BILL APTER AND KEN RESNICK TALK ABOUT THE PWI RANKING SYSTEM AND THE CONTROVERSY IT CAUSED

Apter and Resnick talk about the PWI Ranking system, how it was done, and the controversy it caused

On the latest edition of Wrestling with History on VOC Nation, Bill Apter and Ken Resnick spoke about the ranking system in the wrestling magazines, and the controversy that they would stir up.  Here are some highlights: Ken Resnick on whether wrestlers paid attention to the rankings:  “The wrestlers did…we would do our interview day in the AWA on Tuesdays.  (When) guys were sitting around in the interview room during the breaks, invariably somebody would have the latest magazine with them and they’d start talking about the ratings.  Sometimes they would say ‘ah this is (bogus) that guy’s not that good’, or other times the conversation would be, ‘geez that guy must be better than I thought; have you ever seen him work or have you ever worked with him?  Look how high they’ve got him.’  There was no Internet, there was no cable, the rankings were the horizon line that talent judge how good or not good that other talent was.” Bill Apter on first joining the organization that became Pro Wrestling Illustrated:  “When I joined London publishing, Mr (Stanley) Weston was doing the rankings and he was not in touch with the business as much as (others).  Of course he was the publisher and he did what he wanted.  When I came on, and I started being sent to the various territories and started hand shaking and making friends with people, a lot of the wrestlers would come over to me and ask (who does the rankings)…that would follow me (through all the territories)…invariably there’d be a wrestler that would be upset that he would be fourth or fifth when the guy he’s wrestling would be number two.” Apter on Ivan Putski being upset about his position:  “Ivan (Putski) looks at me and says ‘hey Bill, I thought we were friends…you know you’ve got Chief Jay Strongbow here in the WWWF as number four, and I’m number 5.  I’m better than Chief Jay Strongbow.  Are you better friends with him?’ I said ‘that’s now how we’re doing this.’  His feelings were very hurt (but) we mended it over a period of time.” Apter on an incident with the Steiners:  “Rick and Scott Steiner were terrific.  Ken knows that Scott can be very intimidating.  I would go into a building during the prime days of WCW and Crockett Promotions…(Rick Steiner) would hold me and tell Scott, ‘why don’t you pop him?’  I’m terrified there.  I (asked), ‘what is this all about?’ (They said) ‘the (expletive) rankings!  You had the Road Warriors above us?’ This (kind of thing) went regularly through every single territory.” Apter on how the Top 10 lists were done:  “The top 10 wrestlers (were rated) by what we believed were the right organizations to go in order.  And that, back in the days – especially when we were banned by the WWF – was NWA, AWA, WWF.  That’s how we rated the champions back then.  Sometimes we switched AWA and WWF… I always had to tell them (that) nobody paid us.  People thought I was in Jim Crockett’s pocket because I was on his TV.  Then Vern put me on his TV and people thought I was in Vern’s pocket.  The ratings were done on the top 10 guys in that (territory)…I did them technically like the programs that were on TV.” Wrestling with History drops on all major podcast platforms and YouTube every Wednesday under the VOC Nation Radio Network feed. Embed the show to your site here: <iframe frameborder="0" height="200" scrolling="no" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=ADV2683596129" width="100%"></iframe>    Link to the show here: https://vocnation.com   VOC Nation takes you behind the scenes of the greatest moments in pro wrestling history. Notable show hosts include legendary pro wrestling journalist Bill Apter, former WWE/TNA star Shelly Martinez, former WWE and AWA broadcaster Ken Resnick, former WCW performer The Maestro, former TNA Impact talent Wes Brisco, Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Brady Hicks, independent pro wrestling and Fireball Run star Sassy Stephie, and more! Since 2010, VOC Nation has brought listeners into the minds of the biggest stars in pro wrestling and entertainment.  Subscribe to the podcasts for free on most major directories, and visit vocnation.com for live programming.

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