The Crystal Ball 7.09.06: 411Mania vs. Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Posted by Steve Sullivan on 07.09.2006
This gets personal...
Some of you may have noticed that I've been absent a little more than normal. And it was a lot more normal than I would have liked. But there has been a lot going on with my life. Mostly personal that I will spare you the details of. But there was an instance that caused a lot of stir and excitement in my life that ended in high disappointment on my first day of vacation. I was under consideration for a job with Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
I didn't make anyone aware of it, as much as I appreciate the 411mania family. And I'm glad I didn't because it turns out that it wasn't for me anyway and I realized what a blessing I have here at 411mania, and that's the point of this week's edition of The Crystal Ball.
Prepare yourself for a self-absorbed personal journey that will make you appreciate this website that much more.
Maybe I am saying I'm glad I didn't get it because..well..I didn't get it. But the fact that I didn't get the job at PWI made me think about what I already have compared to what I could have had. True that PWI would have paid me more than 411 is, given anything is more than nothing! True my work would have been read by thousands of people across the world in a well renown publication, but I already do that. And it's true that maybe one of my dreams may have come true, but at what cost?
My opinion.
Last October, I applied to write here at 411mania. It was all a lucky coincidence. I was home alone with nothing to do. I was watching OVW Wrestling at home and decided to write down the play by play and email it to the website. A couple of weeks later, I received an email saying I had been accepted to write for the website. When I put out my first TV Report, I went ahead and included a piece about a wrestler in OVW that I enjoyed watching, and thus was the birth of The Crystal Ball.
Writing had never really been my thing, especially when it came to writing down my opinions and providing facts to bolster them. But I found myself getting more and more into it and at one point, I wrote a column that was 15 pages long on Word. It was at this point that I realized I must really love doing this because I can put every single thought in my head in writing and let thousands and thousands of people read it. I didn't have to answer to an editor if my opinion did not reflect his or hers. I didn't have to censor myself. I could say whatever I wanted. And the same went for what I was reading.
When reading columns here at 411mania, you didn't get the opinion of one man scattered throughout 10 different writers. You get one man's opinion, whether anyone agrees with it or not, and I love that. And hopefully you do too. And not only that, but you have the freedom and the ability to write to your favorite writer and tell them why you agree or disagree with them and 9 times out of 10, that writer will write back to you and include you as part of their column.
That was not going to be my case at Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
When Stu Saks, publisher of the world renown Pro Wrestling Illustrated contacted me 3 weeks ago, it was in response to an email that I had sent in mid November. Yeah, it took me 7 months to get a response back. It took me 2 weeks here at 411mania. But as you can imagine, I was equally if not more excited (sorry Csonka) when I got the email from Saks, a writer whom I had been reading since I was about 8 years old (I'm turning 25, you can do the math) stating he wanted some sample writing from me.
I sent Mr. Saks several different pieces that I had written here for the website. When I had originally applied to PWI, I had mentioned that I was an opinionated columnist that specialized in the happenings of Ohio Valley Wrestling, which many of you have come to know and enjoy, or at least that's what you say in your emails! This is exactly what I sent to him as well. Some of my best pieces I had written regarding OVW and how I feel that the talent in OVW can provide a spark on a WWE brand TV show. I graded them as "best pieces" by the amount of feedback I received from some of you, so thank you if you've ever emailed me.
This wasn't what Stu Saks wanted. He emailed me back a couple days later, which gave me obvious butterflies in my stomach saying thanks but he wanted to see what I was capable of doing for feature stories.
Feature Stories?
I wasn't prepared for a feature story. A wrestling feature story basically consists of events that happened. No opinion. No fun. Just facts and a long somewhat boring history of a particular event or wrestler. That's not what I do here and that's not "how I roll".
But I tried anyway. That's the reasoning behind my column two weeks ago about saving Smackdown. I was trying to write a feature story.
I picked up a copy of the latest PWI magazine at my local grocery store, the new one with Edge's face on the cover. On the inside, you can read about all the happenings of Backlash.
Backlash, which took place on April 30th, here in Lexington.
This was difficult for me because the last time I had picked up a copy of PWI was before I started writing and reading on this site on a regular basis. And realizing now that PWI is covering events that happened 2 months ago like they just happened really kind of bothered me. So I read through and skimmed a lot of the "feature stories" that some of PWI's fine writers had published, trying to pick up on some of their styles on how they wrote acceptable "feature stories".
No offense to you if you are a writer for PWI, but this was difficult. It was extremely difficult to read about God no showing Backlash and how it had just been announced that ECW was going to be brought back, even though it was a week after the new ECW brand had made its debut on the Sci-Fi Channel. I understand time constraints and all that but even Sports Illustrated is able to put out a nice publication and get everything that happened the week before included inside of it.
While reading some of the "opinion" columns, I was kind of surprised to not see a whole lot of opinion but just some random facts and trivia. In regards to professional wrestling, there is usually a split among opinions. There are a lot of people who have a big frustration for the current wrestling product and lack of creativeness. Then there is the other group who tries to remain positive in order to keep people and numbers up for wrestling. These "opinions" were just anything but. There was no emotion. Never at one point did I feel anyone's anguish or joy for the sport. I just felt like I was reading from a textbook.
Coming back over here to 411mania, I read some columns (other than my own of course) and felt passion and emotion. I felt several different writers who were out there trying to put their opinion across in order to better a product that they and their audience have a passion for. There was no restriction of language. There was no trivia facts, just an opinion and well thought out idea that a true wrestling fan was expressing to his audience. An idea that was fresh and new and hadn't been run into the ground already.
Mr. Saks, PWI, and anyone else that may get your hands on this, don't get me wrong. I love the magazine. I love the fact that I had the opportunity to write for PWI and that you considered me among the hundreds of other writers out there, but for now, this is where I belong. This is the place where I can express my opinion for free. I don't charge for my opinion and hopefully someday, if I haven't already, I may make a small impact among the world of professional wrestling. Making a positive impact on anything in the world is priceless.
411 readers, be greatful of the boom of wrestling internet websites. Whether your favorite wrestling related website is 411mania or any of the hundreds of others out there, be thankful that you have a hard working , volunteer staff that enjoys the sport so much that they give hours of their time away from their family and friends to put out an opinion to entertain you and to try and make a difference. As a matter of fact, the next time you get a chance, I challenge you to email your favorite 411 writer or writers and say thanks for everything. Because we are working hard to bring you everything that's happening in the world of professional wrestling TODAY, and nothing that happened 2 months ago.
I also encourage you to keep reading Pro Wrestling Illustrated if you already do. The same way I will encourage you to continue to watching wrestling. The more people who are reading and watching, the more reason publishers and managers have to improve their products. And I know that it can happen.
Thank you Mr. Saks. Hopefully I can change your mind someday, but for now, my opinion is not for sale.
With that being said, OVW action returns next week! The OVW action that you will NOT find in Pro Wrestling Illustrated or any other wrestling website. It's exclusive right here to 411mania!
I'm back from vacation now so it's back to the grind! Thanks for sticking through with this but this is my way of figuring out and coaching myself to keep doing what I love to do, and that's watch and write about wrestling. If you are a big fan of 411mania, PWI, or both, I always encourage you to email anyone and everyone to see what can be done to improve anything. Your voice is always heard and you never know who's listening. So until next week…
