WRESTLING NEWS
Dave Meltzer: Facts About The Wrestling Journalist Only Hardcore Fans Know
By MARTIN DICKINSON
Dave Meltzer started writing and publishing a wrestling newsletter at just 10 years old, even receiving endorsements in fan club sections of wrestling magazines. Readers of his newsletter would send him a quarter, and then Meltzer would send a 24-page booklet with the latest details of the wrestling world.
Newsletter at 10
Although Meltzer’s star rating system has become the widely accepted standard for rating wrestling matches, he admitted that he got the idea from a short-lived wrestling newsletter written by Norman Dooley, a close friend of Jim Cornette. Cornette suggested he begin rating wrestling matches on a scale of one to four stars.
Star System
In 2016, Meltzer responded to Bruce Pritchard’s accusations that WWE was paying Meltzer to write good things about the company by confirming he had worked for WWE in the past. He said, “I did consulting work” for WWE as a Japanese correspondent, although he quit the company when asked not to report a failed drug test.
WWE career
Meltzer has a complicated relationship with Vince McMahon, one that’d get better whenever the company underwent hardships. After having a “direct line to Vince” when the steroid trials happened, the relationship disintegrated during the Monday Night Wars, and Meltzer states that it’s because “they wanted their side to be sympathetic.”
Vince McMahon
When a fan on Twitter asked if ROH could sell out a 10,000-seat arena, Meltzer responded, “Not anytime soon,” to which Cody Rhodes replied, “I'll take that bet Dave. [...] put The Bucks & I on the card & 3-months to promote.” Rhodes and The Elite sold out the Sears Centre in Chicago with an attendance of 11,263 and acted as the precursor to All Elite Wrestling.
Birth of AEW