787 Talk – Tales Of A Dirt Digger (Volume 1)
Tales Of A Dirt Digger [Vol 1]
IMG Credit: Barber Shop Window
Writing wrestling news is a pretty neat thing. You fish out information. Whether it’s from trusted Twitter personalities or a larger news source or you go off some other information. Then you add your own spin to it. For those that love writing, it’s a very nice learning pad. Reviewing shows is also neat. I hear it’s great for a living. Some guy on this page does great with it. Tommy whathisface, I don’t know.
But what’s it like digging deep down, to dip down and touch on that magical “source” guys like Dave Meltzer and Mike Johnson talk about often? It’s a curious thing, really. I may not do it with a WWE or an Impact. But I do it with the major companies of Puerto Rico. Which is like dealing with CMLL and AAA in Mexico. Or NJPW and AJPW in Japan. Well, not exactly. However as far as being known as “X is reporting that…..” well, I have some experience being that X on the teeny tiny island of Puerto Rico. I talk to “sources”, finding out what brews behind the curtain. It’s made me respect the work of the Dave Meltzers and the Sean Ross Sapps of this industry. But not Ryan Satin. That dude has that TMZ musk all over and it ain’t rubbing off any time soon. So I thought I would share a bit of “how” that all goes. Not necessarily reveal intimate secrets and lose everyone’s trust. But rather how a rapport is built.
My First Wrestling Observer
No, I’m not talking about Dave’s Newsletter. I’m talking about the wrestler who first approached me. I say his name because nowadays he’s working at Afa of the Wild Samoans’ company WXWc4. But how I met him, he was a wrestling commentator and editor for WWL (which uploads to YouTube here) and how I first came into contact with him was peculiar to say the least. Similar to KB, I too write reviews. But in Spanish. Much like KB, I have a few quirks when writing reviews. A pet peeve of mine was referring to someone who used to work elsewhere as say an “ex-WWE” or an “ex-ECW”. I aired my grievance everytime he said “this guy is an ex-WWC”. Then one day during broadcast he says it. “He’s an ex-WWC. Oh wait, I hear that’s wrong. I mean he previously worked for WWC.” I was stumped as I was typing. So as I note that I’m being referenced, I write “if you’re reading now, contact me”. And sure enough, hours after my review was published, said wrestler contacted me. And we hit it off. He was my first contact into the backstage. Since then, guys would just approach me without referncing me on TV though. Less of an ego boost I suppose.
Booking Is Far More Of A Mess Than You’d Think
Every time I hear the line “Plans change”, I can’t help but give a nod. Some people say it’s Dave’s cop-out when things he says will happen, don’t. But the truth is, when you’re careless with your storytelling, no one will truly know what’s going on. This one started publicly. In December 2016, wrestler Mr. 450 (now known as Mecha Wolf) faced Mustafa Ali on 205 Live and his knee gave out. As that was happening, in WWC he was #1 Contender to the vacant WWC Universal title. However, with him out, WWC opted to keep the title vacant until he came back as he was without a doubt the top draw of the company. However, WWC does not really operate under the rules of common sense more often than not. For 4 months the title was vacant. And I constantly discussed a cavalcade of ideas with various people. Some told me an international tournament was planned but scrapped because bringing too many US names was expensive. Another was that they wanted to build several young stars. Problem was they picked the wrong one to focus on (the booker’s kid) and it rubbed everyone in the locker room the wrong way.
After 4 months of plans falling, a tournament was announced with 4 names and 2 announced matches. I never saw a more blatant case of “plan’s change” in my life. I was told a lot of things. But the week after said announcement, which had 2 semi-finals announced, an angle played on WWC TV where everyone was asking “so who’s my opponent”? I thought that was weird. Then later in the night, the same 4 guys are announced in 2 totally different matches. “What the heck was that?” I remember asking someone about it. I was answered “plans change, but they forgot they already announced the matches”. And this is a grassroots company with about 10 on booking staff. Imagine how things get lost in WWE with hundreds answering to a crazed old man who still thinks fart jokes are funny. Hearing “plans change” does not shock me. Like I said, I just nod in defeated agreement. Because when you book without an endgame (see what I did there), you have no clue where you’re going.
Wrestlers Like Feedback
This is one several of “the boys” have commented to me about. The usual sign of establishing confidence with someone is usually the line of “I don’t always agree with what you say, but I understand it”. More so than someone praising nonstop. This lets you know the person recognizes there are things to improve upon and also tells you that “you’re not some delutional mark ranting blindly about wrestling”.
I’ve been told that my writing helps realize small mistakes. Whether it’s in a match or a promo. So opinions to count for something. If people can review TV episodes and movies, wrestling shouldn’t be any different. It makes for a great jumping on-point as far as discussions go. Sure, the ol’ “That’s not a 5 Star match” argument can always come about. It’s one man’s opinion after all. You can probably find some of KB’s match grade’s that you would disagree with. Is Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels and A+ match? That’s not the point. The point is KB thought it was one of the best matches he’s seen and is telling his followers it’s a “must-watch”. Wrestlers, at least some of them, like being how good their body of work is. They can reflect on the wrong. Sure Dave or KB aren’t gonna have the solution. That’s not the point. The point is to spur discussion. That’s the whole point of all this, after all. To reflect on wrestling.
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I’ll probably have more of these in the future. These are just tales and thoughts gathered from this dirt digging business. Things can get far deeper and nastier. Especially when discussing incidents and such. Which will be a topic for the future. Such as wrestlers making statements that are very much false but people will believe them. Among others.
But for now, you can follow me at my personal Blog (Click Here)
See You Next Article!
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