[2] The series was created by Rich Cronin and produced by Mindless Entertainment and made to accompany the Rawson Marshall Thurber movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
In the first two seasons, two teams of five compete in a match of three rounds in a best-of-three format.
In the first and second seasons, if the Dead Man Walking is eliminated, the team he represents loses the game and consequently the match.
In the first season, if all but one member of the team were eliminated, the last player had the opportunity to hit a target aptly named the "regeneration target" and, if this was accomplished before he was eliminated, all of his teammates returned to the court.
In season two, the last player on the court only had to stay alive for 20 seconds, which would regenerate the entire team.
The second rule stated that if a player, in the opinion of the referee, was impeding the flow of play of the game by stalling, refusing to throw the ball, or attempting to force a play on the opposing team, the referee(s) could give that player a "yellow card".
This second rule was introduced in the early stages of the second season and is called the "Benedetto Amendment" after player David Benedetto, when he deliberately placed two balls immediately on his opponents' side of the court, forcing the opponents - in compliance with the above-stated five-second-rule - to approach the balls, allowing Benedetto to hit them at point blank range, a tactic which was deemed unfair by the show's producers.
Although Michael 'Handsome' Constanza originally used the tactics in Episode 1 of Season 1, there was no five-second rule back then, so it was not as abusive.
Instead of 3 rounds which ended when all of the players on one of the teams were eliminated, the matches would be divided to four six-minute quarters.
In the second quarter, the Big Ball is put in play similar to the first two seasons.
In the fourth quarter, the orange Dead Man Walking headband comes into play.
Any time a Dead Man Walking is eliminated, the other team gains two bonus points, but does not win the game.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the team with the most points is declared the victor and is awarded $5,000.
If after the fourth quarter, a tie is reached, the game goes into overtime, in which each team chooses three players to represent them on the court.
One player, Brian DeCato, was even suspended for the season due to repeated offenses.
Rip Torn, who played Patches O'Houlihan in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, joined in Season 3 as the commissioner of the league.
This could reflect the fact that gimmick teams were featured heavily in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.