Dave Meltzer

Last updated

Dave Meltzer
Dave Meltzer 2018.jpg
Meltzer in 2018
BornDavid Allen Meltzer
(1959-10-24) October 24, 1959 (age 64)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, journalist, historian
Alma mater San Jose State
Period1971–present
Subject
Notable works Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Notable awardsMelby Award [1]
Children2
Website
f4wonline.com

David Allen Meltzer [2] (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, Meltzer has been the publisher and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON), a dirtsheet primarily addressing professional wrestling. He has also written for the Oakland Tribune , the Los Angeles Times , Yahoo! Sports, SI.com, [3] and The National Sports Daily . He has extensively covered mixed martial arts since UFC 1 in 1993 and also covers the sport for SB Nation. He has been called "the most accomplished reporter in sports journalism" by Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated . [4]

Contents

Early life

Meltzer was born in upstate New York to a Jewish family. [5] He later moved with his family to San Jose, California.

Meltzer earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and started out as a sportswriter for the Wichita Falls Times Record News and the Turlock Journal . He demonstrated an interest in professional wrestling and a journalistic approach to it early in life. Meltzer wrote several wrestling-related publications that predate WON, dating back to 1971. The most notable of these was the California Wrestling Report, ca. 1973–1974, which reported on the still-extant National Wrestling Alliance territories operating out of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Wrestling Observer

The beginnings of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading and the happenings in the business, as the mainstream wrestling magazines catered to a somewhat younger demographic. [6]

PWInsider Dave Scherer has criticized Meltzer's work. After a collaboration between them during the 90s, Scherer pointed that he gave him first-hand information, but Meltzer published something different. [7] Former WWE wrestler John Bradshaw Layfield also pointed that WWE gave Meltzer false information, which he published. [8]

Star rating system and impact

Meltzer popularized the star rating system (devised by Jim Cornette and his childhood friend Norm M. "Weasel" Dooley), [9] [10] [11] which rates matches on a scale of zero to five stars (sometimes going into negative stars in the case of very bad matches) in a similar manner to that used by many movie critics. [5] Meltzer has also given ratings that have exceeded five stars. The first 6 and 6.5 star matches took place in 1981 (as rated by Dooley, not Meltzer). [12] The highest he has ever rated a match was seven stars, given to Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega for their match at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall in June 2018. Wrestlers such as Bret Hart have written how proud they were when their performances were praised in the WON. [13] Others, such as Cornette himself, PWInsider's Dave Scherer [14] and Seth Rollins [15] have criticized Meltzer's system. John Cena pointed out that, while he respects the star system, he prefers his wrestling to be enjoyed by the most amount of people possible, not just one person. [16]

Awards and accomplishments

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Heyman</span> American professional wrestling promoter

Paul Heyman is an American professional wrestling manager, former promoter, and executive. He is currently signed to WWE, where he appears on the SmackDown brand as the manager of The Bloodline. In WWE, Heyman has managed or has served as manager for a record six world champions. Critics have praised his managing and promo skills. Heyman is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers in professional wrestling history. He has also competed sporadically in matches, usually as a comedic foil, including in the main event of the 2002 Rebellion event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vince Russo</span> American professional wrestling writer

Vincent James Russo is an American professional wrestling writer, booker and pundit. He is notable for his tenures with the World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in creative roles. He also occasionally made appearances as an on-screen authority figure, and professional wrestler, in WCW and TNA.

In professional wrestling, the independent circuit is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Cornette</span> American professional wrestling personality

James Mark Cornette is an American author and podcaster who has previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, photographer, promoter, trainer, and occasional professional wrestler. Cornette is widely considered to be one of the greatest managers in wrestling history by fans and publications, as well as industry personnel. Cornette currently hosts two podcasts along with co-host and producer Brian Last—The Jim Cornette Experience and Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru— with the latter being the most-played wrestling podcast as of February 2024 and both being among the most popular wrestling podcasts of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania XII</span> 1996 World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event

WrestleMania XII was the 12th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1996, at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California in the United States. Eight matches were held at the event, including two on the Free for All pre-show.

Anthony Norris is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1995 to 1998, under the ring name Ahmed Johnson. He was one of the most prominent stars in the WWF in the early Attitude Era. In the WWF, he held the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He also headlined the In Your House 9: International Incident pay-per-view event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Gibson (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler

Robert Gibson is an American professional wrestler. He is best known as one half of the tag team known as The Rock 'n' Roll Express, with Ricky Morton. He has competed in singles competition also, and has won various singles championships throughout his career. Gibson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of The Rock 'n' Roll Express, on March 31, 2017.

Major League Wrestling (MLW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as "Hybrid Wrestling", with its roster featuring a mix of different wrestling styles.

<i>Wrestling Observer Newsletter</i> Professional wrestling magazine

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.

