Dave Meltzer

[Tsurutagun]

I think Dave doesn't trust anyone else beside himself to write in the newsletter at this time. Some of the people who have previously contributed have turned out to be complete fruitloops. Ben Miller comes to mind

 

 

[Keith Houchen]

Blimey, good job it was his partner who got the gig of presenting Pointless if that’s the kind of stuff he comes out with. 

[Jazzy G]

He was good in Death In Paradise, though. 

[theringmaster]

On 5/14/2021 at 8:31 PM, RancidPunx said:

Here is a question:

 

How different would the wrestling industry be if Dave Meltzer didn't exist ?   

I honestly believe we wouldn't be here on this forum today, he essentially was the beginning of the IWC with his newsletters in the 80s, they provided information for the tape traders to search for.

 

and also absolutely nobody in the UK would watch Japanese Wrestling if it wasn't for him

[tiger_rick]

38 minutes ago, theringmaster said:

I honestly believe we wouldn't be here on this forum today, he essentially was the beginning of the IWC with his newsletters in the 80s, they provided information for the tape traders to search for.

 

and also absolutely nobody in the UK would watch Japanese Wrestling if it wasn't for him

I'm not going to question his influence completely because it exists in loads of wrestling fans, even if you read PowerSlam or another Newsletter instead of the Observer but I doubt that's true. It'd be different - we probably wouldn't have ever rated matches in snowflakes or maybe discussed the minutiae to such a degree but the internet was coming with or without Dave Meltzer and as much as there were forums for every sport and sports team, for soaps, for films, for music, for everything, everyone would be discussing wrestling somewhere.

I've rarely been an Observer subscriber in my life and when I was, I was already a fully indoctrinated sad virgin wrestling fan for life.

Edited June 7, 2021 by tiger_rick

[Magnum Milano]

1 hour ago, theringmaster said:

I honestly believe we wouldn't be here on this forum today, he essentially was the beginning of the IWC with his newsletters in the 80s, they provided information for the tape traders to search for.

Before Dave Meltzer there were guys like Burt Ray and Ron Dobratz who published insider newsletters long before the Observer was born.  Whilst he may have popularized the newsletter, he wasn't the first person to produce one by a long way.

[Chili]

If Meltzer wasn't around we'd be rating matches out of 10, and we'd still have a really blinkered view on Japanese wrestling. 

[deathrides]

I'm glad I never heard of Dave Meltzer when i was watching. I'm sure the experience would have been diluted if I was reading about workrate and stuff like kids do now, never mind having the matches spoilt. I don't think there's any doubt that he's had an influence on how wrestling is, every comment he makes seems to get picked up on. Fans grow up reading this, taking his word as gospel and some of them become wrestlers. For a guy who hated Andre-Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior and obssesses over workrate, Wrestling must be where he always wanted it to be now, lots of moves and no stars.

Edited June 7, 2021 by deathrides

[RancidPunx]

44 minutes ago, Magnum Milano said:

Before Dave Meltzer there were guys like Burt Ray and Ron Dobratz who published insider newsletters long before the Observer was born.  Whilst he may have popularized the newsletter, he wasn't the first person to produce one by a long way.

Thats very interesting stuff.
 

Was the Observer the first newsletter to break kayfabe per se ?

[kieranjennings]

I wonder what sort of difference he could have actually made though if he actually behaved like a journalist and challenged/investigated some of the darker stuff that's gone on in the industry throughout the last 30/35 years.  He probably wouldn't have maintained all his inside relationships but proper journalism (by him or anyone else) by people not afraid to be taken out of the loop would have been really interesting. 

He's basically given opinion pieces on the product for years and chronicled what's happened without actually really digging deep on some of the more unsavoury items.

 

[RancidPunx]

On 6/7/2021 at 5:57 PM, kieranjennings said:

I wonder what sort of difference he could have actually made though if he actually behaved like a journalist and challenged/investigated some of the darker stuff that's gone on in the industry throughout the last 30/35 years.  He probably wouldn't have maintained all his inside relationships but proper journalism (by him or anyone else) by people not afraid to be taken out of the loop would have been really interesting. 

He's basically given opinion pieces on the product for years and chronicled what's happened without actually really digging deep on some of the more unsavoury items.

 

In what ways has he not behaved like a journalist  ?

[Keith Houchen]

3 hours ago, RancidPunx said:

In what ways has he not behaved like a journalist  ?

To repeat myself (Not like me, I know), a journalist doesn’t report “My sources are telling me it is raining outside my office. However, other people dispute that”. A journalist goes out and checks who is telling the truth. 

[kieranjennings]

13 hours ago, RancidPunx said:

In what ways has he not behaved like a journalist  ?

He doesn't appear to challenge or investigate stuff. Especially pulling the curtain back on more disreputable parts of the business. He is a reporter and that's about it. 

[Project Nim]

Just listening to the Triple H press call from last night, I think Meltzer is still asking his question “years ago well I mean not years ago you know” 

[tiger_rick]

11 hours ago, Keith Houchen said:

To repeat myself (Not like me, I know), a journalist doesn’t report “My sources are telling me it is raining outside my office. However, other people dispute that”. A journalist goes out and checks who is telling the truth. 

Remember when that used to be true?