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Can I ask you this - why are so many wrestling fans so absolutely miserable about pro wrestling? On social media, it's knocks on people personally, crapping on other fans, complaining about creative, bitching about botches, what terrible people performers are, latching onto the smallest mundane thing to argue their points to death, bemoan how awful everything was, is and will be - WHY? I feel like I need a break from all this.
I think you need a break from social media, for sure!
As far as why this happens, well, for one, pro wrestling often attracts fans who can be a little askew at time, although extremely passionate about what they love. I think there is certainly a subset of fans who are so obsessive compulsive about what they like and don't like that wrestling takes on a life or death component for them. If you have nothing else going on in life, you turn to the things that fill that void and they become the important thing in your life. I've seen it happen with fans of comic books and Star Wars and Star Trek and all sorts of other entertainment genres.
I also think that the more "inside" you have discussions about things online, the more you are mostly interacting with the types of fans who will always complain about things but will never give up on it. I see that on Disney sites and message boards. I read things and I just wonder where these folks have found the time to come up with the ideas they have and leaps in logic they make with them. The more diehard fans are, the more embedded something becomes in their DNA, almost to a fault.
In comparison, casual fans of entertainment don't care about the inner workings. They want to be entertained and then they exit. The diehard fans that stay in the bubble forever become more and more infatuated with the way the gears work and know how dirty they can become - and thus become more disenchanted and then those who can't balance the good and bad end up trapped emotionally in Dante's nine rings of hell.
I do believe there are some who act this way because they see wrestling as "their team" so they have the right to complain about it endlessly, but see it as tough love, like a New York Mets fan who constantly complains but will never let their team go. They want it to get better and believe their opinions and complaints will help things improve. I also think there are some who are just so sad and miserable in their own real lives, they take glee out of being sad and miserable towards others who they feel are more successful and/or don't deserve the success. It's their right to complain, but it also shows that they are bereft of something else in their lives if all they do is complain.
I think the online world, especially the idea that they are anonymous and beyond reproach has endowed some fans with the belief they have power to do whatever they want, possibly because in the real world, they have no power at all.
All that said, if you feel like all this stuff is ruining your enjoyment, delete the apps and just watch what you want to watch. No one should ever make you feel unhappy with your choice of what makes you happy or enriched. I try to watch what I want that makes me happy - and not worry about others' opinions. If someone hates a wrestler or match you love, why would it make you feel differently?
Love what you love, whether its Ricky Steamboat or MicroMan or Orange Cassidy. If it makes you happy, then pro wrestling did its job. If it's making someone else miserable, they would be miserable no matter what they were talking about, because it just means they've latched onto complaining about it instead of trying to improve their own sad, callow lives. That's on them, not you.
During your interview with Kevin Wacholz, I appreciate you and him putting to rest some of the rumors floating around regarding the physical altercation with Vince McMahon, but why was that topic glossed over instead of discussing it in further detail? Also, why didn't you go into more detail with Kevin on the stand during the steroid trial?
I tried to get a copy of his testimony but it never arrived before the interview, because the court system moves so slow. So I asked what I could in that regard. Regarding Vince McMahon, I got as much as I could given legalities and what he was comfortable speaking about. My hope of him walking us through that day was obviously never going to happen so I went to a Plan B, where I had Nailz respond to the different reports that were out there on the public record. In listening to his responses, you can pretty much put together what happened that day in Green Bay.
Do you ever get mad at Dave Scherer's heavy-handed opinions?
No, because while he may be blunt, he's being honest with how he feels. Why would I get mad at it? He and I agree on some things and others we don't. That's how it's been since we met in 1996. I think there are some AEW fans who are sensitive about his comments, but no promotion is above criticism. These same people who complain about Dave's comments now were more than happy when he was calling for them to ask for WWE PPV refunds when WWE screwed over Daniel Bryan's title win or all the times Dixie Carter, Vince Russo, Vince McMahon, whoever was criticized. Hell, I get criticized sometimes publicly by Dave and he's my boss. So, short answer, no.
Why does Randy Orton always get a "go past go" free card when it comes to his military service and that he was court-martialed for deserting the military?
Whatever Orton did in the military, if I am recalling correctly, he served his time and put it behind him. You can't put the scarlet letter on someone for a mistake they did when they were younger, especially if you haven't walked in their shoes and ESPECIALLY if they did what they needed to do to close the issue and move on. There's not one person reading this who hasn't made a mistake in their life. Orton made his. That issue is long resolved. That's why.
I really loved your Terry Funk piece. Will you do more pieces like that in the future?
It all depends on what stories come about and how they move me. The Funk piece was something I worked on for a long time because I knew the end result of what he was facing and I really needed, for myself, to get what I was feeling in that moment down on paper so I could get it out. It was a meaningful piece to me personally because of how I felt about Funk personally and professionally. We will see what comes in the future but given that article was written because I knew his death was looming, I hope I don't have to do anything similar in the future as that means someone we all loved have passed on.
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