TO CLARIFY…
The main reason I write columns for Wrestlezone.com is the response I get, via e-mail and on the forums. Who wouldn’t want to be called a bitter old man angry because he’s no longer in the wrestling business?
First off, a few facts:
When WCW and I parted company in 2000, I sent a letter to WWE’s Jim Ross enquiring about employment. Ross sent back a very nice response, calling me a “student of the game.” Ross didn’t slam the door shut, nor did he beckon me through. It was the last I heard from him.
I did color commentary for a World Wrestling All-Stars pay-per-view at Las Vegas in February 2002. I edited/rewrote Ric Flair’s autobiography, “To Be The Man,” which was published in July 2004. After that, I had zilch to do with wrestling until debuting as a contributor to Wrestlezone.com in July 2008, an opportunity brokered by Disco Inferno, a/k/a Glen Gilbertti.
Since I sent that letter to Ross, I have not sought employment in wrestling. Jeremy Borash called me for the WWA PPV. Editing Flair’s book was the result of a publishing deal that existed prior to him signing with WWE. The arrangement was initially very laissez-faire, a contractual obligation, until the original author submitted a subpar manuscript and Vincent K. McMahon himself asked me to fix it.
Point is, I don’t want to work in wrestling. You do. I don’t.
I earn more in radio than I did in wrestling, and there’s no travel. I made money. I had fun. But I don’t miss wrestling. Flair, Kevin Nash, Chris Jericho, Disco, Bruce Mitchell…all the people I met through wrestling that I still correspond with know I don’t miss it.
So, any criticism of wrestling I make isn’t because I’m upset about being excluded. It’s because the product stinks.
