps and hugs with the jubilant freeloaders among us. It was a joyous moment - although possibly the beginning of the end for Lee's affiliation with the nerd game!
So now you know the rules, feel free to play along whether watching live or on demand.
This. Is. Shot Round.
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