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Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Weekly'' website in 2008, becoming ''Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online''. Issues are offered in print and digital. The newsletter is often considered the first " dirt sheet", which is a wrestling publication which covers the art from a real-life perspective. History The beginnings of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Meltzer
David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has also written for the '' Oakland Tribune'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', Yahoo! Sports, SI.com, and '' The National Sports Daily''. He has extensively covered mixed martial arts since UFC 1 in 1993 and currently covers the sport for SB Nation. He has been called "the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism" by Frank Deford of ''Sports Illustrated''. He is also a frequent lecturer on many aspects of the business of MMA, professional wrestling, and boxing at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Early life Meltzer lived in upstate New York, later moving with his family to San Jose, California. Meltzer earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and started out as a sportswriter for the ''Wichita Falls T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brad Muster
Bradley William Muster (born April 11, 1965) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Stanford. He was selected in the 1st round (23rd overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. College career Muster attended San Marin High School in Novato, California, graduating in 1983. He later attended Stanford University. In the 1984 Big Game, Muster ran the ball for 204 yards on 34 carries. He had 78 receptions in the 1985 season, which is tied for third place in the Pacific-10 Conference. Muster graduated from Stanford in 1988 and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in first round of the 1988 NFL Draft. Professional career He was used as a fullback, and his goal when he didn't have the ball was to help block for Neal Anderson. After the 1992 season, coach Dave Wannstedt would not let Muster be a featured back, so he signed a free agent contract with the Saints. The man he replaced, Craig Heyward, ended up playing with the Bears. Muster retired afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Letter To The Editor
A letter to the editor (LTE) is a letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through conventional mail or electronic mail. Letters to the editor are most frequently associated with newspapers and news magazines, however, they are sometimes published in other periodicals such as entertainment and technical magazines and academic journals. Radio and television stations may also receive such letters, which are sometimes read on the air, particularly on news commentary broadcasts or on talk radio. In this presentation form the letter to the editor can also be described as viewer mail or listener mail, depending on the medium. Subject matter The subject matter of letters to the editor vary widely. However, the most common topics include: * Supporting or opposing a stance taken by the publication in its editorial or by a columnist, or respond ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Watts
William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939) is a retired American professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" gimmick in his wrestling career, and then as a promoter in the Mid-South United States, which grew to become the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). In 1992, Watts was the Executive Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) but after clashes with management over a number of issues, as well as feeling pressure from Hank Aaron over a racially insensitive interview, he resigned. He was subsequently replaced by Ole Anderson. In 1995, Watts briefly worked as a booker for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 2009, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Football career Watts played as a linebacker for his high school football team, the Putnam City Pirates. Bud Wilkinson recruited him to play for the Oklahoma Sooners, where he played as a guard during his sophomore and junior years. However, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Funk
Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – and the influential hardcore wrestling style he pioneered in the latter part of his career. He is considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. Over the course of his career, Funk has wrestled for numerous major promotions, among them All Japan Pro Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, the International Wrestling Association of Japan, Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Association, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories including Big Time Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling. He was the promoter of the Amarillo-based Western States Sports prom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Benoit Double-murder And Suicide
Over a three-day period from June 22 to 24, 2007, Chris Benoit, a 40-year-old Canadian professional wrestler employed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and living in Fayetteville, Georgia, murdered his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son, Daniel, before hanging himself. Autopsy results showed that Benoit's wife was murdered first as she was bound at the feet and wrists and died of asphyxiation on the night of June 22. On June 25, Nancy was found wrapped in a towel with blood under her head, although Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard reported no other signs of a struggle. The couple's son, Daniel Christopher Benoit, who also died of asphyxia, was killed as he was lying sedated in his bed on the morning of June 23. Then, on the evening of June 24, Benoit killed himself in his weight room, when he used his lat pulldown machine to hang himself. He placed Bibles near the bodies of his wife and son. Since Benoit's suicide, numerous explanations for his actions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the USA, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan and Stampede Wrestling in Canada. Bearing the nicknames ''The (Canadian) Crippler'' alongside ''The Rabid Wolverine'' throughout his career, Benoit held 30 championships between WWF/WWE, WCW, NJPW, ECW and Stampede. He was a two-time world champion, having reigned as a one-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and a one-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE; he was booked to win a third world championship at a WWE event on the night of his death. Benoit was the twelfth WWE Triple Crown Champion and seventh WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the second of four men in history to ach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling company, of which he is still majority owner and wields the majority of voting power. He is also the founder and owner of Alpha Entertainment. Born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, McMahon graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in business in 1968 and began his tenure in professional wrestling as a commentator for the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) for most of the 1970s; McMahon bought the company from his father, Vincent J. McMahon, in 1982 and almost monopolized the industry, which previously operated as separate entities across the United States. This led to the development of the annual WrestleMania, which became one of the most successful professional wrestling event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WrestleMania 23
WrestleMania 23 was the 23rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on April 1, 2007, at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The event was the first WrestleMania at Ford Field and the second to take place in the Detroit metropolitan area (following WrestleMania III, which was held at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan). It was also the first WrestleMania to feature the ECW brand following its establishment as WWE's third brand in May 2006. Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The main event of the show, which was the main match on the Raw brand, was John Cena versus Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship, in which Cena won. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was Batist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WrestleMania III
WrestleMania III was the third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The event was held on March 29, 1987, at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan. There were 12 matches, with the main event featuring WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan successfully defending his title against André the Giant. WWF claimed that paid attendance was 93,173, which would have made it the largest crowd for a WWF event as well as the largest recorded attendance of a live indoor event in North America at the time, although the total has been disputed. The event is considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom, with almost one million fans watching the event at 160 closed-circuit locations in North America and the number of people watching via pay-per-view estimated at several million. The WWF generated $1.6 million in ticket sales, and pay-per-view revenue was estimated at $10.3 millio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WrestleMania
WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, most recently in Arlington, Texas on April 2 and 3, 2022. WrestleMania was WWE's first-ever PPV produced and is the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. The event has been shown through PPV since 1985, and has been available to livestream through the WWE Network since 2014 and Peacock since 2021. WrestleMania was conceptualized by former WWE chairman Vince McMahon and named by ring announcer and WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel. It is the company's flagship event and along with Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, it is referred to as one of the "Big Five", WWE's five biggest annual events of the year. The widespread success of WrestleMania helped transform professional wres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bret Hart
Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background, wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College. A major international draw within professional wrestling, he has been credited with changing the perception of mainstream North-American professional wrestling in the early 1990s by bringing technical in-ring performance to the fore. Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; Sky Sports noted that his legacy is that of "one of, if not the greatest, to have ever graced the squared circle". For the majority of his career, Hart used the nickname "Hitman". Hart joined his father Stu Hart's promotion Stampede Wrestling in 1976 as a referee and made his in-ring debut in 1978. He gained championship success during the 1980s and 1990s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
