Why Does Anyone Pay Attention to Dave Meltzer?

[d_henderson1810]

I read on here all the time wrestling news where someone says "Dave Meltzer says...."

Why does anyone even pay attention to one word that he writes anymore? He gets many things wrong, and even if he gets a couple of things right, so what? A broken clock is still correct twice a day, but wrong the rest of the time.

Meltzer drove the urban legend that Wrestlemania 3's attendance record of 93,173 was a lie, and it was more like 78,000. What does Meltzer base this on? That he attended a football game, and the Silverdome could only seat 78,000.

EVER HEARD OF FLOORSEATS, MELTZER? It is very possible to sit another 22,000 people on the floor. Remember that Wrestlemania didn't have the elaborate staging which takes up a bit of room back then.

Unless Meltzer can provide evidence that Wrestlemania 3 did NOT have an attendance of 93,173, he needs to print a retraction. He has made the assertion, so it is up to him to prove that WWF lied about the figure to beat the Rolling Stones record.

I bet if WWF underestimated their crowd, Meltzer wouldn't point this out. He would happily let it slide, because he is a WWE hater, and is constantly negative about them. He hasn't been held to account for the things he writes, and seems to continue to put fallacies out there without consequence.

There is a simple way to find out if the WM3 record is true. Just find records of how many people come through the gate at the Silverdome that night. I would think that they would need to keep a count of how many people enter an arena, and while it is thirty years later, it can be found out. The Silverdome don't work for WWF, so their figures could be believed.

Meltzer gets away with saying things like this, without being held to account, because those who listen to him like the fact that he thinks exactly the same as them. Meltzer is a troll who convinces other trolls of what he reports, that often put WWE in a bad light. He is playing anyone who believes him like a fiddle.

So, why do any of you even listen to Dave Meltzer?

 

[Stone Cold Tea]

Why do I listen to Dave Meltzer? I listen to Dave Meltzer, or do I listen considering I've never heard him speak. Okay. I believe what I read from Dave Meltzer because,wait, I don't read Dave Meltzer. I believe the information I read that people credit to Meltzer because it pisses you off. You shouldn't get so mad though. It's like 3rd or 4th hand info by the time it gets to me.

 

[The Perfect Max]

It's true that Meltzer does tend to speak out of his ass a significant portion of the time. But the thing is that he is occasionally right, and while that might mean a few lucky guesses, I think it's only natural for people to run with whatever he says as a potential truth so to rationalise whatever controversial or speculative thing he has to say. Sometimes it's worth discussing simply because whatever he says sparks significant debate.

So far as the Wrestlemania III attendance thing goes, as an example, I understand that it is completely speculative. But to be fair to Meltzer, WWE has openly stated more than once that their attendance figures, particularly at WrestleMania, are exaggerated for "entertainment purposes", which makes me quite embarrassed to be a fan because that's fucking stupid. This is by no means me suggesting that Meltzer should be praised for his good work, because, well, he shouldn't be. He speaks many false truths and indeed would be best ignored, but ultimately I don't think people can help discussing certain things that he has to say, because even if it is untrue, it might just be worth the discussion anyway.

I appreciate the anger you convey here though, and I agree with the sentiments completely. Just being speculative.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I'm not a Meltzer fan, but the guy is the longest serving wrestling journalist in the game. He has build a reputation because of accurate reporting more often than not, and he is quick to admit and correct himself when he is wrong. Unlike 90% of wrestling "journalists" he doesn't just report wild speculation to drive his views up. He actually searches out sources and insiders before he makes his articles and reports.

Can he be a giant turd? Totally. Does he play up a character to get eyes on his product? Yup. Does he have a huge hard on for Japanese wrestling? Completely.

Yeah, he has some weird vendetta against WWE's attendance numbers, but he alone isn't the only guy who prefers another promotion to WWE and that doesn't make him unworthy of people paying attention to him.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Why do you read any of the information that is posted on the main site? Aside from show/card results, it's all speculative.

I think it's the same reason that the forums saw their highest traffic during the CM Punk pipebomb segment. People want to feel like they are on the "inside" of the business and uncover or discover information that has been kept behind the "4th wall". It's also the same reason that people like Adam Schefter and Brian Windhorst have jobs at ESPN. People want insider information, no matter how much validity it might have.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

For me personally, Dave Meltzer is a non issue. If there's information out there that's credited as coming from him, I'll read it and then decide how much I believe it and how much I don't. He's just another journalist to me, no more and no less, and that's about all the stock I put into him. When it comes to all his various opinions on this and that, I usually don't pay that much attention because it's always so one sided that I feel as if I've already read them all before in the past at some point. If some want to abide by his opinion as though it's holy scripture, that's their business so long as they don't expect me to believe the same thing.

