Wednesday, March 25, 2015

The Wrestling Blog at Six

TWB has been here for a lot
Photo Credit: WWE.com
Six years ago today, I embarked upon a journey to write about professional wrestling in my own voice, to satisfy an itch that I had to create commentary that was different from the rest of the chatter. I didn't know how long it was going to last or how far the reach would be. I just started out watching and commenting on WWE television, and shortly after, I got into Chikara. Then Mitsuharu Misawa died, Bryan Danielson got signed, TNA tried going head to head with WWE on Monday nights, The Rock returned to wrestling, CM Punk dropped his pipe bomb, the YES! movement began, Chikara closed, Punk left in a huff, Chikara reopened, and New Japan Pro Wrestling opened its gates to an American audience, among other things.

The voice I used to describe wrestling on this day years ago is not the same one I use now, just as the wrestling landscape now is not the same as it was then. Of course, my voice isn't the only one that is heard on this site, which is another huge change from the original. But nothing ever stays the same. Stagnation is death.

It's fair to ask what TWB has added to the landscape, and if the changes it has undergone have been positive or negative. I can't say definitively what the impact of this site has been without being biased either way, and I don't know if I or the people I have here writing have made a positive change or not. Then again, if I thought I was impacting community in a negative manner, I would delete this blog right now.

But while I want to be a voice for the voiceless (a real one, not a kayfabed one that wore management's jacket months after saying he was for the downtrodden), I have no idea if I've been effective. But that doesn't mean I will ever stop trying to talk some sense, to keep advocating on behalf of people who don't get a say, to give those people a voice, and to talk about the things that are good with levity and perspective for however long I continue to be a writer, editor, and auteur here.

How long will that be? I have no idea. TWB won't be around forever, but whether I continue to write for one more day or one more decade, I will keep trying to be a good writer and a good person.

Of course, I wouldn't be here without everyone who has read, shared, commented on, or discussed what has been written here with me or my other writers. I also wouldn't be here without my cadre of talented writers whether past or present. Thank you for the support.