AS I SEE IT 1/5: PWBTS 2008 in review

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com

In 2008, PWBTS.com had 2,483,216 page views, with readers from 96 nations and territories including United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, Mexico, Poland, Israel, Argentina, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Denmark, New Zealand, Taiwan, India, Austria, Peru, South Korea, Russia, People's Republic of China, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Sweden, South Africa, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Chile, Norway, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Finland, Philippines, Venezuela, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Turkey, Slovakia, Thailand, Czech Republic, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Dominican Republic, Croatia, Bermuda, Indonesia, Colombia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Jordan, Morocco, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Cyprus, Kuwait, Fiji, Panama, Hong Kong, Estonia, Bolivia, Guatemala, Qatar, Syria, Libya, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Guyana, Greenland, Ghana, Georgia, Dominica, Cambodia, Albania, El Salvador, Paraguay, Ecuador, Lebanon, Oman, Algeria, and the Ukraine.

In noting the countries above, I can see countries like Kuwait and Qatar, and assume there's a good possibility that at least a few of those PWBTS.com visitors are from the US military. According to AddFreeStats, I already know there have been 2,074 separate visits from US military hostnames. For those of you in the US military, wherever you're serving, thanks for taking time to read PWBTS.com. I hope we've given you some enjoyment in the middle of your difficult task, especially during this holiday season we've wnow wound up.

In other milestones, AS I SEE IT also begins its twelfth year with this column. Additionally, PWBTS.com, its flagship site has now reached over 38 million page views during its 12 year plus history.

As I've said in New Year columns past, that means that PWBTS.com has visitors from every region of the world... from every time zone...and from languages and cultures too numerous to count; reading about wrestling on our flagship site. To all of you... wherever you are from, thank you for taking time out of your day to read PWBTS.com's mix of wrestling news and opinions.

Thanks also go out to those websites that link to PWBTS.com and provide us with a wide variety of visitors such as:

  • Wrestling news sites from around the United States including A1wrestling.com, Wrestleview, NOdq.com, Gerweck.net, Insiderwrestling.com, Inyourheadonline.com, Big News Network, Onlineworldofwrestling.com, Three Count Wrestling, and The Wrestling Voice.

  • From Japan, KENTO! Japan....

  • Wrestling promotions including Ohio Valley Wrestling, SHIMMER, Derby City Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Combat Zone Wrestling, and its fansite CZWfans.com, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, NWA Virginia, NWA Hawaii, Chaotic Wrestling (Connecticut), IWA Mid-South Wrestling, Heartland Wrestling Association, Ring Wars Carolina, Independent Wrestling Revolution (Detroit), Blackball'd Wrestling Organization (New Jersey), Division 1 Pro Wrestling (Florida), Ohio Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Canada, Power Trip Wrestling/UK, World Star Wrestling Federation, (Pennsylvania), Championship Wrestling Federation (Pennsylvania) and Insanity Pro Wrestling

  • Websites covering regional wrestling such as Socaluncensored.com, Oklafan.com, and Georgiawrestlinghistory.com.

  • Companies providing wrestling products such as Smart Mark Video, Wrestling Figures.com, and Wrestling Belt World.

  • Official websites of wrestlers such as Dory Funk.com, SamoaJoe.com, Gregvalentine.com. Stevecorino.com, Robbieellis.com, Jonny Storm, Billymaverick.com, Frankie Starz, Rockinrebel.com, Fabulousfrederick.com, ICP's Faygoluvers.com, KennyBolin.com, GiantKamala.com, BobbyShields.com, Masonraige.com, Wrestlingandy.com, Alerelf.com and Sean-casey.com...

  • And a special favorite for me to notice...the website of what I always think of as the ECW Arena: Newalhambra.com

    In 2008, AS I SEE IT and PWBTS have discussed various issues concerning independent wrestling, as well as puroresu, lucha, and WWE, including such subjects as:

  • Independent promoters who deceive the public...and the majority who do good things for the public

  • Your help for (sadly, as 2008 closed, the late) independent wrestler Rollin' Hard and his battle with cancer

  • The continuing saga of busybody State Athletic Commissions including South Carolina, Georgia

  • The history of the ECW Arena

  • Old wrestling venues to be torn down, such as the Baltimore Civic Center and the Philadelphia Spectrum...and one that was saved, the Cow Palace...as well as my own memories of attending certain classic venues

  • Ric Flair's retirement

  • A revisiting of the Benoit family tragedy a year later

    And believe it or not...someone who actually interviewed me.

    The human side of the business, with such stories as:

  • Staff of this website raising funds for breast cancer and HIV/AIDS research

  • Promotions and promoters raising funds for children's charities, Toys for Tots, cancer research, scholarship funds, and autism researech

  • Reminders of tragic anniversaries, such as the third anniversaries of the death of Eddie Guerrero and Christopher "Chris Cash" Bauman, the ninth anniversary of the death of Owen Hart and Brian Hildebrand...and the fourteenth anniversary of the passing of former WWF referee Joey Marella...

  • The passing of Killer Kowalski, Rollin' Hard, Alfonso Dantes, Arman Hussein, Chase Tatum, Don Curtis, Gary Hart, Johnny Weaver, Omar Williams, Penny Banner, Ricky "Crusher" Cortez, Rudy Kay, S.D. Jones, Sonny "Roughhouse" Fargo, Steve Bradley,"Elephant Boy" Tony Olivas, Yvon Robert Jr., Chalres Buffong, Carl Engstrom, Margaret Garcia, Leo Garibaldi, Pee Wee James, Great Kusatsu, Sara Lee. Luis Magana. Lia Maivia. Ole Olsen, Jack Reynolds, Bill Savage, Ron Slinker, Johnny Weaver, and Chief White Owl

    In 2009, as every year, here's hoping that AS I SEE IT gives you a lot more chances to make you think... that it can comment and report on many more moments of enjoyment... less moments that I feel moved to criticize... and FAR less where I have to report on or think about someone in wrestling that we've lost...and that it serves as the viewpoint for one longtime fan to share his opinions with all of you.

    Until next time...

    If you have comments/questions/event announcements/results, if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, or if you'd like to add advertising on PWBTS.com (the flagship website of this column), e-mail me at the address above. Advertising consists of banner ads, available for $400 for one year. These ads would appear on each newspage appearing on the newsboard. Cube ads are also available for $200 for one year, which would be placed on the main newsboard page.

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    If you have comments/questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com)