What sometimes gets on my nerves is the hypocrisy regarding Meltzer in that he'll sometimes rake WWE over the coals for something while he'll let others, especially ROH or New Japan, get away with it or barely even mention it. For instance, when Katsuyori Shibata was injured after those stiff head butts to Okada early this year, I thought Meltzer would've come out swinging as to how irresponsible, dangerous and just plain dumb such a thing is after all the info that's been gleamed over the past decade or so regarding unprotected head strikes, head butts, etc. and the trauma associated with them. However, he just sort of casually mentioned it, just said it as though it was a ho hum sort of deal and still gave the match a 5 star rating. However, he's tried to crucify WWE in the past, back when unprotected head strikes were going on, including with chairs, for the same issue. It doesn't bother me that he likes Japanese wrestling so much, there's nothing wrong with preferring it at all if that's your thing, but I think it's important that Meltzer gets called out when he allows his personal preference overshadow legit problems that he should address but often doesn't.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Why do you read any of the information that is posted on the main site? Aside from show/card results, it's all speculative.

I think it's the same reason that the forums saw their highest traffic during the CM Punk pipebomb segment. People want to feel like they are on the "inside" of the business and uncover or discover information that has been kept behind the "4th wall". It's also the same reason that people like Adam Schefter and Brian Windhorst have jobs at ESPN. People want insider information, no matter how much validity it might have.

I want "insider" information that is true, that actually happened.

I am as big for going behind the curtain of the business as anyone. But I still expect that the information is fact, and not just speculation.

Meltzer speculated that the WM3 attendance was made up. Rather than providing proof, he has repeated often enough, and portrayed it as fact, and if you repeat a lie often enough, people start to believe it.

It kills Meltzer to give WWE credit, doesn't it? Instead of applauding the record crowd, and speaking of this shows how popular wrestling is, he puts a negative spin, says that WWE make it up, just because negative news sells, and he would rather get hits on his articles than give credit where it is due.

Even if Meltzer actually wants to be sure before commending WWE for this, why not give the benefit of the doubt, unless evidence emerges to the contrary? It's on Meltzer to prove his case, otherwise, he needs to stop repeating the WM3 attendance "myth".

 

[Khalifa]

I do listen sometimes to the wrestling observer radio podcast thing he does with Alvarez and I just don't get it sometimes either. He just says "wel that's what they were going to do" or "backstage management thought this" and I'm just thinking how the fuck do you even know this? Because I get the exact same ideas as he does and I've got no insider information apart from the stuff on the internet like he does. It's always a pinch of salt with Meltzer for me. The fact that he just dick rides every smark fan as well (unless they are at the show) is even more reason to hate him.

I watched a video of various wrestlers shooting on Meltzer and they all said the same thing, if he is this god at wrestling promotion/booking etc then why the hell is he never in the business. I actually can't remember any of the names (but some of them were massive in terms of wrestling, oh wait Kevin Nash is one) but they were all pretty big in wrestling history for wrestling or booking.

His opinion isn't bad, I mean I agree with how he thinks of things some of the time, but sometimes he just comes across as "I know this and this is what was going to happen and now it's shit because it didn't happen like this or that." Or a simple you can't do it better than me".

I listen to the guy sometimes so it's not a complete I can't stand you but I do seem to be thinking what the fuck more times when Meltzer speaks than any other wrestler media guy or booker or whatever... except Russo obviously.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I want "insider" information that is true, that actually happened.

I am as big for going behind the curtain of the business as anyone. But I still expect that the information is fact, and not just speculation.

Meltzer speculated that the WM3 attendance was made up. Rather than providing proof, he has repeated often enough, and portrayed it as fact, and if you repeat a lie often enough, people start to believe it.

It kills Meltzer to give WWE credit, doesn't it? Instead of applauding the record crowd, and speaking of this shows how popular wrestling is, he puts a negative spin, says that WWE make it up, just because negative news sells, and he would rather get hits on his articles than give credit where it is due.

Even if Meltzer actually wants to be sure before commending WWE for this, why not give the benefit of the doubt, unless evidence emerges to the contrary? It's on Meltzer to prove his case, otherwise, he needs to stop repeating the WM3 attendance "myth".

