Mike Killam's latest article on the main page

[JGlass]

Turrible. Your order of wrestlers is awful. Let me begin telling you all the ways you're wrong.

For those who haven't read the article, here's the "depth chart" Mr. Killam produced. It's kind of like power rankings.

10) Kane
9) Austin Aries
8) John Cena
7) Bryan
6) Bully Ray
5) Robert Roode
4) Cody Rhodes
3) Barrett
2) Ziggler
1) Punk

1) Sheamus doesn't make the list, Cody is at number 4- Uh... what? Either you already wrote the list and didn't feel like changing it, or you don't know what you're talking about. Sheamus and Cody have both been doing similar stuff on Smackdown: beating guys whom are beneath them and getting great reactions. What sets them apart? One just won the Royal Rumble. That man is Sheamus.

2) Austin Aries is on the list instead of Hardy or Storm- I love Aries, but seriously? Over TNA's top faces? The world seems to be in love with James Storm, and Hardy has been on fire since returning to TNA, getting great crowd reactions, putting on great matches, and cutting uncharacteristically solid promos.

3) Cena at 8- He's about the only thing consistently good in the WWE right now. I love Punk, but he has his off weeks. And when Punk is off, he's OFF. I understand Punk being at one since he's the champion, but having Cena lower than both of TNA's top heels, Wade Barrett, and Dolph Ziggler is bologna.

4) Wade Barrett at 4- Laughable. Truly laughable. He's a midcard heel doing midcard things, and after Randy got written off of TV, he faded back to obscurity. Now that Orton's back, I expect Mr. Barrett to made into an Orton snack.

5) Dolph Ziggler at 2- Dolph Ziggler may be the most overrated wrestler in wrestling today. He can't put on a match unless he's working with one of WWE's top stars. Fortunately for Ziggler, he's been privileged to work with guys like Cena and Punk for the past few months, but anytime he works with anyone else, his matches are raw, unadulterated mediocrity. Why does a guy who can't pull his own weight deserve to be number two? Because he's over? So is Miz. Because he's in the title scene? So is Big Show. Because he's getting pushed? So are about half a dozen other wrestlers.

I'm not sure if this is entirely your fault or if there is a committee of people to blame, but this list is simply unacceptable.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Just realized Green Ranger made that. Please don't tell me he's as bad as Labar.

 

[JGlass]

Just realized Green Ranger made that. Please don't tell me he's as bad as Labar.

Well let's not get crazy now.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

I'm pretty sure they're fan votes

 

[Joe's Gonna Kill You]

For me Kane and Barrett do not belong anywhere near a top ten

 

[JGlass]

I'm pretty sure they're fan votes

I don't think so. I think they do a fan vote in addition to their (or his) own vote.

 

[GI Cake]

Wait, Mike Killam is the Green Ranger the poster?

 

[JGlass]

Wait, Mike Killam is the Green Ranger the poster?

Yes.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

You know how difficult it is to write a main page article you negro hebrew!


It's so hard with all the wrestling watching and typing and shit!


Don't you dare make Micheal cry!

 

[CDR]

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

A list without Brodus Clay can fuck off.

 

[Bernkastel]

Oh this is gold, just gold

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Wait, Mike Killam is the Green Ranger the poster?

Yes.

DAMN IT JGLASS! Now I'm going to have to come back next season as the White Ranger...

To clear things up, no...I am not as bad as Labar. If I post an exclusive, they're usually true, and when things change I can admit that I was wrong, instead of just removing the post from the main page and pretending like they never existed... Also, I can haz grammar.

Now that we have that out of the way, I will take responsibility for this, but only because my name is on it. So many things go into this, and by no means is it just my own personal opinions. We do factor in the fan vote, which is made up of a little under 1,000 people on average, but that's only about 50% of the decision. The other half is the combined decisions of the rest of the WZ crew. Realistically you can blame about 5% of this on me, but as I said I'll take blame because my name is on it.

