HeenanGorilla
Championship Contender
I used to post here as HeenanGorilla and had my name changed to Shrubbery by an admin. I think it was my disapproval of his PPV reviews that broke the camel's back, but I'm not sure. Regardless, the reason for me not being able to post elsewhere within this forum isn't why I am writing today.
I am writing to an unknown, and possibly non-existent, WrestleZone forum reader or readers. I foolishly took anger and disappointment in certain things in my life and brought them to something that brought me a lot of joy as a kid--pro wrestling, more specifically a forum on a website devoted to pro wrestling.
My memories of wrestling are some of my most cherished. Not only the wrestlers and the matches, but all that came with being a fan back then: LJN figures, WWF Magazine, trading cards, ice cream bars, Saturday morning TV shows and heavily-hyped and equally-anticipated PPVs 3 or 4 times a year.
I was a diehard fan from the age of 7 to about 13. Sarcasm aside, I truly don't know if it was the New Generation Era or the fact that I was entering my teens that took my interests away from wrestling. I was familiar with the goings on for a few years, though not a "fan", and then came back pretty attentively during the Monday Night Wars. Since then, I watch the occasional PPV and check sites like this one for potential interviews from guys who wrestled back in that era. I will also occasionally put on RAW for a segment or two or read results of a recent event and am glad to see that WWE seems to at least be trying to right some recent wrongs with their product. Interest in the current product seems to be high, which I am glad to see...not glad for myself, but for today's fans.
For whatever reason, a lot of my posts on here would quickly go from a memory of something I enjoyed as a kid to personal shots at another poster who didn't agree with me or didn't seem to understand things in the right context. I don't mean to say they didn't "understand" in a derogatory way. I should have realized that a lot of wrestling fans of today weren't around when these things were happening. They have to depend on edited recordings or word of mouth to learn the history of certain wrestlers or angles or promotions. I've even seen some wrestling biographies, either intentionally or not, try to re-write history.
Anyway, the reason I am writing today is to apologize for those posts. I would really lay into some people and judge them for committing so much of their adult life to pro wrestling or chanting "What?" or buying/wearing merchandise. I had no right to judge these people. I see nowadays how people attack others online whether through comment sections or forums or whatever else. There's bullying and all kinds of ugliness out there. I realized that I was no better by going after some guy on here because he didn't know how to spell or got his historical facts mixed up.
This isn't a plea to get out of "prison". I will occasionally see a topic I would like to comment on and it's a shame that I can't, but that isn't this issue here. I have just read and seen so many stories of people taking great offense to what is said to them online, by strangers or people they know, that I figured if there was a chance I offended someone and they might see this post, it was worth writing it.
I hope that people enjoy wrestling anywhere near the amount I did back then. If so, good for you! It was aimed at kids back then and apparently it is aimed at kids again now...but that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with all people finding entertainment in it. Enjoy the show!
I am writing to an unknown, and possibly non-existent, WrestleZone forum reader or readers. I foolishly took anger and disappointment in certain things in my life and brought them to something that brought me a lot of joy as a kid--pro wrestling, more specifically a forum on a website devoted to pro wrestling.
My memories of wrestling are some of my most cherished. Not only the wrestlers and the matches, but all that came with being a fan back then: LJN figures, WWF Magazine, trading cards, ice cream bars, Saturday morning TV shows and heavily-hyped and equally-anticipated PPVs 3 or 4 times a year.
I was a diehard fan from the age of 7 to about 13. Sarcasm aside, I truly don't know if it was the New Generation Era or the fact that I was entering my teens that took my interests away from wrestling. I was familiar with the goings on for a few years, though not a "fan", and then came back pretty attentively during the Monday Night Wars. Since then, I watch the occasional PPV and check sites like this one for potential interviews from guys who wrestled back in that era. I will also occasionally put on RAW for a segment or two or read results of a recent event and am glad to see that WWE seems to at least be trying to right some recent wrongs with their product. Interest in the current product seems to be high, which I am glad to see...not glad for myself, but for today's fans.
For whatever reason, a lot of my posts on here would quickly go from a memory of something I enjoyed as a kid to personal shots at another poster who didn't agree with me or didn't seem to understand things in the right context. I don't mean to say they didn't "understand" in a derogatory way. I should have realized that a lot of wrestling fans of today weren't around when these things were happening. They have to depend on edited recordings or word of mouth to learn the history of certain wrestlers or angles or promotions. I've even seen some wrestling biographies, either intentionally or not, try to re-write history.
Anyway, the reason I am writing today is to apologize for those posts. I would really lay into some people and judge them for committing so much of their adult life to pro wrestling or chanting "What?" or buying/wearing merchandise. I had no right to judge these people. I see nowadays how people attack others online whether through comment sections or forums or whatever else. There's bullying and all kinds of ugliness out there. I realized that I was no better by going after some guy on here because he didn't know how to spell or got his historical facts mixed up.
This isn't a plea to get out of "prison". I will occasionally see a topic I would like to comment on and it's a shame that I can't, but that isn't this issue here. I have just read and seen so many stories of people taking great offense to what is said to them online, by strangers or people they know, that I figured if there was a chance I offended someone and they might see this post, it was worth writing it.
I hope that people enjoy wrestling anywhere near the amount I did back then. If so, good for you! It was aimed at kids back then and apparently it is aimed at kids again now...but that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with all people finding entertainment in it. Enjoy the show!