He does play up the whole anti WWE thing because it plays to his base. One of the reasons that Meltzer had a large following, other than his consistent and fact checked reporting, is that he doesn't just puppet what WWE wants people to hear.

He gives WWE credit plenty of times, he has been very high on Braun's booking lately, but he does have this weird obsession with attendance numbers. I think, and I stress think, that he cares so much because he prefers NJPW to WWE and wants to see them succeed, but that's speculation on my part. If you check KB's thread I asked about why Meltzer cares about that subject so much and he gave a better answer than I could.

 

[stingray11214]

Meltzer is respected because he has built up over 5 DECADES of trust within the industry. You do not dismiss something like that. In fact, Meltzer and Bill Apter are the last Mohicans from the Territorial Era. Hell, people might not have liked what came out of the mouths of John Chancellor, Harry Reasoner, Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow. However, if any of those four said it was raining excrement, most people would take it as gospel. Why? Those old curmudgeons of Television built a relationship on TRUST. People trusted them to deliver the news. And, if you were the one making news, you could TRUST that it would be delivered honestly and accurately.

Meltzer built that relationship from the days as a tween offering to cover the old San Francisco Territory. As a protector of kayfabe, he would gain the trust of not only the San Francisco office, but other promotions as well. This would allow him to disseminate needed information to push storylines and other kayfabe projects. This would also allow him to be a trusted receptor of "privileged" information. Like, for example, why Baron Corbin's push got halted.

Yes, Meltzer does get things wrong. Yes, Meltzer loves Japanese wrestling. But, those does not negate the fact that he has been bring us Wrestling news for five decades. There is only one reason he can do that: A lifetime of building trust.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

First of all, I use to be a fan of meltzer mostly because of his name value in the industry but since the mauro story happened, I kinda take what he reports with a grain of salt.

The guy is great when he reports on stuff that he likes before he got great connection on the indys and he more of a fan of the indy and international wrestling then wwe

I think that ever since he was blackball by vince mcmahon in the 80's he decided to hold a grudge against them since wwe doesn't call him anymore to give him privileged info and he's stuck with rumour given to him from guy that know nothing on what really happens inside wwe.

The reason fans pay attention to meltzer is quite simple. He report on stuff they like and blast the stuff they don't like. Case in point, the mauro situation, he was the first one to report that JBL was the one responsible or mauro leaving wwe even if he didn't have any concrete proof of it and the fans bought it because dave is respected within the wrestling community.

Meltzer while respected need to remember that he got a responsibility to report the truth and not based his story on his own opinion and I think that since he's a dirt heet writer and not a real journalist, he doesn't need to verified his source, he just need to print it because it makes for a good story even if it not true. Meltzer is the first true IWC guy and that's not going to change. I miss the time of the apter magazine where you could read about wrestling without exposing everything.

 

[ShinChan]

The simple answer being that he's the most accurate out there. He isn't perfect just like anyone else isn't. He likes NJPW more. Overrates it. I don't know why. But I don't form an opinion on a wrestler based on him. I don't find match interesting just because he finds it good. But I know that he's someone whom I can rely on most for some reports. Much more than others. That's all.

 

[tdmoon]

Lately I've been reading back issues of Meltzer's Observer and it's fun seeing just how many things he whiffed on, it's real hit and miss. Thing is, I believe that's more accepted among wrestling fans. We understand how difficult it can be to get accurate information about anything in the sport. Even things heard first-hand are often incorrect, if not wildly exaggerated. The whole wrestling business is built with lies and deception and many of his sources may have either incorrect info themselves or their own agenda. It's probably extremely difficult to figure various wrestling rumors with a high degree of accuracy.

Meltzer has been doing this a long time and has thrown a lot of stuff out there. Some of it-maybe even more than any other wrestling journalist-has turned out to be solid, you just have to wade through a lot of wrong shit to get it. I'd say he's probably about as accurate as anybody else and he's been around long enough and been prolific enough with his news that he's gained credibility with many fans. The thing to do is treat any of his rumors or opinions as just that-rumors and opinions, at least until another credible source is found or events prove them correct.

I do agree he has or had an anti-WWF bias. It is especially obvious in his early Observers but many commenters indicate he's toned it down some in more recent years. I can't say, I'm only at about '89 right now.

 

[GuruWithpain]

Meltzer gains the trust of his audience by giving facts.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The fact ia Meltzer is respected by the hardcore audience because he's been doing this for a long time. Also the fact that he anti WWE, anti Hogan and Pro japanese and indy wrestling helps since that what his audience like.