I realize that Cody didn't have that great of a month - trust me I really do. The only reason he didn't fall further than a single spot, is because so many other people fell drastically. It was one of those instances where he should have been further down, and will keep going down if he doesn't do something more impressive, but with the order of the rest of the list that was simply the worst I could do to him... If this were a list where it changed completely every month, and not just moved up and down a ladder, Rhodes would have been gone. And Sheamus had already fallen off the list by December's edition, so it's not like I was picking Rhodes over Sheamus.

And I went with Austin Aries over Hardy and Storm because he's a current champion that has been picking up impressive wins, and is nearing an all-time X-Division record. That's about it. In fact, by votes it was less than a 2% difference of his spot going to James Storm.

Barrett being at 3 was the parallel to why Rhodes only dropped one. Barrett just had a better month than all the other guys in his way, not necessarily that he was overly incredible. Sometimes the ladder concept is frustrating, and it's something I'm trying to work on and get straighten out with the rest of the staff.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

How did you get a job writing for the main page?

How much are you paid?

Why do I not have your job?

 

[JGlass]

Well if the fan vote is to blame, then maybe you should stop doing a fan vote because they clearly have no idea. This also explains why John Cena is number 8 on the list with Dolph Ziggler resting comfortably on top of the list.

And Austin Aries can set all the X Division records he wants, he's still nowhere near as crucial to TNA's success as Hardy or Storm.

At the end of the day, I think your list is just confused about whether it's dealing with kayfabe success, drawing power, entertainment factor, or a certain balance of the three. The measuring stick you use seems to change from wrestler to wrestler, and as long as that happens, you're not going to have a solid list.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I started last January just doing random opinion pieces when they were starting to take new writers to "spice things up". Looking back I think that was a terrible move, as the last thing a somewhat reputable wrestling site needs is a dozen guys writing opinion pieces. I mean, I'm glad I got in when I did, but it took us until just recently to tone down the crap to a reasonable amount. I'm still not satisfied, but Mark Madden is really the only person that shows up for no official reason, and drops his opinion down. And at the very least, like him or not, he does have inside experience to back up some of his opinions...

Last summer the entire site got put in new management, half the editorialists were let go, and the other half that stayed on got more specific roles. It's become a much more refined process, and definitely one we're still trying to make better. And yes, I realize that there are a lot of glaring issues that should be...fixed... (go back to my last post and you can probably see what I mean by "fixed")

Currently I do all the PPV previews and reviews for both WWE and TNA, as well as posting all the news that goes up on Saturdays, and on any day that somebody needs a substitute. I'm also the "idea man", pitching new things that we're not doing, and implementing them to see if they work. The Depth Chart, the Round Table articles, re-arranging the way we do certain things, and a lot of up-and-coming projects are all me. So now you know what I do, and how I got there.

Sorry there's a lot of hate towards the main page. I'm trying to fix that; I weekly pitch complaints I see here to the few people above me, but the final decisions aren't really up to me. Certain people are still around because their web show brings in a ridiculous amount of traffic for some ungodly reason... All I can do is try to be the best there is, and daily improve. Honestly, even though I love some of the people I work with here, I'm only using this to be able to put on a resume when the time comes... Like the main page, or hate it, we draw a shit ton of traffic, and being a part of that looks really good when you've been around for some major decisions.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

At the end of the day, I think your list is just confused about whether it's dealing with kayfabe success, drawing power, entertainment factor, or a certain balance of the three. The measuring stick you use seems to change from wrestler to wrestler, and as long as that happens, you're not going to have a solid list.

I could not agree with you more. Honestly. I could try, but I don't think it's possible to agree with you any stronger than I currently do, given this specific topic at hand. It's something I want to get others to work on going into next month's issue.

