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| Editor | Dave Meltzer Bryan Alvarez |
|---|---|
| Categories | Professional wrestling |
| Year founded | 1982 |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Website | http://www.f4wonline.com/ |
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Torrent Description Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including NXT Takeover War Games, thoughts on all the matches and where they go from here, New Japan tournament finals on Friday, NOAH!!!, Floyd vs. Logan Paul and Tyson wanting to fight again, mailbag and more.
Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the Wrestling Observer website merged with Bryan Alvarez's Figure Four Weekly website in 2008. Issues are offered in print and digital. The newsletter is often considered the first 'dirt sheet', which is a wrestling publication which covers the art from a real-life perspective.[1]
Visit the official website of All Elite Wrestling. Discover the latest news, videos, and events. Pro Wrestling Torrents. Username: Password: Lost Your Password? Xtreme Wrestling Torrents (XWT) is a sports torrent tracker dedicated to wrestling. XWT lists torrents for wrestling films, documentaries, interview and also some boxing stuff. Aug 17, 2018 On PC, you can use a free program called LetMeAtIt, which allows you to download full shows of anything on the WWE Network to watch offline. File: 422.jpg-(52649B / 51.42KB, 800x400) Thumbnail displayed, click image for full size. Braun Strowman vs. The Bar is booked for Wrestlemania Okay, well I don't like Braun and this totally buries the Bar, but seeing one guy singlehandedly win the tag titles will at least get him over as a monster and we might get some fun handicap stuff out of this.
History[edit]
The beginnings of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college 'in the loop' for his tape trading as well as the happenings in the business, as the mainstream wrestling magazines catered to a somewhat younger demographic.[2]
This led directly to the formation of the WON, which Meltzer first began publishing in 1982 as a way to keep fans informed of various wrestling regions that readers may not have been aware of or had no access to. The WON has been published from the start from various communities in Northern California, except for a six-month period in late 1983 and early 1984 when Meltzer resided in Wichita Falls, Texas. For most of its existence, it has been published from Campbell, California, a suburb of San Jose. The publication was originally a 16- to 24-page publication on 8½-by-14-inch paper, and published roughly every two or three weeks.
Meltzer contemplated a career change during the mid-1980s. He was to be hired to cover soccer instead and just contribute to other wrestling newsletters.[3] In 1985, he announced that he would be ceasing publication, citing disinterest in the wrestling landscape of the time and too much time having to be spent on bookkeeping and mailing lists.[3] At that point, he continued offering the WON on a 'temporary' basis as an 8-page weekly on 8½-by-11-inch paper only to fill out the remainder of his subscriptions.[3] Reader response convinced him to pursue the WON as his career instead. He started writing the WON full-time in 1987, retaining the smaller 8-page format. By this point, Meltzer began making appearances at major wrestling events, at first mostly in Japan. He was seen as a spectator in the front row at Chi-Town Rumble in 1989, seated next to Brad Muster, at the time a fullback with the Chicago Bears.
The WON's earlier years were also marked by revealing insider news and various behind-the-scenes happenings in the industry, a groundbreaking approach in a kayfabe-heavy era.[4] Meltzer's approach benefitted from professional contacts, a historic perspective, and his own analysis of trends, data, and events. The WWE's 1997 'Montreal Screwjob' was exhaustively covered by the WON, including backstage events, including from Bret Hart himself. Meltzer published,[4] Meltzer had to find other ways to advertise his newsletter. Advertisements and other promotion were often published in kayfabe and semi-kayfabe publications. Early sources for knowledge of the WON's existence were The Wrestling News published by Norman Kietzer, as well as Factsheet Five. The latter was decidedly a non-wrestling publication, though the WON and other wrestling sheets made up a significant amount of its coverage. Other magazines such as Wrestling Main Event and Wrestling Eye also provided mention. Meltzer was also able to advertise his publication during various guest appearances on wrestling radio shows and guest editorials in various national newspapers.
With the ubiquitous emergence of the Internet and wrestling web sites that are able to provide news in real time, today's WON differs in the way it covers the wrestling scene in that it provides more of an editorial and analysis on the news and what impacts it could have on the business.[5] Wrestlers such as Konnan have noted seeing copies of the WON on Vince McMahon's office desk.[6] It is believed many, if not most, of the biggest stars in WWE and other major promotions are subscribers, although few would admit it publicly. Several subscribed under their birth names, instead of ring names, thinking Meltzer would not find out their true identities. Howard Finkel's wife was publicly acknowledged by Meltzer as an early WON subscriber, and at the time, the closest reach the publication likely had to McMahon, which was in response to a reader questioning the likelihood of McMahon himself reading the publication.
