Cagematch Founder Discusses Their Vetting System

CageMatch.net has developed an identity as the go-to source for current and historical pro wrestling information, and one of the founders of the website said he is very proud of the work he and his team of volunteers have done. Philip Kreikenbohm joined Brandon Thurston and Jesse Collings of Wrestlenomics to discuss the history behind cultivating one of pro wrestling's most informative databases. Kreikenbohm, who is based out of Germany and created the site with two other individuals in March 2001, made it clear that he has had his share of dishonest talents giving him information.

"I have a profound love for wrestlers, but some wrestlers, especially if they're in the early stages of their career, sometimes exaggerate their importance in terms of how big they are or sometimes they disagree with ratings they're getting on their profile," he said. "I make a distinction so you have to be trained professionally for at least a notable amount of time, a significant amount of time. It's not like you had one training session with 'old school wrestler X' at a weekend somewhere and then you call yourself a professional wrestler. It's not like that."

Kreikenbohm also noted that he has a long list of wrestlers who don't have enough information for him to create a profile for. Another issue, Kreikenbohm said, is that fans sometimes try to disrupt the site's ratings system, which was introduced in 2007, as some would dole out a "zero" or "one" rating after every AEW pay-per-view. WWE also became a target, but Kreikenbohm corrected course.

"You have to wait several days after your first comment before you can make a rating," he said.