AS I SEE IT - 7/02/2002:
10 Million Hits and Onward...
by: Bob Magee
As you're reading this... PWBTS.com, the parent website of the AS I SEE IT column, has just achieved the goal of 10 million hits.
That's not too bad for a enterprise that started out as a wrestling newsletter back in 1996 read by at most, a couple hundred people... then added a wrestling website in 1997 to promote the newsletter... and went strictly online after late 1997.
According to Hitbox records, PWBTS has had readers from 39 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Mexico, Chile, Russian Federation, Taiwan, Denmark, Argentina, Ireland, Lithuania,
Niue, Austria, Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, Brazil, Columbia, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Republic of (South) Korea, Norway, Singapore, French Southern Territories, India, Switzerland, and Tonga... and has gotten correspondence from as far away as a US Navy ship... the guided missile cruiser USS Yorktown.
Promotional websites such as Jersey All Pro Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling,
CZWfans.com, NWA Jersey, Chaotic Wrestling, Phoenix Wrestling.com, Oklahoma Pro Wrestling, World Star Wrestling, and the former Liberty All-Star Wrestling....
News and opinion sites like A1wrestling.com, 4w-wrestling.com, Chairshots, Start Wrestling, Wrestling Scene, Wrestling
Guys.com, Wrestling Express, Wrestling Nation, Wrestleview, The Rock Says.com, Impact
Wrestling.com, Wrestling Belt World...
Wrestler websites such as Robbie Ellis.com, Steve Corino.com, Chris
Jericho.com... and fan sites from abroad such as Luttemedia, Wrasslin.com, and Pro
Wrestling.nl...
All of the above and more have all been kind enough to link to PWBTS, and send some traffic our way over the years.
As I said back in October 2001, the thought of people reading PWBTS with everything from their morning coffee, to their evening
tapas, to their Buffalo wings watching a PPV... is pretty mind-blowing when I think about it for something that just started as a labor of love.
It also reminds all of us that there are plenty of wrestling fans around; whether or not wrestling is the entertainment "flavor of the week", or is the cult form of entertainment it's been over much of the last three decades I've been a fan of it.
Whether in fashion or not, information like that above proves that wrestling fans are all over the place...including you and I. We're at places ranging from the Skydome and the Egg Dome in Tokyo all the way to bars, flea markets and bingo halls, and everywhere
inbetween...and many of you have come to join us during part of your day or night.
PWBTS has covered stories and offered (hopefully) thoughtful opinion on subjects ranging from:
- Steroid and recreational drug use within wrestling and the death toll that has resulted.
We've talked about the need for drug testing as a last resort against the ever-longer list of young men dying far too soon due to the effects of growth-enhancing and painkilling drugs, as well as their effects.
- The battle against censorship of sports entertainment by groups such as the Parents Television Council and American Family Association.
PWBTS was one of the co-founders of Wrestling Fans Against Censorship, along with fan lobby Strictly ECW, and two other websites no longer in existence.
Since mid-1999, we've fought the fight against groups like the PTC who would tell wrestling fans and fans of other genres if entertainment what we could choose to watch via their campaigns of corporate terrorism...campaigns that the WWF/E is now litigating in a 10 count civil lawsuit, a lawsuit whose facts include information provided by WFAC and PWBTS.
We've shown these groups to be what they are...dangerous extremists with ties to groups like the Unification Church who would shove their own ideological agenda down our throats...when all we want to do as fans is to watch some of out favorite programming after a long, hard day.
- ECW...from its glory years, to its years of internal strife, to the TNN years... with the promotion's incredible highs and incredible lows...from the days of "Team ECW", all the way to its unfortunate demise in 2001.
PWBTS was willing to be critical of ECW at a time that no one else seemed to be.
From 1994-1996, ECW and its fans were viewed by many as "Team ECW" in describing the unique relationship that the company had with its fans; even well-known wrestling commentators such as Dave Meltzer. But backstage politics began to sour the atmosphere of ECW in 1996.
At first, only a few people were willing to discuss those situations. Most fans didn't want to hear that criticism. We received criticism by many.
But 1997 went into 1998 and 1999.... as talent left ECW for greener pastures, as paychecks started bouncing, as entering ECW venues just to see a show became a physical encounter... the truth became impossible to ignore.
Suddenly PWBTS wasn't the only voice expressing these views about ECW. The voices grew into a chorus.
It was a story we wished we didn't have to comment upon. But it happened right in front of the eyes of numerous PWBTS writers...so we spoke our mind...and proved to be right.
- The tragic death of Owen Hart and the Shakespearean saga of the Hart family...including the recent stroke of Bret Hart.
- Vince McMahon's wrestling juggernaut, whether we knew it as WWF or WWE, the various controversial and the various entertaining (and sometimes not so entertaining) moments.
- The madhouse that was WCW, from its years of quality wrestling to the Russo years filled with the controversial use of sex, Vince Russo's racial obsessions, and Crash TV style booking
- The Monday Night Wars...their eventual victor...and the results of his victory
- Independent wrestling, and the need for fans to support it to insure the continued growth of the business as a whole.
All the way along, we called things as we saw them, and played no favorites, despite what our critics might tell you.
There are many individuals who are a part of our little labor of love, those in the past, and those currently involved with us...
- Eric Walker, MY TAKE ON columnist
- Amanda Garnham, New Zealand's CHICK SMARK columnist
- The always controversial Bob Barnett, BARNETT columnist
- Steven Goforth, CHAIRSHOTS TO THE HEAD columnist
- Adam Martin, RAW WWE recapper and NWA:TNA PPV recapper
- Mike Informer, media reporter/researcher
- Stefan Picksi, Japanese/puroresu news reports
- Jeff Capo, NWA reporter
- William B. West, reporter
- Colin Vassalo, Wrestling Online newsletter editor
- Simon Beck, reporter
- Larz Richards, tape reviewer/reporter
- Last but not least... our occasional reporter and ever-helpful
webmistress, Miss Pamela
Much thanks to all of them... they make PWBTS what it is... a non-aligned site where fans can get unbiased news and unabashed opinion.
10,000,000 hits... here's hoping that there's at least 10 million more in the years to come.
Until next time...
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(If you have comments or questions, I can be reached by
e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com)