This Monday is the ten-year anniversary of my Voice of Wrestling show. Some of you won't care, some of you might, but I'm proud of it, nonetheless.
My path to today has been about as up-and-down as the pro wrestling business itself, laced with stress, drama, good, bad, and everything in between. But it's all been worth it. The people I've met, the things I've accomplished, the places I've visited, the crazy shenanigans I've witnessed firsthand – all of it dates back to a $10 microphone from Walmart and the now-defunct site, Fancast.
I remember my very first guest, D'Lo Brown, like it was yesterday. I was a 17-year-old senior in high school working part-time as a board operator at a local sports station. I used the station's equipment to record the 36-minute conversation and once it was over, a "good job, kid" from D'Lo was all I needed – I was hooked.
The interview was probably a horrible experience for D'Lo, I'm sure, but it's still the interview I remember most to this day. And I've interview hundreds of stars since then.
To keep this column from becoming too self-indulgent, I really wanted to fill you in on my plans for the future. The next ten years. At least, as it pertains to me and the wrestling business. After reading it, it might even include you.
The desire for furthering my own "career" as a wrestling columnist, reporter and talk show host (keep the literal lol'ing to a minimum, please) is considerably less than what it was ten years ago. That doesn't mean I'm giving up WZ or VOW, but I don't long for more, more, more anymore. I'm happy and content right where I am.
Rather, I really want to assist others in their attempts to enter "this side" of the business, and help them begin paving their own way.
I feel like I've naturally started that transition too, already. There are several people – I won't name any names without their permission – that I believe I've helped in some form or fashion get started doing something in pro wrestling. And it's an incredible feeling to watch them grow and be successful.
To get to the point, I'm in the process of launching a new site of my own that will feature projects I'm working on, from start to finish, offer tools and resources for others to start their own sites, blogs and/or podcasts, feature interviews with other successful people (not only in wrestling, but in online blogging in general), etc. Most of it will be wrestling-related, especially at first, but some of it will help anyone trying to make money online, period.
I may not have a ton of secrets to offer, but what I do know, you'll know.
I'd like this new project to become a community of passionate individuals that dream, create, share and learn (may have just found a slogan). Successes, failures, ideas, income – all of it will be on display from my end, and hopefully, it will become a great resource for everyone that wants it.
My help is probably not desired by some of you, and if that's the case, I respect it. Simply skip over the rest of this and I'll be back this weekend with my regularly scheduled programming.
However, if you have any interest at all in podcasting, blogging, reporting, writing a book, promoting a wrestling show, or anything in between, I'd like to hear from you.
You can find me on Twitter @RealityofChris or email me at [email protected]. If you have questions, want advice, have wrestling-related material you simply want me to read, want more information on my new site, or just want to say "hello", I will respond to every single one of the emails I receive.
I'm not claiming to be anyone special – I hope it doesn't come off that way – but if I can help you achieve something of your own, use me. I'm officially an open book.
I'll have more information on the new site very soon, but in the meantime, check out the ten-year anniversary of the Voice of Wrestling this Monday night. It's a two-hour special, beginning at 6:00 EST, and is guaranteed to be a fun show.
I just recorded an exclusive interview with Vince Russo that I'll be airing (in part) on the show, plus there should be some other surprise guests dropping by for a quick cameo as well.
Thanks to WrestleZone for putting up with me this long. Thanks to those of you who have supported me over the years. Thanks even to those of you that are not big fans – you keep me on my toes and make me try harder. The past ten years have been great, but I have a feeling the next ten will be even better.
And if you think/know you can do better than me at this, I encourage and challenge you to prove it. As I stated above, I'll even help you get started! All ya gotta do is ask…
