Who is a CREDIBLE wrestling reporter?

[waylonmercy]

On the comment section of many posts in the news section, people take jabs at Dave Meltzer and it appears to be the in thing to do.

Since he is consider unreliable, who is a credible news source out there? Who would be the #1 reporter in the industry? I am very interested in learning.

 

[enviousdominous]

Dave Meltzer is probably a hundred times more credible than I am, but I still take his reports with a grain of salt. Sometimes he reports bad intel, sometimes he makes bad predictions. You won't be straight up lied to everytime you read one of Dave Meltzer's reports.

I've always found Bill Apter to be a sound source of information, I don't think he's afraid to be boring by telling the truth or admitting that he doesn't know something.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I wouldn't call Meltzer unreliable but his insiders don't always give him correct information. I find Apter and Meltzer to be 2 of the most reliable myself, they aren't always right but they know their shit and they at least report depending on what they hear, it's just a matter of whether whatever they're being told is accurate. With that said they seem to be pretty good in telling whether the information given to them is accurate, plenty of times I've heard them say things like "this is what I hear but I wouldn't expect it to be true" so they do their best to ensure what they're telling people isn't a giant shit pile.

The only thing that annoys me about Meltzer is he's biased to the Indies and Japanese wrestling, so much it's off putting, as a journalist for wrestling though he's good

 

[SharpShootingCrossface]

I dare anyone, and I'll pay to watch, someone to grab Vince or triple h by the lapels, or Steph anywhere, shake any of them (Steph) and shout "what the fuck are you playing at?!?"

I'm sure the response would be worth the 50p I'd front up...

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Since he is consider unreliable, who is a credible news source out there? Who would be the #1 reporter in the industry? I am very interested in learning.

Dave Meltzer.

He's the only credible wrestling journalist there is, and everyone else from Wade Keller to Court Bauer is just a shill, paraphrasing Meltzer and trying to plug their own podcasts.

The reason he's so seemingly unreliable, is that most of his reporting is done on the whims of a 70 year old sociopath who happens to book the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. RAW is often changed multiple times a day, hours before the show. Vince calls audibles all the time. It's impossible for anyone to reliably call all that.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Bill Apter has always been reliable and respected. While it's true he's well known for writing for publications that've attempted to protect kayfabe, the guy's still highly respected within both pro wrestling and MMA.

Dave Meltzer's credibility has taken a hit due in large part of him becoming something of a mark for himself and is ironically becoming more like Vince McMahon. It's gotten to the point where he considers himself THE final word in pro wrestling and that what he says is rock solid gospel even though he sometimes makes bad predictions or just flat out gets the story wrong and tries to pass the responsibility off to unreliable sources instead of shouldering his share of the responsibility.

 

[enviousdominous]

Dave Meltzer's credibility has taken a hit due in large part of him becoming something of a mark for himself and is ironically becoming more like Vince McMahon. It's gotten to the point where he considers himself THE final word in pro wrestling and that what he says is rock solid gospel even though he sometimes makes bad predictions or just flat out gets the story wrong and tries to pass the responsibility off to unreliable sources instead of shouldering his share of the responsibility.

I actually met Steve Keirn in 2005 and asked him about Dave Meltzer. His response went something like "He's a man who hates wrestling, so he writes about it." I laughed, but he was apparently being serious.

 

[ABMorales787]

Running my own news discussion site, Dave Meltzer tends to be my main source of information. Something I've learned comparing websites to the stuff he actually says, it gets taken out of context STRONGLY. Many a time he'll say something along the lines of "I don't know, maybe they'll put the title on Dean" and it gets spun off as "Dave Meltzer reports Dean Ambrose will get WWE title".

It's ridiculous how often I navigate websites and forums spinning it that way when there's clear evidence against it. Maybe it's the price tag for the site? Its $10.99 a month and I doubt most people have a job that allows them to listen nonstop to the audio available and read the Observer. His radio show is really informative and detailed once you get passed the NJPW and indy love. Plus Bryan Alvarez is there to play opposite. Fantastic radio man there.

Ryan Satin from Pro Wrestling Sheet has been one I've gone to as well. He does a lot less stories than most people, but they're always very detailed, claims he contacts sources and given that his podcast will have said people to chat, the guy seems pretty reliable. Even if he came from TMZ.

Truth be told, I don't really pay much attention to Bill Apter these days. Blame his current..... Home. Not exactly know for quality if you know what I mean.

 

[Navi]

Well the name I see most often quoted is Meltzer, but I watch a show here on Sportsnet 360 called Aftermath and it has Jimmy Korderas on it. He's pretty knowledge about the company, being a retired referee and all. And even though he doesn't give away spoilers, he is able to talk quite intelligently about what is being reported. So I listen to what he has to say as someone who knows the industry well.

All in all I don't care too much for spoilers.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

No one is right all the time. Meltzer is probably the most credible, but he's wrong about a lot of stuff.