Pro Wrestling in itself is one of the most unique forms of entertainment out there. Some call it a sport, some call it a soap opera and others call it a traveling stage show. For something so hard to pigeon hole it is equally as hard for reporters to cover the wrestling news.
In the dinosaur age before wrestling was exposed journalists would cover wrestling news as if it were a real sport like boxing. They would show up at the events, make notes and when a wrestler won then that was that. As it developed and storylines (similar to soap operas) were worked in to the industry, (mainly during the WWE attitude era and Monday Night Wars) “Mark Magazines” would cover pro wrestling as if those storylines were real. If The Rock threw Steve Austin in to a river (yes that happened once), the writer would write it as if it was the most insane thing that could ever happen in a sport. This was a unique system that helped promote the sport. Today a lot of negativity is also reported.
As the internet developed and “Dirt Sheet” newsletters and websites sprung up, pretty much all fans knew the truth that wrestling was fake so wrestling news was no longer about what happened in the ring, but what happened behind the curtain. Nobody wanted to buy magazines that rehashed what was seen on TV. Insider news was born.
Why were certain wrestlers in the top spots if it was fake? Who decided somebody would win and why? Now instead of an upset victory, the headline would be about the political reasons behind a lesser star getting the win. This has caused many changes ans swerves to storylines when promoters saw results and details online or in print.
It comes to a shock that many insider wrestling news websites publish spoilers and get information long before it airs on TV. The reason this happens is because over the years reporters have become friends with certain wrestlers or members of management and people in the WWE leak out the information itself.
It’s not uncommon to see newsletters or wrestling news websites on the desks or laptops of wrestlers.
Even now wrestling news is evolving. The sheer speed that some websites break the news leaves less “inside” reporters to move away from the day to day news and on to analysis. Now many wrestling journalists give their expert opinion on the news or current storylines as opposed to writing the actual stories.
A criticism that some wrestling news sites get involves a small number of large sites (most sprung up between 1998 and 2002) that are pretty much identical and use a syndicated system. This involves a select few reporters that post the same news on all the sites in return for a link on their own, resulting in a big network of the exact same content.
Another criticism that is made about wrestling news sites involves journalists changing to a premium services. Readers have to pay to access the news of some of the long time wrestling news reporters which seems crazy in this day and age of free information.
Wrestling news will continue to evolve with the sport and technology. Who knows? maybe in the future we’ll get wrestling news from brain implants?