Inside a disillusioned wrestling fan, a fire was rekindled. Independent Wrestling reignited that fandom within me and I stoked those fires long and strong through this "blog" and the multimedia live programming it would eventually morph into. I dove headfirst in and eventually dragged my closest friend with me. What a ride! We made real connections with local independent wrestlers and promoters in our area and made a handful of very real friends along the way. At some point during this journey, we were basically invited at least half-way behind the curtain. And "at least halfway" was far enough.
When a promoter burnt one of the boys out of a pay day or a spot on the card, we were amongst the first to be told about it. When one of the boys went into business for themselves or burnt a promoter(s), we'd get emails. When one wrestler propositioned another wrestlers wife, we were somehow in the loop. When one promotions co-owner brutally bashed his business partner to anyone who would listen (including us), we would get a call. Every time a promoter pocketed money meant for a benefit or charity, we would get a text. We didn't cover nearly a QUARTER of the trash and the he-said, they-said crap that was peddled our way because it was exhausting. Even knowing that at least SOME of what was being fed to us was just the boys working us... It still clouded our judgment and view of things. It likely even clouded how we presented these promotions and wrestlers without even realizing it, in retrospect.
We "knew too much"... And it turns out that "knowing too much" isn't as much fun as we both thought it would be.
More than all of that - the majority of people that read/watched/listened to our content were the independent wrestlers themselves. We know this to be fact. No offense to those guys or gals (who we mostly loved, by the way!) but... We wanted other FANS to watch us!
Being a fan is where it's at. There is nothing else like it. The excitement of watching it all unfold... The speculation of what might happen next - unclouded by "knowing too much". So. We are going back to our roots. Screw "behind the curtain"... we want to sit in a nosebleed seat and cheer and boo with the rest of the fans!
It's time to move on. And up.
So... Going forward, this website and its programming will retake our seat in the crowd and BE the fan... We won't be covering independent wrestling, though... Instead, our focus will be WWE programming and, damn it.... Just being a fan of the world of professional wrestling. We don't intend on presenting ourselves as journalists or critics - we intend to be fans... and we will need your help.
On June 25th, the live streaming juggernaut called WrestlefudgeTV LIVE will be returning after a one year absence with a renewed energy and renewed focus. We will be presenting a program from the nosebleeds with our unsolicited opinion as FANS and we want your voice to be heard as well! Stay tuned for more information on how YOU can be a part of this effort! Be sure to follow @wrestlefudge on Twitter for more updates!
Going forward, wrestlefudge.com will be what it once was, but on a less local scale... A place for a fan and his buddies to go to talk about wrestling - only now more WWE than CTWE.
I hope you'll make THIS journey with us!
- Paul
(A special thank you to every promotion, wrestler, and Indy wrestling fan we have met along the way! Much love.)
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