Frank Deford, a 50-year veteran of Sports Illustrated, once labeled Meltzer the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism. “You could cover the Vatican or State Department,” Deford said recently, “and not do as good a job as Dave Meltzer does on wrestling.”

For nearly 30 years, Dave Meltzer has published the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, featuring weekly behind the locker room door insight into the business of professional wrestling. How far reaching has Meltzer's impact been? In one famous incident, Hulk Hogan, frustrated by what he perceived as consistently negative coverage in the publication, burned a copy of the newsletter during a live Pay-Per-View event.
posted by The Gooch on May 15, 2013 - 14 comments

Bill Moody, best known as professional wrestling manager Paul Bearer, passed away Tuesday at the age of 58. [more inside]
posted by uncleozzy on Mar 7, 2013 - 27 comments

"Video Game Character Wrestling is a Twitch channel run by a guy named Bazza. He said earlier how when he first ran it like a month ago, he 'was happy he got 50 viewers, maybe he could get 50 the next time too', and it just fucking exploded, with an average of 2000-3000 viewers in recent matches," (Via this Something Awful thread). Video Game Character Wrestling is an improbable live-action machinima spectacle which pits AI controlled versions of major game characters (and some real-ish personalities) against one another in a brawl for it all. [more inside]
posted by codacorolla on Dec 17, 2012 - 11 comments

'By most accounts, Bill Walton stands well over seven feet tall. But during his NBA career, Walton always insisted that he was 6'11" because he didn't want to be considered a freak. When I read that fun fact in David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game, it hit a chord. I've been doing the exact same thing as Walton for my entire adult life. I'm not as tall as Walton. I'm not even one of the less-than-70 seven-footers in my age bracket in the U.S. But I'm close. Another quarter-inch, and I'd pass the seven-foot barrier. But anytime anyone asks my height, I say that I'm 6'11". I don't mention the extra three quarters of an inch. People don't need to know about that. In any case, I'm still pretty fucking tall. And being pretty fucking tall is a weird thing to wrap your head around.' [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns on Aug 17, 2012 - 121 comments

25 Greatest Matches in Wrestlemania History [more inside]
posted by Trurl on May 6, 2012 - 21 comments

Historians of the war consider it to have been lost in what became known as the Fingerpoke of Doom. [more inside]
posted by Trurl on Apr 30, 2012 - 46 comments

If you feel like you're in a 20-man Battle Royale when it comes to your financial situation, maybe Ric Flair can help you out. Listen to the Nature Boy! Wooooooo!
posted by beaucoupkevin on Sep 19, 2007 - 15 comments

These days, we remember the age of legends by reliving them, virtually. Is it a sign of the fall of civilization when modern leaders are so bland as to be indistinguishable from one another? Oh how I miss the golden years.
posted by zekinskia on Jun 16, 2004 - 3 comments

"The fight America has on its hands militarily is one thing. A fight our American intelligence and soldiery will not lose. Drunken, doped-up third world peasants paradise-bent on living as if it is still the stone age challenge us, now let them taste the full, unadulterated wrath of America's force. Let them drown in pools of their own blood." Call it "the ultimate pre-match promo:" the well-thought-out and eloquent political pundrity of The Ultimate Warrior. Yes, that one.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Sep 13, 2002 - 23 comments

The hitman retires A series of concussions has forced professional wrestler Bret (Hitman) Hart to end his 22-year career today.
posted by riley370 on Oct 27, 2000 - 17 comments

The Rock and Dick Cheney team up to layeth the smacketh down on Al Gore's candy ass!
posted by Nyarlathotep on Jul 31, 2000 - 12 comments