In the English speaking

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

culture, a "dirt sheet" is a wrestling magazine, wrestling newsletter or

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

that covers professional wrestling from a real-life perspective as opposed to treating the storylines as real. Another term sometimes used for these publications is "rag sheet."

Reputation

Many wrestlers in the past resented so-called "dirt sheets" since they felt that they ruined the business by breaking

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...

, i.e. exposing professional wrestling as staged. However, second-generation wrestler

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 backgr ...

recalls that many wrestlers themselves were avid readers of the magazines in his youth because they too wanted to keep up with the backstage news; other people such as wrestling journalists have backed up that this was the case in the past. Wrestler

Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

often saw wrestling newsletters passed around the

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, elementary schools, middle and high schools, trans ...

s when he started out in the industry. In the 21st century some people in the industry, such as

Vince Russo Vincent James Russo (born January 24, 1961) is an American professional wrestling booker, writer, and pundit. He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop ...

Bruce Prichard Bruce Prichard (born March 7, 1963) is an American professional wrestling executive, booker, and producer and a former manager, commentator, and occasional professional wrestler. In addition to his corporate roles with WWE, Prichard has also a ...

and

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...

, still think that such publications hurt the wrestling business and also ruin the fans' immersion and enjoyment. Some wrestlers have themselves written for news websites, e.g.

Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with WWE. With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team d ...

for 411Mania.

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...

created his own called Web Is Jericho.

List of publications or websites often considered dirt sheets

* ''

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 We ...

'' (''WON''), often considered the first "dirt sheet", created and run by

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 als ...

* ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' (''PWTorch''), created and run by

Wade Keller Wade Keller (born May 22, 1971) is an American professional wrestling journalist who runs the ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' newsletter. Keller has hosted ''The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast'' on PodcastOne since 2017. ''Pro Wrestling Torch'' Kel ...

* Pro Wrestling Insider (PWInsider), created and run by

Dave Scherer Dave Scherer is an American sports writer and journalist, best known for writing about professional wrestling for the '' ECW Magazine'', ''New York Daily News'', '' World of Wrestling Magazine'', 1Wrestling.com and founding the newsletter ''The ...

* Pro Wrestling Sheet, created and run by

Ryan Satin Ryan Satin is an American pop culture and professional wrestling journalist. He was a producer for TMZ and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet which reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He has since left the site and now works for Fox ...

. * ''Wrestling News World'' (WNW)

References

External links

The Wrestling Directory
{{Professional wrestling terms * Professional wrestling slang * category:Journalism

Reputation

List of publications or websites often considered dirt sheets

See also

References

External links