Does he makes mistakes, yes he's human after all and in the newsletter business you can't always trust your source. Just to give you an exemple, he bought into the WWE propaganda about Toni Storm's age and reported she was 21 when in fact she's 26. That's something that Meltzer should have fact check before reporting it. But when he does memorial on dead wrestlers, he's probably one of the best writer in the business.

For, i never was a meltzer fans, i'm not his demographic because i grew up watching WWE and don't necessarily cares too much about match ratings or the number of buys a certain show as done. I love watching sport entertainment and be entertain by a match evenif it's not a technical marvel of a match. i love the babyface and hate the heel and that how i see wrestling or sport entertainment, so Meltzer isn't really my cup of tea. I will listen to him every week on The Law but i take his segment the same way as i take the other guys that do that show, it's there opinion and it won't affect how i think about something. I'm not going to be a sheep thinking that everything Meltzer is saying or writing as the god almighty truth because it's not. It's one guy's opinion and that's all and people that think that Meltzer is reporting facts are just blinded by the fact that he Meltzer.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Meltzer's latest comments regarding the angle with Vince McMahon and Kevin Owens on SmackDown Live only reinforces the notion that he has a strong bias against WWE and really undermines his own credibility to a degree that I don't think can really be glossed over. Meltzer called it reckless, he even insinuated that Vince has memory problems and that this only made it worse, yet he constantly sings the praises of Strong Style where there numerous incidents of wrestlers being kicked in or dropped on their heads; Katsuyori Shibata's career is over due to a series of really, really stiff headbutts he delivered in a bout earlier this year with Kazuchika Okada; Shibata suffered brain damage and despite the reckless ness showed, Meltzer still named it a 5 star match.

In fairness, I admit that I was a little turned off initially by the thing because of the headbutt, but that was before I went back and watched it again. Owens didn't hit Vince hard, he certainly didn't hit him hard enough to bust him open as Vince had to have bladed before the segment and covered it up with Vaseline or something. In order to bust someone open with a headbutt, you really, really have to lay into someone like we saw Shibata do against Okada.

One thing I will agree with is that it's another example of Vince showing how much of a hypocrite he can be. He's fined some wrestlers as much as $100,000 in the past for violating the blading policy and there are very, very, very few guys on the roster who could get away with blading or delivering any sort of headbutt without getting into trouble and Owens only got away with it this time because Vince was in on it and totally approved it.

 

[ztwhite]

In fairness, I admit that I was a little turned off initially by the thing because of the headbutt, but that was before I went back and watched it again. Owens didn't hit Vince hard, he certainly didn't hit him hard enough to bust him open as Vince had to have bladed before the segment and covered it up with Vaseline or something. In order to bust someone open with a headbutt, you really, really have to lay into someone like we saw Shibata do against Okada.

One thing I will agree with is that it's another example of Vince showing how much of a hypocrite he can be. He's fined some wrestlers as much as $100,000 in the past for violating the blading policy and there are very, very, very few guys on the roster who could get away with blading or delivering any sort of headbutt without getting into trouble and Owens only got away with it this time because Vince was in on it and totally approved it.

That's not necessarily the case. The skin of an old person is much more soft and brittle than that of a younger person. Vince is 72 (I believe), so he's much more prone to being "busted open". It wouldn't have taken an entirely hard bump to draw blood, and it's not like Vince was gushing. It was just a trickle. Totally possible.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Meltzer's latest comments regarding the angle with Vince McMahon and Kevin Owens on SmackDown Live only reinforces the notion that he has a strong bias against WWE and really undermines his own credibility to a degree that I don't think can really be glossed over. Meltzer called it reckless, he even insinuated that Vince has memory problems and that this only made it worse, yet he constantly sings the praises of Strong Style where there numerous incidents of wrestlers being kicked in or dropped on their heads; Katsuyori Shibata's career is over due to a series of really, really stiff headbutts he delivered in a bout earlier this year with Kazuchika Okada; Shibata suffered brain damage and despite the reckless ness showed, Meltzer still named it a 5 star match.

In fairness, I admit that I was a little turned off initially by the thing because of the headbutt, but that was before I went back and watched it again. Owens didn't hit Vince hard, he certainly didn't hit him hard enough to bust him open as Vince had to have bladed before the segment and covered it up with Vaseline or something. In order to bust someone open with a headbutt, you really, really have to lay into someone like we saw Shibata do against Okada.

