You’ll have to forgive me, I’m terrible at introductions.
That being said, my name is TH, and for two years, I’ve been writing lots and lots of words about this thing we like to call professional wrestling. Why do I expend so much energy doing something in my free time that I receive nary a red cent for? Because I love wrestling and I love writing. So, why not marry the two? It’s as simple as that.
Originally, my fandom of wrestling came into being in the ’80s with the “Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” cartoon on Saturday mornings. Between that time and my first wrestling event that I remember watching, my fandom was vague. I loved Hulk Hogan, but I didn’t know why. He wasn’t more than an action figure to me. Then, my mother ordered WrestleMania 7 for me and my brothers and I haven’t looked back. Over the years, that fandom has evolved, from that pre-WM7 embryonic stage into one of pure, innocent fandom through the ’90s. With the advent of the Attitude Era came another evolution, into a “smark.” You can blame the Internet on that one.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the final evolution. After some soul searching, time away from the product and a little bit of reflection, I evolved again. I started writing The Wrestling Blog, and over the past two years, my viewpoint has changed. It grew to include independent wrestling, critical thought and more of an appreciation for things that happen in a wrestling match that aren’t just the sheer number of moves that a guy can throw. In a way though, it regressed. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
When I was a younger fan, I didn’t care about backstage politics or who was holding whom down, or whether a wrestling company had to build new stars or else it would die a slow, horrible death with no one watching and BAH GAWD, BAH GAWD, BAH GAWD wrestling will vanish from the face of the earth. I cared who won and lost in a way, but it was because I was held in a suspension of pure disbelief and had my own favorite wrestlers.
Obviously, the genie can’t be shoved completely back into the bottle, but I’ve been trying - key word is trying here - not to look at things from the eye of a jaded, cynical “smart” fan who is looking for ways to think his favorite wrestlers are being held down by John Cena, Triple H etc., but as a fan who enjoys and appreciates good performances when they happen, and who levies his unfavorable judgment on bad performances rather than supposed happenings that may very well not be happening at all.
Believe you me, it’s helped a ton.
That’s why I’m here. That’s why I’ve joined the Fair to Flair writing team. Four other men with like minds (but not groupthinking ones… there’s a huge difference) started this place, and I’m flattered now to be a part of it. Rather than focusing on what could very well be imaginary, I join a troupe that focuses on the real, what we see in the ring or on the TV screen.
So, what can you expect from me here? Well, it’ll be similar to what you’ve come to expect from me on other corners of the web, but more through the lens of what Fair to Flair is aiming to supply to the blogosphere. For one, I’m a huge nerd for wrestling matches, so of course, I will bring that analysis here. Also, I love indie wrestling, especially Chikara (and the Greek chorus sings “WE KNOW TH, WE CERTAINLY KNOW”), so there will be a presence from those collected federations here.
But hopefully, what you expect from me over time is rambling musings from a fan of wrestling in a paradox of evolving the writing and discourse while at the same time attempting to regress as a fan into a state of innocence, to wipe the jaded lenses clean, so to speak.
TH writes The Wrestling Blog and broadcasts The Wrestling Podcast. You can find him on Twitter,or at various other spots around the Internet. He also loves Chikara, and quite frankly, thinks you should too.
Edited by Jason Mann.