And no, we're not going to remove the fan vote. But we may stop taking it into account when we do the official Wrestlezone rankings. Part of the appeal to a lot of people is that it's interactive, and they get to submit their votes and potentially get to speak their mind about their favorite wrestlers. It sounds cheesy, and I'm sure there's a lot of big, serious, IWC tough guys rolling their eyes because "well...fuck the casual fans". But at the end of the day we make money on ads, based on traffic, and we'll do what it takes to bring in more people. So far, virtually every idea I've pitched has increased the traffic in that area...

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Why do I not have your job?

Spoken like a true Mexican...

Don't take my job. Trust me, there are other people's jobs you can take...

 

[Monkey_Mania]

It's almost like when he posts news, I like reading it. Then when he posts his articles, I like avoiding them like I like avoiding the plague. Same can be said for half his posts in the forums.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

It's almost like when he posts news, I like reading it. Then when he posts his articles, I like avoiding them like I like avoiding the plague. Same can be said for half his posts in the forums.

Well, that's a bit harsh.

 

[¡Roján!]

No offence Killam, but why would I read your reviews when I can read KB's which are a lot better? Also, what have you done that warrants you a job on a hugely popular wrestling site? You just seem like a normal wrestling fan to me.

Oh, and how much do they pay you?

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

No offence Killam, but why would I read your reviews when I can read KB's which are a lot better? Also, what have you done that warrants you a job on a hugely popular wrestling site? You just seem like a normal wrestling fan to me.

Oh, and how much do they pay you?

Oh, by all means read KB's reviews. Read them along with mine, read them INSTEAD of mine. It doesn't really matter all that much to me. I read them all the time...

To be honest, all I've done to "warrant" my job there is apply, and do a decent job during the trial period that they set out for me. I'm also really good at the things I do behind the scenes - the articles and news pieces are about half of what I actually do... I mean, I never said I was anything more than just a "normal wrestling fan". There are a whole lot of people out there that know more about wrestling than I do. There are a whole lot of people out there that are better writers than I am, or that I ever will be.

If I had to find something that "separates" me from regular wrestling fans, I guess it would be that I have a drive to constantly better myself in my knowledge of the industry, and as a writer. I would never say I'm all that great, but I'm looking for ways to improve and attempting to act on those, on a regular basis. I also would say my writing in the forums is NOT an accurate example of what it would look like if I were writing for a newspaper, or taking a final exam.

KB writes better reviews than I do. I will come right out and admit that, because there's no shame saying you're second rate to a guy who has done literally hundreds more reviews over the years than I have. But I don't work that hard on making my reviews better, because that is not where my primary interests are. I'm the guy that spends 10 hours watching a PPV three times just to pick apart the booking decisions, and try to figure out why creative did exactly what they did, and how it relates to the product two or three months from that point. I do reviews for Wrestlezone because it's the job they asked me to do... When I get the chance to submit my opinions on an angle, or talk about booking, that's where my actual experience comes into play. I don't want to be able to review an event to a Roger Ebert-standard - I want to be able to book one to a Paul Heyman standard.

I'm also only 22, still attempting to finish college, and learning the ropes. I think it would be pretty unfair to say that I should have a mastery of all things wrestling and writing, and to expect that I don't make mistakes or have an opinion I won't come to regret... I may be confident and at times a bit cocky, but I promise you I'm willing to learn from people's criticisms.

ALSO, because you are the second person who asked, I really don't feel comfortable talking about my finances, or how Crave/Wrestlezone handles business. I just don't like some of the people on these forums (and in the Bar Room) enough to publicly share that information.

 

[¡Roján!]

That's all well and good, but how much do they pay you?




I kid. I kid.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I feel like we've come so far Cage... I don't hate you, and I sorta, mostly respect you as a human being...

 

[¡Roján!]

It normally goes:

-Serial rapists.
-Serial murderers.
-Serial under-age rapists.
-Serial under-age murderers.
-Jehovah's witnesses.
-Snooki.
-Piers Morgan.
-Wrestlezone writers.

Get up to Jehovah's witnesses level and we'll see feet to eye on a few things. Of course, your eyes will be the ones seeing my feet.