One thing I will agree with is that it's another example of Vince showing how much of a hypocrite he can be. He's fined some wrestlers as much as $100,000 in the past for violating the blading policy and there are very, very, very few guys on the roster who could get away with blading or delivering any sort of headbutt without getting into trouble and Owens only got away with it this time because Vince was in on it and totally approved it.

i also remember him not condoning Shibata or new japan for it and only saying it was sad that this happen when in reality he should have said something about it. Also, i never get how he knows so much about Vince health, really does he talk to vince mcmahon on a regular basis? Do he talk to some of vince closest friend and family on a regular basis? or does he talk with vince's doctor? Really how does he get all the info about WWE and vince's health. I don't know. When you look at that spot they did last week, while kevin really didn't it vince that hard, their no way this was a blade job, it really look like kevin accidently busted him open. I've seen other guys before doing headbutt the same way owens did to vince and they we're able to open their opponent head up without having them go full force. As an exemple, i could use the joe/angle stand off in TNA.

In the end, we all know by now that Meltzer as always been a guy that like technical wrestling over WWE style wrestling, it's been like this since Vince Jr. bought the Company from Vince Sr and fired Meltzer from WWE and pretty much said to everybody to stop giving him information on what was going on within the company. he always had a grudge against them since then. But like i wrote before Fans will follow him because the smart fans do like the same stuff he does so it's easy to take him seriously.

While i do respect him for being able to stay relevant for all these years, i think he's also as a responsibility to wrestling to not be bias and report stuff like it his instead of reporting them bases on his opinion of the situation. That's why i have a big problem taking him seriously now, because he's bias toward everything not WWE. He's o.k. with strong style outside WWE but when WWE does the same thing that every other indy and international promotions does, he's outrage. Either be outrage everytime something like this happen or don't be but you can't be outrage when something like this happen in WWE but not be when it happens in new japan.

 

[Bagpipes]

With the accessibility that social media provides to fans of any sport or form of entertainment today, I'm not really sure why anyone would waste their time asking a mark like Alvarez or Meltzer a question about pro wrestling when you could just as easily ask a Russo, Bischoff, Austin, JR, Prichard, etc using the same forms of communication that you would ask said question to someone who has never really done anything in the business.

 

[ISkye]

I like podcasts while I work / multi-task and I like pro-wrestling. Different personalities provide different things. I don't listen to Meltzer for predictions or dirt sheet style trash. I listen to Meltzer, because literally no one else I am remotely interested covers his wide range of promotions or is as knowledgeable about it. If you don't like pro-wrestling to the degree where you don't watch beyond sports entertainment and maybe a few selects don't bother listening. It's hasn't been for you for 25+ years. Why would it now?

Watch what you like. If people like Steve Austin and even Vince McMahon already made note of him he already had the weight of his name validated. I get why people like him, but as a personality he has a very niche appeal.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I like podcasts while I work / multi-task and I like pro-wrestling. Different personalities provide different things. I don't listen to Meltzer for predictions or dirt sheet style trash. I listen to Meltzer, because literally no one else I am remotely interested covers his wide range of promotions or is as knowledgeable about it. If you don't like pro-wrestling to the degree where you don't watch beyond sports entertainment and maybe a few selects don't bother listening. It's hasn't been for you for 25+ years. Why would it now?

Watch what you like. If people like Steve Austin and even Vince McMahon already made note of him he already had the weight of his name validated. I get why people like him, but as a personality he has a very niche appeal.

That's true, personally, i couldn't cares less about his opinions on pro wrestling because outside of WWE and Impact, i don't really cares about wrestling especially the style of wrestling that he likes because i find it boring to watch a long technical match or a long match with multiple high spot that makes no sense. But that's me

But you right, the fact that a lot of people within the wrestling business acknowledge him, both positively or negatively did help him make a name for himself within the wrestling business. Meltzer got a lot of detractor within the business (Vince Mcmahon being one of them) but he also as a lot of fans mostly because at heart, he is a wrestling fans and as been all his life. He might not be right about a lot of what's going on inside companies like WWE but he does have weight in what fans want to believe or not and that'S o.k.

 

[ISkye]

That's true, personally, i couldn't cares less about his opinions on pro wrestling because outside of WWE and Impact, i don't really cares about wrestling especially the style of wrestling that he likes because i find it boring to watch a long technical match or a long match with multiple high spot that makes no sense. But that's me

But you right, the fact that a lot of people within the wrestling business acknowledge him, both positively or negatively did help him make a name for himself within the wrestling business. Meltzer got a lot of detractor within the business (Vince Mcmahon being one of them) but he also as a lot of fans mostly because at heart, he is a wrestling fans and as been all his life. He might not be right about a lot of what's going on inside companies like WWE but he does have weight in what fans want to believe or not and that'S o.k.