Influence and legacy[edit]
Though he is not a wrestler or part of a promotion, Meltzer has occasionally been referenced within the professional wrestling ring. In the short-lived Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) promotion, a jobber wrestled under the ring name Dave 'The Observer' Meltzer. In 2014, The Young Bucks introduced a finishing move, combining a springboard 450 splash with a spike piledriver, dubbing it the 'Meltzer Driver'. In 2016, The Addiction introduced a finishing move, combining a double jump moonsault with a spike piledriver, dubbing it the 'Best Meltzer Ever'. Also, Ricochet and Matt Sydal introduced a finishing move combining a shooting star press with a spike piledriver dubbing it the 'Shooting Star Meltzer Driver'.
Meltzer's newsletter has led to a loyal fan following and radio shows.[7] After getting a job with The National Sports Daily in 1990, Meltzer was finally able to open dialogue with Vince McMahon, leading to elevation in both Meltzer's reputation and readership. In his first autobiography, Mick Foley declared that it was the WON's coverage of his independent circuit matches that caused World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to consider signing him, since he was against 'type'. Foley also wrote that promoters such as Watts would sometimes change their entire booking direction based on the opinions expressed in Meltzer's newsletter.[8]
In May 2015, Meltzer reported that Destination America had decided to cancel Impact Wrestling by late September 2015.[9][10]Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) vehemently denied the reports, claiming that they 'constitute[d] defamation' and that they were 'seek[ing] all legal remedies available', but TNA was off Destination America by January 2016 and no legal matters ever arose.[11]
WON Hall of Fame[edit]
Like other wrestling halls of fame, such as the WWE, WCW, TNA, and NWA halls of fame, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not a physical place. Nonetheless, it is a respected honor in the world of wrestling. Every year, Meltzer conducts a poll of selected 'insiders' and wrestlers to determine new inductees into the WON Hall of Fame. Pro Wrestling Illustrated has adopted the WON Hall of Fame as their own.[12]
Wrestling Observer Live[edit]
Wrestling Observer Torrent
Meltzer was the former host of Wrestling Observer Live, a wrestling radio show. Co-hosting the show with Meltzer was Bryan Alvarez, editor of the Figure Four Weekly newsletter. Meltzer and Alvarez hosted the show every Sunday night from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. EST on the Sports Byline Radio Network. Due to the show airing on Sunday nights, replays were played on nights there were WWE pay-per-views. The show debuted in October 1999 and aired five days a week on the internet radio channel, eYada.com. eYada closed on July 9, 2001, with Wrestling Observer Live, its highest-rated show, being the last show to broadcast on the station. Wrestling Observer Live was picked up by Sports Byline, a radio syndicator, on March 17, 2002, and had stayed in its current position ever since. Meltzer stopped appearing regularly on September 2007, but still appears sparingly. On Sunday nights, Meltzer regularly appeared in a segment on the radio show Live Audio Wrestling prior to the show's cancellation.
Online transition[edit]
On June 12, 2008, the Wrestling Observer website merged with Bryan Alvarez's Figure Four Weekly website, using the layout of the latter.[13] After being a print-only newsletter for over 25 years (other than a brief period where it was also available via e-mail in 2000), the Observer became available to subscribers online through the website.
Wrestling Insider
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Brian Solomon; Pro Wrestling FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Entertaining Spectacle; 2015 Page ?
- ^Benaka, Lee (1991). 'The Lee Benaka Interviews - Dave Meltzer'. Benaka, Lee. Death Valley Driver Video Review. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
- ^ abcWrestling Observer Newsletter, April 15, 1985
- ^ abFunk, Terry; Williams, Scott (2005). Terry Funk: The Hardcore Legend (1st ed. paperback ed.). Champaign IL: Sports Publishing. p. 125. ISBN1-58261-991-3.
- ^ abEisenberg, Joel (2004). Aunt Bessie's How to Survive a Day Job While Pursuing the Creative Life (1st ed. Paperback ed.). Northridge CA: Topos Books. pp. 103–106. ISBN0-9767575-0-8.
- ^Wrestling Observer Newsletter, October 4, 1993, p. 10,
I've been in Vince McMahon's office and seen the Observer on his desk.
- ^Johnson, Mike; Dave Sherer (May 5, 2000). 'Wrestling Observer Live 5/04 recap with Jim Thomas of New York State Senator Tom Libous' office regarding legislation of Drug Testing of Wrestlers'. Daily Lariat. Archived from the original on December 13, 2000. Retrieved May 19, 2006.
- ^Foley, Mick (2000). Have a Nice Day (1st ed. paperback ed.). New York: Avon Books. p. 155. ISBN0-06-103101-1.
- ^'TNA Impact Wrestling reportedly cancelled by Destination America'. prowrestling.net. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
- ^'Observer Exclusive: Destination America cancels TNA Impact Wrestling'. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^'TNA Statement on Cancellation Reports'. Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
- ^'Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame'. Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- ^Laprade, Patric (July 18, 2016). 'Melby Award for Meltzer proper recognition for pioneering work'. Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
Wrestling Observer Torrents
