Earth Rumble VI is an earthbending tournament 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, with a championship belt at stake.[1] The competition is a popular Earth Kingdom attraction, the stands are always full except for the front rows, which are constantly demolished and pummeled by flying rocks. The host of the tournament is Xin Fu.[2]
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 the prestigious Earth Rumble belt. To make things more interesting, Xin Fu sometimes offered prize money to an audience member who thought they could defeat the Earthbending Champion.
History
When Avatar Aang and his friends came to the town of Gaoling searching for an earthbending teacher, they heard about Earth Rumble VI from some earthbending students; they visited the competition, hoping to find a master earthbender willing to teach Aang. There, they discovered Toph Beifong, the champion of the competition. After she won the tournament, Xin Fu offered money to whoever could beat her in a fight. Hoping to get the chance to talk to her, Aang accepted. However, he accidentally beat her, causing her to storm off.
Known contestants
Contestants (The Blind Bandit not included). From left to right: Headhunter, The Gopher, Xin Fu, Fire Nation Man, The Gecko, The Big Bad Hippo, and The Boulder.
- Xin Fu (manager and former champion)
- The Blind Bandit (current champion)
- The Boulder
- The Big Bad Hippo
- Fire Nation Man
- The Gopher
- The Gecko
- Headhunter
- Aang (former champion)
Trivia
- As mentioned, the idea of "professional earthbenders" is a pastiche of professional wrestling, particularly the kind in North America 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, The Gopher, and Headhunter)
- The Star Attraction / Merchandise Driver (The Boulder)
- The Champion (The Blind Bandit)
- Badgermoles are used to clean up the debris in the stadium.
- Earth Rumble VI is similar in objective to pro-bending.
References
- ↑ Template:Nickold
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante (writer) & Spaulding, Ethan (director). (May 5, 2006). "The Blind Bandit". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Season 2. Episode 6. Nickelodeon.