It is totally understandable to feel the way you do. You're not wrong by any means. Also in reality WWE has an insane range of content and stuff they can offer. There is NJPW and Stardom, but I honestly don't expect people to watch them who don't have a great grasp on Japanese. They're actually easier for me to watch, but even I watch WWE frequently. There are guys like Young Bucks, Jeff Cobb, Matt Riddle, etc. who're worth seeing, but they'll eventually end up in NXT/WWE or NJPW. So with all the content WWE offers and how many people come by eventually you could basically just subscribe to the network or read a single dirtsheet and get everything people like Meltzer can even offer to a normal wrestling fan. I do like him in the sense that he has the power to start a discussion, but I do disagree with people holding a fans (Meltzer) opinion above someone elses. At the end of the day Meltzer is a fan just like everyone else.

 

[Navi]

I read on here all the time wrestling news where someone says "Dave Meltzer says...."

Why does anyone even pay attention to one word that he writes anymore? He gets many things wrong, and even if he gets a couple of things right, so what? A broken clock is still correct twice a day, but wrong the rest of the time.

Meltzer drove the urban legend that Wrestlemania 3's attendance record of 93,173 was a lie, and it was more like 78,000. What does Meltzer base this on? That he attended a football game, and the Silverdome could only seat 78,000.

EVER HEARD OF FLOORSEATS, MELTZER? It is very possible to sit another 22,000 people on the floor. Remember that Wrestlemania didn't have the elaborate staging which takes up a bit of room back then.

Unless Meltzer can provide evidence that Wrestlemania 3 did NOT have an attendance of 93,173, he needs to print a retraction. He has made the assertion, so it is up to him to prove that WWF lied about the figure to beat the Rolling Stones record.

So, why do any of you even listen to Dave Meltzer?

I believe and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, aren't attendance figures based on the amount of tickets sold for any event. It really doesn't matter how many seats are in the stadium, if you have seats that don't sell then they can't be included in the attendance totals. Also some stadiums have standing room only tickets available. Besides Wrestlemania 3 happened 30 years ago, so who really cares now about the attendance, and I doubt highly that Meltzer will print a retraction. The WWE says that's how many attended so that's what he's going with.

As for why anyone listens to him, well that's a question that could have many answers depending on who answer's it. I don't listen to him at all. I read what he says and take it with a grain of salt at times. The guy has been writing about the wrestling business for the better part of 30 years, so I'm sure he has made some worthwhile contacts along the way.

Some fans may take what he says as gospel, I prefer to wait until I see it on WWE.com.

 

[Codename Bags]

Meltzer is a goof. I find myself rolling my eyes every time I hear him I hear him interrupt his own sentences. I love to make smartass comments towards him on twitter for burying other fans for anything and everything they say to him.

 

[ABMorales787]

I believe and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, aren't attendance figures based on the amount of tickets sold for any event. It really doesn't matter how many seats are in the stadium, if you have seats that don't sell then they can't be included in the attendance totals. Also some stadiums have standing room only tickets available. Besides Wrestlemania 3 happened 30 years ago, so who really cares now about the attendance, and I doubt highly that Meltzer will print a retraction. The WWE says that's how many attended so that's what he's going with.

As for why anyone listens to him, well that's a question that could have many answers depending on who answer's it. I don't listen to him at all. I read what he says and take it with a grain of salt at times. The guy has been writing about the wrestling business for the better part of 30 years, so I'm sure he has made some worthwhile contacts along the way.

Some fans may take what he says as gospel, I prefer to wait until I see it on WWE.com.

Here's the thing about attendance. Everyone papers them. It's not just WWE. And it's information that is very easy to access by calling a box office and asking with press cred. They will give it to you. If they say 86,000 tickets were punched, because they're accounted for, it's silly to say "oh, we went over 100,000 fans" when there are legitimate sources to disprove it. Point blank. WM32 broke records. Good enough. It just didn't reach 101,000 like WWE says.

Furthermore is that these days, sales numbers are a part of WWE conference calls. The real numbers, because they can't lie to investers. Where they publicly admit they paper numbers and have in fact said those inflated numbers are "storyline numbers".

There is nothing wrong to doing it. But Dave Meltzer is a fact-checker. And it's his job to tell you the facts. If you want to complain, be a dick, whatever. The proof is right on WWE's corporate site.