The Battle of Los Angeles tournament is an annual independent wrestling tournament in North America, run and promoted by Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). It is the flagship event of PWG. Over the years, the tournament has featured numerous notable wrestlers such as famous Total Nonstop Action Wrestling stars A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, future WWE world champions Kevin Steen, Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black and Drew Galloway, future AEW world champion Kenny Omega and future Impact world champions Brian Cage, Pentagón Jr., Chris Sabin, Rich Swann, Sami Callihan, John Hennigan, Austin Aries and Eddie Edwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mankind vs. The Undertaker</span> Professional wrestling match

Mankind vs. The Undertaker was a professional wrestling match between Mankind and The Undertaker of the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and took place inside a Hell in a Cell, a 16-foot (4.9 m) high steel cage structure with a roof. It was the third Hell in a Cell match in history, and took place at the King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 28, 1998, at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Though the match had received little build in the way of storytelling before the event due to the unpredictability of the WWF's Attitude Era, the two characters had an extensive backstory that motivated both performers heading into the match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kairi Sane</span> Japanese professional wrestler and actress

Kaori Housako is a Japanese professional wrestler and actress. As of November 2023, she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Kairi Sane, where she is a member of Damage CTRL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public image of Roman Reigns</span> Ascendency of American professional wrestler Roman Reigns

Professional wrestler Roman Reigns debuted on the WWE main roster in November 2012 as part of a faction called "The Shield" and was well-received by critics. Support began to dwindle upon Reigns's transition to a heroic main event singles act in 2014, largely due to his perceived forced push. This would manifest itself in Reigns main eventing four consecutive editions of WWE's premier annual pay-per-view event, WrestleMania, while being booed in all four appearances.

<i>NWA Powerrr</i> American professional wrestling television program

NWA Powerrr is a professional wrestling streaming television program produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that premiered on October 8, 2019. As of February 6, 2024, the series streams on The CW app.

The MAC World / International Heavyweight Championship was a Canadian professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by the Montreal Athletic Commission (MAC). While the Commission sanctioned the title, it did not promote the events in which the Championship was defended. From 1935 until 1938, the American Wrestling Association (AWA) controlled the Championship. The AWA World Heavyweight Championship was recognized by the MAC as the world championship until February 1938 when Yvon Robert was stripped of the title after refusing to wrestle Lou Thesz. A separate world title was created specifically for Quebec and, after the Commission granted promoter Eddie Quinn control of the championship, was used as the main singles title for Canadian Athletic Promotions from 1939 to 1963 and finally by the International Wrestling Association / All-Star Wrestling from 1964 until the mid-1970s. In 1975 the championship was abandoned and replaced by the Canadian International Heavyweight Championship.

References

  1. 1 2 Laprade, Patric (July 18, 2016). "Melby Award for Meltzer proper recognition for pioneering work". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. ↑ Wrestling Observer Newsletter trademark Archived August 4, 2018, at the Wayback Machine , Trademarkia, Accessed August 12, 2010
  3. ↑ Observer, Dave Meltzer, Wrestling (September 27, 2021). "AEW's Battle With WWE Is Heating Up". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved September 27, 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Rossen, Jake (May 15, 2013). "In World of Wrestling, Trying to Keep It Real". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Dean S. Planet's Celeb Interviews". Dean S. Planet's. Archived from the original on August 3, 2003. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  6. ↑ Benaka, Lee (1991). "The Lee Benaka Interviews – Dave Meltzer". Benaka, Lee. Death Valley Driver Video Review. Archived from the original on July 30, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  7. ↑ "TONY KHAN'S COPOUT ON PUNK SHOWS WHO HE REALLY IS, WHY SOME FEEL THE WAY THAT THEY DO ABOUT CM PUNK, MELTZER AND ME AND MORE | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  8. ↑ "JBL critica a los medios especializados y a Dave Meltzer". Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  9. ↑ Cornette, Jim. "Stars in Their Eyes – FSM#138". JimCornette.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  10. ↑ Cornette, Jim. "Stars in Their Eyes". Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  11. ↑ Bixenspan, David (June 16, 2017). "Rating Pro Wrestling's New "Best Match Ever" Is Way More Contentious Than It Needs To Be". Deadspin. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  12. ↑ @davemeltzerWON (March 24, 2019). "The first 6 star and 6 1/2 star..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Hart, Bret (2009). Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Grand Central Publishing. p. 214. ISBN   978-0-446-54528-0.
  14. ↑ "Where Have the AEW Fans Gone, HHH Booking, Drew Mac is a Stud and More | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Seth Rollins Praises Dave Meltzer, But Calls His Star-Ratings 'Silly'". itrwrestling.com. July 18, 2023. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  16. ↑ "John Cena no presta atención a las calificaciones de la prensa de la lucha libre". solowrestling.mundodeportivo.com. March 8, 2024. Archived from the original on March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Congratulation to Dave Meltzer, the 2017 James Melby Historian Award Winner". Cauliflower Alley Club. December 20, 2016. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2017.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.