Reality From Ringside #56
March 15, 2010
By: Doug Lackey of WrestleView.com
What Have I Gotten Myself Into?
I must apologize to you loyal ?Realists? in advance for this week’s column. Excuses, there really aren?t any but I could rattle off a few.
Everyone and their adoptive parents are talking and writing about the same things (TNA Monday night ratings and Wrestlemania 26). This was a painfully slow news week in the world of professional wrestling. Also, I had exhausted all of my initiative of compiling statistics and useless pieces of factual information.
Instead of facts on professional wrestling titles and rosters, statistics on individual achievements in pay-per-view events and dismissals from companies, I thought I would take a break from the norm and just go ?free-form? this week?
I have been writing for Wrestleview for over a year now and have loved every hour of it (believe me; you have no idea how many hours I invest in my research, fact-checking, and final copies of my weekly column). Ever since joining the WV staff, my ears were opened to a realm of opinion and wrestling philosophy I had never heard of, let alone comprehended.
As many of you VIPs know and have tolerated, I have been a frequent guest host on many of Wrestleview’s radio shows and have played many different characters:
?Wrestleview Radio? (Monday and Thursday nights LIVE): I play the underling columnist to the two big bosses (Adam Martin and Hunter Golden), walking into their offices and presenting my statistics and numbers that I have conjured up within my fluorescent-lit cubicle while listening to Drew McIntyre’s glorious entrance music.
?Friday Fishbowl? (Friday podcast): I play Adam Martin’s coast guard respondent. As Martin stands on his capsized rowboat called ?The Fishbowl?, he shoots a flare into the sky around the same time I?m contemplating dinner. Sorry shake and bake pork chops. Too bad spaghetti with Paul Newman’s marinara. I have more important things to attend to; Adam needs someone to help answer the questions that the Wrestleview VIPs have!
?Best Damn Tom Van Stone Show? (Every other Friday night LIVE when he has the confidence that he had a decent show two weeks previously): I play Tom Van Stone and Chris Petta’s shock collar. Whenever a segment in their program strays from UFC and MMA analysis to the in-depth coverage of how drunk Tom or Chris were that one time they were somewhere that you weren?t, that’s when I come into effect. ZAPPITY-ZAP-ZAP!
Taking part in all of these programs, playing all these characters left me feeling like something was missing from Wrestleview’s audio content. We give you a lot of opinion but not enough hard facts.
Starting next Wednesday (March 24), I will be introducing my own radio program to the Wrestleview Radio Network: ?Reality from Ringside Radio: 3R?.
This will not be ego radio. I am not speaking into a microphone just to hear myself talk about how something is good or bad. There has been way too much opinion within the internet wrestling community. It’s about time we convey the facts and figures that help develop or shoot down the opinions that dominate what you listen to every week.
?3R? will be a healthy alternative from the tried and true; taking the top headlines from the week in Wrestleview and analyzing them. Instead of staring at the news, making snap judgments and spontaneously pining opinion, ?3R? will look at each item from a broader perspective through the painstaking research and mind-numbing fact-finding that I have been known for in my weekly columns.
?3R? will resemble one of my favorite television programs, ?Countdown with Keith Olbermann?. If you are not familiar with the format of ?Countdown?, I will choose the most important headlines of the week, examine them with as little opinion as possible through facts and statistics, and then ask a fellow Wrestleview columnist to join me in providing further analysis.
Again, little opinion from myself and more from those whose opinions you would like to hear.
Aside from the headlines provided throughout the week, I am always open to topics provided by you, the loyal VIP and ?Realist?. I must caution you though; I am very picky with my topics of discussion.
I do not prefer talking about the past. ?3R? is not about perusing through a list of could-be and should-be’s. This program is not about reviewing television shows or pay-per-view events that you have watched or read about, there are far too many radio shows that do that already. I favor to talk about headlines, news items, and anything else that is happening outside of the wrestling ring.
I really have no idea what I?m getting myself into. I am slowly becoming a part of something that has been littered with internal strife and nonsensical personal drama? and it is something that I hope to clean up.
You do not listen to a radio show on a professional wrestling website to hear about what is going on throughout the host’s personal life. You do not listen to a radio show on Wrestleview that does not pertain to wrestling.
You are willingly giving us at Wrestleview your time and money. It is our obligation to provide you with the content you deserve, ?Reality from Ringside Radio: 3R? will reinforce this ideal.
I apologize again for this week’s column. I know you did not anticipate reading a promotion for a new radio program.
However, I firmly believe that this is considered ?news?. A professional wrestling news website will be introducing audio content that is just as professional and reliable as the headlines you read every week. No loud voices. No incoherent ramblings. No fits of spontaneous rage devoted to something that was never watched or read.
I have always envisioned this website as ?The CNN of professional wrestling?? it has been my honor and privilege to be a part of it. I thoroughly enjoy providing you with countless scrutinizing of weekly headlines and ?PPV hangovers? that ask for answers to more important questions than just ?what did you think of the show??
Sacrifice your weekly Big Mac value meal from McDonald’s. Please subscribe to become a Wrestleview VIP for $5 a month. Take part in this revolution within the internet wrestling community? a radio show devoted to facts and not opinion.
Sign up now: wrestleview.com/VIP
Until next time, mouth-breathers!
Annoy me with your assumptions and affronts… adore me with your adulations and acknowledgements: Reality from Ringside