Earth Rumble VI



This underground Earthbending Tournament is literally held underground in a giant earthen arena in Gaoling. The Earth Rumble competitions are similar to real world professional wrestling -- extravagant fighters with unique names and skills fight each other in matches. The competition is a popular Earth Kingdom attraction, and the stands are always full except for the front rows, which are constantly demolished and pummeled from flying rocks. The host of the tournament is Xin Fu.

The rules of Earth Rumble are simple: knock the other fighter out of the ring with Earthbending and you advance to the next round. The fighter who defeats all others gets to challenge the winner of the past Earth Rumble competition for the title of Earthbending Champion and prestigious Earth Rumble belt. To make things more interesting, Xin Fu sometimes offers prize money to an audience member who thinks they can defeat the Earthbending Champion.

Known Contestants



 * Xin Fu (Manager and former champion)
 * The Blind Bandit
 * The Boulder
 * The Big Bad Hippo
 * Fire Nation Man
 * The Gopher
 * The Gecko
 * Wild Man

Trivia

 * As mentioned, the entirety of "professional Earthbenders" is a pastiche of professional wrestling, particularly, the kind in North American popularized by promotions such as the WWE (emphasizing elaborate angles and over-the-top personalities, or "gimmicks"). Taking a look at the contestants listed above plays out as an itemized list of stock characters:
 * the token "evil foreigner" (Fire Nation Man)
 * the "big guy" (The Big Bad Hippo
 * high-flyers (The Gecko and Wild Man)
 * the star attraction / merchandise driver (The Boulder)