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| The godfather of wrestling writing Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein |
I met one of the most important figures in my wrestling fandom on Saturday. His name was Bill Apter. If you don't know the name, then you're probably a young'un who came into wrestling after the time when Apter's influence was present in a strong way. His name has been dulled in history thanks to the furious rush of dirtsheet imitators on the Internet that comprised of pro wrestling journalism. Scoops and ratings, or GTFO.
However, back in the day when it was still real to mostly everyone, Apter and his publications, most notably Pro Wrestling Illustrated, were the trades of the land for wrestling fans all over the country. In a time when wrestling was a regional entity, a patchwork of different companies operating across small areas, his vision helped to make it a truly national form of entertainment years before Vince McMahon had the idea to mobilize his World Wrestling Federation. Sure, the magazine was kayfabed to high heaven, but when he started out, the entire business was. He was very much a character, the impartial journalist to be specific, in a business full of them, but he also was an innovator in the way he played it out.
He was a man not beholden to any company, so his story was to be played out as the guy who brought everyone together across the country. His publications married together each of the territories in ways that transportation and communication made extremely difficult in the days before widespread cellular phone usage and high-powered Internet access. His feature articles, wrestler rankings, and especially the PWI 500 (a list that is outmoded but still exists with some level of pride for the wrestlers who appear on it), helped get the names of wrestlers unfamiliar to a nation into our minds and hearts through the power of description on his part and imagination on ours.
He also wasn't afraid to dream either. Countless articles written by himself or by his staff poked and prodded at our imaginations and made us wonder what would happen if Ric Flair ever got into the ring with Hulk Hogan, or if Jerry Lawler ever ventured out of Memphis and took on the world at large outside of his own microgalaxy in the metropolis of Tennessee. He also exposed us to places beyond the boundaries of this country, making known the worlds of Japan and Mexico to audiences that couldn't fathom a way of doing business outside of their own region, let alone country.
As time wore on, the appetite for publications that didn't readily make the readers assume that this wasn't legitimate competition waned. As fans got in on the act, Apter's role had concluded as the preeminent journalist character of our time. Old men do fade, but it is their role to fade from the present. However, just because their roles end does not mean they fade from historical importance. Bill Apter as the carny, kayfabe journalist gave way to real journalists (in theory or otherwise, depending on your opinion of news reporters today), but he also influenced them in ways they will probably admit. He certainly influenced the way I thought about wrestling as a fan, and I'd be lying if I didn't credit him for his contributions on my style as a wrestling writer.
Because of all that, I had to approach him when I saw him in the foyer area of the National Guard Armory. The man had finished emceeing the ceremony after the Mike Quackenbush/Colt Cabana match where he presented Cabana as the Ambassador of Wrestling for 2013, but upon talking to him, it felt like I was speaking with a grandfatherly figure, or at least someone avuncular. He chastised me for calling him "Mr. Apter," and he wanted to know the town from where I hailed. As I thanked him for his work, he turned the tables on me and thanked me for supporting him. The man couldn't be any nicer. In the arena of professional wrestling, it's not abnormal to find people who are humble with the fans, but the impression that I got was that he almost didn't feel like he thought of himself as a titan of industry.
To me, the hundreds if not thousands of people who write in part because of him, and the millions of fans he touched though? There aren't very many people in wrestling who are bigger than this man was.
However, back in the day when it was still real to mostly everyone, Apter and his publications, most notably Pro Wrestling Illustrated, were the trades of the land for wrestling fans all over the country. In a time when wrestling was a regional entity, a patchwork of different companies operating across small areas, his vision helped to make it a truly national form of entertainment years before Vince McMahon had the idea to mobilize his World Wrestling Federation. Sure, the magazine was kayfabed to high heaven, but when he started out, the entire business was. He was very much a character, the impartial journalist to be specific, in a business full of them, but he also was an innovator in the way he played it out.
He was a man not beholden to any company, so his story was to be played out as the guy who brought everyone together across the country. His publications married together each of the territories in ways that transportation and communication made extremely difficult in the days before widespread cellular phone usage and high-powered Internet access. His feature articles, wrestler rankings, and especially the PWI 500 (a list that is outmoded but still exists with some level of pride for the wrestlers who appear on it), helped get the names of wrestlers unfamiliar to a nation into our minds and hearts through the power of description on his part and imagination on ours.
He also wasn't afraid to dream either. Countless articles written by himself or by his staff poked and prodded at our imaginations and made us wonder what would happen if Ric Flair ever got into the ring with Hulk Hogan, or if Jerry Lawler ever ventured out of Memphis and took on the world at large outside of his own microgalaxy in the metropolis of Tennessee. He also exposed us to places beyond the boundaries of this country, making known the worlds of Japan and Mexico to audiences that couldn't fathom a way of doing business outside of their own region, let alone country.
As time wore on, the appetite for publications that didn't readily make the readers assume that this wasn't legitimate competition waned. As fans got in on the act, Apter's role had concluded as the preeminent journalist character of our time. Old men do fade, but it is their role to fade from the present. However, just because their roles end does not mean they fade from historical importance. Bill Apter as the carny, kayfabe journalist gave way to real journalists (in theory or otherwise, depending on your opinion of news reporters today), but he also influenced them in ways they will probably admit. He certainly influenced the way I thought about wrestling as a fan, and I'd be lying if I didn't credit him for his contributions on my style as a wrestling writer.
Because of all that, I had to approach him when I saw him in the foyer area of the National Guard Armory. The man had finished emceeing the ceremony after the Mike Quackenbush/Colt Cabana match where he presented Cabana as the Ambassador of Wrestling for 2013, but upon talking to him, it felt like I was speaking with a grandfatherly figure, or at least someone avuncular. He chastised me for calling him "Mr. Apter," and he wanted to know the town from where I hailed. As I thanked him for his work, he turned the tables on me and thanked me for supporting him. The man couldn't be any nicer. In the arena of professional wrestling, it's not abnormal to find people who are humble with the fans, but the impression that I got was that he almost didn't feel like he thought of himself as a titan of industry.
To me, the hundreds if not thousands of people who write in part because of him, and the millions of fans he touched though? There aren't very many people in wrestling who are bigger than this man was.
